Ant Farm:Day 4/5

These ants suck.  They don't do anything.  They hang out in the wood hole for the skybridge - about the most entertainment I get is blowing them out of the hole from the tube and watching them charge back into the hole and then realize it just blasted them out - get second thoughts - run away - not know what to do except hang out in the hole - run back - remember getting blown out - run away - over and over again.  Its mildly amusing.  I think I'll seal it up a  tiny bit better and let the harvester ants go to work when they get here......

Ant Farm! Day 2!

Okay...so I think the ants in the "farm" aren't the "digging" type of ants.  I think we got a few different types in there too.  But they just pass by each other.  I tried to give them a hint by digging a hole with a knitting needle - but...to no avail.  They spend a LOT of time preening their antennae too.  I know ants are typically female but these are like high-maintenance-lazy ants.

So the big ones just hang out in the tunnel....the little one I think got drunk on fermenting Twinkie and is just sitting on it moving rreeeeaaaallllll slow and just looks....drunk / stoned....so far not much happening.

I just ordered some harvester ants from www.antsalive.com.

ANT FARM! Wood Shop! Do it yourself!

So - we got a bit of an ant problem in our house....which the kids have resorted to catching them, with my son putting them in the "cockpits" of lego-spaceships he was building so you could see them through the windows of the spaceships. We had our own full blown ant-air-force/space-force around here as he had a good ten or so with two and three ants apiece in them.

Ants are pretty darned cool, when you're five.  So for a get-together with my mom at a restaurant, my kids decided to give her a "present" of a lego-space-ship with ants in it.  At the dinner table.  In the restaurant. I had no idea.  Of course the lego-space-ship broke apart and the ants "got out" and my kids were scurrying around on the floor of the restaurant looking for the ants while my mom's freaking out wondering what she just got dumped on her.  


Anyways, a trip to the science store showed ant-farms were $32 for ONE - and a large one?  $45!!!!  Mmmmmm - no.   Not when dad can make them at home.  A trip to Lowes Hardware store and one more to Home Depot for $25 for four plates of acrylic, two 2"x3"x8' (Y'all reading overseas or even to our north or south...okay - NON americans - I don't know what that is in metrics - if you must convert it you can do it here ) and voila I had two that were way bigger for less AND I got an excuse to use my tools....ahhhhhh to be a man and create with my hands.  I just gotta build.....something about when I'm done having something behind I can see and touch and hold. 

The hardest part was I don't have a table saw (or a radial arm saw) but I do have a circular saw.  So - I needed to cut grooves to insert/recess the acrylic into which normally on a table saw you'd just drop your blade down and then run your wood across.  I had to get creative with a handy portable workbench dad gave me and a block of wood to run the circular saw across it - but other than that - it was pretty easy.  If anyone wants to see it - here it is below in photos you can click on and embiggen.

looks like a kitchen...acts like a workshop...

sawdust on the floor freshening the air in the house...

the first two pieces together with clear acrylic in between

1/2" x 3/8" "doorway" to the "skybridge" I built in the exotic ant-mansion

Two ends on....

Project complete on the kitchen counter with West Wing and East Wing visible

exotic sky-bridge with a commanding view of the sugar-jar and Mountain Dew Repository - every Ant's dream!

there's actually an ant in there...with a science experiment in the background - Oh Horror of Horrors! 

These are the ants that were diverted from the Space Program to a work-camp. 

ahhhhh....kitchen floor mess....

brave trooper - I named her "Sojourner" - exploring the ant-mansion.

Actually....she hung out there for 20 minutes preening her antannae....it was kind of annoying....maybe she was enjoying the view of the sugar jar...

project fully separated apart....

individual ant-mansion unit - this is the West Wing - cost for one? $12.50 and some nice memories

It was funny tonight as we had family prayer and I thought of all the things I've built for our family.  Beds.  Modifications to the cars.  Ant farms.  More beds.  Shelves....nothing too fancy but still its nice to be able to build with my hands....   I did clean the kitchen up though with the new vacuum.....

I hope these are the kinds of ants that dig and not just the types that run around.....if they are the kind that just run around but don't dig I might have to order some kick-ass ants to dump in there and eat their sorry behinds and dig some tunnels....

OREGON ROAD TRIP! RIPPLEBROOK! THREE LYNX! HARRIET LAKE! FROG LAKE!

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Letter from Tony Snow

 Tony Snow June 1, 1955 – July 12, 2008

I used to listen to Tony Snow when he was a radio show host.  He had a great sense of humor and an easy style that I just enjoyed and came to love when he hosted for Rush.

I have a letter from Tony Snow, an email, to me that he sent me after I wrote him wishing him well in his cancer recovery.  The email is dated 8/10/07 to me.

But, I have some collections from the world's notables in my files - this is just one of the e-versions, I thought I'd post it.

I told him I was praying for him and wished him well, and this is his response.  He didn't mention my name in it, but that's okay - it was to my email personally. I just thought I'd share something I got from a man I admired who once represented our country and share his faith in God.

THE WHITE HOUSE Washington Thanks so much for the kind note - and for including me in your thoughts and prayers. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you thinking of me and raising my name in prayer. Prayers have enormous power. They're good medicine - and they certainly have lifted my spirits. I feel as if I have been borne on the shoulders of thousands of friends, all of whom have made the ride easier than I ever could have imagined. We're blessed to live in a land where people just want an excuse to do something good for someone else. Thanks for taking advantage of that opportunity with me. Please encourage others to do it closer to home for other friends in need. Kind words, notes, emails, and small gestures have a way of lightening the load, while making our own lives richer and more rewarding. Again, thanks for the incredible gift of caring. God bless, TONY SNOW 

Mixing Beta Fish With Other Fish......a fish story.....

I bought another beta fish the other day.  A moontail beta.  I named him "M."  He almost looks like this one here.   However, among my fish in the tank I have one fantail goldfish and several comets and some glass catfish.

At any rate, the conventional wisdom is that you don't mix betas with regular fish.  Why?  Betas pick on everything in the tank that's not themselves. 

So I mixed my beta, "M," in with the other fish.  First few minutes, M wasn't really getting along with everybody.  The other fish were WAYYYYYY to friendly and were invading M's personal space trying to meet him.  M kinda went ballistic for a while, flipping out and fanning himself out as shown here until they kind of all went "Whoah....who's the new guy.....lighten up dude...." and gave him some space.


The next day, the rest of my fish didn't seem as chipper anymore.  Normally they are as happy as dogs when the master gets home, wagging their tails and begging for food.  Now that M was in the house, they kind of hung out at the bottom not really excited about anything - almost as if they'd had the party sucked out of them and they had to revert to their primeval instincts of watching not to get their tails kicked.   They hung about on the bottom near the plants, watching in case food came near them but not actively looking for it anymore.

Meanwhile, M found a few plants and wedged himself in a corner and just hung out by himself and went on a few patrols around his bush and marked his territory.  I did catch him picking on the snail, who's name is "Speedy," at one point but the snail said "Forget this" and pulled her antennae in and dropped off the glass to the bottom and tried to look like a rock where M wouldn't find her.


The next day, one very small comet was dead.  It was like a runt anyways though.  While the other comets got bigger, this one actually shrank over time it seemed.  It was like a head with fins and a spine.  So I wasn't surprised to see its tail chewed a bit and M had done it in apparently.  I wasn't sure if this was a good idea now.  I've had a beta before and eventually they all got along but that was a female.  This was a male.  The big fantail goldfish is way bigger than M but M can do a great job fanning himself out in a vibrant display of color and size.


Today, everyone seemed back to normal.  Maybe the other fish were sad the comet was dead.  M was even near the others by about 2 inches and they ate together.  If the other comets got too close M would fan out a little bit but not too much and everyone seemed to get along.   You really can mix betas and other fish!  I think you just have to have a bit bigger fish to show the beta who's boss and give everyone some plants to hide behind and give them some time (to kill off the weaker more wimpier ones).   Isn't that called Darwinism?

Mormonism and Cults: Part 3 - Immorality, Secrecy and Penalties for Leaving

Another major aspect of harmful cults is that they promote immorality and are even subversive to the government.  Again, not all, but this is a characteristic of many cults.  Examples of this are the gassings on the Tokyo subways and the FLDS (Fundamental LDS - or "Fundie Mormons") in Texas that practiced forced marriages and arranged pedophilia.

Additionally, immorality and subversiveness often go hand in hand with geographical isolation discussed earlier - an example is the compound in Texas of the FLDS.  However, usually there is a cloak of secrecy that follows the immorality and the geographical isolation of harmful cults.  Teachings of the cult are kept secret and reserved only for a select few.

Lastly, there are penalties for leaving the cult or revealing the secrets of the cult - often harmful or threatening in nature.  

In all these the LDS Church or Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints does not qualify as a cult.  Immorality is against the LDS religion.  They don't even smoke or drink alcohol or use drugs outside of medicinal purposes.  Chastity is paramount.  The 12th Article of Faith even states in regards to governments: "We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law."  The precept Christ taught of "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and render unto God that which is God's" holds true in the Latter Day Saint theology. 

But this brings us to secrecy.  Unfortunately this can't be discussed without a bit of education, otherwise we descend into simple disagreement without defining the terms. 

The critics aren't convinced with the semantics that there is a difference between "secret" and "sacred" when it comes to some teachings of the church - more especially the temples.  Often the church is accused of being secretive and not upfront about what it teaches.  To say the church is "secretive" and "not upfront" about what it teaches is an inaccurate portrayal at the best - in fact I would say the anti's and critics of the church are not upfront with their portrayal - and could even go so far to say that they are dishonest in their characterization.  But I don't mean to slip into contention - I would only say there are some facts that are relevant to this discussion but which are omitted by critics in order for the characterization of "secret cult" to even be applicable. 


First - where the LDS church differs from the harmful cults in this regards is that all persons are invited to go to the temple and learn for themselves what is taught there through the waters of baptism and faithful membership.  Everyone in the world is invited to go to the temple and learn.  Anyone can ask any question when they are in the temple.  In fact - one of the members I know from Vernonia, Oregon, when he finally got his temple recommend - went and had the president of the temple show him every single closet and room in the temple to show him there were no hidden secrets or anything in there. Since this writing the temple covenants are now officially published by the church.

Even Christ himself said to his apostles in John 16:12 "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now."

Isaiah 28: 9 "Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.     UAdd a Note  10For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little".

In other words the teachings of the temple require preparation and can only be understood through preparation.   Without that they would be meaningless and there would be no point to prepare.  It would be as anything else in the world.  Given that the teachings of the church are only moral and upright - the notion that the teachings of the temple are "sacred, not secret" are quite accurate and it is not only a matter of semantics.

Even Christ himself taught in parables which many could not understand except those that are enlightened - so it is with the temple, it is sacred ground and the House of the Lord. "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

As to penalties for revealing the teachings of the church or leaving it - we can see many are alive and well and are in fact making a ton of money off their opposition to the LDS church and for telling others what they learned inside the temple in some cases or a bunch of other things. However as a personal note, I have never seen a single account of the temple that was revealed outside it that was accurate.  At any rate, in all these things combined - the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints again fails to meet the criteria of a harmful cult.

To see part 1 - click HERE.


To see part 2 - click HERE.

Mormonism and Cults: Part 2 - Isolation

Continuing from the previous entry, another aspect of harmful cults drawn from the American Sociological Association is their geographical if not social isolation from everyday society.

Often, isolation is a means to keep the outside world from interfering with the mentality of the cult and members under the control of the leaders.

This is, yet again, another area where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints falls short in meeting the definition of a harmful cult.  The church religion exists in the open in every imaginable sort of society with its adherents living openly among all sorts of occupations. Everything from government positions to military service, to artists, entertainers, educators to blue collar workers - the Latter Day Saints can be found living everywhere associating with about every sort of people imaginable. 

Mormonism and Cults: Part 1

If you're LDS, you've heard "They're a cult!" followed by "blah blah blah" and if you're interested in the topic, you get sucked into the "rhetoric" or get led on a wild goose chase or you just let it go in one ear and out another.

In my undergraduate studies, I did some research and discovered that the one thing the LDS religion is NOT is a cult.

In fact, strictly academically speaking, Protestant Christianity is closer to being a cult than the LDS religion.

Off the top of my head I thought I'd address a couple issues of the LDS religion and cults here.

My research into definitions and operational terms was drawn from the American Sociological Association's classifications of a harmful cult while working on my undergraduate degrees of the social sciences and learning about other methodologies of study. 

Now this is not typical of all cults, but these are a few criteria that are present in many harmful cults:

The cults discourage questioning the teachings of the cult.

Education is frowned upon because it interferes with the teachings of the cults.

Also the leaders define reality.

Why does this not apply to the LDS religion?

Because the the first thing people learning about the church are told to do is study for themselves.  

Ask questions.  

Ask God.  

Study it out.  

YOU decide.  

Its up to you.  

You have to choose. 

We read in the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple in D&C 109: 14 And do thou grant, Holy Father, that all those who shall worship in this house may be taught words of wisdom out of the best ^abooks, and that they may seek learning even by study, and also by faith, as thou hast said;

The  religion, in terms of being free to think and embracing secular as well as spiritual knowledge by self directed study makes the LDS religion less like many denominations and branches of Christianity already - and definitely not a cult in this regards.

Books I've Read: The Screwtape Letters.....

You know, I've found that to learn the wiles of evil, we needn't study evil - but when we are acquainted with the things of God, evil will be easily recognized. 

HOWEVER, there is a book that is a wonderful piece on the plans of the adversary and that is "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis.

http://www.amazon.com/Screwtape-Letters-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652934

Sophomoric in some aspects - I know the devil to be far FAR more cunning than this - it is still undoubtedly some of the corruptions and mentality of that evil one in trying to trap and trick us while appearing good and trying to persuade us that he is good and it is The Enemy (God) who is the evil one.

Road Trip: Oregon, Kelly Point! Yaquina Bay! Portland Temple! Timberline Lodge!

 I went to timberline the other night - got a couple photos but with the cell phone nothing fantastic.....anyways - had to have a hot chocolate - it was great - and snapped some other photos.  Took some pictures of the Portland Oregon LDS temple, and then went metal detecting at the mouth of the Willamette where it meets the Columbia and found a Marshmallow roasting stick....that my kids lost.....anyways, all these were taken with my cell phone - you can click on them and enlarge them - but - here you go - free pictures.  And enjoy the hot cocoa pictures....I like them best.....I spent a good ten minutes posing it for you, my fine readers.....it really is worth the $5.00 you spend on it.....

One of many angles of the Hot Chocolate at Timberline

entrance to timberline

 

World's Best Hot Chocolate: @ Timberline Lodge

Where two rivers meet - Columbia (r) & Willamette (l)

discovered: AN ANCHOR!

empress hairdo

captain goofball and his sidekick empress hairdo with shovels

Willamette at the Columbia - Sunset

100 miles inland or so on the Columbia

Not sure where this came from but it's in Pirate town in Newport

From a casino in Vegas....now in Newport....

Still in Newport.....still not in Vegas anymore....