found on the web

for the record, i'm not an atheist. At the moment I'm leaning toward Judaism. One thing tho, the persecution complex is so 79A.D. How a religion that constitutes 85% of Pennsylvanians, and 80% of overall Americans can be persecuted is very much beyond me. Anyway enjoy what I posted below.

at street prophets

and let me tell you, it's hard.

Why sometimes I have to drive MORE THAN TWO OR THREE BLOCKS to find a Christian church - many of them don't even have 60 foot tall gold crosses!!! - clearly they are having to hide with, say, only a $60,000 electronic message board or, gasp, even a small tasteful sign to signal to those brave few who know where to go....

often the Churches are clustered together with 3 or 4 in one area - I can only assume that happened as a defensive measure...

Unfortunately it didn't work as usually in these groupings you'll find that the security circle was breeched by some damn Catholic, Southern Baptist, American Baptist, Mo Lutheran, Wi Lutheran, Episcopalian, United Methodist, Presbyterian, Evangelical, UCC, COGIC, MCC, Free this or that / insert a group you have minor theological differences with so they are hence doomed to the fiery pit here so called "church". And then there's the Unitarians....

and Christians are SO persecuted here that when Pastor Joe Wright of Central Christian (such a martyr Joe is - his flock bravely has both a 60 foot gold cross and 2 60K multimedia boards along one of the busiest intersections in one of the fastest growing and richest areas of town... they had to FLEE there from an old downtown location where there were homeless and hungry people persecuting them by getting in the way...)

anyway - when brave Joe stands at the opening of the legislature to lead the body in praying to Jesus, and attacks abortionist, homosexuals, and greedy welfare queens - why - SOME OF THE LEGISLATORS DON'T EVEN STAND. Some even walked out.

They walked OUT.

It's terrible suffering such persecution....

/snark

sigh

HA ha TO went to the CowGurls!

More on My Gene Pool

To clarify, I'm testing my Y-DNA. It will trace my most direct parental ancestor. Later I will test my mtDNA, which will trace the ethnoancestry of my most direct maternal ancestor. Family lore has that branch of the family as the descendents of a great Delaware Indian chief. mtDNA would not exactly show this, but it would show if I have markers shared by Native Americans.

I'm sort of in luck there. While my dad's family doesn't have the best records, both sides of his family come from The Bahamas, which has pretty good records and an active cultural community in the islands and across the US where they've ended up. I suppose one could say there's a small Bahamian Diaspora, white and black, that ended up in Florida, Georgia and other southeastern states. My surname is somewhat common in the Bahamas while rare in most of the US outside of Florida, and strangely, the Eastern Shore of Maryland. My mother's family has kept excellent records, however.

Through records, I've traced my most direct parental ancestor, assuming the records at Ancestry.com are right, to a man named Thomas born 1829 or 1828 in the Bahamas.

The DNA test will not tell me if Thomas is indeed my most direct parental ancestor, but it will tell me where his genes originated (likely in Africa, somewhere.) The DNA also goes into a database and can be uploaded into several other databases, and it can locate another person who can trace direct ancestry back to a person on my line.

I highly recommend this. Another site, Family Tree DNA, is one of the oldest and has many projects going, and a forum that has lots of armchair geneticists tracing themselves and humanity across the globe. It is interesting how genes travel, and it has pulled up some suprises.

I can't wait to get the results back!

geneology

I am very excited. Last month, I watched a program that helped various Black stars trace their ancestry using DNA. That program really excited me. So now I'm doing the same.

I ordered a DNA test kit. When it arrives, I'll test myself then send it back. They'll send me my results (genetic/geographical ancestry). They'll also upload the data (with my permission) to their database, which connects thousands of people. It will help me trace my family, a really long sorta-project I've worked on.

Genebase is the site I am using. I have a little site set up through them. There are a variety of sites out there, as there is a major market for this sort of thing. Even though we're in these fast heady days, people still want to know where they came from. And I also love history.

Dump Santorum Website

yes

Okay, as a civil servant I'm not really supposed to endorse a candidate, even though this particular candidate's opponent runs counter to my entire world-and-religion-view. Privatize the weather service? WTF!

Anyway.

So I'm not endorsing Mr. Casey. I'm merely posting the link to the Dump Santorum website and allowing others to come to their own conclusions. Heh, indeed.

New Blogs

Hey kids, I added some new blogs to the list over on the left there. They are all Harrisburg area people, and all are a good read. Without further ado, they are:

• One Man Think Tank
• Local Feeds: Harrisburg
• Harrisburg Happenings ( a place to escape from censorship at the PennLive forums, which does happen. I post there as DoT1012)
  

Take a look and enjoy.

more

I want to amend the post from two posts below. I really don't wish death on that horrible hate-church from Kansas. Apparently, according to several reports from the Topeka area newspapers and the Southern Poverty Law Center, almost everyone in that little family is a victim of a very abusive and evil Fred Phelps.

So instead I'll pray for their souls and hope that they work through their anger issues, which they all obviously have.

Stay away from the Capitol while they're here anyway. All they want is an audience. And most of them are lawyers (bizarre, isn't it?) so they will sue or find some legal way to make your life miserable if you antagonize them by spitting on them, giving them the finger or holding a counter protest with signs that says "Fred Phelps abuses his children" or something like that.

Hero of the Week

Sherriff Billy McGee

He diverted FEMA Trucks to a place that needed ice in Hattiesburg, MS after Katrina. He did this not for financial gain, but because people would have died without that ice. Some friends and I got stranded in Hattiesburg, MS, and I can say that the people there are among the nicest in the world. He's being prosecuted for doing so. I've heard that the Governor of MS himself demanded it so.

At any rate there's a letter writing campaign underway. Here's the address of the Prosecutor.

Dunn Lampton-United States Attorney: Southern District of Mississippi
188 East Capitol
Street One Jackson Place, Suite 500 Jackson, Mississippi 39201
Phone: 601-965-4480Fax: 601-965-4409email: dunn.lampton@usdoj.gov

Hattiesburg, MS has largely been ignored in the eyes of the press. Actually a large swath of Mississippi was devastated by Katrina, and an area the size of Great Britain was laid waste. It's amazing that the US economy was able to absorb this (and a large part of me thinks the real effects will show themselves later this year).

If you're so inclined you could also contact Senator Lott's office. Senator Lott did lose his Pascagoula home in Katrina and has been (surprisingly) amiable and angry about the government's response. Here's his DC office number: 1 202 224-6253

stuff

Some things do boggle my mind. The statistics on marriage in this country aren't good. About half fail. There's some regional variation around the country but it works out to about half. Yet for some reason 19 state legislatures find that the very chance that a very small minority of their citizens may decide that they would like to marry (or have the legal equivilance) and/or adopt constitutes a constitutional crisis. 89 Pennsylvania legislators seem to think this is a zarky idea. I call it "Operation Distract And Divide The Voters So They Forget About Us Stealing Their Money In An Illegal Pay Raise." 'Cause that's really what it is.

I'm positive that some cynical consultant who sees citizens as tools and idiots said to the three or four legislators who introduced this amendment "hey, voters are idiots. Get them to forget your illegal pay raise by stirring up the hate against the homos!" And the legislators, being the horrid individuals that they can be, said "why, that's a SPLENDID idea!"

It would be far more logical to ban things like divorce and make adultery a rather uncomfortable offense if marriage is to be saved. I'll tell ya what, my generation watched our parents get divorced, commit adultery and whatnot and we're all pretty cynical about the whole idea of marriage. And since my generation happens to be a very large demographic bubble (not as large as our parents, as our parents were not as fruitful as their parents were, but a big bubble nonetheless), this institution we call marriage really won't be saved by amending constitutions to deny very small minority groups the right to marry (or the legal equivilent.) In fact from hearing the things I hear, things like "I'ma get me a starter wife/husband and have two boyfriends/girlfriends/f*ckbuddies on the side" and the fact that this seems to be more than common, regardless of political ideology (I could tell you a thing or two about those Republican guys and gals from college) . . . it's pretty clear 19 states have really gone the wrong route with this whole marriage thing.

Just wait 10 years. I'll be saying I told you so. Just watch.

Oh, stay away from the Capitol on Thursday. That evil hate church from Kansas is coming to town to protest. I know it's evil to say, and it's bad for my karma and all, but the sooner G_d makes whatever they use to travel (I believe they own a bus or two) explode or fall off a bridge or steep cliff so we'll all be rid of these people, the better. It's a horrible thing to say, but these people are as evil as the terrorists who hit us on 9/11 (and probably just as fanatical.) In a lighter way, I sometimes wonder if Battlestar Galactica's Cylons weren't modeled off of the Westboro Baptist Church. . . the new series's Cylons being stark raving monothesist fundamentalists.

battlestar galactica

is still the best show on TV. Only 2 more episodes left in the season though. Then what will I do with my Friday nights?

random

Okay, so there are these two commercials that absolutely irritate me on TV. Have you seen them? One is the Burger King "Cheesy" Commercial. The other is the "Urgent" Verizon Wireless commercial.

They make me want to scream. Last weekend that "Urgent" commercial was on every other commercial. If I owned a gun, I would have blown my TV away.

Oh, and at my new employee Orientation this wee (7-and-a-half-months post facto), I found out I can't really endorse any candidates here at "Terry in the Big City" due to the PA Civil Service Act which bans such things for Civil Service employees. However I where I work is federally funded, partially, so I'm also covered under the Hatch Act which does allow such things. So I'm covered under two conflicting laws. Now, for some reason (probably 10th Grade Government and Economics Class with Mrs. Hauger who got me interested in all things political in the first place), I believe Federal law trumps State law, so I guess that means I can endorse candidates here at "Terry in the Big City."

However I'll wait until I get some kind of promotion before I do anything like that.

I also, in recent days, took a look at a Capitol Heights townhome. Actually, I looked at the model homes on North Third St. They are out of my price range (and the ones up for resale are priced lower then the ones that are new. . . I find this odd) but I figured they were worth a look. They're pretty nice, well lit, decent size space. They appear to be better construtucted then the crowd on the morning bus thinks. However they do not have basements, and that is not a plus. The older townhomes in the area also have about 500 to 1000 sq. ft. more on average. However I made an appointment with their realtor to look at one of the completed homes that are empty.

As for the rest of my search, I've narrowed in on a tract of city bounded by Front, 7th, Reily, and North. Above Reily, I'm not sure if I would want to live much further east then Third . . . it is a neighborhood in transition but one downturn will end that transition.

That's all.

letter

The Patriot News printed my letter!


So...that's twice I've been in the paper in the seven months I've lived here. I'm a star! ha ha!

To Mrs. King
Godspeed sista. . . may your light shine in all of our hearts.



to the shrill Teevee harpies and "pundits"that have crawled out from their slimepits today

Shut the f*ck up. Just shut up. Shut your fucking mouths and never open them again.

House hunting Part 2

Well my forms are off and running for a "pre-qualification."

What programs does the city have for first time homebuyers?

Who's a decent realtor?

Anyone have experience with FHA 203(k) Rehabilitation Loans?

Also, one annoying thing: Dauphin County doesn't offer an easy way to see its assessment data like York and Lancaster Counties do. It'd be helpful to have a parcel viewer.

Buying a House Part One

buying a house: Part One

So . . . I am considering buying a home this year. And after a bit of research I have come to some conclusions as to what I want:

• Older construction with character and uniqueness. This is one of those "I'll know it when I see it" things.
• Gas or electric heat. Oil is too much to frak with in this unstable oil economy. I expect an attack on Iran soon and that will just send the market beyond bonkers.
• A reasonable sized yard(or as they call what these town,er rowhouses have--courtyards. I have a green thumb I'm itching to use. Might plant some hops or kiwi or get real experimental and put palmettos or needle palms back there. Maybe a little rain barrel to act as a fish pond in warmer weather. And a tall privacy fence, I don't plan on wearing much out there.
• Something that might need some work. I found a federal loan program designed just for fixer-uppers. I'm sure there are others out there too. Since I need to be doing something with my free time other than moping, a rehab project might be fun.
• A basement, so I have space for my beermaking hobby. Preferably something that might be easy to turn into a nice lounge/work area too---I really have this dream of building a huge 300 gallon+ aquarium someday and that needs to be on the floor.
• Lots of natural light. My apartment is dark, it faces north and east, and gets no sun except early in the morning. I hate it. I can't have any plants.
• And finally, must be in the range of $0 to $90,000. The mortgage people I'm talking to say I can afford much more, but I'm being realistic.

So this is my "wish list." I'm not too picky about space. It can be 1000 sq. ft or 3000 sq. ft. Indifferent about garages too, since I don't know how to drive.

I bought a book that's something along the lines of Housebuying for Dummies, so when that arrives I can start on Part II: Finding a realtor.