Gee I didn't see it in my browser when I posted.

Thanks  

It wasn't there. I added it after you reminded me. I was joshing. 

Well, it's right there in my post, Bob! Jeesh! The nerve! Thinking I would forget to post a link.... lol

Thanks for the heads up... It's been a long day.

Bruce Beach is an internet friend of mine. Some of you may know about his Ark 2 facility that he built up in Canada. It's a monster of a survival shelter.

I haven't read his book, yet. So, I can't tell you if it's a good read, in all honesty. But, if I know Bruce, it's well thought out and will no doubt contain a LOT of info for the preppers amongst us. Also available in hardcopy.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CTB7TOI

Touche'. Well-played. I stand corrected.

Karnie uses an aluminum wallet for her cards. Mine never have any money or credit on them. So, I don't worry about it... lol.

Dude! That is SO Texan... lol. I like it!

You really got me to thinking, and I really can't say what my favorite quotes are.... hmmm.

LOL, BG you seem sure that I am stead fast and unswayable in my beliefs.
There are things I believe now differently than I did in the past, so I was either wrong then, now or both.
I know all too well I do not know it all, at best I am looking at the world through ha darkened glass...

Not at all. We wouldn't hold the opinions that we do, if we didn't believe them to be true. But, that doesn't always make them facts. If someone can present a good argument that would bring my opinion on the Bible into question (or any other belief I may have), I have to listen to them and adjust my opinion, if I can't refute them.

But, I do have to warn you about one thing. Those that are against religion are just as set in their belief. But, I've yet to meet one that would continue the discussion past the first round. After that, many of them have resorted to name calling and other insults. Others have just walked away in feigned disgust. It is unfortunate that so many today are unable to separate their opinions from facts and are unwilling to let facts decide their opinions.

I've never been "against" religion. But, about 7 years ago, I had a religious discussion with a captain on one of the boats I worked on. He started showing me scientific proof of the Bible. At first, I thought he had just dug up some "bogus hocus pocus" on the internet. But, when I really looked at this person's work, I found no fault in it. Turns out that the author was a chief scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and was widely respected. When I looked any refutations to his work, from people smarter than me (turns out there are many), I found only personal attacks on him and very weak arguments that even I could see through.

So, this started making me want to look further and the more I looked, the more I found that many of the things I had been taught, even in grade school, were either categorically wrong, built on circular logic or just had so many flaws, that they were unbelievable in themselves. With all of this research in hand, I realized that there was a name for what I had become... a "young earth creationist"... the most abhorred of all religious fanatics. LOL

Finally, I decided to pick up a Bible and actually read it, using a concordance to guide me through the difficult parts. It was then that I discovered a few things:

1. MANY concordances and versions of the Bible have been adulterated, misinterpreted, mistranslated, etc. Many also take an evolutionary viewpoint. One large company comes to mind. But, I won't name them... (starts with a Z). If you find doubt in your reading, be sure to look up the original word in Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, etc. to find out what word was actually used. (Example: Behemoth in Job is often described as an elephant or hippopotamus. FWIW, neither of these animals have a tail like a cedar... lol).

2. Many of the most common sayings come straight from the Bible, more than even I thought. I learned this before I even finished Genesis.

3. MANY things I'd been told about the Bible weren't in there. Many things I'd been told that weren't Biblically based, were.

4. I've yet to find a single truly inaccurate verse in the Bible. By truly inaccurate, I don't mean a one author disagreeing with another or a word being changed (although I have found an instance where a very old Bible was actually changed by men, in order to make it more "believable"). I am talking about something is provably wrong.

Johnny, you missed one... Sometimes, it's possible that both could be right.

First example:

Two people are in a room and asked to count the number of people that they see in the room. One comes up with one number and another number comes from the other. Why? From their viewpoints, it may not be possible to see ALL of the people in the room. Viewpoint matters...

Second example:

If one argues that there "might" be a rapture, and the other argues that there "will" be a rapture, both could be correct, if the rapture occurs. Only one can be correct if it does not, and the end comes. It also depends on whether we are discussing future events or the past.

Last example:

It's also important to remember that the question is not always what it seems. Using the first example, suppose one said 15 and the other said 14. There were actually 15 people in the room. But, they were still both right. Why? Because they were asked to count the number of people that they could SEE. It's very important to define the question you are trying to answer. The Bible often has answers hidden in plain sight. It is only necessary to ask the right question, in order to reveal it.

JMHO. YMMV.

ETA: As far as holding the teachers to a higher standard, I believe this: If you believe something and teach it to others, always keep in mind that you could be wrong and listen to the reasoned responses of others. Evaluate their response and decide whether it is a possibility that should be added to your opinion. Or, if you find fault with their opinion, explain it to them. If they choose to ignore YOUR reasoned response, you have turned the other cheek and are at no fault. But, if they are right and you choose to ignore them for no real reason, then you become a false teacher. As long as you are able to admit that you might be wrong, or simply don't know, you probably won't receive that Judgment. Again, this is just my belief as best I've been able to figure it out.

I'd just let people know that you're willing to entertain the idea that you might be wrong about some of the details and would be happy to discuss it. Atheists need not apply. Some things are not open to discussion (although I can readily provide proof for those that would listen with a truly open mind. Those that won't, are never going to believe, for the simple reason that they don't WANT to). Besides, why fight over it? Just tell them that if you're not right, then it really doesn't matter what you or I think and they need to go pick another fight. In the meantime, intelligent discussion is always a great way to get your own gears turning, as well as the gears of others.

I'd debate Thox. But, I'm afraid of Thox... lol.

JMHO

I almost wish the rain would stop... but, just for a week. My fescue has gone to seed and stalk, since I've been unable to bale it, because of the rain. I'm still going to bale it. But, it won't be as nutritious as it once was. All in all though, I'll take rain over drought any day (within reason... lol).

Wait for a dry spell and apply the DE to the yard. Moisture will GREATLY reduce it's ability to cut up the fleas and ticks. Our local farm stores carry a little hand crank spreader for DE. It's like a little squirrel cage fan with a hopper and a nozzle. I have to admit that it gets pretty tiring while cranking it, though. I need to adapt it to a cordless drill... lol

Love the place, Dan!

Most of the time, living on the homestead is pure heaven on earth. But, there are a couple of days....not so much. I had a bit too much of that myself, last week. It must be contagious.

Supervised visitations with an animal bigger than them, usually. My dog Feather (an English Shepherd) is currently on probation, since she can't be trusted alone with the chickens and ducks. But, the turkeys seem to have mellowed her somewhat. So, she's being allowed to go outside for longer periods alone.

Don't forget about pack mentality though, and only allow them visitations one at a time. Get two of them together and they will corner a chicken like velociraptors and tear it apart, at least until they learn to live and let live.

A last resort (and I've never had to use it... but, it does work) is a shock training collar. It will not really hurt them badly. I get shocked by our fence all the time and it's a lot more powerful. Under supervision, just give the dog a minor shock (lowest level) every time it gets aggressive towards the animal. Pavlovian instinct will associate chasing chickens with pain and they will stop.

If you have the money, my favorite method is The Perfect Dog system (http://www.amazon.com/Sullivans-Secrets-Perfect-Dog-Training/dp/B008G3K78I/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1368392287&sr=8-3&keywords=don+sullivan+perfect+dog). It's about 60 bucks. It's been great for training puppies and dogs around here, for all obedience tasks. It's just a special collar with triangle points to the inside. A quick and reasonably firm jerk, accompanied by a SHARP "NO!" works wonders. We've had a lot of success with his system and highly recommend it.