Figuring out the cause of Last Night’s Storm – it was a “Ford Storm”!

Misty Hollow Carving

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Today’s Blog Post

 Figuring out the cause of Last Night’s Storm – it was a “Ford Storm”!

(Subtitle – Why People from outside Toronto should never visit the City)

As you can see from the photos that I took, the weather was nasty.  The storm was huge and very dangerous looking.  I snapped these just before ducking inside my Misty Hollow workshop.  Lightening began flashing at about 8:15pm when I took the photos and continued for hours to come.

We don’t deserve this kind of storm now. What did we do to deserve this?

Well this morning early I figured out what actually happened. It was the “Ford Storm”.  It came from south west of our city and then rolled into deliver its blow… and this was not a threat… it was real and did it ever hammer us hard.

Why name it a “Ford Storm”?  Well we finally figured it out. When Mayor Rob Ford isn’t happy in Toronto, where he is the Mayor – the most powerful man alive…, all hell breaks loose in every area of the province.  When Mayor Rob Ford gets angry storms develop and explode in rage all over the province… and they do so for days to come.

The one last night started brewing in and around Mayor Rob Ford’s property around 8pm on Wednesday evening when one of his neighbours came knocking on his door.  The neighbour had spotted about a suspicious person on the property behind their homes.  The neighbour told Mayor Ford that the person back there was taking pictures of the Mayor’s yard and house… suggesting that the Mayor had another rascal trying to spy on his family and home.

Whoa!  Mayor Rob Ford immediately kicked into his ultra-ego of super hero and went out to catch the dude and stop this invasion of privacy.  No thought for his own safety or for his family’s future without him… into the evening’s fading light he pushed… to catch the “bad guy” and administer a “Ford Justice” that offers a good pounding by tightly clutched fists.

Mayor Rob Ford was about to kick butt. He was about to become Captain Toronto… you know like Captain America.  Or maybe that should be the first “Blonde Hulk”.

The intruder had no idea what was about to happen to him as he stood at the edge of the public park.  The 350+ pound Mayor, ultimate fighter, super hero, Captain Toronto was about to knock the crap out of this guy that was messing with him by taking photos of his back fence! 

God help the intruder when Captain Toronto gets at him. God help any man when the Blonde Hulk arrives. They are going to wish that they were never born after his mighty fists lash out at their pathetic little skulls.

You see the Captain Toronto, or the Blonde Hulk, doesn’t think like ordinary men. He uses might to produce fright!

I have followed the fact that Captain Toronto, or the Blonde Hulk, is trying to lose weight. That is a lie. He cannot lose weight. If he did all his power would be gone – like poof… like dandelion seeds to the wind.

Mayor Rob Ford needs his weight to enforce the threats that he issues as Captain Toronto and the Blonde Hulk.  If he does maintain the power and weight every evil little scum bag that will threaten the peace of his beloved home and his poor old neighbours, will take over!!! God help us all!

Evil Little Scum Bag???

Yep. That is what Captain Toronto and the Blonde Hulk think. The evil little scum bags are News Reporters that work with the Toronto Star.  In fact they are kissing cousins to any News Media type idiots. Anybody that would possibly tell the truth is a piece of low life that Captain Toronto and the Blonde Hulk need to eliminate.

That evil piece of low life has a name. He is Daniel Dale, a Toronto Star reporter, that gets paid to listen to whatever Captain Toronto and/or the Blonde Hulk spews about his crime fighting efforts.  Daniel Dale is expected to listen to political Crayola as much and as long as the Mayor – oops I mean Captain Toronto/ Blonde Hulk will spew.

Double Whoa!  Can you imagine… Captain Toronto/Blonde Hulk is now threatening to not have any more News Media interviews at the City Hall if Daniel Dale is present.. or for that matter any news reporter is present.

No kidding. In the newspaper today Captain Toronto was still so angry that he was spewing and stewing so much that he produced a storm that crapped on Peterborough.  That is where the Ford Storm came from.

Now I realize that I am in mortal danger at this moment. I have revealed what I really think about bullies like Captain Toronto/the Blonde Hulk. If I travel to Toronto I will need a rented vehicle with darkened windows – or else the big man will see me… and kerpow… I will lose my cell phone and recording devices. Zap. Zoom. Swish. Captain Toronto will have my hide as well.

Captain Toronto – Blonde Hulk you do scare me just like the bully back in school did.  They traumatized me to the point that I shake when a 350+ man comes anywhere near me – in my adult life.  I still think that if I don’t do just what you say or demand of me – that YOU WILL BEAT ME UP.

But I got smarter along the way.  I will call the police when you threaten me.  And in practical ways I have surrounded myself with bigger guys that are nasty looking too.

Captain Toronto you have “Flash” who is really “Dougie Ford” – your brother.  He is pretty big too – I know – I saw the guy.  Yikes.

BUT I have Ace (350 pounds), Big Dan(425 pounds), Tiny(375 pounds) and Mad Manny (425 pounds).  They are all really big – over twice my weight. They are all former Bikers that don’t like loud mouth politicians.

As to your walking after some perp in the back lot behind your house… that is stupid!  You have stated that you have had death threats… where do you think the best place to pop someone is?

Good luck Captain Toronto/Blonde Hulk.  I hope you have a better day today. Peterborough doesn’t need any more storms like this last one.  Please keep your Ford Storms to yourself.

Two of the biggest dangers a 350+ man faces is not a perp peeking at your fence but rather THREE REALLY BIG GIANTS IN HIS LIFE –

1.)         A Stroke

2.)         A Heart Attack

3.)         Diabetes

Sheesh! Daniel – we are pulling for you. You are named after a dude that messed with a King and his cohorts that threw him into a den of Lions… right? Hmm?

~ Murray Lincoln ~

www.murraylincoln.com

Resources:

Reporter Loses his Cell Phone to Mayor’s demands

http://www.thestar.com/news/cityhallpolitics/article/1172308--mayor-rob-ford-chases-and-confronts-toronto-star-reporter-daniel-dale?bn=1

Mayor Rob Ford’s ‘story’

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1172883--rob-ford-s-story

What Daniel Dale states happened

http://www.thestar.com/news/cityhallpolitics/article/1172874--daniel-dale-s-story-responding-to-mayor-rob-ford

There was no Digital Camera in the Civil War – how did they capture what was taking place?

Misty Hollow Carving

This BLOG is sponsored by “Misty Hollow Carving”. You are welcome to visit Misty Hollow and see all of my carvings.

My Web Site is a like a Gallery – please drop in for a stroll through.

To help me promote my Web Site please copy this URL address and email to someone today http://www.murraylincoln.com/  

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Today’s Blog Post

There was no Digital Camera in the Civil War – how did they capture what was taking place?

In the past weeks I have had the wonderful opportunity to do more art projects that are connected to my wood carving.  I have been requested to carve certain objects that need to fit into its surroundings appropriately.  There has to be some coordination between what the customer wants and what I produce.

Now trying to remember what is there and what I saw is difficult at times. I have to keep looking over and over again to get the accurate picture. And I need to look closely as well – very closely.

What I see together with my imagination is super important when creating something like I am asked to create.

Now if I am asked to produce an exact likeness or to carve something identical to what is already there… how is that going to happen… especially when what I need to carve is hanging high above the floor in a very old building???

In 2012 there is no problem at all. I simply take my digital camera with me… point and shoot. I need not get the film developed like the old days. I need only to push a few buttons and bingo there is the image on my camera screen.  A few more clicks and that same image I am looking at can be sent through the air to arrive at my computer via and email attachment. That can all be accomplished in a matter of seconds.  And if I want to send that photo to millions of people at a time I need only direct it to another site… and then the whole world can see.

In split seconds I can get the job done… with little effort at all.

Now it still takes me time to carve the new item. That cannot be done by email or a click of a button.  This part of my project could take a few weeks or even a month or more to get this part of the job done.

As I have been thinking of the ease of what I do can do things now I was stopped in my tracks when reading the recent National Geographic Magazine and the article about the Civil War in the USA.

The north and the south of the USA were fighting each other. They were killing each other by the hundreds and thousands over the right to be the controlling power in their country and have their own way.

From 1861 to 1865 it was a nightmare to live in that country and especially live anywhere near the battle fields or battle areas.

Yet at the same time people back home in the north and the south wanted to know what was happening.  Messages and stories had to be printed at home.  And photos of what was happening were needed.

But in the 1860s the cameras that were working at the time were very slow. They required the people being photographed to sit very still in order for the image to be made on the plate in the camera.

During war nothing sits still. In a battle everyone is anything but still unless they are dead.  Yet the newspapers have printed and graphical images of the war that was going on… all without the cameras that we have today. And it also happened without the use of their very slow cameras of the day.

How could that happen?

Artists went out with the troops and simply drew the pictures on sight!

When I read the story in the NGM I was clown away by what was stated. The heroism of the artists was amazing to say the least.

They watched closely as the cannon balls were flying, horse were being killed, corpses were walked over, and their friends were dropping like flies.  The images were burned into their brains and trapped forever. Then they would pull out their sketch pads and utensils to draw with… and put what they had seen on to the paper surface.

The result was to be accurate and show as close to what was taking place as possible.

As the smoked cleared and the army recouped the drawing was wrapped up and then transported by any means possible.  They used horseback riders, trains, ships and whatever method could be used to get it to the waiting newspaper.

After it arrived it was taken to a another group of artists that produced an etching on the surface of a wood block. From that another electroplating process made it possible for newspaper to print millions of copies.

From the battle scene to the newspaper could be two weeks or more. The multiple steps along the way could possible embellish the facts that had originally taken place.

The danger that these artists were placed in on the battle field was extreme. A number of these men died. Some were captured as spies. And maybe some were spies.  Their minds and imagination was the equivalent to my digital camera of today.

I have never thought much about how those old prints were made. I had not considered the huge danger there was in getting the information for the world to be able to see what took place.  NGM again has stirred my thoughts. Thanks NGM!

Today I am in awe for what took place way back then and for these men that gave everything for the world to see.

My abilities and methods today is small potatoes besides what they did. WOW!

~ Murray Lincoln ~

www.murraylincoln.com

Resources:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/05/civil-war-sketches/katz-text

"Mr. Braveheart? Florida Pastor threatens to burn another Quran"

Misty Hollow Carving

This BLOG is sponsored by “Misty Hollow Carving”. You are welcome to visit Misty Hollow and see all of my carvings.

My Web Site is a like a Gallery – please drop in for a stroll through.

To help me promote my Web Site please copy this URL address and email to someone today http://www.murraylincoln.com/  

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Today’s Blog Post

The following text arrived by way of email. It arrived yesterday from my friend Brian Stiller.

Brian and two other Ministers went to see another Minister in Florida that has been causing great harm to the church. What the other Minister did was broadcast world wide, which then angered the Islamic People in many countries. Following that anger the Islamic People then began murdering Christians and destroying churches.  You guessed right… the other Minister was the whacko, Rev. Jones, the dude who burned the Quran.

I am so ashamed of what this man is and what he has done.

To the Islamic People who read my Blog from time to time, I want to assure you that all Christians are not like Jones.  We are deeply ashamed of this man and wish we could stop him.

~ Murray Lincoln ~

www.murralincoln.com

May 1 2012 – Email from Brian Stiller

"Mr. Braveheart? Florida Pastor threatens to burn another Quran"

We drove up to the Dove World Outreach Center, a non-nondescript church tucked away off of a main road in Gainesville, Florida.

Eventually, the locked doors opened and we were led past a sanctuary, filled more with furniture than church pews, up the stairs to a sparsely furnished office: desk, sofa, two chairs and a movie poster of Mel Gibson in Braveheart.

We met Pastor Jones, a tall man, around 60, bearded and sitting at his desk with army-type boots, blue jeans, a black T-shirt and a gun hanging from his belt. Wayne Sapp, his assistant, was alongside wearing blue jeans, a black Harley Davidson T-shirt emblazoned with "I Don’t Do Fear," and a very obvious gun clipped to his belt. He stood, legs apart and arms folded, as if on guard, for the duration of our 90-minute conversation.

Jones, told us that after spending 30 years in Cologne, Germany, he returned to the US to find his beloved America awash in moral corruption, weakened by a failing Church, diminished by a gutless government and overrun by Islamic clerics and their threat of Sharia law. He says he felt “God spoke to me,” about defacing Islam, desecrating its Qur’an — and doing what he could to “wake up America.”

Our visit was the day before he planned to burn another Qur’an, a follow-up to what he had done months earlier, an event he publicized online resulting in the burning of churches and the killing of his fellow Christians.

Operating under Stand Up America Now, is an organization whose purpose, according to its website is "is to encourage Americans and the Church to stand up."

Jones concedes this had nothing to do with Christian love or evangelism, but are “acts of resistance or revolution.”

Because love and evangelism were weak, “unable to make a dent,” Jones believed it was time to cause a stir. He says that he had no idea of the public interest in the public burning of Islam’s holy book: “I didn’t realize it would create such a stir.”

But he took that very stir as a sign: “God wanted me to get involved.”



Jones is disarming, articulate and interesting. He is a surprisingly good listener, gentle in his response to tough questions. He openly acknowledged that his actions were bizarre. He admits no guilt that what he did caused both harm and killing of Christians (those he readily admits are his brothers and sisters).



Four of us drove north from Orlando, including Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe, Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) and Daniel Ho, pastor of a Malaysian  Methodist Church.



It was a tough, no-holds-barred conversation.



The dialogue was respectful, direct and civil.



The focus was on biblical values and caring for consequences of Christians in other lands.



Jones' confusion over love for America — as he thinks it was and should be — and the Gospel were obvious. While clearly declaring himself a Christian, he no longer believes loving others is a fair and workable strategy.



“We would not have beaten Hitler if we had just prayed,” he said.

It is time, in Jones' view, to move past praying and acts of kindness, beyond trying to win people to faith.

Militia-like, he views the “weakness” of churches and government as being complicit in a conspiracy to degrade America.

Gun-toting pastors seem a logical extension of his strategy to bypass those unwilling to “stand for America.”

“Would you be willing to come to Malaysia and look into the faces of my family and tell them why you burned the Qur’an, if your action caused my death?” asked Pastor Ho. Jones had no answer.

Asked if he had ever met a Christian from a Muslim-dominated country, he laughed. When asked if he ever had concerns over what his actions and words did to Christians in such countries, he avoided the subject. 

Pressed to line up his actions with biblical values and the call of Jesus, he referred to Abraham and Moses, examples of “biblical characters that have done crazy things.”

“God told me to do it,” is his central mantra.

Our group pressed him with his own logic: if his end game was to get the attention of the American government, why not do some outrageous act that would really get them to listen?

And if he wanted to point out the errors of Islam, why not go to an Islamic country and burn a Qur’an there?

He laughed and said, “They’d kill me.”

We pointed out that what he was doing was cowardly. We reminded him he was standing behind the defenses of free speech laws, knowing that what he is doing may very well get others killed.  We told him that if he really wanted to show courage, then go to where his actions will get him killed. Then you’ll be courageous," one of us said. "But what you are doing here is gutless.”

His response? “Yes but I’d be killed.”

Geoff Tunnicliffe closed our meeting with the story of William Wilberforce, who chose to give his life to end slavery.

In the recent movie, Amazing Grace, a government minister rose in the British parliament, after the passing of anti-slavery legislation and said in effect: "When we think about heroes our minds go to people like Napoleon. Yet when his head lay on a pillow at night, he dreamt about death and violence. Mr. Wilberforce when your head lies on the pillow tonight, you will think about those you had part in freeing across the world."

At our meeting, Geoff asked Jones to be that kind of hero.

We doubt if he will meet that challenge.

PS

He did follow up with his threat the next day.

What does one make of such a character? Hyper nationalism linked to religious fundamentalism drives people to do what neither their faith nor true national heritage allows. Its synthesis creates a different rational and emotional construct, pressing and permitting behavior that is internally logical to the group but destructive.

How redemptive was the moment? We confronted twisted logic and perverted values.  Inverted by his life and experience, here was a man who confessed to the same Jesus and same Bible as we four, yet galaxies away from the central life of Jesus.

The world is bizarre, allowing minds to compartmentalize so that collateral damage has no emotional effect, seemingly touching no part of their feelings about others. It is all about themselves and their belief: “God has called me.”

Brian C Stiller

Global Ambassador

World Evangelical Fellowship

Holy Mackerel – Our Country is in Trouble – Happy May Day

Misty Hollow Carving

This BLOG is sponsored by “Misty Hollow Carving”. You are welcome to visit Misty Hollow and see all of my carvings.

My Web Site is a like a Gallery – please drop in for a stroll through.

To help me promote my Web Site please copy this URL address and email to someone today http://www.murraylincoln.com/  

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Today’s Blog Post

Holy Mackerel – Our Country is in Trouble – Happy May Day

Almost every day now I read of more people losing their jobs in our Government services.  Each department has had some loss and from the look of it, it seems to be a lot in the Ottawa area.

Where will they go to get jobs? And will they be able to get a job in their field of expertise?  For years they have followed faithfully each day doing and improving their abilities at the job they have.

In our city two more places of business have closed in the last few weeks and months. Actually it may be more than that depending how far you go back.

When people are out of their jobs and no longer collect a salary… they also can no longer pay the huge taxes that they were paying on their salaries. They also will not likely be able to pay the mortgage that they have been carrying.

Now if enough of these people have the same problem and live in the same area, there will be too many houses for sale. Too many houses for sale will mean no one will sell their house.  Many houses then will be into default and the bank will take it over.

I wonder if the Government of Canada will announce the unemployment figures for this period of time?  Maybe not? I think that the cuts have been so great that this department will not be able to report because they do not have the staff.

As you read this from outside of Canada you will not understand I am sure.

But if you are in Spain or Greece you will. The Governments there also are in trouble but even more so the whole country is in great trouble as well.  People need to sell their houses – but cannot. There is no one to buy them.  The Government is in huge trouble but cannot get free of the debt and so it cuts everything… and raises the prices on what they provide – or reduce the amount they pay out – i.e. pensions and benefits. This puts more and more people into a crisis mode. How will they survive?

Yet – a few months ago I was reading about “them” – now I am reading about “us”. Their story is not nearly as important as ours is.  But we need to read their stories so that we can see what is coming next for our Canadian Community.

Gloom and Doom?  I bet you have stopped reading already.  Is it all that bad? Really?

I don’t think it is really. We need to make some huge changes in our decision making. We need to stop doing things that cost huge amounts.

We just got the bill for our get-a-way to Niagara-on-the-Lake. Oh boy.  I should have stayed home… but desperately needed the break from it all in our house.  Now I pay it off slowly. Mind you I did make enough money to pay it off… but… that money was needed to pay off another unexpected bill.

Maybe that is why the Government is in trouble as well.  They made enough to pay off their adventure of the last 10 years, but then some unexpected bills came up.

Bills related to Osama Bin Laden and Omar Gadhafi and the small wars we got involved in.  They were great exercises for our Canadian Military but I am paying for that now.  There is a huge cost involved in these learning experiences.

My Prime Minister and my Government Leaders are all over the world promoting us. Other countries are entertaining our leaders because they see us a place that will buy more of their goods. 

Someone should tell these country leaders that our Prime Minister just has to fire all his Servants from the big and expensive jobs they were doing… we are broke. 

Please stop sending your goods to us – even though we look like we are wealthy – we are not!

But Christmas is coming. It is only 8 months away. The grand kids will need lots of gifts. The kids will need lots of clothing and fun stuff, i-Pads and new Flat Screen TV for their rooms… and definitely a new computer that is bigger, better and smaller at the same time.

Yep – the dark clouds are rolling in from the North East of where we live. That is where Ottawa is.

This is May Day. The day that stops and thinks of all the advancements for Labor and Workers. It is a kind of freedom day I think.

But today a few hundred more of the Servants of Canada are packing their bags and cleaning out their desks.

And empty desk next to the ones that are left will be even more slowing for production in that office. Talk about depressing – your friend was fired and you weren’t.

Pause…

Early this morning in Las Vegas, they imploded a multistory garage. It was so cool watching it blow up and the dust that flew out of it was amazing. As I watched I wondered how long it would take to see the dust to settle and how many things would be affected by that implosion.

In Ottawa today there is lots of dust settling.

In Regina, Winnipeg, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Windsor and city after city the dust is settling from the layoff, dismissal, and job loss.

I am sad today. And if you weren’t before you started reading this – you need to think of our “Canadian friends” that are now without any hope.

Whoah!

~ Murray Lincoln ~

http://www.murraylincoln.com