Friday, September 23, 2011

Vented frustrations and needed information.

Spam and spammers:
 Lately, I have been getting a lot of junk-type email, and comments on my blog. I know, I set myself up for it. Having a blog-site opens doors for many spammers. I do what I can to eliminate Spam. I have all comments forwarded to my email account, so I can see what has been placed in the back pages. When I find them, and I have the time, I delete them. But, some get through anyway, so hopefully you can just ignore them.

The spammers have a bunch of “pat” comments that will readily fit any blog. They will say something like, “Very thoughtful post, thank-you!” then they sign it something like, “Ralph’s Tea Cup Shop”, which is a link to an online tea cup sales site. Most people don’t bother to click the link, but there are other people that just have to click that darn link, like the people that can’t stand to ignore a phone call. If the phone rings, they have to answer. When somebody clicks that link a computer records that a successful forward came from “Ernie’s Place”. That read-out encourages the spammers to put more ads in my blog. So, don’t click on obvious spam, unless you just can’t resist.

Joining face-book was a big, big mistake for me. Yes, I enjoy getting back in touch with some of my long lost friends, but I get emails from people like “Lady Madonna” who wants to be my “friend.” Lady encloses a very provocative photo of herself. She doesn’t look like anybody that I know, and she probably wouldn’t like to know me either unless I paid her well to know me…. Oh!, That’s it… She’s in some kind of business….

Then I get notes from face-book that all my friends have some game going with farm animals and I should join them in the fun. I don’t know, but it doesn’t sound like more fun than I’m all ready having. My friends must have pretty boring lives. Sometimes I wish that I could just go back to not being a face-bookie.

Post office closing:
All this brings me up to the post office. The post office claims that they are losing big-time money, because everybody started using email. That’s probably true. I never send letters to my friends, but I do email them because it works so well. So, maybe it’s just a sign of the times, and we need to get over it.

I know that it is not true of everybody, but my life would be better-off if the post office would disappear from the face of the earth. They send me more junk-mail than you can ever believe. All of the junk is cleverly disguised as “IMPORTANT MAIL” or “check enclosed”, or something else that you know full well is nothing but advertising B.S. But, some of us have to open it anyway, and be mad that we were so stupid, and that we were duped again.

At least when I open a letter, I know that it isn’t that dang tricky Nigerian that emailed me and almost talked me into sending him money to ship me his poor dead fathers gold, the gold that the government won’t let him keep unless he shares it with me. I had the shipping money in an envelope, ready to send, then I found another person in the post office had gotten the same email from Mr. Tricky. I was so mad that he was trying to share his money with everybody that I figured out that he didn’t have enough money to share with me. So, I didn’t send him the shipping money. What a dummy he was, to tell EVERYBODY… Duhhh.

The dratted homeless:
But of course, I have to start out a post like this with a few disclaimers. I probably have more experience with the homeless than most of you, after all they live on my business doorstep. Now, I’m not without compassion, I’ve also probably helped more of the homeless than most of you, so I don’t owe anybody an apology. I call them “homeless” because that is a term that everybody understands. Recently, I’ve heard some very nice names that seem to sooth peoples sensibilities. “Houseless”, “Pre-employed”, and other confusing labels. The one I like best was “alter-sheltered” Whatever anyone calls them, it will eventually become derogatory, so we might as well stick with “homeless” because it sounds better than “bum”.
Lately, I saw a very indignant post about how it would be if I were put on the street, The poster called herself “Den Mom”, which bothers me right off. It seems to me that if you have something to say, you should sign it, especially if you are suggesting that you can solve the homeless problem. You remove half of your credentials with most people when you don’t sign something.

Anyway, Den Moms advice is as follows:
“I think we should do a study. Why don’t we pick 5 people from all walks of “SHELTER”, and place them on the streets of So.hum. with no money, We will give you a very nice sleeping bag, and a back pack if you really want one (which is a sign you are homeless).No contact with any of your love ones, u are on your own and at the mercy of your community. We will keep a journal on how each day went and how easy it was to do the basic human rights, sleep, eat, and we already know we have no public bathroom, so write about how it went for you when your body wants to function. Write about how you feel alone and how you are looked at and judged by the way you look. how many times you were told to move on by our local sheriff. How hungry you got? How you survived….how it feels to live every emotion in front of your community. I think we would learn so much about this topic and what So.hum is lacking. Just skip the thought of a shower, not going to happen. I know this experience will be life changing, and some of us on here need our thoughts about this topic adjusted…
Any takers?”

I did take the liberty of correcting a few typos above, but I assure you, I never changed anything besides changing a few forgotten spaces and the like.

Den Mom's suggestion looses some of it's brilliance when you stop to figure that most of us live our lives in panic, and work very hard NOT to become that person on the street… But, thank you for the clean sleeping bag, and the back pack, I will need them. The thought of no shower wouldn’t be possible for me. I wouldn’t get dirty in the first place, but if I do get dirty, I will swim in the river and scrub myself with sand before I stay dirty. The same goes for my clothes.
I don’t know of one single homeless person that doesn’t know about welfare or homeless shelters, I would access both of those sources right off. I would not starve, I would follow all of their rules about no drugs or alcohol. Any money that I got would go to making myself clean and presentable. I would shave, and be clean, and stay sober, and seek work. Most homeless understand that people don’t like filth. Filth spreads disease and illness, so it is human instinct to drive away pestilence. Folks don’t want to bring any disease home to their families.
By far, the most of the people out there work hard to be part of society and help each other. The people on the streets choose that life, or they let the drugs they use choose for them. Most people were warned to stay away from drugs, so it isn’t like they didn’t make the choice themselves. But as Dave Kirby says:

“Having worked some 30 years in G,ville I have come to the conclusion that there is no set “type” of street person . I don’t think anything is gained by supporting or condemning them as a group. You have a diverse group here. Many are impaired. And some of these folks are heart breaking. They are not getting away with anything, they are barely holding on. Separating the truly needy from the Jr. dead heads and various scammers is difficult at best. I don’t have any easy answers other than to try and treat each other as individuals.

I see people who genuinely want to get homelessness behind them, they generally do so. Oh… the other thing that I would do is, get the heck away from Garberville. The only opportunity here is to become more deeply ingrained in becoming a loser. Garberville is the worst enabling town that I’ve ever seem. Just watch any homeless group on the sidewalk and you will see people give them all sorts of marijuana, cash and other goodies that make their live better in Garberville. What people are doing is helping them stay in their drug addled hand-out dependant life style.

The Dirtiest Man In The World
Oh, I'm Dirty Dan, the world's dirtiest man,
I never have taken a shower.
I can't see my shirt--it's so covered with dirt,
And my ears have enough to grow flowers.

But the water is either a little too hot,
Or else it's a little too cold.
I'm musty and dusty and patchy and scratchy
And mangy and covered with mold.
But the water is always a little too hot,
Or else it's a little too cold.

I live in a pen with five hogs and a hen
And three squizzly lizards who creep in
My bed, and they itch as I squirm, and I twitch
In the cruddy old sheets that I sleep in.

In you looked down my throat with a flashlight, you'd note
That my insides are coated with rust.
I creak when I walk and I squeak when I talk,
And each time I sneeze I blow dust.

The thought of a towel and soap makes me howl,
And when people have something to tell me
They don't come and tell it--they stand back and yell it.
I think they're afraid they might smell me.

The bedbugs that leap on me sing me to sleep,
And the garbage flies buzz me awake.
They're the best friends I've found and I fear they might drown
So I never go too near a lake.

Each evening at nine I sit down to dine
With the termites who live in my chair,
And I joke with the bats and have intimate chats
With the cooties who crawl in my hair.

I'd brighten my life if I just found a wife,
But I fear that will never be
Until I can find a girl, gentle and kind,
With a beautiful face and a sensitive mind,
Who sparkles and twinkles and glistens and shines--

And who's almost as dirty as me.
-Shel Silverstein

64 comments:

Anonymous said...

I guess I think differently than most folks as if I ever found myself homeless I would stay as far from any towns as I could.
I think I would do just fine.

Oregon

Rose said...

I'm with you, Oregon.

Fred Mangels said...

As far as spam goes, Ernie, just filter me out.

But seriously, check your comment or moderation preferences. I forget which one it is. You can select to moderate any comments from posts over 3 days old. That's worked for me as most spammers seem to focus on the older posts.

Jon said...

Spam back in the can. Gmail lets me trash all the spam with two clicks. Should an Email come to my address from someone whom I have not corresponded with on a previous occasion, SPAM key to the can. Blog wise, can not comment due to I HAVE NO BLOG.

Post Office started going broke when the Main Post Offices started leasing their buildings from investors. Used to be that the US Government owned the necessary building....Don't get me going on what Dr. Franklin was talking about and what Dr. Frankenstein has handed us.

Homeless. I agree with Oregon, and hope not to run into him far away from Town, but would invite him to my camp fire for a good Yabut stew. Heck, I will roast a fat porcupine for us. Oregon, bring some salt and we can rub it into Ernie's wounds from the GOD posting.

Ernie said...

If it weren't for modern medicine most of us would already be dead anyway, but living in the hills of California is out of the question, the wilderness has been taken over by the dope growers. Sheriff Tom Allman told me they have removed over 40 miles of pipe. People are being killed for venturing off the road. Recently two "real" (like in non-dope grower) people were killed in Fort Brag for stepping off the road.

Ross Sherburn said...

Ernie,thanks for sending this Coastal weather over our way, here in the North Valley.

spyrock said...

there always has been white people living off the land on the edge of whatever small town exists up there. they called them poisonoakers, sqauwmen, orginal settlers and now homeless. i guess it depends on whose looking at you.

Anonymous said...

Even though there was no evidence of marijuana growing being associated with either of the Ft. Bragg deaths, you infer that the two people were killed because of marijuana grows. You were the first on Kym's blog to make a snide comment about potgrowing when the awful news of the ex-mayors death came out and never retracted your error there either.
I grant you that going off road is very dangerous in many parts, but feeding anti-pot growing sentiments with your inaccurate statements serves only hysteria.

Anne on a Mouse said...

I agree. Dark fantasies of the sort that cause knee jerk reactions which state that every murder you hear of must be pot related, etc., are born from the person's fear. Not very different than a child's primitive fear that every dark shadow or noise outside their window must be the boogieman. The adult's fear when it's shared with others, (on blogs etc.)adds to an evolving hysteria which breeds more fear, and then the new fears breeds more hysteria, in a vicious snowballing circle of innuendos and gut reactions which lead to defensive postures of us against them. Both sides escalate thier oppositional stances. Meanwhile the hysteria of people viewing things as being "out of control" is just what they want to happen so that they can step in and take back total control, (for your own good, off course, and your children's).

Ernie Branscomb said...

Come on Anon, you are getting more ridiculous everyday. I said "dope grower". Jere Merlo was killed near a field on Opium Poppies. I know that Opium is also medicinal.

Not one single person advocates growing anything on public land. Not marijuana, not opium, not magic mushrooms. Public land is for everybody’s enjoyment, not for the greedy gratification of the scum of the earth growing dope for profit. (notice I said "Dope for profit" NOT MEDICINE.) I have no problem with a terminal cancer patient using marijuana to take his pain away, and help his appetite, in fact I would even vote for his right to do so, and I DID.

There are growers that grow medicinal marijuana, on their own property and with a 215 permit. I doubt like hell that the man that killed Merlo had any kind of a permit. For you to defend outlaw growers shames us all. Also, I have a hard time respecting anything that anybody says that can’t sign his name.

Ernie Branscomb said...

Anne, Grow up and quit defending the rogues. They take away any semblance of respectability to the profession. Just because they grow marijuana does not mean that they should be protected at all costs. The dope grower that murdered Jere Merlo is the scum of the earth period... I can't believe that anybody would want to respect him. P.S. I don't. Where the hell is your brain?

Anonymous said...

Tell it like it is, Ernie!

Instead of "homeless," I suggest they try drugless.

RP

Anonymous said...

"The dope grower that murdered Jere Merlo is the scum of the earth period... I can't believe that anybody would want to respect him."

Wow, that is a quantum leap! I have read and re-read all the comments and I don't see anyone trying to "respect" this guy.

Where did you come up with that? I thought Anne and Anonymous made pretty good points.

Ernie Branscomb said...

Both Anon and Anne built their own straw man, put their words in my mouth, then condemned me for being down on Marijuana.

I thought that I was pretty clear that I was down on the type of people that would take over the public property for their own purposes. I remember when all that a person had to worry about in the parks were rattlesnakes and bears.

I am sorry that I got provoked by being misunderstood to the point that I got snippy.

I want to make myself real clear, the parks don't belong to the dope growers, and marijuana is valuable drug when used properly.

Anne on a Mouse said...

I don't see anyone trying to "respect" this guy. Where did you come up with that?

LOL! And then he accuses me of building a straw man and putting words in his mouth.

Ernie Branscomb said...

Is ridiculouser a word?

Anne on a Mouse said...

Once again it looks like Suzy was right. At first I doubted her when she told me that a reasonable discussion with Ernie wasn't possible but she warned me, "he has no capacity for understanding". She told me that it is largely due to the fact that "he is a terrible listener". Her words, not mine.

Ernie Branscomb said...

The problem that I have, is not that I don't listen, I do. I can even make sense out of most of what Suzy says.

Where I have trouble is, where people put words in my mouth. Why don't you just make clear direct statements about your knowledge, and leave what you think that I say alone?

A good example is your quote at September 26, 2011 10:35 PM:

“I don't see anyone trying to "respect" this guy. Where did you come up with that? “

I’m not sure if you thought that I said that, or you were simply agreeing with the person that really said it. Actually, Anon said it at September 26, 2011 7:25 PM.

Anon was referring to my statement:

“Sheriff Tom Allman told me they have removed over 40 miles of pipe. People are being killed for venturing off the road. Recently two "real" (like in non-dope grower) people were killed in Fort Brag for stepping off the road.”

When Anon accused me of:

“Even though there was no evidence of marijuana growing being associated with either of the Ft. Bragg deaths, you infer that the two people were killed because of marijuana grows.”

No…. actually Anon was the one that “inferred” I said "Marijuana". I said DOPE, he said MARIJUANA. Opium is still a class one DOPE.

I won’t even began to explain what I know about the Marijuana that was OR was not involved, because I don’t want to be more deeply misquoted. But as far as I am concerned anybody that would string out 40 miles of pipe on public land get NO respect from me…. There I said it… NO RESPECT

Anonymous said...

Ernie, you are coward and a liar. A coward because instead of replying to Den Mom on Kym's blog, you snuck over to your own blog, a blog that she doesn't frequent, to discuss her idea with very little chance of any rebuttal from her. And a liar because you fantasize about what you would do if you took up her challenge, but the truth is, you would NEVER take up that challenge because you know that if you did, you wouldn't last more than one day.

Anne on a Mouse said...

I’m not sure if you thought that I said that, or you were simply agreeing with the person that really said it.

Ernie, Ernie, Ernie! Try paying attention.

spyrock said...

Afghanistan has been the greatest illicit opium producer in the entire world, ahead of Burma (Myanmar) and the "Golden Triangle" since 1992, excluding the year 2001[1]. Afghanistan is the main producer of opium in the "Golden Crescent". Opium production in Afghanistan has been on the rise since U.S. occupation started in 2001. Based on UNODC data, there has been more opium poppy cultivation in each of the past four growing seasons (2004–2007) than in any one year during Taliban rule. Also, more land is now used for opium in Afghanistan than for coca cultivation in Latin America. In 2007, 92% of the opiates on the world market originated in Afghanistan.[2] This amounts to an export value of about $4 billion, with a quarter being earned by opium farmers and the rest going to district officials, insurgents, warlords, drug traffickers.[3] In the seven years (1994–2000) prior to a Taliban opium ban, the Afghan farmers' share of gross income from opium was divided among 200,000 families.[4] In addition to opiates, Afghanistan is also the largest producer of hashish in the world.[5][6]
can someone please tell me why our war on drugs always seems to increase production, increase profits, and increase the number of dead americans. my whole idea of coming on this blog was to find a way to visit the homestead my mother grew up on next to shell rock creek about a mile from spyrock on the eel. last time i tried to visit, i got as far as iron peak mountain and the locked gate on simmerly road. within 5 minutes someone drove by in an extra cab and asked me what i was doing. it was crazy larry, a local for 30 years, trying to warn me as nice as he could to leave. i told him my family owned the land we were standing on all the way down to the river for 100 years. he just laughed.
i'm for legalization and ron paul is the only one running for president that has the right idea about freedom. when you take away one person's freedom, you take away everyone's freedom. we have tried ernie's way of making it illegal since the 30's basically to make it worthwhile cutting down the old growth redwoods to make newspapers instead of cheaper hemp. this gave ernie a job, so he is loyal to his old boss hearst newspapers. this is why he doesn't listen and probably never will and people will keep dying on public land and i will never see where my mom grew up in spyrock.
but i still like ernie just the way he is, none of this is really his fault at all, and he has a right to his own opinion and i am grateful that he lets me give my 2 cents worth.
he probably has bad hearing by now and i have met very few people who were good listeners. the best listeners never say anything at all. but we are all connected and although it may not seem like it at times, we all live here on the same planet.

Ernie Branscomb said...

“Ernie, you are coward and a liar. A coward because instead of replying to Den Mom on Kym's blog, you snuck over to your own blog, a blog that she doesn't frequent, to discuss her idea with very little chance of any rebuttal from her. And a liar because you fantasize about what you would do if you took up her challenge, but the truth is, you would NEVER take up that challenge because you know that if you did, you wouldn't last more than one day.”

Mighty brave talk from someone that won’t even sign his name. I know, Thomas Jefferson wrote anonymously, but he signed his name to the important stuff.
Anon, I don't want to clutter Kym's blog with this stuff.

charlie two crows said...

Everyone can we please have a history time out!
I'm interested in pickled smelt. From mattole or cove area. In the 70's my family lived next to the reservation in smith river. And we would help indian women dry smelt on long narrow sand ridges on the beach. Then they pickled them in wood barrels with a red sauce. They were great. The old women would not give the recipe. Did any indians or whites do this in SOHUM. I need a local recipe. And does anyone still practice this method locally?
Ernie, you said you pickled mussels. Is this the same recipe? Ernie,OMR,Spy,can you help me?
I found a Gov. WyFI open. Hell they Track everything.

G. Hays said...

C2C-- I think you will find many recipes for red herrings on the blogs, but I don't know of any for red smelt.
Politi is my word verification.

Anonymous said...

PICKLED MUSSELS,
sounds like trap bait to me...

Oregon

Anonymous said...

I see, so the reason that you are too much of a coward to comment to Den Mom face to face, and instead sneak over here and insult her behind her back, is because you are so considerate, you don't want to clutter up Kym's blog with the reply's of others which might show what a phony you are.

You have absolutely no evidence or proof that you could survive in the outdoors living as a homeless person yet you don't hesitate in posting your BS fairy story about how you would bathe in the river and scrubb yourself with sand etc., because you want to perpetuate more bias against the "lazy homeless bums". You are nothing but bluff, when it comes to the day to day reality of being completely broke and living on the streets, a flabby middle income guy like you wouldn't last more than a day.

Forest Queen said...

Hysterical!!!

Ernie Branscomb said...

Anon said: "You have absolutely no evidence or proof that you could survive in the outdoors living as a homeless person."

It is difficult to explain you someone else what I know in my heart. Many people that knew me as a younger man would readily prove you wrong.

You may take great satifaction in knowing that twice in my life I had no business, and no income. I owed thousands of dollars more than I was worth, but I made arraingments with the people that I owed, went to work and paid every penny. I didn't go bankrupt, because I made a promise to the people that I owed. I am way past normal retirement age and still working because I kept my promise to pay my bills.

I don't know why I'm even talking to an asshole that won't sign his name. Where do you get off calling ME a coward?

Anonymous said...

Ernie, I don't know why you even respond to anon. Too bad you don't have an APP that filters out the ones that don't sign their name.
I bet anon talks to you personally every day and acts like a real human being.
anon is the coward.

Oregon

Anonymous said...

Whining that you are misunderstood doesn't convince me that you are any less of a phony and bluff. I'll believe otherwise when I see you actually taking up Den Mom's challenge.

Ernie Branscomb said...

You're right Oregon, I shouldn't have let him get my goat, it's just that he is so damn wrong!

I remember a time when you, I, or John would have had no problem without a home. I am glad that he didn't say that we would have to do without salt. Anybody that lives in the wilderness knows the need for salt.

I wonder how Charlie two crows survives out there.

I’m through trying to explain. It was a dumb premise to began with...

Anybody can be a derilict or a drug addict, most of us would rather earn a living and pay our bills

Anonymous said...

Anybody can be a derilict or a drug addict

More of Ernie's twisted bias against people who are without homes, but absolutely no realistic discussion of the issue.

Robin Shelley said...

Speaking of surviving in the wild, the guy who's charged with killing Matt Coleman & Jere Melo seems to be doing a pretty good job of it.

charlie two crows said...

Ernie, how do I survive in the desert? First I bought a book on all the plants I could eat. And went from there. Anyone can learn to gather and hunt to survive. If one really wants to. The same could be done in your area. But as long as the welfare dept. Of humboldt gives out General relief checks of 139 dollars a month to single men. And stamps plus a little pan handling. The unwilling will continue to follow the minimal source. They will never live on there own away from town. Also single men aren't allowed to stay in mission beds in the summer. The county says they can stay outside and fend for themselves. That's not a cruel opinion. Its just the way it is.

Anonymous said...

You can live in the desert for two months on one tomato. If you have plenty of food and water to go with it.

pissed off said...

Anon 5:09 you don't know what hungry is! Your spoiled! Just like the gang at the park! You don't know what its like to be crying while eating your own dog to stay alive!! Your pathetic self! Your not even on the same page as me!!!!!!!!
Peace* from the Desert

Ernie Branscomb said...

Thank-you for some perspective "Desert"

I could help but remembering a little bit the North Coast history:


"White people talk ’bout hard time. I never seen it yet, this country. Round Valley. Once, long ago, hard winter, too much long snow, rain, can’t get nothing to eat. People begin to eat their deerskin. Had pepperwood nuts gathered. Each of us little ones get four pepperwood nuts for supper, swinge hair off, blister skin by fire. It all swell up, look like bread rising, then eat. Every two days, they eat like this. That’s the only hard time I see.

When snow going off, Father went out, can’t walk far. Too weak. Eat nothing. Find big white fungus on black oak. He bring it home, pound up fine, heat up rock, put in water, cook in basket. Then find long grass under trees, dry it in basket over fire. Pound it for pinole.

Got no roots, pound manzanita berries, stone and all, make pinole.

On Mad River, white oaks have black moss, pound it out, squeeze it out, cook it thick, taste like acorns. Pretty black, but glad to eat.

Wolf starving too, catch deer, down in deep snow. Wolf eat buck meat too much, throw it up. Our people find it, wash off, cook, eat it. That’s what I call hard winter."


Lucy Young, Lassik and Wintun. Survivor of the Fort Seward indian massacres

spyrock said...

Further, the Delta's fish population is in question. The Delta is home to approximately 22 species of fish including the Delta smelt, a key indicator species for the health of the Delta's ecosystem. In 2004, the Delta smelt was found to be on the edge of extinction.[2]
i hope the smelt are doing better in the mattole and cove area and this is a much more important issue as the smelt are a key indicator of the health of the ecosystem up there. lots of smelt, good ecosystem. few smelt, too much water diversion in pipe lines to pot or opium plants and too much soap in the water from homeless people bathing too much in the river. as a fellow flabby person, i take offense at the words of the skinny homeless advocate. i don't have anything against homeless people myself. i try to respect everyone as a rule. but i have worked my entire life, over 40 years at my present job. and if i didn't have this job, there are quite a few different directions i could go to make a living.
i really don't plan on retiring. i will retire from my current job in around 2 years, but i will keep working doing something else. as a flabby working person, i did try being a homeless person when i was younger. i gave all my money to god and gave away all my possessions twice. i lived for about 3 months with no money. i worked most of that time but i gave away all the money i made. it was an amazing feeling, real freedom, but to my surprize, people around me treated me like a king and i had to beg to have a chore to help out. i actually had women seeking me out. who knew where i would be now if i would have stayed in that situation. instead, i went back to work in 100 degree heat. in conclusion, to me being homeless is fun, but a real man is a working man. he is the one who puts bread on the table, pays for his kids college education long after they have graduated and he is the one who pays the taxes that feed the homeless. the california indian could be considered homeless by todays standards, but he would never think that way. the earth was his home, the earth was his mother and provided for his every need and the sky was his father who watched over his peeps. crazyhorse was a shirt wearer. one of the few warriors who had the honor of feeding the people or the tribe. he put family or the people before his own trivial pursuits. he was what you call a real man. i don't care if you want to be free as long as its not at anyone else's expense. i know a lot of 40 year old kids out there that are still playing the hippie game living off their mom's social security yet they know freaking everything. i have sweated a river in my lifetime of work. have a sip. this is what sweat tastes like.

Ernie Branscomb said...

“Idealist: One who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup”
Henry Louis Mencken

“Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.”
Willian F. Buckley

“Cynics regarded everybody as equally corrupt... Idealists regarded everybody as equally corrupt, except themselves.”
Unatributed

Anne on a Mouse said...

@Pissed Off. So because you ate your dog that makes Charlie Two Crows spoiled and pathetic. I don't know where you got that idea? I see Charlie as a dignified person with a lot of self reliance and self esteem. And unless you have an explanatory story to put that pitiful act of eating your own dog into some kind of rational context --it is you who are pathetic. And probably insane.

Anne on a Mouse said...

the california indian could be considered homeless by todays standards, but he would never think that way. the earth was his home, the earth was his mother and provided for his every need and the sky was his father who watched over his peeps.

I know a few people who have those same beliefs and walk that very path, today. They are viewed as "homeless" to most.

Ernie Branscomb said...

Anne
I suspect that we are all victims of unatributed, and confusing, quotes on this blog. The fact of the matter is, I find in history there were very sane people that actually got hungry enough to eat each other.

I think that was "Desert's" point. The homeless park people are taken care of to the extent that they are not starving to death, but any help beyond that only enables them to spend money on things that actually do more harm than good.

ANYONE that wants to get away from homelessness can. Most don't want to have to be good citizens. Some have ruined their own lives and some have mental problems. So those belong in care facilities. The rest need to get a job.

Anne on a Mouse said...

The rest need to get a job.

Maybe they should hitchhike to China.

Anonymous said...

"Maybe they should hitchhike to China".
Now that is a good idea, wish I had thought of that myself.
If any of you folks plan on eating your dog, make sure you cook it, otherwise you will overdose on vitamin A. Just a warning.

Oregon

C2c said...

Last summer a woman her dog and seven year old son came to death valley to find charlie manson's cabin. They drove a new black jeep. They carried snacks and 12 8oz bottles of water. Later that day she was lost and the and the jeep was stuck. Five days later when they were found. The woman and dog were alive. But the seven year old was dead from heat stroke. The dog lived!! Did you understand? The DOG lived!! So was she crazy?
Who chose who died? The dog? The temp. That week was 140 deg. On the valley floor.
Peace* from the desert.

Anne on a Mouse said...

The fact of the matter is, I find in history there were very sane people that actually got hungry enough to eat each other.

Yes in history. But Pissed Off didn't live in history. They live in the 20th/21st century. Why didn't they walk and hitchhike out of there and panhandle to get themselves and the dog some food, like any sane person would do? Maybe there is some kind of unprovided true explanation for such atrocious behavior, but until I hear Pissed Off offer some excuse, I tend to think that a person who would eat their own dog with tears streaming down their face is crazy.

charlie two crows said...

Anne, so when did history start and stop for you.
And what Excuse do you want?
Or will crazy always be the resolve!
I'm sorry your so disconnected to events that really happen in peoples lives!
You mentioned 20/21 century. Read the story of soccer players that crashed in the Andes in the 70's they ate the dead. And you condemn me for a dog!
Were they crazy? Or just hungry?
I know. I bet you own a dog!
Peace* from the Desert
AKA pissed off*

Ben said...

Ernie... I would like to gently suggest you move to WordPress to take advantage of thei Reply feature.. It makes for far saner comment strings when the list gets long and far afield.
I've had my own history of "homelessness" more tan once, many years ago.

Anne on a Mouse said...

And what Excuse do you want?

Bad choice of words, what I meant was an explanation. Why did you have to eat your dog?

I'm sorry your so disconnected to events that really happen in peoples lives!

Why in the world would you expect me to be "connected" to every fragment of an "event" that happens to some stranger on a blog, especially when I have no idea of what circumstances caused the event? I can't read your mind Charlie, I'm sorry if your life included such a thing. But can you answer my question above (Why didn't you walk and hitchhike out of there and panhandle to get some food?) instead of expecting me to imagine the full story when all you tell is that you ate your dog, but nothing about the circumstances surrounding it. It's not a normal situation. Can you see that with out any explanation of "why" it really sound pretty crazy. If it happened that you were in a plane crash in the Andes, or some other radical situation that can explain why you undertook such drastic measures to feed yourself, than please tell. But to just drop that on the comment thread with out any accompanying explanation says nothing.

Forest Queen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anne on a Mouse said...

btw Charlie, I meant what I said above, "I see Charlie as a dignified person with a lot of self reliance and self esteem." From reading your other posts I stick by that. I don't think you are crazy. I just don't understand what circumstances led up to you taking such a radical step.

Anonymous said...

Looking at our seventeen year old half Pitbull mix,I think she would taste like Chicken???

You guys need to lighten up,are "all" you ignorant folks from San Jose??? San Jose sure "bred" some stupid folkers,back in the Fifties.
They were a bunch of Tree Huggers,but their houses were made of wood,which mostly came out of the North Coast............

Ernie Branscomb said...

Anne
I apologize, But I'm laughing behind my hand at some of your comments. I normally wouldn't say this, but I'm still stinging from your comments about I "just don't listen". Then you put those words in Suzy's mouth.. double sting... Because Suzy is usually not that mean.

You got very confused, mainly because you didn't listen.

I listen with my heart, and Charlie doesn't lie. So, of course I was deeply touched by his hunger story. I don't need him to explain, I can accept what he tells me.

Sadly, he doesn't always agree with me. But mostly he tries to not be mean. It seems that I once said that about Suzy Blah Blah.

There was also a bunch of unfair comments on this post. I didn't delete anything, because I think that most people can sort things out for themselves.

Ben
I would like to change to a thread/comment following format, but blogger allows anyone that signs up as a blogger to delete their own comments, anytime that they want. If they make a mistake they can delete it. Or, as the case may be, if they sober up they can delete it. The only time that I delete anything if when somebody attacks another person and doesn't sign it. I will delete that in a heartbeat. I've only had to delete one very recent comment, otherwise I haven't deleted anything but spam in several years.

Ernie Branscomb said...

The comment above was deleted by the person that made the comment. Either they thought better of it, or they made a mistake, so it was easily deleted.

One time I made a typo on one single letter of one single word. The mistake changed my statement from a wonderful compliment to a filthy slur. It was on Eric's blog before he left blogger, I was able to delete it myself before anybody read it. I was so relieved that I almost passed out. I remember my horror, my fingers could barely move over the keyboard to delete it. I swore that I would never take that option away from my posters. I'm just hoping that blogger will move into comment following.

Ernie Branscomb said...

Ben
As you know, I respect you more than most other people. So I hope you don't mind a few personal questions... You don't have to answer.

You said that you were homeless. Was it by choice? What made you decide to get out of it? And How difficult was it for you to leave "homeless" behind?

spyrock said...

back in the day, kerouac was the man out on the road discovering america. yo ho ho ho, a hobo's life for me.
back in my little town in the 50's there were bamboo grooves on the edge of town where hobo's lived. sometimes these guys would pick peaches but mostly they drank a bottle and hung around the bars down town. there was a little old lady called indian mary, i used to see her every day on my paper route. i couldn't understand what she said but all the hobos have these designer places to hang out these days like up your way in lawlessville. so we only get a few passing through on their way north.

spyrock said...

speaking of indian mary, ther was another mary that marysville was named after. there was a family legend that they named marysville after mary simmerely. there was a mary simmerly but the lady who ran the queen city market was marrianne shuler chandon, the mother of charlotte chandon who married samuel simmerly and john simmerely was their son and he had a daughter named mary. but it was someone on this blog that told me that they didn't name marysville after one of my simmerely relatives. they named it after another mary who was with the donner party as a child. she married a big land owner in marysville so they named the town after her. which led to most people in those days calling it cannibal city instead.

Forest Queen said...

Once again it looks like Suzy was right. At first I doubted her when she told me that a reasonable discussion with Ernie wasn't possible but she warned me, "he has no capacity for understanding". She told me that it is largely due to the fact that "he is a terrible listener". Her words, not mine.

Spot on Annie, right on.. im with you all the way... dudes on this bolg are most all dumbass rednecks, ecxept for spyrock hes cool, "designer lounge" LOL@ but the others are mostlly totolly striaght and it gets tiring trying to hip them to stuf f you and i come s natrual too.. LOLQ
. Erine is in the lead with his hammmer lol --but he's a nice guy- LOL@
luv you
what kinda crazy fuch wiuld eat ther e own fucking dog and not want to say why LOL@ shheeeesh@ what won't they, come up with, if some dick trys eating Lulu hes gonna have some answering to do, beleive me!!! what you dont wannna talk mother fucker take THiS@@@ huh,@@@

you know what I"'m again tomorrow my phone still doesn't work, sucks, check facebook too, sorry if i fucked up your puter, tell D that I still have her neckalas ... no more time, later, gotto go , fast lol, see you in the morning. miss you.

oh oh ernie i just wanted to tell eviryone so that they nkow and are assured and egerything that you are an upwright honest man ... that was Suzy who deleted that comment before.. it was all full of mistakes and i didnt have time ant the time to fix it.
huggles
s

spyrock said...

i actually have another claim to fame me being one of the first people to frequent haight street back in the fall of 1965. i remember that some rich kid that had run away from home or came up from san jose for the day asked me for spare change on haight street in the fall of 1966. and i did see a homeless man taking showers at my school beneath the cafeteria in the spring of 1966. but he didn't ask for anything. by the spring of 67, asking for spare change and sleeping in the park were a common occurance. the diggers moved in and started feeding people and steering them to communes. the best place to get a lot of food was the foghorn fish and chips shop next to the bowling alley. you could get about 4 deep fried battered fish and a whole newspaper vinegar wraped bunch of french fries for about two bucks. two bucks to get into the avalon. and all the music in the panhandle and park for free.
the only people who worked in those days were the rock stars.

Anne on a Mouse said...

loving you "s"

skippy said...

One big happy family. Good morning, afternoon, or good nite and God bless Ernie, Spyrock, Charlie, Anne, Suzy, Ben, Ross and Rose, Robin, G., Fred, Jon, and all the Anonymooses in the house. Peace to you and yours.

Ernie Branscomb said...

G'nite Skippy Boy.

spyrock said...

and all the Anonymooses in the house. Peace to you and yours.

so just be warned, sarah palin is going to decide to run for president any day now. she just has to figure out if she has a chance. and if her new slogan. a moose in every pot. will win her the coming election. of course, after all the hacking of her emails, ms palin is not too found of gotcha computer freaks who sign their name anonymoose.
so probably, you can expect a tax on anonymoose bloging of 35 percent to offset the 35 percent reduction in the taxes of the richest 1 percent of americans whose companies have all moved to china.
so of course you will have to buy a anonymoose license. a couple of bucks more if you want to use a helicopter.

Ben said...

When I was homeless, I was "bummiing around" back when I was 20 or so... It is now called couch surfing, I believe. I lived on next to nothing for months but I could always go back home. Later, my wife and I moved to the Bay area and lived in our VW van until I found a job and we got an apartment.