I am CuTRis

I would like to take this moment to send kudos to President George W. Bush. After only five years in office, he has said something that made sense. People should drive less, in order to save gas. Who’d a thought it? It reminds me of President Jimmy Carter, who asked us all to conserve energy back in the 1970’s. Perhaps we should have listened. What happened to change that? Oh yeah… now I remember. It was Reagonomics. That makes sense, because last time the USA financed everything, Ronald Reagan was President. Still, George W. Bush is beating Reagan at this by far. I reckon the deficit will wreck things in this country for a while. I don’t think you can give tax breaks to the wealthy, finance a war and cleanup after a hurricane without breaking the bank. Still, that thing about using less gas is good isn’t it?

It was a beautiful day for a fire drill, and we had one at the Jr. High where I work. The bell rang, we filed out and I held the door as the students “escaped.” Then, all too quickly we were called back inside. I walked out to the fringes and called out for the kids to head inside. That was when I saw it. A small kid, probably a 7th grader, threw a pebble… or whatever it was and I heard the “ping,” as it hit a car in the parking lot. He was busted! I told the kid he was coming to the office with me. He was bummed. Just before we got to the door, I asked him why he was throwing rocks at cars. He mumbled something. Then I asked him, “how about if you get to class and don’t ever do that again? Without a word, he hurried in and up the stairs. I think that those few moments that he thought he was in trouble were befitting of his “crime.” I’m sure that the car has been hit by pebbles following trucks too. KJC

So, while working in detention at the school, sometimes I have to put discipline information on the kids' records. It reminded me of talking to my friend Mark about our “permanent records.” Back in school (I went to Richfield), the teachers used to tell us that something we did (wrong) was going to go on our “permanent record!” How ominous this sounded! Mark and I were wondering where our permanent records are… now… today… We would joke about things like seeing each other’s permanent record being moved by a forklift, or perhaps being pulled by the Budweiser Clydesdales on a wagon. It got pretty funny actually! The truth of the matter, however, is somewhat different. It seems that when I g ot my new job with the school district, my permanent record (from when I was in school), was trucked down to the school district where I am now working. They had to warehouse it in the bus garage, where it accidentally tipped over and crushed three school busses. Mark’s permanent record has to be ...

So I am now working as a detention monitor at a Jr. High School. I told the people who hired me about my experience working with drug addicts and convicts when I was with the county. Now, it seems that the students are talking about the “prison guard” that watches detention. I never told anyone that I was a prison guard…

Beyond the obvious problems with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, there are a few things that I find really bothersome. First, if you want to fix the flooding problem, it isn’t enough to create levees and dikes. The wetlands need to be reestablished. As a volunteer ranger in the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, I spend lots of time hiking the wetlands and river bottoms. I know that the only reason this wonderful wilderness area isn’t being developed, is because it floods. By allowing that area to continue to exist, the cities aren’t flooded and the byproduct is that habitat is available for the wildlife. Humans arrogantly think that they are so important, that they can destroy the habitat of other animals. What should be remembered is that what injures one often injures all. The destruction of wetlands increases the likelihood of floods. On the topic of arrogant humans, I find it upsetting that people weren’t allowed to take their pets when they evacuated the disaster zone...

I don’t do yoga, but I like how the different poses/exercises are named after animals. I have decided to create a new pose, named in honor of the bird that messed up the kitchen window. It is called, DOWNWARD POOPING GOOSE

After being bombarded by horrific images of the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, I have only a few things to say. First, the fact that after four days, help is so late in arriving makes me think that too many of our resources and personnel are in other countries fighting what has now become, another country’s civil war. Second, I remember as a child when I found out that New Orleans was both near the ocean and below sea level, that this was probably not a good place for a city. See “Atlantis.” Third, after working in a poor, depressed part of town, I know from experience that we can’t expect many of the people to behave in a civilized way, especially in light of the current conditions. Martial law will need to be established. Fourth, had we stayed the course started by President Jimmy Carter, we would not be this dependent on fossil fuels. With gas now at over $3 per gallon, I want to “thank” Ronald Reagan for reversing that course. I can’t believe some people want his face on money! Fi...

September 1, 2005 Sky Drop By Kevin J. Curtis It was early morning, predawn. The engines were already going as Fritz boarded the airplane. He had just emptied his guts on the tarmac not more than two minutes ago. This was his first jump into a battle zone. He had jumped several times before, but never into combat. He sat in the airplane, still feeling nauseous. His stomach was tied into knots as he tried to imagine what was in store for him. He was one of the best of the best. He was army airborne. He had trained for this day, and now, just three days from his nineteenth birthday, he was about to jump into hostile territory on his first mission. There were others like him… first timers. They were all in various states of nervousness, some more than Fritz and some less. The combat veterans were quiet and portrayed a calm that was foreign to the first timers. Inside, each man was dealing with his own mortality as the plane lurched forward and lifted off into the sky. As they rose higher,...

Periodically I wonder about important things like whether there are “pervious” materials. It only makes sense, if we have impervious materials that there must be pervious ones too. This morning it was raining. I had my window open, and though the temperature was comfortable, it was definitely a bit humid. I watched my Beta (fish) “Spaz,” swimming around in his bowl, darting through the roots of his plant. I started to wonder if fish feel humidity? Have you noticed the news lately… unfortunately? Everyday seems to be the most violent day yet in Iraq. The next news story will likely be, oil prices reached a new record high today! Then they will have some really enlightening news about smoking causing cancer, or eating causing obesity. Why don’t they talk about how humidity affects fish? I was reading the Beer News this morning, and it talked about how an official from Belgium cancelled his lunch with an Iranian official, because the Iranian insisted that beer not be served, because it...

I'm fighting with Providence again. They lost my certified letter with the second round of proof that I moved and transferred my vehicle to Minnesota. I've been hung-up on, disconnected, told I'd be called back, and told they didn't know their own fax number... Someone should really do an investigation of this. They are threatening me about taxes on a car I don't own anymore for years I didn't live there. No matter how many times I provide proof, they continue to tax me... I’ve already paid for more than the time I lived there. It is roughly 99.5 cents per day that they charged me for the excise tax to own a car in their city of boarded up buildings, ghetto and crime. ------------------------------------------------------------ Cut to commercial… Picture of that bearded guy from the Christian Children’s Fund… “This is Guido. He is a mobbed-up politician from Providence, Rhode Island. Guido lives in a 19-room house in the affluent section of the city, far from th...

He Who Goes First By Kevin J. Curtis This is the story of a Mongol warrior who lived during Jenghiz Khan’s empire. It is a new look at a frequently misunderstood culture and history. The participants are not bound by ideals of what is good or bad. Like their ancestor the wolf, they do not act out of cruelty or mercy. They live by a natural law, which has been lost on modern society. To judge them in the midst of our politically correct, industrialized world is like trying to convince a caveman of the merits of having a personal computer. Jenghiz Khan was perhaps the most brilliant uneducated man in history. He was a master of human nature. The men who helped him create his empire, like He-Who-Goes-First, were making their lives from the “raw materials” of the times they lived in. The warrior in this story struggles with his spirituality and his role as a soldier. ISBN: 1-4137-4190-8, 165 pages, 5.5 x 8. $16.95 plus $3.00 Shipping & Handling (.50 per additional copy) Phone orders (...

August 17, 2005 Cycle 3, Blue Planet Interstellar Traveler, Unglip Reporting. I have returned to the Blue Planet in search of intelligent life. Last time, my findings were inconclusive. The temperature was lower today, below 17 helo-hectars. The bipedal beings have not changed much in the past rotation around the star. They still drive quad-rolling transport devices, and most of them are still vocalizing into small radio devices that they hold against their auditory canals. It seems that none of them are very good at both driving a quad-rolling transport and using a radio vocalizer at the same time. I would have thought that during the past solar orbit they would have improved their skills. It seems that their lack of intelligence is more so than I had first anticipated. They are still using prehistoric biotoxins to power almost everything. The residue has caused significant damage to the environmental well-being of this planet. Again, the bipedal beings seem to be too ignorant to fig...

It was only a month ago when I went on my road-trip and was paying more for gasoline than ever before. It was averaging about $2.35 per gallon. Today, a month later it is averaging $2.65 per gallon. Yesterday when gas was varying between $2.45 and $2.69 per gallon, I put my car in the garage and took my bicycle for a 20-mile ride through the trails in Fort Snelling State Park. I chose not to drive somewhere to hike. I’m afraid we all need to find ways to use less gas, because the price isn’t going to come down. Our political leadership comes from families who have long made their money from petroleum profits. That could also explain why the Saudis are considered allies of the USA, even though they spawn, grow and fund more terrorists than any other country. Oil, it seems, is the civilized world’s drug of choice. The repercussions of this can be seen in environmental damage, and slowly but surely, the downfall of our economy. The rich can’t see beyond their greed, but the cost of oil ...

Check this site written by me and my friend Dave... http://shirleyink.angelcities.com/robogoat.html

I enjoy making my own beer and wine. Beer it seems is more complicated and I consider it somewhat of an art. Wine, is easy in my opinion… like finger-painting. That said, I am obviously not making wine “the right way,” because I don’t add all of those chemicals and crap. I’m quite sure that I am doing it wrong, though to me personally, I only care about how it tastes a year from now. Wine making for me, usually involves picking the fruit out in the woods. I made a raspberry wine early in July, which is still fermenting. This past Saturday, I picked a bunch of wild grapes along the river. This involved a long bicycle ride on the trails and the lengthy process of removing the stems and sorting out any undesirable things like spiders and bugs. If you are familiar with the small, wild, purple grapes that grow in Minnesota, they are horribly tart. I have found, however, that by adding honey, I can come up with an absolutely delicious wine! After sterilizing, cooking, straining, adding… I fi...

Forward: The state of Rhode Island boasts a Dept. of Motor Vehicles, that is geared to make you wait hours/days, so that you find out that you need to go to yet another place and spend more money before you can return for more hours/days to start the process again. Most Rhode Islanders seem proud of this adversarial system (on any day they don't need to go there). The city of Providence, charges an excise tax on vehicles, above and beyond the tax imposed by the state. This is for the luxury of being able to drive in their city. It should be noted that the City of Providence has ample ghetto, limited street signs, and it is still heavily influenced by the mob. As much as I disliked it there, they are still charging me for a car I no longer own, almost two years after I left the state... Some personal information changed for this posting. ---------------------------------------------------------------- August 9, 2005 Office of the Tax Assessor Providence City Hall 25 Dorrance Street...

My friend Mark (no not that Mark, the other Mark), was recently asked while we were having beers at a local bar, if he was “with the band.” His immediate reply was, “yes, we are with the band!” He mentioned to me, that he was once at a bar and asked someone else if he was “with the band.” The other guy replied, “no.” Mark could not believe this! “Dude!” he said, “ always say that you are with the band!” This, I think, is probably the real definition for the word, “bandwidth.” Either that or it is a way of determining how big of a stage your band needs. KJC

Yesterday I saw a coyote while I was hiking in the Black Dog Preserve. It didn’t appear to have seen me as it trotted across the trail and into the woods. I know they are around, since I see their tracks. I almost never see them though. I know coyotes are not well liked. They are smart and opportunistic. A cat or small dog would make a good meal for them. The fact is, they live almost everywhere in Minnesota; including the cities. Those few times that I have seen one, I consider myself fortunate. http://www.canismajor.com/dog/coyote.html

While I enjoy my hikes in the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, I must admit that Summer is not my favorite time in the woods. A few days ago I was off-trail, trying to find my way from one trail to the other. Once committed, I kept going though I was sometimes in brush that was over my head. Wearing shorts because of the heat, I was stung so many times by stinging nettles that my legs were bleeding by the time I made it out. Of course, the flies found the blood irresistible. Yesterday, I decided to take a 6 or 7 mile loop around Long Meadow Lake. I was hoping to make it around before the coming rain started. There is an undeveloped trail that usually affords some good wildlife encounters. Last time I had been on it I was “charged” by a baby woodchuck. Eventually on this trek, I can link up to the Bluff Trail which is usually an easier hike, though there is some elevation and yesterday, I found that the recent storms had left fallen trees on the trail. When I started out, I wa...

I am often astounded at the narrow thinking of some people. I was reading the news story that said, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has mixed feelings about President George W. Bush's choice of John Roberts to replace her. O'Connor said the federal appeals court judge is "first rate," but she's disappointed that the nominee isn't a woman. Now if the idea is that hiring should be based on who is most qualified for the job, rather than what race or sex a person is, why would a female judge need to be replaced by another female; or why would a minority school superintendent need to be replaced by another minority? Isn’t this illegal and doesn’t it contradict fair hiring practices? Why is some discrimination okay while some is not? Why can’t we hire solely on qualifications? Why does society take a few steps forward, and then a few more backward again? Until things are fair for everybody, it will never be fair. KJC