DeLUXE BARE BONES HOME BAR

Now that you have a Step Up home bar you may want to add few items that will take your home bar and transform it into a Deluxe bare bones bar.

HARDWARE

Coasters - here the prices vary widely so let's assume $25 for set of 8 very nice coasters. Simple cork coasters can be had for about $2 a piece.

GLASSES

Whiskey Tumblers - if you decide to go high class get crystal tumblers making sure that the glass contains 24% lead. Expect to pay at least $15 - $20 each. Simple glass tumblers sell for about $4 each.
Cognac Glasses - Get the larger cognac glasses that hold about 8 oz. Crystal cognac glasses look cool but just like above expect to pay at least $15 - $20 each. Simple glass cognac glasses sell for about $4 each.

LIQUOR

Single Malt Scotch Whiskey - I suggest you start with 12 year old The Glenlivet, about $40. Good but more expensive alternative is 12 year old Macallan, about $65.
Cognac - I suggest Hennessy VS 750, about $45 or Martell VS, about $35.

LIQUERS

There is a wide variety of liquers on the market and they all have two things in common - they are sweet and they are expensive. I recommend you have only two or three if you must have them at all.

Limoncello - this Italian lemon liquer and also acts as an after dinner drink and digestive, about $20.
Curacao - an orange liquer, originally from Dutch West Indies, about $15.
Crème de Menthe - green peppermint liquer that can be used in refreshing cocktails or on its own straight or with club soda, about $15.

And now your Bare Bones Home Bar is complete.

STEP UP BARE BONES HOME BAR

Last time we discussed Bare Bones Home Bar for those of you who wanted to establish your own home bar but didn't have an idea how. We have established a bare bones home bar for under $200.
Today we will look at a Step Up from Bare Bones bar. Just one step up on a budget. Here is a list of additional items you should consider.

Once again look at discount stores first to shop for hardware. Here is what you need for a Step Up Bar:

HARDWARE

Ice Bucket and Tongs - get the one with the plastic insulation insert. It keeps the ice longer than just regular steel or aluminum bucket. They cost a bit more but are worth it, about $20.

Wine Bottle Ring - when you pour wine from a bottle you always have a spill or drip, prevent the drip by using a wine bottle ring, a ring lined with absorbent fabric such as felt, about $5.

GLASSES

Champagne Flutes - narrow and tall flutes are a must for champagne and related cocktails, about $10 for set of 4.

MIXERS

Here you can go haywire but I suggest just a few additional mixers.

Cranberry Juice
Pinneapple Juice
Orgeat Juice
Bloody Mary Mix

LIQUOR

Scotch Whiskey - absolute must for a step up bar. White Horse is a good budget choice, about $18.
Brandy - stick with American brandy, Paul Masson Grande Amber VSOP Brandy, about $15.
Coffee Liquer - here I suggest Copa d'Oro, about $10.
Sherry - try Harvey's Bristol Cream, about $12.
After Dinner Liquer - here you have a wild choice but all after dinner liquers have one thing in common, they are expensive! I suggest you get either B&B or Drambuie, about $35.

MODIFIERS

Sweet Vermouth - just like with dry vermouth, Martini i Rossi is the obvious choice with Gallo being the alternative choice, about $12.

WINES

White Wine

Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling, about $12
Santa Rita 120 Reserva Especial Chardonnay, about $9
Rodney Strong Sonoma County Chardonnay, about $14

Red Wine

Chateau Ste. Michelle Merlot, about $15
Beringer Founder's Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, about $10
Badia a Coltibuono Cetamura Chianti, about $12

Sparkling Wine (Champagne)

Best for toasts: Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut Cava, about $10
Best for cocktails: Cupcake Vinyards Prosecco D.O.C., about $14


If you get everything listed above you will have shelled out about $250 on top of the $200 for the bare bones home bar. Small prize to pay for living the good life, in my humble opinion.

BARE BONES HOME BAR

There are lot of young and not so young people who would like to have a home bar. They are tired of having parties where you have two bottles on kitchen counter plus whatever people bring, mostly beer or wine.

Having a home bar is one of those perks of good life that shows your guests that you care about the so called good life and have a taste. You don't need anything fancy, just a few bottles and basics. This article gives advice on how to start a home bar and how to stock it for flexibility without going bankrupt.

For the purposes of this article we shall assume that you don't have money to throw around, that you never had a bar and that you do not have the basic bar hardware. Shop the stores like Dollar Tree, Pier 1, World Market, Walmart, IKEA, Goodwill stores, to get bargain prices. Why pay more than you have to.

BARE BONES HARDWARE

The following is an absolute must have even for bare bones bar:

Wine Bottle Opener - Get the basic wine/beer combination bottle opener, chrome plated, about $6.

Shaker - The "regular" shaker strainer combination with a cap is no good because as you shake the cocktail some will get out as the top has a strainer and cap which dosn't fit tight. Get either two chrome plated shakers (one must be smaller so they fit together at the top) without the top or use just one shaker and a pint beer glass that fits inside the shaker top, about $10.

Strainer - Get the bar strainer with what looks like a spring around its perimeter, about $6.

Jigger - Get jigger/pony combination, chrome of course, about $4.

Plastic Squirt Bottles - These are small 8 or 12 oz. plastic bottles with a single cone squirt nozzle used for ketchup in many old diners. Get 2 or 3 in dollar store for buck each. Use them for simple syrup, lime juice, and whatever other juices you will use.

Plastic straws/stirrers - these are short round or flat plastic stirers also used by coffee shops, dime a dozen.

Cost: about $30

GLASSES

Listed below are 7 basic types of glasses for the bare bones home bar. These come packed in a carton of 4 glasses. First, check with Walmart and World Market. Get two cartons each if you expect to host parties of more than 6 people.

Shot - short stubby glass for shots
Lowball - this is your 'workhorse' also known as "old-fashioned". Usually short but wide, 8 - 10 oz.
Highball - tall and narrower than lowball glass, holds 10 - 12 oz.
Martini - classic conical glass on a stem, sizes vary but holds from 6 - 12 oz. Keep in fridge.
Margarita - wide and short bowl on a stem, holds 8 to 12 oz., giant glass may hold up to 20 oz.
Wine - various stemmed glasses. Although you should have two types of glasses, one for red wine and another larger glass for white wine, you really need only one glass these days. Get tall wine glass which holds 8 to 10 oz.
Beer Glasses or Mugs - 12 oz. glasses or mugs with or without handle. Keep them cool in fridge or freezer during your "event".

Cost of glasses: $35 per set of 7 types of glasses
Total Cost: $70

BARE BONES BAR MIXERS

Coca-Cola
Ginger Ale
Tonic Water
Sprite
Orange Juice
Lime juice
Simple syrup

BARE BONES BAR LIQUOR (around $15 each)

All liquor should be quality liquor but inexpensive. Here are my suggestions:

Vodka - absolute must! Smirnoff Vodka is very popular and is triple distilled meaning it is a good choice. Another bargain vodka is Pinnacle vodka from France.

Gin - absolute must! Gordon London Dry Gin is an institution where you can taste the juniper berries. Another good choice is Seagram Dry Gin.

Light Rum - absolute must! Bacardi is the obvious choice. Alternative choice is Flor de Cana.

Dark Rum - optional. Get Flor de Cana dark rum. Alternative choice is Captain Morgan Spiced Rum.

Whiskey - essential. There is lot of good choice but I like Evan Williams Straight Bourbon whiskey.
As an alternative I suggest Rebel Yell Bourbon.

Tequilla - optional. Forget the real cheap choices such as Montezuma, get a bargain quality tequila. I suggest Sauza Gold or El Jimador Reposado, about $20.

Cost of Liquor: about $100
Total Cost: $170

MODIFIERS

Dry Vermouth - Martini i Rossi is an obvious choice, about $12. Gallo is the alternative choice, about $8.

Bitters - there are lot of choices but Angostura Bitters are the best, about $6.

Citrus and Fruit - buy lemons, limes, oranges, and other fruits on as needed basis.

Simple syrup - mix together one part water and one part sugar. Boil for few minutes and let cool.

Ice cubes - always have ice on hand. For a party buy a 5 or 10 lb. bag.

Cost of Modifiers: about $25
Total Cost: $195  SAY $200

SIMPLE COCKTAILS YOU CAN MAKE

Old-Fashioned
1 teaspoon sugar
2 dashes bitters
Stir
2 oz. whiskey
Ice
Stir (never shake)
Orange zest (orange peel about 1 1/2 inches long)

Margarita
2 oz. tequila
1 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 oz. simple syrup
Shake
Add ice
Serve in glass with salted rim.

Whiskey Sour
2 oz. whiskey
1 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
Shake
Add ice and shake again
Strain into lowball glass with 3 ice cubes.
Garnish with slice of lemon and maraschino cherry with stem attached.

Gimlet
2 oz. gin or vodka, your call
3/4 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice
3/4 oz. simple syrup
Shake with ice
Strain into martini glass
Garnish with slice of lemon

Martini
3 oz. gin
1/2 oz. dry vermouth
Stir (never shake) with ice in mixing glass
Strain into martini glass
Squeeze the oil out of lemon peel
Garnish with green olive

Daiquiri
2 oz. light rum
1 oz. simple syrup
1 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice
Shake with ice and strain into martini glass.
Garnish with slice of lime.

Highball
Fill highball glass with ice, add
2 oz. whiskey
6 oz. ginger ale
Stir

Gin and Tonic
Fill lowball glass with ice
Squeeze juice out of wedge slice of lime
Throw the lime wedge in and add
2 oz. gin
3 oz. tonic water
Stir

Rum and Coke
Fill highball glass with ice, add
2 oz. light rum
4 oz. coke
Stir
Garnish with lime slice

If using dark rum use 6 oz. coke

Cuba Libre
Squeeze juice of half a lime into lowball glass
Add 3 - 4 ice cubes
2 oz. light rum
4 oz. coke
Stir
Garnish with slice of lime

Screwdriver
Fill highball glass with ice, add
1 1/2 oz. vodka
6 oz. pulp free orange juice
Stir
Garnish with orange zest or slice

Mojito
Muddle 4 lime wedges and 1 teaspoon of simple syrup or brown sugar in highball glass, add
2 oz. light rum
6 mint leaves
Stir
Fill glass to 3/4 with crushed ice
Top off with 2 oz.club soda

And there you have it!

NEW PAINTINGS

Some time ago my son and his wife asked me to paint two paintings for their dining room. They requested a certain size and they let me decide what to paint. I knew both of them are not into traditional art so 16th century Dutch realism was out. I decided to paint something half crazy - modern art - if you will.

At the same time my wife saw several paintings in local gallery. The paintings were modern looking paintings of trees. She talked me into painting something like that. After a long thought process I jumped right in.

Both paintings were done in acrylics and took about 3 days each. The second painting has an oil pastel on top of the acrylics.

It is worth mentioning that upon closer examination of the second painting, I saw a dog above the trees right in the center. This happened without trying to paint anything in that spot. Only one person to date noticed the dog.

THE OLD BOHEMIAN PEASANT COOKBOOK

THE OLD BOHEMIAN PEASANT COOKBOOK

Now that I'm retired I have some extra time on my hands. In the past several years I have collected lot of recipes for old Bohemian peasant meals. Most of these recipes were not originated by moi although I took time to cook some of the recipes and adjusted them to my taste and contemporary way of cooking. No more open fires and big kettles on daily basis.

The cookbook contains main and popular traditional peasant kitchen meals which are simple and easy to prepare. It also contains some more elaborate cooking which is not so peasant style but was included because these meals are popular even today. The cookbook contains over 300 recipes and gives everything one needs to know to cook in Old Bohemian Peasant style.

If you are interested the cookbook is available as an electronic file. Send me an e-mail to george.kovats@gmail.com and I will send you the cookbook. All I ask is a contribution of $10.

Here is a typical old Bohemian recipe:

GRANDMA’S BAKED HAM AND NOODLES

(ŠUNKOFLEKY)

This is a popular traditional Bohemian peasant dish. The square noodles, “fleky”, are not available in America but there is a good substitute – Extra Wide Egg Noodles. The word “fleky” means “spots” in English. The recipe for authentic Bohemian “fleky” is at the end of this recipe.

Ingredients

1 lb. Extra Wide Egg Noodles

1 round boneless ham steak at least ¼ inch thick (approx. 1 lb.), cut into ½ inch squares

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 eggs

1 ¼ cups milk

2 T lard or vegetable oil

salt and black pepper

fat for greasing the baking dish

plain breadcrumbs

lard or butter for topping

Makes 6 servings

Preparation

Cook the noodles per instructions on the package.

Put cooked and well drained noodles into a large mixing bowl.

Below is a recipe for making your own authentic “fleky”.

In a large frying pan, while noodles are cooking, melt the lard or heat the oil, whichever you are using.

Sauté onions and ham together until onions start turning color.

Add to the mixing bowl with noodles.

Sprinkle the mixture with salt and pepper to your taste.

Mix everything well.

Select a large deep baking dish, grease it generously and sprinkle with breadcrumbs.

Pour the noodle mixture into the baking dish and level the mixture.

Top with very small pieces of lard or butter.

Put the dish into oven preheated to 375°F. Bake for 20 minutes.

Whip the eggs in milk with a pinch of salt.

When the noodles start to change color to light honey pour the egg mixture evenly over the noodles.

Continue baking until the milk-egg mixture is fully absorbed.

Take the baking dish out of the oven, cover with linen kitchen towel or tea towel and let rest for 5 – 10 minutes.

Cut into individual portions and serve with sweet and sour pickles (German style pickles are the best, use bread and butter pickles as a good substitute).

Authentic “Fleky” Recipe

12 oz. Wondra brand flour (use this flour for the authentic taste)

2 eggs

¼ cup water

salt

Pour the flour on a kneading surface. Make a depression in the center of flour.

Break eggs into the depression. Sprinkle with salt.

Add water and start mixing with a knife.

When the dough starts to hold together, knead with your hands.

Adjust water and flour as you go. Flour the surface as needed.

The dough needs to be stiff and firm. Knead for at least 5 minutes pressing hard.

Wrap the dough into plastic wrap and let rest for 5 minutes.

Cut the dough into 3 parts.

Roll out each part separately into thin rectangular sheet of dough. Let dough dry and rest for about 5 minutes.

Cut off all uneven edges of the dough sheet. Cut 3/4 to 1 inch wide strips out of dough.

Stack the strips on top of each other into several stacks and cut them into 3/4 to 1 inch squares.

Spread the dough squares on linen cloth so they do not stick together.

Repeat with the remaining dough.

Cook in oversalted boiling water for about 10 minutes depending on the dough thickness.

Drain cooked “fleky” in a large colander and "wash" them with cold water for few seconds.

Let drip drain in colander.

Place the “fleky” in a large bowl and add about 1 tablespoon butter and stir well.

WHAT TO EAT IN CZECH REPUBLIC AND SAVE MONEY

Is this situation familiar to you: You just entered a foreign country and spotted McDonald's fast food restaurant and you and your party sprinted so you can have a typical American fast food greaseburger. After all it's been full 12 hours since you left home. I have never understood this kind of mindset.


I'm a big advocate of eating local when visiting a foreign country. So, assuming that you didn't fly all that way to Prague or other destination in Czech Republic to eat at McDonald's what do you do? Where do you eat? I suggest you eat at a restaurant or neighborhood pub serving traditional Czech kitchen. I use the word kitchen because the traditional Czech food is of peasant origin and has little to do with cuisine which suggest a snobbish place and food.


Let's assume that you and your party are frugal travelers and you stay in a hotel or pension in the suburbs. You only have one problem: breakfast! But as luck would have it this problem is easily corrected. I'm saying that breakfast is a problem because no restaurant is open at 8 a.m. Generally, there are very few places that serve breakfast. Pricey high end hotels serve western style breakfast but it is super expensive.


Let's start with the local people. What is the typical Czech breakfast?


Breakfast


Here are your choices for traditional Czech breakfast:


1. Salty rolls either plain or buttered with jam of your choice, milk, coffee or tea.
2. Sweet rolls, doughnuts, kolache (small round pastries with various fillings) or a cut of fruit kolach (tart), milk, coffee or tea.
3. Rolls with cold cuts, pates and cheese, coffee or tea.


Again, assuming that the place where you are staying does not have even a coffee machine you have to do the shopping in the evening. Your best bet is to go to a super market or small neighborhood food store and buy everything there. The milk will keep couple of days without refrigerator and so will the cold cuts. You can buy specialty coffees in a small carton although I suggest drinking milk with your breakfast. And that takes care of breakfast. Expect to spend no more than 30 Kc (Czech crowns) per person unless you splurge and buy the cold cuts and cheese in which case count on spending about 40 Kc..


Lunch


Let me reveal to you a secret so you are not surprised: lunch and dinner are the same. That is the size of the meal in the restaurants is the same whether it is lunch or dinner. The dinner menu may have few meals added and also have few expensive meals. There is no such thing as small lunch unless you eat in bistro, butcher shop eatery, food from street vendors or café. So what do the locals eat? Here are the recommended main choices available daily in most restaurants:


Soups
1. Potato soup
2. Garlic soup
3. Goulash soup
4. Beef broth with noodles


Main Dishes
1. Pork schnitzel with boiled potatoes or potato salad
2. Karbanatky (fried meat patties) with boiled potatoes or potato salad
3. Goulash with bread dumplings
4. Roast pork with bread dumplings and sauerkraut
5. Roast beef with potato dumplings and creamed spinach
6. Roast beef tenderloin in cream sauce with bread dumplings
7. Roast duck with bread dumplings and red sauerkraut
8. Spanish birds (in essence this is Czech bracciole) with rice
9. Steak tartar (raw beef) with toasts
10. Pan fried trout with mashed potatoes


Light Lunch
1. Greek salad in restaurant
2. Baguette sandwich from street vendors or small food stores
3. Open face sandwiches from delicatessen or bistro or baker's shop - this is a must
4. Grilled sausage with rye bread and mustard from street vendors downtown
5. Fried potato pancakes from street vendors downtown
6. Pizza from a pizza shop


There are butcher shops with New York style eateries (you stand at a high table) serving traditional meals. The choices are not extensive but they always offer at least one soup and about 5 or 6 main dishes. If you ever come across one of those you must try it. It is really cheap and usually great.


Expect to spend anywhere from 125 Kc to 200 Kc per person in a neighborhood restaurant (that includes beer, of course). In a downtown restaurant the same meal will probably cost double. Open face sandwiches are 16 - 25 Kc each. Grilled sausages are about 40 Kc.


Dinner


As I have already intimated lunch and dinner choices are usually the same. If you eat dinner at a better restaurant expect to spend up to 400 Kc per person with about 250 Kc being the average cost of a dinner in better restaurant. Better restaurants have contemporary cuisine (yes it is a cuisine) and they may offer French and Italian dishes. Italian style pizza is very popular these days.


Dessert


Czech do not usually eat desserts with their meals. Surprise! Czechs eat various pastries and cakes with coffee around 3 p.m. There is one exception, actually two. Some traditional restaurants offer two desserts that you should try: Crepes with various fillings and traditional round doughnut like cakes (livanecky) with plum butter and whipped cream topping. This is another must!


And there you have it. Now you are equipped with knowledge about what to eat on your next trip to Czech Republic and save some dough.

HOW TO BE CZECH

Ever since I started to visit my homeland regularly I was being "discovered" as a foreigner, be it in the restaurants, shops, on the street or really anywhere. I asked my friends what's wrong with me and they told me: Lose the American garb! This was a big discovery to me. I thought I was dressed normally but I was told that my clothes are colorful and my shoes are shined. That's what gave me away. So, here is a valuable advice on How To Be Czech in 10 Easy And Not So Easy Steps for those who plan to move to Czech Republic or spent a long time there. Follow my advice and you will cease to be a foreigner or at least you will become an acceptable foreigner. Here is what to do when you want to become Czech:


1. Drink Beer
Czechs are consumers of beer. They drink far more beer per capita than any other country in the world. Czech beer is the best in the world. Czech Republic is the home of Pilsner Urquell, the first light (by color) lager in the world, the home of the real Budweiser and lot of other beers too numerous to recount here. As Czech you must drink beer and like it! You must never waste an opportunity to drink beer. Czechs drink mostly beer from tap in pubs and restaurants. Next time you are in Czech pub or restaurant try this: Take a beer coaster from a stack in the middle of the table and place it in front of you. Within several seconds there will be a beer on the coaster. You do not need to speak Czech to order beer, it's automatic! Bottled beer is not considered to be a beer but a good substitute for emergency situations. No self respecting Czech will drink beer from an aluminum can. Ever! That is a beer heresy. There are two things to remember about beer: Beer is not considered to be alcohol by Czechs, and, the small beer (12 oz.) is for Grandmas and kids.


2. Wear The Right Garb
On your next trip to Czech Republic observe regular people and what they wear. Then locate and visit your nearest Vietnamese market and buy your Czech clothes there. Men, get several T-shirts, flood pants, and sandals and fancy tennis shoes. All these clothing items must be in various shades of undeterminable color that used to be called "uniform communist grey". You will also want to mess your clothing up a little with some grease spots in strategic locations. Tear or two are helpful. During cold spells you can put on a nice black leather jacket, nothing too obvious, of course. Ladies will need to get few of the shortest skirts they can find, some sweaters and T-shirts all with deep necklines to reveal the . . . ehm . . . cleavage. High heel shoes or boots are a must. Piercing and tattoos are encouraged.


3. Personal Appearance
To fit in men need to grow long hair. Once your hair gets longer wear a pony tail. Three to four day old beard is in! For women, you cannot go wrong with a straight hair.


4. Eat Heavy Czech Food
Czech food is heavy and could be labeled unhealthy by today's standards. The origins of Czech cuisine dates back to an era when the peasants worked hard and needed heavy food but it stayed with the people until the present time. The popular staples include dumplings and heavy cream sauces. And who doesn't like roast pork with dumplings and sauerkraut? Any meal usually consists of soup, main course, and, of course, lot of beer. When visiting friends and acquaintances and a meal is served you must eat! And eat a lot! Better get used to it, you will be offered far more food than you can eat in one sitting. It is an art to politely extricate yourself out of such situations without harming your relationships. And whatever you do, you must never ever refuse to eat whatever is served, be it tripe soup, liver, hearts or kidneys. Lucky for you, during most of these friendly visits only open face sandwiches and finger food are normally served.


5. Drink Coffee
These days you are lucky, you have a choice of coffees. The traditional Turkish coffee called "turek" is still served everywhere coffee is served. Next in line is espresso called simply "preso". Then you need to try Vienna coffee, which is a watered down espresso or standard drip coffee topped with whipped cream. Latte and macchiato are also available as is mocha. Proper way to drink coffee is in the afternoon in a traditional coffee house with some cake or torte on the side.


6. Exercise in Public
These days people exercise a lot and they do it in public. To fit in you need to select at least one way to exercise in public places. Good for you that you have lot of choices. The lazy of you need to take up walking. Next is running, there are lot of people running these days, usually in scenic areas or large parks. Cycling is also very popular and so is swimming. In winter you must add skiing and skating to the list.


7. Spend Weekends in Nature
Most Czechs live in urban areas and, therefore, are looking forward to weekends outside of the city. Lot of people own small cottages (chata) or small farnhouses (chalupa) in the country. Those unlucky who do not own these weekend houses in the country either know someone who does and invite themselves or they spend weekends camping or doing just day trips. For the day trippers any castle within 50 km of a city is a good destination. There are other natural attractions within the easy reach from any city or town. Public transportation is excellent and relatively cheap so you have no excuse. At the very least take a train to a small town or village and go to the woods for a walk and then drink beer in a local pub.


8. Carry a Book
Czechs like to read and you will observe that lot of people carry a book with them anywhere they go. Try this, go to your local park and read in the shade of a tree.


9. Learn History
Take time to learn the history of the Czech Lands. The traditional lands forming Czech Republic are Bohemia, Moravia, and southern Silesia. Learn the major events in the Czech history from the sixth century when the first Czechs came to the area of today's Czech Republic.


10. Learn the Language
Czech is the most difficult language in the world for a foreigner non-Slav to learn. But lucky for you Czech is fully phonetic language meaning that you pronounce all the letters you see and the pronunciation is regular. This is the only regular feature of the language. Everything else is mostly irregular. Despite all of this you need to learn the basic sentences. Czechs will appreciate that you made the effort and it will give them the opportunity to make little bit of fun of your pronunciation, all in good spirit, of course.

GUN CONTROL

Once again we are witnessing a liberal feeding frenzy to remove freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution from the citizens of the United States of America. The liberals stooped so low as to use two recent mass murder incidents at the hands of psychopat criminals to legislate gun control. This issue is being seriously debated in public but it is mostly being shoved down our throats just like ObamaCare was.

It would be amusing if it was not very serious that absent from the public debate is the debate on the constitutionality of any gun control. I'd like to know where is the authorization under which government can legislate gun control. The Second Amendment could not be more clear. In part it say".......the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed". Conscise and very clear. Just to be on the safe side I looked up the word "infringe" in the latest edition of Webster Dictionary and read the definition "impair, violate, trespass" were the major meanings. In view of the indisputable meaning of the Second Amendment I have few questions: Why do I need a permit for concealed gun, Why is it that I cannot own an assault weapon, Why is it that I cannot own a magazine with more than 10 rounds, and most importantly Where does the government get the right to legislate any gun control?

I have a piece of advise for those wishing to usurp our rights, maybe even a revelation: If you do not want the people to keep and bear arms work on changing the Constitution! Eureka! I bet you that this is furthest from the liberals' minds. Why do it the hard way if it can be done by unconstitutional legistaltion?

It is a well known and proven fact that gun control legislation does not work. Look at Chicago and Mexico. It is not the law abiding citizens who commit those hyenous crimes with their guns. It is always the criminals or psychopats. These shady characters could care less about our laws. If they decide to murder they will find a weapon be it a gun, knife or hammer to do their dastardly deeds.

And I'd like to know one more thing: If the safety of the people is on the legislators' minds uppermost why aren't knives and hammers outlawed. These weapons killed many more people than guns. And what about medical malpractice causing death of patients?

I do not necessarily like guns and I do not own any guns but we have the freedom to own them. Freedom guaranteed by the Constitution. All I see is that our government is trampling on the Constitution and our rights and is conveniently and totally disregarding it. That is not a Republic but a Dictatorship!

George

What Happened to George

As you may have noticed, George was missing in action for a year since the last post. So......what happened?

Having enough computer knowledge to be dangerous, I used flash drive for storage. BIG MISTAKE! Fearing the worst, I usually transferred some of the information I considered crucial from flash drive to a hard disk at irregular intervals. Then the disaster struck. One morning I found that my flash drive is empty. The evening before I properly removed the flash drive from the computer and laid it on my wooden desk so it is not near anything else made of metal. Yet the flash drive decided to wipe itself clean overnight.

I took it to a computer store hoping they may be able to restore the files. But it was not meant to happen. Computer people told me that the flash drive spontaneously demagnetized and thus I lost everything on that drive. Bummer. They also told me that this is normal and that flash drives are not meant to be used as a permanent storage but only as temporary storage to transfer files between computers or for very short time. I was also told never to store anything on flash drive that I don't want to lose. So I lost about 80% of everything. The other 20% having been saved on my hard drive was not affected. Welcome to the wonderful world of computers!

I was discouraged by this event to do anything. I enetered a period of mourning. I had all my ATCs there, my letters, addresses and other important files. At least I considered them important. Obviously, they were not that important since I'm doing fine without them.

Project 365, Week 45, Days 312 - 318

November 8 - 14, 2010

This week we present two European leaders: President of Turkey Abdullah Gul and Prince Hans-Adam II of European mini-power Liechtenstein, population approximately 35,000 when they are all at home. Interesting fact about Liechtenstein is that it is the only country in the world which did not recognize Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic and Slovak Republic. The Prince is still holding grudge because at the end of WWII in 1946 the Czechoslovak government expropriated large holdings in Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia traditionally belonging to the Prince of Liechtenstein as a penalty for Liechtenstein's role in WWII.
Next is Plant No. 7. The next card and the last card is part of Water Water Everywhere Swap. The two remaining cards are monotypes.