Can someone tell me why we don't have oil drills in the ground in Montana and North Dakota? Click the post title for details.
Here's more information from the USGS.
September 27, 2008
September 25, 2008
Information On Obama NOT in the Mainstream Media
The bias is dripping from the alphabet soup broadcast and cable networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, etc). My favorite derogatory network nickname comes from Libertarian talk show host Neil Boortz regarding CNN. He a calls it the Chicken Noodle Network. I love it.
Very few references to the connection between former Weather Underground terrorist and Obama can be found on network news sites. The articles that do appear usually make a faux argument that Obama was a child when Ayers was involved in the terrorist organization. The premise is he was loosely associated with Ayers.
Not according to Obama's own words.
In his 1995 autobiography, "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritace", Obama says he deliberately chose who he would associate with. He wanted to make sure that everyone knew where he stood politically. So to say that Ayers was an "aquaintance" is intellectually untrue.
This article from the Chicago Sun Times has some excellent detailed information in the comment section. It gives a detailed list of the Weather Undergrounds terrorist activities. Ayers has never denounced or apologized for his actions. In fact, in a 1981 interview with David Horowitz, he said "Guilty as hell, free as a bird. America is a great country".
This article from Hugh Hewitt's Townhall.com blog is a guest posting by Bill Dyer who is making the point that Obama himself said he would align himself with extremists back in 1995 when he wrote his autobiography.
I'm sorry, but this is not the kind of "hope" and "change" that I want for my country.
Very few references to the connection between former Weather Underground terrorist and Obama can be found on network news sites. The articles that do appear usually make a faux argument that Obama was a child when Ayers was involved in the terrorist organization. The premise is he was loosely associated with Ayers.
Not according to Obama's own words.
In his 1995 autobiography, "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritace", Obama says he deliberately chose who he would associate with. He wanted to make sure that everyone knew where he stood politically. So to say that Ayers was an "aquaintance" is intellectually untrue.
This article from the Chicago Sun Times has some excellent detailed information in the comment section. It gives a detailed list of the Weather Undergrounds terrorist activities. Ayers has never denounced or apologized for his actions. In fact, in a 1981 interview with David Horowitz, he said "Guilty as hell, free as a bird. America is a great country".
This article from Hugh Hewitt's Townhall.com blog is a guest posting by Bill Dyer who is making the point that Obama himself said he would align himself with extremists back in 1995 when he wrote his autobiography.
I'm sorry, but this is not the kind of "hope" and "change" that I want for my country.
September 21, 2008
Here We Go Again
Muslims asking for preferential treatment. Fortunately JBS Swift & Co. had the stones to fire them. When you get hired for a job, you understand the hours that you will be working. My company doesn't pay me for my lunch, why on earth would they pay me for a prayer break at sundown! Here's the link to the article.
I've been at my job for 21 years and have arranged my personal religious holidays and events around my work schedule. Six months out of the year I don't attend church services because I have to work on Sunday. I don't walk out in protest. I understand that this is the configuration of my job and I make do.
I've been at my job for 21 years and have arranged my personal religious holidays and events around my work schedule. Six months out of the year I don't attend church services because I have to work on Sunday. I don't walk out in protest. I understand that this is the configuration of my job and I make do.
September 20, 2008
Cutting It Close in Capitola, Ca.
These two surfers would catch a wave and ride it all the way in to about 50 feet from these rocks before bailing out. No thanks. I'll stay on shore and shoot the pics.
Surfer at Soquel Point - Capitola, Ca.
I took my wife and daughter to a baby shower for a cousin in Aptos. neither one of them wanted to drive the highway 17 over the hill. Can't say that I blame them. It's a horrible road to drive. I took the opportunity to take some pictures while I was over there. I wasn't going to come back over the hill for an hour just to turn around and go back to pick them up.
I found a spot at Soquel Point in Capitola that was a dead end street. It had "No Parking" signs posted but I think that was a formality. I pulled up a spot and was getting some decent shots of a couple of surfers. The waves were really crashing into the rocks.
September 18, 2008
Back To The Real World
The vacation in tropical paradise is over. I've been back to work for three days and I had to get sick. Here I was the only person in our family to take "Airborne" for the trip and I'm the one that gets sick! I'm sitting in my recliner blogging in my pajamas. No waves crashing in the background, no tropical birds chirping, no ceiling fan gently whirling in the warm air. Just the unemployed next door neighbor listening to rap/hip hop at unhealthy decibel levels and the guy across the street drinking a beer in his garage staring into our front window. The neighbors two doors down sitting on the couch on their front potch listening to loud mariachi music. I don't know why I would rather be in Hawaii than at home!
Our neighborhood has steadily degraded over the last few years. One neighbor has a pot card which gives him the right to grow six pot plants. I'm sure it's for his terminal illness that he struggles with every day. No...wait...that would be his laziness that he "struggles" with as he sells his medicinal pot to the neighborhood hoodlums. I hope I don't sound too acidic, but I really loathe the fact that he is obviously sponging off my tax dollars in some way. In the 22 years that I have lived in this location, I am not aware of him ever having a job other than delinquent or drug dealer. His live-in girlfriend goes to work every day. His two older brothers go to work every day. All of his neighbors go to work every day and he just bilks us out of our tax dollars for whatever "assistance" he is on.
Dirtbag
On a happier note, I will be a grandfather soon! Possibly mid-April of next year. I'm definitely way too young to be a grandfather. Although I can also say that about being a father as well. My daughter was born 10 days after my 20th birthday. I was deployed with the Navy at the time in Puerto Rico. I didn't get to see her for the first time until she was three weeks old. It seems hard to believe that she's old enough to have children! We were dropping her off at pre-school just a few short years ago. Time moves rather quickly and you really don't notice until there is quite a bit of it behind you.
I'll leave you with a very short video of what I had to leave behind in Maui.
Our neighborhood has steadily degraded over the last few years. One neighbor has a pot card which gives him the right to grow six pot plants. I'm sure it's for his terminal illness that he struggles with every day. No...wait...that would be his laziness that he "struggles" with as he sells his medicinal pot to the neighborhood hoodlums. I hope I don't sound too acidic, but I really loathe the fact that he is obviously sponging off my tax dollars in some way. In the 22 years that I have lived in this location, I am not aware of him ever having a job other than delinquent or drug dealer. His live-in girlfriend goes to work every day. His two older brothers go to work every day. All of his neighbors go to work every day and he just bilks us out of our tax dollars for whatever "assistance" he is on.
Dirtbag
On a happier note, I will be a grandfather soon! Possibly mid-April of next year. I'm definitely way too young to be a grandfather. Although I can also say that about being a father as well. My daughter was born 10 days after my 20th birthday. I was deployed with the Navy at the time in Puerto Rico. I didn't get to see her for the first time until she was three weeks old. It seems hard to believe that she's old enough to have children! We were dropping her off at pre-school just a few short years ago. Time moves rather quickly and you really don't notice until there is quite a bit of it behind you.
I'll leave you with a very short video of what I had to leave behind in Maui.
September 08, 2008
Aloha! Part II
I took the above shot in the Iao Valley Park. I'm not sure what kind of flower but it's beautiful, eh? We are in the middle of seven glorious days on Maui. So far we have been to the Haleakala Crater,
the Iao Valley.
the Sugar Cane Train in Lahaina (Lahaina, Kaanapali and Pacific Railroad),
The engineer that operated this steam locomotive was a twenty-something woman!
September 01, 2008
Aloha!
Posting from the Outrigger in Waikiki! It's a beautiful hotel with really great service and amenities.
Our trip was mostly uneventful. One situation in LAX was a little tense. My wife and sister-in-law went to find a place to smoke after our flight from San Jose to LAX. My wife had her boarding pass with her but not her ID. My sister-in-law had to beat feet from the security check point to the boarding area to get her ID. My wife got through and returned to the boarding area in time to have our boarding numbers called!
Five and a half hours of flight is a long time! It's been a while since I've done that. We had a van pick us up and do the sardine squeeze to the hotel. They checked us in quickly and we went up to our rooms. My parents had a fruit basket and bottle of champagne waiting for them. It was sent by her neice Melody and husband Curtis. It was a nice touch.
After getting relatively settled in our rooms, we went to scope out the dinner situation. Waikiki is a twenty-something haven. The place is teeming with amped up "beautiful people". Most of the hotel restaraunts were filled with loud and boisterous youngun's just learning how to hold their liquor. Makes me feel like an old codger! I just wanted a place to eat that I didn't have to wait an hour and a half to get into and sport my own ear plugs. We ended up ordering Roundtable Pizza in the room! It still took nearly an hour but we could at least talk without shouting.
My wife and Sister-in-law had gone downstairs to smoke *see footnote*. My brother and I were going to run across the street to the ABC store to get some water. I wanted cerveza for the pizza as well. We didn't see them in the "smoking area". I said I would bet they were in the ABC Store. Sure enough! As we entered there they were shopping away. Fortunately no purchases were made since the 6 pack of bottled water and Corona came to $15.25, ouch! Most things are ridiculously iced so I'm really not surprised. That reminds me, at the Burger King inside the LAX boarding terminal, they had some of their meal combos priced at over nine dollars. Captive audience, right?
Slept fairly well. I'm not used to a regular bed since I have slept on a waterbed for the last 18 or so years. This morning we have our welcome breakfast where they will give us some tour/sightseeing information. They expressly said at the airport when picking us up "no timeshare". Nice to know they aren't trying to sell us anything. Today we are probably going to do some Pearl Harbor touring. Being Labor Day we will probably stay away from the Arizona and the crowds.
*footnote* - Smokers are mercilessly persecuted at airports and in Hawaii. Smoking is treated as a disease that should be exorcised from the planet. You actually sign an acknowledgement at hotel registration that you will be fined $250 for smoking in the room. The security at Honolulu International treated the ladies nearly as well as terrorist suspects when they were smoking in the wrong place outside. Security actually made them put out their cigarettes to walk across the street and smoke. Zieg Hiel!!!
Our trip was mostly uneventful. One situation in LAX was a little tense. My wife and sister-in-law went to find a place to smoke after our flight from San Jose to LAX. My wife had her boarding pass with her but not her ID. My sister-in-law had to beat feet from the security check point to the boarding area to get her ID. My wife got through and returned to the boarding area in time to have our boarding numbers called!
Five and a half hours of flight is a long time! It's been a while since I've done that. We had a van pick us up and do the sardine squeeze to the hotel. They checked us in quickly and we went up to our rooms. My parents had a fruit basket and bottle of champagne waiting for them. It was sent by her neice Melody and husband Curtis. It was a nice touch.
After getting relatively settled in our rooms, we went to scope out the dinner situation. Waikiki is a twenty-something haven. The place is teeming with amped up "beautiful people". Most of the hotel restaraunts were filled with loud and boisterous youngun's just learning how to hold their liquor. Makes me feel like an old codger! I just wanted a place to eat that I didn't have to wait an hour and a half to get into and sport my own ear plugs. We ended up ordering Roundtable Pizza in the room! It still took nearly an hour but we could at least talk without shouting.
My wife and Sister-in-law had gone downstairs to smoke *see footnote*. My brother and I were going to run across the street to the ABC store to get some water. I wanted cerveza for the pizza as well. We didn't see them in the "smoking area". I said I would bet they were in the ABC Store. Sure enough! As we entered there they were shopping away. Fortunately no purchases were made since the 6 pack of bottled water and Corona came to $15.25, ouch! Most things are ridiculously iced so I'm really not surprised. That reminds me, at the Burger King inside the LAX boarding terminal, they had some of their meal combos priced at over nine dollars. Captive audience, right?
Slept fairly well. I'm not used to a regular bed since I have slept on a waterbed for the last 18 or so years. This morning we have our welcome breakfast where they will give us some tour/sightseeing information. They expressly said at the airport when picking us up "no timeshare". Nice to know they aren't trying to sell us anything. Today we are probably going to do some Pearl Harbor touring. Being Labor Day we will probably stay away from the Arizona and the crowds.
*footnote* - Smokers are mercilessly persecuted at airports and in Hawaii. Smoking is treated as a disease that should be exorcised from the planet. You actually sign an acknowledgement at hotel registration that you will be fined $250 for smoking in the room. The security at Honolulu International treated the ladies nearly as well as terrorist suspects when they were smoking in the wrong place outside. Security actually made them put out their cigarettes to walk across the street and smoke. Zieg Hiel!!!
August 16, 2008
RE: Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency
I saw the forum at Saddleback Church with Senator Obama and Senator McCain. I wasn't planning on watching it because I really don't care for either candidate. I suppose it's the "lesser of two evils" choice. Not that either one of them is evil, I just don't care for either one of them. If you missed it it's being rebroadcast again on CSPAN Saturday night and Sunday morning 8/17. It's worth catching if you didn't see it.
On a sidenote, in this blogger's humble opinion, McCain beat the snot out of Obama. What say you?
On a sidenote, in this blogger's humble opinion, McCain beat the snot out of Obama. What say you?
August 10, 2008
Vacation Anticipation
Three days on Oahu and seven on Maui. I'm getting a little light headed just thinking about it. I've been to Maui one other time in 2000. It was wonderful. There was a drought at the time so it only rained for a few minutes on one of the seven days that we were there.
Rather idyllic I must say. We did the road to Hana thing. Being dry it was probably not as impressive as when there were active waterfalls plunging through tropical foliage. Did the deep sea fishing trip. My mother-in-law caught a nine foot Marlin of about 250 pounds. It was interesting but I don't think I would do it again. The most memorable activity was the snorkling. Christmas morning the kids opened the few presents that we brought along with us and then we went to the 14 mile marker on the road to Ka'anapali. We must have been in the water for about four hours. It was just amazing. It was knee deep to chest deep at least one hundred yards from the beach. This meant you had to be careful not to brush up against the coral however. The aquatic life we saw was fabulous. Just like a National Geographic article. Fish with all the colors of the rainbow would swim up to you. I think that was because many people would bring various forms of fish food into the water with them. Kind of like pidgeons and seagulls, these fish were scavengers looking for the easy meal. We didn't have food but they would approach anyway.
This time around I would like to see more in the way of the countryside. There is the Haleakala crater, Iao Needle, the north shore. Tedeschi winery also sounds intersting. They produce pineapple wine. The grounds are reportedly spectacular. We had done a quick jaunt into Lahaina a few times on our last trip. We did the Old Lahaina Luau, Hard Rock Cafe and Bubba Gump's. I think we may have shopped one afternoon. I would like to see some of the historic buildings in the town. I guess when you're an old coot like me (hmm) you want to do those kinds of things. I just find history extremely interesting.
On Oahu we will do the obligatory Pearl Harbor excursions. There is also an aviation museum I would like to check out. It's a mini New York so I guess we won't be bored. It will be my first time there except for being at the airport on six other occasions. If you have any suggestions for the off-the-beaten-path excursion, leave me a comment and any tip that would come in handy on the islands.
Rather idyllic I must say. We did the road to Hana thing. Being dry it was probably not as impressive as when there were active waterfalls plunging through tropical foliage. Did the deep sea fishing trip. My mother-in-law caught a nine foot Marlin of about 250 pounds. It was interesting but I don't think I would do it again. The most memorable activity was the snorkling. Christmas morning the kids opened the few presents that we brought along with us and then we went to the 14 mile marker on the road to Ka'anapali. We must have been in the water for about four hours. It was just amazing. It was knee deep to chest deep at least one hundred yards from the beach. This meant you had to be careful not to brush up against the coral however. The aquatic life we saw was fabulous. Just like a National Geographic article. Fish with all the colors of the rainbow would swim up to you. I think that was because many people would bring various forms of fish food into the water with them. Kind of like pidgeons and seagulls, these fish were scavengers looking for the easy meal. We didn't have food but they would approach anyway.
This time around I would like to see more in the way of the countryside. There is the Haleakala crater, Iao Needle, the north shore. Tedeschi winery also sounds intersting. They produce pineapple wine. The grounds are reportedly spectacular. We had done a quick jaunt into Lahaina a few times on our last trip. We did the Old Lahaina Luau, Hard Rock Cafe and Bubba Gump's. I think we may have shopped one afternoon. I would like to see some of the historic buildings in the town. I guess when you're an old coot like me (hmm) you want to do those kinds of things. I just find history extremely interesting.
On Oahu we will do the obligatory Pearl Harbor excursions. There is also an aviation museum I would like to check out. It's a mini New York so I guess we won't be bored. It will be my first time there except for being at the airport on six other occasions. If you have any suggestions for the off-the-beaten-path excursion, leave me a comment and any tip that would come in handy on the islands.
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