This beautiful pair of amaryllis flowers are two of the five blooming from a single stalk. Keep in mind that these are being grown indoors which makes them extra special. Sunlight through the figmented window and love nourish these beautiful flowers.
Coming soon are three or four more, plus another stalk growing from the bulb. Coming soon from another bulb will be pictures of a bright red amaryllis.
Somebody please tell me that this bitch and her accomplice aren’t getting only 16 months for this crap. She and her middle-man should be getting 5 to 10 years for endangering our community by selling drivers licenses to hordes of illegal aliens now happily driving around (statistically) without insurance, thus raising the cost of driving for legitimate citizens.
From the Daily Breeze:
DMV representative took cash for phony licenses
A worker at the California Department of Motor Vehicles office in Torrance took tens of thousands of dollars in cash bribes to hand out phony drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants, authorities said Tuesday.
Toi Shamara Kingsbury, a motor vehicle field representative at the Torrance office from 2001 to 2005, has pleaded guilty to bribery charges.
Kingsbury, 31, of Los Angeles, was arrested Nov. 9 at a restaurant where investigators watched her commit a “hand-to-hand exchange involving cash for fraudulent drivers’ licenses,” DMV spokesman Mike Miller said.
A “middleman,” Ronald Kirk, 35, also pleaded guilty. Prosecutors said he brought people wanting licenses to Kingsbury.
Orange County Auto Theft Task Force agents first suspected Kingsbury of a crime when they discovered she had switched a vehicle identification number on an auto in the DMV’s computer system, Miller said. That auto-theft case is pending in Orange County.
Undercover DMV investigators soon began watching Kingsbury work at the office at 1785 W. 220th St.
“They witnessed blatant fraud,” Miller said.
[ . . . ]
“The scam involved selling drivers’ licenses to people who didn’t necessarily have the documents to get them,” said Deputy District Attorney Max Huntsman, the prosecutor on the case. “We believe she made a lot of profit off this operation.”
The case remains under investigation, and it was not clear how many fraudulent licenses Kingsbury processed and for how long.
Kingsbury has pleaded guilty to receiving bribes and is scheduled to be sentenced April 7 to 16 months in state prison and ordered to pay a $135,000 fine, the DMV said.
And that’s not the end of it – if California Democrats pass their insane legislation for letting ALL illegals have access to drivers licenses, people like this bitch will be out of business, BUT the problem will increase many-fold. And take it a step further and consider the terrorist implications of a license giveaway.
Thanks to the legal and essential NSA wiretapping program initiated by the Commander-in-Chief, the tallest building in Los Angeles still stands. Today, President Bush related how the program thwarted a possible attack on the Los Angeles Library/U.S. Bank tower in downtown. During a live speech before the National Guard Association the President revealed details about a terror plot to fly a plane into the Library Tower which was planned in the weeks after Sept. 11. He said that al Qaeda planned to use operatives from southeast Asia who would be armed as shoe bombers to break through fortified cockpit doors.
For the sake of the continued protection of America and her allies, critics of the NSA program should shut the hell up and let the program do its job. Moonbats like Jimmy Carter and others who equate this legal program with questionable policies of previous administrations serve only to weaken America. If you don’t have any terrorist connections, you should be overjoyed that this program is working.
Those of us who have nothing to hide welcome the program and look forward to continued successful thwarting of terrorist plots.
Hat tip Michelle Malkin and Military Outpost
This beautiful Moroccan-style chime tower houses the Deagan Tubular Bell Carillon situated above the City of Avalon on Santa Catalina Island. The Cap’n and I hiked up to the top of Chimes Tower Road to get photos of the chime tower and of Avalon Harbor. The chimes sound periodically, as well as can be played manually or with piano rolls on special occasions.
About the CHIMES TOWER:
Built in 1925, the Chimes Tower was presented as a gift to the town of Avalon by Mrs. Ada Wrigley. Located up and across from the Zane Grey Pueblo Hotel, the chimes have been tolling on the quarter of the hour between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM since 1925. On holidays and special occasions the chimes are played manually and can be heard throughout Avalon.
About John C. DEAGAN:
Deagan was founder, and for many years president, of the Deagan Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of percussion instruments. He was an orchestra leader at Niblo’s Garden and at Tony Pastor’s in New York and was director of the orchestra at the Opera House in St. Louis. He became director of the Catalina Island Band in 1893 and while there was interested in perfecting percussion instruments. Deagan died at the Surf and Sand Club at Hermosa Beach, Calif., April 28, 1934 and was buried in the family vault in Chicago.
Thanks to LinkedinUSAF for the tag on this – Damsel and I had fun figuring out what we would do with it. It took us a while, but we think we’ve accurately answered all questions posed – but not before we gave grave consideration to each item.
I previously equated meme with a chain letter. I was wrong. I now believe it’s a full-blown blogborne pandemic. Anyhow, here’s the way Damsel and I answered this meme:
4 Jobs You Have Had In Your Life
Cap’n Bob:
Newspaper delivery – Los Angeles Herald Express – thrown from a bicycle
U.S. Navy Aircrew Radioman
Toy Engineer – I invented Barbie’s Piano (sorta)
Rocket Scientist – I’d tell ya what I do, but I’d hafta kill ya.Damsel:
Purveyor of Fast Food/Heimlich Maneuver Specialist
Bartender/Psychological Analyst
OEM Component Sales/Grief Counselor
Product Manager/Dispute Resolution Mediator4 Movies You Would Watch Over and Over
This is more than 4, but we both collaborated on these:
The Replacements
Die Hard (all)
Braveheart
Dragonfly
Fifth Element
The Green Mile
The Kid
Medicine Man
National Treasure
Secondhand Lions
Team America – F*** YEAH!
Transporter I & II
XXX
. . . this list could go on since Damsel has a collection of over 650 DVDs4 TV Shows You Love to Watch
Same thing (we both collaborated on them):
Mail Call (R. Lee Ermey)
Jeopardy
Fox News Channel (all shows)
Cops
Food Channel (most shows – can’t watch some of the Asian food)
America’s Most Wanted
Anytime Dennis Miller is on4 Places You Have Lived
Back Home with Mom and Dad
In the Barracks (not Damsel, of course)
In an Apartment
In our own Home
And never in a vehicle4 Places You Have Been On Vacation
Together:
Denali Village Lodge – Alaska, on the banks of the Nenana River
Hotel Hassler, Roma, Italy
Zion National Park
Hotel Metropole, Avalon, (Catalina Island) California4 GREAT Places Where You Just Said, “Eh ..”
Memphis
Chicago
Atlanta
Philadelphia4 Websites You Visit Daily
Selected at random from the MANY sites we read daily:
Steel Turman
Old and Evil
Accidental Verbosity
Demure Thoughts
Yorkie Blog
Garfield Ridge
Jawa Report
Archaeology Blog
Moonbat Monitor4 Milblogs You Visit Daily
Again, more than four and at random:
LinkedInUSAF
A Female Soldier 2
Camp Katrina
Mudville Gazette
One Marine’s View
Sgt Hook
We Support You
Sgt Lori
Military Outpost
Iraq War news
Argghhh!
Ask the Soldiers4 Favorite Foods
Cap’n Bob (one from each of the four food groups):
Pizza
Beer
Red Man
BoogersDamsel (a more discriminate palette):
Sweet & Sour Pork
Chicken Fried Steak
Beef Tenderloin Steak (Fillet Mignon)
Chicken Alla Padulese4 Favorite “Adult Beverages”
Cap’n Bob:
Red Beer (Bloody Mary mix added)
Butter Beer (buttermilk added)
Corona or Pacifico beer (with Mexican food)
Or just plain old beer in a Red, White and Blue can (Bud)Damsel:
Margaritas
Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay
Mimosas
Bud (cause it makes ya weiser)
4 Places You Would Rather Be Right NowCap’n Bob:
Watching Electrical Storms over Grand Canyon from a cliffside bar
Having a Birra Peroni at a sidewalk cafe in Florence
Living in California as a Red State
In Damsel’s Loving ArmsDamsel:
Watching rocks change colors at sunset in Zion
Listening to the murmur of the Nenana River
Watching sunset and breakers at a cove near Point Arena, California
Sitting on the backyard swing reading with the Cap’n4 People to Tag
Welcome Aboard to these new sites displaying the Never Forget Tribute:
Moonbat Monitor
Seeing Red
DogsCatsKidsLife
Shelly’s RamblingsBAM! You guys are tagged! And thanks!
Well, a Garibaldi actually, which is a type of Damselfish. This is a photograph we took of a Garibaldi during a recent visit to Avalon, Catalina Island, taken from the beach in front of the hotel where we stayed.
From USC SeaGrant:
If you were to peek under the waters of Santa Catalina Island and areas of the Southern California coast you might see a brilliant orange fish about a foot long, poised by a red algae-covered rocky outcropping, swooping and making loud “thumping” noises and putting on quite a show…for whom and why?
The garibaldi, or ocean goldfish, is the largest member of the damselfish family, and one of the few species that resides in the cooler temperate waters from central Baja California north to Monterey. Almost all other members of the damselfish family are found in tropical reefs around the world and are less than 8 inches long. The garibaldi is the state marine fish of California.
One of the most interesting things about garibaldis is their courtship and mating behavior. Males work hard to attract females and end up guarding the eggs and ‘raising the kids’ by themselves. There are many reasons that this behavior is helpful to this fish species.
Today, Global Flyer departed Florida for a trip around the world – plus. Once completing the circumnavigation, Steve Fossett will head across the pond for the second time, ultimately landing in the U.K.
Man, I envy this guy for the adventure he will get, but not for the Iron-Man endurance of staying airborne for 80 hours. It only takes a four-hour flight before my butt goes to sleep – maybe less.
This is from New Scientist:
GlobalFlyer takes off in pursuit of longest flight ever
The Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer aircraft took off at 0722 EST on Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, US, on an attempt to shatter a series of aviation world records.The first launch attempt on Tuesday was scuppered by a leaking fuel tank, but everything went smoothly second time around for the dawn take-off. The leak was fixed, and the weather produced light headwinds and a temperature of 8°C (46°F). Above 12°C (54°F) and the air would not have been dense enough to support the fuel-laden jet’s take-off from the 3-mile-long runway.
Before take-off, inspectors from the US National Aeronautics Association placed seals on the airplane’s hatch and fuel tank, to ensure that no landing or refuelling takes place during the expected 80-hour flight.
The journey is expected to cover up to 46,000 kilometres (28,600 miles), which would be the longest aircraft flight ever. Pilot and veteran record-breaker Steve Fossett will make do with occasional 5-minute naps and get by on nothing but strawberry-flavoured nutritional drinks.
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