While appearing on Bill Maher’s show, this creep had the following to say about our military men and women:

According to actor and comedian Richard Belzer, American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are too uneducated to be expressing support for the U.S. military mission since they’re just “19 and 20-year-old kids who couldn’t get a job” and “they don’t read twenty newspapers a day.”

You can read the entire article here.

Now, I don’t want to appear uneducated about who’s who in TV Land, but I never heard of this buttugly actor (looks like a cross between Helen Thomas and Ramsey Clark) before he shot off his big mouth on Maher’s show. The article refers to this degenerate as a “comedian” - “commodian” is more like it, given his crappy foul-mouthed way of describing the finest men and women in uniform anywhere. He implies that he “reads twenty newspapers a day.” It’s no surprise this idiot is misinformed if he reads the unsuitable-for-wrapping-garbage LA/NY Times or Washington (com)Post. Hopefully this degenerate, intellectually-challenged weirdo will disappear into obscurity save for his induction into our SWHOS.

Welcome Richard Belzer to the “bad genetics” exhibit in the Star Whores Hall of Shame.

Hat tip Blackfive

Completely unedited, the photo below seems to make the vertical fin on Air Force One look almost invisible! What’s going on?

Right: View of the vertical stabilizer from the first level.

I took this photo from behind the famous aircraft on the 3rd mezzanine level of the Air Force One Pavilion in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library when I noticed the unusual reflection pattern on the glossy surface of the rudder and vertical stabilizer. I knew immediately that I had a great shot! The lighting angles and the highly-polished surface of the airfoil rendered this intriguing optical illusion of near-invisibility.

Photo © 19 MAR 2006 by Damsel. Canon Digital Rebel EOS camera. Permission to publish is given provided credit and a link is given to Cap’n Bob and the Damsel

Update: Fix4RSO linked with “The Great Disappearing Air Force One Trick!“

Busily recovering from an extended weekend, we’re short of blogging today. I thought this was an interesting photograph of the belltower at Wayfarer’s Chapel on the Palos Verdes peninsula in Southwestern Los Angeles County.

“The doors of this library are open now and all are welcome. The judgment of history is left to you, the people.” — Ronald Reagan, Remarks at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Dedication (November 4, 1991)

Damsel and I finally took the opportunity to visit the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library which is about an hour’s drive from here. We arrived mid-morning and began our long-overdue tour. We were greeted by a passenger shuttle van in the parking lot the moment we got out of the car. A very nice gentlemen drove us to the front door of the library. When we got inside, we saw the gift shop. Near the entrance to the shop was this portrait of President Reagan - not in oil or watercolors, but entirely out of jelly beans!

We toured the galleries and saw a virtual history of president Reagan as well as other things that interested him. We learned things we never knew about the life and interests of President Reagan. We also saw an exhibit of the Oval Room as it appeared in Reagan’s tenure. A number of docents stationed throughout the galleries answered questions and called our attention to special attractions. Left: The tail section of former Air Force One

As we emerged from the galleries, we walked into a giant hangar where we saw Reagan’s Air Force One aircraft, a former Marine One helicopter, Reagan’s Presidential limousine, another gift shop and an Irish Pub!

We walked out into the garden on the west side of the library; a bigger-than-life bronze bust of the Gipper smiled down on us as we approached the Berlin Wall monument. An actual segment of the infamous wall stands tall and awe-inspiring in spite of the panoramic vista in the distance. A replica of the White House Lawn and walkway lead to the Reagan Family Tomb where one of the best presidents ever to hold the office lies in repose.

We sure had a great day visiting the library and museums! We’re already planning our next visit since there is always going to be those little things you may have missed the first time through. We give this place two thumbs up and five stars on our places to recommend that you visit.

We’ll close this article with an excerpt from the Gipper’s timeless Berlin Wall speech:

Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall!

And now the Soviets themselves may, in a limited way, be coming to understand the importance of freedom. We hear much from Moscow about a new policy of reform and openness. Some political prisoners have been released. Certain foreign news broadcasts are no longer being jammed. Some economic enterprises have been permitted to operate with greater freedom from state control.

Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are they token gestures, intended to raise false hopes in the West, or to strengthen the Soviet system without changing it? We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace.

General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! (Click to read the entire speech.)

All photos courtesy and © Damsel

An exceptionally clear day motivated us to drive to the west side of Palos Verdes peninsula today. One of several stops brought us to an overlook of Surfer’s Cove west of Malaga Cove along the coast. A flock of pelicans gracefully soared past as we watched the ocean and listened to the surf.

Yesterday, the Damsel and I went to San Pedro and enjoyed the local attractions. We took a walk through the Ports O’ Call Village - a touristy collection of shops and restaurants along the waterfront of the main channel of the Port of Los Angeles. Nearby are other attractions such as the Los Angeles Maritime Museum, the Merchant Marine Memorial, the S.S. Lane Victory, the Cabrillo Aquarium and my favorite, the Red Car. Actually there are a couple of Red Cars - restored from early-twentieth century electric streetcars that ran throughout the Los Angeles area. Damsel took these photos on an off-and-on rainy morning in the harbor:

I took some video as well: Red Car arriving at the 22nd Street Station and inside the Red Car on a rainy day.

Both Mars rovers have far exceeded their “warranty” and despite setbacks from time to time, have bounced back to carry on with their extended missions. The Spirit rover is currently limping (backwards, on five out of six wheels) toward it’s winter resting place atop a hill named “McCool.”

From Jet Propulsion Labs:

Mars Exploration Rover Mission: The Mission

Spirit Continues Driving on Five Wheels:

Spirit continued to make progress toward “McCool Hill” despite a reduction in solar energy and problems with the right front wheel. The team plans to have the rover spend the winter on the hill’s north-facing slopes, where the tilt toward the sun would help maximize daily output by the solar panels. On Spirit’s 779th sol, or Martian day (March 13, 2006), the drive actuator on the right front wheel stalled during a turn to adjust the position of the rover’s antennas. The stall ended the day’s drive, which brought Spirit 29 meters (95 feet) closer to McCool, still approximately 120 meters (390 feet) away.

Engineers conducted tests on sols 781 and 782 (March 15 and 16, 2006) on a testbed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as well as remotely on Spirit. Further analysis is needed to determine what caused the right front actuator to stop working. Meanwhile, the operations team has successfully commanded Spirit to drive using only 5 wheels. Engineers plan to have Spirit continue driving backward with five healthy wheels while dragging the right front wheel.

This is how we are celebrating the day: roast corned beef with cabbage and potato bake (and carrots and parsnips). A special horseradish sauce spiced up the beef and a frosty mug of Killian’s Irish Red beer to cool it off. MMMM MMMM! This is adapted from an Emeril Lagasse recipe which you can find on the Food Network cable channel.

Mexican truck traffic will be bringing pollution (and who knows what else?) and WE have to impose more strident emission controls on ourselves? Shouldn’t Mexican POS trucks be required to meet the standards in this country?

This is just plainly WRONG!

From the Daily Breeze/Copley News:

Ruling on Mexican trucks will bring the state a load of smog

California air-quality regulators say trucks from south of the border tend to pollute more. The border will open to them soon under NAFTA guidelines.

SACRAMENTO — An anticipated surge in long-haul truck traffic from Mexico will deliver more than loads of produce, electronics and clothing to Southern California.

It will also bring a lot of smog.

California’s air-quality regulators say the imminent opening of the state’s freeways and ports to older, diesel-fueled Mexican trucks could produce a dramatic increase in toxic pollutants, a new source of smog equal to another 2.2 million cars on the road.

“This would have a serious impact on the region’s health and particularly on the health of those community members living adjacent to any heavily traveled routes,” warns a just-released state Air Resources Board report.

“Additionally, the supplemental emissions generated by the increased truck traffic could impede California’s progress toward attaining the federal air quality standards, which could potentially jeopardize billions of dollars in federal transportation funding,” the report says.

As a result, state and Los Angeles officials say they may have to impose more stringent local standards to offset the added pollution from Mexican trucks. [emphasis added]

[ read more ]

In a universe where entropy prevails, it’s interesting to see something like this:

SPACE.com — Cosmic ‘DNA’: Double Helix Spotted in Space

Magnetic forces at the center of the galaxy have twisted a nebula into the shape of DNA, a new study reveals.

Image: Double Helix Nebula - Credit: M. Morris, UCLA

The double helix shape is commonly seen inside living organisms, but this is the first time it has been observed in the cosmos.

“Nobody has ever seen anything like that before in the cosmic realm,” said the study’s lead author Mark Morris of UCLA. “Most nebulae are either spiral galaxies full of stars or formless amorphous conglomerations of dust and gas—space weather. What we see indicates a high degree of order.”

[ read more ]

It turns out that this phenomenon may be an effect caused by a large gravitational mass orbiting our galaxy center; the gravitational attraction causes the dust and gas in the nebula to twirl around every 10,000 years or so, as the nebula slowly drifts away from galaxy center on a line roughly perpendicular to the galactic plane. This theory is consistent with the observations.

Picture the Blue Angels in an air show doing formation aileron rolls with smoke jettisoning from the F-18s. The resulting double or triple helix is a real crowd pleaser.