I snapped this photo of a Calla Lily last weekend at the local garden shop. This yellow variety is also called “Golden Arum Lily.†These are ornamental plants which are native to South Africa. We always enjoy seeing these around the time of Easter in Southern California.
Cosmos is the term used by the Greeks to describe the order and harmony of the universe. The white color of this nice flower adds purity to its order and harmony.
U.S. Department of Defense Update: This just in from Angela French of the DoD:
The Department of Defense Office of Public Affairs has recently updated its “Heroes in the Global War on Terror” website, which includes profiles of soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who have received medals of distinction for their bravery and contributions to fighting the Global War on Terror.
Some of our heroes include Maj. Kim Campbell, aka “Killer Chick,” who flew her bullet-riddled Warthog 300 miles back to base after a close engagement with Iraqi Republican Guard soldiers; 1st Lt. Elliott Ackerman, who led his Marines through a series of ambushes and attacks during the battle of Fallujah; and Staff Sgt. Jo Turner and Spc. Cheryl Ivanov, combat medics who, through their skills, eventually earned respect from the Afghan soldiers they served with.
You can find all of our heroes at: http://www.defenselink.mil/home/dodupdate/heroes/index.html.
We thank you for your continued support of our men and women in uniform.
Best,
Angela
Angela French
Writers Group
Office of the Secretary of Defense
We have started what we hope to be a weekly recognition of individual weblogs that display our Never Forget Tribute. Since there are so many great weblogs, it’s going to be a challenge to make a selection. The weekly weblog will be featured in a link that appears just below the tribute on each weblog that displays it.
This week’s choice is SGT DUB. Sgt Dub is an Oklahoma National Guardsman currently serving our country in Afghanistan. He is a Police Officer back in Oklahoma when he’s not on active duty. There, he lives with his family (and a couple of horses) on a five-acre spread. Sgt Dub posted some great pictures of himself and the family in a recent article on his blog. The weblog also features photos of many of the soldiers on duty in Afghanistan.
Photo: Sgt Dub on duty (egregiously stolen from his website)
Wow! Sgt Dub is two of our favorite people — no, not bipolar disorder, but both a soldier and a policeman — defending our constitution and a first responder. Damsel and I are honored to select Sgt Dub as our inaugural Weblog of the Week.
We’ve been calling this the “Friar’s Hat” ever since we got it. Now that we looked it up on the Internet we see that the popular name is “Bishop’s Cap.” Same thing as far as I’m concerned. It’s technical name is Astrophytum which means “star plant” due to it’s 5-pointed shape. I took this shot of it yesterday in our patio.
Today’s Astronomy Picture of the Day features this remarkable image of a sunspot on the limb of the Sun as seen from the Japanese solar-observing spacecraft, Hinode. Like a fountain of fire, solar plasma is ejected from the sunspot, most of which cascades back onto the surface. Some of the ejecta particles will continue speeding off into space, ultimately falling onto whatever is in the path. Better understanding of how the Sun ejects particles into space may result in more accurate predictions of solar storms that affect satellites, astronauts, and even power grids on Earth.
Image Credit & Copyright: Hinode, JAXA, NASA
Between the venerable SOHO spacecraft and the newly-launched Hinode and STEREO probes, scientists are sure to discover much more about our stellar companion. We are entering into an age of enlightenment (so to speak) about the nature of the Sun’s influence on the environment and climate on planet Earth. This is unfortunate for those who would like to divert attention from science in favor of over-representing anthropogenic (man-made) effects and predictions of imminent global disaster.
