California

McCain Off the Short List

Once upon a time, I thought I could support John McCain as the next Republican presidential candidate. We had him on our short list of favorable candidates. Over the last couple of years, however, he has eroded our support for his candidacy because of his positions on several key issues:

And now there’s this:

John McCain, applauding Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for taking on the “compelling issue of global climate challenge,” pledged Wednesday to make California’s global warming fight the model for a national effort to curb greenhouse gases.

Appearing with the governor at the Port of Long Beach, the Arizona senator said he will fight in the Senate — and if elected president — to adopt low carbon standards for vehicle fuels to cut pollution blamed for climate change.

McCain sharply criticized the Bush administration for only belatedly acknowledging the global warming threat and for failing to come up with solutions.

I would assess this administration’s effort on global warming as terrible,” McCain said.

He called for a national program based on two efforts already begun in California.

It sounds as though the Senator has finally found a religion of sorts – a belief in intangibles founded in rumor, innuendo and superstition rather than in fact.

O My God! It’s Full of Stars!

Are we looking into the Obelisk from 2001 – A Space Odyssey? Not exactly — these stars are the reflection of our own star, the Sun, as seen looking into the waters of the Marina Del Rey, California main channel. The scintillating reflections show up like little twinkling stars through the camera’s lens.

aquatic stars

Birds in the Canals of Venice

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We were driving adjacent to the Grand Canal in Venice and spotted these white birds as they climbed up the bank. No, not Venice, Italy but Venice, California. We aren’t sure what species these waterfowl are, but they sure are pretty.

white birds

First Daffodil

After the last cold spell, the bulbs around the garden started to wake up and sprout. This is the first yellow daffodil of the season. Bright yellow daffodils are a powerful symbol of sunny spring days, and the most representative of all the daffodil flowers. You can buy bunches of these in the local supermarket, but I like growing them in our yard! They are big, bright and beautiful.

first daffodil

Marina Ripple

Today we took the day off — Bob went to the dentist -ouch! — but other than that, we had a pretty good day. We took a leisurely drive back from the dentist (who practices in the people’s republic of Santa Monica) along the California coastline through the beach communities back home. One stop was at Marina Del Rey where I snapped this nice picture of the morning sun rippling across the channel on a beautiful California morning.

marina ripple

An Iridescent Purple Mum

This variety is called ‘Osteospermum’ or ‘Soprano Purple’ mum — or at least it’s the name we found for it on the web. True mums and pansies are natural choices for cooler nighttime temperatures, so this is now in a pot in the patio with some smaller daisies and stuff. More purple buds are coming out soon.

Purple Mum

WTC Memorials in South Bay

wtc.jpgSeveral cities in southwestern Los Angeles County have erected memorials to the victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and to victims of Flight 93. Among them are the cities of Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Lomita and Torrance. Now, the city of Redondo Beach will be joining the list as they expect to receive a 300-pound beam fragment from the WTC as a gift from FDNY. The Redondo Beach Firefighters have established a strong relationship with the New York Firefighters. Read about how the beam fragment came to be delivered to the city and about the experiences of the firefighters in the South Bay Daily Breeze article below the fold.

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