More proof that “wheel guns are purdy,” as asserted by Ride Fast and Shoot Straight. Thanks for the link Ride ‘n’ Shoot!
Ride ‘n’ shoot also has some practical information about insane California politicians.
Solar Minimum
The Sun is at solar minimum these days. That is, the eleven year solar cycle is passing through the period of lowest activity. Yet there is this spectacular activity revealed by the STEREO (Ahead) solar probe in this video from the SOHO website.
A close-up of the Sun from the STEREO (Ahead) spacecraft showing a pair of active regions (that appear as brighter regions) with some interesting activity over a two-day period (April 5-6, 2008). Two surges of material burst out from the region to the left, and the second surge appears to break away from its magnetic bindings.
Not long after, particles from one area along the Sun’s edge rise up and, following unseen magnetic field lines, connect with another area before material above each area spirals alone. None of these events caused any solar storming.
It never ceases to amaze me that our stellar companion is downplayed by the left in its contribution to global climate.
Harbor Rails
Years ago, my Grandfather was employed as a motorman for the Pacific Electric Railway. He operated the famous Red Car (as seen in the semi-cartoon Roger Rabbit). Later in his career he operated an electric tender in the rail yards at the Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors. His job was to move rail cars to and from the piers for loading and unloading the ships in the harbor berths.
One time, he smuggled me and my brothers on the tender for a ride up and down the tracks of the harbor. As we passed the ‘control tower’ he would instruct us to ‘get down ’til we’re past the tower.’ Trains and railroads have been a fixation of mine ever since those times.
Yesterday, we were in the harbor area and Damsel took this shot of a couple of Union Pacific locomotives as they headed along an elevated track toward the Los Angeles side of the harbor. I like that they have the U.S. Flag on some of their engines.
Click on the image to view full-sized.
RMS Queen Mary
When you visit the Long Beach Harbor, the magnificent Queen Mary dominates the view. A pelican soars in the foreground and the dome, once home to the ‘Spruce Goose,’ looms behind the vessel.
Taken from Pierpoint Landing adjacent to Rainbow Harbor. Click for a panoramic view of the ship.
UPDATE: Post title changed from HMS Queen Mary to RMS Queen Mary. Thanks to Jonathan for pointing out the error.
Consorting with the Enemy
I guess that the worst U.S. President, ever, misses his ole terrorist buddies enough that he’s going to make an unsanctioned diplomatic visit to leaders of designated terrorist organization Hamas in Syria, a known terror sponsoring state.
Image – These two peaceful-looking guys are anti-Israel buddies Carter and Arafat, both of whom are Nobel ‘Peace’ Prize winners.
FOXNews.com first reported Tuesday on an item in the Arabic-language newspaper Al-Hayat that said Carter was preparing an unprecedented meeting on April 18 with with Khaled Meshal, the exiled head of the Palestinian terror group Hamas.
The State Department official in Israel did not confirm whether President Carter planned to meet Meshal during his time in Syria. FOXNews.com tried numerous times to reach the Carter Center for comment, but calls and e-mails were not returned.
Ahmed Yousuf, Hamas’ top political adviser in Gaza, did not have any information on a meeting between Carter and Meshal, according to World Net Daily.
“I don’t know anything about any such meeting,” said Yousuf, who is normally involved in setting up meetings between foreign officials and Hamas leaders, according to World Net Daily.
However, the Al-Hayat story said unnamed senior Hamas officials were aware of Carter’s plans.
The State Department has designated Hamas a “foreign terrorist organization.” Chief spokesman Sean McCormack once said of the prospect of meeting with Meshal, “That’s not something that we could possibly conceive of.”
Meshal, who lives in Syria to avoid being arrested by the Israeli government, leads Hamas from his seat in Damascus, where he is a guest of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Should Carter meet with the Hamas chief, he would be the first Western leader of his stature to do so. Though Meshal met with Clinton officials in the 1990s, the Bush administration has sought to isolate Hamas, enforcing rigid sanctions on its government in Gaza and refusing to meet with its leaders unless it recognizes Israel and abandons terror.
This isn’t completely unprecedented – in a break with conventional diplomacy, Nancy Pelosi, the worst Speaker of the House, ever, visited Syria, a known terror sponsoring state.
Heston Post Mortem
In the aftermath of the passing of Charlton Heston, the lunatics on the far-left ‘flypaper blogs’ ravaged him – that was totally predictable. Also predictable, the mainstream big media that ravaged the likes of Heston and Ronald Reagan while they lived, offered glowing eulogies and nice things to say about each of them after they passed.
The ultimate hypocrisy, however, comes from – as Greg Gutfield puts it – “probably the biggest – and most sanctimonious sack of feces on the planet” – none other than Michael Moore. Gut goes on the describe the time that Moore cornered a disoriented Heston on his patio and stitched together the videos and sound bytes as part of the “Bowling for Columbine” anti-gun crockumentary.
I bring up Moore because if you go to his Web site, you’ll find a memorial photo of Heston, along with the date of his birth and death. If Moore was any kind of man, he’d take that down, instead of pretending to care. But the world is far from perfect. If it was, Chuck would [have] shot him for trespassing back when he had the chance.
Moore – what an assclown.
In another ‘warm’ tribute, the L.A. Times published some of the letters to the editor that Chuck sent over the years – one of his letters addressed the necessity to bomb Japan at the end of WW2 in response to moronic August 1998 Times anti-nuke book reviews:
I’ve read most of your reviews on the books reexamining the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended World War II. Each condemns the action without reservation as an insanely murderous choice. Several respected intellectuals are quoted, some no doubt qualified on the subject. It’s too bad none of them was there. . . . The bomb ended the war, and its nuclear successors won the Cold War without firing a shot, on either side. I call that a worthwhile achievement.
As Vinnie at Jawa Report says, “Hollywood Just Got 100% Worse.”
California Poppy Day
Yesterday, April 6th, was California Poppy Day. I have many poppies like this one now showing in the back yard. I sure do love spring and the flowers that come with it.
