Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

NPR Uses Double Standard on Juan Williams Firing

The following are excerpts from Charles Krauthammer‘s comments on Fox News regarding the Juan Williams firing by National Public Radio:

juan-williams.jpgWell, I want to start by having people look at this quote from Jesse Jackson about 18 years ago in which he says, [“There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery … then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved.”] Jesse Jackson is saying this. In other words, if the people he looked at were black, he would feel anxiety or fear.

Now, this – there’s nobody in his right mind who’s going to say that Jesse Jackson is a racist, [an] anti-black racist. He’s not.

. . .

So [Williams] makes a statement that’s perfectly parallel with what Jackson said. Now, you explain to me why nobody would attribute hostility, bigotry, or racism in the Jackson statement, and yet NPR attributes it to the Juan Williams statement — and not only attributes it but does it with such certainty that it dismisses him without even a hearing.

I’d like to hear one executive at NPR defend that. If not, this is not just a case of political correctness. It’s a case of intellectual cowardice.

Amen!

Time to DEFUND NPR and PBS. Stop spending our $$ on their crap!

Hat tip to NRO.

22 Oct 2010 by Media Whacko Politics

Quail Live Here

We stopped to check the progress of our home on the way into town two weeks ago. I walked out front and looked down into the little wash that runs through our lot and spotted several quail down there pecking at the ground. I hoped that quail would come around – I think they are really cute. Click on the image to see the expanded picture.

quail-outback.jpg

19 Oct 2010 by Arizona Critters Photography

Solar Eclipse as Seen From SDO

sdo-transit.jpgAn Interesting eclipse occurred earlier this month when the moon passed between the Solar Dynamics Observatory and the Sun. This is the first recorded lunar/solar eclipse taken by SDO although earth/solar eclipses happen often. SDO is like the Hubble Space Telescope but is totally devoted to solar activity.

The image at the right shows the partially-eclipsed solar disk (courtesy NASA – click to enlarge). I also uploaded a close-up image in which the mountains along the lunar limb can be discerned against the solar disc. This demonstrates the excellent resolution of the instruments aboard SDO.

The following is taken from the SDO website where you can download and watch a Quicktime video of the eclipse.

This was a first for SDO and it was visually engaging too. On October 7, 2010, SDO observed its first lunar transit when the new Moon passed directly between the spacecraft (in its geosynchronous orbit) and the Sun. With SDO watching the Sun in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light, the dark Moon created a partial eclipse of the Sun.

These images, while unusual and cool to see, have practical value to the SDO science team. Karel Schrijver of Lockheed-Martin’s Solar and Astrophysics Lab explains: “The very sharp edge of the lunar limb allows us to measure the in-orbit characteristics of the telescope e.g., light diffraction on optics and filter support grids. Once these are characterized, we can use that information to correct our data for instrumental effects and sharpen up the images to even more detail.”

18 Oct 2010 by Aerospace Astronomy Rocket Science

Reagan Reflections

This video juxtaposes Ronald Reagan’s observations about Washington politics against a host of outrageous contemporary liberal politicians. After thirty years, Reagan’s wisdom and political intuition are still as valid today as they were then.

The utterances of Pelosi, Frank, Durbin and others demonstrate just how out of control Congress has become and how out of touch with America liberal politicians are. Reagan, of course, makes profound sense as he usually did.

The video runs for a little over two minutes. It’s worth the time.

17 Oct 2010 by Beltway Kabuki Whacko Politics

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