Patriotic Rock

This email was forwarded to my daughter via her friend's aunt...

Can't believe this was done by a teenager!!

There is a huge rock near a gravel pit on Hwy 25 in rural Iowa.

For generations, kids have painted slogans, names, and obscenities on this rock, changing its character many times. A few months back, the rock received its latest paint job, and since then it has been left completely undisturbed.

I thought the flag was draped over the rock, but it's not. It's actually painted on the rock.

Unfortunately, I couldn't copy the photos of the 2003 Patriotic Rock included in the email, but the story of the artist, Ray 'Bubba' Sorensen, can be found at Bubbazartwork.com and it is worth a look.

Turns out, each year since 1999 Bubba paints the rock anew for Memorial Day with different scenes with the purpose of thanking U.S. veterans and their families for their service and sacrifice.

:-)

Cat Blog Friday

For this Cat Blog Friday...

... a graduate cat because I have graduations on the brain.

Postings have been scarce around The BLOG lately because my two cubelets are graduating; the eldest from high school, and the youngest from the 8th grade in the school she has attended since Kindergarten.

The logistics are heavy for one graduation alone, so you can imagine how we are being pulled in many directions at once trying to get everything accomplished for two.

After a hectic week, I am looking forward to a semi-quiet weekend before the pace picks up again!

In the meantime, have a happy Friday, everybody!

Cubular Gift

Wow. Another cool gift idea from Neatorama.com

I've already ordered my Neo-Cube.

You can order one at Strong Force Inc.

Where No Bottle Opener Has Gone Before...

A neato gift idea for the Trekker in your life.

Starship Enterprise Bottle Opener

OK, I'd buy it for myself if they sold it in the U.S.


[The BLOG note: Hat tip to Neatorama.com ]

Pelosi Prattle

Madame Speaker is fond of quoting a particular passage of Scripture:

"In her April 22 Earth Day news release, Pelosi said, "The Bible tells us in the Old Testament, 'To minister to the needs of God's creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us.'"

Madame Speaker quotes this passage of Scripture a lot.

- December 2005
- February 2007
- April 6, 2007
- April 25, 2007
- October 2007

The problem is that biblical scholars can't seem to find the passage in the Bible.

Biblical Scholars Challenge Pelosi's 'Scripture' Quote

Perhaps we should forward another passage to Mrs. Pelosi:

"Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar."
- Proverbs 30:6

Obama's Other Mentor

Obama’s Real Bill Ayers Problem: The Ex-Weatherman Is Now A Radical Educator With Influence

Here's an excerpt that says it all:

"In his last debate with Hillary Clinton, Obama referred to Ayers as a “professor of English,” an error that the media then repeated. Would that Ayers were just another radical English professor. In that case, his poisonous anti-American teaching would be limited to a few hundred college students in the liberal arts. But through his indoctrination of future K–12 teachers, Ayers has been able to influence what happens in hundreds, perhaps thousands, of classrooms."

The truth is Bill Ayers is Ward Churchill squared. His influence in the "social justice division" of the education system is widespread, anti-capitalist, and anti-American in nature.

With mentors like Reverend Wright and Bill Ayers, Obama shows either a singularly boneheaded lack of judgement, or worse, a shared ideology with these mentors.

I fear the latter is true.

Earth Day

I love the Earth every single day so I thought it would be more appropriate today to single out my second favorite planet, Mars.

If you're interested, the NASA site has many fun facts about Mars.

Pope Departs

Pope Benedict XVI Leaves After Six-Day U.S. Visit

Pope Benedict XVI, a.k.a. the German Shepherd, has left the country. Frankly, I'm a little sad to see him go.

Hazel Court 1926-2008

Visiting one of my favorite horror blogs, The Horrors Of It All , I was saddened to learn of the death of legendary scream queen, Hazel Court, on Thursday at the age of 82.

I don't know about you, but I grew up watching her in movies such as "The Raven", "The Premature Burial", "The Masque Of The Red Death", "The Curse Of Frankenstein", and, yes, even "Devil Girl From Mars", along with countless guest starring roles in creepy TV shows such as "The Twilight Zone", et al..

RIP.

Edward Lorenz 1918-2008

I don't know how I missed it until now, but Edward Lorenz, the father of chaos theory, died on Wednesday.

Lorenz, a meteorologist from MIT, was was perhaps best known for the title of a 1972 paper, "Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?" The memorable title pithily summarized the essence of chaos theory -- that very small changes in a system can have very large and unexpected consequences.

Wolfram Mathworld and the Wikipedia both have adequate summaries of the math behind the Lorenz attractor pictured above.

Considering NASA's miscalculation earlier this week, Apophis Closer Than NASA Thought , I think it would behoove them to revisit Lorenz' work.

The Big Stick

Found this article via lucianne.com :

24 Hours On The Big Stick: What you can learn about America on the deck of the USS 'Theodore Roosevelt.'

P.J. O'Rourke writes eloquently about spending 24 hours aboard an aircraft carrier and makes some valid political points along the way:

Here's an excerpt:

"Some people say John McCain isn't conservative enough. But there's more to conservatism than low taxes, Jesus, and waterboarding at Gitmo. Conservatism is also a matter of honor, duty, valor, patriotism, self-discipline, responsibility, good order, respect for our national institutions, reverence for the traditions of civilization, and adherence to the political honesty upon which all principles of democracy are based. Given what screw-ups we humans are in these respects, conservatism is also a matter of sense of humor. Heard any good quips lately from Hillary or Barack?"

Food for thought.

Cat Blog Friday

For this Cat Blog Friday...

...a cat doing a happy dance. We dogsat my sister's hound/pit puppy for the last 9 days and our 3 cats are dancing in the street that Pumpkin went home last night.

Pumpkin's pack will miss her, but the cats, not so much.

Happy Friday, everybody!

[The BLOG note: The cat is supposed to be an animated gif, but for some reason, it will not move. If you want to see it dancing, go here ]

Snobama

T-shirts, hats, stickers, buttons from AuthenticGop.com ...

...for the bitter small-town xenophobes clinging to their guns and religion.

Blog List

I'm #409 on the Million Blog List.

Join The Million Blog List

Why, you ask?

Why not, I say.

Apophis Is Closer Than NASA Figured

Back in November 2005, NASA estimated, that Apophis (previously known as 2004 MN4), had a 1 in 5500 chance of hitting Earth in 2036.



No, not Apophis, the Goa'uld System Lord, but the killer asteroid (pictured below).



Well, it turns out that NASA miscalculated...

German Schoolboy, 13, Corrects NASA's Asteroid Figures: Paper

Turns out the odds of Apophis, the killer asteroid hitting Earth in 2036 are closer to 1 in 450!!!!

I've read reports of the odds being 1 in 45,000, then 1 in 5500, and now 1 in 450. I'm wondering if the highly paid brains at NASA know how to keep track of their zeros.

#123,456

Cool.

Who's Bitter?

Hillary hoists a few as the fallout from Barackis Obama's "bitter" speech continues...

Obama said:

"And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations,"

This comment is bad enough on its own, but when you add the remarks from Pastor Wright, and the remarks from Michelle Obama, doesn't it seem that Obama has some lingering bitterness of his own against America, or dare I say it, what he considers "typical" white Americans?

McCain is looking better every day.

Naked Bias

[click on image to see larger view of photo]

Since Wednesday, the blogosphere has been atwitter over a photograph on the White House Web site of Cheney with a caption that said he was fly-fishing on the Snake River in Idaho.

Is That Really A Naked Woman In Dick Cheney's Sunglasses?

Turns out it was a hand casting a flyfishing rod.

Doesn't it seem like the republicans never get the benefit of the doubt?

Sheesh.

Cat Blog Friday

For this Cat Blog Friday...

... two kittens illustrating the newest in pricey coffees... Luwak coffee.

World's Most Expensive Coffee At $100 A Cup Comes To Britian: Made From Cats' Droppings

Thanks, but I'll stick to Folgers.

Happy Friday, everybody!

Pricey Camel

The crown prince of the United Arab Emirates of Dubai has bought a female camel for a record 2.72 million dollars, an organiser at a camel beauty pageant said on Monday.

Okay, this is whacked on soooo many levels.

Dune Re-Do

This Time It's For Real: New Dune Movie Confirmed

This time they're vowing to stay true to the Frank Herbert novel. We'll see.

Nipplegate

The WrestleMania banner on the side of the Lynx building in downtown Orlando shows wrestlers without their nipples.

Yikes!

They were airbrushed out because someone assumed there was a city ordinance against their display.

Huh?

Wrestlemania's Lead In: 'Nipplegate'

For the record, there is no city law that bans the display of male chests in Orlando, or anywhere else in Florida.

Sheesh.

Blogicide

In Web World Of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop

The stress of blogging for pay...

Um, I certainly don't have that problem.

Doublethink

Doublethink And The Liberal Mind

Excerpt: "Doublethink in Mr. Obama's case ("Diversity is Unity!") gives him the luxury of defending not only the divisive and intolerant Reverend Wright and his party's divisive policies over the years, but it also allows him to be seen as the savior who will finally make America whole."

Diversity is Unity?

What chilled me about this article is that there are people who actually fall for this garbage. God help us if they ever outnumber the people who can think for themselves.

Cat Blog Friday

For this Cat Blog Friday...

... carrying water isn't easy. Water is heavy. Very heavy. Be glad you're not this
poor cat or a member of the MSM ;-)

Happy Friday, everybody!

Latest Obamacrat

Jane Fonda: Obama!

Hanoi Jane joins the growing ranks of Obama supporters...

* Reverend Wright
* John & Tuh-Ray-Zuh Kerry
* Randi Rhodes
* Louis Farrakan
* Oprah Winfrey
* Scarlet Johanson
* Russell Simmons

:-)

Hawk Attack

Thirteen year old, Alexa Rodriguez, was scratched on the scalp by one of the red-tailed hawks that reside at Fenway Park.

An Omen? Hawk Attacks Girl With A Familiar-sounding Name At Fenway Park

The hawks that nest at Yankee Stadium are waiting for Roberta Abreu to show up at their park.

Cuss-O-Meter

Created by OnePlusYou


Judging from the rest of the blogosphere, this will probably force more people away from The BLOG.

;-)

Tuh-Ray-Zuh Is Back

Tuy-Ray-Zuh Heinz Kerry teamed up with Michelle Obama at a rally at Carnegie Mellon University yesterday.

OBAMA... LIKE HEINZ KERRY'S HUSBANDS?

Mama T. is back!

This election just keeps getting more and more interesting. Pass the popcorn.

:-)

Real Quidditch

Earth-bound Quidditch is like the mongrel offspring of rugby, dodge ball and soccer, but somehow it has taken off on college campuses.

The first Intercollegiate Quidditch World Cup Fall Festival was held at Middlebury, Vermont with 12 seven-person coed Middlebury teams vying for the chance to play the visiting team from Vassar College.

Collegiate Quidditch Takes Off — Figuratively, At Least

Cool.