Big apologies! SO sorry for not posting. We are having computer problems (may be forced to get a new one) at the same time we’re dealing with a heat wave, trying not to get covid, and trying not to roast!
Reminds me quite a bit of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. An excellent film anytime, but especially for hot summer nights–preferably viewed outside! Jimmy Stewart, laid up with a broken leg in the sweltering armpit that is NYC in the summertime. And without air conditioning? How did they do it? I would die! Anything above the 70s is torture for us rainforest elephants!
If you haven’t seen Rear Window, make sure to do so–it’s one of Hitchcock’s very best. If you can’t see it on the big screen in a vintage theater, then I really do recommend watching it outside on a summer night if you can. Makes you feel like you’re almost there.
Back to posting, lickitty-split! Promise! Thanks so much for your patience!
Filed under: Environment, History, News, Pop Culture | Tags: Mt. St. Helens, Natural Disasters
[The following was originally posted in 2008]
Chances are, if you’re not from Washington or Oregon, the date May 18th has little meaning to you. Heck, even around here, many don’t think of it unless someone reminds them.
But I remember — every year.
It’s one of the only world events I remember from back then (I was very young after all). But the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980 was just the kind of event that little boys remember forever.
We were very fortunate; the mountain exploded northwards, but the prevailing winds carried the ash plume away to the southeast. I remember being somewhat disappointed that the ash wasn’t turning day into night for us like it was for all the people on TV. In fact, we didn’t seem to get any ash-fall at all, much to my chagrin; while people on the other side of the mountain were measuring it in inches like snow. According to news reports, there were people on the other side of the country getting more ash fall than I was. As you can imagine, I was very envious!
So much excitement! So little pay-off.
About the most exciting thing I personally experienced was standing on my dad’s roof to see the enormous plume looking fairly small and unimpressive so many miles away. I’m not sure if we heard the explosion or not. They say people heard it up to 700 miles away, and we were certainly much closer than that. I think we did — but then, that could just be my memory playing tricks on me.
So close, and yet so far. But I still remember it every year.
Matthew 28:1-10
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
Filed under: Politics | Tags: Protesting Communsm, Protesting Their Government, Want Freedom!
From Townhall:
“Cuba’s communist government is continuing to suppress protesters from sharing real-time updates concerning the authoritarian regime, but bipartisan legislation is enabling activists to access the internet. The Open Technology Fund Authorization Act, championed by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ), supports tools to circumvent internet censorship, including Psiphon.”
“Socialism and communism leads to pain and suffering, and Cuba is the perfect example,” Blackburn said of the legislation. “The repressive Cuban government is attempting to squash protests by cutting off internet access for Cubans rebelling against communism. Yet, over 146,000 Cubans continue to have daily access to the internet thanks to open-source tools supported by the bipartisan Open Technology Fund my colleagues and I championed. The United States must do everything in its power to support those standing up to authoritarian regimes.”
Over 1.3 million Cuban protesters, who are victims of the communist regime, have been able to access the internet thanks to the service funded by the legislation.
Thanks to the two Senators, the ongoing story from Cuba is not successfully being denied. Cubans in America are protesting at the White House, to let people know what is going on. Fidel Castro’s prison island is becoming free once again. A violent protest could quickly be shut down, but a protest with only the weapons of dissent and a demand for freedom is harder to deal with, and the images of the protest going out to the world is the last thing the government wants to happen.
A mother’s work is never done, and mothers never get all the thanks they truly, richly deserve. This image bears a striking resemblance to the job my mother had to do, and she did it magnificently, courageously, and lovingly.
Thank you to the greatest Mom in the world — mine! Happy Mother’s Day! I love you!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Being of the male of the species, I’ve never much understood the importance some place on the holiday. Let’s face it, Valentine’s Day is nothing more than a concoction of the greeting-card industry to promote the sales of schmaltzy valentines. And as a holiday, it’s kind of a rip-off — if even the most perfectly executed Valentine’s Day gesture doesn’t excuse one from being romantic the rest of the year, then, really, what’s the point?
That said, I should point out that Elephants are known to be very partial to chocolate truffles.
[reposted from previous years]
Filed under: Politics
It’s that time of year again! October is here, the weather has turned crisp if not downright cold, the days are markedly shorter, and the grocery stores are already bursting with candy, caramel apples and pumpkins.
Fall has arrived and Halloween is almost upon us.
I love Halloween. Witches, goblins, ghosts and ghouls. Carving pumpkins, trick or treating on foggy nights. (Okay, I haven’t gone trick or treating in ages, but I do like to go all out on the house.) I’ve just never out-grown my love for the fun of Halloween.
And there have always been certain movies that to me are “Halloween movies” — not necessarily because they’re scary (Friday the 13th and Jaws are among the most popular horror movies ever, for example, but what do a killer fish at the beach and a madman at summer camp have to do with Halloween?) — but because they…
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A mother’s work is never done, and mothers never get all the thanks they truly, richly deserve. This image bears a striking resemblance to the job my mother had to do, and she did it magnificently, courageously, and lovingly.
Thank you to the greatest Mom in the world — mine! Happy Mother’s Day! I love you!
Filed under: News | Tags: Christianity, Easter, Holidays, Jesus, The Good News
Matthew 28:1-10
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
Filed under: Freedom, History, National Security, Terrorism, The United States | Tags: 9/11, 9/11 Commission Report, Pentagon, September 11, Shanksville, World Trade Center
September 11 is not a day for “national service”. It is not a day to pick up litter, it is not a day to install compact fluorescent light bulbs, it is not a day to register illegal aliens to vote. September 11 is a day to remember with absolute clarity that which many on the left are trying to obfuscate — that our nation withstood cunning, painstakingly planned attacks that were designed to destroy our economy, our defenses, and our very government all at the same time. It is a day to be acutely aware that others like them are plotting ways to launch even more devastating attacks on us.
It is a day to remember.
And in addition to remembering what happened that day, we should all remember that one of the reasons it happened is because our federal government got so big, and so corrupt, so distracted with things it should not be doing, that it utterly failed in the most important thing it is supposed to do — protect the American people.
In that vein, I re-post the following with very minor changes:
Remember the right things
Remember those who lost family, friends and loved ones. Remember them. They still grieve.
Be there for them, but let them do the grieving. It’s time for the rest of us to stop focusing on grief and remember.
Remember those who looked up at towering infernos, smelled the burning fuel, felt the heat, heard the girders buckle and groan — then gathered their courage and charged inside. Remember, especially, those who never made it back out.
But most importantly, remember what those bastards did to us:
Remember airliners full of terrified men, women and children. Remember flight attendants with knives pressed to their throats.
Remember those trapped above the flames with no way out. Remember their calls to 911 operators. “Oh my God, I’m going to die!”
Remember the unfathomable choice forced on them, do they wait and burn alive, or do they jump 110 stories to their deaths?
Remember the bastards who did this to us.
Remember the passengers who knew. Remember telephone calls and last goodbyes. “I love you! …I’ve got to go now.” Remember how they fought back and sacrificed themselves — most likely saving the United States Congress in the process.
Remember the sound of the second plane full of people roaring in — so very low — and the explosive smack as it hit. Remember that split-second when you and I, and everyone across the country realized as one — this was no accident.
Remember everything those God-damned bastards did to us.
Remember 2,873 savage murders.
Remember, but for the grace of God, there could have been 50,000 souls in the Trade Center had it been just a little later in the morning. Remember there were to have been more hijacked flights aimed at Chicago and Los Angeles and other cities across the country. Remember the anthrax.
Remember how close they came.
They chose their targets ruthlessly. They weren’t aiming only to kill Americans — to them, death was a fortunate consequence of their plan — they were aiming to destroy America itself.
They struck at heart of American commerce in order to destroy the economy:
They struck at the heart of American defense in order to destroy the military infrastructure:
And they tried to strike the capitol, hoping to kill as much of Congress as possible, to destroy our government’s ability to recover. Thank God they were thwarted:
What would have happened to the economy with Wall Street and the financial district destroyed and congress dead? What would have happened to the military with its leadership dead? What would have happened throughout the country with Wall Street destroyed, the military command obliterated and no federal government to put things back together?
And what would have happened when additional attacks followed — as they were meant to?
Too many people think September 11th was only about killing. It was about killing — but it was about much more than that. It was about utterly destroying the entire nation. It was about bringing down America.
Remember it all. Remember everything they did. Remember how close those evil sons of bitches came.
Remember that they are working to attack us again.
[Originally published 9/11/2007]
Update: Michelle Malkin remembers.
Ed Morrissey looks ahead.
President Bush addresses Congress, September 20, 2001.
Gay Patriot remembers his friend, James Joe Ferguson.
Ace of Spades has the live on-air coverage from CNN that day.
Filed under: Environment, History, News, Pop Culture | Tags: Mount St. Helens, Natural Disasters
[The following was originally posted in 2008]
Chances are, if you’re not from Washington or Oregon, the date May 18th has little meaning to you. Heck, even around here, many don’t think of it unless someone reminds them.
But I remember — every year.
It’s one of the only world events I remember from back then (I was very young after all). But the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980 was just the kind of event that little boys remember forever.
We were very fortunate; the mountain exploded northwards, but the prevailing winds carried the ash plume away to the southeast. I remember being somewhat disappointed that the ash wasn’t turning day into night for us like it was for all the people on TV. In fact, we didn’t seem to get any ash-fall at all, much to my chagrin; while people on the other side of the mountain were measuring it in inches like snow. According to news reports, there were people on the other side of the country getting more ash fall than I was. As you can imagine, I was very disappointed.
So much excitement! So little pay-off.
About the most exciting thing I personally experienced was standing on my dad’s roof to see the enormous plume looking fairly small and unimpressive so many miles away. I’m not sure if we heard the explosion or not. They say people heard it up to 700 miles away, and we were certainly much closer than that. I think we did — but then, that could just be my memory playing tricks on me.
So close, and yet so far. But I still remember it every year.
Filed under: News | Tags: Christianity, Easter, Holidays, Jesus, The Good News
Matthew 28:1-10
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
American Elephants 