A beautiful end to a beautiful day.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Freedom Friday: Through The Eyes Of A Paratrooper
Rapid Trident 20111 involved approximately 1,600 personnel and consisted of multi-national airborne operations, situational training exercise lanes and a field training exercise. In addition to U.S. Army Europe, the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team and Ukraine, participants included: Latvia, Belarus, Moldova, Slovenia, Canada, Poland, Serbia, the UK, Lithuania, Estonia, California and Utah National Guard and U.S. Air Force Europe.
Below is a video of what a paratrooper sees during a parachute jump:
Courtesy: U.S. Army Europe Public Affairs Video: Staff Sgt. Travis Surber
Staff Sgt. Travis Surber, a native of Franklin County, VA and a paratrooper with the 173rd Brigade Combat Team's Battle Company of the 2nd Battalion 503rd Infantry Regiment parachutes out of a C-130 Hercules Transport Aircraft and into the Ukraine sky. This marks the first time the "Sky Soldiers" of the 173rd have jumped in Ukraine and they'll be training and conducting multinational airborne operations, a situational training exercise and a field training exercise here from through 5 Aug. as part of Rapid Trident 2011.
Rapid Trident 2011 is a U.S. Army Europe led, multi-national exercise taking place at the International Peacekeeping and Security Center in Yavoriv, Ukraine. It is designed to promote regional stability and security, strengthen international military partnering and foster trust while improving interoperability between participating nations. Rapid Trident 2011 involves approximately 1,600 personnel. In addition to the U.S. Army Europe and Ukraine, participants include: Latvia, Belarus, Moldova, Slovenia, Canada, Poland, Serbia, the UK, Lithuania, Estonia, California and Utah National Guard and U.S. Air Force Europe. Rapid Trident supports interoperability among Ukraine, the United States, NATO and Partnership for Peace member nations. This exercise will help prepare participants to operate successfully in a joint, multinational, integrated environment with host- nation support from civil and governmental agencies. Rapid Trident is a part of U.S. European Command's Joint Training and Exercise Program, designed to enhance joint combined interoperability with allied and partner nations. The exercise also supports Ukraine's Annual National Program to achieve interoperability with NATO and commitments made in the annual NATO-Ukraine work plan. The 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team is one of the U.S. Army's most highly decorated units having particularly distinguished itself during the Vietnam War and having produced fifteen Congressional Medal of Honor recipients including Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, the first living recipient of the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War.
See more online regarding Rapid Trident 2011:
See video from the opening ceremonies. Article on the end of the exercise.
Flickr photoset
US Army Online article
Rapid Trident Homepage
US Army Europe Social Media pages:
Thursday, August 18, 2011
A Victor Davis Hanson Lecture
War and Democracy in Ancient and Contemporary Middle East
In this August 2004 video lecture from UCTV, military historian Victor Davis Hanson (aka VDH among the conservative blogosphere) steps back from the current conflicts in the Middle East and examines them from the perspective of classical conceptions of war. He displays his encyclopedic knowledge of military conflicts throughout history and provides many thought-provoking reflections on the current state of affairs in Iraq, Israel, and the rest of the Middle East...
My favorite part is where VDH demolishes the final question from a delusional pro-Palestinian student. See that part imediately below:
Victor Davis Hanson is a prolific columnist as well as a professor and farmer. Here is where you can read some of his works:
Personal Website
Hoover Institution
National Review Online
Real Clear Politics
Pajamas Media (I am loathe to link here because of the paywall)
Commentary
I have been slack in my duty of posting about the progress of World War IV on this blog because I have been distracted by other things the past couple of years. Well, I am beginning to correct that. This video is a refresher course for those who've forgotten the enemy we've been fighting and why we must win this fight.
Over the course of the next few weeks, I'll be posting more of the same type of material, and will be welcoming a couple of guest bloggers who will have even more to say on the subject, so stay tuned...
Off Book: Visual Culture Online
What follows is a promo for an interesting PBS miniseries, which I won't see unless they post the full thing online, due to not being to get PBS over the air where I live.
For decades now, people have joined together online to communicate and collaborate around interesting imagery. In recent years, the pace and intensity of this activity has reached a fever pitch. With countless communities engaging in a constant exchange, building on each others' work, and producing a prodigious flow of material, we may be experiencing the early stages of a new type of artistic and cultural collaboration. In this episode of Off Book, we'll speak with a number of Internet experts and artists who'll give us an introductory look into this intriguing new world.
Featuring:
Chris Menning, Viral Trends Researcher, Buzzfeed
MemeFactory, Internet Researchers
Olivia Gulin, Visual Reporter, Know Your Meme
Ryder Ripps, Artist and Co-Creator, Dump.fm
John Kelly, PH.D., Founder and Chief Scientist, Morningside Analytics
Music by:
VLOOPER: http://vlooper.bandcamp.com/album/copycat-a-dilla-tribute
Hinariku216: http://soundcloud.com/hinariku216
Reno Project: http://soundcloud.com/renoproject
Follow Off Book:
Twitter: @pbsoffbook
Tumblr: http://pbsarts.tumblr.com/
Produced by Kornhaber Brown: http://www.kornhaberbrown.com
Story Development with Chris Menning, Viral Trends Researcher, Buzzfeed
Source: PBS Arts (video description lifted from Youtube)
Hat Tip to Scott Beale on G+
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Kinda Busy
I've been kinda busy lately, so please forgive the sparse posting. I've been slammed with work outside what I normally do online and I'm still trying to edit the videos of the latest Aldermen and County Commissioner meetings.
I hope to have things under control again by sometime next week.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Mozart's Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551
Music Monday is Back!
The Music Monday Series is back on, and I can think of no better way to restart the series than with one of Mozart's best works, Symphony No. 41, often called the Jupiter Symphony. This is one of my favorite compositions by Mozart and I play it often.
**note** I have received messages from people who say they cannot see the video player I have embedded. Click Here to see it on the Tudou website. Or, if Tudou is blocked by your ISP, try a Mr Music Video that begins with a short three minute educational intro.
The 41st Symphony is the last of a set of three that Mozart composed in rapid succession during the summer of 1788. The 39th was completed 26 June and the 40th 25 July. Around the same time, Mozart was writing his piano trios in E and C major, his sonata facile, and a violin sonatina.
It is not known whether the 41st Symphony was ever performed in the composer's lifetime. According to Otto Erich Deutsch, around this time Mozart was preparing to hold a series of "Concerts in the Casino" in a new casino in the Spiegelgasse owned by Philipp Otto. Mozart even sent a pair of tickets for this series to his friend Michael Puchberg. But it seems impossible to determine whether the concert series was held, or was cancelled for lack of interest.
Source: Wikipedia
The Composer
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart [Wikipedia]
The Perfomers
Other Links of Interest:
Mostly Mozart (a Lincoln Center website of concerts that are mostly Mozart in nature)
Mozart Forum a comprehensive list of Mozart Links
Follow the Mozart Trail (for children...but fun for adults, too)
Previously: (in reverse chronological order)
Music Monday: The Concert Podcast #109
Not Quite What I Was Expecting
Music Monday: Deutsche Welle Classical Masterpieces
Schumann's Symphony No 3, the "Rhenish"
Music Monday: The Concert Podcast #108
Schubert’s Journey
Mostly Mozart (a Lincoln Center website of concerts that are mostly Mozart in nature)
Mozart Forum a comprehensive list of Mozart Links
Follow the Mozart Trail (for children...but fun for adults, too)
Previously: (in reverse chronological order)
Music Monday: The Concert Podcast #109
Not Quite What I Was Expecting
Music Monday: Deutsche Welle Classical Masterpieces
Schumann's Symphony No 3, the "Rhenish"
Music Monday: The Concert Podcast #108
Schubert’s Journey
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Parrots the Universe and Everything
Douglas Adams was the best-selling British author and satirist who created The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In this talk at UCSB recorded shortly before his death, Adams shares hilarious accounts of some of the apparently absurd lifestyles of the world's creatures, and gleans from them extraordinary perceptions about the future of humanity.
This talk originally aired on University of California Television.
This was recorded the month that Douglas Adams died.
This was recorded the month that Douglas Adams died.
Tim Pawlenty Drops Out of Race for GOP Nomination
AMES, Iowa - After spending much of his money to finish a distant third in the Ames Straw Poll, Tim Pawlenty ended his presidential bid Sunday.
"We needed to get some lift to continue on and have a pathway forward and that didn't happen, so I'm announcing on your show that I'm ending my campaign for president," the former governor said on "This Week."
The Minnesota Republican revealed his decision on an early morning conference call with supporters, an aide told POLITICO.
"I wish it would have been different, but obviously the pathway forward for me doesn't really exist, so we're going to end the campaign," Pawlenty told ABC's Jake Tapper.Source: Twin Cities
Hat Tip: The Drudge Report
Commentary
I will give Governor Pawlenty major points for realizing that his campaign was toast.
If only six other Republicans would see that their campaigns are also over, they would save themselves much embarrassment over the next few months...
GOP Weekly Address for 08-13-2011
Transcript of this week's Weekly GOP Address, as delivered by US Senator Pat Toomey:
Hi, I’m Senator Pat Toomey from the great state of Pennsylvania, and I’m pleased to have this opportunity to share a few thoughts with you today.
Like a lot of Americans all around the country, I’m deeply concerned about the lack of job growth and our stagnant economy.
Now President Obama inherited a weak economy, but by nearly every measure, he has made the economy worse. Over two years ago, his administration told us that passing his $787 billion stimulus bill would keep unemployment below 8 percent.
Instead, since the stimulus was enacted, our economy has lost more than 1.3 million jobs and the unemployment rate has averaged over 9 percent.
Today, fewer people are working; gas prices are higher; home values are lower; wages are weaker; healthcare is more expensive; taxes are heading higher and our federal deficits are much larger than when President Obama took office.
Clearly, the policies of this administration are not working.
So, what went wrong? Well, a big part of the problem has been job-killing regulations. Everyday, small business owners, job creators and entrepreneurs are bombarded with new regulations and higher costs, discouraging these employers from expanding their businesses and hiring additional workers.
This is what I hear when I travel across my home state of Pennsylvania. Whether I am touring a manufacturing plant, talking to dairy farmers or energy producers, visiting a trucking company, or meeting with medical device makers, the message I hear is the same: The crushing burden of federal regulations is making it increasingly difficult for them to grow their new businesses, hire new workers, and in some cases, just keep their doors open.
For example, it can sometimes take years for a new life-saving medical device to be approved by the FDA. A hot dog factory can wait months for federal regulators to approve food product labels, throwing their entire production schedule off.
Future investment in broadband networks has been jeopardized by burdensome new Internet regulations adopted by the FCC. New financial services mandates are raising the cost of credit. And the National Labor Relations Board is now dictating to companies where they can locate new plants.
These are just a few examples out of hundreds, maybe thousands. And, the number of regulations has only increased since President Obama came into office. The Federal Register, containing all federal regulations, now totals a whopping 49,000 pages, covering everything from paint, to dust, cement, to cars, medicine and livestock.
With so many burdens and the threat of new obstacles in the future, it’s not hard to understand why job creators are leery of assuming the risk and costs that come with starting a new business or expanding an existing company. As a former small business owner who ran several restaurants with my brothers, I can attest to the burden these regulations impose on our job creators.
Despite all these obstacles, I remain very optimistic about our future. Americans are still the hardest working, most industrious, and innovative, most entrepreneurial people in the world. And if we just let them, they’ll build more factories, start more businesses, hire more workers, produce more goods, and create more inventions.
But first, government has to get out of the way.
Course, we need some regulations to keep us safe, but these regulations must be enacted in a thoughtful manner and with a careful consideration to the impact they have on jobs. First, we should start by eliminating some of the most harmful regulations already on the books, including the president’s health care bill with its maze of new costly rules.
Next, several of my colleagues and I have introduced legislation that will make sure future regulations are not overly burdensome. For example, the Employer Impact Act, introduced by Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, is a simple bill: It would require all federal agencies to consider the number of jobs that will be lost as a result of a proposed rule or regulation. Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin has introduced legislation that would place a moratorium on new federal regulations with an economic impact exceeding $100 million until the unemployment rate falls below 7.7 percent.
And, as a newly appointed member of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, I’m ready to work hard with my fellow committee members to produce a proposal that will reduce government spending, and help to create an environment where entrepreneurs can thrive.
You know, I have every confidence that the 21st century can be another great American century. And I know we can have a booming economy. But to get there, we have to remember the source of our national strength. Our strength doesn’t come from a bigger government controlling our economy.
It comes from a free enterprise system and the hard-working, honest citizens who make it run - the kind of industrious folks I see every day in Pennsylvania.
When government lets these folks grow their businesses and work hard without putting obstacles in their way, that’s when we’ll achieve the flourishing recovery and the job creation that our country needs and deserves. I’m Pat Toomey, and I thank you for listening.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Michele Bachmann Wins 2012 Iowa Straw Poll
Here are the results as announced on CSPAN of the Iowa Straw Poll:
4823 Michele Bachmann
4671 Ron Paul
2293 Tim Pawlenty
1657 Rick Santorum
1456 Herman Cain
567 Mitt Romney
385 Newt Gingrich
69 Jon Huntsman
35 Thaddeus Mccotter
162 Scattering of candidates
What does it mean?
In my opinion, it measures the willingness of a campaign to sell its soul to win a poll.
Texas Governor Rick Perry Announces Run for President
Texas Governor Rick Perry announced his run for the nomination of the Republican Party for President at the Red State Gathering earlier today. Video of the speech is above and the full transcript is below:
Howdy. Thank you, Erick (Erickson, editor of RedState). It is great to be at RedState. And I’ll tell you what, it’s even better to be governor of the largest red state in America.
It’s sure good to be back in the Palmetto State, in South Carolina. I enjoy coming to places where people elect folks like Nikki Haley, true conservatives. And also where they love the greatest fighting force on the face of the earth…the United States Military.
And I want to take a moment and ask you to just take a silence, think about those young Navy SEALs and the other special operators who gave it all in the service of their country. Just take a moment to say Thank you, Lord, that we have those kind of selfless, sacrificial men and women. Their sacrifice was immeasurable, their dedication profound, and we will never, ever forget them.
I stand before you today as the governor of Texas. But I also stand before you the son of two tenant farmers, Ray Perry, who came home after 35 bombing missions over Europe to work his little corner of land out there, and Amelia who made sure my sister Milla and I had everything that we needed, including hand-sewing my clothes until I went off to college.
I am also the product of a place called Paint Creek. Doesn’t have a zip code. It’s too small to be called a town along the rolling plains of Texas. We grew dryland cotton and wheat, and when I wasn’t farming or attending Paint Creek Rural School, I was generally over at Troop 48 working on my Eagle Scout award.
Around the age of 8, I was blessed – didn’t realize it, but I was blessed to meet my future wife, Anita Thigpen, at a piano recital. We had our first date eight years later. And she finally agreed to marry me 16 years after that. Nobody says I am not persistent.
There is no greater way to live life than with someone you love, and my first love is with us today, my lovely wife Anita. We’re also blessed to have two incredible children, Griffin and Sydney, and they are also with us today, and our wonderful daughter-in-law Meredith. I’d just like to introduce those two. Thank you.
What I learned growing up on the farm was a way of life that was centered on hard work, and on faith and on thrift. Those values have stuck with me my whole life. But it wasn’t until I graduated from Texas A&M University and joined the United States Air Force, flying C-130’s all around the globe, that I truly appreciated the blessings of freedom.
To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan, I realized that the United States of America really is the last great hope of mankind. What I saw was systems of government that elevatedrulers at the expense of the people. Socialist systems cloaked maybe in good intentions but were delivering misery and stagnation. And I learned that not everyone values life like we do in America, or the rights that are endowed to every human being by a loving God.
You see, as Americans we’re not defined by class, and we will never be told our place. What makes our nation exceptional is that anyone, from any background, can climb the highest of heights. As Americans, we don’t see the role of government as guaranteeing outcomes, but allowing free men and women to flourish based on their own vision, their hard work and their personal responsibility. And as Americans, we realize there is no taxpayer money that wasn’t first earned by the sweat and toil of one of our citizens.
That’s why we reject this President’s unbridled fixation on taking more money out of the wallets and pocketbooks of American families and employers and giving it to a central government. “Spreading the wealth” punishes success while setting America on course to greater dependency on government. Washington’s insatiable desire to spend our children’s inheritance on failed “stimulus” plans and other misguided economic theories have given us record debt and left us with far too many unemployed. Transcript originally posted on http://thunderpigblog.blogspot.com
But of course, now we’re told we are in recovery. Yeah.
But this sure doesn’t feel like a recovery to more than nine percent of Americans out there who are unemployed, or the sixteen percent of African Americans and 11 percent of Hispanics in the same position, or the millions more who can only find part-time work, or those who have stopped even looking for a job.
One in six work-eligible Americans cannot find a full-time job. That is not a recovery. That is an economic disaster.
If you think about it, for those Americans who do have full-time jobs, they aren’t experiencing economic recovery with the rising fuel costs and the food prices that are going up. Recovery is a meaningless word if the bank has foreclosed on your home, if you are under water on your mortgage, or if you are up to the max on your credit card debt. Those Americans know that this President and his big-spending, big-government policies have prolonged our national misery, not
alleviated it.
And what do we say to our children? Y’all figure it out? Don’t worry, Washington’s created 17 debt and entitlement commissions in 30 years, but the fact of the matter is they just didn’t have the courage to make the decisions to allow you to have the future that you actually deserve? That Washington wouldn’t even make modest entitlement program reforms in this last debate? And the President even refused to lay out a plan, for fear of the next election? How can the wealthiest nation in the history of civilization fail so miserably to pay its bills? How does that happen?Well, Mr. President, let us tell you something: you can't win the future by selling America off to foreign creditors.
We cannot afford four more years of this rudderless leadership. Last week, that leadership failed, and the tax and spend and borrow agenda of this President led to the first ever downgrade of the credit rating of the United States of America.
In reality though, this is just the most recent downgrade. The fact is for nearly three years President Obama has been downgrading American jobs. He’s been downgrading our standing in the world. He’s been downgrading our financial stability. He’s been downgrading our confidence, and downgrading the hope for a better future for our children. That’s a fact.His policies are not only a threat to this economy, so are his appointees – a threat. You see he stacked the National Labor Relations Board with anti-business cronies who want to dictate to a private company, Boeing, where they can build a plant. No president, no president should kill jobs in South Carolina, or any other state for that matter, simply because they choose to go to a right-to-work state.
You see, when the Obama Administration is not stifling economic growth with over-regulation, they are achieving the same through their reckless spending. Debt is not only a threat to our economy, but also to our security.
America’s standing in the world is in peril, not only because of disastrous economic policies, but from the incoherent muddle that they call foreign policy. Our president has insulted our friends and he’s encouraged our enemies, thumbing his nose at traditional allies like Israel. He seeks to dictate new borders for the Middle East and the oldest democracy there, Israel, while he is an abject failure in his constitutional duty to protect our borders in the United States. His foreign policy seems to be based on alienating our traditional allies, while basing our domestic agenda on importing those failed Western European social values. We don’t need a president who apologizes for America. We need a president who protects and projects those values.
Transcript originally posted on http://thunderpigblog.blogspot.com
Look, it’s pretty simple: we’re going to stand with those who stand with us, and we will vigorously defend our interests. And those who threaten our interests, harm our citizens – we will simply not be scolding you, we will defeat you.
Our nation cannot and it must not endure four more years of aimless foreign policy. We cannot and must not endure four more years of rising unemployment, rising taxes, rising debt, rising energy dependence on nations that intend us harm.
It is time to get America working again. To get citizens – to get our citizens working in good jobs and getting the government to working for the people again.
Page one of any economic plan to get America working is to give a pink slip to the current resident in the White House.
Listen, we just got to get back to the basic truths of economic success. As Governor, I’ve had to deal with the consequences of this national recession. In 2003, and again this year, my state faced billions of dollars in budget shortfalls. But we worked hard, we made tough decisions, we balanced our budget. Not by raising taxes, but by setting priorities and cutting government spending. It can and it must be done in Washington, DC.
Dr. Schwertner (State Representative, R-Williamson County, TX), we have led Texas based on some just really pretty simple guiding principles. One is don’t spend all of the money. Two is keeping the taxes low and under control. Three is you have your regulatory climate fair and predictable. Four is reform the legal system so frivolous lawsuits don’t paralyze employers that are trying to create jobs.
Over the years, we have followed this recipe to produce the strongest economy in the nation. Since June of 2009, Texas is responsible for more than 40 percent of all of the new jobs created in America.
Now think about that. We’re home to less than 10 percent of the population in America, but forty percent of all the new jobs were created in that state.
I’ve cut taxes. I have delivered historic property tax reductions. I was the first governor since World War II to cut general revenue spending in our state budget. We passed lawsuit reform, including just this last session a “loser pays” law to stop the frivolous lawsuits that were happening.
And I know I’ve talked a lot about Texas here in the last little bit. I’m a Texan and proud of it. But first, and foremost, I’m an incredibly proud American.
Transcript originally posted on http://thunderpigblog.blogspot.com
And I know something: America is not broken. Washington, D.C., is broken!
We need balanced budgets. We need lower taxes. We need less regulation. And we need civil justice reform – those same four principles. Our country’s most urgent need is to revitalize our economy, stop the generational theft that is going on with this record debt.
I come to South Carolina because I will not sit back and accept the path that America is on. Because a great country requires a better direction. Because a renewed nation needs a new president.
It is time to get America working again. And that’s why, with the support of my family, and an unwavering belief in the goodness of America, I declare to you today as a candidate for President of the United States.
It’s time for America to believe again. It’s time to believe that the promise of our future is far greater than even our best days behind us. It’s time to believe again in the potential of private enterprise, set free from the shackles of overbearing federal government. And it’s time to truly restore our standing in the world, and renew our faith in freedom as the best hope for peace in this world that’s beset with strife.
The change we seek will never emanate out of Washington, D.C. It will come from the windswept prairies of Middle America, the farms and factories across this great land, from the hearts and minds of the goodhearted Americans who will accept not a future that is less than our past, patriots – patriots who will not be consigned to a fate of less freedom in exchange for more government.
We do not have to accept our current circumstances. We will change them. We are Americans. That’s what we do. We roll up our sleeves. We go to work. We fix things.
Transcript originally posted on http://thunderpigblog.blogspot.com
We stand up and proudly proclaim that Washington is not our caretaker and we reject the state that, in Margaret Thatcher’s words, she said a state that takes too much from us in order to do too much for us. We will not stand for that any longer.
Transcript originally posted on http://thunderpigblog.blogspot.com
We’re dismayed at the injustice that nearly half of all Americans don’t even pay any income tax. And you know the liberals out there are saying that we need to pay more. We are indignant about leaders who do not listen and spend money faster than they can print it.
Transcript originally posted on http://thunderpigblog.blogspot.com
In America, the people are not subjects of government. The government is subject to the people. And it is up to us, to this present generation of Americans, to take a stand for freedom, to send a message to Washington that we’re taking our future back from the grips of central planners who would control our healthcare, who would spend our treasure, who downgrade our future and
micro-manage our lives.
Transcript originally posted on http://thunderpigblog.blogspot.com
It is time to limit and simplify the taxes in this country. We have to quit spending money we don’t have. We need to get our fiscal house in order and restore our good credit. And we will repeal this President’s misguided, one-size-fits-all government healthcare plan immediately.We’ll create jobs. We’ll get America working again. We’ll create jobs and we’ll build wealth, we’ll truly educate and innovate in science, and in technology, engineering and math. We’ll
create the jobs and the progress needed to get America working again.
Transcript originally posted on http://thunderpigblog.blogspot.com
And I’ll promise you this: I’ll work every day to make Washington, D.C. as inconsequential in your life as I can. And at the same time, we’ll be freeing our families and small businesses and states from the burdensome and costly federal government so those groups can create, innovate and succeed.
Transcript originally posted on http://thunderpigblog.blogspot.com
I believe in America. I believe in Her purpose and Her promise. I believe Her best days have not yet been lived. I believe Her greatest deeds are reserved for the generations to come. With the help and the courage of the American people, we will get our country working again. God bless you and God bless the United States of America.
Friday, August 12, 2011
The Adventures of a Cardboard Box
Wow. What an amazing short film.
This film was made for the Nokia Shorts 2011 competition. It tells the story of a boy who meets and befriends a large cardboard box, and was shot on a Nokia N8.
GOP Presidential Candidates Debate in Iowa
The top eight contenders in the race for the nomination of the Republican Party participated in a debate in Iowa last night that became heated at times. I have embedded the entire debate so that you can judge for yourself how you think it went, and have included links at the end to how others think it went.
The highlight of the debate for me was when Newt Gingrich responded to Chris Wallace and put him in his place (part three at the seven minute mark).
Here are a few links from the pundits...
Fireworks Erupt at GOP Presidential Debate in Iowa [Fox News]
Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachmann exchange blows at Republican debate [Politico]
8 From G.O.P. Trade Attacks at Iowa Debate [New York Times]
Iowa Debate: 2012 GOP Presidential Candidates Face Key Test In Ames [Huffington Post] [] [] []
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Solar Migration
I originally took this photo on August 14, 2007 and displayed it on a Photoblog I no longer update.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Macon County Commissioners Meeting for 08-09-2011
Live Coverage
**9.23pm** The Commissioners have gone into a closed session and I have replaced the live player with a recorded video of most of the meeting.
4. Pledge of Allegiance
5. Public Hearing: 6:30 p.m. - Comprehensive Transportation Plan
6. Public Comment Period
7. Adjustments to and approval of the agenda
8. Reports/Presentations - Holly Springs Community Building Improvements - Hannah Gillespie
9. Old Business - Petition for Adjustment to Need Determinations (dialysis center)
10. New Business
All items below are considered routine and will be enacted by one motion. No separate discussion will be held except on request of a member of the Board of Commissioners.
12. Appointments
13. Closed session (if necessary)
14. Adjournment/Recess
MACON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
AUGUST 9, 2011
AGENDA
AUGUST 9, 2011
AGENDA
1. Call to order and welcome by Chairman McClellan
2. Announcements
2. Announcements
- Recognition of Jane Kimsey as Department of Social Services Director of the Year
- Recognition of Judith Lau as the Juvenile Officer of the Year in North Carolina
4. Pledge of Allegiance
5. Public Hearing: 6:30 p.m. - Comprehensive Transportation Plan
6. Public Comment Period
7. Adjustments to and approval of the agenda
8. Reports/Presentations - Holly Springs Community Building Improvements - Hannah Gillespie
9. Old Business - Petition for Adjustment to Need Determinations (dialysis center)
10. New Business
- Exchange of Real Estate/Zachary Park in Highlands
- Change Order on Riverbend Road Water System Improvements
- Resolution Opposing Proposed Rate Increase by Duke Energy Carolinas
- Resolution Opposing Proposed Merger of Southwestern Community College
- Resolution/Lease Agreement with Whitley Products, Inc.
- Resolution/Lease Agreement with Forex Currency Trade Advisors, LLC
- Resolution regarding engineering services for emergency vehicle pre-empt
- Awarding of bid for scrap tire hauling and recycling
- Requests from the Macon County Schools Joint Liaison Committee
All items below are considered routine and will be enacted by one motion. No separate discussion will be held except on request of a member of the Board of Commissioners.
12. Appointments
13. Closed session (if necessary)
14. Adjournment/Recess
...
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