Annual corgi costume walk

A group of Seattle corgi owners dressed their dogs in costumes for a walk around Green Lake this morning.

Our corgi Zeus missed this. We didn't know about it, but we don't walk around parks on Sunday mornings anyway.

The Seattle Times has eight photos.

Democrat melt down

The Democrat Party is melting down. We haven't seen it because, funny, the lame-stream media don't see the story. They refuse to look, so they don't see it. Open letter to Rush from Kevin DuJan at Hillbuzz.com

... a Civil War in the Democrat ranks has been raging since May 31st, 2008…a date every Hillary Clinton supporter knows well, because that was the date of the Democrat Rules & Bylaws Committee Meeting where Howard Dean (then-DNC Chair), Donna Brazile, and scores of other Kool-Aid slurping Obama flunkies took off their masks and revealed the full extent of the Leftist coup that had taken over the party. This was the day when the DNC took delegates Hillary Clinton won in Michigan away from her and handed them to Obama (despite the fact he wasn’t even on the primary ballot in that state, because he removed his name when his campaign realized he’d come in third in that race).

I was astonished at the tricks the Obamniacs played on Hillary. I remember Hillary delegates to neighborhood caucuses arriving at the meeting place early, being told they were in the wrong place, wandering around, then coming back, then being told they arrived too late and forced out. By force. He links to We Will Not Be Silenced video and text with examples and testimonials. Continuing...

... This is also when most of us stopped using the term “Democratic Party”, since there’s nothing “democratic” about these people. They are the “Democrat Party”, and even that is hard to acknowledge because they really and truly have proved themselves to be enemies of real democracy.

And...

During the campaign, Donna Brazile famously said that the Democrat Party no longer needed the people Obama once described as “bitter, religion-and-guns-clinging, Midwesterners”. Brazile took this further and said, outright, that the Democrat party did not need blue-collar white voters, the Jacksonian voters, the Hillary voters, because the party was “Obamafied” and would win elections for generations with the Obama coalition of blacks, Leftist elites, Hispanics, low information gay voters, and self-hating Jews.

Called racists... Vote fraud...

Here in Chicago, just about everyone who was part of Team Hillary efforts with me on the ground has completely divorced themselves from the Democrat Party. Being called a racist repeatedly and hearing from Donna Brazile that we are not needed will do that to a person. But in a bigger sense, Democrats, by being so shameless and aggressive with the voter fraud in 2008 have opened too many eyes for us to ever go back to pretending that fraud and corrupt practices aren’t the hallmark of the Democrat Party.

So...

I know for a fact that people I worked with on the Hillary 2008 campaign have been actively working against every single Democrat who supported Obama’s nomination.

And he asks Rush Limbaugh for help!

Future of Flight Museum

Future of Flight Museum (FFM) is a small aviation museum at Paine Field, Everett, Washington. It has a small collection, indeed, two other aviation museums at Paine Field have more flying planes than FFM has non-flying airplanes.

But FFM has two big pluses and a small one.

First, the Big View. FFM is across Paine Field from the Boeing flight line. It has a clear view of most aircraft from the time they come out of the big doors of the largest building in the world, while they get final preparations for flight testing, and every take off and landing, until the final take off to fly away to the customer. Believe me. If you are a "trust and verify" kind of person then take a look at KPAE Paine Field blog. Matt Cawby posts photos of aircraft at Paine Field almost every day. He takes his photos from the FFM parking lot. (I was hoping to meet him, but he wasn't on the geek tour.) And FFM has a third-story balcony overlooking the runway and flight line.

Second, The Party. Boeing's plant tour starts at FFM. Indeed, that is why FFM exists, in my opinion. FFM provides the parking, gathering area, theater, store and other necessities for hosting the public, restaurant, etc. So people from around the world come to see the Boeing production line and get to see FFM as a bonus.

Third, the small one. When Boeing wants input from the public they do their interviewing at FFM. So you might get the chance to have a very small input on Boeing's direction. I got a small flashlight that I used for years for one of these public feedback sessions.

Aviation Geek Fest

I am not the kind of aviation fan who is a private pilot, nor one who spends his vacations traveling to airports to take photos, like my New Jersey friend Art. But I greatly enjoy flying. I am the guy who sits by the window and won't close the shade for the movie. I can see a movie anywhere, any time, but flying is a treat. I have always been proud of Boeing's aircraft and paid attention to what is going on in their marketplace (sales of the aircraft), their production and operation by the airlines. Being retired from Boeing I can no longer just drive to one of the production sites - Renton and Everett - then park and walk inside right beneath airplanes being built, like I could for 39 years, 10 months. So I jumped at the opportunity to spend an afternoon with other "Aviation Geeks" touring the Boeing Everett plant. Saturday, October 23, was the one-year anniversary of my last day working at Boeing and it was the date of the Aviation Geek Fest at Future of Flight Museum (FFM), a small aviation museum at Paine Field, Everett, Washington. It has a small collection - two other aviation museums at Paine Field have more flying planes than FFM has non-flying airplanes. More on FFM in a later post. The Geek Fest: First of all, it was a social time for people who love commercial aircraft. People traveled from Arizona, Denver, Colorado, Toronto, Canada and closer places including Eastern Washington. Almost everyone attending uses Twitter, so people introduced themselves by their Twitter handles. Boeing's official historian came from Chicago to give us the 45-minute version of Boeing's history from 1970 to today, by decade. He managed to not even mention the name of ex-CEO Phil Condit. It's pretty fast to go through 40 years of such a large company and McDonnell-Douglas and the part of Rockwell that Boeing bought. There was time for shopping in the FFM/Boeing store and/or the third-story balcony overlooking the runway and flight line. Then off to the factory. Fitting for "Ever Wet, Washington" it was drizzling, not rain, just a drizzle, as we boarded the bus. We drove through the flight line, but not pausing on our way to the factory. At the largest building in the world we entered through a regular-size door, picked up safety glasses then had a short safety orientation. Then to the production line. We got to see all of them: 747, 767, 777 and 787. The last 747-400 went through about five months ago. About ten 747-8's - the cargo model - have been built. We saw the first 747-I - passenger model - in parts, getting ready for wing/body join. It's quite a view to walk under the wing tip of the (new) longer wing of the 747-8. Photo We walked past one 787, but it was already built. It had finished the production process, gone outside, then came back in for some sort of rework. Our grand finale was the 787 production line. But, of course, access was restricted. So we went up a freight elevator for the view from a mezzanine - like the ordinary public tour. As well as the 777 and 767 (about 50 orders) production lines we saw the static-test 787. It is all strung and wired and inside a huge scaffold structure. Ugly, but interesting. It was been loaded to 50% above its maximum load without failure. Leaving the factory building we turned in our stylish safety glasses (some were) then the bus slowly drove past every airplane on the flight line - two of the monstrous Dreamlifters, several 747-8s, one or two 767s and several 777s, including 3 EVA Air 777s that are waiting for interiors! Then back to FFM for more time in its gallery and store. The museum has a small model helicopter that is powered by a laser. Think of Sunshine that's ten time more intense; it has a solar cell that powers its electric motore. And pizza, Coke and Red Hook. This second Aviation Geek Fest was put on and sponsored by FFM. But I wouldn't have known about it without David Parker Brown's AirlineReporter.com blog, which is also at the Seattle P-I (former newspaper). Photos: If you don't believe I was there see this photo. The white hair is me. And a group photo under the GE-90 engine of a 777. I am third from the left. Yes, the group is small. Attendance was limited to one bus load. Boeing did not allow cameras or phones in the factory. But the Boeing senior manager took these photos and shared them with us. But even he couldn't take photos of the 787 production line, of course.

Republicans must sit in back

Obama will allow Republicans on the bus. But we must sit in back. Picture that MediaIte:

Has President Obama’s tone become increasingly partisan? Megyn Kelly seems to think that it has, though one wonders what tone should he take during a political campaign of his own party. But it was one recent comment made by the President during a recent stop in Woonsocket, Rhode Island that, according to the America Live host, “is raising a lot of eyebrows.” Mr. Obama said about the GOP joining Democratic efforts for reform “they can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in back.” One can only imagine the imagery conjured up by this comment by all parties involved.

Landing at Honolulu with a great view

I love flying to Honolulu and getting the full view of Diamond Head and Waikiki on the approach. This guy captured it all on a direct approach the offshore Reef runway on an AAL 767-300 flight. He has a steady hand and a good Sun angle. First you see Diamond Head close with the east end of Oahu in the background - Hawaii Kai and Coko Crater. Then Waikiki; I wish he had zoomed in a bit. Then the main part of downtown, then the industrial area of Sand Island before landing. Notice the Koolau Mountains behind the city. For a hiker like me there is a trail on every ridge (and a few valleys) and most have public access.

Illegal immigrants get out the vote for Democrats

Illegal immigrants are getting out the vote for Democrats. Seattle Times

When Maria Gianni is knocking on voters' doors, she's not bashful about telling people she is in the country illegally. She knows it's a risk to advertise this fact to strangers — but it's one worth taking in what she sees as a crucial election. The 42-year-old is one of dozens of volunteers — many of them illegal immigrants — canvassing neighborhoods in the Seattle area trying to get naturalized citizens to cast a ballot for candidates like Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, who is in a neck-and-neck race with Republican Dino Rossi. Pramila Jayapal, head of OneAmerica Votes, says the campaign is about empowering immigrants who may not feel like they can contribute to a campaign because they can't vote. "Immigrants really do matter," Jayapal said. "If we can't vote ourselves, we're gonna knock on doors or get family members to vote." So far, the illegal immigrants going door to door aren't meeting opposition...

Senator Patty's football analogy

She bores the excited students Battle 10 at National Review

Finally the big media see... Black Panthers interfered with voting

Armed Black Panthers blocked white people from voting in Philadelphia in 2008. Obama's Justice Department convicted them of the crime and won. Then Attorney General Eric Holder decided to let them off. Despite winning! Why did Holder refuse victory? Because he says civil rights laws don't apply to whites. What? Our anti-race laws are racist? Wrong. Holder's action took place about seventeen months ago. But the big media never noticed. Until now. Andrew Breitbart gives an overview of the Washington Post article. BigGovernment

The Post has a major revelation, the first on the record confirmation of the attitude inside the Civil Rights Division that whites should not necessarily be protected by the civil rights laws:

“The Voting Rights Act was passed because people like Bull Connor were hitting people like John Lewis, not the other way around,” said one Justice Department official not authorized to speak publicly, referring to the white Alabama police commissioner who cracked down on civil rights protesters such as Lewis, now a Democratic congressman from Georgia.” This is a startling admission. It is part and parcel of a wide hostility to protecting whites who are victims of racial discrimination, as Christopher Coates and Adams alleged all along. That admission is a major mistake for the administration and should be made well known before the upcoming election.

James Cameron, Hypocrite

He demands we live with less - that impoverished, 3rd-world people stay impoverished. In Malibu, California, his compound has three huge homes. He also has a 100-acre ranch near Santa Barbara. And a Humvee and a helicopter and submarines... But he is green, that is, he says he is green. So you and I have to live with less. Not James Cameron. Watch this 2-minute film clip. Film

James Cameron is still hiding and refusing to debate Global warming. But that doesn't stop him from wanting to tell the rest of what to do. Last March Cameron said he wanted to call the "deniers" out to a high noon debate and he even invited me to a debate in Aspen. Cameron kept putting barriers in the way, but even when I agreed to all his conditions he bailed out at the last minute. He may be scared to debate, but he is not scared to spend money so that others can hear about his opinions. And he is not afraid to spend money to tell the rest of us we have to live with less. Cameron has just given $1m to help defeat California's Prop23 which will overturn the Global Warming Bill. If Cameron succeeds and Prop 23 is defeated energy bills will go up - prices will increase and yet more jobs will flee the state. Cameron has already told us that we are "going to have to live with less" but it seems that living for less is just for us and not for him. Nothing has or will change in James Cameron's lifestyle.

ObamaCare raised the cost of my health insurance

ObamaCare is costing me. I am short on time, but my cost of health care is taking a large jump in 2011, due to ObamaCare requirements. Plus, Mr. Obama, you said it would lower my costs? Lower? My copays and deductibles go up next year. But the big cost is coinsurance which goes up 10% on every dollar. And 10% more in 2012. Seattle Times And Senator Patty claims she wrote the bill (in the last debate).

Stimulus money used in Africa etc.

Stimulate Africa and Nepal. Joe Biden promised he would audit Obama Giant Stimulus projects to make sure every dollar went to help Americans. Travel to Nepal? That might stimulate some student or researcher a bit and Nepal a lot. Joe, you promised. Senator Patty, are you asleep? Detroit News University of Michigan scientist is getting $500,000 for a study on people's impact on the environment — in Nepal. In the Upper Peninsula, a professor will get $145,000 to take students to Africa. Both research projects, as well as scores of others across the country, are under fire by conservatives for being funded by federal stimulus money, funds intended to boost the U.S. economy and create jobs. Critics say the money has been lavishly extended to questionable projects, pointing to hundreds across the nation that they believe don't create jobs or invest in long-term economic growth. The issue has become a cause celebre for Republican and tea party activists heading into the November election. While campaigning for Republicans in California last week, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin called the stimulus package "the biggest boondoggle in U.S. history." "Some of these projects may or may not have merit, but these are not stimulus projects," said U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, R-Midland, one of the most vocal critics of the stimulus package and a candidate for re-election. "We have not seen the job creation that we need to see in our economy: 48 out of 50 states have lost jobs since stimulus was passed." But supporters counter that the stimulus funds have had a major impact. Out of $7.6 billion awarded, Michigan has received $3 billion for projects that have led to 70,000 jobs, according to the Michigan Economic Recovery Office. Much of that funding was aimed at saving jobs, unemployment, protecting health care and modernizing schools. "We know very well that the recover act has helped Michigan," said Vicki Levengood, spokeswoman for the Michigan Economic Recovery Office. Since the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was approved last year, about $13 billion of the funds have been awarded to the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation for scientific research grants. Facing some of the harshest scrutiny has been funding to university researchers, who counter that their work funded by the stimulus is creating jobs now, or in the future. U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., has issued three reports since June 2009 on projects he deemed wasteful, along with U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Grants criticized include $221,355 to Indiana University professors to study why young men do not like to wear condoms, $210,000 to the University of Hawaii to study how honeybees learn and $144,541 to Wake Forest University to study how monkeys act under the influence of cocaine. Highlighted projects in Michigan include stimulus funds awarded to universities for international travel for students, including a $145,000 grant for Michigan Technological University engineering students for travel to Tanzania ...

Saudi officer opposes Cordoba mosque

A former military officer who has worked with Americans and in the US says in the Saudi press that he thinks the Cordoba mosque is a big mistake - that unnecissarily upsets a stable situation, because New York's Muslim community lives in peace and prosperity. Abdulateef Al-Mulhim was a Royal Saudi Navy commodore and former Saudi Royal Navy liaison officer at Pensacola Naval Air Station (1991-95). What is really happening in the Arabic-speaking world? It's hard to know since our news media don't speak Arabic. But there is a way: Midle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) works busily in the background to translate the news and important documents into English. M.E.M.R.I.

"[T]he U.S. is the most tolerant country regarding building an Islamic center," he writes, adding, "but why [did] Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf choose Ground Zero [as a location for build Cordoba House]?"   He concludes by saying, "We Muslims have to carefully consider the place where the mosque will be built... The Muslim community in New York is living in peace and prosperity and has a lot of places for worship. Let us not have them encounter unneeded confrontations with the people from the great and beautiful Big Apple City."

Great sequence of Mt. St. Helens

NASA's Earth Observatory web site features interesting views of the Earth from space. They have images from space of Mt. St. Helens since before the 1980 eruption. On the following page they overlay each year from 1979 to 2010. Click on the year number below the image to see how it looked in that year. Unfortunately the earlier images are false colors - what is green shows as red. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/sthelens.php Also read the text below the image for their description.

An old friend is departing - 757

Friend? My favorite Boeing airplane for a couple of decades, the 757. British Air (BA), one of the launch customers of the 757, is retiring their last three 757 aircraft. British was a launch customer, along with Eastern Airline, and introduced theirs in 1983 and bought 54 of them.

Pilots loved the 757. I had a friend who was an airline pilot and he loved the 757. It was overpowered, so in a few situations the pilot could get out of trouble by "hitting the gas."

To commemorate the occasion later this month BA painted one of the three last aircraft, G-CPET, in the original livery (paint job). Though being retired from BA service these aircraft will serve many more years in cargo service or in a 3d-world country that operates old aircraft.

Via Seattle P-I Airline Reporter blog.


Photo from AirlineReporter.com. Click for a larger image.

This is what Obama's Stimulus was for

To get Democrats reelected... Why put together a package of borrowed money to save the economy in 2009, then not spend it? $787 billion became $862 billion*. Why sit on much of it? So Senator Patty Murray could dole it out right before the election. She had to take time off her campaigning... To make a show of how generous and powerful she is. Seattle Times

With the unfurling of a large banner reading "Thank You South Park," residents of the South Seattle community cheered the news Friday that there is enough money to replace the troubled South Park Bridge. Sen. Patty Murray announced King County is receiving $34 million in TIGER II (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) stimulus money to replace the bridge, which closed last summer. After missing out on two earlier stimulus rounds, King County applied for $36.2 million to complete a funding plan to build a new $131 million bridge. It received almost the entire amount. "You can hear the cheers all the way to Washington, D.C.," ...

The cheering in D.C. is the Democrat establishment hoping to keep their power with tricks like this. Senator Murray said the schedule for announcing these grants was set months ago. To be right when ballots were mailed to voters. She denies the connection, but verifies the; very convenient timing. Sure looks like D.C. politics as usual. As Charles Krauthamer said last week, this is a failure of competence. The economy was faltering, but Harry Reid and Patty Murray didn't help get it moving. They had huge resources available, but they used them to reward their supporters and help their reelections rather than to help the US economy. Incompetent. I used to cross the South Park Bridge going to and from work. I am glad to that it will be rebuilt. But I am glad for Seattle jobs and the life of that neighborhood, not Patty's "generosity." * Afterward they tell us that $787 billion was an estimate, not the limit. Obama added $75B later which made it $862 billion.

The education of our experience-free president

Our President is as naive as Albert Gore, Jr. He actually believed there were projects that could start in 60 days? That's what he says now. Do I believe him? His top priority was to fund his buddies and big-money supporters.

He realized too late that “there’s no such thing as shovel-ready projects” when it comes to public works

He also talks about how to manipulate the Republicans so it appears there was a bipartisan compromise. But not to really work with them. Just to manipulate them. And he learned that it's not enough to be supremely sure you are right. Wow. He is learning fast. Most of us learned that in grade school. Oh, by the way, top priority for Peter Baker of NYT was the new carpet and furniture in the Oval Office. That's how he leads his story based on his exclusive interview. NY Times

... He let himself look too much like “the same old tax-and-spend liberal Democrat.” He realized too late that “there’s no such thing as shovel-ready projects” when it comes to public works. Perhaps he should not have proposed tax breaks as part of his stimulus and instead “let the Republicans insist on the tax cuts” so it could be seen as a bipartisan compromise. Most of all, he has learned that, for all his anti-Washington rhetoric, he has to play by Washington rules if he wants to win in Washington. It is not enough to be supremely sure that he is right if no one else agrees with him. “Given how much stuff was coming at us,” Obama told me, “we probably spent much more time trying to get the policy right than trying to get the politics right. There is probably a perverse pride in my administration — and I take responsibility for this; this was blowing from the top — that we were going to do the right thing, even if short-term it was unpopular. And I think anybody who’s occupied this office has to remember that success is determined by an intersection in policy and politics and that you can’t be neglecting of marketing and P.R. and public opinion.” That presumes that what he did was the right thing, a matter of considerable debate. ...

Obamacare: Waivers for the chosen companies not the others

Obama has been caught with the gross unfairness of his health-care takeover Obamacare and his lies. He said he would lower costs. Companies find that it is raising their costs. So what does he do? Does he fix the law? If he fixes the law it will apply to everyone, to every company. No. He plays favorites and allows his chosen favorites to opt out, but everyone else gets hurt. Our founders designed "A nation of laws, not men" so it didn't matter who was ruling: everyone got the same treatment by the law. But all Obama knows is power and favoritism. Yahoo News

The White House on Thursday defended granting waivers to some employers from a key provision of the new health care law, saying it was the best way to keep people insured until the law fully takes effect. At issue is a new requirement banning annual caps on benefits, which began phasing in last month. Many employers and insurers that offer low-cost, low-benefit insurance plans known as "mini-med" plans would not have been able to comply with the new requirement without raising monthly premiums to virtually unaffordable levels. So the administration has granted 30 waivers to date exempting companies from the requirement for a year. Waivers went to companies including Jack in the Box, Cigna and the company that insures some McDonald's workers, and another 114 applications for waivers are under review by the Health and Human Services Department. One waiver request has been denied, but HHS declined to identify which company was involved. "The waivers are about ensuring and protecting the coverage that people have until there are better options available to them in 2014," when the health law is fully implemented, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters. "We want to ensure that in the time that it takes to implement the law and to give people better options, that they don't find themselves at the mercy of an insurancecompany jacking up their rates. And that's why those waivers were granted." Another issue is a different provision in the law that will require that a specified percentage of healthplan expenditures — 80 percent to 85 percent — be spent on medical as opposed to administrative costs. That provision doesn't take effect until next year, but it got attention last week when the Wall Street Journal reported that McDonald's had alerted the administration it would not be able to comply. The administration subsequently indicated it would be flexible in applying the regulation. Both complications arise because of the decision by lawmakers and the White House to trigger certain protections in the legislation before the bulk of the law takes effect. After the contentious debate around the health care bill, policymakers didn't want the public to wait until 2014 to see any benefit. Once 2014 rolls around, nearly everyone will be required to carry insurance, and insurance marketplaces called "exchanges" will be established in which individuals will be able to shop for comprehensive insurance plans with government subsidies. Before that transformation takes place, new rules applied to the current system require the government to show flexibility in some cases.

More at Jewish World Review by Arnold Ahlert

Liberal Senator Feingold is a tea partier

Leftist Senator Feingold, who took away my Constitutional right of speech in political races (McCain-Feingold), explains how much he has in common with the tea partiers. He carries a copy of the Constitution in his pocket!! How things have changed. Last week Tea Party people were extremist nuts. Now he cherishes them. Ann Althouse I guess this follow my observation of "You are a racist bigot, now vote for me."

War on our sleepy Key Peninsula

The Key Peninsula is out of the way - you don't "drive through" a peninsula, because they are all dead ends - and quiet. Little culture - a lavender farm or two, a winery, one sculptor, but no other artists of note, and the down home Longbranch Improvement Club.

But war broke out Thursday night. An armed robbery of a marijuana grow/drug selling operation. One dead, at least two wounded, some thugs on the run, probably armed. We assume those on the run are looking for homes to break into to find keys and steal vehicles or to hide out until things cool off.

Our little cabin is about two miles away, so hopefully the thugs will find what they want without going so far. And they would be inclined to go east, the way they came, rather than west, toward our place. Although help is coming from the east... might avoid going that way.

I sincerely hope none of our neighbors is robbed or burglarized.

Seattle Times

787 test drags tail on runway

This video shows a 787 test aircraft dragging its tail on runway. This is an important test, among the tests that go beyond normal operations. They test takeoffs where the aircraft is going too fast and too slow, where the aircraft rotation at takeoff is too fast and too slow - which is this one - plus every other thing that can be done wrong by pilot error or different conditions. Boeing's video at Flightblogger at Flight Global magazine. It also shows landing on a wet runway and in high cross winds. I am not an expert on flight testing, but my last six months before retiring I worked in Boeing's flight text organization.

Antarctica in Google Earth Street View

This gives an idea what it is like to be in Antarctica on a beautiful day. About two of our five and a half days were like this, plus one with filtered sunlight.

This is one of the closer views of people. And this might be one of Travel Dynamics two ships - Corinthian II and Clelia II - because the people are wearing the same bright red parkas and navy blue inflatable life jackets. We know its not us because we didn't go to this island - Half Moon Island.


View Larger Map

You can "turn around" by clicking and dragging left or right. When you hover over the photo a yellow line appears with chevron marks on it. Click on a chevron to move along the "street" that Google's camera was following. Before following the yellow line you might want to turn your view so you are looking along it. The current view is to the side.

The photo part shows fuzzy; I don't know why. Click the "View Larger Map" link for a much larger, sharper view.

Street View requires Google Earth plug-in for Google Maps.

Update Bonus: A guy has set up a large window of one of the same views, so it pans (rotates right) automatically. It's worth a view. Keir Clarke Update: The guy who took the photos for Google Street View says he was the ship Minerva the week of January 23, 2010, just one week ahead of us.

Compare Glenn Beck's crowd in September to astro-turf One Nation October 1

The government-can-do-everything-better people had a rally in DC Saturday 10/2 in response to Glenn Beck's. (They now claim it was not in response, but when first promoting it they said so.) How did they do? Did they get a huge crowd? See for yourself. Lucianne Glenn got over 100,000 versus less than 10,000 for the liberals and socialists.

Pelosi/Reid Congress refuses to do its job

Congress spends a lot of time fooling with nonsense, while not performing its most essential functions. Thursday Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi passed a law controlling the volume of TV commercials. A big victory for those who don't have the will to hit the volume button. At the same time it refused to do one of the few things it really has to do - pass the budget. Friday was the first day of the new fiscal year. They have had nine months to pass the budget - 9 months. They didn't do it. Reid and Pelosi's Democrat Party has complete control of both the House and Senate. Why didn't they pass the budget? They have cobbled an excuse, but no reason. Investors Business Daily

... In the 14th-century poem "Parlement of Foules," Chaucer dreams of a comic parliamentary debate of birds. In 21st century America, our birdbrain legislature is a nightmare come true. Why would a Congress so firmly in the hands of one party and one ideology have to enact a continuing resolution to forestall a government shutdown, instead of passing a budget as required under law? When it has no worries about the president vetoing such a spending plan (he isn't running for re-election this year), why can't it get its act together? Because congressional Democrats are in a state of panic. They know an electoral catastrophe is looming, and inaction is easier to defend than action — especially actions such as spending trillions and letting the biggest tax increase in history take effect.

What a mess... They just couldn't allow the public to see how they would vote. We would have seen how badly they are overspending. Be sure to ask Reps. Jay Inslee, Rick Larsen, Adam Smith and Norm Dicks why they came home without doing what they were sent to DC to do. Oh... another thing. They just didn't have time to deal with Rep. Charles Rangel, who had to step down as Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, the investigation into his ethics violations. He has four (4) rent-controlled apartments in New York City; he had his staff work on his personal charity. The House has the report from the Ethics committee, but they refused to hold hearings.