A source

for all things global warming. You want to know things that you will not hear on NBC or read in An Inconvenient Truth? All you have to do is pay a quick visit here, Greenie Watch. He, John Ray M.A. Ph.D. Brisbane, Australia, says all the things I would say if I were that smart.

Al Gore won a political prize for an alleged work of science. That rather speaks for itself, doesn't it?

CO2 has been much higher for most of the history of life than it is today.

‘Global warming’ has become the grand political narrative of the age, replacing Marxism as a dominant force for controlling liberty and human choices. -- Prof. P. Stott

New snow...again, again, again... But it looks beautiful. We used to have the first flowers by now....Global warming?....Iceage?....

Remember Them

Another year at war and again it is time to remember those who have fallen. The cost of freedom is often high, never more so then for those left behind. Yet the price we would pay if we were to let it slip away would be unimaginable. Remember them today and every day, and always remember as long has there is freedom anywhere there is hope everywhere.

I found the photo on flickr. The video was posted in a comment on Little Green Footballs.

Sunday Scan: Gas Tank

SCAN0024
Originally uploaded by George Bentley

Another slide from our trip to Gas Works Park in Seattle.

Wrong, wrong, wrong

Here we have an Australian pre-teen getting approval for a sex change. The mother wants it, the father objects, but we all know fathers don't have rights any more.

An Australian judge is permitting a 12-year-old girl to begin a gender reassignment procedure funded by taxpayers' money, officials said.

Now in my mind there is one way this may be justified, If the girl was born a hermaphrodite. This story makes no mention of such a condition. There is another condition...

The psychological diagnosis of gender identity disorder (GID), commonly called transsexualism, is used to describe a male or female who feels a strong identification with the opposite sex... snip Most children eventually outgrow gender identity disorder.

But not if her mother doesn't give her a chance.

 

Note: the title is from a comment to the UPI story

The Hall Is just a bit emptier

Townhall.com is saying good bye to Mary Katherine Ham has she moves on to bigger and better things. Online editor at the dcexaminer.com.  The upcoming web outlet for the Washington Examiner newspaper.

“Her hiring demonstrates again our commitment to building a great news and information company that excels in three channels, including newspapers, online and video,” Sosnowski said.

I've referenced MKH, as she is known in the blogosphere, before and still enjoy seeing her on Fox and other news outlets with her well spoken arguments in defense of the conservative movement. I am sure I will reference her writing in the future.

Here is a spoof she did of a PETA ad. Much sexier that the original

A victory for faith

After being punished for refusing to remove or cover a bible reference from his art work a student at last received a b+

 John 3:16 A sign of love,

Under the terms of the settlement reached yesterday, Tomah Area School District officials have removed the ban on religious expression in class assignments. A.P.'s artwork has been graded, and all references to the detentions have been cleared from his record. The school also agreed to pay A.P.'s attorney fees.

Other works had many forms of religious symbols yet received no punishment, including "images of Buddha, the Grim Reaper, demons and Medusa"

Want to make a kid smile?

Better than a squirt gun.

At Saturdays Arm Forces Day on Fort Lewis Washington they had a little fun for the kids, Live Cannon fire! I didn't think to take any video... Du'H. But I did snap a few frames so here they are.

Sunday Scan: A failed experiment

Sunday Scans 010
Originally uploaded by George Bentley

This is from my first and only attempt to use slide film. Everything was overexposed, which I here is common for people who don't know what they are doing with slide film.

Back from Armed Forces Day

Lots of fun, lots of pictures, and a video.

Cool blast from the past stuff.

 

Cool new stuff

 

Just cool stuff all around

 

And now, got that friend who just won't leave you alone, for just 3 bucks you can toss him in the Mock Lock Up.

 

Where they'll at least have a nice view of Mount Rainier.

More photos on my flickr site.

And now for the video.

Armed Forces Day at Fort Lewis Washington. With some robots and tanks and kids with machine guns!

Armed Forces Day

Going to celebrate our wonderful men and women who serve us bravely and so well. Pictures to follow.

Sad news

My step father has cancer and will pass away soon. This is making things hard for my mother who had separated from him some time ago but not legally divorced. She had to fly to Phoenix to help him move into a hospice and now His family and ours is waiting for the end to come. Your prayers are welcome as always.

Back in the fray

I went to play with the local anti-war group Everett Peace Action with my friends from the Evergreen Troop Support Group. As always I brought my camera and the photos are the standard fair. But for those who are not too familiar with my work I'll add a few of them here with captions.

Kevin and his tall flag.

Everett Peace Action

Their Flags

Our flags

An agitator

And a truther

I got mad at his spewing lies and grabbed his little sign and tossed it in the trash. I would have been in trouble, but he wouldn't leave the cops alone long enough to deal with me.

Just a few spare parts

Savior Sibling have been allowed in Briton since 2001 where a child is born with the express intent to save his/her sibling thru blood, stem cell, or tissue donation.

Under the process, embryos would be created through in-vitro fertilization, tested for their suitability as donors and then transferred to a woman's womb to be carried to term.

The story makes no mention of how the children are used as donors, are they killed for their parts, or are they only allowed to make donations that do not effect their quality of life? And could we be far from the day when this question is not allowed to be asked?

A spokeswoman for the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA) said only a "handful" of babies have been born in Britain following this procedure since it was first allowed in 2001. Doctors involved in the creation of savior siblings say it is always a last resort for parents with no other option to save their children. Critics charge that the practice is fundamentally wrong, noting that embryos deemed not suitable are discarded. They also said it clears the way for "designer babies" who are created for looks, intellect or physical abilities.

The BBC 12/may/08 podcast report I heard implied the children were allowed to live, but they were not clear on that point either. I don't think I have to go too far to explain the wrongs in this story. To bring a child into this world to be parts for another is clearly beyond the pale yet in the BBC report the debate never asked if this was moral, only how the "Savior sibling" would live knowing his/her reason for being.

Another view of this story

 

 

 

 

 

P.S. I want to note that the Spokeswoman for the HFEA said only a handful of babies had been used this way, yet the reason for this story is the planned expansion of this program so more babies can be born as donors for even less serious illnesses.

A wedding

Here is a good story that spans from Iraq to Washington State, 4 years in the making. That's fast in government time.

From 2004 to 2006, the two had carried on a friendship followed by a yearlong courtship conducted over the phone. Then one day after rehearsing in Arabic with an Iraqi friend, he proposed to her, and she accepted.

Has is the case with most war stories, it has it tragic parts.

Alaibi and her family, meanwhile, paid a heavy price for helping Americans. A brother disappeared and remains missing. A cousin was captured and killed.

"I was threatened three times, phone calls," Alaibi says. "Finally, my taxi driver was killed at the gate of my house." She saw him gunned down, the bullets meant for her. "After that, I just quit."

But with perseverance all good things come.

Despite their empty wallets, the couple moved quickly to arrange their long-denied wedding for this weekend, outdoors in Priest Point Park in Olympia with a reception with up to 100 invited guests, many bikers, at a Veterans of Foreign Wars post. Caver's family and friends opened their wallets along with their hearts to help.

I wish them a happy life full of love and prosperity.

Inside the Green House: This Darn Cold Snap

Well after the last month of very cold weather here in the North West, I am reminded of the Ice Age scare of the 70s.  All of our smog was blocking the Suns rays from heating the earth, we had to do something or we were going to have glaciers in LA. I guess that didn't work out so well. Here is a reminder of the things we were afraid of.

"The cooling since 1940 has been large enough and consistent enough that it will not soon be reversed."

"in the 1970s . . . hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death."

"If I were a gambler, I would take even money that England will not exist in the year 2000."

Americans were using 50% of the world's resources and "by 2000 they (Americans) will, if permitted, be using all of them."

"The World as we know it will likely be ruined by the year 2000."

"Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind."

"somewhere between 75% and 85% of all the species of living animals will be extinct."

Not the phone call they wanted to hear.

A solider deployed to Afghanistan accidentally hit the auto dial for home while in a firefight. You can hear the message his parents heard when they got home.  They spent hours trying to reach him, but all is well.  Prayers were answered.

Read the story here

"It starts off with a couple cuss words and then goes into machine gun fire. I can hear my son asking for a new barrel. The very last thing on the message is 'incoming RPG' and then the message cuts off. That was kind of intense."

Update: At Hot Air.com Another one of our bravest deployed in Iraq shares what it's like to accidentally scare your family/friends with the sounds of war. It's the 4th comment.

I’ve been on the phone here in Iraq when the IDF (indirect fire) alarm goes off just prior to a rocket attack. It is tough on the person on the other end of the phone for sure. We don’t tell our families all that goes on over here but when they end up hearing things as they happen, they do get a little scared.

I think it’s almost tougher being back home ‘not’ knowing what’s going on and having no control over what happens than to be here on the receiving end of incoming and knowing the outcome much sooner.

This is why it’s so important for people back home to show their support to the families that have relatives/friends over here…they go through just as much as we do. More than anything, my mom appreciates the neighbors that drop by with some brownies or cake and have a nice little ‘chat’ with her and talk about all sorts of meaningless stuff…it takes her mind off the news from over here.

JetBlast on May 7, 2008 at 7:38 AM

Can we start Today?

HT: The last of the Few aka Theo Sparks.

Sunday Scan: Stairs to nowhere

Stairs to nowhere
Originally uploaded by George Bentley

Many years ago we had a strong storm leave 20 inches of snow in some parts of our city; this was not one of them.

Update: Because I missed last Sunday I added a makeup Sunday Scan to my family and friends blog "The E-George Update" feel free to check it out

Take that Code Pink

Thanks to the Gathering of Eagles we have a new weapon in the fight to protect our recruiters and defend against all the other attacks on America by the protesters of Code Pink.

If this were the last thing you saw

Would you die happy?