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I happen to come across these pictures on the web. They are not for the squeamish. The first is the had of a baby 10 weeks from conception. These photos are from one of the more that, what is the number, 50 million abortions. Click on the thumbnail to view a larger image.
This photo is from a baby that is 22 weeks from conception and has been aborted.
I think as long as we don’t look at pictures like this we can ignore what is really happening. The pro-abortion people will tell you a woman has a right to choose and she has control over her body.
Somehow, these pictures don’t look like a part of the mother’s body. I don't like looking at these pictures. But I force myself to look to recognize what goes on in places I never visit.
I think this ties back to the Terri Schiavo case, of which I’ve written another letter to my local paper, The Press of Atlantic City. If they publish my letter, I’ll also post it here.
I submit that babies that are killed before they are born are killed because they are defenseless and they are in the way.
But I’m just a geek. What do I know about such weighty matters?
Roger L Simon has a devastating comment on the Volker U.N. report. Here's Roger's starting comment.
I have been reading the report. So far I can say this much -- anyone who thinks Kofi Annan is the man to reform the United Nations has the intelligence of a gnat or the morals of Saddam Hussein.
I recommend you read his whole post. It's not that long.
My last stock trade was stopped yesterday with about a 4% gain. I'm back to 100% cash. I expect to remain cash until the market looks friendlier.
My trading style of very tight stop-loss orders has saved my bacon and made a few bucks in a lousy market.
Over the weekend, we bought a new bed. Over the years, the Vorlon Wife would periodically declare we needed a new bed. Shortly after that, we got a new bed.
A few weeks ago, the Vorlon Wife declared we need a new bed. Last Saturday we bought one. She went from bed to bed in the store and made a decision.
I didn’t test the beds as I can sleep almost anywhere. Any bed she picks, I can sleep in. I once fell an asleep on a picnic bench.
They delivered the bed Monday morning. Last night when I went to bed, I realized in about two seconds, either the Vorlon Wife had made a mistake or they delivered the wrong bed.
As I lay down on the bed, I think my body sank about 2mm into the padding. I know the Vorlon Wife likes a very soft bed.
Today we stopped by Mattress Giant and told them either they shipped the wrong bed or it is defective in some way. The salesman will call the Vorlon Wife tomorrow.
I did not sleep well last night. As I got up this morning to go out jogging, I was surprised at how well I felt. I thought to myself, “Gee, maybe I don’t need as much sleep as I thought.â€
I did pretty well throughout the day until tonight. Now I’m ready for the bed. Now, no matter how stiff the bed is, I’ll sleep like a rock.
This is very cool technology. Click here to see a panoramic photo of the protest in Taiwan. Once the photo loads you can use the cursor to drag the photo around and over to view everything. I don't know how they do this, but I repeat, it is very cool.
I have so many photos of purple Crocuses; I thought I’d give you a break. The Vorlon Wife has a few clumps of white Crocuses and this is one of them. They’re not quite as thick as the purple ones, but I feel they’re still enjoyable.
I see some miniature Daffodils budding up. With a little luck, they may be in bloom next week. I love bright yellow flowers in the spring.
Spring, I love bright yellow flowers all year round – except for Marigolds. For some reason Marigolds just never did anything for me.
As usual, click on the thumbnail for a larger photo.
I’m streaming Rush tonight and he’s talking about a photo shoot he went on. Apparently, it was professionals taking pictures of him, what for I don’t know.
But the one thing I did find interesting is he said they were all digital photos. Each photo was 128MB! He said they shot about 73GB of photos.
We when to the church’s Maundy Thursday service tonight. It is called a Tenebrae service. I’d not been through one before, but I found it quite moving.
As the service went on, the lights one-by-one were switched off. When I was completely dark, save the exit ligts, the Pastor sang, without musical accompaniment,
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Then from the back of the church his wife sang,
Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?
Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?
The he invited the whole congregation and we sang,
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?
The service was over and we all quietly filed out.
StrategyPage has an excellent summary of the current conditions in Iraq. Here's what they call the money quote.
American casualties continue to decline. U.S. combat deaths are down some 40 percent from February, and are only about a third of what they were in January. Casualties haven't been this low since the Spring of 2003, right after Saddam was toppled. The hard core Sunni Arabs who continued to support Saddam and the Baath Party are a broken force, with most of their leaders either captured, or negotiating deals with the government. Al Qaeda continues to see Iraq as their most important battleground. But the terrorists coming to Iraq find themselves fighting Iraqis, not Americans. The Iraqis, not happy about being the target for al Qaeda bombs, has gone after the terrorists with a vengeance. Al Qaeda is also being hammered in countries throughout the Middle East. This is not quite the sort of war Osama bin Laden had in mind, but it's what he's got, and it doesn't play well for bin Laden in the Arab media.
This isn't a slam-dunk win for us - yet. However, if the situation were reversed, all you'd hear in the news is how badly the war is going, how much Bush screwed up, and we need to bring the troops home now.
Instead we hear in the news, the terrorists are almost destroyed, Bush was not just right, but brilliant, and victory is in sight – Not! What we really hear is nothing.
Ah, the sweet sounds of silence. No news is good news. Woo hoo, does the U.S. kick butt or what?
Here's some food for thought from StrategyPage.
The US trade deficit (the value of goods bought from China versus what was sold to them) reached $162 billion. That amount accounts for over twenty percent of China's GDP (total economic activity.) This has serious military implications. If China goes to war with the United States, the first impact would not be bombs, but an end to exports to the United States. Putting over a hundred million Chinese out of work would have a larger impact than any bombing campaign. Taiwanese companies also control over $50 billion of economic activity in China. Taking Taiwan, in one piece, would add about ten percent to China's GDP. But the loss of American markets would be far greater.
U.S. and Iraqi forces killed 85 terrorists on a raid. In the last three days they're killed 128 of these buggers.
Michael Moores "freedom fighters" are being downsized, rightsized, and eliminated.
On the way into the office this morning I saw about two dozen wild turkey’s in a nearby field. It seems the turkeys are getting more and more plentiful.
I could talk about Scott Peterson or Michael Jackson, but I continue to keep this a Peterson/Jackson free zone. The Iraq war still bubbles, but not as before.
I had notices how little news had been coming out of Iraq. Now The Belmont Club, always an excellent read has two posts, here and here, about the insurgency in Iraq. His conclusion, although not yet confirmed, the insurgency is dying.
Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler, head of the First Marine Expeditionary Force, said attacks have gone from 25 a day down to about 10 a day. Fewer attacks are successful and fewer cause damage or casualties.
One big change is the Iraqi military is finally starting to come up to speed.
The danger for the Democrats is, the public will eventually wake up and realize Bush was right. But the press will do all they can to completely ignore the Iraqi success – assuming it becomes that. Just witness how much news comes out of Afghanistan.
No news is good news.
I’m testing a copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0. Adobe lets you download and run the program for 30 days.
I’ve been using PaintShop Pro 7.0 for the last couple of years, but heard good things about Elements.
So far, it’s a bit of a struggle. There are a couple of things I’ve played with that seem nice, but some things I just can’t seem to make work.
Fortunately, my Canon PowerShot A60 takes such nice photos; I don’t need to do much enhancement.
I’m purposely not using PaintShop Pro as I’m a stubborn one and I won’t learn Elements, unless I use it.
The Vorlon Grand Nephew, Joseph Michael Orrell, celebrated the second anniversary of his birth. There were gifts and food galore.
I shot about 45 frames and this seems to be the best of the lot. It was hard to get a really good shot. With so many gifts to open, he was pretty pre-occupied.
This expression seems to typify the day for him. He seemed thoughtful.
Click on the thumbnail for a larger picture.
This is a story of long ago--of a man who owned a little store.
He said, "I was proud to have my name up over the door."
It was some two thousand years ago, as I recall,
Located in Jerusalem, across the street from Pilate's hall.
I thought I had everything anyone would need,
And folks would come from miles around, regardless of their creed.
The only thing I had I didn't think I could ever sell,
Was in a corner on a shelf--three old rusty spike nails.
And then one day a big Roman soldier came through the door.
As he walked up to me it seemed he shook the floor.
I said, "Can I help you sir?" with a voice I guess seemed frail.
He looked at me with a sneering grin and said,
"I want to buy some big, big nails."
"Three old rusty spikes is all I have." He said to me,"That will do
For the job I have, three's enough--now how much do I owe you?"
He put the money in my hand and I was glad to make the sale.
Then I wondered and asked him,
"Sir, what can you do with just three nails?"
He said."Did you ever hear of a man called Jesus the Nararene?"
"You mean the one who goes about doing good?" He said,
"Yes, that's the man."
"Well, today I intend to show the world that I am boss,
For with these three old rusty spikes I am going to nail Jesus
To the cross."
I stood there almost numb--you'll never know how I felt.
I said, "Please, Sir, don't do that!" as on my knees I knelt.
He just turned and walked away, and I got up and followed him.
I said,"Please, Sir, I'll buy them back", but he just looked at me
And grinned.
But in the distance I could here the howling mob through the tears
That filled my eyes.
"Away with him!" "Crucify him!" I could hear their angry cries.
Over the top of all the noise and groans of agony,
I could hear the sound of the hammer as that big Roman soldier
Nailed Jesus to the tree.
My internet speed had deteriorated. In speed tests over the net, I was showing upload speed of 367kbs and a download speed of about 300kbs. I got on the line with Comcast and they couldn’t resolve my problem. They suggested I take my modem to a Comcast store and get a new one.
This morning I did just that. I hooked up the new modem, but I couldn’t talk to it. My PC thought the network cable was not connects, when it was.
Again, I queried Comcast’s tech support. Again without success. Her final words to me were to uninstall my network card in Windows and then re-install it. I didn’t have my XP CD handy.
Later tonight, I decided to try it, but couldn’t figure out how to uninstall the network card.
That’s when I pulled out the USB cable. I simply followed the on-screen instructions and installed the modem to my USB port.
It worked! Then I went online and did a speed test. Now I’m showing 3,467kbs download speed and 367kbs upload speed.
How sweet it is!
The recent case with Terri Schiavo, who has been in the hospital with no hope of recovery, has sparked an argument about whether to kill her off or keep her alive. They don’t have the guts to kill her directly. Instead, they are going to remove the feeding tube. She will likely die a few days later of dehydration and thirst.
Some have made the case that she has the right to die with dignity. I will leave aside whether or not her true wishes are being followed. No one knows for certain.
But die with dignity. Give me a break. In my world, death rarely comes with dignity. In fact, death is the ultimate indignation.
But there are those that have died with dignity. Let me give you the story of one that did “die with dignity.â€
Sergeant first class Randall d. Shughart, United States Army, U. S. Army Special Operations Command, distinguished himself on 3 October 1993, while serving as a Sniper Team Member attached to TASK FORCE RANGER in Mogadishu, Somalia. Sergeant Shughart provided precision sniper fires from the lead helicopter during an assault on a building and at two helicopter crash sites, while subjected to intense automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade fires.While providing critical suppressive fires at the second crash site, Sergeant Shughart and his team leader learned that ground forces were not immediately available to secure the site. Sergeant Shughart and his team leader unhesitatingly volunteered to be inserted to protect the four critically wounded personnel, despite being well aware of the growing number of enemy personnel closing in on the site. After their third request to be inserted, he and his team leader received permission to perform this volunteer mission.
When debris and enemy ground fires at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, Sergeant Shughart and his team leader were inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site. Equipped with only his sniper rifle and a pistol and while under intense small arms fire from the enemy, they fought their way through a dense maze of shanties and shacks to reach the critically injured crewmembers. Sergeant Shughart pulled the pilot and the other crewmembers from the aircraft, establishing a perimeter, which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position.
Sergeant Shughart used his long-range rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers while moving around the perimeter, protecting the downed crew. Sergeant Shughart continued his protective fire until he depleted his ammunition and was fatally wounded. His actions saved the pilot’s life.
On second thought, Sergeant Shughart did not die with dignity he died with honor.
Hat Tip to Black 5.
The Vorlon Wife’s Crocuses are blooming in full furry. She has several large clumps of which this is one. You may notice that these are a darker shade of purple than previous photos. Click on the thumbnail to view a photo 750 pixels wide.
The early Crocuses seem to be paler than the later ones.
She also has some Dutch Irises that are starting to bloom.
Maybe I'll post them next week.
This is the Vorlon grand niece Nuriel celebrating her birthday. He recently passed the one-year-old point. Since her parents’ name is Cook, the Vorlon wife calls her Cookie – a little Cook.
She's so typically female. She’d rather talk on the phone than open her gifts. Hmmm. I wonder where she gets that behavior.
Her mother sent me a pretty good photo. I only had to enhance a little to make it look the way I wanted.
Click on the thumbnail for a larger picture.
This is a test post to see how Movable Type's html handles pictures. Normally, when I post a photo, it's sized to be 450 pixels wide. I've uploaded a 750 pixel wide image. Click here to view the photo.
UPDATE: I like the effect, but I'd like to also be able to put a thumbnail on the blog so you could see what you're getting. I guess that's going to take a little more digging.
I was shooting pictures of the Vorlon Wife’s Crocuses and this little fellow came by. It seems he likes the Crocuses. I was lucky to get this shot and that it came out so well. I think the cool weather keeps him a little lethargic.
If he’s out and about, can spring be far behind?
There’s a local liberal blogger I used to read. I stopped reading him as his posts, between the lines, said, “I hate Bush.â€
It just got monotonous, so I stopped. I didn’t leave any goodbye or anything; I just stopped reading and commenting.
Tonight I’m looking through a local blog aggregator and I see a headline. As I read the headline, I thought, “I’ll bet that’s X.â€
I clicked on the link and, sure enough, it was he. I think it’s pretty bad when people can tell it’s you, just by the headline.
I thought about leaving a comment to that effect, but then remembered, “Never argue with a fool. Bystanders won’t know which one is the fool.â€
Spring is coming and the Crocuses are coming more into bloom. For a brief time today, many of the Crocuses were open more. But then the clouds came out and the wind picked up. The Crocuses closed back up.
Later in the day, the sun came out again, but the temperature still stayed very cool. But at least I had more light to get a nice exposure.
I only have an opportunity to shoot photo’s on weekends as it the light rather dim, when I get home at night.
I put up a new blog. It’s my company web site. I’ve turned the home page into a blog.
Blogging for business is supposed to be the next big thing for business. I dunno, but I’ll experiment with it.
All my trades were stopped out today. I’m back to 100% cash and a little worse for the wear.
It was a challenging day in the market today. My CNTY was sold at about a 9% loss and my SE was sold at a 1% profit.
My PVH buy triggered today. It’s currently down about 1% and I have a stop loss on it at $28.30.
The market is looking more and more dangerous as my scan of stock to buy is getting shorter.
Yesterday morning, when I went jogging, the temperature was 49 degrees. As I finished my jog, it started to rain pretty hard.
It rained throughout the day with the temperature dropping. About 11:00, the rain changed to snow and the thermometer continued its descent.
Last night it seemed very cold and I had to chip my way into my car while enduring an artic blast in my ear.
This morning I see it’s about 17 degrees and the wind is still blowing, although not quite as hard. I don’t think I sweated a bit, when jogging.
I’m wondering how the Vorlon Wife’s Crocuses will endure this treatment. There’s about two inches of snow on the ground, although the streets are pretty much clear and dry.
I’m ready for spring!
I have a friend that wondered aloud if President Bush published a Blog under a pseudonym. I thought that was an excellent question. It might give him an opportunity to vent his frustrations without having it fall back on him.
Let’s pretend the Bush DOES have a secret Blog, what do you think would be a good name for it? White Horse Shenanigans? Lonely at the Top?
If you were Bush writing a secret Blog, what would YOU call it?
Hat tip to Charles Johnson
I placed 10 buy orders tonight.
BBW at $36.80
CHKE at $37.55
CLCT at $20.80
CNTY at $9.50
DWSN at $25.75
ENER at $24.65
OMM at $20.50 - I was stopped out of this last week
OSG at $64.30 - I was stopped out of this last week
PVH at $28.80
URBN at $46.65
I upped my risk factor by buying more than I have in the past. We'll see if that move turns out to be for the better or the worse.
Dasher-1 glided on to its landing pad just past 19:00 tonight. The mission was successful and many billable hours were collected.
Now I just need to bill them out. Fortunately, this client pays his bills in a timely manner.
The only downside to away missions is my life becomes eat, sleep and work. The hotel bed is nearly as hard as the floor, jogging on a treadmill tends to be monotonous, and they only have CNN on the TV – no Fox news.
But tonight I will sleep at home in my own bed.
We had a mild snowstorm last week and I rather like this picture of the Crocuses poking up through the snow. At this point in the season, spring is not to be denied. Even when it snows hard, the snow cannot last too long. These Crocuses are early ones. I’m looking forward to treating you to some photos of later blooming Crocuses. Last year they were really beautiful.
This is just moss. It is growing in my neighbor’s yard and I wondered what kind of photo it would make. I rather like the texture.
One of my frustrations with my digital camera is how closely I can get to something. I would like to have gotten closer, but it won’t focus any closer than you see. Perhaps I need to learn how to use it better.
I guess I’m going to have to read the manual and see what it says. Canon does have a close-up lens, but it’s about $120. Considering I only paid $250 for the camera, that seems rather steep.
Flower-Blogging and it's not even Friday!
This is our Amaryllis. We acquired it several years ago. It is a single bulb in a pot, which you can see from the photo. After it flowers about this time each year, we put it outside in the summer and let it grow. In the fall, we bring it in and stop watering it.
Then about this time of year again, it will start sending up stalks. As you can see one stalk is already up and flowering. You can also see a second stalk about half way up. The first stalk as four blooms this year; we’ll see what the second stalk has in store.
How well it flowers depends on how nicely we cared for it during the summer. During the summer is when it stores up energy for its next blooming. I have heard they can have as many as three stalks, if you do a good job with it.
One item of care, when it blooms is support. The plant becomes very top-heavy and can easily fall over damaging itself.
I’m sorry this download is so slow. The photo is about 80KB. When I tried to reduce the size, I lost some of the finer detail in the picture. I wish I had a better background to use for this picture.
The bulbs are easily available at your local garden supply about this time of year. I recommend you give it a try.
Dasher-1 is primed and ready for launch for the pending three-day away mission. I will be sojourning at the remote firebase in North Jersey.
I washed Dasher-1 and Dasher-2 this weekend, but the snow that came on Monday has trashed that. But even with the new coat of dirt, Dasher-1 STILL looks better than it did last week.
Refueling will take place in route – before leaving the outskirts of Vineland – were fuel is still the cheapest around
Lord willing, I will talk to you again on Saturday night.
In the meantime, come back each evening to see what I have scheduled to post in my absence.
Gooooooooddddddbbbbbbyyyyyyyeeeee!
I’m going out of town and, Lord willing, will return late Saturday evening.
But, dear reader, I have not forgotten you. Waiting in the wings are posts that are like ticking time bombs. That is they will automatically post each evening at a predetermined time – like a time bomb going off.
I encourage your to visit each night to see what I have in store for you.
Here’s a hint. It’s some photoblogging. I just can’t stay away from my digital camera and the computer.
If you like, let me know. If you don’t like let me know, but I’d like to know why you don’t like. Feedback is always useful for improvement.
I’m very happy I moved my stop loss orders higher last night. Three trades were stopped out today. Here’s how I wound up on them.
FRO +11.5%
OMM +2.2%
OSG +3.0%
At least I got out on the positive side.
Since I will be out of town the rest of the week, I have cancelled all open buy orders and have only one trade still in play. I have my stop loss as tight as I can on this, so it’s on automatic pilot.