Some stories you may not have heard before

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My motorcycle buddy Chris is in media relations for the military, just like his dad. A little while ago he sent me a request from where he’s stationed (I’m not telling, but he’s a long way from Bismarck) to let me know he’s attached to the CentCom mission right now. He also asked that I provide a link to their site, so here we go: link

One of the things I wish the civilians in our government would do better is let us know what’s going on overseas. Really…if you watched nothing but CBS, NBC, or ABC, or read only the Bismarck Tribune, would you think that our troops are doing anything at all aside from hiding in the green zone digging holes and sitting them all day, leaving only to drive around aimlessly until an IED goes off next to their Humvee? Shamefully, if someone asked me about what the guys are doing over there, I would have few answers, and none of them specific. Our soldiers deserve better than that.

I know that people opposed to our President politically like to claim that issuing good news about the troops is “propaganda” and can’t be trusted. Obviously that’s wrong, but those people are 100% wrong about the military anyway. Those are the same people whose overblown statistics are accepted as biblical fact when it comes to trying to damage the war effort or try to pass their silly little resolution through the state legislature calling for “peace.”

If we wanted to get political about our military’s role overseas, which we don’t, a guy could ask why Bismarck soldiers just spent a year in Bosnia trying to help clean up a mess that Bill Clinton created and then didn’t follow through on once the headlines settled. I’m not asking that, and I told my friends serving there that I was grateful for what they’re doing. I meant it.

I’ve got friends who were involved in some of the nastiest close-quarter fighting of the entire war in Iraq, flushing out terrorists (no, not “insurgents” or “militants” or “freedom fighters”) with the 3rd ID. These guys were fighting building to building, sometimes room to room, and it’s amazing the stories they have to tell. Too bad nobody’s telling these stories for them. To find good news, one has to hunt for it.

So if you want to see some success stories to combat the dearth of accurate reporting on the local TV and newspaper, check out the Central Command website every now and then. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at what’s really going on over there.

Hangin’ around the ice

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Geese are a year-round sight near the warmer waters of the Heskett Station power plant and the Tesoro oil refinery. For some reason they decided to snug up to this chunk of ice on the river this weekend. Perhaps the day was a little too balmy for them? I don’t know. I just think it’s amazing how birds can handle the cold, especially in the water. They’re pretty tough creatures!

My reply to the NRCC

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I got a 2007 Membership Renewal form for the National Republican Congressional Committee in the mail this weekend. I figured it took a lot of guts to send them out, since it’s really just a fundraiser after they really didn’t perform at all since 2000, so instead of a check I typed up and mailed in this reply:

To: Congressman Tom Cole, NRCC Chairman

Re: Membership contribution request

Dear Congressman Cole,

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the NRCC. I was surprised to hear that there are actually any Republicans still in the Congress. The last time I sent you money, we controlled the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. We were really going to get things done. So what happened?

You’re asking me for money to help you fight for reform in the areas of immigration, Social Security, and Medicare…yet you had six years of total control in Washington in which to advance our agenda. Who fell asleep at the wheel? The same folks who want my hard-earned money now that they’re powerless to push anything through the House at all, and can merely stonewall Democrat bills in the Senate? What was my money paying for when you guys ran the joint?

The fact of the matter is, I am not sending you guys a penny. I, like many who vote Republican, am the antithesis of the “rich, evil Republican” that the Democrats like to portray. I make a modest living and am happy doing so, and thought that sending some of my valuable money to you Republicans while you were in power would actually help you accomplish something. I was sorely mistaken, and I won’t be making such a poor investment any time in the near future.

I was not one of those voters who “sat out” the last election in order to teach you Republicans a lesson. I do understand what’s at stake here. But for you to come back to us with your hat in your hand after a shameful squandering of six years in control of everything in Washington is too much. I won’t vote with my wallet the way I will with my ballot. Either you Republicans in the Senate had better start acting like conservatives, or you won’t have any support left from people who thought you were there to advance the causes about which we care most deeply.

Good luck. Your candidates will likely get my vote in 2008, but you won’t get one red cent. This time you earn it first.

PS: The same applies to Presidential candidates in 2008. At this point I remain firmly resolved to write-in Ronald Reagan.

I really don’t think anyone in Washington truly represents the people who vote for them any more. Look at the Democrats, for instance. The ones who ran on an anti-war platform don’t dare defund the war, because they know that’d be political suicide. So the crazy leftists who helped them raise money are going to be mad as heck. On the other side, our Republicans had six years to get things done, and had the power to do it, and still produced nothing.

This simply reinforces my long held belief that nobody in Washington is there to solve problems. What would the Republicans do if they couldn’t dangle the abortion or immigration carrot in front of us voters? Especially in this age where you’re only as important as your last five minutes’ performance, they’re just simply afraid of having no crisis handy with which they can rally the voters.

The letter I wrote pretty much says it all. I wish everyone who got the NRCC fundraising request would do the same thing. If nobody with an (R) by their name has any sack anymore, then they don’t deserve to be in national politics. Period.

Graupel: avalanche danger, but not here

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I shoveled a lot of snow today, but this was different. This is a kind of snow that really looks like someone cut open a giant bean bag and shook it over Bismarck-Mandan…some call it graupel.

As you can read in this article from avalanche.org, this snow can be hazardous because it causes fluidity in layers of snow.

When I lived at a ski resort in the rockies, we’d do out-of-bounds boarding on our days off. That basically involves getting an avalanche “beeper” locator, a shovel and pack, signing a waiver, and digging a snow pit to test snow conditions before descending. Layers of snow that look like they’ll let loose are a good indicator to find another place to board or ski that day.

Naturally this isn’t terribly relevant here in North Dakota, as our mountain ranges are conspicuously absent. But back at my old stompin’ grounds, 10,000 feet and steep, this kind of snow would definitely be cause for concern.

Foggy Tuesday

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This is the time of year when the weather swings start to take place. Temperature swings of 40 degrees or more within a 24 hour period aren’t that unusual. Tuesday morning’s pleasant temperatures brought a haze of thick fog east of Bismarck, providing me with this shot of some of the transmission towers.

Newgard Owl

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It’s amazing how something can catch my eye now that I’m always on the lookout for cool photos. Take this owl, for instance. He probably perched atop the Newgard Chiropractic Building in Mandan long before I moved back to our fair state…yet it has taken me almost thirty years to really notice him. Am I that dense, or did I just forget? Odds are fifty-fifty on that one.

As I wrote in an earlier post regarding the old Mandan Library building, the old structures that make Mandan’s Main Street special are full of character and should be preserved. I hadn’t intended to follow it up with a post of this nature, but my travels took me to Mandan today and the tops of the buildings caught my eye. Thus it was natural for me to spot this owl.

I’m sure the coat of black paint on the building’s features makes it especially important to keep birds from perching on the features of the building and…well, making it white. What better way to discourage other birds than by putting up a predatory bird like an owl? Perhaps it works.

Hopefully they’re having better luck than the City of Mandan, who hung plastic versions of owls like this from the beams of the 6th Avenue underpass in hopes of chasing away the pigeons. It didn’t take the pests long to figure out that there was no real threat, and the plastic owls dangled impotently beneath the railroad tracks to no avail. It was funny to see, though…the inability of man to control nature. Kinda reminds me of the people who swear we need electric cars and flourescent light bulbs or the planet’s doom looms overhead!

Monday morning bridge

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I didn’t actually take this photo Monday morning, just posted it today. This bridge originally had a square shape to its sections, but when it could no longer support the weight of modern trains its spans were replaced with something a little stronger.

The hills above this bridge are riddled with mountain bike trails, one of which was my vantage point for this photo. Parts of those trails, mainly the area above Pioneer Park, were developed by Dakota Cyclery (with the help of some creative grant writing) into a race course later used for the Prairie Rose State Games.

Those trails are quite muddy now, but this spring they’ll provide an ample workout for those looking to get back in shape. See ya there.

Mandan Library: I miss the old building

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I know it was time for a new building. The old one was small, deteriorating, and lacking accessibility for people with disabilities (you can’t say handicapped any more or you’re a hatemonger). But it’s a shame to see the old building go the way it has.

For those of you who remember this building, or even better – were able to spend time here as kids, you’ll know what I’m talking about. It was fun to play on the steps before going in or after coming out, with the slanted concrete along the steps. There was a narrow spiral staircase leading to the children’s section downstairs, tucked into such a narrow nook that it looked like Bruce Wayne built it for secret crime fighting purposes. Then there’s just the old familiarity of the place and the ladies that staffed it. So there’s the old sentimentality kicking in.

I don’t know how the building is being used now, but it sure looks dilapidated inside, with stuff strewn all over the place. I’d hate to see it torn down, which I guess has been on someone’s agenda for a while. There’s a shortage of truly historic buildings in the Bismarck-Mandan area; only Mandan seems to have an interest in keeping them around. I’d prefer to see the old Mandan Library become a museum or something of sorts…then I could show my little boy some of the features that I loved about the place when I was a boy.

Boot Hill in the winter

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I don’t know if you’ve ever seen my original Boot Hill photo; I’ve had it on display in the Bob’s Photo contest before, but I don’t remember having posted it here. I was in the area over the weekend, however, so I took an opportunity to photograph this attraction again…this time with snow.

As I stood in someone’s snowmobile tracks, I was able to get quite a few of these boots in the frame. There are plenty more behind me as well as over the hill and around the corner. It’s pretty cool, not the only fenceposts I’ve seen, but certainly the biggest contiguous bunch of them.

If you want to see this display, merely point your car/truck/whatever northward on Highway 1804. I don’t know how far north it is, because I usually am just holding the accelerator to the floor and watching for deer. You can’t miss it, though…it’s along a quick left-right pair of corners in the road marked 40mph. If you find yourself in Washburn, you went too far!

Where the antelope play (deer had the day off)

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While four-wheeling around south of Underwood (for work, of course) we came upon a pretty large herd of antelope grazing in a field. We were very close and shot plenty of video and stills of the herd, which really didn’t seem to care that we were there.

We actually had to rev the diesel a little bit to spook ’em, so they would finally take off for some running shots. There were a few dozen of them, but I really didn’t want to take a wide enough shot to fit ’em all in. I size the pics down to 500 pixels wide for the blog, and you might not even be able to distinguish them from the surrounding grass at that size!