Blue, green, and rust
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Memorial Bridge musings
This brought to mind the fact that this bridge is fantastic in every way EXCEPT for the absence of a sidewalk on the north side! Thanks to this omission, it’s darn near impossible to get a clean sunset photo during the summer, since one must look northward to do so. I say “almost” because I still have my ways…
Prairie dog “squee” (with bonus nom)
I got my own little “squee” moment this weekend with my kids at the Dakota Zoo. This little baby prairie dog was poking around right by the glass where my 2 year old could watch him. He was so adorable I had to wait until he did something cute, like starting to nom some corn!
Earl Pomeroy’s office lying to, threatening North Dakota constituents and media…oh yeah, he’s under investigation too
Things are getting even more interesting for the hapless Earl Pomeroy, Democrat congressman from North Dakota. Not only is he trailing in the polls badly after his vote for Obamacare, but he’s also under ethics investigation for the curious timing of a fundraiser orchestrated for him by a former staffer the night before his vote on a financial bill in Congress.
On the Say Anything radio show a caller claims he was threatened by a staffer in Pomeroy’s office when he called to ask if Pomeroy has taken any bribes in exchange for his support of the Democrat agenda. Yikes! This from the office of the same Earl Pomeroy who refused to meet with his constituents before voting to toe the line for Obamacare last year. Not only does he not want to hear from his constituents, apparently his office is prepared to get nasty over it.
This is nothing new; apparently they’re threatening the media too. According to the Grand Forks Herald, Pomeroy’s office got a TV ad critical of Pomeroy’s vote pulled from the airwaves of at least one North Dakota television network, the stations run by KNDX TV here in Bismarck.
When asked by the Bismarck Tribune about the investigation into his fundraising, Pomeroy’s office simply showed that they think North Dakotans don’t deserve an answer from their “representative” in Congress.
Next, his office lied to the Grand Forks Herald when they claimed that “More than 60 percent of his campaign contributions came from North Dakotans — people from North Dakota.”
All it takes is a simple web query such as this one via opensecrets.org to show that Earl Pomeroy gets 80% of his money from out of state, NOT 40%. His office is lying to you.
North Dakotans have wised up to you, Congressman Pomeroy. That’s why you’re trailing in the polls despite spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in union money to attempt a facelift and salvage your sorry political career.
No wonder the Democrats want to regulate the Internet via the FCC…it took me less than fifteen minutes to come up with the information you see above. I may rant about politics on occasion, in order to stand up for principles I believe in, but unlike Pomeroy’s office, I can back it up. Anything in this post you see in colored text is a link to corroborate what I say. Do yourself a favor: stay informed, don’t fall for Pomeroy’s lies, and vote him out in November! Oh yeah…inform your friends, too. Politicians like Earl Pomeroy prefer uninformed constituents. Don’t give them what they want.
Elusive sunset view
I always joke that I single-handedly extinguished the sun by purchasing a camera for astrophotography; when I got my first camera, I had a very short run of Northern Lights before the sun went dormant. Scientists have been scratching their heads, wondering why there haven’t been any sunspots! I think I know why.
Now that I have another new camera, I can joke that the skies have conspired against me…this time with clouds and cold temperatures. NASA is predicting the sun is going to awaken from its solar minimum in spectacular fashion, creating some amazing aurora borealis I presume, but will the clouds even let us see them? Only time will tell. If not, just call me a jinx!
Odd convergence
These are really bizarre when you consider that the sun was behind me. The only explanation I can come up with is that they were caused by the sun breaking through the clouds behind me, really really high, and the apparent convergence of the rays of light is only due to the distance involved. The technical term for this is “vanishing point”, the point at which parallel lines seem to converge. Any other theories, since we know there wasn’t a second massive light source over the eastern horizon?
Buggies & Blues 2010
We also got to sit in a couple of the fire engines parked in the garage at the fire station and took in a lot of fine classic automobiles. We had to cut things short because of tired little legs and the sun began to beat down pretty hard on blond heads. The boys had a blast and had plenty of things to tell Mommy about. They also had a really fun time at the morning Fly-In at the Mandan Municipal Airport…and photos of that excursion are coming soon, too!
Pretty sharp, but I bet it’s hard to pop a wheelie
By the way, I got a TON of Buggies & Blues photos this weekend with my family. Once I’ve sorted through some of the coolest ones, they’ll appear here. Stay tuned!
Wielding all that “clout and seniority,” Conrad and Dorgan vote the Democrat party line against North Dakota interests (AGAIN)
This is “health care reform” all over again. They make sure they’re on TV, radio, and newspaper pages indicating that they’ll vote against something North Dakotans don’t want. Then they whisk themselves back to Washington, remove the plaid shirts, and vote whichever way the national Democrat Party wants them to.
Once again, you can view the Murkowski Amendment here (PDF). For the vote tally, click here.
How much do you want to bet you won’t see accurate mention of this on KFYR, KXMB, WDAY…or in any of the Forum newspapers or the Bismarck Tribune?
Rob Port over at Say Anything tipped me to this article which describes Dorgan as “liberated by his pending retirement…” which was my biggest fear after hearing of his decision not to run again. He basically has a license to do what he’s always done (vote as a liberal Democrat) with no repercussions. It looks like he’s going to end his too-long political career by going out with a liberal bang.
How’s that Hopeâ„¢ and Changeâ„¢ working out for everybody? When North Dakota’s energy industry gets flattened by government regulation and we join the long list of states in economic woe, thank everyone who voted Democrat.
Got some new Gregs
It’s been customary in years past to pick out a bunny who seems particularly comfortable hanging out near the house (in a window well, for instance) and call him Greg. The reason for this is that I enjoyed the short-lived “Greg the Bunny” TV show, starring Seth Green and Eugene Levy.
We now have a pair. What do we call ’em? Greg never had a bunny companion in the show. I guess for the limited use the name enjoys, we’ll simply refer to them as “the Gregs.”
Why do the Gregs like hanging out by that can of racing fuel? Probably a coincidence, although it really does qualify for my nickname of “high speed perfume.” It smells GREAT, although you can probably feel the brain cells dying if you catch a whiff. At $20 a gallon, it costs almost as much as perfume! Maybe it smells like carrots on some level…