Excellent turnout

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I haven’t seen a crowd like this at the capitol Independence Day celebration in recent memory! It was a very uplifting sight. Just about everybody rose and stood at attention for the Battle Hymn of the Republic. The performance of this grand hymn was the most amazing one I’ve ever heard, with all the verses about Christ intact, and it was a breathtaking experience. The fact that thousands of my fellow North Dakotans stood to take it in as well made it even more special.

Dakota Roads revisited

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This isn’t the same stretch of road as my original Dakota Roads post from 2006, but if my memory serves me right I believe they may both be Highway 1.

A beautiful black road like this is not a common site in North Dakota, since various transportation and road departments have a chip-seal fetish that I can’t explain. Actually, as a motorcyclist, I resent it. It seems a shame to cover a beautifully smooth, sticky stretch of blacktop with a damaging abrasive, one especially hazardous when it’s first applied and left to sit for a week or two. As a result, a nice black road like this one is particularly noticeable and wonderful to me.

So how do those letters and numbers appear in the capitol windows every July 4th, Christmas, and New Year’s Day?

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Sunday night some of these windows will be lit up with “4TH” as part of the Independence Day celebration on the front steps of the capitol. Every year the celebration features the music of the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra and finishes with a dramatic fireworks finale. Have you ever found yourself wondering how those numbers or colored Christmas tree shapes appear in the capitol building’s windows every July and December?

That’s where Bill comes in. He works for the Facility Management Division up at the state capitol, and it’s Bill and his crew who oversee the window shade pulling (and opening) to make sure it’s done right.

While Bill can pretty much do this by habit now, he does have an interesting aid: a diagram of the capitol with the relevant squares (the ones to be lit) highlighted. Facility Management and Bill were kind enough to let me tag along for this year’s window shade operation.

Bill has his custodial crew of around thirty people close all the shades on the front of the capitol as well as the east and west sides. The idea is to have the sides completely blacked out for the celebration, with the “4TH” visible only on the front. Once the crew closed all the shades on those three sides, Bill and I roamed the necessary floors and pulled open the shades forming the text.

Some windows are in spacious offices, and some are in pretty tight spots such as narrow supply rooms. Some are in such tough spots that I got to lend my lanky arms to Bill’s aid in order to snag & pull the cord. Because of that, I can lay claim to part of the 4 and (I think) the H!

The whole process took about a half hour, and I don’t think I held up Bill at all. This was an easy one; the letters were small and compact, and only one side is lit. During Christmas there is the complication of colored shades and two sides to do. For New Year’s there are four sides of the building to do. Also, for displays that are left up for more than one night, it’s important to stay on top of things to make sure the right shades are up and down and lights left on.

One of the world’s biggest lies is posted near 3rd & Rosser

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I suppose it’s appropriate to have a whopper like this near the offices of professionals like Earl Pomeroy, Byron Dorgan, and Kent Conrad. This billboard is part of an orchestrated campaign to fool people into supporting “The American Power Act” – by not letting you know that it’s a repackaging of the Kerry-Lieberman “Cap & Trade” act, designed to decimate our nation’s energy industry. Energy…say, isn’t energy a very significant part of North Dakota’s economy?

Not only is this bill a total disaster for North Dakota and the nation at large, but it has another few interesting flaws:

The “Renewable Energy World” website, which is vested in the sorts of “green energy technology” bandied about by liberals bent on killing the energy industry, has an article titled “American Power Act Contains Little Direct Support for Renewables.”

The “World Climate Report” website, which purports to be “the Web’s longest-running climate change blog”, has an article posted which calls the American Power Act “climatologically meaningless.” For instance, even if this bill worked like clockwork (which never happens), they might lower temperatures by a couple hundredths of a degree over the next hundred years!

The folks at American Thinker have an article posted which points out that the Act is merely “a sugar coated version of Cap and Trade.”

Hey, guess what? It gets better! If you actually visit “PassTheAmericanPowerAct.com” you’ll get the site above. Looks pretty conservative and jingoistic, doesn’t it? The only thing it seems to be missing is a flattering photo of George W. Bush. There’s only one problem: It’s a sham.

That web address actually bounces you to the servers of DemocracyInAction.org, a liberal activist group that apparently hosts all kinds of different websites for “progressive” causes. Here’s how they describe themselves:

“DemocracyInAction, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization itself, believes technology can be a decisive force for social change. We exist to empower those who share our values of ecological and social justice to advance the progressive agenda.”

Operated by a company called Salsa Labs, and oriented around the same sort of “community organizing” as our hapless President. Here’s a list of their clients, which includes a bunch of liberal nonprofits like Code Pink and a bunch of liberal Democrat political campaigns.

If I had the money, I’d simply rent the billboard next to it and put up something like this. It wouldn’t take much, and it would help put some truth right next to the Big Lie that is trying to kill jobs and take control of more Americans’ lives in the name of the Global Cooling Warming Climate Change hoax.

A dash to one of my favorite local sunset nooks

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Bismarck and Mandan have plenty of cool places from which you can observe and photograph our wide open skies. Last night I took the opportunity to bolt over to one of them, a secret little spot out in the middle of nowhere. I had to be careful because the recent rains could have turned it into a muddy mess, and I didn’t want to get my truck stuck.

Shortly after I arrived, the colors in the sky began to change. The golds faded and the reds and purples emerged.

As the sky behind me turned pink, I spun around to take some quick photos of the line of stoic power line towers leading over the horizon.

Most of these are new towers; the old ones which previously stood here were decimated by the spring ice/slush storm which deprived many area citizens of electricity for a long time.

The sky’s last display was for the remaining clouds to turn brilliant orange, then fade to a dull gray. The sun had finished the day’s work and dusk was here. I turned the truck around and headed for home, pondering the multitude of colors I’d seen in such a short span of time.

Downtowners complaining to the Internet because the City of Bismarck won’t clean sidewalks for them

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Keeping its tradition of expecting special treatment at the expense of others, the Downtown Business Association of Bismarck has put it out on the World Wide Web for everyone to see. Here’s a quote from their Facebook page:

“The DBA is asking the city to PLEASE SEND SOMEONE TO CLEAN UP DOWNTOWN Bismarck! It has not been taken care of in months. Dawn and Kate cleaned 4th and Broadway this warm afternoon. We don’t care where you get the help or money, just do it. The city “OWNS” the area and therefore should be taking care of it. With Urban Harvest starting, let’s show everyone the great city center. Pass this along!”

That’s really interesting. The City “owns” the boulevard and sidealks in front of my property, but I have yet to see someone come by and mow or maintain it for me. When someone throws trash on it, I don’t see a city worker come by to pick it up. When the snow flies in the winter, I’m the one driving the snowblower around to clear my sidewalk, driveways, and those of my neighbors. This includes rental property that I own. That’s fine; I’d rather take care of it myself…and I expect the rest of the property owners in Bismarck, including downtown businesses, to abide by the same standard! Is that so wrong?

If the DBA wants downtown Bismarck to be maintained, I respectfully submit that they look in the mirror. The property owners are responsible for the sidewalks and boulevards in front of their property. Isn’t it enough that the costs of beautification efforts for the downtown area have been spread out among all Bismarck citizens? If the businesses downtown don’t have the time to maintain the sidewalks adjoining their property, it’s time to hire someone to do so.

This comes from an organization that told the Boy Scouts and other charitable organizations that they couldn’t sell beverages with concessions at the annual street fair. When the no-beverages policy first started, I heard from Boy Scout parents who were floored and feared how that would impact their fundraising efforts for the Scouts.

So, after taking money from the Scouts and other non-profits, the Downtowners want the violins of sympathy to start playing for them because we taxpayers aren’t paying to have someone clean their sidewalks for them? Are they serious? I guess we’ll see. I think it takes a serious lapse in judgement to even suggest such a thing. In any case, I think they may have a hard time getting people to sympathize with them.

Here’s one for you, Downtowners: the next time I see a City employee cleaning or maintaining my sidewalks or boulevards, I’ll ask them to take a trip downtown and perform the maintenance downtown Bismarck businesses are apparently unwilling to do…or think they’re entitled to have someone else do for them for free.

Barnstorming our cities through Tuesday

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The American Barnstormers Tour flew into town today and made quite a popular appearance at the Bismarck Airport. I showed up just after noon and the place was crawling with enthusiastic patrons.

Not only were there plenty of vintage aircraft both on the tarmac and in the air, but a plethora of antigue cars adorned the area as well. Some even matched the aircraft quite nicely! Note the attentive pilot doing some detail work on his plane’s windshield.

This plane had far more wood used in its construction than I would ever have expected. Let’s take a look inside…

Why yes, those windows DO have cranks. Have you ever rolled down your window while on a commuter flight before? I didn’t think so.

This photo does not do this little bathroom justice. The doorway is just barely high enough for my 3-year-old to walk through without ducking! He thought a potty just his side was pretty cool.

Even though the hangar was mostly empty, that didn’t stop a lot of people from mulling around and eyeing the old building. Its construction is really cool, actually. I should have photographed the arcing wooden rafters.

The oldest entry in the shoe: the 1909 Bleriot. Pretty wild looking, isn’t it? The cross-section of the wing is pretty neat, too. Instead of the teardrop shape you’d expect, it’s actually an arc-shaped wing. Come check it out Monday or Tuesday.

The antithesis of a modern jetliner cockpit: three gauges and a stick. I couldn’t see what kind of pedals it might have, but I did see a modern transponder or radio device on the left.

While it was a bit breezy, making things very interesting for the dozens I saw taking rides in the classic biplanes, the weather was perfect for this kind of event. Hopefully things continue for the next couple of days, so everybody who wants to take it in can do so.

One last shot: an airplane with a steering wheel? Well, two actually. The craftsmanship on these old airplanes is remarkable. They really are a unique sight to behold, and admission is free. Make sure you take the opportunity to visit Bismarck Airport in the next couple of days, or your chance will fly away!

Washington Times catches up with me on Earl Pomeroy’s ties to Big Labor

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I’m up to here in filthy Labor Union money!

I’ve been decrying Earl Pomeroy’s indebtedness to big labor unions for longer than I can remember. Just last week I posted about this, so scroll down if you missed it. Labor unions, which represent less than seven percent of North Dakota’s workers, are the majority of Earl Pomeroy’s top career-long contributors. They’re bankrolling a lot of those ads for Earl that are flooding the airwaves lately. And they’re getting what they paid for!

I’m glad to note that finally the mainstream media is picking up on this, most notably this article in the Washington Times. They’re connecting the dots too, and it’s really not that tough once someone starts paying attention. The problem (and reason why North Dakota elects Pomeroy, Conrad, and Dorgan) is that nobody has been paying attention for a long, long time. Times have changed, and they don’t bode well for Earl.

The legislation mentioned in the WT article can be summed up like this:

– First, Labor unions wrangle and cajole benefits from employing businesses like a giant tick bleeding a dog dry. They do whatever they can to force these employers to provide benefits far and above what normal working families receive, and which are in many cases unsustainable.

– Next, when they’re on the verge of bringing the employer to the point of closing up shop and leaving all those union employees to twist in the wind, they go to folks like Earl Pomeroy to write up a government bailout.

– In the end, the business gets screwed, the union hacks get what they want, we taxpayers get the bill, and Democrats get money and rent-a-thugs for their election campaigns.

We’re watching, Earl. We’re doing the math and watching your every move. You’d better start looking for a new job come November. Maybe one with a big, fat labor union benefits package!

‘Til the Storm Passes By

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Like the line in one of my favorite gospel hymns says, the storm in this photo has passed by. It’s about to pound Wishek, if I recall. I was so sure, having checked the radar at 4:05pm, that Bismarck was gonna get pounded. Then the storm hooked a sharp right and proceeded to miss us almost entirely! My roof and siding are happy, but all the vehicles were inside the Garage Majal.

On a 9:30 taco run I stopped to take some video and a brief time-lapse of this storm as the clouds continued to boil in the eastern sky. The light changed while I was shooting so there’s a little bit of flicker as things adjust, but that’s the nature of time-lapse I suppose. Enjoy: