Come and Rejoice on May Day! Love America and Pray for Her

I thought this song and video would be especially appropriate for the America we love on May 1.

This is the day the dark forces of socialism and communism around the world celebrate and those who would destroy America will be screaming in the streets.

So let's all be proud to be Americans and pray for deliverance from those who would harm us. May God Bless America.

Gangster Government, Government Motors, and Other Things

First, the gangster government so well described by Michael Barone. Following are some excerpts showing that the Obama Administration is indeed operating as a bunch of gangsters would.

Almost a year ago, in a Washington Examiner column on the Chrysler bailout, I reflected on the Obama administration's decision to force bondholders to accept 33 cents on the dollar on secured debts while giving United Auto Worker retirees 50 cents on the dollar on unsecured debts.

This was a clear violation of the ordinary bankruptcy rule that secured creditors are fully paid off before unsecured creditors get anything. The politically connected UAW folk got preference over politically unconnected bondholders. "We have just seen an episode of Gangster Government," I wrote. "It is likely to be a continuing series."
SNIP
Politically connected creditors would have every reason to assume they'd get favorable treatment. The Dodd bill specifically authorizes the FDIC to treat "creditors similarly situated" differently.
SNIP
Republicans have been accurately attacking the Dodd bill for authorizing bailouts of big Wall Street firms and giving them unfair advantages over small competitors. They might want to add that it authorizes Gangster Government -- the channeling of vast sums from the politically unprotected to the politically connected.

That can boomerang even against the latter. Goldman Sachs employees gave nearly $1 million to the Obama campaign and $4.5 million to Democrats in 2008. That didn't prevent Goldman from being shoved under the SEC bus.

Gangster Government may look good to those currently in favor, but as some of Al Capone's confederates found out, that status is not permanent, and there is always more room under the bus. Source.

The General Motors Lie, It's Still Government Motors

Yesterday GM started a new series of commercials bragging that they had paid off their government bailout debt and implying that they were a private company again. They did pay back a $8 billion dollar loan. But, they are still Government Motors as the federal government now owns about 60% of GM. Our socialists in government and their bureaucrats still own nearly 2/3 of GM and they and their union thugs are calling the shots. If you buy a GM vehicle you are buying from Government Motors, not the old General Motors.

The non-debt portion of help for GM was converted into equity during its bankruptcy and represents the 60 percent stake in the company owned by the government.

The potential loss on paper to taxpayers on GM alone was once thought to be as high as $30 billion, according to the White House budget office. The projected shortfall is now under $8 billion, according to market calculations.

Updated projections mainly revolve around an analysis of old GM bonds, which have a claim on new equity and today would be worth about $33 billion to the government, figures show.

Other gains include the $6.8 billion value of the loan repayment and roughly $2.2 billion in preferred stock held by the Treasury. See more here.

Government Conflict of Interest that Would Land a Private Company's Leaders in Jail

The federal government regulates the auto industry in a massive way. The federal government owns nearly 2/3 of GM. Recently it has taken the long knives to Toyota. Toyota may or may not have violated the rules or delayed taking action on safety rules. The important point is the conflict of interest.

Is it fair for the federal government to own the majority of GM and call the shots on its operation while simultaneously regulating GM's competitors? It is not. Who is next under the long knives? Ford? Honda? Any auto company than doesn't knuckle under to the unions and give millions of dollars of "campaign" contributions to Obama and the Democrats?

The federal government is grossly unfair to own the majority of GM and simultaneously regulate any automobile company, especially if they happen to be non-union and sell more cars than GM!

Obama's Unfair Double Standard is Harming Israel

Obama continues his bowing and scraping to Muslim countries and their leaders around the world. At the same time his is wickedly stern with Israel in trying to force them to take actions while looking the other way for the terrorists and radical Islamic nations threatening and attacking Israel.

It has been widely reported in the world press that Syria has given Hezbollah scud missiles and the Hezbollah terrorists are now under control of the Syrian Army.

Israel has threatened to hold Syria responsible and to attack them directly if Hezbollah uses those ballistic missiles against Israel. Here is what the Bible says about Damascus: Isaiah 17:1 "The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap."

Obama is a Muslim and is bringing war in the Middle East closer with his unfair and dangerous favoring of radical Islam and the Hezbollah terrorists.

What the Rank & File Border Patrol Agents Think of McCain

These are pictures of the real John McCain. He has supported amnesty and open borders (called "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" in 2001, 2006, and 2007) and he still supports it to this day. So does his lackey Sen. Jon Kyl.

Now it is an election year and McCain is in a close race with conservative Republican J.D. Hayworth. So, like all liberal politicians, McCain has come out with a plan to "control the border". It is a bunch of nonsense and as phony as his previous promises to "give them the damn fence".

McCain is unfit for public office and I hope all Arizonans vote to retire him for good.

The local rank and file Border Patrol agents don't buy McCain's sudden reversal of policy. Please read their very powerful statements on their web site.
Here is an excerpt from their web site

02-20-10 Senator McCain has been a vocal supporter of amnesty for illegal aliens for years. He has sponsored and supported disgraceful legislation that would reward illegal aliens for breaking the law. He has incessantly trivialized the crime of illegal immigration, to the point of sarcasm. He has never been a friend to Border Patrol agents in this state and has sold us down the river at every opportunity.

Senator McCain recently appeared on the Doug and Wolf radio show at KTAR Sports 620 in Phoenix. He was asked about the "steroid era" in baseball and whether baseball players who used steroids should be allowed in the Hall of Fame. McCain stated that baseball players who used steroids should not be rewarded for their accomplishments because it's "not fair" to those who didn't cheat. We have been saying for years that any form of amnesty for illegal aliens is not fair to those immigrants who did things the right way, stayed in line, and waited their turn. It's too bad that Senator McCain can see how "cheating" is wrong in the professional baseball world, but he fails to meaningfully acknowledge that cheating is wrong when it comes to immigration.

So there you have it from the Border Patrol agents who put their lives on the line for us every day.

Weight Loss the Royal Way

Introduction

Weight loss is hard to accomplish. Sometimes it seems all things are against your success. But there is a simple way, all it entails is common sense and the usual diet elimination of between mean snacks, most breads, and high calorie deserts. One must substitute fruits and vegetables for high calorie items. And, you must develop a sensible exercise plan. With one exception, you know what to do, probably better than I.

Always check with your doctor before starting a diet, any diet, you body is a complex system and we all need professional health guidance from a physician. Don't go against your doctor's advice or your common sense.

Two Diets to Consider

1) My Way. This is probably your way too. "I promise to cut down and eat a sensible diet and I will lose weight". That's the My Way diet. " Of course I am bored right now, so I will have a snack." "I was good all day yesterday, one bowl of ice cream before bed won't hurt me." "I never eat breakfast so that should help." Just rationalize away to your heart's content and you are more likely to gain weight than lose it. The "My Way" diet does not work and it probably does more harm than good.

2) The Royal Diet. I got this second or third hand from a relative's doctor through his family, to me. I offer it for your consideration.

Here are the rules: 1) Eat breakfast like royalty; 2) Eat lunch like a poor man; 3) Eat dinner like a pauper; 4) High protein and low carbohydrates (almost all fresh fruits and vegetables are ok; for example, I eat 1/2 to 1 lb of fresh grapes and a couple apples a day); 5) Adopt all of the common sense items listed in the Introduction (i.e. no snacks, no big deserts, avoid high carbohydrate breads and other foods, adopt an exercise plan, check with your doctor, and stick to the diet- no cheating or quitting). After you have been successful for a couple months an occasional sensible dinner at a restaurant or a one inch piece of cake and a teaspoon or two of ice cream on a birthday, etc. won't hurt you. But again, that is occasionally not every day or every week.

Notes:
1) Breakfast is critical, it should be your main meal of the day, always. Here is why I believe this. At breakfast time your body is hungry and in the conservation mode where it tries to story energy (fat) rather than use energy. If you skip breakfast, your body wants to conserve even more, so when you do eat, even more is stored as fat than used for energy to support your activities than would have been the case if you had eaten breakfast. A vicious cycle ensues if you continue to skip breakfast: stronger conservation mode, more fat storage, and less energy for activities. You are tired from lack of food energy even as you are gaining weight. Your exercise is not as effective because your body is really holding onto its reserves, after all, every morning you starve it. These are common attributes of the My Way diet.

However, a royal breakfast stops the conservation mode, releases more energy for your activities, and when you exercise your body pours out the food energy you need. The result? You lose weight, gain energy, and feel better physically and mentally. The light lunch and stingy dinner are just enough to prevent the conservation mode (storing fat) until next morning. Then, your royal breakfast breaks the conservation mode, you feel better, and continue to lose weight by using food energy for activities rather than storing it as fat for later.

Following is a six month record of my weight loss using the "My Way" and the "Royal Way" diets.

One of my doctors said he would be happy if I reached 220 lbs and the other said I should be closer to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute Body Mass Index (BMI) weight for my height (6'4") of 204 lbs. I am shooting for the BMI value of 204 lbs. Most doctors I have met say the BMI is a little conservative and a healthy weight may be a little above the BMI value.

If you try the Royal Diet, please do me a favor. Save the link to this post and come back to its comment section and let me know how it worked for you. Hope to hear from a lot of you in a couple of months.

Does Al Qaeda Have Nuclear Weapons? What Has Obama Done?

Have foreign intelligence services secretly warned the US that Al Qaeda has somehow obtained nuclear weapons? Did he get this information first from Israel and decide not to acknowledge their help to keep from upsetting the Islamic and Communist powers he loves?

Is this what's behind Obama's big push for nuclear disarmament? Is he hoping he can buy off some of Al Qaeda's indirect state sponsors? Is he trying to appease these sponsors and thereby get them to reign in Al Qaeda? Is he trying to abandon Israel in the hope that the madmen in Al Qaeda, North Korea, and Iran will focus on Israel and leave the US alone?

Is Israel to lose their nuclear umbrella from the U.S. because of Obama's foreign and domestic policy blunders. In the past anyone who disagreed or threatened Obama's plans has been sacrificed, is it Israel's turn?

Has Obama's deep cuts in America's military and his ill-informed decisions not to modernize our nuclear deterrent, even as countries such as Russia, China, Great Britain, and France are modernizing their nuclear arsenals, emboldened our enemies enough that they have given Al Qaeda the go ahead? Or did Al Qaeda reach this conclusion on their own and give Obama an ultimatum? Did the enemies of America and Israel tell Obama to let them destroy Israel or they would attack us both?

Something is going on behind the scenes in international threats, threat potentials, betrayals, shared hatred, espionage, and back channel signaling that has rapidly changed the balance of nuclear power and the will to use it in the world. We are pledging not to use nuclear weapons. Are they hinting or threatening that they will use theirs soon?

I do not believe that it is possible that dozens of Obama's moves and mistakes culminating in his scripted and pre-reported (yes, the Obama Administration had written the summary reports and press releases even before his nuclear summit was held) nuclear conference and abandonment of Israel are all the result of coincidence or of trying to further US interests.

It is far more likely that that Obama has permanently thrown in with the Islamic Tyrants and their protectors and suppliers in his continuing campaign to end the United States' role as the only superpower. Israel may have to be destroyed as his gesture of good faith to the Islamists and communists. No one can seriously believe that giving up Israel will satisfy the lust of the Beast, can they? Or would it matter to Obama?

Bravo Performance

This came through the email from a cousin, I don't know how people find such things, but I am glad they do.

The song is good 40's music (1944) by the Ross Sisters followed by unbelievable, contortions, strength, and a seemingly impossible performance.

Watch the split and then the backwards bend like a snake and the forward rise like Superwoman. What strength and talent!

One of those things you have to see to believe. Enjoy.

The Desert Blooms in Arizona

About once every 5 to 20 years the fall and winter rains soak the desert and bring forth spectacular blooms in this hot and dry land. Normally dry streams flow with water to keep the riparian corridor and its habitat healthy.*

These pictures were taken by a family member about a week ago. The pictures do not do the landscape full of blooms justice. Also, the bloom is the early stages as many trees, shrubs, and cacti bloom later in the season.


Close up of Golden Poppies


Golden Poppies on Hillslope


Flow in Normally Dry Stream




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* Following is a brief discussion of deserts of the world and their hydrology for those who would like a description of these arid and semiarid areas we call deserts.

The term arid is used in many ways. In each usage it carries the connotation of words such as dry, desert, barren, and empty. Of these, only the first, dry, is generally true of arid zones. Arid areas receive too little rainfall to support dryland agricultural or domestic livestock grazing. In contrast, in semiarid areas adequate moisture is usually available at some time during the year to produce forage for livestock, and there are some years when dryland crop production may be successful. However, both climates are characterized by extreme variability with commonly occurring droughts and infrequent periods of flooding.

A first order classification of arid zones can be made using long term, mean annual precipitation as the criterion. More than a third of the world's land surface is either arid, generally receiving less than 250 mm of annual precipitation, or semiarid with between 250 mm and 500 mm of annual precipitation. More precise definitions of arid and semiarid areas are based on climatology and are given in climatic classifications based on precipitation, temperature and their seasonal distributions. In the remainder of this discussion, we use arid zones to mean those areas of the world, excluding the polar deserts, which are arid and semiarid by the above first order classification.

Most arid zones of the world are found along two wide belts at approximately 30 degrees latitude north and south of the equator. In these subtropical belts, the air is generally descending (high pressure) and dry much of the time. At this latitude in the northern hemisphere we find the major deserts of north Africa, the Middle East, Pakistan and India in Asia and northern Mexico and the American southwest in North America. In the southern hemisphere at about this latitude south of the equator we find the deserts of southern Africa, Australia, and South America. On a more localized scale, a combination of terrain and prevailing wind direction can cause rain shadow effects, resulting in arid zones downwind of major mountain features.

Geology, describing the form, properties, and dimensions of the earth's rocks greatly influences development of landscapes. The landscapes currently seen are also the result of interactions between the atmosphere and the earth's surface as soil erosion and sedimentation processes dissect the earth's surface with stream channels, alluvial fans, and sometimes, sand dunes.

The term watershed (or catchment) means an area above a specified point on a stream channel enclosed by a perimeter of higher ground. The watershed perimeter defines an area where surface runoff will move into the stream or tributaries above the specified point. In arid zones, sparse vegetation and normally clear, dry air make these features obvious.

Arid zone hydrology, literally the study of water in these areas, is conveniently split into surface water hydrology dealing with the atmosphere, the land surface, and their interactions and ground water hydrology dealing with waters below the surface of the earth. Surface water and ground water are linked in nature as infiltrated water seeping through the soil can recharge ground water and ground water can return to the surface as springs, seeps, and streamflow.

A convenient way to visualize arid zone hydrology is through the concept of an annual water balance on watersheds. Precipitation that falls on the land surface can take several paths on its way through the hydrologic cycle back to the streams, lakes, rivers, oceans and atmosphere. An annual water balance is a way of accounting for all the precipitation that falls on a watershed in a year.

If the rate of rainfall is sufficiently high and for a sufficient duration, surface runoff can occur resulting in overland flow, streamflow, and in the extreme, flooding. Rainfall that stays on the surface of rocks, soil, vegetation, litter, etc. can be evaporated directly back into the atmosphere. Rainfall that infiltrates beneath the surface of the soil recharges soil moisture and can then move deeper and recharge ground water, or can move back into the atmosphere by two routes. Soil moisture can be directly evaporated into the atmosphere. Soil moisture can also enter plant roots and through biological processes be released back into the atmosphere as transpiration. Movement of rainfall back into the atmosphere by these two processes is termed evapotranspiration and simply means the combined processes of evaporation and transpiration. On an annual basis, one accounts for all of the precipitation falling on a watershed by stating that the annual change in soil moisture storage in the watershed is equal to the precipitation minus the surface runoff, minus the evapotranspiration, and minus the recharge to groundwater. Precipitation falling as snow complicates the above water balance, but the principles are the same.

Arid zone hydrology is thus defined as the study and quantification of components of the water balance. Time scales can be longer (from decades to centuries) or shorter (from seconds to seasons) than a year but the basic principles remain the same. Important features of arid zone hydrology that differ from hydrology in more humid zones include the key fact that on an annual time scale, the maximum possible, or potential evapotranspiration, far exceeds the mean annual precipitation resulting in the dryness associated with arid zones. This dryness in turn results in ephemeral stream channels and rivers that are dry most of the time. Locally, these dry streams are called by a variety of names, for example, wadis (Middle East), washes and arroyos (North America).

Because of the dryness, one might consider hydrology to be less important in arid zones than in more humid areas. Nothing could be further from the truth. Because water is so scarce, its occurrence and abundance is of primary concern in arid zones, because here, the links between water and life are most evident.

You Picked a Fine time - Barack

Many of you may have seen this. Go ahead and play it again, it is worth watching as often as you wish.

It is an excellent parody and the guys are quite good. Notice that parts about bowling and brotherly love. (Note: It is helpful to read the short description below the YouTube window on the YouTube site.)

Enjoy!

Many Ways to Communicate

One of my cousins sent this. Listen up!

Happy Easter

"He is not here: for he is risen, as he said." Matthew 28:6.