Yellowstone National Park

Established in 1872, Yellowstone is the nation’s oldest national park and one of the most visited. It’s known for its geysers and hot springs. Indeed, Yellowstone contains 60% of the world’s geysers, including Old Faithful, its most famous, and the Grand Prismatic Hot Spring, America’s largest hot spring. The park also houses a rich collection of historical artifacts in its museum, library and research centers. In this series of photos, Los Angeles Times photographer Anne Cusack captures the colors and textures of Yellowstone in the late summer.

I spent a summer working at Fishing Bridge Camp next to Yellowstone Lake while going to college. Then I followed up by taking my wife and children there on two more trips.

Anne Cusack’s camera is a Canon EOS-1D Mark IV Pro Digital SLR Camera. The Body Kit (without lens) cost $4,999.00. That is just a little bit more than most of us will pay for a good camera. These photos just begin to tell the story.

http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-yellowstone-photos,0,3815159.htmlstory

Sharia Law Come to America!

A few weeks back, uniformed police in the heavily Muslim Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan, arrested four Christian missionaries for the offense of handing out copies of the Gospel of St. John on a public street outside an Arab festival. (Can you even imagine uniformed cops interfering with (much less arresting) Islamic preachers who were handing out copies of the Koran inside a Christian festival (much less on a public street). The Christian missionaries were charged with disorderly conduct and their camera was seized. As the tape showed, there wasn’t anything disorderly about them and they were engaged in behavior that is absolutely legal under the U.S. Constitution. Proselytism of Christianity, however, is an offense against sharia — that’s what the police, in effect, were enforcing. See John Hinderaker’s report (with some video) at Powerline, here. The Detroit News confirmed this story.

Now comes this story out of New Jersey: A Muslim woman was raped by her Muslim husband (who was about to divorce her). However, a state judge refused to find that there had been a sexual assault or any kind of criminal sexual misconduct because, under sharia principles, a wife may not refuse her husband’s requests for sex. As the man told the crying woman, “This is according to our religion. You are my wife, I c[an] do anything to you. The woman, she should submit and do anything I ask her to do.”

Robert Spencer has the story at Jihad Watch, along with some of the relevant Islamic scripture. (Robert tips his cap to Eugene Volokh). The judge reasoned as follows:

This court does not feel that, under the circumstances, that this defendant had a criminal desire to or intent to sexually assault or to sexually contact the plaintiff when he did. The court believes that he was operating under his belief that it is, as the husband, his desire to have sex when and whether he wanted to, was something that was consistent with his practices and it was something that was not prohibited.

Thankfully, this ruling has been reversed by an appellate court, which has reaffirmed — at least for now — the principle that we are still ruled by American law:

As the judge recognized, the case thus presents a conflict between the criminal law and religious precepts. In resolving this conflict, the judge determined to except defendant from the operation of the State’s statutes as the result of his religious beliefs. In doing so, the judge was mistaken.

Expect to see lots more of this as long as sharia’s apologists inhabit high places.

ALAH AKBAR

Mexican Law Enforcement in the U.S.

SAN DIEGO (AP) – A Mexican law enforcement official who worked with U.S. authorities was charged with passing along classified information to drug traffickers and arranging the arrests of his drug boss’ rivals, according to an indictment unsealed Friday.

—

KNX 1070 Radio in Los Angeles reported this story today. A total of 43 people were arrested in the San Diego Drug Cartel Sting.

This was easily predicted as I did.

Newsweek vs Businessweek: Growing American Jobs

The real reason I started blogging was because the newspapers and magazines I read rarely print my opinion. The latest best example is the following letter that I tried posting on Newsweek’s web site. I tried for four days.

—

I had just finished reading Andy Grove’s “How to Make an American Job” in Businessweek’s July 5 edition when latest edition of Newsweek arrived. He is the former CEO and chairman of Intel. Rana Foroohar writes her article “How to Build Again” in Newsweek. My background in is management of a variety of manufacturing concerns. What is her background?

Mr. Grove points out that Foxconn, the giant electronics subcontractor in China, employs over 800,000 people. Most of those people are earning one-fifth the pay that Americans require. Back in the 1950s 1960s and 1970s those 800,000 jobs would be in the United States. Innovation is wonderful but who will manufacture and assemble the next 3-D television or the next iPhone? Unless there is more job creation in the United States for the millions of Americans that are continuing to be laid off our children and grandchildren are in for some very unhappy lives.

Israel: Defying All Odds

This well done video says more about Israel’s strength as a nation for good than anything I can write.

David

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGUxzISr9Us

America’s Involvement in Mexican Law Enforcement

Gunmen stormed a party in the city of Torreon in northern Mexico. It is a city of 1 million people west of Monterrey and about 282 miles or 453 kilometers from Laredo, Texas. An estimated 17 people were killed and another 18 wounded. The AP reports that the United States FBI has sent a small team to the crime scene to offer technical assistance to the Mexican investigators. It is always nice to know that we will help our neighbors.

There is a report in today’s Los Angeles Times that Mexicans who are sneaking into the United States just east of Tijuana are being kidnapped by their countryman for ransom to be paid by the victim’s American relatives.

So the pattern is becoming apparent. American law enforcement is being drawn into the gang wars in Mexico.

This is more evidence supporting Arizona’s new laws pertaining to illegal entry into their state. My prediction is the United States will become ever more involved in the battle with all the Mexican gangs regardless of their purpose. Afghanistan will soon be a forgotten memory.

Mark Williams is the Tea Party Spokesman

You Be The Judge!

Update: July 18, 2010, 4:28 PM PDT: David Webb, a spokesperson for the National Tea Party Federation, confirmed to CBS this morning that Williams was no longer affiliated with his organization because of the “clearly offensive” blog post. David Webb interviewed by Don Lemon on CNN refused to call Mark Williams a racist. Instead saying the posting of the letter below was offensive. Considering the fact that the Tea Party is a group of independent organizations can the Tea Party Express be booted out?

Mark Williams is an American radio host and author (Books: It’s Not Right Versus Left, It’s Right Versus Wrong; Exposing the Socialist Agenda and Taking Back America One Tea Party at a Time, 2010). He is based in Sacramento, California. Williams is an occasional guest on Fox News Channel, MSNBC, and CNN and has appeared as a guest host on radio stations nationally and on the Talk Radio Network’s Jerry Doyle and Rusty Humphries shows. He is the spokesman for the Tea Party Express (and Vice Chairman of the Tea Party Express’ parent political action committee: Our Country Deserves Better PAC).

The following letter posted by Tea Party leader Mark Williams in jest (he says) should be the real concern for all of us. Today the attack is on Blacks. Will there will be an attack another group?

Dear Mr. Lincoln

We Coloreds have taken a vote and decided that we don’t cotton to that whole emancipation thing. Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards. That is just far too much to ask of us Colored People and we demand that it stop!

In fact we held a big meeting and took a vote in Kansas City this week. We voted to condemn a political revival of that old abolitionist spirit called the ‘tea party movement’.

The tea party position to “end the bailouts” for example is just silly. Bailouts are just big money welfare and isn’t that what we want all Coloreds to strive for? What kind of racist would want to end big money welfare? What they need to do is start handing the bail outs directly to us coloreds! Of course, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is the only responsible party that should be granted the right to disperse the funds.

And the ridiculous idea of “reduce[ing] the size and intrusiveness of government.” What kind of massa would ever not want to control my life? As Coloreds we must have somebody care for us otherwise we would be on our own, have to think for ourselves and make decisions!

The racist tea parties also demand that the government “stop the out of control spending.” Again, they directly target coloreds. That means we Coloreds would have to compete for jobs like everybody else and that is just not right.

Perhaps the most racist point of all in the tea parties is their demand that government “stop raising our taxes.” That is outrageous! How will we coloreds ever get a wide screen TV in every room if non-coloreds get to keep what they earn? Totally racist! The tea party expects coloreds to be productive members of society?

Mr. Lincoln, you were the greatest racist ever. We had a great gig. Three squares, room and board, all our decisions made by the massa in the house. Please repeal the 13th and 14th Amendments and let us get back to where we belong.

Sincerely

Precious Ben Jealous, Tom’s Nephew NAACP Head Colored Person

Hubris and the iPhone 4

We need more Hubris in America!

Today Apple has announced “We’re Not Pefect“, and that they will give everyone a free protective case for their iPhone 4. Of course the reason is that the case insulates your hand from the wrap around stainless steel frame that is acting as an antenna.

Daniel Lyons of Newsweek does an excellent job of telling us how hubris has impacted Apple in his July 15 on line posting. “Apple had this really clever idea and just couldn’t let it go. Why not put a stainless-steel frame around the phone and have that frame serve as the antenna? Jobs made a big deal out of this innovation when he introduced the phone in June, calling it “brilliant engineering” and boasting that the antenna design “has never been done before.”

Apple’s success is wrapped around Steve Jobs. So naturally he is the ultimate holder of the Hubris Award. He has seen his company, which he co-founded, grow to a company with a market cap of $229 Billion and earnings per share of $12.96. Stock market ID is APPL. IN just this past year alone shares in that company have risen from $148.63 to today’s $252.00.

Remember when he gave his demo of the new phone? He could not access the internet. Now this unfortunate event. Perhaps it is a good thing there are other people like Steve Jobs. They are the individuals who will help bring America out of its current funk.