The top picture is a bird's eye view (heh) of the general neighborhood where I lived; the bottom pic is the house I owned... which sat on a little over two acres. I worried about tornadoes when I lived on Indian Meridian Road and never thought much about wildfire. I hope my used-to-be neighbors are OK...Your political commentary for the day comes from one of my favorite pundits... Charles Krauthammer, writing at Townhall.com. The lede grafs:
WASHINGTON -- In his major foreign policy address in Prague committing the United States to a world without nuclear weapons, President Obama took note of North Korea's missile launch just hours earlier and then grandiloquently proclaimed:
"Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something. The world must stand together to prevent the spread of these weapons. Now is the time for a strong international response."A more fatuous presidential call to arms is hard to conceive. What "strong international response" did Obama muster to North Korea's brazen defiance of a Chapter 7 --"binding," as it were -- U.N. resolution prohibiting such a launch?
The obligatory emergency Security Council session produced nothing. No sanctions. No resolution. Not even a statement. China and Russia professed to find no violation whatsoever. They would not even permit a U.N. statement that dared express "concern," let alone condemnation.
Having thus bravely rallied the international community and summoned the U.N. -- a fiction and a farce, respectively -- what was Obama's further response? The very next day, his defense secretary announced drastic cuts in missile defense, including halting further deployment of Alaska-based interceptors designed precisely to shoot down North Korean ICBMs. Such is the "realism" Obama promised to restore to U.S. foreign policy.
Read the whole thing... coz the paragraphs above were just a shot across The One's bow. It gets a LOT better.
Check out this blog entry -- hilarious (but a little too close to the truth for comfort!)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.imao.us/index.php/2009/04/in-my-world-negotiation-with-iran/#comment-26609
Fire around Dora yesterday as well and burned one home. In fact, nearly every other day there is a grass fire in Roos. or Curry counties, not to mention the three businesses that burned in pville in the last few days (Jeff was at two of those). It's a flamable place out there these days, and the wind sure doesn't help anything.
ReplyDeleteI just got back from Velma where I helped my friend, Janice, clean the soot and ashes out of her home. Her home was no burned, but the smoke and soot was a mess just from blowing in a few open windows. Around town, well several structures are gone - instant urban renewal.
ReplyDeleteHope everyone weathers the fire. My prayers are with everyone down there.
ReplyDeleteI was stationed in Sand Diego during the big fire of 2003. We were given 30 minutes notice to evacuate. It's truly amazing how you can boil down what possessions are truly important in that period of time.
House didn't burn, although fire was within a mile.
Thanks for the link, Moogie. Most appreciated!
ReplyDeleteJenny: We lucked out, all things considered. Given the way the wind was yesterday...
Lou: I'm just glad everyone is safe. It's one thing to have to clean up soot and such, it's quite another to have to rebuild...
Buckskins: Fire in the CA foothills is a MUCH different sort of animal than it is here... yet still terrifying.