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What I've Watched
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Joey is working in Mayfield today. Working on one of our houses. It seems to be coming along nicely! Hopefully we will have some of these finished soon. Then we shall put them up for sale. I am anxious to see how quickly they will sell. Crossing my fingers that this all works out. Working hard on a Power-Point Presentation for the American Red Cross. I will be teaching Family Services on Saturday at one of the local churches. This is a new class for me! Teaching it at least will be new. I have actually had the class more than once. I am still a bit nervous though. It is a long class. It is supposed to take most of the day! I will try to shorten it a bit. I would imagine everyone will be tired after about 4 hours. Hopefully we can get through it without anyone passing out on me. The Power-Point actually turned out great. The best one yet. Can't wait to hear some feedback on it. Joey and I went to see "Pirate's of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest" tonight. It was okay. A bit long and a bit boring at times. All in all I gave it 3 stars. It wasn't as good as the first movie. I guess sequels usually are not as good as the original or first one. Still it was okay. There were a lot of cool special effects. Davy Jones was pretty amazing. I don't think I would want to run into him while out sailing the ocean blue!
I see that Hezbollah has kidnapped some Israeli Soldiers. This can not be good news. Israel is going to hit Lebanon hard. War appears to be spreading as the days pass. It is bad enough that Israel has to put up with all of the suicide attacks. Now they have to deal with Lebanon and of course Iran. I don't envy Israel or the problems they have.
So John and I hung a bunch of Geckoes
(bought in Destin last week). Now one would think that this was a
simple task. Think again. I was up on the latter for more than
45 minutes trying to get this thing to "stick" on the wall. Nails
were a bad idea. :) Wire and a screw - better idea! We
eventually did manage to get the Gecko to stay in one place. John
made a great supervisor. Now we need a big plant below them - just
to round everything out. Here is a photo of the wall. Yeah
that are BIG! Something fun on the wall. WELCOME HOME GECKO
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Sooo you want to see a good movie? :) Go see "The Devil Wears Prada" A sharp movie with a lot of humor that work-alcoholics will "get". It is about the fashion industry and the difficult world that revolves around it. "Family" will get it more than anyone. There are a lot of cruel one liners - nothing the "real world" doesn't hand out though. Meryl Streep at her best. Definitely worth spending a few dollars on. Don't forget the coke and popcorn.
Lunch today with Caesar from the Red Cross.
We are catching up and discussing the upcoming Family Service class on
Saturday. I guess I will be teaching by myself since Dee is out of
town. Sue will be there to help me! So no big deal. I am
sure we will manage just fine. This will be the first time I have
taught this subject. I am looking forward to teaching.
Heavy rain fell across the area during the past 24 hours. We have picked up nearly 3" here in Lone Oak. The Paducah Riverfront had over 4 inches! There have been reports of more than 7 inches of rain in Southeast Missouri. The NWS has been issuing a lot of flash flood warnings across portions of Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. Feast or famine around here.
A Widening War: Israel is Tested Again What must Hamas leaders have been thinking? Last month they sent guerrillas through a secret tunnel from Gaza into Israel where they launched an attack, killing two Israeli soldiers and kidnapping a third, 19-year-old Cpl. Gilad Shalit. Since no civilians were targeted, this was not an act of terrorism. It was an act of war. Perhaps they had come to believe their own spin; their boast that it was "armed resistance" that had caused then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to withdraw Israeli soldiers and settlers from Gaza. Maybe they believed that more violence would lead to more Israeli concessions - especially now that Israel is led by a center-left coalition, the hard-line Likud Party having split and then collapsed over the wisdom of the Gaza withdrawal. So far, at least, Israel's new prime minister, Ehud Olmert, has proven Hamas wrong. He has responded to Hamas' military attack with a military counterattack. He returned Israeli forces to Gaza, ordering them to search for Shalit, and also to stop the missiles - hundreds of them - that have rained down on Israeli cities and towns virtually every day since the Israelis left Gaza. Hamas has suggested that it might let Shalit go if Israel were to release Palestinian prisoners in exchange. No doubt, Olmert is tempted. But those prisoners are convicted terrorists. Were he to release even a few as part of such a deal, he would be inviting further incursions and kidnappings in the months and years ahead. Olmert has been trying to inflict pain on Hamas (while providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians), promising that if Shalit is released and missile attacks cease, Israeli troops will walk away. Were Hamas to comply, a new peace process could begin. But that is the last thing Hamas wants. Its leaders have stated their goal candidly and repeatedly: They mean to wipe Israel off the map. Living peacefully next door to a Jewish neighbor is not on their agenda. For some reason, however, many Europeans and Americans can't bring themselves to accept that Hamas is articulating not a negotiating posture but a religious conviction. By now, most people understand that Islamists consider it impermissible for a Muslim ever to convert to another religion - conversion brings a death sentence in Saudi Arabia and other countries where extreme variants of Islam hold sway. What most people may not realize is that Islamists also believe it is impermissible for land to convert: Territory once conquered by Muslims, they insist, must never revert to the rule of infidels. That includes not just Israel, but large parts of Europe. Also Kashmir, they demand, must be Muslim-ruled; that almost certainly was the motive behind this week's railway bombings in India. No one is likely to change Hamas' dogma. The most Israelis can do is demonstrate that Hamas' goal is not achievable at present, that the price of sending guerrillas and rockets into Israel is too high. Such an understanding was long the basis for a tense standoff with Hezbollah, the terrorist group that controls large areas of Lebanon along Israel's northern border, territories Israel once occupied - but from which Israel withdrew taking what was called "a risk for peace." On Wednesday, Hezbollah, too, committed an act of war against Israel, firing a barrage of Katyusha rockets and mortar shells, attacking Israeli border posts and kidnapping two Israeli soldiers. What is Hezbollah thinking? Almost certainly, that it is coming to the aid of Hamas and doing the bidding of its Iranian and Syrian masters who apparently believe Israel is not prepared to fight on two fronts simultaneously. Are they correct? Israelis - in particular the new prime minister - are being tested. To prevail will not be easy, just as it was not easy for Israelis to defend themselves in 1948 when they were was attacked by all their Arab neighbors, and in 1967 when a second coordinated military effort to push Israelis into the sea was attempted. Both wars ended with Israel stronger - and in possession of more territory - than when the wars began. Youseff Ibrahim, the Egyptian-born veteran American journalist, recently wrote an open letter to Palestinians. It said in part: "The truth is the Palestine you could have had in 1948 is much bigger than the one you could have had in 1967, which in turn is much bigger than what you may have to settle for now or in another 10 years. Struggle means less land and more misery and utter loneliness." But this is not what Hamas and
Hezbollah are thinking.
HUGE HAIL IN MASSACHUSETTS
WAR -
(July 13)
Iran’s national security adviser flies to
Damascus/ Syrian army on a state of preparedness
Al-Qaida Claims it Has Kashmir Network (Issues Demand for All Indian Muslims to "Take Up Jihad")
Israel says "No place in Lebanon is safe"
Battle Plans--The next Middle East war —
Israel against genocidal Islamism — has begun
---------- Sue and I spent the morning working on Red Cross activities. We are trying to raise money for radios. We need a radio system to communicate during a disaster. We don't have anything at this time. It is going to cost around $5000-$6000 to purchase everything we need. We also worked on finishing up the process for making identification badges for all of our local disaster volunteers. The Reidland Fire Department is going to help us complete that task! Thankfully. That will save us a lot of money.
Just last Friday, Iranian President Ahmadinejad warned that Israel's
return to Gaza could lead to an "explosion" in the Islamic world that
would target Israel and its supporters in the West. "They should not let
things reach a point where an explosion occurs in the Islamic world," he
said. "If an explosion occurs, then
it won't be limited to geographical boundaries. It will also burn all
those who created [Israel] over the past 60 years," he said, implicitly
referring to America and other Western nations who support Israel. Years from now, the kidnapping
of Corporal Gilad Shalit will be regarded like the assassination of
Archduke Ferdinand. Click Here
for rest of article ... It is my belief that Iran
already has nuclear weapons and have been baiting Israel to attack Syria,
Lebanon, and Iran itself. Once attacked I believe Iran will likely
take that opportunity to brutally attack Israel. Definitely a
volatile situation. Let's hope things are brought under control in
the coming days. If not, then I would say the war on terror has just
become WW-III. ---- Some amazing photos from
Lubbock, Texas. These were taken by one of the posters on
EasternusWx. TxWx Photos. Impressive dust storm in front of a
gust front. Rain soon cleared the air after these photos were taken. Heavy thunderstorms here in
Lone Oak this evening. We picked up another 1" (and still raining)
of rainfall. That is on top of the 3 inches of rain we received
earlier in the week. So much for the dry weather. Now we have
flooding in the area. Feast or famine - as always. Some vivid
lightning here in Lone Oak this afternoon. Lot of wind as well.
Scattered reports of trees down in Lone Oak and Paducah. Limbs as
well. A few small ones here at the house. We had winds of at
least 40 miles per hour. Some gusts to 50-55 were likely experienced
across the county. That would match up to the wind damage. No
warnings were issued for McCracken County. We were under a severe
thunderstorm watch.
----- Just look at how much land
Israel has taken from the Muslims. Terrible isn't it? That
just about sums up the insanity of all of this. I guess nobody is
willing to share any of their land with the Palestinians. ALL of the
pinkish area currently belongs to the Muslims. Israel is but a DOT
on the map. You
know you are having a bad day when you see this in your camera lens :)
And am I the only one who
thinks this guy is scary? ---- People keep asking me what kind
of gas mileage the smart cars can get! Here is your answer from the
ZAP Web-Site The Smart has a 599cc,
three-cylinder turbocharged Mercedes-Benz engine. The approximate fuel
consumption is 48 mpg in town and 67 mpg out of town; averaging out to
about 56 to 58 mpg. The maximum speed the Smart can go is about 84
mph. On the Pure and Pulse models the transmission is a 'Softip,'
which is a semi-automatic gearbox containing six gears and no clutch.
Meanwhile, the Passion model has a 'Softouch' transmission, which is a
fully automatic gearbox. The fuel tank in the Smart is about 4.8 gallons,
but with the high gas mileage, fueling up shouldn't be too terribly
frequent. The Smart needs to be serviced about every year or every 9,000
miles. The Smart does come with a three-year Mechanical warranty, a
one-year SmartAssist Recovery, and a six-year bodywork warranty.
The government reported Friday
that the average temperature for the 48 contiguous United States from
January through June was 51.8 degrees Fahrenheit, or 3.4 degrees above
average for the
20th century. That made it the warmest such
period since recordkeeping began in the National Climatic Data Center
reported. No state was cooler than
average and five states _ Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri
_ experienced record warmth for the period. While much of the Northeast
experienced extreme rainfall and flooding at the end of June many other
areas continued below normal rain and snowfall. As of
June, 45 percent of the contiguous U.S. was in moderate-to- extreme
drought, an increase of 6 percent from May. ---That is scary! A large
portion of the United States is in great need of rain.
Report: Israel gives Syria ultimatum
London-based Arabic language
newspaper Al-Hayat says Israel gave Syria 72 hours to stop Hizbullah’s
activity, bring about release of kidnapped IDF troops. ‘Israel will not
end military activity until new situation created that will prevent Syria,
Iran from using terror organizations to threaten its security,’ newspaper
quotes Pentagon official as saying Roee Nahmias The London-based Arabic
language newspaper Al-Hayat reported Saturday that “Washington has
information according to which Israel gave Damascus 72 hours to stop
Hizbullah’s activity along the Lebanon-Israel border and bring about the
release the two kidnapped IDF soldiers or it would launch an offensive
with disastrous consequences.” and
Israel PM sets three conditions for
ceasefire with Lebanon Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has
imposed three conditions for a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israel has been
waging a deadly three-day assault, a Government spokeswoman says. "The Prime Minister is prepared
to finish our operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah releases our two
soldiers, stops its rocket fire and if the Lebanese Government decides to
implement UN Security Council resolution 1559," spokeswoman Miri Eisin
told AFP. The resolution calls for the
disarmament of Hezbollah, the Shiite movement based in Lebanon that
abducted two Israeli soldiers on Wednesday ---end Playing games with terrorists
will only get you killed. We have learned our lesson on that
subject. You either take them out or you lose the battle.
Israel has finally decided to take them out. The news to watch for
is the point that Israel and Syria or Iran start to exchange
fire/rockets/missiles. At that point all bets are off. We are
as close to a regional war as we have ever been. You can take it to
the bank that Iran is going to be hit at some point. Israel won't
allow herself to be destroyed even if that means a nuclear exchange. If you would like to see what
the gas prices look like across the United States :) GAS IS NOW ABOVE $3 IN
MASSAC COUNTY Gas is now $3.30 in Chicago and
above $3.40 in California. No doubt that $4.00 gasoline is right
around the corner for some portions of the country. I would imagine
gas prices of $3.20 to $3.50 will likely hit this area. Hopefully we
don't get a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. Gas will go even higher
if that happens. Saturday - War In The Middle
East - Knocking on the steps of a
regional war. What we need is for Syria and Iran to not become more
involved than they are. That will at least keep this war contained.
They are already behind most of it anyway. I for one would like to
see Israel take care of the ROOT of the problem - for once. That
would mean a bigger war though.
----------------- Class today went well. We
had a good turnout at the Trinity Baptist Church. Today's class was
Client Services also known as Family Services. I am basically
teaching the disaster workers how to fill out the forms for people to get
emergency assistance after a disaster. This was the first time I have
taught this subject. I think it went well. Everyone said it
did!
Gingrich says it's World War III Former U.S. House Speaker Newt
Gingrich says America is in World War III and President Bush should say
so. In an interview in Bellevue this morning Gingrich said Bush should
call a joint session of Congress the first week of September and talk
about global military conflicts in much starker terms than have been heard
from the president. "We need to have the militancy
that says 'We're not going to lose a city,' " Gingrich said. He talks
about the need to recognize World War III as important for military
strategy and political strategy. Gingrich said in the coming
days he plans to speak out publicly, and to the Administration, about the
need to recognize that America is in World War III. He lists wars in
Afghanistan, Iraq, this week's bomb attacks in India, North Korean nuclear
threats, terrorist arrests and investigations in Florida, Canada and
Britain, and violence in Israel and Lebanon as evidence of World War III.
He said Bush needs to deliver a speech to Congress and "connect all the
dots" for Americans.
President Bush calls Flight 93 revolt
"First counter-attack in World War III" US
President George W. Bush has said the September 11 revolt of passengers
against their hijackers on board Flight 93 had struck the first blow of
"World War III". In an
interview with the financial news network CNBC, Mr Bush said he had yet to
see the recently released film of the uprising, a dramatic portrayal of
events on the United Airlines plane before it crashed in a Pennsylvania
field. But he said
he agreed with the description of David Beamer, whose son Todd died in the
crash, who in a Wall Street Journal commentary last month called it "our
first successful counter-attack in our homeland in this new global war,
World War III". Mr Bush
said: "I believe that. I believe that it was the first counter-attack to
World War III. -----
HEAT WAVE! It was
an INCREDIBLE 120 degrees in South Dakota on Saturday. This could be
the all time record high for that state.
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I
think I miss the snow up north. This picture is from Waterloo back
in 2004. :) Snow, snow, snow, and more snow. I believe I
am going to have to find somewhere to move during the winter months.
Perhaps just a couple of months - January and February. I need my
snow fix! It just isn't happening here in Paducah. Blame it on
global warning or just living too far south! One or the other -
perhaps both. I just need more snow. :) New England
calls my name - at least in January and February. Perhaps Ontario :)
Perhaps I need to get dual-citizenship.
(July
12) Well it is cloudy again this morning. Looks like rain
hitting my window. I love the rain -and I believe I also just heard
a clap of thunder. We need the rain. Dry weather hit us a few
weeks ago and has not let go. So rain on! I doubt we see
anything like we did yesterday and last night. Would be nice though.
The first half of
the year was the warmest on record for the United States. 
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