1927 Bridge on the way down

This is a shot of a piece of the old bridge coming down. The Crockett Museum has dozens of these.

North Dakota Leads

I always wanted to get down into these silos. Next trip home I'll do it.

Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile Site State Historical Society of North Dakota: "The new Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site actually consists of two sites telling the story of the Cold War years in North Dakota. They are the Oscar-Zero Missile Alert Facility and the November-33 Launch Facility. They are the last remnants of the 321st Missile Wing, a cluster of intercontinental ballistic missile launch sites that were spread over a 6,500-square-mile area around the Grand Forks Air Force Base. The Oscar Zero Launch Control Center and the November-33 Missile Facilty played an integral part in the Cold War in North Dakota and the world. This site is the last launch control center intact with the top-side of November 33 missile facility left intact."

Support the Catholic Bishops

Washington D.C., Jul 22, 2009 / 03:02 am (CNA).- As national debate about a major Congressional health care bill continues, the U.S. bishops have called for “genuine” health care reform that protects human life and provides comprehensive health care access.
Bishop of Rockville Centre, New York William F. Murphy, writing a July 17 letter to Congress on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), commented:
“Genuine health care reform that protects the life and dignity of all is a moral imperative and a vital national obligation.”
Bishop Murphy, who is chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, said that the U.S. bishops have advocated health care reform for decades.
He also outlined four criteria for health care reform, listing respect for human life and dignity, access for all, pluralism and equitable costs.
Concerning respect for human life, the bishop insisted that no health care reform plan should “compel us or others to pay for the destruction of human life, whether through government funding or mandatory coverage of abortion.”
“Any such action would be morally wrong,” he stated, noting that U.S. law already bars federal funding for most abortions.
Health care reform, he said, should not be a vehicle for abandoning a “consensus” that “respects freedom of conscience and honors our best American traditions.”
“Any legislation should reflect longstanding and widely supported current policies on abortion funding, mandates and conscience protections because they represent sound morality, wise policy and political reality.”
Discussing access to health care, Bishop Murphy remarked, “All people need and should have access to comprehensive, quality health care that they can afford, and it should not depend on their stage of life, where or whether they or their parents work, how much they earn, where they live, or where they were born.”
The bishop said the USCCB believes health care reform should be “truly universal” and “genuinely affordable.”
Noting that some families, including immigrants, will not be covered by health care reform, Bishop Murphy urged Congress to fund adequately clinics and hospitals that serve these populations.
He also advocated more cost-sharing protections and new coverage options for poorer families, limits or exemptions on premiums for those who are near poverty, and increases in eligibility levels

Contra Costa Unemployment

As of a few days ago, the California unemployment reached 11.1 percent - the highest since 1941. Our county, Contra Costa, exceeded this meaning we are back to the beginning of the buildup of aircraft companies and shipbuilding brought on by the beginning effects of WWII. Next month we will probably drift into that era when it took a war to recover from the effects of the Great Depression. Every working class family, including mine, is experiencing the effects. I am astounded that the "talking heads" on radio and TV fail to recognize that the difference today is due to unemployment insurance, food stamps, Social Security, FICA etc. all of which grew out of the depression. The GOP is using the same language that HOOVER used that leave people alone to solve their own problems and the economy will recover on its own.

Oh well, its obvious that I am an Obama supporter.

The Celebrated War on Drugs

If we can determine that Iran is sending weapons to Iraq, why can't we stop the shipments to Mexico from the US?



Mexico's Drug War: Mexico drug cartels’ new weaponry means war - Los Angeles Times: "In addition to grenades, high-powered guns such as the .50-caliber Barrett sniper rifle have become a weapon of choice in narcotics traffickers' arsenals, Mangan said. Unlike grenades and antitank weapons, the .50-caliber guns can be obtained by ordinary citizens in the U.S. and smuggled easily into Mexico, like the tons of assault rifles and automatic pistols."

Patsy's Ancestors

Since Patricia's (my wife) ancestors trace back to the French fur trappers maybe this is the answer to some of the anomolies.

Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter: Hillary Clinton and the King's Daughters:

"Eastern Canada was originally settled by French adventurers, fur trappers, and soldiers. There were plenty of men but few women in the early days. The French government realized this was a problem and soon recruited young, single women to travel to New France. These women, known in French as the 'filles du roi' or in English as the 'King's Daughters,' agreed to travel to the new settlements in
North America and marry a settler there in exchange for a 50 pound dowry from the French King. Of the nearly 1,000 women who undertook the journey, about 800 made it to Canada."

Earthquake Preparedness

The geologists tell us that a major earthquake will occur on the Hayward Fault within the next thirty years. This reference from the Psalms is the first item in my survivor kit.

"Psalm 45 (46)
God, our refuge and our strength
The Lord is our refuge and our strength, a true help in our troubles.
Therefore we do not fear, even when the earth is shaken and mountains fall into the depths of the sea, the waves roar and foam and rise up to shake the mountains."