Carmichael's Position

What a Difference a Day Makes…

Yesterday I published this photo as an illustration of our recent Snow Storm here in Denver.   

Was recorded as 19 inches here in my neighborhood, and as much as 24 inches in some parts of town… my buddy Derek, up in the foothills had over 4 feet on his balcony!

Today all that changed… I arose this morning to a beautiful sunrise offering to warm the gray.

Later as the gray skies gave way to beautiful blue, I recreated yesterday’s picture.

Certainly a little more “cheery”.

And then I took my camera as I headed to the bank for another pleasant Fall… yes we’re still in FALL!… panoramic of Clement Park Lake.  Columbine High School is just over the hill at the left of the image.

And as I stood on the snowplowed path looking for more images to shoot, a small shadow crossed overhead.  I looked up to see this magnificent falcon floating on the warming currents of air.

Yep, all in all, a beautiful day in Colorado, makes me wish I had more than an hour at lunch time to be out in it.  But alas the weekend is here.  And I as said before, by Sunday most, if not all, of the 19 inches of snow will be a memory in JPEG.

More Photos from the Denver Storm of October 2009

You wanted more… well, at least Mom and Dad did… so…

Please forgive the limited subject matter, it was a work day after all, and unlike many of my fellow Denverites, I couldn’t play hooky thanks to the virtual office capability we have…

These are a few scenes after “act one” of this past two day storm, oddly enough as I write this (Thursday evening) the snow is beginning to intensify once again outside.  I guess 18 inches wasn’t enough.

As always, for larger images click on any of them and head over to my Colorado Landscapes gallery where these are newly inducted members.

This fist one I call “Nor Rain, Nor Sleet, Nor Snow”

And then after the plows, well paid for by our HoA dues, came through for the 3rd time since the beginning of the storm, I took this panoramic.  Boring I know, but I wanted to experiment with some creative effects and stitching. (This one you want to click on to get the larger size…)

And then on my way back in the house I noticed that a number of leaves on our Hawthorne bush were frozen in ice. Pretty cool!  … sorry pardon the pun.

And then finally a general scene on the road to my house… after the plows.

Looking forward to Sunday, when we’re forecast to be back in the 60’s and all this will be memories stored in JPEG. 

Hope you like… need to work on the skills a bit more.

Denver Snow Storm October 28, 2009

Many of you keep asking… so rather than keep saying, “Oh, its about 12 inches or so”… I figured I’d show y’all.

This is my back patio, t’was snow-free last night at midnight… here we are at 5:00pm… 7 more inches expected before noon tomorrow. 

On days like today, my Homeowners Association dues are worth every penny!

Wow… Recorded 45 Years Ago… The More Things Change…

Seriously… Well worth the listen!  Spooky how relevant it rings today!

45 years ago today, this relative newcomer to politics, gave an eloquent electrifying speech that has gone down in history simply as “The Speech”. 

We are at war with the most dangerous enemy that has ever faced mankind in his long climb from the swamp to the stars, and it has been said if we lose that war, and in doing so lose this way of freedom of ours, history will record with the greatest astonishment that those who had the most to lose did the least to prevent its happening. Well, I think it's time we ask ourselves if we still know the freedoms that were intended for us by the Founding Fathers.

Not too long ago two friends of mine were talking to a Cuban refugee, a businessman who had escaped from Castro, and in the midst of his story one of my friends turned to the other and said, "We don't know how lucky we are." And the Cuban stopped and said, "How lucky you are! I had someplace to escape to." In that sentence he told us the entire story. If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth. And this idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no other source of power except to sovereign people, is still the newest and most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man. This is the issue of this election. Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.

You and I are told increasingly that we have to choose between a left or right, but I would like to suggest that there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down--up to a man's age-old dream, the ultimate in individual freedom consistent with law and order--or down to the ant heap totalitarianism, and regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would trade our freedom for security have embarked on this downward course.

This is not about Reagan, it is about Conservative, Liberty-loving, ideas.  In this speech we can identify many of today’s issues… tell me we’ve learned from history… 

Maybe notsomuch…

Well… Duh… The Definition of “Rushing” into a Decision is Now Long Since Passed!

President Obama saying…

"While I will never hesitate to use force to protect the American people or our vital interests, I also promise you this—and this is very important as we consider our next steps in Afghanistan: I will never rush the solemn decision of sending you into harm's way," Obama said Monday during a visit to Naval Air Station Jacksonville. "I won't risk your lives unless it is absolutely necessary."

is… pardon my accuracy here… HORSESHIT!

“While I will never hesitate to use force to protect the American people or our vital interests…”

Everyone one who believes this, stand on your head.

What’s amazing is how much Obama loves to promise to do what he has already done… yep that’s a toughy…

“I also promise you this… I will never rush the solemn decision of sending you into harm's way…”

Ok Mr. President, you’ve satisfied that requirement… now can you please make a decision about sending them into harms way?

Obama, if he is to be President ‘Presiding over 2 wars’ as he keeps plaintively pointing out to anyone willing to listen, has damned well had plenty of opportunity to identify exactly what the UNITED STATES strategy (not his strategy) should be to prosecute the war in Afghanistan. 

The man in charge of prosecuting the effort in Afghanistan is General McChrystal, and he has (unlike the administration) taken a hard serious knowledgeable look at the situation on the ground and has made his recommendation… He made it over 6 weeks ago! 

And yet the decision maker continues to vote “Present” at a time when a real decision is required!  All because the mis-leader-in-chief has no idea what the goals of our war in Afghanistan are… or should be.  This is not Bush’s war, or Obama’s war… it is AMERICA’S WAR!  We decided it was the right thing to do back in 2001, we rallied around it, and even when Iraq reared its ugly head and polarized our political spectrum even further, both sides continued to point toward Afghanistan as the theater that required our just focus.  But now that our nation has elected a Community Organizer to lead us in our nation’s toughest decisions, we are getting exactly what should have been expected, platitudes and indecision.

Obama fired McChrystal’s predecessor, Gen. David McKiernan because he didn’t “do the job”.

Well, in order to fire someone for not living up to your expectations, you might want to be clear on what YOUR expectations are.  Has anyone out there heard, or can you please identify what BHO’s goals are in winning the war?  Or is his goal simply “Ending the War” like we did in Vietnam.  Afghanistan is NOT!!! Repeat NOT!!! another Vietnam, but if this indecisive nature of the administration persists… It still can be!

We left Vietnam in a shambles, we were tired, we lost our focus, we were embarrassed, so we turned our back on people who trusted us to do what was right.  We did it all wrong, from engineering, to tactics, to strategy, to execution, to leadership.  Fortunately the men in uniform, learned countless lessons regarding errors in tactics, equipment, strategy and execution that they continually work to insure are not repeated.  One of those leaders is heading the charge identifying a strategy and outlining methods to succeed.  However the transitive “leadership” in Washington has a severe problem in learning from hard lessons we learned about meddling indecisive politicians completely unfamiliar with, Sun Tzu, Von Clausewitz, Pershing, Alexander, and Epictetus. 

The classic indicators?  The perceived leaders have meetings where the participants agree to…  meet again.

Obama's visit to the naval air station came after he convened another in a series of White House war council sessions with about a half-dozen Cabinet officials and other top advisers earlier Monday in Washington amid Republican criticism that he is taking too long to choose his next move. The White House Situation Room session focused on the cooperation between U.S. military and civilian efforts in Afghanistan, White House officials said. Another session may be held later this week.

And to tell you how seriously the administration is taking the WAR fighting in Afghanistan, the Three… COUNT’EM THREE!!!… Purple Heart winner John F’n Kerry has been dispatched to go express our non-definitive position to our “Puppet” in Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai.

Sen. John Kerry, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman who was the White House's point man during last week's tense talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, praised commanding Gen. Stanley McChrystal but said his plan for adding troops in Afghanistan "goes too far, too fast."

What? We need to go Too Short… Too Slowly?

Kerry's stance would aim for a modest increase in American forces, treading middle ground between Republicans who have said Obama would put soldiers and the country at risk by rejecting McChrystal's larger request and anti-war Democrats who question whether the United States already has taken on too much in Afghanistan.

Mr. Kerry, it is not our desire to “level” the playing field with an incremental increase in troop strength.  We need to dedicate ourselves to no longer “Half asssing” our efforts, Two-Thirds-Assing or efforts isn’t much of an improvement!  Our military leaders do not give a shit about what Anti-War Democrats think we ought to do in Afghanistan.  They also don’t give much of a shit what Hawkish Republicans think either… what they do think about is what it will take to accomplish the mission!!! With the least amount of allied casualties!  And usually that equates to overwhelming strength, and actions.

"Under the right circumstances, if we can be confident that military efforts can be sustained and built upon, then I would support the president should he decide to send some additional troops to regain the initiative," Kerry, D-Mass., said.

Oh for the love of Christ!!!  “Under the right circumstances”? and just what exactly are “those circumstances”?… the Taliban realize the errors of their ways and volunteer to lay down their weapons and agree to write a Constitution establishing a republic that recognizes individual’s liberty and rights?  Al Quieda denouncing terrorism and handing over Osama Bin Laden to the Red Cross?  And then…  “to regain the initiative”?  Doesn’t a statement like that make an assumption, we’ve LOST the initiative?

Oh… wait… initiative =

1. an introductory act or step; leading action
2. one's personal, responsible decision
3. The power or ability to begin or to follow through energetically with a plan or task; enterprise and determination

Synonyms =

1. Leadership
2. Forcefulness
3. Dynamism

Nevermind… maybe I need to look up the word “desideratum…”

Apparently Artists Ain’t Just “Right Brained”

How cool is this?

This guy using wood, rope, cams, pulleys, levers, a scientific calculator, and his mind comes up with this stuff.

HT Rex.

A little slight on the postings of late

Again, have to blame the day job.

Where I last left yon gentle readers, was planning for my trip to New York, AKA the ‘Center of the Universe’… according to New Yorkers.

NYC is a great place to visit, I always enjoy myself whenever I am back there, but it really is a different culture all to its own.  New Yorkers are amazed to find out there is more to the United States than the 7 Burroughs, and when I identify myself as a Coloradan, instantly I am privileged with their ski stories at Aspen.

Ah well… The trip last week was quite productive, yet as usual a whirlwind of activity of visiting customers and coordinating activities with the staff at NuEnergen.  So busy, all I really even took photos of were the whiteboards we scribbled up with grandiose plans for the next quarter, and a couple of headshots of our IT Director for our website.

I did however manage to head into Manhattan to join my Sister and Brother-in-Law for dinner in Little Italy.  Where I did manage to grab a couple of images for your viewing pleasure.  Both in the Little Italy area of Manhattan, one a panoramic of the street scene where we ate dinner, and the other experimenting with low light capabilities of the D80 while hand holding it, photographing a late night art exhibit taking place.

Other than these, I tried a couple of shots of the early fall foliage as I drove the Taconic Parkway from Poughkeepsie back down to our offices in White Plains… no luck there… lots of blur and un-interesting road shots.

I’ll try this weekend here in Colorado to see if I can sharpen my skills a bit more and share…

Damn it! We are a Republic! Not a Democracy!

I’ve heard more and more the Mainstream Media and Democrat Politicians continue referring to the United States of America as a Democracy.  We are not a Democracy!  Nowhere in the Declaration of Independence or, more importantly, the Constitution of the United States does the word ‘Democracy’ even appear.  Our Founding Fathers worked their intellectual butts off insuring it did not!  For fear of a very short lived country.

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!"

-Benjamin Franklin

Democracy is simply a rule by the majority.  We are a Republic… “Rule by Law”.  When you begin to understand this you may understand why I am more “Republican” than “Democrat”.  Although unless the Republican Party begins to grow a spine and believe once again in “Limited Government”… and Rule By Law, (I won’t even begin to bang my head against the Democrat Brick Wall asking them to return to the rule of law and constitutional government) I will continue to head more and more toward Libertarianism (with emphasis on ‘Liberty’).

Here’s a pretty decent basic explanation of the various forms of government.

“Democracy will soon degenerate into an anarchy; such an anarchy that every man will do what is right in his own eyes and no man's life or property or reputation or liberty will be secure, and every one of these will soon mould itself into a system of subordination of all the moral virtues and intellectual abilities, all the powers of wealth, beauty, wit, and science, to the wanton pleasures, the capricious will, and the execrable [abominable] cruelty of one or a very few.”

- John Adams

Weekend Thoughts… and Snow

Well this past week provided a bevy of fodder to prove the world is full of fools!  From Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid’s stance against allowing the pending “Health Care Overhaul” bill to be made available for a minimum of 72 hours before OUR elected representatives are to vote on it, allowing WE THE PEOPLE to read and digest the thing and to make our support or lack thereof known… to the selection of the “Anointed One” as recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, I really begin to question the ability of people… all people… to think critically.

I am discouraged by the lack of integrity in people’s actions and decisions.  The continuing culture of arrogance, is becoming quite distasteful.  For Nancy and Harry to block We The People from having reasonable access to the bills that are to influence our lives for the next decade is disgraceful and quite frankly, disrespectful.  As to the loyal opposition’s claim of, “The Republicans blocked a similar transparency petition, when the ‘Patriot Act’ was being voted on…” to me doesn’t even begin to compare.  The Patriot Act involves highly sensitive issues of National Security, and publically exposing all the components of that bill would seriously jeopardize our nations defense.  Can somebody please explain to me how a National Healthcare bill, meets that same criteria?  What in this bill is (or should be) classified, Secret or Top Secret?  NOTHING!!!

For me, if a bill contains no National Security issues, then it absolutely should be made public (and in my mind for a period of much longer than 72 hours) we have every right to see what our representatives are voting on, (including any added ‘Pork’ amendments, and we need to hold them accountable…) before the horse is out of the gate, not after!

Now as for the Nobel Peace Prize being handed to one so deserving as Barack Obama… uh… well… wait, I have some lint in my bellybutton…

Really my “Give-o-shit-o-meter” barely registered a flinch.  Why? you ask.  Well… look here (all winners of this… eh’em “illustrious” award):

1. Barack Obama (nominated 2 weeks after he assumed the Presidency)
2. Al Gore (leading cause of CO2 Release… that windbag.  Seriously people… FOLLOW THE MONEY!!!!!)
3. Jimmy Carter (Mom always said if I can’t say anything nice… nuff said)
4. United Nations (Oxymoronic Title if ever there was one…)
5. Yasser Arafat (Terrorists for Peace… = Atheists for God?)

Fundamentally the Nobel Committee will vote for the person or organization who’s desire it is to weaken the strength of “the Great Satin” the United States, and make efforts (or in Barack’s case… read teleprompted words) encouraging the demise of the United States ideals or stature in the world in support of failed socialistic and fascist philosophies.

So I say, hell, let them award it to whomever they like.  Awarding it to people like BHO and Yasser Arafat only serves to lessen the validity of the award, actually it is getting closer to a “Happy Meal Prize" every year.  Really I feel more sorry for previous winners the likes of Mother Theresa and the Dali Lama, REAL Champions for Peace.  Seriously folks do Al Gore, Barack Obama, and Yasser Arafat live to that same standard of character?

Weak Sauce!

And now from the Global Warming front… reporting from 27 degrees, snow, and postponed National League Division Playoff Baseball game hometown of Denver CO… I submit this week’s photos… from Fall to Winter in a PBS fundraiser break!.

Yesterday…

Today…

Oh yeah, we also bombed the moon in search of water-ice… Watch out North Dakota, you could be next! 

Well, that’s all for now, need to get back to my preparations for my trip to the “Center of the Universe” next week.  (That’s New York City for those of you who have never experienced “them”…)

Talk among yourselves…

Happy 2nd Anniversary to Me and Ginger!

Today marks the 2nd year I’ve been married to a great gal!  Ginger and I have been together for over 12 years, and a couple of years ago we decided to “Make it Official.” 

We tied the knot at a small chapel in Golden Colorado on a bright clear cool October afternoon… hmmm… much like the weather is here today.  Well from that point on, we have been “Husband and Wife” and it has been great!  Not much has changed in our daily lives since that time, other than having to remember to introduce Ginger as “My Wife” which is getting easier, and hearing Ginger still stop herself when she occasionally introduces herself as “Ginger Perk…. Carmichael”.

Thanks buddy for a great 2 years! And look forward to countless more!  Love you!

-John

Never being one to shy away from self ridicule… I’m not the only one who remembered our Anniversary… nope… Our friend Linda thought it would be fun to send us a “JibJab” card.  Heheh… I would NEVER do something like this to any of my friends!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Thanks Linda!