America or China: freedom of speech

Is this really United States of America?  The place so many people have died to protect freedom of speech and civil liberties.

An Oakland, California, pastor could face jail time for expressing his pro-life views.

Pastor Walter Hoye ran into trouble with an abortion clinic while doing an informational picket. Dennis Howard, leader of The Movement for a Better America, believes Hoye is innocent.
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“His approach was simply to carry a sign that said ‘Jesus Loves You. Can We Help?’ and offering those who wanted it some information about alternatives to abortion,” Howard explains.

I have a hard time believing what is happening here for the past 20 years.  I guess I am partly to blame (as all normal people are) for not protesting earlier but we thought we were doing the right thing.  Now I think we are back to doing the wrong thing.  The pure decadance of it all.

BHO – A middle of the road moderate?

LA Times

By Peter Wallsten
February 16, 2009

Reporting from Washington — Slowly over the last few weeks, some of Barack Obama’s most fervent supporters have come to an unhappy realization: The candidate who they thought was squarely on their side in policy fights is now a president who needs cajoling and persuading.

Advocates for stem cell research thought Obama would quickly sign an order to reverse former President Bush’s restrictions on the science. Now they are fretting over Obama’s statement that he wants to act in tandem with Congress, possibly causing a delay.

Saugatuck Yacht Service

We were at the boat today and staying the evening in Saugatuck.  I am very tired right now.  We did everything we wanted to accomplish today.  I am feeling old.  It is supposed to snow tonight and tomorrow – about 2 inches.  I’ll try to write more tomorrow when I have more energy.

The sailboat season nears

The marina called to day and cut me a deal I could not refuse for this years slip.  We were planning to move to a new area further north on Michigan’s west coast but this deal allows me to be lazy and once again spend the summer in the splendid harbor at Saugatuck.  John D of Tower Marine told me that the river is one foot above the water level of last year and promised that if I hit bottom again this year they would have a backhoe on a barge come and dig me a little slot for the boat to ride in.  With this in mind, we kicked inot second gear and are going to the boat tomorrow to charge batteries, install repaired dodger, VC17 the bottom below the water line and polish the gelcoat above the water line.  I have a bunch more tasks to do also.

I have CNG from last year so we will eat on-board for lunch and possibly for dinner since my allergies preclude eating eggs and anything soy.   Hopefully, I can fire up the electric heater and keep the cabin warmer that the heated storage temperature of 45 degrees.  This will allow a comfortable siesta after dinner/lunch.

I am taking my notebook to keep in touch with the world and may get a chance to snap some good photos of the winter Lake Michigan beach scenes.  Tomorrow promises a good sunset and I miss those terribly.

Mediacom arrived -finally

The Mediacom tech final came but not before the supervisor called and tried to find out if the tech was really necessary.  I told him about all the barrel connectors in series and he said he would be out in 10 minutes but it really was about an hour.  The tech replaced all the coax and I now have a pretty coil of nice bright orange laying in the yard.  The figures on the modem query look excellent.

Folly or Beneficial: HSUS position paper

Be ready for much higher meat prices!  The farmers will have to substantially change current practices. Humane chicken killing? What do we do with all those horses that are a danger to the riding public? Answer – the old fashion 12 gauge I guess. Final consensus – does the President have more pressing issues than taking taxpaying farmers, hunters and consumers rights away?There were some good elements in this document. Apply some of these in a recession and you will have a lot more unemployed. I DID NOT WANT TO SEE THIS DOCUMENT. It makes me even more afraid for the future.

February Thaw

Today it reached 54 degrees.  As I watched the lake this morning you could actually see the snow melting.  It is supposed to be unseasonably warm until at least next Wednesday – that is 4 days of 50’s temperatures.  All my hard work to make ski trails is gone down to water on the ice.  No more trails.

We took the warm weather as an opportunity to varnish the clear glossy coat of Cetol on the boarding ladder.  It is drying as we speak.  When it is warm the space heater does not cycle as often and thus saves on kerosene.  SAM did the complete coat while I observed the melting snow.

Parrotfeather (Myriophyllum aquaticum)

This aquatic invader has been spotted just downstream from our lake.  What a pest this will be.  

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/plants/weeds/aqua003.html

Technical Information

Description 

Parrotfeather (Myriophyllum aquaticum) gets its name from its feather-like leaves which are arranged around the stem in whorls of four to six. Parrotfeather has both submersed and emergent leaves, with the submersed form being easily mistaken for Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum), a close relative. The submersed leaves are 1.5 to 3.5 centimeters long and have 20 to 30 divisions per leaf. The emergent leaves are 2 to 5 centimeters long and have 6 to 18 divisions per leaf. The bright green emergent leaves are stiffer and a darker green than the submersed leaves. The emergent stems and leaves are the most distinctive trait of parrotfeather, as they can grow up to a foot above the water surface and look almost like small fir trees. Submersed leaves are limp and often appear to be decaying but the stems are very robust. Adventitious roots form at the nodes. When attached to a bank, parrotfeather stems can extend out several yards over the water surface. Flowers are inconspicuous and are borne in the axils of the emergent leaves. The white flowers are approximately 1/16 inch long.

Doom & Gloom

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Porsche said Tuesday that January U.S. sales fell 36% to 1,658 vehicles from 2,595 a year ago. January Boxster and Cayman sales dropped to 266 vehicles from 758, sales of 911s fell to 445 units from 829, and Cayenne sales fell to 947 vehicles from 1008 last year.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday reported a 42.1% decline in January U.S. sales to 90,596 cars and trucks, down from 156,391 vehicles a year earlier. Ford, Lincoln and Mercury car sales dropped 35.1% to 28,707. Total trucks fell 40.5% to 61,889 with the flagship F-Series pickup down 38.6%. Ford blamed a 65% drop in fleet sales for the retreat while saying its retail business has stabilized in the past four months.  The losses continue to mount at Motorola, which reported a fourth-quarter loss on write-downs and provided worse-than-expected guidance for the first quarter.  The company plans to deepen cost cutting and suspend quarterly dividend payments in an effort to strengthen its balance sheet. Motorola also said that Edward Fitzpatrick, senior vice president and corporate controller, will add the role of CFO to his duties, replacing Paul Liska.  Motorola posted losses of $3.6 billion, or $1.57 per share, for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with profits of $100 million, or 4 cents per share, in the same period last year.

A Glen Beck Interview: Netanyahu

Be afraid, very afraid.  The world has gone mad.  It must be lead in something or maybe it is just another radical Islamic view.  Nukes?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm4zuKukUco