I have always been surprised by the ignorance of people who subscribe to the bumper sticker slogan that "war never solved anything."  To the above list you can add the war of independence from King George that allowed our nation to exist.

Muslims....they're just like us!

"First, we ask a person nicely to convert..."

For a calm cool Sunday morning, here are some hot and bothered volcano images.  This one below is the Arenal volcano in Costa Rica. 

 The worrisome appearance of the Kelud lava dome, in East Java, Indonesia.  That thing is simply a huge plug of thick lava.  I'd be concerned about a sudden explosion of this, and in addition, this seems like a ideal candidate for a streaming web cam and a time lapse video.  The picture below it is the crater and lake before the lava dome rose up out of the ground.

 This is the Nyiragongo lava lake found in the Republic of the Congo, from June of 2010.  Image by Oliver Grunewald

It is fascinating how the peoples and cultures of Central Asia and India melt and meld together to rival any multiethnic country or region.  These pictures present unusual genotypes that one would not necessarily expect to find in the India, Kashmir and Ladakh regions.

Saturday porch pictures.

After it got dark, the kids and I went outside and goofed around with the camera a bit.   Here the youngest daughter emerges back into our world from another dimension. 

 Wait, it's both kids coming through the inter dimensional doorway, which happens to exist in our fig tree.

The fifteen year old triplets strike a ghostly pose around the Charger.

King penguins can be irritable and pushy, kinda like me!  

Here is a cool story about a massive colony on South Georgia island in the south Atlantic ocean. Those are a lot of grumpy, pugnacious penguins.  

Go to the light...go to the light....

Oops.  Gym fail and pee fail, that simply can't be good for you.



Not good either, eewww.  Front row seats are not recommended.

Sarah Palin impersonator Cecelia Thompson meets former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.  I am frankly at a loss as to which is which.  Now if we could only add Tina Fey to the mix!

Muslims....they're just like us!

Muslim cleric in Egypt says the country's financial problems can be solved by conducting jihad raids to capture slaves, women and children that can be "sold like groceries."

Iranian American woman calls for stoning "sluts" to death in opinion letter to California newspaper.

After every storm, there is a rainbow.  Keep that in mind.

A little bit of gloom and doom, but it's better to be aware, and ready, than unpleasantly surprised, right?

"The city is broke.  We can't afford the circuses. Perhaps fireworks are a luxury we can do without," said Alderman Joe Moore.

"We are on the verge of a great, great depression.  The [ Federal Reserve] knows it," said Peter Yastrow

"If we do not see a meaningful recovery in home prices by the end of the year, we may need to contemplate impairment charges on first liens owned by banks and wholesale write-downs of second lien exposures.  This implies solvency issues for Bank of America, Wells Fargo, J P Morgan and Citibank, and big losses for the U S Government and private investors," says Chris Whalen of Institutional Risk Analytics.

This is a palm leaf, cut in section and stained blue.   An everyday thing that, treated and presented this way, makes for abstract art.  In fact, this reminds me strongly of a Tiffany stained glass confection.

I don't know if Sarah Palin would make a good president or not, but she surely can drive the media and her political opponents out of their minds.   The media and the left wants to sell her as stupid and unprepared, but she certainly knows how to manipulate them with ease.  

So, who is showing themselves to be smart, and who is showing themselves to be the opposite?

Below, feminist Palin haters, in the process of being driven insane with jealousy, courtesy of Roger, the real king of France.