Skywalk

When I first saw an email describing the Grand Canyon Skywalk, I suspected a hoax — a good artist could create this, even if there were no plans to build it. But this is for real, researched by Snopes and found to be true. You can read more about it on the Hualapai Nation’s web site. From their description:

The Glass Bridge Construction of the Skywalk began March of 2004 and is estimated to be completed by early 2006.

Upon completion, the Glass Bridge will be suspended 4,000 feet above the Colorado River on the very edge of the Grand Canyon. On May 2005, the final test was conducted and the stucture passed engineering requirements by 400 percent, enabling it to withstand the weight of 71 fully loaded Boeing 747 airplanes (more that 71 million pounds). The bridge will be able to sustain winds in excess of 100 miles per hour from 8 different directions, as well as an 8.0 magnitude earthquake within 50 miles. More than one million pounds of steel will go into the construction of the Grand Canyon Skywalk.

I would love to walk on that thing!

Click on the photo for a larger view…

Dewy Webs

Wandering up the hill on our morning walk, we saw lots and lots of these non-orb spider’s webs in the chaparral shrubs. We had a heavy dew last night, so the webs were chock-a-block full of dew drops. If you caught them at just the right angle with respect to the sun, you got a brilliant rainbow effect — quite spectacular!

But I have to wonder what the poor little cold-blooded spiders think of all this dew. Do they like waking up with their “house” flooded? Is it a good thing or a bad thing to a spider. I have nary a clue…

Click on the photo for a larger view.

Needles

As we left for our walk this morning, sun just rising, I caught these dew drops hanging from the needles of the Italian Stone Pines that line our driveway.

Click on the photo for a larger view…

Dilbert Blog

Scott Adams (the creator of Dilbert, every nerd’s favorite cartoon) has started a blog. Naturally it’s called the “Dilbert Blog”.

His latest post is a ponder on how one would go about being a good looter (one hopes this is with tongue firmly in cheek). He describes his plan and then says:

There’s a good chance I’d be killed by the hurricane before I did any quality looting, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take for free pants that aren’t my size.

Are you laughing? If not, you’re just not a Dilbert kind of person. My personal research tells me that there is a strict dichotomy when it comes to appreciating Scott Adams' humor.

Me? I was ROFL (rolling on the floor, laughing)!

The 2000 Party

If you truly believed that the deaths of 2000 American soldiers in Iraq was unjustified, and you decided to demonstrate to promote your belief — would you also think it was appropriate to have a party atmosphere at that demonstration?

I would not. As it happens, I support our actions in Iraq and I believe that the high cost (in every sense) of the war in Iraq is worth it: for the protection of the rest of us, and for the betterment of mankind. But I respect those with opposing opinions on this matter, if those opinions were arrived at by some means other than Michael Moore, Barbara Streisand, George Soros, and other such sources of anti-enlightenment. And I would even think a demonstration — somber, sober, respectful — at a milestone, however arbitrary, such as the 2000th death in Iraq, was appropriate for people with such views.

But a party? A celebration? That’s just awful!

You can see zombie’s page here (with more photos if you can stand them).

Tip of the hat to Little Green Footballs…

Iranic Quandary

What do you do with a country that openly proclaims that another country should be “wiped off the map"? The man at right is Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad (click for a slightly larger view). He is a radical Moslem zealot, widely believed to be one of the principals in the taking of American hostages in Jimmy Carter’s presidency. Here’s what he actually said yesterday:

From the Asia Times:

"Once, his eminency Imam [Ruhollah] Khomeini - leader of the 1979 Islamic revolution], stated that the illegal regime of the Pahlavis must go, and it happened. Then he said the Soviet empire would disappear, and it happened. He also said that this evil man Saddam [Hussein] must be punished, and we see that he is under trial in his country. His eminency also said that the occupation regime of Qods [Jerusalem, or Israel] must be wiped off from the map of the world, and with the help of the Almighty, we shall soon experience a world without America and Zionism, notwithstanding those who doubt."

Remember, this is the President of Iran. There are others within Iran with power and influence are aren’t quite so overtly and publicly radical, but there’s every reason to believe that President Ahmadinejad accurately represents the true beliefs and world views of the other Iranian leaders — most especially because without their support he couldn’t possibly occupy the position he now does.

From Strategy Page:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged Moslems everywhere to work towards the destruction of Israel. Usually, such sentiments are not uttered publicly by senior officials, but left to local journalists and junior officials. This statement caused an international uproar, which will soon pass.

So what’s the right way to respond to such a statement from the leader of a country? Condemnation, certainly, and at least from some quarters that condemnation was almost instantly forthcoming. The usual suspects were silent. But what else? My personal take is that such inflammatory rhetoric is unfortunate, and is not helping the progress of peace in the Middle East — but if the rhetoric wasn’t followed up by tangible action, then no response other than condemnation is called for.

But … from what I can read, Iran is following up the rhetoric with action, albeit covert and denied action. Iran stands accused of actively supporting and fomenting terrorism, most especially in Iraq. If we are certain that Iran is a state supporting terrorism, then I believe direct action by the U.S. is called for — to protect our own safety. Then it boils down to what actions can and should be taken, and here I’d have to know a lot more about the situation on the ground over there to be able to venture an opinion. I can only hope that our government is (a) better informed that I, and (b) is actively working on an action program to get Iran under control…