Orion, part II

Compare this photo of Orion, taken at the Big Bend, with my post of 1/29.... Light pollution? We don't need no stinking light pollution...

Go ahead, click it!

Big Bend

Made what's becoming an annual pilgrimage to the Big Bend last week. I've been to the National Park at least a dozen times, going back over 20 years.

This time, we decided to try out the Big Bend Ranch State Park as well. Two days at the National Park and then 2-3 days at the State Park. All I can say is that I think I've found a new place to hang out.

The State Park is rugged (you've got to drive down a 27 mile dirt road just to get to the Park Headquarters inside the Park; there are two other entrances along Hwy 170) and as isolated as you can get. It's made up of 300,000 acres of mountains, valleys, mesas, canyons, cliffs and ridges, and while we were there, we saw a grand total of 2 visitors in the Park and a handful of Park Ranger types congregated around the interior headquarters. Compared to the National Park, which is rapidly becoming crowded as hell - even in the backcountry campsites - the absolute quiet is stunning at the State Park.



Can you find the deer?



I'll definitely be back.

By the Way, We Still Shoot Guns

Here are a couple of pics from our carbine class we conducted this past weekend. It's a new type of course that teaches the new carbine owner the fundamentals of the AR operating system, basic care and feeding, sighting in, shooting positions, movement, safety, safety, and safety, and other fundamentals. We figure that with all the new carbine owners on the market, they might actually like to learn how to use them. So far, so good!

Official: Performance czar withdraws candidacy

Daschle is out, now Nancy Killefer is out. Does anyone pay taxes in Obama's administration?

Good riddance to both of 'em.

No wonder Democrats don't mind raising our taxes. They apparently don't pay any.

Michelle Malkin » Bend over: Here comes Holder

Michelle Malkin nails it. Bend-over Republicans that voted for Holder's nomination as AG:

Here are your 19 Bend Over Republicans who voted yes on Holder. Some disappointing names on the list in addition to the usual suspects:

Alexander (R-TN)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Chambliss (R-Ga)
Collins (R-ME)
Corker (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hatch (R-UT)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lugar (R-IN)
McCain (R-AZ)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Sessions (R-AL)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Voinovich (R-OH)

I'm pleased to note that our 2 Texas Senators, Cornyn and Hutchison voted no. Thank you, Senators.

I'm sorely afraid that too many of our elected representatives have grossly underestimated the damage that this man will bring to the country.

Time to stock up on high-cap mags, folks.

Just curious

I seem to recall that whenever a natural disaster took place when Bush was President he was lambasted as being insensitive or out of touch if he didn't get on Air Force 1 and make a visit, showing folks how much he cared.

I also seem to recall him being crucified for FEMA's incompetence during several natural disasters.

When, I wonder, will the same thing hold true for the messiah??

MURRAY, Ky. (AP) - Utility crews renewed work in subfreezing temperatures Saturday in their effort to put the power back on for nearly a million customers left in the dark by an ice storm that crippled parts of several states this week.

Thousands of people in ice-caked Kentucky awoke in motels and shelters, asked to leave their homes by authorities who said emergency teams in some areas were too strapped to reach everyone in need of food, water and warmth.

Local officials grew angrier at what they said was a lack of help from the state and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

In Kentucky's Grayson County, about 80 miles southwest of Louisville, Emergency Management Director Randell Smith said the 25 National Guardsmen who have responded have no chain saws to clear fallen trees. He said roads are littered with fallen trees and people shivering in bone-chilling cold are in need.

"We've got people out in some areas we haven't even visited yet," Smith said. "We don't even know that they're alive."

Smith said FEMA was still a no-show days after the storm.

"I'm not saying we can't handle it," Smith said. "We're handling it. But it sure would have made life a lot easier."