Obama Video - "Nonbelievers"

I didn't make this video below, you can go here to see who did. I do think this point is interesting. I appreciate Obama's willingness to recognize nonbelievers compared to an interview with George H.W. Bush below the video. (In 2001 the American Religious Identification Survery found that 14.1% in the US describe themselves as 'No religion,' up from 8.2% in 1990 - link)




Interview with, then Vice-Prez., George H.W. Bush in 1987 while he was campaigning for President (one link to this here)
_____________________________________________________
Sherman: What will you do to win the votes of the Americans who are atheists?

Bush: I guess I'm pretty weak in the atheist community. Faith in God is important to me.

Sherman: Surely you recognize the equal citizenship and patriotism of Americans who are atheists?

Bush: No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.

Sherman (somewhat taken aback): Do you support as a sound constitutional principle the separation of state and church?

Bush: Yes, I support the separation of church and state. I'm just not very high on atheists.

Got Pollution?

Pictures taken from the plane earlier this week. One is outside the city and one is taken near the city, see if you can pick which one. Looking down the canyon this week its looked worse than this, you can't even see the city, it looks like a massive forest fire down there with all the smog. There is an inversion layer that keeps it from going anywhere.

This honestly keeps me from ever wanting to move to SLC. It looks like pictures I've seen of Chattanooga back in the day when it was considered one of the most polluted cities in the US. Businessmen used to have to bring two shirts to work because if they went outside their shirts would turn brown. It's probably not that bad in Salt Lake, but I'm glad I'm staying at 8,000'.




Why do I always get the wing seats?

My Favorite Photos-6

I'll post some pics from Utah in a bit, below is some photoshop fun:




Fellow HG pilot entered in a contest that you can go and rate 5 stars and make comments on here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfxlNM4286E

My Favorite Photos-5

Looks like we picked a heat wave week to come skiing in Utah. It's still a blast but nothing like last years trip (see the youtube video below the pictures). More photos I took from my old biology class:

Dutchman's Britches

Larkspur (poisonous to eat)

Red Trillium

Snowbird and Alta ski trip last year:

My Favorite Photos-4

Pictures I took for a biology class in college:


Blue Phlox (even though its purple)



Spring Beauty (can eat the roots, taste like almonds)

My Favorite Photos-3

This one is from when it flooded and flying over the water in the lz.

Going to Utah tomorrow for a week of skiing!

My Favorite Photos-2

Gone Fishing

My Favorite Photos-1

This is in the wind river range in Wyoming. Notice the moon rising above the tip of one of the peaks on the left.

My Favorite Photos

I'm going to start a series of my favorite photos. I'm going to try to post them at least every other day possibly and they'll be some of my favorite photos I've taken over the past several years. Here's a few to get started:

Flood!

This is what it's looked like since early last night:

From my front porch

Carts in water, South end

North end looking South

Middle of lz and parking lot

South end entrance

South end looking to North end

Google Maps - Street View

It's up! Last year at the Team Challenge Ray Helman drove by while taking pictures for a company that Google contracted to take pictures for their Street view and so we all got in on the picture last year and now it's up! Below is a black arrow pointing to me and the other is my car in the parking lot at Henson's Gap.

Jonas Blanton, 86, Passes

Jonas Blanton came to Lookout to continue his Guinness Book World Record of being the oldest hang glider pilot at age 86. I went up to the shop to pay my rent check yesterday and noticed him there talking to Jen. He had on a jacket that had a Guiness World Record emblem on the front is how I recognized him. Later that day he took a tandem, even though he didn't have to since he is a rated pilot, and then took a solo flight in the towing trainer Falcon, that has a fin and big wheels on it too. He crashed into the pine tree in the parking lot on his approach. The conditions in the lz were as good as I've seen them in a while, quite calm and consistent. He apparently was on a normal approach and from a long way out veered towards the tree and never turned away. I wasn't witness to any of these events, but watched from a distance as there was a crowd and flashing lights in the parking lot with people trading off doing chest compressions on him under the wing of the crooked hang glider. Tough day for everyone here, especially for those who knew him. My condolences to his family, he must have been an incredible person to have been hang gliding at his age.