If you want to read more about the Cold War remnants around our state from this photographer’s perspective, try some of these links, which will each open in a new window:
Cold War Mancation, Part Two: Nekoma Missile Base (Mickelsen Safeguard Complex)
Cold War Mancation, Part Three: Former OMEGA Station LaMoure
This is STILL the world record for single-site snow angels.
You may remember a while back when I posted that Canadians had made over 15,000 snow angels for a new record – but they were at multiple sites across a wide area, so it is NOT the same record as ours.
Fear not, NoDaks…we’re still undefeated.
The YouTube video I’m going to link to below contains the second half of the show. I have a copy of the full show, raw as it was sent from the truck to the network, but I don’t have permission to put it online. The first song they play, Beautiful Day, is also on YouTube; just search for “U2 Super Bowl Halftime” and you’ll find it. But the part that had me standing, jumping, and cheering that day was the second song, perhaps their most famous: Where the Streets Have No Name.
(Link – it’s no longer able to be embedded)
When Bono is walking with the microphone before he begins to sing, he quotes Psalm 51:15 – “O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.” In an episode of VH1’s Behind the Music, U2’s manager tells the story of how, in the band’s early days, he’d find them in the bus after their shows reading the Bible instead of out partying it up. Apparently they’re Christians of some sort. According to the program, they almost called it quits when all the fame took hold because they didn’t know what it might do to them. They didn’t break up, however, although Bono has since jumped the shark. I like their music and choose to remember where they supposedly came from.
Tonight’s halftime show was predictably garbage – half dressed “dancers” writhing around without a musician among them – so I tuned it out. In fact, I didn’t even get to begin watching the game until the start of the second half, which turns out to be the best part of the game. I kept a thumb on the remote button to switch away from any of the racy commercials, caught the Dodge Ram “Farmer” ad (easily the highlight of the night), and kept my family’s eyes safe from whatever assault Big Media had prepared for them.
My writing style tends to be verbose at times, albeit not nearly to Clay Jenkinson levels, so I chose my words carefully. The original letter is posted below:
Dear Senator Hoeven,
Thank you for voting for the “fiscal cliff” deal to raise taxes on 77% of Americans, including my little family. Our tax increase is equivalent to picking out a monthly bill and doubling it, although you Washington types claim it was only punishing “the rich.”
At a Take Back Washington Summit a few years ago, I mentioned that we wanted you to win that Senate seat and be more than just “not Byron Dorgan.” Those high hopes are beginning to fade, especially after watching you waffle on 2nd Amendment rights on C-SPAN. Please reconsider who you represent: North Dakotans want no part of the gun control Senator Heitkamp’s ilk are proposing.
I wish I could keep the faith, Senator…but you need to earn it. You said, “We’ll have to see…” when asked about gun control. I felt the same way about your term in the Senate, and what I’ve seen so far is not what North Dakotans need from their Senator. I expect you’ll ask us to send you back for another term in a couple of years; please give us some reasons to do so by standing up for our constitutional rights.
I’ve seen longer letters to the editor, so I figured that I was within limits and likely to see my entire letter printed. So it was, minus one line inconvenient to North Dakota Democrats:
To whom am I referring? It could be the North Dakota Democrats who introduced their own weapons and magazine ban legislation in the state legislature this session: House Bill 1415 and House Bill 1416 (click on them to read the text in PDF format on the legislature’s website). These bills have since been yanked without discussion to avoid embarrassing Democrats.
On the national stage, who is it that’s talking about “gun control” (actually “people control” if they’re honest)? Democrats.
Who’s been quoted as saying that the American people need to be “brainwashed” when it comes to guns? Attorney General Eric Holder, a Democrat.
Who has said, “If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States, for an outright ban, picking up everyone of them (every gun) Mr. and Mrs. America, turn ‘em all in. I would have done it”? Senator Feinstein, a Democrat.
Who is taking to the stages across America and lecturing us once more on what we “need” – this time for hunting? Democrats.
Senator Heitkamp herself has had to perform an intricate dance in order to placate the fringe groups who helped her win her Senate seat as well as her party masters in Washington, DC who want to charge full-tilt toward gun control…all while trying to cling to the “independent voice for North Dakotans” mantra on which her campaign was based within our state’s borders. If she wants help from the Democrat National Committee in another five years, she’d better deliver on the liberalism. Doing so will remind North Dakotans what happens when you send another partisan leftist to DC our behalf.
Given the fact that Heitkamp’s support came largely from out-of-state organizations seeking to enforce a Democrat majority in the Senate, I expect her loyalties to continue to lie with those whose values oppose those of North Dakotans, as do the loyalties of Democrats even within our own legislature. For some reason, making even a passing remark about this association is too much for the Bismarck Tribune to let slide.
“Pancakes and Planes” is the local aviation counterpart to Buggies & Blues. If it’s lesser known, that’s too bad; it’s a great time of hospitality, fellowship, and cool displays. Here’s a tour of what you may have missed last June, and an exhortation to support this event in the future.
The Mandan Airport is getting some major improvements this year, so I don’t know if it will be available for a Pancakes and Planes event this year. Hopefully it won’t have to take a year off; however, as June approaches and everyone starts talking about Buggies & Blues and other summer events, remember to watch out for Pancakes and Planes. I know I will, and will be posting a reminder here.
Remember when any ragtag bunch of hippies would get together for some sort of cause, and the media would be there to inflate their numbers and use it to try to sway public opinion? Well, now your average everyday Mom and Pop are there, they strike a clear contrast to the filthy and disrespectful “Occupy” movement, and they’re showing up in even greater numbers.
The same media used to try to minimize these rallies and their numbers or ignore them altogether, but both local TV news teams and the newspaper were there on Saturday. It’s getting harder and harder to ignore the fact that people who were content to just live their lives as everyday Americans are sick and tired of having liberal progressives intrude further and further into their lives every day.
The brisk North Dakota winter air wasn’t the only wind blowing this weekend. The winds of renewed patriotism and an awakened electorate are sweeping the country as well, and I believe we’ve got what it takes to sweep away the bogus, counterfeit Hopeâ„¢ and Changeâ„¢ that are threatening our nation.
and:
Pretty wishy-washy and non-specific. What I’m looking for is, “My constituents are firm in asserting their rights under the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, and as their duly elected representative in the Senate I plan to stand by and fight for their convictions on the chamber floor.”
Instead we’ve got a big question mark hanging over us. What will we get in return for sending Governor Hoeven to the United States Senate?
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