"politically motivated"?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/no-more-baby-parts-suspect-in-attack-at-colo-planned-parenthood-clinic-told-official/2015/11/28/e842b2cc-961e-11e5-8aa0-5d0946560a97_story.html

"The attack on the clinic, allegedly by Robert Lewis Dear Jr., was 'definitely politically motivated,’ said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity..."

"politically motivated"? please. is everything "politically motivated", as some would have us believe? what about "insanely motivated" or "morally motivated with an insane sense of right and wrong"?

Merry Winter Solstice

For all those who are offended by Christians and by the word "Christmas", if I had my way, then I'd declare you the winners. 

Anti-Christian sentiment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I agree with you--let's not call it "Christmas" any more. Let's call December 25 "Winter Holiday" or "Santa Claus Day" or, since some will argue that the origin of Santa Claus is Christian, call it "Gift Giving Day" instead. ("Indulgence Day" would be a better description; but then, there are those who will argue that this too has a Christian connotation.) 

Let those few Christians who celebrate Christmas in remembrance of the day that their Savior was born celebrate it in Peace.

Galileo

Columbus discovered that the earth is round by observing sailing ships slowly disappearing (bottom to top) over the horizon. Galileo, discovered that the earth rotates and orbits around the sun by observing tides and the stars.

Galileo Galilei - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

sympathizes with terrorists

Does anyone really believe that there's a lick of difference between the two? 

 

John Kerry 

Hillary Clinton 

terrorists 

terrorism 

witness tree

Yesterday while walking the trail in the southwest corner of the 5,000 acre Manassas National Battlefield Park ("Stuart's Hill"), we saw a sign marked "witness tree". This morning, after searching "witness tree" on the internet, we know, as Paul Harvey used to say, "the rest of the story."

Witness Trees - Manassas National Battlefield Park (U.S. National Park Service)

Follow the $, then give--or not

Pope Francis is One Smart Businessman in "Merchants at the Temple" - Fortune 

"He overturned the tables of the 

money changers..." Matthew 21:12

"You shall not steal." Exodus 20:15

"the indifferences by which He is offended"

"Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly, and I offer You the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He is offended. And by the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners."
Fatima prayer to the Holy Trinity

Is God offended by idle talk in the sanctuary? by those who should know better? by seniors who engage in long, loud conversations about friends, golf, shopping, restaurants, etc.? (Some of whom position themselves between those kneeling in prayer and the tabernacle.)

Sadly, I witness this regularly.

the best

Teen pallbearers help lay homeless military veterans to rest - TODAY.com

Corrupt two-party system

Neither party is viable--both are corrupt. It's way past time to start over. No Republicans, no Democrats, no lobbyists, no PACs, no expensive TV ads... No political parties--just candidates simply presenting their positions on line (e.g., League of Women Voters) one month before the election--a single document with a 10 page limit; and, voters who can think on their own. ... Wait a minute!!! "Voters who can think on their own"?!? Who am I kidding???

source: (More Crony Media) How the press works to keep the 2 (really 1?) party system in power (Video) | AgainstCronyCapitalism.org

"We have met the enemy and he is us."

If you think that crony capitalism is bad with the two-party system, then you need to look at crony capitalism in places where they have a one-party system--like Montgomery County MD. 

silver spring transit center

Libertarian 
crony capitalism 
Silver Spring Transit Center 
Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center 
Montgomery County MD 
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) 
Federal Transit Administration 
news media 
Purple Line 
Gov. Hogan 

Amazing!

Even in the city, and even with the naked eye, on a cloudless night, the sky is full of lights. Some lights are relatively close—manmade--airplanes, helicopters, satellites. There's our moon. Some are other planets and moons in our own solar system. Some are comets, meteors and asteroids. Most are a few of the 300 billion stars in our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Light from other of the more distant estimated 100 billion galaxies in the universe, each with an estimated average of 100 billion stars per galaxy, can take millions of light years to get to us. 

Take a look--it's amazing!

common sense

Villanova University Announces Changes to Its Public Safety Department

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
Benjamin Franklin 

This country needs more common sense solutions to problems.

the best

Teen With Special Needs Voted Homecoming King in Manassas City | NBC4 Washington

heartwarming 

Osbourn High School
Manassas VA 

Andrew Higgins

many of this country's greatest engineers are those without engineering degrees--Higgins, Edison, the Wright Bros. (my favorites), etc.

another Higgins anecdote: Early during WWII when the Navy asked Higgins to come up with a new design for a landing craft that could carry a tank, Higgins did so. no blueprints. He built the boat and delivered it to the Navy--61 hours after the Navy made their request!

and another: Higgins demanded that the Navy reopen negotiations on a contract which had already been signed. He insisted that the contract price be reduced, because he felt that his profit was too high.

and another: In 1943 Higgins had more than 20,000 employees, including women and African Americans whose wages were the same as white men. In 1943 the US Navy had an inventory of over 14,000 boats and ships--almost 13,000 (92%) were boats designed or built by Higgins Industries.

Higgins Memorial Project

simple truths

after considerable thought, and going from one side to the other, and not being a gun owner myself, I have come to the conclusion that tougher gun laws are not the answer. VA Tech, Columbine, Ft. Hood, Newtown, Oregon, etc--it all comes down to the last line of defense--kill or be killed. If one person with a gun in any of these mass shootings had taken the terrorist out, then lives would have been saved. A terrorist is a terrorist--domestic or foreign, sane or not.

During his homily a month or so ago Fr. Gould (pastor, St. John the Evangelist in Warrenton) mentioned how the sheriff asked to meet with local pastors following Charleston. When two black pastors were asked what they were going to do, they said "We're going to arm our congregation". Fr. Gould found that surprising. I don't find it surprising at all.

"I solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, so help me God." 
oath taken by members of Congress and commissioned military personnel. 

The last line of defense from those who murder innocent citizens is to take out the terrorist(s), foreign or domestic. It's called "self-defense". The right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness", as well as the right to defend ourselves against enemies foreign and domestic, are clearly spelled out in our founding documents and in common law. 

(BTW, those in Washington DC, Chicago and other locations who shoot and kill anyone, including innocent children, in drive-by shootings are domestic terrorists.)

60 years ago grade school children were taught to crouch under their desks in the event of a nuclear bomb. Look around. Government can't pass laws that will make you safe. Every day could be your last. If you don't have anything more than government to cling to, then you've got nothing.

the last chapter

(I don't know how many autobiographies are written last chapter first.) 

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/kansas/carryonwaywardson.html

We've arrived. After leaving South Carolina three and a half years ago, and moving again three more times, we've finally arrived. We're home.

Jenny and I are in the place that we want to be. It's much larger and spacious than I would have expected an apartment to be. All of our furniture fits nicely, including the 60-inch flat screen TV that we picked up along the way from Culpeper to here. 

It has a balcony that is no more than 100 feet from 444-acre Conway Robinson State Forest. I love looking down from our balcony to birds in the tops of trees below!

It has this fantastic "conservatory". Even though I know the word, I never knew what it really meant until my son-in-law Tim told me--"room of light". From this corner room with its huge windows on two sides all we see are trees, and a small pond with a fountain--a pristine oasis of serenity in a most unexpected place--a major urban interchange and development around it.

...

right on!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjgJWqxUyTc

If you have:

• unsafe drinking water
• an unclean environment
• inefficient transportation

then blame a politician, public-private partnerships, crony capitalism and those who support the them. 

Be informed! THINK! 

or blame yourself.


silver spring transit center




Silver Spring Transit Center 
Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center 
Montgomery County MD 
public-private partnership 
crony capitalism 
WMATA 
Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) 
Federal Transit Administration (FTA) 
Purple Line 
Gov. Hogan 

traffic

Innovative design aims to alleviate traffic congestion in Haymarket - WTOP

1. Can't put 10 pounds of stuff into a 5 pound-bag. 
2. Can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Haymarket VA 
I-66 interchange 
Route 15 
Route 55 
sprawl & crawl 
traffic congestion 

in the news

Target phases out some gender categories in its products | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

could be a good thing...
The US needs more engineers...

Energy industry develops more women as resources - Victoria Advocate - Victoria, TX

Target 

STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) 

Is there a worse run operation in the world?

DC Metro Actually Giving Riders Refunds For Poor Service | The Daily Caller

Other than government in general, the answer is NO.

It was also announced yesterday that Metro's 2014 fiscal report, due more than nine months ago, has finally been released. Metro's deficit spending over the last several years is in the order of $1 BILLION.




Washington DC Metro 
WMATA 
Silver Spring Transit Center 
Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center 
silverspringtransitcenter.blogspot.com 
Montgomery County MD
public-private partnership 
crony capitalism 
Federal Transit Administration (FTA) 
Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) 
Purple Line 
Gov. Hogan 

Helluva way to run a railroad

http://wtop.com/local/2015/08/three-metro-lines-suspended-in-downtown-d-c/slide/1/

This is what happens when politicians run a railroad. Not even 50 years old, Metro was once the pride of DC & vicinity. Now it’s a blight—crumbling, poorly run and dangerous. When Metro’s engineers appeared before Montgomery County’s council and told them that future maintenance and operations costs for the seriously flawed, unopened, overdue and over-budget Silver Spring Transit Center were going to be extraordinarily high, they were scoffed at. Metro’s GM at the time scoffed at his own engineers telling Montgomery County’s politicians not to worry—that Metro will operate and maintain the transit center. This, and Metro’s abysmal operations and safety record, is why Metro has no credibility. It’s a helluva way to run a railroad.

WMATA 

Washington DC Metro 

Federal Transit Administration (FTA) 

Silver Spring Transit Center 

Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center 

Montgomery County MD