Roseate Spoonbill on the Fairway

Happy Monday infidels. It's the last day of July 2006 and I'm as sick as a dead dog with yellow matter custard dripping from his eye . . . but for those infidels who know my never ending quest for the holy grail of avian photos, the roseate spoonbill, would know that they never seem to be around at the time that I arrive at a photo shoot location. Fort De Soto is famous for having a bunch of them at one time. Not true when I arrive there. But I did see a few of them on my way to Fort De Soto on the fairway of a condominium golf course nearby. A whole family of spoonies, by the pond, with their clubs, practicing chip shots from the fringe of the green.

Well I slammed on the brakes and grabbed my gear to get some shots. I still do not have my prize shot yet . . . one with wings extended over the coastline. It will come one day soon I hope.

So in the words of that famous parrothead philosopher,

"As a dreamer of dreams and a travelin' man
I have chalked up many a mile
Read dozens of books about heroes and crooks
And I learned much from both of their styles."

Great Egret O'er Green Cay Wetlands - Palm Beach County, Florida

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND FOLKS

"Everything in Nature contains all the powers of Nature. Everything is made of one hidden stuff." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Where The Boys Are No More - Las Olas & A1A

Just down the road from my 16th Floor Office is the intersection made famous in the 60's by the film "Where The Boys Are," and in the 1980's by "Spring Break" and "Revenge of the Nerd 2." This was the Mecca of Spring Break until the mid 1980's when things got out of hand and City Hall decided to make the beach more of a friendly place sans the bacchanal that it became. It is a friendlier place. The degenerates have found other haunts. The beach is now being overrun by multi-million dollar condos. Fortunately the condos are not on the beach but across the street from it. Condos are a cancer upon the coastlines of the United States. Hence my preference for pristine beaches such as this one:

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7358/249/1600/_A5J6259%20copy_web.0.jpg

Asta la vista infidels!

Free As A Bird - July 26, 2006

Today is the 53rd anniversary of the beginning of the reign of terror of the longest ruling tyrant in modern times that continues today. In the last 53 years, we've put men in space, we've landed men on the moon, we've invented handheld computers, we've eliminated polio and smallpox, we've sent rovers to Mars, we've sent probes to the end of the solar system, we've torn down the Berlin wall, we've had major advances in telecommunications, in science, in medicine, digital technology, we have hybrid cars, we have the internet, and among other things, advances in agriculture and food production. The world has changed a lot in the last half century. But some 90 miles south of Key West, Florida, the world has stayed the same. One man, an egotistical tyrant, continues to hold a nation and a people hostage to his arbitrary and whimsical rule. No need for me to repeat the obvious in one of my rants. I simply choose to leave you the image above of a laughing gull, and the words of John Lennon below:

Free as a bird,
it's the next best thing to be.
Free as a bird.

Home, home and dry,
like a homing bird I'll fly
as a bird on wings.

Whatever happened to
the life that we once knew?
Can we really live without each other?

Where did we lose the touch
that seemed to mean so much?
It always made me feel so...

Free as a bird,
like the next best thing to be.
Free as a bird.

Whatever happened to
the life that we once knew?
Always made me feel so free.

Free as a bird.

Anna Maria Island, Florida - Pondering Existence

"And God said, ‘Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.’ So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

And God said, ‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good."

We Came in Peace for All Mankind

Last Friday, July 21, 2006, was the 37th anniversary of Man's First Lunar Landing. Thus, I have created this image from a photo I took of the moon with my Canon EOS 20D with a Sigma 50-500 lens. I layered the Apollo 11 patch and a flag image I took a few years back.

The challenge started when JFK said these memorable words at Rice University on September 12, 1962 :

"We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too. . . . Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, 'Because it is there.' Well, space is there, and we're going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God's blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked."

And lo and behold, the United States accomplished the task seven years later when Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, and Michael Collins took us there. I was four years old and watch the television coverage of Apollo 11 and later Apollo 12 through Apollo 17 when Gene Cernan, the last man on the moon, (thus far), bid farewell to the lunar plane. I never really appreciated the accomplishment given my age. I thought it happened all the time. Growing up in Florida in the 1970's, all the boys, myself included, wanted to become astronauts, voyagers through space. My father bought a telescope in the early 1970's and we would go outside and as I would stare at the lunar craters, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Saturn, I could only imagine being on a voyage through space to a distant world. Sadly, no one wants to be an astronaut today or a scientist. People are more interested in American Idol and the mutant babies of Earth Aliens (otherwise known as Hollywood A-List), and the dating and fashion habits of illiterate dolts. What we as Americans accomplished on that summer day in July 1969 is something that mere words cannot describe. The folks of the space program never cowered. With computers less powerful than a Commodore VIC 20, the Lunar Module landed men on the moon and returned them to the mother ship for a safe return to the good Earth. I hope I will be around to see Man's Return to the Moon.

Fortunately, through books, I can relive the experience. I've read the following books on the Apollo program and suggest them to any afficionados:

A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin
The Last Man on the Moon by Gene Cernan
Deke, by Deke Slayton
Failure is Not an Option, by Gene Krantz
Apollo 13 by Jim Lovell
First Man : The Life of Neil A. Armstrong, by: James R. Hansen

Vamos a la Playa - My Favorite Florida Beaches Part II

Cape Florida State Park, Key Biscayne, Florida

Bradenton Beach, Florida

Crandon Park Beach, Key Biscayne, Florida

Dania Beach, Florida

Fort Lauderdale Beach, Florida

Vamos a la Playa - My Favorite Florida Beaches: Part I

Cocoa Beach, Florida

Playa Linda, Canaveral National Seashore

Tigertail Beach, Marco Island, Florida

Naples Beach, Naples, Florida

Anna Maria Island, Florida

Bahia Honda State Park, Florida Keys
Cape Sable, Everglades National Park (only accessible by boat)

Port Canaveral Locks & Words of Wisdom

This image is one I took at sunset of the Port Canaveral Locks near Titusville, Florida. A great location to see manatees (I did spot a few), and right before sunset, you can see lots of Black Crowned Night Herons, Woodstorks, and other interesting avian species.

I've not ranted much these days, but I have observed that much of the ills that are occuring these days all seem to stem from the suppression of free thought. All tyrannies thrive on suppression of thought. Free thinking is a natural right given to all men and women by God. Any tyranny that suppresses thought, suppresses freedom. Any tyranny that suppresses freedom must be destroyed early on before it can spread like a cancer.

So my fellow infidels, I will leave you now because I know you are busy. Take these words of wisdom by British author and philosopher, Bertrand Russell, and may they serve you well:


"Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth -- more than ruin -- more even than death.... Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man."
-- Bertrand Russell

Sunrise at St. Augustine Harbour

"It is the eternal struggle between these two principles - right and wrong. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time and will ever continue to struggle. It is the same spirit that says, "You work and toil and earn bread, and I'll eat it."
---Abraham Lincoln

The Song of the Meadowlark

"One of our sweetest, loudest songsters is the meadow-lark...the plains air seems to give it a voice, and it will perch on the top of a bush or tree and sing for hours in rich, bubbling tones." – Theodore Roosevelt

The image was taken at Joe Overstreet Road in Osceola County, Florida. TR was correct in the beautiful song these little birds grace us with. If only we could always hear them over the noise of progress.

If Monet had Photoshop and a Canon Digital Camera

"To my mind the single essential element on which all discoveries will be dependent is human freedom. " -- Barry Goldwater

Image of a Mandarin Drake

"Life is a great adventure…accept it in such a spirit." - Teddy Roosevelt

The Weekend is Upon Us

It's Friday once more. My favorite day of the week. It's also Bastille Day so I guess it would be appropriate to have a "Pompier" by combining in a tall glass two-thirds full of ice; 3 ounces dry (white) vermouth; 1/2 ounce crème de cassis and topped up with fizzy water. Stir and drink.

And for this weekend, which finally it appears we will have some sunny weather down here in the Sunshine State, let's hit those beaches. And if you're fortunate to be in Brevard County, Florida, spend a day at the Canaveral National Seashore where you can enjoy pristine beaches such as the one above free of condos and hotels and the other drech that many of us Floridians and other beach goers have had to contend with in recent times.

Remember, it's five o'clock somewhere and don't be shy in enjoying your favorite spirit. You never know, the pleasure police may someday take that right away from you as they have by banning smoking everywhere. (I don't smoke cigarettes as they are vile, but I smoke cigars).

Adieu mon infidels.

Gone Fishin'

Shot at the historic Anna Maria Island pier in Anna Maria Island, Florida. On the Florida Gulf Coast.

Update on Oil & Gas Drilling off of Florida Gulf Coast

Well infidels, it appears that a deal has been struck in the Senate that will protect the Florida Gulf Coast. The deal would establish a 125-mile buffer, and would also ban drilling in a military training zone south of the Panhandle, which extends as much as 236 miles into the Gulf. The buffer zones would continue until the year 2022. The current moratorium, which extends hundreds of miles into the Gulf, is set to expire in 2012.

The deal was brokered by Senator Mel Martinez of Florida. The deal, however, does not offer any protections to the Atlantic coast of Florida which has raised some ire. However, practically speaking, unlike in the Gulf of Mexico, drilling off of the deep waters off of the Atlantic Coast of Florida would be impractical and way too expensive where oil and gas does not appear so plentiful.

I support the compromise which if enacted (the house version will need to be modified), would insure protection of the Gulf Coast Beaches until 2022.

Now the next goal is to ensure the communist regime of cuba does not get anywhere near our waters with their attempt to set up oil and gas exploration.

Read the entire story here:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-adrill13jul13,0,5777860.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

Tax Cuts Work Folks

As you can see from my image of my favorite American made spirit, Blanton's Single Barrel Kentucky Bourbon, I'm going to have a drink after work today. Am I going to rant again? Frankly, not. Rather, I am going to give an "I told you so." All these nay sayers and malaise driven tax & spend folks who have repeatedly opposed tax cuts once again are proven wrong. As with JFK, Reagan, and GWB, tax cuts result in an increase of tax revenue. So hopefully you infidels will join me with a drink this afternoon in your favorite tavern or home liquor cabinet and pray that the tax cuts become permanent.

There's a nice piece in today's Wall Street Journal on this piece of good news:

"The real news, and where the policy credit belongs, is with the 2003 tax cuts. They've succeeded even beyond Art Laffer's dreams, if that's possible. In the nine quarters preceding that cut on dividend and capital gains rates and in marginal income-tax rates, economic growth averaged an annual 1.1%. In the 12 quarters--three full years--since the tax cut passed, growth has averaged a remarkable 4%. Monetary policy has also fueled this expansion, but the tax cuts were perfectly targeted to improve the incentives to take risks among businesses shell-shocked by the dot-com collapse, 9/11 and Sarbanes-Oxley.

This growth in turn has produced a record flood of tax revenues, just as the most ebullient supply-siders predicted. In the first nine months of fiscal 2006, tax revenues have climbed by $206 billion, or nearly 13%. As the Congressional Budget Office recently noted, "That increase represents the second-highest rate of growth for that nine-month period in the past 25 years"--exceeded only by the year before. For all of fiscal 2005, revenues rose by $274 billion, or 15%. We should add that CBO itself failed to anticipate this revenue boom, as the nearby table shows. Maybe its economists should rethink their models."

Read the entire article here:

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110008640

Don't Try to Describe the Ocean if You've Never Seen it

I'm tired of ranting. Unless something happens to frost my buttocks, I'm just gonna leave you with images of the Sunshine State.

This is an early morning image of the Sunset Dock in Key West, Florida. There's no one there drinking cause everyone is sleeping. Except for crazy photographers that get up at the crack of dawn.

See you infidels at the Green Parrot.

More Words to Ponder and to Heed

I begin my weekly post with the following quote from one of the greatest Presidents of the 20th Century - Theodore Roosevelt --

“Defenders of the short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things sometimes seek to champion them by saying the 'the game belongs to the people.' So it does; and not merely to the people now alive, but to the unborn people. The 'greatest good for the greatest number' applies to the number within the womb of time, compared to which those now alive form but an insignificant fraction. Our duty to the whole, including the unborn generations, bids us restrain an unprincipled present-day minority from wasting the heritage of these unborn generations. The movement for the conservation of wild life and the larger movement for the conservation of all our natural resources are essentially democratic in spirit, purpose, and method.” -- Theodore Roosevelt - A Book-Lover's Holidays in the Open, 1916

I cite to this today as last week, as expected, the short sited House of Represenatives, passed a bill which the majority of Floridians oppose -- oil drilling off the Florida coast. I am still optimistic that the bill will fail in the Senate and hope both of our Senators, Nelson and Martinez, will keep their word and filibuster the bill. The Florida Gulf Coast lives and dies on tourism. Floridians take pride in the pristine beaches, estuaries, and preserves which line the Gulf Coast of our State from Cape Sable to Pensacola.

Teddy Roosevelt's words spoken nearly a century ago speak loudly in the 21st century. And for those of the leftist persuasion who are out there and wish to tell me, "hey we told you so," my response to them is, that this is your fault. This is an issue of state's rights, which the left abhors in favor of having a bloated overreaching national government. In my opinion, each state should be allowed to decide for itself whether they want the rigs off their shores or not. The majority of the Florida bi-partisan delegation opposes the drilling. Obviously, those folks outside Florida who are pushing this legislation couldn't care less about us or our coasts or our interests. But it the oil interests win, we can only blame the continued overuse and abuse of the commerce clause by the federal government to infringe on the rights of the states and the people to determine their own destiny.

Until next time infidels, I say . . . ciao folks.

Words to Ponder

"As much as I converse with sages and heroes, they have very little of my love and admiration. I long for rural and domestic scene, for the warbling of birds and the prattling of my children."
-- John Adams, Second President of the United States

John, I agree with you 100%. Have a great weekend people.