Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Iran Makes Space Launch- Bad News for Israel and the Rest of the World


Iran announced a successful space launch today, stating they shot a payload containing some animals into space.

The problem with this?

If you can orbit a payload into low-earth orbit, you can use the same rocket to lauch a payload containing a nuclear warhead to any target on the planet.

Of course, I am sure that Iran's space program is completely peaceful.  Its not like Iran has ever stated they want to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.  Oh, wait, they did...
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Underwear Bomber Cooperating- Why? A Sweetheart Deal?


After being Mirandized, and told he has the right to a lawyer and told that anything he says can be used against him in a court of law, AbdulMutallab is cooperating and talking with authorities.

Apparently his family was flown into the US to talk to this scumbag. Reports are that they said he can trust the US judicial system and that he would be treated fairly.

Now, here is the question of the day-- After being told that anything he says can (and will) be used against him, what is there for him to trust?

I wonder if AbdulMutallab was told, hey if you cooperate will will reduce your charges or drop certain charges or maybe they will drop everything down to "smoking on an aircraft?"

This is of course just conjecture, but why else would this guy talk?

I am almost willing to bet that the Obama administration has given AdulMutallab a deal and that the charges he will face will probably be minimal-- if any at all.
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Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Today's "Man-Caused Global Warming" Fraud

From The Guardian: "Phil Jones, the beleaguered British climate scientist at the centre of the leaked emails controversy, is facing fresh claims that he sought to hide problems in key temperature data on which some of his work was based."

Every day it seems there is yet another news article showing the data behind "Man-Made" or Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) is either faked, wrong or misleading. It has gotten to a point that Meteorologist Anthony Watts is calling it climate-gate Du Jour.

This time it is all about the effects of "heat islands" and if city growth and weather station placement has caused false or abnormally high readings.

(Perhaps the best reading on this subject is the "Surface Station's Project". This project has been documenting the placement of weather surface stations and the "interesting" readings that come from bad placement of surface stations versus the surface stations that are placed in "good" locations.)

Now, I believe that our climate fluctuates and perhaps it is even changing somewhat. But, I do not believe that this "climate change" is man-made or in any way caused by man.

The fact remains that earth has faced warm periods in history. The "medieval warm period" which lasted from 800-1300 AD was so warm that wine grapes were grown by the Romans in Great Britain. This is supported by Roman tax records of the period. This warming period was then followed by "The Little Ice Age"- a period of cold that gripped the Northern Hemisphere."

The largest issue I have with AGW, besides the fact that more and more reports are coming out that data is being faked, is the supposition that Man is more powerful than God or Nature.

To me, AGW is shear arrogance. The idea that 160 years or so of industrialization can "destroy the planet" is ridiculous. The history of our planet is one of eruptions or super-volcano's, of asteroids or comets smashing into the planet and wiping out huge percentages of species, of one disaster after another, of ice ages and warming periods. Yet, through all of this, life still exists.

There are those that would have us believe that driving from point A to point B in a car using gasoline will destroy the world. Rubbish. Whether one believes in God or not, the Universe was created in an instant- in one moment the laws of physics were set aside (based on the inflation theory) and the universe was created- either through the "Big Bang" or because, "And God said, Let there be..." and there was. Man does not have this power.

Yes, I do agree, if mankind unleashed every nuke in every inventory on the planet, we would do damage- severe damage- but we would not "destroy" the planet-- the Earth would recover. After all, the Bikini Atoll still exists, and although it is dangerous for man to live there, life is there.

Mankind builds cities. We dam rivers. We move earth. This takes years for us to do these things. However, Mother Nature or God (depending on your beliefs) can undo man's changes in a matter of moments.

How much time did it take for Katrina to destroy years and years of construction in the Gulf? How long does it take for an earthquake to destroy the works of man? How quickly can a tsunami wipe clean a coast-line that man has taken decades to build up? How many seconds does it take for a tornado to wipe out a sub-division? How long will it take for a volcano to send down a lahar to scour a plain, or bury a city or town in feet of ash? The power of each of these events can exceed the power that man-made device can create.

Now, to be clear, I do believe that we should care for the planet. I love the outdoors. I love hunting, camping (when I can) and photographing nature is a passion of mine. I believe in leaving "no trace" when I am enjoying the outdoors. Recycling is important and I believe that use of alternative fuels makes good sense- especially in that it makes us less dependent on an area of the world where there are a lot of people that hate us or that are enemies of freedom.

However, I am becoming more and more angered over the AGW crowd wanting to damage our economy, infringe upon our freedoms with pointless laws, and politicians, like Obama, who claim "overwhelming scientific evidence" for AGW, and then reading practically daily, of reports based on bogus science, unsubstantiated claims, and "fudged" data.

It is time for these "scientists" to answer for the "fraud" they are perpetuating, the panic they are causing, and the economic damage they are contributing to, all in an effort to line their own pockets.

UPDATE: Penn State will be investigating Professor Mann for his part in Climate Gate
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Monday, February 1, 2010

Lockheed L-1011 Joins Kansas City Air Museum

A Lockheed L-1011 landed at the Kansas City Downtown Airport (KMKC) to become part of the the Aviation Museum.

The L-1011 was a big part of the TWA fleet. The museum has a Super-Connie in TWA colors already and although this bird not in any major airline colors, I will bet she will be repainted to TWA livery.

The L1011 flew in Saturday after having to undergo extensive repairs before the FAA would say she was airworthy.

The tail number of this aircraft is N700TS. She will be on permanent display at the air museum


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Twice Deported Illegal Alien Arrested for Slashing Two Women

Aaron Noel Camey Valenzuela, 23, currently living in Massachusetts, but an illegal alien from Guatemala, slashed his ex-girlfriend and then another woman who tried to step in to help.

Perhaps if his employer, United Solutions of Leominster, Massachusetts chosen not to hire this person who was in this country illegally this incident may not have happened.

Of course, this guy had already been deported twice. Obviously something in the system is not working, if a guy can get deported twice then come back to commit an assault- or perhaps attempted murder.
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Promise of Nuclear Power-- But Zero Budget for Yucca Mountain


In the State of the Union, Obama promised "a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants." This of course angered the environmentalists on the left, who all regard nuclear power as evil.

Well, the left must be happy today, because the possibility of actually building the plants decreased. The budget for Yucca mountain- the spent nuclear fuel disposal facility- was set at zero in Obama's proposed budget.

This is of course just one more example of Obama speaking out of both sides of his mouth- he talks about other nations getting ahead of us in math and sciences, then zero's the budget for continued space exploration. He talks about building nuclear power plants but zero's the budget for disposal of spent nuclear fuel.

This is like saying "we are adding a second bathroom to the house" then purchasing a toilet, setting it in a room and not hooking it up to the plumbing.

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Laws Banning Cellphone Use While Driving DON'T work

Imposing laws to protect people from themselves are nothing new. The issue is what happens to those laws once it is found that they don't work. For example- researchers have found that laws that ban cellphone use while driving DO NOT prevent car accidents.

From the New York Times: "Laws banning cellphone use while driving apparently haven’t reduced crashes, according to a study released on Friday that compared the number of total crashes before the ban with the number after. The study found virtually no difference in the numbers, a finding that had the researchers scratching their heads."

Now the question is, will the laws be repealed? Probably not. After all, there is still a lot of money to be made selling headphones and devices to "make us safe." In fact, I am willing to bet that communities will continue to propose "no talking while driving laws" despite the evidence the laws are a failure.
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Sunday, January 31, 2010

Flight Video of the Sukhois T-50 Prototype

This aircraft is Russia's answer to the F-22. The F-22 program was killed by the DOD earlier this year in favor of the Joint Strike Fighter program (F-35). From the video, this appears to be one hot aircraft.

According to Fox News "Putin said Friday the first batch of new fighters is set to enter an air force evaluation unit in 2013 and serial production is set to begin in 2015."




Hat Tip to Lt. Col. Mark Rose for this.
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WH Spokesman Discusses KSM Execution Before Trial Location Decided

Robert Gibbs decided to discuss executing KSM, before even the venue of the trial has been finally decided.

I agree that KSM should be executed. However, my opinion is that this should have been handled by the military and the military tribunal process.

Unfortunately, some hot shot defense attorney is going to get up on appeal and point to Gibbs' statement and say that the trial was not fair-- the outcome was pre-determined.

Of course, the defense attorney is also going to scream that the trial was unfair because of "pre-trial publicity."

All in all, I really wonder if a conviction will stand. There are too many loopholes (as there should be) in civilian law. Civilian law should never apply to any enemy combatant.

I am so glad we have a Constitutional Lawyer in the Whitehouse to make sure that terrorists' "rights" are being preserved.
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Saturday, January 30, 2010

UN Climate Report Using Student Paper and "Climbing Magazine" as Source

"I know that there are those who disagree with the overwhelming scientific evidence on ManBearPig climate change." - Barak Obama- Jan 27, 2009

In the latest revelation about the "accuracy" of the "overwhelming scientific evidence," the Telegraph has uncovered that the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) used a student paper and a magazine article containing interviews with mountain climbers as sources for evidence of ManBearPig global warming in its 2007 report. Neither "source" was peer reviewed.

From the Telegraph:

In its most recent report, it stated that observed reductions in mountain ice in the Andes, Alps and Africa was being caused by global warming, citing two papers as the source of the information. However, it can be revealed that one of the sources quoted was a feature article published in a popular magazine for climbers which was based on anecdotal evidence from mountaineers about the changes they were witnessing on the mountainsides around them.

The other was a dissertation written by a geography student, studying for the equivalent of a master's degree, at the University of Berne in Switzerland that quoted interviews with mountain guides in the Alps.

The revelations, uncovered by The Sunday Telegraph, have raised fresh questions about the quality of the information contained in the report, which was published in 2007.

It comes after officials for the panel were forced earlier this month to retract inaccurate claims in the IPCC's report about the melting of Himalayan glaciers.

....

"There is no way current climbers and mountain guides can give anecdotal evidence back to the 1900s, so what they claim is complete nonsense."

So much for the "overwhelming scientific evidence."


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Most Voters Do Not Believe Obama on State of the Union

We have heard the GOP response to the State of the Union, and we have heard the pundits response to the State of the Union, but now it is time to hear the Voters response to the State of the Union.

Barry Obama was right about one thing in the State of the Union. "We face a deficit of trust -- deep and corrosive doubts about how Washington works that have been growing for years." The problem for Obama is that He is the one that voters do not trust.

According to Rassmussen there are a large percentage of voters who do not trust or believe what Obama said in the State of the Union. I guess there really is reason for hope!

When the President stated that taxes have been cut for 95% of Americans, he told the GOP side of the isle "I thought I'd get some applause on that one." There was laughter at the comment, but not just from inside the House chamber, there was laughter in American homes. Only 21% of voters believe Obama's statement. 53% say it is definitely not true and the rest are not sure.

When Obama said the economy is growing again, 50% said, no, it is not. (35% say it is true)

Then the President said his administration had put 2 million people to work through the Recovery Act, who would otherwise not be working. Unfortunately for the President, more Americans can perform simple math that what he counted on, because 51% said that statement was false. (27% say it is true)

Only 35% of voters believe that the stimulus package has helped the economy. A vast majority (59%) of voters also think that the best way to create jobs is to CUT taxes-- but only 14% think that Congress will actually listen-- go figure.

Although Obama said his health care plan will lower the deficit, 68% of voters think it will raise the deficit and 81% believe that it will raise "middle class" taxes. Most voters also say that the health care plan before Congress should be dropped.

But Obama doesn't get it... maybe that is why 61% of voters think it is at least "somewhat likely" that the GOP will take back the House this November.

Perhaps Barry Obama just needs to be "explaining it more clearly"... After all, we are just the stupid voters who are only concerned about "what's in it for me." Or at least that is what our President thinks.

Obviously, Obama is a bit out of touch with what the American Voters think.
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Friday, January 29, 2010

Sen McConnell Call's Out Obama on His Rebuke of the Supreme Court

In the Well of Senate, Sen. Mitch McConnell attempted to set the record straight on the Citzen's United.  

Again, it amazes me on just how wrong the "Constitutional Law Professor" that sits in the Oval Office can be-- but I will let Sen. McConnell speak for himself.


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Bin Laden joins Obama in Blaming Bush-- On Global Warming??

In yet another example of Bin Laden agreeing with Obama, in his second audio release of the month, UBL decided to jump into the ManBearPigGlobal Warming debate and blame President Bush--

Now, I have a question here--  Wouldn't crashing 767's and 757's full of fuel into buildings increase carbon dioxide in the atmosphere???  For someone concerned about ManBearPig global warming wouldn't this be a bad thing???

Obama did say "I know that there are those who disagree with the overwhelming scientific evidence on [ManBearPig]climate change."   I am one of them.  I guess Bin Laden is not.

I think that the point also needs to be made that there have been many people over the years who have disagreed with the "overwhelming scientific evidence" of the day...  Galileo was one, and so was Copernicus.  
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Thursday, January 28, 2010

Obama Backing Down- Moving KSM Trial Out of NYC

According to the NY Daily News, the White House has finally heard the chorus of people stating "keep the terrorists out of NYC." Of course, the biggest problem is that they are still saying they want a civilian trial.

Just moving the KSM trial out of NYC is not enough. The KSM trial needs to be moved back to military jurisdiction.

Unfortunately, the military charges were dropped against the terrorists, so I am am curious if there would be a jeprody issue. Of course, civilian charges have not be leveled either... so right now, KSM and his budies have not been charged with anything anywhere.
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Obama to Kill NASA Exploration

After spending his State of the Union talking about how important education is, it looks like President Obama will kill off a government program that is 100% about discovery, education, learning and exploration.

It appears the White House will zero out the Constellation Program at NASA.

When the Shuttle Program ends this year, NASA will be without a launch vehicle or a goal. The plan had been, build Constellation and go back to the Moon then on to Mars...

Instead, NASA will be directed to have "other governments" - namely the Russians- fly our Astronauts to the space station. NASA's mission will be to stop ManBearPig Global Warming. Apparently the President does not realize that the best way to stop ManBearPig Global Warming, is to get scientists to report factual data, instead of making up numbers to create a fictional crisis.

Ending manned exploration of space will hurt every American. Since 1976, NASA's manned exploration of space has provided over 1400 inventions that affect our daily lives. These inventions include everything from medical scanners to self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA's) used by fire-fighters to save lives. Smoke detectors (originally deployed in Sky Lab) and ear thermometers are other examples of how NASA "tech" has filtered down to every day lives.

Yes, the United States is in a recession. However, our manned space exploration program does not need to be ended because of it. The history of mankind is the history of discovery. We have been leaders in discovery for over the past 100 years or more. We must not give it up now.

From Amazon.com: When We Left Earth - The NASA Missions (4-Disc Set) [Blu-ray]
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Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Obama "Slaps" Supreme Court re: Citizens United- Justice Alito Shakes His Head No

I have never heard or seen anything like this before.

During his State of the Union, Obama rebuked the Supreme Court over Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission stating:
"Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests - including foreign companies - to spend without limit in our elections. Well I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests, and worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people, and that’s why I’m urging Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps to right this wrong."

The amazing thing was actually seeing Justice Alito shake his head and mouth "not true" as the President was speaking. The Chief Justice appears to be shaking his head as well.



Juan Williams on Fox News: "I am not sure it is appropriate for the President to scold the Supreme Court...it worries me in terms of intimidating a branch of government."

Now, I personally am not sure that the "Supremes" were intimidated-- but Justice Alito certainly looked angry.

I have been looking and I cannot find another instance where a President has publicly rebuked the Supreme Court to their "faces."   I believe the President failed to remember that the Supreme Court is an Equal Branch of office.  They hold office for life, and they do not report to the Executive Branch.
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He Shall from Time to Time- My Preview of the State of the Union

"He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union...

A Preview of the State of the Union -
Tonight, the President fulfills one of his Constitutionally required duties that were set forth by the Founding Fathers, although I doubt the Founding Fathers ever envisioned the show we will see tonight.

I began to think about why the Founding Fathers thought that this task was so important that it be spelled out. Looking back, to the days without instant global communication, when news travelled slowly if at all, individual Congressmen may not know what was happening outside their state or District. The Office of the President however, would be perceived to be one that would be a clearinghouse of information and that He would know the actual "state" of the Union.

Now I am not so naive as to think that politics did not enter into the thoughts of the Founding Fathers, but I would like to think, that perhaps in an era without "instant dial" focus groups, live television, the internet and dare I say "bloggers," perhaps the State of the Union was a bit more of a factual event and less of a show.

So in the spirit of providing a "factual" State of the Union, I thought I would provide a preview of the State of the Union-- of what really SHOULD be said tonight...

"My fellow Americans--

It has been a year since the Obama Administration and the Democratic Party took a 'super-majority' control of the Congress and the White House. Liberals have had control of the agenda, from what laws and budget are proposed to the sixty votes in the Senate that can break any filibuster to the signature of the President. Liberals have had the power to provide 'change' and Fiscal policy has been under control of the Democrats . Yet things are worse now then they were last year and tonight, in this State of the Union, the Republicans and Bush will be blamed.

Over the last year, the Democrats in Congress and the Office of the President have sought to stimulate the economy. As such, your Government is spending $862 billion of the peoples money and watching unemployment increase to 10%.

This recession began in January of 2007 under a REPUBLICAN and during the TWO YEARS between January 2007 and January 2009, Unemployment increased from 5.0% to 7.6%. This is a 2.6% increase in unemployment over TWO YEARS of Republicans. However, under Democratic control, from January 2009 until December 2009 unemployment has increased to 10%. This shows an unemployment increase of 2.4% in only 11 months! But for this, the Republicans must be blamed.

The Administration must squash business with Cap and Trade. This, despite increasing evidence that ManBearPig the theory of Man Made Global Warming is a fraud.

And in the business surrounding science, this administration, should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out of destroying as many current science and technology jobs as possible and kill America's drive for the stars, its history of discovery and the countless jobs, products, and inventions that our exploration of space as brought us.

During this last year, this administration has embarrassed this country in foreign relations. In giving the Prime Minister of Great Britain a set of DVD's and the Queen an iPod containing "the best of Obama" to isolating Israel, the Administration has snubbed our greatest allies. Advisors, such as Brezinski have suggested military attacks on those we call friends. Yet through this, this Administration has sought to provide the rights of American Citizens to those that seek to kill us, and this Administration will make sure that the terrorists of Al Qaeda receive a Civilian trial instead of the War Crimes trial they deserve. However- it was Bush who lied and started all of this and this is all the Republicans fault.

Let it not be said that this administration has not tried to spread socialism. But for this Conservative from Massachusetts, socialized medicine would be a done deal. Again, this is the fault of a Republican who dared to say he would oppose the Health Care bill as it is now and duped the people into believing him.

The American people need change, just not the change they say the want. How can 48% want a new President, while only 43% say they would re-elect the Messiah?

Rush Limbaugh, George Bush, Hannity, Beck, Scott Brown and the Republicans are REALLY the ones to blame as are the American people. This administration only wishes to force on its citizens what liberals know to be best, despite what the people want or what is stated in the Constitution.

In this next year, although this Administration will say IT will change, rest assurred, it is only to get re-elected. This administration shall stay dedicated to its knowledge that IT knows better than the American people and that this Administration shall decide what is best for you and more importantly what is best for us to maintain control.

Thank you,

And may God Bless America

(Don't worry, if this administration manages to get re-elected "God" will be on the "hit-list" next-- after all, what is the name of God doing in a "state" speech anyway?)

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Va. Man Arrested on Weapons Charges- Possible Terrorist or Tourist?

A Virginia man was arrested in New Jersey on weapons charges after police found him with a pair of Bushmaster rifles (one in .50 -apparently altered- and one in .308), a 37mm grenade launcher, several hundred rounds of ammo, a pair of bullet resistant vests, a Russian night vision scope, a red and white "middle-eastern" headdress, and a map of Fort Drum.

The FBI is saying there is no known specific link from this man to terrorist or to a terrorist plot, but, with the grenade launcher, the night vision scope and a map of Fort Drum, one has to wonder.

Of course, this guy was visiting New Jersey-- perhaps the weapons were all for self defense?
.
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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Kris Kobach Running for Secretary of State

GOOD NEWS for Kansas! (ok, so this is not "new" news-but I have not written on it and I only recently found out)

Dr. Kris Kobach is running for Secretary of State for the State of Kansas.

Dr. Kobach is a professor of Constitutional Law, former White House Fellow, past Chair of the Kansas GOP and a regular contributor on O'Reilly and Lou Dobbs. Kris also spends his time fighting against the over-reaching of the ACLU.

With Kris as Secretary of State, Kansans can rest assured that he will be doing everything possible to make sure that at least in Kansas, the illegal voter operations of groups like ACORN will stop- and that only those that have the right to vote, get to vote.

Kris takes a firm stance against illegal immigration. Most recently, he has taken the case of Nebraska students who are required to pay out-of-state tuition while illegal aliens are allowed to pay in-state tuition.

Of course, the liberals of the "CommunistKansas City Star" (I hate linking to and giving "idiotic" statements traffic, but I must site sources) are basically accusing Kris of all sorts of racism and all manner of evil. Apparently, illegal aliens who are over 18 should be given a free pass and be allowed to pay "resident" tuition while legal immigrants are required to pay "non-resident" tuition.

I fail to understand why a person who is in this country ILLEGALLY should receive special discounts, while people who obey the rules are required to pay full price.

I also fail to understand why those of us who disagree with illegal immigration are constantly accused of racism. In case liberals where not aware, according to the Border Patrol 2008 Performance and Accountability Report, "in FY 2008, the Border Patrol apprehended 51,970 illegal OTM [other than Mexican] aliens at the southwest border and 3,681 OTMs along the northern border." Illegal aliens come from all races and colors. Illegal immigration has NOTHING to do with any one race.

Michelle Malkin mentions Kris in her book "Culture of Corruption"
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Back to Blogging

It has been almost a year since my last post. Why?

Well, for just about the last two years I have been on a "contract for hire." Unfortunately, I became aware that the company (that I will not name) that I was contracting for appeared to have views on the Second Amendment that were quite different than mine, and at the time the contract started, one of the guys I was working with said, "I 'googled' your name and found your blog..." Although this person happened to agree with me politically, I began to worry about how the things I was saying may impact my contract.

Long story short, I am being laid-off as of Friday (29 January 2010), so I guess "holding my tongue" (or my keyboard in this case) really did not matter.

So, I am back.

I am still fighting with psoriatic-arthritis. I am now on Remicade and Methotrexate, so I am sure there will be days where writing may not be possible, but I shall do my best.

I look forward to writing and hope to see my readers return.

As always, comments are welcome- as long as they are NOT anonymous.
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