Gulf Oil Tracker
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
What, me worry?
Greenland Is Melting
Several fractures have appeared on the ice sheet. A large surface glacial lake can drain in less than two hours, pouring water down through a 980-meter-thick ice sheet at an average rate exceeding that of the flow at Niagara Falls. It was just reported on NPR and ABC news that the polar ice cap might be ice free by the end of summer for the first time in history. The original prediction was this wouldn't happen until around 2020. Yes Virginia (and President Bush), there is global warming...and we are in trouble if we continue to ignore it. The reflection of the sun off the snow and ice on the North Pole is the refrigeration system that adds cooling to the earth. Once that ice is gone, so is the cooling system. It's time to start thinking seriously about it folks.
(Science)
Friday, June 27, 2008
Lets play in the sand!
Here are a couple of sand scultures from a competition at a sand castle festival in Harrison Hot Springs, BC. Shame to think they only last until the tide comes in. Sigh!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
High Water
After checking out the farmers market downtown last Saturday we walked down State Street to the Memorial Union to see how Lake Mendota was looking. The water was still pretty high, but the ducks seemed to be loving it.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Gay Marriage is good for Business
Congratulations to all our Soulforce friends who got married this past week in California. Paige and Katy from Austin, TX got married in Santa Ana, Juff Lutes and Gary Stein from Austin, TX got married on Zuma Beach in Malibu, and our Soulforce founders Mel White and Gary Nixon who got married at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena. You can read the whole story and see the wedding pictures at Soulforce.org.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Don’t miss Gay Days & Nights Las Vegas!
Wish I could go to this!
Gay-welcoming businesses and community organizations will host the fabulous 2nd Annual Gay Days & Nights Las Vegas, a welcoming lineup of featured activities for LGBT visitors from around the world. The promotion launches on July 3 with 24/7 activities and entertainment. Presented by Cirque du Soleil, Travelocity and host hotel Paris Las Vegas, and sponsored by Instinct Magazine. Events benefit the Gay & Lesbian Center, Las Vegas Pride and Liberace Foundation. You will not want to miss this! Sign up for our newsletter, and a chance to win a Las Vegas vacation!
Photo: Al Seib, Costume: Dominique Lemieux
Steer clear of Gordo
I just heard on NPR this morning that gas has just topped $6.00 gal in Gordo, CA. which is currently the highest price in the nation. I'm just wondering how long it will take to filter across the country to get above $6.00 in Madison. I have already cut back my trips once it went over $4.00 gal. Won't be able to get out of town anymore once it hits $6.00 gal. Think I'd better order up the Mad Max movie next from Netflix just to remind myself what happens once gas becomes scarce.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
SoulForce mentioned in latest Newsweek article
Joining the ‘Out’ Club
Swenson's group flies under the radar. It does not have a meeting
room or a faculty adviser.
Lisa Miller
NEWSWEEK
While in the secular world some colleges are debating whether to designate special restrooms
for transgendered students, Christian colleges are pondering whether to allow gay students to
organize at all. Andy Swenson is an unlikely revolutionary. Raised in a conservative Lutheran
household, he grew up believing that homosexuality was a sin. He arrived on the campus of
Bethel University in St. Paul, Minn., and happily agreed to sign its covenant, a statement of
beliefs and forbidden practices that wedged "homosexual behavior" between "drunkenness" and
"lying." "I was, like, 'Yeah, it is a sin'." As the semesters went by, Swenson could not keep
pretending. He started telling his friends that he was gay.
Now, for more than a year, Swenson has been one of about a dozen students intent on
organizing an official gay-straight alliance at Bethel. The group flies under the radar. It doesn't
have a room, so the students meet near the cafeteria. It doesn't have a faculty adviser. Getting
approval won't be easy—"a student group can't conflict with our mission or core values," a
spokeswoman says—but next year Swenson's group, which still has no name, plans to submit
the paperwork anyway.
America's Christian colleges may be the last bastion of traditional values—places where parents
can continue, in absentia, to protect their children from the corrupting influences of the world and
where the kids themselves often promise, as Swenson did, to abstain not just from homosexual
sex but from premarital sex, adultery and inappropriate fondling—and greed, idolatry and
slander. But as homosexuality ceases to be a cultural taboo, evangelicals increasingly have had
to grapple openly with the question of how to deal with the gays and lesbians in their midst.
Now, even on very conservative Christian campuses, there are gays who are "out" and who
want their authority figures to recognize them—and their sexuality—as deserving of God's love.
Thanks largely to the efforts of Soul Force, which encourages dialogue between gays and
Christians on campus, these students are trying to get organized.
Gay and straight students at Samford University, in Birmingham, Ala., meet once a week at a
church off campus; the group's president is optimistic that the club will be approved within a year.
At Gordon College, in Wenham, Mass., a gay-straight club recently failed to gain approval from
the student government in a close vote, triggering a tsunami in the tiny community. At Seattle
Pacific University, Beth van Dam spearheaded a failed effort this year to form a legitimate club
for gay students. "The church needs to recognize that this is not a big deal," she says. "Christ's
teachings are about love."
These demanding new voices put administrators in a tight spot, wedged between the traditional
Christian views they uphold, their genuine desire to support the students and their obligations to
donors and alumni. Les Steele was one of the administrators who denied van Dam's application.
Christians increasingly recognize that "human sexuality is a mystery," he says. But
"homosexuality is not understood as God's best intentions for human sexuality"—and it would
violate the school's moral code to declare otherwise. At places like the Southern Baptist Union
University, in Jackson, Tenn., a gay-student group remains unthinkable. Rachel Watson—who
Joining the ‘Out’ Club calls herself "a very stand-out lesbian, with the short hair and the guy clothes"—was in a small
clique of gay students, but they never called it a club. A spokesman says such a club, official or
unofficial, would not be permitted at Union, where the penalty for "homosexual activities" is
severe: a fine, community service, counseling, probation or parental notification. Watson just
graduated, "thank the Lord," and soon will go on the road as a gay activist with Soul Force.
CORRECTION (published June 12, 2008): Rick Warren did not announce the visit of a group of
gay fathers to his Saddleback Church on Father's Day, nor did he or his staff initiate it--as this
story originally reported. The group, which has ties to the gay activist organization SoulForce,
plans to attend church at Saddleback on Father's Day and will meet with members of the
Saddleback staff the following day. Neither Warren nor his wife Kay will attend the meeting.
Swenson's group flies under the radar. It does not have a meeting
room or a faculty adviser.
Lisa Miller
NEWSWEEK
While in the secular world some colleges are debating whether to designate special restrooms
for transgendered students, Christian colleges are pondering whether to allow gay students to
organize at all. Andy Swenson is an unlikely revolutionary. Raised in a conservative Lutheran
household, he grew up believing that homosexuality was a sin. He arrived on the campus of
Bethel University in St. Paul, Minn., and happily agreed to sign its covenant, a statement of
beliefs and forbidden practices that wedged "homosexual behavior" between "drunkenness" and
"lying." "I was, like, 'Yeah, it is a sin'." As the semesters went by, Swenson could not keep
pretending. He started telling his friends that he was gay.
Now, for more than a year, Swenson has been one of about a dozen students intent on
organizing an official gay-straight alliance at Bethel. The group flies under the radar. It doesn't
have a room, so the students meet near the cafeteria. It doesn't have a faculty adviser. Getting
approval won't be easy—"a student group can't conflict with our mission or core values," a
spokeswoman says—but next year Swenson's group, which still has no name, plans to submit
the paperwork anyway.
America's Christian colleges may be the last bastion of traditional values—places where parents
can continue, in absentia, to protect their children from the corrupting influences of the world and
where the kids themselves often promise, as Swenson did, to abstain not just from homosexual
sex but from premarital sex, adultery and inappropriate fondling—and greed, idolatry and
slander. But as homosexuality ceases to be a cultural taboo, evangelicals increasingly have had
to grapple openly with the question of how to deal with the gays and lesbians in their midst.
Now, even on very conservative Christian campuses, there are gays who are "out" and who
want their authority figures to recognize them—and their sexuality—as deserving of God's love.
Thanks largely to the efforts of Soul Force, which encourages dialogue between gays and
Christians on campus, these students are trying to get organized.
Gay and straight students at Samford University, in Birmingham, Ala., meet once a week at a
church off campus; the group's president is optimistic that the club will be approved within a year.
At Gordon College, in Wenham, Mass., a gay-straight club recently failed to gain approval from
the student government in a close vote, triggering a tsunami in the tiny community. At Seattle
Pacific University, Beth van Dam spearheaded a failed effort this year to form a legitimate club
for gay students. "The church needs to recognize that this is not a big deal," she says. "Christ's
teachings are about love."
These demanding new voices put administrators in a tight spot, wedged between the traditional
Christian views they uphold, their genuine desire to support the students and their obligations to
donors and alumni. Les Steele was one of the administrators who denied van Dam's application.
Christians increasingly recognize that "human sexuality is a mystery," he says. But
"homosexuality is not understood as God's best intentions for human sexuality"—and it would
violate the school's moral code to declare otherwise. At places like the Southern Baptist Union
University, in Jackson, Tenn., a gay-student group remains unthinkable. Rachel Watson—who
Joining the ‘Out’ Club calls herself "a very stand-out lesbian, with the short hair and the guy clothes"—was in a small
clique of gay students, but they never called it a club. A spokesman says such a club, official or
unofficial, would not be permitted at Union, where the penalty for "homosexual activities" is
severe: a fine, community service, counseling, probation or parental notification. Watson just
graduated, "thank the Lord," and soon will go on the road as a gay activist with Soul Force.
CORRECTION (published June 12, 2008): Rick Warren did not announce the visit of a group of
gay fathers to his Saddleback Church on Father's Day, nor did he or his staff initiate it--as this
story originally reported. The group, which has ties to the gay activist organization SoulForce,
plans to attend church at Saddleback on Father's Day and will meet with members of the
Saddleback staff the following day. Neither Warren nor his wife Kay will attend the meeting.
Friday, June 13, 2008
ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION?
Just when you thought we were safe from Fred Phelps and his looniness, I checked his website-GODHATESFAGS.com and he is still promoting crap like this. Is there no end to his hatefulness?
Phelps says in a press release " Thank God for 4 dead Boy Scouts at the hands of an angry God and his tornadoes - a favorite weapon of his wrath. God hates Nebraska & Iowa for persecuting His servants at WBC (his church). These Boy Scouts died for the sins of Nebraska and Iowa.
WBC will picket the funerals."
And today, 6/13/2008, 3:30pm-4:15pm in Jacksonsville , FL, Phelps says he has traded 2 planned pickets for airtime on the "Bubba the Love Sponge" radio program. Mr Sponge offered the servants of God at WBC the opportunity to preach their message - you turned your country over to fags, now your soldiers are coming home in body bags.
I had heard that Phelps and his church of hate had been shut down from his picketing after loosing a lawsuit for picketing a soldiers funeral in Missouri, but seems he is still at it.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Almost finished
We started a little late, but we are close to finishing our ark. With one storm moving in on the tail of the one before, farm fields have turned into lakes, cities need boats just to go down mainstreet to get thru town and beautiful lake Delton had a breach which drained this resort area lake in about 2 1/2 hours. Basements are flooded just when we need them to take shelter from the tornados. County roads are covered with water and several interstate roads have closed due to rising rivers becoming uncomfortably close to covering the roads. Thunder and lightening herald another storm approaching, so it is almost time to shut down for the night and head to the second floor.An elusive group just outside of Abilene, Texas claimed the end of the world was coming today, July 12th. I was beginning to think they might be right.
The House of Yahweh recently gave ABC reporter Brian Ross access to their west Texas compound. Yahweh leader Yisrayl Hawkins says a nuclear holocaust will come June 12th and only members of his group will be saved.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Gas prices got you down?
Gas just went over $4.00 gal in Madison today. They also said it may go up to $4.50 or over by the end of the week. $5.00 or over by this summer. And thats for those who can use regular. Who knows what premium and diesel will be. Here's what truckers are doing in Spain. Maybe we need to do the same here.
Spanish truckers begin fuel protest
By CIARAN GILES – 3 hours ago
MADRID, Spain (AP) — Gas stations in Madrid and the northeastern Catalonia region began running out of fuel Monday as an indefinite strike by truckers began to bite.
The protest over soaring fuel costs began at midnight Sunday.
Antonio Onieva, president of Madrid's station owners organization, told reporters that by 5:30 p.m., 15 percent of the capital's outlets had run out of fuel. Manuel Amado, president of Catalonia's owners' federation, said 40 percent of Catalonia's 1,714 stations had sold out.
The stoppage led to lengthy lines at many gasoline stations across the country as drivers rushed to fill up.
Drivers were paying the equivalent of about $7.32 per gallon of diesel Monday. By contrast, diesel was selling in the U.S. for about $4.75.
Truckers also blocked a number of roads around the country, including some leading into the center of Barcelona and the international border with France.
"We are the ones who move the goods that this country needs to keep working. If we stop because we haven't got the money to buy fuel then the country will stop," Julio Villascusa, president of the transport association Fenadismer, told Cadena SER radio.
Fenadismer representatives and Development Ministry officials met Monday but failed to reach agreement, stretching the strike to a second day.
Fenadismer said more than 90,000 drivers have been called to take part in the strike.
The strike was not expected to have a major effect on city food markets until later in the week.
There was almost no movement of trucks early Monday at Mercamadrid, the main wholesale food market for the Spanish capital.
Development Ministry transport chief Juan Miguel Sanchez said the government will guarantee market supplies.
Fenadismer representatives and Development Ministry officials met Monday but failed to reach agreement, stretching the strike to a second day.
A strike by fishermen across Spain also protesting fuel costs has entered a second week. News reports said smaller boats that fish closer to the coast had now joined the protest, which began May 30.
The stoppages are part of Europe-wide protests against rising prices.
Spanish truckers begin fuel protest
By CIARAN GILES – 3 hours ago
MADRID, Spain (AP) — Gas stations in Madrid and the northeastern Catalonia region began running out of fuel Monday as an indefinite strike by truckers began to bite.
The protest over soaring fuel costs began at midnight Sunday.
Antonio Onieva, president of Madrid's station owners organization, told reporters that by 5:30 p.m., 15 percent of the capital's outlets had run out of fuel. Manuel Amado, president of Catalonia's owners' federation, said 40 percent of Catalonia's 1,714 stations had sold out.
The stoppage led to lengthy lines at many gasoline stations across the country as drivers rushed to fill up.
Drivers were paying the equivalent of about $7.32 per gallon of diesel Monday. By contrast, diesel was selling in the U.S. for about $4.75.
Truckers also blocked a number of roads around the country, including some leading into the center of Barcelona and the international border with France.
"We are the ones who move the goods that this country needs to keep working. If we stop because we haven't got the money to buy fuel then the country will stop," Julio Villascusa, president of the transport association Fenadismer, told Cadena SER radio.
Fenadismer representatives and Development Ministry officials met Monday but failed to reach agreement, stretching the strike to a second day.
Fenadismer said more than 90,000 drivers have been called to take part in the strike.
The strike was not expected to have a major effect on city food markets until later in the week.
There was almost no movement of trucks early Monday at Mercamadrid, the main wholesale food market for the Spanish capital.
Development Ministry transport chief Juan Miguel Sanchez said the government will guarantee market supplies.
Fenadismer representatives and Development Ministry officials met Monday but failed to reach agreement, stretching the strike to a second day.
A strike by fishermen across Spain also protesting fuel costs has entered a second week. News reports said smaller boats that fish closer to the coast had now joined the protest, which began May 30.
The stoppages are part of Europe-wide protests against rising prices.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Kinsey Fix
If you cant wait for the 17th to see the Kinsey sicks on America's Got Talent, this will give you a little Kinsey Fix. God love em'.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Hang on folks!!!
June 17th on America's got talent...yep....its KINDSEY SICKS~Hope somebody will record it as I'll be out of town.
Monday, June 2, 2008
The Onion Movie
For all my friends who read the Onion (published here in Madison),now there's the Onion movie. I think I need to get it.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
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