FREEDOM TOWER errr 1 WTC

I was a little got in March when I heard they had dropped the name Freedom Tower and instead are calling it 1 World Trade Center, which is it's legal address. I just saw an iReport from sjunat55 on CNN, http://tinyurl.com/yz7wuaa showing what progress has been made on 1 WTC. What ever the name, we will never forget those who lost their lives that day in 2001! Check it out. It's a beginning... They already have the first renter signed up. A company from China...

Also, a week or so ago, I watched live on CNN as the USS New York (built with steel from WTC Towers) sailed up the Hudson. I was speechless.

Until next post....

CNN Heroes and Vacation

I just added a link to the side bar where you can vote for the 2009 CNN Heroes. Their stories are amazing. You can vote as many times as you want. I watched the telecast last night announcing who the top 10 were this year and several of the stories had me in tears. It made me feel like my problems are just dust in the wind...


We just got back from a week in a Tennessee cabin. Weather wasn't great but it wasn't too bad either. Had some overcast skies but that helped keep the heat down so it was a fair trade. Besides, clouds didn't keep me out of the Hot Tub! Here's a picture I took of the view from the deck.

Our cabin was at the top of Bluff Mountain and very private. We had a couple deer that wandered up in to the yard but mostly it was just the squirrels trying to act like monkeys as they jumped from tree to tree. It was a little daunting when we discovered a pretty good size snake skin that was shed near the front of the cabin....creepy! Was glad the owner never paid a visit to us lol! We did some driving around and walked some of the trails. I love mountain streams and took a lot of pictures of the water and foliage. Here's a few of them...

This one is of a flower that was out in front of the cabin.

The next 2 are my favorites...

These both look better when enlarged as desktop wallpaper :) I got chills the first time a saw the larger print of the one with the sunlight. Hubby took it out the window of the truck. It was like God was reaching down to the water or at least an angel. It was nice to get away for a short time. It had been 6 years since our last vacation so we were overdue.



Have to go....don't forget to vote....until next post...

Busy, busy summer...

I'm always amazed at how fast time can fly by. It's been a busy summer at the farm. In May our daughter and 2 kids moved back in with us. Although it's been busy, it's been fun seeing the world through their eyes too. The joy in the simple stuff that we, as adults, often miss.

In June we purchased a play set. Not just a slide and swings for our grandkids. LOL This one has 2 swings, trapeze (we switch this with a baby swing), rope ladder, rock wall, upper deck, picnic table, sandbox (we decided against putting sand in it because of all the cats we have), wave slide and a tunnel slide. Yeah, we pretty much bought the works. Putting it together was something else. We had my family over on a Saturday and got the base put together. Then Hubby and I finished it off a little at a time over the next couple weeks. It was fun to watch Jack and Maggie notice new things on it. Oh, I forgot the telescope! The kids really like that because they can look out over the open field. It's been great having somewhere for them to play when they get stir crazy inside. Jack is still learning how to swing himself and Maggie's a little daredevil so we have to keep an eye on her. Faith and Lilly have been over and they all play well together on it.

Hubby also got a new truck this summer. A blue 2009 GMC Sierra 1500. It has chrome bumpers and we think the peacock (now nicknamed Din-Din) has fallen in love with his own image. Every day when I get home the dumb bird is standing at one of the bumpers just admiring himself. Crazy bird!

I got my Mom, Dad, both sisters and one of my Aunts to go see Public Enemies with me on opening day! What a great movie! I wanted to make it back to see it again but things just didn't work out. It was interesting to watch because with this movie I saw so much of the making online and when I went to Crown Point. How they would be in a bank that was filmed in Madison Wisconsin and then step out the door and the streets would be from filming in Columbus, Wisconsin. Unless you followed the filming you wouldn't know this but I did watch for those things. Can't wait to get the DVD (I heard 12/15/09 release date) so Hubby can see it too. It's one I think he'll like. Now the wait is on for Alice in Wonderland....March 2010 seems a long way off.....but worth the wait if publicity has any truth to it.

Other than that it's just been the same old, same old...work, eat sleep....

Until next post.....

The promised Ruse' pictures

I should explain the name I guess. Blogger won't let me use the accent marks but Ruse' is french for wily. Although she doesn't look very wily in these photos...believe me she is!! As well as sneaky, ornery, playful, obnoxious, curious, cute, adorable and very lovable.

The picture above is Ruse' when she was about 6 weeks old. We figure she was about 3-4 weeks old when her lazy Momma left her on our porch back on Halloween. It's not all her Mommas fault. She had come up to eat and Ruse' had followed her up to the porch, then we had some trick-or-treaters come by and it scared the Momma off and Ruse' was left there not even know what had happened lol. I brought her inside and later took her back to her Momma in the barn. Two days later, she followed Momma back to the porch but this time when I took her back to her Momma, the Momma didn't want to take her :( Here is a more current picture of her.

She has been getting spring fever and I know she will be outdoors soon. She is good with the Grandkids, letting them carry her around, but when she's done...she's done and you'd better let her go.

Have been keeping busy with the Grandkids and the kids got me on Facebook, so some time has been spent there. I'm constantly checking my volcano sites. I mostly watch Chaiten and Redoubt but there are several volcanoes that are actively erupting.

This post is short but it has been bugging me that I hadn't posted the promised pics of Ruse'. I'm not sure anyone even stops by here anymore since I can't seem to post daily...

Time to do some invoicing. Until next post...

More on Mt. Redoubt

Photo courtesy of AVO/USGS from the Hut Webcam at 19:55:58 on 3-23-09

For some reason the web cam came back online late yesterday and we got to see the 6Th explosive event, yeah!! They also posted some pictures from the flyover they did yesterday.

The pictures above are courtesy of AVO/USGS and taken by Game McGimsey

The above pictures are of the Drift Valley where it's obvious there were some mud flows. After the 6 explosive events Mt. Redoubt quieted down for a few hours. I've been watching the webcorders and for the past 2-3 hours she has slowly started making noise again. Could be the beginning of more. For more information and pictures go to the AVO site here http://tinyurl.com/dd42l3

Also, one year ago today was the day I took off work and drove to Crown Point, Indiana to watch them shoot part of the movie Public Enemies. It's been 1 year since Johnny Depp said Hi to me. I posted about it at the time and if I can get it to work I'd like to re-post it here. You see, that's where all this Blogging started. First I was following Public Enemies on a blog and heard they were going to shoot the Crown Point jailbreak of Dillinger's at he real location. One thing led to another and before long I was Blogging. Here's the story of my day, one year ago.

March 24, 2008 - I was lucky enough to go to Crown Point on Monday. Left home at 7:30est and drove the 3 hours to get there listening to Vanessa's Bliss and Sweeney Todd CD's, over and over, so I was pumped when I arrived. When I first got there, around 10:30 the crowd wasn't thick but it did surround the blocked-off area. Thanks to SurferMom's info and Google I was parked just 1/2 block from the trailers. I hadn't been there 30 minutes and I got my first glimpse of Johnny as they took him the 2 blocks to the jail! He is so kind to his fans. I know this has been said before but it's just so true!! Any time he was out in public he always acknowledged the crowd by smiling and waving.


Luckily, I happened to be along the road they used to ferry him back-and-forth. The only bad thing was my camera was having battery issues!!! UGH!! I had a whole new pack of 6 batteries but it was the camera, evidently not the batteries! I should have bought a disposable one...hindsight! I didn't get many pictures of Johnny but I did take some of the set before it pooped out on me. I watched from the front of the jail for awhile and saw Mr. Mann come out and wave and bow to the crowd. I found it interesting how they would yell 'Rolling' and everyone (the whole crowd) would immediately hush until we heard 'Cut'. It left you with a feeling of participating in the movie.


After awhile I went back to the side street, since most everyone was up in front of the jail watching, so I would have time to get my camera ready for when they brought Johnny back. It seemed that if I took the batteries out and put them back in it would work ok for a few pics and them quit again. (cold draining the batteries?) When I heard the crowd screaming up front I quickly got into position. As his SUV rounded the corner I realize my camera wasn't going to work again. As his SUV got closer, I saw he had the window down and he was on my side! I said 'Hi Johnny!' and he looked me dead in the eye, said 'Hi' gave his signature little nod of the head and salute with that gorgeous smile of his. If I had reached out, and he had reached out, I could have 'high-five' him, he was THAT close to me!! And I will say right now...He is much better looking in real life than on screen! He made my day!



I floated around the rest of the day seeing him go back and forth to the set. Talked to a lot of the people in the crowd, some of the extras and one very nice lady doing security. I especially enjoyed talking to all the kids that were there. I talked to one little girl, around 9 years old, who was there with her Grandpa and 2 older sisters. She was asking everyone if they had Johnny's phone number. She was just precious! When she tried to tell me Johnny was her boyfriend I quickly told her "He can't be your boyfriend because my granddaughter says he's my boyfriend." She was just too cute and swore she had seen ALL his movies. The Grandpa and I had a laugh over that one because she isn't even old enough to have seen or get into half his movies.


Unfortunately I couldn't stick around to see if he would come out after everything was done to do autographs since I had such a long drive home. I had already stayed 2 hours longer than I had planned but I'm glad for the fans that could stay and did get to shake hands with him.


I may not have the photo of getting that close to Johnny but I will always have the memory of him smiling at me and saying Hi.


Now I have to find a way to wrap my head around work enough to finish up for the day and get the heck out of here. Until next post....

Mount Redoubt

Hi Osh! Thanks for stopping by :)

I copied this picture above from the AVO-USGS site, http://tinyurl.com/dd42l3 , taken by Dennis Anderson of Homer AK on the morning of March 18Th. Last night Mt Redoubt had 4 explosive eruptions through the night and a 5Th one early this morning. AVO has reported that one seismic station and one web cam have stopped functioning. This could mean a lot of things but the volcano is fairly remote and they have a lot of darkness still this time of year so hard to get a handle on what's really going on visually. The one thing to keep in mind is that ash and electronics don't play well together. She is keeping things interesting. The poor vulcanologist's at AVO have to feel like yo-yo's about now. Redoubt would surge to activity and the warnings would go up. They began to staff the center 24/7 to keep a close eye on it. (I won't even mention a certain politicians remarks about 'something called volcano monitoring'...) Then she would quiet down and they would lower the warning only to have her rumble again and have to raise it...up, down, up...Well, last night I guess she got the last word...for now.

The latest wecorders show activity but not as strong as over night. Here's a couple links to the webcorders in case anyone wants to check them out. http://tinyurl.com/cxwypx and http://tinyurl.com/cww4tp I know the airlines have rescheduled and cancelled some flights in the area, schools are open and so far things seem to be under control. AVO is planning an over flight later today so hopefully I can get a glimpse or a picture or 2 when they post their findings. Will post more when I get an update.

Interesting Stories...

Here's a couple stories my Dad sent me. I found them interesting because of the locations of the stories. The tie in with gangsters and I guess a 'six degrees of Dillinger' and the Dillinger Era.

Many years ago, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago ... Capone wasn't famous for anything heroic. He was notorious for enmeshing the windy city in everything from bootlegged booze and prostitution to murder.

Capone had a lawyer nicknamed 'Easy Eddie.' He was Capone's lawyer for a good reason. Eddie was very good! In fact, Eddie's skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time.

To show his appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money big, but Eddie got special dividends, as well. For instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day.. The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago City block.

Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little consideration to the atrocity that went on around him.

Eddie did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly. Eddie saw to it that his young son had clothes, cars, and a good education. Nothing was withheld. Price was no object.

And, despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him right from wrong. Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was.

Yet, with all his wealth and influence, there were two things he couldn't give his son; he couldn't pass on a good name or a good example.

One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Easy Eddie wanted to rectify wrongs he had done. He decided he would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Al 'Scarface' Capone, clean up his tarnished name, and offer his son some semblance of integrity. To do this, he would have to testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be great. So, he testified.

Within the year, Easy Eddie's life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago Street . But in his eyes, he had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer, at the greatest price he could ever pay. Police removed from his pockets a rosary, a crucifix, a religious medallion, and a poem clipped from a magazine.

The poem read:

The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour. Now is the only time you own. Live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in time. For the clock may soon be still.'

STORY NUMBER TWO:

World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O'Hare.

He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific.

One day his entire squadron was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank.

He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship.

His flight leader told him to return to the carrier. Reluctantly, he dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet.

As he was returning to the mother ship, he saw something that turned his blood cold; a squadron of Japanese aircraft was speeding its way toward the American fleet.

The American fighters were gone on a sortie, and the fleet was all but defenseless. He couldn't reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet. Nor could he warn the fleet of the approaching danger. There was only one thing to do. He must somehow divert them from the fleet.

Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mounted 50 caliber's blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another. Butch wove in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was finally spent.

Undaunted, he continued the assault. He dove at the planes, trying to clip a wing or tail in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible, rendering them unfit to fly.

Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took off in another direction.

Deeply relieved, Butch O'Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the carrier.

Upon arrival, he reported in and related the event surrounding his return. The film from the gun-camera mounted on his plane told the tale. It showed the extent of Butch's daring attempt to protect his fleet. He had, in fact, destroyed five enemy aircraft. This took place on February 20, 1942 , and for that action Butch became the Navy's first Ace of W.W.II, and the first Naval Aviator to win the Congressional Medal of Honor.

A year later Butch was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29. His home town would not allow the memory of this WW II hero to fade, and today, O'Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man.

So, the next time you find yourself at O'Hare International, give some thought to visiting Butch's memorial displaying his statue and his Medal of Honor. It's located between Terminals 1 and 2.

SO WHAT DO THESE TWO STORIES HAVE TO DO WITH EACH OTHER?

Butch O'Hare was 'Easy Eddie's' son.

Until next post...

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!!

The announcement that AIG is to give their executives over $165 million in bonus pay has me seeing red!!!! These are the same people who put the company in financial trouble to start with and who's poor business practices and immoral lending began the tumble of the US into a major economic crisis!! Oh sure, 25 of these people had said they will work for $1/year. Well, hell, so would I if I knew I was getting $6+ million bonus to tide me over....grrrrrrrrrrrrr If you or I caused our company to be in such financial straits, we wouldn't HAVE a job. These people need to be put on the unemployment line and see how the real people live! It will never happen but they should be forced to live on the street like they have forced so many others to have to do.

I would love to go on CNN when they are talking to these bozos just so I can harrumph and snicker to their faces!!! I still blame this on Bush and Cheney. Bush was so focused on killing the man who tried to kill his Daddy that he lost focus on the homeland and the real war we should have been fighting, al Qaeda! Remember when a reporter said something to Bush about the gas prices, back when it was over $3 and $4, and he didn't have a clue what the reporter was talking about? He had lost touch with 'his subjects' just as surely as King George III did back in 1776!

Ok, stepping off the soap box. Just had to let that out. Besides, this is my blog. Don't like what I say? Get your own blog LOL

How about a trip down memory lane? A friend sent me an email full of wonderfully old pictures when things were less hectic...

25¢ Gas anyone? (yea, I found out where to find the cent sign!)






Anyone remember these?


We actually still have this McDonald's sign in town. Granted it doesn't say 15¢ anymore....






Anyone know what this






or this?

Did you go to a school with Fire Escape Tubes?










This is what you saw late at night when TV wasn't 24/7.









Thanks Lynn!! I really enjoyed the trip down memory lane....

Until next post...

Daylight Savings Time...

Spring forward....fall back. Indiana for the past couple years has observed the DST. Yesterday morning when I got up it didn't seem so bad to move the clocks up an hour. However, this morning was another day! Ugh, hate driving to work in the dark again. It's not that I don't like DST. I just don't understand why they can't start it later in the year. If they started it just a wee 3-4 weeks later then the sun would be starting up and at least the kids waiting for buses would be more visible. Yes, yes, you should always be careful and drive safely but we all know that things happen. I don't have kids at home any more but there are still quite a few that I see on my way to work that stand/play, in the dark, at the end of their driveway.

The local newspaper had an article yesterday by, what I can only assume, a pro-DST reporter. It stated the top argument from Hoosiers about DST is that their bodies have trouble adjusting. Let's get real here! It's only an hour, not jet lag!! I'm not a fan of DST but I adjust pretty quickly. My only problem is the darkness in the morning in early spring and the lightness at 10:00 at night in July-August. Hard to get to sleep with daylight peeking at you when your not used to it. That is one thing I guess I don't adjust to quickly. A long time ago, in another lifetime, I was a night owl. Thirty years of working 8-5 has completely converted me to a day person.

Grrrrr lost power here at work! Again!! Right in the middle of my train of thought! I was on a roll too. Or at least I thought I was lol...

Power went out this morning also for about 1-1/2 hours. This time it is was just a bleep. Just enough to have to restart everything. Can you imagine if you worked in a clock shop today? You would have had to reset clocks when you got to work only to have the power go out and have to set them again!! Ok, maybe I'm the only one who thinks that is hilarious...

Gotta go for now...until next post....

New Roof and Birthdays...

Back at work after being off to have a new roof and some siding repair done on the house. I'll have to say I am impressed with our Insurance Company. Reported wind damage on the 2/19. Had estimate in hand on 2/22 (a Sunday!). Had check in hand on 2/25. Then had to wait for good weather to get the actual work done but from start to finish....in less than 2 weeks! After listening to the people who had flood damage last year I'll admit I was leery of getting everything settled quickly. We had to add some $$ to it so we could have the garage still match the house and we put guttering up and it looks great!

March birthdays have begun...Hubby started them off on the 3/2. He got the flu for his birthday, gee isn't that a fun one.

Happy Birthday!!

3/2 Hubby
3/4 Krista (niece)
3/18 Alicia (sis)
3/20 Tom (s-i-l)
3/24 Kay (sis)
3/29 Jeremy (son)
Many, many more if I count Aunts, Uncles, cousins, in-laws and out-laws... Ok, now for some...


This Day in History:

How many of you remember when these first came out???

March 5, 1963

Hula-Hoop patented

On this day in 1963, the Hula-Hoop, a hip-swiveling toy that became a huge fad across America when it was first marketed by Wham-O in 1958, is patented by the company's co-founder, Arthur "Spud" Melin. An estimated 25 million Hula-Hoops were sold in its first four months of production alone.

In 1948, friends Arthur Melin and Richard Knerr founded a company in California to sell a slingshot they created to shoot meat up to falcons they used for hunting. The company’s name, Wham-O, came from the sound the slingshots supposedly made. Wham-O eventually branched out from slingshots, selling boomerangs and other sporting goods. Its first hit toy, a flying plastic disc known as the Frisbee, debuted in 1957. The Frisbee was originally marketed under a different name, the Pluto Platter, in an effort to capitalize on America's fascination with UFOs.

Melina and Knerr were inspired to develop the Hula-Hoop after they saw a wooden hoop that Australian children twirled around their waists during gym class. Wham-O began producing a plastic version of the hoop, dubbed "Hula" after the hip-gyrating Hawaiian dance of the same name, and demonstrating it on Southern California playgrounds. Hula-Hoop mania took off from there.

The enormous popularity of the Hula-Hoop was short-lived and within a matter of months, the masses were on to the next big thing. However, the Hula-Hoop never faded away completely and still has its fans today. According to Ripley's Believe It or Not, in April 2004, a performer at the Big Apple Circus in Boston simultaneously spun 100 hoops around her body. Earlier that same year, in January, according to the Guinness World Records, two people in Tokyo, Japan, managed to spin the world's largest hoop--at 13 feet, 4 inches--around their waists at least three times each.

Following the Hula-Hoop, Wham-O continued to produce a steady stream of wacky and beloved novelty items, including the Superball, Water Wiggle, Silly String, Slip 'n' Slide and the Hacky Sack.

Those were the days. Leave a comment on what your favorite childhood toy was. Until next post....

Mom's

Because I'm missing my Mommy who is out in AZ for the winter......and because I've been on BOTH sides of Mommy....

MOTHERS
(From Mommy to Mom to Mother)

Real Mothers don't eat quiche;
They don't have time to make it.

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils
Are probably in the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors,
Filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough
Doesn't come out of carpets.

Real Mothers don't want to know what
The vacuum just sucked up.

Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?'
And get their answer when a little
Voice says, 'Because I love you best.'

Real Mothers know that a child's growth
Is not measured by height or years or grade...
It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to Mother...

The Images of Mother

4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!

8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!

12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.

14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either.

16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.

18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!

25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it!

35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.

45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?

65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure she carries, or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes,
Because that is the doorway to her heart,
The place where love resides.
The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,
But true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.

And the wheels of the Bus go round and round.

Couldn't think of a title but this pretty much means life just keeps going. No matter the joys or sorrows in life, the wheels just keep turning.

Yesterday we had a birthday party for Faith who turned a big 6 on the 18Th. The party was at Chuck E. Cheese and the kids had a blast. I wasn't too bad at Skeet-ball :) Jack and Maggie liked it too since if you didn't get the ball all the way up to the holes it came back so they got to play for a long time on 1 token lol. That was until Maggie decided to climb up the board and try to PUT the ball in the hole. Then Jack thought it was a pretty good idea too so he started trying to climb up it...I'm sure you get the picture....we had to move on to another game lol.

Since last post my volcano watch has gone up a notch. Not only is Chaiten still puffing away and putting on quite a show but now Galeras in Colombia is active and also Mt Redoubt in Alaska is trying to get some attention.

NASCAR is back!! Jeff Gordon had a chance at Daytona. If it hadn't rained who know what may have happened. I still don't understand why they didn't re-start the race. Daytona has lighting for Pete's sake!! Yesterdays race was looking good and I was really hoping he'd get a win but it's not to be....yet. Heck, I'm just glad to see him running up front again!

Last week we purchased a new computer. It's a HP Elite. 750 hard drive, 8GB RAM and a 22" flat screen. It has Vista as the OS but we are getting used to it. It helps that our son is a computer guru, well, he's our computer guru lol...Spent most of last week transfering stuff from old comp. to new comp. Old computer was still working so we figured we'd put it upstairs for now.

And now some Today in History:

February 23, 1954

Children receive first polio vaccine

On this day in 1954, a group of children from Arsenal Elementary School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, receive the first injections of the new polio vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk.

Though not as devastating as the plague or influenza, poliomyelitis was a highly contagious disease that emerged in terrifying outbreaks and seemed impossible to stop. Attacking the nerve cells and sometimes the central nervous system, polio caused muscle deterioration, paralysis and even death. Even as medicine vastly improved in the first half of the 20th century in the Western world, polio still struck, affecting mostly children but sometimes adults as well. The most famous victim of a 1921 outbreak in America was future President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, then a young politician. The disease spread quickly, leaving his legs permanently paralyzed.

After mass inoculations began in 1954, everyone marveled at the high success rate--some 60-70 percent--until the vaccine caused a sudden outbreak of some 200 cases. After it was determined that the cases were all caused by one faulty batch of the vaccine, production standards were improved, and by August 1955 some 4 million shots had been given. Cases of polio in the U.S. dropped from 14,647 in 1955 to 5,894 in 1956, and by 1959 some 90 other countries were using Salk’s vaccine.

A later version of the polio vaccine, developed by Albert Sabin, used a weakened form of the live virus and was swallowed instead of injected. It was licensed in 1962 and soon became more popular than Salk's vaccine, as it was cheaper to make and easier for people to take. There is still no cure for polio once it has been contracted, but the use of vaccines has virtually eliminated polio in the United States. Globally, there are now around 250,000 cases each year, mostly in developing countries. The World Health Organization has set a goal of eradicating polio from the entire world by 2010.

February 23, 1945

U.S. flag raised on Iwo Jima

During the bloody Battle for Iwo Jima, U.S. Marines from the 3rd Platoon, E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Division take the crest of Mount Suribachi, the island's highest peak and most strategic position, and raise the U.S. flag. Marine photographer Louis Lowery was with them and recorded the event. American soldiers fighting for control of Suribachi's slopes cheered the raising of the flag, and several hours later more Marines headed up to the crest with a larger flag. Joe Rosenthal, a photographer with the Associated Press, met them along the way and recorded the raising of the second flag along with a Marine still photographer and a motion-picture cameraman.

Rosenthal took three photographs atop Suribachi. The first, which showed five Marines and one Navy corpsman struggling to hoist the heavy flag pole, became the most reproduced photograph in history and won him a Pulitzer Prize. The accompanying motion-picture footage attests to the fact that the picture was not posed. Of the other two photos, the second was similar to the first but less affecting, and the third was a group picture of 18 soldiers smiling and waving for the camera. Many of these men, including three of the six soldiers seen raising the flag in the famous Rosenthal photo, were killed before the conclusion of the Battle for Iwo Jima in late March.

In early 1945, U.S. military command sought to gain control of the island of Iwo Jima in advance of the projected aerial campaign against the Japanese home islands. Iwo Jima, a tiny volcanic island located in the Pacific about 700 miles southeast of Japan, was to be a base for fighter aircraft and an emergency-landing site for bombers. On February 19, 1945, after three days of heavy naval and aerial bombardment, the first wave of U.S. Marines stormed onto Iwo Jima's inhospitable shores.

The Japanese garrison on the island numbered 22,000 heavily entrenched men. Their commander, General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, had been expecting an Allied invasion for months and used the time wisely to construct an intricate and deadly system of underground tunnels, fortifications, and artillery that withstood the initial Allied bombardment. By the evening of the first day, despite incessant mortar fire, 30,000 U.S. Marines commanded by General Holland Smith managed to establish a solid beachhead.

During the next few days, the Marines advanced inch by inch under heavy fire from Japanese artillery and suffered suicidal charges from the Japanese infantry. Many of the Japanese defenders were never seen and remained underground manning artillery until they were blown apart by a grenade or rocket, or incinerated by a flame thrower.

While Japanese kamikaze flyers slammed into the Allied naval fleet around Iwo Jima, the Marines on the island continued their bloody advance across the island, responding to Kuribayashi's lethal defenses with remarkable endurance. On February 23, the crest of 550-foot Mount Suribachi was taken, and the next day the slopes of the extinct volcano were secured.

By March 3, U.S. forces controlled all three airfields on the island, and on March 26 the last Japanese defenders on Iwo Jima were wiped out. Only 200 of the original 22,000 Japanese defenders were captured alive. More than 6,000 Americans died taking Iwo Jima, and some 17,000 were wounded.

Time to get to work. Until next post...

Chaiten volcano - more eruption

taken at 10:30am 1/19/09


taken at 10:54am 1/19/09


taken at 11:04am 1/19/09


taken at 11: 20am 1/19/09


taken at 11:30am 1/19/09

This series of photos were saved from the webcam at Chaiten volcano this morning found here http://tinyurl.com/855sqx

It started out as a normal day with Chaiten puffing water vapor. Just before 11am local time she began puffing more than water vapor. According to what I've been able to keep up with the caldera is mostly filled in again from the on going eruption. It's hard to get good, solid information because of this area being so isolated. I haven't seen or heard anything yet on whether this mornings activities were from a rockfall (looks to large to be that)or possibly the collapse or partial collapse of a dome. Whatever it was it put on quite a show this morning!

Eye Candy!!

Copyright: Entertainment Weekly

New picture out from Public Enemies!! Come on, be honest...Don't you just want to play nurse? From what is being said this shot (no pun intended) is from the scenes at Little Bohemia. Entertainment Weekly has Johnny on the cover and a short interview. Interview can be found at Johnny Depp Reads in Today's News section.

http://johnnydeppreads.com/index.php?showtopic=6903

I'm so looking forward to seeing this movie!! The only question I have is how many times I will watch it on opening day!! LOL

Enjoy!!