Dawn and I took a photography tour of the southwest’s Four Corners area in 1998. One of the highlights was visiting and photographing the beautiful slot canyons of Antelope Canyon. Here’s an image taken in the upper canyon - the lower canyon was closed at the time by the Navajo Nation to allow the spirits of the eleven hikers who died in the canyon during a flash flood to find their way home.

Arguably, the best time to photograph the canyons is during summer, around noon, when the sun’s rays penetrate the canyon’s upper crevices and beam uninterrupted to the ground, highlighting the walls with soft, reflected light off the sandy floor. The effect is mesmerizing, making Antelope Canyon one of the most photogenic canyons in the world.

Dick Morris gave a speech at an exclusive retreat hosted by David Horowitz in Santa Barbara, California, in late March. In it he talked about Hillary Clinton (remember, he was Bill Clinton’s campaign manager in 1996), the other presidential candidates, Iran, illegal immigration and other issues, and he supports them all with facts and statistics. It’s lengthy, but a really good read. Here are some excerpts:

Hillary came to the conclusion that we wouldn’t vote for her if we knew what she was like. And she’s right. She’s got a case. So she develops these many masks that she puts on - the mask of moderation, the mask of being just a normal working mother, the mask of being a feminist. This woman never accomplished anything; her husband handed it to her…

The first chapter is on all the illegal immigrants that come here — not over the border from Mexico, but legally, at Kennedy Airport and LAX — and get off the plane, show their visas, and then overstay the visas and stay here legally. They’re 45% of the illegal immigrants in the U.S. And virtually all of the 9/11 terrorists came that way…

An informative read no matter which side of the aisle you support.

I don’t know how I missed this  last month, but Captain’s Corner had it. Apparently, a 2,000 horsepower drug running inflatable boat was confiscated by British authorities with over 300kg of cocaine aboard!

The Euro drug runner was whipping across the English Channel several times a week, basically a blur on British Coast Guard radar. After taunting the BCG for some time, a specialized chopper was brought in to catch it.  Here’s more on the story:

Richard Davidson, director of Crompton Marine, was arrested in 2004 by Spanish authorities conducting anti-drug smuggling operations. Seems they had confiscated a number of these boats and determined that he was producing them specifically for drug runners. He even advertised them as high speed and low profile, able to avoid radar. 

Despite his arrest, an associate apparently kept the business going under the name Nautexco Marine. Boats range from 30-60 feet, cost upwards of $680,000 and are powered by as many as eight 250hp outboard motors delivering speeds of 70mph! Their purpose seems to be high speed transport between north Africa and southern Spain.

Surprisingly, Crompton Marine still maintains an active website so if you’re in the market for such a specialized craft, check them out. I’ll bet waterskiing behind one would be an adreneline rush!  

Mike sent this visual illusion. It was devised by Jeremy Hinton some time before 2005. Stare at the +sign. Three effects will appear in order: First, the gap may appear to move clockwise, or a single disk adjacent to the gap may appear to move anticlockwise. This quickly stabilizes to become a gap moving clockwise. Second, the moving gap appears as a green disk. Third, the moving green disk will appear to wipe out the lilac disks, until only the green disk is visible. Here’s a complete explanation along with an interactive version of the illusion.  

Jerry sent this video clip which I’m dedicating to my oldest son, Steve, who turned 44 yesterday. See how much fun you have to look forward to?

Often from tragedy a few stories emerge of amazing people that have risen above fear and self preservation and displayed amazing acts of heroism. Seventy-six-year-old engineering professor Liviu Librescu, a Holocaust survivor, was such a man and his sacrifice is nothing short of heroic.

With the gunman, 23-year-old Tech senior Seung-hui Cho, trying to force his way into his classroom, Professor Librescu held his body against the door and told his students to escape through the windows. All leapt to safety but, moments after the last student was safe, Cho apparently forced open the door and shot Librescu to death.

What Librescu did was one of the most conspicuous acts of heroism to surface thus far in the bloodiest massacre inflicted on an American campus by a lone gunman. At the cost of his life, Librescu exemplified heroism. Thanks to his selfless act, many students were saved.

It makes me proud to know that such men still exist.  Story  

Hopefully most of you have completed and mailed your tax returns to Uncle Sam by now. Because of our renovation project (we don’t know where anything is!) we requested an extension. But I thought I’d share with you a piece of American history that might make you smile — or grimace, depending on how many forms you needed to complete this year.

In 1913, Wyoming ratified the 16th Amendment, providing the three-quarter majority of states necessary to amend the Constitution. The 16th Amendment gave Congress the authority to enact an income tax. That same year, the first Form 1040 appeared after Congress levied a 1 percent tax on net personal incomes above $3,000 with a 6 percent surtax on incomes of more than $500,000. My how times have changed.

The original form 1040, four pages long including one page of instructions, was a far cry from what we have to read, interpret and complete today to help assure that our government can fund its programs and “redistribute our wealth.” Take a look at the form (in pdf format) — I’d guess most folks completed theirs in short order — and dream of the good ol’ days.

I took this image while visiting the Masai Mara… Okay, not really. It was taken at Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo last year. Although the leopard exhibit is staged behind a thick Plexiglas viewing wall, this magnificent animal ignored our presence, appearing deep in thought as I grabbed the shot from just a few feet away.

This is cute. Looks a little like a college assignment, but very well done. Townhall.com’s Mary Katherine Ham takes on the big news issues of the day with the help of the Peep Players…

Sharpton and Pelosi have put us on notice that we’d better watch what we say - certain words can’t be used (by white folks.) Ever. Look for conservative talk show hosts to be targeted next…

A nearby mic catches Senator Clinton singing the National Anthem…

Simon sez:

Heads are gonna role. I doubt she’ll do that again!

Via Dave Hughes

It seems like only yesterday… such a cute little guy, all smiles and giggles… I called him “Slick” and took him for walks in front of our 4-plex apartment near Mather AFB where I was stationed… He was our first born… Yet today, somehow, he turns 44… with a beautiful family of his own! Is that possible?

Time passes far too quickly. I yearn to turn back the clock, to hold on to those precious early years… but then I would have to wait so long to know the fine man he has become… Happy birthday, Son!

                 Image Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

We are in shock over yesterday’s senseless killings at Virginia Tech and our hearts are heavy with grief for the victims and their families and loved ones. We are a peaceful and trusting society unable to comprehend the what and why, yet we want to understand. It is in our nature to make some sense of it. Yet there is no making sense of it.  It is just that; senseless.

So we grieve and we pray. And we try to understand, for without understanding we cannot hope to find closure. But for now we grieve for the families mourning their supreme loss.

Anger will follow and some will try to place blame, another part of our nature. But we must remember that this was a  random, unpredictable act.

I’m stunned about what happened at Virginia Tech. I want to say something profound or moving or helpful, but I just don’t have the words.

After nearly three years of planning and design, more than sixteen-thousand hours of creative artistry and more than two-million LEGO® bricks, LEGOLAND® California officially opened Miniland Las Vegas March 29.

The family theme park in Carlsbad, California unveiled its largest Miniland expansion ever with the recreation of the fabulous Las Vegas Strip made entirely out of LEGO® brick. Miniland Las Vegas features the world-famous Strip including ten different hotel properties chosen for their unique style. “The Strip” at LEGOLAND also features a miniature wedding chapel, monorails and real life sounds recorded in Las Vegas.

I’m still amazed, as I suspect Sharpton and Jackson themselves are, that they were able to so easily pull this off. Getting an old, burned out cowboy fired for using offensive language in what amounted to an edgy comedy bit was quite a coup. But now they’re under pressure to tackle black comedians and rappers who are a hundred times worse. I can’t wait to see all the heads roll… (right.)

Meanwhile, editorial cartoons say it best.