SWCAMBORNE

Switzerland has banned the construction of Minarets and European equalitarians are in an uproar.

I have one question.  How many Cathedrals are there in Saudi Arabia?

Here is an idea that makes you say “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Concrete Cloth

Instant buildings just add water.

This is a UK company that may need US distribution

Thanks to Rebecca my UK correspondent for sending this one.

One of the amazing things about Red Rock Canyon was the amazing variety of stones.  We identified lots of sedimentary rock of course but there was also Schist, Lava and some Gneiss.  We collected a few pieces:

But we couldn’t pick up this one:

This is why:

We also saw a petroglyph but the picture came out lousy:

You can see a hand print directly above the sign about 3/4 of the way up.

And don’t forget the mushroom rock:

But the best was the striated sandstone:

This year for the first time in about twenty years Nurit didn’t cook Thanksgiving Dinner.  After we went hiking in Red Rock Canyon Lillian cooked up a storm. It was great.  She made a legless turkey and about a million side dishes.  All of them were delicious, with the possible exception of the gravy that was sweet and sour flavored.  I drank a lot of wine, talked too much and had a generally good time.  I was having so much fun I only took one photo:

Nurit, Lillian and Nazia

Nazia is Canadian via Africa and India.  I was thinking that her ancestory was unique until I realized that Lillian’s is American via Israel, England, Germany and Poland.

We can all be thankful that we live in a part of the world were we are judged by what we create not by who our ancestors are.   Happy Thanksgiving.  Our Las Vegas trip photo album

Nurit and I went to Las Vegas to have Thanksgiving dinner with Lillian.  In the morning we went to Red Rock Canyon for a hike.  It was lovely.

The aptly named Red Rock Canyon is a BLM site just west of Las Vegas and it is definitely worth a visit.  Even if you don’t hike the driving loop is spectacular. We drove the loop and hiked near Willow Springs.

It is nice that there is something to do in Vegas that doesn’t involve gambling, smoking or excess.

The park is dog friendly.  Lillian and her friends saw the wild burros when they visited and we saw a roadrunner.  Nice postcards in the gift shop.  Admission is $5.00 per car.  Life is good.  More Photos

NASA sent a drone over the Station Fire and compiled this very cool map showing the extent of the fire:

Want more details?  Go to the NASA site. Your tax dollars at work.

Another great YouTube video

Part of the attraction is that it is about a Simon and part is that I’m surrounded by cats that I am mildly allergic to.

“Mr Speaker, when it is not necessary to change, it is necessary not to change.”

Lord Viscount Falkland

circa 1640

Falkland said this memorable conservative remark during a parliamentary debate about the power of the church.

This graph shows the change in number of people in the world living on less than one dollar per day for the last 36 years.

A dollar a day is the United Nations measure of poverty.  I don’t know if there is a correlation but the decline coincides with the collapse of statist socialism and communism and the growth of free market economies especially in India and China.  It’s probably just a coincidence.  But it is definitely something for everyone alive today to be proud of.  Most of the remaining people in poverty live in Africa.  What can we do about it?

HAVE  YOU EVER BEEN GUILTY OF LOOKING AT OTHERS YOUR OWN AGE AND THINKING, SURELY I CAN’T LOOK THAT OLD? WELL…..YOU’LL LOVE THIS ONE!

MY NAME IS SANDEE, AND I WAS SITTING IN THE WAITING ROOM FOR MY FIRST APPOINTMENT WITH A NEW DENTIST.   I NOTICED HIS DDS DIPLOMA,  WHICH BORE HIS FULL NAME..  SUDDENLY,  I REMEMBERED A TALL,  HANDSOME,  DARK HAIRED BOY WITH THE SAME NAME HAD BEEN IN MY HIGH SCHOOL CLASS SOME 30-ODD YEARS AGO.  COULD HE BE THE SAME GUY THAT I HAD A SECRET CRUSH ON,  WAY BACK THEN?

UPON SEEING HIM,  HOWEVER,  I QUICKLY DISCARDED ANY SUCH THOUGHT.   THIS BALDING,  GRAY HAIRED MAN WITH THE DEEPLY LINED FACE WAS WAY TOO OLD TO HAVE BEEN MY CLASSMATE,  AFTER HE EXAMINED MY TEETH,  I ASKED HIM IF HE HAD ATTENDED MORGAN PARK HIGH SCHOOL .

‘YES, YES I DID. I’M A MUSTANG! ‘ HE GLEAMED WITH PRIDE.

‘WHEN DID YOU GRADUATE?’ I ASKED

HE ANSWERED, IN 1975..  WHY DO YOU ASK?

‘YOU WERE IN MY CLASS!’ I EXCLAIMED.

HE LOOKED AT ME CLOSELY.

THEN THAT UGLY,  OLD, BALD, WRINKLED, FAT ASS, GRAY HAIRED, DECREPIT,

SON OF A BITCH ASKED….

‘WHAT DID YOU TEACH?’

Sorry about the capitals.  It came that way.  Thanks to Betty P and Nurit B for forwarding this joke.