ALL I CAN SAY IS, "WOW..."
The I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, which collapsed last year, has already reopened. Months ahead of the planned Christmas Eve date, which detractors said couldn't be done. Read the article to see how it was done. Anyone who has responsibility for heavy-lifting projects like this one should pay attention.

IF PRESIDENT KENNEDY HAD HAD THE 2008 DEMOCRATIC MINDSET:

Kennedy: I propose that we send a man to walk on the moon.
Science Advisor: But that will take 10 years to happen!
Kennedy: Really? Oh, never mind, then.

USS NEW YORK LAUNCHED - MADE WITH 9/11 STEEL...
I think this is kinda cool:

It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center .

It is the fifth in a new class of warship - designed for missions th at include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines...

Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the ‘hair on my neck stood up.’ ‘It had a big meaning to it for all of us,’ he said. ‘They knocked us down. They can’t keep us down. We’re going to be back.’

The ship’s motto? ‘Never Forget’

HEY ISLAM! YO MOMMA WEARS ARMY BOOTS!
Let's see Kuwait come and get me.

THERE ARE JUST SOME THINGS A CHEMIST WON'T DO....
Derek Lowe has published a series of short articles on "Things I Won't Work With," and after you read these technically detailed but humorous segments, you'll see why. If you eyes glaze over reading about anions, boiling points, and other fun aspects of organic chemistry, you may not want to check out this link. But the scientifically curious should go ahead and click here.

FROM THE TOO MUCH TIME ON THEIR HANDS DEPT:
Human Tetris.

NOT ALL MUSLIMS ARE NUTS
Good article from the Baltimore Sun. Javeed Akhter discusses how terrorists abuse the Islamic writings, twisting them for their own agenda:

Those who practice or sanction suicide bombing consider it a form of martyrdom. But suicide by any name is still suicide and is explicitly prohibited in Islam. Injunctions of the Quran and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad prohibit it in unequivocal terms. Similarly, killing of innocents is expressly prohibited. It is not collateral damage but callous murder.

Hope this is required reading at Gitmo.

ADVENTURES IN DINING OUT
Rule 1: If you skip out on a big bill, don't go to another restaurant, owned by the same Judo-trained manager, on the same night.

FICKLE WORSHIPPERS.

I HAVE PICTURES!
I finally created a Flickr account, and I'm slowly adding pictures to it. You can view my work in progress here.

CUBA!!!

Right now I’m flying over Cuba! Around 32000 feet up, barely six miles over this communist country. Hard to see a lot of details, because of partly cloudy skies, but I can make out farms, a few roads, and the occasional village. I see absolutely no traffic on the roads. Ah, the worker’s paradise.

I’m not stopping here, of course. I’m on my way to Jamaica for a quick project.

THIS IS FUNNIER THAN I EXPECTED:
Star Wars quotes that are improved by changing one word to 'pants.'

Note: Don't waste your time past the top 20 or so....

FROM THE 'WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THIS - FIRST' DEPT:
http://www.cereality.com/main.php

Simple idea. Simple implementation.

Argh.....!

Not that we're looking at the next Starbucks, but....still....

THEY SHOULD TRY THIS AT SIX FLAGS...
Jonah Goldberg of NRO brings up this amusing story: The largest theme park in Great Britain, Alton Park, had planned to host a "Muslim Fun Day," where the park is set aside for Muslims only. All alcohol will be banned, and separate lines will be set up to segregate male and female riders. There will be a strict dress code (burquas, what fun!) and prayer areas would be set up.

It's been canceled, due to low ticket sales.

Which is probably a relief to this couple.

PEACE???
It's now war between, well, Israel and, er, terrorist organizations in Syria and Lebanon. I suppose that the idea of war between nation-states is all but a thing of the past - afterall, who pits ship against ship, plane against plane, and soldier against soldier anymore? The war on terror has been more about stomping cockroaches than destroying the other guy's army. In a way, we have the modern (liberal) media to blame - wailing over every 'civilian' death, and calling out for peace at every turn.

To be sure, peace is a great thing, but even as Americans we haven' t seen a lot of what could be called true peace. A terrorist organization has members without a political structure, the geographical boundaries of a nation-state, or even uniforms. They target civilian populations, because of the fact that if you set your sights on military targets you quickly learn that they can shoot back.

For years we've been making nice to Arafat and a slew of other terrorist-supporting organizations, with nothing more than wishful thinking that they'll think hey, all this killing is a bad thing, we should stop. This is a game that's been played for over 40 years, and I think I speak for a lot of people who are sick and tired of just hoping the terrorist problem goes away.

Israel's already been doing everything they can to avoid war and try to establish peace. The liberal elite says those poor people just want land, so Israel gives them land. They've tried to help Palestine become a reality. It's annoying to hear about how Arabs want to push the Jews into the sea. So when some terrorist goons kidnap some Israel soldiers, and Israel says, okay, that's enough, and starts shooting, I can only tell Israel, hey, go for it.

I think that terrorists should be hit back, and hit very hard. There are rules, even in warfare. Civilized nations try to follow the rules. Terrorists don't. And if Lebanon and Syria don't want to clean house, then they shouldn't complain when Israel does it for them.

NOW THIS IS AN OBITUARY....
Heh.

AL-ZARQAWI SURVIVES BOMBING; DIES SEVERAL MINUTES LATER

Report from CNN. All I can say is, GOOD. Wouldn't want him to go without suffering a bit.

UPDATES! I HAVE UPDATES!
I really have been working on my website, www.halcrawford.org. Last month I added links to the Easter service at my church (where my daughter played organ and piano). This month I added photos and video from my trip to San Francisco. Feel free to check it out.

IS AMERICA TORTURING PRISONERS?
A report from the Amnesty International prepared for the United Nations declares that tortune and inhumane treatment are par for the course if you happen to be a prisoner of the US Government.

Having followed Amnesty International’s reports for many years, this report shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Amnesty International’s politics have pretty much run anti-America on any issue of substance. Besides, look at the evidence. Investigators have been through Guantanamo and other centers for Prisoners of War in Afghanistan and Iraq. You have to look pretty hard to find ANY evidence of abuse anywhere. Guantanamo? The best they can come up with is that a Koran got flushed. Abu Ghraib? Some idiot soldiers got cocky and they got completely slammed for their actions. Secret detention centers around the world? Still just a rumor, but….come on. I’d still rather be a prisoner of the US Armed Forces than in a jail cell in North Korea, Saudi Arabia or pre-liberation Iraq. By comparison, a stint in Guantanamo is Club Med. Muslims have rights a Christian could only dream about in any Islamic jail cell.

It's unfortunate, because by lowering the bar for prisoner abuse here, they raise the bar in other totalitarian countries. Now try going after Zimbabwe's obvious abuses. "What do you mean, we torture our prisoners? At least we're not like big, bad America!!!"

SO LONG TO 'THE VIEW'...
Meredith Vieira is leaving the ABC show to replace Katie Couric on 'Today' - guess who's replacing Meredith? Rosie O'Donnell.

In a word? Arrrrrgggggghh! What's the matter, Barbra Streisand wasn't available???