Grand new view of the Canyon

acquired July 14, 2011download large image (2 MB, JPEG)

It is up to 18 miles (29 kilometers) wide and one mile (1.6 km) deep, and stretches 277 river miles (446 km). It is one of the greatest natural wonders of North America and perhaps the entire world. And thanks to a joint American and Japanese science team, we now have a new perspective on the Grand Canyon and many other topographic features of the planet.

The image above shows the eastern part of Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona, near 36 degrees north latitude and 112.1 degrees west longitude. It is a composite of two pieces: a synthetic natural color image captured on July 14, 2011, draped over a three-dimensional model of the area. The images and stereoscopic data behind the model were acquired by the Advanced Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra spacecraft.

The perspective is from east to west, looking down the channel of the Colorado River. North is to the right. In this view, the canyon spans 9 miles (14.5 kilometers) at its widest point and 5,600 feet (1,707 meters) from rim to river bed. The North Rim and Walhalla Plateau stand out on the right side, while Grand Canyon Village rests on the high plateau at upper left.

On October 17, 2011, NASA and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) released a significantly improved version of a digital topographic map of Earth based on data from ASTER. Known as a global digital elevation model, the map was created from stereo-pair images; that is, sets of two slightly offset two-dimensional images were merged to create the three-dimensional effect of depth.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?src=twitter-iotd&id=76162

Obama "policy" bus trip costing taxpayers thousands

With his bus in the background, President Barack Obama greets people outside of Mast General Store in Boone, N.C., Monday, Oct. 17, 2011.

(Credit: AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

If Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Herman Cain or any of the other presidential challengers were to embark on a three-day bus trip like the one now underway by President Obama, it would cost their campaigns tens of thousands of dollars. Perhaps more.

They would have to pay a variety of expenses, including:

• air travel to their first destination
• leasing of one or more buses appropriate to the journey
• rental for halls or meeting rooms for their candidates' appearances
• the cost of lodging and meals for their candidate and staff

But not the Obama campaign. The White House declared that Mr. Obama's three-day trip through North Carolina and Virginia are official events and not campaign appearances, even though the two states are known to be political objectives of his re-election bid.

So Mr. Obama's expenses are borne by taxpayers, including:

• the pro-rated costs of his flights aboard Marine One and Air Force One that brought him to his first stop yesterday in Asheville, NC
• the two buses used by him and his staff, owned and operated by the United States Secret Service
• costs associated with setting up speech sites including microphones, speakers, amplifiers, teleprompters and TV lights
• lodging and meals for the president and his political staff

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20122149-503544.html

Back to the 60s

Women ride in back on sex-segregated Brooklyn bus line

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Sasha Chavkin

Sasha Chavkin/The New York World

On the morning of October 12, Melissa Franchy boarded the B110 bus in Brooklyn and sat down near the front. For a few minutes she was left in silence, although the other passengers gave her a noticeably wide berth. But as the bus began to fill up, the men told her that she had to get up. Move to the back, they insisted.

They were Orthodox Jews with full beards, sidecurls and long black coats, who told her that she was riding a “private bus” and a “Jewish bus.” When she asked why she had to move, a man scolded her.

“If God makes a rule, you don’t ask ‘Why make the rule?’” he told Franchy, who rode the bus at the invitation of a New York World reporter. She then moved to the back where the other women were sitting. The driver did not intervene in the incident.

http://www.thenewyorkworld.com/2011/10/18/women-ride-in-back-on-sex-segregated-brooklyn-bus-line/

Libs think average American is stupid

NOT CAMPAIGNING...
BIDEN: 'Are we campaigning? Yes, we are!'

Obama’s Big Green Mess

Newsweeks Daniel Stone and Eleanor Clift (yes, THAT Eleanor Clift)

This summer, federal inspectors made a routine visit to 11 homes in St. Louis to see what taxpayers got for the $5 billion that President Obama spent to help Americans weatherize their homes to save energy.

What they found was quite a surprise. Some of the energy-efficient furnaces installed at taxpayer expense spewed carbon monoxide that could poison occupants. New water heaters lacked required pressure valves, putting them in jeopardy of exploding. And a handful of contractors—unfamiliar with the nuances of specialized weatherization work—had used air blowers in homes with asbestos, potentially dispersing the cancer-causing agent, according to several Energy Department inspector-general reports.

As it closes in on retrofitting 600,000 homes, the government’s weatherization program—a key element of President Obama’s green-energy initiative—has had its share of happy, energy-saving customers. But it has also been riddled with problems. In one review, Energy Department investigators found that 14 percent of weatherization projects surveyed, from Tennessee to West Virginia, failed to meet safety or quality standards. Many customers were poor or elderly, with few resources to pursue wayward contractors.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/10/16/obama-s-green-energy-agenda-flop.html

Day-o; day-ay-ay-o

The singer, most famed for his song 'Banana Boat' was due to speak to news anchors at KBAK in Bakersfield about his new memoir. But when the station crossed over to the 84-year-old singer by satellite link he appeared to be slouched in his seat, fast asleep. 'Harry, wake up. Harry? Wake wake up!' local news anchor Leyla Santiago said, whilst coming close to giggles. 'This is your wakeup call Harry... He's meditating; he's having a little nap.' ...read

I wouldn't put it past him to try to build an underground golf course

Mystery of the White House hole: Is Obama building a super-bunker under the West Wing (or maybe he's treating himself to a swimming pool?)

It is a huge hole in one of the world's most famous gardens - but nobody knows what it is for. Workmen have torn up an enormous section of the lawn in front of the White House for a mysterious, top secret project. The hole by the West Wing is roughly 100ft by 100ft in size and has for the first time in living memory left the ground and pipes beneath the Oval office exposed to the elements.

Dem pollster: OWS protesters 'out of step with most American voters'

Douglas Schoen:

Our research shows clearly that the movement doesn't represent unemployed America and is not ideologically diverse. Rather, it comprises an unrepresentative segment of the electorate that believes in radical redistribution of wealth, civil disobedience and, in some instances, violence. Half (52%) have participated in a political movement before, virtually all (98%) say they would support civil disobedience to achieve their goals, and nearly one-third (31%) would support violence to advance their agenda.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204479504576637082965745362.html?mod=rss_opinion_main

More questions for the POTUS

Peter Kirsanow asks President Obama:

During your remarks Sunday at the dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial, you noted that in a time when politics is deeply divided Dr. King “would want us to know that we can argue fiercely about the proper size and role of government without questioning each other’s love of country” and he “would call on us to assume the best in each other rather than the worst.”

Less than 24 hours later in Asheville, North Carolina, however, you stated that the Republican jobs plan “boils down to a few basic ideas.” Specifically, you said,”you got their plan, which is let’s have dirtier air, dirtier water, less people with health insurance.” You also claimed that “they (Republicans) want to let Wall Street do whatever it wants.”

Aren’t you — contrary to what you said Dr. King would want — assuming the worst about Republicans?

By claiming that Republicans want “dirtier air, dirtier water,” etc., aren’t you impugning their “love of country”? Or were those “just words?”

Where do Republicans get their air and water?

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/280418/todays-questions-president-peter-kirsanow