All were shot with the 17mm-55mm 2.8 Nikor at 2.8 Iso 100

I took these photos while staying at a small farm in the souther part of the state of Minas Gerais. I wish I could have stayed longer. Got to know a small town and was amazed at how hospitable everyone was. We would walk into a restaurant and the owner would just give away the meat he was grilling. There was also a nearby farm that made the best cachaca (pronounced cashasa) I have ever had. That alone justifies another trip back!

Enjoy the new pics.

So in two days and 900 miles I spurned the interstates and traveled along the farm roads. From central New Mexico to Fort Worth Texas. If I had to do it all over again I would have made it a four or five day trip and stopped in the small towns for some candid portraits.

Long drive and lots of wide open spaces….  Did I mention it was a long drive? Well my vacation is almost over. One more day of driving and stopping to snap some photos.

US Weapons Deal Allows Israel To Use Bunker Buster and Laser Guided Missiles.

The United States has given Israel a week to defend itself against Lebanon and today Isreal enters Lebanon. [link]
Now the Videos of what a Bunker Buster can do.

The sanitized version of the GBU-28: [link]

Now imagine the GBU-28 in your neighborhood [link]

That is a big hole.

And Think.

Think real hard before you say, “They” deserve it. Think about collateral damage, people killed, children, and homes destroyed. People who do not want to leave their homes. People who were given fair warning to evacuate southern Lebanon. People who have been told to leave and did not. And People who have a right to protect themselves. People, who six years ago, spent 22 years occupying Lebanon and now have to go back. The people who had Israel occupying them in the south and Syria throughout. People who are exhausted of war.

Think.

Now Think about our own past.

Our History.

Our wars.
Some”re-enact” battles of the fallen for past glory waving a flag representing the vanquished we “Shall Rise Again ! “. Some do not forget, some celebrate the choice not to.

America.

Think.

If General Tecumseh Sherman had a Bunker Buster in Atlanta, he would have used that GBU-28 to the sea.

Now think, real hard.

General Sherman didn’t have GBU-28 in his arsenal. But what he did have he used: a tested army, The Will to bring the war to the people and A Lot of Fire. And yet, many in our great country, cannot forgive or condone what General Sherman did even after 122 years..

And yet, many would say and still do, it was in the past.

Let it go.

Besides “they” deserved it . “They” started the war didn’t “They”?

Today on July 22, 1864 was the start of the Battle of Atlanta.

General Sherman has arrived.

The South is being introduced to the phrase “War is hell”.

Sometimes you got to bring the war to the people.

Do you think Lebanese will do re-enactments when it’s over?

Think before you answer.

General Lee Speaking

From Ed Wallace, Fort Worth Startelegram [link]

 “Why is ethanol ten to twelve cents more per gallon? Why am I getting taken twice?” — Steve Kirkpatrick, corn farmer, Cedar County, Iowa (Sioux City Journal,July 4, 2006)

…It tickles me that the quote that started this column came from America’s Heartland. Iowa corn farmer Steve Kirkpatrick is infuriated that he’s not making any extra money growing corn to fulfill our ethanol mandate. Yet E10, the same ethanol/gas mixture we use here in the Metroplex, is now selling for more money than regular (non-ethanol-enhanced) gasoline in Iowa. That’s ironic, considering that Iowa is an ocean of corn islanded with ethanol refineries.
Typical of the American ability to blame someone else, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association’s Lucy Norton claimed the rising price of E10 in Iowa on East Coast distribution problems. That, of course, does not explain ethanol’s high price in Iowa; the distribution there, from cornfield to refinery to gas station, can encompass as little as 10 driving miles.
The best irony? Farmers using E10 ethanol are also complaining that they also get lower gas mileage than they did without it. To which I reply: “Welcome to the new reality and mess created by Congress, a mess that Iowa farmers also lobbied to make.”