A Day of Destruction -- 79 A.D.

It was on this day in 79 A.D. that the one of the most destructive volcano eruptions in recorded human history occurred when the volcano Mt. Vesuvius erupted, burying the Roman city of Pompeii. Pompeii was a resort town for citizens of Rome at the time, located on the Bay of Naples. People there probably didn't even know Mt. Vesuvius was a volcano. There hadn't been a major eruption in 800 years. But there were frequent earthquakes, and in the two weeks leading up to the eruption, there had been thin clouds of volcanic ash drifting down from the mountain, which people had been sweeping off the streets.

Then, on the morning of this day in 79 A.D., Mount Vesuvius exploded with a force 100,000 times that of the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The explosion sent a cloud of ash 12 miles into the air, completely blacking out the sun. The mountain was almost five miles away, so some of the people in the city didn't evacuate right away. They thought they would have time to flee if necessary. What they didn't know was that the volcano had spewed toxic gasses along with molten rock. Birds began to fall dead from the sky, and then the city was blanketed with volcanic rock and ash, at the rate of six inches an hour. By the end of the day, not a single living thing remained in Pompeii. The city was buried under more than 20 feet of debris.

The molten rock that covered the city kept it preserved for more than 1,750 years, until the mid-1800s, when stories began to circulate in the area that you could dig around in the dirt and find treasures. After years of pillaging, an archeologist was finally hired in 1860 to perform an official excavation of Pompeii. It turned out to be one of the most important sites in the history of archeology.

Most of the city was preserved exactly as it had been at the moment of destruction. Archeologists could examine what pictures ordinary people had painted on their walls, what cutlery and cookware they kept in their kitchens. They found graffiti written on bathroom walls and legal documents written on wax tablets. Most of what historians know about everyday life in Ancient Rome is based on what archeologists found in the perfectly preserved city of Pompeii.
And archaeologists also found the bodies of the people who died in the eruption. The volcanic ash had molded to the bodies of the victims, leaving a perfect imprint before the bodies decayed. Archaeologists poured plaster into these molds, and the result was detailed replicas of the victims at the moment of death, down to the wrinkles in their clothing and the expressions on their faces. On the floor in a house they found a father and son. The young boy was on his back, looking up at his father, and they were holding hands. They found adults with their arms outstretched trying to protect children, a family of eight rushing toward the sea, and dogs straining against their leashes.

.
-- From Garrison Keillor

.

So Where WERE Those Republican "Front-Runners"??

If you knew YOU were going to lose a race, would you even lace up your track shoes?

Didn't think so.

And that's what Rudy, John and the undeclared candidate Fred! didn't do in Iowa. They were no-show's before the straw vote that Mitt Romney handily won yesterday. As predicted.

Ohhhhh, but they are all going to Iowa this week. Not sure what good it will do to enhance their standing with Iowans, but we'll see ....


You'll understand their unwillingness to put THEIR campaigns on the line when you hear Mitt's Iowa speech. Here.

And no -- contrary to how folks want to spin what happened in Iowa yesterday, the Republican nomination is not simply "given" to someone. Candidates still have to earn that nomination. And that nomination begins in Iowa.

Way to go, TEAM MITT!!

Why Would Thompson Lie?

Beats me.

Why would a popular non-declared contender for the Presidency lie about his affiliation with an abortion-support group?

Beats me.

Flip-flopping (as it's called when done by others) is a constant source of contention among opponents.

But lying?

Not a good sign, Mr. Thompson.

Unless of course, you want to offer your own version of what "is" as opposed to what "was" and how it's not really a lie when you categorically deny what you did 16 years ago, qualifying it as totally unrelated to what now "is" -- especially when you subtract 16 from the number of times you haven't lied and then multiply that product by the number of times you have supposedly supported anti-abortion legislation, while factoring to the 3rd power the number of things you were paid to do as a lobbyist-lawyer as opposed to things you actually believe. Unlike what you might do as President, of course.

Makes sense to me. Uh huh.

Read the article: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-thompson7jul07,0,54260.story?coll=la-home-center

Immigration Bill is a Fraud

Of course, with the current democrat leadership in charge of the re-writes, you already knew this.

I wouldn't presume to speak for the millions of Americans who oppose this bill, but it's because I'm an immigrant myself that I object to the most patent absurdity peddled by the pro-amnesty crowd. The bill is fundamentally a fraud. Its ''comprehensive solution'' to illegal immigration is simply to flip all the illegals overnight into the legal category. Voila! Problem solved! There can be no more illegal immigrants because the Senate has simply abolished the category. Ingenious! For their next bipartisan trick, Congress will reduce the murder rate by recategorizing murderers as jaywalkers.

Read the rest of Mark Steyn at this link.

Hat tip to Gull.

Spinning 'n Weaving

I like the idea of blogging about facts and how folks sping them, weaving in and out around the facts. Reminds me of a favorite song from the 60's. Sing along if you remember the words.

What goes up must come down

spinning wheel got to go around

talkin' 'bout your troubles

it's a cryin' sin

ride a painted pony

let the spinning wheel spin
You got no money

you got no home

spinning wheel all a lone

talkin' 'bout your troubles

you never learn

Ride a painted pony

let the spinning wheel turn

Someone's waiting

just for you

spinning wheel, spinning true

Drop all your troubles by the riverside

ride a painted pony

let the spinning wheel fly

Takes us back to the time when everyone rode a painted pony, right? .... Wait a minute.

Dropping your troubles by the riverside is one thing, but it's about time for the spinning wheel to stop flying! And that's what this blog will be about -- facts, spin AND those who spin the facts!!