Saddam just got a big message...
Yer right Dog! Anf here is the message the President just sent....to both the saddam and the UN: 
Posted on 09/19/2002 4:08:35 AM PDT by Chairman_December_19th_Society
Saddam just got a big message...
Yer right Dog! Anf here is the message the President just sent....to both the saddam and the UN:
Great job of typing ya goober!
No scare tactics involved..just plain and simple honesty. Works everytime.
Interesting about the Canadian military! Socialism is such a wonderful thing, eh? Destroy the military and be rendered impotent to help fight the bad guys, even if you want to. Then of course, you have to lie to cover it up.
But that's nothing new for the left now, is it?
Our older son......and International Relations major.....is active in his College Republican club, and went to Washington as a representative of the Minnesota College Republicans, who have one of the strongest organizations in the country, and have won awards.
That's in the one of the most liberal states in the Union! Good things are happening!
Yes..she is the one. LOL
Good things are happening, indeed!
President's Remarks in Photo Opportunity With Secretary Colin Powell
We awoke for a 7 AM CT departure from Oklahoma City. The day started out warm and dry - very nice weather. (In hindsight, we probably should have left earlier - more on that later.) As had been the case, we went to a nearby McDonalds to grab a quick bite - which we took on the road with us - then on to a nearby gas station to fuel the starship Enterprise, and off we went.
We took the food with us on the road as we were trying to get all the way to Window Rock, AZ, before the Navaho musuem closed for the day.
The 150 miles from Oklahoma City to the Texas border passed quite quickly. Shortly after crossing into Texas, two things happen - one passes, without any notice or fanfare, the last tree heading west until the forests near Flagstaff, and one sees an object on the horizon about 25 miles distant.
As we continue on, the object resolves itself into a cross - a rather large one to be seen for 25 miles. In fact, it turns out to be - as claimed by a sign visible from Highway 40 - "The Largest Cross in the Western Hemisphere." (Of course, one is left to wonder the size of the largest in the world - this one seems about 100 feet tall.)
The panhandle of Texas is ranchland - in fact, that's all it is - ranchland. Except for Amarillo, there is nothing but ranchland - miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles of ranchland. Did I mention the Texas panhandle contains ranchland?
Well, nothing much to see in Texas. At 11:45 AM CT, we arrive at the New Mexico border. It is also the boundary of the Mountain Time Zone, so reset those watches and clocks. The particular time we crossed, however, meant we went from being almost lunch time to one where none of the fast food places had moved out of breakfast mode.
After a bit more time, and running moderately ahead of schedule, we pull into Tucumcari to pick up some lunch. We had the same plan as breakfast - take it and run, eating on the highway as we continue westward.
Our choice for lunch was a Hardee's, located about 3/4 miles north of the Interstate, according to the sign at the bottom of the exit ramp. We get to the location. It is obviously a Hardees building, but no Hardees. No nothing. All boarded up. So we return back down the street to the McDonalds - which we like for breakfast, but not lunch - as the only other place in this town.
Bad timing. Some tour group with a gazillion teenagers had just dumped into this location. With the next town of any significance being Albuquerque, we opted to stay. It took us over 30 minutes just to place our orders. Finally, we're out of there, continuing to press westward on Highway 40.
The scenery changes when you get into New Mexico. Gone are the rediculously flat plains and steppe lands of Texas. One begins to enter the Chuhuahan (sp?) Desert. Visible from the interstate are many of the mesas and buttes you picture as the American southwest, and the scenery is similar to post cards representing these features. The soil has taken on a deep red hue, adding to the color. Also, as you go westward throughout New Mexico, you slowly climb in altitude, until near the Arizona border you are over one mile high.
A new feature for driving comes along with this altitude increase. New Mexico has a lot of long steady upgrades going westward. Trucks and RVs have trouble with these. With a posted speed limit of 75, you would often come upon these vehicles very rapidly as they would often be going less than 40. Made for some interesting moments sometimes (traffic would be classified as "light" by northeastern terms, but there were still enough vehicles around that you had to pay attention).
Albuquerque came and went. Not much of a city, except for the fact that Highways 25 and 40 intersect at this point. It is a bit interesting as you enter the city from the east - there is a long downslope (about three or four miles as I recollect) and several curves. After one of the curves, the city is laid out before you. But after about five minutes on Highway 40, you've pretty much gone through Albequerque.
A couple of hours later, a sign passes by. We have crossed the Continental Divide. No real mountains here, just a bunch of hills with a few ranges on the horizon. Not what one pictures when the Divide is reached - one usually conjures up visions of tall mountain peaks and so on, but that is further north, in Colorado. Here, it is just the desert hills.
Shortly after we cross the Divide, we received our daily thunderstorm. Yep, even though it was the desert, we got a good dousing of rain. Slowed down travel - except for a few idiots who think you can still do 85/90 on a rain slick road - particularly one that has the grease buildup of several weeks that is common in the desert (none seemed to crash, because we didn't see any, but we prudently slowed from 80 to 65).
At the Arizona border, we stopped at the rest area - and another thunderstorm rolls through. By now, this was seeming more like home than a desert regime. And we're all going from the car to the building and back hoping we're not going to get struck by lightning (it's the desert - we're the tallest things out there).
Back on the road, we learn just how "local" local thunderstorms can be in the desert. Not a mile west of the rest area, the rain stops and the road is bone dry. And it is time to turn north to go to Window Rock, capital of the Navaho Nation.
The road to Window Rock is one built and maintained by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (the Federal Government), who decided it was time for a little maintenance. Or, more appropriately, a lot of maintenance.
Now, when the Federal Government undertakes road maintenance, I'm afraid they are no more logical here than they are with a whole lot of other things. One would think that a two-lane road that needs rehabilitation would be done one lane at a time; shut down one lane, provide a mechanism for shuttling traffic through the zone. This has the benefit of providing a paved lane for traffic.
But, no, the Feds think it is good to rip up the whole road. BIA Route 12 was taken down to dirt and gravel. And one travels on the road along with all of the very large earth moving equipment working more or less right next to you. The only time flagmen are present is if the heavy machinery has to back out into the travel area and block the road. All rather amazing, and quite slow.
Eventually we get through the work zone (about six miles) and onto a nicely-paved road. Another 15 miles, and we arrive in Window Rock. It is 5:30 PM MT. Some sprinkles are spitting from the sky again, and it is overcast, but otherwise the temperature is about 85 and the air is dry - quite pleasant. We did not know precisely where the Navaho museum was, but figured it was not a large town (it is about 1/4 mile square - 1/2 mile across north-south, and again east west) so it would not be hard to find - I mean, how hard is it to find one place in about 150 acres of land?
I was right, it was not hard to find at all, despite a dearth of signs by the Navahos. But it was closed. It closed at 5 PM MT. The lobby was open, so, after getting permission, we took some pictures in front of a bunch of flags, including those of the Navahos. (turned out Mrs. Chairman took the pictures too close to us - cannot see the flags well).
The museum being a bust, I thought it best to figure out how to salvage the side trip. Window Rock is named for a physical feature that is sacred to the Navahos - a rock formation with a large, nearly circular hole in the middle, called "Window Rock" which looks like this:
[We didn't take this picture, this is from a website describing the feature - we did take pictures, but have not uploaded them to a website location yet to share.]
This got universal "wows" from just about everyone. Boy child wanted to get closer to it than the brick wall that was in place around an area that included, among other things, a memorial to the Navahos that had fallen in World War II, and to the Code Talkers. He got a lecture about respecting other cultures and what they hold sacred, and not to come across as an arrogant and inconsiderate person. (He understood.)
We decided to eat in Window Rock, and looked for an authentic Navaho restaurant. There are no authentic Navaho restaurants in Window Rock. Not much in the way of restaurants, period. (The town is, by its appearance, very poor, and not many services are offered beyond some small shops, a single gas station - surprisingly modern - and a small supermarket.) There was, however, a Chinese restaurant - which sort of stuck us all as rather interesting - with a buffet. We ate there.
It was owned and operated not by an Asian family, but by a Navaho family. The buffet was small, but it was very good. We all had a nice meal and departed. Before we departed, another thunderstorm - this one with very heavy rain, ran through the area.
It had also run along BIA Route 12, including the area that was under construction and taken down to dirt and rock. The construction had since left - it was now well after 6 PM MT - but the dirt and rocks, of course, remained. Or, should I say, mud and rocks. The mud actually improved the ride, but you should have seen the SUV after getting through those six miles. We must have taken several pounds of Arizona with us back onto Highway 40 as we went westward toward Holbrook, our destination for the day.
Shortly after returning to the Interstate, we hit a quirk of Arizona - time zones. Depending on where you are in Arizona, you could be in differing time zones, which is further dependent upon what time of year it is.
Arizona, as a state, does not observe Daylight Saving Time (for you purists out there, it is "Saving" with no "s" as the official designation). Indian Reservations, according to Federal law, are not subject to state laws except to the extent the Reservation councils themselves decide. The Navaho Nation does observe Daylight Saving Time, so as to keep the portions of the Reservation in New Mexico and Utah in sync with the part in Arizona. To make things really interesting, the Hopi Reservation, which is within, but separate, the Navaho Nation, decided to use the Arizona system - and not observe Daylight Saving Time.
So, Arizona, in the summer time, does not observe Daylight Saving Time, meaning most of the state is officially on Mountain Standard Time, but that action places them, in effect, in the Pacific Time Zone - in other words, Arizona is, practically speaking, in Pacific Daylight Time (and I will refer to time as PT to simplify). The Navaho Nation is in Mountain Time. And the Hopis are in Pacific Time.
Confused?
Anyhow, the time zone change occurs about 15 miles after getting back on the interstate. About the same time as the sun is setting. Sunset across the Arizona desert landscape is interesting - it seems to last a long time.
With darkness settling in, of course signs of humanity become lighted. Arizona is quite flat in the northwest. Holbrook's lights become visible some 20 miles away. We are all quite tired (remember, we left at 7 AM central time, and have crossed two time zone boundaries during the day - so we were travelling a lot by sunset). The last miles seemed to take forever, with the lights hanging tantalizing on the horizon. We finally arrive at Holbrook at about 7:30 PM PT. A quick stop at a Safeway to restock soda supplies, and we settle in for the night.
Isadore is not yet a hurricane, but it is close.
Well, nothing much to see in Texas.
hehe!
The corners of the state around Chicago and Evansville either observe Daylight and stay with their time zone (Central) of do NOT observe Daylight Time but since they begin with Central Standard they switch to OUR time zone part of the year.
The only thing we miss are the Indiana reservations in the middle of this mess. Ha!
My brother-in-law used to live in Amarillo. High plains country, home of the Helium storage facility, and home of the American Quarterhorse Association.
I liked Amarillo a lot. Their neighbors had 4 lots and kept a brahma bull in the back yard. Ha!
It was a drive by, I'm afraid. We were trying to make time to get to the Navaho Reservation - where we arrived 30 minutes too late. Oh well.
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