ISLAMOPHOBIA?

I think not.  What most of us worry about are the crazies of any stripe who believe that it is their duty to kill those who do not believe as they do or disobey their "law".  And it seems clear to me that Islam has a much higher percentage of adherents who believe that murder is their calling, bringing honor and glory to their prophet, god and themselves.  I copy below a recent comment by reader BES, and simply say hear, hear.

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UPDATE:

Since this string of postings, we've seen sustained, if not elevated European terror attacks, now being met with sympathy for the nation of islam and fears that it may be offended by any accusatory remarks. “Islamaphobia” is suddenly part of the auto-response lexicon.

This, in spite of the fact that the islamic state claims responsibility for these actions. Tons of hypocrisy outpouring from every corner, including elitist celebrities who espouse "peace, love and no walls" spewed from...behind fortified walls.

Bear in mind that 90% of terrorism is muslim on muslim. But that ranks up there with the ubiquitous Vietnam body counts we heard on the CBS nightly news. I have tried, unsuccessfully in the past, to engage any muslims on their rank and file silence over the wholesale slaughter of non-believers. Crickets.

My college roommate, also a journalist by trade, recently did a Ted Talk on what we’re all really selling these days: Hope and Fear. Hope for something better, vs. Fearing something worse. In the case of islam, it’s entirely fear based. Fear of not going to heaven. Fear of irking allah. Fear of being stoned, beheaded or maimed for the slightest infraction. The irony of putting Saudi Arabia on the human rights panel at the UN does not escape me.

Is it any wonder that a handful of ruthless barbarians, barely armed, can blow into any sandbox on abandoned American military vehicles, terrorize the populace into submission, leave and return only to find them just as submissive? That is fear at the cult level. Is islam nothing more than a deranged cult?

My fear is that when we finally wake up and realize religion is not a race and we’re not racists for opposing a fear based cult that has openly and repeatedly declared war on all non-believers, it will be too late. Orlandos and San Bernardinos will be our new normal. Those events were just the demo. The full feature is due out any moment.

We were told decades ago who the enemy is and advised to prepare. But we didn’t. Too distracted by bread and circuses. And marshaled forward on decades of bad and failed foreign policy. Also, the irony of refugees fleeing bombed out cities and countries, seeking better conditions…would only appear to be more savages seeking intact buildings and fresh victims to destroy. Any guesses as to why a significant portion of refugees seem to be men of fighting age, 18-34?

Good fences make good neighbors. Just like solid doors make restful nights.
 

SUFCO MINE - UTAH

We have made the Denver-LA trek quite a few times, taking I-70 and I-15.  Each time that we pass through central Utah, I would note a sudden appearance of these trucks on the Interstate 70:

It took me a while to figure out that the BT was for Barney Trucking, and that the trucks were making their appearance around the Convulsion Road interchange east of Salina, UT.  Since it wasn't clear what they were trucking, I got on Google Maps to see if there was any evidence of mining in the area.  I thought that maybe there would be open pit mining of some sort, but none showed up.  However, there was a marker for the Sufco  Mine.  Turns out that the Sufco is a huge underground coal mine, and the trucks were carrying coal west to power plants.  Here is the blurb from the Sufco web site:

The Sufco mine, which derives its name from its former owner, Southern Utah Fuel Co is one of the longest continuously running and most productive underground longwall mines in the U.S. It has been in continuous operation since 1941, initially as a room-and-pillar coal mine and since 1985 as a high-performance longwall operation.
 
The Sufco mining complex is located in Sevier County, UT approximately 30 miles north east of Salina, UT and 125 miles south of Salt Lake City, UT. It is located in the Blackhawk Formation in the Wasatch Plateau coalfield in which eight coal beds have been identified that contain coal seams more than seven feet thick.

Sufco has longwall and continuous miner reserves in the Upper Hiawatha and Lower Hiawatha seams in which it produces high-BTU, low-sulfur, compliance thermal coal.

 

 

 

 

 

MALIBU'S PINK LADY

Whenever we head out on a road trip, I see things that I should write about; so it's time to catch up a bit.  Here's something I did not see, but it's a legend around Malibu.  We often drive through the tunnel and it is easy to see where the painting was, and how difficult it must have been to paint.  A large picture of the Lady graces one of the wall at a local pub, Tavern One on PCH.

Here's the story:

The Pink Lady was a short-lived painting on a rock face near Malibu, California in 1966. The painting was created by Lynne Seemayer (1936-2017), a paralegal from Northridge, California and depicted a 60-foot (18m) tall, nude woman in a running position.  

The painting was located on the rock face above the southern entrance of the tunnel on Malibu Canyon Road near Malibu. For some time, the rock face above the tunnel had been covered with graffiti, which Seemayer felt was "an eyesore". Working at night, she began removing the graffiti in January 1966, using ropes to suspend herself in front of the rock. When the rock was clean, she created the painting on the night of Friday, October 28, 1966.

By November 1, the painting had begun to attract local news coverage. It was dubbed the "Pink Lady" by the media, due to the pink paint used for the skin. Los Angeles County road officials, concerned about traffic problems the painting might cause, attempted to remove it with high-pressure spray from fire hoses, and then with paint stripper However, Seemayer had used heavy-duty house paint for her creation, and both methods failed to remove it.

When she realized that her work was in danger, Seemayer publicly admitted to creating the Pink Lady, and sought a court injunction. This failed, however, and on November 3 a road crew covered the painting with brown paint.

Seemayer sued the county for $1,000,000 for the destruction of her work, and the county counter-sued for $28,000 in removal costs. Since the painting was on private property, both cases were dismissed by the court. For some time after the painting was removed, Seemayer received hate mail and phone calls from people who felt the work was obscene, including threats of violence against her and her children. She also received a few offers from art galleries to show her work.
The image was used as a wine label.

WAGON WHEEL

Feel free to crank it up and sing along!

Heading down south to the land of the pines
I'm thumbing my way into North Caroline
Staring up the road and pray to God I see headlights
I made it down the coast in seventeen hours
Picking me a bouquet of dogwood flowers
And I'm a-hopin' for Raleigh, I can see my baby tonight

 

So rock me momma like a wagon wheel
Rock me momma any way you feel
Hey, momma rock me
Rock me momma like the wind and the rain
Rock me momma like a south bound train
Hey, momma rock me

 

I'm running from the cold up in New England
I was born to be a fiddler in an old time string band
My baby plays a guitar, I pick a banjo now
Oh, north country winters keep a-getting me down
Lost my money playing poker so I had to leave town
But I ain't turning back to living that old life no more

 

So rock me momma like a wagon wheel
Rock me momma any way you feel
Hey, momma rock me
Hey, rock me momma like the wind and the rain
Rock me momma like a south bound train
Hey, momma rock me

 

Walkin' to the south out of Roanoke
Caught a trucker out of Philly had a nice long toke
But he's a heading west from the Cumberland gap
To Johnson City, Tennessee
And I gotta get a move on before the sun
I hear my baby calling my name and I know that she's the only one

 

And if I die in Raleigh at least I will die free

 

So rock me momma like a wagon wheel
Rock me momma any way you feel
Hey, momma rock me
Oh, rock me momma like the wind and the rain
Rock me momma like a south bound train

Hey momma rock me

 

Oh, so rock me momma like a wagon wheel
Rock me momma any way you feel
Hey, momma rock me (mama rock me, mama rock me)
Rock me momma like the wind and the rain
Rock me momma like a south bound train

Hey, ey yeah momma rock me (you can rock me, rock me)

 

Songwriters: Bob Dylan / Jay Secor