In spite of each evening’s forecast for the following day, the weather
remains perfect. It rained in the early morning but cleared with the sun shining
and a cool breeze.

Today we decided to take it easy, with a stroll downtown to do some souvenir
shopping but in the late afternoon we went to the Shrine
of St. Therese. What a wonderful hidden treasure.

I was thankful to have visited the chapel to personally show my appreciation
for the good fortune.

Some things can be overwhelming. And a place where just walking out the front
door can fill you with quieting self awareness the awe inspiring sights can be
exponential.

American Bald Eagles are a common sight, perched on trees or power-line
towers, resting, observing and waiting for their next meal.

Yesterday we went to watch Humpback Whales feed in the waters off of
Juneau,  and boy did we see whales. At least six whales were feeding
together in the same area, which is uncommon as they typically feed alone. The
guide could only guess that the area was rich in food attracting them all.

I was able to get the short video of one near our boat.

On the way back, we passed an eagle perched on a buoy with a few sea lions
basking in the sun at the base of the buoy.

Today we visited Mendenhall
Glacier where you can also see salmon spawning and black bears feasting on
them.  We didn’t get to see any bears, but perhaps tomorrow, since it is
about 10 minutes away, we will.

 Click the thumbs for larger photos.

Fifteen hours but we made it to Juneau.  I’m too tired to explain the
journey but I wanted to share this photo of Mt. Rainier.  It was the view
on the flight into Seattle.  Click the thumbnail for a larger version.

Headed to Alaska for a short vacation. Hope to have some great pics when I get back in a week! I may be able to post from the road but I’m not counting on it.
Be well!

Truthers get whacked.  The History Channel had a show last night, 9/11
Conspiracies: Fact or Fiction, where they debunked all the theories.

The show was based primarily on the Popular Mechanics debunking, but also
included other opinions and interviews.

From remote controlled airplanes flying into the WTC towers to devices that
can recreate a voice to fake passenger calls from a hijacked plane (yes, they do
believe that) these poor fools are cut down.

As a commenter highlighted a quote form the show on the Hot
Air thread, "trutherism is a narcissistic mental illness — that
has got to be one of the best tags I’ve ever seen. That absolutely nails
it."

Here is a story I’ve been following at Hot
Air where you have an AFP photo and caption that are obviously fabricated to
create a negative story on the war. Basically the MSM’s strategy is to take
their agenda seeking narrative and fill in the blanks around it with
fiction.  I like John Leo’s
take on this phenomenon:

The narrative in the case of the magic bullet photos is that US
soldiers are murderous animals, terrorizing civilians at will.  And this
narrative is enforced by major politicians. When Barak Obama suggests our
current strategy in Afghanistan is "just
air-raiding villages and killing civilians", it just continues the
cycle.

Here are some photos of the damage from the F2 tornado that touched down in
Brooklyn on August 8, 2007.  Click on the photo below to get to a gallery.

Nobody was injured.  And from what I understand, the tornado only
touched down for an instant on this block.

I meant to point out this article the other day but I got distracted by the
tornado.  Ion
Mihai Pacepa writes in the WSJ about the Soviet era anti-American offensive
and how it applied to current political partisanship.

An interesting read.  Has the opposition achieved its
objective of making people believe we’re more of a threat than jihadists?

What could be described as a tornado
touched down in my neighborhood, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

I witnessed some of the aftermath during my
commute in this morning.  I saw several large trees uprooted with cars
crush underneath, storefronts damaged, and various items strewn across the city
streets.  The localized damage, as there was no indication of anything
severe a mere block away, gave this storm a tornado-like appearance.

I may have some photos coming later today.

Here
is some aerial footage of the scene in Bay Ridge from FoxNY.

I’m not sure how long the live footage will be
available so here
is a link to the story from FoxNY.

**Update** The
National Weather Service has confirmed that a class F2 tornado touched down in
Brooklyn.

 **Update** The
New York Post has a photo gallery showing the damage.

The
New York Daily News has details on the path of the tornado.

Picture taken from The New York Daily News
website.