I Love lolcats!

When I saw this picture I laughed right out loud.  Isn’t that kitten adorable?

Wednesday Hero

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Mike Golch



Lt. Ronald Markiewicz


The year is 1971. A Lieutenant in the United States Army by the name of Ronald Markiewicz is serving near the Laotian border. He is a helicopter pilot. In March of that year he is sent out to fly two missions. The first one was to resupply a group of Vietnamese Marines and pick up wounded service members. The second mission was to allow troops to recover the crew of a downed helicopter. One both occasions he faces anti-aircraft fire and is wounded each time.

Fast forward to 2010 and Lt. Ronald Markiewicz finally received the Silver Star and a Distinguished Flying Cross. The awards he earned 39 years ago.

All Information Was Found On And Copied From ArmyTimes.com

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

What a Rush!

Can you even imagine being this close to a whale out in the open ocean?   WOW!!!

What Size Shoe Do You Wear?!

We found this giant flip-flop holding open the door to a shoe store in Traverse City.  Rick wanted to try it on but as you can see it didn’t fit.  I just love goofy stuff like this.  How about you?

Flag Friday - Qatar

Flag description:

World Flags states that flag was originally all red, but had the white added to conform with a British directive in the mid 19th century.

The flag would originally vary in design, according to the owner's fancy. Sometimes the edge would be serrated, sometimes straight. Some would add the name of the country in Arabic, while others added small diamonds along the serrated edge.

The nine points of the serrated edge came into force in 1916, after the Anglo Qatar treaty guaranteeing Qatar British protection, and signifies that Qatar was the 9th Emirates state to come under British protection.

The flag consists of a white base which is separated by a serrated edge from the maroon end of the flag. The flag has not changed in design since the country's independence in 1971, and even then the change was only one of proportion.

The above information is from this site.

The following information comes from the Flag Counter widget in my sidebar.  There is much more to be found there about geography, government, population, economy, and military.

     
Ruled by the al-Thani family since the mid-1800s, Qatar transformed itself from a poor British protectorate noted mainly for pearling into an independent state with significant oil and natural gas revenues. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Qatari economy was crippled by a continuous siphoning off of petroleum revenues by the Amir, who had ruled the country since 1972. His son, the current Amir HAMAD bin Khalifa al-Thani, overthrew him in a bloodless coup in 1995. In 2001, Qatar resolved its longstanding border disputes with both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. As of 2007, oil and natural gas revenues had enabled Qatar to attain the second-highest per capita income in the world.

Population:

833,285 (July 2009 est.)

Languages:

Arabic (official), English commonly used as a second language

Government type:

emirate

Capital:

Doha

Independence:

3 September 1971 (from the UK)

Currency (code):

Qatari rials (QAR)

 
Technorati Tags: Flag Friday

Art with Adam West

What a great idea for combining art and security. ☺

Eyehole Paintings with Adam West from Adam West

Hope it made you laugh!

Flag Friday - Moldova

Flag description: same color scheme as Romania - three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and red; emblem in center of flag is of a Roman eagle of gold outlined in black with a red beak and talons carrying a yellow cross in its beak and a green olive branch in its right talons and a yellow scepter in its left talons; on its breast is a shield divided horizontally red over blue with a stylized ox head, star, rose, and crescent all in black-outlined yellow.
The above information is from this site.

The following information comes from the Flag Counter widget in my sidebar.  There is much more to be found there about geography, government, population, economy, and military.

    
Part of Romania during the interwar period, Moldova was incorporated into the Soviet Union at the close of World War II. Although independent from the USSR since 1991, Russian forces have remained on Moldovan territory east of the Dniester River supporting the Slavic majority population, mostly Ukrainians and Russians, who have proclaimed a "Transnistria" republic. One of the poorest nations in Europe, Moldova became the first former Soviet state to elect a Communist, Vladimir VORONIN, as its president in 2001. VORONIN served as Moldova's president until he resigned in September 2009, following the opposition's victory of a narrow parliamentary majority in July parliamentary elections and the Communist Party's (PCRM) subsequent inability to attract the three-fifths of parliamentary votes required to elect a president. Moldova's four opposition parties formed a new coalition, the Alliance for European Integration (AEI), which will act as Moldova's governing coalition until new parliamentary elections can be held in summer 2010. Moldova experienced significant political uncertainty in 2009, holding two general elections (in April and July) and four presidential ballots in parliament, all of which failed to secure a president.

Population:

4,320,748 (July 2009 est.)

Languages:
Moldovan (official, virtually the same as the Romanian language), Russian, Gagauz (a Turkish dialect)
Government type:
republic
Capital:

Chisinau

Independence:

27 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union)
Currency (code):
Moldovan lei (MDL)

 
Technorati Tags: Flag Friday

Annual Mackinac Bridge Walk

There it is.  Mighty Mac.  I just call it The Bridge.  It’s such a beautiful, graceful bridge.  (Pronounce it Mackinaw.  It is spelled correctly with the ‘c’.)  I get a little goofy when I’m around The Bridge.  It has to be one of my favorite places.  The bridge is just over five miles long.  Every Labor Day tens of thousands of people descend on St. Ignace and Mackinaw City to walk across it.  It’s the only day pedestrians are allowed.
This is what it will look like today.  The buses you see are transporting walkers from Mackinaw City to the north end of the bridge to walk back south.  I’ve walked it many times.  We’ve actually met folks who have walked the bridge  every year for 51 years -  and will walk it again today.    It’s an awesome adventure!

I Love lolcats!

I used to be a Trekie.  Of course this is one of the big catch phrases.  So fun.

Penny Loafer

On vacation starting today!  I’ve put up a few posts of things I’ve found around the internet.  Hope you enjoy them.  This one is from So Much Pun.com.

Flag Friday - Colombia

The Colombia Flag has bands of three colors red, blue and yellow which are unequal in size. The yellow band of color on the top of the flag is slightly wider in size. The official date of adoption of the Colombian flag is 1861. The yellow color in the flag represents Latin America of which Colombia is a part. The blue color in the national flag of Colombia signifies the Atlantic Ocean which parts Colombia from Spain, its previous colonizer. The red part in the flag depicts the blood-spattered freedom struggle of this country. The designer of the Colombian flag was inspired by the flag which Christopher Columbus used in his expedition.

The above information is from this site.

The following information comes from the Flag Counter widget in my sidebar.  There is much more to be found there about geography, government, population, economy, and military.

   
Colombia was one of the three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others are Ecuador and Venezuela). A four-decade long conflict between government forces and anti-government insurgent groups, principally the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) heavily funded by the drug trade, escalated during the 1990s. The insurgents lack the military or popular support necessary to overthrow the government and violence has been decreasing since about 2002, but insurgents continue attacks against civilians and large areas of the countryside are under guerrilla influence or are contested by security forces. More than 31,000 former paramilitaries had demobilized by the end of 2006 and the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) as a formal organization had ceased to function. In the wake of the paramilitary demobilization, emerging criminal groups arose, whose members include some former paramilitaries. The Colombian Government has stepped up efforts to reassert government control throughout the country, and now has a presence in every one of its administrative departments. However, neighboring countries worry about the violence spilling over their borders.

Population:

43,677,372 (July 2009 est.)

 Languages:

Spanish

Government type:

republic; executive branch dominates government structure

Capital:

Bogota

Independence:

20 July 1810 (from Spain)

Currency (code):
Colombian pesos (COP)

 
Technorati Tags: Flag Friday

I Love lolcats!

While I love little kittens, I can imagine their little needle-like claws. (shudder)  But you have to admit that they’re adorable!

Wednesday Hero

Thank you Kathi. For the fourth year now you've been kind enough to put together this look back at the past year of posts for us. xoxoxox

Wednesday Hero - 2009/2010

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero. We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.