You couldn't be here if stars hadn't exploded.
To the question, “Why me?” the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply, “Why not?”
Atheist: Natural Morals, Real Meaning, Credible Truth

28 October, 2006

Charity Flying today - Saw some whales

Flew 6 loads of strangers in my plane today for the Nintey-Nines. They were having a fundraiser for their scholarship program today at the Watsonville airport. It was WVI's open house also.

  • Augustis and his mom - he has a pilot's license and works for UA in SF, wants to return to flying... nice guy.
  • Maverik and his grandpa. Little 7 yr old, hard to see over the panel and may have been getting a little sick.
  • Dubie and a guy with a kid in a car seat. Kid was sound asleep when we landed and didn't wake up when we hauled him out of the back. A bit young for airplane rides.
  • A mom with two girls... remember no names. Girls sat in back and chattered away, I had to turn off their intercom to me. A bit of whining and lost hair in headset. Mom flew for a few minutes, her son had flown with me in Young Eagles a few months ago.
  • Patrick and grandma and sis... sis was scared but got over it until I gave the control wheel over to little Patrick. But they had a good time.
  • The Three Amigos... three big guys in late teens/early twenties, the load master lady was a little worried about how heavy they were but I was low on fuel and I figured they wouldn't be a problem weight/cg wise... they were fun. Lots of questions and kidding of each other, easy to talk to, interested... best flight of the day

On most of the flights I could see a whale off the coast near the concrete ship near Seacliff beach. I don't know if it was the same one or a pod of them but they were always in the same spot.

Also flew Bram for a quick flight to find the whale and let him fly the plane again. He had helped all day at the open house and then helped me clean and bed down the plane afterward.

Forgot my damn camera, no pictures.

Marketplace: Frozen Assets

Marketplace: Frozen Assets

This is getting scary, the arctic fisheries losing their stock, with it moving more north due to global warming. On top of the over fishing going on. We are doomed!

04 October, 2006

Letter to a Christian Nation (Book) :: Sam Harris

Letter to a Christian Nation (Book) :: Sam Harris: "Forty-four percent of the American population is convinced that Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead sometime in the next fifty years. According to the most common interpretation of biblical prophecy, Jesus will return only after things have gone horribly awry here on earth. It is, therefore, not an exaggeration to say that if the city of New York were suddenly replaced by a ball of fire, some significant percentage of the American population would see a silver lining in the subsequent mushroom cloud, as it would suggest to them that the best thing that is ever going to happen was about to happen—the return of Christ. It should be blindingly obvious that beliefs of this sort will do little to help us create a durable future for ourselves—socially, economically, environmentally, or geopolitically. Imagine the consequences if any significant component of the U.S. government actually believed that the world was about to end and that its ending would be glorious. The fact that nearly half of the American population apparently believes this, purely on the basis of religious dogma, should be considered a moral and intellectual emergency."