In the era of our jet age, as people move around the world within a few hours via our modern jet aircraft, have you ever wondered how a French pilot communicates with a air traffic controller in New York City? How about the Russian airline pilot that is preparing to land in London, how do they communicate with the tower without having a roomful of translators? The answer is simple, the industry has adopted English as the standard language world wide in air traffic control.

Recently, Immigration Bill 1348 was moving through the Senate for adoption, part of this Bill was to make English, America's official language. In a recent poll, 91% of the American citizens want English officially designated as our language. English has always been part of America, even in the founding of our great country, English was the language of choice by our founding fathers. Can you imagine the Declaration of Independence being written in any other language than English?

When, Immigration Bill 1348 came up for a vote, thirty three (33) Senators out of our designated 100 voted against English being officially recognized as our language. Following the last election, I thought the Majority Leader told all of us that it was his goal to unify the Senate and dedicate their work on a bi-partisan level for the good of their constituents. The thirty three Senators that voted against this bill were all of the Democratic party!

Perhaps you will recognize just a few of the names, each of them want to serve you as President of the United States. Those voting against the Bill includes, Biden (D-DE), Clinton (D-NY), Dodd (D-CT), Kerry (D-MA), Obama (D-IL), Reid (D-NV Majority Leader), and of course you had Kennedy (D-MA), and Feinstein (D-CA). Keep these names in mind and if you see them on the ballot to represent us as President, vote NO in English so this nothing lost in translation.

With the rhetoric that comes from some of our Senators and Representatives involving our War on Terrorism and their reportedly support of our military, I think the following quotation is very appropriate.

"Congressman who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale, and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled,or hanged" President Abraham Lincoln

I now know how Elmer Fudd felt in all those years that he waged war on that Pesky Rabbit! Butch and Sundance are definitely living up to the legend of their namesakes. One week ago, they had no concept of what a peanut was. This week they have developed an appetite for these morsels that have kept me on my toes as to where to store them so they will not rob the bank.
My last concept was the stainless steel, roll top barbecue! After checking it out carefully, there was not way to get inside the barbecue unless you rolled up the lid. No way could two squirrels manage to accomplish that task so the roll top grill become the Fort Knox for peanuts.
This evening, arriving at the camp to work, my first stop was to make a pot of coffee and put some peanuts in their designated feeder. Opening up the grill, much to my surprise,the grill is covered with peanut shells and the bag is almost empty! They got me this time, but they will have to work to get them again, they are now safe and secure (?) in a chest cooler, I believe it belongs to the Wolf Clan, even if they chew a hole in the side, it will be easier to drain water off the beer. My next project will be to build them a little house to live in!

Have a guest in camp tonight, Papa Bear is out to see if he can find an early Silver Salmon come daylight. Of course, he knew who had a bunch a fresh cured salmon eggs! Had a good visit and we both came to agreement that we will need to keep the Bull Buffalo from laying in the wood to build one of his famous fires.

Most Alaskans enjoy spending time outdoors, enjoying the many natural resources of our great state. Weather plays a very important role in our lives, whether we are going out to play, work, or travel. As we get older, perhaps we get a little more weather conscious. I have found myself that checking the local weather reports has become a routine morning chore as I enjoy my first few cups of coffee.

Over the years, I have begin to rely on the Doppler Radar to check on precipitation in the area. I have found it to be reliable and I have learned that I can predict with some accuracy how much time I will have to complete an outside project before it begins to precipitate.

I have always relied on the Doppler Radar sites provided by the National Weather Service. Only recently, I discovered a new site provided by NOAA. It is similar to the NWS Doppler site, however it has so many additional features to play with. It will not only provide you weather information but you can also use it for other purposes. For instance, did you know that Anchorage is 109 miles northeast of Anchor Point or that Kodiak is 119 miles south of Anchor Point? As an example for weather predicting, if there is a front of precipitation on lower Cook Inlet, I can click on Anchor Point as my start point and then move the cursor to the edge of the front area which will tell you the distance, consequently you can estimate the time that you have before the rains strikes. This site can also be used as a trip planner. Below the radar screen is additional screens covering the lower forty eight. Clicking on these is like opening a road map, it not only shows you the weather but all the major highways and communities. Clicking on one community and tracing the highway to your destination will give you a fairly accurate mileage reading.

The new radar images is updated every few minutes, the time of your current viewing will be detailed at the top of the screen. It is a great site, informative, and a great tool for those that enjoy the outdoors.

On the Alaska screen, I have found that it you un-check several of the boxes under the radar screen you will get a much clearer picture. Un-check the following boxes, counties (boroughs), rivers, and especially highways. In the upper left corner, there are directional areas, clicking on those will show you the adjoining Doppler Weather Zones so you can look at the entire area outside of your particular Doppler Zone. Take a look and have some fun with the weather.