Ripple Effect

 

 Morocco has launched an investigation into a bomb attack on a cafe in Marrakesh that left 14 people dead including 11 foreigners.

Morocco and the Marrakech Markets

The flag of Morocco

 
                                                             Would you like my mask?
                                                             would you like my mirror?
                                                      cries the man in the shadowing hood
                                                              You can look at yourself
                                                              you can look at each other
                                                     or you can look at the face of your god... (L.M.)

  
   All so Pretty, Pretty, Pretty.

Countdown to Liftoff

From NASA 

It's a Unanimous "Go" for Endeavour

Thur, 28 Apr 2011 

The Space Shuttle Program Mission Management Team voted unanimously to proceed toward Endeavour's scheduled liftoff at 3:47 p.m. EDT Friday. Mike Moses, chair of the Prelaunch Mission Management team, reported that it was a very short meeting and everything is in great shape and ready to go.

"We're ready to go and we're looking forward to Friday's launch," Moses said.

Mike Leinbach, shuttle launch director said, "The countdown for Endeavour's final mission is going extremely well. The launch pad right now is cleared in preparation for loading the cryogenics fuels for the fuel cell system."

"We're not working any significant issues at all … the teams are upbeat about the mission and the President's visit," said Leinbach. "We're ready to go and right now looking forward to an on-time launch Friday afternoon."

The forecast calls for an 80 percent chance of favorable conditions at launch time, according to Shuttle Weather Officer Kathy Winters. The only concern for launch may be the crosswinds at the Shuttle Landing Facility.

The Rotating Service Structure (RSS) is scheduled to be retracted at 7 p.m. tomorrow night but may be delayed because of possible storm activity over the center. Teams will have about a four hour leeway for the storms to clear out to rollback the RSS with no affect on Friday morning's external tank fueling, now planned for 6:22 a.m.

Endeavour is headed to the International Space Station on a 14-day mission to deliver the Express Logistics Carrier-3, Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS), a high-pressure gas tank and additional spare parts for the Dextre robotic helper.

We Do Big Things

Serious Times, Sideshows and Carnival Barkers

    For some, there is no "proof" that makes the fact go away...  The President is a Democrat.  And a Black Man.  

                                           Shut Your Word-Hole.... 

                                        Troubled Waters Sands

Feeling the Heat in Syria

                        
                           What a Pair.

 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Continuing to Boil in Libya

   Photo by the late Chris Hondros, killed this week while covering the Libyan conflict in Misrata.

Libyan Rebels in door to door fighting.

Not So Home-Sweet-Home, Or (It's Only a Matter of Time)

          Aisha el-Qaddafi, the daughter of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya

She appeared to dismiss witnesses’ accounts of Colonel Qaddafi’s forces shooting unarmed demonstrators. “I am not sure that happened,” she said. “But let’s say it did: it was limited in scope.” - NYTimes

Gaddafi’s compound at Bab Al Azizia in Tripoli, bombed by American Forces in 1986.

 

WASHINGTON — NATO plans to step up attacks on the palaces, headquarters and communications centers that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi uses to maintain his grip on power in Libya, according to Obama administration and allied officials.

White House officials said President Obama had been briefed on the more energetic bombing campaign, which included a strike early on Monday on Colonel Qaddafi’s residential compound in the heart of Tripoli, the capital.

American Predator and Global Hawk Drones, flooding into Rebel Held Territory, have joined the fight.

 

Official Libyan Government Offices

  Getting Close....

                                                                    
                                                                          .....Closer....       

                                              ....Closer Still... Come On In, Doors Almost Open....