Here is How They Fish for the Big Ones in Alaska

I've heard of salmon jumping into boats but . . Four were pulled from the icy waters of Stephens Passage, Alaska , by a group of locals on Tom Satre's 62-foot charter vessel. Four juvenile Sitka black- tailed deer swam directly toward the boat.

Once the deer reached the boat, the four began to circle the boat, looking

directly at the humans on board. Clearly, the bucks were distressed. With

help, the typically skittish and absolutely wild animals came willingly onto the boat. Once onboard, they collapsed with exhaustion, shivering.

Here the rescued bucks rest on the back of Tom Satre's boat, the Alaska

Quest.

All four deer were transported to Taku Harbour . Once the group

reached the dock, the first buck that had been pulled from the water hopped

onto the dock, looked back, then leapt into the harbour, swam to shore, and

disappeared into the forest. After a bit of prodding and assistance from the humans, two others followed suit, but one deer needed more help.

Here he is being transported by Tom Satre:;

Tom, Anna and Tim Satre help the last of the "button" bucks to its feet.

They did not know how long the deer had been in the icy waters or if there had been others who did not survive.

The good Samaritans (humans) describe their experience as "one of those defining moments in life."

I'm sure it was for the deer, as well.

a h/t to "Tom" from my hometown for this story

MMMMM, Are We Born to be Certain Types of Persons?

We accept that some people are born with a talent for music or art or athletics. But what about mathematics? Do some of us just arrive in the world with better math skills than others?

It seems we do, at least according to the results of a study by a team of Johns Hopkins University psychologists. Led by Melissa Libertus, a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, the study -- published online in a recent issue of Developmental Science -- indicates that math ability in preschool children is strongly linked to their inborn and primitive "number sense," called an "Approximate Number System" or ANS.

More here

Would it not follow from this that some of us are born to be more logical than others also? But, then again, what do psychologists really know as we pointed out here?

Beauty, A Celebration of Life

Poverty, Crime, Welfare and Minimum wages, Is there a Correlation?

This man believes that there is.




And then there are the words of wisdom from the man who wrote these words. Are they the words of a man who would approve of a socialistic form of a way of life as so many are clamoring for?

"For my own part, I am not so well satisfied of the goodness of this thing. I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I travelled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.

There is no country in the world where so many provisions are established for them; so many hospitals to receive them when they are sick or lame, founded and maintained by voluntary charities; so many alms-houses for the aged of both sexes, together with a solemn general law made by the rich to subject their estates to a heavy tax for the support of the poor. Under all these obligations, are our poor modest, humble, and thankful; and do they use their best endeavors to maintain themselves, and lighten our shoulders of this burthen?

On the contrary, I affirm that there is no country in the world in which the poor are more idle, dissolute, drunken, and insolent. The day you passed that act, you took away from before their eyes the greatest of all inducements to industry, frugality, and sobriety, by giving them a dependence on somewhat else than a careful accumulation during youth and health, for support in age or sickness. In short, you offered a premium for the encouragement of idleness, and you should not now wonder that it has had its effect in the increase of poverty. Repeal that law, and you will soon see a change in their manners.

St. Monday, and St. Tuesday, will cease to be holidays. SIX days shalt thou labour, though one of the old commandments long treated as out of date, will again be looked upon as a respectable precept; industry will increase, and with it plenty among the lower people; their circumstances will mend, and more will be done for their happiness by inuring them to provide for themselves, than could be done by dividing all your estates among them.

Excuse me, Messrs. the Public, if upon this interesting subject, I put you to the trouble of reading a little of my nonsense. I am sure I have lately read a great deal of yours; and therefore from you (at least from those of you who are writers) I deserve a little indulgence."

I am, your’s,
Ben Franklin

And we must not forget the words of Raul Castro;
"Cuba must stop being the only country in the world where it is not necessary to work.”

Beauty with Pow Power

Problems with commenting on Blogger Sites

If you  are having problems commenting on sites using Blogger, don't feel alone.  there are many of us having the same problem.  I came across two solutions to this problem.
1. If you are using the Internet Explorer browser try using one of the others available.  I know that Firefox is one browser that solves this problem for me.

2. When you sign in do not check the box to remain signed in. That seems to solve the problem also even though it creates an hassle of the need to sign in every time.

If anyone comes across a better solution I think everyone would appreciate hearing of it. Leave your solution in comments and I will add it to the post for others to use also.

h/t to Gorges Grouse for the solutions here.

UPDATE:
One of my valued commenters said that using the "name/url" option in the select profile menu box also works.  There may be one little problem with this option tho.  For you Blog owners, check out the spam section of your blog.  There may be comments there from those using this option.

h/t to Ralph over at "Mindless Ramblings" for this solution to the problem.

Tapping into Beauty

Beauty of Lovin' Slowly

Liberalism, a Look at It as being in the Mode of the Enlightenment of the Founding Fathers

I have just spent some time viewing Dr. Hicks teachings of philosophy and what I have learned from these lectures was probably the most enlightening lectures that I have ever heard. The following video is but the first of this series of lectures. It is a series of lectures explaining the philosophy of Post- modernism. The most significant understanding I got from these lectures is the fact I hear these same arguments used and see them being utilized in the politics of today's world.

The one significant conclusion that I have come to is the idea of what a liberal sees himself as being identified and what a conservative sees himself as being identified. Both sees themselves in the mode of the founding fathers thus see the opposition in light of this perception of themselves. But in order to understand this we must first identify the fact that we live in the age of the philosophy of modernism or as it is more commonly thought of as living in a modern world as ushered in by the enlightenment era or the age of reason. And our nation is a foundational example of this new train of thought.

This then would identify the time prior to this age as the age of premodernism or the premodern world with any age after this as being the age of post-modernism or the post-modern world. The liberal sees himself in the mode of the founding fathers who were the innovators of the modern world movement in that the liberal today is the innovators of the post- modern movement. This contrast with the conservative who is attempting to conserve the modern world movement as the founding fathers ushered in.

In closing I can only say that I suggest that you should sit thru the whole series of videos and see how his lectures are being played out in this modern world and understand from a philosophical point of view what the conflicts of political viewpoints are. If you listen closely you'll hear the arguments of liberalism as they now are presented as well as being instituted in this society.

And you will understand why the liberal mindset is so critical of the way of life we have in this nation also. You will also understand how Marxism plays a part in this mindframe as well. I believe you will find that the time spent watching as well as listening to these lectures will be time well worth it.  I know I did. What say you?

The rest of the lectures can be found here, Dr. Hicks

The Beauty That is being Commemorated on This Day.

From this:

To This in Three Days:

As we were walking out of the church doors I looked up at grandpa and grandma and asked, “Why was the Crucifixion and Resurrection of the Christ a necessity for our salvation as the good reverend said when the Father is all powerful and could have granted forgiveness for the sin of Adam?”

Grandpa and grandma just looked down at me than looked at each other with a pleased grin on their faces. Then grandma looked back down at me and said,

“Boy, that is a good question and a question that has been pondered over many times since that blessed event and it probably will be pondered over until the end of time because only the Father can answer that question truthfully as it needs to be answered. But your grandfather and I have come to the conclusion that the answer can be found in John 3:16.

'For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.' Love, boy, is not something that is given out of need but it is given freely and consensually. And the Crucifixion and Resurrection was the means chosen to show mankind just how much love God has for him.  So, as far as your grandfather and I are concerned you are correct in your implication that they were not needed or a requirement of our salvation. Love does not require or need anything. But in order for man to understand that love, it must be shown. God showed us His love in a manner that no man can truly comprehend thus man justifies it by logically declaring that it was needed and a requirement for our salvation.” "HAPPY EASTER, EVERYONE. MAY THE LOVE OF GOD BE REVEALED IN EVERY HEART."

Ok, People, Some Reasons to Stop Eating

Click on Picture to see why

btw, after all these years I finally figured out how to use a picture as a link.

Beauty Served up Italian Style, Tantilizing and Spicy

Business Run Like a Family, Living as a Business

I heard a teacher in college once exclaim the following;

“If people ran their lives more like a business and businesses ran more like families everyone would have a better life.”

As a student I had no way to argue for it or against it so I just accepted that the teacher was a wiser person than I was. But now, I would dispute this. This statement is a statement only a politician who thinks he understands the discipline of sociology or only by a sociologist who wants to be a politician would make.

And I have just about as much respect for a sociologist as I do a politician. They both possess the same fault . They both believe that they can create the perfect society and each, with the help of the other, believe that this state of existence is an attainable goal.

And how do each try to create this perfect society? They believe that if the dominant sector of a society changes its attitude towards the subordinate sector of this society and treat them as equals then they will have a perfect society. And they see nothing wrong in the use of force to bring about this change in attitude.

And they justify this use of force by using the excuse they are just helping the less fortunate individuals of society. What they do not think about is that the word help does not permit the use of force to bring about change. Help, to be known as help must be voluntary and consensual on the part of both parties, the one being helped as well as the one doing the helping. Helping another by the means of force is the foundational basis of the meaning of being a slave.

For it can be said that by the use of force a slave is helping his Master. Yet, one thing must be noted, no one will ever use the word help in their description of a Master/slave relationship. In fact people will describe this relationship in a manner that not only decries the use of force but declares it an intolerable situation because of the use of force to not only create that relationship but also necessitates the use of force in order to maintain that relationship.

Now, granted, recognition of the difference between these two concepts does not change the behavior of either person but it does have an effect on the attitude of each person in regards to themselves and in regards to the other person. The reason being is that a person must do the same thing when aiding another person.

What neither realizes or fails to understand is the fact that in order to create this perfect society they must have absolute control over every aspect of the lives of every one of the members of this society. You can't explicitly declare that you are going to change the way a society is without implicitly declaring that you are seeking to change the individuals of that society. The same is true when a person is forced to do something for himself.

And the justification for this that there are people who knows what is the best thing to do for another person. In other words some people believe that they are much more wiser than others thus this justifies making decisions for them. This is treating people as if they are children rather than treating them as adults who have the ability to make their own decisions in life.

We make decisions for children because we know that they are not mature enough to make good decisions on their own. We also know that there must come a time to cut the umbilical cord and recognize that it is time they must be responsible for their own decisions even when we as parents feel that the decisions they make are not beneficial to them.

In both cases we have a “cannot” instead of a “can” situation. A slave cannot make his own decisions about his own life because he does not have the power and authority to do so. A child cannot make his own decisions because he does not have the sufficient maturity to do so. The big difference being is that enslavement is intended on being a permanent condition of life while childhood is known to be a temporary condition of life

That is the biggest problem with the equality principle. In order to achieve equality force must be applied. Equality can never be achieved on a voluntary and consensual basis even if it is accepted that people should be treated and behave as equals. The biggest reason being is that each of us has a different concept of the meaning of equality. The proof of this is seen in the fact of the many different segments of society demanding equal treatment from other segments and they demand this equal treatment without thought of the fact that it isn't being practiced within their own segment of society. How can you demand from others something that you do not practice yourself?

In closing I will only add this remark as a rebuttal to the observation stated in the beginning;

I would say that if families ran their lives more like a business they would realize just how much like a family a business is already run. This is one thing that a farmer's family learns first hand.

Human Beings With All of their Differences and Inequalities of Nature (Part 4)

To continue with this series of essays about human beings we need to examine one more position. It is the center position of the extremes as described in the previous posts.


The absolute extreme of the center is more difficult to describe. The reason being is that it is usually defined as a combination of the two outer extremities, the right and the left. One way to describe it would be that it is an absolute compromise of the absolute extremes. The big problem with this is that it focuses on the outcome without considering what happens to the means.

We as human beings are governed by our principles concerning morality. Those principles influence our every decision of behavior. What a compromised solution does is necessitate a change of behavior without consideration of the beliefs involved. The behavior has changed but the principle held still remains. In other words, the man has become a hypocrite to his beliefs and with each compromise he makes the more of a hypocrite he is. And with each compromise made the easier it becomes to compromise again.

A man who is willing to compromise is a liar. For that man is portraying himself to the world as being somebody that he is not. His behavior belies his beliefs. Most important is the fact that he is betraying the most important person in his life, himself. In order to live with himself truth would have to have no meaning to this person.

And like lies one compromise will, inevitably, lead to another compromise. Sooner or later this man will be forced to face the truth about himself and when this happens he will have to suffer the consequences of his own making. Since compromise cannot be justified on its own merits then it only can be justified by demeaning the purity of the absolute extreme positions in some manner or another.

The big problem with this position concerns responsibility and doing things the right way or the wrong way. This is a position of shared responsibility. This would be a position where all behavior is behavior that is considered as being both determined and of free will. This alone would declare this position as being self-contradictory. Why would we want someone to accept responsibility for a behavior that they have no control over? We would be blaming the victim of this behavior if we hold him responsible. Is that the right thing to do?

It is also a position where right and wrong must be considered as being blurred. Some would even say that there is no right or wrong way of doing things. This would be a position of amorality. It would be a position taken where evaluation of behavior is not influenced by one's sense of morality. The only conclusion that a person can come to based on the premises allowed is that responsibility of the behavior cannot be ascertained logically without presupposing responsibility. This would go against the whole idea of the meaning of justice.

This would presuppose that something else other than a sense of morality should be used to ascertain responsibility. What else can people possess on an equal basis that could be used as a determinant of responsibility that would not be biased and prejudicial? What else can people possess on an equal basis that does not automatically declare one person guilty and another person innocent of behavior simply by the possession of it? What else can a person possess on an equal basis that doesn't automatically prevent a relationship between two persons of different positions of society? What else can a person possess on an equal basis that would restrict the behavior of each equally?

What say you, my friends? Can someone provide me an answer to my questions?

Human Beings With All of their Differences and Inequalities of Nature (Part 3)

Since we have already presented a viewpoint for the absolute extreme for the left then it is only just that we present a viewpoint of the absolute extreme for the right. As perceived, a person may find many similarities with the two extremes. So for those who have not read part 2 it would be advisable to do so either before continuing reading or after.


Being inner motivated a person would believe that he has absolutely total control over his own life. Since he had total control then he would accept absolute responsibility for his actions but only for his own actions. He would know what he has done because he has the ability to think of what he is doing but he would believe he could have prevented what he did. He would go through life believing he had more than one option of behavior and his proof is the fact of his own thoughts. This is the essence of the meaning of free will.

The idea of good or bad behavior would be very important to this person because to acknowledge that would be to confirm the idea that he had a choice of behavior. And to be consistent he would believe this is true for everyone as well as everything. The idea of determinism would be non-existent in the mind of this person. He would be a person without regret for anything he did. Seeking forgiveness from others would not occur to a person such as this for that in itself would be acknowledging that he had the capability of influencing or controlling another's behavior. He would be perceived as being a man without any emotions or feelings for others or anything not even for himself. And the reason for this is that he'd have complete control over his emotions and feelings.

This would be a person who would decide his every behavior accordance to the laws of morality and attribute these laws to the wisdom of his own reasoning. Life would have great meaning to this person because of the fact that it is a part of the nature of this existence. Since life would have meaning the concept of liberty or the pursuit of happiness would have even greater meaning to this person also.

The laws of the state would be meaningless to this person. By the nature of his existence, as believed, he will either abide by those he believe consistent with his own morality or he won't because they are not consistent with his morality. Any benefits or consequence he may get out of it is only as it should be. His future is never determined, only decided by his own free will. He is only experiencing what he has chosen to experience by existing. This person would never see the laws of the state as being necessary because wisdom has revealed the moral principles of the behavior of man. Once revealed to all and followed the state would cease to exist for it would not serve any purpose anymore.

Inequality of persons would also be meaningless because he would believe that all are equally bound by this same idea and that everyone had a choice of who they may be in this existence. Since the idea of consent would also need to recognize the concept of choice then it also would have great meaning. The idea of force would be the only concept he would not recognize as existing thus declaring it unjustified. Its lack of justification would come from defining it along the lines of being anything but a consensual decision of behavior.

The idea of the existence of a God would be one thing that would be meaningless to this person. For to recognize His existence would also mean he'd have to recognize the existence of a being capable of controlling his life and the fact that it would declare that a life form with free will was the ultimate cause of all things and to an extent even his behavior. And once this possibility is accepted then it could be declared that this person no longer holds to an absolute position to the right. He would hold to a position of a lesser degree of absoluteness.

This might be declared as another version of the meaning of perfection. It would be an existence where anything and everything would just be accepted as a part of the natural way of life. If it be the natural way of life then it is a life as chosen thus incapable of change. Man would be declared as a participant to what life is as it should be. And it is only free will that revealed that he be a participant to life and appear to be emotionless about the life he chose, a life with purpose and potential, a life with meaning and opportunity. He would be a participant to a life with value both to himself or to others. To demand that he be anything other than this would be demanding that he be a hypocrite to his beliefs.

Now this evaluation can be applied to all of the right each to a lesser degree of absoluteness than another or a greater degree of absoluteness than another as one finds himself on the spectrum of the curve. For as one sees himself so does he expect others to be also and any variance would be a contradiction of belief. And by doing so abides by the principle of treating others as he himself would like to be treated.

If there be a change of belief it would be a change that places them further to the right than where they be now. The only influence for this new change would be the new revelations of wisdom in regards to the human behavior.

In closing, the right consists of those whose beliefs are consistent to the concept of free will to a greater degree. And wisdom is but a tool to be used as the means to bring a society closer to the perfect existence as determined never to need change. And they see this as being inevitable as wisdom reveals more thus will be the catalyst of this inevitability.

Human Beings With All of their Differences and Inequalities of Nature

Funny creatures are the human animal. As told in a previous post they can be separated by two basic principles, those who are inner motivated and those who are externally motivated. They can be further identified by the idea that externally motivated persons accept the premise of determinism while internally motivated persons accept the premise of free will.

We can go even farther in this identification by using what Sociologists call the Bell curve. Each person of a group possessing his own particular point on that curve and no one point being occupied by more than one person. This alone would declare us as individuals with no equal. The inner motivated person will occupy a space to the right of center while the externally motivated person occupying a space to the left of center.

Based upon the principle of this Bell curve, about 68% of the people will occupy the center, divided equally from the center. The other 32% of the people being distributed on the outer edge of this curve also equally divided as illustrated in the picture below. By placing those persons who are externally motivated on the left half of this curve and those internally motivated on the right half of this curve we can identify each group along familiar lines of political identification, the left and the right.



The Bell Curve



By seeing a people along this line of thought we can now assign each of the personality traits and their complements to each side of the curve. Independency would be assigned to the right half of the curve and dependency to the left half of the curve. Those to the left would possess a collective mindset while those to the right would possess more of an individualistic mindset.

The most telling attribute that can be seen in this is how each side assigns responsibility to the behaviors of persons. Those to the left will assign responsibility to external causes while those to the right will assign responsibility to internal causes. Those to the left has a less tendency to assign blame to the person who committed the act than those on the right. And this has a great influence on each sides understanding of the meaning of justice or what would be called a just society. This alone would be enough to see how a person's view of things would influence his political views.

From the picture above a person can understand why some viewpoints are considered as extreme viewpoints while others are considered as centralist viewpoints. We must also understand that while viewpoints may be seen as being extreme that doesn't mean that they are of the absolute nature. It is just as hard to conceive of a viewpoint possessed that is on the absolute extreme as to conceive of a possessed viewpoint that is of the absolute center. These are positions that could only be occupied by God in my mind. It is only when persons take an absolute stance in regards to their possessed position that the position may have detrimental effects on themselves as well as others. For it is then that results in the perception that violence or force is an acceptable means to an end.


While the above may be advocated for individual persons there is one thing that can occupy the farthest extreme of this curve. It is the discipline of science. And it seeks to occupy the most extreme position on the left. It is the study of cause and effect and seeks to measure the amount of influence the cause has on the effect. And in the hard sciences, with the use of mathematics, science can come to an absolute conclusion.

And while the soft sciences can never come to an absolute conclusion this doesn't prevent them from creating a perception that their relative conclusions are absolute conclusions. And this, unfortunately, can lead a society to a misleading perception of the problems within a society and can effect how a solution is to be determined. Most important is how it may affect a person's perception of how others should behave when they assign responsibility to certain behaviors. They can end up demanding a certain behavior from others which could result in an act of hypocrisy by that other person.  This can have unintended devastating effects on a relationship.

The Thoughts of a Blank Mind

Oh boy, this sure is a good beginning. My brain is in shutdown mode this week.  Can't think of anything to write about. Sure am glad I'm not in school with a paper due. I'd end up handing in a blank sheet of paper.  My mind is so blank I wouldn't even have an idea for a poor excuse to give to the teacher.

Of course, I'll acknowlege that there are some out there who'd say that this has been the state of my mind all of the time so how is this any different? And I'd have to admit that I have no answer to that question.  Have to also say it is kind of frustrating too for someone who enjoys writing his thoughts down and getting feedback on them.

Even grandpa and grandma have had worried looks on their faces when they look at me.  Grandma even touched my forehead to see if I was sick or something. Guess they are not used to the idea of my not constantly asking them questions.  Seems to be one of those times you spend the day doing things without giving any thought as to what you are doing or why it needs to be done.  It can be a very boring time in a person's life.

Ideas, thoughts seem to be a very important part of life to us human beings.  I think, at times, we take them for granted when we shouldn't. They seem to be man's greatest gift and we should cherish and relish the fact we have the ability to possess them.  Yet when I think of all of the problem in this world, isn't it the ideas and thoughts of man in regards to others that can be said to be the cause of these problems?  Would we be better off just possessing feelings without having the ability to think about them? Who knows?

The bottom line is that my mind is so empty at the moment that I don't even want to get beyond the questions of life and search for some kind of answer for them.  Would this be one of those pathetic moments of life?

SHHHHHHHHHHH, Don't Tell Grandma, I'll Get A Big Whoopin'

A picture is worth a thousand words? Well here are two thousands words said in admired silence and words without a gripe too. Now, what thoughts have I inspired in you with my silence today?

Pictures courtesy of the Detroit News

What Americans Do, What Canadians Do

Hey, my fellow Americans, our friends above the border think of us as being nothing but wimps down here. Are we going to take their insults? :)

Here are a few things they are saying about us.

COLD IS A RELATIVE THING. .. .
---------------

At 65 degrees above zero

People in Florida turn on the heat.

People in Montreal plant gardens.

At 60 degrees above zero:

People in California shiver uncontrollably.

People in Montreal sunbathe.

At 50 degrees above zero:

Italian and English cars won't start.

People in Montreal drive with the windows down.

At 40 degrees above zero:

People in Georgia don coats, thermal underwear, gloves, and wool hats.

People in Montreal throw on a flannel shirt.

At 35 degrees above zero:

New York landlords finally turn up the heat.

People in Montreal have the last cookout before it gets cold.

At 20 degrees above zero:

People in Miami all die.

People in Montreal close the windows.

At zero degrees:

People in Arizona fly away to Mexico.

People in Montreal get out their winter coats.

At 10 degrees below zero:

Hollywood disintegrates.

Girl Scouts in Montreal are selling cookies door to door.

At 20 degrees below zero:

Washington, DC, runs out of hot air.

People in Montreal let the dogs sleep indoors.

At 30 degrees below zero:

Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.

Montrealites get upset because they can't start the snowmobile.

At 40 degrees below zero:

ALL atomic motion stops.

People in Montreal start saying, "Cold enough for ya?"

At 50 degrees below zero:

Hell freezes over.

Montreal public schools will open 2 hours late

-------------

Hope by now I've put a grin on your face to face the day with :)

Nature's Christmas Presents to Mankind to Bring in the New Year

Even in the ugliest of times beauty can be found.  At the moment the weather is 35 degrees f. and more rain is forecast for this New Years weekend here in southern California.  So, all of you easterners can be expecting another snow storm in a few days. Here are a couple of pictures  taken during these wettest of times

Thomas Mullin of Mill Valley, Calif. gets a last look at the sun from Bodega Head, Thursday Dec. 16, 2010 in Bodega Bay Calif., as the first in a series of large Pacific storms move inland, bringing a promise of heavy precipitation and high winds. The thin high clouds ahead of the front produce a halo containing millions of tiny ice crystals which take on an elongated hexagonal shape, refracting the light.

A cloud formation is seen during heavy rain in Los Angeles December 22, 2010. Another round of storms drenched rain-soaked Southern California on Wednesday,flooding streets, causing widespread power outages and prompting evacuations in foothill areas prone to mudslides.

A halo forms around Mount Rainier as a thin layer of clouds and blowing snow on the mountain are backlit as seen from Seattle, Thursday, Dec. 30, 2010.While much of the west battled nasty winter weather, western Washington is expected to have mostly clear skies and moderate temperatures for the next several days.

HAPPY NEW YEAR