Obama on Fox...

I haven't had time to watch these clips, but if you're interested here they are...

Uh, Oh...

Looks like another star is likely to plow through our solar system...

Ain't Life Amazing?

Under 600 feet of ice in Antarctica, researchers have found something most unexpected: life.  Not just algae and amoeba, but higher organisms like shrimp.  The first thought I had on reading this was “If here, why not Enceladus?”...

Lost and Found ... on the Moon!

Over 37 years ago, the Soviet lunar explorer Lunakhod 2 traveled more than 20 miles over the lunar surface.  It was an early and very successful example of robotic space exploration.  But with the technology of the time, nobody knew exactly where the explorer actually was on the moon – the best anyone could do was a rough guess.

Fast forward to now, with the American Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter (LRO) circling low over the moon's surface, mapping it in exquisite high resolution with imagery and radar.  Using LRO's data, researchers have found Lunakhod 2, including the tracks it made as it roved around the lunar surface...

Comment of the Day...

Reading my post from yesterday (about journalists not recoginizing the iconic photo of the flag-raising on Iwo Jima), my mom caught something I missed on the linked site – a pithy and absolutely dead-on comment:

Just show 'em a picture of Obama's ass. They will know THAT one. 

I'm certain Robin's assertion is correct, and it earns my Comment of the Day...

If You Had Any Doubt...

If you had any doubt about what motivates your Senators, this will clarify things for you.  Note that almost a third of the Republican Senators joined the majority of Democratic Senators in this vote.  I'm sure it will make you want to join me as I chant:

Rope!
Tree!
Senator!
Some assembly required...

Missing From Jamul...

Brneda Luu is the 19 year old girl at right (click to enlarge).  She's missing, last seen near Hidden Wood Road and Hidden Trail Drive (near the east side of Jamul town) about 9 am yesterday.  Brenda has the mental capacity of a small child.

If you have any information about Brenda's location, please call the Sheriff's Department: 858/565-5200.

Via SignOn San Diego...

Update: Good news!  Brenda was found yesterday morning in El Cajon, unharmed.  The news stories aren't reporting how she got from Jamul to El Cajon, or any other details, but really, who cares?  “found” and “unharmed” pretty much sum up all that matters...

You Go, Girl!

Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, is starting a Tea Party group.  Woo hoo!

Is This Really a Surprise?

Do you recognize the photo at right?  Can you identify the place and (approximate) date it was taken?

Some professional journalists fail all of the above.

Call me cynical, but I'm not at all surprised...

Have the Democrats Lost the Jews?

Roger Simon speculates...

Political Cartoon of the Day...

Via my mom:

Scafetta vs. IPCC...

Dr. Nicola Scafetta is a serial IPCC-questioner.  His latest report (available here in a 10MB PDF) is another in a series of reports.  I haven't had time to read it all yet, but the first chunk I've read is fascinating.  Anthony Watts points out one particularly interesting bit...

Mammalian Regeneration in Mice...

Genetic engineering breakthrough is a first step on the way to self-regeneration of damaged organs or missing limbs.  Faster, please...

Mars Express Phobos Fly-By Photos...

Photos from the March 7 fly-by have just been released.  The first image is at right (click to enlarge).

Slaughter House Rules...

Good piece in the WSJ about Pelosi's increasingly bizarre tactics in ramming Obamacare down our throats...

Celebrating Pi Day...

Yesterday, March 14, was “pi” day.  A friend (Clay M.) and his daughter Shayla celebrated by combining a 6th grade class project with a yummy pizza.  The photo at right (by Shayla) shows their pizza cut up into slices and rearranged a bit.  As these pieces get smaller and smaller, the shape of the rearranged result gets closer and closer to a rectangle.  The dimensions of that rectangle are equal to the radius of the pizza and half the circumference of the pizza.  And since

c = 2πr, 

then

π = c/2r

and you can calculate π simply by dividing length of the long side (22”) by the length of the short side (6.5”).  The result they got (3.338...) is only about 8% off – not bad at all for a kitchen-table experiment!

Now that you've computed π from first principles, you can celebrate by eating the pizza!

I told Clay that he needs to continue his pizza experiments to see if they can refine the value of π just a bit more...

ClimateGate: Roundup...

Peter Berkowitz links ClimateGate with the decline of our institutions of higher education.  Scary stuff.

The Institute of Physics defends its critique of the ClimateGate scientists.

A nice independent analysis of the temperature data from the world's second oldest continuously operating weather station.  No warming is evident.

The sun keeps surprising us, which just shows us how little we understand our main source of energy (and it has a huge effect on our climate).  Interesting new observations, a theory, and several mysteries...

Back To Work...

If you're over a certain age (about 40, I'd guess), you're gonna laugh your butt off when you watch this.  If you're younger, you're just going to go “Huh?”...

The Top 10 U.N. Slogans...

Excellent!  This graphic explores entirely new territory for me: UN Humor...

Consumer Credit Levels WAY Down...

The graph at right (click to enlarge) shows the change in consumer credit levels over the past 60 years.  Basically you see a variable, but always increasing, amount of credit per consumer – until this recession, when (for the first time since this was measured) credit levels are actually falling.

At first blush you might think that this is because consumers are saving more and borrowing less, but unfortunately this is not the case.  In fact, the entire decline is due to consumers walking away from their debt, both mortgages and credit cards.  This recession is the first time consumers have ever done that.

There's a message in that statistic.  I'm not entirely sure what that message is, but I'm pretty darned sure it ain't good.  The bottom line is that an interesting percentage of consumers no longer believe that they have a personal obligation to repay debt that they've incurred – and that there are no personal consequences of import when they do.  Lenders will have trouble making a profit in such an environment, which means credit will get tighter, which means that major purchases like homes, cars, etc. will be down.  Not good...

Via TigerHawk (and other analysis at several other sites).

Obama Akbar!

Michael Ramirez comments (in his graphical way) on what the ramming of Obamacare is doing to the Democratic Party...