Saturday, September 7, 2013

Links of the Day...

It ended well, thanks to them: young oglers rescue a kidnapped girl.  They also helped your curmudgeonly, doomy blogger feel a little hope for our country.  Well, for Texas, at least...

Despite the Obamanoids best efforts to spin it: The Friday jobs report was more of the same: the announced unemployment number was notionally lower, the real number much higher, and the workplace participation ratio is as bad as it was when Carter was president.  Even worse, the last two months were revised downward.  There seems to be a pattern here...

Australians are celebrating: in yesterday's elections, the Labor party (roughly like our Democrats) has been overthrown, and the conservatives (still fairly progressive by our standards) are taking the reins.  There's hope down under.  James Delingpole is a bit more cautious: “...it will require a huge pair of balls (possibly a pair even bigger than a man can reasonably fit into a pair of Speedo budgie smugglers) and a will of iron to resist those siren voices that trouble all conservative incumbents: the voices that urge caution in doing anything too radical because conservatism, being essentially nasty and selfish, should never be deployed except in moderation.”.

Not that I really want to hear from them: But, say, where have all those anti-war celebrities gone?

Why do these things always seem to come from Japan?  It took 11 years, but the 17 ton steel beetle lives!

“A complete stud.”  A sheepherder in the La Sal Mountains (where Debbie and I were in late July) was gored by a bull elk, and rescued by wildlife workers releasing Rocky Mountain goats.  The sheepherder is fine...

Naturally, California is first in line:  The California legislature passed (and Governor “Moonbeam” Brown has indicated he'll sign) a bill that would start a transition to electronic license plates.  These plates would show advertisements on stationary cars, would give indications if stolen or expired, and would transmit your position to government computers.  This raises large security concerns, and somehow you just know that progressive political ads will run non-stop, for free.  And of course we are unsurprised to discover that a California company is promoting this.  Follow the money...

Some comfort...  I use 1Password to generate and store my passwords, and I've had some concerns about that in light of recent revelations about the NSA's crypto capabilities.  AgileBits, he people who make 1Password, respond in style.

Sounds like a strange weapon: Penitentes – thin blades of hardened snow – in the Chilean mountains.  APOD.

The next big thing?  A woman drops out of college 10 years ago and starts a company (Theranos) making miniaturized blood testing gizmos that are a lot faster, better, and cheaper than today's lab tests.  Awesome!  Where do I go?

Word.  James Taranto, in Reductio ad Obama.  The man has an enviable way with words, and he's been on a roll recently...

Looking back...  Captured by the tail camera on the second flight of the Virgin Galactic's second-rocket powered flight.  If I had the kind of money needed for the ticket, I'd be signing up for a ride...

Obama's quagmire.  The Iranians will punish us if we attack, and Russia will help Syria.  The world's tallest economics blogger weighs in with some clear thinking...

Sweet.  The husband of a pregnant woman makes a touching composite video from one second of each of her pregnant days.

Solar eclipse on Mars: captured by the Curiosity rover.

Armchair exploration: of Mercury.  Fully interactive map, with science data overlays, all driving by the ongoing MESSENGER robotic exploration of Mercury.  New data is added periodically...

Sample image from interactive science data map of Mercury...

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