Chaparral Hummers...

For several weeks now, we have had our summer population of hummingbirds -- hundreds and hundreds of hummingbirds at our feeders. Currently we're keeping 7 feeders out, each with 8 feeding stations -- room for 56 hummingbirds -- but every morning and every evening (the most busy feeding times), all the stations are full and hummers are waiting in line. There's a kind of "hummingbird cloud" all around the feeders. The hummers are quite accustomed to our presence, and we can go out and stand right in this cloud -- they dart and buzz all around our heads, sometimes even landing on our hats, our ears, or our glasses!

One diminutive female seemed to like perching in our pampas grass -- she liked it so well that I was able to get quite close to her to take her picture. My lens was only a few inches from her when I took this photo! When I finally did get too close for her comfort, she whisked off at a blinding speed, straight through the heart of the (very dense!) pampas grass -- then whizzed around to right behind my head, hovered for a few seconds, and then zipped straight back to her original perch!

Another female seemed to be particularly fond of our potato flower. She had a regular flight pattern from the feeder to "her" perch in the potato flower tree, where she'd rest for about 60 seconds, then zip back to the feeder for another tipple -- and then back to the potato tree. If you follow the individual hummers, you'll soon see that many of them have such patterns, for at least hours at a time. I haven't yet figured out if they maintain these patterns over periods of days or longer...

Some more hummer pictures for your enjoyment...

Back from the Show!

Debbie was up in Pomona, California for the past five days, with all three of our field spaniels (Lea, Mo'i, and Miki). Miki (our one year old) was just there for the practice; he needs to learn how to behave in crowds of people and dogs. But Lea and Mo'i were both competing in agility...

Lea was the star of the weekend -- in her eight runs (four standard and four jumpers) she had four qualifying runs, three first places, and a title. She runs with the twelve inch dogs (meaning that the jumps are set at 12" high). Three of her qualifying runs were on Excellent A Preferred standard courses, which earned her the AXP (Exellent A Preferred Standard) title. She also qualified on one Excellent B Preferred jumpers course. She took first place on three of her four standard course runs -- she beat the second place dog by 12 to 15 seconds!

Thyroid medication is a good thing!

Mo'i had just one qualifying run, but that's not as bad as it sounds. For starters, he runs in the most advanced category (Excellent B) and he runs with 20" dogs -- mostly border collies, which are your basic nuclear-powered sports cars. Mo'i had no problem with speed, which is a big improvement -- he used to "stall" on the teeter and the pause table. Those problems are history -- Debbie reports that Mo'i powered over all but one of the teeters, and just a second or so hesitation at the pivot point on the one that wasn't perfect. On the pause table, his "sits" and "downs" were crisp and fast. Where he fell down was on the weave poles, where he was slow on Friday and Saturday, but fast on Sunday and Monday after a friend helped Debbie figure out why he was fast on the weave poles at home, but slow at the show. And Mo'i had several "extra credit" events, where he took an extra jump or other obstacle -- still making qualifying time, but at his level the course deviation disqualifies him.

All in all, a good show. Debbie is all smiles and quite happy with how things went...

Maka Lea

Maka Lea ("twinkly eyes" in Hawaiian) is also a rescue cat. In his case, our veterinarian, knowing Debbie's weakness for "challenged" cats, prevailed upon us to take this little fellow. He had an infection and a very high sustained fever when he was a tiny little thing. As a consequence, he's got some neurological damage that makes him walk funny, fall frequently, and rely on his front paws for almost everything involving motion.

He climbs using one front paw to throw his weight up, while he grabs a higher point with the other front paw. He can't jump; he just doesn't have enough control of his rear legs. And his leaps from high places are the absolute antithesis of grace -- he's as likely to land on his head as he is to land on his feet. When he does accidentally land on his feet, he looks startled, like "What happened here? I'm supposed to be in pain on the floor, but instead I'm up and about!"

But Maka Lea's real grace is his personality -- he's as sweet, dependent, and affectionate as our dogs. He'll follow us all around the house, demanding attention just like our dogs do (only even more persistently!). He comes to us when we call him, just as reliably as our dogs do. And he'll nuzzle and kiss you exactly like the dogs do -- very unusual cat behavior, and impossible to resist...

Halala Pala

Halala Pala (Hawaiian for "big mellow") is a rescue cat, but we suspect he's all or mostly Maine Coon. His appearance and his behavior are completely consist with everything we've ever heard about Maine Coons, and several breeders have written us in the past to assure us that he is indeed a Maine Coon.

But really, who cares?

Note the grumpy look on his face upon being bothered by the photographer!

America the Beautiful

Ray Charles sings it:

In Flanders Fields

For Memorial Day:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Memorial Day

Today, as every day, our American flag is flying. But today we will spend some time remembering those brave Americans who died while defending this great nation and its principles.

Often these men and women were so very young -- I've read that the average age of our fallen soldiers is just 19. Often they died in distant, lonely, and strange places; there's something particularly discomfiting about dying so far from home.

Today is the day we remember their sacrifices. Today we salute the bravery and dedication of the American soldiers and sailors, past and present -- they have kept America safe and free for over 200 years.

Thank you, one and all.

Here are some Memorial Day links for you:

Wikipedia

Paralyzed Veterans of America

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Memorial Day Links Roundup

Memorial Day History

Memorial Day Thoughts

Cal and Jamie Johnson, Part II

Jamie Johnson left an extensive comment on my previous post, and once again I will let her comment speak for itself. I have made some trivial formatting changes to make it more readable:

Thank you for the opportunity to set a few more wrongs right.

Yes, my husband has lost weight. Partially from the addiction and partally from the daily stresses of being self employed in a city that is corrupt and immune from persecution. As to my weight loss. In August of 2004 I underwent gastric bypass surgery in an attempt to better my life and reduce the health related problems I was enduring as a result of being overweight for more than 15 years. To inadvertently imply I may have been using as well shows the ignorance of society and the "jump on the band wagon" mentality that I have tried to overcome.

Secondly, our children's health has NEVER been disregarded. I have always been the primary caregiver when it comes to our kids and that has not changed. Our family life was not one of anger and rage. Do we punish our kids for wrong doings...yes. We ground them, we take away possessions, we do not torture, beat, threaten or abuse our children. don't you think if the police saw evidence of abuse, my kids would be elsewhere instead of at home with me where they are.

I also believe that persons under the influence of drugs should be held accountable for thier actions. At no time have I insinuated that I think my husband should be treated with "kid gloves" because I have chosen to give him the chance to make a change in his life. I will stand up in court and tell the truth and when asked if I support my husband I will say that I do. does that mean I don't want him to take what he has coming to him for these acts. Absolutely not. He will be spending time in prison for this, I do not delude myself into thinking that I can stand up and ask a Juadge to go lightly on him.

On the other hand, he has 100% committed to entering himself into intensive residential treatment for however long it takes. He will have to prove to me that nothing like this can ever happen again before we can even begin to try to heal our relationship. I have to give him the chance to get better and heal himself and as a result I can heal as well.

Our children are our first priority and steps have already beenn taken to begin treatment for their mental well being. I will never let my kids think that it is okay to treat someone in this manner. It has to be said that our family is not crippled with a continuing pattern of domestic abuse. This incident is the one and only exception to domestic violence. I am not saying we have had a perfect 23 year relationship, but at no time has my husband abused me prior to this tragic day. Has he called me names, yes. Has he yelled at me or raised his voice, yes. Has he lost his temper and said things he later regretted, yes, but who hasn't. I have too.

We have worked very hard instilling consequences and values in our kids and if you really know my family, you would know that as well. I don't excuse my husbands actions and simply blame his addiction. I was merely trying to say that absent the addiction this would not have happened. My family will need time to heal and my husband needs time to heal as well. He isn't going to be in Jamul for a very long time. His treatment is going to begin immediately upon his release from jail and will continue for as long as it takes. Cal knows he screwed up and he also knows that only time and a genuine committment to himself will begin the road to recovery. I can only hope and pray that he will be successful.

Now to set the record straight as to the false reports from the press and Sgt. Mary Helman. First and foremost, my husband had NO weapons on him when he was arrested. Secondly, he was not "on the run" for days. He waited until he was able to talk to me so that I could meet him and we could go together to the police station and he could turn himself in. He wanted his soulmate by his side and I in turn wanted to be there to support him and to let him know he wasn't in this alone. Our children asked me to be with him so he would not be alone and afraid. Selfless acts are the wings of angels.

Third, my husband did not torture me over a week, as stated by the prosecutor, or even 3 days as stated by the press. This incident began on that tragic day and ended on that tragic day. Fourth, at NO TIME did my husband threaten to kill our children. My comment to the police was that if they were to arrest my husband in front of our children...IT would kill them.

If you noticed the news reports made no mention of my husbands addiction. Why you ask. If one were to find out that perhaps an addiction played a role in this it might not be as sensational. He may not be viewed as such a horrible monster. Well, enough said.

Those that think you are immune from addiction and the pain of a tragedy...think again. Meth isn't predjudiced. It will take ahold of anyone that chooses to partake of it. The only thing that I can say may be my saving grace in all of this is that if one women can be saved from being abused by having this tradgedy brought to light then the humiliation and pain that I feel every second of every day since this happened is worth it.

To the young women who stopped that morning on Proctor Valley Road...I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are an angel and I will never forget you.

God bless,

Jamie Johnson

Jamie, thank you for sharing this with the community. I am reminded once again (for the bazillionth time) just how different the same events can appear when viewed from a different perspective, or in a different context. I hope that in some small way it is helpful for you to have a public forum for your thoughts and feelings.

We wish you and your family all the best as you move on from this awful day -- you, your kids, and Cal all have some real challenges ahead. Feel free to contact me (email at right) if there's any way the JamulBlog and its readers can help...

Ivory Sector Rule

The beautiful old instrument at right is a very fine example of a "sector rule". These sector rules were computational tools, the equivalent of a calculator in their time -- the 1700s and 1800s. This particular sector is made from ivory and brass by the English instrument makers Nairne and Blunt; it dates from about 1790.

You can read more about this instrument at my collection web site.

Formidable People

Last November, the London Telegraph published this fine essay by Andrew Gimson. A comment I heard the other day reminded me of it, and this weekend seemed an appropriate time to share it. The essay concludes:

The Americans are prepared to use force in pursuit of what they regard as noble aims. It is yet another respect in which they are rather old-fashioned. They are patriots who venerate their nation and their flag.

The idea has somehow gained currency in Britain that America is an essentially peaceful nation. Quite how this notion took root, I do not know. Perhaps we were unduly impressed by the protesters against the Vietnam war.

It is an idea that cannot survive a visit to the National Museum of American History in Washington, where one is informed that the "price of freedom" is over and over again paid in blood.

The Americans' tactics in Iraq, and their sanction for Israel's tactics in Lebanon, have given rise to astonishment and anger in Europe. It may well be that those tactics are counter-productive, and that the Americans and Israelis need to take a different approach to these ventures if they are ever to have any hope of winning hearts and minds.

But when the Americans speak of freedom, we should not imagine, in our cynical and worldly-wise way, that they are merely using that word as a cloak for realpolitik. They are not above realpolitik, but they also mean what they say.

These formidable people think freedom is so valuable that it is worth dying for.

Read the whole thing.

And remember -- and give thanks for -- the soldiers and sailors who died making us a "formidable people"...

"Dr. Death" to be Released...

Dr. Jack Kevorkian (aka "Dr. Death") is about to be released from prison, after serving just over eight years of a 10-to-25 year sentence.

He plans to promote assisted-suicide enabling laws after he is released next week, but says he won't break any laws while doing it. In other words, he's pledging not to kill anybody himself, so long as it remains illegal to do so. Actually, Oregon has such laws, so presumably he could start plying his hobby (or whatever it is) there with impunity...

Whatever your beliefs about assisted suicide, this guy is creepy. My impression of him -- and I know I'm not the only one -- is that he just plain likes to kill people. Very creepy, he is...

I imagine him smiling as he pushes the button...

What's That Funny-Looking Thing Up There?

A reader asks "What's that funny-looking thing to the right of your blog's name?" The reader, by the way, is from Jamul himself.

That "funny-looking thing" is the trunk of a manzanita tree -- the most emblematic image of the chaparral that I could think of. Apparently it wasn't emblematic enough, if even another Jamulian didn't recognize it!

So I hereby announce a contest -- or maybe it's a plea -- for an image that evokes the chaparral, at least for people familiar with the chaparral of Southern California...

Day-by-Day

I always keep Chris Muir's excellent Day-by-Day cartoon posted on the sidebar. Today's is a great zinger on the lamestream media's awful coverage of the war in Iraq -- and Chris would know, as he was himself embedded a short time ago.

Just click on the small image at right, and it will zoom to readable size...

Blogger Update

Another 50 old posts imported, and once again Blogger said "STOP, SPAMMER"!

Sigh.

On the positive side, I believe I have figured out a way to re-insert all my old photos and images into the old posts (which now just have funny boxes where the photos are supposed to be). But I won't do this unless Blogger solves my import problem!

Cal and Jamie Johnson

I've posted twice (here and here) about the recent strange case of Cal Johnson, accused of holding his wife captive, beating her, torturing her (including with over 100 electric shocks), and threatening to kill her. The news reports have been very sketchy, and my earlier posts included a plea to the community for any information they might have about Mr. Johnson and his wife.

This morning I discovered that Jamie Johnson -- Mr. Johnson's wife -- added a comment to the second post. I must be careful to point out that this could be someone pretending to be Jamie, as I have no way to verify the authenticity of the commenter. The rest of my comments here will assume that this really was Jamie Johnson; you can judge for yourself (I have corrected some obvious and trivial spelling errors):

First let me say that Cal Johnson is not the person the prosecutors are trying to portray. I know this as I am his wife and the victim of this assault. My husband is the most loving, caring, giving person one could meet...that is until he became addicted to methamphetamines. My husband did not do these acts to me..the drugs did. I know some of you will say I am ignorant or just trying to protect the man I love and the father of my children. To a point you would be right, however I also know that he has to be held accountable for what has happened. He knows he has to be held accountable for this. The news did not report the facts as accurately as they should have. The actions of the reporters covering this case, particularly the reporter from channel 39 is deplorable. Seeing as this is being referred to as a sexual assault...what about my rights?!?! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who the wife of "Cal Johnson, 47 of Jamul" is. Why can't a personal and private family tragedy be kept personal and private. Those in this community that wish to pass judgment on us, on him, go ahead. I will stand by my husband every step of the way just as I have for the past 23 years. He is not a danger to anyone but himself and I am saddened and perplexed how anyone could judge another person until you've walked a mile in their shoes. Go ahead and scorn us and turn your heads and whisper when you see us about town, just remember...this could happen to anyone. I pray that no one would have to endure what we are at this point in our lives, but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and we are definite fighters. I sincerely hope that our friends will still be our friends, but if not then you never really were.

God bless,

Jamie Johnson

This is certainly a far different context than the one reported in the news. While it's easy to understand Jamie's desire for privacy, reality is that the moment Cal committed a crime (which she is not denying), his actions became a public matter -- something for all of us to be concerned about. Her assertion that Cal is not a danger to anyone but himself is belied by her own experience as his victim, which she confirms. I'm guessing that she means that he is no danger to others going forward, but that is a matter that it is definitely in the public interest to ascertain.

I find myself reacting in several different ways to Jamie's comment, all at the same time. On the one hand, who could help but admire a loyal wife "standing by her man" in his time of need? On the other hand, her man's behavior and actions have caused her great pain, and apparently put her very life in danger -- would we admire her if she had been killed?

Jamie makes a clear distinction between her husband's actions and the drugs's actions, and she accuses the latter rather than the former. While she doesn't directly say this, one can infer that she would like to see her husband treated for the drug addiction, and gently punished for his actions while under the influence. This, of course, is a classic public policy question with lots and lots of baggage. From my own reading, the success rate of drug addiction treatment is not high -- there are great success stories, but there are many more stories of failure. Those successes seem well worth fighting for ... until you discover the costs (to individuals and to society) of the failures. My personal viewpoint is that people should be held accountable for their actions without regard to whether they were under the influence of some substance when they committed those actions. In this case, I'd argue that Cal should be punished for whatever crimes he is guilty of, without considering his methamphetamine addiction as a mitigating factor.

But my overriding reaction to Jamie's comments is one of sympathy. Just think what this poor woman has lived through! Even before Cal attacked her, I'm sure there much fear, anguish, and distress over her husband transformed by his addiction. Quite likely there were failed attempts to get him into treatment. Then the awful attack -- reading even the lightweight news reports about it gave me the shivers. Then there's the experience with the press, the appearance in court, her husband -- whom she obviously loves very much -- in jail, and in distress himself. My life seems like a complete cakewalk when compared with just her recent experiences. Whatever you feel about her and her situation, you just can't help but admire Jamie's pluck and courage...

Evening in Jamul

It's a lovely, quiet evening in Jamul. This photo is from the near-realtime camera on Lyons Peak. This particular camera is pointed due north; if our home was visible, it would be just right of dead center in the photo.

If you click on the photo to expand it, you can see the evening mists starting to gather in the valleys. Looking out my window, I can see the first tendrils of it wandering by in the evening gloom...

American Honor

The Wall Street Journal has a superb column by Peter Collier on line (but behind the subscription wall) in honor of Memorial Day. Hopefully they will make it publicly available in the next few days (they usually do).

Meanwhile, here's the lead:

Once we knew who and what to honor on Memorial Day: Those who had given all their tomorrows, as was said of the men who stormed the beaches of Normandy, for our todays. But in a world saturated with selfhood, where every death is by definition a death in vain, the notion of sacrifice today provokes puzzlement more often than admiration. We support the troops, of course, but we also believe that war, being hell, can easily touch them with an evil no cause for engagement can wash away. And in any case we are more comfortable supporting them as victims than as warriors.

Former football star Pat Tillman and Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham were killed on the same day: April 22, 2004. But as details of his death fitfully emerged from Afghanistan, Tillman has become a metaphor for the current conflict -- a victim of fratricide, disillusionment, coverup and possibly conspiracy. By comparison, Dunham, who saved several of his comrades in Iraq by falling on an insurgent's grenade, is the unknown soldier. The New York Times, which featured Abu Ghraib on its front page for 32 consecutive days, put the story of Dunham's Medal of Honor on the third page of section B.

And here's the end:

Leo Thorsness was also at the Hanoi Hilton. The Air Force pilot had taken on four MiGs trying to strafe his wingman who had parachuted out of his damaged aircraft; Mr. Thorsness destroyed two and drove off the other two. He was shot down himself soon after this engagement and found out by tap code that his name had been submitted for the Medal.

One of Mr. Thorsness's most vivid memories from seven years of imprisonment involved a fellow prisoner named Mike Christian, who one day found a grimy piece of cloth, perhaps a former handkerchief, during a visit to the nasty concrete tank where the POWs were occasionally allowed a quick sponge bath. Christian picked up the scrap of fabric and hid it.

Back in his cell he convinced prisoners to give him precious crumbs of soap so he could clean the cloth. He stole a small piece of roof tile which he laboriously ground into a powder, mixed with a bit of water and used to make horizontal stripes. He used one of the blue pills of unknown provenance the prisoners were given for all ailments to color a square in the upper left of the cloth. With a needle made from bamboo wood and thread unraveled from the cell's one blanket, Christian stitched little stars on the blue field.

"It took Mike a couple weeks to finish, working at night under his mosquito net so the guards couldn't see him," Mr. Thorsness told me. "Early one morning, he got up before the guards were active and held up the little flag, waving it as if in a breeze. We turned to him and saw it coming to attention and automatically saluted, some of us with tears running down our cheeks. Of course, the Vietnamese found it during a strip search, took Mike to the torture cell and beat him unmercifully. Sometime after midnight they pushed him into our cell, so bad off that even his voice was gone. But when he recovered in a couple weeks he immediately started looking for another piece of cloth."

We impoverish ourselves by shunting these heroes and their experiences to the back pages of our national consciousness. Their stories are not just boys' adventure tales writ large. They are a kind of moral instruction. They remind of something we've heard many times before but is worth repeating on a wartime Memorial Day when we're uncertain about what we celebrate. We're the land of the free for one reason only: We're also the home of the brave.

If you get the chance, do read the whole piece...

Rolling Thunder

It's an annual Memorial Day weekend tradition:

Every Memorial Day weekend on Sunday, Rolling Thunder, an organization of mostly Viet Nam veterans, comes to DC for their motorcycle ride from the Pentagon to the Vietnam Memorial. It’s an hours-long parade of thousands of participants from across the country to insure that America doesn’t forget the men and women who died for this country in that unpopular war.

This year it’s a little different - today they partnered with the newly-formed Gathering of Eagles, which has it’s roots in the internet. When Vietnam veterans felt that the Wall was threatened by anti-protesters back in March of this year, they hastily assembled an internet gathering point and made plans to protect that monument from being defaced. On March 17th, they gathered around the three Vietnam memorials and the Korean War Memorial and lined the protest to the Pentagon. Crowd estimates were about 20,000 pro-troops participants to about 4,000 anti-war protesters.

There are lots more photos at the link. I particularly enjoyed a sign (obviously directed at the liberals supporting redeployment withdrawal) that read:

What part of "Support our troops!" don't you understand?

Missing In Action

Watch this video:



Then ponder this: Jack-in-the-Box's competitors are suing them. This is a statement about our society, and I don't think it's a good one.

Where the heck is their sense of humor? It's completely missing in action. Wouldn't a competitively funny ad have been a much better response?

Sheesh, folks...

Take A Beating...

Scott Adams has a completely rational answer to the major issues related to global warming:

The question of whether people are the cause of global warming, or part of the cause, is somewhat irrelevant. It doesn’t really matter if the problem is caused by cars or farting cows or rotting leaves. If the warming is going to threaten life as we know it, the only important questions are these:

1. Are we sure global warming will cause more bad than good?

2. Realistically, can we do anything to stop it?

3. Would the costs of stopping it be more or less than the benefits?

I’m fairly certain the answer to all three questions is “Beats the shit out of me.”

Me, too -- though I'll add that experience would indicate that any cries of "The sky is falling!" are best met with intense skepticism, and shouldn't be believed without very credible evidence (as opposed to, say, someone's over-simple and fudge-factored computer model). Remember "nuclear winter"? That was just thirty years ago, and some of the same climatologists where are now warning us about global warming were then warning us about global cooling...

But enough of that serious stuff. Isn't it just a hoot to watch Scott Adams think?

Hero Dog

A dog named "Hero", who used to live in Iraq, now has a new home in New Hampshire with the parents of one of our fallen heroes. In Iraq, Spc. Justin Rollins was amongst the soldiers who discovered Hero in a litter of newborn puppies. The very next day (two months ago), Justin was killed by a roadside bomb near Baghdad. Skip and Rhonda Rollins, knowing that Hero was one of the last things to bring joy to their son, were eager to adopt him. His fiancee, Brittany Murray, felt the same way. So the three of them are going to jointly take care of Hero:

He was one of the soldiers of Charlie Company who discovered the mixed-breed dog, among a litter of newborn puppies, outside an Iraqi police station on the streets of Samarra in March.

Pictures were taken of the soldiers and the puppies, and Justin told Murray when they talked that night "I have some great pictures, you're going to flip out when you see them." But he never told her what they were, she said.

When Justin's mother saw the pictures, she said "The first thing I said when I saw the pictures is 'I want that puppy.' I named him Hero because Justin is a hero," Rhonda said yesterday with her voice cracking as she stood with her husband and Murray in Hodes' office before the dog arrived.

The three intend to share the puppy. "I wanted Brittney to have something positive for her. Justin loved her and was going to propose to her when he got home ... Justin was a great kid. He loved what he was doing," Rhonda said.

It took a lot of work to get Hero out of Iraq and into the United States -- thickets of bureaucracy to navigate, rules and regulation to appease, and plenty of hassle. But with perseverance and a lot of work from good people, they pulled it off. Several companies contributed gifts that will help Hero's new "parents" with the costs, too:

Word came earlier this month that U.S. Central Command had authorized the transfer. One of Rollins' best friends in the unit, Sgt. Jason Wheeler, had been taking care of Hero in Iraq.

Yesterday, representatives of DHL, the company that flew Hero from Iraq to New York and then to Manchester, drove the dog from Manchester to Concord and watched as the dog got to know its new owners.

Petting the puppy, Skip Rollins thanked every one who helped to bring the dog to the United States. "Our family can never thank you enough for what you've done for us," he said.

The gifts kept on coming as Sandy's Pet Food Center in Concord donated a year's supply of dog food as well as a basket of doggie gifts.

The Associated Grocers of New England arrived with a side of beef that Hero liked the smell of.

Before Hero arrived, Hodes told the media "Today is a very moving day in more ways than one. This has been a long Odyssey for a little puppy and a family that has had a tremendous loss."

What a nice story for a memorial day weekend!

Lyrics of the Day

Dan Collins, writing at Protein Wisdom, has rewritten the lyrics to the song originally titled Happy Together:

Imagine me with nukes, I do
I think about it day and night, it’s only right
To dream about the means you need, kafir to smite
The weapon I’d treasure

I called up AQ Khan, but at the time
The guy was under house arrest, it crossed my mind
To send the boys to rescue him, it would be fine
To take such a measure

Just think of the interesting things I could do
With such a bomb
Who needs to shape charges when you can kablooey
New York, with megatons?

Me and nukes, and nukes and me
You know the I would roll the dice, if it could be
To hit them from this cave I’m in, indignity
Would turn into pleasure

The photo is the album cover. Do go read the whole thing...

Martian Art

NASA has a wonderful collection of photos and graphics from the various robotic spacecraft orbiting Mars, or exploring its surface. The photo at right was taken by the Opportunity Rover, two years ago. The collection has multiple pages, so don't forget to flip through them all!

Fetal Consent Bill

Now here's some abortion reform that I could get behind!

New Abortion Bill To Require Fetal Consent

Torture Manual

A few days ago, American forces discovered an Al Qaeda torture manual, complete with illustrations like the one at right (see The Smoking Gun for details). Horrifying, but hardly surprising; we know too well what barbarity the warriors of the "Religion of Peace" are capable of. The news mostly left me frustrated that the lamestream media essentially ignored this story whereas they trumpeted even false stories of American "torture" that was positively loving by comparison. Wretchard says it very well:

The problem with the word "torture" is that it has been so artfully corrupted by some commentators that we now find ourselves at a loss to describe the kinds of activities that the al-Qaeda interrogation manual graphically recommends. Now that the term "torture" has been put in one-to-one correspondence with such admittedly unpleasant activities as punching, sleep deprivation, a handkerchief pulled over one's face and loaded with water, searches by women upon sensitive Islamic men or the disrespectful handling of Korans -- what on earth do we call gouging people's eyes out?

Answer: we call it nothing. My fearless prediction is that not a single human rights organization will seriously take the matter up. There will be no demonstrations against these barbaric practices, often inflicted upon Muslims by other Muslims, in any of the capitals of the world. Not a single committee in the United Nations will be convened nor will any functionary in the European Union lose so much as a night's sleep over it. The word for these activities -- whatever we choose to call it -- will not be spoken.

Read the rest of his post, too. Michell Malkin noticed Wretchard's comments as well, and she also has a great roundup.

Meanwhile, in our upside-down world, Americans will continue to be condemned and even sent to prison for "torture" such as exposing Muslim prisoners to Playboy centerfolds, and Al Qaeda is not condemned for gouging out eyeballs, drilling holes in hands, amputating fingers and genitals, endless beatings, and beheadings.

Makes you want to run right out and vote for a liberal Democrat, doesn't it?

Word of the Day

Screwphemism.

Invented by Ann Althouse as a more specific alternative to "euphemism" when that word is used in circumstances like this one from Andy McCarthy:

Senator Obama says: " It is time to end this war so that we can redeploy our forces to focus on the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 and all those who plan to do us harm."Senator Obama, are you proposing that we move U.S. troops from Iraq to Afghanistan, where you guys keep saying the "real" War on Terror is? There is also a very good chance that bin Laden and some al Qaeda hierarchy are in Pakistan. When you say "redeploy," are you suggesting that we invade Pakistan?

Folks, let's not let these guys get away with this. By "redeploy," they don't really mean move the troops to where they say al Qaeda is. They don't want to fight al Qaeda. If they wanted to fight al Qaeda, al Qaeda is in Iraq — that is indisputable. Bin Laden has said repeatedly that Iraq is the central battle. You can argue about whether al Qaeda has been in Iraq all along or whether they are there only because we've drawn them there. Reasonable minds differ on that. But however they got there, they're there.

If you really want to fight al Qaeda, you stay in Iraq.

Ms. Althouse says:

There should be a term for this. Maybe there is, but since I don't know what it is, I'm going to call it a screwphemism. This is a euphemism gone bad. Not only do we see through it and know that you're saying the thing you were hoping to downplay, but we know you were trying to manipulate and deceive. So we know what you're really saying, and we mistrust you for not saying it straight.

Oh, she's got that exactly right. What a lovely word she's invented!

Blogger Roller Coaster, Part II

So yesterday I ran into a problem with Google's Blogger service that resulted in me being unable to import posts from my old blog. I was limited to 50 posts per day, according to some information I found online. This morning I tried it again, and sure enough -- it stopped working at exactly 50 posts.

I'm hoping to hear back from the Google folks with a better solution, but meanwhile, I'll be importing a bit each day, starting with the oldest posts. You can see them in the blog archive section at right...

Cal Johnson in Court

Yesterday we got the horrific news about Cal Johnson, a Jamulian accused of some rather extreme abuse of his wife. Today he was arraigned; he plead "not guilty" to all charges:

Cal Johnson, 47, appeared shaken as the prosecutor went through the graphic details of the alleged assault. The 14 charges against him range from rape to assault with a deadly weapon to false imprisonment of his wife. Johnson entered his not-guilty plea through his attorney via a closed circuit television feed in the courtroom.

Another news report had more details:

Deputy District Attorney Claudia Grasso said the chain of events that led to the arrest began a week ago."Throughout the weekend, the defendant was insistent she was having an affair with a family friend," the prosecutor told the judge.At one point, Johnson held the woman's head under water running from a bathtub faucet and threatened her, Grasso said.Later, the defendant confronted his perceived romantic rival, punched him and threatened him, the prosecutor said.Monday, Johnson allegedly threw a computer keyboard and mouse at his wife, and late that night, woke her up and told her they were going to meet the alleged "other man" at a church, Grasso said.Instead, Johnson and his wife ended up in a secluded area and he threatened to kill her, the prosecutor said."The defendant proceeded to stun her over 100 times, called her a bitch and said she was about to die," the prosecutor told the judge.Johnson then sexually assaulted his wife, but she was able to run off and hide until morning, Grasso said.The victim suffered bruises and lacerations all over her body, according to the prosecutor.

It's frightening to think that people capable of such behavior (assuming all the charges are true) walk around amongst the rest of us, and we can't tell. They need to have a big neon sign on their forehead!

If any of my readers know either Cal Johnson or his wife, I'd sure appreciate some insight and background -- I know nothing more than what I read in the sketchy news reports...

Cute Overload

If you like this photo, you'll love the site it came from: Cute Overload.

The Ups and the Downs of Blogger...

Losing the 1,500 or so posts from my old blog is darned annoying. I really don't want to lose them permanently. So I did some research this evening to find out if there was any way to automatically put data into my new blog, despite the fact that Blogger has no "import" feature.

And it turns out that there is way, albeit a highly geekly one. I backed up my old blog every day into a set of XML files. These files can be easily interpreted by software -- and I know how to write programs. And Blogger, bless their pointy little heads, has an "API" -- a way for programs written by geeks like me to interact with a blog. This API allows new posts to be created, and it allows comments to be tacked on -- probably the two most important things I care about. It doesn't handle images, unfortunately. But at least I could recover all that writing!

So I set to work late this afternoon, to write this little program. A couple of hours ago I finished it -- and it works! I uploaded one post, and voila! It appeared, like magic. Then I uploaded 10, and they appeared. Wow! So then I got bold, and uploaded 50 -- and only some of them appeared. Oh, oh. Something screwy going on. Worse, every attempt after that to send more posts failed, though my program got no errors.

This was really weird. I then did what software engineers always do when weird shit happens: I started researching in all the places where someone might complain about this. And sure enough, in a news group dedicated to the Blogger API, I found other users complaining about exactly this problem -- and some explanations from Google. The explanation is that in their never-ending quest to fight spam blogs (an honorable goal that I fully support), they've implemented some stuff to detect automatic posting -- especially high rates of posting to a single blog. They've set a limit of 50 posts per day -- if you go over this, they go into a blocking mode which manifests itself with exactly the symptoms I'm experiencing.

This is a real problem for me, and I've written an email to Google to explain why. In practical terms, this means I can only import 40 or so blog posts a day -- and maybe less if their software counts comments too. This could take me months to import my old blog! I can see why they're doing this, but...their very mechanical approach means that a legitimate use (which importing certainly is!) gets incorrectly tagged as something evil (spamming).

If they don't offer me some sort of solution, I'm afraid I may have to move my blog again, to another provider with a better import or API capability. WordPress is the obvious alternative choice, and I just may end up heading over there.

I sure hope I get a good answer from the folks at Google...

Quote of the Day

The always-excellent libertarian CoyoteBlog first makes this observation:

State unemployment rates for April were released last week by the BLS, and there are now 18 states that have set historical record-low jobless rates in the last year. Here are the 18 states with historical record-low jobless rates…

…California: 4.7% in November 2006
…Arizona: 3.9% in March 2007
…New Mexico: 3.5% in February 2007
…Texas: 4.2% in April 2007…

Then says:

I wonder where our economy would be without those 15 million Mexican immigrants. Negative unemployment?

Heh!

Jamulian Shocker

Cal C. Johnson was arrested yesterday on suspicion of kidnapping, torture, assault with a deadly weapon, spousal abuse, sex assault and making death threats. He's being held on $5M bail, pending arraignment. Cal Johnson is a Jamulian:

An East County man was in prison Thursday and facing a number of criminal charges for allegedly kidnapping his wife and torturing her with a stun gun because he believed she was having an affair.Detectives arrested Cal C. Johnson, 47, in Lemon Grove Wednesday, according to sheriff's officials.Authorities had been looking for the Jamul resident since the previous day, when a passer-by found his nude and terrified wife in a remote area off Proctor Valley Road, near Chula Vista.The woman reported that Johnson had abducted her from her home over the weekend and taken her to Mexico, officials said. He then purportedly waited for nightfall and brought her back into the United States, taking her to the back-country location where she later was found.There, Johnson allegedly began shocking her with the electric self-defense device in an attempt to force her to confess to his false accusations. The woman reported that her husband assaulted her with the stun gun more than 150 times, according to investigators.

Arraignment is scheduled for this afternoon. I don't know anything except what's in the news stories.

If you know anything about the people involved, or the incident, please add your information in the comments.

Estonia Complex

The Moscow Times has an interesting article about President Putin's "Estonia Complex". It does seem like Putin has a very short fuse on all matters Estonian, and perhaps this is why:

Putin seems to have taken personally Estonia's decision to move the memorial to fallen Red Army soldiers. This may be because he sees it not only as an affront to his country but as an affront to the memory of his father. As Putin once told it, his father was betrayed by Estonians during the war.

Before he was first elected in 2000, Putin gave a series of interviews to three Russian journalists for a book called "First Person." In the first chapter, he talks about his father. During the war, he was in an NKVD sabotage battalion operating behind German lines and was sent as part of a group of 28 people to carry out an operation in Estonian territory. They succeeded in blowing up a supply train and were able to hide in the woods, but eventually they ran out of food and turned to the local population. Estonians brought them food but then gave them up to the Germans. Only four people in the group survived, including Putin's father, who hid in a bog, breathing through a reed, to escape detection by Nazi soldiers who were searching for them with dogs.

The article goes on to tell of some instances of Putin's Estonian Complex, and also talks about his warped perceptions of twentyth century Baltic history -- no doubt instilled by his education as a Soviet youth, and high consumption of beer (read the story!).

Jamulian Swimming Champ!

As many of my readers know, I'm not exactly a big sports fan -- I know next to nothing about most sports, and I don't follow them at all. But if I were a sports fan, I wouldn't be expecting to see open water swimming champions from Jamul -- maybe baseball, or soccer, or some other such sport that can be practiced here -- but open water swimming? Nevertheless, I read this morning that Courtney Weigand, a 17 year old girl from Jamul, took fifth place in a national competition:

Courtney Weigand Takes Fifth Place In National Championship USA 25K Swim

In a long grueling swim, seventeen-year-old Courtney Weigand takes on the 2007 USA 25K National Championships at Fort Myers, Florida with a splash and promises to return to an even better repeat performance next year.

Jamul, CA (PRWEB) May 25, 2007 -- Local teenager Courtney Weigand (17), of Jamul, CA, took fifth place at the USA Swimming National Open Water 25K competition May 21, 207, with a finish time of 6:57.33. Courtney swims for North Coast Aquatics (NCA), a local swim club located in La Jolla and Carlsbad and is on the North Coast Aquatics National Team. She is coached by NCA head coach, Jeff Pease.

"I was in third place at the 10.5 mile mark," says Courtney; "but my body and mind didn't cooperate to keep me there."

"It's very mental swim," adds her open water coach and kayaker for the race, John Lapp. "Courtney had never swum a competition farther than 10 miles, and this swim was over 15 miles; but she picked up her pace when she saw the finish line, and was able to take home the fifth place medal."

Courtney, who has been doing open water swims since she was six, was the youngest finisher to place in the 25K race, swimming around Estero Island at Fort Myers, Florida. On June 10, 2007 she heads for the Alcatraz swim, and in December she qualified in the Double Waikiki swim to compete in the 10K Grand Prix Open Water Swim, in Indianapolis, Indiana, a qualifier for the USA Olympic Trials 10K swim in October, which will also be held in Fort Myers, Florida.

"The top two women finishers were 24 and 25 years old, " explains Lapp. "Courtney is a strong swimmer and has a lot of years ahead of her as an elite open water swimmer. She did really well. This was her first 25K swim, and now she knows what to expect. We'll be back next year. She'll do even better!"

Congratulations, Courtney!

Next thing you know, we'll have a Jamulian astronaut...

Quote of the Day

From Jeff Goldstein, at the excellent (if sometimes challenging to understand) Protein Wisdom:

I’ll be here all week. Whereas a pro-democracy Russia? Maybe nyet.

Touché, Jeff...

PowerLink in Jamul?

Reader Michael passed along this article in the San Diego Union Tribune, which reports on a new alternate route proposed for the PowerLink (the huge new power transmission line designed to accommodate San Diego's anticipated growth in energy requirements). As usual, it is frustratingly short of any real information. The graphic in the article is hard to read, but if I've got it right, it shows the route following I-8 west until about Buckman Springs Road, where it heads due south and then makes a sweeping loop to the west, traveling south of Lake Morena, south of Barrett Lake, and then heading north back to I-8, passing between Gaskill Peak and Barrett Lake. That last leg is only a couple miles east of our home.

From one perspective, I can see the attraction in this route -- it passes through some of the least populated areas of San Diego County. However, they are not unpopulated -- and I'm sure the Jamul residents in the area it would pass through are not happy about it.

I've read several debates about whether there's even a need for the PowerLink -- some people question the growth projections, and others claim alternative energy (especially solar) generated within the County would satisfy any growth. Others say the PowerLink is a "must have"; that San Diego's growth will be stunted without it. I have no personal knowledge or expertise on that question, so I have no inclination to take either side of that debate. If, however, you assume (even if just for the sake of argument) that the need for PowerLink is real -- then the darned thing has to be built somewhere. And you know there's nowhere at all it could be built without impacting some group of people.

This is exactly the sort of issue that the power of eminent domain was intended to address. And the sort of messy debate we're currently going through, with lots of shouting and raised blood pressures, is the best way I know of to get it all resolved. It's like making sausages...you really would rather not watch the process unfold, but the end result will most likely be a tasty one...

Joke of the Day

Nutritional Issues...

Two alligators were relaxing in the swamp talking.

The smaller one turned to the bigger one and said, "I can't understand how you kin be so much bigger 'n? me. We're the same age, and we was the same size as kids. I just don't get it."

"Well," said the big 'gator, "What you been eatin', boy?"

"Politicians, same as you," replied the small 'gator.

"Hmm. Well, where do y'all catch 'em?"

"Down 'tother side of the swamp near the parkin' lot by the capitol."

"Same here. Hmm. How do you catch 'em?"

"Well, I crawls up into one of them Lexus and wait fer one to open the car door. Then I jump out, grab 'em on the leg, shake the shit out of 'em, and eat 'em!"

"Ah!" says the big alligator, "I think I see your problem. You ain't gettin' any real nourishment. See, by the time you get done shakin' the shit out of a Politician, there ain't nothin' left but an asshole and a briefcase!"

Thanks, mom...

Ponder the Maunder

Here's a remarkable paper, published on the web, that examines anthropogenic global warming. The most amazing part of the paper is revealed in the introduction:

Welcome to Ponder the Maunder, an extra credit assignment for Honors Earth Science, Portland High School, by Kristen Byrnes of Portland Maine.

This report is a comprehensive look at the global warming issue without financial or political bias. It uses the most updated information provided by scientists and researchers and interjects common sense, an important component missing from the global warming debate.

And then Kristen opens with this:

I will demonstrate that the Earth’s warming climate is a result of natural variance and that man made changes in the warming climate in the last 40 years are negligible at best. I will insert pieces of the puzzle from new scientific studies that were not available or were ignored in previous global warming studies. I add a possible piece of the puzzle, nuclear weapons testing in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, that may have made a small contribution to cooling at that time. After reviewing numerous scientific studies and observing data, it is clear that the theory that “man made increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide are causing global warming” is not likely.

It's longish, but well worth reading in its entirety...

Thanks to Simi L. for passing this along...

Baker's Dozen of Doozies...

Check out these amazing photos! Click any of the small images to get a larger version...

Tip of the hat to Jim M. for sending them along...

Slide Rule Collection

If you're wondering where my slide rule collection went to, here it is.

Big Change!

You may have noticed that the blog looks much different!

Due to major technical difficulties, I have switched from using Pebble (open source blog software) on my own server to using Blogger (free software and hosting) from Google.

So far I have not figured out any way to move all my old posts (or photos) from the old blog to the new one -- so for now, at least, I'm simply starting over...

Web Site of the Day

Part of my daily reading routine is a stop at Cute Overload to see what new delights have been posted. Every day, several new photos, audio clips, or video clips of animals are posted. “Cute Overload” is a very apt name for this site, and if you love animals, you’ll find it irresistible…

Perils of Gambling

A big “thank you” to SimiL for a good laugh:

The IRS decides to audit Ralph, and summons him to the IRS office. The IRS auditor is not surprised when Ralph shows up with his attorney. The auditor says, 'Well, sir, you have an extravagant lifestyle and no full-time employment, which you explain by saying that you win money gambling. I’m not sure the IRS finds that believable.'

'I’m a great gambler, and I can prove it,' says Ralph. 'How about a demonstration?'

The auditor thinks for a moment and said, 'Okay. Go ahead.' Ralph says, 'I’ll bet you a thousand dollars that I can bite my own eye.' The auditor thinks a moment and says, 'No way! It’s a bet.' Ralph removes his glass eye and bites it. The auditor’s jaw drops.

Ralph says, 'Now, I’ll bet you two thousand dollars that I can bite my other eye.'

The auditor can tell Ralph isn’t blind, so he takes the bet.

Ralph removes his dentures and bites his good eye. The stunned auditor now realizes he has wagered and lost three grand, with Ralph’s attorney as a witness. He starts to get nervous.

'Want to go double or nothing?' Ralph asks. 'I’ll bet you six thousand dollars that I can stand on one side of your desk, and pee into that wastebasket on the other side, and never get a drop anywhere in between.'

The auditor, twice burned, is cautious now, but he looks carefully and decides there’s no way this guy can manage that stunt, so he agrees again. Ralph stands beside the desk and unzips his pants, but although he strains mightily, he can’t make the stream reach the wastebasket on the other side, so he pretty much urinates all over the desk.

The auditor leaps with joy, realizing that he has just turned a major loss into a huge win. But Ralph’s attorney moans and puts his head in his hands. 'Are you okay?' the auditor asks. 'Not really,' says the attorney. 'This morning, when Ralph told me he’d been summoned for an audit, he bet me twenty thousand dollars that he could come in here and piss all over your desk and that you’d be happy about it.'

This pretty much hits on all cylinders: the good guy wins, he pissed on the IRS, and the lawyer is screwed. Hooray!

Attitude Adjustments

Although many Americans don’t seem to know it, there are foreign journalists embedded with American troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of these reporters come from countries where strong anti-American sentiment is the norm, and suspicion of the motives and actions of the U.S. military rampant.

Jeff Emmanuel, writing for the American Thinker, thought to look at these reporters and their reactions to being embedded. He discovered that many of these reporters emerge from their “embed” experience with far different attitudes than they held previously. Do go read the whole thing, but here’s a sample:

The most spectacular recent case of a journalist with an anti-war mindset being completely overwhelmed into a change of heart by American soldiers, according to the PAO, was a Greek public television reporter who had been embedded with an infantry unit that became entrenched in a 45-minute firefight with insurgents. Yanked out of the line of fire by a soldier who put the journalist’s life above his own, he waited under cover and in fear of his life for the almost hour-long duration of the battle, with the best view possible of American soldiers in action against an armed and murderous enemy. He credits his having lived to tell the tale directly to those young troops.

"He had tears in his eyes as he talked about it,” said the PAO. “He just kept saying, ‘they saved my life, they saved my life…these are great men; they are heroes.' Even after telling it several times, he couldn’t get through the story without choking up - and this was a man who had arrived here with all of the disdain for the Iraq mission and for the American soldiers who he [like seemingly most Europeans] had seen as the bad guys in this fight."

While it may be decried by some for causing journalists, who claim to be “objective” and “neutral” in their reporting, to lose their cold detachment and actually begin to see the soldiers they live alongside as humans, it is that very fact that makes the practice of embedding reporters with military units so beneficial to both parties. Rather than observing events from a safely detached distance - and thus being able to remove the human element from the equation - embedded reporters are forced to face up to the humanity of their subjects, and to share common experiences - often of the life-and-death variety - with those who they are covering.

Our soldiers are doing us proud over there…

History, Alive and Wriggling

Oh, just click on it!

Fascinating...

Peanut Envy

Over the weekend, Jimmy Carter — former President of the United States (though that’s sometimes hard to believe!) — had this to say:

I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history. The overt reversal of America’s basic values as expressed by previous administrations, including [those of] George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and others, has been the most disturbing to me.

My reaction to that was to simply dismiss it as the addled rambling of a sick and disturbed old man. I pity him, and as an American I find his presence shameful. And I wish he’d move to someplace where they’d appreciate his ceaseless “blame America first” ranting and his manifest Bush derangement syndrome. Like Palestine, for example. Or Venezuela.

But Christopher Hitchens has a different reaction. He says:

"Worst in history,” as the great statesman from Georgia has to know, has been the title for which he has himself been actively contending since 1976. I once had quite an argument with the late Sen. Eugene McCarthy, who maintained adamantly that it had been right for him to vote for Ronald Reagan in 1980 for no other reason. “Mr. Carter,” he said, “quite simply abdicated the whole responsibility of the presidency while in office. He left the nation at the mercy of its enemies at home and abroad. He was the worst president we ever had."

Mr. Hitchens verbally eviscerates the former President in this manner for his entire column, ending with this thought:

The quotation with which I began comes from an interview that he gave last week to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He also went on the British Broadcasting Corporation to make spiteful and cheap remarks on the retirement of Prime Minister Tony Blair, calling him “loyal, blind, apparently subservient.” Yes, that’s right, Mr. Carter. Just the way to make friends and assert “America’s basic values.” Show us your peanut envy. Heap insults on a guest in Washington: a thrice-elected prime minister who was the first and strongest ally of the United States on the most awful day in its recent history. A man who was prepared to risk his own career to be counted as a friend. A man who was warning against the Taliban, against Slobodan Milosevic, and against Saddam Hussein when George Bush was only the governor of Texas. Leaders like that deserve a little respect even when they are wrong—but don’t expect any generosity or courtesy from the purse-mouthed preacher man from Plains, who just purely knows he was right all along, and who, when that fails, can always point to the numberless godly victories that he won over the forces of evil.

And then there’s the memorable title Mr. Hitchens chose for the column: Peanut Envy.

Purse-mouthed. Ouch.

I wonder if Jimmy is even slightly embarrassed?

I note with disgust (but not surprise) that his fellow Democrats are utterly silent about his ravings…