Thursday, August 12, 2010
Tiny Sculptures...
I can see at least one huge advantage he's got over most sculptors, though: his entire sculpture collection would fit in a shoebox, with room left over...
The Point of No Return...
An outstanding long article by Jeffrey Goldberg in Atlantic on the situation in the Middle East, mainly Iran vs. Israel. There's far too much good stuff there to excerpt meaningfully, but here's a small sample:
Rahm Emanuel suggested that the administration is trying to thread a needle: providing “unshakeable” support for Israel; protecting it from the consequences of an Iranian nuclear bomb; but pushing it toward compromise with the Palestinians. Emanuel, in our meeting, disputed that Israel is incapable of moving forward on the peace process so long as Iran looms as an existential threat. And he drafted the past six Israeli prime ministers—including Netanyahu, who during his first term in the late 1990s, to his father’s chagrin, compromised with the Palestinians—to buttress his case. “Rabin, Peres, Netanyahu, Barak, Sharon, Olmert—every one of them pursued some form of a negotiated settlement, which would have been in Israel’s own strategic interest,” he said. “There have been plenty of other threats while successive Israeli governments have pursued a peace process. There is no doubt that Iran is a major threat, but they didn’t just flip the switch on [the nuclear program] a year ago.”
Emanuel had one more message to deliver: for the most practical of reasons, Israel should consider carefully whether a military strike would be worth the trouble it would unleash. “I’m not sure that given the time line, whatever the time line is, that whatever they did, they wouldn’t stop” the nuclear program, he said. “They would be postponing.”
It was then that I realized that, on some subjects, the Israelis and Americans are still talking past each other. The Americans consider a temporary postponement of Iran’s nuclear program to be of dubious value. The Israelis don’t. “When Menachem Begin bombed Osirak [in Iraq], he had been told that his actions would set back the Iraqis one year,” one cabinet minister told me. “He did it anyway.”
A Perseid Sort of Morning...
My start this morning was a half-hour or so later than usual, so I didn't get outside with the dogs until nearly 4 am. By that late hour, my old friend Orion was well up in the eastern sky, and the Milky Way was tilted over toward the northwest. I knew that tonight was the most intense night of this year's Perseid meteor shower, so I kept a sharp eye out – and was amply rewarded. In the course of a 10 minute walk, I saw six bright meteor trails. All but one moved from nearly straight up moving down to just north of due west. The outlier moved from overhead to the southeast, passing right by bright Jupiter.
When the dogs and I got nearly to the end of our driveway, Race (our border collie) suddenly went on full alert: hackles raised, aggressive stance aimed back toward the house, and subterranean rumbles. Then it was on to the full alarm bark – awesomely loud at 4 am. I thought at first that some large animal was out and about, and that somehow Race (and not the field spaniels) was the first to notice. But it turned out to be Debbie, out in the yard with a flashlight. The field spaniels all seemed to know that it was her and it was ok, but Race was quite alarmed. Then Debbie, laughing, made some friendly noises so he could recognize her, and then Race practically yanked me off my feet trying to go see her...
When the dogs and I got nearly to the end of our driveway, Race (our border collie) suddenly went on full alert: hackles raised, aggressive stance aimed back toward the house, and subterranean rumbles. Then it was on to the full alarm bark – awesomely loud at 4 am. I thought at first that some large animal was out and about, and that somehow Race (and not the field spaniels) was the first to notice. But it turned out to be Debbie, out in the yard with a flashlight. The field spaniels all seemed to know that it was her and it was ok, but Race was quite alarmed. Then Debbie, laughing, made some friendly noises so he could recognize her, and then Race practically yanked me off my feet trying to go see her...
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Crepuscular Rays...
Here in Lawson Valley, we occasionally get nice displays of such rays at sunrise. In our case, they're caused by the shadows of the mountain peaks to our northeast...
Lakes Entertainment Numbers: More of the Same...
Lakes Entertainment has released their 2010 Q2 results. The Jamul Casino project is mentioned in the same way as the last few reports – they appear to just be slowly writing the thing off. There's not an optimistic word (from their perspective) in the report. With each such report, the prospect of an actual, physical Jamul Casino grows more remote...
Woo hoo!
Woo hoo!
Those Were the Days...
There was a time, not so very long ago, when a boss or owner could speak his mind plainly to his employees. Shaun Usher at Letters of Note somehow found a collection of memos demonstrating this; they make fascinating reading. Here's one example from the collection:
Tiger Oil CompanyAwesome. I'm filled with envy for those earlier, more candid, less politically-correct times...
MEMORANDUM
Date: January 11, 1978
To: All Employees
From: Edward Mike Davis (Owner)
Subject: Idle Conversation
Idle conversation and gossip in this office among employees will result in immediate termination.
Don't talk about other people and other things in this office.
DO YOUR JOBS AND KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!
Now This is How to Quit Your Job...
It's also a hoax, dang it. But it's still funny as hell.
How to Cut the Deficit, Painlessly...
Well, painlessly for the taxpayer, anyway. As Byron York points out, taxpayer savings of $40B to $47B annually could be generated simply by freezing government workers' pay until it comes into line with what non-government workers are paid to do similar work. This is at least conceivable, politically – particularly if the Democrats are soundly thrashed in November.
What I'd really like to see happen, though, is that government workers' total compensation (pension included) is capped at parity to non-government worker levels – and average less – say 80% or 85%. For the good of our economy, government jobs should be unattractive. The only high-paying government jobs should be in the military.
Of course there's no way that any Democrat – or the vast majority of Republicans – would ever go for my proposal. The thoroughly-entrenched bureaucratic special interests will see to that...
What I'd really like to see happen, though, is that government workers' total compensation (pension included) is capped at parity to non-government worker levels – and average less – say 80% or 85%. For the good of our economy, government jobs should be unattractive. The only high-paying government jobs should be in the military.
Of course there's no way that any Democrat – or the vast majority of Republicans – would ever go for my proposal. The thoroughly-entrenched bureaucratic special interests will see to that...
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Depressing Article of the Day...
How California is destroying itself.
And incidentally, why Debbie and I first started considering leaving California a few years ago...
And incidentally, why Debbie and I first started considering leaving California a few years ago...
Public Conservatism in Northern California...
In the murky realm of things that make you go Hmmm… 2010 may rank way, way up there. From the curious per curiam decision of 531U.S98 to WTC7, to the Superdome, to the Fall of the House of Lehman, to the Novel President’s Afghan Expedition escalation, to the oxymoronic Jobless Recovery of 2010, we have been confused. So, we did the only thing we could- we made beer-and lots of it. 6,420 cases of it to be exact. As far as we know, you drank all of it. Thank you for that, because if you had not we would have been looking for a bailout of our own, and we haven’t heard of any breweries either needing or receiving any of those Yuan-flavored TARP dollars… although we have read that the Las Vegas adult video industry did. Nobody knows why. So, in a world that is once again the proverbial ‘Ball of Confusion’, craft beer alone seems to carry its own weight. It’s nice to be on the winning team and thank you for your friendship and imbiliciousness. Call us! 707-769-4495 CHEERS!Read all about it...
I don't drink beer, but if I saw this for sale locally, I'd buy some!
Geek Cookbook...
Monday, August 9, 2010
Quote of the Day...
Via Simon M., in the Washington Times:
Throw the bums out. Starting this November, continuing to November 2012. Throw the damned bums out.
The Obama family has been working hard to show their indifference to the plight of middle America.I confess to being completely unsurprised by this. In fact, I'd have been surprised if they had done something that didn't cost an obscene amount of the dollars they've stolen from my pocket.
Throw the bums out. Starting this November, continuing to November 2012. Throw the damned bums out.
P != NP?
If you're of the right geekly sort, you know whereof I speak. A serious attempt at a formal proof of the above has been (apparently accidentally) released on the web, by an HP scientist named Vinay Deolalikar. Big news, if the proof is confirmed.
For those of you of a slighly less geekly bent, here's the scoop in very general terms: that statement (P != NP) encapsulates something that much of modern computer science is based on, but until now nobody has never been able to prove (in the formal mathematical sense). In that sense (and in that sense only), it's sort of like Einstein's famous E = MC2...
For those of you of a slighly less geekly bent, here's the scoop in very general terms: that statement (P != NP) encapsulates something that much of modern computer science is based on, but until now nobody has never been able to prove (in the formal mathematical sense). In that sense (and in that sense only), it's sort of like Einstein's famous E = MC2...
Sunday, August 8, 2010
More McIntyre Revelations...
Steve McIntyre keeps plugging along, shedding more and more light on the otherwise completely opaque calculations (and machinations) of the scientists associated with ClimateGate. In this lovely bit of reverse-engineering, McIntyre figures out how Mann and his co-conspirators arrived at some of the graphs they used to support their conclusions. In the process, their highly selective choice of data is revealed. Of course, they chose the data that supports their conclusions.
Here's an analogy for those of you not familiar with how science is actually done. It's as if a scientist came across a pile of playing cards randomly lying about on the floor. After surveying all the cards, the scientist then picks a “sample” of 8 cards, all of which “happen” to be hearts – and then declares “All the playing cards are hearts!”
Here's an analogy for those of you not familiar with how science is actually done. It's as if a scientist came across a pile of playing cards randomly lying about on the floor. After surveying all the cards, the scientist then picks a “sample” of 8 cards, all of which “happen” to be hearts – and then declares “All the playing cards are hearts!”
Wonders...
I can't help but wonder what it would be like to be an inhabitant on a planet in the neighborhood with a good view of this spectacle...
Decoy Jews...
They're being used by police in Europe to suss out Muslim harassers. Neo-neocon has some thoughts...
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Steve Wynn on Washington...
Via Tom B.: Steve Wynn is CEO of Wynn Resorts, one of the most successful resort developers in Las Vegas and many other places around the world. CNBC recently interviewed him, giving us all a view of an articulate businessman making the case for why we should all be terrified of the Obama administration...
The Blind, Pre-Op Transexual Imam...
Iowahawk does it again. A sample:
Amid the growing crisis, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered a SWAT team of negotiators from the city's Multicultural Affairs Office parachuted to the scene. A brief truce was reached when negotiators pointed out to the Imam Markowicz's status as a pre-op transexual, obviating his religious objections to performing a same-sex marriage. But tensions erupted again after Markowicz - who is legally blind - tried to enter the mosque with a seeing-eye guide dog.But please do read the whole thing. After you put your beverage down, though...
Boy Scouts Greet Obama...
Recently Obama declined to address the Boy Scouts at their 2010 National Jamboree, opting instead to appear on a television show (The View). Later he addressed the Boy Scouts by remote video. Here's how the Boy Scouts greeted him:
Popular, ain't he?
Popular, ain't he?
The Planet and the Radio Dish...
For some stupid reason, I dropped Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) from my morning reading list some time ago. That unacceptable situation has now been rectified!
Cold, Cold August...
The rest of the country is sweltering, and we're having a cold spell. Go figure! But we're enjoying it while we've got it...
Dogs vs. Wives...
Via my mom:
Why Some Men Have Dogs And Not Wives:
Ultimate True Test: Lock your wife and your dog in the trunk of your car for an hour. Then open the trunk and see who's the happiest to see you.
- The later you are, the more excited your dogs are to see you.
- Dogs don't notice if you call them by another dog's name.
- Dogs like it if you leave a lot of things on the floor.
- A dog's parents never visit.
- Dogs agree that you have to raise your voice to get your point across.
- You never have to wait for a dog; they're ready to go 24 hours a day.
- Dogs find you amusing when you're drunk.
- Dogs like to go hunting and fishing.
- A dog will not wake you up at night to ask, "If I died, would you get another dog?"
- If a dog has babies, you can put an ad in the paper and give them away.
- A dog will let you put a studded collar on it without calling you a pervert.
- If a dog smells another dog on you, they don't get mad. They just think it's interesting.
- Dogs like to ride in the back of a pickup truck.
- And last, but certainly not least: If a dog leaves, it won't take half of your stuff.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Update: the New Roof...
The current plan is for the fabricated panels to be delivered next Wednesday.
Quote of the Day...
From Peggy Noonan:
Inner pessimism and powerlessness: That is a dangerous combination.Read the whole thing.
Housing Insanity...
Megan McCardle calls it:
If you want to know why us libertarian types are skeptical of the government's ability to prevent housing market bubbles, well, I give you Exhibit 9,824: the government's new $1000 down housing program.Read the whole thing.
Reporter Takes On Black Tea Party Members...
The backdrop is the accusation by Congressman John Lewis, earlier this year, that the “N word” had been hurled at him by angry Tea Party members. This quickly became a Progressive meme, echoed by the lapdog lamestream media. In this video, a reporter all caught up in that meme confronts what must be a very disconcerting reality: a room full of undeniably black members of the allegedly racist Tea Party.
What ensues is instructive on several levels. Watch...
What ensues is instructive on several levels. Watch...
Sex Tape...
Totally safe for work. Watch it before you start thinking that my blog is going to the dogs...
Smart and sassy move, Eva!
Smart and sassy move, Eva!
Chaparral Musings...
Empty. Six quarts of “hummer juice” consumed by scads of hummingbirds yesterday. The two quart-sized oriole feeders were less than one third gone. The hummers were mad – you could almost hear them yelling “ What's up with the service around this joint? Where's our food? BRING US OUR FOOD, NOW!!!”
This morning the dogs were very subdued. Noses down. No noise, not even a subliminal growl. There was a musky scent in the air, which was at 61°F, 35% relative humidity – practically perfect olfactory conditions. The waning moon was just above the northeastern horizon. The Pleiades were above and to the right of the moon, but very bright and not washed out at all. Jupiter was very high in the southeast, and due east my old early-morning friend Orion was just starting to appear over the mountains. The Milky Way was a great splash all across the high sky from the northeast to the southwest.
The dogs were completely unimpressed by all this celestial glory – but they were very impressed by something they smelled or heard. All of them stayed very close to me – not one tug on the leash. They were cautious and worried, even the normally oblivious Race, who usually bounds around looking for pine cones and other fun toys. Something big and scary must have been nearby; the musky smell would indicate a cat. A mountain lion, perhaps...
This morning the dogs were very subdued. Noses down. No noise, not even a subliminal growl. There was a musky scent in the air, which was at 61°F, 35% relative humidity – practically perfect olfactory conditions. The waning moon was just above the northeastern horizon. The Pleiades were above and to the right of the moon, but very bright and not washed out at all. Jupiter was very high in the southeast, and due east my old early-morning friend Orion was just starting to appear over the mountains. The Milky Way was a great splash all across the high sky from the northeast to the southwest.
The dogs were completely unimpressed by all this celestial glory – but they were very impressed by something they smelled or heard. All of them stayed very close to me – not one tug on the leash. They were cautious and worried, even the normally oblivious Race, who usually bounds around looking for pine cones and other fun toys. Something big and scary must have been nearby; the musky smell would indicate a cat. A mountain lion, perhaps...
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Google Kills Wave...
Google's Wave is an interesting product that I've been following (and using) for more than a year. It's hard to describe it – it's kind of a blend of email, chat, and blog. Several of its features I thought were just outstanding, most especially the ease with which you could share almost anything with people.
But the product had many rough edges, and was apparently not easy for many people to use. The adoption rate was lower than they expected, and now Google has officially pulled the plug on it – no more development. Some folks are trying to save it with a site asking for your thumbs-up vote (it had 900 when I checked in on it). Interestingly, there's no thumbs-down button.
Here's Google CEO Eric Schmidt talking about the decision:
But the product had many rough edges, and was apparently not easy for many people to use. The adoption rate was lower than they expected, and now Google has officially pulled the plug on it – no more development. Some folks are trying to save it with a site asking for your thumbs-up vote (it had 900 when I checked in on it). Interestingly, there's no thumbs-down button.
Here's Google CEO Eric Schmidt talking about the decision:
Update: Race and the Chocolate Cake...
Yesterday I wrote about Race eating nearly half a chocolate cake. Several readers wrote with comments and questions:
We would never dare leave a nice lasagna unguarded in our kitchen, especially if it had meat sauce or sausage in it. With four dogs and five cats roaming the house, it would be sure to disappear quickly!
- How is Race doing? He's doing fine. You'd never know that anything had happened. He even likes his cottage cheese and rice diet. But he wants more chocolate cake...
- How was the chocolate cake? The chocolate cake, what little remains, is delicious. The recipe came from the Walmart web site, which Debbie says is full of very good, easy-to-cook recipes.
- My dog ate (almost anything you can imagine)! Several readers wrote with their own stories of strange things their dog ate. Jo B., our now-retired former veterinarian, had a St. Bernard that absolutely loved to eat towels or other rags (also gloves). Her dog often required surgery after such an event. Franz M., a friend who lives in Munich, wrote to tell us about Paco, a much-loved and much-missed dog that he and his wife Ellen used to have. Once Ellen made lasagna, and left it on the window sill to cool down. Half an hour later, nearly the whole lasagna was gone – Paco had eaten it. Though he felt bad, and belched all day long, he was ok in the end.
We would never dare leave a nice lasagna unguarded in our kitchen, especially if it had meat sauce or sausage in it. With four dogs and five cats roaming the house, it would be sure to disappear quickly!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Chocolate Cake and the Veterinarian...
Yesterday Debbie baked a beautiful chocolate cake. She does quite a bit of cooking, but cakes are not something she makes often, so this was a bit of an unusual event. It was also something I was quite looking forward to, as I really love a good chocolate cake (with a glass of milk!).
I was in a business meeting around 3 pm when my cell phone started buzzing. It was a text message from Debbie (unusual in and of itself). It said:
Oh, oh. Dogs can be (and, unfortunately, often are) poisoned by eating chocolate. Debbie and I both knew this, so she immediately called our vet (the wonderful Dr. Christine Wilson at the Steele Canyon Veterinary Clinic). The folks there asked about how much chocolate Race had eaten, and after hearing “half a cake” said “Bring him in!” They induced vomiting to get rid of any undigested cake, put him on a cottage cheese and rice diet for several days, and declared him undamaged. Whew!
Debbie salvaged almost half the lovely cake, by cutting off the gnawed part. It was quite good!
I was in a business meeting around 3 pm when my cell phone started buzzing. It was a text message from Debbie (unusual in and of itself). It said:
It all started with a chocolate cake - which Race got hold of! I'm at the vet's...After Debbie baked the cake, she pushed it way back on our kitchen counter to cool off. She then ran some errands down in town. When she came home, she saw that almost half the cake (a big, two-layer affair) had been eaten. There were four dogs who might have been the culprit, but really only one was likely to have been able to reach it: Race (our young border collie), who could quite easily jump up onto the kitchen cabinets. Just to be sure, Debbie took a whiff of all four dog's breaths – and sure enough, only Race's breath smelled of chocolate.
Oh, oh. Dogs can be (and, unfortunately, often are) poisoned by eating chocolate. Debbie and I both knew this, so she immediately called our vet (the wonderful Dr. Christine Wilson at the Steele Canyon Veterinary Clinic). The folks there asked about how much chocolate Race had eaten, and after hearing “half a cake” said “Bring him in!” They induced vomiting to get rid of any undigested cake, put him on a cottage cheese and rice diet for several days, and declared him undamaged. Whew!
Debbie salvaged almost half the lovely cake, by cutting off the gnawed part. It was quite good!
Pie Town...
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
A Candidate I Wish I Could Vote For...
Allen West is running for the U.S. House of Representatives for Florida district 22. I'm a resident of Taxifornia Mexifornia California, so I can't vote for him. If his service in Iraq (which I've posted about previously) is any guide, he's exactly the kind of leader I'd like to have representing me – the kind of leader who's looking out for me! Here's a recent campaign ad:
November Portents...
Right now, the Republicans lead the Democrats by 6.5% – a 19.9% gain since Obama's first days in office. That's a remarkable gain, the largest the poll has ever measured. In 1994, the last time the Republicans took over Congress, the Republicans had just a 3.5% lead in this poll.
The portents are good for the Republicans...
Ghosts of World War II...
Dust Devil...
Winter is just ending in Spirit's part of Mars, and NASA has not yet heard from it since it shut down to “hibernate” for the winter. It may be the end of the line for Spirit; the reports from NASA don't sound very optimistic. The main problem was that it got stuck in one place of soft soil (probably resting its belly on a rock), and couldn't move to a nice, sunny spot for the winter...
Audobon's First Engraving...
Monday, August 2, 2010
Morning Walk – Now with Fox!
Our four dogs and I took our usual morning saunter today, at around 3:30 am. The moon is slightly less than half lit, and there was a dim sort of light all about. A few clouds were in the sky, reflecting the light, so instead of sharp borders between the deep shadow and the lit areas, we had softly changing light all around us.
As we wandered down the driveway and passed the end of our row of pine trees, all four dogs changed behavior at the same instant. They switched from random, noses-down tracking and playing to full alert, all straining at the leash trying to head off up the gentle slope to my right (east). There was no barking, but there was lots of low growling and aggressive interest. I couldn't see anything in that direction, so I took out my little LED flashlight and pointed it up there.
Two glowing orange eyes stared back at me from about 30 feet away. This is what had the dogs so excited! As I held the light on the (at that point) unknown animal, it suddenly took off running to my left, down toward our gate. As it did so, it came to within 15 or 20 feet of me, and my little flashlight lit it up brightly enough for me to see clearly what it was: a fox (most likely a Gray Fox). Beautiful animal. A second or so later, it had scampered out the gate and out of sight.
The dogs reverted to their previous behavior, as though nothing had happened...
As we wandered down the driveway and passed the end of our row of pine trees, all four dogs changed behavior at the same instant. They switched from random, noses-down tracking and playing to full alert, all straining at the leash trying to head off up the gentle slope to my right (east). There was no barking, but there was lots of low growling and aggressive interest. I couldn't see anything in that direction, so I took out my little LED flashlight and pointed it up there.
Two glowing orange eyes stared back at me from about 30 feet away. This is what had the dogs so excited! As I held the light on the (at that point) unknown animal, it suddenly took off running to my left, down toward our gate. As it did so, it came to within 15 or 20 feet of me, and my little flashlight lit it up brightly enough for me to see clearly what it was: a fox (most likely a Gray Fox). Beautiful animal. A second or so later, it had scampered out the gate and out of sight.
The dogs reverted to their previous behavior, as though nothing had happened...
Dog Humor...
We have a dog who might well behave like this if he was able to. Miki, our youngest male field spaniel, puts on a brave and aggressive front – but when something unexpected happens you can bet he'll be seeking that nice, safe spot right behind you...
Help the Backcountry Kids...
Reader Doug S. pointed out this article, which talks about a back-to-school-stuff collection effort being coordinated by Mountain Health & Community Services and the Mountain Empire Community Center. They're looking for anything the kids might need in their backpacks (including the backpack!) when they head back to school in September. The effort is aimed at helping lower income folks out in the backcountry, the numbers of whom have gone up in the recession.
If you'd like to help, call Carol Lewis at (619) 445-6200, ext. 165 or Shannon Reed at (619) 478-2384. Or you can drop off donations at the Mountain Empire Community Center at 976 Sheridan Road in Campo...
If you'd like to help, call Carol Lewis at (619) 445-6200, ext. 165 or Shannon Reed at (619) 478-2384. Or you can drop off donations at the Mountain Empire Community Center at 976 Sheridan Road in Campo...
Friday, July 30, 2010
Together Again...
In the early morning (3 am) sky, the moon and Jupiter are just a few degrees apart, high in the southeastern sky and easily visible. The moon, though less than half lit, was still bright enough to provide walking light and to wash out almost everything else in the night sky...
The dogs were noses-down again this morning, as they have been nearly every morning for the past couple of weeks. Some beastie is frequenting our yard at night, and the dogs do not approve!
We heard some good news from our roofing contractor yesterday: the roofing materials are due to be delivered to the fabricator today. If they are delivered on time, the fabricator will have all our roofing panels made by next Wednesday – and that means the contractor may start installing the actual roof next week. This would be nearly two weeks ahead of schedule. Woo hoo!
The dogs were noses-down again this morning, as they have been nearly every morning for the past couple of weeks. Some beastie is frequenting our yard at night, and the dogs do not approve!
We heard some good news from our roofing contractor yesterday: the roofing materials are due to be delivered to the fabricator today. If they are delivered on time, the fabricator will have all our roofing panels made by next Wednesday – and that means the contractor may start installing the actual roof next week. This would be nearly two weeks ahead of schedule. Woo hoo!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Sobering CBO Report...
Further increases in federal debt relative to the nation’s output (gross domestic product, or GDP) almost certainly lie ahead if current policies remain in place. The aging of the population and rising costs for health care will push federal spending, measured as a percentage of GDP, well above the levels experienced in recent decades. Unless policymakers restrain the growth of spending, increase revenues significantly as a share of GDP, or adopt some combination of those two approaches, growing budget deficits will cause debt to rise to unsupportable levels.I recommend reading the entire report. It's only a few pages long, and is written for laymen. It took me quite aback to see the CBO is looking at the experiences of Argentina, Greece, and Ireland (countries that had or have comparable debt loads) to forecast what's going to happen to us.
Basically the advice in the report boils down to this: Stop spending so damned much borrowed money! Quickly!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Self Defense Wisdom...
- Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.
- If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck.
- I carry a gun because a cop is too heavy.
- When seconds count, the cops are just minutes away.
- A reporter did a human-interest piece on the Texas Rangers. The reporter recognized the Colt Model 1911 the Ranger was carrying and asked him 'Why do you carry a 45?' The Ranger responded, 'Because they don't make a 46.'
- The old sheriff was attending an awards dinner when a lady commented on his wearing his sidearm 'Sheriff, I see you have your pistol. Are you expecting trouble?' 'No Ma'am. If I were expecting trouble, I would have brought my shotgun.'
- Beware the man who only carries one gun. HE PROBABLY KNOWS HOW TO USE IT!!!
Also this:
I was once asked by a lady visiting if I had a gun in the house. I said I did. She said 'Well I certainly hope it isn't loaded!' To which I said, of course it is loaded, it can't work without bullets!' She then asked, 'Are you that afraid of someone evil coming into your house?' My reply was, “No not at all I am not afraid of the house catching fire either, but I have fire extinguishers around, and they are all loaded too”.
Uh Oh...
Room-Temperature Superconductor?
If this pans out, it could enable another technological transformation of the world... Details.
One Ring to Rule Them All...
Update: Bruce Schneier weighs in.
Original post:
Several readers (and a colleague) wrote to ask me about this story (and the many others like it) that hit the web in the past few days. The stories don't have much detail beyond the fact that somehow seven people were chosen to hold the keys that it would take to “restart the Internet” in the event of a disaster. The more geekly folks out there know that the Internet is a highly distributed system with no central point of control, so the notion of restarting the Internet doesn't, on the face of it, make much sense. So what the hell is this story talking about?
Well, first of all, there's a bit of overdramatization in the story. Actually, a whole lot of overdramatization. But there's also a grain of truth to it.
To understand what's going on here, you first need to understand a tiny bit about the Domain Name System (DNS). Even though you may not realize it, you're probably using it every day. For example, if you typed “www.jamulblog.com” to read this blog, your web browser submits that name to DNS to look up the address (“74.125.47.121” in this case) of my blog's web server. Then your web browser contacts that web server to get the actual blog posts. So DNS is sort of like a phone book in which your web browser can look up names to find the address – which, like a phone number, it can use to contact a web server directly.
DNS has a trick that your phone book doesn't, however. If you ask for a name that your local DNS server (probably run by your Internet service provider) doesn't know, that DNS server will ask a “root server” for the address of the “authoritative” DNS server that will know that name. For example, if you typed in my blog's address and your local DNS server had never heard of it before, your local DNS server would ask a root DNS server for the address of the authoritative DNS server for “jamulblog.com”. Then it would ask that DNS server for the address of “www.jamulblog.com”. This is called a recursive query. I've glossed over all sorts of details, but the basic idea of a recursive query is key to understanding this “restart the Internet” story. With me?
Recently (July 15th) the root DNS servers implemented DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC). These security extensions are a very complex, designed-by-gigantic-committee protocol designed to allow DNS clients (such as your web browser) to verify that the DNS responses it receives (those addresses) are, in fact, authorized (not forged) responses. Without these extensions, it's relatively easy for a program to forge DNS responses – so that you type in “www.bony.com” but instead of getting the Bank of New York, you get some site that looks like the BONY site but is actually just trying to capture your password. Forging DNS responses is bad, and DNSSEC is designed to prevent it. But (and this is where the hype comes in) DNSSEC is optional on the client (like your web browser). You can turn it off.
The way that DNS clients can verify that responses are authorized is to follow a chain of authority all the way back to the root DNS server. Ignoring the details of how this works, it all depends on a Secret Master Key (SMK) that's held on the root DNS servers. This SMK is just a (very) big number, with something like 1000 digits in it. Without the SMK, the root servers could not generate verifiably authentic responses, and neither could any other DNS servers. That means that without the SMK, no DNS clients (even your web browser) that have implemented DNSSEC could verify the responses. You'd type in my blog address and you'd get an error message instead of my blog. The internet would be broken!
Well, not quite. It's simple enough to turn off the DNS security on DNS clients. It's a bit more work for intermediate DNS servers (like the one your Internet service provider runs), but not really very much more work. In addition, even if DNSSEC was completely broken, there are plenty of DNS servers that don't participate in DNSSEC at all (such as Google's DNS servers, for example), and these would keep right on working. Nevertheless, if the SMK were lost, the result would be (temporary) service interruption for millions of systems. Plus it would be a really big pain in the patoot.
How could the SMK be lost? There are lots of scenarios, all of them involving disasters that wiped out all of the root DNS servers at the same time. Pick your poison: earthquake, meteorite strike, giant tornadoes, terrorists, nuclear war, coordinated copper-eating ants. None of these are very likely to wipe all the root DNS servers out, but theoretically it could happen.
So there's an SMK backup and a recovery procedure, part of the overall DNSSEC security procedures. The security requirements make backup tricky. You don't want to have a complete copy of the SMK available to any one person, because that one person could then do something bad, like sell the SMK to al Qaeda or the Russian Mafia. The backup needs to be really secure. So the approach they took (see diagram at right, and associated presentation for details) was to split up the SMK into 7 pieces, any 5 of which could be used to recreate the whole thing. These 7 pieces have been deposited into 7 safe deposit boxes. The 7 keys to the safe deposit boxes have been entrusted to 7 individual people (hopefully trustworthy folks!).
In the event of a successful coordinated copper-eating ant attack that wiped out all the root DNS servers, these seven people would be called. They'd first travel to their safe deposit box, use the key they've been entrusted with to open it, and grab their piece of the SMK. Then they'd travel to a secure location. When at least five of these folks had arrived at that secure location, technicians could piece together the SMK from the fragments each carried – and the root DNS servers would once again be able to authenticate their responses, your web browser would be happy, sunshine would break through the clouds, and there would be no more hunger. I made up the last bit...
Original post:
Several readers (and a colleague) wrote to ask me about this story (and the many others like it) that hit the web in the past few days. The stories don't have much detail beyond the fact that somehow seven people were chosen to hold the keys that it would take to “restart the Internet” in the event of a disaster. The more geekly folks out there know that the Internet is a highly distributed system with no central point of control, so the notion of restarting the Internet doesn't, on the face of it, make much sense. So what the hell is this story talking about?
Well, first of all, there's a bit of overdramatization in the story. Actually, a whole lot of overdramatization. But there's also a grain of truth to it.
To understand what's going on here, you first need to understand a tiny bit about the Domain Name System (DNS). Even though you may not realize it, you're probably using it every day. For example, if you typed “www.jamulblog.com” to read this blog, your web browser submits that name to DNS to look up the address (“74.125.47.121” in this case) of my blog's web server. Then your web browser contacts that web server to get the actual blog posts. So DNS is sort of like a phone book in which your web browser can look up names to find the address – which, like a phone number, it can use to contact a web server directly.
DNS has a trick that your phone book doesn't, however. If you ask for a name that your local DNS server (probably run by your Internet service provider) doesn't know, that DNS server will ask a “root server” for the address of the “authoritative” DNS server that will know that name. For example, if you typed in my blog's address and your local DNS server had never heard of it before, your local DNS server would ask a root DNS server for the address of the authoritative DNS server for “jamulblog.com”. Then it would ask that DNS server for the address of “www.jamulblog.com”. This is called a recursive query. I've glossed over all sorts of details, but the basic idea of a recursive query is key to understanding this “restart the Internet” story. With me?
Recently (July 15th) the root DNS servers implemented DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC). These security extensions are a very complex, designed-by-gigantic-committee protocol designed to allow DNS clients (such as your web browser) to verify that the DNS responses it receives (those addresses) are, in fact, authorized (not forged) responses. Without these extensions, it's relatively easy for a program to forge DNS responses – so that you type in “www.bony.com” but instead of getting the Bank of New York, you get some site that looks like the BONY site but is actually just trying to capture your password. Forging DNS responses is bad, and DNSSEC is designed to prevent it. But (and this is where the hype comes in) DNSSEC is optional on the client (like your web browser). You can turn it off.
The way that DNS clients can verify that responses are authorized is to follow a chain of authority all the way back to the root DNS server. Ignoring the details of how this works, it all depends on a Secret Master Key (SMK) that's held on the root DNS servers. This SMK is just a (very) big number, with something like 1000 digits in it. Without the SMK, the root servers could not generate verifiably authentic responses, and neither could any other DNS servers. That means that without the SMK, no DNS clients (even your web browser) that have implemented DNSSEC could verify the responses. You'd type in my blog address and you'd get an error message instead of my blog. The internet would be broken!
Well, not quite. It's simple enough to turn off the DNS security on DNS clients. It's a bit more work for intermediate DNS servers (like the one your Internet service provider runs), but not really very much more work. In addition, even if DNSSEC was completely broken, there are plenty of DNS servers that don't participate in DNSSEC at all (such as Google's DNS servers, for example), and these would keep right on working. Nevertheless, if the SMK were lost, the result would be (temporary) service interruption for millions of systems. Plus it would be a really big pain in the patoot.
How could the SMK be lost? There are lots of scenarios, all of them involving disasters that wiped out all of the root DNS servers at the same time. Pick your poison: earthquake, meteorite strike, giant tornadoes, terrorists, nuclear war, coordinated copper-eating ants. None of these are very likely to wipe all the root DNS servers out, but theoretically it could happen.
In the event of a successful coordinated copper-eating ant attack that wiped out all the root DNS servers, these seven people would be called. They'd first travel to their safe deposit box, use the key they've been entrusted with to open it, and grab their piece of the SMK. Then they'd travel to a secure location. When at least five of these folks had arrived at that secure location, technicians could piece together the SMK from the fragments each carried – and the root DNS servers would once again be able to authenticate their responses, your web browser would be happy, sunshine would break through the clouds, and there would be no more hunger. I made up the last bit...
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Holy Meteorite, Batman!
The researchers who found this crater actually used Google Earth photos to locate it. Then they went on an expedition to actually look at it in person. That must have been fun!
If you'd like to look at this yourself on Googe Earth, the coordinates are: 26º05′15″E 22º01′05″N.
Click to enlarge either of these images...
Monday, July 26, 2010
Cow Flop Fungi...
Vive la Changement!
Chaparral Morning...
Out with the dogs again at 3:30 am. A beautiful, perfect full moon was high in the southwestern sky. It's bright light lit up our whole valley; after my eyes accommodated, I could easily see color in my yard (including that red stripe on our house!), and details in the valley. To the west and northwest, the morning's marine layer created a fuzz on the horizon. Jupiter was high and bright in the east, and the Pleiades were just barely visible in the northeast (they were almost washed out by the bright moonlight).
The dogs were all noses down – we must have had a visitor again last night. A couple of them (couldn't tell which ones) let out the occasional grumpy growl. They were not happy about the intruders in their yard!
The dogs were all noses down – we must have had a visitor again last night. A couple of them (couldn't tell which ones) let out the occasional grumpy growl. They were not happy about the intruders in their yard!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Life's Lessons...
My cousin Mike D. sends along this parable:
A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. "What food might this contain?" the mouse wondered - but he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.
Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."
The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."
The mouse turned to the cow and said "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."
So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever.
Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.
The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.
The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness. So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.
Send In the Old Farts!
Via my lovely wife, who says she agrees with this 100%:
New Direction for any war: Send Service Vets over 60!My wife agrees with this? I'm going to be 60 in a few years. Hmmm...
I am over 60 and the Armed Forces thinks I'm too old to track down terrorists. You can't be older than 42 to join the military. They've got the whole thing ass-backwards. Instead of sending 18-year olds off to fight, they ought to take us old guys. You shouldn't be able to join a military unit until you're at least 35.
For starters, researchers say 18-year-olds think about sex every 10 seconds. Old guys only think about sex a couple of times a day, leaving us more than 28,000 additional seconds per day to concentrate on the enemy.
Young guys haven't lived long enough to be cranky, and a cranky soldier is a dangerous soldier. 'My back hurts! I can't sleep, I'm tired and hungry.' We are impatient and maybe letting us kill some asshole that desperately deserves it will make us feel better and shut us up for awhile..
An 18-year-old doesn't even like to get up before 10am. Old guys always get up early to pee, so what the hell. Besides, like I said, I'm tired and can't sleep and since I'm already up, I may as well be up killing some fanatical son-of-a-bitch.
If captured we couldn't spill the beans because we'd forget where we put them. In fact, name, rank, and serial number would be a real brainteaser.
Boot camp would be easier for old guys.. We're used to getting screamed and yelled at and we're used to soft food. We've also developed an appreciation for guns. We've been using them for years as an excuse to get out of the house, away from the screaming and yelling.
They could lighten up on the obstacle course however... I've been in combat and never saw a single 20-foot wall with rope hanging over the side, nor did I ever do any pushups after completing basic training.
Actually, the running part is kind of a waste of energy, too... I've never seen anyone outrun a bullet.
An 18-year-old has the whole world ahead of him. He's still learning to shave, to start a conversation with a pretty girl. He still hasn't figured out that a baseball cap has a brim to shade his eyes, not the back of his head.
These are all great reasons to keep our kids at home to learn a little more about life before sending them off into harm's way.
Let us old guys track down those dirty rotten coward terrorists. The last thing an enemy would want to see is a couple million pissed off old farts with attitudes and automatic weapons, who know that their best years are already behind them.
HEY!! How about recruiting Women over 50...in menopause!!! You think MEN have attitudes?? Oh my God!!! Put them on border patrol. They'll have it secured the first night!
Update: The New Roof...
The project is moving right along. Chris (the contractor) and his two boys were here yesterday (Saturday) to work on getting the roof in a waterproof condition. He's worried that we'll have some rain before he gets it “buttoned up”, but that seems pretty unlikely this time of year. At far right, in a carefully positioned shot, you can see what the red roof will look like when it's all done. The photo immediately to the right shows what the roof really looks like right now – covered with the high-tech underlayment that's making the roof waterproof now, and that provides a good base for the metal roof to lie on.The metal roofing parts are being made right now, at the roofing manufacturer. They're going to take between two and four weeks longer to be finished, so once the fascia, underlayment, and soffits are all installed there will be a hiatus in the project until the materials are fabricated.
This short video gives you a tour of our roof in its current condition. Pardon the low quality; it was shot with a Blackberry!
Los Zetas Captures Ranches in Texas...
The open-borders crowd has some thinking to do. Mexican nationals – members of the much-feared “Los Zetas” drug cartel – have captured at least two American ranches in Texas. The ranchers are ok; apparently they escaped.
Personally, I think our response should be carefully nuanced, using all the appropriate tools at our disposal. That would include Hellfire missiles, bunker-buster bombs, C-130 gunships, artillery, tanks, guns, U.S. Marines, and anything else we've got that will kill invading scum. We need to send a clear message: if you take or harm our citizens or their property, then you die. Quickly. Without hanky-twisting, prior notification, or preliminary negotiation.
Something tells me that this administration's response will somewhat less effective than a Marine detachment...
Update: I tried to get a bit more information on this report, and ran into some articles calling it a hoax. So...take this with a grain of salt until (and if) I can confirm it...
Personally, I think our response should be carefully nuanced, using all the appropriate tools at our disposal. That would include Hellfire missiles, bunker-buster bombs, C-130 gunships, artillery, tanks, guns, U.S. Marines, and anything else we've got that will kill invading scum. We need to send a clear message: if you take or harm our citizens or their property, then you die. Quickly. Without hanky-twisting, prior notification, or preliminary negotiation.
Something tells me that this administration's response will somewhat less effective than a Marine detachment...
Update: I tried to get a bit more information on this report, and ran into some articles calling it a hoax. So...take this with a grain of salt until (and if) I can confirm it...
Miniature Explosions...
Google Go...
It's a new programming language from Google. I just ran across it for the first time, and I haven't had a chance to look at it carefully. From the docs and FAQs at their site, they've made some interesting design choices, especially in moving away from the formality of strongly-typed languages like Java and C++. I'd love to spend a few days just playing with it, but I don't have the time just now...
The World is a Funny Place Department...
Generally, most of the visitors to my little blog get here in one of two ways: either they are crazy enough to have bookmarked my blog, or they've searched for something that appears on my blog.
For the last few days, though, a third category of visitors has dominated: those who clicked on a link in an email to this post. Apparently it caught someone's fancy, they forwarded it in an email, and those people forwarded it, and it went on and on.
Leaving me to wonder...why this particular post? I have no idea...
For the last few days, though, a third category of visitors has dominated: those who clicked on a link in an email to this post. Apparently it caught someone's fancy, they forwarded it in an email, and those people forwarded it, and it went on and on.
Leaving me to wonder...why this particular post? I have no idea...
Friday, July 23, 2010
The Roof Project: Update...
Well, we're a few days into the project now, and we're still very pleased with progress. The old roof is now entirely gone; we've got bare wood exposed to the elements. With the old roofing material gone, some problem areas were exposed (mainly some deteriorated wood toward the bottom of the roof), and these will need to be fixed. Some of the fascia boards are warped, and Chris (the roofing contractor) is going to fix those as well.
One piece of the red metal fascia cover is now in place – a bright red horizontal stripe that looks very colorful indeed, given the large area of surrounding white or dull colors. Debbie is very happy with the color. Let's hope that continues when the entire roof is covered.
I'm thinking that this red is so bright that we'll easily be able to spot our house when we fly into or out of San Diego (nearly all flights pass with 10 miles or so, high overhead). Our roof will look like a multi-megawatt beacon. It might even be visible from space!
One piece of the red metal fascia cover is now in place – a bright red horizontal stripe that looks very colorful indeed, given the large area of surrounding white or dull colors. Debbie is very happy with the color. Let's hope that continues when the entire roof is covered.
I'm thinking that this red is so bright that we'll easily be able to spot our house when we fly into or out of San Diego (nearly all flights pass with 10 miles or so, high overhead). Our roof will look like a multi-megawatt beacon. It might even be visible from space!
Another View of the Manipulated Jobless Number...
If people without jobs become discouraged and stop seeking work, the unemployment rate will decline (other things being equal). On the other hand, if people become hopeful about future employment, job seeking will go up—as will the unemployment rate.Sounds right to me...
This way of measuring job availability is clearly flawed. One simple alternative would be to measure the labor force as the number of people with jobs. Unemployment would be determined based on increases or decreases in the number of people employed relative to historic job growth.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Clyde is the Man!
Via my cousin Mike D.:
A farmer named Clyde had a car accident. In court, the trucking company's fancy lawyer was questioning Clyde.Why, “I'm fine, officer!”, of course...
"Didn't you say, at the scene of the accident, 'I'm fine,'?" asked the lawyer.
Clyde responded, "Well, I'll tell you what happened. I had just loaded my favorite mule, Bessie..."
"I didn't ask for any details", the lawyer interrupted. "Just answer the question. Did you not say, at the scene of the accident, 'I'm fine!'?"
Clyde said, "Well, I had just got Bessie into the trailer and I was driving down the road..."
The lawyer interrupted again and said, "Judge, I am trying to establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told the Highway Patrolman on the scene that he was just fine. Now several weeks after the accident he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer the question."
By this time, the Judge was fairly interested in Clyde's answer and said to the lawyer, "I'd like to hear what he has to say about his favorite mule, Bessie".
Clyde thanked the Judge and proceeded.
"Well as I was saying, I had just loaded Bessie, my favorite mule, into the trailer and was driving her down the highway when this huge semi-truck and trailer ran the stop sign and smacked my truck right in the side.
I was thrown into one ditch and Bessie was thrown into the other. I was hurting real bad and didn't want to move. However, I could hear ole Bessie moaning and groaning. I knew she was in terrible shape just by her groans.
Shortly after the accident a Highway Patrolman came on the scene. He could hear Bessie moaning and groaning so he went over to her.
After he looked at her, and saw her fatal condition, he took out his gun and shot her between the eyes.
Then the Patrolman came across the road, gun still in hand, looked at me and said, "How are you feeling?"
"Now what the hell would you say?"
Was George W. Bush an Idiot?
Via my lovely wife:
If George W. Bush had been the first President to need a TelePrompter installed to be able to get through a press conference, would you have laughed and said this is more proof of how inept he is on his own and is really controlled by smarter men behind the scenes?
If George W. Bush had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to take Laura Bush to a play in NYC, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had reduced your retirement plan's holdings of GM stock by 90% and given the unions a majority stake in GM, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly narcissistic and tacky?
If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had visited Austria and made reference to the nonexistent "Austrian language," would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?
If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current in their income taxes, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had stated that there were 57 states in the United States, would you have said that he is clueless.
If George W. Bush would have flown all the way to Denmark to make a five minute speech about how the Olympics would benefit him walking out his front door in Texas, would you have thought he was a self important, conceited, egotistical jerk.
If George W. Bush had been so Spanish illiterate as to refer to "Cinco de Cuatro" in front of the Mexican ambassador when it was the 5th of May (Cinco de Mayo), and continued to flub it when he tried again, would you have winced in embarrassment?
If George W. Bush had misspelled the word "advice" would you have hammered him for it for years like Dan Quayle and potatoes as proof of what a dunce he is?
If George W. Bush had burned 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a single tree on Earth Day, would you have concluded he's a hypocrite?
If George W. Bush's administration had okayed Air Force One flying low over millions of people followed by a jet fighter in downtown Manhattan causing widespread panic, would you have wondered whether they actually get what happened on 9-11?
If George W. Bush had failed to send relief aid to flood victims throughout the Midwest with more people killed or made homeless than in New Orleans, would you want it made into a major ongoing political issue with claims of racism and incompetence?
If George W. Bush had created the position of 32 Czars who report directly to him, bypassing the House and Senate on much of what is happening in America, would you have approved.
If George W. Bush had ordered the firing of the CEO of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had proposed to double the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had then proposed to double the debt again within 10 years, would you have approved?
So, tell me again, what is it about Obama that makes him so brilliant and impressive? Can't think of anything? Don't worry. He's done all this in 15 months -- so you'll have two years and nine months to come up with an answer.
Pat Condell on the Ground Zero Mosque...
Interesting rant by the ever-fascinating Pat Condell, via my cousin Mike D.:
Most Terrifying Unemployment Graph?
The real unemployment number is somewhere around 15% to 18% (the Bureau doesn't release enough data to compute it precisely, or at least I couldn't find that data). There are a lot of people who have been out of work for over six months now...
What's Wrong With Obama?
Via my cousin Mike D., a psychotherapist's estimate of Obama's mental health:
Let's return now to my original question: What is wrong with Obama? My guess is a great deal. The answer is complex and likely includes some combination of the above.Read the whole thing...
Along with the brain issues are personality disorders: narcissism, paranoia, passive-aggressiveness. There's even the possibility of the most destructive character defect of all, an antisocial personality. Untreated abuse can foster antisocial traits, especially among boys.
If my assessment is accurate, what does this mean?
It means that liberals need to wake up and spit out the Kool-Aid...and that conservatives should put aside differences, band together, and elect as many Republicans as possible.
Because Obama will not change. He will not learn from his mistakes. He will not grow and mature from on-the-job experience. In fact, over time, Obama will likely become a more ferocious version of who he is today.
Why? Because this is a damaged person. Obama's fate was sealed years ago growing up in his strange and poisonous family. Later on, his empty vessel was filled with the hateful bile of men like Rev. Wright and Bill Ayers.
Obama will not evolve; he will not rise to the occasion; he will not become the man he was meant to be. This is for one reason and one reason alone:
He is not capable of it.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Surprise!
On the way home from work last night, I picked up a package at the Post Office. It was from a friend (Franz M.) in Munich, Germany, and it was full of slide rules. I haven't purchased any slide rules for many months, so for the first time in a long while I had the pleasure of opening up a box with some beautiful old instruments in it.
My favorite of the bunch is a circular “Columbus Calculator”. Mostly it is conventional in design, except that it's made of engraved metal (that is, the scales are engraved). I'm pretty sure that the engraving is photolithographic, and it's very nicely done. The face is plated (with brass, I think) and the plating has worn, exposing parts of the underlying metal – yet the scales are still perfectly readable and usable. I've never seen another like it, nor can I find any reference to it online...
My favorite of the bunch is a circular “Columbus Calculator”. Mostly it is conventional in design, except that it's made of engraved metal (that is, the scales are engraved). I'm pretty sure that the engraving is photolithographic, and it's very nicely done. The face is plated (with brass, I think) and the plating has worn, exposing parts of the underlying metal – yet the scales are still perfectly readable and usable. I've never seen another like it, nor can I find any reference to it online...
Morning Walk...
Another beautiful, cool, high desert morning in the chaparral. I walked the dogs at around 3:30 am, under a clear, dark sky overhead. As the season progresses, the Pleiades are now visible in the northeastern morning sky. These are the harbinger of one of my favorite constellations, Orion, which will soon be visible in the eastern morning sky. Jupiter was bright and clear in the southeast sky. And in a broad band from the north to the southwest, the Milky Way cut its swath. Beautiful.
The air was full of desert scents, and also, intermittently, the musky odor of some large mammal (I'm guessing a mountain lion, but I didn't see it). All four of our dogs were quiet, noses down, scoping out the events of last evening. They were happy to go back inside the house; I think they were nervous because of the animal smells...
The air was full of desert scents, and also, intermittently, the musky odor of some large mammal (I'm guessing a mountain lion, but I didn't see it). All four of our dogs were quiet, noses down, scoping out the events of last evening. They were happy to go back inside the house; I think they were nervous because of the animal smells...
Shocker!
Yesterday morning when I left for work, our house looked just like it has for the past ten years or so. When I got home yesterday afternoon, things had changed a bit. Roughly half our old roof had been stripped off, down to the wood. An enormous (40 cubic yard) dumpster was parked in our driveway. And a large amount of building materials were piled in front of our house.
While I was away at work, our roofing contractor showed up (on the promised day, at the promised time!), the dumpster showed up (as ordered), and the demolition crew went right to work. That's very comforting for this homeowner who's just entered into another large contract (the last one didn't work out so well). This time we did everything the way you're supposed to: we verified the license of the contractor, verified his bond and insurance, checked with the BBB and every other online source we could think of, and checked his references. All good. Fingers crossed!
There's something about the human brain (well, mine, at least) that is thrown out of kilter when there's a large change to your environment. This happened to me upon seeing our house when I came home – it just looked so wrong!
While I was away at work, our roofing contractor showed up (on the promised day, at the promised time!), the dumpster showed up (as ordered), and the demolition crew went right to work. That's very comforting for this homeowner who's just entered into another large contract (the last one didn't work out so well). This time we did everything the way you're supposed to: we verified the license of the contractor, verified his bond and insurance, checked with the BBB and every other online source we could think of, and checked his references. All good. Fingers crossed!
There's something about the human brain (well, mine, at least) that is thrown out of kilter when there's a large change to your environment. This happened to me upon seeing our house when I came home – it just looked so wrong!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Kindle DX Update...
Questions, I get questions... Now that I've had my Kindle DX for a couple weeks, what do I think of it? Am I using it?
The more I use it, the more I love it. And I'm using it a lot. I've got just over 150 books loaded onto it now, and about 135 of those were free (mostly from Project Gutenberg). I've read 3 books on it, and I'm nearly done with the fourth (Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe – last read when I was a kid, and much better even than my memory of it). I no longer even think about how to use it; it's become as intuitive as turning the pages in a book.
Last night, just for fun, I tried the text-to-speech feature that's built into the Kindle DX. I have heard computer-synthesized text many times, and had never been impressed with it, so my expectations were low – but I was pleasantly surprised by the Kindle's computerized reader. The male voice was clear, the speech had (mostly) appropriate inflection and pauses (like a human speaker would make), and it was perfectly understandable. I let it read an entire page of Robinson Crusoe, which included a dozen or so place names and other proper nouns that text-to-voice systems often screw up (because they're not in its internal dictionary). Everything was pronounced either perfectly or very close to it. I had no trouble whatsoever understanding the entire page. I could imagine listening to a book on my commute with this thing...
Debbie has been resisting even looking at the Kindle. Last night she borrowed it to check it out. I'm gonna hazard a guess here: we're likely going to be a two-Kindle family someday soon...
The more I use it, the more I love it. And I'm using it a lot. I've got just over 150 books loaded onto it now, and about 135 of those were free (mostly from Project Gutenberg). I've read 3 books on it, and I'm nearly done with the fourth (Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe – last read when I was a kid, and much better even than my memory of it). I no longer even think about how to use it; it's become as intuitive as turning the pages in a book.
Last night, just for fun, I tried the text-to-speech feature that's built into the Kindle DX. I have heard computer-synthesized text many times, and had never been impressed with it, so my expectations were low – but I was pleasantly surprised by the Kindle's computerized reader. The male voice was clear, the speech had (mostly) appropriate inflection and pauses (like a human speaker would make), and it was perfectly understandable. I let it read an entire page of Robinson Crusoe, which included a dozen or so place names and other proper nouns that text-to-voice systems often screw up (because they're not in its internal dictionary). Everything was pronounced either perfectly or very close to it. I had no trouble whatsoever understanding the entire page. I could imagine listening to a book on my commute with this thing...
Debbie has been resisting even looking at the Kindle. Last night she borrowed it to check it out. I'm gonna hazard a guess here: we're likely going to be a two-Kindle family someday soon...
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