About Obamacare...

An Atmosphere of Violence...

Mexico is a very unsafe place these days.  These stories rarely makes the news here, despite the number of casualties (over 3,000 so far this year).  Many Americans have been injured or killed as well.  Along our border, the Border Patrol has seen a huge increase in the number of incidents involving gunfire, and especially those involving automatic weapons.  Naturally, this has made the Border Patrol – mainly armed with pistols – quite nervous.  So I'm not surprised to read this:

Four people were injured and the busiest border crossing in the U.S. was closed to northbound vehicle traffic for hours Tuesday after federal agents fired shots across nine lanes of traffic to stop three vans suspected of smuggling illegal immigrants from Mexico, authorities said.

But I sure don't like it.

So far as I've been able to discover, the violence in Mexico is 100% driven by the illegal drug trade with the U.S.  And there's a very simple and instantaneous cure for that: legalize these drugs.  Overnight the drug cartels will be out of business, much to the benefit of both Mexico and the U.S...

The Walking Wounded...

I spotted the chart at right in an article about Hyundai's recent market success – but there's something much more interesting visible in there.

To wit: the Big Three American auto makers have been steadily losing market share to the Asian Big Four for over ten years.  Most businesses that have lost market share for even a couple of years are in big trouble; to lose share for ten years is an extraordinary record of failure. 

And companies that have been failing like that are certain to be in very poor health.  The falling market share translates directly in to less cash on hand, less ability to borrow, lower share prices, etc., etc.  All bad.  The Big Three were in very bad shape before the recession ever started, which of course meant they were in worse condition to weather it.  Ford's little uptick last year is completely explained by the combination of their refusal to take bailout money and the cash-for-clunkers theft of our money.  Ford's current numbers (now that the cash-for-clunkers theft program is finished) are in the toilet.

In any righteous business environment, the Big Three would have been left on their own to flounder, or to weather the recession if they could wangle a way.  If there were to be any government involvement, it should only have been to somehow put them out of their misery.  Instead, our government has stolen a vast amount of our future earnings by borrowing to “bail out” these losers that will almost certainly fail anyway – probably taking even more of our stolen cash with them.

There's a reason why politicians so often make me think of trees, rope, and knot practice...

How to Hide a Ship of the Line...

At right is the Dutch man o'war Abraham Crijnssen during its passage through the East Indies in 1942 (World War II).

While we often think of camouflage as mainly colors and patterns, the experts say the most important element is the visual texture – illustrated quite nicely here...

The Tiny Cabin...

Via my mom:

A  government social worker from Washington, DC recently transferred to the Mountains of Kentucky.  She was on the first tour of her new  territory when she came upon the tiniest cabin she had ever seen in her life. Intrigued, she went up and knocked on the door. "Anybody  home?" she  asked.

"Yep," came a kid's voice through the  door.

"Is your father there?"  asked the social worker.

"Pa? Nope, he left afore Ma came in," said the kid.

"Well, is your mother there?" persisted the social worker..

"Ma? Nope, she left  just afore I got here,"  said the kid.

"But," protested the social worker, "are you never together as a family?"

"Sure, but not here," said the kid through the door. "This is the outhouse!"

Heh!

And doesn't that level of competence somehow ring true for a government worker?

Hard Work, Not Luck...

Here's a great example of the interesting things that happen when you can successfully meld several different sciences and technologies.  At right is the Bunburra Rockhole, a meteorite recently discovered in Australia.  Finding this meteorite was the product of this fine collaboration.

A while back, some scientists had a clever idea: to set up a network of cameras in a remote area, and wait for them to capture a meteorite's trail of fire in the sky as it plunged through Earth's atmosphere.  Each camera would have a different perspective on this fiery trail, and by combining the information from all the cameras (using some clever software), the scientists could do two things.  First, they could predict with considerable accuracy where the meteorite fell to Earth.  And second, they could determine where it came from – something that is usually impossible to know.

The Bunburra Rockhole is the first product of this quest, and a very successful one at that:

The new meteorite, which is about the size of cricket ball, is the first to be retrieved since researchers from Imperial College London, Ondrejov Observatory in the Czech Republic, and the Western Australian Museum, set up a trial network of cameras in the Nullarbor Desert in Western Australia in 2006.

The researchers aim to use these cameras to find new meteorites, and work out where in the Solar System they came from, by tracking the fireballs that they form in the sky. The new meteorite was found on the first day of searching using the new network, by the first search expedition, within 100m of the predicted site of the fall. This is the first time a meteorite fall has been predicted using only the data from dedicated instruments.

The meteorite appears to have been following an unusual orbit, or path around the Sun, prior to falling to Earth in July 2007, according to the researchers' calculations. The team believes that it started out as part of an asteroid in the innermost main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It then gradually evolved into an orbit around the Sun that was very similar to Earth's. The other meteorites that researchers have data for follow orbits that take them back, deep into the main asteroid belt.

Way cool!  Read all about it here...

Scott Adams Strikes Again...

I am in complete awe of Scott Adams' ability to find humor in the current business (and technology) world.  As a former (and recovering) manager and executive, I've been on all sides of this issue.  I was CEO of an enterprise software company when the “dot-com bubble” burst, and how to present the issue to employees was one of the many issues we wrestled with.

My favorite frame is the next-to-last one.  Getting middle-level managers to agree on which employees would be laid off in a downsizing was agonizingly difficult, and almost always required me to decide for many of them.  Scott Adams' solution to this challenge seems very attractive in the abstract...

Conservative Puppies For Sale...

So says Mark Steyn, in his inimitable fashion.  These golden retriever puppies are being sold by a friend of his.  One sentence in his puppy endorsement particularly caught my eye:

They're fun for young and old, and are genetically programmed to savage Howard Dean if he shows up late at night to push government health care on you.

Heh!

Small Fire Near Jamul...

Update:

Here's a news article on the fire.  If it's accurate, the fire was started by someone burning brush (without a permit, of course).  Should this turn out to be true, I suspect the neighbors will be doing a bit of education on the culprit.

The fire was near Millar Ranch Road, which happens to be where some of my friends and co-workers live.  One of them (Aaron B.) took these photos from his yard.  In one you can see the fire plane dumping retardant; in the other you can see two fire planes flying by near his house.  Yikes!

Aaron tells me that the fire fighters were right on it, with two planes, and two choppers.  I'm sure there were ground firefighters involved as well.  The news report says it burned 14 acres.  I'm not sure if it burned any of the wildife sanctuary in the vally north of Millar Ranch Road.

Click to enlarge these photos.

This map shows the approximate location of the fire.





Original post:

According to KPBS, police had 94 closed between Steele Canyon Road and the bridge just north of Steele Canyon High School.  I drove through the area just after 2:00 pm, and it appeared the police were opening the road back up.  KPBS reported that there was a “small brush fire” but gave no further details.  I didn't see any fire personnel or aircraft, nor did I see any smoke (though it's a bit hazy today, so I might not have been able to see dispersed smoke).

Does anybody reading this know any more?  Please leave comments if you do...

Idea of the Day...

From my mom:

We need to start limiting all U.S. politicians to two terms: one term in office and one term in prison.

Illinois already has begun that plan.

Essentially, this is a presumption of guilt on the part of politicians.

Sounds right to me!

The Cowboy...

Via my mom:

A cowboy  appeared before St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. 'Have  you ever done anything of particular merit?' St. Peter asked.

'Well, I can think of one thing,' the cowboy offered. 'On a trip to the Black Hills out in South Dakota , I came upon a gang of bikers, who were threatening a young woman. I  directed them to leave her alone, but they wouldn't  listen.

So,  I approached the largest and most heavily tattooed biker and smacked him in  his face. Kicked his bike over, ripped out his nose ring, and threw it on the ground. I  yelled, 'Now, back off!! Or I'll kick the sh*t out of all of you!'

St. Peter was impressed, 'When did this happen?'

'Just a couple of minutes ago...'

Half-Wit...

Via Jim M. (who seems to have a theme going here):

A man owned a small ranch near San Antonio.  The Texas Dept of Labor claimed he was not paying proper wages to his help and sent an agent out to interview him.

"I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them," demanded the agent.

"Well," replied the rancher, "there's my farm hand who's been with me for 3 years.  I pay him $200 a week plus free room and board.  The cook has been here for 8 months, and I pay her $150 per week plus free room and board.  Then there's the half-wit. He works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here.  He makes about $10 per week, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every Saturday night.  He also sleeps with my wife occasionally."

"That's the guy I want to talk to, the half-wit," says the agent.

"That would be me," replied the Rancher.

Southern Wisdom...

Via Jim M.:

Earl and Bubba are quietly sitting in a boat fishing, chewing tobacco and drinking beer when suddenly Bubba says,

"I think I'm gonna divorce my wife - she ain't spoke to me in over 2 months."

Earl spits, sips his beer and says, "Better think it over...women like that are hard to find."

al Qaeda Shows Us Again...

Shows us their true goals, that is: the elimination (by death) of all the “infidels” or their conversion to Islam.  The latest from Bekkay Herrach, a senior al Qaeda leader:

A senior al Qaeda leader has threatened to attack Germany just days before the nation will go to the polls to choose a new Chancellor.

Bekkay Harrach, alias Al Hafidh Abu Talha al Almani, resurfaced Friday in a chilling new video produced by al Qaeda's al Fajr Media Center and distributed across the major jihadi Web forums. Dressed in an ill-fitting black blazer, blue tie, and shoulder-length greased hair - looking more like a teenager dressed for his first job interview - he slammed Germany for its military presence in Afghanistan and warned that if Chancellor Angela Merkel is reelected on Sept. 27, Germany will be directly attacked.

His previous warning to Germany, on Jan. 17, 2009, coincided with a massive car bomb attack on the heavily guarded German embassy in Kabul that was orchestrated by the notorious Haqqani Network. Four Afghan civilians and an American soldier died in the attack.

Read the whole disturbing thing.

“First Light” on Planck...

The Planck microwave observatory satellite has made it's first observations (see image at right, click to enlarge).  The satellite is sitting out at L2, the second Lagrange point in the Sun/Earth gravitational system.

Wouldn't it be fun if we could introduce an ancient astronomer – say Nicolaus Copernicus or Tyco Brahe – to this new kind of telescope and it's results?

Christians and Lions...

Oh, wait – Christian is the lion:




And yes, it's for real.

Scary News of the Day...

The White House will shelve Bush administration plans to build a missile-defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, a move likely to cheer Moscow and roil the security debate in Europe.
The U.S. will base its decision on a determination that Iran's long-range missile program hasn't progressed as rapidly as previously estimated, reducing the threat to the continental U.S. and major European capitals, according to current and former U.S. officials.

The findings, expected to be completed as early as next week following a 60-day review ordered by President Barack Obama, would be a major reversal from the Bush administration, which pushed aggressively to begin construction of the Eastern European system before leaving office in January.

Not exactly what I wanted to read while drinking my morning tea.

By and large (and to my surprise), the Obama administration's foreign policy has been much like the previous administration's foreign policy – and I've been supportive of it.

This is a major departure.  With this move and other wimpy responses to Iran's belligerance, we've practically been begging them to make aggressive moves in both the Middle East and in Europe.  Once their nuclear capability is verified, I expect Iran to start experimenting with bullying tactics.  There's a long list of potential “first targets”: Turkey, Lebanon, Greece, Cyprus, and of course Israel.

But the really big question is this: how will Israel react to the U.S. visibly morphing into a laughable wimp in Iran's perception?  Will they unilaterally attack Iran?  My bet would be “yes”...

Biotech Violins – Better Than a Stradivarius?

The secret of the sweet sound of a Stradivarius violin is apparently the fungus in the wood:

Violins made by the Italian master Antonio Giacomo Stradivarius are regarded as being of unparalleled quality even today, with enthusiasts being prepared to pay millions for a single example. Stradivarius himself knew nothing of fungi which attack wood, but he received inadvertent help from the “Little Ice Age” which occurred from 1645 to 1715. During this period Central Europe suffered long winters and cool summers which caused trees to grow slowly and uniformly – ideal conditions in fact for producing wood with excellent acoustic qualities.

Horst Heger of the Osnabruck City Conservatory is convinced that the success of the “fungus violin” represents a revolution in the field of classical music. “In the future even talented young musicians will be able to afford a violin with the same tonal quality as an impossibly expensive Stradivarius,” he believes. In his opinion, the most important factor in determining the tone of a violin is the quality of the wood used in its manufacture. This has now been confirmed by the results of the blind test in Osnabruck. The fungal attack changes the cell structure of the wood, reducing its density and simultaneously increasing its homogeneity. “Compared to a conventional instrument, a violin made of wood treated with the fungus has a warmer, more rounded sound,” explains Francis Schwarze.

Remarkable!

No, No, NO – Don't Break the Internet!

The Audacity of Hos...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Audacity of Hos
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Hurt myself laughing...