Baby Elephant Rescue...

Best Home Security Sign Evah!

Via my mom.  I want one!

Colliding Galaxies...

Via the European Space Observatory (ESO), this high-resolution photo (click to enlarge) of NGC 7252 – two galaxies violently colliding, throwing out streamers containing many thousands of star systems.  Wired has the details.

What Is This?

A condom ad, for Durex XXL sized condoms.  Check out the other three ads (from The Frisky).

Java Wars...

They are beginning...

This is Not Good...

Turkey is cutting many of its (formerly cordial) ties to Israel.  Dang...

Ho, Hum, this is Getting Boring...

Lakes Entertainment published their latest quarterly report.  With respect to the Jamul Indian Casino, it continues to look like a failed project, with their investment being written off over time...

Whiffletrees...

When I first saw an IBM Selectric typewriter, I wanted to know how it worked.  I never did figure it out.  Today, thanks to Make, I found out – and it was even more interesting than I had imagined.  It involves two mechanical digital-to-analog converters, called “whiffletrees”.  Awesome geekiness ensues:

Giant Galactic Blobs...

APOD has the photo (click to enlarge), and the Center for Astrophysics has the story.

It's fascinating that even today astronomers can discover an object that straddles more than half the sky...

The Progressive Mind...

The androgynous Robin of Berkeley is a “changeling” – someone who once was a full-on progressive, but has since turned their world upside-down and become conservative (or libertarian).  Here's the end of a recent post in which Robin describes a conversation with a colleague.  I particularly like the quote at the end...

The subject came up about a recent, horrendous crime where a bunch of hooligans in a middle school classroom literally stoned and beat up their teacher during class. Then those same thugs went outside and destroyed her car.

My colleague insisted that the youth beat their teacher to a bloody pulp because they were victims of racism. I said that they were a bunch of sociopaths who should be punished to the full extent of the law. We never spoke again, and I dropped out of the group. Since then I’ve realized it’s better if I keep my unpopular views to myself (or just share them with readers like you!). It’s a waste of time and energy to educate people who are that deluded (which is pretty much everyone in Berkeley, Oakland, etc.).

So I do my own thing and spend a lot of time chatting online with new conservative friends. It can be hard for me at times. But I try to remember what the Buddha said, “Loneliness is better than the company of fools.”

This is a great example of the stark cognitive disjoint between progressives and non-progressives. I don't know anyone who would respond to this story in a non-polarized way; you either think like a progressive (like Robin's colleague) or you don't...

A Really, Really Thin Galaxy...

Also known as NGC 4452 (click to enlarge).  From APOD, of course.

Battery Problem Approach?

One of the biggest problems with alternative energy approaches (especially solar and wind) is how to store energy produced at one time but needed at another time.  This is what batteries do, so the problem is often called the “battery problem”.  The batteries available today don't scale up to the very large sizes needed, and they're not very durable.

Here's a new approach to the problem, from MIT labs...

Security Theater Watch...

Maybe, just maybe, it's beginning to unravel.

I have to fly to Houston next week, and I'm not looking forward to my airport experiences...

For My Fellow Dog Lovers...

Pardon me for a moment; I seem to have something in my eyes...

Swan Lake...

With an emphasis on gymnastics.  Via my mom:

History of the World...

Via my mom, this slightly condensed history of the world:

Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.

The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:

        1. Liberals
        2. Conservatives

Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to BBQ at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement...

Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly BBQ's and doing the sewing, fetching, and making art. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.

Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. They became known as girlie-men. Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided.

Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass for obvious reasons.

Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare..

Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't fair to make the pitcher also bat.

Conservatives drink domestic beer, mostly Bud or Miller. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, engineers, corporate executives, athletes, members of the military, airline pilots and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.

Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America . They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.

Quote of the Day...

Guess who said this, and when:

I want the people of America to be able to work less for the government and more for themselves.

I want them to have the rewards of their own industry - this is the chief meaning of freedom.

Until we can reestablish a condition under which the earnings of the people can be kept by the people, we are bound to suffer a very severe and distinct curtailment of our liberty.

These results are not fanciful, they are not imaginary, they are grimly actual, and real, reaching into every household in the land. They take from each home annually an average of over $300.00, and taxes must be paid. They are not a voluntary contribution to be met out of surplus earnings. They are a stern necessity. They come first.

It is only out of what is left, after they are paid, that the necessities of food, clothing, and shelter can be provided and the comforts of home secured, or the yearnings of the soul for a broader and more abundant life gratified.

When the government affects a new economy, it grants everybody a life pension with which to raise the standards of existence. It increases the value of everybody's property, raises the scale of everybody's wages.

One of the greatest favors that can be bestowed on the American people is economy in government.

That was said by Calvin Coolidge in 1924. Where's Cal when we need him?

Sailing Faster than the Wind – Downwind!

Every sailor, no matter how amateur, knows this “law” of sailing physics: if you're sailing directly downwind, the best speed you can possibly achieve is the speed of the wind itself.

Well, apparently not!

Very, very cool, guys...

Is It Time?

Allysia Finley writes about California's political insanity.  Her conclusion:

We've tried to help you, California. Some spent millions on campaigns to entice you to change your reckless behavior. And you told them to kick rocks.

So here's our final warning: When you inevitably crash and burn, don't count on us to bail you out.

Is it time to leave, before the place turns into another Detroit?

Logical Fallacies...

A complete graphical taxonomy of logical fallacies, with links to explanatory text.  Excellent!