Finally!

Finally!  Rockets like I thought they would be like, when I was a kid back in the '50s and '60s.  You'll want full screen on this one.  From SpaceX:

On Monday, October 7th, Grasshopper completed its highest leap to date, rising to 744m altitude. The view above is taken from a single camera hexacopter, getting closer to the stage than in any previous flight.

Grasshopper is a 10-story Vertical Takeoff Vertical Landing (VTVL) vehicle designed to test the technologies needed to return a rocket back to Earth intact. While most rockets are designed to burn up on atmosphere reentry, SpaceX rockets are being designed not only to withstand reentry, but also to return to the launch pad for a vertical landing. The Grasshopper VTVL vehicle represents a critical step towards this goal.

Grasshopper consists of a Falcon 9 rocket first stage tank, Merlin 1D engine, four steel and aluminum landing legs with hydraulic dampers, and a steel support structure.

Note: you can see on the video that they capture this shot with a remote-controlled hexacopter.  I bet SpaceX is a fun place to work!

Land of the Free?

Land of the Free?  The inimitable Mark Steyn has a new piece posted at NRO that concludes:

I wonder what those Japanese and Australian tourists prevented from photographing bison or admiring a geyser make of U.S. claims to be “the land of the free.” When a government shutdown falls in the forest, Americans should listen very carefully. The government is telling you something profound and important about how it understands the power relationship between them and you.

The National Park Service should be out of the business of urban landmarks, and the vast majority of our “national” parks should be returned to the states. After the usurpation of the people’s sovereignty this month, the next president might usefully propose a new Charter of the Forest.

I've been thinking about Nineteen Eighty-Four a lot, recently...

Blithering idiots, busily blithering...

Blithering idiots, busily blithering...  So a week or so ago, I read the story about the U.S. returning the ancient rhyton (at right) to Iran's cultural heritage chief – who was delighted to receive it.  The general wisdom was that the gesture portended some sort of “thaw” in U.S. – Iranian relations. That's all of a piece with The One's uninformed and arrogant foreign policy, and I didn't think about it any further.

Until this morning, that is, when I read that the rhyton was a fake, and not even an ancient fake – it's probably less than 20 years old.  Furthermore, the U.S. government knew it was a fake – they seized it originally because it was a fake.

I can only think of two possibilities here:

1.  Incompetence on a gigantic scale, perpetrated by blithering progressive idiots.

2.  Diabolical cleverness, delivering a head fake to tweak the Persian noses.

Given The One's propensity to appoint blithering idiots, one of those seems much more likely than the other...

ObamaCare has raped her future...

ObamaCare has raped her future.  So says Ashley Dionne:

My name is Ashley Dionne and I’m a 26-year-old recent graduate from Michigan.

The phony Obamacare signup poster boy made me want to send a message about how Obamacare is really affecting people.

I graduated from The University of Michigan in 2009. In my state, this used to mean something, but even with a bachelor’s I was told I was too educated and wouldn’t stay. I watched as kids with GEDs and high school diploma’s took the low-paying jobs for which I applied.

I went back to school and got a second degree and finally found work at a gym. I work nights and only get 32 hours a week for eight dollars an hour. I’m unable to find a second job at this time.

I have asthma, ulcers, and mild cerebral palsy. Obamacare takes my monthly rate from $75 a month for full coverage on my “Young Adult Plan,” to $319 a month. After $6,000 in deductibles, of course.

Liberals claimed this law would help the poor. I am the poor, the working poor, and I can’t afford to support myself, let alone older generations and people not willing to work at all.

This law has raped my future.

It will keep me and kids my age from having a future at all.

This is the real face of Obamacare and it isn’t pretty.

The comments are interesting, too...

Opt out of Google Shared Endorsements...

Opt out of Google Shared Endorsements.  Google is about to share product endorsements you may have made in advertising.  This may include your photo.  If you don't like this idea, just go to this link, scroll down to the bottom, remove the check mark from the box, and click “Save”.  Done.

This has been a public service announcement.

California leads the way...

California leads the way – in confusing legislative decisions.  On the one hand, Governor Moonbeam vetoed a ban on certain types of rifles, making him look like a friend – albeit a very unlikely friend – to gun rights advocates.  On the other hand, he signed AB 711, which bans lead ammunition for hunting.  The California hunting community views this as effectively a ban on hunting, as there is no non-lead ammunition available for hunting.

Rigatoni con la Pajata...

Rigatoni con la Pajata...  I like to eat, and I've often said I've never met a cuisine that I didn't like.  That may have changed this morning, as I read this story about Neanderthals – and others – eating chyme.  I'd never even heard of chyme before!  Or Rigatoni con la Pajata.  Warning: you can't unread this...

California leads the way...

California leads the way – in environmentalist wacko twisted pretzel legislation and litigation.  Also in the use of lard as a fuel. 

Read this: your temperature will rise, your eyes will burn, your head will explode, and you'll start looking for real estate in another place.  Any other place...

Dead parrots...

Dead parrots.  Chris Muir at Day-by-Day is on my wavelength...

Mysterious gravitational anomaly...

Mysterious gravitational anomaly.  Sometimes, but not always, when satellites pass close by the Earth their speed changes by an unexpected amount – as if the mass of the earth was variable on very short time scales.  Scientists are stumped.

Say, I wonder if they've tried to correlate these anomalies with when Congress is in session?  Maybe having that many empty skulls in one place distorts the Earth's gravitational field.  It certainly distorts my equanimity!

Anarchists in Jamul!

Anarchists in Jamul!  Reader and fellow Jamulian Celeste S. made my morning with an email this morning:

I got a kick out of your post showing people actually inside the national parks and monuments in D.C., while they are supposed to be closed due to the government shutdown. No need to look that far for defiant citizens. We are alive and well right here in Jamul.

About five years ago, my children and I would take bike rides in the open space south of the highway at Rancho Jamul drive. It was really cool to be following my kids on my bike, watching them ride through fields of wild flowers in the spring and alternatively getting their backs covered in mud during the winter. We saw deer, a golden eagle, ducks, coyote and a bunch of other neat stuff. As a homeschooling family, we would bring our backpacks with us, bike to a pond out there which had a rowboat on it and do our reading or another subject while floating. We did all of this with the greatest respect for the area, as we realized how amazing this opportunity was. Then Fish and Game purchased the area. All was okay for about a year, then the signs went up. No trespassing. We still rode in the area, keeping on the trails. Then one day while there, I heard it - the sound of shackles, or a Gator motor - same thing, approaching. The F& G man told us we can't be there, didn't we see the signs? We had to get permission. So we tried to do this by email which ended with them just not responding anymore.

So, boy was I glad when this shutdown happened! Monday morning I told the kids,"Get dressed, we're going for a ride!" And ride we did. It is still unbelievably beautiful, quiet and soul filling. And hey, no one bothered us:)

I'll send you a picture of our dog, Hansi, in the area, as he was always a part of our rides and we took him this time too.

Defiance, even in the absence of red cones.  I have the best readers!

Hansi, King of the Rock!

Hansi, chilling with the goldfish...

How best to secede from a state...

How best to secede from a state.  I've been amused by, but have mostly ignored, the various votes of different places to secede from the state they're in.  For instance, several counties in California and Colorado have voted to secede and form a new state, free of the raging progressive politics their citizens dislike.  I know that it is incredibly unlikely that they could ever succeed in their secession, not least because they have to have the approval of both the state they're leaving and the U.S. Congress.

But Eugene Kontorovich, writing at the Volokh Conspiracy, points out that there is another way: secede and join another, already existing state.  While there is clear governing law for forming a new state, things aren't nearly as clear-cut for a transfer of land from one state to another.  The state being joined need not even be adjacent to the new piece (look at Michigan!).

Maybe Jamul could secede and join, say, South Dakota?

60% of Americans say “Throw the bums out!” about Congress...

60% of Americans say “Throw the bums out!” about Congress.  Only 60%???

Defiant citizens!

Defiant citizens!  My heroes...

Debbie and I were driving through Cleveland National Forest yesterday, looking for some cones to run over.  Either Cleveland was left unconed for some reason, or other citizens beat us to it...

Hah!

Hah!

Could it really be any worse than what we have now?

Could it really be any worse than what we have now?  Via Michael Yon, this oldie but goodie:

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II:

In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately. (You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.)

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except North Dakota, which she does not fancy).

Your new Prime Minister, David Cameron, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections.

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour,' 'favour,' 'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise.' Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary').
2. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as ''like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as U.S. English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u'' and the elimination of '-ize.'
3. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.
4. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist, then you're not ready to shoot grouse.
5. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.
6. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.
7. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.
8. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.
9. The cold, tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable, as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of the British Commonwealth - see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.
10. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English dialect in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.
11. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full Kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).
12. style="margin-top: 5px;"Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.
13. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.
14. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).
15. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 p.m. with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.

God Save the Queen!

Awkward!

Awkward!  Azerbaijan released election results on Tuesday showing that President Aliyev had won re-election in a landslide.  However, the election didn't actually start until Wednesday.

Oops.  Well, on the plus side: no need to waste time voting, then!

Why is it that I fear The One is taking note here?

Alzheimer's breakthrough?

Alzheimer's breakthrough?  Sounds hopeful...

Five percent?

Five percent?  Surely it's not that high?

Noting that the individuals in question may be extremely mentally disturbed or suffering from a serious psychological illness, the nation’s psychiatrists announced Wednesday that they are deeply concerned for the estimated 5 percent of Americans who were found in nationwide polls this week to approve of the U.S. Congress.

Oh, it's The Onion.

Does this actually surprise anyone?

Does this actually surprise anyone?  We've spent $634 million taxpayer dollars so far for a disastrously bad web site – vastly more than even the highest-volume web sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) spent developing theirs.  And their sites, like, work.

Elections have consequences.  As H.L. Mencken said:  “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.”  I feel my nether regions hurting already...