Twelve Boxes of Chocolate Ice Cream...

Via my mom:

I was reading and Dad walked over and stood in front of me with a very long face and whimpered “I only have 2 boxes of ice cream left”

SIGH!

Thankfully they are on sale this week and I shall purchase another 12 boxes...and so my life goes on and on and on...

Anyone who knows my Dad knows about his obsession with planning his next meals. We all speculate this is derived from his Great Depression-era childhood. Whatever the cause, he spends a significant part of his life thinking about where the next meal is going to come from. For example, anytime he and I went on a trip together, the moment we got underway in the car you could be sure that the next thing he'd say would something like “So...where are we going to eat lunch?”

So my mom's story seems completely in character, especially if you know about his chocolate ice cream fetish. I can easily imagine how is brain reacted upon seeing a mere 2 boxes of chocolate ice cream remaining: “Oh, noz! What am I going to eat for lunch?!?!”

Recovery...

Let's hope the voters in November 2012 see things as clearly as this demonstrator does! 

Via my mom...

Your Tax Dollars at Work...

The Deepwater Horizon well has been belching great gobs of oil into the Gulf of Mexico for months now.  Our federal government has been spending millions of dollars, hard at work on mitigating the damage and finding a cure.

Or at least, that's what Obama would have you believe.  The reality is just a bit different.  Just this morning comes the news that finally the federal government has decided to allow foreign nations to help us out.  That would be those foreign nations that own more than 90% of the world's oil spill cleanup equipment, and who have been clamoring to help since the day the well blew up.  Stories like this one have been in the press for months now.

Isn't it comforting to know that the government showing such speedy, sensible response is the same one who's going to be taking care of you if you have a medical emergency? 

Quote of the Day...

By Mary Elizabeth Williams:

And you can't build an empire on dicks.

Today's the Big Day...

What's Knuth going to announce?

The Real “Great Depression”...

The press of late has taken to calling our current recession “The Great Depression”.  Accepting this characterization requires either a breathtaking ignorance of history or a complete disregard for the objective truth.  Either way, not a vote of confidence in our lamestream media.

The photo at right is one of many iconic photos of impoverished Americans in the 1930s.  My own father remembers those years – just 70 years ago, a mere blink ago in the historical record.  In that Great Depression, millions of Americans were under existential threat – lacking such basics as food and shelter.  The recent history of the area where I live (Southern California) was greatly affected by the mass migration of the “Okies” from the dustbowl of Texas and Oklahoma.

In today's press-styled “Great Depression”, nothing even remotely comparable is taking place.  Our lamestream media is doing the nation a great disservice by pretending otherwise.  But then there's nothing new about the lamestream media doing the nation a disservice, is there?

McDonald v. Chicago...

Randy Barnett finds the important bit.

Interesting how the much-disparaged Justice Thomas is the one to successfully ressurect the 14th Amendment's “Priveleges and Immunities” clause...

Senator Byrd Dead at 92...

I'll leave it to (many) others to write his obituary.  Here I want to talk about another issue: his successor.

Replacing a Senator is controlled by state law, not federal – so each state has different rules.  As best I can tell through some research this morning, West Virginia law contains two different rules:

1. Replacing a Senator less than 30 months before the end of the term.  In this case, the governor appoints a replacement who serves until the end of the original term.
   
   
2. Replacing a Senator more than 30 months before the end of the term.  In this case, the governor appoints a replacement who serves only until an interim election is called, at which point the voters elect a replacement to serve until the end of the term.

West Virginia's governor is a Democrat, so the appointment will almost certainly be to another Democrat.  Senator Byrd's term expires in January 2013, so the magic date is July 3, 2010 (if my math is right).  That means that the second rule should apply.  And that means there is at least the possibility of a Democratic loss in the interim election...

Non-Newtonian Fluid Dynamics...

“Non-Newtonian fluid” is just a fancy way of naming a liquid that gets thicker when you disturb it. The liquid in the video is a mixture of cornstarch and water. The videographer did something clever to remove the blur you'd expect: the video camera takes 30 frames per second, and the speaker is vibrating at 30 Hertz (cycles per second). The result is much like using a stroboscope...

Balance in All Things...

Via my mom:

And GOD Created New Jersey ...

GOD was missing for six days. Eventually, Michael, the archangel, found him, resting on the seventh day.

He inquired, "Where have you been?"

GOD smiled deeply and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, "Look, Michael. Look what I've made."

Archangel Michael looked puzzled, and said, "What is it?"

"It's a planet," replied GOD, and I've put life on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a place to test Balance."

"Balance?" inquired Michael, "I'm still confused."

GOD explained, pointing to different parts of Earth. "For example, northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth, while southern Europe is going to be poor. Over here I've placed a continent of white people, and over there is a continent of black people. Balance in all things."

GOD continued pointing to different countries. "This one will be extremely hot, while this one will be very cold and covered in ice."

The Archangel , impressed by GOD's work, then pointed to a land area and said, "What's that one?"

"That's New Jersey, the most glorious place on earth. There are beautiful mountains, rivers and streams, lakes, forests, hills, and plains. The people from New Jersey are going to be handsome, modest, intelligent, and humorous, and they are going to travel the world. They will be extremely sociable, hardworking, high achieving, carriers of peace, and producers of good things."

Michael gasped in wonder and admiration, but then asked, "But what about balance, GOD? You said there would be balance."

GOD smiled, "Not very far from New Jersey is Washington, DC. Wait till you see the idiots I put there."

Now my mom seems to think that this story implies good things about New Jersey.  But with a little searching, it's clear that every state has claimed their place in this parable.  In other words, you can compare any state favorably to Washington, DC – especially in terms of average IQ.

My version of this story would replace “Washington, DC” with “New Jersey”, and “New Jersey” with ”Idaho”, “Montana”, or “Wyoming”.  There now, doesn't that sound right?

Way to Go, Joe...

Biden's defeatist attitude reminds me very much of Jimmy (“wear a sweater”) Carter.

Whatever else happens this November, I hope the election brings a crop of positive, can-do types to Congress – 'cause the current bunch is just making me crazy...

Biden, go stick your head in a bucket and leave it there, will ya?

It's Long Past Time to Put an End to This...

The headline reads “Pope deplores Belgian sex raids, stresses autonomy.”  This is in reaction to the Belgian police searching the home and office of an Archbishop.

Now I have no idea whether the police raid was based on reasonable suspicion, but the pope's objections weren't along those lines.  He's objecting to the very idea of police investigation of Roman Catholic officials.  He claims that the Roman Catholic church is entitled to its own independent investigation, the results of which would be reported to police.

What the pope wants is exactly what has been happening for the entire history of the United States.  I'm not familiar enough with practice in other countries to know if the same tradition holds there.  I say “tradition” because at least in the United States there is no law to this effect – it's just what's been done before.  Tradition, in other words.

There is ample evidence that this tradition has failed our children.  In case after case in the past couple of decades, we've all discovered that the Roman Catholic hierarchy has been actively hiding the disgusting behavior of their own members, moving repeat offenders from parish to parish and refusing to deal with the problem – or even to acknowledge it.  The church's version of this is consistently that the offending clergy are being treated “pastorally.”  They appear to believe, contrary to all evidence, that the offending clergy can somehow heal themselves with the aid of their religion.  There is zero evidence that such healing takes place, and much evidence to the contrary.  To this outside observer (I am not a Roman Catholic), the behavior is a combination of denial and hiding.

The pope has got it exactly backwards.  Instead of insisting on independence and handling the “problem” within the church, he should be welcoming the police investigations and legal proceedings as much-needed assistance in ridding the church of a shameful plague – a plague of their own making...

Unemployment Index...

This is today's Unemployment Index (of unemployment-related Google searches).  The big dip from mid-April to early June has been erased; it's now back into the highest territory it's ever been in.

As I've said in earlier posts about this index, I'm not really sure what to make of it.  It is, to say the least, a very unconventional “measure” of unemployment.  It indicates something, I'm sure, but I don't know what.  For some reason, between mid-April and today, far fewer Americans were googling for information about unemployment.  Why?  What does that actually imply?  And what does the recent jump indicate?  

One thing that jumps out at me: the recent dip in this index almost exactly corresponds to the recent tip in the stock market indexes – the inverse of the relationship I'd expect.

How to Hand-Draw a Hologram...

I would never have guessed that this was possible. 

Years ago I read an article describing an algorithm for converting a 3D software model into the blobs and squiggles that make up a hologram.  That looked like a lot of fun and an interestingly complex challenge, so I put that on my list of “things to do when I have spare time.”  There is commercial software that does this today, to visualize things like new building designs without actually building a model. 

But to do hand draw a hologram?  That thought never crossed my mind...

I'm So Glad...

...that I no longer program in C. 

Reason #2,496: I don't need spiral expression decoding rings.

G8 and G20 Meetings...

Lots of pronouncements (e.g., a five-year “deadline” for Afghanistan, condemnation of North Korea's sinking of a South Korean naval vessel) coming out of the G8 and G20 meetings in Canada – but so far as I can tell, not a single actual action.  Call it blather and bluster over substance.

The saddest part?  I'm not even slightly surprised...

Melting Ice and Sea Level Changes...

Here's a very accessible (no math, for you mathophobes) explanation of why ice melting doesn't raise sea levels in the manner you might expect it to. I've read the same points before in very technical papers...

I Miss Rummy...

Donald Rumsfeld was at the Pentagon on Friday, attending the unveiling of his official portrait.  He gave this short speech:

Some might ask how our country has endured? Well, it should be no mystery. It is because we are a free people, blessed with a free political and a free economic system – Where we are: free to think and act; to believe and protest; to vote and petition; and, yes free to succeed, to fail, and to start again.

The night satellite image of the Korean Peninsula, my favorite as many of you know well, captured many miles above the earth, tells the whole story. Below the 38th parallel, South Korea is bathed in the light of dozens of cities, monuments to that nation’s freedom. In one of the most successful economies in the world, millions of South Koreans go about their work, creating opportunity and prosperity for themselves and their families. North of the DMZ is darkness. There live exactly the same people, with the same natural resources. But those millions of Koreans labor not for themselves or their families, but for a regime that enslaves them.

The stark difference between the free and the unfree is illuminated in that picture. The boundless energy of human beings is most assuredly not unleashed by governments of boundless power. That energy is unleashed only by free political institutions and free economic systems.

But because we are free, as a people, we face choices:

We can choose to engage with the world, strengthening alliances with our friends, expanding trade agreements, deterring potential foes, and taking the fight to them when necessary. Or we can retreat, or make the truly tragic mistake of modeling our country after systems that are obviously unsuccessful. If we choose the latter path, let there be no doubt, we are certain to fail the generations to follow.

On September 12, 2001, hard hats unfurled an American flag over the still burning and deeply scarred Pentagon. Joyce and I wanted to include that scene in this portrait because those traits of resilience and perseverance – while remarkable – are not uncommon for the men and women of this Department. They are what built and sustained this country. And they are what I saw every day in the men and women I served alongside in the months and years after the worst terrorist attack in our nation’s history.

To each of those who serve – military and civilian – or have served, and to your families, there will come a time when the achievements you’ve made, and the trials you’ve endured, will recede into history. But although time will pass, and memories fade, certain important things will remain always – your pride of service and the appreciation of a grateful nation.

This country – which has treated me so well, and which offers so much opportunity for us all – exists and prospers because the members of the United States armed forces, have stepped forward and volunteered to protect it. In a very real sense, America is their gift to the future.

Impressive man, Mr. Rumsfeld.  He'll be 78 next month.  Nobody in the Obama administration even comes close to his intellectual horsepower...

Declaration of Independence, Version 2.0...

From Day-by-Day.  Read the whole thing!

Cowboy Rules...

Via reader Simi L. (himself a Californian):

1. Pull your pants up. You look like an idiot.

2. Turn your cap right, your head ain't crooked.

3. Let's get this straight: it's called a 'gravel road.' I drive a pickup truck because I want to. No matter how slow you drive, you're gonna get dust on your Lexus. Drive it or get out of the way.

4. They are cattle. That's why they smell like cattle. They smell like money to us. Get over it. Don't like it? I-10 & I-40 go east and west, I-17 & I-15 goes north and south. Pick one and go.

5. So you have a $60,000 car. We're impressed. We have $250,000 Combines that are driven only 3 weeks a year.

6. Every person in the Wild West waves. It's called being friendly. Try to understand the concept.

7. If that cell phone rings while a bunch of geese/pheasants/ducks/doves are comin' in during a hunt, we WILL shoot it outta your hand. You better hope you don't have it up to your ear at the time.

8. Yeah. We eat trout, salmon, deer and elk. You really want sushi and caviar? It's available at the corner bait shop.

9. The 'Opener' refers to the first day of deer season. It's a religious holiday held the closest Saturday to the first of November.

10. We open doors for women. That's applied to all women, regardless of age.

11. No, there's no 'vegetarian special' on the menu. Order steak, or you can order the Chef's Salad and pick off the 2 pounds of ham and turkey.

12. When we fill out a table, there are three main dishes: meats, vegetables, and breads. We use three spices: salt, pepper, and ketchup! Oh, yeah ... We don't care what you folks in Cincinnati call that stuff you eat ... IT AIN'T REAL CHILI!!

13. You bring 'Coke' into my house, it better be brown, wet and served over ice. You bring 'Mary Jane' into my house, she better be cute, know how to shoot, drive a truck, and have long hair.

14. College and High School Football is as important here as the Giants, the Yankees, the Mets, the Lakers and the Knicks, and a dang site more fun to watch.

15. Yeah, we have golf courses. But don't hit the water hazards - it spooks the fish.

16. Turn down that blasted car stereo! That thumpity-thump ain't music, anyway. We don't want to hear it anymore than we want to see your boxers! Refer back to #1!

A true Westerner will send this to at least 10 others and a few new friends that probably won't get it, but we're friendly so we share in hopes you can begin to understand what a real life is all about!!!

Out here in Lawson Valley, while we live by a set of rules that are a far cry from the metrosexual downtown San Diego rules, we haven't quite made it to the cowboy rules.  But we're closer to that end of the spectrum than the other.  And being the old curmudgeon that I am, I just love the display of American attitude!

Geek Humor Video...

This is the trailer of a mock movie, created to promote the JavaZone conference in Europe.  It's in (I think) Norwegian, but with English subtitles.  It's chock full of insider-geek jokes, right down to the names of the actors.  It's geeky-wonderful.  Via reader Simon M., whose email pointer to this greatly lightened my mood this morning (thanks, Simon!):

The DISCLOSE Act...

See this collection of links for all the disgusting details.  The Center for Competitive Politics has a summary analysis (and will send you a more detailed one).  The text of the bill itself is online. 

I'll summarize it like this: the Democrats of the House passed a bill that essentially “tweaks” the First Amendment in their favor –, by making it more difficult for anyone other than unions and certain favored lobbying groups to get their political messages out to the public.  If it manages to pass the Senate, Obama has already publicly stated that he'd sign it.  This would be just in time to make it harder for anyone other than the Democrats to get their message out in the upcoming November elections, which are guaranteed to be the most contentious in many decades.

The only good news in all this is that the consensus of legal pundits is that the bill doesn't stand a chance of winning a Supreme Court challenge (but of course, those take time and money).

    Rope.
    Congresscritters.
    Some assembly required.

Are you pissed off yet?  Let's throw all these bums out come November!

Voyager 2 Repaired...

Voyager 2 was launched 33 years ago, and it's been collecting science data that whole time.  Last month it started sending back bogus data (from almost 9 billion miles away).  Engineers at JPL diagnosed the problem, figured out how to fix it, transmitted new software to the satellite, and rebooted its computer.  When the computer restarted, the problem had been fixed – and Voyager 2 is now returning data normally again.

I can't think of anything I've owned for 33 years that's still functional, and certainly nothing even close to the complexity of Voyager 2.  And that's in our nice, protected, radiation-free home on Planet Earth!  I'm amazed at what our little fleet of space-faring robots has managed to accomplish.  Voyager 2, like so many others, just keeps plodding along, sending back tons of good science data and contributing much to our understanding of our local part of the universe...

Back Home...

But only after waiting for 5 hours for my delayed flight from Phoenix to San Diego – I didn't get home until almost 11 pm.  That made for a late start this morning and some residual tiredness tonight!

I saw something at Phoenix that just made my day: when our flight was announced ready for boarding, the guy at the gate explained over the loudspeaker that there was a group of soldiers on our flight – and they would be boarding first.  I asked the woman on the gate's customer service desk if that was unusual, and she said “No, not at all.  Boarding uniformed military first is our company policy!”

I already like Southwest Airlines for other reasons, but having learned this they will now be at the top of my list every time!

On the plane, I struck up a couple of conversations with those soldiers (one man, one woman).  Both of them said that they travelled on Southwest whenever they could, because of the special treatment they got – which wasn't just boarding first: they also got two free drink coupons...

Welcome to Arizona...

As it happens, I'm headed to Phoenix this morning – and as I write this post, I'm sitting in Terminal 1 at San Diego's Lindbergh International Airport, waiting for my flight...

The Pharmacist's Monday Morning...

Via my mom:

Upon arriving home, a husband was met at the door by his sobbing wife. Tearfully she explained,

"It's the druggist. He insulted me terribly this morning on the phone. I had to call multiple times before he would even answer the phone."

Immediately, the husband drove downtown to confront the druggist and demand an apology.

Before he could say more than a word or two, the druggist told him,

"Now, just a minute, listen to my side of it. This morning the alarm failed to go off, so I was late getting up. I went without breakfast and hurried out to the car,

Just to realize that I'd locked the house with both house and car keys inside and had to break a window to get my keys.

"Then, driving a little too fast, I got a speeding ticket. Later, when I was about three blocks from the store, I had a flat tire."

"When I finally got to the store a bunch of people was waiting for me to open up.

I got the store opened and started waiting on these people, all the time the darn phone was ringing off the hook."

He continued, "Then I had to break a roll of nickels against the cash register drawer to make change, and they spilled all over the floor. I had to get down on my hands and knees to pick up the nickels and the phone was still ringing.

When I came up I cracked my head on the open cash drawer, which made me stagger back against a showcase with a bunch of perfume bottles on it. Half of them hit the floor and broke."

"Meanwhile, the phone is still ringing with no let up, and I finally got back to answer it.

It was your wife. She wanted to know how to use a rectal thermometer.

And believe me mister, as God as my witness, all I did was tell her."

Education: Cost vs. Benefit...

What's wrong with this picture?  In the past forty years, K12 spending per child has risen almost four times, while measures of achievement are virually unchanged.  That's not what I would call good value for my money. 

And I'm very skeptical of those measurements of achievement – I suspect they unfairly overstate the real situation...

Ulam Spiral of Primes...

Fascinating.  I'd never heard of this before...

On the Road Again...

I'll be travelling again tomorrow (Wednesday) – a quick dash to Phoenix and back on the same day.  But I'll be sawed off from the Internet most of the day, so there won't be much posting activity...

Spacy Photo...

Looks like something out of a science fiction novel, but this appears to be a real photo of a skydiver in the act of opening his or her parachute while watching the Space Shuttle take off from Cape Canaveral.  As always, click to enlarge...

One of Those Mornings...

I'm having one of those mornings when, after reading the news, I just feel disgusted with the “leadership” of the world's political leaders.  The proximate cause (this time) was reading various European and American leaders reacting to recent events in Iran, Turkey, Egypt, and Gaza.  It feels a bit like some sort of macabre charade in which everyone sees the bad guys, but pretends they're not bad – and instead starts beating up the only good guy in the area!

Bah.

A pox on them all!

I'm going to go do something interesting and meaningful, like drive to work and immerse myself in Java and JavaScript...

Father's Day...

Pondering Father's Day, and so many thoughts and memories that provokes.  My father is 3,000 miles away today, in Virginia where he and my mom now live.  The accompaniments of old age are upon him – he's hard of hearing (making telephone calls difficult), his vision is weak, he can no longer walk very far, and anything other than local travel is more than he can handle.  But though he's very different than when he was younger, he's still my father – and I wish I could be with him today, on this his day.  Or any other day, for that matter...

The photo at right is one I took five years ago, in July 2005 when he and I were on one of our many trips together.  On this trip we were in the San Juan mountains of south-central Colorado.  At that time he could still walk a mile or so without too much trouble, even at the high altitudes we visited.  We four-wheeled all over those mountains in our trusty 1996 Toyota LandCruiser – a vehicle we still own, and still use for such trips.  Now that my father can no longer make such trips with me, the memories of them are all the more precious...

Happy Father's Day, dad!  I hope your memories are as happy, and as comforting, as mine...

Light Blogging Alert...

Today and tomorrow I'm training a dozen or so of my fellow employees, on one of the products that my little team develops.  I'll be a little busy, so blogging will be light-to-non-existent...

Earthquake!

Last night at about 9:30 pm, a moderate earthquake woke us up and had us running for a doorway to stand in.  It lasted perhaps 25 or 30 seconds.  Being nighttime, there was little ambient noise – so the rumblings associated with the quake were quite audible.  In fact, it was the noise that alerted me to the fact that there was an earthquake in progress, rather than the shaking.

The USGS web site puts the magnitude at 5.7, and the epicenter at a few miles southeast of Ocotillo. 

A Sign of Things to Come?

Let's hope so!  In last week's primary election here in California, two San Diego County cities voted to reject the project labor agreements that Obama and the unions support so strongly.  One of those cities (Chula Vista) used to be our home, and in the past few years lost a major development project because the developer refused to be bound by a project labor agreement.

The margins weren't large, but they represent a sea change from the recent past, wherein voters pretty much rubber-stamped such progressive proposals  – even in San Diego County, one of the most conservative (politically) areas of California.  The union's loss here, after a well-financed campaign, is a big surprise to many.

Wouldn't it be just lovely if this were a portent of the November elections?

Hayabusa Lands Its Sample...

Or at least, we hope there's a sample on board Hayabusa, of the asteroid Itokawa.  The video below is from NASA, whose plane managed to catch Hayabusa's fiery re-entry over Australia's outback.  It looks like they've located the sample capsule and will pick it up in the morning...

Vast Riches in Afghanistan...

Now there's something I wasn't expecting!

Morning Walk...

I've missed these early morning walks for the past three weekdays, as I was in Arizona on business.  This morning was clear, with a light haze, and moonless.  The Milky Way was easily visible overhead, though not as crisp as it can be out here.  Venus was high in the eastern sky, by far the brightest object in the sky.

The dogs did their usual random things until we were about halfway down the driveway.  At that point, nearly simultaneously, all four (yes, even the border collie!) smelled something – and four noses hit the deck in tracking mode.  Shortly thereafter, all four were pulling strongly toward a pepper tree in the northeast corner of our yard – and I heard rustling underneath it.  I've no idea what sort of beast visited us, but the dogs clearly knew, and wanted to go investigate.  Sure wish they could talk to us!

California Towhee Nest on Our Patio...

For years our covered patio has been a favorite place for our local California towhees (Pipilo crissalis) to raise their families.  These are one of the most common birds around our home, along with Lesser Goldfinches, House Finches, and the various hummingbirds.  The nest shown at right presently occupies a corner formed by a roof rafter and a joist, just under the roofing boards, in the northeast corner of our patio.  We've had about six or eight nests this year, and many of the towhees and finches are raising multiple broods.  It's a good year for the birds, with lots of food around because of our rains this year...

An Assortment of Wildflowers...

Now here's a bunch more from our trip yesterday.  We haven't identified any of these yet.  If you know what any of these are, please let us know in the comments.  As usual, click any image for an enlarged view...

Mariposa Lily...

The Mariposa Lily (Calochortus luteus) is a flower we see more often on the eastern (desert-facing) slopes of our local mountains, and down in the Anza-Borrego desert itself.  Yesterday we saw just a few of them on our trip along the western flanks of Cuyamaca Mountain, but those few were simply spectacular.  I've never seen Mariposa Lillies with so many red spots and hairs on the petals.  Click the image to get a large view for the full effect...

Spineflower...

This year the pink spineflowers (Chorizanthe breweri) are more common in our chaparral hillsides than we've ever seen.  They seem to especially like small exposed areas on southern-facing slopes.  In places they make pink patches up to 100' or so in diameter that can be seen a mile or more away.  The flowers themselves are tiny - only about 1/8" in diameter.  Both the flowers and the stems contribute to the color as seen at a distance.  We saw these everywhere we went yesterday, but the best patches of all were very close to home, on the eastern flanks of Lawson Peak and Gaskill Peak, as we drove past Barrett Lake on Lyons Valley Road.  Some of those patches looked almost as if someone had accidentally left a pink picnic cloth lying on the ground...

Water in the Desert...

The roads we travelled yesterday are basically in the desert, and usually we don't see a single drop of water.  But yesterday many of the intermittent streams were running, in some cases strongly.  These photos are of a particularly pretty stream near where our road crossed it.  It was very pleasant to walk around the cold, splashing stream right in the middle of the warm desert.  Debbie stayed up on the road, as she doesn't like the idea of falling into the stream :-) ...

Larkspur...

We saw many of these larkspur on our trip yesterday, usually in shaded areas.  There are many Delphinium species in the chaparral, both blue and red, and I didn't try to identify these...

Grasses...

One of the prominent members of the chaparral flora are various grasses, dozens of different species.  Many of these grow briefly in the spring, then go to seed and turn brown.  Entire mountainsides turn from green to brown early each summer, providing a classic California vista.  In large parts of the chaparral, the grasses grow in relatively small meadows, or along road cuts (or natural rocky breaks), etc.  While on our trip yesterday, we spotted several fine examples.  I've not even tried to identify these...

Chamise...

Chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum) is one of the most common plants in our local chaparral.  Most of the year it's basically an ugly looking pile of fragile dry sticks, and it burns like gasoline in our fires.  But briefly each spring it can actually be quite beautiful, I'll grudgingly admit.  This year the bloom is particularly profuse, presumably because of the normalish rains.  Here's some we saw on our trip yesterday.  I particularly like the dangling branches against the rock wall...

Monkey Flowers...

Yesterday Debbie and I did a little four-wheeling, down Boulder Creek Road and a side road we discovered a couple years ago.  The altitude varies from about 3000' to almost 5000' along these roads.  To our great surprise we found abundant wildflowers at every altitude – very unusual for this late in the year, especially at the lower elevations.  So far this year has been basically at the 100 year average for rainfall, but quite a bit cooler than average.  The combination of normal rainfall (instead of drought) and cooler temperatures must account for the late season.  But whatever the cause, we enjoyed the scenery! 

The photos here are of one of my favorite natives: Mimulus clevelandii, commonly known as monkey flower (supposedly the flower looks like a grinning monkey's head, but I don't see the resemblance).  We have several of these growing in our yard, but the ones we saw today at higher altitudes were much more beautiful.  As usual, click to enlarge...

Palo Verde Tree...

Our Palo Verde tree is exploding with bloom and new growth.  At the rate it's going, it's going to dominate our yard in about 7 weeks (or maybe a bit longer).  Click to enlarge...

Commercial of the Day...

Cheap Glasses...

I haven't tried Zenni Optical (yet) – it was referred to me by a friend-of-a-friend.  Their prices are amazingly low, especially for frames...

Quote of the Day...

Laurence Sunderland, to critics of his decision to allow his 16 year old daughter Abby Sunderland to attempt to sail around the world on her own:

I never questioned my decision in letting her go.  In this day and age we get overprotective with our children. If you want to look at statistics, look at how many teenagers die in cars every year. Should we let teenagers drive cars? I think it'd be silly if we didn't.

Now that's an American showing some some can-do, self-reliant attitude! 

Back Home...

Well, I made it back home (from Phoenix) last night.  At right is me in my rental car (picture taken by my colleague in our customer's parking lot). 

It was hot in Phoenix – at least on Wednesday and Thursday (as high as 108°F!).  On Friday, the weather report called for temperatures to plunge into the mid-90s – and by comparison, that did indeed feel quite cool...

Morning in the Chaparral, Moonless...

The sky was completely dark this morning on our 3:30 am walk; the moon had not yet risen.  The brightest things in the sky were Venus (on the western horizon) and the Milky Way (straight overhead).  Beautiful.

And this morning there was nary a coyote, dog, or turkey to be heard.  The only animal sounds I heard were a few crickets and one lonely-sounding peacock who squawked a few times.  That was it.

Our three field spaniels were nose-down, investigating the previous night's visitors.  At one point in our walk, all three of them wanted to go investigate a nearby pepper tree – a place where I've seen a bobcat lurking before.  They were annoyed that I wouldn't let them check it out.  Our border collie was up to his usual morning shenanigans: picking up pine cones, putting them by my feet, and waiting for me to kick them.  I think he would do that for approximately a year if I was willing to continue the game.

Somehow I suspect that my next two mornings in Phoenix won't be nearly as pleasant...

Cryptography in JavaScript...

Challenging objective: “build a secure, powerful, fast, small, easy-to-use, cross-browser library for cryptography in Javascript” – claimed met.

Light Blogging Alert...

I'm leaving this morning on a three-day business trip to Arizona, with limited access to the Internet and even more limited time.  I'll be back for the weekend, assuming I don't get arrested and deported (I'm not carrying proof of citizenship) ...

Gobar Gas...

Michael Yon has another excellent dispatch, this time not about war.  As usual, his article is well-researched and lavishly illustrated with his photos.  Go read.

Morning in the Chaparral...

Out with the dogs at 3:30 as usual.  The sky was clear and beautiful once again, with the Milky Way bright and straight overhead.  A quarter moon hung just over the mountains to our northwest, slightly orange.  Just to its right and a little higher, Venus shone, so bright and clear that I imagined I could actually see its disk.  The Big Dipper is now rotated at that hour so that the “dipper” almost sits on the horizon, right-side up.  Just a gorgeous evening sky in the high desert...

The dogs were unperturbed by the chorus of howling, yipping coyotes – there was a pack somewhere quite nearby.  I counted at least five individuals, but there were probably more.  I don't think they were more than 100 yards away from us, off to our west on the flanks of our neighbor's hill.  A dog kennel about a quarter mile north of us joined the coyotes, baying and howling.  It was quite a racket!  But all four of our dogs were just doing their thing, acting as if they didn't even hear all this noise...

In the midst of the canine cacophony, there was one discordant sound: a turkey, giving its occasional gobbling.  Worried, probably, as well he should be.  We have quite a few wild turkeys running around our valley, and I bet one of them would make a very nice meal for a pack of coyotes...

Unix Toolbox...

Nice collection of UNIX/Linux/BSD tools, organized and classified...

Spending More to Save More...

Only a liberal administration could publish this memo with a straight face: the Inspector General reports that the Census Bureau says it that it hired and trained more workers than it actually needed as a “cost savings measure” – and they were serious.  One hardly knows what to say, especially after reading all the details.

Oh, the country is in fine hands!

Are you pissed off yet?  Remember that feeling when you vote today.  Throw out the trash!!!

Political Orientation vs. Knowledge of Economics...

Interesting article by Daniel Klein over at the WSJ.  I'm not surprised at the results: libertarians and conservatives, on average, understand a lot more about basic economics than do progressives and liberals (just look at “Spending More to Save More” nearby)...

North Korea: Tourist Destination?

Well, that's what their tourist bureau thinks.  Here's their advertising video to tell you all about it:




My first reaction on viewing this: it reminded me of the grainy black-and-white movies I saw as kid, showing the Soviet's May Day “celebrations” in Moscow...

Best Campaign Pin Evah!

Via my mom:

Bernie Madoff Unleashed...

...and no conscience in sight...

Turkish Hypocrisy...

Victor Davis Hanson on Turkey's hypocrisy...

Could Obama be Hoping for a Republican Takeover in the House?

Fred Barnes outlines why this rumor circulating in Washington just might be true...

Laffer on Taxes...

Arthur Laffer has some grim prognostications on future taxes.  Gulp.  Just what I needed to read on a Monday morning...

Spirit Finds Carbonates...

The Spirit rover has found clear evidence of carbonate rocks on Mars.  Carbonate rocks form only in neutral or alkaline water, in conditions conducive to life-as-we-know-it.  Actually, Spirit recorded the evidence for the carbonate rocks way back in 2005 – but the evidence was recorded on a sensor that was covered in dust, and the dust distorted the readings.  Just recently scientists figured out how to remove the distortion computationally, and thereby found the carbonate rock's “signature”.  The same instrument has collected data for about six years, and the same computational technique means that much of that data can now be “cleaned up”, quite likely leading to other “new” discoveries with old data...

Want to Feel Better Everyday?

It's easy: spend time in nature.  This is one reason I choose to live out in the boonies – it makes me feel better...

Autochromes...

A fascinating online collection of very early (~1910) color photos, using a technique called “autochrome”...

Astrology or Science?

Nicola Scaffetta has posted an interesting paper over at Watts Up With That?  The paper presents a model for climate change that's driven mainly by a number of cyclical phenomena within the solar system.  Some of these phenomena (such as the distance between the sun and the earth) are not controversial; others are considered closer by many scientists to be closer astrology than to astronomy (such as spin-coupling between planets).  I don't fully understand the arguments about the controversial bits, and don't have time to dig into them today – but I'm intrigued by how closely his model backfits to measured data...

Iowahawk on Obama and the Leak...

Don't miss it.

Fun in the Chaparral...

Yesterday a colleague of mine (Aleck L., a software engineer) visited us.  He's a young guy (28) who has spent most of his life in a city environment, so there were lots of surprises for him out here in the country.  We had a great time watching him react to various things, such as the personalities and behaviors of our dogs (he spent a lot of time throwing things for Race) and the cats (he really liked Maka Lea's personality, and Halala Pala's magnificent tail), the birds on our feeders, hummingbirds buzzing him, etc., etc.  Debbie cooked a feast for us – shrimp, salmon, asparagus, green onions, and mushrooms on the grill, and an apple cobbler for dessert.  We were not hungry!

But the best part of all came near the end of the day, when we just casually mentioned to Aleck that we liked to go four-wheeling – something he'd never done.  This surprised him (he's often surprised by the things I like to do), and we asked him if he'd like to go with us sometime.  An emphatic yes.  So then it occurred to us that despite it being 4 pm, we could still make it out to Los Pinos that same day – so we asked if he'd like to go right now, and got another emphatic yes.

So we all piled into the old LandCruiser and took off for Los Pinos.  That trip was a whole series of new experiences for Aleck, and lots of fun for us to share them with him.  We were surprised at the abundant wildflowers at this late date – we saw several beautiful types that we didn't recognize, plus larkspurs, a lupine that was new to us, huge quantities of penstemmon, and some of the nicest Indian Paintbrush we've seen in San Diego County.

At several points along the Corte Madera road, Aleck broke out his iPhone and took short videos of us traversing some parts of the road that looked challenging to him.  That particular road gets more challenging as you go, so we kept running into spots that topped anything he'd seen before – and out came the iPhone again.  We all had a grand time, but we didn't get back home until around 9 pm.  That's late for us, but Aleck said it was plenty of time for him to go to “his next party” – and I do believe that's exactly what he did.  Debbie and I went to bed ...

We Con the World...

Sums it up pretty nicely...

Watts Roundup...

In the space of just 24 hours, Watts Up With That? posts about how the Pacific Islands aren't really sinking, the arctic ice isn't really disappearing, and astronaut Harrison Schmitt bridles at the comparison between Apollo 13 and the BP response.

Who Knew?

Steve McIntyre:

Did any of you know that the US supposedly has a National Contingency Plan for dealing with very large oil spills? And that EPA has legal responsibility for maintaining readiness for such an eventuality? Who knew? I’ve watched hours of coverage and this hasn’t been mentioned anywhere.

Read all about it.

Bayes' Theorum, Visualized...

Here.

How to Plug the Oil Leak in the Gulf...

Via my mom...

Yikes!

In Guatemala City...

Of Course, the Press Is Completely Unbiased!

Via my mom:

A Harley biker is riding by the zoo in Washington, DC when he sees a little girl leaning in too close to the lion's cage. Suddenly, the lion grabs her by her jacket collar and tries to pull her inside to slaughter her, under the eyes of her screaming parents.

The biker jumps off his Harley, runs to the cage and hits the lion square on the nose with a powerful punch.

Whimpering from the pain the lion jumps back, letting go of the girl, and the biker brings her to her terrified parents, who thank him endlessly. A reporter has watched the whole event.

The reporter, addressing the Harley rider says, 'Sir, this was the bravest and most gallant act I've seen a man do in my whole life!'

The Harley rider replies, 'Why, it was nothing, really - the lion was behind bars. I just saw this little girl in danger and acted as I felt I should.'

The reporter says, 'Well, I'll make sure this won't go unnoticed. I'm a journalist, you know, and tomorrow's paper will have this story on the front page...
So, what do you do for a living and what political affiliation do you have?'

The biker replies, 'I'm a U.S. Marine and a Republican.'

The journalist leaves.
The following morning the biker buys the paper to see if it indeed brings news of his actions, and reads, on the front page as promised:
________________________________________________________________
U.S. MARINE ASSAULTS AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AND STEALS HIS LUNCH
________________________________________________________________

That pretty much sums up the media's approach to the news these days!!!

Manning Predicts Revolution in America...

I've posted one of this guy's rants before, and I have the same reaction this time that I did then.

Via my mom, Dr. James David Manning ranting preaching about white revolution in America:

Awesome Quadrotors...

Via reader Doug S.:

Hearing for the First Time...

Lawyers Cause Problems...

I can't believe we're even having a discussion about lawyers on the battlefield, much less actually giving them operational control over weaponry.  We're morphing into Euroweenies faster than I thought, I guess. 

But at least someone had the good sense to take the keys to the UAVs away from the lawyers...

Another One Bites the Dust...

Sheik Sa'id al-Masri, Al Qaeda's third in command, has died from the complications of old age, mental illness, and American-supplied high explosives (but mostly from Amercian-supplied high explosives).

Excellent...