Backcountry Plan: No Decisions...

This article has the details, but the bottom line is that (as expected) the County Supervisors are not voting on the General Plan Update until sometime after the election on November 2.  There will be more hearings and more public input.  However, as the article points out, the public input so far has been overwhelmingly negative.  The plan update has something for everybody to hate, as probably any proposed changes would.

How do I feel about it?  Unsure, as I haven't read the proposed changes.  However, if the news stories are accurate (never a sure thing, that), there is one element which I definitely would oppose: a “taking” in the legal sense.  This element would increase the minimum size of lots that homes could be built on – directly reducing the value of larger tracts that individuals or developers own, without compensating them in any way.  That is a taking, and I'd oppose it...

Optical Illusions...

Here's a great collection of spectacular optical illusions.  In the one at right, the “yellow” tile is actually exactly the same color as the “brown” tile on top.  Don't believe it?  Make a mask from a piece of cardboard with two holes in it, and hold it over the image – you can see for yourself that they are the same color.

Perception is a very tricky thing, and the brain is far more involved that most people realize...