Lost Cat!

Sabira Woolley has lost Jua Ini, their 7-year old Savannah cat (click to enlarge photo at right).  Here's her message to everyone:

Lost Cat / Gato Perdido
Reward / Recompensa
7 year old female Savannah cat named Jua Ini. Light yellowish tan with deep orange spots.
Missing since 7/1/11, but she has been reported seen very recently in the area of Castle Peak Lane and Beaver Hollow Rd.
If you see or hear of her, please let us know right away!
Please call us at 619-291-1225 or 858-354-1886!
Or email us at islandfever@islandfever.com
We love and miss her! We can't sleep from worrying about her.
Jua Ini is very wary, and runs and hides from strangers. Please do not chase or grab her.
You can gently and slowly offer her food and water, to encourage her to stick around. If you call us to get her, we'll be there in a flash.
If you help us locate her and we get her back safe, you get the reward (money or a Savannah kitten, or excellent live music).

They live on Lawson Valley Road, north of Skyline Truck Trail, a half mile or so from the stop sign.  Please keep an eye out for their beautiful cat, and contact them if you see it!

AGW Skeptics Triumphant?

Several readers (Larry E., Steve W., and Jessi S.) passed this along.  I'm not sure how much to read into it just yet, but if it's verified it's certainly a very interesting piece of data.

The basic notion is a simple one: scientists have known for a long, long time that the heat energy striking the Earth from the Sun is eventually re-radiated back out into space.  This much is obvious from the fact that the Earth hasn't been heated to the point of incandescence (which it certainly would be if the Sun's energy wasn't re-radiated).

The question has always been, basically, how long is that energy “stored” on Earth before being re-radiated?  That time then determines how hot the Earth gets.

The computer models used by the anthropogenic global warming (AGW) proponents makes a lot of assumptions about this critical factor.  The research at the link shows that one of the key assumptions – and one used by every AGW model – is dead wrong.  This means that the model's results are dead wrong.  And it also means that the model's projections of the impact of manmade carbon dioxide are dead wrong.

I want to see this research verified before I'll feel any sense of vindication.  But I am feeling some anticipation...

Shannon's Law Not Inviolable?

This looks very interesting.  I haven't read the white paper yet, and I don't know how practicable the implementation is, even if the underlying theory is sound.  But I do know this: if it really works and if it really can be built, it changes everything...

Your Orange Juice Isn't What You Think It Is...

De-oxygenation, labeling laws, and flavor packs, oh my...

Noonan: He is a Loser...

Peggy Noonan has some interesting observations on The One.  Her conclusion:

He is a loser.  And this is America, where nobody loves a loser.

Go read the whole thing.

Texting...in the 1800s!

Not on mobile devices, of course – but on the telegraph...

Washington Doesn't Speak English...

Despite being somewhat cynical about politics and politicians, I still occasionally get caught by their manipulative language.  It just happened again, in the debt-ceiling debate.  The Republicans are insisting on the need for spending cuts.  I agree, government needs to get smaller.  But “spending cuts” mean something different in Washington than they do to this country boy...

I thought “spending cuts” means that we'd spend less money in the future than we do today.  Oh, silly me.  It turns out that Washington uses a different definition.  To them, “spending cuts” means a smaller increase than would otherwise be planned.  Even with the “spending cuts”, the Boehner plan would spend more each year than in the year before.  Some “cut”!

Can you imagine anywhere other than the loony bin that is Washington where one could get away with this sort of blatant misuse of common English?  In any business environment, you'd be out on your butt before you could blink.

Rope.
Tree.
Politician.
Some assembly required...