King Barack the Petulant and his Reign of ErrorThat's just awesome!
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Still amusing us...
Still amusing us... Even hours after I posted Dave Carter's piece, Debbie and I are still being amused by this:
Another lovely evening...
Another lovely evening... Last night Debbie and I had a “friends night out” with friends and neighbors Jimmy and Michelle B, and with another old friend whom I haven't seen for several years: Soon K. We first went up to the Stonewall Mine Road in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park (which is still open, despite being on leased National Forest land) to watch wildlife. We saw a kite hunting, including one stoop (but it came up empty), lots of deer and turkeys, two peregrine falcons, several other hawks, and acorn woodpeckers.
Then, just before we exited that road, we came across a doe with twin fawns, right near the road. After watching them for a while, we saw the doe looking northward anxiously – so we looked, and there was a mature coyote, weaving around the meadow. The coyote looked like it spent part of its time hunting for mice (their major prey), and part scoping out any opportunities to go after those fawns. The doe was very, very carefully watching both us (in our car) and that coyote, but was clearly more worried about the coyote. Eventually she and her fawns crossed the road in front of us, and took off up Stonewall Peak.
The coyote, meanwhile, wandered right into the road in front of us. We thought he was going after the deer, but no – he just wanted to make a statement. Which he did, by depositing a large pile of foul-smelling dog crap right in the middle of the road, just a few yards in front of us. Then he took off down the road, and we followed. For the next 5 or 10 minutes, he stayed very close to the road, on our right, and hunted while we watched. So far as we could tell he just completely ignored our presence – kind of unusual for a coyote; they tend to be quite shy of people...
A fine dinner was next on our schedule – we dropped into Descanso Junction Restaurant and had ourselves a feast. The place was hopping, both because it was Saturday night and because this was the last night they were open before they close for remodeling. Their “Grand Reopening” is on Thursday (10/10), and at that point their plan is to be fully remodeled. They're doing this by having everyone who works there, plus some more folks, come in and work non-stop, Sunday through Wednesday. Ambitious! We are eager to see the results...
Then, just before we exited that road, we came across a doe with twin fawns, right near the road. After watching them for a while, we saw the doe looking northward anxiously – so we looked, and there was a mature coyote, weaving around the meadow. The coyote looked like it spent part of its time hunting for mice (their major prey), and part scoping out any opportunities to go after those fawns. The doe was very, very carefully watching both us (in our car) and that coyote, but was clearly more worried about the coyote. Eventually she and her fawns crossed the road in front of us, and took off up Stonewall Peak.
The coyote, meanwhile, wandered right into the road in front of us. We thought he was going after the deer, but no – he just wanted to make a statement. Which he did, by depositing a large pile of foul-smelling dog crap right in the middle of the road, just a few yards in front of us. Then he took off down the road, and we followed. For the next 5 or 10 minutes, he stayed very close to the road, on our right, and hunted while we watched. So far as we could tell he just completely ignored our presence – kind of unusual for a coyote; they tend to be quite shy of people...
A fine dinner was next on our schedule – we dropped into Descanso Junction Restaurant and had ourselves a feast. The place was hopping, both because it was Saturday night and because this was the last night they were open before they close for remodeling. Their “Grand Reopening” is on Thursday (10/10), and at that point their plan is to be fully remodeled. They're doing this by having everyone who works there, plus some more folks, come in and work non-stop, Sunday through Wednesday. Ambitious! We are eager to see the results...
King Barack the Petulant.
Whatever the perceived shortcomings of Ted Cruz and his hardy band of stalwarts, they've performed a remarkable public service by highlighting the fate that awaits all who rub wrongly the translucently thin skin of King Barack the Petulant. The Spartans may have had their shields, Native Americans their tomahawks and arrows, the Samurai may have wielded his sword with all the deadly grace of a tiger in mid-attack, but pound for pound, nothing comes close to the audacious stupidity of "Barrycades" and people in pointy little Smokey the Bear hats, poised to protect America's monuments from law-abiding citizens.Now go read the whole thing. Don't miss the comments. But be warned: put your morning drink down first!
Welcome to liberal utopia, where barriers are not erected against terrorists or illegal aliens on our nation's borders, but rather against citizens, and where wheelchair-bound veterans enroute to honor their comrades face tighter security than terrorists enroute to murder a US Ambassador. This is where up is down, wrong is right, illegality is celebrated as progress, and where Constitutionalism is derided as racist. No longer relegated to the fever swamps of academic fancy, utopia has acquired real estate and made known its demands.
“If not now, when? If not me, who?”
“If not now, when? If not me, who?” A small business owner defies the feds...
That's a damned fine question!
If the federal government has the power to shut down roadways and parks and your disability check, why would you give them power over your health care?
They took Normandy – a few little Barry-cades aren't going to stop them...
They took Normandy – a few little Barry-cades aren't going to stop them. Chris Muir at Day-by-Day has his say:
I am lion, hear me roar!
A monumental mistake?
I read last night that the Park Service police, under orders from Washington, set out traffic cones to prevent tourists from pulling into a roadside parking area to view Mt. Rushmore. That saves money somehow?
My main reaction to this is to be insulted. The government thinks I'm so stupid that I'd believe actions like this were motivated by the need to save money???
Early geeks...
Early geeks... You're an Ethiopian shaman in 1940. A tribe member asks you to do what they cannot: find the value of a herd of goats, by multiplying the number of goats (34) times the value of each goat ($7). How do you do it?
You use binary arithmetic, much as a computer would do it, of course!
First the shaman converts the number of goats to a binary number (100010), using a recursive halving procedure – easy. Then he finds the value ($7) times the first six powers of 2 (the value of each binary digit). All that's left is a simple selection and addition: he adds up the values where there's a “1” in the binary number of goats.
The shaman can use this technique to multiply any two numbers together, but it's most effective if the second number (the “value'” in this case) is a small integer, like 7.
We don't know how long the Ethiopians have been doing this, but it's a reasonable guess that it's at least decades, and quite possibly centuries. Prior to reading this, I had no idea that people had used binary arithmetic prior to the advent of digital computers...
You use binary arithmetic, much as a computer would do it, of course!
First the shaman converts the number of goats to a binary number (100010), using a recursive halving procedure – easy. Then he finds the value ($7) times the first six powers of 2 (the value of each binary digit). All that's left is a simple selection and addition: he adds up the values where there's a “1” in the binary number of goats.
The shaman can use this technique to multiply any two numbers together, but it's most effective if the second number (the “value'” in this case) is a small integer, like 7.
We don't know how long the Ethiopians have been doing this, but it's a reasonable guess that it's at least decades, and quite possibly centuries. Prior to reading this, I had no idea that people had used binary arithmetic prior to the advent of digital computers...
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