Porcupine in Paradise...

Porcupine in Paradise...  That's Porcupine Reservoir, where Debbie and I took an late afternoon trip yesterday.  We were looking for wildlife, and we found it: two peregrine falcons, a kingfisher, an osprey, lots of common loons, and a new bird we haven't identified yet.  It's shaped a lot like a loon, behaves like a loon, but it has a reddish-brown head.  We only saw it at a distance, so we didn't get any more details.  The only actual loon that might fit is the Pacific Loon, but that shouldn't be seen here even on migration...

“Scientists discover that the world contains dramatically more trees than previously thought”

“Scientists discover that the world contains dramatically more trees than previously thought”  My father would have enjoyed that headline...

Hillary's email problem...

Hillary's email problem...  Some dramatic news this morning:

• Hillary's IT guy pleads the Fifth (uh oh).
• Hacker puts all of Hillary's “Sent” emails up for sale (whoa!)

If the IT guy is pleading the Fifth, that means that he's afraid he did something illegal.  In that case, the obvious thing to do would be to grant him immunity, in which case there's no legal reason for him not to testify.  No matter how that goes, the implication for Hillary is clear (as if it needed any more clarity!).

The hacker selling Hillary's emails is possibly a fraud.  Arguing against that possibility is the hacker's marketing technique: releasing the subject lines.  They look real, though of course they could be a cleverly constructed ruse.  If they're real, and if someone bites and purchases them, and if they are released into the public domain – then it's really hard to see how Hillary can maintain the pretense of innocence from email wrongdoing.  Of course, it's hard to see that with what we know right now – though her team is certainly trying hard.

I wonder if I'll live long enough that the name “Clinton” is no longer a blight upon the American political landscape?

A local girl and her trout...

A local girl and her trout...  Paradise Trout & Berry Days photos, from a local news web site...