Here We Go Again - More of the "IT'S RADIATION!!!" Insanity

Radioactive tuna travels from Japan to US faster than wind - CSMonitor.com

I have spent too much time looking for any meaningful information to be published on this story. I give up. Even though the reference is always like this...

The amount of radioactive cesium in the fish is not thought to be damaging to people if consumed, the researchers said in a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

I can't find the referenced article on the PNAS website. (I think you have to subscribe to get all the articles when they are current....)

What do we know? Tuna off the Pacific Coast of the US has been found with a 3 percent increase in its normal levels of radiation. In the form of Cesium 134. Which it is fair to associate with the Fuckushima Daiichi disaster after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, (That is official Japanese name for the disaster) since cesium 134 is only produced by atomic reactors or atomic bombs.

But it is that nebulous "3 percent" number that is insane. The amount of radiation we can detect is vanishingly small. And a lot of food is naturally radioactive. (See the Banana Equivalent Dose, for an example.)

Bluefin tuna typically have low levels of naturally occurring radioactive material, such as potassium 40, which was present in the world's oceans long before human beings walked the Earth.

As I quoted in another post about radiation, “Jumping off a chair is no big deal; jumping off a cliff is really stupid.” 3% is only a meaningful number if we know the base. And the journalism profession - it seems - doesn't know this. Or they aren't telling. A 3 percent increase of a small number is still a small number.

But Americans refuse to understand this. And the media doesn't help. What do you expect from a bunch of folks with Journalism degrees. The last science class they took was high-school biology, they are proud of the fact they don't understand math (or by extension statistics), but they will scream about the perils of radiation. Even thought they don't know what they are.

The Christian Science Monitor did give us one other piece of information not supplied by any of the other articles I looked into. Half-life.

Cesium 134 decays quickly, with a half-life of two years. Bluefin tuna excrete it on a daily basis and it also gets diluted in their bodies as they grow.

That is a fairly short half-life, as these things go. I guess they feel they need to get the hysteria in now, in a few more years, it won't be worth it.

Ear Worm of the Day

I am so far down the internet-rabbit hole, I'm not 100% sure how I got here. But I like it.


Krauka is a Danish/Icelandic/Viking folk band. Odinn! is the title track to a CD. While Google Translate doesn't seem to handle Icelandic very well, what I can make out it that this is a list of some of Odin's names (or kennings - in the Old English way of looking at things).

(Is it just me? Or is it strange that they are singing about Odin standing in front of a statue of Thor?)

New York Senator Wants To Publish Your Home Address on the Internet

Politicians who don't know the first thing about technology - or what it is to deal with a violent stalker - should just leave the issue of privacy alone. New York Senate bill seeks to end anonymous internet posting | Today in Tech - Yahoo! News

In effect, the bill is an online stalker's dream. Of course, the most likely result of the bill's passage would just be the full-scale elimination of all comment systems everywhere, because the system is an unworkable burden on both the poster and the "web site administrators" who would need to respond to ludicrous take down requests at all times of the day.

Yeah, that's a good idea. Back in the age of VHS tapes, we used to say that if you went to the house of someone like this, the clock on their video recorder would be blinking 12 o'clock, because they didn't have the faintest idea of how to program it. But that wouldn't stop them from telling you exactly how technology *SHOULD* work.

If You Break Into Houses...

You will eventually find an armed homeowner. Intruder killed, another charged in Cumberland County home invasion | The Jackson Sun | jacksonsun.com 2 burglars. One homeowner with a gun.

Cumberland County Sheriff’s deputies found the body of 20-year-old Jacob Andrew Clark of Putnam County not far from the house where the incident occurred. Deputies arrested 18-year-old Joey Allen Pugh of Cumberland County as he fled on foot, charging him with aggravated burglary.

Good Guys 2, Bad Guys 1. (Though of course the incident is being investigated.)

PR Firm Will Tell Us Why We Should Love Obamacare

Spin. Spin. Spin. Obama Spends $20 Mil In Taxpayer Money To Tell Taxpayers How Great ObamaCare Is - Investors.com

A Health and Human Services official let slip the real reason, telling Roll Call that the PR effort is meant "to inform the American people about the many preventive benefits now available ... as a result of the Affordable Care Act." In other words, this is more about burnishing ObamaCare's image before the election than meeting some public health imperative.

File this under, "Your Tax Dollars at Work."

Greeks Pissed Off at Germans, Still Want the Tourism Income

Yeah, didn't think that was going to happen. Germans Afraid of Greek Anger Avoid Vacations in Blow to Economy - Businessweek

German taxi driver Rudolf Kugel, who says he’s visited Greece more times than he can count, won’t be going again anytime soon to the Mediterranean sunspot because he’s concerned about the reaction of local people.

“They hold Germans responsible for all their misery,” said the 62-year-old from near Stuttgart. “You want to go on holiday to have a comfortable break, not to be lynched.”

And Germans are traditionally a big part of the Greek tourism economy, which is 16 percent of the Greek economy.

Revenue from German tourists declined 61 percent to 10.3 million euros in February, the most recent month for which there is data available, while there were 12.7 percent fewer arrivals from Europe’s biggest economy compared with the previous year

So, which is it? Are you angry with the Germans, or do you want them to come and spend money?

Fewer Euros. Few Euros to be taxed. Fewer jobs. Fewer rent payments. Bigger headaches. People are already forecasting food shortages, once Greece abrogates its most recent agreements.
[hat tip to Tam for sending me to another story on this topic.]

This Guy Needs a Bigger Gun!

A .22 will ruin your day, but I don't think they enough stopping power. Still it got the job done. Home invasion suspect shot by owner : News : UpperMichigansSource.com

After being removed once by police, this idiot came back, pounded on the front door, damaged some cars, and pounded on the front door again. Apparently he was looking for a woman, but he was apparently looking in the wrong place.

Home then left the front door and started damaging vehicles again. He then focused his attention on the side door of the residence, kicking it down and entering the trailer. The owner called 911 and shot three times at Home with a .22 caliber handgun, according to authorities. Home fled and was later found by police officers.

The Marquette Police Department says that the homeowner had shot at the suspect aiming at his lower extremities.

At least a 38 Special or a 9mm. And center of mass.

Still, the bad guy is in jail (he was released from the hospital) and the good guy is OK. If having to deal with some property damage.

Good Guys 1, Bad Guys 0.

Religious Arguments About Political Issues - Nothing New

It's all been said before... just with a different target in mind... Commentary: Gay marriage sermon isn't surprising - KansasCity.com

I would like to copy the whole thing, but that wouldn't be right. So, here is a taste....

Segregation and the recognition of interracial couples was the last time religion was incensed by the news of the day. And the preachers weren't always on the side of peace, hope and love.

In a 1955 opinion upholding Jim Crow laws, the Florida Supreme Court cast segregation as a divine construct. “When God created man, he allotted each race to his own continent according to color.” (Native Americans might have wondered what happened to their allotment.)

In a famous 1956 address to fellow southern religious leaders, Texas preacher W.A. Criswell, pastor of the largest church in the Southern Baptist Convention, attacked the Supreme Court’s landmark school desegregation decision two years before as “idiocy” and “foolishness” and “a denial of all that we believe in.”

Another notable Baptist leader, the Rev. James F. Burks of Norfolk, similarly warned that integration (not much more than a legal theory in the 1950s South) was an abomination against the “plain truth of the word of God” and would bring on the very apocalypse.

It wasn't until 1995 that the Southern Baptist Convention apologized for its racist past. (They were pro-slavery at one time, as well as pro-segregation.‡)

There is more like that, if you click through to the article. And there is the author's (Fred Grimm) first hand account of what happened in one Mississippi town when a federal court ordered it to desegregate the schools in compliance with Brown V Board of Education - two years after they should have done so.

So when they say the same things today, about how letting gays and lesbians have spousal social security benefits and inherit property without getting wiped out by estate taxes is an abomination, about how opening up the 1300 rights conferred by marriage (that number depends on who is counting) to gay couples will undermine the 50% of straight marriages who seem to avoid divorce, you'll excuse me if I don't just say "of course." It is like when the gun-fearing weenies say that "concealed carry will cause wild-west gunfights over parking spaces, and blood will run in the streets over road rage." It isn't true. It hasn't been true. But they have to say something or shut up. And they sure as hell won't shut up.

‡ On the Baptists and slavery:

Of course, God as a racial segregationist had been an easy transition from the religious axiom espoused in the previous century that God was cool with slavery. Slave-holders got their theological approbation from the Rev. Richard Furman, a Baptist leader and educator (Furman University was named in his honor) who delivered his Exposition of the Views of the Baptists Relative to the Coloured Population of the United States in 1838. Furman said, “The right of holding slaves is clearly established by the Holy Scriptures, both by precept and example. In the Old Testament, the Israelites were directed to purchase their bond-men and bond-maids of the heathen nations.”

US Upgrading Nuclear Arsenal, Pissing Off Russia

I don't remember seeing any of this in the US media. Could it be they didn't want to point out that Dear Leader is actually doing something that looks military? Cold-warrior even... Upgrading US Nuclear Weapons More Expensive Than Planned - SPIEGEL ONLINE

The new B61-12 will be able to carry four different warheads, which range in strength from 0.3 to 45 kilotons of TNT. As a comparison, the bomb dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II had a strength of 15 kilotons. "This weapon can do the same amount of damage militarily as the very high-yield weapon attached to the B61-7," says Kristensen. Götz Neuneck, from the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy, likewise warns of the "drastically improved mission capabilities" of the B61. In addition to the upgrades, the bombs are also to be carried by the stealth fighter F-35, which is currently in development. The weapon and the fighter jet are to be perfectly compatible, such that the F-35 -- also known as the Joint Strike Fighter -- will be able to stow two of the bombs in its hold. Such a capability could provoke new trouble with Russia, which is already unhappy with the planned European missile defense shield.

Not being tied into the 24 hour news cycle means I sometimes miss things like this, but a quick check of Google News, didn't turn up too much on the B61.

First Greece, Now Spain

Don't worry, the Spanish government is saying all is well. (Seems I've heard that before...) Spain reeling over financial fears: 'Will my money be safe?' ask customers in Madrid banks - Telegraph

The central bank announced late that evening that the level of bad loans on the books of Spanish banks was at an 18-year high, fuelling concerns about the financial sector in the eurozone's fourth-largest economy.

Then the finance ministry said late on Friday that the deficit could reach 8.9 percent of GDP after four of its 17 regions overshot their expected budgets.

And with Greece looking ever more likely to drop off the cliff and exit the eurozone, it is now Spain which has the unwelcome distinction of being in the centre of the euro firestorm.

None of this is helped by the fact that Spain, like Greece, is in recession. Well, not quite. One quarter of contraction doesn't make a recession, but that is the direction things are headed.

"Growth" Is NOT Equal to Government Spending

For weeks the lame-stream media has been going on about how Europe (and now the G8) are not in favor of austerity = balanced budgets. They want "growth."

Except what the political class wants is the status quo. Runaway spending, no worries about budgets. Whatever. That is NOT growth.

If you want growth, you would cut regulations and restriction on business. Not invite wholesale rape of the environment, but get rid of the insane bureaucracy. And it is insane. Of course that isn't really what the Left in Europe or in America want. They don't want business to grow. They want government to grow.

If out-of-control government spending resulted in real economic growth, then Greece would look more like Germany. And the same holds true for Spain and Italy.

Cheeky Bastards!

You have to love the RAF.... RAF rescue helicopter makes unexpected beach landing - so crew can buy ice cream - Telegraph Heh, they are entitled to a tea break, same as you.

The cheeky crew members were spotted emerging from their aircraft on the sand at Winterton-on-Sea, Norfolk.

Worried beachgoers watched as they headed towards the shoreline and then pop into Winterton Dunes Beach Cafe.

Owner of five years Carmel Shiggins said she had never seen the helicopter land there before.

She said when people asked why they'd landed they didn't believe her. She said: "People had been coming in asking what they were doing, was there an emergency? And I said no, they come in for an ice cream."

They weren't in breach of regulations, since practicing landing on beaches is one of the things they do, while training.

Now That's Funny

Seems quite a few "men" are making it today as models. Beauty who beat hundreds of women to final of modelling competition revealed to be a man - Telegraph

Angkookrat Warangnam beat hundreds of women to make it into the final of a modelling competition - and then shocked organisers by revealing she was a man.

But when the standards of "beauty" don't conform to reality that is the human race, I suppose this shouldn't be too shocking.

I imagine there were quite a few guys who had bad nights once they found out she was a he....

News Flash: United Nations Completely Useless

There is a "peace keeping" force. They got bombed a day or 2 ago. And there is an arms embargo. (Or there is supposed to be...) Diplomat: Confidential report finds Iran shipping arms to Syria - CNN.com

A confidential U.N. report reveals Iran is exporting arms to the Syrian government in violation of a ban on weapons sales, the same day President Bashar al-Assad blamed the violence in his country on the work of foreign-backed fighters.

I'm shocked - shocked! - to discover the Useless Nitwits at the UN are useless.

Can you imagine that Iran wouldn't listen to the UN?

More Greek Elections - Will People Wait That Long?

Given that deposits in Greek banks might be converted from Euros to Drachmas - if things fall apart - what would you do with your money? The slow-motion run on Greece’s banks - the Financial Times – FT.com

As we reported in today’s dead-tree edition, senior eurozone officials responsible for monitoring the currency area’s banking system said the rate of withdrawals thus far falls short of a panic. But the International Monetary Fund’s recent report on Greece makes it clear that a slow-motion bank run has been under way for more than two years, with close to 30 per cent of deposits being pulled out since the end of 2009.

The IMF report is already a bit out of date, since it was published two months ago, but it still makes for sobering reading. It reported that since the start of 2012, Greek banks had lost 6.4 per cent of their deposits

New elections (2nd set this year) will probably elect a non-austerity government, which will mean Greeks won't get the rest of the bailouts they need, which will probably lead to Greece leaving the Euro and the EU and reinstate the Drachma. And devalue the Drachma.

If you hold Drachmas, and Greece is hit with hyperinflation, you could be left with very little...

Good Guys 1, Bad Guys 0

So what would you do if someone was trying to break into your home? Homeowner Shoots Intruder in the Chest

Captain Barley said when the homeowner opened the door the intruder attempted to hit the person with a club and then the homeowner shot the intruder in the chest. The alleged intruder is currently receiving treatment at Raleigh General Hospital.

That will ruin your day. (Or maybe the rest of your life, but this guy is expected to survive.)

"It came down to either me or him"

This is a case of, "How dare you live without me!" Homeowner shoots intruder: "It came down to either me or him" | Spokane/E. WA - KXLY.com

NEWMAN LAKE, Wash. - A jealous ex-boyfriend broke into the Newman Lake home of his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend early Sunday morning and was shot and killed by the homeowner.

He was armed with a shotgun and a pistol. Only hours before he had been served with a court order of "no contact." That wasn't worth the paper it was written on.

It was his intention to kill his ex and her new partner. Without legal self-defense at least two people would be dead. (Guys like that often - though no always - kill themselves. You think they would just do that first, before they leave home, things would be a little better.)

Since they have the guy on the 911 call threatening that "no one gets out alive," it is a pretty clear case of self-defense, and the sheriff's department is treating it as such.

California Keeps Spain and Greece Company in the Default Zone

No, they haven't defaulted, but they will probably ask for a bailout... California deficit has soared to $16 billion, Gov. Jerry Brown says - latimes.com In January it was supposed to be $9 billion. Opps. They missed it by 56% and it is only May.

Brown has said there will be even deeper cuts, mostly to public education, if voters do not improve tax hikes in November. He is seeking a quarter-cent increase in the state sales tax for four years and a seven-year hike on incomes of $250,000 or more that will range from 1 to 3 percentage points. He says the measure would raise $9 billion in the upcoming budget year.

Cuts to education (before you get crazy, remember the number of non-teachers in that mix) but no mention of cuts to pensions (current or future) asking folks to pay more for health care (higher deductibles?) or anything that might scare the unions. Though that will come eventually. (All union contacts were re-upped until July of next year. There were important VOTES, and all those union votes were important!)

Taxes of course, to go with the cuts, but I think they will find even more people leaving. And they are leaving.

Hate Crimes and Murder - The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia May 17

When I get so many hits on an old post, that don't seem to come from any one particular place, I have to find out what is going on. It seems the Advocate has an article looking at some past atrocities, that might account for the interest. 12 Crimes That Changed the LGBT World | Advocate.com

Violence against gays, lesbians, and the transgendered is a all too common.

There have been more than 600 reports of murdered trans people in almost 50 countries since January 2008 (including killings this year in Detroit, D.C., Florida, and California), and there was an overall 13% increase (in 2010, the most recently recorded year) in violent crimes committed against LGBT or HIV-positive people, according to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs. Some murders are so iconic they’re steeped in popular culture: Brandon Teena, murdered by his rapists in Nebraska in 1993; Angie Zapata, a trans woman killed by a transphobic boyfriend (Zapata’s murderer was later tried on hate crime charges, a first for a transgender victim). But there are others that slip under the radar: some in which victims’ families never find justice — like Martha Oleman, a lesbian killed in Sugarcreek Township, Ohio, in 1997, her murder part of the state’s cold case files — and others in which police action is swift but resolution remains murky.

Some of the names and stories you have heard, such as Mathew Shepard, but others almost no one has heard of. It is a long article - one page for each of the stories (some are about serial killers that commit many crimes) and an introduction - so 13 in all - but most are about single people killed for being who they are.

While all crimes change the world, on the following pages are 12 LGBT crimes that won’t soon be forgotten, serving as a reminder of the enduring violence we face daily.

I won't cover them all, you can click through the link to the article for that, but a few of the ones that you probably haven't heard of follow.

If Only They Would Start Eating Fire...

This reminds me of the Lesbian Avengers. Femen Activists Get Naked to Raise Political Awareness - SPIEGEL ONLINE I know very few of you are interested in the struggle for human rights and women's rights in the former Soviet Union, but this is almost funny. Almost.

The Ukrainian activist group Femen has made headlines around the world by baring their breasts to protest against prostitution, exploitation and corruption. But can their naked stunts change anything, or are they just providing images for a sex-obsessed media?

The Lesbian Avengers did the same thing. And they ate fire. In this case the Ukrainian authorities are being a bit heavy-handed. (No sense of humor.) Hooliganism is a charge left-over from the Khrushchev era, and that is what the Femen are being charged with. Back in the day, the penalties were fairly severe.

Greece Isn't the Only EU country in trouble

Spain is next in line... with a renewed crisis. Spain tries again to restore confidence in banks - BusinessWeek

The government in February told banks to set aside (EURO)50 billion ($64.8 billion) in rainy-day funds to protect them against losses in the property market and elsewhere. Analysts say this could be raised to (EURO)80 billion, and believe the government might also oblige banks to increase provisions for healthy real estate loans.

Because the government is strapped for cash, it has little room to help rescue the country's banks. Fears that public finances might be overwhelmed by bailing out banks have led investors to consider Spain the next most likely European country to need an international bailout.

Banks should be let go under, just like any other business. In the case of Spain, there might not be much choice.

And it isn't only Spain of course... Euro Economy to Shrink as Spain, Italy Re-Enter Recession - Bloomberg

The euro-region economy will return to growth in 2013, with only Spain among its 17 members remaining in recession, according to the European Commission.

Gross domestic product will rise 1 percent in 2013 after declining 0.3 percent in 2012, the Brussels-based commission said today. While Greece will have the deepest slump, with GDP declining 4.7 percent, its economy may stay unchanged in 2013. Italy and Portugal will return to growth next year, while Spain’s economy may shrink 1.8 percent this year and 0.3 percent in 2013.

And while it is always popular - in political circles - to blame the crisis du jour for everything, Europe has been on a downward spiral for a long time.

In the 1970s, their average growth clocked in at 3.2%, in the 80s at 2.5%, in the '90s at 2.2%—and in the '00s, 1.2%. Yes, the 2008 crash was bad for everybody, but Europe is still heading down. This year, growth is likely to end up at an anemic 1%.

Something politicians don't like to talk about.

The French have "punished the markets" in their latest election. Without noting that government debt grew from 35% to 90% of GDP between 1990 and today. (No, that can't be why the county's debt was downgraded! Speculators! Eeeevil Bankers!)

Unemployment in the EU is 11% (much worse in places like Greece). Only Germany seems to be able to avoid this... The German budget is nearly balanced. There were 5 million unemployed a few years ago, today there are 3 million. Why?

Go back nine years, when Social Democratic Chancellor Gerhard Schröder launched his "Agenda 2010." He declared to the Bundestag: "We shall reduce social benefits, promote individual responsibility and demand more from each and all." True to his word, he loosened up labor markets, cut payroll, personal and corporate taxes, and enacted a "workfare" program that egged the unemployed off the dole. Angela Merkel is now reaping what her predecessor sowed—efforts for which he lost his job.

If bloated government, and excess spending was good thing, then Greece would look like Germany, and Germany would look like Greece. But in the real world... that isn't quite the way it works.

Government can't fix things. Not really. Somethings they do very well, but most things are best left to the market. There has been much talk of income inequality. Well the country in Europe that has done the "best" job of reducing income inequality is Greece. Yeah, that's a model to adopt. (And since the folks promoting it are not completely stupid, they have begun talking about Spain as an example.

Still Waiting for the Fat Lady to Sing - in Greece

Who would have thought that a government responsible for an unpopular policy would be voted out of office. Apparently the brain trust running the EU and the European Central Bank never thought that democracy could work like this. BBC News - EU central bankers ponder Greece euro exit

Greece had an election. The people elected haven't been able to form a government however. So the standard guess is that there will be another election.

If no new government is formed, a new election will have to be held, and opinion polls suggest Syriza - a leftist, anti-bailout party - will benefit most. Syriza firmly rejects the terms of the most recent EU-IMF bailout, which requires tough austerity measures in return for loans worth 130bn euros ($170bn; £105bn).

Which is the choice Greeks have always had. Bailout and austerity and continued membership in the EU, OR business as usual, no bailout, and ejection from the EU. (While I am no lawyer, it is my understanding that isn't likely that Greece can exit the Euro legally without bailing on the entire EU. But then the EU and the ECB have been bending a lot of the rules lately.)

On Saturday, German central bank chief Jens Weidmann said: "If Athens doesn't keep its word, it will be a democratic choice.

"The consequence will be that the basis for fresh aid will disappear."

Without financial aid, there is the possibility that Greece will default.

"We're a breath away from the drachma and disaster," liberal Greek daily Kathimerini warned on Saturday, referring to the country's old currency.

I don't know why they keep maintaining the fiction that Greece has NOT defaulted. They have. They did not pay back 100% of the value of the bonds as they promised to do. If I was on the receiving end of that deal, it would look an awful lot like a default to me. But then I don't live in the propaganda universe that is politics.

And while it will certainly be painful if Greece returns to the Drachma, I think it will help them in the long run.

Sea Ice - Arctic and Antarctic

The National Snow and Ice Data Center is sponsored by NASA, NOAA, and the NSF. I leave you their latest estimates of sea ice, and the pattern over the past few years. Click on the images below for much larger and more legible versions of the charts.

You can find the full story at Arctic sea ice reaches near-average extent in April � Arctic Sea Ice News and Analysis It is hard to be sure of anything aside from the fact that it is within 2 standard deviations of "average." Given that the average is for a very limited 34 year history of readings (compared to all of history), it is hard to put much faith in the average volume. (Or I find it difficult to put faith in such a small sample size, even the 134 years of temperature data available seem small compared to the number of years since the last ice age. Which ended 19,000 to 20,000 years ago.)

Guthroth and the Freedom of Religion

May (or the month of Merrymoon, as it was once known) 9th is the day to remember Guthroth. He was one of the minor Upland Kings of Norway. Norway was still divided into several small kingdoms.

Olaf Tryggvason, Olaf the First, of Norway was busy trying to "unite" the country. This consisted mostly of killing people who didn't want to follow his edict that they convert to Christianity. But he didn't stop at killing.

When Olaf's forces captured Guthroth, Olaf had his tongue cut out. For the crime of worshiping Gods of his choice, or of disagreeing with Olaf. (It can be hard to tell from this vantage point.)

Olaf was later canonized as Saint Olaf. A murdering, torturing SOB? It was all in a good cause.

Mad Science and Real Science

Some real scientists can accurately be described as mad. Michael Brooks: The 7 Cleverest Famous Mad Scientists. They still do real science.

For example: Werner Forssmann

It seems nothing and no one could stop Werner Forssmann from sticking a rubber tube into an artery in his arm and pushing it all the way into his heart.

He did it - over lots of objections - and paved the way for arterial catheter treatment of blocked arteries. He won a Nobel Prize in 1956.

On the use of drugs in research, Kary Mullis used LSD (and other hallucinogens after LSD became illegal) to aid in his thinking about DNA.

Thanks to the psychedelic input, Mullis said he could imagine himself "down there with the molecules", looking at what would need to happen in order for the DNA strands to separate and be copied. He almost certainly wouldn't have had his breakthrough idea without the aid of the drugs, he admitted.

He won a Nobel Prize in 1993.

And my favorite real “Mad Scientist,” Nikola Tesla.

Tesla was the ultimate eccentric genius, best exemplified by his hallucinatory vision of the self-starting electric motor. One afternoon in 1881, he and his friends were in Budapest Park, walking towards the setting sun. Tesla was reciting a few lines of Goethe's poetry when he suddenly went catatonic, staring at the sky. There, he said, he could see a fiery magnetic field being made to rotate by a ring of electromagnets, inside which was a hulk of iron. He blurted out, "See my motor here... watch me reverse it," at which point his friends grabbed him and shook him until he returned to normal (normal for Tesla, at least). Tesla went back to his laboratory and built what he had seen - what is now known as the self-starting alternating current motor. It worked first time.

There is more about others as well.

This is NOT Self-defense

You can't fire at someone because you are ticked off. Clerk shoots as shoplifter flees, no one hit

Police charged Williams with reckless endangerment and unlawful possession of a weapon. He was released on bond.

Williams said he fired the shot as a warning and didn't intend to hit the shoplifter.

You only shoot (at) someone if you want to stop them. Dead. Not as a warning. He narrowly missed a car and the bullet went across the street and into another business.

I am all in favor of self-defense, but shooting someone in the back, who is running away from you, doesn't usually qualify.

Self-defense Still Working in Florida

They haven't stopped self-defense in Florida... Homeowner Shoots At Burglars In DeLand - Orlando News Story - WESH Orlando

Deputies believe two men tried to rob a home on Roxboro Court just after 2 a.m.. A man inside shot at the apparent thieves. One of them was hit in the leg. Investigators said a 37-year-old suspect called 911 from a nearby convenience store, saying he had been shot. The man was taken to Halifax Health Medical Center.

if not for lack of trying. One guy is hurt (and in custody). One guy is on the run. The homeowner is fine. Bad guys versus good guys. Any questions?

No Gays in a Republican Campaign.

Richard Grenell, openly gay Romney aide, resigns after backlash | The Ticket - Yahoo! News He let some witty comments about Hillary and few others go on Twitter. That was too much. (I guess it is only the left that can attack and insult people.) But the real issue was the fact that he was gay.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, took issue with Grenell over his criticism of the Bush administration’s failure to sign a December 2008 U.N. resolution that called for decriminalizing homosexuality across the globe.

Yeah, because it would be just awful if countries stopped executing people for who they loved. Just awful. </sarcasm>

I don't think the social conservatives want to win this election. I think they are having so much fun hating Obama, that they would rather put up with four more years than do anything that even looks like it might not qualify as "turning back the clock" to 1950. Because, hey, if you were a white Christian, 1950 was a pretty good time. Not so much for everyone else.

How Wind Turbines Kill Bats

All that green energy. On a Wing and Low Air: The Surprising Way Wind Turbines Kill Bats: Scientific American

"As turbine height increases, bat deaths increase exponentially," says ecologist Erin Baerwald of the University of Calgary in Alberta, who led research into the deaths as part of her master's project. "What we found is a lot of internal hemorrhaging."

And this is a major problem. Folks don't appreciate how much bats do, and how far they travel.

The full impact of these bat-killing pressure zones extends far beyond the wind farm, however. Such migrating bats travel from Canada as far as Mexico, eating thousands of insects en route, including crop pests such as moths and beetles. "They are one of the only things that fly around at night and eat bugs," Baerwald notes. "Bats killed in Canada could have a detrimental impact in America or Mexico. It's not local. It's an ecosystem-wide issue."

But I thought wind and solar energy were supposed to save us. Where are the executives at Solyndra when we need them?

[Hat tip to Cynthia Yockey]

Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts Making Promises

So the ink is barely dry on THIS year's agreement, and the Greeks are already trying to renegotiate. (As far as I can tell, they still haven't done everything they promised to do in 2010, but I could be wrong.) Greece In Talks To Push Back Deficit Goals One Year - Report - WSJ.com

In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday, Sachinidis raised the possibility of easing back the country's austerity program in order to help Greece return to growth.

And they are already negotiating with their creditors.

Why Greece has any creditors at this point is beyond my comprehension. They lied about honoring their bonds in the first place. They lied about the measures they would take in 2010 to get their first bailout. Now it appears they lied about their intentions to raise revenue in order to get the second bailout. (Any bets on whether this will be the last bailout? Or how long Germany will keep footing the bill?)

All Is Well - Not Hardly

I can't wait to see how the Democrats will spin this. Durable-Goods Orders Fall - WSJ.com

One things is interesting.

Orders for all capital goods fell 8.9% last month, though spending on defense jumped 10.3%.

That is a pretty healthy increase in spending on defense. Did we start another war when I wasn't looking? Or are we about too?

I thought the end of the Iraq war was supposed to save up all kinds of money. I guess they don't want the economy to fall off a cliff before the election.

“Economic Sleight of Hand”

What's this? Things are worse than Washington wants to admit. How can this be? The $8 billion cover-up - BostonHerald.com

The trustees of the Social Security and Medicare program reported that a sagging economy and an influx of retiring baby boomers were putting an enormous strain on the system, and according to their annual financial reports, Medicare would run out of funds by 2024 and Social Security’s retirement fund would run dry by 2033.

Any bets on whether or not anything will get done? Anything effective that is.

So instead of face the truth, the Obama administration is going to sweep things under the rug - at least until after the next election.

Remember how under Obama- care about 12 million seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage programs — popular for their extra benefits like vision and dental care — were going to be kicked off those programs? Well, that change would become apparent to seniors next October (the start of the open enrollment period for the following year), just weeks before the presidential election.

Enter the $8.3 billion “demonstration project” which HHS is using to temporarily keep those programs alive — at least until after the next election. The GAO report said the project “dwarfs all other Medicare demonstrations” and is so poorly designed that there was no way of knowing whether the bonuses paid to insurers netted “meaningful results.” It’s what happens when you throw money at plans just to cover your political backside until after Nov. 6.

More on the Economic Return on College Degrees

1 in 2 new graduates are jobless or underemployed It isn't just the downturn, there are a lack of jobs for people with degrees in the humanities. But that isn't new.

While there’s strong demand in science, education and health fields, arts and humanities flounder.

The thing that irritates me about this is the attitude expressed in the following passage.

Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University who analyzed the numbers, said many people with a bachelor’s degree face a double whammy of rising tuition and poor job outcomes. “Simply put, we’re failing kids coming out of college,” he said, emphasizing that when it comes to jobs, a college major can make all the difference

We aren't failing "kids" coming out of college, we are failing them going in.

One of the poor, downtrodden, debt-ridden "kids" (he is 23 and has a degree in Creative Writing) they profile is discouraged at his job prospects. Didn't anyone ever explain the concept of "starving artist" to this kid?

And a "job in creative writing?" That would be called, "Being an author." Write. No one hired Stephen King. No one hired J. K. Rowling. They wrote. They hawked their wares. And because they were good, they made money. One of my favorite authors, Jim Butcher, couldn't get his first short story published. (He published it later when he had a following. I've read it; it should have remained unpublished.) Even his first novel, should have gone a few more times around the write, edit, rinse, repeat cycle. It's OK, but he does get better with practice.

So we are "failing kids" because they select majors they can't market. They take on debt they can't repay. But it is only after the colleges are finished with them that the failing starts. Somehow I think it is the colleges themselves, and maybe a raft of high-school guidance counselors, who are doing the failing. (And parents who are all invested that little Johnny is getting a degree - even if he will be saddled with untenable debt. Maybe they should be more happy if were becoming a plumber.)

Here is a taste of the statistics they throw around.

More [college grads] also were employed as cashiers, retail clerks and customer representatives than engineers (125,000 versus 80,000).

Not surprising since a very small percentage of college attendees would bother to study anything as difficult as engineering. That requires math. And studying. And learning something - not just cramming the night before the exam. (You know, learning something today, so you can use it next week or next year - can't do that with quick memorization.) And not just math, but calculus. And geometry. And maybe some other hard sciences. (Hard in more ways than one.)

Take a close look at that image - you can get a better view by clicking on it. It is pretty elementary as calculus goes. How many can follow it, let alone understand it? How many can't be bothered? (I have to play Angry Birds!)

Hate Crimes - You Won't Hear About All of Them in the News

Black on gay (white) hate crime? Not in the national news. Las Vegas police investigating possible hate crime on Strip - www.ktnv.com

The victim tells Action News that he and two friends were headed back to their car after leaving the nightclub. On their way, they passed two men, one of whom allegedly shouted a gay slur at the victim before punching him, knocking him to the ground.

You might hear about this second one, because it makes the military look bad. Marine Killed in Possible Hate Crime: Police say suspect, also a Marine, used homophobic slur during Barracks Row stabbing: News section: Metro Weekly

Upon arrival, police found the victim suffering from a stab wound. Information uncovered during the preliminary investigation indicated the victim and suspected assailant were engaged in a verbal altercation during which the suspect used an anti-gay epithet.

OK - everyone who hates gays, you can comment somewhere else about how Don't Ask Don't Tell was a good idea.

OK, this one you WON'T hear about in the mainstream press. Normal Police follow up on student beating, claim of hate crime

Eric Unger, 23 of Deerfield, was walking home from a party Saturday around 2:30 a.m. Assistant Chief Eric Klingele said Unger told officers he was jumped by six black men in the 100 block of west Willow. He said Unger couldn’t give a description of the men or where they went.

Klingele said at the time of the report, Unger didn’t claim it was a hate crime, but asserted that later. Unger told the Chicago Sun Times, the group was yelling anti gay slurs during the beating.

Wouldn't want to distract attention from Florida.

Here is another one you might hear about. A.J. Walkley: Command Sergeant Major Allegedly Assaults Lesbian Captain at Military Ball A little bit of prejudice in the military? They called the couple "an abomination." Now they want to claim it was a misunderstanding.

How can calling someone "an abomination" for their sexual identity be misconstrued?

The unit commander didn't want them to dance, because he didn't want publicity. Well he's got publicity now. (Though strangely, I can't find his name anywhere, just that the incident took place at the Calvary Squadron Ball. Hard to pin point from that.

The Violent City and the Peace Summit

You would think it was a war-torn wasteland. And in some ways, maybe it is. Chicago Hosts Peace Summit Amid Record Violence | NBC Chicago

Former President Bill Clinton, former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev, and actor and activist Sean Penn are among guests at the meeting and awards ceremony.

If it wasn't so tragic, it would be funny. I mean, Sean Penn? (I haven't heard from him since he almost sunk a boat after Katrina.) And the mayor - Rahm Emanuel - had some platitudes to offer.

"The decision to host this event in Chicago reflects the profile of our city as an international leader in civic dialogue and community involvement," Emanuel said in a statement. "While the summit is a global event, it will have a local impact and leave a lasting legacy on our city.”

Community involvement?

Earlier this month, the mayor went on the defensive about a surge of recent homicides. Between the start of 2012 and April 1, Chicago Police recorded 120 homicides, a 60 percent spike over the 75 murders during the same period in 2010 and 2011.

I guess gangs are part of the community too.

Stupid Criminals Don't Know About GPS in Cell Phones?

Cell phones contain GPS. Police can use the GPS to track the phones. (Does this remind of Big Brother? Big Brother never had it so good.) In this case they used the GPS to track the kid whole stole some phones. Teen tracked by GPS, arrested after theft of iPhones from kids in West Rogers Park on North Side - Chicago Tribune

A Rogers Park District sergeant was able to find where the 17-year-old was after using a tracking system in at least one of the phones, police said.

So is it a good thing or a bad thing that the cops can track cell-phones? In this case it is probably good. In general, it is too much like the capabilities in "1984."

Considering Nugent Used to Have Secret Service Over to His Ranch, I Didn't Expect Problems

Secret Service on meeting with Ted Nugent over Obama comments: ‘The issue has been resolved’ | The Ticket - Yahoo! News Nugent's Texas ranch is just down the road from Bush's Texas ranch. So he used to entertain the Secret Service while they were guarding Bush. (He supplied the barbeque, they supplied the automatic weapons.)

Secret Service has been in the news a lot lately. Though I find it hard to believe that a bunch of Senators are shocked - shocked! - to discover that men on business trips often hire hookers. Where have they been living? Next they're gonna be shocked that people spend money to go to conferences in places like Hawaii and Las Vegas. Oh, wait...

The Answer: The Complete Breakdown of Anything Resembling Civilization

Q&A: What’s Behind Chicago’s Homicide Spike? | FRONTLINE | PBS You see, murders in Chicago are up 60% this year, compared with the first quarter of last year. Non-fatal shootings are up as well. (Murders are more an indication of how far you are from a certified Trauma Center than the number of shootings...)

I am almost surprised to see PBS covering this subject. It casts Chicago in a bad light. Chicago was the home of Dear Leader, where among other gigs, he was a Community Organizer. (The community he worked in was the one that saw Derrion Albert beaten to death, a death that was captured on numerous cell-phones.) Still, Obama hasn't been around for a while, what with part of a term in the Senate, and his time in the Illinois legislature.

As Arne Duncan said, after the Derrion Albert killing, "it is about our values." He also said that money will never stop this problem. It won't. Money - the money from prohibition (not of alcohol, but of drugs) - drives it. It hasn't changed in a 100 years. What is funding the gangsters have changed. And they have changed from being mostly white and associated with The Outfit, to what we have today. But it is still The Chicago Way. (See the video below, if you aren't familiar with that phrase)

There’s also a real serious spirit of revenge in the air in Chicago. People have been killed over the years and a lot of guys are trying to avenge the death of their fallen comrades. So the spirit of revenge is really deep. The only way to effective stop a guy from killing someone is to have boots on the ground with those young guys so you can intervene.

There is, to use the term coined by Thomas Hobbes, a state of war in Chicago. "Bellum omnium contra omnes." (The War of every man against all men.) That life is "nasty, brutish and short" is also an observation made by Hobbes. (Note: Leviathan, the source for these quotes, was published in 1651.) Civilization relies on the rule of law, and in Chicago, vendetta has replaced the rule of law.

Why Am I Not Surprised: Supply? Demand? No We Need More Government

I think the title of the article says it all. Obama oil regulation proposal $52 million price tag for increased regulation

President Obama on Tuesday will formally unveil a $52 million plan that would look to address rising oil prices by "cracking down" on oil market manipulation with the help of stronger federal oversight and higher penalties.

Because those damn oil drilling countries are just filled with corruption. Oh, and the 104 different boutique blends of gasoline used in this country, don't contribute in any way to supply crunches. Or the taxes on every gallon at the state and federal level. Those are virtually nil. What a loser.

Police Misconduct Costs Chicago More Than $10 Million - Just Since Sept.

That is if the current recommendations for $1.5 million in additional settlements gets approved. City Council panel OKs nearly $1.5 million in settlements - chicagotribune.com

The council Finance Committee signed off on paying $700,000 to a South Side family who alleged rogue police officers extorted thousands of dollars from them in armed raids on the family’s home in the Roseland neighborhood.
[snip]

In one instance, the officers allegedly planted drugs on Larry Wilkins and arrested him. He spent eight months in jail before charges were dismissed after police officers were arrested by federal authorities.

And then why put the real criminals in jail, when you can put anyone you want to behind bars?

The committee also recommended paying $750,000 to Jose Lopez, who was arrested in 2002 for the murder of Gabriel Solis. After spending three years behind bars, Lopez was acquitted.

Lopez alleged that after a man who fit the description of the actual shooter implicated him, police held two other witnesses against their will and coerced them into implicating Lopez, Darling said. At a civil trial last year, 10 of 12 jurors ruled in favor of Lopez, Darling added.

Chicago's Finest?

Real Life is Pounding on the Door

Posting may be light for a few days.

Bill Cosby and His Concealed Carry Permit

Mr Cosby has had some unpleasant things to say about people with concealed carry permits. Funny, then, that he had one in 1993, in New Your City of all places. Elite in NYC are packing heat

Bill Cosby, Joan Rivers and Donald Trump are members of a select group of celebrities who have been granted a permit to carry a concealed weapon from the New York City Police Department.

I'm sure he didn't ask for it. They just sent it too him in the mail, hoping for an autograph. Right.

That link is to the archives at the Boston Globe. While I believe other gunny sites, not everyone will. (You either have to buy the entire article or subscribe to the Globe, and I'm not willing to do either of those.)

Celebrities and politicians should have learned by now that the internet has a VERY long memory.

Canadian Suicide and the Myth of "Gun Deaths"

More equality among the sexes... Suicide rates rising among Canadian girls: study - Yahoo! News Where in 1980 boys and young men (ages 15 to 19) were almost 5 times more likely to commit suicide than girls of the same age, today the rates are at parity. Progress? Well, the rate of suicide in boys that age fell by more than half, but the rate among the girls nearly doubled.

Canadian suicide though a grim subject is interesting because of the contrasts between the methods used in Canada and those used in the US. (Click the images for larger views. Source)

While the US line is trending in the wrong direction, and the Canadian line seems like things are getting better, it is clear that the rates in both countries are nearly the same. For a good part of the past 10 years Canada has had the HIGHER rate.

But how can this be? Canada has all those gun laws. They are either "sensible" or "draconian" depending on your political view. but it hasn't made any difference in the suicide rates.

Well it turns out, that people don't commit suicide because they have access to firearms. When they decide to commit suicide, they turn to whatever means they have available. Be fair, do you really think that Canada should enact "rope control" to cut down on the "rope deaths" - that is hangings - in this statistic? (It would be "for the children.")

In the first story, one of the reasons girls and young women are committing more suicides, is that they have abandoned pills in favor of hanging, a much more lethal method.

Chicago: The Land of Special Treatment?

Anyway, one judge seems to think it may be the case. Judge rips police and prosecutors in ordering special prosecutor to look into the investigation into the death of David Koschman - chicagotribune.com Then-Mayor Daley's nephew, Richard "R.J." Vanecko, got into a fight, in which the guy he was fighting fell and hit his head, and eventually died.

Koschman, 21, had been drinking in the Rush Street night-life district early April 25, 2004, when he and friends argued with a group that included Vanecko. During the altercation, Koschman was punched or shoved, causing him to fall back and hit his head on the street. He died 11 days later. No charges were ever filed.

No charges were filed against a scion of the Daley-clan, Chicago's ruling family for living memory.

Now why would you think politics (the Chicago word is "clout") had anything to do with that. So now there will be a special investigator to double check that the politics of Chicago didn't play a role. (Let me tell you something, at least as far back as Daley's old man, politics plays a roll in everything in Chicago. "Don't make no waves; don't back no losers.")

Would-be Burglar Meets Armed Homeowner (With a Lesson About Family Emergency Plans)

So what would you do if a home-invader woke you up in the middle of the night? Make tea? Burglar shot after waking Toledo homeowner

The homeowner says he found the suspect in the hallway, and that's when he made the split second decision to shoot.

[The bad-guy] was hit twice, once in the chest and once in the arm. "He was literally three to five feet away from me, and I was concerned with my family, that he was going to harm my family or even myself," the man says. "Once someone's in your house, that far into it, there was no question in my mind. I had to do what I had to do."

The family is very proud of their son, who stayed inside his bedroom during the commotion. They say that's part of an emergency plan they prepared for him, and they hope parents talk to their kids about what to do in emergency situations.

So what would you do? Good Guys 1, Bad Guys 0.

4th Amendment? We Don't Need No Stinking 4th Amendment

It would be a good thing if we didn't need it, because we pretty much don't have it anymore. $620,000 award in case of dog shot by deputy - Crime Scene - The Washington Post

While what happened to the dog is a shame, what happened to the 4th Amendment is even worse.

Basically the police seem to be able to enter a property they believe they need to. They "believed" the kid they were searching for might be inside. The fact that he was hiding doesn't change the fact that they didn't have permission to search. As far as I can tell, they had no probable cause. (It was his parents' house. He might be there, he might be somewhere else.)

Like I said, goodbye 4th Amendment. 9 and 10 are mostly ignored. 2 is better than it was - but still struggling. They get around the 5th all the time. So much for the 'land of the free.' More like a police state every year.

Government Officials and Censorship

Schools love censorship - it's for the children of course. Gay student sues over banned T-shirt | Cincinnati.com | cincinnati.com.

Of course others wear shirts with religious symbols or bible versus. But this one was too much.

Clark said administrators initially said the shirt was disruptive and later that it was too religious. He said they now claim it violates rules prohibiting clothing that is indecent or sexual in nature.

Yeah, the rainbow flag and "homophobe" are just beyond the pale.

While it is true that students' constitutional rights have some limits on school property, this is more about denying his existence than anything else. (Bullying is an on-going issue, so why aren't the authorities doing something about that?) Next they will say you can't wear black armbands to protest the war. Whichever war we are protesting today. (What happened to all the anti-war protestors? Maybe they are still protesting in Texas....)

So now, instead of acting like reasonable humans - the lawyer tried to settle without a suit - the district, which I am sure is just rolling in excess money, will spend some of that money on lawyers' fees. Good thinking.

The Power of Political Pork

The gift that keeps on giving.... Murtha Airport, brought to you by American taxpayers | Power Players - Yahoo! News

The Murtha Airport in Johnstown, Pa., is a prime example of taxpayer spending that refuses to die. Representative John Murtha steered some 150 million of taxpayer dollars to this eponymous airport over the last decade and despite the fact he died more than a year ago, the money keeps on coming.

Three years ago, we first visited the tiny airport, and found a monument to pork barrel spending: An airport with a $7 million air traffic control tower, $14 million hanger, and $18 million runway big enough to land any airplane in North America. For most of the day, the only thing this airport doesn't have is airplanes.

The money keeps flowing. Congress just reauthorized a $100 subsidy on most tickets. That's 50% of a lot of tickets. It isn't a lot of money because almost no one flies there. Pretty much the only place you can fly is Washington, DC. What a shocker.

So why did a Congress that can't agree on anything agree to spend more money on an airport we don't need, and that almost no one flies through?

The video follows the break.

A Shooting You Didn't Hear About... It Wasn't In a "Gun Free Zone"

There isn't anything simple about a self-defense shooting, but this looks pretty straight-forward. Sheriff: Intruder killed in North Bend likely intoxicated | Seattle Times Newspaper

He made a ruckus at a gas station. They called 911.

He tried to get into a home. (Pounding on doors and windows.) They called 911.

He threw a propane tank through a window at a second house. That owner barricaded himself and his girlfriend in a what sounds like the master suite (bedroom and bathroom) and called 911. When this home invader finally broke into the bedroom, he got shot.

While the King County Medical Examiner’s Office has not released the results of a toxicology analysis of the suspect’s bloodstream, [Interim King County Sheriff Steve] Strachan said that the man’s friends told deputies that he had been drinking heavily that night while they were out at a bar. The friends also said that the man had been using cocaine, Strachan said.

I guess doing drugs really is bad for your health.

The last thing he wanted to do is use force,” Strachan said about the homeowner. He said that the homeowner and his girlfriend are devestated and refuse to return to the home.

I am sure it is also a tragedy for the dead guy's family, and much will be made - though not in the national media - that he had a history of mental illness. But the bottom line is, he invaded a home and threatened the occupants. The result is only what's to be expected in a case like this.

What would you have done under those circumstances?

Because the Rules Don't Apply to Them

Or so they thought. TSA officers charged with trashing South Beach hotel room, shooting gun - Miami Beach - MiamiHerald.com

In a city known for wild, late-night behavior, merely tossing speakers, lamps, a phone, ice chest and vase out a second floor room at the Hotel Shelley, 844 Collins. Ave., might not have drawn much attention.

But according to an incident report, a front desk clerk and security guard called police about 11:18 p.m. after they heard one gun shot, followed by three to five more after a few seconds. When the clerk went back inside the hotel, a guest told him someone was throwing furniture and bric-a-brac out the window of room 217, where Piccolella and Puccio were staying the night.

The gunshots did at least $1500 damage to a store nearby. So, assuming they are tried and convicted, do they still get to work for TSA? They destroyed $400 worth of furniture. They shot a gun in the middle of South Beach. (South Miami Beach isn't Manhattan, but it is a pretty high-density area.)

These are the people "keeping you safe" or whatever the hell they do at TSA. "They're from the government, and they're here to help."

Blogging May Be a Little Light

After 10 years without a television, I finally broke down and joined the 21st Century. Flat screen (though not too large), Blu-ray player, and 5.1 surround. I haven't gotten it connected to the internet yet - I install the new WiFi in the morning, as the old one was too slow for serious video.

I seem to find myself a little distracted. Can't imagine why. And I have house painting to do, and gutters to clean and all the other joys you have when you own a house. (Life was simpler on the boat.)

Musical Interlude

Stolen Shamelessly from Graybeard.

Producing Better Solar Collectors - Chinese Scientists and Butterfly Wings

Interesting story about the nano-scale structure of butterfly wings. Butterfly wings' 'art of blackness' could boost production of green fuels This has to do with using a catalyst and sunlight to break water (H₂O) into hydrogen and oxygen. (See the solar leaf for more on that.)

One promising technology involves producing clean-burning hydrogen fuel from sunlight and water. It can be done in devices that use sunlight to kick up the activity of catalysts that split water into its components, hydrogen and oxygen. Better solar collectors are the key to making the technology practical, and Fan's team turned to butterfly wings in their search for making solar collectors that gather more useful light.

The inky black on some butterfly's wings isn't just a pretty color. The bugs are gathering solar energy to heat their bodies. Turns out the nano-scale structures of the wings are great for concentrating energy.

The butterfly-wing compound catalyst produced hydrogen gas from water at more than twice the rate of the unstructured compound catalyst on its own.

While I don't think much of hydrogen power for cars - too hard to store in volume, too problematic in a crash, etc. - I do like the idea of a hydrogen power generator for my home. Especially if I can generate my own hydrogen on sunny days for use in the evening or on days it isn't so sunny.

I'm not going all tree-hugger on you. I would just like a little independence. From the power company.

And I leave you with this, from Machines of Loving Grace...

Save Money on Gas. It Will Only Cost You $845K

OK, so it is only a concept/prototype at this point. It will be here. Save money (on energy costs) with $845,000 Porsche 918 plug-in hybrid | ExtremeTech

Imagine a Chevrolet Volt built to Porsche specs: faster, sleeker, and more expensive. Now the dream is real: The Porsche 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) will come to market in the fall of 2013 with a price of $845,000. That’s for a supercar that reaches 60 mph in three seconds; at three seconds, the Volt is still coming up on 30 mph.

And before you get to thinking that hybrids will never be fast, consider that Audi introduced R18 e-tron quattro hybrid at the 12-hour endurance race at Sebring, "the first event of the new FIA World Endurance Racing Championship (WEC)." The R18 TDI won, but the 6-cylinder diesel hybrid
is still pretty cool.

Click on either image for a large view...

The Joys of Socialized Medicine, And Age Discrimination

Seems that government control of your health care isn't all it's cracked up to be. Elderly dying due to 'despicable age discrimination in NHS' - Telegraph

According to research published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, there would be 14,000 fewer deaths from cancer in those aged over 75 per year if if mortality rates from cancer matched those in America.

How can this be? America has better health care than the UK and its National Health-care System?

Of course we. We don't cut people off care when they are 75. (My father lived to 93. 15 years or so after he was diagnosed with cancer.) But the facts won't bother those in love with socialized medicine.

The reason the Brits are seeing so many "extra deaths" is that they aren't treating people (much) over 70 or 75.

A survey found six in ten trainee oncologists had not received training in the additional care needs of the elderly such as preventing falls and incontinence management. This is despite half of all cancers occuring in the elderly, the report found

Why worry about the elderly. They can't support the state. (That is pay taxes, for those of you not paying attention.)

This is what happens when government takes control. The bean-counters take control. Despicable.

Another Reason to Kill Daylight Savings Time

Long ago it was shown that it didn't save all that much in the way of electricity. Because humans - being tool using creatures - just use electric lights instead of waiting for daylight.

And now another health cost. Clock change heart attack link - Telegraph

People are at increased risk of heart attacks the two days after clocks go forward, research suggests, because body clock is messed up

It won't kill it. It is traditional. It is what we do. It is ingrained.

Do you think the government should be able to pass a law forcing to you get up an hour earlier than usual? That's what it is.

Boo Hoo. Lethal Self-defense is Often Lethal.

I wrote about this story before: A guy calls the cops on a wild party. One of the kids from the party breaks into his house. (Why? We don't know. Payback or just hiding from cops? You don't know. I don't know. The only guy who really knows is dead. They guy who did the shooting only knew that one of the party-goers broke into his home.

Now everyone is all boo hooing over the fact that the guy - who was shot in self-defense - got shot. Report: Homeowner shot intruder with police nearby - WBAY-TV Green Bay-Fox Cities-Northeast Wisconsin News So what? Police were "nearby." WTF does that mean? I give up my right of self-defense if I think police are about?

There have been enough cases where police arrive and "establish a perimeter" and don't do a damn thing until everyone is dead. Give me a freaking break. Police were nearby. For all the good it can do, sometimes, they might as well be on the moon.

Washington County District Attorney Mark Bensen decided last week that homeowner Adam Kind acted in self-defense when he killed 20-year-old Bo Morrison, of West Bend. Morrison was 1 of about 20 people at an underage drinking party next door, and hid in Kind's back porch.

Was this a "good kid?" I don't know and neither do you. He was at a wild party. He ran when police were called. (If you run from police when police are present, that is "resisting arrest.") He broke into a home. Are these the things a good kid does? (I did some of these things, and I am under NO illusion that I was an angel - I wasn't.) But none of this is the issue.

He broke into a house. He was confronted by the homeowner and he was shot. What do you think is going to happen when you break into a house? Do you think you will be invited to tea?

As far as I can tell, this is still a case of Good Guys 1, Bad Guys 0.

“There is no political will”

Maritime panelists frustrated over Somali pirate inaction - Connecticut Post We can spend years at war all over the place. We can have a "no-fly-zone" in Lybia (that apparently included keeping those tanks from flying. But we can't stop a problem that costs billions of dollars annually, so lives, and more heartache. I wish someone could tell me why.

There are people who have been captives for over two years under atrocious conditions.

But of course, aside from some film shot by Navy Seals, it mostly isn't a story that ends up on the news. No video. No story.

And so, because politicians love the "we have to do something" mantra, even if that "something" is nearly ineffective, NATO Extends Counter Piracy Operations Until 2014. Because they haven't even driven the number of attacks down - the number of successful attacks may be down marginally, if I find those numbers I will post them in the comments. (Be fair, the numbers in 2012 look good so far.)

It Isn't Over: Euro Bailout Fever

So maybe I was wrong about the Greeks. Maybe they will accept all the rules from Brussels. Of course a lot of Greeks are voting with their feet. Here is a BBC story that talks of the Greek Brain Drain.

But it isn't the end of the line for the bailout regime. Experts say 2nd Greece rescue won’t slow down Europe’s bailout merry-go-round - The Washington Post Portugal will need another bailout. And the economies of the PIIGS are contracting - though Ireland may grow a bit.

Here is the run-down:

Spain: Unemployment at 22.9% forecast to reach 24% and then some. That is Great-Depression-level unemployment, and the economy is forecast to contract 1.7%. Banks are the big worry - like they were in Ireland. (When did banks get this "we can't fail" rider to laws of markets?)

Italy: Next to Spain, it almost looks health. 8.9% unemployment. Economy to contract 1.5% according to estimates. But the dark cloud is debt at 120% of GDP and rising.

Portugal: "Accelerating in Reverse." That's how the WaPo sums it up. Unemployment is about 14% and the economy will contract by more than 3%.

Ireland: Unemployment at 14%. But its ties to the US economy and the UK more than Europe proper, may help a bit. If the US economy can keep sputtering along.

The 600 U.S. multinationals that have chosen Ireland already generate more than 12 percent of Irish GDP.

There is some hope that the economy will grow - or at least be relatively flat. But the last half of last year saw a contraction.

There is an annoying quote at the end of the section on Ireland.

If any country can dig itself out, it’s going to be Ireland, but at what cost?

If Ireland can't "dig itself out" then what? Is it "entitled" to handouts bailouts - funded mostly by Germany and a couple of Scandinavian countries with a portion from the IMF for good measure? (And the UK and other non-Euro-zone, European Union members get to pay an extra amount. If it isn't Ireland's responsibility to balance their checkbook - or Greece's or Spain's or whoever - then who has to come up with the money? Germany? Some of it comes from the IMF and some of that comes from the American Taxpayer, if not that much.

This isn't the result of a natural disaster. It isn't that Europe was destroyed by war. This was a party for the past few years brought on by low interest rates and high expectations. And the idea that the bill would never come due. And now that the bill has come due, they don't want to pay.

Is Being Able to Keep Your Job Without Being Fired for Who You Are a “Special Right?”

Because one of the things that gays and lesbians would like is to be able to keep their jobs. In 2012 you can still be fired in 29 states due to your race or religion. Except of course it isn't your race or your religion that can get you fired.

While Obama is president and head of the Democratic party, which claims to support gay equality. Even though it did not pass ENDA, the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, which would protect gays from job discrimination, or repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, when Democrats controlled Congress and the White House from 2009 to 2011.

Democrats ignore gays and lesbians, and always try to push the implementation of anything off to the future. Don't kid yourself on Don't Ask Don't Tell. They only moved when it was clear the lawsuit was going to succeed - which it did.

You might think, this being campaign season and all, that the Democrats would include something about gay rights in the platform. You know, pay back all those years of loyalty by gays - who historically have given almost exclusively to the Dems.

With good cause. Newt's Gay-marriage = Paganism. And Santorum's 1950ish outlook on just about everything... Should the gay's be offended by Newt's comment, or the pagans, or both? Doesn't matter to Newt; if you are aren't straight and Christian apparently, ... oh why bother?

There is much complaining on the Right about "special rights." So, is being able to go to work and talk about your weekend a special right? Is being able to have a picture of your loved ones on your desk a special right? Is being able to invite your partner to company shindigs a special right? So why are those people who hate “special rights” reserving them for heterosexuals?