Terrible Geek – Gulf Spill Visible From Space

June 21, 2010

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Taken June 19,2010 by NASA’s Terra satellite.  NASA page here, and a large JPEG image, 10 MB, here.
I think this gives a much better view of the damage that’s been done, and will be done, in the Gulf. Images from the ground, as terrible as they are sometimes, never allow you to see the scope of the disaster. We’ve killed half the Gulf of Mexico, and more to come.

The Sky on Fire

June 20, 2010

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Planet Earth.

South Polar region.

The sky is on “fire”.

The aurora australis — the southern lights — snakes its way across the Earth’s magnetic field as seen from above!

In this picture taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station, charged particles from the sun interact with the Earth’s magnetic field, lighting up the sky.

Things like this is why I prefer science to superstition and mythology.  Those stories are entertaining, and inform much morality, but they pale before the real thing.  This isn’t because some “god” decided to light the sky on fire, this is simply the end result of natural processes.  Figuring out why it happens, how that might affect us, and that it might lead to other exciting discoveries and advances is what science is all about.  How unsatisfying to say merely “because God made it that way”.

Carl let me down

June 19, 2010

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Last year it was the King who disappointed me, getting my orders wrong time after time.  Now, it’s Carl.  He didn’t get the order wrong, but it certainly was a let down.  I pulled into the drive through at the nearby Carl’s Jr this evening, intending to get one of their “Six Dollar Burgers”.  I first saw the window banner, then the menu board listing for the teryaki burger.  That’s it in the picture.  Well, that’s the advertising model, at any rate.  Looks delicious, doesn’t it?   I’ve had some really good teryaki burgers in the past, and I had high hopes.  Red Robin has a good one, and the now-closed Baker’s Square had one I really like, too.  I thought to myself, “self, that looks good!  Get that!”  My self replied “You’re right! That looks yummy!  We’ll get that!”

I really wish I had taken a picture of what I got home with, but I didn’t think of it until it was too late.  The pineapple was a slim little cut, less than a third of the thickness you see above.  The meat was probably close, but it was a bit tired looking, like it had been under a heat lamp a couple of minutes too long.  The lettuce was limp, the tomatoes a bit bland.  The only thing that lived up to expectations was the onion slices.

That is not an acceptable burger to send home with someone, especially after teasing them with pictures like that.  So, sorry Carl, you’ve joined the King on my shit list.

Next.

A Happy Ending

June 10, 2010

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When calling 9-1-1, many people are having their worst day ever.  Whatever is happening, from a medical problem to finding their home burglarized, it’s now pretty well ingrained in folks to call 9-1-1.  We still get calls where someone has called a friend or relative first, and they call 9-1-1, but generally speaking, we’re first on most lists.  Sometimes it’s difficult to categorize the call as a real emergency, but we’ll do the best we can.  Sometimes a call to 9-1-1 can prevent an emergency.

Tonight we got such a call, and we had a happy ending.  A caller dials up 9-1-1 and tells the operator that earlier that day they had lunch at a small cafe in one of our mountain communities.  The lady left her purse in the restaurant when they left, and did not miss it until late in the evening.  This was a case where a lost purse could have had terrible consequences.  Inside the purse was medication for the family’s young son, a 7 year old cancer victim.  If the purse and it’s medication could not be found, the family would have to immediately leave and return to southern California to acquire the proper treatment for the boy.  They were back at the cafe, but it was now late at night, and the business was closed.  At a loss for what to do, the call to 9-1-1 was placed.  While we will do our best no matter who is involved, when you tell a bunch of dispatchers (or deputies, officers, firemen, or EMTs) that a child is involved we’ll move Heaven and Earth to get the job done.

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So what’s up with the tents?

June 9, 2010

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Larry Bird, Magic Johnson.  In real basketball uniforms.

Again, some good uniforms!

So what’s up with these damned tents they’re all wearing now??

VOTE!

June 8, 2010

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It’s always good to be patriotic,

and do your civic duty.

Arizona’s Insanity Grows

June 5, 2010

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Photo Credit AZCentral.com

Prescott, Arizona

“Lighten the faces of the children”.

Miller Valley Elementary School Principle Jeff Lane claims the directive to the artists was to make the children’s faces appear happier and brighter.

R.E. Wall, director of Prescott’s Downtown Mural Project, said he and other artists were subjected to slurs from motorists as they worked on the painting at one of the town’s most prominent intersections.

“We consistently, for two months, had people shouting racial slander from their cars,” Wall said. “We had children painting with us, and here come these yells of (epithet for Blacks) and (epithet for Hispanics).”

“It is being lightened because of the controversy,” Wall said, adding that “they want it to look like the children are coming into light.”

A Prescott City Councilman, Steve Blair, who has a radio program on KYCA-AM 1490 has been agitating to have the mural removed completely.

The images of the children depicted on the mural are taken from photographs of actual children enrolled in the school.  Miller Valley is the most ethnically diverse school in the Prescott district.  The most prominent child in the mural is Hispanic, but Blair, on his radio program, described the image as that of a black child.

The nut cases and the wingnuts are gaining ground in Arizona.  Is there any way to contain the idiocy, so that it doesn’t spread, or is it too late already?

See AZCentral.com for the complete story.

An Act Of God? Or Just Incompetence?

June 4, 2010

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“Drill, baby, drill!” –  Sarah Palin, John McCain, Fox News, et al

“Government isn’t the solution, government’s the problem!” – Ronald Reagan

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You’re Kidding, Right? No? Really?

May 30, 2010

Jim Reeves commentary, Personal , , , , 3 Comments

Friday night.  Fresno.  Comedy Club night at a club in the Tower District.  Security checking IDs at the entrance.  Even mine.

The security kid guy asked for my ID?  Is he kidding me?  Nobody, and I mean nobody, has thought I was underage for a long time.  Hell, someone could have been born and become legal themselves since the last time I was carded!  The last time I was even almost carded was in Las Vegas for New Years 2009.  The doorman was carding almost everyone, but waved me through when I got up to him.   The rest of that story falls under the “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” regulation, so I can’t really discuss it any more than that.  Sorry.

So I pulled out my wallet, flipped it open to pull my driver license out, but he said that was good enough, he didn’t actually have to look at it.  He just needed to confirm that I had it.  That is the strangest carding I’ve ever experienced.  I’m failing at coming up with a rational reason to require ID from people, if it’s not for verification of age.

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We’ve Got Things Under Control!

May 28, 2010

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