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volcano desktop
Originally uploaded by bothenook

here is the latest in a long line of images i select for my desktop image. this is on the computer that sits on my desk at work, one of about 5 computers i work at during the day.
this is one of the most impressive images i've seen in the news media in the last year.
think you have troubles? try living at the foot of an active volcano.
my thoughts are with the folks living in the region.

no nukes, no nukes... idiots

yeah, we are reaping the harvest of years of anti-nuclear sentiment here in the US. hope you don't get lung or bone cancer, or have heart damage that needs imaging anytime in the near future...
check out this article in the Foreign Policy magazine.
yeah, there are ways to step up the production, but i know about the missouri reactor that is mentioned in this article, and if they become the primary source of medical isotopes, we will again be hanging our hats on a single hook.
might be good for me though. anyone have a spare $350 million?

karma

sometimes the karmic wheel has a very small turning radius

so long old friend, rest well

one of my oldest (he was older than dirt) friends passed away yesterday. he was in his 90's. Andy Anderson PhD.was one of my engineering professors in college, and we became good friends after i moved on.
he was a man of many many talents and occupations, ranging from blowing up bridges for the Canadian army during WWII to finding and exploiting oil fields around the world. he produced hollywood movies, and when it was time for him to slow down, he settled in the Napa valley and took a job teaching at the local college.
he played competitive polo into his 80's, jumped off the Feather River Canyon bridge tethered to a bungee cord for his 75th birthday. he was traveling in russia with his wife and a kgb driver ... of course that's not what they were told he was, but Andy figured it out, when chernobyl occurred, and almost didn't make it back to the US.
his life was full, and even after suffering a big stroke a couple of years ago, his daily pilgrimage to the local coffee shop suffered only a few absences. from being totally wiped out, he fought back to where he was walking with the aid of his famous cane, with the gold inlaid "A" on the handle. as far as i know, he was still legal to drive, and did, right up to the end.
Andy, i don't have enough skills to describe you or your life. but i can say that knowing you enriched mine.
rest well, my friend.

edit for update here's the Napa Register Obituary for Arthur "Andy" Anderson

Babs, you are running true to form

yeah, barbara boxer is running true to form.
she's the chairclown of the senates environmental committee, and boy, does she have the curly shuffle down pat.
let's see.... there were these leaked emails from a campus server in the UK, emails that on the surface indicates malfeasance on the part of the global warming proponent's side of the fence. i'll not get into the whole what's what regarding this, because there are many many sources of info that can do much better than i.
but when a senator, Sen. Inhofe (who is a vocal opponent to the quick let's do something, even if it's wrong crowd)reasonably asks to have policies in the pipeline inspected vis a vis the revelations about cooked and massaged data, ol' babs starts the smoke generating machine and puts on some cheesy disco to dance to.
"it's not about the potentially skewed data, it's about the email crime" (my paraphrasing, not an actual quote. she wouldn't know how to speak the truth if her life depended on it if the truth somehow countered the paradigm she and saint al are espousing.)
so she is going to kill the scientifically correct investigation into how the bogus data and manipulation of peer review, and insist any investigation includes a criminal one regarding the email source. sorry babs, this happened in Britain. a little out of your jurisdiction. not that will stop her. she's on a mission. a mission to preserve the AGW myth at all costs. she has too much political capital invested in fighting global warming to ever let a little something like facts get in the way. they haven't done so yet, and i see no reason for her to change now.

today's e-mail funny

from a friend:

Bumper stickers seen on a Marine Corps Base

"Water-boarding is out, so kill them all!"

Naval Corollary; "Dead men don't testify."

"U.S. Marines -- Travel Agents To Allah"

"When In Doubt, Empty The Magazine"

"The Marine Corps -- When It Absolutely, Positively Has To Be Destroyed Overnight"

"Death Smiles at Everyone -- Marines Smile Back"

"Marine Sniper - You can run, but you'll just die tired!"

"What Do I Feel When I Kill A Terrorist? ... A little Recoil"

"Marines, Providing Enemies of American an Opportunity To Die For their Country Since 1775"

"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of anyone Who Threatens It"

"Happiness Is A Belt-Fed Weapon"

"It's God's Job to Forgive Bin Laden -- It's Our Job To arrange The Meeting"

"Artillery Brings Dignity to What Would Otherwise Be Just A Brawl"

"One Shot, Twelve Kills -- USN Gun Fire Support"

"Machine Gunners -- Accuracy by Volume"

"A Dead Enemy Is A Peaceful Enemy -- Blessed Be The Peacemakers"

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. Marines don't have that problem."

nope, no guns there

nope, no guns there
Originally uploaded by bothenook

My daughter sent this to me a while ago, but I had forgotten about it.

I think this is a great idea. It goes along with the "Gun Free Zones. There are no firearms anywhere in this building/business". I am sure that would be a great deterrent. click the picture for other size options, click the link for the "Gun Free Zone" video