2007 History

Last Cat Blogging of 2007

Miko and Tory, 5 minutes ago.

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 11:34:28 PST - Link

Much Adieu About Bic Pens

Check out the reviews of the Bic crystal ballpoint pen at Amazon.co.uk

Bloody Brilliant!

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 11:43:17 PST - Link

Friday Cat Blogging

T-chan of the Jungle

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 09:12:25 PST - Link

Well, That Explains It.

And so part of our efforts is to convince others, one, the nature of the world in which we live; two, that we're in an ideological struggle; and three, we will prevail — because we've got the ultimate weapon against those who can't see anything but terror and murder as a way forward, and that is freedom.

G.W. Bush in today's press conference

Now we know why we have a Freedom shortage. It's being used as the ultimate weapon.

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 20:49:30 PST - Link

Time To Start Shopping For Another Guitar?

Palo Alto, CA — Business Wire — Danger, Inc. today announced that it has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of its common stock. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined.

Danger.com

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 13:17:57 PST - Link

That's Just Wrong On So Many Levels

Whatever

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:59:49 PST - Link

On The Mortgage Mess

From 2000 to 2007 regulatory oversight of lending practices was so lax that there was effectively none. This means that lots of fraud was committed, and an even larger pile of bad loans are held by people who will never be able to pay them back. That money is gone, gone, gone and somebody is going to have to eat those losses. Simple as that.

financialsense

I watch CNBC in the mornings, and for all the hours they've spent talking about the mortgage mess, they tend to put a spotlight one part of it at a time.

This article in Financial Sense University lays it all out in one place.

Update:

Shorter Mortgage Mess: We just spent the last seven years building ten years worth of houses.

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 07:46:08 PST - Link

Shopping List

We're having friends over for okonomiyaki tomorrow, so I thought I'd link to my Favorite Recipe

Ya gotta love a recipe that calls for "One Squid".

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 12:28:40 PST - Link

Friday Cat Blogging

Miko: Must you? Really? Do you really need to bug me with your stupid camera again?

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 07:34:25 PST - Link

Just In Time For Christmas - The Story Of Stuff.

The Story Of Stuff is short film about the stuff in your life. Where it comes from, how it was made, how it got to you, what you do with it, and where it goes when you're done with it.

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 08:39:50 PST - Link

I don't Believe In Coincidences

The story of NIE about Iranian nukes set a off a little alarm bell in the back of my brain. This morning I finally figured out what was tingling my spidey senses.

First a look at the NIE timeline from emptywheel at firedoglake.

July 2007: Intelligence community intercepts communications that verify claim Iran's nuclear program remains suspended; Senior Administration Officials briefed

August 2007: Bush claims he learned new intelligence exists

August 9: Bush substitutes the claim that Iran was seeking nuclear technology for earlier claim that they were seeking nukes. (h/t Froomkin)

There was another earth-shaking event in this time period. Karl Rove announced that he was leaving the White House

I blogged at the time about the reasons for Karl leaving.

This new information, that Iran — although lead by a bat-guano crazy leader* — was really no longer a threat to the USA might have set off quite a back-room brawl.

The temporal proximity of these events can't be a coincidence.

The third most powerful person in the administration (I'll leave it to you to decide the order of Bush and Cheney ) does not step down for no reason.

The question is now which camp Rove was in. Was he with the nuke'em anyways or among the maybe we should talks. I'm not really sure myself. Maybe it's just transference that makes me want to believe that he would have taken the Iranian NIE as good news. I would have.

Maybe the fight was about the release of the NIE? I'm not sure we'll ever know.

One thing I am sure of — His $3 million book won't give us the honest answer.

* Not surprisingly, the Iranians appear to have a curiously symmetrical opinion of our president.

Sat, 08 Dec 2007 13:10:32 PST - Link

Friday Cat Blogging - Star Wars Cosplay Edition

Tory The Hutt: "Solo! Hay lapa no ya, Solo!"

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 07:56:27 PST - Link

Two More Patents

bringing the total to 5: [D484503] [7091957] [7107084] [7187364] [7224373]

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:53:01 PST - Link

Friday Cat Blogging

Miko, T-Chan and Tory James.

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 07:46:31 PST - Link

DSL Troubles

We've been having reliability troubles with out old DSL router - it has twice lost all of its set-up, and never did reboot properly from the web interface - but worst of all, it started to drop the line for no apparent reason, requiring a power cycle to bring it back.

A customer support call sent us to the ATT store, which had a replacement router, with wireless for $99.

Why am I blogging this? First, as a google searchable reference to when the new router was installed, and second because the ATT store has surprisingly great prices, and although the URL is pretty obvious, it's surprisingly difficult to locate.

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 09:04:16 PST - Link

Worst. Debate. Evah.

And not just because they did not take my question.

It was the worst because the top three threats to civilization were ignored.

That might be the fourth greatest threat to civilization.

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:32:08 PST - Link

Friday Cat Blogging - Monday Make-up Edition

I just realized that I'd missed Friday Cat Blogging, so here's Miko at Thanksgiving Dinner.

UPDATE: Kyburg's started a LOLCAT contest for Miko! Check it out!

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 08:45:07 PST - Link

Youtube Debate Questions

CNN is running another YouTube debate, this time with the Republicans taking the questions. I submitted two versions of the same question, one within the 30 second recommended time, and a second that was a little bit over.

Peak Oil President (23 Seconds)

Peak Oil President (35 Seconds)

Here's some observations on doing a YouTube Debate Question

30 seconds is surprisingly short.

Once you've done your introduction up front, (3.5 seconds) and asked your question at the end (5 seconds) and take a breath or two, you've got about 20 seconds left.

20 seconds is enough time to mention something familiar: Global Warming, Social Security, Prayer in schools and so on... but it's not enough time to introduce an unfamiliar topic to the public.

I really wanted to fit in more facts, for example:

The United States of America peaked in Oil production in 1970. Not even the enormous finds in Alaska or the Gulf of Mexico were able bring us back.

The United States gets 12% of its oil from Mexico, but Mexico's largest field, Cantrell, is now in steep decline, and Mexico will go from a net exporter of oil to a net importer in the next presidential term.

10% of all of the worlds oil supply was used up - In Bush's first term.

Every giant oil field that has ever produced 1 Million Barrels per day has peaked and is now in decline.

I started thinking about this a month ago, here's my original script:

(Black screen)
(Sound of Basketball bouncing three times)
(dissolve to Questioner holding basketball and a salt shaker)
Questioner:
Let's talk about oil.
Supposing this basketball were the Earth,
how much oil do you think there would be?
One shake? Two? Three?

(Questioner salts the basketball)
(sound of game show buzzer BZZZT!)

Questioner
The answer is that a single crystal of salt...

(zoom to photomicrograph of single crystal of salt on basketball)

Questioner: represents more than the entire one-time endowment of oil to the world. That's it. That's all we've got.

(dissolve to questioner:)
Full sized, that cube would be a little more than 4 miles on a side. Sounds a lot better that way, doesn't it? Except - we've already used up half of it.

With the first half, we've built our great cities and towns, and the roads and the highways between them. We built the sprawling suburbs, with thier strip malls, and big box discount stores. We built cars, trucks and SUVs to take us from place to place.

We used the first half of the oil to build an America that runs on oil.

My question for the candidates is this: How shall we use the second half of the oil?

Unfortunately, that little production would have run quite past the 30 second mark.

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 14:50:20 PST - Link

How I Spent My Birthday.

Over the weekend, my wife's Linux machine shuffled off its mortal coil.

Since it's for her busines sand she needed it today, we replaced it with a nice quad core machine from Central Computer. The motherboard claimed compatibility with the new processor, but when we got the kit home, assembled it, and fired it up, there was a uCode error, indicating that we'd need a new BIOS.

Well... This lead no needing to make a bootable floppy disk for the installation of the 1 MB image. Small Problem. A floppy formatted in windows boots fine, except it leaves less than 1 MB of space, so the BIOS update image will not fit. This lead to a search of how to create a bootable CD ROM- easy enough to do if you have the ISO image, (Thanks Google!) so we burned one, and all looked well, we had the boot image on the CD, and the installer and the .ROM file on the floppy, but for some reason the installer complained that the disk it was on did not contain a valid boot block. I'm not sure why it should care, but it did. (I suspect its related to preventing a virus from bricking the motherboard.)

Anyway. Many boots ensued. A floppy drive was replaced. A floppy created from the DOS command line was tested. Nothing we tried seemed to work. so about 3 hours into this we gave up for the day.

Since there was a new board in the house, I just had to find the solution. A search for "BIOS too big for floppy" lead back to the instructions for making a minimal bootable disk, which we had tried earlier, but without success.

As I was reading the instructions, I began to think about the "unnecessary files" that XP installs on a bootable floppy. Probably drivers for keyboards and mice and... USB...

Sure enough. The new machine was using a USB keyboard, and DOS predates USB, and the floppy would not boot unless a standard keyboard was connected to the keyboard connector. Being a two engineer family, of course we had a spare standard keyboard around. We plugged it in, and punched in the floppy - Success! It now booted with the update image and utility on the same disk with a valid boot block.

5 minutes of nail-biting and hoping the power would stay on later the machine had a new BIOS.

And that's how I spent the afternoon of my 50th Birthday.

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 07:54:40 PST - Link

And So This Is 50...

A few random thoughts about the last 50 years

There were only two satellites orbiting Earth on the day I was born. One contained dead batteries, and the other a dead dog. I believe there has been at least one satellite in orbit every day of my life.

In the day I was born, the first integrated circuit was over two years in the future.

The artifact I've owned for the longest period of time is a woodworking plane given to my by my grandfather when I was 4 or 5 years old. I still use it.

I've spent the night in Canada, Mexico, Cayman Islands, Japan, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Australia, Ireland, England, France, Holland, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

In the US I've visited or lived in Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, D.C., Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.

On my bornday 50 years ago there were 2.888 billion other folks on Earth. Today there are 6.762 billion. There will be less than 6.762 billion 50 years from now.

I've been alive 50 years, or 18,262.5 days, or 438,300 hours, or 26,298,000 minutes, or 1.577 billion seconds. Now get off my lawn.

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 15:51:36 PST - Link

Friday Cat Blogging

Miko, T-chan, Tory James

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 07:22:47 PST - Link

The New Board Dance

New Board Dance!
New Board Dance!
Er'y body 'gotta do 'dat New Board Dance!

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 15:55:28 PST - Link

The Ballad Of Joe And The New Guitar

Late summer I began looking to buy myself (another) guitar. I'm not a collector or anything, but 30 years ago I worked in a Music Store and picked up a few inexpensive used instruments, most of which are hanging on a wall as decorations. Most were purchased as sub-$200 substitutes for the instruments I really wanted.

The confluence of the Dell acquisition and an impending decade-number birthday led me back into the rather scary world of Guitar stores. My first target was a new acoustic guitar. I've always wanted a Gibson J-200. It's the big and bright sounding guitar of Pete Townsend, and Ian Anderson, and Bob Dylan, and more musicians than you can shake a baton at. So - I played a few. Most were spectacular, but — none really said "take me home." At home I have a small body Gibson B-25 that I bought $185 in 1976. The finish is all checked, and there's a small crack in the top, and the last time I took it in for fret repair, the luthier wanted to crack it open and replace the top braces because it's bowing a bit at the bridge. I didn't elect for that kind of invasive work because I like the way it sounds as is.

Being an engineer, I decided that the the way to convince myself I really needed a J-200 was to play it against my B-25. Ooops. Funny thing about old guitars. They get better with age. I packed up my B-25 and took it to Guitar Showcase and for a couple of hours went back and fourth between it and a selection of J-200s. There was one J-200 that was a teeny bit better, and one that was significantly worse. The J-200s they had in stock were great instruments, but I was looking for something more than that. I was looking for an instrument that would inspire me to play more, and learn new old songs, or to maybe, finally, write some. In the end, I just couldn't do it. I bought a new case for my old friend the B-25, and left without a new guitar.

Casting my nets further, I decided to look into a new electric guitar. I have an old Stratocaster. It came to me in pieces, with all of the paint scrapped off (Again in 1976, and for less than $200.) It's an old instrument, but it doesn't sound or play much different from the more recent inexpensive Squire versions. Again, I was looking for something different, and inspiring.

My next target was the Parker Fly. It's a very modern instrument. The neck is made of basswood wrapped in carbon fiber, and it has active electronics and both humbuckers and piezo pickups in the bridge. It's a nice, light guitar, but...

I really was hoping to get more of an acoustic sound from the piezos, and maybe it was just the amplifier I was using, but I just was not hearing a lot of difference between the pickups and the piezos. Also, the neck was somehow not to my liking. It felt cold and lifeless. Worst, for some reason the guitar would not stay in tune. Now maybe it was just that one, but it just didn't work for me.

I can't place exactly how I came to pick my next target. I wasn't really interested in a "solid body with two humbuckers and a tunamatic bridge" for my next guitar. Back at Henri's Music there was this older jazz player who came in all the time and had occasionally bought a few pieces; A nice full-body Jazz guitar and a very powerful combo amp which was perfect for him when set to about "3". One day he was going though the used guitars and picked out an Epiphone hollow body electric - I don't recall 30 years later if it was a "Dot" or a "Casino" or some other similar model, but after a half hour he declared it the best guitar in the store, and left with it.

I suppose that memory is what got me looking at the Epiphone catalog, which lead to the history of the Casino model, which, as it turns out, figures prominently in the Beatles. I had a new target. I spent a couple of days on the web looking at models and prices, waiting for a spare moment to play one in a store. There were three trim options: The standard Casino model from Japan, then an Elite model, with USA upgraded electronics and set up, and a special "Revolution" version, which is trummed out in the USA and is a replica of John Lennon's guitar.

Last Friday came the news that the Haight Ashbury Music Store in Sunnyvale was having a close-out sale, so on Saturday I went down to try and find myself a Casino.

When I asked Ash to try the Revolution, he looked at me with puppy-dog eyes and said "You're not going to buy my favorite guitar in the store are you?" After bout 15 minutes I had to give him the bad news. His favorite guitar had curled up on my lap and asked me to take it home. Ash didn't feel too bad in the end. I promised him it was going to a home where it will be loved and played. Many of this model have apparently be picked up to be displayed in Lennon memorabilia - I think John himself would have wanted it to be played.

It wasn't what I started out to find, but in the end it's exactly what I needed. The tone is part way between an electric and an acoustic, so it's different from my other "good" guitars. (I have some real junkers) It's different enough to inspire me to play things I wouldn't try on my other guitars. The neck is comfortable and alive, and being a true hollow-body, even without an amp it has enough volume to practice. And the P-90 Pickups? Pure Beatles!

I hadn't planned to get the Revolution model, (I had targeted the Elite) but I'm now in love with it, and re-discovering my love of John Lennon's music.

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 08:56:44 PST - Link

Friday Cat Blogging

Friendly Hotel Cat, Interlaken, Switzerland.

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 06:50:20 PST - Link

Phew.

I passed a big milestone on a project last night, (more like 04:30 in the morning,) so now I'll have more quality time to do things that have been put off for some weeks. Like looking at my Swiss Pictures.

These paratroops were dropped over the Matterhorn.

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 09:22:55 PST - Link

Periodic Comet Holmes Blogging

This is the view of Periodic Comet Holmes from our driveway. Unfortunately its in the direction of greatest light pollution (AKA midtown San Jose). A 15 second exposure shows clear tracks of the nearby starts.

Sat, 03 Nov 2007 20:19:57 PDT - Link

Friday Cat Blogging

T-Chan and Tory

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 07:43:35 PDT - Link

Shaken - Not Stirred.

5.6 according to the USGS. I was in a restaurant in Sunnyvale, and I distinctly felt the P-waves through my foot as a vibration in the 3-8 Hertz range before the arrival of the S-waves which were several seconds of slow rolling, punctuated with the sound of a single cup falling off a shelf and crashing to the floor in the kitchen. There was a short pause, then anther slow roll.

At home, one of the cordless phones fell over, and the 2 liter Diet Cokes in the fridge tipped over. In my wifes office, the TV slid out (it's on top of a set of shelves) but was caught by the earthquake straps. All of the bookshelves in the house are strapped to the walls. No damage.

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 22:30:07 PDT - Link

Light, In The Dark.

For one thing, there isn’t actually any such thing as Islamofascism — it's not an ideology; it's a figment of the neocon imagination. The term came into vogue only because it was a way for Iraq hawks to gloss over the awkward transition from pursuing Osama bin Laden, who attacked America, to Saddam Hussein, who didn't. And Iran had nothing whatsoever to do with 9/11 — in fact, the Iranian regime was quite helpful to the United States when it went after Al Qaeda and its Taliban allies in Afghanistan.

Paul Krugman

Here we are again. The drumbeat of war is in the air, and while you may find a journalist or two who will try to put some scale scale to the 'Islamofascist' threat, it takes Krugman to point out that there's no such thing. It's all positioning. It's all a message designed to pass though the belly of the 24 hour news beast wholly intact.

And so it leads to this:

And Mike Huckabee, whom reporters like to portray as a nice, reasonable guy, says that if Hillary Clinton is elected, 'I'm not sure we'll have the courage and the will and the resolve to fight the greatest threat this country's ever faced in Islamofascism." Yep, a bunch of lightly armed terrorists and a fourth-rate military power — which aren't even allies — pose a greater danger than Hitler's panzers or the Soviet nuclear arsenal ever did.

All of the Republican (and most of the Democratic) candidates for president are talking like this — like TERRORISM is the WORST thing we will EVER FACE.

They are so wrong.

When the Clinton administration briefed the incoming Bush security people they told them that they will be spending more time on Bin Laden than any of the other issues they were thinking about.

I will predict here and now, that the next president will be spending more time dealing with the effects of peak oil than they will on Islamofascist terrorism.

The most terrifying thing in this world today is that the candidates for the leadership of the free world are ignoring the big problems - peak oil, overpopulation, and global climate change, while focusing their attention on a much smaller issue.

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:54:32 PDT - Link

Heckofa Job, Pat.

CNN reports that John "Pat" Philbin, the Director of Public Affairs responsible for FEMA's recent faked news conference, is effectively receiving a promotion. PRNewser was notified by an email which said that Philbin's new job was an "amazing opportunity to head the communications shop at ODNI."

Raw Story

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 08:30:32 PDT - Link

UN Global Environmental Outlook 4

The speed at which mankind has used the Earth's resources over the past 20 years has put "humanity's very survival" at risk, a study involving 1,400 scientists has concluded.

The environmental audit, for the United Nations, found that each person in the world now requires a third more land to supply his or her needs than the Earth can supply.

Times Online

"The human population is now so large that the amount of resources needed to sustain it exceeds what is available at current consumption patterns," Achim Steiner, the executive director of the program, said in a telephone interview. Efficient use of resources and reducing waste now are "among the greatest challenges at the beginning of 21st century," he said.

The International Herald Tribune

With its Geo-4 report, the United Nations tells us that most aspects of the Earth's natural environment are in decline; and that the decline will affect us, the planet's human inhabitants, in some pretty important ways.

BBC

[The BBC is hosting a .pdf of the full 572 page Global Environmental Outlook 4 report]

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 08:46:23 PDT - Link

Friday Cat Blogging

Miko

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 07:43:30 PDT - Link

$90.46

Oil closed at $90.46 today. Even my cats are worried.

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 12:58:01 PDT - Link

Speaking The Unspeakable

As for motherhood — the fertility of the human race — we are getting to the point where you simply can't discuss it, and we are thereby refusing to say anything sensible about the biggest single challenge facing the Earth; and no, whatever it may now be conventional to say, that single biggest challenge is not global warming. That is a secondary challenge. The primary challenge facing our species is the reproduction of our species itself.

Global over-population is the real issue

I've been calling peak oil, global climate change, and over-population the three greatest threats to civilization. The solution to the first two - a lower energy lifestyle and economy - is actually appealing to me. I grew up in small town America, where there was a strong sense of community, and kids walked to school (uphill both ways, into the wind, during blizzards). The solutions to overpopulation are far less appealing.

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 12:58:01 PDT - Link

Chris Skrebowski On Alarming New Peak Oil Report

Chris Skrebowski, editor of the UK Petroleum Review, speaks with GPM's Julian Darley about the remarkable new oil report from the German-based Energy Watch Group, which states that world oil production peaked in 2006 and will decline by half as soon as 2030.

Global Public Media

This interview is startling. Chris Skrebowski researches Oilfield Megaprojects, (Adding up the public information on production capacity plans and infrastructures) and to date he has estimated that the peak of production will be a few years off, in 2011.

In this interview he finds the data, research, and claims in the Energy Watch Group report [.pdf] to be credible, including the claim that world oil production already peaked in 2005.

The discussion starting at 25:25 is startling.

"Now if we look at things like the OPEC website, we find that there's virtually no declared projects over 2010, beyond 2010, there's a couple in Iran and that's it. Now, even if they know about it, if they haven't started appointing contractors, if they haven't started doing the engineering - one thing and another - then we're looking at the far side of 2012.

...

So we're already seeing (sort of) holes appear where there should be projects.

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 08:29:16 PDT - Link

Study: Carbon Output Rising Faster Than Forecast

Oh, I'm just a fountain of good news today...

Scientists warned last night that global warming will be "stronger than expected and sooner than expected", after a new analysis showed carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere much faster than predicted.

Guardian [UK]

I was not able to locate the actual article, but here's the Global Carbon Project's Press information page.

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 08:29:16 PDT - Link

Bush has WWIII on the mind.

I understand the concept of "imprinting," and have seen it in action. What is clear from the president's remarks is that, far from an innocent rhetorical fumble, his words, and the context in which he employed them, are a clear indication of the imprinting which is taking place behind the scenes at the White House. If the president mentions World War III in the context of Iran's nuclear program, one can be certain that this is the very sort of discussion that is taking place in the Oval Office. [Emphasis added - J.]

On The Eve Of Destruction Scott Ritter in truthdig

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 08:56:03 PDT - Link

Steep decline in oil production brings risk of war and unrest, says new study

World oil production has already peaked and will fall by half as soon as 2030, according to a report which also warns that extreme shortages of fossil fuels will lead to wars and social breakdown.

The German-based Energy Watch Group will release its study in London today saying that global oil production peaked in 2006 - much earlier than most experts had expected. The report, which predicts that production will now fall by 7% a year, comes after oil prices set new records almost every day last week, on Friday hitting more than $90 (£44) a barrel.

Guardian [UK]

This is why you are seeing those commercials from the major oil companies.

This is what the next president will have to deal with.

The world is very, very fortunate that Bush cannot run again.

Update: The report is available here. [.pdf]

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 20:18:16 PDT - Link

Friday Cat Blogging

Miko: Did you know that the November contract for Crude oil hit $90.07 overnight?
T-Chan: I do now.
Miko: Aren't you worried?
T-Chan: Not Really.
Miko: But what if it's a cold winter?
T-Chan: No problem. I'm wearing a fur coat.

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 08:37:10 PDT - Link

RSS Fixed.

Thanks to Sam Ruby on the feedvalidator-users list, I was able to upgrade my feed to include the atom:link element.

I'm still having some backstage issues with the rel="self", since I generate a temporary feed file, and ask the feed validator to check it before I post it to the world, and, of course, the temp file URL does not match the final URL.

Sigh.

But still, embedding the feeds URL in the feed data is a good idea. I just wish it would have been simpler. My Really Simple Syndication file has taken a step towards Reletively Simple Syndication.

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 09:34:42 PDT - Link

Feed Validator Foibles

For some reason the Feed Validator has begin throwing a warning against my RSS 2.0 Feed:

line 1298, column 0: Missing atom:link with rel="self"

Thanks guys, but I don't think it's an error that my RSS 2.0 feed does not contain an atom element! I know there is a portion of the web community that wants to depreciate the vastly simpler RSS in favor of the precise, if verbose atom format, and maybe if I had a spare 100 hours, I'd write an atom feed generator. But in the meantime, I'll have to ignore your warning.

I do think it is a good idea to embed the source URL of the RSS file into the file itself, but I have yet to figure out a way to do it without violating the RSS 2.0 Spec.

The validator seems extra slow today. Perhaps I'm not the only one running into this issue and bouncing different feeds against it.

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 09:03:52 PDT - Link

The Anti-Seldon Strikes Again

President Bush's choice for heading family planning programming within the Department of Health and Human Services is a critic of birth control.

"Susan Orr, most recently an associate commissioner in the Administration for Children and Families, was appointed Monday to be acting deputy assistant secretary for population affairs," reports the Washington Post. "She will oversee $283 million in annual grants to provide low-income families and others with contraceptive services, counseling and preventive screenings."

Bush taps birth control critic to head family planning programming — Raw Story

Of course he would. Of course he would decide to put someone opposed to family planning — perhaps the most effective anti-poverty, pro-democracy policy a government can have — in charge of family planning.

This one really grabs my girtch. Overpopulation is one of the big three threats to civilization, and Bush's response is to do his best to prevent effective family planning. Once again, when faced with the choice of doing what's best for civilization, and following his belief in things without evidence, he's chosen what's worst for civilization.

Worst. President. Ever. (And getting worse.)

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 08:10:05 PDT - Link

$86.13

That's where the oil contract for November 2007 closed today. Remember I used to worry about the oil price when it reached $50? This morning on CNBC all the experts were calling for $100 oil — by the end of this year.

The experts are all blaming supply and demand, focusing on the demand side. None mentioned that conventional oil peaked in 2005, and the supply side of the equation is now driven more by geology than by economics.

Did you see 60 minutes last night? The show content was a bit of a yawn, but the Chevron commercial was riveting. They are spending big bucks to be able to say "We told you this was coming".

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:48:27 PDT - Link

OH! Look! Shiny Things!

I'm sure if Al Gore heard the same crap on the radio I heard yesterday he'd let loose one of those trademark sighs.

Every program seemed to be dedicated to his chances of running for president. None that I heard mentioned the Important Thing, which is that the world is literally in peril, and trying to get people to be aware of it was what the prize was all about.

Ironic, isn't it. He wins the Nobel Peace Prize for raising awareness of global climate change, but that was the last thing on the minds of the talk show hosts and call-in guests.

Sigh.

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 09:44:49 PDT - Link

Quid Pro Quo

I suggest the following deal. If the Telecoms want this....

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Wednesday that he will not sign a new eavesdropping bill if it does not grant retroactive immunity to U.S. telecommunications companies that helped conduct electronic surveillance without court orders.

Associated Press via Yahoo

I say we give it to them. In exchange we (The People) demand Net Neutrality, now and in perpituity.

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:40:11 PDT - Link

Gore wins Nobel Peace Prize

There will be plenty of media coverage on this today. Fortunately, my Tivo is off line until my replacement hard drive arrives, so I won't need to be exposed to the right wing whining about "what's global warming got to do with peace?". Well, idiots, think about entire countries going underwater. By 2100. Think about a billion people in Asia who will lose their water supply when the glaciers melt away. Do you think the people in the low countries will take to boats an moor themselves to their chimneys? Do you think the people who lose their fresh water supplies will calmly sit and watch their children die?

I do not envy the job the next president will face.

The next president will be the first to serve their term post-peak oil. Every year of the next president's term there will be less oil on the market than the year before. It's going to be hard to do the 'happy-happy' dance when people are in gas lines, or when the first American town loses their natural gas pressure in February.

The next president will serve in a time where the effects of global warming will not be measured by lasers from space, but by backyard rain gauges.

The next president will face the stark realities of overpopulation.

There is speculation that winning the Nobel Peace Prize may tip Gore back into the presidential race. I suspect he would have to be dragged, kicking and screaming back into the White House, where he would have to drag us, and the rest of the world into the inevitable future, made bleaker and more distant by Bush, Inc.

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 08:17:47 PDT - Link

Friday Cat Blogging

Meöw! Barn Cat, Zermatt Switzerland.

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 08:17:47 PDT - Link

Got Ice?

The Arctic sea ice is disintegrating "100 years ahead of schedule", having dropped 22% this year below the previous minimum low, and it may completely disappear as early as the northern summer of 2013. This is far beyond the predictions of the International Panel on Climate Change and is an example of global warming impacts happening at lower temperature increases and more quickly than projected. What are the lessons from the Arctic summer of 2007? www.carbonequity.info

The decrease in both extent and thickness suggests that the summer sea ice has lost more than 80 per cent of its volume in 40 years. When the sea ice thins to around half a metre in thickness, it will be subject to even more rapid disintegration by wave and wind action.

The Big Melt: lessons from the Arctic summer of 2007 [.pdf]

Graphic: Carbon Equity

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:32:22 PDT - Link

My Last Car?

The Aptera looks like the car I'd build, if I built cars. (But I hope they know more about car design then they do about web design. Less glitz, more data, please.)

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 08:04:41 PDT - Link

It's Too Late To Prevent Serious Damage From Climate Change.

TONY JONES: So, where does it put us in terms of where we thought we were? For example, I know that if we have exceeded that threshold, that threshold wasn't meant to come for some years, was it?

TIM FLANNERY: That's right. We thought we'd be at that threshold within about a decade, we thought we had that much time. But the new data indicates that in about mid 2005 we crossed that threshold. So as of mid 2005, there was about 455 parts per million of what's called carbon dioxide equivalent. And that's a figure that's gathered by taking the potential of all of the 30 greenhouse gases and converting them into carbon dioxide potential, so we call it CO2 equivalent.

Flannery discusses greenhouse gas levels ABC [Australia]

I'll just juxtapose the news of passing this grave threshold with this...

Is there anything that could sensibly be described as welfare that the rich can now gain? A month ago the Financial Times ran a feature on how department stores are trying to cater for "the consumer who has Arrived". But the unspoken theme of the article was that no one arrives - the destination keeps shifting. The problem, an executive from Chanel explained, is that luxury has been "over-democratised". The rich are having to spend more and more to distinguish themselves from the herd: in the United States the market in goods and services designed for this purpose is worth £720bn a year. To ensure that you cannot be mistaken for a lesser being, you can now buy gold-and-diamond saucepans from Harrods.

...

Is it not time to recognise that we have reached the promised land, and should seek to stay there? Why would we want to leave this place in order to explore the blackened wastes of consumer frenzy followed by ecological collapse? Surely the rational policy for the governments of the rich world is now to keep growth rates as close to zero as possible?

In this age of diamond saucepans, only a recession makes sense George Monbiot

Christmas Displays are already up at the local Lowes. It seems like half the vacant buildings in town have been converted into Halloween super stores for the month. Think of this article next time you see an "Inflatable Ghost Tunnel" or Santa Airplane, or giant snow globe other such examples of consumer crap. They are each incredible waste of irreplaceable resources designed to burn energy just to maintain their shape.

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 09:10:36 PDT - Link

Friday Cat Blogging

"Your Move."

"J-9."

"HIT! You sunk My Battle Cat!"

Swiss Navy Cat, Mürren Switzerland

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 08:20:39 PDT - Link

Is Bush The Anti-Seldon?

I posted this short rant over at theoildrum.com but I thought I should reproduce it here:

I just finished re-reading Azimov's Fountation Trilogy, and I'm sometimes taken with the notion that Bush is the anti-Seldon.

Hari Seldon invented the mathmatics of Psychohistory, and first discovered that the empire would fall, and if nothing were done the universe would suffer 30,000 years of war and misery. He developed a detailed plan that would reduce these 30,000 to a mere 1,000.

It seems like every step the Bush administration takes, from the economy, to Iraq, to the environment, to energy and coming soon, to Iran, is as carefully calculated as the fictional Seldon plan, but in this case the plan is to tear apart the social fabric of our civilization. Every policy tilts away from obvious, demonstratable facts. Every policy leads us farther away from the inevitable future. Every policy allocates resources in ways guaranteed to make the shift to a post peak oil world a longer, harder and bleaker path.

</rant> I need more coffee. "It's latte, then you think!"

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 14:38:54 PDT - Link

Some Days Social Commentary Is 90% Proximity

From fark.com

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 10:59:13 PDT - Link

No Newts

CNN is just now reporting that Newt Gingrich will not seek the presidency in 2008.

I'm of two minds about this. First, there is great relief that he won't be president. The very last thing civilization needs is for the United States to elect another president who petulantly places his personal beliefs above measurable facts. My relief is twinged with a little whistfullness, since it was going to be such a giggle making fun of his rediculous positions (on nearly everything).

Newt running would also have been good for my health. Nothing gets my cardio up like listening to him extol the virtues of 'personal choice' and 'personal responsibility' when talking about issues like health care and social security. On one hand his rhetoric places the individual on a pedestal, stripping them of the advantages of the collective good, (or as the founding fathers would call it, "Government") and on the other he supports the growth of economic and political of private corporations to the point where they are no longer answerable to We The People.

Take health care. Newt wants the power of individual choice to take the lead in moderating drug costs. I can just hear that conversation now:

Hello? Glaxo-Smith-Kline? Yes. I'd like to talk to you about lowering my drug prices. 102,862,111 people ahead of me? Sure, I'll hold.

Yes Newt, like that's going to work.

Mind you, I think I'd have a chance if it were just Glaxo, or Smith, or Kline, I could take them. But as it is, it's three on one, and I don't have much of a chance.

Which brings me to another point. Why is it that Newt supports corporations 'marrying' willy-nilly, but he's opposed to giving individuals that same right? GlaxoSmithKline - think about it. Any way you slice it that's at least two of the same, right? Besides, Isn't that corporate polygamy? Shouldn't Newt be opposed to corporate polygamy?

I saw Newt do one of his debates. He had this great anecdotal story about how some friend had found a much cheaper source for some home medical device, but his insurance required him to buy it from a more expensive source. Newt told this story to illustrate how bad universal health care would be. It was a stirring tale, but he left out one critical detail. He never told us if the insurance company he was lambasting was public (Medicare, VA) or private. I'm guessing if it had been a government he'd have remembered that detail. As it was, he left the question open. I expect promoting private over public doesn't work so well if you let on that the example you are using against public was in fact committed by a private, for-profit corporation.

Pointing out these little inconsistencies would have been fun, but after the 2004 election I'm not convinced that enough of the American public could be fooled again.

The next president will be walking into a very different world, a world where the big problems will be overpopulation, declining energy resources and rising sea levels. Newt is singularly unqualified to lead the world in such troubled times. He's a man with a hammer, in a reality without nails. Good riddance.

Sat, 29 Sep 2007 11:04:57 PDT - Link

Friday Cat Blogging

Field Cat near Lauterbrunnen Switzerland

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 08:51:11 PDT - Link

Fountain

Water Fountain in Zürich, 2007.09.27

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 08:49:38 PDT - Link

Thoughts On Traveling In Switzerland.

This isn't so much a travelogue as a collection of thoughts I had while on the trip...

We couldn't find a direct flight from SFO to Zürich - the best option was to fly non-stop Frankfurt Germany and take a 35 minute flight to Zürich, then a train to our first hotel in Interlaken. Stopping in Washington DC would have taken us well out of our way (great-circle route wise), and added hours to the trip.

Flying 11 hours in steerage still really sucks. I thought this a lot during the 11 hours.

I took 1846 photos - with the camera in RAW + JPG mode to net 10.7 GB of files.

The Nikkor 18-200 VR lens is superb, if a little heavy. My only real complaint is the 'zoom creep' — when it's hanging on the strap over my shoulder the lens will tend to extend on it's own. This is a known issue with this lens.

The near instant-on feature of the Nikon D70s was critical to getting many photos. If you're picking a new camera, you should keep this in mind.

It was cloudy all the way to Germany, and only cleared up as we got over Switzerland.

From the air, Northern Switzerland was a patchwork of towns and villages, farm fields, and forests. Beautifully green!

There was a passport check in Zürich, but they just glanced at our passports. I was kind of hoping for an entry stamp.

There is a proper, major train station under the Zürich airport. We in the USA could learn from this. This is a subject for another rant, but I firmly believe that regional electrical rail will be critical to keeping the economy going in this now post-peak oil world. It was comforting and frustrating to experience the Swiss rail system. Comforting because rail travel, when done right, is simply better than air travel. I'm really looking forward to the day when I can catch a train the way we did there. Frustrating because the USA is so backwards in comparison - and we are still moving in the wrong direction. We're not going to need more highways and expanded airports when the amount of oil we have to burn keeps going down for the rest of time.

The Swisspass is wonderful. You can just hop on most trains and show it when they come around to check tickets. No waiting in line. No security checks. Just pick a car and settle into an empty seat, and off you go. (Some seats are reserved, look for a tag above the windows.) We splurged for 1st Class Passes.

I simply can't emphasize how pleasant rail travel is in Switzerland.

I don't sleep on planes. I dozed off for an hour on the way to Interlaken.

The trains are electric, and stunningly quiet. In Zermatt, I was standing 4 feet from one in the station. I stopped to mess with my Sidekick, and when I looked up the train was gone. I hadn't even heard it move.

We traveled with a backpack and a 22" roller bag each. On most trains, you can put your bags in the overhead rack, or between the back-to-back seats. On the scenic trains, there is room at the ends of the cars for your roller bags.

Most stations have ramps so you can change platforms without carrying your roller bags on stairs. (Except Thalwill, where we had to take stairs over the tracks.)

The First class cars were mostly empty, and people tended to speak in hushed tones. I've been in noisier churches.

Meals are more expensive in Switzerland. Almost twice what you'd expect to pay in the US. The meals, including lunches are also HUGENORMOUS.

Things close up at 6:00 to 6:30 (Except a few shops near the stations) and many stores are closed on Sundays. Plan ahead for this.

Switzerland, or at least the places we visited, seemed to be geared toward older tourists. There were a few 20-somethings in the cities but out in the mountains it was mostly 30+.

The Swiss love mountain hiking. Every train the headed to the mountains was packed with locals wearing well-broken in hiking boots and waking poles. We felt under dressed without hiking boots.

Many of the locals in those great boots were 65+. There's nothing like getting off a train with a couple of white haired ladies who then proceed to leave you in the dust. Uphill.

The Swiss dress more like Americans than any other nation I've visited in Europe. Jeans and tennis shoes (trainers) everywhere.

I saw 3 pickup trucks (of any type) in all of Switzerland. Yes, I counted. I saw a total of 5 Prius'. In comparison, saw 4 full size cow statues that were painted blue.

Most of the farms we passed were growing hay for the cows. The farms were incredibly neat and tidy. American farms are are frequently populated with rusting cars or trucks or farm implements. Swiss farms are populated with ancient, tiny hay barns with flower boxes.

Yes, they put cowbells on the cows.

Real cowbells do not make that damped "Tonk" sound found on "Don't Fear The Reaper" - they are more musical in tone.

A small herd grazing sounds like a big wind chime, and can be heard from nearly a kilometer away.

Montreux felt the way I wanted Monaco to feel. Monaco was unpleasantly busy and noisy, Montreux was simply friendly and comfortable.

Our hotel in Montreux, the Eden Palace, was next to the rebuilt Casino. The old Casino burned down in 1971, as immortalized in Deep Purple's Smoke On the Water, and yes, that song is part of the reason we stayed in Montreux.

Before we left there was a link on Drudge Report to a story talking about the immigration policies a far right party in Switzerland, which mentioned a poster of 3 white sheep kicking a black sheep out of the group. In all of Switzerland I saw the poster in two places, in the Genèva train station, and the Zürich train station (Where it had been vandalized with a swastika. I have a photo, but I won't be publishing it.) From the news story, you'd think the poster was all over.

My Sidekick III seemed to randomly from carrier to carrier, locking out the GPRS coverage. VERY FRUSTRATING. I didn't have that trouble in France with my Sidekick II. Danger should send a team of testers to Interlaken for a couple of weeks. Maybe it was because they dropped the 900 MHZ band support that the Sidekick II had.

Wife's Sidekick iD didn't work at all in Europe. It didn't even occur to me that they had dropped the 1800 MHz band as a cost savings. I guess the "International Roaming" you can sign up for means Canada, eh?"

Sat, 22 Sep 2007 09:16:44 PDT - Link

Friday Swiss Cat Blogging

Friendly wall cat in Montreux, Switzerland. (2007.09.12)

We're back, but still pretty jet-lagged. I've got several hundred photos to go through, but depending on my work schedule, it may be a month before I have a full photo gallery ready.

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 09:13:15 PDT - Link

Thursday Matterhorn Blogging

The Matterhorn from Zermatt Switzerland. Nikon D70s, 18-200VR 2007.09.16

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 20:35:16 PDT - Link

Friday Cat Blogging

Tory James

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 08:06:35 PDT - Link

Friday Cat Blogging

T-Chan

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 08:13:23 PDT - Link

Happy Birthday, Ranma

By my calculations, it was 20 years ago today that the first episode of Ranma 1/2 ran in Shonen Sunday #36.

I had grand plans to have finished Yellow by today, but real (and sometimes surreal) life got in the way. The good news is that I have been working on it. The bad news is that I started it sometime in 1999. The good news is that I have a chance to finished it before it is 10 years old.

I suppose one need only read the other posts in today's blog to understand why it has been difficult to get into writing a farcical romance.

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 22:35:54 PDT - Link

Cause...

On Sept. 18, 2002, CIA director George Tenet briefed President Bush in the Oval Office on top-secret intelligence that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction, according to two former senior CIA officers. Bush dismissed as worthless this information from the Iraqi foreign minister, a member of Saddam's inner circle, although it turned out to be accurate in every detail. Tenet never brought it up again.

Nor was the intelligence included in the National Intelligence Estimate of October 2002, which stated categorically that Iraq possessed WMD. No one in Congress was aware of the secret intelligence that Saddam had no WMD as the House of Representatives and the Senate voted, a week after the submission of the NIE, on the Authorization for Use of Military Force in Iraq. The information, moreover, was not circulated within the CIA among those agents involved in operations to prove whether Saddam had WMD.

Bush knew Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction By Sidney Blumenthal in Salon

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 08:38:05 PDT - Link

... And Effect

As we crossed the border and saw the last of the Iraqi flags, the tears began again. The car was silent except for the prattling of the driver who was telling us stories of escapades he had while crossing the border. I sneaked a look at my mother sitting beside me and her tears were flowing as well. There was simply nothing to say as we left Iraq. I wanted to sob, but I didn't want to seem like a baby. I didn't want the driver to think I was ungrateful for the chance to leave what had become a hellish place over the last four and a half years.

Leaving Home... By riverbend

The story of the singular act of falsifying WMD intelligence has been told many times before, but seldom in such detail.

The detailed story of a single Iraqi family leaving their homes because of the war is seldom told, but has happened to hundreds of thousands of families.

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 08:38:05 PDT - Link

Ice Cap Collapse

The Arctic ice cap has collapsed at an unprecedented rate this summer and levels of sea ice in the region now stand at record lows, scientists have announced.

Experts say they are "stunned" by the loss of ice, with an area almost twice as big as the UK disappearing in the last week alone.

...

If the increased rate of melting continues, the summertime Arctic could be totally free of ice by 2030.

Guardian [UK]

Just a few few months ago the predictions for an ice free arctic were for the 2100 range. Now it's likely to happen in my lifetime. If you have kids, they are likely to spend most of their lives on a planet without a summer ice-cap.

If you still have doubts about global warming, give a listen to the Electric Politics podcast of Anthropogenic Climate Change with Dr. Chris Rapley, "until recently head of the British Antarctic Survey and now moving to be the head of the British Science Museum."

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 12:40:56 PDT - Link

History May Not Repeat Itself, But It Does Rhyme A Lot*

From TIMESONLINE [U.K.]...

THE Pentagon has drawn up plans for massive airstrikes against 1,200 targets in Iran, designed to annihilate the Iranians' military capability in three days, according to a national security expert.

Alexis Debat, director of terrorism and national security at the Nixon Center, said last week that US military planners were not preparing for "pinprick strikes" against Iran's nuclear facilities. "They're about taking out the entire Iranian military," he said.

Next, from The New Yorker

They [the source's institution] have "instructions" (yes, that was the word used) from the Office of the Vice-President to roll out a campaign for war with Iran in the week after Labor Day; it will be coordinated with the American Enterprise Institute, the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, Commentary, Fox, and the usual suspects. It will be heavy sustained assault on the airwaves, designed to knock public sentiment into a position from which a war can be maintained. Evidently they don't think they'll ever get majority support for this-they want something like 35-40 percent support, which in their book is "plenty."

Then there's this — from 2003

Was the case for war, then, "a fraud, made up in Texas" for political advantage, as Sen. Kennedy has charged? Recall the comment White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card made last fall, when asked why the President was pressing his case for war just before the congressional elections. "You don't roll out a new product in August," Card replied. Around the same time, Jonah Goldberg, a gung-ho supporter of the war, reported in his syndicated column that Presidential adviser Karl Rove was giving Republicans "power-point presentations" on the advantages of the war to the GOP. Those political advantages may not be all that motivated the President to beat the war drums as he did, but the White House was surely aware of them and willing to exploit them.

Rewriting History by Jack Kenny at LewRockwell.com

Sun, 02 Sep 2007 10:23:34 PDT - Link

Craig's Comments.

Thanks to Senator Crag's (R-closet) police record, we all now know the signs that the guy in the next stall is trying to make contact. You'd think that somewhere along the way, as a public service, we would have been given the counter-sign for "not my thing". Craig's proposal was brought to a screeching halt when the man he was trying to pick up produced a badge, and a business card showing that he was a policeman. I suppose in the same situation I could rifle my wallet for my membership in the Democratic party and try a little humor to defuse the situation...

"Sorry - I don't go for that kind of thing — I'm a Democrat. I have always been a Democrat. Always. Well... Okay. There was that one time in school I voted for a Republican, but I was young, and still trying to work out my political orientation. I was all alone in the voting booth and..."

I'm unconvinced of Craig's comment about having a "Wide Stance". I'm not a small guy either, and when I'm on the commode, my stance is restricted by both my pants and underwear. It's unfortunate that his mug shot isn't full length — he must have been wearing M.C. Hammer pants in order to have enough stance to have his foot violate the next stall. [Hammertime!]

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 09:32:03 PDT - Link

Friday Cat Blogging

Tory and Miko, sharing the laundry pile. That spot on Miko's nose? We think he caught a claw from one of his brothers while practicing cat sumo.

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 08:35:36 PDT - Link

I Have A Bad Feeling About This...

Plesch and Butcher examine "what the military option might involve if it were picked up off the table and put into action" and conclude that based on open source analysis and their own assessments, the US has prepared its military for a "massive" attack against Iran, requiring little contingency planning and without a ground invasion.

Study: US preparing 'massive' military attack against Iran

"Little contingency planning"?!?!?!?! Yeah, right. Like that served us SO well in Iraq.

The study concludes that the US has made military preparations to destroy Iran’s WMD, nuclear energy, regime, armed forces, state apparatus and economic infrastructure within days if not hours of President George W. Bush giving the order. The US is not publicising the scale of these preparations to deter Iran, tending to make confrontation more likely. The US retains the option of avoiding war, but using its forces as part of an overall strategy of shaping Iran’s actions.

"The US retains the option of avoiding war" — somehow, I'm not comforted by those words. I have the Bad Feeling™ that once again the facts will be fixed around the policy, and Bush's policy is to bomb Iran.

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 08:45:16 PDT - Link

Hurry.

Methinks the Democrats should immediately hop back to DC to re-start the Senate session. The last thing this country needs is for Bush to make a recess appointment of the replacement of the Attorney General. (Unless, of course, the fix is already in, and the Dems have agreed to trade Cheney, and right of first refusal on a VP replacement, for a first round AG pick.) This is getting interesting, and more than a little spooky.

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 12:55:35 PDT - Link

Alberto Gonzales Pleads Guilty To Dogfighting Charges - Or Something Like That.

Not sure I caught the gist of the fractured news this morning on CNN, but from what I've gathered the Important Story™ of the day involved torturing dogs, the (soon to be) former Attorney General, the president, the NFL, and the Justice department. Apparently after serving his prison term, Gonzales will once again become eligible for the NFL draft, assuming he finds religion while in rehab. No dogs were harmed in the writing of this blog entry.

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 12:33:07 PDT - Link

Everything Old, Made New

Lehmans has a website, which is a bit, odd since they sell the sort of things that appeal to the kind of people who have no use for the internet. Things like Shoulder Yokes (handmade by an Amish craftsman) and matching wooden buckets, Enterprise Monarch Ornate wood cook stoves, and my favorite, the Home Queen Wringer Washer (Made in Saudi Arabia!?!?!?!)

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 09:52:18 PDT - Link

Friday Big, Wet Cat Blogging

Swimming Tiger at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 08:35:42 PDT - Link

Fresh Inrellef Gaue Formal Attire Make Centraliry

Sign in Shopping Mall, Shenzhen China

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 21:09:49 PDT - Link

US Patent 7224373

US Patent 7224373 makes four.

Wacky Indeed!

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 09:04:09 PDT - Link

Actual Fortune

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 09:01:54 PDT - Link

Friday Cat Blogging

Miko

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 07:56:59 PDT - Link

A Week Without Blogging

I started the year blogging every day for a month, and here in the summer doldrums I'm pretty much down to cat pictures once a week.

And what a week it was. I worked all of last weekend to get a project out, which finished just in time to dive into something else. Ah, life in a start-up.

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 07:56:59 PDT - Link

Nature Thinks A Vacuum Sucks.

As for the big political news of the week, Karl Rove leaving the Whitehouse, I've had a few thoughts:

— Rove was incredibly powerful in the administration, his leaving will open a dangerous vacuum.

— I wonder who will step in to fill that vacuum?

— Did he jump, or was he pushed?

— If he was pushed, who did the pushing? Was it Cheney? The neocons?

— Did he leave because he lost a fight about Iran? It seemed like the rhetoric had cooled in the past few months, then days after he announced, the administration began to rattle the sabers.

— Did he leave because he doesn't want to be around if/(when?) Bush takes action against Iran?

— Rove is making his exit just in time to take a nice vacation, then dive into the '08 elections. I wonder who's been calling him?

— Worst Case Scenario? Rove goes to work for Newt Gingrich. The last thing this nation needs is another president who does not believe in governing.

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 07:56:59 PDT - Link

Friday Cat Blogging

Tory - ready to travel.

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 22:56:32 PDT - Link

History.

Today, the Northern Hemisphere sea ice area broke the record for the lowest recorded ice area in recorded history. The new record came a full month before the historic summer minimum typically occurs. There is still a month or more of melt likely this year. It is therefore almost certain that the previous 2005 record will be annihilated by the final 2007 annual minima closer to the end of this summer.

The Cryosphere Today

This Photo is made up of today's image and an image from 10 years ago today.

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 20:33:14 PDT - Link

FYI: Dell Plans to Acquire ZING Systems Inc.

ROUND ROCK, Texas - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Dell announced today it has entered into an agreement to acquire privately-held ZING Systems Inc., a consumer technology and services company that focuses on always-connected audio and entertainment devices. In a move that reflects the renewed interest and energy being directed at its Consumer business, Dell plans to use ZING and its capabilities to continue improving the entertainment experiences it provides its customers.

Terms were not disclosed, and the purchase will not be final until all closing conditions are met. ZING is based in Mountain View, CA.

Nuf' Said.

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 20:55:17 PDT - Link

Friday Cat Blogging - Catterday Edition

T-chan.

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 09:09:21 PDT - Link

Now It's Global Dimming?

You know all that smog? Well, maybe it was helping to moderate global climate change from greenhouse gases. This BBC documentary on Global Dimming suggests that cleaning up the air might be making the world warmer.

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 21:49:23 PDT - Link

Friday Cat Blogging

Tory James smugly claims the bathtub.

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 08:27:15 PDT - Link

The YouTube Debate

1) It was better television. Anything that helps gets more voters watching is a good thing.

2) There is a huge difference between getting a hypothetical question from a journalist about gay marriage, and getting a question from two very real human beings who ask why they can't have the same marriage rights as everyone else. This was a question that could not be asked by proxy, it required the standing of the real people who were being wronged. Full marks for the question, unfortunately all of the candidates except Kucinich answered poorly.

3) The questions were frequently brilliant. Some were quite silly, some were dumb, but some were brilliant. I challenge you to look back to any previous debate and compare the questions. I suspect part of this is because with over 3000 questions to choose from, there were bound to be many that were very artfully posed.

4) It's time to vote Gravel off the island. Not that he wouldn't be much better president than Bush, it's just that he's never going to win. Sorry.

5) The feel of this debate was looser, there was more kidding around which gives us a better view of the whole persons who wish to become President. Joe Biden showed off his wicked sense of humor, which made me like him all the more. I already knew he was smart and thoughtful, but that wit would make for a very formidable President.

6) I'm not taken by Clinton, but it's just that she's so smart, and so polished that she never needed to struggle. She's almost too qualified. I'll get over it, we're going to need a very smart president to get us out of this mess.

7) Anderson Cooper was perfect for this roll. His joking with Kucinich was great fun, but Kucinich missed his cue to say to Anderson; "I thought you were great on 'The Mole'".

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 09:10:54 PDT - Link

I Got Nuthin....

Rickshaws in Nara, Japan. 2001.11.21 Nikon E990

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 17:15:41 PDT - Link

Friday Cat Blogging - Hogwarts Edition

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 08:16:17 PDT - Link

"What I Discovered Shocked Me"

I am a Major in the United States Army. When looking at this report for the first time, one may legitimately ask why an Army officer is writing about energy issues. The genesis for this project began many months ago when I was conducting research for a project related to the development of the future force in the US Army. I believed it was important to include an effective assessment of what the world might look like in the year the force was projected to complete its initial fielding (2030). So I set out to discover what some of the best minds in the world had to say about what the world might look like 20-plus years from now. Specifically, I intended to examine population growth, food production, water availability, and energy supplies. What I discovered shocked me.

Just under the radar of general public visibility a campaign has been waged for the past five or six years by geologists, scientists, economists, and former oil company executives to educate and inform all who would listen concerning serious supply issues related to the world’s primary energy source: crude oil. Like most people, I had never heard of the term "peak oil" before 2003, and had not given any thought to the possibility of what might happen if the supply of oil were to plateau and subsequently decline. After reading literally hundreds of sources on the subject and interviewing some of the key figures in the field, my eyes were indeed opened.

On the Precipice: Energy Security and Economic Stability on the Edge — Daniel L. Davis

Mr Davis' report [.pdf 530K, 39 pages] is the best summary of the peak oil issue I've ever seen. I simply cannot urge you enough to read this.

Really. Seriously. Read. This. Report.

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 07:18:55 PDT - Link

Are these the last days of the Oil Age?

Oil ruled the 20th century; the shortage of oil will rule the 21st. There is now no doubt about the rising trend in oil prices. In 2003 a barrel of Brent crude sold for $29; in 2004 it rose to $38; in 2005 it rose to $54.50; in 2006 it rose to $65. Last Friday the price closed at $77.50. Some dealers expect it to test the $80 level quite shortly.

Times Online [UK]

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 23:35:02 PDT - Link

Holy Crap. The Wall Street Journal Discovers Peak Oil!

World oil and gas supplies from conventional sources are unlikely to keep up with rising global demand over the next 25 years, the U.S. petroleum industry says in a draft report of a study commissioned by the government.

...

Houston investment banker Matthew Simmons takes a pessimistic view. He believes the world should be preparing for sharply lower oil production. He points out the NPC study didn't squarely address one important issue raised by Mr. Bodman in requesting the study: the point at which global oil production will plateau and then begin to decline, often referred to by the shorthand term "peak oil."

"We should be preparing for a time when, in 10, 15 or 20 years, oil production is likely to be 40 million barrels a day to 60 million barrels a day, not 120 million," he said.

Wall Street Journal

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 23:35:02 PDT - Link

The Obesity Epidemic

Robert Lustig: I've heard those same concerns you know, why, if we have so many calories why aren't we fatter. Well there are a few reasons why that might be. I do want to mention that the American food industry produces 3,900 calories per capita per day. We can only eat 1,800 calories per capita per day. In other words the American food industry makes double the amount of food that we can actually use. Who eats the rest? We do, through this mechanism, they actually know that by putting fructose into the foods that we eat, for instance pretzels — why do you need fructose in pretzels, why do we need fructose in hamburger buns? [emphasis added - J]

ABC Ausralia

This is a fascinating article, pointing to fructose as a primary driver in the obesity epidemic.

Of course, fructose was invented in 1966, and was introduced into soft drinks in 1980. It was introduced as a lower-cost substitute for beet or cane sugar.

The food industry is, if course, vigorously disputing the research.

Once again we see that corporate profit trumps human welfare.

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 08:42:02 PDT - Link

Friday Cat Blogging - Saturday Edition

Cousin Oberon

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 10:15:22 PDT - Link

A Few Words

I wrote this on the plane last week, while traveling to Minneapolis for a memorial to my mom.

Of Cabins, Lakes, and Sky

On a day like this, but it was night.
In a place like this, but that's not right.
There was no moon, yet it was bright.
Perhaps I'd best recount the sight.

      Beyond the cabin's window glow,
        boats slumbered in the silent flow.
      Sleepy waves embraced the docks,
        and kissed the shell-strewn sand.

      I wondered later of that whim,
        that set her to an evening swim.
      Perhaps it was the fragrant breeze,
        perhaps the cormorant's call.

      The stars were bright as times ago,
        in summers when the ice did flow.
      That day was hot, and the water sweet,
        as warm as mother's arms.

      A summer breeze came up in time,
        and whispered secrets in the pine.
      She swam alone that summers 'eve,
        with water and the stars.

      But suddenly the sky went bright,
        she gasped aloud as if in fright.
      But wonder was her mood that night,
        and now I shall recount the sight.

      Stabbing South from Northern climes,
        in green and blue and wavy lines,
      Arora's hues did fill her heart,
        and take her breath away.

      "Come look, come see!" she called aloud,
        hoping soon to draw a crowd.
      Arora played to her that night,
        there was no second act.

      Arora took a curtain call,
        a sight that I can still recall,
      To see her fill her stage with light,
        and yet the show had ended.

Of bandages upon skinned knees,
   and Christmas presents we received,
Of snowmen tall, and autumn leaves
   and castles great, and sprouting seeds...

From garden reef to mountain grand,
   to southern cross and temple sand.
The creaking of her rocking chair,
   the glow of silver in her hair...

No gold could buy, no hand could thieve,
   the treasured gift I did receive.
And all these things I now perceive,
   for wonder was her gift to me.

Of Cabins, Lakes, and Sky — Joseph Palmer — July 2007

Yeah, I'm no Robert Frost. It doesn't quite scan right, sorry.

But it really happened. I was there. It was Floyd Lake, and it happened something like 35 years ago. It must have been the remnants of a solar flare, by the time I was out of the cabin the main event was over.

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 10:15:22 PDT - Link

Mexico's Oil Production is Collapsing

Production from Mexico's Cantarell field is collapsing, and production from new fields are not making up the difference. It appears very likely that Mexico has permanently passed its peak oil production. On top of that, domestic consumption is rising, creating the classic Export Land effect: declining production and rising domestic consumption equal accelerated declines in exports. Taxes from these export revenues generate the largest share of revenue for the federal government. Recent reductions in the tax rate that the government applies to PEMEX, the state oil company, shows that this key source of revenue is failing. The collapse of Mexican oil production has been extensively discussed elsewhere-here it is only my aim to highlight this as a component in the collapse of the Mexican Nation-State, and the positive feedback loops between the two events.

Mexico: A Nation-State Dissolves? — Jeff Vail at The Oil Drum

Mr. Vail has put together a devastating look into the future of Mexico.

The White House knows about this, and has put their Top Men on it:

ARLINGTON, Virginia - KBR announced today that its Government and Infrastructure division has been awarded an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to support the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in the event of an emergency. KBR is the engineering and construction subsidiary of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL).

...

The contract, which is effective immediately, provides for establishing temporary detention and processing capabilities to augment existing ICE Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) Program facilities in the event of an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S., or to support the rapid development of new programs. The contingency support contract provides for planning and, if required, initiation of specific engineering, construction and logistics support tasks to establish, operate and maintain one or more expansion facilities.

The contract may also provide migrant detention support to other U.S. Government organizations in the event of an immigration emergency, as well as the development of a plan to react to a national emergency, such as a natural disaster. In the event of a natural disaster, the contractor could be tasked with providing housing for ICE personnel performing law enforcement functions in support of relief efforts.

www.halliburton.com

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 09:28:32 PDT - Link

What Part Of "High Crime" Don't You Understand?

WASHINGTON - President Bush ordered former counsel Harriet Miers to defy a congressional summons, even as a second former aide revealed new details Wednesday about administration dismissals of federal prosecutors.

Philly.com

Whoever corruptly, or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication influences, obstructs, or impedes or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper administration of the law under which any pending proceeding is being had before any department or agency of the United States, or the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquiry or investigation is being had by either House, or any committee of either House or any joint committee of the Congress—

Shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both.

TITLE 18, PART I, CHAPTER 73, 1505. Obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies, and committees

That's a bald felony, committed by the President of the United States.

Impeachment is SO on the table — we're gonna need more tables.

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 15:36:14 PDT - Link

Money Week Sees The Dark

With global economic growth of 4.5% a year forecast, the IEA estimates that oil demand will hit 95.8m barrels a day by 2012, from 81.6m barrels a day this year. But at the same time, oil cartel Opec's production is expected to fall 2m barrels a day by 2009, while non-Opec supply will be down 800,000.

Lawrence Eagles, the refreshingly plain-speaking head of the IEA's oil industry and markets unit told The Telegraph: "The results of our analysis are quite strong. Either we need to have more supplies coming on stream or we need to have lower demand growth."

Money Week

Money Week is responding to the July 2007 International Energy Agency (EIA) Report (PDF Link to Wall Street Journal site)

If course, this information has been available to anyone with a web browser and an open mind for over two years. This chart is from Congressman Roscoe Bartlett's Special Order Speech OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL given in the House of Representatives, April 20, 2005.

Take a close look at the chart. Prior to this report, the IEA always assumed that the Earth would magically step up meet any and all demand with exponentialy more oil. This report is the first time that the IEA has publicly recognized that Demand might outstrip supply.

I wonder if it will take two more years for the IEA to recognize that the peak of conventional oil occurred in May, 2005, and that the crash of production in Cantarell (the worlds third largest producing feild) means that the world has well and truly peaked.

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 08:30:12 PDT - Link

Oh, BTW, Impeachment Is 100% On The Table.

Just thought you'd like to know.

"It'll take too long." is no excuse. This country is angry about a number of things, and it's time for some accountability.

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 13:33:30 PDT - Link

Objects In Mirror Are Further Than They Appear

Matthew R. Simmons, head of Simmons & Company International, a Houston-based energy investment bank, doesn't just believe that peak oil has already happened. He told EnergyTechStocks.com that in another year or so the world will wake up and say — in Simmons' words - "Oh, damn. We peaked in May 2005."

Simmons believes the world hit peak oil back in May 2005 because that's when production at the world's second biggest oil field — the Cantarell complex in Mexico — started a precipitous decline, which several observers have since attributed largely to mismanagement by Mexico's state oil enterprise.

energytechstocks.com

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 13:33:30 PDT - Link

Friday Cat Blogging

Miko and Tory

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 21:28:44 PDT - Link

They Hate Us For Our Net Neutrality

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has decided to abandon net neutrality and allow telecoms companies to charge websites for access.

The FTC said in a report that, despite popular support for net neutrality, it was minded to let the market sort out the issue.

This means that the organisation will not stand in the way of companies using differential pricing to make sure that some websites can be viewed more quickly than others. The report also counsels against net neutrality legislation.

vnunet

How ironic that I came across this on July Fourth. In the week that "We The People" celebrate our independence and freedom, an agency of our no longer representative government has decided that individual freedom and choice shall take a back seat to corporate profit and greed.

Chances are, when you listen to the radio, or go to a movie, or watch TV, or buy a book, or read a newspaper or buy a CD, the content is owned by one of the big six media companies, and now they want the same control over the (US) internet.

The ISPs want to sell your eyes to the top six. They want to turn the internet into just another conduit between your wallet and their bottom line.

Don't believe the fast lane argument. It's about building toll roads to their content, adding roadblocks and potholes to free content.

ZDnet provides more:

"In the absence of significant market failure or demonstrated consumer harm, policy makers should be particularly hesitant to enact new regulation in this area." — FTC Chair Deborah Platt Majoras

The reason, Ms. Platt Majoras, that there is an absence of significant market failure, is that we have defacto net neutrality today. The regulations you warn against will codify that working, open, market condition.

But that's the problem, isn't it. In the Neocon view of the world, in this case the absence of significant market failure is a significant failure in itself. Like a waterwheel in a still pond, there is no profit in a flat playing field. Higher profit for the ISPs will require a gradient, and big media will share a little of their purse for a bigger percentage of eyeball time.

We've already seen Newton Minnow's prediction of a