Mars' Carbon Footprint

Here's a bit of news that I find very exciting- NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover detected carbon-based molecules in sedimentary rocks on Mars and seasonal methane variations in the Martian atmosphere. While this doesn't mean that NASA discovered life on Mars, it does mean that, at least at one time, life was possible on Mars. With the discovery of these tantalizing hints that life may have existed on Mars, the Mars 2020 Rover mission takes on a renewed urgency.

I periodically blog about Mars- in fact, Mars came up as a subject of last month's Secret Science Club lecture. I feel that humanity eventually needs to get it's ass together and colonize other planets, or put succinctly:





Learning more about the red planet is crucial for humanity's long-term goals, especially in light of stupid geopolitical events, which are increasingly looking like an explanation for the Fermi Paradox.

Recipe for Ratfucking

I've been scratching my glabrous pate lately about the 'jungle primaries' that took place in California, that bizarre 'top two' system that makes one-party elections possible. Everything fell into place for me when I learned that the system was pushed for by then governor Arnold Schwarzenegger- on the face of it, the system sounds like serious Republican ratfucking:


“We want to change the dysfunctional political system and we want to get rid of the paralysis and the partisan bickering,” then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who championed the electoral reform into reality, said in celebrating its approval by California’s voters in 2010. “Those are huge changes that will change everything in the future.”


The reason why he wanted to get rid of partisan bickering is because, in California, the Republican party has slipped to 'third party' status- partisan politics is deadly to a rump party.

The 'top two' primary system can be manipulated by unscrupulous Republicans running fake Democrats or fomenting internecine Democratic squabbling in order to split votes. The whole damn thing is a mess.

For a reliably progressive state, California sure has some insane state laws... I'm looking at YOU, Prop 13! Luckily, the two tier primary system didn't adversely affect the electoral prospects for Democrats this year, but things could have gone differently, as intended by the architects of this bullshit legislation.

Somebody, Please, Think of the Wankers!

Seems like a lot of people, by which I mean d00dz, are upset that the Miss America pageant is dumping the swimsuit competition.

https://wonkette.com/634828/lets-swim-in-the-tears-of-men-mourning-the-loss-of-the-miss-america-swimsuit-contest

It’s getting so a guy can’t even catch a glimpse of ankle these days, so it’s no wonder that guys are in a tizzy. As if that weren’t bad enough, this is a harbinger of a slippery slope... next thing you know, Penthouse Magazine is going to feature architectural photos in the centerfold.

Pushing the Bounds of Acceptable Discourse

I’ve been grappling all day with Trump’s morning tweet about how, as president, he could pardon himself. On the face of it, it’s a ludicrous assertion. While Trump is not an intelligent man, he is a man of low cunning (to crib a joke from an old Life in Hell panel, he is “stupid like pig but cunning like serpent”)... there is a very good reason for this ridiculous statement.

Trump is floating a trial balloon, by which I mean a pre-trial balloon: by introducing the bizarre notion that he can pardon himself, he is pushing the boundaries of acceptable discourse. He, his minions, and the corporate propaganda outlets that back him will repeat the notion in order to normalize a previously unthinkable position. Given the piss-poor performance of the mainstream media in holding Trump accountable for his atrocities and the complicity of the Republican Congress, this strategy just might work.

With Boredom Comes Mischief

It's a quiet night on the job, the weather is foul outside, so I had some time for some mischief... idle hands and all that. Poking around the t00bz, I ran into Vic Berger's photoshop of Trump and wondered why nobody had made an animated GIF using it. Dicking around with GIMP and an online GIF maker, then adding a soundtrack, I came up with this:

I'm surprised I haven't run into this before... after all, even the guy's fans picture him as a frog.

Hat tip to Smut, he's a master of the animated GIF.

Feel free to share, even to improve if your photomanipulation skills are better than mine, which they are.

Walking With and Without Ginger

Yesterday, I arrived at work shortly before 5PM, and my initial task was to help the tail end of the day shift lock up the joint after the tourists left. Oddly enough, everybody was out shortly after 5, rather than the usual 5:30 weekday exodus. After everybody left, I decided I'd spend some quality time with my beloved Ginger. I had to do an inspection tour of the site, and Ginger usually trots along behind me as I make sure everything is ship-shape.

About halfway through my walkabout, Ginger decided to plop herself down on a convenient perch. I suspect that she was reluctant to follow me through a section of the property occupied by about twenty or thirty geese. Most of the geese onsite are overly tame, but Ginger, being small and a predator, would probably have faced a gauntlet of angry birds. I perambulated the property and at one of the distant corners, I ran into a critter which probably would have been scared off by Ginger:

It was a relief not to have to deal with death and dismemberment, though this cottontail was probably big enough to challenge my feline associate.

I walked back the way I had come, through the gauntlet of geese, and reconnected with my precious kitty:

What a precious, precious kitty! It being a muggy day, I decided to groom Ginger a bit, merely using my fingers to comb some excess fur off of her muscular form. Ginger is one of those easily distracted cats, she typically never sat still long enough to brush, but I learned my lesson, and decided to apply operant conditioning. If you want the cat to behave in a particular manner, reward that behavior... a handful of kibble, a small mountain of fur, and Ginger was as pretty as a picture.

The Traditional June First Post

As is typical, I take time out on the first day of June to extend birthday greetings to my super snarky sister. As Irish twins, in our childhood we were impossible to be around for the days we were the same age, and the family basically resigned itself to constant bickering until my birthday rolled around and I 'lapped' her agewise, so to speak.

Things have mellowed considerably, and there is no bickering between us at this time of year. She's been particularly busy lately, having gone to Berkeley for her oldest son's graduation. She is now playing host to three of his college buddies who road-tripped east with the lad (two of them had never been to the east coast) and are now staying in the DC metro area for a few days. To make things even more hectic, my nephew's girlfriend is coming to DC for a summer internship, so the house will be pretty crowded for a while. We were raised in the tradition of hospitality, so she is continuing the family practice of amassing an extended family. It's what we do... we nerd out and we take in additional 'relatives'. I have no doubt that my sister's birthday party this year will last all weekend-long.