Caturday Night Special, Episode VII

Southern Hospitality

Some people can learn from experience:

“I just left a sporting goods store and you would think that the number-one selling item would be plywood or potable water or gasoline right now,” he said. “Apparently it is AR-15s and .223 ammo. I watched at least 20 people buy AR-15s and cases of .223.”

Personally, the AR-15 wouldn't be my first choice for a main battle-rifle, but having something is far better than having nothing. The optimal time to prepare is before it happens, not when the rumbling of impending doom is fast approaching.

I'll take a moment here to plug one of the few government entity I unabashedly support: The Civilian Marksmanship Program. The M1 Garand is a fantastic rifle; Boston's Gun Bible rates it as an excellent main battle-rifle, both for ruggedness and stopping-power, and it's available through the CMP for a very affordable price for those that take a little time to fill out some forms and join an accredited local organization.

Yes, yes it is

With editoral-blogging goodness:

Elected on the promise to end the war, Pelosi and her Democrats have instead voted repeatedly to fund it until the next administration. Even more galling to the anti-war crowd is that there are even more troops in Iraq under Pelosi's Congress than there ever were during Republican Congresses.

But surely they had to be doing something productive... Oh, but they were.

Ideally, this would put to rest the asinine notion that women act any differently than men when saddled with power. Drunk is drunk, and anything in the way when that inebriated cretin assumes control of the heavy machinery will be just as dead. The heavy machinery doesn't give two hoots in Hell about who's driving.

On the plus side, I feel less nauseous about her now than when she assumed the Speaker of the House position. Like an unstable boulder above a mountain roadway, she had potential to sow destruction, but in the midst of grandstanding and rhetoric, she ended up a pebble in the drainage ditch instead. Small blessings, I suppose.

UK: Unlawful Knives

Being able to predict these things doesn't make me happier when it happens:

The researchers said there was no reason for long pointed knives to be publicly available at all.

They consulted 10 top chefs from around the UK, and found such knives have little practical value in the kitchen.

Some observations from this particular article:

- Academic titles are not an accurate rubric for intelligence, only for adherence to scholastic dogma.

- It may be noted that a straight-razor has no pointed tip on the end, and yet no sane individual would argue that it is not a potentially lethal weapon. Alternately, a stilleto has no edge, but the point and structure of the blade make it singularly useful to perforate the target.

- In order to prove the general case, a study will now be done on the theory that sharp items may have increased chances for inflicting lacerations/incisions when handled in a negligent manner. Licenses will be proposed and issued after background-checks, and mandatory registration of said objects will be effective immediately. Cue blunt-object assault epidemic. Rinse and repeat.

- A longer knife is more difficult to conceal on one's person, and is more easily blocked in hand-to-hand combat. From the mouth of the Home Office spokesperson:

"The law already prohibits the possession of offensive weapons in a public place, and the possession of knives in public without good reason or lawful authority, with the exception of a folding pocket knife with a blade not exceeding three inches."

As the flight attendants on the various hijacked flights on September 11, 2001 would testify, a three-inch blade is more than adequate for dispatching a struggling victim.

Evidently, the Der Staat did get the memo:

United Kingdom police have arrested 2,500 people and stopped and searched a total of 55,000 during a massive clampdown on knife crime prompted by a series of high-profile murders, the Home Office said on Monday...

Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced at the launch of the programme that prosecutors should get tough on young people found carrying weapons, with a presumption to prosecute those aged 16 or 17 rather than to let them off with a caution.

Smith said in London alone, prosecutions for possession of a bladed weapon or knife had increased by 150% since April compared with the same period in 2007.

As part of the programme, officers have also carried out home visits or sent letters to parents of those suspected of carrying knives.

But it's in our best interests, of course, since no one has been arrested without just cause. Just kidding:

They behaved as if they had never seen a penknife before, pulling out the bottle-opener, the corkscrew, the thing that gets stones out of horses' hooves. "This device has a locking blade," said the constable. My goodwill towards the police began to give way to alarm. I reached for my mobile to call the lawyers and explain that I was going to be late but the constable stopped me. "Turn that phone off," he said. "You're about to be arrested for possessing offensive weapons and carrying a bladed instrument in public. You'll be allowed one call when we get you to Charing Cross police station."

My advice to you amiable folk across the pond: Get armed, get a clue, or get out. Your government isn't concerned with your safety. They can't, and more importantly, they won't save you. You are fatted lambs, and the gates to the slaughterhouse are opening.

But who am I kidding? There's a saying here: So goes California, so goes the nation. The United States has an absolutely distasteful habit of looking to Europe, and particularly the UK for "progressive viewpoints". What exactly are you, you lot of livestock, progressing to? Some of you might get it, but it's comfortable to believe that it won't happen, and you'll shake the feeling for a few days. But it comes back, doesn't it?

You always keep the animal calm before the knife comes out.

Caturday Night Special, Episode VI

Hate. This. State.

Ever since the Assembly and Senate fixed the budget problem, attention in Sacramento has shifted to alleviating draconian private-property restrictions throughout the state, encouraging new business and stimulating the real-estate market in areas crippled by the sub-prime loan collapse. Just kidding:

Under the draft plan released by the ARB [Air Resources Board] in June, the state seeks to eliminate 2 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions through land-use decisions that will reduce the need for Californians to drive. But Nichols said the ARB would not get involved in micromanaging local land-use decisions.

“The ARB will not be making land-use decisions,” she said. “We will just set targets. It will be up to the locals to implement the plans that meet those targets.”

Translation: "The ARB will not be making land-use decisions."

Don't worry, it's all part of the plan to save us from ourselves:

“SB 375 would become the vehicle to implement the land use portion of AB 32,” said Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board. “It would carry out the draft scoping plan for the land-use sector.”

AB 32, introduced by Fabian Nunez (D, Los Angeles), hosts some incredible gems of bulletproof logic and scientific rigor:

Global warming poses a serious threat to the economic well-being, public health, natural resources, and the environment of California. The potential adverse impacts of global warming include the exacerbation of air quality problems, a reduction in the quality and supply of water to the state from the Sierra snowpack, a rise in sea levels resulting in the displacement of thousands of coastal businesses and residences, damage to marine ecosystems and the natural environment, and an increase in the incidences of infectious diseases, asthma, and other human health-related problems.

Once the premise is established, the ends justify any means. All they're missing is the tagline "... for the children.":

The bill would require the state board to monitor compliance with and enforce any rule, regulation, order, emission limitation, emissions reduction measure, or market-based compliance mechanism adopted by the state board, pursuant to specified provisions of existing law. The bill would authorize the state board to adopt a schedule of fees to be paid by regulated sources of greenhouse gas emissions, as specified.

In making the determinations required by subdivision (b), the state board shall consider all relevant information pertaining to greenhouse gas emissions reduction programs in other states, localities, and nations, including the northeastern states of the United States, Canada, and the European Union.

What? Did anyone read this bill before it was rammed through the Assembly? Remember, the members of these boards are appointed officials, and like the already-declared-illegal Coastal Commission, have humbly offered to expedite your hearing by serving as lawgiver, judge, jury, executor and executioner.

According to an unofficial ballot from the vote, some of the assembly members did, or at least had an instinctual dislike for AB 32... However, it's worse than I thought, as it's not just the politicians that are drinking the Kool-Aid:

The California Field Poll has released today a survey of our state's voters that has astronomically high levels of support for the bill passed last year to reduce greenhouse gases to mitigate the effects of global warming. By a margin of 79% to 17%, California's voters approve of AB 32. 81% responded that global warming was a very serious (56%) or somewhat serious (25%) problem while only 17% stated that it was not a serious problem.

Translation: 4 of 5 Californians implicitly agree that public education is working as intended, and as a result harbor a mental deficiency that should exclude them from approaching within 100' of a official polling area. As Triton has eloquently covered as of late, voting is a privilege, not a right, and should be restricted. And yes, I'd give up my vote for more liberty. Your bid, California.

And not that I had a special reserve of expectations, but that includes the catfish-wrap right here in town. That's right, CN&R, I'm calling you out.

Concealment does not equal cover

From the technological front:

- An ounce of prevention:

If you are logging in to your Gmail account from different locations and you would like to benefit from this option only when you are using unsecured networks, you can force it by manually typing https://mail.google.com before you log in. This will access the SSL version of Gmail and it will be persistent over your entire session and not only during authentication.

Just a word to the wise for all the Gmail users out there.

- An argument about the conditional-application of the Fifth Amendment:

... U.S. v. Boucher could become a landmark case. The question of whether a criminal defendant can be legally compelled to cough up his encryption passphrase remains an unsettled one, with law review articles for the last decade arguing the merits of either approach. (A U.S. Justice Department attorney wrote an article in 1996, for instance, titled "Compelled Production of Plaintext and Keys.")

My advice: Use Linux. (Yeah, I couldn't help myself.) Grab TrueCrypt. Use it, use it, use it. Of course, I don't condone using this for evil purposes, but use of it is to exercise and to affirm the inviolable right every citizen has:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Use a strong password, and it is unlikely that even an fully-funded government cracking-attempt would recover the key before the next millennium.

Caturday Night Special, Episode V

Skill Sets: Rope Use

I'll start with a topic that I have an arguable level of expertise in: knots, lashings and splices. The following knots are the minimal level of proficiency; there are other knots that are useful, but these knots span the range of useful application for most people.

Remember: Any knot or splice will weaken the rope, so be mindful of the working-load allowances.

- Anchor Bend: While not a "bend" in the contemporary sense, an excellent hitch for general use; it has an exceptionally high strength-rating.

- Bowline: The original non-slip loop, used often as a rescue knot. It's rumored that the pharaoh Khufu that commissioned the Great Pyramid at Giza was buried with a "solar barge", and some of the lines were tied-off with bowlines.

- Constrictor Knot: An infinitely better substitute for the Clove Hitch, in my opinion. The Constrictor self-tightens on twisted rope, and grips to slick surfaces more firmly as a result.

- Figure-Eight with follow-through, plus Double Overhand: The standard way to tie into a climbing-harness today. The figure-eight won't overtighten under strain, which is a big bonus when it comes time to remove the rope from the harness. If you have plenty of rope, use this instead of a bowline.

- Prussick Hitch: I love this knot, as it makes the application of force parallel to the object very easy. I used this to replace fence-posts a few summers ago.

- Sheet Bend: Notice the similarity to the bowline; the sheet bend inherits all of the non-slip properties. Unlike the square-knot/reef-knot, which has been known to capsize under strain, the sheet-bend is a very stable and robust bend. Personally, I will use a double sheet-bend for added security if needed.

- Tauntline Hitch: An adjustable-loop hitch that maintains its position under strain. Extremely handy for almost everything.

- Timber Hitch: Useful for hauling items around, particularly timber (imagine that). Be sure to keep the rope from rubbing on the ground when using this knot.

- Truckers' Hitch: I'm providing the link here for basic form; the variation I use on a regular basis for its non-jamming nature is at Wikipedia:



As one might infer from the title of the knot, the Truckers' Hitch is generally used to tie-down a load on a truck, car or other conventional vehicle. It may be re-adjusted after having tied-off the running end by undoing the knot (typically a slippery-hitch or two half-hitches), applying tension, then retying the stopper-knot.

Bonus:

While knots are wonderful things, lashings and splices have an equal or superior amount of utility. Splices, being constructs from braiding the rope (or cable) back into itself, have a greater percentage of structural integrity of the original rope than almost any other knot. The eye-splice and short-splice are particularly noteworthy.

Lashings bind two or more objects (usually spars) together. The square-lashing and the diamond-lashing are the most frequently used, but the tripod-lashing gets a special mention for pure utility. A few pointers:

- Use a Constrictor Knot instead of a Clove Hitch. Your lashings will be tighter, and thus more secure.

- If attempting a tripod-lashing, keep the lashing somewhat loose (about an inch between spars and ropes). The lashing tightens when the tripod is erected, and an overly-tight lashing will snap the spars, rope, or simply fail to open enough to stand.

- Natural-fiber twisted rope seems to grip spars more effectively, from my experience. Manila-hemp rope seems to be a inexpensive and frequent choice.

The Manliness in Usefulness

While scrambling at full-speed around the 'Net, I skidded into a Popular Mechanics article from last September entitled "25 Skills Every Man Should Know". Suffice to say, after I had read the list, I was ready to scrap it and scramble on, but I felt that it was broken enough that the list deserved a thorough renovation into something, well, shinier.

The list had to conform to some degree of utility, so I weighted skills by potential usefulness based on frequency of use, the potential to make or break the situation, application of knowledge versus the use of items/tools/specialized equipment, and the relative intuitiveness of the skill in question. Here are the keepers from the Popular Mechanics article:

7. Build a campfire
9. Navigate with a map and compass
11. Sharpen a knife
12. Perform CPR
19. Clean a bolt-action rifle
20. Change oil and filter

Unsurprisingly, these reminded me of the advancement requirements in my old Boy Scout Handbook. So, in order to completely cover the bases, I not only reviewed and noted the advancement requirements for a Boy Scout, but the requirements for advancement to Eagle Scout, plus a few elective badges for the rank.

In the end, I had a list of 15 skills that everyone should know, not just men. If a skill is truly important, everyone should learn how to do it, without exception or excuse. To wit:

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.

- Lazarus Long, Time Enough for Love

However, some, if not most, traditionally fall within the sphere of the man's responsibilities. So, without further noise on my part or presuming as much eloquence as Heinlein, here they are (in no particular order):

- Firearm use and maintenance
- Orienteering
- Operating a car with a manual transmission
- Building a fire without matches or lighter
- Basic open-fire cooking
- CPR / AED operation
- Basic first-aid application
- Basic rope use
- Swimming
- Hunting, fishing and trapping
- Basic use of woods-tools
- Basic automotive maintenance
- Familiarity with the US Constitution and Amendments
- Shelter construction
- Living beneath one's means

Some of these are general skill-sets; this is partly due to the large number of constituent skills involved, and to condense the list into something of manageable size. I will be posting individual entries for each item on the list, much like the original article, except with a greater eye to detail, since I'm not on the clock and otherwise occupying advertising area in a print-magazine.

Furthermore, many of the above skills relate to some measure of self-sufficiency; with the decline of the economy as of late, wars in various parts of the world and civil unrest, I maintain that in a society so structured for global interdependence that it is not only prudent but necessary to exercise self-sufficiency when possible as a method of risk mitigation. Remember, protecting your family, providing leadership and putting meat on the table are the primary manly responsibilities, and it's overlooked much too frequently for my tastes.

Prototype: "Roy Bean"

Do want, even if just for the novelty value.

Here's a video from Taurus with it in action.

I'm not sure about how well the .410 shot-shells would stack up against a comparable sidearm in .40SW or .45ACP at varying distances, but it'd be a hoot to try out.

When in doubt, empty the clip.

- First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

- Two wrongs do not make a right, and the return of a "Fairness Doctrine" with a new application to the Internet is a disaster waiting to happen. The very idea makes me nauseous.

- Expect this to get slapped down in the name of the "new professionalism", as the police have clearly indicated that they had iron-clad evidence of wrong-doing... From their laser-guided government-ID scanners, with 150yd range, that run on rainbows and unicorn crap.

To Do: Find Bin Laden Find Sarah Connor

Judging from the current flow of military technology to the civilian sphere-of-influence, how long will it be before SWAT teams, FBI, DEA and BATFE have access to exo-suits? The thought of any of these agencies with anything more powerful than a popgun is frightening enough.

Furthermore, if these exo-suits can be programmed, it can be hacked. Certain countries have already shown a talent for duplicating technology within hours of release, in which case we could expect to see Israel and China with development programs soon after deployment. From there, Russia and Saudi Arabia. With the addition of the AI element to promote autonomous function, how long would it take for a disastrous combination of firepower, willpower and intelligence to emerge? Imagine the fun that could be had with a viral control system.

I am certain that it's only a matter of time before we destroy ourselves; our behavior as a species hasn't improved enough to keep up with our ability to really screw things up.

Caturday Night Special, Episode IV

A touch of bleak humor, considering the news from South Ossetia.

Olympic Inspiration

It seems to be fashionable to ignore that China makes a practice of putting down just the sort of warm-'n-fuzzy spirit of international brotherhood of which the Olympics is supposedly the supreme physical manifestation. So it goes; however, both leading candidates for the presidential election are protesting United States involvement in the Games. Just kidding, they're both buying advertising:

"Of course attention will be diverted some, but with only 20 days until our convention and about 90 until Election Day, there isn't much time to lose," Shapiro adds.

And the campaigns will actually be quite visible during the Olympics. The Obama campaign will pay $5 million to air TV ads on the NBC Universal networks covering the games. McCain's campaign has earmarked $6 million for Olympic TV ad time.

Throw this in the teeth of anyone that would make a claim that McCain or Obama give a damn about freedom. I won't be party to endorsing either of them, ever.

The Olympics bore me to tears anyway.

When in doubt, empty the clip.

- I can has all your base?
- Canton, OH: "The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws." - Ayn Rand
- What's ours is ours, what's yours is also ours; brought to you by the US Forest "Service".
- It's not the death penalty, so evidently that Eighth Amendment doesn't apply.
- Twenty years ago, the drugs weren't so "prodominatly" potent, either. I blame HAARP.

Why so serious?

Seriously:

In fact, it's so serious that I'd ask everyone to buy tire pressure gauges - available at sites like this -- because ultimately this is about our national security and our troops. Maybe John McCain wants to mock those things, but I sure don't.

Someone has to mock these things. It's a dirty job, but it has to be done.

Sir, as a resident of the Peoples' Republik of Kalifornia, I am quite used to having the Politburo dictate the dire need for saving energy by turning-off the lights, adjusting the thermostat beyond the comfort point, wearing a sweater, etc. Indeed, I've been Flexing My Power quite a bit this summer, thanks to our previous governor's indiscretions. Now, while I am against waste, the Politburo should remove the plank from its own eye before yammering about the speck in mine. I'll posit that the amount of Congressional spending directly affects the buying power of the dollar; the price of gasoline since 2001 has been relatively static when purchased with gold:



This would seem to indicate that rampant spending by the government has more to do with the current price of oil than OPEC and whether or not John Q. Public left the lights on when he went on a beer-run. To wit, CAGW (Citizens Against Government Waste) has a few things to report about the voting records of the candidates (I'm posting PRK's senators and Ron Paul as well):

- Senator John McCain (R, AZ)
Score for 109th Congress: 95% (Taxpayer Hero)
- Senator Barack Obama (D, IL)
Score for 109th Congress: 30% (Unfriendly)

- Senator Dianne Feinstein (D, CA)
Score for 109th Congress: 10% (Hostile)
- Senator Barbara Boxer (D, CA)
Score for 109th Congress: 19% (Hostile)

- Congressman Ron Paul (R, TX)
Score for 109th Congress: 95% (Taxpayer Hero)

(This is not an endorsement for McCain; his philosophy has not yet changed to fit mine.)

Even with a public-school education, 30% looks suspiciously like a boat-load of fail for a senator that wants the public to exercise a little discipline where he has none. So, to sum up: stuff your tire-gauges where the hopechange don't shine.

I would hope that Obama might change his spending habits, and take The Wicked Witches of the West with him.

To help other people at all times

The definition of a class-act:

According to a report in the Casper Star-Tribune the Scouts, some of an estimated 1,000 members of the Order of the Arrow in the state, have "stepped in" to help firefighters in the Bridger-Teton National Forest fight the New Fork Lakes fire, about 19 miles north of Pinedale...The Scouts are staffing the supply line that provides materials and services to firefighters, officials said. Firefighters also have established a command post at the Scouts' camp.

"It is a great help to have the extra hands," fire cache manager Heidi Zardus told the newspaper. "They are helping me get the orders filled and the supplies shipped out in record time.

Considering the actions of this same branch of the government regarding ArrowCorps5, a gesture of uncommon generosity becomes one of rare magnanimity:

The plan had about 5,000 top Boy Scouts from across the country donating an estimated 250,000 hours of time to restore, repair, rebuild, reclaim and refurbish miles of trails, acres and glens at five different sites in the nation's forests. In most cases, the scouts paid their own travel and room and board expenses to participate in the biggest service project since World War II... But as WND had reported, the Forest Service decided earlier this summer to move the Scouts from part of their long-planned work sites in favor of the unorganized annual gathering of hippies, anarchists and "free spirits" who commune with nature and each other.

The group, Rainbow Family, had also scheduled a service project and revitalization program for the area, numbering some several thousand volunteers. Just kidding:

According to a statement released by the Forest Service's Incident Command Team in Rock Springs, Wyo., officers patrolling the main meadow of the seven-day event held near Sandy Springs made contact with a man who fled and was later apprehended. A second Rainbow attendee was detained for interfering in the arrest.

As 10 officers began to leave the area with their suspects, they were surrounded by an estimated 400 members of the Rainbow Family. A request for additional officers was made.

"The mob began to advance, throwing sticks and rocks at the officers. Crowd-control tactics were used to keep moving through the group of Rainbows," the news release said.

When back-up support arrived, officers made five arrests. A government vehicle was damaged and one officer was treated for injuries at a local hospital and released.

Without opening the can of worms relating to the hyperactive behavior of the Forest Service agents regarding the Rainbow Family and their subsequent near-riot in response, the group also left a significant amount of destruction in their wake:

The Casper Star-Tribune also is reporting that the cleanup effort by the Rainbow Family from the assembly estimated at about 7,000 people is "cosmetic."

"It is cleanup," said District Ranger Tom Peters. "But it certainly is not rehabilitation by any stretch of the imagination. And it is not re-naturalization, which is a term they use and I'm not really sure what that means. But it is cleanup. I would describe it as cosmetic cleanup. They're taking out the trash."

He said members of the crew that remained behind are covering compost pits with soil, covering up trenches and covering fire pits with branches and tree trunks. One of the more egregious uses of public land, he noted, was a fire pit some 40 feet in diameter and four feet deep.

Pearls before swine, it would seem.

As an Eagle Scout and a member of the Order of the Arrow, I find this situation entirely offensive on multiple levels. That the ArrowCorps5 should have been displaced to curry favor for political means is absolutely unconscionable. That the Order of the Arrow is now aiding the Forest Service in fighting fires speaks to the organization's noble character and commitment to cheerful service to their fellow man, despite the continued injury that the government seems determined to inflict upon them and the Boy Scouts at the behest of their pet mob.

I myself have experienced this divorce between our nation's leadership and our esteemed youth organizations. Whereas the Scouts could once use military installations like the now-defunct Ford Ord and the DLI in Monterey, we now must forage rather than compromise our principles. Few will dare stand for us in the public eye, despite that more than a few of our number have graced the branches of government at the highest levels in the past.

I have no words for the levels of praise that I accord to the Scouts for their humility and honor, and I have none for the shame and condemnation that I must lay at the doorstep of our government.

Its Name is Legion

An unfortunate record of the words of a high-priestess of the State:

"With today's convening of the 110th Congress, we begin anew. I congratulate all members of Congress on your election; I especially want to congratulate our new members of Congress. The genius of our Founders was that every two years, new members bring to this House their spirit of renewal and hope for the American people. This Congress is reinvigorated new members by your optimism, your idealism, and your commitment to our country." (Thursday, January 4, 2007)

Reinvigorated, that we may more fervently pursue the worship of corruption! Optimistic, that our subjects will never acquire the taste for freedom and hunger for truth! Idealistic, that the State may forevermore crush those that oppose us and never turn on its masters!

Committed, that we sell ourselves into the darkest pits of Hell.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn has left us at a peculiar hour indeed.

Caturday Night Special, Episode III

This one reminds me of my father. Cheers, Dad.

Bright ideas

Make it as simple as possible, but not simpler, to borrow a phrase:

Most U.S. homes with solar panels feed electricity into the power grid during the day, but have to draw back from the grid at night. Nocera said his development would allow homeowners to bank solar energy as hydrogen and oxygen, which a fuel cell could use to produce electricity when the sun was not shining.

"I can turn sunlight into a chemical fuel, now I can use photovoltaics at night," said Nocera, who explained the discovery in a paper written with Matthew Kanan published on Thursday in the journal Science.

Now, I love clean air and water, and the great outdoors. I also believe that Man was given a delegated responsibility for the Earth, and we should behave and ultimately live in such a way that facilitates that charge (I'm such an inveterate optimist, I know).

However, I'm most enthused to have seen this been developed for those that desire or are required to be self-sufficient in small groups. Power generation for those "off-the-grid" is spotty (at best), and can be prohibitively expensive due to the fuel-cells that are needed for the off-hours. This seems like it could serve as a long-term power-storage solution for those homesteads or communities, and I am glad to see it.

My hat is off to you, MIT.

On the bright side, it's Friday

Parity in predation, parity with policy?

Frankly, this is just disgusting:

The couple was arrested June 2 on suspicion of distribution or exhibition of lewd material to a minor and annoying or molesting a child under 18, Sheriff's Department spokesman Royjindar Singh said. Justin was released from jail on $25,000 bail, and Amy was released on $10,000 bail. (Emphasis is mine.)

Again, I will posit that an increasing frequency of these types of sexual predations on youth are symptomatic of a larger problem inherent in the public school system.

Also, notice the relative difference in the amount of bail (another example here). Interestingly, this is an example of a man and a woman accused of the exact same crime against the exact same victim, and the bail for the man is 250% that of the bail of the woman. I would be interested to see how far the parity extends, and what the sentences will be if both are convicted (likely, in my opinion).