For All You Camping Enthusiasts

Today's Wizard Of Id cartoon may not impress unless you know something about Dobsonflies and their equally formidable looking aquatic Helgrammite larvae shown here. The adult fly image is taken from a Blog named "Alenoush Jardyne".

Just be glad these guys usually don't go for underwear!

Click on images for larger sizes.

The Cape Air Experiment

I recently planned a trip to Texas to visit family living near Dallas. In the past I have opted to fly non-stop from a large metropolitan airport about 50 miles from where I live. To make that connection requires either paying a $9 per day long term parking fee at the airport or making a “park and fly” reservation at an airport hotel (for an early morning flight). I also have to consider rush hour traffic in scheduling departure and return flights.

There has been another option. At a closer municipal airport there is a commuter airline that serves a larger, “international” airport from which I could get flights to/from Texas. The parking is free at this smaller airport, travel time is shorter, there is no rush hour traffic to worry about and clearing security is much quicker.
This time, I decided to give this option a shot using the commuter service called “Cape Air”. This little airline serves several other spots in the Northeast and in the Caribbean. It flies a couple of different airplanes and uses Cessna 401’s and 402’s for my local service. The photo here is one of their planes at the airport (taken and posted on line by someone named “Zverzver”.

In order to get reservations on Cape Air and a connection on a preferred “major” carrier, I had to schedule 3-4 hour layovers each way, but I was hoping that the advantages of flying out of the closer, smaller airport with Cape Air would outweigh the layover times and the additional cost of these “extra” legs.

By the time I got to the airport to start the trip, I had already learned that it was not possible to check in for either connection on line but I was able to get boarding passes for these flights when I arrived. The one and only attendant was cheerful and helpful. I had to have my carry-ons weighed and give my own weight (since we would fly in such a small, nine passenger plane). The TSA folks did their thing quickly and professionally but since I was the only passenger taking this particular flight, they didn’t have much to do.

So I got to the airport easily, got the free parking and I was right about quick security clearance. However I also learned that since Cape Air uses a different terminal than by my connecting airline, I would have to clear security again when I changed planes….a bummer.

The flight on Cape Air was fine. It was great to see a lot more on takeoff and landing (I was right behind the co-pilot seat but there was no co-pilot. Instead that seat held the fire extinguisher!). The day was hot and the AC consisted of the lady pilot opening her cockpit window while taxiing for take-off and after landing.
The young man at the end of the Cape Air flight was helpful and told me where I needed to go to get to my connection for the flight to Texas. The second security was not bad since there were not many folks wanting to go through when I did.
After my 3 hour layover ended, I boarded the plane to Texas, on time and with no real problems. Hooray! The flight was smooth and the folks in the seats next to me and close by were congenial. I arrived in Texas a few minutes early, but since there was still another plane at our gate, we had to wait on the tarmac until our scheduled arrival time. My “ride” from the airport was waiting for me and we got away from the airport in good order.

After completing the visit, I discovered that once again, I could not check in on line for either leg of my return flights for some reason. Thus I decided I would need to add 15 more minutes at the airport to stand in line at the ticket counter to check in. I was pleasantly surprised to find no line and I got my boarding passes in about 30 seconds after walking up. Sweet, but lucky.

I got through security and to my departure gate well in advance. My flight out left on time and the passengers and crew were all very good to fly with.

I arrived at my connecting airport on time. In fact, I saw that Cape Air had a plane leaving in 20 minutes so I trotted through the terminal hoping to catch that one rather than waiting several hours for my scheduled flight. However this time, the requirement to clear security between terminals was a plan-killer. There were many, many folks waiting now to show TSA their baggies of liquids, laptops and holey socks. I got to the gate about 5 minutes too late so I settled in to while away the 4 hour layover reading and eating dinner.

When it finally came time to board the Cape Air plane for the final leg the young attendant told us that one of the 7 passengers scheduled for the flight was delayed but “on the ground” but we had to wait for her and her luggage before we boarded. This amounted to a 30 minute delay before we headed out. The late passenger looked like she had had a rough time and was very appreciative that Cape Air waited for her. It was their last flight out for the day.

We got going, arrived in good shape and I drove on home only about a half hour later than I had planned.

Soooooo…..What have I concluded from this little experiment?
1.Cape Air is a nice little airline that does what it does in a professional manner.

2.If I do this again, however, I will try to schedule any connecting flights with airlines that share the same terminal with Cape Air (there are a couple of possibilities) so I won’t have to fight security more than once.

3.I will book the Cape Air reservations separately from any connecting airline so I can check-in on line for the connector leg(s).

4.With these considerations, the Cape Air option with its convenience for ground transportation and parking is viable. I’m just hoping that long layovers between Cape Air and other carriers are exceptions and not the rule.

Still So Very, Very True

This cartoon from Wiley goes back a few years, but recent congressional inaction on such things as finance reform, immigration reform and energy reform show us that PAC's and lobbyists still hold sway in Washington, D.C.

As usual, you will have to click on the image to enlarge it enough to read.

Waylon Bridges??

Started watching the movie "Crazy Heart" and was struck with the way Jeff B. played the part of main character Bad Blake. The visage and mannerisms reminded me of that old "Okie from Muskogee", Waylon J. Got to wondering if it was more than coincidence.

Not Quite, Wiley

The principle of Occam’s Razor (or principle of Parsimony) that is promoted by this particular Non-Sequitur strip from yesterday is frequently described just like the young man in the strip says, “the obvious answer (or simplest) usually being the correct one”.

However, there are enough instances where this is not the case that it would be better to adopt the proposal that if there are multiple hypothetical solutions to a problem, those being the simplest in nature would be the easiest to test and if proven incorrect, the quickest to reject; but if proven to work, would also be the quickest and most economical in time and effort to support. My (less than) 2 cents worth. Picky, picky, picky. (click image to read the strip)

Try This

I uploaded a PPT of a slime mold presentation to Scribd and wanted to see if it could be accessed through my blog.

http://www.scribd.com/full/32940722?access_key=key-2m432yxmcvix553x9yd2

I'm curious if this works.

Lamarckianism Anyone?

Today's "Close To Home" comic is a reminder that the idea of evolution being driven by the inheritance of characters modified by patterns of use and disuse of parts is still a popular, albeit a discredited one.

The following is a direct quote from the current Wikipedia treatment of the topic of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck:

"Lamarck constructed one of the first theoretical frameworks of organic evolution. While this theory was generally rejected during his lifetime,[ Stephen Jay Gould argues that Lamarck was the "primary evolutionary theorist", in that his ideas, and the way in which he structured his theory set the tone for much of the subsequent thinking in evolutionary biology, through to the present day.

Lamarck is usually remembered for his belief in the inheritance of acquired characteristics, and the use and disuse model by which organisms developed their characteristics. Lamarck incorporated this belief into his theory of evolution, along with other more common beliefs of the time, such as spontaneous generation. The inheritance of acquired characteristics (also called the theory of adaptation or soft inheritance) was rejected by August Weismann in the 1880s when he developed a theory of inheritance in which germ plasm (the sex cells, later redefined as DNA), remained separate and distinct from the soma (the rest of the body); thus nothing which happens to the soma may be passed on with the germ-plasm. This model underlies the modern understanding of inheritance.

Charles Darwin allowed a role for use and disuse as an evolutionary mechanism subsidiary to natural selection, most often in respect of disuse.] He praised Lamarck for "the eminent service of arousing attention to the probability of all change in the organic... world, being the result of law, not miraculous interposition". Lamarckism is also occasionally used to describe quasi-evolutionary concepts in societal contexts, though not by Lamarck himself. For example, the memetic theory of cultural evolution is sometimes described as a form of Lamarckian inheritance of non-genetic traits.

In contrast to the eventual general rejection of his proposed mechanism for evolution, Lamarck's seven-volume work on the natural history of invertebrates is recognised as a lasting contribution to zoology.

The honeybee subspecies Apis mellifera lamarckii is named after Lamarck, as well as the Bluefire jellyfish (Cyaneia lamarckii): a number of plant species have also been named after him, including Amelanchier lamarckii (Juneberry), Digitalis lamarckii and Aconitum lamarckii."

Struck By The Resemblance

I should probably leave this issue to Californians who must deal with the issue, but I thought the resemblance was kind of striking.

"We Have Met The Enemy And He Is Us" Pogo To Porkypine 1971

With all the finger pointing and blame gaming, it should be noted that if everyone didn't use oil and other natural resources faster than is sustainable, and in ways that are difficult without waste and pollution consequences, the chances of "mistakes" would be reduced as well as their severity.

Pogo is still correct in 2010 as he was in 1971 on Earth Day.

Here is a link to some interesting and thoughtful commentary:

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith//2010/06/the_gulf_oil_spill/all.html

An American President

While waiting for neighborhood traffic to clear and take Maggie out for her morning walk, I tuned into HBO for the last part of that Michael Douglas-Annette Benning movie "An American President". I found Douglas' speech to the White House press corps to be curiously appropriate for today and I wish our current President would deliver something similar. Here is the text of the movie speech:

" Reporter: Robyn, will the President ever respond to Senator Rumson's question about being a member of the American Civil Liberties Union?

President Shepherd: Yes, he will. Good morning. [Members of the White House Press Corps begin to rise] It's alright. Please keep your seats. Good morning.

For the last couple of months, Senator Rumson has suggested that being President of this country was, to a certain extent, about character. And although I've not been willing to engage in his attacks on me, I have been here three years and three days, and I can tell you without hesitation: Being President of this country is entirely about character.

For the record, yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU, but the more important question is "Why aren't you, Bob?" Now this is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the Bill of Rights, so it naturally begs the question, why would a senator, his party's most powerful spokesman and a candidate for President, choose to reject upholding the constitution? Now if you can answer that question, folks, then you're smarter than I am, because I didn't understand it until a few hours ago.

America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You've gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say, "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours." You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country cannot just be a flag. The symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms.

Then you can stand up and sing about the land of the free.

I've known Bob Rumson for years. And I've been operating under the assumption that the reason Bob devotes so much time and energy to shouting at the rain was that he simply didn't get it. Well, I was wrong. Bob's problem isn't that he doesn't get it. Bob's problem is that he can't sell it!

We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things, and two things only: making you afraid of it, and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections. You gather a group of middle age, middle class, middle income voters who remember with longing an easier time, and you talk to them about family, and American values and character, and you wave an old photo of the President's girlfriend and you scream about patriotism. You tell them she's to blame for their lot in life. And you go on television and you call her a whore.

Sydney Ellen Wade has done nothing to you, Bob. She has done nothing but put herself through school, represent the interests of public school teachers, and lobby for the safety of our natural resources. You want a character debate, Bob? You better stick with me, 'cause Sydney Ellen Wade is way out of your league.

I've loved two women in my life. I lost one to cancer. And I lost the other 'cause I was so busy keeping my job, I forgot to do my job. Well, that ends right now.

Tomorrow morning the White House is sending a bill to Congress for it's consideration. It's White House Resolution 455, an energy bill requiring a twenty percent reduction of the emission of fossil fuels over the next ten years. It is by far the most aggressive stride ever taken in the fight to reverse the effects of global warming. The other piece of legislation is the crime bill. As of today, it no longer exists. I'm throwing it out. I'm throwing it out and writing a law that makes sense. You cannot address crime prevention without getting rid of assault weapons and hand guns. I consider them a threat to national security, and I will go door to door if I have to, but I'm gonna convince Americans that I'm right, and I'm gonna get the guns.

We've got serious problems, and we need serious people. And if you want to talk about character, Bob, you'd better come at me with more than a burning flag and a membership card. If you want to talk about character and American values, fine. Just tell me where and when, and I'll show up. This a time for serious people, Bob, and your fifteen minutes are up.

My name is Andrew Shepherd, and I AM the President.

Endangered Species Day 2010

Endangered Species Day 2010 was actually yesterday, Friday May 21 according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service. I don't think BP is doing its part.

"Marmaduchess" Strikes Again

Just change the mutt's gender in today's "Marmaduke" and you have something close to Maggie and me.

Gee, That's Pretty Close!

The "Daily Puppy" gadget featured a little guy (Kodi-bear) that, except for the tail, looks like our Maggie might have looked as a puppy.

Homage To My Swiss Heritage

The Day in Sports
May 9, 2010

Manhattan, left, and Altesse fight during the final of the annual Battle of the Queens of the Herens breed cows fight in Aproz, Switzerland. During the combat the cows simply push forehead against forehead using their horns. The competition continues until the new queen has forced all the other leaders to retreat. Cow fighting is an ancient tradition in Switzerland. The first official fight was organized in 1923. Altesse won the title of "Queen of the queen" after defeating Manhattan.

By Fabrice Coffrini, AFP/Getty Images

Small But "Showy"

About a week ago while walking Maggie, we ran into our neighbor Fanny. Fanny asked us if we had seen the orchids growing along the road not far from where we were standing. We had not, but proceeded up the road looking for the landmark that Fanny had provided. Sure enough we found the small cluster of plants whose flowers were just beginning to open. This orchid’s common name is “showy”, but I must admit its small size makes it difficult to make out without being pointed out to us by Fanny’s directions.

This photo was taken yesterday with the blossoms a bit more open. Click to enlarge.

The following is taken from the University of Texas At Austin, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflowercenter website, http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=GASP5

Galearis spectabilis (L.) Raf.
Showy orchid, Purple-hooded orchid, Gay orchid
Orchidaceae (Orchid Family)
Synonyms: Galeorchis spectabilis, Orchis spectabilis
USDA Symbol: GASP5
USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.
A short stalk rising between 2 large, glossy, green leaves and topped by 2-15 white and pink to deep lavender flowers.
The genus name, Galearis, is derived from the Latin word, galea, which means helmet. It refers to the two pink to purple upper petals which form a hood over the flower. The specific epithet, spectabilis, is from the Latin for remarkable, admirable or showy.

Ahem....

It would seem that a new chant/slogan is called for since the recent oil discharge off the coast of Louisiana resulted from a defeat of the "fool proof" safeguards that BP and other oil companies assured us would keep such an event from occurring.

Instead of "drill, baby, drill" this other cliche may be more useful.

Oh, that's the slick as seen from space.

Holy Zoonoses Batman!

This image was one of several from a Newsweek/MSNBC slideshow on cute little animals that can vector nasty diseases to humans. It seems to me that this poor guy is frightened of contracting something evil from humans. The credit goes to Stephen Foster/Getty images (didn't he write My Old Kentucky Home?)

I've Heard Of Russian Roulette, but.......

At the Senate hearings that have explored Goldman Sachs operations, a common analogy that has cropped up has to do with gambling and the nature of "risk". According to an AP story today, "Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein testily told skeptical senators at a hearing Tuesday that clients who bought subprime mortgage securities from the Wall Street powerhouse in 2006 and 2007 came looking for risk "and that's what they got."

Now, Russian Roulette is also a risky game. I submit that GS is being charged by the SEC with using an approach suggested by this image in "playing the game" with some of their "less sophisticated" (or more greedy) clients. I think some such clients may have expected significantly more empty cylinders than GS had actually loaded in GS's favor.

Current Political Cartoons...No Additional Comment Needed

Wait For It, "Marmaduchess", and I Didn't Know That

Two of today's cartoons stood out for me. Perhaps it was too early for me and I hadn't had a second cup of coffee, but I had to "wait" for the punch line of Parker and Hart's Sir Rodney epiphany to sink in.

Anyone familiar with our new pup Maggie may appreciate today's Marmaduke (by Brad Anderson). When taking Maggie for a walk, I sometimes feel a bit like Phil hanging onto the leash. As usual, you might have to click on an image to enlarge it somewhat.

What I didn't know (of the myriad of things I don't know) is that naturalist John J. Audubon was born on April 26, 1785 in Haiti, I presume of U.S. parents. Check it out "birthers".

Health Care Barter System?

Perhaps you have heard of the idea advanced by a candidate for U.S. Senate from Nevada that health care reform might center around a return to the 19th early 20th century barter system. "Chickens for Checkups". Take a look at this handy dandy calculator web site that might be useful for this (at least in Nevada)

http://lowdenplan.com/

Another Skyline

It looks like 1,000,000 does not attract much attention, so all bets are off. I guess skylines are not all that intriguing. Try this one, it may be the last. At least the "sky" part is striking.

Return Of The Friday Fungus! Beware!

The following is from a piece by C. Choi that was posted yesterday on MSNBC's web page:

"A deadly, airborne new strain of fungus has emerged in Oregon. It has killed nearly one out of four known affected people so far and might also attack animals ranging from dogs to dolphins. And it is likely to spread, researchers now warn.

The new strain known as VGIIc of the fungus Cryptococcus gattii not only targets humans but has also proven capable of infecting dogs, cats, alpacas, sheep and elk. Other strains have even infected porpoises.

Although it can spread to mammals, it does not jump from animal to animal. Instead, people and other animals get it from inhaling spores released by samples of the fungus that infect trees."

Now that H1N1 is fading a bit, something else is looming on the horizon. This image is credited to Duke U. researchers E. Byrnes and J. Heitman

Gee, All That's Missing Is The "H"

I know just how JON feels. Click on the Garfield strip to enlarge.

Where Can I Buy A Duck Stamp? (and a virtual shotgun)

The political "comic" strip, "Mallard Fillmore" appears in a local newspaper on the Op-Ed page along with the strip, "Doonsbury". This seems to be the newspaper's attempt to balance the alleged liberal bias of "Doonsbury" with that of the attitude expressed by the Duck. The same newspaper carries 2-3 times a week the ravings of Rush's little bro' David and I must admit that I read the Duck while ignoring whatever garbage appears below D. Limbaugh's by-line.

While I read the Duck strip, I almost always am struck by the extreme hyperbole (redundant?) expressed by the Duck's creator. Never content to just point out foibles of the Left (yes, there are some to point out), the Duck takes most everything to an absurd extreme. Today, suggesting that there is no reason to be concerned about what humans are doing to the inhabitability of good old Mother Earth.

Skyline #3 (Or Is It #4?)

OK, here's another city skyline to consider. This time if you "comment" and guess the city correctly, I'll send you 1,000,000.00!

Well, I Tried

After almost a week of trying to be politically even handed, I couldn't resist posting a few of this week's cartoons that take a few jabs. I promise to be better (whatever that might mean).

Kindle That Quest For Knowledge From Your iPad

Gee, it appears that I retired from teaching just in time. I don't know whether to credit Amazon or Apple.

Not Your Typical "Skyline", but......

I'm not sure what this town/village/farm in Iceland may be, but the sky in its backyard certainly shows one of the most disruptive forces of nature that, as of this writing, still hasn't killed anyone.

Oh Gross!!

In today's news there is a story about a newly described species of leech that likes to chomp down mucous membranes of hosts and begin to snack. Apparently one or more specimens were collected inside noses of folks who swim in the upper reaches of the Amazon in Peru.

UGH! (see http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2010/04/membraneleeches.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/04/t-rex-leech/&usg=__hCerBg8Rn4MQ-MtUpCCZvLUDB9c=&h=498&w=400&sz=180&hl=en&start=2&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=5Md5rnvGDpvpJM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3DTyrannobdella%2Brex%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Disch:1 )

Where Are We?

In part to get Senator Coburn's mug of the top, but also to start a new blog idea, take a good look at this image and see if you can guess where this skyline is located.

Hint: It's not too far south of the Tropic of Capricorn and it's east of the Prime Meridian.

A gold star to anyone who can post a comment and guess correctly (or just post a guess) Don't cheat!

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Oil On The Water

The following is from the blog of the Washington Post's Tom Weigel:

"Tom Coburn's plea for civility
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.)'s much-discussed friendship with Barack Obama is, all of a sudden, a little harder to attribute to the closeness of their desks in the Senate. Matt Laslo reports on a town hall meeting Coburn held in Oklahoma:

While discussing his policy disagreements with Pelosi Coburn said “she’s a nice lady,” which brought hisses and hoots from the crowd. But Coburn flatly rejected the crowd's animosity towards the liberal Speaker.

[Come on now. She is nice – how many of you all have met her? She’s a nice person,] Coburn said as he went on to lecture the crowd about civility. Coburn also cautioned his crowd not to [catch yourself being biased by Fox News that somebody is no good.]

He's not the first Republican to go there.

Way back in August, at the start of the "town hells" Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) told an angry crowd to [turn that television off] when Glenn Beck's show came on."

Somehow everyone is going to have to work much harder to "depolarize" American politics. It would be a great shame if it would have to take another large national tragedy to get us all to work together for most everyone's benefit.

When Is An Echidna Not An Echidna?

In reading through the e-mails from those commenting on the recent name change for the “common” fruit fly, I ran across a lead to this little nomenclatural tidbit.

If one “googles” the word echidna, one finds nearly all of the first “hits” relate to Tachyglossus aculeatus the cute little primitive mammal (a monotreme of Australia and some other locations in that general part of the world). The creature’s common names include “spiny anteater”. The scientific name literally means "spiny quick tongue"

Digging a bit further, one finds the name Echidna also applied to a genus of fish (e.g. moray eels) and to the Greek monster goddess (as depicted here in the steel sculpture). In Greek mythology, Echidna was the mate of Typhon. Typhon turns out to also be the name given to a large asteroid; large enough to have its own orbiting moonlet called, you guessed it, Echidna.

There is even a heavy metal band by this name (the album cover)

So, take your pick; spiny anteater, eel, goddess or moon or rocker group. They are all echidnas.

BTW, the asteroid Typhon is considered to be the first known binary “centaur”, here used as a term for a celestial minor planet type (gee, I wonder how many different kind of “centaurs” there might be).