Remembering Karen

I've posted a remembrance of Karen on This is Reno. It's over 1200 words, but that's as short as I could get it.

Remembrance: Karen Hansen 1947 - 2012

Also, at one time Karen asked me if I would want her paintings after she died. I don't know what she expected I would do with them, or even if they are salvageable since most of them have been gathering dust for years. I'm thinking of possibly creating a web page for them.

I've been using flickr for my own stuff, but there's probably better host sites now. It should also have a place where people who knew her can post their own memories. Anyway, I'll be looking into it. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Auto racing here and there

The way to make a small fortune in auto racing, is to start with a large fortune.
Ancient auto racing proverb

Racing season is almost here and there's some news and non-news to catch up on.

Here

AG at Dullard Mush alerted me to an ad on Craig's List about someone looking for help in promoting auto racing in the Reno area. At first I thought it was one team looking to find a sponsor, but it turned out to be an entire league; Dwarf Cars.


Photo credit D.A.R.T.

It sounds like fun and I gave it serious consideration, (I'm still thinking about it) but I can see a number of problems. The biggest problem is the location of Reno/Fernley Raceway. Asking potential customers to drive nearly 100 miles round trip for some entertainment is a lot to ask. I don't know what a good location would be, but 10 miles south of Fernley ain't it.

In order to get people to make the drive, you'd need a good headline race. Club racing just isn't a big enough attraction. Their best bet, I would think, would be to attach themselves to a larger and more popular series and race at bigger tracks.

We can also add the mud parking lot, dilapidated grandstands, and only a 1/3 mile oval, and let's face it, it's not the best place to impress your girlfriend on a Saturday night in Reno. The league operates in northern Nevada and parts of California. I'm no marketing guru, but if Reno isn't the main draw in this area, then what is?

Contrast the Fernley track with what the Reno Aces did and it's easy to see why baseball is popular in Reno and dirt track racing isn't. Old Moana Park and the Fernley track have at least one thing in common; I visited them both once and never went back to either.

There

So for the time being, I'll remain an ALMS fan. The economic crunch has been tough on the series and many of last year's problems persist, but there are some interesting additions. (Note: Driving 600 miles round trip once a year is still worth it).

Last year's Aston Martin has moved to GT and for the most part, gone back to Europe. The Muscle Milk team picked up Honda which returns after a one year absence due to the earthquake/tsunami in Japan. Still, with the Dyson Lola/Mazda, LMP 1 is only a two team class.

LMP 2 has two new additions for a total of three teams now. On shorter, curvier tracks like Laguna Seca, both classes are competitive so we could get a pretty good race between them. The most interesting of the LMP 2 entrants is the Conquest Endurance Morgan/Judd prototype.

The Morgan Motor Company is best known for the iconic three wheeled cyclecar. They've been building them by hand since 1909.


Photo credit Wikipedia

They make four wheel cars also, including this one.


Photo credit Racecar Engineering

Aside from their long history of innovation, what's especially interesting is the choice of the Judd engine. English sports cars traditionally focus on being light weight, and Judd is best known for their monstrous V-10. They'll certainly have something smaller, being an LMP 2, but the combination of Morgan and Judd make this the car to watch this year.

In the GT class Jaguar is out and Lotus is in. After three years, Jaguar never saw much success and I don't expect Lotus will either. But I have to admit, that's a good lookin' car.


Photo credit American Le Mans

The BMW's, Ferrari's, Porsche's and Corvettes will all return for another year. The GT class has been by far the most competitive and this year will be no different.

There are some new teams in LMPC and GTC. The cars in these classes are all from the same manufacturers, Oreca and Porsche respectively, so the focus is more on the drivers. We'll see if any new stars emerge.

All in all the series seems to be hanging in there. With only five teams in the marquee LMP classes, it's difficult to see the series gaining new fans. Still, there's enough that's new to keep the regular fans coming back.

Wild horse photography

I have a new post at This is Reno about wild horses.

The Misfits of Eagle Valley

Coming in contact with wild horses has been an education. Part of that continuing education not mentioned in the post is how to get a decent picture of them. You never know where they're going to be or how many you'll see.

After taking a lot of pictures of little dark spots on the hillside, I decided to just wait until I happen upon them when they are near the road. Stopping does no good though as they are very skittish, so I'm now trying just slowing down and aiming my camera out the window. Here is a picture of my first attempt at a quick drive-by wild horse action photo:



Staying on the road, downshifting, rolling down the window and getting my camera ready all at the same time is pretty tricky. But, I have a system now so hopefully I'll do better in the future. Of course, the one time I thought I had a good one, they were on the wrong side of the road and I was aiming into the sun.




Most of them are dark brown and black, which doesn't help either. In any case, I'll be posting more photo's of them here as I go along.

A less than stellar performance

I went to vote at the Nevada Republican Party Caucus last Saturday and wound up being "elected" precinct chairman. (Follow the link).

Mr. Chairman, I propose we cut the hoo-haw

The state of the TEA party

I posted an opinion on This is Reno about the state of the TEA party movement. I think for many Republicans, the race is effectively over. Not that Mr. Romney is going to beat Mr. Gingrich, it's more a case of it just doesn't matter. Ron Paul will get his 5-20 percent; that won't matter either. The TEA party lost this one and lost their reason for being in the process.

Opinion: TEA party perdition

ICYMI No.1

I’m going to try and re-launch a somewhat weekly Twitter highlights post. You may remember when I re-started this blog, it was something I was going to do. I think it lasted all of one or two posts. Since I now spend most of my internet time on Twitter and some of my readers refuse to join, maybe this will help them see the light. If you follow me on Twitter, but don’t breathlessly await my every utterance, you may have missed one or two items. In any case, here’s some of what I’ve been tweeting about in order of appearance.

EV’s in the ALMS?

There’s a lot going on in electric vehicle racing development. They expect to start an international series in 2013. At least one car, the Quimera AEGT will make some demonstration runs in a few ALMS races this year. No word yet on whether they will be at Laguna Seca in May.


Quimera AEGT /photo courtesy americanlemans.com

GOING GREEN: International Electric Vehicle Racing Championships Envisioned

There are also plans for a Touring GT series, a road legal series, a Formula F3 series, and motorcycles. There is a Quimera promotional video in the article.

Nature Ain’t Disneyland

In what has to be one of the more bizarre stories I’ve read in a good, long time, DNA evidence suggests that an activist for baby seals, William Walkman, was apparently beaten to death by angry adult seals. Of all the stupid ways to get yourself killed, this has to rank at the top.

Baby Seal Man

One might think that since seals have teeth and eat meat, they might have bitten him. But that’s not how it went. I imagine they could give you a swift slap across the jowls by using their front fins, maybe head-butt you in the groin, or something, but that wouldn’t kill you. They apparently beat him with their tails. I guess there’s a few hundred pounds of muscle in a seal’s tail, so yeah, that would probably do it.

What’s fascinating to me about it is it wasn’t just one seal. It was a group of them, acting in concert, and at night as he slept. It was a planned attack, hours, possibly days after Mr. Walkman‘s perceived indiscretion. I have to wonder if this is a learned behavior they got from us killing their babies, or if they did this sort of thing before. In any case, in an odd and unintentional way, Mr. Walkman’s death has given me a whole new respect for seals.

Of The Earth, By The Earth, For The Earth

Locally, two of my friends at This is Reno have started a new podcast called News and Views, Earth. Ryan Jerz and Jim Scripps are two knowledgeable, creative guys who are both good conversationalists. I’m sure the show will evolve over time, but one thing for sure; whatever it turns into is going to be interesting and likely pretty funny. I’m really looking forward to it.

News And Views 1

GOP Conspiracy Theory

I think I’ve been tweeting about Ron Paul too much. But I can’t help it. After desperately trying to ignore him, it began to look like he might win the Iowa Caucus. That‘s when the knives came out. The Republican Party’s fear and loathing of Dr. Paul has been beyond belief; worse than anything Sarah Palin put up with. It’s as if they believe that were we to cut the military by even a single M-16 cartridge, all Hell would break loose.

Overall, my take on the last couple of months is that the TEA party had it exactly backwards; the go along get along crowd are the true conservatives, the limited government types are the real RINO’s. We’ll need a new name to avoid confusion, though. I suggest ‘Barbarians.’ As the Nanny State goes global, we’ll probably end up with a name like that anyway.

The latest screed comes from an otherwise sane, Kimberly Strassel, at the Wall St. Journal.

What Ron Paul Wants

She worries about Dr. Paul influencing the party platform at the convention, and if he doesn’t get his way, a third party run. Silly conservative that she is, she doesn’t realize that most Barbarians don’t vote for major party’s anyway, and party platforms are meaningless to presidential contenders. Except for lip service, even Ronald Reagan ignored the party platform. I would suggest that Ron Paul is running for president because he wants to be president. Just a thought.

So to recap then, racing season approaches, there’s lots of entertainment on the internet, and I’ll soon be heading back into the political wilderness. Oh, and I landed a new job, too. Life is returning to normal.

Book Review

For any reader(s) who don’t follow me on Twitter or read This is Reno, I wrote a book review that I posted on This is Reno. My friend Bob Conrad has written a second book, this one deals with media bias. It’s not about political bias though, just human bias and how it affects the news business. There’s also some stuff in there about where the news business is headed. It really is a pretty good book.

Spin: How the news media misinform and why consumers misunderstand

When enough is enough

You can always tell when we’re about to wage another pointless and meaningless war when the WWII and Hitler analogies start appearing. Last time, it was Saddam Hussein who was the next Hitler. Now, it’s the Iranians. It’s almost enough to make you feel sorry for the North Korean regime. They always seem to get left out.

My old buddy Orrin Johnson is even getting in on the act. He has a theory as to what might have happened if Ron Paul had been president in the 1930’s and ‘40’s. Orrin also directs us to the Ace of Spades blog, and as might be predicted, another WWII analogy. This one’s about the Holocaust. Would a President Paul have declared war on Germany to stop the concentration camps? No, he would have done nothing, just as President Roosevelt did. Would President Paul have bombed the train tracks leading to the camps once the war had started? No, he would have used those bombs against the trains going from the munitions factories to the front lines, just as President Roosevelt did.

Politics does indeed make strange bedfellows. Whoever would have thought that Ron Paul would be in the mainstream of military strategy? The fact is, humanitarianism is not a cause for war. It never has been. These WWII analogies are really pretty meaningless. They’re like asking what would happen if George S. Patton had been in charge of British forces at Yorktown, or how many states would we have if Genghis Khan had been King of the Eskimo’s.

The US Navy is said to be larger than the next thirteen largest navies combined. We currently have troops in 130 of the 180 countries on the planet. Of all the money spent on the world’s militaries, the US spends roughly 50%. My question for Orrin and Ace is the same that any of us would ask a liberal regarding taxes; How much is enough?

Ace goes on to poke fun at conspiracy theorists who are also supporting Ron Paul. Ace makes the mistake of confusing the symptoms for the disease. I think we can all agree with Thomas Jefferson that the success of a Democratic Republic depends on an informed citizenry. When the government hides behind a wall of secrecy, the public is forced to use their imaginations to find answers.

As I recall, conspiracy theories started with the Kennedy assassination’s Warren Commission. Whether by incompetence or design, there were too many unanswered questions. At about that time the Air Force closed Project Blue Book without explanation. The conspiracy theory industry has been with us ever since.

And now here comes the Department of Homeland Security. DHS was created because the 38 or so federal law enforcement agencies were not only keeping secrets from the public, but were keeping secrets from each other as well. It was designed as a clearing house for all the secrets. How is it working out? Nobody knows. They don’t tell us. It’s a secret.

If you want some insight as to what the Ron Paul deal is about, I suggest Daniel Henninger’s latest effort for the Wall Street Journal. There are really two Ron Paul’s. One is the “cranky Texas Libertarian,” and the other is an idea, the growing realization that there is too much. There is too much secrecy, too many closed door meetings, too many foreign adventures to no effect, too many leaders who are no more than slippery salesmen in disguise, too much intrusion, too many academic theories taken as Gospel, too many non-answers, too much fiddling around the edges, too much kicking cans down the road, too much bullshit.

Really fella’s, haven’t you had enough yet?

The newsletter brouhaha

It stands to reason that after running off one outsider candidate over affairs he never had, the press would now focus on another outsider over newsletters he didn’t write. Dr. Paul’s views on race relations are not the issue. I believe his opinions on it are much like anyone else’s; befuddlement about the lack of any real progress, and the realization that if there is to be any progress it will come from the self-motivations of the minorities themselves. The issue with the newsletters is Dr. Paul’s friends.

Dr. Paul has a long history of not being choosey as to who he has as allies. Being a voice in the wilderness, he tends to accept allies where he finds them. There’s a general consensus that the newsletters were written, or over-seen, by two associates from the early days, the late Murray Rothbard and Lew Rockwell. They were all united by an interest in Austrian Economics. Whatever else they had in common is unclear.

All I know of Mr. Rothbard is that he wrote several books, none of which I’ve read. I ran across Lew Rockwell several years ago when I was beginning an interest in economics. He had one of the few websites about Austrian Economics at the time, but seemed to be more interested in re-fighting the Civil War. He seemed to take a special glee in bashing the memory of Abraham Lincoln. It was an interesting perspective, but not what I was looking for. Besides, my great grandpa fought for the North. I soon moved on.

If there is one question I would ask Dr. Paul it would be, “What is your current relationship with Mr. Rockwell?” It would be interesting to find out, but there are bigger questions at hand. Such as:

1) When the time comes, and it will, to decide if the future earnings of Main St. should be put towards the well being of Wall St. financiers, K ST. lobbyists, and foreign central governments, which candidate is most likely to side with Main St.?

2) When the time comes, and it will, to decide if we should involve ourselves in another pointless 10 year occupation based on the questionable theories of writers and editors at prestigious magazines, which candidate is most likely to ignore those theories? Whose kids will be sent to fight, or not sent?

3) When the time comes, and it already has, that a government that confiscates everything from colostomy bags to cupcakes based on suspected terrorism and that same government believes it is perfectly fine to detain, imprison and even assassinate US citizens based on nothing more than a suspicion of terrorism, which candidate see’s a potential problem? By what logic would a citizen supposedly feel safer?

So yeah, I’m still in the Ron Paul camp, in spite of his friends.

Weird news as inspiration

My poetry education continues. I've known about Rudyard Kipling's "Gunga Din," since childhood, and have read it several times since, but it wasn't until I tried writing a poem of my own, based on his, that I noticed the first part of each verse is in third person and the last rhyme is in first person. Pretty tricky. I didn't know that was allowed.

Anyway, the subject of my ire is Newt Gingrich. Not that I don't like Newt, he has his moments, but of all the people to be gaining the top spot in the primary campaign, he would seem the most unlikely. The rank and file in the TEA party seem to have evolved. Where was Mr. Gingrich when the revolt started? He was busy being a million dollar "historian" for some of the very people who were crashing the economy. And where has he been since? I don't recall him being at any of the rallies, or even having an opinion on them. Strange, since he thinks himself an expert on everything else.

What is especially bothersome is that Ron Paul has been fighting the TEA party fight since about 1972. He has been a consistent standard bearer on every issue the TEA party has. You don't like his foreign policy? Answer this: How does a minimalist government support a global military empire? Where will the money and resources come from?

Well, enough. The poem is supposed to be funny, so enjoy.

Gung-Ho Newt

One hour with Ron Paul

Here's something you'll never see on network TV, or even a low budget cable channel.

I know what you're thinking. "An hour? Of Ron Paul? He's got to be kidding."

No. I'm not kidding. It's all about liberty. And people should at least have a chance to hear it.

A peaceful protest and a media smack-down

I went to the Occupy Reno march and rally yesterday, but it wasn't until I got home that things really got wild.

Sincerity and hypocracy on a Saturday afternoon

If your not on Twitter, you're missing all the fun.

Questions for tonight's Econ Debate

In the past, the networks have been asking for people to send debate questions to them via Twitter. Not so this time. Apparently, someone among the powers that be has learned his lesson about the Twitteratti. That's too bad. I had assembled the crackerjack Not Ready For Publication News Team to come up with some questions for the candidates. I'm posting them here in the slim chance that the voice of the people will break through the corporatist elite's patriarchal power structure.

1) For Mitt Romney: The investment firm of Farnsworth & Fabersham LLC., controls $35 billion. At 9AM, Mr Farnsworth begins buying $12 billion in Italian 10 year notes, and at 10AM, Mr Fabersham begins buying $7 billion in corn futures. Will they go broke before the markets close at the end of the day?

2)For Rick Perry: If Netanyahu has a 3 handicap, and Hitler has a 4 handicap, what would be their expected combined score on a par 72?

3) For Ron Paul: If I make $2.5 trillion a year, but spend $4 trillion a year, how long will it take before somebody beats the crap out of me?

4) For Rick Santorum: Double Bubble or Bazooka Joe? (grunt)

5) For Newt Gingrich: Ding Dongs, or Twinkies? (grunt) ...or both? (grunt, grunt)

6) For Michelle Bachman: Could you please explain the difference between the General Relativity and Special Relativity theories? No? I said, "please."

7) For Herman Cain: There are 5 seconds left with Netanyahu guarding the high post. After an inbound pass, should Hitler drive for the stuff, or sell the drive, then pull-up for the stop-n-pop turnaround jumper?

8) For Newt Gingrich: Can you even do 10 sit-ups?

9) For Mitt Romney: Mr Fabersham, of Farnsworth & Fabersham LLC., is 5ft. 10 inches tall and has a girth of 63 inches. His arm-candy wife is 2 inches shorter with a girth 1/3 of his. What is their combined volume? (Bonus question) What is Mrs Fabersham's dress size?

10) For Rick Perry: There's 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth and the score is tied. You’re the 3rd base coach and Netanyahu is in scoring position on 2nd. Hank Williams Jr. hit’s a soft blooper to right where Hitler has been playing deep. The scouting report says Hitler is slow, given that he insists on wearing jack boots instead of cleats and he doesn't bend his knees when he runs. But, you know he has a cannon for an arm. Do you hold Netanyahu at third or wave him home?

11) For Michelle Bachman: There are 10 laps left in the Indy 500 and Hitler has a half lap lead over Netanyahu. Your last pit stop was 18 laps ago. Should you call Hitler in for a splash-n-dash or dial back on the fuel mixture?

12) For John Huntsman: Oh, are you still here?

13) For Newt Gingrich: Is it fair to call Democrats, "Socialists"? Isn’t that like calling a Ding Dong a Twinkie?

14) For Rick Santorum: Teriyaki jerky or Slim Jims? (grunt)

15) For Herman Cain, Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich: Given your combined backgrounds in business and snack foods, could you please explain why nobody has ever come out with a Caramel Twinkie Pizza? Discuss.

For all the candidates: (Raise your hand if in agreement) Are you willing to submit to a drug test and background check? Do you have documentation showing you have a legal right to work in the United States? Have you been convicted of a felony in the last 7 years? Is English your preferred language? Are you still listening to me, or are you just standing there doing what everyone else does? Can you be claimed as a dependant on anyone else's tax form? Do you have a high school diploma or GED? Are you capable of lifting 50 lbs, stooping, stretching, pushing, pulling, or standing in one place for long periods of time? If hired, can you conform to the rules, regulations, and code of conduct of the nation? Do you have any questions about our country?

If we determine your qualifications for this position meet our goals, we'll call you in the next week or two.

The Nibiru mystery yarn

It is Nibiru, the Death Planet, the blue star Kachina of Hopi prophesy, and it's coming to a solar object near us in 2012 - except that it isn't.

This so-called "theory" has been going around the web for a while now, but it only got my attention a few days ago. Thanks to a troll in the comments section on one of my favorite websites, I got the instructions for how to find Nibiru.

If you go to google.com/sky, type in "mercury," you get this:



Not much there, but then click on the infrared view:



It is Nibiru, the Death Planet, the blue star Kachina of Hopi prophesy, except that it isn't. I think a little background info might be in order.

There is a good, if lengthy synopsis about it all on wikipedia's "Nemesis collision" page. There are two pertinent sets of facts.

In the 1980's, archaeologists looking through the fossil record noticed that "mass extinction events" seem to happen about every 26 million years. The good news is that the last one happened only 5 million years ago, so we're OK for the next 21 million.

The regularity of these events, however, got astronomers wondering if there wasn't something on a 26 million year orbit that caused them. A variety of proposals were put forward, and the hypothetical mystery object was soon dubbed "Nemesis." They haven't found anything yet, but they're still looking.

Not to let a good Doomsday scenario go to waste, some of the more fanciful among us began getting their own idea's. One of these is Nancy Lieder, who after claiming to have been abducted by aliens from Zeta Reticuli, has also been in contact with them ever since.

Now, most people might stop right here. But, not me. Oh no. I soldiered on. And I'm glad I did, because it gets better.

In the late 1990's, Ms Lieder claims she was told by the "Zeta's" that the astronomers were wrong. A large space object would crash into the Earth in 2003 and wipe out everything. The best part about it is, the Zeta's called this object "Planet X." Needless to say, 2003 came and went with no Planet X forthcoming. Apparently, the Zeta's are not only uncharacteristically droll at naming things, they're not very good at math either.

Not to worry. The Zeta's quickly regrouped and came up with a sexy new name and a new date. It was called "Nibiru", from the Babylonian word meaning crossing, and it would hit just in time for the end of the Mayan calender in 2012. What luck!

If you google "blue star kachina," you'll find all manner of doomsday stories. What you won't find are any Hopi's. If you google "Hopi," you'll find a few jewelry stores and the tribal government website. There's no blue star Kachina stories, but there is an interesting statement in Hopi Tribal Chairman LeRoy N. Shingoitewa’s “State of the Tribe” Address, where he takes a swipe at the EPA for trying to shut down the tribes coal fired power station. How times change.

"OK," you may be asking, "if the big blue thing isn't Nibiru, the Death Planet, the blue star Kachina of Hopi prophesy, then what is it?"

It's a little tricky because Google sky won't let you zoom in while in the infrared mode. You can only zoom in while in the visible light mode. But, by using the bright objects in both pictures for reference, you can zoom in to where it should be. You can see that there are stars and even galaxies. These would have to be in front of the object, otherwise you wouldn't see them.



Either it's the largest object in the universe and very far away, or it's just a lens flare, like what you get by pointing a camera into the sun. Infrared camera's have multiple lenses too.

I have a little theory of my own about these things. I think native people get a kick out of scaring gullible white people. It's probably racist to think so, but let's face it, it's not as if they owe us any favors.

Somewhere, high on a mesa, there is a group of natives sitting on blankets around a small fire, peering into their laptops and having a good laugh. Oh, the humanity.

It all comes down to Cheetos

It looks like the journalist/blogger kerfuffle is heating up again. Just in case, I thought I'd get in early this time.

Newsroom suffers Cheetos envy

Bob Conrad's post, which is linked at the beginning of mine, is well worth a read. The journalist/marketing war has been going on long before bloggers entered the picture.

Listening to meteors

If you've been a little less than dazzled by the Perseid meteor shower that was more like a light sprinkle, here's something that should make up for it a little.

The fine folks at the U.S. Air Force Space Surveillance Radar in Texas recorded the sound of the meteors as they passed overhead. There is a lot of background noise, but you can definitely hear the swoosh as the meteors pass by, and the whistling echo as they pass through the atmosphere. The first photograph in the video was taken by astronaut Ron Garan, who is aboard the International Space Station, and had a much better view.



The projected count for the peak was 120 meteors per hour, or two a minute. The final count I saw was 25 per hour, or one every three minutes.

The conservatism of Rick Perry (?)

Governor Rick Perry of Texas is running for president. I've heard he is a conservative, but then according to the standards of the Eastern Media Establishment, anyone who talks about Jesus in public is automatically a conservative. I'm not buying it.

He used to be a Democrat, which is forgivable. A lot of people used to be Democrats, and in spite of my best efforts, some of them still are. What's troubling is that he was once the Texas Campaign Chairman for Al Gore in 1988. This bothers me a lot, but not because of Al Gore.

Governor Perry and I are roughly the same age. That means he's been around since Nixon/McGovern. Now if he voted for McGovern that's fine, so did I. Richard Nixon was a lot of things but "popular with America's youth" wasn't one of them. Besides, a day or so before the election, McGovern told some guy at an airport to "kiss my ass." That sealed my vote.

But think of all the things that happened between '72 and '88. There was Watergate, the fall of Saigon, the boat people, stagflation, the Panama Canal, the Ayatollah, the hostages, to name a few. And then there was the Reagan Revolution, eight years of it. William F. Buckley Jr. was popping up everywhere. If you weren't a small government conservative after living through all that, you were never going to be one.

What happened in the '90's to change his mind? Was it something Newt said? Did he get all excited over the prospect of a Bob Dole presidency? Was it the blue dress? I don't get it. Something's not right here.

And then there's all the talk about how he created jobs. Excuse me, but government doesn't create jobs; that's conservatism 101. He was governor while other people created jobs and he ought to make that distinction.

By 2008, Rick Perry was so conservative, he backed the pro gun control, pro abortion candidate Rudy Giuliani in the primary. What accounts for all the buzz about Rick Perry being a conservative? To find the answer, one needs to look to the left side of the Eastern Media Establishment.

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

News from far away places

It should be a good weekend for sky gazing as the Perseid and Aquarid meteor showers are both hitting at the same time. Unfortunately, the peak on August 12, coincides with a full moon and it will be up most of the night. This weekend we have a half moon that sets at 10:30 - 11:00.

And just to get you in the mood, check this out. (Click the full screen at bottom right for full effect).

Ocean Sky from Alex Cherney on Vimeo.

Alex Cherney lives in Australia so you won't be seeing any of these stars around here. Also of interest is his choice of the Dobsonian mounted telescope. The Dobsonian doesn't have a polar axis, and back in the days of film, was rarely, if ever, used by astro-photographers. The light gathering power of the digital camera is what makes these videos possible. Even so, this video took over a year to make. He has several other videos and some nice still shots on his website, terrastro.com.

The Middle Earth Investment Portfolio

I have a new post up on This is Reno. I've been trying to think of something to do with John McCain's comparison of TEA Partyers to Hobbits ever since he said it.

A tale from the Middle Earth investment portfolio

My friends, as I write this, the debauchery of the Eastern Alliance has now become the law of the land. The forces of Lord Neokeynes are once again setting about to ravage our little hamlets and plunder the bounty of our wholesome toil.

Click on the title link to read the whole thing.

ALMS fans at the Rolex series

Last weekend I headed out to Laguna Seca to check out the Rolex series with my brother, Steve. This series is the competition for my usual favorite, the ALMS.

The two series' are similar in that they are timed endurance races for prototypes as well as production cars. The main difference is that the Daytona class prototypes in the Rolex series are much more standardized. The advantage is lower cost to the teams, therefor, more teams and better racing. The downside is all the cars look the same with less exotic technology.

Another aspect of standardization is the focus is more on the drivers than the manufacturers and the Rolex series has some interesting drivers. David Donohue is the son of the late, great Mark Donohue, my old favorite. Alex Gurney is the son of legendary Dan Gurney. Max "Mad Max" Angelelli and Scott Pruett are also familier to race fans.

The video

Steve and I took up our customary positions at the entrance to turn 2 to watch the start. Turn 1 is a dogleg left-hander and hardly counts as a corner. The straight between 1 and 2 is the fastest part of the track. Turn 2 is one of the slower parts of the track, so there's a lot of passing and door handle scratching that goes on there, especially at the start.

There were very few yellow flags, but after the fist one, we moved to turn 5 and got there in time for the restart. It's a good place to watch, but thanks to the double fencing, not a good place to shoot video. One of these days, I'll look into trying to finagle a press pass.

Towards the end, we crossed the pedestrian bridge, stopping briefly at turn 4 on our way to turn 10. This corner is a high bank right-hander and very fast. From a driver's perspective, the straights going into and out of turn 10 are the set-up for turn 11. Turn 11 is a tight hairpin that leads onto the front straight and the start/finish line. If you're going to make a move on the guy in front of you, this is your last chance.

A couple of yellow flags late in the race bunched up the field and made for a close finish. For the record, Gurney's kid won. I still prefer the ALMS, but I'm starting to like this series too now.