Friday, December 16, 2005

Friday Raccoon Blogging

I took this one a few days ago. While walking through the kitchen, I looked out the patio door and noticed that the food dish was empty and that a very sad, confused raccoon was studying the dish and nudging it a bit. I think he thought that if he hit it just right, Friskies would appear. So I grabbed a sack of chow and my camera, opened the door and stepped out onto the step...and the raccoon did not flee. He just pulled back a few steps, waited while I filled the bowl and then posed obligingly for pics while eating. Which is not to say he was the perfect model. See that ceramic bowl at right that's filled with water? Later that evening, either he or one of his relatives knocked it off the step and broke it.

• Posted at 8:06 PM · LINK

Just Do It

Jack Cafferty had a short but pungent bit of commentary today on CNN, and I thought I'd link to a video clip of it and print a transcript...

Who cares if the Patriot Act gets renewed? Want to abuse our civil liberties? Just do it! Who cares about the Geneva Conventions? Want to torture prisoners? Just do it! Who cares about rules concerning the identity of CIA agents? Want to reveal the name of a covert operative? Just do it! Who cares about whether the intelligence concerning WMDs is accurate? You want to invade Iraq? Just do it. Who cares about qualifications to serve on the nation's highest court? Want to nominate a personal friend with no qualifications? Just do it. And the latest outrage, which I read about in The New York Times this morning...who cares about needing a court order to eavesdrop on American citizens? Want to wiretap their phones conversations? Just do it. What a joke. A very cruel, very sad joke.

I see a lot of the Conservative websites are not upset that the Patriot Act may not get extended indefinitely. A year or so ago, they were throwing the "t" words (traitor and treason) at all who opposed them. But Bush is below 40% and we may be closer to a Democrat in the White House than some of them would like. Time to start pulling back on those presidential powers.

• Posted at 7:11 PM · LINK

Where in the World?

Here's an aerial shot of The Magic Castle, a sorta-exclusive private club in Hollywood to which I belong. If you want to get a neat picture like this to put on your blog, it's easy: Just get a digital camera and rent a helicopter and pilot. Have him fly over whatever you want to photograph while you hang out the door of the chopper and snap away.

Or I guess you could do it the easy way via the new Windows Live Local feature which offers maps of the world. For many areas (mostly urban), you can click into a "bird's eye view" and get aerial photos from all four directions. The pictures, at least in my area, seem to be about five years old. (I notice that a market building near me is vacant in the photo. Whole Foods moved in there about four years ago.) The "locate an address" feature does not work flawlessly — most of the ones I've tried have been off by a block or so — but it's worth the effort of figuring out where you should be. Some of the visuals are quite astounding.

• Posted at 6:35 PM · LINK

Today's Political Comment

Robert Novak has left CNN "by mutual agreement" (which means he was dumped) and is joining Fox News. What a surprise.

I'm sorry my father isn't around for a great many reasons. One is that he would have enjoyed seeing just about everyone on both sides of the political aisle decide Novak was low-level bottom-feeding plankton. My father used to watch Novak on CNN and say, "There's nothing that matters to that man beside making sure the rich get everything they can out of the government but that the poor pay for it all." I have yet to see any indication that my father was exaggerating.

• Posted at 11:40 AM · LINK