Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

June 2012

Sinking of the Titanicalifornia

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Arnold Ahlert writes at The Patriot Post about the victory of two cities last Tuesday night:

While most of the mainstream media focused their attention on Wisconsin and Scott Walker’s victory Tuesday night, an equally, if not more significant vote occurred in two California cities. Voters in San Diego and San Jose overwhelmingly approved cuts to retirement benefits for city workers.

. . .

All of the so-called current wisdom regarding government unions and their ability to sway politicians with massive campaign contributions and/or thuggish tactics is no longer current. In the space of a single evening, the aura of invincibility government unions have long enjoyed has been irreparably damaged.

11 Jun 2012 by Beltway Kabuki Humor Whacko Politics

The RV Drive – Then and Now


I rummaged through some of the old photos in the archives this afternoon. One image from March of last year shows the RV drive as it appeared at that time; it was taken from the hill to the east. I walked to approximately the same spot on the hill and took another image of the RV drive as it appears today.

Click on the image above to alternate between the THEN and NOW views of the RV drive. Notice the growth of the rosemary planted on the slope, the addition of the screen porch enclosure and, of course, the presence of an RV in the drive.

10 Jun 2012 by Arizona Home & Garden Retirement

California Brown Pelican

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There aren’t too many things we miss about California, but we do miss our access to the seashore where the California brown pelicans soar along the cliffs. I took this photo of a brown pelican at Point Vicente in Rancho Palos Verdes. It was a sunny day in January of 2010 before we started the move to Arizona.

We miss family and friends, but manage to stay in touch with them. We don’t miss the overcrowded dense-pack of humanity, nor do we miss the sirens, crime rate, graffiti, stupid gun laws, insane politics, etc. Unfortunately, we have to return this month for some business, but we’ll deal with it.

Don’t get me wrong, we love the desert and all the flora and fauna. We used to miss the desert even before we decided to move here.

Click on the image to enlarge.

09 Jun 2012 by California Critters Photography

Asian Aerosols and US Climate Change

circle.jpgI learned through World Climate Report that a group at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, wrote a paper outlining “Potential Impacts of Asian carbon aerosols on future US warming.”

The paper postulates that Asian emissions have a greater effect on climate change in the US than US emissions do. It would seem that the EPA’s efforts to regulate carbon in the country would be rendered moot by the NCAR report.

Image: atmospheric circulation in the north Pacific Ocean

The climate along the Pacific coast of the US is affected by air and ocean current circulation way more than Asian carbon. That’s why temperatures along the coasts of western states remain relatively stable – cooler in summer and warmer in winter than most places in the contiguous US.

Now, after doing all the numbers in terms of atmospheric volume versus greenhouse gasses, the actual impact of Asian, as well as US emissions, do very little to affect the climate. Urban Heat Islands and solar activity have far more effect on the environment.

It seems to us that the efforts by the paper’s authors, even though it short-circuits the measures taken in the US by the EPA, is just another attempt at “proving” Anthropogenic Global Warming is reality. We’re still saying that AGW is bullsh*t.

08 Jun 2012 by Environment Global Warming Greenbats

Golden Ball Cactus

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When I bought this Golden Ball Cactus (Notocactus leninghausii) at the garden shop the other day, the flower buds were all closed. Just a little while after I got it home and on the patio, the flowers opened. Click on the image to enlarge.

07 Jun 2012 by Arizona Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Venus Transit Progress

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This is a visual summary of the transit as seen from our Arizona home. Starting at the upper left is the first we were able to detect the silhouette of Venus as it just entered into the solar disc. Although we didn’t observe any disciplined schedule of taking images, we went outside every once in a while and snapped several images.

This is a collage of a dozen images from the first noticeable shadow until after the mid-transit image. Ecliptic north lies at about the 2:30 position in the individual images. Notice how atmospheric attenuation darkens the solar disc in the last three or four images taken as the sun approached the horizon.

Click on the image to enlarge.

06 Jun 2012 by Arizona Astronomy Environment Photography Science

Venus at Mid-Transit

mid-transit.jpgThis image taken at about 18:24 Arizona time, is the approximate mid point in the transit of Venus. I adjusted the image such that ecliptic north is up. Venus moved from left to right across the northern hemisphere of the solar disc.

Image: Venus at Mid-Transit. Camera: Canon SX-40, Rainbow Symphony Solar Filter, Shutter Speed: 1/2000′, Aperture: F 5.0, Film Speed: ISO 3200

We will not be able to watch or photograph much more today since the terrain rises to the west and apparent sunset is about forty minutes before actual. Regardless, we wouldn’t see Venus exit the disc since that will occur well after sundown here in the 48 contiguous states. We feel lucky that we got to see the midpoint of the transit.

We also feel lucky to have witnessed two solar events in just a little over three weeks, the first semi-rare event being the annular eclipse and this extremely rare Venus transit. The next transit of Venus will be 105 years hence in the year 2117.

05 Jun 2012 by Astronomy Photography Science

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