New Anti-ID Theft AZ Drivers Licenses

New License Format

Effective this week, Arizona drivers licenses will have a new look. Ours don’t expire until 2015, but we can expect to get this format when we renew. I like the fact that the word “VETERAN,” if appropriate, is prominently displayed on the face of the license.

Via Arizona Highways Blog and ADOT:

Effective this week, Arizona has a new driver’s license that our bosses at the Arizona Department of Transportation say will offer better protection against identity theft.

Among the most notable changes: a new font for the word “Arizona” at the top of the license; a larger portrait, along with a duplicated “ghost” portrait; an Arizona-shaped laser perforation; and a new background image.

On the latter, gone is the Grand Canyon panorama that defined Arizona’s previous driver’s license. In its place is a collage of unique Arizona features, such as geologic formations, a saguaro and a ringtail (the state mammal). The image employs a technique called Guilloché innovative symmetry; an ADOT release says the technique consists of “intricate, repetitive patterns that are interwoven to guard against counterfeiting, altering or other fraudulent use, making for a more secure credential.”

There’s no need to rush out and get a new license; your old one will still be good until it expires.

First Day of Summer

Solstice

Today is the first day of summer. The above is a screenshot captured from the Archaeoastronomy website where the eight significant stations of the Earth’s orbit are depicted: solstices, equinoxes and cross-quarters.

Now, it is time to brace yourselves for the inundation of the greenbats cries about global warming, regardless of summer being quite a natural phenomenon. It’s all about their political agenda, not about the weather.

From Joe Bastardi via The Patriot Post:

I have stopped trying to argue with someone who refuses to look at anything but that which supports his own position. It’s pointless. So in an effort to end a debate quickly, I now politely ask individuals to explain how CO2, given how small it is relative to all around it, actually changes the entire system. That usually stops it with most of the crowd. Like many things I see with new age forecasters today, they will jump on one weather factor and not understand its behavior is because of everything around it.

The second thing I do is put the ball in their court. This requires knowing what went on historically with weather/climate. So I ask what the perfect number is for CO2 in the atmosphere. An example: Dr. Bill McKibben – one of the people I am frequently amazed with because his comments indicate he either does not know and understand what the weather has done before, or does and refuses to let that get in the way – runs a group called 350.org. He and his team want CO2 at 350 ppm (parts per million). So let’s just go to 350 ppm and see what it was like.

First, here is CO2 on the “correct” scale, which is the percentage of the atmosphere. This is not what you commonly see, which is the amount of CO2 in parts per million, where CO2 is grossly over-represented. The scale should be from one to a million, not a tiny fraction of a million.

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Mammoth on the Hill

Mammoth

While we were driving along SR 60 going through California on Monday, we passed this metallic mammoth adorning one of the Jarupa Hills near Riverside.

We see a lot of metallic sculpture when we’re in Arizona, some of it around town and some in the Arizona Outback between Wickenburg and Brenda just before getting on I-10 from US 60. We have seen dinosaurs, horses, a stagecoach and various other sculptures during our travels. Always entertaining. Click on the image to enlarge.

Home Sweet Home

Welcome

We are safely back home after our productive trip to California. Just across the state line, we pass this welcome sign that energizes us for the next 100+ miles to home. After a four and a half hour drive from the old house, we are always happy to be back in the jurisdiction of a free state.

At this point of our trip, we have a few miles to Quartzsite where we refuel for the rest of the trip with more-reasonably-priced gas (than California’s outrageous $4 per gallon prices) and after refueling, we have just about 12 miles or so until we can get off of Idiot Interstate-10 to join US 60 the rest of the way across the Arizona Outback before entering the Hassayampa River Valley and home.

HOV Lane

HOV Lane

HOV or High Occupancy Vehicle lanes on California’s Freeways are supposed to be reserved for vehicles with occupancy of 2 or more. When we travel to our former state, we meet their criterion for HOV lane occupancy. Using those lanes gets us around some of the congestion which is rampant throughout urban areas. It cuts our travel time by, perhaps, a half hour out of six hours total travel time.

Some of our fellow travelers seem to equate the so-called Diamond Lane, not with High Occupancy, but with High Speed. While We might be a couple of MPH over the posted speed limit, some of the drivers get right up on our tailgate trying to get us to go faster. Of course, it does them little good, since I have the cruise control set to maintain a speed such as to not attract undue attention to law enforcement.

Some of the drivers get it, and fall back to match our speed. Others, however, have a road rage incident where they pull out to the right and pass us, cutting us off as they pull in ahead of us and speed on down the road. Of course, when we’re on the road, we drive defensively and slow down to let the idiots kill themselves and not get us involved.

We’re in K-stan tonight and tomorrow and Damsel and I look forward to heading back to Free Arizona on Wednesday.

Flag Day in Wickenburg

Re-posted from Flag Day 2011:

Several times during the year, the Wickenburg Chapter of the American Legion places US flags in the historic downtown area and along the two main drags through town. Today, Flag Day, we ventured out for several errands and were delighted at the patriotic display. This image was taken along East Wickenburg Way (US 60) near old downtown looking west. Click on the image to enlarge.

town-flags.jpg

Water Lilies in the Desert

Water Lilies

I posted a picture of a single water lily last year when we were at this same koi pond inside the hospital courtyard. This time, I got a photo of these three water lilies and they weren’t the only ones in the pond.

I always think that water lilies seem out of place in the high Sonoran Desert, but they apparently do quite well here and in neighboring Yarnell up the road about 20 miles or so. Click on the image to enlarge.