Moose and Squirrel Skunk . . .
Solar CME Animation
This is an interesting animation showing a three-axis presentation of recent solar coronal mass ejections. You can click on the image for the full-sized animation.
From SpaceWeather.com:
FOUR CMEs: On Sept. 19th, the STEREO-SOHO fleet of spacecraft surrounding the sun detected six coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Two of the clouds rapidly dissipated. The remaining four, however, are still intact and billowing through the inner solar system.
According to analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, who prepared the movie, one CME should hit Mercury on Sept. 20th at 05:40 UT while another delivers a glancing blow to Earth’s magnetic field on Sept. 22nd at 23:00 UT. All impact times have an uncertainty of plus or minus 7 hrs.
Verdin Nest
The Palo Verde tree on the road in front of our house has a verdin nest; it has been there for over a year. Now, it seems, there is one of the tiny birds roosting in it. According to the Stokes Field Guide to Birds, the male verdin builds several nests and the female chooses only one to roost. I’m glad that she chose this one. I like that idea; the male builds several nests for the female. 😀
The image above is the opening on the nest taken with the flash to illuminate the inside. I don’t see eggs or chicks but that doesn’t mean their are none. The upper left inset image is the spherical nest taken from the road under the tree. At the lower right is an image of our verdin that I took in June of last year in this very tree. Click on the image to enlarge.
Weekend Stuff
We spent the weekend (extended weekend, actually) enjoying food and football. So, no significant blogging today. We hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as we did.
Red Bird Close Up
With Summer ending this week, I am glad that we’re still getting our red bird of paradise flowers. Enjoy them while you can! Click on the image to enlarge.
Legal vs. Illegal Ponzi Schemes
From The Patriot Post:
Strictly speaking, Social Security is not a Ponzi scheme, in part because it’s not against the law. Indeed, it is the law. (Try not paying payroll taxes — i.e., “investing” in the system.) But it is structured exactly like a Ponzi scheme, and it will eventually fail for the same reasons. Today’s workers are paying for the checks of today’s retirees, and it has always been that way. From the start, politicians have raided the Social Security “trust fund” and spent the money on other general fund projects. What was left were worthless IOUs. Now that benefits paid exceed taxes collected, that problem has become acute. According to the Social Security board of trustees, in 1945, there were 42 workers for every retiree; the current ratio of three workers to every retiree is unsustainable.
Emphasis added.
Patriotic Bouquet
I bought a patriotic bouquet of lovely red and white roses with some (almost) blue accent flowers in the arrangement today when we went on our weekly shopping excursion for groceries. These are on my desk in the office tonight. Click on the image to enlarge.