We're All in This Together!

I love this!

Socialism: keeping america safe from fires since 1898

Gimmie two!

Who's in Charge Here?

And about the oil spill:  I said they'd need a lot of caulk if they were gonna put a "dome" over the leak, didn't I?  Yes I did! (turns out I wasted the moment on fb and didn't post it here.  Curses!)

And what happened when they lowered the dome?  All the oil kept spewing out through the - the what? - yes, the bottom of the dome where it met the sea floor.  Why did anyone think, even for a second, that a natural seal would be created by putting that thing on there?  There's too much force coming from the spewing gushing oil leak!  It's impossible to stop such a force by simply putting a cup over it.  Any kid who's ever blown air into his soda through his straw could figure that one out.

W
T
F
?

Video of the Big Busted Pipe Under the Oily Gulf

BP shares video of the undersea oil gusher. The headline of the news story announcing it said they "caved to pressure" and posted this on youtube. A good use of math will help create estimates of how much is pouring into the sea by the minute.  Here's the story, the video is below.  Here's their schpiel: 

May 12, 2010 — ROBERT, La. -- Oil and gas stream from the riser of the Deepwater Horizon well May 11, 2010. This video is from the larger of two existing leaks on the riser. This leak is located approximately 460 feet from the top of the blowout preventer and rests on the sea floor at a depth of about 5,000 feet.



We are a ridiculous species sometimes.

World vs. Earth

Today, we have a guest blogger from the past (1806), Mr. William Wordsworth:

The World is Too Much with us:

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,
The winds that will be howling at all hours
And are up-gather’d now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for every thing, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.—Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn,—
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathéd horn.

Oil Slick Solution / Oil Slick Superimposition

They're pouring more chemicals on the oil spill, the ramifications about which they aren't certain. I say pour kitty litter all over it, mix it up with the Texas-sized floating patch of plastic pieces out there in the sea, stir in some lava from Iceland and make a new island. They could call it "Atlantis".

Now, from the *fantastic to the feasible:
Get an idea of the size of the Gulf Coast oil spill. Here's an interactive map that lets you superimpose it over just about any city you can think of. Not fun. We need to get off this stuff once and for all.

Here comes the sun.

*I really don't think my idea's that far fetched if you skip the lava step.  I just didn't want to lose you for the rest of the piece.  Sun, sun, sun: here it comes!

California Poppies

Here is a nice respite with the California poppies.

I Like Drums!

A little bitty kid rocks the mall!  What a happifying experience!

Watch: Howard Drum Show

It's All About the Circulatory System

From Barbara Strauch, author of "The Talents of a Middle Aged Brain"

"Our brains are more like our hearts in that everything you do for your heart is thought to be equally as good or better for your brain."