The owl and the squirrel

Just behind my house is a thick row of trees, including about 6 cottonwoods 100 ft. tall, the nearest about 40 ft.  For 10 years or more a pair of great horned owls have used these trees as a rendevous point in early evening, and a singing post at intervals during the night.  And that is something beautiful to hear, the whole neighborhood is in love with the soft "who who whoots".

This grove of trees is also home to a hell of a lot of squirrels.  Squirrels get brave around the owls, even running upside down on the bottom of branches, right under the owls.  Last night, just before a pink sunset I was standing at the window watching the male owl (the smaller one) about 60 ft up.  A little below him in the next cottonwood a squirrel had gotten out onto some twigs to bite the ends off for the sweet first taste of buds.  With a lean forward and a long wing stroke the owl crashed into the twigs and   yellow talons reached for the squirrel.  The owl either hit the squirrel or didn't get enough of a hook in.  A little bank up to the left and the owl was on another perch as if nothing happened.  The squirrel tumbled end over end from at least 50 ft. up in a long arc landing out of sight behind the 5 ft. thick trunk of another cottonwood.  After 30 seconds, about 4 ft. off the ground it walked slowly around the trunk.  I didn't have the binoculars handy so I couldn't see if he had been cut.  Another squirrel came over to play chase, but the lucky survivor climbed slowly up and around the trunk out of sight in the pink light.  

Lived here 17 years.  Only the second time I ever saw a squirrel fall.  The other time I was under the trees picking up branches and I heard something falling and I thought damn this might be the end.  But a few feet from me a squirrel hit the dirt followed by a shower of leaves and twigs.  It lay motionless for a few seconds, then spun and ran off.  Tougher critters are hard to find.

Christians are the reason fewer of us are Christians

A recent poll found of the non-Christians among us or those who may consider themselves Christian but rarely attend church have a very negative view of Christians.  78% say that Christians are too sheltered, 85% view them as hypocritical, 91% think religious people hate gays, and 75% say Christians are too political.  

The 2010 book, American Grace, concluded that partisan politics was directly to blame for the rise of religiously unaffiliated Americans.  The writers, Cambell and Merritt argue  "The growth of the nones is a direct reaction to the intermingling of religion and politics in the United States." And.  "As American Evangelicals have become more partisan, American Christianity has suffered as more shy away from the faith."

Check out this months Atlantic for more on this, and how the Catholic right and other religious right groups are moving to box in the new "liberal Pope".  I have a business associate who is an extreme Catholic, I tell him how much I like the Pope, he says he does too, but then proceeds to say that I and  even most Catholics don't understand him, he is not changing anything, he is not going to change anything, he can't change anything because it is God's law and the Pope has no authority to change the Church's direction.  It is easy to see, he does not like the new Pope at all, not harsh enough, he even says the Pope needs more PR people to clarify the message.   What he cannot see is that this Pope could return the Church to how Jesus spent his life, fighting wealth, power and injustice.  

Klansas state sanctioned discrimination law update

The flatearth society continues it's nationwide moment in the spotlight.  Last week the state lower house passed a religious freedom law that will allow government workers, or employees of companies to refuse to serve gay couples, or anyone they suspect is a gay couple.  Smile at your buddy waiting for a chick-fil-e and you may be shown the door. (BTW, please boycott chick-file and hobby lobby) It's up to the server to decide if you are or aren't, you have no say.

The blow back is big.  Businesses don't like it because they don't know which employee may one day refuse to serve and damage the business.  They are getting blow back from all over the nation.  But, so far only two Episcopal bishops have sent letter saying it's wrong, it's anti-christian, the rest of the Klansas thumpers are silent.  The upper house (state senate) pulled the bill and say they will fine tune it, some say it will never go forward, I bet it will.  The AG says he is budgeting $120k for the first years legal contest if it passes.

In a letter to the editor (Wichita Eagle) there was an excellent plea to the legislature to expand the bill, allow servers and employees to refuse to serve bigoted zealots as well, and let them refuse other religions, after all if you are truly religious aren't all other religions and sects going to hell?  Aren't they athiest?  You shouldn't have to serve people on their way to hell.

A protest over the weekend put labels all around the capital building, marking off the best sidewalks and water fountains as "Straights Only".  On the main approach one sidewalk was marked gay and the other straight, hundreds were on the gay sidewalk, straight was empty.

A Confederacy of Dunces.

Today's London's business newspaper front page.
In case you only follow the US news sources you might have missed that the PM of France visited the US and discussed issues not related to his girlfriend or the seating arrangement at the White House dinner.
You might also have missed that while we chilled, Russia barely had a winter at all, Ireland and Great Brittan had 45 days of floods and hurricane force storms blow off the ocean doing billions in damage and lost business.  Australia has set another summer of record highs.
But thanks be unto god, the flatearth society continues to do good work, yesterday the Kansas legislature passed a resolution to be sent to the United States Congress warning that Climate Science is not science, but gobbledygook, and it's stupid, really really stupid.  I think that is how they put it.

Find "A Confederacy of Dunces".  Great and funny book, only one that author ever wrote.

23 f ing degrees by 2050

NOAA, who keeps hitting their predictions about climate change, in fact they have to keep adjusting them, and not to the good.  Based on the latest jump in CO2, recall that it should be about 350 to prevent warming, last year it hit 400 in one reading, now it has hit in the 420's in another.  Those were new highs ont averages, but the CO2 release rate now looks as if an average of mid to high 400's will occur by 2050.  Along with that will be arctic early fall temperatures (that is the heat lag cycle's typical high point) will likely be 23°f higher than the most recent norms, which are themselves higher than historical norms.

The arctic will be free of ice all but a thin coat in the late winter.  Likewise, at 23° warmer, most of the Greenland ice sheet should have melted, bringing the ocean level up almost 20 feet, of course Antartica will also have contributed to that total.

Don't feel left out, some other parts of the globe will jump in temps as well, in various amounts.  Lets just say we jump 15° across the nation.  So, summer highs in the southwest commonly of 130, upper northeast of 115.  It would be a good thing to start working to persuade people to turn this around.

Peabody Energy beats St Louis citizens

"business entities (which, after all, are a species of associations of citizens coming together in the exercise of economic freedom) are entitled to constitutional protection as citizens and may not arbitrarily be denied basic legal rights. See Citizens United v. Federal Election Comm., 558 U.S. 310 (2010)."

Thus stated a judge today in StLouis, siding in favor of Peabody Energy and against the 22,000 registered voter signatures (enough to qualify it) to place a ballot initiative in the next election which if passed would curtail the municipality of providing incentives to fossil fuel companies doing more than $1 million in the city.  (see this just says don't give these guys a tax break more than anyone else or special conditions, yet to Peabody the special treatment is expected and will not be given up) Their will be no ballot initiative if corporations don't want them.  The "personhood" of corporations is now expanded by this ruling from unlimited election contributions from the few to dominate the many, to this, which can and will morph into all manner of events.  Now every law, regulation, citizen action, every political action, it's all going to be contested by business, and more often than not found in favor of the, ah what did he call it, "a species of associations of citizens".  

poor Donald, he can't help it, he was born without an empathy gene.

Scotland shook Donald Trumphs comb over today.  A high court turned down his law suit to stop a wind farm being placed a few miles offshore of his proposed golf course.  Didn't want to have to look at those little pin wheels way out there low on the horizon, making energy for ordinary Scots.  He says he will file another suit, sure he will, but after years of this, doesn't look all that good for the billionaire.

Besides the court, the people around the proposed golf course on the shore are moving from in favor of the golf course, to being against it.  More and more details come out, and they don't like it.  If it goes ahead, hundreds of acres of beautiful pasture land rolling down to the sea and punctuated with little farms will be turned into a high end golf and entertainment center with a high end housing development surrounding it.  The natives were fooled at first, but billionaires demanding and getting what they want eventually breeds contempt.