Thursday Thoughts, Video, and Random Stuff

Thought of the Day: "Laws that forbid the carrying of arms, disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homocides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."
~ from Thomas Jefferson's "Commonplace Book", quoting from "On Crimes and Punishment" by Cesare Beccaria, 1764

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Random Stuff:
AccuHunch Weather is living up down to its reputation for guesswork. Yesterday they told us we might get two inches of snow. Last night, they guessed we'd receive one to five inches overnight. This morning? No snow, although they allow as how we might get some flurries before lunch.

Folks here are still grumbling about Gov. Jindal's diss regarding volcano monitoring. Apparently, he didn't realize that volcanoes threaten any populated areas in the U.S.

As far as I know, Alaska is still part of the U.S. ... at least, for now. And volcanoes have dumped ash at least twice on Anchorage in the last 20 years. Mt. Spurr, which last erupted in '92, is visible from Anchorage and only 75 miles due west of here. I appreciate the Governor's attempt at clever compare-and-contrast by saying we don't need to monitor volcanoes; we need to monitor the eruption of spending. However, his speechwriting staff should have checked a little more closely.

Speaking of Mt. Redoubt, the latest volcano to threaten this part of the state, it still hasn't erupted. Here's the latest update:

2009-02-26 06:03:35
Redoubt Volcano has not erupted. Volcanic tremor and occasional discrete earthquakes are continuing this evening. There was a brief period of elevated tremor yesterday between 3:45 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. Since that time tremor has been at lower amplitude. The rate of occurrence of weak earthquakes increased yesterday evening above the morning's level, but has been dropping for the past few hours.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch ... one of the big oil producers is doing some grumbling of his own, telling Congress that the process of getting permits for drilling in Alaska is "clumsy." He's saying that there are too many agencies involved in the fight for progress; apparently this is news to lawmakers.

Video:
So the week is winding down, and folks are looking forward to tomorrow's kick-off of the annual Rondy, and the first of the World Championship Sled Dog races. It's fun, folks! Here's a short video of the first Iditarod racer leaving the starting line in 2006.