Fossil or Not?

Fossil or Not?

fossilI found this buried in the backyard while mowing, Kasey did the initial excavation. It’s oddly shaped, and has crusty things all over the surface, so I’ve been trying to figure out what it is most of the evening. The question is whether it’s a fossil or not. More to come, in the meantime if you know what you are talking about and have a hypothesis as to what it could be, I’m interested in your opinion. For an idea of scale the grey curved line is the outline of a large burner on a ceramic stovetop, the words say “turbo boil”. I’ll get some more pics tomorrow with a ruler for scale. I’m in the NE Corner of Kansas, surface rock here is Carboniferous for the most part.

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North Korean Nuclear Test

North Korean Nuclear Test

North Korea has performed another underground nuclear test, and test launched more missiles. Video from AP

President Obama’s Statement:

Today, North Korea said that it has conducted a nuclear test in violation of international law. It appears to also have attempted a short range missile launch. These actions, while not a surprise given its statements and actions to date, are a matter of grave concern to all nations. North Korea’s attempts to develop nuclear weapons, as well as its ballistic missile program, constitute a threat to international peace and security.

By acting in blatant defiance of the United Nations Security Council, North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community. North Korea’s behavior increases tensions and undermines stability in Northeast Asia. Such provocations will only serve to deepen North Korea’s isolation. It will not find international acceptance unless it abandons its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.

The danger posed by North Korea’s threatening activities warrants action by the international community. We have been and will continue working with our allies and partners in the Six-Party Talks as well as other members of the U.N. Security Council in the days ahead.

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Memorial Day 2009

Memorial Day 2009

The history of taps from Tapsbugler.com.
If you’ve been in the military or a military family you have mixed emotions about this 24 note song – heard at dusk it means end of day, you and yours are still alive. When heard at other times that meaning is changed.

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Blue Kasey

Blue Kasey

kasey-smiles

If you look closely at a strand of Kasey’s seemingly gray fur with a magnifying glass it appears to scintillate with blue-green light. That’s the spectrum it reflects in, but in most lighting the blue green patches appear gray with only a dull bluish tint. Every now and then the light is right, as in this flash photo taken with the Sony DSC, and you can see that some of her fur really is blue / green. Why she’s called a “blue Merle”. Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, look above her left eye.

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Watching This is Torture

Watching This is Torture

I detest lies.

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Memorial Day

Memorial Day

Some get confused between Memorial day and Veterans day, but there is a difference. On Veteran’s day we honor all veterans, those living and those who fell.

On Memorial, or Decoration day as it was previously known and as President Ronald Reagan preferred to call it, we honor those who have fallen. We honor them by visiting their graves, their monuments, and we decorate their graves with memorabilia and flowers. Decoration day was created by order in 1868 to honor those who fell in the civil war. Here is Ronald Reagan speaking:

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Pelosi vs The CIA [with Bond Theme Song]

Pelosi vs The CIA [with Bond Theme Song]

A funny video send up up Nancy’s lies about the CIA, and her refusal to address the issue. Friday she once again ducked questions on the issue backed by a coterie of other Congresscritters, and then got out of DC as fast as she could…

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Murder Through Faith

Murder Through Faith

Madeline Kara Neumann; Photo Credit AP / Daylife Madeline Kara Neumann; Photo credit AP/Daylife

A Jury has convicted Kara’s mother of second-degree reckless homicide after her daughter died from a medically treatable form of diabetes which her parents tried to treat through prayer. Story at FNN.
If you have faith and you value life, then you have to value what humans can do for each other as well.

That doesn’t stop you from praying for healing after you call 911 and it certainly doesn’t diminish your faith. Failing to seek medical help for the incapacitated is reckless and it is murder regardless of what you personally believe.

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Welcome Home Roxana Saberi

Welcome Home Roxana Saberi

No words needed here, Roxana says it well enough.

More from the BBC Article.

UPDATE: Roxana Saberi wins at Cannes Film Festival:

CANNES, France (AP) – A film co-scripted by U.S.-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi won a prize in one of the Cannes Film Festival competitions on Saturday.

“No One Knows About Persian Cats” won a special jury prize in the festival’s Un Certain Regard competition.

The film is a lively look at Tehran’s underground music scene and the risk of censorship and jail faced by Iranian musicians.

Saberi shares a screenplay credit on the film, which was directed and-co-written by her romantic partner, Bahman Ghobadi.

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Memorial Day Weekend Snow

Memorial Day Weekend Snow

cottonwood-snowWe have a neighbor with a bigass cottonwood tree, and every year we get cottonwood snowbanks in May. This was taken with my Canon and the telephoto lens set to 300mm, kind of a cheaty way to get a sorta macro photo without a macro lens… as always click on the thumbnail for the larger version, even the larger version is cropped and reduced to less than a quarter of the original resolution these great cameras can take.

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