“In four years, our parents’ generation was able to defeat the Nazis and Japan simultaneously, whereas in four years since 9/11, we haven’t even gotten our first-responder communications systems talking to each other.”
— Richard Clarke, quoted by Andrew Tobias
Now this is a frightening concept.
“Saddam Hussein went on trial today. I had no idea he worked in the Bush White House.”
— Jay Leno
On this date in 1803, the United States Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase Treaty by a vote of twenty-four to seven.
The First Consul of the French Republic desiring to give to the United States a strong proof of his friendship doth hereby cede to the United States in the name of the French Republic for ever and in full Sovereignty the said territory with all its rights and appurtenances as fully and in the Same manner as they have been acquired by the French Republic in virtue of the above mentioned Treaty concluded with his Catholic Majesty [Spain].
France had lost control of Louisiana to Spain at the end of the French and Indian War (1763). In the Treaty of San Ildefonso (1800), Spain ceded the territory back to France (along with six warships) in exchange for the creation of a kingdom in north-central Italy for the Queen of Spain’s brother. Napoleon promised never to sell or alienate the property. His promise was good for about 10 months.
The purchase included 828,000 square miles — all or parts of the modern states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana.
With interest the total cost was $23.5 million, or about 4 cents an acre.
NewMexiKen hasn’t visited with Lewis and Clark for awhile. Here from the Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Online is much of Clark’s entry for this date 200 years ago. The expedition was on the Columbia River between the Umatilla and John Day rivers. The editor believes the basalt rocks and island “to be the area of Crow Butte State Park, Benton County, Washington.”
Larboard or “Lard Side” is what we call port, or the left. Clark was surely one of history’s most creative spellers.
A cool morning wind S. W. we concluded to delay untill after brackfast which we were obliged to make on the flesh of dog. after brackfast we gave all the Indian men Smoke, and we Set out leaveing about 200 of the nativs at our Encampment; passd. three Indian Lodges on the Lard Side a little below our Camp which lodges [we] I did not discover last evening, passed a rapid at Seven miles one at a Short distance below we passed a verry bad rapid, a chane or rocks makeing from the Stard. Side and nearly Chokeing the river up entirely with hugh black rocks, an Island below close under the Stard. Side on which was four Lodges of Indians drying fish,— here I Saw a great number of pelicons on the wing, and black Comerants. at one oClock we landed on the lower point of [some] an Island at Some Indian Lodges, a large Island on the Stard Side nearly opposit and a Small one a little below on the Lard Side on those three Island I counted Seventeen Indian Lodges, those people are in every respect like those above, prepareing fish for theire winter consumption here we purchased a fiew indifferent Dried fish & a fiew berries on which we dined—(On the upper part of this Island we discovered an Indian vault[)] our curiosity induced us to examine the methot those nativs practicd in disposeing the dead, the Vaut was made by broad poads [NB: boards] and pieces of Canoes leaning on a ridge pole which was Suported by 2 forks Set in the ground Six feet in hight in an easterly and westerly direction and about 60 feet in length, and 12 feet wide, in it I observed great numbers of humane bones of every description perticularly in a pile near the Center of the vault, on the East End 21 Scul bomes forming a circle on Mats—; in the Westerly part of the Vault appeared to be appropriated for those of more resent death, as many of the bodies of the deceased raped up in leather robes lay [NB: in rows] on board covered with mats, &c [NB: when bones & robes rot, they are gathered in a heap & sculls placed in a circle.] we observed, independant of the canoes which Served as a Covering, fishing nets of various kinds, Baskets of different Sizes, wooden boles, robes Skins, trenchers, and various Kind of trinkets, in and Suspended on the ends of the pieces forming the vault; we also Saw the Skeletons of Several Horses at the vault & great number of bones about it, which Convinced me that those animals were Sacrefised as well as the above articles to the Deceased.) after diner we proceeded on to a bad rapid at the lower point of a Small Island on which four Lodges of Indians were Situated drying fish; here the high countrey Commences again on the Stard. Side leaveing a vallie of 40 miles in width, from the mustle Shel rapid. examined and passed this rapid close to the Island at 8 miles lower passed a large Island near the middle of the river a brook on the Stard. Side and 11 Islds. all in view of each other below, a riverlit [NB: rivulet] falls in on the Lard. Side behind a Small Island a Small rapid below. The Star Side is high rugid hills, the Lard. Side a low plain and not a tree to be Seen in any Direction except a fiew Small willow bushes which are Scattered partially on the Sides of the bank
1. John C. Calhoun resigned December 28, 1832. Calhoun was Vice President for nearly eight years under President John Quincy Adams and President Andrew Jackson but fell out with Jackson over the tariff and nullification (Calhoun’s theory that an act of Congress could be declared void by a state legislature). Calhoun was not re-nominated to run with Jackson in 1832 and ran for the Senate instead. After the election, he resigned as VP to take his Senate seat.
2. Spiro T. Agnew resigned October 10, 1973, and then pled nolo contendere (no contest) to criminal tax evasion for income he allegedly received in the form of bribes while governor of Maryland. Agnew was Vice President under President Richard Nixon.
“[Miers] thus became perhaps the most important judicial nominee in history to be offered what amounts to a do-over on a take-home quiz.”
— New York Times editorial commenting on Senate Judiciary Committee asking Harriet Miers to re-do her questionnaire.
TBogg discusses the Time list of 100 best English-language novels since 1923 mentioned by NewMexiKen yesterday. He has a good list of books he would have considered. See the comments also.
San Francisco Chronicle “Trip shows slowing down boosts mileage but can make you unpopular on the road.”
With gas prices hovering around $3 a gallon, a lot of people say they’re making big sacrifices so they can afford to fill their gas tanks. They’re cutting back on travel, curtailing shopping expeditions, going out less often.
But hardly anyone is talking about — or practicing — a surefire way to save on gas: Slow down. Drive 55.
“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” said Tim Castleman, a Sacramento Web site developer who runs the Drive 55 Conservation Project. “People just don’t want to do it. It’s hard.”
How hard? The drawbacks aren’t measured just in terms of minutes lost. There’s the feeling of inadequacy that comes from being flipped off by a 12-year-old boy in another car. From being tailgated by little old ladies and pickup trucks piled high with furniture. From being passed by 830 vehicles, including an AC Transit bus, on a drive from the Bay Area to deep into the San Joaquin Valley.
The article continues.
NewMexiKen confesses that I cruised some of this same route last spring at 90 mph for about 135 miles. It seemed safe enough, but I did calculate it was costing me 25 cents a minute for gas (which then cost about $2.60 a gallon).
Of course, I did the math while driving 90. Your mileage may vary.
This could be my story — well, I’m not actually anywhere near this good.
I get a birdie every rare once in a while but I have never had an eagle. In fact, I have never even putted for an eagle. Until yesterday, that is.
Yesterday I miraculously hit the green on a 455 yard par 5 in two strokes and was putting for an eagle. The putt was not a gimme, mind you; it was a good 15 feet from the hole.
I three-putted.
There are 6.4 billion people living on earth. There are approximately 100 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy — 16 times more stars than people. The latest estimates say there are over 125 billion galaxies in our universe. The universe is estimated to be between 13 and 14 billion years old and having a radius of at least 10 billion light years (because we can see stars that far).
The earth is about 4.55 billion years old. And man has been on earth for the last 350,000 of those years. By my arithmetic (which is open to correction), if the age of earth was proportionately reduced to 100 years, then man has been on earth for not quite 3 days and each person inhabits this earth for about one minute.
With all this in mind, does God really care if someone kicks a field goal?
As NewMexiKen looks around and views some of God’s recent handiwork, it occurs to me that God probably cares more when someone misses a field goal.
The U.S. House has approved [October 18] a new, 11,000-acre wilderness in Sandoval County, sending the bill to President Bush for his signature.
The Ojito Wilderness would be developed just south of San Ysidro on Bureau of Land Management property. The area, which has dramatic formations and rock structures, multicolored badlands and rare plants, has been preserved as a Wilderness Study Area since 1991.
— AP via The New Mexican
A description (from New West Network):
Ojito is just an hour from Albuquerque, and rests between Zia Pueblo and the creeping crawl of subdivisions in Rio Rancho and Bernalillo, north and west of the city. Marked by spectacular slot canyon and red cliffs, gypsum formations and green river beds, the wilderness is also partially ancestral lands for the Zia people.
Oh, and this from Monday, not related to rain:
“President Bush’s top assistant Karl Rove testified before the grand jury for the fourth time. He’s testified four times. This time he had to give his testimony standing up because the first three times he lied his ass off.”
The Mossberg Solution reviews the new video iPod.
Apple wisely calls this primarily a music player, with video playback thrown in, at no extra cost, as a bonus. And that description seems both fair and right. In essence, this iPod’s video capability is kind of a business or social experiment. …
The new iPod is a handsome product that works well and is a good value. If you don’t expect too much from its video function, you will find it a nice bonus. But, for now, we urge you to think of it primarily as a music player, just as Steve Jobs does.
And figure another $50 to $100 for “essential” accessories (like a charger).
Google “NewMexiKen” and you get “about 191,000” links. Only 113,000 on Yahoo! 92,900 on AllTheWeb. 5,601 on MSN.
Found this gorgeous Shrek jack-o-lantern at Amy’s Perspective. Take a look!
From 43 Folders:
Your mobile phone camera can be more than a fast way to send your kitty photos to Grandma Pearl. Like a lot of people, I use mine as a ubiquitous capture device, recording ephemeral information and visual documentation wherever and whenever it’s needed.
Some of the ideas:
Pumpkin Carving and Pumpkin Carving Patterns for Halloween, worthy of a click just for the home page photo.
The Seattle Times provides a brief description of the 19 New Mexico pueblos — “the oldest tribal communities in the United States, having descended from the ancestral Pueblo cultures that once inhabited Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde and Bandelier.”
The accompanying article — Catching glimpses of tradition in New Mexico’s native villages.
Thanks to Ah, Wilderness! for the link.
A study conducted by scientists in the U.S. and Italy warns that summers could be a lot hotter in a hundred years because of global warming caused by greenhouse gases.
“Summer is likely to be more severely hot everywhere in the U.S.,” said Noah Diffenbaugh, an atmospheric scientist at Purdue University who co-authored study.
“In the Southwest, if you imagine the hottest two and a half weeks of the year, you’re looking at that becoming three months long. Phoenix [Arizona] will get three months of what is now the hottest two weeks of the year.”
Winter weather could be affected as well, Diffenbaugh said. “You’re looking at the coldest couple of weeks of the year not existing anymore in lot of places,” he said.
“Certainly winter as we know it likely will disappear in the Northeast.”
In NewMexiKen’s view Phoenix already gets “get three months of what is now the hottest two weeks of the year.”
Oh well, I intend to move to a milder climate before 2105 anyway.
From an article on the wolves in Yellowstone Park in today’s New York Times:
Nearly absent for decades, willows have roared back to life in Yellowstone, and the reason, Mr. Smith believes, is that 10 years after wolves were introduced to Yellowstone, the park is full of them, dispersed across 13 packs.
He says the wolves have changed the park’s ecology in many ways; for one, they have scared the elk to high ground and away from browsing on every willow shoot by rivers and streams.
“Wolves have caused a trophic cascade,” he said.
“Wolves are at the top of it all here. They change the conditions for everyone else, including willows.”
The best magazine cover of the last 40 years was Rolling Stone’s January 1981 cover photograph of a naked John Lennon curled up in a fetal position around his wife, Yoko Ono. That is the judgment of editors and art directors from about 50 of the nation’s top magazines, who were asked to pick the 40 best covers of the last 40 years, in honor of the 40th anniversary of the National Magazine Awards. The picture was taken by Annie Leibovitz just hours before Mr. Lennon was shot and killed on Dec. 8, 1980.
The second best was the August 1991 cover of Vanity Fair featuring a naked and pregnant Demi Moore, also photographed by Ms. Leibovitz. Coming in third was the April 1968 cover of Esquire showing a bare-chested Muhammad Ali, pierced by arrows for refusing to be inducted into the United States Army.
The 40 best covers list.
Here’s the top 10:
“We are so deeply in the red now with Iraq and tax cuts and Katrina, even the Republican Congress is getting concerned. Their solution? Cut health care for the poor, food stamps, and student loan programs. It’s what Jesus would have done.”
… of Chuck Berry. Roll over Beethoven and tell Tchaikovsky the news: Chuck’s 79, but he will live forever.
Voyager 2, the first of two Voyager spacecraft (Voyager 2 was launched before Voyager 1 — go figure), was sent to explore the planets of our solar system on [August 20,] 1977.
NewMexiKen wrote about The Golden Record on board each spacecraft some months ago. The record is “a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth” so that extra-terrestials might learn about life on our planet. Among the music is Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, various native music and Chuck Berry performing “Johnny B. Goode.”
If we ever hear from extra-terrestials, I imagine their message to us will be, “Send more Chuck Berry.”
… of Keith Jackson. Whoa, Nellie, he’s 77.
… of Peter Boyle. Raymond’s father is 72.
… of Mike Ditka. The football hall-of-famer is 66.
… of Pam Dawber. Mork’s Mindy is 54.
… of Martina Navratilova. She loves being 49.
… of Wynton Marsalis. He’s 44. So’s Erin Moran. That’s Richie Cunningham’s sister Joanie.