Thursday, June 30, 2016

It's still dangerous out there: A West Glacier man was killed by a grizzly bear Wednesday afternoon while riding his mountain bike on a forested trail in the Halfmoon Lakes area south of Glacier National Park.


Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry identified the victim as Brad Treat, 38, of West Glacier. Treat grew up in the Flathead Valley and graduated from Flathead High School, where he was a standout distance runner, in 1996.
Authorities have closed the area around Halfmoon Lakes as the investigation continues. As of 8:30 p.m., the bear that attacked Treat had not been found.
Treat and another man were mountain biking on U.S. Forest Service land near Halfmoon Lakes on Wednesday, according to Curry. The initial investigation suggests the two bikers surprised the bear around 2 p.m. and Treat was taken off his bike by the animal. The second rider was able to escape uninjured and summon help.
Coming up on any bear suddenly is dangerous.  He probably came around a corner fast and was on the bear before he could stop or turn.   Sad.


More entertaining Brexit rhetorical warfare courtesy of Christine Amanpour and Daniel Hannan



Christine knows her arguments are crap, so she tries to filibuster and prevent Hannan from answering.  Typical MSM bull.

Granite Canyon, Wyoming, U.P.R.R.


I like the juxtaposition of the old style hand hewn log cabins in the gully, probably the first mark on the land by Europeans, compared to the high tech (for that time) railroad grade looking all new and shiny.

Rare Dinosaur-Era Bird Wings Found Trapped in Amber



Two tiny wings entombed in amber reveal that plumage (the layering, patterning, coloring, and arrangement of feathers) seen in birds today already existed in at least some of their predecessors nearly a hundred million years ago.
Skin, muscle, claws, and feather shafts are visible in both samples, along with the remains of rows of primary asymmetrical flight feathers, secondary feathers, and covert feathers. All are similar in arrangement and microstructure to modern birds.

Why the sun going blank means a ‘Game of Thrones’-like winter is coming.

So is it global warming, with droughts/fires/hurricanes/disasters, or is it a little ice age?  


Our sun has gone as blank as a cue ball. As in, it’s lost its spots.
According to scientists, this unsettling phenomenon is a sign we are heading for a mini ice age.
Meteorologist and renowned sun-watcher Paul Dorian raised the alarm in his latest report, which has sparked a mild panic about an impending “Game of Thrones”-style winter not seen since the 17th century.
“For the second time this month, the sun has gone completely blank,” Dorian says.
“The blank sun is a sign that the next solar minimum is approaching and there will be an increasing number of spotless days over the next few years.


“During solar minimum, solar flares are almost non-existent while whole weeks go by without a single, tiny sunspot to break the monotony of the blank sun. This is what we are experiencing now.”
Given that the sun is the main driver of all weather and climate, the sinister-sounding “blankness” to which Dorian refers has some experts predicting a “Maunder Minimum” phase similar to one which began in 1645 and which is referred to as the “Little Ice Age.”
The Maunder Minimum, named after solar astronomer Edward Maunder, lasted for a brutal 70 years and conditions were so cold, the Thames froze over.
A slightly less intense ice age-like period called the Dalton Minimum — after British meteorologist John Dalton — arrived decades later and lasted from about 1790 to 1830.
So, given the series of 100 degree plus days we are having here, maybe we had better enjoy them, as there may be many fewer in the near future.  Maybe the mastodons will make a reappearance.   And cave bears.  Yeah!

                                                         Winter is coming....

The Brits are just too funny - Prime Minister's Questions are quite entertaining this time.

The accents, the idiosyncratic terms, the grumbling, the confrontation - it's just pure entertainment.  Too bad we don't do something similar here.

Imagine Captain Zero having to publicly respond to hostile questions - to think on his feet without his precious teleprompter.  Props to the Brits for being so good at it.

L-R: Dick Robinson; Walter James; Bob Pringle; Front Rider.

                                                        Gleichen, Alberta ca. 1920-21

                                                           Outside Walter James store


Leave it...


Photo by Adam Clark Vroman, 1901

Insane/genius Norwegians contribute to global warming by torching off the world's biggest bonfire.



Residents of the Norwegian town of Ålesund (Oh-le-sund) built a world record-breaking 155.5 foot tall bonfire for their traditional midsummer festival on June 25.  

It's only missing the virgin sacrifice.

Kauai, Hawaii's Queen's Bath, otherwise known as the pool of death.



If you were comfortable in the water and in good shape, that would be fun.

Thoughtful, logical, and correct.



Plus, what amazing skill as a public speaker!  No teleprompter, facts at hand, and willing to take a few questions from the audience.  Magnificent!

East of Bakersfield, there's some brush clearing going on.

 Nighttime satellite imagery revealed that the Erskine Fire was burning very brightly overnight, comparable to moderate-sized California cities. This image comes courtesy of the Suomi NPP satellite.


Friday, June 24, 2016

Kerið in Grímsnes, south Iceland.


Kerið is a volcanic crater lake located in the Grímsnes area in south Iceland, on the popular tourist route known as the Golden Circle. It is one of several crater lakes in the area, known as Iceland's Western Volcanic Zone, which includes the Reykjanes peninsula and the Langjökull Glacier, created as the land moved over a localized hotspot, but it is the one that has the most visually recognizable caldera still intact.