Day: August 27, 2015

L.A. County politicians didn’t get the drought memo – I guess

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Despite a devastating four-year drought that has forced strict water conservation measures across California, most Los Angeles County supervisors still have their cars washed two or three times a week…

The multiple weekly car washes carry on despite Governor Jerry Brown’s admonitions to Californians to take shorter showers and stop watering their lawns and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s own “Save the Drop” campaign, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

The five supervisors can either collect a car allowance or have the county buy them a vehicle, which is washed, maintained and kept fueled at taxpayer expense.

The Daily News determined through public service records that two of the supervisors, Don Knabe and Michael Antonovich, have their SUVs washed by county workers an average of twice a week and that a third, Mark Ridley-Thomas, has his car cleaned three times a week.

The remaining two, Sheila Kuehl and Hilda Solis, wash their cars about once a week…Ridley-Thomas, Knabe and Antonovich actually increased the frequency of their car washes after the governor ordered the first statewide mandatory water restrictions in April, directing cities and communities to reduce their water usage by 25 percent…

Unlike many commercial car washes, the county’s facilities do not use recirculated water, the Daily News said.

The supervisors declined to answer questions from the Daily News about the car washing.

How about admitting they’re foolish, self-serving jerks? How about stopping the silliness immediately?

How about adopting practices already part of the daily lives of sensible Californians?

Kentucky lets clerk deny marriage licenses to gay couples despite court order

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Karen Roberts and April Miller, denied marriage license by religious bigot — AP/Timothy D. Easley

A gay couple was denied a marriage license for the third time in Kentucky on Thursday, after a Rowan county clerk refused to obey a federal court order telling her to comply with the law.

James Yates and William Smith Jr said that officials at Rowan County courthouse, led by clerk Kim Davis, refused to provide the couple with the paperwork for a marriage license on Thursday.

“It’s just making us want to press more,” Yates told the Courier-Journal. “She can’t get away with this.”

One of Smith’s deputies told the couple that the county clerk believes she can refuse to issue licenses until 31 August. The couple plans to return to the office the next day.

Same-sex marriage became legal nationwide on 26 June, but Davis is one of a handful of people who refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. She did not come out of her office and declined to comment to reporters…

On Wednesday, a federal appeals court upheld a lower court’s ruling ordering Davis to issue marriages for gay couples and denied her request for a stay while courts heard her appeals…

Two same-sex couples and two straight couples sued Davis in July. A US district judge then ordered her to issue marriage licenses, but delayed his order so she could appeal against the decision with the US sixth circuit court of appeals. The court on Wednesday denied her request to stay the district judge’s decision.

Theocratic dolts who hold office founded on the US Constitution – and refuse to uphold constitutional rights, decisions made binding by the ultimate constitutional court in the land – should be removed from office.

I don’t really care if the excuses they offer for violating their oath of office are based on religion, racism or what the tooth fairy whispered into their tiny brain last night. Either they lied when they took office, required to meet public standards of conduct – or they have since decided to reject the Constitution of the United States and civil law. Whatever. They should be launched into the ranks of Kentucky’s unemployed and left to find an honest job.

The Humvee’s replacement — the Oshkosh L-ATV

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…The US Army has picked its replacement for the aging vehicle originally designed as a Cold War replacement for the Jeep—and it comes from Wisconsin. Eventually, the Army and Marine Corps could buy nearly 55,000 of the vehicles over the next 25 years, spending over $30 billion.

In a move that will undoubtedly spur a spate of protests and political backlash from a heavily lobbied Congress, the US Army has awarded the Defense Department’s multibillion dollar Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program contract to the contender from Oshkosh Defense, beating out the other finalists in the program, which started in November of 2006 — Lockheed Martin and the Humvee’s manufacturer, American General. The initial “low rate” order for 16,901 vehicles for both the Army and Marine Corps is worth $6.7 billion.

That’s a touch over $396K per copy!

Oshkosh’s winning design is called the L-ATV (for “Light Combat Tactical All-Terrain Vehicle”). It includes innovations that were added to the Humvee during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including remote-operated weapons turrets (with heavy machine guns, automatic grenade launchers, and anti-tank missiles), and electronic warfare gear to jam remote controls for improvised explosive devices (IEDs). It will also be a rolling network unto itself, equipped to generate up to 10 kilowatts of “exportable” power for Army and Marine Corps communication and computer gear, with HF, VHF, UHF, and SATCOM onboard as well as a vehicle intercom system. There’s also a centralized onboard computer system powering “smart displays” for the soldiers or Marines it carries. The L-ATV will also be equipped with a variety of surveillance and threat sensors—including a shot locator system, long-range surveillance cameras, and low-light and infrared camera systems.

The L-ATV can be transported by heavy-lift helicopter or by the Marine Corps’ landing craft, but it’s a much bigger payload than the Hummer, with a curb weight nearly three times that of the older vehicle: about 14,000 pounds, compared to the Humvee’s 5,900 pounds. That extra mass is a combination of armor, electrical power and additional horsepower. Oshkosh won partially because of the proven performance of its M-ATV, a mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicle it sold to the military as an urgent replacement for Humvees and trucks damaged by IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the L-ATV also has better fuel efficiency than the Humvee, and its suspension system allows for 70 percent faster off-road speeds.

I’m still a motorhead. Of course, that extends to every kind of motor vehicle including all terrain monsters like this. Though I’m pleased to see Oshkosh beat out the corporate dangerous duo who’ve been in bed with our military-industrial complex since before it was so named — no doubt I will have differences with specification, intent and design.

Some other time.

Why does the NSA hate this Indonesian crayfish?

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Cherax snowden

Crayfish experts in Europe have no need for field research. They simply let new species come to them, delivered by the pet trade.

For the second time in recent months, researchers in Europe have announced the discovery of a new freshwater crayfish species after analyzing specimens secured through the global decorative fish market.

Perhaps as a way to draw attention to their findings and infuse science with politics, a team of German scientists, led by independent researcher Christian Lukhaup, have dubbed the new species Cherax snowden in honor of controversial NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

In the new paper describing the green and orange species — published in the journal ZooKeys — the authors describe the crayfish’s name as an homage to an “American freedom fighter” characterized by his “achievements in defence of justice, and freedom.”

Politics aside, the new species is impressive. It’s easy to see why aquarium owners would want to accent their collections with such a brightly colored creature.

Researchers say collectors in the pet trade have likely been harvesting the Indonesian crayfish for decades, transporting it across the globe without knowledge of its distinct classification — likely mistaking it for a close relative.

The unfortunate result of unregulated harvesting for decorative pet sales is that the Snowden crayfish – like its close cousin the Cherax pulcher – is in danger of disappearing. Something the NSA would certainly wish upon its namesake.