Gitcher Hammer and Git

Interesting piece in the NYT today; apparently the US tradition of mineral rights (in most cases) being included with surface ownership is not the norm. This article highlights Ontario, Canada, where mineral rights are (in most cases) independent of surface rights. So a cabin owner goes to his cabin and discovers that a prospector has cut down a tree for stakes, dug a number of exploratory holes and driven heavy equipment all over the place. What is his recourse? Years in court with the outcome unclear.

In addition to a number of startling stories like this, there are moments of humor as well. For example, one landowner got a permit for a private shooting range, then put signs up all over the place that trespassers were in danger of being shot. Accidentally of course.

One family friend many years ago was considering playing this game from the opposite direction; he had a more or less unused woodlot across the road from his house, and had several times caught folks prospecting. He wanted to get an ounce or two of powdered gold and salt the ground with it- a waste of a few hundred dollars up front, but increasing the value of the land several fold to a prospector who took the assays at face value. Don't think he ever followed through, but I loved the idea.

Lava and Lightning

So what is with me and lightning and volcanoes? I can't explain it, I just think they're really pretty and pretty amazing. And like chocolate and peanut butter, I think they're two great tastes that taste great together. From today's Earth Science Picture of the Day. More info here; Full size here.
The friction of ash particles rubbing against each other in volcanic eruptions and explosions creates static electricty that discharges as lightning bolts. So the ash clouds over major eruptions frequently have spectacular electrical displays. There's another terrific picture of volcanic lightning in this post on Chaiten, plus a couple of links to large and other similar pics.

Don't be Distracted.

I don't think this could be stated more clearly or compellingly:

As ridiculous a choice as Palin is for national office, let's not lose
sight of the real scandal here -- John McCain has the judgment of a small child.
Tasked with the most important decision of his presidential campaign, McCain has
managed to demonstrate incompetence, cynicism, and recklessness, all at the same
time.

"[W]e are reminded," Eugene Robinson writes today, "if we did not realize it before, that the three things not to expect from a McCain presidency are caution, prudence and a willingness to always put the nation's interests above his own."

Washington Monthly

Let me be clear: as much fun as I've had snarking on Palin, I would rather trust her with the presidency than McCain. I disagree with her fundamentalism, her social stances, I distrust her in terms of her honesty, I think her hypocrisy in "supporting" her daughter's "choice" in bringing the baby to term when Palin's position is that women shouldn't have a choice, is repugnant. But I think she's mostly sane. McCain has the temperament of a spoiled four-year-old. And that scares the living hell out of me.

Nested Klein Bottles

From Boing Boing, a beautiful picture of a really cool construct. (Larger pic at the Boing Boing link, more info on the piece here)A Klein Bottle is the equivalent of a Mobius strip, rasied another dimension. A Mobius strip is a two dimensional strip, wrapped into a cylinder, with a twist in the third dimension. So a Mobius strip thus has only one surface and one edge. A Klein bottle is a three dimensional tube, with the ends connected to make a torus (donut), with the mathematically plausible (but physically impossible) "twist" through the fourth dimension. For a "real" Klein bottle, the tubes' piercings of the surface would actually bypass from one side to the other in the fourth dimension, and would not pass through the wall. So A Klein Bottle has no inside or outside, and only one surface. This model would be the equivalent of a Mobius strip with three twists instead of one.

What the Goopers were up to Sunday:

Hookers and Blow! Really! Though it isn't really what sounds like, it isn't what what McCain made it sound lke either. I have to admit, sometimes I do miss out by not watching television.