Greetings From Western Colorado

I'm out here in western Colorado for a change of scenery and some exploration.  (Thankfully, my flights were not affected by yesterday's air traffic computer glitch.)  As you might expect, the scenery here is very different from that of Maryland.  While driving between Mesa and De Beque, the latter located on both the Colorado River and Interstate 70, on a road known as the "De Beque Cutoff" but whose official designation is "45 1/2 Road", I came across an interesting rock formation, and had to snap a few pics.  It appears to contain at least two openings.

Here's the formation from a different angle.  A few trees are in the way.

I continued stepping around bushes and smaller rocks, and took this shot from a greater distance, with even more trees in the foreground.

Naturally, I'll be putting up some more travelogue posts in the near future.

Man Killed By Roller Coaster

At the Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, a man was killed when he was struck by a roller coaster train.  After losing his cell phone while riding the roller coaster, named the Raptor, he entered a restricted area apparently thinking that he could retrieve it.  Instead, he became eligible to receive a Darwin Award.

Read more at CNN, USA Today and the Sandusky Register.

Israeli Newspaper Misidentified U.S. Senator As "Gay"

Earlier today, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz referred to Senator Al Franken (D-Minn) as "gay" in an entry on Twitter.  This, of course, would be a surprise to his wife Franni.  Why Franken was identified as "gay" is not known, but one reported possibility is that he was confused with openly gay former Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass), who has never been a U.S. Senator.  Franken has recently come out (if you'll forgive the expression) in favor of the recently-negotiated nuclear deal with Iran.  Besides being a Senator, he has also written and performed for NBC's Saturday Night Live, and has written books and screenplays.

Read more at The Hill, MarketWatch, the Washington Examiner and Sputnik International.

[Edit: As pointed out in a comment, Congressman Frank represented Massachusetts, not Connecticut, as I previously mistakenly indicated.]

Some Science News Items

Here are some news stories of a scientific nature:

From The Christian Science Monitor, scientists have discovered the smallest exoplanet seen by a telescope.  (It still has twice the mass of Jupiter.)

From Science Daily, researchers from the United States, Ireland and Singapore have altered the magnetic properties of a film of LaMnO₃ by changing its thickness.

From The Daily Star, listening to music before, after, and even during surgery has been shown to decrease the need for pain-killers.

And from Mashable, the European spacecraft Rosetta, currently orbiting Comet 67P, has remained healthy after experiencing the comet's perihelion.

Wastewater Spill Threatens Navajo

The EPA-caused spill of wastewater into the Animas and San Juan rivers is now threatening the livelihoods of the Navajo Nation, many of whom normally depend on the San Juan for drinking water and irrigation.  The Navajo have responded by suing the EPA.  The Navajo president and tribal officials have accused the EPA of trying to cheat some Navajo people by getting them to sign away their rights to make future claims against the EPA.  Some stories:

From CNN, the damage done to the Navajo's water "goes beyond money".

From The Washington Times, Navajo President Russell Begaye has alleged that EPA officials have been asking Navajo people to sign waivers.

From Time, President Begaye discusses his tribe's lawsuit.

From the StarTribune, experts predict "long-term health risks" from the spill.

And from the Chicago Tribune, the Navajo are "bearing the brunt" of the spill.

Tuesday Links

Some more stuff going on out there:

From NBC News, at the crash site of MH17, shot down over Ukraine last year, some of the debris might be fragments of a Russian missile.

From Engadget, NASA is seeking more ideas for its CubeSat nanosatellites.

From the Los Angeles Times, a report on the benefits received by illegal aliens in California.

From The Rakyat Post, police use force against migrants on the Greek island of Kos.

From Haaretz, talks between Saudi Arabia and Russia over Syria fail to reach any agreement.

From Reuters, presidential candidate and former Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) can't pay his campaign staffers.

From ABC News, former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell (R) will appeal his convictions to the U.S. Supreme Court.

From FrontpageMag, violence once again breaks out in Ferguson, Missouri.

From The Times Of Israel, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is accused of treason for opposing the Obama administration's deal with Iran.

From Live Mint, a disease spread among tadpoles is threatening worldwide frog populations.

From Sky News, ISIS directs lone wolves in the U.K. to carry out terror attacks.  (via Fox News, who report possible plots to attack V-J celebrations)

From The New York Times, in various states, the Democratic Party is removing the names Jefferson and Jackson from their official gatherings.

From Yahoo News, two British cops join go on the beat on the Spanish island of Majorca.

From Epoch Times, two residents of Mississippi have been charged with trying to join ISIS.

From The Street, the U.S. Army and Helius Medical Technologies will launch the third phase of their traumatic brain injury clinical trial.

From the International Business Times, Russia has signed a contract to spend $1.6 billion on fighter jets.

And from SB Nation, players at the PGA Championship will be reminded of the rules even while relieving themselves.

White House Staffer Allegedly Involved In Domestic Violence

This post illustrates how I occasionally must follow a trail to get to the original source, or at least an original source, of a story.  This one comes via Conservative Byte, who got it from Breitbart's Big Government, who got it from the Hill Blotter blog at Roll Call, who in turn refers to NBC Washington.  From the last link:

A White House staffer threatened her boyfriend, a U.S. Capitol Police officer, with his own weapon during an argument, according to police.

From what I can gather from the linked articles, the argument was over another woman that the man was allegedly seeing, and took place at the staffer's home in Marlboro, Maryland.  Read more at any of the links above.

Miami Athletic Administrator Shows Some Athleticism

The Miami Hurricanes football team, while practicing catching punts, brought in a special guest - their Assistant Athletic Director of Communications, Tom Symonds.  After demonstrating some pretty impressive footwork, he hauls in the punt, spikes the football, and sets off a wild celebration by the players.  This video comes via ForTheWin:

Whether AAD Symonds will be showing off his skills when Virginia Tech visits Miami during the upcoming NCAA football season is anybody's guess.

Frank Gifford 1930-2015

NFL Hall of Famer Frank Gifford, who also had a long career in sports broadcasting, died suddenly today of natural causes at his home in Connecticut, according to a statement from his family.  He was 84, just a week shy of what would have been his 85th birthday.

Frank Newton Gifford was born on August 16, 1930 in Santa Monica, California.  He attended USC on a football scholarship, before being drafted by the New York Giants, with whom he broke into the NFL in 1952.  He played defensive back, running back, wide receiver and occasionally kicker during his career, winning the league's MVP award in 1956.  While playing against the Eagles in 1960, Gifford was knocked out by a hit from linebacker Chuck Bednarik.  He spent 10 days in the hospital and did not play again until 1962.  He quit playing for good after the 1964 season.

Gifford worked as a football broadcaster for CBS before joining ABC's Monday Night Football.  At various times, he broadcast the Olympics and several motorcycle jumps by Evel Knievel.  He also acted in a number of films.

Gifford was married to the former Kathie Lee Epstein, a well-known TV personality.  It was the second marriage for both.  He had two children with her, and three others with his first wife, Maxine Avis Ewart.

Read more at NFL(dot)com, the New York Daily News, ABC13, CBS Sports and ESPN.

Pollution Released By EPA Spreads Downriver

Four days ago, the EPA was trying to clean out an old mine in Colorado, when the crew they were supervising accidentally released wastewater into a nearby stream.  While the irony of a government agency dedicated to keeping the environment clean polluting it instead was pretty obvious, I had not bothered to learn the specific location of the mishap.  As it turns out, I had visited the affected area two years ago.  Now, as reported by the Chicago Tribune, the polluted water continues to spill via Cement Creek into the Animas River, which flows past Silverton and Durango, Colorado, has reached New Mexico, and is headed for Utah.  This is because the Animas is a tributary of the San Juan River, which flows past several towns in New Mexico before continuing into Utah and eventually reaching Lake Powell, a reservoir along the Colorado.

Read the full story and take a good look at the pictures.