Obama Calls For Going To Mars

President Obama has written an op-ed calling for NASA and private companies to collaborate in an effort to send humans to Mars.  Yes, this is the same Obama who has previously been diverting NASA's resources away from Mars exploration and toward climate research and outreach programs.

Read more at the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Daily Signal and Obama's op-ed itself at CNN.  In the event that the president's newly-embraced goal is achieved, some time in the future, I would have one piece of advise to whoever gets to explore the red planet.  Keep in mind that as an earthling on Mars, you are the alien.

Double Standard, Anyone?

I don't usually like to pilfer stuff from HotAir (where I was once a registered commenter, until they decided to use a Facebook-based commenting plug-in), but I had to pass this one along, since a few days ago, I starting thinking pretty much the same thing that they and their source are thinking.  Citing an article by Rachel Alexander in The Stream, Jazz Shaw at HotAir points out the double standard.   From HotAir:

There’s been a change in the standoff over the previously stalled Dakota Access Pipeline but you wouldn’t be able to tell it from the actions of the protesters. This week the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied a request from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe for a permanent injunction on additional construction on tribal lands. That’s not going to slow down the activities of the environmentalists camped out in the area to protest the project, however. They immediately released a statement indicating that the fight would go on and they won’t be leaving their illegal compound established on federal land. All of this was taking place well after earlier instances where armed protesters turned violent, breaking down fences and initiating confrontations where three pipeline security officers were injured.

By this point you may be wondering why federal authorities haven’t stepped in to bring the situation under control. After all, when a different group of protesters who were similarly armed took over some federal land in Oregon last year in support of the Bundys, the government began arresting people in a matter of weeks. What could be the difference? [links in original]

Steak House Burned By Their Own Offer

In Ann Arbor, Michigan, home of the University of Michigan Wolverines, Ruth's Chris Steak House came up with a promotion in which they would offer customers a discount based on Michigan's margin of victory over their most recent opponent.  The discount would be one percent off the total food price for every point the Wolverines score above what their opponents score.  (If they lose, will customers have to pay a surcharge?)  Unfortunately for Ruth's Chris's profit margin, Michigan defeated Rutgers yesterday in what was, as far as I know, the most lopsided game of the season.

Read more at The Big Lead, Yahoo Sports, the Daily News and SB Nation, and if you're in the Ann Arbor area, enjoy your meal.

UPDATE:  The links are now indicating that the discount has been capped at 50%, so if you plan to dine at Ruth's Chris in Ann Arbor, enjoy your half-price food.

Protesters Hold Signs Accusing Bill Clinton Of Being Rapist

In Ohio, while former President Bill Clinton was speaking at a campaign rally for his wife, someone in the audience held up a sign accusing him of being a rapist, and then slowly walked out.  I'd say that the protester deserves this blog's "Badass" label.  See the video at The Washington Free Beacon or Real Clear Politics.  A sign with the same message turned up in the background at NBC's Today Show, which is broadcast from New York City.  Watch closely, and you'll see someone reverse the sign he is holding to reveal what he thinks of Mr. Bill.  A second later, the show cuts to a musical segment featuring Rick Astley and his band.  Yes, the poor guy was Rick-rolled.

You can also watch the video at YouTube.  Whether the Ohio and New York sign-bearers are part of, as Hillary Clinton once put it, "a vast right-wing conspiracy", or one has copycatted the other, or the two events are a coincidence, I have no opinion.  On the other hand, if victims of sexual assault have a right to be heard and believed, as Hillary herself once said (from another RCP citation), that right should extend to Bill's alleged victims, and should have nothing to do with the political views of either the accuser or the accused.

Thursday Links

Besides Hurricane Matthew starting to bear down on Florida, here are some other things going on out there:

The Carolinas prepare for Matthew's arrival.

Florida's governor says, "This will kill you."

Matthew has already killed 136 people in Haiti.

Country intervening in Syria warns the United States not to intervene.

Here's a Nazi whose intentions I can support (and whose name is probably pronounced differently from the German variety).

A boy who was burned alive is still able to identify the perpetrators.

Five men accused of a gang rape in Sweden are released due to a "technicality".

Here might be a way to qualify for a Darwin Award, which requires one to remove oneself from the human gene pool, without dying.

Seventy IRS scammers get arrested - in India.

Why 1/3 of calls to the VA suicide hotline go unanswered.

A man in Britain kills his wife for looking at other men.

One Malaysian state launches an app for the public to report Sharia violations.

A former Ambassador and Air Force pilot tells NFL players what the real cause of racial problems is.

Two "tech billionaires" think that we're really in the Matrix.

Germany plans to run its own E.U. army.

Oculus Rift is now cheaper and easier to use.

China wants to develop a self-driving car.

And to finish, would anyone like some hot sauce?

Bollman Truss Railroad Bridge

Located just south of Savage, Maryland, the Bollman Truss bridge spans the Little Patuxent River.  The bridge includes a pedestrian walkway alongside one of its original railroad tracks.  The tracks on either end of the bridge are long gone.  The bridge is named after its designer Wendell Bollman, who received a patent in 1852.  In the first photo, the bridge is shown alongside Foundry Street.  In the background toward the right peeking above the trees is part of the Historic Savage Mill shopping center.

Here's the bridge from its south end.  Note the inscriptions on the top front beam.

I found a trail that ran below bridge level, and tried to get a shot from a different angle.  But from where I was, much of the bridge was obscured by foliage.

From inside the bridge, here's the track, with the walkway toward the left.  For any LEO's out there, I was not on the track when I took the photo, but on the walkway next to the track's end, before it veered to the left.

This is the Little Patuxent, looking looking west from the bridge.

Some beams and trusses come together at one of the bridge's main joints.

I walked to the above-mentioned shopping center and came across this sculpture garden, including one of three boys playing musical instruments.  I was dismayed that part of the trumpet had been broken off.

I retreated back to Foundry Street, but had to take a shot of these concrete steps, which at one time would have supported a stairway up to the railroad tracks.

There's more about the Bollman Bridge at Historic Bridges(dot)org, Bridgehunter and American Society of Civil Engineers.

Scary Image Taken Of Hurricane Matthew

A meteorologist at the Weather Channel tweeted a satellite photo of Hurricane Matthew, enhanced by false color, in which a pattern produced by the storm resembles a skull.

Somehow, it reminds me of the Grinch.

Look at the picture at KATV and, of course, The Weather Channel.

Obamacare Bashed By........Bill Clinton?

None other than former President Bill Clinton just called Obamacare "the craziest thing in the world".  This is especially interesting if you remember something called Hillarycare, which was proposed during Mr. Bill's first term.

Read more at CNN, Politico and the New York Post.

UPDATE:  According to Breitbart, Mr. Bill seems to have changed his tune.

India Arrests......Pigeon?

That's what they claim.  From The Express Tribune:

India has once again claimed to have taken into custody a “Pakistani pigeon” with Urdu scribble written on its wings from Bamial village in Indian Punjab.

The pigeon, detained by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, had an Urdu message addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI).

And it's not the first time, either.  Also from TET:

This is not the first time India has ‘arrested’ a pigeon on suspicion of spying. Last year, a pigeon allegedly bearing a stamped message with a wire-like object on its body had made Indian authorities question its flight into the village of Pathankot in Punjab.

If by now, you're wondering what's going on, read the full story.

Sunday Links

Or maybe Links To Start October, a day late:

The Dutch are having second thoughts about their Zwarte Piet tradition.

The Hungarian people tell the E.U. where to stick their migrant quotas.

According to their counter-terror officials, they might just have a good reason not to welcome migrants.

The German finance minister wants to see a "liberal German Islam".

If you wish you could put former president Bush on trial, here you go.

Another Bush supports Clinton.

One House Democrat says there's "no doubt" that Russia is behind the recent attempts to hack state election systems.

Donald Trump just can't deliver his message.

The New York Times got a hold of Trump's 1995 tax returns, but is no stranger to not paying taxes.

Trump's hotel gets tagged.

Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura will speak about his future before today's season finale.

Anyone who thinks that GITMO is illegitimate might soon get some help from Mother Nature.

Some Deutsche Bank customers have experienced some technical difficulties.

Israel has closed its borders with the West Bank and Gaza for Rosh Hashana.

A Malaysian politician says "Only Islam can rule."

In Aleppo, Syria, a swimmer and her brother are killed by heavy shelling.

Meanwhile, the Syrian government puts out its propaganda.

In the U.K., a doctor is suspended for asking a co-worker to remove her hijab.

Yes, Virginia, there is even more voter fraud than I had recently reported.

And to finish, someone whose message I agree with, but whose method of delivering it is something that I don't think I'll ever attempt.