"...this moving skyscape features Jupiter above the southeastern horizon and the marbled streets of the ancient port city of Ephesus, located in modern day Turkey."
Today I recorded a strange bird that lives at this four-way stop in McMinnville. It's a fairly busy intersection and the bird hears cars stop and take off all day, every day. Its standard chirp is already loud and screechy, but it has another chirp that sounds exactly like a car with a loose fan belt taking off from a stop. Check it out:
That whine is the bird. The funny part is, there's a house at the corner where the people obviously have an antagonistic relationship with this bird. Their trees are full of silver streamers that blow in the breeze—meant to scare the bird away. I couldn't see the bird at all, but it must be some sort of mockingbird.
"This, no less than the defiling of the Constitution, is the legacy of an administration that not merely rationalized the immorality of torture but shackled our national security to the absurdity that torture could easily fix the terrorist threat."
"Differences between Republican and Democrats exist...but those differences are often dwarfed by the differences between those entrenched in and dependent upon the Washington Establishment and...American citizens -- who are not." [via rc3]
"The U.S. Senate this afternoon passed the FISA Amendments Act...granting retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that participated in the president's illegal domestic wiretapping program." Discouraging.
"Media reporting about other media's approach to producing media is pretty confusing business to begin with. Feelings...will be bruised. But that does not fully explain the scorched earth between Fox News and those who cover it." [via Fimoculous]
"While mindful of free speech and other rights, Yahoo and other companies say they must craft and enforce guidelines that go beyond legal requirements to protect their brands and foster safe, enjoyable communities -- ones where minors may be roaming."
Took a nice walk through Beazell Memorial Forest this morning. It's about 30 minutes west of Corvallis, and it's a fairly new park. The trails are pristine, and the forest is shaded and lush. The forest floor is covered with ferns. Here's a sound clip I took on a bridge crossing Plunkett Creek:
I'm looking forward to going back over to that area to check out Fort Hoskins.
Corvallis has an extremely casual 4th of July parade that anyone can join. There are only a couple of floats, a few businesses, but mostly just people walking and riding bikes. It's not very long, and it's fun to see everyone. My favorite part of the parade today was a couple of kids playing the Star Spangled Banner on tubas as they walked by: