Fog/Schmog

Word from our intrepid China correspondent James Fallows is according to the IOC and the Chinese government the Bejing air "does not pose any health risk for athletes, officials and other visitors."

Mr. Fallows doesn't have the expensive air monitoring equipment employed by the Chinese goverment, so he must rely on his own eyes, which seem to show this

His assessment:

FWIW, view at noon today in downtown Beijing. No scientific or medical judgment implied here -- it could just be a kind of fog. Simply chronicling how it looks with two days to go.

Now, I'm not an atmospheric scientist, but I can throw in a few things I know about weather:

1. Water vapor is in fact, invisible.


2. Fog, smog, vog, you name it, is a condensed water vapor suspended in the air.


3. Among other things, water vapor usually needs nucleating particles to condense on.

In my opinion, Mr. Fallows, the Chinese government, the IOC, and the athletes who see fog, or haze, are seeing the effect of particulates in the air, which aren't necessarily "safe."

Anamorphic Tango

If you were intrigued by the bridge illusion in Indiana Jones and the Lost Crusade, then this artwork on display at the Cardiff Bay barrage is for you.

My wife sent me a link to a blog posting of a Felice Varini artwork entitled 3 Ellipses for 3 Locks.

Photos in the posting are of the pieces from various viewpoints, including the particular spots where the illusions are most effective.

Is it a flop, without the flip?

Kevin Drum finds out in the LA Times that Obama's willing to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help offset high gas prices and to him, this is another volley in the McCain/Obama energy panderfest:

And we can't blame this one on the media, folks: Obama really is flopping around on energy policy, and he's doing it in the most craven possible way, switching from correct but politically risky stands to dumb panders.

He may be right, and Obama may be cravenly reversing a long-held position. My question is: are you sure that Obama ever held a different position, or did you perhaps project your own opinion onto Obama? It can be shown that Democrats as far back as last year have been talking up using the SPR to stabilize prices, so he's not exactly breaking from the party on this issue.

I don't have access to the Nexis, but with some crazy searches in the Google News, I did dig up an article from the March 20, 2008 Globe and Mail entitled "Obama would intervene on oil: adviser"

Mr. Obama would also consider tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to bring down prices while recognizing that such a move is normally meant to aid in the case of an acute supply disruption, Mr. Grumet said.

"It would be on the table," he said.

Just sayin'.

DemConHisFit 2008

Atrios wants us to peer into our crystal balls and predict the Republican hissy fit during upcoming Democratic National Convention.

Now, I'm not going to be able to do that due to the nature of the HissyFit^TM in that it must 

1. be sufficiently arbitrary so that every potential trigger can't be anticipated, and


2. occur within milliseconds of the actual event so that any attempt to manage the fit can only be reactive in nature.

However, I am willing to go out on a limb and predict the major theme (I hate the term "meme"):

the Democrats are making a colossal mistake by not picking Hillary.

To use an antiquated term, it will be the mother of all concern trolls.

Can't you already envision Pat Buchanan holding forth with Chris Matthews about how he always believed that Hillary was the better pick? Republicans and their media apologists will cast their eyes downward, sigh gently, and after clucking their tongues in disapproval announce what a tragedy it is that the Democrats missed the opportunity to nominate a woman (so now we know who the real feminists are), with such vast experience (that's why we picked a geezer), and having such Presidential bearing (as opposed to that uppity…).

Oh, and the hissy fit will be over the ritual burning of the Star of David into Joe Lieberman's forehead. Hey! What's he doing at the convention?

Dana Milbank KO'd

From Atrios, it looks like Dana Milbank's recent episode of quote-cropping and followup WaPo chat whine-fest has resulted in a parting of the ways over at Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

The headline: Dana Milbank won't be on the news hour any more.

Good on KO. Milbank's snark-fest was getting tiresome, especially some of his recent #1 segments.

Honest Tea is such a lonely word

According to McCain campaign assassin Rick Davis, Barack Obama has a yen for that most decadent of drinks: "hard-to-find organic brew — Black Forest Berry Honest Tea."
Since Rick is having such a hard time finding, I thought I'd help him out. Hey Rick, here's a link you can use to order it directly from Kroger.

BA to head JREF

Phil Plait (The Bad Astronomer) has a little announcement to make:

James Randi has offered me the position of President of the James Randi Educational Foundation. I am extraordinarily honored, and I have accepted this duty.

Congratulations to Phil!

Clarkmania!

If you want to register support for an Obama/Clark ticket, click on over to the website.
I'm not sanguine about an online petition having any substantive effect on the Obama campaign, nor on Gen. Clark's chances after the spanking he got for daring to question McCain's qualifications for president, but hey, at least it's an opportunity to register a preference.