tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199848742267562587.post3125966349444896614..comments2024-02-06T10:31:24.491-07:00Comments on Watching the World Wake Up: Vegas Boondoggle Part 1: Daggers & MothsWatcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02248341788957416471noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199848742267562587.post-64653497132837756572011-01-05T09:24:24.910-07:002011-01-05T09:24:24.910-07:001. Sorry (if that's applicable) for resurrecti...1. Sorry (if that's applicable) for resurrecting an old comment thread; I'm going to Vegas this summer (likewise for work) and I'd remembered this post so I looked it up! <br />2. Heard of <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/98100/The-NoLose-Lottery" rel="nofollow">lottery savings accounts</a>? You dump money into a savings account, some of everyone's interest gets pooled into a lottery (for account holders, of course), but everyone makes some interest. Very attractive as a way to get people who have never even heard of interest-bearing accounts (the amount of financial illiteracy among the poor is staggering, and it's absolutely shameful that we don't start teaching kids about compound interest in grade school). <br />3. The oblique parallel between cheaters and gambling was nice.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01823267394299389825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199848742267562587.post-48345304997556594992010-05-31T12:57:25.729-06:002010-05-31T12:57:25.729-06:00Your Cool Things really were cool. We always talk ...Your Cool Things really were cool. We always talk about mutualistic relationships as though they move along smoothly all the time. You've shown us that there's actually quite a lot of virtual backstabbing. Fascinating!Joy K.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06200194467024962551noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199848742267562587.post-59107417342264017442010-04-28T22:06:07.495-06:002010-04-28T22:06:07.495-06:00The Blue Diamond trail network is brilliant, espec...The Blue Diamond trail network is brilliant, especially in spring. I think is is much better than the often touted Bootleg Canyon trails South of town, but not shuttle friendly (which may be why I like them).Enelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00967981896718833776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199848742267562587.post-64029685758020126562010-04-28T16:54:41.322-06:002010-04-28T16:54:41.322-06:00If I don't buy lottery tickets, am I like a ch...If I don't buy lottery tickets, am I like a cheater moth?<br /><br />Good post - nature never ceases to amaze.KanyonKrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954169751206336705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199848742267562587.post-51894746424838164132010-04-28T15:49:44.031-06:002010-04-28T15:49:44.031-06:00Great post! I agree 100% with your comments regard...Great post! I agree 100% with your comments regarding public funding of education and other public "goods" like universal helth care. And I'm an old f..t.<br /><br />BTW, thanks for supplying references for the yucca story. There is an additional part of the story you didn't mention: some yuccas defend themselves from over-enthusiastic egg laying by selectively aborting fruits that have too many moth larvae developing in them.<br /><br />The yucca story is fascinating and I'm glad you posted about it. Great job!Dale Hoythttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09719806906871204013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199848742267562587.post-48173018568100900112010-04-28T14:49:29.941-06:002010-04-28T14:49:29.941-06:00Maybe. Though I doubt the good people of the futur...Maybe. Though I doubt the good people of the future will say <i>that</i>. (I'm envisioning something more like, "Yeah those were some nutty times. I’m glad there were guys like that Mr. Subjunctive around to help us keep our houseplants alive.")mr_subjunctivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14113199755474482747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199848742267562587.post-30657601734876207362010-04-28T14:08:20.020-06:002010-04-28T14:08:20.020-06:00Jube- you had it right; you were posing next to a ...Jube- you had it right; you were <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fsjQMYkI6rg/S4yz4xEODHI/AAAAAAAABVo/eFIphgxyFK0/s1600-h/IMAG0017.jpg" rel="nofollow">posing next to a Joshua Tree</a>. It’s easier when you see them side-by-side, or one right after the other. In the last video (Blue Diamond Descent), I pass by a Spanish Dagger on the right at 0:26. Right after, at 0:28, you can see a small, single-stalk Joshua in the far left of the screen. A better Joshua comes into view ahead and to the left at 0:54.<br /><br />Mr. Subjunctive- I agree with everything you say except the screwed-six-ways-from-Sunday part. The country’s been in worse shape before, and every generation of middle-aged folks (don’t know your age, but <i>I</i> am middle-aged) has said the country’s going to hell. Our challenge- and by “our” I mean us bleeding-heart-do-gooders- is to not to let the know-nothings drag us down into pessimism or cynicism, and keep pushing for what’s good and fair and right. It may be tough now, but 50 or 100 years from now, when people look back on our times, they’ll say, “Yeah those were some nutty times. I’m glad there were guys like that Mr. Subjunctive around to help keep us going in the right direction…”<br /><br />Damn, that was inspiring. I feel like I should go volunteer, or sign a petition, or write a letter to the editor now. Or maybe I’ll just have a peanutbutter cup. (<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6LWjP0sZ22w/SJt8tnJGDnI/AAAAAAAABS0/mKd1bmRtPPg/s1600-h/IMG_6332.jpg" rel="nofollow">Matt</a> keeps some in his desk drawer, and he’s traveling this week.)Watcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02248341788957416471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199848742267562587.post-61599857714087815012010-04-28T12:42:43.811-06:002010-04-28T12:42:43.811-06:00You have good reasons to like Vegas, and I share t...You have good reasons to like Vegas, and I share those reasons. I just wish the growth could be contained so the need for water doesn't run the rest of us dry.<br /><br />Last I was down there, Drew took a photo of me next to what I later IDed as Joshua tree because the leaves on Spanish dagger (Yes, cool name. Almost as cool as Magnificent Ape.) looked longer and bigger than these in the picture. Did I get it wrong? http://lucydrewblog4u.blogspot.com/2010/03/will-drive-south-for-biking-part-1.htmlLucyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10896006691904225007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199848742267562587.post-2197468787322318762010-04-28T08:46:27.687-06:002010-04-28T08:46:27.687-06:00Nice post. Believe it or not, while watching the f...Nice post. Believe it or not, while watching the first video, I noticed the yuccas and was going to ask you what they were. Bingo, in the next paragraph, you answered it!<br /><br />The cheater thing is really cool and does seem fairly prevalent across nature. It is funny how the cheater thing works, but only up to a point, for the species to survive.<br /><br />I also agree that lotteries are a scam, particularly when promoted to raise funds for schools and parks. Makes no sense. It preys on the working poor.<br /><br />mtb wAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199848742267562587.post-11843100527720915242010-04-28T08:04:41.402-06:002010-04-28T08:04:41.402-06:00It's actually worse than that: people have bee...It's actually worse than that: people have been told to believe that any increase in income tax or property tax is an Assault On Everything Americans Hold Dear. So not only can we no longer raise taxes to pay for schools or whatever, and have to resort to lotteries instead, but we can't pay for the roads anymore either, hence toll roads. We can't pay for health care expenses, hence higher sin taxes on cigarettes and alcohol. We can't pay for state infrastructure, hence higher fees for necessary state bureaucracy (like hunting licenses, marriage licenses, driver's licenses) and higher sales taxes. <br /><br />What do all of the above methods of raising state funds have in common? They're all regressive as hell. If you're a politician, it makes sense to take the money from the people least able to fight you on it, instead of from the people who pay for your re-election, of course. <br /><br />I think the country is pretty much screwed six ways from Sunday. <br /><br />I've thought this for quite a while.mr_subjunctivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14113199755474482747noreply@blogger.com