March Astronomy - Venus and Saturn

Earlier this year Venus began it's transition to the post-sunset sky assuming its place as our Evening Star.  With every passing sunset it will ascend a bit higher.  Coincidentally, Saturn has been descending with every passing evening and after a half year of its presence will disappear from view before too long.   

For the past couple of days the two planets have begun to pass each other closely and if you look to the western horizon about 45 minutes after sunset you can spot both planets in a planetary conjunction.

You should have no problem spotting them with your naked eyes; however, if you have a pair of binoculars use them for a closer look. 

 

Lock The Clock

If you’re like me this semiannual switch between Standard Time and Daylight Saving Time is madness.  Today I lost an hour of sleep and in November after I set my clock back an hour I’ll still get out of bed in the dark to turn the coffee on.  At the end of the day I’ll pour myself a glass of Merlot in the dark.  This resetting of the clocks is messing with my circadian rhythms.

Daylight Saving Time is associated with the Western world as most countries outside Europe and North America don't observe the ritual. 

Courtesy of CNN research the notion of Daylight Saving Time has a curious pedigree.

1784 - The idea of daylight saving is first conceived by Benjamin Franklin.

1914-1918 - Britain goes on DLS during World War I.

March 19, 1918 - The Standard Time Act establishes time zones and daylight saving. Daylight saving is repealed in 1919, but continues to be recognized in certain areas of the United States.

1945-1966 - There is no federal law regarding Daylight Saving Time.

1966 - The Uniform Time Act of 1966 establishes the system of uniform Daylight Saving Time throughout the United States. The dates are the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. States can exempt themselves from participation.

1974-1975 - Congress extends DLS in order to save energy during the energy crisis.

1986-2006 - Daylight Saving Time begins on the first Sunday in April and ends on the last Sunday in October.

August 8, 2005 - President George W. Bush signs the Energy Policy Act of 2005 into law. Part of the act will extend Daylight Saving Time starting in 2007, from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November. 

 

In 2022, the Senate unanimously approved the Sunshine Protection Act which would make daylight saving time permanent.  The House did not pass it and then-President Biden did not sign it.  Whether the second session of the 119th Congress will pass the Sunshine Protection Act of 2025 remains to be seen.  H.R. 139/S. 29 has not passed as of this moment.  The legislation, which proposes making daylight saving time permanent, was introduced in January 2025 but has remained stalled in committee, with low chances of passing, according to GovTrack.us and GovTrack.us. 

 

As for making Daylight Savings Time permanent there is evidence that the frequency of heart attack and stroke increases around the ritual resetting of clocks twice a year.  Benefits of Daylight Savings Time enhance public safety and make better economic sense.  Proponents of Daylight Saving Time argue that most people appreciate an increase in daylight hours after coming home from work.  

Speaking for myself - I like the notion of longer, lighter evenings and a happier more prosperous United States.  I like my clock precisely where it is.   

Make it permanent. 

 

Lock the clock.

Wiley Coyote

In the creation story of Idaho’s Nez Perce people it was Coyote who saved the creatures of Earth.

 

The monster Kamiah had stalked into the region and was gobbling up the animals one by one. The crafty Coyote evaded Kamiah but didn't want to lose his friends, so he let himself be swallowed. From inside the beast, Coyote severed Kamiah's heart and freed his fellow animals. Then he chopped up Kamiah and threw the pieces to the winds, where they gave birth to the peoples of the planet. 

 

 

The scientific name for the coyote is Canis latrans – literally barking dog. 

 

 

A diurnal or crepuscular creature (namely active during daylight hours or at dawn and dusk) coyotes that reside in closer proximity to people tend to be more nocturnal. Unless they become habituated to our presence wild coyotes will make every attempt to steer clear of people. If you were to inquire of a wildlife biologist they would tell you that there are nineteen subspecies of coyote that are exceedingly well-adapted to living in urban, rural and wild America. 

 

 Male coyotes tip the scales at about 44 pounds while females weigh-in slightly less. For scale our red-golden retriever, Ruby, weighs about the same. 

 

 

Coyotes dine on large prey and also eat snakes, insects, rodents, fruit and other mast. As an opportunistic hunter coyotes have been known to prey-upon small pets and livestock. In an urban setting they will eat garbage and pet food left on a deck or patio. 

 

 

The coyote is a gregarious animal - socially-inclined - like the wolf. This is likely a consequence of the need for a family unit or pack of animals combining to bring down large game.

 

Recent genetic studies suggest that coyotes are not native to the eastern United States - The implication is they largely evolved on the Great Plains. As the eastern old growth forests were cleared for settlement and agriculture coyotes adapted to the new environs. It is thought that coyotes dispersed to our neck of the woods early in the twentieth century. These canids are presumed to have come from the northern Great Plains and are unique in their genetic origins. 

 

 

Additional coyotes dispersed from here to New England via the northern Great Lakes region and southern Canada meeting in the 1940s in New York and Pennsylvania. These coyotes have inter-bred with gray wolf and Eastern wolf populations adding to their own unique genetic diversity and further contributing to their hybrid vigor and ability to adapt to an ever changing environment. Coyotes here are known as the Northeastern coyote.

 

Jill and I hear coyote vocalizations rather frequently. A live sighting is rare as in rural America coyotes share the same natural aversion to people that other wildlife do. 

 

They are scared-to-death of people. 

 

 

Nevertheless, digital trail camera images are common. Ruby and I ran the trail camera trap line recently and she sez that judging from the quantity of images over a couple of weeks that coyotes “are cheap” around here. 

 

These are all night IR images; not a single daylight photo. It’s mating season and maybe that has something to do with it?  

 

Coyote one followed by coyotes two.  A mated pair?

Friday Music

This song was released  in 1970 as a single form their and final studio album - Bridge Over Troubled Water.  Written by Paul Simon it is said that the origins of this song are traced to a late-night party with Paul and Art banging rhythm on a piano bench recording and playing it back on a tape player.  Simon added the lyrics at a later date.  

The song was a hit single in the US peaking at Number Four on the Billboard Hot 100 and Number One on the Cash Box Top 100.  While charting in other countries it failed to do so in the UK. 

For 55 years I've been drawn to this tune and its infectious  tap-the-steering-wheel rhythm and the lyrics.  This is a terrific cover by the Everly Brothers.

Cecelia....

Good Riddance

Seems I saw this coming a couple of years ago.  President Trump has done the right thing.

 Good riddance.  

Easier Said Than Done....

Jägerschnitzel (hunter's schnitzel) was a lot of work.

Messy too. 

It was only my mise en place that kept my bacon out of the fire (pun intended).

All I gotta say is the YouTube tutorials made this look a great deal easier than it was.

I may have won the battle; but until I repeat this with the outdoor fryer the outcome of the war is uncertain.....

 

Moving The Goal Posts

Throughout his political career Donald Trump has often articulated a disdain for open-ended military conflicts.  You know; Forever Wars.    

He has often cited the trillions of dollars spent in Iraq and Afghanistan suggesting the US received nothing in return.  As an America First Populist he has argued that these resources are better spent on domestic priorities.  Both he and his followers have frequently blamed warmongering globalists, neocons, military leadership and a shadowy Deep State for dragging the country into unnecessary conflicts.  And he has been consistent in deriding the notion of nation-building.  

I cannot argue any of the foregoing as there is truth to be found in all of it; particularly the costs in lives, both military and civilian.  The purpose of this post is nothing more than to note, as an outside observer, the shifting rationales cascading in the wake of Operation Epic Fury. 

Following the January 2020 drone strike that killed General Qasem Soleimani Trump claimed the action was necessary to head-off imminent and sinister attacks on US diplomats and service members. Pressed by Congress the administration later moved the goal posts and in a formal memo to Congress, deleted any reference to an imminent claim, instead justifying the strike as a response to past attacks and to deter future aggression. 

In 2025 President Trump launched Operation Midnight Hammer striking Iranian nuclear facilities in Natanz and Fordow.  The president announced the facilities were obliterated, effectively ending Iran's nuclear ambitions.  In short order, and in direct contradiction of earlier claims, the administration moved the goal posts claiming Iran was rebuilding the same facilities as a rationale for the recent escalation of hostilities.

Then the goal posts were planted on Iran's ballistic missile program.  The rationale was the Iran was developing intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of striking our homeland soon. 

Defense Secretary Hegseth moved the goal posts arguing that Iran's conventional missiles and drones were a shield protecting their nuclear ambitions thus requiring the US to first dismantle Iran's conventional military.

Secretary of State Rubio suggested that the recent wave of attacks were preemptive in nature arguing that the US struck Iran because it knew Israel was planning an attack; consequently, the US had to strike first to neutralize Iran's capacity to attack our middle eastern bases.  Goal posts moved, again. 

Ironically the most inconsistent is the regime change rationale requiring moving the goal posts in both end zones.  Trump himself appealed to the Iranian people to take control of your government as he cheered the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as a turning point.  Simultaneously, Defense Secretary Hegseth stated that the operations are not a so-called regime change war, framing it instead as a narrow mission to destroy specific Iranian military assets.  

Trump Says Germany is Helping With Iran Strikes

Between you and me, and hopefully within a relatively short passage of time, the administration will settle on some sort of rationale.  The goal posts may look something like this:  With insufficient international and weakening domestic support, military losses, rising oil prices, market volatility, insufficient evidence of any Iranian opposition capacity for overthrowing the current theocracy and a general lack of progress towards whatever rationale the administration eventually settles-on, it will be TACO time. The President will declare a win and victoriously announce we've done all that is possible for freedom-loving Iranians and that it is now time to move-on leaving them to pick-up the pieces.

I happen to believe regime change is overreach.  For the sake of Americans who wear a uniform in service to this country and civilians caught in the crossfire I pray for sooner; rather than longer. 

EDIT to add one hour following publication:

Attacks have intensified, with Iranian drone and missile strikes heading towards the Arab Gulf states. Many of these states rely on costly U.S. interceptors, and with stockpiles dwindling, energy infrastructure could become exposed.