On The Eve of Armageddon

Can anybody out there tell me anything about this illustration, to wit, who painted it, when, and on what book or publication did this appear? Thank in advance! Photo provenance unknown (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - KAP-ing the SAF

Image of the San Andreas Fault on the Carrizo Plain taken by means of the "Kite Aerial Photography technique."
Image courtesy of the USGS (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Wasco Cloud Crawler

Tonight thunderstorms are effecting various localities scattered throughout California as a cutoff low meanders over the region. The most intense activity has been centered in the San Joaquin Valley and Sierra Foothills. Jared Isaac of Shafter, CA, captured this beautiful and dramatic image north of Wasco, CA, a few hours ago. This "cloud crawler" lightning is something one would expect to see in association with the more violent thunderstorms seen in the central and eastern U.S. Photo by Jared Isaac (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Feline Pâté Box

My little geriatric buddy Willie who is now about 17 years old and getting incredibly feeble and senile is finding wackier resting places all the time it seems. The past several days it was mom's kitchen sink; now it is his discarded pâté catfood box. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Scripture of the Day - Schadenfreude In Scripture

The Germans have a wonderful word for what otherwise in English and many other languages would be a phrase or clause to describe taking pleasure in someone or something getting its comeuppance. This word is schadenfreude (deriving pleasure from others' misfortunes) . I would argue that the English word "gloat" is not precisely the same thing. God has something to say about this in the Book of Proverbs.

"Do not rejoice when your enemy falls and don't take pleasure when he stumbles because God will take note of it and become angered at you and remove his hand from your enemy (with the implication of placing upon you instead)." ~ Proverbs 24:17-18 (Kimicus ad Absurdum translation)

Quote of the Day - Socrates

At first glance this seems like a contemporary critique of Millennials or even younger people today, but actually it was penned by Socrates in lamenting the youth of his day.

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers." ~ Socrates

Picture of the Day - Reed Family Mass Grave

Today I partook in my first fire chase of this year's fire season. I heard CAL FIRE SLU North County ground and air resources dispatched to CAL FIRE BEU's adjacent South County in Indian Valley outside of San Miguel/Bradley near the intersection of Indian Valley Road and Hare Canyon Road. The fire burned about 3 acres and I only traveled as far north as San Miguel as I noted no header. To make the short jaunt north worth my while, I stopped at Mission San Miguel Arcángel and shot this image of the Reed Family mass grave. The Reed-Vallejo Clan who occupied the mission property were slaughtered by six men (5 whites recently arrived from the Gold Country and a local Indian) in an armed robbery resulting in 11 deaths. I had previously not understood the significance of this cross until an employee of the mission over at the mission event center told me about it the last time I worked there. I had previously looked for this grave marker expecting to see a name on it. For some reason this family is buried in an unmarked grave. Were they not good Catholics? The property was secularized and privately owned at the time of the Mission San Miguel Massacre/Reed Family Murders in 1848. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).