. . . spent some time in Sabino Canyon this morning. I captured images of several lizards, but sometimes I find it difficult to identify these guys — example: the top photo and the one below are both od desert spiny lizards, however, the angle of the sun and environment around the lizard causes different coloring; at least to this observer.
Desert Spiny Lizard
Zebra-tailed Lizard
The above lizard is easy to identify by the strips on the trail, however, I have not be able to identify the little guy below. Something tells me I should, but for now I call him “Yellow-belly.”
American census figures analyzed by the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center show that the illegal Mexican population in the United States has shrunk and that fewer than 100,000 illegal border-crossers and visa-violators from Mexico settled in the United States in 2010, down from about 525,000 annually from 2000 to 2004. Read more . . .
Why is this image beautiful? It contains the first clouds seen in months, which is the forerunner for the desert monsoon. Image by kenne
The monsoon is building in the mountains to the south
Like a scout, moist air is exploring the desert to the north
In preparation for the invasion of the wet boots from across the border
The monsoon is moving its cloud formations across the mountains
With each passing day taking up position in the blue desert sky
Pushing up the humidity and the relative heat of 110 degrees in the shade
The monsoon is bringing a shift in the desert wind (Mariah)
Pulling moisture from the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico
Producing a radical change in the form of monsoon thunderstorms
The monsoon is adjusting the desert’s aperture
Creating a pattern of “burst” and “breaks”
From hot and cold air blurring the boundary between these realities
The monsoon is the ying to the desert’s yang
Each needing the extremes of the other
To maintain life and romance in the desert
The monsoon is a name from the far east
Now commonly used in the Sonoran desert
Personally, I would prefer Mariah
Way out west, they got a name For rain and wind and fire The rain is Tess, the fire’s joe and They call the wind Mariah
“Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth.” — Aldous Huxley
We are told by politicians at all levels of government that we are broke and therefore can’t afford the government programs and services that tens of millions of Americans depend on each day, while seeking
(1) to protect tax breaks for the wealthy, Big Oil, and huge corporations;
(2) abolish the minimum wage;
(3) to privatize medicare when it already hasn’t worked;
(4) continue supporting $1 trillion in wasteful tax breaks;
(5) dismantle EPA regulations;
(6) slash next year’s funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission — the federal regulator that oversees speculators in oil and other commodities — by 44% below what the president requested;
(7) to convince Americans that oil companies aren’t responsible for high gas prices;
(8) to defund Planned Parenthood;
(9) to stop gays should be able to serve openly in the military;
(10) to cut higher education funding by over $89 million over the next 10 years; (11) to freeze Veterans Affairs Department health care spending and cutting veterans’ disability benefits;
(12) to cut G.I. Bill benefits;
(13) to cut taxes as a way to deal with the public debt.
The list could be longer, but I think you get the picture. And with all the issues Congress is taking yet another recess from their work.
We are told that Democracy does not create strong ties between people. But it does make living together easier. Alexis de Tocqueville
Becoming is Superior to Being 
IT turns out that the good times are even better than we thought for American chief executives. Read more . . .
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