Tom Lehrer died yesterday (Sat) in Massachusetts. Born in April 1928, he was 97. Famous for his satirical songs in the 50s and 60s, The Elements, The Wild West, and The Old Dope Peddler were among his best known. He stopped performing after releasing 3 albums, the last reaching #18, in 1967 and spent the rest of his life teaching at places such as MIT and UC. He also worked for the forerunner of DOE, the Atomic Energy Commission. I used to listen to a lot of his stuff.

Not a stupid person.

To tell the truth, I didn't know he was still alive.

RIP, Mr Lehrer

16-to-1 Mine sample

The 16-to-1 mine was discovered in 1896, now on the south side of Alleghany, California (Nevada County - about 30 miles NE of Nevada City). If it weren't California, I'd be living up in those hills.

A hard rock mine, the 16-to-1 has produced over 1 million oz of high grade gold ore. Much of the ore is worth more as specimens than as gold. It is still in production but on a minor scale, producing specimens rather than bullion. One of its most productive days occurred in 1993 when 2600 oz were removed from a single pocket. The average density exceeds 1oz/ton.

When I was in that business, I had a chance to work in this mine. The quartz veins were shot with gold; I've never before or since seen such rich ore, including a stint with Newmont Gold; including museum samples. I was once privileged enough to be invited into the vault ...

The average density at 16-to-1 is 1oz/ton; the good rock may be 10oz/pound. Newmont - at the time I was there - considered 0.1oz/ton to be a very rich property.

I don't have the gold bug ... but sometimes I come close to the edge.

There's an article on American Thinker - "Just what is the ‘magic number’?" - by Stu Tarlowe in which the sentence of Bryan Kohberger was discussed. Tarlowe wondered just how many murders was enough to justify execution. Being in Idaho, this has been a story longer than it has been at the national level.

The point of the article questioned why Kohberger wasn't sentenced to death rather than 4 consecutive life sentences.

From a only-casually interested point of view, I'll suggest that by pulling the death penalty off the table, the Kohberger was willing to confess to the murders. This deal included Kohberger not appealing the sentence. This saved the expense of trials, appeals, more appeals, and allowed Kohbeger to be placed in general population rather than Death Row. Kohberger will die in prison - likely far sooner than expected and by a means slower and likely more painful than either the firing squad or lethal injection.

Some people are born evil and Kohberger appears to be one of those.

Idaho switched to execution by firing squad just this year when an execution (that had had appeal after appeal for decades) was to be carried out by lethal injection but there was a problem with obtaining the "proper" drugs (why an overdose of morphine or fentanyl or some such isn't used is beyond me). Bullets are readily available but lethal injection remains an alternative method of execution. Hanging was the primary method until 1978 when lethal injection was selected as the primary execution method.

To be sentenced to death requires a unanimous vote by jury; a single objection will change the sentence to life and there is no retrial. Rape of children under 12 is also a capital offense as is 1st degree kidnap (with circumstances) and perjury leading to the execution of an innocent person.

There are currently 8 men and one woman on death row here; two of them having been sentenced in the 1980s ...

Golden Earring co-founder George Kooymans died earlier today at age 77 of complications from ALS.

1973's "Radar Love" was by far the Golden Earring's most well-known composition but I first heard of them with a 19-minute cover of "8 Miles High" in 1969.

Less well known is "The Devil Made Me Do It" (1982).