Journal Entries
Three fawns
Posted Aug 6, 2009
Three fawns are just outside my building. They've been a regular feature of the "Mall" here at the Johnson Space Center this summer. Basically the center is designed like a college campus with large central quadrangle with three connected coy (gold carp?) ponds. We're used to seeing ducks (and currently several groups of ducklings and their mums) and squirrels. The carp share the ponds with snapping turtles. Some folks here seem to think that the turtles are endangered and when they are seen to nest someone will place boxes or cones or otherwise mark the nest as if they need protecting neglecting that turtle eggs are a food source for other wildlife. We also see several species of waterfowl stop bye the ponds in search of crayfish probably.
But the fawns are new. We've always had plenty of deer on site but they tended to stick to the more remote areas of the center (which takes up a few square miles) during the day. The herds would come into the mall area at night and I often saw them scampering away in the early morning as more people began to show up.
Lately I haven't seen that many deer except for these three fawns. But these three seem to have no desire to leave. They'll usually find a cozy spot a few dozen yards off from the path ways. They'll watch as you walk past but don't seem very skittish. I was walking between buildings off the paths this morning and passed within 20 feet of them as they were grazing a bit. One of them didn't even look up at me.
I wonder how long they'll hang around. I would like it if they stuck around but that isn't likely to happen. If they do become semi-tame and if people start hand feeding them then I'm sure the facility managers will have to relocate them. They'll be perfectly fine and cute and cuddly until they grow up and the mating season comes. Nothing like the threat of someone getting a hoof to the head to make administrators leap into high gear.
I really must bring my new camera next week before the show ends.
Discuss this Journal entry [82]
Latest reply: Aug 6, 2009
First Edtions
Posted May 31, 2009
I just "clicked" to buy a first edition of Chuck Palahniuk - Fight Club.
It was less than $40 with shipping. I bought it mainly because I cannot remember to whom I lent my original copy. Since watching and reading Fight Club, I've bought every book by Palahniuk, mostly first editions.
About two years ago I bought all the early Douglas Adams first editions (I had the later ones in first edition by default because I bought them as soon as I could).
It's a bit of a cheat to buy a first edition later, but in this case I feel just a bit justified because I think the copy I lost was close to a first edition, not quite a first edition but an early enough one. I know I bought it before the film came out, but let it sit on my shelf until after I watched the movie.
Why do I care?...
That's the one legacy I have from my grandmother.
She collected first editions of books, many of which I don't even think she read. However the one book I know she had a first edition of was Gone With The Wind... sadly my mother doesn't know where it is now, and I'm more upset about that than she is.
I truly care about the books on my shelves. Heinlein once said something about learning about a person quickly by seeing the books the person has on their bookshelves.
I take pride in my bookshelves and filling them with first editions makes me feel a bit of pride.
Discuss this Journal entry [30]
Latest reply: May 31, 2009
The Bush legacy: Torture
Posted Apr 22, 2009
This morning I'm reading several stories concerning the Bush administration's promotion of "enhanced interrogation techniques" and their justifications for them.
First I read this article, originally in the New York Times, that shows the origins of the techniques approved and promoted by the CIA and the Bush administration. These techniques were well established by brutal regimes in the past and were implemented by the US because they were used on military personnel as part of their SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) training. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30338039/
Then I read this article about how these policies lead to harsh treatments of Iraqi prisoners and captured "suspects" by military personnel at Abu Graib and Gitmo and how some military personnel were basically scapegoated by being portrayed as if they were isolated individuals acting on their own and not following the direct policies they were now obviously instructed to use. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30343776/
And now I read this article that cites a senate report that shows that the Bush administration specifically requested that torture be used to specifically find evidence to link al Qa'ida to Saddam Hussein's regime even though, "“Cheney’s and Rumsfeld’s people were told repeatedly, by CIA … and by others, that there wasn’t any reliable intelligence that pointed to operational ties between bin Laden and Hussein, and that no such ties were likely because the two were fundamentally enemies, not allies." http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6385484.html
Some officials are insisting that they did get valid and useful information from some of the detainees that were tortured (I'm not going to use their euphemisms). That may be true, it probably is. It doesn't 
ing matter. They may have been able to get that same information and probably a whole lot more if they had NOT used torture. How many false confessions and information did they get during the 266 instances of water boarding of only two prisoners did they elicit?
The purpose of SERE training is to show our personnel how to resist these techniques and resist giving the enemy useful information. The SERE trainers who consulted on these techniques insisted that they were NOT reliable methods of getting information!!! (yes, three exclamations)
We are now getting confirmation of what we suspected all along. George W. Bush and that dick, Cheney would stop at nothing to start a war with Iraq and to justify it once they did regardless of all the evidence that proved he was WRONG.
They abolished habeas corpus and institutionalized kidnapping and torture. By doing these things they did more damage to this nation than any terrorist ever could.
These people MUST be prosecuted. I have little doubt that they may never be punished, but they must be prosecuted. The rule of law and basic tenets of the constitution of this nation are at stake!
Discuss this Journal entry [15]
Latest reply: Apr 22, 2009
Dubai: The End of the World
Posted Apr 7, 2009
I've just finished reading this excellent in-depth article on the conditions in Dubai.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html
Dubai is an amazing experiment and model. It is built upon nothing but sand and debt. It's built and serviced by slaves.
It was meant to be a paradise and it's quickly becoming a hell. For some it already is.
Discuss this Journal entry [6]
Latest reply: Apr 7, 2009
Java Junkie in Space
Posted Nov 26, 2008
There once was a fellow named Pettit,
Who drank coffee when he could get it,
But up there in space,
It would splash in your face,
So he made a cup that just wouldn't let it.
http://www.livescience.com/space/081124-sts126-zerog-coffee-B.html
This guy is fascinating. I keep hearing stories about his creative endeavors. During his last shuttle mission, being the avid photog that he is, he "repurposed" (i.e. tore apart and reconfigured) one of their cordless screwdrivers and turned it into a tracking camera mount so he could get some better images using longer exposure times. He also once built a liquid oxygen still... IN HIS GARAGE!
Discuss this Journal entry [4]
Latest reply: Nov 26, 2008
Baron Grim
Researcher U69725
Write an Entry
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."