God prefers steak

Photo of the Day - 09 Aug 09

2009-08-09T02:35:00.004-04:00


Flat Stanley and the Fu Lion

Shrine Guardians

An online acquaintance asked me to help out with his son's "Flat Stanley" project. For those of you unfamiliar with "Flat Stanley", it is a book about a boy named Stanley who is accidentally flattened and then is able to visit his friends by mailing himself to them. It's been used as the core of a letter-writing and cultural exchange program called The Flat Stanley Project, in which kids send photocopies of a "flat stanley" to people around the world and ask them to document the adventures of their "flat stanleys".

I completely missed that little Hunter's project involved documenting food around the world, which is a real shame on my part because Japan certainly has some pretty interesting food. However, Stanley visited some places around Misawa, Japan, including a trip to see one of the local Shinto shrines. Here, Stanley has a photo taken with one of the shrine's stone guardian lions.

Photo of the Day - 05 Aug 09

2009-08-05T02:36:00.006-04:00


Luck and Protection Geocoin

A Mystery SQUEEEE!

A little background for those who might not be in the know: geocoins are tokens, usually coin-like (but sometimes marvelously not) that are used in the game/sport/activity known as geocaching. Geocoins typically have a serial number engraved on them which can be registered (and tracked) using the tracking website.

Technically, the coin you see here is not actually a geocoin -- or, rather, it's not a trackable geocoin. The number you see there is a serial number, yes, but it is not a tracking number (as sold by, say, geocaching.com).

This coin is a mystery coin. There's a very active community of people who make, sell, buy, collect, activate, and/or release geocoins at the Geocaching.com Forums (message boards). Some of these people will, for some reason or another, occasionally mint coins that they then send, anonymously, to other ~~addicts~~ coin aficionados out of the goodness of their hearts (or because perhaps they really enjoy seeing the explosions of rapture on the message boards).

I went to the post office and found a parcel. I regularly order coins so this was not too terribly surprising. Still, I didn't recall ordering anything from the location indicated by the postmark and stamps (which I will not reveal here). What could it be? I ripped open the packet and lo and behold, out fell this coin!

I am particularly tickled because I have visited China (in 2000, before I joined the Navy). Note the "Great Wall" border. I have walked on that wall. I love the fu-dogs and am delighted that the coiner got this right: fu-dogs always come in pairs, one male and one female. The male has a globe under his paw, and the female has a baby fu-dog under hers. On the obverse are two beautifully-done dragons (I wonder if they, too, are male and female?).

I scored coin #78. Squeee! I've been carrying this around with me in my overshirt -- it goes everywhere with me, now. Thank you, oh Doubly-Lucky and Doubly-Protected mystery coin giver!

Photo of the Day - 01 Aug 09

2009-08-01T07:12:00.004-04:00


Dubai, UAE - Bank Entrance

Bank - Glass-fronted Entrance

Here's another photo from my visit to Dubai in 2004; it is the front door of a bank in downtown Dubai. The use of this kind of glass is very common in Dubai -- entire buildings are covered in beautiful cobalt and dragonfly-green glass, with gold-colored ornamental metal tracery. It's a gorgeous city, a clutch of jewels laid out in the middle of the desert.

Contrasting with the absolutely stunning buildings such as this one are places like (not pictured) "T.G.I. Thursdays". To quote Dave Barry, I am not making this up. It makes sense, though, since Friday is the start of the weekend in Dubai. Some officers from the ship went there and I gathered from their stories that the place doubled as a brothel. I'm glad I was not there.

Instead, I was wandering throughout the city with friends and a camera, exploring the spice souk, the City Center Mall, and other interesting places. I didn't visit very many places in the Middle East, I'm afraid; Dubai really is the only one I'd be interested in visiting again.

Don't you think that the design on the bank's entranceway would make a great geocoin?

Photo of the day - 30 July 09

2009-07-29T23:04:00.005-04:00


Dubai, UAE - at the Spice Souk

Spices, Spices, Four Bags Full

During my (one and only, so far) deployment to the Middle East in USS McFAUL (DDG-74), we visited the United Arab Emirates. Dubai is an amazingly beautiful city. I and my buddies checked out the spice souk (bazaar). There were beautiful bags of spices -- and minerals, too -- everywhere.

One guy pulled us (women) into his store and tried to sell us breast-enlargement cream. Oy, weh! Still, Dubai was my absolute favorite of the various Middle Eastern places we went.

Photo of the Day - 28 July 09

2009-07-27T17:21:00.004-04:00


Summer & Pat explore Hachinohe Park

Summer & Dad at Hachinohe Park

All weekend long, the Air Force weathercasters teased us with the notion that Monday would be clear. Since that was my (single) day off this week, we planned to go check out the Hachinohe Park & Children's Land. Of course, come the day itself, it was definitely threatening to rain. But we went anyway.

One of the things about driving using an atlas is that the atlas simply marks where the streets & roads are. It tells you nothing about the character of where you'll be driving -- and the map that I have is decidedly uninformative about the width of the road, too. So we drove through some highly entertaining portions of Hachinohe, including along what appeared to be Hachinohe's main city street. We'll definitely try to go back there before we leave; the street featured several interesting bronze statues of which I'd like to go back and get photos.

We arrived at the Hachinohe Park & Children's Land and, lo, it was closed (closed on Mondays). But we still got a chance to wander around before the rain really started coming down. Not pictured: the extensive small-scale amusement park (complete with ferris wheel, merry-go-round, and other fun stuff for children), the petting zoo, or the botanical gardens. That'll have to wait for a sunnier non-Monday-or-Tuesday-after-National-Holiday.

Photo of the Day - 26 July 09

2009-07-26T06:49:00.006-04:00


View of an Engine

This is a photo taken while working on one of my favorite geocaches, "USAF Museum Tour. I am afraid that I forget what in which aircraft (plural) this engine was the prime mover, but the engine itself was absolutely fascinating and beautiful. This geocache is called a "multi-cache" (tho I think it could more properly be called a Mystery cache) and requires you to tour the entire museum, collecting clues, in order to figure out the coordinates to the actual cache. It was one of the best days caching I've ever had!

The Train Wreck that is Sylvia Browne

2008-11-06T02:21:00.002-05:00

You just can't stop reading about Sylvia Browne -- it's unbelievable, like trying to look away from a train wreck, isn't it?

Sylvia Browne: Sightings - Ghost of Brookdale Lodge (2)	Sylvia Browne: Sylvia Browne Transcript
Sylvia Browne: Terrence Farrell Reading	Sylvia Browne: Browne’s Trump Taj Mahal Engagements
Sylvia Browne: TVTalkShows.com - A Report on My Session and Dealings with Sylvia Browne	Sylvia Browne: TVTalkShows.com - Disappointed in Sylvia Browne “Trance Reading"

Sylvia Browne: Email - My Reading With Sylvia’s Son Chris

But it's over. Until Robert's back at his keyboard!

Ye Gods, I am So Sick of Sylvia Browne!

2008-11-06T02:20:00.002-05:00

Are you sure you want to keep reading about Sylvia Browne?

Sylvia Browne: Browne Says She Never Charges for Missing Person and Homicide Cases...	Sylvia Browne: Novus Spiritus - A Matter of Control
Sylvia Browne: Novus Spiritus - An Aramaic Prayer?	Sylvia Browne: Novus Spiritus - An Aramaic Prayer (2)
Sylvia Browne: Novus Spiritus - An Aramaic Prayer (3)	Sylvia Browne: Novus Spiritus - A Prelate Responds
Sylvia Browne: Novus Spiritus - Canada Breaks Away	Sylvia Browne: Novus Spiritus - Delaware Breaks Away
Sylvia Browne: Novus Spiritus - Delaware Breaks Away ()	Sylvia Browne: Novus Spiritus - Jewelry Quality Issue
Sylvia Browne: Novus Spiritus - Jewelry Quality Issue (2)	Sylvia Browne: Novus Spiritus - “These Freaks Only Come Out at Night"
Sylvia Browne: Open Letter to Montel	Sylvia Browne: Open Letter to Sylvia Browne
Sylvia Browne: People Vs. Brown	Sylvia Browne: People Vs. Brown - Documents
Sylvia Browne: Annual Predictions - 1996	Sylvia Browne: Response to an Attempt to Silence
Sylvia Browne: Richard Kneebone Reading	Sylvia Browne: Sightings - Ghost of Brookdale Lodge

Can't Stop Posting these Great Articles by Robert

2008-11-06T02:19:00.003-05:00

If you aren't sick of Sylvia Browne by now, here's some more reading material to turn your stomach:

Sylvia Browne: Larry Beck	Sylvia Browne: Louise Hay
Sylvia Browne: Montel Response to Open Letter	Sylvia Browne: Montel Show Cancelled
Sylvia Browne: Montel - Amanda Berry Reading	Sylvia Browne: Montel - Anthony Urciuoli, Jr.
Sylvia Browne: Montel - Christopher Reeve	Sylvia Browne: Montel - Civil War Energy Implant
Sylvia Browne: Montel - Dana Chyleen Satterfield Reading	Sylvia Browne: Montel - Dark/Light Skin
Sylvia Browne: Montel - Eve Brown Reading	Sylvia Browne: Montel - Explaining the Levels
Sylvia Browne: Montel - Holly Krewson Reading	Sylvia Browne: Montel - Jamie Barker Reading
Sylvia Browne: Montel - Johnia Berry Reading	Sylvia Browne: Montel - Lynda McClelland Reading
Sylvia Browne: Montel - Outburst in Savannah	Sylvia Browne: Will Her Parents Be Around Her?
Sylvia Browne: Psychic Show Participation Release	Sylvia Browne: Montel - Requin/Nelson/Desvergnes Reading
Sylvia Browne: Montel - Ryan Katcher Reading	Sylvia Browne: Montel - Shawn Hornbeck (2)

Part Three in the List of Great Articles by Robert Lancaster

2008-11-06T02:18:00.003-05:00

But wait! There's more to read about Sylvia Browne!

Sylvia Browne: Email - Lied To By Browne	Sylvia Browne: Email - Linda Rossi
Sylvia Browne: Email - More Ex-Browne-Fans	Sylvia Browne: Email - My Early 70s Experiences With Sylvia Browne
Sylvia Browne: Email - My Sister Margaret and Me	Sylvia Browne: Email - My Thoughts
Sylvia Browne: Email - Not a Good Woman	Sylvia Browne: Email - Psychic Baiting Browne
Sylvia Browne: Email - Request for Refund	Sylvia Browne: Email - Rosanna Montage
Sylvia Browne: Email - Sara’s Story	Sylvia Browne: Email - Shameless
Sylvia Browne: Email - Sylvia Browne Show - June 22	Sylvia Browne: Email - Thank You From a Soccer Mom
Sylvia Browne: Email - Their Blatant Disdain for Others	Sylvia Browne: Email - What Sylvia Told My Granma
Sylvia Browne: Go Sylvia Browne	Sylvia Browne: UK Guardian - Is He for Real?
Sylvia Browne: Interview - Gary and Ree DuFresnes	Sylvia Browne: I Speak with Browne (2)
Sylvia Browne: Janet McDonald	Sylvia Browne: Larry King - Caller from Japan

More Good Stuff from StopSylvia.com

2008-11-06T02:17:00.003-05:00

More articles from the most excellent Robert concerning Sylvia Browne":

Sylvia Browne: Email - Ask Montel	Sylvia Browne: Email - A Story From 1984
Sylvia Browne: Email - Browne and a 9/11 Widow	Sylvia Browne: Email - Browne and the Campus Massacre
Sylvia Browne: Email - Clutched by The Claws	Sylvia Browne: Email - “Doofrane"
Sylvia Browne: Email - Duped	Sylvia Browne: Email - East/West
Sylvia Browne: Email - ExMinister’s Reading by Christopher	Sylvia Browne: Email - Face-to-Face
Sylvia Browne: Email - former Browne Fans	Sylvia Browne: Email - From a Disgusted Ex-Believer
Sylvia Browne: Email - He Will Live a Long Life	Sylvia Browne: Email - Jewelry Question
Sylvia Browne: Email - Jewelry Question2	Sylvia Browne: Email - Las Vegas at the Sylvia Browne Show

More Good Stuff from StopSylvia.com

2008-11-06T02:02:00.008-05:00

Okay, thanks to krelnik (keeper of the terrific anti-pseudoscience/pseudomedicine site "What's the Harm.net"), check out this following list of great articles that Robert has written about Sylvia Browne:

Sylvia Browne: Affidavit Regarding Sylvia Browne	Sylvia Browne: Browne and 9/11
Sylvia Browne: Browne and Borrowing	Sylvia Browne: Browne and Christianity
Sylvia Browne: Browne and the Mentalizer	Sylvia Browne: Browne and the Pomeroy Bridge
Sylvia Browne: Browne - an Attempt to Silence	Sylvia Browne: Coast-to-Coast - Noory on Browne
Sylvia Browne: Coast-to-Coast - Sago	Sylvia Browne: Chris DuFresne
Sylvia Browne: Contradiction - Jesus’ Age at Death	Sylvia Browne: Contradiction - Meeting Francine
Sylvia Browne: Contradiction - Panther Totem	Sylvia Browne: Did Browne Save Reagan?

Favorite Articles about Sylvia Browne by Robert

2008-11-03T19:44:00.003-05:00

Some of my favorite articles that Robert Lancaster has written about Sylvia Browne; this is an excerpt from a thread I started on the topic of favorite www.stopsylvia.com articles over at the James Randi Educational Forum:

I Speak With Sylvia Browne - Robert actually attended one of Sylvia Browne's lecture-shows, and ended up speaking with her. This article just really highlights what a class act Robert is. With all of the hoopla about the takeover of the old domain name, it's a real struggle for me to remember to try to keep calm -- to describe, for example, Kreiman's actions as those of a scumbag, without saying "Boris Kreiman, you scumbag". It doesn't seem that Robert would have this problem; it seems like Robert just comes naturally to fairness, or that he doesn't have to work as hard at it as I do. He's just amazing, and Sylvia Browne is -- oops, almost lost myself. She behaves despicably.

AC360: Sylvia Browne's Best Evidence? - Saw the show. It's just so telling. Robert takes a look at the individual claims made by Linda Rossi on behalf of Browne. It's not a complete transcript, though. I think my favorite part of the interview was when Randi leveled some criticism against Browne and Rossi's response was that Randi's an atheist. Kudos to Anderson for pointing out this very basic (and invalid) debate tactic.

Montel: Shawn Hornbeck Reading - If you know nothing about this, you really just need to read it.

Stop Sylvia Browne - The Story of a Domain Move

2008-11-03T17:41:00.004-05:00

I know it's been a dog's age since I've posted last. My Jackalgirl website is also woefully out-of-date.

But I have to tell a story here.

I have posted before about Robert Lancaster, who runs a site called Stop Kaz. It's a site he researched and designed to post about the claims of one "Dr. Kaz deMille-Jacobsen", who claims to have been at Ground Zero during the 9/11 attacks and who claims that God saved her (for, of course, a very special mission to spread the word and love of God in exchange for handfuls of money).

Anyway, he turned his sites to another psychic con-artist (though I use the word "artist" lightly), Sylvia Browne. He has been researching her claims, following up to look for consistency and evidence that the various claims actually are factual. So far, she's failed on all counts.

He has done a great job, and is an extremely thorough and fair researcher. I say "and fair" because he's better than most people with serious beefs about other people (in this case, completely justified, IMO) would probably be -- he is always very willing to post the opposing side's view, and has an open offer to post any evidence that proves any of her claims (that he has not been able to find himself). So far, no evidence has been forthcoming.

This summer, though, he had a serious stroke. As of this writing, he has been moved to a physical therapy-intensive facility and is learning how to operate his body again.

While he was recovering from his stroke, the domain name for his site critical of Browne lapsed. A person by the name of "Boris Kreiman" snapped it up and replaced the content with a website of his own creation which, on its face, almost looks like it might be critical of Sylvia Browne, but then in its articles comes to the conclusion that she's the real deal. He appears to be attempting to use this site to increase the traffic on his own psychic-crap website, "LifePsychic.com".

In the meantime, this "Boris Kreiman" has offered to sell the domain name back to supporters of Robert -- for a mere $20,000 -- and has complained, apparently, that people should not speak out in an uncomplimentary fashion about him because he is, as he puts it, "one of the best chess players in USA".

As if being good at anything shields you from being lambasted when you are behaving in a thoroughly scummy fashion.

While all this was going on (that is, while he was offering the domain for private sale), "Boris" put the site up for sale on eBay, Marketplace, and SitePoint. If I am not mistaken, these listings have been removed by the associated administrators -- it's a serious breach of the rules to offer something up for auction in multiple places (and then to offer it for sale privately). One could easily accuse him of wanting to rip off the winners of the multiple auctions (and the private buyer), but it's just as equally likely that he's simply ignorant of how online auctions work. Chess skill does not translate into auction site saavy.

As mentioned above, he's commented in links that he didn't know that Robert had had a stroke. Okay, so here's his chance to prove he's not the scumwad everyone's accusing him of being: sell the domain back to the Lancasters for the price he paid for it (probably in the neighborhood of $19.95) -- that would be the right thing to do.

But it doesn't look like he's interested in doing the right thing; he posted a comment to one of the Randi.org articles about the domain takeover":

Hi My name is GM Boris Kreiman and I did buy domain Stopsylviabrowne.com. I dont know why you people writing this bs. I offered to sell it to the owner and his friends. There is NOTHING WRONG with buying GOOD DOMAINS. I am not pro or against Sylvia Browne. I tried to put up objective content but got many insults in the email. Please stop this harassment because I dont want to file any law suits. I hope we can call it as misunderstand and you guys put your money where your mouth is and BUY STOPSYLVIABROWNE.com

My response:

Boris --

The decent thing to do would be to offer the domain back to the Lancasters at the cost you paid for it. Were you to still insist on $20,000 -- after having found out about Robert's stroke, about which you claimed you knew nothing -- you would be acting like a scumbag. So are you a decent man or are you a scumbag? I'm waiting for your actions to show me which.

I'm not holding my breath. Especially since he's called JREF and threatened to sue (see Randi's comment, which is the one immediately preceding Kreiman's in the Randi.org article). Check it out.

Updated at 0915 Local: Kreiman snapped up "www.stopsylvia.net" and "www.stopsylvia.org". Yup, all the hallmarks of a scumbag, all right.

A Handful

2007-01-01T17:37:00.000-05:00

I quote the following from Jack Seward's Outrageous Japanese: Slang, Curses and Epithets:

When then President Ronald Reagan visited Japan and addressed the Diet, he essayed a short sentence in Japanese. My guess is that he intended to say, Nichibei no yūkō wa eien desu 日米の友好は永遠です, or "Japanese-American friendship is forever."

I was listening to the speetch on sattelite television with several native speakers of Japanese, including the incumbent Mrs. Seward, who thought that what Reagan had said in his poorly enunciated Japanese was, Nichibei no yuna wa taihen desu 日米の湯女は大変です, which would have meant something like, "Japanese-American bathhhouse prostitutes are a real handful."

My wife, being of a literal turn of mind, immediately sang out, "I wonder how he found out so quickly. He's only been in Japan two days."

The book is available here on Amazon.com, and its ISBN is 978-4-8053-0848-6 if you want to find it elsewhere.

"Evil Dead: the Musical"

2006-09-12T15:16:00.000-04:00

No, I am not making this up.

Pics from the Des Moines Renaissance Faire

2006-09-03T12:14:00.000-04:00

Pat, his mom, his step-mom & I went up to the Des Moines Renaissance Faire on Saturday; it was pretty neat. They're obviously wanting to set this up as a permanent thing: there was crushed rock everywhere, laid out as paths, and permanent buildings (a plywood & brick castle, vendors' buildings, performing and "feasting" pavilions, etc) were set up. I think that the neatest part of the day was when the New Riders of the Golden Age did their joust performance; the lance-work was real (that is, real wooden lances, not faked up to shatter photogenically) and very neat, though the "storyline" was fairly predictable -- the handsome blonde knight was the chivalrous good guy and the dark-haired guy with the goatee was the bad guy of course, since everyone knows the goatee = evil equation (hear that, Nathan?). Although I have got to say that I did not expect evil Sir Matthew to stand up on his horse in full plate and do "off the top rope" onto Sir William. Here are some photos.

Sorry I didn't get any photos of the "off the top rope" move; I was standing there, dumbfounded, camera in hand. But you can see photos of it on their website.

Skepticism

2006-08-30T14:39:00.001-04:00

I've mentioned the James Randi Educational Foundation before. It's one of the places online at which I can hang out for hours (along with Google Earth, National Geographic, NASA, etc. I'm a geek.)

If you've read the "about me" page here, you'll know that I belong to a fairly exotic (as in "different", not as in "dancing") church called the House of Netjer. It's an attempt to reconstruct Ancient Egyptian religious practices, though of course is has, at points, taken on some current-time "flavorings" (after all, we are not Ancient Egyptians), such as extensive use of the Internet for communications, services, etc.

One of the tenets of the House of Netjer is that those who are led to the church are children of individual Names of God (or "Netjer") -- the "gods" of Ancient Egypt are not separate gods, but rather aspects of one infinite and unknowable divinity (which is Netjer). I'm a Yinepu (Anubis) kid. I go into all of this by way of explaning why I have a strong, visceral reaction to things involving dead people: I think that funeral and memorial rites are important for the living and the dead, and I think there is a sacredness about the relationship between the living and the dead that is profound.

So it drives me up the wall when people like John Edward and Sylvia Browne claim to be able to talk to dead people when what they are really doing is nothing more than cold reading, a technique in which someone throws out some very vague "feelers" and a willing participant, wanting to believe, then grabs onto those "feelers" and gives the cold reader all the additional information they need.

I know that this is a valid technique, not just because I have read, over and over, about people who do it and how it is done, but because I have done it. When I was in college, I got into Tarot reading. I was taught by some friends who believed, very deeply, that they were psychic and that this stuff worked. I did Tarot reading and generally was regarded as being extremely accurate. But the first thing I noticed was that someone would come to the table with a specific question, and we'd almost always end up talking about something else with stunning precision.

Initially I said that the Tarot/God/whatever answers what's most pressing in a person's life, not necessarily the question they thought was most pressing. Then I thought about it some more. I realized that what was going on was that the Tarot cards present a set of architypal characters and situations that apply to everyone's life in some form. So I'd tell people that. I'd even tell them that I was going to give them some very vague information and it was up to them to fit it into something applicable to them. I didn't know what "cold reading" was, but I knew I was doing it, and I told people I was doing it, and still they loved it.

I don't do Tarot readings any more, but I don't slam people for it either, as long as they don't claim they're psychic. There's nothing psychic about it, and taken as a tool for exploring one's own beliefs, thoughts, or as an aid to thinking something through, I think it's good (as long as one is actually thinking, of course). It's useful because it might help a person do some intuitive pattern finding.

Human beings are innately "pattern-seeky". I use "pattern-seeky" after Neal Stephenson, who in his book Cryptonomicon has one character describing another as "morphine seeky". He says that he prefers this term to "addict" because it is not a label; "seeky", an adjective, is better because it describes a tendency.

Pattern-seekiness is a tremendously useful ability: for example, babies who can recognize a smile, or people who can (say) recognize developing weather, are more likely to survive. It is something that humans do so incredibly well. Hell, as Scott McCloud points out in "Understanding Comics", we can recognize a face in practically any shape as long as there's a "dot" somewhere (i.e., the eye). So we are particularly primed to be able to look at, say, Tarot readings or other forms of cold reading and pull meaning out of it. We do it instinctively, probably better than any form of life on the planet. But it also makes us vulnerable.

And that is what drives me up the proverbial pyramid about "mediums", those folks who claim to speak to the dead. I think that Penn & Teller put it best when they talked about how people who are cold reading are effectively replacing real, important memories of departed loved ones with (usually) saccharine pablum. It doesn't matter if it makes the victim feel better (a common justification); it's not true and it is an insult to the memory of the departed person, which to me is sacred in all its entirety, the good and the bad.

Penn gets really upset about it, and says some bad words. I agree wholeheartedly. So do a lot of people at the James Randi Educational Forum, including an excellent man named Robert S. Lancaster. Driven by concern over someone with extraordinary claims who'd come to his mother's church, he did some research about "Dr. Kaz", who among other things claimed to have been trapped in the WTC during 9/11 and to have been "miraculously saved. It turns out that she's a globe-trotting charlatain. It's a fascinating read.

Now Rob has turned his eye towards Sylvia Browne. I can't wait to see what he puts together. I can't wait to see this because as as angry as I am about those who give people sickly-sweet touchy-feely "messages" from their departed, though, I'm absolutely lividly furious about people who claim to be able to find missing persons through their "psychic abilities". Sylvia Browne is one of those evil creatures, and you can read the experience of several families with her and other "psychics" by checking out Project Jason: Sylvia and Friends, Part I.

Okay, you might ask: as a so-called "daughter" of one of the Names of Netjer with a very powerful connection to the dead and as a member of a church which claims communication with the dead through ritual and prayer, how can you point the finger at people like this and denounce them?

Well, how about this: 1) I don't say that I know for sure that whom I'm talking to is actually a dead person. I'm completely open to the point of view that it might be one of my own interior voices. So 2) I would never, ever, claim to speak to someone else's dead person or give someone advice/comfort/whatever on that basis. Not unless some dead person actually said something completely specific to me. It wouldn't be me talking about my own vague "senses" or "impressions". It would have to be something like "Uncle Dave just knocked me on the back of the head and told me about your episode with the dryer lint in late 1988. He wants me to tell you that the photograph he took of that is in the white envelope taped to the underside of the left-hand drawer of his antique roll-top desk and that he wants you to have it. He also wants me to tell you that he's dismayed about your forays into Amway, and..."

I also won't believe people who claim that they're psychic, at least those who follow along the current lines of what psychics typically do. I'll tell you why: because I have a good imagination, and I can imagine what it would be like to be truly psychic.

If I were telepathic, and if I could somehow maintain an excellent "self-boundary" and not go mad by having other people's thoughts and experiences inside my head, I would not be charging $700 for a phone call reading helping them feel self-fulfillment and filling them with hope that they'll finally find The True Love of Their Life. I'd be showing up in court and looking at the murderers on the bench who think they're going to get away with pleading insanity and telling, in graphic and brutal detail, exactly what they did, why they did it, what they were thinking at the time, in such detail that their blood supply would rush to their feet and they'll confess in full just to get away from me before I say anything more. God help the Janjaweed in Darfur if I were telekenetic in any kind of strength: I'd be a mass murderer.

So although most of the people in my church are extremely open to the idea of psychicness, and although I have an open mind (I really do), I will view any claims with extreme skepticism until I see people doing what I'd do. And until then, I will continue to be infuriated by people who make large amounts of money by telling people that Mommy Says It's Okay; She's In Heaven Now.

Huh.

2006-08-26T08:12:00.000-04:00

According to this AP article posted on Yahoo, a law that sought to ban the sale of violent video games to minors in Louisiana was just struck down.

U.S. District Judge James Brady said the state had no right to bar distribution of materials simply because they show violent behavior. Brady issued an injunction, calling the law an "invasion of First Amendment rights" of producers, retailers and the minors who play the games.
"Depictions of violence are entitled to full constitutional protection," Brady wrote Thursday.
...
Gov. Kathleen Blanco said in a statement late Friday she believes violent video games harm children.
"I'm calling on all parents to diligently monitor the video games that their children are allowed to play. If the courts can not protect our children, then we need to do it by rejecting the merchant of violence," the statement said.

Ummm...aren't parents supposed to be doing this anyway? I'm really really tired of the "but we're doing it for the children!" argument. Maybe I'm old. Or maybe that's just a straw man that's been in use for entirely too long.

In Your Face, Western World!

2006-08-16T16:14:00.000-04:00

This article on Yahoo describes an art exhibit in Iran with Holocaust cartoons. Yup, Holocaust cartoons. You may remember that the head of Iran has called the Holocaust "a myth".

"This is a test of the boundaries of free speech espoused by Western countries," said Masoud Shojai-Tabatabai, head of the Cartoon House which helped organize the exhibition, as he stood next to the Statue of Liberty drawing [a picture of the Statue of Liberty with a Holocaust book giving the Nazi salute].
Iran's best-selling newspaper Hamshahri in February launched a competition to find the best cartoon about the Holocaust in retaliation for the September publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in Danish and other European newspapers.

Uh-huh. It's exactly the same. Look at all the riots we're having. Isn't it just amazing?

Born With a Pen in Her Hand

2006-08-03T16:25:00.000-04:00

Yup, that's MY MOM right there, featured in a Columbus Dispatch article about her recent total SWEEP of the World Handwriting Contest.

"She was the best we saw," said Kate Gladstone, the director of the New York-based advocacy group Handwriting for Humanity. "She knows it as if she were born with a pen in her hand.
"Given what I know of Ann, if I could pick but one individual to write handwriting books for teaching the world, it would be her."

This makes it two times in a row, which comes as absolutely no surprise to Dad or myself, but we're very proud. Way to go, Mom!

Community Theatre: Don't Ask, Don't Tell

2006-07-27T11:42:00.000-04:00

I found the article about this on Yahoo! News, written by AP correspondent Duncan Mansfield. What I should was particularly interesting was this paragraph (emphasis mine):

On Dec. 2, investigators formally interviewed Copas and asked if he understood the military's policy on homosexuals, if he had any close acquaintances who were gay, and if he was involved in community theater. He answered affirmatively.

Ummmm...what? Is the military seriously using involvement in theatre as an "indicator" of homosexuality?

I'm the daughter of the director of the Lawrence & Lee Theatre Research Institute. I like to act and have considered, several times, getting involved in local theatre (on shore duty, of course). I find it ridiculous to think that this might be a threat to my military career.

I wrote AP's feedback about it, asking them to clarify please and follow up! but I doubt I'll get a useful answer. I'll post any response I get here.

Edited 03AUG06: My message bounced: "Router: Failed to connect to SMTP host ROAM.AP.ORG because : Server not responding" I wonder if their server is in LA or some other heat-affected region. I'll try again.

Why does this webpage look weird?

2006-07-24T16:29:00.000-04:00

Apologies, all, for the lack of graphics and, well, more-than-basic functionality. My homepage's server, provided by StartLogic, is down due to the recurring power outages in LA, which in turn are due to the heat.

Frankly, I don't really care about my server; they can keep it off 'til it's safe. What's really important is that a lot of people are placed in danger when the air-conditioning goes off and it's that hot. When the graphics come back, please be happy, because it means that a lot of people who would otherwise be in mortal peril probably aren't anymore.

When Real Horror Gets Cute

2006-07-20T20:53:00.000-04:00

Brad makes a good point in a comment he made on my post on pirates.

There are many stories and archetypes in our culture- even the culture that we realy to our kids- that are based on real, truly horrifying, events past.
Thinking about it, I've found it weird that there's some sort of cultural "Statute of Limitations" on these events that allows them to turn from horrifying tales of woe into gripping yarns.

I think that's a really interesting point, and I have to agree: after all, this guy was a real horror; I mean, there's still a lot of debate on the scope of his executions, but I would not call this guy someone like whom I'd like to dress at a party. Then you've got this young lass -- another cute costume, but the Vikings were a source of real terror. A major development in shipbuilding technology, the "castle" (as in fore- and sterncastles) was developed in the 11th and 12th Centuries to let archers shoot down into longboats -- in otherwords, to develop a sea-going fort. This wasn't done because the Vikings were handing out sexy party favors.

So how long is the "Statue of Limitations", and what/who does it cover? Fifty years haven't cleared the way for this kind of costume (thank the gods) and I wonder if any amount of time will. Haven't seen a "Pol Pot" costume either (and I hope we don't).

Most of the recent examples of Really Bad People who show up in costumes and such (at least in the US) are 30's Gansters and Gangsters' Girls (and people like Bonny and Clyde), as well as the Cowboys and Indians of whom Brad spoke. In many cases, I think that's an example of America's love for those who "rebel" against authority; but gosh, I wish less murderers were celebrated. Where are the Sojourner Truth costumes? The Martin Luther King Jr. costumes? The Gandhi costumes? Well, of course, those people are boring because they never killed people, right? Does it maybe have to do with some perverse admiration for people who are so powerful, so unbound by the laws that constrain normal folks like you and me, and who violate this (for most civilized folk) terrible taboo of actually taking another person's life? I mean, we're happy that they're brought to justice, but isn't there some awful little thrill when we add up the kill count in hushed and reverent tones, and seem (dare I say) a little disappointed if the number isn't high? It's not really a very pleasant thing to contemplate.

I wanted to make a special note about reenactors, whom I think are in a different class. I think that most people who reenact can't be doing it just because they think it's "cool". Anyone who runs around tick-infested fields in whole-body-covering wool costumes for days (and for battles like Gettysburg, in mid-summer) is not doing it just because it's "cool". And although (drat!) I didn't get to see it, I think there's a real value in having people see a reenactment, especially if one could actually get an accurate number of reenactors to show up. Can you imagine the impact of seeing (and hearing) tens of thousands of dead bodies and screaming wounded on a field? All you'd need is to come up with a "reenactment scent" and the horror would be fresh for a new generation. Would the smell cut down the "secret thrill" at the number of dead?

That's what we need to counter TV and movie violence: accurate smells. That'll shut that stuff down quick.

ETA: Okay, so maybe the statue of limitations against Nazi "cuteness" has passed after all...

Pirates

2006-07-17T16:55:00.000-04:00

Just went to see "Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest" last week; it was great fun. Yesterday, we went to the Mariners' Museum in Newport News and, of course (like practically every museum around here) there was an exhibit about pirates. It was aimed towards kids, mostly, and very cute, but one very cool part of it (and unfortunately rather small) talked about modern day pirates. There was a framed display of current models of radios and an AK-47 as an example of the pirate's modern sword. There was also a computer screen set up to display the International Chamber of Commerce's Weekly Piracy Report. It's a fascinating glimpse (via rather dry reports, I'm afraid) into current examples of piracy, which are anything but the romantic yarns spun by popular culture.

Math

2006-07-05T21:00:00.000-04:00

When I was in college (too many years ago to mention), I ran across an excellent book: Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern, by Douglas R. Hofstadter. It's a collection of essays Dr. Hofstadter, a (or rather, as I think of him, the) Professor of Cognitive Science and Computer Science, wrote for the magazine Scientific American. This book should be a part of everyone's library; it is a fascinating collection of explorations into the way humans think, what creativity is, and the magic of music and math (yes, I did just say "the magic of...math"). Of the many articles that grabbed me, one of them is titled "On Number Numbness". In it, Dr. Hofstadter talks about very large (and very small) numbers, and how difficult it is for people to conceptualize them. In his discussion of trying to comprehend large numbers, he refers to a conceptual practice called chunking, in which you create a unit of something easy to comprehend, then describe very large numbers in terms of numbers of that unit. For example, while discussing the fact that at the time of his writing (he wrote the book during the Cold War), there were enough nuclear weapons in the world to equate to 25,000 megatons of TNT. That's another way of saying 25,000,000 tons (or 50,000,000,000 pounds). He pointed out that one ton (just 2,000 pounds!) was estimated to have been the amount that brought down the Marine barracks in Beirut (241 people killed), and so further estimated that ten tons, well-placed, could be expected to kill about 2,400 people.

Last summer when I visited Paris and climbed the butte of Montmartre, from the top of which, at the food of the Sacré Coeur, one has a beautiful view of all of Paris spread out below. I couldn't refrain from ruining my two friends' enjoyment of this splendid panorama by saying "Hmm... I bet one or two nicely placed megatons would take care of all of this."

He then points out: "Now if you just say to yourself 'one megaton equals Paris's doom' (or some suitable equivalent), then I think that the phrase '25,000 megatons' will become as vivid as the long string of zeros--in fact, probably more vivid."

This got me thinking. At the time I read his article, our deficit was 1 trillion dollars. I knew that that was a lot, but how much was it really? I broke it down and it turned out that you could buy a very nice $4,100 laptop for every man, woman and child in the United States (at that time, the population was 243 or so million people). Today, our population is just short of 300 million, but the prices have come down, so that a trillion dollars could roughly pick you up something like one of these $3,500 babies for everyone in the US.

I bring up all of this business about number numbness because last weekend was the 143rd anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. My husband and I went up there (by way of Manassas, stopping by Antietam on the way back home) and spent the weekend walking around. The big reenactment was, alas, postponed until this upcoming weekend, but we still got to see some reenactors and, of course, nothing beats just being able to explore. This is the second time I've been there (I first went there with friends James and Nathan) and the first time for my husband, Pat. A couple of things got me: one was the fact that many monuments (and, in fact, the Lincoln's Gettysburg Address) say things like "the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here", and it's depressing to think that most Americans are aware of the Gettysburg address but a staggeringly large number can't even tell you in which century the Civil War occured, much less what happened. The other was the sheer scale of the war's effect on the population, especially in the number of people who died. The most common rough number I can find from various sources is around 620,000 deaths (from the low end of about 360,000 to the high end of 1 million). The park ranger at Antietam said that 2% of the total population (about 34.3 million people) died in the Civil War. That's a pretty big number. What does it really mean?

The Ohio section of Gettysburg National Cemetary:

Thank You, Sweet Buckeyes

I'm a big believer in walking the ground. Pat and I walked Pickett's Charge (something I'd done with James & Nathan) in order to get a real feeling for the distance. It doesn't seem far until you walk it and imagine being shot up by cannon the whole totally-no-cover-anywhere way. In the same way, I think that if you're going to think about large numbers that have to do with profoundly emotional events, you should relate them to profoundly emotional events you have personally experienced. September 11th was pretty emotional for me, so I decided to figure out the Civil War in units of "September 11" -- about 3,000 people dead, an almost too-large number by itself, but one I can still (horrifyingly) grasp.

First, I think the key number about the Civil War is this: 2% of the population. If we lost 2% of our population (300 million), how many would that be? That'd be 6 million people. How many September 11ths would we have to have to lose 6 million people? Let's see: 6x10⁶ divided by 3x10³ = 2x10³. That's 2,000. There are 365 days in a year (ignoring the occassional leap year, since we're estimating). Two thousand divided by 365 is about 5.5. In other words, 9/11 would have to happen every day for five and a half years in order to lose an equivalent of the population today as was lost during the Civil War. That's mind-boggling by itself. Can you imagine what that would be like? Over the three days of Gettysburg, about 50,000 people were lost, which was about .15% of the total population at that time. Today's equivalent: 450,000 people. That's one-hundred fifty 9/11's. And at Antietam, a one-day battle, about 23,000 people were lost (.07% of the population). Today's equivalent: about 210,000--seventy 9/11's in one day. So far in the Iraq war, about 2,500 soldiers have been killed. When Sedgwick's division barrelled into the West Woods near Antietam Creek to attack the retreating Confederates, he found himself enveloped on three sides and lost almost that whole number in ten minutes.

I don't say all of this to make light of the number of people who died in 9/11, or of the number of soldiers killed in Iraq. Instead, I mean to really understand, on this anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, what the scope of the Civil War was by relating it to something that has affected me personally and deeply. Even when chunking those numbers down, they are still incredible. This was one of the heavier prices of union, without which the US would not be where (or how) it is today, and it is something that should take some deep thought. For all of its faults (and there are always many), I think that the US is unique in the history of the world; I am glad to be here, and very mindful of the freedoms that I both enjoy and defend. Walking that ground had a profound effect on me. But the math did even more.

Girls as Superheroes

2006-06-18T11:28:00.000-04:00

James wrote an article a couple of days ago about superheroes -- specifically, which one he'd choose to be. He says:

In this post I explored how power fantasies are different for boys and girls. Girls, I said, dream of being The Princess while boys imagine themselves to be a superhero of some kind.

Not true for me -- I'd always dreamed of being a superhero, and never dreamed of being a Princess.

Neither, apparently, did Aubrey Matthews. The Idaho Statesman has a report about Aubrey's "Wish" as a grantee of the Make-a-Wish Foundation: she wanted to be a superhero for a day.

"We have four categories of wishes, and 'I Wish to Be' is the most rare," Executive Director Marcia Karakas said.
This is the first time in at least 10 years that a "Be" wish has been received in the Idaho office, which serves the state's lower 35 counties

Aubrey designed her own costume ("Star") and the costumes of fellow crimefighters, including "Lion Lady", "House Lifter", "Sky Girl", and others. She received her kick-off call from none other than Adam West and was off on the hunt after nefarious supervillian "Black" (the figure from Neighborhood Watch signs), who'd stolen the "Golden Star" from the Idaho Historical Museum. The crime had been pinned on ferrets at the zoo, but Star knew better. On the way to catching her man, she rescued citizens from a "smoking" building and saved someone from drowning in the ParkCenter Pond. What is absolutely mind-boggling cool about this whole thing -- beyond the fact that she imagined all of this and did all of the designs, was the sheer SCALE of the whole project:

Wish partner Windermere Real Estate had 100 percent participation from its 150 employees at two Boise offices.
Aubrey's wish blossomed to include the Idaho Historical Museum, Boise State University, Saint Alphonsus Life Flight, Fairly Reliable Bob's, Gowen Field Fire and Rescue, Zoo Boise, the mayor's office, and the city's police, fire and parks departments.

I'm thinking that I really, really like Boise now. EXCELSIOR!

Oh, Canada!

2006-06-04T10:47:00.000-04:00

Excellent post by James over at the Chicago Boyz blog, about the recent arrest of 17 suspected terrorists in Canada. These guys had amassed 3 tons of ammonium nitrate; according to a Toronto Star article quoted by James:

"If I can put this in context for you," [said RCMP assistant commissioner Mike McDonell.] "The 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people was completed with only one tonne of ammonium nitrate."

Check it out.

Not just for Cheese Anymore

2006-06-04T08:49:00.000-04:00

I remember James telling me about an television ad created by the National Cheese Council (we're very big on food product councils here in the US). It showed a picture of the moon, and said something like: "in 1969, man went to the moon and discovered it was not made of cheese." [pause] "We haven't been back since." I remember seeing it. It depressed James, he said -- he remembered, as a kid, watching the first moon landing and keeping fascinated track of the landings until they ended in 1972, and like many people wishes he could go up there. Like many people, too, I think he was hoping that by this year, there'd be commercial flights to the moon, and it's depressing to think that we haven't even been able to go up there vicariously through someone else, since no one's gone.

Well, check out this news item from Yahoo News:

NASA's outlook for the future calls for humans to dig in their heels on the Moon as early as 2015 and no later than 2020.

Yes! The article talks about a lot of new technology that will have to be developed. One of the things that has always blown my mind is the level of tech we had when we went there in the first place - someone told me that the computers were the equivalent of a TRS-80. My Dad had one of those in the office. He decided not to spend the extra expense for the floppy-disk drive and had a tape (as in, "cassette") drive. To save data, you had to press "play" and "record" at the same time. Yes. Really. I remember the scenes in "Apollo 13", where the scientists on the ground are furiously working their slide rules in order to recalculate information for the astronauts in trouble up in space. Slide rules. And it worked.

Bob Park, a scientist who writes a really good (and very scathing) weekly summary of science-related news, doesn't like the idea of manned missions to Mars and I gather he probably won't like this one either. He does have a point in that it's far more cost-effective, and safer, to send robots. But I still think there should be people going, as much as that adds to the already incredible expense: 1) because I think that we should, as a species, leave the solar system and explore (I'm a hopeless Star Trek fan) and 2) because often there's a great benefit by having a human there. We're capable of an intuitive type of inspiration that I think could make for some amazing discoveries if not limited by the narrow field-of-view and range of a robot. We just need to go there and look around. Perhaps I'm hopeless.

I think we'll make it there in about 2022, adjusting for the usual governmental bloat & delay. If we were in a race with another country, we could do it in 2015. (Hello, China, wanna race?)

Anyway: to you folks, of whatever nationality, who'll spring off of the ISS and go to the moon: excelsior!

Memorial Day

2006-05-29T14:49:00.000-04:00

Today is Memorial Day in the US. I wanted to take the time to write a little about a memorial I attended last Friday.

I'm in a new Navy school now and the schoolhouse is part of the Navy's "Submarine Learning Facility". So we, as students, were required to go to a WWII submarine memorial ceremony. There was much whining and moaning about it. But not from me.

There were a lot of veterans there. I sat next to a very nice retired gentleman who was posted in the USS Skate, being honored that day by being inducted into the Norfolk Submarine Hall of Fame. The Skate was the first US nuclear submarine powered by what was going to be the "submarine fleet reactor" and, like all SSNs during the Cold War era, did some really scary things. She was the first US submarine to actually come up through the ice in the Arctic, both in the summer and the winter. The guest speaker was an engineering officer aboard her and told us some good stories about those days.

But the part of the ceremony that I'll always remember was the roll call. It's a tradition of the US Submarine Veterans of WWII to have a roll call of all of the submarines lost in WWII (and the Thresher and Scorpion) read out. Two active duty submariners read the roll: one said the name, and the other read out its disposition. "All hands lost." "All hands lost." "All hands lost." Over and over and over. With each disposition, another sailor rang a bell, and two of the wives of the veterans took a model submarine out of an array of them displayed on a table, until there were no more.

Click on any of the links below to see a picture of the ship and to read more info.

USS SEA LION (SS-195)	USS S-36 (SS141)
USS S-26 (SS131)	USS SHARK I (SS-174)
USS PERCH (SS-176)	USS S-27 (SS132)
USS GRUNION (SS-216)	USS S-39 (SS-144)
USS ARGONAUT(SS-166)	USS AMBERJACK (SS-219)
USS GRAMPUS (SS-207)	USS TRITON (SS-201)
USS PICKEREL (SS-177)	USS GRENADIER (SS-210)
USS RUNNER (SS-275)	USS R-12 (SS-89)
USS POMPANO (SS-181)	USS GRAYLING (SS-209)
USS CISCO (SS-290)	USS S-44 (SS-155)
USS WAHOO (SS-238)	USS DORADO (SS-248)
USS CORVINA (SS-226)	USS SCULPIN (SS-191)
USS CAPELIN (SS-289)	USS SCORPION (SS-278)
USS GRAYBACK (SS-208)	USS TROUT (SS-202)
USS TULLIBEE (SS-284)	USS GUDGEON (SS-211)
USS HERRING (SS-233)	USS GOLET (SS-361)
USS S-28 (SS-133)	USS ROBALO (SS-273)
USS FLIER (SS-250)	USS HARDER (SS-257)
USS SEAWOLF (SS-197)	USS ESCOLAR (SS-294)
USS DARTER (SS-227)	USS SHARK II (SS-314)
USS TANG (SS-306)	USS ALBACORE (SS-218)
USS GROWLER (SS-215)	USS SCAMP (SS-277)
USS SWORDFISH (SS-193)	USS BARBEL (SS-316)
USS KETE (SS-369)	USS TRIGGER (SS-237)
USS SNOOK (SS-279)	USS LAGARTO (SS-371)
USS BONEFISH (SS-223)	USS BULLHEAD (SS332)

You can also read about the USS Thresher or the USS Scorpion; I highly recommend John P. Craven's "The Silent War: The Cold War Battle Beneath the Sea ", which has a riveting account of the attempt to find the Scorpion and determine what had happened to her.

But I digress. The most profound moment came after this roll, when the speakers started talking about rememberance. It was very important to them, urgent even.

It suddenly struck me: what if there's no afterlife? I mean, it's all a matter of faith, isn't it? There's no proof, just (at best) anecdotes. What if, when you die, you just die, and there's nothing more? And the memorial became all that more deep and critical: all those men, "on eternal patrol", and all the other ones who made it back and passed away after -- this memorial was their eternity.

So if you get roped into going to one of these things, don't grumble or moan. Listen. Pay attention. Understand the stories being told. If any name is said, whisper it back. Like it says on the veterans' website: "a man is not dead until he is forgotten."

Brad Has Some Good Points

2005-03-29T18:19:00.000-05:00

I was going to post this in the comments section, but then it, well, got too long. If you haven't seen the comments that my friend Brad Hoehne left, you should check them out. My response:

[ Brad writes: ] I've just finished scanning the BBC website's coverage of this tragedy, and can't find anything that would merit a sarcastic jab. It seems pretty neutral to me.

Oh, the BBC story wasn't what I was jabbing at at all (by being sarcastic). I thought it was a pretty level delivery of news. I suppose I was just foreseeing a knee-jerk anti-gun reaction to the news that this kid had gotten the firearm from his (cop) grandfather when I said "I guess that means that cops shouldn't have handguns."

It is a debatable point whether or not guns lead to increased or more deadly violence in our culture- and perhaps there's a taint of that that in the overall coverage (I'm uncertain, but the fact that Candada has more guns per capita and less gun deaths would imply that it is not guns, but something else, that is at the heart of the problem.)

I agree with you. I think that it is too simplistic to say that having a large number of guns automatically means having more violence, and that having fewer guns automatically means less violence. I believe that cultural values have a LOT to do with it: look at Switzerland, which high levels of gun ownership and low levels of crime, and look at Japan, with low levels of gun ownership and low levels of crime. Or Britain, with low levels of gun ownership and high levels of crime. There is much, much, much more going on here than a simple guns = violence equation.

I think it's even more difficult, in the US, to talk about culture and cultural values, because we aren't just one culture. This isn't going to come out very well, I warn you in advance -- the best I can do is refer you to Neal Stephenson's "Diamond Age", in which he talks about culture as "shared set of values", which doesn't necessarily have to do with racial or ethnic or historical backgrounds. It's a much broader interpretation of the term "culture" than we usually use. In "Diamond Age", world governments have fractured into franchised "countries", and there are several very powerful political entities known as "phyles" which are based on shared values (and sometimes, but not necessarily) there's an ethnic component. For example, "New Atlantis" is a tech-savvy group which takes its values (and fashion sense, and decor, etc) from Victorian-era England.

The reason why I bring this up is because I -- woefully uneducated in social sciences, mind you, so I am no kind of expert -- could easily point to several different "cultures" in the US who have different definitions of "success", both personal and cultural, and acceptance of the means to same, and opinions regarding the use of violence and the need for laws. There is an inner-city culture, not limited to race or gender, that values the acclimation of stuff ("bling") above all else. You are not successful unless you have snow-white shoes, a fabulously expensive car, and enough gold to ruin an economy hanging around your neck, as well as a large group of hangers-on. And it's perfectly okay to steal, sell drugs, or otherwise break the law to be successful, as long as you're not caught (and even if you're caught, that too is a status symbol). Violence is acceptable, because it shows you're a tough badass, and everyone NEEDS to know what an absolute badass you are. There is the culture of my parents, which is middle-class college-professor-type culture, which holds that personal success is very important, but that it isn't necessarily tied to having a large amount of stuff and/or money (although that certainly would be nice); breaking the law is not acceptable here (the rule is: be successful within the framework), and it would RUIN one's career to be caught breaking the law. Adherence to violence or value of material goods isn't related to the amount of money you have, either; there are several "cultures" (to use the word loosely) which values earning your own way, within the law, no matter what (the first thing that springs to mind are certain hardscrabble Appalacian cultures who are poor, but self-reliant and proud).

Anyway, my ultimate point is this: violence against persons, and the willingness to commit same, is a factor of cultural, personal, and family values towards these questions

how much does that culture, person, and/or family value the life of another human being?
What is the relative worth of that value as compared to the value of success?

Guns make the application of these values much, much easier in every way: if you do not value human life and view violence as an acceptable way to gain and show success, then guns make it much easier to be successful. Alternately and even more importantly, I think, that if you value life and believe that a measure of success is the ability to defend life and deter violence, guns make it much easier too. Which is why I think that cops should NEVER be without guns, nor law-abiding citizens, either.

For what it's worth (not that you suggested this, 'cause you didn't), but I'm not sure it's useful to use a case such as the Red Lake case to determine widespread firearms policy (it just seems that a clarion call goes up every time something like this happens, and I agree with you: it seems odd, though I am thankful for that, that it doesn't happen more). Anyway, as the news stories come out, it becomes much more evident how very troubled this young man was, and the rather extraordinary circumstances he was in. Not completely uncommon, but unusual: it would not be beneficial, I think, to create policy regarding guns around him. I recall reading a news article (sadly, I don't remember where) about other cases where similar rampages were planned, but stopped, because students knew about it and spoke up. The point of the article was that in every single incident like Columbine and Red Lake, someone -- usually multiple someones -- knew that it was going to happen, and didn't speak up for various reasons: fear of being "a snitch", or fear of getting too involved in a student's home life, for example. The article supports what many teachers in the articles suggested: that it is more important to change the school's cultural values that discourage people from speaking up and getting involved than it is to come up with more bandaid measures such as banning guns. Treat the cause, they say, not the symptom, and I think that's a good idea.

My take is that well known movies describing similar events (like "if..." or "The Basketball Diaries") didn't evince a similar response because they weren't real. A real event, taken seriously by the media, and drilled into kids heads by our culture, has far more import.

I think that this is a very interesting, and very good point. These events are real, are taken very seriously, and get an incredible amount of attention. Just the panacea for a kid who can't get the attention he feels he deserves otherwise.

Whoa!

2005-03-22T18:43:00.000-05:00

Whoa! It's been more than a month! Ach, I can hear the crickets...cricketing. But I just had to post a comment, a thought, regarding a BBC article about the Red Lake school shooting:

Weise first used a .22-calibre weapon to kill his grandfather, veteran police sergeant Daryl Lussier and his companion Michelle Sigana, at their home on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, FBI special agent Michael Tadman told reporters.
He then stole his grandfather's police gunbelt and bullet-proof vest, and at least another two weapons - a handgun and a shotgun - before driving to the school in his grandfather's police car.

I guess that means that cops shouldn't have handguns. <-- this is sarcastic! I really am (and this is not sarcastic) sad that those children were killed, and I am sad that neither I nor James were there. I've been going through Anti-terrorism/Force-protection ("AT/FP") training on the ship, and it makes me wonder if we need to start some kind of program for the school. Or maybe someone needs to stand watch. I would.

More Excuses For Not Blogging

2005-02-06T08:57:00.000-05:00

Looks like I won't be regularly blogging for a while -- I'm moving, see, and I have to pack up all my stuff.

Ever notice how you figure, "I should be okay with x boxes", and then it turns out you need at least 2x boxes?

I bought a shredder. That might help. So far, the clothes boxes outnumber the book boxes, but I figure that's only because clothes tend to be more bulky than books.

Anyway, James linked to a neat website yesterday, The Oops List, and I noticed that they had some pictures of the USS San Francisco. That's the sub that ran into an underwater mountain going at about 40 knots recently.

Pic 1
Pic 2

That is some impressive damage. KUAM 8 News had a nice article about MM2(SW) Joseph Allen Ashley, who died due to head injuries.

In unrelated news, we got our new cammies and will start wearing them tomorrow. Gotta go shine my new boots now.

A pity I couldn't wear 'em last week -- we went into the sonar dome on the McFaul to x-ray it, and it would have been a GREAT stress-test of the new uniforms to wear them. It's very wet and dirty down there. I'll have pictures as soon as I can find the computer cabling for my camera.

Why Not Be Creative When You Go?

2005-01-30T13:47:00.000-05:00

From the BBC, a picture-album article about a craftsman in Accra, Ghana, who makes some very interesting custom coffins for people. This guy should get in with Novica, he'd make some decent money selling to an international market. If you wanted to find someone doing custom coffins stateside, you could go with Outhouse Charlie -- alas, his website isn't up yet, so there are no examples of his work. Bet you he could make you some mad crazy wooden or fiberglass coffins, though...

@#$@^% AWESOME!

2005-01-08T19:26:00.000-05:00

Okay, okay. So I'm drunk on two-water--well, one-water--grog. I admit it. But Firefly is AWESOME. I remember, while reading critical reviews of science-fiction, about the relationship between westerns and science-fictions. In particular, Star Trek was supposed to be some great Space Western. Well, the folks who did Firefly really took the whole western theme to heart. Firefly IS a space western, with the guns and the accents and the music and EVERYTHING, mixed in with great humor. And oh, how I weep that it was on Fox, the people who never advertise anything decent (Millenium and Space Above and Beyond springing to mind) and then cancelling it after a small number of episodes if the bloody advertiser response is not great enough, damn their soullless hearts. 'Cause I went and bought Firefly and have just watched the first episode and MY GOD, it's WONDERFUL. Go thou forth and buy it, it's incredible!

"Hathcock". "Hancock". Coincidence?

2005-01-08T16:31:00.000-05:00

Blackfive, from whose blog I got the information about the teddy bear drive, also has a link to an article about a Marine Corps sniper who took out an insurgent from 1,050 yards away. Magic most grim & deadly.

Cookies

2005-01-08T16:18:00.000-05:00

The Bonhomme Richard is hard at work.

In support of Operation Unified Assistance, multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (BHR) (LHD 6) delivered more than 7,000 pounds of humanitarian assistance Jan. 7 to disaster stricken areas of Sumatra, including Banda Aceh and Blagpidie.

There's a nice picture at the site of U.S. Marines helping to pack huge crates of MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) for the victims of the tsunamis. My favorite part of the article is this:

To uplift the spirits of the local population in the hard hit Banda Aceh area, BHR’s culinary specialists worked around the clock Jan. 6, with all ovens full speed ahead, to bake more than 22,400 cookies for the people around northern Sumatra.

This is awesome -- not only are the Navy recipes for cookies really good (I have gained 10 pounds since being onboard, alas), but there's just something special about cookies. When we're at sea, the ship often has to refuel and take on supplies. On deployment, that's every three days or so, usually, depending on what's going on. It's traditional for the ships to swap stuff, usually by tying it in a plastic bag to one of the fuel hoses: some ship's hats or coins (coins are very popular), photos, that sort of thing. We usually made up a huge box of cookies, which we'd triple-wrap in plastic and send back to the ship as a thank-you. Reading about the Bonhomme Richard's cookies made me remember this. "Let them eat cake, huh?" Detractors might scoff, but I think instead that it's more like hugging someone you can't reach. The military can seem cold and distant, but it's these sorts of things -- the cookies, or the teddy bears that Gunny Sergeant Mike got together to send to the children of Iraq -- that remind you that the military is a group of human beings who, minus the occassional person who doesn't care about anything, really do care about the people they're helping or defending.

If Only It Could Really Do This

2005-01-08T15:13:00.000-05:00

I'm sure you've already seen this, all you hip people who regularly browse the sites devoted to cool commercials or who are on the cc: lists of all of the well-connected people at work. I don't look around as much as I should, and not too many of the people I work with forward me much of anything (except uncool things like watchbills), so I ran into this for the first time quite recently. If you haven't seen it, check it out -- it is really neat. Richard Eriksson talks about it and has links to an article about how the video was made, as well as a link to the effects studio that made it, The Embassy. It doesn't look like they've made much, but this one is a real standout. I love the little details, such as the sidepanels shifting as the arms move and the fact that the animation is carried through a shaky man-on-the-scene cut in between the steadycam and static camera cuts. It makes me happy. Enjoy!

Who Benefits?

2005-01-08T10:33:00.000-05:00

Ah, modern America. I'm waiting for an oil change at Hall Honda and they've installed Web access in the waiting lobby. I love these guys.

Anyway, I wanted to comment about the new (and inevitable) reporting about the possibilities of the US either causing, or failing to forewarn countries about, the tsunami. James links to some good articles about the whole brouhaha.

First off, I checked out the link on Natalie Solent's article on the "biased BBC" website. It's a BBC article, and say what you will about the BBC, but I think it's cool they allow for the readership to post comments (whether they actually read, think about, or heed those comments is another question). I was disgusted by the article, but heartened by the comments, most of which were along the lines of "this is bull*$#$", pointing out such matters as the fact that the US might, just possibly, do environmental and oceanographic surveys before placing an extremely expensive Naval base somewhere so as to mitigate the effects of wind & weather. It's nice to see that the majority of commentors believe that this is all nonsense. But why does the story come up? Natalie talks about scientific ignorance, and I think that's exactly it: the people who are talking up these conspiracy theories are ignorant of what modern technology is capable of -- to them, the US has this magical ability to communicate; therefore, a failure to communicate must have been intentional.

Let's work this all out: the National Oceanographic people see evidence of this massive earthquake. "Hey," they say. "Big earthquake. We should start telling people." Here's your question: how? Natalie stated it best in her article: "I'm a scientist! Get me the President of Indonesia!" So you're going to use the phone? Okay. How does the information get from NOAA to the people who need it, such as all those fishing villagers and tourists on the beach?

It's easy to get a warning to a Naval Base. Any Naval Base in the world is furry with antennae and fat from all the communications equipment. Communications is absolutely central to military activity -- hell, if something goes down, we have to know about it right away. How do you think we got aid on the way so damn fast?

But to tourists & villagers? How long does it take to get emergency information to the average citizen in the US who has everyday access to what -- for the majority of the world -- is high communications technology? How long did it take the people in the Twin Towers to find out that something was going on, and then to start evacuation? And the majority of them still weren't out by the time the towers came down, which (as I recall) was hours later.

The tsunami travelled at 500 miles per hour. How could we possibly have gotten word to all affected governments in its path in time, and even if we had, how could we (and they) have possibly gotten people out of the way in time?

Yes, the US has access to a dizzying array of technological and communication marvels. This is true. But the fact that we can't employ them doesn't mean that we have some agenda that leads us to let a quarter of a million people die. The technology has to be there on the other side for this to work.

Al, in Brazil, left this comment in the BBC article:

It IS ODD. And I don't think its anti-US sentiment but something a lot more worrying about all these conspiracy theories. What if it isn't just paranoia after all? Should we be scared? Who profits? (With anti sentiment, fear, or else?) Please do approach these questions. Thank you.

Well, I think what's clear is that it's the news outlets' advertisers who profit from this sort of uncritical thinking, because sensation draws readership like an ant trap draws ants.

The One That Got Away

2005-01-05T13:22:00.000-05:00

On a lighter note, I have a sea story to relate.

We pulled out of Naval Station Norfolk a while ago. This involves setting the sea & anchor detail -- people whose watches related to the sometimes tricky proposition of pulling away from a pier and getting through restricted navigational waters until we're far enough out to sea to have some "breathing room". The spots in the rivers and bays around here are marked with buoys to indicate navigation channels, and we (mostly) stay in those channels (unless we're in a nice deep bay and some other unnamed ship decides to almost run into us and we have to kick up to full speed and zoom around it, not that that recently happened or anything). I am on the sea & anchor detail -- my job: man one of the M-2HB .50 caliber machine guns we have set up to deter small boats from attacking us. In an ideal situation, we're not shooting anything; instead, we gun watchstanders act as additional lookouts, reporting close contacts up to a central monitoring point. It's a pretty long sea & anchor detail to get out of Norfolk -- about 3 hours. In nice weather, it's great. In winter, especially when it's raining, well, it sucks. But hey, it's an adventure, right?

So anyway, we got underway, and there I was, standing topside (outside) in about 15 layers of clothing. It was actually really nice outside, but the wind was still cold, so I was glad for the fabric (MOM: THANK YOU FOR THE SILK THERMAL UNDERWEAR!). We came across a gaggle of fishing boats, and most of them were outside the channel in their little boats. One, though, was either on the edge of the channel or slightly inside it. So he was fairly close to where we were going to go -- not so close as to cause us to worry about collision but, as I said to my partner at the time, "oh, man, we're gonna swamp that guy with our wake". So we steam by him, and see the reason why he's not getting out of our way: he's got a net on a pole and is trying to catch a fish he's hooked that's this big <makes classic 'fish-that-got-away' size sign with hands>. He tries for it once, misses. Tries for it again, and at this point our wake has hit his boat and sets it to rocking. He misses again and the fish is gone.

"OHHHHHH!" He throws up his hands and yells, in that classic frustrated voice. We've been watching this whole scene, too, so we throw up our hands and yell in sympathy too.

The guy thumps back on his back in his boat, slapping his hands to his face, then gets up and yells, "HE GOT MY LURE!" I do the Italian hand-waving thing and yell "OH NO!" in sympathy -- my partner busts out laughing. So I turned to him and said, "Dude!" But the guy on the boat was laughing too, and we all waved at each other as the McFaul pulled away.

People used to wave at us when we sailed on by, I'm told. I don't see it that often; it makes for a rather chilly feeling when coming or going. I wonder what people think, when they just watch as we go by: are they worried we'll shoot them? Do they think we're all baby killers? Are they just hung over and not in the mood? I don't know. But that was a really cool moment (except that it was a shame that the guy lost the fish -- it really was this big). It's nice to make a connection with the folks we're serving out to sea, out to sea.

Half-Masted Flags

2005-01-05T13:01:00.000-05:00

Ever since the tsunami disaster, all the ships at Norfolk Naval Base (and the base) have half-masted their flags. It's a way to show respect for those who have died, and to indicate that the service is in mourning for their loss We went to another installation, one with a crane, and they'd rigged their flag to hang from the crane hoist with a weight on the end to keep it stable. And they'd lowered the flag to half-mast; too

Some cynical people (or the UN) might say that we're only mourning for the Americans (or Westerners) who died. But I know better.

The US Navy Just Keeps Getting Stingier and Stingier...

2005-01-02T23:01:00.000-05:00

The story's actually a couple of days old now, but I want to post about it anyway.

Twelve ships from the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command will support the United States' relief effort for victims of the tsunami that devastated South Asia Dec. 26.

TWELVE! Check out this pic of the USNS Ranier (warning, it's very huge). See that spot sort of in the middle, where there's an opening in the railing of the ship, and there's a sort of slightly curved, darker grey thingie overhanging that opening? That's a RHIB -- a Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat. Seats 18 people in good weather. This should give you a good idea of the scale of this thing.

In addition, there are several articles on the above-linked website that talk about how the whole Abraham Lincoln Strike Group is being sent south to help. I'd already talked about the cost of sending the Abraham Lincoln alone; here are the other members of the STRIKEGRU:

The Lincoln Carrier Strike Group will deploy with the following San Diego-based ships: the cruiser USS Shiloh (CG 67), commanded by Capt. Joe Harriss; and the destroyer USS Benfold (DDG 65), commanded by Cmdr. Don Hornbeck. Other ships deploying with the Lincoln Carrier Strike Group include the Everett, Wash.-based destroyer USS Shoup (DDG 86), led by Cmdr. Alexander T. Casimes; the Pearl Harbor-based attack submarine USS Louisville (SSN 724), under the command of Cmdr. David Kirk; and the fast combat support ship USS Rainier (AOE 7), based in Bremerton, Wash,.

This is on top of all the cash we're donating. So I don't want to hear any more lip out of the UN about us being stingy. As for "moral authority", well, my response is in keeping with most of the blogs I've read so far:

NUTS!

Gotta run -- don't want to be late for watch.

A Merry Cthulhu Christmas

2005-01-01T17:35:00.000-05:00

Okay, so it's six days past Christmas already. Let's just say that I failed my Spot Hidden roll.

More JTF 536 News

2005-01-01T17:10:00.000-05:00

According to this item on Yahoo! News:

From dawn until sunset on New Year's Day, 12 Seahawk helicopters shuttled supplies and advance teams from offshore naval vessels while reconnaissance aircraft brought back stark images of wave-wrecked coastal landscapes and their hungry, traumatized inhabitants.
"They came from all directions, crawling under the craft, knocking on the pilot's door, pushing to get into the cabin," said Petty Officer First Class Brennan Zwack. "But when they saw we had no more food inside, they backed away, saying `Thank you, thank you.'"
"The mob decided how we distributed the food. There were so many hands outstretched I don't think any package touched the ground," added Zwack, of Sioux Falls, S.D.
The helicopters took off from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, staged in calm waters about three miles off the Indonesian province of Aceh along with four other vessels to launch the sprawling U.S. military operation.
More than a dozen other ships were en route to southern Asian waters, with the USS Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious assault vessel carrying Marines, headed for Sri Lanka, which along with Indonesia was the worst-hit area. The mission involves thousands of sailors and Marines, along with some 1,000 land-based troops.

Anguish, and Hope, in the New Year

2004-12-31T21:53:00.000-05:00

A Chilling View

2004-12-31T21:40:00.000-05:00

From the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, whose Web page has a timeline of the NOAA's own actions in response to the warning signals it received from ocean monitoring equipment comes a chilling animation of the tsunami wave. Click on the pic below to see the full-sized QuickTime animation.

Make sure you look through the rest of the site, it's fascinating and also features a database of historical tsunami events.

p-t-r wn

2004-12-31T17:19:00.000-05:00

I found a story at BBC News that should be interesting to anyone who likes Ancient Egypt or rabbits -- the British Museum is publishing a version of Peter Rabbit in Middle Kingdom hieroglypics:

Peter Rabbit becomes a square, a semi-circle, an ellipse and a rabbit image.
The "time seemed appropriate" for the hieroglyph version, due in April, translators said, as the story had already been published in 35 languages.

The text pictured reads "Once upon a time, there were four little rabbits and their names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail and Peter..." The article mentions some difficulty in trying for a literal translation from English to Middle Kingdom:

Potter's landscape and wildlife would also have been unfamiliar to ancient Egyptians - who had no words for things like blackberry, gooseberry, blackcurrant and potato.
"Beatrix Potter's words sometimes do not readily fall into ancient Egyptian," [translators Richard Parkinson and John Nunn] wrote in the foreword.
"The surviving texts provide no easy model for such colloquial phrases as 'Now run along, and don't get into mischief.'"

Don't know how to read hieroglyphs? Omniglot is a good place to start for info.

Stingy

2004-12-31T17:11:00.000-05:00

US ups its pledge.

You listening, Mr. Egeland?

Holy Cow!

2004-12-30T18:53:00.000-05:00

I continue to be amazed by the things I'm seeing in stories about the tsunami disaster. For example, an article on the BBC news site about the unclear fate of isolated, aboriginal peoples on a group of islands west of Thailand:

Great Nicobar suffered badly in the disaster. One island in the chain, Trinket, split in two under the impact. Most of the rest are under water.

An island. Split in two.

BBC is also talking about the not inconsiderable effect that bloggers are having towards providing news about the disaster and generating aid for its victims

Good News from the Seychelles

2004-12-30T16:57:00.000-05:00

While we were on deployment, the ship visited the Seychelles, a set of islands northwest of Madagascar. The country is a sovereign nation, having become independent in 1976. One of the activities arranged by the ship for the crew were diving trips; I attended a PADI introductory dive and liked it so much that I visited the the Underwater Centre just about every day and obtained my basic SCUBA diver certification. The proprieters, David & Glynis Mowat, were wonderfully friendly and happy to accomodate getting extra lessons in for me; I'm especially grateful to Jean Paul, who was a terrific teacher. So when the tsunamis hit, I was worried about them, especially when I learned that the waves had reached East African shores.

So I tried sending an email and got good news in return: everyone at the Centre is just fine (and damage was obviously not so bad as to lose Internet connectivity). David writes:

One of our boats moored in Victoria decided to park itself in the Marine Charter car park and totalled both engines and the blue bus has now decided it has caught a cold after being up to its windows in sea-water... but compared to the other areas we are still in good shape!

According to David, the Seychelles faired pretty well -- some people were drowned, but overall the damage was not as extensive as it has been in other areas. So this is really great news. If you're ever going to go to the Seychelles, make sure you stop by the Underwater Centre on Mahe and say hi to them. David, by the way, is one of the directors of the Marine Conservation Society Seychelles, and one of the really interesting thing that group does is track whale sharks around the islands. They conduct daily ultralight flights to count whale sharks and also have a program wherein they attach transmitters to the sharks in order to track their migratory routes.

The Hidden Cost of Aid

2004-12-30T11:13:00.000-05:00

James posted a couple of posts about the US' contribution towards relief for the tsunami disaster, and mentioned in particular a post at Is This Blog On? that references a Reuters article detailing pledges, by country. Is This Blog On? also mentions an article which talks about U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland's criticism of the US "and other western nations" being stingy.

One of my pet peeves about this sort of reporting is that usually, it's the cash donations that are mentioned. Then people get all up in arms because country A (okay, I'll be less circumspect: I mean, the US) doesn't pledge as much as other countries, or as much as other countries feel it should pledge. What usually isn't mentioned is the logistical cost of providing support from, say, the military. When something like this happens, the US always -- always -- has US Navy ships on hand, and the Air Force usually jumps in with both feet to help too. Navy Seabees go out to rebuild bridges, and it's not uncommon for the other branches to send servicemen and -women to help recover and rebuild. I mentioned in an earlier post that the Navy sent the USS Bonhomme Richard, a large-deck amphib ship, and the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier, to render assistance. So how much does this cost?

I went over to the General Accounting Office, and I'm still looking, but I did find this cost analysis information in a paper comparing and contrasting nuclear carriers vice conventional carriers:

Table 3.1: Life-Cycle Costs for Conventional and Nuclear Aircraft Carriers (based on a 50-year service life)
Cost catagory CV CVN
Fiscal year 1997 dollars in millions
Operating and Support Cost
Direct operating and support cost $10,436 $11,677
Indirect operating and support cost $688 $3,205
Total operating and support cost $11,125 $14,882
Annual operating and support cost $222 $298
(GAO Report "NAVY AIRCRAFT CARRIERS: Cost-Effectiveness of Conventionally and Nuclear-Powered Carriers", p.76)

Okay. The Abraham Lincoln is a nuclear aircraft carrier. According to The Inflation Calculator, $298 million dollars in 1997 dollars is $334,263,334.38 in 2003 dollars (the latest year available). Divide by 365 and you get a cost of $915,789.96 per day. About a million bucks per day. That's just the one carrier. And the price seems a bit low to me, but even if you go with that, and know what else we're doing to help, then you get an idea of how much of the taxpayers' money the government is really spending on top of that $25 million cash.

And all of that pales in comparision to what US taxpayers and corporations are giving straight out of their own pockets.

What Happens When Gaming Geeks Have a Lot of Time on Their Hands?

2004-12-29T21:13:00.000-05:00

Well, if they like MMORPGs, this is what happens.

Steam Tech

2004-12-29T13:40:00.000-05:00

I've always been fond of steam tech, especially as a mix of futuristic S-F and Victorian design. The idea of jet packs and robots powered by steam is charming, but seemed hopelessly impossible, too.

Glynne Bowsher worked on the first car to break the sound barrier -- the ThrustSSC. Now, he and a group of fellow engineers are working on a steam-powered racecar.

That's right: race car. This thing is supposed to be able to go faster than 200 mph.

Instead of using a more conventional piston-operated engine, they'll be using a steam turbine that's driven by steam generated by four boilers which use propane gas to heat up water and make it into steam. Ah, turbines. The McFaul is driven by four Lockheed-Martin LM2500s, which are normally used to power airplanes. So they're putting one into a car? Cool!

The 13 inch diameter turbine is non-condensing and is fed at four nozzles, one from each boiler. The system is total loss, which means that each run will expend the total amount of water carried each trip. The exhaust steam will be vented to the wake of the car.

The link above leads to the Steam Car website. Check it out -- it's got some interesting stuff. Make sure you look at the section on Safety Systems.

What's That He's Drawing?

2004-12-29T13:29:00.000-05:00

More cool stuff from London: while wandering around London, my parents took a wrong turn and crossed the Thames using the wrong bridge. When they were trying to reorient themselves, they walked past the OXO building, and in one of the windows saw an exhibit of wonderful mechanical creations being shown by the Mechanical Cabaret Theatre.

Probably not surprising, but the image on the left is my favorite. My parents tell me that the inscription below Anubis says something along the lines of, "Embalmer of the gods, Anubis looks for ways to increase his efficiency and utilize leftovers". When you turn the crank, he draws a sausage.

Some of the Theatre's works are being shown at the American Visionary Art Museum, to which I'll be going whenever I can get a chance to get out of Norfolk and up to Baltimore, because the website is pretty neat.

I'm particular intrigued & amused by the Museum's upcoming Kinetic Sculpture Race:

From the American Visionary Art Museum - A race of wacky, imaginative, TOTALLY HUMAN POWERED WORKS OF ART DESIGNED TO TRAVEL ON LAND, THROUGH MUD, AND OVER DEEP HARBOR WATERS constructed out of used bicycles, gears, and parts, created by a lunatic genius who tinkers around in the garage or backyard (Do you know this person?) The machines can be simple, small crafts, piloted by only one brave soul, or they can be over 50 feet long, extremely well-engineered, sophisticated vehicles powered by a team of pilots.

Now that is cool -- half art, half Junkyard Wars!

It's an Even Swap

2004-12-29T13:23:00.000-05:00

My parents just got back from a trip to London. The McFaul might be going there, or to that area, soon, so I can't wait to go check some of the things out they've told me about (or, failing that, to simply get lost in the British Museum). They visited the Bodleian Library and brought me back a really neat little book: "Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain 1942", which you can buy from the University of Chicago Press online. The book is full of cool advice such as:

The British don't know how to make a good cup of coffee. You don't know how to make a good cup of tea. It's an even swap.

I've never had British coffee before, so I don't know whether this is actually true. Hopefully I find out soon (and I like tea, so my bases are covered). My favorite quote from the book, though, is:

BRITISH WOMEN AT WAR. A British woman officer or non-commissioned officer can--and often does--give orders to a man private. The men obey smartly and know it is no shame. For British women have proven themselves in this way. They have stuck to their posts near burning ammunition dumps, delivered messages afoot after their motorcycles have been blasted from under them. They have pulled aviators from burning planes. They have died at the gun posts and as they fell another girl has stepped directly into the position and "carried on." There is not a single record in this war of any British woman in uniformed service quitting her post or failing in her duty under fire.
Now you understand why British soldiers respect the women in uniform. They have won the right to the utmost respect. When you see a girl in khaki or air-force blue with a bit of ribbon on her tunic, remember she didn't get it for knitting more socks than anyone else in Ipswich.

YEAH!

Strong Arms

2004-12-29T09:27:00.000-05:00

Usually, officers eat in the wardroom. But since we are in Christmas/New Years Standdown, much of the ship (including the cooks and cranks -- that is, "food service attendants") is on leave. So today the officers ate down on the mess decks with the rest of us enlisted folks. We were talking about the Asian tsunami disaster and one of them mentioned that a Sports Illustrated model survived after being hit by monster waves. I found an article about it:

[Petra] Nemcova told the New York Daily News that she survived the tsunami, which has killed at least 33,000 people, by clinging to a palm tree for eight hours, despite a broken pelvis and internal injuries.

Wow! Strong arms. That's just amazing.

The Navy Helps

2004-12-29T09:25:00.000-05:00

According to the Navy News Web Site, Patrol Quadron Eight (VP-8) have deployed surveillance planes to Thailand to help with disaster relief. There's also a short article on the US Pacific Command website about a new Joint Task Force (JTF-536) that has just been formed to help provide relief.

The USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier, is over there. From a press release on her site:

The Lincoln CSG ["Carrier Strike Group"] brings personnel and equipment to lend help and support in needed areas such as search and rescue operations, delivery of food, water and medicine to stabilize life-threatening situations, provide limited transportation of displaced persons to designated areas from areas inaccessible to host nation transportation assets, and engineer support for sanitation and mobility to affected areas.

The USS Bonhomme Richard is also over there now -- I checked out her web site and it doesn't mention anything about disaster relief yet, but it'd be a good bet to keep one's eye on that site for more first-person Navy relief news.

A New Entry to the Blogroll

2004-12-25T20:36:00.000-05:00

James put in a post with a link to a wonderful article by Tony Woodlief about his hunt to find toy guns for his sons for Christmas. It's hilariously written article -- this guy can write. So I've added him to the blogroll. Enjoy!

2004-12-24T13:44:00.000-05:00

Thoughts on "Deadly Force", CCW, and self-defense

Still working on the deployment posts. But in talking to James while home on Christmas leave, I had some thoughts about self-defense, deadly force, etc.

Often, when I encounter people who have strong beliefs for strict gun control, it seems to me -- and I admit that I am reading between the lines here -- that what they're saying is something along the lines of this: "guns kill, therefore if there are no guns, there will be no killing". I'm sure this isn't what they really mean, but I get this...how do I put this? I get this sense that many people's idea of violence is something they've learned from the movies. In the movies, generally (and this is a broad generalization, I know), if a bad guy is shot with a gun, he or she is dead instantly. So I get this impression that people think of guns as a way to automatically render people dead instantly. Therefore, people (like me) who are interested in carrying firearms for self-defense must want to instantly kill people who are trying to instantly kill me. It has to be one extreme or the other. Well, no wonder we CCW people are crazy, right? Someone might want to rob me, or even hurt me, but it's highly unlikely that I'd run into someone who actually wants to kill me, right? So what am I doing with a gun?

I'm in the Navy. We go through a lot of training in regards to firearms in defensive situations. Our definition of "deadly force" goes something like this (I don't have it memorized yet -- I am a dirtbag):

serious bodily harm

We define "serious bodily harm" as including, but not limited to, broken bones (excepting broken noses or fingers), damage to major joints, damage to internal organs, blows to the head (i.e., concussions), etc (again, I don't have it memorized because I am slacking off, sigh). I emphasize this, though, because I think it's something that slips under the radars of a lot of people: deadly force doesn't have to kill to be deadly force. It includes actions that could seriously and grieviously alter people's lives, if it doesn't happen to kill them.

Furthermore, we are taught that when we employ deadly force, we do so only so much as we need to in order to remove the situation that caused us to employ it in the first place. For example: guy runs at us with a knife, we shoot him. He drops the knife and sits down; we stop shooting.

So, to put this in a CCW perspective: in employing deadly force to protect myself from deadly force, I am not trying to kill people who are trying to kill me. In fact, that is expressly not what I am trying to do. I simply seek to stop the threat. This is responsible defensive use of firearms. This is taught not only in the military, but in civilian CCW and self-defense courses such as those that James teaches. Just because I have a gun, I am not out to kill people: I just want to stop the threat. And the threat includes not just someone actively trying to kill me, but someone trying to cause me (or those around me) serious bodily harm, too.

If you expand your concept of guns from "guns are only used to instantly kill persons who are trying to instantly kill you" to "guns are used to stop the threat of death or serious bodily harm", then I think it becomes easier to understand what might seem to be ludicrious claims about the number of uses of guns in self-defense per year as possible, and even plausible. And it might be easier to understand why people want to have firearms for self- and home-defense.

It is Only a Mouse

2004-12-23T13:31:00.000-05:00

You know those funny, funny stories you're supposed to be appalled by? The ones at which you laugh so hard you're sure you're going to hurt something, and you're trying to say, "I'm going to Hell for laughing at this" only you can't quite get the words out?

Anna Pickard has a mouse problem.

Mount St. Helens is going to explode

2004-10-03T06:25:00.000-04:00

According to AP: U.S. Warns of Big Mount St. Helens Blast.

If you're interested, look here: VolcanoCam. Maybe we'll see the eruption today on the Web!

Yes, yes, I know I have to post some messages about the deployment (and I will), but this was too interesting. I'm still working on the story of our overseas adventure...

Work in Progress

2004-10-03T05:31:00.000-04:00

Ayup, this is still in progress. I'm working on translating all of my graphics into English. For now, though, bear with me. It's slow going, especially with so much Nazi butt to kick.

Cost catagory	CV	CVN
Fiscal year 1997 dollars in millions
Operating and Support Cost
Direct operating and support cost	$10,436	$11,677
Indirect operating and support cost	$688	$3,205
Total operating and support cost	$11,125	$14,882
Annual operating and support cost	$222	$298