Odd Ad

This ad appeared in the Friday, October 17, 2008 print edition of the Journal Times. Page 3A, in the center, small, 2 x 3-1/2" ad. Maybe it, or a variation, has appeared there for some time. I don't know. But for some reason, it caught my eye today.

When I first read the copy, I couldn't believe it. What the...? Anyway, I visited Thera-Gesic's site, and it seems normal enough: http://www.thera-gesic.com/, so I don't know what's up with their print ad, but the tone seems a little off to me. I mean, I'm not sure that beating off would-be car burglars is the best way to advertise pain relief results, even if it is done jokingly. Or is it? It's not that I'm offended - I guess I just don't get it.

Stay Alive With "Stayin' Alive"

A study from the University of Illinois College of Medicine has shown that the song "Stayin' Alive" helps people perform CPR correctly. It is recommended that you give 100 chest compressions per minute when doing CPR, very close to the 103 beats per minute of "Stayin' Alive". There are other songs that have close to 100 beats per minute, but few probably known as universally in the U.S. as "Stayin' Alive."

And everyone should know CPR. So everyone go out, put on your platform shoes and get to the local Red Cross or American Heart Association class and get certified so you an save a life.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

Happy Early Friday!! Open blog!!

It's close enough to Friday to start being happy!!

Here's an early edition of the Friday open blog.

How was your week?

Did you survive?

For kicks, here is a link to my personal blog,
you can see exactly how my week ended,
and it wasn't pretty!!!!!!
(but my rant ended up rather funny!)

http://sandys-sanity.blogspot.com/

McCain Suddenly Doesn't Like the DMCA (and Rightly So!)

According to an article on Cnet, the McCain campaign is protesting YouTube's take down policy. They claim several of McCain's ads have been removed from YouTube due to Digital Millennium Copywright Act take down notices being filed. The McCain campaign says the material in question is covered by fair use. He may be right (although the letter to YouTube does not list specific examples).

The problem is the DMCA is pretty draconian. If a content provider such as YouTube takes down a video when they are notified of infringement, they are not held liable for damages. If they left it up (as the McCain campaign is suggesting) they could be sued. So places like YouTube do the safe thing and take it down. YouTube has fired off a response to the McCain campaign according to Wired suggesting he (or Obama) introduce legislation to amdend the DMCA. Our current Congress and Senate aren't helping as they just passed a new anti-piracy law upping the penalties for infringement that was signed by Bush on Monday (bet you didn't hear about that one in the news!)

McCain has proposed YouTube handle political ads differently and review them for fair use before taking them down. That is totally missing the point. The DMCA tramples on EVERYONE'S fair use rights, not just those of political campaigns. What McCain (and Obama) should do is stand up and tell everyone the DMCA needs revision to protect fair use and pledge to pursue such changes in their administration. As bloggers, we should all be supporting DMCA reform.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophyscist blog.

A grieving family needs your help - Update on Band and contests!

New Update: I just wanted to bump this up again. We have received some really cool Silent Auction items, which I will post soon, but I just wanted everyone to know that tickets are still available, and that we still need donations of time, talent, cash (to offset costs so all proceeds go to the family)and raffle items. Thanks again everyone!


Update: The band Unlikely Heroes (http://www.myspace.com/unlikelyherorocks ) will be playing at the Sprague Benefit, and there will be an adult and kids halloween costume contest. There will also be raffles, silent auctions and a 50/50. Of course, donations of time/talent/items/money are still being accepted. Tickets are now printed and available. Please let me know if you need tickets.

Stu


Original Post:

Today’s post is not about anything political, musical, or funny. Today, I am coming to all of you on behalf of a family that needs your help:

Please join our community in remembering Wendy Leittl-Sprague. Wendy courageously battled cancer for four years and was only 48 years old when she passed away on August 31, 2008. She leaves behind her husband, Rick, her 9 year old son Austin, her 23 year old daughter Michelle, and many, many relatives and friends.

Wendy and Rick met at Acme Die Casting where they both worked.

Wendy also worked at Andis Clipper Company for nearly 10 years. Her slowly deteriorating health forced her to quit working in December 2007. At that time she had already battled skin cancer and thought that she had won the fight but in December a brain tumor was detected. It was removed successfully. She needed to go through radiation therapy but she soon developed more cancer, which sadly led to her loss of life at such a young age. This courageous woman was an inspiration to every person who knew her!! She will live on in our hearts forever!!

We are asking for your help in covering the funeral expenses and also establishing a trust fund for Austin. As you are probably aware, the medical costs for treating Wendy were exorbitant! We're not asking that her medical expenses be covered but just a bit of relief to all of those involved in putting her so peacefully to rest and to secure an education for her young son. A benefit to celebrate the life of Wendy will be held November 1, 2008 from 5:00 to 12:00 at Hiawatha in Sturtevant. This will be a Halloween themed celebration for Wendy and her family. Admission is $15.00 for adults and $7.00 for kids 12 and under, and includes food, beer and soda. There will be many items up for raffle and auction and entertainment throughout the night. Come in costume!

If there is anything you or your company could donate? We are in need of items for raffles and auctions, money to offset the cost of food and drinks and to put on the benefit itself, baskets of like-minded goods for raffle and anything else you could think of. Please look inside your heart and see if there is anything you can do to help make this a success for the family. Anything you can give will help.

Despite our differences, Racine is a giving community, and I trust we can pull together for another family in need.

Please feel free to contact me through this site if you have any questions, or need further information. Thank you.

The Sugar Maple on 12th & Main

September 25, 2008:
Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) trees are noted for their fall color displays. Over the years, I've noticed that this one, on the northeast corner of 12th and Main Streets, puts on a particularly spectacular show. I see the tree almost every day, and today I had the idea to chronicle, in photos, the tree's progression through the color chart over the next few weeks.

Every so often, I'll take a picture of the tree, post it here, and bump this blog. That way we can all watch the colors change as autumn steals into southeast Wisconsin.

October 2, 2008:
If you ask me, the tree looks worse this week than last. :( Looks like the crown is thinning out. The winds have been fierce lately. I hope there's something left before it goes orange and yellow. That is, if it goes orange and yellow.

October 10, 2008:
Now we're getting there. Orange, orange, orange. Not as bright as I remember it, but memory tends to exaggerate.

October 16, 2008:
Well, it has lost a considerable amount of its leaves, but the neighbor across the street is just beginning to turn. I spent a little time today looking at the fall colors I encountered on my errands and on a couple of short walks I took after I got home. I was thinking about how you should make time to do that because this show is fleeting. Next up, winter. Ugh. Anyway, I was thinking along those lines, and I took a few pictures, and then I encountered Pete Selkowe's beautiful photography in the Racine Post: Take time to enjoy the view... That about says it all.

The Power of Blogging

The Racine Post has an interesting story entitled The power of Dooley, about the brouhaha in RUSD over the appearance of some of Sen. Barack Obama's writings in a textbook. I haven't followed this too closely because I am FED UP with the inane nitpicking by crazed campaigners on both sides of the election. In the Post piece, Dustin Block points out that a complaining parent has not been identified, nor has a formal complaint been made, but Unified is now reviewing its textbook policies - all because Mr. Fred Dooley's Real Debate Wisconsin blog posted an anonymous complaint.

Go bloggers! Go web 2.0! I hereby challenge JT Irregulars bloggers to come up with an equally explosive tidbit, fact, or fiction to rattle Racine's cage with. One of us must know something that will put the Journal Times and/or city officials in a tizzy. I can't believe that anyone would be better at raising a stink than we are. So, come on JTIs, spill your guts and the beans. Irregular minds want to know.

The Ultimate American Right

A small victory for those of us who believe that the right to vote is the most precious right we have.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/14/ohio-elections/

I don't care which person you vote for in November. If enough fraud is uncovered, you will never be sure if your choice really won or really lost. Ohio could very well decide the next President.

The same person who ran the Indiana ACORN registration drive that has been the subject of raids and identified registration fraud, is running the registration drives right here in Wisconsin.

Even though ACORN is supporting Obama, it was a Democrat in Indiana that blew the whistle on the fraudulent registrations. No one seems to be watching these folks in Milwaukee.

Voter registration needs to be taken back into an official government run process (City Hall, DMV, etc.) and out of the hands of these organizations.

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, everyones! Never fear, Madame Zoltar is here. In uncertain times it is good to know at least one thing for certain: Madame Zoltar knows all!


Our first email today comes from the redoubtable Ms. kkdither, who writes:

Dear Mme. Zoltar,

Please be kind enough to answer a couple of questions for me. No one seems to be able to come up with an acceptable response. These may only be best answered by you, madame:

If you shoot a mime, is it necessary to use a silencer?

When you choke a smurf, what color does it turn?

If you were to throw a cat out of a car window, does it then become kitty litter?

And, what was the best thing before sliced bread?

Dear Ms. kk, and dear readers, my responses, in order:

Although it is not necessary to use a silencer when shooting a mime, it is considered good etiquette to do so. However, if a silencer is unavailable, good etiquette still demands that you shoot the mime.

I haven’t choked anything in quite some time, so I had to consult my crystal ball on this one. The answer: black and blue.

If you were to throw a cat out of a car window, I would make someone throw you off of a building.

And the best thing before sliced bread, my dear, was me. Best thing after, too.


Our next email comes from “Wall_Street_in_Wisconsin,” who writes:

Dear Madame,

I work on the exchange. Should I fish or cut bait?

Dear WSW,

If I were you, I’d save the bait for food.


Finally, this note was slipped under my door the other night:

“If you ever want to see OrbsCorbs alive again, put $10,000 in small, unmarked bills in the glove compartment of the abandoned car in the alley behind your parlor.”

Dear Whomever,

Aha –ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Aha –ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Excuse me, ah, aha –ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Aha –ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Aha –ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!


That’s all for this week, my friends. Don’t forget to send your questions and comments to madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com. I look forward to hearing from each and every one of you. I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Sayonara!

On the Shoulders of Giants

I just downloaded and listened to a new song from the Chromatics called On the Shoulders of Giants. It is a very good acapella song commissioned for the Johannes Kepler Project for the International Year of Astronomy. The song echoes the sentiment that we managed to get where we are today by standing on the shoulders of giants, all those people like Galileo, Newton, Kepler, etc. who did a lot of the early work in their fields.

I have been a longtime fan of the Chromatics and have their Astrocapella CD, a CD of acapella astronomy songs. The Chromatics are composed of a lot of people who work at the Goddard Space Flight Center, so the songs have good science content in addition to being catchy. I finally had the pleasure of meeting one of their songwriters, Padi Boyd, at a meeting last summer.

The International Year of Astronomy is coming quick…I will be blogging more on it and the exciting plans that are coming together!

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

The Mentalist

I have just started watching a new CBS show called The Mentalist. I am not much of a crime series fan, but I am cautiously optimistic about this show.

Simon Baker stars as a consultant for the California Bureau of Investigations. He was a psychic in his past. Without revealing any spoilers, his career as a psychic did not end well and he now admits he was a total fraud and is using his skills to solve crimes (and not always by the book!) He uses the tricks of the trade of psychics, cold readings and astute observations. Of course realism is not 100% in this show. they don't reveal all the tricks and I would expect that the techniques would not solve every crime, but you can make that criticism of almost every crime show.

The thing I really like is that he openly says he was not psychic and that psychic powers do not exist! How many shows take that sort of attitude? I would like to see him blast astrology and other such nonsense as well. We need more skeptical thinking portrayed on television and less mumbo jumbo. The Mentalist is well produced and hopefully will spawn a few imitators.

So, any other good new shows I am missing?

Pretty Tree!!

Here is the tree I watch every day. It's very cool to watch it change.

Hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

Google Goggles for Gmail

So it's Friday and you went out at the end of a long week and had a few drinks. What's on your mind? How much you miss your ex and you want to tell him/her how you really feel? You want to send your boss a nasty email and tell him what to do with your job?

Technology can save us from ourselves. A couple of years ago, LG introduced a phone with a built in breathalyzer. The phone would keep you from drunk dialing.

But people we not that easily deterred and would go home and get on the computer and send an email. "I will show that stupid phone!" seemed to be the prevailing attitude.

Now Google has introduced Mail Goggles to stop drunk emailing. You can set it up with your Gmail account. You tell it what hours of the day you want protection, and you will not be able to send email until you answer a series of math questions. Math! I have heard you can set the difficulty level. I don't use Gmail, but would love to go in and set it to the highest level to see if it really could stop me from emailing! (Maybe they should introduce a version for techies where we have to interpret a Tennyson poem or something instead...that would probably slow me down more than a math problem!)

I am not sure this is a good idea...you can't phone...you can't email, I fear that people will get in their cars and drive over there!

Sunset Picture

Took this picture at Linwood Park in Calendonia on Saturday.Hope you all enjoy!

The Sun as You Have Never Seen it Before

This week’s Boston Globe’s Big Pictures features the Sun

.

This animation shows the Sun over the course of six days starting June 25, 2007. You can clearly see the rotation and some flares and prominences. Animations like this really drive home the point that the Sun is a dynamic body and not just the constatnt light we see with out eyes.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Big Picture: The Sun.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

GM to Janesville workers - "Merry Christmas and BOHICA!"

General Motors now being called Grinch Motors as they tell 3000+ workers to grab their ankles TWO DAYS before Christmas. At least they could have let them work out the year...

http://www.reuters.com/article/privateEquity/idUSN1345360820081013

Simple Procedure for Setting up DTV

As we all know all TV will go 100% digital February of 2009. The following video show a simple procedure for setting up your TV...

“DTV Setup Procedures”

This weeks open blog!! Happy Monday!!!!

Welcome to this week's open blog.
What are you up to this week?
Having a good day?
Having a bad day?
Why is it a 'Happy Monday'?
I have off today!!!!!!!! :)
Tomorrow tho, I go back to the grind...

Beck and Scrubs???

A few weeks back, I featured the song "I think I'm In Love" (to KK's approval!) and in researching that video, I found this video done by someone on You Tube, taking some of the funny dance moves from the very funny show "Scrubs" and syncing them to this song. This is very well done, and I think you will get a kick out of it. Enjoy!

Part Three

The Smashing Pumpkins are a band that either just love, or cant stand. I have always been a pumpkins fan, and this is my favorite song (Along with Hummer and Cherub Rock from Siamese Dream) .... never released except on their B-sides release. Please enjoy "Here's To the Atom Bomb"

Part II - Song I cant get out of my head

I was watching a friend's son riding his BMX bike today and from some forgotten region of my music vault, this song from the 90's popped into my head, and I've been humming it all day. Now you can too. Enjoy from the group OPM "Heaven is a Halfpipe"

Friday Night's Lost Video (Saturday edition)

Hello Fellow Music Lovers!

Tonights lost video is from a band that burst on the scene with a song called Cult Of Personality. The band is called Living Color and rocked oput and kicked ass. They are multi-functional band. This song tonight is called "Soliace of You" And shows a more quiet side, but the guitar is intricate. Good rythymas well. Please enjoy.

Donate Your Laptop's Accelerometers to Science

And you don’t even have to disassmble it. You can join the Quake-Catcher Network. The Quake-Catcher Network (QCN) harnesses the power of the accelerometers in laptops to aide in earthquake science.

Most modern laptops come with accelerometers inside them. These devices are rather crude and are designed to turn off your hard drive should you accidentally drop your computer and save your data. They can also detect other vibrations as well, including those from earthquakes.

By downloading the QCN software, your computer will send data from its accelerometers to Stanford. They figure out your approximate location from your ISP. Computers there will analyze the data, ignoring obvious false alarms and combine the data from thousands of computers to analyze earthquakes.

You can also donate a sensor to a school for only $49 so students can become involved. You can specify a school (where you have children or know a teacher) but it’s a good idea to be sure the teacher wants to be involved first.

I know Racine may not seem like a hotspot for earthquakes, but they do happen occasionally. Let's be ready the next time the New Madrid Fault goes off!

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist blog.

Just to make you all Smile Today.

Number One Idiot of 2008

I am a medical student currently doing a rotation in toxicology at the poison control center. Today, this woman called in very upset because She caught her little daughter eating ants. I quickly reassured her that the ants are not harmful and there would be no need to bring her daughter into the hospital. She calmed down and at the end of the conversation happened to mention that she gave her daughter some ant poison to eat in order to kill the ants. I told her that she better bring her daughter into the emergency room right away.

Here's your sign, lady. > Wear it with pride.> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
Number Two Idiot of 2008...> > Early this year, some Boeing employees on> the airfield decided to steal> a life raft from one of the 747s. > They were successful in getting it out> of the plane and home. > Shortly after they took it for a float on the river, they noticed a> Coast Guard helicopter coming towards them. It turned out that the chopper was homing in on> > the emergency locater beacon that activated when the raft was inflated. > They are no longer employed at Boeing.> > Here's your sign, guys. > Don't get it wet, the paint might run. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>> Number Three Idiot of 2008..> > A man, wanting to rob Aadowntown > > Bank of America, walked into the Branch> and wrote this, 'Put all your money in this bag.!> While standing in line, waiting to give his note to the teller,> he began to worry that someone had seen him write the note and might call the police before he reached the teller's window. > So he left the Bank of America and crossed the street> to the Wells Fargo Bank. > After waiting a few minutes in line, he handed his> note to the Wells Fargo teller. > She read it and, surmising from his> spelling errors that he wasn't the brightest> light in the harbor, told him that she could not accept his stickup note> because it was written on a Bank of America deposit slip and that he would> either have to fill out a Wells Fargo deposit slip or go back to Bank of America. > Looking somewhat defeated, the man said, 'OK' and left..> He was arrested a few minutes later, as he was waiting in line back at Bank of America . > Don't bother with this guy's sign.> > He probably couldn't read it anyway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Number Four Idiot of 2008.. > A motorist was unknowingly caught in an automated speed> trap that measured his speed using radar and photographed his car. He later received in the mail A ticket for $40 and A photo of his car. > Instead of payment, he sent the police department A photograph of $40. > Several days later, he received a letter from the police that contained> another picture, this time of handcuffs. > He immediately mailed in his $40. > Wise guy.... But you still get a sign... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Number Five Idiot of 2008.. > A guy walked into A little corner store with > A shotgun and demanded all> of the cash from the cash drawer ina bag,> the robber saw a abottle of Scotch that he wanted behind the counter on the shelf. > He told the cashier to put it in the bag as well, > BUT THE cashier refused and said, > > 'Because I don't believe you are over 21.'> > The robber said he was, but the clerk still refused to give it to him because she didn't believe him.> > At this point, the robber took his driver's license> out of his wallet and gave it to the clerk. > The clerk looked it over and agreed that the man was in fact over 21 and she put the Scotch in the bag. > The robber then ran from the store with his loot.> > The cashier promptly called the police and gave> the name and address of the robber that he got off the license. > They arrested the robber two hours later. > This guy definitely needs a sign. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> Idiot Number Six of 2008.. > A pair of Michigan robbers entered a record shop nervously waving a gun.> > The first one shouted, > 'Nobody move!! > When his partner moved, the startled first bandit shot him. > This guy doesn't even deserve a sign. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> Idiot Number Seven of 2008... > Arkansas : > Seems this guy wanted some beer pretty badly.> > He decided that he'd just throw a cinder block through a liquor store> window, grab some booze, and run.> So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at the window.> The cinder block bounced back knocking him unconscious.> It seems the liquor store window was made of Plexi--Glass.> The whole event was caught on videotape. > Yep, here's your sign. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Idiot Number Eight of 2008... > I live in A semi-rural area. > ( Weyauwega , Wisconsin ) We recently had a> new neighbor call the local township administrative > office to request the removal of the Deer Crossing sign on our road. > The reason; 'Too many deer are being hit by cars out here!! > I don't think this is A good place for them > to be crossing anymore;> From Kingman , KS . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Please note that all of the above people are allowed to vote.) > STAY ALERT!!> They walk among us... and they REPRODUCE!!!!

Who uses what connectivity?

I use Road Runner but get dropped right after storms until the lines dry out. For $50 a month, just not worth it.

What are you guys using?

OK, question of the day, any idea what this is???

On our way back from Florida, somewhere between Tennessee and Kentucky,
we kept finding these 3 semi's carrying a very intriguing load.
We have no clue what it is, any guesses??
I had a guess but don't want to taint your guesses, but will let you know
if we concur...

Now back to behaving and getting my foot up...

I'm ok, just not back actually on my foot yet...

OK, surgery went well, or at least that's what they told me.

They do have a marvelous sense of humor,
just coming out of being out cold, 'OPEN YOUR EYES'
OK, I did, right before they slammed shut again...
'OPEN YOUR EYES'
again, opened them and they shut about that fast.

I am very sensitive to the good stuff drugs, so when you knock me out,
I'm pretty much out for the count, longer than expected.
I slept in the car for the ride back to town, while waiting for hubby to pick up the good dope,
and while he picked up lunch, as I was incapacitated.

I still can't feel anything from my knee down, and I like it!!!
I have the good stuff when it does wake up, but if it's like me,
that could be late tomorrow :)

Just wanted to let you know I'm ok.
Those of you that came to the picnic, have seen my great 'boot'...
can't take it off except to shower now :(

I go back a week from Monday and can hopefully get it off and be 100% or better :)
This weekend I do nothing except, NOTHING!!! I'm a happy camper!
After being gone for 10 days, the DVR and I have much catching up to do!

Chess, Anyone?

I am not much of a player, so don't take this as a challenge. However, International Space Station astronaut Gregory Chamitoff is and he is currently taking on the world. The students at Stevenson Elementary School in Bellevue, Washington are leading the charge for Earth. They make a list of four possible moves and people vote via the internet which one to do. Our move is sent to the ISS and Gregory responds. The game is not fast...about one move a day (on school days).

The chess pieces and board have velcro on them to keep them from floating around in the ISS.

So if you are a chess affecianado, go ahead and vote. If you are not, well, then you can have fun screwing up the game!

TV Theme Song Quiz

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/webspecials07/interactives/tv-themes-quiz/

After you start the quiz, you have to click on the TV screen on the right side of your screen to play the theme song, then make your selection on the far left.

I got 8 (out of 10). I missed the first one - I didn't watch those shows, and I missed the soap opera one - didn't watch those, either. I also deduced/guessed a couple.

Workshop of the Telescopes

Yeah,so I stole the title from a Blue Oyster Cult song,but this blog has to something about a telescope. In the late '7o's,my Dad and I built (well,I watched) a Newtonian telescope. Without the advise of noted local astronomer Bill Duvall this telescope would not be completed. The tube is 4feet long and was crafted on a lathe. Inside the tube was fitted with a dark cork. The mirror is 6 inches in diameter and was hand grounded down by my father.(I remember watching him spend hours doing this). The stand was molded at his work. The counter balances are set to a 45 degree angle to compensate for Racine's latitude.(I'm sure that hale-bopp could explain this a lot better I could). The sighter scope and eye lenses were ordered for. This telescope is powerful enough to see the rings of Saturn. It's a good mermory that I wanted to share.

I'm BACK!!!!!!

I'm back!!
We had a great trip!! The weather was good for most of the trip,
My friend is now very happily married and we're home.
WOW, do I have the stuff to do around here,
so much to catch up on, emails, blogs, wow!!
You guys have been very busy on here,
give me the weekend to get caught up
(tomorrow AM I have heel surgery and will be very happily doped up)
I'll be back in the swing of things soon I hope!

Could Democrats Gain the "Magic 60"?

And is that a good thing? The Magic 60 is the number of votes needed to end debate in the Senate. CNN says a perfect storm could give Democrats the Magic 60. The economy gets blamed (or credited to) the party in the White House in general and the Republicans are being hit hard by retirement and just generally the number of seats they have to defend.

I may lose some lib cred here, but I am hoping they don't quite make it. Democrats should pick up some seats (and be able to ditch Lieberman which I sure don't mind!) but too much power concentrated in one party can be dangerous. I don't think having to convince three or four Republicans that a bill deserves to pass (or at least be voted on) is an undue burden!

Neither of my Senators are up for reelection this year (and they are both Republicans already) so I don't have any say this cycle (and no interesting dilemma...would I vote for a Republican over a Democrat I might like in the belief that it is better to have at least a minimal check in the Senate? Hard to say without names of candidates and overall national direction at the time).

I don't have anyone specific I want to lose to achieve this goal, just hoping for the storm to be not quite so perfect.

NYC National Debt Clock runs out of digits

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iWXmtw4Wutli6IP-0-yTYa4eS1ZwD93MLB0O0


Meanwhile, AIG executives have taken $440,000 of their $85 billion bailout to party: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus8-2008oct08,1,810583.column

Life must be good at the top.

"Eleven more computers stolen from Racine schools"

From the Journal Times: http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2008/10/08/local_news/doc48ed0a2f1b009815879427.txt

Wow. Nearly 70 computers stolen recently. Are there chop shops for computers like there are for cars, where they take them apart and sell the parts? Or do most stolen computers end up whole, sitting on someone's desk somewhere?

RUSD has plenty of problems without this adding to them. As Dr. Shaw points out in the article, besides the economic loss, this hurts the students directly.

Any ideas? Think it's an inside job? Who has the gall to loot schools? Has anyone checked eBay lately to see if Dr. Hicks or PBCG are selling computers at a great price?

HALLOWEEN IS GOING TO SUCK THIS YEAR !!

This sums up today's economy....

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello childrens! How are you? I hope that everyone is weathering the economic storm well. I tried casting a spell over Washington in order to help ease the problems, but even my powers cannot penetrate the 200 year thick mantle of manure covering our government.


Our first email today comes from Ms. kkdither. She writes:

“My dearest Madame Zoltar,

“Can you offer any insight as to why visitors to JTI come to the site, spend time, read the comments left by the regular irregulars, but nary offer a comment of their own?

“Do you see it to be a feeling of low self-esteem, a feeling of unworthiness, or is it more a denial of their own irregularity?

“Would you be willing to send telepathic vibrations their way, encouraging them to offer input-- to add their own ‘magic’ to our website?

“Sincere thanks,
kkdither”

Dear Ms. kk (May I call you kk?), I think it’s none of the above. Some people are doers and some people are watchers. More are watchers. I’ll bet you that many more people read the Journal Times webpages than comment on them. But some people may be intimidated by the idea of putting their thoughts “out there.” If you are one of those, please don’t be – I’ve been “out there” for a long, long time, and as you can see, I'm just fine. I’d also be happy to send out some good vibrations for the JT Irregulars. I just have to remember to focus properly and forget that embarrassing earthquake I caused the last time I tried that. Merci de votre email, Mme kk.


Our next question comes from Mr. AvengingAngel, who writes:

“Madame,

“When the moon was in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligned with Mars, peace was to guide the planets and love steer the stars. What happened?”

Dear Mr. AA, when I first started to read your question, I thought you were going to say, “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore.” Tee-hee. Well, yes, ahem, uh, what happened, indeed? When I came to after the 60’s, it was 1978 and a peanut farmer was in the White House. I can’t prove it, but I suspect that Jupiter and Mars did not properly “align” because they never could get along anyway. And if “love” was steering the stars, well love is drunk half of the time and blind all of the time, so there you go. Probably steered some stars right into some planets. Nothing very peaceful about that, now is there? Sorry, Mr. AA, but I don’t foresee much peace in the future for this planet, no matter what the stars say.


Confidential to “OC”: Stay away from me, you miscreant. Do not email me, do not call me, do not even think about me. If you attempt to contact me again in any way, shape, manner, or form, I will hit you with a spell faster than you can say “restraining order.”


Just so everyone knows, I did contact ABC News about their upcoming appearance in Racine this Thursday. I sent them a nice, complimentary email pointing out the JT Irregulars important role in Racine today. They replied with a form letter. From ABC Audience Relations:

“As you can imagine, we receive thousands of messages a day from our viewers and while we appreciate you taking the time to provide feedback regarding our programming, we are not able to respond to each one directly.

"We encourage you to continue to communicate with us!”

I encourage them to make good use of the new orifices that will manifest themselves on all of ABC News’ personnel if they don’t give a nod to the JTI on Thursday.


Thank you everyone so much for reading my blog. Don’t forget to send your questions and comments to me at madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com. I look forward to talking with you every week. I tell the good fairies to give all of my readers an extra wink or two whenever they can.

Arrivederci!

Where is the Zero-g G-Spot?

Well, we won't find out quite yet. Virgin Galactic turned down $1 million to shoot a porn video on one of its spacecraft. Probably just as well. There are all kinds of problems with sex in space. All of a sudden that action-reaction stuff means you have to hold on tight. And you don't want any stray fluids getting into your instruments and shorting them out.

Finally, you only get 5 minutes of weightlessness in a Virgin Galactic suborbital flight, but that's not a problem for most guys!

"$3 million for an overhead projector at a planetarium in Chicago"

[rant]
I know this is a small nit picky detail in the debate, but McCain put his foot squarely in my turf and showed he is clueless about a place I used to volunteer (running the Doan 20" telescope) and one of the top science centers in the country that specializes in, oh, science education.

His quote made it sound like the Adler Planetarium in Chicago is buying a $3 million "overhead projector". Makes it sound like a $600 hammer. But projecting a HD image on a large dome isn't like showing an overhead transparency at a meeting! It takes an array of high luminosity, high definition LCD projectors powered by an array of computers. Even the relatively small Bishop Planetarium in Bradenton, Florida has a projection system that cost about $1.5 million and it is a much smaller dome than the Adler. Calling it an "overheard projector" is grossly misleading.

Now it is fair to argue whether or not the Federal Government should be funding this and if he wants to have a debate on science education in this country, there are a lot of worthy projects out there. Maybe this would make the cut, maybe it wouldn't. The least he could do is make it look like he has a clue what he is criticizing.

But maybe this isn't a nit picky detail. After all, he wants to drill for oil...might need some good scientists to identify potential deposits. He wants to develop alternative energy...he might want some good scientists for that. McCain wants the U.S to stay at the forefront of technology innovation and he will need...anyone?

Ridiculing and scoffing at science education might not be the best way to achieve some of his goals.
[/rant]

Investment 101

Subject: INVESTMENTS

For Your Info:

If you had purchased $1,000.00 of Wachovia stock one year ago you
Would have $35 left.

With Fannie Mae, you would have had $23 left of the original $1,000.00.

With AIG, you would have $36 left.

But, if you had purchased $1,000.00 worth of beer one year ago, drank
All of the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling
REFUND, you would have $214.00 cash.

Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to drink
Heavily and recycle.

It's called the 401-Keg

Broken Symmetry: The 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics

It might sound obscure, but the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to three men who studied broken symmetry: Yoichiro Nambu, Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa (forgive me if I don't write their names and risk repeatedly misspelling them).

Broken symmetry is exceptionally important: without it, we would not exist! In the Big Bang, there should have been created equal amounts of matter and anti-matter. They have the bad habit of exploding in a burst of gamma rays when they meet. But, due to the broken symmetry, the amounts of matter and anti-matter are not quite equal. For every 10 billion particles of anti-matter created, 10 billion and one particles of matter are created. Everything you see is a result of that extra one. We have observed this broken symmetry in various particle accelerators (including Fermilab in Batavia, Illionois, a pleasant day trip from Racine to tour and see their bison herd).

But that's not all. The broken symmetries also give rise to the three families of subatomic particles. These particles make up everything in the universe, transmit the forces, and give us mass (assuming we find the Higgs Boson with the Large Hadron Collider).

Instead of me trying to explain all those little funky symbols representing all the particles, I will point you to Fermilab's Building Blocks of Nature video.

You might notice their work was done in the 60's and early 70's. It took a while for the other predicted particles to be discovered. The last of the quarks was not discovered until 1995 and the Higgs Boson is still awaiting discovery. If it is not discovered at CERN, I bet ther people who figure out why it wasn't will get a Nobel price 20 years or so from now.

Bailout Blog

I’m writing this because I am so angry about the economic meltdown, and I’m not even sure who to be angry with. In fact, I’m on the low end of the economic scale, so I have much less to lose than many others. Yet I find myself irritated that “those in charge” (who?) allowed the situation to deteriorate to this point.

Let me be the first to tell you that I have very little understanding of high finance. I’ve never had much money, so I’ve had little need to learn such things. But even I knew something was wrong. A year or so ago, a friend who works in real estate was telling me that I should buy a house. This woman knows my financial condition. I told her she was crazy. “Oh no, no,’ she said, “You can get a house. All you need is a few thousand dollars for the down payment.” She was serious. I shrugged it off. Common sense told me that was ludicrous. Common sense told me that I can’t afford a house. Common sense told me that I can’t get something for nothing.

Apparently, though, common sense is not much valued in high finance. Apparently, banks were kiting home loans left and right for just about anybody, regardless of whether or not they could afford the loans. Apparently, the American Dream is made of smoke and mirrors and financial gobbeldy-gook.

So why am I so ticked off? I don’t rightly know . . . I’m not going to lose a home or a job or any money in investments. I’ll probably survive this much better than some others. I have years of experience in living on nothing.

I guess it’s the sense of betrayal, once again, by those charged with leading our country. The sense that no matter how hard an individual tries to do the right thing in life, it will always be overwhelmed by the corruption and greed of the powerful. Money and power mean everything, everything, to these people. To be honest, I don’t even consider them people. The only thing that separates humans from animals is our sense of compassion. If you don’t have that, then you’re an animal, no matter how many pretty lies pass your lips.

When I boot up the computer now, I no longer log on to the local news first. I go directly to the national sites to see if we still exist as a functioning nation. And while there, I scan the links that show the presidential election campaigns are now just name calling, a tactic I first perfected in grade school. Those two yahoos might as well be on the Journal Times site, slinging crap at each other. This is who will lead us out of the current crisis? This is who will lead us into the future? This is who we are supposed to look up to?

For the first time in my adult life, I am considering not voting in a national election. I really think it doesn’t matter. Politicians are all pigs, only in it for themselves and their friends. They will lie and lie and lie and lie and lie and lie and lie and lie and lie, and then lie some more. I’m tired of my vote ratifying their lies. I am tired of electing monsters who screw over every working person in order to line the overstuffed pockets of their cronies. I am tired of watching this country swirl ever closer to the bottom of the toilet while connected predators get richer and richer. The thin veneer of civilization has been ripped off by the economic crisis, exposing the rotted timbers underneath and the greedy termites gnawing away at everything we work for.

And the solution is to put more termites in charge? Yeah, right . . . .

The new one dollar bill!

Have you seen it?

The Treasury Department has just issued a new dollar bill to reflect the state of the economy...

Stopping Smoking

On the plus side, you stop smoking, on the minus side, you're dead.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,432105,00.html

Duck!

Well, not much of a warning, but a 3 - 15 foot (size very uncertain) meteor is going to enter Earth's atmosphere tonight. Don't worry, it probably won't even reach the ground (although you can be we will be looking for fragments of it!) It was just discovered last night and will burn up over Africa.

This is kind of cool...it's the first time they have found an asteroid (I don't even think it deserves that title but they call it that in the press release) has been found and predicted to enter Earth's atmosphere in advance. An object of this size will produce a VERY impressive fireball...most of the meteors you see during a typical meteor shower are sand grain size...something a few feet across is spectacular. Wish I was on that side of the world tonight. At least I hope someone gets pictures of it.

If a big one comes, I hope they can give us a little more lead time!

Attention Passengers: Get Out and Push!

We have been joking about the lack of service on airlines, but it finally happened: Passengers on Shandong Airlines were asked to get out and push. The CRJ7 lost power after it landed. Passengers were asked to help push it off the runway.

My next flights are on Southwest and American. Taking bets on what I will have to do.

Eco Website

This is a different footprint calculator website.

It allows you to pick a person, kind of like you do when you play any of the Wii games, and then it puts all of your answers to the questions into a little town. For example, if you answer that you eat a lot of meat, it puts a little butcher shop in your town.

At the end of the survey it tells you how many worlds we would use up if everyone lived like you and then it gives you tips on simple ways to fix how you live.

“Eco Website”

McCain's awesum confidence in Palin

McCain/Palin, trust, respect, and openess. It was pretty amusing to read that Palin found out about McCain's departure from Michigan via the news the day after it happened. In this one brief stroke of "working together," McCain managed to show the world how much he really respects his running mate's opinion. If they make it to the White House, I can't help but wonder how often she will hear his plans via the news. I mean if McCain himself doesn't respect her opinion, why would anyone else?

Fannie Mae forgives loan for woman who shot herself

"(CNN) -- Fannie Mae said it will set aside the loan of a woman who shot herself as sheriff's deputies tried to evict her from her foreclosed home."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/03/eviction.suicide.attempt/

Well, that's one way to settle your mortgage.

Wind car racing

Hale Bopp can't possibly cover every interesting science wonderment on his own. Here's some help.

http://www.gizmag.com/the-first-race-for-wind-powered-vehicles/9953/

2008

One song I have been playing alot this year is called "Free" from Donavon Frankenreiter. Kinda a smooth, chilling Jimmy Buffet kind of thing.

Thnaks for joining me on this trip from 45's to mp3's. One thing that hasnt changed in the last 40 years is music is the one constant. Nothing brings back a memory like a song.