Coin from Costa Rica, Nov. 13, 2005

Nothing but a coin from down south in Costa Rica.

"New Chewing Gum Could Replace Toothbrush"

Humans can do some amazing things when they set their mind to it. Especially when they are developing it for the military.

Witness, the possibility of gum that makes brushing unnecessary.

Soldiers in the field often do not have the time or the means to brush and floss. Beyond that, the stress of combat can encourage bacterial growth in the mouth, said Col. Dennis Runyan, commander of the Army Dental and Trauma Research Detachment in Great Lakes, Ill.

[Bacteria-fighting g]um was considered an ideal solution because the Army already issues gum to soldiers in their field rations.

Brush your breath!

"Hayabusa approaches within 70 meters of asteroid Itokawa"

It won't be long now until the Japanese attempt to land a probe on an asteroid, collect samples, and bring them back!

Cool.

And what's really cool is the picture with the above link showing a shadow of the probe Hayabusa on the face of the asteroid Itokawa.

Go JAXA.

Honoring those who serve

I don't like to get into the political fray too much on this blog, but I think it is important that we honor those who serve in our armed forces and make sure they know how much this nation appreciates them. And denouncing our efforts in the war on terror is not the way to do it. It is ludicrous, disingenuous, and borderline evil to say you support the troops while hoping for them to fail in Iraq or Afghanistan.

I support our troops. On this Veterans Day and on all days. I hope they succeed in Iraq and come home. I hope they succed in Afghanistan and come home. I hope they succeed in Kosovo and come home.

Oh wait, you didn't know we still had troops in Kosovo? From the previous administration's war efforts? I did. And I still support them. I hope they succeed and come home to be remembered always on November 11.

"Astronauts float gravity plan to deflect earth-threatening asteroids"

Serious talk about gravitational tractors to protect the Earth from collisions with space bodies.

I love it. Things outlandish yesterday are becoming household today and in the near future.

Nanobots. Space elevators. Gravitational tractors. The Industrial Revolution's scientific grandson seems to have grown up.

"European Space Agency Launches Venus Probe"

The Venus Express -- on its way to hell.

And what hell Venus is. (From an excellent site called The Nine Planets.)

The pressure of Venus' atmosphere at the surface is 90 atmospheres (about the same as the pressure at a depth of 1 km in Earth's oceans). It is composed mostly of carbon dioxide. There are several layers of clouds many kilometers thick composed of sulfuric acid. These clouds completely obscure our view of the surface. This dense atmosphere produces a run-away greenhouse effect that raises Venus' surface temperature by about 400 degrees to over 740 K (hot enough to melt lead). Venus' surface is actually hotter than Mercury's despite being nearly twice as far from the Sun.

Hot enough to melt lead. "The Long Rain", it's not.

NOTE: The Nine Planets Web site indicates that Venus has a very dense atmosphere. This is in contrast to my previous post quoting the Associated Press article, which says Venus "lacks atmospheric pressure." Given the two sources, I'm inclined to go along with The Nine Planets claim.

"Scientists Ready Russian Rocket to Venus"

The Venus Express -- ready for hell.

Not only is Venus the nearest planet to Earth within the solar system, but the two share also roughly the same mass and density. Both have inner cores of rock and are believed to have been formed at roughly the same time.

But the two have vastly different atmospheres, with Venus' composed almost entirely of carbon dioxide with very little water vapor. It is also the hottest surface of all the planets and lacks atmospheric pressure.

Horizon view

The view from the lookout posted below.

Lookout morning

Nothing more than a lookout on a hilltop early in the morning.

Letting the students down

The following question is taken from a test bank to accompany a text that teaches college students how to write. The question was multiple choice, and the student is required to choose the proper adverbial conjunction. But something else caught my eye:

The people of America are demanding a change; _______, studies conducted by sociologists and psychologists are being used to affect a change. [emphasis added]

Effect! Which means "to bring about".

The proper use of "affect" and "effect" can be mildly confusing, but most English majors and teachers should be able to make the distinction. What's troubling is that the editor of this text -- one that is designed to teach students how to write properly -- could not.

In a nutshell, "affect" is usually a verb meaning to influence something else (Ex.: The play affected me emotionally.) while "effect" is usually a noun that describes a result (Ex.: Watching the play after eating nachos had the effect of making me sick.).

Usually is the key word.

"Affect" can be a noun meaning emotion or feeling, but this use is not very common. Also, "effect" can be a verb meaning to bring about, to cause to happen. And this is the meaning that best fits the question above.

To write well, make sure you always have the proper word choice. The dictionary is your friend; use it. And always, always double check potentially confusing word choices. If you think you have it right, check it again. Then check one more time. We all make mistakes, but a little diligence can go a long way toward clarity.

Making our lives miserable

Looks like spyware, viruses, and worms just weren't good enough for those pendejos. Now there's a new kind of malware that just sits quietly on your computer, waits for you to go to a bank site, and then steals your password. And they are sneaky.

These specialized forms of spyware, now being called by other names like crimeware, ratware, and even bankware, worm their way onto victims' computers in a number of ways. Some are inserted completely in silence, through an unpublished or unpatched software vulnerability. Others are hidden in Web sites on the Internet's darker side, such as pornography sites. Still others come in e-mail, disguised as electronic greeting cards.

They're called RATs, which stands for "remote access Trojans". And they could get worse.

The next step for RAT programs is continuous screen capture, which would allow a criminal to watch every move a consumer makes online, as if peeking into the room with a video camera. The technology already exists, but it is bandwidth intensive -- a problem that's slowly disappearing as consumers sign up for higher-bandwidth services. ING's system would be easily foiled by continuous screen captures.

Personally, I like the term "crimeware". Aptly labels the actions of such psychotic bastards.

"Greenpeace to pay fine for damaging reef"

This is kinda funny.

MANILA (Reuters) - Greenpeace said Tuesday it will pay nearly $7,000 in damages after the environmental group's flagship, the Rainbow Warrior II, hit a coral reef at a world heritage site in the southern Philippines.
...
Officials from the marine park assessed the area of damaged reef at 96 square metres (113 square yards) and valued it at 384,000 pesos.
...
The visit to the reefs in the Sulu Sea was part of a four-month tour by the Rainbow Warrior II to Australia, China, the Philippines and Thailand to raise awareness about global warming and promote renewable energy.

The Rainbow Warrior II sails the oceans campaigning for the environment, but it seems to still rely on fossil fuels, from time to time. Oh, but the ship does make use of a "heating and hot water system that uses waste heat". Nice. No use letting heat go to waste. Especially if it comes from the running diesel engines.

Tractor day

Nothing but a picture of a tractor making its way through an orchard.

Sighting the space station

I just watched the International Space Station pass overhead. Very cool indeed.

"FDA Warns Against Cherry Health Claims"

I've never thought of cherries as health food. And, apparently, neither does the FDA.

The cherry industry has promoted the fruit as a health food in recent years. The [Lansing, Michigan-based Cherry Marketing Institute]'s Web site carries information on university studies of the fruit's possible health benefits, describing cherries as "a natural pain killer."

"Recent research has shown that tart cherries contain powerful antioxidants that may help relieve the pain of arthritis and gout and also protect the body against cardiovascular disease and inhibit cancer tumors," says one statement posted on the site. Another describes Montmorency tart cherries as "the healing fruit."

Producers tend to couch their health labels in conditional terms, using words such as "may."

I wonder if this is one of Kevin Trudeau's secrets.

Actually I can't stand cherries, so I don't really care if anyone eats them. But, I guess it would provide justification for the ultimate topping to sundaes.

"Corpse mistaken for Halloween decoration"

I wonder if this story is real.

If it is, then what kind of neighborhood is it where a hanging body can actually be dismissed as a decoration? Sure, I can understand people ignoring or dismissing plastic witches and inflatable monsters, but those are such kitschy items. Who could mistake them for anything more than fun? But something that looked like a real body?

What would you do if your neighbor put up a decoration like this?

I might keep a closer eye on my neighbor.

(Here's a local version of the story from the News Journal in Wilmington, DE.)

Chasing the space elevator prize

This was an interesting competition: a space elevator race and a space-age ribbon tug-of-war. The winners, respectively: the University of Saskatchewan and Centaurus Aerospace of Logan, Utah (well, they didn't actually win the prizes, but I call them "winners" because they got closest to the prize and because the whole concept is so cool!).

I can't wait for the next of the space games from NASA.

Fighting panda extinction

The strange obsession with the evolutionary dead-ends known as pandas apparently makes it a news story when one of them hollers as it is poked by a needle.

I am not kidding.

The headline of this story is "Panda Cub Not Thrilled About Latest Shot".

Yes, and my last dog probably wasn't too happy when his manhood got clipped. Oh, but then again, dogs know how to breed, so they are not endangered. Pandas don't, so they are. And, therefore, worthy of every superhuman effort to keep them from disappearing from the earth. And worthy of the Associated Press's attention whenever one barks.

Putting weather in the vacuum of space

Here is a screen capture of Yahoo! News on October 20, 2005. Can you guess which item doesn't belong? (Hint: it's the one that doesn't have to do with space or astronomy.)

"Cassini Views Dione, a Frigid Ice World"

The Cassini spacecraft is still going strong, and it recently came pretty close to Saturn's moon, Dione. What's incredible is this picture taken by the probe.

When my wife saw the picture, she said it looks fake, like it's a special effect. Such talk could encourage the moon-landing-hoax believers. But, then again, could anything really discourage them?

Sucking up to the Chinese

Here is a screen capture of Yahoo! News on October 16, 2005. Can you guess what happened in space news on this day?

"Spyware can constitute illegal trespass on home computers"

Eric J. Sinrod has a column in USA Today about a lawsuit that was brought against a pusher of spyware. Having been the victim of spyware so disabling and persistent I had to reformat my hard drive, I welcome the decision of the court that spyware makers and distributors can be sued for trespass.

The plaintiff asserted that the defendants deceptively downloaded spyware onto thousands of computers.

...

In addition, the plaintiff asserted that the spyware is designed specifically to be difficult to remove from a computer once it is installed. Worse still, the plaintiff argued that computer users are bombarded with annoying pop-up advertisements by virtue of the spyware. Finally, the plaintiff claimed that the spyware destroys other legitimate software, slows down computers, and depletes bandwith and computer memory.

...

In sum, and in the words of the court: "Simply put, plaintiff alleges that Spyware interfered with and damaged his personal property, namely his computer and Internet connection, by over-burdening their resources and diminishing their functioning. Accordingly, the court denies (the) motion to dismiss (the) trespass to chattels cause of action."

I know this won't stop the scourge, but maybe it will make some of those pendejos think twice before hijacking and infecting as many computers as they can.

"World's Oldest Noodles Alter View of Ancient Diet"

According to LiveScience.com, the world's oldest noodles are 4,000 years old.

Archeologists excavating an ancient Chinese settlement discovered a small pile of well-preserved noodles after turning over an upside-down clay bowl.

Them's some noodles.

Water bridge

I meant to blog this yesterday. This is a bridge. Over water. Containing water!

I ran across this on Snopes.com, and it just blew my mind! Humans can do some amazing things, and this engineering marvel is testament to what we can do when we try.

Dinosaur morning

Nothing but a picture of a T. Rex.

"U.K. hackers jailed for global computer worm plot"

Good, good, good.

Hacking is not romantic. It is criminal. As spyware should be.

Anticipating our future

Glenn Reynolds has been following the buzz about the "Singularity". It's an interesting concept that predicts a future time where technology has become so advanced that, at a point called the Singularity, we become more than the humans we are now.

Superhuman intelligence. Biotechnology. Cyborg interfaces.

More human than human.

And we seem to be well on the way to the Singularity already, according to Mr. Reynolds. He may be right about our progress; I definitely think he is on target in this post when he names what should really matter to us on an evolutionary level:

And the technological changes that we're undergoing are likely to be more important than the day to day political and economic and military news that occupies most of our attention. Somebody in a lab somewhere will change our lives more, for better or worse, than Harriet Miers is ever likely to.

Let's just hope that lab isn't being used by al-Qaeda.

Describing Beowulf

In the words of Hrothgar:

Why, I knew him - when he was only a boy;
his father, now dead, - was named Ecgtheow:
Hrethel of the Geats - gave him a wife,
his only daughter. - And so his brave son
has now come here, - seeks a loyal friend!
In fact, the merchants - who used to carry
gifts of coins, - our thanks to the Geats,
said he had war-fame, - the strength of thirty
in his mighty hand-grip. - Holy God
in the fullness of mercy - has sent him to us,
to the Danish people, - if I'm not mistaken,
against Grendel's terror. - I must offer this man
excellent treasures - for his daring courage.

-----Beowulf, translated by Howell D. Chickering, Jr., lines 372-385

"'Beowulf' Turned Into Modern Rock Opera"

Let's hope this treatment does the classic poem justice. My suspicions, however, are that it won't.

Beowulf is historically significant for the English language, but it is also a damn good story. I'm not sure how well it will translate to the stage. This attempt at turning it into a movie didn't seem to work so well.

Speckled sky

Nothing but an early-morning, speckled kind of Texas sky.

"Calif. Gov. OKs Viagra Ban for Offenders"

This seems like a good idea. [Mild understatement!--ed.]

California taxpayers will no longer help pay the cost of impotency drugs for registered sex offenders under legislation signed Tuesday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Here's the scary part:

Federal support for subsidized Viagra was curtailed earlier this year when a New York state audit found nearly 200 sex offenders benefiting from the program. [emphasis added]

That's 200 convicts whose crimes involved sex getting taxpayers to help them with their erections. It happened. Now let's hope other states follow California's example quickly and make sure local programs don't fund this sort of sickness.

And, if somehow you can justify letting a sex offender get tax-funded Viagra, I would be interested to hear your argument. I seriously doubt you will be able to persuade me, but I would be interested in hearing the argument nonetheless.

Impugning words

Here is an interesting discussion by Jeff Goldstein on language, intent, and interpretation.

Linguistically speaking, we have but two choices: either insist language be ground in the intentions of its utterers, or else conclude that we must each be responsible, in perpetuity, for whatever might be done with our utterance once it leaves our control. ... And if our goal is to hash out policy or to discuss potentially controversial issues, we simply must be able to do so without worry that parties invested in maintaining the status quo are allowed to silence us by assuming control over the terms of debate. [emphasis in original]

Too bad someone else's sensitivities can shut us all up.

Taking millionaires into space

A Russian rocket took off from the Baikonur cosmodrome, and one of the people on board is Gregory Olsen, an American millionaire.

I say, Good.

We need more space tourists, even if they are millionaires at first. As space travel becomes more and more common, the costs will eventually come down (think airline travel in its early days) and more and more people will be able to afford it. Eventually we should see the rise of space liners, and travelling beyond our atmosphere will be as commonplace as going to Las Vegas on Southwest.

I can't wait. I just hope it doesn't take too long.

Fighting extinction

Reuters reports that, once again, some pandas have failed to mate. The reluctance this species has toward procreating may eventually spell doom for the black-and-white fuzzballs.

Shuan Shuan, 18 and born in Mexico, was flown back from Japan earlier this week, dashing hopes that a far eastern romance might get her pregnant, after attempts to spark chemistry with Beijing-born Ling Ling, 20, fizzled out.

"We couldn't get them to mate," said Mexico City zoo director Rafael Tinajero sadly. [Is it really necessary to include this adverb? What if he had been indifferent? --ed.]

The 1-1/2 year mating mission was part of a worldwide breeding program to try to bring pandas back from the brink of extinction. But Shuan Shuan and Ling Ling
didn't hit it off.

Maybe we are doing the wrong thing to push these animals so hard to reproduce. Maybe we are witnessing natural selection in process. Perhaps the panda was meant to die out. Perhaps it should not survive because it is not the fittest of animals.

But I can hear the admonishments already:
"They're so cute!"
"They're so cuddly!"
"We should save all animals!"
"Especially cute and cuddly ones!"
"After all, that zoo director was so sad when those pandas couldn't mate!"

Faugh.

The pandas seem to be an evolutionary dead-end. And this is not the fault of humans! In fact, we seem to be doing everything in our power to save them and they just don't seem interested in each other!

Should we be expending this much energy on animals that can't (or won't) mate and that can't seem to survive on their own?

I'm inclined to say, No.

Sailing the cosmos

The thought of a solar sail deploying may not be exciting for most people, and the technology is not likely to be featured in any movie space battles (Count Dooku's use notwithstanding), but I can't believe that this technology is not getting wider coverage. Especially since, according to Physorg.com, it's starting to seem entirely feasible and not so much like fiction anymore.

NASA engineers and their industry partners have successfully deployed two 400-square-meter solar sails during ground testing. This is a critical milestone in the development of a unique propulsion technology that uses the Sun to propel vehicles through space.

Again, it's not all blasts and rocket fire, but solar sails may play a significant role in future space travel.

"Irish Republican Army Officially Disarms"

Hooray!

"Professor Using High Tech to Detect IEDs"

This sounds like good science. For a good and timely purpose. Imagine if our soldiers can just turn on a device and detect explosives in their path.

With some modifications here and a few tweaks there, [Kansas State University nuclear engineering professor Bill] Dunn believes technology routinely used to figure soil density or measure muscle fat in meat can detect explosives.

Dunn envisions two types of sensors. One would be large and transported in a van, capable of detecting explosives several yards away. The van could be at a vehicle checkpoint and data could be fed into a computer a safe distance away.

Right now, the sensors can work up to a couple of yards, but Dunn's goal is to extend that range to at least 10 yards and be able to detect an explosive in less than 10 seconds.

After the London transit bombings in July, Dunn started work on a smaller version — about 3 feet by 2 feet — that could be wheeled around to check smaller items such as suitcases and knapsacks.

Godspeed and good luck to Dunn. Let's give our soldiers all the protection they need.

"IRA 'on the threshold' of full disarmament"

It looks like the IRA is finally playing nice.

The outlawed Irish Republican Army is on the verge of disposing of its stockpiled arms in a long-sought peace move, Sinn Fein leaders said Friday after their first meeting with the Irish government in eight months.

The British and Irish governments have also forecast that the IRA could confirm it has scrapped its weapons arsenal by the middle of next week.

So close. Let's hope they're not blowing smoke up our asses.

Revealing the new vehicle

Here it is, the new space vehicle to replace the space shuttle.

The Crew Exploration Vehicle, or CEV, is slightly less than imaginative in design (it's rocket-shaped), but the functionality and safety are what's most important. According to NASA, it "will be 10 times safer than the shuttle, due to an escape rocket on top of the capsule that can quickly blast the CEV if problems ... develop during takeoff." [ed.: I think they meant to say "... blast off the CEV ..."]

Good. Let's get those astronauts up there.

Impugning a perfectly good word, part II

Michael Quinion at World Wide Words has a good entry on the beating that the word "refugee" has gotten after the Katrina disaster. He thinks the word is being used in a perfectly good way that captures the situation aptly. I tend to agree.

Evacuee implies an orderly and organised process. Refugee implies a desperate, involuntary and unplanned move. The former doesn’t have the emotive implications or emotional force of the latter. Whatever its dictionary sense, or the definitions of the international aid organisations, or the plaints of politicians, or the lexical views of dictionaries and pedants, for most people refugee sums up the situation of the sufferers more accurately than any other.

As I said previously, it's too bad when sensitivities effectively ban a neutral and descriptive word. The English language as a whole suffers for it.

"NASA to unveil plan for moon mission in 2018"

It's good to see we will be back on the moon soon. And after that, Mars. What with all the developments we have been seeing lately (Mars rovers, private space flights, space elevators, Saturn probes, asteroid probes, etc.), it looks like we're on the threshold of a new age of space exploration.

Exciting stuff.

UPDATE: Truly exciting stuff, especially when some people have a vision like this: "New Company Sets Goal of Settling Mars".

I hope these guys are serious, though I am afraid they might fail. Still, you can't help admiring their spirit.

[4Frontiers Corp. co-founder Bruce] Mackenzie, a software developer, has devoted much of his energy to a nonprofit group called the Mars Foundation, which aims to advance knowledge about how to colonize the planet. But he decided a private venture like 4Frontiers also would be necessary, to drive things forward.

Although President Bush has called for a manned mission to Mars, Mackenzie believes big bureaucracies might never get the job done right.

"It's better to have lots of groups out there, all trying things," Mackenzie says.

Amen. And good luck.

"Japan's Probe Within 12 Miles of Asteroid"

Did I mention this was cool?

What's really cool is how the Japanese plan to collect samples of the asteroid. They're going to shoot the rock!

When Hayabusa moves in for the rendezvous, expected to be over in a matter of seconds, it will pull up close enough to fire a small bullet into the asteroid and collect the ejected fragments in a funnel-like device. It won't be coming back with much — the amount of material planners hope to capture wouldn't even fill a teaspoon. [emphasis added]

That's a small amount of asteroid dirt. But I'm sure it will keep scientists busy for a long time.

More information here at the Web site for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

"Gillette ups the ante, unveils 5-blade razor"

Two blades have always been ample for me. But, if someone wants to shave with the equivalent of a set of sharp mini-blinds, who am I to disparage such an invention?

"Japanese Space Probe Reaches Asteroid"

This is so cool. They're actually going to land a space probe (called "Hayabusa") on an asteroid (called "Itokawa"), take samples, ...

... and then take off again!

I wish the Japanese all the luck in this endeavor.

A crane

Nothing but a picture of a crane.

"Deep Impact probe shows a fragile, empty comet"

I guess comets really are dirty snowballs. At least, according to this article from Reuters.

"The comet is mostly empty, mostly porous," said Michael A'Hearn, a comet specialist at the University of Maryland. "Probably all the way in, there is no bulk ice. The ice is all in the form of tiny grains."

The material on the comet's surface, down to a depth of several dozen yards (meters) is "unbelievably fragile, less strong than a snowbank," A'Hearn said in a telephone news briefing to release early findings from the mission.

I hope this means they should be pretty easy to destroy if they ever threaten Earth. And that maybe this book got it wrong.

Impugning a perfectly good word

It's too bad when sensitivities effectively ban the use of certain words. This year's top victim is surely "refugee".

The Associated Press has a good article by Jocelyn Noveck about the recent commotion regarding the use of "refugee" to describe New Orleans residents left homeless by Katrina. I've got to agree with William Safire on this one: how does this word imply race at all?

Trying something new

I tried one of those new aluminum bottles. It was Michelob Light, and the look and feel of the bottle was truly interesting.

But I fail to see the point. The beer still tasted like beer.

At least it isn't as silly as Keystone Light's glass-lined cans.

"Anti-rape condom aims to stop attacks"

All I have to say to this is, "ouch"!

An inventor developed an anti-rape condom for women, which she envisions will help prevent rapes in South Africa. The operative words are "hooks" and "shafts of sharp barbs".

And, she calls it the "rapex".

Not surprisingly, some people have objected to the "rapex".

But the "rapex" has raised fears amongst anti-rape activists that it could escalate violence against women.

"If a victim is wearing such a device it may enrage the attacker further and possibly result in more harm being caused," said Sam Waterhouse, advocacy coordinator for Rape Crisis.

Other critics say the condom is medieval and barbaric -- an accusation [inventor Sonette] Ehlers says should be directed rather at the act of rape.

Can't argue with that.

"'Loverspy' Spyware Creator Indicted, On the Run"

Hooray!

I hope the feds catch him, and I hope they go after more of these creeps. People who write spyware are no better than vandals and thieves.

"Brits driving Austrians bonkers over rude village name"

This is kinda funny.

Some interesting pull quotes from this article:

"We will not stand for the F---ing signs being removed," the officer told the broadsheet.

... and ...

Local guide Andreas Behmueller said it was only the British that had a fixation with F---ing.

... and ...

Guesthouse boss Augustina Lindlbauer described the village's breathtaking lakes, forests and vistas.

"Yet still there is this obsession with F---ing," she said.

"Just this morning I had to tell an English lady who stopped by that there were no F---ing postcards."

Do the Austrians realize how hilarious this sounds? Perhaps not. Perhaps they are just tired of the jokes. If so, maybe they should change the name of the village.

How about "Sucking"?

UPDATE: Some pictures here on this excellent Web site.

"Deliveryman's bomb death still a mystery"

This whole story is just so weird.

Telling statistics

Trust for America’s Health, an advocacy group, released a ranking of all 50 states in the U.S. based on how fat the citizens are. According to them, Mississippi is the fattest state and Colorado is the thinnest.

But some have questioned the group’s report, as noted in this USA Today article.

But government and other statistical experts take issue with the methods used to compile the ranking. The group averaged three years of data (2002-2004) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a state-by-state telephone system in which participants report their own weight and height.

Because people are believed to underestimate weight and overestimate height, some experts say actual obesity rates are higher than data suggest in self-reported surveys of this kind.

CDC officials say the ranking is misleading for a more technical reason. "This is not a valid statistical comparison," says Michael Link, a senior survey methodologist at the agency.

The percentage of obese adults in each state actually could be several points higher or lower than the numbers indicate, Link says. Because the sample size varies from state to state, each one has a different margin of error, which means the states can't be compared without giving that range, he says. [Emphasis added]

Advocacy groups often release studies and reports with no real intrinsic value other than the sensational media attention they generate (which, I realize, is the point with such groups). But it is disingenuous to try to influence public opinion with bad statistics. Or no statistics.

And that brings me to my annual moment of tooth-grinding frustration, when Men’s Fitness reveals its annual ranking of the fattest cities in America.

The Men’s Fitness survey is hopelessly flawed. It postures as a genuine statistical report, which is risible because its methods are lazy and not based on any legitimate method that I am aware of. Granted, I am not a professional in the field of statistics, but I question their choice of factors, and their blind reliance on an Internet telephone book for data strikes me as a poor method of statistical analysis.

Let me explain why I feel this way.

Men’s Fitness has graciously explained their method on their Web site (here), and I will address each portion as I see fit to explain why I look on the survey with contempt.

[The block quotes are from the Men’s Fitness Web site, and the emphases have been added by me.]

How We Did It - The 50 largest U.S. cities were selected using the most recent United States Census Bureau statistics available at the time of the survey, which was conducted from August 2004 through October 2004. Cities were assessed in 14 equally weighted categories, using data specific to each city, except as noted when data was available only for a metropolitan statistical area or for a state. (When no data was available, an average score was assigned.) The categories were selected as indicators, risk factors or relevant environmental determinants affecting fitness, obesity and health.

Indeed, there are a lot of categories, and I do not see why they all should be weighted equally. Should equal consideration be given to hard data and assumptions, as some of the categories surely cover?

Also, the survey makes up for a lack of data with an average score. Admittedly, I am not sure if this practice is common among statisticians and auditors, but I would think the report would just reflect that no data is available for certain markets.

The cities were ranked first to last and assigned numerical grades based on a relative curve. The scores were then translated into letter grades, which, while a more familiar point of reference, eliminated some of the scoring nuances. Since the survey is based on a comparative scale, with cities ranked solely in relation to each other, some positions and grades may have shifted from last year without necessarily indicating significant statistical changes.

Why was this done? Was something wrong with the numerical grades? How are letter grades more familiar than numerical grades?

Gyms/Sporting Goods - Composite score, equally weighing (a) total number of clubs, gyms and fitness studios ranked per 100,000 population, from YellowPages.com; and (b) total number of sporting-goods retailers ranked per 100,000 population, from YellowPages.com.

Does YellowPages.com include all clubs, gyms, fitness studios, and sporting-goods retailers in any given market? I doubt it. What about those clubs and gyms that aren’t listed? Without them, the survey is less accurate and less reliable.

Besides, counting fitness clubs does not take into account the people who work out at home or on the road. My wife and I work out together, but we do so in our house and not at an expensive gym.

Nutrition - Composite score, equally weighing (a) average frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption (percent that consumes five or more servings per day) in state-level data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; and (b) total number of health-food stores ranked per 100,000 population, from YellowPages.com.

Again, I doubt all health-food stores in the nation are listed on YellowPages.com.

Also, the Men’s Fitness survey is relying on data from the same source as the scorned Trust for America’s Health report, i.e., the CDC surveillance system that relies on people to be honest about how tall they are and how much they weigh.

Exercise/Sports - Total participation in 103 sports and fitness-related activities. Measured by participants per 100 residents for the top 30 metropolitan statistical areas and by state. State-level data used when no metropolitan data available. Honolulu and Wichita, not surveyed, were given average scores. Data from the Superstudy of Sports Participation Geographic Supplement, from American Sports Data Inc.

A “superstudy” is the source of the data, but does it take into account people who work out at home?

Also, Honolulu and Wichita get the short end of the stick. They were assigned average scores. I wonder if that includes surfers?

Overweight/Sedentary - Composite score according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, equally weighing (a) percentage of population that is obese; (b) percentage of population at risk for health problems related to being overweight; (c) percentage of population at risk for health problems related to lack of exercise; and (d) percentage of population not participating in physical activity. SMART (selected metropolitan-micropolitan area risk trends) data used for specific cities. State data used where city data unavailable.

Again, Men’s Fitness is relying on the CDC surveillance system, which (according to Michael Link, a survey methodologist at the CDC) doesn’t reflect the actual number of obese adults in any given state.

Junk Food - Total number of fast-food outlets, pizza parlors, ice cream shops and doughnut stores ranked per 100,000 population, from YellowPages.com.

Again with the YellowPages.com. Is that gospel?

Besides, a strict cumulative count of fast-food outlets does not take into account eating habits. Should MacDonald’s be given equal ranking along with Subway, which offers several low-fat menu items? What about new menu items that are much healthier? I went to Jack in the Box today, but I did not have cheeseburger. I ordered an Asian chicken salad with a diet Dr. Pepper. Might others in the land of fast-food chains be doing the same?

Alcohol - Composite score, equally weighing (a) total number of bars/taverns ranked per 100,000 population, from YellowPages.com; and (b) apparent alcohol consumption by state, from the surveillance report of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

OK. They've admitted this is just a complete guess. How statistically significant can it be to measure apparent data?

And, again, the gospel according to YellowPages.com.

TV - Metered Market HUT (Homes Using Television) Analysis, Primetime, June 1, 2003-May 31, 2004, from Nielsen Media Research. Average or regional scores assigned to cities where specific data unavailable.

Does anyone still believe the Nielsen numbers? Have they ever? I never have.

Air Quality - The air-quality index is based on annual reports from the Environmental Protection Agency. The number of ozone-alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of pollutants, including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. From Sperling's Best Places.

What does this have to with fatness? Don’t lean and hefty people all breathe the same air?

Climate - The climate index is based on National Weather Service data combining estimated annual days above 32 degrees and below 90 degrees, amounts of precipitation and sunshine, and the August heat/humidity index.

Wow. Cities in Texas and Florida get bad marks right from the start because of the weather. As does Alaska. That seems lame. Good thing Canada was not included in the survey.

Geography - Accessible recreational forests, lakes, rivers, waterways, mountains, and ocean beaches, compiled from almanacs and additional sources.

I don’t know about you or the researchers at Men’s Fitness, but I don’t need a mountain to do pushups. Besides, fatties can float on lakes, rivers, and waterways.

Commute - Based on the Travel Time Index, which measures traffic delays due to congestion, according to the Urban Mobility Report from the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University. Average score for small cities assigned to Tulsa and Wichita.

I’ll concede this category. Long commutes can discourage activity, which can lead generally worse health. We all could walk more.

Parks/Open Space - Composite score, equally weighing (a) total acreage per 10,000 population of federal and state recreation areas plus all listed water areas, from the Places Rated Almanac; (b) number of city parks per 10,000 population, according to a 2004 Men's Fitness custom survey; and (c) acres of city parks and recreational open space per 10,000 population, according to a 2004 Men's Fitness custom survey.

See my remarks to the “Geography” category above.

Recreation Facilities - Composite score based on totals per 10,000 population, from a a 2004 Men's Fitness custom survey, equally weighing (a) number of public basketball courts; (b) number of public swimming pools; (c) number of public tennis courts; and (d) number of public golf courses.

What about roadways for runners and bicyclists? Why weren’t they taken into consideration? Are golfers inherently more fit than bicycle riders? Do you think John Daly could take Lance Armstrong?

Health Care - Based on city-by-city ranking of health resources, access, cost of hospital stay, and cost of doctors' visits, as measured by Sperling's Best Places.

How is this a direct indicator of fitness? My last doctor visits had more to do with colds and allergies than anything else.


OK, I’m done. Needless to say, I think the rankings released by Men’s Fitness every year are bogus, and the media and local officials give the whole thing way too much consideration.

To which, I give a healthy “faugh”!

Selling flimflam

It seems like Kevin Trudeau has a book for sale called Natural Cures 'They' Don’t Want You to Know About. It seems like it's popular. And it seems like a whole lot of snake oil and flimflam.

According to this article on MSNBC.com, the New York State Consumer Protection Board called the book a "fraud", and one disgruntled buyer had this to say:

"The book is just gobbledygook. There's nothing in it. He doesn't say what the cures are," [Gerald] Bates said. Instead, Bates said, on page after page the book urges readers to head to Trudeau's Web site, NaturalCures.com. Consumers must pay $10 a month to use the site. And for those calling the toll free number to purchase the book, operators work hard to tack on a Web site subscription. "Something should be done to pull that ad off TV."

Ouch. Sure sounds like a bait-and-switch to me. Get the mark -- er, customer -- to spend $40 on a book that supposedly contains cures but that actually directs them somewhere else for $10 a month where the cures actually (presumably) are. It's shameless, but it's an old scam, updated for the Internet age.

I am a firm believer in the First Amendment, and people like Trudeau have the right to publish whatever drivel they want. But, buyers beware. Don't believe everything you see, hear, or read, especially if it sounds too good to be true.

"Black Hole Forges Invisible Bubble"

The universe is so cool.

The newfound bubble [around black hole Cygnus X-1] is about 10 light-years across and is expanding at about 225,000 mph (100 kilometers per second). Its creation has been ongoing for a million years or so. Astronomers are excited about the disovery because it is impossible to measure directly the power of jets like this one. By noting the interaction at the bubble, however, the researchers were able to calculate the jet's power.

The jet packs about 100,000 times more energy than our Sun.

"Remarkably, it also means that, after a massive star dies and turns into a black hole, it is still capable of energizing its surroundings, by means of completely different mechanisms," [University of Amsterdam's Elena] Gallo said.

Astronomers suspect there are millions of black holes similar to Cygnus X-1.

The cycle of life goes on, even for the universe. Stars die, but apparently they turn into the soil that feeds the space around them.

Makes me want to listen to Rush some more, especially this album.

"Microsoft, Apple in iPod patent tussle"

How could Apple let Microsoft get to the patent office first? This is almost laughable.

I can't believe Microsoft was able to patent some of the iPod technology before Steve Jobs, who's probably grinding his teeth right now at the prospect of paying Bill Gates for the iPod's success. If Apple truly makes products that revolutionize the computing world and everyone else just copies them (as any Mac lover will assert), I would think they would be filing patents at the drop of a hat.

Maybe they will be quicker from this point on.

Appreciating vanilla

Amanda Fortini defends vanilla in "The White Stuff", and gives a little history as well.

I appreciate true vanilla flavors, and I don't write the flavor off as bland. I also appreciate Fortini's writing in defending the precious, expensive stuff (the real stuff, that is). For example:

And suddenly I had a vanilla epiphany. The rice, a truly bland food, forced the vanilla to take center stage. But vanilla is essentially a supporting actor. It is a sociable flavor, at its best when bringing out the best in other distinct ingredients, softening their acidity, drawing out their intensity, helping them to cohere. This is why baked goods made without vanilla lack depth and dimension, like music without a bass line.

She packs a lot of metaphors in this one passage, but I don't think she goes overboard with them. It is a smooth, readable writing style in defense of a smooth, delicious flavor. And I like it.

Pondering the next vehicle

I'm glad the shuttle made it safely back to Earth. But it's probably time to put a new vehicle design on the fast track. The shuttle design has served well, but it might not be a bad idea to separate missions where a crew is critical from those that are just putting a payload in orbit (for which plain rockets will do just fine).

I, for one, can't wait to see what they come up with.

"Ex-U.N. official admits taking bribes"

Wow. One of them actually confessed.

By "them", of course, I mean the miscreants who were taking advantage of a humanitarian program to make themselves rich. And they weren't Americans. And I'm sure that they, to a man, opposed invading Iraq.

No wonder. That took away their gravy train.

A former U.N. procurement officer pleaded guilty Monday to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from U.N. contractors, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Alexander Yakovlev pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering and could face up to 20 years in prison for each charge, the office said in a statement.

I really have no opinion of John Bolton, Bush's appointment as United Nations ambassador. But it sounds like he has a tough job ahead of him as he heads into the snakepit. I wish him luck.

"Space Shuttle Undocks, Heads for Home"

Here's for a safe journey home.

Finding chiasmus

Chris Lydgate has a piece in the Opinion Journal about the sad state of prison affairs near Portland, Oregon. Though the subjet matter of the piece is quite interesting, what caught my eye was Lydgate's cheeky use of chiasmus, a rhetorical literary devise whereby a parallel structure is reversed for poetic effect.

Like this: "While scofflaws scoff and perps perpetrate, the Board of Commissioners is deadlocked over the sheriff's budget."

It isn't an exact chiasmus as I learned it, as the subject and verb of each phrase are in the same position. However, the spirit is there as the one syllable word that echoes its polysyllabic partner switches places in the second phrase.

I know I'm a language geek, but something like this impresses me more than whether or not Oregonians can figure out how to fill a jail with criminals.

A ferry landing

Just a simple picture of a ferry landing.

Watching space junk

Since the 1960s, humanity's forays into space have become so commonplace that no one really notices launches anymore. Oh, people pay attention to NASA's space shuttle, but, really, can you remember the last time a communications payload was put into orbit?

I think this is good, in a way. Using space for the benefit of humanity has become necessary in many respects. But, with so many launches of so many satellites (not to mention the shuttle missions and those association with the International Space Station), litter has tended to build up over the past few decades.

Space litter. Junk left over from previous launches and missions and spacewalks and what-have-you. On the ground, such mission detritus would pose no real problems because whoever came along next could just kick the debris to the side of the road.

In space, however, the junk remains in orbit, which means it is moving around the earth at very high speeds. If such trash would happen to hit a valuable item -- such as the space shuttle -- then severe damage could result.

Enter the 1st Space Control Squadron. This unit of Peterson Air Force Base is located in Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station in Colorado. There, they keep an eye on all identifiable manmade items in orbit and assess the danger they may pose to any current or future space mission. Not a very celebrated unit of the Air Force, I am sure, but an absolutely necessary one.

Keep watching the skies, guys.

"Study Links Tobacco Smoke With Belly Fat"

OK, I get the message that smoking is bad for you. But does it really cause everything? What's next, smoking causes smallpox? Excess hair? Athlete's foot? Locusts?

"IRA vows to end armed campaign"

Let's hope this is for real.

I'm only half Irish, but it makes me feel good when Ireland makes great strides. I hope the IRA is serious about disarmament, and I hope there is a lasting peace throughout Northern Ireland -- at least between the republicans and those loyal to the crown.

Now the British can concentrate on the radical Muslims.

Abandoning your work

This is an interesting article by Scott Carlson in The Chronicle of Higher Education. In it, he talks about the legal and ethical quandries associated with using "orphaned" works, those works of art for which no creator can be found.

An orphan work can be a film, a book, a private letter, a painting, or any other creative work covered by copyright, in which protection, through the complexity of the law, can extend as far back as 1923. A work can become orphaned in any number of ways: For example, an artist can die, and the heirs may not know about the artist's copyrighted work. A company that published a novel might go out of business or fall into the hands of another company that does not maintain publication records. It is particularly hard to figure out who took a photograph, unless the name of the photographer or studio is cited somewhere on the print.

I am all for copyright protections, but big companies wield copyright law as a formidable weapon over the heads of scholars, satirists, and other creative types. Disney and other such organizations are good at such boorish actions, and they shudder to see a copyright lapse into public domain.

I think public domain is a good thing. Evenutally (I think 75 years after the death of the identifiable creator is ample time), all works of art should be fair game for anyone to use, whether it be in marketing campaigns, new works of art, or any other use. In the event of orphaned works, the time limit should be 75 years after the work can be reasonably assumed to have been created. After that, it belongs to everybody.

We all share in the output of humanity. Creative artists should be compensated for their works, but not forever.

"Smog Fight Aided by Self-Cleaning Elements"

The future is here.

Self-cleaning materials. Concrete that breaks down pollution. Oh, this is the stuff of science fiction, and I love it! Of course, nanotechnology is the key:

Research in the field has been made possible by the revolution in nanotechnology
— science dedicated to building materials from the molecular level. The catalytic properties of titanium dioxide become active when it is applied in a very thin layer, or in microscopic particles.

A range of self-cleaning products coated with titanium dioxide, including windows and ceramic tiles, are already on the market but the focus has mostly been on their practical value rather than the environmental impact.

In Rome, the Dives in Misericordia church, designed by U.S.-based architect Richard Meier, is made of self-cleaning concrete that helps keep the surface shiny white. In Japan, several modern buildings including the Marunouchi Building in downtown Tokyo, are covered with photocatalytic tiles to reduce discoloring from pollution.

Let's just hope the by-products of such chemical reactions ultimately prove to be benign. If so, as I already said, the future as envisioned in science fiction is already here.

"Mars Rovers Wheel Onward"

Go rovers!

This is probably the most successful space mission in a very long time. And it has produced some absolutely magnificent images.

"Poaching making China elephants evolve tuskless"

This is an interesting article. Evolution -- at least in my mind -- has always seemed an indomitable force of adaptation that pretty much happened on its own. Now, it seems that humans can actually influence the process, even if unintentionally.

Actually, now that I think about it, hunters in Texas (and I assume in other parts of North America) have already been influencing evolution. In this state, many hunters who eat venison prefer to shoot "spikes", those deer that grow single-tine antlers with no branches. The thinking goes that such spikes are genetically inferior to other male deer, and that increased taking of such animals will eventually ensure more deer with bigger racks.

Up until reading this article, I always took the spike argument with a grain of salt. I'm not so willing to, anymore.

Claiming a comet for herself

So this woman in Russia, who happens to believe in astrology, is quite upset with NASA for throwing a chunk of metal at her beloved comet. In doing so, she claims that the space agency has caused her anguish, and she wants someone to pay for screwing her up so badly.

Writer Marina Bay claims that by slamming the probe into the comet, Nasa endangered the future of civilisation.

...

However, even if the comet stays at a safe distance from Earth, Ms Bay's own life, she thinks, will never be the same again.

An amateur astrologist, she believes that any variation in the orbit or the composition of the Tempel comet will certainly affect her own fate.

So Ms Marina's claims to be experiencing "a moral trauma" - which only a payment of $300m (252m euros; £170m) can put right.

This is roughly what Nasa has spent on the experiment so far. [emphasis added]

If -- and I mean IF -- this ever gets to a trial, NASA's best defense would be to question how come she, and nobody else, has a personal claim to a giant ball of rock and ice. After all, I could say that the comet Tempel 1 was actually causing me "moral trauma" in its un-smashed form, and I could have demanded that someone blow it up.

Now, do I get $300 million?

"Scientists marvel at comet collision"

All I can say is, hooray! I'm glad it was a success, because this will teach us more about the universe than simply looking at a comet through a telescope. We need to do more missions like this.

A crane

Nothing more than a photograph of a crane.

Aiming for a bullet

Here it comes!

"NASA comet crash to seek building blocks of life"

I can't wait for this to happen, especially since the disappointing end to Cosmos 1, the Russian solar sail mission. I just hope we get some good pictures of the comet crash.

Finding a label?

Philip Stott's article, "On Being a Mitigated Sceptic", deals primarily with the issue of global warming and its status as a religion among those who accept it unquestioningly. Though I tend to agree with Stott on his views of global warming --

The fundamental question in relation to ''global warming'' is: "Can humans manipulate climate predictably?" Putting this more scientifically: "Will cutting carbon dioxide emissions at the margin produce a linear, predictable change in climate?"

-- I like more his concept of a "mitigated" skeptic, especially as applied to my own world view. If I must settle on a label for myself, don't call me a liberal or a conservative. Don't call me fundamentalist or atheist. Don't place me anywhere on the opposite extremes. Refer to me as a mitigated skeptic, if you must label me at all.

Crossing the channel

Nothing more than a photograph of a bridge over a ship channel.

"Female U.S. Marines Ambushed in Iraq"

This article points out the jihadists' worst characteristic -- their contempt for women. If anything, this one point should be uniting the liberals (or at least the feminists) with Bush in his pursuit of this human trash.

Female Marines are used at the checkpoints to search Muslim women "in order to be respectful of Iraqi cultural sensitivities," a military statement said. It is considered insulting for a male Marine to search a female Muslim.

But it's apparently no problem for male Muslims to shoot female Marines.

"Solar Sail Spacecraft Stops Communicating"

This is too bad. It would have been cool if the spacecraft had succeeded, but at least an attempt was made. And it was a privately-funded mission. That's what's really cool.

We need more of such missions. If we are to truly advance in space, we need to make it accessible to adventurers and tourists.

Thinking of the children

The plural of "child" is "children". If the word modifies something, it takes an apostrophe, as in "a child's life jacket".

What we see here is just plain wrong.

Unfortunately, this was painted on the wall of a ferry boat run by the Texas Department of Transportation. I can only assume the other boats have the same incorrect message.

Catching a game at the coast

The family and I went to see a Hooks game while in Corpus Christi. They lost to Frisco, but it was a great game. A perfect breeze was blowing off the bay, the stadium was crowded with fans, and I had a Whataburger in my hand. It doesn't get much better than that.

This image is a look at Whataburger Field with the harbor bridge in the background. It's a nice stadium, and I hope a team plays there for many years to come.

"First 'solar sail' prepares for launch"

I hope this thing is a success.

But, still I wonder, how do you make it stop?

"Mac OS on a Dell? Dell Favors, Apple Opposes"

In this article, Dell seems to be willing to sell machines that run on OS X as well as on Windows -- if Apple will let them, that is.

Most telling quote:

But Apple can't afford to let Mac OS X loose right now, says Roger Kay, vice president of client computing with research firm IDC. If Mac OS X could be separated from Apple's hardware, hackers would have pirated copies of the operating system out on the streets with little delay, he says. This would cause great harm to Apple's business model, which emphasizes its tight control over the entire combination of hardware and software as a premium product, he says.

At least one analyst believes that Apple is due for a day of reckoning with this strategy, especially now that it plans to move to x86 chips. Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst with Insight 64 in Saratoga, California, thinks it is only a matter of time before someone in the PC industry sues Apple for "tying" its operating system to a specific type of hardware available only from Apple. [emphasis added]

Apple has always prided itself on being the anti-Microsoft, even if it means only a miniscule share of the market. If Macs get too popular, Steve Jobs's company may face the same problems as Bill Gates's company -- lawsuits and viruses.

"The slow road to Windows XP"

This article was passed on to me by a Mac-using friend, presumably to show that Microsoft continues to have problems with Windows. However, I pointed out the following pull quote:

Windows 2000 is, in some ways, also a victim of its own success.

"When Windows 2000 came out, it was [a] fantastic blend of security and user interface," [managing director of Ottawa-based AssetMetrix Steve] O'Halloran said. As a result, companies planned their whole infrastructure around it. Many of its management tools have continued to be updated, leaving companies relatively satisfied.

"I think it worked too well," he said.

Not quite what Steve Jobs -- or the cultists -- would have us believe.

Analyzing the switch

Robert X. Cringely has an interesting theory as to why Apple chose to switch to the Intel chip. He thinks it's a bid to dethrone Microsoft.

Interesting. If true, it would mean that Steve Jobs has finally given in to the motivations that drove Bill Gates -- profit and dominance.

The best quote to needle your Mac friends with:

How much would it cost Intel to buy Apple? Not much.

Heh.

"Court: Patients May Not Use Pot Legally"

OK. I get the point of this AP article, and I understand what the headline writer was trying to say regarding state statutes. But, if the federal government says you can't do something, then that act is illegal. Period.

Sloppy headline.

"Alleged thief learns that gas and lighters don't mix"

This is rather funny. At first I thought it might be an urban legend because I found several outlets carrying this story, but all the outlets repeated an Associated Press version. It wasn't until I found the Newsday.com version that I thought it was probably real.

Anyway, good cautionary tale for your slower-than-average thiefs.

"Star Wars VI"

John Podhoretz at The Weekly Standard does not seem to like Episode III:

Ever since he began making his second set of Star Wars movies a decade ago, Lucas said that Episode III: Revenge of the Sith would be the unvarnished story of the young knight Anakin Skywalker's degeneration and conversion into the black-helmeted, black-outfitted Darth Vader, the villain of the first three films. The tale of woe it really tells is that of George Lucas himself, the final chapter in the sad degeneration of a vital, vivid, and highly amusing moviemaker into a dull, solipsistic, and humorless incompetent.

Ouch.

I liked Revenge of the Sith, but it's true that Lucas's dialogue has never been the strongest. It doesn't help that Hayden Christensen is such a poor actor. And his brooding stare is not very convincing in proving he is becoming evil. Oh, well. I wasn't the casting director. In the end, Sith does pull it off, and it is much better than the previous two offerings.

"Voyager Probe Poised to Plunge into Interstellar Space"

Bye-bye, Voyager. Just don't come back to menace mankind as an omnipotent being (WARNING: this link is a movie spoiler).

"Show what 'support our troops' really means"

Treat the troops. I like it.

Call it "treat the troops." And it should not become a big institutionalized social movement, just something all of us do once in while.

I started my campaign two months ago when I was in a local toy store. A young man in an Army uniform was shopping for some toy cars, presumably for his kids. As he stepped up to the counter, I tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Let me take care of that."

He blinked. I asked the clerk to put his purchases on my bill. I shook the young man's hand and told him, "Thanks for serving your country."

We exchanged a few pleasantries and he left, Hot Wheels in hand. That was it. No big deal - or big cost. Just a token of thanks.

Thanks, David Perlmutter, for the grand idea.

Stretching an analogy

Comparisons seem to have been drawn between the yet-to-be-released "Sith" movie and the Bush administration.

Pish-posh.

Lucas wrote the meat of his epic -- and, presumably, the back story as well -- decades ago. I doubt Vader's rise to power has anything to do with any Bush.

"NASA tests solar sail technology"

This is so cool. But, I wonder, how do you make it stop, and how does it "hover"?

Bashing Newsweek

David Wallace-Wells has a good roundup of the whole Newsweek debacle. This event cheapens journalism, and it should make anyone suspect of any news article that cites a nameless source. Let's hope to see much less of this in the future.

"Police arrest two suspected human skinners"

What the hell is wrong with Tanzania? A nine-year-old boy skinned for $18? I hope the actions of these human wastes are in no way indicative of the general population of that country.

Whataburger Field

The family and I are going to Corpus Christi in June, and I can't wait to catch a Hooks game while I am there. Quite a nice view from the stands of Whataburger Field.

The area around Corpus has always been a favorite destination of ours, and we try to get down there at least once a year. Haven't been fishing on the bay in a while, and I doubt that we will this summer as well. Maybe next year. I will at least take the kiddos to see some fish in the aquarium, or maybe we will watch fishermen pull sharks up on the pier in Port A.

"Cassini Spacecraft Spies New Saturn Moon"

This is cool.

Gotta love that Cassini. I expect scientists will be chewing on the data it sends back for the next few decades.

Bashing the pope

In The Chronicle of Higher Education, Carlin Romano makes a poor argument for viewing the new pope with suspicion ("The Pope's Sins of Omission"). The disdain is unveiled.

Are the invectives fair? Yes or no, they implicate the new pope's character, not just his theological beliefs. Ratzinger's elevation to Pope Benedict XVI propelled two controversial parts of his life into the spotlight. The first was his membership as a young man in the Hitler Youth, then in the antiaircraft youth division of the Wehrmacht, later in the Wehrmacht infantry itself.

The second was his 24 years as prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, or CDF, charged with investigating and sometimes punishing Catholic faculty members and priests accused of departing from Church teachings. That office directly descends from the Roman Inquisition that burned at the stake approximately 160 people, including the philosopher Giordano Bruno, between 1542 and 1761.

C'mon. You may disagree with the new pope, but at least give him a chance to prove himself in his new office. Comparing him to the Inquisition is unfair and betrays the author's own prejudices.

If failing to speak (60 years ago, and as a child no less) loudly enough against the evil actions of the Nazis is a direct indicator of the nature of a person's soul, then there are many more in America alone who should be condemned by Romano as well.

"Dems Booted From N.C. Church Over Politics"

I voted for Bush in 2004, and I go to church. But this is just ridiculous.

"Being 'No. 3' in al-Qaida a Risky Job"

The next guy they promote should just sit on the front stoop and wait for the good guys to come and get him. He can even wear a sign around his neck saying, "I am the new No. 3; please don't kill me".

_The first man dubbed al-Qaida's No. 3, Mohammed Atef, was killed by a U.S. airstrike on Kabul in November 2001 as the Taliban regime crumbled in Afghanistan.

_Abu Zubaydah, the next to assume the role, was captured March 28, 2002, in the eastern city of Faisalabad. The Saudi-born Palestinian survived gunshot wounds in the stomach, groin and leg, and has been in U.S. custody ever since.

_Zubaydah's replacement, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, was arrested in Rawalpindi, near the Pakistani capital, on March 1, 2003. He also is in U.S. custody.

_Ramzi Binalshibh, another top bin Laden deputy, was arrested in the southern city of Karachi on the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
[Emphasis added]

Of course, by now, all the current or potential No. 4s have already volunteered for less dangerous work, such as putting together roadside bombs.

Texas League standings

Little Rock leads in the East with Tulsa half a game behind, and Midland leads in the West with San Antonio 3.5 games behind. Check 'em all out.

Keep crackin' them bats, boys.

"Oklo: Natural Nuclear Reactors"

I did not know such a thing was possible.

Creating a nuclear reaction is not simple. In power plants, it involves splitting uranium atoms, and that process releases energy as heat and neutrons that go on to cause other atoms to split. This splitting process is called nuclear fission. In a power plant, sustaining the process of splitting atoms requires the involvement of many scientists and technicians.

It came as a great surprise to most, therefore, when, in 1972, French physicist Francis Perrin declared that nature had beaten humans to the punch by creating the world’s first nuclear reactors. Indeed, he argued, nature had a two-billion-year head start.

If nature can make nuclear reactors, operate them for a couple billion years, and keep the waste stored safely away for practically forever -- well, that just about destroys any argument that nucelar energy is unsafe.

I say, build more reactors. Fire them up. And let's clean up our air for good.