Only six years to recognize genius? That sounds like a rush job to me!

I've got the Tuchman book too, and have been too chicken to read it. Maybe I should face up to it and just get it done.

TBG, thanks for the direct link to the Dave Barry article. When I clicked on the hypertext the address didn't change but the article did come up.

looks like some gaelic snuck into the fith to last sentence (I think it's the fifth to last) in the third to last paragrapgh (I'm sure about third): that cna be

Just as well there was no such thing as blogs or boodles when Einstein was working in that patent office, or he might never have gotten around to rewriting the physics laws.

[BTW, typo in the Planck quote: "world that cna be . . ."]

Ha! omni, you channeled me so well, I showed up in person right behind you.

If only I had waited a minute, sigh...Hi Tom fan.

Maybe the typo was in the original. You know? Why is it always MY FAULT???

If the typo *was* in Planck's original recommendation, that could explain why Einstein didn't get the job.

Developing story on A-1...below the banner and above the fold (which leaves few column inches for other important local coverage)...

Oregonian (Portland) arrested by El Paso federales in San Antonio for allegedly purchasing, as part of a conspiracy, batteries to be used to power Iranian Hawk Missile Systems.

The incarcerated, Robert Caldwell, sitting in a San Antonio jail, claims the batteries he sought, at $5,000 a pop, were for other aplications--navigational systems. Britain and Netherlands alleged as the "go-between" countries for shipping the batteries:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA013107.01A.hawk.missile.batteries.2064ce1.html

Local story on B-3...

Bexar County officials to furnish $2.5 million to the renovation of San Antonio's downtown Main Plaza, in front of the historic San Fernando Cathedral, the redo of the plaza the brainchild of San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger (related to actor Tommy Lee Jones).

Yet, Bexar County could come up with only $150,000 to temporarily shelter the very sick and afflicted, those most impacted by the brush fire near Helotes, that originated on private property in Bexar County.

For shame.

You been in touch with Walter, Joel, now that he's back in New Orleans?

'Moral of the story being, it takes time for people to appreciate genius.'

Master of subtlety that you are, even those of us not connected to the internet saw your what you were angling for with that line.

So, you're a genius, Joel.

Happy now? You'd better not take that as some sort of license to launch your own 'dumb period,' because if you do we will all defect to the Mommy blog just. like. that.

I was speaking for Everyman and Everywoman.

I'll raise Wally on the Blackberry and see where he is. I'm assuming he's become governor of Louisiana but I'll double check.

From Ben Franklin to Einstein--quite a leap, but probably not for Isaacson. I had great fun with Walter during his online chat some time ago at WaPo about his Franklin book! Wish I'd known him (Isaacson, not Franklin) back in his CNN days.

On to my own day...

Funny thing: I, too, had a "Dumb Period." But I wasn't quite as fortunate as Einstein, 'cuz I had mine BEFORE I could invent quantum theory, special relativity, or explain the space-time continuum (mine came out as the "space-slime continuum," and had to do mostly with very old tupperware containers I found in my refrigerator when I was in college).

(Anybody know when "the Dump Period" is supposed to end? I may be a bit overdue. I always was a "late bloomer," but this is getting ridiculous.)

It appears the WaPo is carrying the Dave Barry Super Bowl colyum directly--see http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/30/AR2007013002055.html

Best line: "South Florida has been bludgeoned by a brutal cold wave, with temperatures dropping down toward 45 degrees, at which point human life becomes impossible. The impact has been devastating, especially on the most vulnerable, least protected members of our community: Hooters waitresses."

Is this now going to be a reg'lar thing? Oh fer joy if it t'were true.

Einstein is both why I became a Physicist and why I never earned a doctorate.

Einstein's major works are more conceptual than mathematical. Special relativity starts with two rather innocuous sounding postulates that lead logically to mind-blowing conclusions about time, space, and simultaneity. Because it requires little math above simple algebra, it was a required course for all freshman where I went to school. We would sit around talking about the full implications of the theory in a way usually reserved for Plato or Kierkegaard. This experience made me drop engineering and become a physicist.

Even the more mathematically complicated General Theory is still rooted in a single astoundingly powerful premise. Once you accept that we are all continually screaming around a sharp turn all else logically follows.

Unfortunately, Quantum Mechanics, which Einstein never fully embraced, lacks this philosophical elegance. Although QM is mathematically beautiful, it is less about building up from a logical premise, and more about creating a mathematical formalism that matches experimentation - and then arguing endlessly about what the hell it all means. And since I couldn't stand all that conflict I bailed with a Master's and ended up working here.

So it's all Einstein's fault.

Joel, this "Why is it always MY FAULT???" brought to mind this.

"Yours is not to question why, your is but to do... "

Sorry, I think its a holdover from when my boys were teens. I'm still in recovery.

http://www.wilsonappeal.com/index.php

petition to get genarlow wilson outta jail! and more info...

Um, I didn't say typo, Tom fan did. I only said it looked like gaelic...I mean do you really think I would accuse you of a typo in a post that has a typo...sheesh...

SCC:fith=>fifth

There take that...

SCC the 10:14 is me.

Bodanis' "E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation" is a pretty good book, too. I believe many Boodlers have read it or at least seen the PBS documentary (Nova?) based on it.

It's always been interesting to me how much Einstein contributed to quantum mechanics (photons as wavicles, etc.), yet fought against QM for years, occasionally on religious/spiritual grounds ('God does not play dice,' etc.). Sorta like Isaac Newton, and his later arguments against his own Principia versus an interventionary God. Come to think of it, both Einstein spent their later years chasing Big Ideas that proved fruitless, Newton and alchemy, and Einstien's Grand Unification.

Even the most intelligent humans who ever lived can't help just being human.

bc

The Lovely Mrs. byoolin once gave me a 4" Einstein doll with lifelike (for him) hair. I'm the only kid in the office with his very own Theoretical Physicist Action Figure.

I wonder who would win a fight between him and Stephen Hawking With Kung-Fu Grip?

JA, have you got someone working on a prototype for Achenblogger Action Man?

SCC: "Einstein's", of course.

bc

bc - if you ever want to be a big hit at parties, be sure to point out that the full equation is

E^2 = C^2P^2 + M^2C^4

Course this only works if you are at the *right* kind of party.

RD, believe it or not, after taking some of those classes where we argued the implications of theories, many of my physics teachers encouraged me to take up Philosophy.

Now that I think about it, it might have been because I'm lousy at math.

bc

If Joel can just 'pop' into a bookstore I'd say the space-time continuum is his plaything.

"The completely classical, purely mechanistic view of the world . . . has stripped us of almost any vivid sense that the world, the Universe, is actually alive. . . .[Quantum mechanics] is the one scientific discovery . . . that stands in rigorous opposition to the proposition that everything in the Universe can be explained by a prior cause. That's why Einstein hated quantum mechanics. He said, exactly, that if quantum mechanics is true, then there is no more science. . . . He thought quantum mechanics had a profound religious implication . . . that there was something anti-science about quantum mechanics. . . . He wasted the majority of his scientific life trying to prove that quantum mechanics was wrong. . . . And I agree with Einstein that there is contained -- even in the most rigorous quantum mechanics -- the first glimmer of hope that there's something outside the Universe, that it's not just a mechanical system. From that perspective, it doesn't require building some gigantic, overreaching system of spirituality. One can stick with it as it is and build very cautiously and slowly. It may take 200 years . . . but it will be something really solid."

-- Jeffery Satinover, on the DVD "What the Bleep!? Down the Rabbit Hole: Quantum Edition"

Dreamer, that takes me back to Psalm 121:

I will lift up mine eyes unto these hills.
From whence doth my help come?
It comes from the Lord,
Maker of heaven and earth...

completely off-topic (cuz i didn't take calculus which woulda helped me in physics which i almost failed cuz i suck at math)

interesting final jeopardy question last nite...

category: it happened in new york

answer: on the day of her death, august 8, 2004, the Empire State Building went into complete darkness for 15 minutes in her memory

question: who is ___________?

byoolin - there's this company that has all kinds of unusual action figures...

http://www.accoutrements.com/actionfigures/

(i found them cuz i got a rosie the riveter action figure and they were advertising a jesus action figure on the box)

Who is (initials clue) F.W.?

I know! I know!

BTW - I took the Jeopardy online tryout the other day... answers were generally much harder than the ones you see on tv.

yep omni... did you look that up??? (tell the truth!)

mo, that's my Einstein (7th row - right next to Rosie!!).

I looked it up, and the IMDB says the lights actually dimmed two days later, on August 10. So how do we know which is the real information? There's so much bad information out there, someone should do a study of that problem, maybe give a lecture about it or something.

Does the answer have anything to do with a very large primate?

what do you think?

Another clue: Canadian-American (not that this clue really helps all that much, OK not at all I think)

some more useless clues:

the scream was claimed by some to be dubbed by another with the initials J.D.

And Birthdate: Sept. 15, 1907.

I guess all these useless clues answers your question huh?

mo, that question was a real scream.

bc

Tuchman is one of the best authors ever, she might have saved the world as JFK was reading "The guns of August" before the Cuban missile crisis. Too bad Bush (or his advisors) had no time for reading The march of folly. Don't miss her "Zimmermann Telegram" book either, it's great describing how the US got the excuse for entering WW1

kb - you are right! i screwed up the question - yes, the date was august 10th, NOT the 8th... (i was doing the question from memory - which is completely unreliable!)

i just thought that was a weird random question...

Now we know what happened to ... ....
I wonder if Jeffery Satinover could have 'cured' Dr. Frank N. Furter.

mo - I believe that in 1981 I once screamed "What's the most important question in the world?" during a showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show just prior to a query regarding that person.

Don't tell me, don't tell me, I'm working on it...NY skyscraper...woman connected to a large hairy primate...

I got it!

IVANA TRUMP IS DEAD!

I suspect that if an Einstein tried to find universiyt employment today, he'd get nowhere.
*No grants (NSF or otherwise)
*No postdoctoral work
*Not part of a team
*Trouble getting published. Peer reviewers leery of his outlandish theories.

The current science funding setup in the US is coming under some serious criticism for encouraging "more of the same" science.

One place to look for "outsider" applied science is in ecological restoration. For example, a former lifeguard has done wonderful work restoring dune vegetation. He had plenty of time to observe beaches while lifeguarding.

I love Tuchman's The First Salute, which is the American Revolution from the international British and French perspectives. The mental image of Washington jumping up and down for joy on the dock as the French fleet comes into view is unforgettable...I also love her account of the surrender at Yorktown.

scc - fay wray DIED on the 8th... lights on the empire state building were turned off for 15 min on the 10th...

(and how many people actually knew the answer without looking it up???)

In his time Einstein actually had a lot of trouble getting University employment. Remember, he did his best stuff while working as a humble civil servant (gotta love them folks). It was only when he came to America that he found a truly secure home at Princeton.

I guess my post was kind of obvious from Joel's kit. My point is that he did great work despite the system, not because of it. True genius will find a way.

I knew, mo, I knew! I had to think about it for a moment or two, but it came to me...good question, though.

I think fairly often (maybe even as frequently as once a week) just about the astounding scientific brain power (especially math, physics and chemistry) that was concentrated in a relatively small part of Europe during the the early part of the 20th century. From Germany through Austria to Hungary there was just a huge number of people who were adding to their disciplines in huge "chunks," if not completely rewriting the orthodoxy.

And, luckily, the pre- and immediately post-War America was an appealing place for them to emigrate to en masse. It was not only the design of the nuclear bomb that these people contributed but great advances in applied science that made our economy the world's greatest in the post-war era.

One of the lesser-discussed aspects of the "war on terror" has been the extreme tightening of visa requirements on foreign scientists who want to come to study or work in America. There is proportinately little home-grown production of mathematicians and physical scientists (and I think that it trickles down to engineering as well). I don't have the statistics at hand, but some obscene majority of students getting PhDs in math and science are foreign nationals. Like the "missle gap" of the 60s, I worry about a "scientist gap" of the '10s and '20s that may have economic/strategic implications.

China and Russia are still producing huge quantities of pure and applied scientists and engineers. I think that the "war on terror" (coupled with our society's lessening emphasis on scientific education) is really going to have some major negative unintended consequences over the course of the next several decades. We may not have enough of the home-grown brain power to "compete" but will likely continue to have restrictions in place limiting the availability of foreign-grown scientific talent.

I will say that W has always seemed to personally favor a relaxation in immigration standards and quotas, but it's impossible to say whether he'd stand up to the Tancredo wing of the party. Perhaps, the Democratic congress will give him the courage to make a "course correction" on this as he seems to have done on a number of issues recently.

Of course Tuchman also wrote "The Guns of August" about how once war mobilization begins, combat is inevitable. I thought of that book all through February of 2003 as we half-heartedly sought a diplomatic solution to Iraq's non-existent WMDs.

bc - There is, of course, a huge overlap between physics and philosophy. In fact, the problem that Einstein had with QM has sometimes been framed in Aristotelian -vs- Platonic terms. QM is Platonic in that it postulates an idealized reality that we can never fully comprehend - just calculate. Einstein strove for a deeper level of understanding and rejected the notion of an unknowable reality - something closer to what Aristotle might have desired.

And I guess that's why I never really enjoyed QM. It was essentially applied math. And although I could certainly do the math, I never loved the math. Math was always a tool. I wanted to really "get" something, not just know how to calculate the right answer.

This, and bad hair, are, alas, about the only things Einstein and I have in common.

Well, at least there's no "canard gap."

Re. Einstein job hunting, you have to wonder how the guy would do in a face-to-face interview.

I mean, this guy comes into the room wearing a sweater, shakes a propsective manager's hand, and all he's wondering is; "Good grief, what's up with this guy's hair? And the walrustache? Will all my peers laugh at me when this guy represents me at a status meeting? This ambulatory tumbleweed better have some *mad* people skillz."

bc

Last summer I read "Einstein, Picasso: Space, Time, and the Beauty That Causes Havoc" by Arthur I. Miller. It argues that both Einstein and Picasso were produced by the particular cultural ferment going on at the beginning of the 20th century in Europe. I think the author presses his case a bit too far, and clearly enjoys talking about Picasso much more than Einstein, but it was still an interesting book.

Sorry, RD, if you felt I was interpreting your post earlier this morning when I referenced it.

Your and omni's *hit by a bus* is referred to as the *if you won the lottery* issue here.

I'm not sure documentation is going to fix anything. We're fully documented, but if my building were demolished during a working day, the guys a state away tasked with taking over probably haven't even had time to read the docs we've prepared on how everything works. . . Somehow Alice's Restaurant Masacree has started playing in my head--must have something to do with all the sheriff's documentation.

RD, I've seen your hair, and you're no Einstein

I, on the other hand am currenly not far from an Einsteinian follicular state (have curly hair, and am in need of a shearing).

bc

dbG, thanks for putting that in my head. And they all moved away from me on the Group W bench...

Boko, better a "canard gap" than a "petard gap", I always say.

bc

Great - now I don't even have that in common.

"Ambulatory tumbleweed" made me choke on my coffee.

I think his hair would be all the rage on any college campus these days.

If by "canard gap" you mean that there never really was a "missle gap", I'll grant that "supposed missle gap" may have been a better phrase.

If by "canard gap" you mean to suggest that there is not the potential for a crisis prepetuated by ridiculous immigration restrictions and a general lack of emphasis in America on science education, then I respectfully disagree.

About rewriting the laws of physics in his spare time -- what else was he going to do? It's not like he was watching 24.

I'll take Skyscraper Climbing Primates for Fifty, Bob!

The Guardian has this today:

Scientists have previously estimated that reflecting less than 1% of sunlight back into space could compensate for the warming generated by all greenhouse gases emitted since the industrial revolution. Possible techniques include putting a giant screen into orbit, thousands of tiny, shiny balloons, or microscopic sulphate droplets pumped into the high atmosphere to mimic the cooling effects of a volcanic eruption.

Could some pointy-headed types tell me what's wrong with this? I know it must be a fool's folly, but don't immediately see why it's wrong.

Wouldn't sulphate droplets eventually combine with hydrogen and cause acid rain?
Wouldn't "thousands" of tiny balloons be both (a) insufficient for the task, and (b) inevitably polluting?

Wheezy - such ideas are expensive, intrinsically temporary, and may cause severe unexpected problems.

Which isn't to say they shouldn't be studied.

On increasing the Earth's reflectivity, my first problem is that generally, when people intentionally try to modify environmental conditions in a particular direction, it tends to get botched, badly. This is because environmental systems are so complex that we usually don't even know what all the important variables are, much less how they interact with one another. There can be all kinds of unintended consequences.

For example: sulphate droplets in the high atmosphere--if they settle out to lower altitudes and mix with oxygen and water vapor you get sulfuric acid--lots of acid rain. (Even better, the acid rain increases ocean pH, causing a die-off of marine plankton, which has a narrow pH tolerance. This is a major CO2 sink, so the die-off increases atmospheric CO2, accelerating warming.)

Callibration is also difficult. It's not clear how much of global warming is natural and how much is artificial. Do we just try to offset the part that we're causing? If so, how much is that?

Suppose we pump stuff into the air to cause cooling, and then we cut emmissions, or there's an increase in pyroclastic volcanic activity (not as outrageous as it sounds). Then we could have artifically induced cooling on top of natural cooling--the next Ice Age?

What effect would all these things in the atmosphere have on satellite communcations?

Stuff injected into the atmosphere would cause universal cooling, but greenhouse emmissions are not randomly distributed throughout the atmosphere. Could you get a patchy trend of some burning hot areas and some outrageously cool areas? Or, in equalizing temperatures would you get extremely intense weather patterns (which is essentially driven by packets of hot and cold air moving around)?

*my morning of calls to city (of San Antonio) officials--elected, county spokeswoman representing elected county officials, elected state representative's local office, elected governor's office, and state division of emergency managment is turning into a divine comedy.

Divine, simply divine.

http://travel.guardian.co.uk/article/2002/apr/27/unitedkingdom.guardiansaturdaytravelsection

How much sunlight is reflected back into space by tin-foil hats?

Thanks, guys. It sounded hopeful, but you folks actually KNOW something about it.

Just thinking about letting a group like, say, the current administration, mess with the worlds' atmosphere ... too scary for words.

Top American schools attract top students from other countries so the proportion of American/foreign PhDs from American schools is a weaker indicator of national strength in science than PhDs/general population. I don't have the stats so I'll avoid making sweeping generalizations.
Edwin S. Rubenstein makes the argument that the recent decline in Americans graduating with advanced science degrees is attributable in part to the lowered financial incentives offered due to the influx of cheaper foreign labour.
http://vdare.com/rubenstein/science_nerds.htm
That said, I'm against ridiculous visa restrictions and all for more science education.
If I wasn't such an ignoramus concerning quantum mechanics I wouldn't have been sucked in by the thoroughly dishonest movie "What the Bleep Do We Know."

You mean, Wheezy, that a Bush appointee --such as, oh, say, Michael Brown-- wouldn't do a good job fixing the world's atmosphere? O ye of little feith [sic].

Raysmom asks "How much sunlight is reflected back into space by tin-foil hats?"

That only works if the wearer comes out of the basement.

I think I read rumblings of this a while ago, but now it's at the top of the WP website: NASA can't find the video from Neil Armstrong's helmet-cam of his 1969 walkabout on the Moon.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/30/AR2007013002065.html

One wonders if they've looked on YouTube.

Well, byoolin, there are copies of the low res video (that seen on TV) around. The original high res video (that was taped from the original signal) from the receiving station in Oz is what's gone walkabout.

Well, amongst a lot of other stuff, too, I suspect.

bc

I saw an interesting Nova suggesting that the anti pollution measures reducing particulate emissions in the 70's and 80's increased the effect of global warming by decreasing the earth's albedo. Apparently all the crud in air made the clouds shinier. Harder?

I think an interesting statistic to see would be the number of science PhDs under 45 (both per capita and absolute quantities) in countries around the world. I'd suspect that those figures would have a very high correlation (and more important, causality) with future GDP % increases or some to-be-agreed-upon measure of techno-economic prowess.

I think the reflection of the moon and earth in their face masks are the really cool pictures of it all.

I remember as I guess the whole world does of our generation,seeing their first steps on the moon.

I will tell you a funny story,then off to work.

I guess everybody and their brother were tuned into that bit of broadcast history.It was exciting,not knowing what was going to happen.At the precise moment he was to take his first step on the Moon,our old neighbor was banging her pots and pans to get her cat's in for the night.She didn't care about some man walking on the moon,she just wanted her beasts in for the night.

That is what I remember about the first moon walk!!

Dave of the Coonties has a good point about outsider science and ecological restoration. My brother-in-law as spoken at the Smithsonian and been consulted by foreign governments about his expertise in stream restoration. I'm sure his just short of a BA education didn't hurt him, but it was the 20+ years as rancher/logger/wilderness firefighter that taught him to as he calls it "put the bends back in streams."

Check this out for some truly useful science knowledge:
http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/

Let's hope the tinfoil-madhatters don't come out of the basement. That light already made it through the atmosphere once, sending it right back up into outerspace would be a double pass.

Pretty good Fred Barbash column on the war powers at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/30/AR2007013001652.html --though I am floored to find myself agreeing with Anton Scalia about ANYTHING, much less this subject.

as for foreign national scientists/mathmaticians - as of 2-ish years ago (can't remember exactly) foreign nationals are not allowed onto military bases... not sure of the extent into military work has been effected by this new security procedure...

On 9/11 a Canadian embassy attache whom I know of was in the Pentagon. He got out fine, like most of the personnel there.

It would be interesting to see how widespread the ban is.

mo-you are either mistaken, or overstating some restrictions. Not only are foreign nationals allowed on US military installations many serve in our armed forces. All bases are now required to restrict access according to the local or national "Threatcon" so it is harder for everyone to get through the gates. Have your driver's license and proof of insurance handy. The rules are different for US installations in foreign countries, but last I heard this put more of crimp on housecleaners and counter help at Burger King than on scientists.

*hit by a bus* and *if you won the lottery* is called *when the mine comes in* at my office.

I love that NASA story. I'm going to try to find that tape.

frost - i must be overstating some restriction... maybe it only has to do with contractors... (when i worked with navy as a contractor, we had a whole group of foreign nationals who were the web team who were suddenly unable to come to work b/c of some restriction... 'tis all i 'member...)

don't ya'all know by now not to take ANYTHING i say as truth? sheesh!

IIRC, SciTim reported some time ago that NASA, had 'lost' many of the records from those years. I believe that he said that NASA always was about looking forward and didn't put a lot of funds into archiving. If anyone has some boodlepop time available I'm sure they can find it.

mo-your group probably came up against some new requirements for security clearances. At times it is easier to just tell contractors no foreign nationals than to try to clear everyone.

The economic benefit of having an up-to-date secret or top secret clearance probably trumps a PhD these days.

Conrad Richter! I read him. Selected chapters were required in my high school. Mrs. Storey insisted we read some of her favorite authors even if they were leaving the literary cannon.
Richter won the Nobel Prize for Lit. in 1951.

But my favorite regional writer is Wallace Stegner. I tried once to require that Honors Technical Writing students read his book (Pulitzer in the 70s) Angle of Repose. Well, you never saw and more stolid, sullen bunch. The book is all about the expansion of the West, based on the work of engineers, surveyors, mining experts, irrigation specialists.....you would think I had assigned them a book by James Joyce.

Kierkegaard is good. Long ago and far away I nearly signed up to study S.Kirkie for a PhD program. Hard to learn Danish on your own......

After my 10 AM class, three or four students trudge off to Physical Chemistry, where Quantum Mechanics is on the table. They look so forlorn and overwhelmed by the experience. I try to buoy spirits by quipping that Einstein thought QM to be rather suspect....

frostbitten - is that aint the understatement of the year! //The economic benefit of having an up-to-date secret or top secret clearance probably trumps a PhD these days.// sheesh, it prolly trumps a freakin bachelors AND certs!

Joel, you might want to ask the Man in the Basement if he's been watching that tape late at night.

Or listening to a 18 minute audio tape segment he got from Rose Woods back in the day (speaking of gaps).

All right, that last is a bit of a stretch.

bc

mo - there are certain new restrictions about the use of foreign nationals in contracts. Naturally, the restrictions are complex, but the rule of thumb is that if you are asking anyone to develop a software product that will be in contact with anything sensitive, or even perform research that might end up leading to a software product, foreign nationals may not be involved.

scc:
is = if
aint = ain't

Mudge, I had that same reaction when reading the quotes from Scalia. I wondered at first if they had credited the wrong justice.

CP: "Quantum Mechanics is on the table"... in *this* universe.

Regarding the Apollo Tapes - I heard from this guy, who knew this other guy, who heard that they are like, suppressing the tapes because you can see the klieg lights in them.

Well, that's what I heard.

hey mo, just found out through google that all my clues weren't useless after all. the dates and nationality bring the person in question up on the first hit. Here's another clue for you all: given first name: Vina.

frostbitten - I second mo in confirming that your observation about clearances is absolutely correct.

Even outside of the cleared world, it is my experience that a Master's is just about as valuable economically as a PhD because they can both be pitched as "advanced degrees."

I've been busy recovering from a hard disk failure. Not much data lost, but I'm busy, busy.

I don't know how much, exactly , of NASA's data have been "lost", or just mislaid. Curation of the oldest stuff was not well handled. Projects of more-recent vintage have included data and materials curation in the budget.

Whether I have correctly analyzed NASA's institutional psychology is a completely different matter, and certainly constitutes over-reaching on my part.

"..bit of a stretch," bc?

Don't make me come up there!

(Good to see you're feeling better.)

In the 2003 film, "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," Captain Jack Sparrow states that Captain Barbossa and his crew will suffer horrible fates because "The deepest circle of hell is reserved for betrayers and mutineers."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_and_his_Divine_Comedy_in_popular_culture

Call Log for January 31, 2007 regarding Helotes brush fire, now burning since Dec. 25:

Yvonne Escamilla, spokeswoman for Bexar County Commissioner's Court.

You may recall it was she who first provided information to me a week ago Monday about the county's hotel voucher program, the amount it was funded, how many rooms were available and how many hotel rooms were being used. That same afternoon, as I have blogged, I ran into Jesse Degollado of our ABC affiliate television station who mentioned to me in the women's restroom of Helotes City Hall that she had heard from a reliable source that the hotel voucher program was almost bankrupt.

I actually ran into Yvonne Escamilla in the hallway outside Helotes council chambers that same Monday afternoon (after talking to her that morning) a week ago after the closed-door session of honchos, immediately after I had finished speaking with Mac McNell of the local office of the American Red Cross. I asked about the uncorroborated rumor that Degollado had provided to me about the county fund for hotel vouchers being almost bankrupt. In effect, Escamilla said the rumor was patently false (wondered from whom I'd heard it) and not to worry, because the county's hotel voucher program had plenty of money left.

Fact: the county did have remaining funds, but very limited, as local broadcast and paper media have subsequently reported. The number of families currently being housed at county expense is extremely small, although the need is certainly great, as I learned at the public forum at Helotes City Hall two nights ago. Escamilla told me this morning that the county commissioners may propose an additional $50,000 for the hotel voucher program at next Tuesday's meeting. She ended by saying to me this morning, "Let's stay in touch." I replied, rather emphatically, "No, please get back to me when you know the information that I have requested from you."

San Antonio Mayor Hardberger's office, call forwarded to Dawn Larios' phone, she, the head of constituent services for the mayor, who is related through his grandchild to actor Tommy Lee Jones: Phone call taken by her answering machine. No call back yet.

San Antonio's District 8 office, Art Hall: (he, a young African-American, a Harvard grad): Phone call taken by his answering machine. No call back yet from him nor anyone else in his office.

Seth Mitchell, representative of County Commissioner's office who was at Monday night's townhall meeeting in Helotes, who spoke on behalf of the county, saying that county government is an extremely weak form of Texas governance and urging concerned citizens to call the governor's office: My phone call taken this morning by his answering machine. No call back yet.

Helotes City Mayor Jon Allan's cell phone: Trying to determine when Allan offered the conference room of Helotes City Hall as a temporary shelter for the American Red Cross and if the rumor I heard is true, that he is currently on a three-day course of antibiotics because of bronchitis. Mac McNell of the American Red Cross shared with me last night, when he returned my phone call, that the Red Cross was asked to stay away, or not attend, the meeting at Helotes City Hall on Monday night. McNell did not state who asked him to not attend the meeting.

State Rep. Joaquin Castro's local district office, call answered by Al Arreola, with whom I spoke about 10 days ago, asking for two requests: guidelines for computer usage by a state employee, since I inadvertently found a Texas Commission in Environmental Quality employee downloading computer games from Yahoo, and Rep. Castro's involvement in representing hos own constituents impacted by the Helotes brush fire.

I reminded Arreola that he never got back to me after my initial phone call. "I'm on your naughty list" he replied. I agreed that he is--mentioning the list of others who have not returned my phone calls, including the two county employees most closely affiliated with the hotel voucher program (I have their phone numbers but can't provide their names since I've never spoken with them since they never returned by phone calls to both numbers), along with a county employee who has spoken to the media and has a nasty sexual harrassment lawsuit against her dating back to 1996. (Public record, folks).

Arreola promised during this second phone call this morning to photocopy the part of the state manual that pertains to computer usage on state time and equipment and mail those pages to me very soon. It's in the mail. I hope!

As far as Rep. Joaquin Castro's involvement in response to the month-old blaze and airborne pollutants, Arreola said that Rep. Castro didn't want to step on the toes of Rep. David McQuade Leibowitz whose district includes Helotes, who on Jan. 29 wrote an open letter to Gov. Rick Perry, asking for his and state assistance, with signatures from 10 local lawmakers, including Castro*.

I said that since people who are affected by the smoke from the fire reside within Castro's district--evident by those who attended the meeting at Helotes City Hall on Monday night, that Castro's involvement was hardly stepping on Leibowitz's sphere of influence and responsibility. Castro, twin to his brother Julian, a former mayoral candidate in the last election, truly ought to take care of his own folks--those who put him back up in Austin for a second term. Period.

*I have a copy of the Leibowitz letter, with the signatures of the 10 co-signers.
Leibowitz did a heckuva job, and I mean that it all sincerity. The letter is praiseworthy--just wish the date at the top had been earlier than Jan. 29.

Saving the best for last--my call to Gov. Rick Perry's office and the three different women, part of the three-ring circus, to whom I spoke.

This talk about the intersections of physics and philosophy reminds me yet again of Jostien (sp) Gaarder, Danish writer. In both his lighter (suitable for precocious children) and adult novels, he explicitly discusses our responses to the big questions - why are we here, how did we get here - using both astronomy and evolutionary biology as well as religion and philosophy. And it is cool and funny! Okay, maybe it is just me. One of the things I've found most striking is the constant emphasis on the sheer wonder of the fact that we're here, and what we can do. Kind of like what we on the Boodle are expressing, I think, with the sky reports - whether we intend to or not.

I like reading about theoretical science for precisely this reason - the massive implications. As was said, it reminds me of sitting around in college talking about Plato and Kierkegaard.

Sky report: Snow. Or maybe ice, depending on the moment. Gray and foggy withal. Frigid (okay, for you Northerners, it is just cold).

It seems to me that both physics and philosophy have a certain logic and rationality behind them that appeal to people. During my undergrad, I remember that majority of the math majors had minors in both physics and philosophy. Some even had dual degrees. I myself as an engineer enjoyed taking philosophy classes as they allowed me to sit in a room for an hour or more and argue.

News flash! This just in from "The Onion" (LOL):

White House Quietly Retracts Entire State Of The Union Address
January 31, 2007 | Issue 43•05

WASHINGTON, DC--In a brief statement faxed to major media outlets at approximately 11:50 p.m. Friday, the White House retracted the entire 5,600-word State of the Union address delivered by President Bush last Tuesday. "This includes all components of the address, and is not limited to the president's congratulations to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi or his plan to give more Americans affordable health care through tax cuts, which has since been deemed infeasible," the statement read in part. "Furthermore, the president's urge for bipartisanship as well as his final statement about the state of the union being 'strong' are hereby stricken from the public record." Like the State of the Union address itself, the White House's retraction has not yet become a significant national news story.

Wallace Stegner is a regional author?

I think Joel is signalling to us that several years from now it will be appropriate to recognize his genius publicly. For now, he needs that ability to lurk in the shadows, hanging out on the Hill or at Fermilab without the nuisance of groupies. You know, groupies followed Einstein everywhere. They were a real plague to him. He finally had to start the Hooters restaurant chain just to provide them with something else to do. As originally envisioned, Hooters was characterized by scantily clad, well-endowed young women musing on the implications of mass, space and time. There were chalkboards instead of sports television.

_Funeral Home Uses Dead Critters To Cheer Guests_

http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2007-01-31T154401Z_01_N26375756_RTRIDST_0_OUKOE-UK-STUFFED-VETERAN.XML&WTmodLoc=HP-C13-Oddly-2

Is it Friday yet?

mudge, great link on war powers. the last declaration of war by congress was for wwii, right? don't know how it is that we've been involved in so many wars/military actions since then and gotten to the point that the executive branch thinks it has the sole authority. it would be great if the democrats would assert the authority of the legislative branch in this matter, but my cynical guess is that they'll punt because individually they're too worried about how taking a position (a meaningful one, not a symbolic one) would affect their chances of getting reelected. it's too tempting to pass the buck and then criticize.

Uh-oh, there's Bird Flu in Nigeria: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/31/AR2007013100722.html

Nigeria Reports Bird Flu Cases in Humans

By BASHIR ADIGUN
The Associated Press
Wednesday, January 31, 2007; 10:44 AM

ABUJA, Nigeria -- Health officials reported Nigeria's first cases of bird flu in humans Wednesday, saying one woman had died and a family member had been infected but was responding to treatment.

The 22-year-old woman died Jan. 17 in Lagos, Information Minister Frank Nweke said. He added that the government was boosting surveillance across Africa's most-populous nation after the infections in Lagos, Nigeria's biggest city.

-------------

I hope this doesn't damp down all those e-mails I've been getting asking me to help get that (a) $27.5 million out of a bank vault; (b) $36 million in gold bullion from a steamer trunk in Amsterdam; (c) $8.75 million from Robert Mugabe's former chauffeur's brother-in-law...

Thanks for the clarification Tim. As I said, just vague memory, and beleive me, today I am pretty vague.

I bet a lot of things go missing like that. Its not missing, its just not where you think it is. As a well respected searcher of things I lost, I can unequivocally say, looking for it all the places it never was is the best way to find it.

Thanks, Mudge. I knew you'd get the "Rose Woods 28 minute stretch workout" bit.

I am feelin' a bit better today.

It's a shame about that young woman dying from bird flu. People have died from bird flu here in the US already, as well as many places around the world. It was bound to come to Nigeria and the African contient sooner or later, just as the Internet did.

Now, if that flu was transmitted from human to human (rather than from bird to human), then it's possible that there are going to be big problems for all of us soon. But I don't think H5N1's made that jump yet.

bc

PS Loved the SotU retraction story.

SCC: "18 minute stretch workout"

bc

Hi Boolyn: Sorry, I forgot to specify which Universe. Help me out, here. Which Universe are we in, anyway. I forgot.

Ivansmom: I think Stegner is way beyond regional, but he is seen as a Western writer by most.

Richter sightings, anyone? Perhaps JA will write a novel riffing off his famous collateral relative.

Speaking of logic, how many people really thought wine would be superior to plain ol' grape juice in heart protection, thanks to the booze?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070131/sc_nm/heart_grape_dc;_ylt=ApxriPqtGLg0Ft.kY_HfadsiANEA;_ylu=X3oDMTA4NmhocGZ1BHNlYwMxNzAw

I sure found it illogical to extol wine without checking whether it was the GRAPE bit that was the key. Now I have to convince certain relatives that they don't have to be winos to enjoy healthy hearts. Then after that, it's up to them, of course.
"It's still a moderately free country" (quote from Boston Legal last night).

Science used to be known as "natural philosophy." It became scientific when we stopped gassing about maybes and started testing our ideas on the natural universe... and prepared to be disappointed if the universe's laws didn't come out as easy as we expected.

The idea of perfectly circular orbits; the music of the spheres, The geocentric view of the universe, the ether... just a handful of marvelously logical constructs that were disproved by pimply, deformed reality.

Um, bc, there is no virulent avian flu on this continent yet, that we know of. There is a mild, non-virulent form in birds only here. Don't think any humans have gotten it.

I can't believe I'm remembering this.

Wasn't her name Rosemary Woods?

Wilbrod wrote:"Science used to be known as "natural philosophy." It became scientific when we stopped gassing about maybes and started testing our ideas on the natural universe... and prepared to be disappointed if the universe's laws didn't come out as easy as we expected."

--
I think one of the reasons so few are drawn to math and science is a move away in education from wonder and awe, toward hypothesis testing primarily. Science is, essentially, a long conversation through time of an astonishing organized curiosity.

We need the wonder and awe, to keep our questions before us. I am all for good testing with sufficient trials or population samples. But wonder drives the quest for knowledge farther and better than good experiment design alone.

Wheezy, I think you're 100% correct, and I am wrong.

I was typing "avian flu", but my brain was thinking "West Nile virus".

I don't know why I mixed them up, but I did. Apologies.

bc

Slyness, her name was Rose Mary Woods, IIRC.

bc

Ha! That's it, bc. Thanks!

Heads up, Joel. Guess this is going to be Friday's kit, and a pretty gloomy Global Warming Friday around the ol' boodle.

From ABC News:

Two of the Biggest Changes in Climate News

The World Awaits Friday's Verdict in Paris

By BILL BLAKEMORE

Jan. 31, 2007 -- - Scientists gathered from around the world will deliver the verdict on Friday morning in Paris on what the damage is -- how we've already permanently altered the planet.

The news will be heavy -- hard to take. The exact wording of the report won't be final until the 9:30 a.m. press conference, but the basic science is in. The world's scientists have produced these consensus reports every five years since 1991, but the biggest change since the last report in 2001 is clearly not in the science. It's in the audience. This time around, far more people are ready to listen.

This sea change comes after two years of TV and cinema documentaries and specials, unseasonable weird weather extremes, heat spikes and downpours, backyard bugs, birds and flowers out of synch, disappearing mountain glaciers and ski seasons, as well as a rapidly growing chorus of alarmed politicians. Already, the planet's news organizations are swarming around the scientists and government representatives huddling in Paris over the final wording.

Goodbye 2,000 Gorgeous Islands, Very Soon

Daily, the World Wide Web brings in hard news. The latest includes the estimate by Indonesian scientists that 2,000 of the 18,000 gorgeous islands that comprise their country will, by the year 2030, be lost beneath the waves forever (or at least for a thousand years) because of rising sea level caused by global warming. That's only 23 years from now. Two thousand islands just gone. Global warming's refugees have already begun to move from some Pacific islands. Some scientists predict such refugees will number in the unthinkable hundreds of millions well before the end of the century.

So, with reality setting in, many more eyes now turn with new appreciation to the hard-won consensus of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It involves the work of more than 2,000 scientists from more than 100 countries and is necessarily conservative due to the slow, inclusive and painstaking nature of the approval process. "The IPCC is completely unprecedented in world history," preeminent climate scientist Richard Somerville told ABC News.

A Rock of Reality, Newly Admired, Newly Articulate

Somerville, now buried in the closed-door Paris meeting, is also currently moonlighting as historian to write a history of the IPCC. "There's probably never been anything remotely like it among scientists-- for its global scale and long term assessment of a single problem," he says. Somerville has worked for decades at California's Scripps Institution of Oceanography alongside other early harbingers of the global warming crisis, which virtually all scientists agree has been caused largely by emissions from the burning of fossil carbon in the form of coal, oil and gas. The IPCC, whose gestation and founding in the 1980's Somerville witnessed from the inside, is now being recognized by more and more people around the world as the most authoritative single source of information about global warming. With reality now setting in, more journalists are demanding explanations and predictions from scientists -- especially this week in Paris -- and a small but growing number of scientists are trying to become more articulate for them.

Avoiding Too Much 'Geek-Talk'

They are trying to avoid the "geek-talk," or scientific jargon, that makes most readers' eyes glaze over. It's been a bone of contention. Are the professional journalists to blame for confusion about the solidity of global warming science, or do scientists themselves share some of the blame?

"Scientists can be really infuriating, sometimes," says Susan Joy Hassol, a premier science analyst sought by many leading climate scientists, including IPCC officials. For more than 20 years she has been helping scientists write professional studies as well as reports aimed at a broader public.

Hassol has lately been giving talks about the problem for scientists in a number of cities. "It's a constant struggle to help scientists get beyond the jargon, but it's never been more important for scientists to be clear for the public," says Hassol. The Other Big Climate News: No Matter What We Do... Just how important may become painfully clear as the public begins to absorb the news that will be released on Friday. Whatever the exact final wording, some of the heaviest facts will be confirmations of news already featured in the IPCC's 2001 report. The intervening five years have brought great improvements in the amount and quality of data and in the power of computers to discern its implications. So another big change in climate news will be that, this time around, many more people feel the reality of the findings that were also in IPCC
'01 -- such as this:

No matter what we do, global temperatures, even if we begin to get their rise to level off 50 years from now, won't begin to actually decline before at least two centuries from now. That's even if we immediately start drastic cuts in carbon and other greenhouse emissions, and permanently replace them with new sources of clean energy. Moreover, that no matter what we do, say the scientists, we are in for a rise of at least about two degrees Fahrenheit within the next 50 years -- over and above the 1.5-degree increase the world has experienced in the past 150 years.

And no matter what we do, they say, the new heat will mean sea level keeps rising for at least 1000 years -- though our actions should have an enormous influence on how much they rise. "The IPCC already reported that in 2001, though the evidence is even more powerful now," Hassol points out. "This time," she says, "more people will probably be able to listen to it."

The challenge for the public, she and most climate scientists are saying, is to realize that the temperature rise won't even begin to level off in 50 years -- after that two-degree rise -- but accelerate, unless emissions are drastically cut now, well within the next 10 years. The science delivered Friday morning in Paris is intended by the IPCC to be the bedrock for hopeful action.

Marketing campaign devices for cartoon program mistaken for terrorist weapons in Boston. Governor, Mayor, Police Commisioner reassure public and vow to get to bottom of situation. Fail to realize they're already there. Onion editors find themselves beside themselves. Suspected rip in spacetime continuum.

Mudge posted this from ABCNEW's BILL BLAKEMORE, re Climate Change who is quoting excellent sci-gal Susan Joy Hassol, "The science delivered Friday morning in Paris is intended by the IPCC to be the bedrock for hopeful action."

We need more wonder in all areas. Wonder can help us be hopeful and passionate. I believe that actions on individual and political levels toward counting environmental costs need an infusion of WONDER too.

JA's writing springs from a wonder stance toward science. Thanks for that. The boodle picks up and knits forward. Thanks for that, too, Boodlians.

Wilbrod, that report is misleading, and the conclusions drawn are misleading. The report says that grape juice is about the same as red wine, which is OK as far as it goes--you get the antioxidants, etc., one way or the other. But there are other studies which also say a little bit of alcohol (i.e, without ANY grape product, distilled or not) is also good for you (alcoholics notwithstanding, of course). A glass of beer a day is an example.

And there are studies that say red wine is a little better for you than white wine, presumably because the red wine contains the skin of the grape (that's what makes red wine red). If that's in fact true, then red (purple?) grape juice would be slightly better than "white" grape juice.

The other problem is that Welch's Grape Juice funded part of the study, and that sets off alarm bells in my head that are giving me a headache. I think I need a glass of antiscorbutic.

Yeah that'll be Global Warming Friday for real. Lots of stuff on the web about it today, though I still haven't seen the new IPCC estimate for the likely increase in surface temperatures over the next century, which is a key number (if arguably overhyped). In general the observations of warming have been running ahead of the IPCC consensus in recent years.

MAybe an SCC, maybe not: Don't know if "white" grape juice is made from white grapes (as seem to be pictured on the can), whereas red/purple grape juice includes skin or purple grapes.

The thing that worries me about heart patients (like me) replacing wine with grape juice is they put a lot of crap (corn syrup, sugar, preservatives, etc.) in grape juice, and I'd be worried people would be drinking one of those "faux" fruit juices with only 5 or 10 percent of the real stuff in it.

Alcoholics notwithstanding (or other people with health issues and allergies), though, only a fool would replace a nice glass of wine with a glass of grape juice. What a lousy trade that is.

Glass of beer? GLASS of beer? Is that served with a lace napkin, pray tell?

The benefit seems to be in arterial relaxation.

http://www.realbeer.com/news/articles/news-001922.php

But then, note the website's name.

Wine still delivers more benefit than beer, and heavy drinking can actually raise blood pressure.

High blood pressure is not a significant worry for me, so I won't start tossing back some suds with the boys anytime soon.

Barley coffee/tea is also pretty healthful, no reason for you to rush out and guzzle it by the gallon. Even if the Roman gladiators drank it...

Also, Veganism and vegetarianism in fact can lower your blood pressure if done healthifully.

So go ahead knock back those nut n bean stir-fries....

Mudge, everybody to their own taste. I personally don't like the taste of alcohol, and using 95% proof alcohol to swab down lab benches didn't help me gain an appreciation for the smell or taste of it.

Check the labels of grape juice pretty carefully. The first three ingredients are likely to be water, high fructose corn syrup, and apple juice concentrate.

I never tracked down the urban rumor but there is a lot of lore about grape juice being invented as a temperance alternative to wine. Unfermented grape juice basically did not exist before the 19th century.

Wilbrod, Wilbrod, Wilbrod. Nobody said anything about "heavy drinking." Of course heavy drinking is bad for you. But jesus, girl, a single glass of wine a day (which my cardiologist ordered me to drink) ain't "heavy drinking."

If you don't like the taste of wine, that's fine. Nobody says you have to. But c'mon-- 95% pure ethyl alcohol (presumably denatured???) used to swab down lab benches?? That's hardly analogous to a glass of Chateau St. Michelle, or even Rumpole's plonk, doncha think?

True, and a glass of 95% pure urine is not remotely comparable to a glass of wine with a tablespoonful of urine added, Mudge.

Yet, would you drink the wine if you could smell the urine in it, even knowing it's not 95% proof?

Or to use a more appropriate example... drink something with bleach in it? Soap?

Even if you knew it wouldn't harm you?

Mudge and Wilbrod,

FYI -- white wine has pulmonary benefits, over and above red wine. Forget the active ingredient here but thought you would like to know this.

Why do I know? Swim with a Master's group, where breathing is more important than stroke, actually.

Pino Grigio -- the swimmer's weapon.

I withdraw, Wilbrod. No one can ever debate with you. I sooo completely do not understand the logic of the urine "analogy" that I am just going to walk away.

You misunderstood, Mudge... it's not the taste of wine I dislike, it's the taste of alcohol itself.

I tolerate alcoholic drinks only when the taste of alcohol is drowned out as much as possible-- such as mixed drinks (peach schnapps-- schnappy!)

Since I also have health issues that make drinking even moderately problematic, I never bothered to try and acquire the taste.

While I will never appreciate the bonquet of plonk, in some ways I consider myself luckier than those who find the taste of alcohol beautiful.

Really, CP? Pinot Grigio has pulmonary benefit??? I could kiss you.

As I said, EACH TO THEIR OWN TASTE. You can't be logical about taste. You misread me.

Pure and simple. But for some science behind why I might not like alcohol at all--

http://jn.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/92/1/536

People who dislike broccoli because it's bitter are also more apt to find alcohol bitter.

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/botrender.fcgi?blobtype=html&artid=1397913

As it happens, a strong or supertaste for PROP as bitter runs in my family. We love broccoli (and cabbage etc.) but it was an acquired taste to learn to enjoy the bitter taste-- like people enjoy coffee and tea in spite of their bitter taste.

I still can't really eat brussel sprouts unless prepared properly-- just way too bitter.

The urine analogy is a psychological point-- you don't drink anything you know contains an substance you find deeply distasteful and repulsive, no matter how slight.

Wilbrod,

Could it have been the benzene (I think that is what is added to denature alcohol) in the 95 proof that caused your issues with the smell or taste of alcohol? I know that when we used 70% alcohol (95% diluted - nondenatured) to wipe down lab benches and clean rooms and hoods that I actually enjoyed the smell. Though I have been known to enjoy a beer or a glass of wine in my time too.

I'm wrong. It looks like ethanol is denatured with methanol or denatonium benzoate - which has an unpleasant odor.

SCC: 95 proof should be 95%. I'm going back to lurking!

Lurkingeer, that's all right.

I did find the smell of alcohol I was distilling pleasant because I could catch a faint sweet smell of ethanol alcohol. I was pretty surprised it was different from the denatured alcohol I had been used to working with.

It also testifies to how well alcohol carries odor, as well.

I believe ethyl alcohol is often denatured with methyl (wood) alcohol aka methanol. I once worked with that in organic chemistry, don't particularly remember the smell as being THE nasty smell of denatured alcohol, but then we were avoiding smelling the vapors. That stuff can make you blind.

*Still have all the info and notes from my phone calls earlier today to Gov. Rick Perry's office, but can't blog it at the moment. Gathering gear to head to temporary Red Cross shelter tonight. Will resume blogging in the ayem*

Yeah, I smelled a lot of ethanol in my time as sometimes we used 70% ETOH to cool hot steam-sterilized parts (in a well ventilated area, with many air changeovers). It would cool the parts rapidly when necessary.

I wonder if Einstein ever predicted that if you type in "plutonium" in Google, an ad pops up on the right side promising "great deals on plutonium on E-Bay?"

I don't know about anyone else, but I am going to go home and have a nice glass of wine this evening, not sure if it will be red or white. It will not be for my health, and that is going to be one BIG momma of a glass.

Wouldn't amonia be more analogous to denatured alcohol than urine particularly when used as a cleaning product?

Oh and in preparation for Global warming Friday, I will remind all of you that I do have an ocean front property on the island in BC, which is for sale. In case you need a retreat with a short shelf life ya know.

Since Boko999 loves my "Bleep"/Satinover quotes so much, here's another:

"Quantum mecahnics doesn't give away the game so easily. . . . Maybe it has something to do with mysticism; maybe it has absolutely nothing to do with mysticism. . . . If you go up to quantum mechanics and try to get it to give you that answer, it's going to get angry at you . . . It sets up this boundary that says, Look, the world is unbelievably mysterious -- you think you understand it? You ain't even got close to it. Don't think you can slap some favorite familiar category on it and make it conform to that, because it's not going to conform to that either. It's going to be just as upsetting to the mystic as to the materialist. . . . It shouldn't give solace to anybody unless you're the kind of person who loves genuine mystery."

-- Jeffrey Satinover, on the DVD "What the Bleep!? Down the Rabbit Hole: Quantum Edition"

[In other words, when it comes to quantum physics, pretty much *everyone* is an ignoramus.]

I stand corrected, dr. I was influenced by my general impression of beer (apart from its alcohol content) as basically looking and tasting like vegan piss.

CNN reports Molly Ivins died today.

CNN's report on Molly Ivins:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/31/obit.ivins.ap/index.html

Sadly amonia a subject I once contemplated a lot. My older kids were slightly pre-disposable diapers, so I am intimately aquainted with the process of the chemical change. I would agree with you about most beer except in the instances of extreme heat or Guiness, which is fine in any season.

Contemplating the subject of diapers, makes me feel the need for another big glass of wine.

I had a wonderful time driving home tonite. Someone took a pretty good morning and turned the day into a raging, bleeping blizzard. Ok that is stretching it, but there is high blowing snow and low blowing snow, the roads are very icy, and you can't see a darn thing. In my 10 mile drive down the highway, there were 3 rollovers, and 4 or 5 cars in the ditch. I could have sworn I was somehwere much further south.

Thanks for the link, Slyness. I've been looking around, and the NY Times has a much better obit, though.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/business/media/31cnd-ivins.html?hp&ex=1170306000&en=d149ac32ed01c543&ei=5094&partner=homepage

The NY Times actually did some homework for this one.

And here's the Star-Telegram's obit on her:

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/16591107.htm

You're right, Wheezy, the NYT obit is a good one.

Sorry, low blow, cheap shot. My doctor pepper must be pretty strong to be making me say that in my outside voice.

Almost bordering on topic, just last week I picked up 3 nice new hard cover books for 6.36 including tax. One is a reprint of Their Hearts Were Young and Gay by Cornelia Otis Skinner, a delightful read for those times when I need something light. I'm still trying to give the book about the man in the basement my attention. And then there is this book about Anglo Saxons that I am studiously avoiding, of Human Bondage, Silas Marner, an Agatha Chirstie, with a very interesting forward, the Iriving Stone book about Mary Todd Lincoln, a book on Hardanger (think doilies)and a whole host of other books that are all in a pile right beside my chair in various stages of waiting to be read. Reading that list over, knowing how many very good books are waiting for me there, makes me feel very rich. Its a reminder that I needed today.

Damn, that Star-Telegram obit was good, too, Slyness.

I'm mostly Irish - can't write about the dead because I don't have anything to drink here. And it's snowing so I'm not going to venture out to get anything.

Gotta say God love her, though.

"...pimply, deformed reality..."

dr - good books and red wine are why I don't fear aging.

SCC--second "..." should be "." The 95% stuff gave me such a contact high my ellipses quotient overflowed.

I read (past tense) Molly Ivins little, but miss her.

On the grape juice thing, I think Mr. Welch was a Methodist and did well by applying the new technology of canning (bottling) to grape juice so it wouldn't ferment. He of course sold this sanitary, salubrious new product to the Methodists, presumably on grounds that (a) wine, for all its virtues, isn't good for everybody and it's better for everyone to be able to take communion or (b) that Jesus would have used grape juice had the product been available, and Scripture doesn't say "wine" anyway.

I think I can get away with writing these un-fact-checked allegations because I did the dishwashing at my Methodist church earlier this evening. No grape products were served, but there was plenty of iced tea.

R.I.P., Molly Ivins. I will miss you.

Many thanks for the links to the excellent obituaries, Wheezy and Slyness. Very well done.

Here's the last Ivins Tribute - it's long.

Molly Ivins Tribute
MOLLY IVINS BEGAN WRITING HER SYNDICATED COLUMN FOR CREATORS SYNDICATE IN 1992. ANTHONY ZURCHER IS A CREATORS SYNDICATE EDITOR BASED IN AUSTIN, TEXAS, AND HE HAS BEEN MOLLY'S EDITOR AND FRIEND FOR MANY YEARS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION. -- CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.

MOLLY IVINS TRIBUTE
BY ANTHONY ZURCHER

Goodbye, Molly I.

Molly Ivins is gone, and her words will never grace these pages again -- for this, we will mourn. But Molly wasn't the type of woman who would want us to grieve. More likely, she'd say something like, "Hang in there, keep fightin' for freedom, raise more hell, and don't forget to laugh, too."

If there was one thing Molly wanted us to understand, it's that the world of politics is absurd. Since we can't cry, we might as well laugh. And in case we ever forgot, Molly would remind us, several times a week, in her own unique style.

Shortly after becoming editor of Molly Ivins' syndicated column, I learned one of my most important jobs was to tell her newspaper clients that, yes, Molly meant to write it that way. We called her linguistic peculiarities "Molly-isms." Administration officials were "Bushies," government was in fact spelled "guvment," business was "bidness." And if someone was "madder than a peach orchard boar," well, he was quite mad indeed.

Of course, having grown up in Texas, all of this made sense to me. But to newspaper editors in Seattle, Chicago, Detroit and beyond -- Yankee land, as Molly would say -- her folksy language could be a mystery. "That's just Molly being Molly," I would explain and leave it at that.

But there was more to Molly Ivins than insightful political commentary packaged in an aw-shucks Southern charm. In the coming days, much will be made of Molly's contributions to the liberal cause, how important she was as an authentic female voice on opinion pages across the country, her passionate and eloquent defense of the poorest and the weakest among us against the corruption of the most powerful, and the joy she took in celebrating the uniqueness of American culture -- and all of this is true. But more than that, Molly Ivins was a woman who loved and cared deeply for the world around her. And her warm and generous spirit was apparent in all her words and deeds.

Molly's work was truly her passion.
She would regularly turn down lucrative speaking engagements to give rally-the-troops speeches at liberalism's loneliest outposts. And when she did rub elbows with the highfalutin' well-to-do, the encounter would invariably end up as comedic grist in future columns.

For a woman who made a profession of offering her opinion to others, Molly was remarkably humble. She was known for hosting unforgettable parties at her Austin home, which would feature rollicking political discussions, and impromptu poetry recitals and satirical songs. At one such event, I noticed her dining table was littered with various awards and distinguished speaker plaques, put to use as trivets for steaming plates of tamales, chili and fajita meat. When I called this to her attention, Molly matter-of-factly replied, "Well, what else am I going to do with 'em?"

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Molly's life is the love she engendered from her legions of fans. If Molly missed a column for any reason, her newspapers would hear about it the next day. As word of Molly's illness spread, the letters, cards, e-mails and gifts poured in.

Even as Molly fought her last battle with cancer, she continued to make public appearances. When she was too weak to write, she dictated her final two columns. Although her body was failing, she still had so much to say. Last fall, before an audience at the University of Texas, her voice began as barely a whisper. But as she went on, she drew strength from the standing-room-only crowd until, at the end of the hour, she was forcefully imploring the students to get involved and make a difference. As Molly once wrote, "Politics is not a picture on a wall or a television sitcom that you can decide you don't much care for."

For me, Molly's greatest words of wisdom came with three children's books she gave my son when he was born. In her inimitable way, she captured the spirit of each in one-sentence inscriptions. In "Alice in Wonderland," she offered, "Here's to six impossible things before breakfast." For "The Wind in the Willows," it was, "May you have Toad's zest for life." And in "The Little Prince," she wrote, "May your heart always see clearly."

Like the Little Prince, Molly Ivins has left us for a journey of her own. But while she was here, her heart never failed to see clear and true -- and for that, we can all be grateful.

Fabulous, Wheezy, just fabulous.

I didn't always agree with her, but I loved her writing. Never boring, Molly was.

I heard about Molly Ivins on the drive home. Here is a link to Wade Goodwin's story about her:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7111009
(NPR says the audio will be available at 7:30 EST)

Quick Boodle catch up-
mo, I knew it was Faye Wray. Must take Jeopardy quiz (but I know I'd blow the wagering part and wind up in last place, or I couldn't get the buzzer to work).

frostbitten - I hope that's just an exaggeration, not an accurate assessment of your condition. Are you from Canada or Florida?

I love Stegner. And Maugham.

The Librarian Action figure is modeled after Nancy Pearl, a librarian from (where else?) Seattle:
http://www.accoutrements.com/products/11548.html

Oh, oh, Joe Biden already put his foot in his mouth!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/31/AR2007013100404.html

I've always thought her line about Pat Buchanan's speech at the GOP convention, that it "probably sounded better in the original German," was one of the best put-downs ever written. And the fact that she named her dog "an expletive" in the words of the NYT obit, and took it to the stodgy oh-so-correct NYT newsroom (where she went barefoot and dressed in jeans), was just wonderful. As the cliche has it, we shall not see her like again.

Hey Dr, I know what Hardanger is....stuff from a valley in Norway....fiddle-style, embroidery, etc.

I have relatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin, where these words appear on their cultural standards of learning tests.

Is there Hardanger knitting?

Oh, and while I was back-Boodling, I had an image of Einstein trying out for American Idol. Too funny!

mostlylurking- A bit of hyperbole. I'm splitting my time between the old home town 90 miles south of International Falls, MN and Tampa, FL where the husband is stationed at MacDill AFB.

Wheezy-thanks for posting the Molly Ivins tribute.

frostbitten, that's good. Is International Falls near Frostbite Falls (or is it the same thing)? Tell your husband thanks for his service (and yours as well) from me (and the rest of the Boodle, although I would not presume to speak for everyone). I'm sure it's not an easy time for either of you.

The audio link to the Molly Ivins story is on npr.org now. I realized when I posted that it was long past the time that they said it would be available.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7111009
It's quite good - Goodwin calls her "relentlessly funny".

Speaking of time, I am in the midst of dealing with the "energy saving" DST time change - OS patches, Java patches, firmware upgrades - outages of all kinds (except for the really old OS for which there is no patch). I can't believe that we have to do all this - it's almost worse than Y2K! Grrrr.

Frostbitten,
Your situation reminds me of childhood at the former Ramey AFB, Puerto Rico (where we lived after MacDill). Somehow, the Air Force liked to transfer people from Alaska. They'd arrive and sort of go into thermal/steam shock for a while. Inhumane.

At least moving Bullwinkle to PR would be inhumane, unless maybe he were given a nice pool full of ice cubes and water cress.

mostlylurking-Same place, at least according to Moose and Squirrel. This part of MN is more Northern Exposure than Lake Wobegone.

You're quite welcome. Though I must say such thanks always make me feel a bit awkward. The current folly notwithstanding, it's a life we both love and will be a little sad to put behind us when he retires in '08.

Thanks Wheezy

Come to think of it, I hear rumors from a Florida gardening source that Gadsden Park, just outside of the MacDill gate, has big cycads, including Encephalartos (from South Africa) and Dioon (probably Mexico). They look vaguely like palms. One of the Dioons has enormous cones (they're ancient plants with cones, not flowers). Mr. Peabody would like them, at least until the dinosaurs start giving chase.

gomer, saw the newsweek article today. nice picture of sean with his son.
so sad though.

daylight savings starts march 11th? is this for real?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/31/AR2007013102318.html

p.s. i realize probably everyone has heard about this except for me.
i'm a little behind the times.

Hardanger fjord. It's also the name of a kind of Norwegian embroidery or knitting pattern. Norwegian sweaters are knitted in cylinders (spirals) rather than by sewing together flat front and back pieces. First wife spent year as AFS HS student in Norge, and knitted wonderful sweaters with circular needles.

This Friday's after work happy hour at the sushi bar with Texan friend is going to turn into a wake for Molly.

One tiny comment before I leave for work, where I anticipate an extremely busy first-day-of-the-month (no boodlin' on my schedule today...!)

Prince's Florida concert was reviewed by Herald reporter Evelyn McDonnell in today's paper. I want to applaud her for the third paragraph where she refers to Prince as "The erstwhile glyph."

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/columnists/evelyn_mcdonnell/16593138.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

I can spell but I cannot count. The fifth paragraph. This is embarrassing.

I saw Prince several times back in the day.

I would use the term "highly entertaining".

bc

Re. Einstein trying out for "American Idol", somehow I imagine him warbling "Danke Schoen" a loa Wayne Newton.

bc

SCCs: "a la" and probably "Danke Schoen".

bc

Man I can turn the boodle to talk of doilies in no time flat. Its insidious. Hardanger is indeed a kind of cut thread embroidery. It was used to decorate clothing for many decades. Photos of early settlers in those north central states are show off just how ornate it can be. It is now most commonly used to make doilies and table linens and other decorative items for homes.

I could talk curling now is anyone wishes. Nah, its too early even for me.

The phrase "The erstwhile glyph." is pure genius.

SCC just show off,perhpas more correctly display. Delete the word 'are'.

Hi Dr,

I first heard "Hardanger" from in-laws, in relation to fiddles. A Norwegian forebear made several violins from scratch....the word was dropped in there with the distinction that their family was not from that district, but the central area closer to Liliehammer.

I LOVE circular knitting but have only made hats. Am about to try a scarve on circular needles, featured in the WaPo sometime last year.

New yarn shop in Hyattsville, if you are near by, DR. They swear off internet sales, so I wonder if they will make it.

Sky report: Snowing and 30 degrees. School is out for the day, but the spouse reports he had no problems getting to work (except for the idiots who thought they had to drive 15 mph). I will stay in and stay warm. Today's task: get everything together to take to the accountant for our income taxes.

Indeed, hand on heart for dear Molly Ivins. Her loss is so very much ours, and we will truly miss her until our own lights go out. The most sorrowful thing, perhaps, is that she did not outlive "little boy" and that he is probably heaving sighs of relief that she's gone.

Yep, missin' ya, Texas girl.