Endowed with Feelings and Unstructured Consciousness

Government Stupidity or Lazy Management?

2012-01-06T13:41:00.003-06:00

Below is a job anouncement for a federal job and yes you to can apply via USAjobs.gov. Just click on the Job Announcement Number below. I am posting this because the job description and the pay range and the experience comparision to a Master's Degree do not belong in the same job announcement. If you look it over,I think you will agree that what is basicly a data entry job is far removed from anything like a $102K salary. Nor is a years experience as a GS 7 (basicly a journyman entry level postion) is in any way equal to a Master's Degree.

Job Title:Invitations Coordinator

Agency:Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Sub Agency:CFPB - Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Job Announcement Number:12-CFPB-145X

SALARY RANGE: $53,500.00 to $102,900.00 / Per Year

OPEN PERIOD: Tuesday, January 03, 2012 to Saturday, January 07, 2012

SERIES & GRADE: CN-0301-04

POSITION INFORMATION: Full-time - Excepted service time-limited Appointment NTE 12 months; may be extended up to July 20, 2015

PROMOTION POTENTIAL:04

DUTY LOCATIONS: 1 vacancy(s) - Washington DC Metro Area, DC
WHO MAY BE CONSIDERED: Applications will be accepted from U.S. citizens.

JOB SUMMARY:

Do you want to be a leader in your field at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) - a groundbreaking organization solely devoted to the economic strength and vitality of American Families? Do you want to play an important role in making consumer financial markets work for all American families? Do you want to challenge yourself and others? If you answer "Yes", then we have a career for you! CFPB professionals have unparalleled opportunities to expand horizons for themselves and for the nation. Be one of the founding members of an agency that will make a difference in the lives of everyday American families!

This position is located in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Office of External Affairs. The Office of External Affairs is responsible for coordination of all external communication, with a focus on raising awareness of consumer issues through activities, messages, and interactions with Public Relations, Media, Communities, Industries, and Stakeholders. You will support management of CFPB's participation in external events by developing and maintaining databases and event calendar and providing advice and guidance on consideration of invitations.

This position is being filled under CFPB's excepted service authority. This excepted service, time-limited position may be eligible for conversion to a permanent, excepted service appointment. Appointment under this authority does not convey competitive status.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

•Background investigation

•U.S. citizenship

•May be required to serve a one year trial period.
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DUTIES:

The major duties of this position include:

•Develop and maintain a database to manage all invitations for CFPB to be represented at external meetings, panels, roundtables, conferences and other external events.

•Research and provide background information so that the invitation can be appropriately considered by decision-makers.

•Monitor and track all invitations and to ensure that all invitations are considered by the appropriate stakeholder and that decisions regarding the acceptance of the invitation are forwarded to CFPB staff in accordance with established timelines and protocols.

•Develop and maintain the CFPB-wide calendar, ensuring that all accepted invitations are placed on the CFPB calendar, and that all appropriate CFPB staff are alerted and invited to the event/meeting.

•Serve as expert on calendar issues, providing advice and guidance to CFPB staff on use of the calendar and on protocols for consideration of invitations.
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QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED:

You must meet eligibility and qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date.

You must answer all job-related questions in the job questionnaire.

Education may be substituted for experience as described in "Qualifications."
Specialized Experience for the CN-4 level: To qualify at the CN-4, you must have one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the CN-3C grade level in the Federal service. (For qualification purposes, the CN-3C level is roughly equivalent to the GS-07 level.) For this position specialized experience may be defined as: experience coordinating the policies and procedures of an organization; knowledge of and ability to use software programs to create databases; ability to plan, prioritize and organize work; ability to communicate orally and in writing; and interacting with high level officials in non-routine situations that require a high degree of tact and etiquette.

OR

A master's degree or equivalent, or two academic years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such degree, or LL.B. or J.D., from an accredited college or university. To be qualifying, graduate education must be in a field directly related to the duties of this position and must have provided the knowledge, skills and abilities that would be acquired through one year of specialized experience as described above.

The experience may have been gained in either the public or private sector. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis.

The New Boss in Town or The Right Knowledge is Power

2012-01-04T06:29:00.003-06:00

As a precursor to my new path for the final push toward my eventual retirement (I'm not going down as a tired old relic) I offer some managerial advice or I should say I'm offering someone else's that I think has merit.

The New Boss in Town

By Elizabeth Newell

New managers are expected to implement changes andimprovements. But there is a fine line between making clear that things will bedifferent and setting fire to what is familiar to employees. A manager whosuccessfully toes the line between a new regime and a scorched-earth policy canset the tone early without alienating subordinates.

The balancing act requires paying attention to theexisting attitudes in the organization and determining how much change peoplecan handle - and how quickly. Peter Fischer, author of The New Boss: How toSurvive the First 100 Days (Kogan Page, 2007), identifies seven building blocksof successful leadership transition: managing expectations, building keyrelationships, analyzing the situation, clarifying objectives, creating aclimate for change, initiating change, and using symbols and rituals.

According to Fischer, experienced managers know that eventhe best arguments in favor of change will fall on deaf ears if the properclimate does not exist among employees. And employees who view the new boss asthe long-awaited hero of the organization can be as destructive in the long runas employees who resist change.

Before you can foster a climate for change, you mustgather what Milo and Thuy Sindell, authors of Sink or Swim!: New Job. New Boss.12 Weeks to Get It Right (Adams Media, 2006), call "companyknowledge." This includes the organization's history, culture - why itdoes things a certain way - internal operations, strategy and financialsituation. "It is important to understand the rules because it ensuresthat you operate within the limits and boundaries and do not step on any toesin your first weeks on the job," they write. "Unknowingly crossingboundaries doesn't usually leave a very good impression."

Once you have the lay of the land and made it clear thatyou respect the culture of the office, it's time to articulate your vision forthe organization to your employees and help them understand and appreciatetheir roles. Morey Stettner, author of The New Manager's Handbook: 24 Lessonsfor Mastering Your New Role (McGraw-Hill, 2002), writes, "By defining anew direction to move forward, you reassure employees of the benefits ofchange."

One approach is to identify the advantages of the changesfrom your employees' point of view. "Appeal to their self-interest andspecify what's to gain in both the short- and long-term perspective,"Stettner notes.

And while you're leveling with employees about what iscoming down the pike, skip the platitudes. Clichés such as "We must changeor die" or "Change is a constant around here" ring hollow withemployees, he says.

Stettner writes that being accessible for informal,face-to-face chats with team members helps dispel rumors and foster trust aboutwhat is in store. And when you don't have all the answers, be honest."Saying, 'I don't know, but I'll find out and get back to you' worksbetter than barricading yourself in your office and becoming aloof,"Stettner advises.

He quotes the late leadership consultant Peter Scholtessaying, "Employees don't resist change. They resist being changed."By showing respect and understanding for the culture of your new organizationwhen you first arrive and by being honest and accessible in announcing andimplementing your new direction, you make the changes a team effort, ratherthan an infliction.

Elizabeth Newell covered management, human resources andcontracting at Government Executive for three years.

Don’t Come to the Dark Side - Acquisition Lessons from a Galaxy Far, Far Away

2011-12-02T13:11:00.000-06:00

This article is not only fun to read but I think it will add to your understanding of how the Pentagon has gone wrong with some of its project thinking.

by Lt. Col. Dan Ward, USAF

After watching the climactic battle scene in Return of the Jedi for the first time, my 8-year-old daughter said, “They shouldn’t build those Death Stars anymore. They keep getting blown up.” She may be a little short for a stormtrooper, but the kid’s got a point.

Yes, the Empire should stop building Death Stars. It turns out the DoD shouldn’t build them either, metaphorically speaking. What sort of system fits into this category? I’ll resist the urge to give specific examples and instead will simply point out that any enormous project that is brain-meltingly complex, ravenously consumes resources, and aims to deliver an Undefeatable Ultimate Weapon is well on its way to becoming a Death Star, and that’s not a good thing.

Why are Death Stars a bad idea? The main objections fit into two categories: operational and programmatic. The operational shortcomings of the Empire’s doomed battlestations are well known and widely mocked. Their programmatic shortcomings are less well known but worth considering. We’ll take a look at both categories.

Death Star Operational Assessment

Introduced in Episode IV, A New Hope, the Death Star makes an impressive debut when it vaporizes the planet Alderaan—the one and only time it fires its main weapon. Shortly thereafter, the entire station, with 1.2 million people on board, is destroyed by a single shot fired by a half-trained Jedi. That’s what we call a critical vulnerability, and it’s the subject of relentless fan disdain. The second Death Star’s performance in combat was even less impressive. Despite being much larger than the original one, it was dispatched by the rebels before firing its planet-busting laser even once. So much for being “fully operational.”

To be sure, the Death Star is primarily a weapon of intimidation rather than something to be used all willy-nilly. Even the Evil Empire didn’t want to demolish more than a handful of planets. So the fact that the Death Star only ever fired one shot may not be that big of a deal. However, the fact that the stations kept getting blown up is a big deal indeed. It’s hard to be intimidating if you’re a smoking cloud of debris.

One might wonder how such an ostensibly powerful weapon could have such a consistently poor track record and such a gaping weakness. Despite the opinion of certain critics, these shortcomings are not a cheap plot device by a lazy writer. In fact, the Death Star’s combination of inadequacy and vulnerability may be the second-most realistic aspect of the entire saga.

Build Them, Do Not

From a design perspective, a system as enormously complex as a Death Star is more than any program manager or senior architect can handle, no matter how high their midi-chlorian count is. There is bound to be an overlooked exhaust vent or two that leads directly to the reactor core. That is just the sort of vulnerability an asymmetric opponent can exploit. In my professional engineering judgment, a flaw of this type was inevitable. As C-3PO would say, the possibility of building such a large and complex system without overlooking something critical is approximately 3,720 to 1! The resulting error may not be as dramatic as George Lucas envisioned, but even a malfunction in the life support system or navigation software can be pretty exciting in its own way.

Death Star Programmatics

The Death Star’s lackluster contribution to the fight is reason enough not to build one, but serious problems emerged long before it was declared operational. In Return of the Jedi, viewers gain a fascinating insight into the programmatics of Empire acquisitions. In the single most realistic scene in the whole double-trilogy, Darth Vader complains that the second Death Star construction project is … behind schedule. In fact, much of the drama in Episode VI revolves around this delay.

Consider the implications of pop culture’s most notorious schedule overrun. In the Star Wars universe, robots are self-aware, every ship has its own gravity, Jedi Knights use the Force, tiny green Muppets are formidable warriors and a piece of junk like the Millennium Falcon can make the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs. But even the florid imagination of George Lucas could not envision a project like the Death Star coming in on time, on budget. He knew it would take a Jedi mind trick beyond the skill of Master Yoda to make an audience suspend that much disbelief.

Even worse, it turns out getting a moon-sized project back on track requires the personal presence of a Sith Lord. Let me assure you, if your project’s success depends on hiring someone whose first name is Darth, you’ve got a problem. Not just because Sith Lords are make-believe, but also because they’re evil.

I’ve Got A Bad Feeling About This

If you count the 14 hours I spent rewatching all six movies, I did way more research for this article than any other project in recent memory. During the phase of research that did not involve popcorn, I was surprised to discover several blogs and published articles praising Darth Vader for his programmatic prowess.

You’d think it would go without saying that Vader is not a great example of anything other than redemption. From the time he puts on that black helmet until his (spoiler alert!) heart-warming death scene, he’s a complete baddie. And yet, it turns out many fans have drawn unfortunate lessons from this character.
An article in Project Magazine titled “If His Day Rate Is Reasonable, Get Darth Vader” commended Vader’s ability to turn around an ailing project. Another program management professional wistfully wrote, “If only most project managers could have the presence and command the respect that Darth Vader did…” Um, have you seen these films? I don’t think we really want PMs to walk around in capes and black armor. Sure, I’ve known people who thought they were on par with Vader, but I assure you, his path is not one we should follow. I’m pretty sure it leads to suffering.
A few writers praised Vader’s strong communication skills, pointing out that he conscientiously “ensured the Emperor was kept up-to-date with regular progress reports.” In a similar vein, I’m told Mussolini kept the trains running on time. Even if that were true (and it’s not), it doesn’t make him a good role model.

More than one writer inexplicably complimented Vader’s leadership style, conveniently overlooking his use of telekinetic strangulation as a primary motivational approach. One misguided soul described Vader as “an authoritative figure who commanded respect.” A more accurate description might be “a murderous tyrant who commanded obedience.” There’s a difference.

Happily, a blog commenter with the unlikely nom de net of Luke had the wisdom to point out, “All projects developed by Dark Lords will end up like the Death Stars.” By that I presume he meant “glowing fields of space junk,” but it’s possible he also meant “over budget, behind schedule and blown-up before Act II.” Online Luke is probably right: Dark Lords build Death Stars. I suspect the inverse is also true—building Death Stars makes program managers end up like Dark Lords. If so, that’s one more reason not to do it.

A Jedi Craves Not These Things

Now, the commentaries I quoted were surely at least partially tongue-in-cheek. However, there seemed to be a sincere underlying belief in many cases that a) the Death Stars were awesome engineering projects and b) Darth Vader was a good leader who got stuff done. I can excuse enthusiastic fanboys and fangirls for holding these beliefs, but as professional military technologists, we know better.

Consider the fact that even the Empire, with all its vast resources and the full power of the Dark Side, could only build one Death Star at a time. Building two at once was clearly more than it could handle. This reminds me of Norm Augustine’s famous prediction that at some point, the entire DoD budget would purchase just one aircraft for all the Services to share. The Empire apparently arrived at this singularity long, long ago. I’m not convinced this achievement represented real progress.

The truth is, Death Stars are about as practical as a metal bikini. Sure, they look cool, but they aren’t very sensible. Specifically, Death Stars can’t possibly be built on time or on budget, require pathological leadership styles and, as we’ve noted, keep getting blown up. Also, nobody can build enough of them to make a real difference in the field.

The bottom line: Death Stars are unaffordable. Whether we’re talking about a fictional galaxy far, far away or the all too real conditions here on Planet Earth, a Death Star program will cost more than it is worth. The investment on this scale is unsustainable and is completely lost when a wamp-rat-hunting farmboy takes a lucky shot. When one station represents the entire fleet (or even 5 percent of the fleet), we’ve put too many eggs in that basket and are well on our way to failing someone for the last time.

The answer isn’t to build more, partly because we can’t and partly because the underlying concept is so critically flawed. Instead of building Death Stars, we should imitate the most successful technology in the saga: R2-D2.

The Droids We’re Looking For

My extensive research uncovered an interview where George Lucas identified R2-D2 as “the hero of the whole thing.” I found this comment startling at first, because in all my boyhood hours of playing Star Wars, nobody ever wanted to be an astromech droid. We all wanted to be Luke. And yet, a closer look at the films shows Artoo has an impressive tendency to save the day, in scene after scene. Whether it’s repairing the Millennium Falcon’s hyperdrive, destroying a pair of Super Battle Droids, conveying a secret message to old Ben Kenobi or delivering Luke’s light saber at the critical moment on Jabba’s Sail Barge, he’s always got a trick up his proverbial sleeve.

When a young Anakin snuck Padme off Coruscant and reassured her by saying “Don’t worry, we have Artoo with us,” he was not being ironic. No other character, biological or mechanical, is quite so dependable. If I was assaulting a Death Star in an X-wing fighter, you bet I’d want a good R2 unit on board.

Our Only Hope

Yes, there are plenty of flaws in the Star Wars films—I’m looking at you, Jar Jar Binks—but casting R2-D2 as the hero isn’t one of them. Just as the Death Stars’ vulnerability and inadequacy are perfectly realistic, the superior operational performance of a simple droid corresponds to real-life experience. Time and again, war-winning weapons tend to be simple, inexpensive and small.

An astromech droid’s simplicity makes it reliable, and its long history of use in battle makes it robust and widely useful. Consider Artoo’s restrained design. He doesn’t have fancy language processors; beeps and squeaks suffice. He doesn’t have arms or even a face. Artoo is pure function. He has no unnecessary features, no superfluous parts. He’s not even very tall, proving once again Yoda’s dictum that size matters not.

Consider this: A Death Star is an Empire weapon that aims to intimidate opponents into submission. Droids are Republic technology. They don’t intimidate anyone. Instead, they earn their keep by being useful and practical. Droids are about finesse, while Death Stars are about brute force. And given the current world situation, finesse is clearly what we need.

Droids aren’t expensive; their requirements aren’t overstated. One might argue that a droid can’t do what a Death Star does, but then again, the Death Stars didn’t do very much when all was said and done. In the final accounting, a droid like Artoo does more than it was designed to do, while a Death Star ends up doing less. Much less.

If you want to keep your limbs intact, let the Wookie win. And if you want to develop and deliver effective weapon systems, build droids instead of Death Stars. The key is exercising design restraint, focusing our requirements on the essential requirements rather than the endless list of desirements, living within our budget and resisting the temptation to extend the schedule. Sure, it’s hard to tell the Emperor no when he insists on building yet another Death Star, but since the Force is imaginary, chances are good you won’t get zapped with lightning for suggesting an alternative approach.

There are all sorts of ways to simplify a design, to reduce a set of requirements to the bare minimum, to make sure we build what we can afford. Don’t believe such a thing can be done? That is why you fail. But those who do believe will find the system they built just might be “the hero of the whole thing.”

Lt. Col Dan Ward is a branch chief in the Science, Technology and Engineering Directorate, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition (SAF/AQRT) . He holds degrees in systems engineering, electrical engineering, and engineering management. He is Level III certified in SPRDE, Level III in PM, and Level I in T&E and IT.

Vets Day

2011-11-09T10:52:00.000-06:00

Veterans Day Honors Service, Sacrifice

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 2011 - Until the 1960s, veteransgroups used the red poppy as the symbol of Veterans Day. In Great Britain, itstill is.

The symbol comes from a poem, "In FlandersFields," written by Canadian doctor John M. McCrae in 1915.

The first two verses of McCrae's three-verse poem read:

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

"We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields."

McCrae tended to the first victims of a German chemicalattack on the British line at the Belgian town of Ypres during World War I.

The fields of Flanders, where some of the most horrificbattles occurred, are now dotted with cemeteries filled with the war dead. Ifyou fly across France and Belgium, you can still see the remains of the trenchsystems of the war.

The Great War of 1914 to 1918, called the first modernglobal conflict, was an enormous divide for the world. Millions of servicemembers died in the conflict. Millions more civilians were also killed or diedof disease.

It truly was a world war. Troops fought in Turkey, theBalkans, East Africa and the Middle East as well as in Russia and France. Thewar caused the Russian czar to fall and allowed Vladimir Lenin to build whatwould become the Soviet Union.

On Nov. 11, 1918, that war came to an end. At 11 a.m. theshooting stopped. A war that saw 20,000 British "Tommies" die in 20minutes at the Battle of the Somme in 1916, was over. The war that saw1,384,000 French "poilus" die, ended in the trenches that extendedfrom Switzerland to the Belgian coast. Americans, who joined the war in 1917,lost more than 100,000 soldiers in the fighting.

The Germans had signed an armistice with the allies andto the generations of The Great War, Nov. 11 remains Armistice Day. Fordecades, veterans sold paper poppies to raise money for memorials and for thefamilies of those who died in the war.

But The Great War was not, as President Woodrow Wilsonhoped, "the war to end all wars." World War II rose from its ashes,and millions more died to stop the mad dreams of dictators from 1939 to 1945.The U.S. Congress changed the name of Armistice Day to Veterans Day to honorall veterans after more blood was spilled during the Korean conflict to haltaggression.

Congress moved Veterans Day, along with most otherfederal holidays, to be celebrated on the closest Monday to the traditionaldate. But soon Congress reversed itself on Veterans Day because of publicpressure to honor the powerful symbolism of the 11th hour of the 11th day ofthe 11th month.

This year, national observance of "11-11-11,"will include a presidential wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery andceremonies around the country.

Along with two world wars and Korea, Americans and theirallies have fought and died in Vietnam, Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, Kuwait, Iraq,Afghanistan and other places.

Today, the United States' armed forces confront enemiesaround the world. U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmendefend freedom on station wherever, whenever they are called.

Those serving today are ensuring that they do not ignorethe final verse of McCrae's poem:

"Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from falling hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields."

Editor's Note: This is a slightly revised version of astory initial published by the American Forces Press Service in 2005.

Too much of a basic human need - The Big Picture - Boston.com

2011-09-28T12:24:00.000-05:00

Great example of photo journalism

Too much of a basic human need - The Big Picture - Boston.com

Fascinating Facts about the U.S. Constitution

2011-09-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

Saturday, Sept. 17, is Constitution Day. Constitution Day commemorates the drafting ofthe U.S. Constitution and the 39 statesmen who signed it that day in 1787.

For more informationand fun activities, go to www.constitutionfacts.com.

Fascinating Facts about the U.S. Constitution

The U.S. Constitution has 4,400 words. It is the oldestand shortest written Constitution of any major government in the world."

Of the spelling errors in the Constitution, “Pensylvania”above the signers’ names is probably the most glaring.

Thomas Jefferson did not sign the Constitution. He was inFrance during the Convention, where he served as the U.S. minister. John Adamswas serving as the U.S. minister to Great Britain during the ConstitutionalConvention and did not attend either.

The Constitution was “penned” by Jacob Shallus, APennsylvania General Assembly clerk, for $30 ($726 today).

Since 1952, the Constitution has been on display in theNational Archives Building in Washington, DC. Currently, all four pages aredisplayed behind protective glass framed with titanium. To preserve theparchment’s quality, the cases contain argon gas and are kept at 67 degrees Fahrenheitwith a relative humidity of 40 percent.

Constitution Day is celebrated on September 17, theanniversary of the day the framers signed the document.

The Constitution does not set forth requirements for theright to vote. As a result, at the outset of the Union, only maleproperty-owners could vote. African Americans were not considered citizens, andwomen were excluded from the electoral process. Native Americans were not giventhe right to vote until 1924.

James Madison, “the father of the Constitution,” was thefirst to arrive in Philadelphia for the Constitutional Convention. He arrivedin February, three months before the convention began, bearing the blueprintfor the new Constitution.

Of the forty-two delegates who attended most of themeetings, thirty-nine actually signed the Constitution. Edmund Randolph andGeorge Mason of Virginia and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts refused to signdue in part due to the lack of a bill of rights.

When it came time for the states to ratify theConstitution, the lack of any bill of rights was the primary sticking point.

The Great Compromise saved the Constitutional Convention,and, probably, the Union. Authored by Connecticut delegate Roger Sherman, itcalled for proportional representation in the House, and one representative perstate in the Senate (this was later changed to two.) The compromise passed5-to-4, with one state, Massachusetts, “divided.”

Patrick Henry was elected as a delegate to theConstitutional Convention, but declined, because he “smelt a rat.”

Because of his poor health, Benjamin Franklin needed helpto sign the Constitution. As he did so, tears streamed down his face.

Gouverneur Morris was largely responsible for the“wording” of the Constitution, although there was a Committee of Style formedin September 1787.

The oldest person to sign the Constitution was BenjaminFranklin (81). The youngest was Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey (26).

When the Constitution was signed, the United States’population was 4 million. It is now more than 309 million. Philadelphia was thenation’s largest city, with 40,000 inhabitants.

A proclamation by President George Washington and acongressional resolution established the first national Thanksgiving Day onNovember 26, 1789. The reason for the holiday was to give “thanks” for the newConstitution.

The first time the formal term “The United States ofAmerica” was used was in the Declaration of Independence.

It took one hundred days to actually “frame” theConstitution.

There was initially a question as to how to address thePresident. The Senate proposed that he be addressed as “His Highness thePresident of the United States of America and Protector of their Liberties.”Both the House of Representatives and the Senate compromised on the use of“President of the United States.”

James Wilson originally proposed the President be chosenby popular vote, but the delegates agreed (after 60 ballots) on a system knownas the Electoral College. Although there have been 500 proposed amendments tochange it, this “indirect” system of electing the president is still intact.

George Washington and James Madison were the onlypresidents who signed the Constitution.

In November of 1788 the Congress of the Confederationadjourned and left the United States without a central government until April1789. That is when the first Congress under the new Constitution convened withits first quorum.

James Madison was the only delegate to attend everymeeting. He took detailed notes of the various discussions and debates thattook place during the convention. The journal that he kept during theConstitutional Convention was kept secret until after he died. It (along withother papers) was purchased by the government in 1837 at a price of $30,000(that would be $629,000 today). The journal was published in 1840.

Although Benjamin Franklin’s mind remained active, hisbody was deteriorating. He was in constant pain because of gout and having astone in his bladder, and he could barely walk. He would enter the conventionhall in a sedan chair carried by four prisoners from the Walnut Street jail inPhiladelphia.

As Benjamin Franklin left the Pennsylvania State Houseafter the final meeting of the Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787,he was approached by the wife of the mayor of Philadelphia. She was curious asto what the new government would be. Franklin replied, “A republic, madam. Ifyou can keep it.”

On March 24, 1788, a popular election was held in RhodeIsland to determine the ratification status of the new Constitution. The votewas 237 in favor and 2,945 opposed!

The members of the first Congress of the United Statesincluded 54 who were delegates to the Constitutional Convention or delegates tothe various state-ratifying conventions. The number also included 7 delegateswho opposed ratification.

Benjamin Franklin died on April 17, 1790, at the age of84. The 20,000 mourners at his funeral on April 21, 1790, constituted thelargest public gathering up to that time.

Vermont ratified the Constitution on January 10, 1791,even though it had not yet become a state.

The word “democracy” does not appear once in theConstitution.

There was a proposal at the Constitutional Convention tolimit the standing army for the country to 5,000 men. George Washingtonsarcastically agreed with this proposal as long as a stipulation was added thatno invading army could number more than 3,000 troops!

John Adams referred to the Constitution as “the greatestsingle effort of national deliberation that the world has ever seen” and GeorgeWashington wrote to the Marquis de Lafayette that “It (the Constitution)appears to me, then, little short of a miracle.”

The Pennsylvania State House (where the ConstitutionalConvention took place) was where George Washington was appointed the commanderof the Continental Army in 1775 and where the Declaration of Independence wassigned in 1776. It was also where the Articles of Confederation were adopted asour first constitution in 1781.

Rhode Island was the only state not to send delegates toPhiladelphia in 1787. At that time the state legislature was controlled by theagrarian party and was fearful that a stronger central government would demandthat debts be paid in specie (hard money). It was the last state to ratify theConstitution on May 29, 1790 (over a year after President George Washington’sinauguration) by a vote of 34-32.

The delegates were involved in debates from 10 a.m. until3 p.m. six days a week with only a 10 day break during the duration of theconvention

The Constitution contains 4,543 words, including thesignatures and has four sheets, 28-3/4 inches by 23-5/8 inches each. Itcontains 7,591 words including the 27 amendments.

The Constitution was ratified by specially electedconventions beginning in December 1787. The order in which the thirteen statesaccepted the new constitution was Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia,Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia,New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island.

Daniel Webster (1782-1852), of Massachusetts, has beencalled the “Expounder of the Constitution”.

From 1804 to 1865 there were no amendments added to theConstitution until the end of the Civil War when the Thirteenth amendment wasadded that abolished slavery. This was the longest period in American historyin which there were no changes to our Constitution.

The text of the Constitution was printed by John Dunlapand David Claypoole in Philadelphia to then be sent to the various stateconstitutional conventions for debate and discussion.

As evidence of its continued flexibility, theConstitution has only been changed seventeen times since 1791!

The main reason for the meeting in Philadelphia was torevise the Articles of Confederation. However, the delegates soon concludedthat it would be necessary to write an entirely new Constitution. They agreedto conduct the meetings in secrecy by stationing guards at the door to thePennsylvania state house. When one delegate dropped a convention document,Chairman George Washington replied, “I must entreat the gentlemen to be morecareful, lest our transactions get into the newspapers and disturb the publicrepose.”

At the time of the Constitutional Convention Philadelphiawas the most modern city in America and the largest city in North America. Ithad a population of 40,000 people, 7,000 street lamps, 33 churches, 10newspapers, and a university.

The median age in America by the end of the 18th centurywas 16 years of age (today it is around 34 years of age), 19 of every 20citizens lived on the land, and 70% of the land was worked by its owners (30%by tenants).

The national government spent $4.3 million during thefirst session of Congress from 1789-1791. During the last year that GeorgeWashington was President of the United States (1796-1797), the entire cost ofrunning the federal government was $5,727,000.

The election of George Washington as the first Presidentunder the Constitution was not really “unanimous”. In actuality, two electorsfrom Virginia and two electors from Maryland did not vote. New York wasentitled to eight electoral votes but the state legislature could not decidehow these electors would be chosen, so the state of New York officially did notvote for the President. The electoral vote in 1789 should have totaled 81 butonly 69 votes were cast.

James Madison of Virginia was responsible for proposingthe resolution to create the various Cabinet positions within the ExecutiveBranch of our government and twelve amendments to the Constitution of which tenbecame the Bill of Rights.

Although the United States Treasury Department stoppeddistributing currency denominations of $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 in1969, for all intents and purposes the production of each stopped after WorldWar II. However, these notes are still legal tender and may be found on rareoccasions in circulation. James Madison, the “Father of the Constitution” is onthe $5,000 bill.

At the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention,Benjamin Franklin observed the symbol of a half-sun on George Washington’schair and remarked, “I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not asetting sun.”

Benjamin Franklin made a suggestion at the ConstitutionalConvention that the sessions be opened with a prayer. The delegates refused toaccept the motion stating that there was not enough money to hire a chaplain.

Of the fifty-five delegates who attended the convention34 were lawyers, 8 had signed the Declaration of Independence, and almost halfwere Revolutionary War veterans. The remaining members were planters,educators, ministers, physicians, financiers, judges and merchants. About aquarter of them were large land owners and all of them held some type of publicoffice (39 were former Congressmen and 8 were present or past governors).

William Few of Georgia was the only member to representthe yeoman farmer class which comprised the majority of the population of thecountry. Nineteen of the members who were chosen to represent their state neverattended a meeting.

Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania was known as the “Sageof the Constitutional Convention.” He was also the mediator at the conventionand often counseled that “we are here to consult, not to contend”.

George Washington and James Madison were the onlyPresidents who signed the Constitution.

Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts was opposed to the officeof vice president. “The close intimacy that must subsist between the Presidentand Vice President makes it absolutely improper.” However, he put his feelingsaside and became Vice President under James Madison!

When Paul Revere learned that Sam Adams and John Hancockwere reluctant to offer their support for the Constitution during theratification fight, he organized the Boston mechanics into a powerful force andworked behind the scenes for the successful approval by the Massachusettsconvention.

The only other language used in various parts of theConstitution is Latin.

The term “others” is used in the Constitution tocategorize ethnic minorities.

Four of the signers of the Constitution were born inIreland.

John Tyler was the first Vice President to assume theresponsibilities of the Presidency upon the death of William Henry Harrison in1841. There was nothing in the Constitution that provided for the vicepresident to BECOME the president. Article II, Section 6 of the Constitutionstates that: “In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death,resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the saidoffice, the same shall devolve on the Vice President...” The Article did notstate that the vice president would BECOME the President! Tyler immediatelybegan to refer to himself as the President with no actual Constitutionalauthority to do so, and every succeeding vice president in the same positiondid the same. It was not until the Twenty-Fifth Amendment was passed in 1967that the vice president technically BECAME the president. This amendmentlegitimatized Tyler’s unconstitutional assumption!

During an event to celebrate the Constitution’sSesquicentennial in 1937, Harry F. Wilhelm recited the entire document throughthe newly added 21st Amendment from memory. He then obtained a job in theSesquicentennial mailroom!

True But. . . (ouch)

2011-06-16T07:36:00.001-05:00

I'm a federal employee and I've done well in my career. I'm a person who is motivated by providing for the betterment of others. Not making any claim of having the moral high ground here. It is just how my bio/emotional system fits into a natural social composite. What I am posting here is an Column from Gov.Exec.com's Pay and Benefits Watch. I know there is a lot of truth here and I know there are lots of points for dispute. However, it is hard for the public that feels it pays our salaries to think they pay us more than they themselves are worth. It is a debate that only erodes the confidence in Civil Service as a calling. But, I am posting this because it presents the dilemma of over simplification when it comes to human welfare. – CPD

The Real Gap
By Andrew G. Biggs and Jason Richwine

Editor's Note: This edition of Pay and Benefits Watch is a guest column and does not reflect the views of Government Executive.

Federal employees are still smarting over President Obama's two-year pay freeze, but for some Republicans a mere freeze is not enough. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, promises to eliminate tens of billions of dollars from the budget, and federal workers will not be immune.

Meanwhile, the Office of Personnel Management argues that feds actually deserve a raise, not a pay reduction. OPM's 2010 annual report says federal employees earn less than their private sector counterparts, noting the pay gap grew from 22 percent in 2009 to 24 percent in 2010. This is surprising, given that federal employees received a 2 percent pay increase from 2009 to 2010 while economywide wages fell by 1.5 percent during that period. Nevertheless, public sector unions cite this data to dismiss claims of federal overcompensation.

Is the overpaid federal worker really just a myth? Not according to academic research. Economists have studied federal pay since the 1970s, and their methods and conclusions differ markedly from those of the government. Economists use statistical techniques that account for differences in workers' age, education, experience, gender, race, marital status and other characteristics.

Those studies generally have found a federal pay premium in the range of 10 percent to 20 percent, according to the 1999 Handbook of Labor Economics. A private sector worker earning $50,000 per year, for example, might receive $55,000 to $60,000 per year as a federal employee. The largest premiums are for lower-skilled employees, with smaller benefits as education increases. Interestingly, foreign studies also have found pay premiums for their government employees, suggesting government's weaker budget constraints allow public sector pay to rise above market levels.

Using the Census Bureau's 2009 Current Population Survey, the authors calculated an average federal pay premium of 12 percent over comparable private workers. Other studies tackle the issue from different angles, such as following the same workers over several years. Economists have demonstrated that private workers who switch to federal employment enjoy a substantial boost in wages.

In addition, feds quit their jobs at much lower rates than private sector workers, implying that civil service positions offer better compensation, job security and benefits. These retention rates persist even with the federal retirement program's shift away from a defined benefit pension structure, which was believed to account for low quit rates.

Why is this research so inconsistent with claims that federal workers are underpaid? Because economists compare similar workers, while OPM looks at similar jobs. This seemingly minor distinction between personnel and positions actually is important.

To estimate pay gaps, OPM surveys nonfederal positions, assigning each job a grade level based on its description and level of responsibility. A partner in a law firm might be classified as a GS-13, for example, while a junior clerical worker might be a GS-8. Compared to private jobs at the same assigned grade level, federal jobs seem to pay less.

One problem with this method is subjectivity: How can we be sure a particular private sector job is equivalent to a GS-9 rather than, say, a GS-8? And even if two jobs' responsibilities seem similar, how do we account for differences in job security, benefits, flexibility and myriad other factors that affect salary demands?

And there is a larger problem. According to the Congressional Budget Office, federal workers tend to be less educated and experienced than private workers at the same occupational level because the government hires people at higher grades and promotes them faster. A senior accountant at a federal agency, for example, might qualify only as a junior accountant in the private sector. This is why federal jobs seem to pay less, even while federal workers are paid more.

The federal pay system requires fundamental reform, starting with objective analysis from independent economists. Excessive salaries might be only a small part of the government's budgetary shortfall, but their existence implies government is not serious about fiscal belt-tightening.

Andrew G. Biggs is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and Jason Richwine is a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation.

As Mentioned Yesterday - Electric-vehicle chargers arrive at Nashville hotel

2011-06-15T06:47:00.000-05:00

Federal grant money will pay for 2,500 devices in TN, most in homes

ECOtality unveiled its first public electric-vehicle charging station Monday at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel. The California company, a partner with Nissan, plans to have about 2,500 charges installed in Tennessee by year-end, most in the residences of people who have bought the Nissan Leaf or other qualifying vehicles.

Nissan’s electric-vehicle-charging partner unveiled a charging station in Nashville on Monday at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel, the first of a network of public chargers the company intends to have in place in Tennessee by the end of the year.

California-based ECOtality Inc. has a contract to install residential, commercial and public chargers in six states under the federally funded EV Project, which uses grant money to pay for the manufacture and installation of the devices.

By year’s end, ECOtality will have about 2,500 chargers installed in Tennessee, although most will be at the residences of people who have bought qualifying electric vehicles such as the new Nissan Leaf, the company said. The grant will pay for the chargers, which cost up to $2,000 each for a residential installation.

The Loews site has four chargers in the hotel parking garage in spaces marked for “Electric Vehicles Only,” and since they were turned on late last week, “We’ve already had two Leafs come in to recharge,” said Loews manager Tom Negri.

While there is no cost to use the Loews chargers, the garage’s parking rates run as high as $4 per half hour, so the chargers are most likely to be used by electric-vehicle drivers who are guests of the hotel, ECOtality officials said. Some local rental-car companies have placed orders for the Leaf, and it’s expected that some renters would be out-of-town visitors who would stay at hotels that have chargers available, said Stephanie Cox, ECOtality’s area manager for Tennessee.

Depending on the state of charge in a car such as the Leaf, the vehicle could be recharged at one of the company’s BLINK public chargers in one to three hours, she said. The company also will install fast chargers along the interstates connecting Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga to accommodate travelers. Those can top off a Leaf battery pack in a little more than a half-hour.

Lebanon-based Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores has agreed to install the fast chargers at some of its interstate highway locations, and others will be positioned at places such as fast-food restaurants and convenience stores, ECOtality said.

The slower chargers will be installed at “restaurants, malls and shopping centers — places where people might stay for up to three hours,” Cox said.

But most charging will be done overnight at home by owners of the Leaf, the new Chevrolet Volt and other electric cars, ECOtality said. The company already has installed about 1,200 home chargers in the areas where the Leaf is on sale. Besides Tennessee, that includes California, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Texas and the District of Columbia.

Ease 'range anxiety'

The Tennessee Valley Authority, which provides most of the electricity in Tennessee, can handle charging “millions of cars” in the overnight, off-peak hours without affecting reliability, said James Ellis, senior manager of transportation and infrastructure for the federal utility.

The public chargers, which are expected to be used mostly during the day, will “help relieve range anxiety” felt by electric-vehicle operators, he said.

The Leaf can go up to about 100 miles on a full charge, but when its batteries run down, it must be connected to an external charger, unlike the Chevrolet Volt, whose small gasoline engine onboard can recharge its batteries.

Operating a car such as the Leaf costs about 3 cents a mile under TVA’s current power rates, Ellis said.

Besides qualifying for free home chargers, early Leaf buyers can get up to $10,000 in federal and state tax rebates toward the car, which begins in the low $30,000s. The federal credit is $7,500, and there is a $2,500 Tennessee credit for the first 1,000 electric-vehicle buyers.

Contact G. Chambers Williams III at 615-259-8076 or cwilliams1@tennessean.com.

Thorium Challenges Nuclear Norm

2011-06-14T06:38:00.002-05:00

TVA's Watts Bar nuclear plant runs on conventional solid radioactive fuel. Advocates for thorium molten salt reactors say their core cannot melt down, and is designed to shut down automatically in an emergency.

This article was in the Tennessean Opionion section. I've seen this claim before. Just posting it for your pondering on our energy issues. Note also that some hotels in Nashville are installing chargers for electric cars. Bet you never thought about that did you local gas stations? - CPD

Molten salt reactors safer, cleaner, cheaper

11:03 PM, Jun. 13, 2011

Written by
Robert Orr Jr.
Filed Under Opinion
Opinion Tennessee Voices

In her article in the May 8 Tennessean, “Advocates Want Reactors to Use Alternative Fuel,” Anne Paine quotes Paul Genoa, director of policy development at the Nuclear Energy Institute: “There’s a huge investment and infrastructure in this country that goes back 50 years. You don’t just walk away from that and try the shiny new toy, even if the shiny new toy might work better.”

The “shiny new toy” is the thorium molten salt reactor (TMSR).

Mr Genoa’s use of the words, “might work better,” is misleading. In the 1950s, while Adm. Hyman Rickover was building his solid fuel uranium reactor that would power the Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine, scientists at Oak Ridge were designing a strategic bomber powered by a tiny, 3-foot-diameter molten salt reactor. The atomic bomber never flew, but the research was a complete success.

Research on molten salt technology continued until 1969 when it was, basically, put on the shelf, where it remains. The reasons had nothing to do with the brilliance of the reactor design, which performed flawlessly for 17,000 hours.

Indeed, if TMSR technology had been chosen in the 1950s as the path to the future, there is no chance that today there would be a groundswell of people like me and many others advocating a change to solid fuel reactors. The thorium community recognizes that the continuing disaster at Fukushima, Japan, is the wake-up call for a change in technology going forward, and we believe that it should be TMSR technology. As director of policy development for the NEI, Mr. Genoa should welcome, rather than pooh-pooh, a frank discussion of our ideas.

Let me count the ways TMSR is superior to current solid fuel reactors:

1. Molten salt reactors burn thorium, an element three to four times more abundant than uranium. America has already enough to power the country for centuries. Only 10 percent of the uranium we use is mined in this country.

2. Only a tiny fraction of uranium produces power, so it must be enriched, which is very expensive, while 100 percent of thorium is usable without enrichment.

3. TMSR fuel is a mixture of nuclear fuel and very hot molten fluoride salts, a liquid like water. TMSR cannot melt down, because it already operates in a molten state.

4. TMSR operates practically at living-room pressure. Solid-fuel reactors operate at thousands of pounds of pressure, hence their huge, expensive containment structures.

5. TMSR is “walk-away” safe. If anything goes wrong, even with no power or personnel, it will shut itself down automatically.

No disposal problem

6. All current solid-fuel reactors have to be shut down periodically to refuel after only 4 percent of their fuel energy has been used. TMSR is over 99 percent efficient and can be refueled while it is making electricity. Its long-term waste is measured in pounds, not tons, and is harmless in about 300 years, not 300 centuries.

7. The 96 percent of the fuel that current reactors do not burn ends up as very toxic radioactive waste with its vexing disposal problem. That waste can be burned in the molten salt reactor, as can plutonium from decommissioned weapons.

8. TMSRs are small, modular and can be manufactured on an assembly line, loaded on trucks, taken where they are needed and practically plugged in.

9. TMSR does not contribute to proliferation, and terrorists won’t care.

10. TMSR emits no greenhouse gases or other environmental pollutants.

I was privileged to address the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future in Washington May 13. I praised Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander’s “Blue Print for 100 New Nuclear Reactors in 20 Years,” but I lamented that he calls for more solid-fuel reactors. Mr Genoa should join with Sen. Alexander, TVA and the thorium community to take a close look at the “shiny new toy” that is TMSR. It satisfies every wish in the senator’s blueprint better than any other technology in existence.

In his plan, Sen. Alexander asks rhetorically, “Isn’t it time we got back in the game?” The Chinese have already answered that question for themselves. Their answer is TMSR. What will ours be?

Robert Orr Jr. of Franklin is an attorney who advocates for the development of thorium as a source of fuel.

For a Second I though I Was Hearing General/President Eisenhower

2011-05-02T08:51:00.002-05:00

From NPR

This year the U.S. is expected to spend $700 billion on defense. That's twice what was spent in 2001, and as much as is spent on the rest of the world's militaries combined.

Defense is the U.S. government's biggest discretionary expenditure, but given the level of the national debt — and the drive to reduce government spending — calls are louder than ever to find cost savings.

Ret. Army Col. Douglas Macgregor says there are ways to reap major savings when it comes to defense. He recently wrote about the subject in an article titled "Lean, Mean Fighting Machine" for Foreign Policy magazine. He tells Guy Raz, host of weekends on All Things Considered, that the U.S. simply cannot afford "wars of choice."

"Emphasis on choice," Macgregor says. "If you look at all of the interventions that we have launched since 1945 — beginning with Vietnam in 1965 and moving forward — none of them have changed the international system at all, and none of them have directly benefited us strategically."

World War II was the last military event that really had a strategic global impact, he says. "Americans need to understand that these wars of choice, these interventions of choice, have been both unnecessary, counterproductive, strategically self-defeating and infinitely too expensive for what we can actually afford."

A 'Somewhat Radical' Plan

Macgregor recommends swift reduction of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, but that's just the beginning. In a plan he acknowledges as "somewhat radical," he proposes a 40 percent reduction of the defense budget in just three years. Forcing the Pentagon to adapt to a drastically smaller budget, he says, will streamline the organization.

If you look at the Soviets, the Royal Navy, British Army and various other military formations over the last couple centuries, Macgregor says, "what you discover is that most innovation — and the most positive change, an adaptation to reality — occurs not in a flood of money, but in its absence.

"That's when people have to sit down and come to terms with reality, and realize that they cannot go on, into the future, and do what they've done in the past," he says.

The nature of warfare has changed, too, he says. With new technology and different players, things can be done in other ways — and more cheaply.

Prioritizing Spending Cuts

Most of the current U.S. military effort and strategy is either self-defeating or simply unnecessary, he says. "It's spending that we don't need."

That call catches ears these days, as Congress and the Obama administration battle over spending cuts. Those cuts are often aimed at domestic programs, but Macgregor says any hope for implementing his proposal requires that the U.S. reconsider its priorities.

"We have to deliver the services that were promised under Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security," he says. "We cannot honor those obligations ... without reducing defense and reorienting our defense posture to a world that's very different today than the one in which most of these forces were created and invented."

Profiting From Military Industries

Military and the private defense industries in America are enormous, providing millions of jobs across a lot of states. That makes many members of Congress even more reluctant to scale back on the military budget — particularly at a time when the nation is looking to create jobs, not cut them. Macgregor says creating prosperity shouldn't depend on military profits.

"What we have right now are very powerful military bureaucracies tied to the defense industries that want to stay in business." They're larger than we need, he says, but congressional interests see military budgets as a way to sustain prosperity by redistributing the income from those industries.

"This is an enormous problem," Macgregor says, "but we've got to deal with it, because we can't afford it, and it will ultimately consume us over time."

Despite these challenges, Macgregor says his proposals do have some support on Capitol Hill. "That's very important," he says, "because I think there are Democrats and Republicans who can agree on these things."

Like Reps. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and Ron Paul (R-TX), Macgregor says — two people on opposite ends of the spectrum in domestic terms but who have come to similar conclusions on foreign and defense policy.

"And they are not alone," Macgregor adds. "There are many, many, many more. I think we will see more in the future as it becomes clear that we cannot deal with the domestic problem until we deal with the foreign and defense policy problem. That has to come first. Then we can begin talking seriously about what we have to do to restructure the debt."

Sad Facts of Politics and the Human Endevor

2011-03-28T06:24:00.007-05:00

I shamelessly grabed this from NPR's web site. I've tried to reproduce it here as it is on there site, but if you want the original then click here.

Cosmonaut Crashed Into Earth 'Crying In Rage'10:50 am

March 18, 2011
by Robert KrulwichEditor's Note: We received many comments on this post. Krulwich responds here.

So there's a cosmonaut up in space, circling the globe, convinced he will never make it back to Earth; he's on the phone with Alexei Kosygin — then a high official of the Soviet Union — who is crying because he, too, thinks the cosmonaut will die.

RIA Novosti/Photo Researchers Inc.
Vladimir Komarov's remains in an open casket

The space vehicle is shoddily constructed, running dangerously low on fuel; its parachutes — though no one knows this — won't work and the cosmonaut, Vladimir Komarov, is about to, literally, crash full speed into Earth, his body turning molten on impact. As he heads to his doom, U.S. listening posts in Turkey hear him crying in rage, "cursing the people who had put him inside a botched spaceship."

This extraordinarily intimate account of the 1967 death of a Russian cosmonaut appears in a new book, Starman, by Jamie Doran and Piers Bizony, to be published next month. The authors base their narrative principally on revelations from a KGB officer, Venymin Ivanovich Russayev, and previous reporting by Yaroslav Golovanov in Pravda. This version — if it's true — is beyond shocking.

RIA Novosti /Photo Researchers, Inc
Gagarin (left) and Komarov out hunting

Starman tells the story of a friendship between two cosmonauts, Vladimir Kamarov and Soviet hero Yuri Gagarin, the first human to reach outer space. The two men were close; they socialized, hunted and drank together.

In 1967, both men were assigned to the same Earth-orbiting mission, and both knew the space capsule was not safe to fly. Komarov told friends he knew he would probably die. But he wouldn't back out because he didn't want Gagarin to die. Gagarin would have been his replacement.

The story begins around 1967, when Leonid Brezhnev, leader of the Soviet Union, decided to stage a spectacular midspace rendezvous between two Soviet spaceships.

The plan was to launch a capsule, the Soyuz 1, with Komarov inside. The next day, a second vehicle would take off, with two additional cosmonauts; the two vehicles would meet, dock, Komarov would crawl from one vehicle to the other, exchanging places with a colleague, and come home in the second ship. It would be, Brezhnev hoped, a Soviet triumph on the 50th anniversary of the Communist revolution. Brezhnev made it very clear he wanted this to happen.

The problem was Gagarin. Already a Soviet hero, the first man ever in space, he and some senior technicians had inspected the Soyuz 1 and had found 203 structural problems — serious problems that would make this machine dangerous to navigate in space. The mission, Gagarin suggested, should be postponed.

He'll die instead of me. We've got to take care of him.

- Komarov talking about Gagarin
The question was: Who would tell Brezhnev? Gagarin wrote a 10-page memo and gave it to his best friend in the KGB, Venyamin Russayev, but nobody dared send it up the chain of command. Everyone who saw that memo, including Russayev, was demoted, fired or sent to diplomatic Siberia. With less than a month to go before the launch, Komarov realized postponement was not an option. He met with Russayev, the now-demoted KGB agent, and said, "I'm not going to make it back from this flight."

Russayev asked, Why not refuse? According to the authors, Komarov answered: "If I don't make this flight, they'll send the backup pilot instead." That was Yuri Gagarin. Vladimir Komarov couldn't do that to his friend. "That's Yura," the book quotes him saying, "and he'll die instead of me. We've got to take care of him." Komarov then burst into tears.

On launch day, April 23, 1967, a Russian journalist, Yaroslav Golovanov, reported that Gagarin showed up at the launch site and demanded to be put into a spacesuit, though no one was expecting him to fly. Golovanov called this behavior "a sudden caprice," though afterward some observers thought Gagarin was trying to muscle onto the flight to save his friend. The Soyuz left Earth with Komarov on board.

Once the Soyuz began to orbit the Earth, the failures began. Antennas didn't open properly. Power was compromised. Navigation proved difficult. The next day's launch had to be canceled. And worse, Komarov's chances for a safe return to Earth were dwindling fast.

All the while, U.S. intelligence was listening in. The National Security Agency had a facility at an Air Force base near Istanbul. Previous reports said that U.S. listeners knew something was wrong but couldn't make out the words. In this account, an NSA analyst, identified in the book as Perry Fellwock, described overhearing Komarov tell ground control officials he knew he was about to die. Fellwock described how Soviet premier Alexei Kosygin called on a video phone to tell him he was a hero. Komarov's wife was also on the call to talk about what to say to their children. Kosygin was crying.

When the capsule began its descent and the parachutes failed to open, the book describes how American intelligence "picked up [Komarov's] cries of rage as he plunged to his death."

Some translators hear him say, "Heat is rising in the capsule." He also uses the word "killed" — presumably to describe what the engineers had done to him.

Americans Died, Too

Both sides in the 1960s race to space knew these missions were dangerous. We sometimes forget how dangerous. In January of that same year, 1967, Americans Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee died in a fire inside an Apollo capsule.

NARA
The Nixon White House prepared this letter in the event that American astronauts did not survive the Apollo 11 mission.

Two years later, when Americans landed on the moon, the Nixon White House had a just-in-case statement, prepared by speechwriter William Safire, announcing the death of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, had they been marooned or killed. Death was not unexpected.

AFP/Getty Images

Valentina Komarov, the widow of Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, kisses a photograph of her dead husband during his official funeral, held in Moscow's Red Square on April 26, 1967. But Vladimir Komarov's death seems to have been almost scripted. Yuri Gagarin said as much in an interview he gave to Pravda weeks after the crash. He sharply criticized the officials who had let his friend fly.

Komarov was honored with a state funeral. Only a chipped heel bone survived the crash. Three weeks later, Yuri Gagarin went to see his KGB friend. He wanted to talk about what happened. As the book describes it:

Gagarin met Russayev at his family apartment but refused to speak in any of the rooms because he was worried about bugs. The lifts and lobby areas were not safe, either, so the two men trudged up and down the apartment block's echoing stairwells.

The Gagarin of 1967 was very different from the carefree young man of 1961. Komarov's death had placed an enormous burden of guilt on his shoulders. At one point Gagarin said, "I must go to see the main man [Brezhnev] personally." He was profoundly depressed that he hadn't been able to persuade Brezhnev to cancel Komarov's launch.

Shortly before Gagarin left, the intensity of his anger became obvious. "I'll get through to him [Brezhnev] somehow, and if I ever find out he knew about the situation and still let everything happen, then I know exactly what I'm going to do." Russayev goes on, "I don't know exactly what Yuri had in mind. Maybe a good punch in the face." Russayev warned Gagarin to be cautious as far as Brezhnev was concerned. "I told him, 'Talk to me first before you do anything. I warn you, be very careful.' "
The authors then mention a rumor, never proven (and to my mind, most unlikely), that one day Gagarin did have a moment with Brezhnev and he threw a drink in Brezhnev's face.

I hope so.

Yuri Gagarin died in a plane accident in 1968, a year before the Americans reached the moon.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jamie Doran and Piers Bizony's book is Starman: The Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin (Walker Publishing 2011); Yaroslav Golovanov's interview with Yuri Gagarin was published in Komsomolskaya, Pravda, June 11, 1989. Venyamin Russayev's stories about Gagarin and Komarov appeared in 2006 in Literaturnaya Gazeta and were republished on several websites.

Hope???

2011-02-11T08:51:00.002-06:00

Photojournalism in Egypt: Christians Protect Muslims During Prayers (click here)

Can differences be accepted and protected? We've been doing it in America for over 200 years.

Bush and Egypt - Take What You Hear With A Grain of Salt

2011-02-03T07:01:00.002-06:00

There is a movement afoot to make Bush Jr. look better than his Presidency warrants. It's going to be contentious because of the veil of secrecy the Bush Administration placed on every syllable of his years in office. Ironic actually. Trying to make a man who hid the truth about everything and distorted what managed to slip out, has to be a Herculean effort. It is also going to be tough to keep the record straight since so many have been brainwashed with the propaganda. Yesterday I had a fella in the office tell me they really did find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. He preceded to go on about how Huckabee is going to be good for America. Tells you a lot about who was talking to me.

Here is an effort to shake the keep the truth out of new pro-Bush propaganda.

THE PROGRESSIVE REVIEW - February 3, 2011

Media Enable Former Bushies To Rewrite History On Bush Egypt and "Freedom In The Arab World" by: Julie Millican Media Matters

Several Bush administration officials have looked to the recent crisis in Egypt in another attempt to rehabilitate former President George W. Bush's image. In a January 30 Washington Post op-ed, former Bush national security advisor Elliott Abrams argued that the "Egypt protests show George W. Bush was right about freedom in the Arab world," claiming that the demonstrations prove Bush's "freedom agenda" was right about those dastardly Arab dictators.

Never missing an opportunity to attack Obama and defend Bush, Fox News hosted Bush's former press secretary Dana Perino to back up Abrams charges.

But was Bush the champion of democracy in Egypt? Hardly. Indeed, he was one of Mubarak's biggest cheerleaders.

Let's take a look at the facts. Abrams twice cites a November 6, 2003, speech Bush gave on democracy in the Middle East as proof that Bush was way ahead of the game in calling for freedom in Egypt. In fact, in that very speech Bush declared that Egypt "should show the way toward democracy in the Middle East." From the speech:

BUSH: The great and proud nation of Egypt has shown the way toward peace in the Middle East, and now should show the way toward democracy in the Middle East. (Applause.) Champions of democracy in the region understand that democracy is not perfect, it is not the path to utopia, but it's the only path to national success and dignity. [George W. Bush White House Archives, 11/6/03]

And, that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Here's a sampling:

- Bush praises Egypt's progress on "democratic reform." During a 2008 visit to Egypt, Bush repeatedly praised President Mubarak for his leadership in "the freedom and justice movement" and declared that the United States' friendship with Egypt was "one of the main cornerstones of our policy in this region, and it's based on our shared commitment to peace, security and prosperity." He further stated:

BUSH: [Egypt is] an important stop for me because the United States has a longstanding friendship with Egypt. It's important for the people of Egypt to understand our nation respects you, respects your history, respects your traditions and respects your culture. Our friendship is strong. It's a cornerstone of -- one of the main cornerstones of our policy in this region, and it's based on our shared commitment to peace, security and prosperity.

BUSH: I also talked about Egypt's role in the world. Egypt is an important nation -- that sends a clear signal. People watch Egypt. I appreciate very much the long and proud tradition that you've had for a vibrant civil society. I appreciate the fact that women play an important role in your society, Mr. President. I do so because not only I'm a proud father of two young professional women, I also know how important it is for any vibrant society to have women involved in constructive and powerful ways. And I appreciate the example that your nation is setting.

Progress toward greater political openness is being led by the Egyptians themselves, by pioneering journal- ists -- some of whom even may be here -- bloggers, or judges insisting on independence, or other strong civic and religious leaders who love their country and are determined to build a democratic future.

Because of the predominate role you play, and because I strongly believe that Egypt can play a role in the freedom and justice movement -- you and I have discussed the issue, you have taken steps toward economic openness -- and I discussed that with your Prime Minister -- and democratic reform. And my hope is that the Egyptian government will build on these important steps, and give the people of this proud nation a greater voice in your future. I think it will lead to peace, and I think it will lead to justice.

Our friendship with Egypt is deep and broad. Egypt will continue to be a vital strategic partner of the United States. We will work together to build a safer and more peaceful world. And, Mr. President, I thank your leadership on the issue of peace and security. [George W. Bush White House Archive, 1/16/08]

JUST A PERSONAL NOTE ABOUT COMPETITION

2011-01-30T10:06:00.008-06:00

Just a personal note about competition. It often doesn’t really tell you anything about Good, Better or Best. Case in point – the Academy Awards. Yea, I know that it’s just an advertising tool, but just look at this example and you’ll see why I’m not big on competition. My favorite movie of all times is 12 Angry Men (the 1957 version) The film was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Writing of Adapted Screenplay. It lost to the movie Bridge on the River Kwai in all three categories. As much as I enjoy The Bridge, it has never made my all time favorite list. Why? A lot of reasons. Mostly because it has that crazy British pride over all component to its plot and I’ve never been that patriotic (and I’m not a Brit).

I don’t know why The Bridge won over 12 Angry Men, but to compare the two is kind of ludicrous. First off 12 is in black and white, takes place almost completely in one room and examines human flaws in a applicable setting – that is “normal” real world issues. Bridge is a war movie set in a tropical setting and is filmed in color. It too looks at human flaws but how often is the everyday Joe going to experience a Prison Camp? It is a great movie and well acted, but it should never have been compared to 12. The only thing they have in common is they came out in the same year. How is that an issue of “best”?

I am not opposed to competition. I enjoy it and participate in it. In fact I don’t think any of us can say we haven’t engaged in completion even if we were the only one who was aware that we were competing. (LOL) I just have a problem with it being a determiner of “best”. It is hard to bring the elements for comparison together such that they all bare equal weight and appeal to “fairness”.

So, enjoy your efforts at besting something or someone. Just don’t make it the end all definition of the best possible.

Another Sign of Getting Old - The Death Of TV Icons

2011-01-12T07:16:00.004-06:00

This photo shows the Nelson Family, Ozzie and Harriet with sons Ricky, left, and David, in their television home. David Nelson, who starred on his parents' popular television show 'The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,' died Monday, Jan. 10, 2011, at his home in the Century City area of Los Angeles. He was 74. He was older than Ricky but the last to pass. Ricky died in a plane crash on December 31, 1985.

The TV show was not the only entertaining this family presented. Before the TV show, Ozzie had his own Band, the Ozzie Nelson Band, in the 30s. Harriet was a singer and a movie actress. Ricky was a bit of a rock star with a couple of hits. David was a producer and acted - his last film appearance was in Cry-Baby (1990).

An interesting note, before the show aired, Ozzie Nelson persuaded ABC to agree to a 10-year contract that paid the Nelsons whether the series was canceled or not. The unprecedented contract and Ozzie's insistence for perfection in the show's production paid off in the show's remarkable popularity.

Still it was an interesting time watching this family (reality TV?) live their lives from our B&W vantage point. I remember how calm the family always was. I'm sure Ozzie orchestrated their lives as well as he orchestrated his band. Everything was perfect.

A Good Bit of Advice

2011-01-10T12:06:00.000-06:00

Multi-tasking is cool and I like to do it but I find myself having too many irons in the fire and that actually kills the joy of getting things accomplished. So here is some advice from the USAA folks for long term goals:

Do one thing at a time. Although you may very well want to tackle that last $1000 in debt and those last 10 pounds, don't try to do both at once, advises Princeton University's Sam Wang, co-author of Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys but Never Forget How to Drive and Other Puzzles of Everyday Life. Why? Because willpower is a limited resource. Your brain, he explains,can only be expected to focus intently on one goal at a time. So pick your battle, win it, and then move on to the next.

Obama aide: Refusal to raise debt ceiling would be 'catastrophic'. Why???

2011-01-02T18:07:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure why it would be Catastrophic. Why did we establish a debt ceiling in the first place if it can be exceeded so easily and why is holding our indebtedness to a finite amount bad? Can we really not cut any government spending?

USA Today - Jan 02, 2011

Obama aide: Refusal to raise debt ceiling would be 'catastrophic'

The chairman of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers said today it would be "insanity" for Congress to refuse to lift the nation's debt ceiling and that inaction would be "catastrophic" for the nation's financial recovery.

"This is not a game," CEA chairman Austan Goolsbee told Jake Tapper on ABC's This Week. "The debt ceiling is not something to toy with."

Goolsbee also discussed efforts to create jobs and generate economic growth. The debt ceiling discussion begins shortly after the 4:35 mark of the video.

The United States is about $400 billion away from hitting the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, and a congressional vote on whether to raise that limit should come this spring. Some Republicans have called for keeping the ceiling as a way to force cuts in federal spending.

Goolsbee said that would lead to a default on U.S. obligations, "which is totally unprecedented in American history."

That would create a string of other problems, Goolsbee said:

    The impact on the economy would be catastrophic. I mean, that would be a worse financial economic crisis than anything we saw in 2008. As I say, that's not a game. I don't see why anybody's talking about playing chicken with the debt ceiling.

    If we get to the point where you've damaged the full faith and credit of the United States, that would be the first default in history caused purely by insanity ... There would be no reason for us to default, other than that would be some kind of game.

    We shouldn't even be discussing that. People will get the wrong idea. The United States is not in danger of default ... We do not have problems such as that. This would be lumping us in with a series of countries through history that I don't think we would want to be lumped in with.

(Posted by David Jackson)

Deeper than this thought reveals

2010-12-30T06:10:00.000-06:00

A look at the GOP's proposed rules for the House reveals some fine print
to their deficit-cutting plan. Back in 2007, Republicans used budget
reconciliation, a process immune to filibuster, to pass the Bush tax
cuts and raise the deficit, two things reconciliation wasn't meant to be
used for. When Democrats took Congress, they changed House rules to
prevent such a move being made again. But the GOP's proposed House rules
roll back the changes. Specifically, according to the Center on Budget
and Policy Priorities, the new rules would allow reconciliation to be
used for bills that increase the deficit through tax cuts, though not
bills that contain spending that would increase the deficit.

Susan Edwards died this week of cacncer. She was 35. She was a reporter and was fearless when it came time to get the story from the most advantageous view point.

Politians make rule to serve their agendas regardless of the needs of the people represented and so many individuals work hard to bring facts to the public trusting them to use the info to their betterment.

Got to love the people, got to ask why the title polititan gives a group of power hungry charlitians the right to throw representation for all out the window?

How to make a fast buck on an election even if you have a snowballs chance in hell of winning

2010-12-26T09:18:00.002-06:00

Why do Republicans dread improved public education? After all, every potential Presidential candidate writes a book and shamelessly hypes it during their campaigns (for as long as they may last - usually up to Iowa and New Hampshire).

Could it be that public schools go beyond just Reading, writing and arithmetic? (Note - more commonly known as "the three Rs"- ignorance is bliss) Could it be that they teach science, higher math and history - all of which if mastered can make you change your religion to atheism?

In any case, the Republican Presidential wannabes are true to their colors and making the most of this opportunity to get excellent exposure for their money making opportunity book sales. Can't fault leading by example, even a screwy one.

DNA provides answers to social questions

2010-12-23T08:41:00.001-06:00

From an NPR article about DNA and learning more about our ancestors who live in caves.

"For example, a group in Spain published a paper this week analyzing the DNA from 12 Neanderthals found in a single cave. The analysis suggested the men were all brothers or cousins, whereas the women had come from different bands."

This amazing. It is something we could only speculate prior to this science. Once again women account for human diversity and men collectively protect thier domains.

Some of my showings at last nights Photo Club Meeting

2010-12-15T08:48:00.002-06:00

It was cold as Santa's ice house at the Arts Center last night but 5 of us showed up. Here are a few of my offerings. The months theme was B&W. I think I did ok. LOL

Life Is A Trip - So Be Sure To Take In The Sights

2010-12-04T08:07:00.005-06:00

Click here for my Photo of the Day

First time I've posted to my blog from my I-Touch. Like my best friend said a couple of days ago, "Who would have imagined 40 years ago when we were Audio/Visual Aids in Hendersonville High School?"

Here I sit in the coffee shop missing my NAFA friends. That little group was (and I'm sure still is) a great bunch of people. We did some great things together and they still do. The North Alabama Free Thought Association is "the bomb"!

I hope to have a photo session with my daughter and a couple of her friends. They want thier pictures taken at the Barn but it is cloudy and threatening to rain. I'm still heading down there because time spent with my kids is always time well spent.

Taking time to enjoy the natural beauty of this life

2010-12-03T12:02:00.001-06:00

How is it that I seem to have so little time to get things done? Could it be that I insist on stopping to smell the rose . . . Or is it's that at this stag of my life I can talk bullshit so well, folks just want more of my time? :-)

Speaking of stopping to smell the roses, I stopped by the side of the road on the way to work this morning and looked up to see a sliver of a Moon and an overly bright Venus just to its left. Sunrise was obscured on the horizon by the tail end of yesterday's storm moving off to the west. That subdued the bright orange of a sunrise and left the sky a beautiful array of blues from a translucent tropical water color to cobalt blue between bands of narrow long gray clouds. There was a little haze giving the Moon and Venus a beautiful glowing effect. It was a great way to start the day.

OK, The Food Is Consummed And It's Now Time To Drain The Bank Account

2010-12-01T12:39:00.000-06:00

Season’s Greetings and Happy Solstice. The shortening days will soon reverse.

2010-11-26T12:37:00.000-06:00

Yea I just love water. Especially if there are boats around. Took this from a Tour Bus window moving at about 40 MPH. Not bad, Eh?

Here Is Where We Had Our Thanksgiving Dinner

2010-11-25T23:31:00.000-06:00

River Queen - Savannah, Ga

I've always perfered Thanksgiving out. Home cooked is fine but not fair unless the cook just really loves to cook.

Life Can Be Golden

2010-11-24T16:25:00.000-06:00

Some days are jewels to live.

Don't wake Papa

2010-11-23T12:30:00.000-06:00

Opening a New Door Can Be Scary

2010-11-03T00:13:00.000-05:00

I'm about to put something into motion that is primarily monetarily motivated but tells me how weird I can be too. I'm not going to say now what it is, but it is scary and while I think I know what is going to happen once I walk through that door, I may not be able to come back and I most definitely want to come back.
Oh how we think we can survive anything until we find ourselves in the mist of all it's consequences.

Man Made Beauty Is Nice To Look Upon Too

2010-10-25T13:10:00.000-05:00

What can I say? She is gorgeous. My life became much richer when I stumbled upon her.

Life on the Road is dangerous

2010-10-20T12:06:00.000-05:00

Life can run you over sometimes. If you are lucky you'll never hear it coming. If not . . . well just take not when the big shadow rises suddenly.

Enjoyable Pic

2010-10-15T11:44:00.001-05:00

I did not take this picture and I don't know who did but I've always liked it for two reasons:

1 - It has beautiful shapely women in it and

2- It reminds me of picnics we took when we lived in Germany.

Granted Mom and her friends where not so bold as to suntan topless or even strapless but they dressed down to the socially acceptable levels of the day. Mom and Dad and their friends loved to fish and drink and tell dirty jokes and make sexually explicit innuendos when they had a few. Dine and I just played. Jeff was several years from conception in those days.

Columbus Day Ponderings

2010-10-11T08:15:00.004-05:00

I've been off since the 1st and have enjoyed the relaxed self directed days. Sitting in the picture window at the Elk River Coffee Shop is an experience I could make a habit. I've found many such places to relax and ponder throughout my life. I seem to be gravitating toward the slower pace. I think my doctor finally has my medications balanced, LOL.

This window overlooks the north end of Main Street just off the town square. Fayetteville, TN - unlike its name sake in NC - is still a small town in size and disposition. Life is so slow, it's hard to understand how the local economy can support it. Yet it does with a hardware store on the square, a movie theater right out of "The Last Picture Show", a Merle Norman Cosmetics and a Electrolux (Authored Floor Care Service Provider Since 1924) mixed in with EdwardJones Investments, Rudy P's Trash & Treasures and a Town & County Realty & Auction.

On the Coffee Shop radio plays a song my Ex once choreographed a self reflecting dance to. Life, so full of crossed paths. Some understood and others not. This is just one of the values a nice Coffee Shop brings to one's life.

This will make you want to wear a Seatbelt!

2010-09-24T08:36:00.000-05:00

This is the new "WEAR YOUR SEATBELT" Ad the UK Is doing, Started by some dude not hired to do it, but because the casue is important to him, he came up with this idea and now it is being hailed across the world as a beautiful commercial.

http://embracethis.co.uk//

A Case About Owning an Idea

2010-07-26T08:36:00.000-05:00

More than thirty years ago, between 1957 and 1964, CBS provided television stations with a program called "Have Gun--Will Travel." The program starred "Paladin," a fictional cowboy who dressed in black, carried a derringer pistol, and handed out calling cards with a picture of a chess knight. More than forty years ago, in 1947, Victor DeCosta, the plaintiff in this case, began to appear, as a cowboy, at rodeos, hospitals, and charitable events. DeCosta dressed in black, carried a derringer pistol, handed out cards with a picture of a chess knight, and called himself "Paladin." In 1963 DeCosta sued CBS, claiming it had unlawfully copied his idea. Eventually, this court decided that CBS may have copied DeCosta's idea, but, the laws under which DeCosta had sued did not prohibit CBS from doing so. This court held that DeCosta had failed to prove a violation of trademark, or other relevant, laws.

My thoughts on this are simple, maybe DeCosta deserved some payment for his idea, but Richard Boone with CBS's media outlet made it a much fuller and enjoyable character. If it had been left to DeCosta, the idea would have never captured the imaginaion of so many. Should the originator of an idea own that idea to the exclusion of everyone elses use? Something to ponder.

Yes, I love this character and I credit Richard Boone for brining him to life. His portraial was perfect and it would be very difficult for another actor to create such a such a believeable and rich character.

Died at 93 - Daniel Shore

2010-07-23T12:39:00.003-05:00

Daniel Schorr, a longtime NPR contributor, broke stories during the Cold War and Watergate that won him numerous awards -- as well as the enmity of presidents, died today. He was 93.

The last few years he wrote commentary on world issues. I often did not agree completely with him, but I did charish his wisdom that cames from a long life of experience. He open a Twitter account about a year ago; a bit late in life, but then who wants a bunch of nuts tweeting you when you're 92. LOL Actually one reason this is such a sad story is that he was still active in his commentary. It seems like the last time I heard him on NPR was two weeks ago. That is really an inspiring thought, to be able to do what you love for a long time and right up to the end of your time.

Here is a longer sumation of his carreer posted on NPR.

Schorr, who once described himself as a "living history book," passed away Friday morning at a Washington hospital. He was able to bring to contemporary news commentary a deep sense of how governmental institutions and players operate, as well as the perspective gained from decades of watching history upfront.

"He could compare presidents from Eisenhower on through, and that gave him historical context for things," said Donald A. Ritchie, Senate historian and author of a book about the Washington press corps. "He had lived it, he had worked it and he had absorbed it. That added a layer to his broadcasting that was hard for somebody his junior to match."

Schorr's 20-year career as a foreign correspondent began in 1946. After serving in U.S. Army intelligence during World War II, he began writing from Western Europe for the Christian Science Monitor and later The New York Times, witnessing postwar reconstruction, the Marshall Plan and the creation of the NATO alliance.

Schorr joined CBS News in 1953 as one of "Murrow's boys," the celebrated news team put together by Edward R. Murrow. He reopened the network's Moscow bureau, which had been shuttered by Joseph Stalin in 1947. Ten years later, Schorr scored an exclusive broadcast interview with Nikita Khrushchev, the U.S.S.R. Communist Party chief — the first-ever with a Soviet leader. Schorr was barred from the U.S.S.R. later that year after repeatedly defying Soviet censors.

He covered the building of the Berlin Wall as CBS bureau chief for Germany and Western Europe. In 1962, he aired a celebrated portrait of citizens living under Communist rule in East Germany.

Dan Schorr On His Own Career

He was reassigned to Washington in 1966. Other reporters in the bureau were already covering major institutions such as Congress or the State Department, so Schorr assigned himself to cover the implementation of President Johnson's Great Society programs.

Daniel Schorr On...

President Nixon

Watergate

The Fall Of The Berlin Wall

Edward R. Murrow

Sept. 11

Sputnik

The Creation Of CNN

Lessons Learned And Shared

"No one had such a beat," recalled his bureau colleague Roger Mudd. "He was everywhere. He had almost carte blanche to cover Washington."

David Broder, a longtime political reporter and columnist for The Washington Post, added: "I think he's unique in the sense that he's been at the center of so many different stories, both here in Washington and overseas, for so long. He kept his perspective so well and does not ever exaggerate what's taking place, but really let you know why it's important."

Becoming Part Of The Story

Schorr was surprised to find himself on the so-called Enemies List that had been drawn up by Richard Nixon's White House when he read it on the air. The list — naming hundreds of political opponents, entertainers and publications considered hostile to the administration — became the basis for one of the charges of impeachment against Nixon.

Schorr, along with some other members of the list, counted his inclusion on it as his greatest achievement.

Schorr won Emmys in each of the Watergate years of 1972, 1973 and 1974. Over the course of his long career, he was honored with numerous other decorations and awards, including a Peabody for "a lifetime of uncompromising reporting of the highest integrity." Schorr was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Society of Professional Journalists.

"He was sophisticated about the government and how it works," Mudd said. "He was a damned vacuum cleaner, is what he was."

'Killer Schorr'

In 1975, Schorr reported on assassinations that had been carried out by the CIA. "The anger of the administration can be gauged from Richard Helms' denunciation of Schorr," historian Garry Wills recounts in his 2010 book, Bomb Power.

Helms, then the CIA director, confronted Schorr in the presence of other reporters at the White House, calling him names such as "son of a bitch" and "killer."

"Killer Schorr: That's what they ought to call you," Helms said.

In 1976, Schorr reported on the findings of the Pike Committee, which had investigated illegal CIA and FBI activities. The committee had voted to keep its final report secret, but Schorr leaked a copy to the Village Voice, which published it.

Schorr At NPR

Analysis And Commentary

Daniel Schorr's Bio

Schorr was threatened with a $100,000 fine and jail time for contempt of Congress. But during congressional testimony, Schorr refused to identify his source, citing First Amendment protections. The House ethics committee voted 6 to 5 against a contempt citation.

But CBS had already taken Schorr off the air. He ultimately resigned from the network that year.

"CBS found that, like other big corporations, it did not like to offend the Congress," Mudd said. "He broke his ties to CBS and before they could fire him, he resigned."

An Enduring Career

In 1979, Schorr was hired to provide commentary for the fledgling CNN. The network inaugurated its programming the following year with his interview with President Jimmy Carter. But in 1985, his contract was not renewed, which Schorr counted as his second "firing."

"Schorr was always a person to challenge what the government was saying and being skeptical and contrary," said Ritchie, the Senate historian.

"It really is true that I would sometimes stand up for principle at the risk of my job," he told his son Jonathan for an interview on NPR's Weekend Edition last year. "It is also true that when I lose my job I get terribly nervous."

Upon leaving CNN, Schorr joined NPR, where he had been doing occasional commentaries for several years. He had been a senior news analyst for NPR ever since. He also wrote a column for the Christian Science Monitor for decades.

"What passes for commentary today is almost all opinion," Ritchie said, "but Schorr was part of that breed of commentators who dug up information before they pontificated about it."

Schorr was born in the Bronx in 1916, the son of Belorussian immigrants. He got his first scoop at age 12, when he saw the body of a woman who had jumped or fallen from the roof of his apartment building. He called the police — and the Bronx Home News, which paid him $5 for the information.

"It was the first time I'd ever seen a dead person in my life," he told NPR's Robert Siegel in a 2006 interview on All Things Considered marking Schorr's 90th birthday.

"Why didn't I react more emotionally to that? It was the essential journalist who manages to absent himself from the situation and simply report it without feeling it," Schorr said.

This will make you want to wear a Seatbelt!

2010-07-21T14:02:00.004-05:00

This is the new "WEAR YOUR SEATBELT" Ad The UK Is Doint, Started by some dude not hired to do it; but because the casue is important to him, he came up with this idea and now is being hailed across the world as a beautiful commercial.

http://embracethis.co.uk//

What in the world am I doing?

2010-07-21T08:00:00.003-05:00

Looks like I manage to post only once a month these days. I have been busy this summer. I've moved my photographic endeavors to a new level in that I'm getting a photo club started in Fayetteville, TN and taking some web classes on improving my "seeing" photographically speaking.

Every weekend has me someplace doing something. The last week starting Saturday the 10th, Em and I took off to Tampa, Florida where I attended and ASHE conference (Health Facility and Equipment Engineering Stuff) and we returned late Saturday the 17th after spending a night in Chattanooga where I went to the Hunter Museum of American Art. I loved it and recommend all photographers to go and see how the painters do it. I envy their skills. They can do with a brush what takes a photographer a ton of equipment to try and achieve and they can create environments that we camera guys just can't mimic because of the need for all that equipment to capture what we have in tour heads. I hope to post some examples of what I mean soon.

This month my photo club is tasked with taking pictures that frame the subject. I gave this photo as an example, but I cheated.

I didn't drag my daughter down to a factory and have her pose in front of industrial equipment. I photo shopped her in (and none to professionally either) someone else's picture. In my defense, it was a quick experiment I did some time ago. It was a quick find when I emailed out the example to the club members. I just wanted to get them to see that framing your subject wasn't restricted to looking like a framed picture setting on a mantel.
I discovered summer Rodeos too. Not the big Civic Center Arena type although I have gone to those before. Locally we have several going on within 50 miles of here and they are extremely access able so you can get some great action shots.

And I've discoverd Re-enactments too. LOL Photography is a great reason to get out and exerience things.

This is turning out to be a great summer.

Hot Days and Hot Girls Don't Mix Well In Politics

2010-07-06T11:24:00.000-05:00

It was a hot day and honestly this young lady was the best looking thing at this event. When she turned away from the podium, I couldn't tell if she was just over heated or discussed by what she heard.

VW Bus - Our Magic Carpet Ride

2010-06-22T06:38:00.001-05:00

A young student in my office has revealed his love of VW buses. The has just acquired one and had great plans to restore it.

That got me to searching my photo archive for a picture I took years ago. Here it is.

Taken with a Yashica 124 G Twin lens propped up on something.

This is probably summer of 1973. We are just about to get underway to a Moody Blues Concert in München, Germany. This was taken at O'Brien Kasern at north end of Schwabach, Germany just south of Nuremberg. The concert wasn't the best because the band was sloppy drunk when they performed. But those road trips where always a blast. I'm on the left with "VOTE" across my chest next to Jonah and his hair boots. I can't remember the names of the other two. What a life. LOL

Technology bill undone by porn provision

2010-05-21T06:30:00.000-05:00

"House Democrats pulled an $85 billion technology bill on Thursday after Republicans attached an unrelated provision that would have prevented agencies from paying the salaries of government employees caught watching pornography on the job."

Don't get me wrong, I'm not for any employer having to put up with employees who abuse government/company resources, but this is the kind of ridiculous legislation that Congress is waisting it's time on. Abusive behavior by employees is punishable without an act of Congress nick picking what suits it's personal moral agenda. Yea in this case it is the Republicans who would install a web cam in your bathroom to make sure you didn't use your toilet inappropriately. They need to stop this kind of micro management. If they honestly do not trust the agencies they fund to manage their people then they need to get rid of the managers.

When Medical Science Speaks Without Enough Evidence

2010-05-19T07:12:00.000-05:00

The term refrigerator mother may not be familiar to you. It wasn't to me, but then I've had very little exposure to Autism. From Wikipedia I found this explanation. It's scary the power a "learned medical professional" has over the well being of us working stiffs that do all the work and keep the puppy mill churning out new drones.

The term refrigerator mother was coined around 1950 as a label for mothers of children diagnosed with autism or schizophrenia. These mothers were often blamed for their children's atypical behavior, which included rigid rituals, speech difficulty, and self-isolation.

The "refrigerator mother" label was based on the assumption — now discredited among most, though not all, mental health professionals — that autistic behaviors stem from the emotional frigidity of the children's mothers. As a result, many mothers of children on the autistic spectrum suffered from blame, guilt, and self-doubt from the 1950s throughout the 1970s and beyond: when the prevailing medical belief that autism resulted from inadequate parenting was widely assumed to be correct. Present-day proponents of the psychogenic theory of autism continue to maintain that the condition is a result of poor parenting.

Think about this when your State starts discussing the legitimization of Clinical Marijuana. Do the medical professionals know yea or nay? Can they if the federal government makes it illegal to explore such research?

This posting may seem kind of unorganized, but such is the mind of a 40 mile commuter who listens to NPR.

Just one more Artical about Craig, I'm just so happy for the Kid and his Mom and Dad

2010-05-07T07:41:00.001-05:00

Majors callup finally hits excited Kimbrel

WASHINGTON -- Craig Kimbrel awoke on Wednesday afternoon thinking that he would enjoy a day off by playing golf and spending some time with his girlfriend. By the time that he we awoke on Thursday morning, the Braves right-handed reliever was enjoying the luxuries of a Ritz-Carlton and reliving a hectic but memorable first day as a Major Leaguer.

"I was in the Ritz-Carlton, in the most comfortable bed ever, and thinking I'm in the big leagues right now," Kimbrel said. "This morning it finally hit me. Everything was happening so fast yesterday that I didn't even have a chance to sit down and think about it. It's a dream come true. God gifted me with the ability to throw the ball, and I'm just going to keep working at it."

As Kimbrel prepared for Thursday night's series finale gainst the Nationals -- a 3-2 Braves loss -- he was using Kris Medlen's glove and a pair of spikes that Nike had quickly shipped to Nationals Park. The 21-year-old right-handed reliever was still awaiting the arrival of his personal baseball equipment, which had been shipped to Syracuse on Wednesday in preparation for the three-game series Triple-A Gwinnett will play there this weekend.

At approximately 3:41 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Kimbrel learned that he had earned his first career call to the Majors and needed to get to Washington, D.C., as soon as possible.

After making an immediate exit from Tin Lizzy's in Buckhead, he and his girlfriend fought through some traffic on the way to his Norcross residence, where he needed to retrieve a suit and other clothing.

After utilizing the HOV lane on I-85 South to get to the Atlanta airport at 5:40 p.m., Kimbrel managed to get to the "A" Concourse in time to board a 6:20 p.m. flight that helped to deliver him to Nationals Park some time around the start of the fourth inning.

"It felt like [my girlfriend] was more nervous and excited about it than I was," Kimbrel said. "I was more worried about getting my stuff and getting to the airport."

While driving, Kimbrel had time to call his parents, who are traveling to Philadelphia for this weekend's series against the Phillies, and his grandmother, a devout Braves fan who resides near his home in Huntsville, Ala.
After providing his grandmother the good news, Kimbrel could only laugh when she responded with, "I figured it was coming."

A lot of Braves Fans are not happy with how this season is going. I sure would be nice if adding Craig to the lineup helped turn this season around. I know the kid has the heart, determination and dedication to make a difference.

OUCH!!!!!!!

2010-05-07T07:24:00.000-05:00

It took officials at a Veterans Affairs Department hospital in Philadelphia more than a year to learn that a computer used to assess patient's response to treatments for prostate cancer had been unplugged, delaying assessments, according to an inspector general report released on Monday.

Local Boy makes it to the Majors

2010-05-06T10:25:00.000-05:00

CONGRATULATIONS CRAIG!!!!!!

Craig Kimbrel is a good kid with great parents. It isn't often a kid you know gets such a great opportunity to fullfill his dreams so dramaticly. Craig was called up to the Majors as a closing pitcher for the Atlanta Braves. What follows is a nice little article about his call-up.

Kimbrel scrambles to make way to Majors

Hard-throwing righty had impressed Braves this spring

WASHINGTON -- Craig Kimbrel learned that it would be beneficial for any of Triple-A Gwinnett's Major League prospects to have manager Dave Brundage's phone number stored in their cell phones.

As Kimbrel was eating in Buckhead around 3:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, he received a call from a number that he didn't recognize. Fortunately, he opted to listen to the message provided by Brundage, who was calling the young reliever to inform him he had received his first call to the Majors.

"He said you might want to call me back, so I called him right back," Kimbrel said. "Good thing I did because I wouldn't be here."

Approximately four hours after sitting in the middle of Atlanta for a bite to eat, Kimbrel found himself arriving at Nationals Park to experience his first night as a Major Leaguer. The 21-year-old right-hander arrived during the fourth inning, and a short time later he found himself exchanging hugs and handshakes in the visitor's bullpen.
"It was a big surprise," Kimbrel said. "I didn't see it coming. I woke up this morning around 6:30, went and played golf, ate lunch and was going to go to dinner."

The hectic schedule change was necessitated when the Braves decided late Wednesday afternoon to place Jair Jurrjens on the 15-day disabled list. After learning that he would be filling the vacant roster spot, Kimbrel had to drive approximately 20 minutes north to grab some clothes and then drive at least another 30 minutes in the opposite direction to get to Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in time for a 6 p.m. ET flight.

When asked if he used the HOV lane to combat Atlanta's traffic, Kimbrel smiled and said, "I had somebody with me, so it made it legal."

Kimbrel comes to the big leagues with plenty of confidence. He has recorded 21 strikeouts and issued just five walks while posting a 1.20 ERA in 11 appearances for Gwinnett this year.

"They say he's throwing really well down there," Braves manager Bobby Cox. "He impressed us during [Spring Training]."

Kimbrel, who didn't allow a run in the nine innings he completed during his first Major League camp this year, has been described a right-handed Billy Wagner. Thus maybe it is fitting that many also consider the 5-foot-10 hurler to be the Braves closer of the future.

With Kris Medlen tabbed to start in Jurrjens' place on Saturday, Kimbrel will be filling his void in the bullpen. The only damage incurred by the young reliever this year came when he allowed Durham a pair of runs during an April 24 one-inning appearance that included a hit batter, a walk and a wild pitch.

GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY IS GOOD EVEN WHEN IT'S BAD

2010-05-05T07:11:00.001-05:00

This article is from GovExec.com Columns: Management Matters. The author,Brian Friel, covered management and human resources at Government Executive for six years and is now a National Journal staff correspondent. The Italicized comments are mine.

Earl Devaney has spent his career keeping Uncle Sam honest, first as an investigator at various agencies, then as the inspector general at the Interior Department, and now as the chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, the oversight agency that is tracking spending under the $787 billion economic stimulus package signed into law in February 2009. Devaney said a few months later that he hoped his oversight board's Web site would be a prototype for government transparency in the future, helping Americans see how their tax dollars were being spent. Indeed, he said he hoped the site would help create "millions of citizen IGs."

On Recovery.gov, people can track hundreds of billions of dollars in contracts, grants and loans under the federal stimulus package. They can look at spending in their towns and counties and compare the distribution of dollars in all 50 states. Companies can review contracts that were awarded without competition to see whether they were given a proper chance to bid. This unprecedented transparency has triggered about 200 investigations into potential wrongdoing associated with the money. Now that is a value added achievement.

The site also has generated hundreds of news articles about problems with the data and questionable projects, creating a messy and controversial picture of the Recovery Act's effects on the economy. Proponents of the stimulus package complain that Devaney should have made sure the data was clean before releasing it to the public, since critics have used mistakes in the data to challenge the Recovery effort's effectiveness. Many news outlets, for example, reported stimulus dollars had been spent in "phantom" congressional districts, because some organizations that received funds entered incorrect information for the district labels. Easy problem to fix considering how informative this info can be. But then again different localities could start whining about not getting their "fair share".

Anyone who expected increased transparency to improve the public's view of government should take note of a CBS News/New York Times poll published in February that found a stunningly low 6 percent of Americans believed the stimulus had created jobs. That is not a typo. It really was 6 percent. Whoever said it was to "improve the public's view of government?" It's to give the public information so they can understand what their government is doing. How they perceive it is unpredictable, but it is still a good thing when done right.

That kind of feedback doesn't exactly inspire confidence that transparency is worth the effort for federal managers. Why bother with openness when the result is people will be less supportive of your efforts? Because it is responsible government, not to mention it will gauge public opinion on how important efforts are and/or how well these managers are doing with the tax dollars we trust them with. Still a good thing for the country but maybe not so good for an aggressive and career minded government manager who only wants promotions and could care less about how useful his projects are to the well being of this country or how wisely the funds are being used to achieve a desired accomplishment. It also give us an eye into the private sector as it uses tax money. How many times have you heard or witness lackadaisical performance by a contractor when dealing with government contracts?

The fact is transparency is here to stay. Now that the government is posting spending information in such great detail on Recovery.gov, there's no turning back. So the question is, how do managers avoid the transparency trap so openness doesn't come back to bite them? Maybe the government can't just dump its data on the public and expect people to make sense of it. No it can't. As as Federal Contracting person, I know all too well mistakes happen and even with several "fresh eyes" looking over work, things slip by. The software can be a real pain too but it was Our Government that put a man on the moon. No other public or private entity ever accomplished that feat. If we can do that then I would think we can do this. There will be pain involved but we have to keep an eye on the goal and keep our minds off the critics who pick and ping on something they could never and would ever do themselves and know that our objective is right for the people of our great country. But I bet the politicans screw it up. LOL

Instead, federal managers will have to begin experimenting with methods of engaging the public to help answer questions and clear up misunderstandings associated with the new openness. Linda Travers and Sanjeev Bhagowalia, the federal technology officials who run the Data.gov Web site, have created one model - a blog on which visitors offer ideas and ask questions about the way the site is organized and how it could be improved.

So will the revolution that Earl Devaney started work? The answer isn't yet clear. But perhaps transparency needs to be coupled with engagement. Duh!

Death is a nasty game made worse when done by "Democractic" Governments

2010-04-05T11:41:00.000-05:00

Here are two articles from the Daily Beast that showes the painful reality of killing done under the protection of governments. I am not passing judgement here. I think you will agree both articles have questionable positions. I just want you to realize that killing is going on in the name of democratic governments and conflicts of interest are most definately a problem.

1. U.S. Admits Role in 3 Afghan Women's Deaths

After denying it for weeks, the U.S. military command admitted a role in the deaths of three Afghan women in a botched Special Operations raid February 12. The admission will only intensify questions about what really happened that night. NATO officials initially said the three women who died had been stabbed to death hours before the raid, but a new Special Operations report says bullets were dug out of their bodies post mortem. (An anonymous NATO official said there had been evidence tampering Sunday, but another disputed that Monday.) Two of the women were pregnant, and one had six other children; they were attending what survivors describe as a celebration of the homeowner's grandson's birth.

Special Operations attacks are blamed for many civilian casualties, which Gen. Stanley McChrystal has been working to limit in Afghanistan, with some success. NATO's statement Sunday said the lack of forensic evidence prevented investigators from being certain of how and when the women died, but they had "concluded that the women were accidentally killed as a result of the joint force firing at the men." Meanwhile, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been lashing out lately against the impression he is a U.S. puppet. The lesson, says The Daily Beast's Bruce Riedel, is to quit choosing other countries' leaders.
Read it at The Daily Beast:

http://e.thedailybeast.com/a/tBLudT2B7SwhTB8G3y9D32lW0as/dail1

2. A 23-year-old journalist is under arrest for exposing a secret Israeli assassination plot, and another has fled to London, afraid for his life. Judith Miller talks to insiders who have been gagged by the government about the scandal rocking Tel Aviv, and Israel's slide toward Iranian-style censorship.
You’ve probably never heard of Anat Kamm. Few people have. But for nearly four months, the 23-year-old Israeli journalist has been under house arrest in Tel Aviv for allegedly stealing and leaking secret Israeli defense ministry documents to a journalist from Ha'aretz, one of Israel’s leading dailies.
Kamm would love to tell her side of the story, her friends and associates tell me. So would her lawyers. So, too, would Dov Alfon, the chief editor of Ha'aretz, a liberal paper, and Uri Blau, the reporter to whom Kamm allegedly leaked the documents she was said to have copied while she was completing her military service.
“In what kind of country does a journalist simply disappear with other journalists and news outlets having no recourse to publish about it?” asked one blogger. “China? Cuba? Vietnam? Iran? North Korea?”
But they cannot talk or write about the espionage case. In an extremely rare action, an Israeli court has ordered the Israeli media not to publish or broadcast a word about Kamm, the allegations against her, or the investigation that has led Blau, the Ha'aretz reporter involved, to flee to London. For almost four months, Blau has been in self-imposed exile there to avoid answering questions about how and from whom he obtained the confidential defense department documents that are said to have resulted in a spate of stories alleging personal and institutional misconduct on the part of the Israeli Defense Forces, the hallowed IDF, and some of its senior officials.
In a nation that prides itself on its vibrant discourse and a free press, this is stunning, depressing news.
What is being called the “Anat Kamm affair” has produced its own anomaly: Since details about the inquiry have begun spilling out into the non-Israeli press, Israelis can only gossip about what the non-Israeli media are reporting. Violating such gag orders in Israel can result in severe financial penalties for Israeli newspapers and magazines and jail for editors and other media executives. At least one publication was temporarily closed several years ago for disregarding a similar court order.
The saga, I am being warned, is complex. Parts of it that have not been disclosed are said to be enormously sensitive. But based on what has been reported by Israeli bloggers, the Jewish Telegraph Agency, two British newspapers, and on Friday, the Associated Press—coupled with what I’m hearing from sources close to the investigation—the case could come to a head on or before April 12, when an appeals court is scheduled to hear an appeal by Israel’s Channel 10 and Ha'aretz of a court ruling in February upholding the gag order.
Here is what has happened so far. In mid-December, Kamm, then a media reporter for Walla, a popular Israeli Internet site on popular culture, was arrested and accused of having passed along secret information aimed at harming national security, a charge whose maximum sentence is life in prison. At the same time, an Israeli court imposed the gag order barring officials in Israel or the normally irrepressible Israeli media from disclosing any details of the case.
The government reportedly alleges that sometime during her two-year compulsory military service ending in June 2007, Kamm copied a vast number of secret documents without authorization—one blogger said as many as a thousand—while working as a clerk in the office of the IDF’s Central Command. She is accused of having given some of this information to Blau, who in turn used it to publish several stories in Ha'aretz accusing the IDF and senior staff of misconduct. She is reported to have denied the charges.
The story that supposedly triggered the government’s initial interest in the case was an article that Blau published in November 2008 alleging that the IDF had disregarded Israeli law in killing a Palestinian militant in the occupied West Bank in 2007. According to bloggers and the British paper, The Independent, Blau cited defense ministry memos and emails in reporting that the IDF had assassinated a member of Islamic Jihad in the West Bank town of Jenin in apparent violation of an Israeli Supreme Court ruling six months earlier outlawing such assassinations if a peaceful arrest was possible. Specifically, Blau’s article cited a confidential defense ministry document from March 2007 which included an order from Maj. Gen. Yair Naveh, then Israel’s senior commander in the West Bank, permitting the IDF to shoot three top Islamic Jihad members even if they did not pose a clear and present danger.
Read it at The Daily Beast:

Centries of Hatred

2010-03-30T12:13:00.003-05:00

"The Jewish people were building Jerusalem 3,000 years ago, and the Jewish people are building Jerusalem today (referring to the decision to build 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem). Jerusalem is not a settlement. It is our capital." With this defiant declaration, at an AIPAC conference, Benjamin Netanyahu informed the United States that East Jerusalem, is not occupied land. It is Israeli land and Israel's forever.

This is probably a good thing for us because it reveals the perceived vital interests of Israel now collide with vital U.S. interest in the Middle East and America cannot back down without eviscerating her credibility in the Arab and Muslim world,

Good or bad, the line, drawn in sand, is being swept away and a stick is poised to draw a new one.

The arrogance of Christian Nations has to be smarting right now.

The Brain Keeps on Going and Growing

2010-03-29T07:11:00.001-05:00

Read the recently published NPR article on "The Aging Brain". It dispels the myth that we don't grow new brain cells after we become adults. More importantly it states that, "empathy — the ability to understand the emotional point of view of another. Empathy increases as we age. "

I already knew this from my own aging experience. I'd like to add that this is not some new out of thin air ability. After living and loving and hating and facing frustration while seeing others win, fail, redirect their efforts for a more attainable (and often more appropriate goal) and - at times - walk away no better off than when they started, it is a lessons learned sort of thing (yes the brain starts new neuron-circuitry). About the only thing I know that prevents it from improving life is over indulging in conservative politics (joke). After all, as industries and technologies change and cultures get stale and boring, so change the trends of societies. Empathy helps make sense of it all. Having empathy is not the same as having sympathy. Empathy you understand but don't necessarily agree or accept.

My little bit of philosophying. ;)

Do you have sympathy or empathy?

This is an old picture (35 mm slide) my Father took when he was a young man serving in Japan (early 50's).

So Long Fess

2010-03-18T07:13:00.000-05:00

This blog has moved

2010-03-14T15:33:00.001-05:00

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Greed and Fear???

2010-01-14T07:14:00.001-06:00

After hearing that Lane Kiffin, now former football coach at the University of Tennessee, jumped ship to coach at USC, and will bring his father and defensive coordinator, Monte Kiffin, and assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron to Southern California with him, I read this artical about the supression of free speech and can't help but think "what in hell is wrong with our society." Comments anyone?

THE PROGRESSIVE REVIEW - January 14, 201
ACLU Sues Library of Congress Alleging Ex-Guantanamo Prosecutor Wrongfully Fired
by: Yana Kunichoff

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit against the Library of Congress on behalf of Col. Morris Davis, the former top prosecutor at Guantanamo and an outspoken critic of the military commissions system, alleging he was unfairly terminated from his position with the Library's Congressional Research Service (CRS).

The lawsuit charged CRS with violating Davis' free speech and due process rights by removing him from his positions with CRS, following the publication of a series of articles he wrote for The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post about issues that were related to his former role with the military commissions, but not with his responsibilities at CRS.
"Col. Davis has a constitutional right to speak about issues of which he has expert knowledge, and the public has a right to hear from him," said Aden Fine, a staff attorney with the ACLU First Amendment Working Group. "Col. Davis's firsthand experience is invaluable to the ongoing debate over military commissions, and the public should not be denied the chance to hear from him just because he is a public employee."

Davis resigned from his role as a chief prosecutor in the Guantanamo military commissions in October 2007, citing his conviction that the system was fundamentally flawed. Drawing on his time with the military commissions and his 25 years in the United States Air Force, Davis became an outspoken critic of the commissions. He wrote articles, gave speeches and testified before Congress.
Then, in December 2008, he took up a position as the assistant director of the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Division at the CRS.
"My status as the former chief prosecutor for the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay and my opinions on that subject are completely unrelated to my position at CRS and totally separate from my duties there, and they don't interfere with my ability to do my job," said Davis. "The work that CRS does is incredibly valuable and I am proud of the opportunity to continue serving my country after a career in the military. I hope to be reinstated to my original position so I can continue to support Congress at this critical time in our nation's history."
In response to the ACLU's call for Davis to be returned to his former position with CRS, the Library of Congress said that it would not return Davis to his job.
As Truthout previously reported, the articles written by Davis appeared in The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post on November 11, 2009. In them, Davis argued against using both military commissions and federal courts to try detainees.
The Wall Street Journal articles identify Davis as the former chief prosecutor for the military commissions. He retired from the military in 2008. In the ACLU's lawsuit, it said that Davis said he wrote the pieces in his personal capacity, made no mention of CRS, wrote the pieces outside of his work hours and did not receive payment for the articles.

Shortly after the publication of these articles, Davis received a number of phone calls, emails and requests for meetings from his supervisor at CRS, Daniel Mulhollan. On November 20, Davis received a final phone call saying that his employment would be terminated, and he was transferred to a temporary 30-day position, which will expire on January 20.

The ACLU lawsuit said that Davis had previously attended a conference concerning the military commissions and submitted a law review article expressing his views in connection with the conference... Mr. Mulhollan approved his participation, with the only condition being that Col. Davis had to participate on his personal time by using a vacation day, because of the subject of the conference. Guantanamo and the military commissions system had nothing to do with his CRS job responsibilities or duties.
The lawsuit also highlighted the lack of an official policy regarding CRS employees and whether personal writings must be subject to prior review or that supervisors must be notified about the intention to publish.
It goes on to say, "The decision to terminate Col. Davis for his speech has intimidated and chilled other CRS employees from speaking and writing in public. CRS employees are confused, uncertain, and fearful about what outside speaking and writing is permissible."
The ACLU is suing James Billington, the Librarian of Congress and Mulhollan in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

A NORMAL PERSON WHO DID SPECIAL THINGS!

2010-01-12T07:16:00.002-06:00

On the way into work this morning, I heard that Ms. Miep Gies had died at 100. Impressive age but not the reason for her on-air obituary. She was the office secretary who defied the Nazi occupiers by hiding Anne Frank and her family for two years and saved the teenager's diary

That story is a bringer of tears in itself. But the commentator did what is all too often done when it comes to getting in that “this story is unique” standard of today’s journalism.

Ms. Gies was the last of the few non-Jews who supplied food, books and good cheer to the secret annex behind the canal warehouse where the Franks hide along with other Jews hid for 25 months during World War II.

After the apartment was raided by the German police, Gies gathered up Anne's scattered notebooks and papers and locked them in a drawer for her return after the war. But as we all know Anne did not survive the war having died of typhus at age 15 in a concentration camp in March of 1945. Yes that was toward the end of the war and her camp was liberated just two weeks after her death.

Ms. Gies said she did not read the diary but after the war, Otto Frank, Anne’s father, returned to Amsterdam and lived with the Gies family. When he learned of Anne’s deaths, she gave him the diary saying, “this is Anne’s legacy”.

Ms. Gies who has been hailed as a hero, never accepted that she was special herself. She claimed she did what she had to because these people needed help. She said, “"I don't want to be considered a hero. Imagine young people would grow up with the feeling that you have to be a hero to do your human duty. I am afraid nobody would ever help other people, because who is a hero? I was not. I was just an ordinary housewife and secretary."

This is where the announcer pissed me off. Just after a recording of Ms. Gies was played saying just what I wrote about her not being special and why she said it, this announcer ignores her wishes and says, “but she was special . . .” Why did this idiot announcer need to contradict Ms. Gies and her well thought out answer to why she helped hide folks during that insane war?

She was an ordinary person who did special things. Her husband died in 1993. She is survived by her son and three grandchildren.

You can read and listen to this NPR article at:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122469287

The Weather Outside is Frightful!!!

2010-01-09T20:18:00.001-06:00

Coldest its been in a long time here in Lincoln County, Tennessee. Anyone ready for Spring? Or am I jumping the gun?

Winter Is Here

2010-01-08T20:23:00.000-06:00

Actually this is last year. We didn't get this much snow this weekend.

But it is colder than a Witches Tit!!

Creativity is not proportional to superior equipment.

2010-01-07T10:45:00.004-06:00

Ken Rockwell has a great site in which he reviews cameras, lenses and other photography related accessories not to mention a good bit of advice and insight. It is simple in design yet full of useful info if you are camera hunting.

He has a what’s new section that I check on periodically just for his attitude. He has opinions on everything from RAW vs. JPG to old film cameras to digital. I don’t always agree with him and with the constant change in digital photography – software to accessorized equipment – some times he has to go back and revise his comments. That is part of what keeps me going back.

I bought my Nikon D300 after reading his views on it. (Yes, Ken I gave you credit when I made the purchase at Adorama) Yet today he will tell you not to waist your money because the N90 has everything the D300 has but lighter. I have no qualms over comments like that. I learned a long time ago you make the best decision you can with what you know at the time. With digital cameras coming out so often these days you just have to pick a point to make a commitment. I’m happy with my D300. I know how it works and can make adjustments quickly on site. I’ve even won a contest with the photos I’ve taken with it. I’m not without experience with film cameras since I’ve been at this for over 40 years.

Which brings be to the purpose of this blog entry. Ken posted yesterday –

New decade, new deal.

Let's try to forget how many tens of thousands of dollar each of us threw at DLSRs last decade, and how little we have to show for it today.

Let's see: I burned through a D1H, D70, D80, D40, D300, D3, Rebel XTI, 5D, 5D Mark II, numerous Mavicas and point-and-shoots and I forget what else, and what is it all worth today? Worse, how about in just 5 years when the D3 and 5D Mark II are expired?

How about all the time I spent banging out reviews of all that junk? I must have ten huge 100 pages (when printed) on each of the D70 and D1X, and today, no one cares.

Compare that to the numerous pages I have up about the Nikon F100, which I wrote back in the 1990s. That work is still usefully, heck, the one guy I saw yesterday, Michael Chan, had just bought a used F100 and was having a blast with it.

So why review digital stuff, when something like the

LEICA IIIf has been cranking out great pictures for sixty years, and in 2020, the camera and its review will still be as useful as it is today.

Again I’m not disagreeing, but what I love about digital is post click production. Developing film and printing it is time consuming and costly. Yea, you can have someone process the film for you and even print the pictures, but the number of photos I take does not make that affordable nor convenient not to mention the problem with dealing with a distant photo processor when you want something that isn’t an industry standard. Just try to get a 10 x 6 picture on an 8 x 10 piece of photo paper via email. Cameras and software will change constantly. But the images I’ve captured will be as fixed as I make them and that means I have the most control with digital.

Yes, film and film cameras are still superior to digital today when it comes to quality of equipment and achievable results. After all, any photo can be digitized after it is processed. But what you are doing and what you want to achieve and what you can do with alternatives should figure into what equipment you use as much as superior results. Creativity is not proportional to superior equipment. Ken will tell you that right up front.

The Reluctant Mr. Darwin - a good read.

2010-01-06T18:11:00.005-06:00

For Christmas, my son gave me David Quammen’s, The Reluctant Mr. Darwin. I’ve enjoyed reading it even though I know how it ends.

The book covers the period 1837 through 1882. Quammen deliberately bypasses the “Beagle years” (1831 – 1836) and concentrates on Charles Darwin, “the shy patriarch with bald head and the full beard, the breeder of pigeons and primroses, a very private Englishman who wound up buried in Westminster Abby, the fellow with a good for bank notes, presents to us a comfortably downy image” but not everything is so comfortable. “At the core of his work is a difficult, scary materialism.” Quammen explores that theme as well the idea that it was difficult and scary even to Darwin.

What I find interesting about this book is how different the times are. All through my read I am struck by two ideas:

1) How people communicated and socialize 140 years ago. Letter writing was the personal chat medium of the times. Publishing and membership in interest societies was a major source of exchange when it came to examining lofty ideas. And if you should think that Victorian text of the times was stogy and formal . . . well, Darwin wrote in abbreviated forms that would make any modern text message guru proud.

2) How much we take medicine for granted today. Darwin and his wife Emma had 10 kids. Three died in childhood. Darwin was sick most of his life. Down’s syndrome was not yet discovered as it is known today and pathogenic microbes had yet been discovered. Malaria was thought to be caused by miasmal vapors from swamp land. Diseases that we take vaccines for today were epidemics and ravished towns and villages because their causes were unknown. Yet, it is easy to neglect that when you think of just how thoroughly Darwin changed science and our understanding of the causes of the great diversity of life.

Tis a good read and not too technical. There is even a bit of the thrill of racing as a young untrained adventurer pushes Darwin and cause Darwin to dig deep for the personal character to do the right thing.

Elk and No Elk

2010-01-02T06:53:00.002-06:00

Teresa Binstock, while in Colorado Mts., posted this video of an Elk migration. It is cool to see such a big herd. I live near the Elk River in Lincoln County, Tennessee (our paper is the Elk Valley Times) and we have no elk - wild or captive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SxxOTkfKPk

Actually to say I live near the Elk River in Lincoln County, Tennessee is like saying a double negative in a weird "Chet" sort of way. We have no Elk and Lincoln county is not named for Abraham Lincoln. Go figure. LOL

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2010-01-01T19:40:00.004-06:00

Its a new day, a new year, a new decade and I've not made any resolutions. After 50 years of trying and succeeding so seldom I don't bother anymore. I also happen to be pretty satisfied with who I am.

I've given some thought to back dating some post and probably will. I've given some thought to posting pictures done by other photographers that I really like, but I probably won't. I just don't know where I got the pictures. I will keep posting my own pictures and the pictures may or may not have anything to do with my comments, although I do tend to like the "stream of conscience" approach.

Its been hard to avoid political commentary. Politics are the legitimate form of lying it would seem, although I doubt any mother or father would accept it from their kids. It depresses me - so I avoid it.

Em and I spent the day in Huntsville. We ate breakfast at the Broken Egg Cafe in the Bailey Cove section of town. Pricey but good. We tried Cracker Barrel first but they had a 35 minute wait so we didn't stay and it was good that we didn't. Broken Egg was better. We skipped lunch and had popcorn at the movies. Avatar in 3D was great! I loved it! I was afraid after hearing about how much attention the creator put into the special effects the story would suck. But it was pulled off nicely. I might have opted for a smoother or more detailed ending, but it is over two hours long. I'd have to say it was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. I highly recommend it!

We ate supper at Chili's then came home and enjoyed a quiet evening. I checked on the Outback Bowl since Auburn was in it. After Tennessee sucked yesterday in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl‎, I needed to hear the SEC was still a power house. Well it is and Auburn pulled it out in overtime:

Outback Bowl: Northwestern Wildcats 35 - Auburn Tigers 38

Life is Good!

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You may consider this picture exploitive. However, I would recommend you look at it with the same curiosity that I did. Surly you see just a bit of risque humor here and how odd it is that a person would mark their body in what could be considered self deprivation. I wondered why she would care if her partner knew her name if she hadn't managed to give it before getting into this . . . hhhuuuuhhhh . . . predicament.

Interesting line

2009-12-19T12:15:00.000-06:00

Surfing the net with "Stumble!" I ran across this line.

"giving is its own reward… in that he bakes a lovely bullet casserole for every god damn foreigner he sees."

Just how many emotions does that line bring out in ya?

I thought ". . . bullet casserole . . ." was funny.

Is the Middle East Worth It?

2009-12-18T12:06:00.001-06:00

A woman hugs the tombstone of her husband at Arlington National Cemetery after placing a Christmas wreath at his graveside December 12.

2009-12-17T07:40:00.002-06:00

If you like to see an old idea done in very interesting presentations, then take a look at this site. The task for these photographers was to take the idea of painting with light and run with it. These folks did quite well.

http://digital-photography-school.com/25-spectacular-light-painting-images

2009-12-15T20:06:00.000-06:00

I caught this complete rainbow out front of my house. Actually there are two rainbows here. First time I've seen both ends of a rainbow.

2009-10-29T08:41:00.002-05:00

Here is an article I think you will find interesting. It is lengthy, but gives a lot of insight into how high political activities are pursued.

The auto bailout: How we did it

The man who led the effort gives an inside look at the bankruptcies that shook America.

I've got highspeed interent at the house now, so expect an increase in bloging activity. ;}

Stormy Weather is Predicted

2009-10-05T20:54:00.001-05:00

They say this warm sunny weather is not going to last. As you can see from this moonlight shot, the clouds are coming in.

2009-10-03T20:45:00.001-05:00

We get to our beachfront condo on the 7th floor and see boats returning home for the evening and beach walkers.

2009-10-02T20:35:00.001-05:00

It was a long uneventful drive through Alabama. The Interstate 65 is so different from the coastal roads my family use to take along the Atlanta coast of North and South Carolina. The terrain changes and the road kill changes from skunks to armadillos but not a lot of sightseeing opportunities along the way. Well, not for a guy who has spent a lot of his life in the State.

But when you get to Orange Beach, you grow a smile and the old body knows to switch to relax mode.

September Is Over

2009-10-01T20:09:00.002-05:00

September Madness is over, the last contract is signed and the sky is clearing. Em and I head for the Gulf - Orange Beach to be exact. It will be nice to be away from 12 hour days and the gray of the office.

September is the Month from Hell for Government Contracting

2009-09-01T09:11:00.000-05:00

I'll be putting in a lot of Over Time this month so along with my Dial Up Delima, I'll probably not be posting this month.

I love this picture of my Uncle Jim. Kind of mixes his country boy upbringing with his working lifetime occupation.

2009-08-28T07:03:00.000-05:00

I'll end this week with some more back water pictures. I loved this day of the trip. This area was so full of visual interest.

2009-08-27T06:58:00.002-05:00

Some back water shots. It was a misty quite day and I was so relaxed.

2009-08-26T06:53:00.002-05:00

On the way out of Glacier Bay we see one more from a distant then back into the open water. It was a rough day at sea on the return but it only lasted one day and one night. My sea sickness was minor and actually added to the excitement of the trip.

2009-08-25T06:46:00.002-05:00

This glacier is very much a live. You hear the ice crack and every once in a while you hear a thunderous boom and see a chunk of ice the size of a house come sliding down into the frigid waters. Yes the last picture has a kayak in it.

2009-08-24T06:17:00.003-05:00

In the last picture on Friday I said there were two glaciers. You may be scratching your head thinking I see the one on the left but all I see on the right is a trash heap. Well that trash heap is a glacier trash heap. It is a "dead" glacier. It is no longer moving so as it melts all the material it has gathered on its trip from the valley summit is exposed. Here is a closer look.

2009-08-21T08:09:00.002-05:00

Moving on to where we will get to see more Glaciers which I’ll post a ton of shots of next week. The last picture in this series shows you two different types of glaciers which I'll tell you about latter. Can you see both of them?

2009-08-20T08:02:00.002-05:00

Getting to the end of the train ride we passed this caboose which you can rent if you so choose. I didn’t post the picture of the girl who we picked up high in the mountains. She had dropped of an earlier train and hiked the highlands. The train will pick you up if you choose to ride back down but you have to make it to a place where the train can stop. Honestly, I only saw one such place.

2009-08-19T07:55:00.002-05:00

This first picture was taken after we had traversed that bridge. Yea it is rickety and look at the heights traveled by those men and their pack animals! The mountain rivers look so harmonious with the scenes but imagine having to cross those icy waters in a time where rain gear designed to shed rain more than keep you dry.

2009-08-18T07:43:00.000-05:00

These pictures where taken just after leaving the train station and as you can see the land is extremely steep and the curves on this “narrow” gauged train line are sharp. Yes that is the front of the train we are riding. I would have gotten out on the landing but it was already packed with people and they didn’t seem to care about their own safety not to mention those they where pushing around to get their shots. I played it safe and took pictures from inside the car.

2009-08-17T07:31:00.002-05:00

Why I didn't take a picture of our train as it was loading, I don't know. I guess I wasn't inspired by the scene. But these four shots are from the train. The first two show you how narrow the trail was going from the coast to the gold rush area. This was a two way trail. It is only a couple of feet wide. The story goes that if you fell out of line you could be hours waiting for someone to give you a chance to get back in. At the top of this trial was a place where dead pack animals where piled up in the hundreds. The Canadians said the prospectors had to have enough gear and food to help them survive and the weight of that gear was over 2000 lbs. The clime up through these mountains was just too hard on pack animals who where not treated or fed well. The real shame is of the thousands of prospectors who attempted this Rush only a few found any gold and only a few of those found enough to have made it worth their while. Greed for quick riches and the disregard for one's own ignorance about what would be a dangerous and devastating try helps me to understand why nations prefer war to diplomacy so often in human history.

2009-08-14T08:42:00.002-05:00

This portion of the trip back we were still on the bus heading to the point where we would meet the train and finish the return by rail. But I was just amazed at the volume of rock in this part of the country. Not stones or boulders, but big huge mountains of rock.

2009-08-13T08:33:00.002-05:00

On the way back to the coast we stopped in Carcross. I'm not sure what industry keeps this town alive but they did have a Mounty Station.

2009-08-12T08:06:00.002-05:00

You've heard of Emeral Lake? Here it is.

2009-08-11T01:57:00.003-05:00

Due to a high volume of activity at the office on Monday, I didn't get to post this for Tuesday so I'm fudging the post to look like it was. I had to be at the house on Tuesday and while it was a lot of work, I loved it. LOL

Here are some images from a small place in the Yukon that served BBQ chicken for lunch, raises a hybrid dog for dog sledding and has this stuffed animal museum. It was kind of cheesy. They put a couple of stuffed mountain goats up on the cliffs overlooking the place. Yea you can take a dog sled ride on a sled-on-wheels. I enjoyed this place. It kind of reminded me of the weird things one use to find on the back roads around Myrtle Beach. You know, the alligator pits and the freak museums with stuffed two headed calves, etc.

2009-08-10T13:39:00.002-05:00

The sign tells it all.

2009-08-07T01:31:00.000-05:00

I’ll end the week with the start of our excursion into Yukon Territory. We took a bus up White Pass across the boarder and stopped at this sign. While there this old fella (older than me) was trekking up this mountain road on his bike with all his gear. He wasn’t peddling as fast as I can walk but he was making it. The train picture was actually taking at the top of White Pass in British Columbia but I though it was a cool shot with it’s length and the background.

2009-08-06T01:22:00.000-05:00

After visiting Mendenhall Glacier National Park we headed for a Salmon Bake. I was so looking forward to this part of the excursion. But I ended up a bit disappointed. First I was thinking that in a region that had so much Salmon that this would be a real treat with new and different ways of cooking the fish. Nope, it was just cooked over an open fire pit with nothing special done to it. OK, that was ok because it was good food. But then on the ride back we had a tour guide that told old bad jokes and little history of the area. This was especially disappointing because he was a native of the area. Still, it was a good excursion and there is something about eating fish on a rainy day in a rain forest that is really cool.

2009-08-05T01:33:00.000-05:00

Our excursion out of Juneau was to Mendenhall Glacier National Park. As you can tell, the weather along the coastline is grey. I expected this because of my time spent in Monterey, California. This national park is interesting. There are two waterfalls and you will be able to take a trail to one of them but it is under construction right now. That didn’t stop a few adventurous folks in our tour group from heading out to it anyway. The second waterfalls coming out of the glacier use to be under the glacier. They say it’s rate of regress is a football field distance a year now. From the ebb and flow charts of glaciers I’ve been looking at this is not unusual at all but I’d strongly suggest you put a visit to a glacier area into your vacation plans soon as the may not be as grandiose in a few years.

2009-08-04T01:23:00.000-05:00

Here are some shots taken around Juneau. For a State Capital, it isn't very interesting. The legislature meets in what use to be an elementary school. They say you can't reach Juneau by road, you have to fly or boat in. I've been asked by several people if I got to see the Governor. Nope. She didn't live in the Governor’s Mansion. She only came to town when it was a must situation. She says she sees no point in hanging around as a “Lame Duck” Governor. So much for respecting the folks of Alaska who put her in office. Bye the way, no one in any of the towns we visited cared to talk about her. It was almost as if she was the Governor of another state.

2009-08-03T01:20:00.000-05:00

In this series of shots you get to see more blue ice but I've also added some shots with boats so you can get a bit of perspective of the size of both the icebergs and the mountains that are shooting straight up out of the water. The boat in the first two pictures is 48' long. the sail boat in the bottom two pictures is smaller but you can see the guy in the boat to get an idea of size.

2009-07-31T01:42:00.000-05:00

While we never made it to the first glacier on our agenda, due to too heavy an ice flow, I got my first look at dense blue ice and was wowed. I’d heard of it but never expected to see it this blue. Being awed by these blue ice bergs was only surpassed by seeing and hearing the glaciers.
The glacier in the last picture here was not the destination glacier we where looking for. I was just the first one I saw in route. The close we got to a glacier the more turquoise color the water got until it became creamy white due to the increase glacier silt deposited in the water. This makes the water close to glacier uninhabitable for fish.

2009-07-30T01:31:00.001-05:00

As we move north the mood changes as the misty ocean confronts the mountains with no shores.

2009-07-29T01:00:00.000-05:00

Leaving Vancouvor the water is very calm and the sky is clear.

2009-07-28T00:01:00.000-05:00

Leaving the port city you of course see port activity.

(remember to click on the picture to see a larger copy of it)

2009-07-27T11:32:00.002-05:00

We are back from our Alaska cruise. It was a great seven day trip shipping out of Vancouver, BC Canada. We boarded the Volendam, a Holland American cruise ship and spend the first and second day at sea. I'll suff this site some of the 1471 pictures I took while on the trip. Todays shots are of the port we departed from.

2009-07-24T01:03:00.000-05:00

I don't know who's kitchen this is. It could have been his but if it was, it was modernized by the time I have any memories of it.

2009-07-23T01:04:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favorites. My Sister has the painting and I took this photo back when Dad was still alive. I need to reshoot it. The left side is bad photography. I was using film and you didn't know what you had until you developed the picture. Now with ditital I can shoot and shoot until I get it right. Besides, I'm a much better photographer now than I was back then.

2009-07-22T01:01:00.000-05:00

Another interesting street scene.

2009-07-21T01:00:00.000-05:00

An interesting street scene he captured.

2009-07-20T01:58:00.000-05:00

I believe this was the County Jail for Noblesville. I guess Grandpa liked the architecture of the building.

2009-07-17T01:56:00.000-05:00

Since our ship is making port for the first time on this trip, I thought this Harbour picture was a good choice.