Kibo Lab attached, to be activated today

Yesterday, the Discovery crew unloaded the pressurized Kibo space lab from Discovery's cargo bay, and attached it to the station.


The spacewalk crew unbolted it, and two astronauts inside the station attached it to the station using a robot arm, while the spacewalk crew got on with other repairs outside the station.


Here is an illustration that shows where the Kibo lab has been attached on the station:


Today the astronauts will complete all the internal hookups, and open the lab up. Here is some information from NASA's mission summary .PDF file:

NASA Mission Summary, SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY (STS-124)

FACTS & FIGURES

• STS-124 is the 123rd space shuttle flight, the 26th flight to the station, the 35th flight for Discovery and the third flight in 2008.

• The Kibo laboratory—which means “hope” in Japanese—is the country’s major contribution to the station and will enhance the research capabilities of the space station.

• The JPM will be the largest habitable module on the space station and is equipped with its own airlock and robotic arm for external experiments.

• The final components of Kibo will be assembled in space on shuttle mission STS-127.

• The RMS main arm can handle up to 14,000 pounds of hardware. The small fine arm, when attached to the main arm, handles more delicate operations. Each arm has six joints that mimic the movements of a human arm.

• The JPM is 36.7 feet long and 14.4 feet in diameter, about the size of a large tour bus.

• The main arm measures 32.5 feet long, and the small fine arm measures 6.2 feet.

• Kibo experiments and systems are operated from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's control center called the Space Station Integration and Promotion Center, just north of Tokyo.

• Experiments in Kibo focus on space medicine, biology, Earth observations, material production, biotechnology and communications research.

• To help prevent the glove cuts seen in recent missions from recurring, both spacewalkers will wear gloves with special patches on the thumb and index finger for the first time. The patches are made of the same protective vectran material already used in the palm of the gloves, but in a much tighter weave. In this form, the fabric is called TurtleSkin. It is up to four times more resistant to damage.

When all the components are in place, the Kibo lab unit should be configured like this:


The porch-like attachment is for performing experiments outside the station, using robotic arms. I believe the porch-platform is scheduled to brought up and added on in a future mission.

More about todays activities:

Crews to Enter Japanese Lab Today

The shuttle and station crews will open the newly installed Japanese laboratory Kibo for business today. Hatch opening is planned for 4:52 p.m. EDT. The experiment module was installed on the Harmony Node’s port side Tuesday.

After a leak check, mission specialists Karen Nyberg and Akihiko Hoshide will prepare Kibo for activation before opening the hatches. Shortly after entering Kibo with Hoshide, Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov will sample the air and test for contamination. They will wear protective goggles and masks until they are sure the Japanese lab’s air is clean.

Mission Specialists Mike Fossum and Ron Garan will review procedures for their second spacewalk and sleep in the U.S. Quest airlock tonight to purge the nitrogen from their bodies. During Thursday’s spacewalk, the second of the mission, the spacewalkers will outfit the new lab and prepare the Japanese logistics module for relocation.

You can check the link for progress updates. They have already fixed the malfunctioning Zero-Gravity Space Toilet. That should make life in space a bit easier.
     

A busy day at the International Space Station

The Shuttle Discovery docked yesterday, and today their work begins:

STS-124 Commander Mark Kelly works inside the Quest airlock with Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov. Photo credit: NASA TV

STS-124 to Conduct First Spacewalk, Install JPM

Mission specialists Mike Fossum and Ron Garan are scheduled to kick off STS-124’s first spacewalk at 11:32 a.m. EDT. During the 6-½ hour excursion, the pair will retrieve a shuttle inspection tool, service and inspect components of a solar alpha rotary joint and prepare the largest component of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory for installation on the International Space Station.

The spacewalkers’ first task is to transfer the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) from the station’s truss to space shuttle Discovery. The OBSS, which attaches to the shuttle’s robotic arm for detailed inspection of the shuttle’s heat shield, was left at the station for STS-124 during the previous shuttle mission to provide room for the giant Kibo module in Discovery’s payload bay.

Next, the spacewalkers will prepare Kibo’s Japanese Pressurized Module (JPM) for installation. After inspecting the common berthing mechanism on the Harmony Node’s left side and opening a window cover, Fossum and Garan will work together in the shuttle’s cargo bay to remove contamination covers from the JPM’s docking surfaces. Fossum will also disconnect heater cables and remove locking bolts from the shutters of the JPM’s forward window.

For their final tasks, Garan and Fossum will move to the station’s starboard solar alpha rotary joint, which began experiencing increased vibration and power usage in the fall of 2007. Garan will install a replacement of one of the joint’s 12 trundle bearing assemblies. Meanwhile, Fossum will inspect a potentially damaged area on the joint and try out several techniques for cleaning debris from the surface of the joint’s race ring.

While Fossum and Garan work outside the orbital outpost, mission specialists Karen Nyberg and Akihiko Hoshide will use the station’s robotic arm to remove the JPM from the shuttle’s payload bay and install it on Harmony.

An Astronauts work is never done. You can visit the page for more links and info about the mission.
     

The next best thing to Stopping the U.N.

... is to go over their heads. To start an organization of Democratic countries that don't kow-tow to Dictatorships and Theocracies, as John McCain is proposing:

McCain proposal for joint action gains support

WASHINGTON - Gaining ground this political season is a proposed League of Democracies designed to strengthen support for the next president's overseas agenda and ensure a global leadership role for the United States.

John McCain, the virtually certain Republican presidential nominee, has endorsed the concept of a new global compact of more than 100 democratic countries to advance shared views and has discussed the idea with French and British leaders.

"It could act where the U.N. fails to act," he said last month, and pressure tyrants "with or without Moscow's and Beijing's approval."

McCain said the League might impose sanctions on Iran, relieve suffering in the Darfur region of Sudan and deal with environmental problems. [...]

The article goes on to say how some people favor the formation of such a political body, to limit the military power of the United States, while still others fear it would be used by the U.S. to circumvent and compete with the U.N.

A bit of competition for the U.N. might be a good thing, because sure are ineffective the way they are. As for limiting U.S. military power, aren't plenty of countries already trying to do that anyway? It's nothing new. Those who wish to do so will keep trying, no matter what.

If we can't actually disban the U.N., then we need something as a counter balance to make it shape up or get kicked. This could be it.
     

How often are questions "distractions" ?

If you are Barack Obama, it would seem the answer is "quite often".


While certainly that claim might be applicable sometimes, it seems that the Messiah is starting to make a habit of it, as a way of avoiding the criticism and questioning all candidates have to put up with:

Obama’s Shiny Quarter Problem

William Teach provides us with many examples of Obama claiming questions are a distraction, and concludes:

[...] Now, we all know about Obama’s gaffes, some which are silly, and we all could make, and others which are whoppers. But, what does it tell you about Barack “the man who wants to be the leader of the world’s only remaining super power” Obama that he is not able, and is unwilling, to discuss issues that are important to other people? That everything that doesn’t come on his cue cards is a distraction? Everything that looks bad for him is handled as “eh, whatever.” For a man who is running primarily on his character, doesn’t paint a pretty picture when he cannot respond to critisism about his character.

If he wins the general election in November, will he call anything that is not important to him, but important to the American People, a distraction?

Essentially, the whole distraction thing is a way to distract from Obama’s pitiful record, his lack of governing knowledge, his extreme leftist viewpoints, and his poor character.

Other candidates aren't dismissing questions as distractions. Obama's continual use of this claim just adds credibility to the charge that he's an elitist who feels he's above having to deal with being questioned like other candidates. I think it's also yet another example of his inexperience in politics.
     

France regulates country music dancing

What is big government and taxes for, if not regulating and financing dangerous activities like Line Dancing to American Country Music:

Oui-Ha! France brings line dancing craze under state control

[...] The French administration has moved to create an official country dancing diploma as part of a drive to regulate the fad. Authorised instructors who have been on publicly funded training courses will be put in charge of line dancing lessons and balls.

The rules, which come into force next year, come after the rapid spread of country and western in France, where an estimated 100,000 people line dance several times a week. Jean Chauveau, the chairman of the country section of the French Dance Federation, said: “It's growing at a crazy rate. There are thousands of clubs and more are springing up all the time.”

He said the French shunned the square dancing that is popular among country and western fans in the United States because it involved physical contact. “They don't want to take anyone by the hand or anything like that,” he said. But they were passionate about line dancing, where participants follow the steps without touching anyone else. “I think this corresponds to the individualism of our times,” Mr Chauveau said.

[...]

Mr Chauveau said the trend illustrated France's “complicated and ambiguous” relationship with the United States. “We love American magic and the American dream,” he said. “But we hate Americans when we confront the hard reality of their behaviour throughout the world. We go for the cowboy hats but not George Bush.”

In a peculiarly Gallic approach to the phenomenon, French civil servants say line dancing should be submitted to the same rules as sports such as football and rugby. This means imposing training courses for line dancing teachers and a state-approved diploma for anyone who wants to give lessons or run clubs.

Amateur instructors will have to take 200 hours of training under the new rules. Professionals will get 600 hours, including such subjects as line dancing techniques, “the mechanics of the human body” and the English (or at least Texan) language. They will also learn how to teach line dancing to the elderly.

The cost of the courses, about €2,000 (£1,570) for the professionals and €500 for the amateurs, will be largely met by taxpayers. Mr Chauveau said the regulations highlighted the French state's obsessive desire to organise all public activity. [...]

Government controlled line dancing, an expression of the "individualism of our times"? Those funny European ideas. It just makes me think of that expression, "Big hat, no cattle".

But just when you think you've found another good reason to despise the French, they go and do something like this:

French Families Honor US Fallen At Normandy

I can get annoyed by the things they say and do sometimes, but things like the above link make it hard to stay mad at them. How can it be possible to remain continuously vexed with a country whose citizens donate their time to something like Les Fleurs de la Mémoire? Our relationship with France has always been... complicated. And it probably always will be. It's part of what makes the French French.
     

Learning Ham Radio; start with a Police Scanner?

While reading many sites on the internet about Ham Radio, I came across this bit of advice for Ham Newbies from Ron Hashiro in Hawaii:

Getting Started in Ham Radio

Your first ham radio station

So, you're studying for your first amateur radio license -- probably the Technician Class license -- and wondered what kind of equipment to get in the meantime. If I could do it again with modern equipment, here are some of my thoughts.

Enjoy, and feel free to drop me an e-mail if you have any questions.

First: The receiver

I feel the first thing to buy for ham radio is not the radio transmitter itself, but a decent receiver. If you pass your exam for the Technician Class license, you'll be able to talk on the VHF (50, 144 Mhz band) and UHF frequencies (440 Mhz band) as soon as your license is processed by the FCC. (By the way, these days, the VEC-FCC process takes as little as a week to complete, and you can transmit as soon as you can see your callsign on any of the various web callsign databases on the Internet. When I was first licensed, it took about 6-8 weeks, and you had to wait for the processed license paperwork to arrive in the mail.)

So, the initial temptation might be to get a transmitter or a combination transmitter-receiver called a transceiver. But, you might underbuy or overbuy on your equipment. So, it makes sense to try it out on a comparatively inexpensive solution. Get a "police" scanner first.

Scanners can go through a number of frequencies very quickly. You can monitor all the popular repeaters and simplex frequencies in a matter of about one or two seconds. I listen to the local frequencies with a scanner, and when I hear someone that I want to talk with, I turn on my radio (if it's not on) and make a contact.

For fun, you can also add the local aviation, weather and other frequencies to monitor -- and lock them out if you don't feel like listening to it at the moment. Best of all, they cost around $100 or so new. If you're fortunate to find a used model, your cost might be less.

Any old time ham will tell you that a good, solid and sensitive receiver is a must because there's an old adage "If you can't hear 'em, you can't work'em." -- meaning that if you can't hear the other station, you can't make a two-way contact with them. That makes sense. But, starting out, you probably don't need a top-of-the-line scanner. If you go to your nearest Radio Shack, you'll find a number of police radio scanners available. You can get started with one of these. See Radio Shack Scanners for starters. Look for one that you can attach an external antenna.

I would get a model that plugs into the AC wall outlet, so I wouldn't have to worry about charging or changing batteries. You can program a number of interesting ham frequencies: the nearest VHF and UHF repeaters on your island. Then, you can listen to the amount of conversation present, and get an idea of how strong the repeater signals are in your area. That'll determine how much radio and antenna to buy next. You'll also hear how conversations are made on the air, and that'll help you pass the Technician exam. [...]

Ron's page has lots of further useful advice for purchases later on as well. I'm just excerpting the first part because that's where I'm at right now; I have no equipment, and I'm facing my first purchase.

This sounds like good advice. I have no idea what kind of radio traffic I can receive where I live. A scanner will put me in touch with what is happening locally. I'm not sure at this point how much I'm going to get into Ham Radio, but I figure I can't go wrong starting with a scanner. If it helps me pass the Technician exam eventually, so much the better.

So the question is, what kind of scanner to buy? I have looked at Radio Shack on-line, and Amazon.com too. There are so many scanners to choose from. I thought these looked promising:

Uniden Bearcat BCT8 BearTracker Warning System with 800 MHz TrunkTracker III

Uniden BC898T 500 Channel Programmable Base Scanner with TrunkTracker III

UNIDEN BC-246T Compact Hand Held Scanner

Now these scanners are all in the $200 range, rather than the $100 range that Ron spoke of. As I read reviews posted from buyers, a lot of people complained about the cheaper scanners being older "outdated" models using inferior technology. These models were rated higher for satisfaction, but then more expensive stuff usually is. The TrunkTracker feature seems important, but how important is it? Would a cheaper scanner do? Or would I find myself saying "darn, if only I had been willing to spend a bit more..."? It would be nice to get a satisfactory purchase the first time.

I generally prefer radios with dials and knobs, rather than buttons. But it seems like everything has buttons nowadays. One reviewer warned against analog radios, saying they cannot pick up digital transmissions. Reading the customer reviews can make your head spin, especially when you don't understand all the jargon yet. I did find this one review for the Uniden Bearcat BCT8 amusing:

By Hilow "SurfDog" (San Francisco, CA USA)

This scanner has no problem keeping track of ALL radio traffic. I live in densely populated San Francisco near the entrance to the bay and right under the GG bridge. This little scanner gets it all. CHP, Bridge Patrol, Bridge Electricians, Bridge Shuttle bus. SFPD, SFFD, EMS. Yellow Cab, DPT, Harbor Pilots, Tugs, laundry delivery trucks, totally (too much information)TMI! In search mode I get signal from as far north as San Rafael (Marin County) as far east as Oakland as far south as Burlingame with the supplied telescopic antenna! For mobile applications ditch the supplied little wire antenna'n get a magnetic roof mount.

Bear Tracker works. Had it on the road 2day and it picks off Mobile Extenders left and right.

Programing is as easy as spending a few hours in search mode and entering the stations as you get them. The Trunk tracking feature rocks. In time you will be able to tell who is who. Dont want that Freq? Delete it easily.

A well designed and easy to use product. Crystal clear reception, intelligent layout and the pre-programmed freqs. are amazing.

Pricy perhapes, but worth it. I feel like I have been scanning for years and this is only my 4th day.

5 stars for delivering the goods, in spades. I am very happy.

TMI! LOL! Having lived in San Francisco for 23 years, it brought back memories. The atmosphere there always seemed so "busy". Is it any wonder, with all that radio traffic going through your brain, 24/7, in addition to all the commercial TV and radio stations as well?

When I visited South African in 1983 with Pat, there was a quietness there that seemed remarkable. At that time the South African government controlled commercial TV and radio stations, and there weren't many of them. In fact, the TV stations then only broadcast in the evening. I attributed much of the quietness to the dearth of broadcast frequencies in the air.

Many years later, when we moved here to rural Oregon, I experienced a very similar quietness like I had in South Africa.

We have one broadcast TV station within range of our house. The station is in the nearest big town. You need a special antenna to receive it, but it still comes in badly so we never watch it. In theory we have 18 commercial radio stations within range of our house, according to the internet. But in fact, we can receive only a handful of them. That may be good reason to spend a bit more to get a quality scanner, to make sure I can get the best reception. I may have to look into getting a decent antenna too.

I'm not sure how much radio traffic I can pick up here. We are close to the Oregon coast, and we often see Coast Guard helicopters flying by. There is a sizable airport in town too, so I'm sure there is Air and Marine radio traffic. And since there is an active Ham Radio club in town too, there has got to be a considerable amount of local activity for a scanner to pick up, I would think.

I've ordered a book, "Two-Way Radios & Scanners For Dummies", to see if I can get up to speed on what the different scanner features mean, and help me understand what I should look for in a scanner for my particular situation. I don't know if it's silly to buy a scanner for $200, when I could buy a transceiver for that or even less (and one with knobs too!). Perhaps it's a silly comparison to make; there are lots of variables to consider that I don't fully understand yet.

In the meantime, if anyone has some advice or would like to post about their own scanner purchasing experiences, please feel free to do so here.
     

Discovery Shuttle Launch a Success: both the Shuttle and the ISS are easily seen from Earth

'Huge Day' for NASA, Japan

May 31
6:45 p.m. EDT
Commander Mark Kelly promised "the greatest show on Earth," and space shuttle Discovery delivered with a thundering, fiery arc stretching over Florida's East Coast on Saturday. The launch began a 14-day mission for Kelly and his crew of seven astronauts as they install a new Japanese-built laboratory module on the International Space Station.

As the astronauts got used to their new surroundings in space, NASA officials on Earth basked in the satisfaction of a flawless countdown and liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"(It was) obviously a huge day," said NASA Administrator Mike Griffin. "A huge day for the space station partnership, for the Japanese Space Agency, for NASA and, really, for the people who hoped to see the space station do what it was designed to do, to be a place in orbit where we can learn to live and work in space."

[...]

Next up for the STS-124 mission is a two-day chase across space to link up with the International Space Station. It will take the crew several hours of robotic arm maneuvers and spacewalks to connect the Pressurized Module of Japan's Kibo laboratory to the station. The 36-foot-long module is the largest habitable section to be launched to the orbiting research post.

Both the International Space Station and the Discovery shuttle are visible to the naked eye. The ISS travels a fast orbit over the earth, and sees as many as 14 sunrises and sunsets in one day! When it passes over where you live, you may have several opportunities to see it in one night. I had published the following link previously, as a way to find out when the ISS is flying over where you live:

Find out when the ISS passes over your city

If you go to the page and type in your country and the city you live in, it will give you a schedule of when the ISS will be visible to you, weather permitting. Well it now also offers you the schedule of the Discovery Shuttle too. And as the two get closer together over the next few days, you might even see them flying together right up until they dock.

When they attach the Kibo lab, I expect the station and docked shuttle will appear larger and brighter than ever. I'll be watching for it.
     

The convergence of Ham Radio with the Internet

While researching information about Radios and Radio communications in a previous post (Radio Communications in a Changing World), I found out some interesting things about Amateur (HAM) Radio in particular. It seems the Japanese have found a way to send digital data via HAM Radio like you would over the internet.

D-STAR technology explained by Wikipedia

D-STAR (Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio) is a digital voice and data protocol specification developed as the result of research by the Japan Amateur Radio League to investigate digital technologies for amateur radio. While there are other digital on-air technologies being used by amateurs that have come from other services, D-Star is one of the first on-air standards to be widely deployed and sold by a major radio manufacturer that is designed specifically for amateur service use.

D-Star compatible radios are available on VHF and UHF and microwave amateur radio bands. In addition to the over-the-air protocol, D-Star also provides specifications for network connectivity, enabling D-Star radios to be connected to the Internet or other networks and provisions for routing data streams of voice or packet data via amateur radio callsigns.

The first manufacturer to offer D-Star compatible radios is Icom, and no other amateur radio equipment manufacturer has chosen to include D-Star technology in their radios, yet. Kenwood re-brands an Icom radio and distributes it in Japan only. [...]

You can read the whole thing for more information about the history and technical details. For a glimpse of it's more practical applications, have a look at Icom's website, which gives a description of the practical uses of the technology:

With Digital Voice & High Speed Data

What is D-STAR?

D-STAR is a new ham radio system which offers digital voice and data communication. It connects repeater sites over microwave links and the Internet and forms a wide area ham radio network. The DSTAR system provides a new capability and functionality to the ham radio world and increases the efficiency of emergency communications.

What can the D-STAR system do?

128kbps digital data and 4.8kbps digital voice communication
The D-STAR system provides not only digital voice (DV mode) communication but also digital data transmission (DD mode). It can exchange various data files such as graphics, images, etc, at 128kbps.

Your voice and data can reach further than ever
Multiple repeater links by radio and the Internet provide long distance communication to virtually anywhere.

Internet application available
The D-STAR system uses the TCP/IP protocol, so when connected with a PC, web, e-mail and other Internet applications are available.

Wireless Internet Access
No matter where you travel within the DSTAR network, you can access the web, e-mail, text messages and multimedia messages.

Independent network
In DD mode, ID-1 can transfer data directly with another ID-1 without the use of a repeater. This is useful for establishing a simple network where a D-STAR repeater does not exist or D-STAR services are not required.

Increase efficiency of emergency communications
Out in the field, fast emergency information is the key. Send pictures and weather charts to or from a remote location with the ID-1. “A picture is worth a thousand words”, and efficient send/receive opens up your repeater for other emergency communications. [...]

There's more about the features -LOTS more- but the more I read about it, the more I see that the technical aspects go over my head. I'm a total newbie to HAM radio, and I think before I can learn much more about D-Star, I'll have to learn more about HAM radio first. Here is a video on Youtube, that is a basic introduction to D-Star and some of the things it can do:



For anyone with more questions about D-Star, there is a D-Star forum where you can ask your questions. I think it's a fascinating convergence of two technologies, and I will be watching it's progress with great interest.
     

Space Shuttle Discovery to Launch Saturday

On the agenda for this trip will be high tech toilet repairs, and the addition of the main component of the Japanese built Kibo space lab:

Image above: A technician loads replacement parts onto space shuttle Discovery for the International Space Station's toilet. The crews of Discovery and the station will install the new components during STS-124. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

Space Shuttle Discovery Mission STS-124

[...] May 29
New parts to fix an intermittent problem with the Russian toilet on the International Space Station arrived in the United States last night and were packed inside space shuttle Discovery well before dawn at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The crew of Discovery and the residents of the International Space Station will install the new parts, including a pump, during the STS-124 mission that is scheduled to launch Saturday at 5:02 p.m. EDT. The three station residents already in orbit currently are using alternatives to the toilet.

The main toilet on the station works for solid waste disposal but requires additional steps for liquid waste. It also takes two crew members and 10 minutes of maintenance after three flushes, said Kirk Shireman, deputy International Space Station program manager.

"It is very inconvenient at this time because it requires a lot of manual intervention," Shireman said.

The good news for the station is that there are no trouble signs for Discovery as it nears launch day.

[...]

Discovery's 14-day flight will carry the largest payload so far to the station and includes three spacewalks. It is the second of three missions that will launch components to complete the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory. The crew will install Kibo's large Japanese Pressurized Module and Kibo's robotic arm system. Discovery also will deliver new station crew member Greg Chamitoff and bring back Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman, who will end a three-month stay aboard the outpost.

You can follow the link for updates. Here is a photo of the Discovery Crew:


You can read more about the Astronauts here. The page includes links to individual biographies and interviews for each astronaut.
     

European Union: becoming openly totalitarian?

Fjordman at the Brussels Journal makes the case that the European Union is swifty moving in that direction, as they attempt to form a "Mediteranian Union" that would consist of all the member states of the EU, and countries in North Africa and the Middle East. They would be united with the EU by shared laws, that could be used to silence and oppress millions:

European Parliament Bans Opposition

[...] What's worse is that the same EU leaders, including the British Foreign Minister, the French President and the German Chancellor, have officially announced the enlargement of the EU to include Muslim North Africa and the Middle East. A proposed European Arrest Warrant lists a number of crimes, including terrorism, armed robbery, rape, and racism and xenophobia, which are punishable throughout the EU. The European Arrest Warrant requires that anyone who is charged by a member state under the listed group of offenses (which could cover just about anything) may be arrested by the authorities of the issuing state within any other member state. The accused must then be transited for trial to the issuing state within ten days, without any interference, judicial or otherwise, by the executing state.

Racism includes "Islamophobia," according to numerous EU documents. Which means that "Islamophobia" will soon be treated as a crime as serious as rape and armed robbery across most of the European continent. At the same time, European leaders are busy enlarging the EU to include North Africa and the Middle East, thus flooding Europe with tens of millions of additional Muslims. Not far into the future, EU authorities can arrest a person in, say, Denmark or Italy, who has published a cartoon that could be considered offensive to Islam. He or she will then be quietly handed over to the authorities in Algeria, Egypt or Jordan. Remember that blasphemy against Islam potentially carries the death penalty according to sharia. Multiculturalism in Europe is thus reaching its openly totalitarian phase. Those who think this is a joke can look at the Dutch cartoonist who was arrested recently. Several documents that are publicly available (but little known by the general public because they are never referred to by the mainstream media) state that the EU should "harmonize" the education and legal systems with the Mediterranean "partner countries" within the coming decade. This is being negotiated as we speak, behind our backs. [...]

(bold emphasis mine) Is this alarmist? I'm sure the Dutch cartoonist who's been arrested doesn't think so. If events continue to converge in the direction they are heading, I don't see how the above scenario would be avoidable. Rather, it would seem inevitable.

Some people think the Irish, who have an opportunity to vote against the Lisbon Treaty (because their constitution requires it), can save Europe from a takeover by the EU, but another article at the Brussels Journal says don't count on that:

Eurosceptics Are Wrong: Don’t Count on Ireland to Save Us from Brussels

There are indications that some Europeans are finding their backbone and using their local governments to speak up and react against this totalitarian threat. But will they do enough in time to make a difference?
     

McClellan: Pop goes the Weasel

Is anyone surprised that McClellan has turned out to be a weasel? I'm not. He was an incompetent, who often seemed more like a deer caught in the headlights than a Press Secratary, when he dealing with the Press. I was amazed he held the job as long as he did. Pat has already posted much of what I would have said about him:

First, only and last post on Scott McClellan

I can't believe we are still hearing claims about the fictional "outing" of Valerie Plame like it was a fact. How do you "out" somebody who was never "in" in the first place? She was never under cover, it was a public fact she worked as an employee for the CIA. Anyone who still beats this dead horse is a liar or worse. How about a creepy opportunist who's trying to sell a book?

McClellan was appointed by Karen Hughes, herself an incompetent opportunist in so many ways, IMO. I wonder when she's going to come out with her book?


UPDATE 05-30-08:

Stealth Publisher of McClellan's Book--George Soros
     

Farm Report: two chicks in a screen test

Here is my first video for the Farm Report. It's the two chicks I photographed in earlier reports. They're juveniles now, not as cute as little baby chicks.


This video is just a test really, to try out my new Canon ZR800 camcorder, and to see what was involved with uploading it on-line, and how it could be done. It was not as easy as I had imagined; there are various decisions to be made in the process.

For instance, this video I've uploaded. It's in the format of a .wmv file, and the size is 22.3 MB. It plays for about 1 and 1/2 minutes. It took 2o minutes to upload it to my blog.

The best copy of the video is in digital format. But this same video as a Digital Video file is 373 MB. That would take over 5 hours to upload, even with my broadband connection! The image quality is much better as a DV file, but 5 hours is a lot of time for such a short video. A longer DV video could take days at that rate.

There is also the question of widescreen vs standard square screen. My new camera does widescreen, and it's beautiful. However, my video editing software (ArcSoft's ShowBiz DVD 2) will only save my widescreen footage in widescreen format as a DV file. If I save it in another format, it gets scrunched up in a square screen, making everything look tall and thin.

This video clip I've published was the highest resolution I could get in the .wmv format. I could have made the file smaller in terms of megabytes, but the quality would suffer. Yet I don't want to spend DAYS uploading video files either.

I said I have broadband at home, but it's via satellite dish, and I think uploads are only done at 128 kbps. I may have better luck uploading it at work in town, where we have DSL.

And I have yet to try uploading videos to video hosting sites like Youtube.com and Vimeo.com. There is still lots to learn. It's not hard to learn, it's just new. And like all new things, it just gets easier as you know more. I'm looking forward to doing some fun things with video and the internet.
     

What has happened to the Democrat Party?

In this opinion piece for the WSJ, Joe Lieberman talks about how the Democrats have gone from being a Party that loved and believed in a strong America that they were proud of, to the exact opposite today:

Democrats and Our Enemies

Joe begins the article talking about the Democrat party he grew up in, and gives a moving description of a party that was proud to be American and believed in a strong military and foreign policy. He explains how this began to unravel in the 1960's over the Vietnam war, and continued through the 70's.

He maintains that the party made a partial recovery beginning in the 1980's, as some in the Democrat party began to reclaim their party's lost tradition of principle and strength in the world. But when the Sept. 11th attacks happened, at the time when the country most needed to unite, the partisan politics of the leftists in the Democrat party tragically came forward to dominate once more:

[...] The attack on America by Islamist terrorists shook President Bush from the foreign policy course he was on. He saw September 11 for what it was: a direct ideological and military attack on us and our way of life. If the Democratic Party had stayed where it was in 2000, America could have confronted the terrorists with unity and strength in the years after 9/11.

Instead a debate soon began within the Democratic Party about how to respond to Mr. Bush. I felt strongly that Democrats should embrace the basic framework the president had advanced for the war on terror as our own, because it was our own. But that was not the choice most Democratic leaders made. When total victory did not come quickly in Iraq, the old voices of partisanship and peace at any price saw an opportunity to reassert themselves. By considering centrism to be collaboration with the enemy – not bin Laden, but Mr. Bush – activists have successfully pulled the Democratic Party further to the left than it has been at any point in the last 20 years.

Far too many Democratic leaders have kowtowed to these opinions rather than challenging them. That unfortunately includes Barack Obama, who, contrary to his rhetorical invocations of bipartisan change, has not been willing to stand up to his party's left wing on a single significant national security or international economic issue in this campaign.

In this, Sen. Obama stands in stark contrast to John McCain, who has shown the political courage throughout his career to do what he thinks is right – regardless of its popularity in his party or outside it.

John also understands something else that too many Democrats seem to have become confused about lately – the difference between America's friends and America's enemies. [...]

(bold emphasis mine) He goes onto to explain why Obama's foreign policy ideas are extremely dangerous and ill considered.

He also makes it clear that while the Democrat party is presently dominated by the far left, there are still many Democrats who love the Democrat party the way it used to be, and who are fighting to bring that party back. I think these are the Democrats who will vote for the most conservative Democrat available to them this fall: Republican John McCain!

Read the whole article. I believe it is in step with the times we live in.
     

Memorial Day Tribute

I'd like to thank all those who serve and have served in the Armed Forces to preserve our nation and insure our freedom. Whether living, deceased or missing, Thank You All.

Sunday is a Mars landing for Phoenix spacecraft

A new Mars lander, checking for water and signs of life, past or present:

NASA preps for '7 minutes of terror' on Mars

(CNN) -- In the wake of the wildly successful Spirit and Opportunity rover missions, you would think NASA would approach the landing of the next Martian probe with high confidence.

But the truth is sometimes not what you would think.

"I do not feel confident. But in my heart I'm an optimist, and I think this is going to be a very successful mission," said principal investigator Peter Smith, an optical scientist with the University of Arizona. "The thrill of victory is so much more exciting than the agony of defeat."

Indeed, the truth is that the planetary scientists and engineers who make up the Mars Phoenix Lander team will be biting their nails Sunday evening as they cluster around computer monitors in mission control at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

That's when their spacecraft, which launched to Mars in August, will finally arrive on the Red Planet.

Everyone on the team is primed and ready to get down to business, putting the suite of scientific instruments aboard Phoenix to work analyzing the soils and permafrost of Mars' arctic tundra for signatures of life, either past or present.

But first, they have to get the lander on the ground, and that's where the worry comes in. In fact, they have a name for it in the Mars exploration community: "seven minutes of terror."

Seven minutes is all it takes for a spacecraft travelling neary 13,000 miles per hour to hit the Martian atmosphere, slam on the brakes and reach the ground.

During that time, onboard computers will be working at a manic pace as the spacecraft deploys its parachute, jettisons its heat shield, extends its three legs, releases the parachute and finally fires its thrusters to bring it down for a soft landing. Hopefully.

"Everything has to go right," NASA Associate Administrator Ed Weiler said. "You can't afford any failures."

It's risky business. Historically, 55 percent of Mars missions have ended in failure. And tensions will be particularly high with the Phoenix spacecraft. [...]

See the rest of the article for details of the risks. I saw a video simulation of the landing on Fox News. It involves thrusters and landing on legs. If even one sequence proceeds incorrectly, the whole mission could be ruined. But if they succeed, it will be marvelous. Lets hope for the latter!



There are more details about the mission at NASA's Website. Check out the videos on the right side bar.


UPDATE 05-25-08: Success!

NASA Spacecraft Makes Historic Landing on Mars
     

John McCain is guest on Ellen DeGeneres Show

John McCain lauds Barack Obama's strategy on 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show'

He praises Obama's strategy of trying to link him with Bush, but also rebuffs it. Of course Ellen, a Democrat and a lesbian, does ask the tough question:

[...] DeGeneres, who is planning her own gay wedding this summer, also asks McCain about the recent ruling by the California Supreme Court affirming gay marriage -- a flash point for religious conservatives (the video excerpt is here). DeGeneres lumps laws banning gay marriage with those that denied blacks and women the right to vote, and "Jim Crow" policies. McCain says "people should be able to enter into legal agreements, and I think that that is something that we should encourage, particularly in the case of insurance and other areas." But: "I just believe in the unique status of marriage between man and woman."

DeGeneres has none of that. "It just feels like there is this old way of thinking that we are not all the same," DeGeneres says. "When someone says, 'You can have a contract, and you'll still have insurance, and you'll get all that,' it sounds to me like saying, 'Well, you can sit there; you just can't sit there.'"

How does a politician respond to that? With a compliment preceding a "fuhgeddaboutit." Says McCain: "You articulate that position in a very eloquent fashion. We just have a disagreement. And I, along with many, many others, wish you every happiness." DeGeneres: "Thank you. So you'll walk me down the aisle? Is that what you're saying?" McCain: "Touché."

Obama and Clinton, it should be noted, hold similar views to McCain's on gay marriage. [...]

The politicians answer, pretty much what they all say. Most don't want to touch the issue, with good reason. John McCain is a centrist on many issues, and on this I wouldn't expect anything different. And in a tough election like this one, I think John McCain is the only Republican who would stand a chance to win.

You can see a video clip here of the "tough question" part of the show.

Related Link:

Is John McCain the ultimate centrist?
     

Hamas: projecting their own bloodlust?

From MEMRI TV: Hamas Minister of Culture Atallah Abu Al-Subh:

"Bush Is a Dracula-Style Vampire. The Blood of Afghan Children Drips from His Fangs onto His Lips and Chest."

Click here to view the clip on MEMRI TV

Well, there's a grown-up way to talk about politics. But such bloody references are all too common. I think it's a classic case of projection, where people project their own desire for bloodshed onto others. And it's actively taught and propagated. Here is a photo of a Palestinian girl at a kindergarten graduation ceremony:


She is holding hands with red paint on them. The red paint is meant to represent the blood of lynched Jews. In Western culture, the term "blood on your hands" is generally considered to have a negative, shameful connotation. Among the Palestinian extremists, it's something to be proud of. It's teaching the children to emulate what the adults do with real blood when they kill Jews:


The above photo is from the Lynching of two Israeli reservists in Ramallah. For many this is the reality of Islam, "The Religion of Peace".

I previously posted some video of Dr. Wafa Sultan in a debate on Al Jazzera TV. Several topics, including the Danish cartoons and the Palestinian situation, were discussed. During that debate, she said:

[...] “If you want to change the course of events, you must reexamine your terrorist teachings, you must recognize and respect the right of the other to live, you must teach your children love, peace, coexistence, and productive work. When you do that, the world will respect you, will consider you in a better light, and will draw you in a better light.” [...]

When asked if she condemned Jewish violence against Palestinians, she replied that she condemned the violence on both sides, but added that the difference is, the Jews genuinely WANT peace, while the Palestinians are being taught by their Imams to actively fight it.

This created a fury in the studio, and even the moderator sided against her. In following week, the show featured an Imam who insisted a Fatwa must be issued to condemn Dr. Sultan to death for what she said.

There are Palestinians who want peace with Israel. But having to live amongst crazies like these, it's not hard to understand why they don't step forward publicly and say so.

The Islamo-fascists like to tell stories about how Jews drink the blood of Palestinian children, and even make Matzah balls with it! Isn't it about time we stopped encouraging and financially supporting the crazies? Can there ever be peace while you encourage and reward such insanity?


If you think this photo is cute, you should see the video, where children in Gaza perform a monstrous “play,” dressed as suicide bombers and terrorists, waving knives and guns, in front of a crowd of doting parents. The new baby boomers... literally. And financially supported with Western tax dollars.
     

Alpha 400: the most inexpensive laptop ever?

World's cheapest Linux-based laptop?

A Hong Kong-based manufacturer is shipping a Linux-based ultra-mini PC (UMPC) laptop for only $250 ($180 in volume), which appears to give it the lowest price yet for a Linux laptop. Bestlink's Alpha 400 offers a 400MHz CPU and a 7-inch, truecolor display.

The Alpha 400 is based on a 32-bit XBurst CPU from Ingenic Semiconductors clocked to 400MHz. Based on an "industry standard" RISC-based architecture (possibly MIPS?) the chip reportedly runs Windows CE as well as Linux. It also uses SIMD (single instruction, multiple data) instructions to accelerate media performance, and uses an "xburst" pipeline. Fabbed on 0.18-micron technology, it boasts low power requirements and a small footprint, Ingenic claims.

The Bestlink Alpha comes with 128MB RAM and 1-2GB of internal flash. Storage options including 32GB of memory via the provided SD card slot, as well as a USB-attached hard drive with up to 160GB. The 7-inch TFT "truecolor" (typically 24-bit) screen offers 800 x 480 resolution, says Bestlink.

Broadband Internet access is available via an Ethernet port or an optional WiFi dongle for one of the two external USB ports. Other USB-based options include GPRS, CDMA, and ADSL, and there are also earphone and mic jacks and a mouse port. The 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.3 inch laptop weighs only 1.5 pounds and is available in six colors. [...]

You can follow the link for more info. It's amazingly inexpensive, I wouldn't rush to buy one, I'd like to hear more about the quality first. If there are any reviews forthcoming I'll post them.
     

"Sagebrush Rebellion" in Oregon

The voters in eastern Oregon's Grant county (7,800 residents in a county the size of Connecticut) passed a measure restricting U.N. intervention in their affairs:

Welcome to Grant County, Oregon: A ‘U.N.-free Zone’

It's not as kooky as it might sound, they have actual reasons for fearing direct interference by the U.N. in their county:

[...] The measure was sparked by residents who worry that the U.N. might designate land in Grant County as a "United Nations World Heritage" site or a Biosphere Reserve, which would provide the U.N. a foothold into the county and lead towards greater regulation of remaining private land.

While that might sound crazy to some in the county, who believe the new law will make them a laughingstock, voters passed the measure 1,326 in favor to 959 against. Herb Brusman, who drafted the measure, told the East Oregonian, "It basically was a statement to be made. . .The less we have contact with (the United Nations) the better."

Fear of U.N. control is not uncommon for many Westerners who are quick to resist any perceived government intrusion — foreign or domestic — into their independent way of life, which they feel is in danger of extinction.

Farmers, ranchers and loggers are constantly faced with increased land and water restrictions on behalf of the snail darter, spotted owl or whatever’s next on the Endangered Species list. Westerners are skeptical of government scientists whose findings are later disproved -- with alarming regularity — or shown to have been manipulated.

Last summer, irrigation water was cut off to 1,400 farmers during a severe drought in the Klamath River Basin near the California-Oregon border to protect endangered salmon and sucker fish. This bankrupted many valley farms, cost the regional economy more than $130 million, and almost led to an armed insurrection; Federal agents had to be called in to stop farmers from forcing open the head gates to the river. In the end, a report from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) found "no sound scientific basis" for the government's decision to cut off the water. In fact, the report suggests that high river flows in the Klamath Basin might actually be lethal to the salmon.[...]

(bold emphasis mine) As if that's not bad enough, there's more, an investigation conducted by the Department of the Interior proved that federal and state wildlife workers submitted false evidence of endangered lynx habitat in order to enforce restrictions on land use. Read the whole thing. It made me angry, because I see similar BS happening around here too. We live in Sagebrush territory, it's the only "culturally sagebrush" part of the US West coast. I support the "Sagebrush Rebellion", count me in.

Pat told me at breakfast this morning that he also posted about this, his link is here:

Oregon county declares itself a ‘U.N.-free Zone’

UPDATE 05-21-08: It's been pointed out to me that this article was originally posted in 2002. Well I never claimed it was breaking news ;-)

It's still relevant today, as the issues it brings up continue to be of concern to many rural Oregonians. The "sagebrush" culture is still alive and kicking... and unfortunately, so are the attempts by government to smother it.
     

Attracting a crowd means what exactly?

The media has made a big deal over the crowd that Obama attracted in Portland OR this past weekend:



Record Obama Crowd, the Size of a City

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Sen. Barack Obama has seen his share of large crowds over the last 15 months, but his campaign said they have not approached the numbers gathered along the waterfront here right now.

The campaign, citing figures from Duane Bray, battalion chief of Portland Fire & Rescue, estimated that 75,000 people are watching him speak. [...]

I'm not surprised, nor do I find it especially remarkable. Oregon is a blue state. 2/3rds of the state's population live around the Portland Area. Portland is also on the border of Washington State, which is also a blue state.

The area from Portland to Seattle is heavily populated, and very left wing. Obama is often treated like a rock-star by his supporters, so why should it be surprising that he attracts rock-star crowds? That may have some value as a PR tool, but by itself doesn't mean much. I don't particularly want a rock-star president.

Heck, even Hitler could attract big crowds, but it didn't make him a good leader. No I'm not saying Obama is Hitler, I'm saying that a future president should have something more going for him than a personality cult following. Is it too much to ask for evidence of more substance, especially in one so inexperienced?

Related Link:

Why are American messiahs always Democrats?


UPDATE 05-21-08: The rock star comparison was much more apt than I realized. It seems that most of the media who reported on the event, failed to note that a very popular Portland Rock band performed for free prior to Obama's appearance:

Obamaniacs = sex, drugs and rock 'n roll