gregladen | June 10, 2009The Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has been all snapped together and stuff and is ready to be launched into outer space from Vandenberg in November. This will be a major eye in the sky for cosmology, since it will be able to see things that heretofore only space insects could see....
Details in the following NASA press release:
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, has been assembled and is undergoing final preparations for a planned Nov. 1 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
The mission will survey the entire sky at infrared…
gregladen | June 10, 2009a) Yes
b) No
c) If "b" is true, then "a" might be true
d) Almost Diamonds
e) Pick d! Pick d!
gregladen | June 10, 2009Perhaps we have a society in which free speech is worshiped. But we should also worship, or at the very least nurture, expect, and insist on, responsible speech.
Note: The following is from FOX News.
gregladen | June 10, 2009My understanding is that most people who go to chiropractors get either nothing, somewhat injured, severely injured, or even (now and then) chiropracted to death. Of course, the same could be said of doctors or health care systems in general: Many people do not walk out of the hospital alive. But, it is also my understanding that Chiropractory does not really offer anything that is medically beneficial and based on any kind of real research. But it continues anyway.
What has happened lately in Britian is that the lack of substantiation behind the claims of chiropractors has become a legal…
gregladen | June 10, 2009I put this below the fold because Sean Hannity is obscene.
Did she say "We believe in rational discord?" (at about 1:38)
Hat Tip DMB
gregladen | June 10, 2009There is an interesting piece in Religion Dispatches pointing out that when the Muslim American killer of an army recruiter was being profiled in the press, his religion was identified as a key potentially motivating factor, but Scott Roeder's religious connections are not being touched on to nearly the same degree in the discourse regarding his murderous activity.
On June 1, the New York Times ran a story, "Seeking Clues on Suspect in Shooting of Doctor," an investigation into a little known anti-abortion activist, Scott Roeder, who'd been arrested for gunning down Kansas abortion…
gregladen | June 10, 2009MORE UPDATES: The guard, Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns, shot earlier today by right winger von Brunn has died.
The 89 year old gunman, James Wenneker von Brunn 88, of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, shot one person, who is in grave condition in hospital. The gunman was himself shot by one or more guards and has also sustained life threatening injuries. Reporters on the street are saying he is not expected to live. The gunman was using a rifle.
D.C. police spokeswoman Traci Hughes said the suspect walked into the museum at about 12:50 p.m. ET with a rifle and shot a guard. U.S. Park Police…
gregladen | June 10, 2009Some time ago there began an effort to build a state of the art Planetarium and Space Discovery Center in Minnesota, most likely in Minneapolis. These plans have been set back by the usual forces, but are nonetheless moving ahead. (It certainly is a good thing John McCain did not win the election, or all Planetaria would be DOOMED!)
Well, now, the movers and shakers behind the planetarium have arranged an event intended to raise awareness of their project. Here are the details, and I hope to see you there!
Summer Solstice Celebration
Monday, June 22
4:00pm - 8:00 pm
Minneapolis Central…
gregladen | June 10, 2009Presumably they are going for the drugs and prostitution.
Up to 4,000 social conservatives are expected to descend upon liberal Amsterdam, Netherlands, on August 10-12 for the biennial World Congress of Families, a meeting that brings together scholars, academics, policy makers, elected officials, and activists for four days of speeches, lectures, and networking.
The Netherlands beat out four other countries in its bid to host what is the largest gathering of social conservatives in the world. Russia, Bolivia, Latvia and Nigeria lost out after the Dutch proposal included support from the…
gregladen | June 10, 2009The mission was temporarily interrupted when the computer inexplicably rebooted. Perhaps they should have used Linux on the embedded Power PC hardware, rather than the proprietary system they did use. From a NASA press release:
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is examining Mars again with its scientific instruments after successfully transitioning out of a precautionary standby mode triggered by an unexpected June 3 rebooting of its computer.
Engineers brought the spacecraft out of the standby mode on June 6. Cameras and other scientific instruments resumed…
gregladen | June 9, 2009A few blog carnivals for you to enjoy:
Everything Worth Reading: Sweet Little Sixteen Edition
Scientia Pro Publica
Storyblogging Carnival C
gregladen | June 9, 2009I had finished eating and finally had my hands free to take some notes, but I couldn't keep up with Matt Entenza's torrent of ideas for what he sees in Minnesota's future. In particular, his ideas on what he would like to do for an economy that needs boosting.
.... On Quiche Moraine
gregladen | June 9, 2009I had never felt airsick before, or since. But now I was a nauseated rag doll flopping around in the middle row of a six seater prop plane and I was ready to hurl at any moment.
BBC depiction of the path of Flight 447. I find it astonishing that the most important weather related feature on the planet is a "place where there are a lot of thunderstorms" or often not even identified at all. This is equivalent to a plane crashing into the Cascades and the news reporting that the aircraft went down in a "place with some hills" or not even noting the existence of the mountain range at all,…
gregladen | June 9, 2009Royal Dutch Shell has agreed a $15.5m (£9.7m) out-of-court settlement in a case accusing it of complicity in human rights abuses in Nigeria.
It was brought by relatives of nine anti-oil campaigners, including author Ken Saro-Wiwa, who were hanged in 1995 by Nigeria's then military rulers.
The oil giant strongly denies any wrongdoing and says the payment is part of a "process of reconciliation".
bbc
Human rights experts around the world generally agree that Shell was in fact involved in the killing of these people.
The trial was about to start next week. As a trial judge once said to me: "…
gregladen | June 8, 2009... Entire state breaths collective sigh of relief ...
Speculation was mounting in St. Paul and elsewhere that Gov. Tim Pawlenty's decision not to seek a third term in 2010 -- perhaps to seek the 2012 Republican U.S. presidential nomination -- means Coleman is planning to end his legal battle with Democrat Al Franken to overturn his recount loss in November's Senate race and instead run to replace Pawlenty.
But unnamed Coleman sources say that's not the case, the Washington publication Politico reported Monday.
"Not at all," said the source. "He ran for U.S. senator, wants to continue being…
gregladen | June 8, 2009Last week, a very bad thing happened to me, a life changing experience, the kind of thing many people with blogs would tell everyone about, trolling for sympathy and making everyone feel bad. Well, I am certainly not above doing that, but strategically I've decided to tell only a few people what is going on, and everyone else ... well, I'm going to leave you in a state of wondering. Which, of course, is my own narcissistic way of getting attention.
Honorata Kizende looked out at the audience and began with a simple, declarative sentence. ... "There was no dinner," she said. "It was me…
gregladen | June 8, 2009A kiss can be erotic. It can be a sign of friendship. It can be affirming of a relationship. (Or it can be other things.) Sheril wants you to help her decide when a kiss is just a kiss. Or not.