Korean Space Research... WOW!

   

Tucson Weather Today

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NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and the president of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), Seung Jo Kim, met in Washington to discuss collaboration in aeronautics research and space exploration, including KARI's robotic lunar mission and NASA's asteroid initiative. This was the first meeting between Bolden and Kim.

"Our two agencies share a mutual interest in aeronautics research, and have identified opportunities for collaboration," said Bolden. "We also have partnered for several years in the International Space Exploration Coordination Group and are looking forward to continued discussions on potential cooperation in space exploration."

Bolden and Kim also discussed NASA's plans for a new asteroid initiative, previously announced in President Obama's fiscal year 2014 budget proposal. Kim welcomed the chance to discuss opportunities for collaboration.

NASA's asteroid initiative involves robotically capturing a small near-Earth asteroid and redirecting it safely to a stable lunar orbit where astronauts can explore it.

Capturing and redirecting an asteroid integrates the best of NASA's science, technology and human exploration capabilities and draws on the innovation of America's brightest scientists and engineers. The knowledge gained from the initiative will help us protect our planet, advance exploration capabilities and technologies for human spaceflight, and help us better utilize our space resources.

--From NASA Release 13-235, July 29, 2013

I don't understand what Korea can contribute to America's space endeavor. And I have found little regarding their value to NASA.

According to Wikipedia, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute is developing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, high-altitude airships, and a next-generation multi-purpose helicopter project. In addition, several satellites, including the KOMPSAT (also known as Arirang) Seriese, the COMS (Communication, Ocean and Meteorological Satellite), and the STSAT (Science and Technology Satellite), are developed, operated, or under development by KARI. On January 30, 2013, they launched a satellite into space from their own soil for the first time.

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A couple of interesting little factoids pertaining to today's date caught my attention.

On this day, August 1, back in 2001, Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore had a Ten Commandments monument installed in the judiciary building, leading to a lawsuit to have it removed and his own removal from office. Christians just can't seem to accept the simple but absolutely necessary principle of separation of Church and State. They are almost as stubborn about that as are Moslems.

Also, on this day, August 1 in 1988, Conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh began broadcasting his nationally syndicated radio program. I am listening to him right now on radio station KNST in Tucson.

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TRIVIA

The citrus soda 7-UP was created in 1929; "7" was selected because the original containers were 7 ounces. "UP" indicated the direction of the bubbles.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

Charles Joseph Whitman was an engineering student and former United States Marine. On the afternoon of August 1, 1966 he killed seventeen people and wounded thirty-two others in a mass shooting rampage located in and around the Tower of the University of Texas in Austin. Three people were shot and killed inside the university's tower and eleven others were murdered after Whitman fired at random from the 28th-floor observation deck of the Main Building.

Prior to the shootings at the University of Texas, Whitman had murdered both his wife and mother in Austin.

Whitman was shot and killed by Austin Police Officer Houston McCoy.

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WORD FOR TODAY

transcendent  (tran-sen'-dunt)
adjective
1. Surpassing others; preeminent or supreme.
2. Lying beyond the ordinary range of perception.
3. (Philosophy)
a. Transcending the Aristotelian categories.
b. In Kant's theory of knowledge, being beyond the limits of experience and hence unknowable.
4. Being above and independent of the material universe. Used of the Deity.

In religion transcendence refers to the aspect of God's nature and power which is wholly independent of (and removed from) the material universe. This is contrasted with immanence where God is fully present in the physical world and thus accessible to creatures in various ways. In religious experience transcendence is a state of being that has overcome the limitations of physical existence and by some definitions has also become independent of it. This is typically manifested in prayer, seance, meditation, psychedelics and paranormal "visions".

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Tempestt Bledsoe

(born August 1, 1973)

Tempestt Bledsoe is an American actress. She is best known for her childhood role as Vanessa Huxtable on the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show.

Note: A few years ago, I saw Tempestt Bledsoe sitting outside her room on the VIP floor of the Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World. She smiled at me as I walked by and gave me a little wave. A guy tends to remember little things like that.

Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia

(Aug. 1, 1942 - Aug. 9, 1995) 

Jerry Garcia was an American musician who was best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead.

Later in life, Garcia was sometimes ill because of his unstable weight, and in 1986 went into a diabetic coma that nearly cost him his life. Although his overall health improved somewhat after that, he also struggled with heroin and cocaine addictions, and was staying in a California drug rehabilitation facility when he died of a heart attack in August 1995

In 1987, ice cream manufacturer Ben & Jerry's came out with Cherry Garcia (my favorite ice cream flavor) which is named after the guitarist and consists of "cherry ice cream with cherries and fudge flakes"

Dominick "Dom" DeLuise

(Aug. 1, 1933 - May 4, 2009)

Dom DeLuise was an American actor, comedian, film director, television producer, chef, and author. He was the father of actor, director, pianist, and writer Peter DeLuise, actor David DeLuise, and actor Michael DeLuise. He starred in a number of movies directed by Mel Brooks, in a series of films with career-long best friend Burt Reynolds, and as a voice actor in various animated films.

William Clark

(Aug. 1, 1770 - Sept. 1, 1838)

William Clark was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Missouri. Clark was a planter and slaveholder.

Along with Meriwether Lewis, Clark led the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1803 to 1806 across the Louisiana Purchase to the Pacific Ocean, and claimed the Pacific Northwest for the United States. Afterward, he served as governor of the Missouri Territory. From 1822 until his death in 1838, he served as Superintendent of Indian Affairs.

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Man is an artifact designed for space travel. He is not designed to remain in his present biologic state any more than a tadpole is designed to remain a tadpole.
--William S. Burroughs

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

   

Gettin' Old Ain't Much Fun

  

Tucson Weather Today

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Yesterday I was afflicted by one of the most disturbing experiences within this decade I refer to as my 70s. After my usual uploading of my daily blog, I tuned in to the morning's CBS World News, during which I ate my breakfast, an egg and cheese on a bun sandwich. About an hour later, I felt such an overpowering fatigue that I could do nothing more than crawl into bed and close my eyes. There was no sleep involved. I merely lay there with my eyes closed and hoped for the recovery of sufficient energy to get up and do something.

At nine o'clock I roused myself enough to switch on my bedside radio, which was tuned to the local talk-radio station (KNST), and listened to the various rants and ravings of good ol' Rush Limbaugh. There must have been some magic in the talk-meister's words because at eleven o'clock I arose and went about my daily business just as if that weird hiatus of physical activity and mental reasoning had not occurred.

While reading some of my usual blogs, I remembered: Thursday night after watching a repeat episode of The Big Bang Theory followed by Two and a half Men, I went off to bed to read from my Kindle. Fell asleep at eight thirty -- and didn't realize until now that I had missed the current Thursday night showing of Hannibal.

I wonder if that could possibly have something to do with my strange malady.

No. That's ridiculous.

The next day I went to the NBC website and watched the Hannibal episode I'd missed.

It was slow, dull, boring, and I decided that I would stop watching it on Thursday nights. It is just a badly written, badly presented show.

I wonder how others judge it.

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TRIVIA

Charlie Chaplin once won third prize in a Charlie Chaplin look alike contest.

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On this day, May 25, in 1977, 20th Century Fox released George Lucas' space odyssey Star Wars. Though Fox released Star Wars in only 42 theaters, it primed its target audience of science-fiction fans with a massive publicity campaign. By the end of its first week, the film had made $3 million, and by the end of the summer it would rake in some $100 million.

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WORD FOR TODAY

sublime
adjective
1. Characterized by nobility; majestic.
2.
a. Of high spiritual, moral, or intellectual worth.
b. Not to be excelled; supreme.
3. Inspiring awe; impressive.
Synonyms
amazing, astonishing, astounding, awesome, fabulous, miraculous, stunning, stupendous, marvelous, surprising, wonderful, wondrous

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS


Michael John "Mike" Myers
(born May 25, 1963)

Mike Myers is a Canadian actor, comedian, singer, screenwriter, and film producer. He is most known for his roles in various popular films, including playing the title characters of the films Wayne's World, Austin Powers, and Shrek. He has also been a recurring member of the cast of the NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live.

Anne Celeste Heche
(born May 25, 1969)

Anne Heche is an American actress. She has had leading roles in two theatrically released films, Six Days Seven Nights and Return to Paradise, as well as many supporting roles in films such as I Know What You Did Last Summer, Volcano, John Q, Donnie Brasco, Spread, and Cedar Rapids. She also starred in the television series Men in Trees and Hung.

Heche's same-sex relationship with comedienne Ellen DeGeneres and the events following their breakup became subjects of widespread media interest. The couple started dating in 1997. They broke up in August 2000. Heche has stated that all of her other romantic relationships have been with men. Prior to DeGeneres she dated I Know What You Did Last Summer producer Neal Moritz.

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson
(May 25, 1878 - November 25, 1949)

Bill Robinson was an American tap dancer and actor of stage and film. Audiences enjoyed his understated style, which eschewed the frenetic manner of the jitterbug in favor of cool and reserve; rarely did he use his upper body, relying instead on busy, inventive feet, and an expressive face.

A figure in both the black and white entertainment worlds of his era, he is best known today for his dancing with Shirley Temple in a series of films during the 1930s, and for starring in the 1943 musical Stormy Weather, loosely based on Robinson's own life.

Claude Marion Akins
(May 25, 1926 - January 27, 1994)

Claude Akins was an American actor with a long career on stage, screen and television. Powerful in appearance and voice, Akins could be counted on to play the clever (or less than clever) tough guy, on the side of good or bad, in movies and television. He is best remembered as Sheriff Lobo in the 1970s TV series B. J. and the Bear, and later The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, a spin-off series, with Ben Cooper appearing as Waverly.

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The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is to not hate them, but to be indifferent to them.
--George Bernard Shaw
 

Message To Mars

    

 

Tucson Weather Today
 

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Hey! Want to Send your name and a message to Mars? Anybody on planet Earth is welcome to participate!

From RELEASE: 13-125 --
NASA INVITES PUBLIC TO SEND NAMES AND MESSAGES TO MARS

WASHINGTON -- NASA is inviting members of the public to submit their names and a personal message online for a DVD to be carried aboard a spacecraft that will study the Martian upper atmosphere. Scheduled for launch in November, the DVD will be in NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft. The DVD is part of the mission's Going to Mars Campaign coordinated at the University of Colorado at Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.

The DVD will carry every name submitted. The public also is encouraged to submit a message in the form of a three-line poem, or haiku. However, only three haikus will be selected. The deadline for all submissions is July 1. An online public vote to determine the top three messages to be placed on the DVD will begin July 15.

For more information on MAVEN, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/maven
and/or
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2013/may/HQ_13-125_MAVEN_Name_to_Mars.html

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Rush Limbaugh had his shorts all in a twist yesterday morning regarding the new judgment that makes it legal for a fifteen-year-old to go into a pharmacy and buy, without prescription, the so-called 'morning after' pill; this being medication to prevent pregnancy when ingested within a specific time after coitus.

And I wondered what business it is of Rush Limbaugh and why he should believe himself to be a a judge of what a fifteen year old girl, unrelated to him, Can or cannot do to avoid an unwanted pregnancy.

It seems to me that Rush Limbaugh is overly concerned with something that is absolutely none of his business. But sticking their noses where they do not belong, of course, is what a great many dedicated Christians do best.

(Click Pic To Enlarge)

Photo from: Teach Not Preach

Daniel Dennett's Home Page

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On this day, May 2, in 2011, Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, was killed by U.S. forces during a raid on his compound hideout in Pakistan. The notorious, 54-year-old leader of Al Qaeda, the terrorist network of Islamic extremists, had been the target of a nearly decade-long international manhunt.

Anyway, that's what we were told, via the mass media, by U.S. President Barach Obama.

Osama bin Laden killed by U.S. forces

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WORD FOR TODAY

coitus [KO-uh-tus]
noun
Sexual union between a male and a female involving insertion of the penis into the vagina.

coitus is the act of sexual procreation between a man and a woman; the man's penis is inserted into the woman's vagina and excited until orgasm and ejaculation occur.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

 

Engelbert Humperdinck
(born May 2, 1936)

 

 Engelbert Humperdinck (born Arnold George Dorsey) is a British pop singer, best known for his number one hits "Release Me" and "The Last Waltz", as well as "After the Lovin'" and "A Man Without Love".

Christine Jane Baranski
(born May 2, 1952)

 

 Christine Baranski is an American stage and screen actress, and is known for her Emmy Award-winning portrayal as Maryanne Thorpe in the sitcom Cybill, Dr. Beverly Hofstadter (Leonard Hofstadter's mother) in The Big Bang Theory and her Emmy-nominated portrayal of Diane Lockhart in The Good Wife.

Dr. Benjamin McLane Spock
(May 2, 1903 – March 15, 1998)

 

 Benjamin Spock was an American pediatrician whose book Baby and Child Care, published in 1946, is one of the biggest best-sellers of all time. Throughout its first 52 years, Baby and Child Care was the second-best-selling book, next to the Bible. Its message to mothers is that "you know more than you think you do."

Lesley Gore
(born May 2, 1946)

 

 Lesley Gore (born Lesley Sue Goldstein) is an American singer. She is perhaps best known for her 1963 pop hit "It's My Party", which she recorded at the age of 16.

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If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.
--Noam Chomsky
    

In The Desert

Tucson Weather Today

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I encountered an online magazine titled Motherboard and was captivated by it.

This is what Motherboard says about Motherboard:

"Motherboard is your friendly travel guide to future culture, made up of news, finds, and conversations about the edgier side of human progress, with an emphasis on the human. (But we'd like to make it clear that we have nothing against the robots.) Launched as an Internet video channel on VICE's VBS.tv in 2009, Motherboard has evolved into an online magazine made up of text and video, exploring our uncanny futures and surprising histories to get a better sense of our bizarre present."



Deepwater Horizon

Read Story at Motherboard and --

view some astounding photographs.

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WORD FOR TODAY

Feminazi [fem-uh-naht-zee]

Feminazi is a term popularized by radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh. In 2004, Limbaugh named feminist activists Gloria Steinem, Susan Sarandon, Christine Lahti, and Camryn Manheim as "famous feminazis." Feminazi is a portmanteau of the nouns feminist and Nazi. The term is used pejoratively by some U.S. conservatives to criticize feminists that they perceive as extreme. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the term describes "an extreme or militant feminist"

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Mila Kunis

Born Aug 14, 1983
Age: 28 years old.

Milena "Mila" Markovna Kunis is an American actress. At the age of seven, she moved from Ukraine to Los Angeles, California, with her family. After being enrolled in acting classes as an after-school activity, she was soon discovered by an agent. She appeared in several television series and commercials before her first significant role, playing Jackie Burkhart on the television series That '70s Show. A year later, she was cast as the voice of Meg Griffin on the animated series Family Guy.

Halle Berry

Born Aug 14, 1966
Age: 45 years old.

Halle Berry is an American actress and a former fashion model. Berry received an Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, and an NAACP Image Award for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and won an Academy Award for Best Actress and was nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2001 for her performance in Monster's Ball, becoming the first and, as of 2012, only woman of African American descent to have won the award for Best Actress. She is one of the most highly paid actresses in Hollywood and has been involved in the production side of several of the films in which she performed.

Steve Martin

Born Aug 14, 1945
Age: 66 years old.

Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, author, playwright, producer, musician and composer. Martin came to public notice as a writer for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and later became a frequent guest on The Tonight Show. In the 1970s, Martin performed his offbeat, absurdist comedy routines before packed houses on national tours. In 2004, Comedy Central ranked Martin at sixth place in a list of the 100 greatest stand-up comics.

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A feminazi is a sexist. A feminist is a supporter of womens' rights.
--Urban Dictionary

Is Evil The Opposite Of Good?

Tucson Weather Today

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What I most enjoy about listening to the Rush Limbaugh show, along with Rush's witty asides, is the unintentional humor that's sometimes presented by the dimwitted radical liberal callers, the know-nothing conservative ditto heads, and the Christian, parent-indoctrinated mush-brained hero-worshipers. One 17 year-old a few days ago said (paraphrased), "It gets me when Obama supporters proclamate..."

'Proclamate?' Well, who knows... maybe that's a perfectly good word.

But I doubt it.

Not worth researching.

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Recently I read an article titled Evildoers And Us and one statement in the article stood out from all the rest.

Political evil refers to the willful, malevolent, and gratuitous death, destruction, and suffering inflicted upon innocent people by the leaders of movements and states in their strategic efforts to achieve realizable objectives.

Evil? In my opinion evil is a word that should be removed from the dictionary -- cut out and cast away. There is no all-inclusive correct definition for it. Every definition I have encountered can be easily and intelligently refuted by someone. The concept of evil is as difficult to grasp as is its (supposed) opposite... good.

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Fifty Years In Space - $5 A Gallon Gas?

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Tucson Weather Today

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The International Space Station partner agencies will commemorate the golden anniversary of human spaceflight and 30 years of space shuttle flights today, Tuesday, April 12. The world salutes 50 years of human spaceflight and the anniversary of the first launch of a human to space. Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin completed that historic milestone on April 12, 1961.

Yuri Gagarin

First Man In Space

During today's commemoration ceremony, which will feature an astronaut from the first shuttle mission, NASA administrator Charles Bolden will name the four institutions that will receive a shuttle orbiter for permanent display.

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Rush Limbaugh yesterday was railing about gasoline prices rising to five dollars per gallon by Memorial Day 2011.

Hm.

I thank my lucky stars that I decided I am no longer capable of driving safely and therefore am no longer owned by a petroleum fueled vehicle.

Speaking of walking -- walking is what I do instead of driving or riding, and yesterday I somewhat outdid myself. When I left the apartment I walked the couple hundred feet to the corner of Speedway and Camino Seco then crossed Speedway and began the mile walk South on Camino Seco, where I turned West onto Broadway and walked another mile to the next main intersection where I turned North onto Pantano and walked the mile to the intersection where I then turned East onto Speedway and walked the mile back to the apartment. That was a healthy and refreshing walk of four miles.

Nearing the halfway point . . .

Walking West on Broadway -- approaching Pantano

Along the way I saw some interesting places where I will eventually visit... such as a Church's Fried Chicken restaurant, an IHOP, Jethro's Cafe, and a Kohl's Department Store (for which I received in the mail a promotional $10 Gift Card) -- and I noted down some other places, too.

Walking North on Pantano toward Speedway

Toward the Santa Catalina Mountains
(And the weather was absolutely beautiful)

Yes, walking is a wonderful way to travel

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"You don't choose to become something like a poet. You write and you write, and the years go by, and you are a poet."
--Mark Strand

No Title Today . . .

Tucson Weather Today

. . .

I heard Rush Limbaugh refer to the politics of Obama as being 'jackassian' -- and I wondered if he had coined that word or if he had heard it spoken by someone else.


A Google search indicated that the word had earlier been used by others but I lost interest before pursuing the matter any further.

. . .

It has been several days, more like a matter of weeks, since I heard anything from my friend and fellow writer, Anthony V. Toscano. I hope he is okay.

. . .

A Slate article asks "What can the first how-to book for fiction still tell us?

How To Write Fiction written in 1895 by Sherwin Cody was the genre's first avowed how-to guide.

. . .

What is an octothorpe?

This is an octothorpe

. . .

New Word:
sesquipedality
(ses-kwi-pi-DAL-i-tee)
noun The practice of using long words.

. . .

As always, if I think of anything else to add to today's Online Journal entry, I will do so... seamlessly if possible.

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"Write about what you know and care deeply about. When one puts one's self on paper -- that is what is called good writing."
--Joel Chandler Harris