Author: Jim

The Horror of Blimps. Scylla: Some blimps are better off dead.

I laughed so hard, tears came out of my eyes. Thanks Ingo!

[Sam Ruby]

This has popped up in a number of places. Be careful.

Educational Flying Model Rockets Ruled Terrorist Threat. Model rocketry is educational, it’s cool, it’s safe, and it’s fun. It’s launched everything from science fair projects to the careers of NASA engineers and astronauts as well as that of at least one SFT writer. Too bad the already-passed and signed Homeland Security Bill is going to kill this great constructive hobby for kids and adults. On May 24, every employee of any shipping entity who could possibly touch a package of in-transit model rocket engines on their way to a kid’s mailbox or store has to be explosives-handling certified, fingerprinted and pass a criminal background check. UPS, some trucking and railroad firms have stopped shipping the motors; Fed Ex employees have indicated to some model rocket flyers they likely will follow suit in the coming weeks. “It is the heart of the problem we face. Because if manufacturers like Estes can’t get rocket motors delivered to stores, the hobby is completely dead,” according to Tim Van Milligan, president of Apogee Rockets in Colorado Springs, Colo. Jay Apt saw his first model rocket catalog at age 13 in 1962. and went on to fly four shuttle missions that included two spacewalks and a mission to the International Space Station. “If we are to keep challenging our technology-inclined young people, we need to keep the benefits of model rocketry in mind when we pursue a tendency, natural in troubled times, to restrict anything which might be abused,” Apt said. “It makes no more sense to restrict aerospace modeling than it would have to ban rental trucks after they were misused in Oklahoma and New York.” U.S. Senator Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., intends to introduce legislation as early as this week to make what’s being called a “technical correction” to the 1970 Safe Explosives Act so that the material used inside the small motors is removed from the “explosives list.” Perhaps you might like to send a copy of this SFT story to your Representative or Senator along with your thoughts? [Sci-Fi Today]

Why is it that reason and thought are such unpopular activities? It seems to be some deparate desire to “do something” that disconnects reason from action. I guess I’m showing my age, but “think before you act” still seems like better advice than “ready. fire, aim.”

In business settings, we rightly fear “analysis paralysis” and celebrate action. But the record shows that the problem is about paralysis not analysis.

Come South Young BlogMan.

Dave Winer is debating which route to take on his trek East: “I talked about the northern route, below, now let’s talk about the southern route. Stop in Phoenix where I have a dinner invite, catch some baseball, then cross New Mexico and Texas, swing into New Orleans for some gumbo with Ernie the Attorney….” [Scripting News]

Yes, Dave come South.  The weather’s great, the food is outstanding (the crawfish are really great this year), and you can come stay at my house and let your new laptop soak up the Wi-Fi cloud that permeates my humble abode.

[Ernie the Attorney]

The southern route may sound appealing, but your destination is Cambridge and Harvard Yard. That means cold, gray, serious. New Orleans would only delay the inevitable.

North through Chicago, however, acclimates you to your new climate. After a stop in Chicago, Boston and Cambridge will feel springlike and appealing. You need time to thicken that Southen California blood after all those years.

Goodbye Mr. Rogers

You let your love of Christ spill into the world with no pretense or explanation. You became a goodness that we were proud of.

I love you.

my tribute

[Real Live Preacher]

A model for human decency more of us should emulate regardless of how short of the goal we might fall.