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Charlie Gibson's interview with John Kerry regarding the medal controversy on Good Morning America:GIBSON: let me ask you, too, about two other things that you have said. subsequent to that. 1985, you said to ""the washington post,"" it is such a personal thing i did no want to throw my medals away. then 1996, you said to the ""boston globe,"" i didn't bring my own medals to throw because i didn't have time to go home and get them. which one was it?
KERRY: i expressed there was great sense of wrench being the whole thing. many of us -- we had a long argument the night before, charlie. it is a matter of record. as to how we were going to do it. and the vote was taken. i was not in favor of throwing them over the fence. i thought we ought to lay them on a table and put them in front of people in a way that, you know, wouldn't be as challenging to many americans. other veterans felt otherwise. they took a vote. the vote was made, they voted to throw. i threw my ribbons. i didn't have my medals. it is very simple . what the republicans are trying to do is make this into an issue because they have no record to run on and they can't go out and talk about jobs or health care or environment. they are going to attack 35 years ago. last week in an unprecedented attack... Well, it's pretty clear that Kerry is lying about this, at least on some level. (Hat tip: Instapundit, who refers to this as 'devastating' for Kerry...)
thus ranteth Pericles v. 2.0 at 12:34 PM | Permalink |
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Space by balloon: JP Aerospace's remarkable vision:John Powell of JP Aerospace is giving an update on what JP Aerospace has been up to and is finally talking about their total vision for balloon based aerospace. It's basically three 'vehicles'. A 'launcher' that gets you to 100K feet, a 'station' that is huge that permanently sits at 100K feet, and an orbital (yes, orbital!) balloon that is almost 6000 feet long and can attain orbit using lift from the upper atmosphere. Go visit RocketForge, where Michael Mealling has lots of interesting news from the Space Access 2004 conference in Phoenix. In related news, XCOR Aerospace has finally received their launch license from the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation.
thus ranteth Pericles v. 2.0 at 8:25 PM | Permalink |
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through clouds of mist
i saw a light
over the hills
it shined so bright
a journey can start
with the blink of an eye
so follow your dreams
and enjoy them while your alive
mmm anyway I haven't written in a while..not too much has been going on. Summer school starts May 12th..I'll be taking a PE, accelerated spanish, and percussion! I'm very excited about the percussion class because it's my first real class in the school of music. Hopefully I'll learn a whole lot and learn some new drumming techniques. I thought that I would be studying under Dr. Scott, but unfortunately he only teaches for music therapy majors. Once I get accepted into the composition department, I'll have access to one of the sickest computer/recording labs that I have ever seen. A room full of Macs and midi controllers..my dream haha :-) There are a lot of things that I want to do musically, and a few doors have just opened. I'm gonna be starting this little gig playing bass in a band here in Athens. The guitarist, Ajay is very sick..I met him at DT's before one of my shows. He did a nice rendition of Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix..I'm excited about this little power trio thing. I'll definitely be kicking out some thick bass lines ;-) The drummer Chris is very good too...so hopefully we can get something good going on!! Anyway, keep in touch people and gimme a ring sometime! Give me suggestions on band names too!! peace
thus ranteth spaga at 10:31 PM | Permalink |
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President Bush: a no-win situation:President-elect John F. Kerry's rise to the nation's highest office came as little surprise following almost four years of remonstrations against President George W. Bush for his bizarre attack on the defenseless people of Afghanistan.
Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, was the right man for a nation outraged by the Bush administration's pre-emptive war, which, it now seems clear, was based on highly speculative intelligence that Saudi Arabian-born terrorist Osama bin Laden was planning an attack on the United States. (Hat tip: The Speculist.)
thus ranteth Pericles v. 2.0 at 1:02 PM | Permalink |
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Glenn Reynolds on the value of the X-Prize, particularly when compared to government-funded spaceflight:In particular, they're interested in bringing down costs, and speeding up launch cycles, so that space travel can benefit from aircraft-type cost efficiencies. And so far it looks as if they're having some success. On the same day that the license was awarded, Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne made its second test flight, reaching an altitude of 105,000 feet, and a speed in excess of Mach 2.
That's an altitude of roughly 20 miles, less than a third of the way to what is, for X-Prize purposes, outer space. But it's a very impressive performance for a purpose-built civilian craft, and another step toward the prize for Scaled Composites.
Scaled Composites, though, isn't the only competitor. In fact, 27 competitors, from a number of different countries, are competing for the prize, and according to the X-Prize website, a dozen are currently building full-sized competition vehicles. The ten million dollar prize has generated a lot more than ten million dollars worth of investment.
Which is, of course the point. Ten million dollars in a government program won't get you much. (By the time paper is pushed and overhead is allocated, it may not get you anything). A ten million dollar prize, however, can attract much more -- driven as much by prestige as by the chance of making a profit. (Hat tip: Transterrestrial Musings.)
thus ranteth Pericles v. 2.0 at 7:42 PM | Permalink |
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The song, not the singer:Set aside the source for a moment: every word of this is profoundly true, the importance is the song, not the singer. I honestly don't care all that much about the singer and have many differences with him in other areas. But somehow, someway, this particular man grasped on 9/11 that all of the incidents listed above ARE connected, cannot be addressed piecemeal, cannot be addressed in a defensive mode - as every Western leader and every American president, Republican and Democrat alike, had previously done - and that decisive, resolute, offensive action was the only possible way to win this war, a war we did not seek, and in fact assiduously sought to avoid prior to 9/11. (Hat tip: Instapundit.)
thus ranteth Pericles v. 2.0 at 12:19 PM | Permalink |
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I have the worst nausea ever�I think I know what caused it, those trendy Low-carb tortillas from Kroger. Don�t buy them. First of all they taste awful and leave your tongue with a fuzzy feel. If only I had some Ipecac syrup (makes babies vomit if they drink poison). Speaking of Ipecac- it�s also the record label of my favorite musician, Mike Patton. Mike Patton is most famous as the vocalist of ex-Faith No More, but I think his better music is seeing the light of day through Mr.Bungle and Fantomas. Fantomas performed here in Athens last week, and it was an awesome show. It�s experimental, loud music. I budged my way to the front and took pictures that didn�t develop, damnit. The intensity of the Mike Patton fans is pretty pitiful in Athens, especially because I�m close to being one of them. I observed a particularly extreme couple- the girl leaned against the deafening speakers, her watery eyes fixed on Mike Patton as if he were making love to her. Ugh. The 200 pound boyfriend with long, kinky black hair wrapped his arms around her from behind like an ape and threatened to kick anyone�s ass if they made a noise, I noticed this when he turned to a scrawny guy next to him and blared �I�ll fucking kill you, I swear, so don�t you fucking ruin this for me�ahhhh� Anyway, Fantomas will continue their tour through Europe this summer. I�d go to see them again if I were in the continent. www.ipecac.com
...I�m going to drink some special Colombian coca tea now.
thus ranteth isa at 5:37 PM | Permalink |
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Yes, Guinness rules: now confirmed scientifically!A University of Wisconsin study last fall found that moderate consumption of Guinness worked like aspirin to prevent clots that increase the risk of heart attacks. In the study, Guinness proved twice as effective as Heineken at preventing blood clots. Guinness is loaded with flavonoids, antioxidants that give dark color to certain fruits and vegetables. These antioxidants are better than vitamins C and E, the study found, at keeping bad LDL (bad) cholesterol from clogging arteries. Blocked arteries also contribute to erectile dysfunction, as does overindulgence in alcohol.
Guinness has a higher concentration than lighter beers of vitamin B, which lowers levels of homocysteine, linked to clogged arteries. And researchers have found that antioxidants from the moderate use of stout might reduce the incidence of cataracts by as much as 50 percent.
It's milk's line, but beer gives you strong bones, too. Note to Colin: Heh. (Hat tip: Instapundit.)
thus ranteth Pericles v. 2.0 at 2:37 AM | Permalink |
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Computer simulations are interesting. Take a computer simulation of something simple: say, a blade of grass, blowing in the wind. Ok, so you have your environment, say a lush, verdant field, you've got your blade of grass, down to X level of detail, and the wind. This is all encoded in the computer, it is all information processed and stored by the computer. Obvious!
But -- what about a real blade of grass, in a real lush, verdant field, blowing in a real wind? Where's that information stored?
It's not a simulation, you say. It's real! That's just the way things are. It is that way because it is. Well, fuck that tautology. Let's go deeper.
Life. Where is the information stored for all life? In the DNA. Simple enough. So the information for the blade of grass is stored in nucleic acids instead of silicon.
But where's the information of the DNA stored? It can't be the source, can it? Think about it -- yes, the DNA encodes life's information, but how is it that the double-helix forms in the first place? Hydrogen bonds between nucleotide bases, the covalent bonds of the sugar-phosphate backbone, the ionic interactions between the DNA and the positively charged amino acids of the core histones -- where is all this information kept? Adenine forms two hydrogen bonds with thymine -- what's telling it to do that? Dipoles, partial positives and negatives, the properties of matter that make this possible -- keep following the chain down and down and you find, what?
Protons, electrons, neutrons. Quarks. Maybe even lower. I don't know jack about subatomic physics. Wish I did, but I don't. What's the lowest, most elementary particle there is? Maybe it's not quarks, I don't know, but let's say it is. Quarks, then. The four forces, unified or not: gravitational, electromagnetic, strong nuclear, and weak nuclear. Properties of matter, that's what I'm told, basic physical parameters that just happen to be set the way they are.
So that's the crux of the matter, then. If it is the basic physical parameters that everything else springs from, where is the information for these parameters stored? Why doesn't it take processing power to go from the basic information encoded in these parameters to the enormous complexity of the universe, as it would if the parameters were encoded in a computer, and a simulation of the universe was run?
The information is encoded in matter itself. It's like a computer that has 0's and 1's that have properties such that they automatically create things, no processing power or creativity required.
It seems to me that you could build a computer this way. Or maybe it's past midnight, I'm at work and I wish I wasn't, and I'm just completely off my rocker...
thus ranteth Pericles v. 2.0 at 12:10 AM | Permalink |
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So, I'm convinced I'm doing the wrong thing with my life.
I'm at work right now, waiting for the autoclave to finish its interminable hour-long-but-feels-like-five cycle, and just a few minutes ago, I made the shocking, but in retrospect all-too-predictable, discovery that the experiments I've spent the past month or so running is completely fucked and I won't be able to get any data from it, because I didn't do a control that I should have done because I assumed, stupidly, that because Zeki labelled a strain as being pure, that it was actually pure. Needless to say, it wasn't. I checked that today because of some anamolous results I'd gotten earlier in the week, and what it means is, basically, I have to start the last month over. Meaning there's just about no conceivable way I'll be able to finish this in time to write my thesis, which means, hey, I'm probably fucked.
And I'm convinced I'm doing the wrong thing with my life because as this little catastrophe is unfolding on me, all I can think about is how much I don't fucking care about the results of this experiment. This work sucks. It's tedious, it's not mentally engaging, it's not physically engaging, and it's even kind of dangerous. I stand a small chance of being exposed to neurotoxins, strong acids and bases, carcinogens, and radiation every day I come in. Our Geiger counter was broken a couple of weeks ago. I think that's just a riot. I had to work with radiation, and we didn't have a Geiger counter! The area could have been red-hot and I would have had no idea. I think if I have to work in a lab for the rest of my life, I may just rip out my own intestines and hang myself with them.
The thing is, my goals haven't changed. My primary goal is still to work on the development of an anti-aging therapy. (The reason I got rejected from graduate school at Michigan: the professors there are of the opinion that my research goals are too focused. Yeah, it's fucking terrible for someone to have a specific goal in mind. What the hell motivates most people to go into biology research, anyway?) So where this leaves me, I have no idea.
My tentative plan is to study nanotechnology more closely over the next year. I purchased the book Nanosystems, by Drexler, some time ago, but haven't read more than a couple of chapters yet. I need to read this book thoroughly and decide, not only if the goals interest me (because they do, I know this already), but if I enjoy the minutiae of the work. Because if I don't, then that's the wrong path and I wish I'd had the common sense to realize that when I came to the not-so-shocking conclusion, almost four years ago, that I really hated introductory biology lab. If I do, and I think I might, since it's more like engineering work, then I'm going to try to get into graduate school to work on nanotechnology development, because the basic technology being developed does have a great deal of promise for a number of medical therapies, including longevity.
If I don't, I'm honestly considering saying "fuck it," joining the Air Force, becoming a pilot, and spending the rest of my life trying to claw my way into the astronaut corps.
thus ranteth Pericles v. 2.0 at 9:59 PM | Permalink |
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Just took a Cell Biology test.
It wasn't representative of what we learned at all. Two out of six (essay) questions were on stuff that he covered in lecture in about one sentence. Stupid gelsolin. Stupid test. Stupid class.
BLARG (I am dead)
</bitterness>
thus ranteth Pericles v. 2.0 at 11:40 AM | Permalink |
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Current:
-Clothes: swim suit
-Mood: bored
-Music: barenaked ladies- Brian Wilson
-Taste: Mac & cheese
Favorite:
-Foods: pizza
-Drink: Hoegaarden or sweetwater blue beer
-Color: blue or green
-Shoes: birks, chacos, or flip flops if i have to
-Candy: 3 musketeers
-Animal: cats & dogs
-Movie: Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, LOTR 1-3, Jaws
-Song: too many favorites...
-Fruit: strawberrys
Are You....
-Understanding: most of the time
-Open-minded: most definately
-Interesting: I think so..
-Easily Amused: nope
-Random: hmm...
-Hungry: sometimes
-Healthy: most of the time
-Shy: not really
-Messy: definately not
-Happy: most of the time
-Hyper: rare..
-Talkative: depends on what kinda mood i'm in
Have you ever...
-Been kissed: yes
-Eaten an entire box of Oreos?: mmm not a whole box haha
-Been on stage?: a few times haha..
-Dumped someone?: i wouldn't refer to it like that..but yes
-Gotten in a car accident?: no
-Been in love?: indeed
Either/Or:
-Coffe or hot chocolate?: hot chocolate
-big or little?: uhh
-lace or satin: uhh
-New or old?: uhh new i guess
-Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt?: Brad Pitt..so hot right now
-Jeans or cords: both
-Sweater or sweatshirt: the hoodie..
-T-shirt or tank top?: T-shirt
-Wool or cotton?: cotton
-Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend?: not exactly
-Do you have a best friend? i have a few
In the last 24 hours have you...
-cried? no
-helped someone?: indeed
-Bought something? mm well i went grocery shopping yesterday
-Gone to the movies?: nope
-Gone out for dinner?: yup, went to basil press for lunch yesterday with my Mom
-Said "I love you"?: yes
-Written a real letter?: nope
-Talked to someone you have a crush on?: yes
-Had a serious talk? yes
-Missed someone? i miss a few people..mainly nicko, elena, daniel, and jon
-Hugged someone?: nope
-Fought with your parents?: no, which is awesome
-Fought with a friend? no
Do you...
-Have a crush on someone?: yes
-Eat with your mouth open?: nope
-If you got a tattoo, where would get it, and what would it be?: I wouldn't get one
-What color is your floor/carpet in your room?: gray
-What was the last CD you bought?: Keller Williams- Home
-How did you spend last summer?: lifeguarding
-When's the last time you showered?: this morning
-Are you lonely?: kinda
-Are you happy?: kinda
-Are you wearing pajamas?: nope
-Are you talking to someone online?: nope
-What is your astrological sign?: virgo
-What are you listening to/watching right now?: beastie boys- in 3's
thus ranteth spaga at 1:29 PM | Permalink |
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Well, I got rejected from Michigan, too.
Guess this means I'm taking a year off, whether I want to or not. I wonder if I'll even be able to find a job.
You know...with a 3.8 GPA, a 1440 GRE, and two years of lab experience, you'd think I'd be able to get in somewhere...guess not...
thus ranteth Pericles v. 2.0 at 6:30 PM | Permalink |
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