How Big is the Universe?

Solid astronomy, but could use some editing.

I'd like to thank SF Review, which is based in India, for some great comments on my short story "Mirror Girl."

SF Review

Here's an interesting "what if" astronomical video. It's scientifically rigorous, and quite beautiful.
Perhaps someday, a future Christo-type artist will do this?

http://www.youtube.com/v/UT2sQ7KIQ-E&hl=en_US&fs=1&

(Noticed a nice shot of the New Yorker Hotel, where I lived for a summer.)

Big hullabaloo about civilian trials for several jihadis.

This is a major change for Obama.

C Span video

Such prisoners have wrecked havoc before.

Guard Stabbed

The big SuperMax is getting full, so not everyone may end up in such a tight lockdown. Already, daily restrictions on shoe-bomber Richard Reid have been relaxed.
(That underground SuperMax makes Gitmo look like a tropical paradise in comparison -- some favor, eh?.)

Meanwhile, radical activist lawyers such as Lynne Stewart offer a direct pipeline to the outside.

Novels such as Paul Levinson's The Plot to Save Socrates show have very complicated time travel might get. Others like David Gerrold's The Man Who Folded Himself depict a loop-de-loop of personal duplications.

Here's a short video that catches all this in a more, let's call it, palatable manner:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq0irgJJCOA&feature=player_embedded

(With a nod to Mike Flynn.)

I really like this brief "Interview With God" video.

http://www.theinterviewwithgod.com/popup-frame.html

Enjoy. :-)

Yep, those retail stores are in way too much of a hurry this year!

(Kudos to Bev Hale for finding this comic.)

My short story "Mirror Girl" is out, in the current issue of Abyss & Apex.

http://www.abyssandapex.com/200910-mirrorgirl.html

Enjoy!
(If you like their publication, please don't hesitate to send them a donation.)

This is from a new acquaintance of mine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWxuG14zMCg

A bit racy, and really quite funny.
Art Bell listeners, cover your eyes or something. It's irreverent to your faith.

Here's an interesting video from just after World War 2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVh75ylAUXY

I must say it remains highly relevant in 2009.

One more radical-left activist has quietly resigned.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/09/yosi-sergant-resigns.html

Hey, at least ABC News actually covered this one.

Here's a fun cartoon I encountered this morning.

What . . . you mean St. Peter doesn't have a LiveJournal account?

Yo, I went to school in the vicinity of Berkeley.
One Pinel schoolmate's parent, in the 9th grade, went on to write the seminal 'green' novel Ecotopia. (My gang of fort builders gets a mention in its 'Crick School' chapter.)
The prequel, Ecotopia Arising, has an interesting list, at least in the first edition. Ten points of the Ecotopian political platform, the first one being: No Private Cars.
My Daily Planet School 10th grade Economics teacher was an avowed Marxist-Leninist.

All in all, Mr. Jones sounds very familiar to me, indeed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMa3l23-rRc

(The raw video is plenty good enough; this version has an opinionated commentator.)

I'm still halfway astonished the American people elected this crew.
However, the main man is such a good teleprompted orator, and the mainstream media did such a good sales job (and the main opposition was so lackluster), I suspect most Americans had only a vague idea of what we were really getting.

Will that change? Probably.

Has anyone reported me to flag@whitehouse.gov yet?

Today an intrepid reporter got a White House spokesman to admit what folks knew all along: they are indeed keeping the original emails, along with the email address of everyone who's been snitched on.
Allegedly, these are bring used to send unsolicited Rebuttal Emails to protesting citizens.

Meanwhile, is our esteemed Speaker of the House actually worried about imaginary swastika-carrying protesters? Nope! In her own words, she is in fact, "A fan of disrupters."

http://tinyurl.com/mvx6v9

A couple of years ago, dissent was the highest expression of patriotism. Now, I'm told by someone who really ought to show some Dignity of the Office, that I should just, "Shut up and get out of the way." Sorry, but the First Amendment has not been repealed in favor of activist-defined Hate Speech bans. Not yet, anyway.

If you're in the Bay Area, or plan to visit in August, check out my buddy's Lego show.
It's four times the size of last year's. Awesome!

It's been all over the local news shows.

http://cbs5.com/local/lego.metropolis.city.2.1119446.html

Please report inaccuracies to your government.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9bWqcZnrDg&feature=player_embedded

This is vital to the future of the glorious administration.

In their own words:

What about the analogy with car insurance?
That is for disasters, not for every gas fill-up or oil change.
It's much less bureaucratic, and more genuinely free-market, hence it remains cheaper.

Imagine if the pressures on auto mechanics equalled those on doctors -- you'd be waiting months for that oil change, much less a major repair job. (And this new bill has zero incentives for adding more new doctors -- quite the opposite!)

Besides, don't liberals and environmentalists want us all to take public transit? Many of my urban friends own no car.

But is there any type of opt-out in this health "care" proposal? Nope! In fact, there's mandatory "counseling" for the entire population of oldsters. To say what, forget that pacemaker and take a pain pill instead?

I am hearing a lot of glowing promises about 'government option' health care. Meanwhile, my son is proudly enlisting in the US Marines, as we're getting a close-up look at the *reality* of Federal programs. Sooooo much paperwork, and hoops to jump

Can the Federal government provide great health care? To some people, yes -- and the Congress just wrote this new bill with an exemption for itself!

Can the government *force* people to buy into such a program? In this modern America, full of people that once aspired to freedom, yes! The IRS will be authorized to fine people thousands of dollars, if we don't want to play along, for whatever reason.
Also, private individual coverage will, in effect, be eliminated.

Don't believe me -- it's all in the bill.

http://tinyurl.com/kqtpu7

Does Canada provide great universal care? Many are telling me yes, while other Canadians come down here for "extra" or "faster" care.
The USA's new bill grants full (and probably free) health care to 12 million 'undocumented workers.' Note that Canada only has 33 million people, in total! The situations are not comparable.

A huge number of doctors will retire, or move to Health Tourism clinics, under such restrictive government mandates. Many hopefuls will drop, or not even enter, medical school.

What positive steps are available?

http://fixhealthcarepolicy.com/

A great Prophet is telling us, in bold defiance of denying Heretics, how there are many sinful Emissions, offensive to our God(dess). Harken, my people, and drive a righteous course, before we're soon condemned to a sulphurous (and carbonated) Hell.


http://tinyurl.com/lvsooe

http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/Literacy/

http://www.auscsc.org.au/

http://wattsupwiththat.com/

http://reason.org/blog/show/1007836.html