antsy and uncle ham

Tonight I tried to pinpoint specifically where Leonard was killed within Karbala.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to locate the Mukhayam (sometimes “al-Mukhayam”, or “al-Mukhayyam”) Mosque on the map, other than its proximity to the Imam Husayn and Imam Abbas shrines.  I have drawn a rough region narrowing the location as far as I had evidence to do so.  If anyone has more detailed information, please help me correct this map (research available on map upon clicking the region).

From the Federalist #1, published on October 27, 1787:

So numerous indeed and so powerful are the causes which serve to give a false bias to the judgment, that we, upon many occasions, see wise and good men on the wrong as well as on the right side of questions of the first magnitude to society. This circumstance, if duly attended to, would furnish a lesson of moderation to those who are ever so much persuaded of their being in the right in any controversy.

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If true, this is big, big, big, and exactly what we hoped for.  It would confirm we wouldn’t need to carry all our own water to Mars when we finally start moving humans there.  Living off of some in situ resources is an important first step towards total off-Earth self-reliance.

This would be an obvious aid in actually learning how to solve environmental problems back on Earth, when solving environmental problems eventually becomes a true objective.  Today, the Big E-N-V is nothing more than political football played by pseudo-scientists and pseudo-economists (check that - in most cases, by non-scientists and anti-capitalists with thinly disguised agendas).

My oldest son and I rooted hard for the Celtics during the NBA Finals.  I’ve never been a big Lakers fan, and I really enjoy watching high quality basketball because of its similarity to lacrosse.  I often use NBA games to reinforce flow concepts that I try to teach my sons on the lacrosse field.
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From “The Miner’s Friend; Or, An Engine To Raise Water By Fire, Described.  And Of The Manner Of Fixing It In Mines; With An Account Of The Several Other Uses It Is Applicable Unto; And An Answer To The Objections Made Against It.“, by Thomas Savery, Gent.  The following excerpt is a plea to King William III of England, in 1702:

It is upon this consideration I am encouraged, with a profound respect, to throw this performance of mine, with the author, at your Majesty’s royal feet, most humbly beseeching your Majesty, that, as it had birth in your Majesty’s auspicious reign, you will vouchsafe to perpetuate it to future ages by the sanction of your royal approbation, which is the utmost ambition of, may it please your Majesty, Your Majesty’s most humble, most loyal, and most obedient Subject, Thomas Savery.

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Last Tuesday, my son and I watched Hillary repeat the story of the boy who sold his video games and bike, and sent the money to Hillary’s campaign.  I completed Hillary’s sentence for her on that occasion, “…and I TOOK it.”  We both rolled with laughter.

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Glen T. Penfield discovered the Chicxulub Crater in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico in 1978, just 30 short years ago.

In 1980, without awareness of the Penfield’s discovery, Luis Walter Alvarez (Nobel prize-winning physicist, Manhattan Project member of distinguished descent) and his son Walter Alvarez (geologist) proposed the theory that a large impact caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.

It wasn’t until the 1990’s (after Luis’ death) that the Alvarez hypothesis was connected to the Chicxulub Crater, and the theory became widely accepted.

My oldest son’s graduation from Space Camp this morning began with the national anthem.  I was singularly focused on Leonard’s sacrifice throughout.  I also reminded my son after lunch that this was the 4th anniversary of Leonard’s death.  He asked how it happened, so I retold the story.  He says he still remembers Leonard’s funeral at Arlington.  I hope he never forgets.

Quoted from “Vietnam: a History (Unabridged)“, by Stanley Karnow, narrated by Edward Holland:

I want to make absolutely sure that the communists don’t play one branch of government against the other, or one party against the other. The danger is they’ll think we’re fat and fifty, and fighting among ourselves about free enterprise and socialism and all that. We might mislead them so they’ll think these Americans are just the country club crowd. That’s a mistake our enemies have made before. If you’re in an airplane and you’re flying somewhere, you don’t run up to the cockpit and attack the pilot. Mr. Eisenhower is the only president we’ve got.

Lyndon Baines Johnson
February, 1953, on the floor of the Senate

It will land on May 25, 2008 at 6:53 pm CDT in a far northern plain on Mars informally known as Green Valley within Vastitas Borealis.  And if touching water on another planet doesn’t get you fired up, maybe this simulated landing movie will.