Trumpeter Tony Horowitz, one of those portrayed playing chess with Ray Charles, wrote in to compliment Charles on his chess acumen, and acumen at life in general. Take a look again at Ray Charles and Tony Horowitz playing Chess Games of the Rich and Famous.
Tony Horowitz on Ray Charles and chess
September 21, 2010
1 Comment | 
Chess, History, History images, Music | Tagged: Chess, History, History images, Music, Ray Charles, Tony Horowitz | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
Impeachment trial TODAY! More background . . .
September 15, 2010Government teachers especially, take note.
Remember last summer I told you about the impeachment of New Orleans federal Judge Thomas Porteus?
The trial started yesterday in the U.S. Senate.
I gather that George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley joined the defense of Judge Porteus. Turley is very much the patron saint-attorney for almost-lost legal causes. His always-interesting blog has links to some of the papers filed to dismiss Article II of the impeachment, and other documents. That may be a very good site from which to observe the proceedings, especially for government and AP government and politics classes.
Turley’s motion for dismissal goes to the heart of what kinds of conduct may be impeachable, and when the jurisdiction of the impeachment clauses apply — maybe subtle, maybe somewhat obscure, but still delicious constitutional issues. I can imagine a government class reading the motion as a group and discussing it, in a more perfect world.
Is your government class watching this trial at all?
More:
3 Comments | Advanced Placement, DBQ sources, Government, History, Impeachment, Judicial Branch, Law, U.S. Constitution | Tagged: AP Government and Politics, Article III, DBQ, Federal Judiciary, Government, Impeachment, Jonathan Turley, Judicial Branch, Original Documents, Thomas Porteus, U.S. Constitution | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Anthony Watts targets Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub, ends up getting scrubbed
September 14, 2010Continuing comedy/tragedy at Watts Up With That, Anthony Watts’ staunchly anti-global-warming-science blog.
Funny in the denial of the obvious, funny in the dance to get around the science, tragic in that anyone grants much credence to the denials of the obvious and science — Watts steams on.
Watts and his moderators haven’t completely blocked my comments, and I can sneak one in on occasion just slipping under their radar. We are all plagued by a recent spate of pro-DDT publicity, prompted by what I am not sure but encompassing a full-court press from anti-science moguls like Paul Driessen, pro-poison advocates, and a film by a crank (quack?) physician-to-the-stars who appears fearful of revealing his full name, Rutledge Taylor and “3 Billion and Counting.” (Taylor’s film is sort of the “Expelled!” of the Chronically Obsessed with Rachel Carson (COWRC) set, but without the charm and science of Ben Stein’s film, since the scientists refused to sit for an interview with Taylor.) (Taylor’s publicity refers to him as “Dr. Rutledge.” Perhaps he aspires to the heights of academic and science credence granted Dr. Phil.)
Watts gave his pedestal over to an engineer, Indur Goklany, for a diatribe against Bill Gates. In comments, I tried to insert some data into an increasingly shrill and increasingly error-prone howl against Gates. Of Gates I am no great fan (unfairly; I use Windows), but sometimes one needs to stand up for accuracy and fairness, just for the sake of accuracy and fairness.
Watts gave Goklany a platform to go after my two comments. I’m Watts’ target for the day.
Dancing on the edge of science is treacherous, as Watts and Goklany may have discovered. Goklany claims I make many errors in my comments, but he cites no evidence suggesting I err at all. I merely pointed to the decline in death totals from malaria, and to the real work of the Gates Foundation. Nothing in those comments has been tagged as incorrect.
In comments, however, truth breaks out. Franklin’s adage about truth winning in a fair fight holds true, especially on a topic like malaria and DDT, where Watts and Goklany together, even were they the acme of broadcast meteorology and dissident engineering, can’t snuff out factual comments fast enough to keep up the tirade. [You fellows there on the side: Stop your betting about whether Goklany is a creationist! Gambling is not allowed here, especially when the fix is in. He confesses he is “an engineer,” after all.]
I may err; but take a look, Dear Reader, and see if the contrived case against Rachel Carson and for poisoning Africa with DDT doesn’t take a few hits, especially in comments.
Sometime, perhaps this week, I hope to get a substantial comment about the flurry of crank science on DDT, and Rutledge Taylor’s contemptible falsehoods. But I am without time, and without computer most of the day.
Now, if only being Watts’ target would persuade his readers to actually come here to find the facts about DDT, it would be worth it.
_____________
Tim Lambert at Deltoid explains where Goklany runs off the rails of accurate information, and as usual, has more comments than we get in the Bathtub.
29 Comments | DDT, History, Rachel Carson, Science | Tagged: Climate change, DDT, Global warming, Rachel Carson, Science, Voodoo history, Voodoo science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
O, say! Does that woman’s lamp still burn beside the golden door?
September 12, 2010Liberty stands gazing out at about 265 feet* above the water of New York Harbor, a fixture there since construction in the 1880s.
The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World was a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States and is a universal symbol of freedom and democracy. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886, designated as a National Monument in 1924 and restored for her centennial on July 4, 1986.
The Statue of Liberty has been a fixture in the U.S. and American psyche, too. Excuse me, or join me, in wondering whether we have not lost something of our former dedication to the Statue of Liberty, and the reasons France and Americans joined to build it.
Poem-a-Day sent Emma Lazarus’s “The New Colossus” out this morning (Poem-a-Day is a wonderful service of the American Academy of Poets — you may subscribe and I recommend it). There it was, waiting for me in e-mail. My students generally have not heard nor read the poem, I discover year after year — some sort of Texas-wide failure in enculturation prompted by too-specific requirements of federal law and state law, combining to make a slatwork of culture taught in our classrooms with too many cracks into which culture actually falls, out of sight, out of mind; out of memory. I fear it may be a nationwide failure as well.
Have you read the poem lately? It once encouraged American school children to send pennies to build a home for the statue. Today it wouldn’t get a majority of U.S. Congressmen to sign on to consponsor a reading of it. Glenn Beck would contest its history, Rush Limbaugh would discount the politics of the “giveaways” in the poem, John Boehner would scoriate the victims in the poem for having missed his meeting of lobbyists (‘they just missed the right boat’), and Sarah Palin would complain about “an air-bridge to nowhere,” or complain that masses who huddle are probably up to no good (they might touch, you know).
Have you read it lately?
The New Colossus
by Emma Lazarus
Liberty Enlightening the World; French: La Liberté éclairant le monde - Wikimedia Commons image
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
AAP makes poems available for iPhones, too, and you can see how it appears, phrase by phrase. “The New Colossus” takes on more of its power and majesty delivered that way.
Is the Academy of American Poets playing politics here? It’s September 12. Yesterday many Americans took part in ceremonies and service projects in remembrance of the victims of the attack on the U.S. on September 11, 2001. In much of the rest of America, there is an active movement to nail shut the “golden door,” to turn out a sign that would say “No tired, no poor nor huddled masses yearning to breathe free; especially no wretched refuse, no homeless, and let the tempest-tost stay in Guatemala and Pakistan.”
Would Americans bother to contribute to build a Statue of Liberty today? Or would they protest against it?
Does that lamp still shine beside the golden door?
Stereoscopic image of the arm and torch of Liberty, at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia; Robert N. Dennis Collection, New York Public Library. The arm was displayed to encourage contributions to the fund to build a pedestal for the statue, from private donations.
_____________
* I’m calculating Liberty’s gaze at about 40 feet below the tip of the torch, which is just over 305 feet above the base of the statue on the ground. The base is probably 20 feet higher than the water, but this isn’t exact science we’re talking about here.
32 Comments | History, Homelessness, Icons of history, Immigration, Patriotism, Poetry, Poverty | Tagged: Emma Lazarus, Golden Door, History, Homelessness, Icons of History, Immigration, New Colossus, Patriotism, Poetry, Poverty, Statue of Liberty | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Sleeping dog at the Palace at Knossos
September 10, 2010
Sleeping Dog at the Palace at Knossos, Crete (Greece) - photo copyright 2010 Kenny Darrell (free use with attribution)
You recognize the three maidens, of course, the Ladies in Blue fresco. Dogs wander all over Crete, Kenny discovered. Strays? Neighborhood dogs just not bound by a fence?
Maybe this mutt is just a lover of history, or archaeology. Dreaming of the Knossos that was? Who will tell the dog the fresco is a reproduction? Do they duplicate the dog at the display in the Heraklion Museum?
Kenny got inspiration from roaming the ruins of the palace. Some of his colleagues, he reported, were less interested, because they were ruins. They had hoped for more of a palace to tour. Walking through a cradle of civilization, but craving the comforts of guides and air conditioning . . .
From Kenny’s stay in Crete early in the summer.
See also:
2 Comments | Archaeology, Greece, History, photography, Travel | Tagged: Archaeology, Crete, Greece, History, Palace at Knossos, photography, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
What about the crazy, militant Christians?
September 9, 2010Pastor Joe Leavell, recently a frequent bather in Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub, reports on the crazy — it doesn’t involve burning anybody’s scripture, but it’s pretty offensive.
Not sure if you heard about the first army chaplain to have been killed since the 70s, but he was killed on Aug. 30th in Afghanistan. Several pastors I know knew him as a personal dear friend – a true American hero who loved God, loved the troops he served, and gave his life going above and beyond to be with them.
Guess who will be there protesting his funeral? Westboro Baptist Church – protesting the funeral of a Baptist chaplain! The only way it ties in to this discussion is the “should factor”, but I’m sorry – I just had to voice that this sort of stuff is so disgraceful and makes me so upset – especially when our soldiers are dying to give them the freedom to protest at their funerals! :-( For shame!
Here’s the news article:
kktv.com/military/headlines/102406419.html
At KKTV’s site the story is very short; here it is the complete article:
Posted: 9:54 PM Sep 7, 2010
Reporter: KKTV News
Email Address: news@kktv.comA controversial Baptist Church group from Kansas says they’ll be in Southern Colorado to protest at a funeral for an army chaplain who was killed in Afghanistan.
Captain Dale Goetz died August 30 in Afghanistan. He’s the first army chaplain to die in combat since 1970.
A funeral has been set for Thursday at Fort Carson, and that’s where the Westboro Baptist Church says they’ll be as well to protest.
Members of the church have repeatedly protested the acceptance of homosexuals by picketing at the funerals of fallen soldiers.
It’s very controversial move.
11 News is asking what do you think about the planned demonstration? We’d like to hear from you. Just comment on this story on the 11 news Facebook page or here on kktv.com.
Time Magazine’s blog carries more details of Pastor Goetz’s life and an interesting tribute to the value of military chaplains in war.
He [Goetz] acknowledged that Muslim concerns over what they perceive as a degenerate Western culture can drive some Muslims toward terror. “As Americans we repudiate the practice of the terrorist,” he said. “Though I disagree with their practice, I do understand their complaints against western society.” Goetz wondered if Americans are devoted to something so much that they would willingly die for it. “Our love for freedom is worth dying for,” he concluded, “and many have gone before us to preserve this freedom.”Read more: http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/09/03/army-chaplain-dale-goetz-rip/#ixzz0z25p1eqN
(South Dakota will fly flags at half-staff today, September 9, in Goetz’s honor. See also the post at Urban Grounds.)
Early in the U.S. involvement in World War II Americans had to put up with those factions who had argued that the U.S. should intervene on Germany’s side in Europe. But I don’t recall that the pro-Germany groups kept up their protests much after Germany declared war on the U.S. In the long arc of the history of our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, America’s longest-ever wars, does a sense of history and honor smack the crazies in Christian pulpits in the head to make them think?
Our Constitution’s strength proves itself over and over, as courts have ruled that Westboro Baptist has the right to make these protests. Their continued exercise of that right is a testament against the lack of a national education system and against the virtue of religion in the failure of common decency of the tiny band of protesters. Al Queada draws strength from the protests of the Westboro crew, and al Quaeda draws recruits from the actions of the Florida band who plans to burn scriptures.
Walt Kelly’s Pogo observed, “We has met the enemy, and he is us.”
Update: You couldn’t make this stuff up if you tried: The Westboro Baptist group is angry that their burning of a Qur’an many months ago didn’t get them more attention. I am reminded that James Earl Ray and Timothy McVeigh both expressed disappointment that their work didn’t get more attention and sympathetic action, too.
2 Comments | Dissent, Flag etiquette, Free speech, History, Iraq, Rampant stupidity, Religion, U.S. Constitution, veterans, War | Tagged: Dale Goetz, Dissent, Flag etiquette, Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech, Iraq, Military, Rampant stupidity, Religion, U.S. Constitution, veterans, War | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Labor Day history
September 6, 2010A bit more on Labor Day and history, from this site and others:
More from Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub:
More from other sites:
- U.S. Department of Labor History page
- “Labor Day in Michigan” from Michigan in Pictures
- Labor Day photographs from the Library of Congress
- Poster and song, “Look for the Union Label,” from the ILGWU site (International Ladies Garment Workers Union)
Union Label poster from the AF of L, early 1900s. Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University. Copyright Labor Arts Inc. (here under Fair Use for education)
7 Comments | History, Holidays, Labor and unions, Music | Tagged: History, ILGWU, labor, Labor Day, Labor Unions, Music | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Labor Day 2010 – Fly your flag!
September 6, 2010
Poster from the Office of War Information, 1942
It’s Labor Day 2010 in the United States, a federal holiday, and one of those days Americans are urged to fly the U.S. flag.
The poster was issued by the Office of War Information in 1942, in full color. A black-and-white version at the Library of Congress provides a few details:
Labor Day poster. Labor Day poster distributed to war plants and labor organizations. The original is twenty-eight and one-half inches by forty inches and is printed in full color. It was designed by the Office of War Information (OWI) from a photograph especially arranged by Anton Bruehl, well-known photographer. Copies may be obtained by writing the Distribution Section, Office of War Information
- Digital ID: (intermediary roll film) fsa 8b04027 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8b04027
- Reproduction Number: LC-USE6-D-005707 (b&w film neg.)
- Repository: Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division Washington, DC 20540 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
2 Comments | Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, History, Labor and unions, World War II | Tagged: Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, History, Labor Day, Labor Movement, World War II | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote on the Constitution
August 30, 2010You have a right to fail, as Wile E. Coyote demonstrates — another one-minute Public Service Announcement from Warner Bros., circa 1986.
Also see Porky Pig and Petunia about women running for office, here.
5 Comments | animation, Cartoons, Government, History, U.S. Constitution | Tagged: animation, Cartoons, Constitution, Government, History, Roadrunner, Warner Bros., Wile E. Coyote | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Bugs Bunny on the Constitution
August 30, 2010Was this from 1989, the Constitution’s Bicentennial? I dimly remember these PSAs.
This one isn’t brilliant — n.b., the Constitution can be amended — but it is Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.
I just stumbled into it on YouTube. Is there a good collection somewhere? Are the others better?
1 Comment | 1789, animation, Cartoons, Government, History, U.S. Constitution | Tagged: 1789, animation, Bugs Bunny, Cartoons, Constitution, Daffy Duck, Government, History, Warner Bros. | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Compare and Contrast assignment: Martin Luther King, Jr., and Glenn Beck
August 29, 2010From The Other 98%:
Which one would you choose to follow? Which one would you choose to emulate?
Teachers, don’t you wish a student would turn in something like this from time to time?
Tip of the old scrub brush to Earthaid3.
6 Comments | Advanced Placement, Civil Rights, Education, History, Martin Luther King, Politics, Student projects, Teaching | Tagged: Civil Rights, Education, Glenn Beck, Heroes, History, I Have a Dream, Martin Luther King Jr., Politics, Teaching | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Velsicol Chemical vs. Rachel Carson — the lawsuit that didn’t happen
August 23, 2010
Decades later, the site of Velsicol’s DDT manufacturing at St. Louis, Michigan, along the Pine River, remains a still-recovering-from-contamination site. Velsicol denied DDT is dangerous in a letter to the publisher of Silent Spring. In 1999 EPA began a $100 million Superfund clean-up of Velsicol’s site. Even with new, better cleanup methods, it’s still a hazard. Photo from Penny Park, by the Pine River Superfund Citizen Task Force
This story by Linda Gittleman deserves circulation well outside central Michigan, where it was published in the Morning Sun:
LINDA GITTLEMAN: Telling stories of the St. Louis Superfund sites
Published: Sunday, August 22, 2010
When it comes to the St. Louis area Superfund sites, there must be a thousand sidebars – those quirky little stories that all played a role in what happened at the Velsicol Chemical plant, in the city and indeed the country throughout the last several decades.
And, I suspect, there are a thousand more yet to come out.
Several years ago, the PBS series “American Experience” showcased Rachel Carson, the woman who wrote “Silent Spring,” published in 1962. That was the book which became the force that led to the ban, for the most part, of DDT use in the U.S.
Velsicol in St. Louis was the largest manufacturer of DDT in the country.
In the program, Carson recalled the bad old days.
To say the chemical company didn’t much care for her is an understatement. They flat out called her a liar.
Not only was she up to no good with her “sinister influence.” She was also a “tool of the Communist menace.”
Nor did they care much for the New Yorker magazine, which published excerpts from her book shortly before publication. At least the same could be said for her publisher Houghton Mifflin.
Alma College Professor Ed Lorenz had traveled to Yale and perused Carson’s papers that are kept there.
He found a five-page letter written to the publisher from Velsicol’s lawyer outlining in great detail all the discrepancies, misstatements and misunderstandings on Carson’s part as well as the inaccuracies found in the New Yorker series.
Letter from Velsicol Chemical to publisher of Silent Spring, threatening to sue if alleged errors in Silent Spring were not corrected. No changes were made, and Velsicol did not sue. Letter image from the archives of Alma College.
Certainly wouldn’t want to see all those errors in the book due out, so a letter from Velsicol was in order. A letter that would “call several matters to your attention from legal and ethical standpoints.”
Louis McLean, the attorney, requested a meeting with the publisher so they could discuss all that and more besides.
The editor in chief wrote back and thanked him for the letter, forwarding on a copy to Carson.
“We have reviewed carefully the sources for the statements in her book, in the light of the points you bring up in your letter,” Paul Brooks wrote in response. “While there may be room for differences of opinion, we still believe, after thorough examination, that Miss Carson’s presentation is accurate and fair. Since our concern as well as yours is factual accuracy, we do not believe that a meeting would serve any useful purpose.”
Velsicol didn’t sue.
E.B. White, then the publisher of the New Yorker wrote to Carson, remarking on her courage for, “putting on the gloves and going in with this formidable opponent. This will be an Uncle Tom’s Cabin of a book, I feel – the sort that will help turn the tide.”
It did, at least in the U.S.
And one last item for the “It’s a small world department:” Did you know that the mother of Bernie Davis, the former Alma College professor and former county commissioner, was Carson’s administrative assistant?
She too was interviewed on “American Experience,” Lorenz said.
(Linda Gittleman is the Gratiot Managing Editor and can be reached at lgittleman@michigannewspapers.com.)
America is vexed with a non-centrally organized, but persistent, campaign to smear Rachel Carson and her work, with inaccurate claims about her research and the science of environmental protection — smears that would be laughable were there not so many ill-informed people who give them credence. In contrast, there is no paid lobby to spread the good works of Rachel Carson — the truth simply stands on its own.
More about DDT and Alma, Michigan, at Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub:
- “Alma conference on DDT and health calls for DDT phase-out”
- “Alma conference statement pending: ‘Don’t ease DDT restrictions'”
- “DDT and other poisons in the Great Lakes”
- “War on science: CDC publishes suppressed study”
Also see:
5 Comments | DDT, Environmental protection, Historic documents, History, Rachel Carson, Regulation, Science | Tagged: Alma Michigan, DDT, Environmental protection, History, Linda Gittleman, Michigan Morning Sun, Rachel Carson, Science, Superfund, Velsicol Chemical | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Naked-eye star gazer Jack Horkheimer, dead at 72
August 22, 2010Jack Horkheimer, the guy who worked for more than 30 years to acquaint people with the fine old tradition of naked-eye astronomy, died in Miami Friday. He was 72.
Jack Horkheimer, America's Star Gazer, at home in a television production studio - Photo by Bill Wisser, first published in Astronomy, January 2006
A short note appears in Sunday’s Miami Herald:
`Star Gazer’ host Jack Horkheimer dies
By ELINOR J. BRECHER, ebrecher@MiamiHerald.com
Jack Horkheimer, Public Television’s “Star Gazer,” died Friday afternoon of a respiratory ailment, according to a spokesman for the Miami Museum of Science and Space Transit Planetarium.
Born June 11, 1938, he was 72.
In an e-mail to staff, museum officials said they were “very saddened to have just learned that our resident Star Gazer, Jack Horkheimer, passed away today after being ill for quite some time.
“Jack was executive director of [the] Planetarium for over 35 years and was an internationally recognized pioneer in popularizing naked-eye astronomy. He was also a recognized media celebrity, often being the foremost commentator on all astronomy related happenings nationwide.
Horkheimer was best known as the creator, writer and host of public television’s “Star Gazer,” the 30-year weekly TV series on naked eye astronomy. Seen on PBS stations nationwide, “Star Gazer” reached millions of people, helping create a love of the stars for several generations of enthusiasts.”
Arrangements are pending.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/20/1785361/star-gazer-host-jack-horkheimer.html#ixzz0xJv6dDOq
Many of my best opportunities to watch stars come when I’ve far away from optics to improve the sighting. Horkheimer’s practical advice on how to eyeball the sky delighted me from the start.
Horkheimer was a media guy, not an astronomer or scientist in any strict sense. He was a great popularizer of astronomy. Star Gazer may be the single most effective educational program on astronomy in history, by viewers and by total effect.
Checking his website, I note that he’s got, in the can and ready to broadcast, episodes of Star Gazer for weeks to come.
Here’s Star Gazer for the coming week:
More:
- Note at the blog of Astronomy.com
- Sky and Telescope blog note on Horkheimer’s death
- “America’s Stargazer,” a very nice profile from Astronomy Magazine, January 2006
- On-top-of-nearly-everything Phil Plait got the word early, at Bad Astronomy — note the photo. Also look at the comments; Phil asked his readers to share their fond memories of learning astronomy, or whatever, from Jack. Great comments — especially from people who worked with him.
- From a photo caption at the Astronomy profile — such perfect pitch from Horkheimer, a perhaps unwitting poet:
- “I’ve got to make people laugh and smile.” Due to a congenital lung ailment called
bronchiectasis, Horkheimer has been close to death on several occasions. He’s already
erected a tombstone for himself next to his mother’s and father’s at a tiny cemetery in
Randolph, Wisconsin. True to Horkheimer’s irreverent sense of humor, the epitaph reads,
“‘Keep looking up’ was my life’s admonition. I can do little else in my present position.”
- “I’ve got to make people laugh and smile.” Due to a congenital lung ailment called
2 Comments | Astronomy, Current History, Education, History, Science | Tagged: Astronomy, Current History, Education, Jack Horkheimer, Science, Star Gazer, Television | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Last Space Shuttle mission: Help NASA pick the wake-up tunes
August 21, 2010How about, “The Party’s Over” for the very last Shuttle wake-up call?
Press release from NASA, August 20, 2010:
RELEASE : 10-193
NASA Asks Public for Final Shuttle Missions’ Wakeup Songs
HOUSTON — If you like music, the space program and are a little nostalgic, NASA has the perfect opportunity for you. For the first time, the public can help choose songs to wake up the astronauts during the last two scheduled space shuttle missions.
Traditionally, the songs played to wake up the astronauts are selected by friends and family of the crews. For the last two scheduled missions, NASA is inviting the public to visit the “Wakeup Song Contest” website to select songs from a list of the top 40 previous wakeup calls or to submit original tunes for consideration. To vote or submit a song, visit:
The two songs with the most votes from the top 40 list will be played as crew wakeup calls on the final scheduled flight of space shuttle Discovery. Discovery’s STS-133 mission is targeted to launch on Nov. 1.
“We’re looking forward to hearing which songs the public wants played for us,” STS-133 Commander Steve Lindsey said. “It’s going to be a difficult choice, because there have been so many great songs played over the years.”
Original songs must have a space theme and be submitted to NASA by 4 p.m. CST on Jan. 10, 2011. The songs will be reviewed by agency officials and the top finalists put to a public vote. The top two songs will be used to wake space shuttle Endeavour’s STS-134 crew.
Endeavour’s mission is the last scheduled space shuttle flight. It is targeted to launch on Feb. 26, 2011.“Space shuttle crews really enjoy the morning wake-up music,” STS-134 Commander Mark Kelly said. “While we don’t have the best quality speaker in the space shuttle, it will be interesting to hear what the public comes up with. We are looking forward to it.”
The song contest campaign follows NASA’s ongoing “Face in Space” project. It invites the public to send electronic images of their faces into orbit aboard one of the final remaining space shuttle missions. To submit your image, visit:
For more information about the Space Shuttle Program and the STS-133 and STS-134 missions to the International Space Station, visit:
For more information about the space station, visit:
– end –
6 Comments | History, Music, NASA, Science, Space exploration | Tagged: History, Music, NASA, Science, Space exploration, Space Shuttle | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Hallowed ground: Why other nations think we’re nuts
August 20, 2010Scott Hanley at Angular Unconformities used Google Earth to see how other nations deal with the placement of potentially-offensive installations near the sites of their great national calamaties.
Charles Krauthammer pushed the argument to the shark-jumping bridge in his regular column at the Washington Post:
When we speak of Ground Zero as hallowed ground, what we mean is that it belongs to those who suffered and died there — and that such ownership obliges us, the living, to preserve the dignity and memory of the place, never allowing it to be forgotten, trivialized or misappropriated.
That’s why Disney’s 1993 proposal to build an American history theme park near Manassas Battlefield was defeated by a broad coalition that feared vulgarization of the Civil War (and that was wiser than me; at the time I obtusely saw little harm in the venture). It’s why the commercial viewing tower built right on the border of Gettysburg was taken down by the Park Service. It’s why, while no one objects to Japanese cultural centers, the idea of putting one up at Pearl Harbor would be offensive.
We noted on another thread that there is, in fact, a Japanese Cultural Center at Pearl Harbor. Hanley wonders how the Japanese deal with reminders of the being the victims of the first atomic bomb used in warfare — a topic upon which the Japanese are understandably extremely sensitive.
Go to the photos, see what Hanley found:
Hallowed ground
Baseball and 7-Eleven, symbols of American cultural imperialism at the site of the world’s first nuclear assault. McDonald’s, by contrast, maintains a discreet 2000′ distance across the river.
This campaign against a Moslem cultural center in lower Manhattan is the prototypical example of where the “Ugly American” myth gets its roots. Hanley’s analysis is incredibly simple, no?
19 Comments | Atomic Bomb, Civil Rights, History, Political Smear, Politics, Religion, Religious Freedom, World War II | Tagged: American Icons, Atomic Bomb, Baseball, Bigotry, Civil Rights, Hiroshima, History, Manhattan, Mosque, Politics, Rampant stupidity, Religion | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 