bambino64's Blog

Why is it that when Democrats say that we should turn over the security of Iraq to the Iraqis, we are accused of surrendering?  How is it surrendering?  How long does it take for Iraq to train their own army?  We've been doing it for years, aren't they ready now to start taking over?  It's like a 36 year old child who won't get a job and leave the house because his parents still give him everything he needs.  This isn't about surrender.  We won.  Sure, things didn't go as planned and we shouldn't have invaded Iraq in the first place, but they no longer pose a threat to us.  Time to "kick the grown up kid" out of the house and let him deal with life on his own.  I think if we start pulling out Iraq is going to get the hint and start taking more responsibility for their own security.  How is that surrendering?  This is about personal responsibility on a national level.

  

Sure, I think it needs to be slow and we need to make sure that Iraq remains stable and I can see us having a long-standing military presence in Iraq in the years to come, but do we really need so many people over there?  Couldn't we pull some of them back and see what happens?  How is that running?  To me it’s just saying “time for you to take responsibility for your own actions.”

 

As a reply to Republican cries of 'surrender' or 'running up the white flag' our reply should be "How is that surrender?  We've accomplished our goals in Iraq and now it's time for Iraqis to take care of Iraq.  The free ride is over."

 

 

St Louis is under a slight risk of severe storms this afternoon and for the past year or so I've followed these storms with the help of different weather bloggers.  They talked about MCS, CAPES, MUCAPES, caps, wind shear and all sorts of things I didn't understand.  The talked about GFS models and NAM models and which models were good long range or short range.  If a current storm system disappointed, bloggers were there to lift our spirits by pointing out a potential for storms 10 days hence.  It was magic, it was lively, and it was addictive. 

But, WHERE THE HECK IS EVERYONE?

Angela Hutti posted a blog on June 22nd but not one since (is she on vacation?  If so, why didn't she say goodbye?  Why can't she check in on us to see how we are doing and if we need her expert advice?  Dave does and Chris used to do that).  Even so, only a smattering of posts in the past day or two by different bloggers.  MAD, WEAX and that kid from Belleville -- all gone.  Not to mention Foxfan and a few fellow blogger from the great city of Florissant.

How am I going to know what the dew point levels are around the viewing area?  Does everyone have sunshine or is it just me?  How are the Morrel Mushrooms this year?  What do the storms look like toward the center of the state?  How are things looking on the east side?

I am so lonely.

My name is Al and I am a weather addict.

Please...WHERE HAVE ALL THE WEATHER BLOGGERS GONE?

It is warm and sunny today...maybe they're at the pool?

I regularly travel I-270 from McDonnell Blvd south to Dorsett and at first I thought the idea of variable speed limits was as a good one -- until they started using them today that is.  I hit my first variable speed sign just north of I-70 and slowed to the indicated speed of 50.  Of course, I think I was the only one that saw the sign and nearly got rear-ended!  Cars were flying by me right and left.  Why were the police not patrolling the area?  I thought about that and then I wondered how fair it would be to change the rules on drivers and issue tickets on day one.  Perhaps warnings?

But that's not all.  South of I-70 I saw a big yellow sign warning drivers that variable speed limits were in force.  Good.  1/4 mile later I saw the next speed limit sign -- it was blank!!!!  Nothing, nada, no speed limit displayed at all!!!

I realize it's only day one and I hope police don't issue actual tickets the first week of this new system.  I also hope someone is patrolling the highway to make sure their signs are actually working!

As Dave Murray reported in his blog, the ISS (International Space Station) will be spending a lot of time in sunlight, giving us a good opportunity to see it as it passes overhead.  There was a really good sighting last night (Tuesday, May 20th) and there will be an even better one tonight (Wednesday, May 21st), provided the weather cooperates, which it looks like it might.

It will begin at 9:40 (and my experience has been that these sightings are right on time) in the SW, about 10 degrees above the horizon.  10 degrees is about 1/9 of the way up the sky, or about a handspan at arm's length.  The space station will then arc up to about 80 degrees (almost overhead!) and the arc back down, exiting in the NE at about 10 degrees.  I am not sure if it will arc to the north or to the south - that depends on if it is passing to our north or to our south, but since it is passing nearly overhead, it should be easy to spot.

What will you see?  Well, you won't make out any details.  I haven't even tried to spot this in a telescope since it is moving so fast, but others have been able to capture images through their telescopes.  I might try a pair of binoculars tonight. 

Instead what you will see is a bright light that follows the path described above.  At first you might think it is an aircraft of some kind, but then you will see that there are no blinking lights (although it might appear to blink because of atmospheric interference).  The light will move smoothly across the sky.

Tonight's viewing is ideal for two reasons -- duration and brightness.  This flyover will last 6 minutes, while most only last 2-3 minutes.  It will also be very bright and should be the brightest object in that area of the sky.  Also, the fact that it will be flying nearly overhead will make it easier to see.

There are other flyovers this week and the Weather Buffet has links to websites that give details.  Some of the evening flyovers of over a few minutes include:

Thursday, May 22 @  10:03 PM (5 minutes)

Friday, May 23 @ 8:50 PM (5 minutes) -- another overhead pass

Saturday, May 24 @ 9:12 PM (5 minutes)

All three look to start in the W/SW and will proceed to the N/NE.

Good luck and let me know if you see it!

 

 

 

First, I am not going to sit here and say what Lori Drew did was right in any sense of the word.  It was wrong.  But are we right to hold her responsible for the death of Megan Meier?  I'm sorry, but a girl who kills herself because her on-line boyfriend broke up with her and told her the world would be better off without her probably had issues to begin with.  From what I understand, she suffered from depression and her parents were going through a divorce.  What about those issues?  Not to mention anything else we might not be aware of.  Also, I don't think Lori Drew set out to drive Megan Meier to suicide.  She just wanted to find out what she was saying about her own daughter on-line.  And that's an angle we haven't heard -- what made Ms. Drew suspect that she was saying anything malicious about her daughter on-line? What was being said about Ms. Drew's daughter?

But what about us?  How many of us have shouted or said anything we later regretted?  How many of us have peaked into someone's e-mail, voice-mail or pc activity?  I know people who have created false on-line personas to harass me and cyber-spy on me but none of them have been indicted in a Federal Court!

What about Megan's mom and dad?  Did they have any idea what was going on?  Did they know about their daughter's on-line relationship?  I actually talk to my kids quite often about their on-line activities.

Lori Drew should not have done what she did and, at the very least, it should not have gone as far as she did.  But to blame her for Megan Meier's death?  I think that's taking justice a bit too far.

I am looking for a good place to take my mom and wife to brunch on Sunday.  My first choice was the Botanical Gardens, but they are sold out.  So help me out here.  I want to find a place in which we can feel comfortable but special -- somewhere unique.  I live in Florissant, but don't mind traveling into the city for this.  I don't want to go any where too formal, but somewhere that is a bit dressy (smart casual?).

Any ideas?

My wife and I took advantage of the warm weather last weekend and did some planting.  She planted some annuals in two planters which are now inside (serving as an oversized centerpiece).  I also have a butterfly bush that I haven't planted yet sitting on the kitchen table.

I did plant some annuals (begonia and coleus) around a St Jude statue and I imagine I have to cover those up.  But what about rose bushes I just planted?  Hostas that are just coming up?  I also planted a clematis and was wondering what I should do about that.  Both the rose bush and clematis have started to bloom.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.  I know Dave Murray said to wait until after May 1st, but I didn't hear that until AFTER we had finished the planting.

I am a regular reader of Chris Higgins's blog and his latest post discusses the proper name of our upcoming national holiday -- Independence Day and not Fourth of July.  As he points out, July 4th is just a date on a calendar and it doesn't do justice to the nature of the holiday.   I wonder if it has come to be called 4th of July because people easily forget what day we became an independent nation?  Call me a geek, but I spend part of my holiday reading the Declaration of Independence and watching "1776."  It really reminds me of what we are celebrating and the courageous step taken by our forefathers that fateful day in July, 1776.  There once was a day when public readings of the Declaration of Independence were common but where is that done any more?  

I challenge anyone reading this posting to read the Declaration of Independence again this Wednesday...for many maybe even for the first time. We all have Internet access and I'm sure there are a plethora of copies to be found on-line.  When you are done, post back here and let me know what you think.  It doesn't really take long to read and it is interesting to read the list of grievances we had against England.

Happy and Safe Independence Day!

TRIVIA:  Did you know that both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the 50th anniversay of the signing of the Declaration of Independence?  That's right, both men died on July 4th, 1826.  Their history together is interesting. 

Am I the only one baffled by the fact that Hillary Clinton, running for President of the United States, would pick a song sung by a Canadian as her theme song???  What's up with that???  With all due respect to Celene Dione and our neighbors to the north, but come on...what was she thinking?  And then to do a take off of the Sopranos -- a mob show (and even work in a cast member) with an ending that fans really didn't like really took the cake.  Ah well, I am a democrat but backing someone else -- I just hope that person can pick a decent campaign song.  After all, that can make or break one's campaign :).

For the past few years, my wife and I enjoyed watching VH-1's "Celebrity Fit Club" together.  For those of you not familiar with the show, they take eight celebrities and put them through a "fit camp" of sorts.  Some of the celebrities they've had on in the past include Gary Busey, Willie Ames, Jeff Conaway, Tiffany, Maureen McCormick and a slew of others.  The shows have had their antics, but it was always neat to watch how these folks lost pounds and get into better shape during their 100 day experience.  This year, however, they had Dustin Diamond (Screech) who totally (IMHO) ruined the show.  He was spiteful, didn't follow the plan (even resorting to other methods of weight loss to "show up" the show's fitness panel) and had very hateful things to say about his fellow contestants.  What bothers me the most is that the producers of the show not only let this go on, but played it up as the season progressed!  I like the show enough to have watched it to the completion of this season, but honestly, if there is something else like Dustin Diamond next season, we are definitely tuning out and watching something else.  The show was good enough without playing up the Dustin angle and his antics just really took away from the show for us.  It became a show about him (which is what he wanted) and less a show about healthy weight loss.  In my opion, they should have booted him early on -- and especially after admitting he was not going to follow the plan and instead, eat what he wanted and then take fat-burner pills!  This was a blatant foul and I really feel bad for the other team.  They probably would have lost any way, but still you could see how discouraged they were. The producers did it for the ratings and attention I'm sure, but I think they've killed the show in the process.

No offense to the fine Fox2 meteorologists, but I wanted to pay homage to my favorite St Louis Meteorologist, Ben Abell, who was a regular contributor to KWMU.  He recently announced his retirement from broadcasting but will continue to teach at St Louis University.  I think what I liked about him is that he would put everything out on the table without fancy graphics or terms.  He told it plain and simple while not patronizing his listeners.  He didn't give "for sure" predications about rain or snow, but instead gave the listener a rundown of the factors contributing to the weather and gave the listener a few possible outcomes.  Instead of saying something like "looks like we are in for some rain tomorrow" he would say something like "we have a warm front pushing up from the south that will bring us a chance of rain" and then go on to give you the probable outcomes of the situation setting up.  One of his favorite sayings was "I can't rule out a chance of a stray shower."  I just really enjoyed listening to him a lot and I really am going to miss him.  I hope St Louis metereorlogists can learn a lesson from Ben -- appreciate the intelligence of your listeners.  One more thing about Ben is that he always stuck his head out the window before making his broadcast.

As a Hazelwood School District tax payer I am glad that "I paid for" 11 administrators to go to a conference.  Just because it was in New Orleans shouldn't distract from the hard work that the attendees put in during the conference.  While I am not a school administrator, I am a member of a few different professional organizations and have attended my fair share of national conferences.  Were they fun?  Sure.  Were they hard work?  You bet!  Did I get a lot out of them?  I sure did!  At close to $3,000 each, I was able to learn what others in my profession were doing to improve their own companies and I'm sure the Hazelwood School Board did the same.  These conferences are packed full of seminars and workshops so even sending 11 administrators could have been done without a lot of overlap.  And what if more than one attended the same workshop?  I did the same with coworkers and doing that led to intense brainstorming that took our company's training programs to the next level.

So, as a tax payer I was glad to hear that my school board (and I have five children in the school district) is spending their money wisely and I look forward to seeing them put into action the lessons learned at their conference.  I would have been upset if they didn't send any one.  To me, that would be just negligent.

I have been looking for a new telescope for a few months now.  I have owned telescopes off and on over the course of my life but they haven't been the quality telescope I was looking for now.  With seven kids, my budget was tight so I looked for deals.  I searched catalogs from Orion and Meade and even checked out Wal-Mart.  I almost bought a $300 telescope at Wal-Mart but have heard bad reviews about the quality of their optics.  I wanted to do it right this time.  I finally found a great starter scope in the classifieds.  It was an Orion Skyquest XT4.5.  It is a reflector with a 4.5" mirror and a dobsonian mount.  The Orion catalog listed it for $229 and I was able to pick it up (no shipping charges) for only $75.  It included the standard 9mm and 25mm eye pieces.  I quickly order a 2X barlow lens and moon filter (next to buy: a sun filter).  This is on the small end of scopes, but far a starter scope that is portable and that I can use with kids, it was the perfect size.  My kids, though, thought quite the opposite and commented on how large it really was.  What's more, a lot of the reviews I read stated that this was bought as a second telescope for many and has grown to become a favorite.

The first time I used the telescope I was not disappointed and I readily experienced the quality of its optics.  The resolution was much higher than anything I had ever owned before.  My first target was Saturn.  It was amazing.  With the 9mm lens I was able to clearly make out its rings and even the faint tint of the planet's cloud bands.  With the barlow lens I was able to see one of the cassinni divisions in the ring.  I saw at least one moon, although I can't figure out with the charts I have which moon it was.  I am guessing Titan since that is Saturn's brightest moon.

I then turned to the moon and the clarity of its surface was amazing.  I was quickly drawn to a feature that I found out later was "Montes Riphaeus" -- a mountain chain near the landing sites of Apollos 12 and 14.  There are many moon resources on the web that I plan to check out.  My goal is to observe all of the Apollo landing sites.

After that, I went to look at some nebula and was a bit dissapointed. I could make out the "fuzines" of the nebula, but no details -- probably because there was too much light from the moon and neighborhood.  I'm sure results will be better with less light interference.

Future targets include some more of these nebulas (maybe the Messiers) and in particular, galaxies and star clusters.

Tips for buying a telescope:
- Avoid Wal-Mart or department store telescopes (even if made by a reputable manufacturer).
- You don't have to spend a lot of money for a good telescope.
- Magnification isn't all that it is cracked up to be.
- Intelliscopes take some of the fun out of exploring the sky and may not be worth the price.
- Check out telescope.com and reviews on amazon.com

Well, thanks to the crew at the Fantasy Shop, I was able to get a copy of Captain America 25 and it definitely has my thumbs up!  It was very well done...there was a bit of retrospection and, given the topic, a touch of reality.  When a writer and artist can put together a story about a fictional super hero getting shot on the steps of the courthouse and make it seem real, you know they've done a good job.

What does the future hold for Captain America?  Not sure at this point.  He looked pretty dead on the gurney, but you know what they say in fiction...nobody stays dead forever!  Just look at soaps, Spock, and other super heroes who have met an untimely demise.  In my last post, I said something about an African-American character taking the post and in this issue his on-again / off-again partner, the Falcon (Marvel's first African-American super hero), was featured prominently.

Out of curiosity, I checked wikipedia for some background information on the Falcon and did find that in one story line, he did temporarily don the Captain America outfit and has been a long-time partner of the Cap.  Interestingly, he was supposedly killed off a few years ago and has just made a recent return in Marvel's "Civil War" series.  Did they bring him back to take over for the Cap?  Might be.  Stay tuned for more information!

Captain America is dead, felled by an assasin's bullet in cold blood.  And the worst part?  I can't even find an issue of the comic to read!  Every Wednesday I head out to my local comic book store and pick up the latest issue of the titles I read -- and that is only a few.  Once I found out what had happened, I called the store -- only to find out that they were sold out and were unsure whether or not they'd receive any more.  So, if any of you bloggers know where I can get my hands on one, by all means let me know.  I think I am going to check ebay tonight...I'm sure they have a few of the hot issues for sale already.

What does this mean?  While it might mean the death of Steve Rogers (Captain America), I believe Captain America will still live on.  Marvel is going to continue the title and promises a "year of surprises."  I remember back in the 80's that two of my favorite titles switched lead characters.  Both Iron Man and Green Lantern handed the reins off to another man.  Since then, both original leads have returned, but I can't help but feel the same is in store for Captain America.  Who will the replacement be?  I know they've had a few story lines of Captain Americas in other time-lines.  Will they snag one of those back?  Maybe his death was staged and he will return later?  Maybe the title will pass to Bucky, although I'm not really sure what he's up to these days.

Another option would be to replace him with an African-American Captain America.  Not sure who that would be (I just started reading the comic again in the Fall of last year), but that is what happened to Iron Man and Green Lantern back in the 80s/90s.  And why not?  I actually think that might be a good way to go with ole Cap.

The most important thing to remember about this, though, IS THAT I NEED A COPY OF THIS ISSUE!