Posts Made By: Steven Lynn

This is overkill (it can hold a lot more that your scope) but very nice:

http://www.jakejacobson.info/tripodshome.html

Also, there are a couple of Vixen wood leg sets listed here on the classifieds right now. They are nice looking in a 'functional' fashion; not fancied up.

Steven

It's black, rectangular, 11' x 5" x 1 1/2"....

This explains it...(not really, but I fell off my seat) 8)

http://my.break.com/media/view.aspx?ContentID=262037

Okay, here's an attempt to get a full pic. I think she's owned by some neighbors a few doors to the south, but a feline bully drives her to hang out at the neighbors to the west.

I was just about to get a good pic, when she say the bully cat.

I saw a few minutes of that show, including the part where Michael Schermer was called a debunker.

Mr. Schermer also has a column (regular? irregular?) in Scientific American and was a regular guest on a local college radio station, Pasadena City College's KPCC.

Yes, this particular show was more unweildy than most of Larry King's shows.

Back to Mr. Schermer. Mr. Schermer was given his couple of minutes to make his spiel, when it was Mr. Friedman's turn to speak. Mr. Schermer started repeatedly interrupting and questioning every minor assertion or statement Mr. Friedman said. This is the popular take-no-prisoner's style of debate. This style of debate isn't really debate. It's censorship by pre-emption, so to speak.

I find Mr. Schermer to be at times be insightful, interesting, and largely agree with him on where he stands. But, he and other skeptics often turn me off by their style and attitude. They rely too much on a preachy tone, or holding up to ridicule who they are opposed to. The message they are making can often be distilled down to "our side is smart and their side are fools." At times they can be just mean.

In other words, he's a dubunker, not a skeptic!

SL

I was struck by the feathers tipping vertical at the end of his wing. Something they do in planes, now.

Great pics!

SL

If you are lucky to live near Cape Canaveral or Vandenburg Air Force Base you get to see such displays every now and then. Launches around sunset from Vandenberg can often be seen from a wide portion of Southern California. I've probably seen a few dozen in the past 45 years.

Sometimes you can see a bright point in the center of the 'head' of the contrail as the rocket as it is going up. Sometimes the effect billows out rapidly during staging. The most spectacular are the ones that reach thousands of feet high and then explode. Because they are so far away the explosion looks like a slow expanding oval that may keep expanding over a fraction of an hour.

The launch phase can last several minutes. The whole show can linger for around an hour or more. The picture Jeremey posted does not capture the bright contrast these displays often make. Finally, the whole display can involve as much sky as the larger constellations.

Now, if this makes you envious, I've never seen an Aurora!

Steven

Hi Rex,

I have a pair of Celestron 11 x 80's. I think mine are from around 1990, while the "Comet Hunters" were from the early to mid 1980's. I could be off by a decade or more on those estimates.

11x80's offered wide views. As far as I can tell, no one is making them anymore. There are 10.5x70's, 15x70's, 20x80, and a lot of other permutations. However, I like the 11x80. The 10 and 11 powers are at the limit for hand-holding. 15 and 20 powers need a mount.

In order to find 11x80 you would have to buy used. They show up here on Astromart and over on "that big auction site." But, a warning: I've owned or looked through at least 5 11x80s and more than a dozen other large binoculars. I would say at least 1/3 had some problem. This is especially an issue with older, vintage binoculars. If you can look through some in person before buying, that is a big plus. I went through several pairs before deciding what to keep.

Your other option is to buy new. If you search Anacortes for binoculars, then click on the Astronomy ones there are a bunch. The ones in this size range are all currently made in China. I would recommend Oberwerk, Garret Optical, and Astro-Physics brands for better quality control. Higher prices generally equate with higher quality.

http://www.buytelescopes.com/product_list.asp?t=129

Shh. I'm not posting this. I was never here.

Enter a search in Google for "FEMA camps."

Short version: most of FEMA's money has been spent on setting up camps. To house the...well, that's were the controversy starts.

Explanation: FEMA Federal Emergency Management Administration. It has very little to do with dealing with natural disasters. According to some, and I don't know what to believe, FEMA's historical roots go back to the 50' and 60's when legal authority was given (by Statute, that means laws were passed) to the Federal Government to lock up a lot of people in times of a National Emergency.

What constitutes a National Emergency? Who decides who should be locked up?

Mopping up after floods, fires, tornadoes, etc., is just a footnote in FEMA files.

For further reading, I suggest Franz Kafka, In the Penal Colony.

Like I said, I was never here. You never read this.

[no signature]

Lee Spain said:

SNIP!
2) How far will a screw driver go if you get mad and fling it into space?

I think I remember an astronaut recently flung a bag of garbage/trash off the station. Actually, he would have been at the end of the space arm or something. I could be wrong but it was enough to get it away from the station. It will eventually burn up in earths atmosphere.

Again, I could be wrong or partially wrong on this one.

SL