Posts Made By: James Brown

Will's article is brilliant. Man can he turn a phrase. Some of my first-read favorites:

"this story illustrates the timeless truth that no matter how deeply you distrust the government's judgment, you are too trusting."

"liberals, please pardon the mention of your Great Satan -- Wal-Mart" 8O {I told you guys Rick was a leftie!!! - JB- }

"Remember, although it is difficult to do so, that Republicans control Congress. And today's up-to-date conservatism does not stand idly by expecting people to actually pursue happiness on their own."

"What oil is to Saudi Arabia -- a defining abundance -- cognitive dissonance is to America."

"Yet Americans have such an entitlement mentality, they seem to think that every pleasure -- e.g., digital television -- should be a collective right, meaning a federally funded entitlement. Clearly, Americans' civic religion of reverence for the Founders is, like most religions, more avowed than constraining."

- Jim -

By the way; Will's article raises an interesting point:

Can anyone find a piece written by a noted liberal thinker and commentator which similarly skewers the left?

It appears to me that the commentators on the right (such as Will) are much more likely to point out our own failures and hypocrisy than the commentators on the left. I read Molly Ivans for instance and she never seems to attack her own.

I am however very open to the possibility that my perception on this point is a function of my bias. Does anyone have thoughts about this or any examples of this type of writing from Washington Post/NYT commentary page caliber liberals? :S

Jim

Well; I just checked into the forums after a lovely Christmas break with my family. I am pleased to see that very little has happened here in "Politics" over the past few days. This confirms my suspicion that our participants actually have a life. I am proud and pleased that we by and large recognize that there are much better things to do over the holidays than cyber-argue with our friends and friendly nemeses.

If you've got a moment and a strong stomach, compare the serenity of the season displayed here with the war being waged in that neighboring raging hornet's nest previously known as the "religion forum."

Peace; Jim

Patrick and Denise seem to have been given "time out." Who could have seen that coming? :S

J

I'm glad you brought this up. I seemed extremely clear that the filibuster bluster from Sens. Kerry and Kennedy was heading nowhere. The thing that amazes me is that the so called discussion of filibuster had absolutely nothing to do with Alito's qualifications. I think you are correct that everything after the hearings was 100% simple pandering to the base. Oh well, that's politics.

Welcome back by the way. I assume you were "war profiteering" in your absence Denise would be so proud.

Jim

Did you all notice that Dow Chemical just set aside $100,000,000.00 (100 million dollars) for it's charitable arm, more or less to celebrate their return to profitability?

http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/business/index.ssf?/base/business-7/1138799045306590.xml&storylist=mibusiness

Not a whole lot of coverage of this act of corporate generosity even though AP picked up the story. How does that work anyway? I had to link to Dow's home town newspaper just to bring you the facts. I wonder why that is? :S Wal-Mart's niggardliness sure gets a lot of press.

Thank goodness for the countless good corporate citizens who contribute to this county's greatness.

Jim

Hi all, I've been spring-breaking with a Boy Scout troop in Utah. Spectacular scenery and absolutely stupendous skies. I took the Sky 90 along and 9 kids earned the Astronomy merit badge. Fun Stuff.

Jim Babcock's post is interesting. Why are the only responses a triad of sorta smarmy attacks on his background in military intelligence? I know that a lot of you vehemently disagree with Jim on the issues. A lot of you are obviously annoyed by his "lib this lib that" rhetorical style. Still, I would like to hear a real counter point to some of the meat.

Is the anti-war movement a real non-starter this time around? I believe it is, at least relative to what I've read about the 60's. Why is that? Is it possible that Jim is correct that our bringing the war to Iraq insulated the mainland from further attack? Do you doubt that the soldiers in the Middle East are alienated by primarily Democrat anti-Bush or anti-war rhetoric? (Two different anti-things of course, are there two different answers?)

Jim Babcock, love him, hate him or remain indifferent is our only Astromart man "over there." His insights are valuable even if you do have to filter according to his openly stated political views.

I remain hopeful, if not optimistic, that the Iraqis will build a stable coalition government in time. I also find the thinly disguised glee that some exhibit when bad news is reported from Iraq disturbing. The motivation of those who gleefully trumpet civil war is rather transparent I guess, and fairly low.

I (like all of us) want to hear both the bad news and the good news out of Iraq. We all know that the filters and biases in place within the media, the military and the Federal government make the prospect of getting the straight story slim at best.

So, I for one, hope Jim keeps reporting from Iraq. He is one more source to add to the stew, and I think his post deserves more response than a triad of snarky attack replies.

Jim

Jim Babcock said:

Interesting...the stars over Iraq are the same as those here.

Hey Jim B. Be careful in Afghanistan. Did you mean your last comment to be insightful, almost poetic commentary on the brotherhood of all mankind? I take it that way. It is a good and comforting thought. The common sense of the common man in Baghdad, Tehran, Kabul or Washington (for that matter) is why I do not despair that the war to depose Saddam will turn out for the best, from both our perspective and the Iraqi's perspective....over the long run.

Take care, Jim B.

Sandy Stubblefield said:

The mount is gonna be tough. I'll probably require assistance.

Hi Sandy:

I think you mean that you are going to put the Jason on your new mount, right?

Here is the deal, don't worry about the concept of polar alignment yet. Rather, think of the new mount as the letter "T". The top of the "T" is the part of the mount that the weight bar screws into, and that the telescope mounts to on opposite ends. The leg of the "T" is the part that connects to the tripod.

Place the mount so that the leg of the "T" points up and North more or less. If you know where the North star is, point the leg of the "T" at it. I will try to post a picture in a minute. You will be good to go for observation if the leg of the T is rougly pointed North and about 40 degrees up from the ground.

The slow motion control gear on the leg of the "T" is used to counter the earth's rotation which makes the stars and whole sky appear to move in big concentric circles around the North star over time. The other slow motion gear (on the top of the "T") moves the telescope perpendicular to these big imaginary circles around the North star.

You will want to screw the weight bar in more, like Tim said. Also, you will want move the weight up quite a bit toward the smaller scope to balance it.

If you want the new telescope to show more than blobs, you will have to learn to collimate it. Collimation is the process of lining up the mirrors. It can be tricky, and it would be best if someone could show you how it's done.

Have fun. Jim

Last night the rising full moon was shining through high wispy clouds here in Colorado. The rainbow effects were dramatic. The naked eye view sure beats the photos though. The glare of the moon made it very hard to simultaneously capture the delicate colors in the clouds.

This one is with a Canon 300D at the prime focus of a Tak Sky 90. No processing yet.

Jim