From today’s Open Thread at Little Green Footballs comes a Lego device, that when coupled with a computer can put your Rubik’s Cube back to like when you ripped it out of it’s box…

I’ve been following the whole “bucky” thing since “buckyballs.”

Now, something with very intriguing applications:

A new kind of paper….

I wonder how well it folds and if “paper” airplanes will be banned as potentially really, really dangerous weapons in the classroom…

Wow…who would have every envisioned this happening?

Note to kids still trying to decide what to major in in college: Make a note that easy to make it through majors like Engilsh and History sure won’t help you land a job like the one discussed in the linked article…

Isn’t that interesting??????

The Information Age certainly has it’s advantages for the private business sector, but, as I blogged before, the Government seems to find ways to shall we say “leverage” advances in technology before there is law to regulate some things…call it a fallout of unintended consequences.

I admit, it’s an exceptionally fine balance between safety of the people and the ability to experience freedom, as intended, by our Founding Fathers…..

Anyhow, I just found Space Daily yesterday, and then when scanning the infosphere this morning, I found this article…..

Just stash it in your memeory banks for another time.

October 25th. No year attached, just a day of the year. As I researched some connections I have to this day in 1998, I have discovered it’s interesting how so many battles of historical note happened on this day.

I am most attached due to this day due to my Naval career, which included a tour aboard USS CARR (FFG-52). Gunner’s Mate Paul Henry Carr, USN, of Checotah, OK, is the namesake for the vessel.

He was awarded the Silver Star for his actions aboard the USS SAMUEL B ROBERTS (DE-413) at the Battle Off Samar on October 25th, 1944. My post last year, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the last great sea battle held in the history of mankind is here.

The best book I have read on this battle, which brought together many first person accounts was “Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors” by James Hornfischer. I highly recommend it.

Walking backwards on the timeline of history to October 25th, 1854. The Crimean War was raging and the 13th Hussars of British cavalry rode to their deaths and immortality at Balaklava in the poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

The last stop on this October 25th journey is a day of special significance is the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. The recollection of this battle is usually provided in the form of the stirring and often quoted call to the troops to rise to the challenge of the day before them in Shakespeare’s play “Henry V:”

This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian:’
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say ‘These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.’
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember’d.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember’d;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

I’m amazed that these several battles of major significance would all fall on this day in history. Each battle can be rightly described as courageous, filled with honor and sacrifice for a higher calling, that have been noted by history as something out of the ordinary.

That’s today’s history lesson.

Thanks to Mudville Gazette for the Open Post!

Update 10/26/2005: Check out ANYDAY Today in History to see what happened on any day of the year!

I know about TQM and “off-sites.” They are special in their own way.

Anyhow, it seems the Dr. Demming methodology has been adopted by the terrorists and al-Zarqawi reports he got a memo:

“Anyway, I’m in the middle of Xeroxing some ammonia nitrate receipts Friday morning, thinking about what I needed to pack for the weekend family trip to Damascus, when I get another memo:

From: A. al-Zawahiri
To: All Associates
Subject: Mandatory Weekend Retreat”

It’s worth the read, if for no other reason than to understand how universal the feeling are about some of the TQM driven meetings….

Oh, make sure the kiddies aren’t shoulder surfing, and depending on where you work the memo might not be work safe, so plan accordingly before you click the link to get “the rest of the story.”

Hat tip to Little Green Footballs for the lead to IowaHawk.

Thanks to Mudville Gazette for the Open Post opportunity!

The HBM/MSM constantly bombards the media channels with how bad it is in Iraq. If that’s the case consider the first person stories I discuss below.

I read many of the blogs over here on my left hand side regularly, and I have noticed in the past year, the stories the boots on the ground tell have transisitoned from mostly combat stories to mostly one such as Thunder 6 writes about on Oct 6th about selfless action.

The Media of days gone by hangs on every death of our service members, but fials to tell us about how the people in Iraq have seen something special, a thing called democracy, and selfless action of men and women, not only from the pool of American citizen, but those from other nations, who came to the US and enlisted in our Armed Forces, in order to give back to us.

The lack of “balance” weighs on me. People on the left have these cute bumper stickers on their cars such as “Commit Random Acts of Kindness” and “Visualize World Peace,” yet they are constrained to trumpet their ideas by covering some chrome or tinted high impact plastic, as they drive to their jobs and coffee shops and book store and malls, safe and sound with in the borders of America.

The Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and countless federal agency people live through 130 degree F summers wearing about 70 pounds of armor, water and ammunition, so the people of the Middle East might see there is a path that Martin Luther King, Jr and Ghandi would have mankind pursue. It wears on them. Many have blogged about it, but not as consisely, and deeply transparently as Thunder 6 did just days ago. The California Army National Guard Officer also graces his readership with his response to one of those people I spoke of above, the bumper sticker action campaign type in this post. In that post, you are allowed a window into his motivations for his service, as he refutes the anonymous (read: Cowardly and most likely, I’d guess, never put on a military uniform) writer’s supposition that T6 is part of an empire building entity. Quite honestly, I’d think the liberals amoung us would rejoice at this sort of independent thinking, as well as revel in the simple moments of a man who is highly skilled in the art of war, taking time to build a relationship with a few young men half way around the world, and them make sure the shy girl also received a gift, let alone him noticing she gave it to her little brother. But, then that’s just me thinking those moments are changing history forever, for the better.

A personal testament to the power of these words was posted in the comments on the “Selfless Action” post:

“from a frenchman trying to understanding our complex world. before I was stupidingly thinking that you were all poor soldiers going to be killed in an useless and unjustified war. now I’ve changed thanks to your blog and realize through your emotions and humanity that all is not so simple. thanks a lot and long life patrick“

Don’t just read T6’s writings, select a few of the links on the side for the Army and Marines who blog, and get some balance in your view of the world to offset the lack of same in the HBM….

Ohio High School Has 64 Pregnant Students

Here’s the money quote from the article:

“Experts, parents and students themselves struggle to explain why such pockets of high teen pregancy rates appear. Are teens getting appropriate sex education? Do they have access to birth control and are they using it consistently? Has the stigma of unwed motherhood lost its edge?”

I was going to, in the spirit of the times, blame this on Global Warming®. The high pregnancy rate must be a result of President Bush not signing the Kyoto Treaty. Everything else is…

Then I got thinking….I think it’s events like this, that despite the Kyoto Treaty provisions, are exactly what cause Global Warming®. What a dilemna we now face. There is no accounting for the destructive effect of excessive body heat generated by teens with nothing to do besides to practice (and sometimes succeed) at getting pregnant.

On top of wringing our hands over that, we need to raise the flag now about who is to blame for the damage to the Gulf Coast. These teenagers shouldn’t be allowed to escape the consequences of their actions that caused the two Category 5 storms!

We must now consider whether we will try to amend the Kyoto Treaty, or is we need to have a major worldwide conference, say in like Amsterdam. At least there, the residents would be open to the discussions….

Just a thought…

Thanks to Mudville Gazette for the Open Post!

I began this story a few days ago. This mornings news is apparently trumpeting a change in society, yet what it really is is an announcement by the HBM/MSM is: “WE STILL GOT IT!”

I began to update the previous post, like this:

Update 9/30/05: Thank you News Media of the Main Stream for “changing the world.” You’d have done more for the country by telling tht truth…

I decided it may get buried in the background, so I did the best thing: Make more for you to read….

Anyhow, the MSM seems to have become imbued with some new spirit of control in the Vietnam era, when they found out how stilted reporting could end a war (without any insightful analysis as to the long term outcome, let alone the immedate carnage). They have continually tried to take on the President over Iraq, with not much success. I think they went after the hurricane stories to show they still could exert great influence over world events.

The sad part is their reporting was based on lies….

Ergo, the “new attitudes” are based on lies.

What a shame that they pretend to be for the greater good, yet all they really want is to be noticed and, more importantly, in control….

I will not hold my breath waiting for retractions, nor any more formal attempts to right this egregious wrong.

Re: Tom DeLay and moving money between companies, states, and candidates….

Dear concerned Democrat (who sees your party being continually beat up over stupid stuff);

Once again, I’ll remind you (as I did in some post a while back) that you’d most likely have better strategies and tactics if you could manage to attract some senior military officers to your side. They have the hands on experience to help you through the virtual minefield. Then again, your strident anti-war stance seems to drive away the very type of people who might be your best assets…and I said that before as well.

Now, to the topic at hand:

Remember when you tried to hang Tom Delay before over money from some lobbyist paying for trips (“junkets” I believe is the proper term)? The MSM got all whipped up, the crowds were chanting for blood, there was name calling, accusations….and then

(crickets chirping)….

It seems when the rest of the House representatives, who were in the forefront of the attack, reviewed their own dealing there were also “administrative irregularites” with their travel. Some of the problems were the same man who paid for Tom Delay had funded some democrats. Other issues involved that fact not being clearly stated on the travel reports. Other reports had not been submitted in the established time frame (30 days, I recall).

No wonder if got quiet. The same “crimes” of Tom DeLay had been carried out by Nancy Pelosi and others on both sides of the isle.

Hint: If a tactic causes you to lose a battle (and gracefully spares you from extremination), re-examine your plan and the specific tactics. You may have a good tactic, but it’s best used in other circumstances. Your timing may have been off, or…. you just might have done it before, and not even realized the cause of your own demise.

“Hey diddle diddle, right up the middle” tends to become very predictable, to the point the ambush awaits you and strategic defeat follows (for you, that is).

Check your play book. Make sure you read the basic instructions that tell you to make sure you’re clean of the “crime” yourself before you scream bloody murder. Another hint: If you only have one play in the book, have a strategic retreat and come up with other ideas. Here’s some wisdom I picked up from one of my commanders that might help out a little in this area.

And, if you’re so inclined, study the history of human conflict, there are lots of clues there that may help guide your decision making inn your quest to regain your power you so obsessively chase after.

Summary: I predict you’ll find a lot of people digging in the DNC and Democratically controlled PAC funds, and the same issues will arise for your own people. It will be ugly, as once again, you beat a retreat, with the enemy at your heels. The sad part is, you’ll have brought it on yourselves.

Enough counselling for one day. Get back to me if you need more help.

Signed,

A concerned citizen who is tired of infantile attempts to grab power when we have much better things to debate.