From the “It is Rocket Science” Department comes these $20,000 guys outta Washington State. I find it amazing that there are so many people trying to get this X Prize. Having done a little work in the fancy missile fixin’ world, I understand the complexities that are involved in launching a spacecraft. While it may seem expensive to spend $100 Million dollars for a launch vehicle program, there is a method to the madness. Honestly, the people who work in the US Space Program, both with NASA and the US Airforce, make the ordinary look extraordinary, everyday. And now you know!

Wash. State Team’s Private Rocket Explodes (washingtonpost.com): “QUEETS, Wash. – A team taking a low-budget stab at the $10 million Ansari X Prize for private manned spaceflight suffered a setback Sunday, when their rocket malfunctioned and exploded after shooting less than 1,000 feet in the air.”

Washington HistoryLink Database Essay: “He was an outspoken and influential advocate of increased military spending and a hard line against the Soviet Union, while supporting social welfare programs, civil rights, and the labor movement.”



Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson (1912-1983), ca. 1972

Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. UW857)

DNC Special Reports: Top 10 Bush Flip Flops: “The Bush Record: Top 10 Bush Flip Flops”

1. Bush Flip-Flops on Independent 9/11 Commission

2. Bush Flip-Flops on Independent WMD Commission

3. Bush Flip-Flops on Time He’ll Spend With 9/11 Commission

4. Bush Flip-Flops On Calling For A U.N. Vote On Iraq War

5. Bush Flip-Flops on Department Of Homeland Security

6. Bush Flip-Flops on Gay Marriage

7. Bush Flip-Flops on Using Military For Nation Building

8. Bush Flip-Flops on Hybrid Automobiles

9. Bush Flip-Flops on Assault Weapons Ban

10. Bush Flip-Flops on Steel Tariffs

I saw the M. Moore Film

The media wants you to believe that it is some sort of slanted documentary. Well, I suppose that it is and I’ll get to that. But in telling the story that it sets out to do, it gets an A.

This is somewhat of a spoiler if you read on, but how can you spoil history?

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In the beginning of the film, the Cast is introduced, putting on makeup and getting ready for their moments in front of the Camera.

Then we see what happened with the election where he slid by Al Gore, and how the Senate stood by while congress was protesting the election.

We see the President on Vacation, and it is reported that he is on vacation for a lot of his first year in office. The video footage used of Bush is full of “Bushisms”.

Then Moore shows us the presidents Service Record. (Pre-9/11) and after the whitehouse has had a chance to “sanitize” it.

This is the smoking gun of the movie.

This disqualifying paper has the name of Bush’s associate from the Air Force Guard that links Bush with the Saudi’s and yes… the Bin Ladens.

I had no idea that Bush was linked with Bin Laden. -J

Then Bam! 9/11 happens, and then Moore starts his journey into pre-supposition and commentary. What was the President thinking for 7 minutes while he sat there and did NOTHING after being informed about 9/11. If my kid was being hurt by someone, you know I’d be there in a heart beat, it’s an instinct. Moore then shows us the Money trail making the claim that Bin Laden and the Saudi’s have undo influence due to their financial dealings. Moreover he uses actual video coverage of the pre-presidential days of GW talking about his unparalleled access with his father, and how it makes him a powerful guy in the beltway.

Moore continues on to show relationships using news footage and other files of the relationships that existed among current government officials and foreign leaders with respect to Bush. Nepotism is an understatement.

Then it is on to the war. I really had thought that we were there because of weapons of Mass destruction. OK, the media was really trying to connect the Al-Qaida situation with Iraq, but infact, he has footage of Bush making the connection. I believe it was one of his addresses to congress where he made the claim.

Moore shows the youth of America, our Soldiers, fighting this war to keep the wealthy both rich and in power. At one point, he shows a US soldier who says he doesn’t understand why he gets paid barely $2000 a month, while a civilian working for Haliburton is getting paid Much More (I think it was like $10K or $20K) a month to drive a truck for 40 hours a week, while that US soldier making nearly nothing had to protect him. Mine and Your tax dollars at work.

He went on to show the gruesomeness of war, showing both Iraqi civilian and US Military Casualties. Showing soldiers with lost limbs being treated by the VA or other military hospitals. He goes on to tell how our congress and whitehouse aren’t even providing the support for Vets that they should that have served their country. And he worries about them being left behind.

Lastly he has a Mother whose son died in Iraq, and how losing a son to a war that seems more about the emotions of 9/11, continuing the feeling of insecurity, and getting that oil has changed her mind about her feeling of the war.

He shows how the military specifically targets lower income Americans to fight and join the military, because upper-income Americans can afford to not have their sons and daughters die protecting freedom. This included most all of congress and the senate.

Farhrenheit 9/11 is the temperature that blood boils at!

Michael Moore.com : Mike’s Message : Mike’s Latest News: “The Boston Globe 7/1

What Soldiers Ask From Government

I am shocked that many critics have denounced Michael Moore’s ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ as unpatriotic and antisoldier. For me, the movie served as a powerful (and painful) reminder of the costs of war _ and of my obligation as a citizen to hold our leaders accountable for making wise decisions about when to send our troops into combat.

Toward the end of the movie, Moore provides a voice-over to images of US soldiers in Iraq. He reminds us: ‘They serve so that we don’t have to. They offer to give up their lives so that we can be free. It is, remarkably, their gift to us. And all they ask for in return is that we never send them into harm’s way unless it is absolutely necessary. Will they ever trust us again?’

‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ highlights crucial questions about the ‘necessity’ of the war in Iraq. Engaging these questions and holding our leaders accountable for their decisions to go to war are the best way we can support our troops.

Audrey Coulter, Brookline”

ABCNEWS.com : Spacecraft Cassini Enters Saturn’s Orbit: “Spacecraft Cassini Enters Saturn’s Orbit

Cassini Spacecraft Enters Saturn’s Orbit Between Two of Its Rings”

I can’t imagine that it was 7 short years ago that a Titan IV lifted off from Cape Canaveral at Complex 41 on its mission to explore Saturn. It was the success of that Launch that meant I would be hired by Lockheed Martin as a Tech on the program, and finally get promoted to where I am today.

I did get to work on the clean up activities of that launch, but I worked with all of the talented people on the program that worked on launching that space research vehicle.

There was a lot of controversy about the fuel cells of that spaceship, since it had “Radioactive” fuel on board to power it for its long journey. (Note: it would be too far from the Sun to have effective solar power.) But today, the earth survived the flybys needed to slingshot the craft across the galaxy.

This is really going where ONE has gone before. We could discover amazing things about our own solar system. And this could mean rethinking about how life exists, especially if we find life.

Keep watching Cassini and the Hyugens Probe as we get to the moon of Titan.

Maybe I’ll make some articles that will be of disinformation, and fun none the less.

CNN.com – Al-Jazeera: Militants kill missing soldier – Jun 28, 2004: “BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — The Arabic-language television network Al-Jazeera reported Monday that it had received a statement and a videotape from militants who claimed to have killed 20-year-old U.S. Army Spc. Matt Maupin, missing since April.”

Apparently it has come down to this. You know, I’ve heard it all. Comparisons of this war, to other wars. Are these terrorists no different than the “patriots” portrayed in the movie of the same name starring Mel Gibson?

I believe that history has written that chapter, and suffice it to say, America had help in it’s civil war from a coalition of the Willing, to help unseat the taxing tyrant, King George the 3rd.

America did not unseat Hussein to create a 51st state. But I do believe that unfettered oil trade was a minor part of a bigger plan. There had been long term intelligence that suggested weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and I do believe that this was the true catalyst for the war.

Currently Michael Moore has a movie, Fahrenheit 9/11, which is supposed expose this war. It is truly impossible for people who have never been part of our Military Machine to understand what it means to be at War. What it means to sacrifice your best years of your life to support what you believe is keeping the peace.

In the upcoming months, this war will become highly debated. I expect to see rallies and protests. Yet, I hope that Americans realize that they can protest the war without protesting our military, and our soldiers and sailors. After all that is said and done, with even the tarnished reputation of prison guards in Iraq, I believe that we have some of the finest Americans serving in our Armed Forces. It would be a disservice not to support them in anyway that we can.

Recently a Commanding Officer of a Navy Reserve Center asked his sailors to bring in $6 worth of assorted sundries each month to help the Seabees and Marines stationed overseas in Iraq. They NEED our support.

So back to the headline. Murder of a Marine.

Do we get revenge? Do we respond? Is there a tactic that would work? Can we even find any targets? It’s time we strike! And make the consequences of murdering a Marine, or anyone else for that matter so costly, that even these terrorists find it too expensive to do again.

Politics News Article | Reuters.com: “Cheney Says He Has No Regrets for Cursing Leahy”

Well the media won’t use it, Howard Stern can’t say it, but the Vice President claims “It badly needed to be said…” Well I say, let ’em go back to the 200 years ago, when dueling was part of the process, and lets have them shoot it out on the HILL! Heck, televise it as a Pay Per View Special, in an effort to either pay for the war, or pay down the deficit.

But the news is the news, and now parents have to explain to their children why the Vice President of the United States used bad language to speak to a person whom he works with. He personally owns the American people an apology for his conduct.

Wanna talk like you are in a locker room, go to a gym. The US Senate floor is hardly the place for that sort of thing.

Politics News Article | Reuters.com: “Amid continuing violence in Iraq and questions about the justification for the war, 54 percent of the 1,005 Americans polled said it was a mistake to send U.S. troops into Iraq, compared with 41 percent who held that view three weeks ago.”

What a great article! The headline reads that THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS NOW CALL IRAQ WAR A MISTAKE. Of course when we get to the paragraph that you aren’t supposed to read, it says they polled 1005 Americans. Now with the Millions of Americans at large, One Thousand and 5 Americans have captured the headlines.

I guess I’m just concerned on the size of the sample. That’s like a presidential election with a +/- margin of error of 10%. In this America, anyone’s guess is good. Didn’t less votes decide the US Presidency? Maybe that should be considered adequate sample size.

I’m always amazed at “opinion polls” and what they aren’t saying. That seems just as important as what they are saying.

It is time to Blog. I’m sure that the few folks that visit here will find my posts either thought provoking, or at the least entertaining. My focus here is on the world. I plan to share tips and little known facts that someone may find useful.

Just a little Ice Breaker, a Bio, if you will.

Who am I?

I’m not really anyone special. I’m 34 at the start of writing this blog, and in the last 16 formative years I have done more than I really could imagine. I joined the US Navy and sailed to sea on board submarines. I’ve launched Navy Rockets, and after that, as a civilian, I’ve helped place some of the most important spacecrafts into space as a technician for the Titan program. Now I write technical manuals, and for now, we will leave it at that.

My philosophy: I believe in people, and it is up to all of us to make this place a better world.