The Purple Pinata
Saturday, January 24, 2004
Matters Astronautical and Successful, as in the Opportunity landing on Mars!
The Opportunity Rover has successfully landed on Mars, to the cheers of flight controllers at JPL in Pasadena. Shortly after the confirmation of landing, Gov. Schwarzenegger entered the room to congratulate the crew. In tow were Al Gore and Congressmen Dreier and Schiffe.
Of interest was a mysterious several minute cycling of the signal from the Rover, which Rob Manning initially interpreted as the balloon encased Rover continuing to roll along the surface. ("The landing site is very flat," is what they used as an explanation for such a long roll). Manning later concluded that this was all a result of a signal bouncing off the surface of Mars causing what appeared to be a strange cycling when received on Earth. There will be a press briefing at 10:30 p.m. PST at which time we may get some further clarification.
Matters Technical and Astronautical, as in the upcoming landing of the Opportunity Rover.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory's website will take you to the latest information on the landing of the Opportunity Rover scheduled for 9:05 p.m. PST, Saturday, January 24. Their webcast begins at 7:30 p.m. PST. Also you can find there the latest information on the continuing difficulties with the Spirit Rover.
Thursday, January 22, 2004
Matters Ecclesiastical and Geographical as in a review of a book on Christianity in China.
Richard Ostling has a good review of David Aikman's Jesus in Beijing, a new book about Christianity in China. (I have not read the book.) Of interest is the discussion of the growth of the church in China, the tensions between the registered and unregistered churches, the continuing repression of unregistered churches by local authorities, and the emergence of some heretical sects.
Here are a few tidbits I have about the church in China which vouch for the facts discussed in the above revew: A few years ago I got to know a recent Chinese convert living in Los Angeles who had been secretly baptized in the ocean off of Hainan Island - it was too risky to be done as a formal ceremony. One of my Chinese seminary colleagues told me that China had paid observers in Chinese churches in the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County to report on planned missionary activities in China. I was also told of a Christian sect in China that insisted people had to buy a certain white robe to be considered an authentic Christian. A Catholic Chinese friend of mine also tells me of tensions between the registered Catholic Church in China (his uncle is the archbishop) and the unregistered Catholic Church.
Matters Noticeable and Delectable, as in the best pizza I've ever had.
Prior to settling in to catch the returns from the Iowa caucuses I baked a Freschetta (frozen) pepperoni pizza. This was absolutely the best pizza I've ever eaten. It had just the right balance of tomato sauce, (real) cheese and pepperonis. Best of all was the crust - I wished there was more to eat. I baked the two person pizza at 400 degrees for 20 minutes on an air cushioned cookie sheet. It's not to be missed.
Matters Political, Geographical and Maniacal, as in the wild scream of Howard Dean with his third place showing in the Iowa caucuses.
Howard Dean had a meltdown as he addressed his supporters in Iowa Monday evening following a third place showing in the Iowa caucuses. He's been described as "mental," "nutty," as letting out a "maniacal scream," and having a "Krakatoa moment." When Bob Dole was asked about it he said he thought he had tuned into a station from another country. My favortie line was from Wyoming's former senator, Alan K. Simpson, who described Dean's outburst as sounding like a "prairie dog on speed." As of Thursday, this story still has legs.
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Monday, January 19, 2004
Matters Ecclesiastical, Cultural and Calendrical, as in today is Christmas in Armenia for those on the old Julian calendar.
Armenian Christians celebrate Jesus' birth and baptism on the same day, January 6. For those Armenians who still use the old Julian calendar, which is thirteen days behind the modern Gregorian calendar, today January 19 is Christmas Day (with Christmas Eve on January 18).
Saturday, January 17, 2004
Matters Historical, Geological and Personal, as in the 10th anniversary of the Northridge Earthquake.
Ten years ago today was the 6.7 Northridge Earthquake centered in Northridge in Los Angeles County. When it hit I immediately jumped out of bed and onto all fours on the floor next to the bed; I could tell this was a bad earthquake. Luckily the only effects I could detect in my apartment in Pasadena were an empty plastic cup having fallen over and the water in the toilets having become cloudy. Significant aftershocks continued during the week. I'll never forget a series of three aftershocks over a one hour period of time while I was attending a meeting to discuss the Pluto mission.
While volunteering for Recording for the Blind in Hollywood the Saturday following the quake, I saw one apartment building with a corner sheared off from the fourth floor on down. I also saw a garage that had collapsed.
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
Matters Ecclesiastical and Calendrical, as in today is Christmas in Russia.
Today, January 7, is Christmas Day in Russia. The Russian Orthodox Church and some other Eastern Orthodox Churches still use the old Julain calendar which is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar used by the secular world and by most churches. As a result, December 25 on the old calendar is today, which means Christmas Day falls on January 7 (with Christmas Eve falling on January 6) in Russia.
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
Matters Ecclesiastical and Biblical as in today is Epiphany.
Today is Epiphany, historically celebrated, as best can be determined, as a remembrance of Jesus' Baptism by John in the Jordan and Jesus' anointing by the Holy Spirit coming as a dove.
There is also evidence that this date, January 6, was also celebrated in the early Jerusalem Church jointly as Christmas and the Baptism. Indeed, today in the Armenian church is the Feast of the Nativity (Christmas) and Theophany (Baptism). (Last night, Jan. 5, was their Christmas Eve.)
Apparently the Jerusalem Church eventually followed Rome and celebrated Christmas on December 25, with January 6 continuing as the celebration of the Baptism. This practice continues to this day in the Eastern Orthodox Churches. In the West, the success of Christmas has overwhelmed Epiphany, so that it is celebrated as the coming of the Magi. As a result, in Roman Catholic and many Protestant churches, the Sunday after Epiphany is now celebrated as Jesus' Baptism and anointing by the Holy Spirit.
Saturday, January 03, 2004
Matters Astronautical and Successful, as in the successful landing of the Spirit Rover on Mars.
JPL has just confirmed a successful landing (bounce-down) on Mars for the Spirit Rover. I was following the landing via the Internet and CNN, though the link via the internet got so crowded I was ejected. CNN had some great coverage, including some good shots of George Chen and Miguel San Martin.
Matters Technical and Astronautical, as in the upcoming landing of the Spirit Rover on Mars.
This link to the JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) website has both live coverage and background information on the landing this evening of the Spirit Rover on Mars. Also there is information on the recent flyby of the Wild-2 comet.
Friday, January 02, 2004
Matters Influential, as in the Purple Pinata Strikes Again!
Last night I alerted the Drudge Report, Fox News, Dennis Prager and others about the $35,000 NEA grant for a musical on the life of serial murderer Andrew Cunanan. Today the Drudge Report is carrying the story on its front page, with the link to the North County Times I had passed on to him.
In addition, the FoxReport on cable TV carried a news report about the NEA funded musical around 4:55 p.m. PST.
Thursday, January 01, 2004
Today, January 1, is the 8th day of Christmas. This is remembered as Jesus' circumcision/naming day. It is also New Year's Day. Happy New Year!
Three articles caught my attention in the North County Times, the newspaper serving northern San Diego County....
Matters Cultural, Financial, Governmental, and Nonsensical, as in the National Endowment for the Arts has just granted $35,000 to the La Jolla (CA) Playhouse for the creation of a musical based on the life of serial murderer Andrew Cunanan. (You recall in 1997 he murdered fashion designer Gianni Versace, among others).
Here is the story in the North County Times.
This link to KFMB-TV in San Diego has a few more details.
The San Diego Union Tribune carried this story on Dec. 25.
Here is the Nat'l Endowment for the Arts listing of the grant (scroll down to "La Jolla Playhouse"):
The federal government has more important tasks to accomplish with my tax dollars than funding such "creative" pursuits.
Matters Economical and Volitional, as in Daniel Weintraub's defense of Wal-Mart.
Daniel Weintraub has an excellent commentary on Wal-Mart that appeared in his home paper the Sacramento Bee and was also published in the North County Times.
Here are some key quotes: "Through the magic of free markets and free will, Wal-Mart does on our behalf what each of us would do on our own if we could: get the best deal on the merchandise we buy every day."
Further with Wal-Mart entering the California supermarket industry Weintraub estimates that consumers could save $8 billion to $18 billion in food bills. Weintraub then points out that, "Those savings would go disproportionately to middle-class and lower-income Californians, for whom supermarket purchases soak up a relatively larger share of family income."
As Weintraub explains, "The unions that represent the grocery workers [presently on strike here in southern California], meanwhile, are lobbying local governments to ban big stores, namely Wal-Mart, that devote more than a certain amount of space to the sale of food." Now you understand why I have yelled at the grocery store strikers, "Greedy labor unions!" They and their supporters, including morally idiotic clergy, are selfish.
In particular, the moral criticism should be most acute on the unions when they use the machinery of government to coerce their position, whether it be to block Wal-Marts, or to force people to join their unions. Likewise, Wal-Mart can be criticized for using the machinery of government to get lower sales tax collected in return for moving into a city (if in fact that practice still occurs.)
Weintraub continues his comments on Wal-Mart, in particular on their health care coverage, on his blog, California Insider.
Matters International and Successful as in the interception of uranium enrichment equipment bound for Libya.
This AP article (a shorter version appeared in the No. Co. Times) discusses the now confirmed seizure three months ago of centrifuge parts bound for Libya. Libya has since announced an end to its weapons of mass destruction programs.
There are two key points. First, such interdictions are obviously an important part of the war on terror. Indeed, an official is quoted that this seizure is what led Gadhafi to come clean and offer to dismantle his program. Second, this also points up that an inspection of the program presently in place in Libya would reveal a primitive or even non-existent nuclear program. This seizure outside of Libya gives a more complete and accurate picture as to the true intent of Libya's weapons program.
