Mouse Farts in a Wind Tunnel

February 1, 2003

The grief felt by NASA spokespeople is both heartfelt and heartbreaking. They have lost brothers and sisters today. Even our prez seems shaken, although I would expect anyone would after speaking to the families of the lost astronauts.

Bush addresses the country after space shuttle Columbia breaks up on re-entry to atmosphere

For me, the cognitive dissonance set in about halfway through....

The cause in which they died will continue. Mankind is led into the darkness beyond our world by the inspiration of discovery and the longing to understand. Our journey into space will go on.

....right here. Exploration, discovery, the quest for knowledge... George Bush?

In the skies today, we saw destruction and tragedy. Yet farther than we can see, there is comfort and hope.

In the words of the prophet Isaiah, "Lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry hosts one by one and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing."

The same creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today. The crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to Earth, yet we can pray that all are safely home.

This is an odd and interesting passage from Isaiah to choose. Isaiah 40 is a prophetic chapter about the ephemeral nature of man and man's works.

21 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
24 No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

25 "To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.
26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one,
and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.

27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and complain, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD ;
my cause is disregarded by my God"?
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 41 then takes up the status of Israel as a chosen people, to whom will be sent a messiah (Isaiah 42).

posted by el goose on 2/1/2003 03:15:46 PM | link

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January 30, 2003

Saving the jellyfish

posted by el goose on 1/30/2003 03:00:45 PM | link

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January 28, 2003

Interview with Norman Schwarzkopf

This is making the blog rounds, largely because Norm seems pretty outspoken in his criticism of Rumsfeld and of plans to invade Iraq. Apparently, it's no secret that Norm thinks that Rummy is talking out his ass (my words, not his).

The conventional Washington criticism of Schwarzkopf is that he did not end the Gulf War well but not everyone even agrees with that.

"It's quite clear that however brilliant operationally and technologically, the Gulf War cannot be viewed strategically as a complete success," says Michael Vickers, a former Special Forces officer who is now an analyst for the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a defense think tank.

Added one Pentagon expert on Iraq, "With benefit of hindsight, the victory was incomplete, and the luster of the entire operation has faded."

When Army colonels study the Gulf War at the Army War College nowadays, notes one professor there, "a big part of the class is discussing war termination."

For all that, few experts contend that Schwarzkopf is really the one to blame for the way the Gulf War ended. "Insofar as Gulf War 1 didn't finish the job, blame is more likely and appropriately laid on Bush 41 and, to a somewhat lesser extent, on Colin Powell," says John Allen Williams, a political scientist who specializes in military affairs at Loyola University Chicago.

Schwarzkopf himself doesn't entirely disagree with the view that the war was ended badly. "You can't help but sit here today and, with 20/20 hindsight, go back and say, 'Look, had we done something different, we probably wouldn't be facing what we are facing today.'"

But, he continues, Washington never instructed him to invade Iraq or oust Saddam Hussein. "My mission, plain and simple, was kick Iraq out of Kuwait. Period. There were never any other orders." Given the information available back then, the decision to stop the war with Saddam Hussein still in power was, he says, "probably was the only decision that could have been made at that time."

Given the ease with which "Gulf War 1" rolls off the tongue, in a way that clunky "Bush 41" doesn't, the sequel will hit war theatres soon.

via A Work in Progress

posted by el goose on 1/28/2003 12:39:42 PM | link

The Absent Fatso

posted by el goose on 1/28/2003 01:18:01 PM | link

Beckham changing the face of female genital hair

"Styling your pubic hair is a lot harder than most people think," sex worker Ayuchi tells Shukan Jitsuwa.

Okay, this link may well go away, because it isn't really that interesting, except for the picture of the dog.

posted by el goose on 1/28/2003 01:31:48 PM | link

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January 26, 2003

Film Studies 101

Action Jackson: The Greatest Movie Ever.

posted by el goose on 1/26/2003 02:01:03 PM | link

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