Go Cowboys - Beat the Longhorns

Balloon Boy: Was There Enough Helium in the Flying Saucer Shaped Balloon?

I'm writing from the perspective that anyone stumbling upon this post knows the background to this story.

 

I must admit being overly intrigued by the story.  Once the balloon landed, I started having general thoughts on whether there was even enough total helium to lift a small boy, not to even mention take him to heights of 8000 feet.

 

Turns out, others are thinking and posting on the same thing.  A few links (unverified information, but a good place to start narrowing in on the answer):

 

http://liveatthewitchtrials.blogspot.com/2009/10/boy-in-balloon-did-balloon-have-enough.html

 

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/10/why-falcon-henne-was-never-really-balloon-boy/

 

My own general thought was comparing the visible size of the saucer and 'guesstimating' the equivalent number of helium filled party balloons - would there be enough lift?  I began to have doubts.

 

One of those links above indicates there would have been theoretically enough helium to lift a 50 lb boy, but they noted there should have been some sort of distortion of the otherwise soft profile while in flight - much like a weather balloon.  Such a distortion was not present - but that's an observation made in hindsight.

 

I have a chemical engineer friend who might be looking into this further for me. He did make a point, however, that when considering equal volumes of helium and hot air, that the helium has much more lift.  (Think of two balloons, one inflated with helium, one with naturally forced exhalation of breath.  One floats.)

 

Just some thoughts and links.

I Didn't Know That!!: Nobel Prize Details

Entering a 3-4 day lull between two major busy periods, I decided I needed to post a few times.  Coincidentally, I opened my email account associated with this blog and found my wife was thinking the same thing.

Julie and I had a discussion last night about the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Obama, and we had a straightforward (and very mild) disagreement about which country the somewhat misguided committee members represented - ie where is the prize deliberated and then awarded.  Julie? 'Norway.'  Tim? 'Sweden.'

Being fairly confident of my answer, citing King Olaf and Stockholm and things like that, I was not even planning to 'run to the computer' and try to 'prove it.'  (Sadly, I've done that sort of foolish thing before. :-- (  )

Logging in early this morning, I scanned some news headlines that were 'Monday morning quarterbacking' the Obama Peace Prize announcement and one of them mentioned the 'Norwegian selection committee.'  Huh???  Read on.....

It seems we are both right, but Julie is exactly right about the Peace Prize.  When the Nobel prizes were created, the honored disciplines ranged from chemistry to medicine to peace - later economics was added.  Also, when they were created, there existed some form of political union between Sweden and Norway, and that fact led to the Nobel group splitting responsibility for the prizes between the two countries.  Most of the prizes are based from and awarded from Stockholm, Sweden, but the Nobel Peace Prize is based from and awarded from Oslo, Norway.  Both sites have Nobel laureate celebratory galas on December 10 every year.  Isn't that interesting??

And, oh yeah....Julie - you were right!!  I was wrong.  I love you.

Payne County Bucket Calf Program

 

Pictured above are my two daughters - Aubrey on the left with Rodeo, and Lillie on the right with Bullet.  Rodeo and Bullet are 'bucket calves' and were 'shown' by Aubrey and Lillie at the Payne County Fair in 2008.  I am using this post to describe how Payne County (OK) runs their bucket calf program, and the enthusiastic support my wife and I have for it.  (Disclaimer: This is not an official description of it, but I think it is generally accurate.  If you stumble upon this blog searching for 'bucket calf'' or other similar search strings, this is a good place to start.  If you want more official information, please contact the Payne County Extension Service.)

The rules for our bucket calf program are summarized here: 4-H (or Cloverbud) children ages 7-12; purchase of a 1-10 day old calf in May preceding the county fair; calf is nominated by mid-June; child must keep a weekly journal of experiences; child must actively participate in feeding and care of the calf; child turns in the journal and an expenses summary approximately two weeks prior to the fair; child shows the calf at the fair following a morning of meetings, personal interviews, washing and preparing the calf, and cleaning their work environment.

The results of our bucket calf program are summarized here: every child who completes the program wins a trophy with rosette, a small county fair monetary award, a larger 'add-on' monetary award, a thematic 3 gallon bucket, a T-shirt, and a significant bucket of door prizes useful for future livestock projects (feed buckets, halters, brushes, etc.).  The 'add on' money comes with a classic 'carrot and stick' philosophy as the children have to personally write 'Thank You' notes to a subset of the various donors prior to the awarding of that money.

All of the above awards are given on a non-competitive basis.  But, there are competitive awards given, as well, for:

1. Interview segment (currently $100 and plaque),

2. Herdsman awards for multiple participants (monetary award and gift), and

3. Showmanship awards by age division (monetary award and belt buckle.)

If you have any associations with regular youth livestock shows, now or in the past, you might recognize all of the elements described above, except: 1. The interview, 2. The journal and expense account, and 3. The non-competitive nature regarding the merits and attributes of the animal.  Although current formulations of 'youth livestock shows' are high quality experiences for young people in agriculture, the competitive nature (and the concomitant monetary rewards) can taint the true purposes of the experience, and has even led to some spectacular instances of fraud, sad to say.  The structure of our bucket calf program truly places the child participant back in an environment that youth livestock exhibitions were intended to be - participatory, educational, and fun.

The opportunities for advantage-seekers (or even fraud) are not merely discouraged by the rules and structure of the program, but by the usual selection of the animals themselves.  If you re-visit the rules above, you will note the calf has to be purchased between 1-10 days of age.  For those unacquainted with livestock and production agriculture practices, this is 'code-speak' for dairy breed bull calves - the absolute lowest 'caste' in the bovine world.  Dairies only want female calves for future replacement cows, but genetic frequencies being what they are, half of these calves are born as boys, and because most dairy cow breeding is done using proven bulls with artificial insemination, the life of most dairy bull calves is pretty dull.  These poor dairy bull calves couldn't win a beef-focused livestock show if their lives depended upon it - even if they were given the best feed, the best hair care, and a few unethical (frequently illegal) injections of X,Y, and Z.  Because they are largely unwanted, a family can buy one (usually $25-125) from a regional dairy for a fraction of the cost of a comparable beef breed calf.

Why are they called 'bucket calves' and why is it the 'bucket calf program'?  There are many farmers in the business of mass-rearing these dairy bull calves who use a bucket feeding system, adapting the calf to slurp and drink milk from a bucket to decrease the labor input required by bottle feeding a calf.  However, most families usually opt to bottle feed a calf primarily for its simplicity and ease of success - bottle feeding the calf is completely permissible in our 'bucket' calf show.

To summarize, why do my wife and I like the program so much?  The interview segment teaches them how to think 'on their feet' and how to respectfully interact with an adult.  The 'Showmanship' and 'Herdsman' awards on the day of the show encourage them to prepare in advance by halter training their calf so they can competently show him in the show ring, and also to encourage them to keep their animal's environment clean at the fair.  We like the 'economic scale' of Holstein steers and find that if we carefully watch expenses, that we can make a small profit on each animal, further augmenting the child's monetary return (which largely goes to the college fund!).  We like that the animals themselves are evaluated non-competitively, which eliminates the 'rat race' of special feeds, special hair care (termed 'fitting' performed by so-called 'steer jocks'), special halters, and enormously higher input costs (thousands of dollars) to buy a champion steer prospect.  We like how the organizers delay award of 'add on' money to encourage children to learn how to express gratitude in the written form to the generous sponsors.  The journal requirement not only teaches and re-inforces writing skills, but engages them in the project, provides a keepsake for years to come, and even sometimes provides a few humorous moments when you go back to read an 8 year old's perspective on bottle feeding, dehorning, and castration.  The final expenses worksheet re-inforces applied basic mathematics, gives them a basic introduction to business and agriculture, and gives them a real-world production agriculture perspective that is sadly lacking in the more popular youth livestock projects - where the 'bonus sale' hopefully subsidizes and defrays the high input costs.

Judging by what I see in a handful of other Oklahoma counties, the Payne County program is almost one-of-a-kind.  We've heard of other counties coming to our program to get ideas to institute one of their own in their county, and I hope this summary aids in getting the word out.  The unique experience and success of the Payne County Bucket Calf experience would not be possible without the vision of some key founders (whose names escape me, but I might update in the comments below) as well as several key sponsors and donors, including the Payne County Young Farmers and Ranchers, Swank Land and Cattle. Farm Bureau, Payne County Extension Center, The Territory, Atwoods, Stillwater Milling, Pickens Auctions, Farm Data Services, some regional banks, and several others I've failed to mention.  Finally, the $100 Interview Award is funded in honor of the late David Weckler, a bucket calf enthusiast and son of Paul and Stephanie Weckler, who cast a vision with the prize to honor their son David.

Ana is First-Named Storm of Atlantic Hurricane Season

We've had a record-late onset for the first named storm of a hurricane season.  (For any weather purists out there, I'm not absolutely sure it is the absolutely latest first named storm, but it's pretty close.)

 

Tropical Depression #3 is close behind Ana and looks larger - it would not surprise me if that one gets upgraded by Monday.

Picturing America

A neat program supported by our tax dollars is Picturing America, supervised by the National Endowment for the Humanities.  The program uses classic, period pieces of American art to teach aspects about our nation's heritage, history, culture, expansion, and development.  Plus, kids get to learn about some classic art at the same time.  The works of art that are central to the curriculum can be seen here.

 

My wife successfully applied for a set of the teaching materials (which are quite impressive) and is leading a homeschool group of about 15 students this fall.  It's a pretty serious effort, and I'm proud of her for doing it.  In a government where so much waste sadly occurs, I'm sure there are thousands of these packets that will be under-utilized or worse, slid away quietly in a closet and forgotten.  Not so, with Julie's group, taxpayers will most certainly have a return on their investment with these 15 children and their families.  Thanks NEH!

Disclaimers

Fully understanding the public nature of the internet, I realize and appreciate the need for disclaimers.  So, although I don't think I will be writing about anything too controversial, I wanted to have an entry to point to anytime a potential reader might need to be reminded that my words represent me, not my workplace, not my profession, not my professional affiliations, not my church, etc.

 

Therefore, writings and thoughts expressed at this weblog are those of Tim Snider alone.  Where veterinary or medical topics are discussed, they do not constitute veterinary or medical advice of any form.  One must seek their animal and personal healthcare from their personal veterinarian or personal physician.  Where opinions or uncomfortable facts about books, government, politics, religion, culture, or history are included, they represent my thoughts, and not my employer or professional affiliations.

BNOB: "Mayflower" by Nathaniel Philbrick

(What does BNOB mean?)

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This is the second of three Philbrick naval history books I will write brief notes on at this blog.  The first BNOB was on Sea of Glory, and was my second favorite of the three.  My favorite one - "In the Heart of the Sea" - will be reviewed at this site in a week or two.

Although "Mayflower" was my least favorite of the three big Philbrick works, it is still an excellent read chock full of action, struggle, success, failure, etc.  The title is appropriate since it tells of the 1620 Mayflower voyage and the Pilgrims settling Plymouth colony.  One of the broad, intriguing elements of the book is how Philbrick sorts between fact and myth in comparing what is truly historically documented versus how we've mythologized it for 2nd grade history.

For instance, it is difficult to substantiate that they stepped off the boat onto a rock, they did not immediately encounter Indians, the colonists were not all Pilgrims, not all was peaceful between Pilgrims and Indians, and the first Thanksgiving did not occur until their 10th month there.  Squanto, although a key English-speaking link and ally for the Pilgrims, is also not as noble and heroic as the grade school storied portray him.

The book recounts the increasing pressures upon religious freedom that compelled Pilgrims and Separatists to flee.  It then describes how the Mayflower was secured as the ship and the harrowing journey they experienced.  It does a good job describing the simplicity and significance of the Mayflower Compact.  Then, for the next 150 pages, the book recounts their experiences at self-government, food acquisition, and Indian encounters, with the principal character being William Bradford, who become the colonial governor at a very young age.

The second half of the book recounts King Philip's War of the 1670's and another key figure of Plymouth - Benjamin Church.  This war occurred between colonists and several tribes (but not all) of Indians.  The name of the war comes from a chief (or sachem) of the Pokanokets - Philip - who was not truly a king, but was referred to as one by the regions inhabitants.  Philip was the younger son of Massasoit - an earlier Pokanoket sachem who was a key ally to the Pilgrims of the 1620's. 

The course of public school U.S. history generally goes like this: Columbus - Jamestown - Mayflower - French/Indian War - Revolution, but the period between the Mayflower and the Revolution is full of interesting people and events.  It is in this period that the very significant King Philip's War occurred.  Based upon a percentage of the number of people killed (both colonial and Indian), this war had 5-6 times more fatalities than the War for Independence, and was 2-3 times bloodier than the Civil War.  The colonists win this war when Church surrounds King Philip and a member of Church's forces kills him.

This book is well worth the read; I would give it an 8 out of 10.

Personal Information

It goes without saying that our government and various segments of business and industry collect an unprecedented amount of information on us.  With computing power, it becomes quite easy to maintain an extensive database on everything from purchasing decisions to travel movements to tax and financial records.  Sounds scary, and it is.  Now, I'm not one to totally bury my head in the sand.  I can see and can trust that there are secure internet protocols that allow me to purchase something from Amazon with a credit card and not worry (too much) about my personal information.  However, recently, I've experienced, read about, or recalled some events that truly go too far.

Was in a small version of a national chain department store in Stillwater a few months back.  Don't recall purchasing anything and was likely getting information on chest freezers.  While at the counter, a man walked up with a Shop-Vac and a wad of cash ready to purchase.  The cashier announced the total and asked for the man's telephone number.  He said, "I don't want to provide that.  This is a cash purchase."  The cashier said he needed it for the warranty validation.  The man said, "I don't want the warranty - just the Shop-Vac. Cash purchase."  The cashier persisted.  The man responded again, this time with slight bellligerence, "This is a cash purchase.  Take my money or I'm walking out."  He ended up walking out with no Shop-Vac.  I don't know if the staff knew this man and had ulterior reasons for insisting, or if they just have stupid policies.  But, I left their store bewildered that one could not make a cash purchase these days without being hassled for personal information.

Recently traveled to the Florida Gulf coast and back.  While re-fueling at a few Texas gas stations, I was asked to provide a ZIP code after swiping my credit card.  I refused.  It made both of those transactions take three times as long, as I had to do it 'the old fashioned way' by handing my card to someone.  (Wow! That's a new application for the term old-fashioned.)  I was very suspicious of the info request - it did not occur in any other state and there was no stated reason for the info request.  I found out at incident #2 that it was a security measure to make sure your credit card was not stolen.  OOOOO  KKKKKK...... But, why couldn't they tell someone that on the little info screen at the pump?  I mean that little gas pump display has no problem telling me their LOW LOW price on a carton of cigarettes.  Why can't they tell me that their little ZIP code request is to ensure your credit card is not stolen.  Besides, how secure is this little info request when all I had to do to get around it was take the card in personally to a cashier and handle the transaction the slow way.  They didn't ask for my ZIP code or ID in there.  Strange and inconsistent, to say the very least.

The upcoming U.S. census is becoming surrounded by a small amount of controversy.  It seems that the Census has deemed it necessary to collect unprecedented amounts of information on U.S. residents.  I believe the Constitutional stipulation is 'to count the people.'  But, I am told that they now ask questions such as: 1. number of bathrooms in your home, 2. time of departure and arrival for work, 3. phone number(s), 4. your mental stability.  I've heard it is a 28 page form, but the question "What is your citizenship status?" is not one of the questions.  Wow! It truly is an upside down world when the government WON'T ask a question they have every RIGHT to ask, but they WILL ask numerous questions that they have NO RIGHT to ask.  The government leader shining some light on this is Michele Bachmann, a Republican representative of Minnesota. 

One Perspective on ObamaCare

I think this commercial really nails the conservative concerns on the health care package under consideration by Congress.

St. Vincent Island, Florida, National Wildlife Refuge

Not to be confused with St. Vincent of St. Vincent and Grenadines, we took a morning trip to St. Vincent Island National Wildlife Refuge just east on Indian Pass, Florida, and south of Apalachicola, Florida.

 

This island is fairly pristine and totally undeveloped.  It has beautiful beaches with shells galore.  It is an important habitat for nesting for various shorebird species as well as sea turtles.  The interior of the island is hotter and more humid and is populated by numerous mosquitoes, as wells as deer, eagles, lots of lizards, and other wildlife, including wolves.

 

We took a pontoon boat shuttle over there this morning.  Now, it's on to the Indian Pass Oyster Bar.

Sharks, Sharks, and Hardhead Catfish

In view of yesterday's post, the shark deal rapidly became no big deal.  Though I'm still impressed my son caught a shark on a little kid pole, we've now collectively caught a dozen or more of these little baby sandbar sharks, and now they are a bit of a nuisance.  I guess we need to switch bait, tackle, or location.  We've also caught numerous hardhead catfish, also a bit of a nuisance because they often swallow the hook and their potential for filleting and eating appears to be marginal.

 

 

My Son Caught a Shark!

On vacation here at Indian Pass, Florida.  Yesterday, we got situated and stocked up on groceries.  We bought fishing licenses for Julie and I.  We didn't have time to get the big adult fishing poles going, but I caught some baitfish with a net and set up the three kids.

 

Samuel caught a small (baby?) sandbar shark (actually two, landed one) from the beach this evening.  He caught it on his 2.5 ft Lightning McQueen kid pole with 8 # test line and the mid piece of a small hard head catfish for bait.  Wow, I was surprised and impressed.

BNOB: "Sultana" by Alan Huffman

(What does BNOB mean?)

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"Sultana" is a recent release by Alan Huffman.  It tells the amazing story of the Sultana disaster.

Briefly, the Sultana disaster is almost a footnote to the American Civil War, which is very surprising considering approximately 1800 people died and it is considered the worst maritime disaster in American history.  The Sultana was a steam-powered paddleship that ran up and down the Mississippi River.  Chartered by the U.S. government to provide passage to returning Union soldiers from southern prisons such as Andersonville and Cahaba, it picked up a load of passengers in Vicksburg to head northward.  When I say they picked up a load, I mean a 'load'.  Supposed to be built to safely carry around 400 people, they packed what experts thought were well over 2300 passengers.  Circumstances surrounding the overpacking were of course fraud (for every extra Union soldier they transported, they received more U.S. government commission) and a lack of oversight agencies such as NTSB and OSHA.  The riverboat explodes a few miles north of Memphis on the flooded, 5 mile wide, Mississippi River.....in the middle of the night.  Hundreds are thought to have died instantly in the explosion.  Hundreds more drowned.  The cause of the explosion is a matter of some controversy with opinions varying from the mainstream (the poorly managed boilers exploded) to the conspiratorial (the last Confederate vestige resistance put a bomb on it).

Most of you reading this blog (all 2 of you) have probably not heard of the Sultana disaster.  It is little known in American history.  Occurring in the wake of the Appomattox truce and within a week of Lincoln's assassination, the nation had been through a lot and had plenty on its mind.  There was just too much news in the April 1865 news cycle for the Sultana story to have lasting significance for the many.

I said the Sultana story was amazing.  Unfortunately, the "Sultana" book...not so much.  The main problem is that the Sultana final voyage and disaster comprise only around 25% of Huffman's book.  So, my major critique is that it is poorly titled.  The majority of the book follows the lives of three Union soldiers as they muster in, train, raid, fight, are captured, are released, and as they eventually board the Sultana and survive.  Their stories and occurrences within the narrative were disjointed and hard to follow.

I enjoyed learning about the Sultana, and the book, while it does raise awareness of this important story, is mis-titled and a little hard to read.  I would give it 5 out of 10 stars.

A Favorite Bible Verse: Phillipians 4:6-7

I like the whole book of Phillipians.  I especially like chapter 4, where Paul gives some good, solid, practical advice for living for Christ.

 

The passage in the subject line reads:

 

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything with prayer and thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 

Great Insight, Great Quote: Coburn vs Sotomayor

Perhaps somewhat overlooked in the mainstream media recently was the exchange between Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

 

Coburn asks:

 

I'm having trouble understanding how we got to a point where a right to privacy, which is not explicitly spelled out but is spelled out to some degree in the Fourth Amendment, which has settled law and is fixed, and something such as the Second Amendment, which is spelled out in the Constitution, is not settled law and settled fixed.

I don't want you to answer that specifically. What I would like to hear you say is, how did we get there? How did we get to the point where something that's spelled out in our Constitution and guaranteed to us, but something that isn't spelled out specifically in our Constitution is?

Her answer is not included here, I'm not sure I know specifically what she said.  The important thing is the nature of the question, and how did we get here from there?

Much Needed Rain

We live east of Glencoe, in Payne County, in North Central Oklahoma.  We had two major storms pass through overnight dropping 1.75-2.1 (Edited 07/16/2009 9:48 AM Central: 3.6 inches) inches of rain on us.  Praise the Lord!

Don't know what to write about

Sitting here this morning not knowing what to write about.  Reading John Piper's missions book "Let the Nations Be Glad" - it is good, but heavy reading.  Already picked up the trash the dogs knocked over and rolled in and ate.  About to go do some farm chores.

Dogs

Well, thought of something to write about....dogs....our dogs....our mostly worthless dogs.  The dogs who dumped and spread all the trash out that I picked up this morning at 6AM.  The dogs who have torn up our front yard to unprecedented levels as I discovered as I mowed it this morning - I got stuck twice in digging sites if that gives anyone a mental picture.  The dogs who've deposited yet another armadillo treasure in our recently mown side lawn.  The dogs who can be discovered most days hiding somewhere while they 'get sick to their stomach.'  The dogs who continually find ways to burrow under the porch in search of a cool spot.  The dogs who bark all night at squirrels or coyotes or cats.  The dogs who don't bark when some stranger walks in off the road at 2:30AM and knocks on the front door drunk.  The dogs who run up to strangers in their vehicles and lay down on their back asking to get their tummies scratched.  The dogs whose names are Jumper and Nick.  Love you guys!!

BNOB: "Sea of Glory" by Nathaniel Philbrick

(What does BNOB mean?)

   "Sea of Glory" is an excellent, thoroughly researched book by Nathaniel Philbrick.  It is the account of the U.S. Exploring Expedition briefly described by me here.  The Smithsonian site dedicated to the expedition is here.

The U.S. Exploring Expedition was directed by Lieutenant Charles Wilkes and lasted for four years.  Wilkes' rank sets the undertone for much of the controversy documented throughout the book, as the book in many ways is a negative study in leadership.  If anything, it also serves as an excellent test case for why supervisors of projects need to give their leaders of said projects all of the resources, responsibilities, and designations commensurate with the task.  Lieutenant Wilkes asked the Secretary of the Navy repeatedly for a designation as Captain before departure, albeit even if temporarily.  He cited morale and respect for the rank as two of the many reasons he needed the rank to direct six vessels and over 400 men around the world for 3-4 years.  The Navy refused his request multiple times.  A great deal of controversy and misunderstanding characterized the following four years.

However, the Expedition was a great success.  They did surveys and explored the coast of Antarctica.  The Expedition and its collected artifacts, upon their return, were the direct forbears of the founding of the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. Botanical Garden, and to some extent, the U.S. Naval Observatory.

Philbrick does a great job telling this story.  This book would make an excellent topic for a unit study in homeschools or junior high/high school history class as the topics covered and intersected include two U.S. presidential administrations, the colonization of the Pacific Northwest by the British, the exploration of the South Pacific, naval skills and history, whaling, and the visiting of numerous cultures, especially island cultures.  I rank the book a 9 out of 10.

Sad Identity Politics: Revisionist History in Real-Time

Confirmation hearings begin today for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.  Widely expected to be confirmed due to a stong Democratic majority, the media and political gadflies have been atwitter about her being the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice.  Or would she be?

 

Although there is room for some dispute, it seems a strong case has been and continues to be made that the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice served over 75 years ago, and was appointed by: Herbert Hoover.  His name? Nathan Cardozo.

 

As a backgrounder, the sources of the controversy include: 1. How is Hispanic defined? 2. What did Cardozo consider as his culture and heritage?  3. When did Hispanic come into common usage as a descriptor of a population segment? and 4. Who will get political credit for the appointment of the first Hispanic in a nation charged with identity politics?

 

In the spirit of a 'little blog,' I will not dissect each of those four points as it takes too much time.  Suffice it to say that there is much credible testimony to indicate Cardozo was the first Hispanic Justice.  I find it interesting that Wikipedia is a significant arbiter of this issue, at least for the laymen.  Ever since Sotomayor's announcement (May 26, 2009), the 'edit history' for Cardozo's Wikipedia entry has been extremely active - over 175 changes in the 5 weeks following Sotomayor's appointment - nearly all on the issue of Cardozo's heritage.   This issue is an obvious example for why we in academia strongly discourage our students from using Wikipedia as their means of research - it is not subject to a non-biased editorial and review process.  Truth comes by majority vote at Wikipedia - in these post-modern times, sadly, most people don't care about that.

 

What about the political hay to be made?  Certainly, the Hispanic bloc commands a great presence as a voting bloc.  I'm certain that the primary purpose of this effort at historical revisionism is to be able to make the claim: "Obama appointed the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice" on future political ads in 2012.  It's just FAR TOO BORING and FAR TOO POLITICALLY INCORRECT to say that Herbert Hoover - an evil Republican (that's sarcasm, BTW) - accomplished this nearly 80 years ago.

 

Me?  I don't care so much. Not about race, gender, eye color, etc.   I just want these lifetime appointees to know and understand the Constitution.  Mark Davis said it best last week (paraphrased) when he pointed out that the classic statue of 'Lady Justice' (pictured here) is a judge who is BLINDFOLDED.  How FAR we have come from a concept of blind justice!

U.S. Exploring Expedition

 

This is just a moderately brief history plug.  Have you ever heard of the U.S. Exploring Expedition?  I hadn't.  It is the subject of Nathaniel Philbrick's excellent book "Sea of Glory" which I will comment upon in the future.

Six ships leave. One returns prematurely.  Two sink.  One is purchased.  One is sold.  Three return.  Leave U.S. Go to Madeira. Rio.  Cape Horn. Antarctic Peninsula. Valpairaso and Callao. South Pacific Island groups. Australia. Antarctica again. Hawaii. Vancouver, Puget Sound, and Columbia River.  Singapore. Cape of Good Hope.  Return to U.S.  Four years.  Around the globe. Multiples of maps and surveys created and in use 100 years later.   Thousands of new species of plants and animals discovered and catalogued.  Ships caught in severe storms.  Sailors fight with Pacific islanders.  Intense tension develops between the inexperienced 'captain' and his crews.  Multiple court-martials ensue upon their return.  Can you tell I like the story?

The main plug here is the Smithsonian Institution, whose founding legitimately was a direct result of the U.S. Ex. Ex.  They have digitized all the relevant and rare documents of those who sailed on the expedition.  Their website (with links) to the documents is very interesting and is: http://www.sil.si.edu/digitalcollections/usexex/

A Favorite Music Performance: Foggy Mountain Breakdown - Scruggs and Friends (WOW!)

You either get this or you don't.  Yes, that is Steve Martin with the banjo solo in the middle.  The full band is star-studded:
 

Earl Scruggs, banjo - Glen Duncan, fiddle - Randy Scruggs, acoustic guitar - Steve Martin, 2nd banjo solo - Vince Gill, 1st electric guitar solo - Marty Stuart, mandolin - Gary Scruggs, harmonica - Albert Lee, 2nd electric guitar solo - Paul Shaffer, piano - Jerry Douglas, dobro - Leon Russell, organ - Glenn Worf, bass - Harry Stinson, drums

 

Subtitles....Schmubtitles

Just a little rant (on my little blog) about subtitles.  This is no rigorously controlled scientific study, but have you noticed in recent years the growth of subtitles?  Especially on non-fiction books and movies?  The title is usually 1-4 words; the subtitle 5-10, or in Dick Morris's case, 20+.  Examples? 

"Fleeced:How Barack Obama, Media Mockery of Terrorist Threats, Liberals Who Want to Kill Talk Radio, the Do-Nothing Congress, Companies That Help Iran, and Washington Lobbyists for Foreign Governments Are Scamming Us ... and What to Do About It";

"Catastrophe: How Obama, Congress, and The Special Interests Are Transforming...A SLump Into a Crash, Freedom Into Socialism, and a Disaster Into a Catastrophe...And How To Fight Back";

"Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto";

"Outliers: The Story of Success";

"Godless: The Church of Liberalism";

"Guilty: Liberal Victims and their Assault on America";

all of these are recent or current non-fiction best sellers. 

 

On the movie side, we currently have: "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"; and "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" amongst many others. 

 

I don't have a comprehensive list of how it was 20 years ago, but "Rocky II" seemed sufficiently descriptive at the time.   A quick look through the Pulitzer winners reveals an upward trend in subtitles, though it was utilized a great deal 20 years ago, too.  Again, this is just a little rant, but it just seems that everything marketed to us for entertainment consumption has a formulaic title and subtitle format.

BNOB: "The Lost City of Z" by David Grann

(What does BNOB mean?)

The principal figure in this book is Percy Fawcett, a largely overlooked turn of the previous century explorer.  Much of what is now known about South America sets upon a solid foundation established by Fawcett.  Indeed, much of the Brazilian borders deep in the Amazonian jungle were painstakingly surveyed by Fawcett and members of his multiple crews. 

Although Fawcett is the principal figure, his quest for a lost civilization – The Lost City of Z – is what drives the events in the narrative.  Not only for Fawcett, but also for at least two other very recent expeditions to the same area – one by the author David Frann, and another by South American banker James Lynch.

 

Fawcett and his multiple explorations, as well as his military service in World War I, take up a full 75% of the book, and in this sense, the book is one part biography, one part history, with a little geography and anthropology thrown in for good measure.  (Spoiler alert.)  The overleaf and other prefatory matter of the book do little to hide the fact that things do not end well for Fawcett, his son, and his son’s best friend who accompany him on the last journey.  Still, the story has enough strength and relevance to the known outcome that it is enjoyable to read.  The disappearance of Fawcett, et al, as well as ‘The Lost City of Z’ is called the ‘greatest exploration mystery of the 20^th century’, and this is what compels Lynch’s and Grann’s journeys.

 

Although the book is excellent in its own right, I enjoyed it all the more because of its intersection with other things I have read, learned, or experienced.  Among these are Fawcett’s early exploits in Bolivia, somewhat near where my 2007 mission trip occurred.  Also, many of Fawcett’s explorations occur at the same time that my favorite president – Theodore Roosevelt – was exploring the River of Doubt (later named Rio Roosevelt in his honor) in 1914 with Brazilian colonel (later general) Rondon.  In fact, Rondon and Fawcett encounter each other at the end of the book. Candace Millard’s book “The River of Doubt” recounts Roosevelt’s exploration and is a book I read a few years back.

 

This is an excellent book.  I give it a 9 out of 10.

BNOB: Brief Notes On Books

In the future, I will be posting BNOB's - Brief Notes on Books.  Not a book review.  It may not even recall the book details with 100% accuracy.  It will be just that - brief note: author, subject, principal characters, significance, whether I liked it, etc.  I'm going to mainly write these as a means of keeping track of books I've read and enjoyed.  I make no pretensions that anyone will find these interesting, but if someone stumbles upon these in cyberspace, I would want them to know what their purpose is. 

I hope to post the first one tomorrow.

Independence Day Fireworks - Belated Family Fireworks

We went to the local fireworks display at Pawnee Lake last night.  It was a rather close (and interesting) call with the weather as a pretty significant thunderstorm rolled in around the time of 'Zero-Hour.'  But, the storm dropped a few sprinkles and mostly skirted us.  Thus, it went off without a hitch to only about half the original audience, as the rest had left early.  I'm guessing there was some clever Pawnee city fireman with an I-phone that was watching the weather radar and keeping the show on schedule. As we left, the town of Pawnee - just 2 miles to the south - was soaked with about 0.4 inches of rain.

 

Today, we picked up some clearance fireworks for the family to shoot tonight.  We've got a wide assortment of fun things to explode - it's probably been 20+ years since I've set off some fireworks, so I'm looking forward to it with the wife and kids.

Happy Independence Day

I remember the old childhood riddle: "Do they have the Fourth of July in England?"  The right and wrong responses to that riddle serve as an odd context to one of my tiny pet peeves - today we celebrate Independence Day, not some number on a calendar. 

This morning I developed a Wordle for our Declaration of Independence. I find it interesting to note that "states, laws, and people" are emphasized in the founding document.  Are those three things emphasized today?  Image credit: www.wordle.net

A Favorite Hymn: "In Christ Alone"

Even though this is a recently written song, it is one of my favorite hymns (which might otherwise imply something very old).  It is entitled "In Christ Alone."  Written by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend, these men, along with Mr. Getty's wife Kristyn, are best described as modern hymn writers.  For my purposes, their hymns are a breath of fresh air when compared to the numerous praise choruses.  I'm not totally anti-praise chorus for there are many excellent ones, but the pendulum has certainly swung too far in the direction of praise choruses in recent years.

I hope you enjoy this hymn- it's very appropriate for Easter due to its message, but I find it uplifting any time I hear it.  Musically, I really like how Keith Getty puts the key changes (there are two) at key points in the message of the song.

Books

I started and moderate a semesterly book club at the Oklahoma State College of Veterinary Medicine.  We discuss books relating to science, health, medicine, and other topics.  I set up a blog site for it: http://osucvhsbookclub.wordpress.com/

 

 

tsniderdvm: First Post

I don't know what this 'Posterous' blog will look like, so I will keep this simple and short.  I'm a Christian, a husband, father, son and grandson, a veterinarian, a homeschooler, a college educator, a musician, a good friend and neighbor, and a part time farmer.  I enjoy current affairs, political commentary, history, and biography, and have a conservative perspective on most things.