Cold fusion keeps coming back! No word when I can install a reactor in the basement, though.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 09:35 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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"Okay, Seaman Sanson, this is your safety briefing," the rep said, grinning again. "Be aware that the platform you are using for entry is poorly constructed and may collapse. Be aware that on the far side of the gate you may experience reduced air quality. Be aware that on the far side of the gate you may experience increased or decreased gravitational field. The far side of the gate may not be at ground level and you may experience vertical movement on exit. Upon returning you may find that you do not hit the platform in which case you will experience an approximately twenty-meter fall to ground level. The gate may not return to this same location at all in which case you may find yourself in any location in this universe or in any other universe. The environment suit that you are using is not warranted by the manufacturer for use in any nonterrestrial environment and, therefore, you are using it at your own risk. Do you understand this warning?"

(John Ringo, Into the Looking Glass)

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"What is his background Mr. Secretary?"

"NASA, then defense contractors," the secretary said, smiling faintly. "Ph.D.s in physics, aeronautical engineering, optics, electronic engineering and some other stuff. Smart guy. Very bright, very sharp, high watt."

"Fifty-ish, balding," the Homeland Security director added, chuckling. "Fifty pounds overweight, pocket protector, five colors of pens, HP calculator on his hip."

The defense secretary just smiled. more...

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"Just remember," Miller growled, over the radio. "Once you ignite the fuse, Mister Satchel Charge is not your friend."

(Into the Looking Glass, John Ringo)

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He dialed his phone again.

"Garcia."

"Have the detectors arrived?"

"About an hour ago, and you were right. There's a fairly continuous stream of subatomic particles coming out of it. I think it's degrading."

"Okay, good," Weaver said.

"Is that firing I hear?" Garcia asked.

"Yeah, we're being invaded," Weaver replied and yawned. "Monsters from the eighth dimension or something. I think we're about to get overrun."

"Jesus! Get out of there!" more...

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"Shit," Sanson said, dropping out his magazine and slapping in a new one.

The reason for his exclamation was clear. A new type of creature was pouring through the gate. These were bipedal and large but otherwise similar in general appearance to the earlier attackers. The big difference was in their armament. The tops of their beaks appeared to be hollow and as Weaver watched they stitched the line of defenders with projectiles. Two of them concentrated on the big machine gun, which had been gotten back into action, and the two man crew was riddled with the projectiles, their blood splashing all over the truck, which was still painted in desert camouflage.

The beasts were, also, heavily armored and seemed to shrug off most of the rounds coming their way. Only the heavy rounds of the MG-240s seemed able to penetrate their armor and the things were now concentrating on taking out the machine guns one by one. more...

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Weaver waved at the sergeant and showed his Pentagon ID again.

"I'm Dr. Weaver with the DOD," he said. "This is Command Master Chief Miller with SEAL Team Five. What do you have?" more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:43 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A science fiction writer he knew always carried a black backpack that he called his "alien abduction pack." "Everything I need to survive for twenty-four hours in eighty percent of terrestrial environments." It was really a "I crashed in somebody else's hotel room at a con" or "the airline lost my bags" pack. Weaver had started carrying one as well and he was glad for it now. He could shave with his own razor and brush his teeth with his own toothbrush. He'd used up the bottle of water the day before but that was easily remedied.

As soon as he was done with his shower, hair brushed, wearing new underwear thanks to the "alien abduction pack" again, he was ready to face the day.

(Into the Looking Glass, John Ringo)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:40 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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No soldier ever dies in vain. They have chosen to stand between their country and the barbarians. There is no greater position of honor than this. Politicians sometime do not use the sacrifice correctly; however, that sacrifice is never ever in vain.

(Source Unknown.)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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...it was like gossiping with a chum in the gunroom: the place was littered with port bottles, full and empty, along with three Colt revolvers on the side table, boxes of patent matches, a broken telescope, a well-thumbed Bible next to the Woolwich Manual of Fortification, a shelf packed with jars of Coward mixed pickles, bundles of silver ingots tied with red waxed string and thrown carelessly on the bed, an old barommeter, piles of French crockery, jade ornaments, tea cups, a print of the Holy Well in Flintshire propped up against the Young Cricketer's Companion, and papers, books, and rubbish spread in dusty confusion.

(George McDonald Fraser, Flashman and the Dragon)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:22 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today 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 abed
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.

(William Shakespeare, Henry V)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:20 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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When you send a man out with a gun, you create a policymaker. When his ass is on the line, he will do whatever he needs to do.

And if the implications of that bothers you, the time to do something about it is before you decide to send him out.

(David Drake, "Afterword to Counting the Cost", Caught in the Crossfire)

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 07:16 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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How It All Began

In ancient Israel, it came to pass that a trader by the name of Abraham Com did take unto himself a young wife by the name of Dot. And Dot Com was a comely woman, broad of shoulder and long of leg. Indeed, she had been called Amazon Dot Com. more...

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An elderly gentleman of 83 arrived in Paris by plane. At the French customs desk, the man took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry-on bag. "You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked, sarcastically. The elderly gentleman admitted he had been to France previously. "Then you should know enough to have your passport ready." more...

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(Reposted from 2006, also referenced in 2007.)

Review can now be found here.

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The celestial object with that innocent name is actually the biggest supernova yet discovered. When will we see such a site in our own galaxy? Astronomers are keeping an eye on one very likely candidate.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:09 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Looking like something that Spirit or Opportunity might see on the surface of Mars, today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is actually a shot from our own Death Valley.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 05:59 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Bruce Moomaw writes about Cassini's exploration of Saturn's moon Lapetus. Lapetus? Lapetus? That's a new one. Maybe he's talking about Saturn's mysterious moon Iapetus, featured in Sir Arthur C. Clarke's novel 2001: A Space Odyssey (where it was misspelled as Japetus)?

Check, please! Spell check, please!

(Addendum: May 9, 2007: See the update, below.) more...

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And now, inspired by too much reading of the works of Patrick O'Brian...

Spanish Ladies

(Which is what I sing when I read too much Patrick O'Brian...)

Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish Ladies,
Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain;
For we've received orders for to sail for ole England,
But we hope in a short time to see you again.
We will rant and we'll roar like true British sailors,
We'll rant and we'll roar all on the salt sea.
Until we strike soundings in the channel of old England;
From Ushant to Scilly is thirty five leagues. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 04:19 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 Always makes me think of the movie Jaws. Great scene.

Posted by: Gunner at May 07, 2007 11:12 PM (LjQ8D)

2 ditto

Posted by: Dallas Meow at May 08, 2007 07:58 AM (8LYtL)

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Remember that great end sequence from the classic monster flick, Them! You know, giant ants rampaging across California, settling into Los Angeles? The end sequence took place in the flood-control tunnels that criss-cross the city. Here's a look at similar tunnels under Las Vegas. I looks like there are some strange inhabitants down there! more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 08:30 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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