This Moment in History: Qaddafi dead

Today I saw reports that Libyan leader/ dictator/ state-funded-terrorist-supporting quack Muammar el-Qaddafi (I'm going with the NYT's spelling) had been killed in a clash in Libya between Qaddafi's dwindling forces and the uprising against his regime.  On the elliptical at the gym, I watched Anderson Cooper trying to make sense of video footage he'd received of a bloody-faced Qaddafi, apparently just before his death.  And here's an article on the whole, ugly, final day of Qaddafi's life.  

Our younger readers will not necessarily remember Qaddafi as the bogeyman to the US that he was back in the 1980's.  But his participation in bombings of airline flights inform a bit of why it seemed logical to the US populace in 2003 that perhaps Saddam Hussein was supporting terrorist action.  Many of us remember Qaddafi in association with bombings such as the one at Lockerbie.

I also recall our repeated attempts to bomb Qaddafi, which eventually led to his retreat from the world stage as the US sent sorties of F-111's over Tripoli, strategically placing bombs into the bedrooms of his various homes.

I was in history class when we discussed how and why we'd bombed Libya.

I won't mourn the man, but just as I am uncertain that I was uncomfortable with the festival atmosphere that followed the death of Bin Laden, it doesn't feel like anything to celebrate.  It just feels like is something that never should have happened to begin with.  I dunno.  I guess we'll just have to differ on that.

Steve Jobs Merges with Infinite - Makes Shinier and More User Friendly

A lot of ink will get spilled over the passing of Steve Jobs over the next 72 hours.  And it'll all be deserved.

The man was as near an Edison as we were likely to see in our lifetimes, the personality and face which didn't necessarily do the heavy lifting back at the lab, but whose clear vision and ability to reach people where they lived made it possible for Jobs to push technology in bold and daring new directions, and ask the competition to keep up.  Like Edison, I'm sure Jobs had his Teslas, but I don't have any interest today in dwelling on the man's foibles or issues.

What I can remember is standing in a strip mall store with my parents and brother and then bringing home an Apple IIe that changed our household and within a couple of years, the classroom full of Apples in middle school.  And then the first Macs with the flying toasters.  But let's not kid ourselves.  It was the sleek Macs that came after the candy colored iMacs, those wildly powerful things in white and black casings.  Then the Scandanavian design of Mac product circa 2001.

The iPod suddenly made those piles of cheap discsman players you were constantly battling with utterly obsolete when it landed, and then Apple changed the media distribution model from the scummy BS of Napster to the legal and oh-so-Apple world of iTunes.  The iPhone stretching out your capabilities beyond the tri-corder and communicators of Star Trek with their sleek faces, and "Jesus, how did they do that?" interfaces and designs that you couldn't believe, and as if they knew how your mind sifted through information better than you, yourself.

So, those guys were hiking the Iranian/ Iraqi border?

I've kind of/ sort kept an eye on the story of the three Americans who were held by Iran for the past few years after they, apparently, strayed over the Iranian border whilst out for their morning constitutional.  I, too, had been concerned for the welfare of my fellow Americans caught in a potentially deadly situation playing out on a global scale.  But, I admit, my sympathy for the situation dropped significantly when I figured out today that the three had been hiking the Iranian/ Iraqi border.  To which I say:

...wut?

How has this not been a part of the story?  Why is this buried several paragraphs down in every article where the information actually does appear in some form other than "hiking along the Iranian border"?

I guess I know now why the Iranians thought our friends may have been up to no-good shenanigans.  Hell, I'm not sure I don't believe they were up to something.

9/11 post - 10th anniversary

It would be remiss not to acknowledge the events of September 11th, 2001.

But I don't know what to write about it.

Like all of you, I can tell a long story about where I was, and how it affected me personally.  I think these stories are important.  They're how we know the event happened as something other than images on a TV screen or in a headline.

I've told the story before, and I'll likely tell it again sometime, but not here or today.  Its just what happened to me and to Jamie.  It is not what happened in New York or at The Pentagon or in Pennsylvania.  And its not what happened in the days following, with candlelight vigils, American flags hanging from housefronts, and calm unity and certainty in the face of not just tragedy but of absolute and frightening change to how we thought about the world.

This is where I stop, because in reviewing the timeline, I'll start rambling on, and I strongly suspect that our visions of the world will differ, and I don't want to have that conversation.

The world didn't begin or end on 9/11/2001.  It changed.  And like a lot of changes (something we aren't very well equipped at dealing with in a single generation), the world changed enough that we had a chance to reveal ourselves, and for a short while, we were okay, and we got through it.  We remembered that emergency personnel are true heroes, that soldiers go to war for us, and that the civilization we've built will always have some on the outside who will crash against the walls.  That was for a while, and like all changes, this one showed new sides to us that we've not yet reconciled.

This isn't the place for anything else to write on the topic.  No doubt, you'll have skipped this or breezed through it, along with a thousand other 9/11 memorials and tributes that will pass by you today.

I don't know what to think about.  The victims, most certainly.  The first responders, absolutely.  The hi-jackers?  Why they were there and a half-century of policy most of us think about once or twice a year?  A strange man in a cave that we've finally killed a decade later?  The line from there to now and the thousand things I never guessed I'd see?

The fact that in 100 years this date may well be forgotten?  Or that this date in 2111 may well be remembered just enough to be used by mattress stores to discount their wares?

I don't know.  I know we'll see a hell of a lot of replays of footage I watched over and over 10 years ago, and I'll be able to remember sitting in a hotel room on the bed, uncertain of what was live and what was replay and watching the still aircraft on the tarmac for days, wanting to see them move and not wanting to see a solitary plane in the sky.

Oh, right. So, my folks' house did not burn down (yet)

Thanks to the heroic efforts of local firefighters, the abode of The KareBear and The Admiral still stands tall.

If you're catching up, their area of Austin, Steiner Ranch, was one of several areas experiencing wildfire thanks to drought conditions (and, it turns out, some power lines shooting sparks).  I'm not clear on how close the fire came, but it was still a bit away, so its not as if it burned right up to their property line and then respectfully stopped, not wanting to give The Admiral a bad day.

The folks have been out to the house, checked it for problems, and have headed back to Houston until next weekend.

I appreciate everyone's concern, and I know my folks appreciate it, too.

Unfortunately, there's no rain in our forecast, and we do have dry and breezy conditions forecast for the next week.  That ain't good.  All of Texas needs about a week of solid rain, as wildfires are breaking out across the entire state.  We're going from an agricultural problem to a potential catastrophe of state-wide proportions.

Here's to our emergency responders, who are working around the clock to save the day.

Texas on Fire

While the East Coast has been experiencing severe weather, and Louisiana has been grappling with a tropical storm, since the 4th of July, most of Texas has been dealing with record breaking heat by standards of both intensity and duration.  Add in the fact that it simply will not seem to rain here, and the Central Texas region, which is home to Austin has become a wildfire waiting to happen.

Fires of various sizes have been cropping up all summer, and its a credit to the firefighters that while we've definitely lost homes and property, by and large the disasters have not spread completely out of control.  Until now.

I'm afraid its gotten pretty bad out there.  My folks bought a house in North Austin they're retiring to before Thanksgiving, and were in town for the weekend for the UT/ Rice game.  Unfortunately, wildfires caught out in their area, and right now they're evacuated to my... sofa, actually.  Its fairly nerve-wracking watching the news and seeing the devestation.  And the crazy part is that Steiner Ranch isn't even the part of town hardest hit.  Bastrop, a former small town - now a bedroom community, is getting hit really hard.

Anyhow, I may be distracted for a while dealing with my folks' situation and real life, so I ask that you bear with us.

Here's The Statesman, our local paper, and their coverage.

Adios to the Old DCU

This week we'll see the last of DC's continuity as its been for the last 25 years.

But let's raise a glass, shall we?

Here's to 25 years of recent continuity.

It was a mess, it didn't make sense a lot of the time, it included the personification of lousy fanboy behavior punching the walls of reality in a hissy fit and accidentally bringing Jason Todd back from the dead...  But if it weren't a totally screwed up timeline and it didn't drive us all crazy, it wouldn't be the DC Universe.

My father's birthday included Robot Gorillas

Today The Admiral is 65.  Sixty Five.

The Old Man has been around the sun now a few times, and so we pay him his dues.

This weekend we headed into Galveston where we stayed in a condo on the beach and generally took it easy.  The days of running all over, Griswold-like, during any vacation seem to be receding in the rear-view mirror, and I'm quite pleased with this turn of events.  I am content to bob in the ocean and worry only about my next meal.

The Admiral then ran off, arms out at his sides shouting "vrroooooom!  VROOOOOOMMM!!!!".  This is a B17.

Unfortunately, we hit Houston at about 3:30 on a Friday in August, right before school started, so we were one of several million people on I-45 heading down past Hobby when I noticed, first, that our tire pressure alert had gone off.  I said nothing to Jamie so as to not cause undue panic, but was feeling the car handling poorly soon afterward, but funny thing about that stretch of Houston...  its almost impossible to pull off for a couple of miles.

Now, I will say this for the drivers of Houston:  their roads may have been designed by crazy people, but I had more people letting me know I had a flat tire than you can imagine, and people BLOCKING for me as I eventually managed to get off around Scarsdale.  And THEN we basically rolled into this surprisingly garage, and the guy patched my tire basically for free since he felt sad he didn't have the exact tire or fix-it kit he'd want to do a good job.  So, Houstonians,  I ask you to patronize Premier Foreign Domestic Cars when you have a chance.

We made it to Galveston only about an hour late, went to The Spot for dinner on the seawall.  Then back.

The next day we swam in the sea, then The Admiral and I went and got a new tire for the CRV while Jason, Amy and KareBear went to The Bishop's Palace on Broadway (which I pledge now to visit on my next voyage to Galveston), while the Admiral and I detoured over to The Lone Star Flight Museum.  For a small (inexpensive, too!) museum, they had an impressive batch of planes.  What was mostly impressive was that almost 3/4's of what they had was still airworthy.  So, in the morning we'd been bobbing in the ocean and watched a P-51 Mustang, a B-17 Flying Fortress, a T6 and a Stearman bi-lane go over, and all four were at the Museum while we were there, so we could walk right up to them.  I'm no plane aficionado, but for some reason I find the P-51, P-47 and F-4U interesting birds, and they had all three (no B-26, P-38 or P-40, but who is quibbling?)!  They also had B-17 which I stuck my head in (I wasn't supposed to, I think), and this thing, which is one of the models The Admiral worked on back in his Air Force days in Vietnam.

The Admiral asks too many questions about how he should pose.  I am not patient for this litany of questions.

He told me 10 times what this thing is, and I think its an A-8.  But that isn't actually correct.

edit:  I am told this is an A1-H, but The Admiral worked on the A1-E.  Both called the "Skyraider".

Last night we went to the Olympia Grill for dinner.  Had a lovely time.

This morning, Jamie woke me up once and said "You don't want to see the sunrise, do you?"  And I said "Hrrruughh?  Murrgghhh." and went back to sleep.

The condo we were in was pretty snazzy, up on the top floor of the Galvestonian with view both south and east, and so I could see her compelling argument, but at 6:45, all I could think was "pillow.  face.   Gnnrraaghhh."

10 minutes later she tried again, and so I got up and watch the sun just post-rising today.  And then I hit the beach for an hour.  The fishies were swimming exactly on the surface all around us, and pelicans were dive-bombing all over the place getting their morning meals.

We then packed up, and had to leave, enjoying a final meal at the themed "Rainforest Cafe" (where, if you have kids, you may have been.  Its really goofy.).

The League makes a pal.

The Admiral is one for stoicism in the face of nonsense, and perhaps I should not have pointedly asked the "safari guide" for their "most adventurous table", but we had a pretty good view of both the animatronic apes and elephants.  And, somehow, it seemed fitting on The Admiral's 65th, which is actually today, that we ring it in with the freaking out of robot gorillas and the faux-thunderstorm and other such, uh, whatever that is.

But I can recommend the Rainforest Ricky.  Its a tasty treat.

In case you didn't hear, the new (Ultimate) Spider-Man is a black/ hispanic dude. Cue the worst in humanity.

Norway, Debt Ceiling

I am absolutely shocked to hear about the violence which broke out in Norway today. As of this writing the press is saying that more than 80 people have died in two blasts (miles apart) and a shooting rampage. At this time neither The New York Times nor the Times of London have repeated the story, but CNN is stating as many as 87 have died.

news article here

I have nothing to add at this time other than to quote from the CNN article:

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was not in his office at the time of the blast and was not hurt, officials said.

Afterward, he had a message to whoever may have been responsible: "You won't destroy us," he said. "You won't destroy our democracy. We are a small but proud nation. No one can bomb us to silence. No one can scare us from being Norway. This evening and tonight, we'll take care of each other. That's what we do best when attacked."

Let's all take a minute to think of Norway today, please.

Debt Ceiling

I do not pretend to understand the economics or politics of the debt ceiling issue entirely, other than to note that I am watching to see what sort of moment in history our elected officials choose to engage in.

History teaches us many things, mainly about how what we do today will be written about tomorrow. Let us hope that wisdom trumps egos and that politics and posturing do not mean we accidentally end modern civilization.

This Moment in History: The Final Space Shuttle Mission

The Atlantis lifts off for the final time

My heart breaks a little knowing that its the end of the Space Shuttle era. I'd be simply nostalgic if it meant that in 2012 the X-39 or a similar program were geared up to take the place of the Shuttle Program. But, instead, for the foreseeable future we'll be taking rides on Russian rockets to visit our own space station, and remaining earthbound after a half-century of touching the cosmos, even if it was only ever a glancing touch.

We looked into the face of limitless possibility as a nation, and we blinked.

In the years to come, they'll say it was a fool's errand, and a waste of resources. I'll be an old man, and the highest aspiration for kids will have long ago quit being being "Astronaut", which will sound antiquated and sad, almost how we smirk knowingly when you imagine being referred to as a "First Mate" on a ship.

And when we're old enough, or when we're gone, they'll say it never happened (just you wait). They'll say they never had the technology, that the will of a nation to spend the resources and capitol necessary just a few decades after the Wright Brothers flew their first place and the first rockets criss-crossed the skies... it was impossible. It'll be called illogical, fantastic and a hoax, written off like the sun-chariots in carvings in Egypt. And when that's said often enough, it'll be true.

Perhaps we went to fast, too soon.  Perhaps the kids I grew up with who squirmed their way through math and science took it for granted when we got to start making the rules, and maybe we were just a little disillusioned that they'd never asked us to suit up and go.  Like everything else, maybe we thought it would always be there.

As always, all we can do is hope that the tide will turn, and one day (perhaps when we're more deserving) we'll be ready, honestly and for real this time.

Until then, I thank the scientists, engineers, visionaries, and brave women and men who suited up and saw the Earth for us, and who went as close to the stars and further and faster than any of us.



The New York Times
AP Story at The Austin American Statesman

So, DC is seemingly doing a hard re-boot on the ENTIRE DCU

I have absolutely no idea how this is going to work, but it looks like DC Comics just announced a few minutes ago that they will be starting their entire line over with all new #1 issues set in a DCU not of the current continuity.

Announced here at USA Today.

1)  All new #1's
2)  I think its safe to assume we just moved to an all new Earth for the DCU and the stories we all have been reading since 1986 just got wrapped up and put on the shelf
3)  The reboot is going to take everyone back to a younger, earlier point
4)  Same day online delivery of ongoing content to DC's online store
5)  New costumes for many heroes, including SUPERMAN (I never thought I'd see the day)
6)  It's 1986 all over again
7)  I think we can assume this is one way to wrap up the Lois/ Superman relationship without a One More Day resolution
8)  I have to appreciate the bold move by DC to jump start interest
9)  I think they're going to lose tens of thousands of readers and go back to old continuity within a year
10)  No word yet on if old continuity will continue or if numbering will be preserved in titles like Action and Detective.  Basically - is DC trying an Ultimates Style redo line wide and keeping any old titles, or...?  I have no idea.
11)  I am completely stunned.  Not that I didn't think it was a possibility given the nature of Flashpoint, but...  Wow, DC...

More updates as events warrant.

Something must have slipped, because DC was going to make a big announcement on June 11th, and word must have been too close to leaking.

If their Fiscal Year ends on August 31, this is one hell of a way to change the numbers for FY 2011-12.

Red Cross is a Good Idea Today

This Spring has seen its fair share of tragedy due to horrendous storms which cost hundreds of lives.  The pictures coming out of Joplin today are every bit as heartbreaking as those from Alabama a few weeks back.  At The Signal Watch we're regular donors to The Red Cross, and we like to encourage you to join us in chipping in a bit more when the need is sudden and great.

You don't have to be from Alabama or Missouri to want to help.  And you don't even need to get up from your computer.  Please visit RedCross.org today and consider a donation.  Its a super sort of thing to do.

Our Thoughts are with Japan

As you have no doubt been alerted, Japan has suffered a major earthquake and tsunami.  I did not see the televised footage until about 10:00 AM today while waiting in line for a cup of coffee.  Like you, I was horrified at the sheer loss.

What can you say after seeing the footage except to express concern, wishes for the wellbeing of people you don't know, and to be one of many voices asking that you consider providing some financial assistance to the organizations that will be responding today and in the weeks to come.

CNN ongoing coverage is here.

The Red Cross alert website.

So, apparently there's life out there in space

So, apparently NASA is saying that they've found the fossil evidence of alien life in a meteorite.

You can read the article here. 

So, upon realizing what I was reading, my immediate reaction was a sort of weird, physical thing where my body went cold and I felt sort of nauseous.  You get this, right?  I mean, these findings don't just suggest, but they are fairly significant evidence - there is something else out there.  Even single-celled warbly things are something.  Our planet is completely covered in single-celled warbly things, so it makes sense that there are chunks of Earth flying through space with bits of amoeba and flagellates embedded somewhere in the rock.

Now, of course you sort of have to believe in fossils to buy the evidence, and given the current state of things, it seems more likely that someone will cut this guy's funding and/ or burn down his home and office rather than suggest that fossil evidence means anything, but I tend to be completely amazed that scientists (the people who spent their lives dedicated to figuring this stuff out, and not you - the person who saw this thing once on the Discovery Channel), are going to go ahead and put their names in with this review.

Completely amazing.