THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER

Suddenly, my mental powers are growing, growing. I can predict the future of where we will be going in a few years. I see, yes, it's Florida taking shape out there in the mists of time. Especially since Mr. Boy recently finished the second HP game for the PC, the Chamber of Secrets by defeating the Basilisk, and has moved on to the third one, the Prisoner of Azkaban. Even limited to an hour a day, which he sometimes succeeds in pushing to 90 minutes, he's had a lot of fun with the games. Also the books. We are reading the Half-Blood Prince nightly for the second time, and awaiting the last book due July 21 or thereabouts. Someday the theme park will come and now I know where we'll be, too.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 02:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Politician-turned-actor Fred Thompson plans an unconventional campaign for president using blogs, video posts and other Internet innovations to reach voters repelled by politics-as-usual in both parties, he told USA Today."

Via Instapundit. The Fred-a-Rama!

Posted by Dick Stanley at 03:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Seablogger, writing about his first PC, a desktop model, in 1986, reminded me of my first one, a bulky, more or less portable, Kaypro II, in 1983. Like the Seablogger, I bought the computer to write on, enchanted by the habit, acquired at my newspaper job, of writing on a screen instead of typing on paper. The main advantage, of course, was being able to quickly and simply backspace through the stuff I decided I didn't want. No more carbon paper or Whiteout. There were other keyings for "erasing," of course, but backspacing was my initial favorite. It took weeks to learn all the commands, but it was worth it, even as the commands have changed over the years. I still have some printouts from those days, a short story or two, and the start of a diary.

The Kaypro's builder, Non-Linear Systems, was the world's 5th largest personal computer maker in 1983 when it changed its name to Kaypro Corp. Seven years later it was bankrupt. Shortly before that, the green-on-black screen died. Couldn't get it fixed. So one night, after buying one of the first laptops, made by Radio Shack, I deposited the bulky Kaypro in a dumpster. I should have kept it. Might be worth something today. But it was the start, and I've never looked back--except to marvel that I ever wrote on a typewriter.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 01:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Poignant slide show memorial to US Marine CPL Jason Dunham, awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for valor in Iraq. More on him here.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 01:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Shocking, but true. I actually failed to post something for 24 hours, or thereabouts. But Mr. Boy and I were preoccupied Tuesday. He got to watch a morning video, followed in early afternoon by an hour's worth of a Harry Potter computer game, while I mowed the lawn. Then I took him to the dentist (still no cavities), and up to the elementary school ball field to play catch. After about 45 minutes we came home so I could fix supper and he could watch another video. Mom got home a little later than planned, but there was still time for stories, as always. All-in-all, it was a reasonably satisfying day of retired parenting. And so it will continue, I hope, until day camp begins on Monday. Then I'll start sailing in the morning while he's gone.

Here's something I filched from this site, with whose headline on this page I entirely agree, though I'm not sure about the rest of the content:

"This Entire Web Site Was Produced Totally From 100% Recycled Electrons. Absolutely No Protons or Neu[t]rons Were Used Nor Were Any Wild Pixels Harmed In Its Manufacture."

So true. 

Posted by Dick Stanley at 12:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lower Colorado River Authority graph shows how far and how fast Lake Travis has risen since last Tuesday, thanks to the weekend storms in the watershed. The lake is now forecast to hit 684 feet above mean sea level by Thursday, without any more rain. That would be a rise of 11 feet. I didn't bother to visit the marina this morning, figuring the parking lot would be under water. Certainly is now. Ah, well, I have other chores including a backyard to mow when the wet grass dries out by tomorrow.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 11:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Soldier, rest, thy warfare o'er, 
Dream of fighting fields no more.
Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking,   
Morn of toil, nor night of waking.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Those Teletubbies. The suspicion marches on. Now the Poles think Tinky Winky & the gang are gay. All because the Tinkster carries a purse.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 06:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Posted by Dick Stanley at 03:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The rancho and most of the area has been spared any severe flooding so far, but Lake Travis is rising like a rocket. According to the LCRA: the Llano River is running more than 12,000 cubic feet per second, when a few hundred is normal. The Llano flows into the upper lakes whose dams pass their excess downstream to Travis. Meanwhile the Pedernales, which flows directly into Travis, is running more than 6,000 cubic feet per second, when a few hundred is normal. Meanwhile, Lake Travis is at 681.22 feet above mean sea level, which is full--for the first time since April, 2005.

The parking lot at Anderson Mill marina was mostly underwater Sunday morning. The lake was more than 12 inches lower at that point. The extra foot could have drowned the rest of the lot. The river authority is keenly aware of all this and may have to open another gate or two on the dam to slow the rise. They don't like to squander the water, and so have been releasing only enough to generate electricity. But opening more may be necessary to prevent flooding on the lake. Which, in turn, might mean dock and other shoreline damage to folks who live downstream on Lake Austin. A complicated juggling act.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 02:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Memorial Day is supposed to be about honoring the war dead, and passing the torch. It's not supposed to be just another chance to whack Bush over Iraq, while leaving Afghanistan unmentioned because you can't use that favored MSM phrase "...this unpopular war" with Afghanistan. The Memorial Day observance, which began in and after the American Civil War, is supposed to about the war dead, not the living combatants nor veterans. And not breaking faith is, today, an often forgotten part of it.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 05:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Mouth of the Brazos makes a good point in reviewing the famous John Wayne movie "The Searchers." Good as the story is, the landscape pretending to be Texas is Utah or Arizona, somewhere flat, dry and dusty. I still run across Yankees who are amazed to discover we have trees and grass and rolling hills. All because of movies like that one. Good as it is.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 04:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Omar at Iraq the Model will keep an eye on Iraqi news media tomorrow when US and Iranian ambassadors are scheduled to meet for a chat:

"I can't see the slightest hint to concessions from either side so I strongly think that tomorrow's meeting will be only about America and Iran telling each other what they want. The face to face part is the only difference."

Posted by Dick Stanley at 04:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The waves of rain some meteorologists predicted seem to have made their appearance on KVUE's Web radar, with showers at the rancho for the first time all day. But the forecast rain totals were revised downward from as much as 10 inches to as little as 2 to 4 inches. That's good because Lake Travis is more than full for the first time in two years. The Lower Colorado River Authority has opened the floodgates at Mansfield Dam. It's been a wild three months as the lake has come back from the drought of 05-06. Any great additional rain now in the lake's watershed could start flooding homes out there on the shoreline. Looks like the Turnback Canyon race is going to get wet tonight. They're probably asleep. They have to get up later this morning to retrace the whole 19 miles they came today.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 12:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's John Wayne's 100th birthday! You can't beat that. So hightail it to Winterset, Iowa. Where? Why, the town where Marion Robert Morrison (i.e. John Wayne) was born. Move along there, pilgrim.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 09:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The US Army's XM982 Excalibur precision-guided, extended-range 155mm artillery shell, demonstrated in this part-video, part-animation movie. It was recently used in combat for the first time, in Baghdad, by the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Cavalry Division. Surprise death from above.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 01:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Despite the storms, the Austin Yacht Club is pressing ahead with its annual 19-mile race on Lake Travis. I've only tried this one three times since 1985, all three aborted about two-thirds of the way from sunburn and exhaustion. Each time, I spent the night in a small cove miles from the finish line and the parties and etc. The last attempt was the most memorable, because Mr. Boy's mom broke her hand, hitting it on the transom when trying to start the manual outboard to help me position the anchor in the cove. Fortunately the First Aid kit had a splint and chemical ice pack, and we watched a sitcom on a small TV we had. Motored home the next morning and went to the emergency room. Hope no one has it that bad this weekend and that all arrive on time, despite the inevitable debris in the water from the flooding.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 12:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

That's what some members of the Texas House of Representatives are trying to do at this hour. They often do their business late into the night in May of a biennial session, and are supposed to work all weekend this year. If you care, watch it live.

UPDATE  More on the mysterious trip to Brazil. Nothing like a scandal in political Texas.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 11:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Parts of the Hill Country around Fredericksburg (now at 10 inches) and Johnson City are soaked, after waves of rain in the past 24 hours, especially where the Pedernales River is out of its banks. The death toll hasn't risen much since this morning, so people must be heeding the weather service slogan regarding low-water crossings: "Turn around, don't drown." Lake Travis has risen two feet since Monday, mainly since Thursday. But LCRA expects it to rise another 5 to 6 feet over the weekend, which would be at or just below its flood pool elevation. And that's just from what's already fallen, with more expected.

The lake might flood by Memorial Day, or LCRA open the flood gates and pass the water downstream through Austin. Travis probably will be closed to boating, due to the debris and the high bacteria count, as most of the water is coming from the Pedernales and there's a lot of cows and sheep out there. The rancho has picked up only a bit more than 1.5 inches. But the radar is clear, for now, with most of the rain parked well to the north. KVET/KASE meteorologist Troy Kimmel says we could get up to 10 inches more by Monday, primarily south of Austin, as a series of lows combine with a stationary front to our north to fetch moisture in from the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific, and trigger more rain.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 06:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No one who lived through it--including me--has forgotten the Austin flooding of May 24, 1981. Though there have been plenty of other floods since then, that remains the Memorial Day weekend biggie of memory. So, since intermittant heavy rains began yesterday, and are forecast to continue today and through the weekend, it's natural to wonder if we're about to have another one. Five people already have died from flooding northwest of Austin. It's pretty normal to have rain on Memorial Day weekend, as LCRA meteorologist Bob Rose notes. But he also says the threat of flash flooding this weekend is real. Since more than an inch has already fallen in the Austin area--and a whopping 9 inches in parts of the Hill Country, where at least one person has drowned--we're not taking this one lightly.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

"About one out of every four American Muslims under 30 think suicide bombing in defense of Islam is justified in at least some circumstances. Twenty-eight percent believe that Muslims did not carry out the 9/11 attacks and 32% declined to answer that question."

Cheery thoughts, there. 

Posted by Dick Stanley at 09:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The real stuff, the way al Q does it. Not a pretty sight. No lace women's panties on the heads here.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 06:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

And you wonder why we have so many immigrants from Mexico? Volkwagen AG is doing peachy, but its workers in Mexico aren't getting their government-mandated share, according to Mark in Mexico:

"This profit sharing requirement, along with the various and onerous tax schemes promoted by the government, the crumbling or never-existed-in-the-first-place infrastructure, third rate educational system, law of the mordida and all the way down to business executives and/or family members being picked off the streets in kidnapping operations, contribute to the sad fact that hardly any Mexican businesses make a profit even when they do make a profit, if you catch my drift."

Posted by Dick Stanley at 01:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A 1975 Catalina 22 finds a sad end after 32 years. It was abandoned by its owner, who had removed, among other things, the teak trim. It was leaking sufficiently that it had to be pumped out periodically, and Anderson Mill marina was tired of the game. When they couldn't get the owner, who was no longer paying his monthly slip fee, to take care of it, they dragged it, scraping, up the ramp on its folded swing-keel. There's a few more of various makes due to make the trip, victims possibly of the long drought when the docks were moved so far out into Lake Travis that it was hard to get to the boats to maintain them. Some of them were a lot dirtier than ours.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 01:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Meanwhile, back at the rancho... While the pols in D.C. debate their latest immigration fix-it bill, the San Antonio Express News reports from Mexico, Central America and the Middle East that the U.S., Mexico and others are, indeed, working together to capture illegal Muslim immigrants before they cross the border. So far, with less manpower than they need, they've caught about 6,000. But they estimate another 20,000 to 60,000 have gotten through. Swell. Now, about those other 12 million illegals, with more coming every day...

Posted by Dick Stanley at 09:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

More on the new wonder engine, via Popular Mechanics. Zero emissions, by next summer. At least, in India. But, despite inevitable complaints from Detroit and the rest of the business-as-usual auto industry, can imports be far behind? Yes, a long way behind, according to PM, which cites the car's all-glue, fiberglas construction. But the technology is sure to spread beyond India. So, maybe... The best thing: no payments to the oil ticks to go for groceries.

Via Instapundit 

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The porous CIA, the gang that can't think straight, either is handing out secrets to their favorite reporters to make political hay, or this is a lie. Either way, it may get some Americans killed, as the outraged commenters note. ABC news, of course, couldn't care less, so long as it can sell advertising.

Via Instapundit

UPDATE  Power Line, which I see the Left likes to call "Power Tool," thinks Bush could have had this "leak" made on purpose, for his own reasons, but Republican prez candidate Romney is incensed.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 11:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Another week, another transfer of a province's security to Iraqi troops. But even though reporters attend the ceremony, you have to read deep into their pieces to find mention of it, says embed Michael Yon.

"The transfer of authority did not even make the cut for news for most US publications and networks. Of those which included the story in their news reports, most mentioned it only as part of an overall report about the day’s activities in Iraq. Many of those included it in reports which were headlined or sandwiched with bad news about the violence in other parts of Iraq."

No wonder Americans are so disenchanted with the campaign. It's all blood all the time. Pathetic. 

Posted by Dick Stanley at 05:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just two more days and Mr. Boy is off for ten days--until Camp Shalom begins on June 4, a day camp at the J featuring swimming, science, crafts, athletics, music and art. And mornings and early afternoons off for me just like in the school year. Yay. In the interim, we'll play some catch, fly a kite if the wind's right, and go sailing, assuming the sloop's outboard is fixed by then. Should be.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 03:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bob Kerry, former Democrat senator from Nebraska, sees the light:

"The key question for Congress is whether or not Iraq has become the primary battleground against the same radical Islamists who declared war on the U.S. in the 1990s and who have carried out a series of terrorist operations including 9/11. The answer is emphatically 'yes.'"

That takes the shine off the idea of withdrawal any time soon.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The neighbor across the back fence at the rancho has a towering magnolia whose big white blossoms we get to share even as the big pointed, oval leaves litter our yard from time to time.

"Magnolias are among the most ancient groups of flowering plants and have long been cultivated by mankind. Some specimens growing in the precincts of Chinese temples are estimated to be up to 800 years old."

I planted one once in South Austin. It was ten feet high and sprightly the last time I looked. I'm surprised to hear wild magnolias are facing extinctions in the forests of the world, including north America.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Today’s Islam has huge problems and it is not unreasonable to be afraid of it. It’s not just the Islamic terrorism. It’s the widely spread female genital mutilation, breast ironing, subjugation of women, Sharia law, treatment of gays, fanaticism and racism including antiamericanism and antisemitism to give a few examples."

Works for me. I'd also throw in the "honor" killings of children. Via shlemazl.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

“Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007” is the official title of the controversial proposed law. But, judging from the text, only "economic opportunity" seems to be operatively likely. The full text, in easily browsable format, from The Truth Laid Bear.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 11:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Everyone says al Anbar is quieting down these days, as the natives battle Al Q. Iraq the Model elucidates:

"The other pleasing part of the news is that the council prefers handing detainees over to the authorities so the law can take its course instead of assassinations and unsanctioned killing and this is essential for rule of law to take root."

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Teflon Don reports on the effects of a thunderstorm. Notice his blog is now part of Pajamas Media:

"Somewhere to the south, a bolt of lightning hit the power grid, and the horizon light up with the turquoise strobes of exploding transformers. Distant lights began to wink out and disappear- the oncoming tide of blackness washed ever closer as transformers continued to light up the sky. The blue light was joined by the steadily flashing golden pink glow of a downed power line. As we continued to roll towards Camp Falluja, we passed the power line still sparking and glowing on top of a concertina fence. The air smelled sharply of ozone- it also smelt cleaner than it has in weeks."

He doesn't like what the new PJ ads do to his format. They are jarring. Hope it pays well. 

Posted by Dick Stanley at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Under the rocket rain from Hamas. Scroll down to the video clip where one turns a neighbor's house in Sderot into a fireball.

Snoopy The Goon goes over the options and finds none of them good. Maybe it's time to bring carpet bombing back into vogue? It worked for the Greatest Generation and they're still getting good notices.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I want one. If for no other reason than that it's lubricated with vegetable oil. Talk about pollution-free.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 11:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

M-81, a bright, spiral galaxy, in ultraviolet. It's about 12 million light years away, in the the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear. But it's visible through most small telescopes/NASA 

Posted by Dick Stanley at 09:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

They went down to the Redwings, 16-15, in the 2007 AA-7 championship game, confirming the final standings of the regular season. A couple of untimely strikeouts and some confused fielding got the better of the dogs. Mr. Boy hit three more big ones, but only one was an RBI. These are fat pitches, of course, thrown by their coach. Next year, when Mr. B. says he wants to play again, they will be player pitches for the last half of the season, and continue each year thereafter until they're old enough that the player pitcher has some control and can fan batters. Nice trophy, though, even for the runners-up, and the team party at Lake Austin is later today. People talk about berserk parents at little league games, but, in two seasons now, I've never seen any. The rules are understood: criticize a player, coach or umpire and you get ejected from the park. We cheered for two of the wings, when they batted, one in Mr. B.'s class, and both in his cub scout den. Other Muckdog parents did the same for their sons' friends.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 03:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

They'll be dropping their AK-47s in favor of the American automatic rifle. Badger Six says that's good.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Those U.S. treasure hunters off the British coast aren't saying where or what their $500 million gold and silver haul--deep enough apparently to require recovery by robot--may be, but speculation already is trying to pinpoint it:

"In 1641, an English ship called the Merchant Royal sank off the Scilly Islands, laden with bullion from Mexico. There is speculation that this is the wreck salvaged by Odyssey."

If that is the one, what do you want to bet that the Mexicans demand it all back?

UPDATE  Nothing yet from Mexico City, but the Spaniards are going to court. They're satisfied it's one of their hauls from the New World.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 09:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Wall Street Journal likes some of what it sees in the Senate immigration bill: 

"A bipartisan immigration bill would be good for the country if it truly leads to fewer illegals while allowing the flow of workers our economy needs. The Senate bill takes us only half way there."

It also sounds complicated, with new employer penalties, and the need for illegals to return home before they can return to become citizens. Too complicated maybe. But amnesty it ain't.

UPDATE  Nevertheless, it's killing Bush's approval rating, according to pollster Rasmussen. 

Posted by Dick Stanley at 09:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LTC Steven Miska, infantry commander of Task Force Justice, sees a need for us in Iraq for seven more years, which he thinks would be a bargain:

"If our government decides to prematurely pull out, I would fail to reach both goals, and my son and his generation may find themselves embroiled in something far worse than what we experience now—all because my generation couldn’t get the job done."

In which case, Vietnam veterans wouldn't be the only ones criticized for failing to win a war. 

Via Instapundit and Max Boot in Commentary Magazine. 

Posted by Dick Stanley at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First flush of the old China antique rose Louis Philippe, shortly after planting at the rancho. A month later, it's working on getting established, with no new growth or new buds at all. But it's holding its own, so far, against the bugs and black spot that run riot in late spring. Chinas are the hardiest. This one has been in Texas since the 1830s, collected by Lorenzo de Zavala, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and the Republic's first vice president, during his time as Minister to France. He planted it at his home in Lynchburg, near Houston.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The dogs beat the Sidewinders 19 to 10 this evening, so they'll play in the AA-7 Little League championship tomorrow morning. Mr. B. had three big hits and two runs. Earned him three bags of Skittles, as every player got candy for whatever extraordinary thing they did. Not sure who their opponent is tomorrow, but presume it will be the Redwings, which would confirm the season standings, which has the wings at No. 1 and the dogs at No. 2. Tomorrow will decide whether that standing remains.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 07:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

“With this bill, the American people are going to think they are being sold the same bill of goods as before on border security.  We should scrap this bill and the whole debate until we can convince the American people that we have secured the borders or at least have made great headway.”

Announce, Fred. Announce.

Or is there a bill?

Via Instapundit

Posted by Dick Stanley at 09:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This evening's parent-player game at the Muckdogs' final practice was the most fun of the season, with moms and dads playing defense. Not real stringent defense. We have a crop of hitters and improving defenders. A few can catch pop flies, and most can stop grounders. I hit a grounder that Mr. Boy stopped in the outfield. They're all still working on throwing and catching thrown balls, however, so it's not a steady performance. But in most games this season in AA-7 they have blinded the opposition with hitting, and lately are pulling out some clutch defense. If they win tomorrow evening's game, well... I probably shouldn't get the cart before the horse.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

If/when we leave Iraq in large numbers, the so-called chaos and civil war could be short-lived, indeed:

"...with U.S. troops gone, the Iraqi security forces will be inclined to wage war the traditional way. That means massive use of firepower against civilians in any neighborhood where the Sunni Arab terrorists show up, or are found. In Syria, the 1982 uprising by Islamic radicals was put down, in part, by the destruction of the town of Hamat, and the massacre of over 10,000 civilians there."

Meanwhile, confusion continues, with a British think-tank saying Iraq is near collapse. I suspect that Gen. Patraeus, who sees "stunning progress" in al Anbar province, obviously disagrees.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 03:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Among the Latino World War II stories that documentarian Ken Burns missed/ignored is that of El Pasoan Richard Candelaria, an Army Air Force pilot who grew up in California. This morning the daily ran a piece on the Burns debacle fronted by a great old photo of Candelaria in full knight-of-the-air panoply, including leather helmet, flying goggles, Mae West, dangling radio cable and oxygen mask, and what look like elbow-length fire-retardant gloves. But the photo, alas, is not on the Web, nor is he mentioned in the story. Too bad. He was one of only five Latino-American fighter aces of World War II:

“'It’s the most exclusive club, or association, in the world,' he said of the American Fighter Aces Association, of which he is a charter member. 'You can’t buy your way in. You can’t influence your way in. You can’t talk your way in. There’s only one way in: aerial combat.'”

Candelaria flew P-38s and P-51 Mustangs, escorting bombers to their targets and back. He had six confirmed kills, and a possible seventh in one of the Nazi's new jet fighters. Although part of his story can be found here, the most complete one is was here at the University of Texas oral history project, which includes his escape from a POW camp after being shot down (if you can find it). Nose art on his P-51, the hottest fighter of the war, was: "My Pride and Joy." Meanwhile a site about a new book/dvd about him and a few others, includes the good knight-of-the-air photo.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 11:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Awakened by thunder several times last night, I was nevertheless surprised to see on the LCRA's internet rain chart this morning that up to 2.5 inches had fallen across the area by dawn. Meteorologist Bob Rose says it could be the last significant cold front for a while:

"We need to really appreciate this spell of cooler weather because it’s likely to be one of the last we’ll see before...the onset of summer’s heat that will occur over the next couple of weeks. Texas weather, you gotta’ love it!"

Well, I love the spring and the fall. Not so much the inbetweens. And spring is almost over. 

Posted by Dick Stanley at 09:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's real courage, in case you're looking for a definition. These ex-Muslims--apostates of a faith that doesn't take rejection well, if at all--could get killed just for writing this way:

"We strive for the unity of Mankind through the elimination of Islam, the most insidious doctrine of hate. Islam can't be reformed, but it can be eradicated. It can't be molded, but it can be smashed. It is rigid but brittle. That is why Muslims do not tolerate criticism of it. To eradicate Islam, all we have to do is tell the truth. It's that simple. The truth about Islam is out. It's all here in this site. Now it is up to you to spread it."

And another group of apostates here, also angry. Could be a trend.

Via Gates of Vienna. 

Posted by Dick Stanley at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Muckdogs won their first post-season game today on the way to the championships, beating the Diamond Jaxx 13 to 11. Mr. B. had two good hits, but was stranded once and tagged out the second time. Next game is Friday. If the dogs win that one, they'll play in the championship game on Saturday.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When Ken Burns decided to forgo any mention of Latino-American troops in his upcoming doc on World War II, he skipped over the more than 500 stories collected here by the University of Texas' oral history project. They have a new web site in the works. I hope it has some transcripts of the actual interviews and some of their good photographs that have been reproduced in newspaper articles.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Looks like the PBS documentarian will re-edit his WW2 opus, according to Diane Holloway in the daily, to weave in the Latino perspective (including 15 medals of honor) that he had ignored, but he needed a little arm-twisting:

"Burns is not accustomed to criticism, and his response until last week to the Latino community's concerns was jarring. After initially ignoring the complaints, he and PBS executives met with several members of Hispanic groups, including Galán and Rivas-Rodriguez, in Washington, D.C., in April."

Apparently he will use stuff by Austin documentarian Hector Galan. Good, and good piece worth a read.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Back in the early 80s, shortly after the first space shuttle flight and landing, I joined a bunch of space enthusiasts in trying to figure out how to lobby for and promote an expanded space program. Not much happened, and things sobered up real fast after the Columbia disaster. But I remember one fellow, a computer programmer, whose main idea was that we should "give talks." I never gave any, and don't remember anyone who did. But, 25 or so years later here's a new forum for just that.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 11:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The so-called "Mercury 13," (or should it be 25?), a combination academic and media fraud, gets a going over by veteran space writer James Oberg. His piece is poorly edited, but the details are all there (just repeated now and then). How the University of Wisconsin lent credence to spurious claims of women denied astronaut status at the beginning of the space race. In fact, Oberg shows, they weren't the test pilots President Eisenhower had stipulated, and so they could not be chosen.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 10:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The family sloop, a 1985 Catalina 22, looks better in this photo than it did up close, at the time, as it was covered with grey mold spots after a year without use on Lake Travis. During the drought the docks were moved to where they were inaccessible most of the time. Now it's back and almost four weeks since the photo was taken, the exterior is three-quarters clean. Elbow grease and Sof Scrub is all it takes. Still have to finish the cockpit and clean out the cabin, but it's coming along. The admiral wants to sell it and I had planned to, while it was inaccessible, but of course nobody wanted to buy it then. But after 22 years of sailing it, it's hard to part. Has to be cleaned and the outboard overhauled to sell it, anyway. If I can lure Mr. B. onto it a couple of times once school is out on May 24, I may have the winningest reason to keep it. Racing is something I've never cared to do, but he might find it exciting.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 01:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Big Wedding was Al-Q's code name for what we now know as 9/11. It was so-called for the suiciders who would fly or ride the planes into the buildings like bridegrooms going to their martyred marriages in heaven with their waiting virgins. "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda And The Road to 9/11," which recently won the Pulitzer Prize, delivers many such littleknown details, as well as a history of the men who created and still lead Al-Q. The O man, himself, is stranger than you may have known, certainly more so than I realized. A mass murderer who took an active part in the rearing and education of his more than twenty children from four wives. His pathology quickly becomes more disgusting than interesting, so the Arabic-speaking author Lawrence Wright weaves in the stories of the men and women of the FBI and CIA who tried to run him to ground. In the end, the tragedy of 9/11 was that so many parts of the government had sufficient detail of the coming attack to thwart it. But bureacratic jealousies, a few written and unwritten laws, and personality differences kept anyone from having the full picture. The CIA comes off looking the worst, as they knew two of the hijackers, both known members of Al Q, were in the country, but never told the FBI about it. A good read, hard to put down, told in narrative-style like a good novel, supported by hundreds of interviews and more.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 09:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Five years after 9/11, it's comforting that nothing like that has happened again. But, as the Fort Dix case shows, engaging the enemy in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere probably won't do the trick forever:

"...this is still one of the easiest countries in the world in which to establish a functioning but fraudulent identity."

Closing the borders would help. Too bad not enough politicians are willing to do it.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 03:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This report, via Google ads, claims the Saudis and the French have been told that bin Laden has died of typhoid, although whether recently or a good while ago is unclear. Lots of things about al Q are unclear, of course, but one also has to wonder why the reporting Brit media in this case superimposes an ad and a toolbar over its story, making it hard (but not impossible) to read. But the idea of Osama bin forgotten dying of typhoid is plausible. For one thing, as I have said all along, the religious showman who used to hold news conferences stopped making videos in 2004. Supposedly, if one is to believe the CIA (the gang that can't think straight), he's limited himself to audiotapes ever since. But the best reason to believe typhoid might have caught him is that Osama's idea of heaven-on-earth was the 7th Century. Lawrence Wright's "The Looming Tower," makes it clear that Osama and his wives and children lived in rags and squalor in Afghanistan, without running water or toilets, even before 9/11, and that the O man preferred it to modern conveniences. Typhoid, after all, is spread by fecal-contaminated water.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 10:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to the Lower Colorado River Authority, which keeps track of such things, Lake Travis now stands at 673 feet above mean sea level. That's eight feet below full, which is not normal for this time of year. What is normal for this time of year is big rains in the lake's watershed. Some homeowners out there could go from vanished lake to flooding in a span of six months.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 05:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The 1883 Keidel Memorial Hospital, on Main Street, was closed when Mr. B.'s mom and I started visiting Fredericksburg every spring. That was about 1990, when the town was still pretty small and uncrowded. But it was poised to boom and it seems to have grown a little or a lot ever since. Compressing the photo fuzzes a lot of the detail, alas. The old hospital, presumably named for early architect Albert Keidel, now has a basement restaurant and Der Kuchen Laden, a ground floor cookware shop. But it still reminds me of when we'd stroll the street in the evening and see hardly anyone else around. 

Posted by Dick Stanley at 04:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I dislike linking to the BBC, but this report of the missing Americans in Iraq has more detail than AP's version:

"The patrol of seven Americans and their Iraqi interpreter were attacked near the town of Mahmudiya, spokesman Maj Gen William Caldwell said. He said that within an hour other troops were at the scene of the attack, hunting for the [3] missing soldiers. Checkpoints have been set up to prevent the soldiers being moved from the area."

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Posted by Dick Stanley at 12:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Latest from Jeff Emanuel, a veteran and journalist embed in Iraq 

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) comment that 'the war is lost' and 'the surge…hasn’t accomplished anything' was splashed on the front page of every news outlet from Al Jazeera to the Iranian state newspaper. Contrary to the beliefs of all too many Americans who seem tied to the notion that the Iraqi people are both blind and ignorant, Congress’s votes to set a withdrawal date from Iraq -- much like their other, similar votes and statements -- were heard with perfect clarity by Iraqis, as well as by the insurgents who take heart from them."

Our very own Fifth Column: Congress. 

Posted by Dick Stanley at 12:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This second novel in a science fiction trilogy by John Scalzi is almost better than the first, "Old Man's War," although the central love story is pale by comparison to the one in the first book. Still, there is a lot of thoughtfulness on the issues of human consciousness and love. Like the first book, the second one was hard to put down, even though I was reading three other non-fiction books at the time. I simply set them aside until I finished. The novel also contains a preview of the last book, "The Last Colony," which came out last month. I'll definitely buy it, when it's out in paperback, to find out what happens next. I might not wait for paper.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

 Hubble, due to be fixed next year by shuttle astronauts, would continue as our eye on the sky until 2013 and the launch of this larger James Webb Space Telescope. It would be parked at L2, about 930,000 miles from home, and therefore inaccessible to the shuttle, which should be retired by then in any case. This one's hexagonal mirror will be almost three times the size of Hubble's.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 08:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Islam vs Islamists," a taxpayer-funded documentary told novelistically by moderate and radical imams, is being withheld from the public, says Roger L. Simon, one of the few who has seen it:

"PBS is operating here in the manner of similar institutions in the former Soviet Union and in modern day Iran – financing artists and then withholding distribution of their work when it is not deemed ideologically 'correct'. It’s a form of thought-control..."

Well, they wouldn't want Bush's "scare tactics" to look justified, now would they? Read all of Simon's take, and watch the trailer. Then read more about the doc and sign the petition to make it available. What we really need is a petition to dismantle PBS.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Make photovoltaics cheap. Replace noble metals like platinum with abundant metals like iron. Split water with light. MIT chemistry professor Daniel Nocera explains:

"It's hard for me to say exactly what that technology will look like, because the science is missing. But at the beginning of the 1900s, we built an entire society based on a new energy system. And I believe, once solar is in place, with help from biofuel, with a little help from wind, we will invent our society again from a new energy source."

Read it all. Via Pajamas Media

Posted by Dick Stanley at 12:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If the Redwings lose to the Mets tomorrow, in the last game of the 2007 Northwest Little League season, the Muckdogs will finish as the season champs. If the Redwings win, they will be No. 1 and the dogs No. 2. The Mets were one of the dogs' two losses in their 11 win, 2 loss season. Practice tomorrow and Saturday, either way, with tournament games to start Monday or Tuesday. In our last game yesterday, we beat Thunder by one run. Mr. B. only got to bat twice, striking out once and hitting one to left field for a double. Then, playing third base, he tagged a runner out. He'll enjoy tomorrow's practice, since it will be all hitting, in the batting cages.

UPDATE  The Redwings won their game and now are in first place with a season record of 11-1-1. The Muckdogs are second, with 11-2, and their first tournament game is on Tuesday. Ironically, the Redwings' one loss was to the Muckdogs.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 10:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

May is fixin' to live up to her name. Some big storms that have been edging closer all week are due to poke their noses into our atmosphere by this evening, possibly strong, possibly bringing heavy rain. Tonight through Thursday night. Figures. I finished the backyard yesterday. Nothing makes St. Augustine grow fast like a big rain.

UPDATE  Line of storms--stretching from Georgetown to San Antonio--is moving in at 10:45 p.m. An hour later, the rain had moved on and the rancho had a mere tenth of an inch. Ho hum.

Posted by Dick Stanley at 11:42 AM