Monthly Archives: September 2007

The gate keeper’s lament

Posted on September 26, 2007 | Comments Off on The gate keeper’s lament

Pity the elite gate keepers of information. They’re being usurped by the Internet and they just can’t stand it. Tough.

Via Instapundit 

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Posted in Blogosphere, Scribbles

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Heart scan

Posted on September 26, 2007 | Comments Off on Heart scan

I got a CT heart scan this morning at Austin’s Heart Hospital, a simple, non-invasive test whose results should be back sometime next week. My g.p. had recommended it when my cholesterol jumped back up recently and I’m still a smoker. Nevertheless, there’s no known history of heart disease in my family, so I’ll be curious to see how it comes out. In doing some searching on the value of CT scans, I found this interesting interview with one of the champions of the test.

UPDATE: It turned out to be a 1, i.e. low risk. Meaning minimal plaque in the arteries around the heart. But the g.p. said I still might have it in my neck or elsewhere, and he is advising me to start taking Zocor, a cholesterol-reducing drug, because of my age and the smoking. I’m thinking about it.

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Posted in Rancho Roly Poly, Science/Engineering, Scribbles

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Vietnam’s new species

Posted on September 26, 2007 | Comments Off on Vietnam’s new species

This really won’t be so surprising to American soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War:

"Scientists have discovered 11 new species of plants and animals in Vietnam, including a snake, two butterflies and five orchid varieties, the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) said Wednesday."

So much of the country was/is rural and remote from cities and cultivation. My own old area of operations in Quang Nam province is now an elephant reserve, though I don’t recall seeing any elephants when I was there in 1969.

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Posted in Scribbles, Viet Nam

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Reason in the face of emotion

Posted on September 26, 2007 | Comments Off on Reason in the face of emotion

The usual race hustling is not playing so well in Jena, La. in the promotion of six young thugs. The reason why is telling.

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Posted in Scribbles

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Draining Lake Travis

Posted on September 25, 2007 | Comments Off on Draining Lake Travis

Some people worry a lot about Lake Travis, especially when new municipalities start negotiating with the Lower Colorado River Authority for access. The lake is a reservoir, with customers downstream, and a certain vulnerability to the weather. So it goes up and down, and up and down. Last year it was waaaayyy down. Which is when this outfit got started and used one of my photos, which they have finally attributed, for which I am grateful. Cute cartoon, too. Check it out.

UPDATE:  And, then, I don’t when, they went toes up and the photo also disappeared.

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Posted in Sailing, Texana, Weather/Climate

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Space is a (more dangerous) place

Posted on September 25, 2007 | Comments Off on Space is a (more dangerous) place

New results of space shuttle research on bacteria has ominous implications. People get weaker in microgravity and have to exercise like crazy just to retain their normal health. But that same microgravity makes Salmonella typhimurium bacteria more virulent. The researchers say the finding might help them concoct new treatments for infections from the bug here on the ground. They probably also better be thinking about this new danger for already-impaired people out in the black.

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Posted in Space

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Harpist Gary Primich, R.I.P.

Posted on September 25, 2007 | Comments Off on Harpist Gary Primich, R.I.P.

I never caught one of his performances, but I should have because I always admired the harmonica as a musical instrument and anyone who could play it well. I often tried, as rock pianist Ben Folds might say, but I was genetically-inclined to be a trumpet player. More or less. Michael Corcoran, writing Primich’s obit in the daily, makes me want to buy his 1995 Texas blues CD "Mr. Freeze," which I will do here in a minute or two. Especially like Primich’s chosen epitaph: "He changed his oil every 3,000 miles."

UPDATE: Corcoran is following the story, awaiting the medical examiner’s report, but drugs, specifically heroin, is suspected as the cause of death at such a young age, just forty-nine.

MORE: Primich’s memorial service is Oct. 28. 

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Posted in Obituaries, Scribbles

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