Copyrights And Attribution

Having discovered that an article of mine was copied, lock, stock, and HTML tags, from this site to another one, I'd just like to make clear what my position on use of my work by others is.

Caption: A screenshot of the article copied by Today's NJ. As you can see, there is no attribution at the top of the article. The only attribution at the bottom was the "Posted by Cujo359" line that appears at the bottom of the original article.

Image credit: Screenshot of Today's NJ page by Cujo359

I don't pretend that what I write here is the product of genius, or necessarily even intrinsically useful, but it is my work. Any time I use someone else's work, I try to adhere to my understanding of U.S. copyright law, which is that I can quote excerpts without permission, and if I'm writing something that is a criticism or analysis of that work, I can quote more. However, I always ensure in one way or another that the person or organization responsible for that work is credited. If the work is available online, I link back to it.

All I ask is that anyone using my work do the same.

I'm sure that there will be times when people want to republish something I write here, for reasons I can only guess at. As the copyright holder, I only require two things, that you attribute that work to me both with an obvious notation and a link back, and if that work makes up the bulk of a commercial product, that I be compensated accordingly.

And by "the bulk of", I do not mean one little article on a blog that has dozens already.

I don't think any of that is difficult to understand, but if you have any questions, you can either comment here or e-mail me at the address in the "About Me" section.

On The Day I Was Born...

On the day I was born
The nurses all gathered 'round
And they gazed in wide wonder
At the joy they had found
The head nurse spoke up
Said "leave this one alone"
She could tell right away
That I was bad to the bone.

Lyrics: "Bad To The Bone"

Image credit: Screenshot from this George Thorogood video by Cujo359

So, does anyone think that the White House's release today of the President's "long form" birth certificate is going to settle the argument about whether he was born in America? Go ahead, raise your hands. Good, now keep them up, because the next question is "Who here has no idea how conspiracy mongering works?"

You see, the next step in the conspiracy mongering process is to start asking loaded questions about the new evidence.

• What does the President have to hide? Check
• The document simply must be a fake. Look how long they took to release it. Check
• It's all a big conspiracy on the part of Obama, the state of Hawaii, and the military-industrial complex. Check
• There are still all those unanswered questions. Check

Caption: Hey, what's that guy trying to pull? This isn't a real long form birth certificate! It's a photocopy! And who puts screenshots into JPEG format? Everyone knows that screenshots only really come in PNG. It's a fake. It's a double fake!!!

Image credit: Screenshot of White House PDF of the alleged long form birth certificate allegedly taken by Cujo359

Which leads to the title of this article. You can bet now that there will be various "concerned" people looking up the medical and clerical staff, asking them if they remember anything about that day. I'm just imagining some hospital staffer commenting, a bit like the nurses surrounding George Thorogood's mythical baby self, that she knew he'd be a bad one.

Or something like that.

(h/t to TM.com commenter Ramsgate for two of the items on that checklist.)

Maybe Not Done Yet...

Caption: A space shuttle readies for launch. Before long, the only thing this one will be launching is museum souvenir shop sales.

Image credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

A couple of spaceflight-related articles caught my eye today. The first is this one via NASA Satellite Report:

After 30 years of spaceflight, more than 130 missions, and numerous science and technology firsts, NASA's space shuttle fleet will retire and be on display at institutions across the country to inspire the next generation of explorers and engineers.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on Tuesday announced the facilities where four shuttle orbiters will be displayed permanently at the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program.

NASA Announces New Homes for Space Shuttle Orbiters After Retirement

One will be stationed in New York, one in Los Angeles, one at the Smithsonian, and one, perhaps not surprisingly at the Kennedy Space Center. It's a pretty good distribution, I'd say.

Of course, it would be a lot more inspiring to future engineers and scientists if the U.S. was spending money on developing new rockets to replace the Shuttle. That's not happening, at least not if you consider the logical replacement for the Shuttle to be another space plane. It was looking last year, with the cancellation of the Constellation Program like the Obama Administration was going to abandon any plans for follow-on rocket development. It now appears that fear may be unfounded. This language is from the NASA Authorization Act (NAA), which was passed last October:

The Space Launch System shall be designed from inception as a fully-integrated vehicle capable of carrying a total payload of 130 tons or more into low-Earth orbit in preparation for transit for missions beyond low-Earth orbit. The Space Launch System shall, to the extent practicable, incorporate capabilities for evolutionary growth to carry heavier payloads. Developmental work and testing of the core elements and the upper stage should proceed in parallel subject to appropriations. Priority should be placed on the core elements with the goal for operational capability for the core elements not later than December 31, 2016.

NASA Authorization Act, 2010 (PDF)

Over at Bad Astronomy, Phil Plait notes:

A few weeks ago, NASA announced the White House NASA budget request for FY 2012 (PDF), stating that $1.8 billion dollars be spent on designing a new rocket system to replace the Shuttle (and the canceled Constellation program).

Rocket Envy

I'm a bit skeptical that present-day NASA, with its DoD-like development methods, can bring a project like this to operational status in less than five years. What's worse, the Administration is already cutting back - that $1.8 billion Phil Plait mentioned is $850 million less than the NAA called for just seven months ago. There's also no guarantee that the next President will support this development, should Obama lose in 2012. Apparently, I'm not the only one who is skeptical, as Spaceflight Now reports:

[A]n interim report delivered to Congress in January said NASA would be unable to meet the legislative deadline under current budget projections, even if the rocket and capsule used hardware recycled from the retired space shuttle and cancelled Constellation programs.

That report was released before the Obama administration unveiled its fiscal year 2012 budget request in February, which cut more than $1 billion from the heavy-lift rocket and crew capsule next year compared to the funding blueprint authorized by Congress last fall.

NASA To Set Exploration Architecture This Summer

Caption: A retouched photo comparing the current Space Shuttle with the proposed Space Launch System. The main tank and the solid rocket boosters of the Shuttle will be reused, with a new main engine and upper stage. At least, that's the plan. There's no actual design yet.

Image credit: NASA

As long as the funding is available, though, they should be able to do it eventually. The concept of the Space Launch System is to reuse the Shuttle's main fuel tank and solid rocket boosters (SRBs), with a new engine and upper stage. There's an artist's conception, but as yet there's no real design. That's another reason I'm skeptical it will only take five years.

The "rocket envy" Plait refers to is the recent announcement by the Chinese government that they, too, would be developing a heavy-lift rocket similar in payload capacity to the new NASA Space Launch System:

China is studying the feasibility of designing a powerful carrier rocket for making a manned moon landing and exploring deep space, Liang Xiaohong, vice head of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, told Xinhua Thursday.

The rocket is envisaged to have a payload of 130 tonnes, five times larger than that of China's current largest rocket, said Liang, who is attending the annual session of National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body.

China Planning Powerful Carrier Rocket For Manned Moon Landing

Note the article title - China is planning on putting people on the Moon. If the schedule in that article is to be believed, they may be trying to do it in a decade or so. There's a lot of distance between here and there, though, and not just the literal 250,000 mile round trip. A rocket five times the size of the ones China has built so far is likely to be a big engineering project - new engines, new guidance systems, and probably some rethinking of the structure are going to be required. We did a similar thing when building the Saturn V rockets for our Moon landings back in the 1970s, but we had our own rocket engineers as well as some of the former German rocket designers. In contrast, the new Space Launch System looks to be more closely based on existing technology.

Caption: Back when America was serious about its space program, the Apollo 11 Saturn V rocket inches toward the launch pad on its crawler platform. May 20,1969.

Image credit: NASA


If there's one thing that is likely to keep funding for the NASA rocket program going, it's the possibility that the Chinese will have a heavy lift rocket of their own first. One thing you can count on with our government is that they don't want to be seen "losing" space to some foreign country. Think of China as the new Soviet Union. Fear of the Soviet Union's space technology was what got us to the Moon. Maybe fear of the Chinese will get us back there someday.

Whatever works, I guess.

Quote Of The Day

In a sort of followup to this article yesterday about the "birther" conspiracy theory that claims President Obama is not really a natural-born U.S. citizen, this bit of sanity makes it as the quote of the day:

"I think we just really need to move on. Everybody's had two years to prove, if they wanted to, that he was not born in Hawaii. They haven't come up with any of that kind of proof.

"So, it just seems to me that it's more political rhetoric, and that it takes the ball off the kinds of subjects that we all ought to be discussing, and that would be jobs and the economy."

Who is this calm voice of reason in what is shaping up to be another political season of crazy? Is it some poor, embattled liberal government executive who's just trying to make things work in a bad economy? Nope. It's Jan Brewer, governor of Arizona. You know, the one who thought that undocumented Mexican workers were leaving a trail of headless bodies through Arizona on their inexorable path to taking away all our gardening and domestic helper jobs. (See NOTE 1)

Explain that one to me. I dare you.

NOTE 1: OK, maybe I exaggerated a little.

Awww, Cute!

Because when in a world where things like this happen, there's not much point in having an intellectual discussion about politics:


Image credit: I Can Has Cheezburger

Thanks, I needed a hug. Could you retract the claws, please?

Another Depressing Fact

Caption: The short form of Barack Obama's birth certificate, which is valid proof of birth everywhere except in the minds of a few froth-mouthed idiots.

Image credit: click here for full size

Writing this almost two years ago:

The sad thing about conspiracy theories is that once they get started, they never really die. The 9/11 "Truthers" are a case in point. The evidence that they were wrong has been presented so many times, in so many ways, that you'd have to be deliberately ignoring it not to see it. No doubt, there are still people who believe that the Clintons had Vince Foster killed.

Now, we have a new conspiracy theory for a new age. The adherents of this theory believe that Barack Obama isn't a natural born U.S. citizen, and therefore not qualified to be President.

Another Wacko Conspiracy Theory Is Born

And yet, as Taylor Marsh notes, we now have at least one "serious" Presidential candidate who says he thinks that Barack Obama isn't a natural-born American citizen. This is beyond absurd.

Let me quote from the individual whose job it was to check the validity of birth records in Hawaii, back in 2008:

There have been numerous requests for Sen. Barack Hussein Obama’s official birth certificate. State law (Hawai‘i Revised Statutes §338-18) prohibits the release of a certified birth certificate to persons who do not have a tangible interest in the vital record.

Therefore, I as Director of Health for the State of Hawai‘i, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics who has statutory authority to oversee and maintain these type of vital records, have personally seen and verified that the Hawai‘i State Department of Health has Sen. Obama’s original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures.

Statement By Dr. Chiyome Fukino

For convenience's sake, I added the link to the law the document refers to.

As the non-partisan organization Fact Check pointed out back in 2008:

We beg to differ. FactCheck.org staffers have now seen, touched, examined and photographed the original birth certificate. We conclude that it meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship. Claims that the document lacks a raised seal or a signature are false. We have posted high-resolution photographs of the document as "supporting documents" to this article. Our conclusion: Obama was born in the U.S.A. just as he has always said.

Born In The U.S.A.

That link has photos taken by Fact Check's reporters of the original birth certificate.

Politifact also looked into the allegations. Here is their conclusion, also from 2008:

At PolitiFact.com, we're all about original sources. We don't take anyone at their word or take the reporting of other media organizations as proof. We go to the heart of the story, the source of the truth — original, corroborating documents.

When the official documents were questioned, we went looking for more answers. We circled back to the Department of Health, had a newsroom colleague bring in her own Hawaii birth certificate to see if it looks the same (it's identical). But every answer triggered more questions.

And soon enough, after going to every length possible to confirm the birth certificate's authenticity, you start asking, what is reasonable here?

Because if this document is forged, then they all are.

Obama's birth certificate: Final chapter

The pathetic excuse that Obama didn't publish the long form of his birth certificate is some of the most feeble grasping for straws that I've witnessed in American political discourse. No one who isn't convinced by the evidence produced so far is going to be convinced if that form ever makes it into the public record. As Fact Check notes:

The certificate has all the elements the State Department requires for proving citizenship to obtain a U.S. passport: "your full name, the full name of your parent(s), date and place of birth, sex, date the birth record was filed, and the seal or other certification of the official custodian of such records." The names, date and place of birth, and filing date are all evident on the scanned version, and you can see the seal above.

Born In The U.S.A.

In sum, the short form indicates that someone in officialdom has checked the long form, and it's as legitimate as any form can be in a U.S. government bureaucracy.

As National Public Radio points out, there was plenty of corroborating evidence for his birth in the local newspapers:

FactCheck.org and Politifact and a number of independent fact checking groups have also pointed out that there are two contemporaneous birth announcements in newspapers, The Honolulu Advertiser and The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, announcing the birth of Barack Obama on August 4th, 1961.

What Impact Do 'Birthers' Have On GOP's 2012 Field?

Which, as far as anyone who is in the least bit sane is concerned, is enough. I'm as skeptical as the next guy, but there comes a point where skepticism becomes obstinacy, and that's where these people are now. Note how often the words "in 2008" and "in 2009" come up just in this short article. This matter was settled long ago.

I wish Barack Obama weren't the President. The man is worse than useless. If you want a list of reasons, check this list, or just check the Barack Obama keyword here, and have at it. But the man was born in the United States, and he was elected President by a wide margin. That makes him at least as qualified for the office as his predecessor, whose legitimacy seems to be beyond question to nearly all of the people who don't want to believe Obama belongs in the White House.

It's absolutely depressing to realize that I will probably have reason to write about this subject two years from now, because people refuse to listen no matter how obvious it is that I'm telling the truth. The same fools will believe the same nonsense two years from now, just as people keep believing that George W. Bush knocked down the World Trade Center, and that progressives will get what they want some day by supporting Democrats hard enough.

The human ability to ignore basic facts would be absolutely awe-inspiring if it weren't so damn depressing.

I Have To Do What?

There was a time when I could keep track of when Easter happens, but that was when I was using an ephemeris program regularly. These days, it's hard to remember when the first full moon after the first day of spring happens.

It seems like every year I write something on Easter, just to counteract all the religious nonsense. Thanks to not remembering when it occurred this year, and thanks to having other things to do, I just didn't have the time this year. Thankfully, there's a rich treasure trove of thoughts on this day from people whose view of things is similar to mine. Here's an old Mr. Deity episode on the subject:




I love Jessie's expression as Mr. Deity is explaining things to him. The guy can really play being out of his depth, which anyone with any sense would be in that conversation.

Happy Zombie Jesus Day, or happy first Sunday after the first full moon of spring, whichever applies.

Sunday Photo(s)

Last week, we saw cherry trees from Federal Way. This week, it's various fruit trees from Bothell. There were still a few cherry trees blooming when I was up in the area photographing them, but other fruit trees were starting to bloom as well.

Image credit: Cujo359, unless otherwise noted.

Dana Hunter was along taking photographs of her own, and she caught this lovely image of cherry blossoms against the blue glass of a nearby office building:

Image credit: Dana Hunter

Which seems like as good an image as any to end this article with.

Click on the images to enlarge, and have a good Sunday.

Happy Earth Day, 2011

Once again, it's Earth Day, which is a day to inspire people to think about the planet we live on, and our place in it.

Caption: Mt. Rainier from the BPA Trail, last December.

Image credit: Cujo359

I like to remember the wisdom of George Carlin on this day:

[T]here is nothing wrong with the planet. Nothing wrong with the planet. The planet is fine. The PEOPLE are fucked. Difference. Difference. The planet is fine. Compared to the people, the planet is doing great. Been here four and a half billion years. Did you ever think about the arithmetic? The planet has been here four and a half billion years. We've been here, what, a hundred thousand? Maybe two hundred thousand? And we've only been engaged in heavy industry for a little over two hundred years. Two hundred years versus four and a half billion. And we have the CONCEIT to think that somehow we're a threat?
...
The planet will be here for a long, long, LONG time after we're gone, and it will heal itself, it will cleanse itself, 'cause that's what it does.

George Carlin's "The Planet Is Fine"

Earth Day, whether its organizers are aware of this or not, is really about preserving our place on this planet. It's about making it safe for us for as long a time as possible. The planet, as Carlin said, will be just fine whether we're here to enjoy it or not.

There's lots that you can do to make the world more livable, with little or no expense. No, you don't have to build a solar panel array in on your roof, or live like a hermit. What we all need to do is true to reduce our use of resources wherever possible.

• Buy a shopping bag instead of always taking home disposable paper or plastic bags. Many grocery stores in the U.S. now offer a small discount if you bring one of these, though some have given up the practice, because they've seen so little effect on demand for disposable bags. Mine have paid for themselves several times over already.


• Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs in overhead lighting. In parts of the country where air conditioning is used a good portion of the year, replace them everywhere you can. You save four fifths of the electricity used to create light, and in hotter parts of the country, you'll save money on air conditioning, as well.
  
  
  Caption: A typical compact fluorescent (CFL) bulb replacement for an incandescent light bulb socket.
  
  Image credit: Lamps Plus (see NOTE 1)
  
  In lights you use a lot, CFL's will pay for themselves in less than a year. Since they last several years, that means a net savings on your electricity bill.
  
  While CFL's don't work on dimmer circuits, there are many places in the house that they can be used.


• While we're on the subject of light bulbs, turn off the lights you're not using. One of the big reasons oil prices are going through the roof right now is that much of the world is using more energy. Much electricity, particularly of the peak demand sort, is generated using oil. Saving energy means less greenhouse gas, and less dependence on foreign oil.


• 
  Caption: A reusable bag for bulk coffee. Use this until it won't close anymore, and you can lower energy, materials, and landfill use.
  Image credit: Photo by Cujo359 (See NOTE 2)
  
  If you buy food in bulk, as I buy coffee, try using the little bags until they don't work anymore. I usually get a half dozen or so uses out of a bulk coffee bag, which means that there are at least five of those bags that I don't throw out. That's energy and materials saved, and less landfill required to get rid of them.

Those are just a few things we ordinary folks can do to make the Earth more hospitable to us. If you've already done that, there are plenty more suggestions.

NOTE 1 This image came from the Lamps Plus site, because it was labeled as being reusable. I got a picture, and they got a link. Lamps Plus did not contribute to, endorse, or even know of this article's existence. Similarly, no endorsement of Lamps Plus is intended by the author of this article.

NOTE 2 Did you read NOTE 1? Most of that applies here, except that I took the picture of the Tully's bag. Tully's is the owner of the "Tully's" trade name, and if they object I'll just fuzz out their trademark and leave everyone to wonder what brand of coffee I like.

So Long, Sarah Jane

Caption: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) tries to calm down the newly regenerated Doctor (Tom Baker) in the Doctor Who episode Robot

Image credit: Screenshots of Doctor Who episode "Robot" by Cujo359

I heard about this from a friend this evening:

Doctor Who star Elisabeth Sladen, who was also in spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures, has died aged 63.

Sladen appeared as Doctor Who assistant Sarah Jane Smith in the BBC television sci-fi series between 1973 and 1976, opposite Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker.

The Liverpool-born actress appeared in four series from 2007 of The Sarah Jane Adventures on children's channel CBBC.

Sladen had been battling cancer for some time and leaves actor husband Brian Miller and daughter Sadie.

Doctor Who Actress Elisabeth Sladen Dies

Even in the late 1970s and early '80s, one of the few places women would be featured in the roles of strong, independent characters was in television science fiction. Sarah Jane Smith was such a character. She was a smart, centered professional who didn't take guff from either The Doctor or Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

Caption: Sarah Jane enjoys putting Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) off-balance.

In some ways, Sarah Jane was a prototype for many of the Doctor's later companions. Rather than always needing to be rescued by the Doctor or his male companions, she would sometimes be the one to rescue them. In a time when few TV writers seemed to know how to make strong female characters work, Elisabeth Sladen managed to take what they produced and carry it off. Her character was so popular that a recent reappearance on the new Doctor Who series was the basis for a spin-off series featuring Sarah Jane.

There are quite a few science fiction fans who will mourn her passing.