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Monday, June 02, 2003 |
From Distant Galaxies, News of a 'Stop-and-Go Universe'. New evidence strongly suggests the proportions of the mysterious forces dominating the universe have undergone radical change over cosmic history. By John Noble Wilford. [New York Times: Science]
"We are not made of the type of particles that make up most of the matter in the universe, and we have no idea yet how to sense directly the dark energy that determines the fate of the universe. If Copernicus taught us the lesson that we are not at the center of things, our present picture of the universe rubs it in."
Sounds almost manichaean.
4:59:28 PM Permalink
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Unmanned Spacecraft Blasts Off for Mars. MOSCOW (AP) -- An unmanned spacecraft built by the European Space Agency blasted off atop a Russian rocket Monday on a mission to Mars, where it will orbit the planet for nearly two years and search for signs of life. By The Associated Press. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]
Next year will be a big year for Mars, as this one arrives, and two American rovers land. On the other hand, it's best not to get too excited yet, missions to Mars have a very low general success rate. And then in the next month or two, Mars has its closest apparition in decades and for decades. An exciting time for the Martian in all of us.
4:52:43 PM Permalink
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Bill O'Reilly Sucks
And, as Tom Tomrrow so politely puts it: Bill O'Reilly is completely insane. This is a transcript of comments he made on his radio show regarding his little feud with Al Franken: What this guy writes and says does not matter to me, other than, Mike, he insulted me in a forum where... [This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow]
What this guy writes and says does not matter to me, other than, Mike, he insulted me in a forum where I was at a decided disadvantage*, you know, he went over his time limit. It was very, very sneaky, and you know, as I said at the top of the broadcast, somebody calls you a liar to your face, you don't just laugh that off. That's an insult. In the old west, that woulda got you shot. See in the old west, and I woulda loved to have been in the old west, Al and I woulda just had a little, uh, a little shootout. You know? We woulda went out, on Wilshire Avenue, and uh, six shooters, now he's a much smaller target than I am, about four foot eleven, but he's wider, and it woulda been you know, Clint Eastwood time. I woulda had the cheroot, the serape, woulda given my squint, and I woulda put a bullet right between his head. Woulda been wrong, woulda been wrong, but it was the old west, and I would not have known any better, so I wouldn't have been held accountable because I would not have known any--now I do, now in 2003 that would have been wrong.
4:45:52 PM Permalink
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A very nice piece on NPR this morning about a huge music collection owned by a recording engineer in Baltimore, Leon Kagarise. The episode is well worth a listen, and I wish those recordings were entirely available on the web. The web site includes longer versions of Stanley Brothers and Johnny Cash recordings than were played on the radio, plus recordings by the Louvin Brothers and George Jones, and some terrific pictures.
8:48:17 AM Permalink
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© Copyright 2004 Steve Michel.
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