blivet radio
The Radio weblog of Hal Rager

Saturday, June 8, 2002

They're made out of Meat by Hugo and Nebula Winner Terry Bisson (from the the April 1991 issue of Omni Magazine). "This is one of my favorite stories. After I could not find a copy on my disk drives here at the central blivet data repository I went a-Googling. Then I thought I would share it with you. I chose Thomas Bätzler's page because he has author Terry Bisson's permission." [blivet] 9:48:05 PM    comment   trackback []

Homeland Insecurity "After rejecting the idea of a Cabinet-level Homeland Security agency for months, the White House has done an abrupt 180, unveiling its own plan for a mega-agency incorporating the Coast Guard, the INS, the Secret Service, and other entities. Is this a good or a bad thing? Will the US be better protected? Will personal freedoms be endangered? Will this improve or hinder intra-governmental communication? Regardless of your opinion, it's interesting to see the dozens (hundreds?) of government bodies that fall under the Homeland Security umbrella in some way. SUBINTSOC.NET is reprinting a mind-boggling chart distributed by the White House in November... take a look." [kuro5hin] Things are looking more and more like the Orwellian Night Watch agency in the TV show Babylon 5 to me. 9:42:03 PM    comment   trackback []

More Sears Model Homes In reference to the Sears Model Home post (below) and the questions that Andrea and Doug (via email) pose, I think the house in Lyndon that I lived in until I turned five was The Wabash (Model Nos. 248, 2003); ($507 to $1,217). portion of my reply to Doug: doug asked how sure I was that it was a house from Sears "I'm not *positive*, but am pretty sure [it was a Sears Model Home]. I do remember that my Dad often referred to it [that particular house] as a "Sears and Roebuck special". doug asked if the house seemed well built: "I remember (through a glass darkly and all that) it being pretty darn solid. My Dad always spoke of the fit and balancing of the interior doors as being really exceptional and the fact that the wood floors didn't squeak." 8:48:13 PM    comment   trackback []

Fibromyalgia Pain Isn't All In Patients' Heads, New Brain Study Finds. [Science Daily] I was extremely ill six years ago, and fibromyalgia was one of the constellation of things I was diagnosed with. I accept that there may well be a psychosomatic component to fibromyalgia, but I resented like hell the implications by some that my pain was fabricated. If the brain is registering pain, it's pain. It may be being caused by problems with brain chemistry, but the pain was as real as pain gets. 12:39:22 AM    comment   trackback []

Dwight D. Eisenhower. "Things are more like they are now than they ever were before." [Quotes of the Day] I don't know the context of this quote, but I keep running across quotations from Ike that make me curious. After all, he warned us about the Military-Industrial Complex 40 years ago. I don't think they make Republicans like that any more. 12:22:40 AM    comment   trackback []

Unknown. "After all is said and done, a lot more will be said than done." [Quotes of the Day] 12:14:15 AM    comment   trackback []

100,000-Year Climate Pattern Linked To Sun's Magnetic Cycles. [Science Daily] More research is needed, but this could be very interesting for shorter term cycles. 12:07:52 AM    comment   trackback []

Sears Modern Homes. In the early 1900's, you could buy a home by mail order. [Erehwon Notebook via Mike's Weblog] This is very interesting historical information. Some research we did a year and a half ago tied the arrivial of reliable rail service in Las Vegas and the advent of these 'pre-fab' homes here. About a year ago, there was a show on PBS concerning the disappearance of the family farm in Minnesota that discussed architecture styles of farm houses through time that made us realize that it wasn't just confined to the West. My hometown of Osage City, Kansas had many examples of these houses as did John's hometown of Lyndon, eight miles away. I lived in Lyndon, it was in a Sears Modern Home. We moved to Osage City when I was five. 12:03:14 AM    comment   trackback []