This Memorial Day, remember the brave Americans who have given their lives for freedom and bear in mind these words from the World War II Memorial: “Americans came to liberate, not to conquer, to restore freedom and to end tyranny.”

I’ll be commemorating Memorial Day by visiting Arlington National Cemetery, the Marine Corps Memorial (aka the Iwo Jima Memorial), the WWII, Korean, and Vietnam War Veterans Memorials in Washington DC.

I plan to tour the the Capitol and U.S. Botanic Garden first, then head across the Mall to the Washington Monument. From there it’s the Thomas Jefferson, FDR, Korean War Veterans, Lincoln, Vietnam Veterans, and National WWII Memorials (about four hours walking time).

Time permitting, I’ll cross the Memorial Bridge and visit Arlington National Cemetery and the Iwo Jima Memorial.

Only problem with this itinerary is it doesn’t leave time to see the National Memorial Day Parade which starts at noon. However it turns out, I’ll be taking my camera along and will post the photos.

Hope the weather cooperates (supposed to be 90 and sunny).

Tags: blog | weblog | memorial day | patriotism | armed_forces

First it was Genital Retraction Syndrome, a hysterical condition that causes its victims to become convinced that their genitals are disappearing into their bodies. That’s pretty bizarre, but according to this Reuters story, the “Strawberries with Sugar Virus” that’s sweeping Portuguese schools as children complain of symptoms similar to those suffered by characters in a television soap opera may be the capper.

More than 300 children have complained of symptoms including rashes, breathing difficulties and dizziness at 14 schools in different parts of the country. Some schools have been forced to close.

The outbreak came a few days after the popular “Strawberries with Sugar” teenage television show aired an episode about a life-threatening virus descending on a school.

Medical officials believe many children, after watching the show, feared their own minor rashes and wheezes were something serious. Others noted the outbreak came at the same time as end-of-year exams. [Emphasis mine.]

Ah-ha! Suddenly light dawns.

Tags: blog | weblog | humor | life | odd news

Spacecraft Crashes Into Satellite It Was Designed to Connect With

A robotic NASA spacecraft designed to rendezvous with an orbiting satellite instead crashed into its target, according to a summary of the investigation released Monday.

Investigators blamed the collision on faulty navigational data that caused the DART spacecraft to believe that it was backing away from its target when it was actually bearing down on it.

“The inaccurate perception of its distance and speed … prevented DART from taking effective action to avoid a collision,” the summary said.

Ouch! Read the whole article.

Tags: news | blog | weblog | nasa | DART| science |

Robert Heinlein is in the news again with the awarding of the first Heinlein Prize for Advances in Space Commercialization to Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, the founder and Chairman of the X PRIZE Foundation.

From the news release:

May 26, 2006–Trustees of the Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein Prize Trust announced today that the first-ever Heinlein Prize will go to Dr. Peter H. Diamandis. The Heinlein Prize was founded to reward individuals for making practical contributions to the commercialization of space. Dr. Diamandis will be honored at a dinner and award ceremony on July 7, 2006 at the St. Regis Hotel in Houston, Texas and receive $500,000, a gold Heinlein Medallion, the Lady Vivamus Sword (as described in Heinlein’s book Glory Road) and a Laureate’s Diploma.

“Dr. Diamandis’ accomplishments have started space settlement and commerce,” explains Art Dula, Trustee and literary executor of the Heinlein Estate. “He has catalyzed space activities by hundreds of people and organizations all over the Earth who are creating a proud and prosperous future for humanity.”

Diamandis is a pioneer and leader in the commercial space arena. In the past 25 years he started more than a dozen leading non-profit and for-profit space organizations. Diamandis is best known as Founder and Chairman of the X PRIZE Foundation, whose $10 million Ansari X PRIZE sparked the birth of the personal spaceflight industry.

Congratulations Dr. Diamandis!

The Star Beast and self-heating canned food

Since last year, OnTech has been marketing self-heating canned food in the form of soups and coffee drinks that work much like Heinlein described in his 1954 novel “Star Beast.”

In the book, John Thomas and his alien companion Lummox are hiding from authorities who want to destroy Lummox (read the book to find out why – trust me, it’s worth your while). To prepare a quick breakfast, John pulled a container of ham and eggs from his backpack, “twisted off the top, and waited for it to heat.”

Pretty neat! Fifty years later, OnTech’s products work in a similar fashion: “When it’s time to enjoy a hot beverage, the consumer simply pulls off the tamper-proof cover on the bottom of the can…” Removing the cover causes water to mix with calcuim oxide in an inner core, which produces enough heat to warm the outer container that holds the soup or drink.

I should have said “allegedly work” because, according to this Engadget story, OnTech hasn’t ironed out all the wrinkles yet:

Self heating Wolfgang Puck lattes recalled en masse

Looks like the world’s most beloved slightly wonky Austrian chef extraordinaire is soon to have a PR fiasco on his hands. Those self-heating single serving Wolfgang Puck branded packs are being pulled from the market faster than you can say Spago. Puck’s namesake company demanded brand-licensee BrandSource Inc. pull the products from stores nationwide after complaints of incidents where the cans overheated, leaked, or the calcium oxide found its way into the hot coffee beverage, resulting in some severely burned consumers. It gets sticky though, because BrandSource only licensed the name; OnTech was the company who provided the cans, and they apparently shoddily subcontracted, which has resulted in litigation between the two companies over some very shady dealings. In other words, if you see one of these cans, steer clear, people.

Tags: blog | weblog | sci-fi | science fiction | heinlein | humor | life | fiasco | wolfgang puck

From Reuters comes this story:

Naked on Everest: a peek on the peak?

The head of the Nepal Mountaineering Association urged the government Saturday to take action against a sherpa who reportedly stripped on top of Mount Everest.

The Himalayan Times had reported Friday that the Nepali climbing guide, whose name it gave as Lakpa Tharke, stood naked for three minutes in freezing conditions on the 29,035-foot summit of the world’s highest peak.

If confirmed, he would be the first person known to have stripped atop Everest, considered by Nepali Buddhists as a god.

[The] climb’s organizers seemed happy enough with Lakpa Thaeke’s strip.

“We are planning to file his extraordinary feat for the Guinness Book of World Records,” the paper quoted an official of the hiking group that employs Tharke as saying.

By itself, just a harmless “boys will be boys” story, but then there’s this more sinister story from the Associated Press via ESPN.com:

As others pass, climber dies alone on Mount Everest

The story, an open secret in the crowded nylon city of Mount Everest base camp, trickled out from the high Himalayas: A British mountaineer desperate for oxygen had collapsed along a well-traveled route to the summit.

Dozens of people walked right past him, unwilling to risk their own ascents.

Within hours, David Sharp, 34, was dead.

The tale was shocking, an apparent display of preening callousness. Sir Edmund Hillary, who was on the team that first summitted Everest in 1953, called it “horrifying” that climbers would leave a dying man.

Sheesh, let a man die because you’re too busy achieving your hobby?

Tags: blog | weblog | climbing news | mountaineering | life is cheap | life | news