12/31/2009
Blue moon on New Year's Eve: Satanic or benign? - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
By Mike Cronin
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Last updated: 10:39 am
Tonight's blue moon might not be the auspicious start to a new decade that people hope it is.
The month's second full moon could be the devil taunting humanity -- at least that's what Christians believed during the Middle Ages, said Gregory McNamee, who writes for Encyclopedia Britannica.
Medieval Christians used the moon to identify the correct date for Easter, said McNamee, who's based in Tucson.
Each month was supposed to have just one full moon, so the Christians called a second one "belew" -- Middle English for "false" or "betrayer," McNamee said.
"It was like Satan was trying to trick you so you can't celebrate the real date of Christ's Resurrection," he said.
So The Lord of the Bottomless Pit has something in common with the song that begins "Bom-ma-bom, a-bom-bom-a-bom." The Marcels' "Blue Moon" hit No. 1 in 1961.
The moon becomes full a second time this month at 12:13 p.m., Pittsburgh time, today, said Kim Long, author of "The Moon Book" and "The Moon Calendar."
A blue moon last occurred on New Year's Eve in 1990, said Alan MacRobert, a senior editor at Sky & Telescope Magazine in Cambridge, Mass.
Despite the phrase, "once in a blue moon," blue moons are fairly common.
They appear about once every 2.7 years, MacRobert said. The last blue moon filled the sky in May 2007. The next one is in August 2012.
"And they have no importance whatsoever," he said. "It's just a cool, interesting fluke of the calendar -- not an indication of how the universe works."
The concept, however, of a blue moon meaning something that happens never or very rarely dates to 16th century England, said Long, who's based in Denver.
"Yet several times since then, the moon has looked blue due to ash, dust particles or pollutants in the atmosphere," Long said.
McNamee conceded that popular musicians such as Bill Monroe, who penned and sang "Blue Moon of Kentucky" in 1946, and Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers, who recorded "Blue Moon" in 1933, were not even remotely aware of the devil's possible influence on blue or "betrayer" moons.
"They're using 'blue' to mean 'down' or 'sad,'" McNamee said.
"Still, it is interesting that no positive songs to my knowledge exist about blue moons -- only sad and lonesome ones."
___________________________________________
Blue heaven
On average, blue moons occur:
• Once every 2.7 years
• Seven times every 19 years
• Once every 33 months
• Thirty-seven times every century
• Once every 33 full moons
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Last updated: 10:39 am
Tonight's blue moon might not be the auspicious start to a new decade that people hope it is.
The month's second full moon could be the devil taunting humanity -- at least that's what Christians believed during the Middle Ages, said Gregory McNamee, who writes for Encyclopedia Britannica.
Medieval Christians used the moon to identify the correct date for Easter, said McNamee, who's based in Tucson.
Each month was supposed to have just one full moon, so the Christians called a second one "belew" -- Middle English for "false" or "betrayer," McNamee said.
"It was like Satan was trying to trick you so you can't celebrate the real date of Christ's Resurrection," he said.
So The Lord of the Bottomless Pit has something in common with the song that begins "Bom-ma-bom, a-bom-bom-a-bom." The Marcels' "Blue Moon" hit No. 1 in 1961.
The moon becomes full a second time this month at 12:13 p.m., Pittsburgh time, today, said Kim Long, author of "The Moon Book" and "The Moon Calendar."
A blue moon last occurred on New Year's Eve in 1990, said Alan MacRobert, a senior editor at Sky & Telescope Magazine in Cambridge, Mass.
Despite the phrase, "once in a blue moon," blue moons are fairly common.
They appear about once every 2.7 years, MacRobert said. The last blue moon filled the sky in May 2007. The next one is in August 2012.
"And they have no importance whatsoever," he said. "It's just a cool, interesting fluke of the calendar -- not an indication of how the universe works."
The concept, however, of a blue moon meaning something that happens never or very rarely dates to 16th century England, said Long, who's based in Denver.
"Yet several times since then, the moon has looked blue due to ash, dust particles or pollutants in the atmosphere," Long said.
McNamee conceded that popular musicians such as Bill Monroe, who penned and sang "Blue Moon of Kentucky" in 1946, and Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers, who recorded "Blue Moon" in 1933, were not even remotely aware of the devil's possible influence on blue or "betrayer" moons.
"They're using 'blue' to mean 'down' or 'sad,'" McNamee said.
"Still, it is interesting that no positive songs to my knowledge exist about blue moons -- only sad and lonesome ones."
___________________________________________
Blue heaven
On average, blue moons occur:
• Once every 2.7 years
• Seven times every 19 years
• Once every 33 months
• Thirty-seven times every century
• Once every 33 full moons
12/15/2009
thoughts....Thanks for the Info Missy.
Senator Bayh,
As a practicing physician I have major concerns with the healthcare bill before Congress. I actually have read the bill and am shocked by the brazenness of the20government's proposed involvement in the patient physician relationship. The very idea that the government will dictate and ration patient care is dangerous and certainly not helpful in designing a healthcare system that works for all. Every physician I work with agrees that we need to fix our healthcare system, but the proposed bills currently making their way through congress will be a disaster if passed.
I ask you respectfully and as a patriotic American to look at the following troubling lines that I have read in the bill. You cannot possibly believe that these proposals are in the best interests of the country and our fellow citizens.
Page 22 of the HC Bill: Mandates that the Govt will audit books of all employers that self insure!!
Page 30 Sec 123 of HC bill - THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get.
Page 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill: YOUR HEALTH CARE IS RATIONED!!!
Page 42 of HC Bill:The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your HC Benefits for you. You have no choice!
Page 50 Section 152 in HC bill: HC will be provided to ALL non US citizens, illegal or otherwise
Page 58 HC Bill: Govt will have real-time access to individuals finances & a National ID Healthcard will be issued!
Page 59 HC Bill lines 21-24: Govt will have direct access to you ur banks accounts for elective funds transfer.
Page 65 Sec 164: is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and=2 0their families in Unions & community organizations: (ACORN).
Page 84 Sec 203 HC bill: Govt mandates ALL benefit packages for private HC plans in the Exchange.
Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill: Specifications for of Benefit Levels for Plans = The Govt will ration your Healthcare!
Page 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill: Govt mandates linguistic appropriate services. Example - Translation: illegal aliens.
Page 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18: The Govt will use groups i.e., ACORN & Americorps to sign up individuals for Govt HC plan.
Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill: Specifications of Benefit Levels for Plans. AARP members - your Health care WILL be rationed.
Page 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill: Medicaid Eligible Individuals will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid. No choice.
Page 124 lines 24-25 HC: No company can sue GOVT on price fixing. No "judicial review" against Govt Monopoly.
Page 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill: Doctors/ American Medical Association - The Govt will tell YOU what you can make! (salary)
Page 145 Line 15-17: An Employer MUST auto enroll employees into public option plan. NO CHOICE!
Page 126 Lines 22-25: Employers MUST pay for HC for part time employees AND their families.
Page 149 Lines 16-24: ANY Employer with payroll 401k & above who does not provide public option pays 8% tax on all payroll.
Page 150 Lines 9-13: Business's with payroll btw 251k & 401k who doesn't provide public option pays 2-6% tax on all payroll.
Pag e 167 Lines 18-23: ANY individual who doesn't have acceptable HC according to Govt will be taxed 2.5% of income.
Page 170 Lines 1-3 HC Bill: Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from individual taxes. (Americans will pay)
Page 195 HC Bill: Officers & employees of HC Admin (GOVT) will have access to ALL Americans finances /personal records.
Page 203 Line 14-15 HC: "The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax" Yes, it says that!
Page 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill: Govt will reduce physician services for Medicaid Seniors, low income and poor are affected.
Page 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill: Doctors, doesn't matter what specialty you have, you'll all be paid the same!
Page 253 Line 10-18: Govt sets value of Doctor's time, proffession, judgment etc. Literally value of humans.
Page 265 Sec 1131: Govt mandates & controls productivity for private HC industries.
Page 268 Sec 1141: Federal Govt regulates rental & purchase of power driven wheelchairs.
Page 272 SEC. 1145: TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS - Cancer patients - welcome to rationing!
Page 280 Sec 1151: The Govt will penalize hospitals for whatever Govt deems preventable re-admissions.
Page 298 Lines 9-11: Doctors, treat a patient during initial admission that results in a re-admission -Govt will penalize you.
Page 317 L 13-20: PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. Govt tells Doctors what/how much they can own!
Page 317-318 lines 21-25, 1-3: PROHIBITION20on expansion- Govt is mandating hospitals cannot expand.
Page 321 2-13: Hospitals have opportunity to apply for exception BUT community input is required. Can u say ACORN?!!
Page 335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339: Govt mandates establishment of outcome based measures. HC the way they want. Rationing.
Page 341 Lines 3-9: Govt has authority to disqualify Medicare Advance Plans, HMOs, etc. Forcing people into Govt plan.
Page 354 Sec 1177: Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of Special needs people! Unbelievable!
Page 379 Sec 1191: Govt creates more bureaucracy - Tele-health Advisory Comittee. Can you say HC by phone?
Page 425 Lines 4-12: Govt mandates Advance Care Planning Consult. Think Senior Citizens end of life patients.
Page 425 Lines 17-19: Govt will instruct & consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney. Mandatory!
Page 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3: Govt provides approved list of end of life resources, guiding you in death. (assisted suicide)
Page 427 Lines 15-24: Govt mandates program for orders for end of life. The Govt has a say in how your life ends.
Page 429 Lines 1-9: An "advanced care planning consultant" will be used frequently as patients health deteriorates.
Page 429 Lines 10-12: "advanced care consultation" may include an ORDER for end of life plans. AN ORDER from GOVT!
Page 429 Lines 13-25: The govt will specify which Doctors can write an end of life order.
Page 430 Lines 11-15: The Govt w ill decide what level of treatment you will have at end of life!
Page 469: Community Based Home Medical Services = Non profit organizations. Hello, ACORN Medical Services here!!?
Page 472 Lines 14-17: PAYMENT TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORIGINATION. 1 monthly payment 2 a community-based organization. Like ACORN?
Page 489 Sec 1308: The Govt will cover Marriage & Family therapy. Which means they will insert Govt into your marriage.
Page 494-498: Govt will cover Mental Health Services including defining, creating, rationing those services.
Senator, I guarantee that I personally will do everything possible to inform patients and my fellow physicians about the dangers of the proposed bills you and your colleagues are debating.
Furthermore, If you vote for a bill that enforces socialized medicine on the country and destroys the doctor/patient relationship, I will do everything in my power to make sure you lose your job in the next election.
Respectfully,
Stephen E Fraser MD
12/14/2009
stuuffff
the tricorder broke
communicator is dead
and my shirt is red
Jeffrey in Dallas, Texas
TechGeek Haikus ...omg sooofunny.
communicator is dead
and my shirt is red
Jeffrey in Dallas, Texas
TechGeek Haikus ...omg sooofunny.
12/04/2009
lol
The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. This wasn't for any religious reasons. They couldn't find three wise men and a virgin.
Jay Leno
12/03/2009
Some Light reading of great importance.
Sgt. Grit, I served in our beloved Corps from 1987 - 1991. I have been a letter carrier for the Postal Service for the past 16 years. I have a walking route that crosses many busy streets and businesses. I have a Senior Citizen Center on my route. Every day I see a van dropping off senior citizens.
One day, after dropping the mail off, I noticed a man wearing an Iwo Jima survivor hat. I nodded as I walked by but I didn't speak to him as he was involved in a conversation with a few other gentlemen.
About a week later, I saw the van again. When the man got off the van, he looked at me and nodded as we passed. I stopped, turned around and shouted "Hey Marine!" He could have been an 18 year old boot all over again. He stopped, turned, stood at attention and responded, "I haven't been called Marine in 60 years". He saluted smartly and I returned the salute.
The next time I saw him, he had his daughter with him. She told me that when he came home the week before, he was walking taller and seemed in much better spirits. He told her what had happened. She said that she felt obligated to come and meet me. I told her that all Marines are brothers no matter when they served. This Marine survived one of the bloodiest battles of WWII and everyone is in his debt.
I still see him weekly and always say "hello" and make sure he is not in need of anything.
Former, X, whatever... A Marine is a Marine - plain and simple!
Sincerely,
Jeff Zgorzelski
Sgt Grit.-
Regular People
I have a story that I am certain every Marine can understand how exactly it was we felt. I am currently deployed with the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines with a group of 23 Marines from 12th Marines Regiment in Okinawa, Japan. We are a small unit and don't see any action, just supporting the command and the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police. Thanksgiving day rolling around for us means a good meal at the chow hall (one that's not either microwaved or fried) and an extra 6 hours spent out on the road escorting some "Distinguished Visitors" from the US Congress. (I know most people probably have never heard of OEF-Philippines. But its real, Google it.)
As one of the few NCOs down here, I am proud to say that me and my Marines executed flawlessly, as we always do. It's no Iraq or Afghan here, but spending long amounts of time in up-armored vehicles in 90 degrees with 90% humidity, along with full body armor and combat loads seems to make me think of another war in the Marine Corps' history. We get the DVs to our compound and disembark to get some chow, hopefully a good meal. None of us rush in to get food, though, we make sure our weapons are clear and functioning and that nothing has happened to our trucks while we were out.
By the time our weapons are put up (no weapons in chow hall here) and gear and trucks secured, the party of "D.V.s" is seated and eating their Thanksgiving dinner. We walk up to the door and are turned away by an Army E-8 saying we are not allowed to eat right now. Nearly appalled (and pretty p!ssed because who in the h&ll is this hooah to deny my Marines a Thanksgiving meal!?), I ask the MSgt why; "Regular people aren't allowed in while the DVs are in there. You guys can come back when they are finished."
I calmly explained that we were there security escort, and as soon as they finished we had to take them back out, could we get food to go? Nope, guess not. I tell my guys to hold on, and I go find Gunny with a major WTF? Look on my face. (Note: Last Christmas in Okinawa, I recall Marine Colonels and Generals serving their Marines food, not taking over the chow hall for themselves.) Gunny gets it arranged so we can get a quick bite to go before we head back out, but on thanksgiving a turkey sandwich and a can of cranberries just doesn't cut us. But not once, NOT F'IN ONCE, do I hear any of my Marine gripe or complain, they simply step off, suit up, go Condition 1, and head back out to our trucks
We prep the vehicles and wait for our DVs to come out, tummies with just enough in them to make a man mighty angry. Everyone's out, missions go, we move out, one hand on my M9, one on the wheel. After a few stops at designated "Visit Locations," the DVs are out and back on the plane. We head back to the compound, but games not over yet. We still got 15 mikes outside the wire. Our shoulders relax a little with the DVs out of the target area. We get back and all non-USMC personnel rush out of the convoy to eat for the second time.
Not my Marines. We clear our vehicles, secure hatches, check and double check our weapons. Brush off our armor, and then head to the chow hall. Almost closing time, but we make it in. Not a soul in sight in there except for our buddies the Filipino cooks. What a pleasant surprise. After hours in the heat totally tac'ed up in gear, being denied chow because we are just "regular people," and some crazy driving through the streets in the Philippines, we Marines can sit down and eat a real Thanksgiving dinner with just each other. We go through the line sticky, sweaty and worn the h&ll out; get some cold turkey, some mashed potatoes that aren't quite as squishy as they probably were when the hooahs got to eat, some dressing crumbs, and, well, we all know what happens to gravy when it gets cold. The cake is droopy by now, all the pies are gone, there isn't even any d*mn ice cream left.
We sit down with each other, and I realize that as sh*tty as the end of the stick is that we got today, this makes it worth it. We don't care about feeling important and eating with important people, it's that every single one of us got back and are able to sit down and eat thanksgiving dinner with each other. Some days I regret enlisting, like everybody does, and I am certain that I am only doing 4 and out, but this camaraderie, this family I have developed with my Marines cannot be found anywhere else. This is what makes it worthwhile. As we finish our meals, one of the workers, who is grinning from ear to ear, comes out and sets a fresh baked pumpkin pie down right in front of us. Not sure why they saved it for us, but my advice to every Marine out there, make friends with your chow hall workers.
Today my Marines did their jobs, and they did them d*mn well. We didn't expect much, but we didn't expect to be denied Thanksgiving dinner because we are just regular people, but I guess that's how the army does it. We knew we weren't going to get a thank you or a job well done from anybody but Gunny and maybe the TF Commander (Army O-6, but he's a h&lluva guy, for a hooah). But we did get a fresh pumpkin pie and we got to eat it together. And brothers, we are what it is all about. I couldn't care less what a US Congressman thinks of me or my guys, because the only thing that matters were the guys eating Thanksgiving dinner with me.
S/F
Phil Stover
Cpl USMC
Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines
SOCPAC/ 3rd Bn 12th Marines 3d MarDiv
About a week later, I saw the van again. When the man got off the van, he looked at me and nodded as we passed. I stopped, turned around and shouted "Hey Marine!" He could have been an 18 year old boot all over again. He stopped, turned, stood at attention and responded, "I haven't been called Marine in 60 years". He saluted smartly and I returned the salute.
The next time I saw him, he had his daughter with him. She told me that when he came home the week before, he was walking taller and seemed in much better spirits. He told her what had happened. She said that she felt obligated to come and meet me. I told her that all Marines are brothers no matter when they served. This Marine survived one of the bloodiest battles of WWII and everyone is in his debt.
I still see him weekly and always say "hello" and make sure he is not in need of anything.
Former, X, whatever... A Marine is a Marine - plain and simple!
Sincerely,
Jeff Zgorzelski
Sgt Grit.-
Regular People
I have a story that I am certain every Marine can understand how exactly it was we felt. I am currently deployed with the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines with a group of 23 Marines from 12th Marines Regiment in Okinawa, Japan. We are a small unit and don't see any action, just supporting the command and the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police. Thanksgiving day rolling around for us means a good meal at the chow hall (one that's not either microwaved or fried) and an extra 6 hours spent out on the road escorting some "Distinguished Visitors" from the US Congress. (I know most people probably have never heard of OEF-Philippines. But its real, Google it.)
As one of the few NCOs down here, I am proud to say that me and my Marines executed flawlessly, as we always do. It's no Iraq or Afghan here, but spending long amounts of time in up-armored vehicles in 90 degrees with 90% humidity, along with full body armor and combat loads seems to make me think of another war in the Marine Corps' history. We get the DVs to our compound and disembark to get some chow, hopefully a good meal. None of us rush in to get food, though, we make sure our weapons are clear and functioning and that nothing has happened to our trucks while we were out.
By the time our weapons are put up (no weapons in chow hall here) and gear and trucks secured, the party of "D.V.s" is seated and eating their Thanksgiving dinner. We walk up to the door and are turned away by an Army E-8 saying we are not allowed to eat right now. Nearly appalled (and pretty p!ssed because who in the h&ll is this hooah to deny my Marines a Thanksgiving meal!?), I ask the MSgt why; "Regular people aren't allowed in while the DVs are in there. You guys can come back when they are finished."
I calmly explained that we were there security escort, and as soon as they finished we had to take them back out, could we get food to go? Nope, guess not. I tell my guys to hold on, and I go find Gunny with a major WTF? Look on my face. (Note: Last Christmas in Okinawa, I recall Marine Colonels and Generals serving their Marines food, not taking over the chow hall for themselves.) Gunny gets it arranged so we can get a quick bite to go before we head back out, but on thanksgiving a turkey sandwich and a can of cranberries just doesn't cut us. But not once, NOT F'IN ONCE, do I hear any of my Marine gripe or complain, they simply step off, suit up, go Condition 1, and head back out to our trucks
We prep the vehicles and wait for our DVs to come out, tummies with just enough in them to make a man mighty angry. Everyone's out, missions go, we move out, one hand on my M9, one on the wheel. After a few stops at designated "Visit Locations," the DVs are out and back on the plane. We head back to the compound, but games not over yet. We still got 15 mikes outside the wire. Our shoulders relax a little with the DVs out of the target area. We get back and all non-USMC personnel rush out of the convoy to eat for the second time.
We sit down with each other, and I realize that as sh*tty as the end of the stick is that we got today, this makes it worth it. We don't care about feeling important and eating with important people, it's that every single one of us got back and are able to sit down and eat thanksgiving dinner with each other. Some days I regret enlisting, like everybody does, and I am certain that I am only doing 4 and out, but this camaraderie, this family I have developed with my Marines cannot be found anywhere else. This is what makes it worthwhile. As we finish our meals, one of the workers, who is grinning from ear to ear, comes out and sets a fresh baked pumpkin pie down right in front of us. Not sure why they saved it for us, but my advice to every Marine out there, make friends with your chow hall workers.
Today my Marines did their jobs, and they did them d*mn well. We didn't expect much, but we didn't expect to be denied Thanksgiving dinner because we are just regular people, but I guess that's how the army does it. We knew we weren't going to get a thank you or a job well done from anybody but Gunny and maybe the TF Commander (Army O-6, but he's a h&lluva guy, for a hooah). But we did get a fresh pumpkin pie and we got to eat it together. And brothers, we are what it is all about. I couldn't care less what a US Congressman thinks of me or my guys, because the only thing that matters were the guys eating Thanksgiving dinner with me.
S/F
Phil Stover
Cpl USMC
Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines
SOCPAC/ 3rd Bn 12th Marines 3d MarDiv
11/23/2009
11/21/2009
Quick restart of Big Bang machine stuns scientists
By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS, Associated Press Writer Alexander G. Higgins,
GENEVA – Scientists moved Saturday to prepare the world's largest atom smasher for exploring the depths of matter after successfully restarting the $10 billion machine following more than a year of repairs.
The nuclear physicists working on the Large Hadron Collider were surprised that they could so quickly get beams of protons whizzing near the speed of light during the restart late Friday, said James Gillies, spokesman for the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
The machine was heavily damaged by a simple electrical fault in September last year.
Some scientists had gone home early Friday and had to be called back as the project jumped ahead, Gillies said.
At a meeting early Saturday 'they basically had to tear up the first few pages of their PowerPoint presentation which had outlined the procedures that they were planning to follow,' he said. 'That was all wrapped up by midnight. They are going through the paces really very fast.'
The European Organization for Nuclear Research has taken the restart of the collider step by step to avoid further setbacks as it moves toward new scientific experiments — probably starting in January — regarding the makeup of matter and the universe.
CERN, as it is known, had hoped by 7 a.m. (0600 GMT) Saturday to get the beams to travel the 27-kilometer (17-mile) circular tunnel under the Swiss-French border, but things went so well Friday evening that they had achieved the operation seven hours earlier.
Praise from scientists around the world was quick. 'First beam through the Atlas!' whooped an Internet message from Adam Yurkewicz, an American scientist working on the massive Atlas detector on the machine.
'I congratulate the scientists and engineers that have worked to get the LHC back up and running,' said Dennis Kovar of the U.S. Department of Energy, which participates in the project.
He called the machine 'unprecedented in size, in complexity, and in the scope of the international collaboration that has built it over the last 15 years.'
Later Saturday the organizers decided to test all the protection equipment while there still is a very low intensity proton beam circulating in the collider at 11,000 times a second. The tests will take 10 days, Gillies said.
The current beam has relatively few protons to avoid damage to the LHC should control of them be lost.
Gillies said CERN decided against immediately testing the LHC's ability to speed up the beams to higher energy or to start with low-energy collisions that would help scientist calibrate their detection equipment.
In the meantime CERN is using about 2,000 superconducting magnets — some of them 15 meters (50 feet) long — to improve control of the beams of billions of protons so they will remain tightly bunched and stay clear of sensitive equipment.
Gillies said the scientists are being very conservative.
'They're leaving a lot of time so that the guys who are operating the machine are under no pressure whatsoever to tick off the boxes and move forward,' he said.
Officials said Friday evening's progress was an important step on the road toward scientific discoveries at the LHC, which are expected in 2010.
'We've still got some way to go before physics can begin, but with this milestone we're well on the way,' CERN Director General Rolf Heuer said.
With great fanfare, CERN circulated its first beams Sept. 10, 2008. But the machine was sidetracked nine days later when a badly soldered electrical splice overheated and set off a chain of damage to the magnets and other parts of the collider.
Steve Myers, CERN's director for accelerators, said the improvements since then have made the LHC a far better understood machine than it was a year ago.
The LHC is expected soon to be running with more energy the world's current most powerful accelerator, the Tevatron at Fermilab near Chicago. It is supposed to keep ramping up to seven times the energy of Fermilab in coming years.
This will allow the collisions between protons to give insights into dark matter and what gives mass to other particles, and to show what matter was in the microseconds of rapid cooling after the Big Bang that many scientists theorize marked the creation of the universe billions of years ago.
When the machine is fully operational, the magnets will control the beams of protons and send them in opposite directions through two parallel tubes the size of fire hoses. In rooms as large as cathedrals 300 feet (100 meters) below the ground the magnets will force them into huge detectors to record what happens.
The LHC operates at nearly absolute zero temperature, colder than outer space, which allows the superconducting magnets to guide the protons most efficiently.
Physicists have used smaller, room-temperature colliders for decades to study the atom. They once thought protons and neutrons were the smallest components of the atom's nucleus, but the colliders showed that they are made of quarks and gluons and that there are other forces and particles. And scientists still have other questions about antimatter, dark matter and supersymmetry they want to answer with CERN's new collider.
The Superconducting Super Collider being built in Texas would have been bigger than the LHC, but in 1993 the U.S. Congress canceled it after costs soared and questions were raised about its scientific value
Gillies said the LHC should be ramped up to 3.5 trillion electron volts some time next year, which will be 3 1/2 times as powerful as Fermilab. The two laboratories are friendly rivals, working on equipment and sharing scientists.
But each would be delighted to make the discovery of the elusive Higgs boson, the particle or field that theoretically gives mass to other particles. That is widely expected to deserve the Nobel Prize for physics.
More than 8,000 physicists from other labs around the world also have work planned for the LHC. The organization is run by its 20 European member nations, with support from other countries, including observers Japan, India, Russia and the U.S. that have made big contributions."
11/20/2009
11/16/2009
Remember
In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
US Military Tribute - Far Away - Nickleback
I Love them all, and Thank them from the bottom of my heart.
Thank you , for everything .
11/10/2009
His last appeal denied, Beltway sniper to be executed tonight
I will not put his picture up, I saw his face and the blank evil eyes and could not look at it again...
My thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families, and for this monsters Mother, poor woman to have borne such a thing.
My thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families, and for this monsters Mother, poor woman to have borne such a thing.
With his final appeal denied Monday by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Beltway sniper is almost out of time.
Barring a last-minute reprieve by the governor, John Allen Muhammad will die by lethal injection at 9 tonight in Jarratt. A small town north of Emporia, Jarratt is home to Greensville Correctional Center, where the state carries out all of its death sentences.
Up until the 1950s, the condemned were usually executed within two months of sentencing. These days, seven years is more typical. Muhammad's case took six.
He was convicted in November 2003 by a Virginia Beach jury for his part in a shooting spree that picked off victims in the Beltway area and beyond in 2002.
Since then, Muhammad, 48, has spent most of his days in a one-man cell on Virginia's Death Row, located at Sussex 1 State Prison, about 30 miles west of Smithfield.
Death Row cells measure 73 square feet, have one narrow window, a bed, desk, sink and toilet. Prisoners live in isolation, allowed outside their cells for a total of seven hours per week for exercise and showers. They have no contact with one another or other inmates, but are allowed to have books, a radio and a small TV.
Prior to execution, prisoners are moved to Greensville. Muhammad, inmate No. 331009, has been there since early October, locked in one of three cells built right next to the death chamber.
Today, he'll be permitted visits from immediate family, attorneys and spiritual advisers. He'll select his last meal from the regular prison menu, and must have it four hours before his execution. If he wants to, he'll be allowed to shower two hours before he dies.
Greensville houses both the electric chair and the medical equipment necessary for lethal injection. Prisoners can pick their method.
The chair, handmade from oak and outfitted with leather straps, is the same one used since 1908, when the state conducted its first electrocution. The chair's electrical mechanism was updated in 1991.
Only four prisoners have chosen the chair since lethal injection became an option in 1995. Those who don't make a choice - like Muhammad - automatically get injection.
At the appointed hour, Muhammad will be strapped to a gurney. By then, as with every Virginia execution, protesters will have gathered in a field outside the prison - people opposed to the death penalty no matter how terrible the crime.
Armed with signs, they'll read the names of Muhammad's victims, pray and stand silently as the sentence of the jury is carried out.
An IV line will be inserted into each of Muhammad's arms.
The first of three chemicals will render him unconscious.
The second will stop his breathing.
The third will stop his heart.
11/07/2009
George W. Bush Secretly Visits Fort Hood Victims - FOXNews.com
Bless them Both, What a class act!
This shows the real concern and caring they have for the American people, real compassion.
They have nothing to prove ,just commitment and duty to your fellow American in times of Trouble...
....I miss them.
Can't say I'm fond of the current White House residents. bleh.
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