blivet 2.0

Eliot has resumed posting at Follow Me Here. [via Mark at wood s lot].

OK, enough of that stuff associated with politics–for a bit at least. 2007 is almost at hand, Yule is past as well as all the other markings of the season associated with the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. Any thoughts on the high points of the past calendar year (your choice, Gregorian or not)? Excluding the events relating to the past November 7, as good as the results of that day was (IMO).

Hmm? I got to see my first rocket launch in June. I also got called back to my current job as a Research Archaeologist in March Sweet! My son started a new day care that has made a huge difference in all our lives, but most especially his — both present and future. I could not be more proud of him and the progress he has made. My lovely wife continues to impress advisors and colleagues in her chosen field(s?) of Planetary Geology and Volcanology/Igneous Petrology while pursuing the brass ring of a Geosciences Ph.D.

Life is good here…

How about You?

There seems to be quite a bit of radio, TV and print punditry exclaiming about what a great man and President Mr. Ford was. I disagreed with some of his politics, though as a moderate Republican, he would have never made it to Washington these days. I think he was a good man and meant well. I find it truly sad, however, that this man was actively ignored after about 1980 by the party he did the greatest of services by removing Richard Nixon from the disastrous path he was being carried down and set him off to the side, out of harm’s way. (IMNSHO*) Gerald Ford’s chief occupational qualification for following Spiro Agnew (who, remember, resigned in disgrace) as Vice President was the willingness to pardon Richard Nixon as much as not being particularly interested in being President. I’m sure that was never expressly stated, such things seldom are.

Was the nation better off through the actions of Gerald Ford in regards to pardoning Nixon and ending “our long, national nightmare”? At the time I was asked and recall hesitating and saying, “yes.” These days (as in since mid-2000), I’m not so sure that we would have done the wrong thing by setting the mechanism in motion that might put a President in prison for stating that (and acting as if) he was above the law. I’m not so sure that we would be doing the wrong thing now.

So, rather than lancing the festering carbuncle that was the Nixon Imperial Presidency, it was allowed to scab over and become this virulent systemic infection under the Regan (40) and Bush (41) Presidencies and emerging under Bush (43) as some sort of stage III/IV malignancy.

A significant portion of the crooks, thieves and liars associated with 43 got their starts under Nixon (37) & Ford (38). It is a shame they missed their chance at the time to be photographed being escorted away from the Capitol buildings trying to hide their faces behind raised suit coats.

*”In my not so humble opinion” which I initially mistyped as ‘In my not so mumble opinion’ which may be more accurate…

[later: 12.28.2006] Hmm, Walter Shapiro over at Salon thinks that “Gerald Ford was the right person for the presidency in the wake of the Watergate crisis” and an effective leader. I’m not so sure… My comments are in [brackets].

The man who ended our Nixon nightmare Salon
Yet these days only the most stubborn and unyielding Nixon haters still question whether the cleanse-the-air pardon was justified. [Stubborn? I’ve been called that before. –ed.] America is simply not a banana republic in which former presidents should face the prospect of prison or ruinous civil judgments after leaving office. [Hmm, the notion that former presidents should be immune from the prospect of prison seems…, awfully regal if you catch my drift–ed.] Ford paid the ultimate political price for his courageous decision to restore a veneer of civility to our politics even in the face of the intemperate passions let loose by Vietnam and Watergate. [Yeah, that veneer stuck for the Republicans for what, a couple of years?–ed.]

Former President Gerald Ford has died at age 93.

James Brown, the “Godfather of Soul” has died. he was 73. I feel that his passing should be noted here.

Brown was part of the first group of artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and a giant on the music scene, just seminal. Brown’s impact will be felt for a very long time.

HEY! </JamesBrownVoice>

It’s 1 o’clock and we are ready for bed. With a 5 year old, the gifting part of this holiday is the big deal, regardless of the religious attitudes of his parents. Besides, I love the lights. It is also the birthday of Issac Newton, but we don’t commemorate that birth either…

Ian has been excited since, like July about today and is getting a bicycle this year, complete with training wheels. It is bright green, his favorite color which was surprisingly hard to find. Hopefully it will be a hit.

I got Audrey some things she had suggested but mostly they are surprises. At least I think they are surprises, but this husband never truly knows. No matter, this is going to be fun! The video camera is set up on the tripod with a new tape and the charger connected. The remote is on the shelf on the way into the living room, just in case we’re awakened by his squeals rather than getting a jump on things.

We left Santa freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. I hear they are his favorite!

Whether you are observant or not, we hope all of you have the best of days!

For those of you that might need the latest info on the whereabouts of Saint Nick, here is NASA’s Santa Track.

• Googie Architecture Online
  I just found out that my favorite architectural style has a name.
  (tags: architecture googie design retro culture)

• Two Phrases That Destroyed American Culture
  “The phrase ‘The Customer is Always Right’ is the single worst philosophy that has ever been adopted by American culture. (…) [A]nother idea that has ruined American culture is the one that states, ‘I don’t give respect freely. You have to earn my respect.” Beyond true…
  (tags: business work)

Yesterday marks the 10-year anniversary of the passing of Carl Sagan.

To commemorate, Joel Schlosberg has a meta-post for the Carl Sagan Memorial Blog-a-Thon with a gigantic list of participating blog posts. [hat tip: Susan]

What I have is not any sort of focused remembrance, rather that his work and way of thinking has been a presence in my life since 1968. The first book of Sagan’s I remember is Intelligent Life in the Universe, which he co-wrote with Russian astronomer I.S. Shklovskii. I was in sixth grade and was in a situation where I accompanied my teacher to a college about 35 miles away where (if I recall correctly) she was taking some sort of continuing education course. The whole rationale for my being there was to get dropped off at the college library to look for reading material. These were the days before ‘gifted and talented’ programs and this was one of the tactics they used with me.

Intelligent Life in the Universe came back with me, checked out on Mrs. Lewis’ library card. This was my first foray into non-Frank Edwards-esque ruminations on the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligences. I was already a science geek at 11 and that book just cemented things. Of course I didn’t grok the math in the book. This particular book is not the point. This was my first encounter with a science book written for grown up scientists. And I liked it. There were National Geographic magazines around the house and my Dad had Scientific American magazines in a stack near his chair, but at that time there were no serious science books in the house. At least that I knew about.

I guess the point is Carl Sagan changed my life by co-writing the first book that made me say, “I want to do science.” Cosmos was a re-acquaintance with an old friend. Someone who became a dear, dear friend, though I never met him.

I still give people copies of his last book, Demon Haunted World and refer folks to Carl Sagan’s Baloney Detection Kit.

Thanks, Carl.