What a time I had with you.
10/04/2024
10/03/2024
What the Sigma?
Happy Chimp Mode Day to all who celebrate! Revisiting a post on the old new blog:
6 years before sinuses caused problems, [Wally Schirra's] first mission was an important step in the journey from the Earth to the moon. Schirra noted in his pilot's flight report:
One of the main objectives of this flight was an engineering evaluation of the spacecraft systems to determine their capabilities for an extended mission. In line with this objective, we wanted to demonstrate that the consumable supplies could be conserved sufficiently to permit longer duration flights in the future using the Mercury spacecraft. Of course, most of the consumables, such as water, electrical power, and contaminant filters, will have to be increased, but it is still important to determine the long-term consumption rates.
Since this was to be an engineering evaluation, the name chosen for my spacecraft was that of the mathematical symbol for summation, sigma, with the number 7 added to it for the seven-member Mercury astronaut team. and symbol that was painted on the spacecraft, Sigma 7.
I like the departure from whimsical names - Glenn's Friendship or Carpenter's Aurora, f'rinstance - of spacecraft. Don't get me wrong, I dig callsigns like Snoopy and Gumdrop, but this flight did represent a rigorous phase in Gemini that was a bit more than merely showing we could get a guy home alive.
There was a significant launch delay due to a malfunctioning fuel-control valve in the Atlas LV-3B booster (friggin' woke NASA), but crew and vehicle achieved all mission objectives. And with that, the program was able to move ahead to Gordo's day-long spaceshot (the last with a solo astronaut).
I'm too young to have watched any of these pioneering missions, but I've been a spaceflight fan from the git go. In fact, my first piggy bank was a Mercury capsule.
I vividly remember one naptime when I was 5, shaking the thing to dump out some quarters. Of course it was a noisy enterprise, and my mother called to me, asking what I was doing. "Just counting my money!"
Then I snuck out to walk down to the corner store because I wanted to buy...something, anything. What's the point of money if you don't spend it? Well, Mom's no fool, and she caught me in the store asking an employee what I could buy with a dollar.
Almost forgot that I'd already blogged about this a couple years ago; glad I remembered so I didn't have to reinvent the wheel, or rocket, or whatever.
Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about testing spacecraft for some reason, and this is a good mission to consider. Mercury-Atlas 8 overall was fundamentally perfect, although Schirra's pressure suit had some issues with temperature control.
Before that, Carpenter's MA-7 had a targeting error, splashing down 250 miles off-course. On MA-6, it wasn't clear if Glenn would survive re-entry. And of course there's MA-4, wherein Gus's spacecraft sank.
Takes a while to get everything right. And it's always risky.
#throwbackthursday
Just over 10 years ago at Grandma's in Estacada, probably a little anxious about the 36 Pit Fire.
10/02/2024
10/01/2024
In Space No One Wants Me to Keep Doing This Schtick
A tale of 2 tweets:
SpaceX Crew Arrives at International Space Station to Retrieve Stranded Astronauts pic.twitter.com/uNYN1zGETB
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) October 1, 2024
And:
A SpaceX mission arrived at the ISS with two astronauts instead of four to leave room for NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore on the return trip in early 2025. https://t.co/7kXv5sLKAb
— Smithsonian Magazine (@SmithsonianMag) October 1, 2024
First one has that same shitty framing that I hate so very much. Not surprising given who's doing the tweeting. Also not surprising to see Elon's fluffers (before I blocked them, as is my wont) say stupid things about Boeing, NASA, and the Biden-Harris administration, clearly unaware of Falcon 9's own problems, let alone the reality of the entire situation.
The second one is perfect. Objective and factual, not sensational, using no loaded words like 'stranded' or 'retrieve' or 'rescue'. 10/10, no notes.
Update: this is exemplar:
Do...uh, do they think NASA built Starliner?
09/30/2024
09/29/2024
mi necesidad
War calls me
And I have to go.
If I had money
It wouldn’t be so.
Miguel de Cervantes.
PS - A print of that Picasso sketch hung in the hallway near my childhood bedroom, and it kinda freaked me out, not gonna lie. Featured in some nightmares, in fact, although now I love it. Perhaps explains some things...
Thanks, Obama
How it started. (Opted for a more peaceful picture than the usual.)
How it's going. (Okay, he's not really cake, just roll with it.)
The boy survived multiple placental abruptions and the swine flu pandemic, spent time in NICU and the pediatric ward being bombarded with UV light, lived on both sides of the continent with countless animals, has made friends at 5 different schools, and now is an independent and curious young man who only sometimes needs to be reminded about the trash. I'm having trouble believing my bubsy is 15.
09/28/2024
09/27/2024
09/26/2024
Oblig’d To Leave This Town
Do you remember the 26th night of September?
On September 26, 1777, the British began an eight-month occupation of the city of Philadelphia during the American Revolution. This allowed British troops to spend the winter billeted in comfortable quarters, while Washington’s troops suffered at Valley Forge. When France recognized the United States and declared war on Great Britain in February 1778 British war strategy changed to meet the new threat, and the army evacuated Philadelphia on June 18, 1778.
Fortunately, the Continental Congress had engaged in a risk assessment on September 14:
Resolved, That if Congress shall be obliged to remove from Philadelphia, Lancaster shall be the place at which they shall meet.
...Resolved, That the public papers be put under the care of Mr. Clark, and that he be empowered, upon the Congress removing to Lancaster, to procure wagons sufficient for conveying them thither, and apply to General Dickinson, or any other officer commanding troops in the service of the United States, who is hereby directed to furnish a guard to conduct the said papers safe to Lancaster.
Then on the 18th:
Adjourned to 10 o'Clock to Morrow.
During the adjournment, the president received a letter from Colonel Hamilton, one of General Washington's aids, which intimated the necessity of Congress removing immediately from Philadelphia; Whereupon, the members left the city, and, agreeable to the resolve of the 14, repaired to Lancaster.
Hamilton's alarming message:
If Congress have not yet left Philadelphia, they ought to do it immediately without fail, for the enemy have the means of throwing a party this night into the city. I just now crossed the valleyford, in doing which a party of the enemy came down & fired upon us in the boat by which means I lost my horse. One man was killed and another wounded. The boats were abandon’d & will fall into their hands. I did all I could to prevent this but to no purpose.
Thomas Burke, delegate from (and future governor of) North Carolina wrote to (then governor) Richard Caswell on the 20th:
The question for adjournment from Philadelphia was daily agitated in Congress, but always overruled. On the night before last it received a complete decision—Intelligence was received from the General officer commanding on Schuylkill that the Enemy were then attempting to cross, and that they could not be prevented, and advising the Congress immediately to remove from the City.
The movement was made not by a vote, but by universal consent, for every member consulted his own particular safety. I was wakened by a servant about two o'clock, and tho' I lost no time in preparing to depart, yet I did not choose to retreat with precipitation. I was not indeed fully persuaded of the necessity of the measure, and not very apprehensive for my personal safety.
About sunrise I crossed the Delaware, and made my retreat hither where I shall wait the issue of the Battle. It is now well known that the alarm was groundless. No Enemy has yet passed, nor does it appear that they will be able to pass.
The danger did seem at first to be overstated, as John Adams recorded in his diary:
1777. SEPTR. 19. FRYDAY.At 3 this Morning was waked by Mr. Lovell, and told that the Members of Congress were gone, some of them, a little after Midnight. That there was a Letter from Mr. Hamilton Aid de Camp to the General, informing that the Enemy were in Possn. of the Ford and the Boats, and had it in their Power to be in Philadelphia, before Morning, and that if Congress was not removed they had not a Moment to loose.Mr. Merchant and myself arose, sent for our Horses, and, after collecting our Things, rode off after the others....1777 SEPTR. 21. SUNDAY.It was a false alarm which occasioned our Flight from Philadelphia. Not a Soldier of Howes has crossed the Schuylkill....
1777. THURSDAY. SEPTR. 25Rode from Bethlehem through Allan Town, Yesterday, to a German Tavern, about 18 Miles from Reading. Rode this Morning to Reading, where We breakfasted, and heard for certain that Mr. Howes Army had crossed the Schuylkill.
What a difference a few days makes, eh? Regardless, it wasn't just Congress and their precious papers skedaddling:
On September 24, 1777, Mecklenburg County resident Thomas Polk arrived safely in Allentown, Pa., after escorting the Liberty Bell there from Philadelphia.
Born in Pennsylvania, Polk and his family moved to Anson County, before becoming one of the first settlers of Mecklenburg County, and promoting the establishment of Charlotte. He became a prosperous planter and was active in the local and state political scenes. As the American Revolution began to come into full swing, Polk was appointed colonel of a regiment of North Carolina militia. He fought at Brandywine and spent a harsh winter at Valley Forge.
As invading British forces approached Philadelphia in 1777, Polk was tasked with escorting some important items out of the city to avoid capture. The city’s bells—including what was then called the State House Bell and is now known as the Liberty Bell—were included among Polk’s precious cargo so they wouldn’t be melted down by the British to make cannon balls.1
They found a pretty good hiding place:
[T]he Zion United Church of Christ in Allentown, Pa., was a refuge for the Liberty Bell after the British forces occupied Philadelphia in September 1777. The Bell was sent out of the city to prevent the occupying forces from destroying it. Hidden in the wagon of a farmer returning from Philadelphia the Liberty Bell was brought to the church by John Jacob Mickley and Frederick Leaser. Along with other Bells removed from the city, the Liberty Bell was hidden by the pastor, Reverend Abraham Blumer, beneath the floorboards of the church.
Of course, not everybody could or would leave:
Those citizens who remained were mostly a mixture of Loyalists, Quakers, and the poor. Three fourths of the population were woman and children. Most looked forward to British rule — after all they had always considered themselves loyal English citizens. Moreover, they had long chafed under the excessive zeal of the American patriots who had been running the city.
British officers quartered in the finest houses, merchants from other towns started moving in, and the occupying Englishmen established a puppet government composed of local residents loyal to the crown.
While officers lived large, George Washington faced some challenges before he ever got to Valley Forge:
Resolved, That the Board of War be directed to cooperate with General Washington in devising and carrying into execution the most effectual measures for supplying the army with fire-arms, shoes, blankets, stockings, provisions, and other necessaries; and that, in executing this business, these collections be confined, as much as circumstances will admit, to persons of disaffected and equivocal characters.
I suspect "persons of disaffected and equivocal characters" means Tories. They'd been subjected to destruction of their printing presses and confiscation of their arms (small wonder they were dissatisfied with the situation, lol), so naturally Congress would think nothing of confiscating Loyalist property that might help the rebellion.
It was a pretty close thing at that time, which is why Adams describes a circuitous route to avoid British forces in a letter to Abigail on September 30:
My best Friend
It is now a long Time, since I had an Opportunity of writing to you, and I fear you have suffered unnecessary Anxiety on my Account.—In the Morning of the 19th. Inst., the Congress were allarmed, in their Beds, by a Letter from Mr. Hamilton one of General Washingtons Family, that the Enemy were in Possession of the Ford over the Schuylkill, and the Boats, so that they had it in their Power to be in Philadelphia, before Morning.
The Papers of Congress, belonging to the Secretary’s Office, the War Office, the Treasury Office, &c. were before sent to Bristol. The President, and all the other Gentlemen were gone that Road, so I followed, with my Friend Mr. Merchant of Rhode Island, to Trenton in the Jersies.
We stayed at Trenton, untill the 21. when We set off, to Easton upon the Forks of Delaware. From Easton We went to Bethlehem, from thence to Reading, from thence to Lancaster, and from thence to this Town, which is about a dozen Miles over the Susquehannah River.—Here Congress is to sit.
In order to convey the Papers, with safety, which are of more Importance than all the Members, We were induced to take this Circuit, which is near 180 Miles, whereas this Town by the directest Road is not more than 88 Miles from Philadelphia. This Tour has given me an Opportunity of seeing many Parts of this Country, which I never saw before.
...All the Apology that can be made, for this Part of the World is that Mr. Howes march from Elke to Philadelphia, was thro the very Regions of Passive obedience. The whole Country thro which he passed, is inhabited by Quakers. There is not such another Body of Quakers in all America, perhaps not in all the World.
I am still of Opinion that Philadelphia will be no Loss to Us.
I'm sure NY Mets fans in particular (and perhaps this pig) would agree with that last point. Anyway, Lancaster was merely a way station:
After meeting one day at Lancaster, Congress moved to York so that the Susquehanna River would be between it and the enemy. It was at York from September 30, 1777, until June 27, 1778. While there, Congress met at the York County Court House.
Just to tie things up with a bow, some business conducted in York caught my eye on October 3:
Letters of the 1st, and 12 September, from Captain N. Biddle, of the Randolph, the first containing charges against Lieutenant Panatiere de la Falconer; one, of the 26 August, and one, of the 12 September, from John Dorsius; and, two letters of intelligence respecting stores and cloathing, were read.
The Lieutenant sure knew how to party:
As there is not Officers Sufficient to form a Court of inquiry, We are sorry to be under the disagreable necessity of addressing you, to remove from among us, Lieutt Panatiere de la Falconer [Falconniere]; as he has in many instances behaved very unbecoming an Officer, and is a disgrace to the Randolph
He Begged a large Jug of Wine of the Capt of a French Vessel we spoke with at Sea, and sold it to several on Board for a Dollar a Bottle -
He has suffered himself to be beat on shore without resenting it -
He gave an Order for Eighty Pounds on Mr [Edward] Blake, with intent to defraud the Person to whom he gave it -
He allways when on shore Associates with the worst of Vagabonds, and those houses no Gentleman ever go to -
He was one Night put under the Town Guard, for stabbing a Soldier; but shewing his Commission and the wound not like to prove Mortal, was let go -
He has behaved so, as to be Most Effectually hated and despised by every one on Board, the Vessell and by all who Know him on shore -
He is the most Obscene talker, and greatest Reprobate and blasphemer we ever heard -
He has been heard to Damm the Trinity in the most shocking expresion -
He has frequently declared that if any Man affront him, he would Assasinate him for it if it was 20 Years afterwards -
For these and a Thousand more instances we could mention (if Necessary) of the same Nature we think him not only unworthy of holding a Commission in the Randolph, but a Nuissance to the ship, and therefore beg you to Rid us of him -
Unfortunately, I haven't found any final disposition of this particular officer, but I hope they were indeed rid of him as they requested. Sounds like he'd fit right into MAGA, maybe even somebody Trump would pick for Veep. Hope we get rid of those guys, too.
1 - The Adams family themselves made musket balls out of their own spoons in the wake of Lexington & Concord, and New Yorkers turned a statue of King George III into 42,088 bullets after the Declaration.
#throwbackthursday
Samuel, ~27 weeks (July '09).
09/25/2024
Speaking of the Bishop of Hippo Regius
all man is our neighbor [πλησίον]. As Augustine put it in *De doctrina Christiana* (397AD): "every man is to be considered our neighbor [πλησίον], because we are to work no ill to any man." pic.twitter.com/fxS9JGDEET
— Professor R Shaldjian Morrison,διδάσκαλος,夏炉冬扇, 散人 (@Swarthyface) September 25, 2024
Since I brought him up yesterday, this tweet caught my eye. The quote comes from a chapter discussing Whether Angels Are to Be Reckoned Our Neighbors, just after Augustine invokes the parable of the Good Samaritan:
32. And so also the Apostle Paul teaches when he says: "For this, Thou shall not commit adultery, Thou shall not kill, Thou shall not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shall not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor."(3) Whoever then supposes that the apostle did not embrace every man in this precept, is compelled to admit, what is at once most absurd and most pernicious, that the apostle thought it no sin, if a man were not a Christian or were an enemy, to commit adultery with his wife, or to kill him, or to covet his goods. And as nobody but a fool would say this, it is clear that every man is to be considered our neighbor, because we are to work no ill to any man.
33. But now, if every one to whom we ought to show, or who ought to show to us, the offices of mercy is by right called a neighbor, it is manifest that the command to love our neighbor embraces the holy angels also, seeing that so great offices of mercy have been performed by them on our behalf, as may easily be shown by turning the attention to many passages of Holy Scripture. And on this ground even God Himself, our Lord, desired to be called our neighbor.
Now let's jump back to a bit earlier when he wrote:
27. [T]here is no need of a command that every man should love himself and his own body...[W]hen the love of God comes first, and the measure of our love for Him is prescribed in such terms that it is evident all other things are to find their centre in Him, nothing seems to be said about our love for ourselves; yet when it is said, "Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself," it at once becomes evident that our love for ourselves has not been overlooked.
So I guess this means if you love your neighbor, you are really also loving yourself and G-d. From which I conclude that JD Vance hates everybody, including G-d, because he hates himself.
QED
PS - Guess I'll use this as an excuse to call back to an old post about St Thomas Aquinas and love. Might need to update Ecclesiastes a bit: I find more bitter than death the couch, whose upholstery is snares and nets. Heh.