This is what I do during Deer Season when I can get away with it:




I'm certainly no stranger to cutting firewood during hunting season. Charity firewood cutting is one of the things that finally forced me to give up hunting.

The good neighbors all got their deer opening day, last Saturday, so it was time to cut wood again. I cut all day yesterday, early this morning did the laundry, then headed out and cut, split, hauled, and piled.

It's excellent exercise, especially if you do it by yourself. And I can use all the exercise I can get! So many people get diabetes that it worries me. It killed my dad when he was 54 years old and I'll probably get it next, but hopefully the exercise will help.

The first snowflakes started to fall at 9:49am and by 11:00am I was soaking wet. Nothing a nice hot shower and a half hour with my feet up by the woodstove didn't cure.

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

Look for the brilliant planets Venus and Jupiter in the southwest beginning not long after sunset. Brighter Venus is a little to the upper left of the Moon, with Jupiter quite close to the upper right of Venus. All three drop from sight by around 9 p.m.

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

Backyard Skywatchers Find Tool Bag Lost in Space

Amateur astronomers have been monitoring a shiny tool bag that has been orbiting Earth ever since it was dropped last week by an astronaut during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station.

The bag is reportedly about magnitude 6.4, which under most sky conditions is too faint to see with the naked eye.

Veteran spacewalker and Endeavor astronaut Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper lost her grip on the backpack-sized bag on Nov. 18 while cleaning up a mess from a leaking grease gun she was carrying to help mop up metal grit from inside a massive gear that turns the space station's starboard solar wings.

The tool bag cost $100,000 and its loss meant astronauts had to share the remaining tool bag for subsequent spacewalks. The tool bag weighs about 30 pounds (14 kg) and is 20 inches (51 cm) wide, about a foot (30 cm) tall and a hand's-width deep, according to John Ray, STS-126 lead spacewalk officer for the flight. The bag contained two grease guns, a scraper tool, a large trash bag and a small debris bag.

Once the tool bag floated away, some thought they'd seen the end of it. Not quite. A satellite tracker at Spaceweather.com now is monitoring both the space station and the tool bag.

After sunset on Nov. 22, Edward Light, using 10 x 50 binoculars, spotted the bag in space while he scanned the sky from his backyard in Lakewood, N.J., Spaceweather.com reported. On the same night, Keven Fetter of Brockville, Ontario, video-recorded the bag as it passed by the star Eta Pisces in the constellation Pisces.

More bag-viewing opportunities are expected.

The tool bag can be seen through binoculars, a few minutes ahead of the space station's orbit. The satellite tracker predicts that the bag will be visible through binoculars from Europe and western North America during a series of passes this week. By late next week, the tool bag should appear in the evening skies over most of North America.

Like other space debris, the tool bag's show will have a fiery end. "We currently predict that the errant tool bag will fall back to Earth in June of next year," said Nicholas Johnson, chief scientist for orbital debris at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "The date is dependent upon solar activity, so an earlier or later date is possible. As the reentry date draws nearer, a more accurate prediction can be made."

And he expects the entire tool bag will burn up upon reentry. "Although we have not yet conducted a detailed reentry survivability analysis for the tool bag and its contents, it is highly likely that no components will reach the surface of the Earth," Johnson told SPACE.com.

The tool bag is not the only piece of space trash from the station. Other junk includes an unmanned Russian cargo ship and a massive ammonia coolant tank the size of a refrigerator. The coolant tank was intentionally tossed from the space station in 2007, and it burned up in Earth's atmosphere earlier this month. The cargo ship undocked on Nov. 14, but will loiter in orbit for engineering tests before its planned disposal in Earth's atmosphere in early December.

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A RED beam of light shoots to the ground from what is believed to be a UFO.

Shellie Williams, 20, and her mum Betty, 53, filmed it on their mobile phones.

When they zoomed in, they also caught red and white vertical beams not visible to the naked eye.

Care worker Shellie, who watched from outside her home in nearby Hartcliffe, said: “It was bizarre and I was quite frightened.”

Betty said: “Through binoculars you could see clusters of lights.

"They seemed to form a circle and were attached to something. It freaked us out.”

Neighbour Tony Jefferies said he had seen the lights on and off for two weeks.



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Aliens of the deep: The weird and wonderfully wobbly animals discovered by 'sea census'

In the past year alone, the international team has identified 1,000 new plants and animals and shed light on the behaviour of hundreds of species.

The Census of Marine Life, a massive project involving more than 2,000 scientists from 82 nations, is now in its eighth year.

So far it has recorded 120,000 species but believes there could be as many as 250,000.

The finds include the deepest-living creature-ever discovered.

The 'comb jelly' lives 23,700ft below the surface in the Ryukyu Trench near Japan.


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Moon-free autumn evenings are good times to watch the Milky Way, which is the combined glow of millions of stars in the disk of the Milky Way galaxy. It arches from east to west with a definite dip toward the northern horizon. You need a dark sky to see it.

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

Team High Lifter-Polaris Racing Continues Their Winning Streak at Mudstock

Team High Lifter-Polaris Racing continues to keep their winning streak going competing at Mudstock held at Mud Creek Off Road Park, in Jacksonville, Texas, on October 11. This year, Mudstock featured the Swampcross, Buddy Run and Mudbog competitions for ATV enthusiasts’ participation.

In the Swampcross event, Team Racer Josh Gorman finished in first place in the RUV Class in a 2009 Polaris RANGER RZR S. Teammate Blake Mann came in second in the Super Pro Class in the Swampcross on his Polaris Sportsman 800, while Team High Lifter – Polaris Racer Maggie Robertson came in third in the Pro Class on her Polaris Sportsman 500.

In the Mudbog, team racer Brian Robertson finished third in the RUV Class while teammate Adam Schumaker finished in third place in the Super Pro Class on his Polaris Sportsman 800. In the two man Buddy Run competition, Team High Lifter-Polaris Racers Josh Gorman and Adam Schumaker finished in first place in their 2009 Polaris RANGER RZR S. Team High Lifter-Polaris Racing will add more trophies to their collection on October 18,, in Lebanon, Tenn., at The Tennessee Mudfest. For a complete schedule and more information on Team High Lifter-Polaris Racing see their official site at http://www.highlifter.com/racing/.

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From our family to yours - Merry Christmas and Happy 2009!


Click here to see my answers to one of this year's e-mail Christmas quizzes. Feel free to copy and paste it along with your own answers to your web site or continue to spread it around via e-mail if you wish.

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

News From The Observatory

Things finally worked out last night (clear sky and lack of other duties came together) so I could get out and do a little observing. Absolutely beautiful night for it too!

I noticed someone on the web selling a belt for holding handwarmers like the old one of Dad's that I found. It wraps around you in such a way that one or two handwarmers are held on your back, over your kidneys. I designed my own and it works great! I almost thought that my back was going to get a "sunburn" from the heat. Whew. Didn't have any hot chocolate with me, but I did buy a good thermos at Wal-mart the other day so I'm all set for that too.

L to R: The Seven Sisters -- Jupiter (higher) and Venus (lower) getting ready for their conjunction with the Moon on December 1st. The green fuzzy spot in the top center of the photo is a reflection off the camera lens. Pay no attention to it! --
Bottom Row: Jupiter (higher) and Venus (lower) -- The King of the Planets, Jupiter, and his moons always in motion.



The "almost daily" airplane pictures! I think these first two are awesome. You can almost read the numbers on their wings in the full size images. --
Bottom Row: A strange, twisted vapor trail left by one of them. -- This bald eagle was way, way up there but I managed to get him.



Two of the latest "feeder" bird pictures.


L to R: Snoopy, always on the lookout for a good ball game. -- Old Goldie doesn't actively play ball anymore, she'd rather lay on the floor and push it back and forth between her paws with her nose, but she doesn't often miss out on a walk!


- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

Team High Lifter-Polaris Sweeps the Podium at the Tennessee Mudfest

Lebanon, Tennessee saw its first organized mud bog competition at the Wilson County Fairgrounds. Gooches Powersports of Nashville hosted “The High Lifter Pro Series Racing” event and invited all the bog teams from across the country to race. Team High Lifter-Polaris Racing showed up in full force with their ATVs and Side-by-Sides for a weekend full of competition and fun.

The Polaris RANGER RZR S was unstoppable as Team High Lifter-Polaris completely swept the podium in the RUV Class. Team Captain Scott Smith took home the top prize in his Polaris RANGER RZR S that was slightly modified with Outlaw mud tires and wheels, while Teammates Josh Gorman came in second and Blake Mann came in third. Both Gorman and Mann also were racing Polaris RANGER RZRs.

Team High Lifter-Polaris Racer Alicia Gorman placed second in the Women’s Class on a Polaris Sportsman 800, and second in the Bogger Class (476cc – 580cc) on a Polaris Sportsman 500. In the Pro Series A class which is consists of ATVs with an engine size of 721cc – 999 cc, Team Racer Blake Mann came in third on his 2008 Sportsman 800. Team High Lifter Polaris Racing has one final race of the season on December 6, 2008, at High Lifter Off Road Park, Shreveport, LA. For more information on Team High Lifter-Polaris Racing see their official website at http://www.highlifter.com/racing/.

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The planets Venus and Jupiter, which are the brightest objects in the night sky after the Moon, huddle quite low in the southwest as the sky begins to grow dark. Venus is the brighter of the two, with Jupiter above it. They set by around 8 p.m.

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

Christmas Quiz

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Paper

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial now

3. When do you put up the tree? The Sunday before Christmas. When do you take the tree down? The day after New Year

5. Do you like eggnog? Yuck! NO!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Tyco electric train

7. Hardest person to buy for? Mrs. Reverend

8. Easiest person to buy for? Our dogs

9. Do you have a nativity scene? No

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Shoeshine Kit

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? It's A Wonderful Life

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? November

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Never. I still have the shoeshine kit.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Same thing as the rest of the year - spaghetti!

16. Lights on the tree? Yes, they're built-in!

17. Favorite Christmas song? Little Drummer Boy

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home. How far would 5 bucks get me?

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes, if I think about it for a few minutes.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Neither. A 50+ year old lighted Santa!

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Morning. Eve is not Christmas.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Snowmobile trails that discriminate against ATVs.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Santas and the color blue.

24. Christmas dinner? Spaghetti! Occasionally turkey and ham.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? ATV riding opportunities in MY backyard.

Thanks Rich F!

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

Out There: Space Traffic Control System Needed

There are some 4,000 rocket bodies and satellites, dead or alive, orbiting Earth. In addition, more than 6,000 other large, observable and tracked bits of debris float around up there. More than 200,000 smaller bits bigger than 1 centimeter -- still potentially dangerous but not tracked -- are thought to be in orbit. Much of this material moves at 17,500 mph.

A Chinese anti-satellite test last year created a whopping new cloud of debris that experts called the most prolific and severe fragmentation in space ever.

Satellites and debris in low-Earth orbit can pose a threat to other satellites, space shuttles, and the International Space Station.

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Vega, Deneb, and Altair, the stars of the wide-spread Summer Triangle, drop down the western sky this evening. Vega is the brightest of the three. Although they form the signature star pattern of summer, they will remain in view well into winter.

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

ISS Tonight:

-2.0 16:36:35 WSW 59

The Lost ISS Toolbag:

04:36:22 pm WSW 59° 6.4 (dim)
Use binoculars and look just ahead of the ISS to see the lost toolbag ($100,000) drifting in space.

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

The International Space Station turns 10

This month marks the 10th anniversary of the first launched module of the International Space Station (ISS). The module Zarya was lifted into orbit on November 20th, 1998 by a Russian Proton rocket lifting off from Baikonur, Kazhakstan. In the decade since, 44 manned flights and 34 unmanned flights have carried further modules, solar arrays, support equipment, supplies and a total of 167 human beings from 15 countries to the ISS, and it still has a ways to go until it is done. Originally planned to be complete in 2003, the target date for completion is now 2011. Aside from time spent on construction, ISS crew members work on a good deal of research involving biology and physics in conditions of microgravity. If humans are ever to leave the Earth for extended periods, the ISS is designed to be the place where we will discover the best materials, procedures and safety measures to make it a reality.

The ISS is seen from Space Shuttle Discovery as the two spacecraft begin their relative separation. Earlier the STS-124 and Expedition 17 crews concluded almost nine days of cooperative work onboard the shuttle and station. Undocking of the two spacecraft occurred at 6:42 a.m. (CDT) on June 11th, 2008. (NASA)


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Other Earths, Other Aliens, or Our Own?

Again, when compared with the difficulties of things like interstellar space travel, how likely is it that there could be unknown civilizations that have existed on Earth—or which might still exist here today—unknown to modern humans? Unlikely at best, perhaps… but is that, in itself, any less likely than the notion of aliens traveling to Earth from the distant cosmos? Perhaps there is something behind these riddles in the dust of time after all—the ancient needles, the archaic batteries, the prehistoric nanotechnologies—which from time to time surface and present themselves, very much to our astonishment.

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Latest News From The Observatory

It hasn't been very good weather for astronomy. The few nights lately that the sky was clear, we've spent shopping, or hauling kids to the movies, or spending time with family for early Thanksgiving. There'll still be more moonless nights to come before the next full moon, if the weather cooperates. Jupiter and Venus are fast approaching each other in the southwest. It makes a pretty sight, so get out and see it any evening just after sunset. The Moon will join them soon for a night or two around December 1st.

We got 3 inches of snow last night. I don't think it will stick for long yet, but soon it will be here to stay.



The latest aircraft photos.


Play ball with me! -- Dance with me!
Kiss me! -- Take my picture too!



- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

Mini nuclear plants to power 20,000 homes



Nuclear power plants smaller than a garden shed and able to power 20,000 homes will be on sale within five years, say scientists at Los Alamos, the US government laboratory which developed the first atomic bomb.

The miniature reactors will be factory-sealed, contain no weapons-grade material, have no moving parts and will be nearly impossible to steal because they will be encased in concrete and buried underground.

The US government has licensed the technology to Hyperion, a New Mexico-based company which said last week that it has taken its first firm orders and plans to start mass production within five years. 'Our goal is to generate electricity for 10 cents a watt anywhere in the world,' said John Deal, chief executive of Hyperion. 'They will cost approximately $25m [£13m] each. For a community with 10,000 households, that is a very affordable $250 per home.'

Deal claims to have more than 100 firm orders, largely from the oil and electricity industries, but says the company is also targeting developing countries and isolated communities. 'It's leapfrog technology,' he said.

The company plans to set up three factories to produce 4,000 plants between 2013 and 2023. 'We already have a pipeline for 100 reactors, and we are taking our time to tool up to mass-produce this reactor.'

The first confirmed order came from TES, a Czech infrastructure company specialising in water plants and power plants. 'They ordered six units and optioned a further 12. We are very sure of their capability to purchase,' said Deal. The first one, he said, would be installed in Romania. 'We now have a six-year waiting list. We are in talks with developers in the Cayman Islands, Panama and the Bahamas.'

The reactors, only a few metres in diameter, will be delivered on the back of a lorry to be buried underground. They must be refuelled every 7 to 10 years. Because the reactor is based on a 50-year-old design that has proved safe for students to use, few countries are expected to object to plants on their territory. An application to build the plants will be submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission next year.

'You could never have a Chernobyl-type event - there are no moving parts,' said Deal. 'You would need nation-state resources in order to enrich our uranium. Temperature-wise it's too hot to handle. It would be like stealing a barbecue with your bare hands.'

Other companies are known to be designing micro-reactors. Toshiba has been testing 200KW reactors measuring roughly six metres by two metres. Designed to fuel smaller numbers of homes for longer, they could power a single building for up to 40 years.

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ISS Tonight:

-2.1 17:19:59 WSW 65

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

The most-distant object that is readily visible to the unaided eye soars high overhead this evening: the Andromeda galaxy. It looks like a faint smudge of light or a tiny puff of cloud. It is about 2.5 million light-years away.

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

Our good neighbors and friends, Scott and Mike!


- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

During Friday morning's flight, ultra-light pilot, Brooke Pennypacker, led 13 cranes over the Twin Groves wind farm at approximately 2000 ft. altitude with no problems. Pilot Richard van Heuvelen, on the other hand, had one lone bird; number 827, who tends to prefer having an aircraft all to himself. Richard was flying at approximately 2500 ft. and as soon as this crane saw the turbines below, he did a 180 degree turn and wanted nothing to do with them. Richard turned to collect him and tried again to no avail. He ended up having to divert west, toward Bloomington, IL and away from the wind farm so that he could get the bird back on course to our Piatt County location.

36-days on their migration flight to Florida...and the 14-young whooping cranes, who left the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge on October 17th...have flown 298-miles of their 1250-mile migration and are in Piatt County, Illinois. According to the Operation Migration website...the Class of 2008 whooping cranes traveled 114-miles Friday...and with a favorable wind leave Piatt County for Cumberland County Saturday, November 22nd.

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Were screams in the night really Bigfoot?

In his report, a man talks about a camping and fly-fishing trip he took in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado in June of this year. The man states that he had been camping, hiking and fishing in this area for about six years. He was also very familiar with all the sounds the various animals make in Colorado's forests and mountains. He had only one companion on this weekend camping trip, his Labrador retriever.
"The second evening, I had cooked dinner and taken the Lab out for a last evening walk around the meadows," the man wrote in his report. "It had been a good day of fishing and we were both tired. We went to bed in the tent just at dark. It was a night of an almost full moon. We both fell asleep quickly."
A bit later, the man was awakened by something outside his tent. At first, he thought it was a deer.
"After about 10 minutes from out of nowhere, I heard this unreal, LOUD, clear, resonant, scream/screech/howl/roar type sound from not too far away," he wrote in his report. "It sounded maybe 300 to 400 yards away and like it might have been just across the canyon on the mountainside. It was like no sound I have ever heard in my life."
He describes it as a "fairly high-pitched" sound and was not like the screams of wild cats.
"It seemed to be two parts screaming howl and one part roar, as it had that deep quality but was still high-pitched," he wrote. "I sat there for a minute stunned, and then realized what it must be."
The man wrote that he had previously read accounts on the BFRO's Web site from folks who reportedly heard the screams of a Bigfoot. What he heard that night matched their descriptions.
"The sound seemed to be coming directly toward me, like it might have been screaming at or towards me or this meadow area where people sometimes camp," he wrote in his report. "It felt territorial, aggressive, even a little threatening. Even though I had a (.357-caliber Magnum) loaded with hot hollow points and a strong flashlight, the prospect of encountering some big, hairy 'man-thing' outside my tent in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, and alone, was a little more than I wanted to deal with."
The man got his dog into the truck and he drove away from there as fast as he could, with his .357 in his lap. He drove that night looking for a place to stay.
"I have lived and backpacked extensively in Montana and in the Canadian Rockies and dealt with the reality of grizzly bears with no real problem," he wrote. "But this noise and the creature that most likely made it really freaked me out."
He spent the rest of the night in his truck. At daybreak, he went back to his campsite.
"I did not find any tracks in the greater area in which I was camping as it was mostly grass, although I did walk around and search for a bit," he wrote. "Now I am paranoid and worry that I might not be doing any more backpacking in this beautiful and remote area for fear of running into one of these spooky creatures, especially at night."

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ISS Tonight:

-1.5 16:54:14 SSW 39

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

Orion's Belt stands straight up from the horizon in the east in mid evening. It is a short line of three fairly bright stars. The two brightest stars of Orion, Betelgeuse and Rigel, are to the left and right of the belt, roughly parallel to the horizon as they rise.

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

ISS Tonight:

-2.3 18:03:09 WSW 72

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

Q: I don't have a fireplace, but I'd like to save on my heating bill this winter by installing a wood stove. How difficult would it be to install one? Any tips on what kind I should get?

A: Believe it or not, installing a wood stove system in your house is fairly simple. In fact, you don't even have to have a brick masonry chimney to have a wood stove-- it can be placed almost anywhere.

If you do have an existing fireplace, there are free standing stoves that can be easily connected to your flu, as well as fireplace/stove hybrids that fit right into the fireplace opening. Depending on the size you choose, wood stoves can heat anywhere between 600 square feet and 3,000 square feet of space. While some people might want a larger stove to heat the entire house, others might want a smaller stove to keep a few rooms warm and keep their heat pump from kicking on.

In choosing a stove, there are several things to consider. Heat quality depends on the quality of the stove. Cast iron and soapstone stoves are the best, but you can also choose a cast iron/soap stone combination. Cast iron stove/fireplace hybrids, which fit right into your existing fireplace, are also an option. Cast iron holds heat better than steel, and can withstand higher temperatures. Soapstone takes longer to heat up than cast iron, but will stay hot longer. Soapstone also produces a "soft heat," which means you can get a a bigger stove without worrying about over-heating the room. With a cast iron stove, if you get one that's too big, it can make the room too hot.

There are also a number of "designer" stoves now available, in combinations of cast-iron, soapstone, and steel, that not only heat your home or offset your heating bills, but add to the aesthetic beauty of your rooms.

All new stoves have what are called "re-burning systems" that are now required by the EPA. These are a set of tubes inside the stove that "reburn" the gases and creosote produced by burning. These stoves are noticeably more efficient, reducing the wood to a fine ash, producing more heat for longer periods, and minimizing the smoke that comes out the chimney. In addition, the glass on the stove won't get black with creosote.

After you choose a stove and decide where you want to put it, you can choose the best chimney system. The simplest way is to set the stove against an outside wall, run a stainless steel, double-insulated pipe outside and up the side of the house, and build a wooden chase around it. However, you can also place the stove in the center of the room and run a pipe straight through the ceiling to the roof, or put the stove in the basement, or even in an upstairs room with a steep roof pitch.

Ideally, you want the chimney pipe to be as straight as possible to get a good draw. To avoid back-draw, the pipe should also extend at least two feet past the highest point where it passes through the roof, and at least two feet higher than any part of the house within 10 feet.

If you have an existing fireplace, you can simply install a direct-connect kit, which comes with an oval pipe that fits through the flu, and metal paneling that seals off the area around the pipe. If you go this route, make sure you measure the fireplace opening before you choose a stove so you have the correct clearance, as stoves vent at different heights.

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Giving Thanks!

With Thanksgiving approaching, it makes us think about the things we are thankful for. After surviving heart trouble and spending time at Meriter a few years ago, then soon after that was my fight with pneumonia and resulting hospital stay, I am so thankful life trained me to be independent and helped me through all of that.

It sure has been cooling off fast. I am ready for winter now. Even though I do it all singlehandedly in between other duties that are not my own, the firewood is up and things are put away.

And most of all I am thankful for my close family and friends that help to brighten my days!

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

10°F this morning.

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

Government black boxes will 'collect every email'

Home Office says all data from web could be stored in giant government database

Internet "black boxes" will be used to collect every email and web visit in the UK under the Government's plans for a giant "big brother" database, The Independent has learnt.

Home Office officials have told senior figures from the internet and telecommunications industries that the "black box" technology could automatically retain and store raw data from the web before transferring it to a giant central database controlled by the Government.

Plans to create a database holding information about every phone call, email and internet visit made in the UK have provoked a huge public outcry. Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, described it as "step too far" and the Government's own terrorism watchdog said that as a "raw idea" it was "awful".

Nevertheless, ministers have said they are committed to consulting on the new Communications Data Bill early in the new year. News that the Government is already preparing the ground by trying to allay the concerns of the internet industry is bound to raise suspicions about ministers' true intentions. Further details of the database emerged on Monday at a meeting of internet service providers (ISPs) in London where representatives from BT, AOL Europe, O2 and BSkyB were given a PowerPoint presentation of the issues and the technology surrounding the Government's Interception Modernisation Programme (IMP), the name given by the Home Office to the database proposal.

Whitehall experts working on the IMP unit told the meeting the security and intelligence agencies wanted to use the stored data to help fight serious crime and terrorism, and said the technology would allow them to create greater "capacity" to monitor all communication traffic on the internet. The "black boxes" are an attractive option for the internet industry because they would be secure and not require any direct input from the ISPs.

During the meeting Whitehall officials also tried to reassure the industry by suggesting that many smaller ISPs would be unaffected by the "black boxes" as these would be installed upstream on the network and hinted that all costs would be met by the Government.

"It was clear the 'back box' is the technology the Government will use to hold all the data. But what isn't clear is what the Home Secretary, GCHQ and the security services intend to do with all this information in the future," said a source close to the meeting.

He added: "They said they only wanted to return to a position they were in before the emergence of internet communication, when they were able to monitor all correspondence with a police suspect. The difference here is they will be in a much better position to spy on many more people on the basis of their internet behaviour. Also there's a grey area between what is content and what is traffic. Is what is said in a chat room content or just traffic?"

Ministers say plans for the database have not been confirmed, and that it is not their intention to introduce monitoring or storage equipment that will check or hold the content of emails or phonecalls on the traffic.

A spokesman for the Home Office said that Monday's meeting provided a "chance to engage with small communication service providers" ahead of the formal public consultation next year. He added: "We need to work closely with the internet service providers and the communication service providers. The meeting was to show the top-line challenges faced in the future. We are public about the IMP, but we are still working out the detail. There will a consultation on the Communications Data Bill early next year."

A spokesman for the Internet Service Providers Association said the organisation was pleased the Home Office had addressed its members and was keen to continue dialogue while awaiting a formal consultation.

Database plans were first announced by the Prime Minister in February. It is not clear where the records will be held but GCHQ may eventually be the project's home.

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ISS Tonight:

-1.5 17:37:27 SSW 35

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

Unknown "Structures" Tugging at Universe, Study Says

On the outskirts of creation, unknown, unseen "structures" are tugging on our universe like cosmic magnets, a controversial new study says.

Everything in the known universe is said to be racing toward the massive clumps of matter at more than 2 million miles (3.2 million kilometers) an hour—a movement the researchers have dubbed dark flow.

The presence of the extra-universal matter suggests that our universe is part of something bigger—a multiverse—and that whatever is out there is very different from the universe we know, according to study leader Alexander Kashlinsky, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

The theory could rewrite the laws of physics. Current models say the known, or visible, universe—which extends as far as light could have traveled since the big bang—is essentially the same as the rest of space-time (the three dimensions of space plus time).

Picturing Dark Flow

Dark flow was named in a nod to dark energy and dark matter—two other unexplained astrophysical phenomena.

The newfound flow cannot be explained by, and is not directly related to, the expansion of the universe, though the researchers believe the two types of movement are happening at the same time.

In an attempt to simplify the mind-bending concept, Kashlinsky says to picture yourself floating in the middle of a vast ocean. As far as the eye can see, the ocean is smooth and the same in every direction, just as most astronomers believe the universe is. You would think that beyond the horizon, therefore, nothing is different.

"But then you discover a faint but coherent flow in your ocean," Kashlinsky said. "You would deduce that the entire cosmos is not exactly like what you can see within your own horizon."

There must be an out-of-sight mountain river or ravine pushing or pulling the water. Or in the cosmological case, Kashlinsky speculates that "this motion is caused by structures well beyond the current cosmological horizon, which is more than 14 billion light-years away."

source....

Polaris RANGER RZR takes 2008 Racing Season by Storm

The Polaris RANGER RZR continues to be a force by impressively taking the Best in the Desert, WORCS and GNCC racing championships for 2008.

“Polaris Racing is very excited to have three series championships for 2008,” said Eric Nault, race team manager for Polaris. “The side-by-side race teams did an awesome job with their RANGER RZRs, and we’re convinced their dedication will result in many more championships.”

Jagged X and their No. 1919 RANGER RZR took their second Best in the Desert Points Championship by winning their fourth race in a row in the series. They sealed the championship in the sixth out of the seventh race, at the Golden West Cycle LV 150 where pilots Brandon Schueler and Blake Van de Loo started in fifth position. After only 11 miles The Jagged X team had made their way to second position where they would stay for the larger part of the race and took the lead to finish first. The No. 1919 leads the class scoring an impressive 440 points to the second place finisher’s 292 points.

Polaris/Lone Star/Eichner Racing’s Doug Eichner captured the top spot for the WORCS Side-by-Side title on his RANGER RZR with six podium finishes. Mark Holz and his RANGER RZR finished a respective fourth with three firsts and one second in the four races he competed in.

Multi-time Pro and Pro Production GNCC Winner, William Yokley raced the Polaris RANGER RZR in GNCC’s UTV Open Modified class and went undefeated taking the GNCC UTV Championship. An impressive nine of the top 10 overall finishers were racing RANGER RZRs.

“Jagged X, Eichner and Yokley have been very dedicated to racing the RANGER RZR and we are extremely happy with their successes in their respective racing series,” said Craig Scanlon, product line sales manager for Polaris’ Side-by-Side Division. “The varying terrain and challenges each racing series has and being able to finish at the top in the three series continues to show the versatility, quality and power of the RANGER RZR.”

Watch for Mark Lindsey and his RANGER RZR at the Baja 1,000.

Massive Waves a Mystery at Maine Harbor

Dockworker Marcy Ingall saw a giant wave in the distance last Tuesday afternoon and stopped in her tracks. It was an hour before low tide in Maine's Boothbay Harbor, yet without warning, the muddy harbor floor suddenly filled with rushing, swirling water.

In 15 minutes, the water rose 12 feet, then receded. And then it happened again. It occurred three times, she said, each time ripping apart docks and splitting wooden pilings.

"It was bizarre," said Ingall, a lifelong resident of the area. "Everybody was like, 'Oh my God, is this the end?' " It was not the apocalypse, but it was a rare phenomenon, one that has baffled researchers. The National Weather Service said ocean levels rapidly rose in Boothbay, Southport, and Bristol in a matter of minutes around 3 p.m. on Oct. 28 to the surprise of ocean watchers. Exactly what caused the rogue waves remains unknown.

"The cause of it is a mystery," said National Weather Service meteorologist John Jensenius, who first reported the waves from a field office in Gray, Maine. "But it's not mysterious that it happened."

Specialists have posed a variety of possible explanations, saying the waves could have been caused by a powerful storm squall or the slumping of mountains of sediment from a steep canyon in the ocean - a sort of mini tsunami. The last time such rogue waves appeared in Maine was at Bass Harbor in 1926.

Jensenius said the occurrence is so unusual, that specialists don't have a name for the phenomenon.

"That's part of our problem," he said.

A similar occurrence in Florida more than 15 years ago continues to baffle researchers. A series of 12- to 15-foot waves hit Daytona Beach on July 3, 1992, injuring more than 20 people and lifting and tossing dozens of cars.

Jeff List, an oceanographer at the US Geological Survey at Woods Hole said he and other researchers studied the occurrence, but no one has been able to pinpoint the cause. And he said similarly enormous waves appeared once on the Great Lakes.

Could such a wave or waves enter Boston Harbor, or even engulf the Massachusetts coast?

"It seems a little unlikely one could hit Boston," List said. "But then again, these things are always surprises when they occur."

A squall line surge, which occurs when fast-moving storm winds sweep over water that is traveling the same speed, can create such a wave. (The speed of waves is directly related to wind speed and the depth of the ocean at any given point.)

List and other specialists said such an occurrence is exceedingly rare, but when it occurs, "you get this interaction that causes a large bulge of water to rise up."

source....

From Today's Walk

I think next year I will buy a small game license and cook up a bunch of these. I like fresh squirrel. Snoopy chased this guy up a tree.


Then we ran into a show shower.


Dad's old handwarmer kept us warm. I switched it from pocket to pocket to try it out in different places. Works good in the breast pocket, but it's a little stinky if you're not moving.


- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

Dad's Antique Jon-E Handwarmer Still Works

I got the old handwarmer running last night, without blowing myself up. Quite the opposite of an explosion actually. I had trouble lighting it, or so I thought. The instructions on the can of fluid said to light the wick, let it burn for one minute, then blow the flame out. I never could get any flame, just a quick poof, when lighting it so I thought it wasn't burning. I kept holding the lighter to it to try to get it to flame, thinking that it wasn't working. Finally I gave up and then noticed a real faint glowing of the wick material. I guess it was lit all along, just that I didn't know it because it never flamed like the instructions said it would. Oh well, it works great and fits nicely in my homemade carrying bag.

Well, one day down and six more to go! Not sure if I can do it, that's like six years worth in one week! I expect by about the fourth day I'll need the ambulance.

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

STAR GAZER
Episode # 08-46 / 1615th Show
To Be Aired : Monday 11/17/2008 through Sunday 11/23/2008
"The Return Of Three Cosmic Birds For Thanksgiving
And the Two Brightest Planets Meet"

Horkheimer: Greetings, greetings fellow star gazers. Cosmically speaking this year Thanksgiving week will be very special because in addition to the usual turkey bird for Thanksgiving dinner we have our annual return of three cosmic birds which you can see right after Thanksgiving dinner or any night Thanksgiving week. Plus the two brightest planets are preparing for a super close meeting and you can watch them come closer every night!

O.K., we've got our skies set up for any clear night this Thanksgiving week about one hour after sunset facing southwest where just above the horizon you will see the two brightest planets in our solar system, super bright, 8,000 mile wide Venus and second brightest, 88,000 mile wide Jupiter, eleven Venuses wide. And if you watch night after night they will move closer and closer to each other and on November 30th and December 1st will be super close and actually spectacular! So start your Venus / Jupiter getting closer to each other each night watch now.

Next if you look high above the horizon you'll see three bright stars which if we connect with lines make up what is officially called the Summer Triangle but which every November I unofficially call the "Thanksgiving is for the birds" triangle because historically these stars have been associated with cosmic birds. The highest star is Deneb, the bright tail star in Cygnus the swan. So in addition to our Thanksgiving turkey we have a heavenly swan to be thankful for. The bright star farthest to the left, Altair, is the brightest star in Aquila the Eagle, and the brightest of the three stars and closest to the northwest horizon is Vega in the constellation Lyra the Harp which, strange as it may sound, has had more feathery incarnations than the other two birds put together.

You see, Lyra was not always a harp. In fact long before it became a lyre it was a cosmic turtle but before it was a cosmic turtle it was a bird of one sort or another. Ancient records tell us that Lyra's association with birds goes back over 2,000 years. In ancient India Lyra was seen as a heavenly vulture. But when Babylonian kings and their queens strolled through the hanging gardens of Babylon they looked up and identified Lyra as their great mythological bird of storms, Urakhga. In ancient Arabia people depicted Lyra's stars, depending on what tribe they belonged to as either a desert eagle or would you believe, a cosmic goose. And Lyra was also seen as a great osprey and as a wood falcon. Anyone for a wood falcon or osprey drumstick?

At any rate, only in the past couple hundred years or so have we in the west seen Lyra exclusively as a lyre, a small harp of ancient Greece. In fact as recently as the American Revolution these stars were still depicted as a bird, a great American eagle, but with a lyre in its beak. So perhaps we should play lyre music after Thanksgiving dinner? At any rate, step outside just after dinner any night this week and look for some birds of a different feather and be truly thankful you won't have them served up as Thanksgiving leftovers for several nights in a row, although you will be able to see them many, many nights in a row. Yes indeed, Thanksgiving is really for the birds but in a really nice way. Keep looking up!

source....

Another ATV Ride in the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge

JR and I went for a little ATV ride today. Beautiful day for it, even if we weren't conditioned to the cold yet this early in the cold weather season. JR mentioned when we left his house this morning that he had bought new Iceman cold weather boots, but he wasn't going to wear them yet today. I figured he was going to wear older boots, or something similar. No, when we were partway into our ride I noticed he was wearing tennis shoes! Brrr!

Today at Pamida on the way home, I got some fluid for my dad's old Jon-E handwarmer. I'm going to see if it works (it's older than 40 years) and hopefully not blow myself up trying it out. That should come in handy. Dad carried it everywhere in the Winter when I was a kid. The cloth carrying bag for it is missing, but I'll stitch one up no problem!

Another nice thing to have would be a Thermos full of hot chocolate! I had one, but the insides broke when I dropped it. Soon I will buy a new one. I can't even stand the smell of coffee and don't like tea, so chocolate it is!

JR pointed out how odd it was that the price of gas was so different between two gas stations in Necedah. This was the more expensive one.


If you look closely in the water, in the background you'll see a doe swimming across it! I snapped the picture so quickly that I didn't have time to realize the camera was focused on the stupid branches in the foreground and not the deer in the background.


These guys are gettin' the Hell outta here!


And of course, one of today's airplane pictures!


These pictures and more can also be found on my home/picture page.

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

The Leonid meteor shower is at its best tonight. Unfortunately, it has some competition: a bright gibbous Moon. The moonlight will overpower most of the meteors, leaving only a handful of the brightest "shooting stars" to shine through.

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

Dallas-area pastor issues sex challenge

God may have rested on the seventh day, but the Rev. Ed Young wants married couples to have sex all week long.

Once a day. Beginning this Sunday.

The call to action will headline Mr. Young's Sunday sermon at Grapevine-based Fellowship Church. He plans to deliver his challenge while sitting on a bed.

"I won't be dressed in pajamas," the pastor says.

In these days of financial crisis, rampant divorce and debates over same-sex marriage, it's time, he says, to turn the "whining" into "whoopee."

More fundamentally, he adds, the embracing of sex is about nurturing and strengthening marriages.

"Sex is like Super Glue. It's a spiritual thing, an emotional thing," he says.

And the marriage thing, he believes, should only involve a man and woman. God's way, he says.

Jim Dale of Coppell said he figures the pastor is trying to create more buzz for his five-church mega-ministry.

"Draw 'em in, no matter what or how," wrote the Coppell resident in a posting on dallasnews.com. "Sex? You betcha. That'll pack the pews (or theater seats)."

Mr. Dale, author of a book about individual relationships with God, said he has attended Fellowship Church a few times. And he offered some praise: "I've got to hand it to them, they are brilliant marketers."

Mr. Young says his challenge – the latest in a sermon series called "Leaving Lust Vegas" – isn't about filling seats. "We've got more people than we can say grace over," he says of his 20,000-worshipper Baptist ministry that video streams services from Grapevine to churches in downtown Dallas, Plano, Fort Worth and Miami.

Marketing is indeed at play, the pastor says. "It gets people thinking on a deeper level about sex. I want people talking about it," he says.

But doing it?

"God says sex should be between a married man and a woman. And do it," he says.

Whatever the motivation, the pastor's rousing words aren't unprecedented. A Florida church earlier this year issued a 30-day sex challenge.

Mr. Young said his words may well resonate more with the young and healthy. And at 47 years old, he plans to practice what he's preaching.

"We're going to give it a try," he says, speaking for Lisa, his wife of 26 years and mother of their four children.

As for others, "I can't make them do it," the pastor says.

But he's hopeful. "I think people are going to have a happy Thanksgiving."

source....

COUNT ME IN!
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

Unexplained with George Noory

On Sun. Nov. 16th through Thurs. Nov. 20th, don't miss the pilot episodes of Unexplained with George Noory, airing on the Sci Fi Channel at 11p (ET/PT). Topics include reincarnation, witchcraft, cryptozoology, UFOs, and strange tales.

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

Pictured: World's first truly blue roses go on display in Japan


They are the stuff of legend - signifying mystery and traditionally believed to be able to grant the owner youth.

For years breeders have crossed different colours of roses in an effort to create the impossible. But rose petals lack the enzyme needed to create a blue pigment and the breeders always failed.

Now for the first time, thanks to genetic engineering, blue roses finally exist.

The very first truly blue roses have gone on display in Japan and will be on sale to the public next year.

After 13 years of research the Japanese Suntory company have finally perfected the mythical flower.

Working with the Australian company Florigene the researchers took the delphinidin gene, which creates the blue colour, from a petunia. They then inserted it into a mauve rose called the Cardinal de Richelieu.

The resultant flower was a dark burgundy colour due to an excess of the blue pigment cyanidin.

After using RNAi technology to reduce this the final blue rose was today unveiled at the annual Flower Expo held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan.

source....

Goodbye Easton Pond, after 125 years.



- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!

This morning's daytime Moon.


- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!