Paul Tibbets, the man who flew the B-29 bomber Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb, has died at the age of 92. The following is probably the best insight into his life:
Tibbets, then a 30-year-old colonel, never expressed regret over his role. It was, he said, his patriotic duty -- the right thing to do.
"I'm not proud that I killed 80,000 people, but I'm proud that I was able to start with nothing, plan it and have it work as perfectly as it did," he said in a 1975 interview.
Now happily ensconced in a new job, I still get a raft of emails from recruiters. No matter how you try to shut down a job search, their are always recruiters who have somehow not gotten the hint or have dredged up a copy of your résumé from 5 years ago and think you're still looking for a job. What cheeses e off most? Glad you didn't ask, but I'm going to tell you anyway:
So, it was not your typical weekend:
And to top it off, on my way to work this morning I saw a white Dept. of Homeland Security van crusing down the highway and watched a hawk swoop down and kill something by the side of the road. Autumn has definitely arrived.
OK, I'm going off on a rant here (apologies to Dennis Miller)... I hear something on the radio this morning about Blender magazine's list of the 40 worst lyricists in rock. Number 1 is Sting, and I'm on the fence about that, but then they get to Number 2: Neil Peart, drummer/songwriter for Rush. OK, now you've pissed me off.
I take enough flack for liking Rush (my wife doesn't get it, but then I don't get her love of Bruce Springsteen, though she grew up near his house... but I digress...) from those who don't consider them a real band, determine them to be formulaic, and generally have contempt for their music. Like being a Red Sox fan, you learn to live with it. But this just shows how far some people have their head up their ass. While no one will confuse Neil with Shakespeare, the songs he's written over the year have heft and resonance, and he does come up with the occasional turn of phrase that leaves you scratching your head, but then have you listened to some of today's pop tunes or rap songs? It just goes to show that intellectual snobbery is alive and well in the universe, especially when it comes to criticism.
I also found number 10 interesting: Jim Morrison. Now, you can go two ways here: his lyrics can be out there, but the fact is, backed up by the music, he created a lot of powerful stuff. Again, too intellectual for "the critics."
George Takei is now an astronomical object. Well, his name is anyway. The International Astronomical Union's Committee on Small Body Nomenclature approved the re-naming of asteroid 1994 GT9 to 7307 Takei in honor of the Star Trek actor.
It joins the 4659 Roddenberry (named for the show's creator, Gene Roddenberry) and the 68410 Nichols (for co-star Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura). Other main-belt asteroids have been named for science fiction luminaries Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov.
...of the impending apocalypse. That and the general ignorance of people.
Video- "The View" co-host doesn't know if the world is round or flat
The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'
- Ronald Reagan
From the "I told you so!" department, comes an article in the LA Times that should come as no surprise. Now that Hugo Chavez is firmly ensconced as leader of Venezuela, he is seeking to remove the term limit provision from the Venezuelan constitution. He proposed adding one year to the term of the President, making it 7 years, then eliminating the 2-term limit. Thus, he would be President of Venezuela until 2013, and then be able to run perpetually. To quote the article:
"It's not that I want to enthrone myself," Chavez said. "This shouldn't surprise anyone. It's done this way in any number of countries.
"There are many lies circulating in the world, about a dictatorship in Venezuela, about a concentration of power in Venezuela," he said. "This is a transfer of power to the people."
Not unlike Hitler and his friend Fidel Castro, he's seeking to do this through legal means, to give it the veneer of legality while behind the scenes he is setting up his dictatorship-for-life. Following the pattern of the centuries, he's throwing state money at social programs, causing the people to believe that he is their champion. Give it ten years, and he will be firmly entrenched, busy stamping out all opposition while continuing to profess his love of the Venezuelan people even as he gives them no choice in how their country is run.
History repeats itself.
Behind every great computer sits a skinny little geek.