Back in Houston

Wow, what a climate shock, going from San Francisco to Houston. From cool afternoons and chilly nights in San Fran to sweltering nights and days in Houston.

I learned that, unfortunately, I cannot post completely to this blog via my smartphone, the Motorola Droid. Don't know why. I say "completely" because that previous post, "Leaving San Francisco" was in fact posted to the blog while sitting waiting for our plane in the San Francisco airport. I could create a post TITLE, but could not post any text, for some reason. Oh well. No great loss.

There was quite a long line in the San Fran airport, waiting to go through the metal detectors. When we finally got to the scanners, the wife piled everything into the gray boxes and was waved through the metal detector with no problem. An old lady got between the wife and me, and after she was waved through the metal detector, the TSA lady told her, "Go to #3." I then got waived through with no problem.

This old Anglo German grandma went into a small glass room, right there next to the metal scanner, in full view of everyone streaming through. As I began to gather my stuff and put my shoes back on, thread my belt, etc, I looked back and there is granny, with her hands up against one of the glass walls like a mime.

Is she going to be searched? Right there?

As the wife and I made it further down the concourse towards our gate, I looked back, and there is granny, still inside the glass box, taking off her jacket, and it looked like she was unbuttoning her blouse! I am certainly glad that the TSA is keeping all of us safe from old German grandmas!! Thank you TSA!!

But now we are safely ensconced back at home sweet home in Houston. It's great to get away, but it's great to get back home to your own bed and your own stuff. I'll put together a post or two about our travels in San Francisco. It was simply a great trip, damn near perfect. San Francisco is like another country!! It is absolutely awesome, but I would never want to live there!

Leaving San Francisco

(OK, it's official. I cannot make a post using my new Droid smartphone. So far, this is the only thing I have tried that it will not do.)

Yes, it's Bush's fault

And like Nancy Pelosi said the other day, (I'm paraphrasing): "We'll quit blaming Bush when the current problems are solved."

CHART OF THE DAY: Reminder, The Deficit You're Freaking Out About Is Bush's Fault

President Obama's administration has been blamed for reckless spending that has put America into its debt hole. But in reality, much of that spending emanates from policies of President Bush, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

They argue that Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Bush tax cuts (along with the economic downturn) are what is driving the U.S. deficit, not stimulus spending. The CBPP focuses on lower to middle income issues and may be directly involved with the Democratic Party.

The chart presents the ugly truth.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-bush-policies-deficits-2010-6#ixzz0ssRvbTU8

Org. Chart

When top level guys look down, they see only shit;
When bottom level guys look up, they see only assholes...

San Francisco

We're currently in San Francisco.

What a city.

Only seven miles from the Pacific to the Bay.

Oh, Lord. The parks!!

The cool architecture.

The bizarre neighborhoods

Such a colorful city

More later....

July Stargazing

Good Heavens!!


Stargazing Summary
The Moon stairsteps past an array of bright stars and planets in the middle of the month: Regulus, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Spica. A fourth planet, Mercury, just pops into view quite low in the west shortly after sunset, but you will need a clear horizon and binoculars to spot it. Two major constellations of summer, Scorpius and Sagittarius, scoot low across the south. Bright orange Antares points the way to hook-shaped Scorpius, while the brightest stars of Sagittarius form a teapot. Star clouds in the Milky Way form the steam above the teapot’s spout.

More stargazing information: http://stardate.org/nightsky/weekly.php


Radio Program Highlights
Hear StarDate every day on more than 360 radio stations nationwide. Or subscribe to our podcast and RSS feed.

XML http://stardate.org/feeds/rss.xml

July 1-4: Dark skies. The night sky is filled with wonders, from meteor showers to the Milky Way. Yet we're missing out on much of it because of the light we produce on our own. We'll talk about some dark-sky wonders, plus efforts to cleanse the sky of stray light.

July 5-11: "Grabby" galaxy. Our home galaxy, the Milky Way, has long fingers -- the invisible fingers of gravity. It uses them to grab and pull in other galaxies, incorporating their stars into its own body.

July 12-18: The weather. The weather is probably the number one topic for idle chit-chat, and we'll join the chat this week, with the weather of planets, stars, and even space itself.

July 19-25: Dark matter. Most of the mass of the universe is invisible. We know it's there only because its gravity pulls on the visible matter around it. Join us for dark matter, from its discovery to the search for an explanation.

July 26-31: A powerful swan. Cygnus, the swan, soars gracefully through the Milky Way on summer evenings. The constellation is home to one of the mightiest stars in the galaxy, plus a giant nursery for new stars.

July Program Schedule: http://stardate.org/radio/calendars

Find an Affiliate: http://stardate.org/radio/affiliates.php


This Month in StarDate Magazine
In the July/August issue of StarDate magazine, we'll update you on NASA's long-anticipated SOFIA airborne astronomy mission. We'll also bring you a feature on the science made possible by solar eclipses.

Subscribe online: http://stardate.org/magazine


Beat the Heat and Enjoy Dark Summer Skies
It's summertime, but cooler climates prevail at McDonald Observatory in West Texas' Davis Mountains. Make your reservations now to visit us in July or August for a chance to view the heavens through a large, research-grade telescope. (We have lots of openings for our Special Viewing Nights on the 36" Telescope and our Lunar Viewing Program.) Secure your passes for an up-coming visit or buy passes for someone else as a gift.

Find out more: http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/visitors/programs/


News From the Observatory
Observatory Launches Dark Skies Initiative
The University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory is kicking off a campaign to promote awareness of the causes, effects, and solutions to light pollution - stray light shone into the sky where it's wasted, rather than down on the ground where it's useful. The Observatory will be promoting dark skies awareness through its nationally syndicated StarDate radio program, its Spanish-language radio program Universo, and through online video and summer programs on-site at its home in West Texas.

Find out more: http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/news/releases/2010/0621.html

Watch McDonald Videos on YouTube
McDonald Observatory has launched a YouTube Channel. The channel currently hosts about 20 videos on topics from overviews of the Observatory, to fighting light pollution, to skywatching event animations. More videos will be coming soon, including many about the Observatory's Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX). Subscribe to our channel, and be notified when new videos are posted!

To watch, visit: http://www.youtube.com/mcdonaldobservatory

Al Franken

What a guy! Minnesota should be proud.