Posts Made By: Lee Spain

Here's an 83-year old who's not slowing down!

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/stories/2007/04/25/0426nasage.html

Bbbeeeeeeeeeep! Bbbbbeeeeeeep! Beeeeeep!

Attention Astromart Readers - This is a Vick Alert! The Humane Society of the United States has received many tips linking Atlanta Falcon's QB Michael Vick to illegal dog fighting. Yesterday, law enforcement officials found neglected pitbulls and dog fighting paraphenalia on property belonging to Michael Vick while serving a drug warrant on one of his relatives. :S

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/nfl/04/26/bc.fbn.vickinvestigatio.ap/index.html

Readers are advised to keep all pets away from the Vick Brothers and members of the Vick entourage. In the event of an actual encounter with Michael Vick readers are advised to take all necessary precautions consistent with their personal morality and gun control views that they may have expressed in the Politics forum.

This concludes this Vick Alert!

I'm looking at a small refractor and I'd like to know -

- where baffles should be placed in the telescope tube?
- how can you tell if a baffle is placed so that it takes away aperture?

I've got a small refractor that I'd like to review and I've got a few extra objective lenses that I'd like to assemble into small refractors.

If you had to handle Iraq with these ideas in mind:
1) The 17 million people living there are important
2) The oil that they live on is important to our own and the world economy
3) The lives of our troops that are in Iraq are important
4) The long term stability of the region is important
5) The outcome will impact other important regional allies (Kuwait, Saudi, the Emirates, and Pakistan)

And, you were not allowed to throw up your hands, point fingers, and indulge in recriminations and say things like:
1) We shouldn't be there in the first place.
2) This wouldn't have happened had they had a plan and enough manpower.
3) Let's impeach somebody.

And, you were the next president, how you would handle the situation?

Does anybody have some good ideas for how to make a focuser for small, very, very, short, focal length spotting scopes? I'd be particularly interested in how to make a helical focuser where you could place a diagonal and eyepiece in it and then screw it in or our to adjust the distance from the objective lense. When I try to re-use a focuser from an old department store scope, the focuser tube is almost longer than the overall scope focal length.

The little objectives that I've been playing with are in this category:
http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/l1436.html
http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/l3610.html
http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/l3035.html
http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/b1013.html

Some researchers want to use a virus to eradicate fire ants. I think this is a really bad idea -- just as introducing Kudzu to the U.S. was a bad idea. What if the virus kills all ants everywhere? Or what if it kills all bugs? Or what if some Timothy McVeigh wannabe gets it and uses it to kill people? Plus, how will this affect hound dogs that eat fire ants? Besides, it's funny to watch people dance when they finally realize that they're standing on a fire ant mound.

"HeyEarlbetterwatchoutferthemfarants."
"Huh?"
"Farants"
"Ow, Ow, Ow!"

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/05/07/fire.ants.virus.ap/index.html

I was looking at VWs website the other day and it looks like they don't have anything in the U.S. that gets more than 30 miles per gallon. It looks like everything has the same standard 2.5 liter engine. Pretty much any GM car in any size category will get 30 miles per gallon. In the past, VWs were always among the most fuel efficient cars on the road and they seemed to have lots of cars with EPA ratings in the high 30s and low 40s on the highway. What gives?

And another thing, while I am ranting, there is no such thing as a "Gun Show Loophole." If you go to a gunshow, the exhibitors have federal firearms licenses to sell guns. If you buy a gun, you fill out all the same paperwork and you go through the same instant background check and you must abide by all applicable laws (waiting periods, residency requirements, etc.). If there is a waiting period, you might have to go pick up the gun at the dealers store or at an upcoming gunshow or make some similar arrangement.

There are a few people who come with the intent of trading one of their own firearms in to a dealer so they can purchase something else. Sometimes these people might meet somebody else at the show and just sell their gun to another individual. This is pretty much a chance thing. Somebody will say something like "Is that Spanish Mauser...?" and a conversation could evolve into an informal deal. For this sort of private transfer, there is no background check. However, this isn't anything special or peculiar to the gunshow, if you place an ad in the paper there aren't any background checks either. So, it really isn't a "gunshow loophole."

Since I once saw a friend in Virginia get all kinds of calls an ad he placed in the paper, ("Yo, G you got dat 9 fo sale?") He ended up making his private sale on a gun dealers premises and splitting the costs for a background check on the buyer. It was safer. I don't have any problem with placing the same paperwork and background check requirements on private weapons transfers. And, if the ATF cared, they might try placing some ads in the Northern Virginia want ads . . .

Here are a couple of sad but true quarterback stories in stark black and white.

A high school hot shot with a history of drinking and driving:
http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/hall/newfullstory.asp?ID=114132

A pro with an entourage immersed in the thug life:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/don_banks/05/09/vick/index.html?cnn=yes

Are there any new issues that you'd like to see politicians address? Are there any issues you'd like to see get retired from public discourse?

For example, I'd like to see politicians take on the credit card companies for all the sneaky games they play on late fees, overlimit fees, service charges, grace periods, and interest rates. I remember when I was a little kid, I asked what a loan shark was and my dad told me it was a mean person that charged outrageous interest like 25%. Seems like banks and loan sharks are pretty closely related. I think there is a political issue there.

I'd also like to see the abortion debate retired from public discourse. I'm a dude. I'm married. I could care less about it.