Posts Made By: Joe Williams

Hi folks,
I'm new to astromart, but not astronomy. About 15 years ago I bought a TV Renaisance at an auction without an eyepiece. Since then, I've been using it with a mix-n-match set of eyepieces I've acquired including an Orion 32 ortho 2", 25 JSO ortho, 12 JSO Kelner, and a 7.5 Parks gold series. Alas, no TV eyepieces. I no longer have the JSO eyepieces as they were sold with another scope. I've been told that I should consider getting a couple of TV eyepieces. I'm now at the point where I'd like to invest in a couple of TVs. My question is this. If I were to have only two EPs to use with this scope, which should I consider? I've been thinking about a 12mm Nagler and a 4.8mm Nagler. I'd like to be able to do some planetary viewing and I figure the 4.8 combined with the 550mm focal length of the scope should give me sufficient power, but will I suffer chromatic abberasion with this high power EP on such a fast scope? If so, will stop down help?

Any opinions are appreciated.
Thanks

I'm seeing a lot of anti Bush slander being spewed about on this site. To those who criticise our action in Iraq, I ask you this: What would you have done? Ask for another U.N. resolution? Should we have tried to negotiate with Saddam? Should we have lifted our sactions, or strengthen them? Should we have done nothing?

I don't think you quite understand. Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan (insert your 3rd world Islamic nation here) do not play this game on our terms. By "our" terms I mean western "civilized" nations. (yes I said civilized) They never will. This is not a matter of asking them more nicely to allow weapons inspections. They know and respect only power and courage. Unfortunately, negotiations are for the weak, and that's just how they see us right now, Weak.

No WMD found in Iraq? Oh well! Does it really matter? Do you really have any doubt that Saddam would have given aide and comfort to anyone even closely resembling a member of Al Queda? If you do, you ought to take off those rose colored glasses and stop smokin the crack! This is exactly the type of reaction that Al Queda is hoping for.

Did anyone think this would be easy? Based on what supposition? Bush told us it would be hard and that's exaxtly what he meant. Would it cost American lives? Of course. My son is 15 now. The thought of loosing him to a group of ignorant thugs makes me sick, but not as sick as asking him to live in a world that permits such thugs to live and prosper.

To what degree should we exercise our first amendement right to oppose this action? Protests, rallys, articles etc protesting the action in Iraq would normally be, in democratic society such as ours, a healthy thing. It's healthy when it's used to persuade public opinion. But when it's used to weaken resolve or give aid the the enemy, it's called sedition.

With Denzel Washington. I thought it was good. It had me on the edge of my seat a couple of times. I'm rather hard to please with action/thriller flicks.

I'm curious as to what attributes or circumstances of our lives have influenced our political views. If you are also so interested and so inclined, I'd like to take a little survey to find out. Of course, I'll be the first to answer. Feel free to add questions you think may be important. Of course, you don't have to answer all questions.

Age: 45
Married: Yes
Children: 2
Education: BS, Information System
Military: Yes
Ever lived in a country other than USA?:
Yes
How would you classify your political views:
Fiscally conservative, socially independant.
How would you classify your parents political views:
Fiscally liberal, socially conservative.
How would you characterize your economic status:
Middle class, white collar.
How would you characterize your parents economice status:
Working class, blue collar.
Raised in a urban, rural or suburban environment:
Urban.

Wednesday, April 14, 2004
9/11 Panel Questions Psychics About Intelligence Failure
4/14/2004 - William Grim

Washington - Members of the Congressional panel investigating the 9/11 terrorist attacks grilled members of the Psychic Network for five hours today over the apparent failure of that organization to predict the actions of Al-Qaeda.
“The question is: What did the Psychic Network dream and when did they dream about it?” said Richard Ben-Veniste, chief minority counsel for the committee.
“Ooh, mon, we not be making no predictions about Al-Qaeda,” said Madame Mojo, the Jamaican-born CPO (chief psychic officer) of the Psychic Network. “The FBI never made no call to our 800 number, never gave us no VISA, MasterCard or American Express number. You want predictions you gotta make with the money or ganja, mon.”
Mr. Ben-Veniste then announced that subpoenas had been issued to all women who are registered Republicans to force them to testify why their women’s intuition did not predict the 9/11 attacks.
“There are 50 million Republican women out there who have a lot to answer for,” said Ben-Veniste. “And I won’t stop until I have questioned every single one of them, regardless of how many billable hours at $750 an hour it takes.”

The news on Bin Laden's latest communique is an excellent example of how damaging negative press coverage of this effort can be. He is trying to use the news of the Halliburton charges to encite more violence against US forces by claiming that we are profiteering on the Iraqis.

I'm curious. What would you do if you knew that OBL was reading each one of our posts on this forum?

By JAMES TARANTO
The Wall Street Journal Online
April 14, 2004

President Bush was at his best last night, in an hour-long televised speech and news conference on the war on terror. Some of the highlights:

"The violence we are seeing in Iraq is familiar. The terrorist who takes hostages, or plants a roadside bomb near Baghdad is serving the same ideology of murder that kills innocent people on trains in Madrid, and murders children on buses in Jerusalem, and blows up a nightclub in Bali, and cuts the throat of a young reporter for being a Jew."


"Over the last several decades, we've seen that any concession or retreat on our part will only embolden this enemy and invite more bloodshed. And the enemy has seen, over the last 31 months, that we will no longer live in denial or seek to appease them. For the first time, the civilized world has provided a concerted response to the ideology of terror--a series of powerful, effective blows."

On the comparison of Iraq to Vietnam: " I think the analogy is false. I also happen to think that analogy sends the wrong message to our troops, and sends the wrong message to the enemy. Look, this is hard work. It's hard to advance freedom in a country that has been strangled by tyranny. And, yet, we must stay the course, because the end result is in our nation's interest."

It's hard to believe, but Democrats used to talk like this, back when it was the party of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman and John F. Kennedy, rather than of George McGovern, Jimmy Carter, Michael Dukakis and JFK's dissolute youngest brother. In his Inaugural Address, for example, JFK famously said:

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

And as Thomas Sowell notes, the 35th president also said of America's enemies: "We dare not tempt them with weakness"--an almost identical sentiment to the one Bush expresses in the second quote above.

... continued in next reply...

I never noticed that. Probably cause I can't get over how much this guy looks like Lurch from the Adams Family.

I have a TeleVue Rennaissance 101mm f/5.5 refractor mounted on a Meade LXD300 mount. The mount appears to be fairly solid, but the flimsy little plastic clock drive I got with it has to go. It won't turn the drive with my scope on it. I guess the weight is too much for it. Quite frankly, I don't know what this little thing could turn.

Are there any other drives that I could use on this mount? I don't mind doing some modifications, if needed. The worm gear appears to be removable, if that helps.

Also, I have attached the scope using its original clam stype ring. Is there a better way to mount the scope?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

-Joe

John Kerry Interview:

Media: Why did you throw your medals over the fence?

Kerry: I didn't throw my medals over the fence.

Media: We have you on film.

Kerry: Those were ribbons, not medals.

Media: The film clearly shows you throwing medals over the fence.

Kerry: They weren't MY medals, they belonged to someone else.

Ah yes! A demonstration of the true democratic spirit. I think we would all have much more respect for the man if he would simply stand behind his actions, rather than hide from them. Even Bill Clinton confessed to smoking dope. Even if he didn't confess to inhaling.