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North America + Pelican Nebulae

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Posts Made By: Lee Spain

April 28, 2006 02:47 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

What would you show in a 30 minute tour?

Posted By Lee Spain
I got a chance to take my wife on a quick tour of the night sky last night. We took a look at Jupiter, Saturn, the Beehive Nebula, and a quick look at the double star in the big dipper's handle. It was kind of cool. But, after that, I was at a bit of a loss at what to look a next. My familiar winter constellations seem to have fled the scene.

If you were going to take an innocent bystander on a quick tour of the nightsky what would you show them?




April 30, 2006 12:52 PM Forum: Politics

Re: I'm going shopping tomorrrow:)ce

Posted By Lee Spain
It'll be a nice day to hit your local thrift stores just in case they have have a 1960s-era Tasco set up and waiting for you... wink

May 9, 2006 12:21 PM Forum: Politics

When do my people get a month?

Posted By Lee Spain
Soon, it will be time to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage month. This is all well and good. But, why do they get a month and Native Americans don't? Also, why don't Scandinavian-Americans get a month? How come the Irish-Americans only get one day and how come the Italian-Americans don't get anything? And how come the positive contributions of Caucasian-Americans don't get mentioned during Black History month? Surely Joshua Chamberlain's contributions at Little Round Top surely deserve some mention during February. Arguably he is the most important man in African-American history. Anyway, as a society, I think we need to get better about dealing out days and months. If all these diversity celebrations are supposed to be about inclusion, why do I feel excluded? :S Thanks for listening. Now, I won't feel compelled to say something at work. That would be a bad move...

May 16, 2006 10:32 PM Forum: Politics

Another strategy...

Posted By Lee Spain
I found this link on the Social Security Administration web site: http://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/ssact/title02/0208.htm
It discusses penalties associated with fake social security documents.

There is a lot of confusing legal mumbo jumbo and I just did a quick read, but it seems to me that anyone (including illegal intruders) who presents a false social security card is committing a felony. I'm not sure because there is also some confusing mumbo jumbo about not prosecuting aliens who have been granted amnesty back in the 90s. But, the main thrust is that fake social security cards are bad...mmmmkay! shocked

I think we should all write our congress people and press for more aggressive prosecution of people who possess false identification documents. I don't care if you have a fake id for drinking purposes or for getting a job. If you present a fake social security card or drivers license, you should definitely be prosecuted and imprisoned. :S

This could be another way to make it less fun to be an illegal alien and it could force people to declare themselves and accept whatever "guest worker" status gets offered.


May 18, 2006 05:53 AM Forum: Politics

Re: Lethal Electric Fence For Our Border?

Posted By Lee Spain
No doubt it would have a high moral cost if we used such fences for border control. If the U.S. is in the market for lethal electric fences, I think they are probably intended for military installations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Cuba and for a few high security installations in the U.S. Those fences are for places that say 'Keep Out - Lethal Force Authorized.' I doubt that we'll see them on the border. But, I'm sure they'll be surrounding nuclear weapons facilities, chemical weapon disposal sites, stealth aircraft bases, and a few other key places. And for those places, it is immoral and unthinkable to ever let any unauthorized person gain access.

While it is tempting, I also don't think we can really make a comparison between slavery and the low wages paid to illegals. Slavery was defeated in a war of attrition by massive quantities of poor immigrants drafted by the North anyway. Whips, chains, and auction blocks are not involved in the daily lives of illegals and they are free to walk elsewhere at any time. Let's NOT confer that kind of victim status upon the illegals. The last thing this country needs is another group walking around with a chip on their shoulder for things that happened to prior generations.








May 21, 2006 08:58 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

What's your cheapest cheesiest scope?

Posted By Lee Spain
Hey folks, what is your cheapest, cheesiest lamest telescope? After today's find, methinks I might have you all beat! grin

May 24, 2006 02:10 AM Forum: Telescope Making

Making an objective cell...

Posted By Lee Spain
If I try to make a little spotting scope out of a cheap 35-40mm toy telescope, how would I mount an achromat into a cell so that the lense would be undamaged and so that it could be secured into the telescope tube? I'm thinking that I'd look at securing it between a couple of rubber washers or something... smile


May 28, 2006 02:39 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

Attaching SLR film camera to telescope...

Posted By Lee Spain
Last week, I was really fortunate to get a nice 35mm Canon EOS Elan 7e camera from a friend who is a semi-pro photographer who has gone all digital.

If I wanted to attach it to my Observer 70 and try my hand at long distance terrestrial photos, is this what I would need?

http://www.buytelescopes.com/product.asp?pid=591

May 29, 2006 02:48 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

How much good does a good diagonal do?

Posted By Lee Spain
I've been seeing a lot about 99% reflective dialectric coating diagonals from William Optics, Stellarvue, and others. How much of a difference would one of them make for lunar and planetary viewing with a typical entry level scope like my Observer 70?

June 1, 2006 01:57 AM Forum: Landscape Photography

National Cemetery Marietta GA

Posted By Lee Spain
I had a chance to take 35mm film pictures with my "new" camera this weekend at the National Cemetery in Marietta, GA.

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