Here we go, kids...

Sit Down Fer A Spell. Kick Yer Shoes Off. Blog A Little...

Yes, it's me...and...we're here!

We hot-footed it out of New York 'round about 1 a.m., accessing good ol' I-95 with a quick slash onto the N.J. Turnpike off the Lincoln Tunnel's Garden State outlet. Fueled with Sunoco, (after a bout with a shy-as-hell gas cap lock button—putting the button under a floor mat..really?) and fine home-made brownies whipped up by a delightful last-minute passenger from “the gig” (Thank you, Ms. B.B.!), we ate up the miles quickly before ending the trek in Arlington where we're headquartering ourselves. We got our Brownie-Baking Beauty to her destination, than motored over to the credentials site, got those (with tea and oatmeal for my Miles Davis-meets-broken-glass-and-razor-wire voice) and then made excellent time in getting to the Hilton Washington Hotel for the Emily's List luncheon celebrating Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton, Speaker of the House Pelosi, and Labor Secretary-designate Hilda Solis.

It's quite heady when you step back for a minute and realize that in a matter of hours literally, “our long national nightmare will be over”. The Mayflower van will back its green and gold ass up to 1600 Pennsylvania and depart with the accumulated personal detritus of an eight-year-long series of kidney punches to America'a prestige and psyche.

Rolling into town there were the peaceful sights of a butter golden-lit U.S. Capitol looming off to our left in the pre-dawn sky, the Washington Monument's spire poking above trees and every short thing that seemed to try to occlude it from view.

And then, there was the silent standing army of thousands of Port-A-Potties almost “guarding” massive swaths of the National Mall area. I didn't catch myself in mid-sentence quickly enough before saying aloud, “Well...that's a shit-load a' Port-A-Potties!!”...but hey...there they were.

It was eerie on the drive down. Very few cars and no traffic..but that could be the result of many holding off travel until today—which should be a simply awful prospect when you consider the millions who will descend upon—and in too many cases, condescend to this amazingly complicated city. In New York it was all “push-push / shove-shove”...but the lettered and numbered streets of D.C. were typically early-Sunday mornin' empty.

“This is a Southern town still.” Jesse noted as we drove. “Folks are either at Church, or at home reading the paper.”, when our passenger asked why there weren't people camping out early—as New Yorkers surely would.

Me? I'm burnt. Dog tired. It's why you haven't heard from me since Thanksgiving. My work schedule has been abysmal, yet if you can believe it—oddly rewarding, especially since I consider myself one lucky Black duck to even have a job, what with the hemhorraging of jobs everywhere around us. Beat? Whupped. Yeah. I suppose I am. But then, I could be working—or rather, NOT working for Circuit City. You'll hear from me again this Inaugural weekend and beyond, as my crazed life does its post-holiday re-stabilizing.

I'm just glad to be back. With eyes open, and senses all a' jangle as I sit, stand, walk, cheer and am struck agog by the event I never thought I'd live to see, playing out before me in real time. Months ago I called the spectacle of what would transpire when millions of folk would just sort of impromptu “drop in” on this place. And I can see it now.

My sisters are here.

Friends have cadged and cajoled tickets for this and that from any relative with a chit to cash in.

A bevy of co-workers “got the day” and are holed up with friends, family and ex-es down here to be close by when the roof is torn off the sucker down here in Chocolate City.

The “Be-In” is on, folks...and we “be-in” it. Color me tall, dark, and stunned.

Somebody needs to pinch me. Sara, do the honors.

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Car Repair

Starter for 1999-2003 Mitsubishi.

“I've got the Car Shop Blues...”

After lunch at the diner yesterday afternoon, the ignition turned over once.

Then... Nothing.

Had my car towed (AAA) to the repair shop at the top of the East Hill. Turns out my mechanic went out of business six to eight months ago, so I'm using the Goodyear shop. It appears to just be the starter, however when we got there it was too late to put it in the shop and tell for sure. A starter is about $150 on the Internet, so figure they'll charge me $175 plus (again, guessing) an hour's labor.

The real test will be if the Goodyear shop charges me for a new oil filter. See, you don't have to change the oil filter when you change the starter. It's possible to simply cover over the filter, thus keeping debris out while working. If instead Goodyear charges me for a new oil filter without asking first, it speaks to sloppiness or a willingness to run up the bill. (And no, I don't want them to do a lube and oil, thank you, nor have I given them permission to do anything other than fix the starter.)

We shall see. It's a question of trust. And honesty.

Before this car I had an Acura Legend which I absolutely loved, the most favorite car I've owned, ever. Which I drove into the ground I loved it so much. Simply could not accept it was long past its prime. Ended up with over 400,000 miles and still on the original engine (I got it at 171k.) The car still sits in my carport, one (perhaps two) tires flat. And the battery dead of course. It was the brakes which died. Completely. The final drive I coasted into the driveway very slowly, dragging my feet. Seriously.

The car in the shop now is a Mitsubishi (a 2000) which I've had two years, maybe three? My oldest, Avian, was dating the youngest son of one of Puget Sound's better car dealers. The father did me a real solid, putting me in a car which hasn't needed any repairs beyond routine maintenance since I drove it home.

This spring I'm selling my home in the suburbs and moving to Bellevue. (With all the kids off to college or moved out, I don't need this huge place anymore. I can get an apartment in Bellevue with an extra bedroom for when a kid wants to stay. That will be easy for a cleaning service to handle, and Bellevue is more central to my life now.) Shortly after I move it'll be time to sell this used car and buy another. Quite possibly through the same dealer seeing as how he did such a wonderful job last time. I'm planning on taking my time and letting him find me another Acura, hopefully a used Legend.

Thursday afternoon AAA showed up promptly, packaged my car for towing quickly, and hauled the car and me up to Goodyear rapidly. First-rate professionals. It was inside the four mile limit on the AAA Basic membership. Of course, there's also the 100 mile towing of the AAA Plus membership, which has saved my ass MANY times over the years. What I love about AAA is it's valid for the PERSON, not the car, so you can help the people you're with when they get in trouble (or when you're in a car which gets in trouble.) Other than condoms, birth control pills, two or three Plan B packs and a cell phone, a AAA Plus associate membership card (off of your membership) is one of the major gifts on the Mandatory list for a college-age daughter headed off to school. (All of the above except the birth control pills will be on my son's list.)

Now the question is, will Goodyear have the job done in time for me to get to my appointment with my hair stylist at 3:15 this afternoon. Or should I call at 8 am and reschedule for early next week. I need to have my hair done before my flight to New York City Wednesday night. Also, I have dry cleaning I was going to take in today which now I'm worried about getting done. Decisions, decisions.

Plus now I've been up all night, so I need to sleep. And eat, but I can't drive down to the diner and get breakfast, 'cause my car is in the shop. Grrrr.

Good morning everyone. It's Friday!

Open Thread on anything in this Post.

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Here in Denver At Last

View From Denver Intl. Airport's People Mover—August 27th, 1:40 PM—Photo by LowerManhattanite

This Was The First Thing I Saw Upon Getting Off The Plane In Denver

Arrived early this afternoon, after a bunch of personal stuff got taken care of, but dammit...I made it. A travel fiasco or two later, that is.

Heard a slew of folks at JFK as I waited for my plane practically atwitter with talk about heading to the convention and the flight was great—so great that I wound up in Denver thirty-five minutes early (something that has not happened to me on a flight in five years), and encountered my first surreal moment.

I headed down the jetway to the men's room where “mid-stream” I was suddenly interrupted by the cheery, but setting-inappropriate voice of Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper greeting me and everyone else in the crowded bathroom to his fair, sprawling city.

I couldn't help but think of what sort of “in bathroom” greeting awaits the GOP's visitors when they hit the airport men's rooms in Mary Tyler Moore-ville once their convention kicks off.

I leave that to your fertile imaginations.

Good God. Did I say “fertile”? Well...

I managed to see Mrs. Obama's speech and upon doing so, immediately pitied the hell out of Cindy McCain and the task before her and her utterly unfurrowable brow. Between Sen. Obama's and his wife's borderline unfair oratorical gifts, I could easily see John McCain being driven into a fetal ball in the far corner of his basement—which Goddamned one of his basements I don't know, but knowing what he and his super-deluxe “Real Doll” wife Cindy face in topping the Obama tag-team of “putting the message across—bangin'ly”, I do not envy them in any way. There is NO “Great Communicator” to fall back on for the GOP—despite the desperate attempts to invade the burial crypt to re-animate the permanently somnambulant Ronald Reagan to save their pasty, flabby asses. Their best hope is Mike Huckabee, the “Keane-eyed” Arkansas yarn-spinner who while holding a crowd rapt, cannot help but make you shudder about that worrisome flash behind those big, vortex-like eyes of his. You hear the syrupy words, you feel their gooey embrace and when he's done, you check for your fucking wallet because let's face it, folks...he's just Benny Hinn toting around a bass guitar and a notch-collar suit instead of a Nehru-collared one.

And then there was Senator Clinton's wondrous head-fake speech that utterly pissed of a muckraking press corps last night. She dynamited temporary PUMA dens all over the mountains of Colorado with her in-your-face support of Sen. Obama for President, and her “No Way, No How, No McCain!” tag-line probably drove poor Harriet Christian to quaff her hundredth Drano-smoothie, but this one fortified with extra glass and stale fish-tank gravel. Which leads us into today's events which I was fortunate enough to be in the Pepsi Center to see where the deal was cut where she interrupted the roll call during New York's count to push for the unanimous delegate vote for Sen. Obama as the nominee. The dam burst. Hands flushed red with clapping, and the word “classy” came down like summer rain around us as Nancy Pelosi took the stage and ended the process with the vote's going unanimous at long last. Negotiated unity. Loud cheers, and a massive, roof-raising sigh of relief. Shoulders relaxed at long last and a rush on the food court was on.

They ran out of ketchup at the condiments counter on the food run after the nomination was formalized.

Ran into Kwesi Mfume, former Phoenix Suns great Kevin Johnson here entering Pepsi, and I would be remiss in not noting the large African American presence here in the halls. This being my first convention, I'm no media neophyte. I know the deal with camerafolk being hipped to where the “chips in the cookie” are, as they're scattered far and wide in arenas like this. But where I was hangin' I couldn't look more than twenty feet and not see a richly “melanated” face looking back at me. I post this sitting across a table from two African American bloggers at Georgia Politics Unfiltered and Indianz.com. It's a good day, and former President Clinton is on tap for tonight. We'll see if he can call down the old verbal thunder and empathy and as Rakim used to say back in the day, “Move The Crowd”.

All is preamble until tomorrow at Invesco Field...where this nation is on the verge on capping off the ceremonial aspects of nomination—and the final formal one—the acceptance of said nomination of an African American as the Democratic Party standard-bearer for President.

There will be a nice, healthy bruise on my body from someone pinching me hard when that happens.

Pinching me verrrrrrrry hard.

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That Seems a Bit...Draconian

$1000 fine and a year in jail for taking a second newspaper?

I'm all for law and order, but.....

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Without suggesting anyplace in particular is a hellhole...

It certainly appears that neither Missoula, MT, or Spokane, WA is Paradise.

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Packin Up, Getting Ready to Go

Well, we are getting ready to move part of this show to Denver. Mrs. R and Evan are on the road. Various Overseas Dems are catching flights today. And we are DENVER bound!

My question to you, GNB family, is

Has anyone been to Denver before? And what should we do/see/eat while we are there. Hoping that there will be loads of suggestions by the time I touch down.

Getting ready to Rumble!

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Pesky Pilots Complain About Safety Worries Because of Mandatory Low Fuel Loads

Those darn whistle blowers are at it again. This time via a system set up by NASA so that airline pilots and workers can register safety concerns without fear of being fired.

The current worry from many pilots is strictly enforced low fuel load rules that are making them fly with a dangerously low level of fuel for the distances that they are covering.

Less than a month after pilots at US Airways took out a full-page ad in USA Today accusing the carrier of skimping on fuel loads to save money, pilots at other airlines are continuing to sound the alarm and are expressing concerns about the safety of airline crews and passengers.

Pilots said that their airline bosses, desperate to cut costs, are forcing them to fly uncomfortably low on fuel. The situation got bad enough three years ago, even before the latest surge in fuel prices, that NASA sent a safety alert to federal aviation officials. Since then, pilots, flight dispatchers and others have continued to sound off with their own warnings, yet the Federal Aviation Administration says there is no reason to order airlines to back off their effort to keep fuel loads to a minimum.--AP

I feel so much more comfortable now preparing to fly the many thousands of miles from Tokyo to Denver in a couple of weeks. The care and concern of the FAA is gratifying. (this story brought to you from our continuing series "Don't Worry Be Happy" Or "Failure of Oversight Departments A Way of Life in the USA")

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Back in the Land of The Rising Sun

I finally got back to my little corner of Tokyo. Airlines really handled everything well in dealing with our mechanical problem, they put me up in a hotel, made all the plane change arrangements. But still so tired.

Update on the earthquake, looks like more than 100 injured but could have been much worse.

Tokyo (dpa) - At least 134 people were injured in a magnitude-6.8 earthquake that jolted northern Japan shortly after midnight Thursday, media reports said. Landslides were reported in some mountainous areas, windows shattered and objects fell as the seismic wave rattled buildings across northern Japan. Water pipes burst, leaving more than 500 households without water in some regions, and some 8,600 households experienced temporary power outages. East Japan Railway Co suspended train services in the northern region Thursday morning for safety checks. No damage was reported to nuclear power plants in Miyagi and Fukushima provinces, or at nuclear fuel recycling facilities in Aomori city. The government set up a task force at the prime minister's office to deal with the quake's aftermath. The Japan Meteorological Agency said the earthquake's epicentre was 108 kilometres under the sea basin off the north-eastern coast of Iwate province.

I learned today that more than 20% of the worlds major or above 5pts on the scale earthquakes happen in Japan. I am originally from Pennsylvania where the earth normally doesn't shake at all... and even after living in Japan for a long time I am still not used to it. At all. Anyone have any good earthquake stories? Ironically the biggest one I was ever in was on the Big Island of Hawaii. I was there on vacation from Japan. It was that big one that made all the news. Quite a surprise. I have a piece of the Hilton chandelier that dropped it's crystals all over the massive lobby. ahhh memories. Now must go deal with dinner and jet lag.

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Technical Problems

Jesse:

Massive technical problems. As in, I am gonna eat their ass.

Downstairs in the lobby on the wireless network from hell...

Beautiful hotel, but they has gots me upstairs (non-ADA) which is not only dumb, but PAIN. LM and/or Hubris have to help me up and down the stairs, carry my bags, and in general, wait on me.

Hmmmm. Strike what I said about “dumb.”

Hopefully LM and I get moved in the morning. I sure as shit can't go up and down these stairs another day. (Although maybe if they got me a mountain bike. Some of those suckers gear down so low a rider could climb telephone poles.)

Ooooh... and Maggie Jochild is here in the morning!!! Go Maggie!
.
So... No more writing from me tonight. Not till they fix their fucking technical problems. Or till I get to the convention center.

I'm also not even naming the hotel...YET. Not till after we, um, negotiATE an appropriate change in our room charge given I had to go down and up the god-awful stairs from my room which I'm paying for to their lobby which I'm not...

Austin rocks. This hotel's IT setup is rocky.

Lower Manhattanite:

“Whats a dazzling urbanite like you doing in a rustic setting like this?”--Gene Wilder's Waco Kid to Cleavon Little's Sheriff Bart

What am I doing here? Hanging with the rest of the GNB crew, commiseratin', “conversatin'”, and Netroots Nation-aytin', faithful readers. Be fooled not--this is not some cow-town, this beautiful Austin, Texas. From the moment I hopped off the plane, I knew I was in what one would call "cool" environs. It probably had a lot to do with the huge, bronze statue of the amazing Texas political giant Ms. Barbara Jordan, staring down thoughtfully, weighty book on lap and glasses at rest.

Nothin' like that at Kennedy or LaGuardia, kiddies.

Then, walking to the ground transportation area, I was captivated by a beautiful woman in a coral-colored dress--seeming to walk in slow motion in the sticky night air. She floated damn-near, dress catching just enough breeze to where she looked akin to something descending from a cloud---but then, it could also have been simple fatigue on my part--a tough flight after a doubly tough night full of more drama than Wagner's "Ring Cycle" on crack. Ye Gods!

But, the kid is here, along with Jesse, Hub, TLG, and Mme. Robinson. The nicest touches were entering the hotel room, and finding it festooned—not with corny-ass hotel art--oh, no! Instead? A beautiful, striking, vintage silkscreen poster of Bobby Womack and his Peace Band playing at Port Arthur, Texas from back in the “That's The Way I Feel About Cha” days. Then, descending the balcony steps, the ring and peal of live music from across the street at The Continental Club. Oh yes...I think this could be fun. Fun indeed. But now...on to sleep, perchance to dream...of a nice breakfast.

I doubt it will be bagels. :)

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The Wonderful Weirdness of Life

I have a hidden secret, a particular bizarre streak, a deep dark twist in my personality and I feel the need to come clean about to the gnb community.

Here goes my confession...

Have you ever wondered who in the hell stops at South of the Border SC or who goes to the Corn Palace in SD? If you ever questioned how the hell they make any money at those places I am here to tell you; it is from crazy people like me.

I love this stuff! On my trip to Prince Edward Island with my mother many years ago, I made the poor woman (she is up for sainthood) drive almost one hour out of the way to go see this.

The Bottle Houses know also as Les Maisons de Bouteilles
This crazy but beautiful collection of three little buildings all made of bottles is exactly the kind of thing I am talking about. It is an example of celebrating the strangeness of human interest, ingenuity and imagination. I am a sucker for all of it. If you ever saw the odd little Travolta film, Michael -- you will know why I had a soft space in my heart for his character. I definately must see the world's largest frying pan someday.

My list so far includes;
1. the aforementioned Bottle Houses, Corn Palace, and South of the Border
2. the Salem Witch Museum "more weight."
3. the Mutter Museum (truly odd)
4. Several versions of Ripley's Museum -- before they became popular and quadrupled in number.
5. Madame Tousseau's - Of course!
6. Several southern Alligator farms in Florida and Georgia
7. Clyde Peelings Reptileland (the crooks aren't the only reptiles in Allenwood, Pa.)

and a ton of other little out of the way places I have since forgotten in my travels.
I plan on visiting the Tobacco and Salt Museum in Tokyo one of these days.

Roadside adventures are around every corner.

I think these spots, this phenomenon is all about the little strange quirks in the human mind, the love of the extraordinary, a touch of OC gone to the perfect side of creative extreme.

But then I am a little bit crazy, so what do I know?

I wonder if Obama or Clinton had the time to visit Behn's Game Farm during their Wisconsin campaigning travels?

Anyone know of any good little destinations I should be adding to my "must see" list? I promise I won't tell my family who my sources were so as to protect you from their groaning and complaining!

-see ya along the roadside - tlg

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Zap - Boom - Bang!

American Airlines Boeing 777. photo Adrian Pingstone

Passenger Jets to get Anti-Missile Lasers

The end of a runway is a magical place.

You can almost reach out and touch the planes soaring overhead.

Baby go BOOM.

Oh, come on... you've thought it.

A rifle, a rocket launcher, hell, a goddamn rock.

The Department of Homeland Security is finally doing something.

USA Today

Tens of thousands of airline passengers will soon be flying on jets outfitted with anti-missile systems as part of a new government test aimed at thwarting terrorists armed with shoulder-fired projectiles.

Three American Airlines Boeing 767-200s that fly daily round-trip routes between New York and California will receive the anti-missile laser jammers this spring, according to the Department of Homeland Security, which is spending $29 million on the tests.

Jets will fly with the jammer device mounted on the belly of the plane, between the wheels. The device works with sensors, also mounted on the plane, that detect a heat-seeking missile and shoot a laser at it to send the missile veering harmlessly off course.

Anti-missile systems have been tested on cargo planes. But "this is the first time these systems have been tested on actual passenger airlines in commercial service," says Burt Keirstead, director of commercial aircraft protection at BAE Systems, which developed the anti-missile device. "It's the ultimate consumer use of the equipment."

Officials emphasize that no missiles will be test-fired at the planes, which will fly between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and the international airports in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Oh... Well, that's a fucking relief.

“Bang, zoom, straight to the moon!”

h/t Firedoglake.

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National Treasure

We went to see the pop movie National Treasure last night. A fluff piece to be sure but a good cure for jetlag. Anyway, while watching the cool, real and fake intertwined history, bits of Resolute desks, and statues of liberty, I was struck again by how much we have lost under this presidency. And not just us, but the world.

While I was traveling in Germany, I stayed at a small indie luxury hotel called the Drei Raben, or 3 Ravens. While there, I had some very interesting discussions with one of the manager/owners of the hotel. After I had been there a few days, he gently broached the subject of the media, and politics. Once he realized that I was not some right wing, missionary, nut job, we both really got into it.

Raulf talked a lot about how closely he and his 30 something friends were following the American political situation. He said that he thought most Americans would be really surprised at how much folks in the EU were paying attention. He asked me who I wanted in the primary, who I thought the rethugs would choose and what I thought would happen. He expressed his deep dismay at CNN and the media in general.

He gave me chills though when he said, “I don’t really think people in the states realize how afraid we all are about the direction your country is headed.”

After that we got into a discussion about Katrina and he said that lots of groups in his neighborhood sent blankets and money to the Katrina survivors and that it was totally unbelievable to them that America, such a rich nation, would let her own people suffer like that. And then to clinch the deal he said,

“You know, you had it all… When people talked about freedom and democracy, we all thought of America. Not so much anymore.”

And there you have it.

The promise of generations, bought in blood and suffering 230 some years ago—The idea scratched out with paper and quill in Philadelphia-- brought to it’s knees by the likes of George W. Bush. It is a heart-wrenching tragedy, and we are not the only ones who think so.

God help us if the dems don’t manage to win in 2008… if one of these psyhcho-racist-conservative-freaks from the right is our next president we are finished.

Raulf really made it sound like the world was waiting in anxious stress and fear, to see what we would do next and if the promise of our nation would finally die in the coming year.

It was sobering to say the least.

And as I went back to my computer I thought—national treasure, indeed...
If we don’t stop this run-away-train of neocon madness, we will have wasted so much, squandered our future, and we will have broken hearts around the world.

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Travel Time

New Airport Security "Put the fun back in flying" posted on RyanAir.com

After a long difficult, stressful, overworked fall-- I am finally beginning my Christmas travels.

As an American living overseas I travel often to many countries around the world and visit back in the good ole USA as well. It is a good exercise in contrasts, comparisons and seeing how things change and how George Bush effects the world in a negative way that reaches everywhere.

I am leaving this morning from Japan and headed for Germany, traveling with friends, to see family and enjoy traditional Christmas fun. So what have I noticed so far?

When I go from my home in Japan to my birthplace in the USA I always buy extra traveller’s health insurance since I am at risk for bankruptcy-inducing medical bills for any, even minor, incident that may occur while in the USA. Today I feel safe with my normal health care headed to another sane country that also takes care of sick people without charging them tens of thousands of dollars.

Japan is a strict country with loads of bureaucracy, But even here- where following the rules for the common good is strongly re-enforced every day, I was able to negotiate through customs, immigration, and security with out feeling threatened, yelled at, intimidated and without feeling the eye of big brother intruding on my every move. Of course we still get screened, and go through the normal stuff—but the approach is friendly, professional, and quick. They do what they need to do and try to impact our travel time as little as possible.

The downside of the USA influence becomes apparent though as All USA based carriers are still crazily strict about gels, liquids etc. WHAT A JOKE,

The idea that these people could sit in the plane toilet and simply mix together these normal household fluids to create a high explosive capable
of blowing up the entire aircraft is untenable, said Lt. Col. Wylde, who
was trained as an ammunition technical officer responsible for terrorist
bomb disposal at the Royal Army Ordnance Corps in Sandhurst.

Like my tube of toothpaste is really the threat they should worry about! Many foreign based carriers have eased the liquids restriction… but most have not, as they are following the lead of the Red White and Blue.

Another negative trend inspired by BUSH and co. is that starting last month, Japan has added fingerprinting and retinal scans are now required for all foreigners entering the country. This is creating a lot of controversy. (Check out the story over on Global Voices )But even in this area, the Japanese are seemingly embarrassed to ask us to do it. And I think they would rather forget the whole thing. -- I went through it the first time just after traveling at Thanksgiving. My Japanese friends traveling to the USA have told me horror stories about how people are treated by the eye scanning Gestapo when they go to the USA. So I guess it is sad that Japan is following in the fingerprint biometric trend… but at least they seem to know it is not a great thing.

I am left feeling sad that there is a part of me that is relieved that I am headed to Europe and not America. Comforted by the fact that I don't have to be too worried about what would happen if I got sick during this trip. Sad that each time I go home I feel that the entrance to our formerly welcoming nation has become increasingly intimidating, and unwelcoming. Sad that so many changes are being motivated by fear, racism and plain political grand-standing.

When my family immigrated to America (one side from Wales and the other from Germany) they had their trials and tribulations for sure. But my ancestors told stories of the great kindness and opportunity they felt, crossing over and entering America. They felt welcomed, they had to work hard, and things were not always fair. But they felt welcomed. And the kindness shown them from their new American friends and neighbors was recorded in our family history.

What kinds of stories will people tell about us in the future—after the way we treat the world now?

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Sunday Travels

Screw blogging... I want this guy's job.

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“Bang, zoom, straight to the moon!”

Google and X-Prize Foundation
Back Private Moon Landing Attempt

Damn. Now that is technological leadership.

BBC

Search giant Google is offering a $30m prize pot to private firms that land a robot rover on the Moon. The competition to send a robot craft to the Moon is being run with the X-Prize Foundation.

To claim the cash, any craft reaching the lunar surface must perform a series of tasks such as shoot video and roam for specific distances.

Firms interested in trying for the prize have until the end of 2012 to mount their Moonshot.

The top prize of $20m will be given to the private firm that soft lands a rover on the Moon which then completes a series of objectives.

These include roaming the lunar surface for at least 500m and gathering a specific set of images, video and data.

A prize of $5m will be given to the second firm that manages to reach the Moon with a rover that roams the surface and shoots some pictures.

Google said it would give bonuses of $5m if the rovers complete other objectives such as travelling further on the Moon, taking pictures of Apollo hardware, finding water-ice and surviving the freezing lunar night.

The prize is the third offered and administered by the X-Prize Foundation.

The first was run to encourage private space travel. The $10m (£4.9m) Ansari-sponsored prize was won in October 2005 when the SpaceShipOne rocket plane climbed to an altitude of 100km twice inside seven days.

In October 2006, the X-Prize Foundation created the $10m Archon X-Prize for Genomics, which will be given to the first private research group to sequence 100 human genomes in 10 days.

LA Times

Peter Diamandis, founder of the Santa Monica-based X Prize Foundation, estimates the cost of building and landing the rover at $20 million to $40 million.

He said the contest already had spurred interest from potential competitors, including a major aerospace company and Carnegie Mellon University roboticist William "Red" Whittaker.

"Our hope is that the technology coming out of this will really spark a commercial revolution that will see new types of companies and new types of robotics used to explore the moon, asteroids and beyond," said Diamandis, whose foundation also offers prizes for feats in automobile design, genomics and other fields.

Space travel has long captured the imagination of Silicon Valley. Elon Musk, a PayPal founder, has developed rockets through his company, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. "The Sims" video game designer Will Wright's latest effort is "Spore," in which players evolve a species from a single-celled organism to a space-exploring civilization.

Now Google has a team working on Moon 2.0, which supporters hope will be a launching pad for exploring the solar system. Google products including Google Earth, which was recently updated with moonscape images, and YouTube will support the teams building the moon rovers, said Dylan Casey, Google's manager for the project.

"The entire team at Google is honored to participate in something that will have such a profound effect on all of humankind," Casey said.

Want to register a team?

Official Google Lunar X-Prize Moon 2.0 rules and web site.

"The Earth is too small and fragile a basket for the human race to keep all its eggs in." - Robert A. Heinlein

Bring it baby.

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iPhone Horror Story, Take 17

Overseas Data Roaming Charges $3,000-$4,800

People traveling overseas with their iPhones are being hit with enormous unexpected charges from AT&T, Apple's exclusive service provider.

The iPhone constantly checks back and forth for data. Has an email come in? Is there any voice mail waiting? Is there anything out there you've asked for I need transfer?

All this data transmission takes place in the background transparently and if you're overseas and haven't either:

a) turned off data roaming,

b) an AT&T unlimited global data plan, a $24.99-a-month option which

c) Apple/AT&T customers wouldn't know to do or sign up for respectively

then you're pretty much hosed. And by "pretty much hosed" I mean you're screwed:

Chicago Tribune

Jay Levy and his family took their iPhones on a Mediterranean cruise. Now the Hewlett Harbor entrepreneur feels as if he got taken for a ride, receiving a 54-page monthly bill of nearly $4,800 from AT&T Wireless.

While Levy, his wife and his daughter were enjoying the trip, and even while they were sleeping, their three iPhones were racking up a bill for data charges. The iPhone regularly updates e-mail, even while it's off, so that all the messages will be available when the user turns it on.

"They have periodic updates on their data files, and they translate into megabucks," Levy said. "This is akin to your bank having automatic access to your ATM machine and is siphoning money out during all times of the day and night without your knowledge."

Herbert Kliegerman, 68, a real-estate agent from the Bronx, said he incurred $2,000 while visiting Mexico. He filed a lawsuit seeking class-action status in New York State Supreme Court last week, alleging that Apple did not properly disclose the international roaming charges.

AT&T Wireless offered to refund $1,500 to Kliegerman, but he said that's not good enough. "I want a full refund," he said.

Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said the company adequately discloses the potential charges on the Web site and when the phone is activated.

The 6,707-word terms and conditions document on the AT&T Web site says: "Substantial charges may be incurred if phone is taken out of the U.S. even if no services are intentionally used."

Kliegerman said said most people don't read the lengthy terms and conditions. Furthermore, the rate plans listed on the site indicate "unlimited data (Email/Web)," without an asterisk. He said that's misleading.

Kliegerman's lawyer, Randall S. Newman of Manhattan, said about 15 people from around the country have called him complaining of international roaming charges and the inability to unlock the phone to use it with another carrier.

Apple hasn't yet released the iPhone abroad. Levy said he didn't expect data transfer charges internationally because he believed the data network in Europe wasn't compatible with the iPhone. The Levys brought their phones with them for voice calls.

NY Times

“I can’t imagine AT&T would expect all their customers to be technicians and say, ‘O.K., if I go to use Google maps, how many kilobytes am I transferring?’ ” asked Mr. Stolte, a Web designer who lives in Temecula, Calif.

In July, Aaron Oxley took his iPhone with him to London, Dubai and Bangkok. Mr. Oxley said in an e-mail message that he was aware that there would be international roaming data charges, so he always made sure he was in an area with free Wi-Fi when he used his iPhone to access the Internet. But when Mr. Oxley’s AT&T bill arrived, the data charges totaled $300.

When Mr. Oxley called AT&T, he was told that even though he was using Wi-Fi, there was still a data transfer charge.

Indeed, according to Mr. Smith, the AT&T representative, iPhone owners are not charged for Wi-Fi connections. Mr. Oxley eventually received a full refund for the $300 roaming data charge.

Mr. Dingman said it didn’t occur to him to disable the e-mail feature. AT&T eventually reversed the charges, but only after Mr. Dingman signed up for a $24.99-a-month global data plan.

AT&T is not automatically crediting customers for such charges. Mr. Smith said that each complaint is being evaluated case by case.

Point the first. AT&T has screwed up. The plan advertised in the U.S. is all you can eat data, no asterisk.

Contracts of adhesion are bullshit. You've not negotiated anything, they're completely one sided, and in most cases there's even a line about how they can be changed simply by the issuing company posting a change on their website. That isn't a contract. It's a party in your wallet.

Fortunately the courts are starting to agree, even the Republican judges, since such nonsense flies in the face of their thrown way of thinking about finance. Which is nice, since it violates our thrown way of what's fair and just as well. Good times. But not in every court and most big companies still put in silly boilerplate notices.

Point the second. Customer Service has one purpose and one purpose only. Making sure the customer (actually everyone) says to herself after every interaction: "Wow. They really took care of me."

That's the opposite of what AT&T is doing here. Fools.

They're literally generating a PR disaster by refusing to fix their original fuck up. Bad customer service damaging one of the world's great designs, which hurts the Apple brand.

Point the third. The partnership with AT&T is damaging Apple's brand. Apple handled its own sales initially with the iPod which meant it could handle problems personally. When it screwed up, it fixed it. Just like Steve stepped in last week and gave all early iPhone owners $100 back due to the price cut on the new iPhone. Did he have to? No. But even without everyone all pissed off, it was the right thing to do so Jobs did it. Customer service.

AT&T doesn't grasp customer service from my ass. It used to. I had AT&T long distance precisely because their operators were polite and took care of me better than the other ones. Was worth it to me to pay a touch more. No longer.

In the name of cost-cutting AT&T has sacked being polite and making sure people are taken care of. Now they don't give a damn.

Which is why they haven't fixed this problem and each case is still being evaluated individually. While AT&T sits around with their thumb up their ass, people like me slam them in the press, Apple's brand gets hurt, and people who might have bought an iPhone go buy something else.

I hope that class action take them for a bundle.

In the meantime y'all, if you travel overseas with your iPhone (Canada, Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii?), make sure you sign up for the unlimited global data plan.

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Thrusting Powerfully

Virgin's Vagina -- Getting Off in the Desert

Virgin Galactic announced plans to build a gigantic vagina in the New Mexico desert.

Want to bust your cherry in space? Try Virgin.

Virgin straps its customers into a penis shaped space ship, gets them off thrusting and lifting their trembling separated legs and bodies hard against gravity all the way into sub-orbital flight where they float around in a blissful high over and over the earth, going around the arc again and again, breathlessly banging each other up against the windows in a state of bliss, then gently wafting down to earth, docking the flying penis carefully in the Virgin terminal wall.

Post flight cigarettes and cuddling not included. $200K per ticket.

Business Week

Known as Spaceport America, the terminal and hangar facility in Upham, New Mexico, will be home to Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic enterprise. It will operate a fleet of two transport airplanes and five spaceships designed by Burt Rutan. To ferry tourists into space and back, a transport plane, called a White Knight, carries a spaceship to an altitude of 49,000 feet, at which point the spacecraft launch into suborbital space and reach a height of 84 miles before returning to Earth. A roundtrip journey lasts 2.5 hours. Virgin expects to begin regular flights as early as 2009 and is currently accepting deposits on $200,000 "space tickets."

The design for Spaceport America includes a hangar for the White Knights and the spaceships, pre- and post-flight training facilities, mission control, viewing galleries, and passenger lounges. Foster designed the low-slung, 100,000-square-foot structure to be viewed from the ground and from above; it is capped by a rolling, concrete roof whose shape resembles a manta ray. The terminal hall features 50-foot ceilings and large windows facing the main runway at Spaceport's eastern edge.

"It is an extraordinary location with the views of the mountains and the rolling plains," says Grant Brooker, executive director and architect in charge of the project at Foster. "We became very concerned about how the building would be seen in this setting. The building is grown up out of the ground to make it a more organic part of the landscape."

"We became very concerned about how the building would be seen in this setting."

It's a giant vagina, you twit! Virgin has you building a vagina.

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