Conscience Continuum

O Arizona: "Wild West Style Standoff" Over Computer System Intensifies

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:04:00 +0000

Arizona sheriff prefers jail to handing over server password • The Register

A legal standoff has developed in Arizona between sheriff’s deputies and county officials over a management system overhaul.

Last week officers from Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office raided government buildings and took over computer systems shared between law enforcement and county officials.

Sysadmins were marshalled away under threat of arrest, while the deputies changed passwords on servers and secured rooms. County officials called in the judges for help, with superior court judge Joseph Heilman ordering control of the system to be handed over by next Wednesday.

However, Chief Deputy David Hendershott is holding firm, refusing to hand over the passwords even under threat of going to jail for contempt of court.

Heilman has held hearings on a dispute between the sheriff and the Board of Supervisors over the running of an integrated criminal justice system since April.

Kerry Martin, a lawyer acting for the sheriff’s office, said deputies had taken over the system to stop county managers applying a management system they disagreed with. Martin, repeatedly quizzed by judge Heilman on why it didn’t bring this aspect of the dispute back to court before acting, claimed that the deputies had the authority to take control.

The Wild-West–style standoff between sheriffs and county threatens local access to the National Criminal Information Center and the Arizona Criminal Justice Information system.

Technorati Tags: Arizona, Maricopa County, sheriff, computer, standoff

Dorothea Lange: Cropper, 1937

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:53:00 +0000

Americus: 1937 | Shorpy Photo Archive

July 1937. "Thirteen-year old sharecropper boy near Americus, Georgia." Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange.

Technorati Tags: photography, Dorothea Lange, sharecropper, Georgia, 1937

Black Hole Shadow: Very Large Telescope Zaps the Sky

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:33:00 +0000

Image of the Day: Laser Strikes at Supermassive Black Hole at Core of the Milky Way Galaxy

It's not the sequel to War of the Worlds! Astronomers at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) site in Chile are trying to measure the distortions of Earth's ever changing atmosphere. Constant imaging of high-altitude atoms excited by the laser -- which appear like an artificial star -- allow astronomers to instantly measure atmospheric blurring. In this case, the VLT was observing our Galaxy's center, and so Earth's atmospheric blurring in that direction was needed.

At the center of the Milky Way is Sagittarius A -believed to be a supermassive black hole, which lurk at the center of all spiral galaxies. If we can observe Sagittarius A*'s surroundings we can confirm once and for all whether it's a black hole - and prove Einstein right (or wrong!) . Relativity theory predicts the existence of black holes. If relativity breaks down, we might not see a black hole at all, but something totally weird.

Relativity describes how large masses can bend space, and a black hole is where the mass is so large that space gives up altogether and becomes a singularity. Black holes are already well understood, we think, but we've only ever observed them at second hand - the behavior of orbiting objects or bent light rays. To actually view the shadow of a black hole, the cut-off point where light is swallowed and cannot escape, would be a massive advance - and only the beginning.

Technorati Tags: Very Large Telescope, Chile, relativity, black hole

Philadelphia, MS: Suspect in 1964 Civil Rights Worker Killing Dies

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:24:00 +0000

Suspect In 1964 Civil Rights Worker Killings Dies - CBS News

Federal authorities will continue to investigate the 1964 Mississippi killings of three civil rights workers _ a case that helped pass landmark legislation _ despite the death of a key suspect, the Justice Department says.

Billy Wayne Posey, 73, died Thursday. Federal investigators were looking into his possible involvement in the June 21, 1964, killings of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, who had been working to register black voters.

Posey's funeral was Saturday in Philadelphia, Miss., the town at the heart of the case.

On Friday afternoon, Alejandro Miyar, a spokesman for the Justice Department, said the death does not "alter our cold-case investigation." He said federal authorities are assisting state investigators who could bring state charges.

Goodman's brother, David Goodman, of New York City, said, "This is still the country of law and order, and the laws are clear. There is no statute of limitations on murder."

Technorati Tags: civil rights movement, racisim, Philadelphia MS, Billy Wayne Posey, murder

View of the French Market, New Orleans, Late 19th Century

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 14:13:00 +0000

The Old French Market | Shorpy Photo Archive

Circa 1880s-1890s. "The old French Market, New Orleans." Photo by William Henry Jackson. Detroit Publishing Co. glass negative.

Technorati Tags: French Market, New Orleans, Louisiana, photography

That Face A Landscape of the Moon? Carol Lombard

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 06:48:00 +0000

That Obscure Object

Carole Lombard on Her Beauty:

“You ought to see the map for my face in the Makeup Department. It looks like a landscape of the moon.”

Technorati Tags: Carol Lombard, photography

Photo by Dorothea Lang: Reaping the Dustbowl Whirlwind

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 06:41:00 +0000

In the Cotton: 1935 | Shorpy Photo Archive

June 1935. Somewhere in California. "Motherless migrant children. They work in the cotton." Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Resettlement Administration.

Technorati Tags: Dorothea Lang, Dustbowl, photography

Big Shoes to Fill: His Own -- Art Bell is Back in Memphis to Make It Rock Again

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 06:24:00 +0000

Al Bell - Out of Exile, Back in Soulsville - NYTimes.com

AS the peacock-blue Cadillac with the gold trim and fur lining spun on a giant turntable in the Stax Museum of American Soul Music here, Al Bell, the final owner of the late, great record label, chuckled. Decades before 50 Cent with his customized Rolls-Royce and Akon with his tricked-out Lamborghini, there was Isaac Hayes with this pimped-out ride, an over-the-top gift from Stax to its over-the-top star, who wore slave chains like emancipatory bling across his bare, buff chest.

“The reason I chuckle is because I think of what has been born out of the rap and the hip-hop world, and then I look at what we were doing back then, and, you know, we were really ahead of our time,” Mr. Bell said.

His chuckle is rueful, though. When Mr. Bell, 69, stands by that revolving Cadillac, he sees the arc of his life come full circle, unexpectedly. The original Stax Records is long gone, Mr. Hayes and many other Stax artists, from Otis Redding to Rufus Thomas, have died, and, until recently, Memphis showed little interest in reclaiming or building on its soul-music heritage. Six years ago, though, the Stax Museum opened. And earlier this summer Mr. Bell was invited back to Memphis with a bittersweet mandate: to resuscitate the city’s once great music industry as chairman of the Memphis Music Foundation.

Technorati Tags: Memphis, Stax, Art Bell

How Many Miles Per Hour for a Car that Burns No Gas?

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:49:00 +0000

Nissan says its new electric car, the Leaf, gets 367 miles per gallon

Nissan's gotten into a bit of a bragging contest on Twitter -- possibly fueled by Chevrolet's recent, shaky claim that the Volt will get 230 miles per gallon. The company is now saying that its new electric car, the Leaf, will get an astonishing 367 miles per gallon... even though it's a 100 percent electric car, and runs on absolutely no fuel. So, isn't that zero miles per gallon? Well, yes and no: all these massive numbers are based on both the Department of Energy and the EPA's calculations for estimating equivalencies in electric cars. Why? Well, it seems that car companies are still giving us -- the prospective buying public -- MPG figures because they think that's what we understand best. Tony Posawatz, vehicle line director for Chevy's Volt recently admitted to the New York Times that the miles per gallon matrix is "probably not the best measure of goodness" for a car that uses no gallons at all, but that it's "what people are accustomed to." We agree -- he's got a point -- but people were also accustomed to the hi-fi, the corded landline, and the steam engine. We assure you: people understand that a car that runs on zero gas (and therefore gets an astonishingly low amount of miles per gallon) is really, really awesome. So the MPG matrix is useless when talking about electric cars -- we'll adjust!

Technorati Tags: electric car, Nissan, Leaf, Cheverolet, Volt

US to Deploy Troops to Colombia?

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:34:00 +0000

Raw Story » Deal: United States soldiers will deploy to Colombia

Some American troops will soon find themselves stationed at military bases scattered across the South American nation of Colombia with a mission to use advanced Predator drone technology to aid the fight the drug trade and combat terrorism, according to published reports Saturday.

But Colombia’s neighbors certainly do not see it that way.

In Venezuela, officials bristled. President Hugo Chavez warned, “the winds of war [are] beginning to blow.”

Technorati Tags: Colombia, military, President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela, South America

Not Mirrors: Mobile Phones

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:21:00 +0000

TYWKIWDBI: Afghan women

"... as President Hamid Karzai speaks to an audience of women ahead of imminent elections, many record the speech on their mobile phones."

Technorati Tags: Afghanistan, women, President Hamid Karzai

Oscar Wilde Reconceived as a Mosaic of Soap Bars

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:15:00 +0000

adski_kafeteri: fragrant portrait of oscar wilde [84 bars of soap]

Technorati Tags: Oscar Wilde, soap

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O Arizona: Sheriff Joe's Henchman Defies Judge

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 15:52:00 +0000

Sheriff's Office defies judge on order for system password

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge on Friday ordered that the Sheriff's Office divulge the password it forcefully installed on a county computer system linked to sensitive state and federal criminal-justice data.

But Chief Deputy David Hendershott later said he will refuse to share the password - even if it means he goes to jail.

During the Friday hearing, Judge Joseph Heilman said that if the Sheriff's Office doesn't divulge the password by Wednesday, he will "hold someone in contempt of court."

"I assume it's going to be someone seated at this table," he added, referring to Hendershott.

Hendershott said he could not reveal the password under federal law. And if he goes to jail: "I bet I get a pretty decent place. Something with a view of the dump."

Heilman would not comment on the remark.

Since April, Heilman has presided over a lawsuit between the sheriff and the Board of Supervisors over operation of the Integrated Criminal Justice Information System, an electronic hub that allows the county's criminal-justice agencies to share information.

On Wednesday, the Sheriff's Office took control of the system from county employees and changed a password to prevent civilians from having access to the sensitive data.

Technorati Tags: Arizona, Maricopa County, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, computers, raid, contempt of court

Hamas Battles Islamist Extremists in Gaza; Leader Detonates Himself

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 15:47:00 +0000

Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Islamist leader dies in Gaza battle

The leader of an Islamist group that declared an "Islamic emirate" in the occupied Palestinian territories was among at least 22 people killed in clashes with Hamas security forces.

Abdel-Latif Moussa, the leader of Jund Ansar Allah (Soldiers of the Companions of God), was killed during fighting at his house in the Gaza town of Rafah early on Saturday, the Hamas-run interior ministry said.

Ihab Ghussein, a Hamas interior ministry spokesman, said that Moussa had detonated an explosives vest that he was wearing.

"The so-called Moussa has committed suicide ... killing a mediator who had been sent to him to persuade him and his followers to hand themselves over to the government," he said.

Dr Moaiya Hassanain of the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said that six police officers and an 11-year-old girl were also among the dead after several hours of fighting outside Moussa's home and the Ibn Taymiya mosque where he was imam.

Hassanain said that 150 people were wounded in the fighting.

Hamas also confirmed the death in the fighting of Abu-Jibril Shimali, a high-level commander whom Israel says orchestrated the capture of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier still being held in the Gaza Strip.

The fighting began on Friday after Moussa proclaimed "the creation of an Islamic emirate in the Gaza Strip" during a sermon in the mosque and called for the territory to be governed purely by sharia (Islamic law).

Technorati Tags: Hamas, Islamist Extremists, suicide bomber, Gaza

Field Embalming, Virginia 1864

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 15:39:00 +0000

Embalming Without Odor: 1864 | Shorpy Photo Archive

Circa 1864. "Dr. Bunnell's embalming establishment in the field. Army of the James." Wet-plate glass negative, half of stereograph pair.Technorati Tags: War Between the States, embalming, Virginia, 1864

Man Ray, Photographer

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 06:47:00 +0000

adski_kafeteri: Man Ray, Tamiris c. 1929

Man Ray, Tamiris c. 1929

Technorati Tags: Man Ray, Tamiris, photography

Happy Birthday Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Smith, aka "Bricktop," Patron of the Stars

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 06:43:00 +0000

ON THIS DAY IN JAZZ AGE MUSIC!: AUGUST 14TH...

1894
"Bricktop"
née: Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Smith
Saloon keeper/vocals
b. Alderson, W. VA, USA.
d. Feb. 1, 1984, New York (Manhattan), NY, USA.

Her red hair and cigars were her signature. She numbered Cole Porter, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and writer F. Scott Fitzgerald among her friends. Her proteges included Josephine Baker, Mabel Mercer and Duke Ellington. While still a child, she once told her mother, "I want to be in the back room of a saloon." And, when Ada grew old enough, she went north to New York city and Harlem. There, she would sing and dance at such fabled clubs as 'Baron Wilkins Club' and 'Connie's Inn'. Composer Cole Porter once walked into the cabaret and ordered a bottle of wine. "Little girl, can you do the Charleston?" he asked. "Yes", she said. After she demonstrated the new dance, Cole exclaimed, "What legs! What legs!" Porter hired her on the spot to give Charleston lessons to his guests. He took her to Venice, Italy, where she sang and danced at private parties on his barge.

By 1926, she had opened 'Chez Bricktop' on Paris' famed Rue Pigalle, a club that would become the talk of Paris and the world. In 1939, as the Germans marched down the Champs Elysee, "Bricktop" left her beloved Paris. In 1944, with the help of American heiress Doris Duke, she opened a cafe in Mexico City which closed a few years later. In 1949, she opened another on the Via Veneto in Rome. In 1961, she closed Bricktop's for good, and retired to New York city where she died peacefully in her sleep, at age 89.

Technorati Tags: Bricktop

Hail and Farewell Lester Young

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 06:34:00 +0000

Lester Young’s Centennial « Jazziz Magazine

Jazziz writes:

Lester Young’s Centennial

Were Lester Young still alive today, he would be a couple weeks short of his 100th birthday. As it is, the trailblazing tenorman died just over 50 years ago, in March 1959. Still, the very fact that the saxophonist would’ve turned 100 on August 27 was reason enough for the Concord Music Group to spotlight Young in the latest installment of its Centennial Celebration Series.

[A personal note: I am an indefatigable and obsessive saxophonist, who first took up the instrument at age 9 in 1959--just as Lester Young was checking out. This fact is meaningless, but of interest to me, as I love Lester above all other saxophonists. Hail and farewell, genius: we still hear you, and are trying to catch up. --TRH]

Technorati Tags: Lester Young, saxophone

Batista in Arlington, 1938

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 06:23:00 +0000

Our Man in Havana: 1938 | Shorpy Photo Archive

November 11, 1938. "No doubt armies were discussed when this picture was made today. Maj. General Malin Craig, U.S. Army Chief of Staff, and Col. Fulgencio Batista, Cuba's Dictator, as they chatted informally at Arlington while waiting for the arrival of President Roosevelt for the Armistice Day ceremonies there." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative.

Technorati Tags: Col. Fulgencio Batista, Maj. General Malin Craig, Arlington, 1938

Chinese Advance Work on "Hidden" Electromagnetic Portal

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 02:51:00 +0000

'Hidden Portal' Concept Described: First Tunable Electromagnetic Gateway

While the researchers can't promise delivery to a parallel universe or a school for wizards, books like Pullman's Dark Materials and JK Rowling's Harry Potter are steps closer to reality now that researchers in China have created the first tunable electromagnetic gateway.

The work is a further advance in the study of metamaterials, published in New Journal of Physics (co-owned by the Institute of Physics and German Physical Society).

In the research paper, the researchers from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Fudan University in Shanghai describe the concept of a "a gateway that can block electromagnetic waves but that allows the passage of other entities" like a "'hidden portal' as mentioned in fictions."

Technorati Tags: physics, China, electromagnetic gateway

What World Is This: Dylan Has To Serve Somebody

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 02:26:00 +0000

You're Bob Dylan? NJ police want to see some ID - Yahoo! News

By WAYNE PARRY, Associated Press Writer Wayne Parry, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 34 mins ago

Rock legend Bob Dylan was treated like a complete unknown by police in a New Jersey shore community when a resident called to report someone wandering around the neighborhood.

Dylan was in Long Branch, about a two-hour drive south of New York City, on July 23 as part of a tour with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp that was to play at a baseball stadium in nearby Lakewood.

A 24-year-old police officer apparently was unaware of who Dylan is and asked him for identification, Long Branch business administrator Howard Woolley said Friday.

"I don't think she was familiar with his entire body of work," Woolley said.

The incident began at 5 p.m. when a resident said a man was wandering around a low-income, predominantly minority neighborhood several blocks from the oceanfront looking at houses.

The police officer drove up to Dylan, who was wearing a blue jacket, and asked him his name. According to Woolley, the following exchange ensued:

"What is your name, sir?" the officer asked.

"Bob Dylan," Dylan said.

"OK, what are you doing here?" the officer asked.

"I'm on tour," the singer replied.

A second officer, also in his 20s, responded to assist the first officer. He, too, apparently was unfamiliar with Dylan, Woolley said.

The officers asked Dylan for identification. The singer of such classics as "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Blowin' in the Wind" said that he didn't have any ID with him, that he was just walking around looking at houses to pass some time before that night's show.

Technorati Tags: Bob Dylan

Family Values Redux

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:29:00 +0000

Family Dollar Package Store. --T.R. Hummer

Family values Mississippi style.

Photo-Crashing Squirrel is Now Officially the Emperor of Our Solar System

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 23:46:00 +0000

Top 10 Crasher Squirrels [Pics]

[If you haven't already encountered the squirrel in his original context, you will soon; then this will make sense.]

Technorati Tags: crasher squirrel

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Oldest Primary School Student, 90, Dies in Kenya

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 23:19:00 +0000

Al Jazeera English - Africa - World's oldest pupil dies at 90

Kimani Nganga Maruge, the world's oldest student, has died in Kenya at the age of 90 from stomach cancer, an official at a pensioners' home where he was living said.

Donatila Ekuyi from Cheshire Home for the Aged, announced his death on Friday, saying: "He has been sick and his condition had deteriorated lately."

Maruge made history at the age of 84 when he earned an entry in the Guinness book of records as the oldest man ever to start primary school.

As a veteran of Kenya's 1950's anti-colonial Mau Mau revolt, Maruge once said that he was inspired to start learning when he suspected a preacher was misinterpreting the Bible.

Technorati Tags: education, Kenya, obituary

New Tourism Campaign: Georgia is Focused

noreply@blogger.com (T.R. Hummer) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:42:00 +0000

Georgia Is Focused. Y'all Come.

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