I resolve to post more…after I get a new keyboard.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081218/en_nm/us_roddenberry_2

Sci-fi icon Majel Barrett Roddenberry dies at 76

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actress Majel Barrett Roddenberry, the widow of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and a member of the show’s cast, has died. She was 76.

Barrett Roddenberry died of leukemia on Thursday at her home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Bel Air, her family said in a statement.

Her relationship with Gene Roddenberry, who died in 1991 after the two had been married for 22 years, earned Barrett Roddenberry the nickname “The First Lady of Star Trek.”

She had roles in nearly every “Star Trek” television show and movie, playing Nurse Chapel in the original series and lending her voice to the starship’s computer in nearly every incarnation of the saga.

She recently finished her role as the voice of the USS Enterprise computer in director J.J. Abrams’ movie “Star Trek,” which is due out in May, 2009, her family said.

Barrett Roddenberry is survived by her only son, Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry Jr. A public memorial is expected to be scheduled for sometime after Christmas.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis: Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited

Wow. I can’t even begin to describe what Majel Barrett Roddenberry meant to me, both as a woman and as an aspiring actress. Like Lucille Ball, Majel shattered barriers–Lucille in the business end of television comedy, and Majel in the arena of powerful female characters. Without Ball or Barrett-Roddenberry, I doubt Star Trek ever would have survived long enough to have been more than a long-forgotten single-season series.

To better express my feelings about Majel’s life and legacy, I would like to post a poem by Maya Angelou:

Phenomenal Woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size But when I start to tell them, They think I’m telling lies. I say, It’s in the reach of my arms The span of my hips, The stride of my step, The curl of my lips. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me. I walk into a room Just as cool as you please, And to a man, The fellows stand or Fall down on their knees. Then they swarm around me, A hive of honey bees. I say, It’s the fire in my eyes, And the flash of my teeth, The swing in my waist, And the joy in my feet. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me. Men themselves have wondered What they see in me. They try so much But they can’t touch My inner mystery. When I try to show them They say they still can’t see. I say, It’s in the arch of my back, The sun of my smile, The ride of my breasts, The grace of my style. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me. Now you understand Just why my head’s not bowed. I don’t shout or jump about Or have to talk real loud. When you see me passing It ought to make you proud. I say, It’s in the click of my heels, The bend of my hair, the palm of my hand, The need of my care, ‘Cause I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me. Copyright © Maya Angelou

Goodbye, Majel. The starship computers won’t be the same without your voice.

As stated before, I am trying to post more often, but sometimes life really does get in the way.

This blog didn’t start out with a purpose, but it’s slowly heading towards one…

One of my passions is journalism. I have always loved the news, and I probably always will. What I’m going to do here, what this blog will probably continue evolving into, is commentary on various news stories that catch my interest.

Anyway, I own a business, have a very young child, and work full-time as a technical support monkey, so my time is very limited. I would love to transition into a job writing, editing, or proofreading full-time, provided that the work is stimulating and profitable. After all, I do have a family to feed.

Re: My blog about the VS bras rash case, which can be found here:

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9101154&postID=2291265645509140476

I’m getting a lot of Anonymous comments from people who claim to have been VS bra wearers who washed the bra in question and still broke out in a rash. They are INCENSED that I would even IMPLY that the rash would be their fault…

Apparently, all of these Anonymous “ladies” failed their literacy check, because I clearly stated “If she did wash her bras before wearing them, she may have a case.” I guess the minute someone reads “moron,” his or her brain shuts off until he or she can post a comment calling me “outspokenly arrogant.”

For all of you who stopped reading after you saw the word “moron” and are morally outraged, let me translate my stance:

Since the woman did WASH her bras BEFORE wearing them, her case is JUSTIFIED, I agree with her lawsuit 100%, and I hope she WINS her CASE. In fact, I hope that there is a class-action lawsuit in place that will compensate everyone who had to visit a doctor and pay for the visits and any treatments out of their own pockets after washing their bras per the washing instructions. Maybe if we’re lucky, it’ll drive VS out of business.

And no, you are not a moron if you washed your bra according to the washing instructions before wearing it and got the rash.

If I get any more Anonymous comments on the previous blog, they will be deleted. If you are going to have the nerve to bitch at me without fully reading my blog, you damned well better give me a way to contact you so that you can get my reply and see clearly where you were mistaken.

ETA: I have disabled Anonymous commenting. If you want to exercise your free speech to criticize my free speech, I will exercise my free speech to clarify or defend my position directly to you.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20081027/sc_mcclatchy/3082054_1

Evidence found of solar system around nearby star

By Robert S. Boyd, McClatchy Newspapers Robert S. Boyd, Mcclatchy Newspapers – Mon Oct 27, 11:01 am ET

WASHINGTON — For the first time, astronomers think that they’ve found evidence of an alien solar system around a star close enough to Earth to be visible to the naked eye.

They say that at least one and probably three or more planets are orbiting the star Epsilon Eridani, 10.5 light-years — about 63 trillion miles — from Earth. Only eight stars are closer.

The host star, slightly smaller and cooler than our sun, is in the constellation Eridanus — the name of a mythological river — near Orion in the northern sky.

Epsilon Eridani is much younger than the sun, about 850 million years old compared with 4.5 billion years for our system.

“This really is a system like our solar system was when it was five times younger than it is now,” said one of the discoverers, Massimo Marengo , an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. “It’s like a time machine for our solar system.”

“This system probably looks a lot like ours did when life first took root on Earth,” said Dana Backman , of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif. , the lead author of a report to be published Jan. 10 in The Astrophysical Journal .

SETI chose Epsilon Eridani as one of the first targets in its long — but so far vain — search for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence in 1960.

The suspected planets are too far away to be detected directly, so their presence has to be inferred by indirect measurements. Their star is so near, however, that some astronomers think that they may be able to see its planets with better telescopes within the next decade.

One of the planets, a gas giant 1 { times heavier than Jupiter, was discovered in 2000 by Barbara McArthur , an astronomer at the University of Texas in Austin . She measured the slight wobble in the star’s position as the planet swung around it. Further observations by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2006 confirmed its existence, McArthur said at the time.

Now Backman’s team has deduced the presence of at least two more planets, after space- and ground-based telescopes separately revealed two belts of rocky asteroids and an outer icy ring circling Epsilon Eridani.

The inner asteroid belt is about 280 million miles from its host star, the same distance as our own ring of asteroids orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. The second belt is about the same distance as Uranus is in our system.

Finally, a wide, third ring of icy objects extends billions of miles beyond Epsilon Eridani, resembling the so-called Kuiper Belt of mini-planets outside Pluto.

In 2002, Alice Quillen , an astronomer at the University of Rochester in New York state , reported that unusual clumps of material in the outer ring probably indicated the presence of a Saturn -size planet in a Pluto-like orbit. Her finding hasn’t been confirmed, but “I still think there is a planet out there of this size,” Quillen said in an e-mail.

According to Marengo, the gaps between these belts were created when clouds of dust and rocks consolidated into planets, as happened in the early days of our solar system. He likened the process to the formation of Saturn’s famous rings, which are separated by spaces cleared out by little moons.

“The easiest way to explain the gaps is to say there are planets there,” Marengo said. “It’s the same way as the rings of Saturn are kept stable by the moons of Saturn .”

“I think these rings are probably telling us about how systems clear out after planets have formed,” Quillen said. “It’s pretty exciting to catch such a nearby system in this critical stage.”

Marengo raised the possibility that more Earthlike planets might exist in the space between Epsilon Eridani and the inner dust ring.

“The inside belt is cleared, like in our solar system,” he said. “There could be terrestrial planets inside, but we can’t detect them yet.”

Geez, isn’t this always the way–the MINUTE we put a system around OUR sun, all of these other stars in our neighborhood just HAVE to copy us.

In all seriousness, it’s awesome to learn that there are other stars with systems of their own. Who knows? One day, we may learn that there is other intelligent life in the universe, and maybe they’ll humor us and communicate. The various science fiction universes that have humans in contact with and cooperating with intelligent life from other worlds in order to help create the best universe possible may be a reality one day. Until then, we will still look to the stars and dream.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1257262,milwaukee-son-kills-father110308.article

Son kills father to protect mother in Milwaukee

November 3, 2008

FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee police say a knife-wielding man who violated a restraining order to attack his estranged wife has been shot to death by the couple’s son.

Police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz says the 49-year-old woman had a restraining order against her husband, who broke into the house Monday about 5 a.m.

Schwartz says the 55-year-old husband began stabbing his wife and the couple’s 23-year-old son shot him. Police say the man continued the attack and was shot again by the son.

The woman died from her wounds.

Schwartz says the son has been released. She says even though the shooting will likely be ruled self-defense, the case will be reviewed by the district attorney’s office because a death was involved.

It’s a pity the mom died, too. At least the father won’t be rotting in prison, serving a life sentence or appealing the death penalty.

What pisses me off, though, is that the mother had a restraining order against her ex, and, as per usual, the police weren’t able to protect her. Instead, her son had to take the law into his own hands and try and protect his mother from the attack. The poor man has to live knowing that he killed his father to protect his mother, but he still wasn’t quick enough to save her life.

On a more humorous note, family reunions are going to be awkward.

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-odd/20081030/ODD.Shocking.Sign/

Boy shocked after man powers up campaign sign

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Shawn Turschak of Chapel Hill was tired of someone stealing McCain-Palin campaign signs from his yard. Turschak, with a degree in electrical engineering, hooked up a third sign to a power source for an electric pet fence Monday and also put up a surveillance camera.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reported that a 9-year-old boy with an Obama-Biden sign grabbed the McCain-Palin sign and got a jolt on Tuesday.

The boy’s father, Andrew Noble, upset that his son had been shocked, showed up at Turschak’s door. Soon an Orange County sheriff’s deputy also showed up at the Turschak’s home.

Noble said his son just wanted to see how the sign was put together. Turschak said the boy intended to swap out the signs.

Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass said he doesn’t plan to file charges.

___

Information from: The News & Observer, http://www.newsobserver.com

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

The boy ” just wanted to see how the sign was put together?” That’s bullshit. It was pretty obvious from the video footage that the kid was planning on replacing the McCain/Palin sign with an Obama/Biden sign.

The great thing about this country is that we can support and vote for whomever we please. I supported neither McCain nor Obama; however, I wouldn’t rip up signs for either candidate in the hopes that voters would consider someone else if they didn’t have their signs in their yards. In my opinion, the kid deserved what he got. Vandalism is vandalism, and until we all learn to respect the rights of others to vote for whomever they feel can best run the country, we’ll always people doing stupid things in the name of a candidate.

Let’s hope that in 2012, Mr. Turschak doesn’t have to shock anyone else into leaving his property alone.

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20081027/Boy.Shoots.Himself/

Boy, 8, fatally shoots self with Uzi at gun show

Tue Oct 28, 4:33 AM EDT

With an instructor watching, an 8-year-old boy at a gun fair aimed an Uzi at a pumpkin and pulled the trigger as his dad reached for a camera.

It was his first time shooting a fully automatic machine gun, and the recoil of the weapon was too much for him. He lost control and fatally shot himself in the head.

Now gun safety experts — and some gun enthusiasts at the club where the shooting happened — are wondering why such a young child was allowed to fire a weapon used in war. Local, state and federal authorities are also investigating whether everyone involved had proper licenses or if anyone committed a criminal act.

“It’s easy to lose control of a weapon like that … they are used on a battleground for a very good reason,” said Jerry Belair, a spokesman for Stop Handgun Violence, based in Newton, Mass. “It’s to shoot as many times as you possibly can without having to reload at an enemy that’s approaching. It’s not a toy. It’s not something to play with.”

Police said Christopher Bizilj (Bah-SEAL) of Ashford, Conn., was pronounced dead at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Mass., on Sunday afternoon, shortly after firing a 9mm micro Uzi submachine gun at the Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo at the Westfield Sportsman’s Club, co-sponsored by C.O.P. Firearms & Training.

“The weapon was loaded and ready to fire,” Westfield police Lt. Hipolito Nunez said. “The 8-year-old victim had the Uzi and as he was firing the weapon, the front end of the weapon went up with the backfire and he ended up receiving a round in his head.”

Nunez said the investigation is continuing.

Christopher, a third-grader, was attending the show with his father and sixth-grade brother, Colin. Christopher had fired handguns and rifles before, but Sunday was his first time firing an automatic weapon, said his father, Charles Bizilj.

Bizilj told the Boston Globe he was about 10 feet behind his son and reaching for his camera when the weapon fired. He said his family avoided the larger weapons, but he let his son try the Uzi because it’s a small weapon with little recoil.

“This accident was truly a mystery to me,” said Bizilj, director of emergency medicine at Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford, Conn. “This is a horrible event, a horrible travesty, and I really don’t know why it happened.”

Police are calling the shooting an accident but are investigating whether everyone connected with the incident had proper weapons permits. Massachusetts requires licenses to own firearms, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issues different licenses to possess machine guns.

The machine gun shoot drew hundreds of people from as far away as Maine and Virginia. An advertisement said it would include machine gun demonstrations and rentals and free handgun lessons.

“It’s all legal & fun — No permits or licenses required!!!!” reads the ad, posted on the club’s Web site.

“You will be accompanied to the firing line with a Certified Instructor to guide you. But You Are In Control — “FULL AUTO ROCK & ROLL,” the ad said.

The ad also said children under 16 would be admitted free, and both adults and children were offered free .22-caliber pistol and rifle shooting.

Massachusetts has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation. It is legal in Massachusetts for children to fire a weapon if they have permission from a parent or legal guardian and they are supervised by a properly certified and licensed instructor, Nunez said. The name of the instructor who was with the boy at the time was not released.

“We do not know at this time the full facts of this incident,” Nunez said Monday.

___

Associated Press Writer Pat Eaton-Robb in Ashford, Conn., and Denise Lavoie in Boston contributed to this report.

___

On the Web:

http://www.westfieldsportsman.com

http://www.copfirearms.com

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

How on Earth can one claim to be a gun expert and not know that the kickback from an Uzi is too much for most ADULTS, much less an eight-year-old CHILD? And why would a parent allow a child that young to fire an Uzi? Just to say he did? Sure, there may be gun laws passed in the future to ban automatic weapons altogether (and thanks to the stupidity of the instructor on duty and the father, I guarantee there will be), but it’s not as if he couldn’t fire an Uzi when he was older and stronger, if he so desired.

I predict a divorce and jail time in the future.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/1256064,CST-NWS-trick02.article

Trick-or-treater, 12, killed when man feared robbery

SUMTER, S.C. — An ex-convict who thought he was being robbed gunned down a 12-year-old trick-or-treater, spraying nearly 30 rounds with an assault rifle from inside his home after hearing a knock on the door.

Quentin Patrick, 22, is accused of killing T.J. Darrisaw on Friday. T.J.’s 9-year-old brother and their father were injured but were treated at a hospital and released.

The family attended a Halloween celebration in downtown Sumter, then stopped at Patrick’s house because the porch light was on. The boys’ mother and a toddler stayed in the car nearby.

Patrick emptied his AK-47, shooting at least 29 times through his front door, walls and windows after hearing the knock. He told police he had been robbed and shot in the last year.

”He wasn’t going to be robbed again, and he wasn’t going to be shot again,” Police Chief Patty Patterson said.

And just WHAT THE FUCK is an EX-CONVICT doing with an AK-47?!? Also, if he was so afraid of getting robbed or shot, why didn’t he, oh, I don’t know, INSTALL A FUCKING PEEPHOLE IN HIS DOOR? Sure, I can understand being afraid of being robbed and shot, especially if it’s happened before; however, it was Halloween and his porch light was on. Mr. Patrick should have exercised a little more common sense and either shut off his porch light or checked to see who was at the door before opening fire.

Now a child is dead due to this ex-convict’s paranoia. The guy is only 22, and now he’s back in jail for murder. His paranoia and lack of common sense have denied T.J. Darrisaw his life and Quentin Patrick his freedom, if not his own life.

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/nov/02/supporting_obama_no_treats_you/

Supporting Obama? No treats for you

November 2, 2008

Michigan — A suburban Detroit woman has decided to scare up the vote among neighborhood children by just offering treats to John McCain supporters.

Shirley Nagel of Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., handed out candy Friday only to those who shared her support for the Republican presidential candidate and his running mate Sarah Palin. Others were turned away empty-handed.

TV station WJBK says a sign outside Nagel’s house warned: “No handouts for Obama supporters, liars, tricksters or kids of supporters.”

Nagel calls Democrat Barack Obama “scary.” When asked about children who were turned away empty-handed and crying, she said: “Oh well. Everybody has a choice.”

This doesn’t sound like a very effective way to change the vote; it does, however, sound like a dandy way to get people to egg and toilet paper her house next year. I’ll even bet that some McCain supporters with rotten eggs will visit her house next year. The cruel actions of this woman against children, children who cannot even VOTE, and probably wouldn’t be able to influence their parents’ votes one way or the other, combined with the publicity of this story, most likely caused a few people on the fence to not vote for McCain.

A candidate is judged both by the company he keeps and the people who support him. This woman did McCain no favors. There was no excuse for her to do that to the children of Obama supporters. I hope she gets egged and toilet papered so much next year that her house looks like it was sided with papier-mache.