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Suzy McHale’s Journal: 2005

January

Saturday 1/1

’Tis the new year. Didn’t do anything last night, as usual; just went to bed, though I woke up just before 12 p.m. and didn’t get back to sleep until around 1 a.m. as some idiots in the neighborhood were letting off illegal fireworks for a while. Hope they blew up in their faces! There was also the big fireworks display in the city which probably terrified wildlife and pets for kilometers around. I have come to really hate fireworks as they are so noisy.

Halfway through the decade already! And I will be 35 this year. Scary.

Wednesday 5/1

A curious but enjoyable dream last night. I was at Edwards AFB, looking through the eyes of this dream-character, a Russian pilot who was going to steal Spaceship One (the rocketship which recently won the X-Prize) and fly it to Russia! He was pretending to be the real pilot. He climbed into the spacecraft, took off, and flew all over the sky before going up to high altitude and heading off to Russia! The dream was very detailed, but difficult to describe (as most of my dreams are).

Saturday 8/1

The tsunami death toll is now around 155,000; an unimaginable amount of people killed. And the tragedy is a forewarning of what would happen should an asteroid or comet strike the Earth’s oceans – the resultant catastrophe would be ten times worse, with tsunamis hundreds of meters high inundating the coastlines of whatever ocean was impacted.

Thursday 20/1

Another fun flying dream in which I (and/or some dream characters) stole a USAF B-1B bomber and flew it to Russia! The dream was a bit mixed-up and repeated itself a few times. I do remember one scene where I was struggling to get the aircraft above the clouds to a higher altitude, but couldn’t.

Some hot weather (mid-30’s) last week and yesterday.

I am rather tired as I did a big clean-out of accumulated computer printouts and such in my bedroom; about two boxes full! Mainly a whole lot of articles, photos and information I had printed about the ISS a year or two ago. I tend to cut out and hoard newspaper and magazine articles that interest me, and every few months or so I have to cull them. I similarly save web pages on my computer and periodically have to delete many, also!

Regarding this journal, I did consider starting a blog at Blogger.com, but decided I couldn’t be bothered with all the setting-up, etc., and I don’t like the idea of the page formatting and so forth being out of my control (though you can customize your page somewhat). There are now millions of blogs, but who would read them all? I prefer the “old-fashioned” static journal which has served me well, to date. I also recently found this article, “The folly of content management” by Raymond vanderWoning, who criticizes the increasing complexity of these dynamic CMSs and whether much of the immense amount of (mostly trivial) information generated each day by millions of bloggers is worth such effort. “We’re told that dynamically published Web sites are da-Shit, and we wanted to have one, and asking a foolish question like ‘why’ wasn’t going to get in our way […] Perhaps hand-coding really is a better way to publish on the Web.”

Update 11/11/2006: The page is offline, so I have reproduced it here: “The folly of content management”.

Monday 24/1

I had a migraine this morning and was sick (as in throwing up)! I have had this a few times before, starting in 2002. Don’t know what triggers it. The migraine is a headache, but I also feel nauseous and it comes on in the morning, though I usually start to feel better after throwing up and it has gone by day’s end.

Note 16/11/2006: Got my first migraine the morning after going into the city to see a movie, The Cosmonaut – from 7/8/2002 entry:

Mum thinks that my sickness on Saturday morning might have been a migraine! It would explain the headache I had all night, and the vomiting. Mum has had them occasionally. Perhaps being in the city for 6 hours with no food and in a stressful situation (in crowds of people) triggered it off. I’ve not had one before, though, that I can remember.

Wednesday 26/1

Australia Day; not that I take much notice. :-D Also HOT weather; mid- to high 30’s. This is the worst time of year to be in Melbourne, through to the end of February. I had a dream about the tsunami last night; I was first in Asia, then at home with a big wave coming and all this brown water rushing into the house!

Sunday 30/1

Actually had RAIN yesterday, after a hot and horrid week. I am just hanging out for autumn.

Went on my usual bicycle ride this morning. One thing I wish I could carry is a bike-mounted grenade-launcher to use against stupid/menacing car drivers! There are a lot of people who should never be allowed behind the wheel of a car, judging by the incredibly stupid behavior I see every time I go out. Young men (and quite a few young women) are particular offenders. It’s not driving skills as such, but attitude. So much impatience and aggressiveness. And you might wonder why I am reluctant to learn to drive again?

Tonight is the men’s final at the Australian Open: Lleyton Hewitt (Aust.) vs. Marat Safin (Rus.). Oh, dear! Which one do I barrack for? Well, as Mr. Hewitt is a bit of an arrogant a***hole at times, Mr. Safin it is. Not that I really follow sport as such.

Monday 31/1

Marat won, yes he did!! But the newspapers didn’t put a photo of him on the front page, just one of an upset-looking Lleyton. I suppose now they will declare a “national day of mourning,” seeing that one over-enthusiastic TV reporter described Lleyton a couple of days ago as “having the hopes of a nation riding on his shoulders,” or words to that effect. Pul-eeze! :-S Enough, already.

February

Wednesday 2/2

Hot yesterday – 36°C – then a cool change came in the evening and today it was only 13°C and rain all day! Melbourne’s slogan should be: “Summer one day, winter the next” (to paraphrase a tourist ad for Queensland). It was the coldest recorded February day so far!

Thursday 3/2

The worst storms in 152 years last night! (Since records began in 1836.) Gale-force winds and rain lashed the whole state all night, abating by mid-morning (120 mm of rain fell in 24 hours). Flooding, felled trees, power cuts and the usual havoc ensued, though we got off relatively lightly here.

Friday 4/2

Some reports on yesterday’s storm can be found at the Herald-Sun site. The storm was actually a cyclone – “Meteorologists described it as a southern Australian cyclone – similar to a tropical cyclone, but in a cold climate.” The satellite photo below (via the Herald-Sun) shows the swirly storm clouds over Victoria and Tasmania.

Satellite photo of storm

Thursday 10/2

That horrible human Shamil Basayev popped up again last week, giving an interview to some (rather misguided) British reporters. I found a transcript of the interview on a website, but I don’t want to publicize it so I won’t give the URL. A lot of ranting and raving about his so-called “Holy War,” with statements like “The majority of Russians are godless, and we are fighting with Satanism,” and similar nonsense. The website supports the so-called Muslim “martyrs” in Chechnya, Israel and other places – i.e. the suicide bombers blowing up innocent people. You know what should be done to Basayev if he is caught? Chop off his head, impale it on a pole and mount it on the Kremlin Wall! (I think they used to do this to criminals at the Tower of London, or somewhere.) He acts like a barbarian, so he deserves to be treated as one.

Saturday 12/2

Had a curious dream last night featuring the Space Shuttle. I was watching it launch with a whole lot of other people when something went wrong and it tried to turn around and land, but crashed instead. We rushed over to the cockpit and looked inside, and the crew appeared to be dead, but then the woman pilot (Eileen Collins, no less!) moved and opened her eyes, and we realized with much relief that they were all alive. The dream was more complicated and repeated itself two or three times; the shuttle was, for some reason, Columbia, though it was the upcoming launch/Return-to-Flight in May. The Shuttle, ISS and Soyuz have made appearances in my night-dreams the last few years, so I guess I am traveling in space, if only virtually! I’ve been to the ISS a few times and even done a spacewalk or two.

The new Battlestar Galactica mini-series screened last night and is on tonight. I meant to watch it last night but fell asleep as usual (I recorded it, though). We used to watch the original in the 1970s at Gran’s home on Saturday afternoons. The new version is apparently “darker and edgier,” two words I hate. I detest “edgy” films. If it is anything like the Enterprise series it will have the usual tiresomely aggressive characters and expensive special effects. Ho-hum. I don’t read or watch much science fiction at all now, because most of it bores me. Similarly with fantasy novels – they consist of a bunch of assorted characters with odd names wandering about the landscape in search of some magical talisman.

I ordered Michael Cassutt’s latest novel, Tango Midnight (it came out in paperback this month). I did it through the local bookstore as his books are not released here. Only took 2 weeks to come! I ordered his two previous novels (Missing Man and Red Moon) the same way. I have never had a credit card so I can’t order over the Internet. The bank would charge me $15 or so for an International Money Order, so it costs less to order via the bookstore (the novel was $15). The novel has the ISS in it, which is why I bought it.

Friday 18/2

Finally got around to watching the Battlestar Galactica miniseries. It was much the usual fare. The design of things such as the ships and uniforms seemed rather dark and gloomy – the bio-organic armor look that’s been popular in sci-fi movies since the 1990s. The pilots in the original series, as I dimly recall, had rather snazzy helmets that resembled Ancient Egyptian masks (I’ll have to see if there is a website devoted to the series). All the young women were skinny and had attitude :-S. And apparently the Cylons had discovered s-e-x and breast implants in the intervening years. And some of the younger characters couldn’t seem to stop lunging at each other and smooching. Yuck.

All these movies make space travel seem as easy as going for a drive around one’s local neighborhood. They have spaceships that can travel from Earth to orbit with little effort.

There was a documentary on the Columbine High School massacre earlier in the week (Zero Hour: Murder at Columbine High). Morbidly compelling. I had similar fantasies at school of doing the same things to certain classmates who were mean to me at school, in the mid-1980s, although I doubt I would have carried them out had I the opportunity (and weapons), being too passive. Once a person goes down that road, it’s either death (by suicide) or jail for life. I loathe the whole teenage caste system, though, and think that the popular ones and bullies deserve to have bad things happen to them.

Monday 21/2

Went to the city (Melbourne CBD) for the first time in a few months. All I do there is wander around for an hour or so (I get a 2-hour ticket) and visit several bookshops, then go home. I go in by train. I don’t particularly like the city as it is grubby and noisy and dirty and there are a lot of strange and potentially hostile people around. I go in by train (it takes around 20 m.) and the amount of litter and graffiti along the railway tracks makes everything look like some Third-World country. The public train system has been neglected since it was ill-advisedly privatized in the early 1990s. I was just glad to get home again.

You know what two words send a chill of dread through me? “Welfare reform”. Our Dear Leader is talking about this a lot, and wants to make it harder to get welfare, and to make people more “productive”. Maybe he should just go the whole way and reintroduce slavery. :-S

Wednesday 23/2

Had a dream last night about the Twin Towers collapsing (September 11), a recurring dream I have occasionally, though it was set in Melbourne at the same time. I was in the ground foyer of the building with other people and thinking I should get out as the building would soon collapse. Then I was running along city streets with many others, followed by the huge dust cloud as the buildings tumbled. In an earlier dream some months ago I was buried under the rubble in the building and it was pitch-black. Of course, I only saw the whole tragedy on television; the ones who were actually there would be having nightmares and such.

Saturday 26/2

Annoying article of the day: published in today’s The Age, “Bush moves to avoid rift with Russia,” by Michael Gawenda:

Indeed, there is basic agreement between liberals and conservatives in Washington – a rare thing these days – that US policy on Russia has to change, that too much of it has amounted to appeasement premised on the belief that pushing Russia too hard would be counter-productive.

Celeste Wallander, a senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, reflects the views of many analysts about what the Bush Administration needs to do in relation to Russia. “President Bush needs to launch a new US-Russia policy, one that relentlessly conveys the truth about US policies and welcomes frank discussion about Russian concerns,” Dr Wallander said. “President Bush has to tell President Putin that he is risking Russia’s future.”

This is easier said than done. Mr. Bush came away from the Putin meeting with an agreement to speed up the system of securing Russia’s nuclear facilities, with a statement from Mr. Putin that he agreed with the US and the EU that Iran should not develop nuclear weapons and with a vague statement from Mr. Putin that he believed in democracy.

But Russia will continue to build Iran’s nuclear plant, supply arms to Syria, lay waste to Chechnya, keep its forces in Georgia and other former Soviet republics and continue to crack down on opposition parties and the independent media.

For all the soul-searching about America’s alliance with Europe and whether that can be repaired, it is the relationship with Russia – a chaotic, economically weak former superpower with imperial pretensions, armed to the teeth with nuclear weapons and resentful about its diminished status in the world – that is the Bush Administration’s greater challenge.

Conclusions from this: the analysts are insultingly condescending (the usual so-called “experts”), and the reporter himself is biased (note the last paragraph). In fact there was a lot of similar patronizing crap in the media this week; much gloom-and-doom about how Russia was supposedly becoming “undemocratic” and so on. And, regarding the criticism on Russia’s actions in Chechnya and supposed meddling in the Ukraine elections, isn’t the USA doing exactly the same thing in Iraq (and the USA also meddled in the Ukraine elections – see my 29/12/2004 entry)?

Also in the same paper was news that the European Court of Human Rights “found Moscow guilty of killing civillians [in Chechnya] and bluntly ordered it to pay compensation of more than €135,000.” I would tell them to go jump; they seem to have forgotten Beslan already?

Sunday 27/2

From private computer diary – only entry for this year

Second-last day of the month already! I haven’t started a new diary [on my computer] as I have been keeping one on my website for this year. I will put any personal family stuff [on my computer] (not on the public site). I now have three sites: my original Kosmonavtka one, one for my favorite cosmonaut, and one for myself (family photos, a journal, etc.). I am still using the au.geocities.com free accounts. Unfortunately the ads have got very irritating, at least for the www.geocities.com domains. The ads are now in a frame which quite rudely shoves your page to the left. I did install a code to block the ads displaying on all but the initial index/home page; something which the free providers will take a dim view of if found out, but as the ads are so irritating what else can I do? I would like to move to proper/paid hosting, but can’t afford it for the time being (as you might have guessed, I am still unemployed). […]

Australia needs a revolution! Not a big one, just a little one, enough to oust the present government without bloodshed; in the style of the recent Ukraine elections. Something I was thinking about this morning. PM John Howard will have complete control of the Senate later this year, which means he and his ministers can bully through various bits of legislation unopposed. So, onward the revolution! Let’s storm Parliament and boot Mr. Howard and his cronies out! Some things I would like to see done afterwards:

From a newspaper article last week:

… Mr. Perton is concerned that revolution is fermenting in the classroom, pointing to the trend in the study of history in VCE. The History of Revolutions is booming, outstripping the study of Australian history. Last year, more than 4000 studied the American, French, Russian and Chinese revolutions – twice as many as those who opted for Australian history.

… Mr. Perton was also shocked when “a kid doing work experience from an eastern suburbs state secondary school said to me the Cold War was the defence against American imperialism.”

– “Liberal shocked [shocked!] by leftie propaganda in the classroom,” Shane Green

Hah!! :-D

March

Thursday 3/3

Two hot days on Monday and Tuesday, then cooler after that. It’s now Autumn (hooray!). Summer this year wasn’t so bad, though (i.e. not so horribly hot as usual, and no major bushfires, unlike two summers ago).

Watched a really upsetting documentary last night, about an elderly couple who were facing the prospect of being separated, as the husband (who was infirm) was becoming too much for his wife to cope with, as she was his primary carer. He wore a colostomy bag and catheter, and was also getting senile (he turned 80 during the documentary) and the couple’s two adult sons knew their mother could not cope with the workload much longer (he pulled the bag off one night in his sleep, and you can imagine the results – his wife had to wash everything the next day). The documentary ended with a place being found for him in a home. And why was it so upsetting? Because my parents are getting old, and it is something many people have to face one day. Mum spent most of the 1990s looking after Gran (who lived in her own home about 15 minutes away); Gran lived on her own, so Mum traveled over there a lot. Gran had several bad falls (resulting in broken bones), and she eventually had to be placed in a nursing home.

I hate the whole degrading process of aging, where your body and mind begin to fail, and the person you once were gradually disappears. A lot of people in nursing homes look like zombies, almost not human; they are just waiting to die. I think it would be preferable to die before one got to that stage. And what if an elderly person has no one to look after them, and can’t afford professional care?

Friday 4/3

Last night I watched another docu-drama in the Zero Hour series: “Disaster at Chernobyl”. Very disturbing! Nuclear power stations have to be some of the most creepiest places on Earth: something about all that barely-contained energy and deadly radiation. I had a weird dream afterward, though I can’t recall it now. There is also a computer game in development set in Chernobyl, where the characters hunt down weird mutant creatures which have evolved in the abandoned reactor. The website is S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. I’m not normally into computer games, but the graphics for this one look awesome, if the stills are anything to go by (the game is Ukrainian-developed). The website looks great, too; though it is Flash-based and you really need a broadband connection for effective viewing. There is plenty of artwork and screen wallpaper to download. Everything is, appropriately enough, dark and gloomy.

Monday 7/3

A lady at the church my parents attend has a website for her small business, and I offered to help redesign/tidy it up. It is hosted at DIY Website Editor, where clients can create and edit their sites online on a WYSIWYG editor (a Dreamweaver-based program of some sort). After some experimentation I have decided I don’t like this style of creating websites because:

So I don’t know what I’ll do. This is the reason why I prefer to code websites MYSELF, so I have full control over what is going in. I do use FrontPage 2000 to help manage my sites, but I don’t use any of the proprietary “FrontPage extensions,” and check the code carefully to make sure FP doesn’t mess it up.

Wednesday 9/3

Spent yesterday formatting my computer’s hard drive, something which I have done every few months since last year, to clean out any junk. Re-installing all my programs is the most tedious bit. I am really tired of Windows: its instability and endless security issues. I have to confess I don’t bother to download the security updates because it is tedious, and would use up Dad’s monthly Internet account megabyte allowance.

Monday 14/3

Had some warm weather (low 30s) the last couple of days. I have been fussing over my websites (yet again), so I have done little else! I had another dream last night about Spaceship One; that I was flying it into orbit and back to Edwards AFB; I also met Burt Rutan.

An article in the Herald-Sun last week about NASA’s plans for a new Crew Exploration Vehicle and other elaborate (and expensive) schemes that may eventuate in a return to the Moon, and a visit to Mars … eventually. In a couple of decades or so. Haven’t we heard this all before? Not a mention of any other countries, including Russia’s plans for their own launch vehicle (Kliper) and Mars missions. I don’t think many people in the media here (Australia) even realize Russia still has a space program. If it is mentioned, it’s usually to make fun of it (mainly because of their money problems). The worst thing is that no-one in the West seems to take the Russian space program seriously any more – a sad contrast to the days of the Soviet Union.

Also, just wait for the media fuss and attention when the Shuttle returns to flight (currently set for 15 May). It will be in the headlines. I doubt anyone will mention that Russia has kept the ISS program going in the meantime with its launches of the ever-reliable Soyuz and Progress spaceships – and this despite funding problems.

Wednesday 16/3

The biennial Avalon Airshow is happening this weekend, but I can’t say I am much interested as there are no Russian jets. Be cool if the Russian Knights or Strizhi (Swifts) aerobatic teams could make an appearance, but I guess Australia is too far away (too expensive to get to, for them).

Labour Day holiday on Monday, I forgot to mention then; not that it has much meaning anymore as successive governments – particularly the current one – have done their best to erode all that the workers originally fought for.

Everyone I know seems to be getting old and ill! Even Sasha the dog (who will be 10 soon) might have to have 2 teeth out. ’Tis depressing.

Friday 18/3

I haven’t yet seen any online blogs about the Russian space program (unless there are some in Russian?). NASA is the focus of all the ones I have visited (*yawn*). I am just so bored with the endless analyzing of NASA’s “safety culture,” the “Vision for Space Exploration,” and whatnot. Russia DOES have its vision for its own program; there was a brochure available at the TsENKI website; I’ll see if I can find the link for it. When Russian future space plans are occasionally mentioned in the U.S. media, or (very rarely) here (in Australia), though, there are usually sneers from various online space commentators that can be summed up as, “Show me the money!” (Though I have to wonder how the U.S. government will maintain its funding for NASA, seeing all the billions being spent on the Iraq invasion and in Afghanistan.)

Our favorite cosmonaut goes into orbit in less than a month; as commander for the first time! He will have the most accumulated time in space ever by his mission’s end. Unfortunately, I think he will be overshadowed by the Return-to-Flight of the Space Shuttle, which will inevitably attract all the media attention.

Saturday 19/3

Some silly Australian man apparently tried to hijack a Russian airliner, coming into Moscow! He was overpowered, and didn’t have any weapons. What an idiot.

Our suburb is under siege from house builders – at least, it feels that way. The next-door neighbor’s home will be knocked down very soon, and a new one built. A house opposite us was demolished a few weeks ago and two double-story units will be built. Houses are similarly being demolished in the streets around us. I am so tired of living in a construction zone! I really wish the housing market would collapse. The new homes being built are too often the ugly, two-storied monstrosities that occupy the whole block of land they are on (the neighbor’s house will, thankfully, be only one storey). This type of design came into fashion in the 1990s and is environmentally-unfriendly and just plain ugly. There are whole new housing estates crowded with these homes, and I wouldn’t want to live there if you paid me. The other option is to crowd as many units as possible onto a block originally built for one average home, or to build a unit at the back of an older home. There are too many people and cars now, and it is more than the infrastructure can support.

More mechanical woes for Expedition 10 with the Elektron playing up again (the usual air bubbles) and a power failure to one of the three working Control Movement Gyroscopes (“Early this morning, the external Remote Power Controller switch #17 [RPC-17] tripped open, shutting down CMG-2 [control moment gyroscope #2]” – On-Orbit Report for 16 March).

The next NASA Administrator, in case you haven’t heard, is to be a Dr. Mike Griffin. There is a NASA Watch page with comments about him from various people (“What do you think of Mike Griffin’s selection?”). These feedback pages always bring the “Paranoid Patriots” out in force when discussing NASA …

[…] NASA cannot do the job alone, but NASA is the catalyst, the agency that must lead the United States and the world into an age of exploration that will inspire our children, demonstrate the greatness that our nation and our people are capable of, and ensure the long-term survival and prosperity of humanity …

[…] No one in the program has any doubt of the danger or risks involved and the last thing anyone involved likely wants is politicians trying to protect them thereby getting us behind in the overall Space race. Like it or not, it still exists and We Are No Longer Leading, Thank You, Oh Great Protectors. Many of the People in the program desire the risk and the rush, not to feel sheltered by mis-guided efforts of politically motivated people with whatever interests leading them. I believe NASA needs a true leader with militant characteristics that will allow people to be heroes when heroes are needed.

*Yawn*. Get over the Cold War!

There is also an article at the Space Review, “Getting to know Michael Griffin,” that concludes with these somewhat alarming remarks by him:

In his October 2003 hearing, Griffin addressed the question of why the US should fund human space exploration. He dismissed the “politically correct” answers of things like spinoffs and educational benefits in favor of a broader rationale. “What the U.S. gains from a robust, focused program of human space exploration is the opportunity to carry the principles and values of western philosophy and culture along with the inevitable outward migration of humanity into the solar system,” he said. Such an effort, he noted, would be similar to the influence the British Empire had because of its mastery of the seas. “Can America, through its mastery of human space flight, have a similar influence on the cultures and societies of the future, those yet to evolve in the solar system as well as those here on Earth? I think so, and I think our descendants will consider it to have been worth twenty cents per day.”

Er, no thanks?

I wonder how Anatolii Perminov, the director of Russia’s space program, will regard him.

In Astronaut Clayton Anderson’s latest ISS Expedition Training Journal, Chapter 11, he describes his beginning the “training flow” for spacewalks in an Orlan spacesuit:

In NASA-ese, a spacewalk is designated an EVA for extra-vehicular activity. Well, our friends in Russia call a spacewalk a ВКД (veh kah deh) оr ВНЕКОРАБЕЛЬНАЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТЬ. Roughly translated, this means “activity without a spacecraft.” Put another way, they would say, выход в открытый космос or “walk in open space.” Our spacesuit is called an EMU or extra-vehicular mobility unit … whew! Their suit is designated the Orlan-M. You may recall that their spacesuits are all named after strong birds and this one is no exception. Orlan comes from the Russian word орел (O-rel) or “eagle.” So, during this trip, along with fellow astronaut Sunita Williams, we have begun the highly desirable training flow that may ultimately lead us to a spacewalk somewhere on the International Space Station in a Russian Orlan with a Russian cosmonaut! Крута (Kroo-ta … Russian slang for “cool!”)!

So, there you have it – VKD, ВКД – is the term for a Russian spacewalk! (In this entry he is using Unicode characters for Cyrillic letters, rather than the images of Russian words he was using in previous entries. Крута is thus Крута in Unicode! This is OK for occasional words, but if you are wanting to include much more Russian, you are better changing the page encoding [charset] to Windows-1251 or something similar – refer to How to develop a Cyrillic (and English) HTML page by Paul Gorodyansky.) I will keep reading Clayton’s journal for interesting information about Russian training (he doesn’t seem to be a “Paranoid Patriot” like those mentioned earlier – at least, I hope he isn’t).

Thursday 24/3

The demolition of the house next door begins today; a big yellow house-smasher-down machine/bulldozer/whatever-you-call-it has been offloaded. Much bashing, crashing, noise and dust for the rest of today!

Went out for lunch to Hastings on the Mornington Peninsula yesterday with Mum & Dad and family friends Bill and Pam.

I just had a look at my sites through Dad’s Safari browser on his iMac, and the browser stuffs up the pages – the headers get pushed off the page and navigation menus are also not displayed properly. Aaargh! I tested my sites on Opera and Mozilla as well as IE on my Windows computer and the sites looked OK. IE for the Mac also displays the pages OK, so it is obviously something in Safari that interprets some CSS styles differently. This is the sort of thing that drives web designers nuts – browser quirks. Perhaps I will have to go back to using images as headers after all. *Sigh*.

The Elektron is off again, and the exasperated crew must by now be ready to boot it out of the airlock! They are also preparing for their upcoming spacewalk on March 28. Orlan spacesuits № 25 and 27 will be used. I don’t know when № 27 came on board!

Sergei Volkov won’t be joining Expedition 11 via STS-121 after all, it seems; his Shuttle seat has been taken by astronaut Tracy Caldwell. Don’t know why. There was something about the launch of STS-114 possibly being delayed again because of corrosion in some electrical wiring.

Sunday 27/3

Daylight Savings ended early this morning, hooray! Now I can get up at the “normal” 5 a.m. time rather than the DS one (which is really 4 a.m.). I like to get up early and go to bed around 10 – 10:30 p.m. or so (I dislike staying up late). DS will be beginning in the Northern Hemisphere. Last Sunday was the Autumn Equinox, where the days are of equal length, so the hot weather is now over, and the mornings are getting rather chilly. My favorite time of year!

Monday 28/3

A letter from today’s Herald-Sun, in the Youth Forum section:

Mars trip not worth it

The world we live in is infested by war, famine and poverty. Billions of people are struggling to live their lives simply from day to day.

Our dreams and the USA’s dreams are not ones we can afford to indulge in at the moment.

It would cost $10 billion, maybe more, to send humans to Mars and it’s not worth it.

I think we need to aim for a world free of disease and poverty before even contemplating the idea of sending humans on such a journey.

– Rachael Fitzpatrick, 14

This is an argument that is often used when criticizing the space program. But if humanity stopped spending so much money on fighting wars, etc., then there would be plenty of resources to help the world’s poor and go to Mars. The huge response to the Asian tsumami disaster 3 months ago showed that people and countries can make an effort to help each other.

Tuesday 29/3

Expedition 10 did their spacewalk on Saturday 26th, and I forgot all about it!! It went well, anyway.

Continuing from yesterday’s entry, humanity will eventually have to colonize other worlds anyway, as the sun will die one day (in 5 billion years or so) and take the Earth and other planets with it! Of course, humanity could well have been long extinct by then.

April

Friday 1/4

So much for the hot weather being over … 30°C yesterday and today, though it isn’t as intense as summer.

Found a big huntsman spider lurking outside, so I blasted it with insect spray. Ugh! Took about 10 minutes or so to curl up and die. Yuck! There was one on the laundry wall last week, which Dad took care of using a broom to sweep it outside. My strategy is to nuke ’em with insecticide. Spiders are one creature I would happily see extinct! They are either perfectly still, or they scuttle. And they scuttle fast.

Saturday 2/4

Terri Schiavo is dead. Thank goodness. Keeping her alive like that was a form of torture. The case brought out all the religious fanatics, right-wing zealots and assorted others in full force. Her parents deserve condemnation for not letting her go and trying to prolong her non-existence beyond all rationality (the real Terri died 15 years ago). Starving someone to death is not exactly a merciful way of letting a person die (anyone treating a dog or cat thus would be prosecuted for cruelty), but in the absence of any euthanasia laws there was no other alternative. Why is it that there is so much irrationality when there is human life involved? Why is human life considered so sacred that some believe it should be preserved at all costs?

From a letter in today’s The Age:

The tragedy of the Terri Schiavo case is not that her feeding tube was removed and she was allowed to die, but that the only options facing her and her family were prolonged existence in a vegetative state or slow death by starvation.

… Surely we do not need to put our fellow human beings through this. Would it not be more humane to allow medical professionals, under strict controls, to administer lethal medication to hasten what is inevitable? In the Schiavo case, the media focused on the pro-life versus right-to-die debate. Should we not also consider options around the right to die, and the need to provide humane options that give an alternative to slow death by starvation that Terri Schiavo and her family had to face?

– James Mackenzie

Regarding the Pope. Catholicism is the one religion I loathe above all others – unfortunately it did not become extinct after the Reformation – so I am finding the media attention over his current condition extremely irritating. His views on many things (e.g. contraception and birth control) were archaic (as is the religion as a whole).

(Conclusion to the above: humanity has a lot of “growing up” to do.)

Sunday 3/4

A certain well-known religious figure has died. We will be hearing about nothing else in the news for the next week or so. According to the Grumpy Old Fart at Curmudgeon’s Corner (more on him in a moment):

I’m not Catholic, so I’m not equipped to comment on his Papacy’s effect on the Church. However, John Paul was, along with President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, one of the prime movers in the destruction of the Soviet Empire. For that only, he will be remembered as the most important Pope in the past several centuries.

Oh, and with suicide bombers, religious fanatics flying airplanes into buildings, a certain country thinking it can invade others with impunity and governments embracing the hateful doctrine of Economic Rationalism, the world is a better place? You really, really think so? Excuse me if I am a bit cynical about the wonderful “New World Order” we were promised. The world is as buggered-up as ever, if not more so.

The Grumpy Old Fart at Curmudgeons Corner, otherwise known as Mark Whittington, is a conservative of the type I detest the most. He does not have a comments system on his blog, otherwise I would be inundating it with much sarcastic commentary >:-). He thinks Terri Schiavo should have been alive at all costs; he thinks the USA should dominate the world and also space; he supports the invasion of Iraq; he is totally against any form of Social Security, public education and health care. He worships President George W. Bush, and he probably has a pin-up somewhere of female conservative Ann Coulter, an equally rabid member of the species.

Regarding the Iraq invasion, he and his conservative mates might wish to visit the Baghdad Burning blog, by an Iraqi lady with the pseudonym of Riverbend. She, having lived (so far!) through the invasion and occupation, might have a few things to say to them, and none of them complimentary. From her 3 April entry:

I have a suggestion of my own for a reality show. Take 15 Bush supporters and throw them in a house in the suburbs of, say, Falloojeh for at least 14 days. We could watch them cope with the water problems, the lack of electricity, the check points, the raids, the Iraqi National Guard, the bombings, and – oh yeah – the “insurgents”. We could watch their house bombed to the ground and their few belongings crushed under the weight of cement and brick or simply burned or riddled with bullets. We could see them try to rebuild their life with their bare hands (and the equivalent of $150) …

I’d not only watch *that* reality show, I’d tape every episode.

As an antidote to the Grumpy Old Fart mentioned above, I went on the Internet again and came across this blog, The Angry Democrat.

Wednesday 6/4

My shiny new journal site is up and open! I now have a system going when designing my own personal sites, so I can get a new one up relatively quickly; I use a similar template for them. I found a nice photo of the Orion Nebula that I wanted to use in the header; I made it more blue and pink in Paint Shop Pro. It looks like a swirly watercolor painting.

I am still plodding through my 2002 diary and converting it for this website; then there is 2003 to do … Tedious!

That horrid human Zbigniew Brzezinski popped up again on tonight’s Newshour with Jim Lehrer on a document about the Pope, saying how wonderful he was and how he saved the world from Communism (of which Brzezinski, a former U.S. Presidential adviser, was a rabid opponent). I think of Brzezinski as the equivalent of Wormtongue in The Lord of the Rings (the sinister, slimy adviser to King Theodred). I hope he gets bumped off by the FSB.

I finished the Michael Cassutt novel, Tango Midnight, that I mentioned I ordered in my 12/2 entry. It is set in 2005 (he wrote it in 2003, not long after the Columbia disaster), when the ISS is completed (!). (The unfortunate danger in writing near-future novels is that events can change so quickly that they are outdated by the time they get to print.) The backcover blurb:

In 2005, the world is different. International terrorists have released X-Pox, a genetically-modified disease that kills within three weeks, and there is no greater challenge than finding a cure.

Biochem billionaire Ted Mikleszewski is a “space junkie” who decides to buy research time on the International Space Station to work on a cure for X-Pox. The Russians will sell him a seat on the Soyuz taxi vehicle for a mere $30 million.

There is a tiny leak in the seal of the isolation box where Tad is manipulating the X-Pox pathogen – and the space station is contaminated by the disease.

Now it’s a race against time to rescue the crew and decontaminate the space station – and whether Russian or American, someone is going to have to get up there. Fast.

The characters from his previous novel Missing Man appear again (astronauts Mark Koskinen and Kelly Gessner) and save the world in the end via the Space Shuttle and the Chinese Shenzhou spaceship (the Russians get left out). The novel is not a bad read – the author obviously wants to put his “insider knowledge” to good use and is filled with lots of technical space stuff – but I can’t say I enjoyed it that much, mainly due to the condescending attitudes the American characters show towards the other nationalities (Russian and such). There is a rather cynical tone to the story (everyone trying to exploit everyone else) and the ending seems a bit too hurried.

Expedition 11 is launched in just over a week! So I will have to make an especial effort to stay alive so as to follow the mission and keep Sergei’s site updated :-). They are so lucky to be able to escape the Earth for a few months and get away from all the misery and chaos here (though it is not much fun for their families left behind). The most dangerous parts of space travel are during launch and landing; being in space itself is relatively safe.

Friday 8/4

There was an interview with Australian-born astronaut Andy Thomas last night on The 7:30 Report about the impending return-to-flight of the space shuttle, STS-114, which he will be on. The reporter asked some predictably dumb questions such as (I am paraphrasing from memory):

  1. When you fly on the Shuttle, and especially when you re-enter the atmosphere, will Columbia’s fate be in the back of your mind?
  2. With all the problems on Earth, why should we send people into space at all?

Andy answered with good grace, though I wonder if he barely restrains himself from sarcastic replies at being asked the same things over and over again by clueless reporters! My answers would be along the lines of:

  1. Well, duh, what do you think?
  2. The problems would still exist even if there wasn’t a space program. They are due to human nature. Until that is cured, they will continue to exist.

Also, this will be Andy’s last flight and he has been looking for work in Australia, only his qualifications (i.e. being an astronaut) are not suitable (!). Any qualified immigrant coming here could tell him that most employers here are a witless bunch of dunderheads who wouldn’t recognize talent if it came up and bit them.

The report predictably focused on NASA; the ISS was mentioned but not Russia or the other partners (i.e. that Russia has helped keep the ISS program going in the interim). I am really glad I have the Internet as I would be lost if I had to rely on the Australian media for space news! I doubt that Sergei’s launch (next Friday!!!) will get a mention (never mind that he is the most experienced spaceman alive, that he will be making his sixth flight, and that by the end he will have the most accumulated spaceflight time EVER – something like 820 days!).

Saturday 9/4

Even less on TV last night than usual because of a funeral, so we (parents and me) ended up watching a DVD Dad had bought: The Day After Tomorrow, the movie that came out last year about the weather going deadly. It was quite good, and rather convincing! A few scenes showed a crew on the ISS looking down at the three huge cyclonic storms engulfing the Northern Hemisphere. Up there was the safest place to be, or perhaps in Australia!

Last night, some drunken youths set a rubbish bin on fire at the local shopping strip up the road; I don’t know if it was deliberate, or if someone threw a cigarette in and the bin caught fire later. I would love for there to be a neighborhood vigilante group that roamed the streets at night, shooting these drunken idiots like the vermin they are. The police and local council seem to do nothing to prevent these morons.

After seeing some scenes of the Pope’s funeral (which I couldn’t escape, it being plastered all over the TV and newspapers), not to mention the league of grumpy old men in sinister black robes who comprise the cardinals, I can only wonder, are we in the 21st century? Whatever happened to the Enlightenment and the Age of Reason?

A funeral last night and a wedding tonight, which I am as equally uninterested in. The Royal Family are just as archaic and irrelevant.

Today was very warm, again (low 30s); I think this is what they call an “Indian Summer”?

Monday 11/4

A HOT day yesterday, the second hottest April day on record (34°C), then dark clouds came in from the southwest in the late afternoon, then heavy rain poured down like a monsoon. Four seasons in one day, for sure!

Do you have a favorite nebula? One of my favorites is the Hourglass Nebula, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope (the official site is Hubblesite.org). To me it looks like a vast eye gazing through a fiery halo. I think of it as the Eye of Sauron, the evil Dark Lord from The Lord of the Rings:

But suddenly the Mirror went altogether dark, as dark as if a hole had opened in the world of sight, and Frodo looked into emptiness. In the black abyss there appeared a single Eye that slowly grew, until it filled nearly all the Mirror. So terrible was it that Frodo stood rooted, unable to cry out or withdraw his gaze. The Eye was rimmed with fire, but was itself glazed, yellow as a cat’s, watchful and intent, and the black slit of its pupil opened on a pit, a window into nothing.

– The Fellowship of the Ring

I get so wrapped up in my websites and being agitated or annoyed over the various space politics and bickering that I forget about the Universe out there! I do very little stargazing as the light pollution in the suburbs around Melbourne is so bad now that only some of the brightest stars can be seen, and a pallid imitation of the Milky Way. I can recognize the distinctive constellation of Orion and the blue-white star Sirius, as well as the Southern Cross. Jupiter is currently very visible. When Mars came close to Earth last year it was a brilliant reddish point of light. One reason I would love to go up into space would be to see the Universe properly, as I have never seen it on Earth. Somewhat ironically, you can’t see much of the sky from the ISS as most windows face down towards Earth (to enable Earth observations). Earth is nice to look at, but having it so close would feel claustrophobic at times. I would love to do a spacewalk, to be on Earth’s night side, look up and away from the planet out at the starry river of the Milky Way and our Galaxy. I imagine the starlight would be so brilliant that the Station would be illuminated and resemble a ghost ship sailing a starry ocean.

Thursday 14/4

Launch day tomorrow! 10:45 a.m. in Melbourne (Eastern Standard Time). The Soyuz rocket has been rolled out to the launchpad. I had a nice dream last night that Sergei wrote me a letter (handwritten, not e-mail) from space, saying he liked my website or something like that! Not likely to come true, though (*sigh*).

The Grumpy Old Farts at NASA Watch and Curmudgeon’s Corner (i.e. Keith Cowing and Mark Whittington) have not so much as mentioned the launch. As both seem to hate Russians, I guess Sergei’s achievements are of no interest to them. Well, bugger them. I would not get so uptight, only lots of people visit their blogs and thus would be influenced by their thinking. Here’s a couple of recent comments from Mark as regards Russia:

A disagreement between the United States and Russia may mean a pull out by the U.S. from the International Space Station early. This may provide some opportunities for the United States and a big headache for Russia who would have a white elephant on their hands. (4 April) I’m sure that would make your day, mate!

Back in the bad old days, when the Soviet Empire was threatening the world, a common practice of the Soviets was to claim that some invention or another purported to have been invented in the West, was actually invented by a Russian, like the air plane or the automobile. The Russians are at it again, accusing NASA of stealing the concept of the space elevator from some obscure Soviet scientist. (13 April) And the USA is no less of a threat now!

We seem to be getting inundated with volcano documentaries this week. On Sunday night there was a documentary, Krakatoa: The Day that Shook the Earth, a dramatized re-enactment of the events leading up to the huge eruption on 27 August 1883 that killed nearly 40,000 people in Indonesia. Like last year’s Boxing Day earthquake, much of the death toll was from the tsunamis that followed the eruption. A new volcano, Anak Krakatoa, has emerged since that time and will likely erupt again one day. (On Pay-TV, which we don’t have, is another documentary about the eruption of Mt. Tambora in 1815, the most deadly in human history, which killed 120,000 of the long-suffering people in Indonesia. They have the misfortune to live in the most volcanically-active region on Earth.)

And if that’s not enough, there are a couple of documentaries this week (one on tonight) concerning a huge magma chamber beneath Yellowstone National Park which could erupt at anytime with devastating consequences (huge amounts of ash ejected into Earth’s atmosphere = reduction of sunlight and global cooling).

If humanity wishes to ensure its long-term survival, perhaps we had better construct “Space Arks” for living permanently in space, rather than colonizing other worlds! The Arks could roam between stars and galaxies, sometimes mooring at planets so people could go down and explore them (and meet any aliens) before returning to their permanent homes amongst the stars. Why exchange being stuck on one planet (i.e. Earth) for another?

Friday 15/4

Sergei is safely in orbit!! A perfect liftoff at 00:46:25 GMT this morning (5:46 a.m. at Baikonur, 10:46 a.m. in Melbourne). I hoped to watch streaming video on the library computer, but forgot that they had a firewall blocking this! So the best I could do was to visit the Expedition 11 Mission status center, refresh it every minute or so, and copy the updates onto my Sergei site. Energiya was also quick to put up launch photos; some beautiful dawn scenes. Of course, they did not screen the launch on Australian TV (though it might get a brief mention on the evening news). As I said in an earlier entry, if I had to rely on the Australian media for space news (especially Russian space news), I would be quite frustrated!

Docking is set for Sunday at 02:19 GMT (12:19 p.m. in Melbourne).

Somewhat more negatively, it looks like the new NASA administrator, Michael Griffin, is going to be throwing his weight around as regards the partnership (according to Novosti Kosmonavtiki news release № 468). He is not happy about NASA relying on Russia to deliver its cargo and astronauts, and wants to accelerate the development of the Crew Return Vehicle, or a development of the Apollo capsule. I suppose his actions will please the Paranoid Patriots.

Also from the same NK news release is this about the direction of the Russian space program (a mangled Babelfish translation):

14/04/2005/00:03 – The head of Minekonomrazvitiya approved the project of the new federal space program

The head of Minekonomrazvitiya of Russia, Herman Gref, as a whole approved the project of the new federal space program (FKP) during the years 2006-2015, RIA Novosti reported the chief of Roskosmos, Anatoliy Perminov, as saying.

“He related to it very encouragingly and said that this is one of the best programs in recent years,” said Perminov. At the same time, reporting into the medium in the committee on industry, to building and to the science-intensive technologies of the State Duma RF, Perminov noted that an increase in financing space branch by 6.1 billion rubles is required for the successful realization of the new FKP.

“This sum is extremely necessary for the planned completion of the Russian segments of the International Space Station and the launching of 26 new satellites for completing the Russian group,” noted Perminov.

According to him, the volume of state financing in 2006 must be brought thus to 24 billion rubles.

In all, to enable the realization of the FKP up to 2015, Roskosmos needs 305 billion rubles, said the head of the Federal Space Agency.

According to him, at present the Russian satellite group comprises 99 automatic spacecraft. In the case of the USA, 425 satellites function in orbit.

One of the basic tasks FKP 2015 covers is the creation of polemical global information on meteorological observations, launching of the satellites of the remote sensing of the Earth, control in the cases of off-nominal situations, and also guarantee of the necessary level of basic space research.

Furthermore, among the basic tasks of the new FKP is a guarantee of competitive ability on the world market for domestic space means and investment attractiveness of the Russian rocket-space industry.

Russian version, Русская версия: Глава Минэкономразвития одобрил проект новой Федеральной космической программы.

There was a brief 10-second mention of the Soyuz TMA-6 launch on SBS news, but none of the commercial channels or the ABC. The crew were not named.

Sunday 17/4

TMA-6 docking later today (12:19 p.m. in Melbourne, GMT+10). The launch was not mentioned at all in The Age newspaper (which is fairly useless for any information about the Russian space program, anyway), but got a small photo and article in the Herald-Sun, mentioning that Roberto Vittori was bringing up some Italian wine!

Monday 18/4

Yesterday’s docking at 02:20 GMT was successful, so both crews will be busy all this week with the usual crammed experiment and changeover programs.

The next space tourist might be a Japanese businessman by the name of Daisuke Enomoto, as reported here. Roscosmos is to make a decision in May about his flight. He is 33 years old (a year younger than me …) and has paid the $20 million fee. This has not been officially confirmed, however! (The last Japanese to go up in a Soyuz was Toehiro Akiyama on TM-11, and he was apparently space-sick the whole time!)

Two candidates from Malaysia will be declared at the end of this year, to train for an October 2007 Soyuz taxi mission.

From February is this curious entry in NASA Watch concerning Keith Cowing:

“Looks like I am being ‘watched’.”

“We’re watching you, and we’re bigger and stronger and more pervasive than you think. And if you’re not careful, the events surrounding your departure from NASA will see the light of day. So far I am not stooping that low.”

Last night we watched the drama-documentary Supervolcano that I mentioned in my 14/4/2005 entry, about a magma chamber erupting under Yellowstone National Park (where all the geysers and stuff are). It was seriously scary! The real menace aside from the eruptions was the huge volcanic ash cloud which spread across most of the USA, wreaking havoc on the infrastructure, killing millions of people and forcing many more to evacuate. If you breathe the ash in – it is in fact pulverised magma and pumice stone – it mixes with the moisture in your lungs to form a wet cement, with obviously nasty consequences! One of the characters noted, though, that such an eruption could happen tomorrow or in 10,000 years – it is something no one can predict with any certainty. Such an event would be as bad for the Earth’s climate and its inhabitants as an asteroid strike.

Wednesday 20/4

Dad decided to get ADSL broadband! It was on a special offer from his ISP (500 MB a month for $30). So he installed it today and I managed to get my computer on after some hassles (my firewall was blocking access). It is soooo much faster than the plodding old dialup! (Any connection, though, is better than none at all.) We are still really behind with broadband in Australia (it still can’t be got in some areas, mainly in the country) and prices are still relatively high. In South Korea almost everyone is on broadband and they are light-years ahead of this backwater!

Thursday 21/4

My first sighting tonight of the ISS with Sergei in it: 7:15 p.m., 10° SSW to 13° S for about a minute until it vanished into the Earth’s shadow (twilight was at 6:12 p.m. so it was already dark down here).

Monday 25/4

Had an absolutely frustrating weekend because of that worthless heap of junk otherwise known as my computer (an IBM Aptiva). On Saturday Dad tried to install a second hard drive so I could format it for use, but the stupid computer would not even recognize it (a 40 GB drive). Gave up on that. Then yesterday I reinstalled Windows Me (I was going to install XP but decided not to as my increasingly ancient computer really can’t handle it) and now the network card refuses to install the correct driver so I can’t even connect to the Internet. It worked fine last week when I first installed it, so I have no idea what has gone wrong now. The card is a D-Link DFE-528TX Fast PCI Adapter. I never liked the D-Link products after all the trouble I had with a modem bought from them a couple of years ago (I eventually went back to using the previous modem I had). Their returns policy also sucks. I would rather go back to dial-up than go through all this crap. I am so tired and fed up with all this messing about.

So I have been off the Internet for a couple of days and have no idea what is happening with the ISS. I think Soyuz TMA-5 will be landing today.

Dad has hardly had any trouble with his i-Mac (bought in 1999 or so). The Apple products are better-designed and integrated. Only problem is you can’t upgrade them (the iMac hard disk is only 10 MB) and the Apple products are just as proprietary as Microsoft’s. Only other alternative seems to be Linux, but there are so many variations of this and I don’t know how dependable they are. I just want to use the damn computer, not waste time fiddling about with various components.

Today is ANZAC Day, not that I take much notice. There seems to have been an inordinate amount of attention given it in the media in recent years. It has almost been turned into some sort of religious cult.

Saw the ISS on Friday and Saturday evenings (Friday: 7:42 p.m., 10° SW to 15° SSW for about a minute; Saturday at 6:34 p.m., 10° SSW to 15° SE for about 3 minutes, though I missed most of it due to trees blocking the view. Saturday was overcast). Because of orbit precession, each sighting of the ISS moves gradually from the south to the north, then it will disappear for a week or so, then be visible in the early morning, then disappear, and so on. The best sighting this week will be tomorrow night, when it will be higher up (58°) for 6 minutes and go from SW to ENE; that’s if it isn’t cloudy. The ISS changes from a golden point of light (sunlight reflecting from the backs of the 2 huge solar arrays) to silver (reflecting from the hull of the Station). I can see the moment the ISS crosses into Earth’s shadow, which due to the sun’s angle is much further back than down here (where the sun is already below the horizon and it is evening).

Tuesday 26/4

Got an excellent sighting of the ISS tonight: 6:20 p.m., SW to ENE with maximum elevation of 58°, almost overhead. The sky was clear (we have had an unusually warm April) and the ISS bright silver. It would have been 08:20 GMT up there, the start of a working day for Sergei and John. Waved to them, not that they know of my existence! So near and yet so far; no way to communicate with them.

Just found the March installment (Chapter 12) of Clayton Anderson’s ISS Expedition Training Journal, in which he experiences a Russian баня, banya (sauna). I wish all crews (including the Russians!) would keep online journals as they are always interesting reading.

Wednesday 27/4

An article from yesterday’s The Age:

Putin admonishes critics on pace of democracy

Date: April 26, 2005
By Andrew Osborn, Age correspondent, Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a message to Western critics yesterday that his country would expand its nascent democracy at its own pace and would not tolerate interference.

Delivering his annual state-of-the-nation address in the Kremlin, Mr. Putin appeared to answer his critics, notably the United States, which has accused him of backsliding on democracy and becoming too authoritarian.

While extolling the virtues of democracy, he said it would be tailored to Russia’s specific needs. He said Moscow would not be lectured on the subject.

“We are a free nation and our place in the modern world will be defined only by how successful and strong we are,” he told deputies and senators in the Kremlin’s Marble Hall.

“Russia … will decide for itself the pace, terms and conditions of moving towards democracy.”

Speculation has grown in the Russian media that the country might be susceptible to a velvet revolution of the kind that has swept across the former Soviet Union in the past 18 months, toppling governments in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan.

But Mr. Putin said the Government would react strongly to any attempts to subvert democracy. “Any unlawful methods of struggle … for ethnic, religious and other interests contradict the principles of democracy. The state will react with legal, but tough, means,” he said.

Not for the first time he lamented the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, calling it “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the 20th century and an event that left millions of Russians stranded outside Russia’s borders. Such rhetoric is likely to leave his critics bemused.

In other words, he’s saying, “Butt out of our affairs, mind your own bloody business, and fix up your own country’s problems before you start criticizing us!” I do have the impression that much of the Western media do not like Mr. Putin (refer to my 26/2 entry and reporter Michael Gawenda’s rather insulting comments). He has made a few mistakes during his rule (what leader doesn’t?), but on the whole he is a definite improvement over his predecessor (he doesn’t drink and he is a judo champion). As for his commitment to democracy, well, I can no more read his mind than anyone else, and one thing that really irritates me are these know-it-all commentators who presume to know what a public figure should or shouldn’t do, and what he or she is thinking.

The break-up of the Soviet Union WAS a total stuff-up; it happened so chaotically and caused so much hardship to millions. The USSR DID need reform, but surely it could have been done in a less traumatic manner. Though, as I noted in my 3/11/2004 entry, some of this was due to outside influence:

When she was 23, Noreena Hertz was part of a World Bank team that advised the Russian government on its privatization program.

“Being more junior, I was the person sent to Russia to live in the factories and feed back information to the bank. I spent months in the factories. In one, I slept in an empty ward in the sanitarium. I realized very quickly that the master plan of privatizing Russian industry overnight was going to impose huge costs on hundreds of thousands of people. These factories were producing goods that once they were launched, no one would want in a too-competitive market. They would have to slash tens of thousands of jobs. But also, these factories provided schools, hospitals, health care and retirement – cradle-to-grave. I raised these concerns in Washington, to say there weren’t any safety nets in place. It became clear to me that it was really a political play, that they wanted to take assets out of the state’s hands, so that the Communist Party wouldn’t come back.”

– “And debt becomes her,” Valerii Lawson, The Age, 12/10/04. See also this review of Noreena’s book at Socialism Today.

And all that resulted in corrupt oligarches acquiring state assets by dubious means and thus accumulating enormous wealth, while ordinary people lost much of their life savings. There seems to be an inordinate amount of concern in the West (again) over that rich guy imprisoned last year, Michael Korodinsky or whatever his name is (there was an Age article on him last week). Really, who gives a s**t about some rich bastard?

The President of RSC Energiya, Yurii Pavlovich Semyonov, celebrated his 70th birthday on 20th April. He is only 2 years younger than Dad! It must be cool to like your job or career so much that you continue in it long past retirement age (which I think is mid-60s in Australia; not sure). If you are doing well in your job I think you should be able to continue in it for as long as you want. Something that, given my own dismal work history, I am unlikely to experience.

Thursday 28/4

A predictable comment regarding President Putin’s statement from the Grumpy Old Fart at Curmudgeon’s Corner (see 3/4 entry for more about the GOF):

Monday, April 25, 2005

Putin’s statement, that the breakup of the Soviet Union was a “catastrophe” is remarkable. Imagine if a German leader had said that the same thing about the fall of Nazi Germany. There would be universal calls for his head, not the least coming from within Germany. But I’ll bet Czar Vladimir gets a pass.
posted by Mark at 12:42 p.m.

Read my comments yesterday as to why it was a catastrophe.

Saturday 30/4

The last day of April already? It has been the warmest April on record; unfortunately this means another El Nino event could be coming (which means more drought; like Australia hasn’t had enough already).

Dad bought us a new computer case, but no more about it until it is up and running (spent the afternoon with Dad formatting the hard drives, after much difficulty and some cursing).

The State Government cheerfully announced today that it will spend $100 million of taxpayers’ money on building a new sports stadium at Olympic Park. Odd how they can effortlessly come up with that money for such a frivolity when essential public services like health and public transport are chronically underfunded.

Speaking of frivolities, the Commonwealth Games are to be held in Melbourne next year. Your correspondent is extremely underwhelmed by the whole totally needless and heinously expensive event (our taxes at work, again). The CGs can be described as a “Poor Man’s Olympics”; they are an anachronistic relic of the ancient British Empire that faded after World War 2 (i.e. the countries colonized, mostly unwillingly, so they could be “civilized” by the British).

The launch of STS-114 has been pushed back to between 13 and 31 July. “Shuttle managers want to take a closer look at the External Tank attached to the Space Shuttle. They want to analyze the possibility of ice forming on the tank and take a closer look at the risk of debris falling off and hitting the Shuttle. Managers are considering rolling Discovery back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for further work and more tests.” Frustrating for everyone involved, but better safe than sorry. (I am not sure if the ice forms because it is winter in Florida, or because of the super-cooled liquid oxygen in the External Tank?) STS-121 will thus launch in September (the launch window is from the 9th to 15th).

Two “delightful” topic threads at collectSPACE which will appeal to those with a morbid sense of humor (such as yours truly):

Last ISS sighting: Wednesday 27, 6:50 p.m., NW to NNE with a maximum elevation of 31°.

May

Monday 2/5

Our new computer case FINALLY seems to be up and working! The man who set it up forgot to tell Dad that the drivers for the video display, sound card, etc. still had to be installed from the provided CD. So I did all that this morning, and all now appears OK (we hope). I still have my old monitor, mouse, keyboard and speakers from my previous computer (which came as a bundle). It is still perfectly OK, but just a bit slow and limited (even with its maximum 256 MB memory installed). So here are the details of the new set-up:

Perhaps one day I can afford an (ahem!) legitimate copy of XP Pro! Dad does have one copy but as he already installed it on another computer it can’t be used again. Which totally sucks. Why can’t Microsoft alter the license so a personal copy can be installed on up to, say, 5 computers? Expecting users to go out and buy a new copy for each computer they want to install XP on is totally unfair and unreasonable, and an obvious money-grabbing exercise. Anyone who doesn’t have the legitimate copy cannot now upgrade to SP2 or the upcoming Internet Explorer 7. As noted in the IE 7 blog:

We currently plan to make IE7 available for Windows XP SP2 and later. This will therefore include availability not only for the 32bit version of Windows XP SP2 but also for Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and Windows Server 2003 SP1 both of which are due to be released soon.

The only other alternatives seem to be Apple and Linux, but as I noted in my 25/4 entry, Apple is just as proprietary (though arguably a better-integrated system – Dad grumbled once or twice during all the headache-inducing computer setting-up that he never had to endure this with his iMac), and there are so many variations of Linux that I don’t know where to begin. Linux is also a hodge-podge of different systems and driver support can be uncertain, though I do like the open-source community attitude. If a person were really smart and had enough time, they could create an operating system to suit themselves, but this author does not fall into this category (well, not the smart bit).

Thursday 5/5

New computer is going OK. There are a couple of minor issues; I can’t install the driver for one of the USB ports which is annoying but not a major disaster. I put the case up on my desk to try to avoid the worst of the dust my bedroom seems to attract. I have nowhere else to put my computer, though. I can’t open the case for 12 months so as to not void the warranty, so there will probably be a couple of inches of dust in the case by then, despite my best efforts.

I went to the city yesterday; all I do is wander vaguely around for about 1½ hours and visit various bookshops, leaf through various books I can’t afford, then go home as by then I am getting overwhelmed by the crowds and noise. I was footsore and tired, and still feel that way. I have been traveling along that railway line (the Frankston line) for years, ever since my teens, so I know the view out the train windows intimately (though the graffiti and rubbish has increased over the years, unfortunately). I pass my old school in Ormond (Kilvington), and that has changed a lot (more buildings). Saw some schoolgirls during their sports session at the public recreational oval on the opposite side of the railway line, just like I used to go there when I went to Kilvington. I still have dreams about that oval, and the streets surrounding the school, though I have not been there since I left.

Mum & Dad are going away for a week, up to Kyneton, so I will be at home alone babysitting Sasha the dog. I really do feel trapped there sometimes. I have spent all my life in the one place. Problem is, I have become too afraid to leave, or to try anything new – to break out of my comfort zone.

The only shops I like visiting are bookstores, especially ones like Borders in Chadstone, where people can sit down and read. Cool! There are thousands of books around, yet so little worth reading (or buying). Most of the books now will be forgotten in, say, 100 years. Only a very few authors have written books that will be remembered and read for centuries, or millennia (Leo Tolstoy being one). Frankly, much of what is published today is crap. One of my favorite sections to visit are the science fiction/fantasy books as the covers are so colorful, but most of the novels bore me. Most sci-fi and fantasy is from the USA, and some from the UK and Australia, and thus the worldviews presented are very narrow – you rarely find fantasy and sci-fi from other countries and cultures.

Friday 6/5

Mum & Dad left for Kyneton this afternoon, so it will be rather quiet and lonely for the next week. Most people my age have families and careers and stuff to keep them busy. How strange and isolated my life is.

Some nice music I am listening to I found at the Novosti Kosmonavtiki (News of Cosmonautics) website, by someone called Igor Starovoitov, Игорь Старовойтов. It’s electronic-techno and there are 15 songs to download from his CD called Anabioz, «АНАБИОЗ». Which (after scrabbling through my dictionaries) means “Anabiosis, the power of returning to life after apparent death; suspended animation.”

Sunday 8/5

A perfect Autumn day, at long last! A clear chilly morning gradually warming up to a fine sunny day (but not unpleasantly warm). Went for my usual bicycle ride this morning down South Rd. to Beach Rd. and along the bike track there, beside Port Phillip Bay. I really wish there could be one day of the week when cars were banned! I am sure that I will end up being knocked off my bike again one day. I have been hit twice, many years ago, but only ended up with a few bruises and just slight damage to my bike. Next time I might not get off so lightly. Drivers are appallingly impatient and aggressive. Though at least guns are banned in this country (on the news just now there was a report of fatal “road-rage” shootings in L.A.). I also rode up to Red Rooster to get a takeaway later this afternoon; a relatively short (10 minute) bike ride, but a perilous one, with so many cars and a dangerous roundabout to negotiate.

An excellent sighting of the ISS this morning (it will appear in the morning for the next few days): 6:12 a.m. for 5 minutes, from NNW to NNE, with a maximum elevation of 25°. Kind of strange to know that there are two people in that fast-moving point of light! Like Sergei and John have been turned into a star.

Tuesday 10/5

Am feeling tired, headachy and rather cranky, for reasons I can’t be bothered going into. Been very quiet and isolated here. The house next door had its cement foundation laid last Monday (last week), the frame put up and now they are putting up the roof frame. Feeling dissatisfied with the way my websites look (as usual), so I have tried to do new-ish headers for them, but I am not much good at graphic design, and Paint Shop Pro 5 is rather limited. The site I dislike is my personal Suzy McHale site; as I have nothing to define myself by, coming up with a site design is much more difficult than, say, my space-themed sites. I do not particularly like the current look, but am stumped as for what else I can do. The designer sites I visit use lots of patterns, squiggles and pastel colors for their designs, put together in ways I just can’t do. An example is the header of Veerle’s Blog, a lady designer in Belgium; she has put in a photo of herself along with symbols and things, and it comes together very nicely; the colors are also harmonious. But I would not know where to start, and I feel my sites look boring and unimaginative. Perhaps having formal training would help? I am better at combining colors (I love color).

ISS sighting yesterday morning: 6:38 a.m.; WNW to SE, 67° maximum elevation. The ISS was bright silver in a pale and chilly dawn sky.

Thursday 12/5

Feeling somewhat better. Mum & Dad come home tomorrow (I hope!).

The focus in Australian news this week was the annual government Budget. A tedious topic, but this one is noteworthy for its meanness and unfairness. The two main points were tax cuts for everyone (including the wealthy) – $22 billion worth – and forcing those on welfare (mainly single mothers and the disabled) to look for jobs. Sounds like they are imitating the Bush government. Regarding taxes, people seem to forget that it is those taxes that fund all we take for granted; i.e. public hospitals, schools, roads and transport. I don’t object to taxes as long as the money is used wisely by the government – unfortunately, this too often isn’t the case. (The GST, however, is another matter, as it affects everyone whether employed or not, and is an unfair burden on the less well-off.)

Our Dear Leader has said several times that he wants to end the “social experiment” of welfare that began after World War 2. I really think he would introduce slavery for the unemployed if he could. OK, let’s encourage people to work – as long as the jobs are interesting and meaningful. There is a Puritan mentality that any sort of work, no matter how lowly, is somehow morally righteous. I can say from long and miserable experience that that could not be further from the truth. Being stuck for years in a meaningless, demoralizing, dreary and worthless job is utterly soul-destroying.

The school I spent my educational years at, Kilvington, still sends me a quarterly newsletter. It is now a very slick publication, with lots of glowing propaganda about its programs and the achievements of its students. Obviously I am not cheered up by all this, given my dismal failure there (dropping out of Year 12 in 1988 due to a nervous breakdown – see my Suzy McHale site). In the Alumni News section at the back, 11 of my former classmates are listed as having recently had children (some their first, others their second or third child). I have not seen them since I left, though I have encountered three or four since then (the last was Lee-Anne, in October last year; she was visiting here as she now lives in Canada. Believe it or not, I encountered her at the local library!). I have never sent any news of myself to be published; after all, what would I say – that my life so far has been an abject failure and I am a near-recluse stuck at home with her parents, unable to cope with reality?

And, to compound the misery, here is a profile of a past student, Sarah McSwiney (1999), doing what I can only dream of:

I graduated from Kilvington in 1999, and went straight into the Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering degree at RMIT. After three years I was offered a placement to go to Germany and work at EADS Space Transportation in Friedrichshafen, on the border of Switzerland and Austria (a very beautiful spot). During this year I worked on the life support system for the European Columbus module of the International Space Station (ISS). I also completed my thesis, designing, building and testing a magnetic fluids experiment to be carried up on board the ISS. In 2004 I returned home and completed the fourth and final year of my degree. After graduating I was offered a position working for Hawker de Havilland, a Boeing company who have a large contract for design of the new 787 Dreamliner. I’m having a great time, learning lots as a design engineer on the aircraft’s outboard flap. I’d really like to encourage girls presently trying to work out what career to choose, to look at engineering, especially Aerospace. It is an exciting, dynamic and growing industry, and we really need more women!

(*We just want to go hide in a dark cave somewhere and weep in self-despair. This lady was involved in the ISS program!!!!!*)

Sunday 15/5

Mum & Dad returned home OK. I was almost run into by some idiot (an old man driving) when riding past a supermarket carpark on the way to the library. The traffic is so bad in this suburb; everywhere really. I wish car ads could be banned, people discouraged from using motor vehicles and public transport improved and properly funded. And encourage riding bicycles also! I read that last year around ONE MILLION people were killed worldwide in car accidents (reported in an issue of Time magazine). Even more would have been injured more or less seriously, some affected for life. WHY is this annual genocide tolerated? Fatal accidents are reported on the news virtually every night; someone’s son or daughter or parents or relatives or friends die totally unnecessarily. Every time my parents go away or even just out shopping or wherever, I wonder if they will come back. It CAN happen to you or to anyone you know. I wish this fact could be rammed into the heads of drivers (particularly young aggressive male drivers, who tend to be involved in accidents the most). I wish it were much harder to get a license, that the driving age could be raised to, say, 21, and that drivers with bad attitudes could be banned from the roads. I would guarantee that the accident rate would drop dramatically.

The Elektron oxygen generator gave up the ghost on 12/5, so the crew will have air provided from the docked Progress and then burn SFOG, СФОГ oxygen-generating candles until the next Progress arrives with a new control system electronic box for the Elektron.

Some news items from Novosti Kosmonavtiki below. Another proposal to resurrect the Buran-Energiya (Russian space shuttle and launcher) project, and uncertainties as to over who will lead the Energiya company. The Energiya company wants to re-elect president Yurii Semyonov, while the Russian Government through Roskosmos wants to appoint someone called Nikolai Sevast’yanov. This comes under “boring space politics,” but as Energiya is the main space company in the Russian space program it could impact upon the future of it. All this is reminiscent of the politicking that went on during the Soviet era the space program of them, which almost destroyed it at times, as I am reading in Asif Siddiqi’s excellent book Challenge to Apollo: the Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945-1974.

I may not be the first person to think that what the Russian space program needs is another Sergei Korolev – someone determined and strong-willed enough to get the space program back on track; bully his (or her!) way through if necessary and pester government officials for adequate funding. I think that I would focus on 3 goals: completing the ISS program, getting the new Klipper spaceship developed and built, and a manned mission to Mars, preferably before the end of the decade (now 5 years away). And stop selling off technology to other potential competitors!

From NK news release № 474:

14/05/2005/00:05 – Around the Presidential elections of RKK Energiya continue to boil the passions

The nearer the day comes of conducting the general meeting of Aktstonerov of S.P. Korolev RKK Energiya, the sharper becomes the opposition between Roskosmos, which advanced Nikolai Sevast’yanov’s candidature to the post of the President of the corporation, and the present management of RKK Energiya, which supports Yuri Semyonov. In the recent three days of side they exchanged “information impacts”.

On 11 May on the site of the Russian Space Agency was placed publication with the name “to the Presidential elections of S.P. Korolev RKK Energiya,” and on 13 May on the site RKK Energiya appeared the material entitled “The commentaries of specialists to the materials, been Roskosmoso, in connection with the forthcoming meeting of shareholders RKK Energiya”. It is possible to become acquainted completely with the “commentaries ….” at:

“Answering very many questions of Korolev RSC Energiya employees and stockholders,” “APPEAL to the Corporation work collectives” and “APPEAL of the work collective of Division 03 to the work collectives of RSC Energiya other Divisions”.

… Thus far it does not be desirable to comment on the passions boiling around the forthcoming elections. The most unexpected turnings in the development of situation are not excluded. But from one stage direction nevertheless I cannot be held: by whatever bright intentions attempted to explain Roskosmos the nomination for election of Nikolai Sevast’yanov to the post of the President OF RKK Energiya, whatever highest economic interests of state were pursued, I think that to majority of those, who are participating to the mastery of space in no way unimportantly, who are interested in the “PLACE OF KOROLEV” in our rocket-space branch.

Russian version, Русская версия: Вокруг выборов президента РКК «Энергия» продолжают кипеть страсти.

From NK news release № 473:

13/05/2005/14:05 – Roskosmos does not exclude the possibility of the resuscitation of the Energiya-Buran project

The rocket-space system Energiya-Buran, capable of carrying into space payload weighing 100 t, if necessary it can be resuscitated. On this reported today to journalists the deputy chief of the Federal Space Agency Aleksandr Medvedchikov.

“This unique system was created prematurely. There is no need for deriving payload weighing 100 t today. If appears a suitable task, this system can be resuscitated,” said A. Medvedchikov. He noted that the possible use of a reusable system is economically inexpedient. “To today more cheaply and more simply use single-time carrier rockets,” he noted, reports ITAR-TASS.

In the opinion of A. Medvedchikova, the rocket-space system Energiya-Buran “is substantially better than the shuttle,” since Energiya could launch into space not only the Burans, but also other useful loads. He reminded one that in all were produced two successful launchings of Energiya. One time with the Buran, the second – “with another payload.”

Russian version, Русская версия: Роскосмос не исключает возможности реанимации проекта «Энергия-Буран».

Wednesday 18/5

Some nice Autumn weather. Unfortunately we are also headed for another drought (the last severe one being in 2002-2003), and an El Nino event. There have been no decent rains since the deluges in February. The reservoirs that supply Melbourne are only at 54% capacity, which they have been since the last drought. This is why Australia can’t support a large population (as some profit-obsessed business leaders would like it to) – the harsh climate and landscape.

I am slowly plodding through my 2003 diaries and they will appear here eventually; they need a lot of editing!

No sightings of the ISS due here until Monday 23 May, in the evening.

From Novosti Kosmonavtiki news № 474. Some typical media scaremongering about the currently-inoperable Elektron oxygen generator (there are alternative back-up sources on board):

18/05/2005/00:05 – On-board the ISS without any problems

In the past day many media extended news about turning off on board the meter-kilogram-second systems of the regeneration of oxygen Elektron. Moreover in certain cases presented this in such a way that it was possible to assume about the threat of the life of crew members. This even forced by the evening of the representative of Mission Control Center to meet with the correspondent of RIA News and to quiet the community: the “periodically giving failures Russian system of the regeneration of oxygen” Elektron “creates no danger for the crews on the ISS. Practically all previous crews of station dealt with the maintenance of this complex installation, did not become exception and present – Sergei Krikalyov and John Phillips.”

It is not entirely understandable why such a fuss rose precisely yesterday. First, problems with the Elektron began much earlier, about which was regularly communicated in the press releases about the ISS. In the second place, the reserves of oxygen on the ISS and without the system of regeneration is completely sufficient for the crew to live and to work, and guests to assume, if it is required. Well and if someone it is desirable sequential time to draw attention to its persona as to the author of sensation or hot news, then God to him judge.

Russian version, Русская версия: На борту МКС без проблем.

Baikonur spaceport has also been celebrating its 50th anniversary, and the lease period is to be extended to 2050 (since the break-up of the Soviet Union, Russia has paid rent to Kazakhstan for the use of Baikonur). 14 Chinese candidates are training for the upcoming Shenzhou-6 flight in Autumn. The first Brazilian cosmonaut will not fly in 2006 after all due to the uncertainty over the Shuttle return-to-flight, and because the candidate still must pass the 13-month training for the Soyuz (President Putin signed an agreement for spaceflight collaboration with Brazil during a visit there in November 2004).

Saturday 21/5

Bored. Nothing of interest. Eating too much. I think I am about 10 kg or so overweight. Too apathetic to do anything about it.

Tania in ESA comic

Found this comicbook (in PDF form) at the European Space Agency website, while wandering around its labyrinth of pages: Tania, European Astronaut. Follow the adventures of blonde babe Tania in her quest to become an astronaut. Actually, it’s rather good, though inevitably lacking in irreverent humor – well, it is supposed to be educational, after all. There is also a section on how to become an astronaut – which, as you might guess, is of no relevance to me in this lifetime :-(. (I consider my current life to be completely stuffed up, and if there is such a thing as reincarnation, I hope to make better choices in the next.) The world depicted in the comic is so far removed from my mundane reality as to be in a parallel universe.

A lot of space program activities seem to be aimed at schoolchildren. I feel rather jealous and resentful of this, as it seems to imply that older people like me don’t matter. Schoolkids get to do all the fun activities like talking to ISS crews via ham radio. They are told that someone among them could be the first to walk on Mars.

I’ll end this here as I am getting too depressed.

Wednesday 25/5

Rain at last today, and some cold weather.

Had a nice dream last night where I was on top of a high mountain range surrounded by clear blue lakes, and I leapt off and went soaring out over the vast landscape. I think this imagery was influenced by a story on 60 Minutes last Sunday about base jumpers, people who leap off any high surface they can find (bridges, buildings, etc.) with a parachute. Looked like fun. The dream is one of my recurring ones, and is quite exhilarating; I have no need of a parachute there! All I do is spread out my arms and glide my way to the ground.

An entry from our favorite Paranoid Patriot at his Curmudgeon’s Corner blog:

Sunday, May 22, 2005: Another interesting analysis of the Vision for Space Exploration.

But Griffin is a real space guy. He wants to get out there and explore. He thinks that if we don’t venture into the solar system, someone else will. At his nomination hearing last month, he told senators that space remains competitive:

“The ‘discovery’ of the New World had happened before and would have happened again, whether or not Columbus had ever sailed from Palos. One way or another, European settlement of the New World was inevitable; however, it was Isabella’s bold action that secured Spain’s role in that future.”

Griffin all but says we’re still in a space race. Since Columbia disintegrated, Russia and China have put astronauts into orbit. Go along with our Vision, Griffin essentially says, or the next person on the moon might be speaking Mandarin.

And that would be a bad thing.
posted by Mark at 2:27 p.m.

Really? So if your nation isn’t first in space (and everywhere else), civilization as we know it will come to an end? Well, bugger your philosophy, mate. NASA chief Mike Griffin sounds like a Paranoid Patriot himself, so he is on my dislike list also.

Greg Olsen to try for a space tourist spot again? From Novosti Kosmonavtiki news № 476:

24/05/2005/14:07 – Gregory Olsen again in preparation at RGNII TSPK

U.S. citizen Gregory Olsen again passed medical board, and on 14 May, 2005, obtained admittance to GMK for specialist training. As is known, in April-June of 2004 he already passed preparation in RGNII TSPK (Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center) for the flight as a space tourist. But then he was removed from the trainings due to his health status.

And here now G. Olsen is undertaking a second attempt. On 16 May, 2005, Gregory Olsen again approached the preparation in RGNII TSPK. By the preliminary agreement his short-term flight is planned during the exchange of the ISS-11 and ISS-12 crews in September-October of 2005 launch aboard the ship Soyuz TMA-7, landing – aboard the ship Soyuz TMA-6. The decision of GMVK about the launch of G. Olsen in the crew of Soyuz TMA-7 will be decided later.

Russian version, Русская версия: Грегори Олсен вновь на подготовке в РГНИИ ЦПК.

Energiya have published this collective letterthey sent to President Putin, stating their case for re-electing current Energiya president Yurii Semyonov. But will the President listen? Below, another item from NK news:

24/05/2005/00:05 – Vladimir Putin against the elevation of Russian space projects into the rank of the national idea

The President of the RF, Vladimir Putin, expressed himself against the elevation of the ambitious projects of the mastery of outer space into the rank of the national idea. On Monday V. Putin emphasized at the encounter with the journalists of Komsomol Truth that Russia is developing programs of prelaunch activity to Mars, moreover making this “without any fuss, sometimes collaborating with the Americans, sometimes acting independently.” “But to indicate that this must be our national idea, I did not become,” emphasized V. Putin.

Russian version, Русская версия: Владимир Путин против возведения российских космических проектов в ранг национальной идеи.

Friday 27/5

In the latest in a long list of hardware failures, the scanner I inherited from Dad is more-or-less broken and not worth repairing, so he lent me his newer one.

Our Dear Leader (PM John Howard) has had a 30-year obsession with destroying workers’ rights and the unions, and this will be realized when his government gains full control of the Senate in a month or two and he can pass his industrial reform laws. It will give employers more power than ever, and make it easier for them to fire workers; disempower unions even more, making it difficult for them to go on strike, and limit wage rises for low-paid workers. The unions are threatening industrial action, but with their membership declining, how effective will they be? A lot of people see them as irrelevant, forgetting why unions were formed in the first place, in the early 20th century (I think): to protect workers from exploitation by employers. Now all that was gained then has been eroded. Supposedly these reforms will aid “economic growth” (an obsession with all governments), but at what cost?

If there were ever the time for a Ukrainian- or Georgian-style revolution (i.e. to evict the current government) it would be now, but people here are too apathetic and comfortable. I utterly, utterly loathe and hate PM Howard and his mean and spiteful government – as the ministers there will be on comfortable wages and pensions for life, it’s not as if they have to worry about job insecurity and where their next meal or pay packet might come from! I feel so frustrated and powerless. Yes, I did vote against them in the last election, but what good did it do?

Saturday 28/5

“Roadmap” is a phrase that seems to be popping up in various places; taken out of its original meaning and appropriated as silly corporate jargon. There was the “Roadmap to peace” in the Middle East (which seems to have taken a wrong turn somewhere); now NASA has its own Roadmaps. An example can be found in the document “Meeting #2 Minutes NASA International Space Station Strategic Roadmap Committee April 7–8, 2005,” a mind-numbingly long transcription of a meeting where various NASA people were trying to figure out what the ISS is actually for. I skimmed through it in glaze-eyed boredom, seeing how many more bits of silly jargon I could find:

This sort of meaningless word-mangling has spread like a virus from the corporate world to various government agencies. The scary thing is that rather a lot of people take this jargon seriously! Some more random phrases that irritate me:

… And looking through the document again, how’s this for a tongue-twisting phrase:

Col. Robert Cabana asked if the integration of the human as a system within a system of systems generates standards for the human system, even from an engineering point of view.

Eh???

Monday 30/5

The second episode of the new Dr. Who series screened on ABC TV last Saturday. I rather enjoyed it, and it’s a worthy successor to the old series. Much better than the dreary, bloated and clichéd Star Wars movies (The Attack of the Clones screened on TV two Sundays ago, and I fell asleep about half-way through). I have no desire to go see the latest one.

Update 11/11/2006: Actually, I stopped watching the new Dr. Who series after a few episodes – got bored. (I found Christopher Eccleston’s acting style a bit overwrought.)

[Update 14/4/2017: I also feel quite differently about the Star Wars prequels after seeing them on DVD, without ads – I quite like them now!

The cold autumn weather finally set in over the last 2 weeks. Be winter in two days. Almost half-way through the year already.

ESA is to implement a cultural strategy for the International Space Station, and awarded this contract to a group called The Arts Catalyst. One of their programs is called MIR and it aims to promote “arts and cultural activity as part of the international space programme.” As described on the site, there have been, and are, various arts programs through the history of spaceflight, though these haven’t got much publicity. If you read the arts section of any newspaper, how much of modern art is devoted to the space program and the idea of space? Very little, if at all. I would have though that the prospect of humanity’s going into space and to the stars would light up the creativity of any artist, but so much of modern art seems mired in a mundane dreariness. Humanity, especially in these dark times, desperately needs something to inspire hope and dreaming.

As noted on the website, “The space programme for the Soviet people was underpinned by the philosophical and artistic ideals of Russian cosmism expressed by Tsyolkovsky and Fyodorov, Khlebnikov and Malevich.”

Does anyone in the Russian space program still hold these ideals, though, or were these destroyed during the chaotic 1990s and the subsequent chronic underfunding of their space program? Sadly, these days the words “cash-strapped” (short of money) can usually be found mentioned in any article regarding modern Russian spaceflight. James Oberg described their space program as “fading” in an article on the Chinese space program. I hope that isn’t the case.

According to a brief note in NK news № 477, Nikolai Sevast’yanov, the dubious Russian Government selection for Energiya president, was voted in. Will he stuff up Energiya the way he has done with previous companies? (See links in my 15/5 entry.)

A solo mission to Mars? Why not? A fantasy that has been in my head for a few years (guess who gets to go). A few months ago there was a story in New Scientist (8 January 2005) about Gilles Elkairn, who did a solo trek around the rim of the Arctic Ocean (his website is Arktika). The European Space Agency was one of his sponsors as it “wanted to apply lessons from his experience of extreme isolation to future Mars missions”. An extract from the article:

Q: How would you select the crew for a big space trip?

A: My own recommendation would be to send just one person. A team may be safer, but the mental stresses will be more. For example, a team of polar adventurers from Norway and Japan tried to make the same journey that I have just completed. They didn’t finish because the team wasn’t in harmony. The team members became enemies. That’s a very big danger for a big team on a long trip.

Q: What qualities would an individual need for that kind of mission?

A: More than anything else, you have to be strong-minded and motivated to achieve your goal. You also have to be extremely painstaking and accurate.

Q: How did you cope with four years of isolation?

A: Loneliness is huge in the Arctic. It’s harsh land. There were long stretches of tundra with no settlement for 100 kilometres and sometimes I would go for two months without meeting anyone. Being face-to-face with the elements of nature with only my own resources to rely on was a great challenge. But these periods of loneliness, with only my sled dogs and bears around, also gave me a great sense of freedom. I grew to love it.

The biggest challenge for a Mars mission is not so much the logistics or technology, but the people! Having a crew cramped up together for months on end is a recipe for disaster (the first space murder, perhaps!). Solution: send a person by themselves, who doesn’t mind the prospect of dying too much. I sure would volunteer – I have nothing else to do! I have also spent most of the last decade or so in my bedroom as a semi-recluse, so that is kind of analogous to spending months in a spaceship. Perhaps I should do a small website about this idea, though people would probably laugh.

Tuesday 31/5

Went to the library this morning to use the Internet there and they had replaced the old computers with smaller HP boxes and LCD screens. Which was nice, but I can now no longer access My Documents and I can’t save stuff to there or to my 128 MB USB storage device (it doesn’t appear in the “Save in” drop-down list). Which was annoying, to say the least! I sent an e-mail to the Council about this. I hope they can alter this as the storage on a floppy disk (1.33 MB) is hopelessly inadequate now. I like to download files such as the hi-res NASA photos there so I don’t use up the megabyte allowance on Dad’s account. The computers there are networked and their operating system (XP Professional) is (I think) on a remote computer (if you try to save anything to the local hard drive, it will vanish if the computer is rebooted or restarted).

From Russian Federal Space Agency (FKA) website news for 30/5:

New President of RSC Energiya is elected

An annual general meeting of shareholders of RSC Energiya was held in Korolev on 28th May, 2005. On the results of shareholder’s voting, a state candidate Nikolai Sevast’yanov was elected President of Corporation.

To get over the difficulties of RSC Energiya the Russian Federal Space Agency had nominated Sevast’yanov as a candidate for presidency since he has great experience in space and other project realization and in economically-effective management of a high-tech company in modern market environment.

Sevast’yanov’s proposals on the Corporation’s activities for its economic reorganization were considered and approved by the Federal Space Agency, the RF Government and the Administration of the Russian President.

Sevast’yanov’s candidature was supported by 57.62% of shareholders with 81.3% of shareholders present.

To meet the crisis Head of RSC Energiya should be able to work in modern market environment, to realize effectively production of the Corporation and to attract external investments to develop the industry. Roscosmos management is sure that the same glorious future is in store for RSC Energiya with its new President.

Russian version, Русская версия: Избран новый президент корпорации «Энергия».

When you read phrases like “economically-effective” and “economic reorganization” it usually means that a lot of people will lose their jobs.

Also noticed that those running the Energiya website had (perhaps prudently) removed their protests.

Expedition 11 are burning (more correctly, “decomposing”) the SFOG oxygen-generating candles. As of yesterday, “Update on Solid-Fuel Oxygen Generator (SFOG) candles: Of the old set, 24 have been used since 5/20 (9 failed), 82 remaining.” A few, for whatever reason, did not light properly. Grumpy Keith at NASA Watch has naturally noted this (though so far he has refrained from his usual sarcastic commentary). I am just waiting for James “the Doomsayer” Oberg to get his opinion in.

June

Thursday 2/6

A cold grey winter’s day, where the sky is leaden and overcast, and the weather not doing anything much, apart from an attempt at drizzling.

There is a BBC series beginning next week on the ABC (Thursday 9 June, 8 p.m.) called Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets (by the creators of Walking with Dinosaurs and Walking with Beasts), featuring a crew who go traveling to various planets and moons in the Solar System over a 6-year mission a little way into the future. I had a look through the series book tie-in at Borders today. Very nice production and computer graphics, but predictably NASA-centric, though the producers perhaps deliberately avoided getting too nationalistic (the mission seems to be a multinational one; the crew commander appears American and the flight engineer Russian, judging by the names). There are external links on the site to NASA and ESA, but none to any Russian space sites (apparently the producers aren’t aware that Russia still HAS a space program). The mission (and main spaceship) is called Pegasus.

I was thumbing through the April 2005 edition of Spaceflight magazine today in the newsagent (I didn’t buy it as there was nothing of interest to me in that issue), and there was a news item about the Australian government’s complete lack of interest in funding a space program here. All this government seems to care about is interest rates, persecuting the unemployed, selling us off to the USA and destroying unions and workers’ rights. What a bunch of Neanderthals (and that is probably an insult to the Neanderthals). We have yet to see a politician with a passion for spaceflight here – perhaps these are mutually incompatible?

Friday 3/6

The sun deigned to come out today.

Happened to visit the Martian Soil blog (one of my “Paranoid Patriots”) and came across this entry:

Robert Zimmerman looks at the public and private efforts in the United States to return the country to a vigorous program of space exploration (and exploitation).

The next five years will determine, for good or ill, the future of U.S. manned space exploration for decades to come. More significant, a confluence of forces will accelerate that process.

Should this new and increasingly private effort by the United States to send humans into space fail, it is likely the country will be out of the space exploration business for many decades to come. Future explorers will speak Russian, Chinese, French and maybe even Indian, rather than English.

I posted this (sarcastic) comment: “And why is that so alarming? The USA doesn’t own space. It’s for everyone.” So there.

Was looking through the Expedition 11 Press Kit and came across this interesting (U.S.) experiment:

Journals

Behavioral Issues Associated with Isolation and Confinement: Review and Analysis of ISS Crew Journals
Objective

The purpose of this experiment is to collect behavioral and human factors data for analysis, with the intention of furthering our understanding of life in isolation and confinement. The objective of the experiment is to identify equipment, habitat and procedural features that help humans adjust to isolation and confinement and remain effective and productive during future long-duration space expeditions. The method used in the experiment is analyzing the content of journals maintained by International Space Station crews for this purpose.

Brief Summary

In-flight journals maintained by crewmembers are studied to gain an understanding of factors that may play a role in the stress felt by crews during long-duration spaceflight. Conclusions will be used for interplanetary mission planning (e.g., Mars missions) and selection and training of astronaut crews for these missions.

Description

A previous content analysis of journals maintained during expeditions on Earth provided quantitative data on which to base a rank-ordering of behavioral issues in terms of importance. This experiment will test the hypothesis that the analogous conditions provide an acceptable model for spacecraft (i.e., to validate or refute the results of the previous study). The objective of the study is to obtain behavioral and human factors data relevant to the design of equipment and procedures to support adjustment and sustained human performance during long-duration space expeditions.

Space Applications

Studies conducted on Earth have shown that analyzing the content of journals and diaries is an effective method for identifying the issues that are most important to a person. The method is based on the reasonable assumption that the frequency that an issue or category of issues is mentioned in a journal reflects the importance of that issue or category to the writer. The tone of each entry (positive, negative or neutral) and phase of the expedition also are variables of interest. Study results will lead to recommendations for the design of equipment, facilities, procedures and training to help sustain behavioral adjustment and performance during long-duration space expeditions to the ISS, moon, Mars and beyond.

And will the public be allowed to read the astronauts’ and cosmonauts’ thoughts? Of course not, because NASA is so bloody obsessive about secrecy. Presumably Sergei K. (Expedition 11) will be keeping a journal? Wonder what he will write about, and what his style of writing is like? (And I wonder what those monitoring the experiment would make of my journal, if they were to read it? :-D The tone of most of my entries would be decidedly “negative”!)

An imagined crew journal (by an imaginary grumpy ISS crew person):

Monday

Oh, hell, I hate Mondays. Just want to stay in bed.

Tuesday

Elektron broke down again, for the 100th time. Couldn’t repair it. Want to chuck it out the airlock. Could someone send us a new one, sometime …? Please …?

Wednesday

PA event with some U.S. network station. Was asked the usual dumb predictable questions. Told them the usual bullsh*t about how successful our mission is going, how well the crew gets along, etc. Not.

Thursday

Yurii found my last packet of M&Ms and ate them ALL. I didn’t speak to him all day.

Friday

Speaking to Yurii again, after he promised to buy me M&Ms for the next year, when we get back to Earth. Some medical emergency training today with the defibrillator, which was kind of fun, as I “accidentally” activated it and zapped Yurii with the paddles (revenge!). I stopped his heart, though, which I didn’t intend to, but I managed to revive him with CPR. He is a bit annoyed at me. Of course, we didn’t tell Mission Control.

Saturday

So-called “off-duty” day. Fewer tedious chores than usual. Just for once, I would like to stay in bed ALL DAY. 3 hours of “uborka,” housekeeping – I really wish my wife were here to do it.

Sunday

Day of rest. What a joke.

Monday 6/6

A gear cable (high gear) snapped on my bicycle while riding home yesterday morning, so I had to pedal in low gear the rest of the way (which was mostly uphill, so not too bad) – one advantage of having two sets of gear cables. Now I have to motivate myself to get it fixed, somehow. The bike is old and rather clunky (bought in 1991) and I would really like a new one sometime.

Scribes suit up for Cosmonaut

Writers to adapt novel

Husband-and-wife writing team Robert and Michelle King have decided to adapt Peter McAllister’s novel Cosmonaut into a feature film screenplay. Warner Bros. first optioned the rights to the science fiction thriller back in the spring of 2003 for Hunt For Red October producer Mace Neufeld to develop.

Set onboard the International Space Station, the story begins when an American astronaut is found murdered and the only clue as to who may have committed the crime is the final word left by the deceased: “cosmonaut,” implicating one, or all, of the station’s four Russian astronauts are behind the crime. Shortly thereafter NASA sends up an investigator to find out who committed the murder, but what he finds is evidence of a larger crime about to be committed.

This is the Kings’ first theatrical project together, with Robert King having written the 1994 film Speechless and 1997’s Red Corner. He also directed the made for television remake of Angels In The Infield four years ago.

The novel had the most irritating main character (“Edge” Reynolds) and depicted the Russian space program very negatively, so the prospect of it being made into a movie is dismaying. (I will scan in and post some extracts here sometime.)

Update 16/11/2006: From my 6/11/2001 journal entry:

A novel I bought and read a few weeks ago is Cosmonaut by Peter McAllister, an Australian author. It’s his first novel. An American astronaut on board the ISS is murdered in mysterious circumstances by one of the cosmonauts on board, and “troubled ex-astronaut turned homicide cop ‘Edge’ Reynolds” is flown up on board the Shuttle to investigate. Turns out that the “incredible secret of Cosmonaut” is the name of an experiment where Russian children were genetically engineered in the Soviet era to be adapted to a space vacuum environment with hardened skin, blood which can store extra oxygen so they can go for 20 hours without breathing, and a second transparent eyelid to protect the eyes from exploding. They can go out into space without a spacesuit. This interesting idea is unfortunately presented as evil in the novel, obviously reacting to the current hysteria over genetic engineering. I think it’s a fascinating concept and, if I were in the government, would give full funding to genetic scientists and tell them to go for it!!

Oh, and the author manages to include a couple of zero-g sex scenes! Between Edge (a silly nickname, that) and a female cosmonaut who happens to be one of the genetically-engineered humans. As is her intention, she falls pregnant and wants to start a new race of humans who will colonize the stars. Shock, horror! thinks Edge, who ends up killing her. But there is some hope for the remaining beleaguered cosmonauts; a couple survive at the novel’s end.

My main complaint with the novel is the portrayal of the Russians as the bad guys – get over the Cold War, already! And Mr. Reynolds is such a cliché: the embittered American cop, as seen in innumerable crime novels and TV series. He is thoroughly unlikeable – the stereotypical Ugly American – and there is an overuse of slang which becomes grating. Any Russian cosmonaut certainly will be rather pissed off if they read the novel. Still, Mr. McAllister has done well to even get a book published. It’s the only novel involving the ISS (which gets blown up, by the way, in the book) that I know of.

Quote of the day from the Grumpy Old Fart at Curmudgeon’s Corner:

One year ago today, Ronald Reagan, liberator of nations, breaker of Empires, passed quietly into history. (5 June)

(*Pick myself up from the floor after collapsing from laughter*) I saw a TV program some months ago about the ailments of various world leaders; apparently Ronald Reagan’s Alzenheimer’s Disease might have begun setting in after his assassination attempt. So he got increasingly senile from then on (he had aides to help him function and appear normal). Scary thought!

Reported last week was that Russia intended to launch a new multipurpose laboratory module to the ISS in 2007.

This from FKA (Russian Federal Space Agency) news, 23 May:

The Russian Federation is to develop space industry

Open joint-stock company the Korolev Rocket Space Corporation “Energiya” is the leading company of Russian space industry.

Nevertheless, despite its high scientific and production potential, in 2002-2004 RSC Energiya’s economic state has tended to deteriorate. Over the last three years the corporation has been unprofitable, the bill payable has been growing. That’s the reason why the corporation has had to send its employees to non-reimbursable vacations and fire some of them.

The Russian Federal Space Agency in frame of the state policy in space industry is interested to maintain and develоp RSC Energiya as the leading company of Russia.

May 28, 2005 is the date of the annual general meeting of RSC Energiya shareholders, where a new President must be elected for the next 5 years.

The Federal Space Agency put up N. N. Sevast’yanov as the candidate for Presidency of Energiya Corporation.

The nomination of N. N. Sevast’yanov for the Presidency of JSC “S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energiya” was endorsed by the state bodies, owning 38,22 % of the Corporation stocks (Directions of Chairman of RF Government #1220p-P7, April 25,2005), as well as other shareholders consolidating at the moment 12.6 % of stocks.

Unfortunately this provoked inside the Corporation the administratively supported campaign on raising a “protest” of the company employees against the candidacy of N. N. Sevast’yanov, endorsed by the Government of the Russian Federation. Besides, there started active “fabrication” of negative information about the candidate on the Corporation Internet site aimed at “blowing up” the public opinion.

Such actions of the Corporation Administration give great concern to Energiya staff members. In view of all this the representatives of labour collectives of RSC Energiya prepared “Appeal ….” to their colleagues.

Certainly feeling respect for the opinion of Energiya employees, standing for the candidacy of the functioning President, Roscosmos publish the point of view of the other part of the Corporation staff, having no opportunity to express it on the official site of S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energiya.

“APPEAL of labour collective representatives of S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energiya to the Corporation employees”

The current state and the future of RSC Energiya – the leading enterprise in rocket-space industry – is the subject of our common concern and responsibility, especially of those, who devoted their life and labour to the prime developments, which created the deserved world prestige of the Corporation and the country.

For the first time in the company history at the forthcoming shareholders meeting two candidates will be put to the vote: the functioning President, General Designer of RSC Energiya, Y.P. Semenov and Director General of JSC “Gascom” N.N. Sevast’yanov.

We pay tribute to Academician Y.P. Semenov as an experienced and capable leader, who managed in the hard 90s and further years to preserve the company and the collective, to realize a number of unique space programs and to maintain at the enterprise the principal directions of the space activities.

The candidate N.N. Sevast’yanov – the alumnus of RSC Energiya, where he started his career as an engineer and finished in the position of a General Designer deputy, who also was able in those hard 90s to organize a number of unique space and other projects, to find new approaches for their realization in present-day economic conditions. He knows the staff of RSC Energiya, the production, he showed talent and persistency in new developments and is a worthy potential leader.

Recently RSC Energiya have been preparing the shareholders meeting, including the consolidation of stocks for the benefit of the functioning President Y P. Semenov.

Nevertheless, the administration of Department 03 arrange the “appeal” of RSC labor collective as a protest against putting up the candidacy of N.N. Sevast’yanov by The Federal Space Agency.

The collection of signatures, as well as the organization of all this campaign was accompanied with a wide use of the administrative power, when the signatures are often collected under pressure.

We consider such practice absolutely intolerable, especially against the background of the employees being dispatched on unpaid leaves. One should not split the collective and evoke emotional outburst as a protest against the state policy of economic recovery of the enterprise.

Such actions cause condemnation from the major part of the Company employees. Further we are to work together all the same.

The staff of RSC Energiya – is really a highly professional, hard-working and honest collective, keeping aside from political technologies. We are sure that both candidates are worthy leaders and we expect them to find a form of cooperation regardless of the forthcoming elections.

Representatives of labor collectives of RSC Energiya departments.

Signatures.

The Federal Space Agency do not publish on the site the signatures of the employees purposely not to let official reprimand towards them from the Corporation Administration.

With the purpose of ensuring the conditions of the unified state policy realization regarding JSC “S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energiya” The Federal Space Agency continue the consolidation of stocks (individuals’ and legal bodies’) with those of the state-owned holding for the voting at the annual general meeting.

Russian version, Русская версия: Государство за развитие космической отрасли.

Wednesday 8/6

A warm day; about 22°C (the warmest June day since 1957). Our so-called winter! Also got my bicycle gear cables replaced (only took the man at the bike shop 10 minutes or so to replace them).

There was an item on the news a few minutes ago about a lady called Anne Buckland, who lives in Bendigo (a large country town outside Melbourne) who is a ham radio operator and who speaks to the ISS crews when the Station passes over! The report must have been filed some months ago, as she was speaking to “Ed” – presumably Ed Lu from Expedition 10. So now she will be speaking to Expedition 11. (Aaaargh! Jealous.) She also has initiated a traveling space education program for schools, and was shown with a Russian Sokol pressure suit.

Also saw the ISS last night at 6:34 p.m., going from WNW to SSE at a high angle of 78°.

Last night I watched a 4 Corners documentary I recorded a few weeks ago, The High Frontier, about the commercial and military utilization of space. You can read the transcript at the ABC website. A lot of it was rather disturbing. Most was focused on the USA and NASA. There were entrepreneurs who want to exploit space and see it as yet another place to make money (and who see any moves to regulate this as “communistic”). There are no laws covering the private use of space. There is a rather sinister lady called Mary Ann Elliot whose company buys and sells airtime on commercial satellites; her customers include the U.S. Government and military. “She is a celebrity in the mysterious space business and a powerful player in Washington circles.”

Sir Richard Branson: It depends whether you feel that America’s on your side or not, because I think America will dominate space and one then has to worry about which president I think is in power in America.

Reporter: America is now a super power on Earth. Are they a super power in space?

Eric Beranger: Yes, definitely.

Reporter: It’s from here, at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, that America is pushing ahead, unconcerned about the lack of space law. Last year President Bush announced expeditions to the moon, Mars and beyond, to the delight of its top rocket man.

The Paranoid Patriots in the U.S. military are salivating over the prospect of deploying weapons in space.

Dr Leonard Weiss: On January 11th of 2001 a report was issued by a space commission that was chaired by Donald Rumsfeld that said that the United States might suffer what they called a “Space Pearl Harbour” in which our space satellites would be attacked all of a sudden by some country without our knowing that the attack was coming and that the President ought to have the ability to respond with weapons in space.

Reporter: Donald Rumsfeld is now Secretary of Defence. The United States has withdrawn from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and is busy building a new ballistic missile defence system.

Dr Leonard Weiss: If you create a ballistic missile defence capability, you at the same time therefore have the capability of attacking satellites.

Reporter: Late last year a panel of scientists chaired by Dr Weiss in Washington concluded that for the next five years at least there were no national security reasons to put weapons in space. Like Dr Weiss, Professor Karl Grossman has been investigating the defence force agenda – in his case, for almost 20 years. He cites futuristic military documents. Prof. Karl Grossman: I mean, you see, for example, on “Vision 2020,” you see this laser weapon shooting a beam down on Earth; this is precisely what the military wants. It wants to achieve the ultimate high ground with these weapons in space.

Reporter: Scenarios from the armed forces are not always official defence policy, but America is worried by new threats in space: missiles from North Korea and the rise of another space superpower, China. Just how far the US is towards arming itself in outer space is again “need to know”. All assets in space are supposed to be registered with the United Nations.

I wonder if Russia knows about the following:

Reporter: It was amateur sleuths who first discovered America’s military stealth satellites, code named “Misty,” built in secret to spy on Russian military activity. Early reports claimed the satellite had broken up after launch. So it reappeared?

Jeffrey Richelson: Well, yes, for all practical purposes, and people put two and two together and realized that this was a stealth satellite program.

Reporter: Is it a stealth satellite program?

Jeffrey Richelson: Yes, yes, and then there have been two launched: the first in 1990 and the second in 1999.

Reporter: What was the US Government’s reaction to claims that it was indeed a stealth satellite?

Jeffrey Richelson: Well, no reaction because the program is classified in its entirety. So you could not get a single word out of the government as to whether this was a stealth satellite or a satellite at all.

So much for the Cold War being over!

Prof. Karl Grossman: If you look at the intent of those international treaties to not just keep space for peace but to treat space with respect, it’s pretty bad.

Reporter: With laws still unwritten, money and physics now seem the only obstacles. But that may all change as the world becomes more paranoid about terrorism and old and new superpowers flex their muscles.

Reporter: Will the optimists be right? As space becomes militarized and commercialized, the challenge will be to keep the integrity of space, at least in our part of the galaxy.

I had a bit of trouble sleeping last night after watching that, with all the depressing thoughts going through my head.

Thursday 9/6

Rain today, at long last!

Using Google, I found an article about the lady I mentioned yesterday, “Bendigo mum joins space age”. Her call sign is VK3HAB. I also came across the National Space Society of Australia website. Most space enthusiasts in Australia, though, seem to be focused on NASA and there is almost no mention of Russia on their sites at all. (Well, my site’s a start! :-)

Baikonur cosmodrome has been celebrating its 50th anniversary since last week, and the Russian and Kazakhstan presidents visited the launch center last week. Despite various disagreements between the two countries since the end of the Soviet Union, co-operation over use of the cosmodrome looks to continue, at least. There is a lengthy news item at TsENKI (the English translation hasn’t been done yet).

Expedition 11 have 4 more photos up, at long last, after 3 or 4 weeks! There seems to be a paucity of photos for this mission. I was disappointed that there were no preflight photos showing them doing training in Russian Orlan spacesuits (as there were for Expedition 1, though Sergei wasn’t in these). They are to do one spacewalk in Russian Orlan suits, and one in American EMU suits. (I don’t think Sergei should be helping NASA so much as they are just “using” [exploiting] him for his knowledge and experience. He should not spend so much time over there!)

Bush seeks military control of space: at the Space4peace blog, found this via Curmudgeon’s Corner. (Mr. Grumpy Old Fart there does not like this guy; the GOF is [predictably] all for turning space into the U.S. military’s playground.)

What is one of the major disorders of the Western world? It’s “affluenza,” an addiction to consumption and consumerism. There is a book out about it by Clive Hamilton:

Our houses are bigger than ever, but our families are smaller. Our kids go to the best schools we can afford, but we hardly see them. We’ve got more money to spend, yet we’re further in debt than ever before. What is going on?

The Western world is in the grip of a consumption binge that is unique in human history. We aspire to the lifestyles of the rich and famous at the cost of family, friends and personal fulfillment. Rates of stress, depression and obesity are up as we wrestle with the emptiness and endless disappointments of the consumer life.

Affluenza pulls no punches, claiming our whole society is addicted to overconsumption. It tracks how much Australians overwork, the growing mountains of stuff we throw out, the drugs we take to “self-medicate” and the real meaning of “choice”. Fortunately there is a cure. More and more Australians are deciding to ignore the advertisers, reduce their consumer spending and recapture their time for the things that really matter.

Not only in the West, but in countries like Russia and China (the last, especially). It is essentially greed; wanting more than one is entitled to or needs. The world’s economy is built on the presumption of greed; of people coveting and buying endless amounts of stuff. Governments are in thrall to the quasi-religion of “economic growth,” and society is held hostage by advertisers, who seek ever-more intrusive methods of persuasion (convincing people to buy things they really don’t want or need). It is an insane, empty and unsustainable way of life. See also the Wellbeing Manifesto site:

There is widespread community concern that the values of the market – individualism, selfishness, materialism, competition – are driving out the more desirable values of trust, self-restraint, mutual respect and generosity. Many people feel alienated from the political process; the main parties seem too alike and think of progress only in material terms.

Throughout history sages have counseled that happiness is not a goal but a consequence of how we live, that it comes from being content with what we have. Today, we are sold a different message – that we will be happy only if we have more money and more of the things money buys. Human experience and scientific research do not support this belief.

PM John Howard said some time ago that he wanted Australia to be a “nation of entrepreneurs”. No, thanks.

Sunday 12/6

Spent most of today getting depressed and fussing over my websites’ appearance (yet again). I am happy with my Sergei site and this one, but not with Kosmonavtka or my Suzy site. Changed the header of the Kosmonavtka site a bit, so I like it better (for now).

I managed to read a book in one evening last night – Sunstorm by Stephen Baxter and Arthur C. Clarke (2005), the second in the Time Odyssey series. Only very rarely have I been riveted by a book so much that I can’t tear myself away from it. I can read very quickly (perhaps too quickly); I skim across the words and absorb paragraphs at a time. (Unfortunately this is a hindrance when trying to read Russian as I get impatient that I can’t instantly understand the words and have to slow down!)

Is this the only country where rain makes the headlines? It did last night; we had some good rain here and farmers in various parts of the country got rain for the first time in a few years of drought, which means they can plant crops.

I watched the Space Odyssey series (part 1 of 4) on Thursday, or part of it (I fell asleep …). Wasn’t too bad, though the characters were the predictably bland professional types with all sorts of intimidating degrees and qualifications. First stop was Venus, followed by Mars (I fell asleep before they landed, but I recorded it on my VCR). Don’t know why anyone would want to go to Venus, but I suppose the scientific types would love it. I wonder what would happen if a spacesuit ruptured, though! Would the wearer be crushed into nothingness? The temperature at the surface is 455°C and atmospheric pressure is 1.03 kg per cm2 (not sure how many atmospheres that is?).

An extract from an old textbook of Dad’s, Basic Science for Aerospace Vehicles by the Northrop Institute of Technology, 1963 edition, describes Venus thus:

The matter of greatest interest, of course, is whether there is life on Venus and whether this life may be in the form of beings having intelligence. It is probable that the temperature on the surface of Venus is of a level that a human being could survive, but the presence of water and oxygen are in doubt, so we can only wait until someone lands on the surface to answer our questions.

Then the Venera probes from the USSR landed, and discovered the sad truth!

There has been a Soviet-era movie screened on SBS a couple of times, Planet of Storms (1962), about some cosmonauts who land on a Venus with tropical forests, and a documentary about its director Pavel Klushantsev, The Star Dreamer.

Saw the ISS last night, briefly, 10° SSW for about a minute. Sergei surpassed cosmonaut Valerii Polykov’s accumulated space time last week (678 d 16 h 32 m), and is now second on the all-time spaceflight duration list. On 16 August at 05:45 GMT/UTC, Sergei will overtake cosmonaut Sergei Avdeev’s longstanding record of 747 days 14 hours 14 min 11 s accumulated flight time, and be in first place! (Spacefacts has a Time in Space table for all astronauts and cosmonauts.)

Monday 13/6

The current CEO of the Commonwealth Bank, David Murray, will be departing in a few months, with a payout of $37 MILLION. So that’s where all the ever-increasing customer fees and charges are going. A long time ago banks used to be respected institutions, but now they are just money-grabbing leeches. I had to change my account type last year as I was LOSING money – $5 each month – though bank fees, even though I had made no withdrawals. That added up to $60 per year. A lot of money if you only have a few hundred $ in an account. So, if I had left my money in long enough, I would have eventually lost ALL of it to the bank (I was earning virtually no interest).

Even after changing to this supposedly no-fee account, there came a notice informing me of “changes” to the account: a monthly fee of $5 would be charged if it became inactive for more than 6 months, and the balance dropped below $500. Can you believe that the banks here penalize you (via fees) if your account drops below a certain amount? They introduced this a few years ago and it is an obvious discrimination against low-income earners. All the banks care about are their wealthy customers. (If I had a “Relationship Balance” with more than $20,000 in my account I would be exempt from fees. Ha, ha. That would be funny if it wasn’t so stupid.)

Since 1992, when the banks were deregulated (I think it was that year), they have made enormous profits because they introduced all sorts of fees and charges. Even Internet banking, which was initially free, recently had fees introduced. In many cases you are no worse off storing your money under your bed mattress. I really think there is a case for customers suing the banks for all the money lost from accounts through these sneaky fees. [End of rant]

An interesting extract from the Arthur C. Clarke/Stephen Baxter Sunstorm novel I mentioned in my previous entry (12/6):

As he had once tried to explain to Eugene, there had always been a deep heliophilic strand in Russian astronautics. When Orthodox Christianity had split from Rome, it had reached back to more ancient pagan elements – especially the cult of Mithras, a mystery cult exported from Persia across the Roman Empire, in which the sun had been the dominant cosmic force. Over the centuries elements of these pagan roots had been preserved, for example in the painting of sun-like haloes in Russian iconography. It had been revived more explicitly by the “neo-pagans” of the nineteenth century. These holy fools might have been forgotten – had it not been for the fact that Tsiolkovski, father of Russian astronautics, had studied under heliophilic philosophers.

No wonder that Tsiolkovski’s vision of humanity’s future in space had been full of sunlight; indeed, he had dreamed that ultimately humankind in space would evolve into a closed, photosynthesizing metabolic unit, needing nothing but sunlight to live. Some philosophers even regarded the whole of the Russian space program as nothing but a modern version of a solar-worshiping ritual.

Mikhail himself was no mystic, no theologian. But surely it wasn’t a coincidence that he had been so drawn to the study of the sun. How strange it was, though, that now the sun should repay such devotion with this lethal storm.

And how strange it was too, he reflected, that the name given by Bisesa Dutt’s companions to their parallel world, Mir, meant not just “peace” or “world,” but was also the root of the name Mithras for mir meant, in ancient Persian, “sun” …

More (predictable) catty commentary from Grumpy Keith at NASA Watch.com regarding the Russian space program; here concerning a James Oberg article about Russia’s plans for the ISS if NASA should drop out of the project:

More Grandiose Pronouncements From Russia

Russia ready to take lead on space station, MSNBC.

“Russia is prepared to take over if the United States decides to scale back its support of the International Space Station, a Russian space official said this week.”

Editor’s note: Show me the Rubles.

There is a review of Grumpy Keith’s New Moon Rising book that came out last year, Dark Side of the Moon, by Andrew Lawler.

With his biting commentary and conservative bent, Cowing is the Matt Drudge of space. He’s a former NASA employee who founded the Web-based NASA Watch in 1996, and from that position harshly criticized a former NASA chief, Dan Goldin, as well as the Clinton White House. Of late, Cowing has been enthusiastic about the leadership of O’Keefe, who is a protégé of Vice President Dick Cheney.

Cowing can also be a vociferous critic of space reporters (including this one), lacing his recent editorial comments about their stories with words and phrases such as “idiotic” and “what have you been smoking?”

Sunday 19/6

Little of interest in my world, as usual. Moods have been all over the place. Winter weather set in.

Article from the Saturday Age:

Japan’s young voice speaks with barbed tongue

Deborah Cameron, Tokyo

Sex, drugs and violence are overshadowing traditional values as a new generation questions its future.

If she is the oracle of her generation, as some say, then Japan is a nation of young barbarians.

Hitomi Kanehara, 21, a novelist, writes about violent lives, alcoholism, careless sex, sadism, self-mutilation, anonymous relationships and depression. Her book, Snakes and Earrings, is a bestseller in Japan and last year won the country’s most prestigious literary prize.

Its central character, a young woman with a tongue newly pierced, spends the novel trying to make it split into a lizardish fork. She witnesses a murder by her boyfriend and has a violent sexual relationship with her feral tattooist.

Kanehara is one of the first literary voices from Japan’s new generation. These 20-somethings have matured since the end of the bubble economy in 1991. Living in an era of unabated economic decline, they are now questioning old values and face a future that is neither prosperous nor secure.

The depth of their predicament comes through in surveys such as one last year by the Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living in Tokyo. It found that 16-to-19-year-old males no longer aspired to be salaried men – the backbone of the Japanese economy – like many of their fathers.

They said salaried men were “servile,” “inhabit a hierarchical world,” “have no dreams” and “seem very stressed”.

“As a salaried employee myself, I wince when I read this litany of misery,” institute researcher Harada Yohei wrote.

“Far from being filled with dreams and hope, children today view studying hard and becoming a white-collar worker as a path synonymous with drudgery and despair.

“In every previous period of the postwar era there were companies and industries in which youngsters longed to work. But today there are no salaried posts to which children aspire. Indeed, the very idea of being a salaryman is now seen as uncool.

“We adults, unsure of our own destination, have failed to give children dreams to aim for.”

A leading psychologist says Japan has entered the “age of lassitude,” a reverse of the “age of earnest effort,” 1960 to 1978.

There is rising angst today over school students’ performance, crime, sexual promiscuity, an unacknowledged AIDS crisis, the future of full-time work, the socially destabilising rise of the freelancer, and the collapsing birthrate.

Kanehara is well briefed on her subject. She stopped going regularly to school when she was 11, quit her only job after two months, and has spoken in interviews about her violent boyfriends and episodes of self-mutilation.

She credits her success to her father, an unusually open-minded man, who tolerated his Bohemian daughter and bought her many books, encouraging her to write.

A member of the judging panel who selected her book as a cowinner of last year’s Akutagawa Prize said it was “a radical depiction of our time,” while another judge said that “sadness permeated the entire work”.

An English translation of the novel will be released in Australia in August.

Whew, and I though I had a monopoly on gloom and doom! But really, who can blame her, and them? The world seems more f**ked up than ever before – terrorism, global warming, wars, poverty, AIDS, SARS, etc. There is no such thing as job security in this age of globalization and the free market. You are a commodity to be used and exploited.

Also in the Saturday Age of 2 weeks ago was published an article about a suicide trend in Japan where people meet up through groups on the Internet, form death pacts and meet in person to commit suicide together. Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the developed world (I am not sure where Australia ranks, but it was fairly high a few years ago).

A couple of years ago (2003) there was screened on 4 Corners a documentary about the hikikomori phenomenon, where Japanese teenagers shut themselves away in their bedrooms for years sometimes, becoming recluses. I visited a webpage about it but have lost the address, so I will have to try to look for it again! I kind of did the same thing after having a nervous breakdown in Year 12 at school (1988) and quitting; I stayed in my bedroom for a few months (can’t remember how long exactly), extremely depressed. Then, after stuffing up some opportunities, I again retreated and over the years became a semi-recluse, to where I am now. The world out there seems too overwhelming and hostile, and I feel I can’t cope with it.

Update 20/6/2005: It was on Foreign Correspondent, and the original story is at “Japan: The Missing Million” at the BBC site, with a transcript of the program

The latest Progress cargo ship, M-53, docked successfully to the ISS this morning (00:42 GMT, 10:42 in Melbourne), though Sergei had to take over via the TORU controls when TsUP ground control was unable to uplink docking commands because of a failure in a ground station. No dramas, though, as that’s what the TORU is for (a back-up system). Probably make a fuss about it in the media as usual, though. (Of course, Grumpy Keith at NASA Watch.com, ever-vigilant for the Russians to make potential mistakes, mentioned the docking incident. He also misspelled Krikalyov, “Kirkalev”.)

STS-114 is still on track to launch from 13 July onward (to 31st). According to this Space.com article, “September Shuttle Launch May Delay Next ISS Crew,” the next ISS crew launch date (via the Soyuz) was pushed back to accommodate a second Shuttle mission in September. So TMA-7 won’t launch until 22 October, and Expedition 11 will land 1 November (near my birthday!).

I downloaded the latest “NASA’s Implementation Plan for Space Shuttle Return to Flight and Beyond,” a 288-page 6.1 MB document. Of some interest is what happens to a damaged Orbiter unable to return its crew to Earth (the crew having been rescued by a second Orbiter on standby in the meantime):

Stranded Orbiter Undocking, Separation, and Disposal

The Mission Operations Directorate has developed procedures for undocking a stranded Orbiter from the ISS, separating to a safe distance, then conducting a deorbit burn for disposal into an uninhabited oceanic area. These procedures have been worked in detail at the ISS Safe Haven Joint Operations Panel (JOP), and have been simulated in a joint integrated simulation involving flight controllers and flight crews from both the ISS Program and the SSP. Additional details will be refined, but the requirements and procedures for safely conducting a disposal of a stranded Orbiter are well understood.

Current plans call for the Orbiter crew to conduct a rewiring in-flight maintenance procedure on the day prior to disposal that would “hot wire” the docking system hook motors to an unpowered main electrical bus. Before abandoning the Orbiter and closing the hatches, the crew would set up the cockpit switches to enable all necessary attitude control, orbital maneuvering, and ground uplink control systems. On the day of disposal, after the hatches are closed, Mission Control would uplink a ground command to repower the bus, immediately driving the hooks to the open position. The rewiring procedure is well understood and within the SSP’s experience base of successful on-orbit maintenance work.

The Orbiter will separate vertically upward and away from the ISS. Orbital mechanics effects will increase the relative opening rate and ensure a safe separation. The Mission Control Center will continue to control the attitude of the Orbiter within safe parameters. Once the Orbiter is farther than 1000 ft from the ISS, the attitude control motors will be used to increase the separation rate and to set up for the disposal burn for steep entry into Earth’s atmosphere. The primary targeted impact zone would be near the western (beginning) end of an extremely long range of remote ocean. Planning a steep entry reduces the debris footprint; targeting the western end protects against eastward footprint migration due to underburn. This disposal plan has been developed with the benefit of lessons learned from the deorbit, ballistic entry, and ocean disposal of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory in June 2000 and the Russian Mir Space Station in 2001.

Russia and the European Space Agency might co-operate in the development of the Kliper spaceship proposed by Energiya, as well as co-operate in the development and use of carrier rockets, use of global satellite navigation, telecommunication, space sciences, technology and Earth observation. “During the past year as a result of a number of preparatory discussions between the representatives OF ESA and Roskosmosa was prepared the draft of the plan of collaboration between ESA and Roskosmos in the space region. The chapters of agencies with the satisfaction noted that this work was accomplished very successfully. Both sides examine future plan as the important contribution to strengthening of partnership and collaboration between Europe and Russia.” (Novosti Kosmonavtiki news № 480, 14 June).

In NK news № 481 was mentioned that the Russian Federation and the USA could co-operate in the joint creation of new space craft engines for the flight to the Moon and Mars (17/6). Russia also plans two unmanned Mars missions in the years up to 2015:

Tuesday 21/6

Today is the Winter Solstice (Summer in the Northern Hemisphere), so the days will be lengthening from today.

Have been simmering with murderous anger all day after nearly being run over by some idiot while on my early-morning walk; he came screeching around a street corner I was about to cross (I stopped as I knew he wouldn’t), then he went screeching down the street in an angry manner. It was dark and I could not see the driver or license plate (I don’t wear my glasses while out walking). Undoubtedly a Stupid Young Male (SYM) who should not be allowed behind the wheel of a car as he will end up killing someone with his driving. If he had hit me I doubt he would have stopped. Wished once again for a grenade launcher to blast such idiots into their component atoms. If such a SYM got out of his car to taunt/harass me I would run at him and rip his face off. I get this absolute murderous rage at times and am just looking for an excuse to take it out on someone like that – but only if they threatened me first. I am not one to initiate a fight, but I will be damned if I let any idiot like that think he can intimidate me. I have had similar humiliations for years, am thoroughly fed-up and am just waiting for that moment …

Update 17/11/2006: An incident from 21 October 2001 as recorded in my journal:

More humiliation for me today. I was riding my bicycle back home from the library, when some young men in a white Commodore-like car cruised past and threw a plastic soft drink bottle at me. They were obviously bored and looking for “entertainment”. Not content with that, they then circled a roundabout and came back; one throwing contents from another soft drink bottle at me (water again), laughing raucously as they drove away. I was furious, but powerless to retaliate, as I have been too often in my life, in similar incidents. I would have loved to rip their faces off and blast them into their component atoms. It’s incidents like this which only intensify my dislike of humanity in general. I wish I could go and live somewhere far away from other humans, like in space or on another planet. Some people – usually young males – seem to go out of their way to bother and humiliate vulnerable people. There must be some aura about me which marks me out thus. I certainly don’t bother others – all I wish is to be left alone. I was teased at school; I have had endless humiliation at work (no doubt others there say unpleasant things concerning me out of my hearing). It never ends and I am so f**king tired of it.

It is far too easy to get a driver’s license and there are many people who should never be allowed to drive at all because their attitude is so dangerous. The driving age should be raised to, say, 23 (teenagers and cars are a deadly combination, as accident statistics testify). Sadly, no government so far has the courage to do this.

I had a peculiar dream two nights ago that I was escaping from North Korea! It involved a lot of running through forests, traveling down a river, and jumping from a very high bridge over a lake. I think these are landscapes, or dreamscapes, I have been in before.

Some Grumpy Keith at NASA Watch for your amusement. He has been having an acrimonious exchange with another journalist as follows:

Anti-astronaut tripe from NRO

Editor’s update: John Dervyshire got some nasty email its seems. Nasty enough to move him to write:

“I had some exchanges with one fellow who took strong exception to my Space Shuttle piece. ‘It must really suck being you,’ he asserted. Now, this is pretty lame on a first occurrence; but in our subsequent exchanges he just couldn’t think of any way to improve on it. ‘Like I said, it must really suck being you,’ he’d close. It dawned on me at last that the guy thinks this is the most crushing, most devastating put-down that has yet been devised from the English language. I weep for these people.”

Thanks for another data point, John. Now I am certain that it really sucks to be you.

“The Folly of Our Age: The Space Shuttle,” National Review Online

“The rest of the president’s address on that occasion was, to be blunt about it, insulting to the memories of the astronauts who died, and still more insulting to their grieving spouses, children, parents, and friends. If these astronauts believed that ‘they had a high and noble purpose in life,’ they were mistaken, and someone should have set them straight on the point.”

Editor’s note: I love it when know-it-all pundits – such as John Derbyshire (home page) – hide behind their desks only to pop up long enough to toss out tripe such as this. The biggest risk Derbyshire ever takes is making coffee in the morning. I seriously doubt that this man has ever actually spoken to a real rocket scientist (sorry, Alex Roland doesn’t count), an astronaut or any of their families. Nor do I think he’d have the spine to actually say these same words to their faces. How cowardly – and shameful.

Editor’s update: I have swapped several emails with Derbyshire. He is unrepentant and stands by his putrid comments about astronauts and their sacrifice. Suffice it to say I told him: “it must really suck to be you.”

(Permalink)

From Novosti Kosmonavtiki news № 481:

20/06/2005/09:39 – Russia again forgotten

Last Thursday NASA director Michael Griffin confirmed that the era of Shuttles will be completed in five years – the last flight of the reusable ship must take place in 2010. According to the flight diagram, which was affirmed by the an even previous director of American aerospace agency, must take place 28 missions. However, Griffin considers that these are unrealistic plans. Not less than 15 takes place on his estimations and not more than 23 it is starting Shuttles.

In connection with this a question about the use of other carriers for the completion of assembling International Space Station arises. What precisely, this will become clear after consultations NASA and its partners in the international project. Most probably, a new plan will be affirmed already in the autumn of the present year.

Attention is drawn to the following fact. A story about the appearance of NASA was published in New York Times newspaper on 17 June. It was there indicated that ISS was the “joint project of the USA, Canada, Brazil, Japan and European Space Agency.” For some reason they forgot about the fact that Russia does not have a minor role in the creation of the station. This could simply be a misprint, but it is an example of the unpleasant tendencies, which recently are increasingly manifested more and more frequently.

Russian version, Русская версия: О России опять забыли.

At a guess, I would surmise that the NYT reporter didn’t know the Russian space program existed (there seem to be a few people like that), or thinks it is negligible.

Wednesday 22/6

A brilliant full Moon is rising in the east this evening. Sergei and John on the ISS will have an awesome view of it if they look out the windows. Hope they get some photos of it! Last night was cold, and tonight will be also (around 4°C).

Just saw the ISS: 6:43 p.m., 21°, SSW, for about a minute.

Thursday 23/6

Went to Chadstone as usual this morning and did my usual wander through the Borders bookstore there. Looked in the Russian history section; most books are the usual gloom-and-doom portrayals. Perhaps one of the grimmest books is Black Earth: A Journey through Russia After the Fall, by Andrew Meier (I linked to its Amazon.com page). Here is a review from there (Publisher’s Weekly):

“How do you explain a state in decay?” the author of this engrossing, beautifully-written book asks about a country where “the death of an ideology has displaced millions,” a third of the households are poor, and epidemics of HIV, TB, suicide, drug abuse and alcoholism are rife. Meier, a Moscow correspondent for Time magazine from 1996 to 2001, attempted to answer the question by traveling to the four corners of Russia so he could report on the suffering of the people as they struggle to survive in the ruins of the Soviet experiment. He began in 2000 by going south to war-devastated Chechnya, particularly the town of Aldy, a district of Grozny, which earlier that year had endured the massacre of at least 60 of its citizens by Russian soldiers. He then traveled north, above the Arctic Circle, to the heavily polluted industrial city of Norilsk, originally a labor camp and now “a showcase for the ravages of unbridled capitalism,” where descendants of the prisoners still mine for precious metals. Finally, he went west to St. Petersburg, “a den of thieves and compromised politicians” whose much-heralded revival is largely unrealized and where the people are still haunted by the assassination in 1998 of Galina Vasilievna Starovoitova, the country’s leading liberal. After talking to scores of people – from survivors of the Aldy massacre to a harrowed Russian lieutenant colonel who runs the body-collection point closest to the Chechen battleground – Meier paints in this heartbreaking book a devastating picture of contemporary life in a country where, as one man put it, people have “lived like the lowest dogs for more than eighty years.”

And so on and on. The author is a journalist, which should ring some alarm bells (i.e. they always look for the sensationalist angle). Obviously I can’t go there at this stage to judge for myself! Another reviewer did note:

Unfortunately the book doesn’t ring true as a complete survey of the modern Russian experience. The author is obviously a journalist, pushing himself toward the extremes, trying to find the story. He fails to mention that in the less remote areas of Russia there are much more pleasant places and happier people.

This is similar to the extremes in which a country like, say, North Korea, is portrayed. In the Western media it is unrelentingly grim, yet if you visit the North Korea website and forum, they are almost the opposite extreme. Who to believe or trust? Both sides have agendas.

I stopped taking my Zoloft tablets (anti-depressant) in January to see how I fared without it (I began them in April 2003). My mood swings seem to have got somewhat worse again, but the effect is subtle; I really don’t know if the Zoloft was effective or not. The drug is on the PBS scheme so, having a Health Care Card, it was under $4 for a month’s supply (I could not afford the full price – over $30 a month!).

Found this while wandering through various blogs:

Now I want to turn your attention to the picture that I am praying accompanies this column. It is a screen shot that I took with my electronic camera of Russian MTV playing on my computer. Last week’s column was about Ken Schaffer’s TV2ME video roaming product, and a number of readers were skeptical, so I took this picture to give some idea what it looks like. This is Russian cable TV encoded and sent over the Internet from some apartment in Moscow right into my third floor office in Charleston. It is running 25 frames-per-second (this is SECAM, remember, not NTSC), full screen at 416 kilobits-per-second including stereo sound. And while a single screen shot is hardly proof of anything, if you took a picture of your own TV screen, I guarantee you it wouldn’t look a lot better.

But what I like best about this picture is the Cyrillic caption that clearly mentions Snoop Doggy Dogg. Now that’s a sign of America’s international influence. The prelude to true world peace, I predict, will be when Pimp My Ride makes it to Burmese TV.

– I, cringely

I hope he is joking. If there is one building in the world I would like to see terrorists target and destroy, it would be the MTV headquarters, preferably with all the rock stars, rappers and other halfwits crammed inside. Teenagers all over the world absorb MTV’s near-pornographic music videos. Particularly loathsome are the (mainly) black rappers and r ’n’ b singers (or whatever the genre is called) whose videos feature more near-naked dancing ladies than you can poke a stick at. It is sexism at its worst. Occasionally I have watched the Australian equivalent (Rage on ABC TV) and it is just one black male singer surrounded by scantily-clad dancing ladies, after another. The women who partake in these videos should perhaps reflect on whether they are aiding the cause of feminism. I don’t think so.

The “Angry Iranian” blogger isn’t impressed either – see his MTV entry. I don’t agree with all his opinions on various issues, but I do concur: “F*ck MTV. A truly satanic organization filling the minds of the world’s youth with garbage.”

Update 11/11/2006: The Angry Iranian’s blog has since vanished

I probably sound like an old fuddy-duddy, but as I get older I have become alarmed at the moral decay in Western society and the relentless marketing to teenagers and the hatefully-named “tweens” (those between childhood and teenagers). There have been concerns expressed by various people about how children seem to be growing up too fast – learning about what should be adult matters and losing their innocence earlier and earlier. A lot of this comes from the media and advertising. I don’t know what can be done to combat it. Teenagers in Russia, for example, would be a lot different now to those who grew up during the Communist era, after being exposed to “unbridled capitalism” (to quote the Black Earth book mentioned above).

A bad week for Russia for space launches; two launch failures. A Molniya-M rocket carrying a military satellite crashed after launch on Tuesday, and the Russian nuclear submarine-launched solar sail experiment Cosmos-1 was also lost; the first-stage engine of the missile shut down prematurely. The sail might have made it into a different orbit as possible signals were detected. It was funded by the Planetary Society.

Unfortunately such mishaps are still a reality of spaceflight. Two previous attempts to launch solar sails also were unsuccessful.

To balance it, the Progress M-53 launch was successful, as was the ESA/Roskosmos Foton-M2 experiment: “European experiments back on Earth with successful conclusion of Foton-M2 mission,” ESA, 16 July.

Quote of the week from NASA chief Mike Griffin, via NASA Watch: “With regard to feelings – I don’t do feelings – just think of me as Spock.” Would you want a boss with that attitude? He seems to be doing a lot of reorganizing and firing people, as new bosses often seem compelled to do (asserting their dominance, perhaps).

Saturday 25/6

A FREEZING morning like yesterday (not much above 0°C), followed by a fine sunny day, though the air is still cold. My favorite weather, though it is hard to get up in the morning!

Just saw the ISS at 6:26 p.m., WSW to NE, 59° for around 4 minutes; a long pass. On the Station it would be 08:26 GMT in the morning; they would be starting their day. Were Sergei or John looking out the windows, down on Australia, at that moment? If there were a telescope powerful enough, I could perhaps see their faces at the windows!

Finally got around to watching parts 2 and 3 of the BBC Space Odyssey series (see 2/6 entry), where the astronauts left Mars and did a flyby past the sun, using its gravity well to boost their velocity towards Jupiter. They landed on Io and Europa, then headed off to Saturn and went through the ice rings. One of the crew got radiation sickness and died at Saturn, so he was given a space burial there! His body was pushed off to drift amongst the icy debris of the rings, “at the desolate rim of the Solar System” (to quote from Stephen Baxter’s Titan novel). A rather lonely burial, far away from the rest of humanity. Would his ghost then haunt the rings for millennia, appearing to any ships that might pass that way in the future …?

Wednesday 29/6

Very heavy fog this morning; I could barely see in front of me when I went out for my exercise early this morning! My eyelashes had dew on them. The fog closed down Tullamarine (Melbourne) Airport, but cleared by around 10 a.m. I went to the city as I was bored; it is somewhere else to go (I went 2 weeks ago). Did my usual wander around various bookshops, then headed home. There was a dinosaur skeleton being displayed in Melbourne Central shopping center (above the station where I get off); it was Gigantasaurus something; a carnivore similar to Tyrannosaurus Rex, but bigger and meaner. 13 meters long with huge jaws and teeth! About 3 meters at the shoulder. (I wish I’d had a small digital camera so I could grab a quick photo of it.) I could envision it grabbing an adult human and swallowing him in a couple of gulps.

It would be so cool to travel back in time and see the dinosaurs for real (though preferably not to be eaten by them!). You would essentially be visiting an alien planet: the air would smell and feel different, the sun be younger and hotter; few recognizable plants around (no grass had evolved then); the Moon would be closer (it is gradually moving away from Earth) and appear much larger in the sky. The sky at night would be brilliant (no light pollution) and the constellations different also. An exotic and dangerous world.

I was desperate for something to read, so while in the city I bought a novel called End in Fire by Syne Mitchell. The usual America-saves-the-world theme (in this case, a female NASA astronaut), but it was set in the near-future, which I like. I don’t like far-future sci-fi as I can’t relate to the characters at all (and there is the depressing thought that in the far future, everyone I know will be long dead). The novel isn’t too bad; the characters aren’t annoying like in some space novels I have read (such as Cosmonaut by Peter McAllister – see 6/6 entry).

1st July is the dreaded day when the current government takes full control of the Senate. Our Dear Leader can barely contain his glee as he can then pass any law he pleases; he will get to implement his major obsession, laws which destroy workers’ rights and take Australian workplaces back to the 19th century. A letter from The Age last week:

Land of the free to beg

I come from the “land of the working poor,” the United States. One of the main reasons I chose to call Australia home was the fair laws that governed its society. The Howard Government is dismantling industrial protection, but it has no idea of the level of despair and frustration that will result.

It is not surprising, therefore, that Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews genuinely believes that the scenes of helplessness and unfairness in the ACTU’s ads are “dishonest and wrong” (The Age, 21/6).

However, my experience in the US verifies that such scenes will occur here if the Government persists in its mindless imitation of the US model. There have also been tragic incidents in the US where employees who had been treated unfairly, and had no avenue of civil recourse, returned to their workplaces and killed many people. Is an incident such as this what it will take to bring the Liberals to their senses?

– D. J. Swanson, Warrnambool

July

Sunday 3/7

I forgot to mention last week that on Monday afternoon (27/6) the whole Melbourne rail network was shut down for several hours because a leak in an air-conditioning hose flooded the control center and there was no back-up center! The system used is a 20-year-old one called Metrol which is in dire need of upgrading, but because the rail network was privatized in the early 1990s no-one wanted to spend the money to upgrade it. (So, an obvious lesson there – DON’T privatize essential services!) The Victorian government has sort of taken control again (I am a bit confused as to the current situation). The rail network used to be called the Met, but after privatization it got a whole lot of different names depending upon which operator controlled what line (some of the companies were foreign-owned, so any profits made went out of the country). Now the trains are run by some company called Connex. The system is run-down and degraded (though new trains have begun making an appearance). And let’s not get started on the confusing ticketing system.

There has been mutterings amongst various politicians the last few weeks about considering nuclear power as an energy option for Australia. It is a relatively clean form of energy (no CO2 produced) but there is the question of what to do with the nuclear waste.

People are getting blown up in various places. The Chechnyan war drags on …

Bathhouse bomb kills at least 10 soldiers

Makhachkala. At least 10 Russian soldiers were killed by a bomb yesterday as they paid a weekly visit to a steam bathhouse in a town near Russia’s rebel Chechnya province, justice officials and doctors said.

The bomb exploded as a unit of Interior Ministry troops filed into the washhouses in the town of Makhachkala, regional capital of Muslim Dagestan that borders Chechnya. “A military truck with soldiers from the 102nd interior troop brigade blew up on Akayev Street at 2.20 p.m.,” Zaur Isayev, Dagestan’s deputy prosecutor, said. Doctors later said all the dead were soldiers. Fourteen other people, including some passersby, were being treated for severe injuries.

Dagestan, a territory by the Caspian Sea, has suffered from an overspill of violence from Chechnya since separatist war erupted in the North Caucasus territory more than a decade ago.

We hear plenty in the media about the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq (the toll has passed 1700 since the war began), but little about the Russian soldiers killed in Chechnya. There have been no major terrorist acts so far this year so far (a train was derailed a few weeks ago but no-one was killed). If only there were a way to stop terrorists getting hold of bomb-making materials.

The last episode of the Space Odyssey series was screened last Thursday, in which the Pegasus crew went from Saturn to Pluto, then to land on a comet (not a good idea as things turned out), then back to Earth, all in ½ hour!

Monday 4/7

An article from the Saturday The Age which dismayed me: the revival of religion in the 21st century (especially the comments about the resurgence of religion and associated nonsense in Russia). Sadly, humans seem more ensnared than ever by such primitive beliefs. I did read somewhere that there is a sort of gene for spirituality in human DNA, so perhaps only genetic engineering will eventually liberate humanity from the need for religion.

The suspension of disbelief

By Barney Zwartz,
Religion editor, The Age 2/7/2005

The Sea of Atheism
Was once, too, at the full, and
round earth’s shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furl’d.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long,
withdrawing roar,
Retreating …

So might Victorian poet Matthew Arnold put it if he were writing Dover Beach today (with less regret, but unhappier scan), if English theologian Alister McGrath is as percipient as he seems to be.

McGrath contends atheism was relevant and important for 200 years, but is now weary, frail and tediously eking out its last days as a significant philosophy, slain by postmodernism and resurgent spirituality. And religion of all sorts is triumphantly advancing everywhere except Western Europe.

“Atheism is in trouble,” says McGrath – a former atheist, now professor of historical theology at Oxford University, and author of The Twilight of Atheism (2004) – who was in Melbourne this week to address a conference of Bible colleges.

“Really its golden age is from 1789 and the fall of the Bastille to 1989 and the fall of the Berlin wall,” he says.

Once a perfect religion for the Enlightenment and for modernism, he believes it has lost its cutting edge and is losing numbers, despite the efforts of such atheist evangelists as the scientist Richard Dawkins.

Islam has replaced it as the most trenchant critic of Christianity. Young postmodernists think the question of God is too important to be dismissed and are genuinely open to the spiritual. “Atheism seems far too cut and dried, far too certain, in an age which is very conscious of the ambiguity of life,” McGrath says.

There have always been atheists, he says, and always will be. But as a movement, it began bright with promise as a key part of the Enlightenment project seeking to give people autonomy from an alleged transcendent divinity. It gained relevance because of the disproportionate power of the church. “So atheism was seen as a liberator, which would set people free from the tyranny of the institutional church.”

Did it work? “It certainly did,” McGrath says. “If you look at William Wordsworth writing in 1804, just after the French Revolution, he is saying ‘to be alive at such an exciting time is great, but to be young is incredible because I’m going to be part of this new era that’s opening up’. Wordsworth wasn’t alone. In the writings of that time it’s difficult to miss the sense of optimism and excitement.”

Atheism’s high point was in the 1920s when many people felt that the Soviet Union, the first atheist state, was reforming everything. “It was very plausible,” McGrath says. “Now we look back and say they were simplistic and gullible, but at that time it was seen as the way the future was going to be.

“In the 1960s there was a sense that radical change was just ahead and we were looking at a world without religion. John Lennon’s song Imagine came out in 1971 and captured the cultural mood that religion was passe, irrelevant, outmoded and wasn’t going to be there in the future at all.”

McGrath can’t identify what changed but says the fall of the Berlin Wall symbolised the oppression of state atheism. “You watch the delight of people as they broke it down and you realise that they felt liberated. So what’s gone wrong, that a movement that was a liberator in 1789 is an oppressor in 1989?”

First, he suggests, it became tedious. When it was new it was exciting, but ideas can pass their sell-by date. People thought this had happened to Christianity, but it has rediscovered old ways of faith and invented new ways.

Christianity has had a new injection of energy, McGrath contends. In Africa, Asia and Latin America it is booming, both in old forms (Catholics) and in new ones (Pentecostals). Pentecostalism thrives in areas where Marxism flourished because it combines the spiritual and social. “You see this in the Philippines, in the big cities of Latin America. In London, Pentecostal churches are establishing themselves among immigrant communities but are beginning to draw in traditional British people as well.”

Religion also offers a sense of belonging that atheism can’t. Atheists create organizations but not communities, unlike the church, McGrath says. “In recent years people have tended to belong first, then come to believe, inverting the traditional order. It’s a very significant measure of the fragmentation of the culture. They see a community, the church, and they decide to get involved because they want to belong somewhere, and as they join this community they begin to absorb its ideas and values.”

Atheism also turned out to have as many frauds, psychopaths and careerists as traditional religions. This suggests such people are endemic to humanity rather than the preserve of religion. The likes of Stalin and American Atheists founder Madalyn Murray O’Hair (“the Billy Graham of atheists,” but with considerably less probity) helped reduce its appeal.

One of history’s ironies is that Russia, the great hope of atheists, became the triumph for Christians. Seven decades of persecution could not destroy the church, and now it is resurgent. “Russia points to the intrinsic resilience of religion. You’ve got to be very careful about suggesting it’s going to die out.” Unlike atheism.

Found another “Sauron’s Eye” nebula at the Hubble site, this one from a star called Fomalhaut. It looks even more appropriate than the nebula mentioned in my 11/4 entry, as this one is also “rimmed with fire,” with “the black slit of its pupil open[ing] on a pit, a window into nothing ….” The star is 25 light-years away, and the ring’s edge is about 19,308,000,000 km from the star (the bright dot in the center).

I was looking through the Expeditions 9 and 10 galleries, and found they had added some spacewalk photos taken when they were outside in their Orlan-M spacesuits! As there is a paucity of such photos it was a nice find. Direct links: ISS009-E-29577, 29620, 29656, iss010-e-33563, 33564, 33565, 33566, 33575, 33580

NASA’s Project Whack-a-Comet, otherwise known as Deep Impact, hit the comet successfully this afternoon, which was probably why I couldn’t get onto their website as so many people were accessing it. I could only think of how dismal the Russian unmanned space program is in comparison – i.e. there isn’t one. The last probe launched was Mars-96, but a rocket stage failed before it could leave Earth orbit. There were a few launched in the 1980s. The obvious reason is lack of funding. There is a plan to send a probe to Phobos, one of Mar’s moons, in the next few years but it is again dependent upon funding.

Russia plans to conquer space … again

10/06/2004 12:14

Russia will be ready for a manned spaceflight to Mars in 2027-2031. If there will be enough money.

Russia may be able to accomplish a manned spaceflight to Mars in 2027-2031 on the conditions that financing will be ample, stated the president of the Russian Space Academy Vladimir Senkevitch during a press-conference.

According to him, Russian space activity must be organized in accordance with the US “space expansion”. There are more then 800 spacecrafts on the orbit today. Half of them belong to the USA. Russia possesses about one hundred satellites, while there used to be twice as many not so long. Russia used to be number two in financing space activity. Today, it is ninth. Currently, such countries as Japan, China along with the European countries spend more money on space-projects, says Senkevitch.
(Pravda.ru)

(Regarding that atheism article above, there was some Russian woman astrologer attempting to sue NASA or someone over the Deep Impact project, saying it was doing harm to the environment, or disrupting the harmony of the Universe, or some such nonsense. A sad sign of the times in Russia.)

Update 5/7/2005: From The Age Odd Spot: “Russian astrologist Marina Bai, who says NASA altered her horoscope by crashing the Deep Impact probe into the Tempel-1 comet, is suing the US space agency for $400 million in damages.”

Friday 7/7

A dreadful day for London, with the latest terrorist atrocity. It was first briefly reported here around 7 p.m. last night as a series of explosions caused by a power surge in the London Underground rail system. Nothing particularly alarming, so I drifted off to sleep as I often do, then woke up again around 9 p.m. to find 3 TV channels running continuous updates from BBC News about 6 probable terrorist bombings in the Underground. Many people injured; 2 confirmed dead. Today the toll has risen to 37 dead and around 700 injured, some horribly. The authorities responded quickly – they had been rehearsing for, and dreading, such an event for some years. Some Islamic terrorist group linked to Al-Qaeda is claiming responsibility, though this is still unconfirmed. The bombs were concealed in packages or bags and detonated via timing devices. There are similarities to the Madrid train bombings of 16 months ago.

There doesn’t seem to be much that can be done to prevent such atrocities, short of searching every passenger before they board a train or bus, which is obviously impossible. If only there were a way of preventing terrorists from acquiring bomb-making materials in the first place, as bombs are their main weapon of destruction.

The STS-114 launch is next week, on Wednesday 13th. Kind of hard to believe it will happen, as it has been put back so many times.

From Novosti Kosmonavtiki news № 484, the “roadmap” for the Russian space program has been finalized:

04/07/2005/14:31 – The development of federal space program up to 2015 is completed

The development of federal space program up to 2015 is completed, reports RIA Novosti. On this on Monday, coming out at the European conference on aerospace studies, stated the deputy chief of the Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) Nikolai Moiseyev. According to him, the program contains three basic tasks: “the expansion of utilization of outer space; broadening international collaboration and strengthening national space potential”.

The accomplishment of these objectives is conducted according to several basic directions, approved by the Russian Federation government, said Moiseyev. It also reported that within the framework of program Russia plans to continue studies on the manned space flights, using work experience gained on the ISS. Also within the framework of program it is planned to complete works on the creation of three modules.

“The first module is the laboratory; work on its creation is planned to be completed in 2007. The second module will be scientific; development will be completed in 2009, and the third module is for research; the work on it will be completed in 2011,” said Moiseyev. He reported that at the end of 2006 Roskosmos began an experiment on the flight of a crew to Mars. “This experiment will last 500 days,” explained Moiseyev. The deputy head of Roskosmos also noted that “we proposed to international partners to increase the duration of crew activity on the ISS up to one year.”

He emphasized that further mastery of space is possible in two directions. The first direction – these are full-fledged participation in the mastery of space of all partners, and is second– this is the use of national resources with the attraction of other countries. In our view, the first way is most promising,” noted Moiseyev.

The RF Ministry of Economic Development, 20 May as a whole approved the finished project of the Federal Space Program (FKP) during the years 2006-2015.

“As a whole program is approved, and now the Ministry of Economic Development, together with Roskosmos are searching for the possibility of an increase in the financing of the FKP by 30%,” said Roskosmos official representative Vyacheslav Davidenko to RIA Novosti.

As note the experts of Roskosmos, for the solution of the problems, set in the region of space president’s performance and government RF, it is necessary to ensure in the period up to 2008 the launching of 26 automatic spacecraft, in reference to the priority directions of space activity.

As RIA Novosti previously reported, the head of Roskosmos, Anatoliy Perminov, approved with the RF Ministry of Economic Development the project of new FKP will be examined at the session of the government on 14 July.

Russian version, Русская версия: Завершена разработка федеральной космической программы до 2015 года.

Monday 11/7

Nothing of interest for me. A couple of news items regarding Russia:

Putin Calls for United Front on Terrorism

Simon Saradzhyan, The Moscow Times, July 8, 2005

But Will the London Blasts Diminish the Differences in Viewing Chechnya?

President Vladimir Putin offered his condolences over Thursday’s bomb attacks in London and said the attacks showed that the civilized world was not united enough in fighting terrorism.

Speaking at the Group of Eight summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, Putin also said there should be no “double standards” in assessing terrorist attacks, in an apparent reference to bomb attacks in Russia that have claimed the lives of thousands of people.

“What happened today demonstrates yet again that we are doing too little to unite our efforts in the most effective way in the battle against terrorism,” Putin said.

There must not be any “double standards whatsoever in assessing bloody crimes similar to those carried out in London today,” he said.

Also expressing his sympathy was Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II, who offered his prayers for the victims and said that thousands of Russians had died in terrorist attacks since 1993. “We know how important any support is at such a difficult time,” he said.

While Putin did not directly say that Russia had warned the West against differentiating between Chechen rebels and terrorists, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin made the Kremlin’s position known, albeit implicitly.

“First, terrorists must be caught and tried – in Britain too, where sometimes, in our opinion, they have been granted asylum,” Kudrin told Channel One television, in a clear reference to Chechen rebel envoy Akhmed Zakayev. Zakayev was granted asylum in Britain in 2003, and a British court has refused Russia’s requests to extradite him.

Yet while the London bombings could encourage the Kremlin to push for more support from G8 nations for Russia’s own anti-terrorist agenda in the North Caucasus, it was unclear on Thursday how far the West would go toward dropping its distinction between terrorist attacks by al-Qaida and those by Chechen separatists.

Authorities in Moscow on Thursday said they were stepping up security in response to the London attacks, with metro chief Dmitry Gayev telling reporters he had ordered extra police patrols to carry out ID checks at metro stations throughout the capital. Police commandos were also dispatched to man checkpoints around the Moscow Ring Road.

No flights from Moscow to London had been canceled, but additional security measures were being taken at airports and other transportation terminals, such as seaports and railway stations across Russia, Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin said, Interfax reported.

“The events in London show a heightened activity by terrorists. … As a result, Russian police are stepping up security measures on our country’s territory,” Chekalin said.

He said security would also be increased in and around strategic locations and diplomatic missions.

The Russian Embassy in London announced shortly after the bombings that it was trying to determine if any Russians had been among the victims of the attacks.

In Moscow, lawmakers and security analysts said it was likely that the attacks were carried out by fundamentalist Islamists linked to the al-Qaida terrorist network to coincide with the opening of the G8 summit, and pointed to the similarities between Thursday’s attacks and the Madrid train bombings in March 2004, which have been blamed on al-Qaida.

Mikhail Grishankov, deputy chairman of the State Duma Security Committee, said he was “confident” that the attacks had been timed to coincide with the G8 summit, and described them as a “challenge to the entire international community and, particularly, to the G8 leaders,” Interfax reported.

Gennady Gudkov, a senior United Russia deputy, said the attacks could have been the work of groups seeking to intimidate Western nations into withdrawing their troops from Iraq.

Alexei Mitrofanov, a Duma deputy from the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party, also saw “revenge for Iraq” as the most likely cause of the bombings.

While not pinpointing the attack as originating from any particular country, Alexei Malashenko, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center, said Thursday that the terrorist attacks bore the same hallmarks as others carried out by fundamentalist Islamic groups.

“Who else would do this?” he said.

Kremlin-connected political analyst Sergei Markov said Thursday’s attacks were as horrible as the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and the September 2004 attack on Beslan. Such attacks mean that “the principle of security should prevail over the principle of individual freedom,” he said, Interfax reported.

The London attacks could spur Russia to broaden the planned focus of its G8 chairmanship next year from energy security to security in general, Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the Russia in Global Affairs journal, wrote in his weekly column on Gazeta.ru.

As well as seeking to put security at the top of the G8’s agenda, the Kremlin may see Thursday’s attacks as an opportunity to put pressure on Britain to soften its stance on Chechnya, said Ivan Safranchuk, head of the Moscow office of the Washington-based Center for Defense Information. Moscow could also renew its efforts to extradite Zakayev, the Chechen rebel envoy, arguing that he is allied with the same network of international terrorists that hit London, Safranchuk said.

In the wake of the Beslan school attack last September, Putin compared the treatment of Chechen rebels in Western countries to the appeasement of Nazi Germany before World War II.

The Kremlin may also seek greater security cooperation with Britain and the United States in exchanging intelligence on suspected rebels and their sponsors, given the fact that Russian authorities have asserted that several British citizens have been killed fighting on the rebels’ side in Chechnya, Safranchuk said.

However, British courts will probably not factor in relations with Russia when deciding whether to grant asylum to Chechen rebels, Safranchuk said.

“Morally, Russia would feel more comfortable if criticism decreased, but this will not solve its internal problems,” Safranchuk said. “MI6 and the FBI could well become more cooperative, but not the courts.”

Alexei Pikayev, an independent defense and security analyst, said Thursday that British-based Islamic fundamentalists might well have played a leading role in the attacks, given the meticulous preparation they would have required.

But while the British authorities would step up their efforts to dismantle terrorist networks in Britain, they would not likely respond to Russia’s repeated appeals to extradite those Moscow has labeled as terrorists, Pikayev said.

And Britain would not likely end its repeated calls for Russia to try to find a political solution to the conflict in Chechnya, even though there is no authoritative moderate rebel leader left in Chechnya after the killing of Aslan Maskhadov in February, the analysts said.

Attempts by Russian officials to equate attacks in the West and in Russia would likely fail, the analysts said, as the attacks in Spain and in the United States were aimed at punishing those countries for their policies in the Middle East, while the perpetrators of attacks in Russia have usually sought to expel federal forces from the North Caucasus.

“Russian officials could now say, ‘We told you so,’ but Beslan does not stand out from this trend, as there was too much of an internal agenda there,” Safranchuk said.

In line with the agenda to equate al-Qaida with Chechen separatists, state-controlled Channel One in its evening newscast said that “until recently … Chechen cells” had been operating “freely” in Britain and lamented that Britain would not extradite “terrorists for years.” The channel also reported as fact earlier allegations that two British citizens were among the attackers of the Beslan school. Britain’s The Observer newspaper wrote last year that two Algerian-born British residents who attended a radical mosque in London were among 32 terrorists killed at the school.

An informal survey of Moscow residents on Thursday indicated that they sympathized with the victims of the London bombings but said that countries such as Britain should now show more sympathy toward Russia’s position in its anti-terrorist campaign in the North Caucasus.

“Naturally, I sympathize with the victims, but the most important thing is that the British should now sympathize and understand that this happens not only in Russia, but anywhere in the world,” said Igor Varankov, 40. “Now, they should have a more realistic attitude toward us and understand that these things really do happen – it’s not just something you see on television.”

Computer programmer Vasily Ivanov, 35, doubted whether Britain would change its stance over Chechnya, but expressed the hope that Britain would understand Russia’s position better.

“I sympathize with the victims on a human level – we all understand each other,” he said. “But on a political level, each country has its own priorities, and I don’t think anyone can say that Britain is really going to change its attitude toward Russia. But it will now be more aware of terrorism, just as our country is. At least now they will understand what we are going through.”

Antonio Lupher contributed to this report.

U.S.-Led Troops Asked to Set a Date

By Dmitry Solovyov
Wednesday, July 6, 2005

Astana, Kazakhstan – Russia, China and the Central Asian states asked U.S.-led troops on Tuesday to fix a date for their departure from military bases in Central Asia that were set up to support operations in Afghanistan in 2001.

The United States operates military airbases in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan – two of the five former Soviet Central Asian republics that Russia still views as its backyard and where China, seeking oil and gas, is an increasingly vocal player.

The call was made at a meeting in Kazakhstan of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, or SCO, which groups the five countries with Russia and China, and against the backdrop of veiled criticism of Western influence in the region.

“Member states of the SCO believe that participants in the anti-terrorist coalition should define a deadline for the temporary use of infrastructure and their military presence on SCO member state territory,” the SCO said in a joint declaration.

Sergei Prikhodko, an aide to President Vladimir Putin, told reporters that the call was being made since active operations in Afghanistan were coming to an end.

“No one is telling them it should be tomorrow, in a month, in five months or in a year and a half, but it’s just straightforward that SCO members know by when the anti-terrorist coalition will leave,” he said.

Putin and Chinese leader Hu Jintao joined other regional leaders in making the call just a day before they were both due to meet U.S. President George W. Bush in Scotland at a Group of Eight summit.

Bush has shown no sign of wanting to give up the bases.

The U.S. military has already had to reorganize operations in Uzbekistan, which introduced limitations on flights to the U.S. Karshi-Khanabad airbase following Western criticism of a bloody government suppression of a rebellion in the eastern town of Andijan.

According to the U.S military, Uzbekistan hosts at least 800 U.S. troops, while there are 1,200 U.S.-led troops in Kyrgyzstan. About 200 French airmen are in Tajikistan.

Speeches by Hu and Uzbek President Islam Karimov at the summit included veiled criticism of Western influence in Central Asia.

Karimov said outside forces were seeking to stir up trouble. “They aim to create a situation of so-called manageable instability and … foist on us their own model of development,” he said.

Hu, who cordially received Karimov on a state visit following the Andijan violence, said the Central Asian states should choose their own path.

“The people of Central Asia are the only masters of their destiny,” he said, speaking through a Russian interpreter. “They are wise and free enough to put their own houses in order.”

The comments follow hawkish remarks by Russian officials criticizing attempts by unspecified foreign forces to destabilize the region, which has been unsettled by the violence in Andijan.

Uzbek authorities say 176 people died, but rights activists say as many as 750 may have been killed.

Protests and a coup in Kyrgyzstan this year and peaceful democratic revolutions in Ukraine and Georgia before that have also unnerved Central Asia’s long-serving rulers, none of whom has won an election judged free and fair by Western monitors.

The SCO on Tuesday added Iran, India and Pakistan as observer nations, The Associated Press reported. The additions bolster the group’s clout.

The Astana meeting came a day after Putin on Monday hailed the “unshakeable” partnership between Russia and the United States in a telegram to his U.S counterpart, George W. Bush, congratulating him on Independence Day, the AP reported.

Ties between the two former Cold War foes are based on “mutual trust and partnership,” he said.

The Shuttle launch will be at 06:51:52 a.m. in Melbourne on the 14th here (Thursday); I keep forgetting about the time zones.

“Russians sign space passenger deal,” MSNBC.com, 6 July. It looks like Gregory Olsen has been accepted as the third space tourist (he was disqualified last year because of an unspecified health problem which has since been remedied). He could go up in October with Expedition 12, in the third Soyuz seat, and return with Expedition 11. The official announcement will be on 16 July.

Wednesday 13/7

Shuttle launch tomorrow morning. It is still going ahead despite a window cover falling off and damaging two tiles on a panel near the rear of the Orbiter! The tiles are ceramic and quite fragile (easily damaged). The panel was replaced.

There is huge worldwide media attention focused on the upcoming launch. I have to wonder if a Russian return-to-flight Soyuz launch after an accident (which we hope never happens, but there is always a possibility) would rate the same media attention.

Sergei will be the only Russian on board during the Shuttle visit. He will be a bit overshadowed! :-(. Also, the spacewalk assigned to the crew using U.S. EMU spacesuits was canceled because a third crewmember is needed for assistance when donning the suits. The Orlan-M spacewalk is still scheduled, so far (in September).

Women like Eileen Collins (the Shuttle commander) make me feel thoroughly inadequate, so I can’t help feeling a little resentful of her. She comes across as a very determined, no-nonsense professional type (who would probably regard someone like me with impatient contempt). Recall also the former Kilvington student I mentioned in my 12/5 entry, who was working in the aerospace industry. I botched my one and only chance to get into that.

Eileen and the other woman on board, Wendy Lawrence, will be the first women in space since the two who perished on Columbia, Kalpana Chawla and Laurel Clark. There are no female cosmonauts; the last one, Nadezhda Kuzhel’naya, left last year after waiting 10 years and never being assigned a flight. The closest she got was being back-up for the second Russian Visiting Crew (TM-33). There is this stupid chauvinism in some parts of Russian society (though certainly not exclusive to it) that women are unsuited to anything but cooking, cleaning and having children, and that carried over into their space program.

In Time magazine this week is a story about pro-anorexia sites on the Web, which provide support to those with the disorder. I visited the site mentioned in the article; the author, Liz (aged 19) is very lucid and obviously intelligent, but at the same time trapped by her disorder. (Her remarks on the article: “Yes, I do know about the Time article. I was interviewed for it. Unfortunately I was reduced to just a few soundbites, which sucks, but oh well.”)

Starvation on the Web

By Sora Song,
Monday, Jul. 11, 2005

Hundreds of pro-anorexia websites share tips and tricks with young readers. Should parents worry?

Click on “disclaimer” on the website www.ceruleanbutterfly.com and instead of the standard fine-print legalese, you get a rant. “If you don’t have an eating disorder,” it says at one point, “I wonder what the bloody hell you’re doing here. If you’ve come to yell at us, please realize that it’s pointless – we’re going to ignore your point of view just as you ignore ours.”

The creator of Cerulean Butterfly – one of some 500 websites that deal frankly and sometimes approvingly with anorexia and other eating disorders – is an intelligent, articulate 19-year-old San Francisco college student who asked to be called only Lizzy. Treated at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif., Lizzy has been anorexic since 2002 and is quite candid about her belief that an eating disorder is less a disease than a lifestyle choice – a “decision to pursue perfection.” In March 2004 that pursuit landed Lizzy in the hospital, her weight having dropped to 88 lbs. and her heart rate to 45 beats a minute. “[I] was surrounded by the skinniest people I had ever seen,” she wrote on her site. “Can we say ‘envy’?”

Welcome to the underground world of pro-ana (ana, short for anorexia, the quest for thinness through starvation) and pro-mia (for bulimia, a related condition characterized by bingeing and purging) websites, weblogs and message boards, where people with eating disorders gather for support and companionship. On pro-ana sites, girls as young as 10 share tips for losing weight (purge in the shower to cover up the sound), tricks for hiding the signs of malnutrition (use nail-growth polish to keep nails from becoming brittle) and “thinspiration” (like photographs of bony fashion models).

Nobody knows for certain how many of the estimated 11 million Americans suffering from anorexia or bulimia visit those websites. Lizzy says hers, which has been online since 2003, has logged more than 85,000 hits, and a survey last May of adolescent anorexics and their parents conducted by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine found that 39% of the kids were visiting pro-ana forums. “Clearly, these sites serve a need for our patients, because they spend an extraordinary amount of time and energy creating and visiting them,” says Dr. Rebecka Peebles, an eating-disorder specialist at Packard Children’s who co-wrote the report with student Jenny Wilson.

The adolescents in Peebles’ and Wilson’s study who entered pro-ana websites tended to do so without their parents’ knowledge and, compared with their peers who didn’t visit the sites, to spend less time on homework, more time on the Internet and more time in the hospital. But the study did not find major differences in body weight, duration of eating disorders, number of missed periods or bone density between anorexics who visited the sites and those who didn’t. Lizzy says the mission of her website is to provide support for people who already have eating disorders, not to encourage or promote self-destructive behavior. “The term pro-ana I think is widely misunderstood and misused,” she says. “Most people hear the phrase and immediately think that we’re ringing bells on a corner somewhere in cyberspace, wearing sandwich boards that say “ANOREXIA IS AWESOME” and handing out pamphlets.”

In fact, like many visitors to pro-ana sites, Lizzy is ambivalent about her “lifestyle choice.” “It’s a living hell,” she says, adding that nothing makes her sadder than healthy young girls entering her site to learn how to starve themselves.

But it’s that kind of visit that parents and doctors fear most. Julia Mann, 16, a twelfth-grader in New York who battled anorexia two years ago, says she was lured in by pro-ana websites. “Before, eating disorders started with a diet that spiraled out of control,” says Mann, who is researching the effects of such sites for her school science project. “Now it’s like, ‘I can learn to be anorexic from the Internet.’”

Indeed, for many girls who are struggling with low self-esteem and a negative self-image, the sites can be especially seductive. “Had I not gone to the sites, my weight definitely wouldn’t have dropped as low as it did,” says Mann, whose 5-ft. 7-in. frame bottomed out at 100 lbs. “The pro-ana sites provide a world that’s comforting.”

Dr. Richard Kreipe, director of adolescent medicine at the University of Rochester, says it is that sense of belonging that draws many teens to the websites and blogs. If there’s one thing teens respond to, it’s the rallying voices of other teens, something lacking on sites dedicated to recovery. “Pro-ana sites are much more sophisticated,” Dr. Kreipe says.

Whether more inspiring pro-recovery sites could reach teens like Lizzy is an open question. “The anorexic voice inside my head,” Lizzy says, “seems to be winning.”

Eating disorders consume your life; you literally can’t think of anything else except calorie-counting and exercising obsessively, as I did. My own disorder began as a diet to lose weight after I quit school in 1988 after having a nervous breakdown. By year’s end, somewhere along the way the diet had mutated into an eating disorder; initially similar to anorexia, then changing to bingeing on huge amounts of vegetables and exercising obsessively for hours every day. I did not menstruate for 5 years (until 1993) and my life went nowhere (still isn’t). The eating disorder gradually vanished as I just got tired of all the physical and psychological effort needed to maintain it, and I slowly moved back to normality. My lowest weight was around 42 kg (some anorexics get down to the mid-20s; by then they are close to death). Now I am probably almost double that, which I don’t particularly like, but I don’t want to put myself through that hell again.

Thursday 14/7

“Sensor Glitch Scrubs Discovery Launch,” Space.com. The launch was scrubbed two hours before lift-off because of faulty readings in an External Tank valve sensor. Aaargh! Oh well, they have to be cautious. They will have to drain the fuel tank so the valve can be inspected. The next launch try will probably be for next Monday (Sunday in the U.S.).

It is the 30th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz mission, and there are commemorative sites at:

I was 4 years old then, so I can’t remember any of it! How different the world was then. The flight took place between 15-21 July.

“US ban on Russian rides to space set to end,” NewScientist.com, 29 June 2005. Also, the U.S. government has finally decided to abolish the silly law preventing NASA making payments to Russia for use of the Soyuz in case the money should somehow find its way to Iran (the Iran Non-proliferation Act of 2000).

Sunday 17/7

Last week was the coldest here for about a decade or so; grey skies and drizzly rain every day. A FREEZING north-westerly wind today, though the sun is out. I really hate north winds, as they are freezing in winter and boiling hot in summer. Unfortunately we seem to get a lot of them. They come in from the central deserts on the continent. All I want to do in this weather is stay huddled next to my fan heater in my bedroom (or be next to the gas heater). I hate hot weather, but I love heaters!

I visit a few blogs regularly; some are of women (mostly younger than me) who write about their lives, relationships, etc. They are relatively normal. I was thinking how odd my own life has been; I am, and never have been, much interested in the whole relationship/marriage/children thing. I have never been a participant in such activities and don’t have any real desire to get involved. I feel like an alien observer, sometimes.

The Space Shuttle will probably not now launch until late this week at the earliest, assuming the mysterious fuel valve sensor anomaly can be found and fixed. Sigh. The upcoming launch seems rather like a mirage that keeps moving away or vanishes when you approach it! I can remember them saying not long after the Columbia disaster that they hoped to get the Shuttles back flying in a few months (i.e. in 2003).

Found these great spaceflight-related student class projects – “Space Studies Directed Projects” – on the page of this university person called Lance K. Erickson, who seems to teach courses (links to projects are at the bottom of the page). Two of especial interest are “SP 425 Spring 2003 - Russian Space History” and “SP 300 Fall 2000 - International Space Station Alpha”. The U.S. university is called the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Why couldn’t they have something like that here? Though I wouldn’t have the qualifications to get in if they did (and probably couldn’t afford the courses, anyway).

From Novosti Kosmonavtiki news № 487, how much will be spent on the whole Russian space program in the next decade. In U.S. dollars it is around $10.50 billion – less than what NASA is allocated for one year ($16.2 billion in 2005). But Russia (nor any other country) does not have America’s economy, so the budget is proportional. See also “Russia launches 10-year space program” at MSNBC.com.

15/07/2005/00:03 – 300 billion rubles will be spent on Russian military space in the next 10 years

The volume of financing the military unit of the Russian space program for the next ten years will be about 300 billion rubles, transfers Interfaks. Anatoliy Perminov, the head of the Federal Space Agency, stated this on Thursday at a press conference in Moscow .

He noted that the means for the military unit of the Russian space program will be provided in the program of armaments. In this case he noted that the means to the military unit of the space program to the next ten years, most likely, they will be approximately the same, what are separated to the civil federal space program.

The volume of the budget financing of federal space program during the years 2006-2015, approved on Thursday by the government, is 305 billion rubles.

Russian version, Русская версия: На российский военный космос в ближайшие 10 лет потратят 300 миллиардов рублей.

Thursday 21/7

A nice sunny cold day. I have had some weird/vivid dreams the last few days, but as usual can never be bothered to wake up fully to write them down, so they are just vague images now. Last night I was on a freeway, running away from something, and decided to go into a house at the side of the road for some reason. I opened a gate and there was this enormous house there, kind of an old mansion, but with one large room composed of several storeys. There were some people occupying it, and I tried to shoot them, but as is usual my gun somehow disappeared and I was pointing my hand at them and making shooting noises to imitate a gun, which was not effective. (This is one of those recurring dream-images and I don’t know what it symbolizes.) I wandered around the house for a bit, then went back outside and continued on my way. The night before, I looked up at an aircraft to see what it was and decided I wanted to go up for a closer look, so I flapped my arms and took off (I remember thinking this quite clearly, so it was an almost-lucid dream). The flying took a great amount of effort, as is often the case in my dreams; it’s a real struggle to get airborne, and more often than not I am dragged back to Earth. And I also had my recurring back-to-school dream two evenings ago, where I am repeating a school year in the present time (my classmates from years ago are also there), but decide I want to quit again. That is obviously an “unresolved issue” from 1988.

I had an idea yesterday to redo my “Suzy McHale” site with an Ancient Egyptian mythology theme, but I am not sure if I will be able to as finding suitable images is difficult! I did a Google search and found lots of websites, but the images on them are poor-quality. I don’t have a good book about the subject at home. I have a vague image forming in my head, with serene colors of sand and azure, the colors of the Egyptian desert, and the gold and lapis lazuli used in their jewelry. But here is where my poor design skills frustrate me. I get so many wonderful images in my head, but can almost never translate them into reality.

I have always liked Egyptian mythology with its pantheon of gods and goddesses, and connection to the cosmos – the pharaohs were supposed to ascent through a gateway in the Pyramids to a “star gate” somewhere in the constellation Orion (or something like that; it was mentioned in a TV documentary I saw a few years ago).

The STS-114 launch is now set for the 26th (next Wednesday in Australia) at 10:39 a.m. EDT there (12:39 a.m. in Australia).

A brilliant full Moon is rising in the east this evening – hope they get a photo of it from the ISS!

Sunday 24/7

Windy yet again today, a north wind, which I hate. I am soon to go on my bike ride. I wonder if I am the only person who gets up regularly at 5 a.m. on a Sunday (Dad gets up around 5:30)?

Bombs seem to be exploding everywhere (the latest in Egypt yesterday). I won’t dwell upon the depressingly deluded stupidity of the humans who do this.

Extract from an article in New Scientist for 23 July:

It is also a vision President Bush has articulated for the US, arguing for human missions to the moon and Mars at a time when NASA is floundering, its space shuttles still grounded and its astronauts embarrassed into using the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to fly to and fro between the International Space Station (ISS) and Earth. It is against this backdrop that Michael Griffin took over from Sean O’Keefe as NASA’s chief in April.

So apparently flying in the Soyuz is “embarrassing”. Well why don’t they just stay on Earth then. The people at that magazine are a bunch of ignoramuses sometimes.

The Shuttle launch is still set for Tuesday (early Wednesday in Australia). If the fuel sensor anomaly pops up again they will just go anyway (change the rules for four operational sensors to three).

The person who compiles the Novosti Kosmonavtiki news page is going away for 2 weeks (from the 18th), so no updates there until he returns.

Tuesday 26/7

Mum & Dad have gone away to Rochester for a few days to see my sister, so I am houseminding by myself as usual. It is my sister’s birthday on 1 August. Hard to believe we are so old!

Our Dear Leader made a surprise visit to Baghdad. I have to admit having some unkind thoughts about the terrorists doing something useful for once and kidnapping him (they would be welcome to keep him).

In last Saturday’s The Age, there was a report that the totally unnecessary Commonwealth Games have blown out their budget to something close to $2 BILLION (the official cost as given by the State Government is a mere $1.1 billion :-S). Why we need this frivolous waste of taxpayers’ money is beyond my comprehension.

Also in that edition, yet another gloom-and-doom article on Russia:

Fearful Kremlin evokes patriotism for survival

Date: July 23 2005
By Andrew Osborn, Age Correspondent, Moscow

Fear of China, revolution and disintegration have prompted the Kremlin to inaugurate a Soviet-style military patriotic program of unprecedented breadth to keep Russia strong.

Before it broke up for the summer recess, the Russian Parliament approved the re-introduction of Soviet-era military training for students under 18.

Compulsory lessons will include how to strip an AK-47 Kalashnikov assault rifle, parade drills and response to chemical, biological and nuclear attacks.

Such training was introduced under Stalin in 1939, but abolished in 1993 after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Government recently approved a five-year program designed to strengthen patriotism among the younger generation.

Couched in language that Soviet speechwriters would have recognised, it talks of resistance to attempts to discredit or devalue patriotism in the media and in works of literature or art.

Hundreds of thousands of leaflets promoting correct reproductive behaviour will be printed and patriotic computer games developed as part of a strategy openly called developing the personality of the Russian patriot.

Cassettes and CDs with recordings of patriotic and marching songs will flood the country and there will be a specific budget for restoring moral values.

About 150 kilometres north of Moscow, the Kremlin’s patriotic program is already in full swing.

Some 3000 youth members of a pro-Putin movement called Nashi (Ours or One of Us) are camped in the countryside learning how to repel Czech-style velvet revolutions.

Gleb Pavlovsky, a well known Kremlin adviser, makes no secret of the camps’ purpose.

“Young people need to understand the technology of constitutional action. And sometimes constitutional action involves conflict or street action. They need, for example in the case of an anti-constitutional coup, to be ready to stop it,” he said.

Earlier this year, a new TV channel, Zvezda (Star), was launched to promote the Russian army and in September, Russia Today, a 24-hour rolling news channel being hailed as Russia’s answer to CNN, will start broadcasts to America and Europe. Few believe it will focus on the less savoury aspects of Russian reality.

Nationalist MPs recently introduced a draft bill that would punish Russian women who married foreigners. The bill’s author made no secret of the foreigners he had in mind: the Chinese.

With its rich oil resources, Russia’s far east is a source of serious anxiety to Moscow. The region has lost 700,000 people – a tenth of its population – since 1990 and the border area with China is littered with abandoned Russian military bases.

Chinese workers have become a common sight in many Siberian towns, as have mixed marriages, and Russia is worried that Beijing has territorial designs on vast swathes of its underpopulated land.

While China is doing all it can to curb its birth rate, in Russia deaths outstrip births and the United Nations has warned that its population could tumble by a third by 2050.

There is also real fear of a velvet revolution. Having seen what happened in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, the Kremlin is nervous ahead of 2007 parliamentary elections.

And, finally, there is a real worry that Russia will collapse. Much of the south of the country is engulfed in a wave of violence associated with poverty and radical Islam.

So bad is the situation that President Vladimir Putin’s top adviser in the region has suggested that direct rule from Moscow be restored.

Faced with such a scenario, the Kremlin has done what it does best: draw on its Soviet past and the fabled five-year plans that dabbled in human engineering.

Perhaps to balance things a bit, there was also a gloomy article about Japan, “Japan’s midlife nightmare,” The Age, this concerning the disintegration of social values and the lack of ambition amongst many young people (much the same as the topics mentioned in my 19/6 entry).

The daily ISS On-Orbit Status Reports had not appeared since the 19th and I was beginning to worry, but they showed up today, to my relief. They are only published at Spaceref.com, and are detailed daily reports of the ISS crew’s activities. They are based on NASA Headquarters internal status reports; that is why I haven’t been able to find them on the NASA site. They do not seem to be available elsewhere.

Shuttle launch after midnight tonight (Australian time). Won’t be staying up to watch it, but I’m sure it will be all over the newspapers tomorrow.

Article in the The Space Review: “The first woman on the Moon,” by Anthony Young, speculating on who might be the first to get there. Somewhat predictably, he assumes the woman will be American. But she could instead be from some other country :-D. He starts by mentioning the “Woman of Steel,” the rather intimidating (to me) Eileen Collins.

Another article by James Oberg, “The real lessons of international cooperation in space,” a rather overly-cynical look at Russian-U.S. co-operation during Apollo-Soyuz and after.

Some of the revisionist history touted at these celebrations wasn’t nearly as benign. At the NASM, Vance Brand delicately described the cautious first meetings when “we’d all heard a lot of bad things about the other country”. Brand wasn’t so rude as to elaborate that the “bad things” Americans had heard about the USSR were mostly true and the “bad things” the Soviet public had been fed about the West were mostly propagandistic lies.

… This may be the way it looks from outer space, and may be the way it has to be seen for the sake of US-Russian space partnerships, but it’s not a reality-based conclusion. If Earthside history teaches anything, it is that Moscow was indeed the capital of an “evil empire” and the world is far better off that the Soviet regime wound up on the “ash heap of history,” in the then-controversial words of President Reagan. The American astronauts probably knew it, but they also – probably rightly – knew they couldn’t speak the truth then, or now, for the sake of the mission.

Oh, and people in Russia are better off now, after the buggered-up and brutal transition to a capitalist economy, the theft of national assets by corrupt oligarches, a declining birthrate, AIDS, and a whole lot of other woes the population endured, and still endures? Things certainly weren’t perfect before, but they are hardly better now. People are certainly “free” – to starve to death. (Refer to my 3/11/2004 entry.)

And if you want to define “evil,” it is personified by the hateful doctrine of economic rationalism embraced by most Western conservative governments (the USA, Australia, etc.), where national assets such as water, gas and electricity are privatized, where spending on welfare and public institutions is reduced as much as possible, and the selfish “everyone for themselves, and bugger everyone else” mentality prevails. The real “evil empire” is the multinational corporations, who employ millions of workers in slave-labor conditions producing cheap products for the greedy consumer societies the corporations feed off in a parasitical relationship.

And the world is hardly a better place, with fanatical Islamic suicide bomber terrorists blowing up cities and civilians for the cause of their insane death cult. So don’t feed me bullsh*t about the world being “better off”.

Wednesday 27/7

In orbit again! STS-114 launched at 10:39 a.m. EDT 26/7 (14:39 GMT – 00:39 a.m. 27/7 in Melbourne) with no problems; the fuel sensor anomaly did not reappear. The only concern was a video image showing a piece of debris breaking off from the External Tank and falling past the Shuttle, though at this stage it does not appeared to have hit and caused damage. Discovery is now safely in orbit. They are due to dock at the ISS at 7:18 a.m. EDT on Thursday 28/7 (11:18 GMT – 9:18 p.m. in Melbourne).

Thursday 28/7

Dad arrived home today. Mum is staying at my sister’s until Sunday, when Dad will go back again to pick her up. Mum does the cooking for dinner, so we have to make do until she comes back!

A dismaying article from RIA Novosti regarding the increasing influence of the Church in Russia:

God goes hi-tech, gets satellite TV

17:18 | 27/07/2005 Moscow. (RIA Novosti political commentator Vladimir Simonov)

The Soviet leader who promised in 1980 to show the last pope on television made a crude mistake in predicting an early victory for atheism over religion. Now, 25 years later, Russia is set for its first national Orthodox satellite television channel.

The channel, called Spas (“Savior”), will broadcast for 16 hours a day, and cost its backers – a group of anonymous philanthropists under the umbrella of the Russian Consulting Group – an estimated quarter of a million dollars per year.

The idea for an Orthodox channel is popular in Russia. After seven horrible decades during which churches were blown up and monasteries turned into stables, the Russian Orthodox Church is finally staging a comeback revival. According to official statistics, since the late 1980s the number of people in Russia who consider themselves believers has more than trebled, from 16% in 1986 to about 70% today.

Spas is designed for people who wear Orthodox crosses and keep icons at home, even if they rarely attend church. One of its aims is to open the doors of churches to people, and turn them from putative believers to regular church-goers.

The Russian Orthodox Church claims that it has no administrative influence over the new channel, even though it wholeheartedly supports it. In any event, this is an extra information source among the church media.

Westerners are accustomed to various religious satellite and cable TV networks, and will find it hard to understand the importance that Russia attaches to Spas. The prominent theologian, Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov, has compared the launch of Spas to the first apostles’ decision to record the teachings of Jesus. He believes that the two events are similar, because in both cases God’s word entered a new medium.

The channel’s editor, Ivan Demidov, is another reason why it is getting so much attention Spas. Formerly the host of a program on rock music, Demidov is now a true believer and expert on the Bible. He sees Russian Orthodoxy as a national idea that can unite Russia after the crisis of Communist ideology.

Demidov believes that unification of Russian society is the main goal of Spas. It will have talk shows under the general title of “Russian Hour,” documentaries, and educational programs. There will be no room for any entertainment or acting films.

“The Orthodox channel is a very important initiative,” said one of its founders, philosopher Alexander Dugin. “Modern television entertains people, pulling them apart. The Spas Channel wants to achieve the opposite: To unite people, and restore the identity of our society.”

The new channel may also help fight terrorism, as Russia’s 20 million Muslims will see that Russian religion is not hostile to Islam. Spas plans to offer ways of saving the nation from a wave of terrorism fuelled by religious extremism. People of all religions should make it their priority to unite in the name of this goal. Demidov’s team believes that Russia’s three other recognized religions – Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism - may start their television channels in the future as well.

Russian human rights champions are not happy with the appearance of Spas, and are worried that the Church is becoming too influential for a secular state. The new state anthem mentions God, and Orthodox hierarchs insist that the authorities should introduce God’s law in secondary schools. Moreover, the Church is using every opportunity to assume the leading role that the Communist Party played in the Soviet Union.

The only thing that makes human rights activists feel better is the astronomical costs of the channel. Satellite television requires equipment costing $300, and a subscription costs 500 rubles ($17.40) per month. Most believers cannot afford this luxury, even with divine assistance.

I think that Russia is heading for another Dark Ages (see also 26/7 entry); it was the Church and the Tsars which kept the country backward for so long. And now all that nonsense is returning. I am angry with them for giving up.

“NASA grounds future shuttle flights,” MSNBC.com. Just when the Shuttle program seemed back on track comes the news that the Shuttles will be grounded again after the STS-114 mission until the External Tank debris-shedding problem can be remedied. Aaargh! The NASA engineers are concerned that a piece of debris still fell off the ET despite the remedies they had made, though this particular piece did not hit the Orbiter. The problem could be fixed in time for the September launch of STS-121, but if not the Shuttles will stay grounded until it is.

The next space tourist, American entrepreneur Greg Olsen, has been confirmed to go up on the Soyuz TMA-7 flight in late October (return home with the Expedition 11 crew around a week later). But his flight could be postponed if the Shuttle problem is not remedied by then. Frustrations for everyone!

“Grumpy” Keith Cowing of NASA Watch made an appearance on PBS news last night (the SBS news channel here screens the program via a satellite link), during a story about the STS-114 launch. He was in non-grumpy mode there (unlike on his website). He does not appear to approve of space tourists: “Editor’s note: With the grounding of the Shuttle fleet it will be interesting to see if this third seat will be used for a sightseer or someone who will actually work aboard the ISS,” quoth he in a 27/7 entry. Maybe he is just jealous.

I just looked at our Internet account usage for this month and somehow 415 MB has been used up (out of 500)! I haven’t done any big downloads, either. The last day of the month is on Sunday (4 days away) so I will have to restrict usage until after then (a bit of a nuisance with the upcoming Shuttle docking).

August

Monday 1/8

I ended up going with Dad to Rochester to collect Mum from my sister’s home – a 3-hour drive up there! So 6 hours of driving altogether, covering around 430 km or so. It was not too busy on the roads. The journey up was nice, getting out of the overcrowded and noisy suburbs into the open countryside and seeing familiar scenery from childhood. I was quite tired at the end of the day, though, even from just sitting in the car.

Tuesday 2/8

Busy, busy, busy on the ISS. Poor Sergei is getting a bit ignored, I think. He is the only Russian on board (and thus in space). There are 7 Americans (including Australian-born Andy Thomas) and one Japanese astronaut. The Control Movement Gyroscope #1, which has been defunct since June 2002, was at long last replaced with a new one during the second spacewalk. Unlike Russian missions/flights, the Space Shuttle has been mentioned on the news every night.

An interesting article, originally posted at the Russian Federal Space Agency, roughly translated below:

01.08.2005/23:28 “The time has arrived to say to Russia, thanks ….”

Specifically, so begins an article by Michael Thomas, published in the newspaper Chicago Tribune (USA) on 28 July, 2005, by the name “The Russian prescription: the simpler, the better”.

In the opinion of the specialists of the rocket-space industry of Russia, this publication generated a lot of interest from readers. For this very reason the official site of Roskosmos proposes to read to its visitors, and it also presents article to the examination for the participation in the competition declared at the beginning of May of this year (nomination the “best material in the print media”).

Russian prescription: the simpler, the better (Chicago Tribune, USA):

Russia keeps going by keeping it simple

Mike Thomas
Published July 27, 2005

It’s time to thank the Russians.

Thank them for keeping the International Space Station afloat while the shuttle has been in Mr. Goodwrench’s shop.

For more than two years they have ferried astronauts, delivered the Tang and taken out the garbage.

Without them, our choices would have been to aim the Space Station at the Pacific or slap duct tape on the external fuel tank and hope for the best.

And to think NASA officials once wanted to jettison the Russians from the Space Station.

They complained the Russians were broke and causing delays. They were a bumbling bunch of low-tech Ivans. They bolted together sewer pipes, filled them with kerosene, put a couple of astronauts on top and sent them to that orbiting bucket of bolts known as Mir.

But Bill Clinton kept the Russians on board.

Smart guy, that Bill.

The Russians are running a safer, more reliable space program than we are. Since Columbia burned up in the atmosphere, the Russians have sent five manned missions to the Space Station.

The genius of the Russians is that they keep it simple.

Their Soyuz capsule first flew in 1967. The parachute failed and a cosmonaut died. Three more cosmonauts died in 1971 when the capsule lost pressure upon re-entry.

Nobody has died in a manned Soviet/Russian spaceflight since.

Meanwhile, 14 astronauts have died on the shuttle. The Challenger and Columbia accidents shut down the American space program for more than five years at a cost of billions of dollars.

The Russians, meanwhile, just keep on flying.

They found a basic design that worked and stuck to it.

The Americans came up with a much more complicated design and almost 25 years later, they still don’t understand it.

To get their capsules into orbit, Russians use the 1960s-era Soyuz rocket. It is the workhorse of their space program, lifting off more than 1000 times with everything from military satellites to space tourist Dennis Tito on board.

It is what space engineers refer to as a “Big Dumb Booster.”

Think of a rusty, 1967 Chevy pickup that has 245,000 miles and cranks every time.

The Russian rockets are like a rock.

When you’ve been flying the same system for decades, you get a handle on the glitches. You tend not to be blindsided by burned O-rings and falling foam. And when things go wrong, you can figure out the problem and fix it.

After an unmanned Soyuz blew up during a 2002 liftoff, the Russians quickly ruled out a design flaw and safely launched astronauts less than a month later. Compare that to the delays following an American launch mishap.

The Russians have spent decades minimizing what can go wrong with spaceflight while we have been going in the opposite direction.

I’d sooner strap my fanny to a Soyuz than a shuttle.

I’d trust Ivan with his pipe wrench more than a Cal Tech Ph.D. with his computer.

I’m not alone. Those masters of copyright infringement, the Chinese, did not bootleg a shuttle to start their manned space program. They cloned Soyuz.

The shuttle program faces retirement in 2010. A planned high-tech replacement called the X-33 was so high tech it was deemed impracticable, and canceled after $1.3 billion was spent on it. Now we have something called the Crew Exploration Vehicle scheduled for launch in 2014 at a cost of $15 billion. It will introduce a whole new generation of glitches into our space program.

The Soyuz was flying almost 15 years before the first shuttle flight and will be flying after the last shuttle comes in for a landing at the Smithsonian. Unlike the shuttle, Soyuz is not broken.

I would not be the least bit surprised if we have to rely on it to also bail out the Crew Exploration Vehicle.

Thank goodness we have those bumbling Russians and their antiquated space program.

Glory to god, are these inept Russians and their “hopelessly obsolete” space program!

– The Roskosmos Press-Service.

In Russian: 01.08.2005 «Пришло время сказать русским спасибо … » | “Russia keeps going by keeping it simple,” Mike Thomas, Chicago Tribune. (Note: this is archived; I did not need to register, but if you do, get a fake id from BugMeNot.com.)

Saturday 6/8

I had a dream last night that I was doing gymnastics at a gym with some other girls, doing a backwards walkover on a beam and other maneuvers! Even though I’ve never done such things in my life, it’s a dream I have had a few times, curiously enough. I really wish now that I had done gymnastics when young, but I just wasn’t interested in any sports, then.

Discovery is to undock today sometime (I think) after a successful visit to the ISS, packed full of stuff to take back to Earth. The media here has, in typical fashion, been exaggerating everything that could possibly go wrong.

Comments from Gene Kranz, who turns out to be a “Paranoid Patriot” (note highlighted paragraph in the extract below), as in “We [the USA] must remain dominant in space ’else civilization as we know it will come to an end!” (Not.)

In an Op-Ed piece published by the Houston Chronicle, famed Apollo flight director Gene Kranz, known for the “Apollo 13” screenplay line “failure is not an option,” echoed Camarda’s concerns about timidity in the face of danger. In a strongly worded piece, Kranz decried critics who have suggested retiring the shuttle program in the wake of renewed concerns about external tank foam debris.

“For the risk-averse, the only acceptable thing to do now is retire the shuttle program immediately and wait for the divine arrival of the next generation of spacecraft,” he wrote. “I am disgusted at the lack of courage and common sense this attitude shows.

“All progress involves risk. Risk is essential to fuel the economic engine of our nation. And risk is essential to renew America’s fundamental spirit of discovery so we remain competitive with the rest of the world.”

Kranz said Discovery’s flight has been “remarkably successful” so far, despite the unexpected release of a large piece of foam insulation during launch. Overall, Kranz said, the shuttle tank shed 80 percent less foam than previous missions and “only in the news media, apparently, is an 80 percent improvement considered a failure. Rather than quit, we must now try to reduce even more the amount of foam that comes off the tank.”

“There are many nations that wish to surpass us in space,” he wrote. “Does the ‘quit now’ crowd really believe that abandoning the Shuttle and the International Space Station is the way to keep America the pre-eminent space-faring nation? Do they really believe that a new spacecraft will come without an engineering challenge or a human toll? The path the naysayers suggest is so out of touch with the American character of perseverance, hard work and discovery that they don’t even realize the danger in which they are putting future astronauts – not to mention our nation.”

Oh, the horror, the horror. :-S

I have begun slowly plodding through all the daily ISS On-Orbit Status Reports stored at Spaceref.com and reformatting all the pages (one month per page in my version) as their HTML code is so horrendously messy. It is going to take weeks or months, an unutterably tedious chore (I have to catch up from 2002 to now). The daily reports are the only detailed descriptions of life on the ISS I can find, so I want to tidy them up to my satisfaction. Perhaps I will put them on another separate website (the file sizes will be huge, even with only text). There used to be Reports also posted at the Microgravity Research Project Office, but this closed down after running out of funding in March 2003 (a page can be found at Archive.org, but the links to each report were not archived). I don’t know of any similar ISS Russian-language reports.

Saw the ISS tonight (at long last) with the Shuttle docked (6:34 p.m., WSW to SSE, 40° for around 4 minutes); through binoculars, two almost-discernible silver-white blobs instead of one, and the gold of the solar arrays.

Sunday 7/8

The Orbiter undocked at 3:24 EDT Florida time, so when I saw it and the ISS last night at 6:34 p.m. in Melbourne (EST), Discovery would have been moving slowly away and making its separation burn at 4:40 a.m. EDT there (after doing a fly-around). Darn, these time zones get me confused. At long last we will have some more outside photos of the ISS! (They are not online yet, but should be in the NASA Spaceflight Gallery when they are uploaded.)

Discovery is due to land early Monday (4:46 a.m. EDT) in Florida, which will be late Monday here (6:46 p.m.). Second landing opportunity is at 6:21 a.m. The last time I wrote about a shuttle landing was the Columbia tragedy, in my Sunday 2 February 2003 entry:

THE SHUTTLE BLEW UP!!!!

Unbelievably, the Shuttle – STS-107, Columbia – has been destroyed. It appeared to break up upon re-entry, scattering fragments over Texas, and all seven crew were lost – killed. Mum told me this morning. No one knows the exact cause yet, but you can guess at how shocked everyone is. The immediate thought of a terrorist bomb has so far been discounted. I was just watching the TV news, and it was mentioned that a small fragment of wing broke off during a previous Shuttle ascent (don’t know which mission). So perhaps it was some sort of fuselage fatigue – the Shuttles undergo tremendous stresses during launch and re-entry, and Columbia was the oldest of the Shuttle fleet, having made its first flight in 1981. It was only a quarter-way through its projected lifespan, though.

A Russian Priz, «Приз» mini-submarine (a rescue submarine) was trapped 200 m underwater by an underwater antenna or fishing nets off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula on Thursday. Rescue crews from Russia, the U.S. and Britain are trying to raise it and save the 7 men inside. Everyone is drawing obvious comparisons with the Kursk disaster nearly 5 years ago; hopefully this time there will be a happy ending.

“Russia’s rusting navy,” BBC news.

Just heard on the news that the Russian crew were saved. Phew! :-)

Monday 9/8

As anyone with a TV or computer in the world already knows, the landing yesterday was canceled because of inclement weather over Florida and Discovery is to try again this evening (Melbourne time). According to one news channel, “The whole world is holding its breath!”. Well, perhaps excepting the people in Iraq or Dafur or Niger, who are preoccupied with other matters. Edwards AFB in California is an alternate landing place, though they prefer not to land there unless they absolutely have to because the Orbiter has to be hauled at great expense back to Florida. (It is otherwise a perfect landing place as it is on a dry salt lake in the desert; where aircraft like the X-15 rocketplane were tested in the 1960s.)

Had a curious couple of Shuttle-related dreams last night; in one the Orbiter was destroyed upon re-entry (I looked up into a blue sky and saw it disintegrate into white sparks), and in the other I was at some dinner function with others and astronaut Andy Thomas came to sit at my table!

Some excellent outside photos of the ISS are available on the STS-114 Flight Day 12 pages, taken after Discovery departed the ISS.

About one hour to go until Discovery attempts its landing. The alternate landing sites are at Edwards AFB and White Sands, New Mexico.

I don’t know if I should be mentioning this, but yesterday I came across this rather disturbing website: www.americanwomensuck.com/ (I won’t provide a live URL so as not to add to its Google ranking). The unnamed male author is a virulent anti-feminist – “This website is a reaction to the awful treatment I have received from American women for the last 24 years.” This is clearly a hate site, and if it were aimed at a particular race, surely it would be reported and pulled offline? I don’t know what the procedure is.

The author has that dreadful old-fashioned view that women should be no more than subservient slaves. There is also a forum (www.americanwomensuck.com/forums/index.php) where like-minded people (and there seems to be quite a few of them) can post their opinions. The forum is protected (presumably to keep out very angry feminists) and I don’t think I want to look. Some of the subjects also reveal very stereotypical views of women from other countries:

This is exactly the sort of attitude feminists must continually be on guard against. Women are not safe, not even in the Western countries where the battle for equal rights has supposedly been won. And feminism isn’t about hating men – it is about hating the attitude that women are inferior. An attitude that women have had to endure for centuries in all cultures and countries, and which has thus wasted so much potential of half the human race.

Some more extracts from the “Philosophy” page (if it can be dignified with such a word):

Healthy men must rebuke American women to save our souls and to prevent ourselves from becoming extinct … Our fight requires no bullets or bombs. Ours is a cultural exodus using discipline, self-respect, self-restraint, logic, and reason as our weapons. There is no need to lay even one finger on an American woman. They should be shunned and left barren to date and marry drug users, scoundrels, diseased, abusive and dishonest men only … Most American women are both physically and emotionally ugly. I suggest that men take trips to other parts of the world if they want to meet truly beautiful women presumably because they are perceived to be more “subservient” – well, there are feminists in other countries, too, mate.

This way of thinking is closely tied into the conservative/fundamentalist Christian movement in the USA. It’s a disturbing and hateful trend, and one that seems to be gaining in strength.

Wednesday 10/8

FREEZING today, after a cold front from Antarctica came through last night with a blast of icy southerly wind. Only 10°C or so today (which would be warm for a Russian winter day!). There was snow in some outer Melbourne suburbs, but not here, unfortunately. I am just going to huddle under my bedsheets soon, with my electric blanket on. Discovery also landed safely yesterday, after all the fuss and bother.

Thursday 11/8

Not quite so cold today, but still chilly.

In my 3/7 entry I remarked, “We hear plenty in the media about the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq (the toll has passed 1700 since the war began), but little about the Russian soldiers killed in Chechnya.” This article from the RIA Novosti website gives the toll:

Fourteen soldiers died in Chechnya in July

20:00 | 10/08/2005

Moscow, August 10 (RIA Novosti) – A total of 14 soldiers died in Chechnya in July 2005, including 12 men killed in combat, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

Sixty-seven soldiers have been killed and four reported missing in Chechnya since the beginning of 2005.

A total of 3459 soldiers have been killed and 32 reported missing in Chechnya since the start of Russia’s counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus in 1999.

The “American Women Suck” website mentioned in my 9/8 entry was found through Jane Keeler’s site, who comments on it on this feminist/anti-feminist page (“an american woman’s defense of feminism and american women”). The men on that site really need 1) psychiatric help and 2) to get a life.

From the “Angry Arab” blog:

Sunday 14/8

Spring is almost here. Pink cherry blossom came out on some trees whose names I don’t know, about 2 weeks ago (the trees are European and have reddish leaves in summer. They are planted on various naturestrips; unfortunately we don’t have such a tree, just a scraggly sort of eucalypt which drops leaves everywhere). The birds are starting to sing in the early morning. The nicest songs are by the blackbirds (which aren’t native) and the carolling of magpies (which are).

A house under construction across the street was robbed 2 nights ago! Around 1:15 a.m. The thieves had fled before the police got there (probably had a radio scanner to listen to police channels). They took various furnishings that had just been installed. There are many new homes being built in the area (including next to us). No one saw or heard anything. It provides a reminder that opportunistic thieves are always on the lookout. We have been lucky not to have been robbed so far. (Though, when the house we would later live in was being built way back in the 1940s or 1950s, people kept making off with the building materials!)

The entire nine members of Glen Eira Council (which includes our area) was sacked last week due to infighting and corruption. Some ran up bills of thousands of dollars on their ratepayer-funded mobile phones. (Others were not implicated, but there is no provision to sack individuals.) Elections again in November.

Spacewalk this week for Expedition 11. Also Sergei breaks a long-standing record:

At 12:44 a.m. CDT Tuesday 05:44 GMT – 3:44 p.m. Melbourne time on the 16th, Krikalyov’s time spent in space will surpass that of any other human being. Krikalyov’s record will pass the one now held by Cosmonaut Sergei Avdeyev, who spent 748 days in orbit. Krikalyov is a veteran of six space flights, two long-duration flights to the Soviet Union Space Station Mir; two flights on the Space Shuttle; and, counting this mission, two flights to the International Space Station. Krikalyov was aboard the Space Station Mir when the Soviet Union disintegrated. He became the first Russian to fly on the Space Shuttle in 1994. He was a member of the Shuttle crew that began assembly of the International Space Station in 1998. In 2000, he was a member of the first resident International Space Station crew. (JSC Station Status 05-39)

NASA launched yet another Mars mission yesterday, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. I don’t really follow unmanned missions, but I have lost track of how many Mars missions NASA has launched – Russia is a sorry contrast :-(.

From Novosti Kosmonavtiki news № 493, a proposal for a tourist mission around the Moon – if you have a spare $100 million:

10/08/2005/14:51 – Joint statement

On 10 August, 2005, the Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos), the Energiya Rocket-Space Corporation in the name of S.P. Korolev (RKK Energiya) and the Space Adventures, Ltd. company made a joint statement, that they are approaching the realization of a project concerning a flight around the Moon aboard the modernized Soyuz space ship, with a crew consisting of one professional cosmonaut and two non-professional tourists.

Taking into account the fact that Roskosmos and RKK Energiya possess sufficient knowledge and experiment in the area of mastery and space research, the preparation of cosmonauts and realization of manned space flights, project could be realized by 2010.

Space Adventures are granted exclusive marketing rights for the attracting of non-professional tourists and investors to the realization of this project.

We are expecting that this project can be implemented in five years, and it will have serious positive marketing value, demonstrating the possibility of Russian space technology, and which not is unimportant, the goal-directed policy of Russia in the “accessibility” of the participation of non-professional cosmonauts in the mastery of outer space.

The realization of this project will make it possible to for the first time to carry out so serious engineering a design with the participation of a nonprofessional cosmonaut.

– the Roskosmos press-service.

Russian version, Русская версия: Совместное заявление.

Space is still well out of reach of “ordinary” people, though (i.e. non-millionaires). And is Russia’s once-grand vision of conquering the cosmos now merely reduced to a marketing exercise?

According to the Tulip Girl, last week (August 1-7) was World Breastfeeding Week. My response: Yuck! Sorry, I just find the topic (and the whole reproductive cycle) rather nauseating. The breastfeeding issue seems to bring out a peculiar fanaticism in some women; there is even a “World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action”. Why do I find it repulsive? Perhaps because it is so primitive and animalistic (one is essentially a milking cow). Women have been defined for so long purely by their ability to bear children (especially in pagan religions), and they has been limited by that. It seems to be that once you marry and have a child you lose your individual identity and become “the wife of ….” and “the mother of ….”.

Anyway, the blog entries (August 2005) feature lots of off-putting images of breastfeeding babes and the accompanying dreadfully sickly sentimentality that always seems to accompany such topics. (A blog entry, quoted from someone else: “The way my 2 y.o. can seem so old and independent until she nurses and I catch a glimpse of the newborn she was once again.” Excuse me, but why the heck is a TWO-YEAR-OLD still breastfeeding???)

(For the record, I refused to be breastfed after being born and Mum had to bottlefeed me on formula!)

A memorable description of childbirth I saw in an article some years ago: it is like “sh*tting a pumpkin”. This article was about the development of artificial wombs and how these could, in the future, free women from the burden of childbirth. (The article was in The Age; unfortunately I didn’t keep it.) This will have the natural childbirth activists all agitated, but I say, bring it on!!! Pregnancy and childbirth are the most dangerous ordeals a woman’s body can endure (not to mention what it does to one’s figure, as well as stretch marks, haemorrhoids, etc.).

To really put you off your dinner (especially any guys reading this :-D, read this home-birth tale, “The Unassisted Birth Story of Gwyneth Kai”. Warning: lots of revolting body fluids ahead! Some extracts:

At 12:30 am on June 29 (23 days past my due date) I heard a POP! Then a gurgle and then a SPLASH and water poured out from between my legs! I half yelled “Kevin my water broke!” (Quiet, don’t wake the kiddos) He looked at me HUH? And then jumped out of bed and ran into the kitchen or “the birthing room” as we imagined it and started moving the table and chairs out to make room for the pool. I, meanwhile, am floundering on the bed with torrents of water gushing out of me. And you know what I’m thinking? I’m remembering that I am on the mattress WITHOUT a mattress pad. Kevin finally comes to the room and sticks his head in to see if I need anything? Yes, a towel would be nice.

[…] Just in time for another one, Oh no Oh no Oh no I am facing the birth pool wall on my knees and lifting up with the contractions. There is a pause. Then another contraction in which I am totally bearing down. Unmistakably. As soon as that contraction stops I tell Kevin that I’m pushing. I don’t know if this was news to him or not, but he got into the pool [which is impressive considering that there is … um … poop in there]. … But there was one more with no change, and then I said, “don’t pull!” and Kevin said, “I’m not pulling!” so I knew that the baby was turning and VOILA! I felt a little body squirm around inside of me and then with a push, out slid Gwyneth. Kevin caught and then I turned around and he put her right into my lap, pale and still for about a second and then a little cough splutter and then a hearty cry! Yes!

[…] Isobel came to pay her respects first, then went back to wake up Fiona, they all gathered around in time for me to expel the placenta with a lovely plooping sound. Kevin tied the cord with 3 pieces of braided embroidery thread, so that Gwyneth’s stump looked all festive like a little party and then we cut the cord (about 45 minutes after the birth). She had remained gurgly for a little while, but once the placenta was out I put her feet a bit higher than her head, and after about a minute she sneezed out a bunch of snotty stuff and that was that.

Ugh! I did warn you about the body fluids. I can remember watching a birth video in a science class or somewhere at school and thinking how utterly repulsive the whole process was (it’s bad enough seeing animals give birth during wildlife documentaries).

Did you know that the largest number of children born to one woman is to a lady (in Russia, as it happens) who had 69!!!!! No access to birth control there, obviously. She would have had to have one child a year from menarche to menopause. Poor woman – I hate to think of the state of her body after all those pregnancies year after year.

Update 17/11/2006: Actually I later read somewhere that she had several sets of twins and triplets. Don’t envy her, though!

Update 14/6/2007: A bit more information:

The most prolific mother in history was a Russian peasant who had 69 children in the 18th century, 67 of which survived infancy. Between 1725 and 1765, she endured 27 multiple births, which included 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets, and four sets of quadruplets.

– World records for number of children

Tuesday 16/8

“Krikalyov Approaches Time-in-Space Record,” NASA. Today, Sergei on the ISS becomes the person with the most accumulated time in space ever, at 05:44 GMT! That’s 3:44 p.m. Melbourne time. He will surpass (now-retired) cosmonaut Sergei Avdeev’s 748 accumulated days. Will his employer, Energiya, mention it on their website? Grumpy Keith at NASA Watch hasn’t (so far), but he doesn’t like Russians anyway >:-(.

Space tourist Greg Olsen looks set to go up on Soyuz TMA-7 in late October. Another middle-aged, wealthy entrepreneur-type (*yawn*). His back-up is (after looking at Spacefacts), a Russian called Sergei Kostenko.

“China on track to send satellite to the Moon,” NewScientistSpace.com. China continues its secretive plans for space, whatever they are. Two taikonauts are due to launch for a 5-day mission sometime in October.

“The Chinese have consistently tried to make sure that their ‘first’ was bigger, better, and more capable than anybody else’s,” Cheng told New Scientist. “The first Chinese satellite was larger and lasted longer than Sputnik; the first Chinese manned mission lasted longer than Gagarin’s,” he says, referring to history-making Russian feats. The Shenzhou spacecraft is much bigger than the Soyuz craft that ferries astronauts to the International Space Station.

A lot of their space technology was derived from Russia’s, who sold some to them in the early 1990s when the Russian space program was desperate for money. This might end up backfiring: how will the Russian space program look if China becomes the second nation to leave Earth orbit? It will be a great “loss of face” for Russia. Despite co-operation, Russia and China have always had a somewhat uneasy relationship.

An interesting article was published at the Russian Federal Space Agency site, “Thoughts on Discovery and Priz, Дума о «Дискавери» и «Призе»,” saying that spaceflight is the only sphere in which Russia has been consistently successful, in comparison with other areas such as the sea. The Babelfish translation of the article is horrid, as usual; I will put it below after I have finished struggling to tidy it up.

08/15/2005 Thinking about “Discovery” and “Prize”

The Federal Space Agency offers readers of the site an article by Sergei Leskov, published in the magazine Profile, “Thought about Discovery and Prize” on August 15, 2005.

This material has been submitted for participation in the competition for the best publication in print media, the results of which are planned to be summed up by the end of 2005.

Thinking about “Discovery” and “Prize”

Sergey Leskov, Profile

At Pushkin, Balda twisted a rope in the sea in order to fish out the demon from there. Since childhood, I have been interested in the question why Balda, who, one must understand, is the embodiment of the Russian national character, believes that the demon lives in the sea? Pushkin, as you know, is our everything, and if he said anything, he is. Subsequent events have repeatedly confirmed the correctness of the poet. Even the volley of the Aurora and the revolutionary revelry of the sailors served as confirmation of the devilry emanating from the Russian sea, which conceals death and brings destruction …

The beginning of August is marked by two technological dramas. Not the whole planet, of course, but that part of what is called the civilized world, anxiously followed what was happening. The first event is the epic with the American shuttle Discovery, which did not take off very well and could bury itself along with the crew. And secondly, the Russian bathyscaphe “Priz” at the bottom of the sea got tangled in the devil knows what ropes and could also die. Both stories could have ended tragically, but everything turned out well. However, there was plenty of food for thought.

The Russian bathyscaphe “Priz” was saved thanks to the efforts of the Anglo-Saxons, although the Japanese were also at the ready. On the contrary, almost the only hope of the Discovery crew, interspersed with a Japanese, was the Russian Soyuz rescue ships. Yes, and the astronauts turned over for more than a week at the orbital station, which has been supported for three years thanks to Russian transports. So, behind us is space, behind America is the ocean.

The Russian people have always treated the sea-ocean with distrust, even hostility. Water is the embodiment of the feminine, temptation and sin. It is no coincidence that temptress-mermaids lived in rivers. Reservoirs, according to Russian beliefs, are full of evil spirits and filth. Sadko's Russian melodies in the underwater kingdom caused a storm and discontent. There is no aversion to water in Western folklore. Among the ancient Greeks, the most beautiful women came out of the sea, essentially goddesses. The sea calls the Western man, expands his horizons, improves, as with Gulliver and Robinson Crusoe, moral limits.

The great Russian navigators were mostly non-Russian people – Bering, Kruzenshtern, Bellingshausen, Billings, Litke, even Nakhimov … Overland geographical discoveries were made exclusively by Russian people, from Khabarov to Przhevalsky. In the USSR, the most outstanding hero-sailor Alexander Marinesko (Romanian by nationality), Hitler's enemy No. 1, was spread rot and pushed aside for decades. Even today we are in no hurry to release our sailors from foreign prisons – they are somehow initially suspicious.

Consciousness is primary, determines being. We are trying to make marine equipment, but we could not boast of special achievements on this tack even in the best of times. And we manage this technique like a bear with a motorcycle. The largest maritime disasters of recent decades are the collision of the ship Admiral Nakhimov and the dry cargo ship Pyotr Vasev (398 victims), the death of the nuclear submarine Kursk (118 victims). It's just a disaster with submarines – they lie on the bottom, as if it was lined with magnets. For 40 years, about 650 people have died on our submarines. In the United States, the last major accident occurred in 1968, when the nuclear submarine Scorpion crashed off the Azores (99 victims). There have never been any casualties in the British nuclear submarines. In a word, we do not trust the sea – it does not accept us.

Space is another matter. No one in our country was so easily awarded the highest awards as cosmonauts. Horizontally boundless Russia can find heroes only in the vertical dimension. Today space is the main symbol of the Russian collective unconscious. We are wounded in everything except space. Ballet and hockey have already been given away, but we are holding on to space. The last bastion of our maniacal-messian consciousness, which allows us to feel our exclusivity in the face of the nasty Anglo-Saxons.

Russian space technology, compared to marine technology, seems to be made on another planet. After the death in 1971 of Dobrovolsky, Volkov and Patsaev, our cosmonautics has been working without casualties. Accidents happen – but in Russia the reliability parameters of space technology are higher than in any country. The American attitude to space is devoid of our romanticism. President Johnson uttered words that were incredible for the Russian worldview: “If we send people to the moon, then we can help the old woman with medical insurance.”

This is how we dive, swim, fly …

15.08.2005 Дума о «Дискавери» и «Призе»

Федеральное космическое агентство предлагает читателям сайта статью Сергея Лескова, опубликованную в журнале «Профиль» «Дума о «Дискавери» и «Призе» 15 августа 2005 года.

Сергей Лесков, «Профиль»

У Пушкина Балда крутил веревку в море, дабы выудить оттуда беса. Меня с детства интересовал вопрос, почему Балда, который, надо понимать, есть воплощение русского национального характера, считает, что бес обитает именно в море? Пушкин, как известно, – наше все, и, если уж он что сказал, так и есть. Дальнейшие события многажды подтверждали правоту поэта. Даже залп «Авроры» и революционный разгул морячков служил подтверждением чертовщины, исходящей от русского моря, которое таит погибель и несет разрушение …

Начало августа отмечено двумя техногенными драмами. Не вся планета, конечно, но та часть, что зовется цивилизованным миром, трепетно следила за происходящим. Первое событие – эпопея с американским шаттлом «Дискавери», который взлетел не слишком удачно и мог похоронить себя вместе с экипажем. И второе – российский батискаф «Приз» на дне морском запутался черт знает в каких веревках и тоже мог погибнуть. Обе истории могли бы закончиться трагически, но все обернулось благополучно. Однако пищу для размышления дали обильную.

Российский батискаф «Приз» спасли благодаря усилиям англосаксов, хотя и японцы были наготове. Напротив, чуть не единственной надеждой экипажа «Дискавери» с вкраплением японца были российские спасательные корабли «Союз». Да и перекантовались астронавты больше недели на орбитальной станции, которая уже три года поддерживается благодаря российским транспортам. Итак, за нами – космос, за Америкой – океан.

К морю-океану русский человек всегда относился с недоверием, даже враждебно. Вода – воплощение женского начала, соблазна и греха. Не случайно искусительницы-русалки обитали в реках. Водоемы, по русским поверьям, полны нечисти и скверны. Русские наигрыши Садко в подводном царстве вызвали бурю и недовольство. В западном фольклоре отвращения к воде нет. У древних греков из моря выходили самые красивые женщины, по существу богини. Море зовет западного человека, расширяет его кругозор, совершенствует, как у Гулливера и Робинзона Крузо, нравственные пределы.

Великие русские мореплаватели были в большинстве нерусскими людьми – Беринг, Крузенштерн, Беллинсгаузен, Биллингс, Литке, даже Нахимов … Сухопутные же географические открытия совершали исключительно русские люди, от Хабарова до Пржевальского. В СССР самого выдающегося героя-моряка Александра Маринеско (по национальности – румын), врага Гитлера №1, десятилетиями гнобили и задвигали. Мы и сегодня не спешим вызволять из иностранных тюрем своих моряков – какие-то они изначально подозрительные.

Сознание первично, определяет бытие. Мы пробуем делать морскую технику, но особыми достижениями на этом галсе похвастать не могли даже в лучшие времена. И управляемся с этой техникой, как медведь с мотоциклом. Крупнейшие морские катастрофы последних десятилетий – столкновение теплохода «Адмирал Нахимов» и сухогруза «Петр Васев» (398 жертв), гибель атомной подводной лодки «Курск» (118 жертв). С субмаринами просто беда – ложатся на дно, будто оно магнитами выложено. За 40 лет на наших подлодках погибли около 650 человек. В США последняя крупная авария случилась в 1968 году, когда у Азорских островов потерпела крушение атомная подлодка «Скорпион» (99 жертв). На британских АПЛ жертв не было вообще никогда. Словом, морю мы не доверяем – оно нас не принимает.

Другое дело космос. Никому в нашей стране с такой легкостью не присуждали высшие награды, как космонавтам. Горизонтально беспредельная Россия героев может найти только в вертикальном измерении. Сегодня космос – главный символ русского коллективного бессознательного. Мы уязвлены во всем, кроме космоса. Уже балет и хоккей отдали, а космос держим. Последний бастион нашего маниакальномессианского сознания, который позволяет ощущать свою исключительность перед лицом противных англосаксов.

Российская космическая техника по сравнению с морской словно сделана на другой планете. После гибели в 1971 году Добровольского, Волкова и Пацаева наша космонавтика работает без жертв. Аварии случаются – но в России параметры надежности космической техники выше, чем в любой стране. У американцев отношение к космосу лишено нашего романтизма. Президент Джонсон произнес невероятные для русского мироощущения слова: «Если мы отправляем людей на Луну, то можем помочь старушке медицинской страховкой».

Вот так ныряем, плаваем, летаем …

Wednesday 17/8

A BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Sergei (in case I didn’t make that clear yesterday). Not that he will ever read this, or knows of my sites :-(. I was disappointed to see that none of the Russian space sites mentioned his time-in-space-record achievement.

Mars has been visible in the early morning sky here for a few months as a dull reddish glow. It won’t get as close as it did two years ago.

Thursday 18/8

Today the washing machine broke down (drive belt broke, or something) so we have to wait for a technician to come fix it … sometime … in a few days (they are supposed to ring tomorrow to arrange a time). A real nuisance, as you might imagine, as it gets used most days. The machine was bought in December 2001 so it isn’t that old (brand: Fisher & Paykel). Fortunately Mum & Dad got an extended warranty for it. The machine is electronically-controlled, so Dad can’t fix it (unlike our previous model, which he kept going for years). This is the obvious disadvantage of electronic devices – while they are generally more reliable than their old analog equivalents, once they break down they can’t be repaired easily (or at all, sometimes). I did see a newspaper article a few weeks ago (forgot to cut it out and save it) lamenting the demise of the old-style motor mechanics who could fix just about anything (Dad is such a “Mr. Fix-it”). Now cars are so computerized that such skills are redundant. When the computers break down, though, people are left stranded!

I had a peculiar dream last night (well, most of my dreams are peculiar) about Schapelle Corby escaping from her Bali prison and fleeing across all these tropical islands! These palm-covered islands appear occasionally in my dreams.

Did my usual wander around the Borders bookstore at Chadstone today and bought a book (reduced price – $17) called Cultural Atlas of Russia and the Former Soviet Union (1998). There is a section of Russian history books there but it is difficult to find anything that isn’t suicide-inducingly depressing! (See 23/6 entry.)

301 megabytes used up already this month (out of 500)! Dad did a couple of downloads, but I think most of it is just me wandering around various webpages.

“Next shuttle mission delayed until March,” MSNBC.com. Sigh. The next launch (STS-121) is tentatively scheduled for March 2006 and will see Discovery fly again, not Atlantis. STS-115 (Atlantis) would thus fly in May 2006. At least they got ONE mission in this year, enabling a long-broken gyroscope to be replaced, and a whole lot of stuff removed from the ISS and returned to Earth.

Sergei and John’s spacewalk (VKD is the Russian acronym because they are wearing Russian Orlan-M spacesuits) is scheduled for tomorrow, Melbourne time! 18:55 GMT on the 18th; 04:55 a.m. Melbourne time on the 19th here. End 00:55 GMT on the 19th (10:55 a.m. in Melbourne).

Sunday 21/8

Someone is coming to fix the washing machine on Monday (we hope).

Went on my usual bicycle ride down South Road and along Beach Road, then back again. Compared to all the other cyclists I seem to be so slow! Dad says it is because I am riding an old and heavy mountain bike. I used to have a racing bike but sold it some years ago when I though I had finished with going bike-riding. Oh well. I saw an Atlantic seagull near the beach – a large mottled-grey bird, different from the common seagulls. Last week I saw two pelicans flying high overhead – their large beaks were visible in their silhouette.

I have been fussing over my websites for the umpteenth time; this time I am agonizing over how to present information such as the lists of ISS crews – as a list, or in a table? This takes up so much of my energy that I have little left over for anything else! I don’t know what is the best way. There are some pages that need to be redone as they are either outdated or untidy. I would also like to convert from layout tables to CSS layouts, but find it impossible to get the pages looking the way I want because of browser bugs, and the CSS “hacks” needed to surmount these are complex and confusing. Again, this is time and energy diverted away from actually adding content.

I am also still musing over whether I should sign up for a proper blog, such as at Blogger.com. I think they now have space for photo storage (up to 300 MB). I am not very happy with some aspects, such as the formatting of some of the templates (in the HTML code, they often use <br><br> to separate paragraphs, rather than the proper <p></p>. Yes, I am fussy about things like that!).

Going to various blogs is now a favorite activity; I have quite a few “regulars” whom I visit (though I am usually a “silent reader” as I don’t post comments, though some don’t have comment facilities enabled). I do wish some would post a bit more regularly (some haven’t done so for months!), though some can be excused (such as “Riverbend” at Baghdad Burning, who can only post irregularly because of the bombings, power failures, etc. in Baghdad). Quite a few are U.S. blogs, and reading the political comments there, those with Left or Right political views are extremely polarized, i.e. they hate each other’s guts. Many of the space-themed blogs, such as Mark the Grumpy Old Fart (sorry :-D at Curmudgeon’s Corner, are very conservative-leaning and I get very irritated at them.

Russian blogs are harder to find; the ones I have linked to on the home page here are by foreigners living in Russia. Unfortunately my Russian is extremely limited, so I couldn’t read Russian-language ones. Are there any about the Russian space program? There are hundreds about NASA and American spaceflight, but I know of none concerning Russian spaceflight. Surely there must be? I suppose I could reserve a name at Blogger.com and put all the space stuff I mention here, in there.

Two interesting posts from Siberian Light blog regarding the Cyrillic alphabet:

In the first entry, apparently some politician called Sam Vankin “wants Russia to abandon the Cyrillic alphabet and switch to a Latin one”. Which is an extraordinarily silly proposition. The Cyrillic alphabet does seem like some mysterious code at first, but it’s a matter of memorizing all the letters and eventually they just make sense, the same way you learned the English alphabet when little. (Learning the grammar and all the words is rather harder, though!) I do agree with the other article about the awkward Cyrillic keyboard (having to use the SHIFT key to produce a comma when in Cyrillic mode, for example, is a pain!). I can now touch-type in Cyrillic to some extent, but very slowly (and with a keyboard print-out nearby for reference).

Criticizing President Putin for one thing or another seems to be something of a blood-sport amongst many bloggers (not to mention journalists). Perhaps it is because he tends to keep his emotions and thoughts to himself, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Well, I am no fan of our own Dear Leader, PM John Howard, as I have made clear in previous entries. Do you realize that he has now been in power for 9 years (since 1996)? Way too long. As far as I am concerned, his only good deed in that time was to ban gun ownership after the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.

The Tulip Girl (the one who did the soppy (excessively sentimental) posts about breastfeeding – see 14/8 entry) has an archive of equally soppy entries about the so-called “Orange Revolution” in Ukraine last year (Orange Ukraine). I still think the whole event was hyped out of all proportion by the Western media (the underlying theme as presented by them was “Repressive Russia vs. the West”) – see my entries for November 2004. I notice that she was over there as part of some religious group. After the fall of the USSR, various religious organizations descended upon the countries of the former Soviet Union like flies upon a corpse (apologies for somewhat grotesque imagery!). I can just envision the evangelical religious types jumping for joy at the prospect of a whole lot of new souls to “save”.

And while we are on Ukraine, one thing that fascinates me is Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s hair. Or rather, her hairstyle. I like it! But I have no idea how to imitate the hairstyle. According to an article in The Age from some time ago (I will scan it in and post it in the Russian articles section of my Suzy site):

Since she gained office, she has dyed her long hair blonde and has a personal hairdresser sent to her house every morning to create her trademark wraparound plait, which is a tribute to traditional Ukrainian peasant girls. When she’s in Parliament, this particular Ukrainian “peasant girl” wears towering stilettos and tightly tailored dresses with high necks and sexy lace sleeves by leading Ukrainian designer Aina Gase.

Yulia Tymoshenko and her hairstyles

Don’t know why she dyed her hair as the natural color seemed OK before. Her hair doesn’t seem much longer than mine in the photos on her website.

She is one of the world’s richest women, but seems to have attained that wealth in a rather dubious manner, as many of the Russian super-rich did:

The 44-year-old is worth U.S.$7 billion (A$8.9 billion) as a result of the privatisation of Ukraine’s oil and gas industry and has four private planes. No matter that her husband, Oleksander, is living in exile in London because he is wanted for corruption back home, and that she spent a month behind bars on similar charges before securing her release.

According to a somewhat adoring posting about her at Wikipedia, “some media publications dubbed her ‘Joan of Arc of the Orange Revolution’”!! Oh, for goodness’ sake! (*Rolls eyes with disgust*) “She is still wanted by the Russian government on various financial crime charges, although her defenders say the Russian government is politically motivated to arrest her.”

The spacewalk went well, though it was cut short as Sergei and John were about 45 minutes behind schedule. They spent 4 hours 57 minutes outside (originally scheduled to spend 6 hours). I hope photos will appear in their Gallery sometime! They are a bit tardy in uploading photos.

The crew were originally scheduled to do another spacewalk in U.S. EMU suits but I am still uncertain as to the status of this.

As well as the Elektron O2 generator, the Vozdukh CO2 remover broke down last week! Back-ups are being used and the crew are in no danger, but all this equipment breaking down must be a real nuisance. Sergei will try to fix it.

Something to annoy Grumpy Keith at NASA Watch (I found it a day before he did):

Soyuz spacecraft to cost NASA $65 million

18/08/2005

Zhukovsky (Moscow region), August 18 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Space Agency Roscosmos will sell a Soyuz spacecraft, a carrier rocket and launch services to NASA for some $65 million, if the American agency approves the deal, a Roscosmos official told journalists Thursday.

Roscosmos manned flight programs head Alexei Krasnov said the deal, which includes a Russian cosmonaut as shuttle commander, might be changed to take inflation into account.

He explained that Russia’s commitments on American astronauts’ delivery to the International Space Station would expire in spring 2006, meaning that in April 2006, two seats in the Soyuz would be given to Russian cosmonauts and one would go to either a space tourist, a European Space Agency astronaut or any other candidate who can pay for the flight.

“We hope American shuttles will resume regular flights and we are suggesting that our American partners use Soyuz craft as retrieving units for the ISS crew instead of as shuttles,” Krasnov said.

The United States cannot currently buy the craft because of a U.S. law banning airspace equipment purchases from certain countries.

$65 million is still cheaper than one Shuttle flight! Also the Russian space program does not have NASA’s $16 billion-a-year budget.

Monday 22/8

The washing machine was fixed – actually, it wasn’t broken, but a scrap of cloth had got caught in a pump and jammed it! The cloth belonged to (ahem!) me; I had been using it as a sole insert for my disintegrating jogging sneakers (I use my sneakers until they literally fall apart as new sneakers are expensive). Fortunately the repair man did not charge for this (he replaced the pump anyway). Now there is a backlog of washing to do!

The current Pope seems to be getting an inordinate amount of attention here, in the news. Apparently he is to visit Australia in 2008. I am underwhelmed.

More Commonwealth Games waste: apparently $12 million is to be spent on some sort of multicultural party/celebration for the Games (a.k.a. “Poor Man’s Olympics”). Isn’t it amazing how much taxpayers’ money they seem to be able to find for these frivolities.

China and Russia are currently partaking in war games:

China and Russia flag true agendas

By Hamish McDonald, Beijing
August 22, 2005

A parachute drop by Russian special forces at a Chinese Army training ground has signalled an intensifying challenge by two former communist rivals to the US strategic presence in Asia.

The 86 Russian paratroopers dropped near Weifang City on the Shandong Peninsula, jutting out of China’s north-east coast into the Yellow Sea, on Saturday as part of eight days of unprecedented joint exercises.

Before they end on Thursday, the drills will see more jumps by airborne forces, Chinese and Russian marines storming ashore, cruise missile launches by Russian Tu-95 and Tu-22 strategic bombers, Russian air tankers refuelling Chinese fighters, and ships and submarines imposing a simulated naval blockade.

All this, codenamed Peace Mission 2005, is supposed to be an anti-terrorist exercise.

China’s first proposed location, the coast of Fujian province facing Taiwan, would have made its main interest a little clearer. The Russians, anxious not to be dragged into a war over the island republic, wanted the war games on the border of landlocked Xinjiang, in China’s north-west.

Shandong, the compromise, is closer to China’s objective. A Russian military source, quoted by the Japanese news agency Kyodo, said: “This scenario envisages blitzing into Taiwan’s nerve centres while enforcing naval blockades for containing the US military’s intervention.”

Wu Min-chieh, a writer for Hong Kong’s Communist Party-linked newspaper Wen Wei Po, said the exercises had multiple objectives – showing off the level of military co-operation between China and Russia; demonstrating the ability to intervene in Korea, just across the Yellow Sea; and deterring independence forces in Taiwan.

Other analysts see it as continuing pressure by the two powers to force the US out of its military presence in central Asia as part of the Afghanistan invention since 2001, especially following Uzbekistan’s recent order for the US to quit an air base.

Russia, which has traded territory with China along the Amur River border, the scene of large-scale Sino-Soviet military clashes a little over 30 years ago, is also using the exercise to show it remains a formidable military power in the region, despite the declining Russian population in its resource-rich far east.

The exercise is also a chance to show some of the weapons it hopes to sell to the Chinese, including the Tu-22 bomber, aerial tankers, and airborne radar planes.

American defence attaches, like those of its allied countries including Australia, have not been invited to observe. Only the central Asian republics in the Chinese-led Shanghai Co-operation Agreement are allowed to watch, along with SCO observer countries – India, Iran, Pakistan and Mongolia – that Beijing and Moscow would like to lure away from US influence.

The Americans are still getting a close look – having sent two EP-3 spy planes and at least two ships into the area, according to reports from Washington.

“We’re very interested in the exercise,” said Admiral Gary Roughead, the new US Fleet Commander in the Pacific.

Perhaps one of those spy planes might be “accidentally” shot down! It’s a clear message to a certain superpower to “stay out of our backyard, mate!” I can’t help thinking, though, that if Russia and China went to war, it wouldn’t be China who was the loser.

I don’t think that our Dear Leader (PM John Howard) is even aware that Russia exists; he seems to have no interest in fostering an alliance the way he has with the USA and China.

Tuesday 23/8

Reflection of Sergei in John’s spacesuit helmet visor

Some exterior photos from the Expedition 11 spacewalk are up in the NASA Gallery (Page 27)– but there are NONE OF SERGEI!!! I am annoyed and disappointed. They are all of John Phillips. There is just ONE indistinct reflection of Sergei in John’s visor in one of the photos (ISS011-e-11497) – he can be seen holding the camera wrapped in white thermal insulation. There are no photos of the spacewalk preparations either. There doesn’t seem to be ANY photos of Sergei in an Orlan spacesuit at all, from any of his missions (at least, none I could find on the Internet). My big disappointment for the day :-(. I was really hoping for a photo of Sergei in his Orlan spacesuit, outside in space.

Thursday 25/8

Went to the city by train yesterday for my usual aimless wander around the usual bookstores, then back home again. Going there reinforces how much I dislike cities (noisy, polluted, crowded, dirty, too many strange people, etc.)

The mystery of Yulia Tymoshenko’s hairstyle (21/8 entry) is solved, thanks to Alex K. – it’s a hairpiece! The hairstyle is called a chignon or корона in Russian. My hair will need to be twice as long before I could try it. I did have an old man come up to me this morning while in the Chadstone Borders bookstore and compliment me on my French braid!

“Their Will Be Done” (pop-up blocker needed!): Partners in crime – the CIA and the Catholic Church. Found this article via the Traitor’s Dawn blog. The article is from 1983.

The CIA and current U.S. government are still meddling in South America, apparently because they find the prospect of Leftist governments horrifying (and such governments would not be particularly enthusiastic about U.S. policy). Some U.S. religious-right wanker called Pat Robertson really put his foot in it when he suggested that the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez should be assassinated. Only last week, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was visiting the region. From The Age last week:

US revisits Cold War rhetoric down south

Date: 20 August 2005
By David Cloud, Lima

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s visit to South America this week felt like a throwback to the Cold War, when American officials saw their main job as bolstering the northern hemisphere’s governments against leftist insurgencies and communist infiltration.

During stops in Paraguay and Peru, Mr. Rumsfeld and his aides warned of what they consider troublemaking by President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Fidel Castro of Cuba.

The Defence Secretary’s goal in Peru and Paraguay was to stitch together support for isolating Mr. Chavez, who has become bitterly anti-Washington since the Bush Administration tacitly supported a coup that briefly ousted him in 2002.

But in some ways the visit has served as a reminder of how resistant Latin America is to US pressure.

Officials traveling with Mr. Rumsfeld said Mr. Chavez, sometimes with Dr Castro’s help, was quietly backing leftist movements in Bolivia and elsewhere in the region.

Coupled with chronic problems in Latin America of corruption, drug trafficking and gang violence, they said, these efforts were raising the threat of rising instability.

“There certainly is evidence that both Cuba and Venezuela have been involved in the situation in Bolivia in unhelpful ways,” Mr. Rumsfeld said this week.

President Alejandro Toledo of Peru voiced cautious concern when reporters asked if he shared the US view about Venezuela and Cuba. “I would like to express my concern,” he said. “This is a shared responsibility in the region of trying to build and establish a democracy.”

But Mr. Toledo appeared more interested in obtaining a free trade agreement with the US to bolster his sagging political fortunes.

The governments of many of the region’s biggest countries are left-leaning and see little benefit in confronting Venezuela, a major oil producer, or Cuba. Some are as sceptical of Washington’s warnings about Mr. Chavez fomenting unrest as they were about its admonitions a year ago that Islamic militants were a threat.

That explains why Mr. Rumsfeld chose to go to Paraguay and Peru, neither of which had been visited by an American defence secretary before. A senior Defence Department official said both countries shared the Bush Administration’s view of Mr. Chavez.

President Nicanor Duarte Frutos of Paraguay, who met Mr. Rumsfeld on Tuesday, recently ordered 700 Cuban doctors to leave his country after indications that they were involved in anti-government activities, a senior American official said.

A Timeline of CIA Atrocities: a webpage of interest.

Saturday 27/8

431 MB (out of 500) used up in Dad’s monthly account! Will have to restrict my time on the Internet until Thursday (1 September). I don’t know where all the megabytes go – I mainly just wander around various webpages. Of course, many of these have a lot of images to download, mainly used for decoration (in the navigation, etc.), so I guess it all adds up.

Weather warmed up a bit today; pleasantly warm sunny spring weather. Unfortunately it is going to be another hot dry summer.

There seems to have been a few people (well, two) eaten by various wild creatures the last few weeks. A few weeks ago a man got taken by a crocodile up north (Queensland or Northern Territory; can’t remember which). This week a marine biologist got taken by a Great White shark on the South Australian coast while diving (the fifth person to get taken by a shark there since 2000). Last week on TV, on 60 Minutes, there was a story about a man, Timothy Treadwell, who was (along with his girlfriend) eaten by an Alaskan grizzly brown bear in 2003: “Wildlife author killed, eaten by bears he loved,” Anchorage Daily News.

The way he acted around the bears, though, he seemed to have a death wish. I wonder if his former drug and alcohol habits damaged his brain somehow?

I guess those tragedies are a sobering reminder that humans are still part of the natural world and to predatory animals we are just a potential food source – despite all the pretensions humans have to being above the rest of Nature. It is horrid to think of someone you know getting eaten, though.

Australia is to adopt UTC time:

Adjust your clocks! It’s atomic time

By Stephen Cauchi, Science Reporter
August 27, 2005

Australia is about to sever another historical link with Britain. On September 1 it will abandon Greenwich Mean Time and adopt a new national standard based on the atomic clock – one ultimately governed by France.

Rather than GMT, based on the movement of the sun over a brass mark at Greenwich on the Thames, official time in Australia will be based on the ultra-precise vibrations of a caesium 133 atom – Co-ordinated Universal Time (UTC).

Until now, state and territory governments, though not the Federal Government, had expressed the time that laws would take effect in GMT. Laws now will be written using UTC, a difference of a fraction of a second. “GMT is just a little bit outmoded,” said Richard Brittain of the Sydney-based National Measurement Institute. “Atomic clocks are the way to go in terms of accurate timekeeping. But nobody is going to get their day shortened or their life lengthened.”

New Zealand, Singapore, the United States and most of the European Union countries have already adopted UTC.

On the International Space Station they still use GMT. So should I still use this, or move to UTC, or both? Energiya uses UTC when noting launch and landing times (as well as Moscow Time).

Today is a certain spaceman’s 47th birthday! С днём рожденья, Сергей!

Tuesday 30/8

Gales, gales, gales all yesterday, last night and today, like Hurricane Katrina on a much smaller scale. The usual irritating northerly wind. Last night was one of the warmest August nights on record (19.6°C), in contrast to the cold snap nearly 3 weeks ago on 10/8!

448 MB used up of Dad’s account (out of 500); one more day to go!

1st September is the first day of the new school year in Russia; unfortunately now it is also tinged with sadness as it will be one year since the Beslan massacre. I hope someone will find Shamil Basayev and do very unpleasant things to him.

There IS one photo of Sergei during the recent 18/8 spacewalk, thanks to Wil who sent it to me! I can only put a small image here, but the Russian flag on his Orlan-M suit is visible, and the suit serial number 27. The other patch is a very nice special one made for the spacewalk (perhaps sent up on the last Progress flight). It is embroidered with ВКД МКС-XI – VKD ISS-XI (Roman numerals for 11). A silver-suited spacewalker floats near one of the golden solar panels. It was of John, after all.

A very happy Maryam made ham radio contact with him on his birthday, as did many amateur radio operators around the world. The Russian Federal Space Agency also noted his birthday and long-duration spaceflight record in this news item:

Rough English Babelfish translation:

29/08/2005 Roskosmos congratulates the commander of the ISS Prime Expedition 11, Sergei Krikalyov on his birthday

The commander of the International Space Station (ISS), Sergei Krikalyov, who carries the “watch” in orbit, attained 47 years on Saturday.

The crew of the 11th ISS Expedition, headed by Krikalyov, must return to the Earth on 15 October, 2005. Sergei is the 67th cosmonaut of Russia and 209th cosmonaut of the world.

S. Krikalyov exceeded record in a total quantity of days of a stay in space. His accumulated time comprises more than 750 days.

Sergei Krikalyov was born on 27 August, 1958, in Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg. His parents live there still.

In 1978 he graduated from secondary school, in 1981 after completion of Leningrad mechanical institute to he was appropriated the qualification of engineer mechanics.

After completion of institute he worked in NPO Energiya. Was experienced the equipment, used in space flights, he developed method of operations in space he participated in the work of the ground-based service of control. In 1985, when arose malfunctions at the station Salyut-7, he worked to the group of restoration, developed the methods of docking with the unguided station also of the repair of its onboard systems.

Sergei Krikalyov was selected for the preparation for space flights in 1985, in 1986 he finished the course of basic preparation, and he was, to the period, he was directed to the group along the program of the Buran reusable ship. In the beginning of 1988 he began preparation for his first long flight at the beginning of 1988. During April 1990 S. Krikalyov began preparation for his second flight as the member of the duplicating crew for the eighth lasting expedition to the station Mir, which also included 5 space walks in, and work in the course of the week with the Soviet-Japanese crew.

During December 1990 S. Krikalyov began preparation for the ninth expedition to the station Mir, which included 5 space walks. Soyuz TM-12 was launched on 19 May, 1991, with commander Anatoliy Artsebarskii, flight engineer Krikalyov and the British astronaut Helen Sharman. After a week, Sharman returned to the Earth with the previous crew, and Krikalyov and Artsebarskii remained on the Mir.

During the summer they carried out six space walks, in this case carried out different experiments and works on the maintenance of the station.

During July 1991 S. Krikalyov agreed to remain at the station Mir as the flight engineer with the following crew (which had to arrive during October), since the following two flights were united into one.

During two flights S. Krikalyov conducted in space more than a year and three months and completed seven space walks.

S. Krikalyov participated in the STS-60 flight, the first American-Russian joint flight aboard the reusable ship. Flight STS-60, which was begun on 3 February, 1994, was the second flight with the module Spacehab (Space Habitation Module) and the first flight with the device WSF (Wake Shield Facility).

After the STS-60 flight, S. Krikalyov returned to his work to Russia. He periodically was in the Johnson Space Center in Houston in order to work in the control center together with the CAPCOM and of personnel for administration in Russia, for the support of joint American-Russian flights. He supported the flights STS-63, STS-71, STS-74 and STS-76.

He is interested in swimming, skiing, cycling and sport aviation, and also by amateur radio contacts, especially from space.

Sergei Krikalyov is married to Terekhinoi, Helen Yur’evne (b. 1956), who works as an engineer at RKK Energiya. They have one daughter, Olga (b. 1990).

S. Krikalyov was the member of the national aviation commands of Russia and Soviet Union; was the champion of Moscow in 1983; and also of the Soviet Union in 1986. During his space flights he was awarded the title “Hero of the Soviet Union,” he is rewarded with the Order of Lenin, is appropriated the French title “Officer of the Legion of Glory” and a new title, “Hero of Russia”. In 1994 he was rewarded with the medal of NASA.

Russian version, Русская версия: Роскосмос поздравляет командира 11 основной экспедиции на МКС Сергея Крикалёва с днём рождения.

Only 6 weeks to go until the end of their mission! I wonder if Sergei will go into space again after this, perhaps in a few years. I hope he doesn’t retire! I hope he keeps going until he is 100 :-).

Wednesday 31/8

Ooops … just had another close look at that spacewalk photo I mentioned yesterday (30/8) and realized it ISN’T Sergei, but John – he was wearing the #27 spacesuit, while Sergei wore #25 (both have red stripes). It was the Russian flag that confused me – I though John would have put a U.S. flag patch on his suit to differentiate it, but apparently he didn’t. *Sigh* Disappointed again. (So how do the ground controllers tell them apart?) So this is the only one of two photos showing Sergei with the two Orlans – his (#25) is on the left (his right side).

September

Thursday 1/9

A black September for many people today.

Mum & Dad have gone up to Rochester to see my sister, so I am at home by myself until tomorrow. A nice surprise was the “inheriting” of Dad’s digital camera (a DiMage Minolta 2-megapixel). Expect many bad photos to appear from now on! Here are two I took earlier, of me (trying not to squint too much in the sunlight as I take a self-portrait) and Sasha:

Suzy in the backyard Sasha in the backyard

I might open one of those free photo-hosting accounts sometime.

The digital camera is just so convenient as you don’t have to wait weeks or months before you use up a roll of film. I also don’t have to scan in the photo. The camera has rechargeable batteries, which are a necessity as the electronics use up battery power quickly. The features are also extensive and rather complicated! I probably won’t use half of them.

A fascinating article in the August issue of Wired magazine: “We Are the Web: 10 Years That Changed the World,” about the past, present and future of the Internet. Despite early fears that the Internet would be taken over and controlled by commercial interests and corporations, almost the opposite has happened – people have made it their own. And the future could see the Web evolving its own awareness and intelligence!

The Netscape IPO wasn’t really about dot-commerce. At its heart was a new cultural force based on mass collaboration. Blogs, Wikipedia, open source, peer-to-peer – behold the power of the people.

Since each of its “transistors” is itself a personal computer with a billion transistors running lower functions, the Machine is fractal. In total, it harnesses a quintillion transistors, expanding its complexity beyond that of a biological brain. It has already surpassed the 20-petahertz threshold for potential intelligence as calculated by Ray Kurzweil. For this reason some researchers pursuing artificial intelligence have switched their bets to the Net as the computer most likely to think first. Danny Hillis, a computer scientist who once claimed he wanted to make an AI “that would be proud of me,” has invented massively parallel supercomputers in part to advance us in that direction. He now believes the first real AI will emerge not in a stand-alone supercomputer like IBM’s proposed 23-teraflop Blue Brain, but in the vast digital tangle of the global Machine.

Sunstorm, the Stephen Baxter novel I mentioned in my 12/6 entry, also featured an intelligent Internet entity – 3 of them, in fact! (Benign entities, I might add.)

The Web is the equivalent of the human brain, a mass mind containing all our thoughts and images. The ultimate extension of this would for us to upload a copy of ourselves into the Internet so that even after our deaths, a portion of us would live on. The Internet could eventually expand into the Universe – be the next stage of human evolution and ensure our survival into the far future. I think that is to be welcomed, not to be feared.

Three thousand years from now, when keen minds review the past, I believe that our ancient time, here at the cusp of the third millennium, will be seen as another such era. In the years roughly coincidental with the Netscape IPO, humans began animating inert objects with tiny slivers of intelligence, connecting them into a global field, and linking their own minds into a single thing. This will be recognized as the largest, most complex, and most surprising event on the planet. Weaving nerves out of glass and radio waves, our species began wiring up all regions, all processes, all facts and notions into a grand network. From this embryonic neural net was born a collaborative interface for our civilization, a sensing, cognitive device with power that exceeded any previous invention. The Machine provided a new way of thinking (perfect search, total recall) and a new mind for an old species. It was the Beginning.

Классно!

“Looking For Shenzhou,” Morris Jones at Space Daily (pop-up blocker needed!). An article lamenting China’s lack of promotion of its space program, in contrast to the massive publicity given the recent NASA Shuttle flight. The next manned Chinese flight is coming up in October, not that you would know it!

It’s about time that China opened up its program. If China fails to adequately promote its achievements in space, much of the potential value of the program will evaporate.

Space exploration is a wonderful, inspirational part of modern culture. It attracts the interest and admiration of people around the world. Images of distant worlds and explorers in space are particularly cathartic in these troubled times, when regular life is plagued with difficulties ranging from fears of terrorism to unsettled economic conditions.

Young people are drawn to science and technology studies by the attractions of spaceflight, but space is a subject that seems to generate energy and drive for life in general. It’s no coincidence that motivational posters urging people to do their best regularly feature images of space shuttles ascending, or astronauts on the Moon.

“The Lessons of Beslan” at RussiaProfile.org. Update 23/4/2007: Article now subscription-only Some pointed comments about the tragedy, and the terrorist threat in general (especially to those idiots who gave that horrid human Basayev undeserved publicity):

The worst thing about the interview with Basayev is not what the terrorist said – no one is likely to be taken in by this and he will never be able to wash the blood of his numerous victims from his hands. The worst thing is that by broadcasting this interview, ABC is giving Basayev and his ilk an opportunity for self-promotion, and this is the very motive behind terrorist acts in the first place, the very thing that incites others to commit new crimes. Furthermore, the subsequent debates on whether or not Basayev should have airtime only serve to further complicate relations between the members of the anti-terrorist coalition. The result is that only the terrorists gain anything. This is also a lesson from which we should learn. As Russian President Vladimir Putin said after the bombings on the London transport system, we cannot let terrorists take advantage of the divisions between us. “The main condition,” Putin said, “is for the international community to close ranks, not to allow terrorists to penetrate the cracks between us, and to fill the breaches in our common defences”.

Wednesday 7/9

Weather has been nice since last Wednesday, though that annoying north wind has come back.

Tired. Since last week I have a domain name (thanks to Alex!), but I have been preoccupied with sorting out what to do with it and where to put my sites, so I haven’t done much else. I don’t want to say too much until things are finalized.

Two articles of interest. If you know my opinions on things, I don’t think these need any further commentary:

“New left strikes chord in disillusioned east,” The Guardian, 3 September. “Sixteen years after the fall of the Berlin wall, Ellen Müller looks back with nostalgia at her life in the then communist East Germany. ‘I didn’t have to worry whether we had enough to eat,’ she says. ‘Brötchen [bread rolls] cost five pfennigs. People cared more about children. And if you were ill you didn’t have to wait to see a doctor. It was all free.’”

“How the US got its neoliberal way in Iraq,” Asia Times, 1 September (pop-up blocker needed).

Last June 30, the Iraqi newspaper Al-Mada published the latest draft of the Iraqi constitution that was then being negotiated by Iraqi politicians. Its contents would have been enough to give former occupation authority chief Paul Bremer a heart attack.

The Iraqis – even those who were willing to cooperate with the United States – wanted, at least on paper, to build a Scandinavian-type welfare system in the Arabian desert, with Iraq’s vast oil wealth to be spent on upholding every Iraqi’s right to education, health care, housing, and other social services. “Social justice is the basis of building society,” the draft declared. All of Iraq’s natural resources would be owned collectively by the Iraqi people. Everyone would have the right to work and the state would be legally bound to provide employment opportunities to everyone. The state would be the Iraqi people’s collective instrument for achieving development.

In other words, the Iraqis wanted a country different from that for which the Americans had come to Iraq. They, or at least those who were involved in drafting the constitution, wanted nothing of the kind of economic and political system that Bremer and other US officials had been attempting to create in Iraq ever since the occupation began. What the occupation authorities wanted was to fulfil “the wish-list of international investors,” as The Economist magazine described the economic policies they began imposing in the country in 2003.

Russia has agreed to send a Brazilian cosmonaut aboard a spacecraft, currently set for next year. Lieutenant-Colonel Marcus Pontes is assigned for a flight to the International Space Station during March-April 2006 aboard the Soyuz spacecraft (TMA-8). Brazil is one of the ISS partners. He is to start Soyuz training this month. He previously passed NASA astronaut training in 2000 and has an astronaut certificate.

Progress M-54 is due to launch this week to the ISS, on the 8th.

Thursday 8/9

My SuzyMcHale.com website is officially open! I posted notices on all my Geocities sites and sent out e-mails. I will have to try to find all the people who linked to me and inform them of the new address. For the moment I have kept all the sites’ structures intact, so the site is four-sites-in-one. I rather wish now I had kept everything on the one site, but I would have long since outgrown one Geocities account (15 MB).

I want to add a guestbook and a counter, though the latter is hard to find. There seem to be plenty of free counters available, but how do I know which one is good? FrontPage has its own counter and guestbook, but I don’t wish to use these as they utilize the proprietary “FrontPage Extensions,” which a server has to have installed as they won’t work otherwise.

I feel frazzled and rather tired after all that!

Moon and two planets, 8/9/05

A nice sight in the evening sky last night, with a quarter-Moon near two planets (Venus and Saturn, I think). A blurry digital image is below (I don’t have the equipment to take nice professional astronomy photos!). The bright planet at the top later appeared to rest on top of the horns of the crescent Moon.

Progress M-53 was undocked yesterday (I think – have to check the dates) at 10:26 UTC. M-54 was to be launched today.

Marcos Pontes, the Brazilian astronaut mentioned in my 7/9 entry, has his own website, hosted by NASA (lucky him!): MARCOS PONTES – WEBSITE OFICIAL. In Portuguese only.

Friday 9/9

Warm and windy today (north wind as usual). Still feel tired and frazzled. I have a whole lot of things to organize on my websites, but feel too lethargic to start. I would like to add a guestbook and a counter. The counter will have to be external as the FrontPage one sucks, and uses those weird FP extensions. I have never used FP to upload my sites, but WS_FTP instead. I don’t much like the entrance page, but it’s about all I can think up for the time being. I thought a better description of what I do with websites is constructing, not designing, as I don’t feel I am particularly imaginative.

Things that annoy me about some blogs (after my usual wander through them today):

The planets I saw yesterday were Venus and Jupiter (see “Conjunction” at the Bad Astronomy Blog.). Tonight they are in an almost-straight line, with Jupiter nearest the horizon, then Venus above, then the Moon.

Another successful launch of the ever-reliable Progress yesterday!

My brain is soon to shut down, so I shall depart. Nothing of interest on TV as usual – I get more entertainment from my dreams.

Saturday 10/9

A BIG thunderstorm came after midnight (as they always seem to do), starting with an ominous rumble of thunder (Uh-oh, I thought, as I dived under my bedsheets), then much crashing and flashing for the next hour or so (maybe two hours; I didn’t look at my clock).

Two letters that caught my eye on different topics from today’s The Australian:

Reading how the PM has been caught with his pants down over Telstra, I am reminded of the line from British economist John Maynard Keynes.

“Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.”

Senator Barnaby Joyce and his National Party cronies would do well to consider this quote as they ponder the sale of a natural monopoly to a private sector that has never felt the need to consider the good of anyone beyond the shareholder.

– Hugh Wilson, Toowoomba, Qld

Not unlike the situation in Russia, virtually all of Australia’s government-owned resources – electricity, gas, public transport, etc. – were privatized during the 1990s, and what a disaster it has been. Prime Minister John Howard is desperate to sell off the last of the government-owned section of the telecommunications company Telstra.

And a sardonic commentary on the sorry state of Australian cinema – there are no entertaining Australian movies being made:

Depressing Australian films

Alan Eason’s comments on the Australian movie Little Fish (Letters, 9/9) accurately sum up the malaise in our film industry. The people responsible for the depressing diatribes that pass for feature films in this country are hard put to spell entertainment, let alone produce it.

Did they really think anyone wants to see a movie on the adventures of people working in a canning factory? Or drivel about a guy left with $3? Or a travelogue broken only by four minutes of Toni Collette trying to stuff a dead Japanese guy into a car? Or any one of a dozen movies about drug addicts?

If we want a message, we can call Telstra. Don’t expect us to pay $15 to watch one in a cinema.

– Peter West, The Vines, WA

Whatever happened to escapism? To adventures in exotic places and other worlds? I want to see a movie where I can escape from dreary reality, not see it rehashed on screen. (To Саша: I am looking forward to those space movies! :-)

In my 12/12/2004 entry I mentioned The Mars Underground movie. There is a website (a Flash website – aargh). Some of the promotional blurb from the site:

Join us on a journey, the daring first human mission to the red planet and explore the challenges of surviving on Mars, a mysterious world that once had oceans, rivers and may have harbored simple life – the discovery of which could revolutionize our understanding of the universe.

Ever since the beginning of the space age, a number of scientists and engineers have dreamed of someday making that journey a reality.

One of the most outspoken of these is Dr. Robert Zubrin, a maverick aerospace-engineer and author known as the “Christopher Columbus of Mars”.

For years, Zubrin has been designing and promoting a humans-to-Mars expedition, not as venture for the far future or one that will cost us impossible billions, but as a goal that could be attained within ten years. He sees continuing expeditions to Mars eventually leading to colonization and a second home for humanity through a process known as “terraforming” – turning Mars into a viable blue planet.

Shot entirely in breathtaking High Definition, The Mars Underground is a landmark documentary that brings to life Zubrin’s vision through state-of-the-art 3D animation, and gives us a glimpses into the future of man’s reign on Mars.

Has this guy got a “Napoleonic complex” or what?!! I find it a bit hard to take all this seriously, especially when one of the directors is the “director of the award-winning documentary, Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy, chronicling the life of the world’s most famous adult film star.”

From Novosti Kosmonavtiki news № 499. Space tourist Greg Olsen (who doesn’t wish to be called such) is ready for his flight, though his grasp of the Russian language is still a bit shaky!

09/09/2005/13:24 – TsUP is prepared for the flight on the ISS of the third tourist

The third space tourist – American millionaire of Gregory Olsen is ready to fly to the International Space Station during October. This opinion was expressed on Friday by Valerii Korzun, the deputy chief of the Cosmonaut Training Center (TSPK).

“Gregory has completely mastered the program developed for him and is ready to fly on the ISS,” he said. Olsen will leave on a short-term mission for orbit on 1 October on a Russian Soyuz together with the crew of the 12th basic expedition – Valerii Tokarev and William McArthur.

Korzun, true, noted that “the level of Olsen’s Russian language leaves much to be desired.” In this case he noted that McArthur and Tokarev will speak in English if necessary “to help the tourist to carry out periodic communications with the Russian Mission Control Center.”

The entire crew, which today at Zvezdni Gorodok begins a two-day preflight examination, in the opinion of Korzun, “trod a complex path.” In the past year, problems arose with the health of McArthur and Olsen, and doctors temporarily removed them from flight preparations. “however both Americans passed serious treatment, and now their physical state does not cause physicians concern,” emphasized the TSPK deputy.

For the ISS-12 crew the forthcoming prolonged expedition will be their first, but however both cosmonauts are considered in the force as experimental. McArthur has four flights on the shuttles and Tokarev also flew on the shuttle. “The crew is very well prepared for flight. They are so deep in the program which by them is now and then difficult to distinguish training of the real flight,” emphasized Korzun.

But Olsen is not pleased with his description as a “space tourist”. A millionaire and the founder of the company Sensors Unlimited, he lays special emphasis on what experiments he wants to conduct outer space explorations and Earth with the aid of the optical and infrared equipment, prepared by his own firm.

ITAR-TASS reports about this.

Russian version, Русская версия: ЦУП подготовил к полету на МКС третьего туриста.

Wednesday 14/9

Weather is back to cold and rainy. Nothing of interest. Am still fussing with my websites; quite a few things need tidying up.

A bleak two weeks for the USA, with Hurricane Katrina 2 weeks ago, and the 4th anniversary of September 11 two days ago. I have avoided commenting on the hurricane because it would be only repeating what so many others have said … but the mismanagement of the recovery effort by the Bush government beggars belief – this in a country where such efforts are normally so efficient. The rescuers only finally got organized a week after the hurricane hit, and many people who might have been saved had died in the meantime. Also demonstrated was how fragile civilized society is. It was uncomfortably reminiscent of those bleak nuclear Armageddon (end-of-the-world) novels I read as a teenager (usually set in the USA), where society collapsed into a primal survival-of-the-fittest anarchy after the nuclear strike.

Some articles on various topics:

“Howard reforms win IMF backing,” Herald-Sun. Our Dear Leader’s obsession with destroying workers’ rights has won the approval of one of the Axis of Evil – the International Monetary Fund (the other is the World Bank). It was the IMF’s harsh policies (“economic reform”) that caused so much suffering in Russia after the collapse of Communism. ( See 27/4 entry)

“Is Globalization a Fool’s Progress?,” The Moscow News. Hurricane Katrina exposed the “other” America – the one composed of the working poor who live below the poverty line and who do not share in the country’s economic success (many were unable to evacuate New Orleans because they could not afford a car). (Australia, which under the Howard Government is blindly following the USA’s economic policies, also has such a growing underclass.) Is there any alternative to this dehumanizing ideology?

Is Globalization a Fool’s Progress?

By Robert Bridge, The Moscow News

Globalization’s international system of free markets, spearheaded by powerful transnational corporations and financial organizations, promised to deliver humanity to its highest level of wealth and prosperity. Why is it not delivering the goods?

Last week, Killer Katrina provided a painful lesson in simple economics: While hurricanes certainly have the power to lift everybody’s boat (or yacht), globalization does not. In fact, corporate globalization increasingly seems to be doing exactly the opposite of what its economic prophets promised to the nations of the world.

Hurricane Katrina – in addition to the horrible death and destruction it visited on America’s Gulf Coast – exposed a shocking level of poverty in the United States not relegated to just New Orleans. While approximately 60 percent of the popular jazz town had the funds, the credit cards and the automobiles to heed Mayor Ray Nagin’s evacuation command, a majority of minorities stayed behind in the Superdome.

The stadium quickly descended into something more comparable to Mad Max’s Thunderdome, where a state of total anarchy prevails.

The cruel irony of the refugee’s plight is that very few of them could have afforded tickets to a game at the Superdome on any normal football weekend in Louisiana’s ‘Big Easy.’ The refugee’s next big event is inside the Houston Astrodome, which agreed to provide free admission to 20,000.

Statistics are cold and detached creatures. Thus, there was no human face attached to last week’s data from the US Census Bureau that said America’s poverty rate stands at 12.7 percent of the population – that is, an additional 1.1 million Americans falling below the poverty line since 2004. Katrina provided that face: non-Caucasian, non-suburban and not particularly inclined to own a gas-guzzling SUV.

This demographic curiosity does not mean, however, that African Americans, Latinos and other minorities were the only ones to miss the big wave of globalization. Employees across the board – white collar and blue collar alike – have seen their wages stagnate for the past 30 years, while millions of unemployed no longer appear on unemployment charts since they fall through the cracks and disappear once their benefits end. Moreover, the good-paying factory jobs have been replaced with service sector jobs in retail stores (Wal-Marts) and restaurants (McDonald’s), while the ‘knowledge’ work is being increasingly outsourced overseas to India, China and Russia at half the cost.

According to former Clinton advisor and chief economist of the World Bank, Joseph Stiglitz, we have not reached bottom yet. “The incomes of Americans will be lower – according to one estimate, in 2012 by 1.8 percent, or $1,000 per capita – and although the tax largesse goes to a few rich, the burden of this lower income will be felt by all Americans.”

Why is it, then, that so many countries are anxious to sign up to America’s laissez faire, take-no-prisoners brand of capitalism? Simply because there is no real alternative – no third way – especially since the collapse of Communism almost knocked Socialism out of the ring as a future contender as well. Even the ‘humanitarian’ European Union is rapidly xeroxing the American Grand Plan, gradually jettisoning years of social firewalls, while opening its doors to third-world have-nots in the hope of weakening their powerful labor unions and taming costs – all in order to compete against Corporate America.

Incidentally, how do we explain the fact that those countries which ignored the advice of the International Monetary Fund (China, Malaysia) remain in top economic condition, with few debts, while the compliant clients – Mexico, Russia, Brazil and Argentina – all crashed and burned? (China is actually America’s largest purchaser of its federal debt, which should be of no small strategic concern to Uncle Sam) Are the international moneylenders that clueless, or did the IMF intentionally start a controlled fire to reward the transnational corporations once the fire sales began?

Environmental Fallout?

With every environmental disaster like Katrina comes the same response: Science and technology could have prevented it. Hubris dictates that man-made technologies will eventually deliver humanity to an earthly paradise, to the point where religion is almost dead in its original incubator of Europe. What began as optimism and triumph during the 18th century’s Age of Enlightenment has turned into callous arrogance and stupidity today.

Ever since Thomas Robert Malthus penned his famous Essay in 1798 predicting dire consequences from humanity’s population explosion (“The power of population is so superior to the power of the earth to provide subsistenceЕ that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race”), there has been no shortage of critics to attack environmentalists as doomsayers. Malthus’s theory has not (yet) materialized, therefore, goes the logic, it is wrong. That is like arguing ‘the sun will never rise because it is night.’

Today, however, many respectable voices agree that something is not quite right in the universe, and there is no need to be a biologist or member of Greenpeace to shudder at the statistics.

“The number of transnational corporations worldwide grew from 7,000 in 1970 to some 60,000 today,” the Worldwatch Institute wrote at the turn of the millennium. “While economists tout record-breaking increases in global commerce in recent decades, more sobering statistics are being reported by the world’s leading biologists: the loss of living species in recent decades represents the largest mass extinction since the dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago.”

Long before the illegal publication of the Encyclopedia by Diderot, Montesquieu, Voltaire and others in 1751-72, men believed that it was their responsibility to “conquer” nature. They may be surprised to discover how successful their call to arms has been.

Indeed, as our rampant technologies straddle the planet, and ideas and products move at the speed of light, it seems that humanity has won the battle. Voices that attempt to rise above the excitement to warn about ozone depletion, melting icebergs and burning rainforests, for example, go ignored. Nobody wants his or her joyride ruined; no academic wants to push his fears too hard and thus risk losing a government grant; few have the savvy or sheer finances to outmaneuver the corporate lobbyists who argue for big business.

Environmentalists and scientists are in a no-win situation; when global leaders finally listen to them the damage to the planet will be irreversible. Humanity has not really felt the symptoms of a dying planet, so why jump now. It seems that we are no different from the frog, which remains motionless in a pot of slowly boiling water until it literally boils to death.

No person wants left behind in the race for material gratification; it is the same with nations. One of the first acts by U.S. President George W. Bush was to erase America’s signature from the Kyoto Protocol, an international environmental treaty that attempts to limit the release of global-warming gases. The argument from the Bush administration was that “the U.S. economy would suffer as a result” of this document. Did Katrina spare the U.S. economy last week? Certainly not, and future hurricanes, as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology warns, will only be more severe and more frequent.

The arrogant neocons in Washington may yet suffer the same fate as the Soviet rulers who lost the reigns of power following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. My advice: let the government pay for Katrina and send your tax-deductible contribution to a green party.

No Escape

When asked, most people respond that globalization is a good thing. After all, it provides a large number of people the opportunity to visit foreign lands, enjoy foreign products and experience the traditions of faraway places. The same people, however, also say that they want a healthy planet and fair employment opportunities. Can globalization perform this tricky juggling act?

A global catastrophe or an international move toward isolationism notwithstanding, globalization will be with us for some time. This fact demands that the transnational corporations – increasingly operating below the radar of nations – begin to take responsibility for the health of the planet, and of course its citizens. The arrest of a few corrupt American CEOs is only the tip of a massive iceberg. Corporations must guarantee that their search for profits will not cut away the branch they, and the entire planet, is perilously perched upon. Otherwise, globalization will be nothing more than a fool’s progress.

“Experts: Russia Faces Demographic Disaster,” The Moscow News. About Russia’s declining population. Women will only wish to have children when there is economic and social stability, and hope for the future.

Experts: Russia Faces Demographic Disaster

By Otto Latsis, The Moscow News

Low standards of living are the main cause of the acute demographic crisis that is threatening Russia

The Levada Analytical Center asked Russians four questions: How many children should there be in an “ideal family"? How many children do you have now? How many children do you expect to have within your lifetime? How many children would you like to have if the conditions were ideal?

It turned out that the share of respondents who had a definite opinion on the subject was extremely high: Only 4 percent were not sure about an ideal number of children; 7 percent about the number of children they would like to have; and 9 percent about the number of children they expected to have.

This is where the positive part of the story ends and problems begin.

Child Shortage

For example, only 6 percent of respondents said an ideal family is a family with just one child, 50 percent said two, and 40 percent said three children and more. The average perception of an ideal family is 253 children per 100 families. Respondents are ready to have almost as many – on average 246 children per 100 families – given the right conditions. In other words, a normal family is a family with two or three children. If this was the case, Russia would have no demographic problems since simple reproduction requires an average of 215 births per 100 women throughout their lifetime, while a higher birth rate guarantees population growth. Unfortunately, the average expected number of children according to the survey is only 183 per 100 families, which is not enough even for population reproduction. The actual number of children born into the families surveyed, however, is 151.

So Russia on average has a “shortfall” of one child per family – compared to both an ideal number and a desirable number – the one child that Russia lacks to be able to feel secure and look forward, confidently, to the future. There is something to think about.

A Crisis That Sneaked Up on Russia

The Soviet ruling authorities overlooked the demographic crisis, while the Russian authorities were confronted with it head-on within the first few years of its existence. It was also when the majority of the people also noticed it, learning that the country’s population was shrinking. Meanwhile, the average number of births had fallen below the level of simple reproduction – that is to say, below 215 children per 100 women – back in the 1960s. That was when demographers sounded the alarm, warning the ruling authorities about an imminent demographic crisis. Alas, during the stagnation era, the Politburo’s educational and cultural level was insufficient to understand the country’s demographic problems. It was not until the crisis entered an acute phase – a net population drop – that the authorities had to finally listen to the experts. By now many politicians have heard something about a demographic revolution or a demographic transition.

Demographers explain that in post-industrial society with a large share of urban population, a high level of education, and a well developed healthcare system, the population reproduction model is different than in traditional society. The days when a woman bore 8 to 12 children with only three survivors is history now. Family planning is in, while people have as many children as they think necessary.

Some countries tried providing financial incentives to encourage births. Some paid pretty good money for each child born, but that failed to boost birth rates overall. Family plans changed only with regard to timing. That is to say, the families that planned to have only one child still had only one, except that the birth could have taken place earlier. The freedom of choice is the main achievement of modern society compared to the traditional one, and the modern woman is not going to abandon this freedom. She is ready to have as many children as she needs, while money can be made in other, easier ways.

What the State Can Do

The logical conclusion was: The state is unable to influence the birth rate. The Levada survey expands on this conclusion.

We can see that it is absolutely valid today since both the expected and the actual number of children is less than what is required for simple reproduction. Yet with certain conditions in place, the number of births could be increased. What are these conditions? When asked, “What could influence your decision to have at least one child in the foreseeable future?” 38 percent of respondents said: “Our decision will not depend on any conditions.” Some 26 percent, however, are ready to have another child if their incomes increase; 22 percent, if they are confident in the future; 20 percent, if they have better housing. Sixteen percent said they will have one more child if the state takes better care of families with underage children; 15 percent, if they have regular employment; 9 percent, if prices for staple goods do not grow so fast; and 8 percent, if food prices do not grow so quickly.

So, more than one-third of Russians will not respond to the state’s efforts to boost the birth rate under any circumstances, with another 9 percent unsure. More than one-half, however, are ready to think about this under certain conditions. Is it difficult to meet these conditions?

A Long Road to Happiness

Let us consider the most salient condition: a higher income. Neither sociologists nor respondents spelled out this formula in detail, but it is not difficult to estimate the range of a desirable income. In a family without any children, husband and wife have a separate income each. In a family with two children where mother does not go to work, one wage income supports four people. In 2004, the average per-capita subsistence level was 2,376 rubles a month; the actual per-capita cash income was 6,337 rubles a month, while the average wage was 6,832 rubles a month.

The average subsistence level for four people is approximately 9,500 rubles a month, or 50 percent more than the average wage today. With the current disposable income growth rates, this difference could be covered within a space of about six years. It should be borne in mind, however, that the current income growth rate is unusually high and may not last long. It should be taken into account that the subsistence level is upwardly revised every quarter of the year. We should also remember that the subsistence level is compared not with the minimum living wage but with the average wage, while people of average means do not necessarily accept a minimum subsistence level as sufficient. Consider that 25.5 million people have incomes below the subsistence level; their wages will have to be increased more substantially to ensure a decent level of support for the children. Finally, factor in millions of people whose incomes are higher than the subsistence level but below the average level. In short, in the best-case scenario, it will take the lifetime of a working generation (about 30 years) to meet this (income) condition alone. Yet there are also such conditions as better housing, confidence in the future, stable employment, assistance to families with children, and slower price growth. It seems that 30 years is the minimum realistic timeframe for meeting these conditions.

What will happen with the Russian population within this brief timeframe? With the current birth and mortality rates, when Russia is on the upturn of another demographic wave, the country’s population is declining by 700,000 a year. In less favorable years, this decline goes as high as 1 million. Within 30 years, the population loss will be 20 to 30 million. This is comparable to the total losses not only of Russia, but the entire Soviet Union in World War II. Perhaps there is cause for serious nation-wide discussion about getting our socio-economic priorities right. Put simply, are we fighting for what is worth fighting for?

The aforementioned makes it perfectly clear that the most vital thing for the country’s future is to raise the general living standards, address the housing problem, and provide better healthcare and education. If we look at the national budget and its line-item breakdown, however, we will see that the most important expenditure now is military spending. It has been growing the fastest at a time when we have lost the strategic adversary that we have been preparing to fight for half a century. Granted, minimum strategic capability is crucial even in these conditions, otherwise we could risk falling victim to some political pressure. Nevertheless, should the current socio-economic and demographic problems continue, Russia might not live to see this happen. After all, there is the experience of the Soviet Union which strengthened its defense capability until there was nothing left to defend.

Friday 16/9

A brief but heavy hailstorm came through not long ago and left white hail everywhere (which has now melted).

My Guestbook is now up and operational (I hope!).

Our Dear Leader (PM John Howard) is in New York City (yet again) telling off the United Nations about various things and hanging out with his best buddies President George W. Bush and that creepy old man Rupert Murdoch (who sucks up to both of them). If there is one human I dislike as much as our Dear Leader, it is Murdoch (I am trying to think of an appropriate nickname for him). Someone who dumped his older wife for a woman 30 or 40 years younger, then had a child with her when he was in his 70s. Yuck. He is an evil and ruthless businessman (there is a website about him, Outfoxed.org).

An American called Scott Parkin was deported from Australia because he was a dastardly and threatening … peace activist. The government here apparently considers him a “security risk”. (*Roll eyes sarcastically*) I am getting embarrassed to be Australian, with this government in power.

Sergei and John installed a component in the broken Elektron oxygen generator though they won’t try to reactivate it until Monday because Russian Molniya satellite coverage isn’t available until then (so TsUP, Moscow Mission Control, can monitor the reactivation).

The Sun has been quite active recently, with one flare being the fourth-largest on record, despite approaching the solar minimum period.

ISS crew preparing for solar storm

12:11 | 15/09/2005

Moscow, September 15 (RIA Novosti) – The International Space Station’s Sergei Krikalyov and John Phillips are bracing themselves for a powerful geomagnetic storm, a Russian Mission Control spokesperson said Thursday.

Valery Lyndin said there is no immediate need for the two men to move into the standby spacecraft Soyuz for better solar radiation protection. Mission Control doctors will be closely monitoring the crew’s health to ensure it is not adversely affected.

“Farthest known space blast detected,” MSNBC.com. A huge supernova that happened 12.8 billion years ago was detected by the Tokyo Institute of Technology. The explosion emitted more gamma-ray energy than our Sun will expend over its 10-billion-year lifetime. That is too mind-numbingly huge to comprehend! There are awesome forces out there in the Universe which we, on our relatively sheltered little planet, have little awareness of. Speaking of which …

“White-Knuckle Planet,” New Scientist, 16 July 2005. Just when you thought you had enough to worry about, comes “the five greatest astronomical threats to life on Earth”!

Monday 19/9

Had a migraine last night and this morning (an ache above my left eye this time, like a toothache), with the usual nausea this morning, and then felt a bit better.

On 60 Minutes last night was a report about pro-anorexia websites, “Deadly seduction”. It was somewhat sensationalized, as could be predicted, and the author of the website mentioned in my 13/7 entry, CeruleanButterfly.com, was briefly interviewed. Also appearing were the anorexic twins, Claire and Rachel Wallmeyer (featured in a previous 60 Minutes story – see my 2/11/2004 entry), still alive, but only barely. They are both 35 but look 95. They have been anorexic since they were 14, just for over 20 years, and I do not like to contemplate the damage such starvation has done to their bodies. I think they are beyond recovery (though perhaps a miracle might happen), but the disorder has them in a seemingly-unbreakable grip. Their bodies are cannibalizing themselves in an effort to keep functioning.

To slightly more cheerful things …

An amusing entry about Yulia Tymoshenko by Blogchik: “Yulia Tymoshenko, style icon”. Or not. And she mentions an article, “Yulia Tymoshenko: by style or beauty”. Noteworthy is that odd grey dress and very high heels, which make her look like some schoolmistress on her way to an S&M party.

… Just found this via Blogchik: “Santa Xmas postcard gallery page,” all with Soviet-era aerospace themes. Классно! I love this sort of stuff.

Went for my usual late-afternoon walk (done 3 times a week for the last several months) and as it is now school holidays it was so much quieter on the roads with fewer people madly rushing about. School holidays in Australia are a bit different as there are 4 terms per year; these are the ones for Victoria (from the Government DEST site):

Victoria school terms 2005
Term Term dates Holidays
1st 25 January-1 April 2 April-17 April
2nd 18 April-24 June 25 June-10 July
3rd 11 July-16 September 17 September-2 October
4th 3 October-21 December 22 December-29 January 2006

The 4-term schedule was introduced some time after I quit school. I think the 3-term was better as holidays were longer, especially the Christmas ones (9 weeks or so, if I remember, which seemed an eternity when I was little). In fact the whole education system seems to be buggered-up, with the curriculums getting changed every few years.

Wednesday 21/9

I have been going through my earlier journals (2001-2003), tidying them up. I still have to do and upload June to September of 2003. I also renamed some of the files (e.g. 2002_1 is now 2002_01) so they are arranged properly in the file display. I do rant on a bit about various things; it is rather tedious reading back through the entries!

“NASA estimates $104 billion for return to Moon,” MSNBC.com. Like a solemn pronouncement from the mouth of God, NASA’s latest grandiose plan (channelled through NASA Administrator Michael Griffin) was duly reported across the world yesterday (the TV news here also gave it a mention). Accompanied by some nice computer graphics, the plan is for (gasp!) four men to stay on the Moon for a week in 2018. (Er, hasn’t something like that been done before …?) And then they go back home again. Whoopee. (Are other countries invited, if they ask really nicely?). That’s if the Iraq war and assorted natural disasters haven’t bankrupted the U.S. government by then.

The Russian space corporation Energiya has had plans for a Mars mission up on its website for a couple of years, but the media never bother to report on that!

Also, Sergei reactivated the Elektron O2 generator yesterday, and it appears to be working normally again!

Oooh, nearly forgot to mention that my Kosmonavtka website has its 2nd birthday today!! 2 years already! I looked at the statistics for my Geocities site, and there were 7552 hits since I first uploaded it. (Also, 2331 hits for Sergei K., 916 for Kosmoblog and 1092 for Suzy M. on the Geocities sites.)

Thursday 22/9

Been depressed/annoyed about various things all day. Not worth mentioning.

Two yuck photos:

A big blister! My old jogging sneakers

First photo: a big blister on my right heel! I am often getting these. Second photo: my sorry excuse for jogging sneakers – I think I have had these since 2001 or 2002. I wear shoes until they fall apart (literally)! They are too expensive to buy every year.

A website I visit sometimes is Awful Plastic Surgery, a curiously compelling chronicle of the ways various celebrities manage to wreck their appearance with botched cosmetic surgery. One particularly Awful entry is this bizarre creature, Steve Erhardt, who (presumably) used to be a normal-looking man (unfortunately there are no “before” photos for comparison); an LA celebrity hairdresser “who has spent over $250,000 on face lifts, pec implants, bicep implants (he was the first person to ever have that type of work done), butt implants, rhinoplasty and more.” Words fail me.

Another big hurricane, Hurricane Rita, is threatening the Gulf region, so Houston Mission Control Center has been evacuated and TsUP in Moscow has assumed control over ISS operations.

A curious news tidbit, from Novosti Kosmonavtiki news № 501:

22/09/2005/00:04 – A Russian cosmonaut will be filmed for a Japanese advertisement on board the ISS

A Russian cosmonaut will be filmed on board the International Space Station for an advertising role for the Japanese food company “Nisshin”. The Tokyo firm “Space Film” reported on this today, which specializes in the surveys of advertisement in space and uses the technical support of the Japanese national aerospace agency JAXA.

In particular, according to the representative of company, aboard the manned ship Soyuz TMA, whose starting with the new crew ISS is planned on 1 October, will be also sent television camera specially created for this. It is asserted that it is characterized by the separately high quality of survey. During the year with its aid it is planned to remove several film rolls. The cost of each will compose about $1 million.

The first space advertisement is already expected for November on Japanese television. The name of the Russian cosmonaut, who will appear in it, has not been revealed. They could either be Sergei Krikalyov, who prepares to return to the Earth on 11 October or Valerii Tokarev, who must launch for the ISS on 1 October.

Three years ago in Japan an advertisement was transmitted, which was taken in the ISS Russian module for the “Otsuka” pharmaceutical company. ITAR-TASS reports about this.

Russian version, Русская версия: Российский космонавт снимется в японской рекламе на борту МКС.

I HOPE it isn’t Sergei doing the ad. Unfortunately, it was. It would be so demeaning for him, in my opinion. He should not commercialize himself; he should remain above that. I hate this money-grubbing aspect of the contemporary Russian space program; it is just undignified, like selling one’s soul to the Devil, and a sorry contrast to the Soviet space era. I hate it and I get so angry that they don’t get adequate funding so they don’t have to resort to such indignities. The proponents of capitalism in the West think the commercialization of the Russian space program is wonderful, but I hate it. They have sold off too much of their program to other nations.

Expedition 11 only have a little over 2 weeks left of their mission. No Sergei in space for a long time after that. :-( He might as well be in another dimension because I am unable to contact him.

Saturday 24/9

Hurricanes, hurricanes, hurricanes. The theme for this year should be the “Year of the Hurricane”.

“No one home at Mission Control,” MSNBC.com. Houston Mission Control, along with most of the city, has been evacuated, so ISS control functions have been passed to TsUP in Moscow. The mysterious person who does the Daily ISS On-Orbit Reports has also presumably evacuated, so no OORs for a few days.

The launch of TMA-7 is next week. The last 6 months have seemed like no time at all. Space tourist Greg Olsen looks quite frail in his photos, as though he would be blown away in a high wind.

Two articles to annoy me (sorry) for the usual reasons:

“With Moon Mission, US Seeks To Remain Leader In Space,” Space-Travel.com. “Plans by the United States to return to manned space exploration, with the Moon as the first step in 2018, reflect a desire to maintain US leadership in the scientific world and, some day, to set foot on other planets in the solar system … “It’s our nation’s privilege and obligation to lead yet another opportunity to explore places beyond our own, and to help shape the destiny of our world for centuries to come.” But aren’t countries supposed to be co-operating in the area of space exploration, as exemplified by the ISS? And isn’t this assumption that the USA should “lead” rather condescending towards other countries? (Were they consulted about this?)

“The Astrazoic Eon,” The Space Review. Article by an artist called Phil Smith. Some interesting ideas about the next step in humanity’s evolution; unfortunately his political views are a turn-off for me. As soon as the words “pioneers,” “free market,” “capitalist,” etc. appeared, with all their associated connotations, I went “Grrr!” and quit reading.

A free market system is as essential to the health of a democratic republic as a constitution drafted to protect the rights of its citizens because it promotes innovation and change. A free market system is largely self-regulating and provides the best environment for promotion of opportunity, excellence, personal growth, and freedom of expression.

Rubbish. A free market economy is a brutal system where the “Law of the Jungle” is supreme: Survival of the Fittest. A brutal and unpleasant place for the “Have-nots” to live in. It is not self-regulating; the people in it will exploit the system for their own selfish and greedy ends, and not give a damn about anyone else.

A letter from The Age, from just after Hurricane Katrina:

Katrina exposes the catastrophic failure of privatisation

Date: September 6, 2005

The central problem in Mississippi and Louisiana isn’t race or class or the Bush Administration’s incompetence. People find themselves in the deplorable state they are in because there is no mechanism within a capitalist society to deal with catastrophic loss. Insurance and philanthropy – capitalism’s customary response to disaster – cannot cope with a calamity as big as hurricane Katrina.

The tardy and inadequate response to what is happening in the affected areas is directly related to the role the state plays in the United States. The privatisation of welfare, health, education and prison services has dramatically reduced the role that the state plays in providing for the needs of its citizens. The state has been reduced to its enforcement role.

When the floods hit, people had to rely on themselves to survive; privatised services, delivery systems broke down, order broke down. Those who best survived were those who had the guns to impose their own will on those around them. (It’s interesting to note that the state authority was unable to respond until the armed forces were brought in to distribute aid and reassert their authority by quickly curtailing the activities of those elements in society who were filling the power vacuum created by the state’s inability to act.)

It’s quite possible we are witnessing the end of the privatisation experiment. It’s obvious that it’s not possible for private organisations to deliver services and make profit without cheating those they are contracted to provide services for. We are drawing to the end of an era, an era that has seen the gains made by ordinary people during the 20th century lost in a fire sale of state assets to the private sector.

Governments like the Bush Administration that ignore this lesson do so at their own peril.

– Joseph Toscano, spokesman, Anarchist Media Institute

Sometime I will have to try to write a coherent essay on why this issue evokes such rage in me. Australia itself has, under the conservative, economic rationalist Howard Government, become selfish and inward-looking, its people obsessed with obtaining big houses and 4WDs and plasma TVs and watching brain-deadeningly stupid “reality TV,” uninterested in the bigger issues such as creating a better society and having a vision for the future. The politicians are small-minded and petty, only looking ahead to the next election. (The big topic for the election last year was – for f**k’s sake – interest rates.) The only politician who seemed to have a modicum of vision and intelligence, Mark Latham (Labor), was virtually hounded out of the election last year by his so-called teammates and the media (all of whom he eviscerated in his diaries published and released earlier this week), and he also had health problems (pancreatitis). I liked Mark Latham because he seemed to have passion and intelligence, and was a bit of a maverick (a rarity these days in politics), and I voted for Labor, but he quit. So now there is no one.

Tuesday 26/9

I came across some unpleasant Iraq war-related stuff today on the Internet and was going to write about it and link to it, but perhaps I won’t – it involves U.S. soldiers posting photos of dead/blown-up Iraqis on a website. Very disturbingly graphic photos, I might add. Looking at this stuff, I just keep feeling despair at humanity’s prospects for the future. And it reinforces the not-too-surprising observation that war thoroughly buggers people up. Most people living normal lives have a natural aversion to killing. So when people are taught to go against these instincts and kill, and witness all sorts of atrocities, I guess people shouldn’t be surprised/outraged when such websites appear.

Update 12/3/2007: Blog entry about it: Body part porn and war – no images

The Iraq invasion was a total mistake. Saddam Hussein would not have been ruling forever; he would either have died or been killed or ousted in a coup once people got fed up enough with him.

If there is one thing I have come to really dislike it is the Google ads appearing on many sites. Though not pop-ups, they are still annoying in that the browser has to fetch them from the remote Google servers (thus adding to page loading time). Also, when viewing a page offline or opening a page saved onto my hard drive, the browser wants to go online to fetch the ads. Aaargh! It’s just annoying.

And yet another event to annoy me …

A Mall Made for Millionaires

By Kevin O’Flynn, Staff Writer
Monday, September 26, 2005, The Moscow Times

Moscow may have more billionaires than any other city in the world, but what about those with a mere million to their name?

The Millionaire Fair, which began on the edge of Moscow on Saturday, is not a chance to buy one of those young millionaires – and there were 88,000 declared millionaires in the country at last count. Instead, it offers a brief glimpse – at 1,000 rubles per visit, or $250 for VIP tickets – of a luxury lifestyle few will ever touch, including the opportunity to buy a helicopter, a Bentley, a whole island, hair-transplant surgery or a dress that literally smells of money.

The fair, which runs through Wednesday, was founded by Yves Gijrath, the general director of Gijrath Media Group, in Amsterdam three years ago and brought to Moscow together with Independent Media, which publishes The Moscow Times.

Housed in Crocus Expo, next to the Crocus City shopping center on the Moscow Ring Road, the Millionaire Fair has turned the exhibition center into a mall for the rich for a few days. Instead of piped music, Bryan Ferry sang live to visitors on the opening night, even if they seemed more interested in the buffet.

The attributes of luxury were everywhere: expensive cars, helicopters with prices starting at a quarter of a million dollars, furs, bodyguards, women with cheekbones you could cut diamonds on and dangerous black cats – a young panther was an essential part of one stand selling suitcases.

When asked what the panther had to do with suitcases, its handler said after a brief pause, “Exclusive panther. Exclusive suitcase.” She carried on scratching the panther, which promptly fell off its exclusive suitcase.

“I was impressed,” said Rostislav Ordovsky-Tanayevsky Blanco, the millionaire businessman behind the Rostik’s chain and other restaurants. “Ten years ago, this would never have happened. It’s like a century has gone past.”

Some 6000 to 7000 people were expected to visit the fair on Sunday alone, said co-organizer Derk Sauer, the CEO of Independent Media.

“It’s spectacular. The exhibitors are really excited,” Sauer said, adding that millions of exhibits had been sold by late Sunday. “Last night, an island was sold, and that is $10 million.”

Moscow might be remembered for Forbes magazine’s 2004 report that named it the world’s billionaire capital, with 33 billionaires. New York, in comparison, boasted 31.

Just having money was not enough for some people on opening night.

“It is mainly New Russians here. It is not Muscovites,” said one man, who said he was a real estate millionaire but refused to give his name as he stood watching with a cynical eye on the opening night. “Mainly, it’s people who want to eat for free.

“It is only the nouveaux riches, and they don’t understand the price of money,” he said. “They see, come and buy. A real person with capital will find what he wants at a cheaper price. That’s the position of a millionaire.”

Others found the whole affair distasteful.

“It is an illusion, like everything in this country,” said Eldar, a banker who would not give his last name and conceded that he was not a millionaire.

“I find the selling of Lamborghinis strange, considering the state of the roads in the country,” he said. “It is stupid. Where can you go in a Lamborghini? Try going to the Tula region.

“The only thing they really want here is a picture of themselves with Putin so they can hang it up,” he said, before adding, “and that is very expensive.”

Indian millionaire Jimmy Kotwani, the owner of Imperial Tailoring, apparently did not feel the same way as he admired a new Mercedes on display. “There are lots of things I’m interested in,” he said. “I am fond of diamonds.”

While there were no diamonds at the Krokin Gallery stand, there was something dearer to many people’s hearts: money.

The Krokin Gallery was offering two sets of clothing – a man’s suit and a ballroom dress, and a suit and a skirt and top – woven out of $1 bills, 500 ruble bills and 100 ruble bills, in an idea that might both mine and undermine the whole idea of the fair.

“Sit here for five minutes, and you can see how people are greedy for money,” said manager Irina Nemets, before stopping to tell a passerby to stop touching the dress made of 500 ruble notes. “They’re drawn to it,” she said.

The dresses, made by Dmitry Tvsvetkov, are on sale for $15,000 for a pair.

“There were rich people here,” Nemets said about the opening night. “They also wanted to touch, like children.”

Looking at my yuck blister photo in my 22/9 entry (the blister has since vanished), my heels seem to be my problem area when trying to wear shoes! It is so difficult to get shoes that don’t shred my heels. I don’t know if it is my particular foot shape or the shoes themselves. Tailor-made shoes, though, are unfortunately an expensive luxury. I generally wear sneakers or sensible shoes and sandals (i.e. not dress high-heels), but I still have these problems. (I have never worn high heels because 1) I don’t like them and 2) I don’t have any social life, so there is no need for them.)

Tuesday 27/9

A frustrated rant …

The fence outside my parents’ home was damaged for the third time by stupid vandals last night; they came along the street around 1:30 a.m. in the morning and dumped papers from our recycle container (to be collected in the morning – rubbish collection day) then (I think) threw the plastic container against the fence. There are two dents in one fence panel. It might sound like a minor thing, but such vandalism in our suburb (and many others) has been worsening over the years and no-one seems to be doing anything to stop it. Typical incidents:

I am so f**king fed-up with having to live with this. The police seem powerless to do anything, and the council is useless. Drunken louts and vandals can roam the streets at night knowing they can get away with anything. These are mostly young men (surprise, surprise) who have never learned any respect for authority or laws because of the lax attitude to discipline that has prevailed in society over the last 20 or 30 years. I am liberal in many things, but when it comes to such issues as law and order … If a person can’t live in a society and behave like a civilized human, then they should feel the full wrath of authorities. Some things I would do:

Would the authorities have the guts to instigate these measures? I can predict, no. Perhaps the only resort is some sort of citizens’ vigilante group. But people seem to be too apathetic to do anything.

A scathing criticism of economic rationalism from today’s The Age. (I am reproducing it here because of the bloody irritating pop-up ads and required registration on the site.) Australia supposedly has a low unemployment rate of around 5%, but that is an illusion – the figures include those who are under-employed, even working for only 1 hour a week. The whole economy here is built on illusion.

Depicting an Australia that is only too real

By Elliot Perlman
September 27, 2005

Economic rationalism is not the panacea its proponents say it is.

The Australian film Three Dollars, released earlier this year and based on my novel, has received attention from a number of conservative commentators, the latest being Keith Windschuttle in the current issue of Quadrant, who are not generally known for their concern with film or literature.

The burden of their criticism seems to be that the socio-economic conditions in present Australia portrayed, with parabolic licence, in the film and in the novel by the same name, are “utterly unreal” (Keith Windschuttle, Quadrant), “wildly unrealistic” (Greg Sheridan, The Australian) and belong to an Australia in a “parallel universe” (Stephen Matchett, The Australian) rather than to an Australia with, they argue, a booming economy and historically low unemployment.

As the novel’s author and the co-author (with the director, Robert Connolly) of the screenplay of Three Dollars, I feel it appropriate to respond, not to whatever artistic criticism they have to offer, but to their denial of the social and economic realities that inform both works.

These realities are that not since the Second World War have so many Australians been either involuntarily unemployed or under-employed and those still employed so insecure. The employed often live in fear of being retrenched or of being made casual or part-time. The totally unemployed live in despair of ever finding a job and the casual or part-time employed, our very own “working poor,” pretend to cope. For the truth is that the rate of involuntary unemployment and under-employment lies not around the official figure of between 5 per cent and 6 per cent (one hour’s paid work a week and you’re not counted as unemployed) but somewhere closer to 20 per cent. According to an Australian Bureau of Statistics survey in September 2004, there were about 1.85 million Australians who wanted to work but either had no work at all or had too little.

Nor is this figure a one-off statistical blip. The situation it depicts has been chronic for at least a decade. Thus ABS surveys in September 1997 and in September 2003 found that there were 2.4 million and 1.87 million Australians, respectively, wanting to work or work more.

How has this come about? How has it come about that most of the things you are able to buy in Australia are made elsewhere, mostly in Asia, indeed in China, where $3 a day would be their basic wage if they had a basic wage? How has it come about that an increasing percentage of even our food and of our banking and other service industries is being sourced from overseas?

Much of it is the result of the adoption by governments over the past two decades of an economic doctrine called economic rationalism. Economic rationalism holds that the working of the free market will deliver the best possible social outcomes, that is to say, maximum material benefits and the optimal distribution of these benefits.

The main consequences of this deification of the market that are relevant to employment are free trade or, euphemistically, globalisation – that is, the removal of protection of our manufactured goods from competition from goods manufactured in extremely low labour-cost countries – and the culture of reducing employee numbers to boost share price. The move to free trade has devastated manufacturing in this country with the contribution of this sector of the economy falling from 26 per cent in 1975 to 11 per cent in 2000.

It is an article of faith for proponents of free trade that the industries that have or that are disappearing will be replaced by much higher-tech industries.

We’ll make the clever stuff, they’d have us believe. We’ll switch over by the hundreds of thousands, nay the millions, into molecular biological innovation, into the genetic manipulation of new vaccines, into making better MRI machines. Let the hapless Chinese make all the stuff we used to make, we’re told. We’ll make the stuff they’re not clever enough to make. And as for the millions of us not clever enough either, we’ll get – you’d better believe it – high status, high salaried permanent full-time jobs making sandwiches and serving coffee in the cafes and bistros being opened up by the recently-out-of-work with large enough termination payments. We’ll work in hotels and tourism tending the flood of tourists attracted by the low cost of holidaying in a geographically interesting country rapidly descending into a banana monarchy.

That is what economic rationalism promises for the many hundreds of thousands retrenched from the factories that have closed down because they can’t compete with cheap imports, and for the many hundreds of thousands “downsized” by the banks, the telcos, the utilities, to boost the price of their shares. It is all merely the free market at work, precisely the mechanism that economic rationalism holds will deliver the best social outcomes.

This is the Australia that, in part, informs the film and the novel Three Dollars. Admittedly, it is not the Australia everyone is acquainted with, at least not yet, but nor, unfortunately, is it in a parallel universe. It’s in this one.

Elliot Perlman is a barrister and author.

They don’t have to worry about any of the above on the ISS …

Still no On-Orbit Reports because Houston employees are not to return until Tuesday (Wednesday here). So I don’t know what is happening on the ISS at the moment.

China is set to launch its next manned mission on 13 October – Shenzhou 6, carrying two taikonauts on a 5-day flight.

“Russia can independently operate ISS,” RIA Novosti. A commentary by Andrei Kislyakov. NASA’s commitment to the ISS seems to be wavering, particularly under Michael Griffin, who is reminiscent of a child with his gaze fixed on the next shiny new toy (a Moon mission, etc.) after losing interest in his previous one. Apparently no other countries are to be included in this new scheme. “NASA wants to organize interplanetary expeditions alone. Anything else seems to be out of the question because the reusable Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) simply cannot dock with the ISS.” So much for international co-operation.

Thursday 29/9

Only 50 MB left in Dad’s monthly allowance! I will have to stay off the Internet (again) until Saturday. I really don’t know where it all goes. I don’t do very much downloading at all, but I do visit a lot of web pages, and as most of these have images to download, I guess all that adds up.

A big storm cold front came through after 8:30 p.m. last night, with torrential rain and lots of thunder and lightning. By 9:30 it had gone to the east.

Been depressed the last few days (so what else is new), mainly because of the incident described in 27/9. If those people come again to do the same thing (which isn’t likely), I might go out to confront them. I should have gone out on Monday (I think there were two of them). I don’t care if I get hurt, just as long as they do too.

The launch of Expedition 12 + Greg Olsen is on Saturday (if I have the times right).

Houston is back in operation, and the ISS On-Orbit Reports have resumed. I am rather disappointed with the paucity of photos in the Expedition 11 Inflight Gallery. They only put some up for public view of the many taken. In fact I am feeling an odd disappointment in this flight of Sergei’s, overall. It has been successful, but curiously mundane and dreary. His Mir flights seemed much more … fun. Perhaps that is not the right word, but the ISS flights in general seem to be so over-controlled and monitored. The ISS is supposed to provide training for interplanetary missions, but the Station is far too dependent upon Mission Control for operations. (Robert Zimmerman commented on this in Leaving Earth.) The crews do not seem to have much independence to act on their own (which is what they will need to be on missions to other planets). The ISS is dependent upon Earth for resupply.

“Shuttle And Station Were Mistakes: Griffin,” Space Daily. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin has been saying he believes the Space Shuttle and ISS programs to be a “mistake”. One wonders if he regards the international co-operation a mistake, too.

“Realities of piloted cosmonautics, Реалии пилотируемой космонавтики”: An interview with retired Energiya chief Yurii Semyonov. Try the Promt online-translator for a rough translation.

October

Saturday 1/10

October already! 3 months left until year’s end. My 35th birthday in 39 days. Aaargh.

Expedition 12 and Greg Olsen are launched today, at 03:54 GMT from Baikonur – 1:54 p.m. Melbourne time. Follow the launch at the Expedition 12 Mission Status Center at Spaceflight Now.

Article of interest: “Russia thriving again on the final frontier,” MSNBC.com, 29/9. Russia’s plans for future space exploration.

Soyuz TMA-7 launched on time a few minutes ago at 03:54:44 UTC with no apparent problems. I tried to watch it on streaming video, but Windows Media Played kept coming up with: “Windows Media Player cannot play the file because a network error occurred. The server might not be available. Verify that you are connected to the network and that your proxy settings are correct.” I don’t have RealPlayer installed as it is full of spyware and crap. So, as with the last launch, I just went to Spaceflight Now and refreshed the launch page every few minutes.

Saw the ISS last night at 7:25 p.m., NW to SE, 64°, 4 minutes approx.

The Bird Flu is trying its best to become a pandemic. It has spread to eastern Russia and Indonesia. The last thing Russia would need, with its declining population (and an AIDS epidemic), is a pandemic that killed thousands or millions of its citizens.

My maternal grandmother was infected with the 1918 Spanish Flu that killed approximately 40 million or more people. She was initially going to be taken to the Exhibition Building in Melbourne where victims were housed, but her brother, who accompanied her, refused to let her be taken there as nearly everyone who went there died (probably because they were kept in close proximity), so she was taken to the Alfred Hospital instead, and survived. She was born in 1898, so she would have been about 20 years old. (She lived to 102.)

The only time I have had the flu (the ordinary type) to date was on 22 June 1997. It incapacitated me for about a week; I completely lost my appetite and was so tired I could barely move! It is probably the sickest I have been so far. I tended to think of influenza as being a bad version of the common cold, but it obviously isn’t.

Tuesday 4/10

Soyuz TMA-7 docked to the ISS yesterday at 05:26:58 UTC (3:26 p.m. in Melbourne).

Sergei IS to do the noodle ad (see 22/9 entry). :-( This from On-Orbit Report for 1/10:

At 11:15 a.m., Sergei conducted a live TV interview with Peter Tolstoy, an anchorman of the Voskresnoye Vremya (Sunday Times) Show on Moscow’s Channel One, responding to a number of questions uplinked beforehand. [Q: “Here, on Earth, there is a lot of talk about noodles and camcorders that the Japanese are sending to you. What do you think about this up there in space?” A: “This is the second time that the Russian Segment of the ISS is getting a Japanese Hi-Def camcorder. The first occasion was when a similar camcorder was used for a year and a half by the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Expeditions. Scenes of Russian cosmonauts living at the Space Station which were recorded by the first HDTV camcorder were shown all over Japan. Today, Japan is one of our most reliable and steadfast partners. We have effective cooperation; run interesting experiments at the ISS developed by Japanese specialists. For HDTV camcorders, the crucial question is the CCD matrix degradation rate. Initially, we together with Valerii Tokarev will be the first to test the camcorder at the ISS, while overall it will be used at the ISS for at least a year. And yes, indeed, I will be eating noodles and the scene will be taped on the Hi-Def camcorder. Besides that, we will shoot the Earth through the window and will demonstrate the effects of zero gravity at the Station. During shooting, I will be the actor while Valery Tokarev is going to be the cameraman.”]

Some more snarky remarks about Russia (3 October) from Grumpy Keith Cowing at NASA Watch for your entertainment. Of course he doesn’t actually like Russia so nothing else can be expected of him. A continuing gripe of his is Russia’s supposed extortion of cash from NASA. Well, 1) they don’t have NASA’s budget and 2) you reap what you sow (i.e. the USA promotes capitalism as the only acceptable ideology, so don’t be surprised when it comes back to bite you).

How Much to Paint A Flag in Your Rocket?

Photo Report: Orbital Module of the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle transported to the Launch Vehicle Assembly and Testing Facility, RSC Energiya

Editor’s note: I find it rather indicative of the true nature of the US/Russian relationship with regard to the ISS that the only time an American flag appears on a Russian launch vehicle carrying an American to the ISS is when one of the Americans on board is a paying (commercial) passenger. When Europeans fly (i.e. pay), their nation’s flag appears on the launch vehicle. When a NASA/ESA/Russia barter deal (to circumvent INA) gets an American on board – no flag. Curious.

– Posted by kcowing at 12:19 AM

McArthur To Be Held Hostage On-Orbit – Or More Shoddy Russian Journalism?

Russia May Refuse to Return U.S. Astronaut to Earth Free of Charge

“Beginning from the next space expedition Russia will deliver U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station only on commercial basis. William McArthur who has just left for ISS can stay in orbit until the American side pays for his return, RIA Novosti reported.”

NASA Memo: Griffin Point Paper on USA Today Article, 9/28/05

“NASA and Russia confirmed at the Flight Readiness Review meeting for the next crew for the International Space Station on Sept. 19 that NASA Astronaut and Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur will have a ride back to Earth next April on the same Soyuz that will bring him to the station this October.”

China’s next space flight (Shenzhou-6) is scheduled for 13 October, only a few days after Expedition 11 land! The next Space Shuttle launch is set for May (again, after initially being rescheduled for late next year, October). ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter will be carried on that flight to become a 3rd ISS crew member (at long last). The uncertainty must be frustrating for him!

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin released a statement saying his comments that the Space Shuttle and ISS were mistakes had been taken out of context: “Message from the NASA Administrator Regarding Space Station and Space Shuttle Comments”.

It’s horse racing season again in Melbourne, and again I feel the intense dislike of this cruel industry. Found this website via Google. It is part of an Israeli animal charity site (they are campaigning against introducing a horse racing industry in Israel): CHAI’s Campaign Against Horse Racing

If the images and stories on the pages linked there don’t put you off horse racing, I don’t know what will. Unfortunately the horse racing industry in Australia is well-embedded, and in the last few years they have introduced a campaign to glamorize it as a ladies’ fashion event. I wonder if any of the people who attend will spare a thought for the horses who do all the hard work (and many of the unsuccessful ones which will end up being slaughtered).

Thursday 6/10

Not much of interest, as usual. (I should make that my motto.)

Out of idle curiosity, I was doing a little research on what a trip to Russia might involve, in the way of airfares and such. Traveling from Australia is horribly expensive, and is probably the worst aspect of living here as the continent is so far away from everything.

All that and we haven’t even left the airport yet! Whoever said air travel was accessible to everyone obviously hasn’t done any.

Then, assuming you can afford the fares, etc., there is the logistics of transport, finding places to stay, and so on. The three times I have been overseas (England 1975 and 1978, New Zealand 1987) I was, for England, with my parents who looked after everything (I was a child at the time) and, for New Zealand, on a tour arranged by the school for our year group. And, of course, all this was well before terrorism became a real threat (there were hijackings every so often, but they weren’t Islamic fanatics who wanted to fly airplanes into buildings).

A letter from today’s The Age:

There’s something about Vancouver

So Vancouver has beaten Melbourne in the “liveable city” rankings (The Age, 5/10). Given that Melbourne starts well ahead in the weather stakes, it might be worth checking what Vancouver is doing that we are not. How about the following for starters?

– Dr Paul Mees, faculty of architecture and planning, University of Melbourne.

Mum was saying, perhaps only half-jokingly, that she wouldn’t mind moving there!

The TMA-7 launch was mentioned on the news, and also last night, though the news reader said that the crew flew up on a Russian Progress spaceship. (The Progress is the unmanned cargo ship.) I think the only reason the flight is mentioned is because of space tourist Greg Olsen. This is all the Russian space program is known for, now – chauffeuring bored rich space tourists :-(. I wonder what those in the program would do if one of those loathsome billionaire “New Russians” decided they wanted a space trip to impress their rich friends. Sadly, I think they would be accepted, and the Russian space program would then be subject to more derisive remarks than ever.

Sunday 9/10

Back to cold weather again. I went out on my bicycle ride around an hour earlier (6 a.m.) as there are too many people around at my normal time! Have to wait for daylight savings. The earlier sunrise seems to bring many people out of hibernation. They also had some silly marathon scheduled for 7 a.m. along the Beach Road route I go, so another reason to get out earlier.

Two interesting posts from Sean’s Russia Blog: To Bury or Not to Bury; Yelstin Good, Putin Bad.

Lessons to be learned indeed. The articles show the typical American hypocrisy when it comes to Russia. When Yeltsin used tanks against “old-line Communist “reds,” fascist-minded, nationalistic anti-Semitic “browns” and other bitter-enders,” this was hailed by the Washington Post, NY Times, and the Clinton Administration as democratic progress. It was a sign of a commitment to “reform and democracy.” Translated: reforms and democracy that are favorable to American interests. Lesson #1: weak dependent Russia is a good Russia. But Putin gets no license or democratic accolades like his drunken former benefactor. Apparently, you have call tanks into the streets to eliminate his opponents to get that. Instead, the Washington Post is tempted to call Putin’s tactics “Stalinist” because “he can reimpose authoritarian rule without a gulag, simply by spreading fear through example.” But his policies, whatever you think of them, are not in the interests of the U.S., but independent of it. Lesson #2: strong independent Russia is a bad Russia.

The NY Times and the Washington Post can cry all the want about poor Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Don’t let his metrosexual visage fool you. The truth of the matter is that he is a crook just like all the Russian oligarchs, and that most Russians rightly see him as such. It is only the American press that had made Khodorkovsky into some beacon of freedom and example of a “political prisoner.” I wish the Bush would use that kind of state power and arrest some of our corporate crooks. But wait, that would mean arresting all of his friends!

Just two days left until Expedition 11 return. Sergei has spent most of the time babysitting Greg Olsen. An update on the commercial: Sergei seems to have done the filming while Greg Olsen did the actual ad, which is something of a relief.

In a special demo/commercial called SCN (Space Cup Noodles) for Japanese industry, the “taxi” visitor heated two packs of noodles in the water heater, then ate the ball-shaped noodles before the backdrop of the Service Module (SM) starboard crew cabin window. The carefully scripted scenes were filmed by CDR Krikalyov with the Japanese Sony HVR-Z1J high-definition camcorder, after a rehearsal of the script.

– ISS On-Orbit Report 6/1

From RIA Novosti:

Brazilian astronaut to travel to ISS on Russian spaceship in 2006

20:27 | 06/10/2005

Rio de Janeiro, October 6 (RIA Novosti, Andrei Kurguzov) – Brazil’s first astronaut will travel to the International Space Station (ISS) onboard a Russian Soyuz spaceship in March 2006, the Brazilian Space Agency (BSA) said Thursday.

A BSA spokeswoman said the Russian Federal Space Agency and the BSA were holding talks in Moscow. Astronaut Marcus Pontes will fly to Moscow to familiarize himself with Soyuz life support and operation systems. In 2000, he was certified as an astronaut at NASA’s space center in Houston, Texas.

The final agreement on the flight will be signed October 18 when the Brazilian president visits Russia, the spokeswoman said.

Unfortunately this means that a Russian cosmonaut will miss out on a flight opportunity in the third seat! Only two cosmonauts per year (and two astronauts) can go up now. There was a posting about this at collectSPACE: No Dmitris in orbit.

Another Russian rocket launch mishap, this with a satellite launch: “Rocket error dooms ice satellite’s launch,” Spaceflight Now.

The Rokot booster had a missing computer command.

It would be far, far worse if anything went wrong with a manned space mission, though. The Soyuz flights have been relatively safe, but nothing should be taken for granted! The danger is that people get complacent, as was shown with the Challenger and Columbia disasters. Landing is perhaps the most dangerous aspect of a Soyuz mission.

Expedition 11 undocking and landing timelines:

Tuesday 11/10

Есть посадка! There’s landing! Expedition 11 are now safely back on Earth. For a detailed description see the Expedition 11 landing page at Spaceflight Now.

Now I will have to update my sites! I really need to redo and reorganize my Sergei site.

I managed to watch some of NASA TV after (reluctantly) installing RealPlayer. (A useful guide: INSTALLING REAL ONE PLAYER [without it taking over your life and computer].) Got NASA TV OK, but streaming video uses a horrendous amount of megabytes (I went through about 20 MB in around 10 minutes) so I can only watch it sparingly.

Wednesday 12/10

China launched their second manned space mission today! “China Opens New Chapter In Space History With Most Ambitious Mission Yet,” Space Daily. “Shenzhou-6, based on Soviet Soyuz technology, lifted off on a Long March 2F carrier rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 9 a.m. (01:00 GMT) for a five-day mission carrying Air Force pilots Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng.”

The whole event looks like a nostalgic re-run of the Soviet-era space program (and I don’t mean that as an insult!). Pictures below from Novosti Kosmonavtiki news № 506.

We salute you, comrades! Six taikonauts in front of the Chinese flag. Two taikonauts report to the State Commission Chairman before launch.

They mentioned the launch on SBS news, and showed a brief scene of the taikonauts inside the Shenzhou capsule. They even use the same stick to poke at the controls, that is used in the Soyuz! (I wish I knew the Russian name of the stick.)

Expedition 11 are now back in Star City, Звёздный Городок, where they have been reunited with their families and will stay for rehabilitation. They then go to Houston on 28 October for more debriefings and medical testing. On 7 November they are finally released to go back to their families and normal lives.

Friday 14/10

I have been reorganizing my Sergei site a bit, so I haven’t been doing much else. For updates between his spaceflights, see the site’s News section. Note: site deleted

A terrorist attack in the Russian city of Nalchik, Налчик today. You can probably guess who the culprits are. The attack seems to have been countered swiftly by authorities, with many terrorists killed. As it was not in the headlines on the TV news tonight, it has hopefully been mostly quelled.

“Beginning of the Meeting with the Deputy Minister for Internal Affairs, Alexandr Chekalin,” Kremlin.ru.

A letter in today’s The Age. Oh, the embarrassment. There have been a few previous letters like this, symptomatic of how run-down our trains and public transport are. Privatization sucks.

Melbourne’s public transport is user-unfriendly

October 14, 2005

Recently our family holidayed in Melbourne and, unfortunately, tried to use your train system. I hope a working system is implemented before the Commonwealth Games are held, otherwise the Victorian Government will need to provide free public transport for visitors during that time.

Our family and our host family – four adults and four children – arrived at the Heatherdale station mid-morning on a Saturday. We missed the first train because it took us more than 20 minutes to buy return tickets to Flinders Street Station. The equipment regularly failed to work.

We were also surprised that we could not buy multiple tickets on one credit-card transaction. As the ticket office was shut, and there were no shops nearby, we relied on credit cards to make the purchase. However, each ticket required a separate EFTPOS transaction. The PIN system was the slowest one I have used, and I have traveled throughout the world. (The systems in Third World countries have been 10 times faster!)

Surprisingly, no staff were available to assist us, and signs about the different types of tickets available were inadequate. When we arrived at Flinders Street Station, we discovered that our tickets were invalid because we had bought off-peak (i.e. after 9 a.m.). Apparently there is no off-peak on weekends, yet there were no signs at the station to inform us of this. Fortunately we weren’t fined – but we were surprised when ticket staff stamped our tickets as being valid, and said they would not charge us the difference because it was “too hard to work out the correct fare”.

Lastly, I was surprised at how crowded both our trains were (similar to peak-hour) on a Saturday. I assume this was due to cost-cutting; all the trains we saw had only four carriages, which added to the unpleasant family experience.

I pity the Commonwealth Games visitors if they need to use Melbourne’s public transport system, and I expect that ticket inspectors will have a field day fining those who have the wrong tickets. And when our family next comes to Melbourne, we will drive around town rather than use your public transport system. (Probably this will be cheaper, even with parking costs.)

– Jason Masters, North Ryde, NSW

Saturday 15/10

I have been fussing about with my websites, still. I am trying to standardize them as much as possible to make maintenance a bit easier. I am thinking of starting another journal/blog, this one for comments on the Russian space program and ISS (instead of putting those comments in here). Another issue is, should entries be earliest to latest (i.e. most recent at the bottom of the page), or latest to earliest? The convention that has developed for blogs is to put the most recent entries at the top, but it makes for awkward reading, as the more natural way to read is from earliest to latest. Eric Meyer addresses this issue in this entry: “Weblog Weirdness”.

I may yet decide to reverse all my entries and put the most recent at the bottom (as my computer journal is). It will mean a lot of reorganizing though (and going back through my journals to move each entry). Then I would have to do the same with my spaceflight news pages, etc.

There was a horse race today called the Caulfield Cup, and it was briefly mentioned that a horse called Mummify “broke down” – he smashed two bones in his fetlock, effectively crippling him. I wonder if all the people out enjoying themselves and getting drunk at the racetrack spared him a thought. I have mentioned several times my loathing for this cruel industry (see 4/10 entry). The horses in the industry are treated as disposable objects. The horses are raced from a young age, 2 years onwards, well before their skeletons have matured, and the training puts great stress on them. Their legs are thin and fragile, and it doesn’t take much for damage to occur.

Sunday 16/10

Phew! After spending most of the afternoon tediously cutting-and-pasting, my journal is now in earliest-to-latest order (latest at the bottom of each page), in the more conventional reading order. I really don’t like the blog convention of latest-at-the-top as it makes it awkward to read (for reasons mentioned last entry, 15/10). I will put a “current” bookmark for the most recent entry so that the “Current entry” link on the index page will jump straight there (have to remember to move the bookmark to each new entry).

Now I will have to do the rest of my sites …! Take a week or two, I think, maybe longer.

If I begin my Russian Spaceflight Blog (which will be the same layout pattern as this one), I might cut all the entries under the “Space stuff” headings and put them there (I begun these headings in March this year).

Had a headache this morning, though not a full migraine, probably from sitting in front of the computer yesterday! I get so caught up in my work that I tend to forget to take breaks.

Sergei Krikalyov postflight news is back on the 2005 news page at his site. He and John are recovering well. There was a bit of anxiety during undocking and descent when Soyuz TMA-6 began losing pressure: “Space crew weathers a scare during re-entry,” James Oberg, MSNBC.com. (Just knew he’d be onto that safety issue story!)

The Shenzhou-6 mission continues successfully, though they had to correct the orbit a bit. There is also the predicable paranoia from some in the U.S. regarding China’s space ambitions: “Analysts debate China’s space ambitions,” MSNBC.com.

That is what Russia used to be.

As happened this year, only two professional Russian cosmonauts will again fly next year, as Brazillian astronaut Marcos Pontes is to fly in April, and a Japanese tourist looks set to fly in October, on the twice-yearly Soyuz missions. The 34-year-old Japanese tourist apparently wants to play dress-ups in orbit: “Japanese Whiz Aims For Space – In Cartoon Uniform,” Space Daily.

If he gets Russian approval, Enomoto said he wanted to dress up on the trip as “Char Aznable,” a character in the popular “Gundam” hero robot series of animation whose name is inspired by French singer Charles Aznavour.

Enomoto describes himself as a “Gundam otaku (geek)”.

(*Rolls eyes in disgust*)

Tuesday 18/10

The weather is warming up a bit; into the mid-20s. Mildly humid.

Rather tired from doing a lot of cutting-and-pasting on my sites (rearranging things).

The racehorse mentioned in my 15/10 entry was put down/destroyed. A letter from today’s The Age about it:

Ridden into the ground

Those of us who argue for fairer treatment of animals are often criticised for using “anthropomorphism” to further our cause. But I have never seen a worse example of anthropomorphism than the sickening descriptions of Mummify – the racehorse who had to be put down after breaking a leg at Caulfield on Saturday – as a hero “who tried too hard,” a brave old horse who went out in “a blaze of glory” (Sport, 17/10).

To cast that poor animal as a hero who only wanted to do his best for himself and all his human friends is a pathetic attempt to glorify the latest tragedy perpetrated by the gambling industry. Mummify never had any choice in his career or in his actions last Saturday. He was ridden hard, while carrying the top weight, to make him run even harder. He has been forced to race and train well beyond his time and finally succumbed to that common racehorse injury, a broken foreleg. The connections may have felt some genuine sadness for the fate of the animal who has made more than $5 million for them – but perhaps they could have shown a bit more concern before running him, quite literally, into the ground.

– Mike O’Shaughnessy, Spence, ACT

The two Chinese taikonauts landed safely yesterday and are now national heroes.

“China’s next steps: spacewalks and women,” MSNBC.com. They have plans for spacewalks, women taikonauts, Moon missions and space stations. As regards the women, Russia stands in sorry contrast (no women cosmonauts in the Cosmonauts’ Group now). I wonder if the older people in the Russian space program are looking at the Chinese one and feeling nostalgic pangs for what used to be with theirs.

Thursday 20/10

More computer woes; this time the external ADSL modem seems to be malfunctioning (the connection has been erratic for several weeks and now we can’t connect at all – Dad and I share the network connection), so Dad called the ISP and they will be sending a replacement one. Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow. Until then I am restricted to the library computer, and can’t upload any web pages as there is no web interface for my host, and I can’t use FTP through the browser on the library computer as it refuses to go through. It’s a real inconvenience.

Mum & Dad have gone away, up to Rochester until Sunday. My sister and her family will be having to move soon as her husband is relocating, no thanks to some unpleasant people in the Church there where he was preaching since they moved there in 2000 or so – it can be summed up as “Church politics”. Don’t know where, yet. No easy task, with several children and two dogs.

Been fussing about with my Kosmonavtka site again (a never-ending obsession), mainly the navigation and how to organize the subjects. It has grown rather chaotically, in that I didn’t really plan it properly from the beginning and so it just evolved as I went along.

I managed to get hold of the most recent Harry Potter novel (HP and the Half-Blood Prince) at the library (a rare event – the novels seem to be permanently out on loan) but I can’t say I am finding it interesting so far, and it is going to be a struggle to finish it (if I ever do). It’s not a fantasy I find particularly riveting.

I also found and borrowed the nihilistic Japanese novel mentioned in my 19/6 entry, Snakes and Earrings, and, as you might expect from the description, it was not particularly cheering. I finished it in about an hour (it was fairly short, more of a novella). The characters spent their time doing unpleasant things to each other as they wandered through their aimless lives. These sorts of novels seem to win all the literary prizes in these times, though.

Friday 21/10

A new modem came by courier at 7:20 this morning, but the connection problem has not been solved. The help desk person whom I just (somewhat nervously) rang said the problem was probably some device interfering with the phone line, or a couple of other things which I can’t recall, but the modem itself seems to be working OK. I will have to wait until Dad returns on Sunday as trying to sort out the phone line connection is well beyond my capability. It is somewhere between the modem and the outside phone line. So no Internet connection until Monday at least. As I said in the previous entry, the connection has been somewhat erratic for several weeks.

The weather is this irritatingly mild damp and humidity that seems to come around late October; it is impossible to dry washing outside.

The council have also cut down nearly all the mature trees at the park and recreation ovals near Bentleigh. It is some sort of park redevelopment, but I am so pi**ed off as I hate seeing trees get cut down, and now there are no shady trees there for summer. Parking or walking alongside the oval will be a misery on a boiling 40°C day as there is no shade there now at all. All this council seems to do is cut down trees.

Still fretting over my Kosmonavtka site. Maybe I should just delete the whole thing! Well, I feel like it sometimes. I am just not happy with the way it is organized.

Saturday 22/10

I am going over to a lady’s house (she goes to my parents’ church) to see if I can upload my web pages there.

Got a few files uploaded, at least.

The unpleasant humid weather continues.

Two letters from yesterday’s The Age regarding the workplace reforms our Dear Leader is so obsessed with forcing upon Australia:

A not-so-sweet American dream

I grew up in that most wonderful/terrible country known as the US, but as one of your newest Australian citizens would like to have my say on the proposed IR changes before it is too late.

I think most Australians know what a great quality of life we enjoy here but perhaps don’t realise how easily it can be eroded, leaving us as full of fear as they are in the States.

My siblings are the “working poor” – they have jobs but no job security. Wages are so low in the US that full-time work at the minimum wage does not lift one above the poverty level. Mind you, it’s not likely you’ll find a full-time job, because this requires employers to provide such benefits as heath insurance and holiday pay.

Millions of Americans juggle part-time jobs. Many take their two weeks annual leave a day or two at a time throughout the year and simply do not know the meaning of “leisure time”. Forget about earning enough to save for your retirement – my 78-year-old mother still drives a school bus part-time (earning about $10 an hour after 35 years on the job) because there is just not enough in her social security pension to pay for those little extras such as prescription drugs.

WorkChoices means you can choose to accept poor working conditions or not. If you choose to leave your job there is always going to be someone else who is willing to work under lesser conditions. Have you visited the super-productive US lately and seen how many businesses are open around the clock seven days a week – guess who is working those shifts?

If ever there was a time for Australia to take a different path than the US, this is it.

– Becky Birch, Elsternwick

Protestant work ethic

Anyone who has spent time living in the US could not have failed to notice that workers on (or close to) the minimum wage legislated by government make sure that they work at the minimum possible speed and with the minimum possible initiative. It is not that they are lazy. Instead, they are making a rational decision about the value of work they should contribute based upon the wage they receive in return. The Government had better be hoping that our employers don’t let the wages of workers stagnate or, worse, force them down in response to the increased bargaining powers that those employers are being given.

– Matthew Carrick, Camp Hill, Qld

That is the dark side of the powerful U.S. economy. An earlier article from The Age:

Poverty still bedevils US

By Bernd Debusmann
Washington, October 6, 2005

Four decades after President Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty, more than 37 million people in the world’s richest country are officially classified as poor.

Last year, according to government statistics, 1.1 million Americans fell below the poverty line. That equals the entire population of a big city like Dallas or Prague.

Since 2000, the ranks of the poor have increased, year by year, by almost 5.5 million in total.

Even optimists see little prospect that the number will shrink soon despite a renewed debate on poverty prompted by searing television images that laid bare a fact of American life rarely exposed to global view.

President Johnson had said: “Unfortunately, many Americans live on the outskirts of hope, some because of their poverty, and some because of their colour, and all too many because of both.

“This administration declares unconditional war on poverty in America.”

That was in 1964. Then 19 per cent of the population lived below the official poverty line. That declined over the next four years, and in 1968 it stood at 12.8 per cent.

Since then it has fluctuated little. Last year it was at 12.7 per cent, proof that poverty is a chronic problem.

The state of poverty in the US is measured once a year by the Census Bureau, whose statistics-packed 70-plus pages usually provide fodder for academic studies, but not much else. Not so in 2005.

The report coincided with Katrina, the devastating hurricane that killed more than 1100 in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Live television coverage with shocking images of the desperate and the dead in New Orleans showed in brutal close-up what the spreadsheets of the census bureau cannot convey.

The images shocked the world, shamed many Americans and prompted comparisons with developing countries such as Somalia, Angola and Bangladesh.

The pictures from New Orleans showed poor black people begging for help. Most of the rescuers, when they finally arrived, were white.

The percentage of black Americans living in poverty is 24.7, almost twice as high as the overall rate for all races.

In predominantly black New Orleans, that disparity translated into those with cars and money, almost all white, fleeing, while more than 100,000 blacks without cars were trapped in the flooded city.

Some commentators wondered whether the crisis showed that political segregation, America’s version of apartheid, which formally ended with the 1964 Civil Rights Act, had merely been replaced by economic segregation – poor black Americans in one part of a city, affluent whites in the other.

It is a 10-minute drive from the White House to the heart of Anacostia, Washington’s poorest neighbourhood, but they could be in different worlds.

But the black-equals-poor scenes from New Orleans do not portray the full picture. Some academic experts say the Government’s figures minimise the true scale of poverty because they are outdated.

“Every August, we Americans tell ourselves a lie,” said David Brady, a Duke University professor who studies poverty.

“The poverty rate was designed to undercount because the Government wanted to show progress in the war on poverty.”

Poverty is a universal problem, as is inequality. The world’s 500 richest people, according to UN statistics, have as much income as the world’s poorest 416 million.

The post-hurricane poverty scenes were remarkable for most of the world because of the perception of the US as the rich land of unlimited opportunity.

But the well-paid unskilled jobs in heavy industry that once lifted working-class Americans into the middle class are largely gone, and the decline continues.

Since 2001, the US has lost more than 2.7 million manufacturing jobs. Low-paid clerical work is being outsourced to developing countries.

Another president, the late Ronald Reagan, had it right when he said, in 1988: “The Federal Government declared war on poverty, and poverty won.”

Sunday 23/10

Still humid. Still Internet-deprived.

Some idiots on the street again last night, though they did not do any damage to the fence this time. Saw mentioned in an Internet newspaper article that there was a stabbing at a party in the area (youths in their 20s – no surprises there). I am all for imposing a curfew and a shoot-to-kill policy to combat these idiots. Never mind Islamic terrorists – we have our own local ones.

A sickening case of animal cruelty yesterday in Sydney when a gang of young boys – ranging between 8 and 13 years – stomped on a little stray dog and left it in a pram stroller to die outside a police station. The boys haven’t been caught yet, but if and when they are – I hope their lives are not worth living. There are a few times when corporal punishment can be justified, and this is one – I hope they get the thrashing of their lives. There have been a few previous cases of similar cruelty (mainly towards cats) over the last year, all by young boys. What the heck has gone wrong with society when this sort of thing keeps occurring? Where are their parents and why are the boys being allowed to roam the streets at night? I am so bloody sick of this increasing lawlessness (see 27/9 entry).

An entry at Jane Keeler’s From Russia With Blog: “Nina Mikhailovna is a wise woman”.

And some sites found today (which will annoy conservatives :-D, and are an antidote to PM John Howard’s hateful ideology):

“Grumpy” Keith Cowing at NASA Watch has his knickers in a knot about Russia helping Iran with its missile program: “Is Anyone Paying Attention To Reality on the 9th Floor?”.

Editor’s note: Is this an attempt to try and rehabilitate the image of the Moscow Aviation Institute after being hit with U.S. trade actions for its dealings with Iran, or is this another instance where NASA PAO is utterly oblivious to what ill-advised message such a PR stunt sends as NASA pins its hopes for INA relaxation – at a time when Russia is stepping up its public statements about wanting to help Iran with its rocket programs? Is this what Joe Davis calls “strategic communication?”

An orbital correction of the ISS by Progress M-54 on October 18-19 was aborted earlier than expected as the engines were cut off prematurely by a computer command (firing for 170 seconds rather than 12.5 minutes). The orbit was raised to only 450 meters rather than 10 km. The normal functioning of the ISS and crew is not affected. As soon as the cause is found, another orbital correction will be tried. (The incident was somewhat dramatized by a few reporters!)

From Novosti Kosmonavtiki news № 508. Roskosmos will request compensation from NASA for the cancellation of the delivery of the Science and Power Platform (NEP), Научно-энергетическая платформа (НЕП):

21/10/2005/00:02 – Roskosmos awaits compensation from NASA

Roskosmos expects equivalent compensation from NASA for the refusal to deliver to the ISS the Russian energy module. About this the chief for the administration for the manned programs of federal space agency (Roskosmosa) Aleksei Krasnov reported today, ITAR-TASS transfers.

“We expressed concern to our American associates about the fact that they, firstly, did not consult with us when making this decision, and secondly, similar solution places us in a sufficiently difficult situation,” he said. “NASA signed the obligation to deliver on the shuttle our scientific-energy module, intended for the power supply of Russian segment ISS, and now Americans must grant certain equivalent compensation,” noted Krasnov.

The module, in the form which was originally planned, can be put into orbit only on the shuttle, explained the Roskosmos representative. “the launching of this module is equivalent to 1.5 shuttle launches, since space was provided on one shuttle for the basic module, and on other was to be included even more additional elements – battery, radiator, spare parts,” explained Krasnov. Roskosmos, according to him, “will leave on the understanding with NASA for compensation.” “one of the versions of the solution of this problem can be the use of different functions of the American segment in the interests of Russian segment, including in power engineering,” refined Krasnov.

In the plan of the development of Russian segment, besides resolution of a question about the compensation concerning power engineering, stands the launching of the laboratory and of one or several research modules, which, however, will be reduced “to smaller dimensionality than they were planned.” Furthermore, “if the ISS program is be developed along the outlined plan, we will think about our own small energy module, which between 2012-13 will give additional annual power engineering to that we will have from the American segment.” But we will launch this module on our carrier rocket, emphasized Krasnov. However, “all this will make sense, if station is maintained up to 2020.”

Russian version, Русская версия: Роскосмос ждет компенсации от НАСА.

Mum & Dad just returned home at 2:20 p.m., so now all is well! Just need to get the Internet access fixed …

… Dad tried a few things (unplugging and plugging), but no luck. Wait until tomorrow.

Thought I could just put a Russian space news section in my Kosmonavtka site instead; probably easier.

Monday 24/10

The Internet is back, oh joy! It WAS the modem – the old one had become unstable. Dad rang up the help desk, and a more helpful man answered; he instructed Dad to reprogram the modem and it worked for a little while, but then went off again. So Dad replaced it with the new one and now things seem to be OK. We hope. (Both our computers are connected to the modem by Ethernet cables, and it in turn is plugged into the phone line connection.)

Stormy and unsettled weather last night; the mild humidity continues. There were a few distant rumbles of thunder after 12:30 a.m., then it was quiet for some time, then around 2:30 a.m. there was a BIG crash of thunder overhead, then silence again. I am sure thunderstorms do that deliberately to scare everyone awake!

Aboard the ISS, the Elektron O2 generator has been off again since 13/10, because of its KOV, КОВ water container being empty. The system “did as it was supposed to do” in switching off. There is plenty of onboard oxygen from alternate sources (the docked Progress M-54 and oxygen-generating candles).

The cause of the shutdown was an empty EDV (KOV) container with de-ionized water. RSC-Energiya needs to assess the quantity of bubbles in the EDV using downlinked photos obtained during filling of two EDVs on 10/14 before reactivation will be attempted. (18/10 On-Orbit Report)

Expedition 12, Valerii Tokarev and William MacArthur, are preparing for a spacewalk on 7 November, this using the U.S. EMU spacesuits.

The spacewalk, from the Quest Airlock (A/L) in EMU (Extravehicular Mobility Unit) suits, is estimated to last 5h 25m. Primary objectives: installation of an external video camera assembly (CP9 ETVCG, External TV Camera Group) on a stanchion on the P1 segment (lower outboard), and the removal and subsequent jettisoning/throwing of the FPP (Floating Potential Probe) with its solar arrays and extended probes from the top of the Z1 truss (portside), it in retrograde direction (about 30 deg zenith and 10 deg port of the ISS minus X-axis) with a velocity of at least 0.15 m/s, while the station is in XVV TEA attitude. There are also three get-ahead tasks, if time permits: retrieval of the S1-1 RJMC (Rotary Joint Motor Controller), removal & replacement of an RPCM (Remote Power Controller Module on the MT (Mobile Transporter), and installation of a clamp from the MISSE 4 (Materials on the ISS Experiment #4) on the A/L starboard endcone zenith/aft handrail. (20/10 On-Orbit Report)

Wednesday 26/10

The U.S. military fatalities in Iraq have been climbing slowly but inexorably since the invasion began in March 2003, and today they reached 2000. Suicide bombers continue to blow themselves and others up almost daily.

Two postings of interest at Russian Blog: Why Russians Do Not Smile; Russian Rudeness.

Is it so surprising that nowadays people who work as waiters or shop assistants feel that they are doing a very humiliating job – serving other? I remember one American movie with Demi Moore playing a role of a strip dancer. She hated that job, hated customers, hated her boss but was still working because she was poor, she was a lonely mother and she needed money. In that movie Demi Moore looked at the strip bar patrons exactly like many Russian waiters look at their customers. “You see how humiliated I am. I degraded to being a restaurant-serf. Don’t you dare to humiliate me more by your stupid demands! I’m still a free man and can rebut your insults”.

Have patience with Russian service people. These people found themselves in this position not of their own accord. Evil fate forced them to do this degrading work.

Oh, can I ever relate to that (my previous job, which I would rather forget). Jobs in the so-called service industries are by their nature humiliating and degrading, and are certainly not worth putting any effort into.

I certainly don’t go around with a big smile on my face; indeed I probably look rather sullen a lot of the time. People who grin all the time make me uncomfortable. Especially with shop assistants; how do you know if they are being sincere or not?

The Elektron is back in operation again (see 24/10 entry for why it was off).

And I can’t resist linking to this article: “Out-of-this-world sex could jeopardise missions,” NewScientistSpace.com. The pesky relationship thing. Perhaps they could give a crew some sort of drugs to repress their “urges” – this was done in a Ben Bova Mars novel. Or (as the article suggests) choose people who just aren’t that interested in the rather tedious business.

Thursday 27/10

Went to the doctor today to renew a prescription. She took my blood pressure, which is fine (something like 180/60; I forget the exact readings).

The humid weather finished on Wednesday and is now more pleasant. Unfortunately we look to be in for a hot summer, and the power supply may not be able to cope. From The Age today:

Power crisis looms

By Rod Myer, October 27, 2005

Victoria faces a dramatically higher risk of power cuts this summer as massive growth in the use of air-conditioners whittles away the state’s power reserve.

Electricity regulator NEMMCo will today release an assessment of power demand and supply for 2005, showing Victoria and South Australia face a reserve deficit of 500 megawatts – more than double last summer’s 229-megawatt deficit.

And the risk of blackouts will be compounded if predictions of an unusually hot start to summer are realised. According to the National Climate Centre, there is a 60 to 65 per cent chance that Victoria will be warmer than average from November to January.

The state’s power reserve is the amount of spare capacity to cover generator failures during peak demand periods. The reserve margin in Victoria and SA (treated as one market by regulators) is supposed to be 530 megawatts. But because of the 500-megawatt deficit, only 30 megawatts will be available as back-up for mechanical failures in hot weather.

Victoria has not had significant blackouts since the summer of 1999-2000, when industrial action and plant failures in hot weather caused power retailers to cut supplies across the state, causing $100 million in losses to business.

Referring to current low reserves, Opposition energy spokesman Bill Forwood said yesterday: “This summer we’re in trouble.”

But a spokesman for Energy Minister Theo Theophanous said the reserve deficit would be an issue only in the type of heatwaves that occurred on average only once every 10 years. “The Government regularly talks to NEMMCo about how demand can be managed,” the spokesman said.

Last year’s reserve margin deficit did not cause problems because the weather was cool.

Regulators are now trying to strike deals with industry to turn off plants when electricity demand reaches dangerously high levels. But attempts last year to make such deals yielded only 84 megawatts of extra capacity when regulators sought 229.

A spokesman for consumer watchdog the Energy Action Group, John Dick, said Victoria had watched the problem emerge in recent years but had not acted. “The Government has nothing in place. I argue that it’s gross incompetence and the state does not have a viable energy policy.”

Environment Victoria chief executive Marcus Godinho said the risk of blackouts could be addressed only by ensuring business and consumers used energy more efficiently at peak times.

Roman Domanski, director of the Energy Users Association of Australia, a lobby group for big industrial companies, said not enough was being done in Victoria to tackle the peak demand issue. “You’ve only got to look at Western Australia to see what some of the solutions are,” Mr. Domanski said.

WA has been far more successful that Victoria in persuading industry to join up to demand management measures. Last summer the state gained 80 megawatts of extra capacity from industry promises to reduce consumption in heatwaves – almost as much as Victoria, with a population 2.5 times as large, was able to achieve.

As reported in various places, the Russian government approved the space program for 2006-2015. Predictably it has not got the media attention that the NASA Vision for Space Exploration did. I just wish the 500-day Martian mission simulation experiment were a REAL Russian Mars mission.

Russian government approves 2006-2015 Federal Space Program

16:21 | 25/10/2005

MOSCOW, October 25 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian government has approved the Federal Space Program for 2006-2015 (FSP 2015), the head of the Federal Space Agency said Tuesday.

Anatoly Perminov said the program included the construction of a reusable “Clipper” spacecraft jointly with European countries, and two rocket carriers, the Angara and the Soyuz-2. The program also includes the Phobos-Grunt project, which is designed to collect soil samples from Phobos, one of Mars’s satellite moons.

Under the program, a new module built by the Krunichev Center will be completed, launched, and attached to the Russian segment of the International Space Station.

At the end of 2006, the agency will begin an experiment to prepare for a manned trip to Mars, which would last around 500 days.

Through the FSP 2015 program, Russia also plans to increase its share of the space services market by expanding its orbital group.

A new orbital group will be created jointly with the Russian Communications Ministry and will function independently from international systems.

The program also includes a satellite navigation system to cover all of Russia’s territory and the territory of countries cooperating in the project, Perminov said. A contract has already been signed with India and talks may be held with China.

By 2008, Russia’s orbital group is expected to increase by 18 space vehicles for various purposes including communications, meteorological observation, remote sensing, and research.

Russia’s current orbital group totals around 100 satellites and space vehicles.

Friday 28/10

12 days until my birthday.

Quite a bit of space news and such today.

The ISS will mark 5 years of occupancy next week (“human occupancy” as NASA calls it – well, what other species would be occupying it?). NASA has a page called, perhaps not surprisingly, 5 Years of Occupancy on the International Space Station. Haven’t found any Russian sites with equivalent pages, yet.

“Thrusters pass key test on space station,” MSNBC.com. Progress M-54 was given a successful thruster firing test after the glitch last week (see 23/10 entry).

“House Passes Bill to Allow NASA to Buy Soyuz Spacecraft,” Space.com. “The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to let NASA continue buying Russian spaceships to deliver astronauts and supplies to the space station until 2012.” The Iran Non-Proliferation Act was preventing NASA paying Russia for seats for its astronauts on the spacecraft as the law was supposed to stop Russia helping Iran with nuclear technology. (I can’t quite work out the connection there, but never mind.) Of course, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s silly remarks today about wiping Israel off the map don’t help matters!

TsUP – Moscow Mission Control – is 45 years old this month! (From 3 October – it was created in 1960.)

From Novosti Kosmonavtiki news № 510. Comments from a U.S. official on the Russian space plan, and Energiya proposes that the Kliper spacecraft could be used to construct a lunar complex in orbit:

28/10/2005/00:01 – USA considers that the Russian space program to the next 10 years is not very ambitious; however, it is sequential

In the USA they commented on the resolution of the RF government about the adoption of federal space program for the period of 2006-2015. “This plan was approved by Russian government, which implies agreement to its financing,” says John Logsdon, director of the institute of space strategy at the university of George of Washington in the capital of the USA.

He includes the building of shuttle Klipper instead of the Soyuz spacecraft. Kliper will be able to deliver simultaneously six cosmonauts to ISS and back – two times more than Soyuz, reports New Scientist. Japanese and European space agencies also examine the possibility to be included in the project, he writes at NEWSru.com.

The representatives of Russian space organizations say that the ten-year plan makes a special emphasis on the broadening of international collaboration in space and fulfilment of commitments of Russia in this sphere. One of such obligations is the completion of the ISS Russian segment. In this section can be included the solar batteries for the power supply module, micrometeorite shielding panels and even two laboratory sections.

However, Logsdon doubts, that this is possible. Kliper is intended only for the transport of people; it not will be equipped with its own cargo hold, in contrast to the American shuttle, he said to New Scientist. He is not completely confident, that the new Russian modules will appear at the space station.

The new plan of Russia also assumes sending a robotized probe to one of the Martian satellites, Phoebus. Furthermore, on the Earth will be carry out the biomedical inspections of people, who are volunteers for the manned mission to the red planet, which, probably, it takes place in 2020.

In contrast to the plans of the USA, which are prepared to first repeatedly send astronauts to the Moon, Russia, in all likelihood, was aimed directly at Mars, Logsdon speaks, because in 1969 Americans, after landing on the Moon, outdistanced the Soviet Union.

This program is not excessively ambitious, it is counted, noting that Russia had long ago been assembled to build replacement to Soyuz and it is methodical, and in the emergency order it by no means develops the program of the manned space flight to Mars. “However this a serious improvement in comparison with their activity in latter several years under the motto to obtain the money, wherever possible,” says Logsdon, keeping in mind the sale of places on Soyuz “to space tourists and to other space agencies, and also the commercial launching of satellites. The program also provides for an increase in the quantity of GLONASS satellites – global navigation satellite system – from today’s 14 to 18 and more in 2007. “At present the satellites are insufficient for guaranteeing the valuable functioning of the system,” says Logsdon.

Russian version, Русская версия: США считают, что российская космическая программа на ближайшие 10 лет не очень амбициозна, однако последовательна.

28/10/2005/00:01 – RKK Energiya proposes to use a new spacecraft Kliper for the creation in orbit of assembly shop for the lunar complex

RKK Energiya proposes to use a new spacecraft, Kliper, for the creation in orbit of an assembly shop for the lunar complex. About this RKK Energiya Nikolai Sevast’yanov reported today at the formal encounter of the 11th basic expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) and of the third space tourist.

He emphasized, transfers ITAR-TASS, that new space transportation means will make flights into space more accessible. “We create a new spacecraft, the Kliper, whose operation will make it possible to enlarge the market for space flights, and then into space can fly not only professional cosmonauts, but also scientific, and commercial cosmonaut-tourists,” he said.

In the opinion of N. Sevast’yanov, the spectrum of ISS tasks was recently enlarged. “ISS is a space port, where scientific studies are conducted and new technologies for the Earth are mastered. But recently two new tasks appeared – the creation in orbit of an industrial area for finalizing of the technology of the creation of complex for the flights to the Moon, and also the interplanetary technologies,” he noted. New tasks will require a constant presence in orbit of a larger quantity of people, that also they must ensure ships of the Kliper type.

N. Sevast’yanov is completely agreeable with the the leader of the representation of European space agency ESA in Russia, Fournier-Sikra. He is convinced that “Kliper will be a comfortable ship, on which even elderly scientists can fly successfully.”

According to A. Fournier-Sikra of ESA, the aim is the development of the “joint manned program with Russia.” “During December the Council of Ministers of ESA will meet, where will be accepted decisions of major importance, including according to this program,” he said.

Russian version, Русская версия: РКК «Энергия» предлагает использовать новый космический корабль «Клипер» для создания на орбите сборочного цеха для лунного комплекса.

Saturday 29/10

A curious and vivid dream of flying last night, or rather of levitating. I was doing this in my bedroom: standing and flapping my arms slowly while concentrating hard and I was able to float upwards. I did this several times, then went outside, rising up a few meters and seeing over the surrounding houses. I thought that I had only just discovered how to do this, then a Kilvington classmate, Lee-Anne, appeared and said we had found out how to levitate when younger. The dream seemed to have some significance, though it has faded now. I awoke thinking the levitation ability was real, but then realized rather disappointingly that it wasn’t!

Daylight savings begins here tomorrow at long last, as the mornings are now very light and I am waking up earlier anyway.

Sunday 30/10

Daylight savings today, so up at the equivalent of 4 a.m. (yawn!). My usual hour-long plodding bicycle ride at 6 a.m. (5 a.m. normal time). I get the impression that – in this society – for some reason, staying and getting up late is “cool,” while going to bed early and arising early is considered weird. I have been getting up at around 5 a.m. for years, though, since I became anorexic in late 1988 and wanted more time for exercise. Going out for a walk or jog in the early morning is the best time of day because it is quiet, and is cool in the hot weather. I prefer to go to bed around 10-10:30 p.m. and don’t like going out at night (not that I have a social life so that isn’t a problem).

I do hate this frantic 24-hour society that has evolved, with lights blazing all night (obscuring the stars), people running around, going to nightclubs and getting drunk, and so on. I never have been to a nightclub and from what I have seen/read, I don’t think I am missing much.

Weather is warming up – into the high 20s next week, and one day of 30°C. :-(

Monday 31/10

An interesting documentary on time travel last night called “Time Trip”. At least, interesting despite the irritating style in which the documentary was made – I call it the “MTV style” of documentary in which the producers try to make it look like a music video with lots of weird special effects, filming angles and a barrage of songs. They probably think it will appeal to all those trendy young people who watch lots of such videos. I just find it distracting and watching it feels like a rather bad acid trip (complete with psychedelic colors). Despite all those irritations there were some interesting theories given as to how to do time travel – though all had a disadvantage. There is Einstein’s theory of special relativity where the faster you go, the slower time passes. They mentioned a cosmonaut, Sergei Avdeev, who at that time held the long-duration accumulated time-in-space record. Because you are traveling (or falling) faster when in orbit, time passes just a little bit slower. So Sergei was a 50th of a second younger than he would be had he spent that time on Earth – and thus had traveled a 50th of a second into the future! The same would apply to Sergei Krikalyov, who now holds the long-duration record. The only problem with this type of time travel is that it is strictly one-way – into the future. Another involved traveling around a spinning cylinder made from a cosmic string. And another – which I didn’t quite understand – involved computer-generated virtual realities becoming so real in the future that they would be indistinguishable from reality. More details: Time travel entry at Wikipedia.

Humans have a one-way linear perception of time, but like space it also expands in all directions; the past, present and future exist all at once. As yet, we seem to have no way of surmounting our physical limitations to access this higher realm.

Five years ago today Expedition 1 launched on Soyuz TM-31 for the ISS. Five years already! On 2 November they docked with the ISS and became the first occupiers.

Cosmonaut Valerii Tokarev, now aboard the ISS, had his 53rd birthday on the 29th.

From Novosti Kosmonavtiki news № 510:

31/10/2005/00:01: The first committee of the General Assembly of the United Nations voted against weapons in space

The first committee of the 60th session of the United Nations General Assembly received by overwhelming majority the Russian project of the resolution of “measures for the guarantee of transparency and strengthening of confidence in the space activity,” stated in Sunday RIA News the Deputy foreign Minister of Russia Aleksandr Yakovenko.

“158 states voted for the resolution, only the USA voted against, and Israel refrained,” he said. The “purpose of resolution is to avoid the deployment of weapons in space,” the diplomat explained.

As Yakovenko noted, in Moscow the vote totals were perceived with satisfaction. He emphasized that “the results of voting indicate the desire of the absolute majority of states to preserve space by peaceful means.”

Russian version, Русская версия: Первый комитет Генассамблеи ООН проголосовал против оружия в космосе.

I just managed to get myself stung by a bee! I put my hand on the grass outside and felt this incredibly painful sting – I couldn’t work out what it was at first. I got the very tiny stinger out with tweezers. The “home remedy” is to put a blue-bag or Bluo (the blue liquid used to whiten bedsheets in the laundry) directly on the sting, so I did that and it seems to be okay now – I haven’t got an allergic reaction to it as far as I can tell. That’s the first time I have been stung.

November

Tuesday 1/11

Most of Australia today is fixated on a certain horse race, and the media dredges up all the predictable clichés and hackneyed phrases to accompany it. I can barely express enough my extreme disgust at such mundanity. Mars is glowering at me in the early morning sky, and I wish …

Went to Southland Shopping Center this morning (with my parents) as usual and did my usual bored, glaze-eyed wander around. There is so much stuff, and most of this stuff will eventually end up in landfill. Archaeologists of the far future will be digging up literal mountains of this rubbish. The consumer society we live in is incredibly wasteful and ultimately unsustainable. It is dependent upon lots of people producing (mostly useless) stuff, and lots of people buying this stuff. The stuff has to be made with built-in obsolescence so it will eventually break or wear out, so people therefore have to go out and buy more stuff (if they can afford it). All to keep the Economy God placated so that it keeps growing. Woe betide if the economy stops growing! It is an insane and ultimately rather pointless race with no end in sight. And not all share equally in the wealth generated by this economy – a few end up with a lot, and the rest with very little.

With a growing human population (plague!) of 6 billion and more, the long-term sustainability of this type of society is doubtful. The Earth can’t absorb massive amounts of human-produced rubbish and pollution indefinitely.

Oh dear, yet another “Paranoid Patriot” to get annoyed at (they all link their blogs to each others’): Space Pragmatism blog.

Military in Spaceentry (7 April 2005):

This who “Peace in Space” crap just irritates me beyond belief. UPI has a story today about the military wanting to (gasp!) use space. Uhhh da’ horror. I love this quote by Ms. Hitchens:

“They will go there if we go there,” says Theresa Hitchens of the Center for Defense Information in Washington. “If somebody else did go first, we could go second very quickly and probably better.”

Hello? Wish we had thought of that in the 60s! Could have saved a lot of time getting to the Moon. Just let somebody else do it first and then go up after them. Brilliant!

Why do some people feel the need to make space a special, peaceful place? Space is (and should be) no different from any frontier. It is beautiful and open and dangerous. Not just from space junk flying around, but from space nuts with bombs. We need to protect our interests in space, both present and future.

So bring along your covered wagons and join me on our journey. Don’t forget your gun …

posted by Dan Schrimpsher

(And the article he comments on: “U.S. Military wants Weapons in Space,” Spacewar.com.)

This viewpoint, held by many, is just so immature. Space IS a special, peaceful place (the violence of supernovae, black holes, etc. aside), containing immense forces and expanses we puny humans can barely comprehend. I wonder if the viewpoint of the “war in space” fanatics would change if they were actually able to visit space and see the Earth and stars clearly for the first time.

For humans to carry their wasteful wars and slaughter of each other into space is such a pointless activity. The human race, as a whole, badly needs to GROW UP! Evolve, in other words. Co-operation, not competition, will be necessary for our long-term survival. We need to find more sustainable ways of living. But humans are still stuck in the primitive mentality that they have carried since the human race evolved. It might have been suitable for the world as it was millennia ago, but is now more of a liability. The news headlines each day are a depressing barrage of bombings, murders and general brutality.

Life is short, and death is forever. Many years ago – maybe a decade – I read a library book about the evolution of the Universe, and a page about the ultimate end of the Universe said something along the lines of, “Because life is so fleeting, we should try to make it as transcendent as possible.”

(Someday I will try to write a coherent essay about my feelings on this topic …!)

Another thing that I find irritating about these blogs is the extremist nationalism evident. I dislike nationalism intensely (of any country); it’s a narrow-minded and rather primitive outlook. Naturally, these sorts of people despise the United Nations (I can just imagine their reaction to the UN vote against weapons in space mentioned in my 31/10 entry) and think their own country should dominate the world, and to hell with what other countries think. Well, as I have said somewhere else: no-one owns this world; we all share it.

And the final thing – what seems to be an obsessive focus in these blogs and mentality – is the “Pioneering Spirit.” Now I might not find this so irritating, but these people carry on as if their nation is the only one that possesses it. I might remind them that the Pioneering Spirit is shared by humanity as a whole – the urge to go to new places and explore. There are some people in all countries and cultures who want to go elsewhere, and others who wish to stay where they are. But to generalize by saying the people of [insert country here – usually Europe] are a timid bunch of stay-at-home sissies in comparison to the bold and daring Americans is just ridiculous. A quote from Space Pragmatism:

Manifest Destiny was a nineteenth century belief that the United States had a divinely-inspired mission to expand, particularly across the North American frontier towards the Pacific Ocean … Even more than that. This isn’t just about nationalism, freedom, and capitalism expanding through the solar system, it is about survival. The most basic need of all humanity. This is Endurance Destiny. Humanity must endure. Why, you may ask. Because we will it to be so, and God wills it to be so, and we have the tools to make it happen.

– Edurance Destiny entry

It’s a religious crusade! In all but name. The same mentality that has inflicted so much strife on humanity throughout the ages is evident here.

Colonization is not a bad word. We are not supplementing Native Americans or island tribes. No one is out there. We need to be. I may be biased, but I would like the future civilizations of the solar system would be based on the values of freedom and enterprise.

– Amen entry

But not everyone agrees with or likes these values (not the ferociously aggressive U.S. version).

Maybe it is due to my own somewhat passive/apathetic nature, but I find this aggressive nationalistic colonize-space-or-else mentality off-putting. I certainly believe that humans must expand into space to ensure our species’ long-term survival, but done as a co-operative, international effort.

(Then again, why do I care about any of the above at all? I am unlikely to go into space, and am not likely to pass on my genes – i.e. have children – and once I am dead the Universe will end for me, and whatever happens to the human race is no longer my concern.)

That’s enough for today – weather is warming up.

Wednesday 2/11

Temperature: 33 degrees Celsius

Hot! Too bloody hot to be bothered to do anything. As proof, below is a photo I just took of the thermometer outside the kitchen! (Dad bought it earlier this year during one of their visits to Rochester.) At approximately 10:50 a.m. it was around 33°C (the numbers on the outside) or 90°F (inside numbers). It is also rather humid. To be this hot so early in the season is an ominous sign of a scorching summer ahead, which I (and my parents) are not looking forward to. (It will take we of English ancestry hundreds or thousands of years to genetically adapt to this climate!). I will take another shot the day the temperature reaches 40°C (as I can confidently predict it will).

I am thinking of moving the ISS section of my Kosmonavtka site to its own site as it is growing so big! Along with (maybe) the Spaceships and Spacesuits sections. Still focus on the Russian segment. Don’t know what to call it – perhaps MKS after the Russian acronym (МКС, международная космическая станция). The Sergei Krikalyov and Suzy sites were also previously in the Kosmonavtka site.

Thursday 3/11

The weather is still humid and unsettled. It was warm last night so I didn’t sleep well, and just feel out-of-sorts. A big storm from around 5 a.m. this morning. I wish we could spend the next 3 or 4 months in Europe to avoid the Australian summer!

Dad found a spider in the bathroom early this morning; I looked up the Victorian spider guide at the Melbourne Museum site and it looks like a Black House Spider, which is fairly harmless (though still unpleasant enough to look at!). The humid weather seems to bring out all the creepy-crawlies.

Friday 4/11

A cool change came through yesterday afternoon and it was a blessed relief. Wednesday night was the warmest November night in 100 years – 28°C! No wonder I found it hard to sleep.

I also temporarily removed the Guestbook as I was getting spam entries (not an uncommon problem, unfortunately) and wanted to redo the page. The fake entries are easy to spot as they have generic comments and a link to some commercial site.

From Novosti Kosmonavtiki news № 511. Sergei apparently did appear in that noodle ad, after all :'-( (see 9/10 entry):

03/11/2005/11:50 – A “space advertisement” was shown on Japanese television with the participation of Krikalyov

An advertisment, taken on board the International Space Station, was shown today on Japanese television, writes news.izvestia.ru. Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalyov played the main role. Opposite the window with a view of the Earth, he catches clusters of the dissoluble noodles with his mouth, extracting them with a fork from a small packet. The advertisement was taken for the food company “Nisshin” with the aid of a special camera. It was brought to the ISS at the beginning of October on board the manned Soyuz spacecraft, which delivered in orbit the new basic expedition crew.

During the year it is planned to still make several reels, on each of which has been expended about a million dollars. With surveys deals the Tokyo firm Space Film with the support of the Japanese National Aerospace Agency JAXA.

The President of this company, Satosi Takamatsu said the scene with the fork took more than 30 takes. “He did not think that it would come out so flawlessly. Krikalyov operated at 150%,” he said.

Already, three years ago in Japan an advertisement was transmitted, which was taken in the Russian module ISS for the “Otsuka” pharmaceutical company. They advertised a tonic beverage produced by it.

Russian version, Русская версия: На японском телевидении вышла «космическая реклама» с участием Крикалева.

Saturday 5/11

Another report in The Age today about Melbourne’s underfunded and run-down public transport system: “Melbourne grinding to a halt”.

The ESA Venus Express mission is set to launch on 9 November (a special day for me :-D, from Baikonur Cosmodrome (it was delayed a few days because of contamination in the payload fairing of the Soyuz rocket. Hopefully it will be successful and end the run of bad luck that has plagued Russian unmanned launches the last few months!

“Japanese entrepreneur to take space ride,” MSNBC.com. Daisuke Enomoto has a website, Dice-K (in Japanese). The GundamOfficial site has a description (and anime drawing) of the Char Aznabel character he wants to dress up as.

My posting at collectSPACE for today: Russian probes websites.

Sunday 6/11

Warm today – 30°C – but not unpleasant like last week as it wasn’t humid. Summer would be bearable if it got no warmer than today, but unfortunately it will.

From Novosti Kosmonavtiki news № 511. Russia and China are to co-operate in long-term space exploration.

06/11/2005/00:01 – Experts evaluate highly the plan of long-term cooperation in the region of space between China and Russia

The joint communique signed by the premier ministers of China and Russia indicates the need for the deepening of double-sided long-term cooperation in the space region and the importance of attention to the major joint projects, he writes. Experts assume that development of Chinese Russian collaboration in the space region “The mutual exchange will give general gain.”

The design project leader of the Chinese manned space program, Van Yunchzhi, noted that Russia has available foremost technology, a powerful base and wide experience in the space region. Since until today the scale of bilateral cooperation was narrow, both sides affirmed the new long-range plan of interaction in space research. It assumes the expansion of the framework of collaboration, the development of contacts within the framework of joint major projects, which will be reflected beneficially in the development of national cosmonautics in each country.

The plan of long-term cooperation in the space sphere, accepted by China and Russia, is not separated from the achievements of China in the region of space technology and raising the overall level of this sphere, Gotin – a colleague of the Chinese scientific research institute of space technology – believes.

The scientist focused attention on the fact that this time the Russian side came out with the initiative together with the Chinese side to develop the plan of collaboration in the space research, and it also invited Chinese side to the participation in a study of Mars and the International Space Station project of. In the opinion of the scientist, this demonstrates the acknowledgement and the agreement in Russian side with the achievements of China in the development of space technology. The scientist expressed the opinion that the collaboration with China will give benefits to Russia in the plan of exchange of advanced technologies and support of projects from a financial point of view.

Russian version, Русская версия: Эксперты высоко оценивают План долгосрочного сотрудничества в космической области между Китаем и Россией.

It would make things interesting if Russia and China were to propose a joint manned Mars mission! It would be ideal, though, if all the space countries – the USA, Russia, China and Europe – could combine for such a mission.

NASA will have to make sacrifices in some areas if it is to develop its ambitious space program. The priorities are developing a new reusable space vehicle to replace the Shuttle, and finishing the ISS. Some science programs on the ISS will be cut.

Monday 7/11

Rather humid today and 27°C. Heavy rain started this evening.

Went into the city today and did my usual wander around various bookstores for 2 hours then came home rather footsore. Books are ridiculously expensive so I bought none. I did buy a copy of International Gymnast magazine (October), which I get occasionally, and is only available in Australia at McGill’s Bookstore, as shown in this Newsstand page! It had an interesting article about the troubles Russian gymnastics has endured since the end of the Soviet Union, in part due to the egotistical head coach Leonid Arkayev, who was relieved of his duties 8 months ago. Things have started to improve greatly since then. Russia’s dismal gymnastics results at the 2004 Athens Olympics were “the worst result in the history of Russian gymnastics”.

Documentaries of interest throughout the week (ones that I managed to stay awake for):

Last Tuesday: China Girl looked at the consequences of China’s one-child policy and an unexpected side-effect – a shortage of women due to female children being aborted or abandoned at birth as females have traditionally been less-valued. So there are a lot of men who can’t find wives. A letter from today’s Herald-Sun about another aspect of life there:

No benefits for this labourer

I was deeply disturbed after watching a TV documentary about a young man from a rural area in China who sought work in booming Beijing.

He found work on a building site as a labourer. Basic work conditions: seven days a week, 11 hours a day, weekly wage equating to $9 a week. No holiday, no penalty rates, no paid sick leave, no time off, no notice of termination.

Clearly we cannot compete with this. But could the new Industrial Relations regulations be the first step?

– P.G. Christie, Surrey Hills

Last night:

“1421: The Year China Discovered America? The Epic Voyages, Pt. 1.” “Did Christopher Columbus truly discover America, or was he preceded more than 70 years by the Chinese, sailing in a massive Ming fleet to expand their dynasty?” This week’s part described their voyages from China through Indonesia, India, Arabia and Africa (America is next week). An intriguing theory, and I hardly need point out the obvious irony – seeing as many politicians and others in America are trying to make China the focus of another Cold War! And there were uncanny parallels between the China of then and the USA today – both superpowers with an agenda of spreading their influence throughout the world.

“The Men Who Want to Transplant Faces”. Face transplants from dead people are now possible, for severely disfigured burns victims, and a group of surgeons in the USA is preparing to do the first transplant. But who will be the first? The moral dilemma is not so much the transplantation (the techniques have been perfected), but the side-effects of the anti-rejection drugs that will be needed for the rest of the patient’s life, and the awful possibility of what will they do if the drugs stop being effective and their body starts to reject the foreign skin on their new face? Their own original damaged skin has to be removed so the new face can be attached – if that face is rejected, there will be nothing for surgeons to work with.

Facial reattachments have already been done – the documentary featured a girl in India who had her face torn off in a grass-cutting machine (or something like that) in a poor rural village. Her parents frantically retrieved the face (including the scalp and hair – her plaits had been caught and sucked in) from the dirt, put it in a plastic bag, and this and the unconscious girl were taken on a 3-hour motorcycle ride to the nearest hospital! By good fortune one of India’s most skilled microsurgeons was there and he performed an emergency reattachment, and this was successful. There was a similar case in Australia a few years ago when a woman got her hair caught in some farm machinery and it ripped off most of her scalp and face, but these were successfully reattached. The hideous pain of that sort of accident is unimaginable – not to mention the consequences if the face can’t be sewn back on. Thank goodness we live in an era where such technologies can save people in accidents like these from permanent disfigurement.

Tuesday 8/11

At the end of a dream sequence this morning – the last before I awoke for the day – I was at home and a hurricane was coming! My parents and I rushed around to prepare for it. The weather was initially bright and sunny. The wind began howling and rain pouring. I ran outside with a plastic sheet covering to put over a bed that was in the front yard. The eye of the hurricane approached and things calmed down – that’s when I awoke.

Expedition 12 successfully completed their 5 hour 22 minute spacewalk in U.S. EMU suits earlier today, the first U.S.-based spacewalk since April 2003. Links: Expedition 12 Mission Status Center, Spaceflight Now; “Spacewalkers Install New Camera Assembly, Jettison FPP,” NASA.

Grumpy Keith at NASA Watch.com is going on about that photo again (see Is Anyone Paying Attention To Reality on the 9th Floor?” – which someone (perhaps ill-advisedly) removed from the ISS-12 NASA Gallery. Big yawn. The banner and T-Shirt logos read “Эксперимети МАЙ-75 – Experimenti MAI-75”.

From TsUP news:

In 2006 Russia plans to carry out 4 launches of cargo ships

RIA Novosti, on 7 November 2005

News, Aleksei Yefimov. In 2006 Russia plans to carry out four launches of Progress cargo spacecraft and two launches of the Soyuz manned ships, stated the leader of federal space agency (Roskosmos) Anatoliy Perminov in Peking, in conversation with the Russian journalists, commenting on plans of the RF on the International Space Station project (ISS).

“We have no doubt that in 2006 we will realize four flights of cargo ships of the Progress type and two flights of the manned ships of the Soyuz type,” stated Perminov.

According to him, if the need for sending additional manned or cargo ship appears, then financing must be achieved “by that country, in whose interests this flight will be carried out.”

Perminov expressed hope for the development of collaboration with the USA, in particular in the sphere of purchases by the Americans of the Russian cargo and manned ships for the subsistence of the ISS.

He reminded everyone that at the end of October the Congress of the USA approved the bill, which removes limitations to the use by NASA of Russian space technologies, including of Soyuz spacecraft for the flights to the International Space Station.

The law, accepted by the Congress of the USA of five years ago, connected collaboration between NASA and Russia on ISS with a question about the observance by Russia of prohibition to the deliveries into Iran of “goods, services or technologies,” the facilitating of the development of Iranian “nuclear, biological or chemical armaments, and also the systems of ballistic or cruise missiles.”

The head of Roskosmos reported that in 2008-2009 Russia plans to launch to the ISS two research modules, including one multipurpose laboratory. It is possible that in the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century will arise the need for launching its own energy module to the ISS for the Russian segment of the Station.

The head of Roskosmos reported that in the federal space program a separate line prescribed the creation of the reusable manned spacecraft Kliper.

“We consider the creation of this ship as an international commercial project and different countries have proposed to participate in it,” said Perminov.

Russian version, Русская версия: В 2006 году Россия планирует осуществить 4 запуска грузовых кораблей.

Wednesday 9/11 – 35 today!

Another year older. A quiet day as usual. Went out for lunch with Mum & Dad.

“Venus Express en route to probe the planet’s hidden mysteries,” ESA. Venus Express was successfully launched and placed in the proper trajectory to take it to Venus. Relief for everyone involved!

“EVA aborted, then restarted,” topic at Google group sci.space.station. Valerii Tokarev was apparently having trouble understanding the EVA controllers, who were talking too quickly:

In message <mC1cf.78253$Bf7.54 … @tornado.texas.rr.com> ”Jim Oberg” <jameseob … @houston.rr.com> wrote:

“Scott J” <sco … @bellsouth.net> wrote

Did anyone else notice that language seemed to be an issue during the EVA?

Boy, did it – and Billymac seemed to have to explain everything to an 8-year-old.

From the sections I heard it sounded like all the native English speakers were talking too fast a lot of the time, and using too many slang terms and colloquialisms rather than focusing on clarity. If I’d been talked to like Valery was at times there’d be a slapping administered when we were back inside.

Anthony

Controllers (on both sides) should speak slowly and clearly to those who don’t speak the language natively. Or have someone standing by who can translate instructions into Russian (or English).

Somewhat more depressing news from Novosti Kosmonavtiki news № 512. One of the two remaining space tracking ships is to be sold at auction:

09/11/2005/00:03 – NIS Cosmonaut Georgiy Dobrovol’skii will be sold at auction

The territorial administration of the Moscow region of the federal agency of control of federal property accepted the decision about the sale of the scientific vessel-motor ship Cosmonaut Georgiy Dobrovol’skii (home port – Saint Petersburg; the area of parking and sale – moorage northern station of the divergence of p. bright port Kaliningrad). The trading will be conducted in the form of an auction, opened in composition of participants and on the form of the supply of proposals about the price. About this reports the Roskosmos press-service.

Russian version, Русская версия: НИС «Космонавт Георгий Добровольский» будет продано на аукционе.

At Federal Space: Сообщение пресс-службы Роскосмоса: проведение аукциона по продаже научного судна-теплохода «Космонавт Георгий Добровольский» (with an auction document to download – if you have 5 million rubles to spare, you can put down a deposit).

There will be only one ship left: the Kosmonavt Viktor Patsayev.

Sunday 13/11

Dad and I tried to network our computers yesterday (Dad has a PC inherited from someone at his church, as well as his iMac), but no luck – the computers kept insisting that a unique name be created for each, despite us already having done so. Gave up for the day.

Also found that my computer’s DVD player only plays DVD+, but not DVD−, which is annoying. The driver dates from 2001, so maybe an upgrade would fix it? Don’t know anything about this.

The surge protector switch in the main power box outside tripped again this morning (it also did this yesterday) when my computer was on, so everything abruptly shut off – annoying when one is in the middle of writing something! So I am redoing this entry again.

Sometime soon I will also clean-reinstall Windows XP to clean out any junk. Have to back up my files first, though.

Some news tidbits from RIA Novosti:

International Space Station orbit corrected

17:27 | 10/11/2005

Moscow, November 10 (RIA Novosti, Alexander Kovalyov) – Russia’s Mission Control Center said Thursday it had successfully completed the correction of the International Space Station’s orbit, raising it eight kilometers (4.97 miles).

An expert with Mission Control said the corrective maneuvers, involving two engines from the Progress M-54 cargo vehicle, which is docked with the ISS, had raised the ISS’s average orbit to about 353 kilometers (219.35 miles).

The October 19 attempt to correct the ISS’ orbit failed after a system engine shutoff in the Progress M-54.

The next cargo vehicle, the Progress M-55, is set to be launched from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan December 8.

Russian space official reveals projected Moon spending

13:18 | 11/11/2005

Moscow, November 11 (RIA Novosti) – The head of the Energiya Rocket and Space Corporation, Russia’s space industry leader, said Friday that the United States was intending to spend $11 billion and Russia $2 billion on new lunar programs.

Nikolai Sevastyanov said Russia could make three flights to the Moon.

NASA to buy 4 spacecraft in Russia

13:37 | 11/11/2005

Moscow, November 11 (RIA Novosti) – NASA is planning to order two Soyuz manned spacecraft and two Progress cargo ships from the Russian Federal Space Agency on a commercial basis for missions to the International Space Station, the head of a Russian aerospace corporation said Friday.

“NASA is willing to buy two Soyuz and two Progress spacecraft,” Energiya head Nikolai Sevastyanov said at a round table on the space industry’s role in the Russian national security system, held in the parliament’s upper house.

Sevastyanov said the U.S. Congress had lifted restrictions on purchasing Russian spacecraft with an amendment that past both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The document’s signing is pending.

Russian space official reveals projected Moon spending

15:03 | 11/11/2005

(Adds details after paragraph 1)

Moscow November 11 (RIA Novosti) – The head of the Energiya Rocket and Space Corporation, Russia’s space industry leader, said Friday that the United States was intending to spend $11 billion and Russia $2 billion on new lunar programs.

Nikolai Sevastyanov told a roundtable session at the Federation Council, parliament’s upper house, that Russia could make three flights to the Moon for $2 billion, using serially produced rockets.

“It is possible to use serially produced rockets to launch space modules into orbit, using the International Space Station (ISS) as an assembly facility for spacecraft, which will make flights to the Moon,” he said.

Sevastyanov said the ISS would also be used for testing industry-applied space systems, adding that the Smotr remote sensing system, designed for monitoring industrial infrastructure, including technical conditions of pipelines, is currently being tested along with antennas for commercial satellites.

Two blog entries of interest:

“Are we prisoners of our genes?,” Pensees sur les USA.

The answer is that it is not us socialists who have made genes a political issue. It is our opponents with their claim that the genetic make-up of humans would prevent the establishment of a co-operative, peaceful and non-hierarchical society based on the common ownership and democratic control of the means of wealth production. […]

… Opponents of socialism have of course always claimed that “human nature” would be a barrier to a socialist society working, but in the past this was manifestly only an unsubstantiated assertion based on popular prejudice and religious dogma. So the identification of the gene came as a godsend to them. They could now give their prejudice a pseudo-scientific appearance by claiming that scientists were in the process of discovering genes for such behaviour traits as aggression, selfishness and domination that would make socialism impossible.

It is to refute such claims, which not only go well beyond the evidence but completely misunderstand the role of genes in biology, that we are publishing this pamphlet.

“Revolution Brewing?,” Sean’s Russia Blog.

It seems to me the application of the term “revolution” was more a manufacture of the opposition and Western media than anything else. The situation in the Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan, and now perhaps in Azerbaijan seemed more about two already entrenched political forces fighting for power. There wasn’t any real surge from below as found in most revolutions, nor was there the uncontrollable chaos that comes with that. Nor were there any fundamental changes in the political, economic or social structure of the countries. Rather these “revolutions” appear all too managed and formulaic. […]

… What troubles me, however, is that our Western imagination about “democracy” in the former Soviet Union is so much about us, rather than it is about them. We assume that since their democracy isn’t like ours and their countries are so repressive, protests against election fraud constitutes a revolution in and of itself. We assume that with these “revolutions” all the problems of the region will be solved in one swoop. […]

… Moreover, I’m quite skeptical of the so-called “opposition” as I am the ruling parties in these regions because in all the Western news reports I’ve read and cited, rarely have I been told what the “opposition” stands for. All I read are calls for “freedom” and “fair elections.” Calls that are so neatly packaged to give the impression that a revolution is indeed brewing, and that it will be nothing but a “democratic” (read: pro-Western) one. As the situation in Georgia and Ukraine shows, the “revolution” has done little to lessen corruption or radically improve the average person’s life. What they have done is simply place another political faction in power.

Oh dear. Just checked the monthly megabyte usage and 233 MB has been used already (out of 500)! Mostly me, I think :-$. Have to restrain myself for the rest of the month. I have reverted to surfing with images turned off most of the time, but the megabytes still seem to add up! A lot of pages pull in ads and assorted rubbish from external servers, which adds to the page loading time and kilobytes.

I uploaded the new MKS site (ISS Russian segment) but am still reorganizing my Kosmonavtka site, so it is not quite ready to open yet. The ISS section has got so big that I felt it needed its own site.

Today was sunny and 20°C – perfect spring weather, not unpleasantly hot like the last couple of weeks. If only it could stay like this! It also rained heavily for a short period last evening.

Tuesday 15/11

The MKS site is now open!

Got the computer networking sorted out (hopefully). Can now transfer files between both. The DVD firmware upgrade (see 13/11 entry) didn’t solve the problem of not reading DVD− disks.

Hot yesterday, then a cool change came through overnight with lots of thunder and heavy rain.

The surge protector switch tripping is apparently caused by our electric hot water system switching off after heating overnight, sending out a bit of a surge. It went off yesterday morning again, but not this morning.

Found the Sergei noodle ad video via collectSPACE! Unfortunately the website is in Japanese only. You can still watch the video ad (though there seems to be no way to save it). It is actually rather good: Cup Noodle No Border Space Project.

Did you know that one of the world’s most awesome trees is called Tane Mehuta. It is a kauri pine tree in New Zealand and is believed to be up to 2100 years old!! It was mentioned in the 5 November issue of New Scientist magazine (article not online).

I love big trees and hate seeing them chopped down! I would love to stand near something that immensely old. Trees like that appear in my dreams occasionally. They are the equivalent of seeing a dinosaur; something ancient from an earlier age. I wonder if such trees would have any form of awareness; perhaps not something that humans could comprehend.

Other regions that have similar massive trees are the Californian Redwoods (Giant Sequoia), and the Styx Valley in Tasmania (tall Swamp Gums). Sadly, all are under threat from logging.

In New Zealand a few years ago, I experienced more cogently than ever the sheer gravitas of trees. I was in the presence of Tane Mahuta, the world’s largest kauri, on the North Island. Kauris are conifers of the genus Agathis in the family Araucariaceae. Also in the family are Araucaria, the group to which the South American monkey puzzle tree belongs, and Wollemia, the so-called Wollemi pine, which was thought to have become extinct 120 million years ago and then turned up in a valley in New South Wales, Australia, in 1994. […]

… Kauris are the biggest of their family. The great trunk of Tane Mahuta rises like a lighthouse out of the gloom, 5 metres in diameter – it would touch all four walls in a good-sized living room – and 15 metres in circumference. It is straight up and leafless for 20 metres or so, then start the great horizontal boughs on which rests a virtual park, a floating island straight out of Gulliver’s Travels, with an entire ecosystem of ferns and flowers, lizards and goodness knows what else.

Tane Mahuta is about 2000 years old. By the time the Maori arrived it was already 1000. For the first 1400 years of its life moas strutted their stuff around its buttressed base. The largest of the moa species was the tallest known bird. They were harassed by commensurately huge, though short-winged, eagles that threaded through the canopy to prey on them. Today, the moas and their attendant eagles are long gone; Tane Mahuta lives on. […]

… Trees pose many challenges to modern industrial economies, not least to the greatest western conceit of all, that we can conquer nature or control it. This idea is still taken as a mark of modernity. One long look at a tropical forest is enough to reveal the nonsense in it. In the tropical forests of Central and South America there are around 30,000 different species of tree, with up to 300 kinds in any one hectare. Compare that with the US, with only 600 or so native species, or the UK with a mere 39. Each kind of tropical tree may harbour thousands of species of insects and other creatures. We can never know all the interactions between the trees, their inhabitants and their visitors, and even if we could we would not be able to control the system. It is of a type physicists would know as chaotic – innately unpredictable and therefore uncontrollable. All we can be reasonably sure of is that anything we do to the forest will reduce its diversity and hence its ability to adapt.

In Oxford in 1879, the English poet Gerard Manley Hopkins lamented the felling of poplars:

O if we but knew what we do
When we delve or hew
Hack and rack the growing green!

We still don’t know what we are doing, and never can in any detail, but the hacking and racking continue more vigorously than ever. The only sane approach if we want this world to remain habitable is to approach it humbly. Trees teach humility. It would be a good idea to begin the renaissance with them.

– “Let the future take root,” Colin Tudge

Friday 18/11

306 MB used already! (Out of 500 MB for the month.) Don’t know where it’s going. 12 days until the end of the month. Must restrain myself … stay off..

The World Gymnastics Championships are held here next week, and the international gymnasts have been arriving this week. Russia is not expected to do well at all. :-(

US can win every women’s title: coach

The Age, 16 November 2005

The United States’ gymnastics team believes it will win every women’s event at next week’s world championships in Melbourne.

Coach Mihai Brestyan believes the US’ stable team, coupled with turmoil in rival teams, makes it an unbackable favourite. “We’ve shown that this generation right behind the Olympic team is at the same level. I think the US can win every single event,” Brestyan said.

The US women’s team has none of its 2004 Olympians, but World Cup vault champion Alicia Sacramone and teammates Chellsie Memmel, Nastia Liukin and Jana Bieger have impressive resumes.

The US’ traditional rivals, Russia and Romania, have had problems ahead of the championships at Rod Laver Arena.

Russia is building a team without three-time world all-round champion Svetlana Khorkina, while the Romanian team was disbanded in August after three members quit and two others went night-clubbing without permission. […]

Russia was a flop in Athens, failing to win a gold medal for the first time since joining the Olympic competition in 1952.

Two promising 16-year-olds, Yulia Lozhechko and Polina Miller, will lead the Russian women’s team, which includes Yelena Zamolodchikova, a veteran at 23 who won gold in the vault and floor exercises at the Sydney Olympics. […]

China, however, has brought out its strongest women’s team, with the team heavily focused on Beijing 2008. China is also looking to vault back into the ranks of the world’s gymnastics powers after its flop at Athens, where they took only one gold and finished well down the table in the men’s and women’s team events. […]

“PROMT Selected by NASA Astronauts,” E-promt.com, 15/11.

PROMT, the world leader in development of machine translation technologies, has announced that @promt Professional 7.0 has been selected by the NASA astronauts for use on their personal computers and on the International Space Station. After carefully studying the alternatives, a group of testers in the US NASA astronaut corps decided in favor of @promt Professional 7.0 translation software. The astronauts deal with foreign languages a lot more than one would imagine. In particular their close association with Russian astronauts and the Russian Space Agency has made English-Russian translation software a very useful tool for the astronauts. NASA is installing the @promt Professional 7.0 together with the entire set of specialized subject dictionaries which includes many engineering topics on both the PC’s of the astronauts and as well as their PDA’s.

Saturday 19/11

The weather hasn’t been too bad (i.e. unpleasantly hot) the last few days. In the media recently has been the unwelcome news that Australia’s climate will be heating up over the next few decades because of global warming, with more “extreme weather events” (e.g. violent storms – such as the one described in my 3/2 entry). There will be water shortages combined with an increasing population (various deluded idiots – mainly business leaders and corporations – want to drastically increase Australia’s population to “boost the economy”. They don’t seem to consider the impact on the environment). I don’t think I will want to be here then.

One thing I have done in the last 3 years or so is put on weight! I have these flabby bulgy bits in various places (hips, thighs, stomach, etc.) that will not budge, not to mention the dreaded cellulite and stretch marks. Maybe some of this is “middle-age spread,” and some due to “comfort eating”. I am perhaps 10 kg over my ideal weight (I don’t have bathroom scales). I certainly don’t feel very attractive at all; more of a plain flabby lump. I don’t feel motivated enough to do anything about it, though. I am otherwise reasonably healthy, aside from a few minor (but annoying) issues.

Expedition 12 yesterday relocated Soyuz TMA-7 from the base of Pirs to the nadir port of Zarya so as to free up Pirs for the next Russian spacewalk (VKD, ВКД).

As per request from Moscow, and with NASA approval, the next Russian spacewalk (VA-15) has been rescheduled from currently 12/8 to January next year (e.g., 1/26-1/27), because of a very tight crew schedule and pressing Progress unloading/loading & replacement activities (see dates below). The EVA date remains under discussion (the high Solar Beta angle at that time will be the main constraint in determining the date).

– On-Orbit Report 18/1

Mission Control (Korolyov), November 18 (RIA Novosti) – The possible cancellation of a U.S. shuttle launch may cause the postponement of a spacewalk from the International Space Station (ISS) scheduled for December 8 under a Russian program, a senior Russian space official said Friday.

“It is clear that the planned launch of a U.S. shuttle is unlikely to happen during the current expedition, which means it is reasonable to put off the spacewalk. Besides, the work outside the ISS can be done in daytime and not at night, which will be more convenient,” said Vladimir Solovyov, the vice president of Energiya, Russia’s rocket and space corporation.

He also said that the possible postponement of the spacewalk would not affect the date of the launch of a Russian Progress cargo craft to the ISS scheduled for December 21.

Monday 21/11

I did not go on the Internet yesterday as I decided to try to clear some of the clutter from my bedroom! Something I do once or twice a year. My main problem seems to be multiplying CDs (it used to be books). I have been in here for 35 years and I only have so much storage space. I tend to collect things like newspaper articles and magazines, and these pile up. Although my room doesn’t look much different. I was quite tired afterwards, for some reason!

The not reading DVD− disks problem (see 13/11 entry) was solved by installing a spare DVD player that Dad had! Curiously, this DVD is older (2003) than my original one (2004). Go figure.

Zarya, the first ISS component launched (Russian segment), had its 7th birthday in space! Hard to believe that 7 years has passed so quickly (I am still thinking of 1998 as “not that long ago”). And the ISS is still far from complete! I think the Station will be kept going for much longer than its intended life of 15 years because of all the delays. The Station could be kept in orbit indefinitely by replacing the oldest modules with new ones.

“Will Russia and U.S. explore space together?,” RIA Novosti opinion piece.

Unfortunately, the Bush administration and NASA bosses do not openly support the ISS program, which had been proposed by President Clinton. They prefer to make vague statements instead. Just like 40 years ago, the United States plans a lunar mission in line with the Constellation program. This program emphasizes America’s leading role in organizing long-term inter-planetary expeditions independently, without the involvement of any other country. And U.S. leaders are merely paying lip service to possible cooperation with Russia in this sphere.

Wednesday 23/11

I spent much of the afternoon trying to style ordered lists in a particular way, then cursing Internet Explorer, which didn’t display the lists properly (the other browsers – Firefox and Opera – did), so I gave up in disgust. IE is the bane of every web developer – see the Position is Everything site for details about this.

On Monday was screened part 2 of a documentary, Cult of the Suicide Bomber, by former CIA agent Robert Baer, which traced the origins of this tactic from the Iran-Iraq war, where it originated in Iran, to the Middle East in the early 1990s then to the rest of the world, and the situation today. It was compelling and disturbing. You can only come to the conclusion that the religious regime in Iran is pathologically disturbed (there were many scenes of young children there being brainwashed into becoming “martyrs” – the word those in the cult use to describe their murderous actions). It only confirmed what I had been thinking – that the suicide bombers really are a cult, a cult that worships death.

What a waste … too much of Russia’s space program has gone already.

“Last of Russia’s Space Communications Fleet Destined for Scrap,” Red Orbit.

Scientists who worked on the space communications ships think the vessels do not deserve to be cast into oblivion. During the last Hurricane Rita in the USA, when the staff of the Houston Flight Control Centre was evacuated, all the monitoring of the International Space Station was carried out by the Moscow Flight Control Centre, which used the museum ship Kosmonaut Viktor Patsayev. Specialists believe that at some time the ships will once again go into operation. And perhaps the renaissance of Russia’s maritime space fleet will start with the Dobrovolskiy and Patsayev.

According to the Launch and Research Facilities page at Go Taikonauts!, China has 4 tracking ships (Yuan Wang numbers 1-4).

“Uneven Contest Between Russian, US Spy Satellites: Russian General,” Space Daily, 11 November. “At least 12 US spy satellites are orbiting over Russian territory compared to just a single Russian one over the continental United States, the deputy head of Russia’s space forces said Friday.”

Friday 25/11

Back to the humid weather again for today. There was a thunderstorm this morning, from about 3:45 a.m.

Watched the men’s gymnastics last night (men’s all-around finals), which was quite good. Channel 7 is screening it from 7:30 or 8:30 p.m. for the next 3 nights (a first for gymnastics, which is usually ignored here). The sole Russian in the field, Sergei Khorokhordin (who had a weird haircut that made him look like a Romulan), came 5th.

Russian Sergei Khorokhordin made a big leap from his 16th-place prelims finish to fifth (54.736) in the finals. The steady Russian scored in the nines on all but floor, the meet’s lowest scoring event overall, where he went 8.737.

I don’t think I will watch the women’s events as we all know who is going to win (i.e. not Russia). I don’t normally watch sports, but the gymnastics was a heck of a lot more interesting than the usual golf (ugh!), tennis, football, etc. and their ridiculously overpaid players. And, yes, the guys were nice to look at :-D.

I really, really wish I had done gymnastics when young! (As I have said several times before.) It would be so cool to be able to do a backwards walkover or somersault or unsupported handstand.

Two articles from the gymnastics:

Zammo halts fall of Russian empire at World Gymnastics Championships

Selina Steele, 25/11/05, Herald-Sun

Apart from “Whammo Zammo” – Russia’s young team has much to prove as we reach the business end of the world gymnastic titles.

Russia, for so long a dominant force in international gymnastics, was a flop in Athens where for the first time since the 1952 Olympics it failed to win a gold medal.

Today, Elena Zamolodchikova and Anna Pavlova will fly the flag for their comrades in the women’s all-around final.

Zamolodchikova will also compete in the floor apparatus final on Saturday night and a feature of her routine includes a Michael Jackson inspired moonwalk.

But Zamolodchikova – dubbed “Whammo Zammo” for her power routines – said the retirement of Russian diva Svetlana Khorkina had cast an enormous shadow on her team.

“I am very proud of this team, this is a good team but she (Khorkina) was a champion,” Zamolodchikova said.

“Maybe she will come back, who knows. We have had a difficult time. I don’t know why but the team won a bronze in Athens and this has helped to motivate us.”

These world championships are the first major titles in more than a decade at which Khorkina, the only gymnast to capture three world all-around titles, and Alexei Nemov, who has 12 Olympic medals to his name, have not competed.

The Russians managed a silver and two bronze in Athens which cost long-serving Russian gymnastics chief Leonid Arkayev his job.

Arkayev was the head men’s and women’s coach for three decades and his dictatorial style saw several top coaches resign.

Zamolodchikova, the floor and vault gold medallist from the Sydney Olympics, said: “I believe we have a good system. Our juniors, they will come through.”

Andrei Rodionenko, who coached in Australia and Canada for several years, has taken over as head coach at these titles.

The 62-year-old guided the Soviets to eight gold medals at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Stoic, supple stars; magical, muscular feats

By Greg Baum
The Age, November 25, 2005

The world gymnastics championships is an exotic visitor. It brings from far-flung parts little-known names, some bearing their own degree of difficulty. For last night’s all-around men’s final at Rod Laver Arena, there was Khorokhordin from Russia, Boeschenstein from Switzerland, Fokin from Uzbekistan and twice as many Kazakhs as Americans, Brits or Australians. Japanese finished first and second, a Belarusian third.

The championships bring a Babelesque aggregation of lilts and languages otherwise heard only at the Australian Open in the same venue. Last night, a red-clad Chinese cheer squad sat where the Swedes normally sit, and barracked vigorously. I guess we had better get used to them.

The championships also bring a fetish for secrecy characteristic of half-big events. Last night, The Age was shooed away from the open door of the practice gym, though the shooer could not say why.

Gymnastics is minor here, but a lifetime’s work for its devotees. The gymnasts are figurines, small, but perfect. In Athens last year, they looked to have been lifted from the porticos of antiquity; they looked sculpted rather than trained. Their sport demands an improbable combination of power, grace, athleticism, aesthetics, courage, rhythm, rigour and resolve that speaks of more frosty pre-dawn gyms and nights of tearful self-contemplation than could be counted.

Courage is not the least. When he is upside down, twisting and hoping, the gymnast feels fear, too. An assortment of tapes and bandages tell their own painful tale. More than any other sport, gymnastics demands the conquering not only of rivals, but oneself.

These stars are also stoics. Their performances are their own, but their fate is not. Inscrutable judges, sitting in panels called juries, watch on, alert to the smallest hesitation or slip, giving away nothing, least of all compassionate points.

The gymnasts’ routines are so finely crafted that to the poorly trained eye, the difference seems sometimes to lie in these finicky margins. One scuff of one sweaty palm on the pommel horse, one wobble on the rings, one half-stumble when landing a vault and all might be lost. A momentary loss of balance or belief cannot be recovered. A step outside the marked square in the floor exercise attracts a red card and a deduction. It hardly seems fair, but nor is life.

So Australia learned. Josh Jefferis, a 20-year-old from Queensland, was unknown except to aficionados a week ago. He did well to qualify for the final and performed competently until the last apparatus, the pommel horse, when he tired, made two slips and scored only 6.9. He looked to the ceiling, momentarily aghast. But he lost nothing other than his bearings, and then only for a moment.

Impressively, gymnasts live with the caprice. The most wretched mistake will prompt a grimace, then just as quickly a smile every bit as practised as any somersault. Misfortune is met with a forbearance seen recently in this country only from Brian Lara. This is the sport of little big men.

Last night’s competition was notable for camaraderie. Between acts, they sat in a row, quietly, stilling nerves, steeling muscles. But each performer found at least one proffered hand as he left the stage, and generally a backslap, too. As in all the most exacting sports, they are brothers as much as competitors.

News of the next cosmonaut selection from a page at Encyclopedia Astronote, “On the activities of the 2006 selection” | «О начале и ходе набора 2006 года»:

2006 selection

The intention to select the next group of cosmonauts was mentioned for the first time by the head of the Federal space agency of Russia (Roskosmos), Anatoly Perminov, even in the autumn of 2004. But, as the information was vague, it had not attracted special attention.

On 7 April 2005, more precise information appeared. During this day, the Roskosmos press-secretary, Vyacheslav Davidenko, reported to the Interfaks agency that in 2005 12 additional people will be selected to add to the cosmonaut group. In this case, according to him, six people will be selected from the Energiya Rocket & Space Corporation, and six additional people from the Cosmonaut Training Center at Star City, Zvezdni Gorodok.

According to information from Sergei Shamsutdinov, who reported this on the Novosti Kosmonavtiki forum, at present (April 2005) preparatory work is taking place. The medical stage of the inspections of aspirants (in IMBP and TsVNIAG) will begin from the autumn of 2005. Probably, from the end of 2005 to the beginning of 2006, the first aspirants will obtain admittance to the GMK. But in the spring of 2006 they can take place in the GMVK, which will select candidates for the new collection.

On 28 September 2005, in the newspaper Chelyabinsk Worker, there appeared a note about the first aspirant, who passed the medical examination for enrollment into the force. This was the wife of cosmonaut Mark Serov, 28-year-old Helen Serov, an employee of RKK Energiya. Thus is obtained one additional confirmation of the fact that the selection has actually began.

Saturday 26/11

I didn’t watch the women’s gymnastics all-around and Russia only came 7th and 16th (Anna Pavlova, 36.387; Yelena Zamolodchikova, 34.662). Two Americans were 1st and 2nd. Ironically, Nastia Liukin would have won that silver medal for Russia if her parents had stayed there … but that is in an alternate universe now. Monette Russo won the first-ever individual women’s medal (bronze) for Australia.

“Svetlana the Great,” Slate.com. Interesting article from last year’s Olympics about Svetlana Khorkhina. I still think she should have won the gold medal. Carly Patterson was all power and no grace, and is a dunderhead as well. She reminds me of those insufferable girls at school who were popular and good at everything, straight-A students (as you might have guessed, I wasn’t). Maybe Svetlana will come out of retirement (she had a child earlier this year).

I hate Java applets. They are mini-Java programs used on websites to animate menus and such. They also add to page loading time and can crash one’s browser, as one page I just visited did. Firefox seems to have a problem with Java sometimes.

Two blogs I just found (both by the same author): AnonymousLefty and BoltWatch. Added these to my home page.

Sunday 27/11

Russian results for last night’s World Gymnastics event finals (didn’t watch). Not entirely dismal: one silver medal.

Men’s Floor: none; Women’s Vault: 4th – Yelena Zamolodchikova (Russia), 9.318; 5th – Anna Pavlova (Russia), 9.237; Pommel Horse: none; Uneven Bars: 6th – Polina Miller (Russia), 9.462; Still Rings: 2nd – Aleksandr Safoshkin, 9.712 (Silver!!).

Monday 28/11

… And another dismal display from Russia in the final night of the gymnastics. (I only watched a little.) No medals. Bad as the Olympics last year, and it does not bode well for Russia in the 2008 Beijing Games. America now dominates women’s gymnastics, while a variety of countries dominate the men’s.

Men’s Vault: 4th – Anton Golotsutskov (Russia), 9.568; Beam: 6th – Anna Pavlova (Russia), 8.762; 7th – Yulia Lozhechko (Russia), 8.35 (both fell off!); Women’s Floor: 4th – Yelena Zamolodchikova (Russia), 9.162.

Madonna. Can’t bloody stand her. She is the biggest hypocrite ever. Update 17/11/2007: Actually, I liked her as a teenager and I still like her music, but I find her seemingly endless “reinventing” of herself irritating. I just wish she would vanish. I wonder how hard she works to keep her figure in the extremely fit shape it is, though she would have personal trainers and nannies to help. (How many 40-year-old women do you see with figures like hers?) An article from 24 October: “Madonna, don’t preach to us,” Herald-Sun.

… But more importantly, if you are so appalled by the state of the society you live in, it might be an idea to actually look at the cause, rather than just herald its demise.

Has she wondered why this “beast” – the modern world that we live in – went on the nose a bit?

Could it have something to do with the way our society is saturated with meaningless sex and porn which has, in turn, almost certainly contributed to a rise in sexual assaults?

Madonna’s legacy can be seen on MTV or any of those Saturday morning music video shows.

You know, the ones in which women are seen as nothing more than the “chattels” of the latest rock god. And the less they wear, the better.

Might there be some connection between that and those corsets and Gaultier conical bras in the back of Madonna’s wardrobe?

Have you also noticed how each brazen new act tries to outdo the last in outrageousness to get our attention?

Which, of course, was Madonna’s stock in trade.

Who can forget the stir that tongue kiss with Britney Spears caused, just as Madonna’s career was hitting a slide.

I also wonder whether Madonna ever asks herself whether “the beast” of our culture has turned bad because of the amount of violence we see on TV and in the movies.

I still visit the Tulip Girl blog now and again (mentioned in my 14/8 entry – the “yuck one”) to see, with a kind of nauseated fascination, what the Attachment Parenting cult are up to. They really ARE a cult, which is evident when visiting the Hathor the Cow Goddess site (of the “Birth Story” I quoted in that entry). This is one breastfeeding-obsessed woman. Seriously!! (Women’s liberation apparently passed these women by.) Her response in this post, “What made me feel like a fanatic,” to an article only confirms that the APs ARE fanatics, a quasi-religious cult (most also happen to be homeschooling Christians). My nickname for them would be the “Smothering Mothers”.

Hathor the Cowgoddess is a character created by me, an artist living in Los Angeles, California. She is a superhero who wants to save humanity through the combination of nurture, sustainability and bonding inherent in the practice of attachment parenting. Her movement is called the Evolution Revolution, her breasts are her superpower and her sidekick is her baby, always carried in a sling and prominently (politically) suckling at her exposed breast.

Ugh.

And an article to send these people into apoplectic fits of horror: “Artificial Wombs,” Popular Science, August 2005. Bring ’em on! Free women from the tyranny of the reproductive cycle. Unfortunately there is some tedious moralizing at the end.

Sorry, in a sullen mood today for various reasons.

Tuesday 29/11

493 MB used! (Out of 500.) Aargh! Have to stay off the Internet now until Thursday. Looks like Dad did a 91 MB download (when I checked yesterday about 383 MB was used up).

Watched a fascinating documentary last night called “A State of Mind,” which showed the preparations of two young North Korean female gymnasts prepare for the annual Mass Games held there. “Each show consists of 100,000 performers in a synchronised socialist extravaganza depicting images of Korean mythology and revolutionary zeal.” The documentary was, for once, fairly non-judgmental (despite the troubles North Korea was having with the rest of the world, the documentary film-makers were allowed full access).

Something to think about for Christmas: “Shop ’til they Drop” post at the Space4Peace blog.

Not much of interest in manned spaceflight. The current ISS crew (ISS-12) are rather boring. Some news items from SpaceDaily.com:

December

Thursday 1/12

Hot, about 32°C outside, so I can’t be bothered doing anything. Used up 497 MB last month (out of 500!) on Dad’s ISP account!

Me: 1987 school portrait. The horror.

Scanned in all my school photos and uploaded them to my Photobucket account. A depressing reminder of how awful I looked as a teenager. I wasn’t too bad-looking as a child – rather plain but not ugly – but adolescence did horrid things to me. I have two school portraits of me alone where I look absolutely hideous, so I won’t put them online, in case someone finds them and decides to use them to make fun of. (I just put a tiny, rather blurry image here, the 1987 one, so you can see what I mean.) I remember when these photos were being handed out (either Year 10 or Year 11 – I look equally awful in both photos) and the girl doing it looked at mine and said, in a rather disgusted tone (not realizing I was nearby), “Ugh, who’s that?” Then she was a bit contrite when I stepped up to get the photo, but she couldn’t take that remark back. I don’t know what possessed me to get that bloody awful haircut, either. If my hair had been shorter I could have passed for a boy. I started growing my hair out again from 18 years onwards. Looking at that photo, that is one reason why I didn’t have any boyfriends. (If there is anyone who looked worse as a teenager, I would like to see evidence!)

I hate, hate, hate adolescence and wish it could be genetically-engineered out of the human life cycle. A horrid time of life, when your body develops in all sorts of horrid and unattractive ways.

In various (usually American) TV series, all the teenagers are impossibly slim and attractive with flawless skin. Are they some genetically-engineered superior race of humans?

Saturday 3/12

It was warm through Thursday night and I felt rather off-color in the morning, then rain came around 12 p.m. and it rained for the rest of the day and was much cooler.

Dreams last night of Gran’s home, and of driving through the country.

I changed all the URLs of my journal to dashes (-) rather than underscores (_) which I am using to separate numbers in URLs.

In my 28/5 entry I mentioned the mind-numbingly stupid corporate jargon that has infiltrated many areas of life like some unstoppable virus. There is a website dedicated to this insidious disease: Weasel Words.

I never finished the Harry Potter book mentioned in my 20/10 entry; I got bored a few pages in! I’m just not that interested in the series concept; it is an assemblage of much-used imagery from various mythologies and fairytales.

I borrowed the latest Dale Brown novel from the library, Act of War, but I will struggle to get through this. The Russians are the bad guys (yet again).

A letter from last year’s The Age (I meant to post it then); something to think about:

It’s time to say no to the consumerism of Christmas

The buying fervour now associated with Christmas is upon us. And with it comes the frenzied desire to follow the advertisers’ underlying message that buying certain products for ourselves or other people will make us happy.

Our television screens and letterboxes are full of images of the “must-haves” that well-adjusted Australians supposedly aspire to. Gadgetry, beauty products, fashionable clothes and toys for young and old are pictured and talked about in ways designed to make us feel inadequate if we don’t buy them.

Our homes will not be maintained properly if we don’t have the latest, noise-making garden tool, our health will be compromised if our kitchens don’t show the latest examples of food preparation, and our sense of self will diminish if we don’t wear the latest fashion. Worst of all, our children will be socially inept without exclusive ownership of the latest electronic gear.

Our senses are bombarded by repeated bursts of in-your-face advertising bullying that most of us take for granted. We trot off to the shops to buy things we have been told we need, with little thought as to whether we can afford them. The most popular method of payment is by credit card; it means that many Australians live under clouds of debt, which may become unmanageable and affect their long-term wellbeing.

So what about the happiness espoused by advertisers? How long do the latest clothes stay fashionable? How many kitchen gadgets end up at the back of the cupboard? How soon is it before a more up-to-date entertainment appliance is required to impress neighbours, friends and family?

Why do we have to be told what we need? What has happened to our ability to make decisions about what will make us happy? Gift giving is personal and unrelated to cost, size and fashion. A small, well-chosen gift can deliver more happiness to the recipient, and the giver, than something that is large, expensive and flashy.

Advertisers’ only motive is to increase their profits. It has nothing to do with the quality or suitability of the product. Short-term gain overrides any concern about the long-term effect of that product on society. Our debt-ridden community can ill afford to ignore the warning signs.

– Sue Nolle, Caulfield

There was a bit of fuss and bother recently when the newly-elected conservative/right-wing Polish government revealed the plans of the Soviet Union to nuke Europe: “World War Three seen through Soviet eyes,” The Telegraph.co.uk.

Seeing as it has long been known that both sides planned to nuke each other and the world to oblivion, why all the sudden outrage? Get over it, already!

The decision to unveil the Warsaw Pact documents is one of the first moves of Poland’s new conservative government. Mr. Sikorsky described it as an attempt to draw a line under the country’s Communist past, and “educate” the Polish public about the old regime.

And extol the “joys” of capitalism and economic rationalism, along with the attendant unemployment, rise in crime, government service funding cuts, increasing gap between rich and poor, etc.

And then this: “US nuclear warplans fly around the internet,” Greenpeace.org.

… the document condones pre-emptive nuclear strikes against nations (even those without nuclear weapons) which the US government thinks might use chemical or biological weapons against US forces or allies. The document also condones the use of nuclear weapons as just another item in the warfighting toolbox, and underscores the importance of US troops being able to continue functioning in a highly irradiated battle zone.

Seems that the U.S. military has plans NOW to nuke various countries should they think it necessary. A bit of hypocrisy here?

Found the first article via another blog to irritate me, a conservative-type blog called A Step At A Time; another Russia-hater.

One antidote to this right-wing rubbish: the Northstar Compass.

“The mission to Mars is to be international,” Energiya: President Nikolai Sevast’yanov interview, 24 November. A bit too much blathering about shares and stocks, but he at least mentions missions to the Moon and Mars near the end.

Sunday 4/12

Watched part of a David Attenborough documentary last night, The Blue Planet, this episode about The Deep, and all the weird and fascinating creatures down there. Almost an alien world, as black as the depths of space, but its diametric opposite – instead of a near-empty vacuum, there is the immense weight of water pressing around you, that would immediately crush you to nothing if you could somehow be instantaneously transported down there with no protection (I wonder what being crushed like that would look like?!). Creepy yet fascinating; a still and silent world that has remained much the same for millions of years and where no sunlight ever reaches.

The Blue Planet – The Deep

A thousand metres down, in the twilight zone, animals play a constant game of hide and seek. Most are transparent, hoping to pass unnoticed. Hatchet fish have flattened bodies and silvered sides that reflect any light and make them invisible. A fish called winteria looks like an underwater bushbaby with its two tubular eyes designed to look up at the surface to spot the silhouettes of potential prey.

Below 1000 metres you enter the dark zone and an alien world. In a world where red light does not exist, dark red jellyfish and shrimps float by, confident that they are almost completely invisible. Predators here have massive teeth and enormous mouths as food comes along so rarely that they have to grab prey of any size. The hairy angler is the size of a beach ball and its body is covered in long antennae designed to pick out the movements of any prey foolish enough to venture close to its terrifying teeth. The fangtooth has the largest teeth in the ocean for its size – so big it can’t close its mouth. Gulper eels can swallow prey as big as themselves.

The only light here is produced by the animals themselves through bioluminescence. Shrimps and jellyfish use this to confuse their predators while angler fish use giant flashing lures on their heads to attract their prey. Female angler fish also use their lures to hook a male. Just one tenth the size of their partner, a male completely fuses itself on to the female’s body, becoming little more than an attached bag of sperm.

The continental slope, which extends for thousands of miles, gradually descends to the abyssal plain at 3000 metres. Just occasionally the carcass of a dead whale drops right down to these great depths. With their acute sense of smell, thousands of hagfish are attracted to the carcass and out of nowhere a massive sleeper shark appears. As big as great whites, these are very slow moving sharks, perfectly adapted for a life in these energy deficient waters.

The abyssal plain covers over half the Earth’s surface. Mostly it’s as flat as a billiard table, but in places the seabed drops down into massive trenches miles wide. The deepest of these and the deepest point in the ocean is the Marianas Trench which drops to over seven miles below sea level.

There are just five manned submarines in the world that can reach the abyssal plain so less than one per cent of it has ever been explored. Out of the black appears “Dumbo,” a deep sea octopus flying through the water on what look like large flapping ears.

In just a few places, along volcanic ridge lines, animals survive off energy produced by hot vents – molluscs, shrimps, crabs, fish and even octopus. When scientists discovered the hot vents just over 20 years ago they were amazed that so much life could survive totally without energy from the sun. Since their original discovery in 1979, a new species has been described every 10 days.

One jellyfish had a multicolored display that resembled flashing LED lights; it could have been the model for the alien spaceships in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

(Certain people in my family are 1) religious and 2) believe in Creation, and thus make irritated noises whenever that dastardly word “evolution” is mentioned, such as in the above documentary. I just roll my eyes and try to ignore them. And that idiot “Intelligent Design” myth is infiltrating Australia, too.)

I seem to have always had a phobia of deep water; I have a memory of being too scared to go near the deep end of a swimming pool where I was having some lessons when young. I can remember the instructor lowering me in the deep end slowly by the arms and trying to reassure me! And that was only 6 feet of water. I think the phobia is a type of claustrophobia; something associated with the thought of all that weight of water around me. In air or in space it is different; there is light and emptiness. Under water, though, you can’t see the sky, and in the deep ocean there is only a crushing blackness.

Tuesday 6/12

I was doing a Google search for my name and to my dismay found an old version of my site at Angelfire: www.angelfire.com/space2/kosmonavtka/ – just the first page. I had thought of moving my site there early last year (2004), but decided not to, and was glad I didn’t as the ads became extremely irritating in 2005 (pop-ups on every page, annoying ads at the top and bottom). Unfortunately I can’t sign in to remove the page as my name and password don’t seem to work and I don’t want to sign up again! I though the site would have been deleted by now as I have not visited for 18 months or so.

I deleted my Guestbook again because the [insert curse here] spammers keep finding it, despite my blocking their ISP addresses (they just keep changing these). Guestbook and blog comment spam seems to have reached epidemic proportions this year; several guestbooks I have visited have dozens of pages filled with spam. I really think spammers should get the death penalty for the havoc they create on the Internet; their activities are a tremendous strain on Internet resources.

It was supposed to be 30°C today with a late change, so we put the washing through the laundry as it would dry in no time when hung outside; but the change came this morning, to our annoyance!

Today in The Age newspaper there was an insert poster called “Man on the Moon: First Steps, Future Journeys”. It mentioned NASA’s plans to return to the Moon, and also China’s. But was there a mention of Russia? No. Which shows you how much the Russian space program has dropped out of the public consciousness (“Oh, don’t they take up space tourists?” is about the only thing it is noticed for). A sad contrast to the Soviet era.

Friday 9/12

There was heavy rain and thunderstorms on Tuesday night.

From Novosti Kosmonavtiki news № 518; another piece of the Soviet space program is gone:

06/12/2005/16:10 – The last “spacecraft” vessel is sold for 24.6 million rubles

The scientific vessel Cosmonaut Georgii Dobrovol’skii was sold on Tuesday at auction, reports Interfaks. The leader of the Roskosmos press-service, Vyacheslav Davidenko, announced this.

“The vessel was acquired by the firm Natalia Shipping Ltd, registered in the insular state Saint-Keats and Nevis (Antilles Islands), for 24.6 million rubles,” said Davidenko.

He reminded that the lead starting price was 24 million rubles.

“The funds obtained with the sale of the vessel will be included in the federal budget,” noted Davidenko.

Russian version, Русская версия: Последнее судно из «космического флота» продано за 24.6 млн рублей.

06.12.2005 Корабль «Космонавт Георгий Добровольский» продан, at the FKA site, with photos.

From № 519, the ISS Expedition 13 crew has been announced:

08/12/2005/14:12 The crew of the 13th expedition to the ISS is named

The names of the crew members of the 13th Basic Expedition onboard the International Space Station were officially named yesterday. The launch of the Expedition takes place in the spring of 2006.

Participants in the crew are Russian Pavel Vinogradov and American Jeffrey Williams. Together with them will fly the first Brazilian astronaut Marcus Pontes, to whom on 7 December of this year the main Roskosmos medical board gave approval to the flight.

Russian version, Русская версия: Назван экипаж 13-й экспедиции на МКС.

“The Dream Palace Of The Space Cadets,” SpaceDaily.com, 24/11. Opinion piece by Jeffrey F. Bell, a self-described “former space scientist and recovering pro-space activist,” on what he regards as the sometimes foolish proposals of online “Space Cadets”.

I never laugh while reading foolish online discussions about space. My reaction is intense frustration. It is frustrating to find that many Space Cadets are shockingly ignorant about space technology – and even more frustrating that the average level of ignorance seems to get worse with every passing year.

“Leadership in Space – Speech by NASA Administrator Michael Griffin,” Spaceref.com, 6/12. Once again, more blatherings about the USA showing “leadership” in the space program. Wonder how the other space nations regard this.

I’m certain that most of us here will agree that it is important for the United States to be a leader among the nations of the world, and that such leadership has many dimensions. […]

… For many years, our country has been rightly recognized as the world leader in the exploration and use of space, and in developing and deploying the technologies that make space leadership possible. Our determination to be first on the Moon and preeminent in other space activities resulted in some of the iconic moments of the 20th Century, and helped to solidify American leadership in the generation after World War II. […]

… Leadership in establishing a human presence in the Solar System will, in my judgment, be a key factor in defining world leadership back home on Earth for generations to come. […]

… I am convinced that leadership in the world of the 21st Century and beyond will go to the nation that seeks to fulfill the dreams of mankind.

He does mention co-operation between nations on projects such as the ISS. But will humanity as a whole ever go beyond this narrow nationalistic view of competition and of having to be first all the time? For humanity’s long-term survival, co-operation will be vital.

“Russia places bets on future spaceship,” MSNBC.com, 7/12. Russia is still planning to develop the Kliper spaceship, despite ESA deciding not to fund a study of developing the ship with the Russian Federal Space Agency.

Tuesday 13/12

Rather hot yesterday – a bit over 30°C with a strong northerly wind – then a cool change in the evening.

Less than two weeks until Christmas and the shopping centers are madhouses. Too many people, even early in the morning (9 a.m. onwards).

I am frustrated by my lack of computer graphics ability. I see so many nice graphics on sites, but am unable to do my own as I lack the skills, so my own site headers and such look basic and amateurish. This site, Tyomnaya–noch.net (and those linked from it), is typical of the sites and blogs by teenagers and young people.

I am thinking of moving the Russia section in my Suzy site to its own site, though it would only be very small (a few pages). I have been trying to do a new color scheme for the Suzy site (yet again), but as I said, I am frustrated by my lack of graphics skills. I really don’t know what theme I should do the site in, as I have nothing to define myself by! I did install Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 (Dad got a copy with a scanner he bought) and it is much better than Paint Shop Pro 5, but as I said …!

“Europeans Unlikely to Back Russia’s Manned Space Vehicle,” Space.com, 5/12.

“Russia’s Next Spaceship: Alternative to NASA’s CEV,” Space.com, 7/12. Features 3 Energiya diagrams, which don’t seem to be available on the Energiya site.

Despite the apparent rejection this time, ESA still seems interested in the Kliper project: “Europe Keen To Join Russia In New Spaceship Project: Officials,” SpaceDaily.com, 9/12; “Weekly space and high technology review,” RIA Novosti, 9/12.

Thursday 15/12

The December issue of Russia Profile magazine (which you can subscribe to for free) had a theme of consumerism. The mindless rubbish endemic in the Western world has well and truly infected Russia. Some online articles Update 23/4/2007: Articles now subscription-only:

“No Longer Marketing for the Masses”. How marketers are targeting various groups. Unlike in Europe, there are obviously no regulations against targeting children. I could only feel disgust at these remarks:

Indeed, younger people are very brand-oriented and well-informed; they fully inhabit this world of marketing, although perhaps not to the extent that it happens in the West. When Russian teenagers purchase a brand, they also buy into its implied emotional component. In addition, adolescents play an increasingly greater role in influencing their parents’ choices and preferences. […] We are also seeing the results of promotions aimed at small children. Nine and 10-year old kids say that unless the company sends them this or that trinket, they’ll sue them. And this mind-set is also evident among other groups.

“Moscow’s Advertising Boom”.

“A Happy, Friendly Medium”.

The whole idea of service was compromised by the fact that serving was somehow perceived to be degrading, so for people who went into service, the basic idea was to make as much money off the “bums who came in here as you could,” Pozner said. “If you could rob them, you robbed them, but you despised them because you despised the work you were doing.”

Oh, I can relate all-too-well to that feeling.

Mark the Grumpy Old Fart has another whinge on his blog about one of his pet peeves, socialist health care. So, would he prefer a system where only the rich could afford privatized health care?

Looks like very soon Britain’s socialist health care bureaucracy may deny health care to people who eat, smoke, or drink too much. The idea is that lifestyle choices contributed to whatever made one sick, so it’s unfair to burden the public with treating such people. I can see this sort of thing being expanded to denying treatment to AIDS patients or anyone else with an STD.

Of course, if socialist medicine ever got imposed in the United States, Dr. Gregory House could just not treat someone, under these rules, because, “You irritate me.” After all, one doesn’t have to do that.

posted by Mark at 12:58 p.m.

If Russia has an alcohol problem, Australia isn’t far behind:

Booze, booze everywhere

By Lorna Edwards and Bridie Smith
The Age, December 15, 2005

The ugly effects of excessive alcohol have become all too obvious – at the riots, on TV, in the office.

’Tis the season to be slurry. So it would seem with the flood of Christmas and end-of-year festivities fuelled by booze. But as the party season reaches its peak, the ugly side of our nation’s love of the grog is making headlines.

This week the world saw images of young men draped in Australian flags slurring racist insults and attacking people of “Middle Eastern appearance” with overflowing stubbies of beer in Sydney’s beach suburbs.

And a survey showed that young Victorians were binge drinking at unprecedented levels, with one in six downing more than 20 drinks a session at least once a month.

But while slurring, racist youths on the beach of Cronulla and drunken schoolies are condemned, boozy work parties and stocking up on liquor for Christmas and New Year celebrations is accepted.

So, too, is almost saturation advertising pushing alcohol consumption as an essential part of achieving true Australian manhood.

According to Geoff Munro, director of the Community Alcohol Network, about $100 million is spent annually in Australia advertising alcohol – and that does not include sponsorship of sporting events such as the one-day cricket. […]

… Associate Professor John Toumbourou at the Centre for Adolescent Health at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute called for a toughening of the industry’s advertising code.

He said advertising should be limited to the product and place of purchase, rather than linking drinking to youth, sport, sex and being Australian.

Paul Dillon from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, echoed the call. “Realistically, at the moment, the alcohol industry does what it wants,” Mr. Dillon said.

“It is a self-regulating industry, and although I think they have performed better in recent times than they have in the past, there is still a way to go.”

But Distilled Spirits Industry Council of Australia policy manager Peter Phillips said it was strictly against the code to advertise to under-age consumers or promote irresponsible drinking. He said the industry code, which rejected 80 advertisements last year out of the 750 submitted for approval before public release, was effective.

Mr. Dillon said the community needed to examine the causes of excessive alcohol use.

“The Cronulla riots were alcohol-fuelled and I think we’ve got to look at that yob culture and asks why it exists,” he said.

“Young people have to learn from somewhere, and they learn from mum and dad, aunty Flo and uncle Bert from a very early age – we mustn’t forget that.”

Friday 23/12

Haven’t felt like writing anything the last few days. Nothing of interest. Rather depressed for various reasons.

Hot, with a strong north wind, just above 30°C. Up to 40°C in the north of the state. Bushfire season. Only good thing about this weather is that washing dries on the line outside in no time. The Summer Solstice was 2 days ago, so the days will be getting shorter (at last). The next two months will be the worst.

My sister, her husband and children will be moving from Rochester early next year up to a suburb of Brisbane in Queensland called The Gap.

Shopping centers are even more unpleasant to go to than usual because of hordes of silly people rushing around and getting stressed over Christmas. Well, no one is holding a gun to their head and forcing them to do it, is there?

Expedition 12 have to be the most boring crew since ISS-6. I am rather bored with the ISS program in general. It is just so … over-controlled. Everything is carefully scripted and rehearsed and there is no spontaneity. Mir was a lot more fun, one reason being that they didn’t have Mission Control breathing down their necks all the time.

Progress M-55 launched successfully on 21/12, the 20th to the ISS. NASA still insist on referring to Progress ships as Progress-20, etc., rather than the proper designations. Grrr.

Christmas silliness on the ISS, from Novosti Kosmonavtiki news № 522:

22/12/2005/16:59 – For the New Year, the ISS cosmonauts will see Grandfather Frost

All-Russian Grandfather Frost from great Ustyug (Vologodskaya region) will arrive on 28 December to Moscow Mission Control Center (TsUP) in order to meet with the crew of the International Space Station – Russian Valerii Tokarev and the American William McArthur, reports NEWSru.com.

“Grandfather Frost will wish the cosmonauts a happy New Year. With him, the governor of the Vologodskeye region Vyacheslav Pozgalev and the first deputy mayor in the government of Moscow, Ludmila Shevtsova, will arrive together at TsUP,” reported Interfaks, “the representative of the committee of the social bonds of Moscow Olga Fedin, which treats program great Ustyug – Grandfather Frost’s native land.”

According to her, the day before, Grandfather Frost from great Ustyuga visited Plesetsk, where he was present at the launch of a space rocket (there is in the form carrier rocket Kosmos-3M, that placed into calculated orbits a military satellite of the Kosmos series and the apparatus of the dual purpose Gonets-M – noted NEWSru.com). “In 2006 we will all note the 45th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s flight. Here we wanted to again remind children about the space heights, to be absorbed by starry routes, by lofty dreams,” said Fedin.

According to her, Grandfather Frost will give commission to cosmonauts to be handled orbit to the children of the Earth in his name. “Valerii Tokarev and William McArthur will assume the role of Grandfather Frost and will congratulate all children of the planet with the holiday during their pre-New Year period of communications with Mission Control Center in Russia and USA,” said Fedin.

The Progress cargo ship, which for the medium launched to the ISS from Baikonur, will deliver to the crew amongst its cargo two red caps from Grandfather Frost’s cloakroom, in which they will conduct telecasts from orbit.

“I think, cosmonauts on the eve of the New Year will enjoy our other gifts, which were coordinated with the TsUP specialists and the Institute of Biomedical Problems. These are chocolate candies in the form of fir tree adornments, wooden matryoshkas in the form of Grandfather Frost, and also hours with the symbolism of Moscow – the gift of the mayor of the capital Yuri luzhkova,” reported Fedin.

Because of the December Progress, the cosmonauts onboard the ISS can diversify their New Year table, in particular, will be obtained fresh fruits – apples, lemons. “All crews are greatly pleased with this food made by Russian space culinary specialists, such as cottage cheese with nuts [Tvorog]. This food will be also delivered to the ISS together with other products,” reported Valerii Lyndin, the leader of the TsUP press-service.

The docking of the Progress with the ISS is scheduled at 22:54 Friday, Moscow time, and the period of communication with Grandfather Frost will begin at 16:40 on 28 December. The leader of the TsUP medical group, Irina Alferova, reported that Tokarev and McArthur will support the tradition to appoint a New Year fir tree. “As without the fir tree, let and not large. What is a New Year without it?,” she said.

Russian version, Русская версия: На Новый год космонавты МКС увидят Деда Мороза.

Saturday 24/12

Last day of the madness. The major shopping centers, such as Southland and Chadstone, were open ALL NIGHT. Such is their greed, and the insane consumerism that dominates our society. Why, incidentally, do Western societies have such an obsession with staying up all night? Why is a “nightlife” considered so desirable for cities? Humans did not evolve as nocturnal creatures.

The December edition of the Northstar Compass is on-line. Things of interest in the editorial: “Anniversary of the Great Socialist Revolution”.

From Bruce Gagnon’s Space4Peace blog: “It’s Christmas – Have a Heart”.

Monday 26/12

The Day After. And straight back into the frantic shopping madness as all the stores had bargain sales on and people were rushing frantically about, this time in a race to grab more stuff. My parents and I dared to go to Southland this morning and it was chaos.

Boxing Day actually used to be a public holiday, once. Hard to believe now. Public holidays are now only for office workers; those in the service industries (retail, etc.) are on call all year around.

Had a quiet Christmas with Mum and Dad yesterday, as usual. We don’t see any relatives at all. After a roast lunch, no one needed dinner. I received some Dior French perfume samples (I love French perfume!) and a nightie and kimono.

I went for a walk this afternoon and it is SO much quieter on the roads. If only it could be like that all the time! School holidays didn’t start until last Thursday, which is rather ridiculous – they should bring back the three-term year.

I never got around to reading the Dale Brown novel mentioned in my 3/12 entry; I couldn’t bring myself to start it as I knew I would be irritated by it! I just can’t read books by authors whose politics I disagree with.

Tuesday 27/12

Hot again, and it will be for much of the week. It is dry heat, not humidity, at least.

Haven’t heard from a certain person from over a month, and am a bit depressed.

I have really stopped learning Russian – at least, I have been been stalled for a year or so. I have lost motivation for now, though I still would like to learn it. I can’t discipline myself to sit down every day and work through a textbook. Maybe sitting in front of my computer is destroying my brain cells!

An interesting article from a few weeks ago: “Former KGB Chief Reveals Supernatural Truth,” Mosnews.com, 6/12. And the truth is: “We have never received any proof whatsoever that UFOs or other supernatural phenomena actually exist.” Disappointing, but not surprising.

Thursday 29/12

Weather is heating up again – up to 37°C tomorrow :-(. Apologies, I will be grumbling about the hot weather for the next 2 months, and be wanting to hit anyone who says summer is wonderful!

Australia’s wealthiest businessman died 2 days ago. I am not in mourning, though the news media carried on about his death to a ridiculous degree (both The Age and The Herald-Sun each had FOUR pages devoted to him yesterday). Anonymous Lefty provides some much-needed sardonic observations: “Aussie battler who Made Good dies suddenly and unexpectedly of his ninth heart attack”.

Something positive about Russia for once: “Russian rescue service rated one of the best in the world,” Pravda.ru, 27/12.

“Illarionov Offers to Leave the Kremlin,” JRL. Some liberal economic adviser resigned from the Kremlin saying “that he did not like the direction the state was headed”. He seems to have been a neo-liberal, one who pushed for extreme economic reform (never mind the misery this brought to the less well-off). Can’t say his leaving is a great loss.

A successful launch for some much-needed Russian satellites: “Russian Rocket Launches Navigation Satellite Trio,” Space.com, 25/12.

Friday 30/12

It’s set to be 37°C today and 38°C tomorrow. *Groan*. In the north of the state it will get into the low 40s.

New Year’s Eve tomorrow night, which I am dreading for the usual reasons (see my New Year’s Day entries for the last two years or so). Even more drunken idiots on the streets than usual. The warm weather also tends to bring out more people. I will just go to bed as I usually do, though I doubt I will get to sleep until after 12 a.m.

Getting drunk and sh*tfaced in this country seems to be a tradition – many people’s idea of “fun”. An extract from an Australian woman’s blog (I won’t link to it):

Christmas parties rock. Until your manager buys everyone tequila shots and then another guy buys Jager shots and then the manager buys another round of tequilas minus the lemon and then Kiwi buys a round of Quick F**ks …

On top of 7 vodkas … not good …

My poor guts are still churning and I am sure it was 14 hours ago that I stopped drinking … My vomit is somewhere in a garden in the valley. And all over a street and someone’s car as well.

Delightful. Not.

I never worked in an office environment, incidentally – though I did do 2 weeks’ work experience at Dad’s CAA workplace in 1991 for my TAFE secretarial course.

Below: nearly there! (See 2/11 entry.)

Outside thermometer temperature: ~38°C

Saturday 31/12

Today the temperature is forecast to rise to 42°C. Aaargh! Melbourne will be the hottest place in the country. Misery.

Last day of the year, and half-way through the decade. Am dreading tonight. Another year spent in seclusion for me. I keep hoping vaguely that “something” will happen to change things, but it never does.

Grandfather Frost, Дед Мороз, visits TsUP: «Всероссийский Дед Мороз поздравил экипаж МКС», FKA site; «Всероссийский Дед Мороз в подмосковном ЦУПе», TsUP site.

I think I like him better than Santa Claus – he has a nice blue-and-silver outfit!

Father Frost in the Central Control Center near Moscow

The twelfth main expedition, consisting of William MacArthur and Valery Tokarev, continues to work aboard the International Space Station. New, 2006, the ISS crew will meet in low Earth orbit.

On December 28, a delegation of honored guests, consisting of representatives of the Moscow government, the government of the Vologda region, the All-Russian Father Frost and the staff of the Children’s Song Theater “Domisolka”, visited the Russian MCC in Korolev near Moscow.

During a television communication session with the ISS, Ded Moroz, and then the first deputy mayor of Moscow in the capital government L.I. Shvetsova and member of the Federation Council, representative of the Government of the Vologda Oblast in the Federal Assembly of Russia V.I. Fedorov warmly congratulated the crew on the upcoming New Year, wished them good health, good luck and successful completion of the flight program. In a conversation with the cosmonauts, Father Frost proposed to announce the upcoming year 2006 – the year of the 45th anniversary of the first manned flight into space, which was made by Yu.A. Gagarin – “the year of courage, accomplishments, exploits and deeds.” The cosmonauts received an invitation to visit the Vologda Oblast, including the city of Veliky Ustyug, the birthplace of Father Frost.

At the end of the communication session with the ISS, the All-Russian Santa Claus addressed the personnel of the Mission Control Center with congratulations. Then the performance of the group “Domisolka” took place.

Всероссийский Дед Мороз в подмосковном ЦУПе

Двенадцатая основная экспедиция в составе Уильяма Макартура и Валерия Токарева продолжает работу на борту Международной космической станции. Новый, 2006-й год, экипаж МКС встретит на околоземной орбите.

28 декабря российский ЦУП в подмосковном Королёве посетили делегация почетных гостей в составе представителей правительства Москвы, правительства Вологодской области, Всероссийский Дед Мороз и коллектив Театра детской песни «ДоМиСоль и К°».

Во время телевизионного сеанса связи с МКС Дед Мороз, а затем первый заместитель мэра Москвы в столичном правительстве Л.И. Швецова и член Совета Федерации, представитель правительства Вологодской области в Федеральном собрании России В.И. Федоров тепло поздравили экипаж с наступающим Новым годом, пожелали ему крепкого здоровья, удачи и успешного выполнения программы полета. В разговоре с космонавтами Дед Мороз предложил объявить наступающий 2006-й год – год 45-летия первого полёта человека в космос, который совершил Ю.А. Гагарин – «годом мужества, свершений, подвигов и поступков». Космонавты получили приглашение посетить Вологодскую область, в том числе город Великий Устюг – родину Деда Мороза.

По окончании сеанса связи с МКС Всероссийский Дед Мороз обратился с поздравлениями к персоналу Центра управления полетами. Затем состоялось выступление коллектива «ДоМиСоль и К°».

It DID reach 40°C rather late in the day, before 5 p.m. :-(

Temperature, ~ 5 p.m. - 41°C

Anyone in Europe want to swap places …?

“Concerning the foundation of a museum exhibit about the Mir Orbital Complex,” Energyia, 29/12 (change this to English link when the page is added). A new exhibit about the Mir space station at Energiya in Korolev. (See if you can spot Sergei Krikalyov in two of the photos!)

Elena and Valerii Ryumin: a photo from the Novosti Kosmonavtiki photo gallery earlier this year that I meant to mention (no caption, unfortunately). Both are former cosmonauts. Elena Kondakova was the last Russian woman to go into space, in 1995! And Valerii should lose weight for the sake of his health.