You have to give Elon Musk credit, he certainly likes to dream big. The owner of SpaceX announced yesterday that he plans to send two people on a flight to the moon--in less than 18 months from now. Musk says he has two passengers who are paying "a considerable sum of money" to take part in a flight that will blast them off from Earth on a path that will swing around the moon and return them home--all in about a week.
For anyone over the age of 50, Christmas Eve 1968 probably sticks out in your mind. That was the night the crew of Apollo 8--Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders--became the first humans to orbit the moon. They were the first to see the "far side" and they were the first to see an "Earthrise" over the lunar surface. The live broadcast back to Earth from lunar orbit is iconic--as the astronauts took turns reading from the Book of Genesis, and the image of Earth just floating in the vastness of space really put an incredibly tumultuous time in our history into perspective.
Apollo 8--and all of the Apollo missions (until Americans got bored with going to the moon)--galvanized not only the United States but the entire world. Those men represented "us". Yes, we made sure to put USA on every single item we took up there--but those missions captured man's innate sense of exploration and discovery. "We" were going to the moon "with them".
The problem I have with the SpaceX moonshot is that it doesn't have that same sense of collective adventure and achievement. This is going to be two rich folks taking an incredibly expensive joyride just because they can afford it. Musk refused to identify his "astronauts" yesterday--saying only that they are "not from Hollywood"--which means we can rule out Oprah, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. He added that they will undergo training to survive the trip--but all control of the spacecraft will be done automatically from the ground. No one will be "flying the ship".
Which is another thing I don't like. Most of the Apollo astronauts were military combat or test pilots. They were selected for their ability to handle pressure, think on their feet, react in an emergency by automatically following the training they were given before the trip and they fully understood the science that went into getting them to the moon and back. Their training took years with actual "stick and rudder" simulations. That's why Apollo 13 made it back to Earth when the odds were that all three astronauts on board were going to die in space. Does Elon Musk really expect someone with no such background to perform with the same aplomb if SpaceX has a "major malfunction"?
Of course, all of this is talk. The rocket needed to attempt this moonshot hasn't been tested--and the crew capsule has never carried a person into space yet. Plus, Musk has made splashy headlines before by announcing very aggressive timelines for the development of new technology--and usually he doesn't meet them. So his 50th anniversary of Apollo 8 target date will likely be missed as well.
And what famous line should our space tourists use as they pray the 21-year old coder that programmed their spaceship's lunar orbital injection firing sequence goes properly? "That's one long trip for a man. One giant bill for a rich guy".
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Monday, February 27, 2017
Mother Nature Strikes Back
I like it when nature reminds us that man cannot control it. The massive ice shoves that piled up on the western and southern shores of Lake Winnebago over the weekend and threatened to engulf buildings were great reminders of that. We can put up breakwalls, piers and bridges--but just a little bit of ice plus wind can overpower those easily.
Another reminder has come in California this winter. Record drought has been nearly wiped out by almost daily heavy rains. Reservoirs that were dangerously low are now filled beyond capacity. Dams designed to hold back the water are failing because engineers never expected to get that much rain all at one time in an area that is for all intents and purposes a desert.
It's these little reminders that show the fallacy that we humans could ever hope to control the climate. In California, the alarmists were positive that water levels would never return to what is required to sustain the hundreds of millions of people that live there. Water controls and rationing were going to be the law of the land for the rest of time. Remember when Tom Selleck got in hot water (pun intended) for using too much water on his pistachio orchard? That doesn't seem like such a big concern anymore does it? Of course Governor Jerry Brown isn't about to ease water restrictions--because then he and his liberal co-horts cant't cause people to live in fear and put up with Government over-regulation anymore.
And remember, it took just a few months of rain to bring everything almost back to "normal". Or at least the definition of normal that we like to use for the relatively short period of time that we humans have had the scientific knowledge necessary to measure and record what is going on around us. I look forward to the "hockey stick" graph of California rainfall to project 100-feet of precipitation annually by 2040. It's also why I don't worry when we talk about "record hot years" on planet Earth--because I know the dinosaurs enjoyed even hotter years while they roamed the earth as giant cold-blooded animals--and thick rain forests and jungles covered nearly all of the continents.
So the next time you get the urge to demand that the Government "do something to control the climate"--head on down to Lake Winnebago first and stop the ice shoves from forming.
Another reminder has come in California this winter. Record drought has been nearly wiped out by almost daily heavy rains. Reservoirs that were dangerously low are now filled beyond capacity. Dams designed to hold back the water are failing because engineers never expected to get that much rain all at one time in an area that is for all intents and purposes a desert.
It's these little reminders that show the fallacy that we humans could ever hope to control the climate. In California, the alarmists were positive that water levels would never return to what is required to sustain the hundreds of millions of people that live there. Water controls and rationing were going to be the law of the land for the rest of time. Remember when Tom Selleck got in hot water (pun intended) for using too much water on his pistachio orchard? That doesn't seem like such a big concern anymore does it? Of course Governor Jerry Brown isn't about to ease water restrictions--because then he and his liberal co-horts cant't cause people to live in fear and put up with Government over-regulation anymore.
And remember, it took just a few months of rain to bring everything almost back to "normal". Or at least the definition of normal that we like to use for the relatively short period of time that we humans have had the scientific knowledge necessary to measure and record what is going on around us. I look forward to the "hockey stick" graph of California rainfall to project 100-feet of precipitation annually by 2040. It's also why I don't worry when we talk about "record hot years" on planet Earth--because I know the dinosaurs enjoyed even hotter years while they roamed the earth as giant cold-blooded animals--and thick rain forests and jungles covered nearly all of the continents.
So the next time you get the urge to demand that the Government "do something to control the climate"--head on down to Lake Winnebago first and stop the ice shoves from forming.
Friday, February 24, 2017
Listen to Your Brain, Not Your Heart
As the Milwaukee Brewers get ready to play their first exhibition game of Spring Training down in Arizona today, the hot topic around camp is whether the team will trade outfielder Ryan Braun. Braun currently has a no-trade clause in his contract--which runs through 2021--which would allow the team to send him to a limited number of franchises with Braun's okay. But in May, he becomes a 10-5 player--meaning he has played ten major league seasons, the last five with the same team--and can therefore veto any trade--even if it was to a team that he had earlier approved in his no-trade clause.
That is leading to speculation that the Crew will try to ship Braun to his hometown LA Dodgers or Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim before that May date. The move would free up S20-million in salaries and likely get the Brewers more prospects to build for the future. But it would also send a message to the fans that management has no belief that the team will compete for anything this year--or for a couple more years.
The Brewers don't always make the best decisions when it comes to which middle-aged stars to keep--and which to let go. After the 1992 season, both Robin Yount and Paul Molitor were free agents. Bud Selig decided to keep Yount--because it was clear he was going to reach 3,000 career hits, and that would be a great draw at the gate for a team that was on the way down. So Molitor was actually offered a pay cut and instead signed with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Yount did in fact get to 3,000 hits--getting the historic mark at County Stadium in front of a packed house. But he didn't hit .300 and retired the next year. All Paul Molitor did was hit well over .300 his first two seasons in Toronto and win the World Series MVP award in 1993. Oh, and he too reached 3,000 hits--with his hometown Minnesota Twins a few seasons later.
Let's not forget that there are two Ryan Brauns to consider as well. There is the pre-PED bust Ryan Braun that was an unstoppable offensive force--and the post-PED suspension Ryan Braun that has seen all of his offensive numbers drop off (especially power numbers) and who has struggled to stay healthy. By all accounts, Braun is Brewers' owner Mark Attanasio's favorite player (since they are both LA guys)--and that could mean that the ultimate decision from the front office may be based more on emotion than advanced analytics. Let's just hope the Brewers don't let sentimentality overrule the possibility of building a better team for the future.
That is leading to speculation that the Crew will try to ship Braun to his hometown LA Dodgers or Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim before that May date. The move would free up S20-million in salaries and likely get the Brewers more prospects to build for the future. But it would also send a message to the fans that management has no belief that the team will compete for anything this year--or for a couple more years.
The Brewers don't always make the best decisions when it comes to which middle-aged stars to keep--and which to let go. After the 1992 season, both Robin Yount and Paul Molitor were free agents. Bud Selig decided to keep Yount--because it was clear he was going to reach 3,000 career hits, and that would be a great draw at the gate for a team that was on the way down. So Molitor was actually offered a pay cut and instead signed with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Yount did in fact get to 3,000 hits--getting the historic mark at County Stadium in front of a packed house. But he didn't hit .300 and retired the next year. All Paul Molitor did was hit well over .300 his first two seasons in Toronto and win the World Series MVP award in 1993. Oh, and he too reached 3,000 hits--with his hometown Minnesota Twins a few seasons later.
Let's not forget that there are two Ryan Brauns to consider as well. There is the pre-PED bust Ryan Braun that was an unstoppable offensive force--and the post-PED suspension Ryan Braun that has seen all of his offensive numbers drop off (especially power numbers) and who has struggled to stay healthy. By all accounts, Braun is Brewers' owner Mark Attanasio's favorite player (since they are both LA guys)--and that could mean that the ultimate decision from the front office may be based more on emotion than advanced analytics. Let's just hope the Brewers don't let sentimentality overrule the possibility of building a better team for the future.
Thursday, February 23, 2017
You Wanna Move It Along?
It took a couple of seasons, but Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is proving that he knows as little about what is good for his game as his predecessor Bud Selig did. This week, Manfred announced his agenda for "speeding up the game". The "major change" that will get everyone out of the ballpark faster this year? You no longer have to throw four pitches for an intentional walk--you can just wave the guy to first base.
Let's say you have one intentional walk a game, that will save you a whole 45-seconds! Wow! That should have millennials flocking back to the game! I should note that Manfred also decried the lack of players union cooperation in accepting additional changes like pitch clocks and limited trips to the mound by coaches and managers. But none of these changes address the real reason that baseball can drag on.
For starters, I take exception to the whole concept of "Baseball games are too long". Regulation college football games now last four hours (unless they feature the Wisconsin Badgers--who still play some games in less than three hours because they RUN THE DAMN BALL!). Part of the beauty of baseball is you could be there for 2 hours or you could be there for five hours. Plus, we can have one sport that isn't in-your-face up-tempo action every single second of every single game. It's called variety--and it's a good thing.
Baseball will never address the real cause of longer games: TV. The between-half-innings break is two-minutes and thirty seconds. Trim that to just two minutes and you have saved yourself nine minutes of playing time. Make it 90-seconds--and you've cut a whopping 18-minutes off the game time. But Budweiser, Miller and Coors are paying big bucks for the additional 30 or 60 seconds--so you know that will never be cut. Which brings us to the easiest way to move the game along--and it requires no changes to the rules: CALL MORE STRIKES.
Major League Baseball has a decent strike zone. The problem is, umpires don't enforce it the way it is written. According to MLB's own website, the top of the zone is the "midpoint between the shoulders and the top of the pants"--while the bottom of the zone is "the bottom of the knees. I can tell you that the men in blue are not calling that zone--especially at the top end. I don't know how many times I've seen a pitch four inches above the belt called a ball and thought "Where did that miss?' And then two pitches later, a ball in the same exact spot gets crushed 450-feet for a home run. Again, on a pitch that would not have been called a strike had the batter taken it.
Before you think that calling more strikes would just lead to more strikeouts and a "boring low-scoring game", give Major League hitters some credit. As I've mentioned, they can handle pitches above the belt--and when those are getting called strikes, they will come to the plate ready to swing. You will actually see more balls put into play earlier in counts--which will also reduce pitch counts and allow starters to stay in the game longer--reducing the multiple pitching changes from the sixth inning on (which is also a major contributor to longer games).
Calling more strikes also makes pitchers that don't throw every pitch at 95+ miles an hour more effective--which may reduce the number of arm injuries suffered every year (which is also supposed to be a priority with Commissioner Manfred).
So let's stop requiring pitchers to almost put the ball on a tee for the hitters--even if it means teens and twenty-somethings don't get 7-6 games every night.
Let's say you have one intentional walk a game, that will save you a whole 45-seconds! Wow! That should have millennials flocking back to the game! I should note that Manfred also decried the lack of players union cooperation in accepting additional changes like pitch clocks and limited trips to the mound by coaches and managers. But none of these changes address the real reason that baseball can drag on.
For starters, I take exception to the whole concept of "Baseball games are too long". Regulation college football games now last four hours (unless they feature the Wisconsin Badgers--who still play some games in less than three hours because they RUN THE DAMN BALL!). Part of the beauty of baseball is you could be there for 2 hours or you could be there for five hours. Plus, we can have one sport that isn't in-your-face up-tempo action every single second of every single game. It's called variety--and it's a good thing.
Baseball will never address the real cause of longer games: TV. The between-half-innings break is two-minutes and thirty seconds. Trim that to just two minutes and you have saved yourself nine minutes of playing time. Make it 90-seconds--and you've cut a whopping 18-minutes off the game time. But Budweiser, Miller and Coors are paying big bucks for the additional 30 or 60 seconds--so you know that will never be cut. Which brings us to the easiest way to move the game along--and it requires no changes to the rules: CALL MORE STRIKES.
Major League Baseball has a decent strike zone. The problem is, umpires don't enforce it the way it is written. According to MLB's own website, the top of the zone is the "midpoint between the shoulders and the top of the pants"--while the bottom of the zone is "the bottom of the knees. I can tell you that the men in blue are not calling that zone--especially at the top end. I don't know how many times I've seen a pitch four inches above the belt called a ball and thought "Where did that miss?' And then two pitches later, a ball in the same exact spot gets crushed 450-feet for a home run. Again, on a pitch that would not have been called a strike had the batter taken it.
Before you think that calling more strikes would just lead to more strikeouts and a "boring low-scoring game", give Major League hitters some credit. As I've mentioned, they can handle pitches above the belt--and when those are getting called strikes, they will come to the plate ready to swing. You will actually see more balls put into play earlier in counts--which will also reduce pitch counts and allow starters to stay in the game longer--reducing the multiple pitching changes from the sixth inning on (which is also a major contributor to longer games).
Calling more strikes also makes pitchers that don't throw every pitch at 95+ miles an hour more effective--which may reduce the number of arm injuries suffered every year (which is also supposed to be a priority with Commissioner Manfred).
So let's stop requiring pitchers to almost put the ball on a tee for the hitters--even if it means teens and twenty-somethings don't get 7-6 games every night.
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Farewell, Friend
As Bob Burnell mentioned in passing on Tuesday, we lost an old friend here at the Radio Ranch last week. Kevin Backstrom was an occasional fill-in here on WOSH and often worked the control board for our sports broadcasts on several stations.
Kevin also taught communications at UW-Oshkosh, and we shared a frustration with the appalling lack of knowledge and skills with which today's high school and college graduates leave school. Kevin would always note the low scores he received on RateMyProfessor.com--as students complained about him actually marking down papers and presentations for poor grammar, lack of punctuation and sentence structure that made you think that the writer had used some free Chinese-to-English translation website to copy the paper off the internet. He also didn't buy too many excuses for not getting assignments done on time--or requests to retake exams because "my cousin's best friend's sister died and I was on SnapChat all night trying to make her feel better so I was really tired when I took the test the first time".
Kevin almost got fired at UWO for "cultural insensitivity". He made the mistake of holding a discussion in his class about stereotypes in entertainment and culture and asking if perhaps those stereotypes were so successful because there was an element of truth to them. That led to a student complaint--because who needs to be "confronted" with the possibility that Apu the convenience store clerk on The Simpsons might be like an actual convenience store clerk here in America.
When Kevin and I weren't weeping for the future of America, we were usually on the golf course. At one time KB was actually a pretty good player--and even worked for Jack Nicklaus in Florida. But age and physical ailments had left him pretty frustrated with his game in recent years. We would always do match play--and he refused to take enough handicap strokes to actually have a chance to win. "Pride goeth before the fall" I would tell him. The usual bet was a simple milkshake after the round--and usually by the eighth hole he was asking me what flavor I would be getting that day. I'm going to miss that.
Kevin had no family here and a small circle of friends--but I didn't want Oshkosh to be unaware of his passing. Farewell, my friend.
Kevin also taught communications at UW-Oshkosh, and we shared a frustration with the appalling lack of knowledge and skills with which today's high school and college graduates leave school. Kevin would always note the low scores he received on RateMyProfessor.com--as students complained about him actually marking down papers and presentations for poor grammar, lack of punctuation and sentence structure that made you think that the writer had used some free Chinese-to-English translation website to copy the paper off the internet. He also didn't buy too many excuses for not getting assignments done on time--or requests to retake exams because "my cousin's best friend's sister died and I was on SnapChat all night trying to make her feel better so I was really tired when I took the test the first time".
Kevin almost got fired at UWO for "cultural insensitivity". He made the mistake of holding a discussion in his class about stereotypes in entertainment and culture and asking if perhaps those stereotypes were so successful because there was an element of truth to them. That led to a student complaint--because who needs to be "confronted" with the possibility that Apu the convenience store clerk on The Simpsons might be like an actual convenience store clerk here in America.
When Kevin and I weren't weeping for the future of America, we were usually on the golf course. At one time KB was actually a pretty good player--and even worked for Jack Nicklaus in Florida. But age and physical ailments had left him pretty frustrated with his game in recent years. We would always do match play--and he refused to take enough handicap strokes to actually have a chance to win. "Pride goeth before the fall" I would tell him. The usual bet was a simple milkshake after the round--and usually by the eighth hole he was asking me what flavor I would be getting that day. I'm going to miss that.
Kevin had no family here and a small circle of friends--but I didn't want Oshkosh to be unaware of his passing. Farewell, my friend.
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
This Democracy of Which You Speak....
One of the favorite chants of the protesters that have taken to the streets since the election of Donald Trump as President is "THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOK LIKES!" It's been used by illegal immigrants and their supporters as they refuse to go to work or school for a day. It's used by the idiots that tie up traffic on busy highways and roads to "send a message" by inconveniencing as many people as possible. And it's been used by the rioters that torch limousines owned by Muslim immigrants and loot the Starbucks that actually support many of their causes.
So here we are on Election Day in Wisconsin, and where are all of these "social justice warriors" and "defenders of democracy"? I can tell you they certainly aren't on the ballot. The vast majority of races in our area and across the state today feature the minimum number of candidates needed for the April General Election--or have just one candidate that will run unopposed for another term. Where are the people so concerned that "Flint Could Happen Here" and who literally weep in the streets when Scott Pruitt is confirmed as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency--but who don't run for the City Council that actually oversees the water utility in their own city?
We aren't going to see them at the polls today either. Those that repost every single fake news story link, meme and quote taken out of context about Education Secretary Betsy DeVos can't be bothered to vote in the race for State Superintendent of Public Instruction--which is the actual governing body of Wisconsin schools--and which sets the standards for education in our districts. And yet turnout for that race will be in the single digits--and probably even less for most school board races--which have the greatest direct impact on education in a community.
I'll admit, voting in non-partisan races is "hard". There are no convenient "D's" or "R's" next to candidates' names to facilitate mindless party-line voting. There are no attack ads on radio and TV to define a candidate--sometimes even before they officially join the race. No one is sending dozens of flyers to your house with scary headlines and more taken-out-of-context quotes about candidates. You have to actually research where these candidates stand on issues, attend a debate or listen to interviews on the radio to decide whom to vote for in these races. And who can be bothered with all of that when there are protests to plan, clever slogans to draw on signs and memes to circulate on the internet?
Perhaps if TV cameras were set up outside of all polling places today showing the five or six percent of us "bothering" to voting today, more people would be interested in what democracy actually looks like.
So here we are on Election Day in Wisconsin, and where are all of these "social justice warriors" and "defenders of democracy"? I can tell you they certainly aren't on the ballot. The vast majority of races in our area and across the state today feature the minimum number of candidates needed for the April General Election--or have just one candidate that will run unopposed for another term. Where are the people so concerned that "Flint Could Happen Here" and who literally weep in the streets when Scott Pruitt is confirmed as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency--but who don't run for the City Council that actually oversees the water utility in their own city?
We aren't going to see them at the polls today either. Those that repost every single fake news story link, meme and quote taken out of context about Education Secretary Betsy DeVos can't be bothered to vote in the race for State Superintendent of Public Instruction--which is the actual governing body of Wisconsin schools--and which sets the standards for education in our districts. And yet turnout for that race will be in the single digits--and probably even less for most school board races--which have the greatest direct impact on education in a community.
I'll admit, voting in non-partisan races is "hard". There are no convenient "D's" or "R's" next to candidates' names to facilitate mindless party-line voting. There are no attack ads on radio and TV to define a candidate--sometimes even before they officially join the race. No one is sending dozens of flyers to your house with scary headlines and more taken-out-of-context quotes about candidates. You have to actually research where these candidates stand on issues, attend a debate or listen to interviews on the radio to decide whom to vote for in these races. And who can be bothered with all of that when there are protests to plan, clever slogans to draw on signs and memes to circulate on the internet?
Perhaps if TV cameras were set up outside of all polling places today showing the five or six percent of us "bothering" to voting today, more people would be interested in what democracy actually looks like.
Monday, February 20, 2017
Let Justice Be Done
The removal of a sitting politician is certainly not a matter to be taken lightly. As the "recall mania" of 2011 and 2012 proved here in Wisconsin, residents don't like having their political decisions overturned or challenged before the terms of the winners are concluded. But I still hope we do get a hearing before the Green Bay City Council tonight on the removal of Mayor Jim Schmitt from office for campaign finance violations.
For those not familiar, Mayor Schmitt accepted campaign contributions in excess of legal limits for his re-election campaign--falsified the reports provided to the Government Accountability Board--and then tried to get his campaign contributors to change their statements once an investigation into his finances was launched. He pleaded no contest to a couple of charges and avoided jail time or probation.
One resident--Scott Vanidestine--felt that wasn't a suitable punishment for a politician that knowingly broke the law and made efforts to cover up his crimes, so he circulated a petition to have Schmitt removed from office and got enough signatures to force tonight's hearing--maybe.
You see, Mayor Schmitt--in a move all slimy politicians would love--claims that taking the illegal campaign contributions and falsifying the reports and trying to change donation documents after the fact were all done while he was "Jim Schmitt Private Citizen--and not as "Mayor Jim Schmitt"--so the City Council has no right to remove him from office. He's even found a lawyer willing to defend that claim in court--in an effort to block tonight's hearing. The case has been assigned to an Outagamie County Judge--because all the judges in Brown County cited a potential conflict of interest--who decided to wait until the last minute today to decide if there will be a hearing.
Hopefully that Outagamie County Judge will allow the hearing to go forward so that the people of Green Bay can seek more suitable punishment for their small, petty and vindictive Mayor. If only the City Council could also vote to remove his equally small, petty and vindictive political adversary--Guy Zima. That would be a double win for good government.
For those not familiar, Mayor Schmitt accepted campaign contributions in excess of legal limits for his re-election campaign--falsified the reports provided to the Government Accountability Board--and then tried to get his campaign contributors to change their statements once an investigation into his finances was launched. He pleaded no contest to a couple of charges and avoided jail time or probation.
One resident--Scott Vanidestine--felt that wasn't a suitable punishment for a politician that knowingly broke the law and made efforts to cover up his crimes, so he circulated a petition to have Schmitt removed from office and got enough signatures to force tonight's hearing--maybe.
You see, Mayor Schmitt--in a move all slimy politicians would love--claims that taking the illegal campaign contributions and falsifying the reports and trying to change donation documents after the fact were all done while he was "Jim Schmitt Private Citizen--and not as "Mayor Jim Schmitt"--so the City Council has no right to remove him from office. He's even found a lawyer willing to defend that claim in court--in an effort to block tonight's hearing. The case has been assigned to an Outagamie County Judge--because all the judges in Brown County cited a potential conflict of interest--who decided to wait until the last minute today to decide if there will be a hearing.
Hopefully that Outagamie County Judge will allow the hearing to go forward so that the people of Green Bay can seek more suitable punishment for their small, petty and vindictive Mayor. If only the City Council could also vote to remove his equally small, petty and vindictive political adversary--Guy Zima. That would be a double win for good government.
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