First Ford bomber is produced

November 28, 1942

On this day, the first production Ford bomber, the B-24 Liberator, rolled off the assembly line at Ford's massive Willow Run plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

See the full story here.


And let us not forget in our family history, the maker of Texas Ed, Laura, worked in this plant.

Ain't technology grand?

For Turkey Day 2008 part of the Kubiske clan met in Phoenix, Ariz. Then joining them via the joys of the Internet and SKYPE, were the Kubiskes in Brasilia.

The California Kubiskes (Doug, Diane, Josh and Lauren), the Ypsi Kubiskes (Patriarch and Matriarch Ed and Pat) spent the holiday at the Rosen's (Mary Pat (Kubiske), Norm and Jake) house.

The Brazil Kubiskes (Dan and Lisa) sponsored their usual Thanksgiving party for members of the embassy community who could not get back home for the holiday or who did not arrange time with other embassy families.

Once all groups were done with their respective meals, the SKYPE connection was made.

During the first few minutes technical issues had to be fixed but eventually there was a 20 minute conversation.

Here is the happy group from Phoenix.

Look for them on Facebook as well.

Celebrate Bill of Rights Ratification Day, Dec. 15

First Amendment - Part 1
Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...

Good coffee on the road

WikiHow is an interesting site that provides some interesting ways to do things. (I found their instructions on how to tie a bow-tie too odd but other items have been useful.)

The latest one on How to Make Good Hotel Room Coffee is worth reading.

Lisa and I have long believed that traveling with our own coffee is the only way to really have decent coffee. We have also found that more hotels are actually taking the in-room coffee situation seriously and are offering good (not great) coffee blends.

I particularly like the warnings at the end about the possible illegal use of a coffee pot in a hotel. Just what kind of hotels are these guys checking into anyway?

U.S. election day in Brazil

An okay video about the election day party held by the US embassy in Brasilia.

More on math and a collective "HUH?"

A friend in Hong Kong jus filed the following article on dealing with his 12-year-old's math problem.

Personally I like the 1950s style of teaching math:
Mrs
Fong has 13 mangos. She gives 12 to her local Party work unit because
property is theft. Should they shoot her for keeping one?

Here is the rest of the article.

First picture of Earth from the moon -- Restored and enhanced

Here is restored and enhanced first picture of the Earth from the moon.

This shot was taken in 1966 by Lunar Orbiter 1 about two years before the famous similar shot by Apollo 8.

Click on the picture for a larger view.

To read more about how NASA is reviewing and restoring many pictures from the early days of lunar exploration, go to the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project.

First picture of Earth from the moon -- Restored and enhanced

Here is restored and enhanced first picture of the Earth from the moon.

This shot was taken in 1966 by Lunar Orbiter 1 about two years before the famous similar shot by Apollo 8.

Click on the picture for a larger view.



To read more about how NASA is reviewing and restoring many pictures from the early days of lunar exploration, go to the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project.

Stars and Stripes and Doonesbury

A friend currently on assignment with the US Army in Iraq sent me a note about the latest controvery over Doonesbury and Stars and Stripes.

The latest dust up is that the liberal cartoon -- which has been in Stars and Stripes for more than 30 years -- came over the cartoon that showed soldiers' reactions to the Obama victory.

Hoo-boy did the letters fly into S&S.

Here is the Ombudsman of S&S addressing the issue: Trudeau’s election ‘Hoo-Ah’ escapes an Uh-Oh  (Links to the orginal letters are in this story.)

And here is a letter from Doonebury creator Garry Trudeau: How 'Doonesbury’ serves the troops

This is becoming a very interesting lesson on freedom of the press and expression -- the very thing the U.S. military is sworn to protect.

Polling Update

Just to let you know how the polling is going on the top four positions in the Obama Cabinet.

Secretary of State
Should name

• Richardson - 40%
• Powell - 60%
• Other: Clinton, Albright, Gingrich

Will name

• Richardson - 33.3%
• Lugar - 6.7%
• Hagel - 13.3%
• Powell - 33.3%
• Other: Clinton (after discussion in media started)

Secretary of Defense
Should name

• Gates - 26.7%
• Lugar - 13.3%
• Hagel - 20%
• Powell - 26.7%
• Danzig - 13.3%

Will name

• Gates - 50%
• Lugar - 7.1%
• Hagel - 14.3%
• Powell - 14.3%
• Danzig - 14.3%

Secretary of Treasury
Should name

• Paulson - 27.3%
• Summers - 18.2%
• Volker - 18.2%
• Geithner - 36.4%

Will name

• Paulson - 15.4%
• Summers - 30.8%
• Volker - 23.1%
• Tyson - 7.1%
• Geithner - 23.1%

Attorney General
Should name

• H. Clinton - 38.5%
• Davis - 7.7%
• Napolitano - 30%
• Patrick - 23.1%

Will name

• H. Clinton - 25%
• Napolitano - 41.7%
• Patrick - 33.3%

Party affiliation

• Democratic Party - 86.7%
• Republican Party - 13.3%

Voting

• Absentee vote - 26.7%
• Advanced voted - 6.7%
• Day of election - 66.7%

Today in history: Colombia volcano erupts

November 14,
1985

Volcano erupts in Colombia and buries nearby towns

On
this day in 1985, a volcano erupts in Colombia, killing well over
20,000 people as nearby towns are buried in mud, ice and lava.

What the history books don't say is that many of the dog search teams that the United States sent to the area were used just a couple of months earlier in Mexico City.

In Mexico the dogs were used -- for the first time ever -- in an urban disaster environment.

In Colombia it was the first time dog search teams were used in a natural disaster environment. Usually the dogs are used to find lost children in the wilderness.

The operations in Mexico and Colombia saved lives because people who would have otherwise been missed by normal search and rescue methods were found by the dogs.

Creativity?

Got a handful of actual responses to college exams from Adam.

Thought you might enjoy these.

Do I Get Points for Creativity?

Unscientific poll on cabinet leadership.

Just for the heck of it, I set up a short poll to see who you think should head up the State, Defense, Treasury and Justice Departments. And then to find out who you think Obama will actually name.

It will take just a few seconds.

Go to the box on the right to start the poll.

I'll post the results sometime in December -- or just after Obama actually puts forward names for these posts.

Condiment history

A tongue in cheek (but accurate) history of ketchup from a friend in Hong Kong.

Enjoy.

Nuff Said

Election Sites and Online Tools

PC World Magazine has a great article about websites to help track the election results.

Everything from MSNBC and CNN to The Onion and InDecision 2008 (Jon Stewart and friends) are on the list.

Worth a look.

No Candy For non-McCain Supporters

At least this woman included candy with her McCain material.

I still remember that guy near our house on Grove Road who ONLY handed out Barry Goldwater and (later) George Wallace or John Birch Society material for Halloween.

Boy those debates really got the candidates talking!

This is a funny and interesting look at how the candidates stayed on message throughout the debates.

Any ideas on how to fix this in the future?