Daily archives: September 18, 2005

Final Frontier

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Two space stories-

All companies set goals, but newly formed 4Frontiers is eyeing some expansive horizons. The company’s mission: to open a small human settlement on Mars within 20 years or so.

Sure, it may sound far-fetched. And the company’s initial plans are a lot more terrestrial than ethereal, like developing a 25,000-square-foot replica of a Mars settlement here on Earth, then charging tourists admission.

Company wants settlers on Mars- Wired

NASA hopes to return astronauts to the moon by 2018, nearly a half-century after men last walked the lunar surface, by using a distinctly retro combination of space shuttle and Apollo rocket parts.

The space agency presented its lunar exploration plan to the White House on Wednesday and on Capitol Hill on Friday. An announcement is set for Monday at NASA headquarters in Washington.

Nasa wants astronauts back on moon by 2018- Yahoo

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All books sent under a plain brown wrapper……

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Yet more books have been listed on Amazon The “Direct” link before each of them takes you to my listing in the marketplace. If it’s gone, the other link takes you to its full listing.

Direct Ex Libris [Paperback] by Rotundo, Massimo; Rotundo
Late nineteenth century naughtiness depicted with fine line work.

Direct Shorts [Paperback]by Manara, Milo
Direct Click: A Woman Under the Influence [Paperback] by Manara, Milo
Two comics from the Italian master of gorgeously rendered smut.

Direct Little Ego [Paperback] by Giardino, Vittorio
It seems this book is quite rare, hence the price tag. Clear line and colour pastiches of the Little Nemo comics of the Thirties, in which the eponymous heroine finds herself in surreal situations, usually involving nudeness and elicit sex.

Direct Young Witches [Paperback] by Barreiro
Dark in more ways than one. The art reminds me of old school war comics in the heavy lines and shading, but the subject is something else again. The pupils of this Wiccan college must undergo some major degradation before they can graduate. Not really my kind of thing, though I didn’t know that when I picked it up.

Direct Erika [Paperback] by Fattori
Very modern Euro style art- bright colours and sharp lines- illustrate the story of a very open relationship.

Direct K [Paperback] by Easterman, Daniel
I haven’t actually read this one. Thriller set in an America overrun by the Klan.

Direct The Aardvark Is Ready for War [Paperback] by Blinn, James
Dark satire set during the first Gulf War. The Aardvark doesn’t really want to fight, and the story follows his voyage out to the Gulf and all the ways he tries to avoid his duty.

Direct Day of Infamy: Attack on Pearl Harbor (Wordsworth Military Library) [Paperback]
Comprehensive book on the Pearl Harbour attack. Has a lot of the details missed out of all the modern documentaries on the subject.

Direct The Dam Busters (Pan Grand Strategy S.) [Paperback] by Brickhill, Paul
617 Squadron wasn’t just about the bouncing bomb and their first raid. They went on to pioneer precision bombing- practically heresy at the time- and deliver the then largest conventional bombs. This book was one of the prime sources for the classic film, but follows the squadron through to the end of the war.

Direct Stupid White Men: …and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation…
Need I say more.

Direct Underwater Warriors: The Fighting History of Midget Submarines (Cassell…
A history of miniature subs and their varied success in war service.

Direct Holy War Inc. Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden [Hardcover] by Bergen
I reviewed this book here.

Direct Dilbert: You Don’t Need Experience If You’ve Got Attitude [Hardcover] by Adams
Direct Dilbert: Please Don’t Feed the Egos [Hardcover] by Adams, Scott
Direct The Dilbert Bunch [Hardcover] by Adams, Scott

Direct Lone Wolf: True Stories of Spree Killers [Paperback] by Pantziarka, Pan

Back from the period when I was fascinated with serial killers and their like.

Direct Atomised [Paperback] by Houellebecq, Michel; Wynne, Frank
Never got round to reading this one.

Direct Cardiff Dead [Paperback] by Williams, John
Or this one.

Direct Why Do People Hate America? [Paperback] by Sardar, Ziauddin; Davies, Merryl Wyn
Reviewed here.

Direct The Memory of Whiteness [Paperback] by Robinson, Kim Stanley
Haven’t read this one.

Direct Women on Top [Paperback] by Friday, Nancy
Direct Men in Love [Paperback] by Friday, Nancy
Before I read these books I was worried my fantasies were a bit
freaky. After reading them I was afraid my fantasies were a bit weak.

Direct Stalingrad [Paperback] by Beevor, Antony
A big book about an epic battle.

Direct Blind Man’s Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage
Fascinating stuff about the Cold War submarine operations of the US Navy.

Direct Just Capital [Paperback] by Turner, Adair; Dahrendorf, Ralf
Haven’t read this one.

Direct Bomber Command (Pan Grand Strategy S.) [Paperback] by Hastings, Max
Direct The Korean War (Pan Grand Strategy S.) [Paperback] by Hastings, Max
Max Hastings has written a lot of thorough book about war and major battles. I have more, but, for now, these are the ones I’m selling.

Direct Dogs of God [Paperback] by Benedict, Pinckney
Never read this.

Direct Love Machine [Paperback] by Altuna Et Al
Comic done in an interesting wash and line art. The Love Machine is an arcade machine that plays viewers short films. Every film, no matter how fantastic the setting, somehow relates back to dilemmas in the viewer’s life.

Direct Clone: The Road to Dolly and the Path Ahead (Penguin Press Science S…
Never read this.

Direct Zigzag Street [Paperback] by Earls, Nick
Signed by the author, perhaps I should re-list it as collectible.

Direct Judge Dredd: The Cursed Earth (2000 AD presents) [Paperback] by Pat Mills…
Direct Judge Dredd: The Judge Child Quest (2000AD Presents) [Paperback] by Wagner…
Direct Judge Dredd: The Apocalypse War (2000AD Presents) [Paperback] by John Wagner…
Three Judge Dredd classics that I’d never read until I found these collected editions.

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March of the Creationist Monkeys

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Some people are too sad. The Creationists/ Intelligent Design monkeys have decided that nature documentary March of the Penguins is evidence of God’s hand.

Andrew Coffin, writing in the Christian publication World Magazine, said such miracles of nature were evidence that life is too complex to have arisen through Darwinian random selection: ‘That any one of these eggs survives is a remarkable feat – and, some might suppose, a strong case for intelligent design. It’s sad that acknowledgment of a creator is absent in the examination of such strange and wonderful animals. But it’s also a gap easily filled by family discussion after the film.’
……
Steve Jones, professor of genetics at University College London and an atheist, said: ‘I find it sad that people with intrinsically foolish viewpoints don’t recognise this as a naturally beautiful film, but have to attach their absurd social agendas to it.

‘The problem with intelligent design is that there is no conceivable observation in nature that can disprove the idea. It’s not part of science, which is why scientists are not interested in it. A group of penguins standing upright looks like co-operation, but in fact the ones on the outside are struggling to get in and those on the inside are trying to stand their ground: it’s a classic Darwinian struggle. The idea that the life of a penguin is any more beautiful than that of a malaria virus is absurd.

‘Supporters of intelligent design think that if they see something they don’t understand, it must be God; they fail to recognise that they themselves are part of evolution. It appeals to ignorance, which is why there is a lot of it in American politics at the moment.’

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