Daily Archives: February 10, 2010

Bob Dylan performance at White House moved ahead to Tuesday

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If you caught the concert last night – one day early – you were among the lucky ones

President Barack Obama delivers remarks at “In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement” in the East Room of the White House. Bob Dylan doesn’t need a weatherman to tell him which way the wind blows, even when there’s a blizzard. The folk rock legend and other top musicians didn’t let the snow in Washington, D.C., stop them from going to the East Room of the White House last night to perform as part of “In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement

Snow storms in Washington convinced the White House to move their February 10th free concert ahead one day to February 9th, 2010.

For those missed that announcement, PBS will re-broadcast a shortened version on Feb. 11 at 8 p.m. ET.

The concert was organized to celebrate the use of music in the Civil Rights Movement. Along with Dylan, performers included John Mellencamp, Yolanda Adams, Joan Baez, Natalie Cole, Jennifer Hudson, Smokey Robinson, and the Blind Boys of Alabama.
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Conflab over CSIS file on politician misses the point

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CSIS won’t open full Tommy Douglas file

Tommy Douglas, great Canadian politician and subject of RCMP spying

CBC revealed that CSIS is concealing material information contained in their file about the NDP Premier of Saskatchewan and Federal Member of Parliament.

CSIS says it has to protect its sources or covert work will be compromised.

Why did the RCMP even start a file on the elected Premier of Saskatchewan? That’s the first question and why did they continue to spy on Tommy Douglas long after he was elected to the House of Commons?Democracy protest privileges of elected officials allowing them to represent the people. The RCMP should not have authority to investigate sitting members unless criminal activity is alleged, and then only with the permission of the Minister of Justice.

Of course, the answer is that Douglas was a socialist and politically unpopular with Liberals and Conservatives. Being outside the political mainstream is reason number one to be considered a subversive in the Canadian democracy.

Political hegemony in support of the establishment is sacred in Canada. Political dissent, even one is elected, must be reasonable grounds to suspend democratic freedoms. Continue reading →

Shuttle does back flip so ISS crew can inspect the heat shield

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Endeavour Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver

Space station photographs heat shield on Endeavour during RPM

Day 3, STS 130 – Just prior to docking at 12:06 am on February 10, 2010 the crew of the space shuttle Endeavour executed a tightly choreographed back flip in space.

The maneuver, called RPM, exposes the heat shield of the shuttle to the International Space Station crew who photograph it looking for any launch damage. The RPM is preliminary to docking the shuttle with the ISS.

The photographs are studied to determine if the shuttle is safe for re-entry into earth’s atmosphere. If not, the crew of the Shuttle would wait for a rescue shuttle to arrive from earth.

The destruction of the Shuttle Columbia was a result of damage to the heat shield which was ignored. The Columbia overheated on one wing and disintegrated on re-entry. Continue reading →