Happy Birthday Joyce's Take

It is my great pleasure to give a happy birthday shout out to this very site. Joyce's Take is two years old today, and it's all because of you dear readers.
So, from all of us at Joyce's Take (me and my invisible cat Herkimer) I wish Joyce's Take continued good health and prosperity, and a very happy birthday!
Happy second birthday J.T.!

Happy Birthday Drew (Barrymore)!

Ms Drew


An Earlier Version


With Mom

Firestarter

Braces

What a Cutie!

"Far From Home"

Poison

Enjoying Some Ice Cream

Orothogonal Functions

Pretty

Fighter

With The Godfather, Steven

Uh Oh, Scouts

Pretty

Angels, They're So Happy

I am very happy this morning to give a great big happy birthday shout out to one of my very favorite actresses and people, Ms. Drew Barrymore!
Drew was born while still very young in nearby Culver City, California, in West Los Angeles. I pass through there sometimes on my way to Venice where the ocean is. Ironically enough, although Drew did not know it at the time, Culver City has a long history of involvement with the entrainment industry, specifically movie and television studios located within it. Since the 1920s studios like MGM, the Hal Roach Studios, and the Culver Studios made many famous films, like: "The Wizard of OZ," "The Thin Man," "Gone with the Wind," "Citizen Kane," the Tarzan movies, and the original "King Kong."
Those are very old movies, some of which my lovely ex-case manager, Erin may not even be aware of (although I know for certain she is a fan of "The Wizard of Oz." She told me so once, and I gave her a DVD of it for her birthday, or something. I told her this true story, that I used to see Margaret Hamilton, the lovely lady who played the Wicked Witch of the West, eat at the restaurant of the hotel my father's liquor store was attached to during the late 60s (she had no flying monkeys with her that I could discern).

These are some more recent films made in Culver City: "Grease," "Raging Bull," "City Slickers," "Air Force One," "Wage the Dog," and a favorite of mine, "Contact."
Erin probably doesn't know any of those movies either. She is movie challenged. I know she knows "Contact," though, because we watched it together at Movie Day. Case manager Paul too.
What were we talking about... oh yes, Drew Barrymore... she herself would come back to Culver City six years after being born to play a five year old sister in the film "E.T.the Extra-Terrestrial," directed by Steven Spielberg... you may of heard of him.
Six years old and she has a major role in what Rotten Tomatoes has ranked the greatest science fiction film of all time, and the largest money maker of all time up to that point (it cost 10.5 million to make, and made almost 793,000,000 million in 1982 dollars worldwide ($1.82 billion inflation adjusted 2011 dollars). How much of that money did Drew get? Who knows? But it wasn't very much I can guarantee that, forcing her at one point in her life to work at Blockbuster Video. Instead, Steven Spielberg became Drew's godfather. Sophia Loren, the lovely Italian actress, would become Drew's godmother. I didn't even know Steven and Sophia knew each other, oh my.
In any case, she was delivered by Dr. Paul Fleiss, the father of famed Hollywood ambassador to the stars, Heidi Fleiss.
And suddenly there was Drew. Her parents, actor John Drew Barrymore Jr. and Ildiko Jaid Barrymore split up before she was even born.
Now Erin knows Drew I'm almost positive. However I'm also sure she does not know of her illustrious family who passed the Barrymore name down to her, and forced acting and entertainment into her little baby bloodstream.
From Wikipedia (so you know it must be true): Drew "was born into acting: her great-grandparents Maurice Barrymore and Georgie Drew Barrymore, Maurice Costello (no relation to Lou) and Mae Costello, and her grandparents John Barrymore and Dolores Costello, were all actors; John Barrymore was arguably the most acclaimed actor of his generation [Shakespearean stage and film actor of the 20s and 30s]. She is the niece of Diana Barrymore and the grandniece of Lionel Barrymore [you may remember Lionel, dear readers, as the mean old bad guy in Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life." Erin sure won't], Ethel Barrymore and Helene Costello, the great-great-granddaughter of John Drew and actress Louisa Lane Drew, and the great grandniece of silent film actor/writer/director Sidney Drew."
Anyway, a dog made Drew a star. Her mom Jaid, an aspiring actress herself and a single mom, began taking Drew to auditions at a very early age. At eleven months old she auditioned for a commercial for Puppy Choice dog food. The dog she was working with bit her and she laughed instead of crying. The producers liked her reaction and hired her. Thus her career began.
She got her start in movies when she was 2 or 3, when mom got her on a couple of television movies as a favor to friends. When she was 4 she was cast in "Altered States," based on the only novel Paddy Chayefsky ever wrote. It was also William Hurt's first movie, and Drew played his daughter.
A year later Drew auditioned for the part of Carol in the Steven Spielberg production of "Poltergeist" (Spielberg didn't direct the film as Drew claims in the clip below, Tobe Hooper of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," did, but Steven produced it). Steven said of Drew that she wasn't really what they were looking for, and the part was given to Heather O'Rourke (who died tragically seven years later). However, when Spielberg was asked about Drew playing the part of sister Gertie in his next upcoming directorial project, Steven said, this is just the person we need for the part, or something to that effect. That project was 1982's "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," which we've already discussed.
Suddenly Drew was a star. Here's a interview with her while she was in England:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiktjoSdWqE
And here's that scream:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbhWftjWrEE
She remains the youngest person (at seven) to ever host Saturday Night Live.
And here's Drew showing Johnny Carson (used to host The Tonight Show, Erin, before Jay Leno) her teeth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYxCql3fx9w&NR=1
And here's Drew showing David Letterman something else:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LYV9AZNlFU
The next year Drew would begin her collaboration with Stephen King, the horror writer, you may have heard of him.
She did this by playing the title role in "Firestarter," with my friend Martin Sheen, David Keith, Heather Locklear, Art Carney, Louise Fletcher, and George C. Scott. Not a bad cast. Drew played the adorable pyrokinetic Charlie. The film is actually a favorite of mine, as is the book.
Drew ended her collaboration with Stephen King in the next year's "Cat's Eye," in which her cat does battle with a deadly troll.
Hey, it can happen.
And then something happened. Life intervened, and not in a... happy way.
So much attention at such an early age can be exceptionally detrimental for a developing psyche. One's life can turn in certain directions which upon later reflection one may not have wanted it to. It has happened to a lot of child stars. They get involved with drugs and alcohol, and sometimes never recover and regain the prominence they once held. Hell, it happens to adults who are thrust suddenly in the limelight. It seems to be happening to Lindsey Lohan currently. It's happened to me (without the limelight), and it happened to Drew Barrymore.
She was a naturally precousious, adventuresome, and uninhibited child. Her mother Jaid began taking her along to various clubs around Hollywood, like the famous Studio 54 and the China Club. She was smoking cigarettes at age nine, drinking alcohol by the time she was 11, smoking marijuana at 12, and snorting cocaine at 13.
She was in rehab for 3 months when she was 12. She tried to kill herself two years later and went back to rehab. Upon release she lived with David Crosby and his wife for three months. David, of the folk- rock group Crosby Stills, Nash, & Young, was committed to sobriety, and it was felt that Drew needed a sober environment. It seems to have worked to a high degree, and I recommend that every newly recovering drug addict and alcoholic live with David and Jan for a while. Hey, it couldn't hurt, and they could use the money.
Drew wrote a book about her experiences when she was 14, 1989's "Little Girl Lost," partly to counter all the bad press she was getting from the media.
Back in 1984 Drew had been nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture, for her work in "Irreconcilable Differences," a comedy--drama with Ryan O'Neal and Shelly Long about a daughter divorcing her parents. In 1990 Drew did just that by receiving a juvenile court petition for emancipation from her mother, and moving into her own apartment.
She got engaged the next year to Leland Hayward, which lasted a few months before being called off. Then she got engaged again and lived with Jamie Walters, an actor and musician. Drew appeared nude on the cover of Interview Magazine with him in 1992.
Back making movies she played characters that seemed true to type, manipulative, seductive teenager femme fatales, in such films as "Poison Ivy," which turned into a video, DVD success and began a francaise that Jamie Pressly and Alyssa Milano would later use to start their careers. Here's a clip with Drew seducing her friend's dad played by Tom Skerritt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9m5aSHRr-w
The next year she won her second Golden Globe nomination for "Gun Crazy," in which she played a manipulative, seductive teenager femme fatale who killed her step dad.
In 1994 she got married to a Welsh bar owner, which lasted a little more than a month. And she posed for Playboy magazine that year, the fruits of which were put forth in the January 1995 issue.
Now I've seen that particular issue. There happened to be an excellent article concerning orthogonal functions in it, so I've seen her spread. If I had to judge I'd say it was a joyous expression of a young, free spirited, beautiful young woman, very well and tastefully done. As a matter of fact I liked that article on orthogonal functions so much that I've happily reviewed it many times throughout the years... many times.
Good article!
Drew's mother, Jaid, appeared in the very same magazine for her own spread just eight months later. That issue had a fascinating article concerning protein crystallography that I recommend to those who are interested in such matters.
Spielberg didn't care for Drew's spread though. He gave her a quilt for her 20th birthday with a note that said, "Cover yourself up," the bastard.
Mind your own business Steve.
In 1995 she starred with Whoopie Goldberg and Mary-Louise Parker, in "Boys on the Side," which advanced the cause of cannibalism in this country decades, a subject that thanks to Anthony Hopkins had finally been broached back in 1991 with the release of "Silence of the Lambs." Food shortages in the United States dramatically declined. She also played Tommy Lee Jones paramour in "Batman Forever," with Val Kilmer taking his turn as the Caped Crusader.
And she also started her own production company, Flower Films, with her partner Nancy Juvonen, selling out to the Hollywood establishment and becoming The Man... and making a lot of money.
The next year she started a francaise with this scene from 1996's "Scream"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFCStOMqpfk
That year she also appeared in Woody Allen's only musical-comedy, "Everyone Says I Love You."
Drew's career was back on the fast track. She began making money for the studios in mostly romantic comedies, such as, "Wishful Thinking," "Never Been Kissed" (produced by Flower) and "The Wedding Singer."
In 2000 she produced and starred in "Charlie's Angels," a remake of the popular television show of the late 70s. It was a huge success at the box office, a little bit over the top I'd say, but what the hell. It helped in a long way solidify her standing in the business, and her company's. Here's one of my favorite scenes... I don't know why:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ax95V7VEGY
One of my favorite movies with Drew is 2001's "Riding in Cars With Boys," directed by Penny Marshall, and co-starring James Woods, Steve Zahn, and our lovely friend, the late Brittany Murphy. Here's one of my favorite scenes with Brittany and Drew:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsUMHE0RlXY
Drew's films have a worldwide box office gross which stands at over $2.3 billion. That's dollars, not pesos. Today she commands a salary of approximately $15 million per picture, which places her eighth on the list of highest paid actresses. She's come a long way from "Little Girl Lost."
People must like Drew. On October 10, 2009 she hosted Saturday Night Live again, for the sixth time! Making her the only female (girl) to host that many shows. Here's a clip of her being interviewed about this by James Lipton on "Inside the Actor's Studio,"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX6X_PwSH-0
Like Jennifer Love, Drew has either been romantically linked, or married to every guy in Southern California except me, which I resent wholeheartedly (actually, both Drew and Jennifer Love are getting on in years and are a tad too old for me now... sorry girls). She may or may not be dating the wonderful actor and comedian, Justin Long. Nobody knows for sure. Not even Drew. Or the art consultant, Will Kopelman, I keep hearing about, son of some CEO of course. (come on Drew, take a trip downtown to Skid Row and find yourself a real man!)
Blah, blah, blah... who cares?
Anyway, in 2004 she became the sixth member of her family to receive a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. A bunch of show offs for sure.
She says, "Every morning I stay in bed for ten minutes to ponder my place in the universe. Then I wash my face and check my karma."
As do I. I have an electric Karma Checker... from Kmart.
In 2007, she was named an Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Program, which is very important because almost everybody has to eat. I know I do. I'm going to have a cracker right now.
Although one of her hobbies is photography, she claims to never watch any of the movies she stars in.
As do I.
My movies, not hers. I always watch movies she appears in.
Almost always.
Drew made her directorial debut in 2009, with "Whip It," another teen story about a girl escaping her small town by joining a roller derby team. Boy, if I had a nickel... It stars another of my favorite actresses, the lovely Ellen Page, who just celebrated her 24th birthday yesterday. Happy birthday Ellen! I'll get to you eventually.
Drew, Juliette Lewis and Kristen Wiig also appear in the film and beat up poor little Ellen.
It's a tough business folks.
Let's see, what else. I keep seeing her on these Cover Girl commercials. I guess she's spent all of that movie money already.
She is a huge fan of The Beach Boys and appeared in their music video, "Rock and Roll To The Rescue" as well as singing "Wouldn't It Be Nice" in the film "50 First Dates," with her "Wedding Singer," pal, Adam Sandler.
Well I once saw The Beach Boys in concert, so there. On New Years Eve. At midnight they played "Good Vibrations." I was stoned.
Some of her other favorite musicians are The Beatles (I kind of like them too), Daft Punk (French), Lauryn Hill (avoids publicity), Coldplay (Limeys), Ratt (Rodent. Try Led Zeppelin, Drew. You can remember their songs), and Beck (Jeff). What! No Moby!?
This is a link to her official website:
http://www.drewbarrymore.com/
And I'll let Drew have the last word, speaking for all of us who are chronically unhappy:
"You have to fight unhappiness like a dragon with fire and breath."
Except for these words:
All of us here at Joyce's Take wish Drew continued good fortune and health, and a very happy birthday!
Happy birthday Drew!

Happy Birthday Jennifer Love (Hewitt)!

Ms Love


Lucky Crow

"Kids Incorporated"

Flirt

Heart Melter

Pretty Little Schoolgirl

What a Cutie!

As Audrey Hepburn

In "Heartbreakers"

In the Hoosegow... Again

Playing with her ball

Ghost Whisperer

It is my great pleasure and honor to wish one of my very favorite actresses a very happy birthday, the only one to ever get her own short story here in Joyce's Take, Miss Love herself, Jennifer Love Hewitt!
Jennifer was born at a very early age in Waco, Texas, at 10:48 in the evening. Her mom, Patricia Mae was a speech-language pathologist (probably still is) who specializes in speech and language disorders... a noble profession. Her dad, Herbert Daniel was a medical technician, who broke up with his wife when Jennifer was just six months old, and she and her older brother, Todd, were raised by mom. Jennifer and Todd are of Italian and German ancestry.
Todd picked Jennifer's first name after a girl he had a crush on (the scamp), and her middle name was chosen by her mom (nice of Todd to let her participate) who chose the name after her college roommate. Mom and the kids lived in Harker Heights, Texas, which is a suburb of Killeen, which is an army town due to nearby Fort Hood.
Born to entertain Jennifer debuted at the age of 3, singing at a livestock show. She worried her mom the next year when she disappeared in a restaurant-dance hall (in my humble opinion 4 year olds should unequivocally not be allowed to hang out in dance halls... I mean really). She was later found on the stage singing "Help Me make It Through The Night." When she was 5 she was taking tap, jazz, and ballet lessons which led her to joining the Texas Show Team when she was 9 (not to be confused with the Junior East Texas Meat Goat Show Team), which toured the Soviet Union and Europe. After winning the title of Our Little Miss Talent Winner for Texas, she moved here, where I live, in Los Angeles, at the advice of a talent scout. Miss Love wanted to act and sing.
They left Todd back in Texas to finish high school.
She attended Lincoln High School, which I believe is just a little north east of where I'm writing this, due north to the Death Palace... the Los Angeles County General Hospital, but she graduated from Laurel Springs High School in Ojai, California, former home of the famous Chumash Indians. Ojai that is, not the Laurel Springs High School.
I at one time lived for about four years in nearby Camarillo, California, about 28 miles from Ojai, both in Ventura County. And I would like to take this opportunity now to plead... Miss Love, even though my admiration for you is unbounded, please stop following me around. It's unseemly.
The word Ojai, by the way means "Valley of the Moon." How lovely.
She graduated in 1997, when she was 18.
But way before that, way... she had been appearing in television commercials. More than twenty. And when she was still just 10, she got her first big break by being cast in the Disney television production, "Kids Incorporated," which contrary to many persistent and vicious rumors was not a black market ring dealing in children, but a variety show for kids.
Don't believe me? Okay, here's a clip featuring Jennifer (yes, it's really her):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq-xE3LUy-c
Stacy Ferguson appeared on the show four years before Jennifer. You may know her better as Fergie, from The Black Eyed Peas hip hop group.
Love worked on that show for a couple of years, then moved on getting a lot of work. She played the daughter of Pierce Brosnan in a pilot for NBC which wasn't picked up. She got parts on a number of television shows that were short lived. Then in 1995, when she was 16, she got her big break after joining the cast of the Fox teen drama, "Party of Five," during it's second season, along with Neve Campbell and Lacy Chabert.
At first the show didn't do all that well in the ratings and was actually scheduled to be canceled after it's first season. But it won a Golden Globe for Best Drama, and the ratings continued to climb during the second season when Love joined the cast. Coincidence or no? I say no. Her character, Sarah Reeves Marin, was a big hit with the fans, and Jennifer's huge acting abilities were finally able to be put on display. The American public, especially the boys, took notice.
As did I. I first became aware of Jennifer at about this time when I was living in Camarillo. I remember seeing this picture in some magazine of this pretty girl in a bikini making out with a crow. Well there's nothing unusual about that, California is known for beautiful girls in bikinis. However I took notice (two pictures above) of the burgeoning actress, and began to follow her career (I don't know why, nothing much better to do at the time I suppose).
I took notice, but not enough to watch a teen drama show on Fox. As a matter of fact I've never seen a single episode of "Part of Five." So let's watch this clip together, dear readers, and discover why Jennifer is such a big and accomplished star today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH0LdsvCBV0
Well, that was interesting. Love was so popular that the good folks at Fox decided to spin her character off onto her own show after Party's rating slumped again, and was canceled. "Time of Your Life," first aired in October of 1999, but didn't quite catch on and was canceled half way through the season.
To hell with TV though. Love had made her film debut back in 1992 in "Munchie," an independent sequel to "Munchies," a "Critters," rip off with Loni Anderson. The next year she worked with Whoopie Goldberg in "Sister Act 2, Back in the Habit," and then in 1997 she got her first lead role in the hit thriller, "I Know What You Did Last Summer," a teen slasher flick , written by Kevin Williamson, who had written "Scream," the year before. Love worked with the lovely Sarah Michelle Gellar, and the lovely Ryan Phillippe. The film got mixed reviews but was successful financially, making $72.5 million domestically, and $53 million overseas, for a total of $125.5 million. It probably cost about $20 to $30 million to make, so it did very well. Not so with it's sequel, "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer," also starring Love. This movie cost $65 million to make (why?), and is reported to have only brought in $40 total, thereby ending the franchise.
I liked both movies.
I like every movie Love Hewitt has been in... I don't know why. I even liked her outing with Jackie Chan in "The Tuxedo," which for it's opening shot has a deer urinating. A close up!
I really liked her and Sigourney Weaver in 2001's crime riddled romantic comedy "Heartbreakers," with Gene Hackman, Ray Liotta, and Anne Bancroft. This film presented a somewhat different side of Jennifer... she had been tired of being called "cute," all of the time and in this film she went a long way into changing her screen image. Here's a short interview in which she talks about her part, and then a clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NemhXc9pvb8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGUGpyLhuqk
I love this movie! I don't know why (Jennifer Love Hewitt).
I wasn't particularly successful, cost around $35 million to make, and brought back about $57 million worldwide, and it was a real crappy part for Hackman (in one of his last film performances before he retired to a life of doing voice overs for airline and hardware store commercials), but I like this film. I even have a VCR copy of it right here in my box. I'm going to watch it right now as a matter of fact... please excuse me...
Okay, back. That was fun.
In 2005 Love got the lead in another television program, "Ghost Whisperer," about a young woman who can see and talk to dead people who she helps to move on "into the light."
It was at this time I wrote the short story "Love," which you can find right here:
http://joycestake.blogspot.com/2009/03/love.html
I was going to give Jennifer a copy directly if she had showed up at the Thanksgiving Dinner celebration held by the Los Angeles Mission here in downtown Los Angeles that year. But she didn't. She had been there the year before, but she wasn't there in 2005. Probably too busy with her new TV show. I certainly understand and hold no grudges.
"Ghost Whisperer," was great. I wasn't an avid fan, but I tuned in every once in a while (although I don't understand why the lovely Aisha Tyler was let go after the first season, and I continue to believe the show would still be on if Love's character, Melinda, was a single person rather than married, but that's just me). By golly, Love can cry at the drop of a hat, and that's really, really hard! Veteran actors like Robert DeNiro can't even do that.
Anyway, CBS canceled the show last year after it's fifth season. Here's Jennifer's fairwell tribute to the show for her many fans:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW0EAVxje8U
And Jennifer has moved on.
I used one of Jennifer's next projects in this post entitled The Client List,
http://joycestake.blogspot.com/2010/07/client-list.html
to emphasize the state of the current economy. By a strange coincidence her project had the same name, and was made pretty much to emphasize the very same thing. Here she is talking about it on The View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRYQr4C-ihE
And the movie is really, really good. You get to hear Jennifer in her native Texas accent, and not that phoney Hollywood speech she pretends to talk like most of the time.
Anyway, did I mention that Love is a great singer as well. She is! She is so multi-talented she reminds me of myself. Here's a sample:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvki5NsTro4
She's produced four albums and is working on another featuring country songs. I don't know why.
She is also going to direct her first feature film, "Wait Till Helen Comes," which is a fairly provocative title, I can't wait to see it.
Love has been romantically linked to about every guy in Southern California, except me, so I won't go into it. She's currently dating some guy, blah, blah, who cares.
I'll tell you this though... Love is a fan of the Glasgow Celtic Football Club, which doesn't play football at all. She is slightly claustrophobic, as was my dear mother (she doesn't like snakes very much either. I once saw her on The Tonight Show with a big snake, and she kind of freaked out. But who does like snakes?). She lives in the affluent community of Toluca Lake, where Bob Hope used to live. It's a private lake these rich people enjoy in their back yards. I've seen it. It's kind of pathetic really, I'm not impressed.
Oh yes, Love says that when she takes a bath she wears a tiara.
As do I.
Here's a link to her official web site: http://www.jenniferlovehewittonline.com/
And everyone here at Joyce's Take sincerely wishes Jennifer Love continued good health and fortune, and of course, a very happy birthday.
Happy birthday Jennifer!

Revolution 3, Mark Zuckerberg vs Hosni Mubarak

Jan 25th... The Revolution Begins


Victory

Meet The New Boss

"I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss"

-Pete Townsend
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp6-wG5LLqE



Abdo Abdel Hameed, a restaurant owner, was driven to attempt suicide after bread coupons from the Egyptian government were denied to him. He set himself on fire Monday, the 17th of January, on Kasr El Aini Street in downtown Cairo, exactly one month after Mohamed Bouazizi's act that sparked revolution in Tunisia. However in Hameed's case, after pouring gasoline over himself, his clothes sustained more damage than he did, and he suffered no serious injuries. Still, the symbolic significance of the act was not lost upon the people of Egypt. At least five others thought it would be a good idea to set themselves on fire.
The social networking Internet sites, Facebook and Twitter were utilized by the growing mass of young people who were emboldened by the recent turn of events in Tunisia. They documented police abuses and brought the growing amount of discontent of the Egyptian people to worldwide attention.
Wael Ghonim, Head of Marketing of Google Middle East and North Africa, established a Facebook page spotlighting the beating and death in June of 2010, of Khaled Mohamed Saeed, a young Egyptian man whose photographs of his disfigured corpse spread throughout online communities and incited outrage over allegations that he was beaten to death by Egyptian security forces. Other activists like Asmaa Mahfouz encouraged the citizens of Egypt to publicly protest.
The protests were started by a small group of secular, liberal youth activists organizing on the Internet who only a few months earlier struggled to gather more than 100 demonstrators at a time. But their work through social network services like Facebook over the past few years built a growing awareness and bitterness among Egyptians over issues like police abuse and corruption.
"Facebook brought down the regime," said Sally Toma, one of the main protest organizers. To date Mark Zuckerberg has not denied this.
On January 25th National Police Day is celebrated throughout Egypt commemorating 50 police officers who gave their lives by refusing to cooperate with British forces in 1952. Groups opposing the government staged a day of protest on January 25th, 2011, against abuses by the police in front of the Ministry of Interior. Emboldened by the revolt in Tunisia the protesters increased their demands to that of the resignation of the Minister of the Interior, the restoration of a fair minimum wage, the end of Emergency Law that had been in place since 1967, and the limitation of the presidency to two terms. Many political movements, opposition parties and public figures chose to support the day of revolt, including Youth for Justice and Freedom, the Popular Democratic Movement for Change, and the National Association for Change. Novelist Alaa Al Aswany, writer Belal Fadl, and actors Amr Waked and Khaled Aboul Naga said they would also participate, while the Facebook group set for the event attracted 80,000 attendees. Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo, with 45,000 occupying Tahrir Square, the main thoroughfare of Cairo, with thousands more in cities throughout Egypt (the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic transnational organization that the American right wing has declared the instigator of the unrest in the Middle East and who they insist are setting themselves up to take over the world, further scaremongering their pathetic listeners and viewers into further submission, did not even show up for these demonstrations, at least not at the start).
Security forces however deemed the protests as "illegal", not having the required permissions to proceed and would therefore deal with it strictly. Police used tear gas and water cannons against the protesters, who in turn threw stones at police, eventually forcing them to retreat.
The demonstrations continued the next few days with increased use of violence from both protesters and the police. Suez experienced a dramatic uprising; many protesters were fired upon with live ammunition, and both protesters and police were beaten. Protesters in Suez also managed to set fire to several government buildings, including the police station.
January 28th, a Friday, deemed the "Day of Rage," was targeted for renewed, massive demonstrations throughout the country. Just before 1:00AM the government attempted to shut down Internet Services in a bid to disrupt communications between the protesters, hampering their ability to organize. Text messaging and mobile phone services also appeared to be blocked. Many were still able to communicate using a text-to-speech telephone service set up by Google and Twitter. All mobile phone operators in Egypt were instructed to suspend services in selected areas.
Many have since wondered how the Egyptian authorities were able to do this. It is surmised that since the Internet portals are centralized in this country, with only a few points of entrance into and out of Egypt, the task was somewhat easily manageable. It would be much more difficult in the United States for the government to do the same. Witnessing the events in Egypt some members of the United States Congress, supporters for the so-called "Patriot Act" no doubt, are considering legislation that would provide for a future "Kill Switch," that would shut off Internet, Web services, and communication in the case of "emergencies," and only for the public's "safety." I would stringently resist any such attempts to manufacture this mechanism or protocol, although clandestine operations of this sort are possible, and must be guarded against.
The Egyptian government's attempts to stifle the communication of the protesters quite possibly backfired on them. With the ability to communicate between themselves disrupted, the protesters naturally gravitated to the only spot they would be assured to find more protesters... Tahrir Square, where the focus of the demonstrations was at play.
Despite the attempts by the government, shortly after Friday prayers, tens of thousands of Egyptians began the protests, and within hours the number rose to the hundreds of thousands. Throughout the day, police fired tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons into crowds during violent clashes between authorities and anti-government protesters in Cairo, Alexandria, and throughout Egypt. Here is a video taken on that day in Cairo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGpLjAyVpqo
General unrest permeated Egypt. Looting began of government buildings. Thousands in Suez stormed and took control of a police station, freed all of the protesters held under arrest there and then torched a nearby smaller local police post. In Port Said tens of thousands of protesters gathered and multiple government buildings were set on fire. The national government issued a a 6:00PM to 7:00AM curfew the next day, which was ignored.
And the revolution was televised. The entire world was watching. Major American news outlets sent correspondents into the affected areas while most other Americans were at the airports trying to find a way out. Indeed, during the course of the continued protests reporters were singled out and targeted by various pro-Mubarak factions, many being intimidated and physically attacked (and it is with extreme displeasure, sadness, and rage, that I report that on the day the Mubarak regime collapsed, February 11th, CBS correspondent Lara Logan while amongst the crowd of celebrating, victorious protesters, was separated from her group and surrounded by a "bad element," of over 200 people, was labeled a Jew, and brutally attacked and sexually assaulted. She was eventually rescued by another group of women and Egyptian soldiers, and is now at her home in the United States recovering). Links through satellite, via camera and cell phone recorded the events as they happened, and the story dominated the world's news programs for the entire 18 days... and beyond, that these events transpired.
About 300 people were killed in the course of the turmoil. Police attacked the first protests with water cannons and gunfire and then a force of regime supporters, believed to be paid thugs, assaulted the protesters and reporters in Tahrir Square trying to dislodge them, only to be beaten back in two days of pitched battles.
Throughout the crisis, President Hosni Mubarak tried to placate the protesting crowds with concessions, replacing his government, purging his ruling party and moving to prosecute some of its most unpopular figures. He said he would resign, but not until the next elections in September. But these moves did nothing to diminish the regime's power and were considered simply delaying tactics. The thought of Mubarak abdicating power in favor of his billionaire son, Gamal, certainly did not appeal. The protests continued.
On February 10th Mubarak handed over all of his governing authority to the newly appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman, but he still retained his title. This forced the military to reluctantly take a stand and enforce the inevitable outcome, performing what was essentially a coup, forcing Mubarak to step down the next day.
The ousted Mubarak himself flew to his isolated palace in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, 250 miles from the turmoil in Cairo. It has been reported that he is in extreme ill health, or a coma. No one outside of his family, entourage, and the military know for sure.
And now the army has taken control of the country. Egypt remains a Praetorian state.
Last Friday, the 18th of February, the citizens of Egypt returned to Tahrir Square to celebrate the ouster of President Mubarak the week before. The military encouraged the celebrations, but warned that continued labor strikes would not be tolerated.
Protesters want the army to dissolve the interim government which was put into place by Mubarak in his final weeks and contains many of his cronies. They also want the lifting of emergency laws that gave police near unlimited powers of arrest. So far, the military has not moved on either issue, or released thousands of political prisoners.
Those prisoners that have been released, some of them, have made accusations of torture by their capturers... the army.
The military has promised a swift transition to an elected government and president — within six months. Still...
The The Armed Forces Supreme Council has imposed martial law. Changes to the constitution are being planned behind closed doors by a military-appointed panel. Protesters and reform leaders have not been given any position of influence in the transition, the Mubarak-appointed cronies in government remain in place, and police have not been reigned in, their powers still intact.
So one must ask themselves, what exactly has the revolution in Egypt won for the revolutionaries?
We shall see.

"Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss"

The story does not end here of course. Egypt's neighbors have taken notice of events in Egypt, just as the Egyptians had taken notice of events in Tunisia. The spark of change has threatened every autocracy, every dictatorship within the middle East... and further abroad...

To be continued.

Revolution 2

President Hosni Mubarak


Air Force Lieutenant


Mubarak as Vice President with
Anwar Sadat


Barack & Hosni

I'd love to change the world
But I don't know what to do
So I'll leave it up to you

Alvin Lee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPEWwZ7o57I


Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak was a pilot. Immediately after graduating high school he entered the Egyptian Military Academy, where he received a Bachelor's degree in Military Sciences in 1949, after which he joined the Air Force Academy, gaining his commission as a pilot officer the next year. He was 22 years old at the time, a young man who clearly knew what he wanted in life.
Unlike myself. I entered the navy when I was 22. But instead of becoming an officer, or a pilot, I flunked out of Electronics School, and became a Boatswain's Mate on the U.S.S. Mt. Vernon, LSD 39, and was sequestered in the paint locker.
I feel so inadequate. Please excuse me a moment while I down a Zoloft.
Okay now, Mubarak married around this time to a lady named Suzanne, with whom they had two sons, Alaa and Gamal (much later the idea of Gamal Mubarak succeeding his father as President of Egypt, was one of the considerations that led to the forthcoming events).
Mubarak continued his education and service in the Egyptian Air Force, both in Egypt and the Soviet Union, step by step, promotion by promotion, until in 1967, 17 years after he was commissioned, he became the Commander of the Air Force Academy, two years later Chief of Staff for the Egyptian Air Force, Commander of the Air Force and Egyptian Deputy Minister of Defense in 1972, and the next year he was promoted to Air Chief Marshal in recognition of service during the October War with Israel of 1973. Clearly an overachiever.
Anwar Sadat, himself a former Lieutenant Colonel in the Army, and one of the founding members of the Free Officers Movement which wrestled control of Egypt from the monarchy of Farouk I during a military coup d'état in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, was President of the country when Mubarak headed the Air Force. In 1975 he made Mubarak his Vice President, after which Mubarak faithfully carried out Sadat's policies until Sadat was assassinated in 1981 by fundamentalist members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad who strongly objected to Sadat's policy of coexisting peacefully with Israel. Mubarak was present during the attack and was himself wounded in the hand by gunfire.
He assumed the Presidency. Eight years later Egypt was re-admitted into the Arab League (a coalition of Arab states that had removed Egypt after the peace treaty with Isreal was signed). Under Mubarak Egypt was part of the allied forces that fought Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War (the first "war" America waged over oil. I use quotation marks because this military action can hardly be called a war as the Iraqi forces stood no chance whatsoever against the allied forces, especially the United States). Hosni made out like a bandit after the war, getting America, the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, and Europe to forgive Egypt around $14 billion of debt. Not bad for a couple of months work (not by Mubarak of course, but by the Egyptian Armed Forces). He was against the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but after the deed was done he opposed the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops.
In the next few years Egypt's economy suffered. Rampant unemployment persisted and Mubarak came under criticism for favoring big business and privatization as opposed to workers' rights.
Since 1967, during President Nasser's reign, Egypt was considered a semi-presidential republic ruled under emergency law (the emergency was imposed during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, and reimposed following Sadat's assassination), as are many of the Arab nations in the middle east and north Africa, which allows the president to effectively rule with the totalitarian powers of a dictator. This is what Wikipedia says about the details of the law:
"Under the law, police powers are extended, constitutional rights suspended and censorship is legalized. The law sharply circumscribes any non-governmental political activity, and street demonstrations, non-approved political organizations, and unregistered financial donations are formally banned. Some 17,000 people are detained under the law, and estimates of political prisoners run as high as 30,000.
Under state of emergency, the government has the right to imprison individuals for any period of time, and for virtually no reason, thus keeping them in prisons without trials for any period. The government continues the claim that opposition groups like the Muslim Brotherhood could come into power in Egypt if the current government did not forgo parliamentary elections, confiscate the group's main financiers' possessions, and detain group figureheads, actions which are virtually impossible without emergency law and judicial-system independence prevention. Pro-democracy advocates in Egypt argue that this goes against the principles of democracy, which include a citizen's right to a fair trial and their right to vote for whichever candidate and/or party they deem fit to run their country."
Pretty cute idea, to rule continuously through emergency law, basically allowing the ruling class to do anything they want to, to anybody they want without explanation or retribution. Essentially a semi-presidential republic ruled under emergency law is nothing but a autocratic dictatorship. Considering all of the presidents of Egypt (Mubarak being the fourth) had deep ties with the countries military, and it was a military coup that allowed them to gain power in the first place, Egypt was a Praetorian state, a government controlled by the military (although interestingly enough, the army was very popular with the Egyptian people. Their hatred was directed rather toward the police who were accused of maintaining order through intimidation and widespread use of torture).
While his people languished, estimates of Mubarak and his family's personal wealth range from 4 billion to as much as $70 billion, founded on military contracts made during his time as an air force officer, corruption, kickbacks, and legitimate business activities. The money was said to be spread out in various bank accounts at home and abroad, including Switzerland and Britain, and also invested in foreign property. This information may be antiquated but if the later amount is anywhere near true it would make him the richest man on the planet.
This situation coupled with high amounts of unemployment and corruption in Egypt, indifference to maintaining infrastructure, and gross destitution in a country where 40 percent lived under the poverty level, paralleled the situation in Tunisia... in other words a powderkeg waiting for that spark to explode. That spark was the Jasmine Revolution itself.

To be continued:

Letter From Mark

The term "99er" refers to those long term unemployed whose unemployment benefits have expired and unless enacted upon by Congress will receive no further financial aid, driving them into a most uncertain future driven by loss of income, introduction into poverty, homelessness, and to those involved, little hope ("Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate", or "Leave every hope, ye that enter" Dante's inscription on the gates of Hell). Certainly to look at the actions of the new Republican controlled House of Representatives, despite campaign promises, little emphasis has been placed on job creation. Instead social issues like taking away Constitutionally protected rights for women seeking abortions, and the repeal of President Obama's overhaul of the nation's health care system have taken precedence, all ideologically and politically motivated goals. Indeed the few actions put forth by the Republican majority so far will lead to demonstrably fewer jobs in the fragile U.S. economy than already exists by their proposed Draconian budget cuts. The Speaker of the House, Rep. John Boehner undoubtedly will be remembered for a callous statement he let slip yesterday at his own press conference, which I believe displays the general Republican sociopathic philosophy succinctly. First he made the false claim that since President Obama has been in the White House, 200,000 new federal jobs have been generated, supposedly creating a huge drain on the nation's economy. The real figure is approximately 46,000 jobs, Boehner's numbers probably including temporary census worker positions, unless he just pulled that number straight from his rear end. He implied that many of these Federal jobs may be eliminated due to his proposed budget cuts. "So be it," summed up his concern for those who may become unemployed by his, and his parties actions, a statement that will haunt him in the months and years to come (Rep Boehner is himself a federal employee. I propose, for the sake of the American economy, that the first job he cuts be his own).
Anyway, due to the Republican recession of 2007, hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost while simultaneously the job market has declined making it that more difficult for Americans to gain new employment. Rather than bailed out businesses using their replenished profits to begin hiring again and stimulating the economy, they tend to horde their cash reserves, invest it overseas, or buy back their own stock. In the meantime those unemployed due to Republican malfeasance in managing the economy when they were in power, are now being branded as lazy, and irresponsible layabouts who would rather receive unemployment benefits than find gainful employment, by those who have created their dilemma in the first place. Historically extension of unemployment benefits has been a no brainer for Congress, pass these extensions if the economic environment requires it, as it is good for the unemployed, and the economy, as this money will be directly injected back into it. But last year the Republicans obstructed efforts for the first time to allow the extension to go forward until their 780 billion tax cut for the extreme wealthy was granted by the Obama administration.
Still high unemployment in this country remains a most difficult problem, not only economically, but socially as well.
“A once unthinkable level of economic distress is in the process of becoming the new normal,” warned Nobel-prize winning economist Paul Krugman in a recent New York Times column.
And as Naomi Klein points out in her masterpiece, "The Shock Doctrine," corporate America and the wealthy are using the current economic crisis that they themselves created, to lay further waste to the American middle class and make economic slaves of the majority of our citizens.
Below is a letter from one such 99er that Thom Hartmann read on his radio program yesterday. I invite you to read it, dear readers, and make up your own mind as to the authors willingness to change his lot, when and if he had the chance.
But for him it now may be too late.


To the unemployed, sick, disabled and poor:


Hello,


I'm unemployed over two years now, a 99er without any benefits for three months. I followed Unemployed Friends almost from its start, never posted until now, but am grateful for my time with you all. I did as asked with calls and e-mails, etc. I've a confession to make to you all. I'm a criminal.


I've obeyed the 10 commandments and all laws except: I'm unemployed and that's now a crime, I'm poor and that's a crime, I'm worthless surplus population and that's a crime, I'm a main street American Citizen born and raised in the USA and that's now a crime, and I'm euthanizing myself as I write this note -- so arrest my corpse. This isn't a call for help, the deed is done, it's not what I wanted. Death is my best available option. It's not just that my bank account is $4, that I've not eaten in a week, not because hunger pangs are agonizing (I'm a wimp), not because I live in physical and mental anguish, not because the landlady is banging on the door non-stop and I face eviction, not that Congress and President have sent a strong message they no longer help the unemployed. It's because I'm a law abiding though worthless, long-term unemployed older man who is surplus population. Had I used my college education to rip people off and steal from the elderly, poor, disabled and main street Americans I would be wearing different shoes now -- a petty king. Hard work, honesty, loving kindness, charity and mercy, and becoming unemployed and destitute unable to pay your bills are all considered foolishness and high crimes in America now. Whereas stealing and lying and cheating and being greedy to excess and destroying the fabric of America is rewarded and protected -- even making such people petty kings and petty queens among us.


Since the end of 2008, when corporate America began enjoying the resumption of growth, profits have swelled from an annualized pace of $995 billion to the current $1.66 trillion as of the end of September 2010. Over the same period, the number of non-farm jobs counted by the Labor Department has slipped from 13.4 million to 13 million -- there is no recovery for the unemployed and main street. We taxpayers have handed trillions of dollars to the same bank and insurance industry that started our economic disaster with its reckless gambling. We bailed out General Motors. We distributed tax cuts to businesses that were supposed to use this lubrication to expand and hire. For our dollars, we have been rewarded with starvation, homelessness and a plague of fear -- a testament to post-national capitalism.


Twelve years ago, I lost the last of my family. Ten years ago, I lost the love of my life, couldn't even visit him in the hospital because gays have no rights. I fought through and grieved and went on as best I could. Seven years ago, I was diagnosed with Diabetes and Stage 2 high blood pressure with various complications including kidney problems, mild heart failure, Diabetic Retinopathy. These conditions are debilitating and painful. I am on over eight prescribed medications, which is very difficult without insurance and income. But I struggled on and my primary caregiver was very pleased with my effort overtime with my A1C at seven. Still these physical disabilities have progressively worsened, and I have had a harder and harder time functioning in basic ways. All the while, I give thanks to God because I know there are many more worse off than me -- and I tried to help by giving money to charities and smiling at people who looked down and sharing what little I had.


I am college educated and worked 35 years in management, receiving written references and praise from every boss for whom I worked. Yet, after thousands of resumes, applications, e-mails, phone calls, and drop ins, I've failed to get a job even at McDonalds. I've discovered there are three strikes against me -- most 99ers will understand. Strike one -- businesses are not hiring long-term unemployed -- in fact many job ads now underline "the unemployed need not apply." Strike two -- I am almost 60 years old. Employers prefer hiring younger workers who demand less and are better pack mules. Strike three -- for every job opening I've applied, there are over 300 applicants according to each business who allow a follow up call. With the U3 unemployment holding steady at 9.6percent and U6 at 17 percent for the past 18 months, the chances of me or any 99er landing a job is less than winning the Mega Million Jackpot. On top of that, even the most conservative economists admit unemployment will not start to fall before 2012 and most predict up to seven years of this crap.


I believe the Congress and President have no intention of really aiding the unemployed -- due to various political reasons and their total removal from the suffering of most Americans, their cold-hearted, self-serving natures. Had they really wanted to help us, they could have used unspent stimulus monies or cut foolish costs like the failed wars or foreign aid, and farm subsidies. The unspent stimulus money alone cold have taken care of ALL unemployed persons for five years or until the unemployment rate reached 7 percent if Congress and the President really wanted to help us -- and not string us all along with a meager safety net that fails every few months. In any case, if I were to survive homelessness (would be like winning the mega-millions) and with those three strikes against me, in seven more years, I'll be near 70 with the new retirement age at 70 -- now who will hire an old homeless guy out of work for nine years with just a few years until retirement?


So, here I am. Long term unemployed, older man, with chronic health problems, now totally broke, hungry, facing eviction. My landlady should really be an advocate for the unemployed -- she bangs on my door demanding I take action. A phone call and a "please" are not enough for her -- she is angry. She is right to be angry with me, I am unemployed -- as apparently everyone is now angry with us unemployed.


Two hundred and eleven and social services cannot help single men. Food banks and other charities are unable to help any more folks -- they are overwhelmed with the poor in this nation. So I have the "freedom" to be homeless and destitute and "pursue happiness" in garbage cans and then die -- yay for America huh? It's the end of November and cold. A diabetic homeless older person will experience amputations in the winter months. So I will be raiding garbage cans for food, as my body literally falls apart, a foot here, a finger there. I have experienced and even worked with pain from my diseases -- hardship I can face. I just cannot muster the courage to slowly die in agony and humiliation in the gutter.


I have no family, I have no friends. For the past two years, I've had nobody to talk with as people who knew me react to the "unemployed" label as if it were leprosy and contagious. I am not a bad person, in fact people really like me. But everyone seems to be on a tight budget these days and living in incredible fear. It is hopeless since we all are hearing more and more that we unemployed are to blame for unemployment, that we are just lazy, that we are no good, that we are sinners, that we are druggies, yet we are the victims who suffer and are punished while the robber baron banksters and tycoons become senators, congress, presidents and petty kings. So the only option left for me is merciful self euthanasia.


It is with a heavy heart that I have set my death in motion, but what I am facing is not living. So off I go, I have made peace with God and placed my burden on Jesus and He forgives me. This nation has become evil to the core, with cold-hearted politicians and tycoons squeezing what little Main Street Americans have left. It is not the America into which I was born -- the land of the free and the home of the brave with kind folks who help neighbors -- it is now land of the Tycoon-haves and the rest of us have-nots who march into hopelessness and despair.


Every unemployed person I have met over these past two years have been saintly. Sharing what little they have, and being charitable -- being kind and patient and supportive. Isn't it amazing that we Americans who suffer so much, have not taken to the streets in violence, riots or gotten out the guillotines and marched on tycoons and Washington in revolt as would happen in most other nations? But rather we plead with deaf politicians to please help us. We don't demand huge sums -- just 300 bucks a week, barely enough to cover housing for most. Most of all we say, please help us get a job, please allow us dignity.


I can't help but juxtapose our plight to the tycoons and politicians. They are never satisfied with their enormous wealth, and always want more millions no matter whom it hurts. They STEAL from pension funds, banks, the people and government, and little Wall Street investors. Then rather than face punishment, they become petty kings in this world. They are disloyal to America, unpatriotic, and serve their own foreign UN-American greedy causes and demand more and more and more. I feel that this is not the nation into which I was born. I was born in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. America, where people give as much as they receive. America, where all people work for the common good, and try to leave a better and more prosperous nation for the next generation. America, where people help their neighbors and show charity and mercy. This new America is alien to me -- it is an America of greed and corruption and avarice and mean spirited selfishness and hatred of the common good -- it is an America of savage beasts roaring and tearing at the weak, and bullying the humble and peacemakers and poor and those without means to defend themselves. I am not welcome here anymore. I don't belong here anymore. It's as if some evil beast controls government, the economy, and our lives now.


I must go now, my home is someplace else. Goodbye and God bless you all. God bless the unemployed and poor and elderly and disabled. God bless America and the American people except the tycoons and politicians -- may God retain the sins of tycoons and politicians and phony preachers and send them to the Devil.


Mark

Harassing Comets

Tempel 1


The Formation of Comets 4.6 Billion Years
Ago



Deep Impact

Sneeking Up On Tempel 1

Just Before The Hit

KA BOOM! Take That Comet!

Stardust Approaching

Just imagine if you can dear readers you're a nice comet, tooling around the inner solar system between the Mars and Jupiter, making a complete rotation around the sun (the comet's year) every five or six years, not hurting anybody, minding your own business, doing this for thousands, or millions of years, possibly longer, when POW! you've been given a massive cheap shot from this tiny spacecraft from the United States of America!
How rude.
Well that's exactly what happened on the 4th of July back in 2005 to the short period comet Tempel 1 by the Deep Impact spacecraft, the first time we've assaulted a comet in this manner, assuredly not the last.
As a matter of fact last night, on Valentine's Day, we returned to the aggrieved hunk of ice, dust, and rock to photograph it, kind of adding insult to injury if you ask me.
Why did we do this? With the both Republicans and the Democrats (Obama's budget presented to Congress yesterday) both wanting to place the burden of their mismanagement of the economy on the backs of the working poor and middle class, rather than raising taxes on the ultra-rich and corporations that quite frankly don't need all that money to begin with, why are we spending million of dollars to go out and offend harmless comets that just want to get along? The simple answer dear readers is to see what's inside.
Why do we care what's inside a comet? Funny you should ask. It all goes back to what a comet actually is.
A comet is a hunk of ice, dust, and rock.
We've got plenty of ice, dust, and rock here at home. What's so special about comet rock?
Comet rock has been around since the origen of the solar system about 4.6 billion years ago (I apologize to my Christian friends who continue to believe the Earth is only 10,000 years old, however you're simply dead wrong... and I can prove it!). That means comet rock, dust, ice, and gases are those that existed when the solar system was born. Primordial rock, dust, ice, and gas if you will. By studying it we are studying the conditions that existed before the Earth and other planets were formed, giving us a better understanding of the accretion processes that allowed our solar system to come into being (above is an actual picture of comets forming during the birth of the solar system, not easy to come by, I'll tell you).
Rocks here on Earth, or the Moon, or other planets have gone through various processes like erosion and weathering, or if they're underground from heat and pressure. So they can't tell us what the conditions of the local area in space were like 4.6 billion years ago. No, we need pristine comet rock for that.
So, back in 2005 the Deep Impact spacecraft snuck up on the unsuspecting comet on Independence Day, a distracting ploy most likely. As you can see in the component picture above there is that "Smart Instrumented Impactor," attached. It has a camera embedded in it as well. The whole thing weighed 815 pounds back here on Earth, so it had quite a bit of mass to it. It had a payload of 660 pounds of 100% copper. Why you ask? Why do we waste our good American copper on this comet? Good question. The good folks at NASA wanted to photograph the crater that would be made after the impacter hit the comet, and analyze the debris that would fly out which was the whole purpose of the mission, to see what the heck was inside the poor comet. The NASA people did not expect there to be any copper already in the comet. I don't know why. Anyway, copper reacts slowly with other elements so if there was some there they did not expect it to interfere much with their measurements.
Okay, now we get to the dastardly deed. As I said the spacecraft snuck up on the unsuspecting comet. It released the impactor and got out of the way. The impactor began taking its own pictures. There's one above if you don't believe me. The last picture it took before sucker punching Tempel 1 was 3.7 seconds before impact. It quickly maneuvered in front of the comet so they actually collided head on... and POW (picture above)! KA BOOM (or there would have been a "KA BOOM!" if there was any sound in outer space, but there's not, so the whole thing happened silently. (my apologies to George Lucas, and any other producer/director who has used sound effects in outer space scenes, however you're simply dead wrong. Stanley Kubrick is the only director that I know of who had the guts not to use sound effects in the space scenes of 2001, and he came away with a classic of modern cinema))!
At first the NASA mission controllers couldn't even see the new crater they had created because of all of the dust that had ejected due to the collision, but later discovered it was about 328 feet wide and up to 98 feet deep. Outgassing from the impact lasted for 13 days. Scientists were able to collect a whole bunch of interesting data, and determined that Tempel 1 possibly formed near the gas giant planets Uranus and Neptune a long time ago.
Okay, that brings us to the Stardust spacecraft that took pictures of Tempel 1 again, last night, from a distance of 125 miles, taking a series of 72 high resolution pictures as it zipped by at more than 24,000 miles per hour. Again those clever folks at NASA used a holiday to distract its victim. This happened at 8:37PM my time.
Tempel 1 will be the first comet to be seen at close range twice, and scientists will make a then-and-now comparison, to see how much it has changed in 5 1/2 years.
“Here’s a chance where we can see what has changed, how much has changed,” said Joseph Veverka, a professor of astronomy at Cornell and the mission’s principal investigator, “so we’ll start unraveling the history of a comet’s surface."
Interestingly enough the Tempel 1 encounter with Stardust was not the spacecraft's original mission. Heck no. After it was launched in 1999, the Stardust circled the Sun and flew by Earth for a gravity boost to rendezvous with the comet Wild 2 near Jupiter. On Jan. 2, 2004, the Stardust came within 149 miles of the comet and deployed shields to protect itself from cometary dust while extending a 160-square-inch collector filled with a material called aerogel. It scooped up a lot of comet dust (interstellar particles too). Stardust then returned to Earth and jettisoned the collection capsule which fell back to the ground on top of a bunch of Mormons somewhere in Utah.
Mission scientist thought to themselves, hey, our budget is being cut due to the horrible handling of the economy under George Bush and the Republicans, and the Stardust craft is still up there... might as well send it on another mission, which they did back in 2007.
Well at least Tempel 1 can take some satisfaction in knowing that after last night's encounter the Stardust craft will run out of gas and won't be able to bother it again.
It is free once again to roam the inner solar system, winding it's way around the sun, without fear of molestation.
For the time being that is.