Updates, Obama and a BRAND NEW BLOG!!!

Hey everyone,

Some exciting news today. I am pretty happy with the fact that it appears I will not be returning to Nigeria or, if I am, it will be for a very brief visit. What does that mean to you, gentle blogerettes? Well, more attention to my blog for one thing, but also, I am running again and with that in mind, I would like to introduce a replacement to the Rekyjvik and Prague running blogs at:

http://paulmackinsrunningblog.blogspot.com/


My first target, after preping for and completing a Running Room 10 km clinic in July, will be to get ready for and to complete the Chicago 1/2 Marathon on September 12th. I am also going to be tracking my weight aggressively as my lower back problem will only be helped by getting down to 100 kg or so. It will be a big job but I have a great support network and am confident that I can do it.

Anyway, you can check out the blog and I will keep everyone update on my progress through that channel with occasional mentions here in the Science/Tech/Politics blog.

Speaking of Politics - you go Mr. President:

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And interpreting the kind of oppositition he faces, on the health care front, but it is equally banal on the financial reform front:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Heavy sigh...

Talk to you soon!

Paul

Running and Asteroids!

Hi everyone,

Went for my first run of the week today, 3.1 km, the road back is slow but with my trips to Africa either severely limited in number and duration or not occurring at all, well, let's just say I plan to make up for the year I lost.

Signed up for a 10 km clinic at the local Beaches Running Room which kicks on May 25th. I plan to use that to develop some heat running endurance skills as running in the summer is always more difficult for me. After that clinic is over, I will see about some sort of 1/2 Marathon clinic and then a winter Marathon clinic to get me ready for the Prague 1/2 and the Ottawa full marathon next year. Will be kicking off the Prague 1/2 Marathon blog again in May a full 10 months before the event.

Weight is down approximately 0.7 kg first week, stay tuned more updates to follow.

Now onward to Asteroids. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the President of the United States.

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Now I like this plan. I would like to see the Shuttle keep going for a couple of years but aside from that I cannot fault the approach. The important point is that it is not about LEO any more - we are going to explore the inner solar system! Now, the full plan won't be published for a couple of more months but I will keep you updated from what I glean from my sources as information becomes available.

Talk to you all again real soon!

Paul

Update on NASA and other stuff...

Hi everyone,

Still on track with the return to running. Stay tuned for a weekend update.

Now, onto NASA. First off, from today's Hardball with Keith Olberman:

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This is consistent with what I had heard on SpaceRef next week. While we have some limited data at this point, I do believe that we are going to get what is referred to as the "Shuttle C" the "C" stands for Cargo - this would be an automated shuttle derived Cargo ship. The idea has been around for a while and this would allow deep space missions to be staged at the International Space Station. This is very exciting, my friends. Imagine building missions to Mars and the Asteroids using Space Station technology at the ISS - Wow! Suddenly the ISS has a real purpose. We can look for the introduction of in orbit refueling capability, VASMIR engines - true deep space capabilities. I cannot wait to hear the details!

Other stuff... Sarah Palin is an idiot. Sorry, just had to throw that in...

Talk to you on the weekend!

Paul

Home again!

Hi everyone,

I am back in Canada again after another trip to exciting Lagos. While away I did not gain any weight, which is important because inactivity and diet are real problems while I am there.

So, now with between 0 and 2 remaining trips to Nigeria scheduled I post the Paul Mackin October Challenge! This daunting challenge, only between myself and me, is to get my weight down to 103 kg between now and when I run the CIBC Run for the Cure on October 3rd. I will be revamping the blog a bit to record this but here is the skinny. When I ran Prague a year ago, my weight was 111 kg, I am presently 116.8 and need to get down by 13.8 kg in 26 weeks - that is 0.5 kg per week or, as our American cousins would have it, roughly a pound a week.

Stay tuned for future updates.

NASA note - the 15th of this month, Thursday this week, is the long anticipated NASA summit. Stay tuned for my report on Friday.

Be seeing you,

Paul

Automotive sensiblity....

Hi everyone,

This blog is coming at you from Lagos, the Venice of West Africa, well, something like that...

I read with interest about the planned announcement from both Ottawa and Washington today on new fuel economy standards.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canada-us-team-up-to-restrict-auto-emissions/article1519474/

Well done! The nice part of it is that it is the California standards that are being adopted something which clearly demonstrates that the overall brain power in Washington has increased immensely over the last fifteen months. I actually believe this should be the first step on the road to even higher efficiency standards - let's aim by 2025 for, say, fleet averages of 60 miles per gallon? That would be, oh, about 4 l per 100 km! Wow! Doable with today's technology too! One other thing I would do is to make Hybrids the standard. Regenerative braking is not a new concept - I worked on systems which used in back in the mid 80's, why not make it a standard to be leveraged! My current Camry Hybrid gets something in the range of 6 to 7 l per 100 km, not terribly far from that which is imposed by the new standard. If I drive it very carefully, and the car actually can tell me how to do that, I can get it as low as 5.5 l per 100 km. Just some tweaks on the current technology get us to the new levels.

Of course the World's Greatest Geophysicist also has a fuel efficiency story to tell, she drives a Smart Car which literally sips diesel. Now I wouldn't want to drive across country on the TransCanada highway with it, but, for getting around in the city it is a great little car which is cheap to run and beats the new fuel efficiency standards easily.

Well, enough about cars, here are a couple of other ditties just 'cause I like them.

The most predictable development in the US Healthcare debate

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36122855/ns/politics-decision_2010/

I have serious problems with the current law, not that I, with a greater life expectancy than my friends to the south, have to live with it, but what is telling is that everyone seems to know that this thing will be liked as it gets rolled out. Right wing idiots aside.

OK. So. Speaking of right wing idiots, let's add religion to the mix! Why? Because I am me!

This, my friends, is what happens when cousins marry:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36113919/ns/us_news-security/

End of days my ragged ass...

Later!

Paul