hard deadlines

The wonderful thing about the Web is that nothing ever goes away. A dedicated fan dug up a technical paper explaining the physics of Buckaroo Banzai, written by UC Berkeley scientist Cary I. Sneider in 1984. Here's a peek...

"[L]et's take Buckaroo's invention for a spin and see how it works. First, the Overthruster produces colliding beams of electrons and positrons. These, in turn, produce copious quantities of intermediate vector bosons which are separated and focused with superconducting magnets. When focused on solid matter, the beam produces a small region of high energy density. Inside the target, spontaneous symmetry breaking imparts mass to the photons, reducing the range of the electromagnetic force to far less than a quadrillionth of a centimeter. From this small region a shock wave of broken symmetry propagates outward. Behind the shock wave matter interacts only weakly, providing for Buckaroo and his jet car to move through matter. The car must travel very fast (at least 700 miles per hour) to allow free passage before the material reverts to its normal state."— Geekazon, via Slashdot

Not familiar with the adventures of this swashbuckling particle physicist-surgeon-rock star? You can learn more at Wikipedia, IMDB, or go straight to the horse's mouth, the Banzai Institute.

"It's your hand, Buckaroo." — Dr. Hikita

Just got back from a wonderful house party in Portsmouth where we watched AIT, talked about global warming, and had a grand old progressive time.

It was a small group -- our host, Jay who opened his beautiful house in Common Fence Point, and a couple of his friends and neighbors Nancy, Doreen, and Joe. Jack had been asking if he could come, and after I cleared it with Jay, he came along and had fun (although he really, really didn't like the part of the film that talked about the melting polar ice caps threatening polar bears. He really likes polar bears.)

We had a good conversation about the kinds of things that need to happen -- action on the state and national level, carbon trading, revising the insane CAFE standards, taxing fossil fuels proportionate to their environmental impact, and, of course, who looks electable in '08.

There was a bit of a glitch dialing into the call with Al Gore, and we never did connect after a few tries on the conference number. The interactive map at the MoveOn site had an "ask a question" feature, and Jack got a laugh by suggesting we ask for a number that worked.

It was very cool, however, to see the map all lit up with circles of light, each representing a group around the country watching the movie, talking with each other. A very connected feeling.

Couldn't make it to a party? Take a minute to send a postcard to your Congresspeople.

Portsmouth High School (PHS) senior Patrick Agin poses for yearbook photo holding a sword, demonstrating his avocation, the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). PHS Principal Littlefield spikes the picture, making the unfortunate concession that Agin could run it as a paid ad. Portsmouth's own Patriot mascot, depicted in the yearbook, carries a musket. Patrick's mother, Heidi Farrington, calls in the ACLU which, naturally, sues. The yearbook is due to go to press, threatening to hold up delivery to graduating seniors. Unclear what the School Committee or the Superintendent think, because by the time it comes up at a meeting, the suit has been filed and nobody can talk.

You don't truly know what you believe in until two of your values are in conflict. It's taken me a while to think through and craft my response to this miasma. While I'm an unwavering supporter of the Portsmouth Schools, and there is more to this story than has been released in the press — as those in the community with long memories can attest — at the end of the day, Littlefield just missed the bus on this one.

This week, I downloaded and read the PHS handbook, and didn't find a specific regulation on yearbook photos, unless their theory is that the one line about sanctioned activities ("co- curricular activity is considered an extension of the school day and the rules of conduct that apply to the normal school day apply to the activity") triggers their "zero weapons" clause (Policy 5700), an argument which I find tenuous. It seems more like the Principal is on a witch hunt, seeing weapons where there is only historical re-enactment.

As a card-carrying member of the ACLU and EFF, I'm deeply troubled. Additionally, in my a life as an sf fan and writer, I've hung out with many members of the SCA, and I have never, ever, felt threatened. SCA folk are uniformly sensitive to those around them when it comes to weapons. I even took the trouble of contacting the SCA media relations guy, who confirmed that Agin was not breaking any of the organization's weapons rules.

Now timing is everything, and the paranoid among us might wonder: Why here, why now? This is almost a replay of a similar case in Wisconsin involving a rifle and Confederate flag. If one were setting the School Department up for a trainwreck at a critical time when one wanted to peel off left-leaning support, one could hardly imagine a better scenario. Indeed, PCC school board member Doug Wilkey managed to get himself quoted in the AP story. But I have learned to be cautious in imputing malice as an explanation where mere stupidity can suffice. (I think that's called 'Occam's Sledgehammer...')

Bottom line: Littlefield needs to back down. It does a disservice to the people of Portsmouth to have our town dragged through the national press like this. This needs to be resolved. Now.

See the RI ACLU for the filing

Visit Google News for the latest in this sad mess.

Last night's meeting of the Portsmouth School Committee was the most civil in ages, and not just because Chairperson Wedge announced a renewed adherence to parliamentary procedure and threatened to call the cops if people are disruptive. But that probably helped.

The big item was the Prudence Island School. With just two students currently in this one-room schoolhouse, there have been persistent calls to close the school to save money.

Richard Carpender and the Prudence Island subcommittee reported on the results of their investigation, and while there is not a lot of money to be saved by closing the school (those two students would have to be tuitioned into Bristol, at a cost of $24k) they did some out-of-box thinking and came up with a leaseback approach.

Under the proposal, the Town would transfer the property to one of the several RI historical societies which might be interested, and lease the space back at a pre-determined rate. This would move the maintenance costs out of the school budget, allow for predictable funding, and retain the school as an option in the event there are more kids on the island.

While the School Committee and audience had some questions about the details of the leaseback arrangement (setting a cap on the yearly amount lower than the cost of closing, understanding the total capacity, investigating fire code regs) there was general agreement, and even a note of approval from one of the PCC members in the audience for the subcommittee's work. The SC voted to approve the preparation of RFPs to historical societies, subject to the Town Council's approval.

In tonight's HeaneyWatch™, the Jamester popped into the approval of the SC by-laws with "What happens when a by-law is broken?" Now, I'll admit that I wouldn't have known the answer to that last week, before I started reading Robert's Rules, but shouldn't someone who was already on the Town Council know the answer to that question? Hint: As Doug Wilkie said, you raise a point of order. Faucher added that it can call into question the validity of any action that was taken in contravention of the by-laws. See, for example, RONR (10th ed.), p 106, l. 20-24.