Happy Friday the 13th!

Not much to say here...

How about a couple of links?

I stumbled upon one slick offering from the Library of Congress called The loc.gov Wise Guide by accident. The Library of Congress has some excellent material available online. For links to the "Wise Guide" and other cool stuff, check out the Library's news page.

Have you ever wanted to know when the sun's going to go down or the moon's going to rise? How about for the whole year? Check out the data services page from the Astronomical Applications department of the U.S. Naval Observatory.

Finally, what about the loved ones at home when military members are deployed? The DoD has a website for them. Straight from the site:

"MilitaryHOMEFRONT is the official Department of Defense web site for reliable Quality of Life information designed to help troops and their families, leaders and service providers. Whether you live the military lifestyle or support those who do, you'll find what you need!"

Having just finished a fairly rigorous training program to assist in the operation of a nuclear plant...

Nuclear news interests me greatly. Heck, it's pretty much been my life since 1992. Anyway, some anti-nuke folks are aiming for the industry (they're always looking for some angle) by claiming that we're breaking the law by not being sufficiently outfitted and prepared to shut our plants down safely if there is a major fire. In fact, they have a nicely doctored up document (only the portions that illustrate what they are trying to say are included and highlighted). As somewhat of a parallel development, the Government Accountability Office will be investigating nuclear plant fire standards starting in September. By the way, here is the conclusion (not included in the NIRS document) of the the NRC document (NRC accession number ML071160431) being slightly misrepresented by the Nuclear Information and Resource Service:

"The Commission has concluded, based on the considerations discussed above, that: (1) there is reasonable assurance that the health and safety of the public will not be endangered by operation in the proposed manner, (2) such activities will be conducted in compliance with the Commission's regulations, and (3) the issuance of the amendment will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public."