When I walked into my Mother’s the other day she asked me a question that I assumed had been on Jeopardy. I heard “Who are the Cardassians?” She has never been a fan of science fiction, and I assumed it came up in one of the pop culture categories.

I hadn’t even gotten warmed up about Deep Space Nine, when she, said “No, no, no! These people are in California, and I want to why they are on TV?”

She had meant a family named the Kardashians, and even after looking them up, I had no idea why they were on TV. They are apparently ‘famous for being famous’ and a way to fill a programming slot without spending money on actually creating a program.

Since I looked it up, I have noticed that the name pops up in the Entertainment section of CNN on occasion, but still have no idea why.

My only response to my Mother was that she should use the channel change function on her remote.

Elayne has a very large infographic up that points out that the media moguls have opposed every technical advance made, and repeatedly claimed that they would be ruined by people stealing their ‘precious fluids’ as a result of each new product.

I think they need to make something worth stealing, before they complain.

Fair Warning: The race starts in Fairbanks, AK next Saturday with about two dozen teams in contention. Several teams had to drop out at the last minute because the Copper Basin 300 race, one of the qualifying events for the Quest, was cancelled due to poor trail conditions.

The temperatures are cold, but the interior hasn’t been overwhelmed with snow.

This is the faster of the two versions of the trail as the double climb up Rosebud and Eagle Summit occur early in the race when mushers and dogs are in good shape.

January 28, 1986

Commander:
Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF

Pilot:
Michael J. Smith, Commander, USN

Mission Specialist:
Judith A. Resnik
Ronald E. McNair
Ellison S. Onizuka, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF

Payload Specialist:
Gregory B. Jarvis
Sharon Christa McAuliffe