wrote:
From: on Wed, 07 Feb 2007 11:57:12 -0500

On 7 Feb 2007 03:41:20 -0800, wrote:

Sad Story:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070206/...ut_arrested;_y...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070207/...ut_arrested;_y...
http://www.qrz.com/ib-bin/ikonboard....T&f=3&t=145568
very dsad all over the news and nothing to due with policy

True, Mark, very true, but it illustrates how some radio
hobbyists have gone over the edge into having amateur
radio RULE THEIR LIVES AND THOUGHTS. :-)

Many of us--and I don't mean to make it sound as if I'm including
you--are radio amateurs. While amateur radio doesn't rule our lives, it
may play a big part in our lives. I can understand that someone in your
position might think that strange.

"Lifestylers." A colloquial term for those who have the
notion, the fantasy, the delusion, that amateur radio is
the basis for everything, that everything revolves around
their hobby...and whatever They think.

Some of us might think it very odd that a fellow who is not a radio
amateur would devote a large amount of time posting to and reading an
amateur radio newsgroup.

These lifestylers seem to relish the attention the press
pay to scandalous events. The WANT to be identified with
scandal and resultant noteriety...provided there is the
least little mention of THEIR hobby, even if indirectly so.

I think it might be of interest to radio amateurs that one of their
number is arrested on attempted murder charges. Is it alright with you
if some of us are interested in the story?

It's difficult to understand why anyone wants to think
this particular story is suddenly "news," a day late
(and a dollar short). Anyone who has bothered to listen
to radio-TV-cable broadcasts, gets a daily newspaper,
will have known about it yesterday. It was a featured
item of notorious scandal and one person's emotional
upset.

I was interested in it yesterday. It was not mentioned by Fox News, CNN
or NBC News that the astronaut holds an amateur radio license. Is it
alright with you if we look at other sources of information?

But, the news networks paid scant attention to these
astronauts' required tasks and didn't mention that they
were "radio amateurs." [i.e., federally-licensed radio
amateurs] All the radio amateurs at QRZ had to make a
big deal out of that. In Captain Novak's case, she is
an Annapolis graduate, served as a military test pilot
(1,500 flying hours), a working mother of three
offspring. It is news that a female makes it to a
Captaincy in the USN, itself a rare thing. Add to that
all of the other things and it builds to a picture of
someone who has accomplished MUCH in the first half of
their life. But, look at what the "amateur community"
wants to featu A "HAM" Astronaut! "HAM" takes
precedence in the description of this person. AS IF
amateur radio was the driving force of her
accomplishments...AND later downfall.

I can see that you're getting worked into a lather. She's an ASTRONAUT
ham. She's a NAVY ham. She's a PILOT ham. She's has THREE CHILDREN
and she's a ham. She's an ATTEMPTED MURDERER and a ham. She wore a
WIG, had a bag full of PECULIAR ITEMS, wore a DIAPER and is a ham.
Feel better?


Amateur radio is a fun hobby...

....or so you've been told.

...but it is ONLY a hobby in
the real world.

Now THERE'S a brilliant statement.

That is NOT what the self-defined
paragons of the particular hobby of amateur radio define
it as...Novak was a "HAM" astronaut. Instead of being
influenced as a child of a real event (Armstrong-Aldrin
first steps on the moon), their inference is that "it was
due to an 'interest' in ham radio!" Not so.

That seems to be your inference, Len.

I am waiting for the first actor to have an amateur radio
license. Will the ARRL dub them a "HAM Actor?" :-)

It's a little late for you to get the Extra "right out of the box", but
you could still get it. After all, you have the AFTRA card and seem
interested in showing around.




Dave