I'm John Lindorfer and I made this web page.
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The Constitution of the United States
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Article I
Section 1 All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States...
Article II
Section 1 The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America... [who] shall take the following Oath or Affirmation: - "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Section 3 ...he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed...
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The New Colossus
Sonnet by Emma Lazarus on a bronze plaque mounted inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty
"...Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
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WHY I AM A WIZARD
Years ago, I started a company called "The Oz Corporation." Since I was the CEO, I became "The Wizard of Oz." Fortunately, I was offered another job without all the headaches of top management, so The Oz Corporation went the way of the dinosaurs. I filled up the time left over by teaching computer science part time. In computer science, a wizard is a program that steps one through a process step by step, like an "installation wizard" or a "setup wizard." I told my students that was what I did, so I'm the wizard. Finally, after I retired, I took a trip to New Zealand to see where Peter Jackson shot "The Lord of the Rings" because I have always been a big fan. Many of the people I met asked me, "What's a Yank doing in New Zealand?" I'd give them one of my cards and remark, "Oh, I'm a wizard visiting Middle Earth." It was an effective ice breaker.
CIVILIAN EXPERIENCE
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Currently retired and living the life of an itinerant wizard. Click here to read about my latest journey to Middle Earth.
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7/00 - 5/01 - Instructor in computer science at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, at the Perkinston, Mississippi, Campus. Click here for my educational philosophy
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01/95 - 12/99 - Retired as Senior Engineer at Lockheed Martin Michoud Space Systems, responsible for verification of laser, process and radiological safety at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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Designated instructor for radiological safety course required by LAC 33:XV.575.
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01/93 - 09/94 - Senior Engineer at Lockheed Martin Energy Systems in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. (Active "L" Clearance)
- Reviewed engineering transmittals for design, construction and modification of radiological facilities at the Oak Ridge K-25 Plant.
- Advised and assisted Central Engineering and other agencies to assure adherence to safety requirements.
- Developed and implemented oversight plans for all subcontractor work at the K-25 Plant and surrounding leased facilities.
- Developed statistical methods for demonstrating criticality safety of radiological facilities.
- Supervised other safety personnel in the performance of the above duties.
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09/78 - 12/92 - Senior Engineer for Lockheed Martin Michoud Space Systems
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Performed and supervised safety analyses and studies for design, construction, modification and recertification of the Space Shuttle External Tank.
- Developed computer-related technologies for automated safety analyses and hazard investigation.
- Developed and implemented the PHAROS program for analyses of space hardware systems and the automated MORT program for accident investigation and analysis.
- Participated in preparation of proposals for new initiatives and facilities operations at various NASA sites.
- Directed safety program development and safety analyses of advanced programs studies including the Aft Cargo Carrier, International Space Station, and Liquid Rocket Booster.
MILITARY EXPERIENCE - U.S. Army Officer, Active Duty (DOD TS Clearance) - 08/62 - 02/78
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Assistant Chief, Maintenance Engineering Division, U.S. Army Aviation Systems Command, St. Louis, MO
- Executive Officer for Research, Development and Engineering, U.S. Army Aviation Systems Command, St. Louis, MO
- Post Engineer, cities of Dalat and Pleiku, US Army Engineer District, Vietnam
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Executive Officer, 577th Engineer Battalion, Don Duong, Vietnam
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Company Commander, 509th Engineer Company (Portable Bridge), Vietnam
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Adjutant, 937th Engineer Group (Combat), Pleiku, Vietnam
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Headquarters Commandant, 815th Engineer Battalion, Fort Belvoir, VA, and Pleiku, Vietnam
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Instructor, Combat Engineering and Float Bridge Construction, US Army Engineer School
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Instructor, Atomic Demolition Munitions, US Army Engineer School
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Platoon Leader, 600th Engineer Company (Field Maintenance), Sam Song Ni, Korea
LICENSES & CERTIFICATES
EDUCATION
- Army Institute for Professional Development, U.S. Army Signal Officer Advanced Course, Nonresident, Newport News, VA 1984
- Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
August 1981-June 1983 - 15 hours toward Ph.D. in Computer Science
- U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Nonresident/ Resident, Ft. Leavenworth, KS, 1977
- U.S. Air Cmd and Staff College, Nonresident, Little Rock AFB, AR, 1976
- U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, M.S. in Aerospace Engineering, 1970
- U.S. Army Command Management Course, US Army Engineer School, Ft. Belvoir, VA 1966
- U.S. Army Engineer Officer Career Course, US Army Engineer School, Ft. Belvoir, VA 1966
- U.S. Army Instructor Training Course, US Army Engineer School, Ft. Belvoir, VA 1964
- U.S. Army Atomic Demolition Officer Course, US Army Engineer School. Ft. Belvoir, VA 1962
- Loyola University, New Orleans, LA,
B.S., Physics 1962
PERSONAL STUFF
- I live in the best place in the whole wide world! Take a look.
- I took one of those "personality profile" compatibility tests. You know, the kind where they ask you a whole bunch of questions and then tell you about yourself. It sounded like Gilbert and Sullivan to me. It described me as a retired intellectual.
- At the end of the test, there was a list of questions that other people who might be interested could ask to find out more about me. I figured I'd save them some time. What the heck? I'm a pretty open kind of guy. You can't bear witness under a bushel!
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I'm an avid science fiction fan (as if you couldn't guess) I'm not necessarily a Star Trek fan, but that seems to be the baseline for sci-fi nowadays, and the graphics are readily available on the Internet.
- My real interest is The Lord of the Rings. Click here to see my vacation pictures in Middle Earth
- Member, The Planetary Society
- Member, National Space Society
- Member, The HTML Writers' Guild
- Charter Member, National WWII Museum
- Member, American Watercraft Association
- Member, American Automobile Association
- Lifetime Member, Reserve Officers Association
- Member, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
- Active member of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Long Beach, MS (Actually, I combine this with the science fiction thing at the COASTCONs in the alter ego of Chaplain (Captain) David Hardy, Imperial Space Naval Reserve, a character in "The Mote in God's Eye" and "The Gripping Hand" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle). You might find my sermons and lectures interesting.
- Sermons (They share a secret. Can you find it?)
- Lectures
- ...And other ramblings:
- Bullshit!
- My Story
- Migrants
- About Me
- Earn This!
- My Movies
- Stolen Valor
- Poor Gollum
- Three Stories
- Casting Stones
- Poverty is a Sin!
- Is Paris Burning?
- It's Not My Fault!
- Carlin on Katrina
- We're Gonna DIE!
- Put ME in Charge!
- Black Lives Matter
- He Needed Killing!
- A Higher Standard
- An Honest Mistake
- I Remember Flying
- Strahan on Burress
- The Royal Wedding
- Women's Liberation
- An Index of the CCC
- The Rated Prom Girl
- Come Forth, Lazarus
- A Test for Cow Dung
- Memories of My Dad
- The 28th Amendment
- A Poem for My Dentist
- The Letters of Timothy
- Expressions of Opinion
- A Tribute to Jamie Farr
- God and the Cockroach
- Internet Country Codes
- The Colbert Questionert
- The World Has Changed
- Some Famous Christians
- A Tribute to Earl McNail
- Josef Goebbel's Backbone
- What To Do About Hamas
- A Tribute to Grace Hopper
- Comments on Gun Control
- Professionals vs. Managers
- A Catholic Looks at Baptists
- An Anniversary Celebration
- The Pope, the Vicar of Christ?
- The Gulfport Mayor's Message
- Justice for Trayvon (Is this it?)
- A Christian Looks at the Koran
- Some Things I Don't Care About
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
- Urine Tests for Welfare Recipients
- How Does One "Boycott" a Stamp?
- If You Don't See "Merry Christmas"
- Big Lies about the First Amendment
- Hazard Prioritization (VERY stuffy!)
- The Sky is Falling, the Sky is Falling!
- A Method of Reducing Violent Crime
- Introduction to The Lord of the Rings
- The Catechism of the Catholic Church
- Randall A. Terry and the Flat Earthers
- My Neighborhood and Welcome To It!
- A Letter About Military Death Benefits
- Schematic Diagram of the female brain
- The Apocrypha of the King James Bible
- The Story of the Unwelcome Submarine
- A Theological Method of Making Money
- Redemption Theology In Five Easy Steps
- Things I Learned from Hurricane Katrina
- Noah Found Grace in the Eyes of the Lord
- My "Profile" (Click here to verify the meter)
- The Y2K Problem and How to Avoid the Draft
- Student Loans, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
- Comparison of Gun Ownership and Violent Crime
- The King James Bible, with reference to the NABRE
- A Catholic's Comments on Our Father's Love Letter
- How to Become Richer than Bill Gates (It isn't easy!)
- Part Criticality By the Numbers (VERY, VERY stuffy!)
- Index to the Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2011
- "The Tanker" (a tribute to Lt. Col. Gordon Duncan, USANG)
- A Refutation of "The Five Deadly Myths About the Military"
- My Educational Philosophy (which is why I'm not a teacher.)
- The Management Oversight and Risk Tree, MORT (Also VERY stuffy)
- Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Tuesday, May 18, 2004 (used with permission)
- Grandma and the Space Program (or, "The (Apparent) Conflict Between Religion and Science")
- A comparison of the Concept of Running Totals and Weighted Totals for Detection of Trends as Applied to Statistical Data (Even the title puts people to sleep!)
A couple of my buddies in the space business sent me the link to this photo. The image is a panoramic view of the world from the new space station, taken on a perfect night with no obscuring atmospheric conditions. It is a composite night photo with the lights clearly indicating the populated areas.
You can download the actual picture, which is almost 3 feet wide, by clicking on the photo below, and then scroll east-west and north-south. Note that Canada's population is almost exclusively along the U.S. border. Moving east to Europe, there is a high population concentration along the Mediterranean Coast. It's easy to spot London, Paris, Stockholm and Vienna. Check out the development of Israel compared to the rest of the Arab countries. Note the Nile River and the rest of the "Dark Continent." After the Nile, the lights don't come on again until Johannesburg.
Note the Australian Outback and the Trans-Siberian Rail Route. Moving east, the most striking observation is the difference between North and South Korea. Compare both to the density of Japan.
It takes a little while to down load but it is worth it....
This is our beach at Long Beach, Mississippi. Isn't it beautiful?
Does your second grader know more about HTML than you do? Would you like to be able to make your own HTML documents? Start with "Second Grade HTML" by clicking here.
What happens when stupid people with authority over children get scared? Read the Long Beach School Board policy on substance abuse testing
My father died in 2002. His life ambition was to see the year 2000 to see if we called it "two thousand" or "twenty hundred." He didn't want any memorial service, but I thought these words were appropriate.
Here is the text of my Internet presentation on laser safety. It is the text for a one-day class I taught at Lockheed Martin.
The Management Oversight and Risk Tree (MORT) method of analysis has gone out of favor somewhat since the Department of Energy reduced funding for it. Here is a text of a presentation I gave at the System Safety Society Convention in 1997 on the use of MORT to analyze a potentially unsafe condition. You can look at the chart without the text by clicking here. (Be careful, the chart is 674,742 bytes! It may take a long time to download)
NASA's method of communication of hazard information between the rocket scientists and their managers isn't very good, as indicated by the two space shuttle disasters. Here is my attempt to fix it. Their definition and determination of part criticality isn't much better. Here are my thoughts on the subject. Finally, this is what the real problem is. Feel free to comment.
Would you like to know what the Catholic Church believes? It's all in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Click here for the introduction and then, if you're still interested, download the file from there.
Click here to find out what the teaching of the Catholic Church really is about conscientious objectors and here about the Elephant in the war room.
There is so much talk about Islam these days, and most of it comes from people who have no clue what they're talking about. If you are interested in what the Koran (Al Quran) says about things, you can read an English translation and commentary here. You can read the entire KJV here and the Apocrypha here
And for those who want to read the Revised Standard Version of the King James Bible (RSV), you can find a good source here.
Have you ever had questions about the meaning of adversity? The answer is here! (Please read it before you form a judgment.)
Why did Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walk into their high school and kill 13 fellow students and a teacher? This is why
It has always intrigued me that the Christmas season is so much more popular than any other religious holiday. This is what I think the reason is.
Here are my thoughts on prayer in public schools.
What are the moral principles involved when two conjoined twins share one heart? Click here to find out.
Here is a little story about God and the Cockroach.
Finally, I owe a great debt to my mentor, Mr. Earl McNail, for whom I was privileged to work for about ten years. This is my attempt to repay it.
Click here to send me
E-mail.
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Star Trek graphics on this page were taken from the Star Trek Animated GIF Archive
Star Trek and associated names are © & ® by Paramount Pictures. This site is maintained as a hobby and no infringement is intended.