Archive for the 'Main' Category
(Chronologically Listed)
Video for the New Year
I ran across this some months back and just found a link to it again. Some how appropriate for New Year’s Day (though it might have been more appropriate for New Year’s Eve):
The time it took to put this together is a bit staggering. But impressive. ..bruce w..
Yellowstone Really Needs To Go Back To Sleep
Something to keep an eye on…
Seems that there has been a stream of small quakes underneath the lake at Yellowstone.
Quakes under Yellowstone are nothing new. Yellowstone is the shell of a super-volcano, a caldera as it is called. It has erupted massively in the past and will do so again at some future date that we don’t know.
These quakes are all fairly shallow and in more or less the same spot. In addition they are in the area of the new magma dome under the lake. Last but not least, the traces from the seismic monitors have begun to take on the tell tale signs of harmonic tremors according to some folks on the web. This is an indication that magma is moving within the plumbing under the earth.
This likely means that a bit of normal volcano house keeping is going on, in fact many volcanos go through periods like this and no eruption ever takes place. Likewise there is an non-zero chance that the Yellowstone caldera could be starting to build up magma for an eruption several weeks or several centuries from now.
If you are feeling geo-nerdy, you can head over to the web siesmic monitoring page here, and look for the one labeled LKWY_SHZ_US
Map of where the quakes are popping below, click on image for the most recent map from the USGS.
Update - US News has a post on the subject here.
“Where do we find such men?”
This happened last April, but I’m just reading about it now (hat tip to Ace of Spades). Two Marines in Iraq, with just a few seconds to decide, stand their ground and die rather than let an explosive-laden car into their compound:
Cpl. Jonathan Yale and Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter saved Iraqi police and fellow Marines from a truck-driving suicide bomber, Marine brass say. The April attack could have slain dozens.
They had known each other only a few minutes, but they will be linked forever in what Marine brass say is one of the most extraordinary acts of courage and sacrifice in the Iraq war.
Cpl. Jonathan Yale, 21, grew up poor in rural Virginia. He had joined the Marine Corps to put structure in his life and to help support his mother and sister. He was within a few days of heading home.
Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter, 19, was from a comfortably middle-class suburb on Long Island. As a boy, he had worn military garb, and he had felt the pull of adventure and patriotism. He had just arrived in Iraq.
On April 22, the two were assigned to guard the main gate to Joint Security Station Nasser in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, once an insurgent stronghold and still a dangerous region. Dozens of Marines and Iraqi police lived at the compound, and some were still sleeping after all-night patrols when Yale and Haerter reported for duty that warm, sultry morning.
Yale, respected for his quiet, efficient manner, was assigned to show Haerter how to take over his duties.
Haerter had volunteered to watch the main gate, even though it was considered the most hazardous of the compound’s three guard stations because it could be approached from a busy thoroughfare.
The sun had barely risen when the two sentries spotted a 20-foot-long truck headed toward the gate, weaving with increasing speed through the concrete barriers. Two Iraqi police officers assigned to the gate ran for their lives. So did several Iraqi police on the adjacent street.
Yale and Haerter tried to wave off the truck, but it kept coming. They opened fire, Yale with a machine gun, Haerter with an M-16. Their bullets peppered the radiator and windshield. The truck slowed but kept rolling.
A few dozen feet from the gate, the truck exploded. Investigators found that it was loaded with 2,000 pounds of explosives and that its driver, his hand on a “dead-man switch,” was determined to commit suicide and slaughter Marines and Iraqi police.
The thunderous explosion rocked much of Ramadi, interrupting the morning call to prayers from the many mosques. A nearby mosque and a home were flattened. The blast ripped a crater 5 feet deep and 20 feet across into the street.
Shards of concrete scattered everywhere, and choking dust filled the air.
Haerter was dead; Yale was dying.
Three Marines about 300 feet away were injured. So were eight Iraqi police and two dozen civilians.
But several dozen other nearby Marines and Iraqi police, while shaken, were unhurt. A Black Hawk helicopter was summoned in a futile attempt to get Yale to a field hospital in time. A sheet was placed over Haerter.
When it was considered safe to take Haerter’s body to a second helicopter, his section leader insisted he be covered by an American flag. “We did not want him carried out with just a sheet,” said Staff Sgt. Kenneth Grooms. . . .
When Marine technicians restored a damaged security camera, the images were undeniable.
While Iraqi police fled, Haerter and Yale had never flinched and never stopped firing as the Mercedes truck — the same model used in the Beirut bombing — sped directly toward them.
Without their steadfastness, the truck would probably have penetrated the compound before it exploded, and 50 or more Marines and Iraqis would have been killed. The incident happened in just six seconds.
“No time to talk it over; no time to call the lieutenant; no time to think about their own lives or even the American and Iraqi lives they were protecting,” Kelly said. “More than enough time, however, to do their duty. They never hesitated or tried to escape.“
Both of these men were younger that my own son, Jon, who is currently serving over in Iraq as well. Both men are being awarded, posthumously, the Navy Cross for bravery, an award second only to the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Please take a moment to remember these men, and their families, in your prayers.
Cpl. Jonathan Yale, USMC, age 21, who was just one week away from going home:
Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter, USMC, age 19, who had just arrived in Iraq:
Where do we find such men? ..bruce w..
The “Gore Effect” documented
The slightly tongue-in-cheek term “The Gore Effect” — meaning an abrupt change of local weather towards intense cold when or after Al Gore (prophet of Anthropogenic Global Warming) visits that location — became so-named after a few incidents several years ago (see the link above). These days, it’s generally applied whenever any Warmist group holds an event and is suddenly faced with unseasonably cold weather (e.g., the Global Warming Cruise aboard an icebreaker that subsequently got stuck in sea ice).
Now Steve McIntyre, famed debunker of the Mann Hockey Stick graph, points out that his own home town of Toronto, Canada, has experienced the Gore Effect first-hand. Here’s a graph of annual snowfall in Toronto:
As you can see, Al Gore visited Toronto in 2007 — three times, as it turned out. Now, 2008 has produced more snowfall in Toronto than any year in the past 120 years. Be sure to read Steve’s whole article for details (and photos!). ..bruce w..
Dave Barry’s annual review
Back when Dave Barry still wrote a weekly column, Sandra and I had a Sunday morning tradition where I’d read the column out loud to her while she was getting ready for church. The highlight of each year was Dave’s annual recounting of the events of that year, in his own style. Well, he stopped doing his weekly column a few years back, but he still does the annual review, and 2008 is now officially in the crosshairs:
Speaking of epic performances, in . . .
JULY
. . . Barack Obama, having secured North and South America, flies to Germany without using an airplane and gives a major speech — speaking English and German simultaneously — to 200,000 mesmerized Germans, who immediately elect him chancellor, prompting France to surrender.
Meanwhile John McCain, at a strategy session at a golf resort, tells his top aides to prepare a list of potential running mates, stressing that he wants somebody ”who is completely, brutally honest.” Unfortunately, because of noise from a lawn mower, the aides think McCain said he wants somebody ”who has competed in a beauty contest.” This will lead to trouble down the road.
Speaking of trouble, the economic news continues to worsen with the discovery that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have sent $87 billion to a Nigerian businessman with a compelling e-mail story.
Also troubling is the news from Iran, which test-fires some long-range missiles, although Iranian President Wackjob Lunatic insists that Iran intends to use these missiles “for stump removal.”
In sports, the government of China, in an effort to improve air quality for the Beijing Olympics, bans flatulence.
Be sure to read the whole thing. ..bruce w..
Peace On Earth - Good Will To Men
I would like to say thank you to everyone who reads what Bruce Webster and I post here, and wish every one of you a Merry Christmas.
Even though times are a bit rough and likely headed rougher, it’s important to keep in mind that for christians like myself, we celebrate the birth of our lord, savior and redeemer. Popular culture has done more to belittle the christian faith in the last few years than at any time in my life.
But that should not diminish that it’s important for each of us to remember the simple yet profound lessons of Christ’s life. To treat each other with kindness, compassion and respect, especially those that have the most need.
Jesus did not draw a distinction between age, gender, parentage or nationality. He welcomed everyone to hear is his message of love and tasked each who would follow him to teach others to “Do to others as you would have them do to you”. This simple “11th Commandment” is profound in that it does not require lawyers or a stack of legal documents to describe. Yet in every day life it can sometimes be so difficult to enact.
Merry Christmas all, may you and your families all share a wonderful holiday this year.
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[from BruceW]: What he said. God bless us, everyone.
Fry’s Exec Needs a Bailout
Thanks to long time friend Sean Church for this great story about a corrupt executive at Fry’s electronics. For those of you who may not know, Fry’s is the ultimate store for nerds, geeks, gadget heads and everyone who loves computers and electronics. Their motto, “Your best buys are always at Fry’s!”.
Now this story that a salesman who rose through the ranks to become a vice-president was skimming money from the company and vendors to pay his huge gambling debts. In this day in age, he is a small fish compared to the headlines you can read anywhere on the net.
Seems he was able to embezzle $162 million, most of which was funneled to the MGM Grand and the Sands casinos in Las Vegas. When times were good and everyone was fat, dumb and happy - it was easy to hide things like this. Now that money is tight, all manner of scams and schemes are being revealed. One has to wonder how big the Bezzle really is…
From Inside Bay Area:
Ausaf Umar Siddiqui, 42,who goes by “Omar” and has been Fry’s vice president of merchandising and operations, appeared in federal court today, where prosecutors filed a complaint that alleges he was involved in a “secret kickback scheme to defraud Fry’s Electronics of millions of dollars.”
According to the complaint, which was unsealed today, Siddiqui convinced Fry’s that the company should eliminate sales representatives on his accounts, and instead, he’d act as a middleman between vendors and Fry’s. He promised that he’d save Fry’s a lot of money that way. But instead, the complaint alleges, he ended up charging exorbitant commissions — up to 31 percent, or ten times the normal amount — to the vendors, which he funneled to his own “straw” company PC International. Vendors were guaranteed steady business, so Siddiqui would have a steady cash flow to pay off casinos. Siddiqui spent $162 million in three years at just two of his favorites, the MGM Grand Casino and Las Vegas Sands Casino, according to his bank statements detailed in the complaint written by IRS Agent Andres Gonzalez.
Expect TARP funds to be used to paper over this guy’s phoney money scheme as well. Oh yes, and the New York Times will decide it’s Bush’s fault.
The consequences of environmentalism
The city of Seattle (WA) has decided not to use salt or other chemicals in clearing ice and snow from roads, with predictable results:
To hear the city’s spin, Seattle’s road crews are making “great progress” in clearing the ice-caked streets.
But it turns out “plowed streets” in Seattle actually means “snow-packed,” as in there’s snow and ice left on major arterials by design.
“We’re trying to create a hard-packed surface,” said Alex Wiggins, chief of staff for the Seattle Department of Transportation. “It doesn’t look like anything you’d find in Chicago or New York.”
The city’s approach means crews clear the roads enough for all-wheel and four-wheel-drive vehicles, or those with front-wheel drive cars as long as they are using chains, Wiggins said.
The icy streets are the result of Seattle’s refusal to use salt, an effective ice-buster used by the state Department of Transportation and cities accustomed to dealing with heavy winter snows.
“If we were using salt, you’d see patches of bare road because salt is very effective,” Wiggins said. “We decided not to utilize salt because it’s not a healthy addition to Puget Sound.”
By ruling out salt and some of the chemicals routinely used by snowbound cities, Seattle has embraced a less-effective strategy for clearing roads, namely sand sprinkled on top of snowpack along major arterials, and a chemical de-icer that is effective when temperatures are below 32 degrees.
Seattle also equips its plows with rubber blades. That minimizes the damage to roads and manhole covers, but it doesn’t scrape off the ice, Wiggins said.
I predict this policy will last until there’s an accident causing death, injury, or major property damage. The resulting lawsuit will likely force Seattle to actually put public safety ahead of environmental concerns. ..bruce w..
The Star Wars Holiday Special! (1978)
Courtesy of Ace of Spades comes the most reviled, most wretched “holiday special” ever produced. First, here’s the Vanity Fair article to give you the entire ugly background:
In the summer of 1978, Bruce Vilanch had a bad feeling about the Star Wars television special he’d been hired to write. A veteran of the comedy wars who has since written material for 16 Oscar telecasts and starred as the extra-large Edna Turnblad in the Broadway musical adaptation of John Waters’s Hairspray, Vilanch had just finished working on Bette Midler’s 1977 TV special, Ol’ Red Hair Is Back, for producers Gary Smith and Dwight Hemion when they threw him what sounded like a plum assignment: a spot on the writing team that would help George Lucas adapt more of the Star Wars saga for television.
A year had passed since the theatrical release of Lucas’s gee-whiz space epic, and in that time Star Wars had become the highest-grossing movie in history as well as a cultural phenomenon with its very own lexicon and mythology. With a sequel still two years away from theaters, Lucas had been sold on the idea that a Star Wars holiday television special—to be broadcast on CBS the weekend before Thanksgiving, when Nielsen audiences were plentiful—would sustain interest in the franchise, move more toys off the shelves, and maybe even pick up some new fans who hadn’t seen the movie.
Though Lucas would not be involved in the actual shooting of the special—Smith and Hemion would oversee that—he knew the tales he wanted to tell and planned to work with the show’s team of seasoned TV writers to develop his ideas into a viable script. For those who had been summoned, the prospect of collaborating with the father of the Force initially sounded like a sure bet. “We were really excited, because, ‘My God, this is an annuity—Star Wars!’” says Lenny Ripps, another writer who worked on the special. “How could it lose?”
How indeed.
For those of you with the stamina, here a link to the complete Star Wars Holiday Special itself. I suspect most (if not all) of the actors involved wished that no record of this existed. Heh. ..bruce w..
