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Al Qaeda suspect confesses." Riiiiiight.
Not that we have ANY reason to doubt any "confessions" coming out of Gitmo.
And there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
And I'm from the government and I'm here to help.
And the check's in the mail.
And I won't come in your mouth.
Not that we have ANY reason to doubt any "confessions" coming out of Gitmo.
And there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
And I'm from the government and I'm here to help.
And the check's in the mail.
And I won't come in your mouth.
honestly, now
Mar. 9th, 2007 09:02 amI was seriously debating writing a whole entry on bad/stupid news articles that kept turning up today. I was getting so depressed I was having a hard time reading the news. Who wouldn't be depressed/angered upon learning that tha bastion of honor and integrity known as Newt Gingrich had an affair while he was working to impeach Clinton for getting a blowjob? Or imagine the utter bafflement and astonishment of finding out that the FBI didn't accurately report its use of the Patriot Act? My god, all my pillars of faith, shattering around my ears. (Yahoo news provides all this, if you really want to wallow in it.)
But then, just as I thought all was lost, I saw this article. Thanks to some Mayan priests, there is hope for the world after all. I can work on my assignment now.
But then, just as I thought all was lost, I saw this article. Thanks to some Mayan priests, there is hope for the world after all. I can work on my assignment now.
news, sort of....
Dec. 5th, 2006 12:15 pmI love a little snark with my news. From Slate's article on today's Supreme's hearing on two segregation cases (here) is this quote: "Justice Clarence Thomas seems to lean forward to speak in the final two minutes of argument. Hearts stop. But then, he apparently changes his mind." Now there's a shining example of what makes the court great. Wonder if the clerks slip him a pubic hair on his can of Coke every now and again, just for giggles?
And aren't we all relieved to know, deep in our hearts, that our government is going to use this fantastic new tool only as required to protect us from raving terrorists and mobsters? And that the knowledge they gain is so safe and well protecdted? I know I'll sleep better at night. /sarcasm off, just in case you don't know me well.
Relative to events of the last week or so, particularly Steve Irwin's death, and the airplane crash in Kentucky:
Given that Steve Irwin made a regular practice of getting all up in the faces of critters that could kill him in a heartbeat, and given that that is exactly what he was doing when he was killed, how can that be called a freak accident? The dictionary talks about an "accident" being unforeseen or unexpected. I guess we're going with the part of the definition about it being unplanned and unfortunate. Yeah, I read that part of the reports about stingrays being so placid and all; maybe the accident is that he and the cameraman boxed in the one neurotic stingray in the ocean.
And the plane crash. All the recent articles have headlines about how the controller had just turned his back on the radar screen and was doing paperwork, and how there were supposed to be two controllers on duty. I hope they aren't fixing to hang that controller out to dry, because earlier articles made it clear that his responsibility had ended. The plane was cleared for takeoff, and it wasn't his job to make sure the pilot was on the right runway. If they're going to try to add that to controller's responsibilities, they'd better be prepared to add even MORE help wanted ads, because those guys are terribly overworked and overstressed as it is. I think both the airport and the FAA are responsible for not having two controllers on duty as required by their own rules, but from what I've read, even if there were two on duty, neither of them would have had responsibility to make sure the pilot was where he was supposed to be, anyway. Geez.
Sometimes (most times?) the press annoys the hell out of me.
Given that Steve Irwin made a regular practice of getting all up in the faces of critters that could kill him in a heartbeat, and given that that is exactly what he was doing when he was killed, how can that be called a freak accident? The dictionary talks about an "accident" being unforeseen or unexpected. I guess we're going with the part of the definition about it being unplanned and unfortunate. Yeah, I read that part of the reports about stingrays being so placid and all; maybe the accident is that he and the cameraman boxed in the one neurotic stingray in the ocean.
And the plane crash. All the recent articles have headlines about how the controller had just turned his back on the radar screen and was doing paperwork, and how there were supposed to be two controllers on duty. I hope they aren't fixing to hang that controller out to dry, because earlier articles made it clear that his responsibility had ended. The plane was cleared for takeoff, and it wasn't his job to make sure the pilot was on the right runway. If they're going to try to add that to controller's responsibilities, they'd better be prepared to add even MORE help wanted ads, because those guys are terribly overworked and overstressed as it is. I think both the airport and the FAA are responsible for not having two controllers on duty as required by their own rules, but from what I've read, even if there were two on duty, neither of them would have had responsibility to make sure the pilot was where he was supposed to be, anyway. Geez.
Sometimes (most times?) the press annoys the hell out of me.
just.... sigh.
Aug. 28th, 2006 03:43 pmI wasn't as quick to "hop to" this morning as I'd hoped, but I still made it to the tire place by mid-morning. The woman was very surprised to see me. "The steering wheel vibrates badly at highway speeds, and it pulls to the left," I explained. She took my paperwork, checked the computer, and had it back in a bay pretty quickly. I got one chapter of my Archives book read, and she told me it was done. She apologized for the problem, and wished me a good trip to Ky this weekend.
Not willing to take it on faith, I drove several miles to an interstate and hit my usual highway speed. Well, it didn't pull to the left any more, but the vibration was still there. At least I found a gas station with $2.79 for regular while I was perambulating around, so I filled up the tank and grabbed a sandwich before heading back to the tire place. The woman did a most satisfactory double take when she saw me. I explained again, and they worked on it again, and now it pulls to the left again but doesn't have the vibration. I was out of patience to deal with it any more today, so will have to go back. It's out of my way, but then it's so many miles from the store to anywhere I can test drive it that I was halfway home anyway. She told me the mechanic did a test drive at 70, but I can't imagine where he went to get up to 70 MPH in the few minutes he was gone. He must have endangered some people in a 45 zone or something; he sure couldn't have driven it at 70 for more than a few seconds. That really is tangential, though, if the vibration is gone but the pull is back. It pulls at any speed.
I did take it for the inspection, so at least I'm legal now. That's what started this whole thing, after all. And I got nearly all my reading done for the archives class. Man, I hope it gets more interesting than the first few dozen pages have been. I have at least been making reading notes, though. I find that to be much more helpful than underlining or highlighting.
I've gotten semi-obsessed with yesterday's plane crash in Kentucky. I've flown out of that airport several times and know the area around it at least slightly. One of the first articles I read used some word to describe the site that made it sound like a remote mountain area, so I had to go to Google maps and see what was near the airport that coule in any way be described as challenging, or whatever they called it. If that crash site was challenging, I'd hate to think what they'd say about a mountainside crash several miles away from civilization. This was on cleared land that looked like it had been mowed pretty recently, there was a road/driveway to within feet of the crash, and the land is gently rolling in the best Central Kentucky tradition. If you go to Google maps and type in "airport Lexington KY" you'll see what I mean.
I think the other reason I have been reading about it so much is that a few years ago in my hometown a small plane en route to a football game went down. It killed several people I went to high school with, and family members of people I've known for years. I was mildly anxious this time to make sure it wasn't another plane full of people I knew. I know it's no less a loss to the human race because I didn't happen to know them, but I was still relieved.
Well, just because I have most of the reading done for one class doesn't mean I can goof off. Two other classes to go, and a presentation to prepare.
Not willing to take it on faith, I drove several miles to an interstate and hit my usual highway speed. Well, it didn't pull to the left any more, but the vibration was still there. At least I found a gas station with $2.79 for regular while I was perambulating around, so I filled up the tank and grabbed a sandwich before heading back to the tire place. The woman did a most satisfactory double take when she saw me. I explained again, and they worked on it again, and now it pulls to the left again but doesn't have the vibration. I was out of patience to deal with it any more today, so will have to go back. It's out of my way, but then it's so many miles from the store to anywhere I can test drive it that I was halfway home anyway. She told me the mechanic did a test drive at 70, but I can't imagine where he went to get up to 70 MPH in the few minutes he was gone. He must have endangered some people in a 45 zone or something; he sure couldn't have driven it at 70 for more than a few seconds. That really is tangential, though, if the vibration is gone but the pull is back. It pulls at any speed.
I did take it for the inspection, so at least I'm legal now. That's what started this whole thing, after all. And I got nearly all my reading done for the archives class. Man, I hope it gets more interesting than the first few dozen pages have been. I have at least been making reading notes, though. I find that to be much more helpful than underlining or highlighting.
I've gotten semi-obsessed with yesterday's plane crash in Kentucky. I've flown out of that airport several times and know the area around it at least slightly. One of the first articles I read used some word to describe the site that made it sound like a remote mountain area, so I had to go to Google maps and see what was near the airport that coule in any way be described as challenging, or whatever they called it. If that crash site was challenging, I'd hate to think what they'd say about a mountainside crash several miles away from civilization. This was on cleared land that looked like it had been mowed pretty recently, there was a road/driveway to within feet of the crash, and the land is gently rolling in the best Central Kentucky tradition. If you go to Google maps and type in "airport Lexington KY" you'll see what I mean.
I think the other reason I have been reading about it so much is that a few years ago in my hometown a small plane en route to a football game went down. It killed several people I went to high school with, and family members of people I've known for years. I was mildly anxious this time to make sure it wasn't another plane full of people I knew. I know it's no less a loss to the human race because I didn't happen to know them, but I was still relieved.
Well, just because I have most of the reading done for one class doesn't mean I can goof off. Two other classes to go, and a presentation to prepare.
horrified fascination
Sep. 21st, 2005 08:35 pmI'm sitting here with CNN on (I've gotten hooked on Anderson Cooper. Not quite sure how that happened.) Not only did Hurricane Rita just become the third strongest hurricane on record, there is a cross-country size plane getting ready to make an emergency landing at LAX, and now they just announced there is a tornado on the ground in the Minneapolis-St Paul area, headed toward downtown. Oh, and gas is expected to go to $5/gallon because of Rita. I think I'd better turn the TV off before something else happens. I should probably just take my book and crawl into my magically safe four poster bed. Maybe with some hot cocoa or something. If I don't go soon I might need a toddy or something instead.
Edit: DAMN!! That pilot is GOOD.
Edit: DAMN!! That pilot is GOOD.
