Friday, July 28, 2006

Freak-a-leek

Body Worlds 2: Opens July 30 at Boston's Museum of Science.



Check out the video -- it could easily be a trailer for this summer's next horror flick.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Baby Bush Toys

Just thought this was funny.

http://www.babybushtoys.com/

Sunday, July 23, 2006

The exception that proves the rule

One thing that duct tape can't do: hold up 3,000-lb. slabs of concrete.
Bolts have falled (sic) out before epoxy sets,” one inspector for the management firm Bechtel/ Parsons Brinckerhoff wrote in November 1994. “Crew is now using duct tape to hold bolt to ceiling.”
- Crews used duct tape to hold up slabs

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Corruption, Murder at Shawshank Bechtel

Greed.

One of the seven deadly sins, greed also seems to be the underlying principle of many (all?) commercial enterprises. From the shareholders' perspective, at least, this is a good thing. We all want as much return on our investment as possible.

But when a company's profits come at the cost of severe financial (even physical) harm to the consumer or taxpayer, that enterprise has crossed the line from commercial to criminal, and it must be stopped (see: Enron). In the case of Bechtel, the corruption that led to billions of dollars in cost overruns for Boston's Big Dig project has now resulted in the death of an innocent commuter. If Bechtel's criminal negligence was not apparent before, surely it is now laid bare.




Workmanship and design of tunnel are called into question
I can't imagine anybody signing off on a design of suspending 3-ton concrete panels such that the failure of any one hanger would lead to 12 tons of concrete coming down on the highway," said Steve Banzaert, who teaches a course in "spectacular failures in engineering" at MIT.

There are reports that Big Dig officials were warned about the ceiling tiles as far back as 1999, and that engineers who raised the warnings were relieved of duty.

Will this tragedy finally provide enough incentive to halt Bechtel's relentless march toward ever greater profits? Or will the juggernaut be allowed to continue its heedless rampage unchecked?

By the way, Bechtel is also the lead contractor in charge of building a nuclear waste dump in Hanford, WA. The project is over budget and behind schedule, and work has continued even though the design is based on a seismic analysis which is now known to be inaccurate. [Lethal And Leaking]

His judgment cometh, and that right soon?

Thursday, July 13, 2006

The sky is falling

An increase in global temperatures will lead to an intensification of the hydrological cycle. This is because an increase in surface air temperature causes an increase in evaporation and generally higher levels of water vapor in the atmosphere. In addition, a warmer atmosphere is capable of holding more water vapor. The excess water vapor will in turn lead to more frequent heavy precipitation when atmospheric instability is sufficient to trigger precipitation events. Intense precipitation can result in flooding, soil erosion, landslides, and damage to structures and crops.

Early Warning Signs
For the 2006 north Atlantic hurricane season, NOAA is predicting 13 to 16 named storms, with eight to 10 becoming hurricanes, of which four to six could become 'major' hurricanes of Category 3 strength or higher.

NOAA PREDICTS VERY ACTIVE 2006 NORTH ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON

Thursday, July 06, 2006

This is the way the world ends

Fiddling while Rome burns

Ebell spoke about the "scientific activists" having their agendas, how global warming is good for them because it keeps their research projects well funded. You know what? He's probably right, although I'd argue that this is money well spent. Everybody's got an agenda these days; this is no selfless age. A free market, über alles, is CEI's agenda. People who believe in letting market forces create some kind of equilibrium believe in it absolutely. I don't happen to share that view.

But ideology isn't the point. The health of the planet -- our only planet -- that's the point.

What can we conclude? How about this: Even if it's not 100 percent certain that we're rushing headlong toward some kind of ecological tipping point -- even if there's room for argument -- why argue at all?

Look. Something is happening out there. What matters here is the planet, not whose economic system prevails. Can an unfettered free market settle things? Great, use it. Would heavy regulation of private industry be more effective? Then do that. Do what it takes to get the job done. We may get only one shot. I'm not willing to put all my chips on 32 red.

How about you?
Full article

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Super Size My FX

FX has some of my favorite shows on television:

30 Days   Season 2 premieres Wednesday, July 26 at 10PM
Good show from Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me). Last season he only did the first and last episodes. I'd like to see him do more, but I guess he has a life.

The Shield   Season 6 begins early 2007
Actually I'm not as crazy about this one as some people are, but I still recognize it as a cut above.

Over There
Ah, crap, this was cancelled due to low ratings. I'm holding all of you responsible.

Rescue Me   Tuesdays 10PM
Now in season 3, it's not as good as it's ever been, but it's still entertaining. Tommy Gavin is my hero.

Sprinkle in some guy movies and syndicated re-runs, and I probably watch FX as much as any other channel. So, can we take up a collection or something and buy them an HD feed? Isn't FX owned by Rupert Murdoch the multi-billionaire? WTF? Maybe this isn't even up to FX but just Comcast being Comcastic. I want to know.

United 93

Last October I hinted that I didn't agree with the general consensus of how United Airlines Flight 93 came to an end on 9/11. Since then the story of UA 93 has been made into a feature film, and a damn good one. Credit writer/director Paul Greengrass for keeping the drama in check, with just the right sense of urgency and deadly seriousness. When a director can take a story to which everyone more or less knows the ending and still manage to keep the audience riveted right up to the end, he knows what he's doing (see: James Cameron, Titanic, highest grossing film of all time).

United 93 has been widely praised, in large part for its faithful recreation of the day's events. And this is why I feel compelled to rant.

If you haven't done so already, check out the Complete 911 Timeline for United Airlines Flight 93. Specifically:

9:58 a.m.: Ed Felt Said to Describe Explosion and White Smoke from Bathroom Call

(Before 10:06 a.m.): Fighters Trailing Flight 93?

(Before 10:06 a.m.): Flight 93 Breaks Up Prior to Crash?

These details have been reported by multiple respected news outlets. I can personally remember hearing reports of these events on television in the hours after the attacks.

It seems most people have either forgotten about these reported events, or made up their minds that they never happened.

At the end of the film, which reviewers have praised for its fidelity, it states that no fighter jets were within 100 miles of Flight 93 at the time of the crash. At no point during the final action sequence could I hear an explosion or see white smoke out the plane window. Now, I have absolutely no problem with a filmmaker saying, "This is what I think happened, so I'm telling the story this way." The problem I have is that almost every single reviewer says something to the effect of, "this is the closest you will get to an actual account of exactly what happened," as if the film represented real-life video evidence.

I'd like to think that people are smart enough and independent enough to know the difference. I'm just not hearing that so far....