I seems like the usual freak-out from the wingnuts over the attempted bombing of the NWA flight was a bit mild, but apparently TSA is talking about pat-downs, and forcing people to remain seated at certain times, and banning the use of all electronic gear aboard international flights. When do we learn not to lose our shit every time something scary happens? Uber Geek Nate Silver breaks it down for us.
Over the past decade, according to BTS, there have been 99,320,309 commercial airline departures that either originated or landed within the United States. Dividing by six, we get one terrorist incident per 16,553,385 departures.
...
Assuming an average airborne speed of 425 miles per hour, these airplanes were aloft for a total of 163,331,261 hours. Therefore, there has been one terrorist incident per 27,221,877 hours airborne. This can also be expressed as one incident per 1,134,245 days airborne, or one incident per 3,105 years airborne.
Dec 28, 2009
Dec 26, 2009
Christmas 2009
There's something about the human voice raised in song. When a bunch of people sing (even in fairly traditional harmonies), it trips some deep emotional reflex in me. This is one of my all-time favorite tunes, and these kids really nail it.
Dec 23, 2009
Christmas 2009
The tree is now up. Stringing the lights is a group effort and a semi-interesting study in committee-design, team-building, and family dynamics. LOTS of lights.
I'd post some pix but I'm not working the camera very well right now. Ain't that the way.
I'd post some pix but I'm not working the camera very well right now. Ain't that the way.
Be Careful What You Pray For
On the floor of the US Senate, this numbskull Barrasso called on the rubes to pray for divine intervention in preventing some random member of the senate to be unable to vote for cloture on the Healthcare Reform bill. When it's discovered that Jim Inhofe hadn't showed up for the vote, one of the faithful called into C-SPAN worried that they hit the wrong guy. I'm hoping this is performance art, but I fear that it isn't.
Dec 20, 2009
Winter Wonderland IV
We lost power last nite around 630. Luke was stranded at a friend's house; Irene Nick Sadie and I sat around the kitchen table playing Yahtzee and Monopoly and poker under candle and glow-stick light til close to 1AM. Everybody wore many pounds of clothing to bed.
This morning the temp inside the house was 52, but the skies had cleared overnite, so at least we had the sun while we did the shovel work necessary to get the driveway passable for the Durango. Took us close to 3 hours to move the 50 feet or so from garage to street (and our street has still not been plowed as of 8:15 PM).
We hooked up my little power inverter so we could watch some football, and pretend things were more or less normal for a while. At about 3 PM, the power company called to tell us the problem had been fixed and that our lites should be on now - they weren't. About this time Luke's friend's mom delivered Luke to the house (giant Suburban 4x4) and we decided to try to make it out for some dinner. Encountered one of the neighbors trying to get back home after almost 3 days on shift at UVa hospital. Fatigue must've clouded his judgement, as something possessed him to try driving his Lexus sedan down the unplowed road. Anyway, there he was blocking our egress not more than 100 feet from the intersection with the main road. Fortunately, a couple of guys in Jeep CJ's from the Earlysville Fire Dept (right around the corner) had been working on it for a while and they winched his dumb ass out so we could escape.
We made it out toTGI Friday's (1st place we found that was open) and had a fine meal. Trip back home was uneventful and when we got here the power had returned. A big win. Many thanks to all the people who know how to fix stuff.
I'm going to bed.
This morning the temp inside the house was 52, but the skies had cleared overnite, so at least we had the sun while we did the shovel work necessary to get the driveway passable for the Durango. Took us close to 3 hours to move the 50 feet or so from garage to street (and our street has still not been plowed as of 8:15 PM).
We hooked up my little power inverter so we could watch some football, and pretend things were more or less normal for a while. At about 3 PM, the power company called to tell us the problem had been fixed and that our lites should be on now - they weren't. About this time Luke's friend's mom delivered Luke to the house (giant Suburban 4x4) and we decided to try to make it out for some dinner. Encountered one of the neighbors trying to get back home after almost 3 days on shift at UVa hospital. Fatigue must've clouded his judgement, as something possessed him to try driving his Lexus sedan down the unplowed road. Anyway, there he was blocking our egress not more than 100 feet from the intersection with the main road. Fortunately, a couple of guys in Jeep CJ's from the Earlysville Fire Dept (right around the corner) had been working on it for a while and they winched his dumb ass out so we could escape.
We made it out toTGI Friday's (1st place we found that was open) and had a fine meal. Trip back home was uneventful and when we got here the power had returned. A big win. Many thanks to all the people who know how to fix stuff.
I'm going to bed.
Dec 19, 2009
Winter Wonderland III
It's still coming down, but it's a lot lighter now. Trying to figure out how to post some video.
Winter Wonderland
The snow started last nite (Friday 12-18) at about 5 or 530. This morning, it was up to 19 inches. We don't get much of this kind of weather, so nobody is very knowledgable about how to cope. Usually the first thing that happens is that everybody flocks to the grocery stores to lay in the emergency stocks. Then they either forget how to drive altogether, or they think there's nothing you need to do to compensate for the conditions. So today, on the main drag thru town (US29), there are hundreds of abandoned cars - to the point that the emergency responders are having a hard time getting thru the snarl.
Nick managed to get Haley (gf) back to her house in good shape; Sadie stayed home, and it took me a little more than 2 hours (to make a trip that should take 35 minutes) delivering Luke to his friend's house for a sleep-over.
It's still snowing now at noon on Saturday. It's getting lighter, but the newsies are telling us we can expect "another few inches".
Sadie on the front stoop this morning:
Nick managed to get Haley (gf) back to her house in good shape; Sadie stayed home, and it took me a little more than 2 hours (to make a trip that should take 35 minutes) delivering Luke to his friend's house for a sleep-over.
It's still snowing now at noon on Saturday. It's getting lighter, but the newsies are telling us we can expect "another few inches".
Sadie on the front stoop this morning:
Dec 18, 2009
White House Conference Call
This is the Q&A part.
David Axelrod makes a couple of great points:
1) If the Senate version of HC Reform is so bad, the insurance lobby wouldn't still be fighting so hard to kill it. There are some heavy regulatory reform items that should do good things for insurance consumers. For me, that's a pretty big deal.
2) Overall, getting something passed is better that getting nothing passed. I still have big doubts about the mandate, and they will stay with me until I hear something that balances it out.
The kicker is that this remains a must win for Obama.
David Axelrod makes a couple of great points:
1) If the Senate version of HC Reform is so bad, the insurance lobby wouldn't still be fighting so hard to kill it. There are some heavy regulatory reform items that should do good things for insurance consumers. For me, that's a pretty big deal.
2) Overall, getting something passed is better that getting nothing passed. I still have big doubts about the mandate, and they will stay with me until I hear something that balances it out.
The kicker is that this remains a must win for Obama.
Oops
To err is human, but you need the US Military for a good old fashioned FUBAR.
Check this out.
Senior defense and intelligence officials said Iranian-backed insurgents intercepted the video feeds by taking advantage of an unprotected communications link in some of the remotely flown planes' systems. Shiite fighters in Iraq used software programs such as SkyGrabber -- available for as little as $25.95 on the Internet -- to regularly capture drone video feeds, according to a person familiar with reports on the matter.
Check this out.
Senior defense and intelligence officials said Iranian-backed insurgents intercepted the video feeds by taking advantage of an unprotected communications link in some of the remotely flown planes' systems. Shiite fighters in Iraq used software programs such as SkyGrabber -- available for as little as $25.95 on the Internet -- to regularly capture drone video feeds, according to a person familiar with reports on the matter.
Dec 16, 2009
John Mayer - Slow Dancing In A Burning Room
He isn't always on, but when he hits it, he knocks the crap out of it.
Random Ramblings - Healthcare Reform
Obama has to get something passed that he can spin as Healthcare Reform - if he doesn't, it's hard to see how he isn't the new Jimmy Carter.
As it stands, the Senate version of HCR looks a whole lot like a siphon, transferring my tax dollars into the coffers of Big Insurance. There's a possibility that it's just enough to be a framework for something better down the road, but I have my doubts. We'll have to see what happens to it in Conference.
We can call it Lieberman's Revenge. As always, there's something going on here that we don't get to see, and prob'ly there are several somethings going on that we don't get to see; a hint of which is Howard Dean coming out against the bill, saying they should killl it and start over with the Reconciliation approach. That sounds like it's personal.
What else aren't they telling us?
As it stands, the Senate version of HCR looks a whole lot like a siphon, transferring my tax dollars into the coffers of Big Insurance. There's a possibility that it's just enough to be a framework for something better down the road, but I have my doubts. We'll have to see what happens to it in Conference.
We can call it Lieberman's Revenge. As always, there's something going on here that we don't get to see, and prob'ly there are several somethings going on that we don't get to see; a hint of which is Howard Dean coming out against the bill, saying they should killl it and start over with the Reconciliation approach. That sounds like it's personal.
What else aren't they telling us?
Dec 15, 2009
Up Your Standards
From The Angry Arab, the latest version of the Doctrine of Free Market Warfare.
In other words, the Pentagon determined that 30 casualties, even if they were civilian, were too few to matter politically or to attract the attention of the press for more than a few words. If commanders expected more civilian casualties than that, political leaders had to sign off on the attack in advance to make sure they were prepared for the PR fall-out.
In other words, the Pentagon determined that 30 casualties, even if they were civilian, were too few to matter politically or to attract the attention of the press for more than a few words. If commanders expected more civilian casualties than that, political leaders had to sign off on the attack in advance to make sure they were prepared for the PR fall-out.
Dec 12, 2009
Quote Of The Day
"Thus wisdom about our destiny is dependent upon a humble recognition of the limits of our knowledge and our power. Our most reliable understanding is the fruit of 'grace' in which faith completes our ignorance without pretending to possess its certainties as knowledge; and in which contrition mitigates our pride without destroying our hope." -Reinhold Niebuhr, The Nature and Destiny of Man
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