July 19, 2006
What's up with CNN?
CNN has been described as being against the US. How can anyone say such a thing? One small example follows.
These are both the top stories from CNN and FOXNEWS web sites about the Israel/Hesbollah war. They both talk about the exact, same incident.
From CNN with the AP and a couple CNN reporters contributing.
In its ongoing air assault, Israel's military targeted Beirut, hitting a vehicle in the city's Christian neighborhood -- shocking residents who overall do not support the Islamic militant group.
From FOXNEWS listed as only AP-written.
Israeli bombers, previously focusing on Hezbollah strongholds in southern Beirut, hit a Christian suburb on the eastern side of the capital for the first time. The target was a truck-mounted machine used to drill for water that could have been mistaken for a missile launcher. The vehicle was destroyed, but nobody was hurt.
In grade school a child that told the CNN version would have been labeled a liar and a instigator.
Posted by paul at 05:12 PM | Comments (0)
July 17, 2006
Shuttle lands safely, reporters wring hands over the baggage retrieval system at Heathrow.
From the AP, as posted on FOX.
Toward that end, Discovery's astronauts and flight controllers kept close watch on a slightly leaking power unit that tested out fine a day earlier in orbit.
NASA did not know whether harmless nitrogen gas or flammable hydrazine was dripping from the auxiliary power unit, one of three needed to drive the hydraulic landing systems. The leak was small, managers said. If it worsened during re-entry — considered unlikely — the unit would shut down automatically and Discovery would become the first shuttle to land with only two functioning auxiliary power units.
Now, I freely admit that I am not a shuttle engineer. But I'm a bit of a fanatic on "Manned Spaceflight" and know a thing or two about the shuttle's systems. Let us ignore the flammable carcinogenic rocket fuel hydrazine and assume that anything routed by that substance took that fact into consideration as it was being designed.
If memory serves me correctly (appologies to Kaga) ALL, did I say that emphatically enough? Make that * * * A L L * * * critical shuttle systems are triple redundant. As in there are THREE wires leading to everything. If one wire says something different from the other two, that wire is henceforth IGNORED. There are THREE hydrolic systems to move each flap on the wings and tail, each with enough oomph needed to move said flap. If one of the three wants to push the wrong way, the other two will easily muscle it to the right position.
So. If one of the power units to drive the hydrolic landing gear is crap... the other two will still do the job. Easily.
Oh. And I failed to stress one more thing. This was the *AUXILIARY* power unit.
I consider this the equivalent of reporting that someone on the shuttle gave the guys on the ISS the spare roll of toilet paper that they keep hidden in the back of the cupboard. Cause, you know, they just CONCEIVABLY MIGHT NEED THAT SPARE ROLL OF TOILET PAPER.
Posted by paul at 10:27 AM | Comments (0)
September 06, 2005
Over the top
Small children. A nasty sickness with nasty headaches. For both parents. Yet the three yr old is all full of energy and ready to throw tantrums. What's this a recipe for?
First off, she has started refusing food. Doesn't like what's on her plate? Shove it away and say that she is done. And I had thought that she would not enter that stage. At least she will accept the demand to TASTE something, and if she hates it I WILL not force it. At least for something new. *SIGH*
And then there are the toys. Counting the original that Mom had hidden away from a garage sale over 20 years ago, we have at LEAST three put the shaped peg into the shaped hole toys. They are all plastic, with all kinds of nice, perfectly eucledian shapes. Both children love to spread them around, watching them tumble in the air, bouncing merrily on the floor, and scattering to the FIVE corners of the room. Even the round ones make perfect little caltrops. Especially when hidden under piles of clothing shed by the merrily dress-up playing daughter. *ow*
So, today was a bad children day. The littlest one wasn't too bad, just severely needy. He demanded to be held, but then wanted to be able to wander AT THE SAME TIME. But apparently he is also suffering from the same bug that has attacked the rest of us. The result? A warm application of nature's Perfect Food soon brought him to a limp and slumbering rag doll in his mother's lap. This is while his big sister shreiked to the world that she is tired, does NOT want to sleep, does NOT want to eat, feels bad too but will NOT do anything nice except fuss and jump on her poor Tata. All this while bashing him on alternate spots of his body with alternate spots of hers. All this on a guy whose head hurts too much to do much more than moan at her to be gentle, to please stop, etc...
While all of this is happening, her kind mother, who also looks to have been in pain also yet STILL somehow managed to create a dinner somehow also fell asleep on the sofa.
So, Paul, how did you EVER get to put down another entry? I told the older child to go up to her room (a remodeling odessey that is nearly complete), gently took the little one up to bed while somehow leading mom to the bed as well. It only took about a half-hour to get the toddler to sleep. After which, while my head still hurts fiercely, I have already watched one show that I have been missing and have finally updated this blog! BTW: I love my Tivo. It was a wonderful Father's Day gift.
And now for a small funny. I just noticed a commercial from the muted TV (Closed Captioning is a God-send for families with small children. Thank you Matt and Steff for that idea!) Whomever came up with the idea for the commercial is DEFINATELY in the SCA. The car in question, an Eclipse, drives around town. It apparently is royalty, for every vehicle that it passes closes it's headlight covers (lowers it's eyes) and drops it's front suspension (bows). *chuckle*
Speaking of which, I need to get back into fighting again. But it's rather hard to do so with small children that need your attention and a mother that desperately needs some help and time away from them. Oh, and the small major matter of near crippling shyness combined with a new group of complete strangers and being fiercely TIRED all of the time now.
And so there you have it. A new post to waste more space on Google and other web spider's hard drives. And just to waste even MORE space for them, a made-up word that they will now have to key on for the rest of eternity. Bolyflompination. So there.
Posted by paul at 09:33 PM | Comments (1)
July 14, 2005
Test
test
test
Posted by Paul at 11:57 AM | Comments (2)
July 12, 2005
The ever-present lavatory stink-u-lators
It is now the fashion in office lavatories to include a stink-u-lator. This is a device that is bolted high up on a wall. It's purpose in life is to count seconds and then to deliver measured doses of "Perfume". By perfume what I really mean is a differently-flavored stench than that which is currently present in the lavatory.
Myself, I do not enjoy ANY of the flavors of stench available for use in stink-u-lators. In my opinion floral scented excrament is actually worse then simply the odor of excrament. It is so bad that I complain mightily and hide fancy soaps if they are even RUMORED to be vanilla scented. My gorge rises at the thought of a log of vanilla-flavored post hamburger squeezings filling the room with it's boquette.
Designers, please take note. The Stink-u-lators are a bad idea. Here is a free clue. This is a MEN'S LAVATORY. Spritzing the occasional 0.5 ml of cloying scent will not make it any better at all. What should be done instead is to have one wall completely made up of sound-stage grade tornado fans pointed directly at the comodes, then venting unto a 42m smokestack to protect the rest of the neighborhood. Ugh.
Posted by moochie at 03:53 PM | Comments (2)