How I Will Celebrate the Racist Mass Murderer Columbus

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Dave!

Never been a big fan of this holiday – not because I really care if CC really “discovered” America  or was good, bad or ugly.  It just does not rise to the importance of most of the other holidays, at least for me.  That won’t stop me from taking the day off, mind you.  My plans for the weekend are to head to a house we have rented with another family near the Shenendoah River, in the mountains, for a weekend of R&R.  Weather is supposed to turn crappy here so I am not sure exactly what we will be doing but it won’t be work.

Fortunately the place is wired and I won’t miss the news of day on Monday….which is Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner and his attempted record skydive from almost 23 miles and probably be the first human to break the sound barrier without a craft.  I love this guy.  I love that the current record holder is on his team.  I love that it is a private sector enterprise.  And I think that the one thing I do admire about CC is that he did have a spirit of adventure, just like Felix.  Well…maybe not quite that adventurous…  Here is the story:

On Monday morning (Oct. 8), Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner will attempt to break the world record for highest-ever skydive, leaping from a balloon nearly 23 miles above Earth’s surface.  If all goes according to plan, Baumgartner will step into the void 120,000 feet (36,576 meters) above southeastern New Mexico early Monday, then plummet to Earth in a harrowing freefall that will see him become the first skydiver to break the sound barrier.

After Baumgartner deploys his parachute and floats safely to the desert floor, he and the other architects of his mission — which is known as Red Bull Stratos — can celebrate breaking a skydiving record that has stood for more than 50 years.

One of those congratulating Baumgartner will likely be Joe Kittinger, who set the current record of 102,800 feet (31,333 m) back in 1960 while a captain in the U.S. Air Force. Kittinger serves as a Red Bull Stratos adviser. If everything works out on Monday, Baumgartner will also shatter the marks for fastest freefall, longest-duration freefall and highest manned balloon flight. But the daredevil says his leap is about more than just etching his name in the record books.

“Red Bull Stratos is an opportunity to gather information that could contribute to the development of life-saving measures for astronauts and pilots — and maybe for the space tourists of tomorrow,” Baumgartner said in a statement. “Proving that a human can break the speed of sound in the stratosphere and return to Earth would be a step toward creating near-space bailout procedures that currently don’t exist.”

Baumgartner’s 55-story-high balloon is slated to launch from Roswell, N.M. at dawn Monday, weather permitting. Winds must not exceed 2 mph (3.2 kph) at liftoff to ensure that the balloon — whose material is 10 times thinner than a plastic sandwich bag — isn’t damaged, Red Bull Stratos officials said.

Baumgartner will ride aboard a custom-built pressurized capsule that weighs about 2,900 pounds (1,315 kilograms). A hard landing during a July 25 practice jump from 97,146 feet (29,610 m) damaged the capsule, and the daredevil’s record-breaking attempt was delayed while his team made the necessary repairs.

During the July 25 jump, Baumgartner reached a top freefall speed of 537 mph (864 kph) — about as fast as a commercial airliner. But while his capsule got knocked around a bit, the skydiver landed safe and sound.

Baumgartner said he is nervous about Monday’s leap from the stratosphere. But the 43-year-old daredevil — who has jumped from some of the world’s tallest buildings and soared across the English Channel in freefall using a carbon wing — regards a tinge of fear as a good thing.

“Having been involved in extreme endeavors for so long, I’ve learned to use my fear to my advantage,” Baumgartner said. “Fear has become a friend of mine. It’s what prevents me from stepping too far over the line.”

Red Bull Stratos has described the Oct. 8 attempt as a jump from the edge of space. However, space is generally considered to begin at an altitude of 62 miles (100 km), or 327,000 feet.

 

Filed under: fun stuff | 13 Comments »

Where the Buck Stops…

Posted on September 29, 2012 by Dave!

So Yahoo! typically posts news articles that are amazingly content-free or are about Hollywood celebs (or both I guess).  But every once in a while, they seem to mistakenly post an article that is somewhat interesting in an academic way.  Now by no means is this one an in depth analysis, but I found it interesting.  It is entitled “Where did the mammoth US budget deficits come from?”  and can be found http://news.yahoo.com/where-did-mammoth-us-budget-deficits-come-211927495.html

Aside from the fact that it will confuse non-ATiM members because it does not distinguish between debt and deficit very well, it is a fairly straitforward look at the budget history and problems.  While it’s probably too simplistic for posters here in general, it could be a base for a more in depth budget discussion…perhaps in preparation for Debate I….or sequestration.

Filed under: budget, Economy | 6 Comments »

Top 10 Worst Olympic Moments (so far)…

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Dave!

So yesterday I posted that I am “growing to detest” the Olympics.  That is somewhat of a mis-statement.  I love the idea of them.  I love the competition and I am a sap for the stories that we hear about the atheletes.  I am amazed at some of the things I see them do.  I guess I am growing increasingly tired of the IOC and the way they are run. And the judging.  So, the list of things that I already love about these Olympics is long and probably boring…from Gabby to Phelps and beyond.  Truth be told, after the IOC rejected any acknowledgement of the 40th anniversary of the Munich game terrorism, I was ready to boycott them altogether.  But that was kind of like holding the atheletes responsible for the sins of the organizers.  So I have been watching.  All that said, they still piss me off for a number of reasons.  And here is my top ten list in no particular order:

1)  PC run amok – Banning the Greek triple jumper Voula Papachristou for a “racist” tweet (With so many Africans in Greece … at least the West Nile mosquitos will eat homemade food!!!) and Swiss soccer player Michel Morganella (I want to beat up all South Koreans! Bunch of mentally handicapped retards!).  Let me see if I have this correct.  The Olympics can be held in Nazi Germany but somehow these tweets merit removing people from the Olympics?  I’m glad no other atheletes harbor any prejudical thoughts.

2)  Head in Sand – The decision to not have an official moment of rememberance for the Israeli atheletes killed 40 years ago.

3)  Gymnatics I – The Tiebreaker. Women compete on each of the 4 apparatus for the all-around best gymnast.  They are judged to the thousandth of a point.  After the 4 events, two woman are tied, down to the thousandth, for the third best score.  Only one gets a bronze medal.  Why?  The tiebreaker procedure which drops the score of the worst event and then looks at the scores of the remaining 3.  Idiotic at best.   How is it that an ‘all-around’ competition when the result comes down to only 3 of the 4 apparatus?  I think it should be labeled not all-around but “three quarters-around”.  But the rules dramatically change year after year so next time,I am sure  they will have fixed this issue.

4)  Gymnastics II – A limit of 2 per country on the number of gymnasts that can compete in the all-around.  So if your country has the 3 best gymnasts in the world, one of you is out of luck.  If you are not going to let the best compete, how can the eventual winner be declared the best?

5)  Olympic Events I – Team Handball, Synchronized swimming, trampolin and no softball or baseball.  Really?  Just as an aside, the trampolin was won by a Chinese guy named Dong Dong…oh the places I could go with that name.

6) Olympic Events II – Synchronized swimming.  I understand that while the hammer throw is a classic, no kid says I want to grow up to be a hammer thrower.  But Synchronized swimming?

7)  Fairness (or lack thereof).  With time running out in one of the two semifinal matches for the women’s individual epee competition, South Korea’s Shin A Lam led Germany’s Britta Heidermann by a single point. Officially, Heidermann had just one second to launch an attack and score a touch, which would advance her on to the gold medal match to face the Ukraine’s Yana Shemyakina, a lack of time which all but ensured that Shin would advance.  Instead, the timing mechanism on the piste became stuck, giving Heidermann extra time to complete her attack and win the bout, which earned her the spot in the gold medal bout. Officials, unsure what to do without a true, official protocol to follow, eventually decided to award the victory to Heidermann. That decision alone is remarkably bad.  Ah…but it gets worse.  As one might expect, Shin and her coaches were enraged with the decision, and launched an immediate appeal. Yet the appeal itself proved to be incredibly lengthy and also contained a unique bylaw that required Shin to remain on the piste throughout its duration. Unable to leave the playing surface, Shin bawled uncontrollably for the first 10-15 minutes, often shading her head in a towel while occasionally looking out to the crowd before rubbing her eyes again.  At long last, after more than 30 minutes of a delay that included the Korean federation having to expedite a payment for the use in the official appeal, Shin’s attempt to overturn the result failed.  Naturally.  And  as a final insult, in order to make themselves feel better, they offered her a “competitor” medal, which she rightly rejected.  I don’t speak Korean but it looked like she said you can take that medal and shove it up your something or other.

8)  Oscar Pistorius – this will easily be my most controversial one.  Pistorius is a South African runner with 2 prosthetic legs that has been allowed to compete in the Olympics.  Now as someone who has a brother with muscular dystrophy who we have taken everywhere and helped him do most everything we do, I have to say the decision to allow Pistorius to compete with prosthetic legs is wrong.  He comes across like a great and inspirational guy and in many ways I will be pulling for him.  But he has artificial feet.  Whether they make him faster or not, he is not running on the same playing field as everyone else.  He should not be competing on the same one as everybody else either.

9)  Bad Bad badminton – Pairs from China, Indonesia and South Korea deliberately tried to lose to secure an easier draw in the subsequent knockout rounds.  The embarrassing scenes quickly attracted the attention of officials and media, and led to the expulsion of the eight players involved.  One of them, Yu Yang of China, pointed out to the sport’s administrators that she was playing within the rules and said she would quit the sport.  I am not sure exactly how I feel about this.  Am I more annoyed that teams were trying to lose or that players get kicked out for following the rules?  Maybe we should leave the sport to our backyards and not have it in the Olympics…

10)  Boxing – It amazes me that Olympics after Olympics, we continue to have what one could legitimately call rigged matches.  This time, AIBA, the governing body of amateur boxing, dismissed referee Ishanguly Meretnyyazov of Turkmenistan on Thursday after a bout on Wednesday between Satoshi Shimizu of Japan and Magomed Abdulhamidov of Azerbaijan. Shimizu knocked Abdulhamidov down six times in the third round, but Meretnyyazov didn’t rule any of them a knockdown. Meretnyyazov kept ordering Abdulhamidov to get up, as if Abdulhamidov was going down of his own volition. He was hurt by punches thrown by his opponent, who should have won by stoppage in the third round. But when Meretnyyazov didn’t called them knockdowns, the bout went to the scorecards, where the byzantine computerized scoring system that was put into place to prevent just such atrocities committed yet another one. Abdulhamidov entered the decisive third round with a 10-7 edge. The third round was scored 10-10, so Abdulhamidov won a 20-17 decision he clearly didn’t deserve.  The Japanese immediately protested and AIBA overturned the outcome.  However, one could have foreseen this because there was a BBC report from September that alleged Azerbaijan was promised two boxing gold medals in exchange for a $10 million loan to the AIBA.  AIBA investigated itself instead of having an outside body look into the allegations. Not surprisingly, it found the report was “groundless and unsupported by any credible evidence.” So it’s just coincidence that nine months after it dismissed that report as groundless, an Azerbaijani fighter was on the receiving end of an Olympic referee’s incomprehensible decision.  In the Olympic history of boxing, this might not make the top five list of worst offenders

Filed under: 2012 | Tagged: , | 28 Comments »

Friday Fodder…

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Dave!

I read the following story and I figured that it was a good way to cap off a week.  It’s one of those things that I find funny even though there are financial implications to it…  The title of it: 

This Is Not a Joke: Government Issues Study of a Study About Studies

The Pentagon was inundated with so many studies in 2010 that it commissioned a study to determined how much it cost to produce all those studies.

Now the Government’s Accounting Office has reviewed the Pentagon’s study and concluded in a report this week that it’s a flop.

The study of a study of studies began in 2010 when Defense Secretary Robert Gates complained that his department was “awash in taskings for reports and studies.” He wanted to know how much they cost.

Two years later, the Pentagon review is still continuing, which prompted Congress to ask the GAO to look over the Pentagon’s shoulder. What they found lacked military precision.

The GAO found only nine studies that had been scrutinized by the Pentagon review, but the military was unable to “readily retrieve documentation” for six of  the reports.

The Department of Defense’s “approach is not fully consistent with relevant cost estimating best practices and cost accounting standards,” the GAO concluded. In fact, they often did not include items like manpower, the report found.

The Pentagon “partially concurs” with the GAO’s report.

The cost of the study of the study of the studies was not immediately available from the GAO.

Filed under: dod, fun stuff | 10 Comments »

5 Reasons You Don’t Really Want to Win all that Lottery Money

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Dave!

For the last couple days, I had been planning retirement and trying to figure out just how I was going to spend my share of the winnings from the MegaMillions lottery (I do it with my company pool and my share would be a paltry 11 mil).  Then I see this article on why I don’t want to win it.  So naturally I read it. Here are the 5 reasons why they say I don’t want to win it (go to the article for more details about each):

1) Your friends will take advantage
2) Your relationship could fail
3) You’ll have an increased risk of bankruptcy
4) You’ll have to fight off a host of long-lost family members
5) You’ll be a target for a litany of lawsuits and scams

My thoughts on this are:

1) People I know will take advantage – my friends won’t. If ‘friends’ do, then really, how good a friend are they?
2) According to the example they gave (emotionally unprepared for the enormous responsibility and pressure of winning the lottery, took to gambling and womanizing to deal with the troubles adjusting to his new lifestyle), I have a hard time thinking that either my wife or I would not be able to handle it. It could happen I guess but given the chronic savers we are and the money sense we have, I’m willing to risk this one.
3) The theory is that winners have more credit available to them, use it, and overextend themselves. We are not credit people. Other than mortgage, we have lived debt free, paying off credit cards each month, not spending money we don’t have. I don’t think this is really in our DNA.
4) And? If they were long lost, it’s not like I am going to miss them when they come, are denied and leave.
5) Target of scams? Having been fortunate enough to have my Barrister and Libyian email friends already contact me to send over the fortunes that they have gotten for safe keeping, I feel safe in saying that while I am sure people will try and try more often, I think I am ok with the scam part. The lawsuit part I could see as problematic. Will need to up my liability insurance and probably install security cameras around my house. I should be able to afford those measures however.

To sum it up, I am still ready to win my 11 million this evening and begin retirement.  One may have problems when you are rich but they are a better set of problems than if one is poor.  I will be sure to let you all know if, er, when I win.  The first (and only) round is on me.  Cheers!

Filed under: Bits and Pieces, fun stuff | 6 Comments »

Retirement?

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Dave!

So I came across the article 6 reasons why you should not retire and, as someone that really looks forward to retiring,  it got me thinking.  Here are the 6 reasons:

1. There is no physical reason to retire.

2. Continued work can support healthy aging, including better physical and mental health.

3. Well-being and happiness are boosted when people are engaged in challenging and meaningful activities. Work is a major place to find such activities in our society.

4. Older people have rich experience and mentoring skills to help enrich the workplace experiences of younger colleagues.

5. Declining numbers of younger workers, courtesy of lower fertility rates, will raise the need to retain older employees in the workforce.

6. We need and like the money, and shorter retirements sharply cut the risk we will outlive our assets.

Well I read through these and…I still want to retire.  Quite badly.  Here is my response to these 6.

1)  So what…  Just because I am not forced into retirement by age or some other reason is not a good reason to keep working.  Just because I can?  I don’t think so. 
2)  If their idea of retirement is sitting out on the porch all day (with the exception of hitting the early bird specials), then yeah, I get it.  But I don’t plan to do that.  I plan to devote time to my hobbies, interests, family, friends and self…do the things I WANT to do, not NEED to do.  I think I am creative  enough to do things that will provide the same mental and physical benefits as what I do at work.
3)  Much the same as 2.  Work is A great place to find meaningful and challenging activities…it is by no means the ONLY place.
4)  Mentoring the younger…really?  Does anyone think that a 40 or 50 year old is going to be any less able to mentor a younger worker than a 70 or 80 year old?  There are plenty of people with the experience and maturity and age to be able to provide this great knowledge transfer.  Besides which, they say we are going to have a shortage of younger workers….meaning there should be a plethora of good mentors available.
5)  So this was the first that actually made me think…for a second.  First off, I will be off doing my own thing and, quite frankly, don’t care.  It will mean that salaries should rise for those workers and/or we will need to be that much more productive.  In any case, a higher salary could lure me back perhaps part time but I don’t think this in and of itself is a reason for me not to retire.
6)  With healthcare taken care of by Obama 🙂 what  is there to worry about if I have saved diligently during my working life?  Could I run out of money?  Certainly.  I can do that at any time during my life – there is always that risk.  I work hard to mitigate it and I will during retirement also. Quite frankly, that is a risk I am willing to accept.

So this article did not even begin to persuede me not to retire.  How about you? 

 

Filed under: Uncategorized | 15 Comments »

Teen arrested trying to apply for job by knocking on armored car window

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Dave!

So these are the types of stories that bother me. After reading it, I have learned that I will never, ever, joke, talk to or even smile with any of these guys. But little else. I am left asking several questions. First off, I get the feeling that there is some missing information. Why did Sgt Eggleton described the situation as “more than just a misunderstanding.”? Between the time the kid knocked on the window and the police arrived, did the kid just stand around and keep on knocking or did someone detain him? Why was he held for several hours for armed robbery if he had no gun and his story seemed to check out? Why did the police offer him a job after everything? Something with this is just not right.

Charleston, S.C., teen Kieon Sharp, 18, tried taking the direct approach to landing a new job. Instead, it landed him in jail, on suspicion of armed robbery.

Sharp was hoping to find a job with Brinks security. He had already applied for a job with the company but decided he wanted more information about the day-to-day details of driving one of the company’s armed trucks. And what better way to gather information than going straight to the source? So he went up to a driver inside one of the company’s vehicles and knocked on the window.

The driver mistakenly thought Sharp was holding a gun and called the police. Charleston Police Sgt. Bobby Eggleton described the situation as “more than just a misunderstanding.” In the aftermath of Sharp’s failed informational interview, police held him behind bars for several hours before releasing him.
“He banged on the window and that scared the driver,” Eggleton said. “You don’t approach those guys very often. They are on high alert because they carry a large amount of cash.”

Of course, when police actually searched Sharp they didn’t find a gun, just copies of the job applications he had filled out that day, including one for a position with Brinks. Eggleton said Sharp was cooperative with police and that they even offered Sharp a job application with the city’s street department after he was released on Thursday

Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Ad hoc Pre T-Day First Post

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Dave!

So this is a mostly non-political “Bits and Pieces” post…something that is not too controversial or taxing as I prepare for my Thanksgiving Day Drive to Pittsburgh. Below are several items that i came across today – some of which made me laugh and some of which made me just shake my head.

Item 1) You will need to wish me well on my travels to Pittsburgh as I will be riding the PA Turnpike. In good times it’s God’s gift to horrible roads…during high travel days it’s the stuff of legend…But I guess just to try something new, it has been blessed with a 40 mile coating of a Sticky Goo that disabled about 150 cars.

Item 2) A typo has led to the election of the wrong man to a finance board in Derby, Conn. James J. Butler was elected over his father, James R. Butler, who was the person actually runninng. The son would not comment on whether he wants the job. But he calls city officials incompetent for confusing him with his father. So did the father and son both vote for the son? Inquiring minds want to know…

Item 3) Just in time for the Christmas shopping season, Sharp has an 80 inch affordable HDTV, assuming that $5,500 is your idea of affordable. This, a Blu Ray and a big enough room means you never have to visit a movie theater again. I think the government should subsidize this – it would be like paying you to stay at home and save gas…

Item 4) I realize there are actually victims but I could not help but chuckle when I read the story about 7 Charged With Hate Crimes In Amish Hair Attacks. Several members of the group carried out the attacks in September and October by forcefully cutting the beards and hair of Amish men and women, authorities said. Cutting the hair is a highly offensive act to the Amish, who believe the Bible instructs women to let their hair grow long and men to grow beards and stop shaving once they marry. The perpetrators were a breakaway Amish group that was lead by one Sam Mullet..that’s right – Mullet. In any case, the Sheriff said “We’ve received hundreds and hundreds of calls from people living in fear,” he said. “They are buying Mace, some are sitting with shotguns, getting locks on their doors because of Sam Mullet.” Amish with Mace, shotguns and telephones…who da thunk it?

Item 5) And finally, Rolling Stone put forth their 100 greatest Guitarist of all time. Which has naturally sparked the debate on its merits. He bemoans the fact that Frank Zappa and Springsteen are not higher and that Clapton is too high. Although his argument for that is “We’ve never met anyone who picked up a guitar because they loved “I Shot the Sheriff.” No but there are people who have because of Layla… George Harrison comes in at 11 – that would make my overrated list. List is missing Nancy Wilson…

For the record, here are the top 10:
1. Jimi Hendrix
2. Eric Clapton
3. Jimmy Page
4. Keith Richards
5. Jeff Beck
6. B.B. King
7. Chuck Berry
8. Eddie Van Halen
9. Duane Allman
10. Pete Townshend

Filed under: Uncategorized | 15 Comments »