What’s with the AT-ATmania lately? I guess it’s the Empire Strikes Back’s 30th Anniversary, but this is excessive. We are besieged by AT-AT boomboxes, bunk beds, gadget holders, and the obligatory special edition toys. And now, this AT-AT wedding cake. More »
Walker – starwars – cake – Shopping – Home
I didn’t get a substantive response from the National Counterterrorism Center or its director, Michael Leiter, to yesterday’s Senate report singling it out for failure in the Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab case. Instead, I got pointed to Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair’s Wheatena-flavored reply. That might reflect the comfort Leiter has felt since the chairwoman of the committee that authored the report, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and the White House counterterrorism chief, John Brennan, embraced Leiter back in January, when the near-miss attack was at its most politically potent.
Jeff Stein of The Washington Post wants to dislodge Leiter from that comfort — and, for that matter, his job.
If U.S. intelligence hasn’t completely eluded accountability — and there’s widespread doubt about that — then somebody’s got to take the fall.
Why not start with Leiter?
A running theme on this blog is the frightful sight of herbs and betas performing slow motion self-emasculations. While the herb and the beta are closely related, there are some notable differences between them.
In this post, I defined the herb:
*herb, noun – a schlumpy, nondescript white guy with no fashion sense, chin, or sexual gravitas, who has managed to hook up with a cute chick. Herbs usually wear satchels to nightclubs and button down collar shirts with the Hanes undershirt
peaking through at the neck. They love anything khaki and are not embarrassed to be seen wearing fanny packs or sandals. A super herb takes it up a notch with white athletic socks and an extra-large t-shirt to hide his man boobs. They have a walk that can be best described as looking like they are carrying a load in their pants. They will annoy you just by being there. The fact that a herb will have usually managed to score a cute yuppie chick will fill you with violent feelings toward him.
You can see another great photo of a herb here. And here. And here is an example of the subspecies hipster herb.
How does a beta differ from a herb? In this post there is a photo of a beta revealing his true nature with an awkwardly placed hand on a cute girl’s shoulder. The biggest difference is that the herb usually has better *conventionally defined* success with women. The herb is not necessarily beta, though he often is. Many herbs in the city can be seen taking long romantic walks with decent looking girlfriends, defying all logic and universal laws. Herbs, therefore, have some preternatural ability to squeak out a semblance of a normal life, despite their shortcomings. Perhaps it is that they are oblivious to their self-defeating behavior, and so attract the type of women for whom dating an oblivious man suits their agenda.
Betas (and omegas), in contrast, struggle to achieve the societally-approved provider chump role to a sexless, ungrateful, Entitled American Princess. They are a more pitiable creature than the herb because their fruitless struggle often results in the stink of desperation trailing them wherever they go. The herb, to his credit, rarely reeks of desperation (until he is dumped), probably owing to the aforementioned obliviousness. Betas are more apt to look like they’re trying too hard, which is why you’ll often see better-dressed betas roaming the streets alone while schleppy herbs shuffle contentedly holding hands with their girlfriends.
In short, betas are the type of guys to spend years with internet porn and video games, while herbs are the type of guys to dutifully push strollers for kids that, unbeknownst to them, aren’t theirs. In the end, though, both betas and herbs wind up fulfilling their role as soulsucked providers to harridan wives, ensuring that the cogs of society remain greased with the sweat of their brows and the tithe of their taxes.
A few more differences between betas and herbs:
beta – dog
herb – dog in a stroller
beta – worries that wife is cheating on him
herb – has no idea wife is cheating on him
beta – wants to be alpha
herb – has no concept of the better life
beta – envious of men with hotter girfriends
herb – chastises himself for admiring classic beauty of older susan sarandon
beta – resigned
herb – compliant
beta – stymied sex drive
herb – borderline androgynous
beta – brain loaded with lies
herb – pants loaded
Reader Carol (a self-described Amazon alpha female) sent me a pic of what she termed a “beta boy”, shopping in Chicago with his girlfriend.
She wrote this about the pic:
My sister is an avid reader of your blog and she introduced me to it. I check it out from time to time.
I see Beta Boys all over the city of Chicago. Since I got my new iphone…it only makes sense to try and snap pics of these betas. Unfortunately the iphone does not zoom. But I’m working on this. [ed: if you’re a beta or herb, now you have more to worry about — chicks taking your photo for mockery on this blog.]
Check out this beta cubs fan wearing his girlfriend’s purse. I had to do a freaking triple take to be sure he was not gay. No, he was wearing her purse. Following her all around the store as she flipped through racks of clothes. Mind you, this was post Cubs game…so they were probably drunk as well.
Jesus. I would never ask a man to hold my purse. Let alone a sparkly shining number that announces to everyone your man is carrying your purse.
Yeah, this is pretty bad. For this man’s sake, let’s hope drunkenness was his excuse. It’s not even OK to hold your woman’s purse for a second so she can grab at something (let it drop to the floor or put it on a shelf if she tries to shove her purse in your hands); it’s leagues worse to take her purse and then wear it around like it’s your own, while following her like a puppy dog as she rifles through racks of discount panties. This guy looks very comfortable wearing her purse slung over his shoulder like that, as if he’s done it before.
I would classify this guy as a herb if he sees nothing wrong with this picture. Otherwise, he’s a garden variety beta asking “how high” when his girlfriend tells him to jump.
Talking and texting on cell phones while driving might be banned in many states, but will it some day be the norm to use social networks and communication applications on screens embedded in vehicles? If the work recently created by the students at University of Michigan, in conjunction with Ford, Microsoft and Intel, is any indicator, there will be as many innovative social applications connecting us in our vehicles as there are on our Internet-connected laptops.
Take the Caravan Tracker, an application made by Team Bob Cat from the University of Michigan, which enables multiple cars to connect while on car trips in order to share information about how much gas is left in the fuel tanks, competing fuel economy between the cars, shared routes, and land marks and gas stations on the route ahead. Team Bob Cat has been testing out the application on their very own road trip this week, which will end on Friday with an appearance at the Maker Faire in San Mateo, Calif.
Other applications made by the students use in-vehicle social networking to help cut fuel consumption. The Fuel Tracker, made by Team Armadillo at the University of Michigan, records the real-time fuel economy of a vehicle and then compares that fuel economy to peers. The in-vehicle dashboard enables the driver to see other drivers that have driven the same, or similar routes, and suggests the best route for the best fuel economy. Another student team created an in-vehicle social ride-sharing platform, which can encourage on-the-go carpooling, and provides a rating and recommendation system for its users.
A fourth interesting app that’s a twist on in-vehicle traffic data is the crowd-sourced traffic mapping system called NostraMap, made by another group of students. Drivers can update the service in real time by noting where accidents or traffic backups have occurred, and the touchscreen system allows the driver to, for example, scrawl a quick “A” for “accident” on the screen with a fingertip.
The video below gives some quick interviews with the teammates and professors who were involved in the class, and you can check out this Facebook page for videos on all of the students’ applications. Is this the future of our connected vehicles?
For more research on connected cars check out GigaOM Pro (subscription required):
Report: IT Opportunities in Electric Vehicle Management
The Developer’s Guide to Home Energy Management Apps
Why Microsoft’s Electric Vehicle Deal With Ford Matters
The bulls staged another run and briefly managed to get the Dow down just 50, but they can’t sustain it.
What’s going on?
You know the drill:
EURO EURO EURO EURO EURO EURO EURO, GERMANY, EURO.
All pretty straightforward stuff.
Meanwhile, European markets fell hard, lead to the downside by France’s CAC-40.
One interesting stock to watch: Goldman Sachs (GS) had been higher throughout the morning, but is now slightly in the red.
Join the conversation about this story »
Is this the near-future of aviation, since peak oil production is coming sooner than expected?
MIT-Designed Futuristic Airplanes Use 70% Less Fuel Than Current Models
What will the airplanes of the future be like? This is the question that the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT tried to answer for NASA. The goal was to look 3 generations ahead of the current planes (that’s around the 2035 timeframe) and improve substantially on current tech in the areas of fuel-efficiency, noise, NOx emissions, safety, etc. Two plane designs came out of the research project; one to replace the current Boeing 737, and the other to replace the 777. Read on for more details.
180-Passenger D Series [image below, from MIT]
The smaller of the two designs, the 180-passenger D “double bubble” series plane would be used for domestic flights. Built with current conventional aluminum and current jet technology, it would burn about 50% less fuel than a 737. But if it used more advanced materials and jet tech, fuel savings could be as high as 70%. That’s very significant, especially if oil-based fuel is replaced with advanced biofuels made without fossil-fuel inputs.350-Passenger H Series [image at top, from MIT]
The bigger of the two planes is the 350-passenger H “hybrid wing body” series that would replace the 777 for international flights. One interesting result from using the flying-wing approach: “The large center body creates a forward lift that eliminates the need for a tail to balance the aircraft.” The H would also meet NASA’s 70% fuel reduction target, as well as the 75% NOx emission reduction goal.
Using Ice to Cool Down the Grid
Over the next few weeks, a consortium of municipal utilities in California will begin retrofitting government offices and commercial properties with systems that use ice made at night to replace air-conditioning during the day. It’s part of a pilot program for the devices, which are built by Windsor, CO-based Ice Energy. If widely deployed, they could reduce fuel consumption by utilities by up to 30 percent and put off the need for new power plants.
The first devices will be installed on about two dozen city-owned buildings in Glendale, CA, under the plan being coordinated by the Southern California Public Power Authority. Over the next two years, the 11 participating utilities will install 1,500 of the devices, providing a total of 53 megawatts of energy storage to relieve strain on the region’s electrical grid. The project is the first large-scale implementation of Ice Energy’s technology.
Each Ice Energy device is designed to make ice overnight, when demand for electricity is low, using a high-efficiency compressor to freeze 450 gallons of water. Around midday, the cooling mode kicks in, and the device shuts off the building’s regular air conditioner for a six-hour cycle. It pipes a stream of coolant from the slowly melting block of ice to an evaporator coil installed within the building’s heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning blower system. Once the ice is melted, the air conditioner returns to normal operation. Brian Parsonnet, Ice Energy’s chief technology officer, says the Ice Bear can cut a building’s power consumption by 95 percent during peak hours on the hottest days.
Cutting demand for electricity during peak hours reduces the need to build new power plants. It also allows utilities to rely on their most efficient power plants, says Ronald Domitrovic, a senior project manager for electric utilization at the Electric Power Research Institute. He says that when utilities fire up their “least efficient, oldest, and least desirable” generating resources to meet peak demand, every increment of increased power on the grid sends costs surging, whether one is talking fuel costs, greenhouse gas emissions, or service reliability. However, at night, utilities draw on their most efficient power plants, which use less fuel than power plants used only during peak hours. The utility also saves energy at other points in the grid–for example, cooler power lines at night transmit electricity more efficiently.
Mighty River Plans More Investment in U.S. Geothermal Projects
Mighty River Power Ltd., operator of the world’s largest single-turbine geothermal generating unit, has increased funding to help identify and build power projects in the U.S. and Chile.
The company today announced a $107 million investment in a $400 million, 49.9 megawatt geothermal power plant in Southern California, its first in the U.S. The New Zealand government- owned generator said it has also more than doubled to $250 million a fund available for projects identified by its Denver, Colorado-based associate GeoGlobal Energy LLC.
“GGE’s capability in identifying potential projects in the U.S. as well as Chile has really started to bear fruit,” Mighty River Chief Executive Officer Doug Heffernan said in a phone interview from Auckland today. “We think there are some other prospects that they may well bring to the table in the U.S. over the next two or three years.”
Mighty River is among the world’s 10 largest operators of underground steam fields. It’s investing internationally to profit from its experience building large-scale geothermal power projects, its relationships with bankers and plant manufacturers, and increasing global demand for non-polluting energy.
Geothermal plants tap heat from the earth to power turbines and generate electricity 24 hours a day with minimal emissions. New Zealand, Chile and the west coast of the U.S. lie on the 40,000-kilometer (25,000-mile) chain of active volcanoes that surrounds the Pacific Ocean. The zone, known as the Ring of Fire, also includes Japan and Indonesia.
Obama proposes $800M fund to clean, redevelop shuttered GM plants
The Obama administration announced plans today to create an $800 million fund to clean up and redevelop more than 90 former General Motors Co. plants shuttered during the automaker’s restructuring.
The plan still needs approval from state officials and the bankruptcy court overseeing Motors Liquidation, the “Old GM” that was broken off during the bankruptcy process, but the administration said it hopes to have the trust up and running by the end of this year.
The fund would include roughly $530 million for environmental cleanup with another $300 million available for other costs, such as demolition of unwanted buildings, property taxes and plant security. It would be paid for with money set aside during the restructuring process, which was overseen by President Obama’s auto task force, and is not expected to require additional federal cash.
The cleanup fund will be overseen by U.S. EPA and the White House Council on Auto Communities and Workers.
“We are making a significant investment in better health, a cleaner environment and a brighter future in communities that need our support,” EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said. “Supporting the restoration of polluted sites not only protects human health and the environment, it also fosters new economic possibilities, makes these communities more competitive and opens pathways to long-term success.”
The fund is only for former GM plants and does not cover shuttered sites owned by Chrysler Group LLC, which also received billions of dollars in federal aid to undergo massive restructuring.
Google searches for smart, green energy investments
Google is looking to expand into the energy smart meters business and to invest in renewable generation projects in Europe, the head of green business operations at the internet giant said on Tuesday.
The aim of smart metering technology is to let customers view real-time electricity and gas consumption and allow them to optimize usage and therefore cut energy waste and save money by using energy during low demand periods.
Through Google.org, the philanthropic arm of the internet firm, the company has developed a free web-based application called PowerMeter which collects data from smart meters and displays the data on a customizable customer webpage.
“We’re looking at getting more utility partners and more device partners. We’re always looking for a broader reach and we’re talking to utilities in all the major markets,” Ben Kott told Reuters on the sidelines at a news briefing in London.
In partnership with British independent energy retailer, First Utility, Google is providing an opt-in service to the utility’s 30,000 smart meter customers.
“I think in the UK, people are relatively open to this, not only focusing on cost but also efficiency. It is also a highly liberal energy market, so there are opportunities for companies like First Utility who wouldn’t be able to operate in other markets,” Kott said.
He said there were no plans to charge for the PowerMeter web application.
“There’s no money going backwards and forwards,” First Utility chief executive Mark Daeche said.
Google is also looking at investing in renewable power generation projects in Europe, following a $38.8 million U.S. wind farm investment in North Dakota in early May.
Malaysia Spearheads Clean Energy Bank for Islamic Nations
Malaysia is prepared to spearhead the creation of a clean energy development bank for Islamic countries, Prime Minister Najib Razak today.
Clean energy and security of energy supply are “becoming a priority for countries with few, if any, hydrocarbon resources,” Najib said in a speech at the World Islamic Forum in Kuala Lumpur today. “There is tremendous potential for the development of alternative energy sources.”
The so-called Clean Energy Development Bank would accelerate the development of clean energy-related industries in developing countries of 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference, he said, adding that the initiative will be further discussed at the forum tomorrow.
The Kyoto climate-protection treaty expires in 2012 and negotiators are trying to work out new mechanisms to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. The Copenhagen summit last year failed to lead to a binding agreement, with negotiators settling for a more limited political accord.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
All week, NBC Nightly News will celebrate a celebrity (Sally Field, Ben Affleck, Eva Longoria Parker, Usher, and Will Ferrell) and their personal commitment to their important cause in their lives as part of the network’s “Making a Difference” segment.
On last night’s segment, Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria Parker discussed how having an older sister with a mental disability helped cultivate her passion for helping others. Which is exactly what she’s doing this days through her non-profit foundation, Eva’s Heroes, which provides services to children with special needs.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
go out this morning to Ellen Tressel, who’s recovering from heart surgery.
family values
All reports are that things went fine, and that she’s doing well. Looking forward to hearing that she’s on her way home in the new family convertible.
by Agence France-Presse
U.S. climate envoy Todd SternWASHINGTON – The lead U.S. climate negotiator said Tuesday it was politically unrealistic for the next treaty to impose global targets for emission cuts, amid deep divisions between rich and developing nations.
Special envoy Todd Stern said a better model was the “bottom-up architecture” proposed by Australia during last year’s Copenhagen summit, in which each nation submits details of its own actions to the United Nations.
“No across-the-board, top-down target would be acceptable at this stage to most developing countries and, indeed, it would not work well for us either,” Stern said at The Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.
“The notion that you’re going to negotiate some across-the-board target with China, India, Brazil, and South Africa and many other countries … is not that likely.”
Over 190 nations are negotiating a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol to fight climate change, which U.N. scientists warn could bring growing disasters and threaten entire species if left unchecked.
The Kyoto Protocol had set a target of industrialized nations cutting emissions blamed for global warming by an average of 5 percent by the end of 2012 from 1990 levels, with a corresponding figure calculated for each country. The United States was the only major nation to reject the treaty, arguing it was unfair because it made no demands of fast-growing emerging economies such as China—now the top carbon emitter.
President Barack Obama reversed course when taking office by seeking action on climate change.
But Stern, who helped negotiate Kyoto under former president Bill Clinton, said he was mindful of the political lessons from that experience.
“We sort of came into this with a sense that the way we did Kyoto didn’t work so well,” Stern said. “We negotiated the target in Kyoto not only before there was any law, but before there was any foundation of domestic support” for legislation, he added.
The U.S. Senate just last week took up a bill that would set up the first nationwide plan to curb carbon emissions, although individual states have taken similar initiatives.
“It is enormously important for our international leverage and credibility that we pass strong legislation,” Stern said. “If the United States means to assert leadership, it needs to act like a leader.”
Yet he cautioned that the roadblocks to reaching a final agreement “wouldn’t disappear” even if the United States approved climate-change legislation.
China and other major developing nations have argued that wealthy countries bear historic responsibility for climate change and have balked at any legally binding targets, particularly without firmer U.S. action.
India’s environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, said on a visit to Beijing earlier this month that prospects for a breakthrough in time for the next major climate meeting in December were “very, very remote.” Ramesh said talks in the Mexican resort of Cancun may produce a political statement expanding on the Copenhagen accord but would not yield an agreement.
The Copenhagen Accord calls for nations to work together to stave off warming to 2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) from pre-industrial levels.
But voluntary pledges registered under the deal put the Earth on track for increases of 3.5 to 4.0 degrees Celsius (6.3 to 7.2 Fahrenheit).
Related Links:
Obama admin overhauls MMS, the agency in charge of offshore drilling
Rand Paul’s Copenhagen rant and other election notes
Robert Redford and green groups tell Obama to step up on Gulf oil leak
Google owns the world’s largest online advertising network, something that helped it become one of the most powerful and richest tech companies in the world. But its position also made it a target for government regulators all over the world. While it managed to steer clear of trouble so far, it looks like its luck may be out… (read more)
Nos hacemos eco de una noticia que publica Autocar, sobre el modelo de bajo coste que Fiat ha lanzado para el mercado latinoamericano, el Fiat Uno, que llegaría al mercado Europeo a finales de 2011. Un movimiendo del todo lógico, además se fabricará en Zastava (Serbia) donde Fiat tiene una planta.
El Fiat Uno tiene un aspecto original, y completaría la gama de Fiat en el lugar que actualmente ocupa el Punto Classic, es decir, entre el Panda y el Punto EVO. Además se espera que salga al mercado con un precio propio de un modelo de bajo coste (un segmento que está cosechando muchos adeptos) dentro del segmento B.
Para este desarrollo Fiat invertirá cerca de 150 millones de euros, y el Fiat Uno llegará a Europa antes de lo pensado, puesto que en el Plan de negocios de Fiat se esperaba que este compacto llegará al mercado europeo en 2012, incluso continúa en el aire la posible llegada al mercado americano.
Vía | Autoblog.it
Filed under: Government/Legal, Recalls, Safety, Lexus
2010 Lexus LS 460 Sport – Click above for high-res image gallery
Bloomberg is reporting that Toyota will again be bit by the recall bug, this time due to steering problems with its Lexus LS 460, LS 460L, LS 600h and LS 600h L. The recall, reportedly announced by Toyota spokesperson Mieko Iwasaki, will cover 11,500 models globally, including 3,800 units in the States. The company says that some customers in Japan have complained that the front wheels don’t turn to their original position quickly enough after executing a turn, and the issue is reportedly both mechanical and software related
The reported recall comes just one month after the Lexus GX460, was recalled for a stability control issue that was discovered by Consumer Reports. Toyota recalled 9,400 GX460 SUVs in the U.S. and 13,000 units globally. The Lexus LS recall is not currently listed on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website, and there is no word yet regarding which model year(s) will be covered under the recall.
Gallery: First Drive: 2010 Lexus LS 460 Sport
[Source: Bloomberg]
Report: Lexus preparing to recall 11,500 LS models globally over slow-to-return steering originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 19 May 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Via Prison Planet.com » Sci Tech
Bloomberg News
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Four gorillas found dead in Rwanda’s Karisimbi area probably died of extreme cold, the New Times reported, citing Rica Rwigamba, head of tourism at the Rwanda Development Board.
The gorillas, a female and three infants, were found dead between May 16 and May 17, the Kigali-based newspaper said.
Post-mortems are now being carried out to confirm what killed the apes, all of which were known to rangers and were named last year, the New Times said.
San Francisco – A federal judge in San Francisco has quashed a baseless subpoena aimed at outing an anonymous online critic of Pennsylvania corporation USA Technologies after the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) successfully argued that the First Amendment shields the identity of anonymous speakers who engage in lawful speech.
“All too frequently, companies turn to the courts in misguided attempts to chill speech and ‘out’ their critics, believing that those critics lack the resources or will to defend themselves,” said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Matt Zimmerman. “The First Amendment ensures that vigorous debates about matters of public concern can continue unabated, a fact that the court correctly recognized.”
EFF represents Yahoo! user “Stokklerk,” who criticized USA Technologies and its CEO, George Jensen, Jr., on a Yahoo! message board, drawing attention to plummeting stock prices, high compensation rates for executives, and a consistent lack of profitability. Other anonymous posters had similar complaints.
In response, USA Technologies filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania alleging that the statements violated federal securities regulations, because they were part of a “scheme” for the authors to “enrich themselves through undisclosed manipulative trading tactics.” USA Technologies also alleged that the online posts — which characterized USA Technologies’ executive compensation practices as, among other things, “legalized highway robbery” and a “soft Ponzi” — were defamatory. Pursuant to that lawsuit, USA Technologies issued a subpoena out of the Northern District of California to Yahoo! demanding the critics’ identities.
In her ruling, Judge Susan Illston agreed with Stokklerk and quashed the subpoena, recognizing “the Constitutional protection afforded pseudonymous speech over the internet, and the chilling effect that subpoenas would have on lawful commentary and protest.” Judge Illston further found that none of the statements at issue were defamatory in context and were instead “protected opinions” under the First Amendment.
“We’re gratified that the Court saw it the way we did,” said David M. Given of Phillips, Erlewine & Given LLP, which served as co-counsel with EFF in the matter. “The First Amendment principle at stake in this case is paramount to preserving the free interchange of ideas and opinions on the Internet.”
For the full ruling:
http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/usatechnologies/USAT-order-051710.pdf
For more on this case:
http://www.eff.org/cases/usa-technologies-v-stokklerk
Contact:
Matt Zimmerman
Senior Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
[email protected]
Richard Blumenthal surrounded himself with veterans at yesterday’s presser where he explained his occasional military embellishments. The message to Connecticut voters was clear: If these folks don’t have a problem with the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, why should you?
One of those who stood with the AG has already drawn scrutiny. Elliott Storm of Milford. Conservative veterans groups and bloggers claim that Storm is a poser who invented a record of heroism.
RedState.com says “Elliott Storm would also be known as Charles Joseph Trumpower. He enlisted in the Marines and, unlike Blumenthal, actually served in Vietnam where he got one less Purple Heart than John Kerry. Mr. Trumpower, for reasons unknowable to anyone but him, decided reality was insufficiently impressive so he commissioned himself a Marine officer and added a Bronze Star with “V” device and another Purple Heart to his awards.”
I could not reach Storm for comment, but my colleague Susan Campbell, interviewed him briefly yesterday afternoon.
Referring to criticism of Blumenthal, Storm said, “you know who this kind of thing bothers? People who never served, never wore a uniform, that’s who. They don’t understand your commitment. I’ve been living with these sacred scars for 40 years, this harassment and belittlement. We are still living it.”
Storm isn’t the only veteran whose appearance at yesterday’s press conference has drawn criticism.
Phil Vasington, president of Leathernecks Connecticut MC, a group of Marines who also happen to be motorcycle enthusiasts, was annoyed when he spotted a newspaper photo of one of his members at the press conference wearing the club’s official regalia.
“We’re a non-political organization,” Vasington said this morning. “We’re not taking a stance on the issue.”
But when a member wearing the group’s vest was caught on camera hugging Blumenthal, people could assume the group is supporting the embattled Democrat, an assumption Vasington wants to correct.
Then there was Peter Galgano, spokesman for the Marine Corps League of Connecticut. Galgano had a prime role at the presser, introducing Blumenthal and saying he has always been “completely straightforward about his honorable service in the Marine Corps Reserves.”
Michael A. Blum, the league’s National Executive Director, wants to make it clear that Galgano’s appearance was in no way sanctioned by the group.
“The Marine Corps League categorically disassociates itself from any comments made by a person who spoke at a press conference today in defense of Connecticut Attorney General Blumenthal and referred to himself as a member of the Marine Corps League several times, giving the impression that his statements were representative of the Marine Corps League’s position on the matter,” Blum said in a statement.
“The National Bylaws of the Marine Corps League clearly state, in part: ‘the Marine Corps League shall never take part in any labor or management dispute or issue, and it shall be ever non-sectarian, non-political, and non-partisan; nor shall it be used as a medium of political ambition or preferment.’
“Whether or not the politician misspoke or distorted his military background is a matter for the citizens of his state to decide. The Marine Corps League has not authorized any of its members to make a public statement on this issue in that doing so would violate our covenants.”
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has a great blog where they post images from the hi-res camera onboard. I was perusing a recent image, and was a bit befuddled:
What the heck? Is this a plateau of some kind? Is that a small dome just below the center of it? The whole thing looks pitted around the edge, too, like some sort of erosion has taken place. But that can’t be right!
Happily, being an old hand with optical illusions, I knew exactly what to do. I flipped the image over, and all became clear:
Ah, that’s better. Now you can see what’s what: it’s a crater with boulders in it. The small dome is now clearly a tiny meteorite impact crater. What looked like pitting is now obviously rocks and rubble that have slid down the slope of the crater wall.
This is an old illusion. Having evolved on the surface of a planet, we interpret our surroundings assuming sunlight is coming from above. If we see a picture rotated such that the sunlight is coming from below, it plays tricks on our perception. Shadows point the wrong way, making craters look like domes. Flip the picture over, and voila! All is as it should be.
This image is a wonderful example of this illusion (though I’ve never run across a name for it. I suggest “Plait’s Plateau”). You can take lots of lunar pictures and see it if you rotate them. I suggest you check out the LRO archive, because it’s a terrific lesson that what you see is not always what you get (and also because the images are simply too cool). It’s incredibly easy to fool our brains, and if more people realized that then it would be a lot easier for them to be skeptical of what they see, and of claims from other people about what they see!
Related posts:
Terra spots an impact on, um, Terra
Spelunking the lunar landscape
On the MBA conference call concerning the “Q1 2010 National Delinquency Survey”, MBA Chief Economist Jay Brinkmann said this morning:
Join the conversation about this story »
No more teases, Sprint Hero owners. No more waiting. 2.1 is here. Get yourself on over to HTC’s site for the download, then head to Sprint and follow the instructions.
One big caveat: installing the update will wipe your phone. Contacts, email, etc. synced with a Google account should be okay, but “you will lose contacts that have not been synced to an email account, text messages that have not been forwarded, saved voicemail messages older than 5 days, voicemails older than 20 days that have not been listened to, and call history. The calendar and email settings will also revert back to factory defaults. Pictures, music, videos and files are stored on your microSD memory card, which should be removed before updating your phone.”
Skoda acaba de presentar la versión más potente de su compacto más laureado. Este nuevo modelo no es otro que el Skoda Fabia RS. Además, la marca ha confirmado que estará presente en el próximo Salón de Ginebra y que será lanzado mundialmente de forma simultanea.
Contará con un motor TSI 1.4 de 180 CV con el que podrá acelerar de 0 a 100 km/h en 7.3 segundos y tendrá una velocidad máxima de 224 km/h. Estéticamente, el Fabia RS contará con unas llantas de aluminio de 17″ Gigaro exclusivas de esta versión, pinzas de freno en un tono rojo, cristales tintados y un paragolpes trasero rediseñado con una doble salida del tubo de escape.
En el paragolpes delantero dispondremos de unos faros antiniebla con función de giro Cornerlight y luz diurna mediante tecnología LED. De equipamiento, cabe destacar el ESP, ABS, ASR y la tecnología XDS. El precio exacto no esta confirmado aunque es oficial que la versión más básica estará por debajo de los 20.000€, algo muy competitivo la verdad.
Por último, os dejo con esta galería de imágenes oficiales:
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