The Music Man – Till there was you
An evening pause: The same song, two versions, from the 1962 movie, and then from the 2003 television production.
Year: 2011
Slow news
Tis a slow news day, at least to me. Nothing that is coming over the wire has inspired me. However, if any of you has seen something that has made you excited, please feel free to post it here, as a comment.
A paralympic athlete, paralyzed from the waist down since she was thirteen, has regained her ability to walk after a collision with a bicycle, and now wants to compete in the 2016 Olympics.
Miracles do happen: A woman, paralyzed from the waist down since she was thirteen, has regained her ability to walk after a collision with a bicycle, and now hopes to compete in the 2016 Olympics.
Newfound treasures at an archeological dig in Panama have provided scientists with the best clues yet about an unnamed tribal culture that had trived in the centuries just prior to the arrival of the Spaniards.
Newfound treasures at an archeological dig in Panama have provided scientists with the best clues yet about an unnamed tribal culture that had thrived in the centuries just prior to the arrival of the Spaniards.
The most recent dig, in early 2011, uncovered a similarly adorned chief in a multilevel burial pit once sheltered by a wooden roof. Surrounding this golden chief are at least 25 carefully arranged bodies, making the assemblage the largest of the six El Canฬo burials revealed to date. … Among the corpses golden attire for a child, possibly the chief’s son: tiny gold plates, bracelets, earrings, and a necklace of semiprecious stones. At the bottom of the pit, the chief himself was supported by a sort of platform created from the tight arrangement of 15 bodies. Mayo believes those individuals could be war captives or slaves who were sacrificed or committed suicide.
A family struggles to complete a Knoxville to Nashville trip using an electric car
An exercise in absurdity: A family struggles to complete the 180 mile trip from Knoxville to Nashville using an electric car.
The Blink fast-charge station was on the blink. Efforts to use the two available plugs yielded nothing for Stephen Smith when he and his family arrived in Lebanon in their electric vehicle.
But all was not lost as the Smiths closed in on their destination โ a brotherโs house only 22 miles away in Antioch. With ten miles of available power left on their car, they could take advantage of a slower charger next to the other at the Blink station at Cracker Barrel. It took about an hour, but the boost gave enough energy for a total of 30 miles.
They also had to pay attention to whether the route was flat or hilly, as any hills significantly reduced their range of about 75 miles. In addition, they found that even that number was unreliable, and that often the maximum range the car could travel was far less.
Even the fast-charge station still needed about 30 minutes to charge up the car. Imagine having to wait 30 minutes every time you needed to fill up, and imagine having to do it every 70 miles.
There is a reason electric cars can’t compete with gasoline, and this journey illustrates it.
A day made of glass
An evening pause: Though it really doesn’t make sense to spend the money for electronic road signs, this public relations video from Corning still gives one a hint of some of the cool technology coming down the pike.
As Arthur Clarke once said, “Any science sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic.”
Several of China’s biggest borrowers have been given permission to delay loan payments
The day of reckoning looms: Several of China’s biggest borrowers have been given permission to delay loan payments.
Ron Paul as seen by a former staffer
Ron Paul as seen by a former staffer.
The statement is fair, detailed, and to me, devastating to Paul. Consider this, for example:
He is however, most certainly Anti-Israel, and Anti-Israeli in general. He wishes the Israeli state did not exist at all. He expressed this to me numerous times in our private conversations. His view is that Israel is more trouble than it is worth, specifically to the America taxpayer. He sides with the Palestinians, and supports their calls for the abolishment of the Jewish state, and the return of Israel, all of it, to the Arabs.
In other words, Paul is blind to the hate and violence coming out of the Arab world, and is willing to sacrifice a democracy to it. Worse, it appears he is blind to other kinds of hate as well.
Ron Paul is most assuredly an isolationist. . . . For example, he strenuously does not believe the United States had any business getting involved in fighting Hitler in WWII. He expressed to me countless times, that โsaving the Jews,โ was absolutely none of our business. When pressed, he often times brings up conspiracy theories like FDR knew about the attacks of Pearl Harbor weeks before hand, or that WWII was just โblowback,โ for Woodrow Wilsonโs foreign policy errors, and such.
Russia scrubs launch of Proton rocket due to “technical problems.”
Russia has scrubbed the launch of a Proton rocket today due to “technical problems.”
After the launch failure on Saturday of a Soyuz rocket, I suspect that top management got gun shy about doing another launch so soon thereafter.
Why the establishment fears Newt Gingrich
Why the establishment fears Newt Gingrich.
When Newt became speaker, he was focused, disciplined and tough. He insisted on moving the Contract With America intact. He abolished committees and denied โold bullsโ chairmanships. He insisted on using the majority to win conservative victories such as balancing budgets, achieving welfare reform and producing 11 million new jobs with tax cuts that spurred economic growth. He made some people unhappy when he pursued legislation that could win instead of pet bills that would have divided Republicans rather than uniting them. And he negotiated with a Democratic president to get the conservative legislation being passed signed into law. Some Republicans were left unhappy in the wake of all of that activity โ some of them are still complaining today.
The Leaning Towers from around the world
The leaning towers from around the world. With pictures.
And the Tower of Pisa is not number one in tilt!
Lugar may be in jeopardy in primary from Tea Party challenger
Senator Richard Lugar (R-Indiana) looks weak against a Tea Party challenge in the Republican primary.
2010 was a trend,not a fluke.