Video from inside the Washington Monument during the August 23, 2011 5.8 magnitude earthquake
The National Park Service has now released security camera videos from inside the Washington Monument during the August 23, 2011 5.8 magnitude earthquake.
Author: Robert Zimmerman
Pu’u Kalena on Oahu
An evening pause: Hiking Pu’u Kalena, the second highest peak on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.
Senate agrees to short term budget deal
The Senate has agreed to short term budget deal to fund the government through the end of the week.
Based on the above story, as well as this one, I am honestly not sure what these idiots have agreed to, or whether this Senate deal will pass the House as well. It does appear, however, that they are proposing spending more money that they don’t have.
Petition to repeal Obamacare on White House website
Want to repeal Obamacare? Well, someone has posted a petition to repeal the law on the White House’s own website.
Essentially, the new White House petition website allows anyone to create a petition. Once it reaches 150 signers it becomes public. Once it reaches 5,000 the administration promises an official response.
What will the White House say if their own website is overwhelmed with signatories to a petition calling for the repeal of Obamacare? To find out I’ve added my name. You should to!
Obama: “You’ve got a governor whose state is on fire denying climate change.”
Obama on Sunday at a fundraiser, attacking Rick Perry: “You’ve got a governor whose state is on fire denying climate change.”
Here is another example of a politician making a fool of himself. The wildfires in Texas have nothing to do with climate change. And if Obama thinks they do, he immediately shows himself to be completely ignorant of the science behind the Earth’s climate.
EPA admits regulating CO2 is impossible; will go ahead anyway
The EPA — after admitted in court papers submitted September 16 that regulating CO2 is “impossible to administer” and “absurd” — will go ahead anyway.
Note also that the Clean Air Act did not give the EPA the power to regulate carbon dioxide.
Faster than light?
Can neutrinos travel faster than light? After three years of gathering data, an experiment at CERN says they do, though by only a tiny amount.
[Physicist Antonio] Ereditato says that he is confident enough in the new result to make it public. The researchers claim to have measured the 730-kilometre trip between CERN and its detector to within 20 centimetres. They can measure the time of the trip to within 10 nanoseconds, and they have seen the effect in more than 16,000 events measured over the past two years. Given all this, they believe the result has a significance of six-sigma — the physicists’ way of saying it is certainly correct.
You can download and read a preprint of their paper here.
What I find intriguing about this result, other than its exciting groundbreaking possibilities, is how it illustrates sharply the contrast between normal and healthy science, and the sad and sick state of the field of climate science.
» Read more
Cats – Gus the theater cat
An evening pause: That’s Oscar winning actor Sir John Mills playing Gus.
Sea Launch returns to flight
Another private launch company succeeds: The Russian-owned Sea Launch returned to flight yesterday four years after a launch failure caused the company to restructure it finances.
New York Mets – September 24, 1969
An evening pause: In 1969 the lowly New York Mets, doormats in the National League from the moment the team was created in 1962, came out of nowhere to win the pennant and the World Championship of baseball. Forty-two years ago tonight I and my friend Lloyd attended the game in which the Mets clinched first place in the National League Eastern Division. Below is video showing highlights of the game plus the final out, with the crowd pouring onto the field. Though you can’t see me, I am in that crowd, jumping for joy at this most unlikely sports miracle. There was no rioting, only happy fans chanting “We’re number one!” in exuberant disbelief.
And I still have that small piece of turf from Shea Stadium, collected on that night, proof that the unexpected and improbable is always possible.
Obama’s EPA To Shut Down 20% of Coal Plants in 2012
We’re here to help you! Obama’s EPA plans to shut down 20% of all coal power plants in 2012.
UARS falls in ocean
UARS has come to Earth, re-entering the atmosphere at 11:23 pm (Eastern) last night over the Pacific Ocean.
FCC: Your Internet belongs to us
On a 3-2 partisan vote, the FCC voted to regulate the internet on Thursday, despite a court ruling that says it has no right to do so.
Another UARS update
Aerospace Corporation has further refined its prediction for the deorbit of UARS. The window now goes from 11 pm to 3 am tonight, with the only land areas at risk being Canada, Africa, and Australia.
NASA now says re-entry will be between 11:45 and 12:45 am (Eastern), putting only Canada and Africa in the satellite’s path.
Muslim students found guilty of conspiring to disrupt Israeli ambassador meeting
Eleven Muslim students have been found of guilty of conspiring to disrupt a speech of the Israeli ambassador.
The defendants, who are all in their early twenties, were convicted of one count each of conspiracy and disturbing an assembly and could face jail terms of up to a year, probation or community service at sentencing.
As I’ve said previously, I think it a mistake to prosecute these students for their impolite and disgusting behavior. It only makes them martyrs, something they surely don’t deserve.
Obamacare rule demands all medical records be made available to the federal government
Finding out what’s in it: Obamacare requires that everyone’s private medical records be made available to the federal government.
Obama Administration Set to Ban Asthma Inhalers Over Environmental Concerns
We’re here to help you! The Obama Administration is banning the only over-the-counter asthma inhaler because of environmental concerns.
UARS crash updated
The most recent prediction now says that the UARS satellite will come down tonight between 9 pm and 3 am Eastern time, during one of four orbits, all of which pass over North America, Europe, and Africa. One orbit also passes over Australia.
Monty Python – The Cheese Shop sketch
An evening pause: An ideal metaphor describing modern telephone customer service.
Senate rejects House funding bill; shutdown looms
Senate rejects House funding bill; shutdown looms.
While we chatter about superficial election debates and a falling satellite, the federal budget continues to crash and burn. What I find disturbing about the events in the Senate is this quote:
Democrats in the Senate, who are in the majority, oppose Republican efforts to roll back “green” energy programs to pay for aid for victims of Hurricane Irene and other disasters. They say disaster aid, usually a bipartisan issue, should not require cuts elsewhere — especially to programs creating green jobs — as the GOP majority in the House now demands. [emphasis mine]
So how do the Democrats expect to pay for this disaster aid? Will the money grow on trees?