Republic ERJ-175 Bird Strike at EYW
The flight leveled off at 3,000 feet and was diverted to RSW/KRSW 75 minutes after departure.
Meaningful Labor
Philippine A330 Hydraulic Failure at MNL
15 minutes after departure, minus nose-wheel steering, the aircraft landed safely and cleared the runway. A replacement aircraft continued the flight, which was delayed three hours.
Lufthansa A321 Bird Strike at TXL
During the initial climb out of 08R, the aircraft struck a flock of geese; the crew leveled off at 3000, shut the number one engine down, and returned safely to 08R 15 minutes after departure.
HMS Clueless
The Voyage of the HMS Clueless Truly sailing in a world created of their own delusions. But I wish New York magazine would warn people before they post pics of Ralph Reed in a bathing suit. As Seen On
San Francisco International Airport, the TV Series
Apparently « this » was a thing … would love to see all of it!
The War on Teachers
« The War on Teachers ». Amen.
When I was 17 …
Dear Kris, As you may or may not be aware of, that wonderful time of year is upon us, or rather, you. Yes, that’s right, dear Claus, the time for you to finally earn your keep and work off some of those extra pounds Mrs. Claus has so cruelly heaped upon your lean-in-spirit frame over…
Just Like Nixon
The person I personally refer to as Joey the Rat, Pope Ben-a-Nazi XVI, announced his resignation today. A review of his greatest hits is « here ». Interesting (on many levels) that his resignation letter is addressed, not once, but twice to “Dear Brothers,” with nary a mention to, oh I don’t know, all those…
And?
“Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.” —Barack Obama [Meanwhile, his “gay brothers and sisters” tap their feet, waiting impatiently. Well,…
Finally
I was the first registered Republican in my family. I cast my first vote in a presidential election for Ronald Reagan, the second for George H.W. Bush. I listened to Rush Limbaugh’s radio show, thought I was a Dittohead, and was one of the few who watched and liked his television show. I actually cried…
It is Difficult …
“How long? Not long. Because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 1965 … to keep up a blog like this one, which has, at various times in the past, been chock-a-block with details and observations from our lives. Living two years back in…
The Final Passing of American Journalism
“And that’s the way it is …” Walter Cronkite It feels as if the last bit of actual journalism in America is now dead. In «What We Lose With Cronkite’s Death», Bruce Maiman sums it up pretty well: “… it’s a reminder, too, that the broadcasting style and journalistic credibility that Cronkite represents also seems…
The Right Way
“The whole world is watching what we do here. We’re going to win or lose this war depending on how we do this.” Ali Soufan The story of the United States of America joining the long and black list of nations who abuse and torture prisoners and then invent all sorts of justifications for it…
Two Right-Wing Terrorist Murders in Two Weeks
And now two right-wing terrorists have committed two political murders in two weeks. First Dr. Tiller in Wichita, a murder which was, from the point of view of the terrorists, successful in its aims. Now, an obscene attack on the United States Holocaust Memorial and Museum begs the question, are we in for a Summer…
Torture
Isikoff on Torture.
Marriage Equality Arrives in Connecticut
The governor of Connecticut signed «marriage equality into law today». Equal protection under the law as provided in the U.S. Constitution was thereby affirmed by all three branches of the government. ‘Four years ago this week, Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed a bill allowing civil unions. Today, with the stroke of a pen, she abolished…
Commonality
Not sure why I’m even noting this, but it did catch my eye. Among the «5,000 most common names according to the 2000 US Census», Frank has a more common surname than I do. Our names: Lester (his) is 709th, down 111 places, 16 occurrences per 100,000 names. Mine, Pollock, is 1,420th, up 20 places,…
The Bigots' Last Hurrah
It’s a great title for a great «column». Frank Rich of the New York Times sums up very thoroughly and very presciently the status of one of America’s favorite Culture War battlegrounds/sports grounds in which people like us are kicked around like political footballs (cartoon at left is from 2004, Steve Kelley of the New…
Germans Join UN Racism Conference Boycott
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced that Germany will join the U.S., Israel and other countries in a «boycott» of the upcoming United Nations World Conference Against Racism after “a draft declaration circulated earlier this year made Israel responsible for the entire Middle East conflict, while human rights violations in Muslim countries were largely ignored.”…
Tennessee Spring
I’m a little nervous about stormy weather here in Middle Tennessee, because this is, of course, tornado country. But nonetheless, the past 24 hours of weather have been kind of beautiful, spring rain without depressingly torrential downpours, followed by periods of clouds interspersed with clear sky. Tonight was particularly wonderful, with a little rain followed…
East Bound and Down
One week from tonight, we will have begun our journey out of California … for the third, and hopefully last, time. We’ll be on our way to Nashville, Tennessee, to take up a new, and hopefully less stressful way of life. Frank starts a new job with Vanderbilt University on 15 Dec. I will start…
Wednesday
This pic pretty much tells you everything you need to know about the weather this week. It actually got hotter after I took this picture; it was 114 degrees later in the afternoon. God, living in the valley is hell.
Rarin' to Go
Gavin Newsom, the man who presided over our first civil union ceremony when he was still a San Francisco supervisor, wants to get a jump on gay marriages «the evening of 16 June», instead of waiting for the next morning: ‘San Francisco officials have asked the state for permission to begin marrying same-sex couples a…
'Baptized in Blood'
I’m not sure why I’ve been leaning towards supporting John Edwards this primary season. Perhaps its his populism and anti-corporatism (although I’m realistic about his chances to actually do anything about it once in office). Or perhaps it’s because it’s refreshing to hear reasonable, quiet, calm, realistic talk during times of international crisis (as opposed…
Visceral
A very moving, and very sad, slideshow of the «Benazir Bhutto assassination» has been posted at the New York Times. A horrible end to a horrible year. The «complete collection of photos» is available for viewing (and purchase) at Getty Images. Meanwhile, her 19-year-old son, «Bilawal» is purportedly named her successor. What a huge burden…
The Beast's 50 Most Loathsome
The only end-of-the-year list I ever pay any attention to (and agree completely with) is the list of the 50 most loathsome people produced by «Buffalo Beast», which features The Boy Emperor firmly in spot el numero uno, up from el numero tres in 2005 and 2006: ‘Is it a civil rights milestone to have…
36 Hours
36 hours from now, my cholocystectomy should be finished and I should be floating on a cloud of anesthetic and pain killer. Can’t happen soon enough for me. There’s a 10-mm stone in there and I’ve been on a fat-free diet for two months. I’ll keep most of the diet, but hopefully lose all the…
Farewell, Sweet Molly
Since I wasn’t posting during the last few months, I missed noting the saddest day of the year, which made me weep. Molly Ivins is no longer with us. The Nation collected a beautiful «salute to Molly Ivins»: ‘The country was founded by dissenters, and if as a doubter of divine authority Molly inherits the…
It's Hell Being Offline
Posting and pictures have been temporarily disrupted because internet service hasn’t started at the new house. I’ll have things to post, especially pictures, hopefully later today as our service provider gets its act together. Things are good, but we’re very tired and sore. We are in Brentwood, the dog has his backyard, the stuff arrived…
Heading West — Day Five
« Photos from Day Five » Last Long Leg Written @ 08:35 MST | Saturday 15-Jul-06 | Salt Lake City, UT This morning after the usual breakfast and loading of the car and checking out and making the dog mad that we’re back in the car for another long day, we went to the Beehive…
Heading West — Day Four
« Photos from Day Four » Wyoming is Almost Done Written @ 12:00 MST | Friday 14-Jul-06 | Little America, WY Last night, we went through downtown Cheyenne to get some pizza. Downtown itself is kinda cute, but a few blocks east is rather scruffy. The pizza was good though, and I also found a…
Heading West — Day Three
« Photos from Day Three » Rainy Again Written @ 11:42 CST | Thursday 13-Jul-06 | Gothenberg, NE We hit a small spot of rain, but it’s nothing like day one. We’re 36 miles from North Platte, NE, which will be our first stop of the day. Jeepy needs gas and beagle needs walkies. I’ve…
Heading West — Day Two
« Photos from Day Two » Field of Opportunity Written @ 12:44 CST | Wednesday 12-Jul-06 | West Des Moines, IA After getting up at 08:00 and having a little breakfast and loading the car, we left Davenport this morning at 09:55 and we’re now just west of Des Moines, which we didn’t really see…
Where's My Reference Librarian?
Frank usually handles these things and does a far, far better job of it. I’m pretty stream-of-consciousness on my trip writing, while he does the reference librarian thing and provides all the great writing and details that really make the blog great. But I’ll give it a slight shot, and he should feel free to…
Heading West — Day One
« Photos from Day One » The Very Rough Last Night in A2 Written @ 13:30 EST | Tuesday, 11-Jul-06 | Ann Arbor, MI The beagle gave me a rough night. After the farewell party, I went and gassed up the Jeep and then back to Ann’s to spend the night. I was informed he…
On Restless Beagles and Night-Before-Road-Trip Insomnia
Okay, so I thought the next post would be from Davenport, IA, but, thanks to one of the most wonderful women in the world, I have a nicer place to sleep than my empty townhouse, as well as a working internet connection, so what they hey. I also have insomnia; it’s 1:30 a.m., my last…
Countdown Begins
No, not of the shuttle Discovery, of my final week in Ann Arbor. It now seems like an amazingly fast three years. I’ve so many wonderful friends and accomplished some incredible (for me) things and I don’t regret our time here at all. But new jobs, houses and vistas await. Time to get on to…
Oops.
Has it really been almost two months since we posted anything? Yeegads. Apologies. Let’s see. In the past two months, I’ve survived a narrow brush with winter, a hellish brush with three intense grad school courses orginally designed to be taken over four months crammed down into one, hideously exhausting but fun days in the…
Lost in 2005
There were some remarkable people who left us in 2005: ‘When morality comes up against profit, it is seldom profit that loses.’ —Shirley Chisholm, who died 1-Jan-05 ‘“We went through the top of the head, I think she was awake. She had a mild tranquilizer. I made a surgical incision in the brain through the…
Lost in '05: Hunter S. Thompson
The year that was: « Goodbye Hunter S. Thompson »: ‘‘Politics is the art of controlling your environment.’ That is one of the key things I learned in these years, and I learned it the hard way. Anybody who thinks that ‘it doesn’t matter who’s President’ has never been Drafted and sent off to fight and die…
Happy Holidays!
Reg Dwight Gets Hitched
High-profile celebrity civil commitment ceremony: check. Quaint British setting (the same location as Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles’ ceremony in April): check. Crowds of paparazzi: check. Almost as many everyday well-wishers: check. Only, the couple is Elton John and David Furnish, and for some reason, in the UK (and in Canada, and in a number…
Asi es Nuevo Mexico
Stuff like « this » makes me wonder if my desire to return to my home state is really all that wise of an idea: ‘An essay contest at a New Mexico high school asks students to explain why preserving marriage between men and women is vital society and why unborn children merit respect and protection. The…
Courage and Conviction vs. Cowardice and Coercion
“Rabbi Yoffie! You’re my new hero!” We need more courageous heroes like « Rabbi Eric Yoffie » to speak more truth to power: ‘The leader of the largest branch of American Judaism blasted conservative religious activists in a speech Saturday, calling them “zealots” who claim a “monopoly on God” while promoting anti-gay policies akin to Adolf Hitler’s….
Paradox? Or Hypocrisy?
“Jesus, save us from your followers!” I’ve been meaning to blog this for weeks, to read it into the record, so to speak. But what with grad school hell, I just haven’t had time. I’ve long thought that we need to take Jesus back from his followers. And Bill McKibben wrote up « some persuasive arguments »…
Mike Cox: Republican Hypocrite
Before I forget, I didn’t fail to notice that the « Fascist Michigan attorney general who is trying to strip faithful Michigan couples of all their health insurance is himself an adulterer »: ‘Attorney General Mike Cox announced Wednesday he had an extramarital affair and accused the state’s most famous attorney, Geoffrey Fieger, of threatening to expose…
Just Married
Thank you, Canada! And thank you Neil Hodgins and all our wonderful friends! Pics are up: « The Wedding » « The Reception »
Just Married
Thank you, Canada! And thank you Neil Hodgins and all our wonderful friends! Pics are up: « The Wedding » « The Reception »
Cold Weather
Cold is finally here. Temps have been frigid the past several days, with highs not hitting 50 and lows easily dipping down near freezing. The past couple of days have even necessitated gloves and a parka. A few people are still walking around in shorts but they are few and far between. The mass grumbling…
Wrong Again
It’s been back up in the mid-80s with high dewpoints for the past several days, just proving once again that trying to predict weather in Michigan is (especially if you’re a rank amateur, like me) a fool’s errand.