On Saturday night, Sandra Bullock gave 88-year-old Betty White a Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award. Among her many roles, White portrayed "Happy Homemaker" Sue Ann Nivens on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," the naive widow Rose Nyland on "The Golden Girls" and the sharp-tongued Catherine Piper on "Boston Legal" and as well as appearing on countless game and talk shows.
White said the biggest change in her six decades in TV is the viewers. "I started out when television started out, and there was this magic thing in the corner that had actually people in your room with you, you know," she said. "But now the audience has heard every joke, they've heard every story, they know exactly where a program is going from the first time they hear the words. That's a hard audience to surprise."
Target Shooters Fire at Oxygen Bottle, Injure Four
Four people are being treated for injuries after being hurt in an explosion during a target shooting incident in an area near Chimney Dr. in Sun Valley.
Washoe County Sheriff's Officials say around noon Saturday, two women and two men were hit by metal shrapnel after an oxygen bottle was shot at, and exploded.
The four were reportedly not target shooting themselves, but watching others practice.
The 24-year-old woman was taken to Renown by Care Flight where she was treated for lacerations and possible broken bones in her legs. The two men were transported by REMSA for cuts and possible lower leg fractures. The other woman took herself to Renown after suffering minor cuts.
Police say the incident is still under investigation, but alcohol doesn't appear to be a factor.
#5
This story has whiskers on it, but I offer it for your reading pleasure.
In the early 1980s, in Champaign, IL, a balloonist who worked in a fast food restaurant wanted to clean up the outside of his tanks. Early in the morning, as he was setting up to open, he put the tank in the restaurant dishwasher. By a miracle, he wasn't killed in the resulting explosion.
The manager at a neighboring restaurant heard and saw the explosion, and ran over to help. This manager was cited as a hero--and then his corporate HQ fired him for leaving the restaurant.
The next morning, the corporate president was watching the morning news and learned that the restaurant manager who had gone to help in an emergency had been fired. He got the district manager on the phone, said, "What the )(*(^*^ are you thinking? Hire that manager back!" So justice was served.
I know this is true, because I was working at the mall near the restaurants.
#6
Although I don't believe everything I see on MythBusters they did fire a 30.06 into a full oxygen bottle and it didn't explode. It di become a rocket though.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/25/2010 18:31 Comments ||
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Smuggled and bootlegged, it has been the cause of transatlantic tensions for more than two decades. But after 21 years in exile, the haggis is to be allowed back into the United States.
The "great chieftan o' the puddin-race" was one of earliest casualties of the BSE crisis of the 1980s-90s, banned on health grounds by the US authorities in 1989 because they feared its main ingredient ‑ minced sheep offal ‑ could prove lethal. How offal!
Some refined foodies might insist it always has been and always will be: in the words of Robert Burns, in his Ode to a Haggis, looking "down wi' sneering, scornfu' view on sic a dinner". But now, as millions of Scots around the world prepare to celebrate Burns's legacy tonight with an elaborate, whisky-fuelled pageant to a boiled bag of sheep innards, oatmeal, suet and pepper, its reputation has been restored, on health grounds at least.... My mother was as proud of her Scots heritage as any lass, but even she wouldn't touch the stuff.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/25/2010 14:41 ||
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#1
Oh. At first I thought the article was about the current tour of these guys.
#2
I love Enter The Haggis! My dream concert ticket would be to a double bill of EtH and Off Kilter.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/25/2010 17:40 Comments ||
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#3
Haggis story from Canuckistan:
I ambushed some friends at a Christmas Eve dinner by my contribution to the menu of some red and green stuffed peppers. The red and green are Christmas colors, yes? The stuffing was haggis.
I waited until everyone at the table had committed themselves to saying how delicious the stuffed peppers were before I dropped the bombshell.
#5
The Scots eat lots of haggis, the French eat snails and frogs
The Greeks throw kakis on their mousakis, and the Chinese love hot dogs
The Welshmen love to have a leek, the Irish like their stew
But you just can't beat that half-cooked meat at an Aussie barbeque
/channeling Aussie Barbeque song by Eric Bogle
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/25/2010 22:05 Comments ||
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#6
Canuckistan sniper, a great story!
Mr. Lotp & I attended a propoer Burns dinner a while ago, complete with the piping in of the freshly made haggis. Now, I confess I'd rather eat fresh trout from cold Scottish mountain streams, hot from the fire, but the haggis wasn't a bad runner up.
Of course the Whisky might have had something to do with that, although I sipped only a bit.
Global warming has melted so much Arctic ice that a telecommunication group is moving forward with a project that was unthinkable just a few years ago: laying underwater fiber optic cable between Tokyo and London by way of the Northwest Passage. The proposed system would nearly cut in half the time it takes to send messages from the United Kingdom to Asia. The route is the shortest underwater path between Tokyo and London. Will the environmental impact statement consider the bears?
The quicker transmission time is important in the financial world where milliseconds can count in executing profitable trades and transactions. "Speed is the crux," Ebell said. "You're cutting the delay from 140 milliseconds to 88 milliseconds." Even imaginary clouds have silver linings!
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/25/2010 09:46 ||
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#1
I suspect that this is hooey. By "moving forward", they probably mean lining up suckers to pay for the project, who *assume* the ice will melt. Of course, a little noticed provision in the contract will state that if the ice doesn't melt, there are no refunds.
#2
Uhm, there is plenty of ice up there. A few years ago (2007) ice was at a minimum because strong winds from an odd direction blew the ice out into the Atlantic where it melted. Arctic ice floats on water and can be blown about by winds.
Since then in 2008 and 2009 the amount of ice has been recovering. There was much more ice in September of 2009 (when ice sees minimum extent) than there was in 2007.
#3
Also, the shortest path to Tokyo from London is across the North Sea to Scandinavia, the over land to Russia, then across Russia and China to Japan.
#4
Surely the author has mistaken the Northeast passage along Russia's North coast with the Northwest passage through Canada. Going through Canada would nearly double the length of the required route.
A new law to give greater protection to householders is unnecessary and could be a licence to kill, a leading criminal barrister has warned.
British householders are in the habit of murdering visitors if unrestrained by threats? How very wrong Ms Christie was, thinking such behaviour might excite the curiosity of strangers. No wonder her writing career was so brief.
Paul Mendelle, QC, chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, says that a change to allow "disproportionate" force would encourage vigilantism.
"Hangings in back gardens, bodies in the flower beds. Britain's greenery will flourish as never before, until the surplus of wayward milkmen is absorbed."
"The law should always encourage people to be reasonable, not unreasonable; to be proportionate, not disproportionate," he said, adding that the present law worked perfectly well and was well understood by juries.
Sorta depends on what you mean by 'proportionate': I suspect you define the word much differently.
It's the "well understood by juries," bit that puzzles me. After all, it's the job of the judge to clarify the law for the jury at summation, over there.
If, as the Conservatives propose, the law is changed to allow "disproportionate force", householders who kill burglars could be acquitted. The issue has been given recent impetus by Munir Hussain, who was originally jailed for beating an intruder, and Myleene Klass, the TV presenter warned after waving a knife at people staring through a window at her home.
But Mr Mendelle said: "You would have, in effect, sanctioned extrajudicial execution or capital punishment for an offence, burglary, that carries a maximum of 14 years -- which is the sentence that Parliament decided was appropriate." He warned that the change could also make householders less safe. "Burglars, knowing that they could be killed, might be more likely to carry weapons and/or use extreme violence. So it would be wholly counterproductive," he said.
Or burglars might decide to become store clerks and stop robbing people. It could happen.
"The law on self-defence works well and has done for years. The balance is properly struck between prosecution and defence and it is easily understood by juries, as it was in the case of Munir Hussain [freed last week by the Lord Chief Justice], who did not even seek leave to appeal on this ground.
"Leave it alone and stop playing politics with the law," Mr Mendelle added. "This is not law and order. This is no law -- and disorder."
With disorder currently favoring burglars, stick-up artists and rapists ...
If the law was changed, he added, would householders be allowed a greater level of self-defence than other people -- so that "you could use more force to protect your property than your family?"
Oh heavens no, let's use force to defend our families too ...
Yes, please. Speaking as one of the family, I would very much appreciate it. On the other hand, it could be argued that my desire not to be hit over the head by random strangers in my own home was a function of having a home, and therefore Mr. Wife was merely protecting his property when killed the man attempting to hit me there...
Alternatively, if the law was changed for all offences, he said you could have a scenario where someone is allowed to kill someone who was going to punch them -- an offence at worst carrying five years as actual bodily harm.
Nice straw-man. You might consider just copying Texas law -- it too has 'struck a balance' ...
Mr Mendelle's view was strongly supported on Sunday by the barrister who acted for both Munir Hussain and Tony Martin, the Norfolk farmer who shot dead a burglar. Michael Wolkind QC told BBC One's The Politics Show that permitting householders to use any force which is not "grossly disproportionate", as Tories suggest, would amount to "state-sponsored revenge".
I don't see that, revenge being a dish best served cold and all that, which implies it does not take place in the heat of the moment. And state-sponsored revenge generally takes the form of hangings in the public square, which Britain is no longer set up for.
Mr Wolkind said there was no need for the law to be changed. "The law already recognises that people react in a certain way in the heat of the moment." He added that in future cases, courts could be expected to take account of the Lord Chief Justice's decision to exercise "mercy" and free Mr Hussain from a 30-month sentence for beating a burglar.
Mr. Hussain didn't require mercy. What Mr. Hussain did was justifiable.
Good lord, he didn't even kill the brute, so the new law certainly would not apply.
Mr Wolkind said: "If I manage to tackle a criminal and get him to the ground, I kick him once and that's reasonable, I kick him twice and that's understandable, three times, forgivable; four times, debatable; five times, disproportionate; six times, it's very disproportionate; seven times, extremely disproportionate -- in comes the Tory test -- eight times, and it's grossly disproportionate.
It is a horrible test. It sounds like state-sponsored revenge. I don't understand why sentencing should take place in the home. Why can't it go through the courts? Why can't the jury, as they always do, decide what is reasonable?"
Mr Mendelle, 63, a leading defence lawyer, also expressed concern about trials without juries. The first jury-less trial in England and Wales is proceeding after a ruling that this was necessary because of the significant threat of jury "nobbling". Mr Mendelle declined to comment on that case. But he said that the danger with such a move was that it could lead to others.
"The prosecution puts before the judge a lot of evidence to justify an application for a non-jury trial which is not, and is never seen, by the defence.
"That might include evidence of the cost of the various measures to protect jury. But the defence never have a change to challenge that. That is the real problem."
#1
In some other jurisdictions it is assumed that if an intruder breaks into an occupied home, the intruder must have in mind an intent or willingness to commit murder or inflict great bodily harm on the occupants. Therefore, unless the intruder flees or unless the home owner is well armed and the intruder surenders, for the home owner to threaten or attempt great bodily harm to the intruder is not disproportionate. The error is assuming people who break into occupied homes are there only for property crime. Were that so, there are plenty of other property crime oportunities available. The home owner, and potential victim should not have to see if they get attacked before using overwhelming force. The same legisaltors who oppose force in this sort of case often have difficulty with the realities of war as well.
Posted by: Donald McConnell ||
01/25/2010 17:18 Comments ||
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#2
Methinks Mr. Mendelle is projecting a wee bit.
Me also thinks Mr. Mendelle is a wuss. AND that Mr. Mendelle has never been on the receiving end of a crime. Professional courtesy and all that....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/25/2010 22:17 Comments ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday that American relief efforts in Haiti had fallen short and told U.S. President Barack Obama to "send vaccinations, kid," instead of armed soldiers.
The left-wing foe of Washington has accused the United States of using the earthquake in Haiti as a pretext for an "imperial occupation" of the devastated Caribbean nation.
"Obama, send vaccinations, kid, send vaccinations," Chavez said during his weekly broadcast. "Each soldier that you send there should carry a medical kit instead of hand grenades and machine guns."
A contingent of 13,000 U.S. troops is helping relief efforts after the Jan. 12, magnitude-7 quake killed up to 200,000 people and left up to 3 million people hurt or homeless and clamoring for medical assistance, food and water.
Venezuela, the fourth-largest exporter of oil to the United States, has sent shipments of fuel, 5,400 tons of food, 6 tons of medicine, and 19 doctors to help with the recovery efforts, state media reported last week.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/25/2010 00:00 ||
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#8
I know I am wrong but I am rapidly reaching the point where I feel the US should just come home and let the french and cubans and italians and venezuelains take care of the Haitians.
Posted by: Kelly ||
01/25/2010 13:48 Comments ||
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#9
JFM, maybe...but on this side of the pond it generally means "jackass". (Might have misspelled it, though. Some parts here use guebon...)
#10
Oogo is just pissin' into the wind. Most of the US "troops" are actually sailors, with 10,000 of the 13,000 military aboard ships offshore. The main purpose of soldiers on the ground is to maintain security of food and other aid sent to Port au Prince, and to help with opening up blocked roads. We have the means to get supplies into anywhere that needs them, unlike most other countries.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/25/2010 17:33 Comments ||
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#11
Send yer own goddam vaccines, assh*le.
What, you don't have any?
Then shaddup.
Loser.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/25/2010 22:24 Comments ||
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The Haitian government has raised the official death toll for the January 12 earthquake to 150,000. In addtion, as many as three million have been injured or left homeless as a result of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake.
Health officials in Haiti have also expressed serious concerns about outbreaks of infectious diseases in the myriad tent cities due to the unsanitary conditions.
Doctors, as well as the injured and homeless, are pleading for medical aid, food, and water in nightmarish conditions in the Western Hemisphere's poorest country.
The crowded and unsanitary conditions in hundreds of improvised refugee camps could spread illnesses such as typhoid and measles, doctors said on Sunday. They also fear for the thousands of people who have endured operations, including amputations, and now need to avoid infection as they recover.
Despite the thousands of emergency surgeries already performed, patients are still coming to clinics with fractured bones and skin wounds that have not been treated in the aftermath of the quake.
Most of the treated no longer have homes where they can recover. Eleven hospitals were destroyed and thousands of homes have been partially or completely destroyed.
The government says the death toll could double to 300,000 as many more bodies remain uncounted under the rubble.
A mild earthquake measuring 4.7 in magnitude struck Haiti on Sunday, 20 miles (30 km) west of the capital Port-au-Prince, the US Geological Survey reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/25/2010 00:00 ||
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#4
GUAM PDN this AM > JAPAN TELLS US: "START FROM SCRATCH" [MSCAS FUTENMA base deal]. As per MSM-NET, the US has said iff the FUTENMA deal is nixed, the US MARINES WILL STAY IN OKINAWA instead of being relocated to Guam.
Despite any PCorrect Diplomatic rhetoric to the contray, JAPAN = TOKYO GOVT wants to OVERTLY OR OFFICIALLY be allowed to MIL REARM + HAVE A STRATEGIC NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARSENAL, AS HEDGE + PROTECTION OF JAPANESE SOVEREIGNTY AGZ CHINA, etal.
The MAHA-RUSHIAN SILENT QIESTION that no one seemingly wants to ask > MANY DECADES AFTER THE END OF WW2, CAN THE US-WORLD [read, ASIA] TRUST JAPAN TO NOT RETURN TO ITS PRE-WW2 MILITARISM.
Not to argue that CHINA doesn't have any IMPERIALIST = WARMONGERING SKELETONS in its closet.
#5
JAPAN = TOKYO GOVT wants to OVERTLY OR OFFICIALLY be allowed to MIL REARM + HAVE A STRATEGIC NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARSENAL, AS HEDGE + PROTECTION OF JAPANESE SOVEREIGNTY AGZ CHINA, etal.
China makes all her neighbors nervous. My take is the Japanese feel they can no longer count on the protection of the United States.
NEW DELHI, Jan. 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were to hold a summit here later Monday that would set another milestone in their countries' rapidly developing relations both economically and politically, Lee's office said.
In the summit, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said, Lee and Singh plan to explore ways to develop bilateral relations already spurred by the two-way Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), a de facto free trade deal, and exchange views on regional and international issues.
They will issue a 31-point joint statement to sum up their discussions, it added.
Add in Japan, Taiwan, Australia and Thailand and you send a message to the Chinese. It's like George Bush is still in charge of our Asian strategery ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/25/2010 00:00 ||
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Korean-made high-speed ships will ply the Caspian Sea when they are exported to Kazakhstan. Late last year, Kazakh Navy Commander Zhandarbek Zhanzakov officially asked Seoul to export the vessels, a government official said Sunday.
They just have to figure out how to get it there ...
Seoul will arrange the official signing of the deal during Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev's visit to Korea at the end of April. The sale will net Korea some US$100 million.
Azerbaijan, another country along the Caspian Sea, also wants to buy one of the gunships. Senior officials said specific negotiations have yet to begin but the government is minded to agree.
The Yun Young Ha class of high-speed gunboats is the successor to the Chamsuri class that was involved in three clashes with North Korean Navy boats. Armed with 76 mm guns and ship-to-ship missiles among other armaments, the class has not only proven itself in battle but also as a combat patrol boat.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/25/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Given that the only nations this is likely to annoy include Iran and Russia I'm sure we'll find a way to help them get it there. Oh wait ....
[trudges down stairs to see if Reagan clones in vats are ready yet, taps foot impatiently]
#6
Versus NEWS KERALA > [Russ State-Owned Insur Broker]STUDY:HAPPY RUSSIANS HELPING TO BLOCK ECONOMIC GROWTH.
The Russians are Happy, the Russians are Happy.
Uh, Uh, D *** NG IT, IN 2010 THE RUSSIANS DEMAND DEMAND D-E-M-A-N-D DDDEEEEMMMAAANNNDDD, THEY TELLS YA, FOR RUSS TO BE IN FULL-BLOWN ECON RECESSION IFF NOT TOTE DEPRESSION???
#9
a total disconnect by GC from any economic models, profit/costs/employment, any rational business thought. Ima thinkrn Academic or Gubbamint bureaucrat....say in planning?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/25/2010 21:25 Comments ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] News breaks about a radiation leak at Germany's sole uranium enrichment facility amid reports suggesting that the country is scrapping plans to shut down two aging nuclear plants.
The incident occurred on Thursday and has regenerated calls for the closure of the 25-year-old facility, which is located in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The British nuclear firm URENCO, which runs the German subsidiary, said none of the radiation had escaped, and that people outside the facility were not in any danger.
Meanwhile, utility companies and the government have agreed to allow all of Germany's 17 nuclear power plants to stay operational, Der Spiegel magazine reported on Saturday.
The new deal following negotiations will extend the lifespan of all 17 reactors, despite a 10-year agreement passed under former chancellor Gerhard Schruder that orders the closure of the country's reactors by 2020.
The new deal includes two older reactors scheduled to be taken offline in the near future.
Biblis A in Hesse and Neckarwestheim I in Baden-Wurttemberg, will remain operational at least until October, when Chancellor Angela Merkel's current collation finalizes its general energy program.
The Der Spiegel article suggested there was a financial stake for the government, as it would demand at least 50 percent of the new profits for extending the nuclear power stations' lifespan.
Merkel is not pleased with the 2020 Nuclear Exit Law, insisting that only finding renewable and affordable energy would make a transition possible.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/25/2010 00:00 ||
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Filed under non-WOT for the time being.
AN Ethiopian airliner carrying 92 passengers and crew crashed in stormy weather following takeoff in Lebanon early today, plunging into the Mediterranean sea.
"Ethiopian Airline Flight 409 crashed about five minutes after takeoff at 2.30am (local time) with 83 passengers and nine crew members," the airport official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
He said witnesses saw a ball of fire as the jet plunged into the sea. The official said rescuers were trying to reach the plane to see if there were any survivors.
#1
One of al Shabaab's primary targets is Ethiopia.
I'm sure various government will shortly unleash a riot of reasons that this couldn't possibly be terrorism. Experts will be called in, and in a year's time a never-before-recorded-in-the-history-of-aviation mechanical failure will be revealed as the cause.
#2
The story on Yahoo World News includes the following quote, not mentioned in this article.
The Lebanese army said the plane had broken up in the air before plummeting into rough seas and hopes of finding any survivors faded 12 hours after the crash. Witnesses described the impact as a "flash that lit up the whole sea" and a "ball of fire."
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said he did not think the plane had been brought down deliberately, emphasizing "a sabotage attack is unlikely."
Broke up in air. Big ball of fire. Accident, maybe not.
Decent point. Maybe there was something strange in cargo. Maybe the maintenance was poor. Aircraft falling from the sky in flames isn't a common result of mechanical casualty.
Consider: Friday, the UK raised its terror threat level to "severe," which, according to the Home Secretary, means "This means that a terrorist attack is highly likely, but I should stress that there is no intelligence to suggest that an attack is imminent," whatever that means.
Osama bin Laden released a tape to al Jazeera on 24 Jan, in which he claimed responsibility for the failed Christmas bombing. In that tape he used specific phrasing that indicated an upcoming attack, according to SITE. The Mirror reports that "Anti-terror officials said the past week had seen an "unusually high" number of people on their no-fly list trying to board US-bound planes." Specifically, the Mirror story mentions two men who tried to board at Heathrow over this past weekend. All of this in a space of 72 hours.
Photos at the source
of a burned Russian-made Iranian passenger plane after a crash landing at Mashhad airport, northeastern Iran, on Jan. 24, 2010. The Tupolev passenger plane, carrying 157 passengers and 13 crew, crash landed in northeastern Iran injuring at least 46 people, state television reported.
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/25/2010 00:00 ||
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Think the recent wild weather that hammered California was bad? Experts are imagining far worse.
As torrential rains pelted wildfire-stripped hillsides and flooded highways, a team of scientists hunkered down at the California Institute of Technology to work on a "Frankenstorm" scenario - a mother lode wintry blast that could potentially sock the Golden State.
The hypothetical but plausible storm would be similar to the 1861-1862 extreme floods that temporarily moved the state capital from Sacramento to San Francisco and forced the then-governor to attend his inauguration by rowboat.
The scenario "is much larger than anything in living memory," said project manager Dale Cox with the U.S. Geological Survey.
In the scenario, the storm system forms in the Pacific and slams into the West Coast with hurricane-force winds, hitting Southern California the hardest. After more than a week of ferocious weather, the system stalls for a few days. Another storm brews offshore and this time pummels Northern California.
Such a monster storm could unleash as much as 8 feet of rain over three weeks in some areas, said research meteorologist Martin Ralph with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who is part of the project.
It makes the latest Pacific storm system look like a drop in the bucket. A weeklong siege of storms walloped California, flooding coasts and roads, spawning tornados and forcing the evacuation of about 2,000 homes below fire-scarred mountains for fear of mudslides. The National Weather Service said the storms dumped up to a foot in the mountains northwest of Los Angeles in a week.
Weather experts say West Coast storms could get more frequent and severe with climate change. Last fall, a team of federal, state and academic experts was formed to tackle what would happen if a series of powerful storms lashed at the state for 23 days. The scenario is expected to be completed this summer and will be used in a statewide disaster drill next year. "Climate Change"? Ummmm...what about 'El Nino'???
Ironically, the team had scheduled meetings at Caltech to learn about the fictional storm's impact to dams, sewage treatment plants, transportation and the electrical grid. About a dozen canceled due to the storms.
"They had to deal with the real thing," said chief scientist Lucy Jones of the USGS.
The next step is to estimate economic damages as well as the risk of landslides and coastal erosion and impact to infrastructure and the environment.
Several scientists on storm watch were involved in the 2008 planning of a mock "Big One" on the San Andreas Fault that was incorporated into an earthquake preparedness drill.
The Great Flood of 1861-1862 was believed to be the most powerful and longest series of storms in state history, lasting a month and causing severe flooding.
The Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys were water-logged and spontaneous lakes popped up in the Mojave Desert and Los Angeles basin. Nearly a third of the young state's taxable land was destroyed.
Since there are few meteorological records available on the 1861-1862 events, scientists stitched together data from two recent storms to create "Frankenstorm." Any journalist writing of California storms this season, unable to even elicit a single mention of El Nino, clearly shows their bias FOR AGW (but I suppose that should be expected of the AP).
If CalTech approved this article, then they should be added to the ClimateGate list of 'bad science'
#3
Disaster preparedness, system hardening, network resilience- these would seem to be prudent and reasonable things for a state government to study, no?
Maybe. When you're broke, there's a need to prioritize. I'm not sure this kind of apocalyptic fantasizing makes the cut.
#4
the heavy rains of 1905 caused a Colorado River flood which in turn created the Salton Sea (which is still with us thanks mostly to irrigation runoff).
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/25/2010 10:27 Comments ||
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#5
what would happen if a series of powerful storms lashed at the state for 23 days
Twenty three days? That's apocalyptic chump change. Jupiter's Great Red Spot, a humungous hurricane-like storm, has been around for centuries. Model *that* in your disaster prep scenario, biotches!
#8
could get more frequent and severe with climate change
Or maybe not. Or may more frequent but less severe. Lovely April day, here in DC.
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/25/2010 12:47 Comments ||
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#9
mojo, the operable word there is probably "taxable". "Destroyed for purposes of taxation". I'd be willing to bet that washouts mucked up existing cropland and destroyed improvements making the property taxable in the first place, thus removing them from the tax rolls.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
01/25/2010 13:52 Comments ||
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#10
Just to remind you all, the hydrological records in this country are at most, 150 years old. On a geologic scale, it's about 1/10 of a second. Events like these are not an if matter, they are a when matter and we don't know WHEN they will next occur because we don't have data on their frequency. Everyone talks about the 100 year flood, but keep in mind there are such things as the 5,000 year flood and worse. Sure, we can find evidence of such events occuring but pinning down when exactly is next to impossible.
So prudent planning for such things is a good idea and it sounds to me like these Geologists and Met guys are doing their jobs. Besides, when we're stupid enough to live on fault lines, volcanoes, flood plains and other hazard zones, we should at least understand such things WILL happen.
#11
After the 500-year storm - or one that has a 0.20% chance of happening in any year - I believe hydrologists deal with PMP - Probable Maximum Precipitation. For a nuke plant 25 years ago, we didn't design for PMP, but had to be sure it didn't flood certain key elements - like the control room, I suppose. Roads, I remember, we designed to let that big one flow over the top without washing out the road.
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/25/2010 18:14 Comments ||
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#12
Funny, but I remember just last year, I was reading articles about how climate change was going to cause less rain and continual drought in California. I do believe warming is happening, but I don't believe that anybody really has a very good idea about what the consequences will be.
#13
sizing drainage facilities and infrastructure for such a storm would be foolish and will never happen. Model away, alarmists and grant whores!
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/25/2010 19:48 Comments ||
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#14
What is more likely is a 100 years or more of drought. If you go to many Sierra Nevada lakes, you will find, at about 30 feet deep, tree trunks of large redwoods and Douglass fir. When those trees were living, the lake levels were much lower than today.
We are currently living in the wettest 500 years that the Sierra Nevada have seen in the past few thousand years. What we consider "normal" is actually pretty wet.
Chances are very good for "mega droughts" spanning centuries if the past climate in the area is any indication ... like back when it was warmer than now.
#15
I'm particularly interested & curious about the fact that not only did CalTech fail to make any mention of El Nino, but not a single commenter even brought it up, with a minority mentioning only in passing about 'natural cycles'.
My point was that it's particularly biased of a 'science organization' to go alarmist in a publication, catering to only a political crowd, and failing in any objectivity at all by failing to consider that natural cycles (SUCH AS the current El Nino cycle) may be a contributing factor. OF COURSE the 'perfect storm' is a possiblity, but it defies belief that an organization such as CalTech would use the movie The Day After Tomorrow as reference for their publication...suggesting that somehow 'climate change' would be responsible for a current-day storm 'similar to the 1861-1862 extreme floods'.
Chicken Little should check his six...that shadow might be a better indicator of things to come than anything coming from CalTech on weather...
#17
Chances are very good for "mega droughts" spanning centuries if the past climate in the area is any indication ... like back when it was warmer than now.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/25/2010 21:39 Comments ||
Top||
#18
What I meant to say was that what you said is obviously nonsense, crosspatch. It has NEVER been warmer than it is today. Everybody knows that our planet has a fever, and the only cure is to reduce that poisonous gas, CO2, by shutting down all industry.
Or at least that is what Al Gore et al. seem to want.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/25/2010 21:41 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
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