#6
And, pray tell, what will this Space-Luna Pizza REALLY be made of, given NASA-JPL's, etc. desire to recycle HUMAN WASTES AS FOOD + ENERGY SOURCES FOR DEEP SPACE TRAVEL???
[FUTURAMA = MARTIAN "COW BEETLES" HERDS here].
OR
* "THE SIMPSONS" KRUSTY THE CLOWN = "YOU'RE ALL WAY, WAY-Y-Y, WWWAAAAAYYYYYY OFF - THINK SMALLER [bigger = -Zilla], MORE LEGS"!
Because of bad weather over Camp David, in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland, the chopper landed at the municipal airport in Frederick, Md., about 42 miles northwest of Washington, better than half way to Camp David. The president and his daughter stepped off Marine One, and boarded a motorcade for the remaining 28 miles to Camp David.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest would tell reporters later that "a bad weather call" had been made about 20 minutes before the president and his daughter took off from the South Lawn of the White House.
It had been decided that Marine One could safely fly the president to Frederick, and the Secret Service had motorcade vehicles ready there to drive him the rest of the way.
Interestingly, Earnest said Mr. Obama had not been informed of the plan until he was aboard Marine One. They knew 20 minutes ahead of time, but they didn't tell POTUS. And how bad was the weather in Emmitsburg?
#1
I'd bet you will not see windmills on those mountains. I recall the Appalachian trail goes near that area. Most of the trail goes along the mountain ridge. They had one spot that hand gliders would frequent(high point I believe). In the old days people would take their model T's up there for a picnic. I recall a shelter for hikers called Devils racecourse that Explorer Scouts maintained. Along the trail you have an open deposit of rock left from an ice age of the past(as far as you can see in a line). Then some of the nicest hemlocks and spring water to be found.
#5
Better go back and check the weather enroute at the time. It was either mechanical or a perceived threat, my 2 cents.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/03/2011 13:42 Comments ||
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#6
IIRC - there was word of unauthorized air traffic (a single plane) in the cleared flight plan path
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/03/2011 14:06 Comments ||
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#7
Twenty minutes before takeoff? And they couldn't get anybody on the phone at Andrews to scare the guy off? Same with mechanical. The one that seems to fit the 20 minute change best is the perceived threat.
[Dawn] Heavy rains battered vast swathes of the countryside in Sindh during the first three days of Eid, killing 52 people, breaching canals and flooding vast stretches of farmland. The spell came as a bolt from the blue for the countless still living in makeshift shelters after last year's floods rendered them homeless.
The rain spelt misery for many farmers as it devastated cotton, rice paddies and vegetable crops.
The relentless spell wiped out a big number of villages after breaches in canals and saline drains left them at the mercy of the rampaging waters. Thatched houses collapsed, rendering thousands of the poor shelterless and forced to seek refuge in relief camps.
The irrigation network did not escape nature's fury and suffered breaches at a number of points. Sehwan taluka bore the brunt of the onslaught with breaches at eight places.
Ten people died in Benazirabad, eight in Umerkot, five in Naushahro Feroze, four each in Dadu, Tando Allahyar and Mirpurkhas, three each in Shikarpur and Sanghar, two each in Khairpur and Tharparkar districts and one in Hyderabad city.
The rains wreaked havoc in Benazirabad district, leading to death of 10 people and injuring over 20 others.
Four people died and two were maimed in Dadu district when roofs and walls of their houses collapsed on them during heavy rains over the last couple of days.
The rain damaged irrigation network and led to breaches in Dhamrah Wah, Rajwah, Mado Shakh, Saeedpur Shakh, Langhano Shakh, Noorja Shakh, Daim branch and Bambha Shakh in Sehwan taluka, which flooded 30 villages and crops of paddy, cotton and vegetables on thousands of acres.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/03/2011 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11129 views]
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#1
As of a week ago, it was being said that last year's floods were the worst in Pakistan,s national history...I wonder how the two compare now.
[Straits Times] US authorities on Friday sued 17 top US and foreign banks over 'billions of dollars' in losses on mortgage-backed securities that plunged in value in the 2008 financial crisis.
In court filings the Federal Housing Finance Agency alleged that in some cases the lenders committed fraud in selling nearly US$190 billion (S$229 billion) in securities to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which had to be bailed out by the government.
US firms targeted in the suits included Bank of America (BOA), Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, General Electric, Ally Financial and First Horizon.
The foreign banks were Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Credit Suisse, Barclays, Nomura, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Societe Generale.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/03/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Note that at least some of these received billions in stimulus funds. 'bumbles tries to take with one hand that which he gave with the other.
The more movement of funds the more cracks open that baksheesh can drop through to the chosen.
#2
That's why QE3 soon to save Buffett end of September I think. Too big to fail again. Even if we were taxed all our income we still couldn't pay off our debt. Where did Buffett get around $60 million to invest. I guarantee he has a mountain of debt. The governments solution is always print more money. Why?, they can, just like China is doing. They say it will take over a trillion to bail out Europe's banks shortly. So the dollar is here to stay. I am just an average person so I could have made some mistakes here. Sounds to me like a big card game being played.
#3
But wasn't it the government that was telling the banks to make all those bad loans? And then just what the hell were the banks supposed to do?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
09/03/2011 13:28 Comments ||
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#4
O turns on his contributions buddies. It was past presidents and the congress that enabled this financial disaster with forcing banks to make loans to bad risks. Then it was Fannie and Freddie bundled the bad mortgages, then regulators turned a blind eye while these sh*t sandwiches were sold as securities---worldwide. The inverted pyramid of bad debt. Metastable financial equilibrium on steroids.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/03/2011 13:48 Comments ||
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[Straits Times] US banking giant Bank of America is mulling boosting its layoffs to 30,000, triple what was already in the works, the Charlotte Observer, the newspaper of the bank's hometown, said on Friday.
That would mean slashing more than 10 per cent of its workforce, the Observer said, citing unnamed sources in the country's largest bank.
'The Charlotte-based bank could potentially shed 25,000 to 30,000 jobs over several years, the sources said,' according to the report.
'Executives are still working on final plans.'
Posted by: Fred ||
09/03/2011 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11128 views]
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#1
Since Bank of America has been insolvent for so many years, it really out to lay off 100% of its employees and just go out of business, a normal type of thing to happen in what was once known as the free enterprise system. Any given financial institution is not that critical for the economy as a whole, unless they are been declared Too Big To Fail.
#2
The 'final plans' of BofA's executives involved pocketing as much boodle as they can before they jump ship and their company goes under. The top executives of many other corporations have been doing the same for over 20 years now, as they turned stockholders into bagholders.
Surveys conducted by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism among citizens of countries in which Turkey plans to promote itself as a tourist destination next year have revealed how people's perception and image of Turkey differs from one country to the next.
According to data from the ministry's website, Turkey is the most popular and most preferred holiday resort location among citizens of Russia. Some 47 percent of Russians surveyed said they think Turkey is the best country to go on vacation. They said they see Turkey as a civilized holiday destination, with its reasonable prices, quality services and facilities in addition to its historical and cultural venues. Turkey has been the most popular holiday destination for Russians for several years. To Russian survey respondents, Turkey calls to mind words like "sunny," "entertaining," "picturesque," "friendly," "relaxing" and "Mediterranean."
In the United Kingdom, Turkey is associated with its warm climate and cultural wealth. Sixty-eight percent of UK respondents to the survey said they think of Turkey as a sunny country, while 55 percent said they define it as a historical country and 48 percent said they think first of its cultural richness.
Blah, blah, blah about all the other countries whose tourists love the Land of the Ottomans, and then:
Next year the Ministry of Culture and Tourism plans to engage in promotional activities to attract tourists from more countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Egypt, Finland, India, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Malaysia, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Syria and Sweden.
Oddly enough, until last year Turkey had lots of happy Israeli tourists. But then something changed and they all went away.
So the protests aren't a spontaneous grassroots protest. Whose bright idea was it to hire a no-doubt expensive community organizer? And who is paying? Not the tent sitters and concert goers, who after all can't afford decent housing...
Large scale protests / pop concerts dominated by secular Israelis are being held in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem and will include free performances by well known artists. The protesters demand "social justice" and a more equitable economy but their exact demands are not clear.
According to an investigative report by Maariv's Kalman Libeskind, the protests were engineered by a group of media strategists who are directed by prominent Democratic strategist Stanley Greenberg, a former adviser to Bill Clinton, John Kerry and others. Greenberg directed the strategists to create a protest that was not led by one specific group, in order to create social ferment. An unnamed left-wing leader would eventually step into this ferment and take the reins, Greenberg predicted.
The Israeli strategists reportedly include Boaz Gaon, Moshe Gaon and Eldad Yaniv, who worked in Ehud Barak's successful race for Prime Minister in 1999, also in cooperation with Greenberg.
So the protests aren't a spontaneous grassroots protest. Whose bright idea was it to hire a no-doubt expensive community organizer? And who is paying? Not the tent sitters and concert goers, who after all can't afford decent housing...
Large scale protests / pop concerts dominated by secular Israelis are being held in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem and will include free performances by well known artists. The protesters demand "social justice" and a more equitable economy but their exact demands are not clear.
According to an investigative report by Maariv's Kalman Libeskind, the protests were engineered by a group of media strategists who are directed by prominent Democratic strategist Stanley Greenberg, a former adviser to Bill Clinton, John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, the Senate's current foreign policy expert, filling the vacated wingtips of Joe Biden... and others. Greenberg directed the strategists to create a protest that was not led by one specific group, in order to create social ferment. An unnamed left-wing leader would eventually step into this ferment and take the reins, Greenberg predicted.
The Israeli strategists reportedly include Boaz Gaon, Moshe Gaon and Eldad Yaniv, who worked in Ehud Barak's successful race for Prime Minister in 1999, also in cooperation with Greenberg.
This smacks of revenge because so many of the NGOs were revealed to be sock puppets of various European governments and George Soros foundations, not native Israeli movements of conviction at all. Plus lots of willing dupes, there for the excitement and the free concerts. I think it was .com who commented that such rallies, back in the anti-Viet Nam War days, were a great way to get laid.
#4
Oddly enough, the background for the movie Total Recall had the best long term development plan for Mars, that being underground tunnels converted to habitat.
Above ground habitats are just too unreliable and expensive. You can't repair, you have to replace. And nuclear powered tunneling robots can be like Energizer bunnies, continually improving the place.
Eventually, it is likely that some underground caverns or substantial water will be found, which can be used to grow microorganisms for all sorts of purposes, especially to produce oxygen and as fertilizer for agriculture.
#5
Annoymoose that was good. The Japanese manufacture a mole digger now. Tunnels for car traffic or whatever. Large heavy machines but as you suggest with nuclear power and self contained environments, it could be done. They use huge strip mine machines with some as big as a house. You had a Jules Verne moment.
#6
be cheaper to use disposable Norks and Paleos. You KNOW how they love to tunnel
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/03/2011 12:01 Comments ||
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#7
Dale, starting out small scale on the Moon, I figure the best bet is to send a Caterpillar built tunneling robot in a lander designed to be cannibalized for parts. Landing in a crater, it opens up and the tunneling robot heads to a vertical cliff face.
It trails behind it a power cord going to the reactor on the lander, and a conveyor belt that goes underneath the robot, so that as it digs through the rock, the tailings are deposited away from the tunnel entrance. At intervals, it drills into the ceiling and implants extremely strong reinforcing rod, which is standard practice in modern hard rock mining.
It does not have to be fast, just an inch or three a day. Then once it has dug the primary tunnel, while exiting it sprays the tunnel with a sealant against micro-fissures.
Then it returns to the lander, backwards, after detaching the conveyor belt. Its next task is to use a robotic arm on its backside to dismantle the lander for parts that will be used inside the tunnel.
Flooring, walls, ceiling, support members and double pressure doors, the latter being most important, as the robot will hold them in the opening, and its sides will expand to conform to the opening, then make an airtight seal.
After the first, inner door is emplaced, the interior of the tunnel will be pressurized with heated air in the typical nitrogen oxygen mix. It will then be monitored for how long the temperature and pressure are maintained after the rock has warmed. A similar test is then done to the outer pressure door after it has been installed.
The remains of the lander function as a high gain antenna and communications system with Earth. Once the robot has completed its primary mission, it reattaches to the conveyor belt and begins tunneling a second tunnel, parallel to the first.
This will be considerably deeper than the first, and it will be finished on a later mission. Finally, when astronauts arrive, the tunneling robot will be disconnected from the nuclear reactor, and its cable will attach to the outer door frame to provide power to the habitat tunnel.
#8
Annymoose sounds very well thought out. The Japanese mole digger does about a foot or more an interval as I recall. I have to contact a relative to find out exactly. He operated one. The technological advancements will have many benefits.Just look at the many developments from the Apollo space program. It would be nice to do this without people but you may need someone to hit something with a wrench. So many components manufactured in Taiwan supplied by the lowest bidder as they say in the movies. Commercial involvement and investment highly desirable. I can see the oil paintings now hanging on the walls on the off world lobby of the principle backers of this effort. Perhaps body suits as in Dune with multipurpose functions. If water is in the moon then hydrogen fuel can be produced with a by-product of oxygen and maybe the other gases needed. Then to Mars. Yes, I see it can happen.I hope we reach for the stars first.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Heavy rains battered vast swathes of the countryside in Sindh during the first three days of Eid, killing 52 people, breaching canals and flooding vast stretches of farmland. The spell came as a bolt from the blue for the countless still living in makeshift shelters after last year's floods rendered them homeless.
