Tales of Interest

[SurfaceUnits]

Hollywood swimsuit model who became 'head of global drugs ring' arrested in Australia after month on run from DEA

Before drugs

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/03/18/article-2116607-12384F99000005DC-845_638x685.jpg

On drugs

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/03/18/article-2116607-12384F79000005DC-647_638x340.jpg


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2116607/Hollywood-swimsuit-model-Simone-Farrow-arrested-Australia-month-run-DEA.html

[SurfaceUnits]

The Bakken formation, initially described by geologist J.W. Nordquist in 1953, is a rock unit from the Late Devonian to Early Mississippian age occupying about 200,000 square miles (520,000 km2) of the subsurface of the Williston Basin, underlying parts of Montana, North Dakota, and Saskatchewan. The formation is entirely in the subsurface, and has no surface outcrop. It is named after Henry Bakken, a farmer in Williston, ND who owned the land where the formation was initally discovered.

Besides being a widespread prolific source rock for oil when thermally mature, there are also significant producible reserves of oil within the Bakken formation itself. Oil was first discovered within the Bakken in 1951, but efforts to produce it have historically met with difficulties. An April 2008 USGS report estimated the amount of technically recoverable oil using technology readily available at the end of 2007 within the Bakken Formation at 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels (680,000,000 m3), with a mean of 3.65 billion. The state of North Dakota also released a report that month which estimated that there are 2.1 billion barrels (330,000,000 m3) of technically recoverable oil in the Bakken. Various other estimates place the total reserves, recoverable and non-recoverable with today's technology, at up to 24 billion barrels. The most recent estimate places the figure at 18 billion barrels.

and the FUDders told us we was gone to run out 12 years ago.

[datachicane]

Criminy, not the Bakken formation again. That thing has spawned more chain emails than a fleet of lonely Nigerian princesses.

The problem isn't whether or not there is oil there- the problem is whether or not it's cost effect to extract the oil. We (historically) imported our oil (or rather, the multinationals that sell us our oil imported it) for precisely the same reason that folks ship at Walmart- it's simply cheaper to ship it halfway around the world than it is to drill for it here, 'cuz the stuff that was cheap and easy to pump here was used up a generation ago. There's also no logical linkage between imported vs. domestic sourcing and consumer pricing, since both are bought and sold on a global market by those same multinationals.

In related news, the U.S. is now a net exporter of petroleum, not an importer. So much for 'drill baby drill'.

[SurfaceUnits]

In related news, the U.S. is now a net exporter of petroleum, not an importer. So much for 'drill baby drill'.that would be refined products, not crude oil
The U.S. is still a colossal net importer of crude oil, in part because overall U.S. oil production has sharply plunged from its peak back in the 1960s

Apparently things aren't as dire as you'd wish

Strippers In Williston, North Dakota Raking In $2,000 Per Night In Tips

O0OJeplnzEg

[SurfaceUnits]

US Crude Oil Imports (Top 15 Countries)
(Thousand Barrels per Day)
Country Sep-11 Aug-11 YTD 2011 Sep-10 YTD 2010
CANADA 2,324 2,240 2,157 1,937 1,971
SAUDI ARABIA 1,465 1,075 1,180 1,082 1,072
MEXICO 1,099 1,150 1,113 1,108 1,132
VENEZUELA 759 806 893 919 928
NIGERIA 529 854 826 1,107 1,018
COLOMBIA 510 365 364 308 328
IRAQ 403 637 473 422 464
ECUADOR 299 303 203 229 215
ANGOLA 283 311 323 404 413
RUSSIA 275 252 246 286 295
BRAZIL 163 213 225 177 270
KUWAIT 145 165 164 172 204
ALGERIA 139 140 204 366 337
CHAD 74 32 54 30 14
OMAN 72 52 39 0 0

ftp://ftp.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html


http://www.eia.gov/oog/info/twip/twip_feature.jpg

http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/reserves/

[datachicane]

that would be refined products, not crude oil
The U.S. is still a colossal net importer of crude oil, in part because overall U.S. oil production has sharply plunged from its peak back in the 1960s

Apparently things aren't as dire as you'd wish


What makes you think I'd wish things to be 'dire'?
:saywhat:

Why do you think domestic production has dropped? No paranoia here, it's just simple economics. US production dropped because the easy stuff has already been tapped, and the remaining resources, sizable though they may be, are more expensive to extract. In any case, those who equate realistic levels of increased domestic production with lower prices aren't paying attention to the world oil markets. Oil production (and therefore market prices) are managed- that's the whole point of OPEC. The companies that extract and sell it to you couldn't care less where it came from.

[SurfaceUnits]

Easy is a relative term. Jed Clampett's oil strike was easy. Driving up to the site in your GMC Sierra is easy compared to your grandpa's model T

Just a rumor that the strategic reserves were going to be tapped caused the price to drop

[Napoleon]

There's also no logical linkage between imported vs. domestic sourcing and consumer pricing, since both are bought and sold on a global market by those same multinationals.

I wonder how many people who are screaming about approving the Keystone XL Pipeline realize that it begins in a foreign country (my guess is most people do) and ends in the Port Arthur Texas Foreign Trade Zone (my guess is few do). It is actually designed not to bring additional resources to the US.

[KLang]

I wonder how many people who are screaming about approving the Keystone XL Pipeline realize that it begins in a foreign country (my guess is most people do) and ends in the Port Arthur Texas Foreign Trade Zone (my guess is few do). It is actually designed not to bring additional resources to the US.

Those resources are to go to refineries down here. Unless you don't consider Texas in the US?

[Indy]

Those resources are to go to refineries down here. Unless you don't consider Texas in the US?

I don't, but that is a topic for another thread. On another site. :rofl:

[Napoleon]

Those resources are to go to refineries down here

Specifically it is my understanding that it goes to a Valero refinery that sits in a federal tax free zone in Port Artur Texas which means as long as they then ship the product to some place other then a part of the US outside the Port Arthur foreign trade zone they avoid paying federal tax on it. It is as if that refinery is located in Mexico or Venezuela.

[Ankf00]

Easy is a relative term. Jed Clampett's oil strike was easy. Driving up to the site in your GMC Sierra is easy compared to your grandpa's model T

Just a rumor that the strategic reserves were going to be tapped caused the price to drop

you won't find a single professional in industry who won't agree with datachicane that easy/cheap oil is gone. the bakken is a tight play, and oil is almost to $110. $110 oil makes a lot of projects feasible, including farming Bitumen



Specifically it is my understanding that it goes to a Valero refinery that sits in a federal tax free zone in Port Artur Texas which means as long as they then ship the product to some place other then a part of the US outside the Port Arthur foreign trade zone they avoid paying federal tax on it. It is as if that refinery is located in Mexico or Venezuela.

DFW airport is a free trade zone, but I don't see how Amazon's warehouse inside the 25mi FTZ fails to provide business and jobs. There's a lot of FTZ's around the country.

the XL segment is slated for PAT b/c that's where the facilities that can process this quality crude are located.

[SurfaceUnits]

you won't find a single professional in industry who won't agree with datachicane that easy/cheap oil is gone.



buncha little female body parts. So they think driving a team of mules pulling a wagon loaded with supplies and equipment to the drill site was easy?

It's just that the oil that somebody else did all the hard work is running out and now by golly I might have to do some work to get some more

[SurfaceUnits]

I don't, but that is a topic for another thread. On another site. :rofl:

So how are the little Adolf's doing? Everybody marching in goose step? Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei

[KLang]

Specifically it is my understanding that it goes to a Valero refinery that sits in a federal tax free zone in Port Artur Texas which means as long as they then ship the product to some place other then a part of the US outside the Port Arthur foreign trade zone they avoid paying federal tax on it. It is as if that refinery is located in Mexico or Venezuela.

No idea about taxes but the local issue is JOBS.

[Ankf00]

buncha little female body parts. So they think driving a team of mules pulling a wagon loaded with supplies and equipment to the drill site was easy?

It's just that the oil that somebody else did all the hard work is running out and now by golly I might have to do some work to get some more

[Ankf00]

buncha little female body parts. So they think driving a team of mules pulling a wagon loaded with supplies and equipment to the drill site was easy?

It's just that the oil that somebody else did all the hard work is running out and now by golly I might have to do some work to get some more

You're talking narrative. I'm talking geology & technology. Have fun with that.

[Indy]

So how are the little Adolf's doing? Everybody marching in goose step? Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei

I am not really sure what you mean by that, but I'll bet I despise all things Texas more than Hitler did. :rofl:

That being said, last time I was there I stayed in Dallas and had a nice time. I had to keep reminding myself that I was in a foreign country. :laugh:

[datachicane]

I hear Austin's nice.

[SurfaceUnits]

You're talking narrative. I'm talking geology & technology. Have fun with that. Satellite mapping, GPS, helicopters, Cummins diesels, and the best technology money could ever buy. I doubt they have it tougher than their predecessors.

[datachicane]

Satellite mapping, GPS, helicopters, Cummins diesels, and the best technology money could ever buy. I doubt they have it tougher than their predecessors.

Nothing is impossible for the person that doesn't have to do it.

Nah, I'm sure you're right. It can't possibly be simple market forces- it's gotta be some convoluted conspiracy if it contradicts whatever arbitrary opinion you've subscribed to.

[datachicane]

Reality check:


A statistical analysis of 36 years of monthly, inflation-adjusted gasoline prices and U.S. domestic oil production by The Associated Press shows no statistical correlation between how much oil comes out of U.S. wells and the price at the pump.

Link (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DRILL_NOW_FACT_CHECK?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-03-21-15-00-49)

[Ankf00]

Satellite mapping, GPS, helicopters, Cummins diesels, and the best technology money could ever buy. I doubt they have it tougher than their predecessors.

satellite mapping and GPS? srsly?


:rofl:



helicopters? :rofl: :rofl:

why didn't you say so!

[SurfaceUnits]

satellite mapping and GPS? srsly?


:rofl:



helicopters? :rofl: :rofl:

why didn't you say so!

so as to not piss off the oldtimers who still like to ride horses to the drill sites

[SurfaceUnits]

Nothing is impossible for the person that doesn't have to do it.

Nah, I'm sure you're right. It can't possibly be simple market forces- it's gotta be some convoluted conspiracy if it contradicts whatever arbitrary opinion you've subscribed to.

it doesn't matter, when you can use the US government and military to neutralise your economic opponents

[Ankf00]

so as to not piss off the oldtimers who still like to ride horses to the drill sites

in other words, you don't know what "easy oil" and "difficult oil" is. has nothing to do with donkey carts, helos, and your ipad.

[SurfaceUnits]

Apparently other people don't know how difficult the easy was

are yous guys still helping Howard and LeeRoy in their search for dubya imm dees in eye rack

[cameraman]

Apparently other people don't know how difficult the easy was

What you can't seem to wrap your brain around is the oil that they are drilling for now was impossible to get a decade ago. The drilling/extraction technology did not exist. If someone could have just driven their rig to North Dakota, bored a hole in the ground and come up with oil in 1965 you don't think that they would have done it?

[Ankf00]

Apparently other people don't know how difficult the easy was


which has absolutely 0 to do with recoverable reserve capacity and the commodity's market valuation.

you never go full-Defender. never.

[SurfaceUnits]

What you can't seem to wrap your brain around is the oil that they are drilling for now was impossible to get a decade ago. The drilling/extraction technology did not exist. If someone could have just driven their rig to North Dakota, bored a hole in the ground and come up with oil in 1965 you don't think that they would have done it?

No, they was in the middle of getting that easy oil, why would they want to do any work?
And if they did, someone would have tapped them on the shoulder and pointed them back towards the easy oil.

[datachicane]

you never go full-Defender. never.


:rofl:

[extramundane]

you never go full-Defender. never.

Holy crap. :rofl:

[Don Quixote]

2-foot long dog (http://news.yahoo.com/texas-rangers-serve-2-foot-long-hot-dog-002332423.html)

Tejas Rangers. I would order one of these just to annoy my wife. :thumbup: :thumbup:

[SteveH]

Local Man Is a Hero Thanks to His Knowledge Of Pulp Fiction (http://www.iywib.com/local_man_saves_day_by_quoting_pulp_fiction.php)

[Andrew Longman]

It is was it is.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/jim-deegan/index.ssf/2012/03/justin_hineline_obituary_tells.html

Or perhaps I should have said he was who he was and was loved for whatever reason he was.

Life, and death, sometimes sucks and is rarely perfect.

[Elmo T]

Or perhaps I should have said he was who he was and was loved for whatever reason he was.

Life, and death, sometimes sucks and is rarely perfect.

:thumbup:

I cringe at funerals when I hear some representative of the church (and this covers ALL denominations) begin to speak about the deceased - like they knew them so well. :shakehead And it is always in such a cloying manner.

We loved our departed friends and family - warts and all. Nice to see someone be honest.

[SurfaceUnits]

Shepard Fairey, Creator Of The Obama "Hope" Poster, Looked Rather Dour When Posing For His Federal Mug Shot

Meet Shepard Fairey.

The famed street artist who created the Barack Obama “Hope” poster is pictured here in a United States Marshals Service mug shot snapped last month. On February 24, Fairey, 42, pleaded guilty to a federal criminal contempt charge stemming from copyright litigation brought by the Associated Press.

Fairey copped to destroying electronic records and creating phony documents in an attempt to stymie the lawsuit, which accused him of basing the Obama artwork on an AP photo.

Scheduled to be sentenced July 6, Fairey faces a maximum of six months in prison on the misdemeanor count. His USMS booking photo was released today in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/shepard-fairey-mug-shot-293461

[Gnam]

Grab the Airplane and Go
May 2010

A U.S. financier had hired Popovich to snatch a Boeing 720 from a tour operator in Haiti who was in default. ...Nick showed up around midnight with an air starter (720s lack an onboard auxiliary power unit to start engines). The field had been closed for hours when the team fired up the big turbofans. As he began adding power, Popovich says, “I saw the first tracer rounds streak over the top of the airplane.”

http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/Grab-the-Airplane-and-Go.html?c=y&page=1

for more about Sage-Popovich:
An earlier story from June 2009:
http://www.salon.com/2009/06/06/lear_jet_repo_man/

'Airplane Repo' on the Discovery Channel is a show about their operations.

[Andrew Longman]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/28/jetblue-pilot-suspended-idUSL2E8ESWYX20120328

Picked a bad day to stop sniffing glue?

[Gnam]

I wonder if we'll ever know what tipped off the co-pilot that the pilot was unhinged?

Still, when a little kid locks you out of your own car, it can be frustrating. ;)

[EDwardo]

This is some amazing video with sound of a shuttle launch filmed from a booster rocket. Turn up the sound!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=2aCOyOvOw5c

[Napoleon]

I wonder if we'll ever know what tipped off the co-pilot that the pilot was unhinged?

On the broadcast news they said something to the effect that he was doing things like operating controls in the cockpit that he should not have or in some kind of wrong manner and it caused a lot of concern in the co-pilot. So he then went about talking the pilot into taking a trip to the bathroom. When he did the co-pilot locked him out to keep him away from the controls.

[Napoleon]

Giant R2-D2 (http://www.bitrebels.com/geek/giant-r2-d2-best-college-observatory-prank-ever/)

[gjc2]

This is some amazing video with sound of a shuttle launch filmed from a booster rocket. Turn up the sound!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=2aCOyOvOw5c

That was incredible

[SurfaceUnits]

Visa and MasterCard warn of "Massive" Breach at Card Processor


Visa and MasterCard are warning of what they call a “massive breach” that could involve as many as 10 million compromised card numbers.

The breach occurred between January 21, 2012 and February 25th 2012. They say that this information, known as full Track 1 and Track 2 data, could be used to counterfeit new cards.

They are not saying which U.S based processor was the actual source but the affected banks are now analyzing the data hoping to find points of purchase.

According to KrebsonSecurity:
“It’s not clear how many cards were breached in the processor attack, but a sampling from one corner of the industry provides some perspective. On Wednesday, PSCU — a provider of online financial services to credit unions — said it alerted 482 credit unions that appear to have had cards impacted by the breach, and that a total of 56,455 member VISA and MasterCard accounts were compromised. PSCU said fraudulent activity had been detected on a relatively small number of those cards — 876 accounts — and that the activity was geographically dispersed.”

As always one should be diligent by keeping a secure login to their bank account and other sensitive online financial accounts and check them regularly for anything suspicious. Majorgeeks likes to use RoboForm Everywhere to create secure passwords and login safely. It is free for 30 days and 10 logins but for $9.99 you really can’t beat it for having that extra layer of security online.

Update 1:
There is no mention of whether this is credit or debit cards (just the word "cards") so as of right now we assume this means both.

Update 2:
According to KrebsonSecurity: “Sources at two different major financial institutions said the transactions that most of the cards they analyzed seem to have in common are that they were used in parking garages in and around the New York City area."

[Gnam]

jeez. It's like a reverse Mega millions lottery.

You hope your number doesn't come up.

[TravelGal]

Catching up on emails from while I was away. From April 3 ARTA briefing:

Dutch Flying Car Concludes Test Flights
Dutch company PAL-V Europe has concluded test flights of its flying car, the PAL-V

(Personal Air and Land Vehicle). The patented vehicle flies in the air like a gyrocopter

with lift generated by an auto-rotating rotor and forward speed is produced by a foldable push propeller on the back. On the road it drives like a sports car. No new infrastructure is required because it uses existing roads and airstrips. A team of top engineers has been working on the first prototypes. Renowned institutes such as the Dutch National Aerospace Laboratory and Delft University were involved in the development. The driving prototype was fully tested in 2009 and now the flying-driving prototype made its first flights. The PAL-V complies with existing regulations in all major markets, so the vehicle is allowed both in road traffic and in the air. A PAL-V offers the choice of flying like a plane or driving like a car. This means fast door-to-door mobility for private individuals as well as professionals and organisations. The flying range will be between 220 miles and 315 miles, depending on the type and pay load. Driving, a PAL-V, which accelerates like a sports car, will have a range of about 750 miles. It runs on gasoline and there will also be versions that use biodiesel or bio-ethanol. It can reach speeds of up to 110 miles both on land and in the air. The company claims the aerodynamic, three-wheeled vehicle combines the comfort of a car with the agility of a motorcycle thanks to its patented, cutting-edge, 'tilting' system. Flying, a PAL-V is like a standard gyrocopter. It is quieter than helicopters due to the slower rotation of the rotor. It takes off and lands with low speed, cannot stall, and is very easy to control. The company claims this makes a PAL-V one of the safest types of aircraft. Obtaining a licence requires only 20 to 30 hours of training.

[Methanolandbrats]

^^^most people cannot even parallel park a regular car, these things would be slicing people up on a daily basis and falling out of the sky like fall leaves. :rofl:

[stroker]

^^^most people cannot even parallel park a regular car, these things would be slicing people up on a daily basis and falling out of the sky like fall leaves. :rofl:

Methinks the insurance costs would weed out the wankers significantly.

[TKGAngel]

This might be of interest to those of you with girl children: the average spend on prom this year is $1,078. (http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/172410/prom-is-the-new-wedding-with-average-layout-of-1.html) :eek:

Start saving, my friends.

[cameraman]

Perhaps the best BBC News caption you will ever, ever see


http://a.yfrog.com/img857/345/rwojr.jpg

[Napoleon]

There is a market for Rasputin impersonators?

[G.]

Four minute video of a jeep disassembly, and reassembly. In a parade.

It's pretty cool, but you may decide to spend your 4 minutes doing something else. :\

http://www.wimp.com/rebuildjeep/

[Elmo T]

Buried Treasure: World War II Spitfires To Be Unearthed in Burma (http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/04/17/buried-treasure-world-war-ii-spitfires-to-be-unearthed-in-burma/?hpt=hp_t2)


After a decade and a half of searching, he finally managed to locate the missing airplanes, which had never been flown and were indeed buried while still in their transport crates. “We sent a borehole down and used a camera to look at the crates. They seemed to be in good condition,” Cundall told the Telegraph.

[Gnam]

Wonder what a mint-in-box Spitfire is worth? :p

[Don Quixote]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/energy-environment/forest-service-considering-explosives-to-get-rid-of-frozen-cows-in-colorado-mountain-cabin/2012/04/17/gIQAr7m4NT_story.html (http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/energy-environment/forest-service-considering-explosives-to-get-rid-of-frozen-cows-in-colorado-mountain-cabin/2012/04/17/gIQAr7m4NT_story.html)

Might I suggest a chainsaw.....

[TravelGal]

The cabin is located near the Conundrum Hot Springs,

Appropriately named, I see.

[cameraman]

Somebody needs to find the video of the "disposal" of that dead whale in Oregon in the 1960's...

found it

y6lTSxJvR4w

[TravelGal]

Oopsie. From today's ARTA newsletter. Don't know if it made the news when it happened....

Pilot mistakes Venus for another plane

A sleepy Air Canada pilot first mistook the planet Venus for an aircraft, and then sent his airliner diving toward the Atlantic to prevent an imaginary collision with another plane, the Canadian Transportation Safety Board has reported. Sixteen passengers and crew were hurt in the January 2011 incident. "Under the effects of significant sleep inertia (when performance and situational awareness are degraded immediately after waking up), the first officer perceived the oncoming aircraft as being on a collision course and began a descent to avoid it," Canada's Transportation Safety Board said. The incident occurred at night on board a Boeing 767 plane flying from Toronto to Zurich. "The FO (First Officer) initially mistook the planet Venus for an aircraft but the captain advised again that the target was at the 12 o'clock position (straight ahead) and 1,000 feet below," said the report.

[nissan gtp]

Somebody needs to find the video of the "disposal" of that dead whale in Oregon in the 1960's...

found it

y6lTSxJvR4w

hahaha awesome :rofl:

[Andrew Longman]

Somebody needs to find the video of the "disposal" of that dead whale in Oregon in the 1960's...

I have been using that video for 25+ years to teach people the benefit of asking the question, "if we do this, what could go wrong?"

Basic risk management stuff.

[Methanolandbrats]

I have been using that video for 25+ years to teach people the benefit of asking the question, "if we do this, what could go wrong?"

Basic risk management stuff.

Aw, you are no fun, the stuff that goes wrong is usually the things memories are made of. :D

[Andrew Longman]

Somebody needs to find the video of the "disposal" of that dead whale in Oregon in the 1960's...

I have been using that video for 25+ years to teach people the benefit of asking the question, "if we do this, what could go wrong?"

Basic risk management stuff.

[datachicane]

Exploding whales? Animal House (sadly demolished)? Nurse Ratchet's hospital? A cross-dressing Mayor (actually a pretty cool guy)? Awesomeness like this? (http://www.offcamber.net/forums/showthread.php?t=16536) A town with a great Shakespeare festival and a persistent public nudity problem, even in the 4th of July parade?

Come see scenic Oregon. We get all of the cool stuff. :thumbup:

[Elmo T]

Photo borrowed from Museum of US Air Force FB page. Celebrating the anniversary of the Doolittle Raiders. Five surviving members were slated to attend. :thumbup:

http://i40.tinypic.com/our1w1.jpg

[indyfan31]

I believe four of them made it to the ceremony, they are in their 90s now.
http://www.moosepeterson.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/DPWPAF3263.jpg

[Gnam]

Those planes make the aircraft carrier look tiny.
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/misc-42/dooltl.htm

http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/3576/h53420.jpg

[dando]

Somebody needs to find the video of the "disposal" of that dead whale in Oregon in the 1960's...

found it

y6lTSxJvR4w

As God as my witness I thought turkeys could fly.

:D

-Kevin

[Gnam]

A sad story, but a good reminder about the power of the ocean.


The tale of the Low Speed Chase

Even when the boat rounded South Farallon Island in a gap between a violent surf break and the rocky shore, the situation didn’t seem abnormal, Chong said. Suddenly, and without much warning, the boat was in the path of a large wave.

“It’s coming from the same direction as the other swells, but it’s massive,” Chong wrote. “I’ve seen large waves before, but this is unlike anything I’ve even seen outside of big-wave surf videos.”

The wave tossed the 15,000-pound boat high on the island’s rocks, where it stayed until Monday, when a helicopter airlifted it to Half Moon Bay.

“People have asked me if I swam for shore,” Chong said. “The best way to describe the water in the break zone is a washing machine filled with boulders. You don’t really swim. The water took me where it wanted to take me.”

http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2012/04/24/farallones-survivor-sailors-must-rethink-safety/

Five sailors drowned and three were rescued from the rocks. At the end of the story is a video taken from another boat 1 hour before the accident that shows the conditions that day. A huge wave rolls by at the 5:30 mark, but I'm guessing it was tiny compared to the one that flipped the Low Speed Chase. :eek:

[Napoleon]

Why it stinks to be an ex-Beatle. (http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/07/how-mad-men-landed-the-beatles-all-you-need-is-love-and-250000/)

[Andrew Longman]

Whoops. Not so super... Jet. Not the PR you want

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2012/0509/Russian-plane-goes-missing-in-Indonesia-dealing-blow-to-aviation-industry-video
.

Some reports said there were 44 people on board, others 50, including its eight-member Russian crew. Many of the passengers were aviation journalists and representatives of Asian airline companies that have been considering purchases of the new aircraft. The plane had previously visited Myanmar, Pakistan, and Kazakhstan. After Jakarta it was supposed to go to Laos and Vietnam.

:(

[cameraman]

Flew straight into the side of the mountain.:saywhat:

http://img.ksl.com/apimage/c5ca96c2-a0eb-48cc-aa56-485775f33b7b.jpg?filter=ksl/story_635

Why they descended to 6000' near a 7200' volcano is anyone's guess.

[Elmo T]

Flew straight into the side of the mountain.:saywhat:


:(


Remember one thing, the Pk (Probability of kill) of the ground is always 100%.

— origin unknown, but a much used philosophy by the instructors at the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC) in Fallon, NV.

[nrc]

British P40 found in the Sahara desert.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2142300/Crashed-plane-Second-World-War-pilot-Dennis-Copping-discovered-Sahara-desert.html

[Gnam]

US Navy amphibious assault ship USS Essex pulls a crazy ivan on its refueling ship USNS Yukon off the coast of California and causes a minor collision. That would be a big bang.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/17/11740800-us-navy-ships-collide-off-california-coast-after-steering-malfunction?lite

[Gnam]

Sports conspiracy theories:
http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/hruby-tuesday/201205/conspiracy-theory-david-stern-michael-phelps-patrick-ewing-michael-jordan

The author may be paranoid, but the 2002 NBA Championship was rigged. :D

[Elmo T]

Recent photos (relatively) of the Lady Be Good. I didn't know so much was salvaged or removed from the desert.

Lady Be Good (http://rommelinlibya.com/ladybegood/lbgphotos.html)

[Napoleon]

Recent photos (relatively) of the Lady Be Good. I didn't know so much was salvaged or removed from the desert.

Lady Be Good (http://rommelinlibya.com/ladybegood/lbgphotos.html)

For whatever reason, I loved reading about that plane when I was a kid.

[SurfaceUnits]

"Southern Utopia: The Rise and Fall of Commonwealth College"

Arkansas’s most famous attempt at radical labor education was the accidental by-product of natural beauty, cheap land, and desperation. Commonwealth College was established in 1923 at Newllano Cooperative Colony near Leesville, Louisiana. Its founders were Kate Richards O’Hare, her husband Frank, and William E. Zeuch, all socialists and lifelong adherents of the principles established by Eugene V. Debs (A relative of the disfunctional George family?).

http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=10#

:gomer:

[SurfaceUnits]

75 year old has fastest home broadband
40 gig for Silver Surfer
By Nick Farrell

A 75 year old woman from Karlstad in Sweden has been supplied with the world's fastest home internet connection.

Sigbritt Löthberg's has a 40 gigabits per second connection which is the first time ever that a home user had such bandwidth to play with.

Sigbritt, who had never had a computer until now,

Source: The Inquirer (http://s.tt/1cRjv)

[SurfaceUnits]

As Jesus Diaz of Gizmodo explains, this optical illusion is one of the weirdest, freakiest brain phenomenon you’ll ever experience. What I’m about to show you is called the flashed face distortion effect, and if you just follow the instructions at the beginning of this video you’ll be able to experience it yourselves.

http://www.moillusions.com/2011/07/video-pretty-girls-turn-ugly.html

[G.]

As Jesus Diaz of Gizmodo explains, this optical illusion is one of the weirdest, freakiest brain phenomenon you’ll ever experience. What I’m about to show you is called the flashed face distortion effect, and if you just follow the instructions at the beginning of this video you’ll be able to experience it yourselves.

http://www.moillusions.com/2011/07/video-pretty-girls-turn-ugly.html

That's worth a watch!



That IS bizarre, but I bet that if they showed them centered a different way, it might not be as pronounced. Also, I bet the order has a lot to do with it.

Also, the order seems to favor showing maximum difference between each face structure, ie., small chin followed by big chin, low nose followed by high nose.

(tinfoilhat - they're all the SAME eyes! Most are blue. Don't know that many blue-eyed people. But they say that they're not altered...).

[datachicane]

New car shopping time, offered without comment.

http://knoxville.craigslist.org/cto/3091802234.html

http://images.craigslist.org/5Ie5E15H43Ee3Kc3F5c6lb403cf3087661f99.jpg

[Elmo T]

Better selection of cars here:

Reserves from H.S.H the Prince of Monaco's Private Collection of Cars (http://www.artcurial.com/en/asp/searchresults.asp?pg=1&ps=18&st=D&sale_no=2231+++)

[Gnam]

A Dodge Dart? Double-u, Tee, Eff?

http://www.artcurial.com/en/asp/fullcatalogue.asp?salelot=2231+++++++2+&refno=10399573

Still, that's a pretty good yard sale. :thumbup:

[nrc]

Spoiled Rotten - why do kids rule the roost.

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2012/07/02/120702crbo_books_kolbert


With the exception of the imperial offspring of the Ming dynasty and the dauphins of pre-Revolutionary France, contemporary American kids may represent the most indulged young people in the history of the world. It’s not just that they’ve been given unprecedented amounts of stuff—clothes, toys, cameras, skis, computers, televisions, cell phones, PlayStations, iPods. (The market for Burberry Baby and other forms of kiddie “couture” has reportedly been growing by ten per cent a year.) They’ve also been granted unprecedented authority. “Parents want their kids’ approval, a reversal of the past ideal of children striving for their parents’ approval,” Jean Twenge and W. Keith Campbell, both professors of psychology, have written. In many middle-class families, children have one, two, sometimes three adults at their beck and call.

[dando]

Spoiled Rotten - why do kids rule the roost.

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2012/07/02/120702crbo_books_kolbert

Ain't been in my hizzy. :) However, Nana & Papa do their best to support this assessment with all of the crap they buy. :saywhat: :mad:

-Kevin

[cameraman]

I'll give you that my kid has a very nice life but he most assuredly isn't in charge. No is still no and he knows it.

[stroker]

A Dodge Dart? Double-u, Tee, Eff?

http://www.artcurial.com/en/asp/fullcatalogue.asp?salelot=2231+++++++2+&refno=10399573

Still, that's a pretty good yard sale. :thumbup:

I like that guy!

[Elmo T]

Slightly NSFW audio from this (http://www.nbcchicago.com/video/#!/news/top-stories/video-override/Cell-Video--Chatham-Apartment-Building-Blaze/160394545) apartment fire in Chicago. Your know its going to be bad when you hear a radio report like this:

lnhylUJZCpE

[Gnam]

Was this the fire?


The fire started shortly after 5 a.m. in the building in the 700 block of East 82nd Street, possibly in a stairwell of the four-story building, and burned through the top floor, officials said.

http://www.firehouse.com/news/10734553/four-injured-in-chicago-extra-alarm-apartment-fire

Sounds like the fire department got there just in time.

[Elmo T]

Was this the fire?


Sounds like the fire department got there just in time.



Same one - video here:

http://www.nbcchicago.com/video/#!/news/top-stories/video-override/Cell-Video--Chatham-Apartment-Building-Blaze/160394545

[Elmo T]

Philly sucks less than Detroit. :rofl:

Detroit vs. Philadelphia: Underdogs duke it out (http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/22/travel/smackdown-detroit-philadelphia-philly/index.html?hpt=hp_bn10)

[Andrew Longman]

Philly sucks less than Detroit. :rofl:

Detroit vs. Philadelphia: Underdogs duke it out (http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/22/travel/smackdown-detroit-philadelphia-philly/index.html?hpt=hp_bn10)

Philly has come light years in the last 15-20 years. Put aside North Philly and IMO its a pretty great city.

Detroit? It needs 15-20 years. ;) and I have always rooted for Detroit .

[Gnam]

Helium shortage to cause balloon prices to rise. :rimshot: :p


Yet the American reserve is in danger. Between 10 and 12 billion cubic feet of recoverable helium are expected to remain in the reservoir by the end of 2014, Walter Nelson, director of helium sourcing for Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., told the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in May. "At current production rates of about 2 billion cubic feet per year, the reservoir could continue to produce helium for five to six more years." But, he said, the computer modeling that predicts the amount of helium the reservoir will be able to produce, considering its complex geology, has determined that the reservoir production rates "will decline to approximately 1 billion cubic feet per year after 2014," he said. "As a result, the usable life of the reservoir will be extended to 2018 or perhaps even 2020."

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/med-tech/why-is-there-a-helium-shortage-10031229?click=pm_latest

What are those poor bastards who run the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade going to do?

[dando]

Helium shortage to cause balloon prices to rise. :rimshot: :p



What are those poor bastards who run the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade going to do?

Yeah, that's actually old news. This was reported a few years back and the cost of those portable helium tank thingies in party stores doubled. :saywhat: The price of those Mickey balloons Elmo likes so much :gomer: must be $20 now compared to the $10 I paid back in 2007...@ least the balloon lasted like a month, tho.

-Kevin

[Methanolandbrats]

^^^ just fill the baloons with hydrogen and keep them away from the candles on the cake :gomer:

[trish]

Tough Sentence for Fatal Drifting Accident (http://autos.aol.com/article/punishment-for-fatal-accident-driver-will-be-executed/?ncid=txtlnkusauto00000020)
Mutannish had been engaged in the Saudi pastime of drifting, making his car spin and skid at high speeds, when he lost control and plowed into a crowd of men.

They haven't scheduled the beheading yet.

[SurfaceUnits]

In The UK, You Will Go To Jail Not Just For Encryption, But For Astronomical Noise, Too

There was some surprise in the comments of yesterday’s post over the fact that the United Kingdom has effectively outlawed encryption: the UK will send its citizens to jail for up to five years if they cannot produce the key to an encrypted data set.

You will be sent to jail for refusing to give up encryption keys, regardless of whether you have them or not. Five years of jail if it’s a terrorism investigation (or child porn, apparently), two years otherwise. It’s fascinating – there are four excuses that keep coming back for every single dismantling of democracy. It’s terrorism, child porn, file sharing, and organized crime. You cannot fight these by dismantling civil liberties – they’re just used as convenient excuses.

We knew that this was the next step in the cat-and-mouse game over privacy, right? It starts with the government believing they have a right to interfere into any one of your seven privacies if they want to and find it practical. The next step, of course, is that the citizens protect themselves from snooping – at which point some bureaucrat will confuse the government’s ability to snoop on citizen’s lives for a right to snoop on citizen’s lives at any time, and create harsh punishments for any citizens who try to keep a shred of their privacy. This is not a remotely dystopic scenario; as we see, it has already happened in the UK.

http://falkvinge.net/2012/07/12/in-the-uk-you-will-go-to-jail-not-just-for-encryption-but-for-astronomical-noise-too/

[cameraman]

England does not have a first amendment. I don't know why you are even remotely surprised by that policy.