In case anyone’s still reading this thing after 6 weeks of no updates (sorry!), I’ve got a new project/blog over at mylifewithalaughtrack.com. And by new, I mean “literally just going online right now.”
This blog will continue to not be updated regularly.
Enjoy!
As massive and terrible as BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil disaster is, it’s not the only one:
A leak from Chevron’s underground oil pipeline may have gone undetected for hours as it spilled 50 gallons of crude a minute Saturday into Salt Lake City’s Red Butte Creek.
The oil blackened the east-side creek, stained scores of birds, prompted the closure of Liberty Park and sent oil as far west as the Jordan River.
“This is extremely harmful,” said disgusted resident Peter G. Hayes, a biology teacher who showed oily rocks from his creek-side home to Chevron officials at Liberty Park. “I want to know when are you going to send someone to my backyard and clean up my mess because I can’t even live in my house because of the smell.”
Chevron pledged to clean up the 6-mile mess, but the company could not quantify the damage. As of late Saturday, Chevron said the leak had been stopped. But company representatives could not say when it began, how much oil spilled into city waterways and why — despite pipeline monitors — it apparently took hours to learn of the accident.
This won’t be nearly as bad as the Gulf nor will it get nearly as much media attention, but the consequences of our reliance on oil are still devastating.
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Hahaha, whoops:
In one of the most dizzying half-hours in stock market history, the Dow plunged nearly 1,000 points before paring those losses—all apparently due to a trader error.
According to multiple sources, a trader entered a “b” for billion instead of an “m” for million in a trade possibly involving Procter & Gamble, a component in the Dow.
Sources tell CNBC the erroneous trade may have been made at Citigroup.
“We, along with the rest of the financial industry, are investigating to find the source of today’s market volatility,” Citigroup said in a statement. “At this point we have no evidence that Citi was involved in any erroneous transaction.”
Probably should just keep letting these jerks manipulate global markets without any sort of regulation or oversight, then.
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Because otherwise, this confession might not be admissible in court:
On May 3, 2010, FAISAL SHAHZAD, the defendant, was arrested at the Airport as he attempted to leave the United States by means of a commercial flight to Dubai. After his arrest, SHAHZAD stated that he had recently received bomb-making training in Waziristan, Pakistan. In addition, SHAHZAD admitted that he had brought the Pathfinder to Times Square — and attempted there to detonate it.
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Well, looks like the NYPD and the feds have caught the jerkhole who parked a car bomb in Times Square, and, as it turns out, the schmuck is a naturalized citizen of the United States of America. He’s also a Pakistani-born Muslim, but still, he’s an American, and I’m sure we can all agree that he should be guaranteed his full legal and Constitutional rights and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, right? Maybe someone like, oh I don’t know, John McCain, who was literally thrown in a cage and tortured because he tried to defend these rights for all Americans, will rush to defend the rule of law?
It would have been a serious mistake to have read the suspect in the attempted Times Square car bombing his Miranda rights, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Tuesday.
McCain, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a longtime leading Republican on national security issues, said he expected the suspect in the case could face charges that might warrant a death sentence if convicted.
“Obviously that would be a serious mistake…at least until we find out as much information we have,” McCain said during an appearance on “Imus in the Morning” when asked whether the suspect, 30-year-old Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized American citizen from Pakistan.
“Don’t give this guy his Miranda rights until we find out what it’s all about,” McCain added.
Oh right, I forgot, McCain threw out any principles he might have once held to win the Republican primary in Arizona. My bad. It’s a good thing McCain isn’t a cop because I imagine it would be pretty difficult to convict this guy, let alone seek the death penalty, because Detective John McCain decided that he didn’t need to read his suspect his Miranda rights.
Anyone else want to chime in?
Rep. Peter King (N.Y.), the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, wants to know whether the Justice Department consulted with the intelligence community before they decided to hold his trial in civilian court.
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“I hope that [Attorney General Eric] Holder did discuss this with the intelligence community. If they believe they got enough from him, how much more should they get? Did they Mirandize him? I know he’s an American citizen but still,” King told POLITICO.
“I know he’s an American citizen, but still.” Oh yeah, I think I remember that part of the Constitution from 8th grade civics class. It’s in the preamble, right? Let’s see: justice, domestic tranquility, common defense, general welfare, liberty, posterity… nope, nothing there about “except when we don’t like the guy in which case none of the following counts.”
My God, even Glenn Beck gets that we can’t just throw out the Fifth Amendment because it inconveniences us, even if it might be a popular thing to do. The man who allegedly stuffed his car full of explosives and drove it into the middle of Manhattan must be accorded all of the rights to which he, as an American, is entitled. Our justice system can’t work any other way.
With all of the suicide bombings, earthquakes, and oil spills that have been going on lately, it’s refreshing to hear about a disaster averted:
New York City authorities say they found a potentially powerful bomb in a vehicle in Times Square late Saturday. Swift action by police and city residents averted what could have been a deadly car bombing attack.
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Officials say investigators evacuated Times Square and removed propane tanks, gas containers, commercial-grade fireworks and timing devices from the vehicle.Speaking at a news conference early Sunday, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said if it were not for the swift action of police and city residents, the outcome could have been much worse.
“Let me say that we are very lucky thanks to alert New Yorkers and professional police officers we have avoided what could have been a very deadly event,” he said.
Mayor Bloomberg says the explosive device could have detonated and caused a large fire, but he called the device “amateurish.”
So let’s give this guy a medal and be thankful that the worst possible scenario for New York City didn’t happen last night.
The era of the floppy disk is officially over.
I don’t know how long it’s been since the last time I used a floppy disk, but apparently Sony’s still been making them this whole time. And selling them, to the tune of 12 million disks sold in Japan last year! But I guess it’s far enough into the 21st century for Sony to finally discontinue the floppy disk. Good luck finding somewhere else to put 1.44 MB of files!
Oh, and while we’re nostalg-ing, this:
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