What has long been dreamed is, apparently, being tested by Google. Wow!
Saturday, October 09, 2010
Friday, October 08, 2010
CNN Poll: Was Bush better president than Obama? – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs
At the least, this tells me what we all ought to remember at election time: It is far easier to run for office that to run the office once you’ve won.
CNN Poll: Was Bush better president than Obama? – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs
Monday, October 04, 2010
Pantagraph.com | Blogs & Columns
This is a great story of a really happy ending to a home invasion 011 call.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Human-powered aircraft makes aviation history by becoming the first to fly using flapping wings | Mail Online
“I just got in from Dallas, and Boy are my arms tired…” (It had to be said, didn’t it?)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
What to make of Seahawks' opener - NFC West Blog - ESPN
This blog by Mike Sando of ESPN nailed several things, in my opinion, that were keys to the Seahawks drubbing of the 49ers. The biggest concern I had going into the game was pass protection. I thought that with Okung out, and the sudden resignation of the O line coach, Matt might be injured or at least a sack puppet. What happened was far different. The line held up, the receivers did a great job, and Hasselbeck was all the things he is: A PRO-BOWL quarterback who has been pounded, rushed, hit, hurried and unable to throw a route that took longer than one second to develop, check down to any further read than perhaps number two in his progressions.
I saw very good offense, very good defense, resilience and toughness when pressed. I saw a very good set of coaches adapt during the game, keep the team believing in what they were doing. Mike Singletary is a powerful NFL figure and in this case I thought he lost his team when the pig stuff started to fly. It made Pete Carroll’s feat of keeping his team on the rails just that much more impressive.
On a slow, bluish day tending to gloom…
On a slow, bluish day, tending to gloom,
Stumble Upon provided a view.
A view of a place looking nothing like here,
a place exotic, sun-drenched and clear.
I find it surprising, when I slow and take note,
that treating a mood may have a simple antidote.
(Apologies, the “verse” is sadly my own)
Monday, September 13, 2010
Britain's Oldest Person Dies Aged 111
Derek Andrews
Annie Turnbull has died just twenty days short of her 112nd birthday in a care home in Scotland, with one of her two daughters by her side. She also had four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Born when Queen Victoria was on the throne, she lived through Two World Wars, twenty-six Prime Ministers and four Monarchs. She will have received a congratulatory birthday telegram from Her Majesty on thirteen occasions starting on her 100th birthday.
Annie spent most of her working life in "service" and met Rudyard Kipling.
She only moved into the care home at age 109, having lived in sheltered accommodation (independent living but with a warden available) since age 92. Until she moved to the sheltered housing she had not known running water. Now at this point I have to say that I do not know why that was the case unless she perhaps lived in a very remote area; a farm or something similar.
I thought it might be fun to see what was happening in the world every decade she celebrated her birthday, so here goes:
- September 1898: The Spanish-American War was in full swing.
- September 1908: Henry Ford produces the first Model T Ford.
- September 1918: Boston Red Sox defeat the Chicago Cubs for the 1918 World Series championship, their last World Series win until 2004. First World War ends in November.
- September 1928: Alexander Fleming invents penicillin.
- September 1938: War looms again but meanwhile Orson Welles's radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds is broadcast, causing panic in various parts of the United States.
- September 1948: The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is formally declared, with Kim Il-sung as Prime Minister. Earlier in the year Miranda, the innermost moon of Uranus, is discovered. (Eventually all U.S. police officers would need to read those arrested their rights whilst staring into the Heavens.)
- September 1958: The U.S.S.R. performs a nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya. Earlier in the year The first International House of Pancakes (IHOP) opens in Toluca Lake, California. In February a plane carrying the team and officials of Manchester United crashes on take-off at Munich's Riem airport. There were 23 fatalities and many more injured.
- September 1968: In this month both CBS 60 Minutes and the first Boeing 747 airliner are rolled out. Earlier in the year Manchester United wins the European Cup Final, becoming the first English team to do so. They would go on to win it again in 1999 and 2008 but lose a further Final in 2009.
- September 1978: Pope John Paul I dies after only 33 days of papacy. Earlier the body of assassinated Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro found in car trunk.
- September 1988: The 1988 Summer Olympics are held in Seoul, South Korea. In November George H. W. Bush is elected the 41st President of the United States after defeating Michael Dukakis.
- September 1998: What was to become the behemoth Google is founded by Larry Page and Sergei Brin.
- September 2008: Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In November Barack Obama is elected the 44th President of the United States.
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Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Animal-Based Low-Carbohydrate Diet Linked to Higher All-Cause Mortality
Interesting reading for the all-protein diets…
Animal-Based Low-Carbohydrate Diet Linked to Higher All-Cause Mortality
Monday, September 06, 2010
B-17 Bomber's Last Resting Place
Derek Andrews
Back in the early 1980's whilst living with a young family in the English county of Kent, we were driving around the countryside one Sunday afternoon when we came across a small group of men in a nearby field.
They seemed to be digging and examining something so we stopped and investigated. Kent is known as the Garden of England for its beautiful countryside dotted with farms, small villages, orchards and hop-fields. It has a coast-line that looks out over the English Channel to La Belle France just twenty or so miles away.
During World War Two, the Battle of Britain was fought in the skies over Kent as the Spitfire and Hurricane pilots based at the now iconic airfields such as Biggin Hill, Kenley and Hawkinge, duelled with their oppsoite numbers in their Messerschmitts.
USAAF aircrew at Snetterton Heath Airfield
What we had stumbled across were a group of enthusiasts who had Ministry of Defence permission to dig for the remains of a downed Spitfire. Usually there is a written record often backed up with the memories of locals who were there, of the approximate location.
At the time of the crash the vast bulk of the wreckage would have been salvaged for its undamaged parts and the very valuable aluminium of its fuselage. If the pilot had bailed out and parachuted to safety he would have been back in the air the next day if he was uninjured. Such was the shortage of trained pilots. If his body was with the wrekage it would of course have been reverently removed.
These aero-archaeologists had found some artefacts from the 'plane buried deep in the earth and we shared their thrill at their success. The bits and pieces they found were not that many but they very generously gave my ten year old son a carburettor which amazingly still smelled strongly of aviation fuel. It was covered in mud and his parents imagined that he would enjoy cleaning the mud off before displaying it in his bedroom. He preferred to keep it "as found" however !
Which is a very long introduction to a similar story which was reported in the Northampton Chronicle & Echo just a few days ago.
A similar group of researchers led by two enthusiasts who run the Sywell Aviation Museum near Northampton, and a chap who was 5 at the time, were trying to locate any remains of a B-17 USAAF Bomber which had crashed near Towcester in October 1944.
In fact it was a triple tragedy as three B-17's had taken off from their base in Norfolk, about 90 miles NE of Northampton on a mock-bombing/navigational exercise to Rugby, Warwickshire, another 25 miles NW. In heavy cloud the three planes had collided with each other. I believe all three crashed with no survivors but the article didn't make it clear. It is clear, however, that 11 crew from the three planes were confirmed to have been killed.
However these 21st century "treasure" seekers had found a few bullets, a piece of the windshield, a wheel, a pedal, some boots and most importantly an I.D. bracelet with the name of the pilot,
Lieutenant Nicholas Jorgensen engraved on it. I know that when anything personal is found in this way there would be a big effort made to locate the family and return it to them, so just out of interest I Googled the name. Really it was just to see if there were any other articles about the find.
I was quite surprised when I immediately found a military aviation forum where a Philip Jorgensen had, in 2005, asked for any information about his uncle, Nicholas Jorgensen. Several forum posters had sent him basic info on where, when and how his uncle had died but there was no mention of this latest development.
As he had provided his email address, I emailed him and sent a link to the article. Got a reply two days later and he had been contacted by quite a few people, not just me ! The power of the internet ! He didn't make it clear whether he had been contacted by the Museum regarding the bracelet so I told him I would contact them and see what was happpening. At this point I thought his uncle might be buried in Northamptonshire so I offered to photograph the grave after tidying it up if necessary.
He told me that the body had been buried in England but after the war ended it was returned to his family in the U.S. Philip told me that they only had the flag that had draped his casket; no personal mementoes. The family were also sad that as it was not a combat accident, no Purple Hearts were awarded.
The next day I spoke to people at the Museum who confirmed that they were in touch with family members in order to return the bracelet. They also hope to erect a small marker-memorial at the site of the crash. As they are not awash with cash, they do not know when this will be but definitely by October 2014 which will be the 70th anniversary.
The Chronicle & Echo had a follow-up story the next day, without much new information, though there was a photoof Lieutenant Jorgensen in his uniform.
The following links are to the two articles and also another that tells of a cache of Prisoner of War items found by someone in their back garden. Several dog-tags of Italian and German POW's were amongst them.
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http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/Pilot39s-bracelet-found-66-years.6501201.jp
http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/Tragic-story-of-pilot-Nicholas.6508864.jp
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1309440/WW2-prisoner-war-camp-unearthed-garden.html
http://www.sywellaerodrome.co.uk/museum.php
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Sunday, September 05, 2010
The Great Fire, 344 Years from Conflagration
344 years ago today (actually from the start of the fire on September 2 right on into September 6) , the Great Fire of London literally ate nearly all of the medieval city built within the Roman walls. It changed the face of the Great City forever. It consumed 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, St. Paul's Cathedral, and most of the buildings of the City authorities.
It is estimated that it destroyed the homes of 70,000 of the City's 80,000 inhabitants. The fire started in a bakery, and spread quickly due to the tragic indecisiveness of the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Thomas Bloodworth. The main firefighting method of the day was to create firebreaks by pulling down buildings to create open spaces. The Mayor's waffling on this measure led to a firestorm, and the winds that fanned the flames drive them on relentlessly for over three days . The fire was finally stopped with a shift in wind direction and the clever use of gunpowder by the guards at the Tower to stop the fire – by creating firebreaks.
Many cities have experienced catastrophic fires –= Chicago (Mrs. O’Leary’s cow), San Francisco
(in the wake of the 1906 earthquake, which broke most water lines, rendering fire companies impotent – a potential which the fire chief had been warning city leaders about vehemently. Jack London wrote that no modern city had ever been so destroyed, “San Francisco is gone”, he wrote), Seattle in 1889 (started when a worker in a cabinet shop was heating glue over a fire and it bubbled over into the fire. Flame reached turpentine stores in the shop in seconds and then water only made the spreading of flames happen faster. Above the cabinet ship was a paint shop and a newspaper print shop, 
when the entire business district, from the waters of Elliott Bay, to some grand homes on Capitol Hill went up in a day) – Even my good friend Derek’s own Northampton saw itself three-quarters destroyed by a city fire that raged through the city in 11675.
I suppose that what is truly amazing to me is that in every one of these cases, the city rebuilt and again experienced growth. Oh, there were worse fires (Tokyo, Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to name a few) in time of war, but as we saw with New Orleans post-Katrina, the urge is strong to rebuild after these great destructive forces swept away everything people had. Amazing resiliency, shown throughout history, independent of nation,
Seahawks | Houshmandzadeh officially gone | Seattle Times Newspaper
I have to say that it has been fun to see Deon Butler and Mike Williams give Pete Carroll the chance to let TJ go elsewhere, both his talent and his ego/’tude.
They’ve already gone for a little more depth on the O line, and it seems a bit of a telegraphing of intents that #3 QB Losman has been released. Will we really have two QBs? Will desert disappointment Matt Leinert put up with the rain after eight years in sunny California and Arizona to see if his college coach can rehabilitate him? Anyway, I like very much what the Hawks are doing – trying to get anyone who may help, rewarding guys who have competed on the field and earned the right to keep on competing.
I may be proven wrong in this (as I so often am), but I love the story of Mike Williams getting in shape, getting another shot and absolutely shining; the emergence of Deon Butler, speed of Golden Tate, and gee whiz, even the now veteran experience of Ben Obamaanu (who really kicked ass with 5 receptions for 85 yards – a whopping 17 yard per catch). If Okung can get back and really protect Hasselbeck’s blind side, and the entire line can really get the
zone blocking scheme without the offensive line coach Pete Carroll brought in to implement it – he retired yesterday –Forsett might get on a roll, rrestore the offensive diversity and it all might add up to a pretty good year. I suppose I am leaning toward believing what Coach Carroll is doing – hopefully I’m not drinking the kool-aid! No, I must be seeing some improved defense and and an efficient offense, a good takeaway ratio…after all, I did say 10-6.
Here’s why you ought to listen to that 10-6 playoff team thinking: The last time a new coach came to a team that played way under .500, that team had a near-record for improvement in just one season! (Mariners, of course).
Yes, I know, I am a homer. But I’ve earned it as one of those who has a fan stripe on my sleeve for every season since the first. I might have let my homer stripes influence my point of view about the 2010 Pete Carroll Seahawks. But there are enough players –if we can finally stay a little healthy – to win those ten games. The fun is seeing if they really do.
Here’s the Seahawks Offensive Depth Chart at the moment:
WR1
Deion Branch
Mike Williams
Deon Butler
LT
Russell Okung
Mansfield Wrotto
LG
Ben Hamilton
Mansfield Wrotto
Chester Pitts
TE
John Carlson
Chris Baker
Cameron Morrah
Anthony McCoy
WR2
Golden Tate
Benjamin Obomanu
QB
Matt Hasselbeck
Charlie Whitehurst
FB
Owen Schmitt
Quinton Ganther
RB
Julius Jones
Justin Forsett
Leon Washington
Quinton Ganther
Seahawks | Houshmandzadeh officially gone | Seattle Times Newspaper
Saturday, September 04, 2010
How Cops Really Want to Police - NYTimes.com
From the Freakanomics column in the NYT:
Of course, there can be some problems with this, but God help me I sort of agree – in the hands of a good and honest cop, the idea can work.
That was probably the most controversial thing I have written on the Bully Pulpit since I began…
CBC News - World - Acid-throwing woman sought in Wash.
You’re getting something out of your trunk outside a Starbucks store. You see a woman approaching with a cup. No reason for suspicion there, right? Well, for a particular woman in Vancouver there would be plenty to worry about. The woman with the cup walks closer and asks “Hey pretty girl, would you like to drink this?” and before she knew what was happening, the woman, 28 year old Bethany Storro – an attractive and well-liked Safeway clerk – saw the stranger throw the contents of the cup in her face. Instantly she began to burn, and felt her skin bubbling. Her clothes, where the contents of the cup touched them, began to disintegrate. Miss Storro fell to the ground screaming and her assailant ran off.
I hope that this beautiful and well-liked woman can be made whole again, and that her assailant, (perhaps tracked by the purchase of concentrated sulphuric acid?) is quickly apprehended. No one should have to fear or suffer such an assault and this assailant needs to be off the street.
Shooting on Admiral Way; One man shot by police | West Seattle Herald - Slideshow
Police shot a man last night at a home near the west end of Admiral in West Seattle. The house, in the Alki area of West Seattle, became known to police when a woman called to report a disturbance and what sounded like a gunshot. The woman had called a friend living at the home, and she heard screaming followed by what sounded like a gunshot. The line went dead, and when the friend called back a man answered, He is said to have been very upset, and to have made suicidal threats.
Police responded and a man was shot by an officer. Police recovered a pistol and an AK-47, which the assailant leveled at three officers, who then fired. The man was wounded in the abdomen, and taken to Harborview, where his condition is stable.
When we lived in West Seattle (we loved it there), I never thought of Alki as being high crime area. And certainly not a violent area. Recent data shows that while there are some burglaries and thefts, with the exception of an occasional assault – to be found anywhere in the city from time to time – crimes there are mostly property crimes. See below:
Neighbor Lance Knight told seattlepi.com he heard two shots, then five he thought would have been from handguns. He said he also heard tires screech. A woman thought to be at the home has not been located.
SLIDESHOW: Shooting on Admiral Way; One man shot by police | West Seattle Herald / White Center News
Friday, September 03, 2010
Tiger Woods -- The $100 Million Photo
I kind of hate to link to TMZ here, but two thinks struck me about this exclusive photo: First, I think you have to be a pretty nice guy to pose for a photo and manage even the faintest of smiles just minutes after finalizing a divorce which cost $100 million. And second, unless the pattern on his tie (which is too small for me to see well) is swooshes, this is the first time in years I've seen Tiger without his Nike Swoosh on. The article says Woods and Nordgren did not speak to one ano0ther during the brief signing of papers in the judges chambers.
Where Are The Prosecutions? SEC Lets Citi Execs Go Free After $40 Billion Subprime Lie
Anyone think you or I would get a 1/2 of 1% fine for lying to investors? How about 1/2 of 1% on a one-year bonus of $19+ million?
Where Are The Prosecutions? SEC Lets Citi Execs Go Free After $40 Billion Subprime Lie « SpeakEasy
Understanding Arthritis: What is inflammation?
When the Immune System Turns Against You
Arthritis isn’t just “wear and tear”. It is inflammation, and understanding the causes of inflammation can help immeasurably in combating the debilitating and potentially life-altering effects of arthritis. The following article, from WebMD is a very straightforward discussion of the inflammatory process.
Thursday, September 02, 2010
Admiral Lord Nelson's Nurse:
Derek Andrews
Most countries with a varied and often turbulent history have people who are revered as heroes or heroines or icons and are remembered for their deeds and achievements to this day. If they're lucky they get featured on postage stamps and the back of a Pound note, a Euro, Rouble or Lira and Deutschmark. I believe the U.S. has a rather good image of Nicholas Cage on its Dollar Bills.
Trying not to go off topic too quickly but "Heroes and Heroines" is a great favorite of mine sung by the incomparable Mary Chapin Carpenter. I can't find a You Tube video of it but have given a link to the words.
Anyhow, America has any number, George Washington, Meriwether Lewis, President Lincoln to name just three. Italy has Garibaldi, France has Napoleon, Germany has Bach, Handel, Wagner ( and that's just the Bayern Munchen F.C. midfield !!).
Plenty too from England. Wellington, Queen Victoria, William Wilberforce and many more including 
Vice-Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson. He's the guy who stands proud on his towering column in London's Trafalgar Square. Trafalgar of course being the sea-battle he is best known for.
Much loved by his men and fellow officers, he fought many a battle. After The American War of Independence, he fought in the French Revolutionary Wars in the Mediterranean, then was wounded, losing an arm at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. By then he had already lost one eye.
He commanded the fleet when Britain secured arguably its greatest ever naval victory (the Armada of Phillip II of Spain being decimated by the Royal Navy and Mother Nature in 1588 was also a vital naval victoory, of course.) , when on October 21st 1805 he defeated the Franco-Spanish fleet from his flagship "Victory". Prior to the battle he had sent his signal "England expects every man to do his duty". Defeat of the enemy was soured by his death.
A musket bullet fired from the mizzentop of the French ship "Redoutable" struck Nelson in the left shoulder, passed through his spine at the sixth and seventh thoracic vertebrae, and lodged two inches below his right scapula in the muscles of his back. Nelson exclaimed, "They finally succeeded, I am dead." He was carried below decks.
He knew he was done for but as they carried him gently to his cabin, he was still passing on advice and orders, also covering his face with a handkerchief so his men would not see the pain he was suffering.
The loss of Nelson was a blow to two generations of Royal Navy Officers, cutting them to the quick as well as inspiring them for another century and a half, and in no small way helping to ensure that “Britannia Ruled the Waves” over that time. It was, and is, a source of tremendous national pride that Lord Nelson went to his grave in the manner of his own signal to the fleet as combat was joined at Trafalgar. He did his duty, and damn the cost.
His body was immersed in a vat of brandy for preservation and when the ship docked at Gibraltar, it was placed in a proper coffin and brought back to England where he was accorded a State Funeral.
These days "Victory" is in dry-dock 
at Portsmouth, England's major naval port and is a huge tourist attraction. A brass plaque on the deck marks where he fell just over 200 years ago.
(America was 29 years old at the time !)
Recently the diaries of a nurse Elizabeth Wynne who attended Lord Nelson many times throughout his career have been discovered and a grant has been given to a historian at Bath Spa University to enable a biography of her to be written.
She sounds an absolutely fascinating character as you can see from this linked article and I shall look forward to reading of her life. Damned sight more interesting than some politicians memoirs!!
Article links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Nelson
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Sunshine on Discovery Bay
As always, the photos we use are either my own, or in the public domain. Please let me know if there are any errors and I'll correct them immediately.
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