– A swap of development rights from rural King County to South Lake Union.
– Rick Perry won’t run for another term as Texas governor. People are saying it frees him up for a presidential run, but I’m not sure it’s actually helpful.
– Unfortunately, he’s still the governor now.
– Jim McDermott’s article about what America’s relation to Iran should look like in the wake of Hassan Rouhani’s election.
– Anyone going to Bastille Day?
Diverse Hair: My husband (he’s black) and I often notice white parents with black children , and too often, the hubby wants to do an emergency intervention and put lotion on their ashy skin and product in their wild nappy hair. I’m glad the kids got adopted, but the parents should also get hair and skin care instructions as part of the process.
Before Rick Perry can make decent run at the Presidency, he’ll need to get rid of the permanent dialog box over his head–the one has the indeterminate progress indicator right beneath a message that reads, “Buffering…”
# 1: My wife’s grandmother was a Samoan princess. My wife got a little of her nose, but my daughter got her hair. She had a tough time in middle school, the kids would tease her about it. So by the end of high school she found a straightener for her hair, and by college did a bit of modeling for Macy’s (when it was a local account).
But I’m old enough to remember the “afro” and the period of time in the 70’s when blacks wore hair as a statement of pride and rebellion. In contrast, now we see black actresses using professional straightening techniques and extensions to their hair looks asian or white. Personally, I prefer the former.
# 2: Rick Perry probably thinks he just needs to stay off the pain meds and he can win on the debates. That’s nonsense. In the Republican caucuses and primaries, the Tea Party will force him to say the most outlandish things. That alone should ensure his defeat in the general election, if he gets that far.
And just to make sure, all we have to do is bring out the bad statistics out of Texas – textbook controversies, racing to put convicts to death and ignoring evidence of their innocence, teen birth rates, education levels, etc.
In short, Perry is the perfect example of an insular Republican, who gets kudos from other insular Republicans for acting like an idiot, and thinks that’s a good thing.
@3 I prefer the former too, but I also I wonder if I have a double standard because I could care less if white women get perms or color their hair.
I doubt that there’s anything Perry could do or say at this point that would dispel the notion that he’s just not presidential material.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/.....ion-reform
It has been interesting to note that the higher the profile of am conservative talk show hosts, the more they are pushing for immigration reform. the lower tier ones are strongly against it.
One host was railing against boner for not closing the borders first. boner was a weak spineless drunk if he didn’t close and wall off the border first THEN maybe talk about amnesty. Guess he got the message.
One caller said that all illegals were potential terrorists, that’s why the borders must be closed.
Beating Perry will be a snap. Just remind voters of the previous presidents Texas gave us.
Speaking of which, 12 of our presidents have come from New York and Ohio, and all of them from only 18 states, which means 32 states have never sent a politician to the White House.
34 of our presidents have come from 8 states: New York (6), Ohio (6), Virginia (5), Massachusetts (4), California (3), Illinois (3), Tennessee (3), and Texas (3). But interestingly, most of these states have become infertile; a New Yorker hasn’t been president since FDR, Ohio’s last president was Harding, Virginia’s last president was before the Civil War, Illinois’ 2 presidents before Obama were Lincoln and Grant, and Tennessee’s last president was Andrew Johnson. There’s a decided trend now toward electing presidents who come from smaller states that have never had a president, so maybe there’s hope for Washington (someday).
By state of birth, 2 states are clear winners: Virginia with 8, and Ohio with 7. But, as above, these states have fallen out of favor as birthplaces of presidents; the last Virginia-born president was Woodrow Wilson and Harding, again, was Ohio’s last native son. Neither of the Bushes were born in Texas, so that state’s 2 native sons to reach the White House were Eisenhower and the Pedernales Padre (LBJ). Interestingly, Vermont’s soil has also given birth to 2 presidents, the same # as Texas, both of whom were nonentities (Arthur and Coolidge). Strangely, Pennsylvania has only 1, the one generally considered the worst of them all until recently, the guy who failed to smooth over the country’s differences that led to the Civil War, Buchanan. And 1 (of the better ones) was born in Hawaii or Kenya, depending on your party preference.
The little pioneer hamlet of Nolin Creek, Kentucky, was the birthplace of guess which president? (This should be easy)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.....e_of_birth
# 9: Without looking it up, I’m guessing Lincoln. His father moved the family to Ill. because he didn’t like slavery.
As for states producing presidents, three modern factors are (a) the primary process (which tends to be issue-driven), (b) the decline loyalty to the “native son”, and the mobility which makes it hard for any state to claim a particular candidate.
The head of the Montreal, Maine, and Atlantic railway is suggesting that the oil train that derailed could have been tampered with. It got loose while the crew was waiting for it’s relief. I am beginning to think that KOMO’s expose of rail security was right on, and trolls on their site were upset that they did the story at all, not that it exposed the problem. Shortly after that story, BNSF told the crews to secure the reverser(equivalent to the ignition key) on idle freight trains. They have to keep the engine running for brake pressure.
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_.....-with?lite
I also want to know, who owned the tank cars, and since this railroad car fleet is relatively new, just how old were they. The tougher tank car standards from the Association of American Railroads did not come into effect until 2011, and the builxers have a big backlog. While the locomotives had event recorders, if the locos belong to the MM&;A, it’s a good chance that they are older models, as most short lines and regionals buy or lease used locomotives.
Also, on tank trains, I believe that they are supposed to have a non-tank car between the locomotives and the tank cars.
I meant builders.
I’ve been busy, so I haven’t been able to comment on the Asiana crash in SFO. Besides, it’s too early in the investigation, the media is speculating based on rumors and a comment or two from witnesses.
The Asiana flight attendent, Lee, is coming off as a hero in the story, as she carried passengers out of the plane despite having a broken tailbone. Some interesting issues were raised by her news conference:
* Two escape slides deployed INSIDE the aircraft. I can’t even figure out how that happened.
* She said she used a fire axe to deflate the slides. I knew that different airlines based on their nationality have different safety equipment on board. But now everyone knows that S. Korea allows it’s airlines to have an axe which is accessible by air crew or – passengers. That’s one of those things I have previoiusly refused to divulge.
* Lee said she tried to go to the back of the plane to check for any more passengers, but was turned back by acrid, toxic smoke. Many other asian or N. American airlines are equipped with a “smoke hood” which provides oxygen to the fight attendendant and protects their eyes in such a situation. But it is a bit clumsy, some prefer to simply have a Portable Breathing Device, which is a mask over the nose and mouth and a small oxygen tank which the flight attendant can carry on their shoulder.
President Obama’s (man, I love the way that sounds!) announcement that he likes broccoli has sparked a food fight in the blogosphere. Literally. Chimp hated the stuff and banned it from Air Force One. Presumably the next president, whoever she is, will inherit a plane with seat upholstery reeking of broccoli, as I’ve been told you can never get the smell out; you have to remove the seats and burn them, and total seat replacement seems unlikely in today’s austerity climate.
@10 It’s probably inevitable we’ll get a president whose mother conceived in one of these.
http://www.dreamstime.com/roya.....ge29728898
There are some drawbacks to the type of preferential voting system that Australia uses. The compulsory preferences(If they don’t rank every box below the line, ballot is spoiled) in the Senate races has led to some big ballots. A party can distribute it’s preferences to other parties through a Group Voting Ticket, with the voter marking one box above the line. It has led to a large number of minor parties. Add to that rules on ballot dimensions, and that all parties, groups, and candidates have to be in one line at the top of the ballot, has led to quite a few tablecloth ballots. In New South Wales and Victoria, magnifying glasses will be provided at polling places during this year’s election.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s election guru has a good explanation here
:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/201.....ny/4808360
A little background on the Group Voting Ticket:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_voting_ticket
# 11: Upon hearing the news of the railroad accident, I was reminded of the movie “Unstoppable” that came out in 2010 (staring Denzel Washington). It was loosly based on an actual incident in Ohio involving CSX 8888 in 2001, which ended up unmanned and traveling at speeds in excess of 50 MPH.
18)It does seem like it. In February 2012 edition of Trains Magazine, there was a good article on the Quebec, North Shore, and Labrador railway, which is owned the Iron Ore Company of Canada. They have several safety features they use, but in the case of avoiding a runaway in the first place, they have a “Mechanical Emergency Device” that works very simple. It involves a woodworkers clamp and an airhose. One is connected to the rail, the other t the brake hose. If the train rolled without the engineer, it would put the brakes into emergency, tripping them.
Double post, see below.
@8 Exactly.
Read my lips “No more Texans”
Before Rick Perry runs for president he will have to realize that taking over 24 trillion in debt left mostly by his highness Owebamma is not going to be an easy task. Start by getting a clue, and watch the movie idiocracy over and over so you can get the mindset of a liberal…
More Asiana speculation: apparently Oakland air traffic control is responsible for managing altitudes on approach, and stepping the incoming planes down to a safe altitude for handoff to San Francisco air traffic control. A possible contributor to the crash is starting the approach from too high up. Could this, like the forest fire fighting deaths, be related to sequestration?
I wonder if the Association of Flight Attendants-Communication Workers of America’s CB Lansing award can go to Flight Attendants of foreign carriers? IT’S an award that the union bestows on flight attendants who show extraordinary heroism in tough situations, and named in honor of a flight attendant killed aboard Aloha 243.
http://www.afacwa.org/default.asp?id=1298
As far as “swap” of development rights:
It’s not a swap, it’s a purchase. In a real swap, the developers would buy the rights from the rural landowners, not from the county. This is what Whatcom County does.