Here’s a serious story with an unfortunate headline:
France plans revolution in space
By Matt McGrath
BBC science correspondent
I’m sorry, but I just can’t help but imagine zero-G guillotines.
Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category
Ret. Gen. Clark: McCain lacks command experience
Sun Jun 29, 10:28 PM ET
WASHINGTON - Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, a former Democratic presidential candidate now supporting Barack Obama, said Sunday John McCain’s military service does not automatically qualify him to be commander in chief.
Underscoring during a national television appearance a position he has been expressing for several weeks, Clark said performing heroic military service is not a substitute for gaining command experience.
So, Mr. Clark, does your candidate have “command experience”?
People have called my motorcycle a “killer donorcycle”, but can’t imagine getting seriously hurt on a scooter. Here’s a news flash: A scooter IS a motorcycle. Sure, it’s slower, cuter, and has an automatic transmission with no clutch, but it is a motorcycle. That means that the scooterist has all the same safety considerations and faces all of the same risks that a motorcyclist must contend with. The state of California recognizes this fact by requiring a motorcycle endorsement to ride a scooter. Unfortunately, most scooterists, around here at least, only get their learner’s permit to be somewhat legal, then wobble off wearing nothing more substantial than a helmet — and that’s only because of the helmet law. This is bad.
If you purchase that Vespa or Metropolitan, I would ask that you do the following:
- Get training. Check out the Motorcycle Safety Foundation to find a class near you.
- Wear your gear. Helmet, gloves, riding jacket, riding pants, boots. Not like this person.
- Have fun! I harp on safety to everyone I can not to be a killjoy, but because many motorcycle injuries are preventable. Nothing spoils the ride more than a trip to the ER!
I’ve been watching Ken Burn’s The War. In the episode “FUBAR”, the film mentions Thanksgiving Day in Europe, 1944. After the disaster of Market Garden and other setbacks made it clear that the war was not going to end by Christmas, Eisenhower ordered that every GI in Europe get a turkey dinner for Thanksgiving to prop up sagging morale. The Germans used the opportunity to shell the American field kitchens, killing many GIs as they ate their turkey. One officer, who had protested to his superiors about that very possibility, “could never again look upon a turkey dinner without weeping.”
Burns also mentions Thanksgiving in his other epic, The Civil War. In 1863, Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November a national day of Thanksgiving. Union troops were served turkey dinners. The narrator notes that the confederates, who received no special meals that day, “held their fire all day, out of respect for the Union holiday.”
An interesting comparison.
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