Posts from — July 2009

The ABC reports Saudi Arabia to fence itself in

Saudi Arabia has signed a deal with a major European defence contractor to build a hi-tech security system including a fence around the whole of its 9,000 kilometre border.

The country has been wanting to build a strong border security system for some time.

Its two main concerns are its neighbours Iraq and Yemen, and the instability and lawlessness of these two countries have raised fears in Saudi Arabia that their problems will overflow the border.

Specifically, the Saudis are worried about weapons and drug smuggling.

I expect that are a lot of important people in Saudi Arabia who will be annoyed that their lucrative arms and drug sales in neighboring countries are about to be curtailed. I know that many in the kingdom are under the impression that the trade is moving into their country, but that isn’t the general reality on the ground in Iraq, i.e. the Saudis are exporters, not importers.

The CBC reports on the latest synthesis of the information gathered from the debris: Air France jet plunged at high speed into Atlantic

The pilot of a doomed Air France flight was flying with neither the help of the autopilot nor information about the plane’s speed and direction when it slammed into the Atlantic Ocean a month ago, French officials said Thursday.
…

Lead investigator Alain Bouillard said the plane is not thought to have broken up in the air but plunged steeply into the ocean at an extremely high speed, because no large pieces of the aircraft have yet been found.

The aircraft “was not destroyed in flight,” he said. “The plane seems to have hit the surface of the water on its flight trajectory with a strong vertical acceleration.”

If the pilot was losing confidence in his instrument panel readings, was in the middle of major turbulence, and suddenly had the autopilot fail, it would be reasonable for him/her to decided to exit the area as soon as possible by flying what was assumed to be a straight and level path with more engine power.

Unfortunately it is not a good idea to depend on your inner ear to replace your artificial horizon in an aircraft, especially one that has been bouncing around, and possibly losing a great deal of altitude because of the turbulence.

Someone needs to check the offices of the Local Puppy Trainer for strange substances in their water cooler.

First it was the column on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and now you have a columnist, Wendy Victoria, complaining about the Sunday liquor laws and the proliferation of religious symbols on the desks at the tax collector’s office.

This is no place to be discussing the separation of church and state, much less endorsing it on principle.

Steve Bates is taking a blogging hiatus while dealing with an injury.

If you have any interest in stargazing, KTK at Lean Left notes that $15 [plus shipping and handling] scores The Galileoscope™, an inexpensive instrument that is better that the one Galileo used to make his discoveries.

CNN notes NTSB says train detection system failed in days before D.C. crash. Actually the system was flaky and not always picking the presence of trains.

The teen who is the only known survivor of the Comoros crash doesn’t know what happened. They are still looking for the data recorders.

In the unintended consequences department: Feds could seize Calif. parks if closed by budget. Quite true and well known locally. If the Feds give a state or local government land for a specific purpose, that is the only thing the land can be used for, and they will take it back if you don’t live up to your agreement.

The reform leaders in Iran haven’t given up their struggle.

McClatchy has an interview: Honduran general who led coup says he tried to avoid it.

La fête du
Canada
Day

Thank you for not yet building a fence along your southern or western border, and for brewing great beer.

Schedule of Ottawa events and some background.

As noted, Toronto has scaled back its celebrations.