Posts from — July 2011

Showing The Way 2

Come On!

[Editor: Ringo also ‘encourages’ me to go to her favorite feeding spot, although this wasn’t dinner time. She may have been conducting a dry run. While Tip walks to the side, Ringo is actually lashing my legs with her tail as we walk.]

Friday Ark

The CBC is carrying the latest from Slime Wars: The Fall of the Empire

Andy Coulson, who resigned as an aide to British Prime Minister David Cameron in January under pressure over allegations of hacking during his tenure as editor of the News of the World, will be arrested on Friday, according to a report.

The Guardian said that Coulson, who had been Cameron’s communications director, has been informed by police that he will be arrested over suspicions that he knew about, or had direct involvement in, the hacking of mobile phones during his editorship.

Coulson was contacted on Thursday by detectives and asked to present himself at a police station in central London on Friday, where he will be told that he will be formally questioned under suspicion of involvement in hacking, The Guardian reported

The BBC also reported that Coulson had been told he would be arrested. Police declined to comment on the reports.

Coulson, who was editor of The News of the World between 2003 and 2007, has always denied any knowledge of the hacking.

One wonders how they managed to publish a newspaper with so many senior people who didn’t know what was happening in the news room.

Follow the money – who authorized payments to the people doing the hacking?

The BBC reports that the News of the World to close amid hacking scandal

This Sunday’s issue of the News of the World will be the last edition of the paper, News International chairman James Murdoch has said.

In the past few days, claims have been made that the paper authorised hacking into the mobile phones of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler and the families of 7/7 bombing victims.

Mr Murdoch said proceeds from the last edition would go to good causes.

Downing Street said it had no role or involvement in the decision.

The News of the World, which has been in circulation for 168 years, is the UK’s biggest selling newspaper and is famed for its celebrity scoops.
…

Labour MP Tom Watson told Sky News it was “a victory for decent people up and down the land, and I say good riddance to the News of the World”.

But Justice Secretary Ken Clarke said: “All they’re going to do is rebrand it” and former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott, who alleged his phone was hacked, thought the decision was simply a gimmick.

As the ‘brand’ is now a liability instead of an asset, News Corp has dumped it and will create a new brand. The people at the top who paid for these actions are still in power.

The BBC has a list of Key People that they know about, but there is a name missing that may be more familiar to American viewers, Piers Morgan, a talking head on CNN these days. He was an editor of News of the World in the late 1990s, and if you listen to him talk about ‘celebrities’ it is easy to imagine him as a British version of JJ Hunsecker, doing whatever is necessary, legal or not, to get dirt on his targets.

They are really getting control of this fire, with containment at 40% and most of the activity within the established lines. They are already starting remediation efforts in anticipation of the rains to come. This fire won’t be totally out until there is a pattern of regular rain over an extended period.

Information from the current Las Conchas Wildfire InciWeb Page

• Date Started: 6/26/2011
• Location: Jemez Ranger District, Santa Fe National Forest; approximately 12 miles southwest of Los Alamos off NM 4 at mile marker 35, New Mexico
• Cause: Falling tree hit power lines
• Size: 136,955 acres [214 miles² 554 km²] based on infrared data
• Percent Contained: 40%
• Injuries to Date: 5
• Residences: 410 threatened; 63 destroyed; 3 damaged
• Commercial Property: 45 threatened; 5 destroyed; 3 damaged
• Outbuildings: 110 threatened; 32 destroyed; damaged
• Other: destroyed
• Number of Personnel: Approximately 2,340 including hotshot crews and 55 hand crews
• Equipment: 13 dozers, 83 engines, 36 watertenders
• Aircraft: 18 helicopters, air tankers
• Incident Commander: Dan Oltrogge, Area Command Team 1

[Read more →]

Dinan – Lisieux

Distance: 226.5 kilometers.

The longest stage on Le Tour is a country ride through Normandy featuring two Category 3 climbs, a Category 4, and an incline at the finish.

Update: I forgot to mention the torrential rains on the stage. At least there is no worry about dehydration or sunstroke.

Thor Hushovd ( Nor – GRM – 051 ) [Yellow] 17h 36′ 57″
Philippe Gilbert ( Bel – OLO – 032 ) [Green] 144 points
Johnny Hoogerland ( Ned – VCD – 204 ) [Polka Dot] 4 points
Geraint Thomas ( GBr – SKY – 117 ) 7 [White]

Team: Garmin-Cervelo ( 051-059 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Edvald Boasson Hagen ( Nor – SKY – 114 )
Combative: Adriano Malori ( Ita – LAM – 168 ) [Red numbers]

They’ve gone 976.0 kilometers [606.5 miles] at an average speed of 42.7 kph [26.5 mph] ↑.

OVERALL STANDINGS:

[Read more →]

July 7^th, 2005, London

BBC In Depth and the Wikipedia articles on the bombing.

From the BBC coverage of today’s stage:

With around 100km to go of the 164.5km stage from Carhaix to Cap Frehel there were a string of crashes.

Team Sky rider Bradley Wiggins was one of the first to suffer but was able to continue after a change of bike.

Soon after, [Janez] Brajkovic was involved in a big crash when he slipped on a white line on the roadside.

Brajkovic lay still on the ground before being attended to and although he was able to stand up, he was taken to hospital with his team later saying that he should withdraw from the event.

“It’s a hard day but there’s nothing you can do,” said RadioShack team director Alain Galopin. “It’s the Tour de France, it’s a lottery. Almost everybody crashed. We were hoping to have four leaders in the Pyrenees and there will be only three.”

Defending Tour champion Alberto Contador also took a tumble on the tight roads in Brittany, with the Spaniard also requiring a bike change.

Nicki Sorensen, Contador’s team-mate, was then pulled down when his handlebars became entangled in a photographer’s motorbike, although he was able to continue.

Today’s stage winner, Mark Cavendish from the Isle of Man, dedicated his win to his dog, Amber, who died on Tuesday.

There is apparently no nadir they will not penetrate.

This is finally being reported in a small way in the US, but this criminality has been reported on for years in the British media. It came to light when the News of the World tabloid was busted for hacking the telephones of members of the Royal family.

During the course of that investigation, it was learned that the newspaper had been tapping the phones of other people, seemingly celebrities and politicians. While those cases are working their way through settlement talks and court cases it was discovered that no one was safe from the intrusion of the paper and its investigators.

Jams O’Donnell covered their actions in the case of a missing child, who was later found murdered, and now the families of victims of the London bombings.

It was reported today that Prime Minister Cameron promises News of the World phone hack probe, at the same time the British government seems set to approve News Corp buying a major shore of the SKY-B television network. If that deal goes through, it is likely things will get very warm for Mr Cameron, even within his own party.

Update: The Daily Telegraph is reporting that the families of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq may have been targeted as well.

I don’t want to hear that management didn’t know this was going on – doing this is expensive and someone had to approve the money for it. Don’t ask me to believe that lowly reporters at a Murdoch newspaper have the kind of budget authority that an operation this widespread takes.

This is something everyone can sink their teeth into and enjoy, a perfect example of why research is necessary.

The BBC reports that a Printer produces personalised 3D chocolate

Chocolate lovers may soon be able to print their own 3D creations thanks to work by UK scientists.

A 3D printer that uses chocolate has been developed by University of Exeter researchers – and it prints layers of chocolate instead of ink or plastic.

Think of it, a real, solid chocolate Easter bunny, not a hollow shell. Good chocolate, not the brown paste that corporations force upon us.

Why aren’t US universities doing this kind of research?

From FIFA’s official site:

The Women’s World Cup finished the Group Stage by playing four games today. The best part is that it wasn’t necessary to explain the FIFA tie-breaking procedure.

In Group D it was Australia 2-1 Norway and Equatorial Guinea 0-3 Brazil. The final ranking for the Group is:

1. Brazil
2. Australia
3. Norway
4. Equatorial Guinea

In Group A it was Sweden 2-1 USA and Korea DPR 0-0 Colombia. The final ranking for the Group is:

1. Sweden
2. USA
3. Korea DPR
4. Colombia

The first two teams in each Group move on to the Quarter Finals which start on the 9^th.

ESPN has the replay on the ‘Net.

After a lot of progress aided by favorable weather, things could get dicey today with hot, dry conditions and possible thunderstorms in the area. Shifting, gusty winds in thunderstorms, as well as lightning strikes can well exceed any benefit from the rain they contain.

Information from the current Las Conchas Wildfire InciWeb Page

• Date Started: 6/26/2011
• Location: Jemez Ranger District, Santa Fe National Forest; approximately 12 miles southwest of Los Alamos off NM 4 at mile marker 35, New Mexico
• Cause: Falling tree hit power lines
• Size: 130,691 acres [204 miles² 529 km²] based on infrared data
• Percent Contained: 30%
• Injuries to Date: 5
• Residences: 410 threatened; 63 destroyed; 3 damaged
• Commercial Property: 45 threatened; 5 destroyed; 3 damaged
• Outbuildings: 110 threatened; 32 destroyed; damaged
• Other: destroyed
• Number of Personnel: Approximately 2,557 including hotshot crews and 63 hand crews
• Equipment: 14 dozers, 91 engines, 35 watertenders
• Aircraft: 20 helicopters, air tankers
• Incident Commander: Dan Oltrogge, Area Command Team 1

[Read more →]

Carhaix – Cap Frehel

Distance: 164.5 kilometers.

The sprinters will get a workout in this run through Brittany. As yesterday was affected by rain, the wind along the coast could be a factor in today’s race.

The guys at the BBC’s Day-by-Day continued their string of predicting stage winners by selecting Mark Cavendish.

Thor Hushovd ( Nor – GRM – 051 ) [Yellow] 17h 36′ 57″
Philippe Gilbert ( Bel – OLO – 032 ) [Green] 120 points
Cadel Evans ( Aus – BMC – 141 ) [Polka Dot] 2 points
Geraint Thomas ( GBr – SKY – 117 ) 7 [White]

Team: Garmin-Cervelo ( 051-059 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Mark Cavendish ( GBr – THR – 171 )
Combative: José Ivan Gutierrez ( Esp – MOV – 083 ) [Red numbers]

They’ve gone 749.5 kilometers [465.7 miles] at an average speed of 42.5 kph [26.4 mph] ↑.

OVERALL STANDINGS:
[Read more →]

It just annoys your friends and family.

So, there was this trial down in Central Florida, standard thing – a bunch of Midwesterners moved to Florida so they could be really weird without bothering people who really mattered.

Any way, for whatever reason, the media decided to obsess about it, giving it 24/7 coverage. One of the media’s “crime pundits” went all out Madame Defarge, knitting nooses on the air every day, and she gathered together a Committee of Vigilance [aka a lynch mob] of like-minded pundits to ensure “justice was done”.

I avoided the entire thing as much as possible, but had to endure several hours of the coverage while in waiting rooms.

People would ask me what I thought about the entire thing, and I made the mistake of giving them my honest opinion based on ten years of experience in the criminal justice system. That just started arguments. But the worse of it was today when the jury did exactly what I told people they would do.

It takes a long time for people to forgive you for being right. That’s probably why all of the talking heads have such long lists of being wrong.

From FIFA’s official site:

After taking yesterday off, the Women’s World Cup is completing the Group Stage by play four games per day.

In Group B it was England 2-0 Japan and New Zealand 2-2 Mexico. The final ranking for the Group is:

1. England
2. Japan
3. Mexico
4. New Zealand

In Group A it was France 2-4 Germany and Canada 0-1 Nigeria. The final ranking for the Group is:

1. Germany
2. France
3. Nigeria
4. Canada

The first two teams in each Group move on to the Quarter Finals.

ESPN has the replay on the ‘Net.