Category: Historical

Here’s an amusing article about aviation safety from October 2003 in The Onion.

“In every single breach of security in recent years, whether it was an act of terrorism or some other form of crime, it was a passenger who subverted the safety systems on board the aircraft or in the terminal,” FAA administrator Marion Blakey said. “Even threats that came in the form of explosives inside baggage were eventually traced back to a ticketed individual. As great a revenue source as they have been, passengers simply represent too great a risk to the airline industry.”

Who cares?

The RAC was electric tonight as Rutgers lost to U-Conn by 1. The crowd was screaming for blood and the tension was thick. At the end of the first half, with Rutgers up by 5, everyone was dreaming big.

And Rutgers play a great 35 minutes of basketball tonight. But it was the 5 minutes or so that they didn’t really show up that cost them the game. The 60% free-throw shooting, including misses on the front of some 1 and 1’s, were all the difference in a game like tonights.

Oh, it hurts to be sooo close and yet miss out! What an amazing upset it would have been!

Happy New Year everyone! I’ve been back from Utah for a little more than a day now. The skiing was beyond belief, though I wish I could have gone again the second day. Probably better I didn’t, all things considered. Jess’s family was great, they were all extremely generous and friendly people. In some ways I was able to relax more on this trip than I have in quite awhile. Hopefully I’ll have some photos posted soon.

Last night Dave and Nicole came over with a huge pile of alcohol and we toasted the New Year. Ram unfortunately said he wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t make it. Next year perhaps I’ll try organizing something a little better. In any event, welcome to 2004.

Tomorrow (later today, technically) I’m off to Utah for a few days. I’m looking forward to an opportunity to experience some real skiing in the Rockies.

In other news, I came across this interesting story about the crew who flew to China on April 12, 2001, to pick up the crew from the U.S. Navy EP-3 surveillance aircraft that collided with a Chinese fighter.

I also wanted to post a Q&A from the BBC on the European Union. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago, talks on a new Constitution to replace and solidify an EU government collapsed over issues surrounding representation. In truth, the core issue around representation remind me of the same issues that were instrumental in the creation of the two houses of government. Small states, in that time, wanted equal representation with large states. Large states wanted clout relative to size. Hence, the Senate and the House were formed. A similar arrangement might be of value in the EU, if they were willing to consider a compromise that the U.S. first decided upon.

As I just finished watching 8MM, a thriller-style movie, not for the first time it occurred to me how predictable these movie endings are. Amazingly, Nicholas Cage manages to find his ultimate villian, a sadistic, twisted yet in the end all-to-human man, living next door to a graveyard. Accordingly, their showdown took place shortly after sunset. And, amazingly, just as the sun was setting and Nicholas Cage was keying up for the big scene, a passing thunderstorm kicked in to full gear. Just for once, I’d like to see a suspenseful movie that managed to conclude in a desert, under a sunny mid-afternoon sky.

Merry Christmas, everyone! Best wishes for 2004!

Last night against better judgement I went to the midnight screening of the Return of the King, and I was far from disappointed. The movie was brilliantly cast, wonderful executed, and had some fantastic editing. I loved the scene when Faramir rides out against all sound judgement set against his father eating in the empty hall save Pippin, while the whole scene is set against Pippin’s melancholy song. In fact, the whole movie was both melancholy and yet filled with hope. Even after victory is secured, the tone continues in its mournful tone. The victors, in truth, seem tired. While many reviews loved the spider scene, or the lighting of the beacons, my favorite scene comes at Aragorn’s coronation, where he and everyone kneels to the hobbits. It starts off intimately, with closeups of Aragorn and the hobbits, then moves outward toward the others, then upward and away.

The narrative thread was strong though lean, and I look forward to the extended edition on DVD for those holes to be filled in. While I understand that the scouring of the shire was left out completely, I do hope some additional details are given to other portions of the story. In any event, though, I look forward to watching it again (and again), even before it is released on DVD.

It was an eventful night. I started out by cooking this chicken kabob recipe I found, which was quite spicy and made up for the extremely bland ragu bolognese I made two weeks back. Then I had a stopver from my father and a visit from the local fire department, informing me to beware of the rising flood waters. The Survivor vote this week was fantastic, with Burton booted off. And then I headed out to photograph the Millstone River, where today’s rain combined with the melting snow resulted in some high waters and this flood warning:

Severe Weather Alert from the National Weather Service

…

This was topped off with some ice cream, and soon it’s to bed.

From yesterday’s Slate: The NYT top story profiles the town of Abu Hishma, which the United States has enclosed in 5 miles of barbed wire. Residents must enter and exit through a guarded checkpoint wearing identification tags printed in English. Only one other town has been fenced in like this, but since early November the Army has begun using tactics such as bulldozing and bombing suspects’ houses and arresting their relatives. The strategy has halved the number of attacks on U.S. soldiers, though it has Iraqis muttering that they have become the new Palestinians.

But wait–didn’t we go to Iraq to liberate the people? Or was it to find the WMDs? I don’t know, I get so confused. I wish the Administration could make up its mind.

Certainly, isolating towns isn’t likely to deliver much in the way of goodwill.