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28 Oct 2010 21:23

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Biz, U.S.: BP and Halliburton make stupid mistake, punish the entire Gulf

  • The fact that BP and Halliburton knew this cement job could fail only solidifies their liability and responsibility for this disaster. We now know what BP and Halliburton knew, and when they knew it. And now we know they did absolutely nothing about it.
  • Rep. Edward J. Markey • Sounding incredibly pissed (for understandable reasons) about the whole situation with the Gulf Oil Spill. Why, you ask? Well, it seems our friends at both BP and Halliburton knew weeks before that the cement mixture they were using to seal the well was unstable and didn’t work particularly well. But, in a brilliant decision which had amazing effects on the Gulf region, they used it anyway. And by “brilliant” we mean awful. And by “amazing” we me disastrous. Heckuva job, BP and Halliburton. Heckuva job. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Oct 2010 15:53

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Politics, U.S.: Cost-benefit ratio: Meg Whitman spends high, polls low

  • Everybody knows that the California Governor’s race is really, really expensive. Meg Whitman has dropped  $162 million so far on her bid, with Jerry Brown spending an only-modest-by-comparison $25.5 million. However, Whitman’s spending (including $22 million this month alone) hasn’t been able to buy her a lead in the polls. The latest Public Policy Poll has Brown leading by 11 points, 53-42. This made us wonder: how much has each candidate spent for each percentage point they hold in the polls? The results were somewhat lopsided:
  • $481k the price Jerry Brown pays for one percentage point in the polls. Not a paltry sum, to be sure.
  • $3.8m the price Meg Whitman pays for one point in the polls. That’s eight times as much. And she’s still down! source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Oct 2010 11:19

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U.S.: JFK grave’s worn-down typography getting a little TLC

Today, typographic legibility is in the news. Why? Because the letters on JFK’s gravesite are getting hard to read. Time to restore them to their former glory. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Oct 2010 10:49

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U.S.: What does the DC Metro terror plot mean, security-wise?

  • Metro, like any other transit system in the world, has a high level of vulnerability. There is no getting around that. You do your best with dogs, police and cameras.
  • DC council member (and DC Metro board member) Jim Graham • Offering a little bit of insight into the metro system’s security processes. Obviously, this is of major concern considering that some guy was trying to plot terror attacks against multiple metro stations. Graham, who says that bag checks may not be out of the question in the future (and who wears a pretty impressive pair of glasses that we’ve always admired from afar), notes that when they’ve been tried in the past, such as during George W. Bush’s second inauguration, the process has been very cumbersome. “The entire system was jammed,” he said. “People just could not move, because of the necessary slow pace of checking everybody.” We hope that, if it is in fact necessary, they can find an easy way to do it. Wonder how much it costs to install full-body scanners at every single station? It must be cheap, and the DC Metro clearly has the money to spend! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Oct 2010 22:50

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U.S.: Metro opens doors, sure, but they closed on DC terror suspect

  • dumb You’re a guy who has a crazy idea to blow up parts of the DC Metro system, because that’s a good idea and stuff.
  • dumber You end up working with people you think are members of al-Qaeda, offering up significant details on your plans.
  • dumbestYou find out that they’re members of the FBI. Farooque Ahmed, this is your life. Don’t mess with the DC Metro. source
  • » And yes, we know: This is a serious situation. Lots of people could have died. But here’s our feeling on the matter. We’d rather be brash and fearless-sounding than give into the kind of FUD that these sort of threats encourage. That’s what terror suspects want.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Oct 2010 21:35

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U.S.: Medical examiner steals dead teen’s brain, ’cause that’s not creepy

  • They saw this jar with a brain in it labeled Jesse Shipley. They knew Jesse and he knew them. They were looking at his brain, and his brain was looking right back at them.
  • Korisha Shipley • Regarding the “holy crap” finding that the medical examiner who took care of her son Jesse after his death in a 2005 accident kept his brain in a jar and was showing it off to his fellow high school students on a field trip a few months later. The Staten Island, New York resident’s family is now suing the city over the bizarre incident, which most assuredly should’ve never happened. Protip: Don’t keep someone’s brain in a jar months after they’ve been killed. That’s just weird. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Oct 2010 11:18

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U.S.: Death row inmate’s famous last words: “Boomer Sooner”

  • Well, I’d like to say thank you to my family for being here and all my friends, and Boomer Sooner.
  • Arizona death row inmate Jeffrey Landrigan • Making his famous last words before his death by lethal injection. “Boomer Sooner”? Apparently this guy lived in Oklahoma and was a big college football fan before being convicted in the murder of Chester Dean Dyer way back in 1989. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

26 Oct 2010 22:53

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U.S.: Someone in the D.C. area with a gun doesn’t like the military

  • one Some guy decided to shoot up the National Museum of the Marine Corps last week.
  • two Two days later, someone shot at the Pentagon using the same gun as the first shooting.
  • three Someone shot a Marine Recruiting Station in Northern Virginia. Is it related? source
  • » Why this is disconcerting: Well, among other things, the random nature of the shootings is reminiscent of the D.C. sniper shootings. While the person has hit no people yet, lots of people remember the hysteria around those shootings. Oh, and we can’t forget the fact that the military is involved. Tip to shooter: Find a better way to protest.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Oct 2010 20:05

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U.S.: Four Loko: All of the bad parts of getting drunk, combined

  • One of these cans of Four Loko packs the punch of a six-pack of beer. Worse, the drinks also include five cups of coffee. Remember that story we posted a few weeks ago about the college party that went south and left a bunch of kids sick? They were drinking this. (Update: Our friend Steve Dorsey tipped us off to a sexual assault trial in a Detroit suburb that also involved Four Loko. And high school students. Use your heads, guys. This stuff is dangerous.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Oct 2010 10:02

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U.S.: “Hiccup Girl” falls on hard times, charged in murder case

  • 2007 In the kind of story CNN loves, Florida teenager Jennifer Mee became famous for an uncontrollable case of hiccups that lasted for weeks.
  • 2010 In the kind of story HLN loves, Mee, now 19 years old, was charged with murder during an armed robbery attempt, along with two others. Oh boy.  source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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