World Cup news

Rioting broke out today between English and German soccer fans. Angry soccer fans, really? You don't say. In other news; Catholic Pope takes a shit with a bear in the woods.

Voting rights act

For anyone who doubts that the Republican Party has completely lost touch with reality I draw your attention to the events of this week. In their position of unchallenged power over the three branches of government the Republicans have blocked or stalled many useful pieces of legislation and reform that would greatly benefit the American people, this weeks victim; the Voting Rights Act.

You read that correctly, the Voting Rights Act.

Little background here, up until the passage of the Voting Rights Act in the 1960's there was no specific law that prevented African-Americans, or any other group a community deems undesirable for that matter, from voting. However there was no law that guaranteed their right to vote either. So many places, mainly in the south, could use a variety of measures to keep blacks, indians, and others from the polls. These included poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, and good old fashioned bullying; it worked too. The Voting Rights act changed all that and deemed all barriers to allowing people to vote illegal. Good idea right?

Wrong. When the act came up for renewal this week the Rs shot it down in a straight party-line vote for reasons beknownst only to them and their Fox News addled brains. You figure this one out I'm tired.

Hey look there's Condi Rice walking behind the Dear Leader wearing an apron and head scarf calling him masser!

Friday plane porn

Friday plane porn is here, let the peasantry produce spontaneous demonstrations of joy throughout the land.

This week we feature the newest jet aircraft to ply the skies, the Embraer 190.




The E-190 as it is known is the latest version of regional jet, or "RJ" as they are known in the industry. These are small jets, carrying 100 passengers or less, that fly from large hubs to smaller cities, routes that up until a few years ago were flown by turboprops.

Embraer, a Brazilian company, is one of the leading manufacturers of RJs, and the E-170/190 line just started flying last year. JetBlue was the launch customer, ordering more than 100 of the type.

Yup

Found in the AJC this morning, by cartoonist Mike Lukovich:

Suicide watch

Braves 1 Red Sox 4, the 15'th loss in 18 games. For those of you wondering; yes, I've noticed. However for a long long time I was in denial. Lying in the bathtub with my fingers in my ears while the Braves shit the bed, and what an impressive pile of shit it is!. Anyhow I have moved from the denial stage, skipped past anger and gone straight to depression.

The Brew Crew have screwed things up pretty royally too, so to satisfy my sports cravings I turned to...gulp...soccer, and our own 5'th ranked United States soccer team, surely they will deliver satisfaction. Yeah, I'm going to go find a gun now.

Friday plane porn

Give the people what they want.

Today's pic is a prime example of an oh shit moment.



What you see is not as bad as it looks however. The American 767-200 (the one in flames) is not a regular scheduled flight, but rather is in for maintenance and is having it's engines tested. (for good reason apparently) Nevertheless this result was not expected and caused quite a few people to need a change of underpants. Can you imagine what it must be like to be the pilot on the New Zealand 747-400 taxing there, trying to calm the nerves of passengers? "uhhhh...on your left you will see another aircraft going up in a ball of flames. Oh the humanity, blah blah blah, now on to Auckland.

Also last week I stated that the A-380 would make it's first commercial flight later this year. Yeah, about that...Airbus announced this week that there were yet more problems with the A-380 development and that it would be spring 2007 at the earliest when the first A-380 would carry passengers. This is not the first delay as the A-380 was originally supposed to be ready last year. Airlines are less than pleased and Airbus stock has taken a nosedive as a result.

All that and I still think it's ugly!

Irony is...

...a black sedan parked in front of my building, with the license plate "4CASTR" that has obvious severe hail damage. Didn't see it coming, did you buddy?

Friday plane porn

OK Mark, note the time, I got it in. Today's subject is perhaps the most over-hyped airliner ever. This aircraft has dominated, DOMINATED the aircraft development news for at least a decade now, without flying a single passenger. I'm talking of course about the Airbus A-380.

After years of development the 380 will enter commercial service in November of this year with Singapore Airlines. This aircraft is so heavily louded because it will be the first full double decker airliner, with the capacity to carry up to 900 passengers (in all economy class). Airline owners, like a certian British knight, promised onboard bars, casinos, even staterooms (Helllooo mile high club) However the truth is much more boring. Most 380s will seat 600 in a standard 3-class configuration. And on the inside it will look...well...like any other plane.

Personally I think it looks like a Beluga with wings. No style at all. Unlike the 747 (see previous plane porn) which cuts a classy profile. In short the A-380 is not going to shock the world, nor will it revolutionize air travel as we know it. It's just a very big plane.

6-6-06

So doday is June 6, 2006 the supposed devils day, what with the 666 and all. But I didn't feel any difference. However this morning I looked in my freezer and I found some waffles that I didn't know I had, so I assume they were the devil's waffles. How do I know that they were the devil's waffles? Cause they were blueberry. They were good too. Mmmmmm, satanic waffles, gaaaawwwwwwww!

Bread and circuses

So here is the current state of the nation as I understand it.

-We are engrossed in another nations civil war halfway around the world. A war which has thus far taken 2500 American lives, several hundred billion dollars, and with no end in sight it promises to take more.

But boys are kissing.

-We are engaging in mutual saber rattling with a large, potentially nuclear, power in the same neighborhood. A nation with which all diplomatic attempts at a solution have thus far failed.

But boys are kissing.

-Skyrocketing energy prices are having a real effect on the economy, and are pinching those who can least afford it. While the government/oil companies (are they really separate entities anymore?) give us platitudes about global instability (see above) and supply and demand, the oil companies rake in unprecedented, tax-free, profits.

But boys are kissing.

-The scope of last years unmitigated disaster in New Orleans is still not understood by our leaders. The refugee crisis within our own borders is ignored while we look for someone to blame. Oh, and by the way...it's hurricane season again.

But boys are kissing.

-And speaking of borders, as recently as last week we were kept in a frothing lather about our borders which are apparently as porous as a Louisiana levee. We were told this was a crisis, yes a crisis, that needed immediate attention.

But boys are kissing.

-We live in the richest country in the world, with the finest health care to boot. Yet a large and growing number of our fellow citizens are unable to afford even the most basic of medical services.

But boys are kissing.

-And all the while Osama Bin Laden (remember him?) sits in a cave thumbing his nose at us.

But boys are still kissing.

Must be an election year.

Give the people bread and circuses

Friday plane porn

Sorry for the wait. This week Friday plane porn goes old school, cuz we don't shy away from the aging beauties.



This week we have a Delta L-1011. The L-1011 was a magnificent medium to long range aircraft that has mostly disappeared from the skies. The L-1011 is frequently confused with the DC-10 made by the Douglas aircraft company and debuting at the same time in the early 70's. However their birth is where the similarities end. While many DC-10s wound up as smoldering pieces of wreckage due to their own faulty design, the 1011 was rewound for its safety record. in fact to this day there are only 3 fatal incidents involving 1011s and all of them can be traced to weather or pilot error.

Today most 1011s have been retired, and Lockheed has gone out of the commercial airplane business. There are still some bouncing around flying charters in Africa and Asia.