Wednesday, July 31, 2013

11 Things We No Longer See on Airplanes

11 Things We No Longer See on Airplanes | Mental Floss:
"11. A SEAT ASSIGNMENT IN 22I

Or any row with an “I” designation.
Watch the seat numbers the next time you’re tripping down the aisle on a wide-bodied plane—they usually run “HJK”. Why no "I"?
Blame computers.
When airlines started installing computer equipment to handle their reservations and other records, problems were often created when a letter too closely resembled a numeral.
Digital Equipment Corporation was the first company to eliminate confusing letters (in automobile VIN numbers, for example, not only the I but also O, Q, and S were nixed) and as a result such an alphanumeric system is now referred to as the DEC Alphabet. "

What Happens Next?

What Happens Next? | Zero Hedge:
 "As the world waits breathless for tomorrow's preliminary (only to be revised again and again) GDP estimate for Q2 2013 (having seen expectations collapse in recent months), there remains the ever-present faith that Q3, Q4, and on and on will see the mean-reverting growth lift the US economy from its current 'Better-Bargain'-less dystopia.
So what happens next?
Well, let's look at the trajectory of GDP expectations in 2007..."

More than 100 elections being held across Michigan next Tuesday

More than 100 elections being held across Michigan next Tuesday | MLive.com:
"City primaries. Township boards. Millage renewals. There will be more than 100 elections held in 56 Michigan counties next week.
On Tuesday, Aug. 6, polls will be open between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Below is a full list from the Secretary of State's office of all the elections happening in Michigan. To make sure there is an election where you live, go to the SOS' election page and enter you address."

Explosive O'Reilly Segment: President Obama & the Race Problem

Explosive O'Reilly Segment: President Obama & the Race Problem | Independent Journal Review:
"Bill O’Reilly has created buzz on his top-rated cable news show The O’Reilly Factor with a scathing segment on President Obama and the race problem.
Although many folks are likely to be tired of hearing about it, the Democrats have been milking racial tensions for generations in this country, while glossing over or scapegoating others for the numerous plights in the black community.
Democrats have been tremendously successful at garnering the black vote: but the more progressives get power, the more conditions keep getting worse; not only for blacks, but for all Americans."

Mich. sued by prison guards over pay

Mich. sued by prison guards over pay | Crain's Detroit Business:
"The lawsuit seeks compensation for any prison officer employed during the past three years. The Corrections Department declined to comment.
More than 30 prison officers have stepped forward as plaintiffs in the case, from Marquette in the Upper Peninsula to Coldwater near the Indiana border."

Senate committee to vote on Medicaid expansion Wednesday

Senate committee to vote on Medicaid expansion Wednesday | Crain's Detroit Business:
 "A Senate committee vote on a bill to expand Medicaid in Michigan will come Wednesday afternoon, but not before debate on two other bills that do not expand Medicaid."

1,122 Record Cold Temps in the U.S. in one week

1,122 Record Cold Temps in the U.S. in one week | Climate Depot:

Memorable quotes from the Detroit mayoral debate

Memorable quotes from the Detroit mayoral debate | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
“If sending people to prison was the answer, we’d have the safest city in the country.” — Willie Lipscomb

“I have a 167 IQ, at least I did the last time they tested me.” — John Telford

“The focus has to be on making sure the people who live here want to stay here. You can’t go to the grocery store. You don’t have confidence in the education system. You have to make sure the people who live here want to stay here.” — Herman Griffin

“There was a concert on Belle Isle on that drew 40,000 people. Where did that revenue go?” — Jean Vortkamp

“What is more important? Where did you live or what did you do?” — Mike Duggan, on why hadn’t moved in Detroit before 2012."

Democrat Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee: "I Stand Here as a Freed Slave"

Democrat Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee: "I Stand Here as a Freed Slave" - YouTube:

North Pole refreezes, scientist says global warming not a factor

North Pole refreezes, scientist says global warming not a factor | Rare:
"The water the buoy was bobbing in last week was not a lake, but a melt pond, a common occurrence in the Arctic summer when the sun shines 24 hours a day, said Morison, principal oceanographer for the North Pole Environmental Observatory, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation.
While the air temperature hovers right around the freezing point, solar radiation works to melt snow and the upper layer of sea ice.
Some of the water drains through cracks down into the Arctic Ocean and the rest forms fresh-water ponds on top of the sea ice with their surfaces slightly above sea level.
“That’s just part of summer ice conditions, and as far as we know it always has been,” Morison said."

Sheriff: Muskegon County's new 'high-speed' boats will be 'regional assets'

Sheriff: Muskegon County's new 'high-speed' boats will be 'regional assets' | MLive.com:
"The cost of the Firehawk is $269,000. 
That also is being covered by grant money."

Fast-food workers' strike in Flint, Detroit put on hold; other plans in place for future demonstrations

Fast-food workers' strike in Flint, Detroit put on hold; other plans in place for future demonstrations | MLive.com:
"The protests are backed by a network of community, clergy and labor groups across the country, including the SEIU.
“SEIU members, like all service-sector workers, are worse off when large fast-food and retail companies are able to hold down wages and push down benefit standards for working people,” Mary Kay Henry, SEIU president, said in a release."

DETROIT IS NOT AN ANOMALY, JUST AHEAD OF THE CURVE: Chicago Is In Big Trouble.

Instapundit » Blog Archive » DETROIT IS NOT AN ANOMALY, JUST AHEAD OF THE CURVE: Chicago Is In Big Trouble.
“In addition to the pension, law enforcement, and emergency response concerns that remind us of a certain bankrupt city across the lake, the report notes that three of Chicago’s four largest private employers (JP Morgan, Accenture LLP, and Northern Trust) are in finance.
It seems like blue cities have a codependent relationship with the one percenters progressives claim to hate.
It hasn’t all hit the fan quite yet, but Chicago seems perilously close to real trouble.
The city is all out of money, and with an imploding public education system and harrowing levels of violence, it is losing residents fast.”

Julia Merfeld sentenced in Muskegon fake hit man case; husband calls her 'wonderful'

Julia Merfeld sentenced in Muskegon fake hit man case; husband calls her 'wonderful' | MLive.com:
"Julia Charlene Merfeld is “wonderful” and “godly,” said the husband she tried to have murdered less than four months ago.
For the first time publicly, intended murder victim Jacob “Jake” Merfeld, 27, of Muskegon spoke out Tuesday, July 30, about his 21-year-old wife. In court at her sentencing for solicitation to murder him, he asked for a light sentence.
“I know that my wife is a wonderful person,” Jake Merfeld said to the sentencing judge. “She is a godly woman.”"

Buena Vista School District is no more; students to attend Saginaw, Bridgeport-Spaulding, Frankenmuth schools

Buena Vista School District is no more; students to attend Saginaw, Bridgeport-Spaulding, Frankenmuth schools | MLive.com:
"Buena Vista had 433 students during the February student count day."

Oakland to Ban Hammers & Wrenches

Oakland to Ban Hammers & Wrenches - | Intellihub.com:
"So the Oakland City Council is considering a proposed ordinance that would criminalize the possession of everyday objects, including objects of professional tradesmen such as hammers, large screwdrivers, walking canes and mechanic’s tools.
The city claims these objects will be illegal to possess during a “protest,” but a protest can be defined as any two people standing around, or walking down a street, or even just talking loudly.
There is no official definition of a “protest,” meaning the police can invoke the ordinance any time they wish. That’s how these laws always go: they get interpreted and deployed far beyond their original intent."

“GET DA F*CK OUT!” HAWAII OFFERS HOMELESS ONE-WAY TICKET OUT

“GET DA F*CK OUT!” HAWAII OFFERS HOMELESS ONE-WAY TICKET OUT | Black Media Scoop
"Or you could take the route lawmakers in Hawaii did: offer homeless residents a one-way ticket out of the state.
State legislators passed funding this year for a new program to offer one-way flights to any of the state’s estimated 17,000 homeless persons.
Lawmakers appropriated $100,000 over the next two years for the “return-to-home” program, but that funding could increase if the initiative is viewed as a success."

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Feds Devote $2.25 Million to Study Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumor Disease

Feds Devote $2.25 Million to Study Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumor Disease | CNS News

Stein’s Law

Stein’s Law | National Review Online:
"If there’s an iron rule in economics, it is Stein’s Law (named after Herb, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers): “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.”"

Life in the Twilight

Works and Days » Life in the Twilight:
 "When I get hit by an errant motorist in my environs (and it has happened more than once), or have some one run off the road onto my property, the strange thing is not that I expect him to flee, leaving no ID, no registration, and no insurance behind — that is de rigueur.
The odd thing is that the officer on the scene nonchalantly assumes the same thing, too.
Yet his shrug does not hide the lie that if I were to do that, I would be charged with felony hit and run, while my victim that night would be contacted by a lawyer to sue me.
We all know this and we all know, like good Eastern Europeans circa 1970, never to say that aloud.
In Los Angeles, hit-and-run is kinda like jaywalking elsewhere."