The engineer of a commuter train ran through a red light and never hit his brakes in the final moments before last week's fatal collision with an oncoming freight train, authorities said.
As they sort through the many possible reasons why, investigators also said Tuesday that engineer Robert Sanchez was working an 11 1/2-hour split shift at the time of the crash.
"Split schedules are something of great concern to us," said Kitty Higgins, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash. "But whether that played a role in the accident is much too early to say."
Sanchez, who was killed in the crash, began his shift at 6 a.m. Friday, took a nap during a 3 1/2-hour break and resumed duty at 2 p.m., officials said.
His train crashed about 2 1/2 hours later.
Twenty-five people were killed and more than 135 others injured.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
AIG bailout upsets Republican lawmakers
You know it's bad when your own compatriots are questioning your sanity but that is exactly what is happening as republicans are saying 'WHOA, there Buddy!"
Key Republicans on Capitol Hill blasted the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve on Wednesday for orchestrating an $85 billion bailout of insurance giant American International Group, and the White House for not informing them of the plan. Meanwhile, Democrats blamed the Bush administration for the financial crisis, while the White House pointed a finger at Congress.
The criticism came a day after lawmakers were surprised by the news that taxpayers would again be called on to shore up a member of the struggling financial sector.
"Once again the Fed has put the taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars to bail out an institution that put greed ahead of responsibility and used their good name to take risky bets that did not pay off," said Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Kentucky, a member of the Senate Banking Committee.
A spokesman for Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the committee, said the senator "profoundly disagrees with the decision to use taxpayer dollars to bail out a private company" and is upset the government has sent an inconsistent message to the markets by bailing out AIG after it just refused to save investment bank Lehman Brothers from bankruptcy.
"The American taxpayer should not be asked to unwillingly assume the inordinate risks that financial experts knowingly undertook, particularly when taxpayer exposure is increased by the ad hoc manner in which these bailouts have been engineered," said Shelby's aide, Jonathan Graffeo.
Republican Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri complained about not getting a heads-up about the bailout and said House Republicans are struggling to "understand a coherent strategy" about which firms get rescued and which ones don't.
*****
Oops, your slip is showing!
Gone but not forgotten
An American Chinook helicopter crashed early Thursday in southern Iraq, killing seven U.S. soldiers, the military said.
A U.S. statement said the CH-47 Chinook was landing after midnight about 60 miles west of Basra when the incident occurred.
A spokesman for the Multi-National Force-Iraq confirmed that the helicopter had crashed.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to provide details.
That makes 4167 Brave men and women gone! Dead because of the cabal's greed!
A U.S. statement said the CH-47 Chinook was landing after midnight about 60 miles west of Basra when the incident occurred.
A spokesman for the Multi-National Force-Iraq confirmed that the helicopter had crashed.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to provide details.
*****
That makes 4167 Brave men and women gone! Dead because of the cabal's greed!
NJ callers dialing state Democrats get sex chat offer instead
A misprint in a telephone book has led to some callers dialing a phone sex service while trying to reach a New Jersey political organization.
A listing for the Sussex County Democratic Committee in Embarq's white pages sent people to a sultry female voice inviting them to pay for sex chat.
Embarq spokesman Glenn Lewis said that a transposition error caused the last three digits of the Democrats' phone number to be misprinted.
He said the listing has been corrected in Embarq's directory assistance database.
The organization's 800 number listed in the book's yellow pages was correct.
A listing for the Sussex County Democratic Committee in Embarq's white pages sent people to a sultry female voice inviting them to pay for sex chat.
Embarq spokesman Glenn Lewis said that a transposition error caused the last three digits of the Democrats' phone number to be misprinted.
He said the listing has been corrected in Embarq's directory assistance database.
The organization's 800 number listed in the book's yellow pages was correct.
*****
You want to lay odds the person who 'set' the type (OK, formatted the program) for the phone directory was a repugican.
Reality has reasserted itself
In a sign that John McPain's convention bounce has dissipated, Barack Obama has taken a 48 percent to 43 percent lead over his repugican rival among registered voters in the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Science News
Crows use causal reasoning
The use of causal reasoning to solve problems was previously thought to be something only humans can do. But new research suggests that crows are capable of it too. University of Auckland cognitive scientist Alex Taylor and his colleagues devised an experiment to test New Caledonian crows' causal reasoning. Turns out, they were able to succeed where even chimps fail. I, for one, welcome our new feathered overlords.
Hardball
Chris Matthews Lights up Eddie Cantor:
I see where Chris has stopped being a shrub apologist and has returned to being a reporter - good.
I see where Chris has stopped being a shrub apologist and has returned to being a reporter - good.
As of this moment ...
As of this moment ...
4160 Brave men and women are gone!
Dead because of the cabal's greed.
Support our Troops ... Bring them home now!
4160 Brave men and women are gone!
Dead because of the cabal's greed.
Support our Troops ... Bring them home now!
Livni: New Israeli Prime Minister
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni won the Kadima Party's primary election for its leader Wednesday, TV exit polls said, putting her in a good position to become Israel's first female leader in 34 years and sending a message that peace talks with the Palestinians will proceed.
Cheers and applause broke out at party headquarters when Israel's three networks announced their exit polls gave Livni between 47 percent and 49 percent, compared to 37 percent for her closest rival, former defense minister and military chief Shaul Mofaz.
Livni needed 40 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff next week, and her supporters hugged each other and shed tears of joy.
"It's the beginning of a new period in Israeli politics," Moshe Conforti said amid the celebration.
If official results bear out the exit polls, as is likely, the 50-year-old Livni will replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as head of Kadima. Olmert, the target of a career-ending corruption probe, promised to step down as soon as a new Kadima leader was chosen.
Cheers and applause broke out at party headquarters when Israel's three networks announced their exit polls gave Livni between 47 percent and 49 percent, compared to 37 percent for her closest rival, former defense minister and military chief Shaul Mofaz.
Livni needed 40 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff next week, and her supporters hugged each other and shed tears of joy.
"It's the beginning of a new period in Israeli politics," Moshe Conforti said amid the celebration.
If official results bear out the exit polls, as is likely, the 50-year-old Livni will replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as head of Kadima. Olmert, the target of a career-ending corruption probe, promised to step down as soon as a new Kadima leader was chosen.
*****
Who knows this might be the answer to a lot of questions in that part of the world.
Missing plane found - All dead
An intergovernmental agency says all four of those on board a plane that crashed in Mexico after taking off from Texas are dead.
The International Boundary and Water Commission said Wednesday that the dead included the leaders of its U.S. and Mexican branches.
The agency maintains the border between the two countries.
The plane had been missing since Monday, when it took off from El Paso to check out flooding on the Rio Grande.
The U.S. Border Patrol says it found the plane's wreckage Wednesday in a rugged section of the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico, about 20 miles northwest of Presidio.
The International Boundary and Water Commission said Wednesday that the dead included the leaders of its U.S. and Mexican branches.
The agency maintains the border between the two countries.
The plane had been missing since Monday, when it took off from El Paso to check out flooding on the Rio Grande.
The U.S. Border Patrol says it found the plane's wreckage Wednesday in a rugged section of the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico, about 20 miles northwest of Presidio.
Something's Queer Here
Damn, I must have learned to type a lot faster than I normally do because everything I have posted today I have done so in the same minute?!
That be queer?
That be queer?
Canadian firm reopens plant tied to tainted meat
The company Maple Leaf Foods said Wednesday it has reopened a processing plant that was shut down for nearly a month after it was linked to tainted meat that caused a bacteria outbreak that killed 17 people across Canada.
Maple Leaf Foods CEO Michael McCain said production has resumed under a phasing-in period and tests will be done before any food is released to the public.
All 191 meat products made at the Toronto facility were recalled.
Listeria bacterium was found deep inside slicing equipment used on processed meats such as bologna, turkey and ham.
None of the plant's production will be distributed until the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is confident new safety procedures in the facility are effective, McCain said.
He said the new safety measures include testing processed meats before shipping.
At least 17 deaths in Canada have been attributed to the listeria contamination at the plant.
Six more deaths are under investigation.
In all, 38 cases of listeriosis have been confirmed and 20 more are suspected.
Maple Leaf Foods CEO Michael McCain said production has resumed under a phasing-in period and tests will be done before any food is released to the public.
All 191 meat products made at the Toronto facility were recalled.
Listeria bacterium was found deep inside slicing equipment used on processed meats such as bologna, turkey and ham.
None of the plant's production will be distributed until the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is confident new safety procedures in the facility are effective, McCain said.
He said the new safety measures include testing processed meats before shipping.
At least 17 deaths in Canada have been attributed to the listeria contamination at the plant.
Six more deaths are under investigation.
In all, 38 cases of listeriosis have been confirmed and 20 more are suspected.
Convictions reinstated against NY 'Mafia cops'
A federal appeals court has reinstated conspiracy convictions against two former New York Police Department detectives accused of moonlighting as hitmen for the mob.
Wednesday's ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturns a lower-court decision to toss out the jury verdicts against Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa.
A jury found that the two led double lives, working for the NYPD and Luchese crime family underboss Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso.
But U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein in Brooklyn said when he threw out the convictions that the statute of limitations had passed.
The appeals court disagrees.
It restored the convictions and says the men can now be sentenced.
Wednesday's ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturns a lower-court decision to toss out the jury verdicts against Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa.
A jury found that the two led double lives, working for the NYPD and Luchese crime family underboss Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso.
But U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein in Brooklyn said when he threw out the convictions that the statute of limitations had passed.
The appeals court disagrees.
It restored the convictions and says the men can now be sentenced.
Long Live the New Union of Socialist Republicans
Welcome news comrades! We the People are now We the Owners. The People's Insurance Company, formerly known as AIG, was saved for the time being from the forces of capitalism by the new Union of Republican Socialists, formerly known as the GOP. Somewhere in the great beyond, the ghost of Karl Marx is grinning while the spirit of Adam Smith forks over the one dollar bet with an invisible hand:
Now that the People own a major insurance company, it's fair to ask how the People's Insurance Company, along with the People's Mortgage Companies and the People's Investment Banks, will benefit the People who Own them. Can we expect lower premiums, equity sharing, and corporate perks for our hundreds of billions of dollars? Should we start checking our mailbox for dividend checks? Who gets paid first, claimants, bondholders, stockholders, or we the new taxpayer owners? We the Owners, want to know, and the Union of Socialist Republicans better damn well tell us, fast.
Check Kos for the rest: Long Live the New Union of Socialist Republicans
Now that the People own a major insurance company, it's fair to ask how the People's Insurance Company, along with the People's Mortgage Companies and the People's Investment Banks, will benefit the People who Own them. Can we expect lower premiums, equity sharing, and corporate perks for our hundreds of billions of dollars? Should we start checking our mailbox for dividend checks? Who gets paid first, claimants, bondholders, stockholders, or we the new taxpayer owners? We the Owners, want to know, and the Union of Socialist Republicans better damn well tell us, fast.
Check Kos for the rest: Long Live the New Union of Socialist Republicans
It's a special birthday today ... did you know it?
Born on this day September 17th, in the year 1787 -
the United States Constitution.
US Constitution
Born 9 - 17 - 1787
Died 1 - 20 -2001
Aged 213 years 244 days 12 hours
R.I.P.
Born 9 - 17 - 1787
Died 1 - 20 -2001
Aged 213 years 244 days 12 hours
R.I.P.
Let us celebrate it's birth 221 years ago and long life of the US Constitution as we lament it's recent passing
What to Kuwait and Idaho have in common?
What do Kuwait and Idaho have in common, you ask?
Sand, I answer.
What is so special about sand, you say?
It's radioactive, I say!
Read here how 6700 tons of radioactive Kuwaiti sand ended up in Idaho.
Sand, I answer.
What is so special about sand, you say?
It's radioactive, I say!
Read here how 6700 tons of radioactive Kuwaiti sand ended up in Idaho.
FDIC's insurance fund slips below mandated level
And the hosing continues ...
Banks are not the only ones struggling in the growing financial crisis. The fund established to insure their deposits is also feeling the pinch, and the taxpayer might be the lender of last resort.
Banks are not the only ones struggling in the growing financial crisis. The fund established to insure their deposits is also feeling the pinch, and the taxpayer might be the lender of last resort.
Picklefest
Saturday September 20, 2008 is Picklefest 2008!It isn't the oddest 'festival' I have ever heard of ... There is the 'Okra Strut' in Irmo, SC every year after all ... it did strike me as funny - what with the Gerkin pictured above.
Who knows it might be fun?
Find out more on LA's Picklefest 2008 here.
Who knows it might be fun?
Find out more on LA's Picklefest 2008 here.
The Rise and Fall of the Fourth Reich
Now that the Fourth Reich is collapsing around us it might behoove you to read this from What Really Happened
Science News
Fish that glow red
Above is a striking photo of a triplefin reef fluorescing red. According to new research, many reef animals glow red but that capacity is usually overlooked scientists because most of that wavelength of sunlight is absorbed out as you go more than 10 meters down into the ocean. As a result, most animals from that zone see blue and green best. But University of Tübingen evolution ecologist Nico Michiels and his colleagues suggest that the red-glowing fish carry an untold biological story about the spectrum of the sea.From Science News:
Michiels noticed the red fluorescence in 2007 while diving with a mask that filtered out all but red wavelengths for another project. As he descended, the sun’s available red light dwindled quickly, leaving him in virtual darkness. Then he was startled to see the red fluorescent eyes of a fish, the red fin of another …. Since then, he and collaborators have found that 32 reef fishes sampled from 16 genera give off a red fluorescent glow. Substances on their bodies capture light at other wavelengths and release the energy as red light...
Most of the red-fluorescing fish are small and likely to have mates or neighbors close by, so red glows would make good short-range signals for courtship or other local business, Michiels suggests. The idea that seawater has rendered red ineffective “is a kind of dogma we are attacking,” he says. “I would hope that the whole light ecology of reefs is reconsidered.”
House Allows Gulf War POWs to Sue Iraq Over Torture
House Allows Gulf War POWs to Sue Iraq Over Torture
And the shrub and the rest of the cabal is fighting American POWs from his daddy's Gulf War
And the shrub and the rest of the cabal is fighting American POWs from his daddy's Gulf War
Former POWs and civilians who were tortured or held hostage during the 1991 Gulf War could pursue lawsuits against Iraq under legislation the House has approved.
The White House, saying the bill would threaten economic and political progress in Iraq, threatened to veto the measure if it reaches the president's desk. It still has to clear the Senate.
The legislation, passed by voice vote late Monday, could affect some 17 prisoners of war — all but one pilots of aircraft downed over Iraq or Kuwait — and more than 200 American civilians working in Iraq and Kuwait and held as "human shields" after then-President Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.
The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, would take away the president's authority to exempt Iraq from lawsuits brought by Americans tortured by state sponsors of terrorism. The president could still grant immunity if he certifies that Iraq has adequately settled, or is making good-faith efforts to settle, claims against it from pending court cases.
Bush in December 2007 vetoed a defense policy bill because it contained a similar provision. He later signed the bill after reaching an agreement with Congress granting him waiver authority, which he exercised in January 2008.
A House Republican, Rep. Darrell Issa of California, was behind the compromise language in the new bill, but the White House said the certification provisions were inadequate to allow the president's waiver rights to continue.
The result, it said, would be "removing Iraq's sovereign immunity and exposing it to potential new liability for billions of dollars in lawsuits seeking compensation for offenses committed by the former Saddam Hussein regime."
The White House also warned that Iraq would take protective measures, including withdrawing its assets from the United States.
The bill limits total recovery for those held hostage to $900,000. Those tortured would be eligible to receive up to $2.5 million plus $6,000 for every day held.
*****
Way to support the troops, there Dingleberry!
Way to support the troops, there Dingleberry!
Fire, Dead Children - Not Good
Police say two children have died in a duplex fire in the central Wisconsin town of Wausau and a third child has been critically injured.
Police Lieutenant Mark Pankow says the children who died were ages 2 and 8, and an injured 9-year-old was taken to a hospital.
A woman and three other children were able to escape the blaze, which broke out in the first floor of a two-story duplex late Tuesday night.
The state Fire Marshal's office says it is investigating.
Police Lieutenant Mark Pankow says the children who died were ages 2 and 8, and an injured 9-year-old was taken to a hospital.
A woman and three other children were able to escape the blaze, which broke out in the first floor of a two-story duplex late Tuesday night.
The state Fire Marshal's office says it is investigating.
Tainted Milk, Sick Babies - Not Good
More than 6,200 babies have been sickened by tainted milk formula and dozens of infants are suffering from acute kidney failure, China's health minister said Wednesday as the death toll rose to three children.
Health Minister Chen Zhu said he expected the numbers of affected babies to increase as "more and more parents take kids to the hospital."
Meanwhile, the head of China's quality control watchdog agency, Li Changjiang, said that 5,000 inspectors will be dispatched nationwide to monitor companies after government testing showed that 20 percent of the companies producing milk powder had dairy products with melamine.
Health Minister Chen Zhu said he expected the numbers of affected babies to increase as "more and more parents take kids to the hospital."
Meanwhile, the head of China's quality control watchdog agency, Li Changjiang, said that 5,000 inspectors will be dispatched nationwide to monitor companies after government testing showed that 20 percent of the companies producing milk powder had dairy products with melamine.
Woman sues city after it orders her to remove a link to the local cops' website
Fascism on the local scale:
A woman in Sheboygan, Wisconsin is suing the city because the city's attorney used legal threats to get her to remove a link to the local police department website -- the city apparently believes you need permission to communicate the URLs of its pages:
A woman in Sheboygan, Wisconsin is suing the city because the city's attorney used legal threats to get her to remove a link to the local police department website -- the city apparently believes you need permission to communicate the URLs of its pages:
Jennifer Reisinger says the Sheboygan city attorney ordered her to remove from her Web site a link to the city’s police department, in what she believes was retaliation for her support of recalling Mayor Juan Perez, according to the suit filed last week.The city went further, the lawsuit claims, launching a criminal investigation of Reisinger for linking to the department on one of her sites.
Flaming arrows integral to oil pumping: 1960
Amateur flaming-arrow archers kept the fires burning in Alberta's gas towers in 1960:
Waste gas fumes burning off from this flare tower at Nevis. Alberta, sometimes blow out, and the mechanical relighting device doesn’t always work. The oilmen keep a bow and a fire arrow handy and relight the flare by shooting a flame through the fumes. It doesn’t require any skill at archery—note this oiler’s unusual form.
YouTube censors viral video documentary on Palin's churches
Do you find it a bit odd that any video of Palin's 'church' is being 'edited' on YouTube in the past few days to reflect a wholesomeness and conventional mainstream-ness that just is not there? Bruce Wilson does. His mini-documentary suffered the 'editors' knife.
Sarah Palin's Churches and The Third Wave from Bruce Wilson on Vimeo.
Not quite the conventional mainstream 'church' the edited video shows on YouTube now is it?
By Bruce WilsonSarah Palin was baptized at Wasilla Assembly of God and attended the church for over two and a half decades, and she has been publicly blessed by a number of pastors and religious leaders employed by and associated with that church. Last Sunday our research team released a video, a ten-minute mini-documentary, focusing on the Wasilla Assemblies of God and the video seemed on the verge of a massive "viral" breakthrough when YouTube pulled it down, citing "inappropriate content". At the point the video was censored by YouTube it had been viewed by almost 160,000 people. The short of it is that YouTube has censored a video documentary that appeared to be close to having an effect on a hard fought and contentious American presidential election.
Lucky for us, the entire video as it was released is still available and still documents the 'church' as it really is, not what her handlers want us to believe.
Sarah Palin's Churches and The Third Wave from Bruce Wilson on Vimeo.
Not quite the conventional mainstream 'church' the edited video shows on YouTube now is it?
Awards for 2007 and 2008
Carolina Naturally received these awards during its first year and they were/are appreciated. Hopefully, I can keep inspiring some and despairing others and just maybe - just maybe, mind you - more awards will follow ... if not, oh, well, it was fun while it lasted.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled programing ...
'Hitting Back'
In response to questions of when he was going to 'hit back' at the lies of McPain, Obama had this to say:
He doesn't have to make up lies about McPain like McPain has to make up lies about Obama ... McPain lies about his lies to cover his lies and everybody knows it (especially now) so there is no need to add more - he does a better job of lying about himself than Obama could ever do making do lies about him.
"Here’s what I can guarantee you: that we are going to be hitting back hard – we have been hitting back hard – but we’re hitting back on the issues that matter to families.
I’m not going to start making up lies about John McCain."
I’m not going to start making up lies about John McCain."
He doesn't have to make up lies about McPain like McPain has to make up lies about Obama ... McPain lies about his lies to cover his lies and everybody knows it (especially now) so there is no need to add more - he does a better job of lying about himself than Obama could ever do making do lies about him.
And I Quote
"A woman who now is running to be second in command of the United States, only 4 years ago had aspirations to be a television anchor, which is probably all she is qualified to be."
-- Lindsay Lohan
-- Lindsay Lohan
Thar she 'blow'
A Costa Rican official says U.S. authorities have intercepted a submarine-like vessel packed with tons of cocaine.
Security Minister Janina del Vecchio said in a statement Tuesday that the 70-foot (20-meter) vessel was intercepted by the U.S. Navy in international waters near Costa Rica.
Del Vecchio said the vessel was transporting an estimated 6 metric tons (6.6 U.S. tons) of cocaine.
She said U.S. authorities would tow it to a Costa Rican port and then to Key West, Florida.
Colombian drug cartels have been known to use home-built submarines to smuggle large amounts of cocaine to Central America en route to the United States.
Damn, that's a lot of 'blow'.
Security Minister Janina del Vecchio said in a statement Tuesday that the 70-foot (20-meter) vessel was intercepted by the U.S. Navy in international waters near Costa Rica.
Del Vecchio said the vessel was transporting an estimated 6 metric tons (6.6 U.S. tons) of cocaine.
She said U.S. authorities would tow it to a Costa Rican port and then to Key West, Florida.
Colombian drug cartels have been known to use home-built submarines to smuggle large amounts of cocaine to Central America en route to the United States.
Damn, that's a lot of 'blow'.
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