Fireworks over the Middle East.. not celebrations of American independence but instead a test of global security: Iran has test fired missiles in a war of nerves..
According to Reuters and other news sources tonight, Iran says that it has successfully test fired medium range missile … these missiles, according to reports, are capable of hitting targets in Israel.
Tensions have escalated between the West and Iran over recent months. Israel has ratcheted up a war of words with the nation..
And now as tensions mount this Fourth of July eve, the United States is sending warships to the Persian Gulf tonight—which according to officials is a signal to Iran..
According to ABC NEWS, the missiles tested by Iranian missiles attacked ‘mock enemy targets’.. And oil prices, predictably, surged
All eyes on Iran during the Fourth of July.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
If it's not one axis of evil nation, it's the other
Monday, July 2, 2012
Good evening… Hot and humid in the United States of hell
This seems to be a slow motion unfolding disaster in the Mid Atlantic.. heat and no electricity, no lights in sight and no end of the heat coming either
5 million without power originally. Now it’s 2 million.
But put it into perspective: After Hurricane Katrina, the most without power was 3 million…
Power companies hope to have at least 90% restored by FRIDAY this week..
Of course there will be more heat and more storms throughout…
This seems to be a slow motion unfolding disaster in the Mid Atlantic.. heat and no electricity, no lights in sight and no end of the heat coming either
I have been doing some more thinking about the 'elusive' God particle
As linked yesterday here, scientists at CERN are expected to make an announcement this week that they have found the Higgs Boson God Particle with 99.99% certainty. The particle has been long sought by those who experiment with the giant CERN collider—it is the particle that makes up the mass of atoms..
My mind can’t necessarily comprehend the idea of this Higgs Boson particle. I get the basic premise.. but I’m a mere mortal. And for me it sometimes is just amazing to think about how the Large Hadron Collider even works, being 18 miles long and deep in the mountains..
But back to science.. According to reports and speculation, a press conference will most likely occur on Wednesday to announce the major and amazing discovery. Peter Higgs will reportedly be there.. And if they are flying him in, you know there will be a mighty word said for mics.
The hope is that science may actually begin to explain something that has puzzled many: Why objects in our universe weigh anything. Comprehending the tiny sub-particle that gives mass to atoms may allow people to bring some form of reason and purpose to the objects in our universe and the nature of everything.
What it will not do is answer ‘why’ we are here.. but may help in the ‘how’ department.
We will know something, perhaps, this week. Something amazing. Just in time for the great American 4th of July. Fireworks overhead.. the God particle all around.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
From mild mannered child to .. monster of mayhem. And then he smiles and melts your heart..
Ayden Morris is 16 months old. He is amazing. At times it feels like he’s one of the adults, he tries so hard to be independent. He’ll go so far as to hold the cup with his own hands, but in the process rips it out of yours. He will take walks on his own, but make a fool of you as he whips his hands ferociously away from yours.
And yes, he eats on his own, even if it means he forces utensils out of your hands before you are ready to give them to him.
This is a wild ride. Parenting plus panicking.
Laughing.. getting angry.. getting sad.. contemplating existence.. contemplating time.. Getting embarrassed as the frenzied flip out occurs at a grocery store checkout counter.
My wife and I love being parents. We love having the task at hand .. we enjoy having something more important than ourselves being at the center of our marriage and lives. But .. by God, aren’t the terrible 2s supposed to occur when, well, when Ayden turns 2!?
I love the little man.
I love his emotions, as pure as they are.
And yes, even when I wish he wouldn’t get red in the face and belt out louder than a lawn mower on a microphone, I still am amazed as he grows, amazed as he learns.. and can’t wait until he starts asking “Why” to everything.
I think adults stop asking why..
And yes, we stop having meltdowns in grocery stores, too.
But that’s what makes kids more fun, don’t you think?
Bubbling boiling
A truly dangerous situation developing across the nation of heat
Lives are in danger and the heat is excessive. In 20 states today an excessive heat warning is active while million remain without power due to wild storms in the past 48 hours..
The historic heat and lack of power have prompted officials to tell many, especially the elderly and those who have trouble breathing in normal weather, to seek shelter immediately.
Much of the Southeast continues to bake in 100+ temperatures. From Chicago to D.C. 90s an 100s dominate the landscape..
Cities are opening shelters and cooling centers. In Ohio, Governor John Kasich is dealing with power outages after raging storms swept the state—Kasich has deployed the National Guard to help with the state’s more vulnerable and unhealthy.
But while the heat continues to swelter the sweaty, this is the bad news on the power outage front: If you power is currently out the chances are it may be out for days—this as the heat continues with little relief in the near future. Millions of people are lacking electric from Indiana to Maryland
According to the Washington POST in hot Sunday editions, D.C. was 80 degrees early in the morning with 100+ expected—all the while many roads are impassible and hundreds of thousands will be without air conditioning and in the dark..
The chaos doesn’t end there but seems to just begin: Gas stations are running dry in some spots, newest numbers in the post ‘land hurricane’ landscape have 13 being dead from the dramatic storms, and now in the D.C. area, cell phone service seems to be crashing.. ..
History may view this summer as the beginning of true earth changes.. a quickening of things, with extremes just becoming the norm.
Notice lately how records break, but not just by a bit but by a lot? Notice how weather forecasters can’t seem to get it all right at all..? Notice how things are so out of the ordinary that you cannot even keep yourself grounded.
Cherry blossoms bloom in winter. Kansas is 118 in summer. And in Colorado wildfires burn without kindness and thousands of people are homeless and many of their homes are simply gone.
We are only mid way through this year and a mighty more wild events most likely will occur. It’s just becoming all too strange, too horrible… and no normal.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Sandusky did the crime but others sure assisted. Joe Paterno included
The devastating emails trickling out of the shadows now.. Amazing how little scorn Paterno faced. He has since died but it is clear his reputation will take a massive hit after the dust settles on the latest revelations.
Sandusky did the crime but others sure assisted. Joe Paterno included
Life in the coal region: Block party mania.
I suppose only it’s in the coal region during summer that a Saturday night out means you come home with your clothes reeking of butter and onions and your skin has a healthy sheen of bleenie.
Blind pigeons, perogies, halushki, and fries..
You can’t avoid them no matter how hard you try.
Long live block parties
If you have not seen ONE NATION UNDER DOG yet, you should. And maybe you should not—depending on how deeply you can get into a documentary with such a horrid ending..
Dogs placed into a metal crate, altogether, as a worker without compassion turns on gas and kills them all at once—the cries from the cage are memorable and haunting.
But why care about animals? Humans have gassed Jewish people, Iraqis, Syrians.. Japanese. A brief stroll through history shows that if we treat each other like we do why would anyone think we would care for animals..?
And in the end, if you truly contemplate the prospects of what occurs in shelters and pet stores, and travel up the rabbit hole to how we treat fellow humans, you will begin to wonder: Is there a knowing God watching and judging? Maybe so .. but if so, why would this God allow such horror?
Really strong storms have caused deaths and the loss of power for millions.
More strong lines of storms are forming today and will hit in many of the same areas that were hit yesterday.
More on that from Accuweather.
Which is why the photo for this post of a snapshot of a page from Frank Miller’s BATMAN comic book compilation (I have the leatherbound edition safety stored away) .. in that comic, a massive heat wave hit Gotham City. I feel like I am in that comic now.. with the absense of course of Batman, the Joker, and the Mutant Gang.
I wonder if, in Frank Miller’s world, David Endochrine is funny anymore? He sure ain’t in the real world.
Did everyone make it through the derecho alright last night?
Power is out for millions.. At least 7 deaths being blamed on the storms ad heat.. And more coming today. This has been one nasty summer .. All weather is getting weird and extreme..all. Get it?
Smoking gun emails: Top Penn State officials debated what to do about Sandusky--in 2001!
Wow:
“After giving it more thought and talking it over with Joe (Paterno, the head football coach at the time) yesterday, I am uncomfortable with what we agreed were the next steps,” CNN quoted Curley as saying in an email.
Curley then makes reference to “the first situation,” likely meaning the shower incident involving Sandusky and a young boy in the Lasch building in 1998.
Smoking gun emails: Top Penn State officials debated what to do about Sandusky--in 2001!