Jeff Turretine says that the Pointy Abandoned Object State could zip past the Leaden State (California, y'all) on high speed rail. A Texas consortium is organized to back HSR to connect the Texas Triangle.
I've long said that Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio/Austin are perfectly situated for HSR. There's cities of big enough size to justify it, cities that are connected to each other for business reasons (or politics, with Austin), and just the right distance apart that HSR can easily compete with planes, especially with airport parking and boarding times, etc., on travel time.
The Texas group is also pitching this as a totally private issue, no "gummint" involved.
Flip side? Beyond the eminent domain Perry mentions (he'll have an update tonight or tomorrow) as part of his take, along with the conservative politics of the no "gummint," will be related issues. Among them, I'm sure, will be attempts to railroad through (I see what I did there) all the environmental parts of the permitting process. We've already seen that if it's oil vs. lizards, or water vs. cranes, we know who wins, damn the paperwork and damn the feds who are part of that "gummint."
Anyway, since the biggest push right now is coming from H-town, go back to Perry's website and look for updates. Or click this link; it's a fairly detailed update from him, linked to one from another Houston blogger.
March 27, 2014
March 26, 2014
Baseball looks to toughen roiding penalties
I agree with the general idea of toughening sanctions to 100 games for a first offense and full season for the second, instead of the current 50 and 100 games.
But, with the loophole of reducing an inadvertent test to 25 games? Nuh-uh.
But ...
Update, March 28: The new agreement is in, and it looks like we won't have to worry about "inadvertent" testing.
Random urine samplings will more than double;
HGH testing will increase;
First suspension will be 80 games, second one a full year.
Players will get a chance to appeal on grounds that they weren't seeking a competitive edge. I guess this would be something like Andy Pettitte's use of HGH for healing?
Beyond a current case, like the Cardinals' new shortstop, Jhonny Peralta, there's been plenty of other players who originally claimed his bad test was inadvertent. Remember Barry Bonds, who alternated between saying he didn't know what was in the "clear" and the "cream" and that flaxseed oil did it? Remember Manny Ramirez claiming he had no idea how a woman's fertility drug got in his body? I'm surprised that Roger Clemens didn't claim that Brian McNamee mistook his butt for his wife's, as part of his claims. Sammy Sosa suddenly lost his command of the English language before Congress; would have made a good excuse as to not understanding his "personal trainer."
The ESPN link provides two more such examples:
Look at Ryan Braun and "chain-of-custody" claims on his first positive test. If a player sees a loophole, he's going to try to drive a Mack Truck through it.
That, in turn, leads to the question of burden of proof. Will an individual player have to prove his use was inadvertent, or will MLB have the burden of proof in showing it was deliberate?
As it is, all major sports have too liberal of loopholes for Adderall.
So, if that's the official "tradeoff" on the issue, unless the "inadvertent" is league-friendly, no thanks. Let's keep the current agreement.
But, with the loophole of reducing an inadvertent test to 25 games? Nuh-uh.
But ...
Update, March 28: The new agreement is in, and it looks like we won't have to worry about "inadvertent" testing.
Random urine samplings will more than double;
HGH testing will increase;
First suspension will be 80 games, second one a full year.
Players will get a chance to appeal on grounds that they weren't seeking a competitive edge. I guess this would be something like Andy Pettitte's use of HGH for healing?
Beyond a current case, like the Cardinals' new shortstop, Jhonny Peralta, there's been plenty of other players who originally claimed his bad test was inadvertent. Remember Barry Bonds, who alternated between saying he didn't know what was in the "clear" and the "cream" and that flaxseed oil did it? Remember Manny Ramirez claiming he had no idea how a woman's fertility drug got in his body? I'm surprised that Roger Clemens didn't claim that Brian McNamee mistook his butt for his wife's, as part of his claims. Sammy Sosa suddenly lost his command of the English language before Congress; would have made a good excuse as to not understanding his "personal trainer."
The ESPN link provides two more such examples:
Philadelphia infielder Freddy Galvis was suspended for 50 games in June 2012 for a Clostebol Metabolite, which he later claimed was contained in a foot cream he used. Reliever Guillermo Mota, then with San Francisco, was suspended for 100 games in May 2012 after taking a cough syrup with Clenbuterol.And, I'm sure we could get more with easy digging.
Look at Ryan Braun and "chain-of-custody" claims on his first positive test. If a player sees a loophole, he's going to try to drive a Mack Truck through it.
That, in turn, leads to the question of burden of proof. Will an individual player have to prove his use was inadvertent, or will MLB have the burden of proof in showing it was deliberate?
As it is, all major sports have too liberal of loopholes for Adderall.
So, if that's the official "tradeoff" on the issue, unless the "inadvertent" is league-friendly, no thanks. Let's keep the current agreement.
Texas GOP politicians respond to Houston Ship Channel oil spil
Rick Perry says this will create new jobs in Texas. In case it won't, he offers Texas Enterprise Fund millions to whoever can pretend to actually make that happen.
Ted Cruz blames Obama and says that worrying about oil spill cleanup is socialism.
John Cornyn repeats what Ted Cruz said because, per LBJ, Cornyn has voluntarily put his pecker in Cruz's pocket.
Louie Gohmert says that Obama hired nude gay Satanists to cause this, because Gohmert is tired of Cruz inhaling all the nutbar oxygen.
Greg Abbott says he'll sue Obama over it, because it's been a week since he threatened to sue Obama. When asked how he can stand this happening, Abbott says that's a PC dirty trick, to ask him to stand for anything. He then says he can get women to do the cleanup for 30 percent less, because they're not good negotiators. He also said it was untrue that he had heard that Barbie hair was an effective oil sponge.
Dan Patrick says he can get some Ill Eagles to clean it up for cheap, as long as none of them wants to return home then come back, or put anything in writing.
David Dewhurst says he agreed with all of the above in spades, because Ted Cruz put the Dew's pecker into a pig in a blanket 2 years ago.
Jerry Patterson whips his hogleg out of his boot and starts shooting at the oil spill.
Joe Straus says to himself that he sure hope Democrats unite with the few non-nutbar GOPers in the House to re-elect him as speaker.
John Carona says to himself that maybe he should be thankful he lost his state Senate primary to Don Huffines.
Ted Cruz blames Obama and says that worrying about oil spill cleanup is socialism.
John Cornyn repeats what Ted Cruz said because, per LBJ, Cornyn has voluntarily put his pecker in Cruz's pocket.
Louie Gohmert says that Obama hired nude gay Satanists to cause this, because Gohmert is tired of Cruz inhaling all the nutbar oxygen.
Greg Abbott says he'll sue Obama over it, because it's been a week since he threatened to sue Obama. When asked how he can stand this happening, Abbott says that's a PC dirty trick, to ask him to stand for anything. He then says he can get women to do the cleanup for 30 percent less, because they're not good negotiators. He also said it was untrue that he had heard that Barbie hair was an effective oil sponge.
Dan Patrick says he can get some Ill Eagles to clean it up for cheap, as long as none of them wants to return home then come back, or put anything in writing.
David Dewhurst says he agreed with all of the above in spades, because Ted Cruz put the Dew's pecker into a pig in a blanket 2 years ago.
Jerry Patterson whips his hogleg out of his boot and starts shooting at the oil spill.
Joe Straus says to himself that he sure hope Democrats unite with the few non-nutbar GOPers in the House to re-elect him as speaker.
John Carona says to himself that maybe he should be thankful he lost his state Senate primary to Don Huffines.
Obama can thank Putin for one thing: Syria
It's clear that rebel groups in Syria are becoming more fractious and fractured than ever. So much so that even the Arab League doesn't know who to support.
Remember when Dear Leader was ready to go into Syria, guns and drones blazing like Shrub in Iraq? Remember how Putin saved him with the joint chemical weapons disposal plan? Remember how, like Iraq, exile and non-exile groups of Syrians had a falling out?
We're more fortunate than ever that Obama's red line was drawn in lands far more shifting than those that received William B. Travis' sword point at San Antonio de Bexar.
Remember when Dear Leader was ready to go into Syria, guns and drones blazing like Shrub in Iraq? Remember how Putin saved him with the joint chemical weapons disposal plan? Remember how, like Iraq, exile and non-exile groups of Syrians had a falling out?
We're more fortunate than ever that Obama's red line was drawn in lands far more shifting than those that received William B. Travis' sword point at San Antonio de Bexar.
March 25, 2014
#NPS starts centennial planning
I've been worried that the Obama Administration, with an administration whose interest in environmental affairs is hit and miss, and whose interest in natural scenery is much more miss than hit, would totally blow the 2016 centennial of the National Park Service.
Well both the Park Service and its nonprofit private-sector partner, the National Park Foundation, have up centennial pages. That's a start. But, the real part of what worries me is how corporatized a neoliberal like Obama will have the centennial observances become.
Stay tuned.
Well both the Park Service and its nonprofit private-sector partner, the National Park Foundation, have up centennial pages. That's a start. But, the real part of what worries me is how corporatized a neoliberal like Obama will have the centennial observances become.
Stay tuned.
#Cosmosfail, part 2
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| Edmund Halley and Isaac Newton, fit for Saturday morning and kiddie cartoons. / Fox via Mother Jones. |
I hadn't planned on doing another blog post about Cosmos after my post-opening night one. But, after getting teased by a second episode that was seemingly better overall, per that paragraph above, about the Isaac Newton episode.
Besides, if you were able to do, and you had money for, the CGI dinosaur in the first episode, couldn't you do a CGI Newton and Halley rather than the Saturday morning cartoons?
Next complaint? The kid looking at the sky for comets at the end of the main Newton segment.
Oh, lordy, is that a paid product placement for Google Glass? That little clip was totally unnecessary in general.
As for Halley? People who know why the comet is named after him know he didn't discover a comet. A bit of a straw man there, though it was nice to see him otherwise get his due. That said, I know that the people is invented for people, especially children, with less science knowledge.
But, if you're going to give people their due, why not mention Leibniz's independent invention of calculus at the same time as Newton? For that matter, why not take a 2-minute digression to go from science to math to talk about how calculus, as much as Newton's laws of gravitation, were the start of modern science?
Oh, I forgot. It's been five minutes and we have to run another commercial. No time for calculus!
Nor did we have time to spend more time on Kepler as the world's first science fiction writer, which would have been another great sidebar.
Or to actually get past Cosmos' myth about "evil Robert Hooke" stifling "saintly Isaac Newton" and look more at reality and learn about Hooke. And, since Newton made the "standing on the shoulders of giants" quote, elevating him to a science rock star has extra irony. On the other hand, Newton's famous quote, per this io9 piece, may have been an early modern era example of heavy sarcasm.
And, if we want to talk about "major league asshole," per W. Bush and Dick Cheney, Newton was just as much of one to Leibniz on calculus as Hooke was to Newton on gravity, if not more so.
As for the final section of this week's episode, I don't think all astrophysicists are sanguine that life on a planet in one of two colliding galaxies would be in no danger. After all, just a small gravitational tweak could produce an orbital change of note. I mean, if Earth were just 10 percent closer to, or further away, from the Sun than it is, or its orbit were just 10 percent more elliptical than it is, the history of life here would be far different than it actually is.
Maybe it's not so much the cartoons (though I still find them cheesy) as the cartoons versus CGI represent a diversity in styles. Or even a mish-mash. Or even a clash.
I'm thinking that it's also an audience focus issue behind that. A number of people have said how they like that this one seems pitched even to kids at times. While Sagan wasn't trying to talk over anybody's heads, he seemed to have a more consistent focus as far as target audience.
That said, some of the CGI is better and some is worse. The comet brightening from this episode was cheesy within the CGI. And, it's not like we couldn't, instead, start from stills of actual comets, whether Halley's or Ison, or use clips transmitted from the Rosetta or Deep Space satellites.
But, Tyson wants the graphics, to pull at heartstrings.
I guess this can now extend to a gripe about the CGI dinosaur. In the original episode, I questioned why Tyson didn't go filming something in the actual Burgess Shale, or find clips of a field crew at work there. Ditto on planetary astronomy. I want actual pics and video, not graphics, whether CGI or cartoons. What's the point in talking about science if you're not showing the actual science?
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