- All travelers know to be über-paranoid when in an airport and monitor their belongings as if a gang of desperate thieves needing to steal to save their life are trailing them at every moment, right? Obviously not, or else the story of a bonafide scumbag who passed through a security checkpoint in Terminal 3 at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Jan. 18 and swiped a very valuable possession from a careless fellow traveler would not have happened. In security footage from the airport, a woman wearing a black and white shirt passes through the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint and deposits a stainless steel and gold Rolex valued at $6,500 in a bin to be run through the X-ray machine. A man walks through the metal detector right behind her and when the woman passes through and collects her belongings on the other side, she forgets her watch, amazingly. The man bends down, ties his shoes and stands up to collect his own possessions. Noticing the Rolex in a bin ahead of his, he looks around and makes sure no one is paying attention to him. Then, this opportunistic a-hole pockets the watch and simply walks away as if he hasn’t done anything wrong. "This is no mistake; it was deliberate," said airport security officer Lt. Brian Montgomery. Not only does the thief snag the watch, but he has the audacity to walk over to a bench, set his stuff down right next to the woman in the black and white shirt, and then put her watch in his backpack. "He again looks around to make sure no one is looking, and then he proceeds to walk by two uniformed deputy sheriffs, and when he sees them, he looks down to the ground. But then when he looks up, he looks directly into the surveillance cameras," Montgomery said. Unfortunately, no one stopped him at the time and the man continued to his gate. Some have questioned whether the action really is a crime because the woman forgot the watch and walked away, but police believe if they can find the suspect they can make a charge of grand theft stick. The watch’s owner, Gloria de Regalado, lives in El Salvador and has a home on Key Biscayne. She and airport security are offering a reward up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest. Recovering the watch would be nice, but if it is not found at least she has a reminder to carry her brain with her and pay attention when traveling in the future…………
- Space is filled with a lot of crap. Because it’s out of sight, mankind simply forgets about all the crap it shoots into space and doesn’t keep a close watch on. After more than half a century of sending objects into space, the Earth is surrounded by a ton of junk. Pieces of defunct satellites drift around, spent rocket stages float about and various types of debris fly to and fro at almost 18,000 mph. Each piece of space junk is a potential hazard to working satellites or astronauts and no one is bothering to clean it up – until now. The Swiss are stepping in to solve the planet’s space junk problem. Thanks to scientists at the Swiss space centre at EPFL, the federal institute for technology in Lausanne, the idea for sending a "janitor satellite" into orbit to sweep up debris and permanently remove it from orbit has been proposed. At a cost of nearly $10 million, the satellite known as CleanSpace One could launch within five years, according to EPFL. NASA keeps a log of more than 16,000 pieces of orbiting junk that are larger than 4 in. in diameter, but researchers estimate there could be more than 500,000 measuring between 1-4 in. in diameter and hundreds of millions of smaller pieces. Dismissing these tiny pieces of space trash would be a mistake because even one small fragment of debris could severely damage (or even destroy) satellites or other spacecraft that collide with them, creating even more dangerous debris. The International Space Station routinely alters its orbit to avoid collisions with large bits of junk. Another shining example of what wayward space junk can do occurred in February 2009, when the US satellite Iridium-33 exploded after striking Russia's long-abandoned Cosmos-2251 satellite. "It has become essential to be aware of the existence of this debris and the risks that are run by its proliferation," said Claude Nicollier, an astronaut and EPFL professor. CleanSpace One would clean up debris by matching its trajectory to that of its target using an EPFL-designed ultra-compact motor. Upon reaching its target, it would grab the junk with a gripping claw and pull it in. Doing so at speeds of up to 18,000 mph will be difficult and the exercise could take on an added degree of complexity if the junk is rotating. Once it completes its cleanup mission CleanSpace One will return to Earth and burn up in the atmosphere, along with its collected space junk. Its first mission will be to bring down one of two abandoned Swiss satellites: the Swisscube picosatellite, which was launched into orbit in 2009, or the TIsat, launched in July 2010. The satellite’s creators see it as something of a cottage industry for them. "We want to offer and sell a whole family of readymade systems, designed as sustainably as possible, that are able to de-orbit several different kinds of satellites," said Volker Gass, the Swiss space centre's director, in a statement. "Space agencies are increasingly finding it necessary to take into consideration and prepare for the elimination of the stuff they're sending into space. We want to be the pioneers in this area." Sounds like another solid idea from the Swiss……….
- Wait a second……was the decision to end Fox’s hit drama “House” after eight seasons really inevitable? Did the producers and cast have a chance to save their show or was the end unavoidable? According to sources close to the situation, both cast and show runners wanted to bring the drama back for another year even though it was widely assumed that everyone was ready to move on. Star Hugh Laurie had plenty of reasons to keep the series going, as he makes $700,000 an episode. However, those sources claimed Laurie was willing to take a pay cut in order to return. Oh, and apparently the network wasn't get rid of “House” either. It averages a 3.5 rating among adults 18-49 and 9.1 million viewers and network executives were reportedly in agreement with executive producers David Shore and Katie Jacobs about keeping it around. Even Universal TV, the studio behind House, wanted to keep the show alive on account of the millions of dollars it adds to NBCUniversal's bottom line. "Universal was the lead horse, the one driving a renewal," a source said. "It had the most desire and ambition to do another season." Why then is the show dead? Because Fox, which currently spends $5 million an episode for “House,” sought a cut in the show's license fee before considering a renewal. Universal was willing to take back some costs, just not enough to satisfy Fox and have its 22-episode order accepted. Fox was only willing to air a final 13-episode season. Universal was overly aggressive, insiders claimed, and Fix backed off. Fans of the show held out hope because last May, negotiations between Fox and Universal weren't resolved until just days before the network announced its fall schedule. Even though those talks led to the departure of Lisa Edelstein (Cuddy) and other changes to the show, at least it was still around (as “Chuck” fans nod sadly). Shore began pushing Fox and Universal since last fall to give him a firm answer on whether the show would continue and didn’t receive much help. "We have just been avoiding it, to be honest with you,” Fox Entertainment president Kevin Reilly said in January. On Feb. 8, the cast and crew were informed that the show would end. Peter Jacobson (Dr. Taub) was in New York watching a high school basketball game when he received the call. "I seriously cannot say enough how much I will miss being around the whole cast and crew," he said. "A truly lovely, hardworking and generous group of people who are perpetually fun to be around." When they released a statement announcing the show's end, Shore, Jacobs and Laurie claimed the show was ending so Dr. House could go out on his terms….which is partially true. Universal TV maintains the rights to shop House elsewhere, but that’s the same pipe dream fans of every canceled show hang onto until reality sets in…………
- The party just keeps getting crazier and more fun in Gaza! Already known as the go-to place for hijinks, shenanigans, tomfoolery and all-around craziness rarely seen outside of Mardi Gras and Carnival, the zaniest place on Earth – as long as car bombs, suicide bombers, violent killings in the street and everyday instability for each and every resident are considered fun – is about to get even wackier because Palestinian officials have shut down the Gaza Strip's lone power plant, causing blackouts in the impoverished territory. The government blamed fuel shortages for the shutdown, which makes sense because Gaza's energy authority has until recently relied on fuel smuggled from Egypt to circumvent an Israeli blockade and shortages in Egypt have left significantly less fuel to smuggle. Gaza's power plant director Walid Sayel also blamed part of the crisis on infighting with the rival Palestinian government in the West Bank. Some officials have called on the West Bank government to renew money transfers to the territory, which might allow it to purchase fuel from the Egyptian government and bypass the black market. As the shortage continues, hospitals are running on emergency generators and hospital administrators say they are rapidly running out of fuel for those generators. In a possibly related note, now is a wonderful time to invest in candles for anyone who lives in the West Bank…………
- Albert Haynesworth has fallen farther, faster than just about any “elite” NFL player in recent memory without suffering a major injury or spending time inside a jail cell. The cantankerous defensive tackle developed into one of the league's top defensive linemen during seven seasons with the Tennessee Titans, but began a precipitous decline after signing a seven-year, $100 million deal with the Redskins in 2009. He has registered just 6.5 sacks in the past three seasons, none in 13 games with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Patriots released him and he headed south to Tampa after just six games in New England. The Buccaneers took him on because they were desperate for help on their defensive line after Gerald McCoy suffered a season-ending injury and several other defensive linemen were banged up. Bringing in a player who was once the most dominant defensive force in the NFL (a mere four years ago) seemed like a solid gamble, but Haynesworth seemed unmotivated and indifferent in Tampa and played in seven games, starting six, recording just 25 tackles. It was clear he had no long-term future in Tampa Bay with McCoy due back and young linemen Brian Price and Roy Miller in place. Haynesworth’s cause was hurt by the $7.2 million cap hit the Buccaneers would have taken in 2012 by keeping him. Releasing his bloated carcass and lackluster production will give the team approximately $67 million in cap space and leaves Haynesworth in a bad place. He must now rededicate himself enough to convince a new team to take a chance on a 350-pound sloth who famously failed multiple conditioning tests with the Redskins to the point he wasn’t allowed on the field at training camp. He and his agent must persuade a general manager that he really does care and wants to play football, which wont be easy because his actions over the past three years have shown the exact opposite…………
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