- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! Spain is an angry and troubled
place these days. An economy on the verge of capsizing and sinking to the
bottom of the Mediterranean Sea will have that effect, but tough financial
times are not the cause of thousands of snarky Spaniards rising up and speaking out at the
moment. No, these fine dissidents are protesting the presence of an underground
gas storage plant over growing fears it is triggering minor earthquakes in their
area. While modest in size, a gathering of 4,000 people carried banners along the seaside promenade of
the coastal town of Les Cases d'Alcanar, 310 miles east of Madrid, on Sunday,
calling for the offshore plant to be closed or dismantled. Their uprising was
bolstered by data from Spain's Geographical Institute, which has measured a
sharp increase in temblors — 139 in the 10 days up to Saturday — since operators
began pumping gas into the facility. Many of the earthquakes have been
relatively minor, but a few of them have exceeded magnitude 4.0. People of any
nationality tend to be funny that way, panicking when everything around them
starts shaking and items begin falling off the shelf and crashing to the floor
below. Alarms began going off on Sept. 13 after 300 quakes were detected and
Sunday’s gathering was the first demonstration of any significant size since
the first quake happened. In a true rarity, government officials are admitting
there is a problem and believe there is a direct link between the temblors and
injections of fuel gas into the offshore storage system. Knowing and
actually doing a damn thing about it are two entirely different concepts, but
one step at a time………
- George Clooney’s latest project floated up, up and away
from the competition in its debut weekend at the box office, banking a $55.6
million debut to more than double up any other film in theaters. “Gravity”
opened strong and with a $100 million budget, it will need to stay strong to
turn a solid profit. “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” lost its earnings crown from
last weekend, but snagged second place with $21.5 million for a two-week
domestic total of $60.6 million. It was not an overwhelming debut for Ben
Affleck’s “Runner Runner,” which banked just $7.6 million and ranked third for
the frame. Fourth place went to “Prisoners,” a movie that saw its earnings drop
47 percent to $5.7 million and has brought in $47.8 million domestically through
three weeks. The last spot among the top five belonged to “Rush,” down two
spots with $4.4 million and having procured $18.1 million in three weeks of
mostly limited release. The commercial success continued for “Don Jon,” which
isn’t setting any records but was made for a meager $6 million. Therefore, its
$4.2 million weekend and $16 million overall earnings tally look much better
than they otherwise would. “Baggage Claim,” in all of its terribleness, still
finished seventh with $4.1 million and has somehow amassed $15.1 million in two
weeks. Next on the list was “Insidious Chapter 2,” the recipient of $3.9
million in weekend earnings and the possessor of a $74.6 million cumulative
haul. “Pulling Strings” couldn’t pull a finish higher than ninth place,
accruing $2.5 million in limited release in its first weekend. “Enough Said”
talked its way to the final spot in the top 10 with $2.2 million and in limited
release, it has earned $5.5 million in three weeks. “Instructions Not Included”
(No. 11), “We're the Millers” (No. 12), “The Family” (No. 13) and “Lee Daniels'
The Butler” (No. 14) all dropped from last weekend’s top 10……..
- Stay classy, relocated Milwaukee firefighters. When life
hands you lemons, take those lemons and smash them up into a messy pulp, then
smear that pulp into the carpet and throw it against the window before smashing
the nearest lamp and putting your fist through a wall. That’s clearly the life
philosophy for nine Milwaukee
firefighters accused of acting out doing some serious property damage because they
were angry over being transferred. Fire Chief Mark Rohlfing is being cautious
in saying what took place at Engine 32, knowing it probably won't go over well
if he comes right out and admits that the rogue firefighters vandalized the
firehouse on their last shift working together because they were frustrated
that they were being transferred to different houses. Friendship is great and
having co-workers you don’t despise is rare, but the correct response to you
and your boys being sent to different firehouses is not, “Dude, this blows.
What a load of sh*t. I can't believe they’re making us work in different
places. Let’s wreck this place.” According to sources close to the situation, the
firefighters relieved themselves throughout the building, broke kitchen items
and even hung up a dead mouse because they were angry about being transferred.
They left their mess for the firefighters who showed up for their shift Sunday
morning to find and while the fire department claims there was no damage to
fire equipment or real physical damage to the building, such classy gestures
are always appreciated by all involved, especially those who have to clean up
another man’s urine and dead mice leftovers. "We don't know if it would be
criminal. We're beginning this thinking it's not criminal, and we'll see what
turns up,” Rohlfind said. Alderman Willie Hines isn't so non-committal, saying
any firefighters involved in making the mess must be disciplined. "It
stains the entire city. It stains the department, and they should be held
accountable, and as far as I'm concerned, separation is warranted," Hines
said. "I definitely think they should be fired.” At least someone has a
strong take on this……..
- The 2013 season is not going the way South Carolina All-American defensive end Jadeveon
Clowney or the millions of people who spent the spring and summer watching and
re-watching his infamous hit on Michigan running back Vincent Smith on YouTube
imagine it would unfold. The reigning Southeastern Conference defensive player
of the year has just 12 tackles and two sacks on the year and did not play
against Kentucky, a development that his head coach was not enthusiastic about.
The Ol’ Ball Coach, a.k.a. South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, addressed after
the Gamecocks' 35-28 win against the Wildcats. Spurrier explained that Clowney
came to the coaches before the game and said that bruised ribs that kept him
from practice Thursday were too sore for him to play. A peeved O.B.C. said if
Clowney "wants to play, we will welcome him to come play for the team if
he wants.” Not having a 6-foot-6, 274-pound All-American in uniform is a
problem, even against a bad team like Kentucky. "But if he doesn't want to
play, he doesn't have to play. Simple as that,” Spurrier added. Instead of
playing, Clowney watched from the sidelines, chatting with teammates as South
Carolina lost a large lead for the third straight game. All of this came after Clowney
missed practice on Thursday with the injury, but defensive coordinator Lorenzo
Ward said it was likely he'd be in the lineup Saturday night. Clowney was even
announced as a starter before coming out to the field without his pads when the
game began. Some of Spurrier’s frustrations likely stem from a litany of
illnesses and injuries Clowney has suffered from this season, keeping him from
having a breakout performance. "He may not be able to play next week. I
don't know," Spurrier said. "But we're not going to worry about it, I
can assure you of that." So much for being the untouchable, bulletproof
big man on campus……..
- Tesla Motors CEO and official eccentric billionaire Elon Musk is, like
most über-rich dudes, extremely willing to speak his mind on whatever the hell
he feels like talking about. Right now, Musk’s topic of choice is defending his
company's electric car. Musk’s online crusade comes in response to the fallout
over a video showing a Model S that caught on fire. An angry Musk conveniently took
to blogging his thoughts as Tesla shares fell from $190 to a low near $168. The
video received tens of thousands of views and the stock dipped almost
immediately, even though it did eventually rebound. Musk argued in his blog
post that the accident outside Seattle that caused the Model S sedan and its
battery pack to go up in smoke would have been far worse had it been a
conventional gasoline-powered car. "Had a conventional gasoline car
encountered the same object on the highway, the result could have been far
worse," Musk wrote. His version of the accident is supported by a police
report of the incident, with the Model S striking a "large metal
object" as it traveled at highway speeds. It went under the car and struck
with a force "on the order of 25 tons." Musk wrote that the estimate
of the object’s size is based on the 3-inch hole it pierced through armor plate
that compromised the car's battery pack. However, the CEO contended that the
car functioned properly in the event of such an emergency, with its onboard
alert system directing the driver to stop the car immediately and exit the
vehicle. Firewalls within the battery back contained the blaze and vents directed
the flames down and away from the vehicle. Firefighters who responded to the
accident then punctured holes in a protective plate and shot water into the
pack. "In contrast, the combustion energy of our battery pack is only
about 10 percent of the energy contained in a gasoline tank and is divided into
16 modules with firewalls in between. As a consequence, the effective
combustion potential is only about 1 percent that of the fuel in a comparable
gasoline sedan," Musk wrote in assessing what would have happened with a
similar accident involving a gasoline-fueled vehicle…….
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