- In the battle of technology vs. beast, the cold, steely
hands of innovation will eventually win out. The United States Air Force is
fighting just such a battle right now and its pilots flying the T-38 Talon face a
regular hazard from large birds striking their cockpit canopy at high rates of
speed. The cockpit canopy can survive hitting a 4-lb. bird at 190 m.p.h., which
would be cool if the Northrop supersonic jet trainer didn’t have a top speed of
812 m.p.h. Those training planes are the only ones in the Air Force fast enough
to make a bird strike lethal, so them having a windshield too flimsy to deflect
one is a big problem that has plagued the Air Force for the past 43 years. The program
to reduce collisions between planes and avian creatures is called BASH, which
is short for the Bird/Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard program. In the past four
decades, collisions between birds and Air Force aircraft have destroyed 39
planes and killed 33 airmen. The problem itself dates back to 1912, when Calbraith
Rodgers’ Model EX Wright Pusher flew into a Larus californicus off the
California coast, killing every living being involved. A 1992 Air Force report
noted approximately 500 bird strikes occur each year in Air Training Command “during
climbs, cruise, and descents below 10,000-feet, (when) the T-38 is normally
flown at speeds of 240-to-300 knots which presents a bird strike hazard by
larger birds to the pilots.” On Oct. 31, the Air Force announced it was seeking
“comments and identify potential sources, materials, timeframe, and approximate
costs to redesign, test, and produce 550 T-38 forward canopy transparencies to
increase bird strike capability.” The tipping point seems to be a T-38 crash on
July 19 in Texas triggered by a canopy bird strike. Although both pilots safely
ejected, Air Force officials are clearly seeking a long-term solution. Previous
solutions have failed because they included expensive cockpit modifications to
the twin-engine, two-seat supersonic jet. Time for you to step your game up,
innovation……..
- Oh good, another Bridget Jones movie on the horizon. The
world has clearly been lacking for feature films about whiny, neurotic,
insecure women looking for love and author Helen Fielding,
who penned the books that spawned the first two movies in the franchise,
believes there is a chance her latest tome could give rise to a third Bridget
Jones movie. Fielding published her third novel featuring the wacky British
singleton, “Bridget Jones: Mad About
The Boy,” in October and was asked about the possibility that the book could be
turned into a film. “Well I don't know because I've only just finished
it, really. I mean, I would like it. I would like to see it be a film,”
Fielding said. In the new book, Jones is a 51-year-old single mother who is
still writing a diary but also trying to adjust to a world that runs on and is
influenced every day by social media. Renee
Zellweger brought the books’ title character to life for 2001's “Bridget Jones's Diary” and the 2004
sequel, “Bridget Jones: The Edge Of
Reason,” with Colin Firth
and Hugh Grant playing rival love interests Mark Darcy and Daniel Cleaver.
Anyone who doubts that a third movie will happen obviously has no clue how
Hollywood works, because the first two movies were huge commercial successes,
grossing a combined $540 million worldwide at the box office. Those kinds of
numbers earn green lights for just about as many sequels as a studio can churn
out, even if Firth suggested in April "it might be a long wait" before
a third Bridget Jones film made
it to the big screen. The good news for fans of the franchise is that the story
of the new book paints Firth’s character in largely a peripheral role, so that won't
stand in the way of what may transpire………
- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! That could be an accurate
description of the entire month of November in Russia, where thousands of
Russian nationalists took to the streets of Moscow to start the week as part of
annual marches that have sparked anti-immigrant violence in the past. Marchers
celebrating National Unity Day – a group including both young children and elderly
folks – merrily chanted "Death to the enemy” and “Russia for Russians,
Moscow for Moscovites.” Their words were directed at millions of Muslims who
have emigrated from poor central Asian countries such as Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
and Kyrgyzstan and there was no mistaking their hostile tone. The marches
turned violent in some areas, including one in the Moscow neighborhood
of Lyublino, where police detained some 80 participants. Through the first
10 months of the year, some 140 people have been injured and 18 killed in
neo-Nazi attacks so far this year, according to Russian officials. Some foreign
governments issued warnings to their citizens against travel in or around
Moscow ahead of Monday’s public holiday, which commemorates the liberation
of Moscow from Polish invaders in 1612. Clearly, those nations do not
appreciate the excitement a tourist might experience by taking part in an
angry, jingoistic demonstration promoting violence against outsiders. Moscow
has seen its share of violence in recent weeks for a number of reasons, but National
Unity Day is a frequent launch point for such anger. Past celebrations have tended
to be anti-establishment, but despotic President Vladimir Putin has tried to
hijack the rage and redeploy it against an array of groups, including many
NGOs, the anti-Kremlin opposition, the gay community and environmental
activists. Russia, feeling the love as always……..
- Maybe NBA referees forgot who Derrick Rose is because he
spent more than a calendar year away from the court. Perhaps the star treatment
a player such as Rose receives when it comes to foul calls atrophies during a
season rehabbing from a torn ACL….or maybe Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau is right when he says that his star
player is not getting the calls he should simply because he’s not enough of an
a-hole. "I'll say this," Thibodeau said. "I don't know anyone
who drives as hard as he does, nor as fast as he does. I think sometimes he's
penalized for being a nice guy. I'll leave it at that." Rose isn't the
first player to be accused of being too nice on the field of play and on some
level, the stats back up what Thibodeau is saying. Rose, who has shot just 28.8
percent from the field through the first three games, has been to the free
throw line a mere 10 times. His game is built on attacking the basket and creating
scoring chances either at the rim or by getting to the free throw line, so a
lack of charity tosses is a problem. Rose, for his part, isn’t complaining about
anything – maybe proving the nice guy theory all over again. "I can't
complain about it," Rose said. "It's just the way the game is going.
All I can do is continue to drive and I guess try to get fouled."
Ironically, Rose has complained about a lack of whistles in his favor before
and he was fined $25,000 in March 2012 after expressing his frustration
regarding a perceived lack of foul calls. "I've gotta be the only
superstar in the league that's going through what I'm going through right
now," Rose said at the time. "But I can't say too much about
it." He has since said he keeps a running dialogue with officials during
games and believes that over time, the calls will turn in his favor………
- Now THIS is the kind of middle school coach every guy who
has ever played a sport wishes had been their coach when they were 13 or 14
years old. Corbett (Ore.) Middle School football coach Randall Burbach is a villain to some, a
hero to others and no longer a football coach to any after planning a
postseason team awards dinner for his team OF MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS at a
Jantzen Beach Hooters. Everyone with a pulse knows that the Hooters brand is
built on fine, upstanding young women rocking very modest clothing, er,
skin-tight tank tops and orange booty shorts, and relying on the drooling,
knuckle-dragging lasciviousness of overgrown frat boys of the world to tip them
heavily for showing off their assets while serving mediocre food. Most adults,
be they parents, teachers, coaches or in any other role of leadership over
children, would not think to themselves, “I know what would be great for the
kids…a group trip to Hooters to ogle sorority girls rocking obscene amounts of
cleavage.” While the boys on Burbach’s team likely supported their now-former
coach’s plan, the school’s athletic director, J.P. Soulagnet, and the boys’
parents did not. Concerned parents crafted a latter to Soulagnet and he took
those concerns to Burbach. “I spoke with Randy Burbach this evening and asked
him to move the event to a different venue,” Soulagnet said. “He was unyielding
and emphatically said no for a number of reasons. As a school district and
athletic department, we do not support nor condone the decision to hold an end
of season celebration at Hooter’s for any of our teams.” What was the coach’s
argument? He claimed his own children had a positive experience at Hooters at
age 12 and disputed his athletic director’s notion that Hooters “objectifies
women.” Instead of backing down, Burbach stood by his decision and boldly
proclaimed that he would not allow himself to be bullied by "the vocal
minority." Way to stand your ground, genius……..
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