Now we have to get the healthcare bill through the senate.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
What a nice thing to wake up to this morning:
Now we have to get the healthcare bill through the senate.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
It all starts with Glenn Beck's internal organs...
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
It must be a slow news week.
When we first came to New Mexico, we were often LMAO over the news here. Big stories include a bear that wandered into a medical clinic (film was shown on that for almost a month) and complaints over street closures due to film projects around the city. We already knew that Fox wasn't fair and balanced, and became more and more suspicious when ABC became a Disney company.
Last week our channel 13 News started hyping a news story about the Albuquerque BioPark. It hinted at danger and a cover-up. And although the hype over the story started on October 29th (the day before Zoo Boo) the story itself was an investigation to be shown on the following Tuesday at 10 (last night). If it were NEWS, they wouldn't have held it for all that time. If it were IMPORTANT, it would have been news.
Instead, after a week of pictures of animals and an ominous voice saying "if only they could talk" we find out that a tourist tripped over a piece of exposed re-bar in the parking lot of Tingley beach (where the only animals are the fish that are stocked for fishing season) and is suing.
After an investigation by the news station, they found that there was no record of a certificate of occupancy for the Tingley Beach Train Station depot building, as well as what appears to be a pre-fab building for welding, some fish breeding tanks, and the new lights at the zoo. Of course, the BioPark itself doesn't build all these things. The zoo-keepers and gardeners aren't out there with hammer and nails. These items are contracted out. It's the contractor's responsibility to take out the permits and schedule the inspections. Once it comes to the BioPark's attention that this hasn't happened, then they take responsibility for correcting that problem.
Having been a home owner and dealt with contractors, I have a great deal of sympathy for the BioPark in this situation.
One thing that remains unsaid, and I'm going to say it here, is that a building inspection of a train depot building probably would not have made a darn bit of difference when it comes to rebar in the parking lot. There isn't any photo of the exposed rebar, where it was located, or what damage was in the area. I would have to think that the rebar was probably in the small cement barriers that are at the head of every parking space... which is terribly un-dramatic, considering that this exists just about in every parking lot I've seen across the country. I'm not surprised Channel 13 didn't go into detail. It's hardly newsworthy. Maybe they need more bear footage.
I'd also like to point out that while Channel 13 came down on the BioPark specifically, the areas cited as lacking crucial "safety inspections" are, in many case, not simply BioPark projects, but projects involving the city as a whole, The Army Corp of Engineers, The State of New Mexico and United States Bureau of Reclamation. [Water and Power Subcommittee meeting, July 13, 2002] None of these other agencies involved in these projects are mentioned in the story presented by Channel 13.
Last week our channel 13 News started hyping a news story about the Albuquerque BioPark. It hinted at danger and a cover-up. And although the hype over the story started on October 29th (the day before Zoo Boo) the story itself was an investigation to be shown on the following Tuesday at 10 (last night). If it were NEWS, they wouldn't have held it for all that time. If it were IMPORTANT, it would have been news.
Instead, after a week of pictures of animals and an ominous voice saying "if only they could talk" we find out that a tourist tripped over a piece of exposed re-bar in the parking lot of Tingley beach (where the only animals are the fish that are stocked for fishing season) and is suing.
After an investigation by the news station, they found that there was no record of a certificate of occupancy for the Tingley Beach Train Station depot building, as well as what appears to be a pre-fab building for welding, some fish breeding tanks, and the new lights at the zoo. Of course, the BioPark itself doesn't build all these things. The zoo-keepers and gardeners aren't out there with hammer and nails. These items are contracted out. It's the contractor's responsibility to take out the permits and schedule the inspections. Once it comes to the BioPark's attention that this hasn't happened, then they take responsibility for correcting that problem.
Having been a home owner and dealt with contractors, I have a great deal of sympathy for the BioPark in this situation.
One thing that remains unsaid, and I'm going to say it here, is that a building inspection of a train depot building probably would not have made a darn bit of difference when it comes to rebar in the parking lot. There isn't any photo of the exposed rebar, where it was located, or what damage was in the area. I would have to think that the rebar was probably in the small cement barriers that are at the head of every parking space... which is terribly un-dramatic, considering that this exists just about in every parking lot I've seen across the country. I'm not surprised Channel 13 didn't go into detail. It's hardly newsworthy. Maybe they need more bear footage.
I'd also like to point out that while Channel 13 came down on the BioPark specifically, the areas cited as lacking crucial "safety inspections" are, in many case, not simply BioPark projects, but projects involving the city as a whole, The Army Corp of Engineers, The State of New Mexico and United States Bureau of Reclamation. [Water and Power Subcommittee meeting, July 13, 2002] None of these other agencies involved in these projects are mentioned in the story presented by Channel 13.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Has Science Made a Foothold in Pop Culture?
It seems so, in a strange kind of way. Stephen Hawking is getting the same kind of internet treatment that is usually reserved for pop icons like Tom Hanks, Miley Cyrus and Harrison Ford: Internet rumors of his death. I'd love to read what PZ has to say about all this, but I'd guess Pharyngula is being overloaded with hits. I certainly can't get the page to load.
I hadn't seen the rumors yet myself, until I hit a link taking me to Yahoo Answers, where someone said with some authority that Hawking was killed by a Christian Fundamentalist because he was close to close to a final proof of the non-existence of God.
I mean just that phrase alone "Final proof of the non-existence of God" should have tipped people off, but people don't think.
The problem is that the voices of reason are being overwhelmed in the forums and on Twitter by the sheer momentum of this ridiculous rumor.
Just stop and think about it.
I hadn't seen the rumors yet myself, until I hit a link taking me to Yahoo Answers, where someone said with some authority that Hawking was killed by a Christian Fundamentalist because he was close to close to a final proof of the non-existence of God.
I mean just that phrase alone "Final proof of the non-existence of God" should have tipped people off, but people don't think.
The problem is that the voices of reason are being overwhelmed in the forums and on Twitter by the sheer momentum of this ridiculous rumor.
Just stop and think about it.
Anyway, it seems that a lot of this is a corruption of an old Onion radio broadcast (yes, there are still people out there that think The Onion is real news, sad to say):
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