JasonColeman.com: Breaking News Archives

December 27, 2006

President Gerald Ford passes at 93

If you had lived in Vail, CO for any length of time through the 80's or 90's your path was bound to cross with the former President of the United States, Gerald Ford. At the very least, you'd come face to face with his Secret Service detail somewhere, I was lucky (and unlucky) enough to do both.

My first experience was with the agents that secure President Ford's home in Beaver Creek, situated directly under the Strawberry Park lift, is common enough (if you consider slopeside multi-million dollar homes common) but the pillbox shaped plain vanilla Secret Service residence and the tiny slopeside guardshack stands out, especially when Ford is in residence and the friendly but firm agents are directing wayward skiiers and snowboarders away from the residence.

On other occasions I was priviledged enough to meet, eat and converse for a few moments with the former President on multiple occasions, in short, he is a down to Earth, sensible and friendly man, whose presence not so much demands respect, but inspires it. He is quick to recognize that one is nervous or seeks a meeting and is quick to calm a visitor and greets humble meeting seekers warmly and with genuine courtesy and friendliness.

For a man who carried the nation's burden at one of her most difficult periods in history, Ford is perhaps a man who was ideally suited to the task. He was certainly not loved by Republicans and Democrats alike, but he was deeply respected by both parties for his intellect and logical approach to things. His decision to pardon Nixon was widely criticized yet proved to be the right thing to do and whiile comedians portrayed him as a bumbling klutz, in reality, he was a graceful, atheletic, surefooted. If you don't believe me, I'll give you a few challenges to prove the point.

First, head out to you local regional airport on an sunny day and bring a pair of very dark sunglasses, find yourself one of those staircars and stand at the top. Now take off the glasses and immediately walk down the stairs as fast as you can, smile and wave at some object/person in the distance and don't hold onto the handrails. Now repeat this exercise 100 times and see how many times you make it to the bottom without stumbling.

Next, lace yourself up a pair of cleats and head down to the local NFL franchise and challenge the boys to a little scrimmage and see how well you fair. Finally, cart yourself to the top of your local ski hill and strap on some vintage 60s era straight skis, bomb the most difficult runs and see how many times you fall. Now, do it again when you're 60, 70, or 80.

Sure Chevy Chase got some laughs at Ford's expense, some even say it cost him the election, but like most modern Presidents, their popular conception is misleading at best, grossly inaccurate at worst. Nixon, indeed, was not a crook, John F. Kennedy was not a saint, Reagan was certainly not an idiot and Ford was not a bumbling clown.

Like the others mentioned, now history can go about the task of evaluating Ford outside of the partisan spotlight and give us an accurate portrayal of the man as a leader, intellectual and genuine American President, who toasted his own muffins in the White House while restoring much confidence and repsect to the Office of President.

Ford won't go down as one of the nation's best Presidents, his term was too short and his tasks were not ones which gave opportunity for greatness, but President Gerald Ford was himself a Great Man, who loved his nation and his fellow citizens. President Gerald Ford had the mantle of a nation forced upon him at a time when few wanted it and still fewer were capable of wearing it.

I wish I could be more eloquent and describe my meetings with the man and the President in terms that showed a greater importance or say that we talked about great things, but alas my meetings were pedestrian, simple and the type one would have with acquaintance at mundane social functions, they were cordial, simple and short. We talked of the food, the snow, the games and the heaviest political discussions we shared revolved around the politics of a tiny ski-town. I will however forever count myself lucky however to have broken bread with him, share a few brief moments and consider myself lucky be recognized by someone I consider a Great Man when we met a second, third and more times.

Rest in peace President Ford, I and many others are sincerely grateful for your service, appreciate your sacrifices and honor your legacy. History will be kind, as well they should, for you were a Great Man in horrible times.

--Jason

President Ford passed at 93 at his home in Rancho Mirage, CA at 6:45 pm December, 26, 2006. [Link]

P.S. Above I allude that meeting President Ford's Secret Service detail was "unlucky". I mean that in jest. While certainly getting shoo'd away from his home while skiing was unlucky, I did have multiple occasions to meet his protective detail on multiple occasions. I even shared more than a few off-duty beers with them. These men and women were always the most professional and honorable of law enforcement officers, although they liked a good joke (as did the President) and were quick to remind me that their Department was under the Department of the Treasury just as the BATF was and since I held a BATF Brewer's license, they could make me squirm from time to time for fun (and it was fun). Professionally, the agents were masters of their craft; efficient, dedicated and trust-worthy almost to a fault, off-duty they were raucous and fun-loving (and some were quite good skiiers). I cherish my interactions with them just as much as I do meetings with the President. The term "unlucky" is used solely in jest.

-JC

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October 8, 2006

It's long since past the time. . .

That we should just start referring to this as

WORLD WAR THREE!!!!!

Look folks, it's time, we've got ideologies out there that are directly opposed to everything the sane people of the world have been working for since the end of the last worldwide conflict. Islamic Fasism and Personality Cult Communism are threats to FREEDOM, LIBERTY, and HUMANITY. It's time to stop pussyfooting around and just start calling this what it is.

WORLD WAR THREE!!!!!

Condi needs to get her butt over to China ASAP and get the Chinese to take the role of the Soviets in WW2 and lead on getting North Korea under control, the U.S. and it's allies need to get on the ball with Iran and end that threat sooner rather than later. If Chavez makes a stink, unleash Brazil on him and give them everything they need to finish him off too.

In the modern age, the world seems to have these conflicts every 50 years or so as a sort of re-alignment of mankinds direction forward. No rational person will advocate for Islamic Fascism to become a ruling power for the world, neither will a rational person advocate Personality Cult Communism as a positive way forward. It's time to recognize that certain ideologies are failed ideologies and remove them from the playing field.

I'm going to add to this the Democrats better get on board with being Americans and realize that we've got to end this petty BS and get busy with making the world safe for humankind.

Blockade NK immediately, slap the sanctions on Iran, and let's start getting rid of the nutcases. If the U.N. doesn't want to go the way of the League of Nations in short order, they'd better get on the ball too.

--Jason

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October 3, 2006

Greek plane hijacked. . .

Place your bets, place your bets!

Could this plane be heading toward the Vatican?

Or is this an "old school" hijacking with demands placed and hostages held?

I'm voting on the missile scenario at the moment.

More to come as it gets reported. Updates will be added to this post.

--Jason

UPDATE 1: 107 passengers. Plane has been diverted to Italian airfield. Apparently it's a "protest" of the Pope's upcoming visit to Turkey. Drudge reports the plane has landed at Brindisi, Italy.

COMMENT: Isn't that just par for the course. The Mohammedans are upset about the Pope quoting someone who said they were violent, and they challenge the quote by hijacking a plane. Beautiful Irony still abounds.

UPDATE 2: Apparently the hijacking was "foiled" in fligh, and the passengers are now safe. XXX SCRATCH THAT -- FALSE REPORT XXX

UPDATE 3: 2 hijackers still on board. Plane is on the groud. The "because of the Pope" theory is still holding.

-JC

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September 11, 2006

Eine minuten bitte. . .

As we enter this day (I'm sorry, but I can't bring myself to call it an anniversary), that marks the fifth year since the attacks of September 11, 2001; many will have Islamic Terrorism and the greater threat of Islamic Fascism on their minds. This is appropriate, it will be on my mind as well. I just want to put the brakes on a second and remind people that Islamic Fascism is not the only threat we face in the world today.

As we prepare to remember our fallen, North Korea plans to announce to the world that they have indeed created an atomic bomb. Their only possible motivation for this is to blackmail the rest of the world into accepting a regime that starves millions of it's own people intentionally, that imposes an iron fist of state control on a completely opposite end of the scale from the Islamic Fascists.

Now is good time, if you haven't before, to read Bill Whittle's Tribes.

--Jason

Posted by JasonColeman at 12:50 AM

August 28, 2006

More required viewing. . .

Over at Gateway Pundit, some excellent must see video and must read coverage "When UN ambulances attack!"

--Jason

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August 16, 2006

NYC 9-11 Calls Released. . .

New York City officials today released over 1600 emergency calls and transmissions between dispatchers, first responders and other responding agencies today. Included are calls from individuals trapped inside the World Trade Center complex and individuals reporting the terrorist attack upon the Twin Towers. Also included are calls between responders and supervisors offering help, support, direction and information as the attack and the its aftermath unfold.

Listening to the released material is quite difficult emotionally and brings the horror of that day once again into sharp relief. I'd recommend that everyone take at least some time to listen to the recordings as they are an important part of understanding the scope of the event for the individuals tasked with responding and managing a crisis previously unimaginable.

I have nothing but praise to offer for the courageous efforts and professionalism the recordings demonstrate.

WARNING: There are some very graphic descriptions of tragic events included in the recordings, they are most definately inappropriate for young children and those easily disturbed.

Links to the released tapes after the jump.

--Jason

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August 8, 2006

Welcome the Independent Senator from Connecticut. . .

The Democrats have set in motion what can best be considered the beginning of their end. Tonight, Senator Joe Lieberman was narrowly defeated in a primary race by a "netroots" candidate. A product of the far left internet machine, Ned Lamont, will carry the Democrat standard in November against a newly Independent Incumbent Senator Joe Lieberman.

Lamont will lose and lose big in the November election, and the Democrats will not only have lost an election, but they will have lost a seat in the Senate that could still be theirs. In the process they have also created an enemy of their former Vice-Presidential candidate and alienated hundreds of thousands of Democrats who feel the party moving away from them faster and faster everyday.

Lieberman should embrace his new status as an Independent. The Democrats threw out one of their moderates, the Democrats abandoned the center. Joe will drag alot of center oriented Democrats with him wherever he lands. By all accounts this should be the opportunity a viable third party has to make itself a force in American politics. Joe could easily be the lightning rod for such a party.

-OR-

I think the Republican Party found their next VP. So I'll call for it now. Condi-Lieberman '08!!!

--Jason

PS - So since Lamont was a Kosidate, and since he won, this gives the Kos Kids their first "win" right??? So that means that the Kos Kids first win was against. . . A Democrat. Go figure!

-JC

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May 5, 2006

Since people will be looking. . .

Given this little "event" with Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) hitting a barricade, then shuffled off home by the Capitol Police with little to no investigation of possible impairment, people will be looking for this again, so I'm putting it back up.

If Ted Kennedy drove a Volkswagen, he'd be President today!

It floats.
The way our body is built, we'd be surprised if it didn't. The sheet of flat steel that goes underneath every Volkswagen keeps out water, as well as dirt and salt and other nasty things that can eat away at the underside of a car. So it's watertight at the bottom. And everybody knows it's easier to shut the door on a Volkswagen after you've rolled down the window a little.

That proves it's practically airtight on top. If it was a boat, we could call it the Water Bug. But it's not a boat, it's a car.

And, like Mary Jo Kopechne, it's only 99 and 44/100 percent pure. So it won't stay afloat forever. Just long enough. Poor Teddy. If he'd been smart enough to buy a Volkswagen, he never would have gotten into hot water.

--Volskwagen "National Lampoon Ad Parody" from the 70's.

Maybe we should take yet another hard look at the excesses of the Kennedy family, no?

--Jason

UPDATE: Fixed attribution of picture/ad copy. Added that this was a National Lampoon Magainze joke ad. You can view a scanned copy HERE..

-JC

Posted by JasonColeman at 8:57 AM | Comments (4)

May 1, 2006

Lookee Lookee at the wittle boycott...

Sure seems to be bringing the country to a halt, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, fools, I tell you fools. Whoever sold the illegal immigrant community on the idea that the best way to get their way was to threaten the legal and natural citizens with economic warfare MUST have been a Rovian plant.

I especially like the choice of the traditional Commie day of celebration for their boycott of the evil gringo capitalists.

Main Street doesn't seem very much effected, far from their dreams of putting the economy into a standstill, they've merely galvanized the capitalists to take advantage:

Have a fun march, idiots, the only economic damage you're doing is the loss of a days wages for those of you who walked out of work. LOLOLOLOLOLOL HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

They'd have had a much more successful rally/protest/march if they'd have waited until Friday, then they could have persuaded most of us to go join them for a raucous Cinco de Mayo party with Coronas and Margaritas in hand. After all if you're going to lump in all the anti-war loons, environmental whack-jobs, and pro-commie moonbats in order to make your march to destroy the gringo economy look bigger, why not also co-opt the ravers, drunks, party-goers and club kids to make it look even bigger.

Fools, they're simply fools.

Meanwhile, the fence goes up. Woo Hooooooo!!!!

--Jason

PS, I'd expect to see some drop in the dow levels during the mid-afternoon, but a strong late afternoon climb as traders and investors pry themselves from their TV's and recover from their fits of laughter.

UPDATE: Well, we didn't see a slowdown through the afternoon, instead we had a healthy day with some late afternoon profit taking, a far cry from the "economic shutdown" predicted by the organizers.

UPDATE 2: My apologies for not grabbing an image of the day's activity and replacing the updating chart above. Let's just say that the Dow was up all day until about 3PM when people took profits out. I thought about taking out the updating chart, but I'm just gonna leave it in, because "well I just like looking at it".

-JC

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April 25, 2006

Problems with the post . . . .

A mystery white powder has spilled from a package at a Hueytown post office (Hueytown is a suburb of Birmingham, AL). The powder was corrosive, damaging floor tiles, and caused a somewhat violent reaction among employees, including vomiting and some workers collapsed once outside.

Reports are initial and sketchy, but the powder sounds like Calcium Hypochlorite.

As Drudge would say. . . developing.

UPDATE: Now they're saying it's fish bait. Someone must be going after some very strange fish. Or perhaps its just a case where postal workers in this heightened climate of fear of terrorism over-reacted. Whatever the case and cause, we can be grateful that it appears to be "rather" benign, if inconvenient and unpleasant.

UPDATE2: Turns out it was methyl chloride, at least I was on the right track.
--Jason

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April 22, 2006

Let's do the election corruption boogie. . . . .

Today, New Orleans voters (and others as I'll show in a moment) will be casting ballots for the Mayor of New Orleans. It's no secret that Ray "Chocolate City" Nagin is hoping that this election will come down to race based politics rather than doing what's best for the city, but that's not what this post is about.

As voters go to the polls, I want to share something with you, my tiny readership, in the hopes that you'll share it far and wide.

So here we go. . . .

A few weeks ago, the Louisians Secretary of State's office sent out a 4 page document entitled "Municipal Elections Information" within the document was a form to request an absentee ballot by mail.

I've scanned the document and offer it here Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

First I'd like to take issue with Page 1, please notice this:

Now we had a number of evacuees come through Birmingham and we provided aid and shelter to family members and friends in the aftermath of the storm, but I find this shotgun approach to locating voters rather . . . . inappropriate. The mailing came to us because various Katrina evacuees used our mailing address in the immediate aftermath for FEMA registrations, contact info and the like. So our address got on the list and this ballot request made it's way to my hands. Now that's not all that bad, I just thought it was worthy of note.

Here's where things get, in my opinion, VERY BAD. Take a look at page three, here's an excerpt:

Do yo see it?

Take a look again. . . .

Do you see it now????

Ok here you go:

Anything that would positively establish identity is OPTIONAL INFORMATION. Yep, that's right, optional. I could easily fill out this form, get my ballot, send it in; and I haven't lived in New Orleans in over a decade. Furthermore, I can make as many copies of this form as I'd like:

Instructions (NOTE: You may copy this form for outher Louisiana Displaced Registered Voters.)

Given the track record of Louisiana Government in the past say, um . . . well . . . FOREVER, I don't have much confidence that the Sec State will be able to provide for a legitimate election given that anything that could be used to positively identify a voter as a legitimate voter is *Optional.

I'm going to refrain from any more commentary about this, I think that by merely presenting this I'm giving enough condemnation to it. I hope if you have any opinions, you'll share them with me, and further, please feel free to lift these scanned images and repost them whereever you'd like. I'll even go the extra step of saying it's ok to hotlink these for those who may use blogger or other shared hosting resources. However, if you have the bandwidth, I'd appreciate it if you save copies for yourself and don't hotlink. OK???

So here's a final question. How many of those 16,000 absentee ballots already received for the New Orleans municipal election do you think were sent out with no positive identification of the voter based on this form????? I'm guessing it's significantly more than a few.

--Jason

PS You might also find something of interest in my -Katrina Category. Like maybe this.

Posted by JasonColeman at 1:40 PM | Comments (3)

March 9, 2006

Meet Enceladus. . .

I would like to introduce you all to Enceladus, a small icy moon of Saturn and, apart from the Sun, one of the "brightest" objects in our solar system (Enceladus has an albedo of >0.9, in contrast the Earth has an albedo of about 0.3.)

Enceladus is making news today because NASA's Cassini spacecraft is making it's closest approach yet to Saturn's satellite, and Cassini has made some remarkable discoveries in the small (approx. 500 km across) moon. Volcanic forces are present on Enceladus, forces which are warming the interior of the small moon and in turn warming the liquid under the sheet of ice which encapsulates the moon. Further, all the evidence indicates that this liquid is actually water. That's right kiddies, liquid water, not ice, not liquid methane, not liquid sulphur, but actual liquid water is believed to have been found and confirmed, not just theorized, on another body in our very own solar system.

Astronomically speaking, this is the equivalent of man's discovery of fire. This is the big one, a discovery that may forever change how we look at the night sky and a discovery which brings the possibility of life exterestrial life out of the realm of science fiction and closer to the realm of science fact.

Since it's discovery by Herschel in 1789, it was tought that Enceladus was just another rocky, icy orb out in the "middle part" of our solar system. Enceladus was too small for radioactive decay to heat the little planet's core and it was though to be just another rock with an icy crust.

Enter Dione, another of Saturn's moons and one which is locked in resonance with Enceladus. Dione's close proximity to Enceladus has caused perturbations in it's partners orbit and gravitational forces have been tugging away at the moons inards and in turn producing heat, heat which causes volcanism, volcanism which keeps the subsurface sea of Enceladus warm enough to keep liquid water stable.

This is truely a remarkable event, and I'll be updating more today as this story develops.

--Jason

UPDATE: The story of Enceladus has all the earmarks of a great detective thriller. Late last year, scientists began to notice that Enceladus was geologically active. As mentioned above, this was curious because of Enceladus' small size, but it was the interference of Dione which turned out to be the culprit.

Next we find that there's fresh snow on Encelaus' surface, as the liquid beneath the ice caps escapes as vapor only to be frozen solid in the cold of space and fall back onto the tiny world. When scientists turned their attention to this bizarre little world, more and more startling discoveries awaited.

The Saturn system was awash in Oxygen molecules, a very strange occurance to find so far out into the solar system. Turns out, Enceladus was outgassing water vapor which breaks down into, of course, hydrogen (very common out in the ether) and oxygen (very unusual to find out in the inky black). Following the oxygen back to it's source led to the discovery of liquid water on Enceladus.

Images: Enceladus via Voyager - "false-color" enhance image from Cassini

Solarviews.com page on Enceladus.

NASA's Cassini-Huygens page on Enceladus.

In Janurary 2002, Enceladus hit the APOD with the headline "Ski Enceladus".

-JC

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March 4, 2006

VICTORY!!!!!!

Once again the blogosphere has undone (in part) some of the damage the MSM created.

The Associated Press has now "clarified" the story about the video I discuss HERE.

Clarification: Katrina-Video story
ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) _ In a March 1 story, The Associated Press reported that federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees in New Orleans, citing confidential video footage of an Aug. 28 briefing among U.S. officials.

The Army Corps of Engineers considers a breach a hole developing in a levee rather than an overrun. The story should have made clear that Bush was warned about floodwaters overrunning the levees, rather than the levees breaking.

The day before the storm hit, Bush was told there were grave concerns that the levees could be overrun. It wasn't until the next morning, as the storm was hitting, that Michael Brown, then head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Bush had inquired about reports of breaches. Bush did not participate in that briefing.

It's a shame that the AP won't give this "clarification" as much play as they did to their misrepresentations.

I so wish I could take credit for it, but I'm just a baby blogger, I do this because it makes me feel better to rant and rave a bit about what I see going on in the world. It does make me feel good though. Just like it did when I was one of the first to bust the faulty reporting of the Taliban Bodies story (start toward the bottom of the page).

Thanks to Powerline for pointing me to the AP clarifcation.

--Jason

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January 29, 2006

70 miners trapped in Canada. . .

Now we've got 70 miners trapped in Canada.

Apparently this is a bit different from the other incidents in West Virginia of late. In this case it appears the miners were able to retreat to a refuge location and are not trapped in a new section of mine tunnel. Currently all are believed safe although they are trapped a little more than half a mile down.

The mine is operated by the U.S. company, The Mosaic Company, who describe themselves on their website:

"Mosaic is the powerful combination of two leaders in the fertilizer industry, IMC Global and Cargill Crop Nutrition. We are committed to nourishing growth for our customers, our investors and our communities. "

The company is one of the world's leading producers of potash (which is what this mine produces), and employs over 8,000 people worldwide.

Their stock has been slowly climbing over the past few months, hopefully it'll stay strong as it seems like this company has the situation pretty well in hand.

UPDATE: The miners are safe, the fire is "probably" out, or at least under control and now they are waiting for the ventillation systems to clear out the smoke before they can bring the miners to the surface. Glad this turned out well.

--Jason

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November 12, 2005

Bird flu jumps to pigs. . .this is NOT good news

Reports from China are confirming that pigs have now died as a result of "bird flu". This is about the worst possible news we could get regarding what could possibly develop into the world's next pandemic. A pigs genetic makeup is a step closer to human genetics and while this isn't cause to panic yet, it's certainly a very disturbing development. The next question to be answered would have to be "did the pigs contract the disease simultaneously from the same source, or did one pig develop the disease and spread it to others?"

Short of human to human transmission, this is about one of the worst developments we could see with regard to bird flu.

--Jason

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November 1, 2005

Democrat stunt. . .(audio added)

--NOTE: Audio of Reid's floor statement calling for Closed Sesion is at the end of this post. --

The Democrats have moved the Senate into a Closed Session to try and make news.

In the middle of a budgetary debate that was moving in the direction of "drastically" cutting Federal Spending, Minority Leader Reid forced the Senate into closed session. Majority Leader Frist characterizes the move as a "stunt" to try and bring up a pre-war intelligence matter. Apparently Ried is using the "stunt" to try to get attention focused on the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson issue.

I guess they're just mad that the Libby indictment has been moved off the front page.

Updates to come. . .

--Jason

UPDATE: C-Span 2 is reporting that Democrats may decide to use this Closed Session option in the Senate rules, EVERY DAY, until they feel they're satisfied. So there you have it, it's a publicity stunt!

UPDATE 2: I captured the audio of Harry Reid's speech on the floor, before he moved to go into Closed Session, essentially he makes many claims, many of which are re-hashed partisan talking points. He then moved into closed session to avoid any further debates or comments by other members on the floor, this was nothing but an ambush. I'm uploading the audio now, it'll be available in a few minutes.

UPDATE 3: Majority Leader Frist points out that this move is designed to "push you out" (referring to the media) and to "push out the American people" from the Senate.

UPDATE 4: Here's the relevant Senate Rule for entering into closed session. Further proving this is a "stunt", Reid knew that it wasn't a matter of just closing the doors and removing the media. The entire Senate chamber has been thrown into an uproar, the room has to be cleared, secured, swept for electronic devices, all microphones and recording devices have to be removed. This process takes time, exactly the amount of time that Reid needed to get his press releases sent out and his talking heads in a row.

UPDATE 5: C-Span2 is reporting that there won't be any actual discussion in the closed session, he just made everyone jump through procedural hoops and draws all the media to into attendence. C-Span 2 expects that open session will begin shortly. It's 3:07 Central right now.

UPDATE 6: Harry Reid's floor statement calling for a Closed Session (audio only - 58 megs - sorry about the size, I was caught off guard and grabbed it as quick as I could without any means to streamline the capture or make it smaller. You may want to right click and "Save As. . . ")

STOP the ACLU has more and is rounding up much of the discussion. They also agree that the timing of this has much to do with the Alito nomination knocking the Libby indictment for "lying about a crime that was never committed" off the front page. Keep grasping at straws Dems, keep grasping at straws. Don't worry, the Republicans will keep running the country while you whine and cry in the corner and don't offer anything other than stunts, poorly attended rallies and useless whines and rants about the evils of Conservative America.

--JC

Posted by JasonColeman at 1:53 PM

October 27, 2005

Looting continues in New Orleans. . .

This pains me to report, but there still appears to be widespread looting going on in New Orleans, Police officials in the city are attempting to downplay the reports, but tonight I received word from friends and family who have attempted to return to the city that whole areas of the city are now the undisputed territory of armed gangs after dark, and even during broad daylight.

From the Times-Picayune:

Rep. Alex Heaton, D-New Orleans, told Riley that looting was reported as recently as Friday on Maple and Oak streets, two principal commercial strips in Carrollton.

Riley said a 200-member task force that recently formed to combat looting is focusing on largely uninhabited neighborhoods, not areas such as Carrollton, where a large number of residents have returned. But Riley said he would talk to 2nd District commanders about patrolling the two streets.

He said the task force has found it must allocate more officers to daytime patrols than when it began. With many neighborhoods vacant, looters aren't waiting for darkness to invade homes, he said.

It's been reported to me that armed gangs have also taken over Cato St. in the Uptown area of New Orleans, roving the streets openly armed and confronting homeowners and business people who attempted to enter the area to assess damage, clean out flooded homes and begin the process of rebuilding.

"They are entering homes with bedsheets, loading them up with our belongings and then hauling out the loot 'Santa-style' with the bundled sheets slung over their shoulders."

I've been reluctant to straight out say that Mayor Nagin's "look and leave" policy for many New Orleans areas simply isn't working, but I will now. Even with a heavy National Guard presence in the city, the reluctance of the city to integrate the National Guard troops into the city's 9-11 response system is making them ineffective. Additionally, many guard units placed under the operational command of the city and state officials have been switched from security duties to recovery and restoration tasks.

The city should have never attempted to bring residents back into the city without the resources necessary to manage the influx of residents spread throughout the city and without any orderly process of resettlement. It's an "every man and woman for themselves" mentality with only a minimum of order and security restored. When Mayor Nagin re-opened the city against the advice of Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen, and without any plan for orderly resettlement, he set the stage for a new round of injustices to be visited on those residents who returned to reclaim their homes.

Mayor Nagin seems to be more concerned with getting a new football team (after attempts to shake-down Saints owner Benson were unsuccessful) than he is about the safety and security of New Orleans residents. The "mayor without a plan" has shown again his total and complete incompetance with regard to managing the city. Cell phone coverage in the city is spotty and land lines aren't any better, police response to attacks is non-existant unless such attacks occur in the French Quarter, Wharehouse or CBD districts, New Orleans East, Gentilly and Uptown are sporadically patrolled at night and requests for help are routinely met with "you'll have to call the National Guard". Of course the city hasn't integrated (by the city's choice) with the National Guard communication nets and there's no phone number familiar to New Orleans residents who need to contact the Guard when the police won't respond.

I don't find it surprising that the MSM isn't reporting on the state of siege in New Orleans and the city's inabilty to respond or simple apathy, the MSM in it's zeal to report carnage in New Orleans in the immediate aftermath of the storm severly dropped the ball, they're embarrassed and afraid that they'll get the story wrong again; and of course, when Mayor Nagin still gets on TV and laments that "no one is helping" despite thousands of workers and billions of dollars flowing into the city with absolutely no accountability from Louisiana's NOTORIOUSLY corrupt officials and politicians, I almost don't blame them.

I do find it ironic that I had to resort to reporting from another of my former residence's newspapers, the Vail Daily (repuires registration) to find accounts of the looting that is still going on beyond those personally related to me by people within the city now:

I didn't find the looting surprising. The area is pitch black at night. There are mostly migrant workers in the area during the day. The area is mandated empty at dark. It's a thief's "made to order."

The mayor's "look and leave" is a major part of exacerbating the situation in the city. With drive times out of New Orleans stretching upwards of 4 hours, many neighborhoods are deserted well before dark and the looting begins when the clean-up workers make their daily retreat across the lake to campgrounds and temporary housing in Slidell, Mandeville and Covington.

The Times-Picayune (the New Orleans daily) is doing it's best at reporting what's going on within the city, but with a severly depleted staff and utilizing offices as far away as Mobile to produce the paper, much "on the scene reporting" has taken a back seat to official reports and press releases. The mainstream media is almost completely hands off, and so it seems, are the police.

Leaving New Orleans to be destroyed again, from the inside. AGAIN.

Martial Law was NEVER declared in New Orleans, all bluster by Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin aside, the National Guard has no real authority to actually fight crime in New Orleans. They can certainly chase looters away when they happen upon them, but there's no mechanism in place (by the city's choice) to utilize the resources the National Guard can bring to bear. Couple the hamstringing (again) of the National Guard, with a corrupt local government, a police force more prone to looting themselves than actually protecting and serving the citizenry, and haphazard and downright DANGEROUS approach the city has taken to resettlement, the future prospects for the city are looking bleaker with each passing day.

One can only hope that the MSM will lick it's wounds and begin getting back on the ground in New Orleans to report the situation. One can only hope that the National Guard will be embraced for the resources and manpower they can bring to bear in the area and one can only hope that Mayor Nagin will begin to "pull his head out" and begin actually managing the city he was elected to serve rather than simply whine and continue blaming everyone else for his city's mismanagment and disfunction.

You created this catastrophe Mayor Nagin by failing the first time, and unless you're ready to turn over control to those who truely want to help and manage the crisis, it's up to you to pull things together.

FORGET ABOUT BRINGING THE BROWNS TO NEW ORLEANS TO REPLACE THE SAINTS, FORGET ABOUT CASINOS, MARDI GRAS AND CONVENTIONS!!!

New Orleans needs basic services returned, rather than complaining that the money is going to run out in March, use the time between now and then wisely. Restore those services you can and for goodness sakes, ask for assistance from those in place and ready to assist rather than whine and cry about whether or not you have meter maids getting checks from the city while they wait out the recovery in Houston and Chicago. Those cities will worry about the people taking shelter there, YOU, MAYOR NAGIN need to worry about protecting the people and property still left in New Orleans, and those you enticed to return.

And face it Nagin, there's an election in February, and it's HIGHLY unlikely you'll even run, let alone win. So let someone else worry about March, you need to be worrying about today.

--Jason

Posted by JasonColeman at 8:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 20, 2005

Boy. . . South Park wsa great last night. . . Quick Hits

And Time Blair thought so too.

MVRWC, well, they think's they're rich now. I just feel like a baby blogger growing up a bit. Thanks for the contest Beth.(fixed)

Dan is reporting that someone has posted Taylor Behl's livejournal photos and comments, I haven't really been following this at all but; I'm not feeling good about this.

Charmaine Yoest says it very politely about Tom and Katie. I generally agree.

Sister Toldja fell off the fence with regard to the Miers Nomination. I didn't pay attention to today's events in the nomination process, so I'm still on the fence until the 1st Day of the first hearing, then I may fall off, don't know.

HyScience tells us about Herceptin, and that's great news, but there's always a catch so read the whole thing. Hyscience also helped with my post today, in fact, he started the whole ball rolling.

I'd like to personally thank those linked above (and don't worrry, there are more to come, it's just alot of posts to read through) for linking or contributing to my post earlier today. Which I'll be commenting later tonight.

--Jason

Posted by JasonColeman at 7:09 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

September 6, 2005

Mixed Feelings. . .

Dan Riehl relays a report from Mister Snitch that Mayor Nagin of New Orleans may be resigning.

I have mixed feelings about it.

On one hand, emotionally, I want to see Nagin go, his performance in dealing with Katrina has been deplorable. I hold Mayor Nagin personally responsible for the deaths of countless citizens of New Orleans. His refusal to follow the established evacuation plan for the city meant that thousands of New Orleans citizens were left behind in the city when Nagin had the ability to get them out prior to the storm hitting. I can't help but wonder what part of "Mandatory" did Mayor Nagin not understand.

On the other hand, a vacuum will exist in New Orleans if Nagin resigns. There is NO EFFECTIVE MECHANISM in the New Orleans City Charter to replace him. The charter calls for a special election within 60 days, this will prove to be completely impossible as the citizenry of New Orleans is displaced and the infrastructure necessary to conduct a special election is destroyed.

A power vacuum in New Orleans would be catastrophic for a city already reeling from a disaster. While I'd love to see Nagin go for his inability to follow the evacuation plan, for him to cut and run at this juncture would only serve to throw the city into more chaos.

There is a provision for the Mayor to appoint an "acting Mayor" in his absense, but I'm not sure that resignation meets the legal definition of "absense". New Orleans doesn't need some hotshot lawyer trying to make a name for himself taking this provision to court and further hamstringing what's left of the New Orleans civil authority.

My advice to Mayor Nagin, although it's quite certain he'll never read this, is to stick it out, suck it up, ADMIT YOUR MISTAKES, and stop blaming others for your failure. Prostrate yourself before the city and accept it's absolution.

Regardless of his failings, Nagin can still redeem himself by getting the rest of the citizenry out of the toxic soup that the city has become. Nagin needs to be pleading with the people personally and over the airwaves to leave the city for their own safety. Nagin still has the opportunity to save lives at risk, and become a leader New Orleans can find some pride in.

I want to see Nagin called to the carpet for his failings, either by admitting them himself, or having them exposed by the media or subsequent investigation. It's important that we all learn from each other's mistakes, so that when the next mayor of a major city is faced with impending disaster, he or she may think twice about going "off book" and disregarding their role in Emergency Preparedness Plans.

However, I want to make sure that New Orleans doesn't further fall into chaos, I don't think New Orleans would be well served by a second abandonment by Nagin.

Stay the course Mayor Nagin, finish the evacuation you started, and work with the rest of the nation to rebuild a slimmer, cleaner, stronger and more vibrant New New Orleans. Learn from your mistakes and take care of those who trusted you with the keys to their city, don't add insult to injury by abandoning your post a second time in the face of hardship, and allow New New Orleans to rise from the ashes of the old.

I do not forgive you for your failings, but I will, IF you accept your mistakes and learn from them.

It's doubtful that you'll be re-elected, but you said in your campaign that you wanted to build a stronger city during your tenure, here's your chance to redeem yourself and do just that, from the soggy ground up.

--Jason

PS, BTW, I beat Dan in the Blogger Babe of the Week competition.

Posted by JasonColeman at 11:35 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

September 5, 2005

It's long past time to choose. . .

And I choose to be a Sheepdog.

Read the whole thing, come back later if you have to, but read the whole thing.

Then please take note of this:

In the absence of information and outside assistance, groups of rich and poor banded together in the French Quarter, forming "tribes" and dividing up the labor.
As some went down to the river to do the wash, others remained behind to protect property. In a bar, a bartender put near-perfect stitches into the torn ear of a robbery victim.

While mold and contagion grew in the muck that engulfed most of the city, something else sprouted in this most decadent of American neighborhoods - humanity.

"Some people became animals," Vasilioas Tryphonas said Sunday morning as he sipped a hot beer in Johnny White's Sports Bar on Bourbon Street. "We became more civilized."

--Jason

Posted by JasonColeman at 2:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 4, 2005

Read This. . .

READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS, READ THIS.
Thank you,

--Jason

Posted by JasonColeman at 9:06 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

August 13, 2005

Never forget. . .

The New York Times has the NYFD Dispatch calls that were among the recently released oral histories of 9-11.

Posted by JasonColeman at 11:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 8, 2005

Google throws a hissy. . .

The internet behemoth Google, is thowing a hissy fit over this article from CNET News.com article. It does seem like Google is flexing it's muscles and is freezing out CNET from access to its employees(scroll down to the last paragraph). This will be interesting to see how it plays out, as CNET is one of the big boys on the net as well. While I don't expect Google will actively work against CNET beyond the admonition to it's employees not to cooperate, Google does have the power to remove CNET from it's News Search feature and they certainly can play around with CNET's rankings on Google should they choose to.

While Google may be that mother of all search engines that is seeking to take over the world, they definately have a right to respond to the CNET article, but I'd caution about freezing out a media outlet that reports on you. It begins to look like sour grapes, and draws more attention to the original reporting. Probably better to work with your public relations people to put your corporate spin on it, point out the shortcomings of the reporting and focus on the positive aspects of your company. Google may have over-reacted, and if this "freezing out" business turns out to be true, Google needs a thicker skin.

I like Google. They have certainly had a profound effect on the internet and how people use it, but let's not forget the lessons of EPIC. Which is a fun, or scary, flash animation about the evil merging of Google and Amazon in an effort to crush Microsoft and rule cyberspace.

If you haven't seen EPIC yet, here it is, it runs about 10 minutes and will definately make you think.

--Jason

EDIT: This post has been edited from the original posting an hour ago, I got off on a tangent that distracted from the topic. Sorry about that, and I'll save the other issue for another post. I didn't want people to think I was complaining, because I wasn't.

Posted by JasonColeman at 10:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 15, 2005

Close call, cool head and a job well done. . .

The Army times reports the story of Pfc. Stephen Tschiderer in Iraq. Private Tschiderer was shot in the chest by an enemy sniper.

WATCH THE VIDEO

Tschiderer's body armor stopped the bullet and allowed him to recover quickly, locate the sniper's position, and apprehend the sniper who had fired upon him.

The enemy sniper was wounded in the engagement and Tschiderer actually wound up rendering first aid to the man who only moments before had tried to kill him.

H/T to SondraK for first pointing me at the video.

Michelle Malkin has it to, so there's hope this will hit the MSM.

UPDATE: It appears that the snipers overhead in the video are speaking Dutch. I've asked a Dutch speaker that I know for a translation, as soon as I get a translation from a trusted source, I'll post it.

2ND UPDATE: Gannett has stopped serving the video apparently. So I've updated the link and will serve it myself as long as I can do so with my limited bandwidth. Please right-click and "Save As. . " if you would like to distribute it outside my blog.

3RD UPDATE: I asked for translation from a Dutch speaker that I trust and got it. There are two voices on the tape:

1> Allah Akbah (not dutch)
1> Allah Akbah
1> Allah Akbah
2> Heb'we 'em? (Hebben we hem?) (transl: Did we get him)
1> Allah Akbah
2> Heb'we 'em geraakt? (Hebben we hem geraakt?) (transl: Did we hit him?)
1> Allah Akbah
2> Heb'we 'em geraakt? (Hebben we hem geraakt?) (transl: Did we hit him?)
1> Ja (transl: yes)

Now I'm not going to get into the speculation game much, but this seems to be great evidence that we're not fighting the Iraqis over there, but rather helping them oust "foreign fighters" from their midst who have come to the call of jihad. Trey Jackson points out that these guys aren't fighting for a free Iraq.

WHEN IS THIS GOING TO HIT THE MSM?????? It's a damn near a crime that this hasn't led ever major newscast.

--Jason

Posted by JasonColeman at 7:11 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Maybe you've seen this, maybe you haven't. . . .

But THIS GUY won't be seeing anything anytime soon. This is just simply untenable and needs to be stopped. It's ridiculous, to say the very least.

Posted by JasonColeman at 12:59 PM

July 2, 2005

And now here's the news. . .

News from Afghanistan you'll never see on TV.

--Jason

Posted by JasonColeman at 2:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 22, 2005

Open Media 100

AlwaysOn and Technorati have come together to create the "Open Media 100". A comprehensive list of the movers and shakers in Open Media, from the creators and visionaries to the reporters and collectors that shape the new Mediascape. Described in their own words:

"The purpose of this list is to provide an initial, helpful framework of this emerging industry and highlight its key players who are influencing the adoption of open media and proving the impact it is already having on the technology industry, journalism, and marketing."

The list is VERY impressive, and is sure to give countless hours of reading material to anyone interested in Open Media. Additionally, the list serves as a Mega-Blogroll of the important players.

I'm reproducing it here for two reasons, one so you can have a look at it and two, so I can have it easily accessible for my own use. I'll probably wind up putting it in the sidebar in some fashion as well.

The list is pretty damn big, so I'm leaving out the 50 Honorable Mentions for now, I'll find a place to stick them for easy access in a little bit.

Open Media 100 List
Pioneers	Trendsetters	Practitioners	Toolsmiths	Enablers
Adam Curry The Daily Source Code Dan Gillmor Bayosphere J. D. Lasica New Media Musings Lawrence Lessig Lessig Blog Craig Newmark Craigslist Yeon Ho Oh OhMyNews Howard Rheingold Smart Mobs Doc Searls The Doc Searls Weblog Clay Shirky Shirky.com David Weinberger Joho Dave Winer Scripting News	John Battelle Searchblog Rebecca Blood Rebecca's Pocket Jason Calacanis Weblogs, Inc. Marc Canter BroadBand Mechanics Nick Denton Gawker Media Cory Doctorow, Mark Frauenfelder, Xeni Jardin, David Pescovitz Boing Boing Steve Gillmor ZDNet Matt Haughey MetaFilter Mary Hodder Napsterization Doug Kaye IT Conversations Amy Jo Kim SocialDesigner.net Liz Lawley Mamamusings Eric Olsen Blogcritics Tim O'Reilly O'Reilly Media Eric Rice Audioblog.com Brett Simmons Ranchero Software Elizabeth Spiers Mediabistro.com Phillip Torrone Flashenabled.com Joe Trippi Change for America Jeffrey Veen Adaptive Path	Mohamad Reza Abdollahi (Imprisoned in Iran for his blog) Jeff Bates, Rob Malda Slashdot Russell Beattie RussellBeattie.com Duncan Black Eschaton N. Z. Bear The Truth Laid Bear Stowe Boyd, Hylton Jolliffe Corante Ana Marie Cox Wonkette Mark Cuban Dallas Mavericks Matt Drudge The Drudge Report Kevin Drum Washington Monthly Barb Dybwad Geeked Mohammed Fadhil, Omar Fadhil Iraq The Model Hugh Hewitt HughHewitt.com John Hinderaker, Scott Johnson, Paul Mirengoff Power Line Jeff Jarvis BuzzMachine Charles Johnson Little Green Footballs Mickey Kaus Slate Jason Kottke Kottke.org Bob Lutz General Motors Om Malik Om Malik's Broadband Blog Josh Marshall Talking Points Memo Dave Pell Davenetics Chris Pirillo Lockergnome Dave Pogue New York Times Glenn Reynolds Instapundit.com Peter Rojas Engadget Steve Rubel Micro Persuasion Jonathan Schwartz Jonathan Schwartz's Blog Robert Scoble Scobleizer Roger Simon Roger L. Simon Andrew Sullivan The Daily Dish James Taranto The Wall Street Journal Jon Udell InfoWorld Eugene Volokh The Volokh Conspiracy Jeffrey Zeldman The Daily Report Markos Moulitsas Zuniga Daily Kos	Jonathan Abrams Friendster Tom Anderson, Chris DeWolfe MySpace Mitchell Baker Mozilla Foundation Nick Bradbury Bradbury Software (acquired by NewsGator) Stewart Butterfield, Caterina Fake Flickr (acquired by Yahoo!) Dan Chan Daypop Bram Cohen BitTorrent Dick Costolo, Eric Lunt, Steve Olechowski, Matt Shobe FeedBurner Neil Drumm, Zack Rosen CivicSpace Labs Mark Fletcher Bloglines (acquired by AskJeeves) Janus Friis, Niklas Zennstrom Skype David Galbraith David Galbraith's Weblog Meg Hourihan Blogger Salim Ismail, Bob Wyman PubSub Scott J. Rafer, Scott Johnson, Francois Schiettecatte Feedster Brewster Kahle Internet Archive Loic LeMeur Six Apart Paul Martino, Mark Pincus Tribe.net Ross Mayfield Socialtext Matt Mullenweg WordPress Greg Reinacker NewsGator Technologies Joshua Schachter Del.icio.us Ben and Mena Trott Six Apart Jimmy "Jimbo" Wales Wikipedia Evan Williams Odeo	Tim Draper, Steve Jurvetson, Andreas Stavropoulos Draper Fisher Jurvetson Esther Dyson Release 1.0 Bradley Feld Mobius Venture Capital Reid Hoffman LinkedIn David Hornik August Capital Joi Ito Neoteny Allen Morgan Mayfield Pierre Omidyar Omidyar Network

--Jason

Posted by JasonColeman at 5:00 PM | Comments (2)

June 21, 2005

Really Mixed Feelings

Killen convicted on all 3 counts.

#1 - EXTREMELY HAPPY THAT JUSTICE HAS BEEN DONE

#2 - EXTREMELY DISTURBED WITH THE ADDED DRAMA OF THE CONVICTION BEING HANDED DOWN ON THE 41ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE CRIME ITSELF.

#3 - I'll toss in the "Anti-Lynching" Vote in the Senate.

My Point? This contrived drama seems to be coming together better than a Hollywood script. I'm not sure I like the idea that our courts and mediascape have now combined to present morality plays.

Or perhaps they should.

Let's hold a public trial and televise it for the 20th hijacker guy. Pull a jury of 12 plus 88 alternates (100 or 2 from each state) lets lay it all out on the table. Let's talk about the USS Cole, the 1st Trade Center bombing, Bali, Israel, and then 9-11. Then we can talk about air-conditioning, Christina Aguillera and handling books THAT WE GAVE THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE with rubber gloves and surgical masks. Then lets talk about Nick Berg and countless other beheadings. Connect them all up with the guy that WANTED to be a part of the Twin Towers attack. <-- Video you might want/need to see again. If you start, WATCH THE WHOLE THING!

On the side we can have a smaller trial televised from Europe (Italy), the one where the woman is on trial for "defaming Islam". Oops, looks like the guy that complained just got convicted for "defaming Christianity".

Oh yeah, don't forget, it's ok to sleep with little boys.

--Jason

Posted by JasonColeman at 11:24 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 20, 2005

Glad these are going bye bye. . .

Russia has decided that it's time to take the BZHRK trains off the tracks. The 36 BZHRK trains were one of Russia's most feared weapons platforms during the Cold War. Each train consisted of a command post, and up to 5 nuclear tipped SS-24 ICBM's. The trains kept on the move constantly during the Cold War, each was capable of traversing 1000 miles over 24 hours.

These moving missile silos were very difficult for American and NATO intelligence analysts to track. The rail cars housing the weapons were very difficult to disguinish from standard rail cars and they were frequently "lost" in railyards and during bad weather. In the 1990's the U.S. struck a deal to keep the trains stationary.

The Russians say that the systems are no longer guaranteed reliable, and I supposed that's as good a reason as any for getting rid of them. Regardless, I'm happy that these are being retired. The world just became a slighty safer place.

--Jason

Posted by JasonColeman at 10:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 2, 2005

EPIC: 2015

Here's the bitorrent for EPIC: 2015 by Robin Sloan and Matt Thompson. Right click and select Save As. .

If you don't know how to use BitTorrents, CLICK HERE - It will take a while to download (Note, this link will go away if bandwith issues come up. So you might want to right click and Save As. ., in case you want to watch it agin.)

EPIC is a shockwave based animation depecting the future of our mediascape, the internet and how they might develop into the construct named EPIC. The battle between the internet and "old media" is played out as well as the News Wars between Microsoft and Google. It's an interesting piece.

--Jason

Posted by JasonColeman at 7:30 PM

June 1, 2005

Presenting, The Cotillion

Possibly the first blog I ever read was Beth's. I think I found it via google for "Alabama Blogs". Beth introduced me to Instapundit, Michelle Malkin, IMAO, LILEKS, LGF and more. I'm not sure whether Glenn is my Blogfather or Beth is my Blogmother, but she's certainly a figure in the formation of this blog. Plus she got me named Blogger Babe of the Week.

So I MUST MUST MUST give a plug for her new project. Not just because she's involved, but because it's a great idea, and a fantastic collection of blogmistresses. I present to you, The Cotillion:

I guess this would be their manifesto of sorts:

The Cotillion

Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a woman of wealth and taste
I've been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man's soul and faith

And I was 'round when Emperor Misha
Had his moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Ace
Washed his hands and sealed his fate

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game *

We ladies have gathered together for the presentation of these dazzling darlings of the blogosphere, and yes, proper etiquette dictates that you shall kindly direct your devoted attention to each of these fine young women! Please, gentlemen callers, remove your hats indoors in their presence! I do declare!

Ok, now take a few minutes to introduce yourself to these fine ladies, I'm sure they'll be provocative, insightful, flirty, polite, mean, informative and entertaining. Some, like Beth and Janette, can be all at once; now that's talent.

Bon Chance ladies, I'll certainly reading.

--Jason

Posted by JasonColeman at 11:46 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

May 17, 2005

Mythbusting

When I first heard of the "Koran flushing" incident falsely reported by NEWSWRONG, I wanted to test the theory behind it.

Unfortunately, Silent Running beat me to it.

--Jason

Posted by JasonColeman at 1:20 PM | Comments (0)

March 12, 2005

New NASA chief to be nominated

President Bush is set to announce the nomination of Dr. Michael Griffin for the top slot at NASA. Griffin would be filling the shoes of John O'Keefe, who left NASA for a gig at Louisiana State University, GEAUX TIGRES!!!!

Griffin isn't a "surpise" nomination, but he was not one of the people considered front-runners for the job. Selection of Griffin says alot about The President's vision of NASA. Griffin was formerly the head of NASA's exploration program and is known in the space community of more of a do-er when it comes to getting things done. He consistently thinks out of the box and looks up and down for unique solutions to challenges in technology, costs and platforms.

The President's Moon, Mars and Beyond vision will be well served by Griffin, and private sector space access is an important goal of Griffin's. Griffin has in the past advocated for private investment in space delivery vechicles and specifically, a private space station. All in all, this appears to be a very very good nomination for NASA and the future of American Space Exploration.

Griffin has a doctorate in Aerospace Engineering as well as five(yep, count them FIVE) master's degrees in aerospace science, electrical engineering, applied physics, civil engineering, and business administration.

Griffin is currently director of the Space Department at the Applied Physics Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University and will be resigning that position shortly.

Godspeed Dr. Griffin!!!

--Jason

Posted by JasonColeman at 12:28 PM | Comments (4)

February 21, 2005

Talk about a Lucky Bastard

Having lived in a Colorado ski area for 7 years, I have a healthy respect for avalanches. Beacons and shovels are a necessity for hiking or skiing the back-country and partners are a must. Being buried alive in an avalanche has to rank as one of the few things I've ever TRULY feared.

That being said THIS GUY has to be one of the luckiest bastards on the planet.

--Jason

Posted by JasonColeman at 1:36 AM | Comments (2)

February 18, 2005

Quick Hits - Feb 17th

Well, I guess that bastard Kim Jong-Il, isn't dead af