A Pound of Thoughts

Isn’t it ironic that before you go on a vacation or a work trip somewhere, you hear horror stories or accidents that have occurred in your destination?

Granted it may not always happen - but just occasionally, it does.  Things are no different for my upcoming trip to the Nation’s capital.

Yesterday, the Washington, D.C. metro’s “Orange Line” de-railed, leaving approximately 400 passengers feeling quite helpless.

The derailment caused major backups and delays of up to an hour on Metro’s second-busiest line just before the Monday afternoon rush, and problems persisted into the evening. There were no reports of injuries, but a pregnant passenger was sent to a hospital for observation, Metro officials said. Metro used a rescue train to evacuate 412 passengers from the derailed train, including a man in a wheelchair, officials said.

Now this just gives me a warm-and-fuzzy all over.  Granted, my trip is going to be a “flying” one (pardon the pun) - leaving here Monday morning, arriving there Monday afternoon, and then leaving there immediately after my meeting on Tuesday morning.  But still, I’ll be using the grandiose metro of D.C. from the airport to the hotel (my hotel is actually one block off the green line).  I just hope nothing happens to the yellow or green lines!

Source:  Washington Post

This guy turns my stomach.  The fact that he is allowed to spew his venom on American Soil makes me angry.

…But could it be considered treason?

Yousef al-Khattab, who runs RevolutionMuslim.com from his home in Queens, told FOX News that he also wants the U.S. to embrace Islam and Sharia Law, which prohibits alcohol and can include stoning to death or severe flogging for pre-marital sex and adultery.

Calling for Sharia Law - in my opinion - sounds like a threat to attempt to overthrow the U.S. government.  That could be very dangerous, and should be considered treason or at the very least, sedition.

In our past, those who tried to incite violence against or overthrow our government were met with quick justice - a short drop and a sudden stop (execution by hanging).  Where have those days gone?  How can we call this freedom of speech?

The Fox News article also states some of the things he has on his web site:

• The Statue of Liberty, with an ax blade cutting through her side;
• Video mocking the beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl, entitled “Daniel Pearl I am Happy Your Dead “;
• Video of a puppet show lampooning U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq;
• The latest speech from Sheikh Abdullah Faisal, an extremist Muslim cleric convicted in the UK and later deported for soliciting the murder of non-Muslims.

Even more surprising is that al-Khattab runs his site from his home in Queens, New York.

Another thing - if he has videos of this Sheikh that was convicted in Britain, I would consider that aiding and abetting the enemy - supporting terrorism.  He should be arrested and tried for that.  That is not patriotism; it is not love of his country.

Why don’t you go ahead and go to Iraq or Afghanistan, Mr. al-Khattab?  We do not want you here.  Go join your friends - then maybe you’ll be met with swift justice from our true patriots - our soldiers.

God bless the USA!

Well, it was a successful mission. The USS Lake Erie was able to fire an SM-3 missile to shoot down the rogue spy satellite whose orbit was decaying. The satellite’s fuel, hydrazine, was declared a threat to humans.

Per VOA News:

The Navy modified three missiles for the shoot-down, and defense officials say the first successfully hit the target about 3:30 universal time Thursday. The Pentagon says that land, air, sea and space-based sensors confirmed the intercept.

The dying satellite stopped communicating with controllers on Earth shortly after it was launched 14 months ago, and it began to slowly fall. The shoot-down was intended to destroy a tank aboard the craft holding 450 kilograms of a toxic fuel called hydrazine.

Here’s a couple of pictures from the missile launch (courtesy Fox News):

This is the aft VLS system on the cruiser, where the missile was launched from.

Here’s the missile just after being fired.

Congrats to the Navy for a job well done.

I think I might start using that phrase whenever I feel like crap.  Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?  I wish I could take credit for it.  However, Yahoo! beat me to it:

For many Yahoo employees, the prospect that Microsoft might acquire the quirky Silicon Valley icon is about as appealing as a bad case of hives. One Yahoo engineer confessed his apprehension at trading in his Sunnyvale purple for Redmond’s muted hues this way: “The shareholders will be jumping for joy. But, for us, this is the frosting on a giant double-layer suck cake.”

Go here for the entire article.

This particular Monday has sucked so far.  I’ve been hair-on-the-top-of-my-head deep in computer models today.  The only time I looked up from the computer was to go to the bathroom and to heat up my one slice of peezzza for lunch.  Other than those (three or four) times, I’ve been “nose to the grindstone”.

I am really looking forward to tonight.  Prison Break comes back from a two-week break, and I have absolutely nothing to do when I get home (as far as I am aware).  Oh, if only 24 was showing on television!

Here’s some rather depressing news that came out over this past weekend:

• Mall killer still at large
• Dismembered remains are identified
• Missing hiker’s remains found
• Gulf Coast man runs over and kills brother with Mardi Gras float

Okay, that’s enough!  Can’t there ever be any good news??

Wait…I did find one good-news story:  Missing California skiers found alive!!

This is the strangest thing I’ve ever heard.  A 35-year-old man from Great Britain drank himself to death - but not with alcohol.  He did it with water:

An investigation into how Shaun McNamara died revealed that he drank himself to death after consuming too much water. His body was found on the floor of his bathroom last September. At first, doctors thought McNamara had suffered a heart attack. It was not until an autopsy revealed that he had downed so much fluid, so fast, that his brain had swollen, the Mail reported.

I had never heard of water intoxication until a lady from California drank herself to death during a radio contest.  I’m just wondering why or how this poor man drank too much water.

You can go here to read more in the Daily Mail article.  For more on water intoxication, go here.

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Heath Ledger is one of those actors that I enjoyed to watch on-screen.  He had a lot of talent, and it was easy to relate to the characters he played.   So, here are my thoughts on his untimely death:

This is such a tragedy. I really admired most of his work, especially The Patriot and A Knight’s Tale. He was a very promising actor, and was definitely on his way to becoming one of the best.

We do not know what was going on in his mind, no matter what his friends say regarding him being “in a happy place”. I truly, deeply hope that this wasn’t a suicide. There are a lot of questions, and we ALL need to give the authorities the necessary time to discover the truth behind this.

My prayers and thoughts go out not only to his family back home in Australia, but to Michelle Williams, his daughter Matilda, and to his girfriend. This is definitely hard on everyone who knew him.

And a final word to those who say they don’t care about this death, and ask “What about our troops?” “What about all the others that are dying?” Yes, I agree more stories should be told regarding true American heroes that die everyday. However, you must realize that the publicity from Heath Ledger’s death, while definitely tragic, may help to bring to light the dangers in relying on drugs to assist with anything, especially going to sleep. Care must be taken in using them, and you never know what might make those who depend on sleeping pills aware of these dangers.

There is a time and a purpose for everything, even the untimely death of such a promising actor. I just truly hope he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

Today marked the end of one era, and the beginning of another. The Era of Katrina is finally over - or is it?

On Monday, August 29, 2005, a hurricane named Katrina wiped out most of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, from Pearlington to Pascagoula. It devastated two bridges - the St. Louis Bay and Biloxi Bay - and disconnected community from community. For two whole years that has been the case - until today.

At 5:00 P.M. CDT, a parade of first responders, motorcycles and antique cars became the first people to drive over the newly constructed Biloxi Bay Bridge, connecting Ocean Springs with Biloxi. The day was filled with numerous festivities. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to attend any of them. Tomorrow after work I may drive over to Ocean Springs and snap a few pictures.

Click here to visit the breakdown of the festivities. Maybe the entire Katrina saga isn’t over yet; but for transportation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the worst chapter is closed. A new one has begun!

This story just disturbs me, and if it proves to be true, proves another reason to be super-cautious when using the internet. Full story here:

Police in Minnesota say an online ad may have cost a young woman her life.

They say Katherine Olson was last seen by friends when she went to meet someone about a nanny job posted on Craigslist.org, the Internet bulletin board.

Where they found her is really disturbing.

A day later, her body was found in her car at a Minnesota nature preserve. Police declined to say how the 24-year-old was killed.

But, the authorities do have someone in custody:

Authorities say a 19-year-old man who they believe placed the ad is being held pending charges. Authorities did not release his name but said charges could be filed as soon as today.

Here’s one video I found at YouTube…enjoy (if you can) and post your comments.

I heard it on the radio this morning, and read it later on an online newspaper.  My hometown is getting a little bigger.  Per the Sun Herald:

Chancery Court Judge Jaye Bradley has approved the city’s plan to annex nearly 2.4 square miles north and west of current city boundaries.

I’ve been wondering how long it would take after they built two major bypasses around the city.  Now it appears that all that land will become part of the big city of L’dale.  It’s about time!