Failure Is Always an Option: "If engineers are pessimists, managers are optimists about technology. Successful, albeit flawed missions indicated to them not a weak but a robust machine. When engineers and managers clashed over the 1986 Challenger launch, the managers pulled rank. In the case of Columbia, engineers who worried about damage that the spacecraft may have suffered during launch were ineffective in getting it properly inspected before reentry."

Management should focus on leadership, scheduling, and resources -- not on overruling engineers, technicians, and scientists who express doubts. That said, manned space flight is an inherently risky business, and everyone who climbed aboard knew and accepted the risks gladly.

sitDiary // jwag's thingee: "Jeeeesus fucking Christ! Gluttony is a Sin last I checked. Man I swear if a cow had triplets they all died for your fatass. Oh and I'm fat make no mistake but I don't make a spectacle out of myself in public. Like a fucking tourist attraction from Ripley's Believe it or not. I'm sure a lot of Ethyopian children would wat to get Hannibal Lecter on your ass. I think to myself that 1.He's with noone 2. He's prolly done this before"

I didn't know that In-N-Out Burger offered a build-your-own special. The guy's nothing special, but the 16-patty (with cheese) stack is impressive.

Ireland mulls ‘fat tax’ to curb obesity: "FACED WITH AN epidemic of expanding waistlines as the Irish enjoy unprecedented prosperity, Health Minister Micheal Martin confirmed he was “very tentatively” examining slapping a levy on high-fat comestibles."

Yes, I'd like fries with that.

Leaders were trying to heal boy, pastor says: "The Hemphills said they talked to the four people who had been at the service: Ray Hemphill, Patricia Cooper and two women they would not name. Pamela Hemphill said Ray Hemphill led the service and directed the women to restrain the boy. The women put some sheets and cloth over the boy's outstretched hands, and 'one lady held one hand and the other lady held the other, and his mother held his feet,' Pamela Hemphill said."

They held a church service and FOUR PEOPLE came? Sounds like the full extent of the service was the pastor's brother and three women getting together to tie up a young boy.

Bored teens with cash a drug risk?: "Boredom and a wad of cash can lead young Americans to substance abuse, according to a Columbia University survey released Tuesday."

Brain dead, and made of money. No future at all. -- Phish '86
Spent my cash on every high I could find -- Tubes '75

Who had the nerve to call this news?

siamang: Sad Times, and Rainbow Bridges: "I don't like the traditional methods of dealing with a deceased pet. Cremation seems so inhumane. I mean, burning your pet's body? I think that's kind of medieval and causes a lot of pollution. Burial is better but it felt like I was just throwing her away to rot if I did that. So I thought about the story of the rabbit jumping into the fire and realized that Grendel would have wanted to give me every last little bit of joy possible, and I should do something truly personal with her body. I decided to make a fancy dinner with her. "

This one screams out "troll" but you never know...

Reason: The Anti-Pleasure Principle: The "food police" and the pseudoscience of self-denial: "The charge that CSPI is puritanical has been heard before, of course, especially in connection with the group’s highly publicized hit-and-run reports on restaurant food, which earned it a reputation as 'the food police.' But if CSPI were nothing but a bunch of pleasure-hating sourpusses, it would be hard to understand the organization’s success in generating press coverage and attracting supporters."

Self-denial is virtuous. Flavor is meaningless. Moderation is misguided.

IT Press Archive

Much news and reviews of Phish's IT festival at the former Loring Air Force Base in Limestone, ME. No direct mentions of the black helicopters, but much interesting information.

AAA billboards warn of 'speed traps': "WALDO - The feud over speeding tickets between the AAA Auto Club and Police Chief A.W. Smith has reached new heights with the placement of billboards warning motorists of traffic enforcement in Waldo and Lawtey.

Two full-size billboards were installed last week on U.S. 301 at Hampton. Both are black and yellow with big block lettering. Both have the words 'Speed Trap' in a caution sign."

This is possibly the most egregious speed trap in the country. Several years ago, I got a $350, 3-point ticket for going 28 mph in a 35 mph zone. Despite school being out for the summer, and the campus being vacant, they had turned on one set of "school zone" lights, selectively reducing the speed limit on US 301 to 10 mph. They were only ticketing non-local drivers.