This is the website of Abulsme Noibatno Itramne (also known as Sam Minter). Posts here are rare these days. For current stuff, follow me on Mastodon

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Some Sanity?

Still stupid, but a lot better, as most pilots will probably opt for not  applying insane unhelpful restrictions unless they have additional reason to be concerned. Of course it also allows the possibility of arbitrary decisions that one won’t be able to effectively challenge in any way and which may be abused. Sigh. 


http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/JSfgufzRZD0/tsa-lightens-up-and-lets-pilots-make-some-security-decisions



We’ve seen the ridiculous new airline security rules and we’ve explained how to cope with them, but now the TSA is easing up and allowing pilots to make the final call on things including allowing live TV and pillows again.

Keep Watching Iran

I haven’t even bothered trying to check TV news for this stuff. From what I hear, they once again aren’t paying attention, but there is plenty online.

Informed Comment: Iran Roiled, Crowds Burn Banks, Police Station; Chanting against Theocrat Khamenei; But No Revolutionary Alternative Yet.

The chanting on Sunday turned against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei himself, not just against President Ahmadinejad. He was castigated as the Dictator and as worse than the old shah, and the very ideological basis of the regime, the doctrine of clerical rule, was chanted against in the streets. The legitimacy of the regime, profoundly shaken by the events since early June’s presidential election, is now being shredded further.

Another remarkable dimension of Sunday’s events was the sheer number of cities where significant rallies and clashes occurred. Some of those allegedly killed are said to have fallen in Tabriz, a northwestern metropolis near Turkey. Even conservative cities such as Isfahan and Mashhad joined in. Shiraz, Ardabil, the list goes on. The attempt of some analysts to paint the disturbances as a shi-shi North Tehran thing has clearly foundered.

The most ominous sign of all for the regime is the reports of security men refusing orders to fire into the crowd.

But for the movement to go further and become truly revolutionary, it would have to have a leader who wanted to overthrow the old regime and who could attract the loyalty of both the people and elements of the armed forces. So far this key revolutionary element, of dual sovereignty, has been lacking, insofar as opposition leaders Mir Hosain Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi have tried to stay inside the Khomeinist framework while arguing that it is Khamenei who violated it by making it too authoritarian.

Yup, New Insane Rules

Gizmodo has a leak of the new rules, and if it is real, they are complete bull. I am not allowed to know where I am? The captain can’t even point out “those of you on the left will can look out and see a great view of Mount Rainier!”. Inflight wifi and live tv and even those overpriced in seat phones all not allowed… Etc.

Idiots. This does ZERO to enhance security, and just makes is a pain in the ass to legitimate travelers.

Are they ever going to stop being assclowns about this stuff?


http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/0Uubq0yVKLQ/leaked-post+detroit-bomb-airplane-security-rules


You saw our unofficial advice guide to fly after the crotchbomb. Here’s are the TSA’s official security rules, as of Christmas. Read on, because it has all the hairy details:

2. IN FLIGHT

1. During flight, the aircraft operator must ensure that the following procedures are followed:
1. Passengers must remain in seats beginning 1 hour prior to arrival at destination.
2. Passenger access to carry-on baggage is prohibited beginning 1 hour prior to arrival at destination.
3. Disable aircraft-integrated passenger communications systems and services (phone, internet access services, live television programming, global positioning systems) prior to boarding and during all phases of flight.
4. While over U.S. airspace, flight crew may not make any announcement to passengers concerning flight path or position over cities or landmarks.
5. Passengers may not have any blankets, pillows, or personal belongings on the lap beginning 1 hour prior to arrival at destination.


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Airport Security Nonsense

They really are going to do idiotic additional checks and restrictions because of Friday’s incident, aren’t they?  Such a complete waste. 


http://jeffreygoldberg.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/12/more_magical_thinking_from_the.php


… So since the TSA will be prohibited, by law and custom, from actually searching passengers thoroughly (unless a pat-down includes the nether-regions, it’s utterly useless), why bother with the rest of the security-checkpoint nonsense? As Bruce Schneier has pointed out, the only two innovations since 9/11 that seem to work against terrorists on planes are hardened cockpit doors (which are irrelevant if the terrorist is simply trying to blow up the plane) and the willingness of passengers to fight back, which is what worked in this most recent case. The rest is silliness that serves only to torture passengers with bladder issues and make air travel even more unpleasant than it already is.


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Something is Happening in Iran (again)

Over the last week or so things have been building up again. Time to once again turn eyes in that direction.

http://www.pheedcontent.com/click.phdo?i=a121f30ec7303dbc36ec47b514b95c73

(The Daily Dish)



A moment to savor: the marching crowd manages to turn back the regime’s thugs, and as a riot cop helmet is grabbed, a roar of excitement spills out of the crowd.

Done Testing For Now

Thanks for your patience. I was testing some post by email stuff. I had tried this before in September and been pretty unhappy with the results. Today I was taking the time to work out some of the kinks.

Done testing for the moment. Unless I decide to test something else, which happens sometimes.

One Final Image Test

If this one doesn’t work, I will give up. My old method for images worked fine, so I can keep using that. The thing I am testing will help with other things.

Grr on Test Images

#img1#
This is some testing of stuff.

Nother Image Test

 

 

Someting About Leeches

This is something I saw about leeches. Leeches are fun. 


http://www.neatorama.com/2009/12/26/photos-from-a-leech-farm/


baby leechs emergingEnglish Russia has assembled a collection of about 50 photos from a Russian medicinal leech farm, documenting the technology used to raise them by the millions.  The reproductive process of hermaphroditic creatures is a bit complex:

As hermaphrodites, leeches have both male and female sex organs… Mating involves the intertwining of bodies where each deposits sperm in the others’ clitellar area… The clitellum secretes a tough gelatinous cocoon which contains nutrients, and it is in this that the eggs are deposited… The cocoon is either buried or attached to a rock, log or leaf and dries to a foamy crust. After several weeks or months, the young emerge as miniature adults. Studies show that the cocoons are capable of surviving the digestive system of a duck.

The photo above shows the cute little newborns emerging from a cocoon.  Cootchie-cootcie-coo!  The leeches are fed slaughterhouse blood until their distribution to medical clinics, where they may be stored in pretty pink jars.

Links for the photo album and the biology.


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