$2.1M -- And No Cup Holder

At Wired, Joe Brown road tests the Bugatti Veyron Convertible.

It is the greatest gasoline-powered vehicle that has ever been, or will ever be, built. Seriously.

Depending on how you define "production car," it is the fastest in the world. In the quickest Lamborghini ever produced, the Murcielago LP640, you can hit 60 mph in 3.2 seconds. In the Bugatti Grand Sport it takes a hair under 2.5. How does it feel to command that pace? Godlike.

Passing other motorists becomes a dangerous entitlement that has you resenting oncoming traffic for hogging your "VIP lane" -- especially when you realize that you can outrun not only the 5-0's cruisers, but their helicopters, too.

Happy Fourth Of July

On the occasion of my 500th post:

To my faithful readers in America: Congratulations on the 233rd anniversary of your Declaration of Independence.

Here are some timeless quotes from Thomas Jefferson which have as much relevance in today's world-- inside and outside of America-- as they had 233 years ago.

On making up one's own mind:

I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else where I was capable of thinking for myself.

On newspapers (the "mainstream media" of Jefferson's day):

Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. . . . I will add, that the man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuchas he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods & errors.

On the other hand:

Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe.

On deficit spending:

I say, the earth belongs to each of these generations during its course, fully and in its own right. The second generation receives it clear of the debts and incumbrances of the first, the third of the second, and so on. For if the first could charge it with a debt, then the earth would belong to the dead and not to the living generation. Then, no generation can contract debts greater than may be paid during the course of its own existence.

On liberty and the law:

Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add "within the limits of the law" because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.

Plenty more here.

Sarah Palin Resigns

If someone just arrived back from Mars, they might not know that Sarah Palin announced yesterday she will resign as Governor of Alaska. Preparing for a presidential run in 2012 or just reclaiming her life? No one knows quite yet what she is up to. We do know she is planning a book.

But regardless of what you might think about Palin or her politics, there is one thing on which I think most can agree:

Palin and her family have been subjected to an unprecedented smear campaign from her leftist critics in politics and the media who have deliberately followed the destructive principles laid down by Chicago leftist radical and "community organizer" Saul Alinsky:

"Ridicule is man's most potent weapon." There is no defense. It's irrational. It's infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions.

And this rule:

"Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it." Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions.

These techniques are cruel and they are crude and they do work. And we know that this is exactly what happened to Palin and her family.

Glenn Reynolds has a roundup of Palin speculation and commentary here. His own take:

If the ever-so-thin-skinned Barack Obama got one-tenth the abuse that Sarah Palin has gotten, he’d cry like a little girl. And his defenders would scream raaaacciiiiism at the top of their lungs.

No kidding. For a thoughtful analysis of Palin's moment of fame, read Yuval Levin's study The Meaning of Sarah Palin at Commentary Magazine.

Ants Rule The World

Now how did I miss that? From the BBC:

The colony may be the largest of its type ever known for any insect species, and could rival humans in the scale of its world domination.

And I was looking at a few peonies.

Acrophobia Not Your Thing? How About Belonephobia? Mwuhahaha

Anybody can deal with acrophobia. But it takes a real man to deal with belonephobia. And no, this is not the fear of baloney, although there's enough of that in this day and age to feed a phobia.

No, belonephobia is the fear of needles. Watch this classic Tim Conway and Harvey Korman dentist's sketch from the Carol Burnett Show and see if you don't wince. Well, with laughter anyway. H/T SDA.

Timelapse Video Shows 30 Years Of Arctic Ice

Here is an Arctic Sea Ice video timelapse from 1978 to 2009. It was animated by Jeff Id and is built on data generated by the NASA funded National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado. This one is about four minutes long and is quite mesmerising to watch, and it's clockwork repetition is oddly reassuring, especially if you are a polar bear. In this projection, Newfoundland is at the far right of the screen just below center. You can skip along the time line if you want to.



And Jeff Id's 1978 - 2009 Antarctic Sea Ice timelapse is posted at Watts Up With That? Keep scrolling. It shows a remarkably similar pattern. This one is over 10 minutes long.

Now This Is Highly Scary

Here I sit, in my own chair, in my own living room, both feet planted firmly on the floor. I am almost 3000 kilometers away from the object of my fright. And still I feel queasy.

Just reading about the new glass-floored observation deck on the 103rd floor of the Sears Tower in Chicago has me shuddering. I can fly in a plane or a helicopter, I can hover at any altitude I like using Google Earth. But just looking at pictures of that thing gives me the willies. Same with the Skywalk over the Grand Canyon.

That's the irrational power of acrophobia.

Update: Dizzifying photos here. Go ahead and look--if you dare!

Honduras Acts Legally, Gets Condemned. Iran, Not So Much

William A. Jacobson is an Associate Clinical Professor of Law at Cornell. He writes an excellent blog titled Legal Insurrection. Here he writes about the turmoil in Honduras:

Poor and tiny Honduras faces the full wrath of the United States, United Nations, and much of the rest of the world, while nothing is done about Iran. On Iran, Obama and the world acted with the utmost deference, and there were no efforts by the Obama administration at international action. None.

But Honduras, enforcing its own laws against a renegade wannabe President-for-life, for some reason warrants the full force of the United States government and international community. Honduras gets condemnation from Obama, while Chavez gets hugs and Ahmadinejad gets deference. Wonderful. No, horrible.

Update: From the Christian Science Monitor:

Sometimes, the whole world prefers a lie to the truth. The White House, the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and much of the media have condemned the ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya this past weekend as a coup d'état.

That is nonsense.

In fact, what happened here is nothing short of the triumph of the rule of law.

No Love For Honda Hybrid

Back in May, Jeremy Clarkson wrote a cringe-inducing diatribe (as only Clarkson can do) about how much he hated the new Honda Insight Hybrid. From The Times:

Normally, Hondas feel as though they have been screwed together by eye surgeons. This one, however, feels as if it’s been made from steel so thin, you could read through it. And the seats, finished in pleblon, are designed specifically, it seems, to ruin your skeleton. This is hairy-shirted eco-ism at its very worst.

Now Clarkson is primarily an entertainer, and a very good one. But what would you think if those serious pros at Consumer Reports agreed with him? Well, they do. From AutoBlog Green:

Consumer Reports blasted the gas-electric hatchback for its "ride quality, handling, interior noise, acceleration, rear-seat, access, and visibility," consigning the hapless Honda to a 21 out of 22 ranking among other small hatchbacks and wagons. Tallying a road test score of 54 points, it was trailed only by the widely-panned Dodge Caliber, which managed just 49 points.

The Insight is the most disappointing Honda Consumer Reports has tested in a long time," said David Champion, senior director of CR's Auto Test Center.

He Is The Very Model Of A Singularitarian

If you don't have time to read Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity Is Near, then watch this:

Charlie Kam of The Lifeboat Foundation is also a combination Transhuman, Immortalist, Extropian:



Erm, Singularity. What's that?

July 1, 1916 - Newfoundland Sacrifices Its Best

July 1 is Canada Day. But here in Newfoundland July 1 is Memorial Day. And here is why.

Of the 801 Newfoundlanders that left their trenches on July 1, 1916 [at Beaumont Hamel in the opening of the Battle of the Somme] only 69 returned to answer the roll-call [the next morning]. The dead numbered 255, 386 men were wounded and 91 were recorded missing.

By the standards of 20th century butcher's bills, these were small numbers. But then Newfoundland was a small place. From a population of about a quarter of a million, 5,482 men went overseas. Nearly 1,500 were killed and 2,300 wounded. These were the cream of Newfoundland's youth - our best and brightest who bravely and naively went off to fight and die for The Empire.

There is a straight line to be drawn between the loss of these young, educated, vital minds and Newfoundland's indebtedness and loss of democracy 17 years later when these dead boys would have been in their prime.

Who knows what those brave boys would have accomplished had they lived. Would Newfoundland have retained her democracy and her independence? We will never know.

What We Might Have Been is a 5-part series recorded and co-produced for CBC Radio by Chris Brookes and Curtis Rumbolt. The documentary was awarded the 2007 Gold World Medal at the New York Festivals.

On the 90th anniversary of the battle of Beaumont Hamel, this documentary series recreates the "war to end all wars", when the independent nation of Newfoundland raised a regiment to fight for Britain in World War One, when the Regiment was virtually wiped out on July 1, 1916 in France, and when the repercussions of that loss later catapulted Newfoundland into losing its independence and becoming a province of Canada.

Newfoundland historian and friend John Fitzgerald:

"In many ways Newfoundland paid three times for the war. It paid in loss of life, it paid in war debts and it paid in loss of democracy. I don't think you'd find any other part of the British empire or I suppose any other part of the world that would have had to pay such a heavy price for its participation in the war."

Kevin Major, author of the novel No Man's Land:

"We can picture ourselves at this point in time as a people... and maybe what we might have been. You know, we never know exactly what we might have been, but there is that feeling that we weren't served well by this particular episode, this particular war of Britain's that we entered into with so much optimism and that we fell away from with so much despair."

Listen to What We Might Have Been and learn much more about Newfoundland's place in history using the the online resources and suggested bibliography here.

Lastly, if you are confused about the name of this place, you are not alone. Newfoundland and Labrador is the official place name of this Canadian province now, but in 1916, the island of Newfoundland was an independent country. Labrador would not be added to its territory until 1929. In 1933, Newfoundland was forced by Britain to give up its democratic government. The Newfoundland and Labrador territories became part of Canada in 1949. But these are stories for another day.

In Newfoundland, July 1 is Memorial Day.

A Fine Day On Clothes

Blogging was, well, non-existent yesterday because of a day trip on Conception Bay to Wabana, Bell Island. Once home to 12-thousand people and the largest iron ore mine in the world. Where four ore ships were torpedoed by U-Boats in 1942. Where an errant German torpedo blew up a section of ore dock making Bell Island the only place in North America that took fire from the Germans. When the mines closed in 1966 10-thousand people moved away. About 3-thousand people still live there.

Here's a photo from Portugal Cove just above the ferry dock. A chimney top presides over the washing like a Swiss Guard.

Our stout ferry, the MV Beaumont Hamel. The twenty-minute ride costs C$6.25 for a car and a driver and $2.25 per passenger. That's round trip. It is one of the unknown deals of the century.
















This is the waterfall just above Dominion Pier where the oar boats docked. Virtually nothing remains of the huge conveyors and gigantic scaffolds and gantries that used to be here.

Not far from Dominion Pier is massive Scotia Pier, circa 1930.



















Here's another view that really shows the scale of the operation there. This is from the 1950s. Click on the photo for more from BellIsland.net. The navigation needs help though, so edit the URL as needed.

The iron mines extended for miles out under the Bay making this the largest submarine mine in the world.

Here's a photo-site of an underwater expedition into the old iron mines.

And here are some photos from the WW-II shipwrecks. More here.


From the other direction this is all that's left of Scotia Pier today.

I am amazed at how few people in St. John's have ever been to Bell Island. It is a great day-trip with a short but magnificent ferry ride.

Don't miss the Wabana Mining Museum where you will see massive scale photographs of the mining operations taken by the renowned Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh.

You can also take a tour down into the mine to where the water has risen. Fascinating.

Bugatti Veyron Vs. McLaren F1: Fight!

Top Gear pits the fastest road car in the world, the Bugatti Veyron, against the greatest road car ever built, the McLaren F1 in a drag race. This, in typically daffy Top Gear style, is to see which is faster. Watch and hear these historic cars.

Video is 16:9 and won't fit this format, so go watch it here.

Where's That Robot Housekeeper?

Sitting around the table after supper the other night the questions arose: "Dude, where is my flying car? Where is my jetpack?" And when it came time to clear the dishes, "Where's my robot housemaid?"

I could say why we have no flying cars (air traffic control nightmare) and no jetpacks (ditto). But how come we don't have household robots yet? I mentioned Roomba, the robot vacuum cleaner, and the problem of rogue robots, but noooo. My family and friends want their very own C3PO. Had I seen this article sooner, I could have given them at least a peek at the future and a timeline:

"South Korea predicts that every home in its country will include a robot by 2020. Unlike industrial robots that toil in structured settings performing repetitive tasks, these “Next Generation Robots” will have relative autonomy, working in ambiguous human-centered environments, such as nursing homes and offices. Before hordes of these robots hit the ground running, regulators are trying to figure out how to address the safety and legal issues that are expected to occur when an entity that is definitely not human but more than machine begins to infiltrate our everyday lives."

Cogito Ergo Volvo

I think, therefore I roll--except it's in a Toyota and it takes mind over matter to a whole new level.

Toyota reportedly has developed a new technology that allows people to control wheelchairs using just brain waves, offering an alternative to physical movement or verbal commands.

Old Leather Lungs Blows A Mean Harp

Playing the harmonica can help people who suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) breathe better, according to researchers at the University of Michigan Health System. They offer a weekly pulmonary rehab class that uses harmonica instruction as a breathing exercise to treat the symptoms of COPD.

Here's a brief YouTube video about blues harmonica icon Little Walter Jacobs, which was shown as part of his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on March 10, 2008. Embedding is disabled but here's the link.

What's Happening In Honduras

"The arrest of Honduras' President Manuela Zelaya is not a coup. He has been lawfully arrested." This according to Fausta Wertz at Fausta's Blog:

"Zelaya was detained shortly before voting was to begin on a constitutional referendum. He had insisted on holding the vote even though the Supreme Court ruled it illegal and everyone from the military to Congress and members of his own party opposed it."

But does the constitution empower the Supreme Court to order the army to pick up Zeleya?

Update:

"President Obama said on Monday the coup that ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was illegal and would set a "terrible precedent" of transition by military force unless it was reversed." Reuters via Drudge.

Update 2: Much more news and analysis at Fausta's Blog.

Update 3: July 6 -- Also see here, and here.

Global Warming? Not So Liberal Anymore

Roger Simon says his liberal friends do not want to talk about global warming much any more. This after the Democrat Congress rammed through the global warming cap-and-trade bill that nobody has read.

Best comment:

"Hell Roger, at least your liberal friends talk to you."

Saddest commentary:

"This wouldn’t be the first time passionate know nothings pushed a bill through congress without fully thinking it through. Prohibition springs to mind where a forceful, narrow, minority of zealots finally got their way only to see the rest of the country flount (sic) it till it became irrelevant. What is sad about this is the upcoming backlash that will befall science as it is seen as yet another politicized discipline that had is reputation polluted by mediocrities. That will be the worst outcome of all."

And that's the sad truth.

Things I Did Not Know

1. Cheerleading is a sport.
2. It's really dangerous.

"Researchers have long known how dangerous cheerleading is, but records were poorly kept until recently. An update to the record-keeping system last year found that between 1982 and 2007, there were 103 fatal, disabling or serious injuries recorded among female high school athletes, with the vast majority (67) occurring in cheerleading. The next most dangerous sports: gymnastics (nine such injuries) and track (seven)."

Celebrity Death Tests The Strength Of The Internet

An observation on the power of celebrity - when news began to spread that Michael Jackson had died, the internet groaned under the strain.

"The last time there was such strain put on the web was in the aftermath of 9/11. However, despite certain individual sites being unable to cope with the pressure in 2001, most notably the BBC which went blank for a period, people could still surf the rest of the web."

I was in Ottawa on 9/11 and most internet news sites including the CBC and CNN were unreachable. Radio and TV were still the best sources for live updates. While there are many more internet users today than there were in 2001, the internet itself is more robust.

But who would have thought the death of a pop star would generate traffic similar to 9/11?

China New, America Old

At The Truth About Cars veteran car guy Bertel Schmitt writes about capitalism and the automobile business. He begins by observing that "China is becoming the new America, while America is becoming the old China."

Food for thought. And as usual, gems from the commentariat, TTAC's "Best and Brightest".

The Polar Bears Are Just Fine

But if you are one of the world's leading experts on polar bears like Dr Mitchell Taylor and you state the facts, you will be barred from an international convention on polar bears because your facts clash with the received orthodoxy of the global warmists. And that is that the polar bears are doomed, case closed, science be damned.

Dr Taylor's work has shown that polar bear populations are rising, not falling, and 30 years studying the Arctic has led him to conclude Arctic warming is caused by changing currents and winds and not by humans.

"Dr Taylor was told that his views running "counter to human-induced climate change are extremely unhelpful". His signing of the Manhattan Declaration – a statement by 500 scientists that the causes of climate change are not CO2 but natural, such as changes in the radiation of the sun and ocean currents – was "inconsistent with the position taken by the PBSG".

Sounds an awful lot like Carbongate.

New Demonstrations In Iran

The demonstrators are not giving up. Via Instapundit.

'Holy Grail' Cancer Drug

How many times have we heard about great cancer breakthroughs that grab headlines, raise hopes-- and cash-- and then vanish without a trace? Too many times. Here's another "Holy Grail" cancer drug. This one claims to work against all cancers.

"In lab tests, the as-yet-unnamed drug so far seems to kill all cancer cells; if it continues to perform as well in human trials, it could revolutionize cancer treatment..."

It's a lot like buying lottery tickets, I guess. We continue to hope one of these stories will come true. Cancer researchers have despaired of finding one drug that would fight all cancers since cancer itself is so many diseases. If this works it will be the elusive "magic bullet". Maybe.

Moonbounce

Amateur astronomers and ham radio operators coordinated around the world this weekend to bounce messages off the Moon and back to Earth.

Moonbounce commemorated the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11's landing on the Moon. The actual anniversary is July 20, but Moonbounce went ahead this past weekend because the Moon was in better position for radio reflection than it will be on the actual anniversary. Image credit NASA.

Hudak Wins In Ontario

Tim Hudak has been elected leader of the Ontario conservative party. A career politician, Hudak is a right-of-centre, small-c conservative. Most notable: Hudak's proposal to scrap the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal.

Update: From the Ottawa Citizen: Hudak promises a return to middle-class values and plain talk conservatism.

Africa Alone Can Feed The World

From New Scientist:

[As usual] ...the doom mongers have got it wrong - there is enough space in the world to produce the extra food needed to feed a growing population. And contrary to expectation, most of it can be grown in Africa, say two international reports published this week.