How I learned to stop worrying and love the LNG

mohawk
Originally uploaded by marilora.

Thank you to the Boston Globe for being sure to remind me that I am living at ground zero for a liquified natural gas (LNG) tanker attack. According to this story:

A report released by the US Department of Energy says a terrorist attack on an LNG tanker would cause "major injuries and significant damage to structures" a third of a mile away and could cause second-degree burns on people more than a mile away.

and

The study said that if an LNG ship were attacked it would create a puncture of between 6 and 39 feet. A 16-foot puncture, the study said, would produce a thermal blast that would set buildings on fire, melt steel out to 1,281 feet, and give people second-degree burns up to 4,282 feet away.
A 39-foot rupture would burn buildings out to 1,975 feet and burn people up to 6,299 feet away, well over a mile. The worst-case scenario measured by the report was three 16-foot holes. That would set structures aflame out to 2,067 feet and burn people as far as 6,949 feet away.

fireboat
Originally uploaded by marilora.

My apologies to the chick with the dog in Charlestown, but I think if there was a contest, I would definitely win most likely to be incinerated. A little exercise to prove my point. Note the pic of the Tobin Bridge at the top of my blog taken from my bedroom window. Ok. Now note the picture to the right of the same view from the Chelsea side of the Chelsea Creek. Now guess where the tankers pass. Bingo! No wonder my rent is so reasonable. I'm really glad that the Department of Energy released this report. Do you think that they published a how too manual for the terrorists and some accompanying schematics for the attack? Geez, why don't they just provide the explosives, too?

Wasn't the oil supposed to be the first thing we secured?

It turns out we haven't even managed to secure the oil in Iraq. According to the BBC News:

A United Nations panel has found that the US-led occupation authority failed to exercise proper controls over Iraq's oil industry and could not say how much oil had gone missing since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Full story here.

Maybe someone should ask Dick Cheney's Halliburton friends what happened to the oil?

El Invierno

el_invierno
Originally uploaded by marilora.

I saw this flyer hanging in my bus shelter. It says "El invierno es el mejor tiempo para perda peso" Translation: "The Winter is the best time to lose weight." I was in a rush to take this pic because I saw my bus coming, thus the blury-ness. I kind of like it this way, though, because somehow they flyer is clear, but the background is blury. It's a nice effect.

If it's good enough for Kim Jong-il. . .

thumbbill
Originally uploaded by marilora.

Photo from: http://www.bluelemur.com/index.php?p=442d

Congratulations Undefeated Eastie Jets

Eastie Jets defeated Northshore in the Division 3A Superbowl, capping off a 12-0 Season. Jermaine Wiggans must be proud.

I Weep for the Youth of America. . .

It seems some brilliant men have found a new way to fleece the unwitting college students of America by opening cafes that serve nothing but. . .wait for it. . .cereal.

Behind glass-door kitchen-style cabinets at Cereality are 30 varieties of brand-name cold cereal. Customers order from "cereologists," whose most popular mix is two 8-ounce scoops with one of 36 toppings, plus regular, flavored or soy milk for $2.95.

Also offered are cereal bars and made-to-order cereal smoothies and yogurt blends.

"This is great because you can try all different kinds and not have to buy the whole box," said Penn freshman Erica Denhoff, 18, as she munched on a healthy concoction of Quaker Oat Squares, Corn Chex and yogurt flax bark with skim milk. "I'm on the track team. ... I eat cereal for breakfast and for a snack if I need energy."

--CNN

A mere $2.95 for a bowl. . .how can you beat that bargain? To quote David Cross, "The terrorists hate us for our freedom?. . .I hate us for our freedom."

I agree with Bill O'Reilly. . .

The unthinkable has happened. I'm now calling into question everything that I thought I knew. I actually agree with something Bill O'Reilly said. He says it in this column for the New York Daily News:

Right-wing talk radio in particular pounded Kerry and also bludgeoned Dan Rather for his role in another smear incident - the charges against President Bush about his National Guard service. Again, Rather was found guilty without a fair hearing. Charges that he intentionally approved bogus documents that made Bush look bad were leveled and widely believed. It was chilling.

As a CBS News correspondent in the early '80s, I worked with Rather and have known him for more than 20 years. Listen to me: There is no way on this Earth that he would have knowingly used fake documents on any story.

It may be true that Rather did not vet the information supplied to him by producers, but few anchor people do. They are dependent on other journalists, and this is a huge flaw in the system.

Dan Rather is guilty of not being skeptical enough about a story that was politically loaded. I believe Rather, along with Andy Rooney, Walter Cronkite and other guardsmen of the old CBS News, is liberal in his thinking. That is certainly a legitimate debate - how for years CBS News has taken a rather progressive outlook. But holding a political point of view is the right of every American, and it does not entitle people to practice character assassination or deny the presumption of innocence. Dan Rather was slimed. It was disgraceful.

I guess everyone can have a good day once in a while.