After reading this series of articles concerning the Northwest Airlines bankrupcy and the fallout, I believe that the growing ranks of the perpetual entry-leveled and contractor-for-lifers will become of force in its own right. A force that can be easily replaced, downsized, outsourced, and rendered powerless. With unions imploding (by internal and external pressure), will workers’ jobs ever be protected somewhat? Or is this the age of the at-will employees and constant job movement?

Professor Lynne Kiesling points out a glaring flaw in the electric utility industry (regarding the human error in yesterday’s Los Angeles blackout): The more we can automate routine maintenance functions and automate the process of finding faults on a line, the less margin there is for human error to cause such dislocation and disruption. However, the electric utiilty industry is one of the most backward in the application of communication technology to perform these functions. We should ask why the regulated utility (or, in this case, the municipal utility) has so little incentive to implement...

Aya… She takes lyrics like the following: Nobody knows me… Nobody knows me like you do. Somebody said that the lonely side would make you stay, now that you know you’re wanted. Burned by the sun today. My fears have all gone when you stay. Nobody knows me, now that I’ve finaly seen the light of day, now that I know you want this… …And takes you somewhere else. I don’t know where. Just somewhere else. I’m usually not into artists that sing in those dreamy, breathy tones but Aya has a hold on me. I think it’s because she does her magic...

The concept of space folding - travelling vast distances in the universe by bringing a region of space to the same time and place as the spacecraft - always intrigues me. I know warp speed and theory (Star Trek and Star Wars) is sexy and all but space folding is just mind-boggling. Here’s a damn good article about the concept of space folding, superstring theory, and M-theory. But for anyone that saw the movie Event Horizon with Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill, space folding opens up some frightening questions: when two points in the universe are both brought to the same time and place...

Hey! If your an auto supplier for General Motors, just shut down your US operations, find a few barges, and float your factories in the Pacific. With that cheap island labor, fresh Pacific air, and cleansing salty sprayyou’ll be raking in the greenbacks! GM puts squeeze on suppliers Automaker wants parts makers to open plants in low-cost countries, a move sure to spark fury. By Brett Clanton / The Detroit News DETROIT — General Motors Corp. is launching a three-year cost-cutting plan that will stress the need for U.S. parts suppliers to open more factories in low-cost countries and...

I’ve been commenting so much on other blogs I forgot to post stuff on my blog. Imagine that. Hey bloggers, ever done that before? Ain’t it weird? No matter. I catch up starting today.

That’s right boilyz and grillz, I’m done. I don’t want to talk about federal, state, and local government actions. I’m through with all the blame at this time. I had my rant, found facts, talked about this on other blogs, etc. Right now, it’s all about the solution talk. Yeah, the boring stuff like: 1. Relocating the victims into semi-permanent/permanent residences. 2. Getting them addresses so they can receive mail. 3. Getting them phone service. 4. Finding ways to employ the 1 million+ left jobless. 5. Getting their mental and physical health back to normal. All...

I finally got an iPod. The 40GB hook-up! The lovely wife gave it to me as a belated birthday gift. Mind you, my birthday has already passes (March) but she was very sick that day and couldn’t celebrate it with me. So she waited to get me a great present. Thanks babe!

Guess what everyone? New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin is no Rudy Giuliani according to Thomas Galvin: The overwhelmed Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin was not up to the job. He sent out an “S.O.S.” and had a profanity laced meltdown in a radio interview instead of rolling up his sleeves and saving his city. As soon as the World Trade Center was on fire, Rudy Giuliani told his police commissioner Bernard Kerik, “Thank God we have George Bush in the White House.” Rudy Giuliani was the central figure of 9/11 for New Yorkers, and for the rest of the nation. As mayor he knew New York...

My last two entries was an attempt to siphon some of my anger about the handling of the Gulf Coast emergency. But it’s to no avail. I must vent. I am tired of this shit! Where are the damn troops? This should have been a military operation from the jump. Instead we have the ol’ “it’s a local issue and the Feds shouldn’t be involved” nonsense floating around. And to top it off, according to sick news commentators like Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity, the looting in New Orleans is the root cause for this disaster. What? Like the New Orleans Darkies...