First Looks category archive

Via Shaun Mullen, a gas of an article about the SR-71 Blackbird. A nugget:

One day, high above Arizona , we were monitoring the radio traffic of all the mortal airplanes below us. First, a Cessna pilot asked the air traffic controllers to check his ground speed. ‘Ninety knots,’ ATC replied. A twin Bonanza soon made the same request. ‘One-twenty on the ground,’ was the reply. To our surprise, a navy F-18 came over the radio with a ground speed check. I knew exactly what he was doing. Of course, he had a ground speed indicator in his cockpit, but he wanted to let all the bug-smashers in the valley know what real speed was ‘Dusty 52, we show you at 620 on the ground,’ ATC responded. The situation was too ripe. I heard the click of Walter’s mike button in the rear seat. In his most innocent voice, Walter startled the controller by asking for a ground speed check from 81,000 feet, clearly above controlled airspace. In a cool, professional voice, the controller replied, ‘ Aspen 20, I show you at 1,982 knots on the ground.’ We did not hear another transmis sion on that frequency all the way to the coast.

Via the Brad Blog.

They get to hit and keep on running:

District Court Judge Frederick Gannett accepted the plea bargain in the hit-and-run case against prominent Denver wealth manager Marty Erzinger Thursday, sentencing him to one year of probation and 90 days in jail for running down cyclist Dr. Steven Milo with his Mercedes and then leaving the scene last July.

(snip)

Haddon (the victim’s attorney–ed.) argued that the deal, which included two misdemeanor charges and no felony charges, wasn’t appropriate.

“I submit that in these kinds of instances, prosecutors can, should and do require felony pleas,” Haddon said.

Full Disclosure: I did not make the connection to this earlier post when I posted this Wednesday.

H/T Karen for the link.

Click the image for more Auth.

According to this news report, his tormentors actions “did not constitute a crime.”

Via Bart Blog.

Details here.

We seem to be getting sideswiped by the remains of the storm that had the temerity to interfere with the NFL. I hear it was penalized fifteen inches and ordered to sit out the next blizzard.

Time to hang the Christmas lights.

Joan Wickersham, writing in the Boston Globe, deconstructs the fashion for GLCBs (Greedy Little Christmas Books). A nugget:

6. Debase the English language. Do not use a verb without an adverb. “He asked curiously.’’ “She laughed merrily.’’ “She sobbed sadly.’’ “He yelled angrily.’’ Mix metaphors. Confuse “lie’’ and “lay.’’ Write sentences that sound like tricky SAT math problems. (“She had half a mind to call the police and half a mind to march across the street to give them a piece of her mind.’’)

7. Have your characters come to believe in something. It doesn’t matter what it is. The true meaning of this. The miracle and wonder of that.

8. Insist on the shallowness of materialism and the importance of treating other people with kindness, not contempt.

9. Undercut this insistence by writing the book.

The Philadelphia Inquirer has a fascinating article on John Heisman, the Penn alumnus for whom the Heisman trophy of college football is named. A nugget:

For all his sophisticated strategies, Heisman allegedly was the first to come up with the hidden-ball trick, telling his quarterback at Auburn to slip the pigskin under his jersey and pretend to tie his shoelaces. Vanderbilt fell for it.

Heisman also once used a hidden team trick, in 1902, when he coached Clemson to a victory over Georgia Tech, two years before he switched schools. Wilkinson wrote how Clemson got off the train the night before the game, “checked into a hotel and proceeded to party until dawn.” Tech fans saw all this and bet heavily on the home team. Except the Clemson partyers were decoy scrubs. The varsity showed up well-rested the next morning and annihilated Georgia Tech, 44-5.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a fascinating article on current research into why pretty faces are pretty. Short verision: because they are average:

One is symmetry. The more symmetrical a face is, the more attractive it is — although some studies have shown it is the least important universal standard.

The second feature is averageness.

It might seem illogical to say that especially good-looking people will be more average, but it’s more a matter of not having highly unusual features, said Richard Russell, a face researcher at Gettysburg College.

(snip)

The third universal factor in attractiveness is called “sexual dimorphism,” which basically means more masculine features for men (bigger jaws, prominent brow lines) and more feminine features for women (smaller chins, bigger eyes).

How the researchers use computer technology to alter images and test theories is a gas.

Steve Chapman tells a story in the Chicago Trib:

I used to be a homophobe. I didn’t dislike gays a little; I disliked them a lot. Growing up in Texas, I didn’t know anyone who admitted to being gay, and I found the whole idea sick and repulsive.

On top of that, I was politically, religiously and socially conservative. So if you’d told me 40 years ago that in 2010, I’d be in favor of letting gays serve in the military and get married, I’d have thought you had dropped some bad acid.

Follow the link the find out what happened. It’s worth the two minutes.

But he can’t get past our warriors on drugs.

Meanwhile:

Investigators suspect a major drug cartel was the driving force behind two long, sophisticated tunnels connecting Mexico with the U.S. that were discovered this month along with more than 40 tons of marijuana.

Authorities said an underground passage located Thursday was similar to one found earlier — both running around 2,000 feet from Mexico to San Diego and equipped with lighting, ventilation, and a rail system for drugs to be carried on a small cart.

Frankly, I think this whole war on drugs thingee has been a colossal failure for decades. The drugs have won.

Serious rethinking is warranted.

Having watched pieces of a couple of football games yesterday, I can applaud this:

A pleasant counter is Lawrence (Mass.–ed) High School’s football team. Coach Mike Yameen has banned celebrations on the field, even chest bumps and high fives, and hauls players off the field when they overly gesticulate. It is a throwback to yesteryear, with Lawrence quarterback Nathan Baez telling the Globe, “When you score, you just hand the ball to the referee.’’

Follow the link for some other examples of school’s getting it right.