If only we could vote for Tina

<!–

What would Winston Churchill do?

Here’s an actual BBC video of Georgia President Saakashvili conferring with another world leader over Russia’s armed attacks on the small nation.

Happy birthday, America!

More 2-faced heads

Another collection, created with the help of my friends, of unintentionally double-meaning or just plain “Huh?” headlines:

• Pickup crashes on I-95 with boy seated in bed
(Baltimore Sun

• John McCain, senility America’s loss of the Pacific
(Pravda)

• There’s no easy answer for chronic interstitial cystitis
(Manchester, NH, Union Leader)

• Recreation injuries: 213,000 treated in ER
(United Press International)

• Baby-faced chief executives save face better for companies
(Indo-Asian News Service)

• Girl, 10, improves after fatal crash
(Chicago Tribune)

• Irradiated meet in markets soon
(Hilo Hawaii Tribune-Herald)

• Staples to attach Dutch business
(BBC)

• Leading scorpion on first Beijing tour
(Xinhua News Service)

At least they spelled Rensselaer right

DOUBLE-CLICK THIS CLIPPING

It’s not as if this industrial history hasn’t been thoroughly researched and made available to the general public (as well as reporters).

A couple of examples with lots of history of Troy, NY, and its rich manufacturing lineage:

• Burden iron Works history
• South Troy Brownfields
• Labor and Industry in Troy and Cohoes
• Preservation Magazine
• RPI Archives
• USS Monitor / The Mariners’ Museum
• Guide to the USS Monitor Design and Construction Collection
• Urban Earth Fest
• Institute on Industrial Archaeology
• Our State Institutions: The iron Works of Troy
• The Bessemer Process
• Classic Encyclopedia: Troy, New York
• Central Pacific Railroad: Rensselaer Iron Co.
• Hudson River Valley Institute

There are more, including many stories and photos in the Times Union’s own archives. But, you get the point.

The other 30% is a bitch

I am pleased to share the news with you that the world’s oceans are 70% shark free.

That’s according to the findings of an international team of scientists that postulates the absence of sharks from abyssal zones of the world’s oceans may mean some species are in danger of extinction. The abyssal zones are the ones that are in perpetual darkness at depths below 6,560 feet, and have phenomenal pressures that can be up to 10,000 pounds per square inch!

The findings were published in the “Proceedings of The Royal Society, Biological Series.” Among conclusions: sharks may be having more difficult times than ever finding food.

Monty Priede, director of Oceanlab at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, told United Press International:

“Sharks are already threatened worldwide by the intensity of fishing activity, but our finding suggests they may be more vulnerable to over-exploitation than was previously thought.”

I’m sure that’s of some comfort to all those people we hear about who are victims of shark attacks.

Low times in the Highlands

ABERDEENSHIRE, Scotland — Here I am, traveling in the Highlands of Scotland, where life seems to move at a snail’s pace, history is apparent all around you, and the place looks rock solid.

Literally, since nearly every structure is made of granite blocks or stone and their longevity morphs from one century to the next with little apparent difference.

Yet all the newspapers are dwelling heavily on only three topics:

1. How silly British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is being made to look because of a tell-all book from ex-PM Tony Blair’s oputspoken wife, Cherie, who (shock and awe!) doesn’t care for Gordon.

2. How rocky the financial situation is “north of the border,” which means Scotland itself where housing prices are skyrocketing, inflation is rising at a faster rate (3.5%) than anywhere else in the United Kingdom (which includes England, Wales and Northern Ireland), and unemployment is on the rise.

3. How bad the alcohol abuse is getting, a particular problem in a country where more than 40,000 people out of a total population of barely 5 million rely on the whisky industry for jobs — and that is not including people in the retail business of selling the stuff.

Some of the solutions that are being suggested from various corners are as hysterical as the incessant reporting on them, except for the Gordon Brown thing which is great theater for the masses who love seeing the balloons of the high and mighty pricked sharply.

For the alcohol problem, the suggestions range from raising the drinking age beyond 21 to raising prices (even though Scotch whisky costs much more in Scotland than it does abroad, due to the regressive taxing policies) or even making public intoxication a higher crime.

As to the financial situation, the ideas range from strict price controls to more restrictive bank loan policies (they have the same problem with sub-prime mortgages we in the U.S. have), although no one wants to officially put forth a comprehensive plan for fear of commiting political suicide.

Oh, there has been one other item in the news. The idea of Scottish independence.

Of course, that one has been rattling around since the 18th Century, when the anti-English rebellion in support of Bonnie Prince Charlie fizzled out after a hideous defeat at Culloden on April 16, 1746. A battle that lasted less than an hour killed 1,500 Highlanders vs. a mere 50 or so English regulars. It effectively broke the back of the Jacobite movement, leading to the banning of such ethnic staples as the playing of the bagpipes and the wearing of the kilts and tartans.

Now there are calls from Sean Connery from the comfort of his homes abroad and other nationalists still residing in Scotland to push forward with a vote on splitting off from the U.K.

As an outsider, I have perhaps a more measured reaction to the idea than someone who is emotionally invested. I think it’s ridiculous. Given all the hoo-haw of financial woes and a bleak outlook for years to come, the last thing that would be needed is trying to establish a truly independent country.

Evidence? Take Scotland’s currency. The Scottish pound is issued by the government, but it also is issued by two different banks. Money from all three sources can be spent anywhere in Scotland, but only those issued by the government are worth anything outside the borders. If they can’t get their act together on a simplified, unified currency recognized worldwide, imagine the problems of being a soveriegn nation with financial woes trying to be trusted financially in a global economy.

If we do, she’s in trouble

Houston Chronicle photographer Johnny Hanson must be credited with paying attention to the sign-carrying histrionics of this spelling-challenged individual who was at a rally pushing for deportation of people who can’t communicate in English.

I heartily agree with her.

Graz Giants update

Watch out Stuttgart Scorpions. The Graz Giants have you in their sights. And, they’ll be looking for blood after, as their Web site explains it, “Series victories GIANTS stopped!”

The Turek Graz Giants, who had won three games in a row in Europe’s American-style football championship series, lost “away by a 24:42 Swarco against the Raiders.”

The Giants, who I have adopted until my beloved Super Bowl Champion New York Giants show up at the University at Albany (NY) for summer camp, were down 14:3 after the first quarter. “Only in 2nd Quarter succeeded the GIANTS 1 TD in the game, but increasingly distinguished themselves in the offense own weaknesses by individual errors.”

That last bit explains the way things went. Now, we (temporary) fans can only hope for better.

If you’d like to get the early rundown on the Graz Giants, just go here.