Pirates in the Gulf of Aden

In several articles that I've seen lately have mentioned the recent increase in pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden region. According to CNN.com five attacks were repelled Tuesday alone. A question that comes to me is how many were not repelled on Tuesday? The CNN article states that there have been at least 60 attacks this year. However, that is just the number of reported attacks. In an article on Forbes.com pirates have captured a Ukrainian ship with a cargo of Russian tanks and other weapons. They are now holding the ship ransom for $35 million.

Since the end of the Cold War many have felt that the need for a large military force is unnecessary. Because of this our Navy has been reduced to a very small number. With less military naval ships of both the US and the former USSR piracy has been on the incline. To me there is need of a solution. Because of piracy insurance for these big cargo ships has gone up between $900 to $9,000.

One solution, and I think it is a good idea, is that of private military contractors. Blackwater Worldwide has announced that they will begin to offer a service to protect ships as they go through the Gulf of Aden. I think that this is a good idea however, there is a chance that if it goes unchecked the solution could become a problem.

The Match-o-Matic II

I ran across a little game on abcnews.com. In the game several issues are addressed with quotes from each candidate. However, who says each quote is not listed. The game is to choose which quote you agree with the most. After the course of 13 selections you are told which candidate you agree with the most according to which quote you chose. To my un-surprise I found that I agree with John McCain 10-3.

The Match-o-Matic II

Opening Ceremonies for the Huntsman Senior Games

Hansen Stadium at Dixie College is host to the opening ceremony for the Huntsman World Senior Games. This is the stadium before the set up for production has begun.









All of the lighting, cables and stage were brought in by hand. Extra bleachers were trucked in for the many spectators of the opening ceremony.

The lights for this production are operated by this light board. The lights can be turned up or down, left or right, and have the ability to change colors.

Several hundred feet of cable was ran for power and data connections to all speakers and light fixtures.


















A member of the production crew stands ready for any task.





Cables, cables and more cables. These are the cables to run just the audio for the ceremony.




Number 3 follow spot waits in his scissor lift, 25 feet above the ground, for the show to start.










The flags represent the different countries of origin of the many participating athletes of the
senior games.













Clean up of the event is goes quickly. All of the equipment is stored in boxes. The boxes are staged in one area to be loaded on to a semi-trailer.








That’s it, all there is left to do is go home.

The New World of Sports

I'm sure the strict feminist of the world fighting for equality among men and women aren't exactly excited about this new league. For some time now I've heard of women wanting to play football, trying out for mens teams and various other avenues. However, I don't think there has been an official womans football league. The New York Daily News put out a story that the Lingerie Football League held tryouts last month to find who were athletic and beautiful; or beauty and athletic. I'm sure one of them is more important than the other. The LFL will consist of 10 teams from around the country. The first season won't start until fall of 2009 to give the girls plenty of time to practice and learn all that is needed to play a serious football game.

Photo Essay

Defenselink has a number of photo essays available.

The Shredder

Now here is a girl that has done some homework for her article. It's not really hard news but very informative non-the-less. My home has gone through a number of paper shredders over the last couple of years as my Mom goes through and shreds various pieces of junk mail. I think that everyone ought to have a paper shredder to secure their identity. At the same time I am a guy, and I liked "Home Improvement" with "Tim 'the Tool-man' Taylor," and his never ending quest for more power. That's what I want, more power. I believe that everything ought to have more power. Here is a good list of paper shredders and their ability to shred paper. I say kudos to the reporter who took the time to be so thorough.

P.S. Personally I think I would go with a commercial or maybe even an industrial grade paper shredder. Even if it's to shred only three or four pieces of junk mail. Just so that I know I can shred half a phone book at one time. You know, out of the 13 that came to my door this last year.


Home Slice: What's the best household paper shredder? By Laura Moser, Slate.com

Google's Millions

On CNN.com the front page has a list of "Latest News." In there is a story about Google's announcement of a contest of ideas. Google will pay up to $10 million dollars to fund a good idea that will impact on many people.

I personally think this is a great idea. Why not solicit the public for a great idea to back and help a number of people at the same time.

The thing I find interesting though, is that while Google is a search engine it is also its own media machine. Go to news.google.com and there is a list of breaking news, tech stuff, entertainment and a host of other categories of stories to read. However, Google doesn't list its own idea search until it's buried eight stories deep in the tech section. I find that odd and bad marketing. But, the contest is pretty cool.

CNN

Google's link to the story about itself.