Showing posts with label world. Show all posts
Showing posts with label world. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Assange WikiLeaks and the law in a post 9 11 world Sydney forum poster
Assange WikiLeaks and the law in a post 9 11 world Sydney forum poster
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| Sydney forum and livestream projection: email me for a hi-res pdf |
This Wednesday 12th September will see a public forum at the NSW Parliament House & a live stream projection of the event in Martin Place, Sydney.
The topic is ASSANGE, WIKILEAKS & THE LAW IN A POST 9/11 WORLD:
- Does Assange face a credible threat of extradition to the US?
- Has the Australian government done enough to protect this citizen’s rights?
- If Assange was extradited to the US, what conditions await him and could he be prosecuted for anything?
The speakers are:
DAN MORI Lawyer (Former US Defence lawyer for David Hicks)
WENDY BACON Journalist & professor
KELLIE TRANTER Lawyer & Human Rights activist
MC DAVID SHOEBRIDGE, NSWGreens MLC
WEDNESDAY, 12thSeptember 2012, 6 to 8 PM
The Macquarie Room @ NSW Parliament House, Macquarie Street, Sydney
All seats are booked inside Parliament House. But you can still watch the forum. Join us in Martin Place for a 6PM start of a live feed projection.
Alternatively you can watch online athttp://ustream.tv/channel/sawc
Hosted by Greens MLC, David Shoebridge, with Support Assange and WikiLeaks Coalition and Sydney Stop the War Coalition. For more information contact: Anne 0404 090 710
Checkout some Assange asylum placards here.
And the latest Bradley Manning: Peace Hero posters
Please use all these designs freely: no need to ask permission. Bean.
Available link for download
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Apron hearts by Ullas Quilt World
Apron hearts by Ullas Quilt World
The size is 80 cm x 80 cm, (31" x 31 "). Next one Ill make smaller. One of my friend made this apron and the size is 50 cm x 50 cm, (20" x 20").
Available link for download
Thursday, March 9, 2017
awesome record holders to celebrate Guinness World Records 2017
awesome record holders to celebrate Guinness World Records 2017
The numbers dont lie. One play by Odell Beckham gave the Giants their second victory over the red-hot Cowboys by a total of just four points.
That means until they meet again, which could definitely be in the playoffs in January, the Giants have the Cowboys number in 2016: Dallas has lost two games, both to the Giants.
In the season opener in Dallas back on Sept. 11, the Giants won, 20-19 and then Sunday night they beat them 10-7 in an ugly offensive game. In between, the Cowboys won 11 straight games.
Instead of whining, which theyve been doing a lot of in the last week, the Giants got back to winning.
Giants QB Eli Manning has disastrous game with 3 turnovers
They prevented the Cowboys from clinching the NFC East in their house and closed to within two games of Dallas, with the tie-breaker edge, with three games to play. They also kept their spot as the No. 1 wild card with all the other contenders winning earlier Sunday.
The Cowboys have to be wondering why they cant beat the Giants when theyve beaten everybody else.
"It feels great," linebacker Jonathan Casillas said. "So-called best team in the league, they got two losses, they are both to the New York Football Giants. They get to say that. I like when they say it. Who did you guys lose to? They lost to the Giants."
The Giants offense had another miserable game, but were bailed out by what Beckham is calling a "championship defense." Even so, it was Beckhams 61-yard catch and run off a simple slant pattern for the Giants only touchdown with 1:07 left in the third quarter that won the game.
Giants snap Cowboys’ win streak with dominant D in 10-7 victory
Beckham had dropped a long pass from Eli Manning at the Dallas three-yard line in the first half and then dropped a shorter pass in the third quarter when he tried to run before he secured the ball.
Beckham celebrates with Eli Manning.
Beckham celebrates with Eli Manning. (ROBERT SABO/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
"Way too many drops," Beckham said. "Way too many plays missed out on."
Along the way, he had a talk with himself.
"I told myself you need to wake up, I dont know whats going on with you, but you are on auto pilot," Beckham said. "Whatever the case may, youre not out here affecting the game. Youre not out here doing anything. That bothers me. That eats me up."
Giants coach Ben McAdoo won’t consider benching Ereck Flowers
Beckham lined up on the left side, lost Cowboys cornerback Brandon Carr as he cut to the middle. He grabbed Mannings pass and streaked to the right sideline. Carr was right on him, but Beckham showed amazing separation speed and raced Carr 55 yards to the end zone.
"Just caught a slant, tried to hit a gear and I didnt even have to look back. I could feel somebody running," Beckham said. "Carr was running as fast as anybody I ever felt chasing me. I had to hit another gear. Hamstrings got a little tight. It was a real race. I really had to run."
Did OBJ even known he had that gear?
"I know it was in there, but I didnt know how to hit it," he said. "Its called fight or flight. Its just instinct. He made me dig. I love competing against him. Its very hard to beat him. Hes a bigger, strong corner. Ive got a lot of respect for him."
Giants rookie Romeo Okwara makes most filling in for Pierre-Paul
Two years ago, Beckham made that spectacular three-finger catch on a Sunday night against the Cowboys that made him a star. But it didnt prevent the Giants sixth straight loss in a 6-10 season. The touchdown this time won the game. He is lethal on the slant. If it gets a step, he cant be caught.
Janoris Jenkins makes Dez Bryant a non-factor, holding him to one catch on nine targets.
Janoris Jenkins makes Dez Bryant a non-factor, holding him to one catch on nine targets. (ELSA/GETTY IMAGES)
"That dude has caught so many slants and taken them 50 some yards," Casillas said. "Ive never seen a receiver do that. He catches a five or six yard pass and takes it 60-70 yards almost every time. Its almost insane."
Its been a complete flip-flop for the Giants in the last year. The offense has struggled all season, but the defense, with its $200 million makeover, has been carrying the team all season. This was a quality victory after the Giants six-game winning streak against inferior competition was stopped last week when they stepped up in class in Pittsburgh.
The defense prevented Cowboys rookie QB Dak Prescott from any damage. He was only 17-of-37. Dez Bryant was shut down by Jackrabbit Jenkins, who caught as many balls as Bryant: One. Jenkins picked off Prescott and Bryant fumbled the only pass he caught in nine targets.
The Giants were able to get to 9-4 despite a poor performance by Manning. He lost two fumbles and threw an interception. The offense made just one play - the touchdown by Beckham. When the Giants got the ball with three minutes left and a three-point lead, it went three-and-out and the Cowboys took over after the Giants took just 21 seconds off the clock.
Following Bryants fumble, Rashad Jennings ran three times for seven yards and the Giants had to punt again, this time taking 1:06 off the clock. If the Giants cant close out games, it puts all the pressure on the defense.
"I want the defense to be sitting there, eating candy, untying their shoes, know that this offense has this game in control and they dont even have to go back on the field," Beckham said. "Its something we are working on. Its a process. It will come together at the right time. I really believe it.
The whining is over for now. Last week, Beckham complained about the officials. The Giants alerted the league office that two of the Steelers footballs they tested came in under the 12.5 PSI minimum requirement.
The numbers say it all. One play by Beckham. Two victories over Dallas. The Giants are in good shape to make the playoffs for the first time in five years.
Available link for download
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Around the World in 80 Jumpseats— Surprise Vid!
Around the World in 80 Jumpseats— Surprise Vid!
#blog #avgeek #airline #aviation
The following is an updated version of an article once slated to be published in Smithsonian Air & Space Magazines "Flights & Fancy" section . . . a couple decades ago . . . .
BUT FIRST
A very short Thank You vid to all you birthday well-wishers!
Direct Link: http://youtu.be/GA3yaQlZM_k
(PS: A special Thank You to my good friend Mark, who I somehow missed in the vid!)
AND NOW...
AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 JUMPSEATS
Tired of the daily commute to work? You say you live in Long Beach and the trek to downtown L.A. takes two hours?
You wimp. That’s peanuts to an airline pilot.
The phrase, “commuting to work” takes on a whole new meaning for the Chicago-based pilot whose spouse, kids and lawn mower are way back in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
In every airliner cockpit, there is at least one "jump seat."
This seat is required so that FAA inspectors or Check Airman can occasionally fly along with line pilots for regular flight checks.
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| The dreaded B-737 Primary Jumpseat (L)... and the even more dreaded Secondary. |
Apparently, by Federal law, these jumpseats must be designed to be less comfy than a bed of nails. I am convinced they were designed either by sadistic dentists, or line pilots hoping to keep said flight checks to a minimum.
When not in official use, these extra seats—however horrid—have become the commuting pilot’s life blood. As a professional courtesy, airlines regularly tote each other’s pilots to and from work and home with this golden throne. Hey, how else do you think we get to share each other’s company gossip?
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| The A320 Primary jumpseat. |
Fortunately, when the cabin is less than full, the commuter is allowed access to a more sane cabin seat. Yes, even a coach seat is preferable to the cruel chair up front!
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| B-757 Primary Jumpseat...a bit skimpy on the leg room. |
As an airline pilot, I’ve regularly trodden to and from work on that great car pool lane in the sky, logging nearly as many hours in back of the cockpit door as in front of it. As a Phoenix, Arizona native, Ive commuted to and from work in Albuquerque, Denver, and Washington, DC.
But even thats nothing. I recall the Boeing 727 captain for Pan Am (God rest the company’s soul) who used to commute twice a week from Bozeman, Montana . . . to Munich, Germany. Or one of my recent first officers, who commutes from Phoenix, Arizona . . . to Chang Mai, Thailand.
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| A320 first jumpseat (L) and 2nd (center), with Capts seat (R). Still roomier than most... |
When in uniform and sitting in the passenger cabin, I always feel like I’m on stage. At the slightest bump or klunk, white knucklers nervously glance to me with a, “Was that normal?” look. To calm their nerves, I always flash them a reassuring smile. But I’m always tempted to grab the arm rests, bug out my eyes and shout, “What the hell was that!”
My God, they’d panic.
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| Jumpseats may be cramped and uncomfy... |
Pilots are notoriously cheap (yours truly included), and have exploited the jumpseat privilege for leisure travel as well. Like doctors and lawyers, pilots enjoy virtually for free the fruits of their profession. But, before salivating with envy over the perk, remember that there ain’t no such thing as a free inflight lunch. Pilots have either sacrificed years in the military, or in civilian flight schools (or both), and spent tens of thousands of dollars to get that “free” lunch.
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| ...but theyre a helluva window seat! |
Though the jumpseating pilot may be on vacation, tasteful dress and impeccable behavior is still required. If not in uniform, the pilot must often wear suit and tie, or at least "business casual"—and certainly no imbibing, either. White knuckle flyers, always looking for a bad omen, tend to spook upon glimpsing a cockpit crewmember decked in Bermudas, tank top and beachcombers, sipping a Piña Colada and flirting with the flight attendant.
Besides stringent dress codes, jumpseating has evolved other traditions and protocol as well. For instance, after the captain approves the jumpseat request, the traveler must always thank him personally. Once this is done, the jumper is often invited to take a seat in the cabin, if any are available. A jumper who fails to thank the captain may be asked to step outside—at cruise.
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| Off to SFO for lunch! |
Another tradition is—surprise!—common courtesy. The jumpseater is nothing more than a high class hitchhiker**, a freeloader who can be kicked off the train at the slightest sign of ingratitude. Woe to the cocky pilot who, with a condescending sneer, demands a jumpseat ticket from an already overburdened gate agent. Somehow, the paperwork always seems to lose itself in the honeycomb of the podium . . . only to be found a few seconds after the plane has pushed back.
All travelers could learn a lesson here, too: no matter how many connections you’ve missed, how many bags you’ve lost, no matter how many coffees have scalded your privates from a well-timed trounce through turbulence, never, ever piss off a gate agent—your ticket may be "inadvertently misplaced," too!
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| When not in use, a nice place to stow a flight crew rollerboard! |
Contrary to the traveling public, who normally books flights fourteen-plus days in advance and rigidly sticks to the travel agency itinerary, the jumpseating pilot wings it (scuz the pun).
For example, let’s say you’ve just finished a gruelling four day flight schedule that dumps you off (only ten minutes late) in Podunk, New York, and you’ve got to get back to LA for little Julia’s 3rd birthday. As the turbofans wind down, you race through the Airplane Shutdown Checklist, throw your Jepps navigation charts into the flight kit, grab your overnight bag, shout “See-ya!” to the crew with whom you just lived through four days of toil, dash off the flight deck and fly like, well, O. J. through the terminal to the gate for the direct flight from Podunk to LAX.
Of course, it’s gone. Pushing back, in fact, right before your bloodshot eyes and slumping shoulders, having departed exactly on time (you arrived ten minutes late, remember?)
Now comes the game I call, Airline Hopscotch.
You frantically search the nearest Departure screen for the quickest way outta here . . .
You frantically search the nearest Departure screen for the quickest way outta here . . .
"Let’s see in twenty minutes there’s a Delta out of Gate twelve direct to Chicago, and from there I could connect with United to San Francisco, but American goes to Dallas in an hour, and from there I could take USAir to Phoenix then Southwest to LAX. Or else I could . . . .
You get the picture.
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| Yep, even pilots can look like this! |
Anywhere, at anytime, your grand scheme of cross-country connections could be shot down like Canadian geese through an Airbus turbofan. The jumpseat is typically first-come-first-served, so if another pilot makes it ahead of you, it’s time to recalculate. Weather, mechanical problems or even a missing inflight meal could delay you ten, twenty, ninety agonizing minutes or more, and your whole itinerary augers in, flaming. (By the way, it has been scientifically proven that the time of delay on Flight One is inversely proportional to the connection time to Flight Two—the shorter the connect, the longer the delay.)
Okay, so you made it on the United to Chicago. Now you can breathe a sigh of relief and happily sip an orange juice back in coach. But wait! You’ve arrived an hour late and missed the connection to San Francisco.
Now it’s time revise the plan of attack. Time to connect the dots through a few more terminals, cities and airlines. The old joke, “I just flew in, and boy are my arms tired!” rings sadly true when one must suddenly tote armloads of carry-ons from Terminal A to the connection in Terminal E.
Fortunately, todays technology has allowed commuting-pilot types to finally throw away pounds and pounds of airline timetable connection books, and simply use an app or two.
Fortunately, todays technology has allowed commuting-pilot types to finally throw away pounds and pounds of airline timetable connection books, and simply use an app or two.
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| Next Flight app: shedding tons of baggage off the commuting pilot! |
This leads us to another aspect of airline jumpseating: traveling light. This is mandatory. No U Haul-sized checked baggage allowed—you never know if you’ll make it home to LAX, or end up camping out in the concrete jungle of plastic chairs in JFK.
A word of caution for those groundpounders bold enough to entertain the idea of jumpseating illegally.
This year, wannabe-jumpseater Philippe Jernnard was quickly nabbed in the cockpit of an airliner when he posed as a deadheading Air France pilot. He merely wanted to avoid the cramped quarters of Coach and get a free upgrade. Instead, he faces Federal charges.***
Still tempted? Better stop and read Catch Me if You Can, the true story of infamous con man Frank Abignale. In it, Abagnale explains the difficulties of jumpseating when does not know the ritual or the lingo.
Fake airline I.D. in hand, Abagnale posed as a deadheading pilot to travel cross-country on a jumpseat. When asked by a “fellow” pilot, “What equipment you on?,”
Abignale froze. Clueless to the fact that this industry buzzword equipment meant airplane, he replied hopefully, “Uh, General Electric!”
As Abignale and Jernnard both learned, a landlubber posing as a pilot stands out like a ticking Samsonite.***
Heres a scene from the movie, Catch Me if You Can. Sadly, it glosses right over the "What equipment you on?" gig. But its still a hoot!:
direct link: http://youtu.be/Ow8mG8qutkw
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* Story: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/22/17413258-cops-fake-pilot-arrested-on-us-airways-flight-after-struggling-with-jump-seat?lite
**During research, I found a fun blog called, "Jet Hiking," wherein the blogger is attempting to hitchhike to all 50 states . . . . in private planes! Check out: http://jethiking.com/ and http://blog.jethiking.com/
***A word about jumpseat security: Post-9/11, U.S. airlines now have a nationwide electronic verification system. Every jumpseater must be verified via this system before being allowed onto the flight deck. (Jernnard had simply wandered into the cockpit while the door was open during boarding.)
***A word about jumpseat security: Post-9/11, U.S. airlines now have a nationwide electronic verification system. Every jumpseater must be verified via this system before being allowed onto the flight deck. (Jernnard had simply wandered into the cockpit while the door was open during boarding.)
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Blogging in Formation Week!
Posts all week beginning Saturday, June 29!
This weeks subject: "The Future of U.S. Aviation
Capn Aux post: Wednesday, July 3 @ 12am PHX
Capn Aux post: Wednesday, July 3 @ 12am PHX
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