Respect and your vote
I can’t tell you how to vote. I suspect a large number of us will vote for Barack Obama because we believe him to be a good President, one who has served our country in an honorable and decent way, who champions the public interest over special interests, who has wound down two wars, found and eliminated America’s public enemy number one, and who has delivered on his promise to reform the broken health care system, something no other politician has been able to do for the past 45 years.
All of these reasons are good ones to vote for the President. But perhaps the best one of all is the October jobs report. The hardest thing to understand about the President’s record is his economic policies. In my opinion they have been too conservative. Where the President might get an A+ for understanding that “equal opportunity” in America can only be realized when all Americans have access to reasonable healthcare at an affordable price. He also gets an A+ in foreign policy. He took a big political risk but made the right decision on Bin Laden and proved once again that America can “speak softly” … but that we do “carry a big stick.” He has ended one war and is winding down another and wisely avoiding a further drain on American resources and treasure. He has handled the endless melodrama of the Middle East by speaking softly and especially by keeping Netanyahu on the point with Iran, red line or no red line.
But on economic policy the President has been lucky. The initial stimulus was too small, particularly given that Republicans were in no mood to cooperate on the economy. The compromise stimulus probably reflects more on his advisors (Geithner & Sommers) who clearly underestimated the drag on the economy from the underlying psychology of the “liquidity trap” that arose from bailing out the banks. And Obama made a political miscalculation that blocking jobs bills would be such bad politics for Congressional Republicans that it would give him additional chances to stimulate the economy “if needed”. But even after the GOP obstruction on his jobs bill, the President got a bit lucky delivering on another promise that he had no business making … the jobless rate has fallen below 8%. The right wing echo machine has gone nuts but attacking Obama on his economic performance rings as hollow as the attacks on Obamacare and foreign policy.
And of course there is another really big reason to vote for him. His opponent. I can’t count the number of gaffes for this thinly qualified candidate but the latest one was hardly noticed over the noise of his handlers crying “victory.” He chose to open his debate with the President by calling him a liar and identifying him with his own “boys.” To display this level of disrespect before a national TV audience is just another reminder of what kind of person he is. But again, I can’t tell you how to vote.
The last reason you should vote for him is because he is black. But do vote.
Four Seconds
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Another crunchy Field Gulls article on the Sea-Fence, this one using a By The Numbers format. My fave stat: 209.8 yards per game. And we're talking about Romo, Rodgers and the NFC West to date. After consuming the Gulls article, you'll be left with the question, is this the NFL's best defense? Is it one of the best ever? Dr. D., though not up to speed on this year's football fantasy, can help a bit with a question like this, one that involves sense of proportion.
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=== Bruce Irvin ===
Here's a neat .gif that catches Irvin circling his prey like a shark. Not a bad metaphor, as long as Aaron Rodgers signs off on the "chum" role.
Pete Carroll drew a lot of hoots and jeers for taking Bruce Irvin with the #15 overall. Even those who were willing to give Irvin a chance, cautioned us not to worry when Irvin finished with two sacks in his rookie year; a lot of current star DE's had low sacks totals when young, didn't they?
It's all about context. Ask Richard Dent or Charles Haley to rush the passer as the focal point of the pass rush, and they're going to be nonfactors, too. But add them to a swirling maelstrom of chaos up front and you've really got something.
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Irvin still doesn't take out his man right off the snap like Reggie White. A passer is supposed to go "1, 2, 3, THROW" and ... if he doesn't throw, that is when Richard Dent, Charles Haley and Bruce Irvin are going to close escrow. It's a second-wave concept, and as second waves go, these types of hybrid DE/OLB's can be magnificent. Where other DE's are sucking air, can be stuffed for 5, 6, 7 seconds in some situations .. when you are talking about that 3-5-second milestone on a play these speed DE's can be men among boys.
How many times over the past 35 years have you seen a John Elway back there, stands there, looks, looks, looks, looks, and finally launches a missile 30 yards downfield? Fans tend to focus on whether the DL can engulf the QB before he plants his back foot. There's a subtler joy in knowing that the fins are circling, and that come 4 seconds, they're going to take you off at the belly button.
If you were there, you would acknowledge the 1985 Bears as the best defense ever. The end. Wilber Marshall was their strong-side blitzing (?!) linebacker and perhaps their meanest player. He explained their 46 Defense as "our secondary has to cover for 4 seconds. Four. Give us four seconds, and we'll go back there and get him."
Bruce Irvin is Mr. Four Seconds. At four seconds, the curtain comes down.
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Coming out of halftime at C-Link, Aaron Rodgers focused on the one thing that Carroll's defense concedes. The underneath pass that always takes less than four seconds, the one that exploits Carroll's paranoia against big plays. Drop the ball in front. Do it every play, or in effect every play.
Carroll loves his Cover Twos and Cover Threes and feels uncomfortable in bump-and-run. He wants to let Browner and Chancellor close vertically after the catch, and lay the lumber. You've seen team after team start flinching after they've heard those footsteps for a couple of drives.
Why doesn't everybody throw underneath and take their six yards, like Rodgers did? Three reasons: (1) everybody doesn't have Aaron Rodgers. (2) The punishment absorbed by the receivers is almost prohibitive, especially over 60 minutes. (3) Carroll can overplay against that particular strategy at any given moment if he chooses. It only takes one botch-up to ruin a 12-play, 70-yard lookin pass drive, and the Seahawks only need one or two "anticipations" to punish.
Still, quick passes underneath are what teams have against the Seahawks.
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Bruce Irvin's at what, 4.5 sacks in 5 games and it's time to give it up for Pete Carroll. This was the final piece. Carroll went immensely Stars & Scrubs calls in the draft -- Bobby Wagner and Russell Wilson were also extremely high risk, high reward.
With Bruce Irvin and Russell Wilson, he could not possibly have slid the lever any farther over to [RISK/REWARD] than he actually did. There were no picks more risky or reward-y available. But he wasn't just throwing dice. Carroll believed he saw things in those players that others didn't, and he had the courage of conviction. We fans are reaping the benefits of Carroll's courage.
There's nothing in sports that is more fun to watch than a shark-attack NFL defense. Enjoy the season.
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Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on October 08, 2012
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on October 08, 2012
Ambient office = .110 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .098 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain = .106 microsieverts per hour
Banana from grocery store = .098 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .139 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .117 microsieverts per hour
Radioactive Waste 10 - Deep Borehole Disposal 1
As we discussed in a previous post, one of the standard solutions for getting rid of things that we do not want is to bury them. While nuclear waste depositories for the most part utilize existing exhausted mines, an alternative is to drill extremely deep holes into the earth to dispose of nuclear waste.
First, a hole is drilled more than 3 miles crystalline basement rock like granite deep in the crust of the Earth using modified technology from the oil and gas industry. Some designs call for lining the storage segment of the hole with cement or a type of aluminum phyllosilicate clay called bentonite to help prevent leakage of waste out of the borehole into the surrounding rock. Next high-level nuclear waste such as spent nuclear fuel and transuranics, is sealed into strong steel cylinders. The cylinders are lowered into the borehole to fill up about a mile of the hole. Once the storage segment is filled, then the hole is sealed. Some of the materials that might be used to seal the hole include clay, cement, crushed rock or asphalt.
In some disposal scenarios, young and very hot nuclear waste is lowered into the hole and radiates enough heat into the surrounding rock to melt it. As the waste ages and cools, the rock solidifies and forms a hard shell around the waste, isolating it.
Any amount of waste could be disposed of with the borehole solution. Unlike a underground repository which has a maximum capacity and a huge investment, drilling additional boreholes would increase capacity and each borehole would cost far less than a repository. Another advantage of the borehole approach is the fact that the boreholes can be drilled in many places where geology favorable layers of crystalline basement rock are located. This makes them especially attractive for countries which do not have a lot of nuclear waste and do not want to invest the enormous cost for a repository that would not be filled. Because the boreholes could be placed near nuclear installation that were generating the waste, all of the problems and dangers of transportation of nuclear waste could be avoided.
The amount of land needed for borehole disposal is quite small and the environmental impact would be minimal. The well head, waste handling installation and a security zone could all be contained in one square mile. After the repository is filled and the borehole sealed, the land could be returned something close to its original condition.
In 1957, the United States Academy of Sciences first considered the possibility of deep borehole disposal. Since then, much more attention has been focused on repositories but the attractiveness for the deep borehole alternative has steadily increases. Periodically, studies are made about the possibility of deep borehole disposal. Current estimates suggest that about one thousand deep boreholes would be required to contain all current high-level nuclear waste and projected waste to be generated in the United States. The cost would be roughly the same as the projected cost of a repository such as the one at Yucca Mountain. The deep borehole would be preferable because their drilling could be spread out in time and geography, reducing concentrated costs and transportation problems. Deep borehole disposal is a very viable alternative to all other suggested methods of high-level nuclear waste disposal.
'Taken 2' rules at the weekend box office
All hail Liam Neeson: King of the action movie, at least for now. Neeson's Taken 2 was the undisputed champion of the weekend box office in the U.S., taking in a whopping $50 million. Movie goers love their Taken movies, don't they? I suspect Taken 3 is already being written.
Sadly, the news is anything but good for Tim Burton. His latest effort, the stop-motion animated film Frankenweenie, only managed a (weak) fifth place finish. I didn't see either of these films, but the one I did see, I loved.It's so rare that I approach a movie theater box office with absolutely no idea which movie I'm seeing, but that's exactly what happened on Friday night. For once, I had a ton of great options! I'd already opted out of Taken 2, simply because the reviews were dismal. I liked the first movie, but I don't think I'm going to pay for more. Frankenweenie was a possibility, but I decided to wait a week or two, to get the full Halloween experience. What did I see?
I saw the time-bending, thrilling, incredibly original Looper, and when I tell you I loved it, that's an understatement. I went nuts over this film, and it prompted a 45-minute discussion/analysis among our friends after we left the theater. I don't know about you guys, but that's my kind of movie! Here's the thing about Looper: Don't read too much about it before you go. Yes, there are spoilers. Even knowing that, you'll still come out wondering what just happened. It's a great film and did I already mention it's a wonderful, original idea? Yes, I did, but it's worth saying again.
Now, I'll hop off of my movie soap box long enough to tell you that the animated Hotel Transylvania held on to second place at the weekend box office, followed by the (well-reviewed) comedy Pitch Perfect in the third spot. Looper, which you now know I adored, was fourth, and Frankenweenie was a distant fifth. Hopefully the numbers will improve for Tim Burton, because I hear it's a great, typically kooky Burton movie (always fun).
What, if anything, did you go see this past weekend? Let's hear it in the comments!
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on October 07, 2012
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on October 07, 2012
Ambient office = .102 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .149 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain = .142 microsieverts per hour
Home grown tomato = .097 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .124 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .103 microsieverts per hour
NFL Stats 'n Stuff for Week Five
For more than a decade now, Peyton Manning has been the best quarterback, Tom Brady the quarterback of the best team and Drew Brees the quarterback with the most spectacular stats.
All three continue to go about their business every Sunday, and it was fitting that they got a collective day in the sun this week.
Manning and Brady faced each other for the 13th time as starters, but the first time in which Manning had orange as part of his color scheme. The veteran didn't disappoint: he was 31-of-44 for 345 yards and 3 TDs and 0 INT. But, Brady's Patriots got the better of a P. Manning-led team for the 9th time in those 13 meetings.
Brady was no slouch: 23-of-31 for 223 yards and a TD, but it was little-heralded running backs Stevan Ridley and Brandon Bolden who helped fuel the Pats to a team-record 35 first downs. Ridley went for 151 yards on 28 carries and Bolden added 54 more on 14 carries.
That's three times in five starts that Ridley has gone over the century mark. The second-year player out of LSU has already surpassed his rookie totals attempts and yards.
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Brees broke the all-time record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass, at 48 (dating to October 18, 2009). The record had been held by Baltimore Colts great Johnny Unitas (accomplished from 1956-60).
More importantly, probably, for the Saints, they broke their four-game losing skid that had them open the year at 0-4. Brees was 29-of-45 for 370 yards and 4 TDs, with 1 INT as they knocked off the Chargers by a 31-21 score.
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Then there's one of the guys who wants to be in a Manning-Brady-Brees conversation in 2022 ... Andrew Luck. Playing for their coach Chuck Pagano, who took leave of the team to fight cancer, Luck's Colts rallied to defeat the Green Bay Packers, 30-27.
Luck was 31-of-55 for 362 yards and 2 TDs with 1 INT, and engineered the drive that got the winning touchdown with 0:35 left.
The Pack is now 2-3, but, admittedly, one "simultaneous catch" away from 3-2.
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And we ought to give a nod to Matt Ryan, who is neither a legend or a rookie, but a guy who, along with another Matt (Schaub), could be having the best seasons for their teams. Ryan was 34-of-52 for 345 yards (2 TDs, 1 INT) as he led the Falcons to a 5-0 record with a 24-17 win over Washington.