The incredible saga of the capsized Cougar Ace cargo ship

Posted on February 26, 2008 by david donovan

Some great reading on Wired today.  Joshua David recounts the story of the race to save a massive cargo ship capsized at a 60 degree angle in the North Pacific, 230 miles south of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, with over $100 million in new Mazdas.

A phone rings. Rich Habib opens his eyes and blinks in the darkness. He reaches for the phone, disturbing a pair of dogs cuddled around him. He was going to take them to the river for a swim today. Now the sound of his phone means that somewhere, somehow, a ship is going down, and he’s going to have to get out of bed and go save it.

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/16-03/ff_seacowboys

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We have lost 1,500 years of progress to Christianity

Posted on February 21, 2008 by david donovan

It really irritates me when people talk about how the United States is a Christian nation that was founded on Christian principles. Nothing could be further from the truth. Although we live in an age of amazing technology and technological progress that is unimaginable to any previous civilization, we are actually over 1,500 years behind in technological progress, thanks to Christianity. And most of the technological advancements we have today would have never come to exist if not for the clear division of church and state here in America. Let me explain.

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Another legendary Seattle storm hits

Posted on January 29, 2008 by david donovan

The Seattle area has been hit with another legendary snowstorm, and it left Bellevue battered and bruised.  With record-low temperatures near freezing, Bellevue received a heavy snowfall that dumped nearly 0.1 feet of soft, fluffy, slippery white stuff throughout the area.  Some people are abandoning their cars, others are stopping to put chains on the front wheels of their BMWs and Mercedes.  The rest didn’t even get out of bed yet.  Double-length buses and tractor-trailers (lorries) are jackknifing and blocking onramps and hills.  Milk, beer and toilet paper are sold out throughout the area and it’s all descending into utter chaos.  The Governor has declared a state of emergency and is recommending that we all skip work and head immediately for the nearest ski slope.

Non-natives are wondering what all the fuss is about.

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Dept. of Redundancy Dept.: Strange expressions of everyday life

Posted on January 21, 2008 by david donovan

Why doesn’t anyone else seem to have a problem with the expression, pick and choose? You don’t even have to think about this one very much to realize how redundant it is. I don’t need to hear even one more person talk about picking and choosing their battles. I wasn’t aware there was any difference between these things. Is anyone out there picking and choosing their nose? I can’t quite get my head around the point of this one nor figure out who’s to blame for it.

Lake Superior State University’s Public Relations department recently did a year-end piece on the top expressions of 2007 that have to go, and to my surprise this wasn’t among them. Nor was that annoyingly overused and meaningless “Tipping Point.” Both should’ve been.

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