Hey, I just realized I took a long weekend, and didn’t post a word. Sorry about that. It wasn’t my plan, but there’s something about a long holiday weekend that makes blogging seem like a waste of time. I took Friday off, too, which was a wonderful non-day day hereabouts — did coffee with a friend, the gym, not much else — and so: No blogging.
Forgive, please.
One thing we did do was watch some movies. Two Detroit docs, in fact, both of which should have an audience beyond the Wayne County borders. “Burn” was the first, and you’re going to have to look hard for it, as it doesn’t appear to have had any sort of theatrical release outside of maybe the major cities. (You can watch it on iTunes, however. Probably Netflix too, if not now, eventually.) Subtitled “One year in the battle to save Detroit,” it’s a deep-embed piece on Detroit firefighters, currently some of the hardest-working, and shat-upon, people in the municipal work force.
Which is not to say that others aren’t hard-working and shat-upon. Just that firefighters, and police, risk their lives to do their jobs, most days.
If you’ve never been here, it’s hard to describe the essential weirdness of a city that’s emptied as quickly as this one has — hundreds of thousands just between the last two census cycles. Very few people are buying houses, relative to the ones who are leaving them behind. That leaves thousands, tens of thousands, standing vacant. First they’re stripped of metal, then architectural details, then bricks. Drug dealers move in, homeless people move in, animals move in. And, very likely, eventually they burn. A firefighter describes the varieties of arson — for profit, for thrills, for revenge.
Into these infernos rush Detroit firefighters, who are known for their skill and aggressive tactics. The problem is, what they’re rushing to save is, in large part, not worth saving. All these houses are essentially piles of tinder waiting for a spark. The scenes in the firehouse are contrasted with the offices of the new fire commissioner, who moved from Los Angeles to take this thankless job. How do you manage a force to cover 139 square miles of broke-ass city? How do you deploy your equipment, all of which is falling apart?
Forget your fantasies about public-safety workers retiring at 50 with a fat pension — a lot of these guys are true graybeards, kept on because the department isn’t hiring and what else are they doing to do? (Answer: Their side jobs, which most of them have.) One guy, whose final year is sort of a throughline in the film, states at one point that he has 11 days left, the sort of declaration that would be a death sentence in a fictional drama about a fire department. He’s old enough that his job is, basically, driving the truck and connecting the hose. Which he does well, considering he’s already 60 years old.
“Burn” is distinguished by its use of technology — helmet cams take you into the middle of the fires. The list of camera operators is long, which appears to attest to how many photogs were shlepping around town with various characters. The result is an impressive look at life in Detroit, and maybe in the rest of the world soon enough, when we hit the wall of revenues vs. expenditures, and privatization can’t quite make it work.
On the other hand, you can’t help but notice how much effort is expended fighting fires in buildings no one gives a shit about. And you notice how put out the guys are upon hearing of a new let-it-burn policy for those houses. Firefighters live to fight fires, it seems, and it doesn’t matter where, exactly, they are.
Anyway, for a $4.99 rental? You could do worse.
Elsewhere we saw “Louder Than Love,” a considerably more homemade film, about the brief, glorious run of the Grande Ballroom. (And yes, I expect Prospero to shout out in 3, 2, 1…) The Grande was one of those happy accidents, an inner-city venue that caught a wave, from 1967-70, hosting the greatest bands of the era passing through, while nourishing a few locals like, oh, the MC5. I went in not expecting much and was entertained, but there was a lot not to like, too. I grow a little weary of sex/drugs/rock’n’roll stories that don’t acknowledge there were a few casualties along the way, but there are none to be found here. The audience, at least some of whom were Grande audience members, laughed and clapped approvingly at every drug and sex reference, flattered and happy to be so.
Which is another way to say: I grew tired of people saying, “Wow. That was totally awesome.”
On the other hand, there were some wonderful artifacts, most notably an apparently contemporaneous recording and film of the Who playing “Tommy” at the Grande, before it was released. It was amazing to see Keith Moon spinning his sticks and calling, “A son! A son! A son!”
At the end of both films, though, I was left thinking that documentaries are great, but they’re not journalism. You have to keep that in mind.
And here is a WSJ review of a current book on the Detroit rock scene, then and now, probably behind a pay wall. It’s a little WSJ-ish, but it’s almost an exact counterweight to “Louder Than Love” and its cheerful boosterism.
But if you just need a little more rock ‘n’ roll, Michael Heaton talked to David Spero, a former manager of Joe Walsh who spent some time on the road with the Eagles:
“Glenn (Frey) was always two people. When he was being an Eagle . . . let me put it this way, he used to wear a T-shirt that read ‘That’s Mr. Asshole to you.’ But when he wasn’t being an Eagle, he was pure fun. So funny and so much fun to be with.“
Oh.
What else was the weekend? Fireworks, hamburgers, the usual. Oh, and Kate? Is home. It’s like she never left, but maybe that’s just the laundry basket talking. We’re still getting the download. I think she had a great time.
I hope your weekend was wonderful. At the one-third mark, the summer is going pretty well.
One question for the journalists. Is this Sun-Times front page merely clueless, or offensive, or what? Am I the only one who found the R/L thing pretty damn blockheaded, considering the airline? Just wondering:
brian stouder said on July 8, 2013 at 1:10 am
That headline is bad stuff – although I confess I didn’t immediately see the (seemingly purposeful) racist joke.
Sounds like you’ve had a great long weekend, as did we.
Next weekend the fine young son and I jet off to the West (although not to San Francisco) – so hopefully our remains will not be found on the runway
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Brandon said on July 8, 2013 at 4:04 am
A bad pun.
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Dave said on July 8, 2013 at 6:38 am
Don Felder wrote “Heaven and Hell”, about his life as an Eagle. Glenn Frey and Don Henley are portrayed as total controlling jerks and that’s putting it mildly. Joe Walsh, that he isn’t a rock n’ roll casualty is a testament that some bodies can take more than others.
I’m almost certain I saw a version of the James Gang playing in a N. Court Street, Athens, bar sometime about 1970-71, but I could never swear to the accuracy of that statement now, nor do I have any proof or corroborating witnesses.
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alex said on July 8, 2013 at 6:38 am
Why you no rike Sun Time joke?
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ROGirl said on July 8, 2013 at 8:16 am
That headline sounds like something that the New York Post would do.
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Julie Robinson said on July 8, 2013 at 8:49 am
Offensive and racist.
After five days spent in the Detroit area, I’d have to say a big problem is signage. Even though we were using maps on our phones, we got lost a lot. Streets would suddenly be shut down with no explanation or warning, and no detour listings. But we loved the DIA, Belle Isle, and the one Polish store we hit up, and could easily have spent longer at all. We lacked time to explore the urban farming movement, which I think has real potential, both for redevelopment and as a visitor attraction.
We returned from the ordination and were immediately swept into a week-long family reunion. We had family members come in from California, Kansas, and Florida, and it was a wonderful, wonderful time. And now I have to return to the real world, and head into the office.
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beb said on July 8, 2013 at 10:15 am
Until I read alex’s comment @3 I didn’t see anything offensive in the headline. Ah, the old L for R thing. Still I would say that using fright for flight was a play on words rather than an intended or even conscious racial insult.
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coozledad said on July 8, 2013 at 10:17 am
I wish this guy had consulted some books before he put together his lameass white history float. Then he’d have known that you need a couple hundred or so trailers to pile up with representative corpses depicting the experience of other groups with whites, as well as the internecine conflicts that define us cumulatively as a flesh-devouring pox.
And you need a much bigger tractor. A King Tiger tank might do it.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/white-history-month-parade-float-causes-uproar-in
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coozledad said on July 8, 2013 at 10:31 am
And speaking of dumbass right wing newspapers, the Wall Street Journal ought to be disappeared:
http://wonkette.com/521990/wall-street-journal-wishes-egypt-could-benefit-from-its-very-own-pinochet#more-521990
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Basset said on July 8, 2013 at 10:41 am
Bet that Sun-Times pic wasn’t taken with a reporter’s iPhone, either.
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Bitter Scribe said on July 8, 2013 at 10:46 am
Basset @10: It says it’s an AP picture. Methinks the ST will be depending a lot more on AP photography in the years to come.
I don’t think that headline was consciously offensive, but I do think someone should have said, “Ahem, let’s do it over.” It’s possible that thanks to all the cutbacks, there wasn’t that extra set of eyes around.
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Prospero said on July 8, 2013 at 11:22 am
No WIC, no SNAP, no healthcare, but attack famous goober-nor/exorcist Alfred E. Jindals federal funding for some sheriff’s Christian cult movement, and Bobby is mad as hell. Limbaugh is an idiot when he claims advertiser boycotts infringe on freedom of speech, but this shit is at least twice as stupid. And what idiot decided to call this the Young Marines Program.I’d say this calls for civil penalties, but that would just mean fewer funds for social welfare programs, like feeding poor mothers and kids, and most people know how Jesus would have felt about that.
First show I saw at the Grande was The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (Carl Palmer was the drummer.). My first experience with hallucinogens, too. Maybe not the smartest idea, but memorable. Saw Cream there too, Yardbirds, and the Detroit bands lord knows how many times. The Birmingham Teen Center was another excellent venue, even though I think it was intended to save us subarbanites from having to go into the city. We saw Procol Harum there and they played all of the Salty Dog album before it was released. Astounding.
We had company for the weekend, and I was talked into watching back seasons of The L Word. Much more emotionally effective than I would have thought. It’s easy to develop serious dislike for some of the characters, but the worst of them seem to redeem themselves and there is a story arc involving the death of one of the characters that is heartbreaking. Excellent writing and acting.
That headline? Boorish and clueless as hell. Chicago to Asians: “Drop Dead.”
There’s a review in the Voice of a new doc about Alex Chilton’s great band Big Star. I can’t wait to see that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNKSs1J38EA
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Kirk said on July 8, 2013 at 11:27 am
Dave @4:
A guy I worked with long ago used to run a movie theater in Athens. Seems to me that he told me that the James Gang played in his theater. He said they were looking for a place to get stoned before the show, so he took them up to the projection room.
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Alan Stamm said on July 8, 2013 at 12:12 pm
The Asian American Jounalists Assn. spoke by phone with the Chicago paper’s editor/publisher, Jim Kirk, about the head and is “willing to give the Sun-Times the benefit of the doubt.”
Editors didn’t realize the wordplay could offend, he says. “There was nothing intentional on our part to play off any stereotypes. . . . We were trying to convey the obviously frightening situation of that landing.”
In a post [http://bit.ly/1d806Jz], the group makes an important point that goes beyond Bitter Scribe’s observation (Comment 11 ^) about shrinking staff:
“If the Sun-Times’ copy desk is like many others in newsrooms across the nation, it probably lacked the diversity of voices on staff that might have questioned the appropriateness of the headline.”
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nancy said on July 8, 2013 at 12:14 pm
An optimist might also note that the old Charlie Chan flied-lice stereotypes of Asians are fading now, as well. They’ve been replaced by new ones, but I could see where a young copy editor might never have heard about the R/L thing.
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adrianne said on July 8, 2013 at 12:22 pm
And now for something completely different…
Not only is disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner running for mayor of New York City, now disgraced former New York “Love Gov” Eliot Spitzer has decided he’s the best candidate for NYC comptroller.
I guess if they can make it here, they can make it anywhere.
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alex said on July 8, 2013 at 12:23 pm
I could see where a young copy editor might never have heard about the R/L thing.
Matt Stone and Trey Parker use it as a gag on South Park all the time.
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MichaelG said on July 8, 2013 at 12:40 pm
I used to spend a lot of time at SFO and used to fly in and out of there a lot. A whole lot. I’m very familiar with the area. As a result, I was drawn to the coverage of the incident and have followed it closely. There’s already a lot of discussion about Cockpit Resource Management (CRM) with some saying Asians are not so good at it for various cultural reasons and how CRM may go to the heart of the accident’s cause. Then I opened your page and that headline leaped out at me. I caught the Asian slur immediately. I don’t know if the Sun Times meant it but it is most certainly there. I don’t know what the Asian population in Chicago is but if a headline like that appeared in a Bay Area paper there would be an ungodly uproar.
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Julie Robinson said on July 8, 2013 at 1:09 pm
Michael, family members from Cali told us they dislike SFO because of short runways, water approach, and frequent fog. Fog hasn’t been mentioned as a contributor to this crash, but I’m wondering about the other factors. Pilot inexperience is likely to rank high, from the reports so far.
Both Weiner and Spitzer rank high on the ick factor to me. Who will the R’s run against them, and will they bring up their histories in the campaigns? Inquiring minds want to know.
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Deborah said on July 8, 2013 at 1:22 pm
We’re going to see The Lone Ranger, Tuesday evening. Here in Santa Fe it has been hard to get tickets.
My husband flew in Thurs and goes back to Chicago on Weds. We car camped Fri night in Abiquiu where we got some blessed rain. We were stuck in the car for a few hours while it rained but were happy to do so as it was drier there than I have ever seen it. Even our junipers were turning brown. We are camping there again tonight, hoping for lots more rain.
I have flown into San Francisco may times and have been frightened by the landings.
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adrianne said on July 8, 2013 at 1:26 pm
Well, at least Spitzer’s and Weiner’s campaigns are the gifts that keep on giving for New York tabloids. I think the New York Post has about 200 Weiner headlines they haven’t used yet.
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/217513/new-york-newspapers-prepare-for-eliot-spitzers-return/#more-217513
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mark said on July 8, 2013 at 1:41 pm
michael g-
If there is really a lot of discussion about Asians performing less well in the cockpit for “various cultural reasons,” that’s a bigger slur than the Sun-Times headline. “Asian” describes a geographic region,and maybe a race, not a culture. What is it about “caucasian culture” that supposedly makes for better flight crew?
How do these experts explain best-in-the-world Singapore Air and its success in overcoming the cultural limitations of being Asian?
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Bitter Scribe said on July 8, 2013 at 1:46 pm
Matt Stone and Trey Parker use it as a gag on South Park all the time.
I’m sure they do, which is one of the many reasons I find South Park loathsome.
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Joe K said on July 8, 2013 at 2:34 pm
Bottom line at sfo, he got low and slow, and that will bite you in the ass every time, jets take time to spool up, you need to stay ahead of the airplane and anticipate. It will come down to pilot error. Low and slow you hit before, high and fast you go off the other end. I didn’t think twice about the Chicago headline, but then again I’m not looking to find racists insensitive remarks in everything I look at, like some people do
Pilot Joe
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paddyo' said on July 8, 2013 at 2:36 pm
Unless the Sun-Times newsroom is entirely populated by cut-rate, 20-something digikids (a theoretical possibility these days, I suppose, on a super-lightly staffed holiday weekend), the paper doesn’t deserve an it-wasn’t-racist pass, whatever its intentions. Not buying it.
At the very least, the designated “grownup” or two in the newsroom upper echelon who would have at least got an advance look or been told of the front page heds (especially at a tabloid, duh) would have caught it — and should have said no. There may be a generation disconnect, but not yet in a big-city newsroom.
But as we all know (and as many of us present and former ink-stained wretches have done), many a newsroom cubicle is papered with such examples of newsprint screw-ups, and this shall take its place in that hall of lame.
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Brandon said on July 8, 2013 at 2:39 pm
This is off-topic, but I’d like to announce that in thirty minutes (or 9 a.m. Hawaii time), our local station KHON will begin live streaming the second-degree murder trial of Christopher Deedy.
http://www.khon2.com/
The background: Deedy, a State Department special agent, was in Hawaii in Novemeber 2011 to provide security for APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation). In the early morning of 5 November, he shot a Hawaiian local, Kollin Elderts, in a McDonald’s on Kuhio Avenue. The trial will determine if Deedy was justified in shooting Elderts. The prosecution contends Deedy, after a night of drinking, was the aggressor. The defense argues that Deedy, although off-duty, was acting as a federal law enforcement officer when he shot Elderts, whom they say was belligerent and drunk.
The Deedy trial is our version of the George Zimmerman case.
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paddyo' said on July 8, 2013 at 2:41 pm
P.S. to Pilot Joe: Agreed that you and many didn’t think twice . . . but one of the things newspaper folk have been trained to do for generations is to think with dirty minds and look at everything, everything, most especially headlines, through that prism. It usually saves them the grief, embarrassment, hassles, etc. that come down later from those who are looking for it and can’t wait to bray about it.
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MaryRC said on July 8, 2013 at 2:44 pm
Regardless of whether or not the “Fright” headline was a deliberate racial slur, what was the point of trying to make a pun out of an incident that caused two deaths (and some horrific injuries among the survivors apparently)?
If the Sun-Times had treated the crash with some dignity and restraint in the first place, they wouldn’t have had to apologise for any perceived slur.
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Jakash said on July 8, 2013 at 3:12 pm
I was just going to say the same thing that MaryRC pointed out. I had to triple check what Nancy wrote to figure out what she was driving at, with the “R/L thing”, but I thought that the headline, taken straight, was a pretty bad choice. I don’t see why this incident called for a “clever” headline, to begin with.
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nancy said on July 8, 2013 at 3:17 pm
Yes, agreed with MaryRC. This wasn’t a pun-headline story.
But then, that’s what tabloids do, especially when the tragedy didn’t happen in their home city.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 8, 2013 at 3:19 pm
I’m also thinking of the penultimate scene of “A Christmas Story.” Kudos to Paddyo’ for the insight into the proper paranoia of the best editors . . . but re: your comment at #25, that’s getting to be the norm. The Gannett directive seems to be “no more than one over 28 year old with experience per shift in the newsroom,” and there’s stuff you just don’t know until it has bit you in the behind.
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Kirk said on July 8, 2013 at 3:51 pm
I hate cute headlines, especially on stories that do not call for them. This one is especially tasteless because it has the added baggage of being unintentionally racist (which, I confess, did not dawn on me until I started reading the comments here).
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Hattie said on July 8, 2013 at 4:21 pm
Just a tad insensitive, but typical.
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MarkH said on July 8, 2013 at 4:42 pm
Count me with thsoe who only saw the pun and a wholly unnecessary one at that.
I may have posted this before, but my favorite uncalled-for headline from years ago was similar story. A military fighter augered into a New Jersey McDonald’s full of children at a birthday party.
Headline: Jet kills 22
Kicker above: Crashes kids’ party.
And further to mark’s and pilot joe’s points: I’m not buying anything “Asian” about this crash. There are conflicting stories about who was at the controls with the 43 hours of time in-type on the 777, captain or first officer. Whoever it was, he was on his last certification flight before being approved for the 777. 43 hours?? I know there is simulator training as well, that’s all the actual flight time before being certified?
Pilot Joe, please clarify.
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paddyo' said on July 8, 2013 at 5:30 pm
BTW, MarkH, here’s a pretty good perspective from a pilot piece from Slate.com that gets at some of the questions about pilot experience, Korean airline industry culture (once plagued by a spate of crashes but now, apparently among the world’s very safest), etc.
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brian stouder said on July 8, 2013 at 5:40 pm
Deborah, I’m looking forward to hearing your opinion of Loan Ranger
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brian stouder said on July 8, 2013 at 5:40 pm
Make that “Lone”!
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MichaelG said on July 8, 2013 at 6:19 pm
The runway lengths at SFO are adequate and certainly presented no issue for the 777 that crashed on Saturday. Fog can be an issue and an inconvenience but the weather Saturday was very clear with severe blue sky, essentially unlimited visibility and an almost non-existent 6 kt wind. The bay presents a long clear and unobstructed approach although I can understand that it might make some people uncomfortable. The bottom line appears to be that somebody simply flew a perfectly good airplane into the seawall off the end of the runway. The NTSB has indicated that there were no apparent or reported problems with the aircraft or its systems and that the engines were performing normally.
It has been reported that the pilot at the controls was new to the 777 and had only 43 hours in type and that this was his first landing in San Francisco at the controls of a 777. I’m not sure that this really means anything. After all he had thousands of hours in a 747 including many landings at SFO and a total of 10,000 hours overall and every pilot out there made a first landing. The guy was by no means a green, rookie pilot. In any case, the NTSB will examine this factor.
As Pilot Joe notes, Asiana 214 was low and slow. The pilot apparently had been having difficulty maintaining a stable approach. The attempt to remedy things was initiated way too late to avert the crash. Also it appears that no one in the cockpit spoke up about the poor approach. The question is why none of the non-flying pilots said anything until the last minute. This is the Cockpit Resource Management area that is under discussion by some. If, for example the flying pilot, misses something like a lack of airspeed or altitude, another pilot is expected to bring that anomaly to the attention of the flying pilot. There are any number of possible explanations for this apparent lack of discussion among the pilots at the end of a very long flight.
Back off, mark. You grossly misread my comment.
The site I was looking at that had comments about CRM and Asian characteristics relating to it is airliners.net The thread about the incident is hundreds of comments long. You’re welcome to read it. I was not espousing the Asian/CRM thing but merely reporting what I had been reading not long before I came to nn.c this morning. Hence my quick reaction to the Sun Times’ stupid headline. Some of the comments may have been racist, some were inquiring. It is my understanding that, these days, airlines (presumably including Asiana) spend a good deal of time training their personnel in CRM. The NTSB people will be looking at this. In fact, they are interviewing the pilots today. I expect the NTSB to produce their usual thorough and superb report.
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MichaelG said on July 8, 2013 at 6:32 pm
has made a first landing.
Thanks for that link, Paddyo’. I read the Slate article after posting my comment and feel that the article was excellent. He makes some very good points, particularly about training.
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Sherri said on July 8, 2013 at 7:01 pm
James Fallows has a couple of articles on the crash: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/07/professional-pilots-on-the-san-francisco-crash/277563/ and http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/07/overnight-update-on-asiana-214/277568/. I also found this article, by an aerospace engineering professor, interesting: http://flyingprofessors.net/what-happened-to-asiana-airlines-flight-214-2/
I didn’t immediately catch the racism in the headline, but then, I’m not a target of the racism. I doubt the racism was intentional, but that doesn’t excuse it.
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Jolene said on July 8, 2013 at 7:02 pm
Thanks for the link to the Patrick Smith article, paddyo’. James Fallows, who is both a pilot and an analyst of aviation has three posts related to the crash, including one that recommends a book by Smith.
http://www.theatlantic.com/james-fallows/
Amidst all the bogus stuff said on TV, I’ve been glad to hear a couple of knowledgeable analysts point to federal regulations as one source of the lower aviation accident rates of recent years and the greater survivability of accidents that occur. For instance, one commentator noted that standards for the interior fittings of aircraft now require stronger seats and materials that are more fire-resistant. Also, planes must be designed so that it’s possible to evacuate them in 90 seconds with alf te exits blocked. Next time someone begins to complain about the burden of regulation on business, you can ask them how they feel about flight safety.
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Prospero said on July 8, 2013 at 7:46 pm
Nancy@15: Of course that stereotype was the creation of a guy named Werner Oland, who had nary a drap of oriental DNA in his genome. I imagine from Mr. Olands name he was probably from Swedish ancestry. Actually worst of the worst in showbiz oriental stereotypes were the Dick Tracy Joe Jitsu cartoons. Those were brutal. At least in the Chan movies, the detective was portrayed as a very astute fellow with a great deal of personal dignity. His sons? Not so much.
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Prospero said on July 8, 2013 at 7:49 pm
Jolene’s point about federal regulations is well-taken. Most people believe to this day that the superb Yankee catcher Thurman Munson died in his plane from smoke inhalatio, when in reality he was killed by poisonous offgassing from smoldering upholstery. They don’t use that shit anymore. Reminds me of the Irwin Mainway SNL skits:
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/irwin-mainway/n8641/
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Dexter said on July 8, 2013 at 8:12 pm
We got here in Pensacola a couple days ago ,beach party at the Landmark’s beach bar with peel & eat shrimp and crabcake sandwiches, then last night a great party here at the beach house as all my daughter’s friends flew in for the wedding on Wednesday; today was deep sea fishing for us and a dolphin cruise for the ladies. Constantly raining, the drive down was frustrating. Next time I fly or I don’t come here. Ellyson Field where Dad trained radio operators in WWII is now an industrial complex…nothing to see at all. Thursday, the Naval Air Museum. It’s busy here in Gulf Breeze, lots of cars everywhere, lots of people. I walked on a sound-side beach a while and yes I saw oil-tar balls in the sand…I assume from the great oil spill of 2011. Video cam show me that my dogs are OK at the country doggie dare care farm. OK…time for another big loud party…my beverage is diet ginger ale and Grapico soda…great stuff. 🙂
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Kim said on July 8, 2013 at 8:56 pm
I listened to the NTSB presser yesterday while driving down to SC and wonder if anybody else thinks Deborah Hersman is as badass as I do. I wondered why she wasn’t praising the instant response by the emergency folks (as the mayor and others did), then as the conference went on wondered what she knew that others didn’t (maybe an emergency vehicle had run over one of the two dead victims).
Jolene, I had the opportunity to listen to one of those bogus shit-spewers (Don Lemon, CNN)right after the presser and he made me want to crash my car. What an idiot.
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Prospero said on July 8, 2013 at 9:20 pm
“Pledges” of this sort to the anti-patriotic likes of Randolph and Mortimer Koch are clearly bribery of public officials, and, like Norquist’s “pledge”, violate Article III, Section 3 of the US Constitution. Clearly treason, and the death penalty applies.
https://mail.google.com/mail/?hl=en&shva=1#inbox/13fa44d83ac87b3d
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MichaelG said on July 8, 2013 at 9:46 pm
Count me in, Kim. I find Ms. Hersman rather impressive. She manages a press conference very well. She is personable while maintaining complete control over the proceedings. She doles out information very surely and succinctly while refusing to get drawn into revealing more than she is prepared to reveal.
I think there is a lot of unprecedented stuff here with this accident. First of all, there is a video of the plane crashing. When has the actual crash ever been seen before? Then there is a very clear video of the slides deploying and people evacuating on them. There are pictures taken by survivors immediately upon exiting the aircraft. The video taken from a chopper very shortly afterward shows the crash site with what must also be unprecedented detail. Finally, the quality and clarity of the images is surprising. The fact that the crash occurred in a major metro area, in a wide open area with clear sight lines and that the weather was perfect are, of course contributory factors.
I know there is video of the DC-10 crashing in Iowa(?) some years ago but it is short, incomplete and indistinct.
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Sherri said on July 8, 2013 at 10:29 pm
Not only all the video and photos, MichaelG, but the article I pointed to from the aerospace professor used publicly available radar data pulled from FlightAware!
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mark said on July 8, 2013 at 11:17 pm
Michael g-
I think I’ll pass on the opportunity to read all about how those darn “Asian characteristics” might have contributed to the accident.
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basset said on July 8, 2013 at 11:18 pm
Bitter @11, I know it was an AP picture, I was being sarcastic.
Joe, we went to see the B-29 on Saturday morning… pouring down rain so they didn’t fly, they go in VFR only, and they had it up on jackstands with a main wheel removed so no walkthrough tours but it was worth the trip just to stand up close and look at it.
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MichaelG said on July 9, 2013 at 12:17 am
Again, mark, you have grossly misread my comments and are way out in left field. Maybe you’re at home there.
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