Cave News

Three Mile Island guard was not on guard

The partial core meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant (pictured) near Middletown, Pennsylvania happened more than 25 years ago but the scare is still fresh in the minds those who lived nearby.

Last week end a guard at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant was so engrossed in the video game he was playing he failed to see an inspector approach during a surprise inspection.

Guards are allowed to engage in mind-stimulating activities but not to the extent that everything else is shut out by a mind absorbing video game.

The alleged lapse — which follows five other reports of employee inattention in the past two years — is prompting officials to review current policies.

"The issue is not the guard's use of the video game," Kathleen McGinty, secretary of the environmental agency, said in a statement.

"The real issue is that his complete absorption in the game distracted him from noticing the repeated approach of our inspector. And that shows why this procedure needs to be changed and these video games disallowed," she said.

This guard lapse couldn’t have been comforting to residents living nearby who may still be a little on edge after the 1979 partial core meltdown.

Link

Just asking…

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Why do we call it a TV set when we have only have one?

Why do we press harder on the buttons of a remote control when we know the batteries are dead?

A new face for King Tut

Egyptian King Tutankhamun, called the boy king, died at the age of 19.

Now, after 3,300 years King Tut has a new face reconstructed with the aid of 3-D CT scans of his mummified remains.

Detailed CT scans of King Tutankhamun's mummy found no physical evidence of murder, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities announced today. But the scans did reveal unusual features, including a broken leg, which some experts think may have led to the boy king's death.

The scans cannot rule out "nonviolent" murder, such as poisoning. But they have apparently disproved the oft-repeated theory that King Tutankhamun was murdered by a blow to the head.

Noninvasive CT (or CAT) scanning produced three-dimensional views inside the fragile mummy by combining two-dimensional cross-sectional images, or "slices."

The two-month study was designed to test old theories and unearth new information about the life and death of the legendary young pharaoh.

Link here and here.

Tandem bike

This tandem bicycle is made by Burley and has a lightweight aluminum frame. It only weighs about 30 pounds.

Burley claims it is “30% lighter and more than 30% stiffer than other tandems.”

Afraid to buy a tandem bike because it would be too heavy? This one may not be too heavy but it could be too expensive.

The cost is about $5,500. Whew, that’s a lot for a bike. Sure, it has a high-tech aluminum frame and will give you and a friend exercise out in the fresh air.

However, for another $5,500, and some sharp dealing, you can buy a new no-frills Chevy Aveo which won’t give you exercise out in the fresh air.…not that I’d want an Aveo…but then, I wouldn’t want a $5,500 tandem bike either.

Link

The sign painter had a lisp

Hmm...let’s see now…that would be three blocks before 24th Av S…yes, I think I’ve got it.

Microsoft Windows for rednecks

We have been told there is a new Redneck edition of Microsoft Windows XP. It is called: “Winders XP” and is shipped free to anyone who can prove illiteracy.

You are using Winders XP if your opening screen looks like the picture above. Click on the picture to see a larger version.

If you are using Winders XP you may need some help understanding the commands.

The Recycle Bin is labeled Outhouse

My Computer = This Infernal Contraption

The Control Panel = the Dern Dashboard

Dialup Networking = Good Ol' Boys

Floppies = them little ole plastic disc thingies

An error message = duct taped garbage bag

Winders XP does not recognize capital letters or punctuation marks.

Warship built from Twin Towers wreckage

The warship USS New York is being built from the wreckage of the Twin Towers.

In a shipyard in New Orleans, survivors of one disaster are building a monument to another.

In a city still emerging from the floods of Hurricane Katrina, a ship has begun to rise from the ashes of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Bringing together America’s two great calamities of the 21st century, the USS New York is being built in New Orleans with 24 tons of steel taken from the collapsed World Trade Center

The ship is being built by Northrop Grumman on the banks of the Mississippi. It should be ready to join the US Navy in 2007.

The USS New York is one of a new generation of amphibious assault ships.

The $1 billion ship will be capable of landing an assault force of 700 Marines without the need for a port.

Link

1983 BTTF DeLorean Time Machine on eBay

Now you can own your very own DeLorean Time Machine as seen in the movie Back to the Future.

It’s a 1983 DeLorean car converted into a Time Machine look-alike replica.

Will it have a California Outtatime license plate?

The cars is up for auction at eBay Motors here (his link will not be active for more than 30 days or so).

====================UPDATE

This listing for this auction has been terminated by the seller or by eBay.

108 year-old excise tax on phone use

In 1898 President William McKinley imposed a 3% tax on long-distance telephone service. It was originally a luxury tax at a time when only wealthy Americans had phones.

The 108 year-old-tax was never officially earmarked for a specific purpose even though it was intended to bring money into the national treasury to help fund the Spanish-American War.

This tax was never repealed even though the Spanish-American War only lasted four months. This tax money kept flowing into the national treasury and could be used for any purpose.

This tax now pumps $5 billion per year into the federal treasury. There was a bill to repeal this tax that passed both houses of Congress only to be vetoed by Bill Clinton in 2000. Link here for the veto story.

Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) and U.S. Representative Gary Miller (R-CA) combined their efforts to repeal this tax in both houses of congress.

On Friday U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow announced that the government will stop collecting this tax on long-distance telephone services.

Finally, the tax imposed in 1898 to help fund the four-month-long Spanish American War has been repealed.

Link here and here.

FOX tops cable news viewership race - again

Cable News - number of viewers - May 22 as reported by Matt Drudge.

The listings are in order of number of viewers. As usual FOX News comes out on top and MSNBC is in the cellar.

It is interesting that conservative show hosts O’Reilly and Hannity lead the pack while Matthews and Olbermann, both liberals, bring up the rear.

Shown in viewership order:
FOX News - Bill O’Reilly - 2,105,000
FOX News - Sean Hannity - 1,666,000
FOX News - Greta Van Susteren - 1,494,000
FOX News - Brit Hume - 1,341,000
FOX News - Shepard Smith - 1,215,000
CNN - Larry King - 885,000
CNN - Lou Dobbs - 702,000
CNN - Wolf Blitzer - 592,000
CNN - Anderson Cooper - 590,000
CNN - Paula Zahn - 527,000
CNNHN - Nancy Grace - 487,000
MSNBC - Chris Matthews - 471,000
MSNBC - Keith Olbermann - 406,000