Check It Out

Links to cool places or things.

There are 1,524 posts filed in Check It Out (this is page 100 of 153).

Happy Two Years In Hell, Jefe de Jefe

Here’s a sobering look by a former federal officer at America’s failed drug policy and its disastrous effect on our neighbor south of the border.

Just a short while after the operation, the DEA’s intelligence chief — Anthony Placido stated: “Nobody left out there has the extensive contacts that Arturo had. He moved thousands of metric tons of drugs into the United States, including cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin,” Placido said. “In addition to that … he is responsible for much of the violence in Mexico. Arturo Beltran Leyva wasn’t a big fish. He was a whale.”

Though frustrating, I can’t help but brush off some of those comments. For starters, I’m in awe that he actually said there wasn’t anyone left out there with the extensive contacts that Arturo Beltran had. Secondly, I’m bewildered by the fact that marijuana is completely left out of the equation. Revenues from marijuana smuggling produce the majority of capital for Mexican drug trafficking organizations, and in the case of the Beltran Leyva Organization, I witnessed it firsthand. Yes, Arturo had plenty of contacts in the South American Andes, and for sure cocaine earned his organization boat loads of cash — but the coca plant played second fiddle to cannabis sativa as it nearly always does with the cartels in Mexico. Yet this DEA executive is reluctant to utter the “M” word, perhaps out of fear that mainstream America might soon wake up to the role that marijuana prohibition is having in the killing games being played out below the Rio Grande.

via Jamie Haase: Happy Two Years In Hell, Jefe de Jefe.

N&O’s editorial covers nuke plant mistake

I was happy to see today’s News and Observer editorial on the November mishap at Progress Energy’s Brunswick nuclear plant. This time the hand-tight bolts part made it into print, unlike the previous article by John Murawski which left that part out of the print edition for brevity’s sake, apparently.

I’ve got another blog post pending on this topic, based on the report that NRC released. I hope this incident is a reminder to Progress Energy that when one deals with nuclear energy, “close enough” isn’t good enough.

The Nov. 16 shutdown at Brunswick’s Unit 2 was caused by a coolant leak from a pressurized vessel that produces steam. Mildly radioactive water flowed out of the chamber rather than boiling inside. At one point, according to an N&O account, “the water was flowing out at a rate of over 10 gallons a minute, about 100 times more volume than would flow out under normal circumstances.”

As a result, according to the NRC, “instead of pressurizing the tensioning device to 13,000 psi, the team actually pressurized the device to 1,300 psi.” Later, Progress Energy personnel were “able to rotate 8 nuts by hand, 10 nuts by wrench with no agitation, 31 nuts by wrench and agitation, and 15 nuts by wrench with additional agitation,” the NRC said.

Got that? Those investigating the leak were able to turn some of the nuts on a reactor pressure vessel by hand. That’s not tight enough for a tire change.

via Tighten up – Editorials – NewsObserver.com.

Facebook files for $5 billion IPO

Facebook filed for a $5 billion IPO today in what will likely be a wildly successful stock market debut.

I laughed when I recalled my post from five years ago in which I thought the idea of Facebook being worth $15 billion was crazy. That was before I got hooked on it, of course (along with about 800 million other people). Now $15 billion sounds like too little.

I’ve been astonished at the role Facebook has played in the recent revolutions around the world. It will be interesting to see how the company grows from here.

Unqualified Progress Energy workers caused fluke mishap at nuclear plant

Yikes! I’m not going to sleep so soundly tonight knowing that Progress Energy’s Shearon Harris nuclear plant is nearby and its hapless crews can’t bolt a reactor lid properly.

Makes me wonder why the NRC is still so chummy with utilities.

Emphasis mine:

Nine of the 12 workers who performed the reactor vessel assembly were not qualified. Some received “just-in-time” (i.e., last minute) training before the Fall 2011 refueling outage, but not specifically in stud tensioning.

The workers didn’t know how to read the instrumentation and torqued the reactor vessel lid’s studs at 1,300 pounds per square inch instead of 13,000 psi. In other words, there were off by one zero, and screwed the studs at 1/10th the required pressure.

Some the bolts were left so loose they could be turned by hand, the NRC said. Others turned easily with a wrench.

via .biz – Unqualified Progress Energy workers caused fluke mishap at nuclear plant | newsobserver.com blogs.

Why Did the Feds Target Megaupload? And Why Now?

Gizmodo points out the obvious: if the US DOJ can bust Megaupload in New Zealand, why does it need SOPA/PIPA?

The feds—those tasked as intellectual property sentinels in particular—want more power to kill sites like Megaupload. It looks like they’re not going to get their way through legislation, so setting a prominent target ablaze in a very public and dramatic manner is a great screw you to SOPA’s foes.

If that’s the case, the Department of Justice should be gagging on irony: their swift destruction of Megaupload sans SOPA proves how gratuitous the bill was in the first place. This week has been the week of copyright warfare, but the decision to nuke the king copyright violator so spectacularly only goes to show how little the feds need bigger bombs.

via Why Did the Feds Target Megaupload? And Why Now?.

Will Prince William’s tour of duty reignite simmering Falklands dispute?

Interesting look at the continuing dispute between Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands. I was not aware that the British Navy currently lacks an aircraft carrier.

As Prince William prepares to head 8,000 miles from home to serve as a helicopter pilot in the remote Falkland Islands, the traditional "Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves!" refrain seems rather far-fetched.

Britain’s naval fleet was once twice the combined size of its two closest rivals. But austerity cuts have seen billions of pounds vanish from military budgets. Even the Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier hasn’t been spared — HMS Ark Royal was sent to the scrapyard last year.

Tensions have been increasing between Argentina and the U.K. as the 30th anniversary of their 10-week war over the Falklands approaches. Argentina claims sovereignty over the British-ruled islands, which are about 300 miles off its coast in the South Atlantic.

via World Blog – Will Prince William’s tour of duty reignite simmering Falklands dispute?.

The Big Thirst

By Tom Sulcer

The moment City of Raleigh Public Utilities Director John Carmen mentioned the book The Big Thirst during a recent CAC meeting, I logged onto the library webpage and requested it. It arrived yesterday and surprisingly I can’t put it down.

Water is fascinating. We take it for granted, but as author Charles Fishman says, water is becoming more scarce and it will soon create conflicts.

I’m just cracking the book now and I’m sure to have more to say about it, but if you’ve ever wondered what goes into making water appear at your tap you should read this book!