Today, I offer three vignettes from the exploration of reality.

9/11 + 5

How detached from reality and humanity must one be to think that killing in the name of one’s religion, i.e. opinion, garners rewards and that, too, in the afterlife? What level of human thought prompts one to debase oneself and hurt others for the sake of afterlife recompensation and, even worse, probable recompensation? Watch out for the second edge of that thing called faith.

Whatever has happened since 9/11, however misguided our nation’s response has been and although my personal beliefs don’t contain a Hell, I hope one was invented for the miserable hijackers of that awful day and that they went straight there.

“I was promised I would spend eternity in Paradise, being fed honeyed cakes by 67 virgins in a tree-lined garden, if only I would fly the airplane into one of the Twin Towers,” said Mohammed Atta, one of the hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11, between attempts to vomit up the wasps, hornets, and live coals infesting his stomach. “But instead, I am fed the boiling feces of traitors by malicious, laughing Ifrit. Is this to be my reward for destroying the enemies of my faith?”

Help Gut Morwen’s House

A favorite pin reads, “Reality is for those who can’t face science fiction.” Surrounded by all the reality one can take over the past year, fiction has taken a backseat, be it in the book, movie or video game category.

In fact, after cheering for the Big Easy Rollergirls on Saturday night, I’m hoping to spend Sunday (September 17th) and the weekend of September 23-24 clearing Morwen‘s house, who, as Ray says, “has found that she can’t gut her house by herself, and the waiting list to get help from places like ACORN is over four months long. With the looming city deadline for gutting being a moving target, this is rather nerve-wracking for her as it is for everyone else in her situation.”

Julie, who allows herself to be known as “Maitri’s best friend” (among other dubious titles), is driving down to assist. Please sign up at the Post Rising Tide wiki if you can help out and “put down your date preferences. Then take a look at the list of equipment needed and tell us what you can loan or donate from that list. If you can donate any cash to the cause, please put that down as well.”

Second Life Breached

Friends who live far away have offered opportunities to stay in touch online via World of Warcraft or Second Life, but after days spent mapping, blogging, and emailing at a computer, a keyboard and mouse are the last things I want to touch.

[continue reading…]

Gulf of Mexico earthquake felt in Southeast US – 6.0 on the Richter scale

06/09/10 14:56: 7.83 GMT
GULF OF MEXICO
Epicenter: 26.339 -86.568
MW 6.0 Depth 10km (6.2 miles)

Sweet! An intraplate earthquake right south of Alabama. *swoon*

This earthquake was centered beneath the Gulf of Mexico, well distant from the nearest active plate boundary. Such “midplate” earthquakes are much less common than earthquakes occurring on faults near plate boundaries … This is the largest of more than a dozen shocks that have been instrumentally recorded from the eastern Gulf of Mexico in the past three decades, and it is the most widely felt. The most recent significant earthquake in the region occurred on February 10th, 2006 and had a magnitude of 5.2. We have not associated this earthquake with a specific causative fault.

In other words, this moderately deep earthquake did not occur along a fault, although the moment tensor solution suggests movement along an almost N-S-oriented normal reverse fault with a shallow southwest dip. Eeeeenteresting.

At 9:56 this morning, I was cleaning my floors with the old Eureka Wind Tunnel, a seismic source unto itself, so I may or may not have felt the quake. Also realize that a seismograph located here would go nuts every 15 minutes, i.e. when the Magazine Street bus goes by. Do you know how irritated this geologist is at not having experienced an earthquake in her own backyard? If, however you felt it, let the USGS know.

Low-income housing is absolutely necessary in New Orleans, but not the kind run by irresponsible landlords and that leads to the neglect of historical buildings across the city. Here is a message from the president of the Coliseum Square Association, Robert Wolf, which clearly addresses why Volunteers of America should not be allowed to purchase the St. Vincent’s Guest House (two doors down from my place) and what you can do to help stop the sale. I’m already tired of seeing squadrons of cop cars hurriedly arrive, with sirens blaring, at St. Vincent’s 2-3 times a week. This otherwise quiet, safe, and friendly patch of Magazine St. really doesn’t need more of such drama. Read away:

Dear neighbor,

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Volunteers of America has signed a contract to buy St. Vincent’s Guesthouse on Magazine Street for low-income housing. Apparently the sale has roughly 30 days before it is final so the deal is not yet done. I’m told the property will sell for about $6.5 million and a local Latter and Blum office is handling this transaction.

I received a call from a VOA representative yesterday who wasn’t able or willing to paint a clear picture of their plans for the property. He first said this would be a hotel, then he said it would be senior housing, then he said he wasn’t sure what they were doing with the property. Obviously St. Vincent’s could house many people and the adjacent vacant land leaves room for further VOA expansion. Regardless, high-density, low-income housing is not what we need in the LGD.

This development could have a far-reaching and devastating impact on our neighborhood. VOA will place a large and concentrated number of their constituents directly in the middle of the LGD. The VOA has an awful track record as a lousy property owner and lax landlord. The dilapidated VOA building in the LGD on Orange St. between Magazine and Constance St. is proof that VOA is not a good neighbor.

St Vincent’s is expensive to purchase and expensive to maintain so I’m not sure that VOA donors would feel this is the best use of their money. I’ve also heard that HUD may be playing a part in making this happen.

We have a small window of opportunity to stave off this unwanted expansion of an already bad neighbor. We need to move quickly, deftly and loudly.

All of us have worked hard to make the Lower Garden District a great neighborhood. We need your help.

We will have an emergency meeting of the entire LGD early next week to get organized. I will send out meeting details this weekend.

Thanks,

Robert S. Wolf
President, Coliseum Square Association

Preoccupied with the T-P’s non-capitalization of a geological noun, I neglected a more flagrant mistake in the same article: Pam Radtke Russell reported the results of Chevron’s Jack 2 well test as “a development that could double the nation’s oil reserves” when “[the drilled trend] is thought to hold 3 billion to 15 billion barrels of oil [and] the nation’s current reserves are about 30 billion.”

WHOOPS! 15 billion equals 50% of 30 billion and not 200%.  Forget geology education, we have some basic ‘rithmetic skills to work on. Good thing our City Accountant caught and questioned this new math:

How can 3 billion to 15 billion barrels double 30 billion barrels?  I readily admit that I know nothing about Big Erl and how it operates. But am I missing something in the math here?

Donning my ScienceGirl cape, I rushed to Da Po Boy’s rescue with a more reliable article which states clearly that the Jack 2 test may boost U.S. petroleum reserves by 50%.

30 + 15 = 45, not 60.

Please offer prayers to Pascal that Dubious Dave doesn’t run with this. Quel damage!