Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/15/2017 18:22 Comments ||
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#9
Chicago is shooting her kiddies,
Descendants of thirty-ish biddies.
If you weren't so stingy,
She'd sit and sing Dindi,
Not nurture these juvenile Nittis.
Today, officials lifted the mandatory evacuations of Oroville and other areas below the Oroville Dam on the Feather River. According to the Butte County Sheriff's Office, "Due to lower lake levels, further inspections, ongoing work to shore-up the Oroville Dam emergency spillway and updated weather forecasts…the Evacuation Order …has been reduced to an Evacuation Warning." Excellent pictures at the source. Whoever coordinated all the trucks, construction equipment, copters, etc. did a pretty darn good job.
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/15/2017 08:02 ||
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#7
I've been noticing a lot of comments from various folks in the construction industry that the photos of the damaged spillway do not appear to show any embedded rebar or mesh in the exposed concrete.
Seems very odd, but I'm not a hydro guy. Frank?
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
02/15/2017 11:38 Comments ||
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#8
and updated weather forecasts
I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that this was the major contributor.
Fix the dam. Maybe they could run some kind of conveyor belt to drop a bunch of boulders into the hole and pave it over.
#12
Thanks, Shipman. Most of the folks were referencing the photo here because it was the largest image file available showing the damage fairly close up. If there is rebar, it doesn't seem to be as much as expected, though.
Still, that image is taken from 100-ft or more away so you are most likely correct.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
02/15/2017 12:55 Comments ||
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#14
the repair team has been placing about 30 truck loads of stones and boulders per hour in the area behind the emergency spillway with priority to the part of the spillway that had the most erosion near it - they also have been placing about 10 large sandbags per hour and sometime today, they will place the first slurry over some of the resulting mass
Abu Uluques makes a good point that this should not have been necessary at all but the people who designed and built these dams have mostly retired by now and its not productive to concentrate on this aspect of the situation - and it any event, its not the fault of today's repair crews that yesterday's designers made mistakes
the repair team isn't responsible
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/15/2017 15:15 Comments ||
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#15
30 truckloads an hour is a pretty good pace, lg. At roughly 40-yards per haul (based on the size of the trucks I saw in the photos), that's some serious tonnage at about 110,000 pounds per load.
Kudos to that crew.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
02/15/2017 16:26 Comments ||
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#16
Lost in all the news about the spill are the initial reports, before the emergency spillway near-failure, that the auxiliary spillway damage wad been inspected mere months before its failure, but tha the inspection was "visual, not actually physically inspected". The sinkhole that developed was the result of massive undercutting by high dynamic water forces through failed concrete seams in the spillway, seams that would have been easily detected if someone had actually walked the spillway in the time preceding the failure. I bet a big lunch that no civil servant from DWR walked that spillway in a very long time. That failure, and the stoppage to inspect the hole, and then the overflow and massive erosion hole now created, and the hundreds of millions of dollars to remedy the mess, all are the result of sloth and deferred maintenance, soon to be paid for by the taxpayers of the nation. Wanna bet no one gets fired?
Nur Jumale Farah, Somalia’s auditor general, said Somaliland’s deal with United Arab Emirates (UAE) to set up military base in the port town of Berbera is illegal and against law.
Somaliland has more of a functioning government than the rest of Somalia. Like, for example, they have a functioning government...
Mr. Farah said in an exclusive interview with VOA Somali service that UAE’s controversial military agreement with Somaliland will jeopardize the two countries’ bilateral relationship.
The auditor General added UAE has inked a military deal with a tiny administration in Somalia, without the permission of the Federal government in Mogadishu. He called on UAE to review the deal and stay working with Somali government over its interests in the country, including investments and establishment of the military bases.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2017 00:00 ||
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Four Russian military aircraft conducted low passes against a U.S. destroyer in the Black Sea last week, the first such military provocation since the new Trump administration took office.
The incident took place Feb. 10 and involved the USS Porter, a guided missile destroyer, fending off low flights by what the commander of the ship regarded as potentially dangerous flybys.
"There were several incidents involving multiple Russian aircraft," said Navy Capt. Danny Hernandez, spokesman for the European Command. "They were assessed by the commanding officer as unsafe and unprofessional."
The first buzzing involved two Russian Su-24 jet fighters followed by a single Su-24 and, in a third incident, an IL-38 transport aircraft.
The passes were described by Hernandez, the Eucom spokesman, as ranging from unusually low altitude to low altitude and high speed. The Russian aircraft operated without their electronic identifying transponders activated. The Russian aircraft also failed to respond to several radio requests from the Porter to halt the overflights.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
In the good old days, US Navy ships used to turn on their missile fire control radars as a warning if the Russkies got too aggressive.
Apparently that's considered an act of war these days. Too bad, really. It should raise the pucker factor in the pilots just a bit.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
02/15/2017 11:28 Comments ||
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The ouster of North Korean eminence grise Jang Song-taek throws into relief the fate of leader Kim Jong-un's older half-brother Jong-nam, who was raised by Jang and his wife.
Kim Jong-nam is the eldest son of former leader Kim Jong-il and was thought to be the designated heir until he fell from grace in 2001. Since then he has lived in lavishly funded exile in Macau and Beijing and has had practically no contact with his younger half-brother.
Half-brother by birth, not by weight...
Kim Jong-nam has not been seen in Macau for over a year. "He seems to be living a quiet life traveling between Singapore and China," a source based in Beijing said Tuesday. "He's probably lying low now that Jang, to whom he was close, has been whacked purged."
Kim Jong-nam has been critical of the dynastic succession of power in the North, talking freely to a Japanese journalist about the need for reform in the North. But lately he has been more quiet.
There is speculation that China is grooming Jong-nam to take over if the regime of Kim Jong-un were to collapse. "Rumor has it that China is protecting Kim Jong-nam," the source added.
Any time, China...
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
There was a lot about him when Dear Leader passed. He's a worthless playboy who does nothing but gamble in Macau and generally behave as a wastrel. He's so unimportant he didn't even have a security detail. He just arrived in Beijing airport and got into a taxi just like everyone else.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 ||
02/15/2017 1:41 Comments ||
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#3
Ok, the orignal artice Kim Jong-un's Older Brother 'Lying Low' is from Dec 2013. Chosun has an article from 2/15/2015:
Kim Jong-un's Brother Killed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother died in mysterious circumstances at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Monday morning.
Kim Jong-nam died on the way to hospital after he told airport officials he had been attacked by unknown assailants.
Intelligence officers here briefed the media that Kim, who lived in gilded exile in Macau after falling out of favor with his father Kim Jong-il, was killed with a poison needle or spray by two female North Korean agents.
#12
Kim Jong-nam's 21 year old son is now reported lying very low in China. He won't be seen any any budget airline counters. Probably be groomed by the Chinese to take over North Korea when the time comes.
Someone should remind China just how quickly Japan and South Korea could develop working nuclear weapons, and platforms to deploy them.
South Korea is mulling staging own ballistic missile test after the North's recent launch, a military source told a local news agency, Sputnik reported.
South Korea is mulling staging own ballistic missile test after the North has recently fired what it said was a nuclear-capable missile, a military source told the local news agency Yonhap.
"In response to North Korea's missile launch Sunday, we are reviewing measures to discard security concerns and show our determination to retaliate against any aggression by the North," a defense ministry official said.
The South Korean Defense Ministry official told the agency they were considering live-firing a Hyunmoo-2A missile with a range of 186 miles or a Hyunmoo-2B missile, which can travel for more than 300 miles, and publish photos or videos of the test.
I think the SKors need a missile with a longer range. I think 3,000 km would fit nicely in their arsenal...
"There is also an opinion in the military that it will be more effective to unveil the test-firing scene of a new 800 km ballistic missile which is in the final stage of development," the source added.
North Korea said earlier in the day the Sunday launch of its Pukguksong-2 missile was a success. It was fired from an airbase in the western province of North Pyongan and travelled around 300 miles before plunging into the Sea of Japan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2017 00:00 ||
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[11123 views]
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#1
...There has been an assumption for some time that the Japanese - practical souls that they are - are a 'breakout power', i.e.; they have various components scattered about (they definitely have the boosters) and in about four to six months from giving the word, they get up one morning and say, "Oh, by the way, we've got about a dozen ICBMs, and they're aimed at Pyongyang...and other places."
The fun thing to do there would be to quietly let the Chinese know that everything gets reduced back to components the minute Fat Boy goes away. I suspect that might happen right quick at that point.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/15/2017 5:24 Comments ||
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#2
interesting Mike. Plus i liked your story about langley AFB and the russians and the topless ladies.
The Netherlands has granted 18 months of right to stay for a group of Turkish soldiers who sought political asylum from the country after the July 15, 2016 failed coup attempt, believed to have been masterminded by the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).
The Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) has allowed the Turkish officers and their families to stay in the country during the period needed to examine their asylum requests, Dutch daily NRC reported on Feb. 14.
The group of soldiers, whose numbers remain unknown and who were assigned for duties in Europe, refused Ankara’s calls to extradite them to Turkey over concerns that they will be prosecuted. The soldiers said that “there is no opportunity of a fair trial in Turkey” in their asylum requests.
Turkish authorities have previously announced that the citizenships of those who are sought as suspects of the thwarted coup will not be revoked, if they returned to the country within three months starting from January.
According to NRC, the Dutch authorities are not leaning toward the extradition requests of Turkey due to the state of emergency declared after the foiled coup.
A Turkish authority, who spoke to the daily on condition of anonymity, told NRC that a “fair trial” would be guaranteed. They stressed that it was “unacceptable” for the “NATO ally Netherlands” to become “a safe port” for the fugitive soldiers.
The Netherlands’ Justice Ministry previously suspended the extradition of criminals to Turkey, citing the events that unfolded after the July 2016 coup attempt.
Dutch politician Sjoerd Sjoerdsma, meanwhile, said the asylum requests were evaluated as a subject above political interests. Sjoerdsma from the Democrats ‘66 (D66) political party also called on the authorities to renew the regulations regarding the asylum requests of the Turkish citizens because of measures taken after the thwarted coup.
Sharon Gesthuizen, from the Socialist Party, told NRC that the asylum requests of the Turkish officers should be given priority when being examined.
“The right to asylum is beyond diplomacy and is about human rights and security,” Gesthuizen said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
It wasn't a coup - it was a purge. By Erdogan.
Posted by: Barbara ||
02/15/2017 15:08 Comments ||
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#2
correct, it was a set-up, a purge by erdogan
so are these soldiers secularists who fell for the ruse?
Prominent Turkish journalist Hasan Cemal has been convicted on charges of conducting “terror propaganda” due to a 2016 article regarding one of the leading figures of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), receiving a suspended sentence of one year, three months in jail.
In the second hearing of the case on Feb. 14 in which Cemal was charged with “conducting terror propaganda” and “praising crime and criminals,” an Istanbul Court of Serious Crimes sentenced him to a 15-month suspended prison term but acquitted him on a second charge.
The journalist was on trial for a July 11, 2016, column titled “Fehman Hüseyin.”
“I have been doing journalism for 47 years. For the first time, I am being accused like this for the articles and books that I have written,” Cemal said during his hearing. “I have never defended terror. I have never become a tool for terror propaganda. I have always defended peace. Journalism is not a crime. There is no law, freedom and democracy in a society where journalism is a crime.”
Cemal is separately on trial for terror-related charges allegedly committed while he was serving as a one-day editor-in-chief of daily Özgür Gündem as part of a solidarity campaign with the now-closed paper.
Özgür Gündem was shut down on Aug. 16, 2016, for allegedly conducting propaganda on behalf of the PKK and acting as the organization’s media organ.
During that case’s trial held on Feb. 14, prosecutors demanded Cemal’s imprisonment for up to eight years over charges of “carrying out terror propaganda.”
Along with Cemal, trials into more than 20 other journalists and intellectuals, including Ayşe Düzkan, Ragıp Duran, M. Ali Çelebi, Can Dündar and Necmiye Alpay, who participated in the solidarity campaign for Özgür Gündem, were also held at two Istanbul courts.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2017 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11126 views]
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#1
Prominent Turkish journalist Hasan Cemal has been convicted on charges of conducting “terror propaganda.” If we did that in the USA, our jails would be full of MSM fake news hacks.
#1
...Although I'm glad we're doing this - between the Minuteman test a week ago and now this one, it reminds the bad guys that we still love 'em - as much as I hate to admit this, these had to have been scheduled under the Previous Administration.
Which, of course, questions.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/15/2017 7:18 Comments ||
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#2
End of Life testing of the solid-state fuel in the missile?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Chicago toddler shot and killed; 11-year-old wounded in weekend shooting dies
Four Russian military aircraft conducted low passes against a U.S. destroyer in the Black Sea last week, the first such military provocation since the new Trump administration took office.
