Sunday, July 07, 2013

Flight recorder indicates Asiana 214 was close to stalling

It appears that the Boeing 777 that crashed at San Francisco Airport while trying to land on Saturday was traveling too slowly and the pilots tried to increase power and go around for another pass.  The recorder indicates the throttles were advanced and the engines appeared to be responding.  It's going to take awhile to figure out what happened.  The airport's Glide Path system was off due to the construction, but aviation experts said this is not all that unusual.  Most speculation at this point centers on pilot error.

In related news, three of the four runways at SFO are now open.  The bodies of the two 16 year old girls who died in the crash were found over one mile apart.  Officials are speculating that one of the two was "ejected" from the cabin of the plane when it started to break apart.  Also, doctors are saying at least two victims of the crash suffered spinal injuries involving paralysis.

An official of the Russian government is advising Edward Snowden to accept the offer of asylum from Venezuela, as he "can't live at Sheremetyevo forever".

Roughly 100 protesters showed up at the Hawthorne Police Department's headquarters to express their outrage over the shooting of a 2 year old Rottweiler.

Andy Murray ended a 77 year drought for Great Britain as he won the men's singles title at Wimbledon today.

While reports are that sources at the L.A. Lakers front office are indicating that they are leaning toward keeping Metta World Peace rather than using the amnesty clause to "get rid" of him and his salary; it's got to be a tough decision.  The Lakers would save $17 million just next season if they make that move.

Oh, Kobe Bryant made it official.  He "unfollowed" Dwight Howard on Twitter.

Doctors at California state prisons sterilized 150 female inmates between 2006 and 2010, without getting the required approval from state officials.  Some of these women are claiming they were coerced into having the procedure.

The big box office news for the weekend isn't that "Despicable Me 2" did very well, with $82.5 million, but that the really big budget "The Lone Ranger" did not.  It did finish in 2nd place with $29.4 million but that's a very disappointing number.  "The Heat" in its second weekend dropped off 36% but still nearly edged out the Johnny Depp bomb, with $25 million.  "Monsters University" and "World War Z" rounded out the top five.  In limited release, "The Way, Way Back" won the per screen title for the weekend with an impressive $30,263 on 19 screens.  "Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain" also did fairly well in a wider but still limited release, with $11,530 per screen on 876 screens.  For comparison, bear in mind the top two movies were both on more than 3,900 screens.

Yes, Phil Jackson knows that Dwight Howard is going to be a Rocket, not an Astro.  His malaprop was nothing more than a little dig at Houston and Howard.

A bill winding its way toward Governor Brown's desk would give transgender students in public schools to choose which bathroom they want to use and which sports teams to play on based on their gender identity.  LAUSD already has a policy in place on this issue.

It's a good thing for Jason Bell that he's a faster runner than his girlfriend, Riley Swanson.  That allowed him to finish the 10K they were running in ten minutes before her, giving him time to dry off and put on a suit.  Then when she crossed the finish line, he proposed.  She was expecting a proposal, but not right there and then (she thought it would come that evening).

"Tanning Bed Mom" is out of the hospital and back in rehab.  She suffered a seizure at the rehab facility and was rushed to a hospital; but she's back detoxing and trying to get more pale.

Lady Gaga doesn't want whatever might be being said about her in a lawsuit to ever be heard by the public.  Her lawyers went to court filing a request to seal "certain information" in a lawsuit between a close friend of hers and her former boyfriend/producer.

Looks like the racist and homophobic rants of contestants on "Big Brother" will cost a third contestant their job.  Spencer Clawson is a railroad conductor for Union Pacific, and firing him will be more difficult, since he's a union employee.  His fellow contestants, GinaMarie and Aaryn have already been fired by their employers.