Boeing Globemaster 3

Boeing Globemaster III (A7-MAB)

This aircraft has recently been flying back and forth between England and Qatar.

How Russia Plans to Rule Eurasia by River

How Russia Plans to Rule Eurasia by River
CaspianReportThere is an ad from 1:30 to 2:45

Video via Building Eurasia’s New Fortress by Sean Ring. Introduction:

Alfred Thayer Mahan & Halford Mackinder

For over a century, two dead advisors have shaped the way great powers view the world.

On one side, we have Alfred Thayer Mahan—the American naval officer who believed sea power determined global supremacy. According to Mahan, controlling the oceans means controlling trade. If you control trade, you control wealth. If you control wealth… well, you get the picture.

On the other side is Halford Mackinder, the British geographer who argued the exact opposite. Forget the seas, he said. Whoever controls the “World Island”—Eurasia—controls the world. Railways, rivers, pipelines, and land empires are what count. Not frigates and aircraft carriers.

Mahan and Mackinder are no longer with us, but their ideas continue to influence the world today.

And we’re watching it unfold.

Wikipedia articles:

• Alfred Thayer Mahan
• Halford Mackinder

Chile Mine Disaster

El Teniente New Level Mine, Chile

One miner is dead and five more are missing. Aljazeera has the story. The mine is located in the Andes Mountains about 50 miles south-southeast of Santiago. More posts about copper mining here.

Mexican DC-3

Fuerza Aérea Mexicana (Mexican Air Force) Douglas DC-3C

It looks official, but there are no DC-3s listed in the Mexican Air Force's current inventory.

Goddess of Kannon Statue

Goddess of Kannon statue, Japan

Sendai Daikannon, officially known as the Sendai Tendou Byakue Daikannon, is a large statue located in Sendai, Japan. It portrays a woman, the bodhisattva Byakue Kannon holding the cintamani gem in her hand.

It is the tallest statue of a goddess in Japan and the tenth-tallest statue in the world, at 330 feet. The statue itself is 302 feet tall, while the pedestal brings its total height to 330 feet. At the time of its completion in 1991, it was the tallest statue in the world, but it was surpassed by Ushiku Daibutsu in 1993. - Wikipedia

The Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy Hey Girl

The Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy Hey Girl (Official Music Video)
The Chemical Brothers

Not much of a tune, but the video is entertaining. The Chemical Brothers have appeared here before.

Where do you live?

State Farm commercial Never
A PERFECT LIFE MOMENT

I'm reading a story on Crime & Consequences about crime reporting and this lines appears:

On average, 69% live in suburban areas, 19% live in rural areas, and 12% live in urban areas.

I'm surprised, I thought most of the people lived in cities, but I guess suburban sprawl is where we want to be.

Back to the story, this business of crime reporting seems a little fishy. They're quoting all these numbers that purport to show the percentage of crimes being reported, but how do you know how many crimes are not being reported? I suspect statistical sleight-of-hand.