Category: All Posts

The Big Dig body count

I drive through the central artery tunnel of Boston’s infamous Big Dig every so often, when visiting my friend Morris, or seeing my retinologist. SamJay uses the Big Dig every workday.

The Boston Globe has been good about staying on top of the project’s many failings, most of which seem to be due to incompetence and/or corruption, rather than inherent engineering challenges. Today’s Globe has the story of how an alleged lack of attention to detail in the design of guard rails has resulted in deaths and dismemberment.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/02/14/the_big_digs_deadly_safety_rails/

Captain America steeping in the tea baggers

Marvel Comics is taking some heat for what’s being taken as a swipe against the Tea Baggers, in the latest issue of Captain America.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100211/ts_ynews/ynews_ts1129

I heard about this while watching Keith Olbermann. Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada issued a statement that seemed to implicate… the letterer?? Then, in the middle of the piece, Bill Clinton’s doctors held a press conference about his heart stent operation. I just checked the MSNBC site and this part of Olbermann’s show isn’t there, so I grabbed it myself from the re-broadcast at 10. I sure can make good video transfers off of Verizon FiOS TV, huh?

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2010/FEB/Olbermann.flv 512 384]

Clinton’s doctors refused to say what brand of stent was used but if it’s a Kamen stent there’s still a comics connection, because it was invented by Dean Kamen, son of the late comic book artist Jack Kamen.