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Monday
Excuse me, but just how is that explanation going comfort anyone and get them back into a jetliner? Is the possibility of gross mechanical failure somehow more reassuring than a terrorist planting a bomb onboard? Does the government and American Airlines really think that, if they prove mechanical failure as the cause of the crash, people are going to breathe a collective sigh of relief, shrug their shoulders and go buy a plane ticket? Ah, gee, just a plane engine blowing up by itself, tearing off a wing and plunging the aircraft into the ground. Nothing at all to worry about because, hey, at least it wasn't caused by a terrorist bomb. That's what they want us to say to ourselves. NO WAY! Either explanation will not likely instill confidence in air travel at the moment. Why, you ask? Well, if
this does turns out to be some sort of mechanical failure with the engines
(these GE-made engines are attached to a lot of planes in the air right
now), that they are either defective or American Airlines's maintenance
crew f**ked up, both AA and the government are going to look like putzes.
If it turns out that a terrorist managed t Late breaking news, they just found one of the flight recorders. Hmmm...
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On a bit lighter note, I finally signed an actual consultant's contract with San Diego City College so that I can get actual money for my Flash work with Math Mentor. The professor was able to get some CalWORKS funding to pay for five of us -- and of course, he's still writing grants to get more money for the program. The CalWORKS money won't be much, but at least it's something. I also completed (and received my check) for my first independent freelance web design project. It was a smallish project: a splash page and a template page (they have an employee who'll be adding the content), basically they needed a sophisticated interface design. They're a medium-sized company in San Diego and my hourly rate fit their budget. During the consultation, I got to meet with the head of the marketing company they're working with. He told me that he wants to meet with me regarding projects for his other clients. I hope this is true, but sometimes I just don't want to get my hopes up. Meanwhile, I received an email invitation from someone who used to be an editor with Wizards of the Coast/TSR and is now packaging an anthology. He'd found my writing projects page via a webring, read my sample short stories and thought my writing style was sufficiently dark for this anthology. So, now I'm going to read through the material (all the stories will have the same central character, based on one created by a 19th century mystery writer), think up an interesting (and hopefully spooky) story idea, write an outline and proposal for it and hope it gets commissioned. The anthology editor has the interest of several publishers, but until he has the stories commissioned, they won't draw up a contract. The deadline to submit outline/proposals is December 3rd, but the editor is willing to be flexible.
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Just
when you lull yourself into thinking it's safe to
fly again, a 767 jetliner takes a nosedive into a densely populated
neighborhood first thing on a Monday morning. Oy, poor New York, right
into the heart of Rockaway Beach in Queens. Of course, the media (and
the White House) are telling us not to...uh...jump to conclusions. Never
mind that we had attack jets circling the crash site. Never mind that
flights were grounded temporarily. Might not be a terrorist bomb involved,
they say, just a little...um...technical problem with one of
the plane's engines.
o
smuggle some plastique explosive aboard (and with low-bid airport security
companies and their minimum-wage inspectors, that's no surprise), both
AA and the government are going to look like putzes. (NOTE TO THE FTC,
FTSB: Matching bags to passengers without inspecting the actual baggage
is not going to keep bombs 'n such from being loaded onto a plane. Does
the term "suicide bomber" mean anything to you? Jeez!)
