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“Whumph!” It sounds like somebody just dropped a sack of potatoes from 50 feet high into 3 feet of powder snow. On instinct, you will turn to see where it came from. There are no indicators: A moonscape of fresh snow extends as far as you can see up the steep mountain slopes. If you’re not scared by now, then you don’t realize the risk: The daunting power of nature may be about to unleash its ultimate winter force, an avalanche. The “whumph” noise is a warning sound that an avalanche may be imminent. It occurs when a deep layer...

Her driving record includes seven ­accidents, four speeding violations, two failures to stop for a police officer, one failure to stay in her lane, one driving without registration or license in possession, and one driving without wearing a seat belt. When she was nabbed for speeding in New Hampshire in 1999, she failed to show up at her hearing, records show. Until Nov. 1, her license was on nonrenewal status for failure to pay local excise taxes. There are 34 entries on her driving record, dating back to 1982. Yet Sheila Burgess is director of the Massachusetts Highway Safety Division.

This is the ACTUAL Boeing 777-300ER passenger safety briefing video that Air New Zealand began using today, November 1st. In all of my years of flying, this is likely the FIRST time I have paid attention to the brief video, all the way through! Watch closely for all the stars, and people connected to the author.

A Glass Menagerie Society "We have seen that in this country in the last few years, particularly on Wall Street, with the rise of the old human frailty of greed. This occurs when people begin to serve only their own needs to the detriment of everyone else." Lee R. Raymond This week I was reminded how fragile of a society we are. As we watch the snow ball effect of the break up of the Eurozone and it's currency... we need to not forget of what is going to occur here soon if our leaders don't get their act together....

Thinking about all the new gun owners out there, I thought this might be a good time to discuss gun/ammo facts, safety issues, training, and legalities within Fedgov and various State laws. This thread should also include various other self-defense items, such as: pepper spray, tazers/stun guns, batons (including extendable), other material items, and various forms of Martial Arts (including Krav Maga).

RealClearPolitics has compiled a series of little previews of the First Couple’s interview with Barbara Walters, set to air on 20/20 tonight. Every clip is notable in its own way, but this wins the award for most candid. The president — who has alternately inspired, disappointed, reignited and flamed out — admits that, deep down, he’s a little bit lazy. He thinks it stems from growing up in Hawaii, where it’s always sunny and folks sit on the beach for sport, he said. Makes you think Obama’s constant accusations that Congress does nothing might actually be transparent projections of his...

When there is a plane crash in the U.S., even a minor one, it makes headlines. There is a thorough federal investigation, and the tragedy often yields important lessons for the aviation industry. Pilots and airlines thus learn how to do their jobs more safely. The world of American medicine is far deadlier: Medical mistakes kill enough people each week to fill four jumbo jets. But these mistakes go largely unnoticed by the world at large, and the medical community rarely learns from them. The same preventable mistakes are made over and over again, and patients are left in the...

The last remaining full-body X-ray airport scanners are to be scrapped within weeks. The security systems, which have been tested at air terminals since 2009, scan through passengers’ clothes, creating a detailed ghost-like image of the naked body. The scan is then viewed by security staff. Critics said the machines invaded passengers’ privacy and the radiation they generate raised the risk of cancer. Some Muslim groups also refused to walk through them on religious grounds....The report from the EC's Committee in May said radiation doses were 'very low' compared with other sources such as cosmic radiation received during flights. But...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Al Jazeera is reporting that American and Israeli flags are being burned in London. Israeli and US flags being burned in London according to Al Jazeera. We know that the University of Texas has evacuated their campus after a phoned-in bomb threat from Al-Qaeda. No bombs were found. Fargo, North Dakota, state university has ordered all employees and students off campus after receiving a bomb threat. But everything's okay because I got an e-mail from the Obama campaign. Ambassadors are being murdered, former SEALs are dying, embassies are burning across the Middle East, but don't worry, we...

In the wake of the Aurora mass shooting, the usual pattern is playing out with respect to gun control. People such as Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Piers Morgan and Bill Moyers are beating the drum to restrict firearm ownership, as others try to beat them back. One side says we'd be safer if guns were rarer; the other says that more guns equal less crime. One side says guns kill people, the other that people kill people. Facts and feelings are bandied back and forth (although one side specializes in the facts and the other in the feelings), but in all...

The following institutions, grouped by state, boast perfect scores using a method developed to diagnose failing banks. ### The relationship Americans have with their banks used to be based on trust. As well it should be. In many ways, banks make some of our biggest financial dreams come true. We go to the bank when we want to buy our dream home, and again when we remodel the kitchen. Our bank helps us buy that great new car we've been thinking about. When we retire, the bank turns a lifetime of savings into income by paying us interest on money-market...

LITCHFIELD -- An official with the state Attorney General's Office has confirmed that a police officer was involved in a deadly shooting in Litchfield Monday afternoon. State police and members of the state's Attorney General's Office are at 31 Page Road. Several neighbors say a man in his early 30s, a resident of the park at No. 23, died of a gunshot wound around 2 p.m. on Monday. Read the rest of the article here ...

Houston police officer Karl Pederson is all too familiar with the consequences of a curious child coming into contact with a gun. During his 27 years on the force - 15 spent working at Texas Children's Hospital - he's seen too many kids die in gun-related tragedies. "All the children's deaths have stuck with me," the 49-year-old father of two said. "Any time a child loses their life, it's just crushing to me, and I think it can always be prevented." For some, prevention means keeping kids as far away from guns as possible. For Pederson, it means placing a...

Fireworks are a high point for any Independence Day celebration, but pets can become distressed by the additional noise and commotion. In fact, animal shelters across the nation are accustomed to receiving “July 4th” dogs—dogs who run off during the fireworks celebration and are rescued by animal control officers or good samaritans. "Pets are family members, and it’s understandable that we want to include them in our holiday plans," said Jeff Ingerson, Animal Control Officer. "However, most pets will be more comfortable staying at home. Spare your furry friends the stress of fireworks, crowds and fanfare on the Fourth of...

In December of 1968, America won the moon race. NASA didn’t actually accomplish JFK’s goal of sending a man to the moon and returning him safely to earth until eight months later with the historic Apollo 11 mission, but on that fateful Christmas Eve, when the Apollo 8 astronauts read from Genesis to an awestruck planet, as they circled our nearest neighbor, the Soviets knew that they weren’t going to win, and they not only quit, but also pretended they’d never been racing. It was a very risky flight, the first one to send an Apollo capsule beyond earth orbit,...

   TDPRI   SmallDeadAnimals   Sharinator   h/t Speedunque

A side mirror that eliminates the dangerous "blind spot" for drivers has now received a U.S. patent. The subtly curved mirror, invented by Drexel University mathematics professor Dr. R. Andrew Hicks, dramatically increases the field of view with minimal distortion. Traditional flat mirrors on the driver's side of a vehicle give drivers an accurate sense of the distance of cars behind them but have a very narrow field of view. As a result, there is a region of space behind the car, known as the blind spot, that drivers can't see via either the side or rear-view mirror. It's not...

For my next project at CEI, I’m planning to do an Issue Analysis (similar to the one I did on Space Property Rights) laying out the history of risk and safety regulations, to provide some context for what is happening with both commercial crew (and other human spaceflight) at NASA, and with potential regulations that the FAA-AST may impose when the moratorium ends in 2015 (it will also make the case for extension).

CONWAY – A teenager is being called a hero by the family he protected from armed intruders early Monday morning.Brady, 14, is a trained trap shooter who used his own shotgun to intimidate two black males who he says broke into his family's house just after midnight Monday morning."They both had silver revolvers pointed at me, and we just kind of pointed at each other for like three seconds and then I yelled, ‘Hey!'" said Brady, "And they and they took off running."Nothing has been reported stolen from their house.The full names of Brady's family are being concealed for safety...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Parents of children who work on the family farm or are in agriculture education programs should thoroughly review proposed changes to child labor laws so they fully understand how the new rules could affect them, a Purdue farm safety specialist advises. "Because the proposed rule changes are 51 pages long, I don't know that many people understand exactly what's being presented," Bill Field said. "The changes not only hold the potential for positive but also significant negative effects to youth less than 16 years old who seek employment or are currently employed in agriculture."