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NYC Under Attack?

Look! I did a FauxNews headline with a question mark! The wife tells me a small plane or helicopter has crashed into a building in New York. The building is on fire.

This information is unconfirmed and could be inaccurate.

NEW YORK (AP) — Police say an aircraft has crashed into a building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side at 72nd Street and York Avenue. It is near Rockefeller Center. [Source]

Here’s a photo.

Update: Live video and another picture.

Update: MSNBC chimes in.

According to local affiliate WNBC, officials said the aircraft was a helicopter, not a plane. That had not been confirmed by any other sources.

Apartments occupy floors 22 through 50; a hospital is on the lower floors. … struck struck the 20th floor…
[Source]

At least they don’t have far to go to find doctors.

Update: "NORAD is launching fighters to several U.S. cities." – unconfirmed.

New York City Police said there was no indication from defense department officials that any suspicious aircraft were in the area.
Prior to the crash, some witnesses said the craft was flying erratically.
[Source]

Update: NPR blog lists the aircraft as "a small plane."

The address of the building is 524 E. 72nd Street [map] — a 50-story condominium tower built in 1986 and located nearby Sotheby’s Auction House. It has 183 apartments, many of which sell for more than $1 million. [Source]

Update: Here’s a good roundup.

Update: "The building is a 50-story condominium tower built in 1986 and located nearby Sotheby’s Auction House. It has 183 apartments, many of which sell for more than $1 million." [Source]

Update: Al Jazera is also reporting it as a small plane.

And for the best American news coverage, check out the BBC.

168 firefighters on the scene. 4 alarm fire.

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Is it Spring yet?

Thus far, in the past 2 days, we’ve moved roughly 160 gallons of stuff (mostly clothing) to Goodwill. And removed every VHS movie that wasn’t homemade from this house (with minor exceptions – The Wall, Diablo Follies, …). Whoopie!

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How to make Dad feel bad.

Amy is very weepy today. She cried twice at school, and talked about missing Lucy. We suspect "Missing Lucy" means "I feel sad and can’t express why" or something akin to that. I feel helpless. I do not feel that I am meeting the basic needs of my family. I can hear my wife’s voice in my head, "Don’t make this about you" but I cannot helping feeling like the root cause of the problem.

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Ill logic

Sometimes I feel less like a programmer (or am I a developer?)

  • Developers have some knowledge of the domain and the business
  • Developers care about maintenance burden
  • Developers know that work methods are more important than technical chops
  • Programmers try to solve every problem by coding
  • Developers seek repeatability, programmers like one-off heroics
  • Programmers like complexity, developers favor simplicity
  • Developers care about users
  • Developers like to satisfy a need, programmers like to finish
  • Developers work, programmers play

[Source]

Well, right now I could go either way. Mostly if I can’t get over this technical hurdle I’m going to go nuts and beg for a phone support job. By his definitions, usually I am a developer.

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Monroe County Thanks You

I spoke with the Red Cross last night regarding the Monroe County family with the blind mother and 5 children that lost their home to fire. The children are ages 3-16. The fire occurred on the 16 year old’s birthday. They are looking for clothing in the following sizes: size 4 boy, girls size 6 and 8, boys size 14 and 16. The Monroe County Red Cross, unlike the Knoxville Red Cross, is self-supported through their own fund raising and donations. They have been very surprised by the community response from outside of Monroe County.

Yesterday someone donated 6 beds. The Red Cross gave them backpacks with some coloring books, toys, etc. They have been given a television and vcr and a vhs library of movies. Today they are hoping to arrange housing that is not a motel. I am not sure what else they have received.

If you want to help, call the help line at (423) 337-9011.

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Be a Patriot – Challenge Your Leaders

"Blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism."

A patriot does not tell people who are intensely concerned about their country to just sit down and be quiet; to refrain from speaking out in the name of politeness or for the sake of being a good host; to show slavish, blind obedience and deference to a dishonest, war-mongering, human-rights-violating President.

That is not a patriot. Rather, that person is a sycophant. That person is a member of a frightening culture of obedience–a culture where falling in line with authority is more important than choosing what is right, even if it is not easy, safe, or popular. And, I suspect, that person is afraid–afraid we are right, afraid of the truth (even to the point of denying it), afraid he or she has put in with an oppressive, inhumane regime that does not respect the laws and traditions of our country, and that history will rank as the worst presidency our nation has ever had to endure.
[Source]

"Blind faith in your leaders will get you killed" -Bruce Springsteen