The Eagle RETURNS …

Well, it’s about time, isn’t it??

But lemme explain: Yer friendly, neighborhood Double-E has been busy, runnin’ up and down this thing we call the web with blogposts like:
Musicbender
Musician’s Notebook
The Rock Relic
Rock, Rhythm and Rimshots and
The Fore Band

annnnnnd workin’ in my capacity as stateside Press Agent for The Fore, doin’ business reviews, a couple/three hard-copy articles, and the occasional personal-appearance.

Soooo … that explains that!

Now, I’m makin’ this one purposely short to letcha know that I’m back on-board, and we’re gonna flesh this thing out beginning in about 24 or so.

So check out the full posts beginnin’ Tuesday night …

Toyota’s New Electric Car

Toyota is bringing a small, electric city car concept vehicle to the Detroit auto show, where it will appear alongside the redesigned Prius hybrid.

No one’s saying much about the car other than confirming it’s purely electric and smaller than a Prius. “It’s a concept we are bringing to the show basically to confirm our interest in electric vehicles,” spokeswoman Jana Hartline says.

The Japanese automaker, which expects to post its first operating loss in 70 years, could introduce EVs as early as 2010.  At that time (now, get this:) it also wants to roll out the first plug-in Prius hybrids as part of its campaign to move beyond oil.

What we in the states would like is to see an electric version of the iQ city car coming to the United States. The iQ (pictured above, left) is a good candidate for electrification — small, light and cute as hell. There’s plenty of room under the hood for an electric motor, though the back seat would probably be tossed aside to make room for the battery.

That’s what BMW did with the Mini-E electric runabout. Lets just hope Toyota doesn’t follow BMW in charging $850 a month for its EV.

And a New York City man has designed a calendar that’s gonna drive Bubble Wrap fanatics popping-mad!

Stephen Turbek is selling a poster-size calendar covered with the plastic bubbles. Customers can pop a bubble each day to mark the passage of time (in other words, like you’d mark off a regular calendar).

He says he’s sold thousands of Bubble Calendars.   You can find a handmade calendar with paper backing online for $30, and a plastic version costs $50.

Turbek says it makes a perfect gift for obsessive people (remember: his words, not mine!) as long as they don’t pop the whole year on the first day they get it.

Great News For The Lungs

Lungs have been successfully “reconditioned” to make them suitable for transplanting, a team of Canadian doctors has claimed.

Up to 80% of donated lungs have sustained damage during death or intensive care treatments.

The team from Toronto General Hospital was able to keep lungs stable outside the body long enough to repair them.

“This has allowed us to progress from preserving donor lungs to actually being able to repair some of the injury before transplantation,” according to Dr Marcelo Cypel, a transplant specialist at Toronto General Hospital. “And we have done this using a unique strategy on donor lungs outside the body.”

The Toronto XVIVO Lung Perfusion System technique involves pumping a bloodless solution containing oxygen, proteins and nutrients into the damaged donor lungs, which are protected in a special chamber. This allows the surgeons the opportunity to assess and treat injured donor lungs, while they are outside the body.

A British team, at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester, are using a similar technique. They only allow the donor lungs to remain outside the body for a maximum of two hours, and use the time to assess in detail whether or not they are suitable for transplant.
However, the Toronto team, working with a company called Vitrolife, keeps the lungs for up to 12 hours.

So far four patients in Toronto have received lungs treated using this technique, and all have done well. Three were given donor lungs which already met transplant standards, but which were improved by the team. The fourth was given lungs which were not suitable for transplant before the XVIVO technique was used on them.

A SHORT, QUICK ASIDE

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas Day, but here’s a reminder that, in less than one week, we have a fantastic gift yet to be received:  that of a brand new year!
But not just any ‘new year’.   You all know the significance of the inauguration, meeting the challenges we’re facing at home, the prospect of finally seeing an end to this war in Iraq, and more.
As we see the positive and significant changes and modifications taking place nationally and globally this coming year, why not make it a resolution to provide the same for ourselves individually?

Now, if we stick to that “resolution”, we’ll have given ourselves a gift that’ll pay some tremendous dividends all year long!

Okay … more in less than 24.  So remember:

‘When ya feel the shadow crossing, the Eagle’s in the air …‘

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

How To Know When Santa’s Coming

Santa Claus may be able to fly around the world in a sleigh, but even he can’t cross North American airspace without NORAD (North American Air Defense Command) knowing about it.
For more than a half-century, this joint American-Canadian venture that keeps this continent safe against aerial attack has used its technology to follow Santa’s journey and provide real-time updates on his location to children worldwide.

The North Warning System, a network of 47 radars strung across the continent’s northernmost frontier, tells NORAD when St. Nick takes off from the North Pole. Infrared satellites track the jolly old elf’s flight path once he’s airborne.
“The satellites actually pick up an infrared signature from Rudolph’s nose,” Navy Lt. Desmond James says.

Once he touches down, a little-known network of surveillance cameras called “Santa Cams” transmit images of Santa making deliveries. This network went online 10 years ago,
and NORAD officials swear it’s used only on Christmas Eve.

HOW IT STARTED

Sears-Roebuck had put an ad in the local paper listing Santa’s phone number, but the number was misprinted. Instead of ringing the department store, it rang a national defense operations center.
A technician got the first call, and rather than being a Scrooge, he told the tyke, “Let me check the radar.”

A tradition was born.

In the half century since, NORAD has expanded and updated the program, which provides updates in seven languages. “We added the online component ten years ago,” James says. “And today, Google software outputs images from the Santa Cams, and Google Maps and Google Earth, we can track Santa Claus’ trajectory.”

Now your child can keep an eye on where Santa is, and if he’s close to your house. Just click on the noradsanta.org website.

Okay … we’ve got more comin’ up in less than 24 hours. So keep it right here, and remember …

When ya see the shadow crossing … the Eagle’s in the air!”

New Use For Cell Phones?

A NEW USE FOR CELL PHONES?

A new 007-esque cellphone hack could bring cheap, on-the-spot disease detection to even the most remote villages on earth.

Using only an LED, plastic light filter and some wires, scientists at UCLA scientists have modified a simple cellphone into a portable blood tester capable of detecting HIV, malaria and other illnesses!

As it stands, blood tests require either humongous machines that cost nearly a million bucks or technicians who identify and count cells manually under a microscope. Of course, these are slow, expensive processes — but, soon, they could be things of the past.

UCLA researcher Dr. Aydogan Ozcan images thousands of blood cells instantly by placing them on an off-the-shelf camera sensor and lighting them with a filtered-light source (coherent light, for you science buffs).

The filtered light exposes distinctive qualities of the cells, which are then interpreted by Ozcan’s custom software. By analyzing the cell types present in a much larger sample, a more accurate diagnosis can be made in a matter of minutes. No more sending blood away to a lab and waiting days or weeks for the results.

Can you imagine the good that’ll do — especially in time (as well as lives) saved? It’s amazing what man can come up with …

CHRISTMAS MEWS

On The Airliner Crash

We’ve all been following the story of the airliner that veered off a Denver airport runway, burst into flames — and nearly broke apart! Well, firefighters said earlier today that it was a miracle that no one was killed.

There’s still no word on the cause of the crash, though FIAA investigators have been on the scene since early this afternoon.
But we do know that the entire right side of the Boeing 737 was burned in the Saturday evening accident and melted plastic from overhead compartments dripped onto the seats!

“It was a miracle … that everybody survived the impact and the fire,” Bill Davis, an assistant Denver fire chief assigned to the airport, said. “It was just amazing.”

A crack went around much of the fuselage, and the left engine had broken off and was found about 30 feet away. The plane came to a rest about 200 yards from one of the airport’s four fire stations. Passengers (who left the plane on emergency slides) walked out of the ravine in 24-degree cold and crowded inside the station.

Thirty-eight people were injured, and the two whom you’ve heard were in “critical condition” were upgraded earlier today — one to “serious,” one to “fair”. Fewer than seven people were still in the hospital Sunday morning.

Apparently, the plane hadn’t started taking off, but went off-course almost 700 yards from the runway’s end. It came to rest in the snow-covered ravine. At the time of the accident, the weather was cold, but it wasn’t snowing.

Again — and, this, according to the professionals — it’s a miracle that none the passengers died in the crash.
And what better time for a miracle than at Christmas, huh??

Well, that’s all for this post. Of course, comments are always welcome (btw, I’m gonna address some of those comments at the first of the week.). So, until tomorrow, remember:

“When you see the shadow crossing, The Eagle’s in the air …”

It Was Expected (but it STILL hurts …)

To most of us, there was no doubt: The pitiful little remains in the bag they found near the Anthony home were those of little Caylee. And, this afternoon, word from Orange Country ME Dr. Jan Garavaglia, proved us right …
Nonetheless, it still tore everybody up; not just the deed, but that it was an innocent, two-year-old (at the time of her abduction) child who was cruelly murdered at the hands of …

who, exactly?? That’s what we’re waiting to find out from investigators. As it stands now, it appears Tot Mo — er, biological mother Casey Anthony is the sole killer; but will the results show an accomplice? Were her parents, boyfriend(s) — anyone else involved?

Stay tuned for the latest on this case, which is developing more turns than a pretzel …

BLAGOJEVICHIN’ Didja see that half-cocked “announcement” made by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (he of “Honest Roddy’s Used Senate Seat Emporium”)?
Man, that sucker could fake his way outta anything! Oh, I know … he sounded sincere, but … well, did anybody think to check out his body language while he was talkin’?

He was hopping and twisting around like he was in severe need of a bathroom break! His eyes looked like those of a kid whose mom had just caught him with his hand in the cookie jar!
Now, news reports have already told of his impulsiveness and anger (including choice ‘&*!@’ words at times), so how can anybody buy his excuses?

Legally, the state Senate can still proceed with impeachment hearings against him. For the sake of the state’s political reputation, it’s the least they can do.

THERE AUTO BE SOME RELIEF NOW

The recent bail-out of the General Motors and Chrysler Corporations (it was also offered to Ford, but they said [bless 'em] they didn’t need it) can (I said “can) mean a boost for other companies as well.

AK Steel in Ashland, Kentucky had to lay off hundreds of workers, due in part to the flagging auto industry; Firestone, Goodyear and other tire and rubber plants, the same; glass manufacturers, parts warehouses, etc. — many of whom have had to go “belly-up” (if only partly) due to the near-demise of the car crunch — may benefit from the effects of this bail-out (as long as GM/Chrysler keep their part of the bargain).

So, though the price tag is still pretty steep, maybe it’s providing a little “light at the end of the tunnel” after all!

“Beef Cologne”? Don’t Tell My Cats …

UPDATE: As of 1 PM EST this afternoon (19 November), the skeletal remains found just a few houses from Caylee Anthony’s grandparents have been identified as belonging to the missing three-year-old! More on this in the next post …)

First, lemme give you a quick “heads-up”:
NBC’s “Today” show is heading for prime-time, if only for one night.
On December 22, Matt Lauer, Meredith Veira, Al Roker and Ann Curry are going to be hosting an hour-long review of the year’s biggest news events (I assume they mean “to that point”. Fortunately, it won’t be all news, though; the show will include big moments in pop culture and some hysterical “Today” show bloopers. So be sure to tune in to your NBC affiliate on Monday!

WHERE’S THE BEEF?? ON … ME?!?!

It sounds almost like something outta Saturday Night Live.
Burger King™ has unveiled a new cologne/body spray for men (at least, I hope it’s for men only) that smells … like beef!

Now, I dunno about you, but it seems to me that, when ya wear cologne, it’s meant to attract the opposite sex, not salivating dogs, cats, or the chronically-starved!
And what happens if you wear the BK cologne in McDonald’s? Would they have you arrested for harassment?
Or what if you grabbed it by mistake and sprayed it on before going to church? Probably have the shortest sermon ever, as, within fifteen feet of you, folks’ stomachs start growling for their Sunday dinner!

Well, it could be worse … Kentucky Fried Chicken could have a cologne out, too (remember the female employees who took a bath in their dish sink?).

ONE MORE WORD (or two)

No sooner had I written the post hoping that investigators would be more careful with the Caylee Anthony case than they were with Adam Walsh’s than we get the report that the meter reader had to call them four times before they took action!
This is gonna take some serious following, because it appears now that the Orange County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Department is under fire for their apathetic attitude toward the discovery.
More on this as it develops, of course.

That’s it for now, but stay tuned … there’ll be more in 24! Until then, remember:
When you see the shadow crossing, the Eagle’s in the air …”

Man of the Year and the Investigation ..

Okay … was it any mystery that Time Magazine bestowed its prestigious Man Of The Year award (and front cover) on President-elect Barack Obama?
Yes, he does deserve it — and for three very good reasons:

• Sen. Obama has accomplished something that no other Presidential hopeful has done: He broke the racial barrier separating African-Americans from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue! That, in and of itself, is worthy of front-page Time, right?

• He’s to be inaugurated at a time when the country is at its lowest economic point since the Great Depression of 1929 — and there’s a war going on! These alone make for one of the heaviest loads to bear since FDR was elected in 1933.
• But he’s already addressing these issues actively … and he’s not even in office yet! The President-elect had told America that he expected to hit the ground running when he entered the White House — and if the way he’s sizing up the socioeconomic scene now is any indication, there’s a very strong chance he’ll keep his word!

Man Of The Year? If he handles everything with the same verve and determination he’s promised, he could end up Man Of The Decade!

The investigation into little Adam Walsh’s kidnapping and murder has closed, and the murder solved. The murderer, Ottis Toole, passed away years ago.
While we feel a sense of relief, and sympathy for his dad John Walsh, mom Reve and their family, there’s still something that doesn’t set right about all this:

How could so-called “competent” investigators have botched this case as they did?
The blood-soaked carpet in the car: missing. The car ITSELF: missing. Adam’s green shorts and single sandal found at Toole’s home: inconsequential. The week it took for the FBI to get involved.

Today, another young cherub is in the front-lines of investigatory news: Caylee Anthony. While skeletal remains have been found, and sent off for DNA sampling and autopsy, are other investigators dragging their feet now? Will it be decades before this one’s fully solved?
Maybe not, but, in the light of these mistakes made by those searching for little Adam, it’s just a new concern as the public’s sitting on proverbial “pins and needles”, waiting for action!

COUPLA QUICK-NOTES

Chrysler closes plants for at least a month. No big deal … who drives them now anyway??
Woman received face transplant. I just looked in the mirror this morning after gettin’ up. Where do I sign up for one of those?

(EagleScratch: This procedure is only to be used in situations of severe face deformity or accident. As proud as we are that this can now be accomplished, we should be doubly proud of the fact that the physicians are now offering this procedure to veterans of the Iraq/Afghanistan wars, whose faces have been maimed or disfigured in combat!)

Okay … time for this bird to get some shut-eye. But remember:
When you see the shadow crossing … The Eagle’s in the air …”