Las Vegas Atomic Testing Museum review

The museum is a very short cab ride away from the Strip and is a good way to spend an hour or two after losing your car and first born at the craps table.  It was put together really well and contains a lot of authentic artifacts.  My only complaint was that there was too much information (text) that went along with each display.

Adult tickets are $12.  No photography allowed.

This is some of the cool stuff I learned and saw:

1. The atomic cannon (1953).  This was the first and only atomic cannon.  The shell delivered 15 kiloton's worth of nuclear goodness.

2. Testing near Vegas Strip.  I had no idea how close the testing was.  You could actually see the mushroom cloud from Fremont Street.

3. Kosmos 954 (1978).  A nuclear powered Soviet satellite crashed into the Canadian wilderness.  Full story here.

4. Bikini Atoll test (1946): The water-borne test left me speechless.

Here is a great overview of the museum:

Museum website.

Ahmed Sharif donations (Stabbed New York cabbie)

Earlier this week, a man stepped into Ahmed Sharif's taxi cab in Manhattan.  He asked Sharif if he was Muslim.  When Sharif said yes, the attacker slit Sharif's throat and arm.  Sharif survived the brutal attack but cannot work for at least four months.  He supports his wife and four children.  One of them is just 10 months old.  Donations to help the Sharif family so far has been lackluster.

Story.
Donate.

North Korean-built Mercedes 190E

North Korea built this in 1988.  It was alternately called the Kaengsaeng 88, the Pyongyang 4.10, and the Paektusan.  They lacked heaters, AC, and had mismatched windows.  Awesome.

Bolivia lithium facts documentary

If you have not heard by now, a huge ($1 trillion worth) amount of lithium lies under a salt lake in Bolivia, South America's poorest country.  Here is some background from a 2009 piece.

Though President Evo Morales is keen to keep revenue from the country's mineral resources with its people, he needs outside capital and know-how to extract the lithium.  Being anti-yanqui means no American companies will be allowed in.  Venezuela, a close ally, doesn't even have the wherewithal to efficiently pump out its own oil.  And I think China has screwed over enough African countries for Bolivia to know better.

My bet is that Japanese, South Korean, and Brazilian firms will partner with Bolivia to exploit the lithium.

So what lies in the future?  What if lithium battery technology is replaced by a cheaper, better technology?  Will the Bolivian government be able to effectively modernize and enrich its poverty-stricken nation?  Will Bolivia use the money to build up its military and intimidate Chile into "returning" the strip of land around Arica so that Bolivia will end its landlocked nation status?  Only time will tell.

Here is a 26 minute documentary that came out a few weeks ago about Bolivia's challenges.

Let's hope this does not turn out to be another Potosi mine.  During the colonial period, Indians extracted 137 million pounds of silver out of a mountain.  It did nothing for Bolivia.

Why do women wear the hijab (or don't)?

Fascinating declarations from women in seven countries.  They sincerely and insightfully explain why they do (or don't) wear the Muslim head scarf.

U.S. withdrawal from Iraq/Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan

Iraq/Kuwait border, 2010:

Afghanistan/Soviet border, 1989:

North Korean MiG-21 crash in China photo

It is unclear whether the pilot was trying to defect to Russia.  I cannot believe how many countries still use these old Cold War relics.  Blue represents current operators, red means former operators.

High quality footage of MiG-21's interior and exterior:

MiG-21 on the Discovery Channel:

Japanese PM avoids Yasukuni Shrine and "apologizes"

For the first time, Japan's prime minister decided not to visit the Yasukuni shrine on the anniversary of Japan's surrender.  The shrine honors and respects the war dead, including about a dozen war criminals.  This has always been a source of tension between Japan on one side and Korea and China on the other.

This is a pretty big deal, especially for East Asians.  But of course, it had to take a non-LDP leader to make the bold and unpopular decision.  PM Kan's "apology" was pretty strong and sincere as well:


"We caused great damage and suffering to many nations during the war, especially to the people of Asia," Kan told a crowd of about 6,000 at an annual memorial service for the war dead at Budokan hall in Tokyo.
"We feel a deep regret, and we offer our sincere feelings of condolence to those who suffered and their families," he said. "We renew our promise to never wage war, and we promise to do our utmost to achieve eternal world peace and to never repeat again the mistake of war."  Source.

But leave it up to Le Pen and his compatriots to stir things up:

 

Putin flies water bomber to put out fires

Like him or hate him, Putin is one bad mofo.

Aircraft experts: Is she right?  40,000 TONS of water?

China Beijing gated community for the poor

By Melissa Chan of Al Jazeera English:

Presidential candidate Wyclef Jean's McLaren F1

I can't fault a successful guy for owning a McLaren F1, but that same successful guy may not be the best person to run an impoverished country like Haiti.

Video here.

Oh, and he has a fish tank in his Hummer H2.

Locations of atomic nuclear detonations and tests

Today is the 65th anniversary of the bombing in Hiroshima.  This is an animation showing all of the blasts that took place between 1945 and 1998.  It is truly shocking.  If you don't have time to watch the whole thing, skip to 12:10, when the artist summarizes the locations and attributes them to each nuclear power.

 

Citroen XM, the Berlin Wall, and Red Square

In 1990, two Dutchmen (who else?) drove a Citroen XM from Paris to Moscow and back.  There are incredible images of old French and Soviet-era cars, the crumbling Berlin Wall, and Warsaw Pact roads before they became clogged with third-hand Audis.  And is it just me, or were the XM's tires under inflated?

Russia Navy Day celebration

Anti-missile defense

Strong teeth

Frogmen parade

Hammer and bricks

Peek-a-boo

Now, Misha, this is how you assemble...

Restrepo movie trailer

I went into the theater today to see Agora, but I should have seen this documentary about our attempt to secure the Korangal Valley in Afghanistan instead.  Here is an article about our failed and futile efforts there.  All I have to say after watching this trailer is that we need to at least quintuple the resources we put into providing mental health care for our veterans.

Chinese diaspora interactive map

Click here.

North Korean military parade set to funk music

If you enjoyed the Chinese Red Army singing Michael Jackson's Beat It, you'll enjoy this even more.

I don't know which I find more fascinating-- the hip-hoppy sword dance or the precision marching.

Female Imams in China (and female mosques)

PBS A Walk to Beautiful documentary: Fistula victims in Ethiopia

In Ethiopia (and many developing countries), girls carry water and wood as soon as they learn to walk.  Coupled with malnutrition, they grow up tiny.  Many are married off young-- ten, eleven, sometimes even eight years old.  They get pregnant and when they deliver (without ob-gyns* or even qualified midwives), complications arise because the babies are too big for the mothers' tiny bodies.  Fistulas often result and the women become incontinent (urine and/or feces).

It gets worse.  Without treatment, the young women are ostracized.  They cannot work or even socialize.  Husbands leave them.  The "lucky" ones get to stay in makeshift, glorified doghouses on their family's property, as outcasts.

This is a story about a hospital in Addis Ababa that helps these woman.  Below is the trailer and you can watch the whole documentary here (52 minutes) or on Netflix Watch Instantly.

There are billions of people in need and a million worthy causes.  But this is definitely something that caught my attention.

*Ethiopia has a population of 77 million and it only has 160-odd ob-gyns.

Crossing the Line movie (American defector in North Korea)

I just watched this documentary last night.  It's a fascinating look into the mind of an American GI who defected to North Korea in the 1960s.  I am surprised at how much leeway the North Korean government allowed in interviewing and following this guy throughout Pyongyang.  It is more about the man and what makes him tick than politics and ideology.  James Dresnok had a rough childhood in Virginia.  He was in foster homes and dropped out of high school.  He deserted when his marriage failed.  He was lauded as a hero in North Korea but tried to defect again by approaching the Soviet embassy (he failed).  He has a blond haired adult son with a kidnapped Romanian woman (who passed away).  He is now married and has a young son with the illegitimate daughter of a Korean woman and Togolese diplomat.  The story is strange and I've barely touched on the truly bizarre parts.