Vuvuzela culture

Tolerance of other cultures? Tolerance at a distance maybe. Having heard about the vuvuzela long before the World Cup, there's no way in HELL I'd have attended.

The vuvuzela is like a needlessly loud motorcycle. It's just obnoxious, and the responsible party is just being a thoughtless creep. "Mood Killer" is a perfectly apt description.

"Addressing calls for a vuvuzela ban in an interview with the BBC, Danny Jordaan, the head of the World Cup organizing committee in South Africa, said that the vuvuzela would only be forbidden if fans started throwing the trumpets onto the pitch."

Well, there you have it. 20,000 vuvuzelas raining onto the field might have an impact.

in reference to: The World from Berlin: Vuvuzela a 'Global Synonym for Mood Killer' - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International (view on Google Sidewiki)

Piping feature

I can't see leaking pipes causing the sinkholes in Guatemala City. Most likely these holes are the direct result of subsidence due to excessive groundwater pumping. It may be that storms and leaky pipes precipitate the visible consequences, the sinkholes, but the root cause is many decades of excessive groundwater pumping.

in reference to:

"In fact, Bonis thinks calling the Guatemala City chasm a sinkhole is a misnomer—a true sinkhole is an entirely natural phenomenon. There is no scientific term for what happened in Guatemala, he said, adding that he recommends the pit be dubbed a piping feature."
- Guatemala Sinkhole Created by Humans, Not Nature (view on Google Sidewiki)

Maybe there won’t be a tragedy.

...The cockpit recording shows that Russian air traffic controllers told the pilot, “There are no conditions for landing.”

Mr. Protasiuk thanked them and said, “We’ll make an attempt, but if the weather isn’t good, we’ll leave for a second round.” About seven minutes before the crash, controllers told the pilot to reascend from an elevation of 325 feet, and he answered, “If we fail to land, we are reascending on autopilot.” ...

... “It’s going to be dreadful, we won’t be able to see anything,” a crew member said at one point.

Mr. Protasiuk was more hopeful. “Well, no, you can see the ground,” he said, six minutes later. “You can see something. Maybe there won’t be a tragedy.”

Maybe there won't be a tragedy. Wow!

in reference to:

"“It’s going to be dreadful, we won’t be able to see anything,” a crew member said at one point. Mr. Protasiuk was more hopeful. “Well, no, you can see the ground,” he said, six minutes later. “You can see something. Maybe there won’t be a tragedy.”"
- Pilot in Crash of Polish Jet Saw Chance of Landing - NYTimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)