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Showing posts from February, 2019

Bobsled track worker nearly run over by sled traveling at 75+ MPH at Lake Placid

A few days ago, two sleds crashed during the second run of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) World Cup four-man bobsled event near Lake Placid, New York. The first sled that crashed was the Swiss sled driven by Michael Vogt, and that was a typical bobsled crash: the sled tipped over onto its side during the run and slid to a halt after crossing the finish line. However, the second crash during the second four-man run in Lake Placid was more notable for multiple reasons . The sled that posted the fastest time in the first run of the two-run four-man event in Lake Placid was the Monegasque sled driven by Rudy Rinaldi. During the second run for the Rinaldi sled, the sled tipped over in the middle part of the racetrack, slid on its side for a few hundred feet or so, and was tipped back onto its runners by the steep banking of one of the turns. While the sled being tipped upright after a crash is, in and of itself, an unusual occurrence (usually, when a bobsled

Trump's purely political national emergency declaration imperils the American form of government

President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency in order to build a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, despite the lack of a legitimate basis for such a national emergency. This is, by far, easily the most controversial national emergency declaration in U.S. history. Usually, a national emergency is declared by the president for a legitimate reason, such as, to use historical examples, the Great Depression and the 9/11 attacks. Trump's national emergency declaration to build a border wall is the first instance in U.S. history of a national emergency being declared for the purpose of achieving a purely political objective instead of due to the presence of a legitimate national emergency. Prior to today, the previous instance of a national emergency declaration being controversial was when then-President Richard Nixon declared a national emergency due to a postal workers' strike in 1970, in which members of the U.S. Armed Forces and the National Guard were used