Eideard

The year Leroy MacKlem lost his veterans disability compensation for a bad hip, gasoline cost 27 cents a gallon, a Yankee shortstop named Rizzuto was the American League’s most valuable player and President Harry S. Truman ordered production of the hydrogen bomb. It was 1950.

He is about to get it back. All of it.

In a case as much about government bungling as one man’s perseverance, the Department of Veterans Affairs said last week that it would end years of litigation and repay Mr. MacKlem, 88, for six decades’ worth of disputed disability compensation, about $400,000…

To which Mr. MacKlem, a World War II veteran from Portland, Mich., replied, “I’ll believe it when I get the settlement…”

In 1944, he received a medical discharge and was assigned a 20 percent disability rating for service-connected arthritis in his hip, entitling him to disability compensation. Mr. MacKlem later went to work in a plastics factory in Detroit.

But in 1950, the Veterans Administration, as it was then known, severed his compensation, saying that his pain resulted from the “natural progress” of his pre-service injury. His monthly payments of $105 ended.

And there the case sat for 56 years.

In 2006, Mr. MacKlem — for reasons his lawyer could not explain — decided to appeal, saying the department made a “clear and unmistakable error” in its 1950 decision. A regional office in Detroit rejected his argument, and he submitted a notice of disagreement.

Then a curious thing happened. Mr. MacKlem received a letter in June 2007 saying that a review officer had concluded that the 1950 ruling was indeed wrong and that he should be granted retroactive benefits. Mr. MacKlem was not supposed to get that letter…A few weeks later, the department sent him another letter saying that the June notice was only a draft and that his benefits would not be restored. He appealed. And while his appeal was pending, a federal court ruled in 2009 that the department’s “extraordinary award procedure” for reviewing compensation awards larger than $250,000 or for retroactive payments dating back more than eight years was illegal.

In 2010, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims ruled that the department had to reinstate Mr. MacKlem’s award because it had been reversed under that now illegal “extraordinary award procedure…” This month, a federal appeals court upheld that decision…

“I’ve always had the feeling that the government was hoping that I would die so they wouldn’t have to pay,” said Mr. MacKlem, a widower with no children. Disability payments to veterans with no immediate survivors are returned to the department, Mr. Viterna said.

Having watched my closest friend more than once forced into battling the VA to keep benefits for injuries that kept him in hospital for 16 months after the war – I don’t doubt in the least that some petty-minded bureaucrat felt it his duty to screw some poor grunt who risked his life in one of the few worthwhile wars this nation has fought in centuries.

The host was the writer Alexander Waugh, the grandson of Evelyn Waugh and the son of Auberon Waugh, who was editor of the Literary Review in 1993 when the magazine first sponsored the prize. The idea was to “draw attention to the crude, tasteless, often perfunctory use of redundant passages of sexual description in the modern novel, and to discourage it.”

“We hoped no one would be writing this rubbish any more, but this prize has spectacularly backfired,” said Mr. Waugh from the stage. Straying from the matter at hand, he spontaneously treated the audience to a limerick about a man from Kildare who has sex on the stairs.

Judging from this year’s 12 nominated books, including ones by Lee Child, David Guterson and Stephen King, bad sex is alive and vigorous, sometimes frighteningly so.

The books’ sexually active protagonists are compared, among other things, to wakening beasts, lightning rods, outrageous sea creatures and “the midnight train.”

They are panting fast and hard, and long and slow; they are sniffing, heaving, kneading, rubbing, pinching, flicking, biting, burrowing, darting, plunging, thrusting, bucking, shuddering, shivering, trembling, swelling and convulsing. And they are wondering, in the case of one character: “Had the erection continued the whole time he was sleeping?” and “Where is my semen going..?”

Most authors seem to take the accusation that their sex is bad with good humor. “I hope to win it every year,” said Iain Hollingshead, who won in 2006 with a novel containing the game-changing phrase “bulging trousers…”

“It’s all about embarrassment,” said Michael Fishwick, publishing director of Bloomsbury. “The British are embarrassed about sex, probably in a way that Americans aren’t, and this makes everyone feel satisfyingly excruciating.”

From the stage, Mr. Waugh unearthed a crumpled piece of paper and handed it to Barbara Windsor, a soap opera actress who was presenting the prize.

She announced the winner: “David Guterous” (actually, it was David Guterson; she had forgotten her glasses) for several pages of super-enthusiastic sex in his novel “Ed King,” a reimagining of Oedipus Rex. The judges praised Mr. Guterson’s entry for its “uncertain register, euphemism and ineffective irony,” particularly in the part where “she abused him with a bar of soap.”

Unfortunately, all the nominees were foreign, so none made it to the ceremony. But Mr. Fishwick, who said that he was not Mr. Guterson’s actual editor, was on hand to pick up the award — a plaster foot, which is supposed to represent something to do with sex, though no one seems sure what — on behalf of Bloomsbury.

Mr. Guterson sent a message: “Oedipus practically invented bad sex, so I’m not in the least bit surprised.”

Brits are uptight enough about sex – and freethinking about literature and media – that this award makes great sense to me. Imagine this being a special social and artistic event in the United States. There would be few if any limits on the sex – and no accurate description or coverage in the mass media.

I’m not really certain who has it ass-backwards?

For the second year in a row, Tokai University can lay claim to the winner’s laurels in the 2011 Veolia World Solar Challenge, a sun-powered race challenge in Australia that winds over 1,800 miles between Darwin and Adelaide using only 5 kWh of on-board energy and the rest beamed in directly from the sun. As the race’s website says, “These are arguably the most efficient electric vehicles.”

According to the provisional results…seven teams managed to go the entire 2,998 kilometer but Tokai came out on top because their average speed – 91.54 kilometers an hour – was faster than any other finisher. The Tokai’s final time was 32 hours and 45 minutes. The fact that only seven teams finished out of a starting list of 37 shows that this is not an easy race, and this year was particularly difficult thanks to brush fires (set by arsonists) along the route.

Bravo!

We have kin who have worked their butts off for similar competitions in North America – and especially appreciate the effort not only by the designers and teams; but, everyone who works to produce the competition.

Members of the US army’s 502nd Regiment fire a mortar during 2010′s Operation Hamkari in Kandahar, Afghanistan. This image is part of a winning portfolio for the army photographic competition 2011.

Bravo.

 
Two years ago, aircraft designers were invited to build an electric airplane that could fly at least 200 miles in under two hours, using less than one gallon (3.8 liters) of fuel per occupant – or the electrical equivalent. Whichever plane performed best would win its makers a prize of $1.35 million. That was the idea behind the Green Flight Challenge, a NASA competition that was managed by the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency (CAFE) Foundation, and funded by Google.

Well, the challenge wrapped up last week, with the winners being announced this Monday. Pennsylvania’s Pipistrel-USA team took first place, for its Taurus G4.

The twin-fuselage aircraft has seating for four people, and a 145-kilowatt brushless electric motor that turns a two-bladed propeller, which is mounted between the fuselages. Its wingspan is approximately 75 feet.

Out of 14 aircraft originally entered in the competition, it was one of three to make it through to the finals… Of those finalists, both the Taurus and the second-prize-winning eGenius doubled the required fuel efficiency, in that they each used the equivalent of just over half a gallon of fuel per occupant.

The Taurus specifically managed an equivalent fuel efficiency of 403 passenger miles per gallon at a speed of 107 miles per hour – according to Pipistrel team leader Jack Langelaan, that is twice as fast and efficient as a fully-occupied Toyota Prius.

“Two years ago the thought of flying 200 miles at 100 mph in an electric aircraft was pure science fiction,” he stated. “Now, we are all looking forward to the future of electric aviation.”

Bravo! The senior pilot in my extended family [I'm the only one who never piloted a plane] will be here this weekend. Though he’ll probably see this first, here in my blog, I’m looking forward to interesting discussions about the achievement.

A 77-year-old Ukrainian man won a jar full of sour cream for coming first in a dumpling eating contest and then promptly died, local media reported on Wednesday.

Ivan Mendel ate 10 dumplings in half a minute to win first place and a one-liter jar of sour cream in the contest held in the town of Tokmak in the southeastern Zaporizhya region on September 18, Fakty I Kommentarii newspaper said.

Shortly afterwards, Mendel became unwell and died, according to local news websites.

Dumplings, called “vareniki” in the former Soviet republic, are a staple of Ukrainian cuisine and are often stuffed with a range of fillings from mushrooms to cherries.

WTF?

They didn’t say what the stuffing was for the contest? I prefer potato.

A book advising dentists on how to run their practices Mongolian warlord style has won the Diagram prize for oddest book title of the year.

Managing a Dental Practice the Genghis Khan Way, by former dentist Michael Young, offers a guide on how to build an empire in the dentistry field. It includes chapters on managing conflict situations, team building and “planning for disaster”…

In his book, Young argues that despite the western world viewing the legendary warrior in negative terms, his warmongering tenacity is required to build a successful business.

Its closest rival was 8th International Friction Stir Welding Symposium Proceedings, which details the development and application of friction stir welding at a German symposium last May…

This year’s other shortlisted titles were What Colour Is Your Dog?, The Italian’s One-Night Love-Child, Myth of the Social Volcano and The Generosity of the Dead.

Previous winners of the prize include Living with Crazy Buttocks, Greek Rural Postmen and their Cancellation Numbers, How to Avoid Huge Ships and Highlights in the History of Concrete.

Rock on Michael Young. I can’t wait to see if my dentist has read this, yet.

Andrés Iniesta breaks everyones’ heart in Holland

A match like many of the World Cup Finals I’ve watched in the past forty years.

Mostly played out in the midfield. Individual attacks, sometimes in pairs or threes; but, never jeopardizing the need for defense. Some of those efforts almost succeeded, should have succeeded. But, that was up to the players on the pitch.

No brilliant field general or Titan of sport. Just twenty-two skilled, talented, disciplined and well-trained athletes giving their all.

I didn’t expect more than that. It was well worth watching.

Netherlands 0 – 1 Spain

Yes, South Africa was a big winner on the day, as well.

Automotive technology is evolving at a dizzying pace, and training the next generation of car engineers is no longer confined to traditional classrooms and textbooks. Real-world, hands-on experience is crucial and that’s why collegiate engineering competitions like the EcoCar Challenge are more important than ever before. The 2010 finals have just ended and [Motorweek] we were proud to take part in the judging, so let’s tally up the results.

EcoCar is a three-year competition in which 16 North American college teams were challenged to improve the emissions and fuel economy of a compact GM crossover vehicle while retaining all of its utility, safety and performance.

Teams were allowed to design their own drivetrain architectures, and chosen technologies included full-electrics, plug-in hybrids, fuel cells, and extended range electric vehicles…

After a year of modeling and simulation, teams were given their vehicles for year two, and have worked ever since on implementing their designs. But the students also had to think real-world in terms of packaging their components, fit and finish, drivability and consumer acceptance…

All these kids are top-notch engineers already, even before they’ve graduated. But what we’re doing is giving them experience with the latest tools and techniques, plus a very long-term disciplined process that we give to them and their schools so that they can have a three-year experience doing something really big…

After a grueling week of testing, Mississippi State University claimed top honors for 2010. Their Biodiesel extended-range electric vehicle achieved fuel economy equivalent to 118 miles per gallon while also achieving the fastest acceleration and autocross times and the cleanest tailpipe emissions. Congratulations also go to Virginia Tech for 2nd place, and Penn State in 3rd position.

But the EcoCar Challenge doesn’t end here. Year Three of the competition is when teams must show full component integration in a near-production-ready vehicle.

Bravo! To the students and sponsors together and separately. This kind of hands-on experience is invaluable. And, frankly, the competition seems to be turning out some interesting drive trains.

Photo from GUARDIAN Eyewitness iPad app

Any idea who had the winning ticket?