By the Numbers QUESTIONS

1. OK, this is a rhetorical question, but if the Interstates are part of our National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, how is it that the bridge in the Twin Cities, part of I-35, was able to fall into such disrepair? I mean, forget silly things like human lives and massive inconvenience; we're talking Homeland Security here. It seems to me that some of this massive amounts of $$$ for our supposed safety could, SHOULD be put in the less sexy area of infrastructure repair.

I suppose people around here, when they see the Minnesota tragedy, may recall the I-90 bridge collapse back in April 1987 west of Albany, near Amsterdam, in which 10 people were killed, or more recently, the I-88 culvert washout in which two truck drivers died. I travel over both areas regularly and say a little prayer each time I cross any bridge.

2. If you want to give yourself a headache, read a few dozen messages commenting on controversial videos on YouTube such as this one:

Al Jazeera English - Thank you for your feedback

"Still want to hear more from you so keep watching and keep sending in your videos"

This, and the original post asking for videos, got lots of feedback, from "Al Jazeera should be provided on all US cable companies as a regular NEWS channel" to "Al Jazeera represents a culture that stands in direct opposition to EVERYTHING America was founded on" to mentions of the attractiveness of the news reporter. But one reply just baffled me. It just gave four dates:

May 7, 1915
February 27, 1933
December 7, 1941
September 11, 2001

Now, I know what 9/11 was, and Pearl Harbor Day (12/7/1941). 2/27/1933 was the Reichstag fire in Germany, and 5/7/1915 was the sinking of the Lusitania. But what do the dates have in common, other than destruction? And what do they have to do with Al-Jazerra English? Am I missing something?
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On a lighter note, Chris Black gets funky. Who woulda thought?
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