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Gunmen Kill Senior Karzai Aide, Afghan MP in Kabul
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Congressman in hand-to-hand combat with gunman
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 07/18/2011 02:55 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The incident ended when Boswell's grandson grabbed a gun from another room and pointed it at the intruder
Aren't you glad your party's gun-control efforts have been stymied, Congressman?
Posted by: Spot || 07/18/2011 7:58 Comments || Top||

#2  So the honorable congressman is a Democrat (and I presume support their gun-control agenda) and has a gun at his 'rural farm home'.

Is this a case of "Gun rights for me... but not for thee..."?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/18/2011 8:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Congressman, take this up with you gun-grabbin colleagues such as Diane Feinstein, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Dick Durbin, Frank Lautenberg, Carolyn McCarthy, Barack Obama, Michael Bloomberg, etc. They would have your guns too if they had their way.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/18/2011 8:34 Comments || Top||

#4  His grandson is 22 years old and just pointed a shotgun at the armed intruder without firing it. Boy needs to learn about the follow-through. Unless he doesn't care for his grandfather much.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/18/2011 9:10 Comments || Top||

#5  the congressman served two terms(?) in Vietnam. So why would he belong to a party that so gleefully wants to disarm us?
Posted by: blackjack || 07/18/2011 12:08 Comments || Top||

#6  The grandson was probably worried he might blow away his grandfather along with the perp with the scatter gun.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/18/2011 12:08 Comments || Top||

#7  I don't see anything in the quick voting record about his gun views. Mostly he is a farm subsidy guy and a blue dog.

Either way, I'm surprised that he took matters into his own hands. Good on him either way.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/18/2011 12:27 Comments || Top||

#8  gunman...congresscritter...gunman....congresscriter... who to root for?
Posted by: Jeremiah and Tenille2412 || 07/18/2011 13:34 Comments || Top||

#9  ...so you're saying, no honor among thieves?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/18/2011 15:31 Comments || Top||

#10  "gunman...congresscritter...gunman....congresscriter... who to root for?"

I think I'll root for the grandson, J&T.
Posted by: Barbara || 07/18/2011 16:31 Comments || Top||

#11  Boswell has an A rating from the NRA.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 07/18/2011 16:41 Comments || Top||


Groom arrested for having contact with bride
[Emirates 24/7] As a couple waited in an Illinois courthouse for their civil marriage ceremony, police moved in and tossed in the clink the groom.

The groom, police said, was violating terms of his bail on Wednesday, which prohibited him from contacting the alleged victim of a domestic battery, the Decatur Herald and Review reported.

The alleged victim was the bride.

Police said a woman reported she had been viciously beaten in her home on March 5. The assault included allegedly being pushed into kitchen cabinets and being thrown through a coffee table. On March 9, the victim was granted an order of protection against the man.

The man was released March 11 and told to stay away from the victim. Two weeks later, he was tossed in the clink after an alleged second domestic assault involving the same woman.

The man is expected in court on on Monday for the domestic battery case, the newspaper said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Uh, uh, POLICE COMPLAINTS FOR ARREST, RESTRAINING ORDERS = NEW PRE-NUPTIAL AGREEMENTS??

gut nuthin.

Iff the "engagement" = two beatings, gotta wonder how it'll be once married???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/18/2011 0:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Can't you just smell the marriage bliss to come?

No... no... that's the vomit....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/18/2011 1:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Ike Turner would approve
Posted by: Frank G || 07/18/2011 13:44 Comments || Top||

#4  I swear, this sounds like the season-opener for the new reality TV Show Groom-Monsters ... the follow on to Bridezillas!
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 07/18/2011 17:40 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Girl with no arms and legs fails cheer-leading try-out 3rd year in a row - lawsuit at eleven
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 07/18/2011 09:59 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Inspirational if it weren't for the pity party. Note that the test was only unfair after she didn't make the established test minimums.

Perhaps when she graduates she could cheer for Alabama.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 07/18/2011 12:17 Comments || Top||

#2  I suppose she would demand to be a firefighter or a member of the Army Rangers or Marine Recon after high school too...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/18/2011 13:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Well...she might have a shot at this.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/18/2011 13:23 Comments || Top||

#4  Oh man. This article is chock full of ban worthy and Roadside America potential.

:: Backs away slowly! ::
Posted by: Secret Asian Man || 07/18/2011 19:50 Comments || Top||


S. Sudan bishop Mazzolari dies as he conducts Mass
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Archbishop Caesar Mazzolari of the Catholic Diocese of Rumbek is dead. Archbishop Mazzolari died on Sunday morning at around 8 am at the State Hospital in Rumbek.

According to Father Don Bosco Ochieng, Director of Radio Good News Rumbek, the bishop was concelebrating at the morning Eucharistic celebration presided over by Father Justin Atit, Director Healing the Healers.
That's not a good sign, you know...
Right at the beginning of consecration, the Bishop Mazolari fell back on his chair in what seemed a total lack of strength, raised his head which fell back beyond the back of the chair, and was clearly gasping for breath with his left hand holding firmly on his chest.

With the help of fathers, sisters and some faithful, the bishop was carried to the sacristy and a few minutes later to his room, while a Rumbek-based doctor was being contacted.

The 74-year-old bishop was pronounced dead after some basic tests were carried out on him.

Some Bishops of the Sudan Catholic Bishops Conference (SCBC) have been contacted, including the President, His Eminence Gabriel Cardinal Zubeir Wako.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Egypt’s Generals May Maintain Large Role In Governance
The generals running Egypt ahead of fresh elections have begun to signal that they hope to maintain a key role as guarantors of secular rule after handing over power to a new head of state.

In a recent interview and in public statements, the generals have left no doubt that they see Islamist parties as a threat. Although they have promised to surrender power once a new president is elected, the generals have suggested that the current Supreme Council of the Armed Forces operate in the future as a check on Egyptian governments not deemed sufficiently secular.

One member of the council, Maj. Gen. Mamdouh Shahin, recently recommended that under a new Egyptian constitution, the military be granted special status to keep it from being subordinate to the president, according to the independent Egyptian daily al-Masry al-Youm. Such an approach could put Egypt on a path toward resembling Turkey, whose democracy has been unsettled by tensions between a powerful, secular-minded military and politicians who reflect Islamist popular sentiment.

An interview with another general, a top adviser to the Supreme Council, offered a further glimpse into thinking within that body, which wields enormous clout but has operated mostly behind the scenes since assuming power in February after the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.

The general, who does public outreach and advises the council on strategic planning, would speak only on the condition of anonymity. “We want a model like Turkey, but we won’t force it,” he said. “Egypt as a country needs this to protect our democracy from the Islamists. We know this group doesn’t think democratically.”

Suspicions persist

The notion that the military could emerge as a guarantor of a secular state runs counter to a theory among secularists and leftists that the Supreme Council is allied with the organized and well-financed Muslim Brotherhood, which is expected to make a strong showing in parliamentary elections scheduled for the fall. Some leftists and human rights activists have been suspicious of the military leadership and worried that the military wields too much control over the future of the state.

“This type of involvement is a double-edged sword, as it injects the military into the realm of governance and potentially interferes with the prerogatives of civilian governance, even if it ensures the viability of a civil state,” said Michael Wahid Hanna, an Egypt expert at the Century Foundation. He added that the military leadership is probably divided over what type of future role it wants to play in Egyptian politics.
Posted by: Sherry || 07/18/2011 14:46 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
How to keep elephants out of your yard
For your reading pleasure. Excerpt here
Innovative beehive fences have helped a community in Kenya to successfully protect crops from elephants, according to research.

Scientists found the hives to be a very effective barrier; elephants turned away from them in 97% of their attempted raids.

Conservationists suggest that elephants' natural fear of bees could settle ongoing conflicts.

The hives' honey also produced additional profits for farmers.
Posted by: mom || 07/18/2011 16:23 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Very cool, mom. I take it these are not the vicious Africanized honey bees that caused such horror stories in the American southwest?
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/18/2011 18:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Interesting and innovative.

Maybe they could use Habitrails full of mice as gates to avoid stings whilst coming and going.
Posted by: Pollyandrew || 07/18/2011 18:00 Comments || Top||


Europe
Belgium to ban burqa, following France
Posted by: ryuge || 07/18/2011 02:07 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Pre-emptive seething begins in 5, 4, 3 ....
Posted by: Barbara || 07/18/2011 18:47 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Arab Spring consequences: high-spending Arab tourists flock to Turkey
With "Arab Spring" turmoil scaring visitors in the Mideast, Turkey is counting on its large coast, rich heritage to draw more visitors.
.
The summer tourist season is in full swing in Turkey and Erkan Zengin, a store manager for an upmarket Turkish jewelery company, has reason to be happy. "Our foreign customers are mostly from Saudi Arabia. They have good taste in jewelery and usually go for the big rocks." A similar scene is repeated at a nearby leather shoe and jacket store, where a clerk can barely keep up with high-spending customers from the Middle East. "They are not like Turks. They like a shoe, ask for their size, try it on, go to the cashier and pay. Turks want to try on 20 pairs of shoes before making up their mind," the clerk said. "Our favorite customers are Arabs because of their quick decisions and high purchasing power."
"Arab oil trash with money burning holes in their pockets," is what he thought, but tactfully didn't say. "They'll buy anything expensive enough, and we'll relieve them of the burden. Mangy, overdressed Lions of the Desert, the lot of 'em!"
Muslim but non-Arab Turkey has become a hot destination for Arab tourists and investors in recent years, emerging as a regional power in the Middle East under Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party.

Arab interest in Turkish culture -- from TV soap operas, pop music and food to Turkey's rehabilitation of its Ottoman history -- has helped bring an influx of Arab tourists. Istanbul, the old imperial capital, has become a popular wedding destination for Arabs. Escaping blistering desert summers, Arabs can also take advantage of a growing sector in Turkey that caters to devout wealthy Muslims -- hotels where men and women have separate swimming pools and beach areas and alcohol is not served.
No doubt more Turks are taking advantage of such facilities, too, as they revert to the old ways.
And with "Arab Spring" turmoil scaring visitors in the Middle East and in North Africa, stable Turkey is counting on its large Mediterranean coast and rich heritage to draw more visitors. "The Arab Spring is positively affecting our tourism revenues," Basaran Ulusoy, head of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies, told Turkish media. "It made a positive contribution to Turkey's international perception."

Data from the Ministry of Tourism showed the number of tourists visiting Turkey increased by 14.56 percent in the first five months of this year compared to January-May in 2010. While Germans, Russians and British tourists continue to top the list -- most of them lured to Turkey's cheaper all-inclusive packages -- high-spending tourists from Arab countries have experienced the biggest percentage jump. The numbers speak for themselves. In May, tourists from Yemen were up 87 percent from last year, while the rise in tourists from Saudi Arabia and Iraq was 79.3 percent and 45.84 respectively.

This is a welcome boost to Turkey's coffers, as the country struggles to plug a widening current account deficit. Tourism is a crucial foreign currency earner in Turkey and helps to offset the widening current account deficit, which rose 77 percent year on year to $7.68 billion. Turkey has sunk huge efforts into improving political and commercial ties with its neighbors in the Middle East, but "Arab Spring" unrest has cost Turkish entrepreneurs billions of dollars in Libya and has delayed infrastructure projects in neighboring Syria.

But turmoil in Tunisia and Egypt has also forced many to rethink travel plans and Turkey is seen benefiting, as tourist destinations in unstable countries suffered a major hit. "Turkey is about to have a tremendous tourism season this year on the back of problems in MENA countries and new tourism investments in the country," Ozgur Altug, chief economist at Istanbul-partners BGC Partners, said. "End-May is the official start of the tourism season in Turkey and in July-August-September the amount of FX in Turkey will reach its peak due to rising tourism revenues." Turkey's tourism revenue exceeded $25 billion in 2010 and officials expect more cash for 2011. More than 30 million tourists are expected by the end of the year, up from 28.6 million last year.

But while more Arabs are coming to Turkey, the number of Israeli tourists visiting Turkey between January and May fell by 59 percent compared to the same period last year. Ties between the two once-close allies deteriorated sharply when Israeli commandos stormed a Turkish-backed flotilla bound for Gaza last year, killing nine Turkish activists.
About as good an excuse as any, when Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan was looking for an excuse. Several months before that incident he'd screamed at Israeli President Peres that Jews are murderers in a public forum.
About 30,000 tourists from Israel visited Turkey in the first five months of the year, compared to the 72,500 Israeli tourists who came to Turkey during the same period in 2010. There have been signs of an early thaw in relations between Turkey and Israel, but in May the decrease of Israeli tourists was even sharper -- only 6,417 tourists from Israel came to Turkey, compared to 18,295 in the same month last year.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/18/2011 09:34 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Escaping blistering desert summers, Arabs can also take advantage of a growing sector in Turkey that caters to devout wealthy Muslims -- hotels where men and women have separate swimming pools and beach areas and alcohol is not served.

You gotta love the political correctness. Actually, Turkey is one of the few examples of Muslim countries with modern amenities and moderate weather where Arab tourists can legally (without harassment from the religious police) drink until they puke and hang out with discounted Eastern bloc hookers. As foreigners, they can do this in Malaysia and Indonesia, but the hot weather there is just more of the same.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 07/18/2011 16:30 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
U.S.- India Nuclear Deal Drifts Dangerously
Hailed as the centerpiece of a new partnership between the world's two most populous democracies, the U.S.-India nuclear deal has drifted dangerously since it was signed in 2008, analysts and former negotiators from both countries say.

The risk now is that other countries, particularly Russia and France, might benefit from all the hard work that the United States put into the deal,
Another way you can tell Bambi is in charge here in the U.S.
The landmark agreement was supposed to allow the sale of nuclear reactors and fuel to India, even though the country has nuclear weapons but has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Its advocates said it would bring tens of billions in business to the United States and create thousands of jobs, while also cementing a new partnership between the two nations to counter China's rise.

The deal itself, symbolic of a new partnership between the two countries, is not in any political danger. But American companies have not yet sold any reactors or equipment to India. American nuclear fuel firms, which face no legal or policy hurdles, have also not begun selling to India.

Singh put his government's survival on the line to pass the deal. But in a country still scarred by the Bhopal gas disaster of 1984, he was powerless to prevent the passage last August of a law that would make suppliers of nuclear equipment liable for massive claims in the event of a nuclear accident during the reactor's life.

That raises the risk of doing business in India to levels that American private-sector companies and their insurers cannot accept, but state-backed companies in Russia and France, with the much deeper pockets of their respective governments, might be able to live with. And it puts India far out of step with other countries, which put liability solely on plant operators.

Despite India's intention to join an international treaty that would restrict liability claims on suppliers, U.S. companies and their insurers are worried that Indian law would still take precedent, and corporate officials are adamant that the law needs to be changed before they could do business here. The question is whether Singh, now on the defensive over corruption charges, can amend that legislation.

So while General Electric and U.S.-based, Japanese-owned Westinghouse Electric sit on the sidelines, France's Areva and Russia's Rosatom are already moving ahead in inking deals to build reactors in India.

There are other hurdles, too. New Delhi has not yet given an assurance to Washington that Indian private companies will not re-transfer American nuclear technology and information to others, a requirement under U.S. law.

And before India can buy American and French reactors, New Delhi also has to sign a nuclear cooperation agreement with Japan. Those reactors use parts and technology from Japan, which cannot be supplied until Japan changes its law to allow nuclear trade with India.

The situation became more complicated last month when the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group in the Hague voted to bar access to sensitive uranium enrichment and reprocessing technology which can be used to make atomic bombs to countries that have not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Posted by: Sherry || 07/18/2011 15:21 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's 'cuz we got smart diplomacy or sometin' like tat.

Wre number 1!
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/18/2011 15:47 Comments || Top||


India's Tata group to sell $853 flat-pack house
[Straits Times] THE Indian company that launched the world's cheapest car has unveiled its latest product for the fast-growing nation: a flat-pack house that costs just US$700 (S$853) and can be built in a week.

The Tata group, maker of the US$2,500 Nano car, said that the 20-sq-m home comes from a pre-fabricated kit that includes doors, windows and a roof.

'We have already prepared two-three different designs based on discussions with users and are gathering more feedback,' Sumitesh Das, the head of the project at Tata, told news hounds in Hyderabad on Friday.

'Hopefully, in the next six-eight months we should be able to roll it out in the market nationally.' The basic model of a so-called 'Nano' house will cost 32,000 rupees (S$878) and will use coconut fibre or jute for wall cladding and interiors. It has a life expectancy of 20 years.

The house, which is being tested in the state of West Bengal, will also be available in a larger 30-sq-m version and with additional features such as a solar panel for the roof and a verandah.

Tata hopes to sell the house to private buyers who have a plot of land available and also to state governments planning mass residential schemes for India's millions of destitute and homeless.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [13 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This could be big in the Af-Pak school rebuilding market...
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/18/2011 11:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Been there, seen it. Sears. Whole series of 'modern homes'. Plumbing optional in some cases.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/18/2011 17:24 Comments || Top||

#3  Actually, it's more like the Lustron homes of the post-war era.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lustron_house
Posted by: Halliburton - mysterious conspiracy division || 07/18/2011 20:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Twenty square meters is 180-200 square feet. 30 square meters is 270-310 square feet. In Colorado, that's a bedroom.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/18/2011 23:59 Comments || Top||


Prisoners take policemen hostage at Larkana prison
[Dawn] Dozens of inmates have taken two coppers and a prison worker hostage in southern Pakistain in a protest against plans to transfer them to other jails, the provincial prisons chief said Sunday.

Some 1,200 inmates at Larkana prison, 350 kilometres (217 miles) northeast of Bloody Karachi, were being moved to other facilities on the high court's orders to allow for repairs at their jail, Ghulam Qadir Thebo told AFP.

"The trouble started late Saturday when prisoners were being moved to other prisons of Sindh province. Some inmates refused to leave and clashed with police and jail staff," Thebo said.

Some 450 prisoners remained in Larkana when a group of about 40 prisoners took two coppers and a prison worker hostage, demanding that all prisoners should return.

"We are negotiating the release of hostages," Thebo said.

In March police potted seven inmates and maimed 20 during an operation to prevent a jail-break in a prison in the southern city of Hyderabad.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Accused in transvestites assault case get bail
[Dawn] A local court granted bail to eight persons, charged with assaulting and keeping in wrongful confinement few transvestites when they were returning from a musical programme at Bakshu Pull area.

The court presided over by Judicial Magistrate Malik Mohammad Hasnain accepted bail petitions of the accused persons and observed that they were charged with bail-able offences. The court directed the accused to furnish two sureties of Rs50,000 each.

Interestingly, the victims had alleged that they were sexually abused but police registered FIR against the accused only under those sections of Pakistain Penal Code which deal with minor offences.

The tossed in the calaboose persons include Fazal Habib, Mohammad Sarhadi, Fiaz, Abid Ali, Yasir, Sajid, Ibrahim and Syed Mohammad Shah.

The FIR of the occurrence was registered at Khazana cop shoppe on July 12 under sections 342 (keeping person in wrongful confinement), 354 (assaulting a woman), 355 (assaulting a person for dishonouring him), 337-V (cutting hair of a person), 506 (criminal intimidation) of PPC.

The complainant in the case was Saeed alias Saeeda, who was part of a group of transvestites who performed at a musical party on the night of July 10. A group of armed persons intercepted them and forcibly took them away when they were returning from the party.

They alleged that the accused cut their hair, beat them and also sexually assaulted them. They claimed that the accused also made their videos through cellular phones. A protest demonstration was also held here by members of Shemale Association against the incident, demanding of the government to provide them protection. Advocate Haji Yar Mohammad appeared for the complainant and said that the accused were involved in heinous and condemnable offence. He said that accused were influential persons, therefore, police had only included those sections of PPC which dealt with minor offences.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:


32 accused remanded in MNA's escape case
[Dawn] An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Saturday remanded 11 accused to Islamabad police and sent another 21 to Adiala jail on 14-day judicial remand in MNA Anjum Aqeel's escape case.

Pakistain Mohammedan League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Anjum Aqeel was tossed in the slammer by Islamabad police in the Police Foundation land scam case on Friday night but the party workers and supporters armed with weapons attacked the police vehicle and got him freed.

The police tossed in the slammer 32 people allegedly involved in attacking the police party and facilitating the MNA to escape.

On Saturday, the 32 accused were presented before ATC-I Judge Malik Mohammad Akram Awan by Shalimar police amid tight security and filed a plea seeking 10-day physical remand of the accused.

The police contended before the court that the supporters of Pakistain Mohammedan League-Nawaz MNA Anjum Aqeel Khan attacked the police party, resorted to firing in the air and got the politician freed.

The police officials also told the court that they wanted to interrogate the tossed in the slammer persons including Shaheen Khan, brother-in-law of the accused.

However,
Switzerland makes more than cheese...
ATC Judge Malik Mohammad Akram Awan, while hearing the case, awarded five-day physical remand of 11 accused to the police while sent the remaining 21 persons to Adiala jail on 14-day judicial remand.

Those who were given in police custody for five-day physical remand included Shaheen Khan, Amjad Khan, Rab Nawaz, Tahir Aziz. Nasir Jamal, Fakher Khan, Malik Akhter, Mian Maqbool, Azam Khan, Mohammad Khalid, Abrar Mehmood and Tabraiz Khan.

The remaining 21, including Shaheen Iqbal and Waris Khan were sent to Adiala jail.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Science & Technology
Single Keystroke Nearly Self-Destructs Unmanned Navy Copter
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 07/18/2011 16:50 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  DO NOT PUSH THE RED BUTTON!!!!

Also, the spacebar is one of the biggest keys on the keyboard. Why tie it to the FUCKING SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE!?!?!?

Use the ~ for pete's sake! Or CTRL-ALT-SHIFT-D or something.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/18/2011 17:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Lazy programming, mayhaps, DV?
Posted by: Barbara || 07/18/2011 18:41 Comments || Top||

#3  More likely bad human factors.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 07/18/2011 19:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Bad humans are always a factor!

when the drone's operator accidentally pressed the spacebar with a wire from his headset
I suspect there is more to this story. As DV said, the spacebar is the biggest key on the keyboard. My money says they were using it to navigate through or select menu items.
Posted by: SteveS || 07/18/2011 20:38 Comments || Top||

#5  When I become the Evil Overlord™, my weapons of mass destruction will NOT have a self-destruct device. If for unavoidable reasons I am forced to include a self-destruct device, it will NOT be triggered by a large, red button labeled, 'do not push'.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/18/2011 21:39 Comments || Top||

#6  Common sense rules for evil overlords.
Posted by: badanov || 07/18/2011 21:56 Comments || Top||

#7  This story has so many holes and unanswered questions it reads like a psyops plant. The failures actually sound like good news - just what you need in field testing.

Still, the predatory bird-sized version of this product may be more useful - more sensors, more loiter, less weapons.
Posted by: Halliburton - Mysterious Conspiracy Division || 07/18/2011 22:05 Comments || Top||

#8  What? No, Molly Guard?
Posted by: CincinnatusChili || 07/18/2011 22:11 Comments || Top||

#9  it will NOT be triggered by a large, red button labeled, 'do not push'

Instead the 'do not push' button would be wired to a very high voltage so that any pusher would be instantly Barbequed.

Said meat would then be fed to the sharks with frigging lasers on their heads...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/18/2011 22:23 Comments || Top||

#10  HHHMMMM, and yet the Navy still wants more of 'em!?

* ION PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > NEW LONG RANGE USAF BOMBER WILL BE ONE FAMILY OF AIRCRAFT, NOT MANY, i.e. a single platform = design for different capabilities - not just "joint", but "integrated across [multiple] domains.

ARTIC = DITTO DESIRED BY USDOD + US GOVT. FOR ...
> F-35's.
> USN Submarines.
> Various USN Surface Warfare capabilities.
> SPace.

ESPEC AS PER USAF + USN "GLOBAL STRIKE" RESPONSIBILITIES [e.g. Global Prompt Strike, Orbit-/SpaceStrike], beyond the potential of AIRSEA BATTLE Concepts in WESTPAC Region [read, China].

Again, the USDOD believes that there won't be anymore major inter-state wars for the rest of the 21st century, or at least thru 2050, so I'm presum that both offensive + defensive utility is inferred.

* SAME > [US-designed] FLYING CARS COULD BE IN UK SKIES IN FIVE YEARS. The US$250,000 = UK L$155,000 Terrafugio Transition.

Dem TRANSFORMERS go full monty as per GEORGE JETSON, or is it the way around - "JETSONIAN", versus "going OPTIMUS", ETAL.???

D *** NG IT, DOES NO ONE CARE FOR "SPACE GHOST"!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/18/2011 23:50 Comments || Top||


When minor planets Ceres and Vesta rock the Earth into chaos

Although small, Ceres and Vesta gravitationally interact together and with the other planets of the Solar System. Because of these interactions, they are continuously pulled or pushed slightly out of their initial orbit. Calculations show that, after some time, these effects do not average out. Consequently, the bodies leave their initial orbits and, more importantly, their orbits are chaotic, meaning that we cannot predict their positions. The two bodies also have a significant probability of impacting each other, estimated at 0.2% per billion year.

Last but not least, Ceres and Vesta gravitationally interact with the Earth, whose orbit also becomes unpredictable after only 60 million years. This means that the Earth's eccentricity, which affects the large climatic variations on its surface, cannot be traced back more than 60 million years ago. This is indeed bad news for Paleoclimate studies.
Posted by: Water Modem || 07/18/2011 14:36 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  hey, whatever makes you feel good about keeping your head in the sand
Posted by: 746 || 07/18/2011 17:55 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Muslim border protest at the Peace Arch
Jeff Siddiqui says he is tired of being profiled because he is Muslim. He took his message Sunday to the U.S.-Canadian border, where he and a small group of protesters delivered their message, near the Peace Arch.

Siddiqui, with his group American Muslims of Puget Sound, organized a peaceful demonstration to send a message to passers-by.

"We don't want a country where - to use Martin Luther King's words - where we are judged by the color of our skin or our faith," said Siddiqui.

He says he felt that he was targeted by a border official about a year ago when he tried to leave Canada and go through the checkpoint. Siddiqui describes what happened:

"After haranguing me for a while, and I told him to mind his manners, he said, 'Well, do you have anything in your van you don't want us to find?' And I said, 'What do mean?' He said 'Oh, like terrorists, guns, grenades under the seat.'"

Between 25 and 80 demonstrators were supposed to turn up for Sunday's border protest - including some fellow Muslims. But only about six actually did show up. Siddiqui claims to know why they didn't come.

"Muslims are terrified," he says. "They don't want to be targeted. They don't want to be identified, they don't want to be listed as trouble makers for future treatment, and they're just terrified even though they're citizens."

Many people saw the signs posted by Siddiqui's group, which had such slogans as "Muslims Are Americans" and "U.S. Muslims: Doctors, Lawyers, Soldiers, Cabbies, Scientists, Politicians."

Shamim, a woman who was driving through the border and saw the demonstration said, "I am Muslim myself, and we are not scary people. We are just human beings like others."

Masoud Amin, another motorist at the crossing, said: "If their right has been violated, let them have their rights. But I think there are Muslim groups that have to be stopped."
Posted by: ryuge || 07/18/2011 02:39 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Perhaps you're being judged by the content of the character of your co-religionists, Jeff.
Posted by: Spot || 07/18/2011 7:59 Comments || Top||

#2  "After haranguing me for a while, and I told him to mind his manners, he said

Oh yeah...Jeff, border guards really love that. Maybe next time you can tell them about how much you "know your rights".
Posted by: DepotGuy || 07/18/2011 9:22 Comments || Top||

#3  "We don't want a country where - to use Martin Luther King's words - where we are judged by the color of our skin or our faith," said Siddiqui.

It's not at all about the race card. It is about your faith to the extent that it is subversive and tries to instill Sharia Law in America. It's about you not believing in our culture and way of life. It is about your notion of supremacy over others. It's about terrorism of your brethren (and maybe you) trying to kill us and blow up sh!t.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/18/2011 12:05 Comments || Top||

#4  Saw the guy's picture. Noticed he didn't have "MUSLIM" tattooed on his forehead, so how would the border patrol know he was a Muslim unless he brought it up so he could play his little profiling game?
And SIX people showed up for his pity party? Must be a really slow day at KOMO news...
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/18/2011 12:18 Comments || Top||

#5  Apparently smarting off to customs and immigration and getting the same in return is "oppression".

Posted by: Rob Crawford || 07/18/2011 12:31 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2011-07-18
  Gunmen Kill Senior Karzai Aide, Afghan MP in Kabul
Sun 2011-07-17
  Yemen protesters form council to run country
Sat 2011-07-16
  Indonesia arrests principal after school blast
Fri 2011-07-15
  U.S. Strikes in Yemen Said to Kill 8 Militants
Thu 2011-07-14
  Saudi Dismantles Group Plotting to Overthrow Regime
Wed 2011-07-13
  Three blasts in Mumbai, city on high alert
Tue 2011-07-12
  Karzai's brother killed by bodyguard
Mon 2011-07-11
  Syrian Protesters Break Into The U.S. Embassy In Damascus
Sun 2011-07-10
  21 Die in Bar Massacre in Monterrey
Sat 2011-07-09
  Sudan Recognizes Republic of South Sudan
Fri 2011-07-08
  US drone strikes kill dozens in Somalia
Thu 2011-07-07
  Syrian troops kill 22 in Hama
Wed 2011-07-06
  Afghan MPs Urge Karzai to Step Down
Tue 2011-07-05
  Hundreds of Gunmen Attack Pakistani Border Post
Mon 2011-07-04
  Bomb kills 10 in beer garden northern Nigeria


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