Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
04/18/2017 13:43 Comments ||
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#4
Too bad they didn't blow his head off like he did the man on the street. One of the few vids I have seen that disturbed me. The fear in that mans eyes brought tears to mine.
Posted by: chris ||
04/18/2017 21:15 Comments ||
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[RT] A robot stolen in the city of Nanjing, eastern China, has helped police track down its thief, local media reported.
According to the Yangtse Evening Post, the suspect, identified as Zhao, left his apartment in early March on the day his lease expired, taking 9,000 yuan (US$1,300) worth of property from his former roommate Tian with him, including a laptop, mobile phone, two hard drives, a wallet and the robot.
Tian, who lived in the apartment with Zhao and six other people, immediately reported the theft. But police could not find the thief until April 12, when he tried to turn on the stolen bot.
Activating the robot required putting in a phone number, so Zhao typed in his own. The machine then alerted Tian, who then in turn told the police. Officers tracked down Zhao to the nearby city of Xuzhou, where he was arrested on Thursday.
“I had been eyeing that robot for a long time, and stole it since my lease was just about to end,” Zhao told the police, the Yangtse Evening Post reported.
Crime-busting robots have been involved in a number of high-profile cases in the last few years, mostly in situations such as bomb disposals that would be too dangerous for humans.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/18/2017 00:00 ||
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The mucus of a rare frog that lurks in the South Indian jungle could provide the basis of a powerful new class of drugs to combat influenza, scientists have said.
The bright orange tennis ball-sized Hydrophylax bahuvistara was found to contain "host defence peptides" that proved able to destroy numerous strains of human flu, whilst protecting normal cells. Actually, any orange frog ought to do, I would think.
Researchers are excited because the peptide showed it could bind to a protein that is identical across "dozens" of strains of the disease, increasing its potential potency as a drug.
People would be advised to treat the Keralan amphibian with caution, however, as three out of four of the peptides found in the mucus were found to be toxic to humans. So just be careful which peptide you stick in your nose. And forget what I said about any orange frog.
Scientists at Emory University named the beneficial element "Schurumin", which can be isolated, after the a sword with a flexible blade that snaps and bends like a whip, which comes from the same Indian province.
"It’s a natural innate immune mediator that all living organisms maintain," said Josh Jacob, who co-authored the study at Emory University, Georgia.
"We just happened to find one that the frog makes that just happens to be effective against the H1 influenza type."
The virus needs hemagglutinin Abedin to get inside human cells.
The peptide works by binding to the hemagglutinin, destabilizes the virus and then kills it.
"I was almost knocked off my chair," says Jacob.
"In the beginning, I thought that when you do drug discovery, you have to go through thousands of drug candidates, even a million, before you get 1 or 2 hits.
[An Nahar] Venezuela's defense minister on Monday declared the army's loyalty to President Nicolas Maduro, who ordered troops into the streets ahead of a major protest by opponents trying to oust him.
Venezuela is bracing for what Maduro's opponents vow will be the "mother of all protests" Wednesday, after two weeks of violent demos against moves by the leftist leader and his allies to tighten their grip on power.
The center-right opposition has called on the military -- a pillar of Maduro's power -- to turn on the president amid an economic and political crisis that has triggered severe food shortages, riots and looting.
But Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said the army "confirms its unconditional loyalty to the president."
He made the comment before thousands of pro-Maduro militia members at a rally outside the presidential palace, where the president thanked the army and the civilian militia for their support.
"Loyalty is repaid with loyalty," the president said.
The rally came hours after Maduro ordered the military into the streets to defend the leftist "Bolivarian revolution" launched by his late mentor Hugo Chavez in 1999.
"From the first reveille (on Monday morning), from the first rooster crow, the Bolivarian National Armed Forces will be in the streets... saying, 'Long live the Bolivarian revolution,'" he said Sunday night in a televised address.
He denounced his opponents as "traitors" and praised the military's "unity and revolutionary commitment."
Despite his announcement, there was no sign of soldiers on patrol Monday morning in Caracas, though state TV showed images of army units marching in formation in the streets of the capital as the defense minister watched.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/18/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
Til they aren't getting fed either
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/18/2017 7:32 Comments ||
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#2
Exactly Frank. Once the paychecks stop, they will depose him faster than you can say Utopia.
The government has an awkward situation in Syria. Immediately after the April 7 American cruise missile attack on a Syrian air base (in retaliation of earlier Syrian use of nerve gas) the Russian Internet lit up with embarrassing discussions about that happened to Russian boasts in late 2016 that the Russian air defense system in Syria was operational. Using these very current and high-tech air defense weapons (Tor 2, S-400 and so on) Russia controlled who could use Syrian air space. Thus the American use of 59 cruise missiles to hit that Syrian air base, destroy about 20 percent of the Syrian air force and not touch the Russian aircraft and troops there, was either done with Russian permission or these expensive new air defense systems were vulnerable to American countermeasures. That was a common source of humiliation during the Cold War when, time and time again, the West, usually the Americans, came up with some unexpected tech to neutralize Russian systems, especially air defense and aircraft electronics. The government was forced to note these embarrassing comments on Russian language Internet message boards and announced that Russian policy was not to use the air defense system against external air threats in Syria, or at least not the ones that were no threat to Russian troops. Other government officials commented that the Russian air defense systems could detect low-flying cruise missiles but not everywhere as these cruise missiles could be programmed to deliberately take advantage of terrain (hills) and also detect and avoid Russian radars. Older Russians then recalled hearing the same excuses during the Cold War. The people running Russia remember it as well and that seemed to account for the public displays (in the UN and to the international media) of anger at the Americans. It wasn’t just what the Americans did but how they did it.
Russia has more to dislike about what the U.S. is doing in Syria. For example there are the bases the Americans are building in northern (Kurd controlled) Syria. Turkey and the Assads oppose these American bases but the bases remain because the Americans, and most of the world, no longer consider the Assads legitimate rulers of Syria. The Assads and their allies Iran and Russia disagree. As long as the American bases were there to support the fight against ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) Iran and Russia did not make an issue of these bases or the thousand or so U.S. troops in Syria. But now that the U.S. has, for the first time, carried out a major military attack on the Assad forces and may continue to do so, a suitable response is necessary. There is not much the Assads can do. They have not been able to prevent regular Israeli air attacks (to prevent Iranian advanced weapons from being moved to Lebanon) and it is no secret that the U.S. and Israel are close allies. The Russians have already made it clear that they will side with the Israelis if forced to decide between the Assads and Israel. This has put Iran in a difficult position and the latest American move makes that worse. All foreign forces operating in Syria are supposed to be there to deal with ISIL but Iran and Russia only pretended and were often criticized because most of the military activity in Syria was to weaken rebels (mainly non-ISIL) fighting to overthrow the Assads.
While Russia is officially in Syria to defeat ISIL and keep the Assads in power they (semi-officially) also want to maintain good relations with Israel and Sunni Arab countries while doing it. This annoys Iran. Israel has made it clear that there can never be peace in Syria if Iran tries to establish a permanent presence there. The Iranians say they are in Syria to stay and the Russians (so far) have said they oppose that. Iran wants to stay in Syria as part of its decades old effort to destroy Israel and a centuries old effort to make the Shia form of Islam dominant in the Islamic world (that is over 80 percent non-Shia). Meanwhile Israel says it can live with the Assads as long as Iran is not maintaining a military presence in Syria. Many Turks agree with Israel on that point and newly elected U.S. government has come out strongly against any permanent Iranian presence in Syria. The Americans still want the Assads gone but despite that the U.S., Israel and Turkey agree on some key goals.
The Russian intervention appears to be permanent (as far as the Russians are concerned) and the Assads are OK with that. Turkey and Iran are not so sure and Iran is openly opposed to Turkish troops being in Syria at all. At the same time Iran is demanding the right to establish a naval base in Syria. This is not a new idea. In 2011 Iran pledged to pay for the construction of a naval base on the Syrian Mediterranean coast. That proposal was put aside as the rebellion against the Assads grew but now Iran wants some payback for playing a key role in maintaining the Assads in power. All these overlapping and often contradictory goals and alliances may seem odd to an outsider but this is the Middle East, where such complex arrangements are the old normal.
[BusinessInsider] To understand North Korean strategy today, we must first understand the implications of its geography.
Korea is a peninsula jutting southward from Manchuria surrounded by the Yellow and Japan seas. It shares a 880-mile-wide border with China and has a 30-mile frontier with Russia.
Korea’s northeastern border is about 70 miles from Vladivostok, Russia’s major eastern port. The southeast corner juts to within 100 miles of Japan to its south, and the peninsula’s southwest shore angles westward only about 300 miles from Shanghai. Loooong article at link. Do not click if your ADD is getting the better of you today.
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Russia warned the United States against any "unilateral action" against North Korea, saying any response to Pyongyang’s nuclear activities should not violate "international law," amid reports of potential military confrontation between North Korea and the US.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the remarks at a news conference in Moscow on Monday, a few hours after US Vice President Mike Pence said the era of "strategic patience" with the North was over, warning Pyongyang not to test US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... ’s resolve over North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
"This is a very risky path. We do not accept the reckless nuclear missile actions of Pyongyang that breach UN resolutions, but that does not mean that you can break international law," Lavrov said, adding that he hoped there would not be any "unilateral actions like the one we saw recently in Syria."
The top Russian diplomat was referring to the recent US attack on Shayrat Airfield in Syria’s Homs Province with a barrage of 59 Tomahawk missiles, fired from two warships in the Mediterranean Sea, which caused some 15 fatalities, including civilians.
On Sunday, US and South Korean military officials reported that Pyongyang’s latest missile test had failed earlier in the day, with the projectile exploding almost immediately after the launch.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/18/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
#1
They keep referring to 'international laws'. My question is what international laws?
#2
Given that Kimmy withdrew from the armistice in 2013, the state of conflict returns, which is war. However, nothing like invading sovereign countries without real provocation ie Georgia and Ukraine.
[BBC] North Korea will continue to test missiles, a bigwig has told the BBC in Pyongyang, despite international condemnation and growing military tensions with the US.
"We'll be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis," Vice-Foreign Minister Han Song-ryol told the BBC's John Sudworth.
He said that an "all-out war" would result if the US took military action.
Earlier, US Vice-President Mike Pence warned North Korea not to test the US.
He said his country's "era of strategic patience" with North Korea was over.
Mr Pence arrived in Seoul on Sunday hours after North Korea carried out a failed missile launch.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/18/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
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#1
Test missiles weekly or weakly test missiles or test weak missiles?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/18/2017 11:14 Comments ||
Top||
#2
The natural beauty of the bay, the bridge and the area surrounding San Francisco are jaw dropping. But when you're in the city and some homeless bum is pestering you for spare change while his friends take a leak on the sidewalk, not so much. For that you'll pay through the nose for a decent hotel room and a place to park your car. The money goes to people who vote for the likes of Nancy Pelosi. I haven't been there in a few years and don't care if I never go there again.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/18/2017 12:52 Comments ||
Top||
#3
The liberals don't quite get cause-and-effect relationships--unintended consequences.
[Wash Times] TOKYO (AP) - Toshiba Corp., whose U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse Electric Co. has filed for bankruptcy protection, raised doubts Tuesday about its ability to survive as a company.
In an unaudited financial report, Toshiba projected a 1.01 trillion yen ($9.2 billion) loss for the fiscal year that ended in March, a figure that ballooned from the 390 billion yen loss forecast in February because of the troubles at Westinghouse . Four nuclear reactors Westinghouse is helping to build in South Carolina and Georgia are behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.
Toshiba said its recent financial losses have reduced its assets, resulting in downgrades by credit rating agencies and a breach in the terms of some loans. In addition, the Tokyo company said it counts on a special construction business license from the Japanese government and warned that a renewal after this year depends on meeting certain financial criteria.
Thus, Toshiba said, "there are material events and conditions that raise the substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern ."
#2
The regulation aspect had been resolved, and was one of the factors that *encouraged* the building of these units in Georgia (not South Carolina): the Licensing process was changed to guarantee that if you are preapproved for a license to operate it before you build it, AND you build it according to specifications, you can operate it.
My job allows me to know the exact reason for the problems at the site in question, but contractual and federal regulations require that I not discuss it.
#3
Correction: there ARE two units in South Carolina, but they were in the planning stages with no ground broken. The units having issues in Georgia are Vogtle 3 and 4
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[RT] A robot stolen in the city of Nanjing, eastern China, has helped police track down its thief, local media reported.
The mucus of a rare frog that lurks in the South Indian jungle could provide the basis of a powerful new class of drugs to combat influenza, scientists have said. 
[An Nahar] Venezuela's defense minister on Monday declared the army's loyalty to President Nicolas Maduro, who ordered troops into the streets ahead of a major protest by opponents trying to oust him.
The government has an awkward situation in Syria. Immediately after the April 7 American cruise missile attack on a Syrian air base (in retaliation of earlier Syrian use of nerve gas) the Russian Internet lit up with embarrassing discussions about that happened to Russian boasts in late 2016 that the Russian air defense system in Syria was operational. Using these very current and high-tech air defense weapons (Tor 2, S-400 and so on) Russia controlled who could use Syrian air space. Thus the American use of 59 cruise missiles to hit that Syrian air base, destroy about 20 percent of the Syrian air force and not touch the Russian aircraft and troops there, was either done with Russian permission or these expensive new air defense systems were vulnerable to American countermeasures. That was a common source of humiliation during the Cold War when, time and time again, the West, usually the Americans, came up with some unexpected tech to neutralize Russian systems, especially air defense and aircraft electronics. The government was forced to note these embarrassing comments on Russian language Internet message boards and announced that Russian policy was not to use the air defense system against external air threats in Syria, or at least not the ones that were no threat to Russian troops. Other government officials commented that the Russian air defense systems could detect low-flying cruise missiles but not everywhere as these cruise missiles could be programmed to deliberately take advantage of terrain (hills) and also detect and avoid Russian radars. Older Russians then recalled hearing the same excuses during the Cold War. The people running Russia remember it as well and that seemed to account for the public displays (in the UN and to the international media) of anger at the Americans. It wasn’t just what the Americans did but how they did it.
North Korea
North Korea
