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India: Serial kabooms in Ahmadabad
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
video: Bet your pot or 5 card bud in a Casino
Posted by: 3dc || 07/26/2008 02:02 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "This bud's for you. Whaddaya mean, you don't want it? It's legal tender here in Cal, man!"
Posted by: Jomock Platypus9662 || 07/26/2008 19:33 Comments || Top||


'Spam King' Fugitive Shoots Wife, Daughter in Apparent Murder-Suicide
A convicted fugitive spammer, his wife and 3-year-old daughter were found slain outside a Denver-area farm house Thursday in an apparent murder-suicide.

U.S. Attorney Troy Eid said Edward "Eddie" Davidson, whom the authorities called the "Spam King," and the other two were found at the home in a rural part of Bennett, about 25 miles east of Denver. Eid said Davidson shot himself; the woman and girl were also dead from gunshots.

Authorities had been searching for Davidson, 35, since Sunday, when he and his wife drove away from a minimum-security federal prison in Florence, 90 miles south of Denver. Davidson was sentenced April 28 to 21 months in prison and ordered to pay $714,139 in restitution to the IRS after pleading guilty to falsifying header information to send spam e-mail, tax evasion and criminal forfeiture. "What a nightmare, and such a coward," Eid said. "Davidson imposed the 'death penalty' on family members for his own crime."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Over a 21 month stretch?
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/26/2008 0:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Power. He was rendered powerless after lauding over all of us with what he thought was impunity. That all changed. Then he had a taste for being under someone else's power for a short time. Couldn't handle it. The butchery of his wife and child was a last futile destructive demonstration of his power.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/26/2008 8:30 Comments || Top||

#3  It's a pity he didn't shoot himself FIRST. Then this could have been sweet sweet Karma.
Posted by: Bin thinking again || 07/26/2008 8:42 Comments || Top||

#4  The feel-good story of the week.
Posted by: regular joe || 07/26/2008 9:30 Comments || Top||

#5  well, not about the wife and kid
Posted by: Frank G || 07/26/2008 9:31 Comments || Top||


Peru wants jail for nude woman using flag as saddle
A naked model photographed using Peru's flag as a saddle while mounted on a horse will face charges that could put her in jail for up to four years for offending patriotic symbols, the country's defense minister said on Wednesday.

The suggestive shot of Leysi Suarez, whose main job is dancing for the band Alma Bella, or Beautiful Soul, was splashed on the cover of DFarandula magazine and has caused a political uproar as Peru prepares to celebrate the 187th anniversary of its independence from Spain on Monday. "These are patriotic symbols that demand total respect, and using them improperly requires punishment," Defense Minister Antero Flores told reporters. "This is an offense." Flores has ordered a public prosecutor to take up the case and file charges.

Suarez said it was patriotic to pose for the photo. "I haven't committed a crime. I love Peru and show it with my body and soul," the dancer said on RPP radio.

Mario Amoretti, a well-known lawyer, said it depends in part on how Peru's red-and-white flag was used. "It's one thing to cover your body with the flag, but quite another thing to be naked and using it as a horse's saddle," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Click the linky for the photo. Very patriotic.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/26/2008 0:45 Comments || Top||

#2  I clicked the link but, alas, no photo.
Posted by: Lumpy Cheack3231 || 07/26/2008 5:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Here ya go, Lumpy.
Posted by: tipper || 07/26/2008 6:30 Comments || Top||

#4  Good work -- a photo is these cases is vital in determining whether the exhibitionist's relative attractiveness makes her action constitute a crime. Judging by those horse flank-crushing thighs, I say 30 days in the hole.
Posted by: regular joe || 07/26/2008 9:14 Comments || Top||

#5  I believe I saw her riding at the Hunt Country Stable Tour back in May.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/26/2008 9:35 Comments || Top||

#6  Hey! Did you see the hat? No? Me neither.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 07/26/2008 10:53 Comments || Top||

#7  Ummm... All y'gotta do is mouseover the graphic...
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2008 12:16 Comments || Top||

#8  Needs a whipper-in thar
Posted by: .5MT || 07/26/2008 12:46 Comments || Top||

#9  "These are patriotic symbols that demand total respect, and using them improperly requires punishment,"

wow, imagine that, what a concept.
Posted by: Jan || 07/26/2008 13:56 Comments || Top||

#10  What?? making men want to sniff the flag is unpatriotic?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/26/2008 15:37 Comments || Top||

#11  I'm saluting!
Posted by: Perfesser || 07/26/2008 17:27 Comments || Top||

#12  Where?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/26/2008 17:52 Comments || Top||

#13  I've never wanted to be a flag so much in my life.
Posted by: Rambler in California || 07/26/2008 21:05 Comments || Top||


State Police investigate alleged assault by Detroit mayor
Michigan State Police troopers are investigating a possible assault by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on a deputy accompanying an investigator for the Wayne County prosecutor Thursday at the home of the mayor's sister, Sheriff Warren Evans said.

Evans said the 6-foot-4 mayor, a former star football player at Florida A&M University, allegedly pushed a sheriff's deputy and knocked him into the female investigator, who was working for Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. The officers were attempting to serve a subpoena on Bobby Ferguson, a city contractor and close friend of Kilpatrick. The mayor's sister, Ayanna Kilpatrick, is married to Daniel Ferguson, a cousin of Bobby Ferguson.

Evans said the officers were cleared to go up to the house by members of the mayor's executive protection unit. He said his deputy was armed and he believes he made a wise decision in leaving the property with the investigator before the incident could escalate further.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Birds of a feather....

Demolition man Bobby Ferguson
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Tuesday she would demand that jailed mayoral pal Bobby Ferguson, a Detroit contractor, make up hours he should have served in custody as part of his work release in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl.

Ferguson, a close friend of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, is serving 10 months for pistol-whipping one of his employees last year. Under an Oct. 7 sentencing agreement, he was supposed to be locked up from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. six days a week and for 24 hours on Sundays, Worthy said.
Instead, Ferguson, 37, was allowed to stay out of the Wayne County Jail until 1 a.m. for more than two weeks to fulfill a city demolition contract before the Feb. 5 Super Bowl.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Bruce Morrow approved the amended sentence on Jan. 19, to run from Jan. 23 to Feb. 6.

Morrow explained Tuesday that Ferguson's company, Ferguson Enterprises, received a contract to tear down the old Motown headquarters and a smaller adjacent building at Woodward and I-75. The work began in late January.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/26/2008 9:02 Comments || Top||

#2  If Issac Hull was alive I'd give the joint back.
Posted by: .5MT || 07/26/2008 12:47 Comments || Top||


-Obits-
MOH Recipient M.J. Daly RIP
Michael J. Daly, a lifetime resident of Fairfield and a Medal of Honor recipient in World War II, died at home today. He was 83.

The cause of death, according to a relative, was pancreatic cancer.

President Harry S. Truman placed the blue ribbon of the Congressional Medal of Honor around the neck of 20-year-old Capt. Daly at the White House on Aug. 23, 1945. The award gave the modest Daly an aura of celebrity, which thereafter caused him some embarrassment.

"I'm no hero," he often said. "The heroes were those who gave their lives."

During World War II, which he entered as an 18-year-old infantry private, Daly was awarded the Silver Star twice for bravery in addition to the Medal of Honor. The latter came following his actions at the siege of Nuremberg in April 1945 with the Third Division of the Seventh Army.

Leading his infantry company through the rubble and exposing himself to enemy fire over and over, he eliminated three machine-gun positions, killing 15 of the enemy, with his own small carbine.

"Anybody would have done what I did," he later told a friend. "Luck is important in life. But in combat it is crucial. The bravest things are often done with God the only witness."

Following the war, Daly returned to Fairfield and began a business life as a salesmen for an oil company. He soon after commenced an independent entrepreneurial career that proved to be rewarding for him and to the many others whom he helped along the way.

Michael Daly & Associates had a small office on Harbor Road in Southport and the associates were most often his many friends. Daly was notably proud of his association with the St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport, for which he helped to raise considerable financial support for many years.

A Democrat, he flirted with politics but declined invitations to run for office although encouraging to his brother, the late Judge T.F. Gilroy Daly, in the latter's unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1982.

Daly was also supportive of Fairfield's longtime first selectman, his friend John J. Sullivan, who earned election as a Democrat in a town with a Republican majority for a record 12 terms.

Daly is survived by his wife of 50 years, Margaret Wallace Daly; his daughter, Deirdre Daly; his son, Michael of Fairfield; son-in-law, Alfred Pavlis; grandsons Michael, Nicholas and William, all of Fairfield; sisters, Bevan Daly Patterson of Garrison, N.Y., and Alison Daly Gerard of New York City; a stepson, W. Sanford Miller of Chadds Ford, Pa., and a stepdaughter, Blair Miller of Asheville, N.C.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/26/2008 20:02 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Heroes are also humble. RIP
Posted by: Frank G || 07/26/2008 20:05 Comments || Top||

#2  At least now he gets to vote.
Posted by: Skunky Glins 5*** || 07/26/2008 21:26 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Mafia godfather's daughter ties knot in Corleone
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Watch out for Fabricio. And always have someone else start the car...
Posted by: PBMcL || 07/26/2008 1:56 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Madrasah student killed after rape
JAMALPUR, July 25 (UNB): A madrasah student was killed after rape at Purbo Gamaria village in Islampur Upazila Wednesday. The victim was identified as Jahanara Begum, daughter of day labourer Alam and a student of class VIII of a local Dakhil madrasah.

Police said miscreants picked up Jahanara from her house after tying up her stepmother with whom she was sleeping. They killed the girl after rape and left the body near a bridge of her house.
A reminder: this wouldn't happen if young Muslim girls were given dirks and taught how to use them. Should be a principle of American foreign policy.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/26/2008 12:24 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Steve, ol' buddy, you don't get it. See, Islam is the religion of submission, so it's the women's and young boys' job to submit. Any time, any place, any way Big Mo's older male followers want to give it to them, they just have to bend over and take it. Otherwise Allan won't like them, ya see...
Posted by: Jomock Platypus9662 || 07/26/2008 19:38 Comments || Top||


Britain
Obama's brother is in Bracknell
Posted by: tipper || 07/26/2008 20:48 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


John Cleese launches tirade against wife at fundraiser
Posted by: tipper || 07/26/2008 09:24 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I was just watching The Meaning of Life last night. This ought to be interesting...
Posted by: Raj || 07/26/2008 10:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Yep, shoulda read the article first:

During a talk which was supposed to focus on raising money for conservation work, the veteran comic launched a tirade against his estranged third wife.

Cleese asked the audience at Bristol Zoo: "Guess how much I'm paying her at the moment? I'm paying her £900,000 ($1.86 million) a year. And we had no children. It really is astonishing."


What's astonishing is that he didn't get a prenup. Third time lucky? Guess not...
Posted by: Raj || 07/26/2008 10:07 Comments || Top||

#3  I have a feeling that in real life, John Cleese is probably as pleasant as a low level migraine.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/26/2008 10:32 Comments || Top||

#4  "Guess how much I'm paying her at the moment? I'm paying her �900,000 ($1.86 million) a year. And we had no children. It really is astonishing."

Old punchline - Well, we know what you are, we're just negotiating the price.

The InstaProf's wife's webpage chronicles the evolution of the growing male boycott of marriage. Rightly or wrongly, stuff like this only adds more poison to the situation. I'm sure Sir Paul McCartney can sympathize.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/26/2008 11:38 Comments || Top||

#5  The InstaProf's wife's webpage chronicles the evolution of the growing male boycott of marriage

I wonder if she's added HGTV to the list of reasons?
Posted by: Pappy || 07/26/2008 12:06 Comments || Top||

#6  LOL ahem. Er sorry.
Posted by: .5MT || 07/26/2008 12:49 Comments || Top||

#7  HGTV is the reason why most married men end up with a study in the basement ...
Posted by: Steve White || 07/26/2008 12:53 Comments || Top||

#8  So the wife can watch HD House pr0n upstairs?
Posted by: .5MT || 07/26/2008 12:55 Comments || Top||

#9  Never mind.... Ima near blind.
Posted by: .5MT || 07/26/2008 12:56 Comments || Top||

#10  Many of us have equally good tirades...we just lack the proper speaking platform... :))
Posted by: borgboy || 07/26/2008 13:34 Comments || Top||

#11  Cleese blamed his estranged wife's lawyer for turning their separation into an embittered dispute over money, saying his wife is now "taking me for everything she can get".

Comparing the split with the break-up from his previous wives, Connie Booth and Barbara Trentham, he said: "My two other divorces were very peaceful affairs. We went to mediation and it was very civilised."

Cleese also spoke openly about his new relationship with 34-year-old marketing executive Veronica Smiley.

"She's absolutely gorgeous, and incredibly intelligent."


Marrage #4? comming up... GET A CLUE JOHN...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.5MT: #8 So the wife can watch HD House pr0n upstairs?

.5MT: #9 Never mind.... Ima near blind.

.5MT Prescription:

New 'Coke Bottle' Expando Glasses will hep... yep 3 out of ten Drs. recommend.

P0rn: Only "Do" "Ginormus Jugs" p0rn for the next 6 weeks and then see Nurse Mammary in the RBee clinic.
...much easier on the eyes..
Posted by: Rantburg Infirmary || 07/26/2008 13:35 Comments || Top||

#12  I wonder if she's added HGTV to the list of reasons?

Actually, InstaProf linked to another blog that covered that issue. That female blogger ripped the women on House Hunters who constantly talk about the closet in the main bedrooms being just adequate for her clothes but no space for hubby, who usually meekly grunts. That started a comment avalanche.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/26/2008 14:02 Comments || Top||

#13  Proc, I read that article and the comments. If my anecdotal evidence is anything to go by, I'd say the marriage boycott is definitely a reality for young men. They just don't see any reason to play a game they feel is rigged against them. Since most young women will have sex without marriage anyway, why take the risk?
Posted by: Jomock Platypus9662 || 07/26/2008 14:21 Comments || Top||

#14  Also doesn't help when they're told for the past 40-odd years that it's okay to be a terminal adolescent.
Posted by: Pappy || 07/26/2008 14:52 Comments || Top||

#15  #13 JP: "Since most young women will have sex without marriage anyway, why take the risk?"

Now where have I heard that before?

Hmmmmmm. Oh, yeah:

"Why buy a cow when you can get the milk for free?"

;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 07/26/2008 15:05 Comments || Top||

#16  Pappy, nothing wrong a little bit of extended adolescence, is there? Gotta get back to my XBOX 360 and COD2
Posted by: Frank G || 07/26/2008 16:07 Comments || Top||

#17  Man he did it three times?! wow, once was expensive enough for me, never again. Thank God it has just been money and not the kids.
Posted by: Jan || 07/26/2008 16:44 Comments || Top||

#18  They just don't see any reason to play a game they feel that is rigged against them.

Fixed...
Posted by: badanov || 07/26/2008 19:12 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Ukraine drafts law for Russian fleet to leave: report
NATO membership candidate Ukraine has drafted a controversial law for the departure of the Russia Black Sea fleet from its port of Sevastopol, its foreign minister announced Tuesday, Interfax reported.

Ukraine wants the fleet to quit the Ukrainian port when a 20-year post-Soviet Union lease expires in 2017.
Posted by: 3dc || 07/26/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ah Status of Forces CharleyFoxtrot heh? Where's muh Shadefredue brand bong?
Posted by: .5MT || 07/26/2008 12:51 Comments || Top||

#2  And how many Russkies died defending Sevastopol from the Hitlerites? And surely it wasn't the Ukranian Navy that fought off the ubermensch?
Posted by: borgboy || 07/26/2008 13:40 Comments || Top||

#3  Russians killed far more Ukrainians than the German ever did.
Posted by: ed || 07/26/2008 13:47 Comments || Top||

#4  BTW, Crimea was Russian territory until transferred to the Ukraine in 1954.
Posted by: ed || 07/26/2008 13:58 Comments || Top||

#5  Re #3:

And I say this respectfully: given enough time for a thorough German conquest/colonialization there would have been no Ukranians.
Posted by: borgboy || 07/26/2008 14:00 Comments || Top||

#6  #4 BTW, Crimea was Russian territory until transferred to the Ukraine in 1954.

No take backs.
Posted by: Mizzou Mafia || 07/26/2008 15:21 Comments || Top||

#7  Russians killed far more Ukrainians than the German ever did.

From russia, with love.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/26/2008 15:25 Comments || Top||

#8  Re #7: Methinks you might be a TROTSKYITE DEVIATIONIST WRECKER? :)
Posted by: borgboy || 07/26/2008 15:57 Comments || Top||

#9  No take backs? Guess again. If push comes to shove, Putin will shove.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/26/2008 16:04 Comments || Top||


Down Under
ATM thieves blow up suburban bank
AT least one of the robbers still at large after a bank heist in Brisbane may be injured from his gang's own explosion, police say.

The Bank of Queensland Aspley branch, on Gympie Road, was gutted and charred by an explosion at about 3.15am (AEST) today.

The bank's automatic teller machine was thrown onto the footpath by the blast.

After initial investigations at the scene, police believe one of the men was standing near the explosion.

North Brisbane Police District acting superintendent Jeff Kelly said a paper delivery operator also saw a man dressed in dark clothing "stagger" from the bank.

"The gentleman staggered over to a late '90s model Holden sedan, dark colour, which was parked adjacent to the bank where two other persons dressed in similar clothing were standing behind the vehicle," Superintendent Kelly said.

"That vehicle was then seen to drive off at a high speed in a west direction towards Albany Creek."

Police said they were appealing to hospital staff and medical practitioners for assistance.

Any medical practitioners with information about a man or men with injuries consistent with an explosion, such as burns or shrapnel injuries, were asked to contact Crime Stoppers.

Queensland Fire and Rescue Service senior operation coordinator Paul Simmons said firefighters brought a resulting blaze under control within 30 minutes of the explosion.

It is not known if anything was stolen from the bank.

No bystanders or bank staff were injured.

The fire also damaged a neighbouring business and parts of the Fountain Shopping Centre bounded by Gympie and Albany Creek roads remain closed, but all roads are open.

Scientific officers remain at the scene to investigate the cause of the fire.

The Bank of Queensland has advised that the branch will be closed until further notice.

Anyone with information which could assist police with their investigations should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Posted by: Oztralian || 07/26/2008 19:43 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
Saint Bernard Obama interviewed by Sun at Bracknell council house.
The Sun was the first newspaper to track down and speak to Bernard Obama, 37. And he said of Democrat candidate Barack: “I’m very proud of my big brother.

“It’s quite a funny feeling that he might be the next President of the USA.” Muslim Bernard — an avid Manchester United fan and Sun reader — is staying with his bingo-loving mum Kezia, 67, who has lived in the Berkshire new town for six years.

He was glued to the TV news in the modest suburban bungalow last night as Barack, 46, was due to arrive in Britain. Bernard leads a quiet life, running a car parts firm in Nairobi, Kenya. But he is a regular visitor to the UK to visit Elvis fan Kezia.

Family photos at the link.

Posted by: Besoeker || 07/26/2008 15:45 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:


Paper Runs Obama's Western Wall Prayer
Paper Runs Obama's Western Wall Prayer

(Newser) – The prayer Barack Obama put in Jerusalems Western Wall yesterday was removed by a Jewish seminary student and published in a local newspaper, the AP reports. It read, “Lord—Protect my family and me. Forgive me my sins, and help me guard against pride and despair. Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just. And make me an instrument of your will.”

The rabbi in charge of Judaisms holiest site was livid: “The notes placed between the stones of the Western Wall are between a person and his maker. It is forbidden to read them or make any use of them.” He added that the publication “damages the Western Wall and damages the personal, deep part of every one of us that we keep to ourselves.”
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/26/2008 15:38 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But nobody present could read the note until it was translated from Arabic.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/26/2008 16:35 Comments || Top||

#2  It was a disgusting act to pull his prayer out of the wall and publish it.
Posted by: penguin || 07/26/2008 18:19 Comments || Top||

#3  "translated from Arabic"

I thought it was something like this:

Yo ... watch the crib, Dude. Forget all that shizzzznit from back in the day ....
Posted by: knerfley || 07/26/2008 18:51 Comments || Top||

#4  That seminary student should be ashamed. We don't expect otherwise from newspaper publishers.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/26/2008 18:55 Comments || Top||

#5  Who said 'there's no such thing as bad publicity'?
Posted by: Pappy || 07/26/2008 18:58 Comments || Top||


Olde Tyme Religion
CAIR poster child kidnapps his own kids
Posted by: 3dc || 07/26/2008 10:57 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Muslim men have both sole custody rights and the right to abandon wives and children. One Hadith grants male ownership of breast milk, after divorce.
Posted by: Injun Phaitle9280 || 07/26/2008 18:04 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
DelFly Micro Air Vehicle weighing just 3 grams and measuring 10 cm with camera
DelFly Micro air vehicle. This successor to the DelFly I and II weighs barely 3 grams, and with its flapping wings is very similar to a dragonfly. Ultra-small, remote-controlled micro aircraft with cameras, such as this DelFly, may well be used in the future for observation flights in difficult-to-reach or dangerous areas. The DelFly Micro will make a short demonstration flight during the presentation.

The DelFly Micro is a 'Micro Air Vehicle' (MAV), an exceptionally small remote-controlled aircraft with camera and image recognition software. The Micro, weighing just 3 grams and measuring 10 cm (wingtip to wingtip) is the considerably smaller successor to the successful DelFly I (2005) and DelFly II (2006). The DelFly Micro, with its minuscule battery weighing just 1 gram, can fly for approximately three minutes and has a maximum speed of 5 m/s.
Ultra-small remote-controlled, camera-equipped aircraft are potentially of great interest because they could eventually be used for observation flights in difficult-to-reach or dangerous areas.

Nature
The basic principle of the DelFly is derived from nature. The 'dragonfly' has a tiny camera (about 0.5 grams) on board that transmits its signals to a ground station. With software developed by TU Delft itself, objects can then be recognised independently. The camera transmits TV quality images, and therefore allows the DelFly II to be operated from the computer. It can be manoeuvred using a joystick as if the operator was actually in the cockpit of the aircraft. The aim is to be able to do this with the DelFly Micro too.

Miniaturisation
The development of the DelFly is above all the story of continuing miniaturisation of all the parts, from the DelFly I (23 grams and 50 cm) via the DelFly II (16 grams and 30 cm) to the present DelFly Micro (3 grams and 10 cm).
The DelFly II drew huge attention in 2006 because it could fly horizontally (21 km/hr) as well as hover, just like a hummingbird, and also fly backwards. The DelFly Micro, incidentally, cannot do this just yet.
In a few years time, the new objective of the project, the DelFly NaNo (5 cm, 1 gram) will have been developed. The Micro is an important intermediate step in this development process. A second objective for the future is for the DelFly to be able to fly entirely independently thanks to image recognition software.
Posted by: 3dc || 07/26/2008 00:06 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: 3dc || 07/26/2008 0:23 Comments || Top||

#2  video of carmera image and flying.

video explaining it in English
Posted by: Harcourt Angomose7669 || 07/26/2008 0:34 Comments || Top||

#3  And the FBI-CIA - you know, the SECRET SERVICE + LOCAL POLICE - will instruct and hire/contract the DRUG-HOMELESS MAFIA to operate these WHEN???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/26/2008 0:49 Comments || Top||

#4  Get ready! There's gonna be thousands of the tiny little bastards... our only hope is...
Posted by: .5MT || 07/26/2008 12:54 Comments || Top||

#5  Philip K. Dick invented the idea years ago - confer the movie "Minority Report". Could be a godsend to catch big time dealers/coyotes, and stash house operators here in Tucson.
Posted by: borgboy || 07/26/2008 15:51 Comments || Top||

#6  I don't think that the camera will be useful unless the fly can glide or land. When its wings are buzzing, the picture will be too jerky. Microphones might work.
Posted by: gorb || 07/26/2008 22:34 Comments || Top||


THEMIS Satellites Discover What Triggers Northern Lights Eruptions
Researchers have discovered that an explosion of magnetic energy a third of the way to the moon powers substorms, sudden brightenings and rapid movements of the aurora borealis, called the Northern Lights.

The culprit turns out to be magnetic reconnection, a common process that occurs throughout the universe when stressed magnetic field lines suddenly "snap" to a new shape, like a rubber band that's been stretched too far.

"We discovered what makes the Northern Lights dance," said Dr. Vassilis Angelopoulos of the University of California, Los Angeles. Angelopoulos is the principal investigator for the THEMIS mission.

Substorms produce dynamic changes in the auroral displays seen near Earth's northern and southern magnetic poles, causing a burst of light and movement in the Northern and Southern Lights. These changes transform auroral displays into auroral eruptions.

Substorms often accompany intense space storms that can disrupt radio communications and global positioning system signals and cause power outages.

Solving the mystery of where, when, and how substorms occur will allow scientists to construct more realistic substorm models and better predict a magnetic storm's intensity and effects.

"As they capture and store energy from the solar wind, the Earth's magnetic field lines stretch far out into space. Magnetic reconnection releases the energy stored within these stretched magnetic field lines, flinging charged particles back toward the Earth's atmosphere," said David Sibeck, THEMIS project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

"They create halos of shimmering aurora circling the northern and southern poles."
Posted by: 3dc || 07/26/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "The Earth's magnetic field lines stretch far out into space" PLUS, ON AROUND AND OVER GUAM-WESTPAC, AND INTO GUAM-WESTPAC, as per moi.

[DARTH VADER breathing here].

NO - THEME FROM "SCRUBS"???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/26/2008 0:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Guam AI bar? Or center of the Solar System?
I know what I think.

J08!
Posted by: .5MT || 07/26/2008 12:59 Comments || Top||

#3  I still firmly beleieve its the TESLA DEATH RAY experimentation that's causing the lights...
Posted by: borgboy || 07/26/2008 13:27 Comments || Top||

#4  They think they know ....
Posted by: Halliburton Northern Lights Division || 07/26/2008 14:46 Comments || Top||

#5  That's been the standard model for the last ten years.

Big deal.
Posted by: Ulotch Ghibelline7559 || 07/26/2008 15:41 Comments || Top||


Coal Powder fueled engine undergoes successful testing
These tests of coal powder present significant proof of the Cyclone Engine's versatility in utilizing diverse fuel sources without modification of the engine's primary components and system design. In this specific instance, an additional propane torch was utilized to ignite the solid fuel particles.

Over the last few months, the company has successfully tested a multitude of liquid fuels such as algae-based biodiesel, and gaseous fuels such as propane. This test, however, was the first for the Cyclone external combustion engine with a fuel in a solid, powdered state.

"While the environmental merits of 'clean' coal are debatable," stated Cyclone's CEO, Harry Schoell, "it is still one of the most abundant, inexpensive and widely-used fuel sources we have in the United States."
Posted by: 3dc || 07/26/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The use of coal dust plasma engines has been around for a long time, even before WWII. basically wafting the dust around in air, combustion is very thorough and there is a lot less waste of fuel. However, its pollutants are problematic.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/26/2008 10:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Also consider the hazards of transport and storage. Coal dust and flour dust are explosive mixtures and how they are delt with might be an interesting engineering challenge.
Posted by: tipover || 07/26/2008 11:16 Comments || Top||

#3  And rings, you'd need diamond rings.
Posted by: .5MT || 07/26/2008 13:00 Comments || Top||

#4  external combustion engine shipman.
Posted by: 3dc || 07/26/2008 15:03 Comments || Top||

#5  It's a little known fact, but the amount of thorium, a radioactive element usable in nuclear reactors, in a kilogram of coal has more energy density than the coal itself does by an extremely large margin.

In addition, burning coal in any form releases radioactivity from items such as thorium into the atmosphere.

Tell that to the greenies who want to stop nuclear power (none of them want to build more coal plants, but a coal planet vents more radioactivity in a year than a nuke plant will in a century).

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 07/26/2008 15:26 Comments || Top||

#6  I recall the Nazis and Jap(ane)s(e) were trolling around in similar vehicles circa '44 - '45...
Posted by: borgboy || 07/26/2008 16:01 Comments || Top||

#7  Perhaps the solution found in Mad Max III would be cheap and suitable: power from pigsh*t? :)
Posted by: borgboy || 07/26/2008 16:03 Comments || Top||

#8  Actually it is possoble to build thorium reactors and these don't produce plutonium.
Posted by: JFM || 07/26/2008 16:04 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Iowa protest aimed at Karl Rove leads to arrests
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Four peace activists were arrested on Friday as they attempted to make a "citizens arrest" of Karl Rove, who was one of President George W. Bush's top aides before leaving the administration last year.

"It should be Karl Rove in that van. War Criminal!" one of a dozen protestors shouted as the four were put into a police van outside a Des Moines country club where Rove spoke at a private state Republican party fundraiser.

Chet Guinn, a retired Methodist Minister, was among those led away. "To be silent when major crimes are being committed against all humanity makes us accomplices," Gwinn told reporters just before his prearranged arrest, which took place when protestors stepped past a gate.
Was there a prearranged thumping shortly afterwards?
Posted by: Steve White || 07/26/2008 12:12 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Tase the snot out of them, bro!
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/26/2008 14:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Chet Guinn, a retired Methodist Minister

The Methodists used to be such sensible people. Sigh.

Hey Chet, ask yourself "Whose Ass Would Jesus Kick (WAWJK): Karl Rove's or Saddam Hussein's?"
Posted by: SteveS || 07/26/2008 20:12 Comments || Top||



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Sat 2008-07-26
  India: Serial kabooms in Ahmadabad
Fri 2008-07-25
  Serial booms in Bangalore
Thu 2008-07-24
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Wed 2008-07-23
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Tue 2008-07-22
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Mon 2008-07-21
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Sun 2008-07-20
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Sat 2008-07-19
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Fri 2008-07-18
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Thu 2008-07-17
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Wed 2008-07-16
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Tue 2008-07-15
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Mon 2008-07-14
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