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Iraqi Special Forces Detains AQI Commander in Khadra
Today's Headlines
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Bangladesh
BNP sidelines Khaleda
Former Bangladesh prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, in detention on corruption charges, has been dealt an embarrassing blow by her Bangladesh Nationalist Party which dumped her chosen leaders at a late- night meeting.

The move was seen as an apparent attempt by party reformists to distance themselves from Khaleda ahead of elections late next year.

The BNP’s highest decision making body met at former finance minister Saifur Rahman’s Dhaka home late on Monday, and appointed him the party’s acting chairperson to replace Khaleda’s chosen stand-in, Khandaker Delwar Hossain.

The party also appointed another former minister Hafizuddin Ahmed, a known reformist in the BNP, as its secretary-general. It called back a former secretary-general, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, who led a failed bid to curtail Khaleda’s power, into the party’s mainstream. Delwar, in hospital since Monday, told reporters the meeting chaired by Saifur was “illegal and hence its decisions are unacceptable to all but a few dissidents”. Saifur, 79, hit back, saying that he acted “in the best interest of the party, to save it at a crucial time.”

“There was no alternative ... I was compelled by the situation (to take over the leadership),” he said. “It’s a midnight melodrama in the BNP,” said popular Bangla-language daily Jugantar. Another leading daily Janakantha called it a “Midnight Coup in the BNP”.

Monday night’s five-hour meeting was attended by party reformists, including Mannan Bhuiyan and his followers, but Khaleda’s chosen people were absent. “It looks like the reformists, who want Khaleda sidelined and her absolute power reduced, are taking control,” said one BNP supporter.
Posted by: Fred || 10/31/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
China fuel crisis spreads - One Dead
Last night, I was thinking my comment might require a little tin foil hat for complete understanding. Now I'm not as worried.

China's worst fuel crisis in two years spread to the capital and other inland areas by Wednesday, and one man was killed in a brawl at a petrol station queue, upping pressure on the government to intervene. Diesel shortages in China's political heart, which escaped previous supply crunches unscathed, highlight tensions between the government and its increasingly independent oil firms about who should pay for the country's generous fuel subsidies.

Top refiner Sinopec on Wednesday pledged more supplies and bought additional diesel fuel abroad, but it may fall to Beijing to end the stand-off by raising domestic prices, easing taxes, promising another year-end pay-off -- or simply strong-arming suppliers into selling more fuel at a loss.

At stake are profits for oil majors Sinopec and PetroChina from selling motor fuel in the world's second-largest consumer, where pump prices have not been raised in 17 months even as crude costs hit a series of record highs.

In scenes reminiscent of the weeks-long shortages in summer 2005, also caused by the yawning gap between domestic prices and global crude costs, petrol stations across the country were turning away trucks and rationing supplies. In Hefei, the capital of eastern Anhui province, independent suppliers had almost all run out of diesel and several controlled by the oil majors were rationing supplies, station workers said.

Beijing worries that more costly energy could push up already-high inflation or spark unrest, and effectively forces its refiners and retailers to subsidize state-set prices. Diesel costs about 64 cents a liter at the pump in Beijing, versus around $1 in Singapore and $2 in Britain. But a recent rally in global crude prices to above $90 a barrel has deepened large firms' losses and made them ever more reluctant to keep markets supplied.

After China's last major fuel crisis in summer 2005, when queues stretched for hours, Beijing cracked down heavily on a flow of exports that firms were using to ease their bottom lines, rescinding tax breaks, among other things. But this time round, with diesel exports just a tiny fraction of consumption, the shortages may be more difficult to solve without direct subsidies, price liberalization -- or a more overt political crackdown on the recalcitrant refiners.

With current retail prices most plants only break even when crude is around $65 a barrel or lower, so soaring markets have forced many independents out of the market. The burden of making up the difference has fallen on the state-owned companies.

Sinopec has raised imports and refining in November, and analysts expect it will get another tranche of cash from the government at the end of this year to offset its losses. Beijing gave it $1.2 billion in 2005 and $640 million in 2006.

An industry source said Sinopec had bought another 30,000 tonnes of diesel for import in November to the hardest-hit southeastern coastal areas. And it will boost refinery runs by 800,000 tonnes next month, a company paper said.

But a Sinopec official told Reuters on Tuesday that its largest refinery will switch off a crude unit in November and process 3 percent less crude than the previous month, sending a signal to Beijing in a move that could worsen the shortage.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 10/31/2007 12:24 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Before I read this, I was thinking that we are going to see food/fuel/inflation riots in vulnerable places. For the very simple reason that oil (and food) prices will continue to go up until we(the markets) achieve sufficient demand destruction, and that will be very painful in large areas of the developing world.
Posted by: phil_b || 10/31/2007 17:52 Comments || Top||

#2  That's their Achilles' Heel.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 10/31/2007 18:40 Comments || Top||

#3  An off the top of my head list of places for riots,

Iran
China
Indonesia
Mexico
Egypt/Jordan/Syria
Pakistan/Bangladesh
India? (Maybe John F would like to comment)
Posted by: phil_b || 10/31/2007 19:06 Comments || Top||

#4  No Blood for Oil.....oops, wrong slogan.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 10/31/2007 19:08 Comments || Top||

#5  With cost per barrel at $94 today, this issue could broadside the Presidential Election in a year.
Posted by: Grinetle6966 || 10/31/2007 20:53 Comments || Top||

#6  hey! How's that ANWR prohibition polling? Just asking, Donk assholes...
Posted by: Frank G || 10/31/2007 21:41 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Another reason not to vote for Ron Paul: his supporters are spammers!
If Texas congressman Ron Paul is elected president in 2008, he may be the first leader of the free world put into power with the help of a global network of hacked PCs spewing spam, according to computer-security researchers who've analyzed a recent flurry of e-mail supporting the long-shot Republican candidate.

"This is clearly a criminal act in support of a campaign, which has been committed with or without their knowledge," says Gary Warner, the University of Alabama at Birmingham's director of research in computer forensics. . . .

Ron Paul spokesman Jesse Benton says the campaign has no knowledge of the scam. Warner himself says that he has no reason to believe that the Paul campaign had anything to do with these messages. . . .

The spamming allegations are based on a slew of e-mails captured by contributors to the university's Spam Data Mining for Law Enforcement Applications project, a research venture that receives 2.5 million spam messages a day, and selects about 100,000 a week for analysis. The project receives its spam from other researchers with ties to ISPs, and in some cases from "trap" addresses that have never been used for any other purpose.

They were received by the lab following the latest televised Republican debate Sunday afternoon, and had 16 different subject lines, including "Ron Paul Wins GOP Debate! HMzjoqO" and "Ron Paul Exposes Federal Reserve! SBHBcSO." The random string of characters at the end is a common spammer's technique to circumvent bulk e-mail filtering.

The spam went to "several hundred" e-mail addresses harvested for the university project, says Warner.

The e-mails had phony names attached to real-looking e-mail addresses. When lab researchers examined the IP addresses of the computers from which the messages had been sent, it turned out that they were sprinkled around the globe in countries as far away from each other as South Korea, Japan, the United Kingdom, Nigeria and Brazil.

"The interesting thing was that we had the same subject line from the same IP address, and it claimed to be from different users from within the United States," Warner says.

One e-mail was designed to look as if it came from within a major Silicon Valley corporation, he notes. But when the researchers looked up the IP address, the computer from which the note was sent was actually in South Korea. Another e-mail that was designed to look as if it came from Houston was sent from Italy.

That pattern led Warner to conclude that the messages had been laundered through a botnet -- also a standard spammer practice, though a decidedly illegal one.

The body of a message examined by Wired News covered familiar Paul campaign themes, such as ending the war and eliminating the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Reserve. . . .
Posted by: Mike || 10/31/2007 14:49 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:


MSM sitting on "sex scandal" story involving presidential contender
Ron Rosenbaum

So I was down in DC this past weekend and happened to run into a well-connected media person, who told me flatly, unequivocally that “everyone knows” The LA Times was sitting on a story, all wrapped up and ready to go about what is a potentially devastating sexual scandal involving a leading Presidential candidate. “Everyone knows” meaning everyone in the DC mainstream media political reporting world. “Sitting on it” because the paper couldn’t decide the complex ethics of whether and when to run it. . . .

Now, as I say it’s a rumor; I haven’t seen the supporting evidence. But the person who told me said it offhandedly as if everyone in his world knew about it. And if you look close enough you can find hints of something impending, something potentially derailing to this candidate in the reporting of the campaign. Which could mean that something unspoken, unwritten about is influencing what is written, what we read.

Why are well wired media elite keeping silent about it? Because they think we can’t handle the truth?
Very likely.
Because they think it’s substantively irrelevant?
Or they think it's all too relevant, but don't like the likely effect of the story.
What standards of judgment are they using?
They have standards? Who'da thunki it?
Are they afraid that to print it will bring on opprobrium. Are they afraid not printing it will bring on opprobrium? Or both?
I'll take 'both,' Regis.

But alas if it leaks out from less “responsible” sources.
*cough* Drudge! *cough*
then all their contextual protectiveness of us will have been wasted.

And what about timing? They, meaning the DC elite media, must know if it comes out before the parties select their primary winners and eventual nominees, voters would have the ability to decide how important they felt it to the narrative of the candidate in question. Aren’t they, in delaying and not letting the pieces fall where they potentially may, not refusing to act but acting in a different way—taking it upon themselves to decide the Presidential election by their silence?

If they waited until the nominees were chosen wouldn’t that be unfair because, arguably, it could sink the candidacy of one of the potential nominees after the nomination was finalized? And doesn’t the fact that they “all” know something’s there but can’t say affect their campaign coverage in a subterranean, subconscious way that their readers are excluded from?
Assuredly.

There seem to be two conflicting imperatives here. The new media, Web 2.0 anti-elitist preference for transparency and immediacy and the traditional elitist preference for reflection, judgment and standards—their reflection, their small-group judgment and standards. Their civic duty to “protect” us from knowing too much.

I feel a little uneasy reporting this. No matter how well “nailed” they think they have it, it may turn out to be untrue. What I’m really reporting on is the unreported persistence of a schism between the DC media elites and their inside knowlede and the public that is kept in the dark. For their own good? Maybe they’d dismiss it as irrelevant, but shouldn’t they know?

While the Rosenbaum article does not mention party affiliation, another source says its a Dem. I think the fact that the underlying story hasn't run yet tends to confirm this.
Posted by: Mike || 10/31/2007 13:52 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So I was down in DC this past weekend and happened to run into a well-connected media person, who told me flatly, unequivocally that “everyone knows” The LA Times was sitting on a story, all wrapped up and ready to go about what is a potentially devastating sexual scandal involving a leading Presidential candidate.

Dennis Kucinich and a space alien?
Posted by: Dave D. || 10/31/2007 14:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Dennis Kucinich and a space alien?

No, Hillary and Janet Reno!
Posted by: Natural Law || 10/31/2007 14:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Al Gore and Michael Moore?
Posted by: Darrell || 10/31/2007 14:34 Comments || Top||

#4  Obama!
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 10/31/2007 14:38 Comments || Top||

#5  Obama for $400, Alex.
Posted by: USN,Ret. || 10/31/2007 14:39 Comments || Top||

#6  There are two scenarios here:

Do the Slimes want to maximise or minimise the damage?

If this is a leading 'pub, say Rudy, it's in their best interest to wait until AFTER he's nominated and then spring it to derail the actual campaign. Otherwise you give the rat bastard Rethuglicans the chance to nominate someone else and continue on.

If, on the other hand, it's their favorite 'rat, say Hill(spit)ary. They will pick the time that will do the absolute least damage, and bury it entirely if possible.

If it's Obama or Edwards they'll time it to do help Hillary the most for the primaries.

Simple, no?
Posted by: AlanC || 10/31/2007 14:54 Comments || Top||

#7  Update: Jim Geraghty @ National Review:

Put me down as a skeptic that the Los Angeles Times would really be able to "sit on a story, all wrapped up and ready to go about what is a potentially devastating sexual scandal involving a leading Presidential candidate." (Allegedly it's separate from the Enquirer's claims about John Edwards.)

I just don't think that the paper that ran a story on Fred Thompson's playing a white supremacist on the television series Wiseguy is going to suddenly get squeamish when it comes to a sex scandal.

So if we suspect they would run the story if it were Republican. Which leaves a second scandal involving Edwards (two? Would the man be so reckless?), Obama, or Hillary. I don't think Bill Richardson can accuratelyb be called "a leading Presidential candidate."
Posted by: Mike || 10/31/2007 15:25 Comments || Top||

#8  One of my college buddies (DEM) in DC said he saw Hillary & Vince (Foster) snuggling up at a party once.

Jeez, ya think that could be it?

Nope, that couldn't be the story. It might bring up WAY more than what the media wants out there....
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 10/31/2007 15:33 Comments || Top||

#9  Well, Slick Willie f*cked his way through the presidency and got away with it, so what's the big deal. The President is looked up to so he must be right.

/bad example setting
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 10/31/2007 16:22 Comments || Top||

#10  I too am skeptical about anyones ability to keep a story like this.

However, if it's about Hillary! and they can't keep it hush-hush, it needs to come out soon so they can do some damage control and have some time to move past the scandal. If that is the case, expect to see it come out over Thanksgiving because that's where news goes to die.
Posted by: Mike N. || 10/31/2007 16:32 Comments || Top||

#11  MSM is even worse at secret-keeping than politicians, or the CIA; I'd be very surprised if this story could stay buried - even if there isn't really any story, somebody'll make one up.
Posted by: Glenmore || 10/31/2007 16:39 Comments || Top||

#12  The one organization that can kill a story is the MSM. They would have spiked Lewinski successfully if it hadn't been for Drudge. That has changed all the rules, but the MSM doesn't know it yet.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 10/31/2007 16:42 Comments || Top||

#13  Could just be a UFO sighting. However, as much as everyone jumped on Hilliary last night you would have thought she was getting boned by everyone on the stage. If this involved a Republican, the MSM would be quick to report the story; they might even make it up. The MSM is so in-bed with the leftish donks, they are not going to report such a story.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/31/2007 16:44 Comments || Top||

#14  Was it yesterday or the day before (?) I was reading Instapundit and Mickey Kaus was quoted as saying that there was an impending "Scandal Star" about to burst on the scene to wreck havoc on our complacent political world. I didn't know at the time what he was referring to. I think I do now. My only wish it that it would be Hillary at the center of the scandal. Or even Bill. But it won;t be. Shucks.
Posted by: Mark Z || 10/31/2007 16:56 Comments || Top||

#15  The sex scandal is that Hillary's not a blonde.

Warning: link is NSFW
Posted by: badanov || 10/31/2007 18:09 Comments || Top||

#16  That was close; I thought you were goins to say she wasn't a female. That would explain so much.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 10/31/2007 18:13 Comments || Top||

#17  The LA Times was sitting on a (sexual scandal))story, Matt Drudge call your office.
Posted by: GK || 10/31/2007 20:57 Comments || Top||

#18  They certainly can't use the "it's not a trend" excuse...
Posted by: Hyper || 10/31/2007 21:07 Comments || Top||

#19  NSFW AND NSF pre-dinner....yeesh :-)
Posted by: Frank G || 10/31/2007 21:43 Comments || Top||

#20  Sen Obama had a fling

Big deal. Sen Kucinich probably had a fling or two; same with Sen Biden.
Posted by: mhw || 10/31/2007 21:57 Comments || Top||


Rep. Dennis Kucinich Acknowledges UFO Sighting
The truth is out there, and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich had no trouble offering his version of it when asked Tuesday night about his UFO sighting.

"It was an unidentified flying object, OK? It's, like, it's unidentified," Kucinich said during one of the few highlights at the Democratic presidential debate in Philadelphia. "I saw something."

Kucinich, whose UFO run-in came to light last week in a passage from Shirley MacLaine's new book, went on to joke that he planned to move his campaign office to Roswell, N.M. Roswell is the place where legend holds a spacecraft crash-landed in 1947 and was recovered and moved for investigation to nearby Area 51, a secretive U.S. government airbase in Nevada.

Kucinich went on to defend himself, saying many Americans have shared his experience.

"You have to keep in mind that more — that Jimmy Carter saw a UFO that figures and also that more people in this country have seen UFOs than I think approve of George Bush's presidency," Kucinich said.

Debate moderator Tim Russert then cited a poll saying that 14 percent of Americans claim to have seen a UFO, to which Kucinich asked: "What as that percentage?"

Truth Is Out There "Fourteen," Russert answered.

"Thank you," Kucinich responded with satisfaction.

President Bush's approval rating stood at 35 percent in the most recent FOX News-Opinion Dynamics poll, but only 12 percent of Democrats gave him a thumbs up.

Earlier Tuesday, Kucinich questioned the president's mental state in lieu of comments made about a nuclear Iran sparking World War III.

"I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his mental health," Kucinich said in an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer. "There's something wrong. He does not seem to understand his words have real impact."

According to MacLaine, Kucinich saw the UFO in the 1980s while visiting the actress at her home in Washington state.

"He saw a gigantic triangular craft, silent and observing him," MacLaine wrote. "It hovered for about 10 minutes or so and sped away with a speed he couldn't comprehend. He felt a connection in his heart and heard directions in his mind."

Kucinich, Carter and MacLaine make a it Hat Trick of Moonbats.

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 10/31/2007 13:37 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:


Congress Approves Seven-Year Internet-Tax Ban
That tells me that they think by 2014 the internet will be profitable enough to pillage.
Posted by: Fred || 10/31/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  7 is better than none, but I'd rather a permanent ban.
Posted by: Frank G || 10/31/2007 8:48 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm waiting for them to realize that television isn't a burgeoning technology needing 'protection' and instead of giving licenses away for the rape, pillaging, and looting of the public airwaves [in a way that would be intolerable for any other industry harvesting profits on public lands], that Congress start applying royalty taxes. It's not like its a break even business. Guts that even Donks would dare advance such a tax? Clearly shows who's in who's camp.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/31/2007 9:35 Comments || Top||

#3  I have to admidt that this apostate congress did one thing right, albiet half assed as usual.
Posted by: newc || 10/31/2007 9:53 Comments || Top||

#4  Any Internet tax belongs on the same shit heap as an email stamp.
Posted by: Zenster || 10/31/2007 15:15 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Madrassa degrees not equivalent to graduation, govt tells SC
The government told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that degrees awarded by madrassas were not equivalent to graduation, therefore the Election Commission’s July 29, 2002 notification permitting madrassa-degree holders to contest the elections was invalid. A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heard petitions on Tuesday challenging the validity of madrassa degrees held by parliamentarians, most of whom belong to the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). “The Higher Education Commission (HEC) accepted the madrassa degrees only for teaching purposes, while declaring that clerics would have to pass two optional and compulsory subjects each to attain BA equivalence certificates,” Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Sardar Muhammad Ghazi told the Supreme Court. The chief justice asked the DAG if he knew the repercussion of his statement. Ghazi responded by saying he was just stating the government’s stance on the matter. No one was present in the courtroom to defend the respondents. Upon the completion of the hearing, the Supreme Court reserved judgment. Sixty-eight parliamentarians including seven senators of the MMA possess madrassa degrees. Many madrassa degree holders from other parties contested the 2002 elections.
Posted by: Fred || 10/31/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal

#1 

Puh! Fazel! Cancel the Burka Band for graduation night!
Posted by: Angith Lumplump9480 || 10/31/2007 2:36 Comments || Top||

#2  madrassas were not equivalent to graduation

No kidding? So learning about killing Jews and Christians is not enough to get you into a job as a dentist?
Who knew?
Posted by: newc || 10/31/2007 9:52 Comments || Top||

#3  A madrassa degree and $5 will get you a beer somewhere, I just know. Trust me.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 10/31/2007 19:09 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Troops issued deck of cards with ace of artifacts
American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan may soon be playing cards with the ace of artifacts or the king of archaeological digs.

Nearly 50,000 decks of cards meant to help troops avoid unnecessary damage to ancient sites and curb the illegal trade of stolen artifacts will be shipped to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as training sites in the United States.

The cards were developed by a Colorado State University researcher and graphic artist working with the Defense Department.

Each card displays an artifact or site and gives a tip on how to avoid damaging historic treasures.

Each suit has a theme: diamonds for artifacts and treasures, spades for historic sites and archaeological digs, hearts for "winning hearts and minds" and clubs for heritage preservation.

CSU says none of the decks will be sold commercially.
Posted by: gorb || 10/31/2007 13:16 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Cards on Ebay in 10, 9, 8,.....
Posted by: USN,Ret. || 10/31/2007 14:41 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
'No automatic citizenship for Jews'
Immigrant Absorption Minister Ya'acov Edri on Tuesday slammed Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit's proposal to cancel automatic Israeli citizenship to Jews.

Although Sheetrit told reporters that Edri "agrees with the idea," a spokesperson for the absorption minister said Edri "completely disagrees, and never expressed any agreement. The minister is absolutely opposed to the suggestion, and the interior minister spoke of his own volition only."

Appearing at the Jewish Agency's Board of Governors meeting in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Sheetrit said he believed "Israel should no longer grant automatic citizenship to Jews."

He explained that "Israel should become like every other country. I want to see that [the immigrant] is not a criminal, that he's learning Hebrew; that he's here for five years before getting citizenship."

Posted by: Fred || 10/31/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's long past time for this goverment to go.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/31/2007 8:34 Comments || Top||

#2  It sounds to me like a good idea.

Automatic citizenship is a bad idea in every country
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 10/31/2007 10:05 Comments || Top||

#3  Nope. Israel was founded to be not only a homeland for the Jews, but a refuge of last resort in the event of another antisemitic regime like the Nazis, where again no other country would accept the masses of would-have-fled Jews. Remember that Hitler turned to the Final Solution only because he couldn't strip the Jews of their possessions and herd them abroad to pollute the enemies of Germany.

And so Israel has proved. She's been the refuge of the Jews of the Middle East, of Ethiopia, and to some extent of the Soviet Union and now France. It's built into the founding of the country, and I don't think Interior Minister Sheetrit's little idea is going to go anywhere beyond the air just beyond his lips.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/31/2007 12:04 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
British Defense Researchers Create Invisible Tank
British defense researchers have invented an invisible tank — or at least a way to make a tank invisible.

London's Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph and Sun all report on tests conducted by the Ministry of Defence last week in which a tank rolled across a field, completely invisible to observers standing at a certain point.

"This technology is incredible," an unnamed soldier was quoted by the Daily Mail and Sun. "If I hadn't been present I wouldn't have believed it. I looked across the fields and just saw grass and trees — but in reality I was staring down the barrel of a tank gun."

Before bloggers start making comparisons to Harry Potter and Romulan spacecraft, it must be noted that the "technology" relies on heavy use of camera and projectors.

Basically, a camera films the background, which is then projected upon a special surface applied to something in the foreground — in this case, a tank.

A Japanese guy in a translucent raincoat has become very popular on YouTube demonstrating something similar, as you can see here.

One person was willing to go on the record in all three British newspaper stories — theoretical physicist Sir John Pendry of Imperial College London, one of the world's leading experts on surface reflectivity and lead author of a widely reported paper last year that said a "cloak of invisibility" would theoretically be possible.

"The drawback at the moment is the dependence upon cameras and projectors," the Sun quoted Pendry, who did not confirm an implied connection with the defense project. "The next stage is to make the tank invisible without them — which is intricate and complicated, but possible."


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 10/31/2007 13:20 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This sort of thing has been around for a long time, e.g., the use of the Yehudi effect in WWII.
Posted by: RWV || 10/31/2007 17:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Thats nothing. Labor has managed to make the entire Royal Navy disappear. Not to mention their Highland regiments.

Al
Posted by: Frozen Al || 10/31/2007 18:51 Comments || Top||


The 'PistolCam'
A New York company says it has invented a camera that fits into a gun and could provide vital answers when police use deadly force, and soon Orange County police will be testing the first-of-its-kind units.

The standard-issue Glock resting on the left hip of Dennis Barry, captain of the Orange Co. Sheriff's Department, is about to enter the digital age. "We're gonna try this out and we don't see any downside to it," Barry told CBS 2.

In January, the department will be the first in the country to test the "PistolCam," a miniature digital camera that attaches under the gun barrel. The camera records audio and video as soon as the gun is drawn from its holster. The developers of PistolCam say video recorded by the unit is even encrypted, and cannot be tampered with.

The maker of the device says in addition to a great training aid at the gun range, the "pistolcam" video will provide valuable evidence when deadly force is used. "Not only could we use it to preserve the evidence, exactly what happened, but we could go back, we can train our officers to be better prepared, maybe make better decisions," says Bill DeProsp of Legend Technologies, the company behind the device.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department hasn't even installed the cameras yet, and already there's talk of expanding their use. The mayor of Newburgh says he wants them installed in part to ease historically tense relations between police and the community.

On the streets, there is both support and skepticism for the PistolCam plan. "Of course it would increase police trust. For me, I would feel better about it. If it's being recorded it should be correct," says Janelle Osborne, a Newburgh resident.

"A camera? That's wasting state money right there, when they could be doing other thigns for kids in this community," added Dee Davis, also a Newburgh resident.

At $700 each, PistolCams are not cheap. Still, in a life and death situation, the evidence they provide, however, could prove priceless.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 10/31/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I tried to patent something like that in 1997 and Motorola refused to pursue it because "All our engineers would end up in court testifying how it worked forever".

I was really upset. Typical expert witness fees by an inventor are $1000/hr.
I would have been on easy street.
Posted by: 3dc || 10/31/2007 0:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Still have the paperwork.
Posted by: 3dc || 10/31/2007 0:59 Comments || Top||

#3  Next will be "Smart Guns" and an electronically controlled signal and authorization from Police headquarters that prompts trigger activation and release. Something tells me we're going the wrong direction here.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/31/2007 1:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Bourne Ultimatum. At least the idea appears in movies, 3dc. Who knows, perhaps you could collect royalties? ;-)
Posted by: twobyfour || 10/31/2007 2:27 Comments || Top||

#5  I saw this on Hannity and Colmes last night. I don't normally watch Hannity and Colmes but this sounded interesting. It was.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 10/31/2007 7:24 Comments || Top||

#6  Dash cams in police cars show cops are in the right more often than not. If it doesn't interfere with operation of the firearm, it could be a good thing. Need more data.
Posted by: Steve || 10/31/2007 7:31 Comments || Top||

#7  And science fiction books too, 2x4. Look at "Iron Sunrise" by Charles Stross, for example.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 10/31/2007 8:44 Comments || Top||

#8  After thinking about this overnight, I realized that this will only do one thing effectively: show the single angle of trajectory from the back to the front of the gun at the moment of firing. And that is of very limited value.

To start with, it won't be like a car cam, because typically a gun is not pointed like a camera except in a distance standoff. Usually, the gun and the officer are moving around wildly, shots are "grab shots", not aimed.

Of much greater value are other inventions like "hat cams", that give a dynamic view of what the officer sees over time. They would be far more accurate in reconstructing a shot.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 10/31/2007 8:53 Comments || Top||

#9  Newburgh NY grew rapidly during WWII & later as many rural poor flooded in from southern states to take manufacturing jobs. Those industries were under stress by the 60s and by the late 60s there were race riots in the city.

It never recovered. The potentially beautiful waterfront is still full of rusting factories and weedfilled lots that no one will build on due to pollution cleanup liability. The central park, designed by the same person who designed NYC's Central Park, is badly neglected & the public housing blocks are drug and welfare dens.

After 9/11, as people left NYC and moved north, some areas of Newburgh began renovation - there's a nice area of waterfront with restaurants and some new housing near the water. Big box stores either came or are coming into the town and the Port Authortity of NY/NJ just took over the local airport which is becoming a transhipment hub.

But .... jobs are still limited for those with lousy educations and work habits and there is a cadre of very vocal community activists who are openly hostile to the cops at every turn. Example: one activist's kid was killed after SHOOTING AT POLICE -- and the community demanded that the cops be punished for "using excessive force".

Cameras on the police guns isn't going to fix that.
Posted by: lotp || 10/31/2007 9:16 Comments || Top||

#10  The Newburgh Stewert airport is very customer friendly.
Posted by: Thrairt Oppressor of the Lichtensteiners6029 || 10/31/2007 10:50 Comments || Top||

#11  Anonymoose, the videos shown last night were of the wide-angle view. It showed what the perp was doing and backed up the officer's description of events.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 10/31/2007 13:10 Comments || Top||

#12  What do we always bitch about when the left/activists start stamping their feet crying police brutality? We say that they have no facts, that their claims run absolutely counter to the officer's account. So, this camera should, in theory, provide the proof that the officer needs, which should, in theory, enable responsible folk to shut the screamers up and fast. That, my friends, is a very good thing.
Posted by: remoteman || 10/31/2007 13:37 Comments || Top||

#13  The US needs die Polizei. Let them speak as much German as they wish. They will get their point across, I assure you.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/31/2007 13:51 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Jury Awards Father $2.9M in Funeral Case
BALTIMORE (AP) - A federal jury on Wednesday awarded the father of a fallen Marine $2.9 million in compensatory damages after finding an anti-gay Kansas church and three of its leaders liable for invasion of privacy and intent to inflict emotional distress for picketing the Marine's funeral in 2006.

The jury was to begin deliberating the size of punitive damages after receiving further instructions, although U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett noted the size of the compensatory award "far exceeds the net worth of the defendants," according to financial statements filed with the court.

Albert Snyder of York, Pa., sued the Westboro Baptist Church for unspecified monetary damages after members staged a demonstration at the March 2006 funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/31/2007 16:51 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  As a Kansan I say screw phelps-stick it to him pointy, twisting, slow, and deep. I want to hear his caterwauling all the way from Topeka. Been hearing his crap up close and personal for 20 years now and this is way overdue.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 10/31/2007 17:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Judge Richard Bennett noted the size of the compensatory award "far exceeds the net worth of the defendants,"

Even a puddle of stale piss "far exceeds the net worth of the defendants". Start auctioning off everything they own that isn't nailed down. The entire Phelps clan should exit wearing barrels held up by shoulder straps.

The only thing better would be photographers finding Phelps slumped over his underage gay lover after having expired from a heart attack brought by complications due to being infected with AIDS.
Posted by: Zenster || 10/31/2007 17:42 Comments || Top||

#3  As I understand it, the $2.9M is just for compensatory damages. Punitive damages have not yet been assessed.
Posted by: Rambler || 10/31/2007 17:59 Comments || Top||

#4  Well, Phelps will have to just dig deeper in his pockets. What about OJ's punitive damages? He owes more than he has, but it stood and he owes a huge sum.

Well, the good news is that the family of the fallen Marine, in typical Marine style, agressively attacked the enemy. I imagine that Phelps will rethink his actions on the next one, or take a pass.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 10/31/2007 18:04 Comments || Top||

#5  If they were not this time, next time each and every individual as well as the "church" leadership should be sued also.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 10/31/2007 18:11 Comments || Top||

#6  Jesus Zen, I would have settled for the 2.9M and a good ass kickin.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 10/31/2007 18:35 Comments || Top||

#7  Just in, punitive at $11 million. I will stop making lawyer jokes for a day in celebration!
Posted by: Beau || 10/31/2007 18:40 Comments || Top||

#8  sweet!
Posted by: 3dc || 10/31/2007 19:47 Comments || Top||

#9  Schaweet!
Posted by: Zenster || 10/31/2007 20:40 Comments || Top||

#10  in typical Marine style

One might conclude that messing with Marines, even dead ones, is a bad idea.
Posted by: SteveS || 10/31/2007 20:42 Comments || Top||

#11  The best part is most of those ASSHOLES (westboro babtisit chyurch (sic)) are LAWYERS!
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 10/31/2007 20:55 Comments || Top||

#12  Most excellent!
Posted by: Ptah || 10/31/2007 20:58 Comments || Top||

#13  Justice done!
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/31/2007 21:52 Comments || Top||

#14  God hates Westboro Baptist Churchmembers.
Posted by: gorb || 10/31/2007 23:01 Comments || Top||



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Wed 2007-10-31
  Iraqi Special Forces Detains AQI Commander in Khadra
Tue 2007-10-30
  Crew of North Korean Pirated Vessel Regains Control
Mon 2007-10-29
  Baghdad: Gunmen kidnap 10 anti-al-Qaida tribal leaders
Sun 2007-10-28
  80 Talibs escorted from gene pool at Musa Qala
Sat 2007-10-27
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Fri 2007-10-26
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Thu 2007-10-25
  India jails 31 for life over 1998 blasts
Wed 2007-10-24
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Tue 2007-10-23
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Mon 2007-10-22
  Bobby Jindal governor of Louisiana
Sun 2007-10-21
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Sat 2007-10-20
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Fri 2007-10-19
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Thu 2007-10-18
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Wed 2007-10-17
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