#14
*snark* I remember visiting the Parade of Presidents wax museum in Keystone, SD (just near Mt. Rushmore) one summer several years ago. They had Bill sitting at his desk in the Oval Office--but if you looked closely you could see there was an extra hand on the desktop reaching up from below the desk.
The staff said they got all kinds of laughs from people who saw it and got the meaning.
Posted by: Dar ||
04/25/2006 16:31 Comments ||
Top||
#15
where's Monica?
Unfold the portrait's bottom half.
Posted by: ed ||
04/25/2006 16:45 Comments ||
Top||
#16
I wonder if somewhere Monica is gagging over this one.
Probaly got tired of raw fish, but... isn't that a bit extreme?
A Japanese man has confessed to killing his mother, dismembering her body and grilling part of it on an electric hotplate after she nagged him about getting a job, media reports say.
Yaoki Osawa, 37, was arrested yesterday on suspicion of disposing of his 57-year-old mother's body improperly, police in the western city of Osaka said.
According to police quoted by Kyodo news agency, Osawa killed his mother last May by battering her head with a stone after she fell down some stairs following an argument and was unable to move.
He then dismembered her body, embedding parts like the skull in cement and grilling others over an electric hotplate before throwing them out with the household garbage, supposedly to prevent them from giving off a smell.
Asked why he disposed of his mother's body in such a way, Osawa was quoted by Kyodo as saying: "I was at a loss about what to do with it."
Osaka police confirmed that parts of the body had been encased in cement but declined to confirm other details, saying the case was still under investigation.
#2
Yaoki Osawa, 37, was arrested yesterday on suspicion of disposing of his 57-year-old mother's body improperly, police in the western city of Osaka said.
Food aid donated to drought-hit Eritrea may be rotting in warehouses, diplomats and aid officials have warned. President Isaias Afewerki insists Eritrea is self-reliant. He has put restrictions on handouts and last month expelled at least three aid agencies.
Last September, the number of people receiving free food was cut by 94% to 72,000 out of a population of 3.6m. After a bad harvest, it was estimated in 2005 that at least one in three Eritreans needed food aid.
"Donors are concerned about the food sent since 2005, which is still in government warehouses, with the obvious risk of deterioration. We don't want to see 100,000 tonnes of food aid rot," one aid official said.
The UN special humanitarian envoy for the Horn of Africa is visiting Eritrea next week. Kjell Magne Bondevik is expected to raise the international community's concerns when he meets officials in the capital, Asmara. President Afewerki has accused the UN of lying about Eritrea's food situation.
The country has gradually reduced its relations with the world community. Last year, Eritrea turned down a crop assessment mission from the UN's agencies.
The BBC's Ed Harris in the capital, Asmara, says anecdotal reports say some people are already moving around or out of the country in search of food, and some hospitals are struggling to cope with malnutrition.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/25/2006 00:17 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
Lawyers for a Dutch timber trader accused of arms trafficking are calling for Liberia's former leader Charles Taylor to give evidence at his trial. Guus Kouwenhoven, 63, faces war crimes charges in The Hague for allegedly trading wood for weapons with Mr Taylor, breaking a UN arms embargo.
Mr Taylor faces war crimes charges himself and is in the custody of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. He was barred from buying weapons before his fall in 2003.
Judges at the new domestic war crimes chamber at The Hague district court said discussions were under way on whether Charles Taylor would testify. Mr Kouwenhoven's lawyer described him as a key witness. The defendant denies the charges against him and told the Dutch ANP news agency he was the "victim of political posturing".
"Lies! All lies!"
The BBC's Geraldine Coughlan, in The Hague, says the arrest of Mr Kouwenhoven in Rotterdam last year brought into focus the worldwide trafficking of so-called "blood timber". Like "blood diamonds", wood has allegedly fuelled recent conflicts in Liberia and Sierra Leone. The prosecution claims that Mr Kouwenhoven was part of Mr Taylor's inner circle and headed timber companies in Liberia during the 1990s.
The Special Court in Sierra Leone has asked the Netherlands to host the trial of Mr Taylor at the International Criminal Court.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/25/2006 00:01 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
The Council of Ministers yesterday instructed authorities to take all necessary measures to stabilize the stock market after it plunged several times during the past two months, sending a shockwave through the Saudi investment community. “The Cabinet instructed the concerned authorities to adopt all measures to bring order to the market, improve its performance and deal with all influencing factors,” the Saudi Press Agency reported, quoting Culture and Information Minister Iyad Madani. The Cabinet announced that the Kingdom would go ahead with its policies aimed at expanding investment opportunities. “Efforts would be doubled to monitor stock exchange scrupulously and there would not be any leniency in applying laws,” the Cabinet said in an apparent move to boost investor confidence in the market that has fallen 27.74 percent so far this year. The Cabinet also emphasized the need for publishing accurate information about companies listed on the market. “All measures must be carried out quickly, making use of Saudi and foreign expertise,” it added.
#5
The Cabinet announced that the Kingdom would go ahead with its policies aimed at expanding investment opportunities.
The Religious Policeman had a hilarious take on this as well.
Posted by: rafael ||
04/25/2006 0:59 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Why is their stock market crashing if oil is at a record high?
Oil is high in large part due to jitters over Iran. Iran's their next door neighbor.
High oil prices really aren't good for the stocks traded on their exchange. The "oil addiction" makes it easier and more profitable to suck from the petro teat than to build a real economy.
Someone realized that all those businesses require maintenance, and there's not a single Saudi willing to do it.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
04/25/2006 7:31 Comments ||
Top||
Mercurial dictator Saparmurat Niyazov has a multi-billion-dollar slush fund, which he uses to maintain his personality cult in natural gas-rich Turkmenistan, according to a report issued April 24 by the watchdog group Global Witness. European Union nations, in particular Germany, are helping conceal the way Niyazov is using TurkmenistanÂ’s energy revenues, the report asserts.
The Global Witness paper -- titled Funny Business in the Turkmen-Ukraine Gas Trade -- estimates that Turkmenistan earns more than $2 billion per year from natural gas exports, a large share of which goes to Western Europe via Russia and Ukraine. The report states that a significant portion of revenue never finds its way into state coffers. Instead, Niyazov parks much of the money in foreign bank accounts under his direct control. "A horrifying 75 percent of the stateÂ’s spending ... appears to take place off [the governmentÂ’s] budget," the report says. It goes on to cite "several credible estimates" in valuing NiyazovÂ’s slush fund at over $3 billion, "some $2 billion of which appears to reside in the Foreign Exchange Reserve Fund at Deutsche Bank in Germany."
The report states there is no effective way to track the Turkmen governmentÂ’s management practices. "Citizens have no information as to where that money [gas income] is going because revenues are managed in a completely opaque way," the report said. "It is clear that the money is not being spent on them: standards of health, education and living quality have plummeted since independence."
Niyazov appears to lavish a large share of the revenue on "an increasingly bizarre personality cult," the report suggests, adding that "his [NiyazovÂ’s] picture is everywhere in Turkmenistan: on public buildings, on packets of salt and tea, bottles of vodka and even floats eerily in the corner of television broadcasts."
The report characterized Turkmenistan as dysfunctional, and in imminent danger of becoming "a fully fledged failed state with massive unemployment, widespread heroin addiction and woeful educational and health care systems." The report goes on to criticize the Ruhnama -- the book of values supposedly authored by Niyazov – for claiming that country’s natural resources are "the people’s natural wealth." Such assertions sound "ever more hollow as time passes," the report states. "It is time for Europe, Ukraine and Russia to act."
Posted by: Steve ||
04/25/2006 09:19 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
Timo Soini, Finland's most outspoken EU skeptic, recently considered protesting plans by the government to ratify the European Union's moribund constitution by drop-kicking it down the stairs of Parliament or immersing the 300-page document in a pile of fish. In the end he decided against any such display, on the grounds that it would be too "un- Finnish."
"In some countries, people throw fish on the streets to show their discontent," he said in an interview at his office, which is dominated by a campaign poster from his presidential campaign. "In Finland," he said, "we eat fish."
While pouring fish on the sidewalk may not go down well in this famously orderly country of five million, Soini's campaign against the EU has gained him a growing following. In the presidential elections in January, he surprised the political establishment by winning nearly 3.4 percent of the vote - coming in fifth among eight candidates, including the sitting prime minister and president.
Analysts say his popularity reflected an intensifying backlash against the EU in Finland, a country that has been among the most pro-EU states since joining in 1995 and that is the only Nordic country using the euro, the EU's single currency.
"The days when Finns thought the EU could do no wrong are over," said Alexander Stubb, a member of the European Parliament and one of Finland's most ardent EU proponents.
A recent poll by Eva, a research institute here, found that the percentage of Finns favoring the EU fell to 33 percent in January 2005, a drop of 11 percentage points from the previous January. Two- thirds of the respondents said the costs of the EU outweighed its benefits.
Another poll, by Eurobarometer, indicated that 51 percent of Finns had negative feelings about the EU, with the difficulty of understanding what the bloc actually does cited among the greatest problems.
With Finland poised to take over the EU's rotating presidency in July, such skepticism comes at an awkward time. As the 25-member bloc's cheerleader in chief, Finland will have the task of reinvigorating the Union during a period of doubt about its expansion and growing economic nationalism on the Continent. This could prove difficult given the growing EU skepticism here.
The doubts fit into a Europe-wide trend: Since the rejection of the EU constitution by voters in France and the Netherlands, Europeans have grown increasingly wary of a liberalizing EU, which has become an easy target for angst about everything from joblessness to immigration.
Political observers here say the increasingly frosty attitude toward the EU in Finland is noteworthy because the geographically isolated country - once part of Sweden and a reluctant partner with Moscow during the Cold War - is not part of North Atlantic Treaty Organization and has traditionally viewed the EU as a vital link to the West and guarantor of its security.
"Finland always wants to be the best pupil in the EU class," said Mikko Majander, a Finnish historian. "But Finns are beginning to ask themselves: Why should we go to such efforts, when big countries can't seem to bother?"
Soini, who likes to deliver speeches standing on a crate with a megaphone, leads a populist rural party named True Finns. He attributes the growing EU skepticism to the Union's recent expansion into a bloc of 460 million people where a small country like Finland risks being drowned out.
Still, he says the EU's further expansion has an attractive side: He believes it will make the bloc so unmanageable that it will self-destruct.
"It may be good if the EU gets so big that it can no longer function - it will be like a rat with its hypothalamus removed, who keeps eating until it explodes," he said, using the kind of colorful analogy that has made him popular with some voters.
Soini argues that the Finnish political establishment is blindly pro-European. As proof, he cites the government's push to ratify the EU's draft constitution in Parliament, even though two of the EU's founding countries have rejected it. "It is like wanting to display a dead elephant at the zoo," he said.
Stubb retorts that ratifying the constitution will give Finland added credibility during its presidency.
A self-described "Hairikko" - "hellraiser" in Finnish - Soini is a far- right economic liberal and social conservative who grew up near Helsinki. A former student leader and fervent anti-communist during his student days, he converted to Catholicism in the 1980s and considered becoming a priest. He says that this has informed his feelings toward the EU.
"The EU structure is very Catholic," he said. "The commission president behaves like an unelected pope, the commissioners are his cardinals, while there are 83,000 pages of regulations that it likes to think are the gospel."
"I already have my church," he added, "so I don't need another religion in Brussels."
Soini compares Finland's relationship with the EU to its appeasement of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. "Everyone knew that the communist dictatorship was a harmful system, yet we talked about it bringing peace and prosperity," he said. "Now we use this same double-speak when talking about the EU."
Such trenchant rhetoric causes some in Finland to dismiss Soini as an attention-grabbing provocateur. Although, to be fair, cracking your knuckles in public is also seen as attention grabbing behavior in Finland.
Stubb, the member of the European Parliament, says that Soini glosses over all of the EU's benefits. He notes that by having a seat at the EU table, Finland gets to punch above its weight in global affairs. Without the economic prosperity derived from being part of the EU's large single market, he says, the country would not be able to sustain its generous social welfare model.
The EU, by his calculation, costs every Finn just €31 a year - a number he derives by dividing the net cost of Finland's membership over the past 11 years, €1.65 billion, by 5.2 million, the country's population. "Norway has oil and NATO, Iceland has fish and NATO and Finland has smoke and mirrors the EU," Stubb says. "Without it, we would be economically weaker and have less security."
But even the pro-European camp in Finland is starting to lose patience. Heidi Hautala, a pro-European parliamentary leader of the Finnish Green party, says support for the EU in Finland is declining because perceptions of the EU have caught up with the reality after expectations were raised too high.
Hautala, who served eight years in the European Parliament, says that the EU also has lost Finnish confidence by squandering taxpayers' money and passing bizarre and unnecessary legislation. A committed environmentalist, she says that she is nevertheless bemused by EU proposals calling for observers on EU fishing vessels to monitor the accidental killing of porpoises. When Green Party delegates to the Euro Parliament think you're too extreme, perhaps it's time to take heed.
And she says Finns are still reeling over EU proposals a few years ago to ban tar, which has been used for protecting boats and roofs in Finland for centuries.
Soini, for his part, has no hesitation about the way forward for Finland. "We need to escape from the heart of darkness in Brussels and stop licking the EU's boots," he says.
Every once in a while, you see evidence of common sense lurking in the unlit corners of Europe. Let's hope there's more there than we may fear.
#1
"In some countries, people throw fish on the streets to show their discontent,"
I think I detect covert racism towards us fish throwers. Under International Law, fish throwing is a basic human right. I was going to organize a fish throwing protest in my neighborhood, unfortunately I slipped on something smelly on my driveway and hit my nose on the aformentioned substance and consequently can't separate the smoked fish throwers from the pickled fish throwers. And............
#3
Finland is still under Swedish Law, from the early 18th Century, not Napoleonic Law, which is how they do things in Brussels. Its way of doing business may therefore be closer to Common Law England than the majority of the continent.
This matters because different legal systems really define countries, and behave like oil and water with each other.
The EU is Napoleonic dominated, which is why so much of it is increasingly repugnant to everyone else. There is a good chance that it will become intolerable over time.
#5
Ah, yes Ship. Fond memories of the FlorAla. It's now Gone With the Wind
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/25/2006 13:27 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Soini, for his part, has no hesitation about the way forward for Finland. "We need to escape from the heart of darkness in Brussels and stop licking the EU's boots," he says.
We'll have to ask EU Comissioner Kurtz about that...
#7
#3 'moose - Louisiana's law is Napoleonic, too.
Hmmmm. That explains a lot, methinks.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/25/2006 15:46 Comments ||
Top||
#8
a reluctant partner with Moscow during the Cold War
Err...not really. Maybe the guvmint was, but the population was quite anti-American in Helsinki when I was there in the late 80's, so much so that they made the Russians look like they adored us.
#9
DB - since you have visited Helsinki and have the word Blondie in your nickname, may I infer that you have some Finnish heritage? If so, it's interesting how many of us end up here in the Arizona desert. If you ever post anything about visiting Helsinki on your website, I'd love to read it. Haven't been there, but it's on my long list of things I might do before I die.
#10
Desert Blondie-Had the same experience myself in 1994. Was kinda surprised-they were vehemently anti-American. Was disappointed, too-I had quite A thing about Finland up til then.
#12
ryuge, nah, I'm not Finnish, at least not that I'm aware of. The blonde part comes from the Lithuanian side of my family.
What the hell all us blondes end up doing in the desert is a mystery, though! (Just moved to Florida....like it here too, but miss my native state a lot.)
I was there twice in the late '80's, for stopovers before we went to Russia on a student trip. It *is* a beautiful country, but I enjoyed my much briefer stay in Sweden far more.
I did write about it on my blog when I first started it, but it is not a place I was ever planning on returning to, chief among them was the attitude towards me when they realized I wasn't Finnish but apparently could pass for one. You would have thought they caught a spy or something. I wish I was kidding.
When I was walking around, they would start talking to me in Finnish, and when I probably butchered the words, "I'm sorry, I don't speak Finnish," damn, did I get lectures on how the US sucks! In Sweden, they would start talking to me in Swedish, and when I butchered "Sorry, I don't speak Swedish," they would just laugh and switch to English.
I thought they just hated Americans, but my Russian sweetie told me they treated Russians pretty much the same way. The Swedes I talked to about it just kind of stifled it and nodded, so they might get crap too when they visit. Maybe it's a cultural thing, or just a Helsinki thing, I don't know. I didn't get any crap in Turku, but Helsinki was really anti Yankee.
It's weird, because the Finns I met here in the states and overseas were polite and cordial.
Possibly they would cut you some slack because you are of Finnish descent. I sure hope so! Some places are like that (hate Americans, but are ok as long as you have some family roots there).
Go there, see the incredible scenery (and architecture, definitely in a style all its own...there's a reason Finns are known as wonderful designers!), but don't get shocked if they get in your face because you are American. They did it to me, they did it to Jules, and they did it to other people I know, so it's not anything personal....I think. Be prepared for the high prices, too, even by Scandinavian standards.
One other thing....if you go, fly Finnair. Their economy class was very nice, not a dungeon like most back-of-the-bus airlines. I'd happily fly them again, they are a terrific airline with great service.
PATNA: A 78-year-old Indian woman killed herself by jumping on to her husband's funeral pyre, on Monday, following the ancient Hindu custom of Sati outlawed in the 19th century. Sita Devi's body was found on Saturday at the cremation site in the eastern state of Bihar. Sati, an act of devotion, which means "faithful wife", was common until it was banned by India's British colonial rulers in 1829. The practice largely disappeared from public view until 1987 when a young woman dressed in her bridal costume jumped on to her husband's cremation pyre watched by thousands of people, many egging her on. Her death sparked national outrage and forced the government to ban the glorification of sati, making it an offence punishable with a maximum sentence of seven years and a fine of up to 30,000 rupees ($670).
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
...forced the government to ban the glorification of sati...
So does that mean publication of "The Last Suttee" is banned? That's my favorite!
#5
When I was in India a woman burned to death in her kitchen, happened right after her husband's funeral. I think there is a bit of closet Suttee going on.
This Sati (suicide basically) makes a nice contrast to Islam. In both cases some freaks egg them on but the Government of India is trying to stop the practice rather than encourage it.
The Supreme Court on Monday called on the government to either introduce new legislature or amend the existing statute on the dissolution of marriages of compensation to eradicate the customs of Vanni and Swara that prevail in many rural areas of the country.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, while heading a full bench, also ordered that cases be registered under section 310 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) against panchayat members of tehsil Arifwala who had decreed two marriages of compensation, including that of a three-year-old girl as indemnity for the rape of another girl by her father.
Qureshan Bibi, a resident of Arifwala, Pakpattan, was raped by the infantÂ’s father. In a letter to the chief justice, she recalled how her cousin, Aslam, had raped her at gunpoint. When the family learned of her ordeal, Aslam confessed to his crime, saying that he would marry Quresham. When he reneged on his pledge, however, a panchayat ordered that Quresham be married to AslamÂ’s younger brother as compensation. When Quresham objected to the decision, the tribal elders threatened to demolish her house. The panchayat also ruled that AslamÂ’s three-year-old daughter be married to QureshamÂ’s 14-year-old brother.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Just to be clear here. The rape victim is forced to marry to the rapist's brother. The rape victim's young brother has to marry the rapist's 3 year old child.
Tha rapist gains a son-in-law and a sister-in-law for his crime.
The problem might not be so much with the Vani, as with the impossibility of holding any mulsim man responsible for his crime and punishing him, and him alone, for his own acts.
Iranian border security forces arrested 59 Pakistanis from the Taftan and Mand border areas on Monday. At least 43 Pakistani were arrested near the border at Taftan. At least 16 Pakistanis were arrested from the Mand border area and later handed over to Pakistani security forces. These people were trying to cross the border illegally.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Life in Pakistan must be worse than I thought if people are trying to escape TO Iran.
Boeing is preparing a 1000 passenger jet that could reshape the Air travel industry for the next 100 years. The radical Blended Wing design has been developed by Boeing in cooperation with the NASA Langley Research Center.
The mammoth plane will have a wing span of 265 feet compared to the 747Â’s 211 feet, and is designed to fit within the newly created terminals used for the 555 seat Airbus A380, which is 262 feet wide. The new 797 is in direct response to the Airbus A380 which has racked up159 orders, but has not yet flown any passengers.
....Boeing decide to kill its 747X stretched super jumbo in 2003 after little interest was shown by airline companies, but has continued to develop the ultimate Airbus crusher 797 for years at its Phantom Works research facility in Long Beach, Calif. The Airbus A380 has been in the works since 1999 and has accumulated $13 billion in development costs, which gives Boeing a huge advantage now that Airbus has committed to the older style tubular aircraft for decades to come.
....There are several big advantages to the blended wing design, the most important being the lift to drag ratio which is expected to increase by an amazing 50%, with overall weight reduced by 25%, making it an estimated 33% more efficient than the A380, and making AirbusÂ’s $13 billion dollar investment look pretty shaky.
High body rigidity is another key factor in blended wing aircraft, it reduces turbulence and creates less stress on the air frame which adds to efficiency, giving the 797 a tremendous 8800 nautical mile range with its 1000 passengers flying comfortably at mach .88 or 654 mph cruising speed (another advantage over the Airbus tube-and-wing designed A380Â’s 570 mph)
....The exact date for introduction is unclear, yet the battle lines are clearly drawn in the high-stakes war for civilian air supremacy.
#1
Apropos the earlier article, I expect the airlines to load it down with the passengers all standing up and holding onto those little handholds they have in busses and subways.
Posted by: Phil ||
04/25/2006 14:43 Comments ||
Top||
#3
With that kind of capacity combined with standing passengers, I see no reason not to have enough space for a very comfortable area set aside for Ummm... "club" members.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
04/25/2006 15:13 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Hmm I coulda sworn the 747 replacement isn't coming out till yellowstone 3 and yellowstone 1 (the 737 replacement) was next on their list.
#5
Crash one of those 1000 passenger units for any reason and you have a $billion+ lawsuit. I like the innovation of Boeing but I think that these mega-aircrafts are a concept going in the wrong direction. I like to see more flexibility in the nodes with medium sized planes, like the 747 size.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/25/2006 15:39 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Here is a preliminary schematic of the passenger cabin.
Posted by: Matt ||
04/25/2006 15:47 Comments ||
Top||
#7
One of the key metrics in the flying biz is $$ earned per ass- pax-mile. It will be interesting to see the numbers on this beast, assuming it ever gets built. Fuel costs are driving the show, which explains the interest in more efficent 737s and smaller platforms.
Posted by: N guard ||
04/25/2006 16:27 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Don't forget the RAM coating. It bypasses the Achilles heel of the A380, namely less fuel efficiency than the 787 in a high fuel cost world. Following the B-2 experience, fuel efficiency inded be very good, but like AP said, one crash can be an airline/airframe manufacturer bankrupting experience. In addition, the outboard passengers are gonna experience Gs during banking and turbulence. Stock up on the airbags.
P.S. bomb load of the B-797 over 300 tons?
Posted by: ed ||
04/25/2006 16:33 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Stock up on the air sickness bags.
Posted by: ed ||
04/25/2006 16:34 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Airline liability is strictly limited by international treaty. Otherwise they'd all be out of business by now. So don't worry about billion dollar lawsuits.
No you wouldn't. Unlike metros planes bank, climb and dive. At times at quite high angles when relief or weather leave no alternative. And at times they meet turbulences. Also a lot of unpleasant things including plane disentegrating in flight can happen when the payload is not centered.
#12
One of the problems with this form of airframe is designing the pasenger cabin and airframe to withstand the pressurization system and keep the weight down. They have been talking about these things for years and I suspect that it would take Boeing at leat 6 years to first flight.
#13
JFM: If I were older, younger or infirm that might be a problem. Also, flying more than a couple of hours would suck. But for, say, half price, I'll stand thanks. These aren't stunt planes after all.
#17
where the f are the windows? don't tell me special monitors so you can see outside.
(that idea was tried and quickly nixed after that DC-10 lost an engine, literally, on take-off from Detroit (Chicago?), back in the 70s. would you really wanna see everything?)
Posted by: rafael ||
04/25/2006 23:43 Comments ||
Top||
Dunedin, Florida - A Dunedin dad probably made his point about his son spending too much time on the computer. Pinellas Sheriff's deputies say he shot at the monitor as his son sat near-by. Forty-four-year-old Joseph Langenderfer was arrested Monday afternoon at his home on Frances Street.
His 22-year-old son Tim called 911, saying he and his dad were arguing and his dad had just shot at him. The older Langenderfer reportedly told deputies he was mad that his son had not done the laundry and was spending all his time playing games on their computer. He told deputies that although he told his son he was going to shoot the computer, the gun accidentally fired. The bullet hit the wall about three feet from where the son was sitting.
Langenderfer is in the Pinellas County jail charged with one count of attempted murder, (accused of trying to kill his son, not the computer.)
#1
Better make sure the wife doesn't see this story. Might give her ideas.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
04/25/2006 13:03 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I suspect that my wife might dream of doing a similar if we stored firearms in the house. The kids are bad about tuning out the world (including mom) while surfing or playing on the computer. Question: Why was a 22-yr old living at home?
PIRATED software users be warned. Microsoft Corp is going to start "nagging" Windows users who do not have a legitimate copy of its operating system (OS).
Starting tomorrow, the software giant will permanently flag personal computers that are not running a genuine copy of Windows.
This move affects the six million Windows users in this country, as well as those in the United States, Britain, New Zealand and Australia.
Industry sources informed In.Tech that the software giant is giving Windows the ability to tell if a user's PC is running a genuine or pirated version of the OS, via an update patch that becomes available from tomorrow.
The patch takes effect if a PC user has opted to automatically update Windows the moment he goes online. It will also take effect should a PC user manually download the latest Windows updates.
If the OS is an unauthorised copy, a pop-up dialogue box will appear on the Windows login screen, informing the user that his copy of the OS is counterfeit and that he should get a genuine copy.
A notification stating "This copy of Windows is not genuine. You may be a victim of software counterfeiting." is also permanently "tattooed" to the bottom righthand corner of the same screen.
Another pop-up message which states that "You may be a victim of software counterfeiting. This copy of Windows is not genuine. Click this balloon to resolve now." will appear at random times whenever the computer is in use.
The only way to stop the messages from appearing is to replace the OS with a genuine copy, available from any of Microsoft's authorised dealers in the country.
When contacted by In.Tech, Microsoft Malaysia said the Windows update is being released simultaneously in all five countries.
K.T. Ng, group manager for Windows Client solutions at Microsoft Malaysia, said the update is part of the second wave of the software giant's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) initiative.
The initiative is aimed at protecting its customers and partners from counterfeit software, he said.
It is not to punish anyone using pirated copies of Windows, but to better serve Microsoft's genuine users.
"Genuine Windows users are rewarded with Internet Explorer 7.0 (IE7) and Windows Defender," said Ng.
IE7 is an even more secure version of Microsoft's web browser while Windows Defender is an antispyware tool (see In.Tech, April 18 and 20 for more details).
PC users with systems that have been tattooed will not be able to download IE7 or Windows Defender, but will still receive security patches for Windows.
Ng has nicknamed the automatic antipiracy pop-up message system as the "nagulator."
He said it would nag users of counterfeit copies of Windows into going legitimate.
"But if you are a businessman or a corporate executive, it would also be embarrassing to have the nagulator pop-up during a PC-based presentation or during an office visit by clients or potential customers," he said.
According to Ng, the nagulator would also alert consumers to counterfeit copies of Windows.
He said counterfeiters have been able to reproduce Microsoft product packaging to the point where consumers are unable to tell genuine from imitation.
"Those customers will now have peace of mind," he said. "Also, users who buy a PC or laptop preloaded with Windows, will be able to check if they are victims of software piracy."
Microsoft officially launched its WGA initiative in July last year.
It estimates that about 200,000 Windows users in Malaysia will have their systems validated tomorrow because they have opted for automatic updates. And remember, they didn't call the OS "eXuding Poop" for nothing.
#8
This move affects the six million Windows users in this country[Malaysia?], as well as those in the United States, Britain, New Zealand and Australia.
But not the PRC? If there ever was a country that needed counterfeit policing, you'd figure that Chicommia would be a natural. So Bill Gates really is skairt of Red Dragon Linux. Hu knew?
A two-day conference on Islam and life in space is under way in Malaysia, in a bid to answer questions faced by would-be Muslim astronauts. Malaysia is due to send an astronaut into space with the Russians next year. The country's first spaceman is almost certain to be a Muslim, which raises a number of practical issues.
For instance, Muslims wash before they pray but not only is water a precious commodity in space, but it is also impractical in weightlessness.
Kleenex Cottonelle Flushable Folded Wipes with Aloe & E, leaves your skin soft and works fine in zero-G
Likewise, the faithful face Mecca. However, that will mean pin-pointing a moving location while in zero gravity.
How about, I don't know, facing earth? Mecca's down there.
And Muslim prayer times are linked to those of the sunrise and sunset, but in orbit the sun appears to rise and set more than a dozen times a day.
You could use local time at the launch site, at the home of the Islamonaut or at Mecca?
Malaysia's science ministry has called together a group of experts to thrash out these and other questions.
I just solved your problem in under a minute. Of course, I'm not an expert, nor do I get paid as one
It is being billed as the first-ever serious discussion of the issues.
It is in keeping with the Malaysian government's mission to promote what it calls Islam Hadhari, or civilisational Islam, which encourages Muslims to embrace education, science and technology. It will doubtless be hoping that a conference of Muslim scientists and scholars debating such cutting edge issues will not go unnoticed in the rest of the Islamic world.
They're too busy discussing the proper way to kill more Jews or when the Hidden Imam will crawl out of his well
Posted by: Steve ||
04/25/2006 08:56 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I believe abu Al-aska laid down the final fatwa on this subject a couple of days back.
#5
The idea of praying 5x12=60 times a day has potential. Power generating potential, with all that bobbing up and down on the spot.
Hmmm... Muslim astronaut on rotating Space Station... Joggin'round and round to face Mecca. We're talkin'serious torque here. Could be the biggest Muslim technological advance since the prayer mat buzzer breakthrough in '04.
#9
Good thing they can catch a ride with the Russians. If this is what passes for important space exploration questions in the Islamic world, they'll never get off this planet.
I'd just love to see them try to convert Martin the Martian, though.
I could not believe this. Let me check the surprise meter...huh, that's funny, nothing on the register, batteries must be dead...
But a new study released earlier this month that says as many as 1 in 4 Syrian women may be victims of physical violence is beginning to reveal just how widespread a problem domestic abuse is throughout the country. Umm, 1 in 4 only if you don't count any violence occurring that is permitted by the Koran, it was written afterall. Who did this poorly done study anyway?
The study, funded by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and conducted by the state-run General Union of Women, is the first of its kind to try to quantify and explain the types of violence Syrian women face. That explains that.
"Violence is in every home in the Arab world," says a woman who works at the shelter and asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of their work.
"The number of abused women is more than 1 in 4. We hope that with a hotline we'll be able to help the largest number of women possible. We hope we can provide these women with a type of hope so they can know themselves and can rebuild their self-esteem," she says. That's more like it, give the anonymous woman a cigar. It is amazing to me how the left panders to these "people".
Posted by: Ol Dirty American ||
04/25/2006 13:04 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I wonder how the left would feel about Islam if it were renamed "The International Association for the Repression of Wimmins."
Posted by: Matt ||
04/25/2006 18:30 Comments ||
Top||
Photo is a reminder of how Islamists use soccer stadiums.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Monday that Iranian women can finally go to stadiums to watch sporting events, putting an unexpected end to a quarter-century ban. "It should be planned in a way that women are respected and are given the best places to watch national and important games," the president was quoted as saying by state television.
In his order to the head of Iran's Physical Education Organization, the president argued that despite reservations, "experience has proven that when women and families are allowed into stadiums, ethics and chastity will prevail."
Since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution ushered in segregation of the sexes and a strict dress code for women, only a tiny number of Iranian women have been allowed inside stadiums - despite a national passion for football that is shared by men and women alike.
Only the very few women able to secure official invitations to VIP sections of the stands have been able to watch live sporting events. Even female sports journalists have been given extremely limited access to matches.
The Physical Education Organization's security chief, Mehdi Farahani, admitted the new directive would "take time to implement" - meaning women are unlikely to see a World Cup warm-up match against Bosnia in the northeastern city of Mashhad on May 31.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/25/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
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.
Mercurial dictator Saparmurat Niyazov has a multi-billion-dollar slush fund, which he uses to maintain his personality cult in natural gas-rich Turkmenistan, according to a report issued April 24 by the watchdog group Global Witness. European Union nations, in particular Germany, are helping conceal the way Niyazov is using TurkmenistanÂ’s energy revenues, the report asserts.
Iranian border security forces arrested 59 Pakistanis from the Taftan and Mand border areas on Monday. At least 43 Pakistani were arrested near the border at Taftan. At least 16 Pakistanis were arrested from the Mand border area and later handed over to Pakistani security forces. These people were trying to cross the border illegally.
Dunedin, Florida - A Dunedin dad probably made his point about his son spending too much time on the computer. Pinellas Sheriff's deputies say he shot at the monitor as his son sat near-by. Forty-four-year-old Joseph Langenderfer was arrested Monday afternoon at his home on Frances Street.
PIRATED software users be warned. Microsoft Corp is going to start "nagging" Windows users who do not have a legitimate copy of its operating system (OS). 
