Lance Armstrong suffered what he called a âstupid crashâ while out training on his time trial bike near Nice last week, but says that the incident caused no lasting damage, although he was left with a black eye and road rash.
The crash happened last Tuesday but Armstrong only revealed details of it when speaking in a teleconference with the American press on Sunday. The six-time Tour winner said he was stung by a bee, but continued to ride after the stinger was removed from above his left eye. The Texan admitted the sting âhurt like hellâ and caused him to lose concentration.
A few minutes later, his wheel hit a raised spot in the road as he was turning, forcing his wheel to lock, flipping him over his handlebars. The crash split his helmet in two.
âI'm embarrassed to say I was going slow,â Armstrong said. âFortunately, I have not felt any ill effects after this crash⊠It wasnât that serious and nothing was wrong â no breaks, no stitches. I feel Iâm just as fluid as I was before. I feel very good on the bike and Iâd even venture to say I feel better than Iâve ever felt.â
Posted by: Geddy Lee ||
06/27/2005 15:13 ||
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#1
Don't worry, Lance. Sheryl will kiss it and make it all better!
Posted by: Dar ||
06/27/2005 16:25 Comments ||
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#2
Don't worry. It's all covered.
Posted by: George H ||
06/27/2005 17:47 Comments ||
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#3
Lance drama watch: look for a more publicity cliff hangers..
/I fear Muslim Murder Inc. though.[Tour race]
Posted by: Red Dog ||
06/27/2005 21:12 Comments ||
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What is wrong with these people?
CASEVILLE, Mich. - A World War II veteran photographed wearing a Medal of Honor at a Memorial Day event could face federal charges because it was a fake that he bought for $500, authorities said. William Kovick, 76, surrendered the medal and four other military honors last week. FBI investigators say Kovick acknowledged that he bought the Medal of Honor â the nation's highest military honor â in 1977 for $500. He also said he also mail-ordered a Navy Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart. No DSC? Why not collect them all?
Ordering and owning unearned medals is legal, but wearing or selling them is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. "The intent of the federal law ... is to maintain the integrity of all the military awards and medals," said FBI Agent Thomas Cottone Jr. The Justice Department will decide whether to bring charges. They'll "decide"?
Kovick came under investigation after his photo appeared May 31 on the front page of the Huron Daily Tribune of Bad Axe, showing him wearing the Medal of Honor at a Memorial Day event.
Vietnam veteran Doug Sterner of Pueblo, Colo., who operates a Web site dedicated to Medal of Honor recipients, contacted Cottone. Kovick told the newspaper that he served in the Navy in 1944-46 and 1950-53. He said the only medals he earned were ones for service in the Asiatic-Pacific campaign in World War II and the Korean War. The Medal of Honor is given "for conspicuous gallantry" in combat. There are fewer than 125 living recipients. They've people out there that make it their lifes work to nail guys like this. Don't they realize that?
#1
Anyone who's served in the military in any capacity has the respect of his fellow citizens, whether they've won medals or spent four years shoveling horseshit at the base stables in Greenland. I don't know why people who've served their country with honor can't feel proud enough of what they've done without having to exaggerate their achievements.
#2
Why didn't he just have JF Kerry doctor him up some medal write ups? He did a good job making it seem like he was Audy Murphy incarnate (at least to the MSM). This guy is old and probably wanted to feel important (kind of like JF Kerry).
#3
Exactly CP and his real ones.... e said the only medals he earned were ones for service in the Asiatic-Pacific campaign in World War II and the Korean War
#6
CP and Ship, you are right and I am ashamed of my comments now. If you peeled potatoes, guarded war plants, inventoried TP, stomed beaches, dog-fought zeros, or torpetoed ships you should feel proud of that service. My TI pointed out in basic "How long would you continue to work if you weren't paid, fed, or had a place to sleep?" Everyone has a part and the parts work together as a TEAM. Please disreagard my earlier remarks.
#8
The liberals will have a field day with this one. "Why can't he wear what he wants"..."military glorification"...blah blah. To them, a medal is just a piece of metal, which couldn't be farther from the truth.
Australia will press the United States for a full report on a military trial which absolved two US Marines of a brutal assault on an Australian man, Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said Monday.
The charges were dropped against one of the soldiers and the other was acquitted earlier this month of slashing the throat of a student, Heath Twomey, outside a nightclub in the northern Australian city of Townsville in February 2004. The marines were arrested and charged in Townsville, but were transferred to the US to be dealt with by a military court.
The transfer was accepted after assurances from the US military that it would deter US forces operating in Australia from engaging in similar behaviour and assure Australian citizens that servicemen would be held accountable for their actions, Ruddock said. "I am not on the face of it, without being satisfied, prepared to let the matter go without further inquiry, and that's where it stands," Ruddock told ABC radio. "I want to know whether or not [justice has been done], I want that matter tested."
They had an open and fair trial. I think that means justice has been done.
Ruddock said he also wanted to know whether the US prosecutors had appealed the acquittals. "I've asked for a full report on the matter," he said.
The victim's father, Ron Twomey, said his son accepted the transfer of the trial under pressure from US officials, believing he would get a swift hearing and that the penalty would be more severe. He was not called to testify. "He was assaulted by being hit with a bottle, he had his throat slashed, it nearly penetrated the jugular vein," Ron Twomey told ABC Radio. "I mean, he's still around and he's still with us, that's the most important thing from a family thing.
"So we're happy about that but how the whole matter's proceeded is just bewildering," he said.
#3
Re: Just hearing the word "student"
Something like this? UNFRIENDLY AUSTRALIA
Note to anti-American yobbos: Learn to recognize (and avoid) the Marine Corps high-n-tight haircut. I am disappointed if the Marines stabbed the "student". Better if he had the crap beaten out of him.
Posted by: ed ||
06/27/2005 11:41 Comments ||
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#4
Ruddock said he also wanted to know whether the US prosecutors had appealed the acquittals.
No, we've got a quaint notion called "double jeopardy" that prevents such shenanigans.
#5
No, we've got a quaint notion called "double jeopardy" that prevents such shenanigans.
Ah, but there's stuff you can do in military courts that you can't do in civilian courts, which is why I asked.
According to this document (scroll down to the bottom of the section), a person tried in a court martial cannot be tried in another federal court, as that violates double jeopardy (he can be tried in a state court, however). Presumably, this means that a person acquitted in a court martial can't be re-tried in a court martial. Sorry, Aussies.
#6
Angie, I aint a lawyer but I don't think a lower (state) court can try you for something that was already decided by a federal court. I assume this because the crime did not happen in a State, Territory, or U.S. protectorate. Say you were picked up on B&E in Texas and susequently released would it be legal for Oregon to charge you as well? I don't think so. We are only getting half the story here, there has to be more to it. I am willing to bet that Mr. Twomey was a victim of his own bravado and not some rampaging Marines. I have seen it all too many times with locals and Marines/Sailors on shore leave.
#7
I have seen it all too many times with locals and Marines/Sailors on shore leave.
If I had to venture a guess, Mr. Twomey, being the "student" that he is, probably opened his mouth one too many times saying all the wrong (leftist) things. After all, this did happen in front of a nightclub.
#8
No doubt. Many times in Greece the youngsters (fueled by Anti-U.S. rhetoric and booze) thought that taking on a group of Marines or Sailors was a great way to prove their manhood. Usually the fight ended with the youngsters getting the short end of the deal. This happened EVERY time a U.S. vessel called on Athens.
#9
If you read between the lines of this report, its clear Twomey was part of a larger group and a brawl with multiple participants occured. However, I'd like to hear the Marines side of the story.
#10
Where i live at the moment in central Queensland there is a military exercise that takes place every few yrs between the Aussie forces & the U.S forces - It's on again now: OPERATION TALISMAN SABRE
No matter what country you goto - Your always going to have a few idiots who like to try stir up trouble. Overall, i would say that these military exercises run pretty smoothly, the troops & the citizens get along with each other -everyone hits the nightclubs and parties.
#11
Oh dear, it seems that my daughter was in on a previous "Talisman Sabre"... she had a lovely time, so she did, but a fair number of her fellow Marines remember the local citizen in Brisbane pub who refused her very polite request to please take his hand off her... twice.
Apparently, when she punched him out, it set off a lovely brawl, from which her pals removed her,just in the nick of time. Memo to all concerned: Marines tend to lead with a fist, even the female ones.
Full diplomatic relations have been restored between New Zealand and Israel after Israel apologised over the activities of two alleged spies. Two men said by New Zealand to be Israeli agents were sentenced last year to six months in prison after pleading guilty to attempting to obtain a New Zealand passport illegally. They were released and deported after serving about two months.
New Zealand's prime minister, Helen Clark, demanded a public apology from Israel and a commitment to prevent another such breach of her country's laws. She also imposed diplomatic sanctions on Israel from July 2004, including halting the approval of a new Israeli ambassador.
In a letter released on Sunday, the Israeli foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, said Israel wished "to express our regret for the activities which resulted in the arrest and conviction of two Israeli citizens in New Zealand on criminal charges and apologise for the involvement of Israeli citizens in such activities".
Ms Clark immediately announced the thaw in relations.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/27/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
An old Mossad Motto:
It's easier to ask for forgivness then it is to ask for permission.
I'm not real worked up about it. The real one's gone, and with it the circumstances that led to it. What's been torn down is a replica, set up as a memorial. Find another spot and build another one.
#1
That's right, gotta tear down that reminder of how Germany was divided. Can't have people wishing for the type of freedom West Germany offered before reunification.
Posted by: Charles ||
06/27/2005 0:26 Comments ||
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#2
I just published this over at LGF
As much as I understand the furor and I wish that the museum and memorial continued to exist, the following it should be clarified.
The museum was erected as a temporary exhibition made possible by a private person who leased the estate only for a few months until the end of 2004. Her deceased husband had designed the place. It's a museum (only finished in October 2004) plus a rebuilt piece of the wall and sports over a thousand wooden crosses as a remembrance of the people who died crossing the wall (most not at Checkpoint Charlie btw).
By January 1st 2005 the lease had run out and the owner (a investment bank) had other plans with this place (it's prime estate after all). The person (who seems to be a bit annoying in her character and simply ignores property laws) who leased the place simply continued paying the lease (â¬12000 month which she can afford because of entrance fees and donations) and refused to leave. That's why the owner filed for eviction. That this is done on July 4th may look as poor taste but I think that was not intentional.
The woman had only a few days before angered Berlin authorities. She and her organisation Arbeitsgemeinschaft 13. August (day when the wall was built) had attached - originally with the consent of the ministry - photo plates on the facade of the Ministry of Finances with pictures of people who died during the rebellion of June 17th 1953. The minister later changed his mind but the woman ignored court orders to remove them and the city removed them by force, exactly on June 17th, which again was considered as poor historical taste.
Re Checkpoint Museum: The city has to execute court orders of eviction. It's not an "anti-American" move. The owner has the perfect right to do so.
Well, the city didn't protest much. The private museum didn't fit into the concept of the red/green Berlin Senate so they are probably not shedding tears. Tourists and Berliners alike liked the place. Critics complain about the "privatization of memory" and don't like the "Disneyland character" of the place (young Berliners dress up as Vopos to show tourists around etc).
Whether the demolishing will actually take place is not sure yet. Daimler Chrysler has just offered to help. It may be a good idea to keep up the protest. Maybe the property can be bought from the owner who filed for eviction. The owner seems to be willing to sell to private investors.
#4
It is their country. They can do what they like. It is important to remember the past, but it is also important to move on and prosper. Much like the 9-11 site. I forget which blogger I read, but he said the best memorial for the 9-11 dead is to rebuild and have lots and lots of trade and commerce going on at the site. Proves the terrorists lost since we not only went on with our lives, but we improved since then. I feel the same goes with the Germans.
KIEV - NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer was due to arrive in Ukraine on Monday for talks on reforms, which the new pro-Western authorities in the ex-Soviet nation have pledged to carry out with an eye to eventually joining the alliance. Scheffer, due in Kiev at 11:00 am for a one-day visit, will meet with President Viktor Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Defense Minister Anatoliy Grytsenko and other senior officials in parliament and government.
Topping the agenda is progress on reforms that Yushchenkoâs administration â which came to power after toppling a pro-Russia regime during last yearâs âorange revolutionâ â has undertaken to make as part of its drive for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union. âWe and the Ukrainian authorities have to concentrate our attention above all on reaching the main goal â carrying out necessary reforms,â Scheffer said in an interview with the Zerkalo Nedeli weekly in Kiev ahead of his visit.
Yushchenkoâs inauguration has boosted Ukraine-NATO ties â in April he reinstated the objective of joining NATO as part of Ukraineâs military policy and at an informal meeting the same month in Vilnius, NATO foreign ministers agreed on a three-page package of âshort-term actionsâ designed to help Kiev carry out reforms necessary for closer cooperation with the alliance.
Scheffer called that agreement a NATO show of support for Ukraineâs aspirations for further European integration, âbut much of the success of this process will depend on Ukraine. NATO will be ready to support and consult it along the route,â according to the Russian translation of his Zerkalo Nedeli interview. Ukraine has long been a member of NATOâs Partnership for Peace program of closer ties with former Communist states, but Yushchenko wants the nation to eventually join the Westâs former Cold War-era military bloc.
Such plans, however, face major obstacles. For one, most Ukrainians oppose their country joining the alliance â a May opinion survey showed that 55.7 percent of the population were against it, up from 48 percent in February.
Moscow, Kievâs traditional powerbroker which today supplies it with most of its energy needs, also opposes Ukraineâs NATO ambitions as it would enlarge the allianceâs borders with Russia and remove a major parts supplier to the Russian military. Ukraineâs defense industry sells much of its production to Moscow â Kiev supplies engines for Russian helicopters, gas turbines for Russian ships, parts for Russian anti-aircraft systems and Russian military satellites are sent into orbit on Ukrainian rocket launchers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/27/2005 00:00 ||
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Court Limits Ten Commandments Displays
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court, struggling with a vexing social issue, held Monday it was constitutionally permissible to display the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the Texas capitol but that it was a violation of separation of church and state to place them in Kentucky courthouses.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court ruled Monday that police cannot be sued for how they enforce restraining orders, ending a lawsuit by a Colorado woman who claimed police did not do enough to prevent her estranged husband from killing her three young daughters. Jessica Gonzales did not have a constitutional right to police enforcement of the court order against her husband, the court said in a 7-2 opinion. City governments had feared that if the court ruled the other way, it would unleash a potentially devastating flood of cases that could bankrupt municipal governments.
Gonzales contended that police did not do enough to stop her estranged husband, who took the three daughters from the front yard of her home in June 1999 in violation of a restraining order. Hours later Simon Gonzales died in a gun fight with officers outside a police station. The bodies of the three girls, ages 10, 9 and 7, were in his truck.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that cable companies may keep rival Internet providers from using their lines, a decision that will limit competition and consumers' choices. The 6-3 decision is a victory for the Bush administration, which sought exclusive control to promote broadband investment from deep-pocketed cable companies. Judges should defer to the expertise of the Federal Communications Commission, which concluded that limited access is best for the industry, the high court said in an opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas.
More than 19 million homes have cable broadband service. At issue is whether cable Internet access is a "telecommunications service" under federal law that makes it subject to strict FCC rules requiring companies to provide access to independent providers. The FCC said no, voting in March 2002 to exempt cable companies from the strict rules to stir more investment. The agency reasoned that high-speed Internet over cable was just an "information service," making it different from phone companies.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court rejected appeals Monday from two journalists who have refused to testify before a grand jury about the leak of an undercover CIA officer's identity. The cases asked the court to revisit an issue that it last dealt with more than 30 years ago - whether reporters can be jailed or fined for refusing to identify their sources. The justices' intervention had been sought by 34 states and many news groups, all arguing that confidentiality is important in news gathering. "Important information will be lost to the public if journalists cannot reliably promise anonymity to sources," news organizations including The Associated Press told justices in court papers.
Time magazine's Matthew Cooper and The New York Times' Judith Miller, who filed the appeals, face up to 18 months in jail for refusing to reveal sources as part of an investigation into who divulged the name of CIA officer Valerie Plame. Plame's name was first made public in 2003 by columnist Robert Novak, who cited unidentified senior Bush administration officials for the information. The column appeared after Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, wrote a newspaper opinion piece criticizing the Bush administration's claim that Iraq sought uranium in Niger. Disclosure of an undercover intelligence officer's identity can be a federal crime and a government investigation is in its second year. No charges have been brought.
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald of Chicago, the special counsel handling the probe, told justices that the only unfinished business is testimony from Cooper and Miller. Cooper reported on Plame, while Miller gathered material for an article about the intelligence officer but never wrote a story. A federal judge held the reporters in contempt last fall, and an appeals court rejected their argument that the First Amendment shielded them from revealing their sources in the federal criminal proceeding.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/27/2005 11:13 ||
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#1
Court Allows 10 Commandments on Seized Land__ Scrappleface
An envoy for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Zimbabwe on Sunday to investigate a government-sponsored campaign that has destroyed the homes and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans.
Boy, they're in large trouble now...
Hours before the arrival of Anna Tibaijuka, head of the seven-member delegation, a state-run newspaper reported that the government was finishing the campaign dubbed Operation Murambatsvina, or Drive Out Trash. The Sunday Mail report was dismissed by the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Party spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi said the destruction of shanty towns continued unabated over the weekend in the southern border town of Beitbridge. Tibaijuka was expected to meet with Mugabe early in the week, U.N. spokeswoman Katherine Anderson said.
She'll no doubt read him the riot act and he'll back down and... then... ummm... No. That's not gonna happen.
She will also tour towns and cities where the operation is taking place. Her visit is expected to last several days, Anderson said. Also on the agenda are meetings with legislators, including the opposition, church leaders and others who have been helping those affected. Mugabe's government has sought to curb the independent media, and only state accredited journalists were allowed to meet with Tibaijuka upon her arrival Sunday afternoon.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
From now on they're on double secret probation!
/Dean Kofi
#2
Only took her 3 days to get there?
Bet you she's out in 2. Zimbabwe's "yucky". Possible outcome? "The UN deplores in the strongest possible terms..."
A full bench of the Supreme Court will start hearing ten criminal petitions in the Mukhtar Mai case today (Monday) for final adjudication of the caseâs constitutional, legal and criminal implications. A large number of representatives of civil society organisations, lawyers, women activists and national and foreign media are expected to witness the court proceedings. The bench consisting of Justices Iftikhar Chaudhry, Rana Bahgwan Das and Saeed Ashhad will collectively take up four identical petitions that were filed by the government against the acquittal of four men accused in gang raping Mukhtar Mai.
Mukhtar Mai has filed four identical petitions against the same accused whereas one accused has challenged his conviction in the Supreme Court. Besides these, a suo motu case regarding the chief justiceâs notice of the Mukhtar Mai case will also be heard. Prominent jurist and parliamentarian Aitzaz Ahsan will appear as Mukhtar Maiâs personal counsel while government attorneys will also plead on her behalf. âI have prepared the entire case and will appear in the Supreme Court on Monday,â Aitzaz told Daily Times on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2005 00:00 ||
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The All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) has condemned a raid by Saddar Preedy police, Karachi, on a Christian bookshop on June 13 and asked the Sindh High Court chief Justice to form a judicial commission to investigate the incident. âThis unethical, illogical and inhuman police act has insulted the sanctity of the Christian bookshop and hurt the religious sentiments of Christians throughout Pakistan. We condemn inaccurate, biased and unfounded press reports in Karachi newspapers about this issue,â said Shahbaz Bhatti, APMA representative, in a statement issued on Sunday.
Desecrated a few bibles, did they?
The APMA also asked President Musharraf and PM Aziz to suspend the police officials involved. The statement said, âThe daughters of St Paul nuns have been running this bookshop since 1948. The bookshop offers books, CDs and videos on Christian literature. There is no material against the beliefs of other religions in it.â Bhatti said that Preedy police insulted the Christian community and harassed nuns. It was a conspiracy against Christian-Muslim unity, he said.
Huh huh! He said "Christian-Muslim unity." Huh huh!
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
It doesn't have to have anything disparaging against other religions. If some nutjob thinks it is against Allan that is all of the excuse they need in their minds.
What next? Grinding them up, mixing them with garlic and a little olive oil, and eating them on toast?
The uncle of 19-year-old schoolteacher Rabia Mehboob, who was allegedly abducted, raped and burnt, has filed a private complaint against Kasur Police in the local sessions court for calling the incident a 'suicide'. The police, after several months of the incident passing, said the case was a suicide and decided to register a zina (adultery) case against accused Muhammad Amjad and free the other three accused. However, Rabia's uncle Manzoor Ali said his niece was abducted, raped and burnt by the four accused named in the FIR. A team consisting of representatives of the AGHS Legal Aid Cell and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and Daily Times correspondent Ali Waqar visited the area to look into the incident.
The AGHS Legal Aid Cell has also followed the case of Farzana Bibi who was allegedly burnt by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. The names of both accused have been mentioned in the FIR. AGHS Legal Aid Cell officials told Daily Times on Sunday that incidents of burning women were gradually rising and that the team had recorded six such cases in the same area in the past five weeks. However, they said that in the cases reported to the AGHS, police was allegedly twisting facts and protecting the accused.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
God is Great
Women are Chattle
It is written {SPIT}
#2
How are the Radic Islamists going to successfully modernize Islam and Islamic societies iff they keep harassing, suborn and killing women that are the basis for every economy in every human society on earth, and empowering men to make econ decisions that by God andor Nature men gen refuse to do or won't do. Islam's and the Radic Mullahs' only answer is to keep invading, warring, a'conquerin and a'regulating, like SOCIALISTS, and thus take new sources of females from any conquered or suborned populations. And when the former new sources are used up, its invade and make war again - is why, for Islam, Leftism- Socialism, and Communism, any GLOBAL WELFARE STATE = GLOBAL TRIBUTE STATE, and why their brand of alleged GLOBAL [SOCIALIST]"DEMOCRACY", be it SECULAR or FAITH-GOD-BASED, = AKIN TO GLOBAL "LEGAL SLAVERY/PEONAGE"!? ABSOLUTE WARFARE, ABSOLUTE-LEGAL MALE PATRIARCHY, AND ABSOLUTE LEGAL SLAVERY/TRIBUTARY/PEONAGE, and UNIVERSAL STRATIFICATION, NOT LAISSEZ FAIRE.
The Bush administration is planning the government's first production of plutonium 238 - a highly radioactive substance valued as a power source - since the Cold War, stirring debate over the risks and benefits of the deadly material. It is hot enough to melt plastic and so dangerous that a speck can cause cancer.
Federal officials say the program would produce a total of 330 pounds, or 150 kilograms, over 30 years at the Idaho National Laboratory, a sprawling site outside Idaho Falls some 100 miles, or 160 kilometers, to the west and upwind of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. The program could cost $1.5 billion and generate more than 50,000 drums of hazardous and radioactive waste.
Project managers say that most if not all of the new plutonium is intended for secret missions and declined to divulge any details. "The real reason we're starting production is for national security," Timothy Frazier, head of radioisotope power systems at the Department of Energy, said at the end of a recent interview. He vigorously denied that any of the classified missions would involve nuclear arms, satellites or weapons in space.
But the secrecy is adding to unease in Wyoming, where environmentalists are scrutinizing the production plan - made public late Friday - and considering whether to fight it. They say the production effort is a potential threat to nearby ecosystems, including Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park and the area around Jackson Hole, famous for its billionaires, celebrities and weekend cowboys, including Vice President Dick Cheney.
"It's completely wrapped in the flag," said Mary Woollen-Mitchell, executive director of Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free, a group based in Jackson Hole. "They absolutely won't let on" about the missions.
It's called "security".
Plutonium 238 has no central role in nuclear arms. Instead, it is valued for its steady heat, which can be turned into electricity.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/27/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
The only application of P238 appears to be in radiothermal generators especially for satellites.
#2
Read - GMD and SPACE-based LASERS, Nuke SPACE ENGINES, and BCNW/TCNW. i.e. manportable to light mobile Batttlefield/Tactical Conventional Nuclear Weapons, vv STARSHIP-/STAR WARS TROOPERS. Every Amer boy should have a laser anti-tank weapon for Xmas, NOW D*** YOU!? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA.....
#3
Robotics is an interest of mine. There is one application that autonomous robots are far superior to humans, which is surveillance/observation of remote areas. Lets say you know terrorists are using several dozen routes across a large desert area to reach urban areas. The terrorists will use any particular route rarely and there is local population sympathetic to the terrs which makes inserting and supplying onservations posts difficult and any particular post will have a high risk and a low chance of paying off. An autonomous OP will operate 24/7 without resupply as long as its power source lasts. The largest and best fuel cells last a couple of weeks at most, what is required is a power source that lasts for months. There are several other applications for these kinds of devices (with a long lasting power supply). My favourite is the submarine tracker.
#4
Satellite power supplies. Not only does it provider a much longer life than batteries, it also eliminates the need for large "Solar Wings". This combination greatly improves the flight characteristics for orbital maneuver. Also reduces the visible profile, making them far harder to hit.
Given the recent "leaks" about space warfare and "stealth" satellites, and now this, you can do the math yourself.
#5
The Voyager space probes, launched in 1977, were fueled with plutonium and will run thru 2020, although NASA may stop listening before then. IIRC, the Cassini (Saturn) probe was also 238-fueled, and caused a big stink when it was launched - well, after all, the launch vehicle could've exploded, killing zillions!
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/27/2005 12:36 Comments ||
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#6
Acording to a picture caption at the site linked in #1, Plutonium isotopes are
primarily alpha-emitters so they pose little
risk outside the body. Here the plastic bag,
gloves, and outer (dead) layer of skin would
each alone stop the emitted alpha particles from entering the body. Meaning the spec has to be inhaled, not resting on your skin. A technical detail omitted in all of the media.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/27/2005 12:43 Comments ||
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#7
Don't Russian Ocean Recon satellites use a reactor? They always have that bizzare end of life boost (hopefully, I think one didn't go) to a safe higher orbit.
#8
The article naturally invites a false conclusion by failing to mention a very significant and relevant fact: Pu-238 is not fissionable, it cannot be used in nuclear bombs. Pu-239 is the fissionable isotope used in bombs.
Given their contempt for numbers, proportion, and other nerdy concepts, pop-culturist Moonbats would probably ask, "hey, man, what difference can one little number make?"
Interestingly enough, Pu-238 is something like 300 times as radioactive as Pu-239 and commensurately harder and more hazardous to handle. You could kill yourself stone-dead with a very small amount of it, but you could not make it explode.
#12
Pu-238 is something like 300 times as radioactive as Pu-239 and commensurately harder and more hazardous to handle.
Pu-238 is still primarily an alpha emitter, though there is some neutron decay. With a half-life of 88 years, it's clearly hot, but it's not ridiculously so. Like all plutonium isotopes, the main risk is the extreme toxicity associated with all heavy metals.
Of course, the first sentence tell us all we need to know about the author, stringing together the words Bush, radioactive and deadly. Nope, no agendas here.
#13
Atomic Conspiracy, are you cleared for Deep WC?
Posted by: zygote w/ no name ||
06/27/2005 16:00 Comments ||
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#14
It's where the Plutonium cores were kept at one of two RAF sites. The metal seals have been removed from the hole.... one outhouse one core. The UK built more outhouses than bombs to confuser the Russ.
#17
Is that anything like the Illudium PU-239 Explosive Space Modulator? I always new you Earthlings would blow yourselves up someday with an earth-shattering kaboom.
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.
An envoy for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Zimbabwe on Sunday to investigate a government-sponsored campaign that has destroyed the homes and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans.
A full bench of the Supreme Court will start hearing ten criminal petitions in the Mukhtar Mai case today (Monday) for final adjudication of the caseâs constitutional, legal and criminal implications. A large number of representatives of civil society organisations, lawyers, women activists and national and foreign media are expected to witness the court proceedings. The bench consisting of Justices Iftikhar Chaudhry, Rana Bahgwan Das and Saeed Ashhad will collectively take up four identical petitions that were filed by the government against the acquittal of four men accused in gang raping Mukhtar Mai.
The All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) has condemned a raid by Saddar Preedy police, Karachi, on a Christian bookshop on June 13 and asked the Sindh High Court chief Justice to form a judicial commission to investigate the incident. âThis unethical, illogical and inhuman police act has insulted the sanctity of the Christian bookshop and hurt the religious sentiments of Christians throughout Pakistan. We condemn inaccurate, biased and unfounded press reports in Karachi newspapers about this issue,â said Shahbaz Bhatti, APMA representative, in a statement issued on Sunday.
The uncle of 19-year-old schoolteacher Rabia Mehboob, who was allegedly abducted, raped and burnt, has filed a private complaint against Kasur Police in the local sessions court for calling the incident a 'suicide'. The police, after several months of the incident passing, said the case was a suicide and decided to register a zina (adultery) case against accused Muhammad Amjad and free the other three accused. However, Rabia's uncle Manzoor Ali said his niece was abducted, raped and burnt by the four accused named in the FIR. A team consisting of representatives of the AGHS Legal Aid Cell and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and Daily Times correspondent Ali Waqar visited the area to look into the incident.
