Well well well, pro-pally nutjobs made a mistake of attacking NYPD cops during their anti-Israel rally and got their ass handed to them. They are forgetting that New York is not a Londonistan for them, where they can attack cops and still get away with it.
#1
Reading the article, it sounds like there was not anything like sufficient ass-kicking going on. NYPD better understand that it is dealing with animals, and the NYPD need to demonstrate that they are the Alpha males - by SERIOUSLY dominating the barbarians.
A Singaporean member of parliament was attacked and set on fire on Sunday by a 70-year-old man who was angry at not being given a Chinese New Year gift, the country's state broadcaster said.
Seng Han Thong was taken to hospital with between 10 and 15 percent burns after the assault during a ceremony to present Chinese New Year gifts at a community club, Channel NewsAsia reported. "A man ran in, lit a bottle of kerosene and threw it at Mr Seng. Half of Mr Seng's hair was burnt ... his back suffered burns as well," a witness named Zhang was quoted as saying. "The man who threw the bottle tried to escape, but some people caught him." Temple officials said the man was disgruntled at not being selected to receive the hong bao, a red envelope with money traditionally given at Chinese New Year, which contained S$200 ($135), the broadcaster said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/12/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
what do they do with criminals in Singapore again?
A TEACHER has been arrested after allegedly having sex with a 13-year-old more than 300 times - including under her husband's nose.
Police say Christine McCallum, 29, lived a disturbed double life for almost two years. The Boston teacher is accused of having serial liaisons with the boy in Rockland and Abington from February 2006, when she allegedly took his virginity, to November 2007.
The lad told police they had sex for the first time on a couch at McCallum's home while her husband slept upstairs. They also had unprotected sex in the shower, on the kitchen floor and on the living room floor, court documents say.
The Boston Herald reports that McCallum denies all the allegations, saying she took the boy and his brother in. "She tried to mother the child because she felt sorry for them," her lawyer Frederick McDermott said.
Prosecutors claim McCallum weaved her way into the boy's life in late 2005 when she became a tutor for his younger brother. But within months she was allegedly giving them vodka and rum - and sleeping with him in her house.
Police said McCallum ended the relationship in a fit of jealousy when she discovered the boy was using a mobile phone she bought him to text other girls.
The alleged affair was uncovered last week when a friend of the boy told his mother.
#1
Equality before the law can be a bitch. Not enforcing 'equality' undermines the legitimacy of the law and the state. Ending one injustice doesn't avoid the creation of another in practice.
#14
I think you're wrong there #6.
When I was that age (damn that's a looooong time ago) I had this typing teacher. Seemed that every year on Parent / Teacher nights all the fathers went to see how their kids were doing in typing class.
Surprisingly, or not, personal use typing turned out to be the most practical course I took in high school.
#15
Same here AlanC. Between typing (which I barely passed) and computer science (batch programming anyone?) they were the most useful classes I've ad.
And there was this Teachers Aid in European History....
#17
CF, yeah I barely passed typing and it was still the most useful class. Loved all those typwriters with blank keys. Highschools didn't have computers back in my day. First thing I got in college was this really good slide-rule.
#23
all my teachers were pretty heinous looking. I can only think of one math teacher who was kind of attractive. The rest looked like they hit tenure when my parents were teens.
#24
Now wait a second, #4 reads that she had a sexual relationship with an 18 year old student. Pardon me, but that is an adult. Old enough to sign his own name on the contract and be on the line in Afghanistan legally popping Talibunnies. Now if she had provided the young man some alcohol outside of federal property, she'd be in a heap of a different sort of trouble.
#25
I know the teacher's unions and school districts have been eager to attract students back into the public schools, but sheesh.
Are they handing out paper bags with the condoms in schools these days???
A herd of wild elephants trampled a housewife to death and injured two others in Gogalia area under Lama upazila in Bandarban early yesterday.
The deceased was identified as Julekha Begum, 35, while the injured are her husband Badiul Alam, 50, and daughter Kulsuma Begum, 12.
Witnesses said at least six elephants from across the Myanmar frontier Baishari entered Burir Beel under Gogalia union parishad and attacked the houses of the villagers at around 4:30am.
While the unprepared villagers were running for their life, at one stage, the elephants surged towards Badiul's house and killed Julekha on the spot.
Badiul and Kulsuma were injured as they tried to save themselves.
The herd also damaged other houses and trees in the area.
The duty officer of Lama Police Station told The Daily Star that the body of the deceased was handed over to their relatives while Badiul and Kulsuma were admitted in local upazila hospital.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/12/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I guess the peanut-flavored popcorn wasn't such a good idea after all...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/12/2009 17:58 Comments ||
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KiloBravoUSMC just booked her trip to England to visit her Mum. Along with booking the flight on-line, the usual offers for Car Rental, Hotel Reservations, etc, were offered. Then this:
Offset the carbon emissions for these flights
You can help minimise the impact of your flying by offsetting your carbon emissions. The total carbon emissions from your itinerary are 1.886 tonnes and the cost of offsetting your emissions is $ 55.48.
Your money will go towards UN certified emission reduction projects.
Please be aware that once your carbon offset contribution is paid, it cannot be refunded.
#1
Virgin Atlantic has been doing this for over 2 years. I used to put my change in the little envelop to help UNESCO and UNICEF. Not anymore. This PC, leftist BS has gone to far. Stay out of my conscience.
Posted by: Jack is Back ||
01/12/2009 10:36 Comments ||
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#2
Is there any way I can pay to make my carbon footprint even bigger?
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of obese American adults outweighs the number of those who are merely overweight, according to the latest statistics from the federal government.
Numbers posted by the National Center for Health Statistics show that more than 34 percent of Americans are obese, compared to 32.7 percent who are overweight. It said just under 6 percent are "extremely" obese.
"More than one-third of adults, or over 72 million people, were obese in 2005-2006, the NCHS said in its report.
The numbers are based on a survey of 4,356 adults over the age of 20 who take part in a regular government survey of health, said the NCHS, which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The figures come from the 2005-2006 survey and are the most current available.
"During the physical examination, conducted in mobile examination centers, height and weight were measured as part of a more comprehensive set of body measurements," the NCHS report said.
"Although the prevalence of obesity has more than doubled since 1980, the prevalence of overweight has remained stable over the same time period," it said.
Obesity and overweight are calculated using a formula called body mass index. BMI is equal to weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. Someone with a BMI of 25 to 29 is classified as overweight, 30 to 40 counts as obese and people with BMIs of 40 or more are morbidly obese.
A person 5 feet 5 inches tall becomes overweight at 150 pounds (68 kg) and obese at 180 pounds (82 kg). The U.S. National Institutes of Health has an online BMI calculator at www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/.
In the 1988-1994 surveys, 33 percent of Americans were overweight, 22.9 percent were obese and 2.9 percent were morbidly obese. The numbers have edged up steadily since.
Being overweight or obese raises the risk of heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, arthritis and other conditions.
In May, the CDC reported that 32 percent of U.S. children fit the definition of being overweight, 16 percent were obese and 11 percent were extremely obese.
Childhood and adult obesity has emerged as a growing problem not only in the United States but also in many countries around the world.
#1
So, you think the states that removed sales tax off of food [you know, so granny didn't have to eat cat food], will now reimpose it as a fat weight management tax?
#2
Childhood and adult obesity has emerged as a growing problem not only in the United States but also in many countries around the world.
Damn, just when we seem to be on the edge of victory over thousands of years of human experience with famine and malnutrition. I think Zim Bob may be on the leading edge to address the obesity "crisis".
#4
Exactly. Wichita KS was fine for air quality until the EPA dropped the acceptable limit now they face millions in fines.
According to the standards this survey would include nearly every High School, College, Pro, and recreational athlete. 4,356 adults over twenty hardly comprehensive. Arn't they suggesting an increase in tax for fast food joints in CA?
#6
My doctor has never warned me about my weight beyond saying I could afford to lose 15lbs. Never told me my BMI or told me to look at it.
Just went to a BMI calculator.
I'm 6'3" tall and weigh 238 with a 37" waistline. According to BMI I am overwieght / borderline obese (29.7).
When I met my wife 35 years ago I was a very scrawny 170lbs. She always complained that she could count my ribs...in the back! According to BMI 170 lbs is exactly in the middle of the normal range.
This is obscene.
I think it may be getting to the point where some sort of revolutionary movement may be needed in this country to save us from the insanity.
#8
Before the government screwed with the charts in the 90s, the height and weight data was accumulated by the insurance industry for calculating their life insurance tables. They gathered data from a vast number of people over decades [vice the 5000 the government used as a sample]. Since the insurance industry was literally beating their money on the process, I would say the older tables had a quality assurance aspect that the government agency did not.
#9
When I got married in 1966, I was 5'10 1/2" tall and weighed 205 pounds, with a 32" waist. I was considered in my "ideal" weight range. Today, 42 years later, I'm 5'8 3/4" tall (degenerative disk disease, bad knees, hips, etc.), have a 37" waist, and weigh 210. Now I'm considered "obese". I still can't float in a swimming pool.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/12/2009 18:05 Comments ||
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#10
Hey OP, I hear ya.
I SAID I'm 6'3' cause that's what I was and your bones don't shrink so the weight chart should still work. I'm really down to 6'1". Add up the decrease in the thickness of the disks shown by my last MRI and you can find the 2", 1/4" at a time.
Google the USMC's ht/wt standards - if you want to see a realist ht/wt range for your body type.
I think they're pretty reasonable - e.g. - I'm 5'7" and weigh abt 160 - by the Corps' standards I'm 16 lbs under my wt max for my ht - by BMI standards I'm just abt a lb from being "overweight." Mind you, I can do abt 18-20 dead hang pullups, run 3 miles in around 20-21 mins and still do 100 crunches in under 2 min's. BMI is total horse shit. I don't have a true 6 pack at the moment but I definitely don't have a "dunlap". The BMI doesn't take into account bone structure or muscle mass.
Physicist Alex Wissner-Gross says that performing two Google searches uses up as much energy as boiling the kettle for a cup of tea
Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research.
While millions of people tap into Google without considering the environment, a typical search generates about 7g of CO2 Boiling a kettle generates about 15g. Google operates huge data centres around the world that consume a great deal of power, said Alex Wissner-Gross, a Harvard University physicist whose research on the environmental impact of computing is due out soon. A Google search has a definite environmental impact.
Google is secretive about its energy consumption and carbon footprint. It also refuses to divulge the locations of its data centres. However, with more than 200m internet searches estimated globally daily, the electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions caused by computers and the internet is provoking concern. A recent report by Gartner, the industry analysts, said the global IT industry generated as much greenhouse gas as the worlds airlines - about 2% of global CO2 emissions. Data centres are among the most energy-intensive facilities imaginable, said Evan Mills, a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. Banks of servers storing billions of web pages require power.
Though Google says it is in the forefront of green computing, its search engine generates high levels of CO2 because of the way it operates. When you type in a Google search for, say, energy saving tips, your request doesnt go to just one server. It goes to several competing against each other.
It may even be sent to servers thousands of miles apart. Googles infrastructure sends you data from whichever produces the answer fastest. The system minimises delays but raises energy consumption. Google has servers in the US, Europe, Japan and China.
Wissner-Gross has submitted his research for publication by the US Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and has also set up a website www.CO2stats.com. Google are very efficient but their primary concern is to make searches fast and that means they have a lot of extra capacity that burns energy, he said.
Google said: We are among the most efficient of all internet search providers.
Wissner-Gross has also calculated the CO2 emissions caused by individual use of the internet. His research indicates that viewing a simple web page generates about 0.02g of CO2 per second. This rises tenfold to about 0.2g of CO2 a second when viewing a website with complex images, animations or videos.
A separate estimate from John Buckley, managing director of carbonfootprint.com, a British environmental consultancy, puts the CO2 emissions of a Google search at between 1g and 10g, depending on whether you have to start your PC or not. Simply running a PC generates between 40g and 80g per hour, he says. of CO2 Chris Goodall, author of Ten Technologies to Save the Planet, estimates the carbon emissions of a Google search at 7g to 10g (assuming 15 minutes computer use).
Nicholas Carr, author of The Big Switch, Rewiring the World, has calculated that maintaining a character (known as an avatar) in the Second Life virtual reality game, requires 1,752 kilowatt hours of electricity per year. That is almost as much used by the average Brazilian.
Its not an unreasonable comparison, said Liam Newcombe, an expert on data centres at the British Computer Society. It tells us how much energy westerners use on entertainment versus the energy poverty in some countries.
Though energy consumption by computers is growing - and the rate of growth is increasing - Newcombe argues that what matters most is the type of usage.
If your internet use is in place of more energy-intensive activities, such as driving your car to the shops, thats good. But if it is adding activities and energy consumption that would not otherwise happen, that may pose problems.
Newcombe cites Second Life and Twitter, a rapidly growing website whose 3m users post millions of messages a month. Last week Stephen Fry, the TV presenter, was posting tweets from New Zealand, imparting such vital information as Arrived in Queenstown. Hurrah. Full of bungy jumping and activewear shops, and Honestly. NZ weather makes UK look stable and clement.
Jonathan Ross was Twittering even more, with posts such as Am going to muck out the pigs. It will be cold, but Im not the type to go on about it and Am now back indoors and have put on fleecy tracksuit and two pairs of socks. Ross also made various tweets trying to ascertain whether Jeremy Clarkson was a Twitter user or not. Yesterday the Top Gear presenter cleared up the matter, saying: I am not a twit. And Jonathan Ross is.
Such internet phenomena are not simply fun and hot air, Newcombe warns: the boom in such services has a carbon cost.
#2
That's why everyday when I wake up, I go to my laptop and type "Al Gore" into the Google bar and hit enter. Nothing like getting 507K hits for improving my climate and killing more polar bears.
Posted by: Jack is Back ||
01/12/2009 10:40 Comments ||
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#3
File under "Hysterical Bullshit".
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
01/12/2009 10:45 Comments ||
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#4
Tonight I'll bet Alex Wissner-Gross will be in some Harvard Square bar trying to impress the Radcliffe girls about how many hits he has on his website via Google searches. This phenomenon, of course, doesn't apply to a "right thinking" kinda guy like himself.
#5
IOW, the future OWG-NWO = SKYNET/MATRIX, etc. is justified to be covertly reading-copying your emails without your consent or knowledge because YOUSE CAN'T BE TRUSTED TO CONTROL YOUR CPU'S ENERGY CONSUMPTION, AS PER GLOBAL WARMING???
CLEARLY THE 21st CENTURY GOVTS INTENT IS TO FIGHT GLOBAL WARMING BY SAVING THE WORLD FROM 22ND CENTURY "I,ROBOT" ROBO-ANDROID = MUTANT STRIPPER BABE REBELLIONS!
Going to work
Earning a living
Raising a family
Searching the web
Reading a book
Writing a book
Making a meal
Eating a burger
Drinking a glass of milk
Visiting a friend or relative
Exhaling
...
STOP THAT RIGHT NOW - YOU'RE DESTROYING THE EARTH
#1
For their culture this sequence is extremely progressive. The family did not murder her for having been raped, nor did they sell her to the man who raped her, nor force her to carry the baby to term then give it to the man who fathered it. Rather, they rid her of the burden as best they could, then took her to a real doctor in a real hospital for healing, no doubt at what to the family was considerable expense.
A former Torquay couple jailed for sedition in Gambia may know this week if their year-long sentence will be cut.
Lay preachers David and Fiona Fulton, who used to live in the Barton area of the resort, are hoping they could be released after eight months for good behaviour. Peter McMinn, Fiona's father who lives in Teignmouth, said an appeal against the Christian evangelists' conviction was expected to be heard in the next few days.
Fiona, 46, and David, 60, were sentenced to a year's hard labour last month after admitting undermining the West African country by sending emails claiming The Gambia was 'sinking into a morass of Islam'.
Mr McMinn, 81, said he had not seen a national newspaper report yesterday which made claims about his son and daughter, although he is quoted in the article. He said: "If people want the truth they should go to the person they are talking about. I've no direct information from the Gambia because it always comes from my son." He added: "I don't think everything I hear is always the truth."
The newspaper feature gave family details about the couple's adopted daughter and claims about Mr Fulton's army career.
Mr McMinn said he was beginning to be 'bothered' by the attentions of the media over the family's plight. He said he was not aware of any possible early release for David and Fiona for 'good behaviour'. "I've not heard anything about it. I don't want to get into things which may or may not happen -- but they can happen very quickly," he said.
New York police have begun training officers in heavy weapons to help its elite security force fight off a commando-style attack like the Mumbai siege, commissioner Ray Kelly told Congress on Thursday.
Kelly and federal officials told a Senate Homeland Security committee hearing that the huge publicity and paralyzing impact of the attacks, which killed or injured nearly 500 people over three days, could inspire al Qaeda and other militant groups to try such tactics in the United States.
"One of the most important aspects of this attack was the shift in tactics from suicide bombs to a commando-style military assault with small teams of highly trained, heavily armed operatives launching simultaneous attacks," he said.
Said Charles Allen, the Homeland Security Department's under secretary for intelligence, "Response to a similar terrorist attack in a major U.S. city would be difficult."
Kelly said New York and Mumbai shared attractions and vulnerabilities -- two densely populated financial and media centers that are also major ports.
The 10 Mumbai attackers came ashore from speedboats and fanned out to targets such as hotels and the railway station, executing hostages and fending off security forces. They were armed with semi-automatic rifles and grenades and carried global positioning equipment.
New York sent representatives to Mumbai to study the attacks and the response, and conducted simulations on how its police would respond.
New York's Emergency Service Unit, an elite force similar to the Special Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT, teams in other cites, might become stretched too thin in a prolonged siege, Kelly said. "If the attacks continued over many hours, we would need to relieve our special units with rested officers."
He said the department was now giving all its recruits basic training in heavy weapons.
Also, reserve forces will be formed of senior officers in the Organized Crime Control unit and of firearms instructors.
"Combined, these officers will be prepared to support our Emergency Service Unit in the event of a Mumbai-style attack," Kelly said.
Police also must develop targeted ways to jam attackers' communications so they would be unable to get guidance from controllers following media coverage, as they did in Mumbai, he said.
Officials told the hearing that within days of the Mumbai attacks they had warned American hotel and building owners to beware of the attackers' methods -- although there was no evidence of a specific threat to the United States.
FBI intelligence chief Donald Van Duyn said the agency was investigating "a limited number" of U.S. individuals with suspected links to Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistani militant group India blames for the attacks. But he said there was no evidence the group had an organized U.S. presence.
#1
If it weren't that it's a realistic possibility, I'm sure the police would enjoy themselves hugely. Of course, American crowds are not like Indian crowds, nor yet are American policemen as likely to freeze in shock. Thank you to the men and women of the New York City police, who also run toward the sound of guns.
#3
How would the gangbangers and the gangsters... and the construction guys... respond to a Mumbai situation? Especially if they happened to be in the train station when something occurred?
#4
The gangbangers would shoot their sorry asses, tw, and the construction guys would stomp the hell out of them.
And then the UN would issue a Strongly Worded Letter™ decrying the violence - of the gangbangers and construction guys.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/12/2009 18:34 Comments ||
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#5
This is why you have a SWAT team. Not to serve warrants or bust down doors of people suspected of having 1/10 ounce of marijuana indoors. SWAT teams are there to back up the 93rd Volunteer Infantry.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/12/2009 21:06 Comments ||
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Eight people were killed and six injured in clashes between two rival groups in Sukkar, a private TV channel reported on Sunday. The killings occurred after an exchange of fire between two groups of the Nareeja family in Peer Goth area. The channel said that the victims were working in the fields when the crossfire began. The injured were hospitalised, many reportedly to in a critical condition. The firing between the two was going on when this report was filed.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/12/2009 00:00 ||
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Samuel Wurzelbacher of Ohio, aka Joe the Plumber, arrived in Sderot at noon Sunday to show local and foreign reporters how to do it right.
"You should be ashamed of yourself," he told foreign reporters. "You should be patriotic, protect your family and children, not report like you have been doing for the past two weeks since this war has started," he said.
Wurzelbacher, the man who stole the limelight from Republican presidential candidate John McCain during the American election campaign, has found a new job - as a correspondent for the Internet Web sites PJTV and Pajamas Media.
Armed with a camera and a temporary Government Press Office card, he got a taste of reality in Sderot, visiting a house hit by a Kassam rocket two weeks ago and experiencing a "Code Red" alert first-hand. He also observed and reported from the house where a Kassam landed on Sunday afternoon.
The people of Sderot "can't do normal things day to day," like get soap in their eyes in the shower, for fear a rocket might come in, Wurzelbacher said. "I'm sure they're taking quick showers. I know I would."
He also wondered why Israel waited so long to act. "I know if I were a citizen here, I'd be damned upset." He described himself as a "peaceloving man," but added, "when someone hits me, I'm going to unload on the boy. And if the rest of the world doesn't understand that, then I'm sorry."
Wurzelbacher had already announced that he would arrive in the area for 10 days to cover Operation Cast Lead and to assist in getting out the Israeli side of the story. "I want the average American Joes to understand the story here from the point of view of someone like them," he told WNWO, a TV channel in his hometown of Toledo, Ohio, before heading here.
During the election campaign, Wurzelbacher (who supported McCain) warned Jewish voters in America that voting for President-elect Barack Obama would be a death blow to Israel, saying, "Obama has offered to sit down with the enemies of Israel."
But in Sderot, he seemed just as intent on teaching a thing or two to the media. "Do you think this is normal, the way you cover this conflict and give away information to your enemy?" he asked the journalists that gathered around him. It makes me sick to see the way you behave - you guys need to be protective of your homes, your children, your family."
"I am angry," he said, "and this is why I came here."
All well and good, Sam. Now do some reporting.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/12/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Whether his reporting rates highly or not, his presence does such a nice job of stirring the press into a roaring tizzy. Or a snit, or a ????
#3
The people of Sderot "can't do normal things day to day," like get soap in their eyes in the shower, for fear a rocket might come in, Wurzelbacher said. "I'm sure they're taking quick showers. I know I would."
So far, that is about the most dramatic and real comment I have read or heard reported about the trials and tribulations or living in Sderot. Maybe the only comment that I have read along those lines.
#4
Reporting and journalism are both over-rated since the ones doing the ratings are the reporters and journalists. Think about who you think did (does) a better job on Iraq - Michael Yon or Dexter Filkins of NYTimes? In Lebanon, Michael Totten or the AP?
Posted by: Jack is Back ||
01/12/2009 10:44 Comments ||
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#5
Believe it or not, standing in sewage usually angers plumbers. Tell'em Joe!
#6
Remember when the professionals (1) of "AP", published the photo of the "bullets" (in facst, unfired cartridges) fired at an Iraki house. And those people feel like they could give lessons
(1) In French, the feminine form of "professional" is polite way to say "a whore"
#7
Even the locals are giving Joe the scrunched up upturned nose treatment. They then returned to their coverage of who was wearing what at the Golden Globes...
Is it a car? Is it a plane? Actually it's both. The first flying automobile, equally at home in the sky or on the road, is scheduled to take to the air next month.
If it survives its first test flight, the Terrafugia Transition, which can transform itself from a two-seater road car to a plane in 15 seconds, is expected to land in showrooms in about 18 months' time. Its manufacturer says it is easy to keep and run since it uses normal unleaded fuel and will fit into a garage.
Carl Dietrich, who runs the Massachusetts-based Terrafugia, said: "This is the first really integrated design where the wings fold up automatically and all the parts are in one vehicle."
The Transition, developed by former Nasa engineers, is powered by the same 100bhp engine on the ground and in the air.
Terrafugia claims it will be able to fly up to 500 miles on a single tank of petrol at a cruising speed of 115mph. Up to now, however, it has been tested only on roads at up to 90mph.
Dietrich said he had already received 40 orders, despite an expected retail price of $200,000 (£132,000). "For an airplane that's very reasonable, but for a car that's very much at the high end," he conceded.
There are still one or two drawbacks. Getting insurance may be a little tricky and finding somewhere to take off may not be straightforward: the only place in the US in which it is legal to take off from a road is Alaska.
Dietrich is optimistic. He said: "In the long term we have the potential to make air travel practical for individuals at a price that would meet or beat driving, with huge time savings."
The Taylor Aerocar is one of the most famous flying cars ever built. First designed by Moulton Taylor in 1949 it was a time when popular science magazine was predicting that everyone would own a flying car by the year 2000.
Nearly 250 people are feared dead in Indonesian waters after a ferry capsized in a severe storm. Eighteen people, including the vessel's captain, were rescued by fishing boats after the ferry sank about 50km off the coast off western Sulawesi at about 4am (20:00 GMT) local time on Sunday, but the fate of the remaining passengers and crew remains unclear.
Jusman Syafi'i Djamal, the transport minister, said there had been a tropical cyclone that caused tides of five or six metres during the sinking and the high waves were hampering rescue operations. Bambang Ervan, a spokesman for the ministry, said it was unclear whether passengers had lifejackets on when the ship was hit. "It happened at dawn [so] most people were probably asleep," Ervan said.
The 700-tonne Teratai Prima sank en route from the western port of Parepare on the island of Sulawesi to Samarinda, East Kalimantan. The ship, carrying around 18 tonnes of cargo, had radioed that it was "hit by a storm" before it went down, port officials said.
Sea accidents routinely claim hundreds of lives each year in Indonesia, largely due to poor enforcement of safety regulations and overcrowding. But Ervan said the Teratai Prima, with a capacity of 300 passengers, was not overloaded.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/12/2009 00:00 ||
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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.
A Singaporean member of parliament was attacked and set on fire on Sunday by a 70-year-old man who was angry at not being given a Chinese New Year gift, the country's state broadcaster said. 
A herd of wild elephants trampled a housewife to death and injured two others in Gogalia area under Lama upazila in Bandarban early yesterday.
KiloBravoUSMC just booked her trip to England to visit her Mum. Along with booking the flight on-line, the usual offers for Car Rental, Hotel Reservations, etc, were offered. Then this:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of obese American adults outweighs the number of those who are merely overweight, according to the latest statistics from the federal government.
Physicist Alex Wissner-Gross says that performing two Google searches uses up as much energy as boiling the kettle for a cup of tea
Eight people were killed and six injured in clashes between two rival groups in Sukkar, a private TV channel reported on Sunday. The killings occurred after an exchange of fire between two groups of the Nareeja family in Peer Goth area. The channel said that the victims were working in the fields when the crossfire began. The injured were hospitalised, many reportedly to in a critical condition. The firing between the two was going on when this report was filed.
Samuel Wurzelbacher of Ohio, aka Joe the Plumber, arrived in Sderot at noon Sunday to show local and foreign reporters how to do it right.
Is it a car? Is it a plane? Actually it's both. The first flying automobile, equally at home in the sky or on the road, is scheduled to take to the air next month. 
Nearly 250 people are feared dead in Indonesian waters after a ferry capsized in a severe storm. Eighteen people, including the vessel's captain, were rescued by fishing boats after the ferry sank about 50km off the coast off western Sulawesi at about 4am (20:00 GMT) local time on Sunday, but the fate of the remaining passengers and crew remains unclear.
