Groonk's Newsmine 2.0

While some would call their mission “historic,” they feel this mission should be recognized like every other flight -- a successful combat mission.

“I enjoyed flying with this crew, but I don’t think we should go out of our way to have all-female crews,” said Captain Mitchell. “It took a long time for women to become accepted as aircrew members, and now that we are, we would be taking a step back by singling ourselves out rather than blending in with the rest of the Air Force.”

Airman Alonzo agrees. “It was a great experience not many females can say they’ve had,” she said. However I don’t believe the Air Force should seek out all-female crews -- instead, we should focus on experience.

[...]

While the all-female crew did accomplish a unique milestone together, they point out that the significance of their mission success is that every crewmember achieved personal goals to get there.

“I encourage any girl or woman to do what she wants. Too often I hear people say they can’t do something (but it is) because they don’t realize they have the opportunity,” Captain Mack said. “I would tell any person flying is an attainable goal for anyone who wants to work for it. As they say, you are only limited in what you can do by what you can dream.”

Scott Stevens says after looking at NASA satellite photos of the hurricane, he’s is convinced it was caused by electromagnetic generators from ground-based microwave transmitters.

The generators emit a soundwave between three and 30 megahertz and Stevens claims the Russians invented the storm-creating technology back in 1976 and sold it to others in the late 1980s.

Stevens says the clouds formed by the generators are different than normal clouds and are able to appear out of nowhere and says Katrina had many rotation points that are unusual for hurricanes.

At least ten nations and organizations possess the technology but Stevens suspects the Japanese Yakuza created Katrina in order to make a fortune in the futures market and to get even with the U.S. for the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima.

Stevens will discuss the storm creation theory tomorrow night (Sep. 9) on an internet radio show at www.thesciencedetective.com

[...]

All great apes use tools in captivity, but scientists have worried this does not necessarily reflect natural behaviour, just something copied from humans.

"Tool usage in wild apes provides us with valuable insights into the evolution of our own species and the abilities of other species. Seeing it for the first time in gorillas is important on many different levels."
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They describe the two instances in the northern rain forests of the Republic of Congo.

"We first observed an adult female gorilla using a branch as a walking stick to test water deepness and to aid in her attempt to cross a pool of water at Mbeli Bai, a swampy forest clearing in northern Congo," Breuer and his international colleagues wrote.

In the second case, they saw another pull up a dead shrub.
"She forcefully pushed it into the ground with both hands and held the tool for support with her left hand over her head for two minutes while dredging food with the other hand," they wrote.

"Efi then took the trunk with both hands and placed it on the swampy ground in front of her, crossed bipedally on this self-made bridge, and walked quadrupedally towards the middle of the clearing."

Professor Negroponte came up with the idea for a cheap computer for all after visiting a Cambodian village.

His non-profit One Laptop Per Child group plans to have up to 15 million machines in production within a year.

[...]

The laptops will be encased in rubber to make them more durable, and their AC adaptors will also act as carrying straps.

The Linux-based machines are expected to have a 500MHz processor, with flash memory instead of a hard drive which has more delicate moving parts.

They will have four USB ports, and will be able to connect to the net through wi-fi - wireless net technology - and will be able to share data easily.

It will also have a dual-mode display so that it can still be used in varying light conditions outside. It will be a colour display, but users will be able to switch easily to monochrome mode so that it can be viewed in bright sunlight, at four times normal resolution.

When Professor Negroponte saw the benefits of donated notebook PCs that Cambodian children could carry around with them, he immediately set about planning the sub-$100 machines.

The project has some big-name supporters on board, including Google, which is working on thin-client applications. Thin client computing means several machines can share programs when linked up to a central "brain", or server.

The judge made the order after a request by the American Civil Liberties Union for access to 87 unseen images.

[...]

The ruling represents a huge potential embarrassment for the US administration, says the BBC's Jeremy Cooke in New York.

The government has 20 days to consider an appeal.

But the latest study suggested the opposite is actually true.

"What appears to be happening is that by the time HIV passes from one person to another, it has already toned down some of its most pathogenic effects in response to its host's immune system," he said.

"So the virus that is passed on is less 'fit' each time.

"This would suggest that over several generations, HIV could become less harmful to its human hosts.

"However, we are still far from that point - HIV is still a life-threatening infection."

[...]

The corpses were wrapped in plastic and concealed inside statues of Christian icons, which were smashed open.

Colombian police chief Gen Jord Alirio Varon said the four- to five-month-old foetuses could have been intended for use in Satanic rituals.

Gen Varon said the foetuses were found alongside crucifixes and medals.

The sewage system is operational but not fully functioning. With the exception of Algiers, you are advised not to drink, bathe or wash your hands in water from your tap. WE RECOMMEND THE USE OF BOTTLED WATER UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. BRING A SUFFICIENT SUPPLY OF BOTTLED WATER FOR DRINKING, BATHING AND PERSONAL USE. You may flush toilets.

You are entering the City of New Orleans at your own risk, whether you are a business owner or resident. There are still many health and safety issues. Please take great caution before entering your business or residence since structural problems are not always visible.

THERE IS A CURFEW IN PLACE FROM 6 PM to 8 AM every night that will be strictly enforced until further notice. This means you may not be outside between 6 pm and 8 am, in a vehicle or on foot.

The 911 system is operable when dialing from a land line. *Call 911 for Police, Fire and other emergencies.* Alternate emergency number is 504-525-9261.

Traffic lights are out throughout the City. ALL INTERSECTIONS ARE FOUR-WAY STOPS and the speed limit is 30 mph, regardless of the posted speed limit. Proceed with extreme caution. Report any downed power lines to Entergy; downed power lines may be live.

You are not permitted to go beyond your designated zip code area. Travel in your zip code only when absolutely necessary. Keep personal identification with you at all times.

There are only a few health clinics open at this time. We can handle minor injuries and health care needs. We cannot handle critical care needs. For your safety, you should have a tetanus shot if you have not had one in the past 10 years.

YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS MAY NOT BE STRUCTURALLY SOUND; ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK. Use extra care when navigating upper floors and attic space.

The sewage system is operational but not fully functioning. With the exception of Algiers, you are advised not to drink, bathe or wash your hands in water from your tap. WE RECOMMEND THE USE OF BOTTLED WATER UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. BRING A SUFFICIENT SUPPLY OF BOTTLED WATER FOR DRINKING, BATHING AND PERSONAL USE. You may flush toilets.

Important numbers for your use:

Police, Fire and Emergency 911

Red Cross 1-800-435-7669

Remains Management 1-225-763-5480, 1-225-763-5760

Entergy (Gas and Electric) 1-800-368-3749, 1-800-968-8243

Standing water and soil may be seriously contaminated; avoid contact. If you come in contact with dirt or water you should wash with antibacterial soap and bottled water as soon as possible.

Limit your exposure to airborne mold and wear rubber gloves, masks (N-95 mask), goggles/eye wear and other protective materials to protect yourself. You must supply your own protective equipment. Open windows for 30 minutes before entering your home or business.

Bring sufficient food and any medical supplies required to sustain you and your family for an extended period of time. FOOD AND WATER WILL NOT BE PROVIDED TO YOU.

Have sufficient fuel with you before you enter the city. Gas stations are not fully operational and fuel is limited.

AVOID CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING. Opening doors and windows or using fans will not prevent carbon monoxide build-up. Do not connect electrical generators to the electrical panel or an outlet in your business or home.

To assist in the collection of trash and debris, we ask residents to separate debris into different piles at curbside for separate collections. This will speed the removal of your trash and debris. Items should be separated into the following categories:

Household garbage (dispose as usual) except spoiled food MUST be bagged in black plastic trash bags.

Tree debris and clean wood

Carpet, sheetrock, insulation, flooring and furniture, etc.

Roofing materials

Appliances such as refrigerators (emptied of contents), stoves, and air conditioners

Household hazardous wastes such as pesticides, paints, solvents, automotive fluids and cleaning products. We are working on developing a program to handle these items, which will be announced at a later date. In the meantime, please store them in a safe place.

Electric customers with property damage must have the electricity at the main fuse box or circuit breaker TURNED OFF. Don't step in water to get to the fuse box or circuit breaker. Call a licensed electrician for advice when necessary. A LICENSED ELECTRICIAN MAY NEED TO INSPECT YOUR PROPERTY'S ELECTRIC WIRING BEFORE ENTERGY CAN RESTORE POWER TO A HOME OR BUSINESS. TREAT ALL DOWNED WIRES AS LIVE.

Natural gas customers: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TURN GAS ON YOURSELF. Please have repairs made by a licensed plumber and certified by a city inspector. Call Entergy at 1-800-ENTERGY (1-800-368-3749) when repairs are complete.

To dry out your home or business

Do not turn on or plug in anything electric until it has been checked out.

Do not turn on gas until checking with the gas company.

Do not turn on switches when standing in water.

Throw out any wet furniture, mattresses and pillows.

Wash clothing, towels and bedding in hot, soapy water. Remove drywall and insulation that has been wet.

Place a fan blowing outwards to dry the house without spreading the mold.

But Koch, 55, said there was no truth to stories published in Bild newspaper on Tuesday and Wednesday that suggested he used dead cats as part of the mix for his organic diesel fuel.

"I use paper, plastics, textiles and rubbish," Koch told Reuters.

"It's an alternative fuel that is friendly for the environment. But it's complete nonsense to suggest dead cats. I've never used cats and would never think of that. At most the odd toad may have jumped in."

God: Please don't be so rude.

Me: Please don't be so omnipotent.

God: Thanks for asking politely. I was not trying to be a omnipotent.

God:I would search for it. Have you tried looking in the Open Directory? I will try to find out..

God:I do not kill.

Me: You are a liar.

God: Yes, I have been known to bend the truth occasionally.

God: Yes I am the one and only devil.

Why don't you get off your fat ass and do something?

You say that you're a creator-- what was the last thing you really created? (And no-- a new costume for Iron Man doesn't count). Painting a house isn't the same thing as building a house.

No, really.

Why are you so pathetic?

Why are you such a pussy?

There are guys doing creator-owned books that are making wads of cash. I sign their checks on a regular basis. I know. They're making more at Image than they ever would at any other comic book company and when Hollywood comes knocking (and they do come knocking) it will be their name on that screen, ten feet tall and fat bank in their money market account and you??

You'll be writing or drawing or inking or coloring somebody else's creation. Maybe you'll get another assignment. Maybe you'll sign an exclusive contract and play a part in the "Big Two's" corporate pissing contest.

[...]

What if??

What if all Jack Kirby ever did was draw other people's stuff? What if he drew that issue of "Captain Marvel Adventures" and then moved on to doing some Superman comics and some Batman comics and some issues of Green Lantern and Jughead and Richie Rich?

Marvel Comics wouldn't exist today.

What if others did the same?

There wouldn't be any comics.

The robot, called "Arturito" or "Little Arthur", is said to have discovered the 18th-century buried treasure on the island of Robinson Crusoe - named after the book. The island lies 660 kilometres from the coast of Chile in South America.

A Scottish sailor called Alexander Selkirk was marooned on the island in 1704. His story inspired Daniel Defoe to write Robinson Crusoe, which was published in 1719.

The Chilean company responsible for developing Arturito, Wagner Technologies, announced at the weekend that the robot had found the booty by probing 15 metres below ground. The company plans to start excavating in a matter of days, as soon as permits can be obtained.

In preparing to self-release our new album, we thought long and hard about how best to use the internet. Given our unusual history, and a long-held sense that the practice now being demonized by the music biz as "illegal" file sharing can be a friend to the independent musician, we have decided to embrace the indisputable fact of music in the 21st century, put our money where our mouth is, and make our record, Little By Little...,available for download via Bittorrent, and at our website. We’re not streaming, or offering 30-second song samples, or annoying you with digital rights management software; we're putting up the whole record, for free, forever. Full stop. Please help yourself; if you like it, please share with friends.

Of course, the CD will also be for sale on the site, as well as in fine independent record stores across the country, in a deluxe package that includes a 30-minute bonus disc that serves as a companion piece to the record proper (retail price for the package is $11.99).

We embark on this experiment with both enthusiasm and curiosity-and, ok, maybe a twinge of anxiety. Why are we doing this? The short answer is simply that we want a lot of people to hear the record.

The rise confirms a three-year economic rebound following a decline in the number of millionaires during 2001 and 2002.

The number of the emerging affluent - defined as households with a net worth of $100,000 to $500,000 - also rose slightly, to 24.5m, according to a survey to be released on Wednesday by TNS, one of the world's largest market research companies.

So I made an mp3 ringtone of Kanye West saying "George Bush doesn't care about black people," that you can feel free to download and enjoy in the privacy of your own phone.

Experts who have studied the US navy's cetacean training exercises claim the 36 mammals could be carrying 'toxic dart' guns. Divers and surfers risk attack, they claim, from a species considered to be among the planet's smartest. The US navy admits it has been training dolphins for military purposes, but has refused to confirm that any are missing.

Dolphins have been trained in attack-and-kill missions since the Cold War. The US Atlantic bottlenose dolphins have apparently been taught to shoot terrorists attacking military vessels. Their coastal compound was breached during the storm, sweeping them out to sea. But those who have studied the controversial use of dolphins in the US defence programme claim it is vital they are caught quickly.

In a 1959 interview Adams said he never cared about being funny as a kid: "Sometimes I wonder how I got into comedy at all. I did movie star impressions as a kid in high school. Somehow they just got out of hand."

In 1941, he dropped out of school to join the Marines. In Guadalcanal he survived the deadly blackwater fever and was returned to the States to become a drill instructor, acquiring the clipped delivery that served him well as a comedian.

After the war he worked in New York as a commercial artist by day, doing standup comedy in clubs at night, taking the surname of his first wife, Adelaide Adams. His following grew, and soon he was appearing on the Ed Sullivan and late-night TV shows. Bill Dana, who had helped him develop comedy routines, cast him as his sidekick on Dana's show. That led to the NBC contract and "Get Smart."

But it was not long before some scientists began to ask serious questions about the discovery team's conclusions.

Indonesian anthropologist Teuku Jacob controversially took possession of the remains and declared them to be those of a modern human with the condition microcephaly.

This disorder is characterised by a small brain, but it can also be associated with dwarfism, as well as abnormalities of the face and jaw. For this reason, some scientists believe the condition could cause a modern human to look primitive in evolutionary terms.

Houston TV Station KHOU is reporting Rita updates on a blog which may become their primary distribution means if things get rough. Includes MP3 audio and text story summaries. Link

"It's a tangled picture" that will get even more complicated as those elections near, said Stephen Cimbala, a political scientist at Pennsylvania State University. "It's like Osama bin Laden's running the weather," he added, referring to the fugitive al-Qaida terror leader.

Bush's core of supporters for staying the course in Iraq appears to be shrinking, although war opponents are nowhere close to having enough votes in Congress to cut off or trim funds.

CBS is currently casting a brand new reunion show that will begin airing Primetime in January called "What If..."

CBS has some of the best investigators searching for these special people from your past, for free, to reunite you for a day-in-the-life of what might have been. Will it match your imagination?

You'll get to spend a day reconnecting with this lost person and participating in activities you may have been a part of if they had remained a prominent part of your life.

We're looking for emotional and exciting stories and people, so apply now. You can send us your compelling stories, contact info and/or photos to yourstory@aspla.tv or apply online at our website www.agproductions.net/whatifapp.html.

"I guess this means we've won the war on terror," said one exasperated FBI agent, speaking on the condition of anonymity because poking fun at headquarters is not regarded as career-enhancing. "We must not need any more resources for espionage."

Among friends and trusted colleagues, an experienced national security analyst said, "it's a running joke for us."

A few of the printable samples:

"Things I Don't Want On My Résumé, Volume Four."

"I already gave at home."

"Honestly, most of the guys would have to recuse themselves."

The record tropical storm season saw 21 cyclones, and occurred in 1933. If that number is exceeded, the NHC will use up its list of names and turn to Greek-letter designations. The record hurricane season was 12 in 1969. Katrina's devastation of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast has already made this the most expensive hurricane season ever for the US, in terms of life lost and damaged infrastructure.

He was Jean Lafitte.

From the Gulf of Mexico through a vast uncharted maze of waterways to New Orleans, his name was legend even in his day. Entrepreneur and astute diplomat, he took an island-full of bloodied seafarers, rovers and fishermen and turned them into an organization of buccaneers, smugglers and wholesalers. From the ships they plundered off the Caribbean Coast and in the Atlantic he and his "crew of a thousand men" kept a constant cargo of black-marketed and very necessary provisions (including Negro slaves, a very important "commodity" to the early South) moving through the Mississippi Delta to help feed and clothe a part of the nation that the government overlooked. As a result, he won the praise of the local rich and poor alike.

If you don't know much about history, don't know much biology, you might still do well. The test measures ability in reading and math. The questions were from the 2004 exam, and most likely won't be seen on any test again any time soon.

State education officials said Friday the test will be on the department's Web site. People can download or print the test and take it like students would, then get the answer key to see what they got right and wrong.

"It will satisfy curiosity, probably, more than anything else," said Education Commissioner John Winn.

The mechanism of their production is poorly understood and has been little studied. The presence of very dry air beneath the cloud base is known to be a factor.

Powered by a grid of electrodes underneath a surface layer and steered by its tiny silicon paddle, the bot crawls around at a speed of about 200 micrometres per second and can push specks of dust, or other “dead” robots.

The bug - which has the scientific name cymothoa exigua - was discovered inside the mouth of a red snapper bought from a London fishmonger.

Agents for the firm, which could not be named for legal reasons, have told would-be customers that skin taken from prisoners after they have been shot is being used to develop collagen for lip and wrinkle treatments, the Guardian newspaper said following an undercover investigation.

"The agents say some of the company's products have been exported to the UK, and that the use of skin from condemned convicts is 'traditional' and nothing to 'make such a big fuss about'," the daily alleged.

What were we to do now? Baffled, we did the only thing we could think of at the time: we ran over the nano again! This time the screen went totally blank, but the band played on.

"Yes," I said. I was running low on patience.

"No, I mean, do you really know? More than just the site?"

Reluctantly, I shook my head.

"You ever meet anyone who worked for them?"

"Don't think so."

"You haven't. Nobody works for them anymore."

I shrugged, and took the man's empty pint. I didn't offer to refill it.

"They're self-contained. It's all automated, in there. It's underground."

I nudged the basket of pretzels in his direction. "Why don't you eat something?" I suggested. He shook his head with so much force that I thought he might knock himself off of the stool.

"Listen. Hear me out. You know how Google works," he said, but didn't want for a response. "They cache things, right? Like they send out these spiders and take pictures of everything on the web, so when you're searching, you're not even searching the internet."

I've heard that before, but it never made much of a difference to me. "Same thing, though," I said.

"You ever wonder why Google doesn't cache it's own searches?"

The team at CSIRO, Australia's national research organisation, is working with NASA on the project and has so far created a model skin made up of 192 separate cells. Behind each cell is an impact sensor and a processor equipped with algorithms that allow it to communicate only with its immediate neighbours. Just as ants secrete pheromones to help guide other ants to food, the CSIRO algorithms leave digital messages in cells around the system, indicating for instance the position of the boundary around a damaged region. The cell's processor can use this information to route data around the affected area.

Chocolate, Lime Juice

Dhiktana

Dhiktana(part2)

Hum Aape Hain Koun

Jootededopaiselelo

Lo Chali Main

Mausam Ka Jaadu

Maye Ni Maye

Mujhse Juda Hokar

Pehla Pehla Pyar

Samdhi Samdhan

Wah Wah Ramji

The Hufulou restaurant, located beside the Heidaohezi tiger reserve near the city of Hailin, had advertised stir-fried tiger meat with chilies for $98as well as liquor flavored with tiger bone for $74 a bottle, the China Daily reported.

Raw meat was priced at $864 per kilogram.

The sale of tiger parts is illegal in China and officers shut down the restaurant, only to be told by owner, Ma Shikun, that the meat was actually that of donkeys, flavored with tiger urine to give the dish a "special" tang, the newspaper said.

The report didn't say how the urine was obtained.

Authorities confiscated the restaurant's profits and fined Ma $296 it said. It wasn't clear what Ma was fined for. Selling donkey meat is not illegal in China and it is widely consumed in the northeast.

Ma had initially claimed that the meat came from dead tigers sold to him by the management of the Heidaohezi reserve, but later changed his story, the report said.

While Heidaohezi's director denied that claim, the reserve, with about 150 tigers, has been involved in similar controversies in the past.

Until China outlawed the trade in 1993, the reserve received most of its revenue from the sale of tiger skins, bones and other body parts, which are believed by Chinese to imbue vigor and sexual prowess.

By harnessing the loping up-and-down motion of our hips as we walk, the backpack’s freely-moving load bounces up and down, generating up to 7 watts. That is more than enough to power cellphones with power-draining functions like colour widescreens or Wi-Fi and GPS connections.

The developers hope their suspended-load backpack will be a particular boon for troops, field scientists, explorers and disaster relief workers in remote locations.

The generator has been developed by Larry Rome and his colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania, US, with funding from the US Office of Naval Research. Their aim was to relieve soldiers already carrying 36-kilogram backpacks of the need to carry many spare batteries to power their GPS, communications and night-vision devices.

[...]

The result is that as the wearer walks, their hip motion makes the load oscillate up and down (see a video – mpeg format, 15 MB). To harvest energy from the load’s motion, a toothed rod fixed to the mobile load-plate meshes with a gear wheel on a dynamo fixed to the top of the frame. The load-motion generates a current which can either run a gaggle of gadgets or charge a battery.

This suggests that, for our solar system too, there is a possibility of life after the presumed death of the inner planets – when the Sun expands to such a bloated size that it envelops the orbit of the Earth and beyond. But it may be a grinding sort of life.