it's texas...

8/14/2008 1:48:56 PM

Apparently authorities figures aren't supposed to uphold any type of good judgement while in uniform anymore.

8/14/2008 1:50:11 PM

10:55: @ rdu; home soon
midnight: not home

8/15/2008 12:03:02 AM

Quote :

"An elderly woman has been rescued from the trunk of a car that was discovered on a farm in Emmet County in western Iowa. Sheriff's officials say a landowner found what looked like an abandoned vehicle on Wednesday afternoon. The man reportedly looked into the car, found a hole in the back seat and discovered there was a person inside the trunk. Sheriff's officials say when they arrived at the scene they talked with the 70-year-old woman and eventually found keys and opened the trunk. They did not identify the woman, who they say was dehydrated and incoherent. Authorities say foul play is not suspected."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,404932,00.html

8/17/2008 1:41:44 AM

Quote :

"One law makes it a felony for a registered sex offender to use a social networking Web site accessible to minors, starting Dec. 1. It also increases the penalties for some sex crimes involving children. The other law requires registered sex offenders to give law inforcement their e-mail addresses and online user IDs, starting May 1. That information can be provided to social networking Web sites so they can screen users."

http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/3390424/

old people need to give up trying to understand the internet

8/17/2008 2:02:28 AM

Quote :

"If there's one thing Texans are serious about, it's pickups. But a Frisco man says his truck is being targeted simply because his homeowners association doesn't think it's classy enough. Jim Greenwood said he never dreamed his HOA would have a problem with his new Ford F-150 pickup. Then he received the first of three notices threatening him with fines. "Mr. Greenwood, you're violating a subdivision rule that prohibits pickup trucks in your driveway," the notice reads. Stonebriar HOA rules allow several luxury trucks on driveways, including the Cadillac Escalade, Chevy Avalanche, Honda Ridgeline and Lincoln Mark LT. But most Ford, Dodge or Chevy pickups are restricted. "It's very frustrating and confusing. It's hard to imagine how an HOA would try to dictate what type of vehicle you can drive and park in your driveway," Mr. Greenwood said. Bill Osborn of the HOA board said the association also prohibits boats, trailers, golf carts and RVs in driveways. "The high-end vehicles that are allowed are plush with amenities and covers on the back. It doesn't look like a pickup," he said. "It's fancier." Mr. Greenwood appealed, claiming his Ford F-150 isn't much different from the Lincoln Mark LT. "The response was: 'It's our belief that Lincoln markets to a different class of people,' " he said."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-friscopickups_17met.ART0.West.Edition1.4d8a269.html

8/18/2008 12:43:58 AM

Quote :

"“I love driving a school bus,” Stephanie Smith said. Smith is on a year-round middle school route, with only two stops. “One of them doesn't ride, so I'm actually picking up one (student) most of the time,” she said. With a 30-minute ride to school, one student had the entire school bus to himself, WRAL witnessed. Smith says the same school has another bus, with a route not far away, which could pick up the student. “If we get the time just right, we'll cross,” she said. “We're very committed to making sure that all of our bus routes are efficient,” Scott Denton, transportation director for Durham Public Schools, said. So WRAL asked Denton about the one student seen riding the bus alone. “Now that you've brought that particular situation to my attention, we'll be looking at that today to see if there's something we can change today to fix that,” Denton said."

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/3397290/

8/18/2008 9:34:48 PM

Quote :

"As Tennessee's children went back to school to learn and prepare themselves for the future, only one county was so far in debt that it literally couldn't afford to open schools. As of this post, children in Cumberland County are still not in school, victims of a reported $5 million budget shortfall. Not a single media outlet seems to focus on how Cumberland County found itself abandoning its children. Many dutifully reported county leaders blaming everyone but themselves. But a quick look at the state's comptroller website tells the story. Take a look at the property tax rates of every county in the state. In 2007, the Cumberland County Commission passed a budget that prioritized cutting property taxes above educating their own children. Cumberland County lowered their property taxes in 2007 by 40 cents to its current rate of $1.24 per $100 of assessed property value. It's the lowest property tax for any county in the state of Tennessee. Last night, the Cumberland County Commission had 10 opportunities before a crowd of angry parents to raise tax rates to pay for educating their children. Tens times the county commission said no. Cumberland County may not be able to educate their own children, but at least they can now enjoy the lowest property taxes in the state of Tennessee. Mission accomplished."

http://www.nashvilleistalking.com/node/61915

8/19/2008 3:58:14 PM

that is straight up from The Simpsons

8/19/2008 6:09:54 PM

http://www.wral.com/news/strange/story/3401880/
Pics are more distubing

8/19/2008 6:15:03 PM

Quote :

"The Mid-Day Textile Bus Route (Rt. 8a) from 11:00 am until 2:56 pm is being discontinued. There is no change, however, to the Southeast Loop (Rt. 8). A write-up of the route and schedule changes should be on the Wolfline website. Service frequency for Rt. 8a is going to be improved - service every 26 minutes versus every 30 minutes (See schedule on website or in student lounge). No change to the Rt. 8 Southeast Loop which provides peak service every 12 minutes, non peak every 18 minutes. (Refer to the printed schedule"

8/19/2008 6:19:11 PM

^^^^ That's what happens when you elect hardcore republicans.

8/19/2008 7:22:05 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/08/19/tsa.watch.list/index.html

^this too...can't we just do a system restore on the government

8/19/2008 10:12:03 PM

http://www.wral.com/news/strange/story/3401880/ (credit to keeeeler29 for the find)
Pics are more distubing

Quote :

"SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A Puerto Rican man has been granted his wish to remain standing - even in death. A funeral home used a special embalming treatment to keep the corpse of 24-year-old Angel Pantoja Medina standing upright for his three-day wake. Dressed in a Yankees baseball cap and sunglasses, Pantoja was mourned by relatives while propped upright in his mother's living room. His brother Carlos told the El Nuevo Dia newspaper the victim had long said he wanted to be upright for his own wake: "He wanted to be happy, standing." The owner of the Marin Funeral Home, Damaris Marin, told The Associated Press the mother asked him to fulfill her dead son's last wish. Pantoja was found dead Friday underneath a bridge in San Juan and buried Monday. Police are investigating."

8/19/2008 10:24:41 PM

Quote :

""I don't think we are that different from a lot of districts, at least in the Panhandle, that have beliefs that maybe are different from societal changes," Griffin said. Gay rights activists said that's no excuse for what Davis did. The problems began last fall when Davis, who did not return phone messages from The Associated Press, admonished the senior, who is identified only as "Jane Doe" in court records and whose friends say she doesn't want to talk about the experience. The friends donned gay pride T-shirts and rainbow-colored clothing when they found out how Davis had treated her, and he questioned many of them about their sexuality and association with gay students. Some were suspended. "Davis embarked on what can only be characterized as a 'witch hunt' to identify students who were homosexual and their supporters, further adding fuel to the fire," U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak recounted in his ruling. "He went so far as to lift the shirts of female students to insure the letters 'GP' or the words 'Gay Pride' were not written on their bodies.""

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/davis_10423___article.html/gay_students.html

8/20/2008 8:49:50 PM

Quote :

"Police said a man called 911 and reported a robbery after a gas station employee refused to give him his money back for an unopened box of condoms. Police said officers responded quickly to the call on Sunday and found a gas station worker who fit the description of the robber given by the caller. Police said the 21-year-old man told them he called 911 and made the bogus report to help him get his money back."

http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/national/story/3407935/

8/20/2008 9:49:25 PM

Quote :

"A Garrard County woman is arrested for wearing short shorts to court. Judge Janet Booth sent 28-year-old Kirstie Arnold to jail for wearing short khaki shorts to a scheduled court appearance Monday. In a jailhouse interview, Arnold told Action News 36 she doesn't think the shorts were short and says she felt "dressed up" in them and a white baby-doll tank top. Arnold was only supposed to spend four days in the Boyle County Jail but after her arrest, police found cocaine and prescription pills in her purse. She now faces a half dozen charges in addition to contempt of court. Arnold tells Action News she has been in trouble with the same judge before for wearing a tank top with no bra to another court appearance. Arnold says she has learned her lesson. She won't be wearing short shorts to court again, instead she will wear jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt."

http://www.wtvq.com/news/1-latest/1393-who-likes-short-shorts-not-the-judge.html

8/22/2008 6:31:33 PM

Quote :

"PAMPACK"

8/22/2008 6:49:49 PM

http://www.reformation.org

8/23/2008 9:00:45 PM

Quote :

"Les Bernstein may have the greenest yard in Raleigh's Falls River neighborhood, but he hasn't turned on his sprinkler system all year. After trying to maintain his fescue lawn during the drought, Bernstein chose to install low-maintenance, water-saving artificial grass. "The only thing you have to do is sweep it off once in a while," he said. Bernstein made the $6,500 investment this May, but it wasn't long before the Falls River Community Association weighed in. The homeowners association sent a letter telling Bernstein that he needed signatures from neighbors because he did not get prior approval for the artificial grass. "(Neighbors) look at their lawns, which are weeds or are hard to maintain, and they look at this, and the first thing they want to do is install it themselves," Bernstein said. He says he gathered the signatures and presented them to the board, but he got back a letter saying he has to remove the artificial grass by Sept. 30."

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/3408199/

8/24/2008 12:47:12 AM

Quote :

"It was the little engine that couldn't - because it was thirsty for fuel. A quick train trip down the coast turned into a long haul for more than 80 Amtrak passengers when their train from Los Angeles to San Diego ran out of fuel Sunday night. Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole said the train sat for about two hours on the northern edge of San Diego before another engine came along to push it the last several miles to the San Diego train station. The train, which had left Los Angeles at 8:30 p.m., didn't get there until 1:15 a.m. Monday, two hours late. A train running out of fuel is "an unusual occurrence" and Amtrak officials will be looking into how it happened, Cole said."

http://www.wral.com/news/strange/story/3428024/

atleast it wasn't a plane...

8/26/2008 8:39:47 AM

http://cbs11tv.com/local/Seagoville.Seagoville.High.2.803681.html

ahaha, the fail may not be apparent at first, but it's there...

8/27/2008 12:33:55 AM

Yeah I'm not really seeing it

8/27/2008 12:38:02 AM

the picture is of a belt alright...

[Edited on August 27, 2008 at 12:42 AM. Reason : a car belt]

8/27/2008 12:40:23 AM

aha, I didn't even look at the picture. I was too busy trying to find fail in the print

8/27/2008 12:44:30 AM

Quote :

"Police say a 40-year-old Ocala man was betting his 15-year-old son would have sex. The man – who is not being named because that would identify the boy – probably wasn’t betting he would face a charge of lewd and lascivious battery after renting a motel room for the boy and arranging a tryst. The boy’s mother turned the father in, according to an Ocala Police Department report. She told police the man picked up her son on Aug. 18 and, while driving, kept asking him if he wanted to have sex with a woman his own age. She said her son told him no but his father kept taunting him. On one occasion, the teen told his mother that his father called six people and told them that his son had “chickened out” and the “bet was off.” Tired of the name calling, the boy reportedly agreed to the proposition. Police say the boy’s father rented a room at the Palms Motel, 2340 S. Pine Ave., dropped off his son, picked up a woman and dropped her off at the motel, too. The boy said the girl performed a sex act on him and then they had intercourse. It was not yet known if the woman was a prostitute or, indeed, a girl his age. Police were still investigating that part of the case. The boy’s father was picked up by police at his home on Thursday night and taken to the Marion County Jail."

http://www.ocala.com/article/20080829/NEWS/808290250

8/30/2008 11:07:27 PM

something i kinda dont understand, and it might just be my apt complex, is why we have pay laundry machines, but no freaking change machines to get quarters...just makes a lot of sense to me if we have pay machines that we'd have change machines so we dont have to go somewhere else just to get quarters

9/3/2008 7:38:16 PM

Quote :

"It's not Christian porn, but a Baptist pastor in Tucson, AZ, is creating a stir by advertising his upcoming series of sex-related sermons with full-page newspaper ads, suggestive mailers and his Web site, PuresexTucson.com. Jeremiah McDuffie, 27, pastor of the unconventional Element Community Church, sent out postcards with the above image to 35,000 Tucson-area homes in an effort to spread his simple, holy message that God wants people to have great sex."

http://www.asylum.com/2008/09/02/baptist-pastor-advertises-pure-sex/

9/3/2008 7:50:01 PM

Quote :

"you don't know overplayed until you've heard "hey there delilah" 15 times a day on 106.5 from Charlotte"

Don't get me started on 106.5 ...

Whoever is deciding seems to not only think that Nickleback is a good band, but that they should be played at least three times per hour. Their song rotation is essentially just [90's metal-ish band] -> [Nickleback] -> [late 90s Alternative Rock] -> [90s metal-ish] -> ["Through Glass"] -> [Repeat Rotation]

[Edited on September 3, 2008 at 8:21 PM. Reason : "Through Glass" ...I don't think I've ever tuned into them and NOt heard it]

9/3/2008 8:18:54 PM

Quote :

"Japan police fooled by life-sized doll By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press Writer Posted: Sep. 2, 2008 TOKYO — Police were trying to determine Tuesday whether they were the victim of a hoax after the body they thought they found at a seaside resort was actually a life-sized doll. Investigators found what seemed like a body wrapped in a sleeping bag in a forest in Izu City, a seaside resort in central Japan, after an anonymous caller reported seeing it, a Shizuoka prefecture spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy. Investigators never actually looked inside the sleeping bag and brought it back to the city police station for a post-mortem examination, the spokeswoman said. Apparently no one doubted a human body was inside until a medical examiner unwrapped it and found the doll, she said. The Asahi newspaper said the doll was sophisticated and life-sized and wore a brown wig, a blouse and a skirt."

http://www.wral.com/news/strange/story/3467749/



looks like someone forgot his RealDoll on holiday

9/3/2008 8:34:35 PM

Quote :

"Nearly two dozen former judges and prosecutors urged Texas Gov. Rick Perry to grant a temporary reprieve to a death row inmate whose claim that the judge and prosecutor in his case had an affair was scheduled to be heard in court two days after his execution. A state judge had scheduled a hearing to determine whether Verla Sue Holland, the judge in Charles Dean Hood's death penalty trial, and former Collin County District Attorney Tom O'Connell must give depositions about their reported affair. But the hearing was scheduled for Sept. 12 -- two days after Hood is scheduled to die for a 1989 double murder. Robert Dry, the judge hearing the case, recused himself from the case Wednesday, citing a prior business relationship with Holland's husband, throwing an already complicated case into uncertainty again. Hood's case will be reassigned to another judge, who will decide when to hold the hearing, said his lawyer Greg Wiercioch. Wiercioch criticized Dry for only recusing himself after he had made several important rulings in the case, including setting the hearing date after the scheduled execution."

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/Story?id=5717923&page=1

9/4/2008 6:23:22 PM

w t f

9/4/2008 6:24:49 PM

Quote :

"More than three-quarters of Maine's eighth-graders performed below standard on the state writing test for 2007-08, prompting education officials to toss the results and try to figure out why so many students missed the mark. State Education Commissioner Susan Gendron and her staff say the one-question test was somehow flawed because 78 percent of the estimated 14,900 eighth-graders who took the exam failed to write a persuasive essay as required. That's a 50 percent increase, over 2006-07 in the number of eighth-graders who failed to meet or only partially met state writing standards. In a rare move, Maine's Department of Education found the test results inconclusive, and withheld them from school districts and the media when it released the latest Maine Educational Assessment scores in July. The department's decision surprised even longtime educators like Tom Lafavore, director of educational planning in Portland Public Schools, Maine's largest district. "I've never seen test results pulled like this," Lafavore said. The department provided overall Grade 8 writing results to the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram only after the newspaper requested the information under Maine's Freedom of Access Act. "It is our responsibility to ensure the validity of test data," Gendron said. "It would be irresponsible for us to release data if that performance is based on a question that was unreliable." Gendron and her staff say parents shouldn't worry. Students are learning to write. The test triggered false results. Still, they say, they don't know exactly why. The 45- to 70-minute test, administered last March, asked students to support or refute the following statement, known as a prompt: "Television may have a negative impact on learning." Instructions outlined how the essay would be scored and listed 20 writing skills students should demonstrate, from identifying a logical position to using correct punctuation. The test included two lists of facts, pro and con, to use in the essay. "Kids got ticked off at the (question)," Gendron said. "In many cases, it was an emotional response rather than the intellectual exercise we were seeking, so it was not an accurate reflection of their writing skills." One student's essay began: "These facts are lies. I do my homework and get good grades even though I watch TV.""

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=208766&ac=PHnws&pg=1

9/7/2008 7:15:57 PM

^ Haha, that's badass.

I just saw this little gem on google news:

[benny hill music]

Quote :

" http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_10405742 ReprintPrint Email Font Resize Burglar wakes men with spice rub, sausage attack The Associated Press Article Launched: 09/07/2008 03:57:19 PM PDT FRESNO, Calif.—Fresno County authorities have arrested a man they say broke into the home of two farmworkers, rubbed one with spices and whacked the other with a sausage before fleeing. Fresno County sheriff's Lt. Ian Burrimond says 22-year-old Antonio Vasquez of Fresno was found hiding in a nearby field wearing only a T-shirt, boxer shorts and socks. Burrimond said Vasquez was arrested after deputies found a wallet containing his ID at the ransacked house just east of Fresno. The victims told deputies they awoke Saturday morning to the stranger applying spices to one of them and striking the other with an 8-inch sausage. Burrimond said money allegedly stolen in the burglary was recovered. The sausage was tossed away by the fleeing suspect and eaten by a dog."

What the fuck?

[Edited on September 7, 2008 at 10:31 PM. Reason : Now that I think about it, it sounds like male prostitution gone wrong.]

9/7/2008 10:27:51 PM

Quote :

"Claiming he was a federal agent couldn't keep a Chicago man from being arrested at Great American Ball Park on Saturday. According to court records, when a concession employees working the View Level refused to serve Rafael Rosario, 26, he asked two more times. When Cincinnati Police asked to see Rosario’s I.D., he tensed up and claimed he was a federal agent and the officer had no right to see his I.D. Records show Rosario is employed by the Transportation Safety Administration at O’Hare Airport in Chicago. Police say Rosario gave them an Illinois state drivers license, not a federal I.D. Police note he refused to cooperate with officers and had blood shot eyes and they could smell alcohol. He was also wearing a red Cubs shirt, and blue Cubs hat. Rosario is charged with disorderly conduct while intoxicated, he's scheduled to be arranged Monday afternoon."

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=821aea41-0bfe-4a4e-bb96-ca2b4735a48d

federal agent malarkey aside, he got arrested for asking 3 times for a beer?

9/8/2008 1:19:34 AM

Quote :

"If incoming Detroit City Council President Monica Conyers wants to persuade residents that she has learned to control her temper as she prepares to lead the council, Monday was a bad start. Conyers, after exiting the elevators on the 13th floor of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, stormed into council offices ranting at the news media. "You are all evil!" she shouted. "Please leave me alone!" Conyers' outburst happened before a reporter asked her a question. She then asked a City Council sergeant to escort her. And then, after entering the council chambers, she interrupted the Public Health and Safety Committee's discussion about non-motorized transportation in the city to bemoan the presence of reporters near her house. She said a council member's job is "part-time" and doesn't warrant such scrutiny. Conyers makes $81,000 a year. Council members also get a city car -- a Ford Crown Victoria -- to drive. Afterward, Conyers was approached by a reporter wanting to interview her. Conyers responded, "Please," and continued to walk away. Conyers' spokeswoman Denise Johnson said Conyers was upset because reporters were waiting for her outside a courthouse where she was scheduled Monday for jury duty."

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080909/NEWS01/809090315

9/9/2008 4:16:22 PM

Quote :

"i'd rather have dnl about, than this dog"

-ambrosia1231

[Edited on September 12, 2008 at 9:53 PM. Reason : s]

9/12/2008 9:52:46 PM

Quote :

"The reporter for the Miami radio station seemed surprised that McCain, after discussing anti-American antagonists in Latin South America, acted so coolly to the idea of meeting with Zapatero. "I would be willing to meet with those leaders who are friends and want to work with us in a cooperative fashion," McCain said, throwing in words of praise for the Mexican government. The reporter asked a second time: "Would that invitation be extended to the Zapatero government?" McCain repeated his talking point: "I can assure you I will establish closer relations with our friends and I will stand up to those who want to do harm to the United States of America." The reporter pressed again, and McCain replied: "I have a clear record of working with leaders in the hemisphere that are friends with us and standing up to those who are not." At this point, the reporter sought to clarify that McCain was not mixing up South America with Europe. "I'm talking about the president of Spain," she noted."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/18/mccain_slights_spanish_prime_m.html

9/18/2008 4:07:35 PM

Quote :

"A San Joaquin County judge is refusing to free a prisoner who is in a permanent vegetative state. Jackson Phaysaleum of Stockton was severely beaten by a cellmate last year and is not expected to regain consciousness. Attorneys sought his release under a law that allows an incapacitated inmate to go free if he poses no public risk. Judge Terrence Van Oss refused to release him on Monday, meaning the state must continue paying for two guards to watch him. Oss says he was inclined to release the inmate but changed his mind because he feared San Joaquin County would end up paying the medical bills."

http://cbs13.com/local/stockton.brain.dead.2.823926.html

9/23/2008 10:02:22 PM

Quote :

"An Argentine tourist got the city name right, but the continent wrong when she booked a vacation to Australia, and found herself in easternmost Canada this week, said local media. Monique Rozanes Torres Aguero of Buenos Aires had wanted to travel to Sydney, Australia, but ended up instead in the former coal and steel mill town of Sydney, Nova Scotia. The mix-up, due to inattention while booking flights online, became evident when she boarded a small propeller plane in Halifax that would take her on the last leg of her journey. "She was taking pictures out the airplane window and said to herself, 'Something is not right,'" local resident Christiane Tanner, who befriended the accidental tourist, told the Cape Breton Post. "

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/canadaaustraliatourismoffbeat

[don't cry for me argentinaaa]

9/24/2008 9:36:48 PM

Quote :

"A West Virginia man who police said passed gas and fanned it toward a patrolman has been charged with battery on a police officer. Jose A. Cruz, 34, of Clarksburg, was pulled over early Tuesday for driving without headlights, police said. According to the criminal complaint, Cruz smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and failed three field sobriety tests before he was handcuffed and taken to a police station for a breathalyzer test. As Patrolman T.E. Parsons prepared the machine, Cruz scooted his chair toward Parsons, lifted his leg and "passed gas loudly," the complaint said. Cruz, according to complaint, then fanned the gas toward the officer. "The gas was very odorous and created contact of an insulting or provoking nature with Patrolman Parsons," the complaint alleged."

http://www.wral.com/news/strange/story/3606166/

i thought pigs liked shit

9/24/2008 10:10:38 PM

http://consumerist.com/5054327/hershey-responds-consumers-love-our-new-fake-chocolate

it's obviously just a coincidence that their wholesale prices have also gone up around 40% in the past year

9/24/2008 10:40:30 PM

^ If that person has been smart they would have said it was a dietary issue for the Krackle bar and needed to know what the ingredients were.

Hersey's is shit anyway, I don't know why people eat it.

9/24/2008 10:48:03 PM

Quote :

"A news story describing a successful launch of China's long-awaited space mission and including detailed dialogue between astronauts launched on the Internet Thursday, hours before the rocket had even left the ground. The country's official news agency Xinhua posted the article on its Web site Thursday, and remained there for much of the day before it was taken down. A staffer from the Xinhuanet.com Web site who answered the phone Thursday said the posting of the article was a ``technical error'' by a technician. The staffer refused to give his name as is common among Chinese officials. The Shenzhou 7 mission, which will feature China's first-ever spacewalk, is set to launch Thursday from Jiuquan in northwestern China between 9:07 a.m. EDT and 10:27 p.m. EDT. The arcticle, dated two days from now on Sept. 27, vividly described the rocket in flight, complete with a sharply detailed dialogue between the three astronauts. Excerpts are below: ``After this order, signal lights all were switched on, various data show up on rows of screens, hundreds of technicians staring at the screens, without missing any slightest changes ... 'One minute to go!' 'Changjiang No.1 found the target!'... ``The firm voice of the controller broke the silence of the whole ship. Now, the target is captured 12 seconds ahead of the predicted time ... 'The air pressure in the cabin is normal!' ``Ten minutes later, the ship disappears below the horizon. Warm clapping and excited cheering breaks the night sky, echoing across the silent Pacific Ocean.''"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/7826249

9/25/2008 7:40:44 PM

bahaha pwnt

9/25/2008 7:48:44 PM

Quote :

"U.S. lawmakers approved the creation of a cabinet-level position of copyright czar as part of sweeping intellectual property enforcement legislation that sailed through the Senate on Friday. However, a controversial measure granting the Justice Department the authority to sue copyright infringers on behalf of Hollywood and the music industry was removed after the White House lobbied against assuming those new powers. The legislation's passage underscores the importance lawmakers place on protecting intellectual property. The entertainment industry says it loses billions of sales a year to piracy. The legislation, unanimously approved on a consent vote, came as lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are scrambling to hammer out a $700 billion Wall Street bailout. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said he expected the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act "will aid federal efforts to protect American producers and American jobs." The measure (.pdf) creates an executive-level "Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator" -- a copyright czar requiring Senate confirmation. The executive and its office would be charged with creating a nationwide plan to combat piracy and "report directly to the president and Congress regarding domestic international intellectual property enforcement programs.""

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/09/senate-passes-b.html

9/27/2008 5:45:55 AM

Quote :

"Police said a man was arrested after he used a cigarette lighter while trying to siphon gasoline from a van. The man, who was visiting friends, went to drive home early Saturday but realized that he didn't have enough gas in his SUV. Police said the man tried to siphon the gas with help from another woman, but he couldn't see how much gas was in the container, so he used the lighter to check. A blast of fire burned his hands and caused nearby residents to call police. Police said he and the woman were located later in a store parking lot. He was arrested for theft and negligent use of burning materials."

http://www.wral.com/news/strange/story/3652854/

how could you think this was a good idea?

10/2/2008 3:53:45 PM

He sounds like one of those guys that spills his drink everytime he checks his watch.

10/2/2008 3:57:25 PM

Quote :

"Keene Valley resident Jerilea Zempel was detained at the U.S. border this summer because she had a drawing of a sport-utility vehicle in her sketchbook. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers told Zempel they suspected her of copyright infringement. She was released after more than an hour in custody at the Houlton, Maine, port of entry from New Brunswick, Canada. Her release came only after she persuaded border guards she was an artist doing a project that involved a crocheted SUV as a statement against America's dependence on oil and love for big vehicles. Zempel's adventure began when she was returning from the Cultural Capital Festival in Sackville, New Brunswick, where her submission was an SUV cozy on a rented Hyundai Santa Fe. "I wanted to turn an oversize, macho, gas-guzzling vehicle into a technological ghost by shrouding it in a white, fuzzy cover reminiscent of women's handiwork from another time, another place." After the festival, Zemple headed for home in her own Toyota Prius hybrid and stopped at the border crossing on Interstate 95 in Maine. "What happened when I re-entered the U.S. made me ponder what my lowly art project could mean in a larger political sphere. "And it gave me an idea for a title: the Homeland Security Blanket." Zempel's passport showed she'd been to Africa, Australia, Central and South America, Mexico, Turkey and Europe in the last nine years. "U.S. citizens who've traveled to the places I've been need to be looked at. A half hour at the computer gave the agent cause to put me into another suspicious category, meriting a full car search. She (the agent) took my keys and went through my car. "After going through my (laptop) computer, digital camera, cell phone, business cards, suitcase, reading materials, boxes of yarn and crochet tools, she returned with my sketchbook. "I was taken to a room and told to sit on a bench with handcuffs at both ends. But they did not handcuff me." Zempel had drawn an SUV covered by a cozy, with its mirrors marked as "ears." "My sketchbook puzzled her," Zempel said. "It was a cartoon sketch. They couldn't understand what I was doing. She said, Just what were you doing in Canada? We think you're engaged in some kind of copyright infringement." She said she and the CBP agent then had a "lively discussion" over Zempel's status as an artist and a professor at Fordham University in New York City. "I had to spell Fordham for her. She left the room to see if she could find me on the college's Web site." While she was out, Zempel found her college ID and showed it to the agent when she came back. "Somehow being a college professor made it all OK. She said, 'Welcome back to the U.S.' I was allowed to leave.""

http://www.pressrepublican.com/0100_news/local_story_278220015.html

10/7/2008 1:11:38 PM

Quote :

"A man who is alleged to have taken another man's property from his house in a recent burglary has challenged the victim of the crime to a fight, Des Moines police are reporting this morning. The winner takes all. Seymour Gray, 66, of the 1100 block of 13th Street in Des Moines, told officers a man broke into his house last week and took two laptop computers, a desktop computer, a fax machine, VCR and some tools. Gray said he knows who did it. He added that the man called one of his relatives and admitted taking the items from the house. Police said in a report that the thief will give the property back only if the Gray challenges him to a fight. The alleged thief told police whoever wins would get the stuff. The burglar has a 10-year age advantage. But that still puts him in his mid 50s. No arrests have been reported. The case has been turned over to detectives for further investigation."

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20081008/NEWS/81008013/1001/NEWS

10/8/2008 4:09:43 PM