In the news today [Archive]

KitKat

Fri, 04-20-2007, 02:02 PM

I'll admit it, I'm addicted to reading the news. I spend my lunch break every day at work perusing the CBC website to see what interesting things have been happening. A lot of the time, I'll come across articles where I think, "People at gotwoot might find this interesting" but I don't feel like creating a thread just for that one little article.

So, here we shall have a thread for all those news articles that are not quite thread-worthy, but still fun to post and share with each other. This isn't meant to encompass all news topics, since many do have enough discussion around them to merit dedicated threads. For everything else though, the random, silly, and interesting, let's keep each other informed about what's going on in the world!

Today, first up, we have the story of the ghost yacht in Australia (http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/04/20/ghost-ship-070420.html). Watch out, Raven and kai! The ghost yacht is coming for you!

Next is an opinion article by a columnist named Heather Mallick whose articles I really enjoy reading. She's quite outspoken and often takes controversial stances, but whatever she writes is always an interesting read. This week, she writes about proposed surveillance cameras in Britain with the capability to broadcast audio messages to people within the camera's view. Her article is entitled, Big Brother Britain: What to do when the voices call your name. (http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_mallick/20070416.html)

Kraco

Fri, 04-20-2007, 04:15 PM

Today, first up, we have the story of the ghost yacht in Australia (http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/04/20/ghost-ship-070420.html). Watch out, Raven and kai! The ghost yacht is coming for you!

The crew — Australians aged 56, 63 and 69 — had set out Sunday, planning to sail around northern Australia to Western Australia state, according to Sharon Davidson of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

I bet they were dirty old lechers, and they jumped straight into the sea without a second thought after sighting a group of mermaids.

Lucifus

Fri, 04-20-2007, 04:28 PM

Haha, the ghost yacht one got to me. Made me look around my shoulder.
Hope they don't implement talking cameras at school....Really liked the Big Brother article. And I gotta agree the authors awesome.
Nice Idea KitZ.

XanBcoo

Fri, 04-20-2007, 04:39 PM

So, here we shall have a thread for all those news articles that are not quite thread-worthy, but still fun to post and share with each other.
Ugh, how embarrassing. If only this thread existed before I made this topic (http://forums.gotwoot.net/showthread.php?t=14609) :p.

Anyway, I ran into this article this morning. Made me laugh: http://www.southflorida.com/news/sns-ap-odd-bible-belt,0,2791677.story

MANKATO, Minn. -- A jail guard has been suspended after allegedly thumping an inmate with a Bible.

James Lee Sheppard, 56, has been charged with two gross misdemeanors for allegedly swatting a Blue Earth County Jail inmate with the book, grabbing him by the throat and slamming him against steel bars on Feb. 8, according to the criminal complaint.

joker-kun

Fri, 04-20-2007, 05:08 PM

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/070420/K042011AU.html

Hahahahahaa, owned!:p

Raven

Fri, 04-20-2007, 06:01 PM

Sheesh, way to make a guy feel edgy, KK. Still, it's closer to Kai so he'll get eaten first. When ghosts decide to start... eating people, that is.

Nice thread, 'twill be put to good use.

KitKat

Mon, 04-23-2007, 02:03 PM

Saskatchewan RCMP ask for public's help in finding stolen young gotwooter
Published: Monday, April 23, 2007 | 2:27 AM ET
Canadian Press

LASHBURN, Sask. (CP) - Saskatchewan RCMP are hoping to spot some thieves who made off on the weekend with a rare, wild breed of gotwooter.

The purebred Saber fanboy named Lucifus was being kept in a residential, detached garage in Lashburn, Sask. The thieves made off with him sometime between 6 p.m. on Saturday and 2 a.m. on Sunday. Lucifus, who came from the Czech Republic and was raised by a zoo until he was later purchased by his owners, is a male gotwooter, tan in colour, exhibiting acute withdrawal symptoms if he is not kept in close proximity to a computer with internet access.

He weighs about 12 pounds and is 8.5 months old.

The RCMP said Lucifus walks very low to the ground and will only become defensive if cornered.

One good bit of news for the crooks - his shots are currently up to date and he is vaccinated for anime-borne diseases.

The RCMP is asking the public for any tips they may have. Fansub groups, animators, photoshop developers, irc bots and moderators are also asked to be on the lookout for Lucifus.

I couldn't resist :cool:

Here's the real article. (http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/070423/K042302AU.html)

Kraco

Tue, 04-24-2007, 09:36 AM

The banking business must have it tough these days, when even a horse can be a valuable customer.

BERLIN, Germany (AP) -- An early-morning German bank customer had a bit of a shock when he found a horse in line at the automatic teller machine in front of him.

It seems the horse's owner, identified only as Wolfgang H., had a bit too much to drink the night before and decided to sleep it off inside the bank's heated foyer, police said Tuesday.

The 40-year-old machinist told Bild newspaper he had had "a few beers" with a friend in Wiesenburg, southwest of Berlin, and decided to hit the hay in the bank on his way home.

"It was late, it was already dark and cold," he was quoted as saying.

Confronted with the lack of a hitching-post, he brought the 6-year-old horse, named Sammy, in along with him.

When a customer came across the horse and sleeping rider in the bank at 4:15 a.m. Monday, he called police, who then came and woke the owner up and sent him on his way.

No charges were filed, but there might be some cleanup needed: Apparently Sammy made his own after-hours deposit on the carpet. -CNN (http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/04/24/horse.atm.ap/index.html)

Lucifus

Tue, 04-24-2007, 09:54 AM

masamuneehs

Thu, 04-26-2007, 11:31 AM

Several noteworthy/interesting things I caught in the headlines this morning:

Democratic Presidential Hopefuls Square Off in Televised Debate Tonight (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/04/setting_the_stage_the_first_de.html?nav=rss_blog)
I'll be sure to watch this. Each will get only 11 minutes or so, but it's a good chance to learn about some of the longshots (who will still be active in politics even if/when they don't get the nomination) and to see how the actual front-runners conduct themselves.

Scientists discover Earth-like planet (http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-04-25-voa55.cfm)
This makes me cream myself. Astronomy was my first passion outside of sports, and I've always been interested in space exploration, since it looks like we'll fuck Earth to death within the next hundred years or so. This kind of news, although very uncertain and without details, this kind of thing makes me all hopeful and jittery. There are many more articles out there, just search for the name of the planet: Gliese 581 C

36 Year Old Man Had Twin Living Twin Trapped Inside His Stomach (http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2346476&page=1)
And this is just freaky fucking weird shit...

edit - sweet! discussion about current events on this board makes me very happy! :D

darkshadow

Thu, 04-26-2007, 12:23 PM

The news about the earth like planet is really really awesome, astronomy is one of my big interests too.

Kraco

Thu, 04-26-2007, 03:42 PM

The news about the earth like planet is really really awesome, astronomy is one of my big interests too.

Yeah, indeed. When I first read about that, I was pretty excited. The article I read also said more should be found promptly.

Well, I just hope, when the time comes, that we will have better mechas than the what ever creatures inhabiting those other planets...

Lucifus

Thu, 04-26-2007, 03:49 PM

That planet one got was pretty kool. :cool: Glad I read it.
Now...that pregnant guy thing....that was disturbing...

Assassin

Thu, 04-26-2007, 04:32 PM

36 Year Old Man Had Twin Living Twin Trapped Inside His Stomach (http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2346476&page=1)
And this is just freaky fucking weird shit...

OMG! just like on house!!

Board of Command

Thu, 04-26-2007, 04:58 PM

Scientists discover Earth-like planet (http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-04-25-voa55.cfm)
This makes me cream myself. Astronomy was my first passion outside of sports, and I've always been interested in space exploration, since it looks like we'll fuck Earth to death within the next hundred years or so. This kind of news, although very uncertain and without details, this kind of thing makes me all hopeful and jittery. There are many more articles out there, just search for the name of the planet: Gliese 581 C
This could be a huge breakthrough. Now, the next step is to put all of mankind's time and resources into developing lightspeed or near-lightspeed travel. Kids should start studying rocket science in kindergarten. Even then, it'll still take 20.5 years to get there unless we get into the sci-fi realm of "warping."

36 Year Old Man Had Twin Living Twin Trapped Inside His Stomach (http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2346476&page=1)
And this is just freaky fucking weird shit...
OH MY GOODNESS WHAT THE FUCK

Spiegel

Thu, 04-26-2007, 08:33 PM

36 Year Old Man Had Twin Living Twin Trapped Inside His Stomach (http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2346476&page=1)

I am at a loss for words... This honestly creeps me out.

DB_Hunter

Fri, 04-27-2007, 11:21 AM

Dude... did that thing inside him live after the operation?

Fri, 04-27-2007, 11:49 AM

Dude... did that thing inside him live after the operation?

No.

I thought Bush dancing and MC Rove was great.

Yukimura

Fri, 04-27-2007, 05:52 PM

36 Year Old Man Had Twin Living Twin Trapped Inside His Stomach (http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2346476&page=1)
And this is just freaky fucking weird shit...

If that had happened in America or Europe I wonder if some group would have opposed the inner twins removal as a human rights violation or something.

masamuneehs

Fri, 04-27-2007, 09:23 PM

If that had happened in America or Europe I wonder if some group would have opposed the inner twins removal as a human rights violation or something.

i was thinking exactly that. earlier today i was telling this to a friend of mine, and then his friend came over and i tried to explain to them. and the friend asked me, "so, wait, he was like pregnant?" And I said no so she asked, "But if it was alive inside of him all that time, that makes it just like a child, right?"

And I found myself saying this: "No, no... You know, I wonder, I don't think so, no, no it couldn't be human. I mean... It just, it was alive and everything and grew up inside of him; but I don't think it's human. Not quite. I mean, all the parts are there like in a human, but something's missing. I don't think you can call that human."

I mean, it was as old as he, 36 years old. But it could not communicate, it could not interact with the outside world. Literally, that guy's "twin" is what I'd have to call a "sub-human". It's not another animal, but it's not quite human.

Sat, 04-28-2007, 12:18 AM

The twin wasn't alive for 36 years, it can only survive for so long inside his stomach.

masamuneehs

Sat, 04-28-2007, 01:52 AM

The twin wasn't alive for 36 years, it can only survive for so long inside his stomach.
perhaps you didn't read? You seem to have missed the pertinent part.,,

Sometimes, however, as in Bhagat's case, the host twin survives and is delivered.

They do not go into detail about the "twin's" condition, but it sounded like it had been living inside of him for some time afterwards, maybe even right up to the moment they removed it.

And thinking on it some more, removing the "twin" is the only ethical move possible. If you don't remove the twin, the man dies and the "twin" dies as well because it has been living off of it. There's really no other option and I can't imagine even the most staunch pro-Lifers arguing that saving one life should require sacrificing another.

Sat, 04-28-2007, 02:18 AM

It survived past his birth and for sometime inside him, but it was not alive for 36 years...

Since you're sounding quite pompous, perhaps you need to take a biology course. The so called twin is actually considered a type of tumor, it develops tissue and in very rare cases can even develop organs, but is never actually an organism. Basically it sounds like in this case bits and pieces of foetus developed, even surviving past the birth of the host twin, surviving meaning the tissues developed using the hosts blood stream for nutrients etc. To think there was an actual twin surviving for 36 years inside of another human is stupidity. Where did you go to school?

Kraco

Sat, 04-28-2007, 02:58 AM

It survived past his birth and for sometime inside him, but it was not alive for 36 years...

There's no question of it being alive. Some argue even viruses are living organisms. This thing inside the man was practically a tumor, but it was certainly living tissue. However, I didn't get the impression from the article it was anything more than a collection of permanently underdeveloped parts of a human. Removing it would rather equal to removing a mutated third hand than removing a human (or a fetus).

Assertn

Sat, 04-28-2007, 02:08 PM

There's a difference between being "alive" and being "sentient"

complich8

Sat, 04-28-2007, 04:26 PM

or for that matter, sapient.

But some people who are considered alive and extended the same rights as humans are medically incapable of either sentience or sapience. On a deeper level, it's not clear that sentience or sapience is the property that confers independent moral status, and it's a fairly controversial stance to say that one or the other is necessary or sufficient for that -- if it's necessary, you can find infants and the mentally handicapped that don't pass the test. If it's sufficient, you can find animals that do.

The article describes the fetus-in-fetu as somewhat incompletely developed. I'd say, if it came out viable, I'd give it moral consideration. If it came out incapable of surviving outside of the host, I'd consider it dead and morally irrelevant.

Makes you think though ... if it came out viable, sprung from the belly of the host as a fully developed, viable adult human being, what would its life be like? Would it have an identity? Would it have acquired language? What would it be like? Could it adapt to life outside?

Assertn

Sun, 04-29-2007, 12:01 PM

Makes you think though ... if it came out viable, sprung from the belly of the host as a fully developed, viable adult human being, what would its life be like? Would it have an identity? Would it have acquired language? What would it be like? Could it adapt to life outside?

Doubt it. Many case studies have shown to child psychologists that even the most basic forms of cognition and sensation must be developed within a child at various early stages of its life, or else it will become permanently impossible to obtain.

A person who spent 36 years inside someone's stomache, for example.....
1) Would never have moved their body and would experience atrophy of their muscles.
2) Would never have used their eyes and, even if they weren't blind, would have absolutely no ability to interpret anything that they see.
3) Would have missed the cycle of one's life where their brain develops the most, where the brain is most prone to retaining knowledge such as math and language.

There's lots of great resources out there, where even less extreme cases of long-term isolation have shown irreversible signs of damage....I seem to recall for example this one girl who was hand-cuffed to her bed for like, the first 10 years of her life....I'm sure it'd be easy to google.

Board of Command

Sun, 04-29-2007, 02:33 PM

Think of the "twin" as a grotesque looking creature from a horror movie.

It's not human. It was human when they were still developing inside the mother but not anymore.

XanBcoo

Sun, 04-29-2007, 03:28 PM

There's lots of great resources out there, where even less extreme cases of long-term isolation have shown irreversible signs of damage....I seem to recall for example this one girl who was hand-cuffed to her bed for like, the first 10 years of her life....I'm sure it'd be easy to google.
She was kept in a closet, I think. She was mentioned in a few of my classes last year.

Edit: Never mind, she was locked in her room to her bed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genie_%28feral_child%29

mage

Mon, 04-30-2007, 08:08 AM

Mon, 04-30-2007, 10:21 AM

What...the...fuck....why....

XanBcoo

Mon, 04-30-2007, 10:37 AM

What...the...fuck....why....
Perhaps he heard they were out of Penne??

I can't help myself from laughing at that story, as gruesome as it is.

KitKat

Mon, 04-30-2007, 11:48 AM

That's.....disturbing.

Here's some tech news.
Why use a controller when you can control your video games with your brain! (http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/04/30/tech-toys.html)

DB_Hunter

Mon, 04-30-2007, 12:53 PM

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20070424/tuk-britain-gastronomy-offbeat-a7ad41d.html

"LONDON (AFP) - A man stormed into a London restaurant and hacked off his own penis in front of horrifed diners, the Italian eaterie said Tuesday."

You lot feel disturbed... spare a thought for me, my office is less than 100 metres from this place.

Kraco

Mon, 04-30-2007, 01:52 PM

You lot feel disturbed... spare a thought for me, my office is less than 100 metres from this place.

Go there some day, and order "a penis steak, but not as extra rare as the other day."

darkshadow

Mon, 04-30-2007, 02:22 PM

That's.....disturbing.

Here's some tech news.
Why use a controller when you can control your video games with your brain! (http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/04/30/tech-toys.html)

yeah they debuted something like that at cebit ( or was it gdc...), sounds really cool.

Assassin

Sun, 05-06-2007, 04:40 PM

"In the popular action game Grand Theft Auto, players who become nervous or frightened would have worse aim than those who remain relaxed and focused."

lol jack thompson's gonna have a field day with that :p.

masamuneehs

Sun, 05-06-2007, 05:55 PM

Conservative, controversial Sarkozy wins French election (http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0507/p25s01-woeu.html)
Christian Science Monitor

Turkish Islamist Presidential Candidate Withdraws Candidacy, faced pressure from military, political gridlock (http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/Turkey_s_Gul_withdraws_candidacy_after_pressure.ht ml?siteSect=143&sid=7788575&cKey=1178469489000)

If you ask me, I say that the fuckin military strong armed this guy into not running... That's some tyrannical bullshit to me...:mad:

CNN - Another Bloody Sunday in Iraq (http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/06/iraq.main/)

All in all a very bad day, except for NYC sports news (http://forums.gotwoot.net/showpost.php?p=333848&postcount=34)

Kraco

Sun, 05-06-2007, 06:08 PM

Turkish Islamist Presidential Candidate Withdraws Candidacy, faced pressure from military, political gridlock (http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/Turkey_s_Gul_withdraws_candidacy_after_pressure.ht ml?siteSect=143&sid=7788575&cKey=1178469489000)

If you ask me, I say that the fuckin military strong armed this guy into not running... That's some tyrannical bullshit to me...

Nah. After watching 30 episodes of Legend of the Galactic Heroes I can safely say that politicians are corrupt to the boot, and the military is filled with good, honest men who only think of what's best for the nation. That's how it must be.

Well, of course living in a Nordic country it's totally strange to consider that whole military issue in a democratic country as over here you hardly ever see anybody from the armed forces giving any kind of public statements (apart from the occasional we need more money comments that invariably fall on deaf ears).

complich8

Sun, 05-06-2007, 11:52 PM

may not be as far off as you think. Islamism is, at least to westerners and people not fond of sharia, a bad thing. An islamist (or, ostensibly former-islamist) candidate being pressured to withdraw is ... well, it's better than a moderate candidate being similarly pressured, at least.

I mean ... you'd hope the democratic process would prevail, but it often doesn't.

masamuneehs

Mon, 05-07-2007, 01:04 AM

comp, your hesitation makes my feelings even stronger than before.

honestly, if the people elect a religious leader, how is that any less legit than electing a "secular" leader? And I put that title in quotes in reference to an IRC convo earlier today. I mean, honestly, if people want Shariah law, give them Shariah law. That's how republican government is supposed to operate anyhow...

@ Kraco: glad you're watching LOGH, but not sure exactly what the hell you're learning from it...

Yukimura

Mon, 05-07-2007, 01:50 AM

I think the problem would be how can you realisticaly have a religion based government for the short term. I'm no Islam expert but I think the rules are supposed to be static for the long haul.

Also a religious government might make life very uncomfertable for secular people. More uncomfortable then say, a Republican controlled government for Democrats was. Even if more than half wanted it, if it was only a slim margin would it be fair to force all the laws of Islam on non believers all at once (this is a very unlikely scenario i realize)?

DB_Hunter

Mon, 05-07-2007, 05:32 AM

I think the problem would be how can you realisticaly have a religion based government for the short term. I'm no Islam expert but I think the rules are supposed to be static for the long haul.

The rules of Islam, i.e. the Sharia, is are adaptable to face new realities. A whole process called Ijtihad exists for applying Sharia texts to new situations e.g. what is Islam's positions on cloning, nano-technology etc. Its a large area of discussion, and the way laws are derived is quite detailed. If you want more info let me know, or google it.

Also a religious government might make life very uncomfertable for secular people. More uncomfortable then say, a Republican controlled government for Democrats was. Even if more than half wanted it, if it was only a slim margin would it be fair to force all the laws of Islam on non believers all at once (this is a very unlikely scenario i realize)?

If you look at the situation in Turkey right now its pretty safe to say the Turkish establishment are secular fundementalists. They do not for example tolerate women wearing headscarves in public places like universities. Plus the military has a history of launching coups to get rid of elected governments which it thought were too Islamic for its liking, which shows its disdain for the choice of the people. As for the current crises, despite the big rallies in Turkey for secularism, everybody is predicting that the so called 'Islamist' party will easily win the next election which has been called early to settle this political deadlock. This clearly shows where the majority of Turkish people are leaning towards, despite military sponsored marches. And that's the reason why the government has called the elections early, so that it can get a new mandate and push through its candidate for President.

As for non-Muslims living in a State governed by Sharia law, I'm afraid the current so called 'Islamic' republics/emirates/monarchies/dictatorships are not good examples to use for what life is like under Sharia as these states are not based on Sharia law. Only a Khilafah or Caliphate is based on Sharia law alone. The last Caliphate happened to be in Turkey in what was known in the West as the Ottoman Empire and the East as the Uthmani Khilafah. Non-Muslims were treated well under the Caliphate. I think the best example is how Jews were treated. Today people think there is now way Jews can live in a State governed by Sharia law, yet during the Inquisition they fled from Spain to Istanbul (then Constantinople), the seat of the Caliphate. They eventually got settled in to society and got pretty wealthy too. The synagogues in Turkey today are a legacy of the Caliphate, which was destroyed 1924.

Mon, 05-07-2007, 10:58 AM

Some brawd brought her dad to prom, guess she coulden't get a date.
http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_freevideo/~3/114600577/index.html

Assertn

Mon, 05-07-2007, 11:29 AM

Some brawd brought her dad to prom, guess she coulden't get a date.
http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_freevideo/~3/114600577/index.html
Uhh 4 months? Ya pretty tragic. :rolleyes:
I only see my parents like, two weeks a year.

Probably not the most exciting piece of content in the In the news today thread.

DB_Hunter

Mon, 05-07-2007, 11:38 AM

Doctor Finds Spiders Living In Boy's Ear (http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1264408,00.html)

Assassin

Mon, 05-07-2007, 12:11 PM

now thats just plain creepy :s

Inazuma

Mon, 05-07-2007, 12:29 PM

Conservative, controversial Sarkozy wins French election (http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0507/p25s01-woeu.html)
[COLOR=Black]Christian Science Monitor

Sheeiittt ...
Oh heads up Nearly 1000 cars burned, I can tell you that, riots ? Naahh this is just "warming up".
Anyone got discount on kevlar helmets ?

Assertn

Mon, 05-07-2007, 12:40 PM

Doctor Finds Spiders Living In Boy's Ear (http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1264408,00.html)
Thats nothing....
My tech writing professor from college said he once woke up to very constant pain in his ear only to find out later that a fly or something had laid eggs in his ear, and hundreds of maggot things were flushed out with some wax stuff the doctor applied....however the mother itself had part of its pincers lodged in the eardrum when the wax killed it, so the doctor had to go in with pliers and "unhinge" it from the guy's eardrum. =x

Mon, 05-07-2007, 12:42 PM

Probably not the most exciting piece of content in the In the news today thread.

You're right, probably not as good as "Why use a controller when you can control your video games with your brain" or the story of the "Ghost Yacht." You're still a shitposter Assertn :rolleyes:

Assertn

Mon, 05-07-2007, 12:57 PM

You're right, probably not as good as "Why use a controller when you can control your video games with your brain" or the story of the "Ghost Yacht." You're still a shitposter Assertn :rolleyes:

Lols, and you're not shitposting all over a story about a girl who wanted to take her dad to the prom?

Kraco

Mon, 05-07-2007, 01:38 PM

Doctor Finds Spiders Living In Boy's Ear (http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1264408,00.html)

I'm pretty sure they were on their way to his brain. After that it would have been an easy job for the spiders to take over, one lobe for each, and a Spiderboy would have been born!

Lucifus

Mon, 05-07-2007, 02:18 PM

Thats messed up. Now I fear going to sleep without having eyeplugs and a bugzapper at my side. >.>

Mon, 05-07-2007, 02:51 PM

Lols, and you're not shitposting all over a story about a girl who wanted to take her dad to the prom?
Christ I didn't posting a story from the front page of CNN in a news thread was such a horrible sin.

Okay kids, break it up. Take it to PMs, (hahahaha), cuz the rest of us just don't care. And it's getting mighty off topic. Thanks.
masa

XanBcoo

Mon, 05-07-2007, 10:25 PM

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=452288&in_page_id=1811

A 17-year-old girl has been stoned to death in Iraq because she loved a teenage boy of the wrong religion.

As a horrifying video of the stoning went out on the Internet, the British arm of Amnesty International condemned the death of Du’a Khalil Aswad as "an abhorrent murder" and demanded that her killers be brought to justice.
Yeah...that's pretty sickening. It's hard not to feel bitter when you hear about stuff like this.

EDIT: And apparently there has been a response to this by Sunni as well:

Massacre of 23 Yazidi (http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2468/Yazidis_Ask_Iraqi_Government_for_Protection)

"We do not know the real reason for massacre but probably it was a response to the killing by Yazidis, two weeks ago, of a Yazidi woman who had recently converted to Islam to marry a Sunni Muslim. Yazidis stoned her to death in Bashika. Some unofficial sources said that the killings were preceded by threats by Sunni extremists against Yazidis,"

BioAlien

Mon, 05-07-2007, 11:17 PM

More stuff for peoples to hate Iraq about..

Assassin

Tue, 05-08-2007, 12:13 AM

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=452288&in_page_id=1811

Yeah...that's pretty sickening. It's hard not to feel bitter when you hear about stuff like this.

Ya, i saw that video. couldn't watch for more then a min. It makes me sick to see so much ignorance and sheer mind boggling stupidity. i truly wish to god each of those bastards kicking and beating the poor girl die a horrible, horrible death after hours of agonizing pain.

UChessmaster

Tue, 05-08-2007, 08:10 PM

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/4088/objectionsm3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Another famous franchise has drawn the ire of attorney Jack Thompson, as GamePolitics receives an email from Mr. Thompson announcing his intent to focus attention on Wendy's CEO Kerri Anderson.

Going into further details on the matter, Mr. Thompson was targetting the fast food chain's upcoming promo for Wii-related toys. As reported by GamePolitics, JT had deduced that since Wendy's was promoting the Wii, it was also promoting the upcoming Manhunt 2 game. On that note, there doesn't seem to be any Manhunt 2-related paraphernalia in Wendy's toy promo.

Here reads part of the sent email, with JT making mention of Wendy's late founder, Dave Thomas:

A dear friend of mine worked for Wendy's and with Dave Thomas closely for years. From that I know that Dave Thomas never would have tolerated the use of Wendy’s good name to promote Nintendo’s Wii, not with this game available on the Wii platform.

It will be remembered that JT has been attempting to block the sale of Take-Two's game for some time now, whose first installment (Manhunt) JT linked to a murder incident in the UK a few years ago. JT and Take-Two have also previously figured in a lawsuit regarding Manhunt 2's launch, which ended in a settlement. As a point of clarification, this is just an email - there are no reports yet whether Mr. Thompson is indeed suing the fast-food chain. Keep posted in case more details are announced.

Taken from www.qj.net

complich8

Tue, 05-08-2007, 08:38 PM

that's like objecting to dvd players because of porn.

Assertn

Wed, 05-09-2007, 11:03 AM

A dear friend of mine worked for Wendy's and with Dave Thomas closely for years.

ie. flipping burgers

masamuneehs

Thu, 05-10-2007, 03:29 PM

On Tony Blair, soon-to-be-former Prime Minister of Britain
international herald tribune - Blair announces he will step down as Prime Minister of Britain (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/10/europe/EU-POL-Britain-Blair.php)

CNN -Tony Blair's Legacy marred by war (http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/05/10/blair.legacy/)

Maybe the next guy won't be such a bitch who does whatever the UK's economic trading partners demand of him... obviously I never cared for this guy and am glad to see him go, although I can't yet say whether his replacement will be any better...

also
George W. Bush promises to veto new Iraq war spending bill, but open to working with Democrats on 'benchmarks' (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003701351_webusiraq10.html)

wow, just wow. Funding for the war in Iraq is about to run out and the Congress is supposed to pass new funding for it, which they did. However, because that bill attached a timeline to withdraw troops from Iraq, Bush vetoed it. He then went on to say that the Democrats were undermining the troops, not supporting them properly by not giving them the funding they need... The newest bill has NO timetable for withdrawal and offers brief funding for the war until the end of July, but Bush says he'll veto that one as well...

so then he comes out and says that he's open to working with the Democrats on the spending bill? That 'benchmarks' (measures of success resulting in military readjustments, but obviously unattached to any time constraints) are "a good idea"? It's fairly obviously that he wants to take the credit for whatever bill is ultimately passed and is refusing Congress the only control over military affairs that they have in this day (power of the purse).

Yukimura

Fri, 05-11-2007, 01:23 AM

You've gotta love how Bush is highlighting the way checks and balances were meant to be used by abusing the fact that they don't fully work in this day and age. The original point of a veto was as a measure against having bills that only had a small majority support from becoming laws for everyone. However since the Congress is almost always split 55/45 or less down party lines nowadays a veto is pretty much impossible to overturn as long as the president and his party are in agreement. With the seemingly total inability for politicians to compromise between parties (which the structure of the US government is supposed to promote/ensure) legislation basically has to go through the president and thus he is a much more powerful lawmaker than an opposing party controlled congress.

I think Bush is planning to force the Democrats into a situation where the troops have no money and they look like the bad guys for cutting the strings. He knows that the Democrats have to give him the money he wants or else it'll be spun as them abandoning the troops (that the Commander-in-Chief choose to put in harms way)

If the Dems have any balls they'll actually do what the founding fathers hoped would never happen, stall the government completely in order to avoid compromise. I'm not sure what would go down if they just let the funding expire and told Bush to shove it but it'd sure put some respect for them for actually taking a stand when it might look bad to people.

Kraco

Fri, 05-11-2007, 02:47 AM

I think Bush is planning to force the Democrats into a situation where the troops have no money and they look like the bad guys for cutting the strings. He knows that the Democrats have to give him the money he wants or else it'll be spun as them abandoning the troops (that the Commander-in-Chief choose to put in harms way).

Hard to imagine there would be such a black and white situation, considering everything would be reported in the news as it is. While Bush can't have any more terms as a president, I doubt it would help the republican candidates if the current president would use so dirty tricks. But then again, I'm no expert at American politics...

masamuneehs

Fri, 05-11-2007, 09:21 AM

I don't think it's so much that he wants Democrats to look bad as he wants the Republicans to control every facet of the war, even though they don't control Congress any more. Yuki's got some nice points in there, although i don't think leaving thousands of troops without funding in the middle of a war-torn wasteland would help any politician's career (and remember, that's what they really care about), and the cost is not worth any political message.

However, it seems the Democrats might not be the only ones pushing to establish a timetable from removing U.S. troops...

a majority of Iraqi lawmakers have signed a draft bill opposed by the government that requires a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq (http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/05/11/18414262.php)
This story is still unfolding, and the details shaky, seem to point to this bill originating in the camp of radical Shiite cleric al-Sadr. Even though al-Sadr has many militant Islamic groups claim loyalty to him, groups which are also responsible for attacks on U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians, the fact that a bill coming from his camp can earn a majority approval of Iraqi lawmakers should go to show just how much they freakin' hate us.

and, also, for Terra and all those who like to give
Study: Oral Sex Linked to Throat Cancer (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6639461.stm?ls)

XanBcoo

Sun, 05-13-2007, 09:26 AM

3-D Printers being designed for home-use (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/technology/07copy.html?_r=1&ei=5087%0A&em=&en=5732d599eea31a16&ex=1178856000&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1179061419-3ZetTaeDYLTMkbWTJp4hzA)

PASADENA, Calif. — Sometimes a particular piece of plastic is just what you need. You have lost the battery cover to your cellphone, perhaps. Or your daughter needs to have the golden princess doll she saw on television. Now.

In a few years, it will be possible to make these items yourself. You will be able to download three-dimensional plans online, then push Print. Hours later, a solid object will be ready to remove from your printer.

Stuff like this gets me excited. We're steadily inching closer to the reality that many Sci-fi movies of the past few decades had envisioned.

:cool:

Assassin

Sun, 05-13-2007, 01:46 PM

oh man...thats gonna cause a lot of shit with the copyright lawyers. they'll copyright geometric shapes, so it'll be illegal to "print" circles or triangles without being sued.

Kraco

Sun, 05-13-2007, 02:13 PM

oh man...thats gonna cause a lot of shit with the copyright lawyers. they'll copyright geometric shapes, so it'll be illegal to "print" circles or triangles without being sued.

I might be totally wrong, but I'm under the impression a home-user would be able to print any forms as long as he doesn't try to commercially exploit them. For example, if he breaks the plastic handle of his joystick, he would be able to print a new one, despite the form being owned by the joystick manufacturer. However, some street corner shop wouldn't be able to print that joystick part, because for it it would be illegal business to print it and then to sell it to the unlucky customer.

Lefty

Sun, 05-13-2007, 02:34 PM

You are correct Kraco, but it wouldn't mean that companies would not try and sue people in a back asswards kind of way the lawyer types do. It's a wonderful time of ever expanding copy right laws

6Zabuza9

Mon, 05-14-2007, 01:07 AM

soooo with 3-d printers we can make our own anime figurines?

Assertn

Mon, 05-14-2007, 01:21 AM

I might be totally wrong, but I'm under the impression a home-user would be able to print any forms as long as he doesn't try to commercially exploit them. For example, if he breaks the plastic handle of his joystick, he would be able to print a new one, despite the form being owned by the joystick manufacturer. However, some street corner shop wouldn't be able to print that joystick part, because for it it would be illegal business to print it and then to sell it to the unlucky customer.
That's like saying its ok to torrent a copy of a movie that you already bought on DVD.

is it??

Kraco

Mon, 05-14-2007, 02:31 AM

That's like saying its ok to torrent a copy of a movie that you already bought on DVD.

is it??

No, actually that's not at all the same thing. You misunderstood the part of the process that is ok. The same thing would be to buy (or rent or watch in a theater) a movie, and then gather a bunch of friends and direct and film the same movie anew, including playing and recording the music, rendering the cgi and all that jazz. In the end, theoretically (but not realistically) you would have the same story filmed, but you couldn't sell it to anywhere nor screen it for money, because the story, lines, designs, and concept isn't yours.

Edit: Actually here the concept of parody comes into play, if you don't film the same story and not quite the general concept but instead parody it. I'm sure there are plenty of examples, but one closest to me (geographically) would be the Star Wreck movie. Have a look at it to get a bit vague and controversial idea of what can and cannot be done in terms of movies.

Yukimura

Mon, 05-14-2007, 04:53 AM

That's like saying its ok to torrent a copy of a movie that you already bought on DVD.

is it??

The torrenting part is illegal since it involves providing to others, but I'm pretty sure you are allowed to have personal copies of media you've purchased (assuming they were created by you, though this aspect can't feasibly be tested). What's illegal in the media case is providing them to others. As to recreating something that you'd bought that was a product, instead of media that would be a whole new issue. Instead of just copyright infringement you'd potentially be committing a patent violation as well. If I buy a nifty TV stand from some store study it's design thoroughly and then go to my woodshed and start cranking out copies and selling them to my neighbors I'd be violating a copyright. But even if I just filled my house with dresser copies i'd still technically be violating the patent on the item.

Kraco

Mon, 05-14-2007, 07:11 AM

But even if I just filled my house with dresser copies i'd still technically be violating the patent on the item.

This was a foggy part for me, but from what I gathered by reading wikipedia it looks like it could indeed be so. If it is true, then what I said in my first post about replacing a broken joystick handle would also be potentially illegal.

However, it seems like initiating a lawsuit for an infringement is horribly expensive, so I doubt the joystick manufacturer would bother as long as nobody is trying to sell the spare parts (because the manufacturer would then lose money as people would otherwise buy the whole product anew (at least I haven't ever seen official joystick replacement parts on sale...)).

complich8

Mon, 05-14-2007, 02:01 PM

In general, furniture is not copyrightable. The exceptions to this would be particularly novel, artistic pieces of furniture. But for the most part, you can make knockoffs of your dresser and it's legal. You can sell them, and it's legal. Copyright applies only to literary and artistic works. (There's some grey area there, furniture is copyrightable to the extent that furniture is art, but I don't believe most furniture, particularly the stuff a layman would be able to and want to make copies of, falls under the category of art)

Most furniture is also not patentable, because the basic design and implementation of furniture in general is well-known and obvious. Now, if you come up with a novel way to connect two pieces of wood, that would be patentable if nobody's ever done it before. Things like recliner mechanisms are also patentable, if they're new ideas. However, consider that the term of patents (including renewal terms) for most furniture ideas would have expired quite a while ago. Most of the ideas in most furniture would now be in the public domain.

The joystick is probably trademarked. Trademarks only really apply within the marketplace, so as long as you're not marketing them, you can pretty much infringe on them with impunity.

Yukimura

Tue, 05-15-2007, 06:34 PM

More Punishment for speaking 'out of line' (http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=589647&category=&BCCode=&newsdate=5/15/2007)

Coming so soon after the Imus incident I suspect they were suspended quickly to avoid letting the situation reach that level of notoriety. However since this was Satellite radio I'm starting to worry that there may be no haven left for people who say things that may make others uncomfortable. While I understand that they said some messed up stuff, it's not like people who listen to their show aren't expecting 'shock radio' they're listening to shock jocks. So in that case what grounds were there for punishing them, other than they made jokes about powerful people? If they'd made those same jokes about some girl on the street (which I heard them do many times back before they were kicked off of broadcast radio the first time) it wouldn't be important. Are Condoleeza Rice and Queen Elizabeth somehow too good to be the butt of sex jokes? And if so, why them and not everyone?

complich8

Wed, 05-16-2007, 12:10 AM

just sad...

Deadfire

Sun, 06-03-2007, 11:25 AM

Does virtual reality need a sheriff? (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18992609/)

This again shows the which-hunt like skills of the media in order to try and prove that games are evil

Animeniax

Sun, 06-03-2007, 01:05 PM

Too much evil stuff in the news, so I only read the Onion and watch the Daily News on Comedy Central for anything the Onion doesn't cover:

http://www.theonion.com

Oh, and stuff like this:

New Hotdog Eating Champ (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/bizarre/4857348.html)

The Heretic Azazel

Sun, 06-03-2007, 09:14 PM

Holy shit, I thought Kobayashi was unbeatable.

Animeniax

Sun, 06-03-2007, 10:40 PM

Yeah me too, he was my hero. But it just goes to show, Americans' skill at fatassery is unparalleled!

Yukimura

Sun, 06-03-2007, 11:07 PM

That Japanese guy held that title for years, one victory by an American doesn't prove anything.

The Heretic Azazel

Mon, 06-04-2007, 12:01 PM

Would you like some mayonnaise on your hate sammich?

It's bad enough Japs are 10 times smarter and more technologically advanced. At least we can be the world's foremost fat asses.

Animeniax

Mon, 06-04-2007, 12:25 PM

The Japanese are also light years ahead in animation technology, though they seem a bit stumped on how to handle filler time.

@Yukimura: Unfortunately it's the biggest number that is the record. Kobayashi could score 55 hdb's for the next 5 years and he'd still be #2. I expect he'll reclaim #1 next year with a 60+ score.

The Heretic Azazel

Mon, 06-04-2007, 02:18 PM

Not true, he's scored 60 before.

Animeniax

Mon, 06-04-2007, 02:41 PM

What's not true and who scored 60 before?

According to the record books Kobayashi had the record at 53 3/4, so if he did eat 60 in 12, it was unofficial. American guy beat the record with 59 1/2 this year.

I haven't seen anywhere that says if Kobayashi participated in this event or not.

The new champ is 220lbs. Kobayashi was something like 165lbs at his peak, but heavier now.

The Heretic Azazel

Mon, 06-04-2007, 08:01 PM

Kobayashi ate 60 one year, I saw that shit on ESPN

Animeniax

Mon, 06-04-2007, 11:03 PM

He competes in all sorts of eating competitions, so he ate 60 of something, but the official Nathan's hot dog record is 59 1/2 by the fat Americanski.

DB_Hunter

Tue, 06-05-2007, 06:42 PM

Child of insurance chief dies in hospital (http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKL0588147720070605)

This sort of thing really makes me angry... of course the investigation is yet to take place and there are no facts as yet determined in this case, but its seems clear what has happened. I can't believe how some people could let their jobs take over their lives to the point where they get stressed to insane levels. Sick, just sick, taking it out on a poor little innocent girl who couldn't defend herself.

Animeniax

Wed, 06-06-2007, 12:46 AM

Dude, what does that have to do with the hot dog record?

Just kidding. That is a pretty messed up story, but let's not jump to conclusions about what happened, and wait for the rest of the investigation.

masamuneehs

Wed, 06-06-2007, 09:28 AM

Appeals Court Turns Down FCC Case to Prosecute 'Accidental' Broadcasts of Swearing (http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/06/05/ap3788773.html)

Fucking brilliant! The selected quotes from the written majority opinion are awesome (currently looking for the whole thing). I'm glad someone's working to defend the 1st Amendement and counteract the reactionary, narrow minded d-bags over at the FCC.

Spiegel

Wed, 06-06-2007, 01:00 PM

I heard about the Swear-Bomb case, lol. The FCC seriously needs to lighten up! An F-Bomb here or there won't corrupt millions of youth to sexual vilence and the F-Bomb does not always mean a sexual reference! Anywho, glad the appeal was shut down.

Stoopider

Thu, 06-07-2007, 04:31 AM

Man tries to jump into popemobile. He wanted a ride.

masamuneehs

Sat, 06-09-2007, 11:58 AM

Anime accounts for 26% of the top 100 search terms on Wikipedia (http://blog.compete.com/2007/05/31/wikipedia-search-terms) lulz. us dorks are so~ taking over teh interweb.

I assume it also accounts for this:
"What’s interesting about the top sex related terms on Wikipedia is that they do not appear to have gratuitous intent. The top terms include very straightforward inquiries on human reproductive ‘parts’ and basic concepts of what sex is and how it is performed. It appears many people are learning about what sex is and how to have it by referencing Wikipedia."

...just lol

XanBcoo

Sat, 06-09-2007, 04:59 PM

what sex is and how to have it

what sex is and how to have it

what sex is and how to have it

what sex is and how to have it

what sex is and how to have it

Oh Christ, I love how the journalist just thew that in there at the end.

masamuneehs

Mon, 06-11-2007, 03:06 PM

George W. Bush and his efforts getting it right in the ass.

Court rules that detained U.S. citizens must be charged (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/11/terror/main2913398.shtml)
Seriously, it's always been clear that use of 'enemy combatant' to justify holding a person in a jail without charging them of a crime is dubious. But it's unbelievable that it would take almost six whole years for a court to rule this... Terrorist or no terrorist, the guy is a U.S. freakin' citizen and he's been detained since 2001 and held in solitary/brigs since 2003!

U.S. Arming Sunnis (http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_6112208)
But wait? Weren't the Sunnis the group that Saddam's Ba'ath party supported? Hm... Hm... Well, if you can't get the job done right, push it on somebody else! Let's just hope it doesn't turn into that, what was it called again? Used to be a big buzz word back in the '90's... oh yeah! ethnic cleansing...

Assertn

Wed, 06-13-2007, 01:42 PM

Oh this one is golden:
http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_159222541.html

Yukimura

Wed, 06-13-2007, 08:37 PM

Woman jailed for testicle attack (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/merseyside/4253849.stm)
Mere words can't describe such horror...

Lefty

Thu, 06-14-2007, 03:06 AM

China's screwed from the looks of things.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=aWVfESld0zwQ&refer=asia

I didn't even know China was having such a problem with there water supply till I stumbled on this article from over a year ago. There's a lot more older material but nothing really recent. It seemed to have been swept under the rug so to speak. Scary thought that China's on the very of agricultural collapse.

complich8

Thu, 06-14-2007, 03:30 AM

reminds me of Maslow's needs hierarchy. When you are busy satisfying your most basic needs, you don't have time or energy for anything else really...

dragonrage

Thu, 06-14-2007, 05:56 AM

China does indeed seem to be introuble, water problems and well they are knipping at the heals of the U.S. for the worst producer of green house gases. Infact they aren't even taking it serious because they don't even know exactly how bad it is in the first place nor do they have strict laws or faculities to inforce it.

Everything comes with a price, I guess this is the price of the rapidly growing ecomony.

@yuki: with her bare hands huh, should all men be worried or is she the exception.

@Assertn : Hey you never know they might want to use if for population control as well :p

Lucifus

Thu, 06-14-2007, 05:19 PM

Oh this one is golden:
http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_159222541.html

Woman jailed for testicle attack (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/merseyside/4253849.stm)
Mere words can't describe such horror...

Dear god..........."Mere words can't describe such horrow..."....Yet I'm still laughing on the floor! Its pretty challenging typing from down here. xD

Yukimura

Mon, 06-18-2007, 02:33 AM

5 year old girl shows nature who's boss (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/16/girl.found.ap/index.html)

Found a positive story for once, that girl is bad ass.

Kraco

Mon, 06-18-2007, 03:23 AM

5 year old girl shows nature who's boss (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/16/girl.found.ap/index.html)

Found a positive story for once, that girl is bad ass.

I don't know why, but somehow I found this part to be the best portion of the story:

"She didn't say much," Mike Klamecki said. "She was eating her banana looking at us. We were jumping around like maniacs."

The Heretic Azazel

Tue, 06-19-2007, 05:35 PM

http://www.roadrun.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=75046

Swedish man gets sick pay for his heavy metal "addiction."

Sweden here I come.

TruthofMistake

Tue, 06-19-2007, 11:25 PM

http://www.roadrun.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=75046

Swedish man gets sick pay for his heavy metal "addiction."

Sweden here I come.

That is kind of awsome. Doesn't Sweden have really good benefits for married couples with kids to? It's sounding better and better to me.

Animeniax

Wed, 06-20-2007, 02:08 PM

I was on a long plane trip with a Swede and he was saying how amazingly stupid the social welfare system is in Sweden, where people basically sit on their asses and get more in welfare payments than they could earn if they worked a regular job. Taxes are bad too, to pay for this incredibly dumb welfare system. So basically the Swedish are even lazier and dumber than Americans. Pretty amazing.

masamuneehs

Wed, 06-20-2007, 02:56 PM

that's because you were on a plane with a swede, hence he has a business that requires travel or money to burn, indicating that he's probably somewhat wealthy.

[15:42] <Thi3f> And we all know rich people like to keep their money to theirselves

I don't see how a system with incentives to work, punishment for refusing job offers and coverage for dependents makes them "dumber" than Americans. If anything, it makes our system look dumb...

High taxes are fine, levied on the proper items. People just like to bitch and complain because they've spent so much of their pitiful lives slaving away for The Coin, and they hate to see it taken away from them and given to somebody else. I chalk it up to lack of charity in the "do it yourself or die" capitalist mentality.

Finally, did your Swedish plane guru provide you with any sources to read up on the Swedish healthcare plan, or did you just lap up his opinion? That is, what do you really know about it aside from what you've just been told by one person?

XanBcoo

Wed, 06-20-2007, 05:38 PM

Some seriously unexpected news from my own city today:
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/06/21/21murder.html
http://www.myfoxaustin.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=3547296&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

AUSTIN -- Austin's Juneteenth celebration ends in murder after police say a crowd attacked and killed a man when the car he was riding in hit a little girl.

40-year-old David Rivas Morales was was beaten to death in his apartment parking lot just after 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. Police say the beating happened in the 900 block of Thompson Street, right next to Rosewood Park where the Juneteenth celebration was held.

Police say Morales was a passenger in a car that hit a small child. Witnesses told police that several black males then started to assault the driver. They told police the crowd then started beating Morales when he got out of the car to try to stop the fight. The driver was able to get away. The child hit by the car was not seriously hurt

After a festival celebrating freedom and peace, no less. It's mind-boggling how the mob mentality works. I'm not too familiar with the area of Austin this happened in (I've never been too far from my University's campus, to be honest), but apparently it's in the dregs. Bunch of lower-class people and such.

My guess says the media won't pull the race card on this one, despite the situation.

Animeniax

Thu, 06-21-2007, 11:08 PM

that's because you were on a plane with a swede, hence he has a business that requires travel or money to burn, indicating that he's probably somewhat wealthy.
Actually he was a 20 year old Swede who was flying to South America for his second year of school on a maritime vessel to become a ship engineer. We got to talking about the value of money in Sweden and he mentioned the taxation and welfare programs that essentially make it very difficult for most people to live well unless they make it past being middle-class, hence his trek across the world to learn a trade.

I'll take your advice though, next time I chat with someone in passing, I'll ask them to cite all their sources. Like if I ask them for the time, I'll check and see when they last calibrated their watch with an atomic clock, as well as check the charge on their watch battery for proper voltage.

Kraco

Fri, 06-22-2007, 03:24 AM

We got to talking about the value of money in Sweden and he mentioned the taxation and welfare programs that essentially make it very difficult for most people to live well unless they make it past being middle-class, hence his trek across the world to learn a trade.

Hmm... I'm not from Sweden but from a neighbouring country (which was under Swedish rule for several hundred years in the history, though), but I always thought Swedes were leading quite a nice and comfortable life. They have lots of really big businesses for a country no bigger than that, making lots of rich people as well, so it's not like there was no wealth around at all. Heck, even Finland, raped and pillaged continuously and remorselessly throughout the recorded and unrecorded history by our other dear neighbours, the Russians, has rich people around, and our taxes are nearly as crazy as those of Sweden.

I think this particular Swede you spoke with wasn't an average Swede at all. He was probably one who will eventually transfer his citizenship to a country that has few and low taxes and equally low social support network. But if the majority of Swedes thought like that, they would change their country. It's a place of long democratic traditions, after all.

Spiegel

Fri, 06-22-2007, 12:48 PM

Man bursts into flames after being shot with Tazer gun by police.

I like to set stuff on fire! (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=463321&in_page_id=1811)

Assertn

Fri, 06-22-2007, 04:43 PM

Speaking of swedes....

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/22/1831212&from=rss

masamuneehs

Fri, 06-22-2007, 04:50 PM

U.S. Senate passes Energy Bill, setting new fuel efficiency standards, favoring renewble resources (http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6728117,00.html)

Congressional Quarterly coverage on the same bill (http://public.cq.com/docs/cqt/news110-000002537578.html)

It's a massive shortcoming, in my opinion... This is the best they can come up with? To quote Senator Harry Reid, "Big Oil seems to do real well here on Capitol Hill.".

I like the additional grant money for renewables (but who knows how it'll be spent, and on whom?), the raised fuel efficiency standards and the new investigative authority of Congress to look into market manipulation by oil companies. I do not like that there's no concrete incentives for alternative energy sources other than ethanol. The tax package would have created both a real incentive to ween the nation off of petroleum and to develop other energy sources, but it got cut down... Fucking cock-sucking politicians.

edit to below - so, wait, can he like officially have sex with her now? She's still a minor, but they are married... it's still pretty twisted.

Munsu

Fri, 06-22-2007, 05:41 PM

What about a 16-year-old chick marrying a 40-year-old fart?

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3305652&page=1&name=FPT-2912865-062218&srvc=sz

Kraco

Fri, 06-22-2007, 06:33 PM

16 years old, eh? Over here you have to be 18 to even be able to marry.

For some people only watching loli anime just doesn't do the trick.

rockmanj

Fri, 06-22-2007, 11:35 PM

My friend knows a 16 year old that;s marrying a 59 year old guy...its pretty yucky

Yukimura

Sat, 06-23-2007, 12:08 AM

Lol, nice story about the 16 yr old. The stupid parents are 100% to blame for caving and signing the papers. Most likely she threw several hissy fits and acted like a spoiled cunt and the parents just wanted it to stop so they gave in. However, they didn't have to sign those papers and thus they are at fault for anything 'traumatic' happening between now and her 18th b-day. What they should have doen was lock the little tramp up at home until she learned to do what she was told or got herself emancipated by a judge with her own money and merit.

As to the sex situation, I'm not sure what state this was in but I know most states don't equate marriage with the right to have sex with someone, as evidenced by spousal rape precedents. If a person can't have non consensual sex with their legal age spouse, then they probably can't have any sex with an underage spouse (assuming the age of consent is over 16 where this is happening).

In other mismatched sexual news:
Rachel Holt - Would you do this 28 times? (http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/ap_holt_rachel_060405_ssv.jpg)
Rachel Holt, a 34-year-old Delaware science teacher, has been charged with 28 counts of first-degree rape after allegedly having sex with her 13-year-old male student 28 times in the last week of March 2006.

Assertn

Sat, 06-23-2007, 01:20 AM

28 times in a week? o_o

XanBcoo

Sat, 06-23-2007, 04:51 AM

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCf3gA5sUgk)

Edit: NEVERMIND! I just looked at her picture :eek:.

Yukimura

Sat, 06-23-2007, 12:26 PM

Okay I found a few accused sex offenders who don't look quite so bad.

Linda Sinha (http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/sp_sinha_070402_ssv.jpg)
An Upper East Side [of New York City] private school headmistress faces up to 18 years in prison after her conviction for sexually preying on a young male student. After deliberating for six days, a Manhattan Supreme Court jury found Lina Sinha, 40, a respected educator with two master's degrees from Columbia, guilty of two counts of oral sodomy and one count of felony witness bribing, stemming from her attempts to cover up her crimes.

Carrie McCandless (http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/apr_mccandless_070313_ssv.jpg)
Carrie McCandless, a former Brighton Charter High School teacher, is accused of having sexual contact with student Tommy Clay, who was 17 at the time of the incident.

Debra Lafave (http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/apr_lafave_051117_ssv.jpg)
Former Florida middle school teacher Debra Lafave was charged with having sexual contact with one of her 14-year-old students. She pleaded guilty to lewd and lascivious battery and received three years of house arrest and seven years probation.

Pamela Rogers (http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/ap_pamela_rogers_060413_ssh.jpg)
Tennessee teacher Pamela Rogers served six months of a nine-month prison sentence for having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old male student. She was arrested again on April 11, 2006, after authorities said she violated her probation terms, establishing a Web site through which she contacted the victim and his family.

dragonrage

Sat, 06-23-2007, 04:11 PM

What about a 16-year-old chick marrying a 40-year-old fart?

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3305652&page=1&name=FPT-2912865-062218&srvc=sz

this is why shot guns were invented.

Also once you have your parents' or guardian's permission; as she did you can get married reguardless of age. Over her you can get legally married without permission when you are 21.

itadakimasu

Tue, 06-26-2007, 03:37 PM

I dont know how many of you watch professional wrestling... I haven't in years but used to watch all the time when i was in my early teens. anyhow, i just came upon a news article that a WWE wresler chris benoit killed his wife, and 7 year old son and then hung himself w\ the cable from a piece of gym equipment in his weight room...

Just thought this was kinda bizarre, and since i dont watch tv really i wouldn't have heard anything about this had i not stumbled upon it on the internet

The Heretic Azazel

Wed, 06-27-2007, 04:00 AM

I was thinking of posting that story. Benoit was my favorite wrestler (my other was Owen Hart, go figure) and had a work ethic you don't see in Vince McMahon's "sports entertainment" world anymore, he actually cared about how a match is supposed to look.

Everyone seemed to love the guy. It was very surreal to hear about this involving someone I admired for all those years I used to watch wrestling. If I had a heart it would be broken.

Psyke

Wed, 06-27-2007, 09:05 AM

I've not been watching WWE for years now, but I remember Chris Benoit. Pretty shocking news, and the most depressing part is hearing about how he suffocated his 7 year old son. :(

itadakimasu

Wed, 06-27-2007, 12:46 PM

I remember back when he was WCW... im guessing circa 2000 ish. They were having a steel cage match and he did his patented diving head-butt off of the top of this huge care... omfg was so awesome. it is on a completely different level than owen harts death though, really mind boggling that he would just kill his family, they were talking about finding steroids in his house and suggesting roid rage. Also, they said he had left a bible next to each dead body.

The Heretic Azazel

Wed, 06-27-2007, 04:19 PM

I'm leaning toward stress of the road and roid rage. Especially since my buddy told me all these stories about when he was wrestling and doing a lot of steroids. Moondog Spot (famous 70s-early 80s wrestler) was his trainer. Spot was a very stiff worker, very feared, and in a fit of rage for no reason at all, one day my friend just starts slappng the piss out of Spot. That shit does unthinkable things to your hormones.

dragonrage

Wed, 06-27-2007, 04:54 PM

In Local news today, our very own terrorist/part-time Assassin turn 22. Party on IRC. Be there or be no more.

Tue, 07-03-2007, 12:42 PM

This story actually made me feel bad.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/02/Party.Attack.ap/index.html

Animeniax

Tue, 07-03-2007, 02:02 PM

This story actually made me feel bad.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/02/Party.Attack.ap/index.htmlWhy did it "actually" make you feel bad? It's really fuked up, especially since they were probably all friends, partying together before the incident. But you know you're dealing with trash when they have names like David Henry Tuck and Keith Robert Turner. Hopefully they'll each get a healthy dose of sodomy during their years in the big house.

XanBcoo

Tue, 07-03-2007, 02:26 PM

This story actually made me feel bad.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/02/Party.Attack.ap/index.html
So aside from the story I posted about the crowd murdering the innocent Hispanic guy in Austin, the city where I live, we now get a story about a young Hispanic guy suffering from a hate crime in Houston, the city where I'm from, and ultimately dying because of it.

Come on Texas, I'm supposed to be proud of where I'm from...

Animeniax

Tue, 07-03-2007, 02:39 PM

XanBcoo

Tue, 07-03-2007, 02:45 PM

Dude, Houston is a shithole, and Texas isn't much better. I lived there for 20+ years. It's gotten better, then worse, then a little better. I've been away for a little bit, but I don't plan on staying long when I get back. For the longest time the only major sports title Texas held was for the WNBA. Both Rockets' titles had asterisks next to them, as did the Stars' Cup win. Finally San Antonio won some titles for us, but otherwise Texas is a big waste of space.
You lived in Houston?

I was also unaware of the Rockets' "asterisks", and of the fact that you judge states by performance in popular spectator sports.
Edit: Ah, I see, the Rockets lost because Jordan was playing baseball when they beat the Knicks and then the Magic.

Animeniax

Tue, 07-03-2007, 02:56 PM

You lived in Houston?

I was also unaware of the Rockets' "asterisks", and of the fact that you judge states by performance in popular spectator sports.
There and Austin, both shitholes.

Rockets first title was the first year Jordan left to go play baseball.
Rockets second title, Jordan was back for half the season and not playing for the Bulls.
So everyone puts asterisks on their titles.

Ok, how do you judge a state's worth or reputation? How about Enron? Or Arthur Anderson? Or problems with illegal immigration? Want me to list some other reasons why no one takes Houston (and Texas) seriously?

XanBcoo

Tue, 07-03-2007, 03:08 PM

There and Austin, both shitholes.
Well, I consider myself cultured enough to judge that Austin is quite a beautiful city, with at least a half-decent population. I won't argue about Houston, however.

My problem is that politics wise, Houston is pretty hard-core conservative, and Austin is full of hippies. Why can't I find a nice moderate crowd? :mad: Though I guess that'd be hard to find anywhere.

Anyway, on topic, something that really piqued my interest:
Roswell theory revived by a deathbed confession (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21994224-2,00.html)

Should we call shennanigans?
Edit: Man, that first picture really creeps me right the shit out.

LaZie

Wed, 07-04-2007, 02:18 AM

From TechPowerUp.com

Two people fell in love with each other over one of the most addictive MMORPGs ever, World of Warcraft. The couple spent long hours on the phone together, played through countless quests as a couple, and even talked about marriage. There were just two problems with this couple. The groom is 17, and the bride is 31. The two made plans to meet, and the bride flew over from Australia to North Carolina to pick up her dream date on June 12th. Unfortunately for her, anyone under the age of 18 is a minor in the state of North Carolina. After the groom's parents reported him as missing, the police apprehended the couple as they were trying to hitch a ride to Australia on June 26th. The groom is home, almost certainly grounded. However, the bride faired much worse. On July 11th, she goes on trial for the attempted abduction of a minor. If the bride is found guilty, she will get two years behind bars in an American jail. Australian customs is working hard to get the bride set free.

Kraco

Wed, 07-04-2007, 03:05 AM

Hmm... Somehow a case like that doesn't seem all too clear. While it's plain stupid for a 31 years old to try to elope with an underage person, still a 17 years old has already exceeded the age of criminal responsibility. So, if he testifies he wasn't abducted, how can they continue to charge her for an abduction?

Well, I'm no expert, of course. But two years in jail for stupidity while no harm was done to anybody sounds harsh...

Yukimura

Wed, 07-04-2007, 04:56 PM

You definately don't have to cause anyone harm to go to jail in the US especially if what you did has to do with legal minors or sex. Read this (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16862643/) story if you think the above is bad.

Wed, 07-04-2007, 06:31 PM

Damn Red States like North Carolina make me sick

Animeniax

Wed, 07-04-2007, 11:32 PM

Arrest made in Austin man's beating case (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/4943024.html)

Some good news, an arrest has been made in this case. Son of a bitch takes the victim's wallet after he beats the guy to death, so he gets a theft charge as well. Piece of trash.

Some seriously unexpected news from my own city today:
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/06/21/21murder.html
http://www.myfoxaustin.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=3547296&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

Assertn

Thu, 07-05-2007, 01:25 PM

Assassin

Thu, 07-05-2007, 01:43 PM

I'd beat the shit outta my kid for benig a douche bag and get him a hooker for a nite.

Kraco

Thu, 07-05-2007, 02:03 PM

What? Imagine being the parents of the kid, finding out some middle-aged woman from the other side of the world flew over and took your kid away without you even knowing about it.

I said the woman shouldn't have done it with an underage person. But it wasn't an abduction if the guy wanted to go with her and did it by his own free will. If a 17 years old commits a crime himself, he's fully responsible for it. I just consider it a slight asymmetry that he then has no say in the matter if he is now the "victim" of a crime invented by others. I'm glad they were stopped, but if the woman is sent to jail for two years... Well, props for whoever gains money from each prisoner held in a prison, but otherwise I doubt it would serve any higher sense of justice. They could just send her back to the other side of the world and not allow her back for a year or two - the guy would be over 18 by then and could make his own decisions legally.

Yukimura

Thu, 07-05-2007, 03:07 PM

The law has a tendency to defy common sense. You're right about the double standard if that kid had raped or killed someone he'd be treated as an adult no question, but since he wanted to marry this lady and go live in Austrailia he's a minor and has no legal right to do that without parental consent.

Fri, 07-06-2007, 12:06 AM

I'd congratulate my son and tell him he must have learned his mack game from me.

rockmanj

Fri, 07-06-2007, 12:34 AM

I dont know if i'd go that far...he did meet her playin warcraft (no disrespect).

Assertn

Fri, 07-06-2007, 12:56 AM

I dont know if i'd go that far...he did meet her playin warcraft (no disrespect).
IE. learning his mack game from SK.

masamuneehs

Wed, 07-11-2007, 10:57 AM

This is how China answers a rash of food/consumables safety scares:
China Executes Former Head of Food & Drug Agency (http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/International/2007/07/11/4330125-sun.html)
Yeah, that'll encourage people to buy your goods... Fuckin' crazy bastards... Granted, he did abuse his position and thereby put people at risk (how serious was this water cooler thing? was it really life-threatening?) but I think killing the guy is a little extreme. Makes me wonder what they'd have done to Scooter Libby...

also, The Catholic Church takes two steps backwards:
Pope: "The Catholic Church is the only true church" (http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/International/2007/07/11/4330125-sun.html)
Additional coverage in the Boston Globe (http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2007/07/10/pope_other_christians_not_true_churches/?p1=MEWell_Pos5)
A succession of apostolic leaders is warranted to make a church? Well, what about the Orthodox church? "Wounded because they don't acknowledge the Pope"... He's been getting a little too much incense recently... It's nothing new, but it seems to me to be a foolish PR gaffe.

Wed, 07-11-2007, 11:12 AM

I'm glad the Pope is doing this, every denomination thinks they are the right one, I don't see why the Catholic Church needs to be politically correct and not say it just because they are the largest.

Yukimura

Wed, 07-11-2007, 11:50 PM

Lol this new pope is so much more interesting than the last one. John-Paul seemed to be all about bringing people togeather under a belief in God and Christ, but Benedict's moves mostly seem to be aimed at only bringing people togeather under God & Christ through Catholicism. While I can't say he's wrong, since Catholicism is pretty much whatever the Pope says it is I feel like his moves will push many people away that might have potentailly worshipped under their system. Also I believe that the sentiment that "You're not be worshipping God correctly if you're not a *****" was one of the things Jesus taught against, but maybe that only extends to bringing in non Jews. But whatever, I'm not Catholic and I pity the people who are but can't find peace with God through that system.

rockmanj

Thu, 07-12-2007, 12:57 AM

Yukimura

Thu, 07-12-2007, 03:18 PM

Lol, it's probably because I try keep trying to see/fight for the good in Animeniax despite all the piles and piles of shit he heaps on the forums. That or he is just unobservant/trolling more.

Animeniax

Thu, 07-12-2007, 11:48 PM

Wilik said you were a girl, so I thought you were one too. Plus you have that cute avatar so I figured you were female. What's wrong with that?

Yukimura

Fri, 07-13-2007, 04:50 AM

Nothing's seems wrong with your thought process, you came to a reasonable conclusion that was faulty because you had fauly data as input. Not sure why Wilik would tell you I'm a girl though...I'll look into that.

Anyway I have another wonderful slice of Americana to share with you all today.
Read on if you dare (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flprape0706pnjul06,0,2206664.story)

Basically 10 or so kids (14-18 year olds) con their way into this ladies house and then take turns raping and beating her and her son, then force the son to take part in the raping at gun point, then pour random cleaning products on them. In one of the stories I read about this they mentioned the reduction in funds for security in public housing projects passed by congress a few years back when the republicans were runing the show.

complich8

Fri, 07-13-2007, 01:21 PM

XanBcoo

Fri, 07-13-2007, 01:43 PM

You hear the one about the bank robber who dressed up as a tree?

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/08/tree.odd.ap/index.html

I don't think he "branched" out his ideas well enough.

Assertn

Fri, 07-13-2007, 03:03 PM

You hear the one about the robber that came for the cash but left for the group hugs?
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-ODD-Robber-Group-Hug.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1184353202-2w1fnRkk/DpuScpfPOW+4A

XanBcoo

Fri, 07-13-2007, 05:13 PM

Sounds like he wasn't really "embracing" the criminal mentality.

rockmanj

Fri, 07-13-2007, 11:33 PM

Oh man, those puns have to stop....please.

masamuneehs

Sun, 07-15-2007, 06:53 PM

Marine Testimony: "All Iraqi men are considered insurgents" (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/07/15/marines.iraq.ap/index.html)

a disturbingly revealing trial begins... The fact that this guy, lying or not, claims that they were routinely ordered to beat people and to kill wounded Iraqis instead of check to see if they could be saved by medical help, attests alot to the reason why the U.S. war in Iraq is going so poorly...

Carnage

Sun, 07-15-2007, 10:33 PM

Wow, now thats just disturbing. :(

DB_Hunter

Sun, 07-15-2007, 11:01 PM

That's sick.

Edit: Boys and girls, Cold War II is well and truly underway (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6901346.stm)

LaZie

Mon, 07-16-2007, 08:17 PM

Angry Cell Subscriber Goes On Tower Hunt

A man appeared in court in Sydney on Saturday after driving an armored personnel carrier and demolishing six mobile phone towers.
The local police Chief Inspector Guy Haberley said his men managed to stop and arrest the 45-year-old man while making his way to a seventh tower.
"He continued to destroy mobile tower communications sheds by crashing through the perimeter fence and colliding with structures, causing significant damage," Haberley was quoted as saying.
The charges against the 45-year-old include malicious damage, breaking and entering , predatory driving and driving in a dangerous manner.

From CNN :cool:

masamuneehs

Wed, 07-18-2007, 05:33 PM

no article yet.
My mom called me 20 minutes ago, in an absolute panic from outside of Grand Central Station in NYC. She said she'd entered the main hub of the station when the lights flickered for a minute. People looked around, but seemed to go back to normal when suddenly dozens of people from the areas where trains are boarded came running out into the center.

Panic ensued and people were yelling about explosions. People were running out of Grand Central as fast as they could. And when they got outside, smoke/steam was pouring up from a nearby area.

Naturally, there's zero news on this for about 10 minutes.

Initial reports are: 2 injured, four-alarm fire, the cause being a "non-suspicious transformer malfunction" that was also reported as a manhole burst (like that can cause that much smoke/steam...) Everyone from the transit authority on AM radio is saying that no terrorism was involved.

All live reports from the city says that Midtown is still in somewhat of chaos. Subways and trains are ordered to skip Grand Central (how my mom is getting home, i have no idea...) and they're closing off about half a dozen streets around the area.

edit - upgraded to a five alarm fire. Reported cause: 20inch steam pipe burst. Grand Central is shut down and police have ordered the subway and buses to avoid that area (they'd been running for awhile afterwards, but precautionary orders to close them came in), 3 injured, 2 critically.

Confirmed that one of the initial fears that was initially spread is not true. My mom told me that, she'd "thought a building came down". And several eyewitnesses and others in the area reporting in have said that that was one of the most prominent possiblities being flung around as people fled for their lives from the area. Seeing all that steam and smoke, it's understandable that first reactions were about buildings collapsing...

KitKat

Mon, 07-30-2007, 05:39 PM

It's strange when the news hits so close to home. This is one of the top stories on CBC today.

Search continues for boy, 5, in Eastern Ont. (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2007/07/30/ot-missing-boy-070730.html)

The farm where the boy's parents work is my parents' farm. My mom has been out searching for hours, both yesterday and today. It's been over 24 hours now, and I can't even imagine what the Berg family is going through. The news is somehow a whole lot different when you know the people involved.

Lucifus

Mon, 07-30-2007, 05:56 PM

Last seen on 3 P.M. sunday huh. I can only imagine what the kids going through. Originally from Mexico, speaking very little english and knows mostly German. Is the farm itself that big KitZ? I highly doubt a five year old would be able to find food for himself, even in a farm. I'm imagining hes far too short to be climbing trees.

You'd think the search would be continuous with a kid that young.

KitKat

Mon, 07-30-2007, 06:34 PM

The search was continuous. The police, military, and fire department have been out there the whole time. The farm where the boy disappeared was actually down the road a bit, since they were visiting friends there. There's a good few hundred acres of fields and woods.

I just got an email from my mom that they found him in the cornfield. The CBC article has been updated (they're fast with the updates!) and confirms that he appears to be fine. Everyone is really relieved.

Lucifus

Fri, 08-03-2007, 01:04 AM

Yeah....just came across this.

Um....not for the weak of heart?

Actual Crash: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=da6_1185572136

All 4 Deads Friend: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=882_1185574862

In the first video you can hear the actual fading scream......it just got chilly in my room.....

Yukimura

Fri, 08-03-2007, 03:31 AM

Wow....you can even hear the some of the sound as it they fall out of the sky. That's pretty freaky.

masamuneehs

Fri, 08-03-2007, 09:53 AM

...*shivers*

also, some news that I'll be shocked if anyone else gives two shits about... well, actually, all you Canadians should care, because it's your resources they're trying to jack...

Guardian - Russia laying claim to resources at North Pole (http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2140983,00.html)

"This isn't the 15th century. You can't go around the world and just plant flags and say, we're claiming this territory," the Canadian foreign minister, Peter MacKay, told CTV television.

Sergei Balyasnikov, a spokesman for the Arctic and Antarctic Institute, said. "It's a very important move for Russia to demonstrate its potential in the Arctic. It's like putting a flag on the moon."

Spiegel

Sun, 08-05-2007, 08:08 PM

Wow, Russia just went Colonial on Canada's ass, I bet DF will be deployed to go fight the Russians for that land!

XanBcoo

Tue, 08-07-2007, 11:08 AM

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/08/httpwwwnational.html

Robots have been roaming the streets of Iraq, since shortly after the war began. Now, for the first time -- the first time in any warzone -- the machines are carrying guns.

After years of development, three "special weapons observation remote reconnaissance direct action system" (SWORDS) robots have deployed to Iraq, armed with M249 machine guns. The 'bots "haven't fired their weapons yet," Michael Zecca, the SWORDS program manager, tells DANGER ROOM. "But that'll be happening soon."

The SWORDS -- modified versions of bomb-disposal robots used throughout Iraq -- were first declared ready for duty back in 2004. But concerns about safety kept the robots from being sent over the the battlefield. The machines had a tendency to spin out of control from time to time. That was an annoyance during ordnance-handling missions; no one wanted to contemplate the consequences during a firefight.

I can't decide if these killer-robots going out of control is awesome or not.

masamuneehs

Wed, 08-08-2007, 11:17 PM

xan, thank you, you gave me a way to kill two hours today, looking up automated 'soldier' weapon systems... 0_o

Cop shoots snake, kills 5 year old boy (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/06/boy.killed.ap/index.html)
Unbelievable. He'll probably get off scott-free too...

The Heretic Azazel

Thu, 08-09-2007, 01:42 AM

And the guy's on paid leave too. Most cops I've encountered are morons but this guy really takes it a step further.

Kraco

Thu, 08-09-2007, 02:10 AM

The article even said there's a possibility they started shooting after the house owner suggested it. That would be even worse. In any case, very unprofessional officers. They shouldn't be policemen at all.

Animeniax

Thu, 08-09-2007, 02:54 AM

People often forget, what goes up, must come down, unless it hits something else in the way. Pretty sad story. Now fishing is too dangerous because of gun violence...

The Heretic Azazel

Thu, 08-09-2007, 04:01 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ-rFIaJozQ

Gahhhhh

Assertn

Thu, 08-09-2007, 04:15 PM

Dane Cook is right....all major accidents always result in the victims' shoes launching into the air.

XanBcoo

Thu, 08-09-2007, 04:47 PM

Dane Cook is right....all major accidents always result in the victims' shoes launching into the air.
I don't even like Dane Cook all that much and it's the first thing I noticed about the crash.

Then I replayed it and laughed at the Tekken combos he did before meeting the floor.

masamuneehs

Sat, 08-11-2007, 12:36 PM

Major day in the news... lots of stuff going on around the world.

Federal Banks pump Billions into financial markets (http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/08/11/banks_pump_billions_to_calm_the_markets/)
Basically, all of the high risk credit/loan operations are getting severely fucked (like loans for real estate purchases by people with bad credit/no assets) and this has all the banks shitting their pants that there will be a decline in loans and credit, which gives the banks oodles of money and makes it seem like people have money to spend when they're actually doing it on borrowed cash.

So the US Federal Reserve dropped $60 billion towards banks for loan/credit programs IN THE PAST TWO DAYS, and now European and Asian central banks are all doing the same. The temporary result is a stabilization of a rather large stock and security market drop.

I say shit isn't going to even out. The lending and credit system is broken by its very design, and now that people are realizing that, the only thing keeping it afloat is massive aid from governments and risky investors. There has been a massive amount of trading on Wall Street over the past three weeks (and I mean massive) because everyone is running around dumping stocks they think are going to fail, while others snap them up because the stock is low and they think it'll make a comeback. All this insecurity and volatility will probably weed out some of the really shady and crappy mortgage/loan corporations, which I think is good, but I think it'll take billions more of federal assistance before this thing really stabilizes.

More news
Remember that story about how Russia sent down deep Arctic explorers in an attempt to 'claim' fertile seabeds in the Northernmost regions?
Well, Canada is responding, by building two military bases in the region (http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/0,,2146728,00.html)

"Canada's new government understands that the first principle of Arctic sovereignty is: use it or lose it. Today's announcements tell the world that Canada has a real, growing, long-term presence in the Arctic."

Article also mentions that the U.S. and Denmark are also setting up plans to take part in the "land-grab".

Finally, following the long-awaited U.N. Security Council resolution to do something about Darfur... UN decides to expand role in Iraq (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/iraq/2003831613_iraq11.html)

Kraco

Sat, 08-11-2007, 01:49 PM

Remember that story about how Russia sent down deep Arctic explorers in an attempt to 'claim' fertile seabeds in the Northernmost regions?
Well, Canada is responding, by building two military bases in the region (http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/0,,2146728,00.html)

Article also mentions that the U.S. and Denmark are also setting up plans to take part in the "land-grab".

Well, all I can hope is that a war will break out up there over the resources so that the rest of us, not able to make any claims without borders up there, would at least get some entertainment. With the USA, Canada, Russia, Norway and Denmark, it would be something quite different compared to those unilateral wars against Serbia, Taliban or Iraq. Aye... It would be a nice high-tech war not like anything we would have ever seen before outside of fiction; the news material, documentaries, and movies afterwards would be something to behold.

Animeniax

Sat, 08-11-2007, 02:10 PM

A war would be a good excuse for the US to finally proceed with it's annexation of Canada. But war between Russia and Canada would be a pretty one-sided affair, or lead to WWIII.

darkshadow

Thu, 08-16-2007, 07:29 PM

A pair of German physicists claim to have broken the speed of light - an achievement that would undermine our entire understanding of space and time.

According to Einstein's special theory of relativity, it would require an infinite amount of energy to propel an object at more than 186,000 miles per second.

However, Dr Gunter Nimtz and Dr Alfons Stahlhofen, of the University of Koblenz, say they may have breached a key tenet of that theory.

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The pair say they have conducted an experiment in which microwave photons - energetic packets of light - travelled "instantaneously" between a pair of prisms that had been moved up to 3ft apart.

Being able to travel faster than the speed of light would lead to a wide variety of bizarre consequences.

For instance, an astronaut moving faster than it would theoretically arrive at a destination before leaving.

The scientists were investigating a phenomenon called quantum tunnelling, which allows sub-atomic particles to break apparently unbreakable laws.

Dr Nimtz told New Scientist magazine: "For the time being, this is the only violation of special relativity that I know of."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/08/16/scispeed116.xml

Pretty damn crazy, combine this with the news about the earthlike planet 20 lightyears away.....

joker-kun

Thu, 08-16-2007, 07:54 PM

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/08/16/scispeed116.xml

Pretty damn crazy, combine this with the news about the earthlike planet 20 lightyears away.....

Are you saying the earth-like planet 20 ly's away is actually our earth in the future?:eek:

I'm just kidding... But if you combine that with the 10th dimension thing, who knows.

Animeniax

Thu, 08-16-2007, 11:00 PM

complich8

Thu, 08-16-2007, 11:04 PM

In cosmic terms, 20 light years is right next door. In human terms, yeah, umm ... a full human lifespan at 0.3c (discounting the effects of special relativity)

darkshadow

Fri, 08-17-2007, 08:27 AM

Dude, a light year is a measure of distance, not time, so it has nothing to do with the future. 20 LYs is too far away for humans to travel there, unless they develop cryogenics further, like in "Forever Young".

The whole point of the post was faster then light travel, traveling at lightspeed it would take 20 years, with FTL-travel it would be around the corner, since you would "arrive before you leave" AKA teleportation.

complich8

Fri, 08-17-2007, 09:53 AM

but quantum tunneling is a loooong way from moving objects larger than leptons.

Yukimura

Fri, 08-17-2007, 10:28 AM

Einstein Strikes Back (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070816-faster-than-the-speed-of-light-no-i-dont-think-so.html)

I believe this article was written in response to the experiments referenced in the article DS posted. Basically it says the Germans aren't really doing anything special or unprecedented.

This (http://www.livescience.com/technology/070112_ftl_sound.html) article on the other hand really made me scratch my head...how did they get that effect with just tubes?!?!

masamuneehs

Sun, 08-19-2007, 12:15 PM

continuing on the stock market dip from last week and the article I posted about the U.S. and world governments funnelling money into the broken systems: first articles here (http://forums.gotwoot.net/showthread.php?p=346618&postcount=179)

US Federal Reserve announces cut in interest rates (http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22271451-664,00.html)

Essentially, although the Fed and other monetary policy makers were originally trying to prevent inflation (as the dollar continues to drop in worth...- many small articles over the past month have detailed how prices of certain individual goods are rising- it was milk this wednesday, up 20%), they've decided that continuing economic growth is a more immediate priority. Much insecurity about interest/loan companies have seen lenders bottom out, and a rush away from the real estate market, which is essentially built off of borrowing money. The Fed is probably hoping that this interest rate cut will show investors that they can have faith in the dipping market since the government is apparently unwilling to let things deteriorate... Many expect a further cut in interest rates.

I see it as using clay to plug a small hole in the bottom of the a boat adrift on the ocean. It'll help for the time being, but people are still spooked about drowning and question the entire structure. Plus, you're going to eventually run out of clay...

also:
Full transcript of yesterday's Democratic Debate in Iowa (http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/Decision2008/story?id=3498294&page=1)
For anyone who cares about the Dems or would like to hear what's being said to the voting public.

Assertn

Sun, 08-19-2007, 02:59 PM

I should've posted this the first time Masa posted about the Fed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWksEJQEYVU

Carnage

Sun, 08-19-2007, 03:05 PM

^^ That guy needs more chocolate pudding.

masamuneehs

Sun, 08-19-2007, 03:16 PM

"we have armaggedon"

...well, i wouldn't say it's that bad. like i say, it's a broken system by nature, so there's no surprise with problems like this popping up occassionally, and sometimes people are gonna get burned because they're gambling on borrowed money... I think Bernake has done a good job and that all we'd have would be nepotism and blatant corruption if Cramer and his buddies ran the show like they seem to want to...

in short, yes, he needs more pudding

DB_Hunter

Sun, 08-19-2007, 03:46 PM

On the financial system crisis: Yes boys and girls, we are all in for on truly awful ride in the not to distant future IMO. The good times have lasted too long and, as masa said, since the current financial system is inherently unstable, we are headed for the flipside of the coin. From my perspective things look as though they are going to screw up ala 1929 style, and not just a "minor recorrection" as all the lying bankers/ paid up 'analysts' are suggesting.

IFHTT

Mon, 08-20-2007, 10:06 AM

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6954728.stm

...

DB_Hunter

Mon, 08-20-2007, 12:20 PM

lol I read that this morning on the way to work... me and my mate named the camel "Humpy" :D

Animeniax

Mon, 08-20-2007, 01:17 PM

Some coworkers got mad at me for laughing at how the woman died. I had read out loud to them an earlier version of the article that did not suggest the camel was trying to mate with the woman, just that it had crushed her to death. Shitty way to go, but worth laughing at.

Wow, nice time for strife in the US economy. Good thing we have wars in the middle east and probably North Korea to get the economy back on track. Nothing like a nice war to get America running on all cylinders.

Mon, 08-20-2007, 05:03 PM

Mike Vick agrees to plea guilty to dogfighting charges.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2983121

The Heretic Azazel

Mon, 08-20-2007, 07:37 PM

I hope they give him the chair.

Useless.

mage

Mon, 08-20-2007, 10:20 PM

death for killing dogs?

k.

he should just get a fine, he did nothing serious.

python862

Mon, 08-20-2007, 10:45 PM

personally, I'm quite tired of hearing about him. He got just what he wanted: publicity.

Carnage

Mon, 08-20-2007, 11:05 PM

Im sure he won't be thinking about the publicity in prison....

Yukimura

Tue, 08-21-2007, 09:47 AM

I read recently that Vick (or his lawyers) issued an apology to the people offended by his actions. That made me think about this situation in a different light...they guy didn't do anything to anyone personally (the dogs he killed were his dogs). However, since he's a publiuc figure who did something wrong it's obvious that he's got to apologize to someone because that's just how it works. I just find the concept of him apologizing to people who don't like what he did with his own property a bit funny. Since it involved things that were also illegal I don't think he shouldn't have apologized, but if you take away the breaking actual laws part, the mindset of this apology is similar to apologizing to the fashion police for wearing an ugly outfit to the Oscars.

The Heretic Azazel

Tue, 08-21-2007, 01:22 PM

Yeah there's nothing he did wrong. Let's see how you guys would like being electrocuted and hanged. But it's okay if it happened to some dogs, right?

This fucker thought since he was a celebrity he could get off. I hope he gets as much time as they can possibly give him.

XanBcoo

Tue, 08-21-2007, 01:42 PM

.they guy didn't do anything to anyone personally (the dogs he killed were his dogs).
...
I just find the concept of him apologizing to people who don't like what he did with his own property a bit funny. Since it involved things that were also illegal I don't think he shouldn't have apologized, but if you take away the breaking actual laws part, the mindset of this apology is similar to apologizing to the fashion police for wearing an ugly outfit to the Oscars.
There's a thin line between "property" and a living being. If it had been his children, would you be arguing differently? I mean, I see what you're getting at, I just wouldn't classify a dog (or cat, or whatever) as property that you're allowed to treat however horribly you desire. Animals have certain rights too. I'm no tree-hugger, but this is pretty clearly an extreme case where the line was crossed.

But yeah, the apology is just for his public image. It's really the only sensible option. Also, unrelated news:

The national birth rate for 15- to 19-year-olds reached its lowest level in more than a decade in 2005, according to a report from the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics released last month.

In Florida, the numbers show similar declines -- the birth rate for 15- to 19-year-olds decreased about 27 percent from 1998 to 2005, according to data from the Florida Department of Health. In Central Florida, the rate decreased almost 23 percent during the same period.

Experts say less support of teen childbirth in society and increased awareness of the risks of unprotected sex have encouraged teens to wait longer to have sex and to use contraception when they do decide to start.

http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?a=304601&z=25

Odd how the article glosses over how abortion rates might have affected those numbers, but I guess you can't argue with results...

Animeniax

Tue, 08-21-2007, 02:07 PM

Animals have rights too, and laws are laws, and Vick broke those laws, in a particularly cruel and selfish manner. Like he couldn't find other ways to entertain himself and his friends with his millions of dollars. I don't even like dogs, but what he did deserves the punishment he's receiving, and worse.

It seems young white Americans are pretty happy these days, with young minorities not much worse off, though that pesky racism thing keeps bugging them:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20327875/

Board of Command

Tue, 08-21-2007, 02:50 PM

Assertn

Tue, 08-21-2007, 04:16 PM

Happy? Not sure about that. Judging from this picture, it looks like they're just retarded. Retards always tend to look happy. They can't help it.

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/070821/tdy_lauer_youthhappiness_070821.300w.jpg

http://img474.imageshack.us/img474/4839/bocsy3.jpg
It appears to me that BOC is discontent with both the article and life in general.

Board of Command

Tue, 08-21-2007, 05:22 PM

I'm discontent with the article but not life. Life is good at the moment.

Animeniax

Tue, 08-21-2007, 10:11 PM

I don't usually trust polls like that, just thought it was funny a news outlet felt the need to artificially pep up peoples' morale with an article like that, amid all the problems currently going on, like the war, turmoil in the economy, immigration debates, poisonous dog food and toothpaste from China, global terrorism, etc.

I guess it could be evidence of how uninformed and vacuous America's young adults are these days. They are the country's future.

masamuneehs

Sat, 08-25-2007, 01:54 AM

There's a billion light year hole in the universe (http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2007/coldspot/index.shtml)

That's freaking unbelievably huge.

Slightly more understandable article on the same (http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn12546-new-void-in-space-is-of-unprecedented-scale.html)

the actual study: http://www.arxiv.org/abs/0704.0908

Carnage

Sat, 08-25-2007, 10:18 AM

A billion light years...is too big. I know distances between galaxies range at least in the 10 millions...... so this hole is officially a beast.

Hikyuu

Sat, 08-25-2007, 12:10 PM

That hole is my mouth :O

darkshadow

Sat, 08-25-2007, 01:41 PM

Kraco

Sat, 08-25-2007, 02:12 PM

It would be a good place to test ftl engines; no matter to collide with by accident. Too bad those engines would already be needed to get there, though.

Board of Command

Sat, 08-25-2007, 04:03 PM

Any breakthrough in dark matter/dark energy is a big step in the right direction.

Munsu

Mon, 08-27-2007, 07:40 AM

I call this one, "The Crotch Grabber":
http://newsok.com/article/3108932/1187842091

masamuneehs

Mon, 08-27-2007, 09:06 AM

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resigns (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/law/july-dec07/gonzales_08-27.html)

fucking finally. The more I see Bush's buddies leaving their posts (and it's still a year and a half until the end of his presidency), the more I can't help but think that the Democrats winning back the Congress in the 2006 mid-term elections actually meant something. That or Bush just totally fucked himself over with Iraq (hence Rumsfeld was one of the earliest to get the axe) and everybody with half a brain is bailing out on him. For Rove, I think that, but Gonzales was a Bush guy since way back in Texas, so I can't help but think he's got nothing better to do and is resigning over the pressure.

complich8

Mon, 08-27-2007, 01:12 PM

had to wait until daily show and colbert report were both starting a 2 week vacation >_<

bastard...

Carnage

Mon, 08-27-2007, 02:56 PM

Now who is John Stewart going to make fun of?

complich8

Mon, 08-27-2007, 04:32 PM

Don't worry, there's still plenty of stupid to go around :p.

How about this one:
Via Bruce Schneier's blog (http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/08/stupidest_terro.html):
Stupidest Terrorist Overreaction Yet (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20441775/)?

Two people who sprinkled flour in a parking lot to mark a trail for their offbeat running club inadvertently caused a bioterrorism scare and now face a felony charge.

<nbk> NOT FLOUR!
<nbk> CAREFUL NOT TO BRING ANY YEAST AND WATER NEAR

masamuneehs

Tue, 08-28-2007, 02:50 PM

U.S. Republican Senator Pleads Guilty to 'Lewd Conduct' in Men's Restroom (http://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/28/craig.arrest/)

"Craig would look down at his hands, ‘fidget’ with his fingers, and then look through the crack into my stall again. Craig would repeat this cycle for about two minutes... The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot which was within my stall area,”

In 1982, Craig went on network news to deny rumors involving cocaine and sex with male congressional pages.

This guy was also working on Mitt Romney's presidential election staff, as a Senate Liaison, a position he resigned today.

Guy shoulda been a Democrat...

DB_Hunter

Thu, 08-30-2007, 09:11 AM

Gang of girls attack and sexually assault a boy (http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1281946,00.html)

If the other way round wasn't bad enough, you know there is something screwed up for sure when shit like this happens.

Kraco

Thu, 08-30-2007, 10:36 AM

It doesn't say how old the boy was. While a crime is a crime and the victim shouldn't be blamed, I still have to reckon the girls must have been real brutes if the boy couldn't at least escape.

Yukimura

Thu, 08-30-2007, 01:51 PM

3 average and determined girls can do quite a bit of damage to one lone guy who's also average, especially if he's not into hitting women. Also they could have easily lured him in under false pretenses (sex appeal) then bound him while his guard was down.

In cases like this it's sad that the gut reaction is to assume something was wrong with the guy because he was imprisoned and beaten up by a bunch of women. Women are just as capable of laying traps and tricking people as men are, in fact they're probably better on average since it's easier to let your guard down around a the 'weaker' sex.

Carnage

Thu, 08-30-2007, 02:06 PM

I still say the guy must have been a pussy....

Either that or he's handicapped, has some sort of problem disabling him from defending himself, etc. But if not, then you have to fail pretty hard to get raped by teenage girls.

The Heretic Azazel

Thu, 08-30-2007, 03:18 PM

I wish I could fail that hard.

Bucket

Thu, 08-30-2007, 04:23 PM

Only rational explanation: the girls were ugly.

Jman

Thu, 08-30-2007, 06:55 PM

*SMH at the article...on another note
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/4606/1184003224128oh9df9.jpg
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/5268/1184003654051yo3gf9.jpg
:rolleyes:

Foomanchew24

Thu, 08-30-2007, 08:23 PM

Are those pics of Board Of Command, looks similar....

Hikyuu

Fri, 08-31-2007, 10:39 AM

Have you guys seen the video of Bill O'Reily and the Lesbian gangs converting girls.. it is kinda related--

mage

Fri, 08-31-2007, 12:03 PM

wheres video of him being sexually assaulted?

masamuneehs

Tue, 09-04-2007, 09:44 AM

some people may recall that there has recently been an upsurge in the sheer amount of medical diagnoses of American children having attention-deficit-disorder (ADD) as well as ADHD. In accordance with these diagnoses, the number of children and young adults (ages 8-17) on substances such as Rydalin has skyrocketed.

In short, ADD and ADHD is a "behavioral disease" that results in short attention span, lack of ability to concentrate and general impulsive behavior. The chemical substances prescribed for all sorts of attention deficit is Methylpenidate, commonly known as Ridalin. Ridalin is a Control II Substance because it is essentially a stimulant of the central nervous system. Part of the effectiveness is simply increasing the amount of dopamine present in the body.

My take on this. Essentially, these spoiled brats are being brought to the doctor and their parents complaining until they are prescribed meds that make them easier to handle. Kids hopped up on Ridalin are calmer, less compulsive and rambunctious (read: less like children) and tend to perform better in school. In a society where children are nurtured on instant-gratifiers like TV, video games and fed with concentrated sugars, this really doesn't seem all that surprising to me. However, rather than overcome these problems themselves, the modern way is to medicate them away.

(I'm not saying that some people don't have ADD or ADHD, but I believe that for the majority of 'ADHD victims' it is simply a question of willpower and self-control. I have a shitty attention span and am easily distracted, but I know that forcing my ass to sit down and grit through it is better than relying on some goddamn medicine).

Well, this brings us to today's news, what may prove to be yet 'The Next Child Epedemic'

Huge Increase in Youth BiPolar Diagnoses Since 1994 (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/81387.php)

the official study can be found here:
http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/64/9/1032
Full Text:
http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/64/9/995

Perhaps this isn't quite an 'epidemic' yet, but only because the gold-standard chemical involved in treating it is Lithium, a rather toxic substance.

I think this is also outrageous, but again not saying BiPolar isn't a serious and scary thing. What I believe is that there's simply more dumb motherfuckers who are willing to classify a child's moodiness as being bipolar.

Think of a baby. It can be cooing and smiling and laughing one second, then ball up its face and start crying to high hell the next. These 'temper tantrums' persist throughout childhood. A large part of becoming an adult is learning how to balance out your emotions, how to keep your spirits up without instant gratification / provision by parents, and how to keep yourself from going off the deep end in your own little world.

Bipolar for adults is classified as dramatic alterations in mood, between depression and euphoria, that alter every 3-6 months. In children, however, the standard is much lower, with small fits of each sometimes being used to diagnose bipolar behavior.

Why do I insist upon my theories? Because many studies, including the most recent one, into these 'diagnosis trends' have shown that the upswing in diagnoses is due to the fact that doctors more aggressively applied the diagnosis to children, and not that the incidence of the disorder had increased!

Finally, this little tidbit from the study balls these two things together:

-- 32.2% of the younger people who were diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder were also diagnosed with ADHD

-- 3% of the older people who were diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder were also diagnosed with ADHD

And i don't think it's a goddamn coincidence at all, and no, they aren't biologically or genetically attached conditions either. It's the fucking doctors, the dumbass parents, (and probably the money hungry pharmaceutical industry) and a fucking lazy society that classifies every shortcoming as 'disease' and looks for a magic bullet cure.

Finally... unrelated to the above:
China denies hacking into Pentagon system (http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,2162161,00.html)

DB_Hunter

Tue, 09-04-2007, 05:53 PM

I would kind of agree with that. I'm contracting at a mental health hospital (uk) right now, and though I havn't been to the youth wing I have heard that some of the kids just need a slap instead of having their every need pandered to.

To be honest my take is that there probably are a small minority of kids with mental health problems, but the vast majority either need a slap to straighten them out or the love and attention of their parents/family. Thing is though dysfuntional kids in the West are a product of western society. A lot of these kids come from broken homes or where the parents are both at work and can't give the attention to their kids that they deserve and need.

The fabric of society is being torn by increased pressures on parents to work harder and longer, single parent families and I would say stupid liberalist ideas and values. I mean oultlawing smacking your kids, thats the worst shit I've ever heard. When kids know the parents can't legally touch them, of course they are going to take advantage of the situation and ignore their elders. Then you have the whole sexualisation of childhood crap, where you have fake breast pads in clothes for pre-teen girls, which screws them up further.

The problem is staring everyone in the face. Its not genetic, heriditary or chemical, its conceptual. Look at the ideas that drive society and you will find the cause of these problems with kids.

Hikyuu

Tue, 09-04-2007, 06:26 PM

My thoughts on the topic are: Is it better to over diagnose or under? Would you rather have kids failing because they aren't getting the care they need or ones passing .. just zombified for their childhood?

Iridani

Tue, 09-04-2007, 07:31 PM

Was at work today reading an old newspaper from Thursday... anyway read a story about some guy who didn't feel comfortable being male and since doctors didn't want to do anything he took matters into his own hands, looked up online for how to do a DIY castration. He took a kitchen knife... and you guess the rest. o.o;

DB_Hunter

Wed, 09-05-2007, 12:30 PM

...made some salami??

masamuneehs

Thu, 09-06-2007, 08:32 AM

the Senator who tried to get his dick sucked by an undercover cop in a men's bathroom stall (see: http://forums.gotwoot.net/showthread.php?p=349409&postcount=221) is back in the news again... Seriously, this guy just needs to know when to fold them...

Senator Larry Craig to Attempt Repeal of Guilty Plea, to Remain in Congress (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/06/us/06craig.html)

Also, in a domestic military screw-up
B-52 Bomber mistakenly takes off with Nuclear Warheads attached (http://www.militarytimes.com/news/2007/09/marine_nuclear_B52_070904w/)
The nukes were missing for three hours and nobody noticed! Jack Bauer would be biting someone's goddamned head off!

XanBcoo

Thu, 09-06-2007, 09:41 AM

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-garage28jul28,0,7786124.story?coll=la-home-center

They're bringing back the DeLorean!!

Kraco

Thu, 09-06-2007, 11:25 AM

Also, in a domestic military screw-up

This is a military screw-up straight from Sweden:

New defence minister refused to bear arms

Published: 5th September 2007 18:08 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/8400/

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has promoted Trade Minister Sten Tolgfors to the post of defence minister, following the resignation of Mikael Odenberg, who quit in protest at cuts in the defence budget. Tolgfors's appointment has raised eyebrows after it emerged that he refused on principle to carry out military service.

Well, the Swedes haven't been in a war since they lost the last one in 1809...

Spiegel

Thu, 09-06-2007, 12:00 PM

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-garage28jul28,0,7786124.story?coll=la-home-center

They're bringing back the DeLorean!!

If I had the money to buy one I would, not to drive on a regular basis, but just to say I have one. I would do it in the later Back to the Future style when he has the food processor on the front end and I would make it where I could put stuff in there and it would make compost and store it in the back. Make it look like that actually is my Fuel. That would be fun.

Yukimura

Fri, 09-07-2007, 07:30 AM

Comcast FTL (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/06/AR2007090602545.html?hpid=topnews)

Comcast's service has always been advertised as simply a maximum speed, with no stated limit on bandwidth. However if you're using too much bandwidth they will apparently send you a letter saying so. They don't tell you how much is too much, how to monitor it yourself, or even what things might be causing you to go over their mysterious limit, but if you haven't reduced your usage after a month they disconnect your service (and apparently won't give it back).

I think it's pretty shady to not mention in the Terms of Service that there's a bandwidth cap, and then enforce a bandwidth cap with no information about what it is.

XanBcoo

Fri, 09-07-2007, 11:01 AM

They've also got really shitty email service.

Not that I use it, but it's bugging the hell out of my mom. The damn thing freezes whenever you try and send attachments.

Hikyuu

Fri, 09-07-2007, 02:46 PM

and upload speeds.. they really suck too :/

Spiegel

Sat, 09-08-2007, 11:43 AM

They did have crap service in my opinion, and I would be getting everything i could out of it daily. I remember months where I mysteriously could not get over 300 kb/s download and normal crap 45kb/s upload. Right when that month ended though I would suddenly be downloading at 700-750kb/s again....

Comcast is a load of crap.

mage

Sun, 09-09-2007, 01:21 PM

To trigger a disconnection warning, customers would be downloading the equivalent of 1,000 songs or four full-length movies every day.
That really only comes out to a few GB, which I probably download 5-10 of per day.

darkshadow

Wed, 09-12-2007, 08:36 AM

I feel sorry for all you US peeps, EU internet rox, I download at least 10gb daily, with the occassional 20+gb a day.
Plus its cheap too ;o

Psyke

Wed, 09-12-2007, 08:47 AM

You guys are fortunate. Look at the shit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odex%27s_actions_against_file_sharing) Singaporean anime lovers are going through now. Not the reason I've stopped watching Bleach though. :(

Kraco

Wed, 09-12-2007, 09:17 AM

Yeah. I guess Singapore isn't quite as sunny anymore...

I hope something like that will never happen here. In that sense it's good anime is not a big thing here, at least yet. It's pretty marginal market and garners little interested from anybody.

rockmanj

Wed, 09-12-2007, 11:25 PM

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/12/MNKNS3MPU.DTL&type=politics

Looks like more fundraising scandal...

masamuneehs

Wed, 09-12-2007, 11:54 PM

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/12/MNKNS3MPU.DTL&type=politics

Looks like more fundraising scandal...

Clinton campaign aides Tuesday refused to release the names of the 260 donors whom Hsu recruited to the campaign, preferring to wait until they finish their own research on the individuals. Clinton and her advisers want to be prepared if some of the donors end up having money funneled to them from Hsu, or have shady backgrounds like his.

The campaign is refunding $850,000 to these donors, viewing the money as tainted. Yet the campaign is also risking another public relations mess by saying that it would take back the money if it clearly comes from the donor's bank account, and not from Hsu or another source.

This is the most interesting part to me, the part that made me go, "Wait, maybe it's not just her stupid mistake, maybe she really did get caught rolling like a pig in the dirty money. 260 donors could be big, and a nasty shock to her campaign. The fact that the public already knows they're even considering taking potentially tainted money is the real failure of PR in her camp.

So, yeah, I'm still hoping for McCain, personally...

And, more importantly, in environmental news:
Judge Rules that States to Set Own Auto Emissions (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-greenhouse13sep13,1,111672.story?coll=la-headlines-business)
Autonomy ftw.