nwsppr

walpaper: A friend of mine works across the street from the...

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:22:15 -0500

A friend of mine works across the street from the Texas IRS building that was hit by a plane this morning. Here’s a picture he took.

mdfsmash: elspethjane: Time Lapse of the Los Angeles...

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:43:22 -0400

mdfsmash:

elspethjane:

Time Lapse of the Los Angeles fires.

(via BoingBoing)

BREAKING: STEVEN FRANK RETURNS TO IPHONE

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 03:04:06 -0400

BREAKING: STEVEN FRANK RETURNS TO IPHONE

NASA to Provide Web Updates on Objects Approaching Earth

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:25:30 -0400

NASA to Provide Web Updates on Objects Approaching Earth:

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is introducing a new Web site that will provide a centralized resource for information on near-Earth objects – those asteroids and comets that can approach Earth. The “Asteroid Watch” site also contains
links for the interested public to sign up for NASA’s new asteroid widget and Twitter account.

“Most people have a fascination with near-Earth objects,” said Don Yeomans, manager of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL. ”And I have to agree with them. I have studied them for over three decades and I find them to be scientifically fascinating,
and a few are potentially hazardous to Earth. The goal of our Web site is to provide the public with the most up-to-date and accurate information on these intriguing objects.”

Global recession map.

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:13:45 -0400

Global recession map.

U.S. to increase size of army

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:38:30 -0400

U.S. to increase size of army:

The United States will temporarily increase the size of its army by 22,000 soldiers to deal with demands placed on the force by wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Monday.

The U.S. army currently has a total troop strength of 547,000. Roughly 130,000 are serving in Iraq, while the troop numbers in Afghanistan will rise to 68,000 by the end of the year.

It’s the second time since 2007 the army’s size has been increased.

Big Mac index update. (click through)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:13:46 -0400

Big Mac index update.

(click through)

NY Times: Debris strikes Endeavour during liftoff

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:18:06 -0400

NY Times: Debris strikes Endeavour during liftoff:

As the space shuttle Endeavour lifted off into orbit Monday evening, several pieces of debris fell off the external fuel tank and at least one hit the orbiter.

The space shuttle Endeavour is scheduled for a 16-day construction mission to the International Space Station.

Astronauts in space and engineers on the ground will be spending the next few days examining and analyzing the damage to see if it might pose a danger to the Endeavour on re-entry.

The shuttle Columbia disintegrated in 2001, killing the seven astronauts aboard, because of damage to its wing caused by falling foam during liftoff.

The Endeavour’s launch countdown proceeded without major glitches and the weather finally cooperated, with the skies clear after rain showers early in the afternoon.

The mission had been delayed five times — by hydrogen leaks, schedule conflicts, lightning strikes and a couple of rain delays.

That is one short of NASA’s record for the number of delays. Two previous missions, one in 1986 and one in 1995, were delayed six times before launching on the seventh attempt.

via inothernews

Plane crashes in Iran, 168 believed killed

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:26:13 -0400

Plane crashes in Iran, 168 believed killed:

(CNN) — A plane crashed Wednesday in northwestern Iran, state television reported. All 168 aboard were believed to be dead.

The passenger plane is thought to have crashed near the Iranian city of Qazvin, Iranian Press TV reported.

The Russian-made Tupolev plane went down near Jannat-abad village near Qazvin at 11:33 a.m. on Wednesday, the station reported.

Bulls gore 4 runners in Spain

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 15:24:28 -0400

Bulls gore 4 runners in Spain:

Four people were gored, two of them seriously, at the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, on Sunday.

Bulls are let loose on the city’s streets every day for the eight days of the San Fermin Festival and thrill-seekers can run alongside them.

During the sixth day of the festival, one of the bulls became separated from the pack, turned back and charged at runners.

One runner was gored in the neck. Another suffered a double goring in the upper chest and thigh.

North Korea a suspect in cyber attacks in US, including the White House, that began around 4th of July

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:35:48 -0400

North Korea a suspect in cyber attacks in US, including the White House, that began around 4th of July :

North Korea, which has been firing missiles and spewing threats against the United States, was identified by South Korea’s main spy agency Wednesday as a suspect in the cyber attacks targeting government and other Web sites in the U.S. and South Korea.

North Korea is not known for its computing prowess, but experts said such attacks would be easy — and cheap — to mount by hiring outside help.

via winstonwolfe

China's Xinjiang province put under curfew

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:27:59 -0400

China's Xinjiang province put under curfew:

Officials in China’s Xinjiang province imposed a curfew in a continued crackdown on protesters as Han Chinese clashed with Uighurs in the provincial capital on Tuesday.

After bringing in riot police to break up multiple protests on Tuesday, the Xinjiang regional government announced that a curfew would be imposed for the evening hours.

Riot police using loudspeakers appealed to about 300 marchers to stop their destructive behaviour as they threw rocks, smashed shop windows and knocked down food stalls run by ethnic Uighurs in Urumqi on Tuesday.

Judge Acquits Lori Drew in Cyberbullying Case, Overrules Jury

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:11:11 -0400

Judge Acquits Lori Drew in Cyberbullying Case, Overrules Jury:

A federal judge on Thursday overturned guilty verdicts against Lori Drew, issuing a directed acquittal on three misdemeanor charges.

Drew, 50, was accused of participating in a cyberbullying scheme against 13-year-old Megan Meier who later committed suicide. The case against Drew hinged on the government’s novel argument that violating MySpace’s terms of service was the legal equivalent of computer hacking. But U.S. District Judge George Wu found the premise troubling.

“It basically leaves it up to a website owner to determine what is a crime,” said Wu on Thursday, echoing what critics of the case have been saying for months. “And therefore it criminalizes what would be a breach of contract.”

AP: "An intact Air France Flight 447 slammed belly first into the Atlantic Ocean at a very high speed, a top French investigator said Thursday, adding that problems with the plane's speed sensors were not the direct cause of the crash."

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:48:55 -0400

AP: "An intact Air France Flight 447 slammed belly first into the Atlantic Ocean at a very high speed, a top French investigator said Thursday, adding that problems with the plane's speed sensors were not the direct cause of the crash.":

(via inothernews)

India court rules gay sex legal

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:04:52 -0400

India court rules gay sex legal:

A top Indian court has issued a landmark ruling decriminalising gay sex between consenting adults, overturning colonial-era legislation that outlawed homosexuality.

The New Delhi High Court ruled that an existing statute prohibiting homosexual acts was discriminatory and therefore a “violation of fundamental rights” accorded under the constitution.

The statute in question is a British colonial-era law outlawing “carnal intercourse against the order of nature.” Conviction carried a fine and a maximum 10-year jail sentence.

US judge bans 'Catcher in the Rye' sequel

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:03:15 -0400

US judge bans 'Catcher in the Rye' sequel:

A US judge has banned publication of a book promoted as a sequel to JD Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye.

US District Judge Deborah Batts ruled that Swedish author Fredrik Colting’s novel too closely mirrored Mr Salinger’s 1951 classic.

Mr Salinger brought the lawsuit against Mr Colting, with his lawyers calling the book a “rip-off pure and simple”.

NY Times: FDA orders suicide warnings for two anti-smoking drugs, Chantix and Zyban

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:55:12 -0400

NY Times: FDA orders suicide warnings for two anti-smoking drugs, Chantix and Zyban:

inothernews:

Federal drug regulators warned Wednesday that patients taking two popular stop-smoking drugs should be watched closely for signs of serious mental illness, as reported suicides among the drugs’ users mount.

But officials emphasized that patients should not be scared away from taking the smoking-cessation medicines, Chantix, made by Pfizer, and Zyban, made by GlaxoSmithKline.

“Stopping smoking is a goal we should all be working towards,” said Dr. Curt Rosebraugh, director of a drug evaluation office at the F.D.A. “We don’t want to scare people off from trying a medication that could help them achieve this goal. You should just be careful.”

The F.D.A. required Pfizer and Glaxo to place so-called black box warnings — the agency’s most serious caution — on the prescribing information for both drugs. Both companies will be required to conduct clinical trials to assess the mental health risks associated with the drugs’ uses.

Franken: 'Thrilled' at Minn. Senate win - Capitol Hill- msnbc.com

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:13:19 -0400

Franken: 'Thrilled' at Minn. Senate win - Capitol Hill- msnbc.com:

outofsight:

Finally, and only eight months late. To the best of my knowledge, Franken is the first former-member of Saturday Night Live to join the ranks of federal politics.

Teen survives Yemeni plane crash

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:08:37 -0400

Teen survives Yemeni plane crash:

There are reports of other survivors, including the Captain, but so far this is the only one officials are confirming.

U.S. Troops leave Iraqi cities

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:37:13 -0400

U.S. Troops leave Iraqi cities:

US troops are withdrawing from towns and cities in Iraq, six years after the invasion, having formally handed over security duties to new Iraqi forces.

A public holiday - National Sovereignty Day - has been declared, and the capital, Baghdad, threw a giant party to mark the eve of the changeover.

US-led combat operations are due to end by September 2010, with all troops gone from Iraq by the end of 2011.

Iraqi troops are on the alert for insurgent attacks during the handover.

Despite the pullback from cities and towns, due to be completed on Tuesday, US troops will still be embedded with Iraqi forces.