News Stories

[Irenicus]

Originally Posted by mg1942

I download a lot. I have yet to feel slowdowns or receive a letter telling me that I'm hogging the bandwidth. I've been COX customer since 2003 and I guess data stream limit only applies to customers that signed up on after March 1, 2008.

Hmm, that'd explain how I get away with all the torrenting I used to do then, and I was on the 40$ plan so it wasn't like I'm on the luxurious cruise program or anything.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, of course. I really was torrenting legit stuff. Really.

[stubby42]

As some of you may know I'm going to canada for 3 months but I've been having alot of problems getting there, I had a disaster recently and found out I needed to get a work visa so I had to put the trip on hold until I can get my paper work.

Well I just found out the company I'm flying with has gone bankrupt, they've gone into administration and we've no idea if we'll be able to get my money back.

If I cant get my money back in time then I might not be able to book another flight so its a bit of a headache to say the least.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7586654.stm

Today is not a good day.

[Mystique]

Originally Posted by stubby42

As some of you may know I'm going to canada for 3 months but I've been having alot of problems getting there, I had a disaster recently and found out I needed to get a work visa so I had to put the trip on hold until I can get my paper work.

Well I just found out the company I'm flying with has gone bankrupt, they've gone into administration and we've no idea if we'll be able to get my money back.

If I cant get my money back in time then I might not be able to book another flight so its a bit of a headache to say the least.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7586654.stm

Today is not a good day.

Am sorry to hear that...
I'm trying to buy plane tickets myself and got a heart attack at the tax prices alone. Ticket was £420, but tax was £340, almost the same bloody price and the ticket x.x

The recession and fuel and energy crisis is hitting everyone hard, 2008 is a poor year indeed

[Vexx]

And in other news, anyone who gets this bit of scary spam should not worry about it or report it to their country's version of the US FBI. Do not respond to it as that only gives the identity theft spammers a positive response and the mail will escalate:

FBI reports "Hitman" Scammer Spams are back

[WanderingKnight]

Argh! I missed the offtopic bit about national anthems, but I really should mention that the Russian anthem is one of the most awe-inspiring themes I've heard in my life. I have little to no relationship with Russia, but every time I hear that song I get an uncontrollable urge to sing along.

Anyways, our anthem is nothing special, but for some weird reason the lyrics part keeps getting ignored in sports competitions, using only the instrumental introduction.

[Aoie_Emesai]

Originally Posted by WanderingKnight

Argh! I missed the offtopic bit about national anthems, but I really should mention that the Russian anthem is one of the most awe-inspiring themes I've heard in my life. I have little to no relationship with Russia, but every time I hear that song I get an uncontrollable urge to sing along.

Anyways, our anthem is nothing special, but for some weird reason the lyrics part keeps getting ignored in sports competitions, using only the instrumental introduction.

The Russian National Anthem has a really grand tone to it ^^

[Tiberium Wolf]

Looking at mg1942 avatar reminded me of this story.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07302008...cat_122221.htm

Look at the size of that monster!

[mg1942]

If USA uses America The Beautiful as the main anthem, IMO it would be right up there with Gimn Sovetskogo Soyuza. They both give me goosebumps when I hear them play it.

[Vexx]

Gustav got upped to category 5 (155mph+) and appears headed straight for Lousiana (+/- Houston or Missisippi). New Orleans is evacuating now.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7590332.stm

Good luck to any AS members in the area and hope ya'll find safe ground. I lived around Houston, TX for a fair part of my life and know just how, um, "interesting" hurricanes can get.

[Mystique]

The BBC's Kevin Connolly, in New Orleans, says Mr Nagin spoke in "passionate and desperate" terms, telling a televised news conference the storm was "so powerful" and growing more powerful every day.

"I'm not sure we've seen anything like it," he told reporters at City Hall.

Mr Nagin said Gustav - expected to make landfall on Monday or Tuesday - was more powerful than Hurricane Katrina.

That storm, which hit New Orleans in 2005, killed some 1,800 people and caused hundreds of billions of dollars worth of damage.

Holy hell, i went to New Orleans 9 months after Katrina (had a friend whose home got flooded so went for support)
and that was pretty tragic in itself. The city still had its magic however, never the same as pre-katrina naturally but from what i saw, they're all suvivors over there, i still had an amazing time.

This looks like a round 2 and then some, remember the sandbags if you're gonna try to protect your home while you leave and here's wishing you all well.

PS:
wasn't this around the time Katrina struck as well? :\
(in mid aug, was it 3 years ago?)

[solomon]

Damn, I still remember watching the uber dramatic coverage on NBC Nightly News those 5 days. It was still an embarrasment at the city, state and local level initially. Now they seem to have their act together, I hope not too many people are left behind, either due to lack of means/money or to stupidity,

btw Why the hell is Ray Nagin stlll in office?

[WanderingKnight]

Japanese PM Fukuda resigns in a surprise move.

TOKYO (AFP) — Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda announced his sudden resignation Monday, calling for a fresh start after a troubled year in power that saw bitter fighting with the opposition.

The surprise announcement came after the 72-year-old political moderate failed to turn around dwindling public support for his government despite reshuffling his cabinet and unveiling a major economic stimulus package.

"Today, I have decided to resign. We need a new line-up to cope with a new session of parliament," Fukuda told a hastily arranged news conference.

"I have determined that now is the most opportune time, in which we will not create a political void," he said.

"I thought it would be quite different if somebody new would take care of this."

Fukuda said his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) would hold an internal election to determine his successor. He did not call a general election, which does not need to be held for another year.

The likely front-runner to take over the post is Taro Aso, a former foreign minister who is known for being both more charismatic and more conservative than Fukuda.

Fukuda is known for his moderate policies including his efforts to repair historically uneasy relations with China. But he has openly admitted that he lacks charisma, and polls show voters faulting him for lacking leadership.

[solomon]

pffft, lacking charisma. Except for Koizumi (Mr. Lion) what Japanese PM's did have charisma? Most of em push 70 all the time, and Japanese Social structure/decorum wouldn't be particularly conducive to a Bill Clinton, Pierre Trudeau or (a very young) Tony Blair type character.


I wonder how people japanese age 25 and lower deal with these things, I have a feeling much of them prolly even care less then we do in western countries.

[WanderingKnight]

Abe Shinzo (born 1954) was the youngest post-WWII Japanese PM, and you can see how well he fared (not).

[Mystique]

A lot of peeps there don't even give younger politicians a chance, too many old school stuffy twats in there, need a natural generational clearout methinks.

But two PM's in less than 2 years, poor country, wonder how the general japanese feel?
(should hit the news when i get a chance...)

[WanderingKnight]

But two PM's in less than 2 years

Try five presidents in a week (Argentina, January 2002).

[Kang Seung Jae]

Originally Posted by mg1942

Another explosive news on Barack Obama...


Born in the U.S.A.?
By: KEITH PHUCAS, Times Herald Staff
08/25/2008

PHILADELPHIA - A Lafayette Hill attorney filed a lawsuit in federal court Thursday challenging Sen. Barack Obama's claim to United States citizenship. The action seeks to remove the Democratic candidate from the November ballot.

To be eligible to serve as U.S. president, a person must be born in this country. According to Obama's birth certificate, which his campaign posted on its Internet site in June to quell rumors that he is foreign born, the Illinois senator was born in Hawaii on Aug. 6, 1961.

On Thursday, Philip Berg filed a temporary restraining order in federal court to bar Obama from running for president, claiming the Democratic candidate was actually born in Africa.

"We really don't believe he was born in Hawaii," Berg said. "We think he was born in Kenya."

http://www.timesherald.com/site/news...id=33380&rfi=6

You know, this could backfire when people start questioning about how McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone.

Originally Posted by Kakashi

Nationalism is a bitch and shouldn't be important, but unfortunately it shapes entire nations.

Anti-Nationalism is bitch. You can't deny your blood.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Kang Seung Jae

You know, this could backfire when people start questioning about how McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone.




Anti-Nationalism is bitch. You can't deny your blood.

Spoken like a Korean living in Korea.

[Kang Seung Jae]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Spoken like a Korean living in Korea.

My nationalism was born in the US. I've been living in Korea for only 3 years now.

Now, please take your sterotypes out of here

[Anh_Minh]

Stereotype?

What I mean is, it's damn easy to deny your blood. I do it all the time, mostly because I've never set foot in Vietnam, don't know the language or history. I don't even know any other Vietnamese except my mother. You, I assume, have been surrounded with other Koreans with whom you could go "Yay! We're Koreans! Rock on!" or something more elegant. Hopefully.

I'm more French than Vietnamese. Except, I'm not all that French either, because of the way I look (skin color, eye shape...). So, yeah. Nationalism's never made all that much sense to me. I know others feel it, more power to them, but that's about it.