News Stories

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

Going, going, gone digital -- with a few exceptions
US Television has gone digital, for good reasons too.

well, if nothing else --- most of the US can now get "channel 2" properly.

((the low end of the VHF spectrum - ch. 2 was always quite difficult to pull in at long distances and the most susceptible to weather))

The 'wonders' of digital -- its either perfect or it isn't there at all.... except when its doing that entertaining "pixel smear" as the decoding electronics struggle to deal with a dodgy signal.

[Shadow Kira01]

Just-resigned Hatoyama not ruling out leaving LDP to form new party

''I like Prime Minister Aso a lot and trust him...and there is no change in that feeling,'' Hatoyama said. ''But on this particular case, the prime minister made a completely wrong decision.''

Noting that Aso sent him a letter earlier this year along with a list of possible candidates to succeed Nishikawa, Hatoyama said they initially agreed that Nishikawa should go. But he said Aso later changed his mind after listening to other people's opinions.

After receiving Hatoyama's resignation, Aso told reporters Friday evening that he thinks the government should not interfere with the management of a company that is moving toward privatization.
...
Even before his resignation Friday, it was rumored that Hatoyama might leave the LDP to form a new party or to tie up with his brother, Yukio Hatoyama, president of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, amid increasing signs of their closeness.

A developing story...

Very interesting!

[Xellos-_^]

A South Florida teenager accused of gruesomely killing and mutilating nearly two dozen cats must undergo a psychiatric evaluation before he is released, a judge ruled Monday.

Tyler Hayes Weinman, 18, remained quiet during the hearing, a day after he was charged with 19 counts each of animal cruelty and improperly disposing of an animal body.


"The cat killings weren't something I expected of anyone who's sane," said friend Vincent Warger, 18, who recently graduated from Palmetto High School. "With him he was a nice guy. He was friendly. It's such a violent thing. I just couldn't see it happening from him."

Friend Elliot Evins lives in the same neighborhood where many of the cats were killed and has two cats himself.


"He is not an angry person in the least bit. He's never erupted on anyone or shown anything that would make me nervous or be anything related to what he's accused of," Evins said of Weinman.


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...a030843D25.DTL

The link also have a photo of the guy.

i just hope they can figure out a way to keep him lock up till they figure out what is wrong with him, He sounds a like Jeffery Dahmer Part 2.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

The link also have a photo of the guy.

i just hope they can figure out a way to keep him lock up till they figure out what is wrong with him, He sounds a like Jeffery Dahmer Part 2.

What was the line? "I'm going dressed as a homicidal maniac. They look just like everyone else."

Of course, we're assuming the cops arrested the right guy.... but that smirk in his mug shot doesn't portray someone who understands they're in a lot more trouble at age 18 than they might have been at age 17 in that state.

[Kakashi]

His face was all over 4chan for some reason, now I know why.

[Kaioshin Sama]

When we have an election it's almost as if nothing ever happened, when Iran has an election all hell breaks loose:

Gunfire breaks out at massive Tehran protest

Getting pretty scary over there. Well as scary as it can get in a country that most of us in the West already find pretty scary. Kind of makes you wonder if these countries like Iran or Zimbabwe are really ready or even able to handle a democracy. It's always the same, incumbent wins by some illogical sounding amount compared to the lead up, challenger accuses incumbent of election fraud, their supporters clash, beatings, more riots, Western leaders call for a solution or a try to broker a settlement for publicity.....sigh.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Vexx

What was the line? "I'm going dressed as a homicidal maniac. They look just like everyone else."

Of course, we're assuming the cops arrested the right guy.... but that smirk in his mug shot doesn't portray someone who understands they're in a lot more trouble at age 18 than they might have been at age 17 in that state.

For all we know that picture was taken before the arrest at school for the yearbook or something.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

When we have an election it's almost as if nothing ever happened, when Iran has an election all hell breaks loose:

Gunfire breaks out at massive Tehran protest

Getting pretty scary over there. Well as scary as it can get in a country that most of us in the West already find pretty scary. Kind of makes you wonder if these countries like Iran or Zimbabwe are really ready or even able to handle a democracy. It's always the same, incumbent wins by some illogical sounding amount compared to the lead up, challenger accuses incumbent of election fraud, their supporters clash, beatings, more riots, Western leaders call for a solution or a try to broker a settlement for publicity.....sigh.

compare to the rest of the Middle East Iran is actually pretty safe for Westerners. Unless of course, you are a reporter, used to work for the CIA or FBI. If you are a regular tourist or for business, it is pretty safe.

Originally Posted by Vexx

What was the line? "I'm going dressed as a homicidal maniac. They look just like everyone else."

Of course, we're assuming the cops arrested the right guy.... but that smirk in his mug shot doesn't portray someone who understands they're in a lot more trouble at age 18 than they might have been at age 17 in that state.

Considering the cops were watching for him for 2 weeks i am pretty confident they got the irght guy.

[aohige]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

A South Florida teenager accused of gruesomely killing and mutilating nearly two dozen cats must undergo a psychiatric evaluation before he is released, a judge ruled Monday.

Nishi: "There's nothing wrong with him. Foolish society..."

[Shadow Kira01]

Prosecutors raid Japan health ministry

Polls show support ratings for Aso's Cabinet have dropped to below 20 percent following last week's resignation of internal affairs and communications minister Kunio Hatoyama, who had been a close ally to the prime minister, after a dispute with Aso and the rest of the Cabinet over the reappointment of a postal company president.

In Sunday's election, a candidate for the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan won the mayoral seat in the city of Chiba, near Tokyo. Toshihito Kumagai becomes the nation's youngest mayor at age 31.

It was the Democratic Party's third victory in local elections in recent months, following victories in the cities of Nagoya and Saitama.

The opposition party is well-placed to make major gains or even rise to power in the upcoming general elections. Aso's Liberal Democratic Party has governed Japan for virtually all of the past 50 years.

"Naturally, we believe the result reflected the public's high expectations for a leadership change in the central government as well," Democratic Party Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama told reporters after Sunday's vote.

He vowed to lead his party to win the general election.

Regardless of who leads the ruling government, as soon as that very cabinet receives an approval rating below 20%, it is obvious and natural that they will lose the upcoming general election.

More over, it is always good to have a change of government when the current one has ruled the nation for over 50 years. Perhaps, during the beginning of these 50 years, the Liberal Democratic Party had done quite a good job but in the recent years.. The government are doing a very poor job. After the resignation of two 1-year only prime ministers, the current Taro Aso is having a lack of leadership and poor judgement, choosing candidates for key positions in which these candidates don't even qualify for the position they claimed. Almost every single month, there is a minister or a key figure of the Aso Cabinet that hands in a resignation letter; definitely a very bad sign.

With a combination of domestic socialist policies and a strong conservative stance for international affairs and foreign policy, there is no doubt the Democratic Party of Japan will defeat the incumbent LDP in the upcoming general elections!!

[Autumn Demon]

Internet activism helps free Chinese hero from murder charges.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...DMc_gD98RSJU02

[Mystique]

Originally Posted by Shadow Kira01

Prosecutors raid Japan health ministry



Regardless of who leads the ruling government, as soon as that very cabinet receives an approval rating below 20%, it is obvious and natural that they will lose the upcoming general election.

More over, it is always good to have a change of government when the current one has ruled the nation for over 50 years. Perhaps, during the beginning of these 50 years, the Liberal Democratic Party had done quite a good job but in the recent years.. The government are doing a very poor job. After the resignation of two 1-year only prime ministers, the current Taro Aso is having a lack of leadership and poor judgement, choosing candidates for key positions in which these candidates don't even qualify for the position they claimed. Almost every single month, there is a minister or a key figure of the Aso Cabinet that hands in a resignation letter; definitely a very bad sign.

With a combination of domestic socialist policies and a strong conservative stance for international affairs and foreign policy, there is no doubt the Democratic Party of Japan will defeat the incumbent LDP in the upcoming general elections!!

Btw, you may wanna post all your future japanese election news into here:
Japanese politics

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

Getting pretty scary over there. Well as scary as it can get in a country that most of us in the West already find pretty scary. Kind of makes you wonder if these countries like Iran or Zimbabwe are really ready or even able to handle a democracy. It's always the same, incumbent wins by some illogical sounding amount compared to the lead up, challenger accuses incumbent of election fraud, their supporters clash, beatings, more riots, Western leaders call for a solution or a try to broker a settlement for publicity.....sigh.

Iran isn't a democracy, though. The government is structured such that the people who hold real power are not elected by the people. The elected officials aren't exactly puppets, but it's pretty clear that the people ultimately don't have control over how the government is run.

So in this case, it isn't just that Ahmadinejad won by some illogical sounding amount - there are some other factors. Things like how the results were announced so quickly after polls were closed, how he won across all demographics equally, and how he beat each running opponent in their home regions (where Iranians have almost always voted for the politician from their region as a majority) - sure, it's not impossible that 40 million votes could be counted in two hours, nor is it impossible that he really did win those demographics and regions. All of those factors together just seem very suspicious. The people want a democracy - they want their voices to be heard and their opinion to shape their government. They don't want sham elections. Right now the Iranian people are arguably exhibiting the true spirit of democracy, by rebelling against perceived repression and tampering with the democratic process. Perhaps they never truly had a democracy before, but now they're doing something about it.

Otherwise, I agree with you - democracy is a nice ideal for us and our society, but it may not be the ideal for other societies and/or other societies may not be ready to accept it.

[Vinak]

June 18, 2009, 06:45 AM —
Remember back in April when Time Warner Cable announced it would start testing 'tiered pricing' for broadband access? At that time, Congressman Eric Massa of NY got involved in the issue and helped to convince TWC to shelve its plans, at least temporarily.


http://www.itworld.com/government/69...duced-congress

http://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/...t-overcharging

[Shadow Kira01]

Since there is no "Argentina Politics" thread, I am sure it is okay to post it here:

Falkland islanders say Argentina is waging economic warfare

Although Argentina has denied to have the intentions of doing harm to the Falkland islanders but the people living there are not very happy at this economic warfare tactic.

Earthquakes fuel questions over drilling in Cleburne

It seems that the recent earthquakes that had occurred in Texas have ties with drilling activities.

[TooPurePureBoy]

Some interesting news for those of us who care about what lies beyond our atmosphere and our tiny little lives.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-uoc061709.php

Seeming proof of pre-existing lakes or oceans on mars. The main thing about this is that they delta area around this could hold some seriously important info about what kind of life may have existed in Mars' past.

Personally I love this kinda stuff, it baffles me that humanity got to the moon and then seems to have lost most of it's interest in outer space.

I wanted to be a space-pirate by now dammit!! Lets pick up the pace on this space travel thingy.

[yezhanquan]

The moon race was rather political in nature. The US just want to be able to say to the USSR, "We got to the moon first, loser." The last man on the moon was Eugene Cernan, in 1972.

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by TooPurePureBoy

Personally I love this kinda stuff, it baffles me that humanity got to the moon and then seems to have lost most of it's interest in outer space.

Most people just don't see the potential benefits of space. They see NASA as a waste of government resources that could be better spent elsewhere and don't understand the point of doing science for the sake of science. Further, they don't seem to realize that there are far far more resources in space than there is on Earth. There's trillions and trillions of dollars worth of metals we could get from just a few near Earth asteroids which could supply our industries for decades and that's just a tiny fraction of what's out there. However, since peple don't see that potential, they don't support space research.

Of course to really exploit the vast, vast resources of space, we need a cheaper way to get into orbit. Barring the development of a scifi like propulsion system, the only cheap ways that are possible in the near term are an orion drive, which basicly involves setting off a chain of nuclear explosions and riding the shock wave up, or a space elevator, which would require materals beyond our current ability to produce. Still, I'm hopeful that I'll see a space elevator being built in my lifetime. Maybe not see it reach completion, but at least started on.

[iLney]

Well, we have the Internet as a by product of what you call "science for the sake of science"

[GuidoHunter_Toki]

Originally Posted by Kamui4356

Most people just don't see the potential benefits of space. They see NASA as a waste of government resources that could be better spent elsewhere and don't understand the point of doing science for the sake of science. Further, they don't seem to realize that there are far far more resources in space than there is on Earth.

Many people also don't seem to realize how many advancements in technology and products have come from NASA. Many come in contact with a NASA by-product everyday. Just to name a few...

- Invisible Braces
- long distance telecommunications
- scratch-resistant lenses
- cordless tools
- water filters
- Memory Foam
- Adjustable Smoke Detector
- Safety Grooving
- Ear Thermometers
- Shoe Insoles