rndzvs says: “TIL that a popular slang in Danish for having your period is ‘ Der er kommunister i lysthuset ‘, or, ‘There are communists in the funhouse’”
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East County Educators Tour Peru 2011 2005 Chevrolet Tahoe Used Cars Englewood CO 2008 Credit Union Christmas Pageant FinanciallyFit says: @ Twerk_4Me Great Q! Must be time to close that account & open one at a local bank or credit union . Unless you want to pay to access your $.
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Mother and two friends are hurt in shooting, while 11-month-old boy escapes injury A teenage mother has been shot in the street with two friends while clutching her 11-month-old son in her arms. Jessica Chrichlow, 18, collapsed to the ground alongside two sisters – named locally as Sammy, 17, and Alex, 19 – after being caught in the crossfire of a botched gang attack, witnesses said on Friday morning. Detective Chief Inspector Mick Foote said: “It was a random, reckless act and we are fortunate we are not dealing with a fatal shooting here.” Police said it was “hugely fortunate” that the baby escaped injury. The three victims had been outside in John Fearon Walk, north Kensington, west London, enjoying balmy temperatures when the attacker got off a bike and screamed “motherfucker” at the group, a neighbour, who did not want to be named, said. Foote added: “I do not believe the girls were the intended targets. What’s particularly devastating is that the young girl was carrying a young child. “This was totally unprovoked.” As a hunt was launched for several young men seen on bicycles on the west London housing estate last night, the officer said he was “working on the basis” that the shooting was gang-related. One neighbour said her 12-year-old daughter saw the shooting from her bedroom window. Jacky Cinesey said: “I have sent her to school in tears today. These girls were just outside enjoying the sunshine. It’s horrifying.” Gun crime London Crime guardian.co.uk
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Outgoing Russian president denies political rivalry with current prime minister, claiming he was happy to step aside Russia’s outgoing president, Dmitry Medvedev, agreed to step down because he believes Vladimir Putin is more popular, he said. “I note that prime minister Putin, without a doubt, is currently the most authoritative politician in our country,” Medvedev said in an interview to the country’s three state-run television stations. “His rating is slightly higher.” Medvedev has been the target of ridicule in Russia since Putin announced he would return to the presidency next year. The interview is to be aired on Friday but a transcript was pre-released by the Kremlin. Putin has said he will make Medvedev his prime minister. “My main ambition is to be of use to my country and my people,” Medvedev said. He stressed that he and Putin represented “the same political force” and dismissed the idea of competition between them. “Can you imagine a situation where, for example, Barack Obama started competing with Hillary Clinton?” he asked, apparently forgetting the rivalry that divided the two in the run-up to the 2008 US presidential election. Medvedev brushed off the head of state-owned television channel NTV, Vladimir Kulistikov, when he asked: “What’s the point of elections if everything is already decided?” The ruling United Russia party’s support for Putin and Medvedev was “merely a party recommendation on who to support in the elections, and nothing more,” he said. “The vote is exercised by the people – and these are not empty words,” Medvedev said. “Any politician can ‘fly’ in the elections.” “No one is insured from anything – what predictability?” Putin is likely to win the presidential election in March 2012. The Kremlin controls major television media. Russia’s main liberal opposition, the People’s Freedom party, has been refused registration for a parliamentary vote due in December. Other opposition parties, including the communists and the far-right Liberal Democratic party, are considered Kremlin-friendly. “Let the people decide whom to vote for, who has more authority,” Medvedev said. “And only people, only our citizens, are able to place the final emphasis, voting for this or that person or political force, or rejecting it. That’s democracy.” Dmitry Medvedev Vladimir Putin Russia Europe Miriam Elder guardian.co.uk
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Hugo Chavez was playing ball Thursday, after a fourth round of chemotherapy that he claims will be his last. The 57-year-old Venezuelan president had surgery to remove a cancerous tumour in June. (Sept. 30)
Continue reading …Tiny ‘jumping robots’ have more in common with firecrackers than Johnny 5
September 30, 2011 No Comment
Perhaps calling an immobile plastic bug with explosives strapped to its underside a ” jumping robot ” is a bit of a stretch, but who are we to argue with the Army Research Laboratory and the University of Maryland. The two groups have collaborated to create a pair of “robots” that measure just a few millimeters in size but can jump several centimeters in the air. One uses a spring like mechanism (which an operator must press down with a pair of tweezers) to propel it, while the other uses a small rocket, which can be triggered either by current applied over wires or a phototransistor (for untethered flight). It all makes for a pretty neat video, which you can find after the break – even if your sister’s Furby was more robot than these tiny things. Continue reading Tiny ‘jumping robots’ have more in common with firecrackers than Johnny 5 Tiny ‘jumping robots’ have more in common with firecrackers than Johnny 5 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 01:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Work on £2.3bn Myitsone dam halted after Burma’s president says he has to ‘act according to the desire of the people’ Burma will suspend a massive Chinese hydropower project on the Irrawaddy river after the country’s president joined a chorus of concerns raised by environmentalists, democracy activists and tribal militias. The proposed halting of the $3.6bn (£2.3bn) Myitsone dam is a remarkable step for a government that has long ruled by military fiat, but appears this time to have put public and ecological concerns ahead of economic priorities and the interests of its powerful neighbour. In a rare concession to opposition groups, President Thein Sein informed parliament on Friday that construction of the 3,600MW project on Burma’s most important river should be in halted because it was against the will of the people. The decision will be seen as a victory for Aung San Suu Kyi , the leader of Burma’s pro-democracy opposition. In August, the Nobel laureate called for the plan to be reassessed and greater efforts be made to protect the Irrawaddy and the interests of people who would be affected. Chief among them are the residents of the Kachin region, which would have been flooded by a reservoir the size of New York City, forcing the displacement of 10,000 people and submerging important cultural sites. Earlier this year, the Kachin Independence Organisation broke a 17-year-ceasefire after warning that it would fight to block the project. Environmental groups warned that the dam, which was to be built by the China Gezhouba Group on the confluence of the Mali and N’Mai, would inundate one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots and pose a major risk in the event of an earthquake. The Burma Rivers Network, an NGO which represents communities along the river, released what it says is a leaked environmental assessment jointly commissioned by the Burmese and Chinese authorities that recommends scrapping the project. There has clearly been a tussle inside the government over the issue. Earlier this month, the minister for electric power, U Zaw Min, insisted the plan would go ahead. Senior environmental officials, however, have urged caution. Thein Sein may be taking a risk with the announcement. His government took over this year from the junta that ruled Burma for decades and is still thought to be under the influence of the military. Burma Aung San Suu Kyi Jonathan Watts guardian.co.uk
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UK broadcasters told to be more careful about showing sexually explicit music videos before the 9pm watershed Ofcom has ordered UK broadcasters to be more careful about showing sexually explicit music videos before the 9pm watershed. The regulator issued new guidance on Friday, focusing on the visual as well as the verbal content of some music videos in a bid to tighten the enforcement of existing watershed rules. Broadcasters have been told to take particular care masking or editing offensive language where possible, in order to protect children. The new guidelines follow recent scrutiny by the regulator into pre-watershed programmes that it judged to be either unsuitable or close to unsuitable for children. Ofcom’s move also follows the publication of a government-backed report in the summer by Mothers’ Union chief executive, Reg Bailey, which called for tighter control of sexualised imagery including raunchy music videos. It also follows the controversy over last December’s The X Factor final, which attracted 4,500 complaints to Ofcom due to its raunchy performances by Rihanna and Christina Aguilera. Ofcom’s warning to broadcasters was accompanied by new research involving more than 1,000 parents and primary carers which showed that 11% of parents found music videos the greatest cause of concern regarding the kind of programmes shown before the watershed. Other types of programme that most concerned parents were soaps (14% of respondents) and films (14%) followed by reality programmes (12%). However, the research indicated that 58% of parents and primary carers surveyed were not concerned by what their children had watched on television before 9pm in the past 12 months. Less than a quarter – 24% – said they were “fairly concerned”, although 9% said they were “very concerned”. Just under a quarter (23%) of the 768 teenagers surveyed said that in the past 12 months they had seen something on TV before the watershed that had made them uncomfortable or had offended them. Earlier this week Ofcom upheld complaints against the music channel Greatest Hits TV for showing a quarter-hour segment of videos by the US rap star 50 Cent at 9am. The watchdog upheld a series of complaints about the scenes depicted in the videoes which included “dancing with two topless female performers in a sexualised manner” in the music video for the song P.I.M.P, as well as images of two females being walked like dogs with leashes. The video for the song I Like the Way She Do It contained the lyrics: “It never enough she like it rough. We keep it going and we switch positions, listen”. Another video for the song If I Can’t contained the words “pussies”,”nigger”,”motherfucker” and “fuck”. Ofcom ruled the screening was a “clear breach of broadcasting code” and put licence holders Mushroom TV “on notice” following the incident. This year has seen an increase in efforts to curb the broadcast of raunchy pop videos at times when children were watching. Following the Bailey report, prime minister David Cameron called for a Downing Street summit of retailers, advertisers, broadcasters, magazine editors, video games and music industry chiefs and regulators to gauge progress over issues including the exposure of children to sexualised imagery, which is due to take place in October. The summit is still due to take place according to Ofcom, but it is unclear if Cameron will accede to calls in Bailey’s report for legislation in 18 months if demands for tighter voluntary controls are not implemented. •
Continue reading …Networks Focus on Victims as They Paint ‘Severe’ Alabama Law as ‘Arizona on Steroids’
September 30, 2011 No Comment
Matching the pattern set in coverage of Arizona’s immigration enforcement law, the broadcast network evening newscasts on Thursday set night all framed their stories on Alabama’s “severe” new law around its victims, with ABC anchor Diane Sawyer and NBC anchor Brian Williams both describing it as “Arizona on steroids.” They didn’t mean it as a compliment. Sawyer mischaracterized it as an “anti-immigration law.” ABC was the most one-sided, with reporter Steve Osunsami not mentioning a reason for the new law until his very last sentence. Instead, Osunsami intoned, “Across Alabama today, demonstrators were furious, calling this the Arizona law with an Alabama twist,” before showing a man who charged that “it says that our government promotes racism.” Osunsami proceeded to empathize and tout some high school students: “Some of them are student athletes and class officers and, yes, some are undocumented. They told me they now come to school in fear.” He highlighted a parent who is moving to California because of the law, but the mother despaired “we’re people, we’re humans.” Brian Williams set up NBC’s story by citing “a law that goes so far as to tell elementary schools to investigate their kids. One commentator today called this ‘Arizona on steroids.’” Reporter Kerry Sanders connected the new law to Alabama’s racist/segregationist history. Over black and white video of police attacking a crowd Sanders asserted: “This Mexican-American, Duce Lavera, says in this Southern state with its ugly history she sees something else in the law.” The woman charged: “I think it's just hate. It's not really about jobs.” CBS provided the only story approaching balance, but reporter Mark Strassmann still found a farmer upset about losing his workers who hyperbolically claimed: “You want to get rid of illegal immigrants, quit eating. And that's for everybody nationwide. If you want to get rid of them, quit eating. That will solve the problem.” Sawyer’s introduction on World News conveyed quite an ominous picture: And now, we turn to the toughest anti-immigration law in America that went into effect today in Alabama, a crackdown so severe it's been described as the Arizona law on steroids. Police have broad new powers to stop and detain anyone they deem suspicious and even use their children in classrooms to track them down. [ Friday readers: We need today to be our big day! Show your support for NewsBusters by helping us reach our $5,000 goal today. Donate now and get a liberal media bias gift as a thank you.] The stories on the Thursday, September 29 newscasts, transcripts provided by the MRC’s Brad Wilmouth who corrected the closed-captioning against the video: ABC’s World News : DIANE SAWYER: And now, we turn to the toughest anti-immigration law in America that went into effect today in Alabama, a crackdown so severe it's been described as the Arizona law on steroids. Police have broad new powers to stop and detain anyone they deem suspicious and even use their children in classrooms to track them down. ABC's Steve Osunsami is in Birmingham tonight. CLIP OF PROTESTERS: This is what democracy looks like! STEVE OSUNSAMI: Across Alabama today, demonstrators were furious, calling this the Arizona law with an Alabama twist. UNIDENTIFIED MAN: To me, it says that our government promotes racism. UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: We have to move. We have to leave everything. OSUNSAMI: It was approved by the state legislature and widely backed by voters here. The police can check for papers, detain undocumented residents without bail, and the public schools are now forced to share with authorities the citizenship status of all newly enrolled students. GOVERNOR ROBERT BENTLEY (R-AL): We have the strongest immigration law in this country. OSUNSAMI: At Center Point High in Birmingham, principal Van Phillips says several students came to him this morning, worried he was going to kick them out. VAN PHILLIPS, PRINCIPAL OF CENTER POINT HIGH SCHOOL: I'm not INS. It's not my job to police who's legal, who's illegal. OSUNSAMI: Some of them are student athletes and class officers and, yes, some are undocumented. They told me they now come to school in fear. UNIDENTIFIED TEENAGE GIRL: I came to school thinking, are they going to pull me out of class? Are they going to ask me questions? UNIDENTIFIED TEENAGE BOY: They're saying we can't have the same rights as citizens because they're not citizens, but I really want to know what's the real definition of citizen? OSUNSAMI: Educators here say they've been put in a tough spot, and that under the law, all they plan to do is report information. PHIL HAMMONDS, SUPERINTENDENT OF JEFFERSON COUNTY SCHOOLS:
Continue reading …Trending now: Twitter hijackers large and small. Twitter, which allows its 200 million users to post up-to-the-second…
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