News Thread

For the talkin' of jibba jabba.
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speaker-to-trolls
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Re: News Thread

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Mousavi: The wheel's always turning. Ahmedinejad: That only matters to the ones on the rim wrote:
Monday, 14 February 2011


Protests wracked central Tehran today


Clashes between Iranian police and tens of thousands of protesters wracked central Tehran today with security forces beating and firing tear gas at opposition supporters looking to evoke Egypt's recent popular uprising.

The opposition called for a demonstration today in solidarity with Egypt's popular revolt that a few days earlier forced the president there to resign after nearly 30 years in office. The rally is the first major show of strength for Iran's cowed opposition in more than a year.

Police used tear gas against the protesters in central Tehran's Enghelab square and in Imam Hossein square, as well as in other nearby main streets. Demonstrators responded by setting rubbish bins on fire to protect themselves from the stinging white clouds.

"We support you Mousavi," some of the demonstrators chanted, referring to a prominent opposition leader. "An Iranian dies but doesn't accept humiliation" and "Death to the dictator," they said, referring to hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Security forces on motorcycles could also be seen chasing protesters through the streets, according to eyewitnesses.

Foreign media are banned from covering street protests in Iran.

Following the announcements by the opposition that they would attempt to hold a new rally in soldarity with the Egypt uprising, Iran's security forces cut phone lines and blockaded the home of an opposition leader in attempts to stop him attending the planned rally.

Police and militiamen poured onto the streets of Tehran to challenge the marches, which officials worry could turn into demonstrations against Iran's ruling system.

The security clampdown is reminiscent of the backlash that crushed a wave of massive protests after Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election in June 2009. But opposition supporters revived a tactic from the unrest, shouting "Allahu Akbar," or God is Great, from rooftops and balconies into the early hours Monday in a sign of defiance toward Iran's leadership.

The reformist website kaleme.com said police stationed several cars in front of the home of Mir Hossein Mousavi ahead of the demonstration called for today in central Tehran.

Mousavi and fellow opposition leader Mahdi Karroubi have been under house arrest since last week after they asked the government for permission to hold a rally on February 14 in support of the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.

On Sunday, the opposition renewed its call to supporters to rally, and accused the government of hypocrisy by voicing support for the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings while refusing to allow Iranian political activists to stage a peaceful demonstration.

"These elements are fully aware of the illegality of their demand and know that they won't get permission for revolt," Interior Ministry official Mahdi Alikhani was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying late Sunday.

Esmaeil Gerami Moghaddam, spokesman for Karroubi's National Confidence Party, countered on the party's website that under Iran's constitution there is no need for government permission to hold a peaceful rally.

Across central Tehran, riot police, many on motorbikes, fanned out to prevent any demonstration, witnesses said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of fears of reprisals from authorities.

The uprising in Egypt opened a rare chance for the political gambit by Iran's opposition.

Ahmadinejad claimed the Egyptians who toppled President Hosni Mubarak took inspiration from Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, which brought down a Western-backed monarchy. Iran's opposition movement used the comments to push the government into a corner and request permission to march in support of Egypt's protesters.

Iranian officials quickly backpedaled and said no pro-Egypt rallies were allowed — bringing sharp criticism from the White House and others.

On Thursday, White House national security spokesman Tommy Vietor said: "For all of its empty talk about Egypt, the government of Iran should allow the Iranian people the same universal right to peacefully assemble and demonstrate in Tehran that the people are exercising in Cairo."

Karroubi and Mousavi have compared the unrest in Egypt and Tunisia with their own postelection protest movement. Mousavi said Iran's demonstrations were the starting point but that all the uprisings aimed at ending the "oppression of the rulers."

Turkish President Abdullah Gul, who is on a visit to Iran, urged governments in the Middle East to listen to the demands of their people.

"When leaders and heads of countries do not pay attention to the demands of their nations, the people themselves take action to achieve their demands," IRNA quoted Gul as saying Monday.

Hundreds of thousands of Iranians peacefully took to the streets in support of Mousavi after the June 2009 vote, claiming Ahmadinejad was re-elected through massive vote fraud.

A heavy government crackdown suppressed the protests. The opposition has not been able to hold a major protest since December 2009.
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Re: News Thread

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[b][url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-12678445]London judge rugby-tackled sex offender[/url][/b] wrote:A judge rugby-tackled a sex offender to the ground to prevent him escaping from court, the Old Bailey has heard.

Judge Douglas Marks Moore, 60, grabbed Paul Reid at Woolwich Crown Court last year, the court heard.

Reid, who had allegedly escaped from another court in 2008, tried to flee after giving evidence in his trial, jurors were told.

The 34-year-old, who had been jailed for two years for indecent assault, denies escape and attempted escape.

In December 2008, Reid was given an indeterminate sentence, with a minimum term of two years, at Inner London Crown Court.

He was taken to Brixton Prison but returned to the same court 10 days later for an ancillary matter.

As he left the court he managed to escape from the security officer by slipping the handcuff off his wrist and running out of a fire escape.

He was recaptured but made a second escape bid at a hearing at Woolwich Crown Court last August, the court heard.
Continue reading the main story

The main door to the court was locked for security reasons but the doors to the judge's corridor and jury room were unlocked for safety reasons.

Rupert Gregory, prosecuting, said: "The jury were just leaving when the defendant jumped up and ran across the clerk's bench to get to the judge's door.

"As he went through the door his honour Judge Marks Moore grabbed him round the throat to try to bring him down."

After falling down three steps together Reid broke free but the judge gave chase.

As Reid was about to open a push-handle fire door, Judge Moore rugby-tackled him around the waist and brought him crashing to the ground, landing on top of him.

Mr Gregory told the court: "There is only one reason why a Crown Court judge would rugby-tackle a defendant to the ground - because he is trying to escape and the judge is the only person in any position to prevent that escape.

"The only thing preventing Paul Reid from pushing that fire door to the outside world was a judge in a wig and full robes."

When interviewed by police Reid told officers the judge told him he could go home, the court heard.

The case continues.
"This explanation posits that external observation leads to the collapse of the quantum wave function. This is another expression of reactionary idealism, and it's indeed the most brazen expression."
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Re: News Thread

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British law is like British love. Hard and fast.
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Re: News Thread

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What is this, pulp judicial action? THE CASE CONTINUES.
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Re: News Thread

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This is but the first step on the road to MEGA CITY ONE.

I am Judge Moore. I am THE LAW!
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Re: News Thread

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This may be just me, and I'm sure it's just another fine example of Her Majesty's Prisons, but there's something incredibly Victorian about the name 'Brixton Prison'.

"I hereby sentence you to twenty years in Brixton Prison, followed by transportation to the penal colonies!"
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Re: News Thread

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Law would always be more interesting if it was a cross between a rugby match and Phoenix Wright.
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Re: News Thread

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Obama is coming on in a few moments to announce that Osama Bin Laden is dead.
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Congratulations America, and congratulations to Barry Muslim Dude (BMD) and American Barry Man (BMD). After those anti-American unpatriotic traitors tried to distract America with their false-flag diversion operation that wasted eight years and countless freedom-loving American lives, FINALLY one of America's sons, born on her freedom-loving soil, has righted these wrongs and done the ultimate patriotic thing in the universe! Birth certificates, lambasting Donald Trump and making terrible jokes at his expense, and now killing Osama bin Laden? Today is a good day to be President. Those Hyper Patriotic Conservative Americans should dub him HEROBAMA instead of Zerobama. He did in four years what their beloved Decider couldn't do in eight. The graphs say it all.
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Image

:mrgreen:
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Re: News Thread

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Finally!
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Re: News Thread

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VICTORY!
You have ruled this galaxy for ten thousand years.
You have little of account to show for your efforts.
Order. Unity. Obedience.
We taught the galaxy these things.

And we shall do so again.
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Uh no. Actually, it's even less of a victory than killing Saddam because in Saddam's case, at least his government was already destroyed (and even thousands of US troops have died since then). Al Qaeda is still very much functional, and while definitely symbolic and definitely for great justice, Osama bin Laden's death isn't anywhere near the end of the organization.

That's like saying the USA lost because Abraham Lincoln got brained.

Still, it took a "weak on terror" "soft on defense" librul three years to do what a gung ho manly lone Walker (Bush) Texas Ranger couldn't in ten.

Also: Since the operation was weeks in planning, I bet Obama deliberately released his birth certificate so he could fuck with Trump and his opponents in the Correspondents Dinner and top it off with delivering OBL's head in a platter the day after, to culminate in a week of total awesome for him.
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Re: News Thread

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Requisite pic spam:

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Shroom Man 777 wrote:Still, it took a "weak on terror" "soft on defense" librul three years to do what a gung ho manly lone Walker (Bush) Texas Ranger couldn't in ten.
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"This explanation posits that external observation leads to the collapse of the quantum wave function. This is another expression of reactionary idealism, and it's indeed the most brazen expression."
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REBUILD OF COMIX STAGE 1 - Rey Quirino Versus the Dark Heart of the Philippines
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Re: News Thread

Post by Magister Militum »

Good riddance to the piece of shit. And it's nice to see Obama show the war whores how its done.

EDIT: Oh, and I'm totally posting that first pic on Facebook, Shroomy. :D
Democratic Socialist | Atheist | Transhumanist | Bright Green Environmentalist | Worldbuilder | IT Professional |


Germania your game is through, now you're gonna answer to... The Freestates! Fuck Yeah! Now lick my balls and suck on my cock! Freestates, Fuck Yeah! Coming in to save the motherfuckin' day! Rock and roll, fuck yeah! Television, fuck yeah! DVDs, fuck yeah! Militums, fuck yeah! - Shroomy
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Re: News Thread

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I know the Rapture thingy was a bunch of rubbish, but the Australians were just too funny in this article.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/ma ... aterialise
Mah favorite part
The 89-year-old Californian preacher had prophesied that the Rapture would begin at 6pm in each of the world's time zones, with those "saved" by Jesus ascending to heaven and the non-believers being wiped out by an earthquake rolling from city to city across the planet.

But as the deadline for the Apocalypse passed in the Pacific islands, New Zealand and Australia, it became apparent that Camping's prediction of the end of the world was to end not with a bang but with a whimper.

Only on Twitter did the supposed Armageddon sweep the world, with users expressing their mock disappointment at the lack of dead people rising from their graves.

New Zealander Daniel Boerman tweeted: "I'm from New Zealand, it is 6:06PM, the world has NOT ended. No earthquakes here, all waiting for the rapture can relax for now. #Rapture"

In Australia, Jon Gall of Melbourne was unimpressed by the lack of fire and brimstone. He tweeted: "#Rapture time here in Melbourne. A rather quiet sort of rapture if you ask me.

"Well we have had the #Rapture going for 50 minutes now. So far it hasn't interrupted my fish & chips and glass of stout."

In Brisbane, KillaJeules, was similarly disappointed by the lack of a Hollywood blockbuster ending: "So it's 6:37pm here in Brisbane, Australia. No earthquakes. No beaming up of Christians. No zombie apocalypse. No surprises haha."
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Scientists Discover Hungry Worms From Hell
Three kilometers beneath Earth’s crust, in a realm known as the subsurface, temperatures in the thick rock are well over 40°C, and the oxygen-poor water chokes out familiar life. Here, slow-growing bacteria and other microbes flourish in masses called biofilms. A ravenous predator also survives in these hellish conditions: a roundworm that researchers describe today as the first multicellular organism to be found in the deep subsurface of Earth.

Eleven years ago, while studying the microbes that live in water-filled rock fractures in South African gold mines, geomicrobiologist Tullis Onstott of Princeton University noticed wormlike organisms living in cultures taken from 1.3 kilometers below the surface. “Well, I’m not a worm kind of guy,” Onstott says. So he contacted Gaetan Borgonie, a nematologist at Ghent University in Belgium, who collected and filtered tens of thousands of liters of water samples from five mines in the area to find the rare creatures, which belong to the worm group called nematodes. In addition to some previously described nematodes, which scientists had never before seen living at this extreme depth, the researchers discovered a new species of nematode that subsists on microbes and requires only trace amounts of oxygen. They named the deep-living, heat-loving species Halicephalobus mephisto. The name refers to Faust’s devil, Mephistopheles, and means “he who loves not the light” in Greek.

In their paper, published today in Nature, the researchers describe H. mephisto as physically similar to surface nematodes, about half a millimeter long and having evolved to be fonder of devouring subsurface bacteria than of dining on the common surface bacterium Escherichia coli. The nematodes are extremely rare because there’s so little oxygen in their environment and they need to eat about 10,000 bacteria per day to survive.

The researchers carbon-dated dissolved organic molecules in water from the vents. They found that the water had been there for somewhere between 3000 and 12,000 years, suggesting that the drillers didn’t bring the oxygen (or the worms) down with them. David Smith, an oceanographer at the University of Rhode Island, in Narragansett, says that although contamination is always a “tricky issue,” the researchers show plenty of evidence of careful handling to support their conclusions. He calls the findings “eye opening” and expects they will encourage other researchers to start looking for multicellular creatures far beneath Earth’s surface.

Marine microbiologist Andreas Teske of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, was not surprised that the first multicellular subsurface organism was a nematode; the worms are among the hardiest creatures on the planet. “If all other [nonmicrobial] life was extinguished, the survivors would be nematodes,” he says.

Onstott says that his group is now working with the J. Craig Venter Institute to sequence H. mephisto’s genome. They hope to discover how the worm can cope with high temperature and low oxygen. The molecular mechanisms, Onstott speculates, may be similar to those of other subsurface organisms such as yeast and fungi. But Teske, who says that there’s a “world of difference” between a predatory worm and a yeast cell, thinks there could be huge surprises.

The study is “another step forward in finding life in places you don’t expect it,” says Michael Meyer, an astrobiologist who is the lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program in Washington, D.C. “The discovery of multicellular organisms in the Hadean subsurface world raises the unthinkable possibility there could be multicellular life on Mars.”

But Teske cautions against “wild speculation” about the impact of the study on the search for extraterrestrial life, because H. mephisto isn’t a completely isolated species but has cousins on the surface.

As for Onstott’s group, they are trying to expand the subsurface life panoply even more. “We have worms from hell; next we’ll be looking for viruses from hell,” he says.
"This explanation posits that external observation leads to the collapse of the quantum wave function. This is another expression of reactionary idealism, and it's indeed the most brazen expression."
-
REBUILD OF COMIX STAGE 1 - Rey Quirino Versus the Dark Heart of the Philippines
"...a literary atrocity against the senses..." - Ford

REBUILD OF COMIX STAGE 2 - Advent Rey Returns: REVERGELTUNG
Coming NEVER
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Re: News Thread

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Old, but still worth reading.

http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2011/03/ch ... -gaga.html
"Do people choose to be gay, or are they born that way? Here’s a tip: Don’t turn to Lady Gaga for an answer. For the Christian, thinking in terms of dichotomies such as 'nature versus nurture' and 'genetics versus free will' is the real problem. For us, it’s not either-or. Who we are cannot be reduced to any one thing. For instance, Christianity teaches that biology and the rest of creation has a great deal to teach us about how we should live. This is part of what we mean by “natural law.” An obvious example is the biological facts that lie behind the teaching that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

"But saying that biology is somehow normative is not the same thing as saying that is determinative. We are free to choose how we behave, both for good and for ill. We are not 'slaves to our biology' unless we choose to make ourselves so by believing it to be the case. To say we are is beneath our dignity as humans made in the image of God, not to mention a denial of the power of God to transform us." - Convicted felon and Manhattan Declaration author Chuck Colson, joining the Christianist attacks on Lady Gaga for saying we were "born this way."

RELATED: The fastest-selling single in iTunes history, Born This Way has already sold millions of copies worldwide and has gone to #1 in more than 30 countries. Whether you're a Gaga fan or not, you cannot deny the unprecedented impact of hundreds of millions of people singing out loud, that yes, we were born this way. Lady Gaga is pushing the movement forward in ways few could have possibly fathomed.
Oh, idiot homophobe, why must you be so stupid by attacking somebody who is:

A) Is probably much smarter than you.

and

B) Is much more worthy of being an American, you convicted Watergate felon, solely by impact on the world.
You have ruled this galaxy for ten thousand years.
You have little of account to show for your efforts.
Order. Unity. Obedience.
We taught the galaxy these things.

And we shall do so again.
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Re: News Thread

Post by Invictus »

So, Sarah Palin wants to meet her conservative hero, Maggie Thatcher-
The Guardian wrote:One Thatcher ally told the Guardian: "Lady Thatcher will not be seeing Sarah Palin. That would be belittling for Margaret. Sarah Palin is nuts."
The Guardian wrote:The former prime minister's friends say she will show the level she punches at when she marks the centenary of the birth of Ronald Reagan by attending the unveiling of a statue of the late president outside the US embassy in Grosvenor Square on independence day, 4 July. The Thatcher ally added: "Margaret is focusing on Ronald Reagan and will attend the unveiling of the statue. That is her level."
...or not.
"This explanation posits that external observation leads to the collapse of the quantum wave function. This is another expression of reactionary idealism, and it's indeed the most brazen expression."
-
REBUILD OF COMIX STAGE 1 - Rey Quirino Versus the Dark Heart of the Philippines
"...a literary atrocity against the senses..." - Ford

REBUILD OF COMIX STAGE 2 - Advent Rey Returns: REVERGELTUNG
Coming NEVER
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Re: News Thread

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Huge treasure trove discovered under southern Indian Hindu temple
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(Reuters) - Investigators plan to pry open the final vault hidden deep under a centuries-old Indian Hindu temple as police guarded round the clock the shrine where billions of dollars worth of treasure has been discovered.

Over the last week a seven-member team of investigators has broken into five of the six secret subterranean vaults piled high with jewels that have lain untouched for hundreds of years.

Onlookers and devotees thronged the shrine in the bustling centre of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of India's southern Kerala state, as officials said treasure worth more than $20 billion had been found -- more than India's education budget.

Sacks filled with diamonds were piled next to tonnes of gold coins and jewellery, media reported, in the vaults of the 16th century Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, the royal chapel of the former rulers of Travancore, now part of Kerala state.

"The current market value of the articles found so far by the committee members would be roughly 900 billion rupees," one temple official who was not authorised to speak to the media told Reuters.

Investigators searched the vaults to draw up an inventory of the riches because of worry about security but they had no idea of the amount of treasure they would find.

Estimates of the haul's worth range across billions of dollars, with investigators unwilling to disclose the official amount and the ambiguity involved in valuing the priceless jewels and gold coins by weight.

Police set up a dedicated control room close to the temple on Monday, as state Chief Minister Oommen Chandy pledged full state security for the hoard and promised it would remain the property of the temple after an inventory was made.

"We are ready to protect the temple wealth. We will chart out measures for the permanent security in consultation with the Travancore Royal family, which administers the temple now, and the chief priest of the temple", Chandy told reporters.

Historians supported the estimates of the treasure's value, noting the lucrative trade routes that passed through the region for many centuries.

"Traders, who used to come from other parts of the country and abroad for buying spices and other commodities, used to make handsome offerings to the deity for not only his blessings but also to please the then rulers", said P.J. Cherian, director of Kerala Council for Historic Research.

As estimates of the treasure's worth rise, a fierce debate is growing regarding what to do with the discovery, in a country where 450 million people live in poverty.

Leaders of the Hindu community want the wealth to be invested in the temple, while many intellectuals, including former Supreme Court judge Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer have suggested it should be used for the public good.

The government has said it would adhere to the Supreme Court's ruling on ownership of the treasure found in the temple, which is still controlled by the royal family unlike other temples in Kerala which are managed by the government.

The vaults were searched after a lawyer petitioned the country's top court to order the government to take over the temple as it did not have adequate security.

Several temples in India have billions of dollars worth of wealth as devotees donate gold and other precious objects as gifts to spiritual or religious institutions that run hospitals, schools and colleges.

The Tirumala temple in eastern Andhra Pradesh state is reported to have 3,000 kg (6,600 lb) of gold, a third of which it deposited with the State Bank of India last year, while spiritual guru Sai Baba, who died in April, left behind an estimated $9 billion estate.

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, who staged a fast against corruption last month that lead to protests against the government, has built a $40 million-a-year global empire through yoga and various spiritual products and services.

The operation began last week and the final vaults were to be unlocked Monday.

Before the trove was uncovered, there was almost no visible security at the temple, save for a few local security guards patrolling the complex with batons, mainly for crowd control.

Kerala's police chief, Jacob Punnoose, said he sent extra police officers to guard the temple and is planning a high-tech security system to protect the treasure.

"We plan to enhance security in a manner which will not interfere with the activities of the temple or devotees," Mr. Punnoose said.

The security plans include the installation of digital electronic networks, closed circuit cameras and metal detectors at the entrance and exits of the temple.
"This explanation posits that external observation leads to the collapse of the quantum wave function. This is another expression of reactionary idealism, and it's indeed the most brazen expression."
-
REBUILD OF COMIX STAGE 1 - Rey Quirino Versus the Dark Heart of the Philippines
"...a literary atrocity against the senses..." - Ford

REBUILD OF COMIX STAGE 2 - Advent Rey Returns: REVERGELTUNG
Coming NEVER
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Re: News Thread

Post by Czernobog »

As this board's resident monarchist and Germanophile, this is sad news:

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/07/0 ... t-age.html
BERLIN — Otto von Habsburg, the oldest son of Austria-Hungary's last emperor and the longtime head of one of Europe's most influential families, died Monday, his spokeswoman said. He was 98.

Habsburg died in his sleep at his home in Poecking in southern Germany, where he had lived in exile since the 1950s, spokeswoman Eva Demmerle told The Associated Press. A longtime advocate of European reunification, he campaigned against communism and for the removal of the Iron Curtain.

Born in 1912 in what is now Austria, Habsburg witnessed the family's decline after the empire was dismantled and Austria became a republic following World War I. He became head of the family at his father's death in 1922 and continued to claim the throne until the 1960s.

He was a member of the European Parliament for the conservative Bavarian Christian Social Union in southern Germany and also served as president of the Pan-European League from 1979 to 1999.

In that role, he was instrumental in helping organize the Pan-European Picnic peace demonstration in 1989 on the border of Austria and Hungary. The border was briefly opened in a symbolic gesture, which created the opportunity for 600 East Germans to flee communism months before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

It was the first time an Eastern European nation had opened its borders, and is widely seen as the start of the fall of communism.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso mourned the passing of "a great European ... who gave an important impetus to the European project throughout his rich life".

"He made a central contribution to the opening of the Iron Curtain and the peaceful reunification of our continent that had been divided for too long," Barroso said in a statement. "I will particularly remember his strong stance against all forms of totalitarianism and on Europe's fundamental values."
Habsburg was born in the Austrian city of Reichenau, the oldest son of Charles I, whose family ruled much of central and eastern Europe for centuries.

But after Austria and Germany lost World War I, the Austria-Hungarian Empire was dismantled, Charles I had to resign and Austria went on to become a republic.

In 1919, Charles and his family had to leave the country for what turned out to be permanent exile in various European countries.

After his father's death in 1922, the 10-year-old Otto officially took over as the head of the House of Habsburg.

Otto tried to negotiate his return to Austria in 1935 and again in 1938 when he even sought to become chancellor to fight the expected invasion by Hitler's troops, but could not gather enough support.

Instead, he found a channel through the U.S. embassy in Paris to contact President Franklin D. Roosevelt and later claimed to have prevented Allied bombings of a number of Austrian cities by pleading with the U.S. military.

He was also credited with having helped about 15,000 Austrians escape the Nazis. At the same time, as he told the Austrian paper Die Presse in 2007, he negotiated Austria's postwar fate with Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle.

Still, he was not allowed to return to Austria until 1966, five years after he officially abdicated the crown. He later claimed to be baffled by the hostility and criticism in his home country.

Habsburg's wife, Regina, died last year. The couple had seven children. Their eldest son, Karl, now runs the family's affairs and has been the official head of the House of Habsburg since 2007.

Habsburg will be buried July 16 in the Emperor Tomb in Vienna, below the Austrian capital's Capuchin Church.
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And we shall do so again.
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Invictus
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Re: News Thread

Post by Invictus »

SHARK JUMPS THE BOAT
Scientists off South Africa's Cape use crane and ropes to get disoriented half-ton shark back into sea
reat white sharks off Seal Island, South Africa

Marine researchers in South Africa had a narrow escape after a three-metre-long great white shark breached the surface of the sea and leapt into their boat, becoming trapped on deck for more than an hour.

The incident occurred while the research team was conducting a shark population study off Seal Island, near Mossel Bay, on South Africa's Cape coast.

Using sardines as bait to attract the predators, the seven-strong crew was able to observe four great whites. The animals are renowned locally for bursting through the surface as they prey on seals.

Dorien Schröder, team leader at Oceans Research, based at Mossel Bay, said that last Monday morning, after more than an hour of shark activity around the vessel, the Cheetah, the waters at the stern had been quiet for five minutes. "Next thing I know I hear a splash, and see a white shark breach out of the water from [the] side of the boat hovering, literally, over the crew member who was chumming [throwing food bait] on the port side," she said.

Schröder recounted how she pulled her colleague to safety before the shark, weighing about 500kg (half a ton) landed on top of the bait and fuel containers. At first half of its body was outside the boat but in a panic the shark thrashed its way further on to the vessel, cutting the fuel lines and damaging equipment before becoming trapped between the containers and the stern. The crew found safety at the bow of the boat.

As Schröder poured water over the shark's gills to keep it alive, another boat was sent out to the Cheetah. A rope from the second vessel was secured around the shark's tail, but repeated efforts to tow the fish into the water failed.

The rescue ship then towed Cheetah to the port with the shark still on deck. A hosepipe was placed in the fish's mouth to ventilate its gills, before it was lifted off the boat with a crane, then lowered back into the water.

Though the shark swam away it was unable to navigate its way out of the harbour and soon beached. With Oceans Research's co-director, Enrico Gennari, an expert on great white sharks, the team tried unsuccessfully to "walk" the shark back to sea. Finally they tied ropes to the shark's tail fin and behind its pectoral fin, and attached these ties to the rescue vessel, which towed the shark out through the harbour estuary. The ropes were then removed and the animal swam away.

Gennari said it was the first time he had heard of a great white shark jumping onto a research vessel. He estimated the predator would have had to have leapt about three metres out of the water to be able to land on the boat. A smaller vessel would have capsized, he said.

As for the cause of the shark's behaviour, Gennari said it was almost certainly an accident rather than an attack on the boat. In the low-visibility water the fish could have mistaken the vessel's shadow for prey, or been disturbed by another shark close by, he said.

"It's all speculation," he said. "But sometimes a shark breaches the surface when it feels another shark underneath it. They [move] like a flying fish and end up several metres away."
"This explanation posits that external observation leads to the collapse of the quantum wave function. This is another expression of reactionary idealism, and it's indeed the most brazen expression."
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Re: News Thread

Post by speaker-to-trolls »

OK, I have no doubt that everyone has heard about this, but I just thought I'd better post it to make sure.

From here
85 dead in shooting, 7 in bombing in Oslo, bad times wrote:Police arrived at an island massacre about 90 minutes after a gunman first opened fire, slowed because they didn't have quick access to a helicopter and then couldn't find a boat to make their way to the scene just several hundred yards (meters) offshore. The assailant surrendered when police finally reached him, but 82 people died before that.

Survivors of the shooting spree have described hiding and fleeing into the water to escape the gunman, but a police briefing Saturday detailed for the first time how long the terror lasted — and how long victims waited for help.

The shooting came on the heels of what police told The Associated Press was an "Oklahoma city-type" bombing in Oslo's downtown: It targeted a government building, was allegedly perpetrated by a homegrown assailant and used the same mix of fertilizer and fuel that blew up a federal building in the US in 1995.

In all, at least 92 people were killed in the twin attacks that police are blaming on the same suspect, 32-year-old Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik.

A SWAT team was dispatched to the island more than 50 minutes after people vacationing at a campground said they heard shooting across the lake, according to Police Chief Sveinung Sponheim. The drive to the lake took about 20 minutes, and once there, the team took another 20 minutes to find a boat.

Footage filmed from a helicopter that showed the gunman firing into the water added to the impression that police were slow to the scene. They chose to drive, Sponheim said, because their helicopter wasn't on standby.

"There were problems with transport to Utoya," where the youth-wing of Norway's left-leaning Labor Party was holding a retreat, Sponheim said. "It was difficult to get a hold of boats."

At least 85 people were killed on the island, but police said four or five people were still missing.

Divers have been searching the surrounding waters, and Sponheim said the missing may have drowned. Police earlier said there was still an unexploded device on the island, but it later turned out to be fake.

The attack followed the explosion of a bomb packed into a panel truck outside the building that houses the prime minister's office in Oslo, according to a police official

"It was some kind of Oklahoma City-type bomb," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because police hadn't released the information.

Seven people were killed, and police said there are still body parts in the building. The Oslo University hospital said it has so far received 11 wounded from the bombing and 19 people from the camp shooting.

Police have charged Breivik under Norway's terror law. He will be arraigned on Monday when a court decides whether police can continue to hold him as the investigation continues.

Authorities have not given a motive for the attacks, but both were in areas connected to the Labor Party, which leads a coalition government.

Even police confessed to not knowing much about the suspect, but details trickled out about him all day: He had ties to a right-leaning political party, he posted on Christian fundamentalist websites, and he rented a farm where he amassed six tons of fertilizer.

Police said the suspect is talking to them and has admitted to firing weapons on the island. It was not clear if he had confessed to anything else he is accused of. Police said he retained a lawyer, but the attorney did not want to be named.

"He has had a dialogue with the police the whole time, but he's a very demanding suspect," Sponheim said.

Earlier in the day, a farm supply store said they had alerted police that he bought six tons of fertilizer, which is highly explosive and can be used in homemade bombs.

Police and soldiers were searching for evidence and potential bombs at the farm south of Oslo on Saturday. Havard Nordhagen Olsen, a neighbor, told The Associated Press that Breivik moved in about one moth ago, just next to his house and said he seemed like "a regular guy."

Olsen said recognized his neighbor in the newspapers this morning and admitted to "being under shock."

Meanwhile, Mazyar Keshvari, a spokesman for Norway's Progress Party — which is conservative but within the political mainstream — said that the suspect was a paying member of the party's youth wing from 1999 to 2004.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg called the tragedy peacetime Norway's deadliest day.

"This is beyond comprehension. It's a nightmare. It's a nightmare for those who have been killed, for their mothers and fathers, family and friends," Stoltenberg told reporters Saturday.

Gun violence is rare in Norway, where the average policeman patrolling in the streets doesn't carry a firearm. Reports that the assailant was motivated by political ideology were shocking to many Norwegians, who pride themselves on the openness of their society. Indeed, Norway is almost synonymous with the kind of free expression being exercised by the youth at the political retreat.

King Harald V, Norway's figurehead monarch, vowed Saturday that those values would remain unchanged.

"I remain convinced that the belief in freedom is stronger than fear. I remain convinced in the belief of an open Norwegian democracy and society. I remain convinced in the belief in our ability to live freely and safely in our own country," said the king.

The monarch, his wife and the prime minister led the nation in mourning, visiting grieving relatives of the scores of youth gunned down. Buildings around the capital lowered their flags to half-staff. People streamed to Oslo Cathedral to light candles and lay flowers; outside, mourners began building a makeshift altar from dug-up cobblestones. The Army patrolled the streets of the capital, a highly unusual sight for this normally placid country.

The city center was a sea of roadblocks Saturday, with groups of people peering over the barricades wherever they sprang up, as the shell-shocked Nordic nation was gripped by reports that the gunman may not have acted alone. Police have not confirmed a second assailant but said they are investigating witness reports.

The queen and the prime minister hugged when they arrived at the hotel where families are waiting to identify the bodies. Both king and queen shook hands with mourners, while the prime minister, his voice trembling, told reporters of the harrowing stories survivors had recounted to him.

On the island of Utoya, panicked teens attending a Labour Party youth wing summer camp plunged into the water or played dead to avoid the assailant in the assault. A picture sent out on Twitter showed a blurry figure in dark clothing pointing a gun into the water, with bodies all around him.

The carnage began Friday afternoon in Oslo, when a bomb rocked the heart of Norway. About two hours later, the shootings began at the youth retreat, according to the police official.

The blast in Oslo, Norway's capital and the city where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded, left a square covered in twisted metal, shattered glass and documents expelled from surrounding buildings.

The dust-clogged scene after the blast reminded one visitor from New York of Sept. 11. People were "just covered in rubble," walking through "a fog of debris," said Ian Dutton, who was in a nearby hotel.

Asked whether all victims at Utoya died from gunshot wounds or if some had drowned, Stoere, the foreign minister, said "you will likely see a combination."

A 15-year-old camper named Elise who was on Utoya said she heard gunshots, but then saw a police officer and thought she was safe. Then he started shooting people right before her eyes.

"I saw many dead people," said Elise, whose father, Vidar Myhre, didn't want her to disclose her last name. "He first shot people on the island. Afterward he started shooting people in the water."

Elise said she hid behind the same rock that the killer was standing on. "I could hear his breathing from the top of the rock," she said.

She said it was impossible to say how many minutes passed while she was waiting for him to stop.

At a hotel in the village of Sundvollen, where survivors of the shooting were taken, 21-year-old Dana Berzingi wore pants stained with blood. He said the fake police officer ordered people to come closer, then pulled weapons and ammunition from a bag and started shooting.

Several victims "had pretended they were dead to survive," Berzingi said. But after shooting the victims with one gun, the gunman shot them again in the head with a shotgun, he said.

"I lost several friends," said Berzingi, who used the cell phone of one of those friends to call police.

Earlier, the police official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the attack "is probably more Norway's Oklahoma City than it is Norway's World Trade Center." Domestic terrorists carried out the 1995 attack on a federal building in Oklahoma City, while foreign terrorists were responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Aerial images broadcast by Norway's TV2 showed members of a SWAT team dressed in black arriving at the island in boats and running up the dock. People who had stripped down to their underwear moved in the opposite direction, swimming away from the island toward the mainland, some using flotation devices.

The United States, European Union, Nato and the UK, all quickly condemned the bombing, which Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague called "horrific" and Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen deemed a "heinous act."

"It's a reminder that the entire international community has a stake in preventing this kind of terror from occurring," President Barack Obama said.

Obama extended his condolences to Norway's people and offered US assistance with the investigation. He said he remembered how warmly Norwegians treated him in Oslo when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II wrote to Norway's King Harald to offer her condolences and express her shock and sadness at the shooting attacks in his country.

A US counterterrorism official said the United States knew of no links to terrorist groups and early indications were the attack was domestic. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was being handled by Norway.
I truly don't know how significant this is for Norway and Europe in general, but it sounds very much as if this was a concerted anti-government attack by some kind of nationalist group, I don't think it's likely that this one man could have been behind both the bombing and the shooting since they happened virtually at the same time.
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