Breaking News Thread Version 2.0

[dragonz]

way to go kiddo!
finally someone found a way to leach off the leaches

[Krandall]

I honestly don't envy any of the decisions the president has to make. Good or bad. He's going to get slammed..
can't please anyone. As long as he keeps his eyes set true to what is really good for this country. We'll be fine.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091007/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_us_afghanistan

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is gathering his national security team for another strategy session on Afghanistan eight years after the war started and as a new poll shows public support declining.

Obama, who inherited the war when he took office last January, is examining how to proceed with a worsening combat situation that has claimed nearly 800 U.S. lives and sapped American patience. Launched after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to defeat the Taliban and rid al-Qaida of a home base, the war has lasted longer than ever envisioned.

House and Senate leaders of both parties emerged Tuesday from a nearly 90-minute conversation with Obama with praise for his candor and interest in listening. But politically speaking, all sides appeared to exit where they entered, with Republicans pushing Obama to follow his military commanders and Democrats saying he should not be rushed.

Public support for the war now stands at 40 percent, down from 44 percent in July, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll. A total of 69 percent of self-described Republicans in the poll favor sending more troops, while 57 percent of self-described Democrats oppose it.

Obama said the war would not be reduced to a narrowly defined counterterrorism effort, with the withdrawal of many U.S. forces and an emphasis on special operations forces that target terrorists in the dangerous border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Two senior administration officials say such a scenario has been inaccurately characterized and linked to Vice President Joe Biden, and that Obama wanted to make clear he is considering no such plan.

The president did not show his hand on troop increases. His top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has bluntly warned that more troops are needed to right the war, perhaps up to 40,000 more. Obama has already added 21,000 troops this year, raising the total to 68,000.

Obama also gave no timetable for a decision, which prompted at least one pointed exchange.

Inside the State Dining Room, where the meeting was held, Obama's Republican opponent in last year's presidential race, Sen. John McCain, told Obama that he should not move at a "leisurely pace," according to people in the room.

That comment later drew a sharp response from Obama, they said. Obama said no one felt more urgency than he did about the war, and there would not be nothing leisurely about it.

Obama may be considering a more modest building of troops — closer to 10,000 than 40,000 — according to Republican and Democratic congressional aides. But White House aides said no such decision has been made.

The president insisted that he will make a decision on troops after settling on the strategy ahead. He told lawmakers he will be deliberate yet show urgency.

"We do recognize that he has a tough decision, and he wants ample time to make a good decision," said House Republican leader John Boehner. "Frankly, I support that, but we need to remember that every day that goes by, the troops that we do have there are in greater danger."

What's clear is that the mission in Afghanistan is not changing. Obama said his focus is to keep al-Qaida terrorists from having a base from which to launch attacks on the U.S or its allies. He heard from 18 lawmakers and said he would keep seeking such input even knowing his final decision would not please them all.

Obama's emphasis on building a strong strategy did not mean he shed much light on what it would be. He did, though, seek to "dispense with the more extreme options on either side of the debate," as one administration official put it. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the closed-door meeting.

The president made clear he would not "double down" in Afghanistan and build up U.S forces into the hundreds of thousands, just as he ruled out withdrawing forces and focusing on a narrow counterterrorism strategy.

"Half-measures is what I worry about," McCain, R-Ariz., told reporters. He said Obama should follow recommendations from those in uniform and dispatch thousands of more troops to the country — similar to what President George W. Bush did during the 2008 troop "surge" in Iraq.

The White House said Obama won't base his decisions on the mood on Capitol Hill or eroding public support for the war.

"The president is going to make a decision — popular or unpopular — based on what he thinks is in the best interests of the country," press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters.

[Colorado700R]

You've got to love australia.....


Racing fans "limited" to 24 beers a day Tue Oct 6, 2009 4:42pm EDT  Email | Print | Share| Reprints | Single Page[-] Text

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  1 of 1Full SizeMELBOURNE (Reuters) - Adult fans at one of Australia's most popular motor sport races, the Bathurst 1000, will be limited to one "slab" of beer a day -- or 24 375 ml cans -- as police focus on reducing alcohol-related crime.
  
  The 24-can rule would also be placed on mixed drinks for the V8 car race starting Thursday which draws thousands to the rural town of Bathurst in eastern New South Wales state, the NSW police said Tuesday.
  
  But more restrained spectators would be able to slake their thirst, if not their craving for alcohol, with up to 36 cans of low or mid-strength beer.
  
  Wine lovers must make do with no more than four liters of cask wine per day and combinations of the options would not be allowed, the police statement said.
  
  "This is one of the greatest motorsport events in Australia and for some it is a pilgrimage that they make every year," Assistant Commissioner Alan Clarke said.
  
  "Police respect people's rights to enjoy the race weekend, but will promptly act when the law is broken.
  
  "Every year thousands of race fans attend and enjoy the event and Police will not allow their safety to be compromised by a drunken few.
  
  "As such we will once again be focusing on alcohol related behavior," he said.
  
  Police were also urging people traveling to Bathurst to drive safely and closely monitor their speed and fatigue.
  
  The race runs from Thursday to Sunday.
  

[Krandall]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091007/ap_on_re_af/piracy

Somali pirate error ends with 5 in French brig

awesome.


PARIS – Somali pirates in two skiffs fired on a French navy vessel early Wednesday after apparently mistaking it for a commercial boat, the French military said. The French ship gave chase and captured five suspected pirates.

No one was wounded by the volleys from the Kalashnikov rifles directed at La Somme, a 3,800-ton refueling ship, French military spokesman Rear Adm. Christophe Prazuck said.

La Somme "was probably taken for a commercial ship by the two small skiffs" about 250 nautical miles (290 statute miles) off Somalia's coast, Prazuck said.

"They understood their mistake too late," he said.

One skiff fled, and La Somme pursued the second one in an hour-long chase.

"There were five suspected pirates on board. No arms, no water, no food," Prazuck said.

France is a key member of the EU's naval mission, Operation Atalanta, fighting Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. It has aggressively tracked and caught suspected pirates and handed over at least 22 to Kenya. An additional 15 suspects were brought to France for prosecution after allegedly seizing boats belonging to French nationals.

President Nicolas Sarkozy called for tougher action against piracy last year after dozens of attacks.

[Krandall]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20091008/sc_space/nasasettodivebombthemoon
NASA Set to Dive Bomb the Moon



A NASA spacecraft and its trusty rocket stage are drawing ever closer to the moon to intentionally crash to their doom Friday, all in the name of science.

The cosmic collisions are expected to kick up tons of moon dirt in giant debris plumes that will then be scanned for signs of water ice suspected to be buried beneath the floor of a permanently shadowed crater at the lunar south pole.

"Everybody is feeling very excited," said Victoria Friedensen, NASA's program executive for the LCROSS mission at the heart of the moon crash. "There is a great sense of anticipation."

Moon crash

NASA launched the LCROSS probe in June along with a powerful lunar orbiter that is currently circling the moon to determine whether water ice, which could be a vital resource for astronauts in the future, actually exists in the perpetual darkness of craters at the moon's south pole.

Since then, the $79 million LCROSS — short for Lunar Crater Observation Sensing Satellite — has made three long loops around the Earth while attached to an empty Centaur rocket stage, its first weapon in the upcoming lunar double whammy.

The two vehicles are due to separate late tonight and the first impact is set for 7:31 a.m. EDT (1131 GMT). That's when the 42-foot (13-meter) long Centaur rocket stage will plow into the crater Cabeus at the moon's south pole. NASA will start broadcasting the event live on NASA TV at 6:30 a.m. EDT (1030 GMT).

Seasoned amateur astronomers may be able to see the crash using 10 or 12-inch telescopes depending on their location, local weather and lighting conditions. [Click here to see how to watch the LCROSS moon crashes.]

The Centaur rocket stage weighs 5,216 pounds (2,366 kg), about as much as a sport utility vehicle, and will slam into the moon at about 5,600 mph (9,010 kph). Researchers believe the blast will create a new crater about 12 miles (20 km) wide and send moon dirt soaring to heights of 6.2 miles (10 km), where it would be illuminated by the sun.

"It will kick up whatever is on the floor of the crater," LCROSS project manager Daniel Andrews has said. "That may very well include water ice."

But the first crash is only the prelude. Riding aboard the LCROSS spacecraft are nine different science instruments, including cameras that will beam live views of the impact back to NASA's mission operations center at the Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. Those tools will be used to scan the debris plume for evidence of water ice.

"We expect to see the crater getting closer and closer," Friedensen told SPACE.com.

The 1,664-pound (891-kg) LCROSS shepherding craft will follow its Centaur rocket stage down to make its own crash about four minutes after the initial lunar hit.

More than 20 observatories on Earth, as well as a host of amateur astronomers, museums and volunteers will be watching the two crashes to search for signs of any water ice in the debris clouds. The Hubble Space Telescope and other space-based observatories will also turn their camera eyes on the moon for the event.

"Our last day in flight promises to be the most challenging and the most rewarding for the project," LCROSS flight director Paul Tomkins wrote in his NASA blog today. "Our 112 days in orbit are focused entirely on the last four minutes, after the Centaur impacts our target crater and raises a plume of lunar material for the LCROSS Shepherding Spacecraft to observe for signs of water, but before the Shepherd also impacts the moon."

Unlike other spacecraft that have smacked the moon, like Japan's recent Kaguya probe, Europe's Smart-1 and NASA's Lunar Prospector, the LCROSS impactors will hit at a steep angle in order to get the biggest boom for their buck, mission managers said.

LCROSS has not had a completely smooth ride to the moon. An August glitch forced the spacecraft to use much of its propellant supply, but not enough to prevent its ultimate mission.

NASA also unexpectedly switched target craters last week, choosing the 60-mile (98-km) wide Cabeus over its nearby neighbor Cabeus A because data suggested the new target had a higher concentration of hydrogen — a signal for potential water ice.

Hunting moon water

Scientists already know that some small amount of water exists on the moon, but LCROSS is designed to seek out buried water ice at the lunar south pole — a region where the sun has never shined on some craters with permanent shadows.

NASA scientists say the areas may be the coldest places in the solar system, with temperatures reaching minus 400 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 240 Celsius) in the crater shadows. Finding usable amounts of water ice would be a boon for NASA's vision to send astronauts back to the moon by the mid-2020s.

But Friedensen said that it will take time before scientists know if any water is present in the debris plumes. A few hours after the two impacts, LCROSS scientists will hold a press conference, but will likely only be able to discuss how accurate the hits were, she added.

"We will not be able to talk about how much water is there, if it's water we find," she said. "The science team will need a couple of days, maybe even a couple of weeks to make sure."

The live stream of data from LCROSS will be recorded in triplicate — at the mission control center at Ames and two other sites — to make sure it is saved for posterity, Friedensen added.

Tompkins said that knowing LCROSS will soon meet its fate is a bit sad, even if it was already preordained for the cause of science.

"Well, we all knew it was going to happen.  It was inevitable.  It was the whole design of the mission," he wrote. "LCROSS was destined to end its wonderfully fantastic journey by intentionally crashing into a permanently shadowed crater at the south pole of the moon."

[Krandall]

Nice try peels...

Nearly $10,000 Worth of Meth Found in Potato Chip Bag on its Way to Phoenix


A routine traffic stop resulted in the seizure of what authorities say was nearly $10,000 worth of crystal meth on its way to Phoenix late last week.

Two people, 36-year-old Enrique Orozco and 27-year-old Vanessa Concepcion Gaxiola, were driving in a 2003 Chevrolet pickup truck west on Interstate 10 when a DPS K-9 unit pulled them over near Marana.

The two said they were driving to Phoenix, but DPS officials tell New Times the couple was acting suspiciously, which prompted the officer to ask if he could search the vehicle.

When the two said no, the officer had a narcotics canine walk around the truck.

When the dog indicated there were drugs in the car, the couple's objection to a search was noted and ignored.

Officers found an open half-full potato chip bag on the back seat of the truck and as you may have guessed, it was full of crystal meth.

"There are some smart criminals, but they aren't all rocket scientists," a DPS official says. "Our dogs are very accurate."

The officer found close to a half pound of meth.

Orozco and Gaxiola were arrested and booked into the Pima County Jail on charges of possession and transportation of dangerous drugs.

[Peelz]

Dammit!!! all I wanted was a potato chip!

[russ-russ]

Dammit!!! all I wanted was a potato chip!

Betcha can't eat just one! 

[dragonz]

Dammit!!! all I wanted was a potato chip!

YEAH RIGHT

[Peelz]

I am an Obama supporter, but aren't we jumping the gun a bit? Not much has really been accomplished. 

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/10/68500680/1

Press secretary Robert Gibbs awoke President Obama with a phone call just before 6 a.m. to tell him he had won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Obama is "humbled" by the honor, the White House said in a brief statement.

It seems like no one expected this. There were audible gasps in the room when the Nobel committee announced the decision early this morning in Oslo, Norway.

Obama and aides lost their Olympic bid for Chicago just a week ago, but now that seems far away.

[Krandall]

I wish I was there... to steal one of those!

TRAUBING, Germany – A German artist is posing 1,250 garden gnomes with their arms outstretched in the stiff-armed Hitler salute in an installation that he calls a protest of lingering fascist tendencies in German society. Artist Ottmar Hoerl posed the gnomes in the historic central marketplace of Straubing, a town in southeastern Germany, on Wednesday. The exhibit called "dance with the devil" is to run through Oct. 19.

Most of gnomes are black plastic, but about 20 are painted shiny gold.

Displaying Nazi symbols is illegal in Germany but a court ruled earlier this year that Hoerl's gnomes were clearly satire and thus allowed.

Hoerl says: "the fascist idea, the striving to manipulate people or dictate to people ... is latently dangerous and remains present in our society."

[Peelz]

Nazi yard gnomes? I need them!!!!!!

[Krandall]

Nazi yard gnomes? I need them!!!!!!

I seriously want one!

[dragonz]

Nazi yard gnomes? I need them!!!!!!

I seriously want one!

& what would ya do with that???
Give ya a couple of hours for the novelty to wear off & it would be sitting in the corner keeping your collection of broken swingarms company 

[Peelz]

Nazi yard gnomes? I need them!!!!!!

I seriously want one!

& what would ya do with that???
Give ya a couple of hours for the novelty to wear off & it would be sitting in the corner keeping your collection of broken swingarms company