General Nonsense Forums

Russia sends advanced missiles to aid Assad in Syria

Brandenburg — Sun, 19 May 2013 17:15:24 GMT

Quote:

WASHINGTON � Russia has sent advanced antiship cruise missiles to Syria, a move that illustrates the depth of its support for the Syrian government led by President Bashar al-Assad, American officials said Thursday.

Russia has previously provided a version of the missiles, called Yakhonts, to Syria. But those delivered recently are outfitted with an advanced radar that makes them more effective, according to American officials who are familiar with classified intelligence reports and would only discuss the shipment on the basis of anonymity.

Unlike Scud and other longer-range surface-to-surface missiles that the Assad government has used against opposition forces, the Yakhont antiship missile system provides the Syrian military a formidable weapon to counter any effort by international forces to reinforce Syrian opposition fighters by imposing a naval embargo, establishing a no-fly zone or carrying out limited airstrikes.

�It enables the regime to deter foreign forces looking to supply the opposition from the sea, or from undertaking a more active role if a no-fly zone or shipping embargo were to be declared at some point,� said Nick Brown, editor in chief of IHS Jane�s International Defense Review. �It�s a real ship killer.�
Video: UN may have to feed 4 million in Syria by year end (on this page)

Jeffrey White, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a former senior American intelligence official, said Syria�s strengthened arsenal would �tend to push Western or allied naval activity further off the coast� and was also �a signal of the Russian commitment to the Syrian government.�

The disclosure of the delivery comes as Russia and the United States are planning to convene an international conference that is aimed at ending the brutal conflict in Syria, which has killed more than 70,000. That conference is expected to be held in early June and to include representatives of the Assad government and the Syrian opposition.

Secretary of State John Kerry has repeatedly said that it is the United States� hope to change Mr. Assad�s �calculations� about his ability to hold on to power so that he will allow negotiations for a political solution to the conflict. Mr. Kerry indicated that he had raised the issue of Russian arms deliveries to Syria during his recent visit to Moscow, but declined to provide details.
Advertise | AdChoices

�I think we�ve made it crystal clear we would prefer that Russia was not supplying assistance,� he said. �That hasn�t changed.�

American officials have been concerned that the flow of Russian and Iranian arms to Syria will buttress Mr. Assad�s apparent belief that he can prevail militarily.

�This weapons transfer is obviously disappointing and will set back efforts to promote the political transition that is in the best interests of the Syrian people and the region,� Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the senior Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement on Thursday night. �There is now greater urgency for the U.S. to step up assistance to the moderate opposition forces who can lead Syria after Assad.�

Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey and the committee chairman, added in a statement, �Russia is offering cover to a despotic ruler and defending a bankrupt regime.�

Syria ordered the coastal defense version of the Yakhont system from Russia in 2007 and received the first batteries in early 2011, according to Jane�s. The initial order covered 72 missiles, 36 launcher vehicles, and support equipment, and the systems have been displayed in the country.

The batteries are mobile, which makes them more difficult to attack. Each consists of missiles, a three-missile launcher and a command-and-control vehicle.

The missiles are about 22 feet long, carry either a high-explosive or armor-piercing warhead, and have a range of about 180 miles, according to Jane�s.

They can be steered to a target�s general location by longer-range radars, but each missile has its own radar to help evade a ship�s defenses and home in as it approaches its target.

Two senior American officials said that the most recent shipment contained missiles with a more advanced guidance system than earlier shipments.

Russia has longstanding interests in Syria, including a naval base at the Mediterranean port of Tartus.
Video: Obama with Turkey's PM: 'We both agree Assad needs to go' (on this page)

As the Syria crisis has escalated, Russia has gradually augmented its naval presence in the region. In January, more than two dozen Russian warships sailed to the Black and Mediterranean Seas to take part in what the Defense Ministry said was to be the country�s largest naval exercise in decades, testing the ships� ability to deploy outside Russian waters.

A month later, after the Black Sea exercises ended, the Russian Defense Ministry news agency said that four large landing vessels were on their way to operations off the coast of Syria.
Advertise | AdChoices

�Based on the results of the navy exercises in the Black and Mediterranean seas,� the ministry said at the time, �the ministry leadership has taken a decision to continue combat duty by Russian warships in the Mediterranean.�

Russia�s diplomatic support of Syria has also bolstered the Assad government.

At the United Nations, the Russians recently blocked proposals that the Security Council mount a fact-finding trip to Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon to investigate the burgeoning flood of refugees, according to Western diplomats.

Jordan had sought the United Nations visit to make the point that the refugee situation was a threat to stability in the region, but Russia said that the trip was beyond the mandate of the Security Council, diplomats said.
Story: Entire families executed in ruthless Syrian massacre

When allegations that the Assad government had used chemical weapons surfaced, Russia also backed the Syrian government�s refusal to allow the United Nations to carry out a wide-ranging investigation inside Syria � which Russia�s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said was an attempt to �politicize the issue� and impose the �Iraqi scenario� on Syria.

Russian officials have repeatedly said that in selling arms to Syria, they are merely fulfilling old contracts. But some American officials worry that the deliveries are intended to limit the United States� options should it choose to intervene to help the rebels.

Russia, for example, previously shipped SA-17 surface-to-air missiles to Syria. Israel carried out an airstrike against trucks that were transporting the weapons near Damascus in January. Israel has not officially acknowledged the raid but has said it is prepared to intervene militarily to prevent any �game changing� weapons from being shipped to Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group.

More recently, Israeli and American officials have urged Russia not to proceed with the sale of advanced S-300 air defense weapons. The Kremlin has yielded to American entreaties not to provide S-300s to Iran. But the denial of that sale, analysts say, has increased the pressure within Russia�s military establishment to proceed with the delivery to Syria.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/51913683/n.../#.UZeQEsrNlhL

I dont see nothing wrong with it.. the us claims that this action will possibly widen the conflict.. the US's actions in helping the rebels have already done that,.. Israel says that weapons will end up in the wrong hands.,. Again.. probably going to happen anyway with US arms.. Those rebels arnt no fukin saint.. more like a snake in the grass

Drone pilot burnout triggers call for recruiting overhaul

Brandenburg — Sun, 19 May 2013 17:10:54 GMT

Quote:

Driving a war drone is a stressful business. Shifts up to 12 hours long are stretches of dullness, watching and waiting, interrupted by flashes of intense activity in which pilots must make life-or-death decisions. Not their own life or death, however.

Pilots may be thousands of miles away from the flying weapons system they're operating. They often head home at the end of the day, as if returning from any other office job, maybe picking up milk on the way. But while at work, their drones' onboard cameras put them in a unique position to watch people being killed and injured as a direct result of their actions.

As psychologists learn more about the mental scarring warfare leaves on drone pilots — caused by long shift hours, isolation, witnessing casualties and those Jekyll-and-Hyde days split between battlefield and home — experts from within the U.S. Air Force are calling for a review of drone pilot selection.

Brad Hoagland, an Air Force colonel and visiting researcher at the Brookings Institution, and a fighter-jet pilot and operations commander of 23 years himself, believes that drone pilots could be picked better, and that existing selection techniques are due to be updated now that the service has accumulated almost a decade of research into the psychological characteristics of drone pilots.

"The thrill of taking off from a runway, flying a mission and then coming back and landing at the end of the mission — that’s very exciting," he told NBC News. "But I think that’s a different type of person who can do that, than someone who is maybe wired to fly an unmanned system from a console 7,000 miles away. It’s a different psychological makeup requirement to execute the mission."

Right stuff, wrong stuff
"I think we are still trying to figure out exactly what the 'right stuff' is," Wayne Chappelle, a clinical psychologist consulting for Air Force Medical at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, told NBC News. "We have a general idea ... but I certainly think we're probably more aware of what the wrong stuff is versus the right stuff."

The trouble is that spotting the known positive attributes in up-and-coming drone pilots is harder than spotting the negative attributes. To begin with, Chappelle drew up a portrait of the ideal drone pilot from the recorded testimony of 82 drone pilots and their supervisors in a 2011 report.

Good drone pilots, according to Chappelle's findings, have excellent memory for pictures and sounds. They are bombarded with sounds and images from multiple screens through their long shifts, but parse that data quickly, cutting through the noise. They're multitaskers and collaborators.

"These guys are very smart, very bright in a wide range of areas. They are emotionally resilient and highly stress tolerant and very motivated," Chappelle said.

People who have a history of abuse or dependence on alcohol, drugs or other substances, anxiety or depression, and cognitive impairments such as learning disabilities tend to make bad drone pilots.

Although the strengths of a drone pilot differ from the strengths of a manned fighter pilot, Chappelle said the psychological screening protocol for both is the same — and hasn't changed in a decade. "We're still looking at ways to improve and expand upon the screening procedures."

In his research, Hoagland has found that washout rates among undergraduate pilot trainees headed to crafts like the F-16 are traditionally about 10 to 15 percent. But drone pilot trainees exit at 30 percent (though that's down from 45 percent a few years ago). Pilots may drop out, but more often, they fail to meet some flight or academic criteria along the way, Hoagland said.

And when they do graduate, they receive mental health diagnoses at a rate on par with pilots who fly in aircraft, and at much higher rates than other non-pilot Air Force personnel, according to a February 2013 report by the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center.

NBC News has requested to interview a pilot or pilot instructor at the Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, where drone pilots are trained, but to date the Air Force has declined the request without further explanation.
pilot trainee flies an MQ-1 Predator simulator mission at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico
U.S. Air Force
A pilot trainee flies an MQ-1 Predator simulator mission at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico on Feb. 8, 2012.

Testing, testing
In an upcoming report headed to the Pentagon, Hoagland will suggest some fixes for his higher-ups to consider.

For one, though the Air Force has a test called the Pilot Candidate Scoring Method, not all pilot candidates — of drones or manned craft — are given the exam. (The Air Force Academy, for example, only recently started administering it, and only on an "experimental" basis.)

"I can't believe we as an Air Force haven't standardized this," Hoagland says. Once everyone's taking the test, and baseline scores are set, those scores can be mined for indicators as to who might be better suited to fly an F-16 and who might be destined for a drone. "It's a common sense approach."

Also, though it's been standard procedure to assess concentration, attention, psychomotor skills as part of the Medical Flight Screening-Neurosychiatric test in pre-screened pilots-to-be, that information is not used in the selection process. Tests do weed out the medically and psychologically unfit — Hoagland thinks it would be an easy next step to ask: "Is this person suited for an unmanned or manned system?"

The coming swarm
As the Air Force's drone program grows, so does the importance of pilot selection. What started in 2004 as five drone combat patrols — four aircraft each — will to swell to 65 patrols by 2014. By 2010, Predators had logged more than a million combat hours, more than any other military bird. And today's population of 1,300 combat drone pilots will be joined by 500 more in the next few years.

And as autonomous systems evolve, the capabilities of unmanned craft will, too. The Air Force will shift to a system with multiple vehicles flown in tandem, answering to a single pilot. These "swarm" handlers will have more complex tasks heaped on them earlier in their career.

"In terms of who we need to have, I think we're on a learning curve there," Anthony Tvaryanas, a doctor of aerospace medicine and technical advisor with the 711th Human Systems Integration Directorate at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, told NBC News.

"If [a pilot is] operating a swarm, what are you looking for in that person? I don't think anyone's looking into those concepts," Tvaryanas said.

"As we get from a pilot in an airplane to a pilot outside the airplane to a pilot controlling 100 airplanes, I think we're approaching the limits of what [prior experience and studies] can inform us. There's a need to look back at training," he added.

it would more stressful for the "pilots" if they actually had to fly actual planes over a battlefield.. I can really sympathies as the flying times/stress where much more intense for wars that used actual pilots.. WW2/Korea/Nam/GW1&2/ect
http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/dr...haul-1C9910483

these drones are nothing more than a flight sim in a real world as opposed to a virtual one..i.e. Video games... only difference is that your actions have real consequences

Entitled Families Hire Disabled Guide to Bypass Lines

Brandenburg — Sun, 19 May 2013 17:05:46 GMT

Quote:

Now this is rich: Disney World is investigating news that a handful of upper-crust Manhattan moms have a pricey, secret way to get their kids to the front of the lines�and it�s not by bribing Mickey Mouse.

More on Shine: Disney Princess Makeover Sparks Outrage: Merida Petition Goes Viral

Instead, according to the New York Post, the moms pay $130 an hour to hire a disabled, �black-market� guide, who uses her position�sitting in a motorized scooter�to help entitled families gain special access to rides.

�On one hand, you can say she�s a great entrepreneur,� disability activist Kleo King, of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association, told Yahoo! Shine. �On the other hand, she�s kind of pimping herself out. And it�s outrageous she would help people commit fraud.�

Though the New York Post has no on-the-record sources in its shocking report, Disney is taking the matter seriously, according to spokesperson Bryan Malenius, who told Yahoo! Shine, �We are thoroughly reviewing the situation and will take appropriate steps to deter this type of activity." He added, "It is unacceptable to abuse accommodations that were designed for guests with disabilities."
More on Yahoo!: 6 Rejected Disney Theme Park Rides

The scheme of hiring out the disabled guide was uncovered by social anthropologist Wednesday Martin, a former New York Post contributor who was conducting research for a forthcoming book, �Primates of Park Avenue,� due out in 2014.

�It�s insider knowledge that very few have and share carefully,� Martin told the Post. �So when you�re doing it, you�re affirming that you are one of the privileged insiders who has and shares this information.� You�re also getting a good deal, as VIP tours offered by Disney, which include speed passes, start at $315 an hour.

�My daughter waited one minute to get on �It�s a Small World� � the other kids had to wait 2 1/2 hours,� one unnamed mom bragged to the Post. �You can�t go to Disney without a tour concierge...This is how the 1 percent does Disney.�
A tour company singled out in the story as the family's guide denied using a disability to bypass lines. Both the tour company and Disney have not yet responded to Yahoo! Shine requests for comment.

But according to the park's official policy, guests using a wheelchair or motorized scooter, plus up to five members of their party, can use auxiliary entrances �intended to offer guests in wheelchairs or with trained service animals a more convenient entrance to the attraction� and are �not intended to bypass waiting lines.�

Still, the Post also reported that urban mothers have asked Divamoms website operator Lyss Stern how they might make their children appear handicapped in order to gain special disabled access. �I never understood how parents could have a clear conscience doing this,� Stern told the Post. And one parent, Matt Montesi of Atlanta, added that, after his 11-year-old with ADHD was granted a three-day Disney handicapped pass with a doctor's note, he was tempted to sell it on Craigslist. "People will pay bucks to circumvent the lines," he noted.

Yahoo forums on the topic turn up people who claim to have seen folks fake handicaps for special access. Wrote one commenter, who identified himself as a Disney employee, "There are ways that do allow you to bypass the line but I am not going to tell people because there are people who already abuse it and that pisses me and my fellow cast member off. Those people should be ashamed of themselves for doing it to. They disgust me every time I see them come through."

Using a false disability claim to skip lines is not a new trick, unfortunately. A recent Wall Street Journal story documented the trend of travelers requesting the use of complimentary wheelchairs in airports as a technique of getting pushed to the front of security lines, only to leap up and sprint to their gates once they have clearance. �We call them �miracles.� They just start running with their heavy carry-ons," longtime wheelchair attendant Kenny Sanchez noted.

It�s also not unheard of at other amusement parks, apparently. King told Shine that, just the other day, she heard about someone who borrowed his grandmother�s wheelchair for his day at New Jersey�s Six Flags Great Adventure in order to avoid waiting in queues.

�It�s outrageous. This practice is hurting people with disabilities who legitimately can�t stand in line, as the more people who do it, the more resentful people get,� King explained. �Disney World and other places can�t really ask people about their disabilities in order to curtail fraud, so they have to take people at face value. But anytime fraud happens, it hurts people who really need services.�

http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/dis...194555620.html

some people have no sense of decency..

China investigates N Korea 'boat hijack'

Bundy — Sun, 19 May 2013 09:50:26 GMT

Quote:

CHINESE authorities are investigating claims that unidentified North Koreans hijacked a Chinese fishing boat, kidnapping 16 sailors and demanding a ransom, local media and an official says.

Armed North Koreans on May 6 hijacked the boat and escorted it towards North Korea while it was sailing in waters around 70 kilometres from North Korea's western coast, reports and the boat's owner Yu Xuejun said.

"The crew were taken away by a North Korean patrol boat after an armed hijacking," Yu said, adding that the kidnappers had contacted him to demand a ransom of 600,000 yuan ($A100,300).

"We are currently investigating (the boat owner's claims)," a section chief for the state border detachment, which is responsible for border security in the port city of Dalian, surnamed Zhao, said.

The Southern Metropolis Daily said the Chinese embassy in North Korea told Yu it was "dealing with the matter".

Yu was not certain of the kidnappers' identity, but said he suspected they were associated with North Korea's army.

Yu claimed to have been in contact with the 16 crew members as recently as Saturday, and said he believed they were in good health, but added that he was "worried that the North Koreans could abuse our sailors".

He had reported the incident to Chinese authorities, he said, but later posted details of the hijacking on the internet out of frustration over an apparent lack of official action.

"It has almost been two weeks, but I haven't seen any results," he said.

The reported incident comes a year after the return of 29 fishermen also kidnapped by unidentified North Koreans who had demanded a 1.2 million yuan ransom.

The fishermen were returned without ransom after the foreign ministry said it had contacted North Korea in an effort to resolve the case, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Tensions between North Korea and China, seen as its sole major ally, have been high in recent months after North Korea carried out a nuclear test in February, a move Beijing said it "firmly opposed".

The Global Times newspaper last year quoted Dalian residents as saying North Korean coastguards had in the past captured fishing boats and stolen fuel and other items on board.

Declining fishing stocks in often heavily polluted coastal waters have pushed Chinese fishermen further afield in recent years, prompting disputes with neighbouring countries.

Calls to Dalian's city government, and the local maritime safety bureau went unanswered on Sunday.

SOURCE:Courier Mail, Brisbane

North Korea Reportedly Launches Short-Range Missiles

skellattarr — Sat, 18 May 2013 19:53:56 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea � North Korea launched three short-range missiles into the sea off its east coast on Saturday, the South Korean Defense Ministry said. The tests broke the recent relative silence from the North, but the move was much less provocative than what had been feared in the tense weeks after the country�s nuclear test in February.

Short-range tests from North Korea are fairly routine, and as it often has, the North fired the missiles away from South Korea and toward the northeast.

South Korean and American officials have worried that North Korea would cap weeks of bluster after the nuclear blast with the test of a longer-range missile that might show worrisome improvements in Pyongyang�s arsenal.

Analysts say that missile, called the Musudan, might be capable of striking as far as Guam, where American troops are stationed. The North has threatened to strike bases there if provoked.

�With the short-range missile tests, North Korea is reminding the United States and South Korea that it can escalate tensions again and follow up with more serious steps if things do not go in the direction it wants,� said Kim Yong-hyun, a North Korea analyst at Dongguk University in Seoul.

American and South Korean officials have speculated that the North�s young leader, Kim Jong-un, might be hoping to force the Obama administration and South Korea to offer major concessions to stop its threats, a move Washington and Seoul have so far been unwilling to take.

Some analysts have also suggested that a missile test might have an upside: allowing Mr. Kim to tell his people he had taken action after months of sensational warnings against Washington and Seoul, but to do so without provoking hostilities.

A spokesman for the Defense Ministry, Kim Min-seok, said that two missiles had been launched in the morning and another in the afternoon.

�We remain vigilant and prepared in case the launching of these missiles might be followed by a military provocation by the North,� Mr. Kim said.

North Korea last launched short-range missiles in February and March. Such tests do not draw as much attention as the North�s longer-range ballistic missiles, which the country was barred from launching under United Nations resolutions.

In recent months, North Korea has threatened to strike the United States with nuclear-tipped missiles, although American intelligence agencies remain divided over how close it has come to mastering such technology.

Officials in the region have been watching for North Korean missile tests since the South detected mobile launching vehicles on the North�s east coast early last month. The vehicles carried Musudan missiles, which have never been tested.

This month, American officials said North Korea had withdrawn the Musudan launching vehicles, prompting speculation that it wanted to de-escalate tensions or, perhaps, was moving the missiles out of view of spy satellites.

The tests of the shorter-range missiles followed a summit meeting on May 7 between President Obama and his South Korean counterpart, Park Geun-hye, in which the two leaders made no new overtures toward the North.

Glyn T. Davies, the top American envoy on North Korea, completed a trip last week to Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo, where he discussed how to deal with the North�s nuclear and missile threats.

Tensions on the divided peninsula appear to have decreased in recent weeks, since the United States and South Korea completed their major annual military drills. The drills had angered the North.

With the apparent easing, Washington and its allies have recently revived diplomatic efforts to try to get North Korea committed to dismantling its nuclear weapons, which the North has recently said it would never give up.

On Saturday, Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the United States National Security Council, said that North Korea �will achieve nothing by threats or provocations� � which she said would further isolate the country.

�We continue to urge the North Korean leadership to heed President Obama�s call to choose the path of peace and come into compliance with its international obligations,� she said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/wo...iles.html?_r=0

New App Lets You Boycott Koch Brothers, Monsanto And More By Scanning Your Shopping C

mtosev — Sat, 18 May 2013 19:34:17 GMT

In her keynote speech at last year�s annual Netroots Nation gathering, Darcy Burner pitched a seemingly simple idea to the thousands of bloggers and web developers in the audience. The former Microsoft MSFT +2.29% programmer and congressional candidate proposed a smartphone app allowing shoppers to swipe barcodes to check whether conservative billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch were behind a product on the shelves.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoco...-shopping-cart

Egyptians targeted with blasphemy charges

entropy13 — Sat, 18 May 2013 13:09:42 GMT

CAIRO (AP) � The pale, young Christian woman sat handcuffed in the courtroom, accused of insulting Islam while teaching history of religions to fourth-graders. A team of Islamist lawyers with long beards sang in unison, "All except the Prophet Muhammad."

The case against Dimyana Abdel-Nour in southern Egypt's ancient city of Luxor began when parents of three of her pupils claimed that their children, aged 10, complained their teacher showed disgust when she spoke of Islam in class. According to the parents, Abdel-Nour, 24, told the children that Pope Shenouda, who led the Egyptian Coptic Church until his death last year, was better than the Prophet Muhammad.

Blasphemy charges were not uncommon in Egypt under the now-ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak's regime, but there has been a surge in such cases in recent months, according to rights activists. The trend is widely seen as a reflection of the growing power and confidence of Islamists, particularly the ultraconservative Salafis.

"Salafis are the engineers of these stories," said Abdel-Hamid Hassan, a Muslim and the head of the parents' council at the primary school where Abdel-Nour teaches. Hassan's daughter was among several students who denied any wrongdoing by Abdel-Nour.

"If the pope himself came here from the Vatican and tried to spread Christianity among us, he would fail. We learn about our religion starting from the age of 5," he said, alluding to the allegation against Abdel-Nour, since withdrawn, of "spreading Christianity."

Criminalizing blasphemy was enshrined in the country's Islamist-backed constitution that was adopted in December.

Writers, activists and even a famous television comedian have been accused of blasphemy since then. But Christians seem to be the favorite target of Islamist prosecutors. Their fragile cases � the main basis of the case against Abdel-Nour's case the testimony of children � are greeted with sympathy from courtroom judges with their own religious bias or who fear the wrath of Islamists, according to activists.

The result is a growing number of Egyptians, including many Christians, who have been convicted and sent to prison for blasphemy.

Full article here.

Pinhole glasses could they help me get twenty twenty vision

Wilda — Sat, 18 May 2013 11:00:49 GMT

(ch)(ch) pinhole glasses i reading about apprently help you see clearer has anyone got any thoughts on them and wether or not i should buy a pair. I was reading that pinhole glasses help to train your eyes and stregthen the muscles in your eyes some how.. some science behind it or something... I might get soem and then with carrots beable to see everything.....through walls and be used by nasa as a telescope or something lol

How to grow taller with shoe lifts?

Trenty — Sat, 18 May 2013 10:47:23 GMT

Greeting everyone (toast)

Does anyone know how to grow taller or atleast increase your height at all? Iv been hearing about shoe lifts that apprently can help make you taller by just putting them in your shoes.. who to really know anyway?

MUAHAHA? ANYONE THINK THIS IS A GOOD IDEA...?

my plan is to reach 6ft 9 because shoe lifts increase height by 3 inches if you set them to full... and then hopefully everyone will notice me and think cool hes tall!

I wonder actually how tall i could actually get with a pair of these height increasing insoles hmmmmmm...

anyone got any more ideas on how i can grow taller?

Conn. commuter trains collide; 60 go to hospitals

entropy13 — Sat, 18 May 2013 04:45:05 GMT

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) � Two commuter trains serving New York City collided in Connecticut during Friday's evening rush hour, sending 60 people to the hospital, including five with critical injuries, Gov. Dannel Malloy said.

About 700 people were on board the Metro-North trains when one heading east from New York City's Grand Central Station to New Haven derailed about 6:10 p.m. just outside Bridgeport, MTA and Bridgeport officials said.

The train was hit by a train heading west from New Haven to Grand Central on an adjacent track, MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said. Some cars on the second train also derailed as a result of the collision.

Amtrak, which uses the same rails, suspended service indefinitely between New York and Boston.

Lola Oliver, 49, of Bridgeport, was riding one of the trains when the crash threw her from her seat.

"All I know was I was in the air, hitting seats, bouncing around, flying down the aisle and finally I came to a stop on one seat. And I just gripped it because I felt the train sliding," Oliver told The Associated Press. "It happened so fast I had no idea what was going on. All I know is we crashed."

Oliver, a cardiology technician at Stamford Hospital, was treated at a hospital for cuts and bruises and released.

Investigators Friday night did not know what caused the first train to derail. Malloy said there was no reason to believe it was anything other than an accident. The National Transportation Safety Board was sending a team to investigate.

"We're most concerned about the injured and ultimately reopening the system," Malloy said from the scene about three hours after the crash.

The governor said that most people were not seriously hurt. Among those critically injured, he said, one's injuries were "very critical."

Full article here.

'Smart Rifle' Begins Shipping to Gun Owners This Week

entropy13 — Sat, 18 May 2013 03:07:00 GMT

A Texas startup has developed a "smart rifle"that barely needs to be aimed.

The maker of the gun, being shipped to stores this week, brags that "even a novice shooter can become an elite long-range marksman in minutes."

The company, TrackingPoint, has said its "world's first" long range Precision Guided Firearms (PGF) integrate precision hardware, digital optics, and tracking technology to deliver an unmatched shooting experience. The line of rifles starts at about $22,500 and each comes packaged with an iPad mini including the interactive TrackingPoint mobile app.

"We're taking centuries old tech, firearms and ammunition, and introducing 21st century technology to it," TrackingPoint CEO Jason Schauble told ABC News.

The PGF line of rifles come equipped with what the company is calling the XactSystem, which uses a network tracking scope with digital display interface, laser tagging to "paint" a moving target, and a guided trigger that only lets the shooter fire when there is a high percentage shot.

The weapon is being introduced at a time when the debate over gun control has raised tempers on both sides of the argument.

Schauble said safety is paramount, just like with any other gun or rifle. "It is a firearm. It is controlled by federal law," he said.

He said a password can be set on the gun's scope software. This doesn't render the rifle useless, but it does lock any unauthorized users out of the precision technology.

Full article here.

Blackbird gets a free ride on a Hawk

Norton — Fri, 17 May 2013 23:21:58 GMT

Amazing pics!!! (toast)

More here:
http://blog.sfgate.com/stienstra/201...llery/#12231-5

Only 2 of 13 small SUVs do well in crash tests

entropy13 — Fri, 17 May 2013 07:27:07 GMT

DETROIT (AP) � Only two of 13 small SUVs performed well in front-end crash tests done by an insurance industry group, with several popular models faring poorly in the evaluations.

Subaru's 2014 Forester was the only vehicle to get the top "good" rating in the results released Thursday. The 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport was rated as "acceptable." But fast-selling models such as the Ford Escape, Honda CR-V and Jeep Wrangler received only "marginal" or "poor" ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Small and midsize SUVs, which get decent gas mileage and have the cargo and passenger space of larger SUVs, are among the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. auto market. Sales grew 50 percent from 2005 to last year, when U.S. consumers bought more than 2.5 million of them, according to Ward's AutoInfoBank.

The IIHS ratings are influential because many auto shoppers find them while researching vehicles on the Internet. The group says its crash tests and ratings are designed to get automakers to improve the crashworthiness of their vehicles.

The ratings are for the institute's "small overlap" crash test that covers only 25 percent of a vehicle's front end. The test was added to the IIHS evaluations last year, with the institute aiming to push automakers into bolstering the crash resistance of their vehicles.

The group's tests are more stringent than the U.S. government's full-width front crash test. The institute says that in many vehicles, a crash affecting one-quarter of the front end misses the main structures designed to absorb the impact of a crash. Yet such crashes account for nearly a quarter of the collisions that cause serious or fatal injuries to people in the front seats, IIHS said.

The new Ford Escape, the top-selling small SUV so far this year, got a "poor" overall rating, while Honda's CR-V, the No. 2 seller, got a "marginal" rating. Toyota's RAV-4, another big seller, hasn't done the testing yet because Toyota asked for a delay to improve the vehicle's structure, the IIHS said.

Other SUVs getting "poor" ratings were the Jeep Patriot, Buick Encore, Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tuscson, the institute said. The BMW X1, Nissan Rogue, Mazda CX-5, Volkswagen Tiguan and Jeep Wrangler two-door all got "marginal" ratings.

Full article here.

Are republicans Retarded?

jmcslob — Fri, 17 May 2013 04:06:04 GMT

Year in and year out "Republicans" find all kinds of things to get fired up about..."Taxes"..."Gay rights"..."Defending Israel"..."Abortion"..."Terrorism"....on and on and on.

Meantime, year in and year out the "Liberals" are..IMPORTING..MILLIONS MORE VOTERS..Via Massive Immigration.FLOODING This Nation with a City the Size of Chicago EACH YEAR !(And Oddly,its as though "Republicans" dont seem to NOTICE That they are being----REPLACED---on the Demographic level?)

And Whats Very Odd is that you..NEVER..even Hear a WORD about the subject in ANY Form. I mean tune into "Right-Wing Radio" Shows like "RUSH/Hannity/Beck/Orielly" and its like the 60,000 Pound T-REX in the room that NOBODY Will even adress.

Even with 8.8% "offical" Unemployment (and closer to 20% REAL) NOBODY will even mention the subject??

The Point that "Conservatives" just dont seem to get is that NO OTHER SUBJECT EVEN MATTERS if they are going to allow the "Depend on Government" Croud to just IMPORT as many people as they need to make sure that "Conservatives" CAN NOT GET ELECTED.

Its as though "Conservatives" cant do MATH ANYMORE?

So the question is are Republicans Retarded?

I found this on a Republican Forum...LOL

The battle to force feed Gitmo detainees

mtosev — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:06:04 GMT

fail force feeding ppl