Liquid nitrogen, vegetable steamers, Macintosh workstations and old, refrigerator-size tape drives. These are just some of the tools a new breed of Space Age archeologists is using to sift through the digital debris from the early days of NASA, mining the information in ways unimaginable when it was first gathered four decades ago.

This is interesting ...

In a decision that creates broad immunity for Saudi Arabia in terrorism lawsuits, the Supreme Court yesterday let stand lower-court rulings that the desert kingdom and senior members of the Saudi royal family are not liable for the 9/11 attacks. As is typical in such cases, the court offered no explanation for its decision not to hear an appeal of a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act barred terrorism lawsuits against foreign governments unless they had been designated terrorism supporters by the State Department. In the case of Saudi Arabia, there has been no such designation.

This law sounds like an excellent reason to vote some folks out ...

It spurred extensive controversy last year when Charter Communications, one of the country’s largest ISPs, announced that it planned to use deep-packet inspection to spy on broadband customers to help advertisers deliver targeted ads. The plan sparked a backlash and heated congressional hearings. Publicity about the issue died down, however, after Charter retreated from its plan, and Congress moved on to other matters. But deep-packet inspection didn’t go away. ISPs insist they need it to help combat spam and malware. But the technology is ripe for abuse, not only by ISPs but also by the U.S. government, which could force providers to retain and hand over data they collect about users.

This fake key comes from Brando just like the keychain. It’s also extremely similar, the biggest difference is that they are two different shapes. This fake key has 2GB of built-in memory and can shoot at 29 FPS. The color video resolution is at 640 x 480 and then the image resolution is 1280 x 960 pixels. It has video as well as audio and a rechargeable Li-ion battery. You can purchase it for $66 from Brando, which happens to be the exact same price as the keychain. So you can pick and choose which look you like the best and not have to worry about price differences.

The U.S. government had been telling the American citizen for several decades now that there is no inflation in the American economy.
Of course, Americans know this isn’t true. Oil prices rose from $15/barrel to $150/barrel in twenty years. Housing prices jumped 150-500% is three years, after averaging an appreciation of 2.5% per year over a century. Health care costs explode year after year, averaging 9.5% growth, year-over-year for the last decade. The cost of college tuition has gone up by almost 1000% in thirty years. And we are told that there is no inflation.
It finally became clear to me, after years of musing on this phenomenon, that, there is no inflation, according to government statistics, as long as there is no wage inflation. And there has been little wage inflation – that is true. As long as wages stay low and do not chase the escalating costs of goods and services – and this is almost possible if the cost of credit stays low -- then the inflation spiral is muted. Of course, the consumer, in this scenario, becomes more and more indebted through this method of paying for myriad inflationary goods and materials. Apparently there is no moral dilemma in this. Business profits grow, wages remain low, and workers take on more and more debt. It sounds to me like a volcano that is bound to blow. But what do I know? I’m not an economist. Sometimes logic is only logic for those not sophisticated enough to know the difference between appearance and reality.

Interesting ... (and longish) ...

Seems unfair that this guy writes better on climate than nearly any other lefty commentator around -- and it's not even his field.

Hmmm ... that explains the lack of citations and other formal trivialities ...

The new book opens six months after Pearl carved up the Russian mobsters who paralyzed his girlfriend, Jordan. Now in a wheelchair, she wants nothing to do with him. He's unemployed, having lost privileges at the hospital. And the cops know he's the mysterious sword-wielding vigilante. They just can't prove it. Worse, Tie Mei, Pearl's dead nanny and kung fu master, has stopped appearing to give him instructions. It was Tie Mei's ghost, after all, who commanded Pearl to become a night avenger in the first place. Desperate for guidance, Pearl seeks a new mentor, a search that leads him to Solomon Yu, owner of an exotic reptile import business who may have a connection to Tie Mei's past and the lost martial arts tradition from which she emerged.

Hmmm ... so much to do, so little time to read ...

North Korea criticized the U.S. on Monday for positioning missile defense systems around Hawaii, calling the deployment part of a plot to attack the regime and saying it would bolster its nuclear arsenal in retaliation.

I wonder if there is anyone anywhere that is actually buying any of this ...

But now the gun industry's leading indicator -- the Federal Bureau of Investigation's monthly count of the instant background checks it runs for gun dealers -- is settling back toward pre-election levels. While November background checks were 42% above the year-earlier level, May's were up just 15%. Dealers confirm the slowdown. "It was really big around the first of the year," says a Georgia dealer (who, like all we found, wanted to remain unnamed). "Now, it's starting to taper back off. It's not near like it was. Everyone is starting to relax."

Hopefully, ammo prices will start to fall, a bit, too ...

Running a day late because of stormy weather, a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket boosted a new GOES weather satellite into space Saturday to serve as an orbital spare for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fleet of hurricane-tracking weather sentinels. The Delta 4, equipped with two strap-on solid-fuel boosters, ignited with a rush of flame and smoke at 6:51 p.m. EDT and quickly climbed away from launch complex 37 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, arcing to the east and accelerating toward orbit. "Three, two, one, and liftoff of the Delta 4 rocket with GOES-O, enhancing quality and reliability of the weather satellite for the forecaster," said NASA launch commentator George Diller.

According to the article, the Colorado findings suggest that “gun-control laws would have had little effect on the study subjects’ criminal behavior.” The impressive CDC Study and the even more massive NAS Study, which indicate that there is no substantial scientific evidence that gun control laws prevent crime, support this conclusion. (See my posts under the Category: “Research.”) Another interesting finding of the study in question is that some criminals would be deterred by liberal concealed carry laws. Wright and Rossi found that criminals are risk averse and, in effect, do a kind of risk/benefit analysis when selecting victims.

Why, it's ... inconceivable ...

Adventurer Bertrand Piccard on Friday unveiled the Solar Impulse, which, with its sleek white wings and pink trimming, aims to make history as the prototype for a solar-powered flight around the world.

Interesting ...

The 15-6 vote on the provision in HB 2439 came after backers said they believe that having people who are licensed by the state to have weapons should cut down on the number of massacres that occur on campuses. And Sen. John Huppenthal, R-Chandler, said that has happened in Arizona. He did not refer by name to the 2002 incident at the University of Arizona where three instructors at the College of Nursing were slain by student Robert S. Flores Jr. who then turned the gun on himself. But Huppenthal said the evidence shows that it makes sense, from a safety standpoint, to let people carry guns.

There shouldn't be any 'let' involved ...

I will be off the interwebs until Sunday night ...

This is a little exercise that is used for people who want to be able to feel chi.
1. Press your palms together and rub your hands intently for a minute, shifting your palms back and forth against each other. While rubbing, thinking about the heat within your hands. There is a lot of energy being generated that is concentrated in this one area.
2. After a minute, separate your palms by an inch. Keep your palms facing each other.
3. Begin breathing while concentrating on the heat between your palms. Inhale and exhale a few times.
You will begin to feel pressure against the palms of your hands without your hands touching. Your hands may begin begin to move as you are inhaling and exhaling. The energy that is concentrated between your hands is chi.

Cats are smart. Humans are dumb. Cats live in the moment. When they are tired they sleep. If something gets annoying they walk away. Cats also have the ability to react without thinking. They can go from totally relaxed to pulling off acrobatic feats that would shame most martial artists. I share living quarters with four cats and I can honestly say that have the highest respect for the species. The more time I spend with humans the more time I want to spend with cats. Decent humans are the exception and are very rare.

You can learn a lot by watching the cats ...

As more shootings at houses of worship make headlines, churches around the country are stepping up security, training their staff on how to detect and confront violent assailants, and asking congregants with licenses to carry guns during services.

Whenever we become content to leave our security in the hands of others, i.e. the police, military, etc., it's just a matter of time before we start to take on the appearance of 'lunch' for some predator. The only legitimate way to avoid violence is to be READY to confront it head on at a moments notice. There is no way to fake that readiness and once you have it the predators recognize it and go look for easier prey.

More than 250,000 frequent fliers who pay $200 a year to speed through airport security lines lost that privilege Monday when a company that runs the expedited lines went out of business. Verified Identity Pass, which operates its Clear program in 18 airports, said Monday that it would shut operations at every airport by 2 a.m. ET today. The program started at Orlando International Airport in 2005 and grew to major hubs such as Atlanta, Denver, San Francisco and Washington Dulles.

After 9/11, Davis pushed for changes to open government laws that created an even larger shield for information that private companies gave to the government. Specifically, Davis won protections for companies that run critical infrastructure — such as railroads and chemical plants — allowing them to tell the Department of Homeland Security about dangerous practices without the fear that the public could petition to see the information. David Sobel, a Freedom of Information Act attorney, testified against that provision in 2002, when he worked for Rotenberg at EPIC. “We are discussing the desire of private companies to keep secret potentially embarrassing information at a time when the disclosure practices of many in the business world are being scrutinized,” Sobel said, referring to the overstated corporate profits that were being discovered in 2002. “If a company is willing to fudge its financial numbers to maintain its stock price, what assurance would we have that it was not hiding behind a ‘critical infrastructure’ FOIA exemption in order to conceal gross negligence in its maintenance and operation of a chemical plant or a transportation system?”

OK, the last fellow lost his fight, and yes, he's not much of an argument for the usefulness of martial arts training in staying out of trouble. However, the more interesting observation is that, of the cases I dug up, 60 percent of those who used martial arts to smack down an attacker (even if only temporarily) were blind or elderly. Sure, maybe only the man-bites-dog cases find their way into news accounts. But it's tempting to say blind and/or elderly + martial arts training = decent chance of kicked bad-guy ass.

I hadn't realized Unca Cecil was on line ...

"Frank Lautenberg has devoted his entire political career to stripping as many citizens as possible of their firearm civil rights," noted CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. "His motivation appears to be a Government Accountability Office report that asserts 963 cases of known or suspected terrorists trying to buy firearms over a five-year period from 2004 through February of this year. However, in 90 percent of those cases, the purchases were allowed after the buyer cleared an FBI instant background check. "Lautenberg calls this the 'terror loophole,'" he added, "yet neither he, nor anyone else, can adequately explain how someone gets their name on a so-called 'terrorist watch list,' and there appears to be no way to get one's name off such a list once it is there.

Identity theft can be prevented if organizations tell people when their ID is used. “For example”, says Grant Edwards, President of ID Alarm, “you could receive a text message that your Social Security Number or Drivers Licence was checked at a bank ten seconds ago. If you are not in the bank or on their website, then you know that identity theft is occurring.” The phone number for the bank is in the alert so you can call and stop the transaction.

Hmmm ... this might be an effective approach.

Some Summer to start the summer ...

Under Senate Bill 1270, you'll no longer need a CCW permit to carry a CCW. Wanna hide your pistol so the po-lice can't see it. No worries. The Arizona state Senate is looking out for your Second Amendment rights.

Congratulations to AZ if this is right ... although the guy writing the article doesn't sound very happy about it.

In 2007, the rate of retail theft was 1.44 percent of overall retail sales, the lowest rate in the 18-year history of the survey. In 2008, that rate rose to 1.52 percent of sales, translating into losses of $36.5 billion, the first uptick in six years.

It's a foregone conclusion that retailers will be getting along with less help going forward. What will probably end up happening is that costs will go up to cover shrinkage until a new equilibrium is found. The 'leaders' will be those that come up with the loss control strategies that work best at the margins.

Federal investigators say the government's next generation radiation detectors are only marginally better at detecting hidden nuclear material than monitors already at U.S. ports, but would cost more than twice as much.

How unfortunate ...

Perhaps most surprising, the near-saturation surveillance of a community that saw four murders last year has sparked little public debate about whether the benefits for law enforcement outweigh the loss of privacy. "Years ago, there's no way we could do this," said Keith Sadler, Lancaster's police chief. "It brings to mind Big Brother, George Orwell and '1984.' It's just funny how Americans have softened on these issues."

Casinos are notorious for having "eyes in the sky" but a national security agency in Marion is hoping to provide that level of security locally.

It's important to make sure you understand exactly whose security is improved using surveillance in the above two examples. The casino patrons are allowing their own invisibility to be reduced in the hopes that the more costly invincibility that the casino has for itself will spill over to the benefit of the patron, and that is frequently a decent trade-off. On the other hand, if the agency is compromising the citizens invisibility so it doesn't have to provide any invincibility, it's hard to imagine any of the citizen's benefiting from it.

The Basij militia completely blocked off Revolution Square, one major gathering ground for the protesters. They are less accountable than regular security forces and, many witnesses said, were far more violent on Saturday. “Please go home,” one regular officer told protesters. “We are scared of the Basijis, too.”

Hmmm ... this wouldn't be happening if the Iranian citizens were heavily armed, too.

I do sooo love it when they fight back ...

The couple exchanged wedding vows and rings -- with some difficulty -- and fumbled their kiss flying weightless inside the padded fuselage of a specially modified Boeing 727-200 aircraft, G-Force One, operated by Zero Gravity Corp, or ZERO-G, a company offering weightless flight experiences.

Hmmm ... the kids will be able to say that insanity runs in the family ... but in a good way.

Surrounded by fencing, some of which is topped with concertina wire, the property room is equipped with high-security cameras and electromagnetic locks. “This building is secure,” said property room Capt. Ceaser Moore. “It’s not prudent for me to detail all the security measures. But it’s secure. Trust me.”

How secure a property room is usually depends more on the quality of the access control policies and how rigorously they are applied across time than on the type and quality of the construction.

As Iran's protesters have been finding out this week, among the most dangerous men prowling the streets of Tehran are armed intelligence agents and pro-government vigilantes wearing everyday clothes.

This seems to be a popular accusation in the west, too ...

The agreement "will strengthen our efforts to combat international narcotics smuggling, streamline operations and bring better intelligence to our frontline personnel," they said.

My suspicion is that it will mostly increase the number of friendly-fire casualties, but ...

Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (SWHC) said fiscal fourth-quarter revenue jumped a bigger-than-expected 20% as it agreed to acquire Universal Safety Response Inc. in a cash-and-stock deal that would give the firearms manufacturer entry into the rapidly growing perimeter security market.

"There's a need for some education, not just for the people taking the course, but for the people designing these tests. They need some education in fundamental constitutional principles." Earlier this week, Brick called the question “part of a pattern of equating dissent and protest with terrorism. It undermines the core constitutional values the Department of Defense is supposed to be defending,” Brick said, referring to the First Amendment right to peaceably assemble. The language of the question raised flags across the political spectrum, with both anti-war demonstrators and tea party participants interpreting it as an indication of the Pentagon’s indifference to citizens’ civil liberties.

The slower I went and the longer I stretched out a motion, the calmer I felt. Paradoxically, I gained more self-control. There was no limit to how slow you can go, the way there is with how fast you can go. That seems to be tai chi’s challenge. Slowing down a simple motion like walking into its infinitesimal parts baffles a mind set on auto-pilot. Tai chi walking, a set of three postures, became so abstract that my mind simply shut off. It was a delicous moment. I can call up that sudden feeling of stillness from my speeding life and feel like the calm at the eye of the storm.

That's why, along with 75 other sex workers here, Kalaiarasi is learning karate so she can fight back. So far, Kalaiarasi has only taken a 15-day crash course. But as she and her fellow students kick and punch in imitation of their instructor, you can already see how the basic knowledge of karate — together with the recognition that they have the right to protect themselves — has given them a huge surge in confidence.

Law #3: All security is individual and relative.

“I do not believe I should give up my constitutional rights each time I choose to travel by plane. I was doing nothing illegal or suspicious, yet I was treated like a potential criminal and harassed for no reason,” Bierfeldt told the ACLU. “Most Americans would be surprised to learn that TSA considers simply carrying cash to be a basis for detention and questioning.”

Don't you get it? Explosives don't bring down planes, wads of twenties do?

More evidence of what is truly happening in Mexico was brought out in a series of hearings held earlier this year. During those hearings, three representatives of U.S. law enforcement, one each from BATFE, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), made it clear that the increase in violence in Mexico is being misinterpreted by the media and politicians. They testified that the increase in violence is a direct result of the actions taken by Mexican President Felipe Calderon to take on the cartels. The cartels, they testified, are being pressured more than ever before and are fighting back in desperation, resulting in casualties. (If you wish to view the hearings, please use the following links: House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere: "Guns, Drugs and Violence: The Merida Initiative and the Challenge in Mexico" , and Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs: "Law Enforcement Responses to Mexican Drug Cartels") For American gun owners, the battle will be to make sure that politicians who see an opportunity to advance their gun ban agenda do not use Mexico as an excuse to sacrifice our Second Amendment rights.

The key to the Marx lie in its solid state switches, which can quickly reconfigure the interconnection between cards. The cards charge in parallel, but discharge in series, so they dump their power into the klystron in one pulse of 120,000 volts. Impressively, because of the rounded edges of each aluminum rib, these 120,000 volts can sit safely in air without producing a spark. No mineral oil is required, just a simple metal cage. Additionally, the Marx transforms 96 percent of the AC power coming in to pulsed power going out, improving current modulator efficiency by one third.

After customers enter through RoboVault's gates, they must navigate a world of computerized keypads and fingerprint scans to gain access to their valuables

A school boatbuilding project that has taken 10 years and the input of 1,000 students from Bolton School has finally taken to the water in the form of a 48ft ocean-going boat made mostly from concrete. The 20-tonne vessel named ‘Tenacity of Bolton’ has completed successful sea trials and is now being used by students for training and educational purposes.

If college was always this much fun, everyone would go ...

It's called Spaceport America, a $200 million taxpayer-funded project where the sky is not the limit. From the 10,000-foot runway, spacecraft will take flight attached to an airplane, then break free and rocket 62 miles into space before returning to the facility. The flights will last about two hours and include five minutes of weightlessness.

If we're going to spend taxpayer money anyway, I can't think of a better thing to spend it on ...

The written exam, given as part of Department of Defense employees’ routine training, includes a multiple-choice question that asks:
“Which of the following is an example of low-level terrorism?”
— Attacking the Pentagon
— IEDs
— Hate crimes against racial groups
— Protests
The correct answer, according to the exam, is "Protests."

I would hope that the proofreader just missed this ...

Until recently it has been difficult but not impossible to find the ISS in broad daylight under perfect conditions but the completion of the expansive solar panels on the 108 metres by 73 metres city building sized satellite has made it much easier to spot.

Cool ...

Little dogs making big noise are worth a million bucks.

As is ready access to some 'blam-blams' when the time comes ...

The American definition of terrorism excludes acts openly done by recognized states. The definition has five components, all of which must be present for an act to constitute “terrorism”. To qualify, an act or attempted must be:

1) Premeditated,

2) politically motivated,

3) violence,

4) against non-combatants, and

5) by sub-national or clandestine agents.

This is an excellent article, but I think criteria #5 should not be there. It's like admitting that your own acts would constitute terrorism if it weren't for an arbitrary exclusion in the definition.

In recent weeks, Cassini's cameras have spotted not only the predictable shadows of some of Saturn's moons, but also the shadows of newly revealed vertical structures in the rings themselves. And these observations have lent dramatic support to the analysis presented in today's publication that demonstrates how small moons in very narrow gaps can have considerable and complex effects on the edges of their gaps, and that such moons can be smaller than previously believed.

Plus some links to recent photos ...

As with the case of the letter from the 65 Democrat congress members in March, this letter did not get any news coverage, at least not yet. You can rest assured that if 23 attorneys general had signed a letter calling upon the Obama administration to push for renewal of the ban, it would have occupied all of the Sunday morning news/talk programs. The 23 state Attorneys General who signed the letter are:Arkansas – Dustin McDaniel Alabama - Troy King Colorado - John W. Suthers Florida - Bill McCollum Georgia - Thurbert E. Baker Idaho - Lawrence G. Wasden Kansas - Steve Six Kentucky - Jack Conway Louisiana - James D. Caldwell Michigan - Mike Cox Missouri - Chris Koster Montana - Steve Bullock Oklahoma - W.A. Edmonson Nebraska - Jon Bruning Nevada - Catherine Cortez Masto New Hampshire - Kelly A. Ayotte North Dakota - Wayne Stenehjem South Carolina - Henry McMaster South Dakota - Lawrence Long Texas - Greg Abbott Utah - Mark L. Shurtleff Wisconsin – J.B. Van Hollen Wyoming - Bruce A. Salzburg

At Mammoth Cave National Park, for example, it's not certain whether the new law means guns will be allowed inside the park's cave — known for its gypsum lined passages, narrow canyons, large rooms, and dripstone formations — or in the park's visitor center and staff offices, or whether they'll only be allowed in campgrounds, or on roads, trails and in the backcountry of the 82-square-mile natural and historical preserve 75 miles south of Louisville. That's because federal attorneys are still sorting through legal issues, including how the new law can work with an existing general ban on guns in federal facilities.

One month after successfully tucking an amendment into the credit card reform bill that expanded gun rights, a small number of Senate Republicans are looking at the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act as another chance to score a victory for the Second Amendment. The possible plan — to add an amendment that would allow gun owners to carry their weapons from one state to another in accordance with concealed carry laws. The possible rationale — to defend gay rights. “It makes sense for a group of people who would be protected by hate crime legislation to support something that would let them defend themselves before or after the crime,” said one Republican Senate aid familiar with the discussions. “It’s relevant, and we want to work together with gay groups to get the message out.”

Whatever works ...

A Chinese woman who became a folk hero after fatally stabbing a Communist Party official to fend off his demands for sex was freed by a court Tuesday, a decision that likely avoided a storm of public criticism over the carefully watched case. Deng Yujiao, 21, was accused of stabbing the official with a fruit knife and injuring his colleague when the two inebriated men cornered her one night last month at the hotel she worked in as a karaoke bar waitress. Her popularity reflects widespread anger in China over abuse of power by communist cadres, officials and the security forces.

I do sooo love it when they fight back ...

Padilla's lawsuit, which demands Yoo be held accountable for his treatment, alleges he suffered "gross physical and psychological abuse at the hands of federal officials as part of a systematic program of abusive interrogation intended to break down Mr Padilla's humanity and his will to live."

Critical information ...

To direct the wheelchair, users concentrate on one of several possible destinations in a 3D map of their surroundings, which appears on a screen in front of them. Users wear a skullcap with 16 electrodes positioned around their scalp. These detect millisecond-long fluctuations in brain activity, which happen when the user looks at the point on the screen that coincides with a target destination.

Some cool pics from the start of the Giraglia Rolex Cup ...

But please, there are already some 200 million, privately owned firearms in America. Every year there are 30,000 gun deaths and in some years more than 400,000 non-fatal, gun-related assaults. The next time someone wades through a pool of blood to sidle up and champion the preservation of firearms, can't we just say, no thanks?

Hmmm ... I wonder where these figures came from.

"She's someone who even within the anti-immigration movement has been labeled as unstable," Levin said. "She was basically forced out of another anti-immigrant group, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, and then founded her own organization."

Sounds about right ...

Home Invasion Roundup:

Cape Coral

Logan Heights

Houston

Ridge Spring

The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) on Saturday cancelled the planned launch of space shuttle Endeavour because of a hydrogen leak, a spokesman said.

Home Invasion Roundup:

Perrysburg Township

Ann Arbor

Cinco Ranch

Adelanto

West Newfield

An executive official at the union representing security officers at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum said that he expected the federal government to purchase security vests for personnel working at the site, following the shooting of an officer on Wednesday.

Yeah, or maybe the union could buy 'em ...

What is the best part of Polywell in comparison to all other hot fusion methods currently under consideration? In mass production the reactor will cost on the order of 50¢ a watt or less and can be built in increments of 100 Mw, with a good possibility of larger reactor sizes where demand warrants it. And the device has the potential to be light enough to be used for getting into space from the Earth and for space propulsion. Earth to Mars in 37 days is one prospect. Less time than it took to cross the Atlantic in 1492.

I hope it works ...

The end of the Great Ammunition Shortage of 2009 that is. All sources claim that this is just a temporary shortage and that with the increased production coming online at ammo manufactures in the private and government sectors that we should start to see increased availability in the next few months as the supply stream catches up to the demand.

Let's hope so ...

"Even though Hayabusa is not actually an asteroid, it will be on a path that will cause it to collide with the Earth in the same way as an asteroid," said JAXA spokesperson Akinori Hashimoto. "We will monitor its movements, and the data will enable us to accurately predict the future paths of asteroids that are on course to come close to the Earth."

Good idea ...

The mPower reactor would include independent "modular" units that could be manufactured on an assembly line, thus cutting manufacturing and construction costs, said John Fees, CEO of McDermott International, the parent company of Babcock & Wilcox. Units could be built and come online even as others are being built, he said, allowing power companies to start earning revenue faster. "This brings not only lower installation base cost but also brings greater cost certainty" compared to the $6 billion to $8 billion large-reactor option, Fees said. He declined to name a price for mPower, but said it would be "under the $5,000 per megawatt" price that the industry has estimated for large reactors.

Home Invasion Roundup:

Hardin County - I do so love it when they fight back ... with guns!

Bolingbrook

Lawrence County

Glenn County

McDuffie County

St. Joseph County

HOUSTON

PORTLAND

Kent County

Bronx

Some professionals surveyed blamed companies for poor training or ineffective data security policies. Close to 57 percent said their company's data protection policies were ineffective, and 58 percent said they were not provided with enough data-security-related training.

I bet the employers of that 58% is proud to have such go-getters. If their policies are weak, shame on them. If your skills are weak, shame on you.

Who could blame a young physician for choosing a different specialty -- one that didn't involve the threat of assassination and require often elaborate security measures to preserve personal and family safety?

It would be useful in judging your statements to know whether the business structure was such that even if everyone in the joint was content to continue working there doing the same thing, the place would still have to close forever.

If it could have continued on profitably without Tiller but the terror of the act was just too much for everyone, then it might be legit to say it resulted from the act of terrorism (although terrorism is usually directed at government policies rather than individual enterprises.)

On the other hand, if the act of Tiller dying doomed the enterprise then it's rather opportunistic and unethical to go on and on about the terrorism winning when it was in fact the plain old criminal murder that actually did the job.

It has now emerged that two passengers with names linked to Islamic terrorism were on board the Air France flight which crashed late last month, killing all 228 on the flight. French secret servicemen were able to establish the connection while working through the list of passengers who boarded the ill-fated Airbus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on May 31.

Were any parts other than their names linked?

The terrorism message is also illustrated with a re-telling of the story of Guy Fawkes, saying that his strong views began forming when he was at school in York. It has been designed to deliver the message of fighting terrorism in accessible way for children.

Maybe they could show them V for Vendetta at the same time, just for some balance.

Home Invasion Roundup:

LaPorte

Laurens County

Mooresville

SPARTA

Cathedral City

WILTON

Orlando

Something missing from the speech was one of the most important cybersecurity policies of all: keeping truly critical communications off the Internet. The Internet is but one communications system. There are others, and more can be created. When security is truly important - such as in military communications, back-end financial services, and so on - communications can and should be on separate, dedicated networks. Something that wasn't missing from his speech was the hyperbole that is Washington, D.C.'s stock in trade. President Obama marched out the spectre of terrorist attacks over the Internet, citing a lame and corny threat model called "weapons of mass disruption." As to the $8 billion he says Americans lost to cyber crime in the last two years? That amount is a rounding error on the funds surging out of Washington since the Bush and Obama administrations agreed that propping up failed businesses is a good policy.

This Street Fighter wannabe definitely gets our vote for badass of the week. Yes, he is attacking a car in a junkyard. Yes, he is wearing a Gi with cut-off sleeves. Yes, he is a little pudgy, but his strength, power, and discipline are undeniable. Please destroy some other things when you get the chance.

Hmmm ...

This should be obvious: we need to get GOP politicians on the record as saying that the murder of Dr. George Tiller was an act -- a successful act -- of terrorism. We need the public to understand that this is terrorism.

I think that if you want to support calling any particular act 'terrorism', then you would be better off using some type of definition/usage argument rather than just ranting "THIS is terrorism", "This IS terrorism", This is TERRORISM" throughout the whole post.

In honor of our innate love of all things fast, we've gathered up a list of the fastest things on (or nearly on) Earth. You'll find no cheetahs or peregrine falcons here, just the most crazy-quick contraptions humans have ever strapped themselves into.

Cool ...

It's possible we're observing the beginning of Betelgeuse's final collapse now. If so, the star, which is 600 light-years away, will already have exploded — and we'll soon be in for a spectacular, and perfectly safe, interstellar fireworks show.

Interesting ... if it blew 599 years ago, we won't find out for another year.

With High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photography, you can create pictures with greater detail in shadows, sunlight, and subject. This allows you to explore your image’s tonal detail through wider sets of exposures. HDR Photography incorporates advanced set of photography techniques to open up new lighting and tonal possibilities. You can experiment on what digital photography can do to capture the intensity levels found in natural settings, or you can create impressive pictures rich in emotion and detail.

Plus some cool HDR pics ...

American Airlines will test fuel-saving technology and tactics on a Paris-to-Miami flight this week that the carrier and federal officials hope will help make the case for a new navigation system. The plane on Thursday's flight will take a direct route guided by global-positioning technology instead of staying within the usual jetliner highways.

Human space exploration is dependent on robust spacecraft design and sophisticated life-support technologies, both of which are critical for working in the hostile space environment. This article focuses on the specific challenges of the space environment. In an upcoming issue, a Dispatch from Space provides a personal look at space travel, and 2 other articles address the acclimation necessary for people to travel and live in space and the technological advances that can be applied to health care on earth.

Very interesting ...

Of all the shows that got canceled last season, one of the hardest to lose was Fox's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The series was canceled after two seasons of action, complicated mythology, rich characters and plenty of surprises, not the least of which was the series finale, in which John (Thomas Dekker) goes into the future, leaving Sarah (Lena Headey) behind in the past. The cancellation was all the more difficult to take considering that the lower-rated Dollhouse was picked up by Fox, while TSCC wasn't.

I hope they either figure out what a bad choice this was or find something else interesting to do with Summer Glau.

Hard to be prepared for this while still operating normally ...

Home Invasion Roundup:

Evansville - I do so love it when they fight back!

Cannington

Kenner

CINCINNATI

South Bend

Norwalk

Middletown

The fan got all the way to Federer and tried to get him to wear a Barcelona hat, actually putting his hands on Federer's head. The fan was close to Federer for about 5 seconds before he ran from security and eventually got tackled and carried off. Scary how easily this fan was able to reach Federer and how long it took security to react.

The Security seemed competent enough ... I think they may have spent a little too much time wishing they weren't going to have to wrestle with a douche before they got around to getting on with it, but, on the plus side, they didn't get sucked into a wild goose chase where the baddie goes back around and gets to the principal a SECOND time with no Security around to protect him 'cuz they all chased after him. I'd call it a pretty solid performance based on the video attached to the story.

"Previously, Secure Flight was simply a piece of paper that was inaccurate, inconsistent and generally flawed," said former TSA Administrator Edmund Hawley. "Instead of sitting there and judging TSA, Cathleen dug in and helped make it better and make it work."

... and ...

Berrick has spent her entire career in government. She started at the Department of Defense Inspector General and Air Force Audit Agency, moved to the Postal Service Inspector General's office and then to the GAO.

It all makes sense now ...

The "Great Wall" exercise will test antiterrorist forces in Inner Mongolia and in the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei over the coming week, it said. "The exercise is aimed at testing the combat, inspection, rapid response and joint action capabilities in order to improve the ability and expand the scope of fighting terrorism in and around Beijing," it said.

I bet ...

The D.C. voting rights bill adopted by the U.S. Senate includes an amendment offered by Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada that repeals the city’s ban on semiautomatic weapons, repeals all registration requirements, removes criminal penalties for the possession of unregistered firearms and legalizes carrying a gun on the streets. “I am hopeful that the Ensign amendment will not pass,” Mendelson said. “It would be a serious blow to public safety.”

What public safety would that be?

Here’s what is odd about the affadavit. First, the U.S. Government claims that an undercover FBI agent approached Walter and Gwen in April and persuaded them he was a Cuban operative. Second, Walter and Gwen were not arrested until Thursday, June 4. Yet the affidavit provides a detailed history of Walter and Gwen’s activities over the last 30 years. The FBI did not just magically come up with that in the last 24 hours.

Hmmm ...

The LCROSS mission is designed to slam the expended upper stage of a Cenatur rocket into the south pole of the moon in the hopes that in the debris field from the resulting crater, we’ll see signs of water. A sheparding craft will drift behind the spent rocket and analyze the dust up. The shepard will also carry a camera, so it will be able to record the impact of the rocket, as well its own demise as it too crashes into the moon.

This is almost too much to ask for ...

Titan's gravitational tug on the spacecraft is Cassini's sole means of altering course and each Titan flyby provides an opportunity to go down many different paths. Each Titan flyby is not a fork in the road, but rather a Los Angeles style cloverleaf in terms of the dizzying number of possible destinations. Each flyby choice affects all downstream choices. So how did our current and future plans for the path of the Cassini spacecraft come to be? That's the question Dave Seal put to me since that's my job – I am a tour designer.

Interesting ...

LRO's objectives during its mission orbiting the moon are to identify safe landing sites, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment, and demonstrate new technology. LRO will orbit the poles of the moon during a one-year exploration mission followed by a planned multi-year science mission.

Interesting ...

Home Invasion Roundup:

Lakeview

ST. CLAIR SHORES

Horseheads

BRADENTON

BESSEMER

SYLMAR

His findings, reported in Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of the Interactions of People & Animals: half of the 18 people who ran when they were attacked escaped injury. The study also found, however, that those who ran had a slightly higher chance of being killed in an attack—28 percent (five) of those who fled died as a result of injuries, compared with 23 percent (eight) of those who remained motionless during big cat attacks. About 39 percent, or 28 people, who moved away slowly when approached by a mountain lion escaped without injury. On the other hand, people who froze were the least likely to escape injury when a mountain lion attacked. Only 26 percent of them escaped. They also had the greatest frequency of severe injuries: 43 percent of those who stood still in the face of a lion were badly injured compared with 17 percent of those who fled, according to the study.

Blam ... blam, blam ... blam, blam, blam! Let's eat!

Chaffetz's amendment says that whole body imaging "may not be used" as the primary method of passenger screening, and that passengers have the right to refuse it and "shall be offered a pat-down search" as an alternative. It also prohibits the storage or transmission of the whole-body images after they're no longer necessary for screening. "Whole-body imaging is exactly what it says; it allows TSA employees to conduct the equivalent of a strip search," Chaffetz said in a statement after the vote. "Nobody needs to see my wife and kids naked to secure an airplane."

And yet, this is, by far, the BEST security method in use for securing planes. Forget about no fly lists and all the other security theater. If you get on a plane without the means to interfere with the flight, you aren't a security threat. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done in the past. If you can't, you won't.

Jeff Moss, founder of the Black Hat and Defcon hacker and security conferences, was among 16 people sworn in on Friday to the Homeland Security Advisory Council.

Hmmm ... about time ...

Home Invasion Roundup:

New Castle

Webster

Redlands

CLARKSDALE

COEUR D’ALENE - I do so love it when they fight back!

HAPPY VALLEY

The bill stipulates that detainees who are released into the United States could be put on the national no-fly list based on a decision by the president. Republicans want released detainees added automatically to the no-fly list.

As long as they don't get on the plane carrying weapons or explosives, what possible reason could there be for preventing them from flying.

Secretary of State Chris Nelson announced Friday that Maine and Virginia have been added to South Dakota's reciprocity agreements for concealed weapon permit holders from other states.

Ahh, federalism ...

"Four pounds of anthrax -- in a suitcase this big -- carried by a fighter through tunnels from Mexico into the U.S. are guaranteed to kill 330,000 Americans within a single hour if it is properly spread in population centers there," the recruiter said. "What a horrifying idea; 9/11 will be small change in comparison. Am I right? There is no need for airplanes, conspiracies, timings and so on. One person, with the courage to carry 4 pounds of anthrax, will go to the White House lawn, and will spread this 'confetti' all over them, and then we'll do these cries of joy. It will turn into a real celebration."

Now, I'm so afraid that I'm willing to immediately give up all my rights and grant unlimited power to the gubmint if they will just protect me from the awesome might of these rock-throwing weasels.

Home Invasion Roundup:

Meridian Township

Stephens County

Garner

Lincoln

Southwest Miami-Dade

Gladstone

You are going about your business, when suddenly you are approached by police officers. After identifying themselves, they announce, ‘We are stopping you under section 44 of the Terrorism Act.’ Your first reaction is why me? What have I done? But unlike other stop and search powers, officers don’t need any reasonable grounds for suspicion. In fact, if they do suspect you, then they should use other powers. They will ask you your name and address, what you are doing and where you are going – you don’t have to answer, but they will likely exceed their powers by looking at any identifying documents you’re carrying. They can ask you to take off outer clothing. You have to submit to the search.

It makes you wonder whose Security they think they're improving, because it clearly it isn't the subjects ...

Wilkinsburg lawmakers approved an ordinance Wednesday night that would penalize gun owners who fail to report to police their weapon has been lost or stolen within 24 hours. If Mayor John Thompson signs it into law as expected, the borough would join Pittsburgh and five other Pennsylvania towns that have passed controversial rules designed to crack down on gun straw purchasers.

Well, these guys should all be promptly voted out. It's too bad that passing patently unconstitutional laws isn't a crime.

Officials say the four juveniles found the green plastic toy gun while going through items students discarded when they moved out of their dorms recently. Princeton held its commencement yesterday. A witness who saw one of the boys stick the toy in his waistband thought it was real and notified authorities.

World renowned physicist Freeman Dyson's son, George Dyson, tells the spellbinding story of Project Orion, a massive, nuclear-powered spacecraft the size of the Empire State building fueled by atomic bombs with the power to destroy half of Planet Earth. The mission was to take us to Saturn in five years. With an insider's perspective and a cache of documents -many still classified-photos and film, Dyson brings this dusty Atomic Age dream of the early 1960's to life.

Police and education sources said that street crime was one of the most serious issues facing young people because their generation was the first to carry around expensive technology.

Their generation was also the first to have the entire law-abiding population disarmed for their added security...

Christian fundamentalism erupted into domestic terrorism with the tragic but foreseeable political assassination of Dr. George Tiller, a Kansas City physician and champion of women's reproductive rights. The assassination is the product of the hate and bile regurgitated by Christian fundamentalists. As such, these anti-abortion Christian fundamentalists constitute a threat to our national security; they are domestic terrorists.

I have a hard time seeing how capping any one person constitutes terrorism. Murder, yes! Tragedy, yes! Terrorism ... no!

The Airbus A330 has an excellent safety record – in fact, it's never been involved in a fatal commercial crash. One reason is the way it's designed: It has multiple redundancies that kick in if there's an electrical or any other kind of failure. And with authorities in France ruling out terrorism or a hijacking, many analysts say they are baffled by the plane's disappearance.

It looks like that distinction may no longer be valid ...

A sheriff's official says an Arivaca woman who survived a weekend home invasion robbery that left her husband and 10-year-old daughter dead fired back at the five intruders.

I do soooo love it when they fight back ...

A whole bunch of HDR ...

A Brooklyn couple will become the first on the planet to say "I do" in zero gravity when they tie the knot later this month.

Tucked inside the shroud of an Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV), the winged craft will be boosted out of Cape Canaveral, Florida, orbit the Earth and then make an auto-pilot landing in California.

If the company’s newest rocket, the Falcon 9, successfully completes its two scheduled launches this year, it will rendezvous with the International Space Station in 2010. After that, it will officially begin its mission as NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services platform, replacing the space shuttle as the method for transporting cargo and crew to the ISS.

Lotsa cool pics, too ...

The seventh-grader, who is homeschooled by his mom, plays the baritone for the Pentucket Regional Middle School Concert Band and is a member of the Triton Regional High School CodeBandits robotics team. He helped the team build a robot to compete in the First Robotics competition in March in Boston.

Hmmm ... prodigy ...

6. Enterprise was initially to be named Constitution, but fans of the TV show Star Trek ran a successful write-in campaign to change the name.

Interesting list ...

Home Invasion Roundup:

Atlanta

Boulevard Park

Danville

Pensacola

Recently, a new study examined the effectiveness of Tai Chi in decreasing pain and disability and improving physical function and quality of life in people with chronic musculoskeletal pain. The study is published in the June issue of Arthritis Care & Research (http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/77005015/home). Led by Amanda Hall of The George Institute in Sydney, Australia, researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis. They analyzed seven eligible randomized controlled trials that used Tai Chi as the main intervention for patients with musculoskeletal pain. The results demonstrate that Tai Chi improves pain and disability in patients suffering arthritis.

Waugh says she was thrilled to find that after practicing mindfulness techniques, the back pain that had plagued her for almost a decade went away. She also said she "communicated better with fellow employees and actually had a better attitude towards my job."