Just news

[pledm]

Hi all,
Some nutbar sent this out on the web,it was concern enough for the FBI;
Government Skeptical Of Threat Against NFL Stadiums

Last Edited: Wednesday, 18 Oct 2006, 4:25 PM EDT
Created: Wednesday, 18 Oct 2006, 4:12 PM EDT

Developing Story
By LARA JAKES JORDAN
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Web site is claiming that seven NFL football
stadiums will be hit with radiological dirty bombs this weekend,
but the government on Wednesday expressed doubts about the threat.
The warning, posted Oct. 12, was part of an ongoing Internet
conversation titled "New Attack on America Be Afraid." It
mentioned NFL stadiums in New York, Miami, Atlanta, Seattle,
Houston, Oakland and Cleveland, where games are scheduled for this
weekend.
The Homeland Security Department alerted authorities and stadium
owners in those cities, as well as the NFL, of the Web message but
said the threat was being viewed "with strong skepticism."
Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said there was no
intelligence that indicated such an attack was imminent, and that
the alert was "out of an abundance of caution."
"The department strongly encourages the public to continue to
go about their plans, including attending events that involve large
public gatherings such as football games," Knocke said.
The FBI also expressed doubt about the threat.
The nation's alert level remains at yellow, signaling an
elevated risk of an attack. The threat level for airline flights is
at orange, a higher level, where it has been since a foiled plot to
bomb U.S.-bound commercial jets was revealed on Aug. 10.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
APTV-10-18-06 1602EDT
Copyright 2006 Fox Washington, D.C. (WTT

Hopefully its just a false report,god I just don`t get these nutbar`s,anyways thats the news.

[pledm]

Hi all,
Yes the news is just a official nutbar,it just seems so routine now.
MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (CNN) -- A law enforcement official told CNN that a man has admitted he posted a fake bomb threat against National Football League stadiums in major U.S. cities as part of an Internet competition with a person in Texas to create the scariest terror scenario possible.

The official told CNN that it's too early to say whether the man will be charged.

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security had earlier determined that the threat was a hoax, FBI spokesman Richard Kolko told CNN Thursday.

Earlier Thursday, the FBI interviewed and released a 20-year-old Milwaukee, Wisconsin, man after his friend came forward with information about the online posting of a threat against NFL stadiums.

An FBI source told CNN that agents do not believe the man has any connections to terrorism, but do believe he was involved in making the threat.

The DHS this week sent an advisory to the National Football League and local officials describing a possible uncorroborated threat against some NFL stadiums.

The threat, posted on a Web site, alleged that bombs could be used this weekend against stadiums in New York; Miami, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Seattle, Washington; Houston, Texas; Oakland, California; and Cleveland, Ohio. The posting said the bombs were to be delivered by truck.

The DHS said earlier the posting was not considered credible, and that the information was being shared only out of caution so that league

what is wrong with people,,anyways have a nice night.

[Summer]

You would think people would have better things to do with their time than to create havoc.

[pledm]

Hi all,
Anyone a fan of The news show `60 Minutes`,well I love the show always an interesting segment,well one reason I enjoyed it was a particular reporter `Ed Bradley`he always gave a great interview/report.He died yesterday of leukemia he was on the show for 25yrs won 19 emmys the last great one was a couple of months ago with Bob Dlylan,anyways just sad to see him go.

[Bob]

Some English dude put fireworks up his bum:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wear/6132140.stm

I got the news item from Lord Jagged...

[pledm]

Hi Bobin,what a stupid prank.

Just something from the Bush war that I found just unreal for so many people to die;

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Six car bombs killed 160 people in a Shi'ite stronghold on Thursday in the bloodiest attack in Baghdad since the U.S. invasion and the authorities imposed an indefinite curfew on a city fearful of a sectarian civil war.

Leaders from all main communities, including Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the Sunni Vice President, made a televised appeal for calm, a step last taken in February when the bombing of a major Shi'ite shrine, blamed on al Qaeda, launched a wave of sectarian bloodshed that has not abated.

"We call for people to act responsibly and to stand together to calm the situation," a joint statement read.

A further 257 people were wounded in the series of blasts in the capital's Sadr City slum, police said.

The blasts came at the same time as gunmen surrounded and fired on the Shi'ite-run Health Ministry in one of the boldest daylight assaults by militants in Baghdad. Mortars later crashed down on a nearby Sunni enclave in an apparent reprisal attack.

After dark, there was sporadic gunfire in several districts.

In Sadr city, parked vehicles packed with explosives caused carnage in streets and a market, a police general told state television. Mortars also landed nearby and residents seized a seventh car they said was driven by a would-be suicide bomber.

"As the bombs went off, everyone started running and shouting," news photographer Kareem al-Rubaie said. "I saw a car from a wedding party, covered in ribbons and flowers. It was burning. There were pools of blood ... and children dead."

Heavily guarded and policed by the Mehdi Army militia of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, Sadr City was until this year relatively unscathed by al Qaeda and other Sunni insurgent attacks. A string of bombings against civilians there in recent months is seen as a declaration of war on the militia that Sunnis blame for much of this year's death squad violence.

The bloodshed may heighten sectarian anger after a week of tension inside the U.S.-backed national unity government. Washington is pressing Shi'ite and minority Sunni leaders to rein in militants to halt a slide towards all-out civil war.

Noting Thursday was the seventh anniversary, by the Islamic calendar, of the killing of Sadr's father by Saddam Hussein's agents, Sadr ally Fattah al-Sheikh blamed "terrorist groups and Saddamists" as well as the U.S. occupation and vowed: "Sadr City will be the rock on which all conspiracies will founder."

Another Shi'ite politician, Sami al-Askari, called for the arrest of the main Sunni leader in parliament, Adnan al-Dulaimi, for inciting sectarian violence.

MINISTRY ATTACKED

Five people were wounded at the Health Ministry, about 5 km (3 miles) from Sadr City, an Interior Ministry source said, when guerrillas fired mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and machineguns into the compound. The arrival of U.S. helicopters and troops dispersed the assailants, ministry employees said.

Shortly afterwards, a dozen mortar rounds hit Adhamiya, an enclave of Iraq's Sunni minority in mainly Shi'ite east Baghdad. The Interior Ministry said 10 people were wounded in the attack.

The Health Ministry is run by followers of Sadr, whose Mehdi Army is accused by many Sunnis of being behind some of the worst death squad violence in the capital, in which thousands of people have been kidnapped and tortured and their bodies dumped.

The United Nations said on Wednesday violent deaths among civilians had hit a record of more than 3,700 in October.

In the worst attacks in Iraq, 171 people were killed in a series of bombings at Shi'ite religious ceremonies in 2004. Last year, 125 died in a single blast in the Shi'ite city of Hilla.

Sectarian tension has mounted this month, notably over attacks and kidnaps by men in uniform. Dozens of civil servants were abducted last week from the Sunni-run Higher Education Ministry by suspected Shi'ite militiamen from Sadr City.

Sunnis were also incensed last week by an arrest warrant issued for their most senior cleric, Harith al-Dari.

This week, one Shi'ite deputy health minister was seized at his home by men in camouflage and another survived a shooting.

The United States, which has poured thousands of troops into Baghdad since August to staunch the bloodshed, says many police and army units are loyal to Shi'ite groups and some, especially in the army, are believed to have links to Sunni leaders.

Prime Minister Maliki, due to meet U.S. President George W. Bush in Jordan, has vowed to disband militias loyal to fellow Shi'ite leaders like Sadr, a key ally, but he has resisted pressure from some in Washington to speed that up.

fuckin sad.

[pledm]

Hi all,
My last post,,well now the death poll from that is over 200.
I find this so fucking sad,it really hurts thinking of the lost souls.

[Summer]

I find it really, really sad as well. Those poor people, having to live through such a horrible war. What in the world is the point of all of it anyway, and how could it ever be worth the carnage of it all?

[pledm]

Something to listen to;

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi said on Saturday nations with nuclear capabilities should spend money to stop exploitation of women instead of making bombs.

The lawyer, in India to promote women's rights, said governments often said they lacked the funds to improve women's lives, but added that they had no financial constraints when it came to manufacturing nuclear bombs.

"I think no country needs bombs -- not India, Pakistan, Iran, America or Israel," Ebadi said through a translator at a news conference in New Delhi.

Ebadi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, said poverty was the main reason why women became sex workers and that no one would sell their body for the pleasure of others unless they were in dire financial need.

She said that although prostitution was illegal in many countries, authorities often favored the client rather than trying to understand the plight of the woman.

Ebadi said in an interview with a French newspaper on Friday that the world's focus on Tehran's nuclear program was overshadowing human rights abuses there.

A very smart woman.

[Summer]

I'm glad that someone is standing up for what is really important in life.

[pledm]

Hi all,
Found this interesting;

Ancient 'Super-Computer' Stuns Scientists

PARIS, Nov. 29--A 2,100-year-old clockwork machine has turned out to be the celestial super-computer of the ancient world.

Using 21st-century technology to peer beneath the surface of the encrusted gearwheels, stunned scientists say the so-called Antikythera Mechanism could predict the ballet of the Sun and Moon over decades.

The machine whose remains were retrieved from a shipwreck more than a century ago could also calculate a lunar anomaly that would bedevil Isaac Newton himself.

Built in Greece around 150-100 BC and possibly linked to the astronomer and mathematician Hipparchos, its complexity was probably unrivalled for at least a thousand years, scientists say.

"It's beautifully designed. Your jaw drops when you work out what they did and what they put into this," said astronomer Mike Edmunds of Cardiff University, Wales.

The Antikythera Mechanism is named after its place of discovery, where Greek divers, exploring a Roman shipwreck at a depth of 42 meters (136 feet) in 1901, came across 82 curious bronze fragments.

At first, these pieces, thickly encrusted and jammed together after lying more than two millennia on the sea floor, lay forgotten. But a closer look showed them to be exquisitely made, hand-cut, toothed gearwheels.

The machine was a 365-day calendar, which ingeniously factored in the leap year every four years.
The calculator could add,multiply,divide and subtract.It was also able to align the number of lunar months with yrs and display where the sun and the moon were in the zodiac.
Scientists from Britian,Greece and the U.S believe their findings could force a rethink of the technological potential of the ancient Greeks.
What is extraordinary about the thing is that they were able to make such a sophisticated technological device and be able to put that into metal.
Similar complicated mechanisms were not seen again until the appearance of medivial cathedral clocks much,much later.

It amazes me what the Greeks really knew.

[pledm]

Hi all,
This news article just freaked me out,know matter how smart a human can be they can be so stupid.

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A married U.S. astronaut was accused of attempted murder and trying to kidnap a rival for another astronaut's affections on Tuesday, and held in jail.

U.S. Navy Capt. Lisa Nowak, who flew on the space shuttle Discovery last July, drove 950 miles from Houston to Orlando -- wearing diapers so she wouldn't have to stop to urinate -- to assault a woman she considered competition for the affections of a male astronaut, police said.

Nowak was granted release on $15,500 bail earlier on Tuesday on an attempted kidnapping charge and was ordered to wear a satellite device to allow authorities to track her.

But then she was ordered held pending the new charge.

"There will be no release today. The Orlando police are filing additional charges of attempted first-degree murder," jail spokesman Allen Moore said.

Nowak was expected to appear at a hearing on the new charge on Wednesday.

Nowak, 43, a flight engineer with three children, disguised herself in a dark wig, glasses and trench coat to confront Colleen Shipman at Orlando International Airport but said she "only wanted to scare" the woman, police said.

Wearing a jail uniform, shackled at the waist and head bowed, Nowak said little during her first court appearance on a video link from the Orange County jail, where she was held on charges of attempted kidnapping, attempted burglary of a vehicle and battery.

Orange County Circuit Judge Mike Murphy granted her bail of $15,500 and ordered her to wear a satellite-tracking device so authorities could monitor her whereabouts.

But her release was then put on hold because of the new charge.

WANTED TO TALK WITH RIVAL

Nowak went to Orlando airport around midnight on Sunday night, waited for Shipman's flight from Houston to arrive and then followed Shipman to the parking garage armed with pepper spray, a steel mallet and a BB gun, police said.

She also carried black gloves, a folding knife with a 4-inch (10-cm) blade, rubber tubing and trash bags, police said.

In her statement to police, Nowak said she did not intend to physically harm Shipman but "only wanted to scare Ms. Shipman into talking with her."

In the statement, Nowak described her connection to male astronaut Bill Oefelein as "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship."

According to the affidavit, police were called at 3:50 a.m. (0850 GMT) by Shipman, who told them she had been followed from the airport to a parking lot by a dark-haired woman in glasses, wearing a trench coat with a hood pulled over her head.

Shipman said the woman pounded on Shipman's car window, asked for a ride and then asked to use her cell phone.

Shipman refused but rolled down her window just enough to be heard. She was then sprayed in the face by a chemical that burned her eyes, according to the affidavit.

In a search of Nowak's car, police later found diapers that Nowak told them she wore so she wouldn't have to stop to urinate during her drive. Astronauts wear such diapers during shuttle launches and landings.

They also discovered a letter describing how much Nowak loved Oefelein, e-mails from Shipman to Oefelein and directions to Shipman's house.

Nowak, who grew up in Rockville, Maryland, and attended the U.S. Naval Academy, became an astronaut in 1996 and waited 10 years for her first space flight. She was scheduled to be a lead commentator on the next shuttle flight, a key role for an astronaut on the ground.

[Summer]

People are just crazy sometimes!

[pledm]

This is such a shame;

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - More than 40 percent of women in India have not heard of AIDS, according to a government survey that has alarmed activists.

India has 5.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS, according to the United Nations, which is the world's highest caseload. But the prevalence rate, in the country of 1.1 billion people, is much lower than in most of Africa.

The National Family Health Survey (NFHS), the most extensive study on health and nutrition in India, said in its latest report only 57 percent of women have heard of AIDS.

In rural areas, where most Indians live, less than half the women -- 46 percent -- were aware of the disease.

Activists said on Friday that poor awareness among women was fuelling the epidemic.

"This shows women don't have access to information, translating into more women getting infected," said Anjali Gopalan, head of Naz Foundation India, a leading anti-AIDS group.

In the past few years, there has been a growing "feminisation" of the epidemic in India with nearly 40 percent of all those infected now being women, including housewives.

"Biologically, women are more susceptible to HIV," said Christy Abraham of ActionAid-India. "The lack of awareness adds to the HIV threat they face."

One reason for low awareness is that the government has focused prevention efforts on high-risk groups like prostitutes and intravenous drug users, rather than on the general population.

"But we are expanding prevention efforts among the general population in rural areas, especially women, over the next five years," a government official said on condition of anonymity.

Many rural women have been infected by their husbands who work in the cities and visit prostitutes. Stigma stops infected husbands from telling their wives they are HIV-positive.

The NFHS survey, supported by UNICEF as well as the British and U.S. governments, shows a gulf in awareness between men and women, with 80 percent of men having heard of the disease.

Only 54 percent of Indian women are literate compared with 76 percent for men.

Many women in villages do not have television in their homes and miss out on anti-AIDS advertisements, say activists, calling for a broad-based effort to educate and empower women.

"Even if they do have TVs, there is no electricity in many areas. This is one way how fighting HIV is linked to the issue of general development," Abraham said.

Activists want the government to spend more training and sending grassroot health workers to spread AIDS education among women, especially in poorer and highly populated states.

In the eastern state of Bihar -- home to 85 million people -- only 35 percent of women have heard of AIDS, with the level of awareness falling to 30 percent in villages.

[Bob]

That is just so awful! They get Aids from their cheating husbands and then give birth to babies who are born with the disease.