All Things News

Official Seal of Awesomeness

Straight from Fox News: “John Allen Muhammad, the mastermind behind the sniper attacks that left 10 dead, was executed as relatives of the victims watched, reliving the killing spree that terrorized the Washington, D.C., area for three weeks in October 2002.

The 48-year-old Muhammad looked calm and stoic, but was twitching and blinking, tapping his left foot as the injections began and refusing to utter any final words.

Victims’ families sat behind glass while watching, separated from the rest of the 27 witnesses, who were quiet, looking straight forward, intent on what was happening.

“He died very peacefully, much more than most of his victims,” said Prince William County prosecutor Paul Ebert, who witnessed Muhammad die by injection at 9:11 p.m. Tuesday at Greensville Correctional Center, south of Richmond.

Muhammad was executed for killing Dean Harold Meyers, who was shot in the head at a Manassas gas station during the three-week spree across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

The shootings terrorized the Washington region, as victim after victim was shot down while doing everyday chores: shopping, pumping gas, mowing the lawn. One child was shot while walking into his middle school.

People stayed indoors. Those who had to go outside weaved as they walked or bobbed their heads to make themselves a less easy target.

The terror ended on Oct. 24, 2002, when police captured Muhammad and his teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, while they slept at a Maryland rest stop in a car they had outfitted for a shooter to perch in its trunk without being detected.

Malvo, who was 17 when carrying out the attacks, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing Linda Franklin, a 47-year-old FBI analyst who was shot as she and her husband loaded supplies at a Home Depot in Falls Church, Virginia.

The men also were suspected of fatal shootings in other states, including Louisiana, Alabama and Arizona.

Nelson Rivera, whose wife, Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, was gunned down as she vacuumed her van at a Maryland gas station, said that when he watched Muhammad’s chest moving for the last time, he was glad.

“I feel better. I think I can breathe better,” he said. “I’m glad he’s gone because he’s not going to hurt anyone else.”

Unfortunately he wasn't forced to ride the lightning in Old Sparky instead of lethal injection...

Muhammad never testified or explained why he directed the shootings, and his secrets died with him.

Meyers’ brother, Bob Meyers, said watching the execution was sobering and “surreal.”

“I would have liked him at some point in the process to take responsibility, to show remorse,” Meyers said. “We didn’t get any of that tonight.”

J. Wyndal Gordon, one of Muhammad’s attorneys, described his client in his final hours as fearless and still insisting he was innocent.

“He will die with dignity — dignity to the point of defiance,” Gordon said.

The U.S. Supreme Court turned down Muhammad’s final appeal Monday, and Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine denied clemency Tuesday.

Muhammad’s attorneys had asked Kaine to commute his sentence to life in prison because they said Muhammad had brain damage and neurological problems, as well as psychotic and delusional behavior, exacerbated by the Gulf War Syndrome he suffered as a sergeant in the first Iraq war.

“I think crimes that are this horrible, you just can’t understand them, you can’t explain them,” said Kaine, a Democrat known for carefully considering death penalty cases. “They completely dwarf your ability to look into the life of a person who would do something like this and understand why.”

A small group of death penalty opponents gathered on a grassy area near the prison and had a sign reading, “We remember the victims, but not with more killing.”

Muhammad was born John Allen Williams and changed his name after converting to Islam. He had been in and out of the military since he graduated from high school in Louisiana and entered the National Guard. He joined the Army in 1985.

He did not take special sniper training but earned an expert rating in the M-16 rifle — the military cousin of the .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle used in the D.C. shootings.

The motive for the attacks remains murky. Malvo said Muhammad wanted to extort $10 million from the government to set up a camp in Canada where homeless children would be trained as terrorists.

Muhammad’s ex-wife said she believes the killings were a smoke screen for his plan to kill her and regain custody of their three children.

Sonia Hollingsworth-Wills, the mother of Conrad Johnson, the last man slain that October, sat in the back seat of a car outside the prison before the execution, which she chose not to witness. But she said she wanted to be there and was counting the minutes until Muhammad’s death.

“It was the most horrifying day of my life,” she said. “I’ll never get complete closure but at least I can put this behind me.”"

Straight from Dvorak Uncensored: ““We ask you to free us from the epidemics that are currently devastating the state of Jalisco,” pleaded Guadalajara Auxiliary Bishop Jose Trinidad, in front of 7,000 worshippers outside the Instituto Cabañas. “Especially dengue, influenza and other calamities that don’t permit us to live life to the full.”Between September 27 and October 3, health authorities confirmed 373 new cases of dengue in Jalisco – the highest number ever recorded in a single week. Sixty-seven of those were the more serious hemorrhagic kind.The total number of cases of dengue confirmed in Jalisco is now 2,360, over ten percent of which are hemorrhagic.Jalisco leads the Mexican league table for suspected cases of dengue, with 26,537 probably cases recorded up until late September, more than double than second-placed Guerrero.”

This is madness

Straight from NBC San Diego: “Gordon Hageman couldn’t believe the credit card offer he got in the mail.

“My first thought, it was a mistake,” Hageman said.

The wine distributor called the number on the offer, gave them the offer code and verified his information. Sure enough, it was right: the pre-approved credit card came with a 79.9 percent APR.

Yes, 79.9 percent.

The offer is for a Premier card from First Premier Bank, which is based in South Dakota. On its Web site, First Premier says it is the country’s 10th largest issuer of Visa and MasterCard credit cards. The site also says it “focuses on individuals who have less than perfect credit but are actually still creditworthy.”

“I think they’re trying to take advantage of me,” said Hageman.

Ya think?

Hageman acknowleged that his credit isn’t perfect, but he said it’s about average. He said the pre-approved offer didn’t mention the actual interest rate on the card — for that, he had to read the enclosed fine-print disclosure.

“I think you’re beginning to border on deception there,” San Diego State marketing professor Michael Belch said.

Belch said the card is offering a bad deal to people who are desperate.

“They’re just finding different ways to gouge the consumer,” Belch said.

The California Attorney General’s office said there’s nothing it can do about the cards since they are issued out of state and out of its jurisdiction.

A spokesman with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said interest rate limits on bank cards are set by the individual state and not on a federal level. According to information on the South Dakota Legislative Web site, there is “no maximum or usury restriction.” In other words, the individual bank can set its own interest rate limits.

Several calls made to First Premier for a comment were not returned.”

Tiba before and after her operation

Straight from Sky News: “Fifteen months ago a Sky News investigation revealed growing numbers of children being born with defects in Fallujah.

Concerns were that the rise in deformities may have been linked to the use of chemical weapons by US forces.

We recently returned to find out the current situation and what has happened to some of the children we featured.

In May last year we told the story of a three-year-old girl called Fatima Ahmed who was born with two heads.

When we filmed her she seemed like a listless bundle – she lay there barely able to breathe and unable to move.

Even now and having seen the pictures many times since I still feel shocked and saddened when I look at her.

But the prognosis for Fatima never looked good and, as feared, she never made it to her fourth birthday.

Her mother Shukriya told us about the night her daughter died.

Wiping away her tears, Shukriya said she had put her daughter to bed as normal one night but woke with the dreadful sense that something was wrong.

She told us she felt it was her daughter’s moment to die, but of course that does not make the pain any easier.

Fatima’s father had taken his little girl’s hand but it was cold.

“She is gone,” he had said to his distraught wife.

Another girl we met last year was Tiba Aftan who was born with a huge growth across her face.

Now she is a toddler her future is looking brighter having gone to neighbouring Jordan to have it removed.

The growth had covered half of Tiba’s forehead and was invading one of her eyes – and it was getting bigger as she got older.

Although the operation was a success Tiba will need more surgery and the last trip cost her family almost every penny they have.

But since our original investigation, we have built up a new dossier of cases of deformed children in Fallujah born in the last eight months.

There are a wide range of problems – from abnormalities of the abdomen to facial disfigurements.

We have also seen pictures of all kinds of deformed foetuses which have not survived.

There is no precise explanation as to what has caused the deformities and there are no figures to compare cases with those a decade or more ago as records were not kept during the time of Saddam Hussein.

All of our evidence is anecdotal, but repeatedly people tell us they believe the deformities must be linked to the heavy bombardment of Fallujah – a Sunni insurgent stronghold – by America in 2004.

People want an independent investigation into the impact of the kinds of weapons used – including controversial white phosphorus.

Yet even since we first started to give a voice to the calls for help from the people of Fallujah things seem to have got worse.

Dr Ahmed Uraibi, a specialist paediatrician in Fallujah, told us that the number of deformities he has dealt with has increased in the last year.

The people of Fallujah want to know how many more deformed babies there will be before someone sits up and takes notice of them.

Noooooooo!

Straight from Market Watch: “Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Marvel including its more than 5,000 Marvel characters. Mr. Perlmutter will oversee the Marvel properties, and will work directly with Disney’s global lines of business to build and further integrate Marvel’s properties.

The Boards of Directors of Disney and Marvel have each approved the transaction, which is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, certain non-United States merger control regulations, effectiveness of a registration statement with respect to Disney shares issued in the transaction and other customary closing conditions. The agreement will require the approval of Marvel shareholders. Marvel was advised on the transaction by BofA Merrill Lynch.”

Moron Alert!

Straight from the Birmingham News: “A 21-year-old man, who told Montgomery police during a job interview that he possessed child pornography and had sex with an underage girl, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Circuit Judge Ben Fuller sentenced Max D. Hinton of Deatsville on Monday after his conviction of second-degree rape, sodomy , enticing a child for immoral purposes and producing and possessing child pornography.

The girl testified the two had consensual sex when she was 15 and he was 17. But a person younger than 16 in Alabama can’t legally consent to have sex, and the judge voiced outrage over the child pornography involving girls as young as 6.

There was no explanation why Hinton mentioned the pornography in his job interview, which prompted an investigation and his arrest.”

I don’t know what to say… watch and laugh…

AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Straight from Torrent Freak: “Software company Global Gaming Factory X (GGF) says it is in the process of acquiring The Pirate Bay and file-sharing technology company Peerialism. GGF claims to have the biggest network of internet cafés and gaming centers in the world.

The changeover of ownership is scheduled for August 2009, whereby GGF will take over the operation of the site.

The company says that after it has completed the acquisition it will launch new business models so that copyright owners get paid, which is clearly a huge diversion from TPB’s previous modus operandi.

“We would like to introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid for content that is downloaded via the site,” said Hans Pandeya, CEO GGF.

“The Pirate Bay is a site that is among the top 100 most visited Internet sites in the world. However, in order to live on, The Pirate Bay requires a new business model, which satisfies the requirements and needs of all parties, content providers, broadband operators, end users, and the judiciary,” said Pandeya.

“Content creators and providers need to control their content and get paid for it. File sharers’ need faster downloads and better quality,” he added.

GGF will acquire the site’s domain names and sites for SEK 60,000,000 ($7.8 million) – SEK 30,000,000 in cash and the rest in newly issue shares.

File-sharing technology company Peerialism will also be acquired by GGF for a total of SEK 100 million, of which at least SEK 50 million will be in cash.

According to GGF, Peerialism has developed a new P2P distribution technology which will be used on The Pirate Bay. The technology is said to be backwards-compatible with BitTorrent although details are scarce at the moment.

At the time of writing, shares in GGF are up 155% – this will quickly become outdated, so check here for latest stats.

This is breaking news and this article will be updated constantly – please keep checking back.”

Official Seal of Awesomeness

Straight from Warming Glow: “OMIGOD OMIGOD OMIGOD. First of all, taking a classic clip from the 1982 after-school special Desperate Lives and mixing it with Keyboard Cat is a great idea.  But then you get a minute into the video and think, “Where could this possibly go to last another four minutes?”  And then your mind gets blown out the top of your skull like a geyser.”

Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan

Straight from ABC News: “A video tape smuggled out of the United Arab Emirates shows a member of the country’s royal family mercilessly torturing a man with whips, electric cattle prods and wooden planks with protruding nails.

A man in a UAE police uniform is seen on the tape tying the victim’s arms and legs, and later holding him down as the Sheikh pours salt on the man’s wounds and then drives over him with his Mercedes SUV.

In a statement to ABC News, the UAE Ministry of the Interior said it had reviewed the tape and acknowledged the involvement of Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan, brother of the country’s crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed.

“The incidents depicted in the video tapes were not part of a pattern of behavior,” the Interior Ministry’s statement declared.

The Minister of the Interior is also one of Sheikh Issa’s brother.

The government statement said its review found “all rules, policies and procedures were followed correctly by the Police Department.”"

I’ve been unable to locate a copy of this video, so I am currently unable to verify this recount of the Sheikh’s actions:

“He uses an electric cattle prod against the man’s testicles and inserts it in his anus.

At another point, as the man wails in pain, the Sheikh pours lighter fluid on the man’s testicles and sets them aflame.

Then the tape shows the Sheikh sorting through some wooden planks. “I remember there was one that had a nail in it,” he says on the tape.

The Sheikh then pulls down the pants of the victim and repeatedly strikes him with board and its protruding nail. At one point, he puts the nail next to the man’s buttocks and bangs it through the flesh.

“Where’s the salt,” asks the Sheikh as he pours a large container of salt on to the man’s bleeding wounds.”

The victim pleads for mercy, to no avail.

The final scene on the tape shows the Sheikh positioning his victim on the desert sand and then driving over him repeatedly. A sound of breaking bones can be heard on the tape.

The torture victim was identified by Nabulsi as an Afghan grain dealer, Mohammed Shah Poor, who the Sheikh accused of short changing on a grain delivery to his royal ranch on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi.”

Serena Sutton-Smith deserves a Darwin Award for removing her DNA from the gene pool

Straight from the Times Online: “It was the ultimate expression of road rage. A furious woman driver died after ramming another vehicle and spinning her wheels so fast that her own car burst into flames.

Serena Sutton-Smith, 54, burnt to death after refusing to get out of her Vauxhall Nova as she sat with her foot flat on the accelerator.

She spun the wheels so fast that her tires disintegrated and the metal rims sent a shower of sparks into the engine, igniting the brake fluid and setting the car on fire.

Appalled onlookers urged her to get out of the car as the flames licked around her but she told them to “Fuck off”, an inquest in Gloucester was told.”

Researchers in have discovered ancient, extremophile life forms that survive with neither light nor oxygen underground in Antarctica.

Straight from Eco Worldly: “From the surface, the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Eastern Antarctica appears to be one of the most desolate places on Earth. And indeed it is. Apart from a few glaciers, the land is ice-free. No animals live here, and what few plants are able to are simple planktonic forms. But recently, a team of researchers have discovered evidence of a thriving community of extremophile microbes thriving several hundred feet below the barren surface.

The evidence came in the form of an outpouring of meltwater from the base of Taylor Glacier, one of the outlet glaciers of the vast East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The samples were collected from a feature known aptly as Blood Falls, due to the rust-red coloration of briny effluent that occasionally issues from it. The source of this effluent is believed to be a 3 mile diameter, high-salinity “pool” (which doesn’t freeze due to the salt content) buried inland and deep under the glacier.

The results of sample analyses revealed an abundance of microbial life similar to some present day oceanic and land microbes, but also quite different in key ways-they are capable of reproducing in the complete absence of either light or oxygen. These microbes are in some ways closer to Archaea, a branch of simple unicellular organisms believed to be amongst the most ancient microbial forms to appear on earth.

There has been much debate amongst paleo-biologists concerning which environment-the warm, sunny, oxygenated, tidal pools of the seashore, or, the cold, dark, anoxic, thermal vents of the deep sea–was first to give rise to simple, unicellular creatures. With the discovery of these sub glacial microbes-thriving in the absence of both light and oxygen, and hydrothermal venting, the mystery has now grown deeper.

The microbial community is believed to have been in existence for at least 1.5 million years, and probably longer, based upon dating of the surrounding geology and the comparison of the microbes genes with other know species.

Owing to the extreme conditions, the community is not very diverse-with only a handful of species appearing, chief of which are the bacillus-like species thiomicrospira and desulfocapsa. These unique microbes are specially adapted to the underground environment and are able to utilize sulfur compounds (like sulfates) to extract iron from the surrounding rock, which, along with carbon, is actively cycled through the cell to drive its key energy-harnessing and metabolic functions. Once excreted, the iron reacts with oxygen (in the water) and forms rust, which is the reason for the rusty-reddish color of the meltwater, and the name Blood Falls). The microbes are also adapted to an environment high in chlorides and sulfates, which are normally poisonous to many other microorganisms.

Such rare and isolated microbial communities give scientists a glimpse of the conditions on the early Earth that may have produced the first single-celled life forms. Scientist known as astrobiologists believe that by studying such extremophilic environments and organisms here on earth, they might shed light on the possibility of finding such lifeforms-or the “proto-biotic” environments that give rise to them-existing on other worlds, starting with those of our own solar system. Candidate, extra-terrestrial environments include: underneath the icecaps of Mars, within the ice-blanketed oceans of Jupiter’s moon Europa, or amongst the underground, cryo-volcanic flows of Saturn’s “planet-like” moon, Titan (the only moon possessing an atmosphere).

Reporting in the April 17 edition of Science Magazine, the team of explorers was lead by Jill Mikucki of Dartmouth College, New Hampshire (also of the University of Montana, and Harvard University), with support from the National Science Foundation.”

Hyundai BLUE-WILL Concept – Click above for high-res image gallery

Straight from Autoblog: “Hyundai has just released info on its plug-in hybrid concept for the upcoming Seoul Motor Show. Called the BLUE-WILL, the concept features a direct-inject 1.6-liter gas engine mated to a CVT transmission and 100kw electric motor. The car features a state of the art lithium ion polymer batter pack that’s packaged with the fuel tank below the rear seats, as well as a trick panoramic roof that integrates solar cells while still being able to see through. The BLUE-WILL also features eco-friendly plastics, with some components, like the headlamp bezels, made out of recycled plastic bottles and other plastics derived from plant extracts. We’re not sure where the plug goes, but Hyundai claims the parallel hybrid can be tethered to a wall socket for extra amps.

The concept’s five-door hatchback body style is striking with criss-crossing character lines on the body sides and a high rear deck lid. The thick C-pillars also turn into the center of the roof, leaving a window above each pair of doors. The BLUE-WILL’s face has an angry look with its forward canted fascia that bends around on each side to blue-tinted headlights sweeping back up the fender. Koreans will get their first look at the BLUE-WILL when the Seoul Motor Show opens on April 2nd, and Hyundai will begin selling its first hybrid, the Elantra LPI Hybrid, in July in South Korea.”

Tear of Grief

Straight from Wikipedia: “10-story high sculpture given to the US by the Russian government. Located at the Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor as a memorial to those that died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The large polished titanium teardrop to represent the tears in Moscow shed for the 9/11 victims. A constant flowing of water which causes the sculpture to appear to weep.”

Straight from Chron.com: “A federal jury found Tuesday that a southern Arizona rancher didn’t violate the civil rights of a group of illegal immigrants who said he detained them at gunpoint in 2004.

The eight-member civil jury also found Roger Barnett wasn’t liable on claims of battery and false imprisonment.

But the jury did find him liable on four claims of assault and four claims of infliction of emotional distress and ordered Barnett to pay $77,804 in damages — $60,000 of which were punitive.

Barnett declined to comment afterward, but one of his attorneys, David Hardy, said the plaintiffs lost on the bulk of their claims and that Barnett has a good basis for appeal on the two counts on which he lost.

“They won a fraction of the damages they were seeking,” Hardy said.

All six plaintiffs are citizens of Mexico, five of whom are living in the United States with visa applications pending, and the sixth resides in Mexico but was allowed into the U.S. for the trial, said Nina Perales, an attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. She declined to say where in the U.S. they’re residing.

Perales called the outcome “a resounding victory that sends a message that vigilante violence against immigrants will not be tolerated.”

David Urias, attorney for the plaintiffs, said, “Obviously we are disappointed with some aspects of the verdict. But I think that overall this was a victory for the plaintiffs.”

For years, Arizona has been the busiest point along the Mexican border for illegal immigrants entering the United States.

For more than a decade, Barnett has been a controversial figure in southern Arizona. He’s known for aggressively patrolling his ranch property and along highways and roads in the area, often with his wife and brothers, on the lookout for illegal immigrants.

The plaintiffs alleged that Barnett threatened them with his dog and told them he would shoot anyone who tried to escape.

Barnett’s lawyers argued that his land was inundated with illegal immigrants who left trash on his property, damaged his water supply and harmed his cattle.

Barnett’s wife and a brother were dismissed as defendants; in addition, 10 more people initially named as plaintiffs were dropped from the proceedings.

Barnett has been known to wear a holstered 9-mm pistol on his hip and upon coming across groups of migrants, to flash a blue and gold badge resembling that of the highway patrol, with the wording “Barnett Ranch Patrol. Cochise County. State of Arizona.”

The Barnetts detain and turn over those whom they encounter to the U.S. Border Patrol. In 2006, Barnett estimated that he had detained more than 10,000 illegal immigrants in 10 years.

His actions have resulted in formal complaints from the Mexican government against what it considers vigilante actions, and in several other lawsuits, including one stemming from an October 2004 incident.

In that case, a jury awarded a family of Mexican-Americans on a hunting trip $100,000 in damages, later upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court.

Barnett’s 22,000-acre ranch, about five miles north of the Mexican border, includes private and federal lease holdings in addition to nearly 14,000 acres of state-leased land.”

The End is Near

Straight from the Final Hour: “The total liabilities of the United States government, including future social security and medicare payments that the U.S. government is already committed to pay out, now exceed 65 TRILLION dollars, which is more than the entire GDP of the whole world.

According to the 2008 Financial Report of the United States Government, which is an official United States government report, the U.S. actually had a budget deficit of 5.1 trillion dollars in 2008.

So why did the Congressional Budget Office report that the federal budget deficit was only 455 billion dollars (which is certainly a total disaster) in 2008?

The difference lies in accounting. The CBO’s figures are based on cash accounting, while the 2008 Financial Report of the United States Government is based on GAAP accounting. GAAP accounting is what is used by all the major firms on Wall Street and it is regarded as a much more accurate reflection of financial reality.

So why is there such a big difference?

Well, what the Congressional Budget Office does is some really bad accounting. When you pay social security taxes, the federal government takes that money and instead of putting it away to pay your social security benefits in the future, it takes that money and spends it however it wants.

So what about the future social security and medicare benefits that the government owes you?

There is no money there for those payments.

The government is using that money right now to make the budget look better.

That’s right, you have been conned.

And as bad as the numbers from 2008 look, they do not reflect any significant money from the monstrous financial bailouts that Congress has passed.

So 2009 is going to look MUCH worse.

Pretty picture, eh?

The reality is the the United States of America is a total financial disaster.

Already, 13 banks have already failed in 2009. All of the bailouts certainly don’t seem to be helping much yet.

But that doesn’t mean that the federal government is going to give up trying to help. It seems a new “bailout” or a new “stimulus” is being passed almost weekly now.

Instead of accepting the fact that we must adopt a lower standard of living and deal with the reality of our massive debt, the politicians are trying to crank up the debt spiral one more time.

The truth is that all of this government spending will help the economy in the short term, but it will make the long term problems of the U.S. government far worse.

So who is going to buy all of this new government debt? China has serious doubts about who is going to buy all of America’s new debt. The reality is that the only way that the government can “bailout” anyone or pay for any “stimulus” bill is to borrow.

So America borrows and borrows and borrows and borrows.

If your own personal finances were like that, how do you think it would end?

Ah, you are starting to get the picture…..

The “American Dream” is quickly becoming the “American Nightmare” and most of the politicians don’t have a clue.

What are you going to do when the economy collapses and everything you ever worked for starts coming apart?

It is time for all of us to start thinking about what is truly important…..”