Video purportedly shows Iranian police running over person at protest

CNN
Wednesday, Dec 30th, 2009

An Internet video from what its posters said was one of the
anti-government demonstrations last weekend in Iran shows police
vehicles driving into crowds of protesters and running over at least
one.

In the video — shot Sunday, according to the posting on the
Web site YouTube — green-and-white police trucks rush into crowds
of protesters in the capital, Tehran. Demonstrators scatter, but one
truck drives into a crowd trapped in a narrow street with a wall on one
side and parked cars on the other.

The camera follows the truck as it backs away, and a person briefly
can be seen crumpled in the street where the truck had been. When the
camera returns to the spot, another police truck drives over the
person. Other protesters rush to the downed person’s aid; it was
not clear whether that person was killed.

CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of the video, or another one
obtained by CNN that shows a woman who was reportedly killed when hit
by a car driven by members of the Basij, an Iranian paramilitary group.
That video shows protesters transferring her body from a clinic near
where she was reportedly killed to another hospital to keep her remains
out of reach of security forces.

Full article here

Climategate: Actual “Global” Warming Only Affects 10 to 20% of World, Sometimes

C3 Headlines
Wednesday, Dec 30th, 2009

Read here.
There have been numerous revelations from the Climategate emails and
files about climate scientists and the science that have truly been
incredible, yet confirm what skeptics have long felt and thought. An
example is the skeptics’ conclusion that global warming is not
really “global” but more local in reality. Sure enough, a
prominent IPCC climate scientist confirmed that conclusion in one of
the Climategate emails:

“Even with the instrumental record, the early and late 20th century warming periods are only significant locally at between 10-20% of grid boxes.”

Of course, when you combine that statement with this other Climategate email statement by another prominent IPCC climate scientist, it’s not a surprise the public no longer believes these frauds and now questions the veracity of scientists in general. It’s definitely a travesty.

“In
one e-mail, Kevin Trenberth of the National Center of Atmospheric
Research admits climatologists “can’t account for the lack
of warming” in recent years, “and it is a travesty that we
can’t.””

Iran Nuke Document Was Forged – Just Like Iraqi “Yellow Cake” Document

Washington’s Blog
Wednesday, Dec 30th, 2009

Former CIA official Philip Giraldi says that:

U.S. intelligence has concluded that the document
published recently by the Times of London, which purportedly describes
an Iranian plan to do experiments on what the newspaper described as a
“neutron initiator” for an atomic weapon, is a fabrication.

Like the Nigerian “yellow cake” forgery, U.S.
intelligence had to have known the Iranian document was a forgery, and
yet failed to debunk either. Indeed, as Time points out, the yellow cake document:

had been checked out — and debunked — by U.S. intelligence a year before the President repeated it.

Indeed, a claim that Iran is trying to buy uranium is now being made
against Iran, just as it was with Iraq. Specifically, Associated Press
– citing unnamed “diplomats” from an unnamed country
– is reporting today that Iran is trying to obtain uranium. However, Iran says that it has 1,400 uranium mines (a senior IAEA official was allowed to visit one of the mines in 1992) – so why would Iran need to purchase more uranium from another country?

The parallels go even further, since war against both countries were planned many years ago. Specifically:

The decision to launch the Iraq war was made before 9/11

The decision to launch a war against Iran was made before 9/11

And false linkages between terrorists and both countries are be (or may still be) made. Specifically:

A knowingly false linkage
was made between Al Qaeda and Iraq, and – while most people
forget this fact – that false linkage formed one of the main
justifications for the war in Iraq

U.S. congressman Ron Paul stated
that the government “is determined to have martial law”,
and that the government is hoping to get the people “fearful
enough that they will accept the man on the white horse”. He also
said “a contrived Gulf of Tonkin-type incident may occur to gain popular support for an attack on Iran”.

And former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski told
the Senate that a terrorist act might be carried out in the U.S. and
falsely blamed on Iran to justify war against that nation. He also told
the Senate that the war on terror is “a mythical historical
narrative”.

Disclaimer: I don’t like the
Iranian Mullahs – I think they are fundamentalist fanatics, and
the violence against protesters is barbaric. I also didn’t like
Saddam Hussein, as he was a ruthless tyrant.

But there is a little difference
between not liking someone and sending American boys and girls overseas
to be killed in an unnecessary war.

After bomb plot, Yemen in U.S. cross hairs

UPI
Wednesday, Dec 30th, 2009

All the signs are that the Obama administration is cranking up its secret war against al-Qaida in Yemen.

The acknowledgement of increasing intelligence
cooperation with the beleaguered Sanaa regime, which resulted in a
string of attacks on the jihadists’ bases in which some 50-60
operatives were reported killed or captured over the last two weeks, is
a strong indication that the Americans are showing a new determination
to eliminate the militants who call themselves al-Qaida in the Arabian
Peninsula.

A report carried by The New York Times Monday that the United States
has opened a “largely covert front” against al-Qaida in
Yemen underlines how Washington perceives the organization to be a
serious threat not only to the Sanaa government, battered by a plethora
of crises, but to the West, and the United States in particular.

The bizarre — and still largely unexplained — attempt by
a Nigerian engineering student, son of his country’s leading
banker, to blow up a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight from
Amsterdam on Christmas Day has added to U.S. unease about
al-Qaeda’s swelling resurgence in Yemen, ancestral homeland of
Osama bin Laden.

Full article here

Report: Iran to launch counterattack if Israel strikes

Roee Nahmias
Y Net News
Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Lebanon’s al-Nahar reported Tuesday that Iranian Parliament
Speaker Ali Larijani warned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak against an
Israeli attack on his country.

Larijani told Mubarak that if Israel dared to attack its nuclear
facilities, Iran would launch a counterattack on Israel and all US
bases in the country, as well as countries of the Gulf region.

The two leaders met nine days ago. al-Nahar’s report cites
“diplomatic sources in Beirut” as saying that Larijani had
asked Mubarak to convey his message to a number of Gulf States the
latter was visiting.

According to the report Mubarak did indeed convey the message to
leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, who fear
Iranian aggression within their boundaries.

Larijani stressed that Iran intended to retaliate only against
American bases used against it, the report says, and therefore urged
the states to ask the US not to use bases situated on their territory
to attack the Islamic Republic.

Full story here.

Ahmadinejad blames US, Israel for Iran protests

HIEDEH FARMANI
AFP
Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the United
States and Israel on Tuesday of staging an anti-government protest in
which at least eight people died, saying it was a “nauseating
play.”

His talk of a theatrical piece “commissioned and sold
out” by the country’s two arch-foes, came as Iran’s
conservative parliament called for opposition demonstrators to be given
maximum punishment.

“Iranians have seen lots of these games,” the president was quoted by state news agency IRNA as saying.

Americans and Zionists are the sole audience of a play they have commissioned and sold out. A nauseating play is performed.

Meanwhile, speaker Ali Larijani said on television that
“parliament wants the judiciary and intelligence bodies to arrest
those who insult religion and impose the maximum punishment on them
without reservation.”

Parliament also condemned “disgusting comments” by
Western governments about Sunday’s unrest, after they unanimously
denounced the deadly crackdown in the Islamic republic. ”

Full story here.

Pakistan: Detained Americans had Nuclear Power Site Map

cryptogon.com
Tuesday, Dec 29th, 2009

Were they wearing Dockers?

Via: Guardian:

Police are trying to determine whether five Americans detained
in Pakistan had planned to attack a complex that houses nuclear power
facilities.

The young Muslim men, who are from the Washington DC area, were
arrested in Pakistan earlier this month. Pakistani police and
government officials have made a series of escalating and, at times,
seemingly contradictory claims about the men’s intentions. US
officials have been far more cautious, but they, too, are looking at
charging the men.

A Pakistani government official alleged on Saturday that the men had
established contact with Taliban commanders and had planned to attack
sites in Pakistan. Earlier, however, local police accused the five of
intending to fight in Afghanistan after meeting militant leaders.

The men allegedly had a map of Chashma Barrage, a complex that along
with nuclear power facilities houses a water reservoir and other
structures, said Javed Islam, a senior police official in the Sargodha
area of Punjab province where the men were arrested.

He stressed that they were not carrying a specific map of a nuclear
power plant, but a map of the whole Chashma Barrage. The detained men
had also exchanged emails about the area, Islam claimed. “We are
also working to retrieve the deleted material in their
computers,” he said.

Pakistan has an arsenal of nuclear weapons, but also has nuclear power plants for civilian purposes.

Any nuclear activity in Pakistan tends to come under US scrutiny
after the main architect of its atomic weapons programme, Abdul Qadeer
Khan, was accused of leaking sensitive nuclear secrets. But, as
militancy has spread in Pakistan, officials have repeatedly insisted
that the nuclear weapons programme is secure.

A Pakistani police official, Nazir Ahmad, told the Associated Press
that the force would ask the courts to charge the five men with
collecting and attempting to collect material to carry out terrorist
activities in the country. If convicted, the charges carry a sentence
of from seven years to life in prison, he said.

Officials in Pakistan and America say they expect the suspects
eventually to be deported back to the US, but charging the men in
Pakistan could delay that process. The country’s legal system can
be slow and opaque.

In an interview with the Associated Press on Saturday, Punjab
province’s law minister, Rana Sanaullah, claimed the men had
established contact with Taliban commanders. He said they planned to
meet the Pakistani Taliban chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, and his deputy,
Qari Hussain, in the tribal region before going on to attack sites
inside Pakistan. The nuclear power plant “might have been”
one of the targets, Sanaullah alleged.

FBI agents have been granted some access to the men, who are being
held in Lahore, capital of Punjab province, and are looking into what
potential charges they could face in the US. Possibilities include
conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist group.

The five were arrested in Sargodha earlier this month, but are being held in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province.

Segetis Brings in $17.2M for Renewable Chemicals

Segetis, a startup developing chemicals made from biomass (rather than petroleum), raised $17.2 million this week as part of a planned $22 million Series B financing round, according to a filing with the SEC (hat tip PEHub). Backers include Khosla Ventures, which invested $15 million in Segetis back in 2007, and the Malaysian Life Sciences […]

December 30, 2009

Russia to develop offensive arms to balance out American AMD – Putin

Russia Today
Tuesday, Dec 29th, 2009

Russia will develop its non-nuclear offensive combat systems in
order to keep balance with American plans for an anti-missile shield.

The statement was made by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on a working visit to the country’s Far East.

“To maintain the power balance while not developing AMD, like the US, we’ll have to develop offensive arms,” – said Putin. “The
issues of anti-missile defense and offensive combat systems are
interconnected. Even during the cold war the peace was maintained
thanks to this balance of power, which includes the correlation of
forces between AMD, air defense and offensive arms.”

“If we are not developing AMD, then there’s a threat
that when our partners create an umbrella over themselves to protect
them against our offensive system, they might feel completely safe. And
that might mean that our partners will feel they can do anything they
want – the level of aggression in politics and economics
will rise right away. The balance will be lost,” he explained.

At the same time, as part of work on the new START, Russia is ready
to provide the United States with information on its offensive combat
systems in exchange for information on their anti-missile plans.

Putin also noted that the process of negotiations on the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty are going well.

According to Russian PM the rules of arms reduction should be transparent and clear to both sides.

Political analyst Vladimir Kozin said that, at the moment, the
balance between strategic defensive and strategic offensive weapons is
badly needed.

”Russia never deployed ballistic missile defense outside
its territory unlike the United States, while at the same time the
United States is fielding an extra ballistic missile defense asset, not
only in Asia Pacific, but on European soil as well,” he said.

Russia in secret plan to save Earth from asteroid: official

AFP
Wednesday, Dec 30th, 2009

Russian scientists will soon meet in secret to work on
a plan for saving Earth from a possible catastrophic collision with a
giant asteroid in 26 years, the head of Russia’s space agency
said Wednesday.

“We will soon hold a closed meeting of our
collegium, the science-technical council to look at what can be
done” to prevent the asteroid Apophis from slamming into the
planet in 2036, Anatoly Perminov told Voice of Russia radio.

“We are talking about people’s lives,” Perminov was quoted by news agencies as telling the radio station.

“Better to spend a few hundred million dollars to create a
system for preventing a collision than to wait until it happens and
hundreds of thousands of people are killed,” he said.

Full article here

USGS: Arctic sea too warm for sea ice 3 million years ago

Watts Up With That?
Wednesday, Dec 30th, 2009

This is a paleoclimatology finding, with current spin added. I guess they haven’t seen the latest on the NAO and AO.

USGS: Arctic sea too warm for sea ice 3 million years ago

SST 3 million YA – click to enlarge

USGS Press Release: Arctic Could Face Warmer and Ice-Free Conditions

Released: 12/29/2009 6:20:34 AM

There is increased evidence that the Arctic could face seasonally
ice-free conditions and much warmer temperatures in the future.

Scientists documented evidence that the Arctic Ocean and Nordic Seas
were too warm to support summer sea ice during the mid-Pliocene warm
period (3.3 to 3 million years ago). This period is characterized by
warm temperatures similar to those projected for the end of this
century, and is used as an analog to understand future conditions.

The U.S. Geological Survey found that summer sea-surface
temperatures in the Arctic were between 10 to 18°C (50 to 64°F)
during the mid-Pliocene, while current temperatures are around or below
0°C (32°F).

Examining past climate conditions allows for a true understanding of
how Earth’s climate system really functions. USGS research on the
mid-Pliocene is the most comprehensive global reconstruction for any
warm period. This will help refine climate models, which currently
underestimate the rate of sea ice loss in the Arctic.

Loss of sea ice could have varied and extensive consequences, such
as contributions to continued Arctic warming, accelerated coastal
erosion due to increased wave activity, impacts to large predators
(polar bears and seals) that depend on sea ice cover, intensified
mid-latitude storm tracks and increased winter precipitation in western
and southern Europe, and less rainfall in the American west.

“In looking back 3 million years, we see a very different
pattern of heat distribution than today with much warmer waters in the
high latitudes,” said USGS scientist Marci Robinson. “The
lack of summer sea ice during the mid-Pliocene suggests that the
record-setting melting of Arctic sea ice over the past few years could
be an early warning of more significant changes to come.”

Global average surface temperatures during the mid-Pliocene were
about 3°C (5.5°F) greater than today and within the range
projected for the 21st century by the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change.

Read the full article at http://micropress.org/stratigraphy/.

[ PDF is here http://micropress.org/stratigraphy/papers/Stratigraphy_6_4_265-275.pdf – Anthony ]

Scientists studied conditions during the mid-Pliocene by analyzing
fossils dated back to this time period. The USGS led this research
through the Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping
group. The primary collaborators in PRISM are Columbia University,
Brown University, University of Leeds, University of Bristol, the
British Geological Survey and the British Antarctic Survey. Learn more
about PRISM research.

USGS provides science for a changing world. For more information, visit www.usgs.gov.

Ritalin Linked With Sudden Death of Children

E. Huff
Natural News
Wednesday, Dec 30th, 2009

Research from The National Institute of Mental Health
has revealed that popular Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) drugs like
Ritalin are responsible for causing sudden death in many children.
Study numbers indicate a 500 percent increased risk in childhood death
from taking such mental health drugs.

For years, many experts, scientists, and health practitioners have
speculated that ADD drugs are dangerous and can cause serious injury
and death. Etta Brown, a licensed educational psychologist and author
of Learning Disabilities: Understanding the Problem and Managing the
Challenges explained in response to the study that drugs like Ritalin
actually destroy the neural function in children’s brains. As a
result, children who have undergone treatment with Ritalin will
actually have a much more difficult time processing information and
learning new things.

Brown also notes that Ritalin is responsible for causing a permanent
tic in the face, neck, and head of many of the children who have taken
or are taking it. Ironically, Ritalin is responsible for causing far
more serious neurological damage than the problems it is alleged to
treat. Comprehensive studies over the years have revealed that while
drugs like Ritalin visibly calm children, these drugs destroy their
delicate, developing nervous systems and can permanently cripple their
ability to function as normal human beings.

Ritalin remains one of the primary drugs prescribed for children
with supposed behavioral problems. Rather than be encouraged to modify
diet and increase exercise, children are being given drugs by their
doctors instead. Increases in behavioral and learning problems among
children have been increasing right alongside escalating levels of
environmental toxins. Children are also spending more time at home
alone while their parents work, eating greater amounts of junk food,
and not getting adequate sleep.

Etta Brown, and others, suggest better nutrition, adequate sleep,
and increased exercise and physical activity as a proper treatment for
children with behavioral and learning disabilities. Nutrition alone is
of vital importance since inadequate nutrient intake is arguably the
most significant factor in children’s inability to behave and
learn. Proper brain function cannot be achieved if the brain is not
being fed what it needs to process information and grow.

Parental guidance in regulating and maintaining a proper lifestyle
for their children is also vital if true improvement is ever to be
achieved. Medical professionals, child psychologists, and others will
have to come to grips with the fact that drugs are not the answer to
childhood developmental problems.

CRU’s forecast: UK winter snowfall will become “a very rare and exciting event”

Watts Up With That?
Tuesday, Dec 29th, 2009

Richard North from the EU Referendum writes of a curious juxtaposition of forecasts, then and now. I thought it worth sharing here since it highlights the chutzpah
with which CRU botched their forecast in March of 2000. At least they
didn’t claim that UK snowfall was in a “death spiral”.

From The Independent
on 20 March 2000 we got the headline: “Snowfalls are now just a
thing of the past”. According to Dr David Viner, a senior
research scientist at the climatic research unit (CRU) of the
University of East Anglia, within a few years winter snowfall will
become “a very rare and exciting event”.

Then, from the Telegraph online today we get: “Snow and ice to hit Britain at New Year.”

The mercury is set to drop to 28°F (-3°C) in
most of England and Wales on Thursday night, New Year’s Eve, and
17°F (-8°C) in Scotland, with widespread snow showers also
predicted. New Year’s Day will also be chilly, with the northern
half of Britain’s struggling to get above freezing during the
day, while London will do well to reach 39°F (4°C)

The forecast follows a spell of snow, sleet and ice which has
gripped Britain for more than a week but relented in most parts over
recent days.

It is so good to see in The Independent that the CRU is living up to its justly acquired reputation for accuracy.

I’ll also point out that this “very rare and exciting event” happened in London last year also.

Snow blankets London for Global Warming debate – first October Snow in over 70 years

CRU’s forecast: UK winter snowfall will become “a very rare and exciting event” GD9378751@LONDON OCTOBER 28 1609

Above: London 10/29/2008

Most Carry-Ons Banned On Flights From Canada To U.S.

Breitbart.tv
Wednesday, Dec 30th, 2009

Transport Canada: On December 28, Transport Canada put
in place enhanced security measures for passengers on flights bound for
the United States.

Effective immediately, US bound passengers are not
allowed to bring carry on bags into the cabin of the aircraft, with
some exceptions.

Passengers may carry with them the following items:
medication or medical devices, small purses, cameras, coats, items for
care of infants, laptop computers, crutches, canes, walkers, containers
carrying life sustaining items, a special needs item, musical
instruments, or diplomatic or consular bags.

Triffids are recruited in the global warming debate

Janet Daley
London Telegraph
Wednesday, Dec 30th, 2009

We should have known that the BBC would make some
didactic use of its revival of the great horror story,
“Day of the Triffids”. But the public indoctrination
message seems to have got a bit confused.

About half way through the first part (shown on BBC1 at primetime on
Monday night) we learned that the monstrous, flesh-eating giant
plants had, in this incarnation, been deliberately farmed for
their oil – a safe alternative fuel which, as the hero explained
while trying to extricate one his limbs from the grasp
of a rampaging triffid, had “saved us from global
warming”.

I don’t know how this struck you but in my household it
produced an explosion of hilarity and a chorus of, “Should have
taken your chances with the 2 degree temperature rise, mate.”

As I say, I am not at all sure what the real warning of this
salutary tale was intended to be: in the final part, the man
responsible for the Triffid Solution to Climate Change admits that the
hell he has unleashed on the world might not have been such a
great idea. With quite breathtaking understatement, he says,
“There are always unintended consequences to everything we
do.” I’ll say: in this case, the near-extinction of the
human population.

So was this designed to be yet another lesson in climate change
awareness: don’t let things go so far that you have to turn to an
army of man-eating herbs to save you? Or was it a warning against
taking drastic measures against global warming which may have
unpredictable risks?

Full article here

24 Wacky Questions From Real Job Interviews

How would you move Mount Fuji? Today, Glassdoor.com, which collects anonymous employee comments on companies, is citing that goofy question and more in its collection of 24 oddball queries that were actually asked in interviews. Some of them are doozies.

So which tech companies are considered lousy to interview at? In addition to its collection of wacky job interview questions, Glassdoor has gathered data from its site visitors on the tech companies that provide the most positive interview experiences, and the ones guaranteed to make you squirm.

Nokia gets the highest ratings for positive experiences:

And Reynolds and Reynolds’ job interviews are rated the most negative (among Silicon Valley giants, Oracle and Google don’t fare too well, either):

Finally, get a load of these actual questions asked during job interviews. Would you be able to handle these?:

What was your best MacGyver moment? – Schlumberger junior field engineer
How many tennis balls are in this room and why? – Yahoo customer service rep
If you were a brick in a wall which brick would you be and why? – Nestle USA procurement intern
How would you move Mount Fuji? – Microsoft software development engineer
If two cars are traveling in a two lap race on a track of any length, one going 60 mph and the other going 30 mph, how fast will the slower car have to go to finish at the same time as the faster car? – Morgan Stanley trader
Are your parents disappointed with your career aspirations? – Fisher Investments client service associate
Tell me how you would determine how many house painters there are in the United States? – Acquity Group business analyst
What should it cost to rent Central Park for commercial purposes? – Bain & Co. business analyst
If I put you in a sealed room with a phone that had no dial tone, how would you fix it? – Apple software engineer
If you could be any animal, what would you be and why? – Pacific Sunwear sales associate
How many hair salons are there in Japan? – Boston Consulting associate
If both a taxi and a limo were priced the exact same, which one would you choose? – Best Buy customer service
How to measure 9 minutes using only a 4 minute and 7 minute hourglass? – Bank of America quantitative developer
What are five uncommon uses of a brick, not including building, layering, or a paper-weight? – Kaplan Higher Education data analyst
What is the probability of throwing 11 and over with two dices – American Airlines financial analyst
Say you are dead — what do you think your eulogy would say about you? – Nationwide product manager
Given a dictionary of words, how do you calculate the anagrams for a new word? – Amazon software development engineer
How many lightbulbs are in this building? – Monitor Group entry interview
Given a square grid of numbers, considering all the numbers at the boundary as one layer and numbers just inside as another layer and so on how would you rotate each of the layers of the numbers by a given amount? – Microsoft engineer
How would you sell me eggnog in Florida in the summer? – Expedia market manager
Develop an algorithm for finding the shortest distance between two words in a document. After the phone interview is over, take a few hours to develop a working example in C++ and send it to the manager. – Google software engineer
Given a fleet of 50 trucks, each with a full fuel tank and a range of 100 miles, how far can you deliver a payload? You can transfer the payload from truck to truck, and you can transfer fuel from truck to truck. Extend your answer for n trucks. – Palantir Technologies business development engineer
You are in a room with three switches which correspond to three bulbs in another room and you don’t know which switch corresponds to which bulb. You can only enter the room with the bulbs once. You can NOT use any external equipment (power supplies, resistors, etc.). How do you find out which bulb corresponds to which switch? – Goldman Sachs X-Div/back office
If you saw someone steal a quarter, would you report it? – Amazon shipping manifest clerk

Image courtesy of Zach Klein on Flickr.

December 30, 2009

Facebook hires team to lobby governments on privacy issues

London Telegraph
Tuesday, Dec 29th, 2009

Facebook has hired a team of lobbyists to try to sway governments on its privacy regulations, it has emerged.

In 2009 the social networking site saw incredible
growth, going from 50 million users worldwide in January to more than
350 million in less than 12 months.

However, Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, 25, has realised
that the biggest difficulty is how to manage the privacy of users while
growing so fast.

With so much personal information kept on its servers, it is coming
under increasing scrutiny from governments and campaign groups.

Full article here

Pharmaceuticals are more dangerous to your health than terrorists’ exploding underwear

Mike Adams
Natural News
Tuesday, Dec 29th, 2009

As all of North America now seems to be focused on the issue of one
terrorist wearing a pair of exploding underwear, I might as well
comment on this latest bit of security theater that seems to have
transfixed the nation. Pictures of the exploding underwear
“bomb” have now surfaced on the ‘net. You can view
them at ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/north…

Here is exactly what the text on this page says (I’m not
making this up, this is seriously true): (warning: Some of the content
here is graphic, read at your own risk…)

“The first photo, to the left, shows the slightly charred
and singed underpants with the bomb packet still in place.”

I don’t know what you think, but if you did an underwear
search of all the passengers flying these days, you’d probably
find half of them are wearing underwear that’s slightly charred and singed with the “bomb packet” still in place.

The gastrointestinal health of the general population is atrocious! And by the time you add in some airport food and in-flight processed food
snacks, pretty much everyone on the airplane is setting off a little
bomb packet by the time they get off the plane. (Why do you think
everybody can’t wait to get off in such a hurry?)

Processed food has turned us all into in-flight terrorists!

Frankly, I’m not sure what’s more of a threat to public health: Lousy airport security or the digestive effects of in-flight meals. But they both have one thing in common: Underwear…

How to explode your rectum without harming anyone nearby

The ABC News story mentioned above goes on to state that this
terrorist’s underwear was packing 80 grams of an explosive powder
called PETN, which government tests have revealed can blow a (tiny)
hole in the wall of an airplane.

This is all brilliant stuff, of course. Truly brilliant. This whole
idea that underwear explosives might destroy an airplane all makes
sense except for the fact that the terrorist’s butt cheeks are in the way!

Had this explosive packet actually been set off, I can tell you
exactly what would have happened: There would have been a really loud
pop, immediately followed by in-flight pieces of exploding butt cheeks.

I’m not trying to be funny here. This is a true description of the way bombs work. They explode outward,
destroying whatever is closest to them first. And this guy actually had
this bomb wedged in between his butt cheeks. A sort of “wedgie
bomb”, if you will. A wedgie with a bang.

This is a serious discussion. There was an attempted assassination
of a Middle Eastern prince that happened not long ago. It was even
reported in the press. The assassin had somehow managed to shove
explosives into his rectum — I swear I’m not making this up
— and waltzed right through security with it. He then shuffled
toward his target, fired off the bomb and subsequently blew his butt
cheeks all over the room… without harming anyone else.

Brilliant, huh?

Think about it. In World War II films, you know how
you always see brave soldiers throwing themselves on an enemy grenade
to protect their squad buddies? That actually works because whoever is on top of the grenade absorbs the explosion. It’s basic physics.

In the case of super wedgie terrorist, he’s sitting right on top of the explosive powder! Who do you think is going to absorb the full force of the explosion? It’s going to be the guy sitting on it.

This is physics 101. A small bomb in somebody’s underwear is really only a threat to the idiot wearing the underwear.

The first rule of making bombs is that you probably should not be sitting on top of them when they go off.

Please remove your shoes and your underwear…

Predictably, U.S. authorities have now talked this up into a huge
security threat. And sooner or later, it’s all bound to lead up
to mandatory underwear searches!

I can see it now: A row of air passengers stands nervously at the gate, nearly ready to board the plane when TSA
enforcers approach and suddenly demand that everybody bend over and
pull down their underwear for a quick search for
“explosives.”

Sadly, most Americans are so brain-numbed by security propaganda, they would probably go along with it!

So why not just go all the way with this and pass a new TSA rule requiring all Americans to fly with no underwear!

The captain comes on the intercom, saying, “Visibility is 80
miles, we’re climbing to 29,000 feet, and we’re expecting
this flight to be a little breezy…”

Yep, it’s undies off when boarding planes from now on. As you pass through security, you can toss your water
bottles in one bin, your underwear and panties in another bin, and your
self respect in a third. Essentially, if these security searches get
any more personal, they’re going to undress us from head to toe
and make us wear medical gowns, chained to our seats
like convicts in a prisoner transport plane. Once we land, we can
reclaim our underwear and, if we’re lucky, a bit of our lost
pride.

Your bra just might contain a bomb…

Don’t you just love how air travel
authorities keep coming up with new stuff that you have to throw away
because it might be a bomb? Remember when we could bring actual water
on airplanes? Those were the good old days.

Then one day they declare “Your water might be a bomb!”
So millions of passengers now ditch their water at the security gate,
throwing it all to waste.

Then they came up with the idea that terrorists could “mix
binary liquids” to make liquid bombs in the airplane toilet, and
they used that to ban all liquids. So much for your toothpaste, contact
lens solution, herbal tinctures and superfood beverage. Toss it in the
trash if you want to get on this plane, buddy!

Now they’re going after your underwear. And
it won’t be long before you have to strip down to your birthday
suit and hand over your undies for an “inspection” —
right before they send you through the low-frequency X-ray machine that
scans your body parts and displays them on a screen as if you were butt
naked.

Just wait for a female terrorist who hides some explosives in her
bra one day. Following that, a new TSA security rule will be initiated
and all flights will become bra-less. No underwear, no bras, no water… what the heck is happening here? Are airlines
going to shave our heads and tattoo barcodes on our arms, too, just in
case they lose track of which person was handcuffed to which seat?

Absurd security

This is all getting beyond the point of absurdity. If a terrorist
wants to pack a little explosive powder and stuff it down their pants,
or up their rectum, or have it surgically sewn into their abdomen, there’s nothing we can do to stop that short of strip-searching every single passenger.

And that’s not security: That’s just a demeaning police state that treats its own people like criminals. If we all have to fly without underwear and bras, the terrorists win!

Besides, all this ridiculous security isn’t about saving lives.
If U.S. authorities wanted to save lives, they would ban aspartame, or
outlaw chemotherapy, or arrest the crooks at the drug companies who are
killing over a hundred thousand people every single year — a far
greater number than those killed by in-flight acts of terror (even
including 2001 and 9/11).

Even if there were no airport security at all, the risk of being killed by an in-flight act of terror would be a fraction of the risk of being killed by pharmaceuticals
in any given year. So why are U.S. authorities going crazy about
airport security when so many Americans are dying from pharmaceutical
toxicity every single day? Statistically speaking, the number of people
killed by dangerous prescription medications is equivalent to one jumbo
air liner falling out of the sky and crashing to the ground every single day.

Yet that threat to health and safety goes entirely unmentioned. Un-investigated. Un-noticed.

So while over 100,000 Americans are dying each year from dangerous
medications, the mainstream media has us all fixated on a pair of exploding underwear? Are you kidding me?

The whole thing has become a complete circus. Real threats to your
safety are ignored while miniscule threats are hyped up as if they were
life-and-death to everyone.

And yet, amazingly, most air travelers still go along with it!

This just goes to show you how easily the population can be
controlled by fear. I never thought that a photo of a pair of singed
underwear would scare a hundred million adults into giving up their
freedoms, but this is what has apparently taken place.

How about zero-security flights?

Here’s an idea: Airlines should offer optional zero-security flights.
On those flights, there are no security checks. Anyone with a valid
concealed-carry permit could bring any weapons they want, and the pilot
and co-pilot can be armed, too. You can pass right through security
with no X-rays, no checks, no delays. You simply sign a disclaimer and
go right from the check-in counter to your boarding gate with zero
hassles.

I would gladly fly on these zero-security flights.
You know why? Because 99.99% of the people flying on those planes would
be cops packing heat, ex-military people packing heat and
concealed-carry citizens packing heat. Any terrorist stupid enough to
try something on such a flight would find himself facing a
citizen’s army of vigilant passengers.

Zero-security flights would be the safest airplanes in the sky,
because no terrorist, hijacker or violent criminal would dare board one.

Plus, we all get to keep our underwear on

Video: 2011 Volvo S60 is one shapely Swede

Filed under: Sedan, Geneva Motor Show, Videos, Volvo

2011 Volvo S60 – Click above for image gallery

The debut of the 2011 Volvo S60 is still a few months away, but the safety-oriented Swedes have released a teaser video on Facebook of the new S60 and it’s shapely duds, finally giving us a complete view of Volvo’s bread-and-butter sedan.

Inspired by the S60 Concept shown at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this year, many of the elements that debuted on the design study have made a successful transition to the sedan, including the coupe-like roof, sculpted swage line and organic, angular front fascia. We’re particularly smitten by the taillamps, which evolve the familiar Volvo shape and incorporate a set of lighted tubes that compliment the heavily revised rump and its quaint spoiler.

Unfortunately, Volvo omitted any interior shots, so we’ll just have to wait for the S60’s debut in Geneva for a glimpse inside. In the meantime, make the jump for the video and check out the gallery of screen caps below for a series of stills.

Gallery: 2011 Volvo S60 Video Captures

[Source: Facebook via Kilometer Magazine]

Continue reading Video: 2011 Volvo S60 is one shapely Swede

Video: 2011 Volvo S60 is one shapely Swede originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 12:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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December 30, 2009

Review: 2010 Audi R8 5.2 FSI V10 reminds us we’re in the wrong tax bracket

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Audi, Reviews

2010 Audi R8 5.2 FSI V10 – Click above for high-res image gallery

Sigh. Another day, another 500+ horsepower supercar to babysit for a week. Such is my lot in life. Obviously I’m joking, to a degree. To be honest, I wasn’t that particularly jazzed about the Audi R8 with the defanged Lambo LP560-4 V10 shoehorned behind the seats, especially as I had prior knowledge that the more proper six-speed manual R8 5.2 FS I was supposed to get had been unceremoniously replaced by the slusher, R-Tronic version. Before continuing one sentence further, am I aware that I sound like the world’s most spoiled rotten brat? Oh yes.

But see, the thing is, I’ve driven the regular-strength V8 R8 and you know what? There’s nothing wrong with it. Perfectly neutral handling, 420 eager horses and looks that kill, or at least attract eyeballs like nothing I’ve seen this side of pornography. While more horsepower is always welcome, the notion that the 5.2-liter V10 “only” makes 105 ponies more combined with the extra weight just didn’t set off any great alarm bells of excitement. I’ll put it to you like this: I was much more excited when the 2010 Nissan GT-R showed up at my door.

It’s now seven days, four tanks of gasoline and 870 miles later. I drove the wheels off the world’s most expensive Audi, thrice. On every type of road, over every type of surface, never venturing more than a few miles from home. I mention that last bit because discounting long trips, I’ve never put so many miles on a press car. Has my tune changed? Is the ten-cylinder R8 worth the $25,000 price premium over it’s “lesser” sibling? Perhaps most importantly, is the Audi R8 5.2 FSI an actual, honest-to-goodness everyday supercar? Jump and find out. And if you don’t feel like jumping, please for the good of your eyes, take a few minutes to peruse the gallery, as it is one of our finest ever.

Gallery: Review: 2010 Audi R8 5.2 FSI V10