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  • Bangkok Burning: Thai Protesters Set Fire to Landmark Buildings During Deadly Gunbattles

    Via Prison Planet.com » World News

    Breitbart/MSNBC
    Wednesday, May 19, 2010

    The New York Times: As they retreated, protesters set fire to the country’s stock exchange and a number of buildings including a major shopping mall, two banks, a movie theater and a television station.

    But the crackdown did not appear to have become the large-scale bloodbath that many had feared. By dusk the government said five people — including an Italian news photographer — had been killed and 52 injured, some critically.

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  • Miranda Kerr Unleashed: Sexiest GQ Issue Ever

    Miranda Kerr Unleashed: Sexiest GQ Issue Ever The 27-year old Australian Victoria Secret Angel Miranda Kerr is GQ’s flaring cover girl for June 2010 issue. With the release of Miranda’s photo shoot teasers, many has already speculated that this could be the sexiest pictures the admired men’s magazine will ever produce.

    Top celebrities and god-like figures have posed for GQ in recent years. Faces like Rihanna, Jennifer Aniston, Christina Aguilera and once hailed as the most beautiful and sexiest woman Megan Fox in the world also graced the covers of the magazine. Undoubtedly, a magnificent line-up. But with charm and body like the one owned by Miranda, you will not qualm on why her snaps are considered the hottest of the land.

    Miranda’s friends from the modeling business also poised GQ’s pages lately. Supermodels like Alessandra Ambrosio, Seal’s better half Heidi Klum and Adriana Lima have all their faces and almost-nude frames seen in the magazine. Even with this assembly of heavenly bodies, Kerr’s are still on top of the fanatics’ list. You could not agree more.

    A little comparison from back issues to June’s material won’t hurt. See for yourself why Miranda Kerr’s GQ photo shoot has been the banner story and talk of the tinsel town recently.

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    2. Going Nude With a Twist
    3. Kobe Bryant on an All-white LA Times Photo Shoot

  • Dragon Quest IX dated for North America and Europe

    Almost a year ago, Dragon Quest IX: Sentinel of the Starry Skies was released in Japan. Since then, it has sold 4.26 million copies and is Square Enix’s second best seller from last year, next to Final

  • Snake Oil Salesman Obama Peddles Worthless Wall Street Reform

    Via Prison Planet.com » Commentary

    Kurt Nimmo
    Prison Planet.com
    Wednesday, May 19, 2010

    Congress will save us from Wall Street, Obama said in his weekly radio and internet address. The bill in Congress will curb predatory lending practices, prevent banks from taking on too much risk, and give shareholders more of a say, Obama insisted. “Put simply, Wall Street reform will bring greater security to folks on Main Street. My responsibility as president isn’t just to help our economy rebound from this recession; it’s to make sure an economic crisis like the one that helped trigger this recession never happens again,” he said. “That’s what Wall Street reform will help us do.”

    Snake Oil Salesman Obama Peddles Worthless Wall Street Reform onepixel
    rand4.jpg Snake Oil Salesman Obama Peddles Worthless Wall Street Reform onepixel
    The Democrat Borg collective show its support as Obama visited Buffalo, New York.

    Right. And I have a bridge for sale in Brooklyn.

    In fact, the Senate “financial reform” bill does almost nothing to “reform” Wall Street. It leaves the derivatives market in place. It does nothing to address the $1.5 quadrillion derivatives crisis threatening to smash the global economy like a bug. Derivatives and securitization are the primary toxins at the core of the current crisis. The Senate has fashioned a bill with a loophole you could drive a Mack truck through — a truck loaded up with derivatives.

    How will the Democrats protect us from Wall Street? Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd’s “reform” bill claims the government will crack the whip over the derivatives market by mandating that most trades go through a clearinghouse, a scheme that will supposedly shed more light on secret market trading and allow for government regulators to more effectively police derivatives.

    But there is a problem. There is absolutely no consequence if firms evade the requirements. The bill “includes a brief section that completely undercuts that new rule,” writes Zach Carter. “Under the current bill, there is no penalty for anybody who fails to centrally clear their trades — even though the bill labels this activity illegal. What’s more, even though this behavior is illegal, the trade itself is still valid. In other words, banks are required to bring their trading into the open. But if they don’t shed light on their trades, nothing will happen to them. I wonder what banks will choose.”

    (ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)

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    In short, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo — representing 97 percent of the total activity in the U.S. banking system and the equivalent of 60 percent of GDP — will continue to trade derivatives under the cover of darkness. It will business as usual on Wall Street. The engineered destruction of the economy will continue unabated.

    The snake oil salesman and teleprompter reader Obama will do nothing to save you and your family from impending doom. If Obama was serious about reforming Wall Street, he’d show Larry Summers and the other bankster operatives in his administration the door. Summers and his pal Robert Rubin were responsible for killing off the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act during the Clinton administration.

    Repealing Glass-Steagall allowed monsters such as Citigroup to underwrite and trade instruments such as mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations and deliver the economy to the periphery of destruction.

  • Consumption of processed meats may affect health

    Consumption of processed meats may affect health
    Consumption of sausages, salami or smoked meat may increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes, according to results of a study today published the journal Circulation.

    Researchers at the School of Public Health at Harvard, USA, found that on average each daily serving, about 50 grams of processed meat, increases by 42 percent the risk of cardiac problems and 19 percent of diabetes.

    However, the intake of such unprocessed food apparently does not represent an increased chance of suffering any of these health problems.

    The study, which was based on a review of 600 thousand jobs, did not assess the relationship between intake of processed foods and the chance of hypertension and increased risk of cancer.



    “To lower risk of heart attacks and diabetes, people should consider which types of meats they are eating…Processed meats such as bacon, salami, sausages, hot dogs and processed deli meats may be the most important to avoid,” said Renata Micha, lead author study.

    She clarified, however, if you eat one serving or less per week than meat will represent less risk to the health.

    “When we looked at average nutrients in unprocessed red and processed meats eaten in the United States, we found that they contained similar average amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol,” said Micha.

    The Harvard team’s findings were rejected by the American Meat Institute, which provides that this study contradicts with previous researches and the nutritional guidelines for Americans.

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  • Leaked Doc Proves Spain’s ‘Green’ Policies — the Basis for Obama’s — an Economic Disaster

    Via Prison Planet.com » Prison Planet

    Christopher Horner
    Pajamas Media
    Wednesday, May 19, 2010

    Pajamas Media has received a leaked internal assessment produced by Spain’s Zapatero administration. The assessment confirms the key charges previously made by non-governmental Spanish experts in a damning report exposing the catastrophic economic failure of Spain’s “green economy” initiatives.

    On eight separate occasions, President Barack Obama has referred to the “green economy” policies enacted by Spain as being the model for what he envisioned for America.

    Later came the revelation that Obama administration senior Energy Department official Cathy Zoi — someone with serious publicized conflict of interest issues — demanded an urgent U.S. response to the damaging report from the non-governmental Spanish experts so as to protect the Obama administration’s plans.

    Most recently, U.S. senators have introduced the vehicle for replicating Spain’s unfolding economic meltdown here, in the form of the “American Power Act.” For reasons that are obvious upon scrutiny, it should instead be called the American Power Grab Act.

    But today’s leaked document reveals that even the socialist Spanish government now acknowledges the ruinous effects of green economic policy.

    Unsurprisingly for a governmental take on a flagship program, the report takes pains to minimize the extent of the economic harm. Yet despite the soft-pedaling, the document reveals exactly why electricity rates “necessarily skyrocketed” in Spain, as did the public debt needed to underwrite the disaster. This internal assessment preceded the Zapatero administration’s recent acknowledgement that the “green economy” stunt must be abandoned, lest the experiment risk Spain becoming Greece.

    (ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)

    Leaked Doc Proves Spain’s ‘Green’ Policies — the Basis for Obama’s — an Economic Disaster 260310banner2

    The government report does not expressly confirm the highest-profile finding of the non-governmental report: that Spain’s “green economy” program cost the country 2.2 jobs for every job “created” by the state. However, the figures published in the government document indicate they arrived at a job-loss number even worse than the 2.2 figure from the independent study.

    This document is not a public report. Spanish media has referred to its existence in recent weeks though, while Bloomberg and the Washington Examiner have noted the impact: Spain is now forced to jettison its plans — Obama’s model — for a “green economy.”

    Remarkably, these items have received virtually no media attention.

    An item which has been covered widely, however, is that President Obama is now pressuring Spain to turn off its spigot of public debt in the name of averting a situation similar to that of Greece.

    Also covered widely is Obama’s promotion of the American Power Act — the legislation which would replicate Spain’s current situation in the United States.

    Put simply, Obama is currently promoting a policy in the U.S. which is based on a policy that he wishes to see Spain abandon. Welcome to Obamaland, the particulars of which are explained in a fashion grandly more illuminating than this Obama-Zapatero dance in Power Grab: How Obama’s Green Policies Will Steal Your Freedom and Bankrupt America.

    Full story here.

  • Vídeo: Acidente com carro monstro afoga piloto na lama


    EMBED-Monster Trucks Rolls Over Driver – Watch more free videos

    Quando eu vejo disputas com os famosos “Big Foot“, também chamado de “carro monstro“, me imagino dirigindo uma coisa dessa dessas, a sensação de poder. Deve ser diferente de um caminhão, que também é um veículo alto.

    Dirigir um grandalhão desses tem suas vantagens e desvantagens. O que aconteceria, por exemplo, se um monstro desses capotasse? É o que você verá nesse vídeo logo acima, onde a combinação “Carros monstro“+”Lama“-”Cinto de Segurança” = “Coisa boa jamais“.

    Durante a aceleração do monstro, ele simplesmente deslizou e o piloto com toda a sua expertise, não estava usando o cinto de segurança. Não vou comentar o que acontece agora, é melhor ver o vídeo. Mas fica a lição: “Não usar cinto de segurança, literalmente te coloca na lama“.

    Via | Top Speed


  • Piezocube for 3D structuring

    PI’s range of high-precision stages – the NanoCube P-611 (Fig. 1) XYZ nanopositioning systems – prove their ability in new fields of application. The cube sides only measure 44 mm, making it suitable for travel ranges up to 100 x 100 x 100 µm and easy to integrate. The stages are driven by piezo actuators and achieve resolutions of up to 0.2 nm at response times in the millisecond range. The basic (open-loop) model is designed for high-resolution positioning where the absolute position is of secondary importance or whose control loop is closed externally. This is the case with tracking or fiber-positioning applications, for example. A closed-loop version with integrated position sensors is available for applications which require high accuracy both in absolute terms and also in terms of repeatability. Both versions use preloaded high-performance piezo actuators which are integrated into a friction-free, zero-backlash guiding system with FEM optimized flexures. The actuators, guides and sensors are non-wearing, making the systems very reliable and durable. This has already been proven in numerous applications where high precision is required. One example can be found in a product from the French company Teem Photonics, which uses the NanoCube P-611 in the new µFab3D microfabrication system. The system builds three-dimensional microstructures and objects in light sensitive materials such as polymers, proteins or noble metals.
    The microfabrication system operates on the basis of so-called “two-photon absorption,” where a pulsed beam of laser light is used to achieve a sufficiently high supply of energy at the focus. This changes the material structure by polymerization, cross linking of proteins or precipitations of metal ions. The typical fields of application include microfluidics, cell biology and the manufacture of photonic crystal structures in micro-optics.
    The resolution of the system, i.e. the size of the machining points, which can be anywhere within the object, is 200 nm. The objects are fabricated “on the fly” at a speed of 100 µm/s. For a homogenous and high-quality result, the laser and the machining points must be aligned precisely and with constant speed. The NanoCube P-611 provides the optimum conditions here with a travel range of 100 x 100 x 100 µm.

  • Low-Cost Piezoelectric Actuators for Various Levels of Integration

    The lever-amplified piezo actuators of the PiezoMove series from Physik Instrumente (PI) reach travel ranges up to 500 µm and have been designed for a particularly cost effective production of large quantities.
    Those who are not put off by the greater effort required to integrate these actuators, or who prefer to use OEM products for technical or financial reasons can now keep the investment costs at a relatively low level. Their response times of a few milliseconds and resolution in the sub-nanometer range make all three series suitable for both static and dynamic applications.
    The strain gauge sensors (SGS), which can optionally be employed, improve the linearity of up to 99.8%.
    Applications that are particularly suited for employing PiezoMove actuators are for example cavity tuning in laser optics or microscanning in imaging applications. Further applications are dispensers, valves for microdosing devices, pumps in medical technology and biotechnology.

    Piezo Actuators With Improved Reliability:

    The driving force behind the lever-amplified actuators is provided by the PICMA multilayer actuators from PI Ceramic, a subsidiary of PI. Instead of the usual polymer insulation they have full ceramic encapsulation. This protects them from humidity and failure caused by an increase in the leakage current.
    They are thus much more reliable and durable than conventional piezo actuators. The reliable multilayers are also used in all nanopositioning systems from the same manufacturer. They are produced on a large scale for biometry, medical engineering and image processing and can therefore also convince with their exceptionally good price-performance ratio.

  • GridShift Hydrogen Fuel at $2.51 per Gallon Breakthrough

    There has been a press release circulating for the past couple of days by a company called GridShift Inc. that claims to have made an electrolysis breakthrough that will deliver compressed hydrogen fuel at around $2.51 per kilogram (equivalent to a gallon).

    This press release has met with some skepticism from sources such as Bnet.com. But, I’m a little more optimistic after having a conversation with GridShift’s CEO Robert Dopp (pictured). According to Mr. Dopp, “My goal is to reach the 85-percent energy efficiency at 1 Amp/cm2 by this summer and then verification will begin. I am so far ahead of the field that comparative data will be hard to find.

    “It is due to the coating technique I have developed which coats all surfaces of a 3D shape (like reticulate nickel foam) with nano catalysts in a way that is robust enough to withstand the rigors of electrolysis and still exposes the powders to the electrolyte’s boundary layer. None of the catalysts are Noble or expensive.”

    Much of the technical details of how the new proprietary GridShift technology works in general can be found in a whitepaper on their website. According to the whitepaper, “We use no Noble metals in our work (i.e. no platinum). We then developed a novel way to adhere these powders to a metallic electrode surface … We have developed a unique method to attach nano catalysts to a metallic surface in a way that has very low impedance to the reaction sites, covers all surfaces of a porous structure and leaves the particles well exposed to the boundary layer.”

    According to the GridShift press release, “GridShift’s uses a new catalyst comprised of readily available nano-particles, reducing catalyst costs by up to 97 percent. Platinum is the most often used catalyst for electrolysis based hydrogen generation, but at a cost of over $1700 an ounce, it becomes prohibitive at scale. This newly developed catalyst costs just $58 an ounce.

    “Overall, GridShift’s new method for hydrogen generation produces four times more hydrogen per electrode surface area than what is currently reported for commercial units today. This means that an electrolysis unit using the GridShift method would produce at least four times more fuel in the same sized machine, or require a unit four times smaller than normal to make the same amount of hydrogen. GridShift’s new electrolysis method finally breaks down the barriers that have kept a truly green hydrogen highway from extending across the country.”

    One of the problems that Bnet had with the $2.51 per gallon figure is that it was based upon five cents a kilowatt-hour when the national average is 12-cents. This may partly be true if the electrolysis device is to be used in hydrogen fueling stations during peak hours. But, at night during off-peak hours, when most home hydrogen fueling stations would be used (and presumably hydrogen fueling stations would also use this time to compress and store hydrogen as well) the 5 cent mark is about right. And this figure also becomes less if wind, solar or other alternative energy is used to provide the electrolysis.

    In addition, Bnet states, “The average new car struggles to reach 25 mpg, but hydrogen cars averaged 47 mpg in 2008 …” I’m not sure where they got this figure, but it is low compared to the data I have gathered, putting hydrogen cars more in the 60 mpge to 80 mpge range. Remember, that most hydrogen cars today are also hybrid vehicles and some are even plug-in hybrids.

    Also, remember that if the $2.51 per gallon figure is correct and hydrogen cars get double the mileage as the average gasoline-powered automobile this would be the equivalent to around $1.75 per gallon of gasoline, a price we can all live with. The GridShift dual electrolyzer is pictured along with the laboratory it was conceived and tested in.

    I’m optimistic that GridShift will truly provide, as the name implies, a shift in the paradigm from fossil fuels and uncontrollable offshore oil spills to cleaner, home grown alternative fuels of the future in just a few short years.

  • Consumer Spending Triggers Higher Target Revenue

    Consumer Spending Triggers Higher Target Revenue Clothing lines clinched the number one spot as the major key player responsible for Target’s higher revenue from sales. Target’s profit clocked in at $671 million which is equivalent to 90 cents per share for the first three months of the year. Preceding year is at $522 million or 65 cents per share. While the giant conglomerate competitor Wal-Mart experienced an unexpected and alarming downfall in one of their discount stores last Tuesday, Target registered an augmentation of 2.8 percent. The rose of sales percentage was indexed in (Target) stores which are already opened for at least one year. Studies show that Wal-Mart loyal customers were found to be the ones more affected by the economic crisis felt by the nation in 2009. On the other hand, those who have been affected but have rather stable finances cling to retailers like Target for a number of considerations. With recession starting to retreat, consumers become wiser and opt to go to retailers and department stores for their needs. Unpredictably, credit card business performed better, taking into consideration the present fiscal predicament. This can be attributed to diminution in bad debt expense from the preceding year. Income from this group grew from $39 million to a whopping $111 million.

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  • Warner Bros. So Distraught Over Losing Superman Rights, It Personally Sues The Lawyer Who Won

    We’ve covered the ongoing fight over copyright termination rights lately, as it’s quickly becoming a big deal. While the whole concept shows part of how messed up copyright law has become, one element included to help artists (rather than just big companies) when copyright terms were extended, were opportunities for the original artists or their estates to “terminate” the assignment of copyright to a company. The details are highly technical and a bit of a mess, and the entertainment industry has worked hard for years to try to bury termination rights (most famously when the RIAA had a Congressional staffer — who was hired just months later to a high-paying RIAA job — slip some text into a bill in the middle of the night that took termination rights away from musicians, until musicians freaked out and Congress backtracked). Even so, the big entertainment industry companies have been fighting against every attempt at artists or their estates reclaiming their copyrights for years. The most famous case was the case over Superman’s rights — which concluded last year with the estate of Jerry Siegel winning back certain rights (while letting Warner retain other Superman-related rights).

    The lawyer who represented the Siegel estate, Marc Toberoff, has been pushing content creators and their estates to understand (and make use of) termination rights for a long time. And it’s no surprise that we’re now seeing new efforts under way from musicians and others, including comic book artist Jack Kirby. Kirby, not surprisingly, is also represented by Toberoff, who isn’t just representing these artists in helping them get back their copyrights, but he’s apparently set up his own production studio to help make use of those copyrights once he helps the artists get them back.

    Apparently, Warner Bros. (a frequent target of Toberoff) has had enough and has decided to sue Toberoff personally, claiming that… well… basically that he’s a jerk and a savvy business person, which I didn’t quite realize was illegal. Specifically, they seem to be claiming that Toberoff “manipulated” the creators of Superman, having them hand over a large percentage of the rights to the character if he was able to successfully manage the termination. Part of Warner’s complaint is that Siegel and Shuster had apparently signed agreements promising not to exercise their termination rights, but as I’m sure Warner’s lawyers know (they must know this, right?), you cannot contractually give up your termination rights, or all entertainment industry companies would require that in their standard contract.

    Frankly, reading through the complaint — which you can read below — it looks like Warner is attempting to retry the Superman termination rights case that it already lost:



    While I still think there are all sorts of problems with termination rights in copyright law, and have no doubt that Toberoff had plenty of reasons beyond helping artists get back their copyrights in agreeing to represent these artists, it is somewhat amusing to see Hollywood flail around so desperately to try to keep absolutely monopolistic control over these rights. Of course, if the copyright law that was in place when Superman was created was still in place, the character of Superman would no longer be covered by copyright at all today, but would, instead, be in the public domain. So, forgive me for feeling little sympathy for anyone involved in this tug of war over who gets to exploit the creation for more money.

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