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Americans rallying against Qur�an burning

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:21:38 +0000

Rev. Terry Jones at the Dove World Outreach Centre in Gainesville, Fla., plans to burn copies of the Qur'an on church grounds to mark the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States that provoked the Afghan war. (Aug. 30, 2010)

Americans rallying against Qur�an burning

WASHINGTON�It is incendiary footage � the torching of Islam�s holiest book � only a handful of Americans intend to unleash.

But already, a full three days before the fact, they have the whole world hopping mad. And none moreso than Americans themselves, who gathered in vast numbers Tuesday to vent outrage against the radical Florida church behind the ceremonial conflagration, planned for Saturday night to commemorate the ninth anniversary of 9/11.

The U.S. State Department, top NATO officials, religious and secular leaders alike heaped scorn on the obscure Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., Tuesday, urging cancellation of an act many predict will spark bloodshed.

The warnings echoed that of the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Patreaus, who called Qur�an burning �precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems � not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community.�

Pastor Terry Jones acknowledged it would be �tragical� if so much as one person died as a result of his congregation�s upcoming matchplay.

�But at the same time, we do not feel responsible for that,� Jones told ABC.

He insisted his congregation of 50 parishioners will proceed with what the church is billing �International Burn A Qur�an Day.�

In Washington, leaders of a range of faiths came together at the National Press Club calling for a united religious front against �fear and intolerance� aimed at Islam. The former archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, called the anti-Muslim furor rising in the run-up to Saturday�s 9/11 anniversary a �powerful moment that calls for a powerful response.�

Others U.S. church leaders expressed frustration that a sect so tiny as to be off the radar of mainstream American Christianity were in a position to create so much furor.

�This is merely the hatred and insanity of a few,� said Carl Moeller, president of Open Doors USA, an organization that defends Christians against persecution around the world.

�But the reality today is that the footage will be magnified by thousands of broadcasts and millions of viewings around the world. The speed of modern communication likely means people will die, for no reason except one man�s bid to get his 15 minutes of fame. And it will leave this obscure congregation with blood on its hands.�

Angry weekend protests in the Afghan capital of Kabul and Jakarta, Indonesia, offered a foretaste of what might transpire in the event church proceeds. Moeller told the Star that while foreign troops in Afghanistan might face increased hostility, �they are trained and equipped for it.

�It is the local Christian communities around the world that are the most vulnerable and that�s why this is a disaster on two fronts; it violates the command of Jesus to love our neighbour and it would likely cause Christians worldwide to be more vilified and persecuted,� he said.

Jones and his Florida congregation have courted similar controversy before. In 2009 Dove World posted a sign on its lawn proclaiming, �Islam is of the Devil.� This time, however, the group marshalled the powers of Facebook with a page entitled �International Burn A Koran Day.� As of late Tuesday the site was approaching a membership of 10,000, although many appeared to have joined only to express heated opposition to the plan.

The London-based Minority Rights Group International said the spasms of anger dovetail with the findings of its 2010 report, which described religious intolerance as a �new racism� with an impact felt by religious minorities around the globe.

Yet some U.S. academics specializing in the study of religiously inspired extremes say there is nothing new in fury they some among a growing number of Americans today.

�America is regressing right now as we approach another anniversary of 9/11, there�s no question. But you have to ask yourself � who benefits from these controversies? There is no question some political entities gain from these divisions as we approach midterm elections,� said University of Notre Dame sociologist Rory McVeigh.

�Throughout American history we�ve gone through these peaks and valleys � and predictably, the peaks came during times of economic and social distress, which creates a poisonous political climate,� McVeigh said, citing as one example the rush toward Ku Klux Klan membership in the early 20th century, when five million Americans signed up in a span of a single decade.

�Social scientists used to believe it would eventually go the way of the dodo. But here we are today � the names and faces of the enemies change, given changing circumstances,� said McVeigh.

�What is most striking today is how effective a very small group can be in leveraging the media to get so much attention. This is a very tiny group. Let�s all remember that.�

--------------------------------------------------

I will give my comments later. What are your thoughts?

Oscar.

A Speech Every American High School Principal Should Give

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:04:40 +0000

A Speech Every American High School Principal Should Give

If every school principal gave this speech at the beginning of the next school year, America would be a better place.

To the students and faculty of our high school:

I am your new principal, and honored to be so. There is no greater calling than to teach young people.

I would like to apprise you of some important changes coming to our school. I am making these changes because I am convinced that most of the ideas that have dominated public education in America have worked against you, against your teachers and against our country.

First, this school will no longer honor race or ethnicity. I could not care less if your racial makeup is black, brown, red, yellow or white. I could not care less if your origins are African, Latin American, Asian or European, or if your ancestors arrived here on the Mayflower or on slave ships.

The only identity I care about, the only one this school will recognize, is your individual identity -- your character, your scholarship, your humanity. And the only national identity this school will care about is American. This is an American public school, and American public schools were created to make better Americans.

If you wish to affirm an ethnic, racial or religious identity through school, you will have to go elsewhere. We will end all ethnicity-, race- and non-American nationality-based celebrations. They undermine the motto of America, one of its three central values -- e pluribus unum, "from many, one." And this school will be guided by America's values.

This includes all after-school clubs. I will not authorize clubs that divide students based on any identities. This includes race, language, religion, sexual orientation or whatever else may become in vogue in a society divided by political correctness.

Your clubs will be based on interests and passions, not blood, ethnic, racial or other physically defined ties. Those clubs just cultivate narcissism -- an unhealthy preoccupation with the self -- while the purpose of education is to get you to think beyond yourself. So we will have clubs that transport you to the wonders and glories of art, music, astronomy, languages you do not already speak, carpentry and more. If the only extracurricular activities you can imagine being interesting in are those based on ethnic, racial or sexual identity, that means that little outside of yourself really interests you.

Second, I am uninterested in whether English is your native language. My only interest in terms of language is that you leave this school speaking and writing English as fluently as possible. The English language has united America's citizens for over 200 years, and it will unite us at this school. It is one of the indispensable reasons this country of immigrants has always come to be one country. And if you leave this school without excellent English language skills, I would be remiss in my duty to ensure that you will be prepared to successfully compete in the American job market. We will learn other languages here -- it is deplorable that most Americans only speak English -- but if you want classes taught in your native language rather than in English, this is not your school.

Third, because I regard learning as a sacred endeavor, everything in this school will reflect learning's elevated status. This means, among other things, that you and your teachers will dress accordingly. Many people in our society dress more formally for Hollywood events than for church or school. These people have their priorities backward. Therefore, there will be a formal dress code at this school.

Fourth, no obscene language will be tolerated anywhere on this school's property -- whether in class, in the hallways or at athletic events. If you can't speak without using the f-word, you can't speak. By obscene language I mean the words banned by the Federal Communications Commission, plus epithets such as "Nigger," even when used by one black student to address another black, or "bitch," even when addressed by a girl to a girlfriend. It is my intent that by the time you leave this school, you will be among the few your age to instinctively distinguish between the elevated and the degraded, the holy and the obscene.

Fifth, we will end all self-esteem programs. In this school, self-esteem will be attained in only one way -- the way people attained it until decided otherwise a generation ago -- by earning it. One immediate consequence is that there will be one valedictorian, not eight.

Sixth, and last, I am reorienting the school toward academics and away from politics and propaganda. No more time will devoted to scaring you about smoking and caffeine, or terrifying you about sexual harassment or global warming. No more semesters will be devoted to condom wearing and teaching you to regard sexual relations as only or primarily a health issue. There will be no more attempts to convince you that you are a victim because you are not white, or not male, or not heterosexual or not Christian. We will have failed if any one of you graduates this school and does not consider him or herself inordinately lucky -- to be alive and to be an American.

Now, please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of our country. As many of you do not know the words, your teachers will hand them out to you.
---------------------

I'd say this guy has his head on straight.

Oscar.

Bad kitty!

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 03:45:38 +0000

Your pants are lying to you

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 22:59:07 +0000

Actual measurements of popular brands of men's pants compared to their listed size.

(via Esquire)

New Rig and little issues

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:18:16 +0000

So I got the new rig in.... 9 days from order to delivery. Let me start by saying the cool master 960 advance is forking cool. Heavy but cool. Black inside and out, cable managemant a snap and talk about the ability to add fans! Add the hotswapable built in upper (as in on the top of the case) SATA port...sweat!

(review and pictures to follow)

So I graduated to windows 7.... ~~how the hell to you turn off that studpid sound that goes off everytime I click something~~? Figured it out.

Second does anyone have a copy of futuremark06 so I can test this bad boy out? (Or something better??) Need a base line before I tweak the clocks.

Thanks!

ipod

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:09:46 +0000

I want to get a new mp3/video player as my ipod classic is on its last leg. I was at the apple site and they no longer sell anything close to the classic what I did see was the ipod touch it listed all kinds of bells and whistles but none of those mentioned music. It did mention face time, hd recording and games. I'm not interested in those. I would like to know does this thing play music and videos like my classic?

Michelle Obama says Playstation makes you fat

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:05:45 +0000

Bet Microsoft and Nintendo are laughing their asses off

Winning graphic for First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign.

The TransAm is back? :0

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:57:37 +0000

wtf why am i finding this out now... 2011 Pontiac TransAm, This car i think has all the others beat on looks... in the war of bringing the classic musle cars back.. this thing looks badass.. i don't even care about specs.

firebird? i like the look of this car too O_O

JD caught a fish

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:56:15 +0000

(via Daily Mail UK)

What a whopper! Angler Raphael Biagini got the surprise of his life when he landed this gigantic koi carp on a fishing trip to France. At 30lb it's thought to be the largest of its kind ever caught in the wild

Mohammed cartoonist says his drawing will never die

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:09:33 +0000

Mohammed cartoonist says his drawing will never die

37 minutes ago

POTSDAM, Germany (AFP) - A Danish cartoonist who received death threats for a caricature of Mohammed with a bomb for a turban said Wednesday, as he was honoured in Germany, that his drawing would never die.

"Maybe they will try to kill me and maybe they will have success, but they cannot kill the cartoon," Kurt Westergaard told reporters at an event in Potsdam, near Berlin, attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

He also said a clash between Islam -- he called it a "reactionary religion" -- and Western culture was inevitable and that his cartoon, one of 12 first published in a Danish newspaper in 2005, was merely a "catalyst."

"I do not regret (the cartoon) because I am absolutely sure that this clash ... between two cultures would have happened sooner or later," he said. "The cartoon became a catalyst."

The drawings deeply offended many Muslims and sparked protests in January and February 2006 that culminated in the torching of Danish diplomatic offices in Damascus and Beirut, and the death of dozens of people in Nigeria.

In 2008, around 20 Danish newspapers reproduced the drawings triggering further protests in Muslim countries, including Sudan, Egypt, Pakistan, and Indonesia.

In January a Somali man allegedly broke into Westergaard's home and threatened to kill him with an axe and a knife. In 2009 two men were arrested in Chicago allegedly with plans to attack his newspaper, the Jyllands-Posten.

Westergaard told a German newspaper on Wednesday that Islam was a "reactionary religion."

"In my eyes you cannot compare Islam with Christianity. It is not a nice religion and in many ways is reactionary," he told the Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger, citing as an example "barbaric" punishments for gays.

"But I will also stand up for people having the right to practise this religion," the local daily quoted him as saying.

Merkel meanwhile was criticised by Germany's Central Muslim Council (ZMD) for planning to make the keynote speech at Wednesday's prize-giving for the cartoonist, who received the M100 Media Prize 2010.

Merkel was honouring someone "who in our eyes kicked our Prophet, and therefore kicked all Muslims," ZMD head Aiman Mazyek told the radio station Deutschlandradio Kultur.

He said giving Westergaard a prize in this "highly charged and heated time" was "highly problematic."

Merkel's spokesman earlier Wednesday defended her decision to attend the prize-giving ceremony.

"The chancellor is sending out to all people in Germany, Muslims or not, the message that press freedom, which will be the focus of her speech, is a precious commodity," spokesman Steffen Seibert told a regular briefing.

The award was being given to Westergaard at the end of the sixth annual M100 Sanssouci Colloquium international media conference.

---------------------------

Oscar.

BF: Vietnam to be shown at Tokyo Game Show

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:48:04 +0000

*sigh* All this time and all they can do is make four whole maps? BC2 has 10 total maps, MW2 has 30...

(via Joystiq)

EA has been mum on Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam since announcing the multiplayer-only expansion during its E3 press conference three months ago. But Battlefield Community Manager zh1nt0 says that's about to change. "I am going to Tokyo Game Show to showcase Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam for the first time," he said on the studio's Battlefield Blog.

He reiterated the original feature set � "4 brand new maps built in Frostbite, as well as Vietnam specific weapons, vehicles, persistence, unlocks, and achievements/trophies" � and, well, that's about it. We're shipping out to Tokyo next week where we'll rendezvous with the expansion and deliver the intel back here. Still think they're going to hit that "this winter" release window?

BANDWIDTH UP & DOWN SPEED TEST

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:02:09 +0000

http://www.speedtest.net/

When the test is done, you'll see 3 options to copy.

Use the 1st one: "Forum Link(for most forums) Just click on the "COPY" button and paste it here.

Awesome Youtube ad

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 06:06:57 +0000

All Over Politics 3#

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:52:59 +0000

New show is up, check out the logo Serious made for the show!

Show #3

World of Tanks (F2P MMO)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:45:36 +0000

I keep hearing good things about this game. It is the most off the wall idea for an MMO, but it seems to be working out. Yes, Jomamma mentioned it, but he would be entertained by a pile of rocks and a stick

Game will be free-to-play supported by in-game store (cosmetic items, more tank slots, non-game-impacting items).

World of Tanks website (now beginning 2nd round beta testing)

Buy your own Terminator

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:06:13 +0000

For the low price of $5,999.99!

Life size Terminator at Sideshow Collectibles

Why one would need a "steam" HDD....

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:26:18 +0000

I cleaned up my Steam HDD removing games i never will play, so i only have about 60games still installed... and with new games today coming out with 20GB out of box... ya.. still 200GB left tho

Should Ammo and fishing hardware with lead be banned by the EPA?

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:24:07 +0000

There are alternatives to using Lead in lures and the like, it may cost more but means you can keep the waters in which you drink from and fish from safer.

there are 2 choices, you can ban stuff that will have possible adverse affects on wildlife and humans Thus decreasing another way for us to die and be polluted

Or you can keep polluting and risk there really being a bad affect on wildlife and humans...

its a no brainer for me, there is a reason they banned it from paint, the pencils our mothers and fathers use to put in there mouths, our pipes in our homes, there is a reason i where a mask when peeling old paint, and why i wear gloves when i REMOVE old lead pipes from homes. This sh!t will make you sick, and the pollution from it may be small but it adds up and why let there be risk when there does not need to be. There is already so much heavy metals in our waters we don't need anymore.

A great read...

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:17:34 +0000

Hawking book says the universe was created spontaneously

September 07, 2010

Debra Black

Renowned physicist Professor Stephen Hawking, seen speaking in June at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, has co-written a new book that argues God is not necessary to explain the origin of the universe.
GEOFF ROBINS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

American physicist Leonard Mlodinow felt much like a graduate student as he worked with Stephen Hawking on their latest collaboration The Grand Design.

�He was teaching me his ideas of the universe and together we were interpreting them and explaining them and what words to use,� Mlodinow said in an interview with the Star. �We had discussions that would take 25 to 30 minutes to decide on a word.

�We obsessed over a lot. We worked hard to tie together ideas in an elegant, understandable way.�

Hawking�s latest conclusions at the centre of the new book: God is not necessary to create the universe. The creation of the universe was spontaneous and can all be explained by science.

Hawking and Mlodinow�s book is being released in North America today (Sept. 7) and in England on Sept. 9.

It is already garnering tons of publicity and was expected to hit the best-seller list on both sides of the ocean and even before its release. Amazon ranked it No. 1 on its Hot Future Releases chart.

Creation is no longer a big mystery, said Mlodinow. �Ours and many other universes were created spontaneously from nothing and all the universes have different laws of nature and we happen to live in one that has laws that are friendly to our existence,� said Mlodinow.

While God may not be necessary to the creation of the universe, the two men had plenty of conversations about the existence of God, Mlodinow said. �But we didn�t put that in the book.�

Hawking has previously said that he didn�t believe in a �personal God� whom you could meet and ask questions.

But whatever the nature of the conversations between the two physicists about the existence of God, Mlodinow did say the too also discussed the nature of miracles.

�We also don�t believe in miracles. If there is a God, it�s not a God that intervenes in the universe,� he said.

�Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing,� Hawking said in an excerpt from the book that ran in Eureka magazine in The Times.

�Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the Universe exists, why we exist.

�It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the Universe going,� Hawking added.

Until Hawking retired last year he was the *Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, a position previously held by Sir Isaac Newton.

Earlier this summer Hawking was in Waterloo for a six-week stint at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.

Hawking is recognized as one of the leading theoretical physicists of recent decades. Since his twenties, he has suffered from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS, a degenerative condition commonly known as Lou Gehrig�s disease.

The book explores two issues: how the universe came into being and why the laws of nature in the universe are what they are, explains Mlodinow.

�Our conclusion: This (the universe) can all be explained through science and we don�t need God to explain how the universe came into existence or why the laws of nature are what they are,� said Mlodinow.

This is the second time Mlodinow, a professor of theoretical physics at California Technical Institute and a former screenwriter for Star Trek, has worked with Hawking.

He had previously collaborated with the revered physicist Hawking on A Briefer History of Time, a revised edition of his earlier work, A Brief History of Time, which was published in 2005.

Mlodinow is an accomplished author and physicist in his own right with several books under his belt, including The Drunkard�s Walk which looks at randomness and its role in our lives and Feynman�s Rainbow which is a search for beauty in physics and life.

His television credits include Hunter, MacGyver and Star Trek: The Next Generation. �I was a physicist who decided he wanted to write films,� he says of the shift in careers. �I just started writing scripts and I continued to do physics research.

�I just felt like I wanted to write screen plays and I thought it was fun despite everyone telling me it was impossible. I got work.�

The Grand Design took four years to write, Mlodinow said. The two men would consult each other in person as well as by email with Hawking regularly visiting Cal Tech once a year and Mlodinow flying to Cambridge, England for extended visits.

�We would sit day and night and go over the stuff. The nice thing was while he was composing his answers I could watch him and see on the screen as he was forming sentences. It gave me time to think about what he was saying so I wasn�t totally left behind in our discussions.�

-------------

Can't wait to get my hands on that book

Oscar.

Note:

*The incumbent of the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics, the Lucasian Professor is the holder of a mathematics professorship at the University of Cambridge, England. It is widely regarded as one of the world's most prestigious academic posts. The post was founded in 1663 by Henry Lucas, who was Cambridge University's Member of Parliament from 1639�1640, and was officially established by King Charles II on January 18, 1664.

Lucas, in his will, bequeathed his library of 4,000 volumes to the university and left instruction for the purchase of land whose yielding should provide �100 a year for the founding of a professorship[1]. One of the stipulations in Lucas' will was that the holder of the professorship should not be active in the church. Isaac Newton later appealed to King Charles II that this requirement excused him from taking holy orders, which was compulsory for most fellows of the university at that time (some fellowships were exempt). The King supported Newton, and excused all holders of the professorship, in perpetuity, from the requirement to take holy orders.

The current holder of the post is the theoretical physicist Michael Green. He was appointed in October 2009[2], succeeding Stephen Hawking who retired in September 2009, in the year of his 67th birthday, as required by the University.[3][4] Hawking now holds the position of Emeritus Lucasian Professor of Mathematics.

Iran Sucks

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 20:51:22 +0000

(via The Guardian UK)

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog today accused Iran of hampering inspections of the country's nuclear programme, banning some inspectors and breaking UN seals on its uranium stockpile.

In its quarterly report on Iran's programme, the International Atomic Energy Agency repeatedly complained of Iran's failure to respond to its inspectors' requests for information about its plans and activities. In particular, the report said that Tehran's repeated objections to the accreditation of UN inspectors "hampers the inspection process and detracts from the agency's ability" to monitor Iran's nuclear work, which is already the subject of several UN resolutions and international sanctions.

The IAEA noted that Iran had the right to block inspectors on some criteria � several countries vet inspectors on the basis of nationality for example � but objected strongly to an Iranian claim that two recently-blocked inspectors had made "false and wrong statements" in an earlier report. The report was about the removal of sensitive laboratory equipment under IAEA surveillance, which can be used for separating uranium or plutonium from spent nuclear fuel.

The IAEA said it had "full confidence in the professionalism and impartiality of the inspectors concerned, as it has in all of its inspectors".

The UN agency also pointed out that some of its seals on Iran's stockpile of low enriched uranium (LEU) had been broken. The seals are intended to ensure that Iran is not diverting LEU and secretly enriching it further to weapons-grade purity. Iran told the IAEA the seals had been broken accidently, but the agency said it would have to verify in a stocktaking exercise due next month whether any nuclear material had been diverted.

A source with knowledge of the agency's Iran file said: "Seals are there for containment. Once one seal is broken there is no containment."

A series of UN resolutions has demanded Iran cease the enrichment of uranium, on the grounds that it can be used in weapons as well as power plants. Iran insists that its programme is for entirely peaceful purposes, and claims it has a right to enrich its own uranium for that programme. Iran has now amassed 2.8 tonnes of LEU, although it does not appear to have increased the rate of enrichment. It is also continuing to build up a stockpile of uranium enriched to a higher level of purity, also in defiance of UN resolutions, which it says is required for a medical research reactor in Tehran.

David Albright, a former nuclear inspector, who is now head of the Institute for Science and International Security said: "We have to worry now whether the Iranians are weakening safeguards to the point that if they do 'break out' [try to build a bomb covertly], if won't be noticed for a longer period of time."

Mexico sucks

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:23:08 +0000

Mexico City, Mexico (CNN) -- A lead investigator and another official looking into the massacre of 72 migrants whose bodies were found this week in northern Mexico are missing, President Felipe Calderon said Friday.

Calderon, who was giving a speech on drug violence, initially said the body of one of the men had been found. But he was handed a note few minutes later and corrected himself, saying the investigator was missing but there was no information about his death.

Mexican media reported Friday morning that two bodies had been found and that one of them belonged to the investigator.

The attorney general's office in Tamaulipas state, where the bodies of the 72 migrants were found Tuesday, identified the investigator as Roberto Jaime Suarez Vazquez. The news release did not name the other man other than to say he is a municipal police officer in San Fernando.

Both men disappeared Wednesday afternoon, the attorney general's office said.

Authorities have identified 31 of the 72 migrants whose bodies were found on a ranch near San Fernando, the attorney general's statement said. Of those identified, 14 came from Honduras, 12 were from El Salvador, four were from Guatemala and one from Brazil, the official said.

A young man from Ecuador who led navy personnel to the scene of the massacre said he escaped after pretending he was dead. He suffered a neck wound and remained hospitalized Friday.

Officials are investigating whether the Zetas drug cartel carried out the killings, as the young man reportedly told police.

Images of the scene show the bodies lying along the inside walls of a grain barn. The migrants are blindfolded and their hands are bound. All are fully clothed.
Central American migrants traveling through Mexico on their way to the United States are often the victims of violence and other crimes.

"Every year, thousands of migrants are kidnapped, threatened or assaulted by members of criminal gangs," Amnesty International said in a report this year. "Extortion and sexual violence are widespread and many migrants go missing or are killed. Few of these abuses are reported and in most cases those responsible are never held to account."

Keep America Fishing

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:51:46 +0000

Please follow this link and send an e-mail to your local state rep. It's not a petition but an e-mail gets sent.

Please send this link to all your friends and family and ask them to stop this BULLSHIT !!!

Keep America Fishing

"CHANGE we can BELIEVE in" <-- FUK the change. "YES we can STOP the CHANGE"

Fish fear me

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:47:40 +0000

yea baby!

25 or so of these little bastards today. My brother caught 15 or so the same size.
Barely big enough to get a hook in it's mouth.

I give em an A for effort though.

PLEASE VOTE

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:44:33 +0000

http://ice-squad.com/forums/index.php?/topic/11362-ventrilo-or-ts3/page__pid__70702__st__0&#entry70702

Stardock admits new game is a failure, lays off employees

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 23:37:26 +0000

Elemental: War of Magic was released by Stardock last week to scathing reviews. After releasing the very highly rated Sins of a Solar Empire and Galactic Civilizations, plus their Impulse game store (competitor to Steam), Elemental was supposed to be another big game for them.

(via Shacknews)

Shacknews has received an anonymous tip claiming that several employees of Stardock, developers of the recently released Elemental: War of Magic were let go today in a round of layoffs.

Those let go included developers, designers, and salespeople working on Elemental. The tipster, supposedly one of those laid off, claims that the layoffs were due to Elemental's "disastrous launch". Though post-launch layoffs are common in this industry, it sounds like these cuts were due to the game's launch and reception.

The employees were reportedly notified by Stardock management, as Brad is away from the office. Shacknews has contacted Stardock to ascertain the validity of these statements.

(Stardock CEO Brad Wardell via Elemental forums)

(I'm up north on vacation typing on an extremely slow connection so bear with me)

I don't think people yet fully realize the completeness of Stardock's fail on Elementa's launch.

I'm going to write more about this but not only did we think v1.05 was ready for everyone but we felt v1.0 was too. That's the level of disconnect/poor judgment on our part we're talking about.

If the game had come out in February, it would still have been a disastrous launch because lack of time wasn't the issue. It was blindness, sheer blindness. We felt the game was finished. And I speak of v1.0, not v1.05. Blindness.

There will be massive consequences for Stardock's game studio. I'll be talking more about this when I get back. But the game wasn't released early. The game was released poorly. Head in the sand syndrome imo. I've read the reviews as much as possible given my hideous internet access up here and I agree with them. We just didn't see what they were talking about. We thought any complaints would be about polish points or something.

The point is, the issue here is far far worse than many of you think it is. I wish it was an issue of the game being released too early. That's an easy thing for a company to "fix". Elemental's launch is the result of catastrophic poor judgment on my part.

EVERY competent software developer knows that the programmer must never be the one deciding whether the program is done. Yet, my love of Elemental broke my self discipline and I began coding on the game itself in vast amounts and lost any sense of objectivity on where the game's state was. I normally only program the AI on our games so I can keep a level of distance from the game itself to determine whether it's "Ready". On Elemental, I was in love with the world and the game and lost my impartiality.

We'll do better.

R.I.P. Brian Wood

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 22:16:17 +0000

(via Gamasutra)

Brian R. Wood, 33, a lead designer on Relic Entertainment's Company of Heroes real-time strategy game series, was tragically killed in a Seattle-area car accident on Friday night.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that Wood was driving his Subaru Outback along the Whiteby Island area of Highway 20 when his car was struck head-on by a Chevy Blazer that swerved across the center line.

Wood reportedly died at the scene, while his pregnant wife Erin, 31, who was a passenger in the Outback, is reportedly "hospitalized but in improving condition."

Both the driver of the Blazer, Jordyn B. Weichert, and front-seat passenger Samantha R. Bowling, who was holding the steering wheel at the time of the accident, could face vehicular homicide charges when they are released from the hospital.

Two back-seat passengers in the Blazer were also reportedly killed in the crash, which is currently under investigation by the authorities.

Before coming to Relic Entertainment to work on the Company of Heroes series in 2006, Wood worked as a designer on real-time strategy games including TimeGate's Axis & Allies and Kohan II: Kings of War.

Most recently Wood had been working on Company of Heroes Online, which has just entered public beta. The designer was scheduled to speak at the upcoming GDC Online conference on adapting the Company of Heroes series to a free-to-play format.

Iran paying Taliban to kill US/NATO soldiers?

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 22:09:56 +0000

(via Fox News)

KABUL -- At least five Iranian companies in Afghanistan's capital are using their offices covertly to finance Taliban militants in provinces near Kabul, according to an investigation by London's Sunday Times.

Afghan intelligence and Taliban sources have told the newspaper that the firms, set up in the past six months, provide cash for a network of district Taliban treasurers to pay battlefield expenses and bonuses for killing the enemy and destroying their vehicles.

The Iranian companies win contracts to supply materials and logistics to Afghans involved in reconstruction. The money often comes in the form of aid from foreign donors.

Profits are transferred through poorly regulated Afghan banks � including Kabul Bank, which is partly owned by President Hamid Karzai�s brother Mahmood � to Tehran and Dubai.

From these countries, the money returns to Afghanistan through the informal Islamic banking system known as hawala to be dispersed to the Taliban.

"This means the companies involved in funding the insurgency can cover their tracks easily. It makes it harder for us to trace the cashflow," a senior Afghan intelligence official said.

Iranian companies have been established with the intention of winning contracts funded by foreign aid so that donors� cash could be channeled into the insurgency, the official said. Western officials believe the network may have been set up by the Al-Quds force, an elite branch of Iran�s Revolutionary Guard.

The Iranian embassy in Kabul refused to respond to the allegations. But according to the Taliban treasurer, who has been interviewed by The Sunday Times, Iran is paying bonuses of $1,000 for killing an American soldier and $6,000 for destroying a U.S. military vehicle.

A Hallo from Afghanistan

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:48:27 +0000

ICE-CW03 says hi from Afghanistan.

James = ICE-03- His son.

Quote

Both James and I are here in Afghanistan and should be here for 7 months longer � give or take.

Let everyone know I said hello.

I hope all is well.

Monroe

Playing in the mud

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 09:51:02 +0000

Took the FJ to do a little off-roading today.

I have to say I am very pleased with it. I went up some very very rough and steep logging roads up in the ozarks and in 2l with the rear locker engaged it climbed straight up most of them barely even spinning a tire.

I had my brother take a few pics of us playing in a mudhole and a little hill that we started out testing on. It was much steeper than the picture makes it look.
If you notice the tree on the trails edge you can kinda make out the incline. But like I say this was just a little hill that we started on just to test out the 4wd.

Duke Nukem in development at Gearbox?

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:04:51 +0000

This has been rumored ever since 3D Realms went under (I mentioned it on forums months ago).

(via Shacknews)

Anonymous "sources claiming to have knowledge of the situation" whisper to Kotaku that 3D Realms' eternally troubled Duke Nukem Forever is now in development at Borderlands developer Gearbox. Naturally, it should all be taken with a big pinch of salt.

Duke Nukem Forever as it was under 3D Realms in 2008.

Duke Nukem Forever will be released under Gearbox's name, the sources claimed. One indicated that a playable demo might be released later this year. Unsurprisingly, DNF publisher 2K Games, creator 3D Realms and Gearbox have not confirmed this.

While Gearbox involvement in DNF has been rumoured before, this time Gearbox president Randy Pitchford hinted that--in Kotaku's words--"he may be able to better clarify the situation further at this year's Penny Arcade Expo," which runs September 3-5.

However, Pitchford might be teasing news of the unannounced Duke Begins, which Gearbox had worked on but was described in mid-2009 as "halted" "for the time being."

In May, 3D Realms and publisher 2K Games settled their legal battle over Duke Nukem Forever, potentially meaning Duke could return if only the game could be finished--which is unlikely to happen at 3D Realms after most of the studio was laid off.

"We've never said that Duke Nukem Forever has ceased development," said 3D Realms CEO Scott Miller in December 2009, explaining that "yes, we released the internal team, but that doesn't correlate to the demise of the project."