`A private developer contacted the local government in Supreme Court Justice David Souter’s hometown in New Hampshire yesterday asking that the property of the judge – who voted in favor of a controversial decision allowing a city to take residents’ homes for private development – be seized to make room for a new hotel. [..]
The Kelo v. City of New London decision, handed down Thursday, allows the New London, Conn., government to seize the homes and businesses of residents to facilitate the building of an office complex that would provide economic benefits to the area and more tax revenue to the city. Though the practice of eminent domain is provided for in the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution, this case is significant because the seizure is for private development and not for “public use,” such as a highway or bridge. [..]
According to a statement from Clements, the proposed development, called “The Lost Liberty Hotel” will feature the “Just Desserts Café” and include a museum, open to the public, “featuring a permanent exhibit on the loss of freedom in America.”‘
Throw a limp woman around. With bubbles.
`While gangsta rap is seen as celebrating the violence and aggression that claimed two of its brightest stars, “geeksta” rap is a hip-hop genre celebrating coding skills and school grades.
Also dubbed “nerdcore,” this branch of hip-hop is for geeks, by geeks. Geeksta rappers adopt the same combative verbal-assault stylings of their forerunners, but bust rhymes about elite script compiling and dope machine code. [..]
Henry Lin, a geeksta fan and graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley, said: “The lyrics are full of inside jokes that only those knowledgeable in computer science would understand. Besides, some songs do a good job of capturing the everyday struggles of computer science majors.”
Frontalot, a New York designer who declined to give his real name, conceded he has “mediocre” mic skills, but said nerds can out-hip hip-hop’s true superstars.
“I think CS graduates have a better chance than most rappers at calculating and devising hitherto unheard rhyme pairings,” he said. “50 Cent has dance clubs and oral sex, we have awesome video cards.”‘
A funny news paper clipping.
`1. The No. 1 thing to remember is REMAIN CALM! But protect yourself from any hazards real or perceived. Be prepared to take evasive (but not aggressive) action to get out of its way. Remember: You might be witnessing the event of a lifetime and will want to remember every detail. You can’t do that if you are hysterical.’
`American students are quitting Queensland universities in the face of hate attacks by Australians angry at US President George W. Bush and the war in Iraq.
One university has launched an investigation into claims an American student returned to the US after suffering six months of abuse at a residential college in Brisbane.
American students have told The Sunday Mail the verbal attacks are unbearable and threatening to escalate into physical violence.
Griffith University student Ian Wanner, 19, from Oregon, said abusive Australian students had repeatedly called him a “sepo” – short for septic tank. “It is so disrespectful. It’s not exactly the most welcoming atmosphere here,” he said.
The Queensland Anti-Discrimination Commission has described the abuse as “horrible” and says it could be classed as racial vilification.’
`The Bush administration is planning the government’s first production of plutonium 238 since the cold war, stirring debate over the risks and benefits of the deadly material. The substance, valued as a power source, is so radioactive that a speck can cause cancer.
Federal officials say the program would produce a total of 330 pounds over 30 years at the Idaho National Laboratory, a sprawling site outside Idaho Falls some 100 miles to the west and upwind of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Officials say the program could cost $1.5 billion and generate more than 50,000 drums of hazardous and radioactive waste.
Project managers say that most if not all of the new plutonium is intended for secret missions and they declined to divulge any details. But in the past, it has powered espionage devices.’
`A young Thai man with a history of moodiness has killed himself by gluing his mouth and nose shut with super glue.
Bangkok police say the young man’s body was found Thursday morning in his bedroom, apparently after suffocating overnight.
They say a small amount of cash and a note saying “Here is all that I have, take what you please” were also found on the bed.’
I might have posted this one already. It seems familiar, but I’m too lazy to check. 🙂
`China is building its military forces faster than U.S. intelligence and military analysts expected, prompting fears that Beijing will attack Taiwan in the next two years, according to Pentagon officials.
U.S. defense and intelligence officials say all the signs point in one troubling direction: Beijing then will be forced to go to war with the United States, which has vowed to defend Taiwan against a Chinese attack.
China’s military buildup includes an array of new high-technology weapons, such as warships, submarines, missiles and a maneuverable warhead designed to defeat U.S. missile defenses. Recent intelligence reports also show that China has stepped up military exercises involving amphibious assaults, viewed as another sign that it is preparing for an attack on Taiwan. [..]
China’s economy has been growing at a rate of at least 10 percent for each of the past 10 years, providing the country’s military with the needed funds for modernization.
The combination of a vibrant centralized economy, growing military and increasingly fervent nationalism has transformed China into what many defense officials view as a fascist state.’
`Scientists have created eerie zombie dogs, reanimating the canines after several hours of clinical death in attempts to develop suspended animation for humans.
US scientists have succeeded in reviving the dogs after three hours of clinical death, paving the way for trials on humans within years. [..]
The animals are considered scientifically dead, as they stop breathing and have no heartbeat or brain activity.
But three hours later, their blood is replaced and the zombie dogs are brought back to life with an electric shock.
Plans to test the technique on humans should be realised within a year [..]’
`Washington has for the first time acknowledged to the United Nations that prisoners have been tortured at US detention centres in Guantanamo Bay, as well as Afghanistan and Iraq, a UN source said.
The acknowledgement was made in a report submitted to the UN Committee against Torture, said a member of the ten-person panel, speaking on on condition of anonymity.
“They are no longer trying to duck this, and have respected their obligation to inform the UN,” the Committee member told AFP.
“They they will have to explain themselves (to the Committee). Nothing should be kept in the dark.”
UN sources said it was the first time the world body has received such a frank statement on torture from US authorities.’
`An 86-year-old man with emphysema died minutes after Lakeland Electric cut off electricity to his son’s home, shutting down his oxygen machine.
One day after Richard Howerton brought his terminally ill father John home from a nursing home, Lakeland Electric cut off the power to his home in Kathleen because he was late paying his bill.
“What they did was cruel and inhumane,” Joyce Howerton said of her father-in-law’s death. “It was despicable.”
Utility workers didn’t know a sick, elderly man was inside the home when the power was cut off on June 14. When the power was cut, the oxygen machine stopped and he died shortly after.
Records show that Richard and Joyce Howerton were chronically behind on their bills.’
`I like to jam a pair of scissors into my crotch repeatedly. Is that wrong?
No, of course not! Although authority figures would deny it and, indeed, try to discourage such activity, a recent survey has shown that fully 95% of the world’s population does it on a regular basis! In fact, it’s probably those who DON’T do it that you should be worried about!
I jam a pair of scissors into my crotch every day. Do I need help?
Only if your aim is bad.’
‘Stack Rock Fort, about 800 yards off the west Wales coast near Milford Haven, is for sale for £150,000.
The 19th Century fort – complete with a couple of cannons – dates back from the time of Napoleon, when it was initially built as a defence for the river Haven.
But it has nowhere to sleep at present, and the new owner will have to sort out sewage, water and power. ‘
The photo looks kinda cool. I’d like to live in a place like this one day. 🙂 All you need is a generator and a directional wifi antenna to jump then 800 yards to shore, and you’d have you very own cyberporn island of doom.
Hmm.. Attractive. 🙂
I’m sure this is being modelled by one of my colleagues mothers. You know who you are. 🙂
`Directions:
1) click on grid to populate cells.
2) hit start bar to start life generations.
Rules:
For each generation,
a cell with 1 or 0 neighbor dies
a cell with 4 or more neighbor dies
a cell with 2 or 3 neighbor survives
an empty cell with 3 neighbor gets populated’
`Pop superstar Madonna has given her eight-year-old daughter Lourdes her own credit card with a $10,000 (GBP5,500) limit, according to a US magazine.
Friends say the material girl hopes the exercise will teach Lourdes to appreciate the value of money.’
Decorations for your dick. Cut them out, stick ’em on.
`A controversial radio DJ’s wife sold his £25,000 sports car on eBay for just 50p after he flirted with Jodie Marsh on air.
Kerrang 105.2’s Tim Shaw told the model he was prepared to leave his wife and their two children for her, reports Metro.
Wife Hayley was listening and immediately posted an advert for the Lotus Esprit Turbo with a ‘Buy It Now’ option of 50p.
The item description read: “I need to get rid of this car in the next two to three hours before my husband gets home to find it gone and all his belongings in the street.”
The car sold within five minutes.’
Idiot presumably didn’t know he was being recorded.
(13meg .wmv)
My favorites are The Super Idiot, The Drain Clog, Black Hawk Down, The Van Winkle [I and II] and the Double Fault.
It’s good stuff. 🙂
Drive a van around a race track.
`A South Carolina Law Enforcement Division bomb squad rushed to the Bluffton Post Office by helicopter on Thursday morning after postal workers noticed a suspicious package — only to find two adult toys inside, police said.
The Bluffton Police Department received a call at about 9:30 a.m. after post office employees grew concerned about a white packing envelope laying by itself in a loading area, Bluffton Police Chief John Brown said.
“When they went to check it out,” Brown said, “it was vibrating.”‘
A strange and probably offensive flash animation.
I’m a bit confused by it, really.
`”When the blue lights came on my wife started asking, what did you do? I said I didn’t do anything,” says Tony Gainey.
The couple says police officers found problems with their plates, but the conversation turned to bumper stickers. In a row of slogans they say one marked “it’s a Druid thing” prompted questions from Officer Tony Stewart. [..]
“If we didn’t like hearing what he had to say, we couldn’t leave or there would have been other charges,” she says. [..]
A week later a letter showed up in the mailbox from Officer Stewart.
“Last Friday night I was sent to be in your crossroads,” reads Tony.
The officer went on to invite the couple to a Baptist bible study. The Gaineys say that’s misuse of authority.’
Texas Governor calls someone a mofo. He’s in all sorts of trouble because of it now, apparently.
Mofo is a cool word tho. 🙂
see it here »
`An Italian judge has ordered the arrest of 13 CIA agents for allegedly helping deport an imam to Egypt as part of U.S. anti-terrorism efforts, an Italian official familiar with the investigation said Friday.
The agents are suspected in the seizure of an Egyptian-born imam identified as Abu Omar on the streets of Milan in February 2003, according to the official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
The U.S. Embassy in Rome declined to comment.
Prosecutors believe the agents seized Omar as part of the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” program, in which terror suspects are transferred to third countries without court approval [..]’
