moonbuggy

That’s a pretty good effort. 🙂

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‘The American interrogator was afraid. Of what and why, he couldn’t say. He was riding the L train in Chicago, and his throat was closing.

In Iraq, when Tony Lagouranis interrogated suspects, fear was his friend, his weapon. He saw it seep, dark and shameful, through the crotch of a man’s pants as a dog closed in, barking. He smelled it in prisoners’ sweat, a smoky odor, like a pot of lentils burning. He had touched fear, too, felt it in their fingers, their chilled skin trembling. [..]

“I tortured people,” said Lagouranis, 37, who was a military intelligence specialist in Iraq from January 2004 until January 2005. “You have to twist your mind up so much to justify doing that.” [..]

For Lagouranis, problems include “a creeping anxiety” on the train, he said. The 45-minute ride to Chicago’s O’Hare airport “kills me.” He feels as if he can’t get out “until they let me out.” Lagouranis’s voice was boyish, but his face was gray. The evening deepened his 5 o’clock shadow and the puffy smudges under his eyes.’

‘A family living in a public toilet in Morocco have spent seven years requesting more hygienic accommodation.

Their pleas fell on deaf ears, and Aze Adine Ould Baja has had to endure the ignominy of having “Sidi toilets” as the official address on his identity papers.

Desperate to do something about their plight, Mr Baja and his wife Khadija Makbout recently went to a local newspaper with their story. [..]

But a few days later the local authorities moved in to block up the toilet’s entrance with cement and concrete.

Mr Baja, his wife and three children now find themselves barred from the only home they had.’

A compilation of various funny happenings in soccer.

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‘The legal front of the US government’s “war on terror” suffered a stunning reversal Monday when military judges threw out prosecution charges against a Canadian-born foot-soldier for Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden’s ex-driver.

The surprise rulings regarding Toronto native Omar Ahmed Khadr, 20, and Yemeni-born Salim Ahmed Hamdan, 36, threatened to torpedo the government’s pursuit of Guantanamo Bay terror suspects through new-look military tribunals.

In both cases, the judges found that they had no jurisdiction to proceed with trials as neither Khadr nor Hamdan had been classified as “unlawful enemy combatants” as required by a 2006 act of Congress.

Murder and other charges levied against Khadr were dismissed by Colonel Peter Brownback. Late in the evening, Navy Captain Keith Allred threw out charges of conspiracy and material support for terrorism against Hamdan.’

‘A grim-faced George AuClair Jr. wandered his 25-acre patch of desert looking every inch the broken man.

“I’m ashamed of what happened here, but you can’t lie about it,” said the Torres Martinez tribal member. “You have to own up when you do wrong.”

Not far away, bulldozers piled up mountains of junk from AuClair’s illegal dump, a dump so toxic it has been declared a Superfund site by the Environmental Protection Agency. He now faces millions of dollars in fines. [..]

AuClair’s biggest mistake was burning thousands of toxic wooden grape stakes.

“How could we have known grape stakes were treated with arsenic and chromium?” he asked. “There was no sign saying, ‘This is hazardous to your health.’ ”

And he insists his own health wasn’t damaged.

“I lost my hair, but I think that was a thyroid problem,” he said, “and I get headaches, but that could be anything.”‘

‘A suspected burglar in Miami was found dangling from a large ventilation fan after he apparently stepped on the on switch while his body was inside the machine and killed himself, according to police.

Miami investigators said a “known burglar” in the area was found dead in the powerful fan at the Maranatha Used Clothing store Thursday when the store opened up for business.

A witness said an employee of the store noticed feet dangling from the fan and called police.’

‘Jackass star Johnny Knoxville is being sued by for £5.3million by an actor who had his penis clamped in a mousetrap for a stunt.

Perry Caravello says he was severely injured when the trap crushed his manhood as he appeared on a radio talkshow with Knoxville.

He claims Knoxville promised to pay him £5million for agreeing to the prank.

Mr Caravello has filed legal documents in a US court alleging fraud and negligence. He says he was further humiliated when footage of the stunt was videotaped and posted on the Internet without his permission.’

‘A Newcastle family claim they have been forced from two homes by thugs who have targeted them over their ginger hair.

Kevin and Barbara Chapman say they and their four children, aged between 10 and 13, have endured years of taunts, smashed windows and violence. [..]

Son Kevin, 11, said he was recently punched in a street attack. Newcastle Council is “discussing the situation”. [..]

Mr Chapman said: “The abuse we get is unbelievable. It started more than three years ago, when the kids started getting bullied by lads over the colour of their hair.

“They’ve been punched and kicked and thrown over a hedge. Every time they go out these gangs get to them.”

He added that the family now wanted to move again.’

‘Detailed plans for the new U.S. Embassy under construction in Baghdad appeared online Thursday in a breach of the tight security surrounding the sensitive project.

Computer-generated projections of the soon-to-be completed, heavily fortified compound were posted on the Web site of the Kansas City, Mo.-based architectural firm that was contracted to design the massive facility in the Iraqi capital.

The images were removed by Berger Devine Yaeger Inc. shortly after the company was contacted by the State Department.

“We work very hard to ensure the safety and security of our employees overseas,” said Gonzalo Gallegos, a department spokesman. “This kind of information out in the public domain detracts from that effort.”‘

‘Authorities in Arkansas said an 18-month-old boy died inside a dishwasher that turned on automatically when its door closed.

Officials are still investigating, but said the boy’s death appears to be accidental. They said the likely cause of death was heat exposure.

Authorities said the boy’s 13-year-old brother found him inside the dishwasher Wednesday. It was still running. Authorities said the toddler’s brother opened the dishwasher after noticing the child’s blanket lying on the ground on front of the appliance.

The child died before paramedics arrived.’

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‘Canadian encryption vendor Certicom yesterday filed a wide-ranging lawsuit against Sony, claiming that many of the products offered by the electronics giant infringe on two Certicom patents. This might sound like business as usual until you realize what’s being targeted: AACS and (by extension) the PlayStation 3.

Certicom has done extensive work in elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), and the patents in question build on this work. The patents have already been licensed by groups like the US National Security Agency, which paid $25 million back in 2003 for the right to use 26 Certicom patents, including the two in the Sony case. Now, Certicom wants Sony to pay up, claiming that encryption present in several key Sony technologies violates Certicom patents on “Strengthened public key protocol” and “Digital signatures on a Smartcard.”

The biggest charge is that the encryption in AACS itself is infringing. The practical implications of this claim are huge; AACS is included in Sony’s Blu-ray players, PlayStation 3, and Blu-ray and PS3 discs. Certicom says Sony needs to take out a license for all of these uses.’

‘A 43-year-old German man was taken to hospital in critical condition after he fell off a second storey balcony during a spitting contest with his 12-year-old son, police said Friday.

A spokesman for the police in the eastern town of Cottbus said the man in Forst had apparently lost his balance after thrusting too far forward in his attempt to outspit his son.

He tumbled over the ledge and landed on a balcony of the ground floor apartment, police said. He was taken to hospital in a rescue helicopter.’

‘A German couple had to call out the fire brigade after tying each other up in chains – and then losing the key to the padlock.

Jochen Ranstett, 56 and his wife Maria, from the town of Weiden, dressed up in leathers and chained each other to their beds, but lost the key during the romp.

After hours of trying to free themselves they finally gave up and called for help on Jochen’s mobile phone.

He said: “It was so embarrassing. We just wanted to try something a bit different and we ended up with this.

“I even had to be taken to hospital because my wrists had swollen so much from trying to get out of the handcuffs.”‘

‘An Indian court has ruled against a group of female flight attendants who were grounded from the national airline for being overweight.

The court said that state-owned Indian Airlines had the right to take the step in the interest of flight safety and in the face of growing competition.

The flight attendants had argued that the move was demeaning.

The airline began a system of measuring air hostesses based on their height and weight last year.

The Delhi High Court has ruled in favour of the airline, saying that with aircraft flying at higher altitudes, the safety of the passengers depended on the crew’s ability to perform.’

‘One year on, the torrent of mud gushing out of a drilling site on Java island shows no signs of abating.

Toll roads, railway tracks and factories have been submerged and 15,000 people have fled from their homes since May last year when mud began flowing from a “mud volcano” following an oil-drilling accident in Sidoarjo, an industrial suburb near provincial capital Surabaya.

The mud volcano has put an area four times the size of Monaco under hot mud.

An embankment has been built in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the mudflow.’

Followup to Indonesia plans new tactic to curb massive mud flow.

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‘Director Mike Figgis spent longer at LAX airport than intended. He’d arrived in Los Angeles, along with half the acting and directing world, for what is known as ‘pilot season’, when the big studios try out new scripts, directors and actors in a two-week frenzy of auditions and career make-or-breaks. When Figgis was being grilled by airport immigration, he was asked the purpose of his visit. Unthinking and tired after a long flight, Mike replied: ‘I’m here to shoot a pilot.’ After five hours in an interrogation cell (yes, really), he finally made it into town.’

‘Works to reopen the main road between Langholm and Lockerbie have been delayed by badgers.

The B7068 was closed before Christmas after a landslide at Scroggs Bridge and lengthy diversions put in place.

A council spokesman confirmed that work had ground to halt after a badger sett was found under the route of the works. [..]

“I appreciate that work was delayed because of the discovery of a badgers’ sett and land ownership issues,” he said.

“But from an initial indication that the road would be closed for weeks it has now been months and currently there is no end date in sight. [..]”‘

‘A 5-year-old panda who last year became the first to be released into the wild after being bred in captivity has died, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency said Thursday.

The body of Xiang Xiang was found Feb. 19 in the forests of Sichuan province in China’s southwest, Xinhua said. He survived less than a year in the wild after nearly three years of training in survival techniques and defense tactics.

Xiang Xiang, who may have fallen from a high place while fighting with wild pandas, died of serious internal injuries, the report said, citing the Wolong Giant Panda Research Center in Sichuan.’

‘Just over one in 10 men do not volunteer to work with children because they are worried people will think they are a paedophile, a survey suggests.

Childrens’ charities NCH and Chance UK also say almost one in five men do not come forward because they would have to undertake a criminal records check. [..]

Work commitments were given as a reason by 59% of those who did not volunteer, and 68% said they did not have enough time.

In all, 13% of the men questioned said they would not choose to volunteer to work with children due to fear of being perceived as a paedophile.’

‘They have been accused of sexually abusing staff during a drunken rampage through the first-class cabin of an international flight.

Now Sydney men Jeremy Snaith and William Sergeant are eating fermented camel meat inside the notorious al-Wathba prison outside Abu Dhabi. in the United Arab Emirates.

The food is the least of their worries as the wheels of justice grind slowly and Snaith and Sergeant contemplate up to 15 years in a desert prison where the temperatures soar above 50 degrees and punishment includes stonings, lashings, overcrowding and sleeping in lice-infested blankets on cement floors.’

‘As the out-of-control police cruiser hurtled toward them Wednesday night, Crystal Legrand grabbed her two youngest children and took cover behind a wall.

Legrand’s boyfriend snatched up her eldest, a 4-year-old boy named Daviay, trying to reach safety, too, but they couldn’t escape.

The patrol car struck them, killing Daviay Legrand and shattering the boyfriend’s legs. Furious residents later massed at the crash scene and threw bottles and rocks at police. [..]

Two officers – one a rookie, the other an eight-year veteran – had been responding to the same report of a man with a gun when their cruisers collided at a downtown intersection. One of the cruisers slid onto the sidewalk, just a half-block from Legrand’s home. [..]

Another witness, Crystal Spearman, said: “First you heard the sirens, then you heard the tires screech, then you heard the bang. The little boy was laying there, severed in half.”‘

‘A police marksman is under investigation after accidentally shooting a colleague in an extraordinary blunder.

The victim, a civilian employee, was seriously injured in the accident at a lecture room at the HQ of Thames Valley Police near Oxford.

He was apparently being shown the workings of a police Glock pistol when it went off, blasting him in the torso.

The victim, aged in his 50s, was left writhing in agony with blood pouring from the wound.

He underwent emergency surgery and his condition was described as serious but stable. [..]

One police source at the HQ said: “There are a lot of red faces about this. Why the hell was an experienced firearms officer demonstrating with a loaded pistol in an enclosed environment?

“Someone’s head will have to roll.”‘

‘A new house in northern China collapsed and killed at least 16 people during a banquet being held to celebrate its completion, state media reported today.

Yang Hongyi, a resident of Wulanji, a village in northern Inner Mongolia, held the banquet yesterday, inviting more than 50 people who had helped build the house.

More than 40 people were buried in the collapse and 30 suffered injuries, Xinhua news agency said.

The roof beams had been put up that afternoon, Xinhua said, citing rescuers.

The accident is under investigation.’

Just a little bit of over steer. 🙂

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‘Hit show Doctor Who will be EXTERMINATED next year — after the fourth series.

Boss Russell T. Davies has decided to axe the BBC1 sci-fi drama and concentrate on other projects.

He and senior staff have hatched a plot to hand in a group resignation in summer 2008.

A source said: “The heavy workload — nine months of 16-hour days every year — has started to take its toll.

“It was decided the best thing for the show was go out at the top next year.”‘

‘A faulty bank fax printed a message that was misinterpreted as a bomb threat Wednesday, leading authorities to evacuate more than a dozen neighboring businesses and a day care center.

The branch manager of the Bank of America called police about 10 a.m. after receiving a fax containing images of a lit match and a bomb with a fuse, bank spokesman Ernesto Anguilla said.

But text explaining the fax was an internal bank promotion failed to transmit. The missing text included the phrases “The countdown begins” and “Small business commitment week June 4-8,” according to a copy circulated by police.’

‘A glittering bathtub made of gold worth nearly $1 million has been stolen from a resort hotel, an official said Wednesday. A worker at Kominato Hotel Mikazuki in Kamogawa, south of Tokyo, notified police that the fancy tub was missing from the hotel’s guest bathroom on the 10th floor, according to a local police official who only gave his surname, Ogawa.

The round tub, worth $987,000, is made of 18-karat gold and weighs 176 pounds. [..]

Someone apparently cut the chain attached to the door of a small section of the bathroom where the bathtub was placed, but not riveted, and made off with the tub, Ogawa said.

“We have no witness information and there are no video cameras,” he said. “We have no idea who took it,” the official said.’

Some guys from the Footy Show take a ride on the Vomitron and it lives up to its name. 🙂

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