5/27/08

U.S. ports vulnerable to terrorists, probe finds.

A Department of Homeland Security program to strengthen port security has gaps that terrorists could exploit to smuggle weapons of mass destruction in cargo containers, congressional investigators have found.

The report by the Government Accountability Office, being released Tuesday, assesses the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), a federal program established after the September 11, 2001, attacks to deter a potential terrorist strike via cargo passing through 326 of the nation's airports, seaports and designated land borders.

5/21/08

R. Kelly jurors watch 25-minute sex tape.

The judge ordered the courtroom lights to be lowered and the blinds drawn. And then, the 25-minute sex tape at the heart of the R. Kelly child pornography case played Tuesday before a packed house: a Chicago courtroom.Juror reactions were difficult to discern in the hushed and darkened courtroom.

R&B superstar Kelly sat expressionless as the tape was played. He's charged with 14 counts of child pornography and faces 15 years in prison if convicted. Sketch artists were warned that if they drew any depiction of the acts on the tape, they, too, could be charged with child pornography.

5/20/08

Billionaire oilman backs wind power.

Billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens is sinking billions of dollars into a new wind farm in Texas. It is likely to become the biggest in the world, producing enough power for the equivalent of 1.3 million homes. CNN's Ali Velshi asked the oil legend why he thinks wind could be the answer to this country's energy problems.

We start receiving those turbines in mid 2010. We will have the total 4,000 megawatts finished by the end of 2015. That power will go into a transmission line that will tie into the Electric Reliability Council of Texas system in the state of Texas, and it will be transmitted downstate.

5/19/08

Economists see credit crisis nearing end.

First the good news: The worst of the painful housing slump and the credit crunch might come to an end this year. Now the bad: The economy will weaken further and unemployment will rise.Next year, the economy should grow by 2.3%, less than previously forecast and a pace that is still considered subpar.

That's the latest outlook from forecasters in a survey to be released Monday by the National Association for Business Economics, also known by its acronym NABE. It will take time for any rays of light to poke through the economic clouds, though.

5/15/08

Bin Laden urges Muslims to liberate Palestine.

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden -- in a blunt new message that coincides with Israel's 60th anniversary -- urged his followers to liberate Palestine, a terrorism analyst told CNN on Friday.Bin Laden's audio message, released Thursday, told listeners that "liberating" Palestine should be the aim of every Muslim, according to terrorism analyst Laura Mansfield

In a message entitled "The Causes of Conflict on the 60th Anniversary of the State of Israeli Occupation," bin Laden reiterated jihadist opposition to the existence of the Jewish state and its policies.The message, played over a still image on jihadist Web sites, runs 9 minutes and 40 seconds.

5/13/08-

Journalists in Myanmar 'live in fear'.

"I can't talk now, I think I'm in danger," a reporter in Myanmar whispered into the phone. Click.Phones are tapped and the few foreign journalists inside Myanmar are operating in secret, making it dangerous and difficult to tell the story of the cyclone that has devastated the Southeast Asian country.

What the f**k is going on, all i see in the news is just fgucking countries being torn apart by the nature.Covering catastrophes always carries risk in impoverished countries where disasters can cause shortages of food, clean water, outbreaks of disease and staggering death tolls. But the challenges are multiplied in Myanmar, where the reclusive and notoriously brutal military regime does not want details of the suffering to leak out.

12/5/08

Gas prices hit 5th straight record.

Retail gasoline prices increased for the sixth straight day and hit their fifth consecutive record, auto group AAA's Web site showed Monday.
The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline rose to a new all-time high of $3.718, up 1 and one-tenth of a cent from the previous day.

I can't believe that people are still complaining about this, things are changing, just get over it, things right now are bad, and they are only going to get worse.Drivers now pay 21% more for a gallon of gas than they did a year ago, when a gallon of gas cost on average $3.064, according to AAA.

5/5/08.

'Iron Man' makes super-strong debut.

That movie was awesome,and there's nothing more to say."Iron Man" was pure gold at the box office.The Marvel Comics adaptation, starring Robert Downey Jr. as the guy in the metal suit, hauled in $100.7 million over opening weekend and $104.2 million since debuting Thursday night, the second-best premiere ever for a non-sequel, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The film also scored overseas with $96.7 million in 57 countries where it began opening Wednesday, putting its worldwide total at $201 million.Distributed by Paramount, "Iron Man" was the first release by Marvel Studios, which has begun financing its own productions after such studio-backed hits as the "Spider-Man," "X-Men" and "Fantastic Four" flicks.

5/2/08

Poll: More disapprove of Bush than any other president.

A new poll suggests that President Bush is the most unpopular president in modern American history.A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Thursday indicates that 71 percent of the American public disapprove of how Bush is handling his job as president.

Well this is no surprise,in my opinion Bush sucks,but what i think is weird is that there's still people out there that support that @$$hole, guess some people can't see the truth.

4/30/08

Feds: School bomb plotter wanted to kill Jesus.

A teen accused of plotting to blow up his high school told police that he wanted to die, go to heaven and kill Jesus, federal authorities said Tuesday.Prosecutors argued in a federal courtroom that the statements are an indication that 18-year-old Ryan Schallenberger needs a psychological evaluation.

The straight-A Chesterfield High School senior was arrested April 19 and faces several state and federal charges, including attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. That charge carries a possible life sentence if he is convicted.

4/28/08

Father admits raping daughter, holding her captive.

A 73-year-old man has confessed to holding his daughter captive in his home cellar for nearly 24 years and fathering seven children by her, Austrian police say.Austrian police spokesman Franz Polzer says the man, known as Mr. F., has admitted holding his daughter hostage for more than two decades and raping her repeatedly.

I don't really know what the hell is wrong with this freak,this is one of the things that makes me wonder what has become of the world...i really want to get the hell out of this weird country(even though that happened in europe).Anyways i can only hope that he gets the punishment that he deserves.

4/25/08.

Carjacker asks TV crew for directions, police say.

A carjacking suspect stopped during the crime to ask a television news crew for directions, police said.The 19-year-old was arraigned Thursday on a charge of aggravated robbery and ordered held on $50,000 bond.

The driver signaled that he was being held at gunpoint, O'Brien told police.The news crew called police and followed the car until officers caught up. Police Lt. Thomas Stacho said the suspect was carrying a loaded handgun.

4/23/08

Toddler dies on flight from Germany to U.S.

A Lufthansa flight en route to New York diverted to Shannon Airport in Ireland after a 2-year-old girl died on the flight, Irish and airline officials said. The flight originated in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and was bound for John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, with a stopover in Frankfurt, Germany, the press office for the Irish police force Garda said.

The girl died during the Frankfurt-to-New York leg of the trip, and the plane was redirected to Ireland, landing there about 2:30 p.m., Garda said.
The cause of death is unknown, and a post mortem exam will be conducted Wednesday, Garda said. Police are investigating the circumstances of the toddler's death

4/21/08

Recession threat rising - economists.

The odds the country will fall into its first recession since 2001 are rising sharply.Well this sucks, but since we never get any good news, this is the best to blog...well i hope we don't get into a recession.

Thirty percent of economists now believe the economy will shrink in the first half of this year, up from 10% who thought this in January, according to a survey being released Monday by the National Association for Business Economics, known by its acronym NABE.

4/18/08

Earthquake rattles Illinois.

A magnitude-5.2 earthquake, centered 131 miles east of St. Louis, Missouri, shook southern Illinois early Friday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter of the earthquake was about three miles below ground, six miles northwest of Mount Carmel, Illinois, and 38 miles north-northwest of Evansville, Indiana, according to the USGS.

There were few reports of damage immediately after the predawn quake, which struck at 4:36 a.m. (5:36 a.m. ET), but CNN affiliate WHAS-TV in Louisville, Kentucky, showed footage of rubble left in a street after a cornice fell off a brick building there.

4/15/08

Wife takes divorce drama online, vents scorn via YouTube.

We're the YouTube Generation, living in the YouTube Era, in a YouTube World. And now we apparently have a YouTube Divorce.As for Smith, his office said he had no comment and his lawyers said they didn't, either -- "other than that we're kind of appalled."

Some prominent New York divorce lawyers couldn't think of another case where a spouse -- in this instance, the wife of a major Broadway theater operator -- had taken to YouTube to spill the secrets of a marriage in an apparent effort to gain leverage and humiliate the other side.

4/14/08

Bush greeting pope in big way.

The leader of the world's 1 billion Roman Catholics has been to the White House only once in history.That changes this week, and President Bush is pulling out all the stops: driving out to a suburban military base to meet Pope Benedict XVI's plane, bringing a giant audience to the South Lawn and hosting a fancy East Room dinner.

Bush has never before given a visiting leader the honor of picking him up at the airport. In fact, no president has done so at Andrews Air Force Base, the typical landing spot for modern leaders.

4/11/08

Man accused in fellow Marine's death captured.

U.S. Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean, the main suspect in the killing of a 20-year-old pregnant Marine, has been captured in Mexico three months after fleeing North Carolina, the FBI announced Thursday. "I loved her," Laurean told a Mexican reporter who asked whether he killed Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach


Authorities are awaiting extradition to bring Laurean, who has been on the run since January, back to North Carolina. He has been indicted on charges of murder, ATM card theft, attempted card theft, fraud and robbery with a dangerous weapon.

4/9/08

8 Club Mansion workers held in beatings.

Nearly a dozen bouncers inside South Beach's Club Mansion viciously beat three University of Delaware students over a disputed bill early Friday, according to Miami Beach police.Fort Lauderdale lawyer Kevin ''Bo'' Dennis plans to file a lawsuit this week on the three men's behalf, claiming that they were bloodied in a back room of Club Mansion, 1235 Washington Ave. The young men had cuts and black eyes.

This is really awful,and to think that those kids were just trying to have a good time and enjoy their spring break.Luckily Miami Beach police arrived just as the three men were able to escape through a side door, and took as many as 11 employees into custody.I just hope they get what they deserve.

4/8/08

Olympic torch arrives in U.S.; protests expected.

Security concerns for the Olympic torch's only North American stop were high Tuesday after its visit to Paris descended into chaos and activists here scaled the Golden Gate Bridge to protest China's human rights record.

Meanwhile, International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said the committee would consider ending the international leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay because of such anti-Chinese protests.I don't really see the point in using the olympic torch as a protest target....i mean if you really want to protest,do something that matters,and stop taking your anger out on something that is not even related to the problem.

4/7/08

Hedgehog used in non-lethal assault.

A New Zealand man has been accused of assault with a prickly weapon -- a hedgehog.
Police allege that William Singalargh, 27, picked up the hedgehog and threw it at a 15-year-old boy in the North Island east coast town of Whakatane on February 9.It was unclear if he also would face animal cruelty charges. The Herald said the hedgehog was dead when it was collected as evidence, but did not know if it was dead or alive at the time of the alleged attack.

This is just plain weird...i mean who the hell uses a hedgehog as a weapon?well anyways,they said that the hedgehog was dead when they found it,but now i must wander whats worse,the man grabbing a live hedgehog and then kill it while throwing it to someone,or the man grabing a dead hedgehog and then throwing it to someone.

3/24/08.

Wall Street eases back to work.

U.S. stock futures edged higher early Monday as investors returned from the long weekend and eyed the possibility of a higher bid for Wall Street firm Bear Stearns.About three hours before the start of trading, Nasdaq and S&P futures were a shade higher, although a comparison to fair value suggested a weak open. U.S. and European markets were closed Friday.

I guess this is good for everybody,because even though i don't really know alot about economics,i know that this is really good regarding the economy of the U.S.A.Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast that home sales will slip further to an annual rate of 4.86 million from 4.89 million in January, which would set yet another record low for that measure.

3/18/08

Report: New York governor, wife admit to past infidelities.

New York Gov. David Paterson, who took over the state's top job Monday after Eliot Spitzer resigned amid a prostitution scandal, has admitted he and his wife Michelle had affairs during a rough patch in their marriage several years ago, a newspaper reported.Paterson told the Daily News that he maintained a relationship with another woman from 1999 until 2001. He and his wife eventually sought counseling and repaired their relationship.

Great.....we just get out of a scandal,into possibly another one.The past governor resigned because of his actions,but this one even admits that he has done it in the past......But thinkking about it,he learned from another man' mistake,and he fixed it by beuing honest,which is an exellent qualitythat a governor most have.

3/17/08.

Tornado takes 'Mrs. Bonnie,' animal lover .

There was just simply no one better to turn to than the eccentric grandmother who loved animals so much that her 86-acre North Georgia farm was home to donkeys, goats, high-priced show dogs and even a few wayward deer.

On Saturday, nothing was left of that bucolic sanctuary after a 130-mph tornado ravaged it. Bonnie died, thrown 50 feet from her home as her husband Michael cried out her name, their neighbors Joe and Jamie Wheeler said. This is just sad to see people like this die instead of a murderer or a rapist.

3/14/08

Dupre's MySpace page evolves with scandal.

In three days, Ashley Alexandra Dupre went from being an unknown 22-year-old aspiring musician to the fifth most-searched subject on Google because of her alleged sexual encounters with New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer."A week ago, only [Dupre's] friends cared," he said. "But once you put it up for the world to see, you can't control which fraction of the world will see it."

To me there is nothing new with this because it has happened before....It's really sad to see that this is becoming more and more common everyday, the governor is the one to set the example, but then we get people like this who even though might be a good man, cheated on his wife and disappointed everybody.

3/6/08

Thousands mourn slain UNC student; cops search for killer.

Thousands of students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill gathered Thursday to remember student body president Eve Carson, who was shot and killed in a suburban neighborhood near campus."She has been taken from us in a terrible act of violence," Moeser told the students, who stood and sat somberly in front of him, some holding yellow daisies.

Well to be honest this is not new, and it is a shame to say it, but this is now becoming something that is happening on a regular basis,people are getting frightened to go to a university, with the fear that some psycho might just come and start shooting random people, i think that we need to come up with a way to prevent this, or at least a way to stop all of those murderers

3/5/08.

14 Americans arrested in child porn sting .

Fourteen Americans are in custody as part of a global crackdown on a well-organized child porn ring that used sophisticated encryption technology, the FBI and Justice Department announced Tuesday.The suspects allegedly used Internet newsgroups and large file-sharing networks to trade and share images and videos.

I think this is really good news, because they should try to eliminate child porn.The only people worse than the people making the child porn is the bastards who buy it, those nasty pedophiles,i hope they all get arrested so we can erradicate that nasty child porn from our world.

2/29/08

Deputy, 2 daughters fatally shot at home.

A deputy and her two young daughters were found shot to death at their Lawrenceville, Georgia, home Thursday night, police said.Authorities were responding to a call of shots fired in a subdivision when they found a bullet hole in a neighbor's house, which led them to the deputy's house next door, said Officer David Schiralli.

I really want know who did this and why, because i can picture someone killing another person, but killing her two little daughters, that is really messed up.Since the victim was a deputy, i can assume that most likely it was a criminal that she had arrested before, and was looking for vengeance,but still i think that it was something horrible to do.

2/26/08.

Diver in chummed waters dies after shark bite.

An Austrian tourist died Monday after being bitten by a shark while diving near the Bahamas in waters that had been baited with bloody fish parts to attract the predators.Markus Groh, 49, a Vienna lawyer and diving enthusiast, was on a commercial dive trip Sunday when he was bitten about 50 miles off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, said Karlick Arthur, Austrian counsel general in Miami, Florida.

I would sue the company, because they were responsible for the death of that man.In my opinion, the company killed the man, because they chummed the water with bloody fish parts, in order to attract sharks, but they were negligent, because they didn't gave him anything to protect himself agaisn't the sharks.

2/25/08

Cousin: Dying woman twice refused oxygen on flight.

Struggling to breathe, American Airlines passenger Carine Desir asked for oxygen, but a flight attendant twice refused her request, the woman's cousin said."Don't let me die," the cousin, Antonio Oliver, recalled Desir saying after the attendant allegedly refused at first to administer the oxygen Friday.

I can't believe the negligence that this flight attendant committed, if something like this happened to a member of my family i would've sued the responsible person,or american airlines.I think it must've been horrible for the cousin, to just stand there and see his cousin struggling to survive, just asking for oxygen, and the worse part is that it was denied to her twice.

02/22/08.

Utah students hide guns, head to class.

The senior at the University of Utah gets dressed and then decides which gun is easiest to conceal under his clothes. If he's wearing a T-shirt, he'll take a smaller, low-profile gun to class. If he's wearing a coat, he may carry a different weapon, he said.Nick, who asked not to be fully identified so his fellow students wouldn't know he carried a gun, says he has had a concealed weapons permit for more than three years. But it was Seung-Hui Cho's murderous campus rampage that made him take a gun to class.

I don't really know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, because from one side he's defending himself, but in the other hand he is a threat because he's carrying a gun everyday, and somebody could steal his gun, or the man himself could one day flip out, and kill a lot of people.

2/20/08

Clinton's election night speech fails to mention election.

Three times may make a trend: for the third primary/caucus night in a row, Hillary Clinton has taken the stage at a post-election rally and failed to mention her losses, or congratulate her winning opponent, Barack Obama.She spent Tuesday night at a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, looking ahead to the primary there on March 4. She made no mention of Wisconsin.

What a bad loser, because she's supposed to be the better woman and congratulate her adversary after beating her in yet another state.Then again: it's also been traditional for candidates to delay their remarks to avoid overlapping with their opponents' speeches. Obama began his victory speech in Texas Tuesday while Hillary Clinton was still addressing the crowd in Ohio — and most of the networks cut away from her event mid-speech.

2/19/08.

Castro resigns as president.

Fidel Castro announced his resignation as president of Cuba and commander-in-chief of Cuba's military Tuesday, according to a letter published in the state-run newspaper, Granma.The resignation ends nearly a half-century of iron-fisted rule that inspired revolutionaries but frustrated 10 U.S. presidents.Castro revealed his plans without notice by publishing a letter in the middle of the night in state-run newspaper Granma.

I am simply shocked, i'm not cuban, but i'm still pretty shocked that Castro reigned, I always thought that he would die before resigning. I don't intend to be a pesimist, but something is just weird....after half a century he's just going to quit? I don't know but something doesn't convince me.

2/13/08

Writers vote to end 3-month strike.

The Writers Guild of America said its members voted Tuesday to end their devastating, three-month strike that brought the entertainment industry to a standstill.Writers will be back on the job Wednesday after voting in Beverly Hills and New York."It was a fair deal and one that the companies can live with, and it recognizes the large contribution that writers have made to the industry."

To be honest, i don't really care about this at all,and the only reason i wrote about this is because there wasn't anything more interesting than this.I guess it's kind of good because the writers are the ones responsible for coming up with the good movies, but then again it's not really the big deal at all.

2/11/08

Chavez threatens to cut off U.S. oil shipments.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened Sunday to cut off his country's oil shipments to the United States if a court ruling goes forward ordering Venezuelan assets be frozen in a case brought by Exxon Mobil.Personally i think that Hugo Chavez should be taken out of power,but the people from Venezuela chose their own destiny.

One court orders that Venezuela be frozen," he said on his weekly television and radio program "Hello, President." "If you wind up freezing and hurt us, we will hurt you. Do you know how? We are not going to send oil to the United States."I think that this is not a good idea because not sending oil to the U.S.A will hurt Venezuela as well as the United States so unless Chavez finds someone else to sell petroleum to, i think he should stick with the U.S.A, and don't blame them for something that Exxon did.

2/8/08

Five shot to death at City Council meeting in Missouri.

A gunman killed five people and wounded two at a police station and City Council meeting in suburban St. Louis on Thursday night before officers shot and killed him, police said.To me this is nothing new, since there are a lot of psychos out there right now.Supposedly the shooter killed three cops, and left the mayor in a critical state.

I think that the people of this town is really scared, because before this, this used to be a small and pacific town were nothing exiting happened and noe is a town that is slowly gettiing filled with crime.Even though the police said that the citizens shouldn't be worried, people are still afraid that something like that might happen again.I personally would be scared because even quiet small towns are getting serial killers.

2/6/08

Microsoft bid has Yahoo cornered.

Microsoft Corp.'s $41 billion takeover bid appears to have backed Yahoo Inc. into a corner, leaving the struggling Internet pioneer with the unpleasant choice of selling to a detested rival or pursuing other agonizing alternatives likely to require the help of an even fiercer foe, Google Inc.

I feel bad for Yahoo! because i always thought it was a solid company,but apparently its not.Yahoo is now cornered into selling to a bitter enemy or just giving in to its fiercest competitor so i guess this is what you get when you don't have good financial management.

2/4/08

Giants upset Patriots to win Super Bowl XLII

The New York Giants won Super Bowl XLII with a last-minute touchdown, upsetting the New England Patriots' hopes of becoming the first team since 1972 to complete a National Football League season undefeated.I'm not really into football,but i kinda feel bad for the Patriots because they've had an undefeated season until they met the Giants.

I think that it was a great acomplishment for the Giants to defeat the Patriots,especially keeping in mind that the Patriots had an undefeated season, as for the Patriots, they just need to train harder to see if someday they can win the superbowl undefeated.

1/30/08

Romanian sex trade.

I never though that this kind of stuff still existed in this era.I think that it is just plain horrible that people can exploit teens for sex.The girl in the story was given away by her parents to the trafficants when she was only 9 years old,it's really sad that the only life she ever knew was one filled with sex and drugs.

One of the most shocking things of the story was that the girl was sold for only 500 pounds.You can't put a price to a human life,but c'mon only 500 pounds?The good part of the story is that the girl got took to a refugee where she can regain her trust in humans,and learn how to live a normal life.

1/29/08

First Blurry Pictures of Near-Miss Asteroid Released.

Astronomers have obtained the first images of an asteroid on course to make its closest approach to Earth on Tuesday, showing the space rock is lopsided.So far no one can determine where is it going to land,but scientists estimate that it is going to land most likely in the ocean, i personally i'm really glad to hear that, since the last thing that we need right now is more destruction.

All my hopes for now is that it lands on the ocean,so we won't get so many negative effects.I wonder why do we have the power and technology to send something up,but then we can't control it when its coming down.I just hope that the satellite desintegrates before hitting the earth,so it won't be nothing but a memory.

01/28/08

Moviegoers glad to 'Meet the Spartans'

This movie got 18.7 millions in only one weekend,which is an impressive amount of money.The article reported that there was a fierce battle between 'meet the spartans' and 'Rambo' to see which one was the number one movie for the weekend,but in the end 'meet the spartans took over the title for approximately .5 million dollars.Personally i would love to see both movies,but i would rather see meet the spartans first.

Meet the Spartans supposedly sucked but i still would like to see it,even though only 6% of the people who saw it liked it...the clups looked funny,but maybe the movie did sucked....damn only 6%.

1/25/08

Teenager arrested in suicide hijacking plot.

I am so happy that this guy got stopped on time,i think that they need to check for security failure in that airline.What was really shocking was that this kid was planning to crash the airplane in a Hannah Montana concert in louisiana.The boy lived in louisiana and he said that he was planning to die there.I just wonder why would this 16 year old teenage boy want to crash an airplane in a hanna montana concert.

I personally think that this boy had serious psychological problems,and some kind of crush in hannah montana.I still can't believe that there are so many creeps out there.

1/23/08.

South Carolina’s Largest Newspaper Backs Obama




Carolina’s largest newspaper on Tuesday endorsed Barack Obama for Saturday’s Democratic presidential primary, calling the Illinois senator “a groundbreaking nominee” and the best candidate to unite the country and repair America’s reputation around the world.I think that this is true because Obama looks like he is really going to turn this country around.

I really wish he would win because i'm really sure that he will be a great president,and besides that, he is going to change history by being an exeptional president,and being the first african-american president in the united states.

22/1/08

Sparks fly in most contentious debate to date.

This was an interesting story because it showed what happens when you get the two top candidates together.Even though it was interesting,both of the candidates hurted their campaign while doing this because Clinton came on too aggresive,and Obama was too defensive.This showed what political campaign its all about in these days: just talking about your opponent's past,and talking about all the wrong things that he did in his past.

In my opinion,most presidents are the same,and these two proved to be no different,instead of focusing in the important things,they just wasted their debate verbally attacking each other.