2014-08-25

Shooting of Michael Brown

‘Darren Wilson, the Ferguson, Mo., police officer whose fatal shooting of Michael Brown touched off more than a week of demonstrations, suffered severe facial injuries, including an orbital (eye socket) fracture, and was nearly beaten unconscious by Brown moments before firing his gun, a source close to the department's top brass told FoxNews.com.

 

“The Assistant (Police) Chief took him to the hospital, his face all swollen on one side,” said the insider. “He was beaten very severely.”’

 

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/08/20/missouri-cop-was-badly-beaten-before-shooting-michael-brown-says-source/

 

 

Carbon Emissions Policy Could Save Billions of Dollars

http://www.newsledge.com/carbon-cents-carbon-emissions-policy-save-billions-dollars-9046

 

 

2014-08-22

Fwd: Diabetes


'Researchers have developed a way to use a laser to measure people's blood sugar, and, with more work to shrink the laser system to a portable size, the technique could allow diabetics to check their condition without pricking themselves to draw blood. In a new article, the researchers describe how they measured blood sugar by directing their specialized laser at a person's palm.'

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140821141610.htm


... We live in interesting times.

 


2014-08-21

Robin Williams - Inside The Actors Studio - FULL Video

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://youtu.be/0IDy5GlUuf8

This is long but well worth it.   Robin Williams plays to the audience and goes on tangents and is extremely funny.  It had to be a little trying for the interviewer.  This show hits its best point about 39 to 45 minutes into it when Robin Williams demonstrates improvisation.

He comes across as manic or at least ADHD, but this video gave me a better feel for who Robin Williams was than anything else I have seen.

Also...

http://youtu.be/4bVgilYncao

http://digg.com/video/jimmy-fallon-pays-tribute-to-robin-williams


in-anticipation-of-iphone-6-walmart-sells-iphone-5c-for-97-cents

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/in-anticipation-of-iphone-6-walmart-sells-iphone-5c-for-97-cents/

 

If I wanted a cheap iPhone I would hold out for Apple to drop the price of the 5S to $100.  I think that it might already be the price in some places.

 

The 5S is a 2013 model.

The 5C is a slightly cheaper version of the iPhone 5, which is a 2012 model.  I have the iPhone 5.  My intent is to upgrade to one of the versions of the iPhone 6, but I might look at other brands too.

 

 

2014-08-15

Shooting of Michael Brown

Dorian Johnson's account

 

According to Michael Brown's friend, Dorian Johnson, who was walking with Brown at the time, the police officer pulled up beside them and said, "Get the fuck on the sidewalk."[19][20][21][22][23] Johnson said the young men replied that they were "not but a minute away from [their] destination, and [they] would shortly be out of the street."[23]

 

Without saying anything further, Johnson states that the officer drove forward, only to abruptly back up, positioning his vehicle crossways in their path, almost hitting the two men. Said Johnson, "We were so close, almost inches away, that when he tried to open his door aggressively, the door ricocheted both off me and Big Mike's body and closed back on the officer."

 

At that point, the officer, still in his car, grabbed Brown through the open window around the neck. Brown tried to pull away, but the officer continued to pull Brown toward him.

 

According to Johnson, Brown "did not reach for the officer's weapon at all," insisting that Brown was attempting to get free of the officer rather than attempting to attack him or take his weapon from him.[24][25][26][27][28]

 

At that point, according to Johnson, the officer drew his weapon, and "he said, 'I'll shoot you' or 'I'm going to shoot,'" and almost instantaneously fired his weapon, hitting Brown.

 

Following the initial gunshot, Johnson said that Brown was able to free himself, at which point the two fled for their lives. The officer exited the vehicle, after which he fired a second shot, striking Brown in the back. At that point, according to Johnson, Brown turned around with his hands in the air and said, "I don't have a gun. Stop shooting!" The officer then shot Brown several more times, killing him.[29][30]

Piaget Crenshaw's account

 

Another witness, Piaget Crenshaw, said that from her vantage point, it appeared that the police officer and Brown were arm wrestling before the officer initially shot Brown from within his vehicle. The officer then chased Brown for about 20 feet before shooting him again. According to Crenshaw, when Brown then raised his arms in compliance, the officer shot him two more times killing him.[31][32][33]

Police account

 

In a news conference on August 10, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar stated, "The genesis of this [shooting incident] was a physical confrontation" during which Brown "physically assaulted the police officer."[1] According to Belmar, the officer attempted to exit his vehicle but was pushed back into the car by Brown, who then assaulted the officer inside the car. Brown then allegedly attempted to seize the officer's gun, which was fired at least once during the struggle. Belmar acknowledged that "more than a couple" of shots were fired in the course of the encounter.[1][34][35]

 

Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson later stated that the officer who shot Brown was injured in the incident.[36] The Ferguson City Police Department had declined to identify the officer involved in the shooting, who had been placed on administrative leave, but released Officer Wilson's name on August 15, 2014.[36] Dashboard cameras are not used in Ferguson police cars.[34]

Tiffany Mitchell's account

 

Witness Tiffany Mitchell, in an interview with St. Louis television news station KMOV, said she arrived in the area near the beginning of the altercation. She stated that she was watching as the first gun shot was fired while the police officer, but not Brown, was still in the vehicle, at which point she retrieved her cell phone in order to film the unfolding event.[37]

 

As Mitchell described events, "After the shot, the kid just breaks away. The cop follows him, kept shooting, the kid's body jerked as if he was hit. After his body jerked he turns around, puts his hands up, and the cop continues to walk up on him and continues to shoot until he goes all the way down."[37]

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Michael_Brown

Robin Williams

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/photos/robin-williams-death-comedians-lost-24941809

2014-08-11

Average US internet speeds -- how does your state compare?

http://betanews.com/2014/08/11/average-us-internet-speeds-how-does-your-state-compare/

 

… my Internet speed in Utah is around 25 Mbs.  However, the actual speed can range from about 13 to 20.

2014-08-10

Dog Doesn't Look Like THIS Anymore

http://www.weather.com/special/crazimals/video/dog-doesnt-look-like-this-anymore-52069?collid=/video-minutes/crazimals

Fwd: Gaza

'Had the IDF been ordered to, it could have seized the whole of the
Gaza Strip in a week, and spent up to two years taking apart Hamas's
guerrilla army, but this has not been the goal of the operation thus
far, a senior military source said Sunday.

"Had we been ordered to defeat Hamas, we would have done it. We would
have drafted four divisions, evacuated the Gazan population from
battlegrounds, conquered the area and scanned it thoroughly.

It would take a week to take Gaza, and up to two years to destroy
terrorist infrastructure," the source said.

In such a scenario, "A guerrilla war would have started. This was not
the mission given to the IDF, and rightfully so," the source said.
"The IDF divided up Gaza dozens of times, most recently in Operation
Cast Lead [in 2009]. Every brigade can do it. The question is, what is
the aim?" The goal of the offensive was not to topple Hamas, but to
create a better security environment for Israel, the source
continued.'

http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/We-could-have-taken-Gaza-in-a-week-but-that-wasnt-our-mission-says-senior-IDF-source-369954

Fwd: IBM brain-like processor

'This includes an ambitious project inside tech giant IBM, and today,
Big Blue released a research paper describing the latest fruits of
these labors. With this paper, published in the academic journal
Science, the company unveils what it calls TrueNorth, a custom-made
"brain-like" chip that builds on a simpler experimental system the
company released in 2011.

TrueNorth comes packed with 4,096 processor cores, and it mimics one
million human neurons and 256 million synapses, two of the fundamental
biological building blocks that make up the human brain. IBM calls
these "spiking neurons." What that means, essentially, is that the
chip can encode data as patterns of pulses, which is similar to one
of the many ways neuroscientists think the brain stores information.'

http://www.wired.com/2014/08/ibm-unveils-a-brain-like-chip-with-4000-processor-cores/?mbid=social_twitter

A New Thruster Pushes Against Virtual Particles! ...or is a Lab Error

http://space.io9.com/a-new-thruster-pushes-against-virtual-particles-or-1615361369

2014-08-08

Fwd: Ukraine

'But Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council also say that Russia is building up its forces in border areas and even in neighbouring Belarus.

 

Kiev has long feared that if Russian troops invade from the east they will do so under the pretext of 'peacekeeping' while in fact annexing all or part of Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2715340/MH17-jet-shot-missile-launcher-Volvo-Ukrainian-says-footage-proves-pro-Russian-separatists-commandeered-truck-transport-weapon.html#ixzz39pPetx00

 

2014-08-07

Fwd: Nicaragua Canal

'In the mountains and rivers of Central America, work on one of the world's largest infrastructure projects is progressing as planned, driven by Chinese billionaire Wang Jing.

 

With a planned capacity to accommodate ships with loaded displacement of 400,000 tons, the proposed 278-kilometer-long canal that will run across the Nicaragua isthmus would probably change the landscape of the world's maritime trade, Wang, the billionaire behind the project, told the Global Times.

 

"The project is the largest infrastructure project ever in the history of man...

 

http://www.ecns.cn/business/2014/08-06/127971.shtml

 

Detroit-area porch shooter convicted of murder

ALS

Although respiratory support can ease problems with breathing and prolong survival, it does not affect the progression of ALS. Most people with ALS die from respiratory failure, usually within three to five years from the onset of symptoms. The median survival time from onset to death is around 39 months, and only 4% survive longer than 10 years. Physicist Stephen Hawking has lived with the disease for more than 50 years, though he is an unusual case.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amyotrophic_lateral_sclerosis

 

VIDEO: Massive Sea Monster Caught!

http://www.weather.com/video/massive-sea-monster-caught-51968?

2014-08-06

Fwd: Aging

'There's a good reason people over 60 are not donor candidates for
bone marrow transplantation. The immune system ages and weakens with
time, making the elderly prone to life-threatening infection and other
maladies, and a UC San Francisco research team now has discovered a
reason why.


"We have found the cellular mechanism responsible for the inability of
blood-forming cells to maintain blood production over time in an old
organism, and have identified molecular defects that could be restored
for rejuvenation therapies," said Emmanuelle Passegué, PhD, a
professor of medicine and a member of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center
of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF. Passegué, an
expert on the stem cells that give rise to the blood and immune
system, led a team that published the new findings online July 30,
2014 in the journal Nature.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-07/uoc--kta073014.php

Alzheimer's

'Researchers have discovered a new drug compound that reverses the brain deficits of Alzheimer's disease in an animal model. The compound, TC-2153, inhibits the negative effects of a protein called STtriatal-Enriched tyrosine Phosphatase (STEP), which is key to regulating learning and memory.'

VIDEO: Cook a Steak... with LAVA

http://www.weather.com/video/cook-a-steak-with-lava-51828?collid=/health/human-nature

VIDEO: More Bad News for Bacon Lovers

http://www.weather.com/video/more-bad-news-for-bacon-lovers-51969?collid=/health/human-nature

2014-08-03

Fwd: 9-10-2001

'Former President Bill Clinton, mere hours before the 9/11 terror
attack, openly acknowledged that he turned down a chance to kill Usama
bin Laden, according to a newly released recording.



The former president can be heard admitting this in a speech to
Australian business leaders on Sept. 10, 2001.



Until now, Clinton's eerie words had not been made public. But a
businessman who had access to the nearly 13-year-old recording handed
it over to Sky News Australia, which broadcast it in a report Monday.



"I'm just saying, you know, if I were Usama bin Laden -- he's a very
smart guy, I've spent a lot of time thinking about him -- and I nearly
got him once," Clinton said on the recording.



Tune in to Fox News' 'The Five' Thursday at 5 p.m. ET to hear the Clinton audio.



"I nearly got him. And I could have killed him, but I would have to
destroy a little town called Kandahar in Afghanistan and kill 300
innocent women and children, and then I would have been no better than
him."



"And so I didn't do it," he added.



Clinton had recently left office at the time of the speech.



This is not the first time that the notion was raised that the Clinton
administration had the opportunity to detain or even kill bin Laden,
but chose not to. Leading up to the final report of the National
Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, otherwise
known as the 9/11 Report, there were conflicting testimonies and
information about whether the administration had taken Al Qaeda
threats seriously and had turned down a chance to have bin Laden
extradited to the U.S. on terrorism charges.



In the end, the 9/11 panel found that there were several missed
opportunities to go after bin Laden and Al Qaeda, including a point in
which the Central Intelligence Agency had tracked bin Laden to a
hunting camp in Afghanistan in 1999. The Clinton administration
declined to launch an attack for fear of hitting officials from the
United Arab Emirates, who were at the camp on a hunting trip.'



http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/07/31/clinton-on-sept-10-2001-could-have-killed-bin-laden-but-didnt/

Utah cell phone law

The revised law — which went into effect in mid-May — still allows drivers to talk on cell phones, which is not regulated in Utah. As amended, it also allows for use of GPS apps and hands-free technologies. Prohibited are email, video and Internet surfing. Fines up to $100 for first offenders.

Fwd: Steam

'A new material structure developed at MIT generates steam by soaking up the sun. The structure -- a layer of graphite flakes and an underlying carbon foam -- is a porous, insulating material structure that floats on water. When sunlight hits the structure's surface, it creates a hotspot in the graphite, drawing water up through the material's pores, where it evaporates as steam.


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140724213957.htm

Fwd: Putin of Asia

Nobody tops Xi when it comes to irredentism, not even the fellow who called the breakup of the Soviet Union "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe" of the 20th century and who is now doing all he can to reacquire former Soviet lands. Vladimir Putin is roiling one country—Ukraine—but China's supremo is now destabilizing an entire region, in a sweeping arc spanning China's south to its northeast. 

http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/gordon-g-chang/xi-jinping-putin-asia

 

VIDEO: What is a Geep?

http://www.weather.com/video/what-is-a-geep-51890?collid=/weather/twc-weather

VIDEO: Venomous 'Rocket Ant' Invades U.S.

http://www.weather.com/video/venomous-rocket-ant-invades-us-50339?collid=/news/video-of-the-day