`Vice President Cheney’s former chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, told a grand jury he was “authorized by his superiors” to disclose classified information from an intelligence report to reporters, according to the special prosecutor in the CIA leak case.
In a letter to Libby’s lawyers, obtained by CNN, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said it is his understanding that Libby testified he was “authorized to disclose information about the National Intelligence Estimate to the press by his superiors.”
The letter does not name who the superiors are. But the National Journal, which first reported on the Fitzgerald letter, named Vice President Dick Cheney and other White House officials as authorizing Libby to disclose the classified material.’
`A Taiwanese citizen has been indicted as an agent of the People’s Republic of China in a lengthy indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Florida, federal officials announced in Washington Friday. [..]
Moo and Serge Voros of Paris have been indicted in Miami, Florida with attempting to export an F-16 aircraft engine, Black Hawk helicopter engines, cruise missiles, and air-to-air missiles to China, according to a statement released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities.’
`Milliseconds before a giant star dies in a spectacular explosion, it hums a note around ‘middle C’, astronomers say. [..]
“Our simulations show that the inner core starts to execute pulsations,” says Professor Burrows.
“They show that after about 500 milliseconds [after the core collapses] the inner core begins to vibrate wildly. And after 600, 700 or 800 milliseconds, this oscillation becomes so vigorous that it sends out sound waves.
“In these computer runs, these sound waves actually cause the star to explode, not the neutrinos.”‘
`Those of you fortunate enough to own Final Cut Pro 4.5, or those who promote eclecticism: nested in your FCP application itself is a string that is quite out of the ordinary. [..]
“If we can’t ship this puppy by then, we might as well be herding yaks. I’m glad it’s getting weird again. I didn’t understand it when it wasn’t weird. The C switch statement: Mmmmmm! Chock full of nooses! That would be like crossing the streams or something. Mmmm… Chicago style pizza! I’ve got my blankie, I’m good to go. A lot of this job is mental. “Mostly clockwise, sometimes reverses…” What’s the sound of one luma clamping? I just wanna be in the app! Oh, rough and woeful music which we have! Cause it to sound! The Yak is a delightful creature… rather like a visit with a bovine Confucious Nobody might know anything. I don’t know, somehow it just works. How do you tempt a Yak? [..]”
[..] 10 bucks drugs were involved.’
`Goldilocks would approve. Dark matter is not too cold and not too hot, but just right, researchers have found. Furthermore, its lukewarm temperature may help pinpoint just what the mysterious material is. [..]
According to their calculations, dark matter is “tepid” – about 10,000°C. By comparison, the surface of the Sun is about 6000°C, while its core is about 15.5 million °C.
“This temperature tells us something very fundamental about the properties of dark matter,” says Gilmore. He believes that tepid dark matter is almost certainly made up of a type of WIMP – massive theoretical particles that interact only weakly with other forms of matter, but attract or repel other WIMPs very strongly.’
`The British Red Cross has told GamesIndustry.biz that it hopes to work with developers to prevent the “illegal and detrimental” misuse of the red cross emblem in videogames.
“It is important for videogame manufacturers not to use the emblem in their games, including for matters related to its humanitarian purpose, such as first aid or general medical care,” said Michael Meyer, head of international law for the British Red Cross.
“The use of the emblem in videogames is both illegal and detrimental to the special protective value of the emblem.”‘
`A teenager who was repeatedly given a potentially fatal overdose of radiation at a leading cancer unit spoke yesterday of her fears after the hospital where she was given the treatment said the mistake was the result of human error.
Lisa Norris, 15, was undergoing radiation therapy for a brain tumour at Beatson Oncology Centre, Glasgow, when she was given the potentially deadly doses 17 times. Doctors have told her they do not know what the long-term effects on her health will be. “I could be brain damaged, I could be paralysed. We don’t know what’s in the future. I could not be here,” she said yesterday.’
‘The Moo Bella Ice Cream Vending Machine is not yer ordinary common or garden vending machine, oh no. It’s a Linux powered, wireless Internet connected, ‘make from scratch in 45 seconds’, patented techno marvel. No word on Penguin flavours, but the idea is that these machines will produce on-demand fresh, real ice cream just about anywhere. Instantly aerated, mixed, flavoured and frozed in less than a minute. With chocolate chip sprinkles too. Yowsers!’
Also a video: One sweet dream.
`Journalist of Russia’s First TV Channel (ORT) Viktor Shvagerus insists that Russian special services have a video of British spy Andrew Fleming masturbating on the spy stone. Two weeks ago, Russia’s FSB reported seizing of a spy electronic device belonging to the British intelligence designed as a stone. But it turned out later that the national TV channels did not show the most interesting part of the spy scandal. [..]
The cameraman wrote: “Censorship was applied to the footage showing one of the supposed spies performing an indecent action with the stone-like transmitter. Behind the cameras FSB experts explained that the British spy was masturbating in front of the stone. They did not name the man, but they grinned every time the name of Andrew Fleming was mentioned (secretary of the British Embassy in Russia Andrew Fleming is meant).”’
`British motorists made claims last year for everything from a frozen squirrel crashing through a car windscreen to a cow jumping on a quad bike.
Freak accidents involving animals topped the list of odd excuses for motor insurance claims, with food-related mishaps in second place.
In one unfortunate incident, a driver claimed he was unable to slow down because a potato was wedged under the brake, while another blamed a flying, frozen kebab for damage. [..]
“We can hardly tell drivers to beware of flying kebabs and frozen squirrels when they’re on the roads.”‘
`McDonald’s french fries just got fatter – by nutritional measurement. The world’s largest restaurant chain said Wednesday its fries contain a third more trans fats than it previously knew, citing results of a new testing method it began using in December.
That means the level of potentially artery-clogging trans fat in a portion of large fries is eight grams, up from six, with total fat increasing to 30 grams from 25.
Often used by restaurants and in packaged foods, trans fats are thought to cause cholesterol problems and increase the risk of heart disease. The dietary guidelines for Americans that were issued by a government panel last year said people should consume as little trans fat as possible.’
`Australian scientists say they have developed a drug that may help prevent and reverse debilitating inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis.
The new drug, developed by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, also could help sufferers of multiple sclerosis (MS), asthma, sepsis, heart attack and psoriasis as well as transplant patients. [..]
Scientists have identified the mechanism by which a white blood cell enters a tissue, releasing toxic substances and causing damage in the joints.
The drug, once injected, works within hours to completely return a diseased tissue back to a normal tissue.’
`GFPixel is a “painting” made of genetically transformed bacteria. The organisms are cultivated in about 4000 Petri-dishes that are arranged as a portrait. Like on digital screens part of the bacteria produce the green light – the Green Fluorescent Protein-gene is switched ON and in the other part the GFP-gene is switched OFF.
The works plays with the border between living world and the digital world, the portrait seems to be digital but it lives and dies during the exhibition.’
`A Martin County deputy is accused of using his squad car camera to tape women.
The sheriff’s office fired deputy Jack Munsey after an investigation found that Munsey broke the rules by using the camera for unofficial purposes, spending on-duty time on off-duty activities and for improper conduct.
The investigation reveals that Munsey used his dashboard-mounted video camera to zoom in on and record bikini-clad girls, including one showering at a public beach.’
`The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has been detected on a large commercial chicken farm in Nigeria — the first reported outbreak in Africa, the World Organization for Animal Health said Wednesday.
The outbreak appears to be restricted to birds, and no human infections have been reported, the Paris-based organization said. [..]
“The significance is that it’s a completely new continent that we need to be looking at,” said Alex Thiermann, an expert for the World Organization for Animal Health, known as the OIE, said of the virus’ arrival on the world’s poorest continent.’
`A former strip club waitress mailed condoms filled with a potentially explosive mixture to a television station, strip clubs and other places, saying she was tired of being mistreated by men, according to court documents.
In FBI documents unsealed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Boston, Kimberly Lynn Dasilva, 40, said she “couldn’t take it anymore.”
None of the condoms exploded. They each contained a mixture of drain-cleaning detergent and gasoline, which could explode when combined, authorities said. Dasilva told investigators she did not think they would explode.’
`A hacker who stopped more than three million Spanish computer users from using the internet has been sentenced to two years in jail. Twenty-six-year-old Santiago Garrido used a computer worm to launch distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks after he was expelled from the popular “Hispano” IRC chat room for disobeying its rules.
The attacks disrupted an estimated three million users of the Wanadoo, ONO, Lleida Net and other internet service providers – amounting to one third of all of Spain’s web users at the time of the 2003 offense. [..]
“Many times hackers use DDoS techniques to try and blackmail the website under attack. On this occasion, it seems the hacker was so furious about being thrown out of a chat room that he resorted to a criminal act to wreak his revenge, affecting millions of internet users in the process,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos.’
`The man who caused outrage by dressing as a suicide bomber during London protests over the Mohammed cartoons was arrested and taken to prison today, police have revealed.
Omar Khayam, 22, was pictured outside Denmark’s embassy in London wearing a simulated suicide bombing outfit to denounce the cartoons, first published in a Danish paper, satirising the prophet Mohammed.
The student was given six years in prison in 2002 for possessing crack cocaine with intent to supply and is still on licence after being released last year halfway through his sentence. [..]
Khayam’s arrest in Bedford was carried out at the instigation of the Home Office for breaching the terms of his licence.’
`Toxoplasma gondii may be the most prevalent human parasite. As many as 50% of humans worldwide, and up to 80% in urban areas, have been infected with it at some time in their lives. An estimated 60 million people in the US have active cases at any given time. It’s a single celled parasite whose favored host is cats. However it can infect and live in a host of other creatures including rats and humans. Most infected people, and most infected rats, show no particular signs of illness when infected. They continue on with their daily life and work completely unaware they’ve been parasitized. But they may not be as unaffected as they seem.’
`The first tomb to be discovered in the Valley of the Kings since King Tut’s in 1922 contains five sarcophagi with mummies, breaking the nearly centurylong belief that there’s nothing more to find in the valley where some of Egypt’s greatest pharaohs were buried.
The tomb’s spare appearance suggests it was not dug for a pharaoh, said U.S. archaeologist Kent Weeks, who was not involved in the University of Memphis team’s find but has seen photographs of the site. “It could be the tomb of a king’s wife or son, or of a priest or court official,” he told The Associated Press on Thursday.’
`A crime victim has criticised a police e-fit of a suspect saying although the thief had an unusual appearance he “didn’t look that odd”. [..]
“The man was a pretty odd-looking character and we didn’t get a good look at his face, but he didn’t look that odd,” Mrs Rule said.
“The man in the picture has half an ear – he didn’t have half an ear. And his moustache wasn’t like that.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone who looks like that in Stalham or anywhere else in my life.”
She added: “Apparently the problem with the moustache was that the police only had long moustaches on their computer so they had to sort of chop it off at the ends.”‘
`A New Zealand thief was nabbed after being lured back to the scene of her crime to claim a “lucky shopper” prize. [..]
Police in the North Island city of Palmerston North couldn’t identify Adams.
So shop owner Wayne Garrand put up her picture in the store window with the words “This Week’s Lucky Shopper” – such competitions are common in New Zealand.
“I just thought, ‘Bugger it, let’s give this a try’,” Mr Gerrand told the Dominion Post newspaper.
Adams and a friend came into the store wanting to claim her prize and gave her name and address to Mr Gerrand, who passed it on to police.’
`Authorities were seeking Thursday a burglar who allegedly took the time to make coffee, cook and eat meals, take showers, pick out a change of clothes, watch television and check his e-mail while inside three rural Washington County homes this month. [..]
Lori Menzel of the town of Kewaskum said the burglar left his Yahoo account open after checking his personal e-mail on the computer at her home.
“He never logged out,” she said, adding: “He made himself at home here. He spent some time in our bedroom trying on my husband’s clothes. I could tell he went through some of my clothes.”‘
`You have to work out what the letters mean.’
Looks like fun. Haven’t done it yet, but I’ll give it a go later on when I have some time.
`I made a Pancake and it has the image of Jesus on it!!!
See for yourself!’
One bid for $500 so far.
`The alcohol that got Julia Zukerman into trouble with the law wasn’t in her hand or in the front seat of her car. In fact, she wasn’t drinking or driving — just walking — when a police officer told her to “blow a kiss in my face” and smelled her breath for booze.
“I thought I was fine, because I didn’t have anything on me,” said Zukerman, 19, waiting for her case to be called one recent morning in the courthouse of this college town. “Apparently not.”‘
`The Augustine Volcano in Alaska continued erupting on February 2, 2006. The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) reported a continuous plume of volcanic ash emitting from the volcano, accompanied by low-level explosions and pyroclastic flows of hot ash and rock fragments. The observatory warned that sudden eruptions producing ash clouds as high as 7,600 meters (25,000 feet) could occur without warning.’
`I hate to say it but I really like the smell of my own shit! I don’t make a habit of smelling it, well I didn’t used to, but I accidentally got a bit on my fingers when I was wiping my ass a few years back and I thought ‘What the hell?’. So I gave it a little whiff and f*ck me if it wasn’t one of the sweetest smelling aromas I’ve ever had the pleasure to fill my lungs with. [..]
I tried to get my girlfriend to enjoy it by ‘accidentally’ shoving a finger up her nose whilst we were having sex but she was having none of it. Oh well. Her loss I guess.’
`Willie Williamson’s mother had agreed to let her son come home a little later than usual. It was Super Bowl Sunday, after all, and his buddy had a 10:30 curfew.
But at 10:36 p.m., she got a call from a neighbor — the call every parent dreads — and rushed out the door.
“I talked to Willie about drugs,” Gloria Williamson says now. “I talked to Willie about drinking. I talked to Willie about if you go out with a girl, you have to respect her … but this is something I thought I would never have to talk to him about.”‘
`One of the world’s last Stone Age tribes has murdered two fishermen whose boat drifted on to a desert island in the Indian Ocean.
The Sentinelese, thought to number between 50 and 200, have rebuffed all contact with the modern world, firing a shower of arrows at anyone who comes within range.
They are believed to be the last pre-Neolithic tribe in the world to remain isolated and appear to have survived the 2004 Asian tsunami.’
