katmai - Unplugged, Unmatched, Unleashed

I am very sure you might have seen this, but, another lesson on how to park your car is always useful.

Great stop/motion video. Wish i had that kind of imagination

Wanna coke?

This is scary because of how close to the truth it may be.

Jack pulls into school parking lot with rifle in gun rack.

1973 - Vice Principal comes over, takes a look at Jack’s rifle, goes to his car and gets his to show Jack.
2006 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.
++++++++++++++++++++++

Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school.

1973 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up best friends Nobody goes to jail, nobody arrested, nobody expelled.
2006 - Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and Mark. Charge them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Scenario: Jeffrey won’t be still in class, disrupts other students.

1973 - Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by Principal. Sits still in class.
2006 - Jeffrey given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. School gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a disability.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his father’s car and his Dad gives him a whipping

1973 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.
2006 - Billy’s Dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to foster care and joins a gang. Billy’s sister is told by state psychologist that she remembers being abused herself and their Dad goes to prison. Billy’s mom has affair with psychologist.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Scenario: Mark gets a headache and takes some headache medicine to
school.

1973 - Mark shares headache medicine with Principal out on the smoking dock.
2006 - Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug violations. Car searched for drugs and weapons.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Scenario: Mary turns up pregnant.

1973 - 5 High School Boys leave town. Mary does her senior year at a special school for expectant mothers.
2006 - Middle School Counselor calls Planned Parenthood, who notifies the ACLU. Mary is driven to the next state over and gets an abortion without her parent’s consent or knowledge. Mary given condoms and told to be more careful next time.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Scenario: Pedro fails high school English.

1973: Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college.
2006: Pedro’s cause is taken up by state Democratic Party. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against state school system and Pedro’s English teacher. English banned from core curriculum. Pedro given diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he can’t speak English.
+++++++++++++++++++++

Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the 4th of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle, blows up a red ant bed.

1973 - Ants die.
2006 - BATF, Homeland Security, FBI called. Johnny charged with domestic terrorism, FBI investigates parents, siblings removed from home, computers confiscated, Johnny’s Dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.
+++++++++++++++++++++

Scenario: Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary, hugs him to comfort him.

1973 - In a short time Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2006 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison.

A man is at work one day when he notices that his co-worker is wearing an earring.

This man knows his co-worker to be a normally conservative fellow, and is curious about his sudden change in “fashion sense.” The man walks up to him and says, “I didn’t know you were into earrings.”

“Don’t make such a big deal, it’s only an earring,” he replies sheepishly.

His friend falls silent for a few minutes, but then his curiosity prods him to say, “So, how long have you been wearing one?”

“Ever since my wife found it in my truck!”

    TEHRAN, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) — Iranian Foreign Minister said on Saturday that the United States was in no position to launch military strike against the Islamic Republic, stressing that talks were the only choice to resolve the nuclear standoff.

    ”We do not see the U.S. in a position to impose another crisis on its tax payers by starting another war in the region,” Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters during a press conference with his Bahraini counterpart, in a response to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney’s warnings over Tehran earlier Saturday.

    ”But the Islamic Republic of Iran has prepared for two scenarios. We prefer the second one which is based on dialogue and constructive interaction,” Mottaki added.

    During his trip to Australia, Cheney Saturday refused to rule out the possibility of taking military action against Iran, saying that “all options are still on the table” over Tehran’s nuclear programs.

    Cheney said Washington was still working with other countries to persuade Tehran to abandon its nuclear programs and prefers to achieve the goal peacefully.

    ”But all options are still on the table,” Cheney said, adding that it is still being debated in the U.S. how to move next to deal with Tehran over the nuclear issue.

    In an interview with U.S. media, carried out in Australia and released on Friday, Cheney said that the United States will “do everything” it can to stop Iran’s nuclear programs.

    Mottaki also stressed that dialogue was the only choice to resolve the current deadlock, urging the U.S. and its allies to return to the negotiation table.

    ”The only way to reach a solution for disputes is negotiations and talks. Therefore, we want the London meeting to make a brave decision and resume talks with Iran,” said the minister.

    The United States, along with some other Western countries, has been accusing Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of civilian nuclear programs. Tehran has rejected such accusations, saying that its nuclear programs are designed for peaceful use of nuclear energy.

    The UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1737 on Dec. 23,2006, demanding Iran stop all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities including research and development, and work on all heavy water-related projects, in 60 days.

    Iran refused to heed the Security Council’s demand by the deadline that fell on Feb. 21, 2007.

DaimlerChrysler’s Mercedes unit says it has designed its new Mercedes-Benz S 600 Guard Pullman limo to offer “the highest possible degree of protection against terrorist attacks.”

So what does that mean?

Here is how Mercedes describes its ultra-secure limo:

The highest protection specified for this car is equivalent to resistance level B6/B7, as tested and certified by state-approved organizations. Plus it meets further requirements that are not even stipulated by any standard, as tested by public and independent organizations. Its armor resists military-standard small-arms projectiles and provides protection against fragments from hand grenades and other explosive devices. Additional safety features include run-flat tyres, a self-sealing fuel tank and a fire-extinguishing system.

Mercedes says it will not deliver the Pullman Limousine, with a twelve-cylinder biturbo engine with 517 horsepower, until 2008. Why such a long lag time? Does it have something to do with the schedules of government budget protocols? I also wonder who orders these types of limos. Is such security protection offered for U.S. senators or even state government officials in the United States? And how secure can a limousine be, anyway?

The front of the train doubled back on the carriages

Up to 700 sets of points across the entire rail network are to be checked as a “precaution” following the Cumbria crash, Network Rail has said. Investigators earlier said the accident, in which a woman died, could have been caused by a points failure.

Experts are focusing on one set that the Virgin Trains Pendolino ran across before derailing near Kendal.

Network Rail said engineers had already started the nationwide safety checks of between 600 and 700 sets of points.

“As a precautionary measure we are beginning to check between 600 and 700 sets of points across the country,” a Network Rail spokesman said.

The checks are to be carried out on high-speed rail lines on older tracks where trains travel above 85 miles per hour.

The spokesman said Network Rail hoped to have the checks completed within the next 24 hours.

Dunno what they say, dunno where are they from, but simply sounds ok.

Mr Hakim: “They tied my hands and blindfolded me… “

The eldest son of an influential Shia politician says US troops treated him roughly when they briefly arrested him near the Iran-Iraq border on Friday. Ammar al-Hakim says he was targeted for arrest, rudely bound and blindfolded.

The US military says he was arrested because his convoy was suspicious, but was treated with “dignity and respect”.

In Najaf, thousands have protested at the arrest. Mr Hakim’s father is Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.

The US has repeatedly said that Iraq’s Shia militias are being armed with weapons smuggled in from Iran.

US ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad swiftly apologised for the incident.

The BBC’s Jane Peel, in Baghdad, says the diplomat was doubtless keen to head off a row with Shia leaders working with the US on the new Iraq security plan.

‘Rude treatment’

But Mr Hakim told a news conference in Najaf: “Senior officials intended to arrest me, and these officials gave instructions to personnel at the site.”

“They tied my hands and blindfolded me,” he said, adding that American soldiers had treated him “rudely”.

A number of weapons belonging to his guards, several mobile phones and some cash had not yet been returned, Reuters news agency quoted Mr Hakim as saying.

US military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Chris Garver said Mr al-Hakim’s convoy was stopped as it re-entered Iraq near the Mehran border crossing with Iran, 130km (70 miles) east of Baghdad.

Lt Carver said that the vehicles were stopped because they “met specific criteria for further investigation in an area where smuggling activity has taken place in the past”.

The officer said Mr Hakim was arrested when people travelling in the convoy “did not co-operate with coalition forces and displayed suspicious activities”.

Compound raided

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim is the leader of the largest party in Iraq’s parliament, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).

The party was founded in 1982 by Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim’s brother Mohammed Bakr al-Hakim in Tehran.

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim took over the party when Mohammed Bakr was killed in an al-Qaeda car bombing in August 2003.

Ammar al-Hakim heads the Al-Mihrab Martyr’s Foundation, in honour of his uncle, and is seen as the deputy leader of the political movement.

Last December, the Hakim residential compound in Baghdad was raided by US forces who arrested two Iranians said to be members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.