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Howdy. I have no doubt Newt would leave Hillary tongue tied and completely confused. Would love to see those two debate. I like Gingrich but I think he would have a tough time in the general election.
I think any of the following would have a good chance in the general election.
Mike Huckabee (Governor, Arkansas) my first pick.
George Allen (Senator, Virgina)
Bill Frist (Senator, Tennessee)
Sam Brownback (Senator, Kansas)
Mitt Romney (Governor, Massachusetts)
George Pataki (Governor, New York)
Condoleezza Rice (Secretary of State)
I agree with many on the board I would not like to see John McCain get the Republican nomination. But the worst Republican would be far better than any Democrat.
That is good news 02opida.
Thai army chief gets king's endorsement By DENIS D. GRAY, Associated Press Writer
21 minutes ago
BANGKOK, Thailand - The army commander who seized Thailand's government in a quick, bloodless coup pledged Wednesday to hold elections by October 2007, and received a ringing endorsement from the country's revered king.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060920/ap_on_re_as/thailand;_ylt=AicWBa_37gVX7gTmYSEMJvqs0NUE;_ylu=X3oD...
OT
The Mets are an OK team. But they're not going to the World Series. The CARDINALS are going to win it all this year.
Thai military launches coup against PM By GRANT PECK, Associated Press Writer
5 minutes ago
BANGKOK, Thailand - The Thai military launched a coup against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Tuesday night, circling his offices with tanks, seizing control of TV stations and declaring a provisional authority pledging loyalty to the king.
An announcement on Thai television declared that a "Council of Administrative Reform" with King Bhumibol Adulyadej as head of state had seized power in Bangkok and nearby provinces without any resistance.
At least 14 tanks surrounded Government House, Thaksin's office. Thaksin was in New York at the U.N. General Assembly and declared a state of emergency via a government-owned TV station.
A convoy of four tanks rigged with loudspeakers and sirens rolled through a busy commercial district warning people to get off the street for their own safety.
A senior military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said army Commander-in-Chief Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin had used the military to take over power from the prime minister.
Thaksin has faced calls to step down amid allegations of corruption and abuse of power.
Massive rallies earlier this year forced Thaksin to dissolve Parliament and call an election in April, three years ahead of schedule. The poll was boycotted by opposition parties and later annulled by Thailand's top courts, leaving the country without a working legislature.
Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai Party twice won landslide election victories, in 2001 and 2005 and had been expected to win the next vote on Oct. 15, bolstered by its widespread support in the country's rural areas.
In 1992, demonstrators against a military strongman were gunned down before the king stepped in to end the fighting and usher in a period of stability.
On Monday, Thaksin had said he may step down as leader of the country after upcoming elections, but he will remain at the helm of his party, despite calls for him to give up the post.
On Tuesday night, several hundred soldiers were deployed at government installations and major intersections in the capital of Bangkok, according to an Associated Press reporter.
Army-owned TV channel 5 interrupted regular broadcasts with patriotic music and showed pictures of the king. At least some radio and television stations monitored in Bangkok suspended programming.
The cable television station of the Nation newspaper reported that tanks were parked at the Rachadamnoen Road and royal plaza close to the royal palace and government offices.
"The prime minister with the approval of the cabinet declares serious emergency law in Bangkok from now on" Thaksin said on Channel 9 from New York. He said he was ordering the transfer of the nation's army chief to work in the prime minister's office, effectively suspending him from his military duties.
Thaksin's critics want to jettison his policies promoting privatization, free trade agreements and CEO-style administration.
Opposition to Thaksin gained momentum in January when his family announced it had sold its controlling stake in telecommunications company Shin Corp. to Singapore's state-owned Temasek Holdings for a tax-free $1.9 billion. Critics allege the sale involved insider trading and complain a key national asset is now in foreign hands.
Thaksin also has been accused of stifling the media and mishandling a Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand that flared under his rule.
In Thailand's mostly Muslim south, separatist insurgents have waged a bloody campaign that has left at least 1,700 dead, mostly civilians, since 2004. Citizens there have complained of rights abuses by soldiers and discrimination by the country's Buddhist majority.
Hungary Police Retake Television Building Amid Riots
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Protesters clashed with police and stormed the headquarters of Hungarian state television early Tuesday in an explosion of anger over a leaked recording of the prime minister admitting his government had "lied morning, evening and night" about the economy.
Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said the overnight riots were "the longest and darkest night" for the country since the end of communism in 1989. About 150 people were injured, including 102 police officers, one of whom suffered serious head injuries, officials said.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,214406,00.html
Rumors of a coup sweep through Bangkok 5 minutes ago
BANGKOK, Thailand - Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra called a state of emergency Tuesday as coup rumors sweep Bangkok.
Cars - Let The Good Times Roll
#msg-10930361
Staind - It's Been a While
#msg-12789107
Simple Minds - Alive and Kicking
#msg-12783792
Andy Williams - Moon River
#msg-10798445
Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime
#msg-12873861
Give me a good pick so we can!
My pick would probably lose money......then I'd get kicked off the board.
:(
lol
Thanks for the song.
Hi ya'll.
request
Pet Shop Boys - Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money)
Thanks
Italian thief accidentally turns himself in 25 minutes ago
MILAN (Reuters) - An Italian thief accidentally turned himself in after losing his cellular phone while robbing an elderly lady, calling his own number to meet the finder -- and unwittingly arranging a date with police.
The 77-year-old victim handed over the phone that the bag snatcher had dropped to police, who lured the thief to a meeting where he was arrested, news agency Agi reported on Monday.
Agi said the man had been freed from prison recently under an Italian mass pardon meant to ease congestion in jails.
By the time police were waiting for him at the meeting point, the 35-year-old had already robbed another old lady and was riding a stolen scooter, Agi said.
Man sets sights on eye-popping record Sun Sep 17, 7:08 AM ET
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Claudio Paulo Pinto is looking to break an eye-popping record. Literally. Pinto can pop his eyeballs out of their sockets at least 7 millimeters (0.3 inches), a national record for eye-popping according to RankBrasil, an organization modeled after the Guinness Book of World Records that lists Brazilian records.
A former driver, Pinto got a job scaring visitors in a commercial haunted house in Belo Horizonte, 210 miles north of Rio de Janeiro. But he recently was laid off, and now he seeks international recognition for his ability.
"I was measured by an opthamologist on television in January. I could pop my eyes out 7 millimeters," Pinto said by telephone Saturday. "Since then, my capacities have improved over 50 percent."
That could put Pinto close to the record. The title of "furthest eyeball popper" in the Guinness Book of World Records currently belongs to Kim Goodman of Chicago, who can pop her eyeballs 11 milimeters (0.43 inches) out of her sockets.
Pinto's ability is called "globe luxation." Doctors say it can strain blood vessels and nerves between the eyes and the head and feels unpleasant but usually doesn't cause lasting damage.
Pinto says he's been luxating his globes since he was 9 years old and "it doesn't hurt a bit."
Fawlty Towers relaunched - without mad manager By Paul Majendie
Mon Sep 18, 7:57 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - The hotel that inspired the cult British television comedy series Fawlty Towers is relaunching after a makeover -- but guests will be spared rants by the rudest hotelier of all time.
John Cleese was prompted to write the classic 1970s series with his then wife Connie Booth after staying with the cast of Monty Python's Flying Circus at the Gleneagles Hotel in the western English resort of Torquay.
Cleese called hotelier Donald Sinclair "the most wonderfully rude man I have ever met" after they were berated for their table manners and had a timetable thrown at them when they asked the time of the next bus to town.
Actress Prunella Scales, who played Basil Fawlty's waspish wife Sybil in the comedy that became a worldwide hit, was to commemorate the relaunch by unveiling a plaque at the hotel.
The Gleneagles was to be flattened by property developers who wanted to build luxury apartments on the site.
But Torquay Council refused planning permission. New owners Brian Shone and Terry Taylor have now transformed it into a chic 41-room hotel.
Shone and Taylor originally thought the Fawlty Towers connection was tacky and overdone but now they have decided to embrace it enthusiastically.
Manager Sue Pine told Reuters: "It is quite bizarre. Every day you sit in reception and they come in by the coachload from America, Germany and Holland to see you. We have a big poster in reception and they all have their photo taken."
"We might as well take this situation and use it. The shows are always being repeated somewhere around the world. It is still being shown in several countries," she said.
But guests need have no fear. They will not be berated by a frenetic host screaming at them and the staff led by befuddled Spanish waiter Manuel and long-suffering waitress Polly.
"We are not like them. But we don't mind a bit of fun. We are up for a laugh," Pine said.
Fawlty fans looking for the actual hotel seen at the start and end of the comedy will be disappointed.
The Woodburn Grange Country Club, which was used as the backdrop for the series, burned down in 1991.
Village elders order trial by boiling oil Mon Sep 18, 7:45 AM ET
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The leaders of a village in the Indian state of Rajasthan ordered 150 men to dip their hands into boiling oil to prove their innocence after food was stolen from a local school, a newspaper reported Sunday.
In late August the school's principal informed police that rice and wheat had disappeared but no action was taken, the Sunday Express said.
The council, or panchayat, of Ranpur village, 340 km (210 miles) south of state capital Jaipur, then decided to take the law into its own hands.
After 10 days spent trying to identify those responsible, it issued what the paper called the "medieval diktat."
The 150 men from Ranpur and two neighboring hamlets were told to pick a copper ring from a cauldron of boiling oil. The council elders then announced that the 50 who refused the order must be behind the crime. Many are now nursing their burns.
"We would have been ostracized had we refused. Out of fear all of us agreed. This is not the first time this has been done," said one 45-year-old man. He has now testified against the elders, who have been arrested.
Japan Cabinet to OK N. Korea sanctions By MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press Writer
57 minutes ago
TOKYO - Japan's Cabinet will approve a new set of financial sanctions against North Korea on Tuesday in response to the communist nation's missile firing in July, a top government official said.
The sanctions — called for in a U.N. Security Council resolution that denounced the missile launches — would ban withdrawals of money and overseas remittances by groups and individuals suspected of links to North Korean weapons programs.
"As it has become obvious that the problem cannot be resolved only through dialogue, pressure is unavoidable," Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Monday on NTV network. "In order to get them to change their behavior, we cannot help but apply the pressure."
The planned sanctions include measures targeting 12 groups and an individual that officials say have links to North Korea's weapons development programs, according to Japanese media reports.
Tokyo stepped up trade restrictions on North Korea in July following Pyongyang's test-firing of seven missiles, including one long-range rocket, into the waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula. The launches drew international condemnation.
Communist North Korea's moribund economy is heavily dependent on cash infusions from a large community of sympathetic ethnic Koreans in Japan.
Japan and North Korea have no diplomatic relations, but the two have maintained limited economic ties. Following the latest sanctions, trade between the two plunged nearly 40 percent, the government recently announced.
The United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea have tried to persuade the North to abandon its nuclear program at six-party negotiations that have been on hold since November 2005 because North Korea refuses to attend until Washington lifts financial restrictions.
Abe said Monday it was also necessary to increase pressure on North Korea over its past abductions of Japanese citizens. Pyongyang, which has admitted kidnapping Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 80s to train as spies, allowed five of them to return home but said others were dead.
Many Japanese believe the missing are alive.
Abe, the nationalist leading the race to replace outgoing Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, said he planned to create a new Cabinet post in charge of the abduction issue if he wins.
week 3: Indianapolis
Thanks
Armed man crashes Capitol barricade By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer
11 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - An armed man crashed his vehicle into a security barricade at the U.S. Capitol on Monday, ran into the building and was arrested, forcing the complex to briefly be locked down, authorities said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060918/ap_on_go_co/capitol_arrest
A huge wave hits the bank in Kagoshima, western Japan Sunday, Sept. 17, 2006. At least five people were reported dead or missing and dozens more injured, as a strong typhoon Shanshan swept toward southwestern Japan on Sunday unleashing heavy rains and fierce winds. (AP Photo / Kyodo News)
lol. Good one.
Office of the Press Secretary
September 16, 2006
President's Radio Address
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. On Monday, I visited New York, Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon to attend memorials marking the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. It was an emotional day for me and for our country. On that day, we remembered those who lost their lives, and we paid tribute to those who gave their lives so that others might live. We rededicated ourselves to protecting the American people from another attack.
Next week, I will return to New York, where I will address the United Nations General Assembly. I look forward to talking to the world leaders gathered there about our obligation to defend civilization, and how we must work together to support the forces of freedom and moderation throughout the Middle East.
As we work with the international community to defeat the terrorists and extremists, we must also provide our military and intelligence professionals the tools they need to keep our country safe. Congress is considering two vital pieces of legislation to help us do just that. My Administration is working closely with members of both parties to pass these bills.
The first bill would allow us to use military commissions to try suspected terrorists for war crimes. We need this legislation because the Supreme Court has ruled that military commissions must be explicitly authorized by Congress.
I recently announced that 14 suspected terrorists, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the man believed to be the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, had been transferred to Guantanamo Bay. As soon as Congress acts to authorize the military commissions I have proposed, the men our intelligence agencies believe helped orchestrate the deaths of nearly 3,000 Americans on September the 11th, 2001, can face justice.
This bill will also provide clear rules for our personnel involved in detaining and questioning captured terrorists. The information the Central Intelligence Agency has obtained by questioning men like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has helped disrupt terrorist plots, including planned strikes inside the United States and on a U.S. Marine base in East Africa, an American consulate in Pakistan, and Britain's Heathrow Airport. This CIA program has saved American lives, and the lives of people in other countries.
Unfortunately, the recent Supreme Court decision put the future of this program in question, and we need this legislation to save it. There is debate about the specific proposals in this bill, and my Administration will work with Congress to find common ground. I have one test for this legislation: The intelligence community must be able to tell me that the bill Congress sends to my desk will allow this vital program to continue.
The second bill before Congress would modernize our electronic surveillance laws and provide additional authority for the terrorist surveillance program. I authorized the National Security Agency to operate this vital program in response to the 9/11 attacks. It allows us to quickly monitor terrorist communications between someone overseas and someone in America. It has helped detect and prevent terrorist attacks on our own country. The principle behind this program is clear: When al Qaeda operatives are calling into or out of our country, we need to know who they are calling, why they are calling, and what they are planning.
Both these bills are essential to winning the war on terror. So we will work with legislators from both sides of the aisle to get them passed. By passing these critical bills, we will bring terrorists to justice, continue collecting vital intelligence from captured terrorists in a lawful way, and monitor terrorist communications, so we can stop new attacks on our nation.
Thank you for listening.
That is a cool car Larry. I'd love to drive it.
New Hampshire
Harvick (29)
Gordon (24)
Martin (6)
At one point during a game, the coach called one of his 9-year-old baseball players aside and asked, 'Do you understand what cooperation is? What a team is?' The little boy nodded in the affirmative.
'Do you understand that what matters is whether we win or lose together as a team?' The little boy nodded yes.
'So,' the coach continued, 'I'm sure you know, when an out is called, you shouldn't argue, curse, attack the umpire, or call him a pecker-head. Do you understand all that?' Again the little boy nodded.
The coach continued, 'And when I take you out of the game so another boy gets a chance to play, it's not good sportsmanship to call your coach a dumb ass?' Again the little boy nodded.
'Good,' said the coach. 'Now go over there and explain all that to your grandmother.'
Crude futures drop to their lowest level of the year
Groups cut oil demand estimates; natural gas holds near Feb. 2004 levels
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures dropped Friday to their lowest level of the year, touching $62.45 a barrel and extending a week-long slide on speculation that oil demand is weakening.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B0ADD2C41%2D40C4%2D479B%2DBC15%2D81B9D182100...
Largest known dwarf planet named Eris By ALICIA CHANG, AP Science Writer
Wed Sep 13, 10:54 PM ET
Eris (formerly Xena)
LOS ANGELES - A distant, icy rock whose discovery shook up the solar system and led to Pluto's planetary demise has been given a name: Eris.
The christening of Eris, named after the Greek goddess of chaos and strife, was announced by the International Astronomical Union on Wednesday. Weeks earlier, the professional astronomers' group stripped Pluto of its planethood under new controversial guidelines.
Since its discovery last year, Eris, which had been known as 2003 UB313, ignited a debate about what constitutes a planet.
Astronomers were split over how to classify the object because there was no universal definition. Some argued it should be welcomed as the 10th planet since it was larger than Pluto, but others felt Pluto was not a full-fledged planet.
After much bickering, astronomers last month voted to shrink the solar system to eight planets, downgrading Pluto to a "dwarf planet," a category that also includes Eris and the asteroid Ceres.
Eris' discoverer, Michael Brown of the California Institute of Technology, said the name was an obvious choice, calling it "too perfect to resist."
In mythology, Eris caused a quarrel among goddesses that sparked the Trojan War. In real life, Eris forced scientists to define a planet that eventually led to Pluto getting the boot. Soon after Pluto's dismissal from the planet club, hundreds of scientists circulated a petition protesting the decision.
Eris' moon also received a formal name: Dysnomia, the daughter of Eris known as the spirit of lawlessness.
Eris, which measures about 70 miles wider than Pluto, is the farthest known object in the solar system at 9 billion miles away from sun. It is also the third brightest object located in the Kuiper belt, a disc of icy debris beyond the orbit of Neptune.
Eris had been without a formal name while astronomers grappled over its status. Brown nicknamed it "Xena" after the fictional warrior princess pending an official designation. He admits the new name will take some getting used to.
"It's a little sad to see Xena go away," he said.
Backup punter may have stabbed starter By PAT GRAHAM, AP Sports Writer
1 hour, 53 minutes ago
GREELEY, Colo. - In a scenario reminiscent of Tonya Harding vs. Nancy Kerrigan, the backup punter at Northern Colorado has been accused of stabbing his rival in the leg — his kicking leg.
Mitch Cozad, a sophomore from Wheatland, Wyo., allegedly attacked Rafael Mendoza in a parking lot this week. Arrested on a charge of second-degree assault, Cozad was freed Wednesday on a $30,000 bond.
Mendoza, who was treated and released at a Greeley hospital, will miss at least Saturday's game at Texas State.
"Rafael is a competitor and wants to get back as soon as he can," said head coach Scott Downing. "When that occurs, I don't know."
The incident conjured up images of the rivalry between figure skaters Harding and Kerrigan. Harding was banned from the sport for life after her former husband hired a hit man to smack Kerrigan on the knee with a crowbar.
"I guess the only identified motive (in the attack on Mendoza) at this point in time is the competition for that position," Evans police Lt. Gary Kessler said.
But Downing wasn't so sure.
Cozad and Mendoza, a junior from the Denver suburb of Thornton, were competitive, he said, but no more than players at other positions.
"No different than starting quarterback or starting right tackle," he said. "Everyone was held accountable to the same level."
Asked if there was any jealousy between the two players, he said, "I have no idea. That would all be conjecture."
Cozad was suspended from the university and the team and was evicted from his dorm room, said director of athletics Jay Hinrichs. Cozad had no listed phone number in Greeley, and a phone message left at his Wyoming address was not immediately returned.
The stabbing took place Monday in Evans, a small town adjacent to Greeley and about 50 miles north of Denver. The Greeley Tribune first reported the story in Wednesday's editions.
Kessler said Mendoza, averaging 37.6 yards per punt on nine punts in the two games, was attacked from behind and stabbed in his right thigh after parking his car outside his Evans apartment about 9:30 p.m.
The assailant fled in a black Dodge Charger, Kessler said. About 10 minutes after the attack, a liquor store clerk told police that two men in a car matching that description stopped outside the store, stripped tape off the license plate and drove away.
The clerk gave police the license number, and the car was traced to Cozad, who was arrested Tuesday, Kessler said.
Photos said not to depict missing boy By MIKE WILSON, Associated Press writer
11 minutes ago
DES MOINES, Iowa - The photos of bound and gagged boys that were sent to an Iowa woman whose son disappeared 24 years ago were investigated in the late 1970s and are not her missing son, a retired Florida sheriff's investigators said Wednesday.
Nelson Zalva, who now works for the Hillsborough County, Fla., State Attorney's Office, said he investigated the same photos while working for the county's sheriff in 1978 or 1979.
"I remember this case," he said. "I identified the kids portrayed in the photos. It was definitely investigated by me several years prior to the disappearance of Johnny Gosch."
The photos were in an envelope left at the West Des Moines home of Johnny's mother, Noreen Gosch, on Aug. 27.
One photo, in black and white, shows a boy bound and gagged on a bed. Another is a color photo of the same boy in a similar pose with two others boys.
Noreen Gosch turned the photos over to police, who have been investigating the authenticity of the photos and any connection her son.
Johnny was 12 when he disappeared from his neighborhood before daybreak on Sept. 5, 1982. His photo was became one of the first of a missing child to be put on a milk carton. Police have said they believe he was abducted but they have few clues.
Zalva said his investigation never resulted in an arrest because the children in the photos never admitted that the suspect touched them inappropriately. He said the boys in the photos had voluntarily posed for the photos, but he couldn't recall why.
"Basically, what happened is someone, maybe it was one of the parents, found the photos and called the sheriff's office and deputies went out there, impounded the photos and the case was assigned to me for investigation," Zalva said. "I worked a long time on it, getting the kids identified."
Lt. Jeff Miller, a West Des Moines Police spokesman, said the investigation is continuing into who left the photos at Noreen Gosch's house.
"If they are not of Johnny Gosch, someone is playing a horrible prank," he said.
Miller said Gosch has been informed of the Florida investigation.
A telephone message left Wednesday morning for Gosch was not immediately returned.
[16:08 USD/CNY: Paulson Continues to Pressure China] San Francisco, September
13. US Treasury Sec"y Paulson reiterated comments calling on China to act on its
currency in his speech today. The comments come after his statement last night
that China should let the yuan rise more. The comments pushed 1-year NDF levels
to 7.6980/7.7010 overnight and the lowest levels since May. However, the impact
on spot was limited with the USD/CNY closing at 7.9479 on the automated price
matching system, compared to 7.9463 yesterday. Apparently, there were wide-
spread rumors overnight that China would widen the currency trading band that
forced the PBOC news department to deny any such plan was in place. Certainly,
China"s currency is still expected to be a focus at the G-7 following comments
yesterday from a Canadian official calling for a more flexible yuan.
Drawing attention as well today were further reports, based on news Monday that
China will experiment with easing more restrictions on Yuan convertibility in
the Northern China financial center of Tianjin. China has kept strict controls
in place in many regional centers despite announcing recent currency
liberalization measures. For USD/CNY, 7.9360 traded on Sept 7 remains the low
since revaluation in July 2005. Rhonda.Staskow@Thomson.com
BMW to roll out hydrogen-powered 7 Series Tue Sep 12, 6:33 AM ET
MUNICH (Reuters) - BMW will roll out the world's first hydrogen-burning car in serial production early next year, the German premium automaker said on Tuesday, eager to put its stamp on cars with green credentials.
The specially equipped 7-Series executive cars emit only water vapor when running on hydrogen.
The car hits the market next April and will be shown at the Los Angeles car show in November, the company said. It had said in March the hydrogen cars would arrive within two years.
A spokesman said the car would be leased to selected customers rather than sold because of its high price. Leasing rates would be similar to those for a top-end BMW 760LI with a full-service package.
The BMW 7 Series Hydrogen 7 Saloon is powered by a 260 hp twelve-cylinder engine and accelerates from 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 9.5 seconds. Top speed is limited electronically to 230 km/h.
BMW has said it intends to build a few hundred such cars at first. They will be able to switch between burning standard petrol and hydrogen so that drivers will not be left stranded while the infrastructure to deliver hydrogen is built up.
"The integration of hydrogen drive in an existing vehicle concept which has already proven its merits in the market paves the way for an alternative to conventional drive concepts fully accepted in the market and with all the assets the customer is looking for in practice," BMW said.
The space that two fuel tanks take up means only the 7-Series will offer the hydrogen package at first. BMW's long-term goal is to offer hydrogen motors in all its cars.
BMW unveiled the world's fastest hydrogen-powered car at the 2004 Paris auto show. Dubbed the H2R, it can exceed 300 kilometers (185 miles) per hour and reaches 100 km per hour from a standing start in around six seconds.
While BMW is developing fuel-cell driven cars as well, it says it is concentrating on the combustion engine because the sum total of its features and characteristics offers the largest number of advantages and benefits all in one.
Man may have sent 2 billion spam e-mails By MERAIAH FOLEY, Associated Press Writer
Wed Sep 13, 7:52 AM ET
SYDNEY, Australia - An Australian man under investigation for illegal spamming sent more than 2 billion e-mails promoting Viagra in a year, an official said Wednesday.
Experts say that's a drop in the ocean compared to the number of spam e-mails sent globally each year, and the system he used probably wasn't very sophisticated.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority began investigating the man, whose identity was not immediately released, after receiving a tip-off from authorities in the Netherlands in May last year.
Danyel Molenaar, a project manager for the Dutch Independent Regulator of Post and Telecommunications, said the man had rented 35 servers for around 14,000 Australian dollars (US$10,493; euro8,256) each per month from a small Internet service provider in the Netherlands to carry out the alleged spam campaign.
"These 35 servers were used just for sending spam day-in, day-out for at least a year, probably longer," Molenaar said Wednesday. "This operation probably sent out billions and billions of e-mails."
Australia has some of the toughest laws in the world against spamming, the notoriously hard-to-stop practice of flooding as many inboxes as possible with unwanted sales messages in the hope some of the receivers will reply.
Under Australia's Spam Act of 2003, it is illegal for Australian residents to be involved in the sending of unsolicited commercial e-mails, even if they are generated from outside the country.
The Australian authority's chairwoman, Lyn Maddock, said the man had allegedly sent more than 2 billion e-mails, mostly promoting the anti-impotence drug Viagra, to Internet users around the world.
Officials from the authority, which is responsible for enforcing the Spam Act, had searched the man's home and were examining the evidence, Maddock said in a statement. The authority declined to give further details while the investigation was under way.
Peter Coroneos, the chief executive for Australia's Internet Industry Association, said he didn't know the specifics about the man's case. But he added that high-volume spammers don't usually use servers owned by commercial Internet service providers to generate their e-mails, because they are generally too easy to trace.
Instead, sophisticated spammers use parasitic software programs known as Trojan horses to hijack individual computers and use them as remote servers for sending spam. The method is virtually impossible to prosecute because spammers can take over an unsuspecting user's computer, send millions of e-mails in a few hours, and leave without a trace.
"An unprotected server on a reasonable connection can send out about half a million spam e-mails an hour," or more than a billion e-mails a day, Coroneos said.
Nevertheless, he said 2 billion e-mails was still "a significant amount of spam."
"If the average spam e-mail takes five seconds to identify and delete, you multiply that by (two) billion and that's essentially the amount of time he's costing Internet users," he said.
Penalties for spamming in Australia range from 220,000 Australian dollars (US$164,765) per day for first-time corporate offenders to A$1.1 million (US$823,826) per day for repeat offenders.
Passenger Tries to Open Exit Door of Plane During Cross-Country Flight
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
CHANTILLY, Va. — A man wearing military fatigues and throwing punches into the air tried to open the exit door of a jet during a cross-country flight on Tuesday night, airline officials and passengers said.
United Airlines Flight 890 from Los Angeles landed as scheduled at Washington Dulles International Airport at 8:35 p.m., said Amy Kudwa, a Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman. No one was injured.
Ken Wolfenberger, of Whittier, Calif., who was on the flight, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that he helped subdue the unruly passenger. The man wore patches on his fatigues with special forces and jujitsu champion logos, Wolfenberger said.
The man had been acting strangely for about 20 minutes, then sat up, wrapped belts around his hands and threw punches into the air, Wolfenberger said.
Wolfenberger said he heard a flight attendant yell for help and tell the man, "Sir, get your hand off the handle."
"Any time you hear a flight attendant shout 'please help,' you worry that something pretty bad is going to happen," he said.
Wolfenberger said the man was held down and punched by other passengers as he grabbed the man's leg. Air marshals then came and took custody of the man.
The passenger became unruly about 3 1/2 hours into the flight, said United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy.
"After the passenger was restrained, the pilot decided to land at Dulles," McCarthy said. "It wasn't an emergency landing."
Airport police and FBI agents met the flight and were interviewing the passenger, said FBI spokeswoman Debbie Wierman.
There were 138 passengers and six crew members on board, McCarthy said.
week 2: Baltimore
Thanks
I will.
:)
America - A Horse With No Name
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