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Shuttle Politics
TheLoneCabbage writes "Texas Rep. Joe Barton has been quoted today in an AP article saying that he is in favor of grounding the remaining fleet of shuttles. 'If we have to stop manned spaceflight for five or 10 years, then so be it.' The fine gentleman from Texas displays his outstanding grasp of statistics and engineering stating that 1 failure in every 62.5 flights is NOT acceptable. According to OpenSecrets.org this may have more to do with Joe's friends than how much attention he paid to his math teachers." There's also an interesting piece on testimony given by the first Shuttle program manager.
In this day and age, whoring Karma on Slashdot is easier than ever. With more moderators and a lower signal to noise ratio (If you don't know what that means, don't worry!) means that Karma can easily be gained by following a few simple rules when you are carefully crafting your Slashdot post.
- Vaguely mention the DMCA. It doesn't matter what the topic of discussion is, those four magic letters glow like a beacon to any moderator with points.
- You can get double points if you spell the acronym as DCMA throughout your post. This is especially effective if you're replying to someone who has just used the correct acronym in their post.
- MPAA and RIAA are another pair of gems. Use the phrase "RIAA/MPAA" in every post you make, and that Karma will flow!
- Always confuse the two. Complain loudly about the MPAA suing over MP3 downloads, or the RIAA trying to stop you from downloading DeCSS.
- Don't bother to understand the difference between Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks. If the topic of discussion is about patents, claim that "this wouldn't have happened before the DCMA" (See above)
- Always remember, It's Microsofts Fault! Try to craft vague conspiracy theories that include Microsoft.
- Spell it "Micro$oft" or "M$". Moderators will lap it up.
- If all else fails, blame the Government. Do not at any cost attempt to understand basic politics, as that will make you look opinionated. Just blame the current political leaders.
- Likewise, blame the French. Double points if you use the phrase "Cheese eating surrender monkeys".
- If you're losing the argument, start a flamewar about the war with Iraq. Accuse the other party of being French, or "a pinko commie"(See above).
- Claim that you only download stuff using P2P to "try before you buy".
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Good luck! Within no time at all, your Karma will be Excellent!the best way to kill a bug on your nose is with a sledgehammer....
ROME, May 8 -- Investigators analyzing computers seized from an Italian mosque say they have uncovered images of the twin towers that were downloaded just days before the 9/11 attacks, as well as a trove of pornographic photos they believe were used to conceal coded messages.
On Sept. 4, 2001, according to investigators, pictures of the World Trade Center were saved as temporary files on one of the computers at the Via Quaranta mosque in Milan -- the mosque frequented by Abdelkader Mahmoud Es Sayed, also known as Abu Saleh, an Egyptian currently on trial in absentia in Milan on charges of international terrorism.
Court documents from the ongoing Milan trial, cited by the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, say that police discovered images of the World Trade Center along with numerous files that contained images downloaded from the Internet of political leaders such as President Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, as well as large quantities of pornographic material, also taken from the Internet.
The images, investigators said, had been manipulated -- their colors modified -- before being sent back onto the Web. Police believe this was one of the ways that al Qaeda cell members communicated, encoding, in many instances, pornographic images that were were traded back and forth, an investigative source confirmed.
The practice is known as steganography. Read a Brian Ross report to find out more.
Police confiscated 11 computers from the Via Quaranta mosque in November 2001, according to court documents, after issuing an arrest warrant for its founder, Es Sayed, during an investigation into an Islamic terrorist cell headquartered in Milan that provided logistical support to the al Qaeda network.
Several key members of the cell have been convicted in the Italian courts, and five others are on trial in Milan, charged with association to international terrorist groups, falsification of documents and aiding illegal immigration.
Milan prosecutors believe that Es Sayed was an al Qaeda lieutenant sent to Italy to recruit new members to send to the terrorist network.
During an investigation that lasted more than two years, police recorded conversations between Es Sayed and a Yemeni man who referred to "studying airplanes."
During one wiretapped conversation in August of 2000, the Yemeni tells Es Sayed that "God willing, I hope that I can bring you a window or piece of airplane the next time we meet."
Italian investigators have never determined a direct link between the Milan cell and the Sept. 11 attacks, but the images of the twin towers that investigators say the discovered on the computer hard drive suggest that perhaps at least one of the Milan cell members had knowledge of the attacks before they occurred.
The digital evidence is still being analyzed.
Police say they found material that they describe as "interesting" on several of the confiscated computers. The hard drives of all the computers had all been erased but were reconstructed in part by computer experts collaborating with the Milan courts, the investigative source said.
In conversations recorded during more than two years of investigation, cell members often referred to computers and Web sites, and made frequent use of Internet cafes to exchange information, the source confirmed.
Although the investigators were able to determine how the images were manipulated, they have not yet been able to decode the messages that might have been conveyed by those manipulations.
According to a report in the Corriere della Sera, the Italian investigators have asked for help from experts in the United States.
Saudi Arabia Intercepts Al Qaeda Plot on Public Water Supply
May 8 -- The Saudi government has arrested 149 Saudis believed to be part of an al Qaeda network plotting poison attacks in the ki
by I'm a racist. (631537)
... Sure, the people on board the shuttle are worth more than those aboard commercial flights ...
... Down with Saudi Arabia ...
I'm beginning to see how americans reason about going to war with other countries now..
Hello out there!
I don't know how many of you already have read it, but I think that "Stupid White Men" by Michael Moore is quite worth reading, if you want to know more about Republicans and their interests...
(If I'm not telling you news anyway, forget about this post!)
I read it and - as a German - really started thinking.
Oh and by the way, can anyone tell me if all in it is right? Because if it is, well... did you think about attacking yourself do bring democracy in that country? But anyway, go and read it for yourself and tell me what's wrong and right - you're quite more "int it" than I am.
Martin
Tend to post comments only when drunk
don't try THAT one on!
your stupid country just spent 300Bn destroying Iraq!
That was classic intercourse!
I don't want to talk to you, no more, you empty-headed animal,food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction. You mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.
> As a comparison approximately 129 soldiers have
> died in Iraq out of approximately 150,000.
Surely you mean 129 soldiers of the USA and UK have
died?
I've never seen any reliable estimates, but housands
of Iraqi soldiers have also died. (And unlike US and
UK troops, most of them were pressed into service.)