Saturday, February 18, 2006

Space Tourism from UAE. RAK writes "The only company to have sent tourists into space, Space Adventures, has announced plans to develop a commercial spaceport in the UAE, from where it will operate suborbital flights. The project will cost $265 million. The Russian-built suborbital vehicle called Explorer will have the capacity to transport up to five people to an altitude of nearly 100km in space, but the project's schedule is yet to be announced." [Slashdot] It's good to hear news from a country which actually values high-technology and capitalism. 10:45:46 PM    comment () trackback () Offshoring?. Seems like the simple answer to companies that use the DMCA to shut down discussions they find offensive is to set up the discussion board offshore...... [John Robb's Weblog] It's not that simple. The Evil Empire has a history of imposing its own laws on foreign citizens who have never even set foot inside the borders of the US, either with the cooperation of a foreign government which is a part of the Empire or through outright kidnapping. That offshore discussion board would need to be set up someplace that is relatively free of Imperial influence, and those involved would need to be sure they never ventured within the grasp of any Gestapo agencies. 4:38:51 PM    comment () trackback () Flexible Body Armor. dotmax writes "One item to pop out of the Turin Winter Olympics is the use of flexible body armor. Similar to silly putty, this shear rate material is flexible under normal load and hardens under impact. Sounds expensive, but could offer some great alternatives for traditional hard shelled impact gear in active sports and military applications." [Slashdot] The idea of flexible armor that hardens on impact has been around for ages in science fiction, but this is the first I've heard of it in real life. 2:28:43 PM    comment () trackback () Criminal negligence. The latest copy of Perspective from the UK polling agency Populus says that more British households have been a victim of some sort of crime than American or Canadian households. You would not know if from the official crime figures, but according to a new Gallup survey, 36% of British respondents reported experiencing at least one of eight different types of crime, compared with 33% of Canadians and 32% of Americans. 8% of Britons surveyed had been a victim of some type of violent crime, compared with 5% in Canada and the US. In the UK, there has been argument about crime statistics for many years. Governments like to talk about reported crime statistics. But then a lot of crime goes unreported. Crime surveys, like these, reveal that the true level of crime is higher. Why does so much crime go unreported in Britain? Some, of course, is minor and people think it is not worth bothering. In other cases, victims are too embarrassed (eg in rape) or scared (eg in domestic or gang violence) to come forward. Much else, I suspect, goes unreported because even though the offence is serious, people think that the police will not do anything anyway. When the paperwork on making an arrest can land officers with five or six hours' paperwork, they may be right: frontline resources are stretched too thin, back-office bureaucracy is too fat. Perhaps that is why North Americans have much more confidence that the police can protect them from violent crime: two thirds of Canadians (67%) and just over half of Americans (53%) think this, but only 42% of Britons. [Adam Smith Institute Blog] Or perhaps Britons just have a better grasp on reality. Unless you are an important member of the nobility, such as a Mayor or Congressman, there is no chance of the police protecting you from violent crime, because they won't be around when it happens. The best you can hope for (if you live) is that the police will find whoever attacked you and arrest him. 2:12:34 PM    comment () trackback () School Bus Drivers Being Trained to Spot Terrorists. School bus drivers are the latest recruits in the "War on Terror." About 200 Connecticut safety instructors will be trained so they can teach school bus drivers at the regional and local level. Training will include how to conduct bus inspections and how to spot potential threats. "We will train bus drivers to watch for all types of things that might cause trouble along a bus route," said Connecticut School Transportation Association executive director Bill Moore. "They will coordinate with other safety and security agencies when they see anything out of the normal. If a stranger who has no children is hanging out at a school bus stop where children get on and off the bus, it should be noticed." Drivers who see anything suspicious while running their routes would call a special hotline staffed by operators trained to address school bus issues. The program is based on a national effort by the American Trucking Association in response to potential terrorist threats. Police State USA is pressing on in its efforts to keep the American sheeple fearful and create more snoops and snitches. Of course, it's "for the children." How long will it be before a "terrorist response team" surrounds an innocent person based on a tip by a jittery or publicity-seeking school bus driver? We can only hope that their drawn guns aren't "accidentally" discharged as the person tries to surrender."--Boston.com News [Police State USA] More on the entry of the Stasi into what used to be America. 2:10:42 PM    comment () trackback ()

© Copyright 2006 Ken Hagler. Last update: 3/1/2006; 10:35:29 AM.