Saturday, July 7, 2007
NASA Pays $19 Million for Space-Station Toilet
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,288414,00.html
July 06, 2007
Here is a modern Zero-Gravity Toilet on board the International Space Station.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA has agreed to pay $19 million for a Russian-built toilet system for the international space station. The figure may sound astronomical for a toilet in space, but NASA officials said it was cheaper than building their own.
The astronauts are familiar with how it works since it's similar to one already in use at the space station. The new system will be able to transfer urine to a device that can produce drinking water.
The new system is scheduled to be delivered to the U.S. side of the space station in 2008. It will offer more privacy than the old toilet system, which will definitely be needed: The space station crew is expected to grow from three to six people by 2009.
The space station toilet physically resembles those used on Earth, except it has leg restraints and thigh bars to keep astronauts and cosmonauts in place. Fans suck waste into the commode.
Crew members also have individual urine funnels which are attached to hoses, and the urine is deposited into a wastewater tank.
The $19 million toilet system was part of a larger contract valued at $46 million that NASA signed this week with RSC Energia, a Russian aerospace company.
Residents of Oregon town say shape of traffic posts is offensive
The City of Keizer is taking heat for installing a group of cement posts designed to protect pedestrians from cars, but which some say is a phallic symbol. A total of 52 of the posts were installed at a busy intersection in Keizer and they are getting a lot of second glances. A number of residents have complained to the city that the posts resemble male genitalia."I can't disagree with that," said City Manager Chris Eppley. "They certainly did not turn out the way we anticipated." According to Eppley, the posts were ordered from a catalogue and looked much different on paper. The city is looking into retrofitting the posts with metal collars and chains that run between them, which they hope will change the look. If not, they said the posts will have to go.11-year-old girl in over a 100-mph chase charged with DUI.
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. An 11-year-old Perdido Key girl has been charged with driving under the influence after she led Orange Beach police on a high-speed chase.
Greg Duck, Orange Beach assistant police chief, said the Tuesday night chase which was caught on a dashboard camera in a police cruiser started about 10:30 p.m. in Orange Beach near the Florida line. It ended just inside the Gulf Shores city limits when the girl crashed and rolled the Chevy Monte Carlo she was driving.
Police said the car sideswiped another vehicle during the chase, which reached speeds of more than 100 miles per hour. Investigators said the girl was taken to South Baldwin Regional Medical Center. She was treated for minor injuries and released.
The girl's name was not released because of her age. Duck said the girl told police she was on her way to pick up her sister at a concert in Orange Beach.
The case has been handed over to the Baldwin County Juvenile Court for prosecution. Along with the DUI charge, the girl faces charges of speeding, leaving the scene of an accident and reckless endangerment, Duck said.
Criticism for Bush
George W. Bush the Betrayer, how I detest thee just let me count the ways:
1. The war against terror: You vowed after 9/11 to capture bin Laden "dead or alive." On March 13, 2002, you stated, "I don't know where he is. You know, I just don't spend much time on him." The murderer is running free while you and Cheney are eavesdropping on phone calls, e-mail and financial records.
2. The war you started in Iraq: What a great opportunity to occupy a country for oil, big profits for Bush and his white-collar criminal friends.
3. Using our soldiers so Cheney's Halliburton can make billions.
4. Democracy for Iraq you say, using brute force in dispersing a union protest at the oil refinery in Iraq. All these workers wanted were to band together to keep oil for their own country.
5. You are hell-bent on passing the "Amnesty Bill," which is a bonanza for big business, keeps Mexico corrupt and creates more debt for American taxpayers while borders are unsecured.
6. $70 billion tax cut for the rich and no intention to give anyone else one.
7. How about those gas prices going up and down, you manipulator.
8. Don't you dare blame the Democrats for this big deficit?
Any politician running for president who talks about continuing the war and/or any part of the legacy of George Bush will not earn my vote.
Small Bits & Pieces in the News
Florida Police Arrest Two Teens in Gang-Rape of Woman, Forcing Son to Participate
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,288512,00.html
July 06, 2007
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Two teenagers were accused of gang raping a woman and forcing her 12-year-old son to join in the attack, then beating him and pouring cleaning solution into his eyes.
Authorities allege Avion Lawson, 14, and Nathan Walker, 16, were among a group of about 10 masked suspects who forced their way into the woman's apartment in a crime-ridden housing project the night of June 18.
The two were being held without bail Friday on suspicion of armed sexual battery by multiple perpetrators, sexual performance by a child, armed home invasion and aggravated battery. Both were arrested this week, but formal charges had not been filed.
The victims told police they were beaten and sexually assaulted. According to authorities, the men raped, sodomized and beat the woman, then forced her son to participate in the assault at gunpoint, making him have sex with his mother in front of them.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,288512,00.html
July 06, 2007
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Two teenagers were accused of gang raping a woman and forcing her 12-year-old son to join in the attack, then beating him and pouring cleaning solution into his eyes.
Authorities allege Avion Lawson, 14, and Nathan Walker, 16, were among a group of about 10 masked suspects who forced their way into the woman's apartment in a crime-ridden housing project the night of June 18.
The two were being held without bail Friday on suspicion of armed sexual battery by multiple perpetrators, sexual performance by a child, armed home invasion and aggravated battery. Both were arrested this week, but formal charges had not been filed.
The victims told police they were beaten and sexually assaulted. According to authorities, the men raped, sodomized and beat the woman, then forced her son to participate in the assault at gunpoint, making him have sex with his mother in front of them.
Video of Prison Guards Responding to Inmate Killing Pedophile Priest Appears on Internet
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,288493,00.html
July 06, 2007
WORCESTER, Mass. — A prison security video showing guards struggling to enter a cell where a convicted killer was strangling a defrocked pedophile priest has turned up on the Internet.
State prison officials were investigating how the 10-minute video, shot from outside former Roman Catholic priest John Geoghan's cell during his slaying, made it onto YouTube.
The video was posted last month and may have been brought to the Boston Herald's attention by Joseph Druce, who was convicted in January of killing Geoghan at the Souza-Baranowski maximum security prison in August 2003.
Click here to see video on MyFoxBoston.com.
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