Monthly Archives: January 2014

India disappointed with new Russian stealth fighter

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Sukhoy1
India is reportedly disappointed with the result of a fighter program between the Indian Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Russian Rosoboronexport and Sukhoi announced in December of 2010.

The initial press release indicated that the proposed Fifth Generation Fighter:

…will have advanced features such as stealth, supercruise, ultra-maneuvrability, highly integrated avionics suite, enhanced situational awareness, internal carriage of weapons and Network Centric Warfare capabilities.

After delivery of the prototype, however, FOX News reports:

The Russian prototype is “unreliable, its radar inadequate, its stealth features badly engineered,” said Indian Air Force Deputy Air Marshall S Sukumar at a Jan. 15 meeting, according to minutes obtained by the Business Standard.

The Indian government, the largest importer of arms according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, routinely buys from Russia and the west. The U.S., however, has so far refused to provide the advanced Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter. Some defense experts indicate that the Indian Air Force may not be currently ready for the F-35 according to the FOX article.

Defense consultant Robbin Blair indicated that the Air Force of India may be leaning toward the French-designed Dassault Rafale fighter jets depending on what the French add to the aircraft.

This plane is quickly built and apparently tests better than the Russian prototype.

Daniel Boone: Trailblazer. Full movie.

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YouTube: Set in 1775, Daniel Boone takes his family far West to build Fort Boone despite the extreme dangers of Indian attacks. Boone explained his courage: “It isn’t how you die, it’s what you live for.”

This old movie probably led a series of television programs hosted by Uncle Walt.

Eventually a six-year television series staring Fess Paker, Patricia Blair and Ed Ames ran from 1964. This show launched the career of many an actor. The show is currently being run on the Memorable Entertainment (ME) television network.

More movies at OldiesGoodiesCinema

Michaels Warns of Possible Data Breach

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Crafts-Store Chain Says It May Have Been Victim of Attack

By Andrew Dowell, Wall Street Journal

MK-CJ597_MICHAE_D_20140126182729Michaels Stores Inc. said it may have been the victim of an attack on its data security, making it the third major chain in a rash of assaults aimed at U.S. retailers.

In a statement on its website, the arts-and-crafts retailer said it had recently learned of possible fraudulent activity involving credit or debit cards that had been used at Michaels. The company said it hasn’t determined that a breach occurred, but said it is working with federal law-enforcement authorities and computer-security experts to determine what happened.

The disclosure echoed recent acknowledgments by Target Corp. and Neiman Marcus Group that they had suffered data breaches that compromised customers’ card information. Target said 40 million debit and credit card accounts had been affected, and Neiman said last week that 1.1 million accounts had potentially been exposed. In those cases, software was slipped into the retailers’ systems to quietly scrape card data.

Michaels, like those two retailers, made its comments following inquiries from security researcher and blogger Brian Krebs. In the statement, Michaels Chief Executive Chuck Rubin said the retailer was disclosing the issue to alert customers so they could take steps to protect themselves.

Read more at the Wall Street Journal

Somali militant killed in missile attack

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us-forces-launch-missile-strike MOGADISHU, Somalia — A member of Somali rebel group al-Shabab was killed Sunday by a missile fired by a suspected drone, a rebel commander said, blaming the U.S. for the strike.

Abu Mohamed told The Associated Press that Sahal Iskudhuq, a militant commander who was believed to be close to al-Shabab’s top leader, was killed when his car was hit by a missile in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region. The attack took place in a village called Hawai, he said.

A Somali intelligence official confirmed the attack, describing the victim as a “dangerous” militant. His driver was also killed in the attack, the official said on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to reveal the information.

Mohamed blamed the attack on the U.S., which flies drones over Somalia that occasionally fire at one of al-Shabab’s top leaders.

Read more here at Miami Herald

Donor beware. You are in Kansas.

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william-marottaAnswering a Craigs List ad, William Marotta donated a few cup fulls of sperm to a lesbian couple who performed an artificial insemination procedure in their home. He even signed a contract waiving his parental rights and responsibilities and even made the donation for free waiving the $50. The child was born in December of 2009. Recently, however, the lesbian couple separated and now he has to pay the $50 with interest.

Upon separating, one of the woman became ill and could not work. She applied for assistance which prompted the Kansas Department for Children and Families to file a case against Marotta.

Shawnee County District Court Judge Mary Mattivi has ruled that Marotta owes $6000 for back child support, and must continue to pay child support, for the four-year old child he and his wife only met once by chance.

The reason for the decision is that the artificial insemination was performed at home without the assistance of a doctor.

According to the Kansas City Star:

The judge’s ruling against Marotta seems to be consistent with a ruling in a polar-opposite Kansas case of several years ago, in which a sperm donor who had wanted parental privileges was denied because the baby makers also did not follow the law.

SEE ALSO: CNN

Washington blow dart suspect: ‘I’m a moron’

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blowdartCOLFAX, Washington––A man accused of shooting a woman and man with a blow dart in two separate attacks in Washington state has made his first court appearance on assault charges.

KREM-TV reports 18-year-old Joseph Gillies of Tacoma appeared in court Thursday in Whitman County. He was released from jail until his next court appearance at the end of the month.

Gillies is accused of shooting a woman with a blow dart Jan. 12 on the Washington State University campus. He’s also accused of hitting a man with a dart two days later while walking in Pullman.

Read more at FOX News

VA Health care roll out problem: The ID.

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ABC Action News in Florida reported November 6th that the new Veteran identification cards have a bar code that can be read by bar code scanner aps on “smart phones” revealing social security numbers. Use of these aps can lead to identity theft of veterans.

Although the the web site for the Department of Veteran’s Affairs has a warning about the problem, veterans were not told when receiving their card about the anomaly.

VA says that the problem will be fixed in the next generation of cards expected to be issued this year.

2-1-1 Arizona gets you connected with vital information

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211arizonaArizona residents can get vital resource information at the web site 2-1-1 Arizona. The web site is part of a nation-wide effort to provide information for community referral services.

The web site even breaks down the resources to specific counties such as the one for Coconino County.

If you plan to move out of state, you can always reference the national web site before you even pack.

If you need to reach out for help, this site should give you the leads you need.

Facebook Is About to Lose 80% of Its Users, Study Says

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Mark Zuckerberg during a Facebook press event to introduce 'Home' a Facebook app suite that integrates with Android in Menlo ParkFacebook’s growth will eventually come to a quick end, much like an infectious disease that spreads rapidly and suddenly dies, say Princeton researchers who are using diseases to model the life cycles of social media.

Disease models can be used to understand the mass adoption and subsequent flight from online social networks, researchers at Princeton’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering say in a study released Jan. 17. The study has not been peer-reviewed.

See more at Time

The President Inhales

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He ought to change federal drug law rather than refuse to enforce it.

300px-Obama_Portrait_2006To the delight of dorm rooms everywhere, President Obama has all but endorsed marijuana legalization. “We should not be locking up kids or individual users for long stretches of jail time when some of the folks who are writing those laws have probably done the same thing,” he told the New Yorker magazine. Let’s try to see through this political haze.

Mr. Obama also muses to an admiring David Remnick that while pot is “a bad habit and a vice” and not something he would encourage his daughters to try, “I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol.” He called the Colorado and Washington legalization experiments “important for society,” while offering no comment on the federal Controlled Substances Act that he has an obligation to enforce equally across the country.

Marijuana remains a Schedule I substance under that 1970 law, meaning that it has a high risk of abuse. “No more dangerous than alcohol” is still dangerous, given the destructiveness of alcohol-related disease and social ills like drunk driving. There’s an industry related to mitigating alcohol problems, after all.

We tolerate drinking because most adults use alcohol responsibly, and by all means let’s have a debate about cannabis given how much of the country has already legalized it under the false flag of “medical” marijuana. But an honest debate would not whitewash pot’s risks.

Read more at The Wall Street Journal