Society's Child
Fifty-five years ago today, five Army officers and a photographer stood directly under a 2-kiloton atomic blast at the Nevada Test Site, about 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, and survived.
The five officers, who volunteered for the duty, and the cameraman, who did not, designated the July 19, 1957, test site with a hand-lettered sign as "Ground Zero, Population 5," KPLU, a Seattle/Tacoma-based NPR station, said in a story marking the 55th anniversary of the blast.
The intent of the Cold War test was to film the officers surviving the blast and convince U.S. military leaders of the time that using low-grade nuclear missiles in the air would be relatively safe for people on the ground, KPLU reported.
A movie, obtained from government archives by AtomCentral.com, shows two F-89 jets zooming into view and one shooting off the missile carrying the atomic warhead. The officers are shown waiting during a countdown for the missile to detonate 18,500 feet above them. One officer, wearing sunglasses, looks up as the warhead explodes, at first in silence, followed by a roar, after which the sky goes black and the air turns to fire.
© CVG Australia
A man known only as Chuang has reportedly died after playing Diablo III for 40 hours without taking a single break. According to reports, he booked himself into a private room in an internet cafe at lunchtime on Friday and settled himself in for nearly two days of non-stop gaming with no food or sleep.
Chuang was left alone in that time, with an employee of the cafe only coming in on the Sunday morning to check on him, where she found him resting on the table. Chuang then woke up, took a few steps and collapsed. He was taken to hospital, but died shortly after his arrival.
Blizzard released a statement following Chuang's death:
"We're saddened to hear this news, and our thoughts are with his family and friends during this difficult time. We don't feel it would be appropriate for us to comment further without knowing all of the circumstances involved.
© AP Photo/Erik Schelzig, File
FILE - In a Thursday, June 21, 2012 file photo, a worker walks out of the construction site of a mosque being built in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro and its religious leader, Imam Ossama Bahloul, sued Rutherford County on Wednesday, July 18, 2012 and asked the federal court for an emergency order to let worshippers into the building before the holy month of Ramadan starts at sundown on Thursday. In May, a Rutherford County judge overturned the county's approval of the mosque construction and this month he ordered the county not to issue an occupancy permit for the 12,000-square-foot building.
FILE - In a Thursday, June 21, 2012 file photo, a worker walks out of the construction site of a mosque being built in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro and its religious leader, Imam Ossama Bahloul, sued Rutherford County on Wednesday, July 18, 2012 and asked the federal court for an emergency order to let worshippers into the building before the holy month of Ramadan starts at sundown on Thursday. In May, a Rutherford County judge overturned the county's approval of the mosque construction and this month he ordered the county not to issue an occupancy permit for the 12,000-square-foot building.
The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro sued Rutherford County on Wednesday and asked U.S. District Judge Todd Campbell for an emergency order to let worshippers into the building before the holy month of Ramadan starts at sundown Thursday.
Federal prosecutors also filed a similar lawsuit.
The future of the mosque had been in question since May, when a local judge overturned the county's approval of the mosque construction. This month, he ordered the county not to issue an occupancy permit for the 12,000-square-foot building.
© video still from youtube user sf99er
Police officers with the SFPD allegedly opened fire on a man armed with a knife at around 10:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday after responding to reports that someone had been stabbed near the city's Pier 17.
The Bay City News Service reported minutes later that there was an "officer-involved" shooting but did provide any other details. The San Francisco Chronicle reported at 11:30 a.m. local time that the man was shot by police after he refused to drop a knife that they believe was used in a stabbing earlier that morning. Fire Department Capt. Jeanne Seyler confirms to the paper that the victim was being transported for life threatening wounds, but did not provide any more details.
A video uploaded to YouTube less than 30 minutes after that report includes a testimony from an eyewitness who alleges that the police shot the suspect after placing him in handcuffs.
A Jacksonville, Florida party went a bit too wild this week after hundreds of teenagers relocated their shindig to a local Walmart store and went on a rampage, all the while videotaping their outrageous escapades.
Police investigating the Saturday night stampeding of the north Florida store say that around 300 youths were involved in the melee, which miraculously didn't directly spawn any serious injuries. Moments before storming the store, however, one 20-year-old party-goer reported being shot in the leg while leaving the original get-together.
The entire incident began at what a neighbor tells the Florida Times-Union was a "massive crowd party" in a subdivision in Jacksonville that attracted noise complaints from neighbors. When the police responded to the scene, attendees regrouped around two miles down the road to Walmart.
© Reuters/Tobias Schwarz
Music royalty collection agency Buma/Stemra now owes at least 164,974 euro to the Dutch musician Melchior Rietveldt, a sum calculated by the recording artist himself.
Back in 2006, Buma/Stemra approached Melchior Rietveldt with a request to create a composition that would be used in an anti-piracy advertisement. At that time the group claimed it would be shown exclusively at a local film festival.
But to the composer's amusement, one year later he purchased a Harry Potter DVD only to find that his piece was being used in the anti-piracy ad without his permission.
In fact, it had been used on dozens of DVDs both in the Netherlands and overseas.
© Agence France-Presse/Michael Bradley(R) Flickr/Andrew McMillan (L)
Kim Dotcom (L) and Judge David Harvey (R)
Kim Dotcom (L) and Judge David Harvey (R)
Last week, Judge Harvey, who is also an internet law expert, was a featured speaker at a conference discussing the TPP treaty - a multilateral treaty between the US and ten other countries, whose copyright provisions have been described as stricter than ACTA, the copyright law recently rejected by Europe.
Harvey noted that under the terms of the treaty, those who change regions on region-restricted DVDs would be classed as criminals.
"We have met the enemy, and he is US," summed up Harvey.
The expression is a pun on the earlier phrase "We have met the enemy, and he is us" adopted by environmentalists from a 1970 cartoon.
But few were in the mood for wordplay.
Authorities in central Florida say two men were trying to rob an Internet cafe when a 71-year-old patron began shooting his own gun, wounding the suspects.
Surveillance video shows two masked men entering the Palms Internet Cafe around 10 p.m. Friday. The Ocala Star-Banner reports one pointed a gun at customers while the other swung a baseball bat.
The video shows patron Samuel Williams pulling a handgun and shooting. He continues firing while the suspects fall over each other as they run out the door.
© Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times
Roxanne Williams asks the San Bernardino City Council, which on Wednesday declared a fiscal emergency and voted to file for bankruptcy, to do what it can to save the city. The Inland Empire city faces a $45.8-million budget shortfall.
Roxanne Williams asks the San Bernardino City Council, which on Wednesday declared a fiscal emergency and voted to file for bankruptcy, to do what it can to save the city. The Inland Empire city faces a $45.8-million budget shortfall.
US, California - The San Bernardino City Council on Wednesday declared a fiscal emergency, an acknowledgment that the city is nearly broke and a legal maneuver that will allow leaders to file for bankruptcy protection without going through months of state-mandated mediation.
The action comes a week after the council voted 4 to 2 to seek Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, prompted by warnings from interim City Manager Andrea Travis-Miller that the city faced a $45.8-million budget shortfall and might not have enough money to make the August payroll.
San Bernardino becomes the third California city to declare insolvency in the past month, joining the Central Valley city of Stockton and Mammoth Lakes, in the eastern Sierra Nevada. Compton in L.A. County also appears to be on the brink of financial collapse, according to city officials.
"The proposed action has torn the city apart, turned friends into enemies,'' said San Bernardino Councilwoman Wendy J. McCammack. "The action that's taken tonight will affect everyone ... but the city will survive.''
Along with declaring a fiscal emergency, the council voted to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, both approved by a 5-2 margin. The council next week will begin the difficult process of crafting a survival budget, until its attorneys can file with the federal Bankruptcy Court.
© unknown
Capital One — which is known for its catchy television ads with Alec Baldwin — received a regulatory rebuke for misleading customers.
Capital One — which is known for its catchy television ads with Alec Baldwin — received a regulatory rebuke for misleading customers.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday hit Capital One with findings that a vendor working for the bank had pressured and deceived card holders into buying products presented as a way to protect them from identity theft and hardships like unemployment or disability.
The regulatory actions, totaling $210 million including fines to authorities, take aim at one of the financial industry's growing profit centers and increasingly controversial practices. Several other banks, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and HSBC, were sued in June by the Hawaii attorney general, accused of improperly selling similar so-called add-on products, which consumer advocates typically regard as costly and ineffective.
