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Shock 'n' roll... radio DJs Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity dropped after ad boycott

Tim Walker
The Independent
Mon, 29 Jul 2013 00:00 UTC
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America's two biggest shock jocks just got a shock of their own. In a major blow to their broadcasting dominance, the second-largest radio station owner in the US is said to be dropping both Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity from its airwaves.

According to a report by Politico, Cumulus Media has decided not to renew contracts with the two talk radio titans at the end of 2013, meaning their radio shows will vanish from more than 40 of its stations across the US.

Limbaugh and Hannity remain the highest-rated talk radio hosts in the US, with Limbaugh regularly claiming a listenership of 15 million. In 2012 he suffered a significant blow to his reputation, after describing 30-year-old graduate law student Sandra Fluke as a "slut" and a "prostitute" on his show.
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Birthday Cake

'UFO' in Shanghai found to be cake deliverer


China Daily/ANN
Tue, 30 Jul 2013 15:10 UTC
UFO Cake Deliverer
© Stomp
A small "unidentified flying object" that has been seen over Shanghai's Huangpu River in recent days has been revealed to be a remote controlled plane being used to deliver cakes, reported Shanghai-based news website eastday.com.

The "UFO", which is 1.1 meters long and weighs 10 kg, crossed the Huangpu River in a 45-minute flight to deliver a cake to a customer, according to the bakery that was testing the device, which flies at a maximum height of 100 meters.

While some residents applauded the novel delivery service, others worried about its safety as people could be hurt if it falls from the air.

Currently there are no regulations on commercial use of remote controlled planes being used for deliveries.

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Phoenix

Explosion hits chemical plant in East China


Xinhua
Tue, 30 Jul 2013 14:13 UTC
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A flash fire followed by an explosion erupted at a paraxylene (PX) plant in east China's Fujian Province early Tuesday morning, according to authorities in Zhangpu County.

The fire that erupted at 4:35 a.m. has been brought under control. No casualties have been reported, according to the county government.

The controversial chemical plant was built in 2009 on Gulei Peninsula after the project was called off in the coastal city of Xiamen amid protests over potential pollution and health problems.

A Zhangpu county government spokesman said an initial investigation found that a cracked hydrogen pipeline triggered the fire during a pressure test.

He said the blast did not heavily damage the plant, nor has it resulted in any chemical leaks.

However, windows on a number of residences near the plant were shattered in the explosion.

Comment: A 'flash fire'? Something may have been lost in translation, but that sounds like a made-up cause for this explosion... maybe something similar to what happened in Florida on the same day happened here also?

Explosions rock Florida gas plant, force evacuations

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Post-It Note

Confirmed: Spanish train driver called railway operator BEFORE crash


krcrtv.com
Tue, 30 Jul 2013 12:27 UTC
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© Chelsea Cabrera/iReport
The driver of a train that derailed in northwestern Spain last week, killing 79 people, was on a phone call with railway staff when the train crashed, the superior tribunal of Galicia announced Tuesday, citing information from data recorders.

The train was going 153 kph (95 mph) when it derailed, the tribunal said.

The express train derailed as it hurtled around a curve in northwestern Spain on Wednesday.

The state railway, Renfe, said the train crashed on a curve several kilometers from the train station in the city of Santiago de Compostela, a popular tourist destination.

The train was nearing the end of a six-hour trip from Madrid to the town of Ferrol in northwest Spain when it derailed at 8:41 p.m. Wednesday, the railway said.

Comment: The part they left out is that he specifically called the operator to report that he had LOST CONTROL OF THE TRAIN, i.e. what was about to happen was not his fault:

Spanish train crash driver called operator BEFORE crash to say: "I'm at 190kmph and we're going to derail"

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Pistol

Seven unanswered questions about the Toronto streetcar shooting


CBC News
Tue, 30 Jul 2013 11:40 UTC
Sammy Yatim
© CBCMany questions remain surrounding the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Sammy Yatim on a Toronto streetcar.
While demonstrators protest the weekend shooting of Sammy Yatim on a Toronto streetcar, questions remain about the sequence of events that led police to use deadly force to neutralize a suspect armed only with a knife.

Yatim was killed on a streetcar in Toronto's west end just after midnight ET Saturday. Much of the incident was captured on amateur video.

What we do know is that the entire incident transpired in about 10 minutes. Just after midnight, Yatim reportedly stood up and brandished a knife on the 505 streetcar on Dundas Street West near Trinity Bellwoods Park.

A few minutes later, police arrived at the scene. At that point, Yatim was alone on the stationary streetcar. A standoff quickly ensued, and within the space of 13 seconds one officer had fired nine shots.

Yatim was given CPR at the scene and then taken to hospital, where he was declared dead.

Here's a look at some of the unanswered questions...
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Airplane

Stowaway found dead in landing gear of plane at Heathrow

Margaret Davis
The Independent
Fri, 19 Jul 2013 00:00 UTC
Stowaway found dead in landing gear of plane at Heathrow
© Unknown
The body of a stowaway has been found in the landing gear of a plane at Heathrow Airport.

A man believed to be Turkish and in his 30s was discovered in the British Airways Airbus A320 that flew from Istanbul to Terminal 5 yesterday.

Police were called by airport staff shortly after 11am and are trying to confirm his identity and trace relatives.

The airline said it will hold talks with authorities in Istanbul and officers from Scotland Yard as they investigate how the man managed to access the plane.
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Pistol

Police fired 9 shots in 11 seconds: The killing of Sammy Yatim


CBC News
Tue, 30 Jul 2013 08:22 UTC
Sammy Yatim
© cbc.caSammy Yatim, 18, was shot at nine times and hit with a stun gun while alone on a streetcar in Toronto early Saturday. He was armed with a knife.
An amateur video that shows Toronto police shooting repeatedly at a teenager armed with a knife is "just one segment" of a broader picture that could look different once Ontario's police watchdog completes its investigation, the head of Toronto's police union says.

"I can see why people would have questions, and that's a natural thing, and we're going to get the answers" from the investigation of the province's Special Investigations Unit, said Mike McCormack, president of the Toronto Police Association.


Comment: Further:

Streetcar shooting protest march draws hundreds

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USA

'One third of US military women raped'


Press TV
Mon, 31 Jan 2011 06:20 UTC
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Reports indicate that nearly one third of women serving in the US military have been raped, with over two thirds having been otherwise sexually assaulted.

In 2008, 62 percent of those convicted of sexual assault or rape received punishments such as demotion, suspension, or a written reprimand.

"Almost a third of all women serving are raped, and over two thirds sexually assaulted, this problem is rampant and systemic," National Public Radio has reported.
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USA

Flashback America eats its own: Haliburton employee drugged, gang-raped by multiple mercenaries, locked in container without food or water for 24 hours, told to 'shut up or else'

Brian Ross, Maddy Sauer, & Justin Rood
ABC News
Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:48 UTC
KBR Told Victim She Could Lose Her Job If She Sought Help After Being Raped, She Says

A Houston, Texas woman says she was gang-raped by Halliburton/KBR coworkers in Baghdad, and the company and the U.S. government are covering up the incident.



©ABC News
Since the attack, Jones has started a nonprofit foundation called the Jamie Leigh Foundation, which is dedicated to helping victims who have been raped or sexually assaulted overseas while working for government contractors or other corporations. "There needs to be a voice out there that really pushed for change," she said. "I'd like to be that voice."

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Info

Update! Explosions rock Florida gas plant, force evacuations - Fragmenting comet over Gulf of Mexico responsible?

Susan Jacobson, Lauren Ritchie & Jerry Fallstrom
Orlando Sentinel
Mon, 29 Jul 2013 23:08 UTC
Explosion
© Tom Benitez, Orlando SentinelFire and explosions in a propane plant in Tavares, Fla. on July 29, 2013.
A large series of explosions has rocked a gas plant in Lake County, causing multiple deaths and injuries and forcing the evacuations of residents at least a mile away, authorities said.

A night shift crew was working, and many people are thought to have been killed, said Lt. John Herrell, a Lake County Sheriff's Office spokesman.

"There's going to be a lot," Herrell said.

The explosions began a little before 11 p.m. at Blue Rhino, a propane-tank business at 300 C.R. Road 448, and lasted for more than half an hour. All the explosions happened inside the plant, blowing the roof off, Lake County Sheriff Gary Borders said.


Comment: From The Latest Worldwide Meteor / Fireball Reports
Date: 29 JUL 2013

Observer name: B. Thomas

Location: Fort Lauderdale FL USA

Time: 2300

Duration: 45 seconds

Start/Stop Location in sky: Estimate 45 seconds Southwest of Miami moving to North-North East

Any colors/sound: yellow

Brightness similar to: Moon

Fragment? Where there parts falling off?: multiple fragments and trailing pieces long tail, very brilliant appeared to move parallel to the horizon

Comments other observations: long tail, very brilliant appeared to move parallel to the horizon
And:
Date: 29 JUL 2013

Observer name: Roland

Location: Guanaja, Bay Islands, Honduras

Time: 20:30 CST ???

Duration: 20 seconds

Start/Stop Location in sky: South to North

Any colors/sound: blue

Brightness similar to: Moon

Fragment? Where there parts falling off?: Yes

Comments other observations: Longest meteor I've ever seen. Must be the same one observed in Cayman, Jamaica and Ft. Lauderdale. It could have exceeded 20 seconds. It was long enough for a whole group of people to turn around and point it out to everyone one by one!!! It traveled parallel to the horizon at what seemed to be very low speed.
At least 10 people from Central America north east to Florida reported a dazzling meteorite/comet fragment on Monday night around the time of the explosion at the gas plant in Tavares, north west of Orlando. Considering the likely electrical effects generated between meteorites and the surface of the planet, it is possible that the gas plant explosion was caused by this meteorite.

Update 31 July 2013

Comet seen from Honduras to Cayman Islands and Jamaica, 29 July 2013: Fragments into stream of 'intense' exploding fireballs

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