Category: News

Europe’s Summer of Wild, Wild Weather

Europe’s Summer of Wild, Wild Weather – washingtonpost.com
Thousands of tourists and residents were forced to flee ahead of raging wildfires that have engulfed parts of the Canary Islands since the weekend, the latest in a string of bizarre, weather-related calamities to hit Europe this summer.

The Canary fires are the latest offspring of strange weather patterns that have buffeted Europe this summer, from unusually severe floods in England to chilly, fall-like weather in Paris, to searing heat waves, drought and wildfires in Southern and Eastern Europe.

Cement Truck Pancakes Car, Driver Walks Away

Cement Truck Tips Over Onto Car, Trapping Man Inside – News Story – WESH Orlando
According to police, the driver of the cement truck tried to avoid crashing into stopped traffic and swerved into the median. At the same time, Kim Strandberg, the driver of the car, was making a U-Turn when he collided with the truck and the truck tipped over on top of the small car.

Both drivers, however, walked away from the collision with just minor injuries. Click on the link to see the video, You won’t believe this guy walked away, while his car was pancaked.

Stuck Mega-Yacht Running Out Of Time

California boating guide-news & classifieds
What happens if rescue efforts fail again? After all, Halmos has spent about $1 million trying to free the boat, most notably with a 50-by-1,000-ft. flat-bottom canvas structure that would have eased the vessel into deeper waters. But the yacht didn’t budge. Neither have other efforts worked.

Siegfried concedes Legacy may eventually have to be carefully dismantled, piece by piece, to prevent environmental damage to the marine reserve. A final decision about when to end the 2-year marooning could be reached in a month or so.

“Nothing on the market has proved to be viable,” Siegfried said. “We’re down to the final course of action to make this work. Hopefully, Halmos will be successful.”

Powerball wife back in custody

Daily Independent (Ashland, KY) – Powerball wife back in custody
The wife of a Boyd County Powerball winner is back in jail less than a week after being released.

Shawna Edwards, 32, of the 3400 block of Elton Avenue in Ashland, failed a drug test, then failed to show up for a follow-up test at the courthouse, according to a motion filed by the county attorney’s office.

A warrant was issued for her arrest Monday, and Edwards was picked up by Boyd County sheriff’s deputies at her husband’s hospital room in Ashland, sources said. Thanks to Julie for bringing this to our attention. Continue reading “Powerball wife back in custody”

The Spy Who Won The Vietnam War

PERFECT SPY BY LARRY BERMAN
During the Vietnam War, Time reporter Pham Xuan An befriended everyone who was anyone in Saigon, including American journalists such as David Halberstam and Neil Sheehan, the CIA’s William Colby, and the legendary Colonel Edward Lansdale not to mention the most influential members of the South Vietnamese government and army. None of them ever guessed that he was also providing strategic intelligence to Hanoi, smuggling invisible ink messages to the jungle inside egg rolls. His early reports were so accurate that General Giap joked, “We are now in the U.S. war room.” For more than twenty years, An lived a dangerous lie and no one knew it because he was a master of both his jobs. After the war, An was named a “Hero of the People’s Army” and promoted to general – one of only two intelligence officers to ever achieve that rank.

Powerball wife out of jail

Daily Independent (Ashland, KY) – Powerball wife out of jail
The wife of Powerball winner David Edwards was released from the Boyd County Detention Center on Wednesday, under the condition that she pay the $17,000 she owes in child support.

Shawna Edwards, 32, has been in the county jail for nearly a month after she was arrested on a warrant charging her with failing to make child support payments on two children she had previous to her marriage to David Edwards. She also served 10 days in jail for giving police officers a false name when she was arrested. Thanks to Melinda for sending us this one. Continue reading “Powerball wife out of jail”

Powerball Winner’s Belongings To Be Auctioned

Spoils for sale: Lottery winner’s belongings go on the block
Can you believe this story appears on Friday the 13th? In November 2005, he was charged with possession of cocaine and heroin. Edwards pleaded guilty to possession of narcotics paraphernalia, a first-degree misdemeanor, and the cocaine charge was dropped.

A court hearing is scheduled July 24 to determine the status of the heroin charge, according to the state attorney’s office.

Last July, Edwards’ $1.2 million home was auctioned for $400,000.

And Saturday, much of the home’s contents will go on the auction block at a Riviera Beach warehouse where Edwards spent his final days in Palm Beach County. Continue reading “Powerball Winner’s Belongings To Be Auctioned”

scientifically based animation of 9/11

Purdue creates scientifically based animation of 9/11 attack
The animation is the latest in a series of projects by the Purdue team that arose after 9/11 to determine the structural damage that occurs when an airplane collides with a building.

“The aircraft moved through the building as if it were a hot and fast lava flow,” Sozen says. “Consequently, much of the fireproofing insulation was ripped off the structure. Even if all of the columns and girders had survived the impact – an unlikely event – the structure would fail as the result of a buckling of the columns. The heat from an ordinary office fire would suffice to soften and weaken the unprotected steel. Evaluation of the effects of the fire on the core column structure, with the insulation removed by the impact, showed that collapse would follow whatever the number of columns cut at the time of the impact.

Grim Brit-Muslim Survey

Channel 4 – News – Survey: ‘government hasn’t told truth about 7/7’
Channel 4 News, with GFK NOP, has commissioned a survey to reveal the Muslim community’s attitudes towards the ‘official narrative’ surrounding the 7/7 bombings revealing that: 59% of the 500 people polled believe that the government has not told the public the whole truth about the 7th July bombings.

52% believe that the British security services have “made up” evidence to convict terrorist suspects.

24% believe the four men identified as the July 7th bombers were not actually responsible for the attacks.

68% believe that the Muslim community does not bear any responsibility for the emergence of extremists willing to attack UK targets. Although 58% felt that the community should be doing more. View TV News Report.