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Pirates Seize Two Dozen Ships
NAIROBI, Kenya — The pirates who hijacked an arms-laden Ukrainian tanker off the coast of Somalia threatened Friday to destroy the ship if no ransom is paid, a spokesman for the bandits said.
The MV Faina is surrounded by U.S. warships, and a Russian frigate is heading toward the scene, raising the stakes for a possible commando-style raid on the ship.
"We held a consultative meeting for more than three hours today and decided to blow up the ship and its cargo — us included — if the ship owners did not meet our ransom demand," Sugule Ali told The Associated Press when a reporter called the ship via satellite telephone.
"After three days, starting from tomorrow, the news of the ship will be closed. We know what to do next," he said.
The pirates had said Thursday they were willing to negotiate their ransom demand of $20 million, after nearly two weeks of insisting they would never lower the price.
Pirates have seized more than two dozen ships this year off the Horn of Africa, but the hijacking of the Faina has drawn the most international concern because of its dangerous cargo — 33 tanks and other heavy weapons.
NATO ministers agreed Thursday that they would have seven ships in the area within two weeks. Six U.S. warships already surround the Faina off the central coast of Somalia, and helicopters buzz overhead daily. Russia announced it would cooperate with the West in the fight, and several European countries have said they would launch an anti-piracy patrol.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov has said that Ukraine does not want foreign countries to use power to take the ship. Most of the 20 remaining crew member aboard the Faina are Ukrainian.
"We are against a forceful scenario, we believe there need to be negotiations," he said. "What is most important is people." NAIROBI, Kenya — The pirates who hijacked an arms-laden Ukrainian tanker off the coast of Somalia threatened Friday to destroy the sh... more -
Madge calls Palin B*tch
With politics in the air, Madonna disses Palin, The Foo Fighters fight McCain, and CBS says no to Obama shirt. Shows are cancelled, records are broken, and digital advances are made. All of this and more on your Weekly Fix. With politics in the air, Madonna disses Palin, The Foo Fighters fight McCain, and CBS says no to Obama shirt. Shows are cancelled, r... more
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Plain White T's Tell All
Pop-rock group, Plain White T's take over the Daily Fix to give us the details on their new album, new music video, upcoming tour, and recent Denny's creation. Pop-rock group, Plain White T's take over the Daily Fix to give us the details on their new album, new music video, upcoming tour... more
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"Keep the n*gger out of office"
OCTOBER 8--Angered by a delay in the receipt of his voter registration card, a Louisiana man today threatened to shoot election officials, claiming that he urgently needed to cast a ballot to "keep the nigger out of office," according to police. Wade Williams, 75, was arrested this morning on a felony terrorizing charge after allegedly calling the Registrar of Voters and warning that he would come to the state office and empty his shotgun unless he got his registration card. Using profanity and racial slurs, Williams told a state official "about needing to vote to 'keep the nigger out of office," according to an Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office affidavit, a copy of which you'll find here. Though the document does not name the candidate to which Williams is so violently opposed, it seems likely he was referring to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. After being arrested at his Monroe home, Williams was booked into the Ouachita Correctional Center, where the below mug shot was snapped. En route to the jail, he "continued his 'tirade' about niggers and also stated that he had a shotgun, but had it hidden at his residence," reported Lt. Michael Judd. (2 pages) OCTOBER 8--Angered by a delay in the receipt of his voter registration card, a Louisiana man today threatened to shoot election offici... more
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Fisheries waste costs billions
The world's fishing fleets are losing billions of dollars each year through depleted stocks and poor management, according to a UN report.
The World Bank and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) calculate the losses at $50bn per year. Half the world's fishing fleet could be scrapped with no change in catch. The report was launched at World Bank headquarters in New York and has been debated here at the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
Entitled The Sunken Billions: Economic Justification for Fisheries Reform, it argues that reforming the way fisheries are managed could restore stocks and build profits. "There are two reasons why we are experiencing the huge loss," said Rolf Willman, a senior fisheries planning officer at FAO and one of the report's authors.
"One is that global fish stocks are much lower than they could be, so it is harder to catch the amount of fish that we could. "If stocks were higher we could catch the same amount at lower cost.
"The second reason is that where fishing is poorly regulated, we have much greater harvesting capacity than we need," he told BBC News. In fact, he said, the world's fleets could catch the same amount of fish with half the capacity, which would increase profits as well as putting less pressure on fragile stocks. The UN agency puts the current value of the global fisheries industry at about $80bn per year.
(continues at link) The world's fishing fleets are losing billions of dollars each year through depleted stocks and poor management, according to a U... more -
Kanye West - The New Workout Plan: Long Version
Kanye West - The New Workout Plan: Long Version
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KANYE WEST-LOVE LOCKDOWN
KANYE WEST-LOVE LOCKDOWN
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Tricky's Knowle West Boy
Returning from a 5-year hiatus, Tricky sits in on the Daily Fix to talk about how white ghettos, Real Food Daily and a guy named Joseph all influenced his latest album. Returning from a 5-year hiatus, Tricky sits in on the Daily Fix to talk about how white ghettos, Real Food Daily and a guy named Josep... more
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George Michael Busted!
Ten stories in two minutes. Bono, Ted Nugent, Courtney Love, Led Zeppelin, George Michael, Travis Barker and Eddie Veder to name a few. On this edition of the Weekly Fix, we bring you the music news overload. Ten stories in two minutes. Bono, Ted Nugent, Courtney Love, Led Zeppelin, George Michael, Travis Barker and Eddie Veder to name a few... more
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New Liquid Camera Lens As Simple As Water And Vibration
New miniature image-capturing technology powered by water, sound, and surface tension could lead to smarter and lighter cameras in everything from cell phones and automobiles to autonomous robots and miniature spy planes....
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have designed and tested an adaptive liquid lens that captures 250 pictures per second and requires considerably less energy to operate than competing technologies.
The lens is made up of a pair of water droplets, which vibrate back and forth upon exposure to a high-frequency sound, and in turn change the focus of the lens. By using imaging software to automatically capture in-focus frames and discard any out of focus frames, the researchers can create streaming images from lightweight, low-cost, high-fidelity miniature cameras.
“The lens is easy to manipulate, with very little energy, and it’s almost always in focus — no matter how close or far away it is from an object,” said project leader Amir H. Hirsa, professor and associate department head for graduate studies in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering at Rensselaer. “There is no need for high voltages or other exotic activation mechanisms, which means this new lens may be used and integrated into any number of different applications and devices.”
Click on link for the rest of the story... New miniature image-capturing technology powered by water, sound, and surface tension could lead to smarter and lighter cameras in eve... more -
Indies vs. MySpace Music
You have MySpace to thank for your list of a thousand friends. Now, with the upcoming launch of MySpace Music, will the social networking empire be able to provide you with just as many music options as it has cyber hook-ups and online buddies? What do you think? You have MySpace to thank for your list of a thousand friends. Now, with the upcoming launch of MySpace Music, will the social network... more
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New Penny Design Revealed
Next year, the penny will be getting not just one new look but four of them, the first changes to the 1-cent coin in 50 years.
The U.S. Mint unveiled the new designs during a ceremony Monday at the Lincoln Memorial. The coin changes are part of the government's commemoration next year of the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth.
Lincoln's profile will reman on one side of the coin but the Lincoln Memorial will be replaced on the other side by the new images, with a different one being introduced every three months. Next year, the penny will be getting not just one new look but four of them, the first changes to the 1-cent coin in 50 years. ... more -
Mike Shinoda Art Exhibit
Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park gives us an exclusive look at his art exhibit, Glorious Excess, and describes his personal experiences in the spotlight with pop commentary and classical vanitas influences. Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park gives us an exclusive look at his art exhibit, Glorious Excess, and describes his personal experiences in ... more
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