Weird News Stories

[Azdeus]

 

Sex and alcohol make you happier than kids and religion

 

Kids are said to fill our lives with poignancy and inexplicable joy, yet it appears many parents would rather be tossing back some bourbon and rolling around in their skivvies than taking care of their beloved offspring. A new study by Carsten Grimm from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand has found people rate sex as the top activity that brings them happiness, followed by drinking alcohol or "partying." Caring for kids (yawn) fell down the list at number five. God also got the cold shoulder, with people rating meditating and religion at number four

 

 

This is good science, and I approve!

[Malcador]

I think you're being a bit OTT. Just because the guy is a bit wild doesn't mean he doesn't appreciate the war dead.

 

Some of the most monstrous drinkers and ... scratch that ... ALL the monstrous drinkers and drug takers I know are either military or ex military.

 

Bit wild ? He's a bit daft in the head.  Appreciating the war dead is separate from his crack smoking or chilling with gangers, I'm just doubtful any of our elected folk really give a rat's behind honestly when at the ceremonies - they're just going through the motions, so to speak. But they didn't interrupt his speech, just heckled him on his way up, so not that disruptive anyway.

[Hurlshort]

 

Sex and alcohol make you happier than kids and religion

 

Kids are said to fill our lives with poignancy and inexplicable joy, yet it appears many parents would rather be tossing back some bourbon and rolling around in their skivvies than taking care of their beloved offspring. A new study by Carsten Grimm from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand has found people rate sex as the top activity that brings them happiness, followed by drinking alcohol or "partying." Caring for kids (yawn) fell down the list at number five. God also got the cold shoulder, with people rating meditating and religion at number four

 

 

It's really two very different types of happiness though.  It's pretty much the definition of short term versus long term happiness.

 

Honestly I prefer to just have it all.   

[Amentep]

Eh...no mention of methodology or sample size so I'd take it with a grain of salt.

 

Even with that, they somewhat misrepresent the study even from what is known; the researcher categorized things into three categories - pleasure, meaning, and engagement then used those three categories to create a best and worst list from how some unknown size/makeup of people texted about what they did and how they ranked it (so it appears the group may have been self sampling too).

 

Caring for Children was #5 on the best list.  The worst list included "recovering from sickness", "Washing" and "Facebook".  How these compared across all three categories isn't reported, but I think the categories are inclined to skew the results.

Edited November 12, 2013 by Amentep

[Raithe]

Washington Post - How We Know the NSA had access to internal google and yahoo cloud data
 
 

How we know the NSA had access to internal Google and Yahoo cloud data
 
The Washington Post reported last Wednesday that the National Security Agency has been tapping into the private links that connect Google and Yahoo data centers around the world. Today we offer additional background, with new evidence from the source documents and interviews with confidential sources, demonstrating that the NSA accessed data traveling between those centers.
 
The background also helps explain the response of U.S. officials following the publication of the story.
The U.S. government declined repeated requests to discuss the story beginning eight days before it was published. Since publication it has made four responses.
 
Immediately after the story posted online, a reporter asked NSA Director Keith B. Alexander about it at a cybersecurity event hosted by Bloomberg Government. Neither the reporter nor Alexander had read the story yet.

General, we’re getting some news that’s crossing right now being reported in The Washington Post that there are new Snowden allegations that say the NSA broke into Yahoo and Google’s databases worldwide, that they infiltrated these databases?

Alexander replied:

That’s never happened. […] This is not the NSA breaking into any databases. It would be illegal for us to do that. And so I don’t know what the report is, but I can tell you factually we do not have access to Google servers, Yahoo servers.

The story did not say the NSA breaks into “servers” or “databases.” It said the agency, working with its British counterpart, intercepts communications that run on private circuits between the fortress-like data centers that each company operates on multiple continents.
 
The distinction is between “data at rest” and “data on the fly.” The NSA and GCHQ do not break into user accounts that are stored on Yahoo and Google computers. They intercept the information as it travels over fiber optic cables from one data center to another.
 
Alexander also said:

We go through a court order. We issue that court order to them through the FBI. And it’s not millions. It’s thousands of those that are done, and it’s almost all against terrorism and other things like that. It has nothing to do with U.S. persons.

Here he appeared to be talking about PRISM, the previously reported program that makes use of authority granted by Congress in 2008 when it amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Under Section 702 of the amendments, the NSA was empowered to compel technology companies to turn over information about their users. A special court oversees the program, renewing it once a year.
 
Our Wednesday story reported that the NSA is not relying only on PRISM to get information from Yahoo and Google. It is also working with its British counterpart, the GCHQ, to break into the private “clouds,” or internal networks, of those companies.
 
We do not know exactly how the NSA and GCHQ intercept the data, other than it happens on British territory. But we do know they are intercepting it from inside the Yahoo and Google private clouds, because some of what NSA and GCHQ collect is found nowhere else.
The two companies do not entrust their data center communications to the “public internet,” which is comparable to an international highway system that anyone can use. Instead, they link their data centers with thousands of miles of privately owned or privately leased fiber optic cable – in effect, a system of private highways. When Google and Yahoo have to share a stretch of road with the public internet, they take other precautions to keep their traffic secure.
 
We showed some of the NSA’s briefing slides to private sector experts with detailed knowledge of the internal corporate networks of each company. In separate conversations, they agreed that the slides included samples of data structures and formats that never travel unencrypted on the public Internet.
 
Below is one example, which the NSA captured from Google.
 

NSA slide reproducing a transmission in a format that experts say is “only used on and between Google machines. See the full annotated documents here.

 
“This is not traffic you would encounter outside of Google's internal network,” said one of the experts. The slide shows data in a format that is “only used on and between Google machines. And, also as far as I know, Google doesn't publish their binary RPC protocol, which is what this resembles."
 
An RPC is a “remote procedure call,” and this one is used when one Google data server has to confirm that it is talking to another. The author of the slide confirms that, describing the captured data as “internal server-to-server authentication.”  Google’s proprietary authentication system is “Gaia,” which appears in the captured data stream. Another expert with inside knowledge confirmed that its characteristics are not public.
 
Another NSA slide provided by former contractor Edward Snowden showed that the NSA developed Google-specific “protocol handlers" so that it could parse the company’s proprietary formats and pull out the information it wanted to keep.
 

Note the section of this graph that reads "gaia // permission_whitelist." See the full annotated documents here.

 
Another NSA document, similarly, describes NSA’s use of a “demultiplexer” tool to take apart data packages sent across Yahoo’s internal networks in that company’s proprietary “NArchive” format.
 
The project name for this collection is MUSCULAR, which corresponds to an alphanumeric string, DS-200B:
 

 

NSA suggests taps into private data links may be installed in the UK by the GCHQ. See the full annotated documents here.

 
DS-200B is one of many “sigads” used by the NSA to identify where it collects electronic communications. Sigad is short for “signals intelligence address” or “signals intelligence activity designator.”
 
This one is described as an “international access,” which means an overseas fiber optic cable or switch that routes Internet traffic. MUSCULAR is “located in the United Kingdom” and the GCHQ has primary responsibility for operating it. The NSA works cooperatively alongside its British partner, and the system used for processing that traffic, TURMOIL, belongs to the NSA. Other slides show how the traffic is routed from DS-200B to NSA databases at its Fort Meade, Md., headquarters
 
More annotated documents have been posted here.
Our Wednesday story noted that the NSA is governed by fewer rules and less oversight when it does its intelligence collection outside U.S. territory:

Intercepting communications overseas has clear advantages for the NSA, with looser restrictions and less oversight. NSA documents about the effort refer directly to “full take,” “bulk access” and “high volume” operations on Yahoo and Google networks. Such large-scale collection of Internet content would be illegal in the United States, but the operations take place overseas, where the NSA is allowed to presume that anyone using a foreign data link is a foreigner.
 
Outside U.S. territory, statutory restrictions on surveillance seldom apply and the FISC has no jurisdiction. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has acknowledged that Congress conducts little oversight of intelligence-gathering under the presidential authority of Executive Order 12333, which defines the basic powers and responsibilities of the intelligence agencies.

NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines, in a statement late Wednesday, did not address the rules, or confirm that Yahoo and Google traffic is collected overseas. She denied untoward motives:

The Washington Post’s assertion that we use Executive Order 12333 collection to get around the limitations imposed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and [FISA Amendments Act] 702 is not true," she said. "The assertion that we collect vast quantities of U.S. persons’ data from this type of collection is also not true.

Vines also said the NSA follows the attorney general’s guidelines for protecting the privacy of U.S. citizens. Our story said the same thing, and added that the guidelines are classified.
 
On Thursday, the top lawyers for the NSA and DNI returned to the questions of motivation and intent.
Speaking at an American Bar Association conference in Washington, NSA General Counsel Rajesh De said, “The implication, the insinuation, suggestion or the outright statement that an agency like NSA would use authority under Executive Order 12333 to evade, skirt or go around FISA is simply inaccurate.” He added, “The suggestion of that requires some backing up.”
“There is no scandal about the lawfulness of NSA’s activities under current law,” he said.
 
Robert S. Litt, the DNI’s general counsel, said at the same conference:

Everything that has been exposed [in the press] so far has been done within the law. We get court orders when we are required to, we minimize information about U.S. persons as we are required to, we collect intelligence for valid foreign intelligence purposes as we are required to.

On Thursday evening, the NSA put out another statement. It began:

Recent press articles on NSA’s collection operations conducted under Executive Order 12333 have misstated facts, mischaracterized NSA’s activities, and drawn erroneous inferences about those operations.

The statement did not specify the errors or false inferences. It defended NSA operations in general as compliant with “applicable laws, regulations, and policies,” and said “assertions to the contrary do a grave disservice to the nation, its allies and partners, and the men and women who make up the National Security Agency.”

[ShadySands]

When pot smells in Denver, the Nasal Ranger goes in to investigate

[Azdeus]

 

If anyone else has been following, the Mayor of Toronto admitted to smoking crack.

Probably a shocking surprise for many

 

It's really weird how we can hear so much about what some fat bastard is doing with his own time and money, while I heard just now how youth sports organizers want to remove scoring from football for players under the age of 12.

Now that's something that can really damage future peoples lives...

[Malcador]

"Oh, and the last thing was Olivia Gondek. It says I wanted to eat her **** and I have never said that in my life to her. I would never do that. I'm happily married. I've got more than enough to eat at home. Thank you very much."

 

[babaganoosh13]

"Oh, and the last thing was Olivia Gondek. It says I wanted to eat her **** and I have never said that in my life to her. I would never do that. I'm happily married. I've got more than enough to eat at home. Thank you very much."

 

He has always seemed like the type that can't get enough to eat.

[Amentep]

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/nov/14/mike-tyson-undisputed-truth-astonishing-claims

 

Undisputed Truth - Mike Tyson's autobiographic book apparently has a number of interesting relations including

 

 

He writes that before his trial for rape in 1992, a friend he names as Calvin told him about a "hoodoo woman", who said if he got a jar filled with $500, peed in it and then brought them to her she would pray for him. He responded by saying that it was even too much for someone who threw his money around like he did.

 

Other friends suggested he try a voodoo priest, who proposed that he wash in oils and drink special water. "I was drinking goddamn Hennessy. I wasn't going to water down my Hennessy," Tyson retorted.

 

He writes that he eventually settled on looking for help from a Santeria witch doctor, with whom he went to the courthouse with a pigeon and an egg. Tyson was to drop the egg and release the bird while yelling: "We're free!"

 

In other news, Dai Macedo wins Brazil's "Miss Bum-Bum" competition - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/14/dai-macedo-miss-bum-bum-2013_n_4276120.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

[Keyrock]

Meanwhile, in Florida:

 

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/man-impersonates-cop-for-dunkin-donuts-discount-576324

 

 

Floridian Masqueraded As Lawman To Secure "Police Discount" At Dunkin’ Donuts

 

 

In a bid to secure a “police discount” at Dunkin’ Donuts, a Florida man allegedly showed drive-thru workers a phony badge, displayed a holstered handgun, and falsely claimed to be a law enforcement officer, according to investigators.

 

Charles Barry, 48, was arrested yesterday for the donut shop masquerade, which he confessed to when confronted by Pasco County Sheriff’s Office deputies.

 

“I did a stupid thing! I showed a badge to get the law enforcement discount of my food,” Barry told investigators, according to a sheriff’s report. Barry, who works as a salesman at an imaging firm, added that he claimed to be a United States Marshal.

 

Dunkin’ Donuts workers told cops that Barry was a regular customer who “comes through the drive through and demands a police discount for his order.” Barry, the employees recalled, claimed to be a federal air marshal.

 

Worker Michelle Hoeltk told deputies that Barry had been “abusing his discount by coming in on the weekends with his family and demanding the discount.” She added that Dunkin Donuts managers decided to “no longer offer him the discount because of his abuse.”

 

When Barry showed up at Dunkin’ Donuts last Wednesday morning, a worker denied him the discount. An “irate” Barry--who was driving a Volkswagen minivan--then displayed a badge and firearm. “See I am a cop,” the 6’1’, 320-pound Barry reportedly declared.    

 

A police surveillance operation netted Barry yesterday morning as he drove away from the Dunkin' Donuts. Deputies seized a fake law enforcement badge from his wallet and a .38 caliber revolver from his front pocket (those items are seen in a police evidence photo).

 

Barry was busted for impersonating a law enforcement officer and improper exhibition of a firearm. He was booked into the Pasco County jail, from which he was released last night after posting $5150 bond.

[Wrath of Dagon]

That's no Floridian, that's Chris Christie without his makeup!

[Raithe]

For the artsy news..   Ships That Sail Through the Clouds: Meet Luigi Prina, the 83 Year Old Builder of Flying Model Ships

 

 

 

Ships That Sail Through the Clouds: Meet Luigi Prina, the 83-Year-Old Builder of Flying Model Ships

 

 

Photo by Gianluca Giannone courtesy Blinking City

 

Photo by Gianluca Giannone courtesy Blinking City

 

Photo by Gianluca Giannone courtesy Blinking City

 

Photo by Gianluca Giannone courtesy Blinking City

 

Photo by Gianluca Giannone courtesy Blinking City

 

Photo by Gianluca Giannone courtesy Blinking City

 

Photo by Gianluca Giannone courtesy Blinking City>

 

Photo by Gianluca Giannone courtesy Blinking City

 

When he was just 16 years old Luigi Prina entered and won a national aircraft modeling competition. When he went to collect the prize money the organizers asked the boy why his father couldn’t come and collect it himself. Nearly fifty years later the now successful architect met a painter and boat builder named Eugenio Tomiolo and while they were talking made a bet that perhaps Prina could take one of his small model ships and make it fly like an airplane. Tomolio accepted and it wasn’t long before a small flying boat was whirring in circles around his small studio that coincidentally had clouds painted on the ceiling. A new passion was born and Prina has since dedicated nearly 20 years of his later life to building flying model boats, bicycles and other unconventional aircraft.

 

The folks over at Blinking City along with photographer Gianluca Giannone recently sat down with the model building for this beatiful photo essay and video. (thnx, Andrea!)

 

http://youtu.be/pP8LRC1q2vM

[Malcador]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-says-superrich-are-putupon-minority-like-homeless-people-and-irish-travellers-8946661.html

 

 

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has told people to stop “bashing” the super-rich, comparing them to hard-pressed minorities like the homeless, Irish travellers or ex-gang members.

Mr Johnson accused “everyone from the Archbishop of Canterbury to Nick Clegg” of bullying the group he defined as “zillionaires” – and said the most rich of all should receive “automatic knighthoods”.

The comments come from an article Mr Johnson wrote for the Daily Telegraph, and appear just a day after the BBC’s The Revolution Will Be Televised programme criticised the capital’s mayor for his “career in show business” – confronting him and asking when he would move into politics.

Mr Johnson said the rich deserve our “humble and hearty thanks” for their contributions to charity and the exchequer – quoting figures that say the top 1 per cent pay 29.8 per cent of all UK income tax.

“It is my duty to stick up for every put-upon minority in the city – from the homeless to Irish travellers to ex-gang members to disgraced former MPs,” Mr Johnson wrote.

“But there is one minority that I still behold with a benign bewilderment, and that is the very, very rich.

“These are the people who put bread on the tables of families who – if the rich didn’t invest in supercars and employ eau de cologne-dabbers – might otherwise find themselves without a breadwinner,” Mr Johnson said.

“We should stop any bashing or moaning or preaching or bitching and simply give thanks for the prodigious sums of money that they are contributing to the tax revenues of this country, and that enable us to look after our sick and our elderly and to build roads, railways and schools,” he said.

The London Assembly's Labour group leader Len Duvall responded to the mayor's article, saying: “Many hard-pressed Londoners will find Boris’ views on the super-rich difficult to stomach, at a time when people are struggling with the cost of living crisis his comments are deeply offensive.

“Rather than cosying up to the 0.1 per cent he should be spending his time using his position as our Mayor to ease the burden on ordinary Londoners.”

On Twitter, Mr Johnson’s comments were backed by the Spectator editor Fraser Nelson, who said: “He’s right, but which other politician would dare say so?”

But Adam Bienkov from Politics.co.uk compared the mayor’s comments to the fact that the number of homeless in London has doubled over the past five years – despite Mr Johnson’s promise “to end rough sleeping in London by the end of 2012”.

Paul Isemonger said the comments were “an absurd anachronism”, while student activists People’s Assembly Against Austerity from King’s College, London said: “Boris Johnson has suggested that the super rich are an oppressed minority. These people just don't get it, do they?

[ShadySands]

Toronto council meeting now to strip mayor of powers

 

 

 

The Toronto City Council, appalled by Mayor Rob Ford's crack-smoking, drinking and boorish behavior, held a raucous meeting Monday to strip him of his office budget, leaving him largely a figurehead leader of Canada's largest city.

 

At one point, the meeting dissolved into a shouting match involving members of the public gallery, the mayor and the mayor's brother, Doug Ford, who is also a council member.

 

At one point, people in the public gallery began chanting, "Shame! Shame! Shame!"

 

In response, the mayor taunted the crowd, shouting, "Is that affecting your grants?"

 

At one point his brother called out to the gallery, "You're a disgrace! Let's get the real taxpayers down here!"

 

After a 10-minute recess, Speaker Frances Nunziata warned that if there were any more outbursts, she would call security officers to clear the chamber of everyone, including the media and council members.

 

She said she felt compelled to call the recess because the meeting "was out of hand."

 

The council does not have the power to remove the 44-year-old mayor from office outright, but has instead curbed his authority in key areas.

 

Last week, they stripped him of the power to appoint committees and took away his powers during a city emergency.

 

On Monday, they planned to take away his $1.9 million office budget, his staff and his ability to steer the city's powerful executive committee.

 

That will leave him only a few powers, such as representing the city at official functions.

 

"It's a coup d'etat — that's all this is," Ford told reporters as he arrived at City Hall. He said that "democracy is being trampled on right now."

 

During a radio interview earlier in the morning, Ford suggested the council call a "snap election" -- a 30-day candidate sign-up, then a 60-day campaign.

 

"Let the voters decide," he said.

 

There was some skirmishing early as the Monday meeting got underway.

 

"I will not play a part of this illegal meeting," council member Giorgio Mammoliti, who was seated next to Ford, told the chambers.

 

The council's action would cut the mayor's budget to that of a regular member and transfer the power to administer the rest to the deputy mayor. His staff would be offered the chance to stay with him or move to the deputy mayor's staff.

 

"The whole idea is to stabilize the executive for the balance of the term," Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly said this weekend, according to the Toronto Sun. "All along I've been arguing the legislative part of city government is working just fine but it was the executive function that was beginning to fray."

 

He said that when the 44-member council sharply limits Ford's power they won't have to worry the next time a bombshell hits. "We end all the anxiety about what the heck is going to happen next," Kelly said.

 

But the combative Ford has warned that he will fight the council's moves in court in a legal battle that would cost taxpayers "an arm and a leg."

 

Ford has been embroiled in controversy since last year following stories on the U.S. website Gawker and in The Toronto Star that he had been videotaped smoking crack cocaine. He denied the allegations strongly until two weeks ago when Toronto police said they had obtained the video. Ford then acknowledged he had indeed smoked crack, but that it had happened during a "drunken stupor." He denied being an addict.

 

Until last week, the council had gone relatively easy on the mayor, only calling on him to take a leave of absence.

 

Then last week, more bombshells erupted, starting with the release of court documents containing allegations made by some of his staff members to police that Ford had partied with prostitutes, and used cocaine and OxyContin.

 

In an impromptu news conference, Ford erupted, threatening to sue the former staff members and added a crude remark regarding oral sex that shocked the media, many Canadians and — perhaps most important, politically — the council. That, in turn, prompted yet another apology from Ford.

 

But Ford insists he is not going away — quietly or otherwise. He showed up Sunday at the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats CFL Eastern Conference final football game in Toronto, despite a request by the league commissioner that he stay away.

 

On Monday night, the mayor and his brother, council member Doug Ford, will star in a new reality TV show called Ford Nation.

 

He has also made the rounds of news show, taking on his critics, refusing to back down and even outlining future political ambitions.

 

"I take that same approach to politics so if people want to start bringing up personal stuff, that's fine," he told Fox News. "And, yes, one day I do want to run for prime minister."

 

Ford also blamed the continued focus on his behavior as the work of political opponents and the media.

 

"I don't walk away from anybody in life," he told CNN's New Day in an exclusive interview that aired Monday. "All these rich, elitist people, I'm sick of them. They sit up there and no, they're perfect. They don't do nothing. Get out of here, they don't do nothing. They're the biggest crooks around."

 

Asked why he decided to acknowledge his crack smoking, Ford indicated he wanted to clear the air, then move on:

 

"I'm not going to run around and be phony and lie," he told CNN. "I'm not going to have someone blackmail me and say they have videos of this over my head. You don't trust what the Toronto Star says. I just had enough. I was sick and tired of the allegations an all the (expletive deleted) excuse my words, that's all it is, sorry, I shouldn't swear in front of kids. You know what? I made mistakes, I drank too much. I smoked some crack sometime. What can I say? I made a mistake, I'm guilty."

 

Like many major cities, Toronto also has a city manager whose role is to provide guidance and advice to the city council and to coordinate the work of city departments.

 

Earlier this month, City Manager Joe Pennachetti's sent a memo to employees stressing that the city is not "in crisis" during the Ford scandal, The Toronto Sunreported.

 

"I understand that these issues have created some distraction," Pennachetti wrote. "However, I also know that these issues are neither about the Toronto Public Service nor a reflection of the hard work and commitment that city staff consistently display on a daily basis, and for some of you, 24/7."

 

Edited November 18, 2013 by ShadySands

[Malcador]

 

Not an attack, crackhead was going to help his brother or something.

Edited November 18, 2013 by Malcador

[Walsingham]

I don't think it's terribly democratic to just strip an elected official of powers. If the public want a crackhead, they should get one.

[Malcador]

Sadly, he ran against an actual crackhead/dealer and won - being a good white bread guy and all.  Guy said his experience with crack dealing proved he can manage a large business. 

[Amentep]

The news announcer when I was driving home yesterday said

 

"Toronto's city council has voted to strip Rob Ford today."

 

*pause*

 

"That is they voted to strip him of his mayoral powers today..."

[Malcador]

That's going to be at the end of the week, they'll march his naked ass out on to the street to a guard of dishonor.

[Raithe]

Spanish Ambassador Summoned to the British Foreign Office

The Spanish Ambassador has been summoned to the Foreign Office to explain why a research vessel ignored Royal Navy requests to leave the waters around Gibraltar for more than 20 hours.

Foreign Office Minister David Lidington condemned the "provocative incursion" into Gibraltan waters, which involved a Spanish state research vessel the RV Ramon Margalef. The ship has now left Gibraltan waters after 22 hours after being met by two Royal Navy fast patrol boats.
Spain's ambassador, currently Federico Trillo, has now been summoned three times since 2011 by the Foreign Office in response to Spanish vessels repeatedly crossing the border.
 
Mr Lidington said today: "I strongly condemn this provocative incursion and urge the Spanish government to ensure that it is not repeated. We stand ready to do whatever is required to protect Gibraltar's sovereignty, economy and security.
"We believe that it is in the interests of Spain, Gibraltar and Britain to avoid incidents such as this that damage the prospects for establishing dialogue and cooperation.
"We remain confident of UK sovereignty over the whole of Gibraltar, including British Gibraltar Territorial Waters, and will respect the wishes of the people of Gibraltar."
Mr Lidington said the crew of the vessel told British ships it was conducting survey work "with the permission of the Spanish authorities and in the interests of the European Community".
 
In a statement, the Ministry of Defence said two Royal Navy fast patrol boats, the HMS Sabre and HMS Scimitar, had prevented the RV Ramon Margalef from deploying its oceanographic surveying probe after issuing "appropriate warnings".
A spokesman said: "There was no damage to any Royal Navy or Spanish equipment or vessels and no injuries were incurred.
"The actions of the Royal Navy were fully in accordance with Her Majesty's Government's commitment to uphold the sovereignty of Gibraltar with a range of proportionate responses."

The RV Ramon Margalef did not enter Gibraltar's harbour.
Mr Lidington said the waters around Gibraltar were "indisputably British" and highlighted in his statement that the latest clash comes two weeks after "dangerous manoeuvres" by a Spanish Guardia Civil vessel in the vicinity of Royal Navy vessels in British waters put lives at risk and resulted in a minor collision.
He said Spain was party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and was fully aware of the proper legal position.
 
The Minister added: "Over the past two years, increased the level of unlawful incursions by Spanish State vessels into British territorial waters from around five per month to around 40 per month."

Speaking earlier, Prime Minister David Cameron's official spokesman told a regular Westminster media briefing: "Our view about the importance of the territorial integrity of our sovereign waters is unchanged.
"It is very important and we have communicated that to the Spanish Government.
"Our relations with the Spanish Government of course are important to us and we work with them in a number of areas, but where we have differences we make these very clear and we will continue to do that."
 
Labour MP Jim Dobbin earlier asked whether a Foreign Office Minister would address the Commons tonight on the latest developments.
Deputy Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle said: "I've been given no notification of a statement to be made but I'm sure the Foreign Office is listening very carefully to what you've just said on such a serious incident."

Before news of the latest incident broke, former army colonel-turned-Conservative MP Bob Stewart insisted Britain should send major combat units to train in Gibraltar more often if it is determined to defend the territory.

Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate earlier today, Mr Stewart said the Government should use the Rock as an exercise base for a roulement infantry company for six weeks at a time rather than sending troops on short training tours to Kenya or elsewhere.

The Beckenham MP also insisted the Government has to be stronger in its response to Spanish actions against Gibraltar and do more to express Parliament's view that it is fed up with what is happening to the territory's people.

Foreign Office Minister Mark Simmonds said the UK had been strong in its response to concerns over border crossing delays and incursions by Spanish vessels into Gibraltar's territorial waters.

But he said measures to de-escalate rather than escalate the situation needed to be found.
During the debate, Mr Stewart said: "If the British Government is determined on defending Gibraltar, why doesn't the British Government make more use of the defence facilities in Gibraltar?
"For example, by sending down more often a roulement infantry company to be based in Gibraltar for perhaps six weeks at a time to exercise there rather than sending it to somewhere like Kenya."

Mr Simmonds replied the regiment plays a very significant and positive role in Kenya.
He continued to Mr Stewart: "We must strike a balance between being forceful, strong, determined to ensure the Spanish understands the UK Government's position.
"We must also ensure that the EU Commission is taking its role responsibly and consistently in making sure that the issues both on the border and in Gibraltarian territorial waters cease, but we must also find mechanisms to de-escalate rather than escalate the situation, which is why we must make sure we get back as soon as possible discussing solutions without negotiating the Gibraltarian sovereignty position at all."

Mr Simmonds told MPs the Government takes seriously its responsibility to protect Gibraltar - including from Spanish incursions into its territorial waters.
He said: "We do not rule out any measures that are necessary to defend Gibraltar and ensure security from a genuine threat.

"We believe that unlawful incursions by Guardia Civil vessels and other vessels of the Spanish state are merely a futile effort and attempt to assert Spain's legal position in respect of the waters. They are not acts of war and they do not weaken or undermine the legal basis for British sovereignty over Gibraltar and British Gibraltar territorial waters."
The European Commission last week found Spain has broken no EU rules by stepping up checks on the border crossing into Gibraltar.

The commission sent a team to investigate after a row broke out in the summer when Spanish authorities tightened frontier controls, allegedly to crack down on tobacco smuggling.

But the move came after Gibraltar had created an artificial reef off its coast, angering Spanish fishermen.
Mr Simmonds said the commission's findings were quite different from confirmation that Spain had acted lawfully.
According to the Foreign Office, Acting Permanent Under Secretary Matthew Rycroft told Mr Trillo that the incursions were "unlawful" and did not change international law or weaken the legal basis for British sovereignty.

Mr Rycroft also highlighted "unacceptable" delays on the border with Spain, which are said to be happening on a "near-daily basis".
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "The European Commission has given Spain clear recommendations which, if implemented, would improve the functioning of the border. The UK expects the Spanish government to act on these recommendations without delay.

"Matthew Rycroft reiterated the UK's commitment to ad hoc talks, as proposed by the Foreign Secretary in April 2012, as a means to work around incompatible positions on format that have previously prevented dialogue

[Walsingham]

Sadly, he ran against an actual crackhead/dealer and won - being a good white bread guy and all.  Guy said his experience with crack dealing proved he can manage a large business. 

 

I think it's really a failure to run with his 'new' image. If you picture him wearing viking furs and brandishing a bar stool, he seem oddly plausible as mayor.

 

He could also have a silver-embossed cow-horn crack pipe.

 

It's just the suits which are letting him down.

[Raithe]

Goldieblox commercial Rewrites the Beastie Boys: How to get Young Girls to become Engineers

 

 

 

http://youtu.be/UFpe3Up9T_g

 

This is a stupendously awesome commercial from a toy company called GoldieBlox, which has developed a set of interactive books and games to “disrupt the pink aisle and inspire the future generation of female engineers.” The CEO, Debbie Sterling, studied engineering at Stanford, where she was dismayed by the lack of women in her program. (For a long look at the Gordian knot that is women’s underrepresentation in STEM fields, check out this New York Times article from October.) As the GoldieBlox website attests, only 11 percent of the world’s engineers are female. Sterling wants to light girls’ inventive spark early, supplementing the usual diet of glittery princess products with construction toys “from a female perspective.”

 

We love this video because it subverts a bunch of dumb gender stereotypes—all to the strains of a repurposed Beastie Boys song. In it, a trio of smart girls could not be less impressed by the flouncing beauty queens in the commercial they’re watching. So they use a motley collection of toys and household items (including a magenta feather boa and a pink plastic tea set) to assemble a huge Rube Goldberg machine. Watchto see what happens next. (And watch another great GoldieBlox ad from earlier this year.)

 

Bonus points to GoldieBlox for releasing an award-winning book in which its marquee character Goldie, the “kid inventor who loves to build,”dreams up “a spinning machine to help her dog, Nacho, chase his tail.” Screw you, Soul Cycle. That’s the kind of spinning machine we can get behind.

[Walsingham]

I think it's simplistic to assert that kids toys are the whole problem.

 

In my experience you get far more problems at management level. Male engineers are _obsessed_ with following procedure, and extremely hierarchical. Whereas in my experience women, even female engineers are more results and people focussed. The consequence is that they can never agree on priorities. The men appear foot dragging and nitpicking. the women appear soft and impatient.

[ShadySands]

First Female Marines Graduate Infantry Training