UrbanNerd.com

From the Washington Times:

MOSCOW (Agence France-Presse) — Russia is planning to mine a rare fuel on the moon by 2020 with a permanent base and a heavy-cargo transport link, a Russian space official said.
“We are planning to build a permanent base on the moon by 2015, and by 2020, we can begin the industrial-scale delivery … of the rare isotope helium-3,” Nikolai Sevastyanov, head of the Energia space corporation, was quoted by ITAR-TASS news agency as saying at an academic conference last week.
The International Space Station would play a key role in the project, and a regular transport relay to the moon would be established with the help of the planned Clipper spaceship and the Parom, a space capsule intended to tug heavy cargo containers around space, Mr. Sevastyanov said.
Helium-3 is a nonradioactive isotope of helium that can be used in nuclear fusion.
Rare on earth but plentiful on the moon, it is seen by some experts as an ideal fuel because it is powerful, nonpolluting and generates almost no radioactive byproduct.

Two physicians, in a December note in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, wrote glowingly of the ability of the Super Soaker Max-D 5000 squirt weapon to quickly and safely loosen severely impacted ear wax (knowledge learned from an emergency use when no standard ear-syringing equipment was available).

In fact, they wrote, since the Super Soaker holds much more water than the standard equipment, using it would actually shorten patients’ office visits. (However, the Super Soaker was obviously not anticipated for medical use; its awkward design assured that patient and doctor would be drenched by excess spray.) [Canadian Medical Association Journal, 12-6-05]

Ben-10
Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends
Family Guy
Moral Orel
Robot Chicken

Show times and Listings

Philanthropy may have made him Time’s Man of the Year (well, one of them), but Bill Gates bathes in money because of imperialism. Could he possibly let Apple and Sony win the portable-gadget war? Not likely. Xbox chief Peter Moore told Business Week Microsoft is considering/planning a handheld combining music, video, and gaming.

Rumors have been swirling about a Microsoft handheld since 2004, but Moore’s “confession” may indicate the speculation is turning true. Will it be Xbox-compatible? HD- or Internet-capable? While we won’t know any details until an official announcement, Microsoft will certainly put their best foot forward. The iPod owns around 67% of the digital media player business, according to the article, and just thinking about the PSP arouses most 15- to 20-year-olds.

Can Microsoft conquer both? Hop on your horse, Mr. Gates — it’s time to pillage and plunder.

What goes together better than silicone and video-game trade shows? Peas and carrots? Well I don’t particularly like peas or carrots, so no. Beer and football? Only when the game’s worth watching. Coffee and cigarettes? Fries and ketchup? Bangers and mash? It’s assholes that like to look at nude girls, but apparently my opinion carries less weight than a pea sized version of my brain .They announced it will be establishing rules that will exile from the video game trade show and will enforce a stiff $5,000 penalty for disobedience. The handbook from the Entertainment Software Association, the show’s promoter, says: “Material, including live models, conduct that is sexually explicit and/or sexually provocative, including but not limited to nudity, partial nudity and bathing suit bottoms, are prohibited on the show floor, all common areas, and at any access points to the show.”

So no more overexcited gamers wiping the steam off their glasses to get a better look at a silicone-enhanced vixen dressed as a Final Fantasy femme fatale. And your girlfriends won’t have to think about you just being a dickhead anymore either. All in all, I’d say it’s a plus .

For 26 years Joyce Urch of Coventry, England, listened to her family grow — five kids, 12 grandkids, three great-grandkids.

She listened, but she couldn’t see them. Blinded by a hereditary illness, Joyce was resigned to a life of blackness.

Then one day, she was rushed to the hospital with chest pains. Doctors described her as lifeless. She had suffered a heart attack and kidney failure.
Then Urch woke up after a life-saving operation and opened her eyes. She could see.

“I shouted, I did,” Urch said. “I said, ‘I’m back, I’m back.’ ”
Her daughter Carol O’Beirne called the rest of the family, including Eric Urch, Joyce’s husband of nearly 50 years. He looked a little different than Joyce remembered.

“I thought to myself, he was so lovely at one time,” Joyce Urch said. “Now he’s getting old and grey.”

“She leaned forward,” Eric Urch said, “and she just looked at me and said, ‘Haven’t you got old.’ And I said, ‘Wait ’til you have a look in the mirror.’ ”
She soon learned that a lot of things had changed.

Read the rest here

Over at Autoblog someone noticed what we here in the scooter community have known for a while now: Geely scooter are cheap crap that you would be risking your life to ride. Eveidently autoblog noticed this because Geely is about to start making cars. I find that prospect very very scary indeed.

If the quality of products put out by Geely’s scooter division are any indication, potential buyers of Geely cars are in for a nightmare in which vehicles break after a short period and no parts are available to fix them, according to WOOD-TV.

One individual who bought a Geely scooter for $1K says the scooter died after two months, and the parts to fix it just aren’t available. A Geely spokesman said that while he’s not familiar with the scooter division, he could guarantee that the cars that will, they hope, one day be sold in the United States will be of much higher quality and will have the infrastructure necessary to provide parts and repairs in a timely manner.

Wonkette says Vespas are funny after poking fun at Democrat Harold Ickes who had an accident while riding. On Vespaway.com I set her straight. If she thinks only Democrats are Vespa owners, she is definately wrong.

From the Motorcycle News (UK):

Vespa has released a helmet for fans of the open face retro look. Although it’s designed to complement the Vespa range of scooters, it wouldn’t look out of place with a classic Ariel or BSA.

The Vespa Soft Touch helmet is a demi-jet design with an ABS material shell and hand stitched leather finish. Two of the lids will fit in either the Vespa Granturismo or GTS scooters.

Utah Senate President John Valentine said SB156, which would allow legislators to pick Senate candidates, as long as the political parties agreed, has nothing to do with sitting Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett.
It’s an effort to bolster the power of state leaders, who are more equipped to crack down on unfunded programs foisted upon the states by the U.S. Congress, he said.
“We know more than voters do,” Valentine said. “They don’t get the chance to hear all that we do.” The legislation would also allow lawmakers to “direct” senators by making requests.
Utah Democratic Party Executive Director Todd Taylor called the legislation “shameful.”
“It doesn’t respect the Constitution. It doesn’t respect the voters and it doesn’t respect the history that got us here,” he said.