France to host nuclear fusion reactor

This will certainly be an interesting project to keep an eye on.
It seems that Cadarache, near Marseille has been chosen to host the world's first nuclear fusion reactor.

The 500 megawatt ITER reactor will use deuterium, extracted from seawater, as its major fuel and a giant electromagnetic ring to fuse atomic nuclei at extremely high temperatures.
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"We believe that the ITER project should start as soon as possible for the sake of mankind's future," said Nariaki Nakayama, Japan's science minister.
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Building the reactor is expected to take about ten years, but some scientists say it could take three times that long and the sides have yet to reach a final agreement on a number of issues, including financing, before the builders can move in.
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As far as I can tell, the good ol' U.S. of A. arent having anything to do with it.
Read the full article here.

ugly girl rescued

The following may or may not be real.... but does that really matter? If its real, then I applaud the parents. What a wonderful idea.

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Charges may be filed against a family which manipulated photos of their missing daughter to spur rescue efforts, according to Texas officials.
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"At first I thought the kidnapper had dyed her hair, you know, to make her less easy to recognize," said Maria Baker, one of the volunteers who spent 50 hours last week searching. "Then I thought, wow, that week in the wilderness sure was rough on her. Then I saw a closeup, and I thought, man, did a bear get her too?"
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"In actuality, Francine is neither perky nor blonde," said a grim-faced Perry. "In fact, her picture is mainly a testament to her father's skills with Photoshop."
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"This season we've already had Natalie Holloway and Brennan Hawkins, two really high-profile cases with very appealing protagonists," said Alan Keyes, Francine's father. "Heck, Francine used to scare the cat whenever she smiled. What were we supposed to do?"
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"Our viewership drops fifteen percent every time we show the real picture of this girl," said Umbridge. "I'm sorry, but CNN has journalistic standards, you know. At least put a wig on the poor girl."
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Oh man.... thats good stuff. They found her though. The pictures are elusive, or they would be included. If anyone knows where these can be viewed, come across. Read it complete here.

crazy african cat stories

Seen these yet? both stories are a few days old...
Its such a blast to believe this stuff.

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Lions save kidnapped girl

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) -- Police say three lions rescued a 12-year-old girl kidnapped by men who wanted to force her into marriage, chasing off her abductors and guarding her until police and relatives tracked her down in a remote corner of Ethiopia.

Its like those stories where dolphins save swimmers from sharks, only in a dessert, with lions and rapists!

73 yr old Kenyan kills leopard with bare hands

NAIROBI - A 73-year-old Kenyan grandfather reached into the mouth of an attacking leopard and tore out its tongue to kill it, authorities said Wednesday.

I'd have paid to see this one go down. Thats one mean kenyan.

The ethics of amputation by choice

"Amputee wannabes become obsessed with cutting off a particular part of their body, even though it may be healthy."
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Its called body integrity identity disorder (BIID), or amputee identity disorder. Its a rare condition, but recently two Australian philosophers have been exploring what is referred to in the article as amputaion wannabes.
The victims of this disorder have, in some cases, tried to remove the offending limb by themselves. One using a chainsaw.

Why? well, Dr. Neil Levy says-

"it may be the result of a cortical misalignment between how the brain "sees" the limb and what's really there. He says in the case of so-called "phantom limbs", people who lose a limb may experience the sensation that it's still there. This is because the way the limb is represented in the brain hasn't caught up with the physical change.
But amputee wannabes may have the limb but not the cortical representation.
"[In the case of BIID] one possibility is that there's something wrong with the cortical representation of the limb in the brain of sufferers," he says.
Levy says BIID may also be a purely psychological condition, and often people who suffer from it have had an encounter with an amputee early in life.
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the arguments in a nutshell:

for>> such amputations should be morally permissible on the grounds that people with BIID are not "globally irrational" and that they are experiencing suffering that can be alleviated through amputation.

against>> It's unethical to remove a normal limb just because somebody wants it removed.

What do you think. Are they crazy, oughta be locked up? Or are they just amputees, trapped in a horribly perfect body who should be allowed to escape?
you make the call. Read the story HERE

Cosmos I update

They seem to have lost it. Something went wrong anyway.
Those invovled have all but conceded failure...

"Russia's space agency said with "some definitiveness" that Cosmos 1's booster rocket failed 83 seconds after its launch from a Russian nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea on Tuesday. Ground tracking stations continued to scan the heavens."

But it hasnt shown up. It should have dropped back towards the earth, but hasnt been detected as doing so. There may still be hope...

"Tracking stations on Russia's Kamchatka peninsula, in the South Pacific and in the Czech Republic recorded signals that seemed to be transmissions from the spacecraft, Planetary Society officials said, leaving the possibility that the vehicle made it part way around the globe or actually was in orbit, waiting to be found."

Time will tell. Read the article HERE

23 yr old possessed nun...crucified

Father Daniel Corogeanu, 29, said that the nun had been "possessed by the devil" and was "beyond salvation" in life.
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The nun was found dead last Wednesday, gagged and chained to a cross
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Claps of thunder were heard as her coffin was lowered into the ground, a sign "that the will of God has been done", Father Corogeanu said.
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sometimes a story just jumps out at you. Makes you wonder about all the things left unsaid in the all too short newsblurb. This is most certainly one of those stories. The events described take place at a monastery in a remote village in Romania. read it all, (..what there is of it), HERE
I just wish there were pictures to share amongst you all.
Christianity is such a quaint little religion.

my new dietary supplement

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check out this testimonial:
Day 4 (Journal Excerpt of JP)
I felt greater increase in my normal five senses. Increased vision of auras, ability to digest multiple sounds better. Foods were overwhelming with taste. I walked in to my house and smelled pot-pouri that was too far away to usually be noticed. A dramatic increased ability to feel people's emotions. In addition, without thinking about it I was able to know where people were going after work. Also knowing details about what people described just vaguely. I can usually not tell directions north, south, east, west but after taking the Magneurol I could easily point north wherever I was.


oh yeah, ive got to try some of these. And at only $80 for a one month supply, it must be the bargain of the century.
hurry, get yours here >>> Magneurol 6-S

fuck NASA

there are so many reasons to get excited about this. chief among mine : the private industry funding. theres no need to bore anyone with details as to why NASA is pretty useless (hinderence?) to man's coming conquest of the stars. Of course, the fact that the whole thing sounds like its right out of a Fritz Lieber novel is pretty nice too. Using old Russian ICBMs, blasting off from a submarine... you just dont get much cooler than that.
Props to Carl Sagan's widow for putting up some cash for this one.
read article here
and if youve got a little spare time, and want to track the solar sail's progress
Watch cosmos I as it orbits the earth!

prostrate thyself...

This is the closest ive ever seen an artist get to the ganesh that sits on my shoulder.
genuflect hippies.

comics worth creating a blog

I highly suggest you read all the comics listed on the page.
thank me later.
Morning Glory