Pwn Palace

Army Ranger receives Medal of Honor
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama awarded the Medal of Honor on Tuesday afternoon to Army Ranger Sergeant 1st Class Leroy Petry, the second living soldier to receive the military’s highest decoration for actions in Afghanistan.
Read more on Reuters via Yahoo! News

Looking for the latest video game? Get in line!
TWIN FALLS, IDAHO (KMVT-TV) There’s already a wait list for two popular video games at Best Buy in Twin Falls. The games call of duty and gears of war 3 don’t even come out until the fall. Call of duty comes out in November and gears of war in September.
Read more on KMVT Twin Falls

Report: DPD cops going unscathed for DUIs
DENVER – A new report says off-duty Denver cops who drive drunk are asking for preferential treatment from other police officers after getting caught and are getting it, 9Wants to Know has learned.
Read more on 9 News Denver

EVENTS: Teen video game tourney Saturday
Richland Public Library will hold a teen video game tournament for ages 13-18 from 2 to 4 p.m. July
Read more on Tri-City Herald

Call for irrigation investment certainty: VFF
THE State’s farmers have expressed their disappointment at significant delays in funding from the Federal Government for important irrigation infrastructure projects in Victoria.
Read more on Stock & Land

Labour call on fuel poverty fund
Scottish Labour has called on the Scottish government to reverse cuts in its fuel poverty budget, after recent price rises.
Read more on BBC News

Jarvis targets England recall
Winger Matt Jarvis has set his sights on earning an England recall after reporting back for pre-season training with Wolves.
Read more on Daily Mirror

Out of Harm’s Way


Image by /\ltus
Everyone’s comments and direct emails have been *most* appreciated. Just want to reiterate that the family and I are more than fine.

Let us all not lose sight of those most in need: the people of the Tohoku region of Japan most impacted by the Earthquake, Tsunami, and now close-proximity Radiation. It is so surreal for many of those people that I’m 1/2 serious when I say that they’d not be surprised if Godzilla now came out of the Ocean to do his part, as everything else imaginable has already done its worst.

Now as to our situation…

As I mentioned in the previous photo, I sent Chizuko and the boys to Nagoya just in case there is more to this than the Japan media/gov’t was portraying (which turned out to be the case). I took a shinkansen after work Friday to meet them down there for the weekend. Boys have cabin (hotel) fever as there is nothing to do but sit around and watch (disaster) TV or read or play some handheld video games. Chizuko is pulling triple duty by taking care of her Mom, Sister-inlaw and her baby, and our boys. She’s a real trooper though and staying strong.

Non-HDR shot taken from their hotel room at the Nagoya Shinkansen station. Moved them on to Kyoto the next day after this shot because we couldn’t extend the room due to the hotel being fully booked by other refugees from Tokyo.

I’m back in Tokyo now (Sunday afternoon) as I wanted to get our camping car taped up, as the next 3-4 days are gonna be dicey with full-on winds from the reactors up north.

Saw a friend at the train station in Tokyo this afternoon on the way back home and his first words were "You’re still in Japan?" He was on his way to the airport and was truly perplexed that I’m still here. While I may be a diehard Texan (I still wear boots to the office, and drink Tequila), Japan and its culture are my home and I will not leave here so lightly. A very large percentage of the foreign population left at the drop of a pin, which given what the Embassy’s were saying, is completely understandable. I however have decided to remain on doing my part as best I can to help rebuild this Nation that I call home.

Again, to everyone else here in Japan, best of luck, and to those outside of Japan, keep us in your prayers!

Thanks…Altus.

BTW…I’m in no position to catchup on other people’s photostreams right now given the circumstances as you can imagine, but fully intend to do so once all of this is behind us. In the meantime I’ll continue to post our situation for those interested.

Our Glastonbury U2 protest was a call for an ethical tax culture | Philip Goff
The Bono Pay Up protest was about irresponsible tax behaviour undermining democracy, public services and global development On 24 June Art Uncut erected a 9ft-wide, 24ft-high column at the front of the audience at U2′s set at Glastonbury, with the words “U PAY TAX 2?”. This expression of our concerns was quickly pulled down by heavy-handed security, breaking a finger of one of our team in the …
Read more on Guardian Unlimited

MLG Gamer Mike ‘Hastr0′ Rufail Explains Why Pro Gaming Is Attracting Mainstream Advertisers
Pro gaming has been a global phenomenon in Asia and Europe for years, but this year is seeing an explosion in the U.S. And mainstream brands and advertisers are starting to capitalize on the success of both live events and the streaming of those competitions online. The second stop in the 2011 Major League Gaming (MLG) U.S. Pro Circuit in Columbus, Ohio shattered previous records delivering more …
Read more on Forbes

Respawn Entertainment releases blurry first image from unrevealed game
Many eyes have been on Respawn Entertainment since it formed in 2010, following the high-profile departure of founders Jason West and Vince Zampella from Call of Duty creator Infinity Ward. The pair established themselves at Respawn, a new independent studio that is currently working on an unrevealed game for Electronic Arts. Now, the first image from that game has been revealed… sort of.
Read more on Digital Trends via Yahoo! News

Black Ops: Delivers?
Now don’t get me wrong, Call of Duty: Black Ops is quite the package. An impressive and elaborate single-player campaign, Fast-paced and exciting multi-player, and the always-addictive zombies mode. However, there’s something missing from this Cold War entry in the famous FPS franchise. For example, the multi-player was good, but only good. It doesn’t quite compare with Infinity Ward’s Modern …
Read more on Game Informer

Wadda ya mean, I need a bath!!!


Image by law_keven
Highest Explore Position #212 ~ On August 23rd 2008.

Meerkat – Wingham Wildlife Park, Kent, England – Sunday August 10th 2008.
Click here to see the Larger image

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ~ The meerkat or suricate Suricata suricatta is a small mammal and a member of the mongoose family. It inhabits all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana and South Africa. A group of meerkats is called a "mob", "gang", or "clan". A meerkat clan often contains around 20 meerkats at a time, but some superfamilies have had 50 or more. Meerkats have an average life span of 12-14 years.

Name ~ "Meerkat" is a loan word from Afrikaans. The name came from Dutch but by misidentification. Dutch meerkat and German Meerkatze refer to the "guenon", a monkey of the Cercopithecus genus. The word "meerkat" is Dutch for "lake cat", but the suricata is not in the cat family, and neither suricatas nor guenons are attracted to lakes; the word possibly started as a Dutch adaptation of a derivative of Sanskrit markaţa मर्कट = "monkey", perhaps in Africa via an Indian sailor onboard a Dutch East India Company ship. The traders of the Dutch East India Company were likely familiar with monkeys, but the Dutch settlers attached the name to the wrong animal at the Cape. The suricata is called stokstaartje = "little stick-tail" in Dutch and Erdmännchen = "little earth-man" in German. The scientific name suricate comes from the Swahili language and it means "rock-cat".

According to African popular belief (mainly in the Zambian/Zimbabwean region), the meerkat is also known as the sun angel, as it protects villages from the moon devil or the werewolf which is believed to attack stray cattle or lone tribesmen.

Anatomy ~ The meerkat is a small diurnal herpestid (mongoose) weighing on average about 731 grams (1.61 pounds) for males and 720 grams (1.58 pounds) for females. Its long slender body and limbs give it a body length of 25 to 35 cm (10 to 14 inches) and an added tail length of 17 to 25 cm (7 to 10 inches). Its tail is not bushy like all other mongoose species, but is rather long and thin and tapers to a black or reddish colored pointed tip. The meerkat uses its tail to balance when standing upright. Its face tapers, coming to a point at the nose, which is brown. The eyes always have black patches around them, which help deflect the sun’s glare. The meerkat has small black crescent-shaped ears that can close when digging to keep sand out. Like cats, meerkats have binocular vision, a large peripheral range, depth perception, and eyes on the front of their faces.

At the end of each of a meerkat’s "fingers" is a non-retractable, strong, 2 cm (0.8 inches) long, curved claw used for digging underground burrows and digging for prey. Claws are also used with muscular hindlegs to help climb the occasional tree. They have four toes on each foot and long slender limbs. The coat is usually fawn-colored peppered with gray, tan, or brown with a silver tint. They have short parallel stripes across their backs, extending from the base of the tail to the shoulders. The patterns of stripes are unique to each meerkat. The underside of the meerkat has no markings but the belly has a patch which is only sparsely covered with hair and shows the black skin underneath. The meerkat uses this area to absorb heat while standing on its rear legs, usually early in the morning after cold desert nights.

Diet and foraging behaviour ~ Meerkats are primarily insectivores, but also eat lizards, snakes, scorpions, spiders, plants, eggs, small mammals, millipedes, centipedes and, more rarely, small birds. They are partially immune to certain venoms; they are immune to the very strong venom of the scorpions of the Kalahari, unlike humans. They have no excess body fat stores, so foraging for food is a daily need.

Meerkats forage in a group with one "sentry" on guard watching for predators while the others search for food. Sentry duty is usually approximately an hour long. Baby meerkats do not start foraging for food until they are about 1 month old, and do so by following an older member of the group who acts as the pup’s tutor.[citation needed] The meerkat standing guard makes peeping sounds when all is well. If the meerkat spots danger, it barks loudly or whistles.

Reproduction ~ Meerkats become sexually mature at about one year of age and can have 1 to 5 pups in a litter, with 3 pups being the most common litter size. Wild meerkats may have up to four litters per year. Meerkats are iteroparous and can reproduce any time of the year but most births occur in the warmer seasons. The female meerkat can have more than one litter a year. The pups are allowed to leave the burrow at three weeks old. When the pups are ready to emerge from the burrow, the whole clan of meerkats will stand around the burrow to watch. Some of the adolescents might try to show off so they can have more attention than the pups.
Reports show that there is no precopulatory display; the male ritually grooms the female until she submits to him and copulation begins, the male generally adopting a seated position during the act. Gestation lasts approximately 11 weeks and the young are born within the underground burrow and are altricial. The young’s ears open at about 15 days of age, and their eyes at 10-14 days. They are weaned around 49 to 63 days. They do not come above ground until at least 21 days of age and stay with babysitters near the burrow. After another week or so, they join the adults on a foraging party.
Usually, the alpha pair reserves the right to mate and normally kills any young not its own, to ensure that its offspring has the best chance of survival. The dominant couple may also evict, or kick out the mothers of the offending offspring.
New meerkat groups are often formed by evicted females pairing with roving males.
If the members of the alpha group are relatives (this tends to happen when the alpha female dies and is succeeded by a daughter), they do not mate with each other and reproduction is by group females stray-mating with roving males from other groups; in this situation, pregnant females tend to kill and eat any pups born to other females.

Behavior ~ Meerkats are small burrowing animals, living in large underground networks with multiple entrances which they leave only during the day. They are very social, living in colonies averaging 20-30 members. Animals in the same group regularly groom each other to strengthen social bonds. The alpha pair often scent-mark subordinates of the group to express their authority, and this is usually followed by the subordinates grooming the alphas and licking their faces. This behavior is also usually practiced when group members are reunited after a short period apart. Most meerkats in a group are all siblings or offspring of the alpha pair.

Meerkats demonstrate altruistic behavior within their colonies; one or more meerkats stand sentry (lookout) while others are foraging or playing, to warn them of approaching dangers. When a predator is spotted, the meerkat performing as sentry gives a warning bark, and other members of the gang will run and hide in one of the many bolt holes they have spread across their territory. The sentry meerkat is the first to reappear from the burrow and search for predators, constantly barking to keep the others underground. If there is no threat, the sentry meerkat stops signalling and the others feel safe to emerge.
Meerkats also babysit the young in the group. Females that have never produced offspring of their own often lactate to feed the alpha pair’s young, while the alpha female is away with the rest of the group. They also protect the young from threats, often endangering their own lives. On warning of danger, the babysitter takes the young underground to safety and is prepared to defend them if the danger follows. If retreating underground is not possible, she collects all young together and lies on top of them.
Meerkats are also known to share their burrow with the yellow mongoose and ground squirrel, species with which they do not compete for resources. If they are unlucky, sometimes they share their burrow with snakes.
Meerkats actively teach their young. Young of most species learn solely by observing adults. For example, meerkat adults teach their pups how to eat a venomous scorpion: they will remove the stinger and help the pup learn how to handle the creature.

Despite this altruistic behaviour, meerkats sometimes kill young members of their group. Subordinate meerkats have been seen killing the offspring of more senior members in order to improve their own offspring’s position.
Meerkats have been known to engage in social activities, including what appear to be wrestling matches and foot races.

Vocalization ~ It has recently been noted that meerkat calls may carry specific meanings, with specific calls indicating the approach of snakes, birds of prey, or other predators. How these calls work is not yet clear.

Call to stamp out corruptionin Selangor’s local councils
PETALING JAYA: Extended tea breaks, missing deadlines without legitimate reasons and clocking in late for work are some examples of tardiness that can be likened to corruption that need to be stamped out at local councils in Selangor, said a director from the Malaysian Institute of Integrity.
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Japan’s Noda warns FX, power rates may drive firms abroad
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan must prevent currency rates and electricity costs from driving companies abroad after the March 11 earthquake raised concerns about the reliability of suppliers and the availability of power, Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Friday.
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Experienced alien slayers: Falling Skies stars talk gaming
From Call of Duty to Pac-Man, the cast of Falling Skies has experience both behind the controller and behind the scenes in video games.
Read more on Digital Trends

Violent video games: Do parents want help from a nanny state?
Parents weigh in on Monday’s Supreme Court ruling, which struck down, by a 7-2 vote, a California law that prevented the sale of violent video games to minors.
Read more on KFDA-TV Amarillo

Trial starts in high-profile Dracut domestic case that led to policy for off-duty police officers
LOWELL — “There is going to be blood in here tonight.” Ted Patenaude testified yesterday that’s what Robert Redican told him just before Redican allegedly pointed a 20-gauge shotgun at
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Ira Hayes, Arlington National Cemetery (Native-American Hero)


Image by Tony the Misfit
Ira Hayes (1923 – 1955):

There are probably no more tragic stories than that of Ira Hayes. Born on the Pima Indian Reservation in Sacaton, Arizona, Ira was the son of a poor farming family. His people had struggled for years to make a living in the arid conditions of the Reservation and had little success beyond survival. At one time the Pima were successful farmers but that was before the US Government cut off their water supply and created a situation where they could no longer grow enough crops to eat.

Until the beginning of W.W.II, his life was probably unnoticed by anyone more than a few miles from his birthplace. When America called its men to arms Ira answered this call and joined the US Marine Corps for several reasons: He would be able to leave the Reservation, eat regularly and send money home to his family to help them have a better life. His Tribal Chief told him to be an Honorable Warrior and to bring honor upon his people. Ira never failed to do this. He was a dedicated Marine who was admired by his peers who fought alongside him in three major battles in the Pacific.

February 23, 1945, at age 23, an event occurred that would forever place Ira Hayes in this nation’s history books and irrevocably change his life. On a hilltop above a Pacific island, a small group of Marines struggled to raise the American flag to claim victory over the Japanese occupancy. As the flag was being raised, Ira rushed to help his comrades just as the photographer snapped what was to become one of the most famous pictures in history. That picture was the "Flag Raising At Iwo Jima" and it is Ira’s hands that are outstretched to give the final thrust that planted this symbol of American victory. Six men were caught in that photograph, three of them died shortly afterwards. The battle of Iwo Jima was a costly one for our troops. Only 5 of Ira’s platoon of 45 survived and of his company of 250, only 27 escaped death or injury.

Ira Hayes was stunned when he was told that President Truman wanted him and the other survivors to return to the United State to join the 7th Bond Tour to help raise money for the war efforts. He never considered himself a hero and often said the real heroes were "my good buddies" who died during the battles. What was supposed to be an easy tour of duty turned into the worst ordeal of Ira’s military life. He never understood why he was called an American hero and struggled with the adulation that was heaped on him everywhere he went. Over and over he made statements that he was not a hero but reminded everyone of the brave men who had died and deserved this honor.

By the time Ira was released from duty he was hopelessly addicted to alcohol. The Bond Tour had been a battle that had taken more of a toll on him than any he fought in the Pacific. It seemed that this nation found one way to honor its heroes: Buy them a drink! Ira went back to the Reservation to escape the unwanted attention he’d be forced to bear but people did not stop writing and coming to see "the Indian who raised the flag." Ira’s only escape from the conflict he felt over being viewed as a hero was the bottle. Over and over he made statements like; "I was sick. I guess I was about to crack up thinking about all my good buddies. They were better men than me and they’re not coming back. Much less back to the White House, like me." After a ceremony where he was praised by President Eisenhower once again for being a hero, a reporter asked Ira, "How do you like the pomp & circumstances?" Ira just hung his head and said, "I don’t."

For the next few years Ira Hayes was a drifter, drinker and loner. He never married, was often arrested for public drunkenness and was filled with despair over the plight of his people. He had been wined and dined by the rich and powerful, had been immortalized in American history but he was still no more than an Indian on a dried up Reservation now that he’d come home. There was still no water, no crops and no hope for a better life for the Pima or him. All this time he still struggled with his own inability to reconcile himself as being worthy of the fame he’d received for simply being one of the lucky ones who lived through such a horrible war. Ira never saw his military service as any more than just being an "Honorable Warrior."

In 1954, Ira Hayes attended the dedication ceremony in Washington, D. C. for the Iwo Jima Memorial. This monument was a bronze cast replica of the now famous photograph of the flag raising, created by Felix DeWeldon. Within 10 weeks of this celebration Ira Hamilton Hayes would be dead at age 33. After another night of drinking and still lamenting over his fallen "buddies", Ira fell drunk in an irrigation ditch and froze to death, alone and forgotten by a country that had called him a hero. The ditch where he died was the single source of water that was provided for his people by the same government he’d proudly served.

source: thegoldweb.com/voices/irahayes.htm

Johnny Cash sings "The Ballad of Ira Hayes:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZyLCzwuTE0

Mossyrock fire chief dies at 47
Chief Matt Hadaller suffered a yet undetermined medical problem at his home while on-duty, on-call on Monday night, PIO Gregg Peterson said.
Read more on KING5 Seattle

State wont prosecute dead jury-skipper
GEORGETOWN, Mass., June 28 (UPI) — Officials in Massachusetts said they will not allow an application for a criminal complaint against a dead man for skipping jury duty to go forward.
Read more on UPI

Accuser may speak at sentencing of New York police officers
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Manhattan prosecutors asked a judge on Tuesday to allow the woman who accused two former New York police officers of raping her to speak at their sentencing on misconduct charges.
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Dead man summoned for jury duty for 5 years
Jury commissioner says Massachusetts won’t proceed with criminal complaint against man who had terminal cancer when summoned to court
Read more on CBS News

ROSMAH RECEIVES COURTESY CALL FROM WIVES OF THREE LID LEADERS
PUTRAJAYA, June 20 (Bernama) — The prime minister”s wife, Datin Seri RosmahMansor today received a courtesy call from wives of three Langkawi InternationalDialogue (LID) leaders at Seri Perdana here, the official residence of the primeminister.They were wives of Tanzanian President, Salma Kikwete, wife of Lesotho PrimeMinister, Mathato Mosisili and wife of Kenyan Vice-President, Pauline K …
Read more on Bernama Media via Yahoo! Malaysia News

CONFIRMED: Third Black Ops DLC Out June 28
Activision has confirmed that Call of Duty: Black Ops is getting a third map pack, again featuring four new multiplayer maps and a new zombie challenge.
Read more on GamePro

Off-duty lifeguard saves boy after drowning
Lifeguard Brogan Goodrich was enjoying her day off when duty called Saturday. Goodrich revived a young boy who drowned at a Summerville pool.
Read more on Live 5 News Charleston

BREAKING NEWS: Call Of Duty Map Packs Are For The Fans!
Alrighty… I’ll try and keep this short because I’m liable to go on a tirade otherwise. Today the third map pack for Call of Duty Black Ops was announced. “Annihilation” follows the same standard as the two packs before it with a price point of 1200 Microsoft points ($ 15) for a total of 5 maps (4 multiplayer, one zombie-mode). The map pack will release two weeks from now, on June 28th and …
Read more on Game Informer

Call of Duty Black Ops Annihilation DLC announced
The third DLC for the hugely successful video game will release on 28 June.
Read more on Daily Telegraph

Black Ops: Annihilation – “Each map feels very unique”
“We really wanted to push the visuals on all of the maps. Each map feels very unique,” says Dan Bunting, Online Director for Call of Duty: Black Ops and its upcoming multiplayer map pack, Annihilation, in a preview video for the Xbox 360′s $ 15 / £10 June 28 download.
Read more on AFP Relax via Yahoo! Malaysia News

News: Call of Duty Elite public beta date
Invitation only. A private-public beta test for Call of Duty Elite will begin on 14th July, Activision has announced. Participation will be by invite only. Invites will be given to gamers playing Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer. No platforms were specified, which suggests a mutli-platform beta test. Read more…
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‘Call Of Duty Elite’ Official FAQ
A few days ago, I gave you the basics of what “Call of Duty Elite” is all about. Obviously it’s larger than just a stat-tracking website, and with all the talk about premium subscriptions, people are starting to get a mite confused. In the spirit of clarity, Activision sent along an official FAQ about “Elite” [...]
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Modern Warfare 3 Pre-orders Ahead of Black Ops
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Activision’s upcoming, highly anticipated shooter, is on track to receive more pre-orders than its predecessor Black Ops, according to retailer GameStop. Released late last year, Call of Duty: Black Ops outpaced the record held by Modern Warfare 2 to become the most pre-ordered video game ever. Now the latest title is set to up the ante even more, noted Bob …
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