Clipmarks | Cargo Clips

Obama said that Iran is not a threat....but he would call for a Muslim Summit

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 02:03:04 GMT

clipped by: Alexian
clipper's remarks: What a freaking scholar...not!

Hijacked Iranian Ship Was A Dirty Bomb Meant For Israel On Yom Kippur

Hijacked Iranian Ship was a Dirty Bomb Meant for Israel on Yom Kippur

Although American intelligence and government sources are maintaining a strictly observed silence, the same does not apply to the Russians and so it is that we learn the real story of the MV Iran Deyanat. She was an enormous floating dirty bomb, intended to detonate after exiting the Suez Canal at the eastern end of the Mediterranean and in proximity to the coastal cities of Israel. The entire cargo of radioactive sand, obtained by Iran from China (the latter buys desperately needed oil from the former) and sealed in containers which, when the charges on the ship are set off after the crew took to the boats, will be blasted high into the air where prevailing winds will push the highly dangerous and radioactive cloud ashore.

Tags: hoshienu

Cristinanismo

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 01:17:29 GMT

clipped by: clot21

Clip Source: www.artehistoria.jcyl.es

El establecimiento de una cierta seguridad política en Occidente en el siglo VI, la consolidación de los descendientes de las antiguas aristocracias provinciales como grupos dirigentes, generalmente bajo el cargo episcopal, de los nuevos Estados, y la necesidad de éstos de competir con la misma corte de Constantinopla en el terreno literario, influyeron en un relativo renacimiento de la cultura latina. El siglo VI en sus primeros decenios vería además el establecimiento sistemático de escuelas episcopales para la formación del clero.

The Stratotanker: A flying piece of history endures

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:13:47 GMT

clipped by: LisbethJ
clipper's remarks: They dont make things to last anymore.....

Clip Source: www.npr.org

The Stratotanker: A Flying Piece Of History Endures

Morning Edition, October 13, 2008 · More than 50 years after its first flight, the KC-135 tanker is the workhorse of the U.S. Air Force, a flying gas station that loiters over the skies of Iraq and Afghanistan every day. And it will keep flying for at least 30 more years — there isn't even a contract for a replacement.

The plane entered service in 1957, when President Eisenhower was just starting his second term. With the Cold War heating up, armed B-52 bombers idled on runways, ready at a moment's notice to fly over the North Pole to strike the Soviet Union.

But the B-52, an eight-engine gas guzzler, couldn't carry enough fuel for a round-trip mission.

Enter the KC-135 Stratotanker, a jet-age filling station in the sky. The B-52 is still flying missions — and so is the Stratotanker, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It refuels bombers, fighters, cargo planes — even other tankers.

Flying A Piece Of History

Tags: stratotanker, flying, history, gas, air force

huge cranes going under bay bridge

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:14:07 GMT

clipped by: porch hog

Clip Source: oceanservice.noaa.gov

On June 14, 2002, these four industrial cranes, valued at approximately $1.25 million each, arrived in San Francisco Bay from Shanghai, China. Designed to rapidly hoist 40-foot-long containers from super-sized cargo ships, they had to be transported beneath the Oakland Bridge to reach their final destination, the Port of Oakland. The tidal range of San Francisco Bay when these cranes were transported was 4.1 feet and the bridge had a motion of approximately 6 inches. With light chop on the bay and winds blowing at around 10 mph, there was little room for error. With detailed knowledge of the tidal cycle and skillful piloting of the vessel, the cranes cleared the bottom of the bridge by about 6 feet.

Modern Pirates

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:07:44 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus
clipper's remarks: looking at the picture it seems like sizes are not everything...

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

Another ship seized as pirates issue threat

In this picture released by U.S. Navy September 28, Somali pirates in small boats are seen alongside the hijacked "Faina." The captain of a hijacked Ukrainian ship off the coast of Somalia says one crew member has died and he can see a U.S. ship about a mile from his freighter.

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.

Momentum has been growing for coordinated international action against the pirate menace.

A nation of around 8 million people, Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991. A quarter of Somali children die before age 5 and nearly every public institution has collapsed. In the capital, Mogadishu, thousands of civilians have died over the past 18 months in a ferocious, Iraq-style insurgency

Tags: crime, modern, piracy

Navy charters kite-powered cargo ship to deliver equipment

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:36:41 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: news.cnet.com

Navy charters kite-powered cargo ship to deliver equipment

For the first time, the US Navy is using a new breed of sailing ship to deliver military equipment, a move that can potentially reduce fuel costs by 20 to 30 percent, or roughly $1,600 a day per ship, according to the ship's owners.

The Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC) has chartered the "kite-assisted", fuel-saving 400 foot, MV Beluga to deliver Air Force and Army cargo to from Europe to the US.

The MV Beluga uses a paraglider-shaped, SkySails-System, which supplements its conventional, internal combustion engines. The sail is basically a huge, computer-controlled kite that soars 100 to 300 yards into the air, using the wind to tow the ship at the end of a long tear-proof, synthetic rope.

Tags: cargo, kite, shipping, skysails, cargos sip, us military

Pirates

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 19:19:26 GMT

clipped by: rdt5977

Clip Source: news.google.com

BBC Afrique

Pirates threaten to blow up ship
BBC News - 20 hours ago
Somali pirates holding a Ukrainian ship with a cargo of military tanks off the Somali coast have threatened to blow it up if they are not paid a ransom.
Pirates issue new threat Daily Nation
Somali pirates issue ultimatum Aljazeera.net
Daily Mail - Charleston - United Press International - The Associated Press - AFP
all 1,534 news articles »

Somali pirates said to be near arms cargo deal

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:41:53 GMT

clipped by: tommy2balmy
clipper's remarks: “This isn’t like buying a used car and driving off,” said one maritime official in Kenya. “The lousy money is only part of this.”

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The crew of the Ukrainian MV Faina stand on the deck following a U.S. Navy request to check on their health and welfare, off Somalia's coast on Oct. 5.

NAIROBI, Kenya — There were mixed signals on Wednesday about the progress of the ransom negotiations for the arms-laden Ukrainian freighter that Somali pirates hijacked nearly two weeks ago.

“The pirates and the shipowners have agreed on around $8 million,” said Ahmed Omar, a businessman in Xarardheere, the notorious pirate den near the location where the hijacked ship is anchored. “The ship may be freed today or tomorrow.”

Maritime officials in Kenya were a bit more cautious, saying crucial details had yet to be worked out. For starters, the pirates were asking for guarantees that they would not be captured after releasing the freighter or blown out of the water by the armada of American warships circling them.

“We just want the money,” said Sugule Ali, the pirate spokesman, in an interview last week.

Tags: somalia, somali pirates, ukraine, mv faina

What the Strida folding bike is and isn't

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:18:11 GMT

clipped by: Lexica
clipper's remarks: I'm a little dubious of the part about

the saddle is meant to be a little closer to the crank than with a normal bike, so you'll pedal with slightly bent knees. The advantage of this is that you can put both feet on the ground while in the saddle. Like I said, forget everything you know about bikes.

Forget everything I know about bikes, okay. But pedaling or pumping with one's knees bent, regardless of what kind of vehicle or machine is being pedaled or pumped, is tiring and less efficient than having one's legs more fully extended. Hm.

Clip Source: velo-orange.blogspot.com

Once you forget most of what you know about bikes, the Strida makes perfect sense. It can be stored in the corner of an apartment closet, rolled (still folded) onto the elevator, unfolded in 10 seconds on the sidewalk and ridden around town at about three-times walking speed. Re-folded it will accompany you on the subway or bus. It's also great for plane travel so long as you just need transportation around a city. For a commute of less than 10 miles it's perfect and you can store it in your office. The little rack can even carry a small shopping bag or briefcase if used with a cargo net.

What the Strida is not for is touring, randonneuring, or club rides. My only complaint with the Strida is the gearing. I find that I can spin along comfortably a an estimated 12-14 mph, but I wish this was more like 16-18 mph. On the other hand I can make it up any hill around here easily and without getting out of the saddle. That's a good thing since it's tricky to ride a Strida out of the saddle.

Tags: bikes, folding-bikes, strida, review

370 penguins mysteriously show up in Brazil

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:42:06 GMT

clipped by: Nathan_7870

Clip Source: news.sky.com

They were flown south to be closer to the freezing waters of their natural habitat on a huge air force cargo plane in what was South America's largest-ever transfer.

Onlookers cheered as the young Magellanic penguins were set free on a beach in southern Brazil and scampered into the ocean, said the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Experts hope a small group of older penguins released along with the young ones will help guide them south to the Patagonia.

Magellanic penguins breed in large colonies in southern Argentina and Chile and migrate north as far as southwest Brazil between March and September.

Environmentalists say it is not know why the penguins were stranded so far north, but suggest they could have been carried beyond their usual range by a flow of warm water.

IFAW spokesman Chris Cutter says the penguins were among nearly 1,000 that have been washed up on Brazil's north-eastern coast in recent months.

About 20% of the penguins have died and the rest were not healthy

Strida MAS folding bike review

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:05:49 GMT

clipped by: Lexica
clipper's remarks: This Strida is 2 speeds (not 1), but almost twice the price. Hmm.

Clip Source: www.inhabitat.com

STRiDA MAS Special Folding Bike

STRiDA just released its fastest, most advanced cycle to date

Swiss engineered drive system and a rustproof aluminum frame that folds in just 5 seconds flat

22 pounds

clean and quiet Kevlar Belt

a two-speed drive system allows the rider to seamlessly shift gears with the tap of a heel

And since the cargo spot will take up to 30lbs, there’s the ergonomic wheeling for your too heavy laptop/file briefcase… Assuming it has good horizontal balance.

Although we’re in love with the bike, we must admit that its $1,400 price tag is a bit intimidating.

Tags: bikes, folding-bikes, strida, testimonial

Underwater robot moves like an helicopter

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:15:44 GMT

clipped by: A53GG4

Clip Source: blogs.zdnet.com

Underwater robot moves like an helicopter

Posted by Roland Piquepaille @ 9:34 am

MIT researchers have started to test a new underwater robot that can hover in place like a helicopter. The two-meter-long Odyssey IV will be able to move autonomously up to depths of 6,000 meters at a speed of 2.5 meters per second. But unlike other underwater robots, it will be able to stop at a specific location. It could be used by oil companies to inspect the footings of offshore oil platforms. It also could be used by marine archaeologists or oceanographers for specific missions — depending on its price. But read more…

You can see above a photo of the Odyssey IV during its first tests. During these initial tests, the autonomous robot was controlled by standard wireless systems. Here is a link to a larger version of this picture which belongs to a 17-photo Robot Sub set on Flickr taken by j-fi.

‘Like a giant helicopter, this can pick up cargo underwater,’ Chryssostomidis says.

Tags: tech

Emily Dickinson's "Such is the Force of Happiness"

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:19:04 GMT

clipped by: akarra

Clip Source: www.ashokkarra.com

“Such is the Force of Happiness…” (787)
Emily Dickinson

Such is the Force of Happiness -
The Least - can lift a Ton
Assisted by its stimulus -

Who Misery - sustain -
No Sinew can afford -
The Cargo of Themselves -
Too infinite for Consciousness’
Slow capabilities.

Tags: poetry, dickinson

Tips for Eating Out with Kids

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:31:51 GMT

clipped by: odiedog
clipper's remarks: How to eat out with kids! It doesn't h ave to be stressful!

Clip Source: tipdad.com

Tips for Eating Out With Kids

Few things are as intimidating to new parents as venturing out with a new baby. The dreaded first restaurant trip usually goes smoothly, as long as there is adequate space for the baby carrier and a well-timed nap. However, when kids outgrow the car seat and become mobile creatures, meals out take on a whole new experience!

Here are a few tips we’ve put into place to make dining out a more pleasurable experience for all involved (including fellow diners):

Stick to family friendly restaurants. It’s hard to apply a litmus test on family-friendliness from the parking lot, but generally speaking you should be able to tell whether the kids menu offers macaroni and cheese or es cargo. Hint, you can’t go wrong with anywhere that serves mac and cheese and chicken fingers!

SpaceX, Falcon 9, NASA, Humans and the Moon?

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 16:29:34 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly

Clip Source: blog.wired.com

Next for SpaceX: Falcon 9, NASA, Humans and the Moon?

With a successful Falcon 1 launch under their belt, SpaceX has set its sights on hauling cargo for NASA with the larger Falcon 9 rocket, transporting crews to the International Space Station in its Dragon capsule, and landing on the Moon with a modified Falcon 1 rocket.

The Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to be shipped to Cape Canaveral, Florida late this year to prep for its NASA cargo flights. Falcon 9 has nine Merlin rocket engines to Falcon 1's one, and is capable of taking cargo, and eventually crew, to and from the International Space Station. The maiden voyage of the Falcon 9 is scheduled for the first quarter of 2009 from the larger launch pad SpaceX is currently refurbishing at the Cape. (Map of SpaceX's Kwajalein and Cape launch sites are shown below.)