Your planet today

[Fido]

My tortoise has a taste for Remy Martin and demands it constantly.  Should I be worried? 

[kimota]

ATLANTA ROBOT HITS STREETS
Down-and-outers are targets of bar owner's 'Bum Bot'
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/28/MNEJVRI19.DTL

That is what Rufus Terrill calls the rolling, remote-controlled invention he uses to flush out the prostitutes and pushers who gather near his Atlanta bar, which is two blocks from the city's largest and most controversial homeless shelter.

The Bum Bot, like the homeless people it polices, is a creature of hand-me-downs. The wheels are from one of those scooters for the elderly; the PA system is a walkie-talkie wired to a home-alarm speaker. The rotating turret is an old Cajun meat smoker.

The cylindrical smoker gives the Bum Bot its R2D2-ish profile. But its black armor - made of exercise mats - and the stenciled letters spelling out SECURITY lend it a menacing air.

An infrared camera and a 2 million-candlepower spotlight are mounted on the turret under a homemade cannon, which squirts jets of cold water at up to 200 pounds per square inch....

[kimota]

Star Wars comes to Holyhead as Darth Vader strikes back in Jedi's back garden
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/28/nhelmet128.xml


Jedi Master Jonba Hehol - known to family and friends as Barney Jones, 36, of Holyhead - was giving a TV interview in his back garden for a documentary when a man, dressed in a black bin-bag and wearing Darth Vader's trademark shiny black helmet, leapt over his garden fence.

Wielding a metal crutch - his lightsaber presumably being in for repairs - the Sith Lord proceeded to lay about his opponent, whose Jedi powers proved inadequate for the task of defending himself.

After besting Master Hehol in single combat, Vader, who The Sun reports was under the influence of alcohol, went on to assault the camera crew and a hairdresser...

[neilnumberman]

ATLANTA ROBOT HITS STREETS
Down-and-outers are targets of bar owner's 'Bum Bot'
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/28/MNEJVRI19.DTL

That is what Rufus Terrill calls the rolling, remote-controlled invention he uses to flush out the prostitutes and pushers who gather near his Atlanta bar, which is two blocks from the city's largest and most controversial homeless shelter.

The Bum Bot, like the homeless people it polices, is a creature of hand-me-downs. The wheels are from one of those scooters for the elderly; the PA system is a walkie-talkie wired to a home-alarm speaker. The rotating turret is an old Cajun meat smoker.

The cylindrical smoker gives the Bum Bot its R2D2-ish profile. But its black armor - made of exercise mats - and the stenciled letters spelling out SECURITY lend it a menacing air.

An infrared camera and a 2 million-candlepower spotlight are mounted on the turret under a homemade cannon, which squirts jets of cold water at up to 200 pounds per square inch....

Have any of the homeless tried, oh I don't know, knocking the robot over?!

[Wes]

Have any of the homeless tried, oh I don't know, knocking the robot over?!

Have you ever tried knocking over a robot? Even if the robots don't have claws, you still need to remember that they're made of metal and robots are strong.

Also, whoever gets me for Secret Santa this year, this robot would be at the top of my wish list. Thanks!

[Chris L]

I'm ashamed to admit I was expecting something else when I read the phrase "Bum Bot."

[Chris L]

The rotating turret is an old Cajun meat smoker.

Actually, this part wasn't far off.

[dave from knoxville]

Have any of the homeless tried, oh I don't know, knocking the robot over?!

Have you ever tried knocking over a robot? Even if the robots don't have claws, you still need to remember that they're made of metal and robots are strong.

Also, whoever gets me for Secret Santa this year, this robot would be at the top of my wish list. Thanks!

Every veiled Sam Waterston reference is noted and cherished.

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

I'm ashamed to admit I was expecting something else when I read the phrase "Bum Bot."

[Matt]

Reports: Mosley involved in Nazi sex scandal

Max Mosley, president of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile, F1's governing body, is facing intense pressure to resign from his post after being implicated in a Nazi role-playing orgy according to British tabloid News of the World.

The report detailed a five-hour "Nazi-style" orgy between Mosley and five prostitutes at a house in Chelsea. In a video on the newspaper's Web site, it shows a man identified as Mosley arriving at an apartment. The man is then greeted by a woman playing the role of a Nazi prison guard, checking his hair to see if he has been kept free of lice "at the other facility."

Later, another woman in mock death camp garb enters the video and the man said to be Mosley is heard speaking German.

At one point during the video, the man yells "she needs more of ze punishment!" while brandishing a leather strap over a woman's bottom before striking her with it and counting in German, as other women in Nazi-style uniforms look on.

The report is even more disturbing because of the fact that his father, Oswald Mosley, was a former British politician who served in Parliament for both the Labour and Conservative parties. Before World War II, however, Oswald led Britain's fascist organization according to the Times of London.

Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone said the sport shouldn't be affected by the report.

"Assuming it's all true, what people do privately is up to them," Ecclestone told the Times in a story posted late Sunday on its Web site. "Knowing Max it might be all a bit of a joke."

Still, the pressure is mounting for Mosley to step aside, particularly from Jewish groups, according to the Times.

This report comes mere months following a scandal in Barcelona where Lewis Hamilton, Formula One's only black driver, was verbally taunted by fans. Mosley came out shortly after the incident and threatened to impose penalties on tracks if any racially-themed incidents appeared in the future.

The FIA not only governs Formula One, but helps establish appropriate standards for all other motor racing championships, including NASCAR.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/7971044?MSNHPHMA

[kimota]

I kept waiting to reading something substantial, like he went to pro nazi rallies or had a Hitler manequin in his basement or something but as it is, it seems a little light.  Not being a NASCAR fan, maybe I'm just too distant from it.  I'm totally with "what people do privately is up to them", as long as it isn't hurting anyone else.   I guess 'hurting' needs to be defined?  Thanks for sharing the story!

[kimota]

Apply to Be One of the First Humans on Mars: Project Virgle
http://www.google.com/virgle/index.html

[kimota]

British scientists make human-cow embryos
http://uk.reuters.com/article/UKNews1/idUKN0242023320080402

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - British researchers say they have created embryos using human cells and the egg cells of cows, but said such experiments would not lead to hybrid human-animal babies, or even to direct medical therapies.


Malaysian Fisherman Reels in Shark with 'Webbed Feet'
http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?article_id=73210864950

[Regular Joe]

Malaysian Fisherman Reels in Shark with 'Webbed Feet'
http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?article_id=73210864950

Candygram maam.

This makes me cringe so horribly bad. I can't explain why it is so disgusting, but there is no doubt at all that it is. Shivers.

[kimota]

Barney the foul-mouthed parrot teaches other birds how to swear at tourists
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=557874&in_page_id=1770

First he told the mayoress in rather forthright terms to go away.

Then Barney the swearing parrot used more Anglo-Saxon language on a vicar and two police officers.

But, worse still, he is now teaching his bad habits to two other birds at the wildlife sanctuary where he lives.
...Their favourite words are f*** off, b******* and t***.




Russian squirrel pack 'kills dog'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4489792.stm

Squirrels have bitten to death a stray dog which was barking at them in a Russian park, local media report.
Passers-by were too late to stop the attack by the black squirrels in a village in the far east, which reportedly lasted about a minute.

They are said to have scampered off at the sight of humans, some carrying pieces of flesh.


Man faces five years in jail after hitting a boy with... a hedgehog
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=557613&in_page_id=1770

A man faces five years in jail after being accused of assaulting a teenager with a hedgehog.

William Singalargh, 27, is said to have thrown the hedgehog from 15ft away during a row with the unnamed 15-year-old.

"When it hit the victim in the leg, it caused a large red welt and several puncture marks," said a police source in Whakatane, on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island.