Official News Thread - Misc To Replace CNN

[Kutie Pie]

Thousand of California sex offenders disable GPS monitors

Several thousand paroled sex criminals in California are wanted for ditching or disabling their GPS tracking devices, a consequence of a federal court order to ease prison overcrowding, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

In 2006, Californians mandated that sex offenders wear GPS monitors for life. The state has more than 6,600 sex offenders equipped with GPS devices, the most in the nation.

...

To comply with the court order, the state started sending parole violators to county jails rather than return them to prison.

The Times' investigation found, however, that some counties have released parole violators within hours or days of arrest, while other counties have refused to take them.

Yes, people. Because of over-crowded prisons in California, we have thousands of sex offenders running loose. I'm interested to hear the thoughts or concerns from the members in California, this is a very scary issue.

[Spookz]

US private sector hopes to send older couple to Mars

The plan was to choose a middle-aged couple because their health and fertility would be less affected by the radiation they would be exposed to during such a long space mission.

The couple would receive extensive training and would be able to draw on psychological support from mission control throughout the mission.

[...]

Space historian, Prof Christopher Riley of Lincoln University, believes that sending a couple to Mars might be a good idea.

"The idea of sending older astronauts on longer duration missions, after they have had children, has been around for a while. The reasoning is that such a long duration mission, outside of the protective magnetosphere of the Earth, could leave them infertile," he said.

"Married couples have occasionally flown in space before, on short flights, and it seemed to work well, so why not."

However results emerging from the so-called Mars500 project suggests that even carefully screened individuals are likely to suffer from psychological problems from a prolonged space mission.

The mission will be a straightforward flight to the Red Planet and return without landing. This greatly reduces the cost of the mission. The Mars Inspiration team believe that it is technically possible to launch such a mission in five years' time.

The Mars Inspiration team is aiming for a January 2018 launch because it coincides with a close alignment of Mars and Earth, such that a round trip would take about a year-and-a half, or 501 days - whereas outside of this window such a trip might take two or three years .

More info. in the link provided.

[Kutie Pie]

Hmm. Interesting. Well, that memory'll be gone before it's brought up again in a few years.

Of course, with all this talk about colonizing Mars, they also say that the effects of space-travel could leave people infertile, which is why it's an older couple on this test trip. So if that's the case, how are they going to figure out a way to make it so space travel will be safe for the reproductive system? This will be done prior to the Mars colonization (if it does happen), I take it? Yeah, it's not answered/really mentioned in the article, but that was the question that popped into mind the moment this was brought up.

[Handsome Jack]

Cancer finally free of Hugo Chavez

Caracas, Venezuela (CNN) -- Hugo Chavez, the polarizing president of Venezuela who cast himself as a "21st century socialist" and foe of the United States, died Tuesday, said Vice President Nicolas Maduro.
Chavez, who had long battled cancer, was 58.
Chavez's democratic ascent to the presidency in 1999 ushered in a new era in Venezuelan politics and its international relations.

So, thoughts on this?

[BigLutz]

So, thoughts on this?

To paraphrase the Newsweek obit, the man never met a Anti American he didn't like, he was a proud supporter of Saddam, Mugabe, Qaddafi, and of course Bashar Assad. He tried his best to be a dictator by eliminating any opposition media, packed the Supreme Court, and twisted their Constitution all under the guise of helping the poor. Maybe now his country can finally come out of the nightmare he put them through.

[Kutie Pie]

Cancer finally free of Hugo Chavez

Points for the clever headline, by the way. Cancer was the real victim here, having to put up with him for as long as it did.

Well, one less dictator to deal with now. Hopefully the new leader actually cares about their country and rebuild it. But dictators tend to have heirs/followers under their belt unless they're really that power-hungry, so I'm not holding my breath over it. And even then, the country is so devastated from his influence, it'll take years to at least get it stabilized to a decent level. Time will tell for sure.

[flamebeam]

Points for the clever headline, by the way. Cancer was the real victim here, having to put up with him for as long as it did.

Well, one less dictator to deal with now. Hopefully the new leader actually cares about their country and rebuild it. But dictators tend to have heirs/followers under their belt unless they're really that power-hungry, so I'm not holding my breath over it. And even then, the country is so devastated from his influence, it'll take years to at least get it stabilized to a decent level. Time will tell for sure.

yeah, I was thinking the same thing about heirs, e.g. Kim Jong Un. the most we can do is cross our fingers and hope that the new tyrant is too politically weak to control the nation which will give Venezuelans the opportunity for rebellion and revolution

[Spookz]

I'm kind of surprised this isn't here already.

North Korea ends peace pacts with South

North Korea says it is scrapping all non-aggression pacts with South Korea, closing its hotline with Seoul and shutting their shared border point.

The announcement follows a fresh round of UN sanctions punishing Pyongyang for its nuclear test last month.

Earlier, Pyongyang said it reserved the right to a pre-emptive nuclear strike against its "aggressors".

The US said it took the threats seriously, but that "extreme rhetoric" was not unusual for Pyongyang.

South Korea's defence ministry said that the North would become "extinct" if it went through with its threat.

The North Korean announcement, carried on the KCNA state news agency, said the North was cancelling all non-aggression pacts with the South and closing the main Panmunjom border crossing inside the Demilitarized Zone.

It also said it was notifying the South that it was "immediately" cutting off the North-South hotline.

The hotline, installed in 1971, is intended as a means of direct communication at a time of high tension, but is also used to co-ordinate the passage of people and goods through the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone.

KCNA said the hotline, which has been severed several times before, "can no longer perform its mission due to the prevailing grave situation".

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is also reported to have visited front-line military units that were involved in the shelling of a South Korean island in 2010.

KCNA said he had urged the soldiers there to keep themselves ready to "annihilate the enemy" at any time, and reconfirmed so-called "enemy targets" on five islands in the West Sea.

More info in the link above.

[flamebeam]

I'm kind of surprised this isn't here already.

North Korea ends peace pacts with South



More info in the link above.

holy f***ing s***, it's World War III, a.k.a. Nuclear War. well, it was nice knowing you all, but if anyone attacks New York City, well, it won't hit me directly, but I'll probably get radiation poisoning. best case scenario, I become a mutant and develop cool powers like the X-Men

[Kutie Pie]

I'm not surprised, it was going to happen at some point or another. The civil war never ended, it was just at a cease fire for what, sixty years now?

As for North Korea carrying on its threat against the US, I'm personally not scared. Yes, call me crazy. Worried, perhaps, but I'm not scared. If something happens, then it'll happen. We live in dark times full of war, we have for years. We're all in economic turmoil, so we can't afford to be in another war, but if we have to, then we'll have to. I'm sad about what's going to happen between the Koreas now, but hey, at least China is not going to back North Korea this time around. I can't see this lasting very long if anything drastic happens. North Korea dug its own grave once the country was divided, it was only a matter of time before it showed.

All I can do is just sit back and wait with the rest of the world. My condolences to the innocent in both Koreas who will go through this inevitable hell.

[Dragonicwari]

holy f***ing s***, it's World War III, a.k.a. Nuclear War. well, it was nice knowing you all, but if anyone attacks New York City, well, it won't hit me directly, but I'll probably get radiation poisoning. best case scenario, I become a mutant and develop cool powers like the X-Men

Luckily for America, we American's have been devoloping the technology to stop Nukes before they hit us for decades and last that I checked we could. So I wouldn't be to worried about being hit by a nuke unless NK has a huge stockpile and launches all of the at once. Plus you live in New York, if North Korea launches a nuke it would probably be the most strategic for them to aim it at Cali. If you want to read up on it you can

[flamebeam]

Luckily for America, we American's have been devoloping the technology to stop Nukes before they hit us for decades and last that I checked we could. So I wouldn't be to worried about being hit by a nuke unless NK has a huge stockpile and launches all of the at once. Plus you live in New York, if North Korea launches a nuke it would probably be the most strategic for them to aim it at Cali. If you want to read up on it you can

i knew it was strategic to hit California but since NYC has millions of people and it's the biggest American city, I figured that it would be the second best option. but i didn't know that we were working on anti-nuke technology. that's a relief. btw i don't live in the business capital of the world but I live a good 45-60 minutes away

[Dragonicwari]

i knew it was strategic to hit California but since NYC has millions of people and it's the biggest American city, I figured that it would be the second best option. but i didn't know that we were working on anti-nuke technology. that's a relief. btw i don't live in the business capital of the world but I live a good 45-60 minutes away

Yeah but think of how far they would need to launch it -_- California is closer and gives us less options to shoot it down. Plus if a nuke explodes high enough in the atmosphere it's just an EMP and that doesn't actually hurt us really (oh no, we lose our electronics lol). I believe we have been working on anti nuke technology since the 70's I believe, possibly sooner

[moot]

can we stop discussing nuclear war strategies? this thread is supposed to be for news and the discussion of news. bickering about where to nuke isn't constructive at all.

[Handsome Jack]

UN says that it's off after Best Korea says it's on

The armistice ending the Korean War is still valid and still in force, despite North Korea's claim that it has been nullified, the top U.N. spokesman said Monday.

Martin Nesirky said the 60-year-old armistice agreement had been adopted by the U.N. General Assembly and neither North Korea nor South Korea could dissolve it unilaterally.

One of two things will happen: Best Korea will ignore it, or they'll do absolutely nothing.

[Moneyy]

holy f***ing s***, it's World War III, a.k.a. Nuclear War. well, it was nice knowing you all, but if anyone attacks New York City, well, it won't hit me directly, but I'll probably get radiation poisoning. best case scenario, I become a mutant and develop cool powers like the X-Men

North Korea will most likely not carry out their threat, and even if they do, it will only end badly for them. The United States has said that they are fully prepared to protect against a North Korean nuke, and I believe this 100%. The aftermath of the failed nuke would only cause more anger towards North Korea, so they would be better off just making empty threats.

[flamebeam]

i just wish all this international turmoil would disappear. i know there are other world problems like hunger and poverty, but none of these will ever get solved without worldwide cooperation

[Kutie Pie]

Pope Francis I: Argentina's Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio is new Catholic leader

VATICAN CITY - Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires was named leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics on Wednesday after being elected pope. He will be known as Pope Francis I.

...

The archbishop of Buenos Aires is the Argentine-born son of an Italian railway worker. Seen as a compassionate conservative, he reportedly came in second during the 2005 balloting that ultimately elected Benedict XVI.

The 76-year-old Jesuit prizes simplicity and humility and would encourage priests to do shoe-leather evangelization, his biographer says.

[indigohex]

I saw it on the internet this morning (Australian time). And actually, he will be known as simply Francis not Francis I. He won't be known as Francis I until there is a Francis II (which may happen in the future). And also (for trivia buffs out there), he is the 264th Pope and not 266th the media is claiming, as Pope Benedict IX was elected three times as Pope. And in addition, Francis is the first non-European Pope since Pope Gregory III (who was born in Syria and was Pope from 731 to 741).

[Handsome Jack]

Pope Francis I: Argentina's Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio is new Catholic leader

I just saw the guy's track record. It looks like his papacy is not going to be any different from Benedict's. Not that I'm surprised or anything, just pointing that out.