PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (CNN) – The explosion happened without warning around 4 o clock in the morning in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

FBI Agent Donald Bain sat in his car in a parking lot with two other agents. He was armed and wore a vest with a Kevlar vest. There was also a “flash-bang” grenade, a weapon that is nonlethal that gives a bright flash and deafening bang. It is used to disorient the enemy or suspects in situations of combat struggle.

The three agents – Bain, Thomas Scanzano and James Milligan – were waiting for developments on a kidnapping that had turned into a hostage stakeout.

That is when, Bain said, the flash-bang grenade exploded in his vest.

“The car was in flames,” recalled Bain. “They told me later I was on fire. Smoke filled the car it was chaos. ”

Scanzano recalls, “it was like being in combat. There was smoke and fire on the vehicle, and I knew that we were in trouble. ”

An ambulance rushed the three agents to hospital.

Bain suffered severe bruises, a concussion and burns to the neck and ears. The three agents have said they have experienced loss of hearing.

It makes me crazy,” says Scanzano. “I have difficulty sleeping. I have a very big headache. I have severe hearing impairment, and in every respect, I’m deaf in my left ear. “

Tags: stuff by frankls
1 Comment »

My sons currently have a playstation 2 game console which for all intensive purposes is like an electronic baby sitter. You put them in front of it and they can stay fixed to the screen for a whole day if we let them.

Like most parents we try to limit the boys screen time onplaystation, because we feel that playstation might be robbing them of “outside” time or more specifically exercise time.

The world seems to be getting “fatter” and “fatter” these days and games such as playstation doesn’t help the situation. Although I have seen beads of sweat running down my sons faces while playing playstation eye toy.

So I have been doing a bit of research regarding gaming alternatives and what I found was that Wii might be a great compromise for parents in that I offers a gaming environment for your child, but also stimulates exercise.

In order for your child to play Wii they have to actually exercise.  This has got to be a step in the right direction surely?

But like most gaming consoles it comes with a hefty price tag, and this is just the start of it all. There’s the accessories and then you have to buy or rent the games which at $50 a pop can get extremely expensive.

I also found a webpage that shows you how to download free Wii games online. This might be one way to cut costs.

——-

So what is your take on the matter?

Do you Wii?

——-

Downloadable Wii Games

Tags: stuff by frankls
No Comments »

(CNN) – President-elect Barack Obama said stimulating the economy is a top priority — even if it means adding to the nation’s growing deficit.

“I think it is interesting at the time that we have right now, you really have a consensus between the Republicans and conservative Liberal trend economists left-leaning economists. And the consensus is: “We must do everything necessary to stimulate this new economy” Obama told CBS “60 Minutes”, in his first interview after the election, was on Sunday.

“And you shouldn’t worry about the deficit next year, or even a year later,” he said. “We need to focus on the short term, the most important thing to avoid is a deepening of the recession.”

He said that his goals is to restore consumer confidence and re-regulation of the financial market. His first goal is to provide a legislative package to trade. He added that the potential collapse of the automotive industry would be “a disaster” in today’s economic crisis.

“It is my conviction that we need to provide assistance for the automotive industry,” said Obama. “But I think it can’t be a blank check.”

The Senate this week should vote on emergency loans for the automobile industry though the measure faces strong opposition of many Republicans. The law authorizes the loans in the automobile industry: the U.S. Treasury Department’s will fund $700 million, to bail out the financial services industry.

Detroit auto executives are scheduled to plead their case in public hearings in the House and Senate.

Obama, with his wife, Michelle, discussed the impact of choice in their family and their priorities, including the economy, the war in Iraq and other challenges it faces.

“I will say that the challenges ahead are enormous,” he says. “And is diverse. And times during the day, where you think, “What can I do in terms of moving things forward?”

“And I think that in the next two months our focus is to, really get a clear set of priorities, understanding that we’re not able to do everything at once, make sure that the team is put together, then move in a very deliberate way and send a clear signal to the American people, we will be thinking about them and what they are going through. ”

Another focus: “to put an end to Al-Qaeda, once and for all.”

“I think catching and killing Bin Laden is a critical aspect of the elimination of Al-Qaeda,” said Obama. “He’s not just a symbol, he’s also the head of the operational leader, that plans attacks against American targets.

Obama reaffirmed his commitment to close the U.S. prison camp Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Officials close to the Obama team told CNN that the next administration is weighing up the possibility to try some of the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, in the federal courts, the creation of a uniform safety standards for dealing with the most sensitive intelligence information, or the release from others.

“I have repeatedly said that I intend to close Guantanamo and I will make further progress to do so, I said that America does not torture, and I will ensure that we don’t torture, and I make sure that this is part of efforts to restore America’s moral stature, “said Obama in the” 60 Minutes “interview.

Obama, spent the last two weeks with his transition team, in Chicago, Illinois, said that he’ll announce his cabinet selections “soon”. He confirmed that he spoke with former Democratic rival Hillary Clinton recently, but did not divulge whether she would be a member of his Cabinet.

On a personal note, Obama, seated beside his wife says, he is still adjusting to “the loss of anonymity,” that comes with being the next president of the United States.

Michelle Obama said she is not sure the reality of the transition to the White House has “really hit her.”

“But I remember we were to watching to see the returns and on one of the stations, an image of Barack came up and said:” The President-elect Barack Obama. “And I looked and I said, ‘You’re the 44th President of the United States of America. Wow. What country we live in. “

Tags: stuff by frankls
No Comments »

MONTECITO, California (CNN) – One of three major wildfires burning in southern California appears to be “human caused,” a spokesman for the state’s fire agency said Sunday.

This is really crazy stuff. It appears that investigators have eliminated “all accidental causes” of the fires that destroyed 210 homes and injured 2 in Santa Barbara County.

Investigators have eliminated “all accidental causes” of the fire that destroyed 210 homes and injured two in the Santa Barbara County since Thursday, and is suspected of arson, the spokesman said Doug Lannon .

“We need the public’s help to identify any activity in or around the afternoon of November 13″ Lannon said.

The fire burned 1940 acres, including a monastery and several homes in the Montecito community, where celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey, have homes. It was 75 percent contained by Sunday, Lannon said.

Authorities believe the fire started in the garden of the estate, a private company several acres of property about a mile north of Santa Barbara’s exclusive Westmont College. On Friday, arson investigators cordoned off the estate after several eyewitnesses told authorities they believed the fire originated in this area, according to Lannon.

Other major fires were burning in the northern region of Los Angeles and Orange County, east of Los Angeles. The three blazes have burned 20,000 acres and forced more than 10,000 people to flee their homes, authorities said.

On Sunday authorities were searching through the debris of nearly 500 mobile homes destroyed on Saturday in northern Los Angeles, known as the fire Sayre.

Earlier Sunday afternoon, a third of mobile homes were searched, and no human remains were found.

The police had received no reports of missing persons in the park. Moore said 134 residents had been accounted for, and that others should check with the city authorities.

Los Angeles County Coroner Ed Winter said authorities believe most people in this mobile home park were evacuated, and that the search was a precaution.

The Sayre fire broke out Friday at the end of the steep terrain of the Angeles National Forest on the outskirts of the Sylmar neighborhood, about 20 km north of the city of Los Angeles.

The Sayre fire burned about 9500 acres in the San Fernando Valley and was about 30 percent contained, California.

Nine other homes and 10 businesses were destroyed in Los Angeles Saturday evening, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said.

Firefighters are struggling to contain the third fire in Orange County, said Lynette Round, a spokeswoman for Orange County Fire Authority.

Firefighters were hoping that strong winds in southern California on Sunday was going to die, to help suppress the blazes.

“If the winds do die down, it will give the firefighters an upper hand on the fight against this,”. This is an wind-driven fire with wind gusts up to 25 miles per hour, it’s giving firefighters a very difficult time. It hopscotched throughout the region.

Round said 168 houses were destroyed or damaged in the area of Orange County. The so-called Triangle Freeway Complex fire also damaged a building in a secondary school.

The outbreak, which has burned 10,475 acres, is not contained at all, and is spreading throughout Orange County, posing threats to Yorba Linda, Corona, Brea, Chino Hills and Anaheim Hills neighborhoods, according to Fire California.

Winds – which have joined with low humidity and unusually high temperatures to help build the fire s even more – were gusting up to 80 mph Saturday. The high temperature in Los Angeles reached 92 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency for counties affected after the fire damaged and destroyed hundreds of homes and closed the main highways.

The move frees up any state resources necessary to fight against the fire and makes the country eligible for federal grants.

In Los Angeles, Villaraigosa declared a city emergency early Saturday morning and asked for the public ‘s cooperation in energy conservation as potential blackouts loomed.

Augustin Reyes and his family left their home in Sylmar about 2 am Saturday when they could no longer bear the heat and smoke to encroach into the hills behind their house.

When Reyes returned to survey the scene Saturday afternoon, all that remains are piles of charred rubble.

Reyes dabbed his eyes with a handkerchief as he worried about how to describe the loss to his 7-year-old son.

By Saturday afternoon, people were taking refuge in evacuation shelters set up in three secondary schools in the region, officials said.

Horses and other large animals were taken to a shelter in the park, Hansen Dam. A mobile cage was set up at Sylmar High School, and small animals can be taken to the Mission animal shelter.

Tags: stuff by frankls
No Comments »

(CNN) – Space shuttle Endeavour docked Sunday with the international space station, where the shuttle crew will help install more living space.

The shuttle also carrying mission specialist to replace Sandra Magnus station flight engineer Greg Chamitoff, docked at the station just after 5 pm ET about 212 miles above northern India.

Chamitoff, who has been on the space station for almost six months, welcomed his ride home with enthusiasm.

“You are beautiful,” said Chamitoff by radio. “I’m smiling from ear to ear.”

The seven crew members of the shuttle and station crew members were expected to greet each other at about 7 pm ET, after the opening of their vehicle doors.

Before docking, the shuttle did a nine minute backflip so station astronauts could take high-resolution images of the shuttle’s thermal-protection system, NASA said. NASA will look at the pictures for damage caused on the Endeavor, which launched Friday.

It was a gash on the wing of the Columbia space shuttle that caused the destruction and death of seven astronauts during re-entry on February 1 2003.

During their stay, the astronauts to the station will increase the living space to accommodate room for six instead of three. They’ll install more places to sleep, another bathroom, a better water supply system, more exercise equipment and a larger refrigerator.

The people aboard the space station is to grow to six next spring.

Also on tap are four space walks focusing on the station’s two Solar Alpha Rotary Joints, which allow the solar panels to follow the sun.

The shuttle is also transporting Thanksgiving dinner, turkey, candied yams, stuffing and dessert, as it won’t be back to earth until November 29.

Tags: stuff by frankls
No Comments »

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) - Raging wildfires threatened lines of high voltage transmission along Southern California’s Interstate 5, causing the utility that serves Los Angeles to orchestrate rotating power cuts in some neighborhoods for nearly an hour Saturday .

Four firefighters were injured and more than 10,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in northern San Fernando Valley driven by wind-Sayre Fire, named after the street where she was first spotted in the Sylmar area of Los Angeles.

The fire Sayre, which owns over 6500 acres burned since its start Friday night, was one of the three, at least, affecting the Los Angeles area Saturday.

In Santa Barbara County, the Tea fire was contained around 40 percent after destroying more than 100 homes and burning 1800 acres since Thursday.

The south of Los Angeles, a brush fire that started in Corona has been moved in Yorba Linda, destroying at least 30 houses and 800 hectares for 1000 sweaty, according to CNN affiliate KTLA.

(4 hours ET) Saturday, the Sayre fire was 10 percent contained, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said.

The Sayre-fueled brush fire broke out Friday afternoon in the steep terrain of the Angeles National Forest on the outskirts of Sylmar, about 20 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.

It covered 1500 acres and threatened at least 1,000 homes just three hours after it was reported, according to the spokesperson Los Angeles Fire Armando Hogan.

On Saturday afternoon, people were taking refuge in evacuation shelters set up in three secondary schools in the region, officials said.

Horses and other large animals were being taken to a makeshift shelter at Hansen Dam Park. A mobile kennel was established in Sylmar High School, where small pets could be brought into the Mission animal shelters.

The fire was moving 1 mph, said Los Angeles Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief Mario Rueda, forcing the closure of most roads in the valley, including Interstate 5, 405 and 210.

The I-5 corridor through the city of Sylmar is an important energy corridor carrying utility for the city ‘s Department of Water and Power and other utilities from plants in the Southwest and Pacific Northwest.

“The LADWP closed off these lines to ensure the safety of firefighters and the public. Power was turned off for the Mid-City, Crenshaw and Harbor Gateway neighborhoods for 45 minutes.

Augustine Reyes and his family left their home in Sylmar for about 2 hours on Saturday when they could not stand the oppressive heat and smoke invading the mountains behind their house.

When Reyes returned to survey the scene Saturday afternoon, all that remained were heaps of charred rubble.

Reyes dabbed her eyes with a bandana as he worried over how to describe the loss to his 7-year-old son.

“He’s autistic and doesn ‘t do well with change, so this will be very difficult to explain to him,” said Reyes.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency to Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon after the fire damaged destroyed more than 165 homes and closed major highways.

In Los Angeles, Villaraigosa a city declared  a state of emergency early Saturday morning and called for the public’s cooperation

The Sayre fire jumped the I-5 Saturday, and headed west toward areas burned by fire last month in Sesnon Porter Ranch.

About 500 mobile homes in the Oakridge Mobile Home Park near Sylmar structural were among the victims. At least 5,000 residents of Sylmar, were ordered to flee early Saturday.

Gusting winds of up to 80 mph pushed the flames into canyons and rugged terrain, where firefighters battled to contain it. The temperature reached 90 degrees in the Valley, with moisture in remainder only 10 to 15 percent.

Residents in Granada Hills and Puerto Ranch communities were among those ordered to leave their homes Saturday, said Los Angeles Deputy Police Chief Michel Moore.

“This fire is moving so quickly that they can ‘t wait,” said Moore, warning residents not to wait until they see flames.

John Tripp of the Los Angeles County Fire Department said his department was helping bulldozers, hand crews and water-dropping helicopters to extinguish the effort. A dozen helicopters and fixed wing aircraft, were to be available until Sunday morning, he said.

Tripp said firefighters were trying to stand in front of the fire and create lines of control, especially to keep it from spreading farther north toward Santa Clarita. Twenty-five teams of emergency, equal to 125 engines, were being used, he said.

At the Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar, about 200 patients were sheltered in place as flames approached, according to hospital spokeswoman Carla Nino.

The hospital lost power early Saturday, and there were problems with emergency generators, but they finally kicked in, Nino said.

Five children and six adults in the intensive care unit were evacuated by ambulances to other medical institutions, as well as the hospital’s nursery caught fire. Empty cribs were outside the building.

Tags: stuff by frankls
No Comments »

I was searching for something entirely different the other day and came across this website that was quite interesting.

If you’re not interested in tattoos then this article is probably not for you, however if you have at least a small interest in tattoo’s then this site may offer a few options that you may not have considered.

It makes sense that if you are going to get a tattoo then you probably should spend a good amount of time getting the design right – right?

I mean, it’s there for life yeah. So why wouldn’t anyone want to make sure that the design they eventually pick is going to be the right.

The only way to do this is to be exposed to as many tattoo designs as possible before even entering a tattoo parlour.

Anyway, if you’re interested then check out this Chopper Tattoo Review.

Tags: stuff by frankls
No Comments »

(CNN) - The first pictures of planets outside our solar system were released today in both studies.

Using the latest techniques in the technology space, astronomers from NASA and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory used direct-imaging techniques to capture images of four new planets orbiting stars discovered outside our system Solar.

“After all these years, it is incredible to have a photo showing not one but three planets,” said Bruce Macintosh physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California.

“The discovery of HR 8799 is a crucial step towards the ultimate detection of another Earth,” he said.

Unfortunately none of the planets are able to sustain human life, scientists said.

Both sets of research results were published Thursday in Science Express, a journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

A team of American and British physicists and astronomers, using the Gemini North and Keck telescopes on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, to observe both star HR8799 and to find the three new planets.

Scientists estimate that HR8799, is about 1.5 times the size of the sun, is 130 light years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus. The different planets of this global family, is an estimated seven to 10 times the mass of Jupiter.

Astronomers say the star is too low to detect with the human eye, but observers could probably see it with binoculars or small telescopes.

“This discovery is the first time that we have had images directly from a family of planets around a normal star outside our solar system,” said Christian Marois, the chief astronomer in the Lawrence Livermore laboratory study.

Around the same time, NASA astronomers in orbit using the Hubble Space Telescope surprised the space community to locate a fourth planet.

NASA ‘s newly discovered planet, Fomalhaut b, is estimated at about three times Jupiter’ s mass and 10.7 billion kilometers from its host star, Fomalhaut. NASA ‘s images show Fomalhaut B orbiting the bright star Fomalhaut in the south, which is said to be 16 times brighter than our sun and 25 light-years away in the constellation Piscis Australis (southern fish).

“Our Hubble observations have been incredibly demanding. Fomalhaut b is 1 billion times weaker than the star, “Hubble astronomer Paul KALAS said. “We started this project in 2001, and our persistence paid off.”

Previous planet-hunting efforts have relied on the traditional Doppler, or “swing” technique, which works by measuring the gravitational influence of a planet exerts on its host, or a relative, a star. By studying these gravitational “tug-of-wars, astronomers have been able to study a star or the speed of light to infer the presence of a planet.

In all images documented, the three objects have been found to be in orbit in a sense against clockwise around HF8799, proving they were planets and not just objects basic aligned by chance in the image.

According to the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia, there were 322 planets outside our solar system. The latest results bring the total to 326.

Tags: stuff by frankls
No Comments »

SINGAPORE (AP) - The Singapore Zoo had three white Bengal tigers mauled a zoo cleaner to death after the man jumped into a moat surrounding their enclosure.

Biswajit Guha, the Singapore Zoo ‘s assistant director, said the tiger pounced on Mondong bin Nordin, 32 years old from Malaysia.

The tigers weighing over 220 pounds (100 kg) each.

Guha, colleagues said zoo workers managed to distract the tiger and Nordin benefit from it, but he died on the way to a hospital.

He said in a statement on Thursday that a Malaysia contract worker jumped into the moat and was attacked by three white tigers. He said: “Unfortunately the worker succumbed to his injuries.”

Tags: stuff by frankls
No Comments »

(CNN) - Thousands of people worldwide may find the big payoff Thursday for countless hours spent perfecting some of the most ridiculous feats.

More than 200,000 people in 18 countries hope to make the “Guinness World Records” book with a variety of accomplishments rather strange for this day and age.

Students of the University of Bournemouth in the UK plan to get over 100 participants to establish a record for most people dressed as Superheroes.

Several Germans to are set to break a record for most extraction of grape juice by Treading on them.

And in New Zealand, would-be record holders chase glory in a race to set the fastest time to Peel and Eat – what else? – A kiwi fruit.

The conduct of unusual activities worldwide unfold as part of Guinness World Records Day. The publishers of “Guinness World Records” – universally recognized as an authority on the first record of success – began to celebrate the day in 2004, one year after the book sold its 100 millionth copy.

“We are very pleased to see that people are still enthusiastic and eager to achieve their objectives in the turmoil of the global market,” editor Craig Glenday said in a prepared statement.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, displays his studious later Thursday in an effort to enter the record books for most people reading simultaneously. Brazil will try to beat the world record for the largest bread, and Japan hopes to clock the fastest execution of 100 meters on all fours.

Various locations in the United States are also in on the act.

New York will try for most grains of rice sticks eaten in a minute, and Oak Park, Illinois, will host the largest dog wedding. Sports network ESPN will televise the attempts of the fastest egg and spoon race mile and the most apples cut in mid-air with a sword.

Tags: stuff by frankls
No Comments »