Telionis

Instead of the plutinium poisoning, Putin's political enemy (and chess great) Garry Kasparov faces a less dangerous attack. Maybe NSFW... yes, a remote control pen*s copter attacks the convention... Seriously. http://www.sharenator.com/Flying_penis/ Totally unrelated to Australia or Ford XR6s, but hilarious IMHO.

Wait... 6 contacts a year? They keep track??? You talked to that guy too often, you must be a criminal!??? Man, that is worse than here (the States)... and I thought Bush was effective at moving a country towards fascism... at least here half the people are f-cking idiotic enough to think it is making us safer. FMI - wtf is a bikie? A gang of motorcycle riders? They really are that much of a problem down under? _____________ The worst new pseudo-fascist law they have here is the "extraordinary rendition" garbage (which only applies to non-citizens, but it is still an absolute f-cking affront to all our founding values and down right Stalinist). The least fair thing they can do to a citizen is to summarily decide they are conspiring with the enemy and freeze all personal assets (with no oversight, no trial...) which is pretty close to fascism in my book, but at least they can't jail you without a trial... yet... Man, I hope Obama wins! McBush might just bey foolish enough to start a war in Iran. _____________ Its good to know we aren't the only ones afraid that our government is heading towards a police state. Rudd is a liberal though, isn't he? (Is Rudd the guy that got caught on youtube picking his nose?) At any rate, he couldn't lead your nation that far astray... it takes a war-mongering conservative riding a wave of fear and paranoia to lead country into serious problems. If the people aren't terrified of some enemy greater than the government, they'll never give up their liberties. "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis. I suspect the same goes for Australia (save the color of the flag), but thankfully you guys have not seriously got caught up in our poltical mess, and the politicians can't pretend it takes a police state to keep you safe from the hundreds of billions of evil terrorists...

I just heard on the nightly news - the guy is still loose (?) - anyone near Flinders Lane and William Street? Take cover!!!

Speaking of idiots... some piece of sh*t from Holland has been repeatedly changing the wikipedia article on Dr. Librescu to a frame with just his picture and line of text that reads "a n00b that got pwn3d"... oh if I could find that dude... :mad: _____________ Dude, who in God's name is that in your avatar picture? Is he real?

Update: I'm sorry to say that I was wrong - Dr. Librescu actually saved all of his kids but one. After the killer shot Dr. Librescu through the door, he pushed his way in and shot the last student left in the room as they were climbing out the window (not sure if that student was male or female). Sorry about the error. _____________________ Another Hero, Dr. Kevin Granata, RIP This account, like the last one, is based on what I have heard from other ESM students and professors, there could be small errors with this report just like with Dr. L's account, but I'm confident that the basic idea is correct. Dr. Granata's office was on the third floor, three or four doors down the hall from my Father's office. He was in that office when he heard the gunshots and screams, but instead of hiding under his desk, he went downstairs to see if he could do anything. Peeking out of the stairwell, he saw that the killer was in a classroom and not in the hallway. He went out and grabbed an injured person and helped (maybe dragged?) them back to the stairwell and up to the 3rd floor. Then he went down to floor two again, and again the killer was no where to be seen, so he grabbed the next person helped them to the 3rd floor. His third trip seemed the same, the killer was no where to be seen, so he went out, got someone and helped them limp to the stairs. Unfortunatly, this time killer caught a glimpse of Granata as the entered the stairwell. The killer ran after them, followed them into the stairwell, and shot Dr. Granata several times in the back. (I imagine the victim that Granata was helping was also killed). But from what I have heard, the few injured people he helped to the 3rd floor did in fact survive. It should be noted that the killer was reported to have come back to make sure he finished his victims, (none of the classroom victims had less than 3 shots in them), so I imagine he would have returned to finish the wounded in the hallway. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that Dr. Granata did in fact save those people; even if their initial wounds were non-fatal, the killer would have come back for them. Dr. Granata would have been perfectly safe in his office on the 3rd floor, he could have locked the door and hid until the cops came... instead he ran towards the screams and gunshots. IMHO, that makes him a hero, even if he failed... He is survived by a wife and three children, all under 15. :(

That's just crazy. A Saleen Mustang is not worth that much in my book, even being so rare down there. The standard Mustang v8 could be had for $23k US here in the states... its amazing they actually sold for $100k AUS there. I guess it's all about the exclusivity, becuase it certainly wasn't a high-performance machine worthy of the price-tag. ( Personally, I'd take the phoon over any thing Saleen makes, save maybe the S7). I'm torn between the new Camaro and the new Challenger. You guys see the concept car of the latter? It's due out in 2009, with the same 6.1L 420 hp the Chrysler SRT-8s have. Quite a badass car imho. But the new Camaro looks awesome too. Of course, the Shelby GT500 is also amazing, but unlike the others, is outrageously expensive ($70k US, more than an Audi RS4).

That's just awesome. I have no idea why Ford is so stupid as to not import those here. As I said, the 3.5L 300 hp Toyotas and Nissans are destroying the American cars in the sedan market. They're struggling to compete with new developments, but they just can't come close in terms of performance, all the while, they're sitting on the perfect Japan-fighter and all the only development needed is to convert the thing to LHD...

I'm guessing from Dagabond's comments that you guys didn't get the last gen Mustangs down there? I'll trade someone an 03 Cobra for a 2000+ phoon. (If only customs wouldn't have such a fit about that...) The Kenne Bell kit (KB) can make 700 rwhp, costs $7k US and requires no internal mods. Truely a great machine. Who know the Winsor 5.0 guys would be so wrong when they complained about the switch to the modular 4.6? The cog-drive superchargers sound even crazier on the Cobra. I'll try to find a video of one. That 900 whp one was just amazing btw.

Maybe China is a danger, but you guys would own NK. They have a ton of troops, but can barely equip them, much less transport them to Australia. Furthermore, with their logistics, the bush (brush, outback?) the wild would eat them alive. In fact, they may have tried it and nobody realized. Also, whether its based on a realistic view of Australia or just what we know from Steve Irwin (RIP) and Paul Hogan, Americans love Australia. They think of it as a cooler more fun-loving USA. They might have no idea that Sydney is not the capital, in fact, they might not know that Sydney is in Australia, in fact, they might not know that Sydney is not referring to a person that decided to spell her name differently to be cool... but they still love ya'll. If you ask any American what other countries they actually care about, (if he realizes there are other countries... j/k), he'll almost certainly say Canada, England or Australia, (maybe Japan, especially if he is a typical Honda boy, or maybe NZ if he knows that's not a state in the south-west US). So I gurantee, we'd be over there to back you guys up in no time, and I'm sure you can count on mother England just as much, as well as the rest of your fellow commonwealth nations. I understand that everyone wants to be self-sufficient, but whether or not you are, you're certainly not more than a day or two from help like it or not, (and how far can a North Korean tank drive in a day or two, what, 5-10 miles at top speed???). Shoot, the French might even come (maybe... if the weathers nice... depends on who else is going) - we'll try to keep Germany out of it since they have only two modes, peace and World War. (I don't mean to come across implying that you guys need us for protection, I'm just saying that whether or not you want us there, the rest of the English speaking world would be there to back you guys up).

Lightnings are awesome. I tied one from 60 to 100 mph on the highway when my Stealth was stock. Very impressive. He would have probably walked me if we started at 20 mph. Ever get the Syclone/Typhoon there? (Not the F6 typhoon, I mean the GMC trucks). They were pickup and SUV respectivly, made from 1991-1992, totally ordinary looking. They had a turbo 4.3 engine that was basically the engine from the turbo Buick GNX (but bored out .5 L). They ran flat-14s stock, but they responded to mods so easily that there are some running 8s today. If you didn't recognize it, it looked like any other piece of crap 1990 GMC truck. They're the Lightning's arch-rival here (despite the attempts of Dodge to steal that honor with the Viper v10 powered Ram).

We've always pined for the Skyline, Evo and STi products here in the states. Those who know, like myself, even more desired the Holdens, v8 Fords and especially the turbo XR6. Are there any machines you guys wish your market got? Did you guys get the late model Camaros? It wasn't a very good handling car (not bad, but might get out-handled by a top-model Integra), and the inside certainly wasn't finished like a Porsche would be; but it looked nice, was resonably quick and was cheap. The last generation was motivated by the 5.7L v8 LS1 engine. Though it was rated at 305 hp for the Z28 and 320 hp for the SS (so as not to compete with the Corvette), most Camaros dyno'd exactly the same as their Corvette bretheren, so most consider them ~340 hp cars. For $24,000 US you could get a brand-new, 340 hp / 380 lb-ft v8 equipped car with a 6-speed Tremec T56 transmission all in a package that weighed 3400 lbs and ran low 13 second quarter miles at over 105 mph stock. Also, the aftermarket for the cars was huge, and with bolt-ons and new camshaft you could get 450 hp at the crank and flat-12 sec quarters. There were also several supercharger kits and a twin T66 turbo kit that allowed it to out-accelerate a 1200 cc Hayabusa croch-rocket on the highway. It wasn't a BMW by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a pretty good deal for a kid with the desire for acceleration. They can be had for $10k, (6-7 years old w/ 50,000 miles), I'd love to pick one up, but lack the space and need the cash to fix the Stealth (ecu melted through itself). __________________ The 2003 and 2004 Mustang Cobras were also very awesome (though expensive, $37k new). With just $1500 worth of bolt-on mods, you could make 500 hp at the crank easy. Not too hard when you've got a supercharged V8 from the factory (just a boost pulley and exhaust and you've got another 70 hp on top of the 420 it came with stock). [it was rated at 390 stock, but nobody believes it made that little]. __________________ How about the Dodge Viper. I know its the embodiment and exemplification of American excess, but who can say no to an 8.3L V10 engine w/ 500 hp and 500 lb-ft. Here it's sold for $70k, when a new Lotus Esprit will run $85k, an NSX will cost $90k, and a 911 turbo drain your pockets of $130k. Furthermore, with 8.3L and only 500 hp, you know its no where near its limit. A tuner in Texas, John Hennessey, put 10 psi of boost into one, and it overloaded his dyno - (the dyno maxed out at 1200 lb-ft of torque, which the Viper exceeded, with 10 psi).

Really? For the same cars (the old muscle), or do you mean the new ones aren't up to spec? The Vette finally became a supercar with the C5. The C6 takes that one step further. For $70k you can get something that is 99% as fast around a real track as a 911 turbo that goes for $130k. It used to be that all American cars were only made for the straight tracks, but the new Vettes can handle quite well. Of course, when the weakest engine you can get makes 405 hp, they're still pretty good at going straight. The Escalade is a beast. It must take 500 hp for it to even run a 12 second quarter-mile. Sh-t, I think one of the tuners supercharged one to 500 hp and it still ran mid-13s. I'm sure they can launch like beasts though, all that torque, but the stock Turbo Territory would probably destroy 80% of the supercharged Escalades out there. It's very impressive what Nizpro did to it (well its very impressive what they did to the 4.0 period). We have a reasonably baddass SUV here too... of all the makers, it's a Jeep. LOL. Our local car magazines said it was everything the Porsche Cayenne should have been. It out handles, out stops and of course, out accelerates the Porsche for half the price (40k versus 80k). It's motivated by a 6.1L Hemi V8 making 420 hp (315 kW) and 420 lbf-ft (570 N-m) of torque. Fresh from the dealer people have been able to run the quarter-mile in 13.0-13.1 sec at 107-108 mph. It's just as fast in the rain as it is on a dry prepped drag-strip. I might take you guys up on that one day. (Is it true that funnel-web spiders are attracted to small children and can shoot instantly-lethal contact venom 30 feet and occasionally through windows??? (just kidding)). Wikipedia!!! I forgot where I heard about them in the first place. I think one of the mags talking about the Holden's that were to be rebadged as Pontiacs, mentioned the still vibrant muscle-cars of Australia and mentioned the Falcon GT. When I looked it up, I found that you had a choice between the 5.4L V8 and the 4.0 turbo, which is even cooler imho. Wikipedia has a direct link to this board. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Falcon_XR6_Turbo TY. What would be great is finding some little old Australian lady that imported a Falcon XR6 to the States, but then only drove it to the store and back, and suddenly decided to sell it, cheap. (Man would that surprise the crap out of locals... sporty looking Ford sedan w/ RHD, oh and a motor capable of 1200 hp). At least one clueless riceboy would ask if it was a Skyline (the only RHD cars in the world as far as they're concerned). Wow, I didn't realize the G8 was another Holden. I assumed it would be front-wheel drive like all the other sedans GM makes (what is the point of a 300+ hp front-wheel drive car???). That's quite nice, but unfortunately it will have the traditional Pontiac body-kit treatment. It's no where near as nice looking as the Expensive Daewoo version, but hey, its a great step in the right direction. Now we need to convince Ford to bring a LHD version of the XR6 with no other changes whatsoever. Yup, that would make it totally perfect.

Hey, now that's quite offensive... nobody has ever accused me of promoting George Bush as a great leader. Quite to the contrary in fact. He's caused nearly irreprerable damage to the US and especially the stability of Iraq. I already agreed with you that we were fools to invade Iraq and that our actions caused the chaos the Iraqis have to live with now. Chaos that makes the Iraqi people worse off now than they were under his dictatorship. If that's pro-Bush propaganda, I can't imagine what you actually expect me to say... what, that Saddam was a great and peaceful man that loved everyone and never hurt a fly?

Thanks. But what propaganda? I'm extremely against the war and Bush's policies. Do you doubt that Saddam was a terrible dictator? Is there any doubt that it took that kind of guy to keep the factions from fighting? Is it any doubt that if given the choice, quite a few Sunni and Shia would try to kill each other?

RIP Liviu Librescu :( I just found out that one of my favorite professors, Dr. Liviu Librescu, did in fact die. :( For some reason, I just had a feeling that he didn't go out peaceably. Honestly, even though he was 75+ and 5'4" tall, I just had a feeling he wasn't one of the people who got shot just sitting at their desks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liviu_Librescu Turns out, when the gun shots erupted, he jumped up and told students to jump out the windows while he closed and held the door. As soon as the killer was done with the first classroom, he tried to break in to Dr. Librescu's class, but Dr. Librescu held fast. After giving up, then the killer just started shooting through the door and one of the bullets hit Dr. Librescu in the face. (He died on the way to the hospital). But every one of his students got out alive and purely because of the time he bought them. The other two classrooms neighboring that one suffered heavy casualties. Man, he's a f-cking HERO!!! (Thank God my Dad wasn't in that position (to be a hero)... thank God).

Not quite. Wal-mart does not sell anything but hunting weapons (2-shot shotgun, 3-4 shot bolt action deer rifle, etc). They certainly don't carry pistols. Only Federally Registered stores may sell firearms, and they must check the status of the buyer with the state police. However, the killer was over 21 and a permanent resident of Virginia (though he was a foreign national); he had no prior legal problems or history of mental problems, so it was legal for him to buy a pistol. Nobody is allowed to have or carry a weapon onto campus, but obviously, that didn't stop him. That's f-cking garbage. Their civil conflict claims 1000 x more lives than American soldiers. Furthermore, except in a few very well publicized cases, our soldiers are fighting well armed enemies - not civilians. In fact, if those evil American teenagers left, there would be nothing but widespread genocide. I admit however that we are idiots for not realizing that it takes a rape-squad equipped evil dictator to keep these different groups living together without killing each other. Remove said evil dictator, and nothing stops the Sunnis and Shia from just trying to exterminate each other. We should have thought of that before taking Saddam out.

We're still getting conflicting reports. Some say the cops dropped him, others say he shot himself. Feds say that it was the latter.

I'm not sure if it's out of control. The question is, what do you do now? If there was a law that said every one has to turn in their guns immediately... otherwise they'll be thrown in jail. What would happen? All the legitimate citizens would turn in their guns, and all the violent criminals... well they would not. So the law would effectively disarm all the law abiding citizens, while the guys that are causing all the problems would still be just as armed. If you know the criminals will have guns, do you want to be at their mercy or would you prefer to have to fight them? Which is the lesser of two evils?

You can argue both sides of the NRA's point. I guess it would be ideal if there were no guns, period (full stop!?!), but there is absolutally no way to do that. No matter what laws are enacted now, the real criminals have guns today, and certainly won't give them up. It is not legal for anyone under 21 to have a pistol in Virginia, furthermore, no firearms of any kind are allowed on campus, regardless of whether you've got a license or not, (excluding the cops of course); but as one might imagine though, the killer (prepared to kill 30 people) didn't pay too much attention to the fact that he was also breaking gun control laws. Short of some divine intervention, I can't imagine that all the guns could be removed from the hands of criminals. So that leaves good citizens with two terrible choices, "hope that it won't happen to them and if it does hope that the guy showes mercy," or "get over the bad taste of the very idea of carrying a gun and start doing so." I guess the choice is between having a shoot-out on campus or having a massacre; who can say for sure which is the lesser of two evils? __________ What kind of gun control laws does Australia have? In the US it varies by state, in Virginia any legal citizen 21 over with proper training (3 days worth) and registration (finger printing, back ground check, etc), can carry concealed pistol, except in designated areas (gov property, banks, schools, airports, bars / anywhere there is alcohol, etc.). Reports that automatic AK47s are legal in the US are completely fabricated (well, its possible for collectors, but will cost you $30k and the ATF will examine you so hard your butt will hurt). On the other hand, in Greece, pistols are banned period (full stop!), even members of the military can't own one, much less walk around with one. In fact, my grandpa's best friend was the chief of the Greek army right after WW2 - president Eisenhower gave him a gold-plated Colt 1911 to thank him for Greece's service... when it got stolen 5 years ago (such a shame), the cops almost arrested this 90 year old ex-general for not having turned the pistol in upon his retirement.

We also had abnormal winds today also... like 30-40 mph gusts. I almost got knocked over in the parking lot. In fact, part of the wooden construction for a new building on campus (the wooden frame that concrete will be poured into) was torn apart damaged and pieces went flying from this abnormal wind. The siginificance of the wind: today is the only day all year with winds that were too strong for helicopters to fly in. After overwelming the ERs of our local hospitals, the victims had to make the trip to the nearest city (Roanoke) - but since they couldn't fly, they had to be driven via highway (45 minutes even with a perfectly clear road versus less than 10 minutes by heli). Not sure how many died of wounds on the way. :( I know for sure now that one of my favorite profs got shot in the face (he may survive though). Thank God my Dad wasn't teaching today.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/16/vtech.shooting/index.html I went to school there, that was my department (ESM), and now I work two maybe three miles from there. Furthermore, my Dad is a professor there, his office is 300 Norris hall, it's exactly over 200 and 202. The shooting happend in 205, one room down the hall. Thankfully, he wasn't at work at the time and the cops stopped him at the parking lot. But of my Dad's fellow professors got shot in the arm. F-cking crazy. Furthermore, our business has a lab in Norris hall (basement). We only had one employee there at the time and she's fine (got evac'ed by the cops to a large refuge-camp like thing, where they held all the students). She's still in that place, as the cops search for extra gunmen. F-cking weirded out. I grew up in and around Norris man, as a kid I would run through the halls and sh*t. I personally had many a class in Norris also (including the room where the shootings occured). I've slept through many a boring lecture in that room. That's f*cking CRAZY. Now they're saying 20+ fatalities. Who the f*ck goes and shoots a class-full of fellow students??? Yes, he went into a class-room and just started shooting. Right now I'm locked in my office (the offices border the campus)... again... Yes, again, just six months ago some crazy guy got loose from a local hospital and killed a cop and guard before he got recaptured. That makes two shootings in six months (one of them randomly targetted at innocent students). Before this year, the last time there was a shooting in a 50 mile radius was in 1997 or something (and it was a huge deal). I'm moving down under dag nab it.

I think it's just the die hard car guys. Nobody else knows about the unique cars you guys have. Most car guys know that you guys get the cool Japanese cars though (evos, skylines, etc). But as for the XR6, no, I doubt more than 1 in 50 car guys even knows that they exist. (I was sure surprised to find out about it). ___________ Major mods are illegal??? That sucks. We can even keep corporate warrenties here... (if they refuse to honor the warrenty, they ahve to prove in a court of law that the modifications directly caused the part to fail, - new turbos don't really affect the A/C or the power steering, so they have no choice there). Am I correct in assuming the car I drive is called the GTO down there? It's either that or the 3000gt. Depends on whether you guys took Europe's naming convention or Japan's.

Most of our interstate (cross-country) highway system is set at 65 mph. The nearest major highway for me is about 30 min away (goes from upstate New York to Arizona ~ 3500 miles) and is limited to 65 mph, going down to 60 mph near cities. The smaller highways (US routes), like the one I use on a regular basis to get to work and the other nearby towns is capped at 55 mph. It is still considered an interstate, but it's much smaller, probably one and a half times than the length of the state (~ 500 miles) only two lanes in each direction, but still divided. I've never seen any highway in this part of the nation that allowed faster travel, though supposadly there are 75 mph highways in the void that is the northern mid-west.

So how do you decide how a representative is elected, what people that representative represets, how many representatives there are, and what powers they collectivly have? Are you saying there is no equivalent of our constitution? No document that defines how your government operates? It's all just based on tradition?