Putin dissolves government
MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday replaced his long-serving prime minister with an obscure Cabinet official — a surprise move that could put him in the running to succeed Putin in next year’s presidential election.
The nomination of Viktor Zubkov, who currently oversees the government’s fight against money laundering, appeared to have caught much of the Russian political elite off-guard.
Putin had been expected to announce in December whom he would back to run for president next year — and Russia’s two first deputy prime ministers — former Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and gas giant Gazprom board chairman Dmitry Medvedev — were widely considered to be the leading contenders. (rest of story)
An internal NASA review found no evidence to back up last month's report that astronauts have been allowed to fly drunk, NASA sources told CNN on Tuesday.
The agency ordered the review after an independent panel reported anecdotal evidence of intoxicated astronauts flying aircraft and spacecraft. The review, by NASA's Office of Safety and Mission Assurance, is to be released Wednesday.
The NASA Astronaut Health Care System Review Committee in July reported two alleged cases in which astronauts were so drunk that flight surgeons or other astronauts raised concerns over flight safety. The astronauts in question were still allowed to fly, the panel said.
The independent panel's report offered no specifics about the drinking episodes and said no attempt was made to confirm information given in interviews.
It was convened to look into NASA's medical and psychological screening process after the arrest of former astronaut Lisa Nowak. She is accused of assaulting a romantic rival in February.
Nowak has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Following the committee's report, NASA adopted an interim policy saying astronauts are not qualified for flight if they consume alcohol within 12 hours of launch and ordered the review.
The report from the committee said, "Interviews with both flight surgeons and astronauts identified some episodes of heavy use of alcohol by astronauts in the immediate preflight period, which has led to flight safety concerns."
The committee said in another section of the report that it did not provide the space agency with names.
The NASA sources told CNN that Wednesday's report also does not name anyone. (CNN)
Joe Mantegna: (He's bringing sexy back.) | Joe Montana: (Sexy never left him.) |
As completely ripped off from John Oliver of The Daily Show:"Consumer-advocate blog Consumerist ran a sting operation to catch a Best Buy Geek Squad member searching for and stealing media files from a customer's computer. The article includes the story with screen captures and a video of the technician's actions. From that piece: 'Reached for comment, Geek Squad CEO Robert Stephens expressed desire to launch an internal investigation and said, "If this is true, it's an isolated incident and grounds for termination of the Agent involved." This is not just an isolated incident, according to reports from Geek Squad insiders alleging that Geek Squad techs are stealing porn, images, and music from customer's computers in California, Texas, New Jersey, Virginia and elsewhere. Our sources say that some Geek Squad locations have a common computer set up where everyone dumps their plunder to share with the other technicians.' A related story from a former Geek Squad employee details the decline of the Geek Squad and Best Buy ethics in general."
Firefighters flush kitten from storm drain
PARKERSBURG, West Virginia (AP) -- It took two fire trucks, five firefighters, several animal rescuers and about 250 gallons of water to rescue a 2-pound kitten.
Animal control officers tried coaxing the gray tabby out of a storm sewer drain with encouraging words and food Monday before giving up after about an hour and a half.
Firefighters tried banging tools on one end of the pipe and flashing lights Monday night in hopes of driving the kitten out the other end -- but that didn't work either.
It wasn't until firefighters flushed about 250 gallons of water through the 10- to 12-inch pipe -- enough to wet the kitten's paws -- and the feline rushed into the hands of Firefighter Kevin Siers, who was standing inside a manhole.
"We had about an hour and a half of fun," Siers said Tuesday. "Everybody was pretty tickled" when the cat emerged.
After a very frightening day and night, the kitten seemed more relaxed and was warming up to humans, said Dan Hendrickson with the Humane Society of Parkersburg.
A visitor to the shelter signed adoption papers Tuesday. (CNN)
Prince Harry will not be sent for military duty in Iraq because of the excessive risks this would cause for him and his comrades, the head of the army said today.
“I have decided that Prince Harry will not deploy as a troop leader with his squadron,” General Sir Richard Dannatt told reporters.
Sir Richard said he had travelled to Iraq in the past week and learned of “a number of specific threats - some reported and some not reported - which relate directly to Prince Harry as an individual”.
He continued: “These threats expose not only him, but also those around him, to a degree of risk that I now deem unacceptable.
“Now that I have decided that he will not be deploying with his troop, the risks faced by his battle group are no different to those faced by any other battle group or other of our servicemen in Iraq.” (Source)
People who have had more than five oral-sex partners in their lifetime are 250% more likely to have throat cancer than those who do not have oral sex, a new study suggests.
The researchers believe this is because oral sex may transmit human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus implicated in the majority of cervical cancers.
The new findings should encourage people to consistently use condoms during oral sex as this could protect against HPV, the team says. Other experts say that the results provide more reason for men to receive the new HPV vaccine.
In a major shift on e-voting that could ripple to other states, the Florida Legislature today voted to replace nearly all of the state's touch-screen voting systems with optical scan devices.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who initially offered up the bill mandating a change in e-voting systems earlier this year, applauded the Florida Legislature for acting after the state House approved the measure. It had already been OK'd by the state Senate.
The law mandates the replacement of touch-screen systems with optical scan devices and also moves up the date of Florida's presidential primary to the last Tuesday in January. In 2008, that would be Jan. 29.
Touch-screen systems have come under criticism for being unreliable, easily hacked and lacking the transparency voters need to trust that their votes are actually being counted. To address those concerns, Crist offered a bill that would replace the systems in 17 Florida counties with optical scan devices, which require filling out a paper ballot that can later be used for canvassing or recount.
Captain America Arrested Sporting Burrito Down His Tights
A doctor dressed as Captain America was arrested in Florida after groping a woman at a bar while sporting a burrito down his tights, authorities have said.
The culprit was identified after all Captain America's were asked line up for an indetity parade outside the restaurant for a identification.
The Incident happened when 54-year-old Dr. Raymond Adamcik was on on a bar-crawl with a number of other costume-wearing doctors. Police claim Adamcik tried to flush marijuana down a toilet at a police station following his arrest.
