Category: In the News

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A Link in the Long Line of the Terrorist Chain Has Ended

For a good number of people here in the United States and across the world, today marks a historic moment in mankind’s history as we collectively breathe a heavy sigh of relief.  An individual who has consistently terrorized innocent individuals and whole nations, committed mass murder, and waged a personal war in the name of a religion while polluting the tenants of that religion has died.  Osama bin Laden  and his tyranny has ended.

Barack Obama gave a presidential speech Sunday evening to announce that the al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, had been killed by heavy fire at a mansion in Pakistan, near Islamabad.  Following the announcement, the internet began to go viral with commentaries on Bin Laden’s death.  People began gathering to celebrate.  Crowds gathered en masse in front of the White House to chant and sing, as well as in other cities.

It’s an odd occasion to celebrate a man’s death so joyfully, but when that particular man has created such heinous acts and his death means then end of his personal sphere of influence, then it tends to become understandable.  The proverbial head of the snake has been cut.  For my own part, I’m relieved.  I would have rathered he stood trial, but I believe many knew that in the end, that would never happen.

While we may yet have difficult trials ahead of us in the future, I believe this is one step closer to bringing a resolution to those of us in the U.S. and the rest of the world.

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NO oil for the 1st time in 3 mo.! Tent. good news!

It’s about friggin’ time, is all I can say.  Even though I continue to sit on pins and needles as I await the end of the testing phase, for the first time in three months I had something to be hopeful towards in regards to the Gulf oil spill.  In viewing an article earlier today about the Indian Rupee finally getting it’s own monetary symbol, I clicked to go to the home page and saw their newest article, updated a scant 11 minutes before I’d seen it.

I quickly began searching other news articles and turned on CNN to see, with my own eyes, that the camera trained on the oil spill was, for the first time, void of oil spewing forth.

I almost couldn’t believe it, and of course, sobered as I heard it could be a temporary situation as pressurization tests are underway.  Ah, but that’s alright.  I don’t think anyone expected such immediately positive results so quickly, especially since it’s an integrity test.  What’s important right now is that true, positive progress has been made in containing the situation.  I know my nerves will be on end over the next few days as I await the final results of the testing and capping of the spill and I can only hope that it remains continually positive.

Because, quite frankly, we need to be over the containment process and move on to the pressing need to turn more attention to the massive clean up and, eventually, helping more people be able to go back to work.

I know I haven’t written any journals on the issue before today, so it may seem strange with this article coming out of the blue, but just chalk it up to the fact that I suck at writing journals consistently, lol.  I and my family have been very affected by the oil spill and I feel no shame in admitting that I cried today just at the thought that the spill had, for the time being at least, stopped.

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And then there are those days….

When you come across something like this:  MMA Fighter Rips Out His Trainer Partner’s Heart.  Lol, heard about it on the radio this evening.  Here’s another article on it @ daily mail.  Beware, there’s a bit of gore involved in the news articles….

Also, still arting!  Which is beyond good.  Getting some older arts nearly finished to send out and show off.  I’m feeling a bit more and more relieved every day.  For the first time in nearly two years, I’m finally feeling a weight lifting from my shoulders!

And, on a lighter note, I’ll end with this beyond awesome vid!

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They said it couldn’t be done…

For decades they’ve been telling us it wasn’t possible.  Those who believed it were called quacks. Even the representative from NeuroSky states this is first level telepathy.  Hey, it’s all going to be a bit more believable in the near future, folks! ^_~  For now, I’ll settle with the truth that our brain waves can create enough of a signal to manipulate objects.  Rock on!

And I desperately want that Star Wars toy! *__*

Psycho jargon aside, this has great potentials.  Does series/movies such as Angelic Layer, The Matrix, and of course, Johnny Mnemonic come to mind?  Imagine the possibilities both good and bad.  I do, indeed see a revolution in the gaming industry shortly.  But, as hinted in CNN’s interview with NeuroSky and others, the potential for other uses could be fathomless.  Suddenly, I feel like all the long thought impossible theories of so many SF novels and movies seem far to plausible.  While I have always been one with an open mind, even I can’t think of all the possibilities to come.  For now, I’m excited with the developments currently taking place.

It’s certainly good advice for our National Security department to grow wise to the true possible utilization of this tool in ways they’ve yet to perceive.  Always be ready for anything, should be their motto.  But truthfully?  I say they’ve already developed this technology some time ago, though really, I still say the government needs more creative minds working for it.  (Stop getting rid of/not supporting the arts programs, you dolts!)  Though, I don’t believe we should use this technology for war.  We should be prepared for outside usage, however.  It could be a decade from now before it’s implementation becomes anything to be concerned about, but one shouldn’t wait for the inevitable.

In the end, the advancement of technology continues to show us both the pros and cons of its growth.  With an influx of great concepts comes the unforeseen negatives that we cannot simply ignore.  Such as, who would have thought that texting would lead to a medical condition we now call “Blackberry Thumb“?  Progress comes at great risks and we must keep pushing forward, but with a cautious air stepping out into that great unknown. 

And with regards to the great SF writers of old, even we can’t always imagine the turns our futures will take.  They told us ships that moved deep under the sea were impossible.  Ships that flew beyond the earth’s rims in the depths of the sky were improbable.  And A.I.?  Never in the realm of reality!  And yet, we have come closer to than ever to achieving just that, along with continuing the same philosophical and moral debates inherent in the concept.

In the end, we should remember that anything can be possible, open our minds to our rapidly changing world, and look forward to all the future may hold in store for us.

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Car Chase in the Boonies!: Copied from The Dispatch, a local newspaper

Copied from The Dispatch, a local newspaper

(My dad and sis witnessed the near-end of the chase)

December 20. 2005 12:00AM
Deputies hurt, cars damaged in chase
By ESE ISIORHO

The Dispatch

A Virginia man is in custody after a 25-to-30-mile car chase involving 15 Davidson County Sheriff’s Office vehicles, four N.C. Highway Patrol cars and several Lexington Police Department vehicles Monday afternoon.

Ruben Noel Torres, 36, of Welford Avenue in Richmond, Va., led officials on a chase that resulted in the injury of two sheriff’s deputies, the damage of six sheriff’s vehicles and the wreck of Torres’ stolen 2005 Dodge Stratus rental car, said Davidson County Sheriff David Grice.

During a struggle with Torres, Maj. Chris Coble sustained broken bones in his right hand and Detective Robert Miller suffered bruising to the bone of his right knee.

The chase, which reached speeds of 100 mph, began after a sheriff’s deputy attempted a traffic stop on Interstate 85 near mile marker 94 because Torres was following too closely, Grice said. When the officer approached the car, Torres sped off. After contacting the 911 communications center, the officer learned that Torres was considered armed and dangerous due to a prior assault on a law enforcement officer.

Torres left I-85 at the Highway 8 exit and drove through Lexington at excessive speeds prompting the Lexington Police Department to get involved, Chief John Lollis said. Officers attempted to halt the fleeing vehicle with “stop sticks” but were unsuccessful.

The Virginia man drove across a walking track and an embankment during the chase and continued on side streets toward South Main Street, Grice said.

During the pursuit, two sheriff’s vehicles collided at the intersection of Second Avenue and Main Street. The officers pulled the fender off one of the cars, placed it in the back seat and continued the chase, Grice said.

Torres eventually left the city and headed west on Old Highway 64 in the vicinity of Forest Hill Memorial Park.

The Virginia man made it to Old Highway 29 near Belmont Road Extension, where the road was blocked due to construction, officers said. He crashed his vehicle and officers were able to arrest him.

Torres, who admitted to smoking crack while attempting to elude officers, Grice said, had just been released from Deep Meadows Prison in Virginia after serving a 30-month sentence for attempting to elude officers in a stolen vehicle.

“He was obviously pretty high on the cocaine,” the sheriff said after the arrest.

Torres is wanted for probation violation by the N.C. Department of Correction and for larceny of a motor vehicle in Winston-Salem and is a fugitive from Virginia for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

He was charged with 13 counts, including possession of a stolen vehicle, assault with a deadly weapon and speeding to elude arrest with a motor vehicle. Additional assault with a deadly weapon charges, for striking officers’ cars, are pending.

Torres is being held on a $100,000 secured bond in the Davidson County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 31.

Ese Isiorho can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 228, or at ese.isiorho@the-dispatch.com.