Pirates seize two more ships off Somalia

Here’s an update, or maybe a retraction, to a story I had yesterday:
NYC mayor spins back his turbine idea for city

Nope, never saw this one coming:
1998 Missile Strikes on Bin Laden May Have Backfired
It’s a declassified DOE report, courtesy of the National Security Archive.

15 Photovoltaics Solar Power Innovations You Must See
Solazyme: Millions of Gallons of Algae Biodiesel Within 3 Years
Climate Change Negotiations

Iceland to offer oil-drilling licenses in Arctic
China’s Arctic expedition team sets up temporary research station on ice

New Guidelines Would Give F.B.I. Broader Powers

Is war in air in the Gulf?

Antiwar activists seek expanded police probe

Update on China/Tibet cyberattacks (and Russia/Georgia), and call for testimonials.

Serbia files draft resolution on Kosovo independence legality at the UN
Serbian foreign minister heads to New York

Senator: Georgia Fighting Could Shut Down U.S. Space Program
Experts: Reliance on Russia makes NASA weak

Yesterday I gave you jetpacks. Today it’s flying cars. Is that awesome? (yes/yes)
Transition roadable-plane/flyable-car prototype on show

Yesterday I gave you Sasquatch. Today it’s Yeti. Is Yeti awesome? (yes/yes)
‘Yeti hairs’ examined

Space is awesome too.
Cracks Appear In Ice Under Mars Lander
NASA Craft To View Solar System’s Invisible Frontier

At the edge of our solar system in December 2004, the Voyager 1 spacecraft encountered something never before experienced during its then 26-year cruise through the solar system — an invisible shock formed as the solar wind piles up against the gas in interstellar space. This boundary, called the termination shock, marks the beginning of our solar system’s final frontier, a vast expanse of turbulent gas and twisting magnetic fields.

Are crazy Russians with multi-barrel grenade launchers awesome? Depends which end of the launcher you’re on. This one earns a rare and coveted “mayhem” tag.
How to beat sea piracy: put grenade launchers on boats

OK, so the Arctic is definitely awesome. But militarizing it and digging it up for oil are not. Neither is global warming. Sorry, kids. Not everything can be awesome all the time.
Arctic sheds huge chunks of ice
Announcement: Arctic Oil Won’t Eliminate Our Energy Needs!

A separate USGS study estimates that a billion-barrel Arctic oil field would cost about USD37 per barrel to produce, plus about USD3 per barrel in exploration costs. It costs about USD2 per barrel to pump oil from the ground in Saudi Arabia and USD5 to USD7 per barrel in Venezuela and Azerbaijan.

And here are more well-armed Russians:
Russian warships resume patrols of the Arctic sea

And finally, just to keep it balanced, things that really suck:
Blackwater May Have Fudged Numbers to Get $100M in Contracts
Flint seeks sponsors for police surveillance cameras; some question whether it’s appropriate

Covington Partner Demonstrates Treatment of Detainees

It sounds like the real threat here is that he was trying to open the emergency door. But it’s nakedness that people felt threatened by:
FBI: Pro Soccer Players On Flight Subdue Man Who Took Off Clothes
For what it’s worth, I’m totally naked right now. Someone call the police.

NASA’s Deep Impact Films Earth as an Alien World

This may be more threatening than naked people. It’s an article that covers the candidates’ actual position. Someone call the police.
The Candidates’ Positions on Private Security Contractors

Head of Abkhazia region rejects settlement plan
Georgia, running military exercises, protests Russia’s own wargames

Coalition troops mass at Afghan/Paki border

WFP seeks urgent navy escorts for Somalia food aid

The United Nations said on Friday food shipments to Somalia were grinding to a halt as few vessels were willing to hazard the country’s pirate-infested waters, and it called on governments to provide naval escorts.

It’s hard to imagine that anyone is surprised by this:
Md. Police accused of spying on political activists

Update: San Francisco System Admin Pleads Not Guilty

Culberson weighing legislation for NASA overhaul

Astronauts handling explosives on daring spacewalk
Date set for Mars sample mission
Water Discovered in Moon Samples
Mars Lander Runs into Tough Digging

Security firms lose immunity in Iraq deal

Military overflight in Georgia stopped ‘bloodshed’: Russia

Russian ships at the mercy of pirates

Yesterday was a bat in a girl’s bra. Now they’re getting into this girl’s pants.
Bat’s wardrobe error leads to a day at the office: Shock for receptionist as she discovers a visitor in her trousers

British UFO sightings at ‘bizarre’ levels

Whatever the explanation, experts agree that the number of suspected flying saucers has hit unusual highs this summer.

Malcolm Robinson, who studies the phenomenon, said: “Something very bizarre is happening in the skies over the UK.”

Abkhazia blames Georgia for bomb blasts
Georgia launches a three-track diplomatic effort on Abkhazia

Macedonia-Kosovo Border Marking Starts
Turkey’s Calik Group invests in Kosovo

Former Iraqi detainees sue U.S. military contractors
AT&T Whistleblower: Spy Bill Creates ‘Infrastructure for a Police State’

And this by way of the Danger Room:
Scooter to be featured on Discovery Channel: Weapon is made for crowd control

Two new military commands: AFRICOM and AFCYBER
Africa: U.S. Military Set for a Long Campaign
To fight future cyberbattles, Air Force recruiting part-time geeks

Serbia expects key powers in north Kosovo
Sounds like a step towards partition

Minn. city sets reward for legendary creature
Bigfoot Bounty: Reward Offered for Mysterious Monsters

Comcast Is Hiring an Internet Snoop for the Feds
Study secretly tracks cell phone users outside US
The Comcast story is just bad all around. It’s not like the feds are going to be funding this position, so I guess that means consumers pay for the spies who watch them. The cell phone story is interesting for its method, but also for what it discovered. Guy Debord wrote (in Theory of the Derive) about the student who in an entire year goes mostly three places- home, school and her piano teacher. This study finds something similar, but on a much larger scale. On the other hand, a twenty mile radius covers a lot of ground, and in a dense urban area, it could contain an entire universe.

And a space story, of course:
Virgin Galactic Spaceline: Mega-Mothership Set for Rollout Debut

“Reality against Kosovo energy fantasy”

Putin backs Abkhazia autonomy, Russian troops sent

Air Force Unit’s Nuclear Weapons Security Is ‘Unacceptable’
This is the same unit that accidentally flew 6 warheads across the country last year.

Telekom Accused of Tracking Journalists’ Mobile Phone Signals