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Oddly enough



Mars Spirit Rover gets unsolicited cleaning of solar panels. Aliens with dirty rag, spray bottle demanding at least a dollar
Mars scientists and engineers are elated about a dust-busting blast that has struck the Spirit rover at its Gusev crater exploration site. Rover scientists suspected something was up at the Gusev site when Spirit's wheel tracks were disappearing. Onboard cameras could look down and see the tracks vanishing. Rover team members assumed that the site was experiencing a heavy dust loading in the atmosphere.

Turns out that a Martian whirlwind dubbed a dust devil likely zoomed over the robot high up in the Columbia Hills. That fleeting flyby effectively cleaned Spirit's solar arrays, giving the robot a new lease on life. Engineers report that the rover's power reading quickly shot up to almost as high as when the rover landed on Mars over a year ago. -space.com

Man robs bank, walks across parking lot to restaurant, has a beer and a sandwich while cops search for him
A suspected bank robber was arrested and taken to jail, after a bizarre heist in Salt Lake City. Donald Archambault robbed the Zions Bank on Foothill Blvd. Wednesday afternoon, but his getaway was anything but speedy. After the heist, Archambault allegedly walked across the parking lot to a restaurant, where he casually ate a sandwich and drank a beer while officers searched for the robber.

After his meal, Archambault hailed a taxi cab and asked to be taken to Ogden. The cab was en route when authorities contacted the driver and told him about the suspected bank robber in the back seat.

"When he told me he had a gun, I just pulled over and I told him, 'Hurry up and get out of here if you want to get away."' the driver said. Police officers were waiting at the cab's destination, and he was arrested when he stepped out. -4utah.com

With just hours to go before he's released, Man escapes from prison
Law enforcement officers are searching for a man who escaped from jail just hours before his release time. Larry Dewayne Colvin, 31, escaped from the Buncombe Correctional Center, a minimum custody state facility in Woodfin. Colvin was transferred from Dan River Work Farm in Yanceyville Tuesday evening, Johnson said. He had been serving a four-month sentence on two misdemeanor charges.

Authorities from the correctional center, along with Woodfin police and the Buncombe County Sheriff's Department, have been searching for Colvin but have not had any leads. - citizen-times.com

Talk about hard love, Florida mom abandons 3yearold in woods to teach her survival skills
A 3-year-old girl survived frigid temperatures after being abandoned in the woods when her mother's car ran out of gas in south Orange County. The child's mother, Krissy Deshay Glover, 21, of Orlando, was arrested on a charge of child neglect and was being held without bond in the Orange County Jail. She had not yet made her first court appearance and there was no information immediately available on whether she had an attorney.

Glover told police she was headed to Tampa about 3 a.m. Tuesday with her two daughters when she ran out of gas in some woods near Orlando International Airport. At the time, it was raining, temperatures had dropped into the 40s and the wind was blowing about 20 mph, according to weather reports.

Glover left the car with her two children, leaving their jackets in the car, and forced the 3-year-old to walk barefoot beside her as she carried the infant, Torres said. She left the 3-year-old behind when she became too weak to walk farther.

At about 4 a.m., she knocked on the door of Bryan and Christa Carter, about three miles from her car. While his wife, Christa bathed the infant in warm water, Bryan Carter and Glover rushed out and found the 3-year-old about a quarter-mile from Carter's house. "She was very weak, very cold, in a hypothermic state. She was just kind of grunting and laying there face down on the ground,"' said a physician's assistant. -sun-sentinel.com

Compiled by Ahmed Ashiful Haque

Tête-à-tête


Thought of the week:
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

Hey all,
I do believe that all the GCE results are out? If you've done as well as you hoped, congratulations. If not, don't dwell on it. You know you tried, and if the worst comes to the worst, you can always give them again.

Those of you who are looking to go abroad for studies, and have the UK in mind, don't forget to check out Jennifer Ashraf's Study Buddies on page 3. She's got some valuable information for you.

Right. Last week, I raised a question about juvenile executions. Returning RS member Hammad Ali seems to have a lot of strong opinions on the matter. So let's see what he's got to say:

"First of all, I am rather undecided when it comes to capital punishment. When the evidence is not strong enough, I am strongly against capital punishment. It is never ok to take away something that we cannot restore at a later time, in case we realise that an error had been made in the judgement. No matter how heinous the crime, if at least one person is not convinced of the accused being guilty, it is better to think of something other than the death penalty. However, if there is strong evidence, and the crime is more than just a random murder, the criminal should be sent to the gallows. This is especially applicable for all those twisted minds that have a penchant for chopping their victims even after death. Such people are not to be protected by any sort of human rights, because they give up human status the minute they act out such brutalities.

Let us move on to the topic of juvenile executions. I maintain much the same opinion about the matter when the evidence is not foolproof. Doubtful cases, whether juveniles or adults, should be put in custody. If ever there is a development in the case, their destiny will once again be open to discussion in the court. In cases when the criminal is surely found guilty, I believe we should take into consideration the gravity of the crime. Not all murders are of the same calibre. Stabbing a peer in the midst of a heated argument is not equivalent to deciding to open fire on a class full of students. The former, while still wrong, could well be cured through proper treatment. The latter, I doubt, will ever improve. Anyone can lose temper, but you do not start manslaughter just for that reason. A young man, who, caught in the moment, hurts someone fatally, deserves a chance. Those who decide that killing in video games in just not fun anymore, and hence try it in real life, do not. Of course, all this is my own opinion. Some may think I am being too soft, but I know from experience what a little love will do to a teenager. Some may think I am being too harsh, but again I know what monsters often lurk deep within some people."

If anyone has anything to add to that, please mail me. Otherwise, next week, I'll be moving on to a topic raised by another reader. Till then, take care.

Send your polls, love letters, hate mails, and opinions to thegirlnextdoor1@hotmail.com, or mail me at my yahoo address at teteatete_tgnd@yahoo.com

By The Girl Next Door

Brain-Teasers

1. A rancher is building a straight fence by stringing wires together, between posts twenty-five meters apart. If the fence is 100 meters longn how many posts should the rancher use?
2. Which of the five is least like the other four: A. Copper. B. Iron. C. Brass. D. Lead?
3. If you rearrange the following letters "PETJIRU" you'll get the name of a:
A. Country.
B. Ocean.
C. Planet.
D. Animal.
E. City.
4. Answer in ten seconds: Could David's grandmother's daughter be David's grandmother?
5. Complete the series: 5,7,10,14,_,_.
Answer:
1. Five. 2. Brass. 3. Planet. 4. Yes. 5. 19, 26.

By Slacker

Painter Blonde


A blonde was getting pretty desperate for money. So she decided to get a job as a painter.
Her first employer said to her, "Well, actually, we need the porch painted-how much do you want?"

When the man closed the door, his wife, who had overheard the conversation asked him, "She asked for $50?!? Does she realize that the porch goes all the way around the house?" The man replied, "She must have, she was standing right on it."
About an hour later, the doorbell rang again, and the man was surprised to find the blonde there.
She told him that the job was done and informed him that there had been enough paint to do two coats.
As the man was reaching into his wallet to pay her, the blonde said, "Oh, and by the way, that isn't a Porsche-it's a Ferrari."

Corrigendum
In our March 17 issue, we printed an article 'Why people give up" by Mushfiqur Rahman. The author's name was inadvertently omitted from the write-up. We regret the inconvenience caused.
~ RS Desk ~


 
 

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