Doug's Dynamic Drivel

From YT

AeroVironment video showing progress with testing of a tiny flapping-wing “nano air vehicle” (NAV) designed to fly indoors. Testing culminated in a 20sec flight of an interim test vehicle, called Mercury, which demonstrated controlled hovering flight using a pair of flapping wings for propulsion and control. AeroVironment is now building a prototype for DARPA that will be samller, lighter and will closley resemble a hummingbird.

Now if they can reduce the size by 75% and make it fly as fast as a hummingbird does, and make it work outdoors, while still able to capture clear video from 100 ft or so in the air they will have a very interesting piece of surveillance technology – at that height and size it would be essentially invisible if not silent and would be near impossible to shoot down.

If it only works indoors it loses most of its usefulness as it would be easy to bat out of the air (even though doing that would give information as to the location of targets)

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Obama wants Americans to put pressure on their congress critters to get a good health care plan. After all some 78% of Americans want a public plan to compete with the private insurers but the amount of misinformation out there is tremendous. Well Blue America has decided to take Obama at his word and is putting pressure on specific Democratic legislators who appear, from their stances, deeply in the insurance industry pockets by running TV ads questioning their actions. In the following TV spots they are after Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D. Arkansas)

Go help them by contributing to the campaign

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Today is Canada Day so here’s a great Canadian explaining what it means to be William Shatner and a Canadian

As an aside – Shatner and Diane’s late father not only were good friends but looked a lot alike in their younger days and often used that to play tricks on people

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It took eight months but Al Franken has finally won the election in Minnesota and the right wing radio/tv hosts have obviously suffered a collective wedgie

via media matters

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I’ve always enjoyed his work. At 97 years old he almost made it to the century mark. While best known to many as the tough Detective Lt. Mike Stone, partner of Michael Douglas, in the long running TV series “The Streets of San Fransisco” he had a great and long career in film too.

Here’s a fitting video clip from the 1960 movie Pollyanna where he delivers his first sermon as the Reverend Paul Ford

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CBC: Only products that have at least 95 per cent organic content are allowed to be advertised as organic, organically grown, organically raised, organically produced, or any other similar labels or abbreviations.

Producers can still label individual products as organic on the ingredient list if they comply with the CFIA standards. Producers can also opt to stamp their products with a “Canada Organic” logo that indicates to customers that the product has been certified by the CFIA.

All produce will have to be completely organic to be stamped with the logo, while products with multiple ingredients must have 95 per cent organic content. Products that do not qualify to use the logo but have over 70 per cent organic content must indicate the percentage of its organic ingredients.

Farmers who want their produce to carry the new “Canada Organic” label have to apply in writing for certification. The application must include:

• The name of the agricultural product.
• The substances used in its production.
• The manner in which those substances are used.

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If there is any one single thing that absolutely, beyond any shadow of a doubt, condemns the way the Obama administration is approaching health care it the fact that Wally World, er Wal-Mart, agrees to it.

Washington — After years of strenuous opposition, Wal-Mart announced Tuesday that it supports a controversial new requirement that businesses contribute to the cost of employee health insurance.

In other words the fix is in and you, the overall American public have lost yet again.

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Ah Isaac I wish you had lived to see this

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Norm Coleman concedes and now there is no reason not to seat Al Franken in the Senate.

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Guys – Pay Attention

Having sex every day improves sperm quality and could boost the chances of getting pregnant, research suggests.

In a study of men with fertility problems, daily ejaculation for a week cut the amount of DNA damage seen in sperm samples.

Speaking at a fertility conference, the Australian researcher said general advice for couples had been to have sex every two or three days.

But 118 men have now been tested and the benefits for sperm have become clearer.

Of course if your partner is past the child bearing age, or for whatever reason unable, you are, so to speak, fucked, if you want to use this as a reason to get laid more often.