I found this article on digg and it was really interesting. Apparently in the late 50s early 60s an engineer “Jack” Frost developed a flying saucer for the US Air Force. The Avrocar was never fully implemented but did have successful tests with speeds reaching 100 miles per hour. The Avrocar.

This type of government sponsored cutting edge technological development is incredibly fascinating but rarely publicized. I think we perceive the government’s use of technology as being pretty limited. Ground breaking high-tech research has a way of uniting people behind a common goal. Early NASA accomplishments propelled astronauts to the status of professional athletes. The all-American all-intellectual sports team became emblematic of American adventurism coupled with academic ingenuity. It was a powerful force.

This communal pride is lost in America today but not because the government isn’t doing some badass research. My favorite site to peruse on this topic is the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA. Exoskeletons that increase speed, strength and endurance would pretty much rock, or the Nano Air Vehicle. But even if you don’t find their projects very interesting DARPA projects always have awesome names, like this one, Mathematical Time Reversal.

So the weekly updating thing hasn’t been going so well so I’m going to make a creative change. I’m dropping the weekly component and posting whenever or whatever I want. This main page is going to be news articles and the like, and my blog page is going to resemble a normal blog more, rather then focusing on my weekly topic. I think this will help my posts become more meaningful.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Cook Rosa Maria Salazar’s eyes dart anxiously to the door as customers file into the Salvadoran cafe in a heavily Hispanic neighborhood near downtown Los Angeles...immigration crackdown continues

The actions overnight by the Mexican government are unprecedented in their scope and importance. Never before has the United States received from Mexico such a large number of major drug defendants and other criminals for prosecution in this country. The Whos Who of Extradition

The nation´s top prosecutor told Congress Tuesday that the the aim of the current military operations in Tijuana and the states of Michoacán and Guerrero is not just to capture drug lords but to preserve the very sovereignty of regions most threatened by organized crime. From El Universal Mexican News.

This is part one of an indefinite series on Mexican news. With the recent American debate about immigration and Mexico’s crackdown on corruption and drug crime the opportunity seemed right to educate ourselves about the most populous Spanish speaking country in the world.

Is that a fucked up headline? maybe overboard… anyways here’s the article.

Augusto Pinochet Molina, the grandson of Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator, has been thrown out of the Chilean army for criticising the judiciary in a speech at his grandfather’s funeral… more on Pinochet’s grandson

Well, they dont show that part in this video but its in the very same meeting they are showing clips of… Anyhow, short qick background information on Pinochet.

The death of Augusto Pinochet, Chile’s former dictator, has triggered worldwide reactions even though more than 30 years have passed since his overthrow of the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende and his death in the Moneda palace on September 11th, 1973. Pinochet’s notoriety was kept alive in recent years by his detention in London, in 1998, for his responsibility for the human rights violations which he unleashed on the Chilean people following the US-sponsored coup of 1973… This article is written by Roberto Navarrete, a political prisoner under Pinochet, about Pinochet’s death and the democratic legacy of Latin America. It’s really in-depth read with unique interpretation and an optimistic ending, damn sounds too good to be true!

This is an interesting first hand account of the day after Pinochet died from the Santiago Times.
By 12 a.m. on Sunday night the streets of Santiago were calm and empty, save for smoldering bonfires illuminating the shattered glass of broken shop windows. Isolated acts of mindless violence occurred in downtown Santiago as the crowd of anti-Pinochetistas dispersed, marring the largely peaceful celebrations…