Freed Hikers Discuss Life in Iranian Prison

Freed U.S. hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer told reporters gathered at a New York hotel that they were so isolated in the Iranian prison where they were held for over two years that they didn't know they were being freed until minutes before their release last week.

Shutdown looms as Congress debates spending plan

The standoff continues Monday between the House and the Senate over emergency funding, which is holding up a short-term spending measure to keep government running into the new fiscal year that begins this weekend.

The measure includes additional money to fill the almost depleted emergency aid coffers of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Army Corps of Engineers following Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Lee, wildfires and tornadoes so far this year.

House Republicans have passed a bill that cuts spending elsewhere to offset some of the increased disaster relief aid. Democrats oppose offsets for emergency aid, saying disaster relief for Americans in need should be unencumbered. The Democratic-led Senate rejected the House measure on Friday by a 59-36 vote.

The package would fund the government for the first seven weeks of the new fiscal year that starts Saturday.

For the third time in six months, a partial government shutdown is possible if the Republican-led House and Democratic-controlled Senate fail to agree on the short-term spending plan by Friday -- the end of the current fiscal year.

The measure currently under deliberation -- which would keep Washington running through November 18 -- includes critical new disaster funding assistance for states hit hard by Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Lee, and a series of recent wildfires and tornadoes.

But Republicans want less disaster aid than their Democratic counterparts, and want to pay for it partly by cutting funding for programs designed to spur clean energy innovation.

The House passed a "common sense measure," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters during the Senate vote. "It's time for the Senate to move."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, announced his intention to push for a new vote Monday on a compromise package incorporating the GOP's lower overall disaster relief spending levels while eliminating any cuts to clean energy programs.

Congressmen and senators need to "cool off for a little bit," Reid said Friday. "There's a compromise here."

"More reasonable heads will prevail," he predicted.

Meanwhile, the agency responsible for doling out disaster relief money -- FEMA -- could run out of funds as soon as Monday, according to Reid.

"If Congress does allow the balance of the Disaster Relief Fund to reach zero, there are laws that govern federal agency operations in the absence of funding," according to a FEMA statement released Friday. "Under law, FEMA would be forced to temporarily shut down disaster recovery and assistance operations, including financial assistance to individuals until Congress appropriated more funds. This would include all past and current FEMA recovery operations."

FEMA spokeswoman Rachel Racusen told CNN Friday that the agency is exploring other funding options as a way to continue providing disaster relief.

The House GOP legislation includes $3.65 billion in new disaster relief funding -- $1 billion in emergency funds available when the bill is enacted and roughly $2.6 billion to be budgeted for those federal response agencies for the 2012 fiscal year that begins October 1.

One key sticking point is that the House bill requires that the $1 billion in immediate disaster funding be offset with $1.5 billion in cuts to a loan program that helps automakers retool their operations to make more fuel-efficient cars. Another $100 million would be cut from an alternative energy loan program that provided funding for the solar panel firm Solyndra, a company that declared bankruptcy late last month despite receiving a $535 million federal guarantee in 2009.

Last week, the Senate passed a spending bill with bipartisan support that would provide $6.9 billion for FEMA and other federal agencies, to be used both for immediate disaster relief as well as in the new fiscal year. The Senate version required no spending offsets.

Democrats have said they will continue to oppose any offsets to counter the emergency spending for natural disasters.

Changes to Netflix

Today Netflix announced via their blogs that there would be changes to their popular business and service.  Here is the exact text that the Co-founder and CEO typed to announce the changes.

Google Doodle Honors Albert Szent-Györgyi, Father of Vitamin C

Did you have a glass of OJ this morning? Maybe you popped a vitamin C pill or some Emergen-C to ward off a cold. But how do we know about the restorative powers of vitamin C? Today's Google doodle might offer some insight.

Remembering 9/11, A Decade On

The ceremony in Lower Manhattan focuses, as it has in years past, on a three-hour reading of the names of those who perished exactly 10 years ago in the terrorist attacks.

Bush and Obama at Ground Zero to Mark Sept. 11

President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush are at the site of the World Trade Center to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Timeline of 9/11

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were a crossroads for people all across the globe. After that fateful day came and went, political and military policies shifted seismically, affecting, and continuing to affect, people at every level of society. These changes happened not only in the United States but in countries throughout the world. Many of the strongest memories of September 11 are held in the hearts and minds of those directly confronted with the aftermath of the attacks in New York City, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania. Thousands lost family, friends and loved ones in the attacks, which killed around 3,000 people, mostly in downtown Manhattan. The suddenness with which their lives changed made the tragedy that much more unforgettable.

Another Way to Share Randomness Blogs

If you enjoy reading my posts, first, thank you, second, if you want to spread the word about the blogs, there is now another way, via QR codes.  If you don't know what a QR code is, that's OK.  They are fairly new to the US, although they've been around for a while in Japan and parts of Europe.  They are kind of boxy as you can see below that can embed just about anything, the only limitations are that it can only hold 256 characters and there are no phones, that I know of, that have an app preloaded that can read QR codes.  If your running Android, a good app is Barcode Scanner by ZXing Team.  If your running iOS, a good app is QR Reader for iPhone by TapMedia LTD.  I don't have devices that run any other OS but I will be doing research to find good QR code apps for OSes like BlackBerry OS, and WindowsPhone.

The follow QR codes go to Techjunkynews.blogspot.com and random-stuff-on-my-mind.blogspot.com

Google Says Gmail Attack Focused on Iranian Targets

Google said late Sunday that an attack mounted against its Gmail service targeted users primarily located in Iran, although the company has taken steps to block further interception attempts.

As Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) hunt for and collect the weapons that fueledMuammar Qaddafi's war machine, they are quickly learning that some choice pieces of his vast stockpile of mines, mortars, and explosives are missing.