By 2012, nearly $1 trillion from the top 30 percent of American families will be redistributed among the bottom 70 percent if Obama’s proposals on taxes, health care, and climate change become law, according to the Tax Foundation.
“Even if none of Obama’s policies becomes law, the extent of income redistribution is remarkable,” Scott Hodge, president of the nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, said. “The top-earning 40 percent of families will transfer $826 billion to the bottom 60 percent in 2012.”
Under the Obama plan, 70 percent of American families as a group -- those earning less than $109,460 -- will receive more in benefits than they pay in taxes, Hodge said.
“The majority of people below the 70 percent mark will get more back than they pay in taxes,” Hodge told CNSNews.com.
This would leave the top 30 percent -- those making more than $109,460 -- paying more in taxes than they receive in federal spending, Hodge said.
According to the report, the lowest-income families will gain $10.44 in federal spending for every dollar they pay in taxes...
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Census Worker Found Hanged With "Fed" Scrawled on Body
A census worker in Kentucky was found hanged to death with the word "Fed" scrawled on his body, according to unnamed law enforcement officials cited by The Associated Press. Bill Sparkman, age 51, was a part-time census worker and occasional teacher. His body was found September 12 hanged from a tree in a remote section of the Daniel Boone National Forest, located in a rural portion of southeast Kentucky. His truck was parked nearby, and his computer was found inside.
Authorities have been tight-lipped on the details surrounding Sparkman's death, refusing to state whether his death was murder or a suicide, and offered no details on the instrument used to scrawl "Fed" on his chest. Officials at the Census Bureau's Charlotte, North Carolina, office were informed the death was "an apparent homicide," but the investigation is ongoing...
Authorities have been tight-lipped on the details surrounding Sparkman's death, refusing to state whether his death was murder or a suicide, and offered no details on the instrument used to scrawl "Fed" on his chest. Officials at the Census Bureau's Charlotte, North Carolina, office were informed the death was "an apparent homicide," but the investigation is ongoing...
DoJ Official Blows Cover Off PATRIOT Act
In the debate over the PATRIOT Act, the Bush White House insisted it needed the authority to search people's homes without their permission or knowledge so that terrorists wouldn't be tipped off that they're under investigation.
Now that the authority is law, how has the Department of Justice used the new power? To go after drug dealers.
Only three of the 763 "sneak-and-peek" requests in fiscal year 2008 involved terrorism cases, according to a July 2009 report from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Sixty-five percent were drug cases.
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) quizzed Assistant Attorney General David Kris about the discrepancy at a hearing on the PATRIOT Act Wednesday. One might expect Kris to argue that there is a connection between drug trafficking and terrorism or that the administration is otherwise justified to use the authority by virtue of some other connection to terrorism.
He didn't even try. "This authority here on the sneak-and-peek side, on the criminal side, is not meant for intelligence. It's for criminal cases. So I guess it's not surprising to me that it applies in drug cases," Kris said...
Now that the authority is law, how has the Department of Justice used the new power? To go after drug dealers.
Only three of the 763 "sneak-and-peek" requests in fiscal year 2008 involved terrorism cases, according to a July 2009 report from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Sixty-five percent were drug cases.
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) quizzed Assistant Attorney General David Kris about the discrepancy at a hearing on the PATRIOT Act Wednesday. One might expect Kris to argue that there is a connection between drug trafficking and terrorism or that the administration is otherwise justified to use the authority by virtue of some other connection to terrorism.
He didn't even try. "This authority here on the sneak-and-peek side, on the criminal side, is not meant for intelligence. It's for criminal cases. So I guess it's not surprising to me that it applies in drug cases," Kris said...
Blackwater Offers Training to ‘Faith Based Organizations’
In its ever-evolving re-branding campaign, Blackwater has created a new alter-ego for part of the company’s business. Meet the “Personal Security Awareness” program, which appears to be an off-shoot of Erik Prince’s Greystone, Ltd., a classic mercenary operation registered offshore in Barbados. On its website, which was registered on February 20, 2009 and went live recently, the “program” is described as “a multi-phase course which is designed to assist Non-Government Organizations, Faith Based Organizations and Commercial Businesses by providing individual personal awareness and driver training for their personnel when deployed to unfamiliar environments.” It adds: “Greystone recognizes the importance of “preparation by doing” and looks forward to you joining us for this exciting training!”
Blackwater, of course, works for such organizations as the International Republican Institute, but “Faith Based Organizations?” Are they serious? I’m sure there are just scores of Islamic aid groups just lining up to take courses from Blackwater, Xe, US Training Center, Greystone, Personal Security Awareness. Moreover, any legitimate “faith based organization” that wants harmony with other faiths would be insane to work with this company. One of the courses offered is described as teaching “persons traveling to foreign environments how to remain safe during their travels in a vehicle.” This truly is surreal. What would seem more appropriate would be a company offering courses on how to “remain safe” in a vehicle when going anywhere near Blackwater forces. Remember how those unarmed Iraqi civilians were blown up in their car by Blackwater operatives at Nisour Square? Or the Afghan civilians allegedly killed in their car by Blackwater operatives in Afghanistan in May?
Blackwater, of course, works for such organizations as the International Republican Institute, but “Faith Based Organizations?” Are they serious? I’m sure there are just scores of Islamic aid groups just lining up to take courses from Blackwater, Xe, US Training Center, Greystone, Personal Security Awareness. Moreover, any legitimate “faith based organization” that wants harmony with other faiths would be insane to work with this company. One of the courses offered is described as teaching “persons traveling to foreign environments how to remain safe during their travels in a vehicle.” This truly is surreal. What would seem more appropriate would be a company offering courses on how to “remain safe” in a vehicle when going anywhere near Blackwater forces. Remember how those unarmed Iraqi civilians were blown up in their car by Blackwater operatives at Nisour Square? Or the Afghan civilians allegedly killed in their car by Blackwater operatives in Afghanistan in May?
Large quantities of water found on the Moon
Data from the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft also suggests water is still being formed on its surface.
It is believed that the water is concentrated at the poles and possibly formed by the solar wind.
The finding was made after researchers examined data from three separate missions to the moon.
The reports, to be published in the journal Science on Friday, show that the water may be moving around, forming and reforming as particles become mixed up in the dust on the surface of the moon.
Dr Mylswamy Annadurai, the mission’s project director at the Indian Space Research Organisation in Bangalore, told The Times: “It’s very satisfying.
“This was one of the main objectives of Chandrayaan-1, to find evidence of water on the Moon.”
The unmanned craft was equipped with Nasa’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper, designed specifically to search for water by picking up the electromagnetic radiation emitted by minerals.
The M3, an imaging spectrometer, was designed to search for water by detecting the electromagnetic radiation given off by different minerals on and just below the surface of the Moon.
Unlike previous lunar spectrometers, it was sensitive enough to detect the presence of small amounts of water...
It is believed that the water is concentrated at the poles and possibly formed by the solar wind.
The finding was made after researchers examined data from three separate missions to the moon.
The reports, to be published in the journal Science on Friday, show that the water may be moving around, forming and reforming as particles become mixed up in the dust on the surface of the moon.
Dr Mylswamy Annadurai, the mission’s project director at the Indian Space Research Organisation in Bangalore, told The Times: “It’s very satisfying.
“This was one of the main objectives of Chandrayaan-1, to find evidence of water on the Moon.”
The unmanned craft was equipped with Nasa’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper, designed specifically to search for water by picking up the electromagnetic radiation emitted by minerals.
The M3, an imaging spectrometer, was designed to search for water by detecting the electromagnetic radiation given off by different minerals on and just below the surface of the Moon.
Unlike previous lunar spectrometers, it was sensitive enough to detect the presence of small amounts of water...
Russia says it will join sanctions against Iran
President Obama’s biggest foreign policy gamble appeared to pay off last night as Russia opened the door to punishing new sanctions on Iran to halt its nuclear programme.
Emerging from his first meeting with Mr Obama since the Eastern Europe missile shield was scrapped, President Medvedev of Russia conceded that “in some cases, sanctions are inevitable”.
Mr Obama went into the meeting, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, ready to press Russia to support sanctions if Iran refused to address concerns about its nuclear activities. He emerged saying that Mr Medvedev had agreed that “serious additional sanctions” must be considered if diplomatic efforts fail.
That stance was reiterated later by David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, who emerged from a meeting of foreign ministers from the E3 + 3 countries – Britain, France, Germany, the US, Russia and China — to declare a united front on a policy of diplomacy and sanctions. Mr Miliband called for a “serious response” from Iran at talks scheduled for October 1 if it wished to avoid sanctions.
Mr Medvedev’s – admittedly lukewarm – support for sanctions is seen as payback for Washington’s decision to move its defensive missile shield from Poland and the Czech Republic to the Mediterranean. China was the only remaining Security Council power opposing sanctions on Iran, but the statement from the E3 + 3 suggested that it too was ready to consider them...
Emerging from his first meeting with Mr Obama since the Eastern Europe missile shield was scrapped, President Medvedev of Russia conceded that “in some cases, sanctions are inevitable”.
Mr Obama went into the meeting, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, ready to press Russia to support sanctions if Iran refused to address concerns about its nuclear activities. He emerged saying that Mr Medvedev had agreed that “serious additional sanctions” must be considered if diplomatic efforts fail.
That stance was reiterated later by David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, who emerged from a meeting of foreign ministers from the E3 + 3 countries – Britain, France, Germany, the US, Russia and China — to declare a united front on a policy of diplomacy and sanctions. Mr Miliband called for a “serious response” from Iran at talks scheduled for October 1 if it wished to avoid sanctions.
Mr Medvedev’s – admittedly lukewarm – support for sanctions is seen as payback for Washington’s decision to move its defensive missile shield from Poland and the Czech Republic to the Mediterranean. China was the only remaining Security Council power opposing sanctions on Iran, but the statement from the E3 + 3 suggested that it too was ready to consider them...
More than 1,000 police raid homes of notorious Los Angeles gang
More than 1,000 law enforcement officers descended on the homes of alleged key members of a notorious Los Angeles gang that has defied authorities for decades.
Prosecutors say the Avenues have terrorised one of the city's neighbourhood for years – preying on residents, with two named suspects accused of attacking a man in a parking lot then shooting him dead after he tried to call for help.
An assistant US attorney, Ariel Neuman, said another woman who was pistol-whipped then shot identified an assailant by the Fedora-wearing skull tattoo on his chest.
About 1,100 police officers working with nearly 300 federal agents and other law officers carried out the series of raids yesterday. The pre-dawn operation marks a new effort by the authorities to clampdown on the Avenues gang, which has been prevalent in north-east Los Angeles since the 1950s.
Forty-six alleged members of the gang were arrested, while 33 others were already in custody and nine remained at large, authorities said.
The investigation into the gang was stepped up after two shootings against police last year...
Prosecutors say the Avenues have terrorised one of the city's neighbourhood for years – preying on residents, with two named suspects accused of attacking a man in a parking lot then shooting him dead after he tried to call for help.
An assistant US attorney, Ariel Neuman, said another woman who was pistol-whipped then shot identified an assailant by the Fedora-wearing skull tattoo on his chest.
About 1,100 police officers working with nearly 300 federal agents and other law officers carried out the series of raids yesterday. The pre-dawn operation marks a new effort by the authorities to clampdown on the Avenues gang, which has been prevalent in north-east Los Angeles since the 1950s.
Forty-six alleged members of the gang were arrested, while 33 others were already in custody and nine remained at large, authorities said.
The investigation into the gang was stepped up after two shootings against police last year...
Euro project to arrest us for what they think we will do
Radical Think Tank Open Europe has this week exposed a study by the EU that could lead to the creation of a massive cross-Europe database, amassing vast amounts of personal data on every single citizen in the EU.
The scope of this project also reveals a growing governmental preference for systems capable of locking people up not for what they have done, but for what they might do.
Open Europe (OE) researcher, Stephen Booth, has been reviewing projects currently in receipt of EU funding. Last week he identified one of these - Project INDECT - as having potentially far-reaching effects for anyone living or working in Europe. The main objectives of this project, according to its own website, are:
To develop a platform for: the registration and exchange of operational data, acquisition of multimedia content, intelligent processing of all information and automatic detection of threats and recognition of abnormal behaviour or violence, to develop the prototype of an integrated, network-centric system supporting the operational activities of police officers...
The scope of this project also reveals a growing governmental preference for systems capable of locking people up not for what they have done, but for what they might do.
Open Europe (OE) researcher, Stephen Booth, has been reviewing projects currently in receipt of EU funding. Last week he identified one of these - Project INDECT - as having potentially far-reaching effects for anyone living or working in Europe. The main objectives of this project, according to its own website, are:
To develop a platform for: the registration and exchange of operational data, acquisition of multimedia content, intelligent processing of all information and automatic detection of threats and recognition of abnormal behaviour or violence, to develop the prototype of an integrated, network-centric system supporting the operational activities of police officers...
Libyan leader's 'gun girls': Moammar Khadafy travels with pistol-packin' posse of women bodyguards
Libya's "Brotherly Leader" Moammar Khadafy will be invading midtown Manhattan this week surrounded by a gang of fetching "gun girls."
The dictator's pistol-packin' posse of 40 to 50 women bodyguards -- sometimes called his "Amazon Guard" -- will be part of his massive 150-member traveling traveling entourage for the UN General Assembly session, U.S. officials said.
Along with live weapons, the guards will bring their bad-girl reputation.
In 2003, the women -- smartly outfitted in form-fitting desert camouflage uniforms and blue berets -- caused a pushing-and-shoving ruckus when Khadafy got in a shouting match with Saudi Arabians at an Arab summit.
The bodyguards also formed a menacing circle around Khadafy in Rome last June after 900 Italian women unleashed a chorus of boos in response to his admonition not to drive without their husbands' permission.
For this week's visit -- his first to the U.S. -- Khadafy stirred up American anger in advance by arm-twisting Britains to win freedom for the Lockerbie bomber and giving the terrorist a hero's welcome in Libya.
There was more aggravation over his wish to stay in a Bedouin tent in Central Park or Englewood, N.J. Instead, Khadafy will bed down at the Libyan mission in Manhattan with his gal goons around him...
The dictator's pistol-packin' posse of 40 to 50 women bodyguards -- sometimes called his "Amazon Guard" -- will be part of his massive 150-member traveling traveling entourage for the UN General Assembly session, U.S. officials said.
Along with live weapons, the guards will bring their bad-girl reputation.
In 2003, the women -- smartly outfitted in form-fitting desert camouflage uniforms and blue berets -- caused a pushing-and-shoving ruckus when Khadafy got in a shouting match with Saudi Arabians at an Arab summit.
The bodyguards also formed a menacing circle around Khadafy in Rome last June after 900 Italian women unleashed a chorus of boos in response to his admonition not to drive without their husbands' permission.
For this week's visit -- his first to the U.S. -- Khadafy stirred up American anger in advance by arm-twisting Britains to win freedom for the Lockerbie bomber and giving the terrorist a hero's welcome in Libya.
There was more aggravation over his wish to stay in a Bedouin tent in Central Park or Englewood, N.J. Instead, Khadafy will bed down at the Libyan mission in Manhattan with his gal goons around him...
Iran loses its only AWACS as Ahmadinejad threatens the world
Up above a big military parade in Tehran on Tuesday, Sept. 22, as Iranian president declared Iran's armed forces would "chop off the hands" of any power daring to attack his country, two air force jets collided in mid-air. One was Iran's only airborne warning and control system (AWACS) for coordinating long-distance aerial operations, DEBKAfile's military and Iranian sources disclose.
The proud military parade, which included a march-past, a line of Shehab-3 missiles and an air force fly-past, was planned to give Ahmadinejad a dazzling send-off for New York and add steel to his UN Assembly speech Wednesday.
Dubbed "Simorgh" (a flying creature of Iranian fable which performs wonders in mid-flight), the AWACS' appearance, escorted by fighter jets, was to have been the climax for the Iranian Air force's fly-past over the parade. Instead, it collided with one of escorting planes, a US-made F-5E, and both crashed to the ground in flames. All seven crewmen were killed.
Eye witnesses reported that the flaming planes landed on the mausoleum burial site of the Islamic revolution's founder Ruhollah Khomeini, a national shrine. According to Western observers, no distress signals came from either cockpit indicating that the collision and explosions were sudden and fast.
DEBKAfile's military sources say the disaster was a serious blow to the Iranian Air Force not long after its first and only AWACS went into service in April 2008. It was a renovated version of the Russian Ilyushin 76, part of Saddam Hussein's air force before it was transferred to Iran in 1991 during the first Gulf War.
Tehran hired Russian technicians to carry out renovations and install up-to-date radar. At the launching ceremony of the upgraded AWACS, Air Force commander Brig. Gen. Ahmad Miqani boasted its new radar systems were made in Iran and able to spot any airplane or missile at a distance of 1,000 kilometers from Iran's borders.
The loss of this airborne control system has left Iran's air force and air and missile defenses without "electronic eyes" for surveillance of the skies around its borders.
The proud military parade, which included a march-past, a line of Shehab-3 missiles and an air force fly-past, was planned to give Ahmadinejad a dazzling send-off for New York and add steel to his UN Assembly speech Wednesday.
Dubbed "Simorgh" (a flying creature of Iranian fable which performs wonders in mid-flight), the AWACS' appearance, escorted by fighter jets, was to have been the climax for the Iranian Air force's fly-past over the parade. Instead, it collided with one of escorting planes, a US-made F-5E, and both crashed to the ground in flames. All seven crewmen were killed.
Eye witnesses reported that the flaming planes landed on the mausoleum burial site of the Islamic revolution's founder Ruhollah Khomeini, a national shrine. According to Western observers, no distress signals came from either cockpit indicating that the collision and explosions were sudden and fast.
DEBKAfile's military sources say the disaster was a serious blow to the Iranian Air Force not long after its first and only AWACS went into service in April 2008. It was a renovated version of the Russian Ilyushin 76, part of Saddam Hussein's air force before it was transferred to Iran in 1991 during the first Gulf War.
Tehran hired Russian technicians to carry out renovations and install up-to-date radar. At the launching ceremony of the upgraded AWACS, Air Force commander Brig. Gen. Ahmad Miqani boasted its new radar systems were made in Iran and able to spot any airplane or missile at a distance of 1,000 kilometers from Iran's borders.
The loss of this airborne control system has left Iran's air force and air and missile defenses without "electronic eyes" for surveillance of the skies around its borders.
Man admits lifting 3012 Netflix DVDs from Massachusetts mail facility
A postal worker who stole more than 3000 DVDs mailed by Netflix to its customers pleaded guilty yesterday to federal theft charges. Myles Weathers, who worked at a mail processing and distribution center in Springfield, Massachusetts, was nabbed last year for the video heist after Netflix officials became suspicious about the frequency with which DVDs were being pinched. Weathers, 49, was subsequently arrested after surveillance footage showed him removing DVDs from Netflix envelopes and placing the discs into his backpack. The below criminal information filed yesterday in U.S. District Court does not disclose whether Weathers was building an impressive home video library or planning to sell the hot titles. A plea agreement, an excerpt of which you'll find here, valued the recovered 3012 DVDs at $36,471. Weathers, now a former government employee, is scheduled to be sentenced on December 23. While his felony plea carries a maximum of five years in prison, sentencing guidelines call for a term of about a year in custody...
Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Not for faint hearts
He inherited two wars, a banking crash and years of inaction on the world's most intractable dispute – the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Is it any wonder that, eight months on, Barack Obama's outstretched hand has still to pluck its first fruit? And yet movement is so slow, it barely registers. The US special representative George Mitchell has conducted five tours of the region. Last week he shuttled back and forth between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli prime minister's office seven times.
What has been achieved? On settlements, an offer to freeze construction for nine months, with the exception of 2,500 housing units already under construction and 500 more that are planned. The gap between that and Hillary Clinton's words in May ("He [Mr Obama] wants to see a stop to settlements – not some settlements, not outposts, not 'natural growth' exceptions") is so stark as to rob any new formula of its meaning. Apart from that, a few road blocks in the West Bank have been dismantled – although two major components of an economic revival, a new town north of Ramallah and a second mobile phone operation, have so far been blocked by Israel.
The Palestinian Authority, for its part, has made tangible improvements on law and order in the West Bank and the training of security forces. For an inherently weak leader, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, is being unusually firm in his demand that he will not restart talks unless settlement construction is frozen. Maybe it is because he had a successful Fatah conference in Bethlehem and has good relations with Washington. But the sum total of these efforts is still zero...
What has been achieved? On settlements, an offer to freeze construction for nine months, with the exception of 2,500 housing units already under construction and 500 more that are planned. The gap between that and Hillary Clinton's words in May ("He [Mr Obama] wants to see a stop to settlements – not some settlements, not outposts, not 'natural growth' exceptions") is so stark as to rob any new formula of its meaning. Apart from that, a few road blocks in the West Bank have been dismantled – although two major components of an economic revival, a new town north of Ramallah and a second mobile phone operation, have so far been blocked by Israel.
The Palestinian Authority, for its part, has made tangible improvements on law and order in the West Bank and the training of security forces. For an inherently weak leader, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, is being unusually firm in his demand that he will not restart talks unless settlement construction is frozen. Maybe it is because he had a successful Fatah conference in Bethlehem and has good relations with Washington. But the sum total of these efforts is still zero...
Microsoft's grinning robots or the Brotherhood of the Mac. Which is worse?
I admit it: I'm a bigot. A hopeless bigot at that: I know my particular prejudice is absurd, but I just can't control it. It's Apple. I don't like Apple products. And the better-designed and more ubiquitous they become, the more I dislike them. I blame the customers. Awful people. Awful. Stop showing me your iPhone. Stop stroking your Macbook. Stop telling me to get one.
Seriously, stop it. I don't care if Mac stuff is better. I don't care if Mac stuff is cool. I don't care if every Mac product comes equipped a magic button on the side that causes it to piddle gold coins and resurrect the dead and make holographic unicorns dance inside your head. I'm not buying one, so shut up and go home. Go back to your house. I know, you've got an iHouse. The walls are brushed aluminum. There's a glowing Apple logo on the roof. And you love it there. You absolute MONSTER.
Of course, it's safe to assume Mac products are indeed as brilliant as their owners make out. Why else would they spend so much time trying to convert non-believers? They're not getting paid. They simply want to spread their happiness, like religious crusaders.
Consequently, nothing pleases them more than watching a PC owner struggle with a slab of non-Mac machinery. It validates their spiritual choice. Recently I sat in a room trying to write something on a Sony Vaio PC laptop which seemed to be running a special slow-motion edition of Windows Vista specifically designed to infuriate human beings as much as possible. Trying to get it to do anything was like issuing instructions to a depressed employee over a sluggish satellite feed. When I clicked on an application it spent a small eternity contemplating the philosophical implications of opening it, begrudgingly complying with my request several months later. It drove me up the wall. I called it a bastard and worse. At one point I punched a table...
Seriously, stop it. I don't care if Mac stuff is better. I don't care if Mac stuff is cool. I don't care if every Mac product comes equipped a magic button on the side that causes it to piddle gold coins and resurrect the dead and make holographic unicorns dance inside your head. I'm not buying one, so shut up and go home. Go back to your house. I know, you've got an iHouse. The walls are brushed aluminum. There's a glowing Apple logo on the roof. And you love it there. You absolute MONSTER.
Of course, it's safe to assume Mac products are indeed as brilliant as their owners make out. Why else would they spend so much time trying to convert non-believers? They're not getting paid. They simply want to spread their happiness, like religious crusaders.
Consequently, nothing pleases them more than watching a PC owner struggle with a slab of non-Mac machinery. It validates their spiritual choice. Recently I sat in a room trying to write something on a Sony Vaio PC laptop which seemed to be running a special slow-motion edition of Windows Vista specifically designed to infuriate human beings as much as possible. Trying to get it to do anything was like issuing instructions to a depressed employee over a sluggish satellite feed. When I clicked on an application it spent a small eternity contemplating the philosophical implications of opening it, begrudgingly complying with my request several months later. It drove me up the wall. I called it a bastard and worse. At one point I punched a table...
'Slick Willie': Clinton's untold story
What would the American presidency be without secret tapes? There were the Watergate tapes that destroyed Richard Nixon. There were the copious Oval Office recordings of John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, less explosive, but hugely revelatory nonetheless. And now, almost inevitably and potentially the most revealing of all, there are the Clinton Tapes – or rather two sets of tapes.
One boxful, whose transcripts fill a shelf of the Clinton home in Chappaqua, New York, cover the 79 conversations the former president held with his old friend Taylor Branch, esteemed biographer of Martin Luther King and co-worker with Bill and Hillary on George McGovern's ill-fated White House campaign of 1972.
The conversations took place over virtually the entire span of the Clinton presidency, between September 1993 and January 2001. For each of them, Mr Taylor was summoned down to Washington from his home in Baltimore, usually in the late afternoon...
One boxful, whose transcripts fill a shelf of the Clinton home in Chappaqua, New York, cover the 79 conversations the former president held with his old friend Taylor Branch, esteemed biographer of Martin Luther King and co-worker with Bill and Hillary on George McGovern's ill-fated White House campaign of 1972.
The conversations took place over virtually the entire span of the Clinton presidency, between September 1993 and January 2001. For each of them, Mr Taylor was summoned down to Washington from his home in Baltimore, usually in the late afternoon...
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Surrealism helps get your point across
Psychologists found that bizarre juxtapositions force people to engage their brain more and so increases the amount they learn.
Being simple, straightforward and to the point could actually lead to less engagement than jumbling up your facts and time frames, it is claimed.
Researchers at the University of California and the University of British Columbia claimed to have shown that exposure to surrealism enhances the “cognitive mechanism” that leads to learning.
Travis Proulx, lead researcher, said that when people are confronted by something that fundamentally does not make sense they try harder to understand it.
As an illustration he said normally a person would associate fire with extreme heat.
But if that person puts his hand into the fire and discovers it is icy cold, they would find it disturbing because common sense has been turned upside down.
For the study, Mr Proulx and colleagues gave one group an abridged and slightly edited version of Franz Kafka’s story “The Country Doctor” which involved a nonsensical and disturbing series of events.
A second group read a different version of the same short story, one that had been rewritten so that the plot and literary elements made sense.
Questioned later, the first group learnt more because they were motivated to find structure.
Mr Proulx said: “But what’s more important is that they were actually more accurate than those who read the more normal version of the story...
Being simple, straightforward and to the point could actually lead to less engagement than jumbling up your facts and time frames, it is claimed.
Researchers at the University of California and the University of British Columbia claimed to have shown that exposure to surrealism enhances the “cognitive mechanism” that leads to learning.
Travis Proulx, lead researcher, said that when people are confronted by something that fundamentally does not make sense they try harder to understand it.
As an illustration he said normally a person would associate fire with extreme heat.
But if that person puts his hand into the fire and discovers it is icy cold, they would find it disturbing because common sense has been turned upside down.
For the study, Mr Proulx and colleagues gave one group an abridged and slightly edited version of Franz Kafka’s story “The Country Doctor” which involved a nonsensical and disturbing series of events.
A second group read a different version of the same short story, one that had been rewritten so that the plot and literary elements made sense.
Questioned later, the first group learnt more because they were motivated to find structure.
Mr Proulx said: “But what’s more important is that they were actually more accurate than those who read the more normal version of the story...
More questions on 9/11
Osama "dead or alive" bin Laden would rather lose his kidney than pass up the opportunity to celebrate the eighth anniversary of September 11, 2001, on the United States. And like clockwork, he resurfaced in an 11-minute, al-Sahab-produced audiotape last week (sorry, no video, just a still picture), where he states how a series of grievances had "pushed us to undertake the events of [September 11]".
But there may be no mobile dialysis machine operating in a mysterious cave somewhere in one of the Waziristan tribal areas of Pakistan after all. According to David Ray Griffin's new book, Osama bin Laden: Dead or Alive? and based on a Taliban leader's remarks at the time, the mellifluous Saudi jihadi died of kidney failure in Tora Bora on December 13, 2001. Problem is, by that time, according to local mujahideen, Bin Laden had already escaped across the mountains with a bunch of al-Qaeda diehards
to Parachinar, in Pakistan, and then to a shadowy underworld.
A decoy? A ghost? The devil himself? Who cares? Bin Laden, the brand, is still very good for ("war on terror") business. All this with the Barack Obama administration insisting the US is fighting the elusive, seemingly eternal Taliban leader Mullah Omar and the Taliban plus al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, while General Stanley McChrystal - General David Petraeus' former top death squad operator in Iraq - insists there is no al-Qaeda in Afghanistan (but he wants up to 40,000 extra troops anyway).
Last week, Asia Times Online published Fifty Question on 9/11. The article stressed the questions were only a taste of the immense, mysterious 9/11 riddle. (Arguably the best 9/11 timeline on the net may be seen here.
Due to overwhelming reader response, here's a follow-up with 20 more questions - with a hat-tip to all who joined the debate...
But there may be no mobile dialysis machine operating in a mysterious cave somewhere in one of the Waziristan tribal areas of Pakistan after all. According to David Ray Griffin's new book, Osama bin Laden: Dead or Alive? and based on a Taliban leader's remarks at the time, the mellifluous Saudi jihadi died of kidney failure in Tora Bora on December 13, 2001. Problem is, by that time, according to local mujahideen, Bin Laden had already escaped across the mountains with a bunch of al-Qaeda diehards
to Parachinar, in Pakistan, and then to a shadowy underworld.
A decoy? A ghost? The devil himself? Who cares? Bin Laden, the brand, is still very good for ("war on terror") business. All this with the Barack Obama administration insisting the US is fighting the elusive, seemingly eternal Taliban leader Mullah Omar and the Taliban plus al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, while General Stanley McChrystal - General David Petraeus' former top death squad operator in Iraq - insists there is no al-Qaeda in Afghanistan (but he wants up to 40,000 extra troops anyway).
Last week, Asia Times Online published Fifty Question on 9/11. The article stressed the questions were only a taste of the immense, mysterious 9/11 riddle. (Arguably the best 9/11 timeline on the net may be seen here.
Due to overwhelming reader response, here's a follow-up with 20 more questions - with a hat-tip to all who joined the debate...
Brzezinski wants Israeli jets striking Iran 'shot down'
After talk of an Israeli airstrike on Iranian nuclear sites was renewed after months, former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski says the US should warn Israel that its jets will be shot down on their way to the Iranian targets.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, the former national security adviser to US President Jimmy Carter said the issue should be made clear to Israel that in case of an attempt to attack Iran, the US Air Force will go all out to stop any such move.
"We are not exactly impotent little babies. They have to fly over our airspace in Iraq. Are we just going to sit there and watch?" Brzezinski told the news website.
"We have to be serious about denying them that right. That means a denial where you aren't just saying it. If they fly over, you go up and confront them. They have the choice of turning back or not. No one wishes for this but it could be a 'Liberty' in reverse."
The former official who holds no post in the current US administration was referring to an incident in the 1967 Six Day War, during which Israeli warplanes attacked the USS Liberty near the Sinai coast, killing 34 crew members and wounding 171 others...
In an interview with The Daily Beast, the former national security adviser to US President Jimmy Carter said the issue should be made clear to Israel that in case of an attempt to attack Iran, the US Air Force will go all out to stop any such move.
"We are not exactly impotent little babies. They have to fly over our airspace in Iraq. Are we just going to sit there and watch?" Brzezinski told the news website.
"We have to be serious about denying them that right. That means a denial where you aren't just saying it. If they fly over, you go up and confront them. They have the choice of turning back or not. No one wishes for this but it could be a 'Liberty' in reverse."
The former official who holds no post in the current US administration was referring to an incident in the 1967 Six Day War, during which Israeli warplanes attacked the USS Liberty near the Sinai coast, killing 34 crew members and wounding 171 others...
'Drunk Boris Yeltsin tried to hail taxi outside White House in underpants'
The following night, a guard mistook him for an intruder after the former Russian president was discovered stumbling drunkenly around the basement of the official visitor's residence.
The embarrassing details about the extent of Mr Yeltsin's drinking habits have been revealed by Bill Clinton.
The former US president made the disclosures to Taylor Branch, a writer and former flatmate, whom he invited to compile a new "oral history" of the presidency based on 79 taped interviews.
Mr Clinton, who would regularly summon Mr Branch for afternoon chats during his eight-year presidency, was more coy about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, merely saying that he "just cracked" under personal and political pressure.
According to excerpts in USA Today of Branch's new book, the 707-page The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History With the President, Mr Clinton kept the tapes of the interview hidden in his sock drawer.
Mr Branch, however, would make his own tape after each interview in which he would immediately record what Mr Clinton had told him.
Another excerpt relates how Mr Clinton had an argument with Al Gore, his vice president, shortly after the latter failed to win the presidency in 2000.
Mr Clinton complained that he could have won the election for him if he had been more involved, to which Mr Gore responded that the former president had been a "drag" on his ticket because of the Lewinsky affair...
The embarrassing details about the extent of Mr Yeltsin's drinking habits have been revealed by Bill Clinton.
The former US president made the disclosures to Taylor Branch, a writer and former flatmate, whom he invited to compile a new "oral history" of the presidency based on 79 taped interviews.
Mr Clinton, who would regularly summon Mr Branch for afternoon chats during his eight-year presidency, was more coy about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, merely saying that he "just cracked" under personal and political pressure.
According to excerpts in USA Today of Branch's new book, the 707-page The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History With the President, Mr Clinton kept the tapes of the interview hidden in his sock drawer.
Mr Branch, however, would make his own tape after each interview in which he would immediately record what Mr Clinton had told him.
Another excerpt relates how Mr Clinton had an argument with Al Gore, his vice president, shortly after the latter failed to win the presidency in 2000.
Mr Clinton complained that he could have won the election for him if he had been more involved, to which Mr Gore responded that the former president had been a "drag" on his ticket because of the Lewinsky affair...
Friday, September 25, 2009
Coyotes shot after attacks on visitors in Los Angeles
Rangers armed with rifles moved in to kill the wild animals which have been roaming in packs near the famous landmark.
Other coyotes have been spotted in residential areas of Los Angeles close to Sunset Boulevard and there are thought to be around 5,000 in the city.
Officials fear more of them could have moved into urban areas after fires devastated thousands of acres of forest land near Los Angeles in recent weeks.
Their most high profile victim so far has been Jessica Simpson, the singer, who watched as her pet Maltese-poodle cross, called Daisy, was snatched by a coyote from the garden of her Los Angeles home a week ago.
Two people have been bitten in Griffith Park, home to the Hollywood sign. In the latest attack last Wednesday a man was set upon as he lay asleep on the grass.
Greg Mulpagano, a dog walker who uses the park, said: "The coyotes are everywhere and they're really getting close. It's nuts."
A spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Game told The Daily Telegraph: "When rangers went into the park there were multiple coyotes standing less than 30ft away with no fear of humans whatsoever. They were killed with firearms...
Other coyotes have been spotted in residential areas of Los Angeles close to Sunset Boulevard and there are thought to be around 5,000 in the city.
Officials fear more of them could have moved into urban areas after fires devastated thousands of acres of forest land near Los Angeles in recent weeks.
Their most high profile victim so far has been Jessica Simpson, the singer, who watched as her pet Maltese-poodle cross, called Daisy, was snatched by a coyote from the garden of her Los Angeles home a week ago.
Two people have been bitten in Griffith Park, home to the Hollywood sign. In the latest attack last Wednesday a man was set upon as he lay asleep on the grass.
Greg Mulpagano, a dog walker who uses the park, said: "The coyotes are everywhere and they're really getting close. It's nuts."
A spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Game told The Daily Telegraph: "When rangers went into the park there were multiple coyotes standing less than 30ft away with no fear of humans whatsoever. They were killed with firearms...
The Holy Grail of the Unconscious
This is a story about a nearly 100-year-old book, bound in red leather, which has spent the last quarter century secreted away in a bank vault in Switzerland. The book is big and heavy and its spine is etched with gold letters that say “Liber Novus,” which is Latin for “New Book.” Its pages are made from thick cream-colored parchment and filled with paintings of otherworldly creatures and handwritten dialogues with gods and devils. If you didn’t know the book’s vintage, you might confuse it for a lost medieval tome.
And yet between the book’s heavy covers, a very modern story unfolds. It goes as follows: Man skids into midlife and loses his soul. Man goes looking for soul. After a lot of instructive hardship and adventure — taking place entirely in his head — he finds it again.
Some people feel that nobody should read the book, and some feel that everybody should read it. The truth is, nobody really knows. Most of what has been said about the book — what it is, what it means — is the product of guesswork, because from the time it was begun in 1914 in a smallish town in Switzerland, it seems that only about two dozen people have managed to read or even have much of a look at it...
And yet between the book’s heavy covers, a very modern story unfolds. It goes as follows: Man skids into midlife and loses his soul. Man goes looking for soul. After a lot of instructive hardship and adventure — taking place entirely in his head — he finds it again.
Some people feel that nobody should read the book, and some feel that everybody should read it. The truth is, nobody really knows. Most of what has been said about the book — what it is, what it means — is the product of guesswork, because from the time it was begun in 1914 in a smallish town in Switzerland, it seems that only about two dozen people have managed to read or even have much of a look at it...
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Israel will not attack Iran, says Kremlin
Israel has promised the Kremlin that it will not launch an attack on Iran, according to President Medvedev.
Publicly at least, Israeli leaders have always refused to rule out the possiblity of a military strike against Iran's nuclear programme if it refuses to stop enriching uranium. But Mr Medvedev said that Shimon Peres, his Israeli counterpart, gave such an assurance during a meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi last month.
In an interview with CNN aired today, Mr Medvedev said an Israeli assault would be "the worst thing that can be imagined", leading to “a humanitarian disaster, a vast number of refugees, Iran’s wish to take revenge and not only upon Israel, to be honest, but upon other countries as well”.
He added: “But my Israeli colleagues told me that they were not planning to act in this way and I trust them.”...
Publicly at least, Israeli leaders have always refused to rule out the possiblity of a military strike against Iran's nuclear programme if it refuses to stop enriching uranium. But Mr Medvedev said that Shimon Peres, his Israeli counterpart, gave such an assurance during a meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi last month.
In an interview with CNN aired today, Mr Medvedev said an Israeli assault would be "the worst thing that can be imagined", leading to “a humanitarian disaster, a vast number of refugees, Iran’s wish to take revenge and not only upon Israel, to be honest, but upon other countries as well”.
He added: “But my Israeli colleagues told me that they were not planning to act in this way and I trust them.”...
The new system offers a real missile defence
Last Wednesday, President Barack Obama approved the recommendations of his entire national security team to deploy a stronger and more comprehensive missile defence system in Europe. This decision came after a lengthy and in-depth review of our assessment of the threat posed by Iran’s ballistic missile programme, and the technology that we have to confront it. And it is a decision that will leave America stronger, and more capable of defending our troops, our interests, and our allies.
With the president’s decision, we will deploy missile defence sooner than the previous programme, so that we will be able swiftly to counter the threat posed by Iran’s short and medium-range ballistic missiles.
We will deploy missile defence that is more comprehensive than the previous programme, with more interceptors in more places, and a better capacity to protect all of our friends and allies in the region. We will deploy technology that is actually proven so that we do not waste time or taxpayer money, and we will preserve the flexibility to adjust our approach to the threat as it evolves.
This is a stronger and smarter approach than the previous programme. It does what missile defence is actually supposed to do – it defends America and our allies...
With the president’s decision, we will deploy missile defence sooner than the previous programme, so that we will be able swiftly to counter the threat posed by Iran’s short and medium-range ballistic missiles.
We will deploy missile defence that is more comprehensive than the previous programme, with more interceptors in more places, and a better capacity to protect all of our friends and allies in the region. We will deploy technology that is actually proven so that we do not waste time or taxpayer money, and we will preserve the flexibility to adjust our approach to the threat as it evolves.
This is a stronger and smarter approach than the previous programme. It does what missile defence is actually supposed to do – it defends America and our allies...
Barack Obama confronts America over the racial divide
The interview was over and Barack Obama was slumped in a chair in his conference room, under a framed copy of some minor legislation of which he had been the author. After an hour of talking about race and politics, his handler wrapped up the conversation and suggested it was time to leave.
Then Mr Obama asked me to turn the audio recorder back on. He had something more to say. His staffer looked concerned, but the man himself looked relaxed.
"This is unprompted by a question," he admitted, "but it's prompted by the cut or the angle you guys are taking. I may be off base here. But the impulse I think may be to write a story that says Barack Obama represents a quote-unquote 'post-racial politics'. That term I reject because it implies that somehow my campaign represents an easy shortcut to racial reconciliation. It's similar to the notion that if we're all color blind then somehow problems are solved.
"Solving our racial problems in this country will require concrete steps, significant investment. We're going to have a lot of work to do to overcome the long legacy of Jim Crow and slavery. It can't be purchased on the cheap. I am fundamentally optimistic about our capacity to do that. And I do assert that there's a core decency in the American people and in white Americans that makes me hopeful about our ability to deal with these issues. But these issues aren't just solved by electing a black president."...
Then Mr Obama asked me to turn the audio recorder back on. He had something more to say. His staffer looked concerned, but the man himself looked relaxed.
"This is unprompted by a question," he admitted, "but it's prompted by the cut or the angle you guys are taking. I may be off base here. But the impulse I think may be to write a story that says Barack Obama represents a quote-unquote 'post-racial politics'. That term I reject because it implies that somehow my campaign represents an easy shortcut to racial reconciliation. It's similar to the notion that if we're all color blind then somehow problems are solved.
"Solving our racial problems in this country will require concrete steps, significant investment. We're going to have a lot of work to do to overcome the long legacy of Jim Crow and slavery. It can't be purchased on the cheap. I am fundamentally optimistic about our capacity to do that. And I do assert that there's a core decency in the American people and in white Americans that makes me hopeful about our ability to deal with these issues. But these issues aren't just solved by electing a black president."...
US urges court to reject Google book deal
In a filing with a US District Court in New York, the department said the class action settlement raises copyright and anti-trust issues but it encouraged the parties to continue their discussions to address its concerns over the project to scan millions of books.
"As presently drafted, the Proposed Settlement does not meet the legal standards this Court must apply," the department said in a filing with the court.
"The public interest would best be served by direction from the Court encouraging the continuation of those discussions," it said.
The US District Court in New York is to hold a hearing on the settlement on October 7.
In a statement, Google, the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers said the Department of Justice filing "recognizes the value the settlement can provide by unlocking access to millions of books" in the United States."
"We are considering the points raised by the Department and look forward to addressing them as the court proceedings continue," they added in the statement...
"As presently drafted, the Proposed Settlement does not meet the legal standards this Court must apply," the department said in a filing with the court.
"The public interest would best be served by direction from the Court encouraging the continuation of those discussions," it said.
The US District Court in New York is to hold a hearing on the settlement on October 7.
In a statement, Google, the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers said the Department of Justice filing "recognizes the value the settlement can provide by unlocking access to millions of books" in the United States."
"We are considering the points raised by the Department and look forward to addressing them as the court proceedings continue," they added in the statement...
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Barack Obama to meet Dmitry Medvedev in wake of missile decision
Mr Obama is hoping to hammer out a deal on possible sanctions ahead of talks with Tehran on its nuclear weapons programme set for October 1.
The meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly will come less than a week after Washington dropped its missile shield plans to the delight of Moscow.
Mr Medvedev said the decision to abandon plans for defence bases in Poland and the Czech Republic meant he would listen to US concerns more attentively in future but claimed there had been no "primitive deals". Russia's prime minister, Vladimir Putin, hailed the move as "brave and correct".
Mr Medvedev is due to address the UN general assembly next week almost half a century after Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev took off his shoe and banged it on a desk at the same forum. US officials are hoping he will use the occasion to signal a new approach to international relations.
On Friday, there were a series of signs of an immediate thaw in Russia's icy relations with the West less than 24 hours after Mr Obama's announcement...
The meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly will come less than a week after Washington dropped its missile shield plans to the delight of Moscow.
Mr Medvedev said the decision to abandon plans for defence bases in Poland and the Czech Republic meant he would listen to US concerns more attentively in future but claimed there had been no "primitive deals". Russia's prime minister, Vladimir Putin, hailed the move as "brave and correct".
Mr Medvedev is due to address the UN general assembly next week almost half a century after Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev took off his shoe and banged it on a desk at the same forum. US officials are hoping he will use the occasion to signal a new approach to international relations.
On Friday, there were a series of signs of an immediate thaw in Russia's icy relations with the West less than 24 hours after Mr Obama's announcement...
Nato offers to include Russia in defence planning
Nato today offered to include Moscow in its defence planning, announcing that missile shields being developed in the US and Europe could be integrated with Russian systems.
The military alliance's overture to the Kremlin came within 24 hours of the White House announcing that it was scrapping the Pentagon's divisive proposed missile shield facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic.
In his first major speech since taking over as the Nato secretary-general last month, the former Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen also urged the alliance and Russia to conduct an unprecedented joint assessment of the major security challenges facing the world.
He said his aim was eventually to see the US, the European Nato allies and the Russians "plugging in to" integrated missile defence systems to counter the perceived danger of rocket attacks from countries such as Iran.
"Our nations, and our forces deployed in theatre, will all become increasingly vulnerable to missile attacks by third parties," Rasmussen said in a speech in Brussels.
"We should explore the potential for linking the US, Nato and Russia missile defence systems at an appropriate time ... both Nato and Russia have a wealth of experience in missile defence.
"We should now work to combine this experience to our mutual benefit."...
The military alliance's overture to the Kremlin came within 24 hours of the White House announcing that it was scrapping the Pentagon's divisive proposed missile shield facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic.
In his first major speech since taking over as the Nato secretary-general last month, the former Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen also urged the alliance and Russia to conduct an unprecedented joint assessment of the major security challenges facing the world.
He said his aim was eventually to see the US, the European Nato allies and the Russians "plugging in to" integrated missile defence systems to counter the perceived danger of rocket attacks from countries such as Iran.
"Our nations, and our forces deployed in theatre, will all become increasingly vulnerable to missile attacks by third parties," Rasmussen said in a speech in Brussels.
"We should explore the potential for linking the US, Nato and Russia missile defence systems at an appropriate time ... both Nato and Russia have a wealth of experience in missile defence.
"We should now work to combine this experience to our mutual benefit."...
We're one-tenth human
Only about 10 per cent of the trillions of cells that make up a person are truly human, researchers say. The other 90 per cent are bacteria, viruses and other microbes swarming in your gut and on your skin.
"We really are a superorganism," Brett Finlay, a microbiologist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, said in an email. "From the moment we are born until we die, we live in a symbiotic relationship with our microbes."
"At birth, babies emerge from a sterile environment into one that is laden with microbes," said Laurie Comstock, a microbiologist at Harvard Medical School in Boston. "The infant's intestines then rapidly become home to one of the densest populations of bacteria on Earth."
Most of these microbes are harmless, researchers say. Many are necessary to life and health. A troublesome minority, however, can cause everything from teenage acne and obesity to autism and cancer.
The National Institutes of Health has launched a $115-million, five-year project to identify, analyze and catalog hundreds of microbial species resident in or on the human body.
Called the Human Microbiome Project, it's modelled after the Human Genome Project, which decoded most of the human genes in the 1990s. The first 35 microbiome research grants took effect this summer...
"We really are a superorganism," Brett Finlay, a microbiologist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, said in an email. "From the moment we are born until we die, we live in a symbiotic relationship with our microbes."
"At birth, babies emerge from a sterile environment into one that is laden with microbes," said Laurie Comstock, a microbiologist at Harvard Medical School in Boston. "The infant's intestines then rapidly become home to one of the densest populations of bacteria on Earth."
Most of these microbes are harmless, researchers say. Many are necessary to life and health. A troublesome minority, however, can cause everything from teenage acne and obesity to autism and cancer.
The National Institutes of Health has launched a $115-million, five-year project to identify, analyze and catalog hundreds of microbial species resident in or on the human body.
Called the Human Microbiome Project, it's modelled after the Human Genome Project, which decoded most of the human genes in the 1990s. The first 35 microbiome research grants took effect this summer...
75 Percent of Oklahoma High School Students Can't Name the First President of the U.S.
Only one in four Oklahoma public high school students can name the first President of the United States, according to a survey released today.
The survey was commissioned by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs in observance of Constitution Day on Thursday.
Brandon Dutcher is with the conservative think tank and said the group wanted to find out how much civic knowledge Oklahoma high school students know.
The Oklahoma City-based think tank enlisted national research firm, Strategic Vision, to access students' basic civic knowledge.
"They're questions taken from the actual exam that you have to take to become a U.S. citizen," Dutcher said.
A thousand students were given 10 questions drawn from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services item bank. Candidates for U.S. citizenship must answer six questions correctly in order to become citizens...
The survey was commissioned by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs in observance of Constitution Day on Thursday.
Brandon Dutcher is with the conservative think tank and said the group wanted to find out how much civic knowledge Oklahoma high school students know.
The Oklahoma City-based think tank enlisted national research firm, Strategic Vision, to access students' basic civic knowledge.
"They're questions taken from the actual exam that you have to take to become a U.S. citizen," Dutcher said.
A thousand students were given 10 questions drawn from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services item bank. Candidates for U.S. citizenship must answer six questions correctly in order to become citizens...
3d printer can almost make itself!
Look at your computer setup and imagine that you hooked up a 3D printer. Instead of printing on bits of paper this 3D printer makes real, robust, mechanical parts. To give you an idea of how robust, think Lego bricks and you're in the right area. You could make lots of useful stuff, but interestingly you could also make most of the parts to make another 3D printer. That would be a machine that could copy itself...
Iran Opposition Protests; Ahmadinejad Attacks Israel
Tens of thousands of Iranian opposition supporters protested the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as he again attacked Israel at the annual state-organized Quds Day rally honoring the Palestinian cause.
Rally participants marched toward downtown Tehran, converging on Enghelab Avenue, near the site of the capital’s weekly Friday prayers where Ahmadinejad spoke before the sermon. State-controlled media reported a “massive turnout.”
Addressing a crowd of his own supporters, Ahmadinejad repeated his doubts about the veracity of the Nazi Holocaust, a position that has brought worldwide condemnation in the past, calling it “a myth” and asking, “why is it not allowed to research and unveil the reality?”...
Rally participants marched toward downtown Tehran, converging on Enghelab Avenue, near the site of the capital’s weekly Friday prayers where Ahmadinejad spoke before the sermon. State-controlled media reported a “massive turnout.”
Addressing a crowd of his own supporters, Ahmadinejad repeated his doubts about the veracity of the Nazi Holocaust, a position that has brought worldwide condemnation in the past, calling it “a myth” and asking, “why is it not allowed to research and unveil the reality?”...
VW unveils 180 mile-per-gallon, two-seater L1 hybrid at Frankfurt Motor Show
The L1 concept is shorter than a VW Fox and lower than a Lamborghini. When it goes into production in 2013, it will be the most aerodynamic car in the world and, at just 840lb, the lightest.
It is built of the most exotic materials, with slippery carbon-fibre coachwork, a fighter aircraft’s cockpit canopy and rear-view television cameras instead of wing mirrors.
Its tiny, 800cc engine is one half of a VW 1.6-litre TDI turbodiesel unit, which delivers maximum power of 29 brake horsepower together with a 14 horse power electric motor to provide extra oomph for overtaking.
Free road tax
The L1 is capable of 99mph and 0-62mph acceleration in just 14.3sec and emits carbon dioxide at the parsimonious rate of just 39g/km, meaning free road tax in the UK.
In fact if the average British motorist swapped his 35mpg hatchback for an L1, he would reduce his annual fuel bill from about £1,430 to about £277...
It is built of the most exotic materials, with slippery carbon-fibre coachwork, a fighter aircraft’s cockpit canopy and rear-view television cameras instead of wing mirrors.
Its tiny, 800cc engine is one half of a VW 1.6-litre TDI turbodiesel unit, which delivers maximum power of 29 brake horsepower together with a 14 horse power electric motor to provide extra oomph for overtaking.
Free road tax
The L1 is capable of 99mph and 0-62mph acceleration in just 14.3sec and emits carbon dioxide at the parsimonious rate of just 39g/km, meaning free road tax in the UK.
In fact if the average British motorist swapped his 35mpg hatchback for an L1, he would reduce his annual fuel bill from about £1,430 to about £277...
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Too much radiation for astronauts to make it to Mars
FORGET the risk of exploding rockets or getting sideswiped by a wayward bit of space junk. Radiation may be the biggest hurdle to human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and could put a damper on a recently proposed mission to Mars orbit.
A panel tasked by the White House with reviewing NASA's human space flight activities (New Scientist, 22 August, p 8) suggests sending astronauts to one of Mars's moons, Phobos or Deimos, among other possibilities raised in its report released last week (http://tinyurl.com/mbajav).
From such a perch, astronauts could use remote-controlled robots to explore the Martian surface and retrieve samples - from the planet as well as the moon itself - for later close-up study on Earth. This would avoid the need to develop expensive hardware to land humans on a body with substantial gravity, like Mars.
"I, for one, would go to Phobos or Deimos in a heartbeat, even without any hope of landing on Mars," says planetary scientist Pascal Lee of the Mars Institute, a California-based research organisation.
But the insidious threat of space radiation in the form of galactic cosmic rays could keep astronauts confined much closer to home.
The rays are actually speeding protons and heavier atomic nuclei that rain onto our solar system from all directions. They can slice through DNA molecules when they pass through living cells and the resulting damage can lead to cancer...
A panel tasked by the White House with reviewing NASA's human space flight activities (New Scientist, 22 August, p 8) suggests sending astronauts to one of Mars's moons, Phobos or Deimos, among other possibilities raised in its report released last week (http://tinyurl.com/mbajav).
From such a perch, astronauts could use remote-controlled robots to explore the Martian surface and retrieve samples - from the planet as well as the moon itself - for later close-up study on Earth. This would avoid the need to develop expensive hardware to land humans on a body with substantial gravity, like Mars.
"I, for one, would go to Phobos or Deimos in a heartbeat, even without any hope of landing on Mars," says planetary scientist Pascal Lee of the Mars Institute, a California-based research organisation.
But the insidious threat of space radiation in the form of galactic cosmic rays could keep astronauts confined much closer to home.
The rays are actually speeding protons and heavier atomic nuclei that rain onto our solar system from all directions. They can slice through DNA molecules when they pass through living cells and the resulting damage can lead to cancer...
Canada introduces bill supporting US deserters
Canadian Parliament will consider a bill introduced Thursday that would allow American and other war resisters to stay in Canada.
The bill, introduced by the Liberal Party's Gerard Kennedy, would allow other countries' military deserters to stay in Canada if their refusal to serve is based on sincere moral, political or religious objections.
Parliament has already voted twice to support war resisters, but those were non-binding motions.
Kennedy's bill would be binding because it would amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
Most war resisters in Canada are U.S. military personnel who have refused to participate in the Iraq War on the grounds that it's illegal and immoral.
There are thought to be about 200 American military deserters who have come to Canada to avoid service in Iraq.
Canadian immigration officials and the courts have rejected efforts to grant them refugee status, and several face deportation. At least two have already been deported to the U.S...
The bill, introduced by the Liberal Party's Gerard Kennedy, would allow other countries' military deserters to stay in Canada if their refusal to serve is based on sincere moral, political or religious objections.
Parliament has already voted twice to support war resisters, but those were non-binding motions.
Kennedy's bill would be binding because it would amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
Most war resisters in Canada are U.S. military personnel who have refused to participate in the Iraq War on the grounds that it's illegal and immoral.
There are thought to be about 200 American military deserters who have come to Canada to avoid service in Iraq.
Canadian immigration officials and the courts have rejected efforts to grant them refugee status, and several face deportation. At least two have already been deported to the U.S...
Panama Teens Kill Strange Creature
“Shocking photographs of ’something’ that has washed ashore in Panama is sending chills up the spines of Central American readers for a creature rivaling the Montauk Monster has invaded their land.”
Well, that’s a caption I created of what I imagine some editors are feeling they would like to have written about the photos published this week in Panama.
Instead, here is Cryptomundo correspondent Harris Eisenberg and my rough translation of the text accompanying the images above:
“The finding of a strange Blue Hill creature has awaked controversial among the population, because while some assert that it is a being of another planet, others think simply that it is an animal. Four adolescents between 14 and 16 years of age, discovered it in the Blue Hill Spurt, this past Saturday [September 12, 2009], while they were amusing themselves in the area. According to what they related, one of them suddenly saw the creature leave a cave located behind the water spurt. When it saw their appearance, it began to climb on rocks towards them; one [of the teens] was scared, so he began to stone it and to throw sticks at it, causing it to be killed; then they threw it into the water and they fled.”...
Well, that’s a caption I created of what I imagine some editors are feeling they would like to have written about the photos published this week in Panama.
Instead, here is Cryptomundo correspondent Harris Eisenberg and my rough translation of the text accompanying the images above:
“The finding of a strange Blue Hill creature has awaked controversial among the population, because while some assert that it is a being of another planet, others think simply that it is an animal. Four adolescents between 14 and 16 years of age, discovered it in the Blue Hill Spurt, this past Saturday [September 12, 2009], while they were amusing themselves in the area. According to what they related, one of them suddenly saw the creature leave a cave located behind the water spurt. When it saw their appearance, it began to climb on rocks towards them; one [of the teens] was scared, so he began to stone it and to throw sticks at it, causing it to be killed; then they threw it into the water and they fled.”...
Japan ready to withdraw support for Afghanistan war
Japan’s new Defence Minister is a strong opponent of the country’s military support for the US, making it more likely than ever that the Government of Yukio Hatoyama will withdraw its naval ships from the war in Afghanistan early next year.
Mr Hatoyama was formally elected Prime Minister by the Diet, days after his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won a crushing election victory on a platform of bureaucratic reform, welfare spending and a less deferential relationship with the United States.
The appointment as Defence Minister of 71-year old Toshimi Kitazawa suggests that he will follow through in his election promise to withdraw from the Nato-led Afghanistan campaign.
Japan’s Maritime Defence Forces deployed a supply ship and a destroyer to provide fuel and water to US and British naval vessels in the Indian Ocean. Compared to other international contributions, it is small, but for Japan, which has taken part in only a handful of overseas military operations since World War II, it is an important and controversial commitment...
Mr Hatoyama was formally elected Prime Minister by the Diet, days after his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won a crushing election victory on a platform of bureaucratic reform, welfare spending and a less deferential relationship with the United States.
The appointment as Defence Minister of 71-year old Toshimi Kitazawa suggests that he will follow through in his election promise to withdraw from the Nato-led Afghanistan campaign.
Japan’s Maritime Defence Forces deployed a supply ship and a destroyer to provide fuel and water to US and British naval vessels in the Indian Ocean. Compared to other international contributions, it is small, but for Japan, which has taken part in only a handful of overseas military operations since World War II, it is an important and controversial commitment...
Anger in Europe as Barack Obama 'scraps missile defence shield'
The move would be a cause of celebration in Moscow but of real concern to Eastern European countries which have looked to Washington for support against their former imperial master Russia. The US has said the shield is to guard against attacks by rogue states, such as Iran.
The former Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolanek, said: "This is not good news for the Czech state, for Czech freedom and independence. It puts us in a position wherein we are not firmly anchored in terms of partnership, security and alliance, and that's a certain threat."
The Polish deputy foreign minister, Andrzej Kremer, saidthat Warsaw had heard from different sources there were "serious chances" the anti-missile system would not be deployed.
Russian officials said they did not want to immediately comment on media reports that cited unidentified US officials.
"We are waiting for confirmation of these reports," a source in Russia's foreign ministry said. "In principle, such a development would help the development of our bilateral relations with the United States."...
The former Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolanek, said: "This is not good news for the Czech state, for Czech freedom and independence. It puts us in a position wherein we are not firmly anchored in terms of partnership, security and alliance, and that's a certain threat."
The Polish deputy foreign minister, Andrzej Kremer, saidthat Warsaw had heard from different sources there were "serious chances" the anti-missile system would not be deployed.
Russian officials said they did not want to immediately comment on media reports that cited unidentified US officials.
"We are waiting for confirmation of these reports," a source in Russia's foreign ministry said. "In principle, such a development would help the development of our bilateral relations with the United States."...
Obama Supports Extending Patriot Act Provisions
The Obama administration supports extending three key provisions of the Patriot Act that are due to expire at the end of the year, the Justice Department told Congress in a letter made public Tuesday.
Lawmakers and civil rights groups had been pressing the Democratic administration to say whether it wants to preserve the post-Sept. 11 law's authority to access business records, as well as monitor so-called "lone wolf" terrorists and conduct roving wiretaps.
The provision on business records was long criticized by rights groups as giving the government access to citizens' library records, and a coalition of liberal and conservative groups complained that the Patriot Act gives the government too much authority to snoop into Americans' private lives...
Lawmakers and civil rights groups had been pressing the Democratic administration to say whether it wants to preserve the post-Sept. 11 law's authority to access business records, as well as monitor so-called "lone wolf" terrorists and conduct roving wiretaps.
The provision on business records was long criticized by rights groups as giving the government access to citizens' library records, and a coalition of liberal and conservative groups complained that the Patriot Act gives the government too much authority to snoop into Americans' private lives...
Gaza acts amounted to war crimes, U.N. report says
A United Nations report issued Tuesday says both Israel and the Palestinians committed actions amounting to war crimes during Israel's military incursion into Gaza from December 27 to January 18.
A member of Hamas walks through a building damaged during fighting with Israel in Gaza last January.
Although the U.N. investigation found that Palestinian militants also committed war crimes, the overwhelming majority of the criticism in a summary of the 574-page report targets Israel.
Israel "committed actions amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity," the report says.
The findings were revealed by the head of the U.N. Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, headed by Richard Goldstone, a South African judge.
Israel did not cooperate in the investigation.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying Israel "did not feel able to cooperate with the Fact Finding Mission because its mandate was clearly one-sided and ignored the thousands of Hamas missile attacks on civilians in southern Israel that made the Gaza Operation necessary."
A member of Hamas walks through a building damaged during fighting with Israel in Gaza last January.
Although the U.N. investigation found that Palestinian militants also committed war crimes, the overwhelming majority of the criticism in a summary of the 574-page report targets Israel.
Israel "committed actions amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity," the report says.
The findings were revealed by the head of the U.N. Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, headed by Richard Goldstone, a South African judge.
Israel did not cooperate in the investigation.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying Israel "did not feel able to cooperate with the Fact Finding Mission because its mandate was clearly one-sided and ignored the thousands of Hamas missile attacks on civilians in southern Israel that made the Gaza Operation necessary."
Musing about a painless death got man a painful humiliation
Weeks before his own bruising brush with absolute power, Bruce McArthur was ruminating to friends about the notorious arrest of the Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and the burden that is incumbent upon those who wield it.
It was either ironic or prescient or both.
Mr. Gates, a black man wrongly mistaken for a burglar, was arrested on July 16 in his own home in Cambridge, Mass., by police responding to a 911 call; Mr. McArthur, a 75-year-old white man wrongly believed to be suicidal, was arrested on Aug. 9 in his own midtown apartment by Toronto police responding to a 911 call.
If Mr. Gates's arrest prompted a nationwide debate in the United States about how police treat black men, Mr. McArthur's might spark a comparable one about how police treat those they believe are mentally ill.
Now, Mr. McArthur wasn't suicidal that night...
It was either ironic or prescient or both.
Mr. Gates, a black man wrongly mistaken for a burglar, was arrested on July 16 in his own home in Cambridge, Mass., by police responding to a 911 call; Mr. McArthur, a 75-year-old white man wrongly believed to be suicidal, was arrested on Aug. 9 in his own midtown apartment by Toronto police responding to a 911 call.
If Mr. Gates's arrest prompted a nationwide debate in the United States about how police treat black men, Mr. McArthur's might spark a comparable one about how police treat those they believe are mentally ill.
Now, Mr. McArthur wasn't suicidal that night...
Fake video dramatically alters eyewitness accounts
Researchers at the University of Warwick have found that fake video evidence can dramatically alter people's perceptions of events, even convincing them to testify as an eyewitness to an event that never happened.
Associate Professor Dr Kimberley Wade from the Department of Psychology led an experiment to see whether exposure to fabricated footage of an event could induce individuals to accuse another person of doing something they never did.
In the study, published in Applied Cognitive Psychology, Dr Wade found that almost 50% of people shown fake footage of an event they witnessed first hand were prepared to believe the video version rather than what they actually saw.
Dr Wade's research team filmed 60 subjects as they took part in a computerised gambling task. The subjects were unknowingly seated next to a member of the research team as they both separately answered a series of multiple-choice general knowledge questions.
All subjects were given a pile of fake money to gamble with and they shared a pile of money that represented the bank. Their task was to earn as much money as possible by typing in an amount of money to gamble on the chances of them answering each question correctly. They were told the person who made the highest profit would win a prize.
When they answered each question, subjects saw either a green tick on their computer monitor to show their answer was correct, or a red cross to show it was incorrect. If the answer was wrong, they would be told to return the money to the bank...
Associate Professor Dr Kimberley Wade from the Department of Psychology led an experiment to see whether exposure to fabricated footage of an event could induce individuals to accuse another person of doing something they never did.
In the study, published in Applied Cognitive Psychology, Dr Wade found that almost 50% of people shown fake footage of an event they witnessed first hand were prepared to believe the video version rather than what they actually saw.
Dr Wade's research team filmed 60 subjects as they took part in a computerised gambling task. The subjects were unknowingly seated next to a member of the research team as they both separately answered a series of multiple-choice general knowledge questions.
All subjects were given a pile of fake money to gamble with and they shared a pile of money that represented the bank. Their task was to earn as much money as possible by typing in an amount of money to gamble on the chances of them answering each question correctly. They were told the person who made the highest profit would win a prize.
When they answered each question, subjects saw either a green tick on their computer monitor to show their answer was correct, or a red cross to show it was incorrect. If the answer was wrong, they would be told to return the money to the bank...
The ego epidemic: How more and more of us women have an inflated sense of our own fabulousness
Us women are more egocentric and narcissistic than we ever used to be, according to extensive research by two leading psychologists.
More of us have huge expectations of ourselves, our lives and everyone in them. We think the universe resolves around us, with a deluded sense of our own fabulousness, and believe we are cleverer, more talented and more attractive than we actually are.
We have trouble accepting criticism and extending empathy because we are so preoccupied with ourselves.
Am I making you angry by telling you this? It figures. Narcissistic or egotistical women do have an overwhelming sense of entitlement and arrogance.
Of course, I joke, but researchers say there is growing evidence of an epidemic of ego-itis everywhere.
Once a traditionally male syndrome, narcissism generally begins at home and in schools, where children are praised excessively, often spoiled rotten and given the relentless message that they are 'special'.
Psychology professors Jean Twenge and Keith Campbell analysed studies on 37,000 college students in 2006.
In a survey, 30 per cent of them said they believed they should get good grades simply for turning up...
More of us have huge expectations of ourselves, our lives and everyone in them. We think the universe resolves around us, with a deluded sense of our own fabulousness, and believe we are cleverer, more talented and more attractive than we actually are.
We have trouble accepting criticism and extending empathy because we are so preoccupied with ourselves.
Am I making you angry by telling you this? It figures. Narcissistic or egotistical women do have an overwhelming sense of entitlement and arrogance.
Of course, I joke, but researchers say there is growing evidence of an epidemic of ego-itis everywhere.
Once a traditionally male syndrome, narcissism generally begins at home and in schools, where children are praised excessively, often spoiled rotten and given the relentless message that they are 'special'.
Psychology professors Jean Twenge and Keith Campbell analysed studies on 37,000 college students in 2006.
In a survey, 30 per cent of them said they believed they should get good grades simply for turning up...
Ireland’s 100 Reasons to Vote ‘No’ to the Lisbon treaty
1. The European Union has already created massive pockets of unemployment, with countries such as Spain – who have ratified Lisbon – suffering with unemployment rates of 18%. Why should Ireland sign up to a failing European Union?
2. About 450,000 people are unemployed, crushed by cuts, taxes, mortgage payments, on top of public bank-bail-outs and yet, the politicians who brought this upon Ireland are also asking for trust over the Lisbon treaty.
3. MEPs claim up to €1,000,000 in expenses each term, while massive job losses continue on an everyday basis.
4. Ireland remains a full member of the EU without the Lisbon treaty, and is in fact economically and politically better off without the treaty.
5. If Ireland votes No, she will continue to have access to Europe’s single market – the Lisbon treaty is concerned more with intensifying European government, using a constitutional document, which will crush trade, jobs and industry in Ireland .
6. Foreign investment has actually increased since Ireland voted No last year.
7. Under the Lisbon treaty, the EU can levy taxes on Ireland for the first time...
2. About 450,000 people are unemployed, crushed by cuts, taxes, mortgage payments, on top of public bank-bail-outs and yet, the politicians who brought this upon Ireland are also asking for trust over the Lisbon treaty.
3. MEPs claim up to €1,000,000 in expenses each term, while massive job losses continue on an everyday basis.
4. Ireland remains a full member of the EU without the Lisbon treaty, and is in fact economically and politically better off without the treaty.
5. If Ireland votes No, she will continue to have access to Europe’s single market – the Lisbon treaty is concerned more with intensifying European government, using a constitutional document, which will crush trade, jobs and industry in Ireland .
6. Foreign investment has actually increased since Ireland voted No last year.
7. Under the Lisbon treaty, the EU can levy taxes on Ireland for the first time...
Prehistoric man 'used crude sat nav'
These covered much of southern England and Wales and included now famous landmarks such as Stonehenge and The Mount.
New research suggests that they were built on a connecting grid of isosceles triangles that 'point' to the next site.
Many are 100 miles or more away, but GPS co-ordinates show all are accurate to within 100 metres.
This provided a simple way for ancient Britons to navigate successfully from A to B without the need for maps.
According to historian and writer Tom Brooks, the findings show that Britain's Stone Age ancestors were ''sophisticated engineers'' and far from a barbaric race.
Mr Brooks, from Honiton, Devon, studied all known prehistoric sites as part of his research...
New research suggests that they were built on a connecting grid of isosceles triangles that 'point' to the next site.
Many are 100 miles or more away, but GPS co-ordinates show all are accurate to within 100 metres.
This provided a simple way for ancient Britons to navigate successfully from A to B without the need for maps.
According to historian and writer Tom Brooks, the findings show that Britain's Stone Age ancestors were ''sophisticated engineers'' and far from a barbaric race.
Mr Brooks, from Honiton, Devon, studied all known prehistoric sites as part of his research...
Police say syringes will help stop drunk driving
When police officer Darryll Dowell is on patrol in the southwestern Idaho city of Nampa, he'll pull up at a stoplight and usually start casing the vehicle. Nowadays, his eyes will also focus on the driver's arms, as he tries to search for a plump, bouncy vein.
"I was looking at people's arms and hands, thinking, 'I could draw from that,'" Dowell said.
It's all part of training he and a select cadre of officers in Idaho and Texas have received in recent months to draw blood from those suspected of drunken or drugged driving. The federal program's aim is to determine if blood draws by cops can be an effective tool against drunk drivers and aid in their prosecution.
If the results seem promising after a year or two, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will encourage police nationwide to undergo similar training.
For years, defense attorneys in Idaho advised clients to always refuse breath tests, Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Christine Starr said. When the state toughened the penalties for refusing the tests a few years ago, the problem lessened, but it's still the main reason that drunk driving cases go to trial in the Boise region, Starr said...
"I was looking at people's arms and hands, thinking, 'I could draw from that,'" Dowell said.
It's all part of training he and a select cadre of officers in Idaho and Texas have received in recent months to draw blood from those suspected of drunken or drugged driving. The federal program's aim is to determine if blood draws by cops can be an effective tool against drunk drivers and aid in their prosecution.
If the results seem promising after a year or two, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will encourage police nationwide to undergo similar training.
For years, defense attorneys in Idaho advised clients to always refuse breath tests, Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Christine Starr said. When the state toughened the penalties for refusing the tests a few years ago, the problem lessened, but it's still the main reason that drunk driving cases go to trial in the Boise region, Starr said...
Israeli Plans to Buy F-35s Hitting Obstacles, Moving Forward
In an exclusive June 2006 interview, Israeli Air Force (IAF) chief procurement officer Brigadier-General Ze’ev Snir told Israel’s Globes publication that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was a key part of their IAF recapitalization plans, and that Israel intends to buy over 100 of the fighters to replace their F-16s over time. A 100-plane deal would have cost at least $5 billion under Israel’s original estimates, and would involve the F-35A conventional take-off Air Force version...
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
China breaks ground on 4th space launch center
China broke ground on its fourth space center Monday, highlighting the country's soaring space ambitions six years after it sent its first man into orbit.
The space port on the southern island province of Hainan incorporates a launch site and mission control center for slinging the country's massive new rockets into space carrying satellites and components for a future space station and deep space exploration.
The reports portrayed the center as a major stride forward for China's military-backed space program, which has launched three manned missions since 2003, including one last year that featured the country's first space walk.
China's future space ambitions include building an orbiting station and sending a mission to the moon, putting it in the forefront of the tightening Asian space race involving India, Japan and South Korea. China says its space program is purely for peaceful ends, although its military background and Beijing's development of anti-satellite weapons have prompted some to question that.
The Hainan center, located near the town of Wenchang and slated to go into use in 2013, is located at a latitude of about 19 degrees north, far closer to the equator than China's other bases in the its southwest and northern plains.
Proximity to the equator is an advantage for launching payloads such as geostationary satellites used for telecommunications because less fuel propellant is needed. Reports said rockets launched from the Hainan base will be capable of carrying up to 14 percent more payload than those launched from Jiuquan, the home of the manned space program in northern China...
The space port on the southern island province of Hainan incorporates a launch site and mission control center for slinging the country's massive new rockets into space carrying satellites and components for a future space station and deep space exploration.
The reports portrayed the center as a major stride forward for China's military-backed space program, which has launched three manned missions since 2003, including one last year that featured the country's first space walk.
China's future space ambitions include building an orbiting station and sending a mission to the moon, putting it in the forefront of the tightening Asian space race involving India, Japan and South Korea. China says its space program is purely for peaceful ends, although its military background and Beijing's development of anti-satellite weapons have prompted some to question that.
The Hainan center, located near the town of Wenchang and slated to go into use in 2013, is located at a latitude of about 19 degrees north, far closer to the equator than China's other bases in the its southwest and northern plains.
Proximity to the equator is an advantage for launching payloads such as geostationary satellites used for telecommunications because less fuel propellant is needed. Reports said rockets launched from the Hainan base will be capable of carrying up to 14 percent more payload than those launched from Jiuquan, the home of the manned space program in northern China...
Netanyahu: There will be no construction freeze
Israeli media say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told lawmakers that Israel will not totally freeze West Bank settlement construction.
They say Netanyahu also told a parliamentary panel that Israel will continue to build as usual in east Jerusalem.
Netanyahu reaffirmed his position a day before he is to meet with Washington's Mideast envoy.
Envoy George Mitchell is visiting the region to try to reach a compromise on settlements that would allow Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to resume. He has pushed for a settlement freeze to get talks back on track, though it appears unlikely Netanyahu will yield to the pressure.
The Palestinians say they won't resume negotiations until all Israeli construction stops in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.
They say Netanyahu also told a parliamentary panel that Israel will continue to build as usual in east Jerusalem.
Netanyahu reaffirmed his position a day before he is to meet with Washington's Mideast envoy.
Envoy George Mitchell is visiting the region to try to reach a compromise on settlements that would allow Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to resume. He has pushed for a settlement freeze to get talks back on track, though it appears unlikely Netanyahu will yield to the pressure.
The Palestinians say they won't resume negotiations until all Israeli construction stops in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.
France Télécom told to explain 23 staff suicides
The French Government has summoned the chief of executive of France Télécom to a crisis meeting today amid claims that workplace stress is responsible a series of suicides at the Gallic telecommunications firm.
With unions blaming the deaths on a malaise caused by restructuring, Didier Lombard will be asked to produce an urgent action plan when he meets Xavier Darcos, the Minister for Work.
The move comes after 23 suicides and 13 attempted suicides amongst France Telecom staff since February 2008.
Concern deepened further today when a manager in a customer service department in Metz in eastern France was found unconscious on the workplace floor after consuming barbitruates in an apparent attempt to take his own life, French radio reported.
The last victim was a 32-year-old employee at Orange, the operator's mobile telephone unit, who threw herself out of a fourth floor window at her office in Paris last week.
Her action came after a meeting to discuss reorganisation of her customer service department - adding weight to union claims that change in the working environment is one of the reasons behind the spate of suicides...
With unions blaming the deaths on a malaise caused by restructuring, Didier Lombard will be asked to produce an urgent action plan when he meets Xavier Darcos, the Minister for Work.
The move comes after 23 suicides and 13 attempted suicides amongst France Telecom staff since February 2008.
Concern deepened further today when a manager in a customer service department in Metz in eastern France was found unconscious on the workplace floor after consuming barbitruates in an apparent attempt to take his own life, French radio reported.
The last victim was a 32-year-old employee at Orange, the operator's mobile telephone unit, who threw herself out of a fourth floor window at her office in Paris last week.
Her action came after a meeting to discuss reorganisation of her customer service department - adding weight to union claims that change in the working environment is one of the reasons behind the spate of suicides...
Marines Take Risks With Deadly Trust-Building Game
Lance Cpl. Patrick Malone was relaxing on his bunk at an Iraqi combat base when a direct superior interrupted his late-night movie.
It was time for a game Marines sometimes play to build confidence in colleagues: Point a gun at a comrade and ask, "Do you trust me?"
Cpl. Mathew Nelson raised his weapon – and the 9 mm pistol went off, striking Malone in the head. The higher-ranking Marine rushed to the wounded man's side and tried to perform CPR, but Malone was mortally wounded.
The game, which has cropped up in barracks across Iraq and Afghanistan, is supposed to make a serviceman feel comfortable enough with a comrade that he would stare into the other Marine's gun barrel. But it violates the military's basic weapon-safety rules...
It was time for a game Marines sometimes play to build confidence in colleagues: Point a gun at a comrade and ask, "Do you trust me?"
Cpl. Mathew Nelson raised his weapon – and the 9 mm pistol went off, striking Malone in the head. The higher-ranking Marine rushed to the wounded man's side and tried to perform CPR, but Malone was mortally wounded.
The game, which has cropped up in barracks across Iraq and Afghanistan, is supposed to make a serviceman feel comfortable enough with a comrade that he would stare into the other Marine's gun barrel. But it violates the military's basic weapon-safety rules...
Incoming Tokyo government threatens split with US
Yukio Hatoyama, the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, has caused alarm in Washington after publishing an article blaming the US for the ills of capitalism, the global economy and "the destruction of human dignity".
He also intends to examine an agreement that permits US warships to dock at Japanese ports, in violation of the nation's non-nuclear principles. Mr Hatoyama says he will also look again at the $6 billion cost faced by Japan to transfer thousands of US troops from their base in Okinawa to the Pacific island of Guam amid a wide-ranging review of the American military presence on Japanese soil.
His election campaign promised a more "independent" foreign policy from Washington and closer relations with Asian neighbours, including China. On Thursday, he repeated his intention to defy the US and end the Maritime Self-Defence Force's resupply mission in the Indian Ocean...
He also intends to examine an agreement that permits US warships to dock at Japanese ports, in violation of the nation's non-nuclear principles. Mr Hatoyama says he will also look again at the $6 billion cost faced by Japan to transfer thousands of US troops from their base in Okinawa to the Pacific island of Guam amid a wide-ranging review of the American military presence on Japanese soil.
His election campaign promised a more "independent" foreign policy from Washington and closer relations with Asian neighbours, including China. On Thursday, he repeated his intention to defy the US and end the Maritime Self-Defence Force's resupply mission in the Indian Ocean...
Americans grow cannabis to beat the recession
Some people cancel holidays abroad, others stage yard sales or start shopping at low-cost supermarkets. To that list must now be added a new way to get through economic hard times: grow cannabis.
Law enforcers on the west coast of the US and in the middle states straddled by the foothills of the Appalachian mountains are reporting a common trend. It is boom time for marijuana cultivation, and much of the incentive they say is to beat the recession.
So far this year, police in parts of the country where cannabis is traditionally grown have chopped down plants with a street value of $12bn. The core growing area is in California, Washington and Oregon to the west, but the Appalachian states of Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia are also witnessing an explosion.
More than 600,000 cannabis plants have been cut and burned in those states this summer, reversing a previous decline in production brought about by stringent law enforcement. It is not only the quantity of crop that is on the rise, the nature of the growers is also changing...
Law enforcers on the west coast of the US and in the middle states straddled by the foothills of the Appalachian mountains are reporting a common trend. It is boom time for marijuana cultivation, and much of the incentive they say is to beat the recession.
So far this year, police in parts of the country where cannabis is traditionally grown have chopped down plants with a street value of $12bn. The core growing area is in California, Washington and Oregon to the west, but the Appalachian states of Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia are also witnessing an explosion.
More than 600,000 cannabis plants have been cut and burned in those states this summer, reversing a previous decline in production brought about by stringent law enforcement. It is not only the quantity of crop that is on the rise, the nature of the growers is also changing...
Insiders sell like there's no tomorrow
Can hundreds of stock-selling insiders be wrong?
The stock market has mounted an historic rally since it hit a low in March. The S&P 500 is up 55%, as U.S. job losses have slowed and credit markets have stabilized.
But against that improving backdrop, one indicator has turned distinctly bearish: Corporate officers and directors have been selling shares at a pace last seen just before the onset of the subprime malaise two years ago.
While a wave of insider selling doesn't necessarily foretell a stock market downturn, it suggests that those with the first read on business trends don't believe current stock prices are justified by economic fundamentals.
"It's not a very complicated story," said Charles Biderman, who runs market research firm Trim Tabs. "Insiders know better than you and me. If prices are too high, they sell."
Biderman, who says there were $31 worth of insider stock sales in August for every $1 of insider buys, isn't the only one who has taken note. Ben Silverman, director of research at the InsiderScore.com web site that tracks trading action, said insiders are selling at their most aggressive clip since the summer of 2007...
The stock market has mounted an historic rally since it hit a low in March. The S&P 500 is up 55%, as U.S. job losses have slowed and credit markets have stabilized.
But against that improving backdrop, one indicator has turned distinctly bearish: Corporate officers and directors have been selling shares at a pace last seen just before the onset of the subprime malaise two years ago.
While a wave of insider selling doesn't necessarily foretell a stock market downturn, it suggests that those with the first read on business trends don't believe current stock prices are justified by economic fundamentals.
"It's not a very complicated story," said Charles Biderman, who runs market research firm Trim Tabs. "Insiders know better than you and me. If prices are too high, they sell."
Biderman, who says there were $31 worth of insider stock sales in August for every $1 of insider buys, isn't the only one who has taken note. Ben Silverman, director of research at the InsiderScore.com web site that tracks trading action, said insiders are selling at their most aggressive clip since the summer of 2007...
Israel admits Binyamin Netanyahu's secret trip to Moscow
Evidence of a secret dash to Russia by Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, intensified speculation yesterday that a hijacked cargo ship was smuggling arms to Iran.
The Kremlin defended its right to sell S300 air-defence missiles to Iran as Mr Netanyahu was forced on to the defensive over his movements.
Officials refused to say where he was after admitting that an announcement of a visit on Monday to a security facility run by Israel’s Mossad security service was untrue.
Mr Netanyahu’s office said only that he was “busy with a classified activity”. It did not deny an Israeli newspaper report that he had travelled to Moscow to urge the Kremlin not to sell weapons to Israel’s Middle Eastern enemies amid claims that the Arctic Sea cargo vessel was carrying S300s destined for Iran when it was intercepted by the Russian Navy...
The Kremlin defended its right to sell S300 air-defence missiles to Iran as Mr Netanyahu was forced on to the defensive over his movements.
Officials refused to say where he was after admitting that an announcement of a visit on Monday to a security facility run by Israel’s Mossad security service was untrue.
Mr Netanyahu’s office said only that he was “busy with a classified activity”. It did not deny an Israeli newspaper report that he had travelled to Moscow to urge the Kremlin not to sell weapons to Israel’s Middle Eastern enemies amid claims that the Arctic Sea cargo vessel was carrying S300s destined for Iran when it was intercepted by the Russian Navy...
First awesome pictures from refurbished Hubble telescope shows the universe in more detail than ever before
Space has never looked more beautiful.
These stunning images - taken by the rejuvenated Hubble space telescope - have captured the jewel-bright colours of colliding galaxies, exploding stars and glowing nebulae.
They are Hubble's first deep space photos since its repair mission in May and are sharper than any images taken before by the orbiting satellite...
These stunning images - taken by the rejuvenated Hubble space telescope - have captured the jewel-bright colours of colliding galaxies, exploding stars and glowing nebulae.
They are Hubble's first deep space photos since its repair mission in May and are sharper than any images taken before by the orbiting satellite...
Monday, September 14, 2009
Mystery of UAE plane held in Calcutta with arms bound for China
India is struggling to unravel the mystery surrounding a United Arab Emirates Air Force aircraft detained in Calcutta since Sunday for carrying undeclared weapons — including at least one missile — bound for China.
The discovery has raised eyebrows, as the UAE buys most of its weapons from the United States and European Union, which impose strict controls on arms transfers to China.
The most controversial theory is that the weapons include high-tech equipment that China would like to examine or copy.
Last year the UAE purchased 14 Maverick air-to-ground missiles from the United States and also signed a contract to buy US Patriot air defence missiles.
The UAE has refused to comment on the matter, fuelling suspicions that the three boxes of weapons found on the Hercules C130 transport plane were supposed to be secret. The aircraft was refuelling en route from Abu Dhabi to the northern Chinese city of Xianyang — a big arms production centre...
The discovery has raised eyebrows, as the UAE buys most of its weapons from the United States and European Union, which impose strict controls on arms transfers to China.
The most controversial theory is that the weapons include high-tech equipment that China would like to examine or copy.
Last year the UAE purchased 14 Maverick air-to-ground missiles from the United States and also signed a contract to buy US Patriot air defence missiles.
The UAE has refused to comment on the matter, fuelling suspicions that the three boxes of weapons found on the Hercules C130 transport plane were supposed to be secret. The aircraft was refuelling en route from Abu Dhabi to the northern Chinese city of Xianyang — a big arms production centre...
Musicians hit out at plans to cut off internet for file sharers
Musicians from some of the world’s biggest bands are calling on the Government to abandon proposals to cut off the internet connections of people who illegally download music.
Artists from bands including Radiohead, Pink Floyd and Blur told The Times that plans announced by Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, to suspend the internet accounts of those who engage in file-sharing will criminalise a whole generation of their fans.
The musicians, all part of the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), a new group set up to represent the interests of recording artists, claim that despite the damage that file sharing does to sales of their records, it can also encourage people to buy concert tickets and merchandise.
Ed O’Brien, the Radiohead guitarist, said: “My generation grew up with the point of view that you pay for your music. Every generation has a different method. File sharing is like a sampler, like taping your mate’s music. You go, ‘I like that, I’ll go and buy the album’. Or, ‘you know what, I’ll go and see them live’. What’s going on is a huge paradigm shift.”...
Artists from bands including Radiohead, Pink Floyd and Blur told The Times that plans announced by Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, to suspend the internet accounts of those who engage in file-sharing will criminalise a whole generation of their fans.
The musicians, all part of the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), a new group set up to represent the interests of recording artists, claim that despite the damage that file sharing does to sales of their records, it can also encourage people to buy concert tickets and merchandise.
Ed O’Brien, the Radiohead guitarist, said: “My generation grew up with the point of view that you pay for your music. Every generation has a different method. File sharing is like a sampler, like taping your mate’s music. You go, ‘I like that, I’ll go and buy the album’. Or, ‘you know what, I’ll go and see them live’. What’s going on is a huge paradigm shift.”...
The Dollar Collapses
The U.S. dollar reached its lowest point against the euro this year due to a myriad of forces including rising global stocks and commodities prices, low interest rates, and investors diversifying out of Treasury debt and into other assets including U.S. stocks with the Dow Jones industrial average approaching 9500 in late afternoon trading.
Stocks in Asia and Europe saw big gains, and gold topped $1,000 an ounce. (See "Stocks, Commodities Rally After Long Weekend.") Oil also gained 4.9%, or $3.31, to $71.33, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, due in part to Goldman Sachs affirming its year-long outlook. By midday trading one euro traded for $1.45, meanwhile the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, fell to its lowest level since September of 2008...
Stocks in Asia and Europe saw big gains, and gold topped $1,000 an ounce. (See "Stocks, Commodities Rally After Long Weekend.") Oil also gained 4.9%, or $3.31, to $71.33, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, due in part to Goldman Sachs affirming its year-long outlook. By midday trading one euro traded for $1.45, meanwhile the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, fell to its lowest level since September of 2008...
Biden says congressman's outburst was embarrassing
Democrats and Republicans alike are denouncing Rep. Joe Wilson for shouting "You lie" at President Barack Obama during his speech to Congress, an extraordinary breach of decorum for which the South Carolina Republican swiftly apologized.
"There'll be time enough to consider whether or not we ought to make it clear that that action is unacceptable in the House of Representatives," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said late Wednesday on WTOP radio when asked about possible punishment for Wilson. "I've talked to Republican members who share that view."...
"There'll be time enough to consider whether or not we ought to make it clear that that action is unacceptable in the House of Representatives," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said late Wednesday on WTOP radio when asked about possible punishment for Wilson. "I've talked to Republican members who share that view."...
Teenager invents £23 solar panel that could be solution to developing world's energy needs ... made from human hair
A new type of solar panel using human hair could provide the world with cheap, green electricity, believes its teenage inventor.
Milan Karki, 18, who comes from a village in rural Nepal, believes he has found the solution to the developing world's energy needs.
The young inventor says hair is easy to use as a conductor in solar panels and could revolutionise renewable energy.
'First I wanted to provide electricity for my home, then my village. Now I am thinking for the whole world,' said Milan, who attends school in the capital, Kathmandu.
The hair replaces silicon, a pricey component typically used in solar panels, and means the panels can be produced at a low cost for those with no access to power, he explained.
In Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world, many rural areas lack access to electricity and even in areas connected to power lines, users face shortages of up to 16 hours a day...
Milan Karki, 18, who comes from a village in rural Nepal, believes he has found the solution to the developing world's energy needs.
The young inventor says hair is easy to use as a conductor in solar panels and could revolutionise renewable energy.
'First I wanted to provide electricity for my home, then my village. Now I am thinking for the whole world,' said Milan, who attends school in the capital, Kathmandu.
The hair replaces silicon, a pricey component typically used in solar panels, and means the panels can be produced at a low cost for those with no access to power, he explained.
In Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world, many rural areas lack access to electricity and even in areas connected to power lines, users face shortages of up to 16 hours a day...
Rawabi, the new Palestinian city that could rise on the West Bank
The artist sketches are striking. Sitting on a hilltop among the olive trees of the West Bank is a new town, carefully designed with tall apartment blocks, shaded pedestrian walkways, a concentric road network and abundant trees. This is not a new Israeli settlement but an image of what might soon be Rawabi, the first planned Palestinian city and a sign of fresh hope for economic recovery in the occupied West Bank.
It is a project two years in the making, carefully marketed at young Palestinian professionals looking for affordable, modern homes, as well as much sought-after technology jobs in a town that would be only six miles north of the economic hub of Ramallah. "Providing jobs for Palestine's educated but underemployed workforce," says one advertising slogan. Financed with money from the Qatari government, it is eventually intended to house 40,000 people and to create 5,000 permanent jobs.
Bashar Masri, a Palestinian businessman who is leading the project, said the first phase of the city's masterplan was complete and ready for construction, which may begin within months. Apartments will sell for about £45,000-£48,000 for an average-sized 140sq metres and, although homes will only go on sale once built, thousands of people have already registered an interest. Individual home ownership among Palestinians is still unusual and expensive...
It is a project two years in the making, carefully marketed at young Palestinian professionals looking for affordable, modern homes, as well as much sought-after technology jobs in a town that would be only six miles north of the economic hub of Ramallah. "Providing jobs for Palestine's educated but underemployed workforce," says one advertising slogan. Financed with money from the Qatari government, it is eventually intended to house 40,000 people and to create 5,000 permanent jobs.
Bashar Masri, a Palestinian businessman who is leading the project, said the first phase of the city's masterplan was complete and ready for construction, which may begin within months. Apartments will sell for about £45,000-£48,000 for an average-sized 140sq metres and, although homes will only go on sale once built, thousands of people have already registered an interest. Individual home ownership among Palestinians is still unusual and expensive...
Iraqi shoe thrower offered cars, homes and a wife
His message to Mr Bush: "This is your farewell kiss, you dog. This is for the widows and orphans of Iraq" is still celebrated by the Iraqi people.
Now, in preparation for his release, the offers are rolling in, the Guardian reports.
A new four-bedroom home has been built by his former boss. A new car – and the promise of many more – also awaits. Pledges of harems, money and healthcare are pouring in to his employers, the al-Baghdadia television channel.
"One Iraqi who lived in Morocco called to offer to send his daughter to be Muntazer's wife," said editor Abdul Hamid al-Saij.
"Another called from Saudi offering $10m for his shoes, and another called from Morocco offering a gold-saddled horse. After the event, we had callers from Palestine and many women asking to marry him, but we didn't take their names. Many of their reactions were emotional. We will see what happens when he is freed."...
Now, in preparation for his release, the offers are rolling in, the Guardian reports.
A new four-bedroom home has been built by his former boss. A new car – and the promise of many more – also awaits. Pledges of harems, money and healthcare are pouring in to his employers, the al-Baghdadia television channel.
"One Iraqi who lived in Morocco called to offer to send his daughter to be Muntazer's wife," said editor Abdul Hamid al-Saij.
"Another called from Saudi offering $10m for his shoes, and another called from Morocco offering a gold-saddled horse. After the event, we had callers from Palestine and many women asking to marry him, but we didn't take their names. Many of their reactions were emotional. We will see what happens when he is freed."...
Question a doctor and lose your child
PARENTS are being threatened with having their children taken into care after questioning doctors’ diagnoses or objecting to their medical care.
John Hemming, a Liberal Democrat MP, who campaigns to stop injustices in the family court, said: “Very often care proceedings are used as retaliation by local authorities against ‘uppity’ people who question the system.”
couple had all six of their children removed from their care after they disputed the necessity of an invasive medical test on their eldest daughter. Doctors, who suspected she might have had a blood disease, called for social services to obtain an emergency protection order, although it was subsequently confirmed that she was not suffering from the condition. The parents were still considered unstable, and all their children were taken from them.
A single mother whose teenage son is terminally ill and confined to a wheelchair has been told he is to become the subject of a care order after she complained that her local authority’s failure to provide bathroom facilities for him has left her struggling to maintain sanitary standards...
John Hemming, a Liberal Democrat MP, who campaigns to stop injustices in the family court, said: “Very often care proceedings are used as retaliation by local authorities against ‘uppity’ people who question the system.”
couple had all six of their children removed from their care after they disputed the necessity of an invasive medical test on their eldest daughter. Doctors, who suspected she might have had a blood disease, called for social services to obtain an emergency protection order, although it was subsequently confirmed that she was not suffering from the condition. The parents were still considered unstable, and all their children were taken from them.
A single mother whose teenage son is terminally ill and confined to a wheelchair has been told he is to become the subject of a care order after she complained that her local authority’s failure to provide bathroom facilities for him has left her struggling to maintain sanitary standards...
Fines proposed for going without health insurance
Americans would be fined up to $3,800 for failing to buy health insurance under a plan that circulated in Congress on Tuesday as divisions among Democrats undercut President Barack Obama's effort to regain traction on his health care overhaul.
As Obama talked strategy with Democratic leaders at the White House, the one idea that most appeals to his party's liberal base lost ground in Congress. Prospects for a government-run plan to compete with private insurers sank as a leading moderate Democrat said he could no longer support the idea.
The fast-moving developments put Obama in a box. As a candidate, he opposed fines to force individuals to buy health insurance, and he supported setting up a public insurance plan. On Tuesday, fellow Democrats publicly begged to differ on both ideas...
As Obama talked strategy with Democratic leaders at the White House, the one idea that most appeals to his party's liberal base lost ground in Congress. Prospects for a government-run plan to compete with private insurers sank as a leading moderate Democrat said he could no longer support the idea.
The fast-moving developments put Obama in a box. As a candidate, he opposed fines to force individuals to buy health insurance, and he supported setting up a public insurance plan. On Tuesday, fellow Democrats publicly begged to differ on both ideas...
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Twitter and Facebook flooded with alien theories about Google UFO logo
The logo, showing a classic saucer-shaped spacecraft shining a light down on the search-engine's regular logo, has been the subject of much speculation.
The world's internet voices want to now whether the all-powerful web giant is trying to tell us something.
Google regularly changes its logo to mark important event such as the recent 40th anniversary of the moon landings.
But nobody can work out why Google has chosen this date to put a UFO logo on the world's most visited web page.
"Does anybody know what's going on?" asks one.
"Aliens landed on Earth this day last year," offers another blogger by way of explanation.
Some think Google's global dominance may extend beyond this planet.
"If Google says the aliens are coming, I'm getting out of here," says one US blogger...
The world's internet voices want to now whether the all-powerful web giant is trying to tell us something.
Google regularly changes its logo to mark important event such as the recent 40th anniversary of the moon landings.
But nobody can work out why Google has chosen this date to put a UFO logo on the world's most visited web page.
"Does anybody know what's going on?" asks one.
"Aliens landed on Earth this day last year," offers another blogger by way of explanation.
Some think Google's global dominance may extend beyond this planet.
"If Google says the aliens are coming, I'm getting out of here," says one US blogger...
Andromeda is a cannibal and heading our way
Our nearest major galactic neighbor is a cosmic cannibal. And it's heading this way eventually.
Astronomers have long suspected Andromeda of being a space predator, consuming dwarf galaxies that wander too close. Now, cosmic detectives are doing a massive search of the neighborhood and have found proof of Andromeda's sordid past: They've spotted leftovers in Andromeda's wake.
Early results of a massive telescope scan of Andromeda and its surroundings found about half a dozen remnants of Andromeda's galactic appetite. Stars and dwarf galaxies that got too close to Andromeda were ripped from their usual surroundings...
Astronomers have long suspected Andromeda of being a space predator, consuming dwarf galaxies that wander too close. Now, cosmic detectives are doing a massive search of the neighborhood and have found proof of Andromeda's sordid past: They've spotted leftovers in Andromeda's wake.
Early results of a massive telescope scan of Andromeda and its surroundings found about half a dozen remnants of Andromeda's galactic appetite. Stars and dwarf galaxies that got too close to Andromeda were ripped from their usual surroundings...
Rupert Cornwell: August was the cruellest month for Obama
What has gone so wrong, so fast? For much of the rest of the world Barack Obama still shimmers in glory. Not so, however, at home – the one place it really matters.
Yes, it really was only eight months ago that he entered the White House with a tail wind of goodwill that no incoming American president in a couple of generations had enjoyed. Today the reverse is true. No new president in half a century has descended to earth with such a bump. July was a bad enough month but August was positively brutal. Unruly town-hall meetings across the country revealed the depths of public suspicion about his signature issue, health-care reform.
Ted Kennedy died, depriving Obama of the legislator who symbolised the reform effort. Personally, he is still well-liked, though not as popular as when he came to office. But his job-approval rating, once over 70 per cent, has continued to slide, to 50 per cent or less at the latest count. So what has gone wrong?
In one sense the answer is simple. Like almost every democratically leader, Obama is finding out that governing is far more difficult than winning elections. Change was a seductive mantra during the campaign, when anything was preferable to George W Bush. Now Americans feel they are suffering from a surfeit of change.
Never let a crisis go to waste, said Rahm Emanuel, White House chief of staff and Obama's chief enforcer, explaining why the economic shambles the new administration had inherited would make it easier to act on other fronts as well. That may have been true early on. But, as spring turned into summer, the mood of the country changed. Total economic meltdown, it was clear, had been averted. Change elsewhere, though still theoretically desirable, seemed less urgent: why the rush to reform, at vast extra expense, a health-care system that for the majority of people seemed to work reasonably well?
Yes, it really was only eight months ago that he entered the White House with a tail wind of goodwill that no incoming American president in a couple of generations had enjoyed. Today the reverse is true. No new president in half a century has descended to earth with such a bump. July was a bad enough month but August was positively brutal. Unruly town-hall meetings across the country revealed the depths of public suspicion about his signature issue, health-care reform.
Ted Kennedy died, depriving Obama of the legislator who symbolised the reform effort. Personally, he is still well-liked, though not as popular as when he came to office. But his job-approval rating, once over 70 per cent, has continued to slide, to 50 per cent or less at the latest count. So what has gone wrong?
In one sense the answer is simple. Like almost every democratically leader, Obama is finding out that governing is far more difficult than winning elections. Change was a seductive mantra during the campaign, when anything was preferable to George W Bush. Now Americans feel they are suffering from a surfeit of change.
Never let a crisis go to waste, said Rahm Emanuel, White House chief of staff and Obama's chief enforcer, explaining why the economic shambles the new administration had inherited would make it easier to act on other fronts as well. That may have been true early on. But, as spring turned into summer, the mood of the country changed. Total economic meltdown, it was clear, had been averted. Change elsewhere, though still theoretically desirable, seemed less urgent: why the rush to reform, at vast extra expense, a health-care system that for the majority of people seemed to work reasonably well?
Saturday, September 5, 2009
US and Australia invite China to war games
Admiral Timothy Keating, the head of the US Pacific Command, said the US and Australia had agreed to make the approach to the Chinese Ministry of Defence.
"We are anxious to engage with them at the earliest opportunity," he told the Sydney Morning Herald. "We want to understand much better than we do now China's intentions. We would say: 'Don't stand in isolation in the Pacific'. China does publish a [defence] white paper but we find it to be less than fulfilling," he said.
He said the exercises could begin with small naval and land activities, and then follow with personnel exchanges. He denied that building ties with China would upset the US's relationships with India, Japan or South Korea, its traditional allies.
The move comes after a fractious few months for Sino-Australian relations, during which China detained Stern Hu, an Australian citizen working for Rio Tinto, the mining company.
Australia then upset Beijing by granting a visa to Rebiya Kadeer, an ethnic Uighur leader who China blames for recent race riots.
Stephen Smith, the Australian foreign minister, said economic ties would override the hiccups. Trade between Australia and China is now worth £32 billion. "We need to take a long-term view of our relationship and we need to be patient," he said...
"We are anxious to engage with them at the earliest opportunity," he told the Sydney Morning Herald. "We want to understand much better than we do now China's intentions. We would say: 'Don't stand in isolation in the Pacific'. China does publish a [defence] white paper but we find it to be less than fulfilling," he said.
He said the exercises could begin with small naval and land activities, and then follow with personnel exchanges. He denied that building ties with China would upset the US's relationships with India, Japan or South Korea, its traditional allies.
The move comes after a fractious few months for Sino-Australian relations, during which China detained Stern Hu, an Australian citizen working for Rio Tinto, the mining company.
Australia then upset Beijing by granting a visa to Rebiya Kadeer, an ethnic Uighur leader who China blames for recent race riots.
Stephen Smith, the Australian foreign minister, said economic ties would override the hiccups. Trade between Australia and China is now worth £32 billion. "We need to take a long-term view of our relationship and we need to be patient," he said...
Obama's speech to kids causes uproar in schools
When President Barack Obama gives a televised address to students in schools across the country on Tuesday, some metro Detroit school districts won't be broadcasting it.
Districts throughout the suburbs have been hit with complaints from parents who are worried about their children hearing a message from Obama that they won't have a chance to preview.
Farmington Public Schools is encouraging parents to pull them from class if they are uncomfortable with the speech.
Districts that have addressed the speech on their Web sites include Oxford Community Schools, Rochester Public Schools and Van Dyke Public Schools in Warren...
Districts throughout the suburbs have been hit with complaints from parents who are worried about their children hearing a message from Obama that they won't have a chance to preview.
Farmington Public Schools is encouraging parents to pull them from class if they are uncomfortable with the speech.
Districts that have addressed the speech on their Web sites include Oxford Community Schools, Rochester Public Schools and Van Dyke Public Schools in Warren...
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Part of finger bitten off at Calif. health protest
One man bit off part of another man's finger when a health care reform demonstration turned violent.
William Rice said doctors did not reattach the bitten-off part of his left pinky after he got in the middle of a Southern California rally Wednesday night that he said was "very scary."
"I didn't go out to demonstrate my beliefs, I happened to be driving by and I stopped to ask people what their purpose was," Rice, 65, said in a telephone interview Thursday. "I had no signs, I was not part of the demonstration."
About 100 demonstrators in favor of health care reform had gathered on a Thousand Oaks street corner for an event organized by MoveOn.org. About 25 counterdemonstrators gathered across the street.
Rice declined to say Thursday which side of the debate he falls on.
Ventura County sheriff's spokesman Eric Buschow said a confrontation erupted after the biter crossed from the MoveOn.org side of the street to the counterprotest, where Rice was standing.
A loud scuffle ensued, punches were thrown, and the tip of Rice's finger was bitten off, Buschow said.
The biter fled before authorities arrived. He could face felony mayhem charges.
"We don't know the identity of the man who bit the finger off," Buschow said. "We want to contact him and get his side of the story."
Buschow said authorities are piecing together the events from witness interviews...
William Rice said doctors did not reattach the bitten-off part of his left pinky after he got in the middle of a Southern California rally Wednesday night that he said was "very scary."
"I didn't go out to demonstrate my beliefs, I happened to be driving by and I stopped to ask people what their purpose was," Rice, 65, said in a telephone interview Thursday. "I had no signs, I was not part of the demonstration."
About 100 demonstrators in favor of health care reform had gathered on a Thousand Oaks street corner for an event organized by MoveOn.org. About 25 counterdemonstrators gathered across the street.
Rice declined to say Thursday which side of the debate he falls on.
Ventura County sheriff's spokesman Eric Buschow said a confrontation erupted after the biter crossed from the MoveOn.org side of the street to the counterprotest, where Rice was standing.
A loud scuffle ensued, punches were thrown, and the tip of Rice's finger was bitten off, Buschow said.
The biter fled before authorities arrived. He could face felony mayhem charges.
"We don't know the identity of the man who bit the finger off," Buschow said. "We want to contact him and get his side of the story."
Buschow said authorities are piecing together the events from witness interviews...
More Dallas-Fort Worth schools say no to Obama's live education speech despite changes
The White House responded Thursday to criticism of President Barack Obama's planned speech to schoolchildren, saying it would release the text in advance and would revise language in a suggested lesson plan to accompany it.
The changes came as more Dallas-Fort Worth school districts decided not to show the speech, which Obama administration officials have said will amount to a student pep talk for the coming school year. Even districts that made policies earlier tweaked them Thursday, with some now opting to play a recording of the speech after school.
School officials in Texas and across the nation said they continued to receive hundreds of calls and e-mails from parents who demanded that the speech not be mandatory for students to watch. Critics have accused the president of injecting politics into the classroom.
The changes came as more Dallas-Fort Worth school districts decided not to show the speech, which Obama administration officials have said will amount to a student pep talk for the coming school year. Even districts that made policies earlier tweaked them Thursday, with some now opting to play a recording of the speech after school.
School officials in Texas and across the nation said they continued to receive hundreds of calls and e-mails from parents who demanded that the speech not be mandatory for students to watch. Critics have accused the president of injecting politics into the classroom.
How you can be a Femme Fatale
What gives French women their allure? According to writer DEBRA OLLIVIER, who married a Frenchman and lived in Paris for ten years, it's their different approach to life - and views on love and sex. Here, she explains what French women know that we ought to...
FRENCH WOMEN LOVE MEN
Not long ago, I attended a dinner party in Paris and sat among a group of French women who all looked like they'd just engaged in illicit and wonderful things with their partners.
Wine glasses clinked as they laughed, threw back their heads and talked about men. They were not commiserating about men - no whiff of disgruntlement or frustration filled the air. Rather, they seemed to share a love and appreciation for members of the opposite sex. Take note, there is no popular vernacular expression in French for 'the opposite sex' that bears the same weight as in English.
In France there is no war of the sexes going on. French men and women actually want to be together. They enjoy their mutual company. They spar. They debate. They flirt...
FRENCH WOMEN LOVE MEN
Not long ago, I attended a dinner party in Paris and sat among a group of French women who all looked like they'd just engaged in illicit and wonderful things with their partners.
Wine glasses clinked as they laughed, threw back their heads and talked about men. They were not commiserating about men - no whiff of disgruntlement or frustration filled the air. Rather, they seemed to share a love and appreciation for members of the opposite sex. Take note, there is no popular vernacular expression in French for 'the opposite sex' that bears the same weight as in English.
In France there is no war of the sexes going on. French men and women actually want to be together. They enjoy their mutual company. They spar. They debate. They flirt...
Kabul U.S. Embassy Guard: Sexual Deviancy Required for Promotion
Private security guards at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul were pressured to participate in naked pool parties and perform sex acts to gain promotions or assignment to preferable shifts, according to one of 12 guards who have gone public with their complaints
In an interview with ABC News for broadcast tonight on the "World News with Charles Gibson," the guard, a U.S. military veteran, said top supervisors of the ArmorGroup were not only aware of the "deviant sexual acts" but helped to organize them.
Watch Brian Ross' full report tonight on "World News with Charles Gibson" at 6:30pm.
"It was mostly the young guys fresh from the military who were told they had to participate," said the guard, who talked on a phone hook-up arranged by the Project on Government Oversight, which first revealed photographs of the parties...
In an interview with ABC News for broadcast tonight on the "World News with Charles Gibson," the guard, a U.S. military veteran, said top supervisors of the ArmorGroup were not only aware of the "deviant sexual acts" but helped to organize them.
Watch Brian Ross' full report tonight on "World News with Charles Gibson" at 6:30pm.
"It was mostly the young guys fresh from the military who were told they had to participate," said the guard, who talked on a phone hook-up arranged by the Project on Government Oversight, which first revealed photographs of the parties...
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Russia Seeks Afghan War Role as NATO Deaths Climb
Russia is seeking a role in planning NATO’s war in Afghanistan two decades after Soviet forces were ejected from the country.
As East-West ties improve under President Barack Obama, Russia wants to be involved in setting the political, military and intelligence strategy for the war against the Taliban, said Dmitry Rogozin, Russian ambassador to the alliance.
“We want to be inside,” Rogozin said, in English, in an interview in Brussels today. He spoke for the rest of the hour- long session through a Russian translator.
Allied military planners are groping for a new strategy as casualties climb. The commander in Afghanistan, U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal, this week called the situation there “serious.” In what Obama calls a “war of necessity,” some 153 allied troops were killed in July and August, according to www.icasualties.org.
Wrangling between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his challengers over the Aug. 20 election has magnified concerns about the country’s stability...
As East-West ties improve under President Barack Obama, Russia wants to be involved in setting the political, military and intelligence strategy for the war against the Taliban, said Dmitry Rogozin, Russian ambassador to the alliance.
“We want to be inside,” Rogozin said, in English, in an interview in Brussels today. He spoke for the rest of the hour- long session through a Russian translator.
Allied military planners are groping for a new strategy as casualties climb. The commander in Afghanistan, U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal, this week called the situation there “serious.” In what Obama calls a “war of necessity,” some 153 allied troops were killed in July and August, according to www.icasualties.org.
Wrangling between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his challengers over the Aug. 20 election has magnified concerns about the country’s stability...
Princess Diana: death 'was not an accident' says leading lawyer
The 67-year-old QC, who has represented clients in high profile cases ranging from the family of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence to the Birmingham Six, insisted the inquest had not been a waste of time and that Mr Fayed was entitled to the procedure as “a grieving father”.
In the book, which is being serialised in The Times, he wrote: “I found it difficult simply to accept that what happened in the Alma Tunnel in Paris was ‘just one of those tragic things’. Of course it might have been, but then that’s what “they” always hope we will think.
“Judging whether a hidden hand is at work is always difficult, but I prefer a healthy and inquisitive assessment of the authorised version, and for me it was mere serendipity to be approached a year after the crash and asked to represent Mohamed Al Fayed for the purposes of an inquest.”
He added: “There is still a widespread belief that the inquest was a waste of time and money and came to no different conclusion than previous investigations and inquiries. This is a serious misconception.
“On April 7, 2008, the jury did not decide it was just a tragic accident but returned a verdict of unlawful killing by the drivers of both the Mercedes and the following vehicles. The ‘following vehicles’ element in the verdict was an aspect that very few commentators picked up on, or bothered with.”...
In the book, which is being serialised in The Times, he wrote: “I found it difficult simply to accept that what happened in the Alma Tunnel in Paris was ‘just one of those tragic things’. Of course it might have been, but then that’s what “they” always hope we will think.
“Judging whether a hidden hand is at work is always difficult, but I prefer a healthy and inquisitive assessment of the authorised version, and for me it was mere serendipity to be approached a year after the crash and asked to represent Mohamed Al Fayed for the purposes of an inquest.”
He added: “There is still a widespread belief that the inquest was a waste of time and money and came to no different conclusion than previous investigations and inquiries. This is a serious misconception.
“On April 7, 2008, the jury did not decide it was just a tragic accident but returned a verdict of unlawful killing by the drivers of both the Mercedes and the following vehicles. The ‘following vehicles’ element in the verdict was an aspect that very few commentators picked up on, or bothered with.”...
UFO puzzle: Alien baby or elaborate hoax?
Mexican TV revealed the almost unbelievable story - in 2007, a baby 'alien' was found alive by a farmer in Mexico.
He drowned it in a ditch out of fear, and now two years later scientists have finally been able to announce the results of their tests on this sinister-looking carcass.
At the end of last year the farmer, Marao Lopez, handed the corpse over to university scientists who carried out DNA tests and scans.
He claimed that it took him three attempts to drown the creature and he had to hold it underwater for hours.
Tests revealed a creature that is unknown to scientists - its skeleton has characteristics of a lizard, its teeth do not have any roots like humans and it can stay underwater for a long time...
He drowned it in a ditch out of fear, and now two years later scientists have finally been able to announce the results of their tests on this sinister-looking carcass.
At the end of last year the farmer, Marao Lopez, handed the corpse over to university scientists who carried out DNA tests and scans.
He claimed that it took him three attempts to drown the creature and he had to hold it underwater for hours.
Tests revealed a creature that is unknown to scientists - its skeleton has characteristics of a lizard, its teeth do not have any roots like humans and it can stay underwater for a long time...
Bionic brain chips could overcome paralysis
A MONKEY sits on a bench, wires running from its head and wrist into a small box of electronics. At first the wrist lies limp, but within 10 minutes the monkey begins to flex its muscles and move its hand from side to side. The movements are clumsy, but they are enough to justify a rewarding slug of juice. After all, it shouldn't be able to move its wrist at all.
A nerve connection in the monkey's upper arm had previously been blocked with an anaesthetic that prevented signals travelling from its brain to its wrist, leaving the muscles temporarily paralysed. The monkey was only able to move its arm because the wires and the black box bypassed the broken link.
The monkey was in Eberhard Fetz's lab at the University of Washington in Seattle. The experiment, performed last year, was the first demonstration of a new treatment that might one day cure paralysis, which is typically caused by a broken connection in the spinal cord. Though much work has focused on using stem cells to regrow damaged nerve fibres, some researchers believe that an electronic bypass like this is equally viable.
The idea is to implant electronic chips in the relevant regions of the brain to record neural activity. Then a decoder deciphers the neural chatter, often from thousands of neurons, to figure out what the brain wants the body to do. These messages must then be relayed - ideally wirelessly - to electrodes that deliver a pulse of electricity to stimulate the muscles into action. Such "brain chips" are already restoring hearing to the deaf and vision to the blind, and helping to stave off epileptic fits, so the idea isn't as far-fetched as it might sound...
A nerve connection in the monkey's upper arm had previously been blocked with an anaesthetic that prevented signals travelling from its brain to its wrist, leaving the muscles temporarily paralysed. The monkey was only able to move its arm because the wires and the black box bypassed the broken link.
The monkey was in Eberhard Fetz's lab at the University of Washington in Seattle. The experiment, performed last year, was the first demonstration of a new treatment that might one day cure paralysis, which is typically caused by a broken connection in the spinal cord. Though much work has focused on using stem cells to regrow damaged nerve fibres, some researchers believe that an electronic bypass like this is equally viable.
The idea is to implant electronic chips in the relevant regions of the brain to record neural activity. Then a decoder deciphers the neural chatter, often from thousands of neurons, to figure out what the brain wants the body to do. These messages must then be relayed - ideally wirelessly - to electrodes that deliver a pulse of electricity to stimulate the muscles into action. Such "brain chips" are already restoring hearing to the deaf and vision to the blind, and helping to stave off epileptic fits, so the idea isn't as far-fetched as it might sound...
Obama's olive branch to Iran
Iran is in the process of wasting the biggest historical opportunity the country has had since the revolution of 1979, and perhaps even in the past hundred years. That opportunity is called Barack Obama.
It is President Obama's policy of reaching out to Iran that offers the country this unique opportunity if, and it's a big if, the Iranian leadership takes it up. At the moment, however, little if anything suggests that this will happen, because, for Iran's leaders, Obama's offer also represents a grave danger. There is nothing they fear as much as opening up and reducing tension with America. Indeed, the regime welcomed George Bush and his neocon administration, because it allowed Iran's leaders to close ranks, and at the same time delivered free access to influence in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Like all partial modernisers in authoritarian regimes, Iran's rulers want an advanced economy, technology, and infrastructure, but not freedom, democracy or the rule of law. This explains their great fear of, indeed an obsession with, "colour revolutions", although they are de facto working hard to bring one about.
The ongoing drama of mass demonstrations, violence, torture and repression that followed June's fraudulent election has exposed a fundamental conflict within the Iranian power elite about the basic course of the Islamic republic. Does the country seek increased openness or isolation? Integration or destabilisation? The decisions are anything but final, even though the isolationists now prevail...
It is President Obama's policy of reaching out to Iran that offers the country this unique opportunity if, and it's a big if, the Iranian leadership takes it up. At the moment, however, little if anything suggests that this will happen, because, for Iran's leaders, Obama's offer also represents a grave danger. There is nothing they fear as much as opening up and reducing tension with America. Indeed, the regime welcomed George Bush and his neocon administration, because it allowed Iran's leaders to close ranks, and at the same time delivered free access to influence in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Like all partial modernisers in authoritarian regimes, Iran's rulers want an advanced economy, technology, and infrastructure, but not freedom, democracy or the rule of law. This explains their great fear of, indeed an obsession with, "colour revolutions", although they are de facto working hard to bring one about.
The ongoing drama of mass demonstrations, violence, torture and repression that followed June's fraudulent election has exposed a fundamental conflict within the Iranian power elite about the basic course of the Islamic republic. Does the country seek increased openness or isolation? Integration or destabilisation? The decisions are anything but final, even though the isolationists now prevail...
Internet's 40th "Birthday" Marked
What would the 21st century be without computers?
The machines that rule our modern lives have been around for less than a century.
Early computers helped the allied forces during the Second World War.
By the late 1960s computers were being used by NASA and other government agencies.
Then on September 2nd 1969, in a lab at the University of California, Los Angeles, two computers passed test data through a 15-foot gray cable.
Stanford Research Institute joined the fledging ARPANET network a month later; UC Santa Barbara and the University of Utah joined by year's end, and the internet was born.
Following the silicone chip, came games and e-mail, creating a social and industrial revolution.
The Museum of Computing in Swindon, England boasts dozens of exhibits featuring computers through the decades.
One of the prize exhibits is a black cube, the model of a computer used by Tim Berners-Lee...
The machines that rule our modern lives have been around for less than a century.
Early computers helped the allied forces during the Second World War.
By the late 1960s computers were being used by NASA and other government agencies.
Then on September 2nd 1969, in a lab at the University of California, Los Angeles, two computers passed test data through a 15-foot gray cable.
Stanford Research Institute joined the fledging ARPANET network a month later; UC Santa Barbara and the University of Utah joined by year's end, and the internet was born.
Following the silicone chip, came games and e-mail, creating a social and industrial revolution.
The Museum of Computing in Swindon, England boasts dozens of exhibits featuring computers through the decades.
One of the prize exhibits is a black cube, the model of a computer used by Tim Berners-Lee...
Stranger allegedly slaps crying child in store
Roger Stephens, 61, was arrested Monday and charged with first-degree cruelty to children. An incident report obtained from police in Gwinnett County indicated Stephens did not know the 2-year-old girl he stands accused of hitting.
The confrontation happened shortly before noon at the Walmart in Stone Mountain, a suburb of Atlanta.
According to the arresting officer, the child's mother said her daughter was crying as they walked down one of the aisles.
The mother said a stranger later identified as Stephens approached them and said, "If you don't shut the baby up, I will shut her up for you."...
The confrontation happened shortly before noon at the Walmart in Stone Mountain, a suburb of Atlanta.
According to the arresting officer, the child's mother said her daughter was crying as they walked down one of the aisles.
The mother said a stranger later identified as Stephens approached them and said, "If you don't shut the baby up, I will shut her up for you."...
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
History becomes a battlefield as Putin flies into Poland
European leaders gather in the Polish city of Gdansk today to mark the 70th anniversary of the start of the Second World War, amid an acrimonious row between Moscow and much of Europe over who started the conflict.
The heavily politicised spat has been escalating throughout the summer as central European countries have sought to portray the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact as a key precursor to the war. Russia has responded furiously, insisting that Joseph Stalin had nothing to do with the outbreak of hostilities in Europe, and has even blamed Poland for starting the war.
The spat will overshadow today's summit, attended by German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, the Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, and the British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband. All eyes will be on Mr Putin, who is making his first trip to Poland since 2005, and has in the past reacted aggressively to European criticism of Stalin's role in the war and Soviet atrocities. He is expected to give a speech in Gdansk today, which will be watched closely by the rest of Europe. A foreign policy aide said that one of the main purposes of the trip would be to counter false theories about the start of the war.
The heavily politicised spat has been escalating throughout the summer as central European countries have sought to portray the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact as a key precursor to the war. Russia has responded furiously, insisting that Joseph Stalin had nothing to do with the outbreak of hostilities in Europe, and has even blamed Poland for starting the war.
The spat will overshadow today's summit, attended by German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, the Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, and the British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband. All eyes will be on Mr Putin, who is making his first trip to Poland since 2005, and has in the past reacted aggressively to European criticism of Stalin's role in the war and Soviet atrocities. He is expected to give a speech in Gdansk today, which will be watched closely by the rest of Europe. A foreign policy aide said that one of the main purposes of the trip would be to counter false theories about the start of the war.
VA won't pay benefits to Marine injured by vaccine
WASHINGTON — It wasn't a bullet or roadside bomb that felled Lance Cpl. Josef Lopez three years ago after nine days in Iraq.
It was an injection into his arm before his unit left the states.
The then 20-year-old Marine from Springfield, Mo., suffered a rare adverse reaction to the smallpox vaccine. While the vaccine isn't mandatory, the military strongly encourages troops to take it.
However, it left Lopez in a coma, unable for a time to breathe on his own and paralyzed for weeks. Now he can walk, but with a limp. He has to wear a urine bag constantly, has short-term memory loss and must swallow 15 pills daily to control leg spasms and other ailments.
And even though his medical problems wouldn't have occurred if he hadn't been deployed, Lopez doesn't qualify for a special government benefit of as much as $100,000 for troops who suffer traumatic injuries.
The hangup? His injuries were caused by the vaccine.
"I could have easily died, or not been able to walk because of that," Lopez said. "It destroyed my world. It was pretty traumatic to me."
Officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which oversees the benefit program, said they're following what the agency has determined to be Congress' intent.
"It's for traumatic injury, not disease; not illness; not preventive medicine," said Stephen Wurtz, deputy assistant director for insurance at the VA. "It has nothing to do with not believing these people deserve some compensation for their losses."...
It was an injection into his arm before his unit left the states.
The then 20-year-old Marine from Springfield, Mo., suffered a rare adverse reaction to the smallpox vaccine. While the vaccine isn't mandatory, the military strongly encourages troops to take it.
However, it left Lopez in a coma, unable for a time to breathe on his own and paralyzed for weeks. Now he can walk, but with a limp. He has to wear a urine bag constantly, has short-term memory loss and must swallow 15 pills daily to control leg spasms and other ailments.
And even though his medical problems wouldn't have occurred if he hadn't been deployed, Lopez doesn't qualify for a special government benefit of as much as $100,000 for troops who suffer traumatic injuries.
The hangup? His injuries were caused by the vaccine.
"I could have easily died, or not been able to walk because of that," Lopez said. "It destroyed my world. It was pretty traumatic to me."
Officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which oversees the benefit program, said they're following what the agency has determined to be Congress' intent.
"It's for traumatic injury, not disease; not illness; not preventive medicine," said Stephen Wurtz, deputy assistant director for insurance at the VA. "It has nothing to do with not believing these people deserve some compensation for their losses."...
Japan awakes to new era as opposition sweeps into power
Japan's new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, began the delicate task of forming a new government this morning, hours after inflicting a devastating defeat on the ruling Liberal Democratic party [LDP].
The euphoria of the night before, when his Democratic Party of Japan [DPJ] secured 308 out of 480 seats in the lower house, quickly gave way to the business of addressing record unemployment and deflation as Japan struggles to emerge from its worst recession since the second world war.
Questions are already being asked about his government's ability to end the bureaucracy's stranglehold on economic policy and to focus on the interests of consumers rather than those of powerful corporations.
"It has taken a long time, but we have at last reached the starting line," Hatoyama told reporters at his home in Tokyo. "This is by no means the destination. At long last, we are able to move politics – to create a new kind of politics that will fulfil the expectations of the people."
His opponent, Taro Aso, resigned as president of the LDP, which now has just 119 MPs in the lower house compared with 300 before the election.
Hatoyama has about two weeks to put together his administration. Elite bureaucrats and business leaders will use that time to prepare themselves to work with a different ruling party for only the second time since 1955.
The euphoria of the night before, when his Democratic Party of Japan [DPJ] secured 308 out of 480 seats in the lower house, quickly gave way to the business of addressing record unemployment and deflation as Japan struggles to emerge from its worst recession since the second world war.
Questions are already being asked about his government's ability to end the bureaucracy's stranglehold on economic policy and to focus on the interests of consumers rather than those of powerful corporations.
"It has taken a long time, but we have at last reached the starting line," Hatoyama told reporters at his home in Tokyo. "This is by no means the destination. At long last, we are able to move politics – to create a new kind of politics that will fulfil the expectations of the people."
His opponent, Taro Aso, resigned as president of the LDP, which now has just 119 MPs in the lower house compared with 300 before the election.
Hatoyama has about two weeks to put together his administration. Elite bureaucrats and business leaders will use that time to prepare themselves to work with a different ruling party for only the second time since 1955.
Can psychics be good for your health?
Three months ago, Twitter hosted its first scientific experiment and invited users to help demonstrate the existence of psychic powers. Professor Richard Wiseman, of the University of Hertfordshire, recruited 7,000 volunteers via the social messaging service to investigate "remote viewing" (RV). A remote viewer is a gifted individual who claims to be able to "see" events in the past, present and future, and identifying distant locations.
The psychology professor, famed for his mass-participation experiments, which explore the curious science of everyday life, travelled to a mystery site in the UK, whereupon he sent a Tweet. Participants were asked to pinpoint his location by selecting it from a line-up of five photographs. As only 15 per cent of people correctly predicted Prof Wiseman's location – despite a 20 per cent probability – he pronounced RV to be a hoax...
The psychology professor, famed for his mass-participation experiments, which explore the curious science of everyday life, travelled to a mystery site in the UK, whereupon he sent a Tweet. Participants were asked to pinpoint his location by selecting it from a line-up of five photographs. As only 15 per cent of people correctly predicted Prof Wiseman's location – despite a 20 per cent probability – he pronounced RV to be a hoax...
Scientists design spacecraft to save Earth
Heroic missions to stop life on Earth from being wiped out by an asteroid have become a favourite theme for Hollywood disaster films.
Now, a team of British engineers have designed a real-life spacecraft to save the world from destruction.
Their invention, called a "gravity tractor", would be deployed when an orbiting rock is detected on a collision course with Earth.
The spacecraft would intercept the asteroid and position itself to fly alongside it, just 160ft from its surface.
From this position, the 10 tonne craft is able to exert a small gravitational force on the rock, pulling the asteroid towards it.
By gradually modifying its course, over several years, the gravity tractor is able to slowly shift the asteroid's trajectory enough to ensure it misses the Earth.
Details of the planned craft come just weeks after an asteroid or comet was found to have ploughed into Jupiter, which is a giant gas planet, leaving behind a vast impact scar – estimated to be about the same size as the Earth – in its atmosphere.
Now, a team of British engineers have designed a real-life spacecraft to save the world from destruction.
Their invention, called a "gravity tractor", would be deployed when an orbiting rock is detected on a collision course with Earth.
The spacecraft would intercept the asteroid and position itself to fly alongside it, just 160ft from its surface.
From this position, the 10 tonne craft is able to exert a small gravitational force on the rock, pulling the asteroid towards it.
By gradually modifying its course, over several years, the gravity tractor is able to slowly shift the asteroid's trajectory enough to ensure it misses the Earth.
Details of the planned craft come just weeks after an asteroid or comet was found to have ploughed into Jupiter, which is a giant gas planet, leaving behind a vast impact scar – estimated to be about the same size as the Earth – in its atmosphere.
CIA head in furious torture row
In a heated argument with a senior White House staff member, Mr. Panetta argued that the inquiry would cause long-term damage to the agency and that the few rogue elements who engaged in torture had already been disciplined, according to a report in the New York Times.
He lost the argument and the prosecutor John Durham will begin investigating whether criminal charges should be filed against those who exceeded orders.
Mr Durham is already examining possible criminal charges against the CIA officers who destroyed ninety-two videotapes showing Abu Zubaydah and other detainees being water-boarded and otherwise abused over 200 times.
The CIA Director once had direct access to the president and was seen as America's leading intelligence officer, but no more. Admiral Dennis Blair is the current Director of National Intelligence, heading all sixteen of America's intelligence agencies.
He has also infuriated Mr Panetta by insisting on the right to appoint officers from other intelligence agencies to the most senior foreign postings. This has traditionally been a prerogative of the CIA.
The agency has also been stripped of interrogation and detention responsibilities for "high value detainees." That will now be handled by several agencies led by the FBI.
Even General Petraeus, the head of Central Command is setting up his own intelligence service to look at Afghanistan and Pakistan. The CIA will continue to fly the drones that are killing Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan, however.
A spokesman for the CIA refuted suggestions that Mr Panetta threatened to quit. There seems little doubt that there was a "profanity-laced screaming match" at a White House as Mr Panetta vented his spleen. He was particularly angry to have learned of Mr Dunham's appointment from reading an article in Newsweek magazine...
He lost the argument and the prosecutor John Durham will begin investigating whether criminal charges should be filed against those who exceeded orders.
Mr Durham is already examining possible criminal charges against the CIA officers who destroyed ninety-two videotapes showing Abu Zubaydah and other detainees being water-boarded and otherwise abused over 200 times.
The CIA Director once had direct access to the president and was seen as America's leading intelligence officer, but no more. Admiral Dennis Blair is the current Director of National Intelligence, heading all sixteen of America's intelligence agencies.
He has also infuriated Mr Panetta by insisting on the right to appoint officers from other intelligence agencies to the most senior foreign postings. This has traditionally been a prerogative of the CIA.
The agency has also been stripped of interrogation and detention responsibilities for "high value detainees." That will now be handled by several agencies led by the FBI.
Even General Petraeus, the head of Central Command is setting up his own intelligence service to look at Afghanistan and Pakistan. The CIA will continue to fly the drones that are killing Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan, however.
A spokesman for the CIA refuted suggestions that Mr Panetta threatened to quit. There seems little doubt that there was a "profanity-laced screaming match" at a White House as Mr Panetta vented his spleen. He was particularly angry to have learned of Mr Dunham's appointment from reading an article in Newsweek magazine...
'Arctic Sea' was carrying illegal arms, says general
A general close to the investigation into the mysterious voyage of the Arctic Sea has told a Russian newspaper that he suspected the ship was carrying a secret cargo of illegal weapons, as many conspiracy theorists have suggested.
The newspaper, Komsomolskaya Pravda, interviewed what it described as a senior general in the Russian Navy who had been close to the investigation. The general said that he knew far more than he could say openly at this stage, but his testimony, if genuine, represents the first concrete information to come out of the investigation, which has been shrouded in mystery.
He said the theory that the ship might have been carrying drugs was excluded from the beginning, but that the investigation had focussed on a possible weapons shipment, in particular S-300 or X-55 missiles bound for Iran, and sold by a "weapons mafia" involving top Russian officials but operating outside of the law.
The efforts which Russia put into recovering a ship that had a stated cargo worth less than £1m, has led many to suspect that there may have been a secret, embarrassing cargo.
"I think that if this journey had been successful, Russia could have ended up in a huge international scandal," he said. "I think that for this reason the order was given from the top to start this huge naval operation. We caught the boat to make sure we didn't end up in a nasty situation."
The newspaper, Komsomolskaya Pravda, interviewed what it described as a senior general in the Russian Navy who had been close to the investigation. The general said that he knew far more than he could say openly at this stage, but his testimony, if genuine, represents the first concrete information to come out of the investigation, which has been shrouded in mystery.
He said the theory that the ship might have been carrying drugs was excluded from the beginning, but that the investigation had focussed on a possible weapons shipment, in particular S-300 or X-55 missiles bound for Iran, and sold by a "weapons mafia" involving top Russian officials but operating outside of the law.
The efforts which Russia put into recovering a ship that had a stated cargo worth less than £1m, has led many to suspect that there may have been a secret, embarrassing cargo.
"I think that if this journey had been successful, Russia could have ended up in a huge international scandal," he said. "I think that for this reason the order was given from the top to start this huge naval operation. We caught the boat to make sure we didn't end up in a nasty situation."
Single molecule, one million times smaller than a grain of sand, pictured for first time!
It may look like a piece of honeycomb, but this lattice-shaped image is the first ever close-up view of a single molecule.
Scientists from IBM used an atomic force microscope (AFM) to reveal the chemical bonds within a molecule.
'This is the first time that all the atoms in a molecule have been imaged,' lead researcher Leo Gross said.
The researchers focused on a single molecule of pentacene, which is commonly used in solar cells. The rectangular-shaped organic molecule is made up of 22 carbon atoms and 14 hydrogen atoms.
In the image above the hexagonal shapes of the five carbon rings are clear and even the positions of the hydrogen atoms around the carbon rings can be seen.
To give some perspective, the space between the carbon rings is only 0.14 nanometers across, which is roughly one million times smaller than the diameter of a grain of sand.
Scientists from IBM used an atomic force microscope (AFM) to reveal the chemical bonds within a molecule.
'This is the first time that all the atoms in a molecule have been imaged,' lead researcher Leo Gross said.
The researchers focused on a single molecule of pentacene, which is commonly used in solar cells. The rectangular-shaped organic molecule is made up of 22 carbon atoms and 14 hydrogen atoms.
In the image above the hexagonal shapes of the five carbon rings are clear and even the positions of the hydrogen atoms around the carbon rings can be seen.
To give some perspective, the space between the carbon rings is only 0.14 nanometers across, which is roughly one million times smaller than the diameter of a grain of sand.
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