clipped by:Antara clippers remarks: I went for a long cycle along the docks this evening, just a gorgeous night. Spent some time watching the Jeanie Johnstone....a real beauty!
The recreation of the Jeanie Johnston is one of the most ambitious maritime heritage projects undertaken in Ireland. The Jeanie Johnston is a stunning replica of a 19th century sailing ship, one of the last of its kind before the steam ship era dawned. It was built at Blennerville, near Tralee, Co. Kerry. Building the remarkable wooden tall ship involved a massive and complex undertaking, which began with in-depth research in 1993 and culminated in the completion of the graceful, triple-masted vessel in 2002. The Jeanie Johnston now operates as a Sail Training vessel, a Famine History Museum and a Corporate Entertainment venue. The Ships Features: Length Extreme: 45m (148ft); Length Overall: 37.5m (123ft); Beam: 8m (26ft); Draft: 4.2m (14ft); Displacement: 510 tonnes and Rig: 3-masted barque, with 4-square sails/mast, and single topsails
Wealthy people now PAYING to float along the coast of Somalia, blow away pirates
If youre rich and bored, consider taking advantage of the latest in adventure tourism.
Russian ocean liners are now offering cruises along the dangerous Somali coast. This is where the infamous African pirates ply their trade.
The pirates are in for a surprise with these new cruises, however. The passengers are wealthy people hoping to be attacked so they can retaliate with massive firepower.
John Boehner tells the Hill that he spent over an hour reading excerpts of the massive climate bill during Fridays debate because "people deserve to know whats in this pile of s**t."
Now it goes to the Senate, but dont expect immediate action.
clipped by:JackieDel clippers remarks: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the world?s major sources of instability. Americans are directly connected to this conflict, and increasingly imperiled by its devastation. More stats on site. It is the goal of If Americans Knew to provide full and accurate information on this critical issue, and on our power ? and duty ? to bring a resolution.
clipped by:chestnut501 clippers remarks: Playboy founder Hugh Hefners legacy will live on with a new University of Central Florida study aimed at saving the endangered bunnies named after him.
Playboy founder Hugh Hefners legacy will live on with a new University of Central Florida study aimed at saving the endangered bunnies named after him.
Hefneri, the most recently recognized subspecies of the marsh rabbit, is small with short, dark brown fur and a grayish-white belly. Discovered in 1984, the subspecies was named in honor of Hefner after his organization donated money to support fieldwork on the rabbits.
Hefneri live in an island environment and are dependent on specific grasses and plants for feeding, nesting and shelter. Population growth and development in the Lower Keys has led to the death of the bunnies at the hands of vehicles or domestic animals. Their natural habitat also is being destroyed.
The USFWS hopes to identify rabbits from the most genetically diverse populations, relocate them and create a new population in a habitat where the bunnies are less likely to be disturbed.
clipped by:NonStatQuo clippers remarks: I had a really difficult weekend and my partner and I were full of tears over an exasperating situation. Today wasnt much better. I was going thru my RSS feeds and found a poem. I was curious. Found out about the author. Went to her website and found this. Take a few minutes to listen to the story and find yourself refreshed in a world where too few stories provide such sustenance.
BAGHDAD -- (AP) Iraqi forces assumed formal control of Baghdad and other cities Tuesday after American troops handed over security in urban areas in a defining step toward ending the U.S. combat role in the country. A countdown clock broadcast on Iraqi TV ticked to zero as the midnight deadline passed for U.S. combat troops to finish their pullback to bases outside cities.
"The withdrawal of American troops is completed now from all cities after everything they sacrificed for the sake of security," said Sadiq al-Rikabi, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. "We are now celebrating the restoration of sovereignty."
Fireworks, not bombings, colored the Baghdad skyline late Monday, and thousands attended a party in a park where singers performed patriotic songs. Loudspeakers at police stations and military checkpoints played recordings of similar tunes throughout the day, as Iraqi military vehicles decorated with flowers and national flags patrolled the capital.
US troops are withdrawing from towns and cities in Iraq, six years after the invasion, having formally handed over security duties to new Iraqi forces.
A public holiday - National Sovereignty Day - has been declared, and the capital, Baghdad, threw a giant party to mark the eve of the changeover.
US-led combat operations are due to end by September 2010, with all troops gone from Iraq by the end of 2011.
Iraqi troops are on the alert for insurgent attacks during the handover.
Some 131,000 US troops remain in Iraq, including 12 combat brigades, and the total is not expected to drop below 128,000 until after the Iraqi national election next January.
"After June 30, with US combat forces out of cities and villages, localities, well still be in Iraq,"
"We will still have a very robust number of US troops in Iraq and, in fact, those troops will not begin to withdraw from Iraq until probably several months from now."
There is not one Arab flag on the list of countries that hold the honour of having hosted the Olympics. That means the Flame of the Olympics, which was first lit in Athens in the eighth century BC, and then re-emerged in the Greek capital in 1896, may have travelled far and wide to almost every country in Europe or to North America and, more recently, Asia, but it has skipped the land very close to its origin.
Two Arab contenders have now emerged to contest for the 2020 Olympics ? Dubai and Doha. Doha seriously vied for hosting the 2016 Olympic Games and was not considered when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) held its first round of meetings in June last year. Immediately afterwards, Qatar announced it will bid for the 2020 Olympics.
The other cities that have already lined up to bid up for the 2020 Olympics include Durban, Cape Town, Busan, New Delhi, Toronto and Kuala Lumpur.
Artist George Vlosich, aka the Master of Etch-a-Sketch, has been featured in top magazines and on television shows all around the world, while his YouTube video received over 2 million views.
Since he was ten years old, George has been perfecting his talent on the Etch A Sketch. Each is an original work of art that takes 70-80 hours to create. Once finished, the piece is then preserved to stand the test of time. Every creation is uniquely different, and cannot be duplicated, with prices fetching up to $10,000 per piece!
Meet some of his finest work below, along with the famous video.
Heres the famous video of George doing an Etch-a-Sketch drawing for the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team:
French NGOs welcome the government?s decision to launch a strategy to aid developing countries but say the government needs to go much further if it is to live up to its pledge of making aid more transparent and predictable.
Under the new strategy 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa ? most former French colonies ? will receive 60 percent of France?s total development aid focusing on five sectors: health, education, climate change, agriculture and economic growth
An inter-ministerial committee for international cooperation and development (CICID) announced the strategy on 5 June; it was the first time the committee has assembled since President Jacques Chirac left office in 2007.
But aid campaigners say many questions remain unanswered. ?The news is better late than never,? Oxfam France-Agir?s head of advocacy Sébastien Fourmy told IRIN. ?But?the government is not being clear on what kind of aid it is giving, how much of it is going where, and what is behind its decision-making.?
t may be premature to think about automating humanitarian relief activities, but Robert Richardson, who works on robotics at the University of Manchester in the UK, suggests that there definitely is potential for the future.
Richardson has recently been briefing representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Médecins Sans Frontières-UK, the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) and several academic institutions in London as part of the Humanitarian Futures Programme?s framework for dialogue between humanitarian policymakers and scientists.
cost of using robot-driven transport vehicles during emergency situations will be prohibitively expensive for the next few decades
other uses where robots, or autonomous machines, can prove extremely usefu
One of the most promising areas is in quick aerial surveillance.
?The idea is to get people involved in humanitarian issues to start thinking about these things,? he said. ?We are trying to open doors.?
DOOM-MONGERS have got it wrong - there is enough space in the world to produce the extra food needed to feed a growing population. And contrary to expectation, most of it can be grown in Africa, say two international reports published this week.
The first, projecting 10 years into the future from last years food crisis, which saw the price of food soar, says that there is plenty of unused, fertile land available to grow more crops.
"Some 1.6 billion hectares could be added to the current 1.4 billion hectares of crop land [in the world], and over half of the additionally available land is found in Africa and Latin America," concludes the report, compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
If further evidence were needed, it comes in a second report, launched jointly by the FAO and the World Bank. It concludes that 400 million hectares, straddling 25 African countries, are suitable for farming.
Today is the feast of Ss. Peter and Paul, when the Holy Father bestows on new Archbishops the right to wear the pallium. Use of the pallium dates as far back as the 4th century. It seems that, from the beginning, the pope alone had the absolute right of wearing the pallium.
And the South Carolina governor started out by using an interesting comparison to respond to calls for his resignation. King David didnt back down after his own sex scandal, he told his colleagues, and neither will I.
clipped by:beanz clippers remarks: Contrary to the opinion of some some Right-Wing tossers, when you kidnap the elected President of a country , it`s a coup and illegal, even if you don`t like the bloke.
When a countrys president is woken up at 1am by soldiers firing shots into his house, its a coup.
When that president is bundled into a waiting aircraft and flown out of the country against his will, its a coup.
When the army closes down TV and radio stations, shuts off power supply and orders an immediate 48 hour curfew across the nation, its a coup.
When a fake letter of resignation is used in parliament to justify the transfer of power, its a coup.
When the first thing said by the abused president to the press is "Ive have not resigned and this is a coup", its a coup.
ve how much crap Ive waded through this morning, written in English about Honduras and actually debating whether whats been going on is a coup or not. Lets be clear
It is on this site, in a long-gone thatched hut, that Alfred Russel Wallace is believed to have spent weeks in 1855 writing a seminal paper on the theory of evolution. Yet he is largely unknown outside scientific circles today, overshadowed by Charles Darwin, whom most people credit as the father of a theory that explains the origins of life through how plants and animals evolve.
Unlike Wallace, Darwin spent two decades developing his theory of natural selection and had far more evidence to back it up, as presented in his defining work, "The Origin of Species," published 150 years ago. But Wallace reached the same conclusion before Darwin published his findings, and Beccaloni contends that Wallace deserves equal billing.
Wallace, a British beetle and bird collector, set off for Singapore in 1854. Eight years and 14,000 miles (23,000 kilometers) later, he returned to England as one of the most celebrated biologists after Darwin.
In the formation of droplets in a stream of falling sand, scientists have witnessed a dynamic that points beyond the boundaries of traditional physics, and may represent one aspect of a fifth state of matter.
The droplets formed because of instabilities in the subtle atomic forces that attract sand grains to each other. Something similar happens to water falling from a faucet, but the forces acting on those molecules are 100,000 times stronger.
Measurements of this phenomena
overturn the previous explanation for sand droplets ? that grains stick to each other after colliding ? and quantify what?s called an ?ultralow-surface-tension regime.?
It?s entirely new territory for researchers, and just one of many dynamics governing the behavior of granular materials, which for reasons unknown to science act sometimes as solids, or liquids, or gases ? or something in-between
You walk on the beach, and the sand supports your weight. Pick up a handful, and it runs through your fingers, like a liquid
Bill OReillys Argument For Abolishing Freedom Of The Press
clipped by:disenchantedcitizen clippers remarks: This is a man who has his own TV show and millions of viewers to whom he can peddle dangerous ideas like "outside agencies" that have power over the press. It is nearly impossible to go a day without hearing him besmirch the media as a bastion of hate that poses a very real risk to society. O?Reilly represents the sort of mindless hostility that is being spread throughout the mediasphere. And it isnt just OReilly. It is Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Michael Savage, etc. It would be tempting to ask what can be done about these freaks. But that would just be adopting their response that promotes censorship and suppression. The real question is how do we educate the people who watch and listen to this garbage? How do we replace sensationalistic ranting with honest and deliberative discourse? And how do we do it before it erupts into (more) violence?
Once again, Bill OReilly has proven that what he said two years ago regarding his lack of journalistic standards is still true:
In his most recent editorial, OReilly has exposed both his ignorance and his appreciation for officially-sanctioned speech. It should come as no surprise that the top "personality" on the Fox Propaganda Network would harbor such notions given their reputation as the media mouthpiece for the Republican Party.
His outrage is so intense that it led him to say this:
"The most frustrating part about this is that nothing can be done. The Times has an ombudsman, but hes a joke, and no outside agency has any power over the paper. It can pretty much do what it wants, and does."
He would be much happier if journalists all had to have their work approved by editorial boards that could certify the conservative purity of the message before being disseminated to the people. You know, like the way Fox News does it.
Each Wednesday WomansDay.com will bring you a video clip that is sure to brighten your lunch time. This week, watch as this sweet husband and wife (both 90 years old), who have been married for 62 years, play the piano together in the atrium of the Mayo Clinic.
D?Escoto, who was suspended from his priestly functions by the anti-communist Pope John Paul II, is an advocate of Marxist-oriented Liberation Theology and received the Lenin Peace Prize.
He said the U.N. must become a Noah?s Ark to save humanity.
D?Escoto is the same U.N. figure who recently dismissed the Iranian president?s threat to wipe Israel off the map by saying, ?Words don?t kill.?
But words do mean something, and D?Escoto masked his call for global socialism in fancy and flowery words and phrases. He made it clear with his talk of protecting ?Mother Earth? that environmentalism would be the ticket to the creation of the new international socialist order.
Egotism and greed cannot be corrected. They must be replaced by solidarity, which obviously implies radical change. If what we really want is a stable and lasting peace, it must be absolutely clear that we must go beyond controls and corrections of the existing model
NEW YORK ? Bernard Madoff has been sentenced to the maximum 150 years in prison for his multibillion-dollar fraud scheme. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin handed down the sentence in New York on Monday.
Defense attorneys had sought 12 years, while prosecutors wanted the maximum. The federal probation department had recommended 50 years. Chin called the fraud "staggering" and noted that it spanned more than 20 years. He says "the breach of trust was massive."
The 71-year-old former Nasdaq chairman pleaded guilty to securities fraud and other charges in March and has been jailed since.
The US has intelligence agents in Iran but it is not clear if they are providing help to the protest movement there, a former US national security adviser has told Al Jazeera.
Brent Scowcroft said on Wednesday that "of course" the US had agents in Iran amid the ongoing pressure against the Iranian government by protesters opposed to the official result of its presidential election.
But he added that he had no idea whether US agents had provided help to the opposition movement in Iran, which claims that the authorities rigged the June 12 election in favour of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the incumbent president.
"They might do. Who knows?" Scowcroft told Josh Rushing for Al Jazeeras Fault Lines programme.
"But thats a far cry from helping protesters against the combined might of the Revolutionary Guard, the militias and so on - and the [Iranian] police, who are so far completely unified."
Representative Debbie Halvorson (D, IL) was caught at a local meeting telling her constituents that she would ?never, ever, ever? cave in to pressure from President Obama to vote for the cap and tax bill last week.
You see, she knows Obama because they palled around together in the old days before he became president. She assured her constituents that she could never be so over awed that the president might call her to pressure her. Talking to gool ol? Barack is old hat for the tough-as-nails Debster.
[Video]
But, wait. It looks like ?never, ever, ever? is not so long a time as we thought.
A presidential phone call helped win at least one vote: Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-Ill.), a freshman lawmaker and former state Senate colleague of Obama?s, said Thursday evening that after months of indecision, she ?feels great? about the bill.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut has protested a state investigation into whether the Diocese of Bridgeport should be categorized as a lobby group for fighting a bill that would have forcibly reorganized the Catholic Church. The group argues the investigation jeopardizes the core First Amendment rights of both the Church and all state residents.
"The free exchange of ideas, which is a hallmark of our society, suffers when the state places hurdles in front of the free speech of any group," said Andrew Schneider, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut (ACLU-CT).
?These requirements deter individuals and organizations from exercising their First Amendment Rights when they are applied to political activities beyond those the courts consider lobbying,? the ACLU-CT press release said.
The upcoming social encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI "Caritas in veritate" - Charity in truth - will bear the date of the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 29, but will likely become public on July 6 or 7, the Italian daily Corriere della Sera said on Saturday.
"Without truth, without trust and love for what is truthful, there is no conscience or social responsibility, and the social action falls under the control of private interests or logics of power, with destructive effect on society, even more on a society on the way to globalization, in difficult moments like the current ones,?
?the charity of truth, which Jesus Christ has shown to us along his entire earthly life and, above all, with His death and resurrection, is the main resource at the service of the true development of each individual human being and humanity as a whole.?
GIVE Richard Dawkins a child for a week?s summer camp and he will try to give you an atheist for life.
The author of The God Delusion is helping to launch Britain?s first summer retreat for non-believers, where children will have lessons in evolution and sing along to John Lennon?s Imagine.
The five-day camp in Somerset (motto: ?It?s beyond belief?) is for children aged eight to 17 and will rival traditional faith-based breaks run by the Scouts and church groups.
Budding atheists will be given lessons to arm themselves in the ways of rational scepticism. There will be sessions in moral philosophy and evolutionary biology along with more conventional pursuits such as trekking and tug-of-war. There will also be a £10 prize for the child who can disprove the existence of the mythical unicorn.
Instead of singing Kumbiya and other campfire favourites, they will sit around the embers belting out ?Imagine there?s no heaven . . . and no religion too?.
You know how us Christian types are always trying to shut down science. (Insert evil laugh here) So why is it that were the ones always embracing new technology and scientific breakthroughs when it comes to babies in the womb. And why is it that pro-choice liberal types continually scream, "Move along. Nothing to see here. Its just a blob of tissue! Dont believe your eyes!"
Well, this is the kind of science that pro-choice liberal types dont like too much.
Carter writes:
Brazilian student Jorge Lopes has pioneered the conversion of data from ultrasound and MRI scans into life-size plaster models of living embryos using a method called rapid prototyping.
Its truly amazing. Really impressive stuff that to me, could change so much. I think if mothers can hold something like this in their hands, theyd be far less likely to pretend that the baby is just a blob of tissue, something to be disposed of.
Caroline Kennedy is being hailed as a hero for women by a feminist organization which is making her the star of her own new ?biography comic? in the ?Female Force? series published by Bluewater Productions, according to Feminist Law Professors.
Just one point. If the comic book which hails you as a hero requires a picture of your Daddy behind you because you havent actually accomplished all that much, uhm...you know...you might not be a feminist hero after all.
Jacksons music, talent will last longer than his oddities
It was predictable that Michael Jacksons death would be a made-for-the-tabloids event ? the startling news, shots of the helicopters over his mansion, drug rumors, controversy, mystery, bloggers gone wild, talk show hosts ranting all night.
But Jacksons family and his legion of fans worldwide should know one thing ? his music and enormous talent, not his scandals and eccentricities, will be his legacy. He was as riveting and as electric an entertainer as we will ever see, and that is beyond question.
The tributes that have been coming in non-stop since Jackson died Thursday attest to the impact he had on entertainers of all ages ? the videos, the dancing, the moonwalking, the songwriting. People are putting him in the same sentence with Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and the Beatles, and it doesnt seem at all like an exaggeration.
At least 85 separate sharia "courts" are now openly functioning in Britain, almost 20 times as many as previously believed, a report by Civitas claims.
A study by the thinktank found that scores of unofficial tribunals and councils regularly apply Islamic law to resolve domestic, marital and business disputes, many operating in mosques.
Some decisions of Islamic tribunals are already considered legally binding and could theoretically be enforced in civil courts in England and Wales.
Other officially recognised bodies can agree to grant Muslim "divorces" as part of a parallel system of religious law in Britain.
"This whole business is creeping up on us without anyone really noticing," said Dr David Green, director of Civitas.
But Civitas estimates that the real number of Islamic "courts" operating in Britain is at least 85,
It argued that they are unlikely to treat women as equals and could even be against human rights law.
clipped by:emilysue clippers remarks: Makeover little princess and choose a new hair style for this pretty princess girl and click on the dress to change the princess gown. Put make up on princess in this fun makeover game.
Cute Hairstyle Makeover Pick a cute new hairstyle for this cute girl to go with her new summer look, a new hairdo is a fun way to start fresh. Pluck the eyebrows and pick out...
More Stylish Styles More Stylish Styles: Some consumers are already returning to the kinder more stylish styles of dress. Let pick up one for her for todays date...
Club girl Makeup This club girl is going out to party tonight, choose a club outfits and club makeup for this fun loving club girl and give her a makeover. Pick ehr ey...
A New Look Recreate yourself with this virtual makeover game and find a new look for you, try a new hairstyle and some new fashionable clothes. Pick our jewelry ...
clipped by:helpliner clippers remarks: Learn how to install Do It Yourself solar panel for your home or business. Find out the things you need to get your hands on such as proper building permits and some necessary roofing materials.
Learn how to install Do It Yourself solar panel for your home or business. Find out the things you need to get your hands on such as proper building permits and some necessary roofing materials.
Do It Yourself Solar Panel - Are your rising electrical bills pissing you off? Or are you looking forward to save more money on your electrical expenses by getting all the government incentives by installing a solar panel.
Andy O Silliven is an engineer and author in the fields of electrical engineering. He enjoys writing about the topic and keeping up with current events and research in the area of renewable energy sources. http://www.greenearth4energy.com
If you are interested to learn more about Do It Yourself solar panel, visit us at:
The following is from the Washington Posts Mensa Invitational which once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are the winners:
Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after youve accidentally walked through a spider web.
Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit youre eating.
clipped by:mona clippers remarks: I am positively sickened by all the media frenzy, accusations, speculations, consipiracy theories, analyses, etc revolving around Michael Jacksons death. He was a great artist, a controversial personality, he left his mark on this world ~ and now it is time for us to accept that he is no longer among us. He (and his family) deserve all the peace and respect we can offer. Lets not rip to shreds what we know close to nothing about.
Standing by your man suddenly seems to be going out of fashion for some American women in the public eye.
Ruth Madoff, reacting to her husband Bernard being sentenced to 150 years in prison for bilking investors with a massive Ponzi scheme, said she felt "embarrassed," "ashamed" and "betrayed" by a man she had known for half a century.
"The man who committed this horrible fraud is not the man whom I have known for all these years," she said in a statement shortly after her husbands sentencing on Monday.
Last week, after South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford tearfully admitted to an affair with a woman in Argentina, his wife Jenny -- who was not by his side at his public confession -- left little doubt about her feelings
The image of the tearful wife, hiding behind sunglasses, next to her husband while he unloaded his sins to the world, was "intensely embarrassing" and some women are deciding they do not have to follow that path, she said.
clipped by:debbyski clippers remarks: " I asked her to let me know in a month if it was helpful. As she was leaving, she quickly glanced around the office and told me that she was happy that she had come.
"This is very unusual," she said. "I dont want to leave."
I walked her to the receptionists desk and as I did, I am sure I heard my violin playing."
I played my violin today. Its an old but not a rare or expensive instrument that I keep in my office. I dont have to play it; my violin plays itself. Just the sight of the violin brings the music to my mind.
Mrs. Goldstein heard it.
She was 101 and frail, but refused to allow any gray hair on her head to date her -- and she loved my office. She told me that she had seen a lot of doctors but had never seen an office "like this one."
These things are there for a reason. The doctors office is a stressful place.
If I can get my patients to relax, they will hear and learn more about their health.
A number of my patients tell me that I always get a lower blood pressure reading than their other physicians.
Physicians also experience stress
He asked me how long he had to live.
I tried to answer honestly.
Each time I do, I worry that I will give incorrect information and falsely raise or lower hope.
Childrens Rights in the War Theater: Who Guards the Guards?
The US army has detained 2,400 children as young as ten years old since March 2003
?He never slept in a bed of myths, He didn?t live his childhood.? ?Song?, Adonis (Ali Ahmad Said) Victims of a Map, Saqi Books.
On 27th May 2008, Save the Children released a Report which ?shows that children living in conflict affected countries fear to report sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peace keeping troops and humanitarian aid workers.?
?Children told Save the Children UK that they were too afraid to report the abuse, frightened that is they did, the abuser might come back and hurt them ?or that they might be stigmatized by their family and community, or even punished by them.?
Jasmine Whitbread, Chief Executive of Save the Children
?This research exposes the despicable actions of a small number of perpetrators who are sexually abusing some of the most vulnerable children in the world, the very children they are meant to protect ?? ?
A study claims the fast-breeding invader is putting British insects, parasites and fungi at risk.
Since it arrived in the South of England in 2005, the harlequin has colonised Britain at a rapid rate and is now found everywhere from Essex to Orkney.
This year, an estimated one billion harlequins will devour the eggs of other ladybirds, butterflies and lacewings.
Brought to the U.S. from Asia 25 years ago, the insect was introduced to Britain from continental Europe as an environmentally friendly pest controller.
Experts say its rise is the fastest insect invasion in living memory.
Dr Helen Roy, of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, said native insects were likely to suffer severe declines as numbers of the predatory harlequin grow.
We believe that the negative impacts of the harlequin on Britain will be far-reaching and disruptive, with the potential to affect over 1,000 of our native species, she said.
clipped by:merrie clippers remarks: The Armys Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile, which also has been activated after successful tests at Barking Sands on Kauai, "doesnt come close" to being effective against this type of threat, Mr. Dinerman said.
The Defense Departments 2010 budget proposal cut missile defense by $1.2 billion, and congressional Democrats rebuffed Republican attempts to restore the funding. Justification for the cuts was led by Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher, California Democrat, who is the newly confirmed undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. Ms. Tauscher will play a major role in missile-defense policy.
The cuts include scaling back the number of interceptors based at Fort Greely, Alaska, from 44 to 30. This cut is hard to justify given the proximity to North Korea and the fact that these interceptors actually could bring down one of its missiles (which may explain why Pyongyang is aiming for Hawaii). The Airborne Laser program has been downgraded to a researc
July 4 could be another day that will live in infamy. The Obama administration seized headlines June 18 when the Defense Department stated that the United States would deploy ground- and sea-based missile-defense assets to protect Hawaii. This was a response to North Koreas threat to launch a long-range missile on July 4 toward the islands. However, new information suggests that the administration is bluffing and our defenses are inadequate to get the job done.
Missile-defense expert Taylor Dinerman told us that the sea-based SM-3 missiles now deployed to "protect" Hawaii are not equipped with adequate software and communications to intercept a missile traveling from North Korea to Hawaii, which would reach a terminal velocity of Mach 23 to 25. The SM-3s are effective only against targets traveling at up to half that speed. It would take about $50 million to upgrade the software to enable a Mach 25 intercept.
clipped by:thisnamecantbetaken clippers remarks:A challenge to orthodoxy tends to be ignored at first. But if it gains popular support, the first move is to discredit and silence the challenger.
?Belief? is the crux of the matter. No amount of evidence will change the consensus view until a sufficient number ?convert? to a belief in the new theory.
?It gets worse. As the evidence accumulates, the two camps will not only fail to reach consensus but actually be driven further apart - propelled by their different views ..And worst of all, there is no prospect of such a consensus unless the two sides can agree about the cause of the data.? Such a conclusion bodes ill for any attempt to change the status quo.
An important scientific innovation rarely makes its way by gradually winning over and converting its opponents. What does happen is that its opponents gradually die out, and that the growing generation is familiarized with the new ideas from the beginning.?
Applicable to both science and religion, I reckon.
A widely-accepted foundation stone of scientific logic involves a process of elimination, requiring all available possibilities to be considered with incorrect ideas discarded when they fail to predict experimental results.
a leading group of concerned scientists
questions a core belief ? the belief in the so-called big bang theory.
Already, the first line of defense ? censorship ? has held. The journal Nature rejected the letter for publication
"You could write the entire history of science in the last 50 years in terms of papers rejected by Science or Nature." ? Paul C. Lauterbur, winner of the Nobel Prize for medicine, whose seminal paper on magnetic resonance imaging was originally rejected by Nature.
That scathing commentator on errant human behavior, John Ralston Saul, has compared the scientific community to the medieval church
setting up organizations ? political, religious, and scientific ? that with time become authoritarian, exclusive and dogmatic.
clipped by:merrie clippers remarks: Globally, about 100,000 people are injured and 10,000 people killed by lightning - more than the number killed by floods, hurricanes or tornadoes - the British weather bureau, the Met Office, says.
The US National Weather Service says the odds of a person being struck by lightning are one in 5000.
Jaswant Wajisinh Baria, a farmer, was sleeping under a tree when a bolt of lightning struck his thatched house, killing him instantly, the Indian Express reported.
His wife, Sumitra, suffered burns at several places and needed treatment, while Baria?s three-year-old buffalo was also killed, the paper said.
In the last two years, about 60 people have died from lightning strikes each year in the state of Jharkhand alone.
In the state of Orissa, about 250 people lost their lives to lightning each year, and the "death roll" was rising, Padmanabha Behera, under-secretary with the office of Special Relief Commissioner, told The Hindu.
At least 35 people including eight children were killed after they were struck by lightning in the adjoining eastern Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand, officials said.
Around 18 people were killed late on Sunday by bolts of lightning across Bihar, including six children, State Disaster Management Minister Devesh Chand Thakur said.
"The children were playing in the pre-monsoon showers when lightning struck them," Thakur said from the state capital Patna.
Mr Thakur also told local media most of the victims were either farmers or the homeless who were outdoors.
Twelve others who were injured were taken to hospital, he said.
In neighbouring Jharkhand, 17 people including two children were killed by lightning strikes, also late on Sunday night, a disaster management spokesman said in the capital Ranchi.
Earlier this month nine people from villages in the Vadodara region died on a single day after a series of lightning strikes.
White House Spins Court Ruling: "Nominee Not Biased"
clipped by:merrie clippers remarks: "Theres little political significance to whatever the court decided today in terms of Judge Sotomayor except to render a fairly definitive opinion that she follows judicial precedent and that she doesnt legislate from the bench," Gibbs said.
Gibbs said the White House wants Sotomayor to be sworn in and seated by Sept. 9, when the new court will hear a First Amendment case.
"We want her to be an active participant" to avoid the possibility of a divided court, Gibbs said.
Spinning a Supreme Court decision in its favor, the White House said Monday that the justices reversal of a ruling that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge proves that she follows judicial precedent.
The high court ruled that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race.
Presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs said the ruling should put to rest claims by Sotomayor s Senate critics that shes an activist judge.
"One thing is clear, that the ruling by Judge Sotomayor was based on the precedent of the Second Circuit. ... The Supreme Court clearly had a new interpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act," Gibbs said.
He said he was not concerned that the reversal would cause her trouble in Senate confirmation hearings, and he doesnt see anything in the decision that would prevent her from assuming her Supreme Court seat.
Irrational markets: people reject free money out of anger
The Ultimatum Game, in which test subjects respond to take-it-or-leave-it offers, has allowed psychologists to explore how humans handle issues like fairness and punishment
But a new study shows some people attempt to punish even when the rules of the game are stacked in a way that makes it impossible
Game theory has provided researchers in a variety of fields, from psychology to economics, an opportunity to test human behaviors under controlled conditions. It allows big questions?are humans rational actors when moneys on the line
humans arent purely rational when it comes to monetary decisions, as they appear willing to make financial sacrifices in order to punish others in the name of fairness
A paper that will appear at PNAS this week takes things a step further and shows that people will still reject unfair monetary offers, even when the only one they punish is themselves
THE murder of a mental care health worker in Lismore on Saturday should put the spotlight on how we care for society?s mentally ill.
The fact that a dedicated worker was killed for no other reason than helping someone in need is both shocking and tragic.
It is also a tragedy for the alleged killer, who could now face many years locked away, and his family who must endure a new ?heartache.
Neither the worker, nor his client should ever have been put in this position.
The worker?s death raises the broader question: Why are we failing to protect our mentally ill and those who care for them.
It has been more than 25 years since the NSW Government embraced the Richmond Report?s recommendation to integrate the mentally ill into the wider community.
There is no debate the motive was noble and long overdue. However the funding never fulfilled the promise.
Speak to any mental health worker and they will tell you the system is in crisis
Military Shuts Out Scientists from Infra-Red Signatures on All Meteors Which Hit the Planet
clipped by:tabsey clippers remarks: I thought that there was going to be lots of cooperation between Govt agencies after 9/11. Not in the name of science. Is the USAF run by Unintelligent Design people?
The military has just decided to deny scientists data on incoming meteors in order to protect military secrets. Anyone who cant see any problems with this arrangement, well done on never having seen a movie -ever
The Air Forces Defense Support Program satellite network scans the globes for infra-red signatures (indicative of missile blasts and nuclear explosions) and incidentally picks up incredibly detailed information on all meteors which hit the planet. Something the military didnt think was particularly interesting. They did at least send the occasional update to the Earth-watching scientific community, scraps of data they didnt need, but a recent announcement makes it clear that there will be no more.
The worst thing is that it isnt really secrecy thats stopping the data transfer, but miserliness
Theyre literally throwing out incredible data because they cant be bothered to keep it. This is everything thats wrong with human ambition right here.
clipped by:jklugman clippers remarks: Since people are entertaining the idea that we should ban gay adoption because an allegedly gay man is accused of molesting his adopted son, I think it is only fair that we ask, in light of this incident, if we should ban marriages involving straight men, economists, or Ivy League professors.
Robb pleaded guilty in November 2007 to voluntary manslaughter in the high-profile death of his wife, Ellen Gregory Robb. Gregory Robb was reportedly bludgeoned to death with a chin-up bar. [5]
Its clear that the only thing standing in the way of meaningful reform is a bloated lobby -- one accustomed to steering the conversation in whatever direction it deems fit.
Allowing this monopolistic control to continue is not just financially unsustainable -- it contradicts our countrys claims that democratic consensus overrides elite interests.
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean
has put together an organization designed to mobilize progressive support. Standwithdrdean.com
to urge policymakers to vote down any health care legislation that doesnt include a public option.
I am a resident of a special place originally referred to as La Ciudad de la Reina de los Angeles (The City of the Queen of the Angels). Nowadays, we refer to this city of angels simply as Los Angeles.
In terms of both Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the number of financially wealthy people living here, Los Angeles is one of the richest cities in the world. In terms of diversity in peoples and cultures, I can?t imagine a richer place. And yet despite all its wealth, the City of Angels is the homeless capital of the United States.
There are an estimated 40,144 homeless people living in the city of Los Angeles on any given night (or nearly 74,000 if you take all of L.A. County into consideration).
the demons of drug and alcohol abuse are the main reasons
Indeed, that demon that makes us insensitive and aloof to our brothers? and sisters? problems is the worst demon of them all.
We are all wanderers, of course, to varying degrees. And its no surprise that when our memories begin to slip, when our days fade, when our lives become broth-thin and we walk around as living ghosts of the vibrants we once were, we start looking for a way out, an exit. Dementia-driven wandering can seem random to others, but according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, it can be the result of boredom, curiosity or just a general desire to get up and go. Caregivers tell stories of patients wanting to go home, even when they are home.
"Wandering is a behavior that happens mainly as a result of declining cognitive skills," says Beth Kallmyer, director of family and information services at the Alzheimers Association in Chicago. "The loss of memory impacts their ability to discern where they are."
In addition, other cognitive skills ? judgment, problem solving ? decline, Kallmyer says. And a person wanders. Sometimes into trouble.
Having sex every day improves sperm quality and could boost the chances of getting pregnant, research suggests.
In a study of men with fertility problems, daily ejaculation for a week cut the amount of DNA damage seen in sperm samples.
The theory is that the longer sperm hang around in the testes the more likely they are to accumulate DNA damage and the warm environment could also make them more sluggish after a while.
Further work is needed to work out if daily sex for men without fertility problems has the same benefits but Dr Greening believes it is likely to be the case.
He warns that having daily sex for too long - say a fortnight - would probably cut sperm numbers too much.
But recommended "lots of sex daily" around the time the woman is ovulating.
Madoff?s conviction is no example of American justice
clipped by:tabsey clippers remarks: More. Bernie should really become is a pin up criminal for incompetence, who was allowed to escape for decades by incompetent regulation: both of the traditional black letter legal type and self-regulation. Bernie fooled all the checks and balances and became head of NADAQ. His auditing firm was a small one and a half person operation in suburban New York: the auditing groups and other regulators let that one go
Yes Bernie Madoff was bent, yes he was a crook, but let?s not kid ourselves that Bernie?s conviction and jailing somehow is testimony to speedy and swift American justice.
Far from it; Bernie dobbed himself in and pleaded guilty in March and saved the US regulators a long and tedious case of tracking down what he did and getting him to confess.
Despite facing 150 years in jail, which he got overnight, Bernie has refused to help investigators unravel his fraud.
Bernie will now become the pin up criminal for the credit crunch and recession. But that?s rewriting history to protect the truly guilty.
Madoff, like Allco, ABC Learning, subprime mortgages and Babcock and Brown, are all testimony to slack and poor regulation of the markets, just like Alan Bond was 19 years and more ago. He is also testimony to the incompetent regulators, bankers, industry figures and others who allowed him to flourish (especially those in Congress who received tens of thousands of dollars in donations).
The bacterial banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW) disease will endanger the livelihoods of millions of East African farmers if left uncontrolled, according to specialists. First reported about 40 years ago in Ethiopia, BXW is endemic in most of Uganda, and has been reported in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya and Rwanda.
?BXW is the most serious threat to banana production in East Africa,? Wafa Khoury, a plant pathologist and agricultural officer in the Plant Production and Protection Division of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), told IRIN. ?BXW is very serious because it could wipe out all cultivars planted in the continent, with almost no resistance detected...
"The plants wilt and eventually die. They either do not produce fruits, and when they do, they are hard and inedible to either humans or animals and they cannot be processed even," Khoury said.
Bananas and plantains are the world?s fourth most important food crop after rice, wheat, and maize.
clipped by:celestialdancer clippers remarks: Comment for Baghdad Pool: "...I do worry about where that soldier is pointing his gun." Also comment for the pool in China: "The job of the lifeguard must be insane at this pool in the Chinese province of Sichuan." I reckon the lifeguard must be insane to take on the job
EDIT: Thanks to Nick for pointing out that this pool is actually in Chernobyl.
5. The Mayan Temple Pool
The Mayan Temple slide shoots you vertically through a shark tank. Thankfully the ?leap of faith? is protected by flexi glass.
Recently one shark had its own leap of faith when it jumped the 1ft high barrier onto the slide itself. Whilst the shark survived the drop it sadly died in the chlorinated pool below.
7. Infinity Pool
Infinity pools are designed in such a way that it looks like the pool stretches on forever. This amazing example of such a pool is at the Bulgari Resort in Bali.
11. Devils Swimming Pool
Each year the dry season allows the creation of mothers natures ultimate infinity pool. At any other time of the year, swimmers would be swept away to their deaths!
12. Mega packed Pool
The job of the lifeguard must be insane at this pool in the Chinese province of Sichuan.
Mrs. Donovan was walking down OConnell Street in Dublin when she met up with Father Rafferty. The Father said, "Top o the mornin to ye! Arent ye Mrs. Donovan and didnt I marry ye and yer husband two years ago?
She replied, "Aye, that ye did, Father." The Father asked, "And be there any wee ones yet?
"No, not yet, Father" she replied.
The Father said, "Well now, Im going to Rome next week and Ill light a candle for ye and yer husband."
"Oh, thank ye, Father," she replied.
They parted ways and when they met again some years later, Father Rafferty asked, "Well now, Mrs. Donovan, how are ye these days? And tell me, have ye some wee ones."
She said, "Oh, yes Father. Three sets of twins and four singles, 10 in all.
The Father said, "Glory be! Thats wonderful! And how is yer loving husband doing?"
She replied, "Es gone to Rome to blow out yer fookin candle!
If youre not familiar with the work of Steven Wright, hes the famous erudite scientist who once said: "I woke up one morning and all of my stuff had been stolen...and replaced by exact duplicates. His mind sees things differently than we do, to our amazement and amusement.
The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.
All those who believe in psycho-kinesis, raise my hand.
OK, so whats the speed of dark?
How do you tell when youre out of invisible ink?
Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
When everything is coming your way, youre in the wrong lane.
What happens if you get scared half to death twice?
My mechanic told me, "I couldnt repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder."
If at first you dont succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.
Experience is something you dont get until just after you need it.
To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.
Everyone has a photographic memory, some just dont have film
No one seems to know how old Mohammed Jawad was when he was seized by Afghan forces in Kabul six and a half years ago and turned over to American custody. Some reports say he was 14. Some say 16. The Afghan government believes he was 12.
What is not in dispute is that he was no older than an adolescent, and that since his capture he has been tortured and otherwise put through hell. The evidence against him has been discredited. He has tried to commit suicide. But the U.S. won?t let him go.
The treatment of the young captive was so egregious that the decorated U.S. Army officer assigned to prosecute him ? a man gung-ho to secure a conviction against a defendant he believed had committed a serious crime against the American military ? ended up removing himself from the case and declaring that he could no longer ?in good conscience? participate in the military commissions set up to try accused terrorists.
H.R. 2749 [text of bill] would give some FDA administrator (read self-serving corporate lobbyist) the power to dictate what farming practices must and must not be used nationwide (read enforced GMOs, growth hormones, and weird chemicals in our food). How can Congress make sane policy without identifying the specific problem and its source before empowering 10 year criminal sentences and $100,000 fines? It cant. But only if we stop them from doing it, by speaking out now.
The one click form below will send your personal message to all your government representatives selected below, with the subject "Reject HR 2749 and Clean Up Factory Farms Instead." At the same time you can send your personal comments only as a letter to the editor of your nearest local daily newspaper if you like.
clipped by:thisnamecantbetaken clippers remarks:This adequate epistemology will be, above all else, humble. It will recognize that science deals with models and metaphors representing certain aspects of experienced reality, and that any model or metaphor may be permissible if it is useful in helping to order knowledge, even though it may seem to conflict with another model which is also useful. (The classic example is the history of wave and particle models in physics.) This includes, specifically, the metaphor of consciousness.
The ontological stance of the universe as holarchy appears to have great promise as the basis for an extended science in which consciousness-related phenomena are no longer anomalies, but keys to a deeper understanding; a science that transcends and includes the science we have.
The implications of research on consciousness go even further. They suggest interconnection at a level that has yet to be fully recognized by Western science.
there are many indications ofthe possible emergence of a trans-modern picture of reality differing both from the scientific worldview and the traditional religious worldview.
The core of the current challenge to the scientific worldview can be taken to be "consciousness," which has come to be a code word for a wide range of human experience, including conscious awareness or subjectivity, intentionality, selective attention, intuition, creativity, relationship of mind to healing, spiritual sensibility, and a range of anomalous experience and phenomena.
The critical epistemological issue is whether we humans have basically one way of contacting Reality (namely, through the physical senses) or two (the second being the deep intuition).
whether consciousness is caused (by physiological processes in the brain
or causal (in the sense that consciousness is not only a causal factor in present phenomena, but also a causal factor throughout the entire evolutionary process).
Morning Edition,June 30, 2009 · In todays economy, its hard to find anyone who really wants to pay higher taxes. That is, unless they happen to be in the business of selling medical marijuana.
In Oakland, Calif., marijuana vendors are actually lobbying for a higher tax on their product.
Take, for example, Richard Lee, the proprietor of the Coffeeshop Blue Sky, where anyone with a doctors note can buy products much more relaxing than a jolt of java. How about 1/8 ounce of high-grade medical marijuana? Thats $40 for the cannabis and $4 in sales tax.
Lee says the sales tax is just the price of doing business.
"My business pays $300,000 a year in sales tax, plus another half-million in payroll taxes ? income taxes," Lee says. "So we estimate that all four dispensaries in Oakland pay over a million in sales tax already."
Lee and other dispensary owners not only support the proposed new taxes, but theyre also the ones who brought the idea to city officials in the first place.
CAPE CANAVERAL - NASA next week will try to free a knob stuck between the dashboard and a cockpit window on shuttle Atlantis - a problem that some fear could trigger lengthy launch delays or even an early retirement for the orbiter.
But NASA shuttle program officials effectively are saying, "Not so fast."
"I think its too early to know whether its a big deal or not," said Kyle Herring, a spokesman for NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston.
A notched rotary knob from a lighting bracket somehow got wedged between the orbiters cockpit instrument panel and one of six forward windows during NASAs fifth and final Hubble Space Telescope mission in May. The knob is designed to mount a work light to a bracket.
Somehow, it floated into a recess in the corner of the cockpit, and two edges of one of its crescent-shaped notches are pressing against the inside of the triple-pane window, which is a little more than 2 1/2 inches thick.
From the beginning of this presidential election, Greenpeace has been urging the candidates to announce their action plan to protect the forests of Indonesia. So far we have only heard nice words and empty promises, but no action plan on an issue that is key to the future of Indonesia and central to the global efforts to combat climate change.
World leaders are going to make an important decision at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen in December this year to protect the world?s forests.
The next president has a great opportunity and greater responsibility to secure our future and to stop the suicidal destruction of our rainforests.
This is the last opportunity before we vote, to find out who will be the President with an action plan to protect our forests and commit to sustainable development. Act now to save Indonesian Forest :
Send an email to the 3 President candidates. Click here to send an email directly to them
clipped by:merrie clippers remarks: Looking back over six years of good intentions, tragic errors, generosity, arrogance, partisan vituperation, painful deaths and ultimate vindication, two things strike me: the ever-resisted lesson that human affairs are more complex than academic theories claim, and the simple truth that most human beings prefer a measure of freedom to immeasurable repression.
Now the symbolism of our troops withdrawing from Iraqs cities is richer than Washington grasps. Mesopotamia created urban culture: Ur, Babylon, Nineveh and countless lesser-known sites are where humans first worked out ways to live together in close quarters in large numbers. The coming wave of terror will strike cities that make Baghdad seem a youngster.
The "cradle of civilization" is rising from the grave again.
Yes, sectarianism, old grievances and the greed for power may deliver future crises -- even an eventual civil war.
Taking over the day-to-day job: Members of the Iraqi security forces in Basra yesterday. AP
OUR effort in Iraq passed a major milestone today: Our troops are leaving the cities.
Advisers remain in place. Joint patrols will still occur. And our forces will wait nearby to respond to Iraqi calls for support. But the last of the bases and US-only outposts within Iraqs urban centers will be vacated.
Terrorists have already begun testing the new security arrangements. Iraqi forces wont always pass with flying colors.
Yet this situation seemed a pipe dream not so long ago: Iraqs security forces, serving an elected government, assume primary responsibility for the good order of their own country.
We all recall the delighted leftist claims that Iraq had entered a hopeless civil war. Wrong. That Iraqis preferred al Qaeda to us. Wrong. That Shia militias represented the people. Wrong. And that Iran would seize control. Wrong again.
clipped by:merrie clippers remarks: via Antara Synopsis: The Hurt Locker is a riveting, suspenseful portrait of the courage under fire of the military?s most unrecognized heroes: the technicians of the bomb squad, who volunteer to challenge the odds and... The Hurt Locker is a riveting, suspenseful portrait of the courage under fire of the military?s most unrecognized heroes: the technicians of the bomb squad, who volunteer to challenge the odds and save lives in one of the world?s most dangerous places. Three members of the Army?s elite Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) squad battle insurgents and each other as they seek out and disarm a wave of roadside bombs on the streets of Baghdad -- in order to try and make the city a safer place for Iraqis and Americans alike. Their mission is clear - protect and save - but it?s anything but easy, for the margin of error on a war-zone bomb is zero. A thrilling and heart-thumping look at the effects of combat and danger on the human psyche,
Consensus: A well-acted, intensely shot, action filled war epic, Kathryn Bigelows The Hurt Locker is thus far the best of the recent dramatizations of the Iraq War.
Yemenia Airbus crash: Five-year-old child pulled from water alive
clipped by:clip-on-tie clippers remarks: "We never had problems with the plane. was purely weather," Yemenia Chairman Abdulkalek Saleh Al-Kadi said in a telephone interview from Sanaa.
Breaking news - Yemenia Airbus A310 crashes with 154 passengers on board
June is turning out to be a pretty bad month for aviation safety.
This evening, a Yemenia Airbus A310 crashed an hour from its destination into the Indian Ocean off the island nation of Comoros.
Nothing is known about the cause of the crash, but the plane was carrying a total of 154 passengers when it went down. This is the second Airbus crash this month. On June 1, an Airbus crashed killing all 228 passengers.
The flight was en route to Moroni, and had departed from the Yemen captal Sanaa for its four and a half hour flight.
UPDATE
The Airbus A310 was carrying 142 passengers - including families with babies - and 11 crew members. Comoros police said three bodies had been recovered so far and the five-year-old child has been pulled from the water alive. There is no word on other survivors.
Faults were detected on this plane in 2007, which has sparked an inquiry into the Yemenia airlines safety record.
clipped by:jay8h clippers remarks: Is it possible that California now has more "takers" than "givers"? Is this the future of other states that have excessive socialist programs? Is this the future of America as we become more socialistic?
Mr Schwarzenegger said he would veto any bills that raised taxes without reforming the state?s government. ?I will veto any majority vote tax increase bill that punishes taxpayers for Sacramento?s failure to live within its means,? he said. ?The legislature will have a difficult time explaining to Californians why they are running floor drills the day before our budget deadline. We do not have time for any more floor drills or partial solutions. It?s time for the legislature to send me a budget that solves our entire deficit without raising taxes.?
California is preparing to issue IOUs to its creditors this week as it grapples with an unprecedented cash crunch and prepares to begin its new fiscal year deep in the red.
Sitting in a Durham County jail cell, Frank M. Lombard, the Duke University researcher accused of offering his adopted 5-year-old son for sex, awaits a trip to Washington, D.C., this week to face federal criminal charges.
Federal authorities say Lombard, 42, of 24 Indigo Creek Trail, performed sexual acts on his son and invited an undercover investigator online to fly to North Carolina and do the same.
Lombard owns the home with another man, according to Durham County property records. The pair bought the home, which sits at the end of a narrow path lined with trees and multicolored homes, in May 2007, the records show. The co-owner has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Lombard, associate director of Dukes Center for Health Policy, was arrested Wednesday evening at his home. Investigators seized two webcams, five computers and a sex toy, among other items, after searching his home.
The 5-year-old and another child in the home were placed in protective custody.
clipped by:clip-on-tie clippers remarks: Core beliefs matter, real experience matters, fiscal responsibility matters, and that the wisdom of our Founding Fathers matters. For those Democrats who believe these to still matter, perhaps you havent left the party, but the party has left you.
With each passing day, various Democrats, members of the media, and even certain Republicans, declare the conservative movement or the heyday of the Reagan era a relic of the past. Really? Well, in the age of Obama, a recent Gallup poll shows exactly the opposite. The survey says that 40 percent of Americans now describe their political views as ?conservative,? with 35 percent saying ?moderate? and 21 percent saying ?liberal.?
As our debt rises to unimagined numbers, unemployment grows beyond the most pessimistic predictions, companies are nationalized, CEOs are fired by the White House, and wages are dictated by administration officials, there is a palpable fear spreading across the United States.
For a left-leaning media, they want to squash conservative principles in service to a President who more readily embraces the teachings of Venezuelan Strongman Hugo Chavez than John F. Kennedy.
as this poll demonstrates, along with that fear, is a growing realization that convictions matter
clipped by:kris_tea clippers remarks: "You are a pollutant, and Obama is paving the way for the international carbon tax, an excuse regulated by the global EPA, also called the UN, to remand American wealth back to the world, from which Obama believes it was unfairly taken. Global warming conveniently became global climate change and so in short order Obama?s hope and change will become change without hope.?
Although the suppression of this document prior to the recent vote in the house borders on criminal deception, there is a larger issue: the fraudulent determination that CO2, your exhalation, is a pollutant. Although ostensibly pertaining only to industrial exhaust, the court?s determination will inevitably be used against the individual. The Federal Government will be called upon to determine how much of a pollutant an American citizen is, not just as a consequence of possessions, but rather as a consequence of existence. This is a legal inevitability unless legislation is challenged and changed. The President is not stupid. He knows the truth and is determined to press his ideological experiment, through the IPCC, upon the American people no matter what damage is inflicted upon the people, because he ultimately deems U.S. citizens as expendable for the larger global good.
clipped by:smellydiaper clippers remarks: Nice to read some news that isnt terrifying or making us feel world is on brink of destruction...lol I can imagine it did flood his mind with memories of the past.... really heartwarming.
Memories flood back for man, 78, after discovery behind gym bleachers
BAKER CITY, Ore. - Bill Fulton doesnt remember losing his wallet, but its return helped him remember the past. The leather stayed smooth and the cowboy design unblemished. The zipper moved with ease. And when he looked inside, the contents brought back memories from 1946, when he apparently dropped the wallet behind the balcony bleachers in the Baker Middle School gym.
Fultons Social Security card and bicycle license, bearing the address where he lived during his teenage years, were positioned in their respective compartments, apparently untouched since the year after World War II ended.
"After that long, my gosh, it stayed in good shape," Fulton told the Baker City Herald. "Its hard to believe."
"He was pretty much amazed," Trindle said. "He just kept saying, Thank you. Thank you so much. "
Oh man, (rummage, rummage) I am in such trouble! My big presentation (shuffle, shuffle) is due in ten minutes (rustle, rustle), and I can?t find my kitten! (panic, panic) I could swear I put it (slam, slam, slam, slam) in one of these (slam) drawers, but?
Psssst ? I?m right over here, genius. You know, where you filed me?
Tibetan Monks and Nuns Turn Their Minds Toward Science
clipped by:tabsey clippers remarks: The Chinese have begun the cultural genocide in Tibet. They have even taken the appointment of the Dalai away from the Tibetans.
DHARAMSALA, India ? Tibetan monks and nuns spend their lives studying the inner world of the mind rather than the physical world of matter. Yet for one month this spring a group of 91 monastics devoted themselves to the corporeal realm of science.
Many in the group, whose ages ranged from the 20s to 40s,had never learned science and math. In Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and nunneries, the curriculum has remained unchanged for centuries.
Yet the Tibetan spiritual leader views science and Buddhism as complementary ?investigative approaches with the same greater goal, of seeking the truth,? he wrote in ?The Universe in a Single Atom,? his book on ?how science and spirituality can serve our world.? He stresses that science is especially important for monastics who study the nature of the mind and the relationship between mind and brain.
The need to keep Tibetan cultural identity alive, yet modern and relevant, has grown increasingly urgent as the 73-year-old Dalai Lama ages.
ACORN, which played a starring role in creating the subprime mortgage crisis, plans to add insult to injury by harassing lenders across the nation with protests tomorrow in an effort to coerce them into supporting President Obamas Making Home Affordable foreclosure-avoidance program.
ACORN plans to hit Dallas, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, St. Louis, New York City, Wilmington (Del.), Columbus (Ohio), Houston, Little Rock, Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, and Seattle.
ACORN helped to cause the mortgage bubble by strongarming banks into making loans they shouldnt have. And cheering them on was ACORNs lawyer, Barack Obama, who contributed to the increasingly hostile environment for banks when he represented plaintiffs in the 1995 class action lawsuit Buycks-Roberson v. Citibank.
ACORN too has taken in millions of dollars in taxpayer funding and is utterly unaccountable. The group even covered up a million dollar embezzlement for eight years.
The End of the World and the Future of the Human Race
clipped by:thisnamecantbetaken clippers remarks: The universe has a way of balancing itself out. The choice we face is whether we want to accept this inevitability, and do what we can to secure a future for ourselves and our progeny, or simply die with the masses. The first and biggest step in the process of saving oneself is to recognize and accept the reality of our situation. Most will not, and a lot will become angry at the mere suggestion; but everyone has a choice. What is happening is happening because we have abandoned our own human nature and gotten lost in an artificial world. Civilizations have come and gone for millions of years. The ancients have told the tale of global empires which risen and fallen, and this too will pass. As the world burns around us, we stand at the edge of something marvelous. A pretty bleak article. Are we doomed? What awaits us? A marvelous new future.. or a nightmare?
The world is headed nowhere good, and a lot of people get that. But still it moves forward, and we stand helpless, stunned like deer in the headlights, incapable of reacting in any meaningful way
the state of the Planet Earth
the one world government system
climate crisis
We know the details.
there is only one conclusion that a person looking at this thing with pure honesty can draw.
A person who is moderately educated in world happenings can see pretty clearly what the future holds, if he wants to. Most people don?t want to.
Ultimately, this is going to happen whether you want it to or not, as there is no other way it can go, but if you understand that it will happen, and why it must happen, you are going to be psychologically, and perhaps even physically, prepared for the total collapse of the entirety of world civilization.
Humanity as we have known it is going to cease to exist as we move into the post-human era.
MORONI, Comoros ? Reports that a 5-year-old boy survived a jetliner crash in the Indian Ocean are now in question.
Rachida Abdullah is an immigrations officer in the Comoros, where the plane went down. She says there were early reports that a 5-year-old boy had survived the crash and was found floating at sea. Now, she says, it appears the survivor is a 14-year-old girl.
Neither report could be independently confirmed.
A Yemenia Airbus jet with 153 people on board crashed into the Indian Ocean on Tuesday as it tried to land during strong winds on the island nation of Comoros. There was no word on other survivors.
MORONI, Comoros (AP) ? A Yemeni aviation official says a young boy who was plucked alive from the Indian Ocean after a passenger jet crashed was found floating 10 miles (15 kilometers) out to sea.
At least three bodies were recovered, authorities said.
clipped by:Spiritualmonkey clippers remarks: Today, after years spent getting to know Kahanes followers, I am sure that they will remain loyal to their rabbis ideology and will fight against a two-state solution, as they have in the past with other Israeli governments. But this time they will be fighting from within the seat of power.
Ilan Mizrahi is an Israeli photojournalist who has spent 16 years photographing and filming right wing Israeli settlers in the West Bank city of Hebron.
His film, Israel: Rise of the Right, looks at the followers of Rabbi Meir Kahane, an American-born rabbi and politician who proposed the mass expulsion of Arabs from Israel before he was assassinated in 1990.
[Video]
Nine months ago, I was asked to make a documentary about the extreme right in Israel. That was before the war in Gaza and the Israeli elections, but it was already apparent to most that the right wing bloc led by Binyamin Netanyahu would form the next government.
As tensions between the two communities escalated, the city became the centre for an extreme right wing movement led by Rabbi Meir Kahane, an American-born rabbi who was elected to the Israeli parliament in 1984 and advocated the removal of all Arabs from Israel and the West Bank.
Obamas attempt at secrecy, continued torture and repression of speech must be stopped.
It is more than coincidence that an HBO film on free speech, Shouting Fire, dealing with the Bush attempt to stop free speech is on tonight.
Obamas campaign promise was for a transparent government, yet this past Friday, after 3pm, hoping to avoid the weekend news cycle, his administration announced major events he hoped the public would not see.
Denying the public information, rejecting the publics free speech "right to know" has become a pattern of this administration. Obama has become radical in his commitment to secrecy, not totally unlike the Bush administration.
Obamas Attorney General again delayed release of a 2004 CIA report which paved the way for detainee waterboarding, sleep deprivation and physical abuse. An extraordinary article by Luke Mitchell in this months Harpers Magazine shows we are continuing that torture.
the room was built in 1594 and was used to teach anatomy by way of human dissections. these would take place on the table in the centre of the room as students looked on from the many circular balconies which were arranged steeply to avoid the kind of headblock annoyance regularly experienced by cinema-goers. its a uniquely beautiful and faintly creepy room.
In reality, your brain operates on the edge of chaos. Though much of the time it runs in an orderly and stable way, every now and again it suddenly and unpredictably lurches into a blizzard of noise.
You know how us Christian types are always trying to shut down science. (Insert evil laugh here) So why is it that were the ones always embracing new technology and scientific breakthroughs when it comes to babies in the womb. And why is it that pro-choice liberal types continually scream, "Move along. Nothing to see here. Its just a blob of tissue! Dont believe your eyes!"
Brazilian student Jorge Lopes has pioneered the conversion of data from ultrasound and MRI scans into life-size plaster models of living embryos using a method called rapid prototyping.
Global Gaming Factory X buys file-sharing site The Pirate Bay, promising that copyright holders will get paid
The Swedish software firm, Global Gaming Factory X, has bought the file-sharing site The Pirate Bay for almost £4.7m.
GCF CEO Hans Pandeya said that to continue, The Pirate Bay would have to develop a new business model. "We would like to introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid."
Global Gaming Factory also acquired Peerialism, a "next-generation file-sharing" company which started with research at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology and SICS, Swedish Institute of Computer Science.
Beautiful pictures taken from the International Space Station (34 pics)
I always find pictures taken from space magic and beautiful. It makes us look small and at the same time it lets us contemplate all the beauty of the Earth.
Name of Czech photographer Vlad Artazov is well known to all photography fans. His works are full of humor, irony and their execution is great. Don?t miss it!
When you don?t punish or condemn yourself, when you relax more and appreciate your body and mind, you begin to contact the fundamental notion of basic goodness in yourself. So it is extremely important to be willing to open yourself to yourself. Developing tenderness toward yourself allows you to see both your problems and your potential accurately. You don?t feel that you have to ignore your problems or exaggerate your potential. That kind of gentleness toward yourself and appreciation of yourself is very necessary. It provides the ground for helping yourself and others.
clipped by:Spiritualmonkey clippers remarks: Many progressives claim that quite apart from arguments over costs there is a moral argument for providing universal police protection. "Police protection should be a right of all citizens, not a commodity that is bought and sold," insists Hugh Topian, of the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Stuff in Washington, D.C. Topian points out that Americas system of tax breaks for companies that buy health insurance for their employees is heavily skewed toward the rich and powerful. A corporate executive with a "gold-plated" personal security plan might be given 24-hour police protection by a dozen mercenaries, while workers whose employers do not provide crime insurance are frequently mugged or killed while for-profit police officers are standing nearby.
Now that the president and the Democrats in Congress have set a fall deadline for legislative action on universal police protection for all Americans, battle lines are being drawn on Capitol Hill. On the right are conservative defenders of Americas system of for-profit, private mercenaries. The Democrats are divided among progressives who favor universal, publicly funded police who would protect all citizens against crime, and moderate and conservative Democrats who argue that any citizen security reform should leave Americas existing system of soldiers for hire in place.
"Do we want long wait times when we call for the police, like people in countries with socialized police forces?" Sen. Russell Flack, R-Ga., asked during a floor debate yesterday. "Under our system, we can choose our own police officers, as long as we pay for protection out of our own pockets. Do we want some government bureaucrat choosing the police for us?"
AMY GOODMAN: The US contract with Ecuador over one of the largest US military bases in Latin America, Manta, expires later this year. You will not renew it. Why?
PRESIDENT RAFAEL CORREA: [translated] Why renew it? Now, if you?d like, I would renew it with one condition: that they allow me to set up an Ecuadorian military base here in New York. If there?s no problem with foreign bases, then let?s reach an agreement on that. I think that everybody listening is going to find that impossible. And for us Ecuadorians, it also seems impossible, based on our outlook informed by sovereignty, at least with the current government, to have a foreign military base on our soil.
Pina Bausch, German choreographer and dancer, dies
clipped by:Mohir clippers remarks: According to a statement on Tanztheater Wuppertals official website, Bausch took her last bow on the Wuppertal stage the Sunday before last.
Leading light of modern dance Pina Bausch has died at 68, five days after being diagnosed with cancer
The German choreographer and dancer Pina Bausch died this morning at the age of 68, five days after being diagnosed with cancer.
Bausch was the artistic director of the Tanztheater Wuppertal, which she founded in 1973. She had a formidable international reputation as one of modern dances greatest innovators. Her dance-theatre works include the melancholic Café Müller (1978), in which dancers stumble around the stage crashing into tables and chairs, and a thrilling Rite of Spring (1975), which required the stage to be completely covered with soil. Nelken (2005) was performed on a floor covered in flowers, while Palermo Palermo (1989) featured a line of dancers with apples balanced on their heads. Another of her works, Kontakthof (1978), was performed by an ensemble aged between 58 and 77.
clipped by:daisey74 clippers remarks: he will be missed. i hope the world will be kind to his memory, and choose to remember the good, not the accusations that were never proved, and the weirdness of his last years. i never once believed that it was in him to harm children, for he was a child himself inside.
Michael Jackson will be remembered, most likely, as a shattered icon, a pop genius who wound up a mutant of fame. That?s not who I will remember, however. His mixture of mystery, isolation, indulgence, overwhelming global fame, and personal loneliness was intimately known to me. For twenty years I observed every aspect, and as easy as it was to love Michael ? and to want to protect him ? his sudden death yesterday seemed almost fated.
Michael?s reluctance to grow up was another part of the paradox. My children adored him, and in return he responded in a childlike way. He declared often, as former child stars do, that he was robbed of his childhood. Considering the monstrously exaggerated value our society places on celebrity, which was showered on Michael without stint, the public was callous to his very real personal pain. It became another tawdry piece of the tabloid Jacko, pictured as a weird changeling and as something far more sinister.
BAKER CITY, Ore. ? Bill Fulton doesnt remember losing his wallet, but getting it back more than 60 years later helped him remember the past.
The leather stayed smooth and the zipper moved as easily as it did in 1946, when he apparently dropped the wallet behind the balcony bleachers in the Baker Middle School gym while cheering for the Baker High basketball team.
Fultons Social Security card and a bicycle license for his job as a drugstore delivery boy were positioned in their respective compartments, apparently untouched since the year after World War II ended.
"After that long, my gosh, it stayed in good shape," Fulton, 78, told the Baker City Herald. "Its hard to believe."
La comunicación es un proceso social fundamental y la base de toda organización social. Es más que la mera transmisión de mensajes. La comunicación es una interacción humana entre individuos y grupos a través de la cual se forman identidades y definiciones. Un proceso de apropiación colectiva de sentidos y significaciones, de construcción colectiva de todos los actores que forman parte de la organización y de sus acciones, programas y prácticas. En esta línea "intercambiar sentidos, generar nuevos, informar, comunicar es parte sustancial de la acción política que anima a la sociedad" y también parte indelegable de la acción comunicacional dentro de las organizaciones.
clipped by:AScomputer clippers remarks: A collection of of the most craziest and stupidest accidents found on the INTERNET. Some of these accidents seems to defy gravity and logic!
In a highly anticipated report, released Tuesday morning, a panel assembled by the Institute of Medicine released a list of 100 health topics that it said should get high priority as the Obama administration spends $1.1 billion in comparing the effectiveness of competing drugs, medical devices, surgeries and other treatments for specific medical conditions.
The panel, under the umbrella of the National Academies of Sciences, was convened at the request of Congress. The recommendations are expected to influence how the federal Department of Health and Human Services spends its $400 million share of the comparative effectiveness funds.
Other federal agencies that received federal money to conduct comparative effective reviews are the National Institutes of Health and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Other areas identified as high-priority topics included reviewing various strategies and techniques to reduce certain types of in-hospital infections.
A 5-year-old boy went to visit his grandmother one day.. Playing with his toys in her bedroom while grandma was dusting, he looked up and said, Grandma, how come you dont have a boyfriend now that Grandpa went to heaven??
Grandma replied, Honey, my TV is my boyfriend. I can sit in my bedroom and watch it all day long. The religious programs make me feel good and the comedies make me laugh. Im happy with my TV as my boyfriend.
Grandma turned on the TV, and the reception was terrible. She started adjusting the knobs, trying to get the picture in focus. Frustrated, she started hitting the backside of the TV hoping to fix the problem.
The little boy heard the doorbell ring, so he hurried to open the door and there stood Grandmas minister. The minister said, Hello son, is your Grandma home??
The little boy replied, Yeah, shes in the bedroom bangin her boyfriend.
Scientists drilling a borehole deep into Iceland?s rocky crust to explore new methods of using geothermal energy hit a major roadblock on Thursday: Their drill ran into molten rock at a depth of 6,900 feet.
A research project in Hawaii hit magma in 2005, and in 1977 magma erupted out the top of a producing geothermal well not far from our site in Krafla, Iceland
The team had originally planned to drill to 11,500 feet, or almost 2.2 miles into the earth.
drilling fluid came in contact with magma, creating an explosion. Glass shards removed from the hole provided evidence for this
Based on geophysical mapping of the area, Schiffman said, the team suspects that it has encountered a small offshoot of a larger magma body that lies more than two miles below the surface. ?Whether we can keep drilling or not will depend on the thickness of this magma finger, and whether it?s horizontally or vertically oriented
But it turns out they ARE causing damage. Real, physical, neglect-induced harm. I?m talking about the golden dome. A dome built in 1894 with gold added in 1908. A tall beaming source of pride for all Coloradans. A unique, functional symbol of Colorado history that has made it through 115 years, but may not make it through the Ritter administration.
the only decent suggestion to stop the leaks has been the idea of taking the state?s newly hired $80,000 a year ?Minority Outreach Coordinator,? and putting her on the roof with a bunch of highly absorbent paper towels.
I think we can all agree it?s a better use of taxpayer time and money than having her spend all day making sure minorities get special treatment.
Following my series of posts about photography, this time I have listed some really nice bokeh photos. I really love the bokeh effect that is nothing more than light out-of-focus. Of course the technique might be simple but to take a beautiful photo you need to know much more than just the technique.
Amanda Macedo
Jarrod C
thedigitalfly ( un guignol à Paris )
Hannah Hylen
.emilykim.
robot rock
MA-?
charlie chocolate
mouseteeff
Bridge ?
Marc??
Honeycorn
Marc??
Calliope Rose
Zoe ??(???????? ??)?? Cusker
Daniel Beaman Photo
Lindylu
kvdl
alejandrohdezruiz
wick.tyler
Jonathan Caliso Photography
neatmummy
> sëbastián <
Ncmedia1
ting hay
Bokeh (derived from Japanese, a noun boke ??, meaning "blur" or "haze") is a photographic term referring to the appearance of point of light sources in an out-of-focus area of an image produced by a camera lens using a shallow depth of field
Now, the transplant from New Yorks Long Island is in Los Angeles catering to recession-weary residents who find savings and solace in planting their own gardens. Williams business -- Hayground Organic Gardening and Garden Design -- grows the seedlings, teaches clients how to nurture them and even maintains the gardens if the customer wishes.
Now, with the recession in full bloom, Williams finds his business thriving.
It took in more than $175,000 last year. This year, Williams said, is even busier. At the downtown Santa Monica Farmers Market recently, one buyer wrote out a check for 26 blueberry bushes, at $110 each.
As Seen On Earth: The Infinite Photograph - Amazing
clipped by:einbar clippers remarks: "There?s no question National Geographic is a photographic force to be reckoned with. And now they?re on a mission to inspire people to care about the planet through a gigantic collaborative photo-mosaic of the Earth.
There?s no question National Geographic is a photographic force to be reckoned with. And now they?re on a mission to inspire people to care about the planet through a gigantic collaborative photo-mosaic of the Earth.
Earth.
Infinite Photograph is a global project building a portrait of Earth seen through the eyes of ordinary people, a promotional effort for NG?s MyShot initiative
Currently, the mosaic is composed of over 300,000 photos of the natural world, pulled from archived images by MyShot users. But the project is also an ongoing invitation for new submissions ? the more images are indexed, the richer the the color sampling will be and the closer to infinity the mosaic can get.
The team at National Geographicenvisions various future extensions of the project as the image catalog grows, breaking it down into mosaic representations of sub-categories like water, trees, and animals.
When thinking about buying or raising rabbits, its really important to learn how to take care of rabbits. Theyre not your typical house pet, although they can be very loving and affectionate. Lets look at some general things to keep in mind when learning how to take care of rabbits.
Taking care of a rabbit isnt difficult and you can easily learn how to keep it happy and healthy. There are lots of books out there written specifically by experts that will teach you everything you need to know about proper bunny care. The one Ive found to be a fantastic source of information, and easy to follow is called The Essential Guide For Rabbit Owners and I recommend it to any one that is new to owning bunnies or just wants to learn more.
The Organization of American States (OAS) has often been criticized as being an all-show-no-go type of body, talking a good talk but not having the teeth to get anything done.
That might just change tomorrow. Following on from the strongly-worded statement from the OAS yesteday (the fact the declaration included the words "coup detat" in the first line is very significant), tomorrow Tuesday sees an emergency meeting of all 34 members of the OAS. If, as many now expect (perhaps hope is wiser) the OAS hands down a "reinstall Zelaya or Honduras gets kicked out" message to the usurpers currently pretending to run the shop it may mark the moment when the organization gets itself some cojones at long last. From there, it will be fun to watch just how much leverage the OAS gets with bigger players such as the UN. Honduras loses its seat there and its all over for the milicos.
Cell phone technology and styling continue to progress by leaps and bounds bu that still leaves a lot of wiggle room for creative engineers eager to answer the call for ever odder phones. Here are 15 of the hottest cellphone concepts around. Your future?s calling!
The Hot Line
Concept cellphones aren?t always feature-packed and futuristic - sometimes they?re just the opposite. Maybe UK-based designer Vladimir Rachev misunderstood when someone requested he create a cellphone tough as iron. Maybe he wasn?t listening; lost inside his own bizarre, twisted world. In any case, the Iron Phone addresses the worst fears of harried housewives speed-ironing while waiting for that all-important phone call. Happy now, Vlad?
Collect Call From Armadillo
Let?s Do The Twist
Twist any dial to turn the phone on; twist the number dials one at a time to make a call
Black Box Fades To Black
The Loose Leaf Phone
Not Coming Zune?
Microsoft canceled the promising Zune 3 concept phone?
(Newser) ? The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled unanimously in favor of Democrat Al Franken in the Senate election battle there, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. The court decided that Republican Norm Coleman?s challenge of a lower court?s ruling did not merit reconsideration, the Pioneer Press adds. Though Coleman may bring the dispute to a federal court?or even the Supreme Court?that is not necessarily a barrier to Franken being seated.
Israel has approved the construction of 50 new homes in a West Bank settlement and announced plans to expropriate more Palestinian land.
Israel has approved 50 new settlement units in the West Bank and plans to build 1,400 more [AFP]
The move comes just hours before Israels defence minister, Ehud Barak, visits the US in a bid to defuse tensions over Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land.
The land grab and new permits come despite a demand from Barack Obama, the US president, for a complete freeze to all Israeli settlement activity, and could exacerbate a rare public spat between the allies.
A man in Guatemala, Jean Anleu, has become one of the first people in the world to be arrested for using Twitter.
Mr Anleu was so tired with corruption in his country that he decided to vent his feeling with a 96-character message on the social-networking site.
The message, or tweet, has now earned him a potential five-year prison sentence.
Writing under his internet alias "jeanfer," Mr Anleu urged depositors to pull their money from Guatemalas rural development bank, whose management has been challenged in a political scandal: "First concrete action should be take cash out of Banrural and bankrupt the bank of the corrupt."
These words illegally undermined public trust in Guatemalas banking system, according to prosecutor Genaro Pacheco.
Authorities proved Mr Anleu sent the message by searching his Guatemala City home, and then put him in prison with kidnappers, extortionists and other dangerous criminals for a day and a half before letting him out on bail.
I got out of bed on two strong legs. It might have been otherwise. I ate cereal, sweet milk, ripe, flawless peach. It might have been otherwise. I took the dog uphill to the birch wood. All morning I did the work I love.
At noon I lay down with my mate. It might have been otherwise. We ate dinner together at a table with silver candlesticks. It might have been otherwise. I slept in a bed in a room with paintings on the walls, and planned another day just like this day. But one day, I know, it will be otherwise.
The crisis in Honduras, where members of the country?s military abruptly awakened President Manuel Zelaya on Sunday and forced him out of the country in his bedclothes, is pitting Mr. Obama against the ghosts of past American foreign policy in Latin America.
The United States has a history of backing rival political factions and instigating coups in the region
The United States has long had strong ties to the Honduras military and helps train Honduran military forces. Those close ties have put the Obama administration in a difficult position, opening it up to accusations that it may have turned a blind eye to the pending coup. Administration officials strongly deny the charges, and Mr. Obama?s quick response to the Honduran president?s removal has differed sharply from the actions of the Bush administration, which in 2002 offered a rapid, tacit endorsement of a short-lived coup against Mr. Chávez.
while the United States thought the referendum was a bad idea, it did not justify a coup.
DETROIT (AP) | Just months after spending of hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees to oust former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, the beleaguered city of Detroit was spared another round Monday when City Council member Monica Conyers resigned her seat without a fight.
Conyers, 44, the wife of powerful and respected Democratic Rep. John Conyers Jr., quietly had a staffer bring the City Clerks office a one-paragraph letter announcing her resignation three days after she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery for her vote on a sludge-hauling contract. Monica Conyers did not respond to repeated requests for comment Monday.
Prosecutors said that Mr. Conyers knew nothing about his wifes wrongdoing and that he has been cleared of involvement in the bribery case.
Kilpatrick was confronted with stepping aside or being forced out as mayor over a text-messaging sex scandal. Conyers watched as Kilpatrick lost a monthslong fight to hang on to his position and eventually went to jail.
One of the unknown little snowflakes of the Christian Conservative movement twitters: The current trending topics make me sad for America.. Her twitter friend, a genius that goes by Sum_Dum_Guy (and in the process gives all homeschoolers a bad name) agrees that BET and/or black music related topics trending on Twitter somehow are the thing of massive doses of anti-depressants.
Its why they are both featured in OMG! BLACK PEOPLE!, a Tumblr page dedicated to collecting all the "OMG! theres black people on twitter" comments that seem to have arisen out of the intense twittering of people watching the BET Awards. And let me stress the "raceless" use of the word people, because obviously it wasnt just black folks watching and ranting last night.
I mean, really ... #BET09 and black related topics trending are reasons to get their panties in a bunch or be sad about the state of the United States? more this way»
(AP) OMAHA, Neb. - The U.S. Olympic swimming trials will return to Omaha in 2012, with a temporary pool again being set up inside the Qwest Center.
USA Swimming made the announcement on Thursday. The trials to choose the U.S. team for the London Games will be held June 25-July 2.
The 2008 trials were held at the Qwest Center for the first time, averaging more than 12,000 fans each night over eight days. Nine world records were set in the temporary 50-meter competition pool.
A warmup pool will also be installed inside the 17,000-seat Qwest Center in downtown Omaha. The adjacent convention center will again host a 100,000-square-foot sponsor and fan experience area.
Former Senator Norm Coleman has lost his appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court, paving the way for Democrat Al Franken to join the Senate and give his party a filibuster-proof majority ? though Colemans could still appeal the decision in U.S. federal court.
We affirm the decision of the trial court that Al Franken received the highest number of votes legally cast"
Franken is "entitled" under Minnesota law to receive the certificate of election as senator
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, has indicated that he would sign an election certificate if state courts instructed him to do so. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will most likely seat Franken as soon as the certificate is delivered to the Senate. That could happen next week
clipped by:Mohir clippers remarks: The machine is controlled by algorithms designed to mimic different parts of the human visual system. Rather than capturing and mapping its surroundings over and over in order to plan its route--the way most robots do--the European machine uses a simulated neural network to update its position relative to the environment, continually adjusting to each new input. This mimics human visual processing and movement planning.
A new robot navigates using humanlike visual processing and object detection.
European researchers have developed a robot capable of moving autonomously using humanlike visual processing. The robot is helping the researchers explore how the brain responds to its environment while the body is in motion. What they discover could lead to machines that are better able to navigate through cluttered environments.
The robot consists of a wheeled platform with a robotic "head" that uses two cameras to capture stereoscopic vision. The robot can turn its head and shift its gaze up and down or sideways to gauge its surroundings, and can quickly measure its own speed relative to its environment.
I am a self -taught artist and I build furniture out of salvage.
The first picture is of two chairs that were all wonky and shaky. I cut them apart and used them for the ends of a bench. The back of the bench is made from parts of a decrapitated head board. This whole project (except for the 2X4 frame underneath) is from curbside salvage.
No criminal charges have ever been brought against any C.I.A. officer involved in the torture program, despite the fact that at least three prisoners interrogated by agency personnel died as the result of mistreatment.
In the second case, an Iraqi prisoner named Manadel al-Jamadi died on November 4, 2003, while being interrogated by the C.I.A. at Abu Ghraib prison, outside Baghdad. A forensic examiner found that he had essentially been crucified; he died from asphyxiation after having been hung by his arms, in a hood, and suffering broken ribs.
At least 100 people tortured TO DEATH by American forces
clipped by:Spiritualmonkey clippers remarks: Since WWII enemies on the battlefield have surrendered to American troops because they believed they would be treated humanely and not abused by the Americans in uniform. This was true as recently as Iraq 1.0. We used to be the good guys. Now? Were a nation of laws. We cant just sweep dozens of murders due to White House-approve torture and have any sort of moral legitimacy internationally beyond that of an armed thug. I think this country is better than that.
So often, the premise of media discussions of torture is that "torture" is something that was confined to a single tactic (waterboarding) and used only on three "high-value" detainees accused of being high-level Al Qaeda operatives. The reality is completely different.
The interrogation and detention regime implemented by the U.S. resulted in the deaths of over 100 detainees in U.S. custody -- at least. While some of those deaths were the result of "rogue" interrogators and agents, many were caused by the methods authorized at the highest levels of the Bush White House, including extreme stress positions, hypothermia, sleep deprivation and others.
We should never, as a policy, maltreat people under our control, detainees. We tortured people unmercifully. We probably murdered dozens of them during the course of that, both the armed forces and the C.I.A.
clipped by:abailart clippers remarks: Based upon overall analysis and prognosis initiated two years ago, I would suggest that this is not only an issue facing the British economy.
The worlds central bankers have warned that the British economy faces relapsing into another recession ? the much-feared "double dip" downturn.
continuing drought in bank lending, evidenced in the latest figures from the Bank of England
spiralling public borrowing
OECD), which comprises the 30 most advanced economies in the world, added to the gloom, saying that Britain remained "deep" in recession
warnings are at odds with recent market optimism and so-called green shoots suggesting that output in the economy may be recovering. But the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which includes the Bank of England, the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, said it feared that the problems of the worlds banks are far from fixed and could easily trigger a so-called "double dip" or "W-shaped" downturn. "A major cause for concern is the limited progress in addressing the underlying problems in the financial sector,"
Horror Story Toilet Paper
Origami Toilet Paper
Sudoku Toilet Paper
Camouflage Toilet Paper
Osama Toilet Paper
Musical Toilet Paper
Valentines Toilet Paper
Colored Toilet Paper
Obama Toilet Paper
Infinite Photograph is a global project building a portrait of Earth seen through the eyes of ordinary people, a promotional effort for NG?s MyShot initiative
