Last posts on news

Scientists Create Beer That Could Extend Life

2008-11-18T03:17:41+01:00

Beer drinkers might actually have something to celebrate about. Scientists at Rice University have created a beer that could extend your life.They have named the beverage BioBeer, and the way it works is that it has three genes spliced into a specific brewer’s yeast that produces resveratrol, which is a chemical in red wine thought to protect against diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's and other age-related conditions. But don’t expect to toast to this special beer just yet. The team still needs to remove certain genetic markers in the yeast cells, which will also need FDA approval. By filtering the beer they would be removing the medical benefits as well.As far as the drug resveratrol goes, which is currently seeking FDA approval to treat diabetes, the team claims that a glass of BioBeer would have less of the drug than an average glass of wine.More...

It’s a distorted cruel world that we live in

2008-11-16T19:35:03+01:00

Two weeks ago a terminally ill girl won the right to refuse treatment after a hospital ended its bid to force her to have a heart transplant. Hannah has a hole in her heart and copes with various symptoms from previous childhood illnesses.

Hannah is aged 13 and had decided she wanted to die with dignity and fought for her right to do so, tooth and nail.

Hereford County Hospital child protection team contacted authorities and threatened to remove Hannah from her parents care if they failed to bring her to the hospital for the live saving operation.

Her parents were swamped by the might of the social services and hospital protection team, but the parents stood by their daughter’s decision and the case has been dropped. Hannah is now at home and preparing to die in her own time.

Meanwhile in the rather down market poor area of Haringey London, the social services, the child protection team and a paediatrician failed to recognise the systematic abuse of a 17 month old boy who was found dead in a blood splattered cot last year.

The wee boy named Baby P attended the hospital where a prominent paediatrician failed to notice his broken back and several broken ribs; he was allowed home to die at the hands of his mother and her abusive boyfriend. The doctor said the baby was ‘miserable and cranky’ two days before he died. I suspect his broken spine, ripped ear and numerous injuries might have made him rather upset.

Baby P had been the subject of many social services enquiries and was on the child protection register, and despite that, the social work team were at pains to keep the family together.

Haringey social services seem to have learnt no lessons from the Victoria Climbie case in 2000 when Victoria managed to slip through the social care net and died at the hands of her carers.

The court case surrounding Baby P has led Lord Laming to start an investigation into the issues surrounding his horrific death.

He said “It would be awful wherever it happened, but it seems particularly sad that is has happened in the same area where Victoria Climbie experienced this same awful cruelty and a terrible death and involved the very same services”

Social services do a sterling job when they get it right. Yet there are too many social protection workers who are determined to ‘keep families together’ and in the process manage to let real evil bastards slip through the net. Adults who are determined to torture kids will manage to dupe the authorities into believing everything is fine with their kid. Like the mother of Baby P, she smeared chocolate over his bruised face, yet the care worker couldn’t tell the difference between the dirt and the cuts. That’s appalling and worrisome.

I am sure Baby P would have said different if only he could have had a voice, he wasn’t allowed to speak, he couldn’t speak, he was battered and cowed like a small tortured animal.

The social services in Haringey need to account for what went wrong, yet again another ‘investigation’ will occur to please the government and the do-gooders will bleat their excuses. Someone somewhere let that wee boy down and that needs to be addressed.

Things won’t change unless you go live in Hereford, where it seems the social services are determined to get involved in the care and protection of your child.

Why the beer belly may be a myth

2008-11-07T01:44:00+01:00

Researchers in Britain and the Czech Republic surveyed almost 2,000 Czechs, who are generally regarded as the world's biggest beer drinkers.They found no link between the amount of beer they drink and the size of their stomachs. Writing in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, they said claims people are obese because they drink too much beer are wrong. The Czechs traditionally top world league tables on beer drinking, consuming more beer per person than people in any other country. Doctors measured their weight and their waist to hip ratio and body mass index, both used to measure obesity.The scientists found no link between beer consumption and obesity.They said the findings suggested there is no truth in the claim that drinking too much beer makes people obese. more...

The President of the United States of America

2008-11-05T06:21:00+01:00

"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America -- I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you -- we as a people will get there," Obama said in Chicago, Illinois.more...

Timeline of U.S. Presidential Elections

2008-11-04T18:47:22+01:00

This simple timeline is a presentation of popular and electoral voting data from all U.S. Presidential elections. The source of this data is a series of Wikipedia articles grouped under the name.See the complete timeline here...

Internet might change the way our brains work

2008-11-03T05:35:31+01:00

A neuroscientist has argued that the internet is affecting our brains - and the most tech-savvy people will benefit the most from this evolutionary change and end up sitting atop a new social order.Gary Small, a neuroscientist at UCLA in California who specializes in brain function, has found through studies that internet searching and text messaging has made brains more adept at filtering information and making snap decisions.But while technology can accelerate learning and boost creativity, it can have drawbacks as it can create Internet addicts whose only friends are virtual and has sparked a dramatic rise in Attention Deficit Disorder diagnoses.Small, however, argued that the people who will come out on top in the next generation will be those with a mixture of technological and social skills. Small said this multi-tasking could cause problems.He said the tech-savvy generation, whom he calls "digital natives," are always scanning for the next bit of new information which can create stress and even damage neural networks."There is also the big problem of neglecting human contact skills and losing the ability to read emotional expressions and body language," he said.more...

Man gets reimbursed for money eaten by mice

2008-11-03T05:31:54+01:00

When a customer of First Missouri State Bank recovered a zip-top bag of cash he'd misplaced during the ice storm last winter and the flooding in March, he got an unpleasant surprise. The vinyl bag had been left in a wooden desk, unzipped, and he told Michelle Johns, manager of the Jackson branch, that it had been damaged by rodents. He brought in the bag in August to see if anything could be done. When she and employees Cristal McCoy, Wendy Aufdenberg and Jamie Koch dumped out the contents of the bag on the bank's long counter, most of the bills were mutilated beyond recognition and littered with bird feathers and rodent feces.Federal policy dictates that both serial numbers, in the top right corner and the bottom left, are needed to get credit for the entire amount of the bill, so the employees set about the task of piecing together the shredded cash.The four women pieced together as many serial numbers as they could and came up with $1,000 — the amount the customer believed he'd had in the bag. The federal mint requested all of the contents of the bag the money had been in, so everything — the torn money, feces and feathers — were shipped to the mint, where it can be examined, Johns said.The mint will then issue the customer a check for the exact amount the torn money is worth. Occasionally a bank customer will come in with half a bill they found or accidentally ripped to see if it can be redeemed, Johns said, but she's never seen anything like the bag of mouse-eaten money.

'The accidental mayor'

2008-11-01T03:08:27+01:00

Not many people can say they became a mayor by accident. But British expat Mark Lewis - who speaks only broken Spanish - has ended up in charge of a town hall on the Costa Blanca after a wave of corruption arrests. The 58-year-old has taken the helm in San Fulgencio after the mayor, deputy mayor and four senior councillors were questioned by police. Until last week, Mr Lewis held the rather more modest title of Councillor for Animals, with responsibility for any matters pertaining to cats, dogs and other creatures in the town.But yesterday he was nicknamed 'The Accidental Mayor' by Spanish media after the town's council descended into chaos. Mr Lewis, who moved to Spain 25 years ago, and fellow expat Mick Blake are the only two councillors from the ruling coalition who have not been arrested.Mr Blake, 60, a retired civil servant from Cambridge, also speaks only basic Spanish. more...

The man who reads dictionaries

2008-10-28T05:13:01+01:00

Mr Shea, a 37-year-old former furniture remover in New York, has spent 12 months conquering what he describes as the Everest of dictionaries, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), by ploughing through 20 volumes weighing a total of 137lbs (62.14kg), 21,730 pages and 59 million words.In the process, he became the Morgan Spurlock of lexicologists, devouring words for eight to 10 hours a day, which caused him severe headaches, deteriorating eyesight and injuries to his back and neck. "I'm not against big words per se or fancy or obscure words, obviously I love them, but I'm opposed to using them for their own sake," he says."If words are to form a communication, you use them as a tool to communicate to people and it's pointless to intentionally use a word that no-one else knows." more...

Farts Controls Blood Pressure

2008-10-25T02:52:30+02:00

A smelly rotten-egg gas in farts controls blood pressure in mice, a new study finds. The unpleasant aroma of the gas, called hydrogen sulfide (H2S), can be a little too familiar, as it is expelled by bacteria living in the human colon and eventually makes its way, well, out.The new research found that cells lining mice’s blood vessels naturally make the gas and this action can help keep the rodents’ blood pressure low by relaxing the blood vessels to prevent hypertension (high blood pressure). This gas is “no doubt” produced in cells lining human blood vessels too, the researchers said. “Now that we know hydrogen sulfide’s role in regulating blood pressure, it may be possible to design drug therapies that enhance its formation as an alternative to the current methods of treatment for hypertension,” said Johns Hopkins neuroscientist Solomon H. Snyder, M.D., a co-author of the study detailed in the Oct. 24th issue of the journal Science. more...

New Father Names Baby After Republican Ticket

2008-10-16T02:49:00+02:00

What’s in a name? Politics, if you ask proud new father Mark Ciptak of Elizabethton, Tenn. Some people distribute bumper stickers, some post campaign signs and others donate cash to support their favorite candidates.Ciptak had another idea – sparked by the birth Friday of his baby girl. So he chose to endorse his favorite candidates for president and vice president by naming his daughter after the Republican ticket.“I decided to actually name her Sarah McCain Palin,” he said. “I’m totally McCain all the way.” A blood bank employee for the American Red Cross, Ciptak said he chose the name to show his support and to encourage others to vote. But Sarah McCain Palin is not the name Ciptak and his wife, Layla, originally agreed upon.“I sort of secretively went behind her back and changed the paperwork,” Ciptak said. Ava Grace was the name originally chosen by the couple. “I was actually gonna name the baby John McCain, even as the girl, but I thought that was maybe too overboard,” he said. “I decided to actually name her Sarah McCain Palin, figuring hopefully I would get two weeks in the doghouse rather than two months.”In the event the family decides to overrule the father, they’ll have one year to file an affidavit requesting the name change, according to the Tennessee Department of Health’s Office of Vital Records. more...

BUDWEISER & CLAMATO CHELADA

2008-10-14T03:49:00+02:00

It's been done in Mexico for decades, now it's available in the USA! As one of the hottest new products to hit markets in California and Texas cities, followed by tremendous success in Arizona, Colorado and Nebraska, Budweiser & Clamato Chelada and Bud Light & Clamato Chelada will arrive in convenience stores, supermarkets and grocery stores nationwide. Latinos, specifically those of Mexican descent, have been mixing beer with Clamato for decades. Budweiser & Clamato Chelada and Bud Light & Clamato Chelada honor that tradition by combining Anheuser-Busch’s classic American-style lagers with the spicy, invigorating taste of Clamato Tomato Cocktail.“The combination of Clamato with Budweiser and Bud Light provides a refreshing beverage – one that Clamato fans have been mixing themselves for ages,” said Andrew Springate, vice president, marketing, CSAB.The name Chelada is a shortened form of the Spanish word michelada which loosely translates to ‘my cold beer.’ To order Budweiser or Bud Light & Clamato Chelada, one might say: “Una michelada con clamato, por favor.” To shorten that but still keep the beer recognizable as the traditional recipe, Anheuser-Busch focused on the name Chelada. Based in St. Louis, Anheuser Busch is the leading American brewer, holding a 48.4 percent share of U.S. beer sales. The company brews the world’s largest-selling beers, Budweiser and Bud Light. Anheuser Busch also owns a 50 percent share in Grupo Modelo, Mexico’s leading brewer, and a 27 percent share in China brewer Tsingtao, whose namesake beer brand is the country’s best-selling premium beer.more...

Crossing the 112 mile-wide Taiwan Straits in a paper boat.

2008-10-14T03:44:09+02:00

Zhu Yalin, a chemistry teacher in Meishan, Sichuan province, has arrived in Xiamen to build his boat."Not only is the whole boat made of paper, but the glue is an organic material - cooked flour soup," he told the Straits Guidance Daily.Zhu says his boat will be nearly 6ft long, the bottom will be 2ins thick and it will be strong enough to carry two people. He plans a short test voyage in salt water before attempting his journey across the Taiwan Straits."According to my observations and experience, the conditions in the Taiwan straits are much better than the Mingjiang River. I am really looking forward to it," he said. Zhu will set sail in his paper boat on October 31, escorted by a lifeboat and a pilot boat.

Rockin' the boat

2008-10-14T03:38:48+02:00

How a musician strummed through Sydney Harbour in his floating guitar!Singer-songwriter Josh Pyke might have considered playing an upbeat version of Handel's Water Music as he sailed across Sydney Harbour - but he was too busy keeping his floating guitar under control. Tourists stared in amazement as Josh steered the large guitar, complete with outboard motor, around the harbour, creating one of the strangest sights since the arrival of the First Fleet from England back in 1788.Josh's voyage on board the SS Maton - named after Australian guitar manufacturer Maton, who designed the curious vessel - was caught on film for the video that will be coming out with his new single Make You Happy.It is a giant-sized replica of the acoustic instrument Josh uses in the video. Dressed in ancient mariner's clothes, Josh, a maritime history fan, did not even get his feet wet as he cruised among the yachts and the ferries crossing the harbour.Once filming has been finished Josh plans to auction the boat for charity.

Confusing Traffic Signs

2008-10-09T05:14:00+02:00

Official Meaning of Sign: The right three lanes are open during rush hour, the right line is only open from 3:30 pm to 9:30 pm except for that period between 6:30 in the morning and 9:30 at night. The right two lanes are open from 9:30 pm to 6:30 am. Unofficial Meaning of Sign: City planners in the District of Columbia either do not understand the difference between am and pm or it's up to drivers to guess which lanes are open when.Some more...

Could you pass the new citizenship test?

2008-10-09T05:09:00+02:00

Are new conceptual questions such as, "What does the Constitution do?" more difficult than old queries like "What is the Constitution?"Is a question with a range of acceptable answers, such as the new "What is one reason colonists came to America?" preferable to the old "Why did the Pilgrims come to America?"Many preferred the new test, which the government says includes more meaningful questions, such as those that involve a concept of, or critical thinking about, civics or history.The new civics list, a pool of 100 possible questions for a test of up to 10, omits the old "How many stars are there on our flag?" and "Name the amendments that guarantee or address voting rights." Taking their place are questions like: "There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them," and "What is one responsibility that is only for United States citizens?"more...

Cat has earned Japanese city millions

2008-10-07T02:41:38+02:00

As the economic might of Japan faces up to the global banking crisis, a single cat has boosted the finances of a small Japanese city by millions of dollars, according to a study.It is rather Tama's irresistible charm which has brought tourists flocking in their thousands to the western city of Kinokawa to see the feline worker patrolling in the uniform of her office - a Wakayama Electric Railway cap.With 55,000 more people having used the Kishigawa Line than would normally be expected, Tama's contribution to the local economy is calculated to have reached as much as Y1.1 billion ($A13.5 million) in 2007 alone, according to a study announced last week.Katsuhiro Miyamoto, a professor at Kansai University's School of Accountancy, said picture books and other merchandise featuring the feline stationmaster also produced significant economic effects.A television appearance and other publicity surrounding Tama - who receives cat food in lieu of a salary - was worth Y280 million ($A3.4 million), according to Miyamoto. Tama was born from a stray cat brought to the station by a cleaner and kept by Toshiko Koyama, a local who runs a grocery store next door. The station went unmanned in April 2006 as the line was losing money. But Tama turned this around.She rose to national stardom in January 2007 as the railway company formally appointed her as "stationmaster".

City bylaws torpedo pirate ship tree house

2008-10-06T00:55:52+02:00

he front yard of a house in a tony Vancouver, British Columbia neighborhood is a little less welcoming for pirates now.Architect Andrew Dewberry and a crew of friends spent Saturday dismantling the pirate ship tree house he's had in his Vancouver yard for two years. He said he had no choice after a court ordered it to be removed for not complying with city bylaws.Dewberry had to explain the situation to his sons Jack, 9, and Sam, 7, before the tree house came down. He said, "They've had a lot of joy with the tree fort."Jack, who stood with a friend and watched the dismantling, said, "We wanted to sleep in it over the summer one time, but we didn't get around to it and now we can't."In July, the judge in the case admired the workmanship of the ship, complete with plastic cannons, in a perch 6{ feet up a large, leafy tree in front of the family's home. But the judge said its merits were irrelevant to whether the tree house violated city bylaws.

Russian woman put on trial in Dubai for drinking juice in public

2008-10-01T21:19:58+02:00

A 28-year-old Russian female, who visited Dubai on a tourist visa, and a 30-year-old male citizen of Lebanon, a salesman in a local store, were put on trial for drinking juice in a public place in the daytime during Muslim fasting. The police caught the two people red-handed at a gas station in Dubai, Emirat.ru reports with reference to Gulf News.In accordance with the Federal Penal Code of the United Arab Emirates, a public intake of food and beverages during daytime hours of the month of Ramadan is forbidden by Article 313. The article stipulates the punishment in the form of either a monetary penalty – up to 2,000 dirhems ($555) – or even a term of up to one month in prison.The young people told the court that they were not Muslims and were thus unaware of the fact that their actions could be punishable.The court took the mitigating circumstances into consideration, but found the defendants guilty, since ignorance did not exclude responsibility. The court ruled that the young people must pay the fine of 1,000 dirhems ($278) each. The case became the first one in Dubai in violation of Article 313 since the beginning of the month of Ramadan on September 1.Thousands of foreigners from Europe and Asia reside in the emirate of Dubai, the major tourist center of the Persian Gulf . Dubai is known as a relatively liberal region in comparison with other territories of the UAE. Tourists can be seen in the streets wearing shorts, whereas alcoholic beverages can often be available in bars and hotels.This year, however, the authorities intend to remind all residents and guests of the emirate that they are staying on the territory of a Muslim country. There have been quite a number of incidents recently when the local police in plain clothes arrested women sunbathing topless, nudists and other violators of public order.

Forget driveway carwashes in Wash. State

2008-10-01T21:15:15+02:00

Along with wild salmon and steelhead trout, the Pacific Northwest soon may have another endangered species — the driveway carwash.Washing your car or boat in the driveway or street is a residential ritual as American as backyard barbecues. But the state of Washington is telling its local governments they must prohibit home car washing unless residents divert the wash water away from storm drains, where they say it causes water pollution. Unlike public sanitary sewer systems that clean wastes from water, storm drain systems in most communities empty straight into streams and eventually rivers and oceans."Clearly you cannot dump your bucket of wash water, or as you are hosing down your car, you're not supposed to allow that into a storm drain," says Kim Schmanke, spokeswoman for the department. Washington state environmental officials insist they aren't banning home car washing — just the runoff into storm drains, Moore and Schmanke say. They say residents will still be able to wash cars on lawns or gravel driveways where water will soak in the ground. Residents can wash on pavement if they install barriers to prevent wash water from going into storm sewers.more...

Anti-age perfume

2008-09-26T02:15:00+02:00

Engineered to make you smell younger. No other product available today offers this technology. Research proves that men around women who used the perfume thought they were on an average 8 years younger! The Essence of Youth, this precious youth elixir is a blend of pink grapefruit, mango, anti-oxidant rich pomegranate, jasmine and musk. The formula is based on natural bio chemistry. This psycho-stimulant elixir is available is created with one goal in mind: to make you smell younger!Buy it here...

'YouTube' gunman

2008-09-25T03:12:44+02:00

'YouTube' gunman kills ten students after being set free by police to go on school rampage. * Shooter was questioned by police on Monday, but released * School was on fire and gunman may have had explosives * Gunman dies in hospitalA gunman killed ten students in an exam hall on Tuesday after posting a video on the internet in which he turned to the camera and declared: 'You will die next.'Matti Saari, a 22-year-old pupil at the college, filmed himself making the threats on a firing range and uploaded footage on to the videosharing website YouTube. Police worried about the video questioned him on Monday but took no action because he had the appropriate gun licence. Just 24 hours later, Saari entered the hall in Finland with an automatic weapon and explosive devices which were used to start a fire.He killed ten, burning some of the bodies beyond recognition. Two others were injured. He then turned the gun on himself. more...

Dining with the Dead: Last Meals Delivery Service

2008-09-25T02:50:26+02:00

It's Friday night and you're feelin' a bit peckish. Y'wanna order something but you don't know what. Thai? Pizza? Chinese? Nah, all of those have been done to death. Is a morbid appetite piqued somewhere deep in that reptilian part of your brain at the chance to dine at the same table (in a metaphysical sense, natch) with Ted Bundy or Aileen Wuornos? Well for a paltry $20--the state allotted maximum for an inmate's last meal you can nosh death row and eat a replica of the final meal consumed by a death row prisoner courtesy Last Meals Delivery Service.

Is It Bye-bye to the Aye-aye, the World's Ugliest Creature?

2008-09-19T02:17:04+02:00

Meet the Aye-Aye, the animals many believe to be the ugliest on the planet. Unfortunately for this creature, it is also one of the most endangered.It is one of those animals that always gets on to top ten lists of the world's ugliest creatures and sure enough, this native of Madagascar is unlikely to win any beauty contests. It is incredibly rare and becoming even more so for a number of reasons. It is the sole member of its genus family, Daubentoniidae, although there seems to have been another species as recently as one thousand years ago.Unfortunately, the Aye-Aye is viewed with great superstition by the indigenous inhabitants of Madagascar and is often killed on sight. There are very few breeding programs of the Aye-Aye in the world. Most successful among the few, however, is the Duke Lemur Center in the USA which has twenty two and there are several programs in the United Kingdom. However, there is no real idea how many Aye-Aye's still exist in the wild and it is considered highly endangered as a species, with a pessimistic forecast predicted for its survival in its indigenous surroundings.

Chicken-footed duck scared of water

2008-09-19T02:12:59+02:00

A Chinese farmer is baffled after he bought a duck that has feet like a chicken and is scared of water. Curious villagers in Huangjin village, Xicheng town, are flocking to the home of Fu Haiwen to see the duck.Fu said he bought the duck in June but did not notice its unusual feet for ten days, reports Laibin News.It was only after he noticed it acting differently to the rest of the ducks that he examined it closely and was surprised to see it did not have webbed feet. "It never went with the other ducks to swim in the river," he explained.

Wendy Brown: Cheerleader Mom

2008-09-14T19:36:59+02:00

Green Bay - A 33-year-old woman is charged with stealing her daughter's identity to attend high school and join the cheerleading team. Wendy Brown of Green Bay faces a felony identity theft charge after enrolling in Ashwaubenon High School as her 15-year-old daughter, who lives in Nevada with Brown's mother."The defendant stated she wanted to get her high school degree and be a cheerleader because she had no childhood and was trying to regain a part of her life she missed," according to the complaint.A high school employee, Kim Demeny, told authorities that Brown seemed very timid, told her she was not good in math and even cried when she talked about moving from Pahrump Valley High School in Pahrump, Nev.Although she looked older than a student, Demeny said, she believed her demeanor was consistent with that of a high school girl. A school liaison officer started investigating Monday after Brown showed up for only the first day of classes last week, the complaint says. The complaint also says the $134.50 check Brown gave to the cheerleading coach for her uniform bounced. Brown is being held, with bail at $9,500 on three criminal complaints.

Most diets don't work

2008-09-11T20:50:19+02:00

Just one in every 100 people who go on a diet succeed in shedding weight permanently.However, the high chance of failure did not stop millions of people trying to lose weight last year, spending billions in the process. Independent market analysts Datamonitor, who conducted the research, says that the diet industry is guilty of raising expectations unrealistically.Datamonitor said the makers of diet-related products should ensure consumers were aware they often need to change what they eat in the long term if they want to get rid of excess weight for good. "The appallingly low success rate of diets reflects badly on the diet industry, and this problem must be addressed effectively."The food and drinks industry, as well as retailers, have the influence and financial leverage necessary to produce coherent information campaigns to educate dieters on nutritional matters." In 2002, 230.6 million people across Europe attempted a diet. Of these, only 3.8 million will succeed in keeping off the weight that they have lost for over a year. The research was conducted in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

The Hadron Collider

2008-09-10T21:55:00+02:00

Geneva, 10 September 2008. The first beam in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN was successfully steered around the full 27 kilometres of the world’s most powerful particle accelerator at 10h28 this morning. This historic event marks a key moment in the transition from over two decades of preparation to a new era of scientific discovery.Starting up a major new particle accelerator takes much more than flipping a switch. Thousands of individual elements have to work in harmony, timings have to be synchronized to under a billionth of a second, and beams finer than a human hair have to be brought into head-on collision. Today’s success puts a tick next to the first of those steps, and over the next few weeks, as the LHC’s operators gain experience and confidence with the new machine, the machine’s acceleration systems will be brought into play, and the beams will be brought into collision to allow the research program to begin.LHC experiments will also try to probe the mysterious dark matter of the universe – visible matter seems to account for just 5% of what must exist, while about a quarter is believed to be dark matter. They will investigate the reason for nature's preference for matter over antimatter, and they will probe matter as it existed at the very beginning of time.more...

Not Many Dead, Vol. 3

2008-08-30T20:15:00+02:00

Barack Obama is trouncing John McCain in the race for the White House -- at least in sales of T-shirts, badges, baseball caps and other campaign merchandise. [Breitbart.com, 23 July]

Barack Obama: "I'm getting gray hair. Running for president will age you quick." On that note, Solorzano even talked to Obama's barber who commented: 'Yeah, his hair is a little bit, but you know that's normal for his age group. You know, not too much gray, just a little bit.'" [CBS Early Show, 4 Aug]

"Police in Jacksonville, Fla., said a man was arrested after he twice dialed 911 to report Subway employees had failed to put special sauce on his sandwich. [5 Aug, UPI]

Dog is taking shoes left outdoors. He's carrying them to the fire station. [27 Aug., Channel 6 News, Indiana]

Who are the Victims? - II

2008-07-26T13:30:00+02:00

Another ongoing series: News stories in which some group is labelled 'the victim' of a group, abstraction, or individual. I think it's educational and interesting to notice who or what are identified as victims and perpetrators in the media.

Recently,

People who tend not to know their rights are the victims: "'They're (collection agencies) very creative sometimes, and unfortunately, the consumers who tend not to know their rights under the Fair Credit Collections Act are the victims.'" [14 July]

Stamp vending machines are the victims: "'The stamp vending machines are the victims of technology, competition and aging parts,'" said Ray Daiutolo, a U.S. Postal Service spokesman. ... Consumers are buying postage on the Postal Service's Web site, and through its 'stamps by phone' and 'stamps by fax' services. People also can find stamps at most grocery stores, and some banks offer them at their ATMs." [18 July]

Students who borrow money to go to college, textile workers who lose their jobs to Chinese imports and kids who want to play baseball in fields near their homes are the victims of corporate welfare, according the to book Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill) (2007) by David Kay Johnston. [20 July, The Charleston Gazette]

Filipino women and families are the victims in the continuous oil price increases: Activists in the Philippines pelted the main office of Pilipinas Shell in Makati City with slippers to protest rising oil prices: "'We protest against the profit-hungry oil giants to save our families from hunger. ... The Big Three [Shell, Petron, and Chevron], aided by the Oil Deregulation Law and the Arroyo government's callousness, are unstoppable in amassing more billions by dictating the price of oil in the local market.'" [21 July]

An item or two at the dinner table are the victims of a synchronised swimmer practicing her moves: Twelve-year-old swimmer Madeleine "Hines attributes her success to practice, practice, practice and more practice. 'It's kind of hard to turn it off when we're learning our routine,' Hines said. Her mother recalled scenes at the dinner table where an item or two are the victims of Hines swinging her arms." [23 July]

Not Many Dead - Volume II

2008-07-23T13:05:00+02:00

A magazine I read monthly has a reader write-in column titled "Not Many Dead: Important Stories You May Have Missed." The column is made up of headlines or snippets of 'news' stories that are hardly news. As part of an ongoing series (first one here), I offer these recent non-news stories:

"A study by an independent nonprofit research group, The National Sleep Foundation, found that more than 65 percent of moms drink caffeinated beverages to get through their day." [CNN, 24 June 2008]

Headline: "If Gordon is our Heathcliff, who or what is his Cathy?" First paragraph: "[British PM] Gordon Brown apparently thinks voters are right to compare him to Heathcliff, the brooding figure at the centre of Bronte's Wuthering Heights. Political Editor Tomos Livingstone wonders whether this is one question he should have laughed off instead, while, below right, Catherine Jones explores the true nature of the character the Prime Minister is comparing himself to." [11 July, Wales Online]

"Rapper 50 Cent is free to take a vacation with his son after passing a court-ordered drug test." [18 Jul, NYT]

"Plans for a large human trial of a promising government-developed H.I.V. vaccine in the United States were canceled Thursday because a top federal official said scientists realized that they did not know enough about how H.I.V. vaccines and the immune system interact." [18 July, NYT]

Not Many Dead

2008-07-11T17:20:00+02:00

A magazine I read monthly has a reader write-in column titled "Not Many Dead: Important Stories You May Have Missed." The column is made up of headlines or snippets of 'news' stories that are hardly news.

Examples from the magazine include:

"An overheating lightbulb triggered a fire alarm in the City Art Gallery in York yesterday afternoon. Fire crews were not needed."

"Top jockey Frankie Dettori told the Daily Mirror that he had never had sex in a stable."

"Prince Andrew has worn the same tweed jacket twice in five years."

I'd imagine many of us come across these sorts of items ourselves with jarring regularity, these 'news' stories, or tidbits embedded in news stories, that we read and think "wtf?" or "slow news day, eh?" I'd hate to keep the non-news I stumble across to myself, so I'll share it here from time to time; feel free to contribute others.

"John Mayer admitted on Tuesday night to 'hooking up' with a fan in the past." [10 July]

"Thousands of canceled flights may vex travelers: Fliers should be ready to be flexible as airlines cut capacity and schedules" [10 July]

"Swastika ('卐') tops Google's search list, then disappears" [10 July]

"An initial examination of the plane that had maintenance problems while carrying Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama found no evidence of missing parts or tampering, federal investigators said Thursday." [10 July].

"An elderly Indonesian woman famed nationwide for supernatural skills in lengthening penises has died, reports said Thursday." [10 July]

and

Court: Wisconsin Law Bans Sex With the Dead, which is unfortunately not as superfluous at it sounds ... [Reported today]

Who are the Victims?

2008-07-11T02:15:00+02:00

Another idea I have for an occasional series: News stories in which some group is labelled 'the victim' of a group, abstraction, or individual. I think it's educational and interesting to explore who or what are identified as victims and perpetrators in the media.

Recently,

American people are the victims: "The whiners are the leaders. Hell, the American people are victims. ..." [Said by political advisor and former Congressman Phil Gramm, reported today]

Palestinians are the victims of Jewish persecutors: "Touring the somber [Holocaust] museum, it occurred to [Israeli-Arab lawyer] Mahameed that 'we Palestinians are the victims of the terrible things that were inflicted on the Jews by the Holocaust.' [8 July; the article is actually eye-opening, moving, IMO]

Bass and salmon are the victims of mismanagement: "Striped bass are the victims of gross state and federal mismanagement of Central Valley rivers and the Delta, as are collapsing Sacramento River chinook salmon populations." [8 July]

Tuna are the victims of their own success: "Chronically overfished, Mediterranean tuna are the victims of their success with fish lovers, especially with the passion for sushi." [3 July]

Sociopathic politicians, celebrities and sports figures are the victims: "For all the public examples of bad behavior set by politicians, celebrities and sports figures, many young people see these individuals for exactly what they are: spoiled, overrated sociopaths who are the victims of an overly indulgent, disengaged society in search of civilization." [7 July]

Pakistani college women are the victims of cell phone use: "Mostly intermediate students are the victims of mobile mania" [8 July]

San Diego stores are the victims of shopping cart theft and displacement: "The stores are the victims, Councilman Jack Feller said, and they aren't the ones who should be punished." [12 June]

and finally, the word "victim" isn't used but it's sure implied in this odd story [7 July]:

"A special meeting about Dallas County traffic tickets turned tense and bizarre this afternoon.

"County commissioners were discussing problems with the central collections office that is used to process traffic ticket payments and handle other paperwork normally done by the JP Courts.

"Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said it seemed that central collections 'has become a black hole' because paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office.

"Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, interrupted him with a loud 'Excuse me!' He then corrected his colleague, saying the office has become a 'white hole.'

"That prompted Judge Thomas Jones, who is black, to demand an apology from Mayfield for his racially insensitive analogy."

wtf?

Rebel Empress series

2008-07-07T01:36:10+02:00

Just in case you are interested to know, I'm working on an "Interval" piece for the Rebel Empress series, set between parts 3 and 4. There will be more of these later, so watch out for them when they come!

Uganda today, beauty from the Great Lakes

2008-03-13T15:05:00+01:00

Its not everyday that we spend time with a Congolese beautiful sister from Rutshuru, in diaspora [uganda] as most sisters are either scattered in refugee camps around the great lakes region, experiencing discrimination and missery from fellow africans who are too selfish to look beyond their little tribes and small clans.Discrimination has also found its way into the Rutshuru humor: Two Congolese sisters are gossiping with their mother. The first is complaining that her Hutu husband only has intercourse with her in the missionary position, and the second is complaining about her Tutsi husband who only has intercourse doggy-style.The Mother sighs and says, “God have mercy on your father. He never discriminated against missionary position or doggy-style.”Uganda today is here!!!

Pakistan: Security and Democracy

2008-03-11T08:59:56+01:00

By Henry A. KissingerThe Washington Post andTribune Media ServicesMarch 10, 2008The elections in Pakistan, far from calming the political crisis, have opened a new phase of it, and the world has a huge stake in the outcome. Pakistan is at the front line of the assault by Islamist radicalism on moderate elements within the Muslim world and on the institutions of the West. But it is far from clear how firm that front is and, indeed, in which direction it will ultimately face. Pakistan is America’s ally in the war on terror, yet a significant part of its people are opposed to that war; Pakistan helped fight al-Qaida in Afghanistan, yet part of its western frontier is occupied by al-Qaida and the Taliban.Pakistan’s choices will have a significant impact on the 160 million Muslims living in India, as well as on the prospects of peace on the subcontinent, which has already erupted into full-scale war on three occasions.Most critically, Pakistan is a nuclear power. Athwart strategic crossroads and possessing strategic weapons, Pakistan might lose control of both if its institutions are radicalized or deadlocked as a result of internal conflict. A state occupying strategic terrain but incapable of maintaining control over it could turn into the wildcard of international diplomacy.The stakes are generally recognized. The remedy has proved elusive. U.S. policy has been to urge President Pervez Musharraf into forming a coalition government with one or more civilian parties, which would then pursue the anti-fundamentalist war in a more coherent and determined manner. That outcome was what the election was supposed to produce.The goal was laudable. But the results of the election — as in Gaza — show that theoretical preconceptions do not necessarily provide practical remedies, especially in the short run. The challenge for policymakers arises when vital national security objectives are threatened and no viable democratic framework exists. The choice America faced in Pakistan in the aftermath of 9/11 was that Musharraf had taken over less than two years earlier and that the two main political leaders, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, both deposed prime ministers, were in exile. In an ideal world, political and security goals would move on parallel tracks. In many actual cases, the tracks, even if parallel, may operate by different time scales.

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In Europe, the nation and a functioning civil society preceded the formation of democratic institutions. In almost every successful democracy, the constitutional framework is treated as more important than any conflicts within it and guides the process of settling disputes. The opposite is the case in the crescent from the border of India to the shores of Africa. In the absence of a civil society, the losers in a political contest have few motives to subordinate their convictions to the general good, since the definition of the “general good” is precisely what is at issue. In such circumstances, democratic pluralism lacks a social basis — especially in states proclaiming the identity of church and state in the name of a universal religion. Crises are more often sharpened than solved by elections. Political cohesion being forever precarious, coalitions are fragile and authority oscillates between being tenuous or all-pervasive — even in Europe, as in ethnically divided parts like Yugoslavia or Belgium, if the latter in attenuated form.It surely has been the case in Pakistan. Formed in the partition of British India in 1947 because the Muslim minority rejected rule by the majority Hindu population, its eastern borders the dividing line between the Hindu and Moslem religion, its western borders those of the British raj, Pakistan reflected not a common history so much as a common fear. Until 1971, an East Pakistan region existed — also defined by its Muslim religion — but separated by 2,000 miles of Indian territory from West Pakistan.Even after East Pakistan seceded to form the new state of Bangladesh, Pakistan was beset by regional conflicts. Punjab’s predominance was resisted in the Sindh region and Baluchistan. The northwest frontier territories remained, as they had under British rule, autonomous; no government, civilian or military, has ever succeeded — or even seriously attempted — to establish its own direct control there.These circumstances produced the special character of Pakistani foreign and domestic policy. In international affairs, Pakistan allied itself with the United States during the Cold War, if with a special perspective. It received American arms as part of the geopolitical conflict with the Soviet Union, even while it perceived India as its principal security concern. Pakistan proved enormously helpful in facilitating the opening of American relations with China but more for the purpose of creating an additional obligation than devising a common global strategy.

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Though elections were held periodically, they usually reflected regional populist loyalties. Governed by feudal principles, the parties were organized for no-holds-barred political contests not mitigated by the restraint imposed by a sense of community. Civilian and military government alternated with each other. No elected government has ever served out its term.Of the major groupings, Bhutto’s party represented the large landholders of the Sindh province around Karachi; Sharif’s party the commercial classes of the Punjab. Both parties practiced a rampant populism, with Bhutto leaning to left-wing secularism; Sharif relying more on an appeal to Muslim fundamentalists. The feudal organization of the parties is demonstrated by the fact that, within 48 hours of Bhutto’s assassination, her husband, in exile in Dubai after eight years in prison, was appointed de facto head of her party. Sharif, who recently returned from exile, had been overthrown after what Musharraf, then commander of Pakistan’s armed forces, alleged was an assassination plot against him in which he claimed Sharif was implicated.With populism as the dominant method — if required, tinged with anti-Americanism — the temptation to use radical Islamist movements was ever present. In the 1990s, the Bhutto and Sharif governments cooperated with the fundamentalist Taliban in Afghanistan and jihadist groups in Kashmir. The military intelligence service used similar methods when the military controlled the government. A government-tolerated “private” network facilitated nuclear proliferation to a number of rogue states.In such an environment, the relation between Pakistan’s three feudal-type organizations, the military and the major political parties, has more of the character of those among Italian city states during the Renaissance described by Machiavelli than of the party politics of traditional democracies. They have occasionally made temporary alliances — as they appear to be doing now — for tactical purposes, but these have always proved preludes to new confrontations with the military appearing as arbiters in the end. The difference between feudal leaders who wear uniforms and those in civilian clothes is in their constituencies, not in their commitment to a pluralistic process as we understand it.An alliance between Bhutto, whose father was executed by the military, and Musharraf, who hated the Bhutto family, was destined to be precarious. It was doomed by the impatience with which it was pursued. The unforgivable atrocity of the Bhutto assassination ended the original design.

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At this point, any attempt to manipulate the political process that we have urged is likely to backfire. A wise policy must recognize that the internal structure of Pakistani politics is essentially out of the control of American political decision-making. Construction of a centrist coalition is a commendable goal, but the conditions for it can only be nurtured by Pakistani political forces and, in the absence of a center, require patience over a period of time.The future of President Musharraf will undoubtedly become a major issue as the potential coalition partners seek his removal. It is his task as president — not ours — to manage the consequences of the election. At the same time, it behooves us to remember the valiant support Musharraf gave the U.S. military effort in Afghanistan after 9/11 and his confrontation with jihadist fundamentalism at home. Conspicuous American dissociation would only compound our risks in Pakistan — not to mention the message it would send to other leaders in the region allied to America.In dealing with the emerging Pakistani leadership, American policy should focus on national security objectives (control of nuclear weapons, counterterrorism cooperation and resistance to Islamist radicalism). Our democratic principles should be clearly conveyed, but we should have learned by now that the evolution of the immediate political process is beyond our reach. Common approaches on the security issues are necessary, including an end of ambiguity toward terrorist enclaves. For most of its history, Pakistani leaders, whether civilian or military, have acted on the principle that good relations with America were in Pakistan’s national interest. A strategic consensus remains imperative. If that effort fails, many countries will be affected and, perhaps more immediately, Pakistan’s stability should not be viewed as an exclusively American challenge.A starting point is to reconcile ambivalent American attitudes at home, difficult as it may be during an election campaign. We do not have the choice between national security and democratic evolution. Both are important objectives but may be achievable only on different time scales. The next president will have to face this reality in many places, and we can do him or her a favor by conducting our national debate from that perspective.

Clarifying Ripley: A Three-Fer-One Deal

2008-03-07T15:00:00+01:00

An lighthearted argument with a friend of mine revealed to me that he does not believe that most of the Ripley’s Comic-page feature panel are false. I disagree, in that most, if not all of them, are completely true. That is the reason I publish this eensy column that I should update more frequently.

That being said, let’s clarify (that is, provide more true facts about the truth portrayed in the feature panel, “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not” .. and we’ll take today’s (found here) that notes: a 94-year old has opted to stop driving after a 82-year spree of no citations or accidents; someone from the Philippines has created a 5.7 ton flag of Israel; and a particular nightclub in London holds only 14 people.Now, I’m not sure which papers in the UK are the tabloid variety, but at least three sources (one, two, three) are carrying the story — the first of which carries the picture from which the RBIOR panel makes its illustration. Also pictured is apparently some ancient driving license.According to Ripley’s feature panel, Grace Galindez-Gupana created a very large, 5.7 ton flag of Israel. While the sources aren’t necessarily of the utmost credibility being blogs (what am I saying?) the first two are almost redundant, but the third actually has a photo of the award certificate from Guiness as being the largest. So there ya go.

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And thirdly, Ripley’s reports that The Miniscule of Sound (a pun on the Ministry of Sound perhaps, which in itself is a play on words, considering what American government would call a “department of”, the UK declares a “ministry of”, whereas the Ministry of Sound is a UK rock band). It was reported on BoingBoing as far back as 2004. Wikipedia confirms my suspicion of a pun. Perhaps if not equally entertaining to know that a nightclub can only fit 14 people — is that their official website (the little pop-up window when you click something) is equally cute and minute.

Uganda

2008-03-02T04:35:00+01:00

Harry gets ”normal”

2008-02-28T22:10:00+01:00

The Daily Mail, like most of its stablemates, is gripped by another bout of Harry fever. The revelation that the carrot-top royal is soon to be an ex-air traffic controller in Afghanistan is accompanied by acres of perfectly posed photos of the pin-up prince on patrol with the Ghurkas. Tragic that for him it's "a dream come true" to take part in a ghastly conflict in a country that's been wrecked by a poisonous cocktail of religious extremism mixed up with centuries of outside interference.

What's more Harry hasn't "really had a shower for four days, haven't washed my clothes for a week and everything seems completely normal." The prospect of slightly whiffy Prince who has only had unreal showers lately doesn't entirely do it for me. Our obsession with endlessly rubber-necking young royals and now with their bathing habits strikes me as daft and intrusive.

The other day I was at a concert where I sat next to a young soldier the day after he got back from active duty in Iraq. After talking to him, and seeing him twitchy and alert to attack even in a concert hall in an English village, I have huge admiration for any young person brave enough to put their life on the line for their country.