NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) - Anna Nicole Smith's former boyfriend Larry Birkhead said Tuesday that DNA tests have proven he is the father of her infant daughter.
Birkhead emerged from a closed court hearing to announce the results. Smith's companion, Howard K. Stern, has been caring for the girl, Dannielynn, who could inherit a fortune in the wake of her mother's February death.
After the hearing, Stern said he would not fight for custody.
An expert in genetic evidence said the DNA analysis has proven Birkhead is Dannielynn's father. Dr. Michael Baird, who analyzed the results of a March 21 DNA test, announced the results outside the court. "Essentially, he's the biological father," Baird said. A jubilant Birkhead said "My baby's going to be coming home pretty soon."
Ka-Ching!
Anybody have a Kleenex? I just had an anticlimax.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/10/2007 16:32 ||
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Are they sure? I think they should do more tests. A lot more tests. What about that old guy married to Zsa Zsa Gabor? Are they really sure it's not him?
Is Brittney still in rehab?
Posted by: Ex Astronaut Lisa Nowak ||
04/10/2007 16:50 Comments ||
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#2
I'd have given odds the father was her son. It would explain his death (suicide?) after the baby's birth.
That whole crowd appears to be on so many drugs, I'm surprised the baby's not addicted to something. Yet.
I suppose it's not required that famous people be total losers, but it apparently helps.
Crap like this mess makes my head hurt. I'd pledge total permanent allegiance to any news network/show that promised to deliver real news, not information about celebrities.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/10/2007 16:59 Comments ||
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#3
I'd have given odds the father was her son. It would explain his death (suicide?) after the baby's birth.
My brother.
*slap*
My father.
*slap*
...
Cartoonist Johnny Hart, whose award-winning BC comic strip appeared in more than 1300 newspapers worldwide, died at his New York state home on Saturday. He was 76.
"He had a stroke," Hart's wife, Bobby, said yesterday. "He died at his storyboard."
"He had a stroke," Hart's wife, Bobby, said yesterday. "He died at his storyboard."
BC, populated by prehistoric cavemen and dinosaurs, was launched in 1958 and eventually appeared in more than 1300 newspapers with an audience of 100 million, according to Creators Syndicate Inc, which distributes the strip. After he graduated from Union-Endicott High School, Hart met Brant Parker, a young cartoonist who became a prime influence and co-creator with Hart of the internationally popular Wizard of Id comic strip.
Hart enlisted in the US air force and began producing cartoons for Pacific Stars and Stripes military newspaper. He sold his first freelance cartoon to the Saturday Evening Post magazine after his discharge from the military in 1954.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
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RIP, and salutations to a man and team that has brought so much sage humor to the world. I hope the strips will continue.
Leonardo DiCaprio is set to track an Al Qaeda leader in a hard-hitting new Ridley Scott drama. The actor will play a journalist-turned-CIA agent who is given the task of locating a terrorist in Jordan reportedly planning an attack on America in Body of Lies.
The film, which will dredge up memories of 9/11 when Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden organized a terrorist attack on New York and Washington, is to shoot in Morocco later this year. The project will re-team DiCaprio with The Departed screenwriter William Monahan, who will adapt the story from David Ignatius' book. Ohfergawdsake.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#6
I expect yet another hit piece. Imagine Hollywood cranking out a film demonstrating that FDR not only allowed Pearl Harbor to happen but that he had planned it. After all, everyone knows the Japanese could not launch a carrier attack thousands of miles from the Home Islands. And where were the American carriers? Google it!
#7
1. Body of lies is a ref to a Churchill quote. "in war, truth is so precious, it must be protected by a body guard of lies"
2. Ignatius is kinda liberal hawkish - perhaps somewhat to the left of me, but not a "put terrorist in scare quotes" kinda guy.
According to the last report by the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), reforestation is showing some progress on our planet. In spite of the 32 million acres of forest that disappear each year, reforestation campaigns led by "more than one hundred countries" have been fruitful.
"Numerous countries have shown their political will for improving forest management by revising policy and legislation and by strengthening their forestry institutions," said Davic Harcharik, FAO's adjunct general director in a release dated March 13. "Increasing attention is given to the conservation of the earth, water, biological diversity, and other environmental resources." He added, "Nevertheless, the countries that face the most serious challenges in attaining sustainable forest management are those caught in extreme poverty and civil turmoil."
Reforestation Re-Establishes Balance
Despite the disappearance of 32 million acres each year, reforestation allows for the reestablishment of a balance to the yearly loss which is now only 18 million acres. This factor brings stability between increases and decreases in forestation. Reforestation is a tendency towards improvement in which the FAO rejoices.
Insects, Disease Threaten Forests
Forest area has increased in Europe, North America, Asia, and the Pacific. On the contrary, however, the situation is worrisome in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Africa has lost more than 9 percent of its forests in the space of 15 years. Bush fires are a principal cause. They are often started by people with the goal of clearing out land or by pyromaniacs. Lightning may also be a common cause of forest fires. According to the FAO, the world lost 3 percent of its forests between 1995 and 2000.
Forests are also exposed to other threats such as insects, disease, and invasive species. Rapid transportation, the ease of global travel, and expanding international commerce have facilitated the propagation of these harmful threats. The report points out that the management strategies tend to limit forest parasites, especially in developed countries.
#1
I've long wondered why the US government has never carried out forestation projects on the Indian Reservations.
Granted while many of these areas were never forested to begin with, with some creative science, varieties of trees could be introduced that would survive and prosper.
By agreement, the tribes would manage their new forests with an eye to improving their standard of living, even if it just made their Reservation more tourism friendly.
#2
The May, 2007, Popular Mechanics arrived in my mailbox yesterday, and it has a good article on deforestation and tracking where lumber is coming from, both legally and illegally (90% of Peru's illegally harvested lumber goes to the U.S.).
Unfortunately, the article is not (yet?) posted on their site, but it's worth a read.
Posted by: Dar ||
04/10/2007 17:25 Comments ||
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#3
Reforestation / forest management is, along with fisheries management, one of those environmental initiatives over which man has almost total control. We burn or cut the trees down, we can plant them again. There is an obvious cause and effect here. Same with the fish. Totally opposite situation from "Global Warming".
#5
I live in a city with over two million trees. Two hundred years ago, the area was arid plains. There are more trees in Denver than ever grew there naturally. Most of the deforestation in the world today is done to grow food or to make money. It's done in areas where the methods of growing food is primitive, and other sources of income are non-existant. Free enterprise, recognition of personal property rights, and representative government would do wonders for forestation, and just about every other problem in the world. Case in point: There are more trees in Israel than there are in either the Gaza/West Bank or Lebanon. Israel is one-third the size of Jordan, and produces three times as much food. Israel exports food, the Palestinian Authority has to import it, yet the two exist in the same climatic conditions. The problem is how people live and are governed, not what's available.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/10/2007 23:39 Comments ||
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From AgWeb: LAST WEEKs WEATHER TREND (1-7 APR): Temperatures plummeted as a strong Arctic cold front dove deep into the South late in the week. There were 100s of record low temperatures across the U.S. with the Southwest being the one exception. Hard freezes most likely did 10s of millions of dollars damage to trees and crops in the Southeast over the Easter weekend. Snowfall was also the most in at least 14 years with dozens of record snowfall totals from Texas to the Middle Atlantic and throughout the interior Northeast and Great Lakes. Even Dallas had a trace of snow which was the latest snowfall in 69 years.
Funny, I haven't seen too many reports on Global Cooling
THIS WEEK (8-14 APR): Last year was record warm, this year record cold! April is currently tracking as the coldest April in 113 years - a dramatic change from last years #1 warmest ever.
Google 1894, it was a very bad year
Even after some late month moderation, April 2007 will likely keep the month in the top 7 coldest in history. The Southwest is the one exception, but even here temperatures will cool dramatically late in the week. And, the snow is not over! Short range computer models hint at the possibility of a stronger snow storm from Colorado to Wisconsin late in the week into the weekend. This will be the heavy wet variety. The week overall is expected to show the greatest change toward wetter weather in two years - another very big negative for retail sales and for early planting of this years Corn and Bean crop. Weather Trends had forecast this to be the coldest April in 7 years and the wettest in 3 years. It will very likely be the coldest in 10 years and wettest in three.
NEXT WEEK (15-21 APR): More of the same, although not as wet. Another reinforcing shot of cold air for the East early in the week with more frost and freezes likely in the Middle Atlantic.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/10/2007 13:08 ||
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#1
The Southwest is the one exception, but even here temperatures will cool dramatically late in the week.
Yep, snow in the central mountains and eastern plains of New Mexico this past weekend. Cold rain yesterday. Still haven't climbed the roof to service the evaporative cooler yet for summer. This is the latest I've remember the gear still on the system and as the current outlook appears, it will remain so for a while longer.
a study has shown. Trees in icy parts of the world increase the Earth's absorption of sunlight by shading reflective snow, scientists claim. This type of forest adds more to global warming than it takes away by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Clearing away the mighty pine forests of Chateau Gore, Canada and northern Europe could slow down climate change, the findings suggest.
"In order to save the village, we had to destroy it."
But the US authors of the study are quick to point out that they do not advocate such a drastic strategy. Dr Ken Caldeira, one of the researchers from the Carnegie Institution in Washington, said: "A primary reason we are trying to slow global warming is to protect nature. It just makes no sense to destroy natural ecosystems in the name of saving natural ecosystems."
"We're jus' sayin', is all."
The research, published in the online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, simulated the effects of large-scale deforestation, taking account of the positive and negative effects on climate of tree cover at different latitudes. It found that trees in snowy parts of the world actually warm the Earth. Tropical forests, on the other hand, had the opposite effect. They helped to keep the planet at an even temperature by removing large amounts of carbon, and generating reflective clouds.
My head hurtz. I gotta lie down.
I'd love to publish in PNAS. And they run this crap instead?
#1
If they do I want them to replant with bio-engineered pine trees modified with firefly genes to flash for about 12 days plus/minus the Winter Solstice. Then we have beautiful Merry Christmas with no lights to string.
In the Southern Hemisphere the trees should be modified to flash around the Summer Solstice for the same reason.
#2
Trees in icy parts of the world increase the Earth's absorption of sunlight by shading reflective snow
Huh? If the trees are shading it, does it matter how reflective the snow is? You could cover the snow with aluminum foil (shiny side up) and it wouldn't make any difference if the trees are blocking the sunlight.
I'm glad that, being a rocket scientist, I deal with straightforward concepts.
#3
Shading the reflective snow, and absorbing the energy themselves, via their foliage, Jackal. It makes a certain degree of sense. About as much as the algae-seeding notions for carbon sequestration, at any rate.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/10/2007 9:15 Comments ||
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#4
Don't tell me.... pine tree farts cause global warming.
Plus Global Warming causes increased carbon dioxide not the other way around.
#7
Trees in icy parts of the world increase the Earth's absorption of sunlight by shading reflective snow, scientists claim. This type of forest adds more to global warming than it takes away by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
Sounds almost like global warming is coming from the Sun, and not from Carbon Dioxide and man-made pollutants. Heretics!
#9
All the animals in the cleared forest would move to cities and get welfare.
Ultimately, if you eradicate all life on earth, then climate change here becomes irrelevant. But Martians would have a much cleaner solar warming measurement model. Think global, act planetary!
Posted by: john ||
04/10/2007 12:34 Comments ||
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#10
Thank God Gaia for them Haitian glaciers
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/10/2007 12:35 Comments ||
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#11
Snow?
Unless The Gorinator is in town, GW is going to make more snow???
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/10/2007 16:39 Comments ||
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#19
wxjames, you jest but the Southern Pine Borrer Beetle has devastated large areas in the South. The effects can especially be seen around Oak Ridge.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/10/2007 19:05 Comments ||
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Roman Catholic bishops marked Easter with an unprecedented message to President Robert Mugabe to end oppression and leave office through democratic reform or face a mass revolt. "The confrontation in our country has now reached a flashpoint," said the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference in a pastoral message pinned up at churches throughout the country. "As the suffering population becomes more insistent, generating more and more pressure through boycotts, strikes, demonstrations and uprisings, the state responds with ever harsher oppression through arrests, detentions, banning orders, beatings and torture," the nine bishops said.
Although the Catholic bishops -- especially Pius Ncube, the Archbishop of the city of Bulawayo -- have criticised the Government in the past, the tone of this year's pastoral message was the most strident since independence from Britain in 1980. The Pope, in his traditional Easter address from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, singled out Zimbabwe among other troubled countries. "Zimbabwe is in the grip of a grievous crisis," he said.
The bishops' letter, entitled God Hears the Cries of the Oppressed, likened human and democratic rights abuses under Mugabe to the oppression of biblical pharaohs and Egyptian slave masters. The conflict was "between those who only know the language of violence and intimidation, and those who feel they have nothing more to lose because their constitutional rights have been abrogated and their votes rigged", it said.
The bishops called for a day of prayer and fasting for Zimbabwe on Saturday and said there would be a prayer service for Zimbabwe every week after that.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
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We talked and talked, but it seems like we got nowhere. There are unpleasant times ahead, I'm afraid.
Posted by: Preachin B. Hard ||
04/10/2007 14:44 Comments ||
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Sounds like Zimbabwe bishops got more nads than Brit bishops.
Albert Dube is a 34-year-old Zimbabwean police constable stationed in the country's second city of Bulawayo, and he is a man who is ashamed of his past and fearful for his future. When he joined the force 12 years ago, his duties covered routine street patrols and crime prevention. Today he only leaves barracks to take part in police actions, beating and arresting peaceful demonstrators. And many of those he assaults and threatens are his neighbours, friends, relatives, even close members of his own family. "I am in a Catch 22 situation," he tells me, when we met in a small drinking club in the suburb of Makokoba. "People are very angry with us. They accuse us of being Mugabe's dogs. But we have to carry out our orders."
He describes how in a police action against demonstrators in Bulawayo recently he came face to face with his own father-in-law, and beat him with his baton. On an earlier occasion he broke the thigh of a man he knew well. "Now, as well as the baton, I have been told I must be armed with a high-powered rifle. That means I will be expected to shoot people."
He looks round nervously as he talks. "Who are you frightened of - the police or the local people?" I ask him.
"Both," he says, going on to recount how his unit roughly arrested a heavily pregnant woman caught up in a demonstration a month ago. The woman went into labour in the charge room, and is only now recovering in hospital. Her son is not expected to live.
Constable Dube has other problems. His wife Betty is a staunch supporter of the opposition MDC party, and home life is fraught with tension. "She says it is her or the police. Either I leave the force, or she leaves me," he says, and there are tears in his eyes.
If he does quit, he will be in good company: police numbers have dropped by 10,000 in recent months, many leaving because of poor pay and conditions. As I reported for The First Post yesterday, President Mugabe is having to 'borrow' nearly 3,000 policemen from Angola in return for diamond mining rights.
The US ambassador, Christopher Dell, says he detects a new mood among Zimbabweans. "People have turned a corner, they are not afraid any more." He also claims that the violence we are suffering is causing a split in the security forces - that ordinary police officers are reluctant to carry out the attacks and beatings expected of them.
But reluctance and refusal are poles apart if you have to earn a living - however small - in a country where inflation is approaching 2,000 per cent. A police salary, small though it is, and police food rations, unreliable though they may be, still make all the difference. Constable Albert Dube has no desire to attack his fellow countrymen. But when on April 2 the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions takes to the streets in protest against Mugabe's regime, Dube will be in the police line confronting them. Armed with his baton, and his high-powered rifle.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I reckon Cde Dube needs a round or two from what I used to call "The Ventilator".
Wonder if this guys a religious cop? He seems wimpy enough...
RIYADH (Reuters) - A Saudi man lost a bit of his nose in a joint assault by his two wives after he jokingly threatened to marry a third woman. Yeah, "jokingly".
Ha-ha. Laugh that off, funny man...
Judaie Ibn Salem had thought his threat would help resolve an argument over dividing up his house. "I swore that I would do it because ... they were impolite and that's when I came under an even bigger attack," Ibn Salem told Shams newspaper after having seven stitches inserted. I'll cut ya, man, I'll cut ya!
"I never realized they would get so worked up. But the only way to restore my dignity is really to take a third wife." Well, there's always the acid treatment...and, of course, honor killing.
"I don't know what I'm going to lose next if I do that." Ba-dum-bump...Judaie's here all week.
Islamic law allows men to take up to four wives and polygamy is not unusual in the conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam. Wonder if Mo ever had to put up with this kinda shit?
#4
Mo specialized in marrying rich widows and six year olds.
kind of a blend of John Kerry and Woody Allen
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/10/2007 13:27 Comments ||
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#5
#4 Frank
Eeeewwwwwwww.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/10/2007 15:21 Comments ||
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#6
Eeeewwwwwwww.
Come on, Barbara. If by now you have not been able to accept Frank as Rantburg's International Grand Snarkmaster, there's little hope.
Frank, you convinced me with your reply to that "Terrorists Charred in West Bank Vehicle" headline with your pithy comment of "Mind if I smoke in your car?"
If anyone outdoes that, I'll be the first to let you know. NO ONE has until now and you have my deepest respect for such incisive wit. One of these damn days, I'll even stand you a round for it.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/10/2007 19:53 Comments ||
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#9
Frank, until someone outdoes (and it ain't gonna happen soon), that bit of snarkish meisterstück, the rest of us will have to settle for lukewarm hind tit and be glad of it!
Awami League (AL) will find out the reasons behind the filing of the extortion case against its President Sheikh Hasina in the changed political situation. "We are trying to find out the reasons behind the filing of the case now as the complainant did not file the case in the last five years when a different government was in power," AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil told The Daily Star last night. Jalil however refused to comment any further on the issue.
After the news of the filing of the case spread last night, hardly any top leader of AL or its allies in the 14-party coalition made any comment about it and remained mostly tight-lipped. However, AL Presidium Member Kazi Zafarullah termed the case 'definitely a conspiracy'.
"The filing of the case at this time is very suspicious and the allegation will not be believable to anyone at home or abroad as the complainant did not file the case when an elected government was in power during the last five years," Zafarullah, a close aide to Hasina told The Daily Star.
AL President Sheikh Hasina also termed the filing of the extortion case against her 'a huge conspiracy' against AL, according to an AL source, who claimed to have talks with Hasina over cellphone last night immediately after the filing of the case. Hasina, now on a visit to the US, reacted sharply after she was informed of the matter last night (Bangladesh time). "We have informed Hasina about the filing of the case against her," said an AL source, preferring not to be named. The source said Hasina told them that the case was filed against her as part of an 'ongoing conspiracy' and she will face it after returning home soon.
"Everything will be okay on my return," the source quoted Hasina to The Daily Star. He also said the AL chief will return to Bangladesh in the last week of the month if everything remains normal.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
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A Bangladeshi businessman filed an extortion case yesterday against former Prime Minister Hasina Wajed, police said in the capital, Dhaka. Tajul Islam Faruq, the chief executive officer of Westmont Bangladesh Limited, a Malaysian-owned company, brought the charges against Hasina and her private secretary, police officer Jane Alam told AFP.
In the case, he accused her of taking 30 million taka ($434,000) as a favor for approving a power plant in northern Bangladesh, he said. Faruq said he handed over the money in cash to her at her official residence in 1998, he said. We will now investigate the charges and will issue an arrest warrant against her if the charges are proved, he added.
The accusation came just days after Hasina, now vacationing in the United States, blasted the countrys military-backed government for delaying national elections. Hasina, president of the main opposition Awami League party and also the leader of a 19-party opposition alliance, would be barred from contesting the general elections if a court found her guilty of such charges.
Police said the charges would be non-bailable under the countrys emergency power rules. The case was filed under sections 385, 386, 387 and 109 of the Bangladesh Penal Code (BPC). If the allegation is proved, arrest warrant can be issued against her and she can be sentenced to five years in jail.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
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MOSCOW - Russia will next weekend launch its first new strategic nuclear submarine since the downfall of the Soviet Union, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov told the Interfax news agency on Monday. This is the first time in 17 years that we are building such a submarine. Another year will be needed to technically equip it in water and to arm it, Ivanov said at a government meeting, attended by President Vladimir Putin.
The nuclear submarine, named Yuri Dolgoruki, will carry Russias latest inter-continental missiles, the Bulava-M, which went into production last year. The naval Bulava ballistic missiles are equipped with 10 nuclear warheads that have a reach of 8,000 kilometres (4,970 miles).
The new vessel will be launched on Sunday into the White Sea from the Severodvinsk naval base in northwestern Russia. Russia plans to build three other submarines of the same kind, Ivanov said, adding that the Alexander Nevski and the Vladimir Monomakh were already under construction.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
With the Putin soon to follow these three.
Mike N.
All you wee folk, get back to caves and toil!
Posted by: Glererong Prince of the Wee Folk3750 ||
04/10/2007 0:10 Comments ||
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#2
With they way Russian subs have been sicking, I don't know if I would want to be on it.
#4
The West must not underestimate Russia's modernizations of her mil land assets, particularly in regards to deployment of strategic mobile ICBMS. Russia's strength historically has been as a land power -wid CHINESE emigration into the Far East, + the Islamic Bomb, Russia's LR focii will be to protect TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY, which in turn means in any major powers confrontation in PACOAS over NK-Taiwan, RUSSIA = IRAN = PREVENT/STOP AMER FROM IMMEDIATELY EMPLOYING HER FULL MILPOL MIGHT. Also remember that both Russia-China = Radical Islam > are counting on Amer getting WEAKER over time, NOT STRONGER. THE GLOBALIST AGENDAS OF THE TWO FORMER, SECULAR SOCIALIST + GOD-BASED SOCIALIST, WILL NOT BE ACHIEVED MERELY BY TEMPOR "HURTING" AMERICA FOR ONLY A SHORT TIME.
#5
....Yuri Dolgoruki was laid down in 1996, and there's evidence that the keel-laying ceremony was an elaborate show for the rest of the world. Any submarine that has taken 11 years from laydown to launch is an accident waiting to happen.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/10/2007 9:16 Comments ||
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#6
Well, let's see if she floats as well as that other modern submarine, the Kursk.
#7
Hopefully we'll go ahead and pre-position some rescue equipment. I'd hate to see more dead Russian sailors because their politcal class are all crooked.
Harbin, Heilongjiang, PRC -- One person died and more than 200 people fell sick after eating food that may have been contaminated with rat poison at a hospital restaurant in northeastern China. Mass poisonings are common in China, which has been struggling to improve a dismal food safety record. Manufacturers often mislabel food products or add illegal substances to them. Cooks routinely disregard hygiene rules or mistakenly use industrial chemicals instead of salt and other ingredients. And we think US hospital food is bad
#1
It's Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" all over again. It baffles me how people can coldly substitute industrial chemicals for food ingredients, knowing that they will be found out and knowing that hundreds will be taken ill or die. And the cost savings? A few bucks.
#4
About eight or ten years ago some letters of Sinclair were found in a relative of Sinclair's attic or some such basically indicating that much of what was presented as "fact" in "The Jungle" was pure fabrication in the vein of Bellisles or Dan Rather.
Not to say there weren't problems in the meat packing industry during that era, but once you give up the moral high ground by lying, nothing you say after is credible.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
04/10/2007 6:01 Comments ||
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#5
Hey, it's the old liberal mantra - as long as your lies advance The Cause, then it's OK to lie. After you're retired, then it all comes out, and we all have a big chuckle together about how we pulled one over on the rubes.
"Accounts of the Soviet labor system should be suppressed even if true, since otherwise the French working class might become anti-Soviet."
-- Jean-Paul Sartre, 1933
#10
Saw an interesting comment at another discussion board about how the contaminated Chinese gluten that killed so many American pets might have been a probe for a larger scale attack on humans.
As to this incident in China, it is a fatal intersection of the cheapness of human life with illiteracy and a profit motive unfettered by scruples or ethics. In reality, it all boils down to the cheapness of human life as that leads to the other issues.
#13
gorb: Anybody out there know what sort of psychology leads the folks in China to keep doing this? Is it some sort of disgruntled worker thing?
There's this understanding in China that the only way you can get ahead is by screwing the other guy. At root, this is the source of some of the problems people encounter with Chinese products - sticking it to the customer is just an extension of this philosophy.
#14
... the only way you can get ahead is by screwing the other guy.
This is known as the "zero sum equation". It's a well understood and feeble rationale that communists and other ineffectual wankers use as an excuse to raid the wealth of individuals who actually earn it. Pay no attention to the bandit behind the curtain.
All Parliament members from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) support Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan as Turkey's next president, a senior minister was quoted as saying Monday. The president is elected for a single seven-year term by the 550-member Parliament, where the AKP party holds a two-third majority that will allow it to easily elect the candidate of its choice. "When you ask who should become a candidate and who should be the president, all 353 AKP deputies, excluding the Parliament speaker who cannot vote, agree on the prime minister's candidacy," the Milliyet daily quoted Deputy Prime Minister Abdel-Latif Sener as saying. Several deputies believe Erdogan should stay on as prime minister to lead the AKP to general elections in November, but say they will also support him if he decides to run for the country's highest post, Sener added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Federal Tourism Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar on Monday said she did not believe in decrees issued by self-made courts and only the people could judge her actions. She was referring to the fatwa issued against her by the Lal Masjid qazi court demanding she be sacked for hugging her French male paragliding coach.
Talking to reporters at a poster competition in the Islamabad Traffic Police office, she said Islam did not allow slander or casting blame on anyone without full knowledge of the facts. She said the self-appointed Lal Masjid qazi court had not bothered to verify the facts.
The minister said that human rights organisations and others including Sherry Rehman had already spoken on her behalf. She explained that she had been paragliding for the humanitarian cause of fundraising for children affected by the October 2005 earthquake. What I did was right and patriotic. I fear no one but God.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Top officials in Europe and America are watching nervously to see whether Russia succeeds in forging an Opec-style "gas cartel" at gathering of the world's leading gas exporters in Qatar today.
The once-sleepy Gas Exporting Countries Forum has become the stage for a dramatic bid by Russian President Vladimir Putin to dominate the global energy agenda.
The EU energy commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, warned that Europe will retaliate against any attempt to rig the market or hold European consumers to ransom.
"Gas could be replaced. If gas is not traded in open markets, I would advise all member states and I will do everything I can to make more investment in nuclear power," he said.
In Washington, the top Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, described the proposed cartel as a "global extortion racket".
Qatar's foreign minister, Mohammed al-Roumaihi, left no doubt that the proposal was a Kremlin scheme. "The idea of a gas Opec is above all political. It was suggested by President Putin, whose country has specific strategic objectives," he said.
Russia's energy minister, Victor Khristenko, insisted the world had nothing to fear from moves to streamline rules in the gas market.
"I know this is causing a lot of tension, sometimes exaggerated, sometimes wild. Are we going to sign up to a gas price policy? Of course not," he said.
Leonid Grigoriev, president of Russia's Energy Institute, said Mr Putin was stoking fears as part of bargaining strategy in gas export deals. "These references to a cartel are made deliberately. They are expected to frighten the West, and they do," he said.
It is unclear how a gas cartel would function given that most contracts are taken out on very long delivery schedules of 15 years or more, unlike the liquid spot market for crude.
Algeria, Iran and Venezuela all appear to back Mr Putin's ideas for a "gas Opec", but the scheme would lack bite without the full support of pro-Western Qatar.
#1
It is unclear how a gas cartel would function given that most contracts are taken out on very long delivery schedules of 15 years or more
Duh, they'll just pull another Lukos and liquidate the firm along with the contracts....Russian bankruptcy. Just try not to be the next Khodorkovsky. Lesson learned: don't try to apply Western business standards where they don't belong.
#4
OTOH, WORLDNEWS > IRAN SITS ON WORLD'S LARGEST OIL RESERVES [untapped]. Also, C2CAM Pert > World is already at "Peak/Easy Oil" levels - tis downhill from now on, i.e. after Year 2010, unless effective alternative power systems on a mass scale can be developed. PRISONPLANET.com > Brit MOD STudy > BIOWEAPONS in the future may be used for deadly, wilful POPULATION CONTROL. Future world is likely to be SECTARIAN, ANARCHISTIC, and DARWINIST, i.e. strongest will survive the pervasive chaos and disorder. MARXISM-COMMUNISM reborn as method of effective, DESPERATE IDEO OF CONTROL. BTW, OOOOOOPPPSIES,
"ETHNIC CLEANSING" WORKS??? and may actually PROLIFERATE??? ANd then theres GUARDIAN.UK > RENSE.com > STOP SHOPPING OR EARTH WILL GO POP. D *** ng it, HUMAN CONSUMERISM [West] IS A MAJOR FACTOR IN GLOBAL WARMING + DEGRADATION OF GLOBAL ENVIRON vv WASTES. and ITS DOUBTFUL CAPITALISM IS STRONG/TUFF ENUFF TO STOP WASTEFUL CONSUMERISM. SSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, its TOTALITARIANISM, COMMUNISM, GOVERNEMTISM, etal. OR THE EARTH = HUMANITY WASTES ITS WAY UNTO DEATH + EXTINCTION.
A new study from the University of Pittsburgh has found that during the past thirty years, the number of male births has steadily decreased in the U.S. and Japan. Perhaps more worryingly, the study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, also found that an increasing proportion of fetuses that die are male. In Japan, among the fetuses that die, two-thirds are male, up from just over half in 1970.
The study reported an overall decline of 17 males per 10,000 births in the U.S. and a decline of 37 males per 10,000 births in Japan since 1970. Lead investigator Devra Lee Davis said the figures translated to 135,000 fewer males in the U.S. and 127,000 fewer males in Japan.
Davis suggests that environmental factors may be one explanation for the shrinking male birth rate. "The pattern of decline in the ratio of male to female births remains largely unexplained," she explained. "We know that men who work with some solvents, metals and pesticides father fewer baby boys. We also know that nutritional factors, physical health and chemical exposures of pregnant women affect their ability to have children and the health of their offspring. We suspect that some combination of these factors, along with older age of parents, may account for decreasing male births."
The study notes that prenatal exposure to endocrine disrupting environmental pollutants may impact the SRY gene - a gene on the Y chromosome that determines the sex of a fertilized egg. Other environmental factors that also may affect the viability of a male fetus include the parents' weight, nutrition and the use of alcohol and drugs.
"Given the importance of reproduction for the health of any species, the trends we observed in the U.S. and Japan merit concern," said Davis. "In light of our findings, more detailed studies should be carried out that examine sex ratio in smaller groups with defined exposures as a potential indicator of environmental contamination."
#1
Could estrogen and artificial hormones and such, introduced during pregnancy, be causing this?
Feel free to shoot me down on this one; my girlfriend's big on avoiding artificial junk in food, and she tells me horror stories about what such things do to the body, but I don't know how much of it is accurate and how much is hysteria, and I'm too lazy to do the research to find out . . .
Posted by: The Doctor ||
04/10/2007 13:15 Comments ||
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#2
Tie this story to the one on Muslim rapes in Norway (and the lack of response to them) and one has the potential for an excellent research project. Examine Norse estrogen exposure relative to societies that actually oppose rape and see if there's a correlation.
#5
That's funny. My group of friends, 20 in all, that the females were pregnant and 19 of 'em were boys (including my own son). I blame something in the water....
#6
A friend of mine had 3 daughters (2 different fathers) and 2 of those daughters have had 6 kids (one with same husband, one with different), 5 of whom were boys. (oldest kid is 9)
"We know that men who work with some solvents, metals and pesticides father fewer baby boys."
And what percentage of either US or Japanese men is that? I'm betting small. Yeesh.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/10/2007 16:20 Comments ||
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#7
BS: the masculinity rate is someting who is very constant except that curiouly it is higher after wars. Maximum ever registered was 109 (109 boys for 100 giorls) and never went below 103.
Of course this assumes there is no selective abortion.
#8
My household contained three ovulating females for a number of years. They almost always were on the same cycle - might be off for a month or two if they'd been apart a while (e.g. college), but then, they'd snap back together. Made for some 'interesting' times for me.
Anyway, perhaps there's some similar phenomenon that drives whether males or females are conceived - if there's a critical mass of some male pheromone circulating then the male-making sperm get 'lazy' and the female-makers do the conceiving, or vise versa.
Curious that the modern Norwegian or 'metrosexual' population seems more than adequate hormonally to stifle the male-making sperm.
...More recently, another potentially promising treatment for hypoactive desire has been making its way through clinical trials.
The compound, called bremelanotide, is a synthetic version of a hormone involved in skin pigmentation, and it was initially developed by Palatin Technologies of New Jersey as a potential tanning agent to help prevent skin cancer.
But when male college students participating in early safety tests began reporting that the drug sometimes gave them erections, the company began exploring bremelanotide's utility as a treatment for sexual disorders.
Studies in rodents demonstrated that the drug not only gave male rats spontaneous erections, but also fomented sexual excitement in female rats, prompting them to wiggle their ears, hop excitedly, rub noses with males and otherwise display unmistakable hallmarks of rodent arousal.
Imagine what this will do in Gaza.
Importantly, the females responded to the drug only under laboratory conditions where they could maintain a sense of control over the mating game. Take away the female's opportunity to escape or proceed at her preferred pace, and no amount of bremelanotide would get those ears to wiggle. In other words, Annette M. Shadiack, director of biological research of Palatin, said, "this doesn't look like a potential date-rape drug."
Inspired by the rodent work, the company decided to give the drug a whirl on women. Results from a pilot study of 26 postmenopausal women with diagnoses of sexual arousal disorder suggest that bremelanotide may well have some mild aphrodisiacal properties.
Responding to questionnaires after taking either the drug or a dummy pill, 73 percent of the women on bremelanotide reported feeling genitally aroused, compared with 23 percent given the placebo; and 43 percent of the bremelanotide group said the treatment augmented their sexual desire, against only 19 percent of those on dummy pills.
Women in the treatment group also were slightly more likely to have sex with their partners during the course of the trial than were those in the control group, although who initiated the romps was not specified.
Larger trials of the drug at some 20 clinical centers around the United States are now under way. Among other things, the researchers will try adjusting the dosage to see if more bremelanotide may provoke a more robust response with a minimum of unpleasant or embarrassing side effects. For example, researchers are as yet unsure whether sustained use of bremelanotide will end up doing what the drug was meant to do in the first place, and bestow on its beaming clients a truly healthy tan.
TAIPEITaiwan kicked off a month of military exercises on Tuesday designed to test the island's defences in the event of attack by giant neighbour China, which considers the island its own.
The exercises come amid calls for Taiwan to move forward with plans to buy advanced weapons from the United States, which recognises Beijing's "one China" policy but is Taiwan's biggest arms supplier.
The first exercise was aimed at testing the military's ability to protect leaders and ensure continuity of government in the event of attack, the National Security Council said in a statement.
As part of that drill, in which much of the island ground to a halt for a half hour, President Chen Shui-bian was whisked away by armoured car.
"Only by deliberating and planning for war in times of peace can we be prepared and trained to respond during times of conflict," Chen was quoted as saying in a statement.
China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. Beijing has vowed to bring the democracy of 23 million people back under mainland rule, by force if necessary.
China backs up its threats by aiming over 900 missiles at Taiwan, according to the Taiwan government's estimate.
The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979, but is obliged by the Taiwan Relations Act to help defend the island.
Taiwan's military and analysts increasingly feel China would avoid an amphibious invasion to win back the island and rather opt for a surprise attack against key installations and so-called "decapitation strikes" aimed at Taiwan leaders.
More exercises will be held next week when the military will use computers to play out a simulated attack by China over five days, said military officers.
That will be followed in May by actual military manoeuvres involving the island's army, navy and air force.
The exercises would not be affected by a suspected leak of details about the war games by a senior officer, said military officials.
A colonel at the National Defense University took computer files containing details of the exercise home, where it is believed they may have been accessed by Chinese hackers, ministry officials have said.
#1
I envision the attack by the Mainland to be predicated on one essential mission: to get as many ground forces as possible into Taiwan's cities, quite possibly wearing civilian clothes. This is based on the idea that once they are there, they will be impossible to root out by the Americans.
This means that a flotilla will need to cross the Strait carrying huge numbers of personnel. Such a flotilla must be calculated to suffer as high as 90% casualties yet still succeed in its mission.
Any other means of infiltration prior to such an attack will greatly increase its likelihood of success. "Immigration" from the Mainland will radically increase in the months prior to the invasion, as will smuggling of weapons and equipment.
The invasion itself will be on a strict timetable to decapitate the government and rapidly install a puppet regime. Diplomatically, around the world China will use all its clout to put pressure on the US to "not attack China".
For their part, the vicious battles with the Taiwanese, along with attacks on the Mainland by Taiwanese forces will all be accepted as part of the cost of reunification.
#2
What happens if the day after the PRC opens the festivities, Taiwan declares its nuclear capabilities, and the day after that Japan has something to say, and the day after that the UN convenes? I suppose we'll see what's more important - liberty or "liberation".
#3
If I was Taiwan I would be investing in
A) Heavy fortification of Air Fields/Hangars Ports/docks INFASTRUCTURE and especially oversized civil augmented Engineer outfits to make immediate repairs to damaged strips hangars port facilities.
B) Pac 3 if possible
C) If A & B can secure air fields then go to D. if not then substitute A & B with funding of interstate roads and mobile support for spread out air fighters and dispersed infrastructure.
D) air force heavily if A/B option then top notch air dominance fighters if not then Grippen type light mobile short take off ruff strip mobile fighters.
C) Anti-Sub-Anti-Air ships to control the sea lanes inbound from the US then small stealthy PT type strike ships to sneak in and hit both the large cargo chicoms with torpedoes & small Assault Ships with 20cal, 50cal or better fire.
The Primary Chicom threat to Taiwan is their Ballistic Missiles 2ndary to the growing Chicom Navy/Air force. Stopping the Ballistic Missiles will be extremely hard especially considering the Chicom air force growing threat and Ships firing curies missiles to boot. I would suggest a strategy along the lines of much of Europe small short range fighters spread thought country along highways mobile running cycles holding the air presence and not being absolute defense power but enduring defense buying time for reinforcements. For the navy concentrate convoy escort ships to keep the life lines open and stealthy PT type attack boats to hit enemy ships inbound with supplies.
Taiwan cannot outright defeat a Chicom invasion they must contain the damage hold presence in the conventional sinking ships, air craft destroyed, ect...and escorting foreign cargo ships in. Buying time for the US to rally and either declare of have a presence incident that brings them into the game. Worst case would be slowing the defeat until international only pressure can contain the Dragon.
The sad part thou is that it looks like Liberalism has invaded Taiwan as bad if not worse than here in the states and they are doing all they can to stop the military from being able to match the Chicom Dragon ya know they are more scared of the âRight Wingersâ who may cause a war with China. Pitiful
#1
I wonder just what source of energy elite Californians WOULD approve. The don't want offshore drilling, or drilling anywhere they can see. No LNG landings. No nuclear plants. No wind farms. Maybe Mexicans running on treadmills?
#5
Can't wait for pipeline and powerline hating Bugtis to move to Malibu.
Posted by: ed ||
04/10/2007 10:23 Comments ||
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#6
Friggin short-sighted idiots. Because of people like this we pay HUGE energy bills with no end in sight. If they had supported Nuclear and other forms (say NATURAL GAS) we would be kliving inthe tall cotton today. How bout we have the idiots chip in to pay the energy bills.
#7
Environmentalists, however, say there is no guarantee the project would be more reliable or lower prices because the gas could also be sold to other states.
That about sums it up for me. These pampered NIMBY twits live in their own little self-contained dreamworld of special privilege for special people and adamantly oppose anything that might benefit anyone else. For example, it is a continuing battle to get them to comply with the rules regarding beach access that the rest of California deals with. By law, all of California's citizens have access to all of California's beaches. The folks in Malibu don't like the little people tramping on their beaches and harshing their mellow. On the other hand, they feel it is fitting and proper to have the "little people" come to their aid when their homes slide onto the "pristine" beaches or when the fires come over the hill. Worthless p***ks.
#8
...because the gas could also be sold to other states.
Hmmmmmmmm? Maybe Nevada ought to check out that water rights deal? Wonder if Babs would like it if her seemingly neverending lawnspace turn brown or you could only fill the pool halfway?
#9
Idjits. This terminal could supply between 10% - 14% of the state's entire LNG requirements. The terminal would be so far offshore as to be invisible. It is assholes like these that are turning California into one of the most business unfriendly states in the Union.
#10
Read the article: about the second to last paragraph it pretty well sums up the mental process of the state: The governor cannot override the decision of the board. Last time I checked, in the other 49 states, the Governor was the State's Chief Executive and was the Man (or Woman) in Charge, and here his authority is being usurped by a board? Any CA-Burgers want to fill me in, but I am willing to bet these clowns are not elected. No wonder that state is so F-ed up.
watch these same idiots whine when gas prices climb due to inadequate supplies.
#11
My only work with State Lands was a successful one, so I don't know the exact avenue of appeals, but this Commission is not the end-all, be-all. There are always appeal processes
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/10/2007 16:13 Comments ||
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#12
Folks, I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. The problem as I see it, having lived here all my life, is that everyone in the whole wide world wants to live here. (Admit it. You want to live here. If you don't then stay where you are because I don't want you here anyway.) Developers are all too eager to build massive housing tracts to meet the demand for housing and they bribe the politicians to let them do it. But all the new housing and people creates an ever increasing demand for water, energy, roads, airports, schools, hospitals, etc. In short, the state's infrastructure is totally inadequate and crumbling. They're talking water shortages this summer because we didn't get enough rain this past winter. So do I have to stop watering my lawn because they built 10,000 new homes in my town? Now, think about it, these bought and paid for politicians want to put a power line through a pristine state park like Anza-Borrego or an international airport in your backyard or a new freeway in your front yard just so the developers can keep building and making huge fortunes. You'd be pissed. I am.
#13
#12 EU - I don't want to live in California. Never did. Never will.
But you're welcome to move here to Virginia when you come to your senses. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/10/2007 16:27 Comments ||
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#14
EU's got a point, Barb -- everyone starts moving to Virginia and it's going to look at lot like Manassas.
I lived in Richmond in the 80's. In just a few years they turned Chesterfield from a delightful country of back roads and farms into one large suburb. After that the elected officials looked at each other and said, gee, maybe we need some zoning laws. Smooth, guys, real smooth.
Yeah, we have more people, and yeah, we need places to put them (especially all those new citizens from Mexico ;-). So we need more NG and LNG. We don't have to wreck every last piece of decent land to do it.
There's lots of ways to get the NG off all three coasts, and we should do it. But let's show some common sense.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2007 17:06 Comments ||
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#15
"Admit it. You want to live here"
EU6305, you and all your friends together don't have enough money to get me to live in that fruit-and-nut-loaded abortion of a state. I PITY any productive people who live there, particularly if they're white. They get taxed at gunpoint to provide bread and circuses for those who truly hate them. I have to travel through there for business (just to the airports), and I'm ALWAYS glad to get out. California? ABSOLUTELY EFFING NOT, NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! When you guys slide off into the sea we'll have a much better shot at getting the US government back from the frothing left. (I hope you're not there when the big slide happens.)
Posted by: Mac ||
04/10/2007 18:15 Comments ||
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#16
The nice thing about LNG is that after being turned back into gas, it is just fed into the existing pipeline network. The US has minimal capacity to receive LNG at the moment. The only way for the US to continue using NG at present levels is thru building new LNG facilities. Perhaps the national government will be motivated to do something serious when parts of the country start freezing in the dark, which could happen next winter.
#17
I figured that might set some people off. Actually, if it wasn't for the beach, I'd consider some quiet Midwestern state where the changes that disturb me so much here take place much more gradually. I understand that there is more to "quality of life" than just having a constant 70 degrees. And, yes, we have a LOT of fruits and nuts here. I guess what I was trying to say was, if you don't live here, you may not understand what it's like to have bulldozers going 24/7.
#18
Being transferred to Warner Robins, GA after living in Pacific Beach for the last 10 years, I have been giving a lot of thought to who would want to live in California. If I were younger with children still at home, I think I would prefer to live almost anywhere else than California. The schools here are pathetic. Kids come out with self-esteem and no marketable skills. They have been indoctrinated with a very PC worldview that bears no resemblance to reality. The "elites" in California are so venal and smug that many decisions are taken in a truly twilight zone environment. Government here is corrupt and incompetent at all levels. The infrastructure is beginning to break down and we are being overwhelmed by illegals to the point that it is occasionally difficult to find someone who speaks English. That said, I love San Diego and would stay here forever if duty didn't call me elsewhere.
#19
sorry to lose you, RWV. Your school complaint refers to SD Unified, and they do have their issues. I've lived in Santee (the redneck/garden spot of east county, LOL) since the 80's - we have Grossmont Unified, which I believe to be better. Born/raised in Chula Vista. Attended UCSD/SDSU. Doubt I'll ever leave :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/10/2007 21:25 Comments ||
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#20
Hold on, let's not discount the Mexican hamster wheel option so quickly.
Please, folks. Listen to the voice of reason! (Spot on, Mate!)
#21
I was born in Torrance, south of LA. The last time I was back there was 1960. You couldn't get me to move anywhere south of Sacremento, including holding a gun to my head. I have family in northern California (Grass Valley, Yuba City, Marysville), and don't go to visit. Colorado has everything I need, including a nice beach (Great Sand Dunes National Monument). I don't miss oceans at all...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/10/2007 23:59 Comments ||
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American payrolls grew by more than expected in March. The number of jobs grew by 180,000, pushing the unemployment rate down to 4.4%. Markets abroad were perked up by the news. Bad news for the Democrats and good news for Bush? This is getting very downplayed in the MSM.
Prices for farm produces are soaring, driven in part by demand for carbohydrates to manufacture ethanol fuel. This is good news for farmers in places like Latin America, who have seen their incomes grow in recent years thanks ot a global commodity boom, but bad news for consumers who are facing inflationary pressure--and hunger in some poor areas. This is the beef I have with trying to use food to make fuel. In a lot of these countries food is already costly to the really poor. It will only get worse. Food supplies for the very poor will get more scarce.
America is considering bringing its issues with Chinese piracy of intellectual property in front of the WTO. This is likely to strain not only already fractious relations with China, but also the WTO, which has found IP issues particularly contentious with its increasingly militant members from the developing world.
Russia says that major gas exporting nations do indeed plan on forming an OPEC-like cartel, although these rumours were earlier denied by Iran and Qatar. This could make world energy markets even more volatile than currently, though it's unlikely that a gas cartel would be able to exert OPEC-like levels of control. The Financial Times reports that the World Bank is about to undertake a significant overhaul of its activities, refocusing on more productive efforts. No more "loans" to the Palestinians or other high-risk clients?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/10/2007 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Cartoonist Johnny Hart, whose award-winning BC comic strip appeared in more than 1300 newspapers worldwide, died at his New York state home on Saturday. He was 76. 
A new study from the University of Pittsburgh has found that during the past thirty years, the number of male births has steadily decreased in the U.S. and Japan. Perhaps more worryingly, the study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, also found that an increasing proportion of fetuses that die are male. In Japan, among the fetuses that die, two-thirds are male, up from just over half in 1970.
