The first urine-powered paper battery has been created by physicists in Singapore. The credit-card sized unit could be a useful power source for cheap healthcare test kits for diseases like diabetes, and could even be used in emergency situations to power a cellphone, they say.
Testing urine can reveal the identity of illnesses, and the new paper battery could allow the sample being tested to also power the diagnostic device....
PANAMA CITY, Fla. -- A man who once shouted "cuckoo" and then dropped his pants to moon a jury has been convicted of attacking his girlfriend with a boxcutter. Cornell Jackson, 31, could face up to 33 years in prison when sentenced Tuesday. That's the penalty he received after two earlier trials in which convictions were reversed because he had not received formal competency hearings. Jackson's lawyers argued he was legally insane when, in a jealous rage over perceived attention that Kisha Smith had paid to another man, he slashed her on Jan. 21 and 22, 2000. The second attack came after she returned home from getting her initial wound stitched at a hospital. Jackson testified that he battles demons regularly with "Jesus and Michael Archangel." I battle trolls regularly with "the Rantburg regulars."
He refused to attend his first trial and was removed from his second in 2003 after he bared his buttocks. Jackson was ruled competent in April, and a jury convicted him Friday of aggravated battery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and armed burglary.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/15/2005 19:32 Comments ||
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#3
I know how this guy feels, I have a constant battle raging inside me with a demon who wants me to throw shit on Babs Boxer. So far I have kept him in check, but my resolve is weakening.
SNORERS are used to being told they are overweight, drink too much and should not sleep on their backs.
But what really makes them snore, according to scientists, is the shape of their throats.
Snorers have narrower throats, with the loudest snorers having the narrowest throats.
Slovenian doctors used scanners to measure the size and shape of the mouths of 40 volunteers, including 14 loud snorers. The group included similar numbers of light snorers and non-snorers.
It was found the noisiest had the narrowest throats - 8.6 times narrower than their mouths.
Non-snorers' throats were more than twice as wide, at just 3.6 times narrower than their mouths, while moderate snorers measured 4.7.
Researcher Dr Igor Fajdiga said: "The results are highly significant, showing that a greater narrowing is characteristic for snoring persons."
Around the world, DNA testing is being used to solve crimes and establish paternity. Despite the Islamic Fiqh (Jurisprudence) Academyâs approval of introducing it in certain circumstances, Saudi courts remain hesitant about accepting test results as evidence of lineage. With the increase of paternity cases due to extramarital affairs, illegal marriage contracts or other unfortunate circumstances through which parents are separated from their children, it has become necessary for judges to update their evidence-base and rely on modern scientific methods rather than old applications. However, it seems that many judges are unconvinced that DNA tests are more accurate than a witness or lineage expert stating that âthis child is fathered by that man.â
âDNA test results are never accepted in courts here,â Dr. Omar Al-Khouli, a lawyer, told Arab News. âEven when a judge recently accepted the results for a lineage case, he was rebuked by the appellate court and his ruling was overturned.â Al-Khouli contends that judges approve four proofs: a legal marriage contract, an admission of paternity, two witnesses stating that the child is the manâs (which is applied in the case of a father dying before registering his child) or a method called qayafa where a lineage expert bases his decision on resemblance.
An appearance on a Montel or Maury Povich paternity episode trumps all of these.
âQayafa was introduced in courts some centuries ago, and even though it is far less accurate than DNA, it is accepted by judges over DNA, which has an accuracy rate of 99.6 percent,â Al-Khouli said.
...and Allan knows best.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Ah yes 7th century"science"trumps 21st century science,after all 7 omes before 21.Don't ignorant Kifirs no nottin.
#5
The ancient Roman aristocracy had a similar problem -- an awful lot of the next generation looking suspiciously like Mom's favourite slave boy. But then, those newfangled lead water pipes were already having an effect in those days...
Traffic reports and studies presented by Saudi universities and local traffic departments reveal that women cause around 50% of traffic accidents, despite not being allowed to drive.
Well, damn them! Maybe they shouldn't be allowed to ride, either?
According to the studies, reasons behind road accidents involving women are usually caused by their lack of knowledge of road traffic rule and regulations. Some actions include opening the car door without paying attention to on-coming traffic is common.
"Watch out for that in-line skater!"
Marital quarrels are another main although overlooked reason.
"Mahmoud, I'm leaving you!... Hey! Watch out for the camel!"
Official statistics indicate that nearly 65,000 deaths and 50,000 injuries resulted from 800,000 accidents during the years from 1971 to 1995. Comparatively high, recent statistics show 1.5 million accidents during the last thirty years. The studies also show that 78 % of victims are less than 45 years of age. Moreover, statistics provided by the Ministry of Health refer to the fact that one fifth of these numbers are kids under the age of 15. Hit and run accidents are a major problem in Saudi Arabia especially inside cities and neighborhoods, outside schools and shopping centers where traffic statistics record more than 7 thousand accidents with people run over by cars each year.
This travesty must not continue. I'm calling my Congresscritter. There oughta be a law...
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2005 00:00 ||
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Since roughly half the peeps are women...
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/15/2005 0:43 Comments ||
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#2
Where's Gentle, perhaps she can clarify...
Posted by: Rafael ||
08/15/2005 4:13 Comments ||
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#3
further analysis reveals that at the time of the accident, these women were frequently sitting in the back seat of the vehicle, and are related to the driver by way of marriage -- either as wife or as the mother of the wife.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/15/2005 8:25 Comments ||
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#7
When I first read the headline, I had a mental image of Machmoud staring down a woman's ankles on the sidewalk and smacking into the back of the car in front of him. "I don't know Mr. Police Man...I was just staring at her sexy ankles, and next thing I know, this happened. She needs to be stoned for showing her ankles in public!"
Posted by: BA ||
08/15/2005 8:38 Comments ||
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The breasts of Britain's women have grown by a cup-size in the past decade and could be changing the shape of the female spine, according to new research. An average bra size of 34B 10 years ago has increased to a 36C across this country and Australasia, the bra manufacturer Bendon has discovered. The result was supported by retailer Marks & Spencer, but a spokesman said it had only noticed the change in the past five years.
We've been watching with growing interest...
Experts suggested that the increase was due in part to the popularity of breast enhancement, and fitted into a pattern of women gradually getting bigger.
Global warming?
Results from the most recent National Sizing Survey, released last year, revealed that women's busts and hips had grown by 1Âœins since 1951. Waists had also grown by 6Âœins. But details about bra size had been kept confidential by retailers.
Victoria's Top Secret
Bendon also found that more than half of women were wearing ill-fitting bras, despite publicised information that this caused back pain and other problems. Fiona Walsh, an osteopath on the General Osteopathic Council, said: "Breasts are growing, not only as a result of women getting bigger generally, but across the board."
She said that bigger breasts could lead to a flattening of the upper spine. However, the right bra could alleviate back and neck pain.
We at Rantburg promise to look into this developing issue. At least when our wives aren't looking
Posted by: The Angry Fliegerabwehrkanonen ||
08/15/2005 13:59 ||
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Does anyone else see the trouble here ?
Busts and hips increased by 1.5" but waists increased by 6.5". Thats over four times as much.
Now, this may just be me, but growth in regions A and C, welcome as they are, tend to be diminished in their aesthetic value by growth of area B.
#2
I believe the relevant unit of measurement is the British Standard Handful.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/15/2005 16:47 Comments ||
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#3
Let's hope the size of the average British male's hand is growing in proportion to, uh, that which it is intended to have a handful of. (Does that make sense?)
Posted by: Jonathan ||
08/15/2005 17:04 Comments ||
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#4
In 1951 women wore girdles. Now we don't, thank goodness! But the result in measured girth for outerwear is obvious.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/15/2005 22:29 Comments ||
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I have read that the same pattern is occurring in the US. Speculation was that part of the increased bust size was related to general increased obesity, but that the 'disproportionate' increase in bust size might be related to the use of hormones in animal feed, transferred to people through meat, milk, eggs, etc.
Either Dean Martin or Turkmenbashi with a liberal application of Grecian Formula. I'm not sure which...
Turkmenistan's leader on Sunday congratulated citizens of the ex-Soviet republic on the Turkmen Melon Day he established to honour the favourite fruit of the sun-drenched Central Asian nation.
"Happy Melon Day, my fellow citizens!"
"And a happy Melon Day to you, too, O Turkmenbashi!"
The nation currently grows 500 varieties of melon, including the Czar Melon, grown to honour President Saparmurat Niyazov, and the Golden Age, meant to symbolise prosperity under the president, the Agriculture Ministry said. "Let the life of every Turkman be as beautiful as our melons," Niyazov said in a statement.
"Let's party hearty! Let the feast begin!"
"What're we having?"
"Melons."
"There is nothing like that in any country of the world," the state-run Neutral Turkmenistan daily said in a headline.
No ther country has a month named "Mom," either.
Niyazov has led the former Soviet republic, a largely desert nation rich in natural gas, since 1985 as Communist Party chief. He was elected president in 1992 in the wake of the Soviet collapse, and has since gone completely bonkers created a personality cult around himself.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2005 00:00 ||
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"Let the life of every Turkman be as beautiful as our melons,"
Anyone got pics of Turkmen woman and their melons?
CNN founder Ted Turner arrived in the North Korean capital Pyongyang, North Korean official media reported. I hear lil' Kim is quite the duffer.
"Robert Edward Turner, chairman of the Turner Foundation INC. of the United States, and his party ... arrived here," said the Korean Central News Agency, monitored here. South Korean officials said Turner was visiting the Stalinist state to discuss a project to turn the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas into a nature reserve. Never mind those starving children... I bet a petting Zoo will do nicely in the DMZ.
He will visit an international environmental forum on the project here early next week, they said. Good luck.
#10
What a waste of Mr. Turner's time. The DMZ is already a functioning nature preserve. It's the only place on the entire Korean peninsula where the animals can roam without fear of being crowded out or hunted, and the plant life has flourished undisturbed since the minefields were established. The only risk is to the very largest animals, who occasionally discover a mine the hard way.
Reading KCNA articles about the "U.S. Group for the Study of Songun Politics", one starts to picture millions of the disaffected American proletariat rising up in the streets, marching through U.S. cities with their fists upraised in the manner depicted by North Korean social realist murals. The "U.S. Public Figure" and chairman of this party is one John Paul Cupp, who apparently is a homeless guy in Oregon. If he is the chairman, it appears he must also be the vice-chairman, secretary, treasurer and night-watchman.
#1
The money quote: Whether Japan would start a war against the United States or against the Soviet Union was a primary concern for Moscow, which wanted Japan to choose war against Washington as the Soviets needed to focus on battling Germany.
#3
The policy of going after the US first made a lot of sense - the US was far away from Japanese targets and the weakest of all the major powers at the beginning of the war.
#4
Did the Soviets cut off the Japanese access to oil and steel? Those seem like pretty belligerent actions to me.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/15/2005 10:09 Comments ||
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MD: Did the Soviets cut off the Japanese access to oil and steel? Those seem like pretty belligerent actions to me.
The Japanese should have been able to obtain oil and steel from other sources, albeit at higher prices. Japanese forces had pacified big chunks of China by this time - China's oil fields at Dalian in Manchuria (formerly Manchukuo, a Japanese province annexed from China) are still producing oil today. Until recently, when demand from export-related industries forced China to import iron ore from abroad, China was self-sufficient in steel.
Basically, the Japanese invasion of China was an excellent strategic move in an age where China was the only remaining territory not conquered by the major powers. The Japanese overreached when they attacked the US at Pearl Harbor, instead of just going after the overseas possessions of the British, French and Dutch empires in Asia. Without Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt would have had no pretext for going to war with Japan.
I kind of understand why they did it - they wanted to knock out the Pacific fleet in order to conquer the Philippines (then US territory). Why? Because the Philippines was one of the richest territories in the Far East at the time, not the sick man of the region that it is today.
#6
The Japanese should have chosen neither route. If they had stuck to attacking European possessions in the Pacific theater and avoided fighting the USA, Australia, and Russia. In fact they should have made alliances with the three nations to ensure trade and supply routes.
Certainly they would have continued a long nasty fight in China, Vietnam, Indonesia and eventually overstretched into India...
#7
rjschwarz: If they had stuck to attacking European possessions in the Pacific theater and avoided fighting the USA, Australia, and Russia.
I think Australia is the odd man out in that list. Before the American entry into the Pacific War, the Australians were beaten by the Japanese everywhere they fought them. It was the Battle of Coral Sea, fought by the US Navy, that decided whether or not Australia would fall under Japanese rule. If they had conquered Australia, they would have denied the US a base from which major operations in the Western Pacific could be mounted. Note that the Japanese conquest of Australia would not have given Roosevelt a pretext for war, since the US had no mutual defense treaty with Australia at the time.
#8
I agree about Australia, the Japanese could have taken them, but tactically I think it would have been a mistake in the long run. Better to let the Aussies be neutral and get ore or whatever from trade than to risk dragging the US, and England and Dominions into the Pacific once the European theater was over.
I think the Japanese dropped the ball and they were really lucky that they were at the mercy of the US and not the Soviets when the dust settled.
#9
rjschwarz: I think the Japanese dropped the ball and they were really lucky that they were at the mercy of the US and not the Soviets when the dust settled.
Well, they weren't that lucky - Roosevelt insisted on detaching from Japan its provinces on the Asian mainland - Korea and Manchuria - as well as Taiwan. We paid for Roosevelt's decision during the Korean War. And we continue to pay for it today, via impasse over Taiwan and Korea today. A Japan with all three territories would be a solid counterbalance to China, and have a population of about 300 million. Unfortunately, retaining Japan's pre-war territorial integrity was the path not taken.
#10
My understanding is that the oil in China was not sufficient for Japanese appetites and that what they wanted was the Dutch East Indies. The Phillipines had the misfortune to be on the way and Japan could not be confident, given the belligerence of the US, that they would not be used as a base to interdict oil transports to the Home Islands. What they did wrong was to ignore U. S. isolationism and how much of a blind eye we would have turned to further Japanese aggression as long as it wasn't directed at us.
Counterfactual history is fun.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/15/2005 15:58 Comments ||
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#11
Little did the Nips suspect I had F**ked up every well played defense plan of the Phillipines! I decided to fight the suckers on the beaches, a brilliant but logistically unsupportable plan. I took care of my out numbered counterpart after the war. Had his ass hung.
#12
Yes, I do hate Marines, but hey? It's a living. The refridgerator? A myth, it was a freezer, the Ana, naw... a good friend of the family, the boy? Yeah he's queer has a 3 dollar bill, I fouled him up like my Mommmy did me.
#13
Yes the Phillipines were in an awkward position but invasion but the US was guardedly neutral. It would have been safer to hug the Asian coast and allow the Phillipines to be American than confront the USA when they didn't have to.
I'm not sure of the figures, coz I'm braindead, but IIRC there area bout 2 millions french expats, mostly high-skilled youngs or entrepreneurs, who flow out of France at the rate of 50 000 each year (while in the same time there are 350 to 500 000 non-skilled migrants who come in, only 5% of them in order to work, the others being benefit-receivers). Note that due to my many failures, I'm way too soft and underschooled to try my luck elsewhere. If the ship sinks, I sink with it, glups.
#1
I'm way too soft and underschooled to try my luck elsewhere.
Silly boy, in America it's your willingness to work and learn that counts, not your curriculum vitae. I know you love your mother, but send off a few letters to American companies, and see what happens.
#3
Fed up with a country they describe as rigid, racist and old-fashioned, French youngsters are opting for a new start in Britain, Canada, America or New Zealand
There's something all those countries have in common. I just can't put my finger on it.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/15/2005 9:29 Comments ||
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..for fear of being unable to fire people,"
Nice to know that the U.S. government isn't the only outfit unable to fire people.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/15/2005 16:27 Comments ||
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#8
English is more or less the common language.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/15/2005 16:38 Comments ||
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English IS the common language.
Some ham/spam I got.
A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies.
At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a group of half dozen or so officers that included personnel from most of the countries.
> Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks, but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many
languages, Americans learn only English.He then asked: "Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking
French?"
Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied: "Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have
to speak German.
The silence in the room was deafening.
Ham/Spam up to you.
At least some French have learned there is more to life than being anti-english.
#1
Not mentioned in the article, but a significant part of the mystery is why the radio wasn't used as the plane flew for an hour after whatever incident occured. Other crew members would have known how to use the radio in an emergency. And then what about the two men seen in the cockpit, which must have been well into the hour. Why weren't they effected?
Skin coloration is determined by the amount of pigment in the skin and the blood flowing through it. Blood that is saturated with oxygen is bright red. Blood that has lost its oxygen is dark bluish-red. People who have a large quantity of blood deficient in oxygen tend to take on a bluish discoloration called cyanosis.
Lack of oxygen (such as in suffocation or cyanotic heart disease), abnormal hemoglobin (such as methemoglobinemia) and toxins (such as cyanide) can all produce cyanosis.
Did someone poison an entire aircraft full of people?
#2
The more I think about this, the more poisoning the crew and passengers makes sense. After 9/11 people aren't going to sit back and let a plane be hijacked. You have to incapcitate them. Planes recirculate air. All you need to do is place a toxic gas emitter next to the air extract and the air conditioning system will distribute it throughout the plane for you. The hijackers either need somekind of antidote or their own oxygen.
If I am right all hell will break loose over this.
#3
If a toxin was used plan on never hearing a word of it. No one would fly and the airlines would go out of business. No government is going to let this out if they is true,
#4
The survival of everyone on board depends on just one thing: finding someone on board who can not only fly this plane, but who didn't have fish for dinner.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
08/15/2005 1:35 Comments ||
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Pity Aris isn't around, I'd like to know the meaning of the Greek word 'frozen', cos in english it can mean either very cold or immobilized. The former would be the only direct evidence for the decompression theory (i've seen). The latter would be evidence of poisoning.
#6
The terrorist theory doesn't make sense. The point of terrorizing is to make a big show of it, eg. crashing into buildings, explosions, claims of responsibility. Otherwise, it may well just have been another air crash. It may be a botched terror attempt, but I doubt it.
Posted by: Rafael ||
08/15/2005 2:28 Comments ||
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#7
It could be as simple as the 'hijackers didn't know how to turn off the auto-pilot. Remember 9/11, the hijackers only learned how to steer a plane. Cyprus is less than 30 minutes flying time from Israel.
#10
...I'm still inclined to go with 'horrifying accident' here. A decompression accident is VERY survivable IF the guys up front do everything right the first time - no room for mistakes, no 'do-overs'. I know of no other way to say this than to say this bluntly - US, UK, Australian, and Canadian pilots get stuff hammered into them on the simulators on a regular basis to the point where dealing with an accident like this is reflexive - but for the overwhelming majority of the world, sophisticated training such as that mandated by our laws is something they read about in the magazines, and I would be sadly confident that in this case the final verdict would be insufficient training followed by pilot panic.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/15/2005 7:35 Comments ||
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#11
This report says bodies were frozen solid and speculates the airconditioning spread poison gas.
#12
Oxygen masks deployed, one pilot slumped, the other missing, and then two guys show up in the cockpit? The presence of these two was especially mysterious, he added, because by all appearances most of the plane's other occupants were incapacitated.
I'd like to be a fly on the wall when they play the tapes from the black box!
Mebbe OBL will claim responsibility? Why nlt? Claim to cause accidents? Sure, it was allan's will....
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/15/2005 7:45 Comments ||
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#13
There was also mystery over the last minutes of the flight which was declared "renegade" when it entered Greek air space and failed to make radio contact, causing two F-16 air force jets to scramble to investigate ahh..so that's why the jets were there.
#14
"The F-16s saw two individuals in the cockpit seemingly trying to regain control of the airplane," Roussoupoulos told reporters. It was not known if they were passengers or other crew.
"The F-16s also saw oxygen masks down when they got close to the aircraft. The aircraft was making continuous right-hand turns to show it had lost radio contact."
The Defense Ministry said it suspected the plane's oxygen supply or pressurization system may have malfunctioned, which could have led to death within seconds for ALL on board.
We'll be forced to swallow it, of course, but it's a bit tough to reconcil how they could have ALL died within seconds - yet two were able to enter the cabin and cause the plane to make left hand turns to indicate loss of radio contact.
#16
Most of the bodies recovered from the Cypriot plane that crashed into a mountain near Athens with 121 people on board were "frozen solid," a Greek Defense Ministry source said on Monday.
"Autopsy on passengers so far shows the bodies were frozen solid, including some whose skin was charred by flames from the crash," the source, with access to the investigation, told Reuters.
"A passenger on the doomed plane said in an SMS text to his cousin in Athens: "The pilot has turned blue. Cousin farewell, we're freezing."
The Defense Ministry said it suspected the plane's oxygen supply or pressurisation system may have malfunctioned, which could have led to death within seconds for all on board.
Greek media speculated toxic gas from possible faulty air-conditioning could have incapacitated the two pilots.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/15/2005 9:18 Comments ||
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#17
Question for "Bill Nye, The Science Guy" or any other lab coated geek:
At what temp would it take to completely freese an adult body of any weight in an hour?
#19
What's really weird here is how two guys were supposedly up and messing with the controls. Why would they be less affected by what downed the pilots?
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
08/15/2005 11:52 Comments ||
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#20
At 30,000 feet the air temperature is about minus 40F. Limbs and surface skin would freeze, but doubt it extended to body core. They'd be dead from lack of oxygen first.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/15/2005 11:53 Comments ||
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#21
Maybe, a la "The Day After Tomorrow," there was a sudden cold front that froze everything solid because George Bush invaded Iraq for oil and so Dick Cheney's Haliburton stock options would increase in value due to global warming?
Posted by: Tibor ||
08/15/2005 12:21 Comments ||
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#22
It would take an awfully long time to freeze solid. I found a rather compelling article on what it would be like to (nearly) die from hypothermia here.
Cabin pressure failed dramatically PLUS the separate oxygen flow in the pilot's cabin, which was locked. When the pilot stumbled into the passenger's cabin with a blue face it might have been to late. The passengers must have had working oxygen (at least to a certain extent), or nobody could have sent an SMS. The passengers did not die immediately obviously.
The pilots didn't have any oxygen, that's why they couldn't initiate the rapid descent. Since the autopilot was on the plane went on to Athens were the autopilot would make it circle, waiting for manual override necessary for landing. This for more than an hour at an altitude where minus 50°C is typical.
I know what minus 50 is like, we had that in Siberia. Exposed body parts would freeze extremely fast being ALIVE. A dead person would freeze solid quite fast, at least the exterior. I think "frozen solid" would mean that touching the body would feel hard. Doesn't have to mean that the whole body was solidly frozen already.
Some passengers (or the flight attendants) might have tried to perform the descent but may have been unable to override the autopilot. This explains the long circling at high altitude.
Yes that doesn't explain everything. Before stumbling into the passenger cabin the pilot should have performed the descent. This is routine and can be initiated within seconds. It only takes minutes to reach "breathable" altitudes.
#24
It might be a little-known fact that the oxygen masks on airplanes only work for about 10 minutes. When there's a failure, the pilot is supposed to use those 10 minutes to descend to a breathable altitude. What's weird is why they didn't do that.
#25
I suspect the blackboxes will show that the pilot felt nearly incapacitated and left the copilot in charge of descent wile he sought air, but the copilot passed out before completing his mission. Somebody should do time for the failed cockpit oxygen system.
#27
I'd like to know more about the sender of the text messenger. "The pilot is blue and we're freezing" may mean he was in the cockpit to see what was going on. My daughter informs me you only have 1.8 seconds to put on the oxygen mask and it only lasts 10 minutes, and one report said most of the bodies didn't have them on. The text messenger may have been complicit in the plot, whatever it was.
#28
Well, Danielle, looks like you might get your wish, 'cause the cops have arrested him:
Authorities said they believed the man was lying, and his cousin's name was not on the Cypriot government's official list of victims.
It'd be damned odd for him to know about "freezing" that early, if he didn't get a message.
Also, from the same article, the cops have raided Helios's offices; they think Helios is dragging its feet. This report says the cockpit voice recorder was damaged.
#30
New reports say that at least some passengers were alive when the plane crashed.
If the plane circled at high altitude for 11/2 hours passengers would not have survived. If it circled at lower altitude no freezing of the bodies could have occurred.
If the SMS about freezing was fake, then who knows...
It's difficult to speculate without having all the facts.
#31
"It's difficult to speculate without having all the facts."
That's never stopped people before, TGA - especially the media.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/15/2005 18:11 Comments ||
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#32
This quote seems to discount that the bodies were frozen.
"We have performed autopsies on six people. Our conclusion is they had circulation and were breathing at the time of death," Koutsaftis said, but stressed: "I cannot rule out that they were unconscious."
#33
One other point is that the plane's windows weren't frosted, which several experts say would have happened with decompression. Toxicology tests are under way. As far as I am concerned, its definitely poisoning. We should know how and whether its terrorism or accident, soon.
#2
Just another missed opportunity for Chirac to keep his mouth shut. As far as a âcommon foreign policyâ is concerned everyone should know that policy is set by France and Germany
Poland has no right to think that the Nation of Poland should matter at all when it comes to France and it's dealing with Russia as far as France is concerned.
#4
According to Interfax, Putin's foreign affairs adviser Sergei Prikhodko-asked why the presidents of Poland and Lithuania had not been invited to the celebrations-said: "This is a holiday of the Russian nation and only our friends were invited speaking the same language."
---
This does not bode well. Kick out Hawaii and make Poland the 50th state.
Politicians yield to public pressure and reject the name Pakistan Road for a short dirt road in a summerhouse quarter Owners of a few summerhouses and vegetable patches in Copenhagen's Amager quarter rejoiced on Friday, after it became clear that their houses would not get the address Pakistani Road. The Road Directorate originally decided to give the name to the two-metre long dirt road but met with cries of protests, as the quarter's residents, most of whom own small summerhouses and vegetable gardens on allotments near the road, did not feel that it was Danish enough.
The city's politicians decided to heed the residents' call, and name the road 'By Kastrup Fort', as the locals had proposed. Councillor Monica Thon from the Radical Liberal Party (sic) told daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten that she had been against the Pakistan name from the beginning, as it was not descriptive enough of the road. Thon emphasised, however, that she was not hostile towards Pakistan as a country. 'I'm well aware that this case may sound like it has some kind of a hostile tone, but I think it would be insulting to name a tiny dirt road after a big country like Pakistan,' she said. 'We are building like crazy around Copenhagen, and I would be surprised if we couldn't find a more fitting and bigger road and name it after Pakistan.' Heh. Howz about the road to the garbage dump?
Following New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's declaration of a state of emergency in four border counties on Friday,
Bill Richardson makes his opening gambit in Decision 2008. Hillary Clinton and GOP hopefuls, call your offices.
the Chihuahua state government called for greater cross-border dialogue to improve regional security. Richardson on Friday declared the area an emergency zone in order to get more federal funds to build a border fence and boost law enforcement with the aim of reducing crime related to drug and migrant trafficking and cattle rustling. He said Mexican authorities are doing their best to fight the problems but lack funds.
"I'm only trying to help out a neighbor in need here. But I can't do it alone. Send in the Marines."
On Saturday, the state of Chihuahua issued a statement in response. "We understand the concern of the New Mexican governor with defending the rights of his citizens and we will offer all the support we can to continue our good relationship with our northern neighbor," it read. The statement said the key to success will be better communication between the states' authorities. Chihuahua shares a 300 km. (186 mile) border with New Mexico. The principal population centers in the area are Ciudad Juárez and Palomas in Chihuahua and Deming and Columbus in New Mexico.
"Yipes. U.S. troops have really good guns and no sense of humor, plus they are really hard to bribe. Let's talk about this."
On Friday, the Foreign Relations Secretariat said Richardson's declaration doesn't "jibe with the spirit of cooperation and understanding" and called for a meeting "to promote appropriate actions."
Posted by: Chris W. ||
08/15/2005 1:35 Comments ||
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#2
Mexico is scared shitless that if the border closed down their people will demand that they make mexico a better place to live. The "head north young man" attitude will have to be replace by a drive to make a life for themselves.
#4
..the Chihuahua state government called for greater cross-border dialogue to improve regional security.
This doesn't mean squat.
"We understand the concern of the New Mexican governor with defending the rights of his citizens and we will offer all the support we can to continue our good relationship with our northern neighbor," it read.
A research team is proposing a new technique that would allow meat to be grown in a laboratory for mass consumption, according to a report.
Researchers in the U.S. say the technology now exists now to produce processed meats such as burgers and sausages, starting with cells taken from cows, chickens, pigs, fish or other animals.
Researchers in the U.S. say the technology now exists now to produce processed meats such as burgers and sausages, starting with cells taken from cows, chickens, pigs, fish or other animals.
Growing meat without the animal would not only reduce the need for the animals -- which often are kept in less than ideal conditions -- but may also address a number of environmental ills blamed on meat production.
Cultured meat could also be tailored to be healthier than farm-raised meat, while satisfying the increasing demand for protein by the world's growing population, proponents say.
Industrializing the process could involve growing muscle cells on large sheets or beads suspended in a growth medium. Anyone here ever read The Space Merchants?
Once the cells have grown enough, they could be scraped off and packaged. If edible sheets or beads are used, all of it could be eaten.
But butchers and vegetarians are just two groups of people who are yet to be convinced.
"To he honest anything they can do with test tubes or whatever, it can't be made," butcher Rodney Macken said.
"I don't like eating a cow that's been pumped full of growth hormones that artificially grow it so it gets onto our plates quicker," a diner said. " I would feel the same about a lump of meat that had been pumped full of chemicals and that had been artificially modified."
Supporters also said growing meat would reduce the number of animals killed and cut environmental waste that comes from livestock.
#2
Takes too long to move to refrigeration before the meat spoils under the sun. You know with all those power outages can't count on a cold slab either.
DAMASCUS - Syria and Lebanon discussed on Sunday the implementation of oil and electricity agreements signed between the two countries and stressed the importance of evaluating these agreements for the benefit of both.
'cause the Syrians are so loaded with oil that they just have to share.
Syrian Electricity Minister Muneeb Saâm el-Daher met with Lebanese Energy Minister Mohammed Fniesh in Damascus to discuss the follow up steps to implement agreements to supply Lebanon with electricity and evaluate stages that have been achieved of these agreements.
El-Daher told reporters after the meeting that âelectricity cooperation between Syria and Lebanon has always been fruitful for both sidesâ. Syria has always âcommitted to provisions of any agreement with any country especially Lebanonâ he added. The minister added that an outstanding debt of 30 million dollars owed by Lebanon to Syria for electricity supply âwould not be an obstacle in the way of improving relationsâ and said he hoped to find a suitable way to settle this debt.
The first electricity agreement between Syria and Lebanon was signed in 1995 back when Lebanon was a colony of Syria.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2005 00:00 ||
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FORGET dangers from giant meteors: Earth is facing another threat from outer space. Scientists have come to the conclusion that two mysterious explosions in the 1990s were caused by bizarre cosmic missiles.
The two objects were picked up by earthquake detectors as they tore through Earth at up to 900,000 mph. According to scientists, the most plausible explanation is that they were "strangelets", clumps of matter that have so far defied detection but whose existence was posited 20 years ago.
Formed in the Big Bang and inside extremely dense stars, strangelets are thought to contain "strange quarks", particles normally only seen in high-energy accelerators.
Strangelets - sometimes also called strange-quark nuggets I think I ate that brand as a kid - are predicted to have many unusual properties, including a density about ten million million times greater than lead. Just a single pollen-size fragment is believed to weigh several tons.
They are thought to be extremely stable, travelling through the galaxy at speeds of about a million miles per hour. If they're so stable, why do they hate us? A team of American scientists believes that it may have found the first hard evidence for the existence of strangelets.
The scientists looked for events producing two sharp signals, one as it entered Earth, the other as it emerged again. They found two such events, both in 1993. The first was on the morning of October 22. Seismometers in Turkey and Bolivia recorded a violent event in Antarctica that packed the punch of several thousand tons of TNT. The disturbance then ripped through Earth on a route that ended with it exiting through the floor of the Indian Ocean off Sri Lanka just 26 seconds later - implying a speed of 900,000 mph.
The second event took place on November 24, when sensors in Australia and Bolivia picked up an explosion starting in the Pacific south of the Pitcairn Islands and travelling through Earth to appear in Antarctica 19 seconds later.
According to the scientists, both events are consistent with an impact with strangelets at cosmic speeds. "The only explanation for such events of which we are aware is passage through the earth of ton-sized strange-quark nuggets."
Professor Eugene Herrin, a member of the team, said that two strangelets just one-tenth the breadth of a hair would account for the observations. "These things are extremely dense and travel at 40 times the speed of sound straight through the Earth - they'd hardly slow down as they went through."
The good news is that, despite their force, the impact of strangelets on an inhabited area would, probably, be less violent than that of a meteor. Prof Herrin said: "It's very hard to determine what the effect would be. There would probably be a tiny crater but it would be virtually impossible to find anything."
Scientists say that the discovery of strangelets would be a significant breakthrough, solving several long-standing mysteries. These include the nature of "dark matter", which, astronomers say, makes up more than 90 per cent of our galaxy.
Prof Frank Close, a particle physicist at Oxford University, said that confirmation of the events was crucial. "The first step is to see if one can find more examples and eliminate all other interpretations," he said. "If you're looking for very exotic and rare events, you need to be able to tell if it's the real thing or just an artefact."
#1
Even though this happened in 1993, I blame George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. Also, I'm sure Haliburton is involved somehow.
Posted by: Tibor ||
08/15/2005 19:53 Comments ||
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#2
Shhh, Tibor. Tonguska was the first Halliburton Strange Schtuff Generator test - or so I'm told. Personally, I rather like strange schtuff, but I haven't encountered any who are quite that fast - or dense.
Just curious, does anyone think he is breathing (or trying to) life back into the rubber-band theory with the dark matter / strangelet density reference? Last I heard, that had been discredited / discarded / kaputed / pooh-de-poohed.
#1
The problem - illustrated in the picture - is that on existing cars, you'd lose significant trunk space. The odds are that any car kitted out with these things will have to be bigger, just to provide space for grocery shopping.
#2
I don't know much about physics -but I'm guessing that even if you doubled the car size you wouldn't lose half the MPG. But even if that were true - 125 MPG isn't bad for a car twice that size.
#3
I don't know... it'd be nice to be able to buy a practical ultra-low-mileage electric/hybrid/fusion-powered De Lorean whenever my current Korean putt-putt gives up the ghost. You know, something more practical than a Prius.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
08/15/2005 14:49 Comments ||
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#4
I think we might start to see the introduction of city commuter cars. Tiny hybrids made out of recycled plastic that seat two and go forever on a charge. Put one of those roof racks/boxes on top for the groceries and recharge at least once a week.
No good for taking the kids to the soccer game though, for that you got to get out the Hummer.
It's no more efficient than other Prii. It simply gets some energy from a source which isn't being counted. He is getting his energy from a coal plant in Utah or a nukular plant in Arizona.
Meanwhile, the batteries mean the car is much heavier (and has much less cargo capacity), so once the pre-charge is done, he is going to get worse mileage than a box-stock Prius.
Oh, and I just love the line:
but believes automakers could mass-produce them by adding just $6,000 to each vehicle's price tag.
Just $6000? I was going to put $6000 in Fred's tip jar, but if that is such a miniscule amount, I guess I won't bother.
#9
Jackal: Just $6000? I was going to put $6000 in Fred's tip jar, but if that is such a miniscule amount, I guess I won't bother.
Actually $6,000 is peanuts *if* the car can get 250 mpg. To be conservative, and to account for an increase in the car's size to provide room for the the batteries, as well as the batteries' weight, let's cut that estimate in half, meaning that the car gets 125 mpg. That means a commuter driving a Taurus (30 mpg) and paying about $2,400 a year for gas will get to save $1,800 a year, or about $150 a month. The additional monthly payment (assuming a 7% interest rate and a 60-month term) from a $6,000 increase in the car's value is $110 a month. Like I said - it all depends on the accuracy of the claim. If it is possible to get 125 mpg, then a $6,000 increase in the car's price is peanuts, assuming current gas prices.
#10
Zhang, it bets 250 mpg until the battery wears down. Then it goes to normal Prius mileage less the cost of hauling dead batteries around. This is a commute vehicle for 1/2 hour commutes.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/15/2005 16:27 Comments ||
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#11
I decided to become active in this effort to go to PHEV cars.
The bottom line: I want to stop giving money to guys who want to slit my throat. If nothing else, it's a life style issue.
#12
A fully electric car would do infinite miles per gallon. So what! This is just a brainless MSM pap piece. Where does the electricity come from? How is it generated? And how much does it cost?
#13
phil_b: A fully electric car would do infinite miles per gallon. So what! This is just a brainless MSM pap piece. Where does the electricity come from? How is it generated? And how much does it cost?
The majority of the oil used in the US is used to produce gasoline. For electricity, we use coal, natural gas and nuclear power. If gasoline consumption can be reduced substantially in the US alone, oil producing countries will take substantial hits in term of the number of barrels sold. And that is what this research is all about - reducing oil consumption to stick it to oil producers.
#14
The majority of the oil used in the US is used to produce gasoline. For electricity, we use coal, natural gas and nuclear power.
Natural gas and oil are semi-fungible with each other; natural gas is used to help turn the heavier crude oils into something usable.
We import natural gas as well, sometimes from the same sources.
We haven't started building a new nuclear plant for the last twenty-five years or so.
Coal production would be harder to expand than many people think; Clinton put a major coal development project out of business in the last month or so of his presidency by turning the place into a national monument.
Then there's wind power, which isn't as environmentally destructive, on average, as many greenies think, but they do think so, SO, there's a strong NIMBY factor there too.
(And there are wind power plants in the desert in CA where they can't even get clearance to build more cables to connect more of their capacity to the statewide grid...)
Building electric cars basically means you're going to trust the same establishment/government that made it much harder to drill here in the US to provide cheap and plentiful electricity.
Posted by: Phil ||
08/15/2005 18:13 Comments ||
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#15
Sorry Zhang, but at the margins, all energy sources are fungible (moreorless). Its immaterial how electricity is currently generated. The issue is how the extra electricty is generated. The reality is that electric battery powered cars require between 2 and 5 times as much energy to send the same car the same distance compared to gasoline.
#16
Its immaterial how electricity is currently generated.
To me, what kind matters. I want nuclear power. I want solar and wind power. Hell, I want coal if it means that the US is self sufficient. If the demand is there...
#17
phil_b: Sorry Zhang, but at the margins, all energy sources are fungible (moreorless).
Actually, they're not fungible in dollar terms. From a cost standpoint, nuclear is the cheapest, followed by coal, natural gas and oil. And that was when oil was $30 per barrel.
#18
Zhang, agreed on nuclear power. There are two ways to look at this. One is the media is peddling snakeoil that will result in substantial increases in imported energy, because electric cars require far more energy (inputs) and almost of the increased electricity demand will be from imported oil and gas. The other way to look at it is that the increased demand for electricity will result in more nuclear, faster. BTW, I am quietly optimistic about some of the passive solar energy projects I am hearing about.
Former President Bill Clinton is getting his own CD music compilation - and don't bother suggesting any funny names. While some cheeky wags suggested yesterday calling the CD something blue, like "The Joy of Sax," "Sax and the City""Nothing But Sax" organizers say it will simply be called, "The Bill Clinton Collection: Selections from the Clinton Music Room." They'll be lining up for miles!
The Clinton Presidential Foundation has been working for months to acquire licensing rights to certain titles and has finally done so, foundation President Skip Rutherford said. The 11-track disk includes tunes such as "My One and Only Intern Love" by John Coltrane; "Harlem Mugging Nocturne" by David Sanborn; "My Chubby Funny Valentine" by Miles Davis; "Summertime" by Zoot Sims; "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Bang Another Fat Chick Be Free" by Nina Simone, and "Chelsea Bring A Few Hot Coeds Morning" by Judy Collins.
The CD is the latest joint venture for the Clinton Library and the Clinton Museum Store.
Clinton's office in New York has already reviewed the CD liner notes, and museum store operator Connie Fails said the compilation will be on sale in a month to five weeks.
Waitin at the Hotel late last night
He shoulda looked left and he shoulda looked right
He didn't se a Hilâry a spyin there
The Bubba got caught and there you are!
You got yer
Bubba caught in the hotel suite
Bubba caught in the hotel suite
You got your Bubba caught in the hotel suite
Hilâryâs gonna smack âem!
Heâd better duck quick, that vase will smart!
Close the door quick and run real hard
You don't have to look and you don't have to see
Bubba will feel it when she kicks his derieierey
You got yer
Bubba caught in the hotel suite
Bubba caught in the hotel suite
You got your Bubba caught in the hotel suite
Hilâryâs gonna smack âem!
Yeah you got yer Paula J. and you got yer Kathleen
On a moonlight night you got yer Miss Americee
Got yer Gennifer and yer Monica too.
The DNA stain its gonna make you swoon!
Bubba caught in the hotel suite
Bubba caught in the hotel suite
You got your Bubba caught in the hotel suite
Hilâryâs gonna smack âem!
Hilâryâs gonna smack âem!
C'mon duck!
You got it!
Smack âem, sheâll smack âem
Bubba caught in the hotel
Bubba caught in the hotel suite
Hilâryâs gonna smack âem!
All over the place, gotta duck, man!
Oh, you got a vase
It's crack, it's on the wall there
And Hilâryâs gonna smack, smack âem!
Russia's top state epidemiologist said on Monday that a bird flu outbreak in Siberia could spread through Russia's key agricultural areas in the south and then on to the Middle East and Mediterranean countries.
"An analysis of bird migration routes has shown that in autumn 2005...the H5N1 virus may be spread from Western Siberia to the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea," Gennady Onishchenko said in a letter to Russian regional health officials.
The letter was posted on the Website of the state's consumer rights watchdog.
"Apart from Russia's south, migrating birds may spread the virus to nearby countries (Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Georgia, Ukraine, Mediterranian countries) because bird migration routes from Siberia also go through those regions in autumn," he said in the letter. But when will it mutate into a virulent human disease?
#2
Three scenarios. First, the avian flu devastates China; possibly precluding a major war between China and the US or China and India. Second, the avian flu devastates the middle east, further destabilizing several of the dictatorships in the region; though doubtful that it would effect US forces in the region. Third, that the flu only becomes terribly lethal after it has hit the western world. Granted, their total casualties might be smaller, but it could have terrible economic and social ramifications. In any event, I prefer that westerners be very aware of the deadly possibilities of this, the #1 potential human disease. Their greater awareness of hygiene and risk avoidance offers them much protection, but with flu, timing is everything, and some timely behavioral modification may prevent much unneeded tragedy.
#3
H5N1 was first isolated in wild birds in Scotland nearly 50 years ago. While a lot of people are obsessing over this, H5N1 is already in European wild birds and has been for a very long time.
The issue is, are the birds carrying a strain capable of transmitting to humans and potentially transmitting (sustained) H2H. We know the gene sequences of the strain(s) that are jumping to humans in SE Asia from domestic birds. And I have quizzed the people who study gene sequences. There is no direct evidence that those strains are in any wild birds, never mind in the birds migrating to Europe.
Pandemic H5N1 will originate in SE/E Asia and arrive at an international airport near you, not in migrating birds.
#5
Moose, Well in excess of 100 million domestic birds have either died from H5N1 or been culled as suspected infected. In comparison, a few thousand wild birds dying, I wouldn't call massive. In addition, a strain that kills wild birds may or may not be lethal to humans and lethality in birds is almost certainly unrelated to transmissability in humans, which is the issue.
#6
It's all in the demographics. Domestic birds exist in highly compact surroundings in small areas, and the vast majority of culls are preventative (especially in this case, with a disease that kills domestic birds in a day or two.) To get the same numbers, you would need a huge flock of birds of the susceptible type contained in the same area for some length of time. Even if the entire flock is infected, usually only a percentage will die on site, the rest dying, spread out, over a wide area miles away from the main kill. In addition, birds vary as to the virulence of the virus. Some may just be carriers, taking the virus thousands of miles with no ill effects. Others get sick and recover. Even those that are very ill can usually intermingle with domestic birds and other livestock, such as pigs, that also carry the disease. As far as which mutations are traveling, that is also deceptive, because for example, in a single herd of swine, it was determined that individual pigs were "selectively breeding" superior strains, which were then transmitted to the herd as a whole--a single herd Darwinistically created the most effective virus out of hundreds of permutations. In this way, domestic animals were reproducing a process that would take weeks or months in the wild, in days.
#7
There is an awful lot we don't know about the origins of flu pandemics. However, one thing we do know is that jumping species and achieving sustained transmission is a rare event. We know this for certain with jumping to humans and can reasonably assume its true of all species (and all viruses for that matter). What this means is a population of viruses in one species is isolated from populations of the same virus in other species. As far as we are aware a wild bird has never transmitted H5N1 to a human.
The flu virus is unique in its capacity to rapidly evolve to get around host immunity. The presumption here is that capacity to contagiously and lethally infect birds will allow it to similarly affect humans. There is no evidence for this contention and I would argue against it on theoretical grounds. And even it were true, it doesn't address how the virus gets into humans and achieves sustained transmission. The reality is that many millions of domestics birds in Asia have a strain of H5N1 that can jump to humans and is lethal. What is missing is sustained transmission. I believe that will come from a coinfection in a human with regular flu that is already transmissable.
You are right in that domestic birds and animals are the issue. However, I would argue that what is happening in wild birds is irrelevant to the next flu pandemic (but may well be relevant to the one after next in 50 years time) and is being pushed by certain people who should know better.
#3
Yeah, well they be tellin me that big ol vacant lots that don't grow nuthin is replacin farms...
Posted by: Farmin B. Hard ||
08/15/2005 12:07 Comments ||
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#4
I'm surprised Bob hasn't set up death camps yet. Almost as surprised that the peasants haven't revolted with pointed sticks yet. Even with horrific losses, they could cause enough chaos to make something happen.
THE Ngondo family donât have electricity on their farm â but they have enough uranium underground to power the nearby town of Beaufort West for a thousand years. In April they landed a breathtaking R20-million windfall when they sold the mineral rights on the farm Katdoringkuil to a London-based mining company, Uranco Incorporated. When they had bought the 6000ha of flat, dusty veld four years ago, with a state subsidy, nothing had hinted at the rich uranium deposits waiting under the Karoo scrub. âWe had a dream to own a farm, but our dream turned into another dream because nobody expected there to be something like uranium in that property,â said Thandi Ngondo, 59, a retired railway worker.
He and his seven brothers and sisters set up a family trust to buy the land in 2001. Thandiâs brother Zwelinzima, 69, is the only sibling who lives on the farm, in a derelict house without electricity. He tends a vegetable patch and keeps a few goats, sheep, pigs and chickens.
IN 2000, Stanley Chirume, a primary school teacher from Budiriro township outside Harare, was earning Z$8000 (about R1333) a month. Today he earns Z$3.6-million â but that translates to only about R1200. With his old salary, he could afford to rent a three-bedroom house in the township at a monthly rental of Z$1200 (about R200). Then, minibus taxis charged Z$20 a trip from the township to the city. His three children were all in boarding school, where fees were Z$2500 for each of the yearâs three terms. He used to buy his three children new clothing for Christmas. But that all stopped in 2002 when the rising cost of living ate into his earnings. He used to take his family to his rural home twice a year, for Easter and Christmas â but not any more.
Bus fares to his rural home in Zvishavane, about 450km south of Harare, now cost him Z$280000 a person. In 2000, the fare was Z$300. âItâs dramatic how life has changed for us in Zimbabwe. I have nothing to show for working, and if things continue at this rate, our children have no hope. âI had bought a stand for just Z$40000 in 1998 in Budiriro, hoping that one day I would be able to build a house for my family, but things took a twist when my net income continued to decrease. In the end I had no choice but to sell that stand in 2001 because I could no longer afford the high council rates for that piece of land. Things just suddenly changed and we had to move to a smaller house. Now we canât even afford to have a decent breakfast, let alone eat out, something I used to treat my family to once in a while,â Chirume said.
Today, with his salary in the millions of dollars, he has downgraded from the three-bedroom house he was renting, to one with only one bedroom. Half his salary goes on the monthly rental. The rest takes care of transport and his three childrenâs school fees, leaving very little for food. Boarding fees at a government school are about Z$6-million a term (about R2222). âMy wife is also a teacher, but still our combined salaries canât cater for our needs. After paying school fees for our three children, we are left with nothing because what remains goes towards transport for the five of us, leaving very little for food. Worse still, most basic foodstuffs are in short supply, forcing us to buy anything available, which in most cases is expensive. We are just barely surviving and you can imagine how it is for single parents. Things are real tough now,â said Chirume.
HYDERABAD â A Pakistani woman is recuperating in a Hyderabad hospital after undergoing bypass surgery following a massive heart attack.
Noor Jahan Begum, 54, from Karachi had come to Hyderabad to attend the marriage of her niece. On July 30 she suffered a massive heart attack. She was rushed to the Apollo Hospital where the doctors found that she was suffering from "high risk acute coronary syndrome" and three of her arteries were blocked. The doctors said her condition was critical as one of the three arteries was hundred per cent blocked and the other artery was ninety nine per cent blocked.
Dr Vijay Dikshit, who led the team of doctors, said that they had to go for bypass surgery as she was not fit for angioplasty. Noorjahan, who is recuperating at the Apollo Hospital said, "I can never forget the way the doctors and the nurses here have treated me and looked after me. This is second life for me." "I though I will not survive", recalls Noor Jahan, thanking Allah and the doctors for saving her life.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2005 00:08 ||
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#1
Lucky she was in India. Would have probably died if left in the hands of Pakistani medical facilities.
Posted by: john ||
08/15/2005 17:52 Comments ||
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HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - A U.S. diplomat barred from meeting victims of President Robert Mugabe's mass eviction campaign, criticized the Zimbabwe government Saturday for interfering with aid efforts and warned of outrage in Congress over the worsening humanitarian crisis.
Tony Hall, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. World Food Program and Food and Agriculture Organization, said the United States would donate $51.8 million worth of food for Zimbabwe and the neighboring drought-stricken countries of Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho and Swaziland.
The 73,500 tons will be sufficient to feed 5 million to 6 million people for a month, he told reporters at Harare airport. "Despite our differences with the government, the United States will stand by the people of Zimbabwe because there is no place for politics when it comes to feeding hungry people," Hall said at the end of a three-day visit.
Now we have to find ways to keep Bob from pilfering the aid.
But he warned that the U.S. donation "only scratched the surface of an essentially political problem."
The World Food Program says up to a third of Zimbabwe's 12 million people may suffer from food shortages, even though Mugabe's government has played down the need for outside help. Hall said Zimbabwean bureaucracy was keeping 10,000 tons of food aid from U.S. relief groups "bottled up" in the South African port of Durban, over alleged lack of import licenses. He said another group had not been given permission to distribute 15,000 tons already here.
An aid convoy from the South African Council of Churches has also been held up for nearly a week as the Zimbabwe government insists on certificates to prove it contains no genetically modified food.
Must be taking lessons from Col. Mengistu, who conveniently resides in Harare.
Hall said he would speak with U.S. officials about what he had seen. "Don't forget I have a lot of friends in the U.S. Congress, and they are going to be outraged," said Hall, who was a congressman for 24 years.
Security officers prevented Hall and his entourage from making a scheduled visit to Hopley Farm, on the capital's outskirts, to investigate claims that 700,000 urban poor were left homeless or without jobs by the eight-week "Operation Murambatsvina" - "Drive Out Filth." Many were evicted into midwinter cold from May to July. Opposition groups contend Mugabe's government is trying to drive disaffected city voters into rural areas where they can be intimidated by denial of access to food.
Hall said the official reason for blocking his stop at Hopley was that the delegation needed a special visitors permit since the site is run by the military. But, he added, "I was told in a hushed tone that the government doesn't want me to see this place because old people are dying."
Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980, has said he is prepared to show progress in rehousing those evicted by Operation Murambatsvina. But human rights lawyers last week dismissed claims of improved conditions at Hopley, saying it was "nothing but a new transit camp."
Hall said he was distressed by conditions in Hatcliff township outside Harare, which he visited Friday. "I had several people come up to me and ask me for blankets and food. They don't have enough to keep themselves warm ... their children are hungry," he said. "One gentleman spoke of the night he was evicted - police arrived with no notice, driving him and others out with dogs. He was forced to sleep outside for a week during the coldest time of winter."
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2005 00:00 ||
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#2
Water, we don't need no stinkin' water. I wanna see "My Favorite Martian"
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/15/2005 12:16 Comments ||
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#3
WHO ARE THESE GUYS?
Posted by: Sandy Greenbody, Mayor of Cydonia ||
08/15/2005 15:34 Comments ||
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#4
After the various reconnaisance missions, in the 2015-2030 frame, I would imagine that we would send an unmanned burrowing robot to prepare the place for a long term human visit. The reason being that prepared horizontal caves are good radiation protection, are relatively easy to make air-tight, and can even have large open water cisterns in them. It just makes sense to have a lot of the grunt work done well before we arrive. The Robot would approach a rock wall, drill holes and insert explosives, fired remotely from a safe distance. Then, after scraping away several feet of broken collapsed rock, grind away large jagged edges on the inside walls, then drill lateral holes to insert lightweight ceramic reinforcing rod. Then it would begin again with the next section of rock face inside the new cave. When finished with that section of cave, it would spray the inside of the cave with an anti-leak goo. Lastly, the door to the cave would be cannibalized from the landing craft, part of its hull designed to be a door, with the rest of the ship cannibalized for wall and ceiling supports. This means that when people do arrive, they already have basic shelter, pre-tested for leaks, waiting for them. Additional robots sent prior to astronauts can do things like prospect for mineable quantitites of water and minerals, actually mine water for testing and pre-storage in quantity, and even build a much smoother landing pad to improve landing safety. When the people do arrive, whatever they bring will be the lighter supplies and equipment, in a faster spaceship more concerned with getting there and getting home. The slower and heavier robot ship can theoretically soon be assembled in space, in 100 ton chunks, with NASA's newest generation of cargo carrying rockets. Given two years lead time before the people leave, there are any number of missions the robots could perform, leading the way for multiple manned and unmanned missions for many years beyond. Best of all, the robots mission continues with or without people there, needing only periodic maintenance to continue on.
#6
Well, 'moose, with all that multi-billion-dollar robot action, why would you bother to send people? Why would they want to live in that cave? What can they do that robots can't do? And why would I want to spend that much money?
The robots I propose are complex but simple. They are designed for "brute force" projects that people would otherwise have to do themselves, but by having them done would free humans up for the truly complex and intellectual tasks, the real reason to go to Mars. They will still be busting their butts with physical labor, mind you, just not spending all their time doing it.
2) Why would they want to live in that cave?
Because the surface of Mars is hostile. Both with hard radiation and lack of breathable atmosphere. Since the minimum human mission time would be six months (I believe), it would be difficult for them to live in a compact space after the long trip in a compact space from Earth. A cave presents an excellent environment, both for area and for utility. That is, storage of water, growing of food, even storing oxygen in pressurised chambers. Later uses could include processing H3 (in the Lunar version) for shipment back to Earth, and refining metals, glasses and ceramics locally to save the expense of shipping them up.
3) What can they do that robots can't do?
Robots are terribly limited in their abilities compared to people. They are best used for difficult, dangerous, and time consuming or repetitive tasks. Artificial Intelligence is still in its infancy, but may be able to accomplish the tasks I outlined.
4) And why would I want to spend that much money?
Many people would prefer living in a social welfare state to any investment in science, the military, art and culture, or even quality of life. You can see the ruin societies who have adopted this model become. Traveling to the Moon can provide the US with vast amounts of clean energy. Traveling to Mars, and eventually establishing a permanent colony there will have so many benefits to mankind that it even defies the imagination.
#8
eLarson: Much of what people do on Mars depends on how much pre-preparation is done before they arrive. The prototypes for this exploration will be done on the Moon, an even more hostile non-environment. In that case, I would expect that manned robots would be used, along with verticle, rather than horizontal tunnel shafts. Once a short tunnel is dug, then a cylindrical shell will be lowered into it. The purpose of this shell will be to protect the tunneling robots from the insidious Lunar dust, which destroys mechanical parts quickly. Once inside the shell, then the manned robots will be used to hard-rock tunnel horizontally, possibly just using a shield against explosion fragmentation, it being in a vacuum. The focus on the Lunar expeditions would be to both learn how to do it, and to set up a permanent mining facility to scrape Lunar dust; then in a below ground facility, to concentrate the H3 for shipment back to Earth. The value of a single ship full of H3 is so great, it would pay for the entire Lunar project and much of the Martian project.
To answer your question about food, I would expect that the robot ship to Mars would probably have the entire ration of food and water for the mission, and the human ship would have enough for its round-way trip, plus enough emergency stores for an abbreviated mission. The assumption would be that unless the robot ship successfully landed and performed its missions, then the human ship wouldn't take off in the first place. But this wouldn't preclude other ships being sent to Mars both before and after the people, to do things like set up communications relays, transport endless amounts of additional equipment and fuel, along with things like test animals and replacement parts.
Once on Mars, in cave dwelling and with mined water, permanent hydroponic gardens would be set up with artificial light and heat, along with controlled nutrients. Again, the idea will be to continually reduce the number things that need to be shipped by making them locally. The big manufactured items of high value will be metals, ceramics and glasses.
#1
They also wanted to remember all of those who didn't make it. Bocksel noted that out of about 25,000 Americans captured by the Japanese army in World War II, more than 11,000 perished in the camps.
So what's the name of this place in Cuba where we are torturing our prisoners? Senator Durbin? Can you remember?
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/15/2005 7:37 Comments ||
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MOGADISHU, Rival militias in arid southwestern Somalia battled Saturday for control over a village with pastures and wells. Twelve combatants died, and hundreds of residents fled, according to those in the area.
Golly. Why am I not feeling broken up at all? From whence come these strong feelings of apathy?
The 2 1/2-hour clash began early Saturday, when Yontar community fighters attacked the village of Idale in a bid to seize it from the Hubeyr community. Hundreds of people fled their homes in the Bai region before the fighting ended at dawn, elder Salimow Sheikh said. Combatants used assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, Liban Mohamed Nageye, a nurse, said in a radio interview from a neighboring village. He said 12 fighters died.
Twelve more boneheads died for a patch of dirt.
Yes. It's another pointless battle fought over an objective of no value by people who have nothing to do with their lives.
Somalia has had no functioning central government since clan-based warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Warlords then turned on each other, plunging the country of 7 million into chaos.
Actually, it plunged long ago, measured in geological terms ...
... where it remains, apparently forever.
The transitional government formed during peace talks in neighboring Kenya is now divided, after the president and prime minister set up operations about 60 miles northwest of Mogadishu, saying the capital was unsafe. The parliamentary speaker, dozens of lawmakers and warlords in Mogadishu, however, have argued the decision was unconstitutional.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2005 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.
PANAMA CITY, Fla. -- A man who once shouted "cuckoo" and then dropped his pants to moon a jury has been convicted of attacking his girlfriend with a boxcutter. Cornell Jackson, 31, could face up to 33 years in prison when sentenced Tuesday. That's the penalty he received after two earlier trials in which convictions were reversed because he had not received formal competency hearings. Jackson's lawyers argued he was legally insane when, in a jealous rage over perceived attention that Kisha Smith had paid to another man, he slashed her on Jan. 21 and 22, 2000. The second attack came after she returned home from getting her initial wound stitched at a hospital. Jackson testified that he battles demons regularly with "Jesus and Michael Archangel." 
Around the world, DNA testing is being used to solve crimes and establish paternity. Despite the Islamic Fiqh (Jurisprudence) Academyâs approval of introducing it in certain circumstances, Saudi courts remain hesitant about accepting test results as evidence of lineage. With the increase of paternity cases due to extramarital affairs, illegal marriage contracts or other unfortunate circumstances through which parents are separated from their children, it has become necessary for judges to update their evidence-base and rely on modern scientific methods rather than old applications. However, it seems that many judges are unconvinced that DNA tests are more accurate than a witness or lineage expert stating that âthis child is fathered by that man.â
Traffic reports and studies presented by Saudi universities and local traffic departments reveal that women cause around 50% of traffic accidents, despite not being allowed to drive. 
The breasts of Britain's women have grown by a cup-size in the past decade and could be changing the shape of the female spine, according to new research. An average bra size of 34B 10 years ago has increased to a 36C across this country and Australasia, the bra manufacturer Bendon has discovered. The result was supported by retailer Marks & Spencer, but a spokesman said it had only noticed the change in the past five years. 
THE Ngondo family donât have electricity on their farm â but they have enough uranium underground to power the nearby town of Beaufort West for a thousand years. In April they landed a breathtaking R20-million windfall when they sold the mineral rights on the farm Katdoringkuil to a London-based mining company, Uranco Incorporated. When they had bought the 6000ha of flat, dusty veld four years ago, with a state subsidy, nothing had hinted at the rich uranium deposits waiting under the Karoo scrub. âWe had a dream to own a farm, but our dream turned into another dream because nobody expected there to be something like uranium in that property,â said Thandi Ngondo, 59, a retired railway worker.
IN 2000, Stanley Chirume, a primary school teacher from Budiriro township outside Harare, was earning Z$8000 (about R1333) a month. Today he earns Z$3.6-million â but that translates to only about R1200. With his old salary, he could afford to rent a three-bedroom house in the township at a monthly rental of Z$1200 (about R200). Then, minibus taxis charged Z$20 a trip from the township to the city. His three children were all in boarding school, where fees were Z$2500 for each of the yearâs three terms. He used to buy his three children new clothing for Christmas. But that all stopped in 2002 when the rising cost of living ate into his earnings. He used to take his family to his rural home twice a year, for Easter and Christmas â but not any more. 
MOGADISHU, Rival militias in arid southwestern Somalia battled Saturday for control over a village with pastures and wells. Twelve combatants died, and hundreds of residents fled, according to those in the area.
