17.9.05
After Blocking the Bridge, Gretna Circles the Wagons - Los Angeles Times
: "GRETNA, La. — Little over a week after this mostly white suburb became a symbol of callousness for using armed officers to seal one of the last escape routes from New Orleans — trapping thousands of mostly black evacuees in the flooded city — the Gretna City Council passed a resolution supporting the police chief's move."
16.9.05
Oddly Enough News Article | Reuters.com
Oddly Enough News Article | Reuters.com: "SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian man built up a 40,000-volt charge of static electricity in his clothes as he walked, leaving a trail of scorched carpet and molten plastic and forcing firefighters to evacuate a building.
Frank Clewer, who was wearing a woolen shirt and a synthetic nylon jacket, was oblivious to the growing electrical current that was building up as his clothes rubbed together.
When he walked into a building in the country town of Warrnambool in the southern state of Victoria Thursday, the electrical charge ignited the carpet.
"We tested his clothes with a static electricity field meter and measured a current of 40,000 volts, which is one step shy of spontaneous combustion, where his clothes would have self-ignited," Barton said."
Frank Clewer, who was wearing a woolen shirt and a synthetic nylon jacket, was oblivious to the growing electrical current that was building up as his clothes rubbed together.
When he walked into a building in the country town of Warrnambool in the southern state of Victoria Thursday, the electrical charge ignited the carpet.
"We tested his clothes with a static electricity field meter and measured a current of 40,000 volts, which is one step shy of spontaneous combustion, where his clothes would have self-ignited," Barton said."
15.9.05
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | The beauty products from the skin of executed Chinese prisoners
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | The beauty products from the skin of executed Chinese prisoners: "A Chinese cosmetics company is using skin harvested from the corpses of executed convicts to develop beauty products for sale in Europe, an investigation by the Guardian has discovered."
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Giant mirror to light up village
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Giant mirror to light up village: "Residents of Viganella, a small hamlet in the Italian Alps, have more reason than most to dread the imminent arrival of winter. From November to February, they lose the sun behind a mountain ridge that towers over the village and the 197 inhabitants live in permanent gloom.
But now residents, led by their mayor Pierfranco Midali, may have solved the problem - they want to erect a giant mirror, powered by an electric motor, sited to the north of the village, 80 miles from Milan."
But now residents, led by their mayor Pierfranco Midali, may have solved the problem - they want to erect a giant mirror, powered by an electric motor, sited to the north of the village, 80 miles from Milan."
14.9.05
Ananova - Inventor turns dead cats into diesel
Ananova - Inventor turns dead cats into diesel: "A German inventor says he's found a way to make cheap diesel fuel out of dead cats."
The Daily Telegraph | Patients put down
The Daily Telegraph | Patients put down: "DOCTORS working in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans killed critically ill patients rather than leave them to die in agony as they evacuated."
Man given public airport strip search | The Other Side | Breaking News 24/7 - NEWS.com.au (12-09-2005)
Man given public airport strip search | The Other Side | Breaking News 24/7 - NEWS.com.au (12-09-2005): "A SENIOR member of a French association for accident victims said Friday he would sue a German airport for stripping him in public when a security device reacted to a metal plate in his body."
BBC NEWS | South Asia | India's marathon boy, aged three
BBC NEWS | South Asia | India's marathon boy, aged three: "He runs seven hours at a stretch, sometimes as much as 48km (30 miles). On a daily basis.
And Budhia Singh is just three and a half years old."
And Budhia Singh is just three and a half years old."
Google Earth threatens democracy | The Register
Google Earth threatens democracy | The Register: "The recent news that South Korea is to take the US to task over Google Earth images which expose its military installations to close Commie scrutiny has provoked a mini stampede of other peace-loving nations eager to protect their assets from prying eyes.
Enter stage right Thailand, which says it may ask Google to 'block images of important state buildings vulnerable to attack'. Armed forces spokeschap Major General Weerasak Manee-in told Reuters: 'We are looking for possible restrictions on these detailed pictures, especially state buildings. I think pictures of tourist attractions should do, not crucial places which could threaten national security.'"
Enter stage right Thailand, which says it may ask Google to 'block images of important state buildings vulnerable to attack'. Armed forces spokeschap Major General Weerasak Manee-in told Reuters: 'We are looking for possible restrictions on these detailed pictures, especially state buildings. I think pictures of tourist attractions should do, not crucial places which could threaten national security.'"
13.9.05
NTI: Global Security Newswire - Monday, September 12, 2005
: "WASHINGTON — Contrasting earlier denials, the Defense Department appears to be formalizing military guidelines for seeking presidential approval to use nuclear weapons pre-emptively against suspected WMD facilities (see GSN, July 22)."
12.9.05
Alternative Fuel Stocks Skyrocketing - Yahoo! News
: "NEW YORK — Alternative energy has long been dismissed as too expensive to be practical, but with oil hovering around $65 a barrel, solar energy and fuel cells are starting to look positively affordable. As a result, alternative fuel companies' stock has soared this summer alongside oil prices."
10.9.05
Dateline: Hollywood � ROBERTSON BLAMES HURRICANE ON CHOICE OF ELLEN DEGENERES TO HOST EMMYS
: "Hollywood – Pat Robertson on Sunday said that Hurricane Katrina was God’s way of expressing its anger at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for its selection of Ellen Degeneres to host this year’s Emmy Awards. “By choosing an avowed lesbian for this national event, these Hollywood elites have clearly invited God’s wrath,” Robertson said on “The 700 Club” on Sunday. “Is it any surprise that the Almighty chose to strike at Miss Degeneres’ hometown?”"
7.9.05
Barbara Bush: Things Working Out 'Very Well' for Poor Evacuees from New Orleans
Barbara Bush: Things Working Out 'Very Well' for Poor Evacuees from New Orleans: "NEW YORK Accompanying her husband, former President George H.W.Bush, on a tour of hurricane relief centers in
Houston, Barbara Bush said today, referring to the poor who had lost everything back home and evacuated, 'This is working very well for them.' "
Houston, Barbara Bush said today, referring to the poor who had lost everything back home and evacuated, 'This is working very well for them.' "
Defense Tech: Dutch Counter-Flood Tech
Defense Tech: Dutch Counter-Flood Tech: "After devastating floods killed nearly 2,000 people in the Netherlands, the Dutch erected a futuristic system of coastal defenses that is admired around the world today as one of the best barriers against the sea's fury - one that could withstand the kind of storm that happens only once in 10,000 years.'
Linking offshore islands with dams, seawalls and other structures, the Dutch erected a kind of forward defensive shield, drastically reducing the amount of vulnerable coastline. Mr. de Haan, director of the water branch of the Road and Hydraulic Engineering Institute of the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, said the project had the effect of shortening the coast by more than 400 miles.
For New Orleans, experts say, a similar forward defense would seal off Lake Pontchartrain from the Gulf of Mexico. That step would eliminate a major conduit by which hurricanes drive storm surges to the city's edge - or, as in the case of Katrina, through the barriers.
The Dutch also increased the height of their dikes, which now loom as much as 40 feet above the churning sea. (In New Orleans, the tallest flood walls are about half that size.) The government also erected vast complexes of floodgates that close when the weather turns violent but remain open at other times, so saltwater can flow into estuaries, preserving their ecosystems and the livelihoods that depend on them.
The Netherlands maintains large teams of inspectors and maintenance crews that safeguard the sprawling complex, which is known as Delta Works. The annual maintenance bill is about $500 million. 'It's not cheap,' Mr. de Haan said. 'But it's not so much in relation to the gross national product. So it's a kind of insurance.'"
Linking offshore islands with dams, seawalls and other structures, the Dutch erected a kind of forward defensive shield, drastically reducing the amount of vulnerable coastline. Mr. de Haan, director of the water branch of the Road and Hydraulic Engineering Institute of the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, said the project had the effect of shortening the coast by more than 400 miles.
For New Orleans, experts say, a similar forward defense would seal off Lake Pontchartrain from the Gulf of Mexico. That step would eliminate a major conduit by which hurricanes drive storm surges to the city's edge - or, as in the case of Katrina, through the barriers.
The Dutch also increased the height of their dikes, which now loom as much as 40 feet above the churning sea. (In New Orleans, the tallest flood walls are about half that size.) The government also erected vast complexes of floodgates that close when the weather turns violent but remain open at other times, so saltwater can flow into estuaries, preserving their ecosystems and the livelihoods that depend on them.
The Netherlands maintains large teams of inspectors and maintenance crews that safeguard the sprawling complex, which is known as Delta Works. The annual maintenance bill is about $500 million. 'It's not cheap,' Mr. de Haan said. 'But it's not so much in relation to the gross national product. So it's a kind of insurance.'"
Bob Denver, TV's Gilligan, Dead at 70 - Yahoo! News
Bob Denver, TV's Gilligan, Dead at 70 - Yahoo! News: "LOS ANGELES -
Bob Denver, whose portrayal of goofy castaway Gilligan on the 1960s TV show 'Gilligan's Island' made him an iconic figure to generations of TV viewers, has died. He was 70."
Bob Denver, whose portrayal of goofy castaway Gilligan on the 1960s TV show 'Gilligan's Island' made him an iconic figure to generations of TV viewers, has died. He was 70."
4.9.05
Bush visit halts food delivery
: "Three tons of food ready for delivery by air to refugees in St. Bernard Parish and on Algiers Point sat on the Crescent City Connection bridge Friday afternoon as air traffic was halted because of President Bush’s visit to New Orleans, officials said.
The provisions, secured by U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, and state Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom, baked in the afternoon sun as Bush surveyed damage across southeast Louisiana five days after Katrina made landfall as a Category 4 storm, said Melancon’s chief of staff, Casey O’Shea.
“We had arrangements to airlift food by helicopter to these folks, and now the food is sitting in trucks because they won’t let helicopters fly,” O’Shea said Friday afternoon.
The food was expected to be in the hands of storm survivors after the president left the devastated region Friday night, he said."
The provisions, secured by U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, and state Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom, baked in the afternoon sun as Bush surveyed damage across southeast Louisiana five days after Katrina made landfall as a Category 4 storm, said Melancon’s chief of staff, Casey O’Shea.
“We had arrangements to airlift food by helicopter to these folks, and now the food is sitting in trucks because they won’t let helicopters fly,” O’Shea said Friday afternoon.
The food was expected to be in the hands of storm survivors after the president left the devastated region Friday night, he said."
3.9.05
CNN.com - Castro offers medical aid to U.S. - Sep 3, 2005
CNN.com - Castro offers medical aid to U.S. - Sep 3, 2005: "HAVANA, Cuba (CNN) -- Cuban President Fidel Castro has offered to send help to the United States in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
At a nightly roundtable program on state-run television Friday, the Cuban leader said his nation was ready to send 1,100 doctors and 26 tons of medicine and equipment.
'Others have sent money; we are offering to save lives,' he said."
At a nightly roundtable program on state-run television Friday, the Cuban leader said his nation was ready to send 1,100 doctors and 26 tons of medicine and equipment.
'Others have sent money; we are offering to save lives,' he said."
1.9.05
The Australian: It's a miracle: mice regrow hearts [August 29, 2005]
The Australian: It's a miracle: mice regrow hearts [August 29, 2005]: "SCIENTISTS have created 'miracle mice' that can regenerate amputated limbs or damaged vital organs, making them able to recover from injuries that would kill or permanently disable normal animals.
The experimental animals are unique among mammals in their ability to regrow their heart, toes, joints and tail.
And when cells from the test mouse are injected into ordinary mice, they too acquire the ability to regenerate, the US-based researchers say.
Their discoveries raise the prospect that humans could one day be given the ability to regenerate lost or damaged organs, opening up a new era in medicine."
The experimental animals are unique among mammals in their ability to regrow their heart, toes, joints and tail.
And when cells from the test mouse are injected into ordinary mice, they too acquire the ability to regenerate, the US-based researchers say.
Their discoveries raise the prospect that humans could one day be given the ability to regenerate lost or damaged organs, opening up a new era in medicine."
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