29.12.07

Honey-drenched dressings touted as the bee's knees for wounds

Honey-drenched dressings touted as the bee's knees for wounds: "'It's been used on wounds where nothing else will work,' said biochemist Peter Molan, a professor at the University of Waikato in New Zealand who has researched honey and other natural antibiotics for 25 years.

He's found manuka honey can kill the toughest bacteria even when diluted 10 times and recommends it especially for people with weak immune systems."

Casual blogging not just lunch money now - Yahoo! News

Casual blogging not just lunch money now - Yahoo! News: "It's no longer unusual for blogs with just a couple thousand daily readers to earn nearly as many dollars a month. Helping fill the pockets of such bloggers are programs like Google's AdSense and many others that let individuals — not just major publications — tap into the rapidly growing pot of advertising dollars with a click of the mouse."

Snorting a Brain Chemical Could Replace Sleep

Snorting a Brain Chemical Could Replace Sleep: "In what sounds like a dream for millions of tired coffee drinkers, Darpa-funded scientists might have found a drug that will eliminate sleepiness.

A nasal spray containing a naturally occurring brain hormone called orexin A reversed the effects of sleep deprivation in monkeys, allowing them to perform like well-rested monkeys on cognitive tests."

28.12.07

New Statesman - Has global warming stopped?

New Statesman - Has global warming stopped?: "The fact is that the global temperature of 2007 is statistically the same as 2006 as well as every year since 2001. Global warming has, temporarily or permanently, ceased. Temperatures across the world are not increasing as they should according to the fundamental theory behind global warming – the greenhouse effect. Something else is happening and it is vital that we find out what or else we may spend hundreds of billions of pounds needlessly."

27.12.07

Mexican marijuana is still plentiful -- and cheap | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Mexican marijuana is still plentiful -- and cheap | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "'You never hear of people getting killed over a few pounds of marijuana, but you do over a few ounces of cocaine. Marijuana is pretty much an open market. Nobody controls it, nobody wants to control it.'"

23.12.07

Crisis may make 1929 look a 'walk in the park' - Telegraph

Crisis may make 1929 look a 'walk in the park' - Telegraph: "As central banks continue to splash their cash over the system, so far to little effect, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard argues things are rapidly spiralling out of their control

Twenty billion dollars here, $20bn there, and a lush half-trillion from the European Central Bank at give-away rates for Christmas. Buckets of liquidity are being splashed over the North Atlantic banking system, so far with meagre or fleeting effects."

Ron Paul will win by a landslide

Ron Paul will win by a landslide: "Republican presidential candidate and Texas Congressman, Ron Paul, can win the presidency. Contrary to the pundits and media propaganda, Ron Paul is best positioned to win the GOP nomination."

22.12.07

9/11 Panel Study Finds That C.I.A. Withheld Tapes - New York Times

9/11 Panel Study Finds That C.I.A. Withheld Tapes - New York Times: "WASHINGTON — A review of classified documents by former members of the Sept. 11 commission shows that the panel made repeated and detailed requests to the Central Intelligence Agency in 2003 and 2004 for documents and other information about the interrogation of operatives of Al Qaeda, and were told by a top C.I.A. official that the agency had “produced or made available for review” everything that had been requested."

FBI prepares vast biometrics database - Washington Post- msnbc.com

FBI prepares vast biometrics database - Washington Post- msnbc.com: "CLARKSBURG, W. Va. - The FBI is embarking on a $1 billion effort to build the world's largest computer database of peoples' physical characteristics, a project that would give the government unprecedented abilities to identify individuals in the United States and abroad."

20.12.07

Year of global cooling�-�-�The Washington Times, America's Newspaper

Year of global cooling�-�-� The Washington Times, America's Newspaper: "Al Gore says global warming is a planetary emergency. It is difficult to see how this can be so when record low temperatures are being set all over the world. In 2007, hundreds of people died, not from global warming, but from cold weather hazards."

Stanford's nanowire battery holds 10 times the charge of existing ones

Stanford's nanowire battery holds 10 times the charge of existing ones: "Stanford researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cell phones, and countless other devices.

The new version, developed through research led by Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, produces 10 times the amount of electricity of existing lithium-ion, known as Li-ion, batteries. A laptop that now runs on battery for two hours could operate for 20 hours, a boon to ocean-hopping business travelers.

'It's not a small improvement,' Cui said. 'It's a revolutionary development.'"

Putin named Time "Person of the Year"

Putin named Time "Person of the Year": "Putin is the fifth Russian or Soviet leader to be named Person of the Year: Gorbachev, Andropov, Khrushchev and Stalin, who was named twice."

Nation & World | Man's journey to find birth mom ends — at work | Seattle Times Newspaper

Nation & World | Man's journey to find birth mom ends — at work | Seattle Times Newspaper: "GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — For years, Steve Flaig, a delivery-truck driver at a Lowe's store here, had searched for his birth mother.

He found her working the cash register at the front of the store."

18.12.07

The Apostles of Ron Paul

The Apostles of Ron Paul: "Their candidate, a 72-year-old obstetrician from Lake Jackson, Texas—land of duck hunters, ranchers, and oilmen—has improbably become an Internet sensation. He counts more Facebook and MySpace supporters than any Republican; more Google searches, YouTube subscribers, and website hits than any presidential candidate; and more Meetup members than the front-runners of both parties combined. In recent months he was sought out on the blog search engine Technorati more often than anyone except a Puerto Rican singer with a sex tape on the loose"

17.12.07

Putin rival held in psychiatric ward 'to prevent him protesting against government' | the Daily Mail

Putin rival held in psychiatric ward 'to prevent him protesting against government' | the Daily Mail: "A Russian opposition activist has been sent to a psychiatric hospital by authorities a day before a planned demonstration.

Artem Basyrov's detention is the latest in a series of incidents suggesting a punitive Soviet-era practice is being revived under president Vladimir Putin."

16.12.07

Ohio Elections Official Calls Machines Flawed - New York Times

Ohio Elections Official Calls Machines Flawed - New York Times: "CINCINNATI — All five voting systems used in Ohio, a state whose electoral votes narrowly swung two elections toward President Bush, have critical flaws that could undermine the integrity of the 2008 general election, a report commissioned by the state’s top elections official has found."

Report Says That the Rich Are Getting Richer Faster, Much Faster - New York Times

Report Says That the Rich Are Getting Richer Faster, Much Faster - New York Times: "Earlier reports, based on tax returns, showed that in 2005 the top 10 percent, top 1 percent and fractions of the top 1 percent enjoyed their greatest share of income since 1928 and 1929."

Egypt and Saudi Arabia make new overtures to Iran - Yahoo! News

Egypt and Saudi Arabia make new overtures to Iran - Yahoo! News: "Cairo - Iran is suddenly enjoying a thaw with its Arab neighbors – all close US allies – in the wake of a US intelligence report that judged Iran probably suspended its work on nuclear weapons four years ago.

Regional actors, in particular, are scrambling to engage Iran diplomatically, and analysts say they have the tacit approval of the Americans."

4.12.07

Discovery News : Discovery Channel

Discovery News : Discovery Channel: "Nov. 29, 2007 -- The same microwave radiation that reheats pizza can be used to fry the electrical systems in cars, stopping them dead in their tracks. Emitted from a rooftop device, the radiation could be used by law enforcement officers to put an end to dangerous car chases or by military personnel as a non-lethal way of disabling vehicles that get too close for comfort. 'The idea is to warn an automobile some distance away from a high-value target like a military barrack or a communication center. If they don't comply, you just zap them and it prevents them from coming closer,' said James Tatoian, CEO of Eureka Aerospace in Pasadena, Calif."

Why bad kissers don't get to second base - CNN.com

Why bad kissers don't get to second base - CNN.com: "In a study published recently in the scientific journal 'Evolutionary Psychology,' 59 percent of men and 66 percent of women said they've been in the position of being attracted to someone -- until they kissed the person."