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3/18/08
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Iraq bomb blasts kill 38 as Cheney, McCain underscore war successes
A female suicide
bomber killed 36 people and a roadside bomb claimed the lives of two U.S.
soldiers today as U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and Republican Sen. John
McCain sought to draw attention to successes in Iraq on separate visits to the
country. A woman detonated her explosives in the early evening on a busy street
in the Shiite shrine city of
Karbala,
killing 36 people and wounding 50 others, said
Karbala
province spokesman Abdul Ameer Hamoon.
To John McCain, success is a
hundred years in Iraq.
The World
Mortar near US embassy in Yemen kills 1
SAN'A, Yemen - A
mortar shell exploded Tuesday by a high school next to the American embassy,
killing one Yemeni guard and wounding three students and three other guards, an
Interior Ministry official said.
Suicide bomb kills seven in southern Afghanistan
A suicide car
bomber killed two Danish and one Czech NATO soldiers, an interpreter and three
civilians in southern Afghanistan on Monday, officials said.
Pakistani capital on high alert after bomb attack
Pakistan's
capital was on high alert yesterday and embassies reviewed security measures
after a bomb struck a restaurant crowded with foreigners, killing a Turkish aid
worker and wounding at least 12 others, including four FBI personnel.
Pakistan court meets amid looming showdown over judges
ISLAMABAD (AFP) -
Pakistan's top court met on Tuesday amid a looming showdown between the
country's new parliament and President Pervez Musharraf over his sacking of
dozens of judges last year.
China seals off Tibetan capital
The Chinese
authorities have sealed off
Lhasa,
the Tibetan capital, to visitors, deploying a large military and armed police
presence before a "surrender deadline" of
midnight
tonight. The government has also tightened control over information coming from
the Himalayan region, blocking internet sites, including YouTube, which could be
used to upload video content of the past week's protests.
China says Tibet rioters trying to wreck Olympics
BEIJING (Reuters)
- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao accused the Dalai Lama of orchestrating riots in
Tibet in which dozens may have died and said his followers were trying to
"incite sabotage" of Beijing's August Olympic Games.
Dalai Lama to resign if violence worsens
DHARMSALA, India
- The Dalai Lama says he will step down if violence by Tibetans in his homeland
spirals out of control.
Canada opposition Liberals win three seats
OTTAWA (Reuters)
- Canada's official opposition Liberals won three seats in Parliament in special
elections on Monday, helping relieve the pressure on embattled leader Stephane
Dion.
Mexico left picks anti-gov't party chief
MEXICO CITY
- A former Mexico
City mayor who favors
a hard line against President Felipe Calderon's government will be the new head
of the country's main leftist party, according to preliminary returns released
Monday.
Britain to get US-style security council
A United
States-style national security council will be given responsibility for
protecting Britain
from threats, ranging from terrorism to climate change, Gordon Brown will
disclose this week.
Coroners face gagging over troop deaths
Des Browne, the
Defence Secretary, is trying to prevent coroners from being highly critical of
the Ministry of Defence over the deaths of British troops killed in action. In a
highly unusual move, Mr Browne began legal moves yesterday to prevent coroners
from using language prejudicial to the MoD when issuing verdicts on the deaths
of troops who die on active service.
Peacekeepers battle Serbs in Kosovo
KOSOVSKA
MITROVICA, Kosovo - Serb demonstrators attacked international peacekeepers with
rocks, grenades and Molotov cocktails Monday, setting off the worst violence in
Kosovo since it declared independence from Serbia last month.
North Kosovo placed under NATO military law
MITROVICA, Kosovo
(Reuters) - NATO placed the Kosovo town of Mitrovica under de facto military law
on Tuesday after riots by a hostile Serb population killed one U.N. policeman
and forced the pullout of U.N. personnel.
The Nation
Anti-War Grannies Arrested Trying to Enlist
As part of
actions across the United States to mark the fifth anniversary of the U.S.
invasion of Iraq in 2003, 10 "Grandmothers for Peace" were arrested Monday while
trying to enlist in the United States Army.
Bush Sends Putin Missile Defense Offer
President
Vladimir V. Putin of Russia disclosed Monday that he had received "a very
serious document" from President Bush that proposed an agenda for reaching
agreements on a broad range of issues that have troubled the two nations,
including missile defense, arms control, nonproliferation and counterterrorism.
Guantanamo lawyers ask court to keep prosecutors from contacting prisoners
Lawyers for four
Kuwaiti men held at
Guantanamo Bay have
asked a court to block U.S. military prosecutors from contacting the prisoners
without their consent, accusing the government Monday of violating legal ethics.
Audit: FBI watchlist data unreliable
The FBI gave
outdated, incomplete and inaccurate information about terror suspects to be
added to the government's watchlist for nearly three years despite steps taken
to prevent errors, a Justice Department audit concludes.
CIA expands legal help for workers
The CIA announced
Monday that it will now pay the full cost of legal liability insurance for about
two-thirds of the agency workforce. A change in administrations could make it
more likely lawsuits will be filed against CIA interrogators for a controversial
program approved by the Bush White House — the use of harsh interrogation
techniques and the secret movement of prisoners, known as extraordinary
rendition.
Inmate wins Supreme Court review
WASHINGTON
- A Texas inmate acting as his own attorney persuaded the Supreme Court on
Monday to hear his case.
Clinton says "we cannot win" Iraq war
Democrat Hillary Clinton charged on Monday the Iraq war may cost Americans $1
trillion and add strain to the sagging U.S. economy as she made her case for a
prompt U.S. troop pullout from a war "we cannot win."… New York Sen. Clinton
pointedly noted that while Obama insists he will withdraw
U.S. troops in Iraq within
16 months of taking office, his former foreign policy adviser, Samantha Power,
had said he might not follow through on the pledge. "In uncertain times, we
cannot afford uncertain leadership,"
Clinton
said.
CLINTON SPEAKS ON THE ECONOMY
(First Read, MSNBC)
WASHINGTON, DC -- In
remarks after her speech on Iraq [Monday] morning, Hillary Clinton said she was
watching the developments in US financial markets closely after efforts by the
Federal Reserve over the weekend to try to head off a crisis… Clinton said she
had spoken … with the Treasury secretary and the president of the New York
Federal Reserve about the steps taken yesterday to restore confidence in the
market and said that as a senator from New York, she was concerned about the
impact these developments could have on workers and families -- both on Wall
Street and on Main Street -- and on the city's economy as a whole…
Clinton
repeated her call for more urgency to deal with the mortgage crisis as a way of
dealing with the credit crisis and said she would do whatever necessary in the
Senate to help get the economic situation under control.
Elton John to Raise Money for Clinton
Singer Elton John
will help Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton raise cash for her presidential
campaign with a solo concert next month at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
Obama to confront racial issues
PHILADELPHIA -
Democrat Barack Obama is seeking to distance himself from "stupid statements" by
his longtime pastor that have aggravated racial divisions in the contentious
Democratic primary battle. He is calling for both sides to tone down their
rhetoric.
Florida Democrats Won't Hold Re-Do Primary
Florida Democrats
won't go forward with a plan to redo the presidential primary with a mostly
mail-in vote, the state party chairwoman said Monday in a letter citing lack of
support for the idea. A solution to the problem is now in the hands of the
Democratic National Committee, which stripped the state of its delegates because
Florida
held an early primary, Chairwoman Karen Thurman said.
Report: New NY governor admits affair
ALBANY, N.Y. -
With his predecessor's term doomed by a sex scandal, brand-new Gov. David
Paterson tried to come clean about his own skeletons just hours after assuming
office by acknowledging a years-old affair… A spokesman for the governor did not
immediately reply to requests for comment about
Paterson's
interview, which came hours after the governor assumed office with a message of
unity. He became the state's first black chief executive and the nation's second
legally blind governor.
Economy & Finance
US stocks heading for higher open
NEW YORK
- Stocks were poised to open sharply higher Tuesday as investors, relieved by
better-than-expected results from Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs, also
anticipated a massive interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve.
Fed poised to cut rates again
WASHINGTON - The
Federal Reserve is expected to aggressively lower interest rates in its
intensified battle against the credit crisis and spreading economic weakness.
The question is whether all of the effort will turn the tide.
Prices up, housing contruction drops
WASHINGTON -
Wholesale prices rose again in February as another hefty increase in energy
costs offset falling food prices. Outside of food and energy, prices shot up at
the fastest pace in 15 months.
Wall Street fears for next Great Depression
(The Independent, U.K.)
Wall Street is bracing itself for another week of roller-coaster trading after
more than $300bn (£150bn) was wiped off the US equity markets on Friday
following the emergency funding package put together by the Federal Reserve and
JPMorgan Chase to rescue Bear Stearns.
Reid Calls Bear Stearns `Bailout' Unfair to Taxpayers
March 17
(Bloomberg) -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said a
decision by the Federal Reserve to provide as much as $30 billion to JPMorgan
Chase & Co. to help it buy Bear Stearns Cos. is a ``bailout'' unfair to
taxpayers.
America was conned - who will pay?
(The Guardian, U.K.)
Real wages have been growing slowly; at just 1.6% a year on average over the
latest upswing, well down on the experience of earlier decades. Business, of
course, needs consumers to carry on spending in order to make money, so a way
had to be found to persuade households to do their patriotic duty. The method
chosen was simple. Whip up a colossal housing bubble, convince consumers that it
makes sense to borrow money against the rising value of their homes to
supplement their meagre real wage growth and watch the profits roll in. As they
did - for a while. Now it's payback time and the mood could get very ugly.
Americans, to put it bluntly, have been conned. They have been duped by a bunch
of serpent-tongued hucksters who packed up the wagon and made it across the
county line before a lynch mob could be formed.
IRS announces rebate schedule
WASHINGTON
- If you want to be the first on your block to get your $600 economic stimulus
payment, the IRS has a tip: Sign up to get your 2007 tax refund via direct
deposit.
Media
Permanent link to MTA daily media news
Iraq war disappears as TV story
(Associated Press)
The war has nearly vanished from TV screens over the past few months, replaced
by stories about the fascinating presidential campaign and faltering economy.
Yet Americans continue to fight and die there, five years after the war started
in March 2003.
FAIR Action Alert:
No Antiwar Voices in NYT 'Debate'
Look back at Iraq
features nine hawkish 'experts'
Click through for
contact information to let the New York Times know what you think.
Kos mocks Clinton bloggers
(Politico)
Markos is unimpressed with Clinton supporters' "walkout" from his site [Daily
Kos]: “Clinton and her shrinking band of paranoid holdouts wail and scream about
all those evil people who have ‘turned’ on Clinton and are no longer ‘honest
power brokers’ or ‘respectable voices’ or whatnot, wearing blinders to reality,
talking about silly little ‘strikes’ when in reality, Clinton is planning a far
more drastic, destructive and dehabilitating civil war.” Alegre, the diarist
leading the walkout, had complained of Hillary-bashing, as well as "abuse and
anger" directed at the bloggers.
The ex-Kossacks
have started a new blog.
Click here to visit. It’s a bit rough at the edges right now, but you can
help build it from the beginning.
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday [March 17]
shows John McCain with a six-percentage point lead over both potential
Democratic opponents.
McCain has gained ground against both Democrats in recent days as stories about
Obama’s former Pastor, Jeremiah Wright, have been widely discussed… The dialogue
about Wright’s controversial comments appears to have had at least a short-term
impact on public perceptions of Barack Obama. The Illinois Senator is viewed
favorably today by just 47% of voters nationwide. That’s down five points since
last Thursday… The number with an unfavorable view of Obama has risen from 44%
on Thursday to 50% today.
Just 8% Have Favorable Opinion of Pastor Jeremiah Wright
(Rasmussen)
Pastor Jeremiah Wright, who has become part of the national political dialogue
in recent days, is viewed favorably by 8% of voters nationwide… Wright was
Obama’s Pastor until he retired last month, but Obama has repudiated the
preacher’s comments. Seventy-three percent (73%) of voters say that Wright’s
comments are racially divisive… Most voters, 56%, said Wright’s comments made
them less likely to vote for Obama. That figure includes 44% of Democrats.
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright was an early concern, Obama aide admits
(Top of the Ticket, Los Angeles Times)
[M]ore than a year ago -- long before some of Wright’s more incendiary sermons
became hot-button videos on YouTube, forcing Obama to publicly renounce his
pastor last week -- the Obama campaign had a sense that Wright's sharp tongue
might spell trouble for the Illinois senator… That was the word anyway Sunday
from Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod, who acknowledged during a
conference call with reporters that Wright was disinvited from Obama's official
candidacy announcement on Feb. 10, 2007, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol
in Springfield,
Ill.
On My Faith and My Church
(by Barack Obama)
The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were
not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity
or heard him utter in private conversation.
SusanUnPC has
some questions for you, Senator Obama. And why did you
praise the Rev. Wright (video) as a “great leader”, and then throw him off
your campaign? Juan Williams
gets it right (video).
Kristol Admits Another Error -- This One on Obama Smear
Getting to be a
habit? The new New York Times columnist had attempted to debunk Sen. Barack
Obama's denial that he was ever present when his Chicago pastor made some of his
most "offensive" remarks. Now he has admitted his error and posted an addendum
to today's column.
But it doesn’t
matter if Obama was in church on a particular date when a particular thing was
said. He obviously knew of the incendiary content of Wright’s preaching.
Blame it on Washington
(by Ben Smith at Politico)
Blaming Washington works for almost any political problem, but this-- in Barack
Obama's interview with Gwen Ifill -- seems a bit of a stretch: “MS. IFILL: Do
you think that your association with those two people or people we don’t know
about would raise questions about your judgment? SEN. OBAMA: Well, no, look, all
of us have people in our lives who we meet, we get to know, in some cases form
friendships with, who end up getting themselves into trouble or say things that
we don’t agree with. And probably what’s true is because I haven’t been in
Washington
as long as Senator Clinton or others that I have not distanced myself from these
people for as long a period of time
as somebody more steeped in Washington politics might have.
Chafee raps Clinton as Bush enabler
Former Sen.
Lincoln Chafee, the lone Republican senator to vote against the Iraq war, calls
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton one of the "Democratic Bush enablers" who failed to
stand up to the president.
Is this the kind
of unity that Obama supporters want us to look forward to?
Finally, A Campaign Debate Over Openness
Just in time for
Sunshine Week, Hillary reveals her open government positions -- and Obama starts
an overdue coming-clean tour.
Can Obama bridge the racial divide?
(Capitol Hill Blue)
Democratic presidential frontrunner Barack Obama, hammered by both the right
wing and his own party opponent on racial issues, will try today to distance
himself from incendiary comments made by both former and current pastors of his
church.
Bill Clinton Rejects Criticism Over Race
(AP) Former
President Clinton is pushing back on criticism that he fanned racial tension
while campaigning for his wife in South Carolina. In an interview with ABC's
"Good Morning America" broadcast Monday, Clinton said he had gotten a "bum rap"
from the news media after he compared Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's landslide
victory in South Carolina's Jan. 26 primary to Jesse Jackson's wins in the state
in 1984 and 1988. Clinton was widely criticized for appearing to cast Obama as
little more than a black candidate popular in a state with a heavily black
electorate. "They made up a race story out of that," Clinton said of the news
media, calling the story "a bizarre spin." He made similar comments on CNN's
"American Morning," calling the notion that he had unfairly criticized Obama in
South Carolina
as "a total myth and a mugging."
And how about
calling people racists for just any old reason? How does that promote unity?
ON DEADLINE: Obama walks arrogance line
(by Ron Fournier, Associated Press)
[T]here's a line smart politicians don't cross — somewhere between "I'm
qualified to be president" and "I'm born to be president." Wherever it lies,
Barack Obama better watch his step. He's bordering on arrogance… The freshman
senator told reporters in July that he would overcome Hillary Rodham Clinton's
lead in the polls because "to know me is to love me."… Privately, aides and
associates of Obama tell stories about a boss who can be aloof and ungracious.
He holds firmly to views and doesn't like to be challenged, traits that
President Bush packaged and sold under the "resolute" brand in the 2004
election. For Bush, those qualities proved to be dangerous in a time of war and
in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
PBS' Glaser reviews semi-pro journalists' campaign websites
Mark Glaser
examines the websites of Huffington Post's Off the Bus, MTV's Street Team '08,
and PurpleStates.tv. He highlights the good, the bad and what's to come from
these efforts. "Think of it as a mid-term report because they all have time to
improve by the general election in November," writes Glaser.
NPR Can't Find Anyone Who Thinks the Housing Bubble Was a Bad Idea
(by Dean Baker)
Its analysis this morning did not include any comments from economists who think
the Fed made a mistake in allowing an $8 trillion housing bubble to grow
unchecked. It did include comments from WSJ reporter David Wessel, who
apparently thinks that having the government buy up mortgages -- a system of
house price supports -- is a good idea. If I had more time, I would grab a few
hundred of the columns in the Post, NYT, WSJ or commentaries on NPR, expressing
outrage over the waste and inefficiency of the system of farm prices supports.
The exact same reasoning would apply to these proposals for house price
supports, except the order of magnitude of the waste and inefficiency would be
two times greater, since we are talking about a $20 trillion housing market.
Will these media outlets ever give someone the opportunity to apply their own
reasoning with respect to the housing market?
Media Matters for America headlines
• Barnes understated McCain's reported role in defense-contract controversy
• Limbaugh repeated false Judicial Watch attacks linking Obama to FARC
Minn. Can't Bar Kids From Violent Games
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)
- A federal appeals court on Monday upheld an injunction against a Minnesota law
that targeted at children under 17 who rent or buy violent video games.
Justices Take Up On-Air Vulgarity Again
The justices
agreed to give the F.C.C. a chance to defend its decision to start punishing
broadcasters for the isolated and fleeting on-air use of expletives.
Media shield law remains in doubt
WASHINGTON
- As federal judges order more reporters to disclose their confidential sources,
news organizations are pinning their hopes on congressional passage of a media
shield bill the Bush administration opposes as a threat to national security.
Read PEJ's annual report on the state of American journalism
The state of the
American news media in 2008 is more troubled than a year ago, says the Project
for Excellence in Journalism report. "More and more it appears the biggest
problem facing traditional media has less to do with where people get
information than how to pay for it -- the emerging reality that advertising
isn't migrating online with the consumer," say the authors. "The crisis in
journalism, in other words, may not strictly be loss of audience. It may, more
fundamentally, be the decoupling of news and advertising."
"Grand experiments" in journalism leave newsman frustrated
"I see tremendous
energy going in to breaking new ground in gathering news, telling stories, and
creating community," writes Mercury News reporter Chris O'Brien. "What I don't
see is an equivalent amount of innovation occurring around the business models
that will support journalism going forward. What I tend to see, over and over,
is people experimenting wildly on the content side, and then falling back on the
same old business model: Selling ads. This model is dying."
Exclusive: Our Monthly Report on Top 30 Newspaper Sites -- Big Gains Reported
For Nearly All!
(Editor & Publisher)
February was a very good month for the top 30 newspaper Web sites with all but
three making gains in traffic year over year. Perhaps it's the political season?
Whatever the reason, many sites experienced massive double-digit growth.
Times Company Agrees to 2 Outsiders on Its Board
The New York
Times Company has struck a deal with a pair of hedge funds, giving the funds two
seats on the board in order to avoid a proxy fight.
Gannett CEO gets a 36% raise as company's stock plummets
Craig Dubow
received pay and compensation valued at $7.9 million in 2007 -- 36% higher than
the previous year. Matthew Barakat notes that in the last 12 months, Gannett
stock has lost roughly half its value, from about $60 a year ago to $29.97 at
the close of business Thursday. || Gannett Blog comments: "I would love to see a
Gannett-wide strike of ALL employees in protest."
Newspaper Marketing Taking a Hit from the Do-Not-Call List?
(by Tish Grier at Poynter Online)
There's no doubt that, over the past four years, there's been a steady decline
in newspaper circulation. Lots of fingers have been pointed here and there, from
blaming blogs to blaming Craigslist, to blaming the Internet as the true sources
in the decline in newspaper subscriptions. But one very small -- yet perhaps
highly significant -- development may have affected newspaper circulation more
than any of us ever thought: the October 2003 launch of the National Do Not Call
Registry (NDNCR), which was mentioned very briefly in Editor and Publisher's
Mar. 11 exclusive on the the four-year plunge in newspaper circulation.
Newspaper sites need rules for civility in comments areas
Too many papers
"embrace the rambunctious discourse of the Internet with the zeal of the convert
-- and the sweaty fervor of the desperate: Got something to say? Tell us!"
writes Edward Wasserman. "Editors who would never dream of running an unsigned
letter-to-the-editor now argue for promiscuous anonymity. And taste and
civility, respectfulness? Old-line values of a discredited media elite. I
exaggerate, but not that much."
Televisa, Telemundo Join Forces
(Wall Street Journal)
Mexican television giant Grupo Televisa SA and Telemundo, General Electric Co.'s
Spanish-language broadcaster, have reached a content-sharing deal in Mexico,
opening the door to an eventual broader alliance in the key U.S. Hispanic
market, people familiar with the situation say.
Slate to launch business site, "The Big Money"
NEW YORK
(Reuters) - Slate, the online news and opinion magazine owned by The Washington
Post Co, plans to join a bustling business news market with an analysis and
commentary site expected to launch this summer. "The Big Money" aims to use wit
and irreverence to explain the arcana of Wall Street, the same way Slate has
done with general and political news, Editor James Ledbetter told Reuters in an
interview.
Open-Source Troubles in Wiki World
A shoestring
operation stunned by its own success faces growing pains.
CBS stations’ local ad network
(by Jeff Jarvis)
It warms my cockles to see a local blog ad network start, especially from a
company as big as CBS’ station group. They just announced a new widget ad
network in 13 of their local markets (the owned & operated stations with
newsrooms). In a week and a half, they’ve put together 80 blogs in the network,
many more to come. They are all local blogs around various content interests:
news, politics, sports, real estate, entertainment.
Google says well positioned for economic downturn
SYDNEY (Reuters)
- Google Inc, the world's leading Internet search engine, said on Tuesday it was
well positioned to weather any economic downturn as its advertisers were broad
based.
Advertisers welcome prospect of Google rival
(Financial Times)
Interviews with [advertising] agency executives since [Microsoft’s] unsolicited
$40bn offer for Yahoo was announced last month make clear that they and their
clients welcome the prospect of a stronger rival emerging to Google. “If we have
two competitors, a duopoly is better than a monopoly,” says Sir Martin Sorrell,
chief executive of WPP, who has dubbed Google a “frenemy” – both friend and
enemy to advertisers.
Online Games by the Hundreds, With Tie-Ins
By entering the
online-game sector, media companies can attract advertising, including from food
companies that have agreed to limit the nature and volume of television ads
aimed at children.
EU picks mobile TV standard
BRUSSELS, Belgium
- The European Union on Monday chose a mobile TV broadcast standard and
suggested that its member governments now ask cell carriers to favor it.
Technology & Science
Botnet scams are exploding
SEATTLE - Largely
unnoticed by the public, botnets have come to inundate the Internet. On a
typical day, 40% of the 800 million computers connected to the Internet are bots
engaged in distributing e-mail spam, stealing sensitive data typed at banking
and shopping websites, bombarding websites as part of extortionist
denial-of-service attacks, and spreading fresh infections, says Rick Wesson, CEO
of Support Intelligence, a San Francisco-based company that tracks and sells
threat data.
Justices Turn Down Microsoft Appeal
WASHINGTON (AP) -
The Supreme Court on Monday handed Microsoft Corp. a defeat by refusing to rule
on the software giant's request to halt an antitrust suit against it. The suit
was brought in 2004 by Waltham, Mass.-based Novell Inc.
Paper Is Out, Cellphones Are In
The mobile
check-in may well be the first step in direct communications between airlines
and passengers as they travel.
Voiceless Phone Calls Now Possible
Audeo has just
demonstrated their subvocal speech input device in a new context; a neckband
that translates thought into speech by interpreting signals sent from the brain
to the vocal chords. Audeo used it in their Thinking Man's Wheelchair for
quadraplegics demonstrated last September. The device does not provide unlimited
translation; it is able to respond with about 150 basic words and phrases. It is
anticipated that the device will offer unlimited vocabulary by the end of the
year, through recognition of speech phonemes
DNA-Guided Nanoparticle Assembly
ScienceDaily
(Mar. 18, 2008) — Brookhaven Lab scientists have developed a new method for
controlling the self-assembly of nanometer and micrometer-sized particles. Based
on designed DNA shells that coat a particle's surface, the method can be used to
manipulate the structure of numerous materials.
Dynamic Visualization Made Of Simplest Circadian Clock
ScienceDaily
(Mar. 18, 2008) — Scientists have acquired a more dynamic picture of events that
underlie the functions of a bacterial biological clock. New research shows how
the simplest organism known to have a circadian clock keeps time and may enhance
our understanding of how other organisms establish and govern chronological
rhythms.
The future of biomedicine: virtual humans
Scientists
recently have provided a sneak preview of the future of biomedicine with a range
of projects seeking to assemble virtual humans – or parts of them – on
computers and “labs on a chip.”
Food-borne Illnesses From Leafy Greens on Rise in U.S.
Increase not
explained by higher consumption; more control urged from harvest to preparation
Human Growth Hormone Doesn't Improve Athletic Performance
Study found that
while it increased lean body mass, it didn't boost exercise capacity
Chronic Sleep Disruption Can Cause Heart And Kidney Disease
ScienceDaily
(Mar. 18, 2008) — Chronic sleep disruption can cause heart and kidney disease,
researchers at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre of the Toronto General Hospital
have discovered.
Frying Tumors Can Boost Lung Cancer Survival
And a similar
needle-based freezing technology can help fight kidney cancer, studies find
Tissue-Freezing Technique Effective Against Prostate Cancer
But more study
may still be needed to bring therapy into the mainstream, experts say.
Overweight, Obese Women Improve Quality Of Life With 10 To 30 Minutes Of
Exercise
ScienceDaily
(Mar. 17, 2008) — Sedentary, overweight or obese women can improve their quality
of life by exercising as little as 10 to 30 minutes a day, researchers reported
at the American Heart Association's Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity
and Metabolism.
Balance in Old Age Tied to Brain Changes
Monitoring white
matter levels may assist early identification of walking problems.
Ancient Greek Outpost Discovered, Spectacularly Preserved
Archaeologists
have discovered a spectacularly preserved ancient harbor town of the Mycenaeans,
the civilization on which many ancient Greek legends were based. Though the
settlement was built 3,500 years ago, hundreds of walls are still standing. The
site, which is partially underwater, lies along a rocky, isolated stretch of
shoreline. Scientists suspect it may have been built as a military outpost.
Culture gave early humans edge
The first modern
humans had something Neanderthals didn't. About 30,000 years ago, our
Neanderthal neighbors died off while we survived. Scientists are unsure what
gave us an edge, but new research could help narrow down the possibilities.
Spacewalkers Add Tool Kit, Cameras to Station's New Robot
HOUSTON - Two
spacewalking astronauts added a tool kit and camera eyes to the International
Space Station's (ISS) new mechanical handyman late Monday, priming the two-armed
robot for its big move to orbiting laboratory's hull.
Spacewalk complete as "Dextre" tools up
HOUSTON (Reuters)
- Dextre the handyman space robot now has the tools of his trade and is ready
for work.
Io Creates Spots on Jupiter
Newfound glowing
spots on Jupiter seem unexpectedly to come from electron beams whipping around
the giant planet's volcanic moon Io. Io is the most volcanic body in the solar
system, with its entire surface likely made up of lava from the moon's hundreds
of volcanoes. Io also causes glowing spots hundreds of miles across on its
mother planet that are similar to the aurora borealis or northern lights in the
Northern Hemisphere on Earth.
Environment
Vanishing central African glaciers threaten water supplies of millions
Nairobi, Kenya —
Nairobi, Kenya — Forget the snows of Kilimanjaro — Africa is at risk of losing
the central African glaciers that feed the Nile and supply water to two million
people. A WWF and partner organization team of 27 people of eight nationalities
recently returned from the Rwenzori Mountains after gathering data showing that
the mountain's glaciers have shrunk by 50 per cent in the last 50 years and more
than 75 per cent in the last century.
Ocean Wave Heights Rising Along East Coast
Ocean wave
heights along the U.S. East Coast have progressively increased during the summer
months… Examinations of the storms that have occurred since 1980 indicate that
the primary explanation for the progressive increase in wave heights has been an
intensification of the hurricanes, factoring in an increased numbers of storms…
[T]he researchers say that still-greater hazards to communities along the coasts
in the study will continue.
Japan to host climate change summit
TOKYO (Reuters) -
Leaders from 16 countries including the Group of Eight (G8), China, India and
Brazil will gather to discuss climate change on the sidelines of the G8 summit
in July, Japan's top government spokesman said on Tuesday. Global warming is at
the top of the agenda for the G8 summit and host country Japan is inviting the
leaders of Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, South Africa
and Mexico to attend an expanded gathering on the topic on July 9, Chief Cabinet
Secretary Nobutaka Machimura told a news conference.
Stunning Solar Building Will Generate More Power Than It Needs
The Masdar
Headquarters building will produce more power than it needs (an energy positive
building). In fact, the solar roof (one of the largest in the world) will be
constructed first, and it will power the construction of the rest of the
building. The video link on this page has a great view of the sun-infused
interior. The 1.4 million square foot building was designed by Chicago
architecture firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill.
The all-electric Subaru R1e to be tested in NYC
Technologically
we could build solar power plants so expansive, covering such a large area, that
they could be seen from space. But we don’t have to. We could plaster the
world’s deserts with solar photovoltaic or concentrated solar thermal power
plants to provide many times the amount of power needed to run the world’s
economies. But we don’t have to turn the world’s deserts into energy-generating
industrial sites. Large scale solar power plants can be built anywhere where
sun-drenched real estate is affordable.
The Next Generation Of High-efficiency Plastic Solar Cells
Alan J. Heeger
and colleagues point out that plastic solar cells, fabricated from bulk
heterojunction materials comprising semiconducting polymers and fullerenes, have
already demonstrated promising performance. However, researchers do not
understand how to control the nano-scale morphology and are looking for ways to
optimize the solar cell performance for practical use.
S.Korea makes arrests in illegal whale trade ring
SEOUL (Reuters) -
South Korean police have arrested three fishermen who are suspected of running a
ring that traded in illegal whale meat, a coast guard official said on Tuesday.
South Korea prohibits commercial whaling and can send poachers to jail for up to
three years. It allows the trade in whales caught accidentally by fishing crews
or in whales that have washed up dead near its shores.
Cancer-Causing Contaminant Soils Cleaning Products
Seventh
Generation, Method and other leading personal care and cleaning brands may soon
face lawsuits if they don't remove the word "organic" from their labeling and
marketing by Sept. 1. The ultimatum comes following a recent investigation by
the Organic Consumers Assn., which uncovered a potentially carcinogenic
contaminant in various products.
