Authorities lose patience with collapsing dollar
Jean-Claude Juncker, the EU's 'Mr Euro', has given the clearest warning to date that the world authorities may take action to halt the collapse of the dollar and undercut commodity speculation by hedge funds.
Momentum traders have blithely ignored last week's accord by the G7 powers, which described "sharp fluctuations in major currencies" as a threat to economic and financial stability. The euro has surged to fresh records this week, touching $1.5982 against the dollar and £0.8098 against sterling yesterday.
The man who bet on the credit crisis - and took home $3.7bn last year
It is a jarring comparison for the millions of American homeowners struggling with their soaring mortgage payments, but there is one man who has profited so much from the credit crisis that he is jumping a few rungs on the property ladder this year.
He is John Paulson, a previously obscure hedge fund manager from New York, who took home $3.7bn (£1.9bn) last year, after betting on a calamity in the mortgage market.
Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon's Hidden Hand
In the summer of 2005, the Bush administration confronted a fresh wave of criticism over Guantánamo Bay. The detention center had just been branded “the gulag of our times” by Amnesty International, there were new allegations of abuse from United Nations human rights experts and calls were mounting for its closure. The administration’s communications experts responded swiftly. Early one Friday morning, they put a group of retired military officers on one of the jets normally used by Vice President Dick Cheney and flew them to Cuba for a carefully orchestrated tour of Guantánamo.
Canadians reject North American Union
On the heels of the Leader Summit in New Orleans, the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) received some more bad news as the North American Union agenda appears to be on the ropes especially in Canada. A poll commissioned by the Council of Canadians reveals that the majority of the country wants the Conservative minority government to protect water, energy, and public regulations, and to back off on integration with the United States.
The SPP’s objectives include removing barriers and securing U.S. access to Canadian natural resources. One half of Alberta’s oil sands production is already U.S. owned. The SPP will lead to the further corporate takeover of Canada’s resources. The U.S. government, along with trinational elites in the private sector, will benefit from a North American resource pact.
Canadian Farmers to kill off 150,000 pigs
In what is being called an unprecedented move, the federal government will pay Canadian pork producers $50 million to kill off 150,000 of their pigs by the fall as the industry teeters on the brink of economic collapse.
The animals are being destroyed at slaughter plants and on pig farms in a bid to cull the swine breeding herd by 10 per cent.
UN warns of food emergency as prices escalate
A rapidly escalating global food crisis has reached emergency proportions and threatens to wipe out seven years of progress in the fight against poverty, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned Monday.
He called for short-term emergency measures in many regions to meet urgent food needs and avoid starvation and longer-term efforts to significantly increase production of food grains.The "international community will also need to take urgent and concerted action in order to avoid the larger political and security implications of this growing crisis,"....
French push for EU food response
France is urging EU countries to come up with a global initiative on food security in the wake of violence linked to price rises in basic foodstuffs.
Agriculture minister Michel Barnier said Europe could not remain passive and leave the situation to the markets.
EU set to scrap biofuels target amid fears of food crisis
The European commission is backing away from its insistence on imposing a compulsory 10% quota of biofuels in all petrol and diesel by 2020, a central plank of its programme to lead the world in combating climate change.
Amid a worsening global food crisis exacerbated, say experts and critics, by the race to divert food or feed crops into biomass for the manufacture of vehicle fuel, and inundated by a flood of expert advice criticising the shift to renewable fuel, the commission appears to be getting cold feet about its biofuels target.
Florida "Coconut road" Earmark promts investigation
The Senate moved yesterday toward asking the Justice Department for a criminal investigation of a $10 million legislative earmark whose provisions were mysteriously altered after Congress gave final approval to a huge 2005 highway funding bill.
In what may become the first formal request from Congress for a criminal inquiry into one of its own special projects, top Senate Democrats and Republicans have endorsed taking action in connection with the earmark that Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), former chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, inserted into the legislation.
"It's very possible people ought to go to jail,"
Backstory on Florida "Coconut road" Pork Barrel project
Young's staff acknowledged yesterday that aides "corrected" the earmark just before it went to the White House for President Bush's signature, specifying that the money would go to a proposed highway interchange project on Interstate 75 near Naples, Fla. Young says the project was entirely worthy of an earmark and he welcomes any inquiry, a spokeswoman said....
Young's office accepted responsibility yesterday for the change, insisting that campaign contributions were not the motive. Rather, presentations made by Florida Gulf Coast University officials and the developers proved the case for the project, aides said.
[Meredith] Kenny, Young's spokeswoman, said the lawmaker always intended for the earmark to designate money to the interchange project, not generic highway improvements. So committee aides altered the bill to reflect that after the House and Senate had approved it.
Forrest High School Named after KKK Founder
An example is Mr. Stoll reminding (or re-edjumicating) the local Negros that the popular Negro high school, Nathan Beauford Forrest High School, was named after the founder of the Klu Klu Klan after Duval County's School Board resisted forced federal school integration back in the 1950s and decided on that name to insult the politically-correct at the time. The funny part is this joke has lasted until right now as I type. Nobody has seemed to care or even waste their breath on this "issue" but Jews like Mr. Stoll come into a community, divide the community racially and attempt to overthrow the majority by encouraging the minority to become more interested in community issues rather than sitting on their front porch yelling at people and cars going by.
WQXT 22, Norma Sherry Show on Forrest High School Issue (Video)
For some reason the school board refuse to change the name. This story is shocking, a school name after the biggest slave trader in the history of the USA and a war criminal. Find out why.
"WINDOWS XP IS DESTROYING THE PLANET."
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that no more than 10% of all PCs in use by organizations have power management enabled, and as a result are wasting large amounts of electricity and contributing to greenhouse gases. One major culprit may be Windows XP.
Unlike the Vista operating system, Windows XP does not give system administrators the ability to natively manage power settings on PCs over a network. That may be hindering adoption of the power management functions available in the operating system.
PEOPLE WHO KNOW HOW TO F******* PARK ON BRINK OF EXTINCTION
DRIVERS who can position their car in the middle of a parking space at a supermarket are sliding closer to extinction, conservationists have warned.
Yet another symptom of climate change? Or is he just an unspeakable bastard who deserves to die?
Research teams have recorded a sharp decline in numbers over the last decade, despite strenuous efforts to educate the public about how easy it is to just put your car in the middle of a parking space.
Dr Tom Logan, head of species protection at the WWF, said: "There is a series of white lines separated by spaces roughly the same width as a car, plus a little bit more. Let's think of that as the first Great Big F****** Clue shall we?
China paves road to Everest
China has finished paving a road that will make it easier for the Olympic flame to reach the top of Mount Everest.
News reports say a blacktop road leading to the Mount Everest base camp was completed yesterday. It will be used when the Olympic torch is taken to the peak of the world's tallest mountain.
Workers spent 10 months widening the 108-km road, evening the surface and installing guardrails at dangerous spots. The plan to take the torch to the peak has been criticized. Activists said Beijing wants to use the event to underscore its claim to Tibet, which has been the focus of recent protests.
Polygamist sect gets millions from U.S. government
American taxpayers have unwittingly helped finance a polygamist sect that is now the focus of a massive child abuse investigation in West Texas, with a business tied to the group receiving a nearly $1 million loan from the federal government and $1.2 million in military contracts.
USDA Accused Of Bullying Inspectors Who Reported Safety Violations
First the USDA makes their own inspectors cry in front of Congress and now the Associated Press says that the head of the federal inspectors' union is alleging that the USDA told him to "drop the matter" when he reported food safety violations at slaughterhouses. When he refused, he was placed on "disciplinary investigative status."
? Scientists Find Blueberries Reverse Age Related Memory Deficits
Phytochemical-rich foods, such as blueberries, are not only healthy food choices, they may actually be able to reverse age-related memory problems. That's the conclusion of a study by a research team from the University of Reading and the Peninsula Medical School in England.
Faba pleads guilty to 2 murders, is sentenced
A St. Johns County man recently accused of murdering his father and former girlfriend eight years ago, and currently serving 40 years for another slaying, pleaded guilty Tuesday in a St. Augustine courtroom.
Ralph John Faba, 30, was sentenced to 25 years by Circuit Judge Clyde Wolfe for the deaths of Ralph Faba Sr. and Alicia Eakins. Eakins’ remains were found in Putnam County March 29, 150 feet off State Road 19 in the Ocala National Forest.
Expansion will add 35% more space at St. Augustine outlet
St. Augustine-Prime Outlets shopping center is starting a $35 million expansion project that will add 35 percent more space.
A 28,000-square-foot Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th will anchor the 90,000-square-foot exterior expansion. Some of the other new retailers include kate spade, Lucky Brand Jeans, Ann Taylor Loft and Juicy Couture. The project also includes renovation work to the existing 250,000-square-foot interior facility with an updated 400-seat food court
Clinton, Obama both appear on Colbert Report (Video)
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton played up her image as a tireless problem solver _ this time for laughs _ when she visited Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" Thursday night.
Not to be outdone, Sen. Barack Obama, her rival for the Democratic nomination, showed up via satellite to poke fun at what he called the media's fixation on gaffes and trivialities.
Microwave Ovens: The Curse of Convenience
The following is a summary of the Russian investigations published by the Atlantis Rising Educational Center in Portland, Oregon. Carcinogens were formed in virtually all foods tested. No test food was subjected to more microwaving than necessary to accomplish the purpose, i.e., cooking, thawing, or heating to ensure sanitary ingestion.
Here's a summary of some of the results:
* Microwaving prepared meats sufficiently to ensure sanitary ingestion caused formation of d-Nitrosodiethanolamines, a well-known carcinogen.
* Microwaving milk and cereal grains converted some of their amino acids into carcinogens.
* Thawing frozen fruits converted their glucoside and galactoside containing fractions into carcinogenic substances.
* Extremely short exposure of raw, cooked or frozen vegetables converted their plant alkaloids into carcinogens.
* Carcinogenic free radicals were formed in microwaved plants, especially root vegetables.
Canada Likely to Label Plastic Ingredient 'Toxic'
The Canadian government is said to be ready to declare as toxic a chemical widely used in plastics for baby bottles, beverage and food containers as well as linings in food cans. A person with knowledge of the government’s chemical review program spoke on the condition he not be named because of a confidentiality agreement. He said the staff work to list the compound, called bisphenol-a, or B.P.A., as a toxic chemical was complete and was recently endorsed by a panel of outside scientists.
George Soros: It's like the Great Depression
Mr Soros said global financial markets were in a period of rapid, massive de-leveraging that would fuel volatility.
“We are in a period of financial wealth destruction … and now we have de-leveraging,” he said....
“I think the acute phase of the crisis is behind us in the sense that (fears that) the financial system will be allowed to collapse are unfounded,” Mr Soros said.
Rush Limbaugh having memory problems.......Study links incontinence drugs with memory problems
Commonly used incontinence drugs may cause memory problems in some older people, a study has found. "Our message is to be careful when using these medicines," said U.S. Navy neurologist Dr. Jack Tsao, who led the study. "It may be better to use diapers and be able to think clearly than the other way around."
Rush Limbaugh Going Deaf....... Popular Impotence Drugs May Cause Sudden Deafness
The FDA has announced an immediate change to the labeling of drugs in a family that includes popular impotence drugs, warning that they may lead to sudden, severe and potentially permanent hearing loss.
The erectile dysfunction drugs in the phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) class include Pfizer's Viagra, Eli Lilly's Cialis and GlaxoSmithKline's Levitra. Also receiving a label change will be blood pressure drug Revatio.
"Willy Bova could you speak up, Caller could you speak up......." Rush Limbaugh
Merck Wrote Drug Studies for Doctors
Drug maker Merck drafted dozens of research studies for a best-selling drug, then lined up prestigious doctors to put their names on the reports before publication, according to an article to be published Wednesday in a leading medical journal.The article, based on documents unearthed in lawsuits over the pain drug Vioxx, provides a rare, detailed look in the industry practice of ghostwriting medical research studies that are then published in academic journals.
The article cited one draft of a Vioxx research study that was still in want of a big-name researcher, identifying the lead writer only as “External author?”
Warning on Storage of Health Records
In an article in The New England Journal of Medicine, two leading researchers warn that the entry of big companies like Microsoft and Google into the field of personal health records could drastically alter the practice of clinical research and raise new challenges to the privacy of patient records.
The authors, Dr. Kenneth D. Mandl and Dr. Isaac S. Kohane, are longtime proponents of the benefits of electronic patient records to improve care and help individuals make smarter health decisions. But their concern, stated in the article published Wednesday and in an interview, is that the medical profession and policy makers have not begun to grapple with the implications of companies like Microsoft and Google becoming the hosts for vast stores of patient information.
The arrival of these new corporate entrants, the authors write, promises to bring “a seismic change” in the control and stewardship of patient information.
The ABC Debate: A Shameful Night for the U.S. Media
In perhaps the most embarrassing performance by the media in a major presidential debate in years, ABC News hosts Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos focused mainly on trivial issues as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama faced off in Philadelphia. They, and their network, should hang their collective heads in shame.
Artificial hormones in U.S. beef linked to breast cancer, prostate cancer
There is new concern over evidence that growth and sex hormones in beef can cause genital abnormalities in boys, and early onset of puberty in girls.
British Veterinary Products Committee (VPC) member and chemical expert John Verall was appointed to the government's VPC to represent consumer interests. He recently defied a government gag order, revealing evidence from the study which showed a rise in the rates of breast and prostate cancer in the United States, where two-thirds of all cattle are pumped full of hormones.
Don't buy guns at Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest seller of firearms, announced Monday it will toughen rules for gun sales, from storing video of purchases to creating an internal log of which guns they sell that are later used in crimes.
First they advocated socialized healthcare. Now they want to expand their spying on customers. Sounds like a good reason to avoid shopping at Wally World.
Florida Gov. Crist signs guns at work bill
Gov. Charlie Crist signed a bill into law on Tuesday that will allow Florida residents to keep guns locked in their cars at work.
Gun owners, however, shouldn't start taking their weapons to work right away. The law doesn't take effect until July, and the business community is already planning to challenge the new legislation in court. A lawsuit on the issue could be filed as soon as next week.
Comcast wants 'bill of rights' for file-sharers and ISPs
Comcast Corp., under federal investigation for interfering with the traffic of its Internet subscribers, said Tuesday it wants to develop a "Bill of Rights and Responsibilities" for file sharing.
Wesley Snipes May Do Time for Tax Crime
Tax day just got a little more taxing for Wesley Snipes.
U.S. prosecutors have recommended that the IRS-dodging Blade star serve the maximum sentence of three years in federal prison and pay a $5 million fine for his convictions in February for willful failure to file returns.
IRS Audits of Big Companies Fall to All-Time Low
The FY 2007 audit rate for the nation's largest corporations has plunged to its lowest level in the last 20 years, less than half what it was in FY 1988 ... The historic collapse in audits for the corporations with $250 million or more in assets was especially notable during the last two years when the rate dropped from 43% in FY 2005, to 34% in FY 2006 and then to an all-time low of 26% in FY 2007. [Click on chart to enlarge.]
But along with the declining number of audits for the largest corporations, the IRS data point to a second significant finding: the thoroughness of these essential audits has been dropping. One example of this broad problem can be seen by the fact that the typical amount of time auditors spend on each of the large corporate audits is down by 20% over the last five years.
The incredible shrinking city
Youngstown, Ohio, has long been on the decline and now is being hit by the foreclosure crisis. Its answer: Razing abandoned buildings and tearing up streets. Youngstown, Ohio, has seen its population shrink by more than half over the past 40 years, leaving behind huge swaths of empty homes, streets and neighborhoods.
Now, in a radical move, the city - which has suffered since the steel industry left town and jobs dried up - is bulldozing abandoned buildings, tearing up blighted streets and converting entire blocks into open green spaces. More than 1,000 structures have been demolished so far.
GRAFFITI ARTIST BANKSY PULLS OFF MOST AUDACIOUS STUNT TO DATE - DESPITE BEING WATCHED BY CCTV
Banksy pulled off an audacious stunt to produce what is believed to be his biggest work yet in central London. The secretive graffiti artist managed to erect three storeys of scaffolding behind a security fence despite being watched by a CCTV camera.
Then, during darkness and hidden behind a sheet of polythene, he painted this comment on 'Big Brother' society.
Hurricane expert reconsiders global warming's impact
One of the most influential scientists behind the theory that global warming has intensified recent hurricane activity says he will reconsider his stand.
The hurricane expert, Kerry Emanuel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, unveiled a novel technique for predicting future hurricane activity this week. The new work suggests that, even in a dramatically warming world, hurricane frequency and intensity may not substantially rise during the next two centuries.
Unusual Earthquake Swarm Off Oregon Coast Puzzles Scientists
Scientists at Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center have recorded more than 600 earthquakes in the last 10 days off the central Oregon coast in an area not typically known for a high degree of seismic activity. This earthquake “swarm” is unique, according to OSU marine geologist Robert Dziak, because it is occurring within the middle of the Juan de Fuca plate – away from the major, regional tectonic boundaries.
“In the 17 years we’ve been monitoring the ocean through hydrophone recordings, we’ve never seen a swarm of earthquakes in an area such as this,” Dziak said.
Users petition to keep Windows XP
Microsoft Corp.'s operating systems run most personal computers around the globe and are a cash cow for the world's largest software maker. But you'd never confuse a Windows user with the passionate fans of Mac OS X or even the free Linux operating system. Unless it's someone running Windows XP, a version Microsoft wants to retire.
Fans of the six-year-old operating system set to be pulled off store shelves in June have papered the Internet with blog posts, cartoons and petitions recently. They trumpet its superiority to Windows Vista, Microsoft's latest PC operating system, whose consumer launch last January was greeted with lukewarm reviews.
"Microsoft wants to stop selling a product, people like to force them to buy a product people hate. Perhaps people should buy stock in Apple, and take short positions in Microsoft stock, just a thought" Willy Bova
Espionage Against Pro-Tibet Groups, Others, Spurred Microsoft Patches
Computer intruders targeting pro-Tibetan groups, U.S. defense contractors and government agencies slipped in through previously unknown security holes in Microsoft Office, prompting Microsoft to issue a flurry of patches to the popular software suite in 2006 and 2007, according to computer security experts.
These attacks, which appeared to have originated in China, began in early 2006 when the attackers started sending e-mails to victims with booby-trapped Word documents and Excel spreadsheets attached.
Your Internet provider is watching you Fine print reveals that you have fewer rights than you might realize
What's scary, funny and boring at the same time? It could be a bad horror movie. Or it could be the fine print on your Internet service provider's contract.
Those documents you agree to — usually without reading — ostensibly allow your ISP to watch how you use the Internet, read your e-mail or keep you from visiting sites it deems inappropriate. Some reserve the right to block traffic and, for any reason, cut off a service that many users now find essential.
Seriously ill? Need costly drugs? Go broke or die
Has the financial tipping point of life vs. death finally arrived? Do you now need to be financially healthy (meaning rich) to ease suffering from or survive diseases such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, hepatitis C and some cancers (such as metastatic breast cancer)?
The lead story in the print edition of today’s New York Times reports this chilling fact:
Health insurance companies are rapidly adopting a new pricing system for very expensive drugs, asking patients to pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars for prescriptions for medications that may save their lives or slow the progress of serious diseases.
With the new pricing system, insurers abandoned the traditional arrangement that has patients pay a fixed amount, like $10, $20 or $30 for a prescription, no matter what the drug’s actual cost. Instead, they are charging patients a percentage of the cost of certain high-priced drugs, usually 20 to 33 percent, which can amount to thousands of dollars a month.
Food vs fuel debate shakes Canadian breadbasket
Rising food prices are exacerbating the food versus fuel debate in Canada's breadbasket region, where critics say ethanol is diverting valuable commodities away from food markets and proponents say market economics will prevail.
For food manufacturers and processors, the issue flags yet another direction in which crops are being tugged, and yet another factor on which to keep an eye as prices continue to rise owing to global demand and climactic effects on agricultural production.
Saudi to leave some oil finds for future
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah said he had ordered some new oil discoveries left untapped to preserve oil wealth in the world's top exporter for future generations, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
"I keep no secret from you that when there were some new finds, I told them, 'no, leave it in the ground, with grace from god, our children need it'," King Abdullah said in remarks made late on Saturday.
The real Good Life: An entire village turns against supermarkets and grows its own food
It was a sitcom that inspired many a household to live off the land.
And although it might not attract the likes of Margo and Jerry to move to the area, an entire village is trying its hand at the Good Life.
In a bid to become less dependent on supermarkets, the residents of Martin are working together to become as self-sufficient as possible.
Lake Superior State University Violates Free Expression Rights Orders Professor to Remove Posted Materials from Office Door
Lake Superior State University (LSSU) has ordered a professor to remove materials dealing with issues such as Islamic terrorism, gun control, presidential politics, and the war in Iraq from his office door or face charges of "insubordination." After an anonymous person complained that the materials were offensive, LSSU officials told Professor Richard Crandall, a nearly 40-year veteran of teaching, to immediately remove the items and to practice his academic freedom with "responsibility"—while allowing other professors to maintain similar postings about the same issues on their office doors. Crandall has turned to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) for help.
Will Ferrell Brings Back Bush Impersonation, Slams Jon Stewart
Will Ferrell dusted off his George W. Bush impersonation Sunday night to raise money for autism education. The cause, Comedy Central's "Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Benefit For Autism Education," was started by "Saturday Night Live" writer Robert Smigel, who's son is autistic. Ferrell, as Bush, shared reflections of his legacy with host Jon Stewart.
"Wanted someone as good as WILL FERRELL to impersonate Barack Obama. They do not need to be black, Muslim or have a white mother, but they must have large ears, big hands and be a terrible bowler." Willy Bova
Email spy plan about national security
Employers would be able to read their staff's emails under proposed new national security laws being considered by the Federal Government. The new laws would give companies extra powers to monitor their computer networks to prevent cyber-attacks.
They would be allowed to check their staff's emails and internet communications without their consent.
SHEEP IN WOLVES' CLOTHING: JUST SAY NO TO FACEBOOK AND ITS CIA-SPONSORED PHILOSOPHY
“Clearly, Facebook is another uber-capitalist experiment: can you make money out of friendship? Can you create communities free of national boundaries—and then sell Coca-Cola to them? Facebook is profoundly uncreative. It makes nothing at all. It simply mediates in relationships that were happening anyway.”
—Tom Hodgkinson, the Guardian
New Cell Phone can Remotely Monitor Conversations
This is an upgrade of the original 3310 Dimension but also includes real time ''Infinity listening'' making this a superb low cost listening device but in the 8210 phone.
Monitoring a room - This works exactly the same way as the original 3310 Dimension. Monitoring an individual - Simply enter the secret access menu and program any mobile/landline number. Now dial the 3310 from that stored secret number and you can listen into the immediate surrounding sounds and conversations. The phone shows NO indication you are listening in thus can be given to your children for example and used as an everyday mobile phone without arousing suspicion.
Cannabis may help combat cancer
The chemical in cannabis that produces a high may help to combat the spread of cancer, research suggests. Scientists have discovered the active ingredient, delta-9-tetrahydrocannibol can block the spread of gamma herpes viruses.
Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice 'authorised waterboarding torture of Al Qaeda prisoners'
The White House was directly implicated for the first time last night in the decision to torture Al Qaeda prisoners. Sources say that Vice President Dick Cheney and a handful of other top politicians met in secret and agreed to the mistreatment of prisoners, according to ABC TV News and the Associated Press.
As part of the decision-making process, they were given demonstrations of the techniques used. And as a direct result, the CIA was given the go-ahead to punch suspected terrorists, deprive them of sleep, and practise waterboarding - simulated drowning.
Cheney cold-shouldered
Dick Cheney's belligerence and aggressive anti-Iran rhetoric is driving Arab nations into the arms of Russia. There is talk of new wars across the Middle East this summer - and there is nothing new about that. What is new is the reaction of America's closest allies in the Arab world to the latest outbreak of belligerent rhetoric. Led by Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, and Egypt, they have indicated they don't like the war talk from Vice-President Cheney and his team.
UN food agency: Soaring food prices to persist
Even with bigger crops, soaring food prices that have sparked unrest across the globe are likely to persist, threatening millions of people worldwide, a U.N. agency said Friday.
Prices of bread, rice, milk, cooking oil and other basic foodstuffs have sharply increased in the past months in many developing countries, according to a report by the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization. Prices of wheat and rice have doubled compared to last year, while those of corn are more than a third higher.
IMF alert on starvation and civil unrest
THE poorest countries face starvation and civil unrest if global food prices keep rising, says the head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Hundreds of thousands of people would starve, he said in Washington. "Children will be suffering from malnutrition, with consequences for all their lives."
He predicted that rising food prices would push up the cost of imports for poor countries, leading to trade imbalances that might also affect developed nations.
Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup
HFCS high fructose corn syrup is responsible for a dangerous epidemic of obesity and diabetes. People under the age of 45 are “children of the corn.” Like Stephen King's thriller, they are reaping the consequences...
...of the food industry’s high fructose corn syrup. They were children or young adults in the late 70s, 80s and 90s when high fructose corn syrup was introduced to the American food supply as a cheap replacement for sugar. Now many of them are struggling with an epidemic of obesity and diabetes, also being referred to as diabesity.
Honey Bee Collapse Now Worse on West Coast
April 10, 2008 Gainesville, Florida - On April 5, 2008, England's BBC News carried a report entitled, “U. S. Fears Over Honey Bee Collapse.” A California beekeeper, Gilly Sherman, was interviewed and he said sobering words: “It's worse than last year, and last yar was worse than the year before. So, it's bad. And there are a lot of good, big beekeepers that are having a lot of problems. I think we're coming in for a big train wreck.”
I took that quote to Jerry Hayes, Chief, Apiary Section, Florida Department of Agriculture, and President of the Apiary Inspectors of America in Gainesville, Florida and asked for his comment.
SNL Really Funny Video link: Mocks Clinton's Iraq War Vote
It's official: SNL loves politics, and loves being a player in the game. That's my impression from this week's cold open sending up the Petraeus hearings, which were momentarily a big deal on cable but had significantly less viewers than "Idol Gives Back." (Hey, Frank Rich thinks so, too.) Nonetheless there was Will Forte as General David Petraues, a chest full of medals and Supercuts hair, sending up the state of the Iraq war in some funny but grim satire, considering it was rooted in truth (Darrell Hammond as John McCain was eager for signs of good news: Petraeus: "The Sunnis and the Shi'its have agreed on a formula to share revenue from embezzled foreign aid and bribes paid to government officials." McCain: "So the skeptics were wrong. Sunnis and Shi'ites can work together!").
It's Obama: Carter and Gore to end Clinton bid
DEMOCRAT grandees Jimmy Carter and Al Gore are being lined-up to deliver the coup de grâce to Hillary Clinton and end her campaign to become president.
Falling poll numbers and a string of high-profile blunders have convinced party elders that she must now bow out of the primary race.
Administration Set to Use New Satellite Spy Program in U.S.
The Bush administration said yesterday that it plans to start using the nation's most advanced spy technology for domestic purposes soon, rebuffing challenges by House Democrats over the idea's legal authority.
Civil Libertarians Warn of 'Patriot Act Lite'
Civil libertarians are worried that a little-known anti-terrorism bill now making its way through the U.S. Congress with virtually no debate could be planting the seeds of another USA Patriot Act, which was hurriedly enacted into law after the al Qaeda attacks of Sep. 11, 2001.
The Violent Radicalisation and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, co-authored by the former chair of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, Jane Harmon, a California Democrat, passed the House by an overwhelming 400-6 vote last month, and will soon be considered by the Senate.
Experts hack power grid in no time
Cracking a power company network and gaining access that could shut down the grid is simple, a security expert told an RSA audience, and he has done so in less than a day.
Ira Winkler, a penetration-testing consultant, says he and a team of other experts took a day to set up attack tools they needed then launched their attack, which paired social engineering with corrupting browsers on a power company's desktops. By the end of a full day of the attack, they had taken over several machines, giving the team the ability to hack into the control network overseeing power production and distribution.
Cyber War: Preparing Combat Forces for the Electromagnetic Spectrum
Interview with Major General William T. Lord Commander Air Force Cyberspace Command
Preparing Combat Forces for the Electromagnetic Spectrum
Major General William T. Lord is commander, Air Force Cyberspace Command (Provisional), Barksdale Air Force Base, La. He is responsible for establishing cyberspace as a domain in and through which the Air Force flies and fights, to deliver sovereign options for defense of the United States. In his current duty, he is creating the Air Force major air command for organization, training and equipping of combat forces to operate in cyberspace.
Climate experts predict temperature drop
Climate experts are forecasting a drop in global temperatures this year. But the world is also facing more dramatic rain storm events such as the flooding which hit Britain last summer, scientists warn. Michel Jarraud, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organisation, said temperatures in 2008 are likely to be cooler because of the effects of the La Nina in the central and eastern Pacific.
He said it was likely that the La Nina phenomenon would continue into the summer. If his forecast is right it would mean temperatures have not risen globally since 1998 when El Nino warmed the world.
Gas prices set record, oil moves higher
Gas and diesel pump prices jumped to yet another record Friday, piling on the costs for motorists as well as consumers reliant on trucks, trains and ships that deliver goods to market.
Retail gasoline rose 0.8 cents to a national average of $3.365 a gallon, although drivers in California could expect to pay nearly 30 cents more for regular and over $4 a gallon for higher grades, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.
Google's New 'App Engine': Why Microsoft Should be Shaking in Its Boots
I’ve been following this situation since Google (GOOG) made the announcement Monday, and I personally think this was Google’s big “power play”. It was the move that Microsoft (MSFT) was worried about for the last four years – here’s why:
When I first heard about Steve Ballmer throwing a chair across a room and screaming (in his typically high-pitched voice) about how he was going to kill Google (all because an employee was leaving), I was perplexed. Why on earth would Microsoft – the king of the desktop – be so scared of a search company?
Google aims to soothe business' fears of Cloud Computing
Google Inc. knows it still has a lot of work to do before it can convince the international business community that “in the clouds” computing is the wave of the future, the head of the company's enterprise product division told a Toronto audience Wednesday morning.
Although it is becoming technologically easier for companies to employ Web or “cloud-based” software – such as e-mail, document programs and messaging products – businesses remain wary of the security issues that come along with allowing a company such as Google to host internal data, according to Google exec Matthew Glotzbach.