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3 days ago

Rhino Horn Now Worth More Than Gold

The problem of rhino poaching continues to grow, with poaching levels at 15-year highs. Part of the reason according to WWF is... more

wayseeker
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"Positive Atheism" Groups Flower on College Campuses

"Anastasia Bodnar waves and smiles, trying to make a good first impression before eyes drift down to a word many Americans... more

DeliaTheArtist
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I’ve Been Single Too Long: Yearnings of an Overheated Imagination

“I’ve Been Single Too Long” is a shadowy, dreamlike 3-minute short film directed by Shane Davey, which was... more

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Vitamin C - Episode 52 - "So This Is Communism?"

Today I'm standing on Shanghai's Nanjing Lu (Avenue), one of China's most storied shopping thoroughfares. The... more

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Sniffer: One Man Takes It All Off for Freedom!

“Sniffer” is an accaimed short experimental/art film by the Norwegian director Bobbie Peers. “Sniffer”... more

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Gary McKinnon set to be sent to America

Exclusive: Gary McKinnon is set to be sent to America to answer computer hacking charges after Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, told his family that he could not block his extradition on medical grounds.

Mr McKinnon’s family were notified of the Home Secretary’s decision this afternoon. Janis Sharp, Mr McKinnon’s mother, was distraught, telling The Daily Telegraph: “I can’t believe it. It is a complete nonsense.”
Keith Vaz MP, the chairman of the home affairs select committee which has pressed Mr Johnson directly not to extradite Mr McKinnon, said: “I am very disappointed at this decision. This is the wrong decision for the wrong reasons."

Last month Mr Johnson threw a lifeline to Mr McKinnon, who suffers from a form of autism, with a promise to examine new medical evidence “very carefully” before deciding on his extradition last month.

However in an emailed letter to Mrs Sharp, Mr Johnson is understood to have said that a decision to block the extraditon of Mr McKinnon was not in his control.
During an earlier legal battle in the summer, judges warned Mr McKinnon, who is accused of hacking into networks at the Pentagon and Nasa from his flat in north London, might kill himself if he was extradited.

Mrs Sharp wept as she told how she broke the news to Mr McKinnon. She said: “He was very, very bad. He was very quiet - and I am more worried when he is quiet. I have got concerns for Gary. Alan Johnson has made the wrong decision. It is just awful.”

The legal process, which had been paused while Mr Johnson considered the medical evidence, will now start again, with legal sources suggesting Mr McKinnon could be extradited by Christmas.

One of his legal team said: “It is a miserable decision that we fundamentally disagree with - he could be gone by Christmas. We are considering all our legal avenues. What does it take for someone not to be extradited?”

Mr McKinnon’s lawyers can either seek a fresh emergency judicial review of Mr Johnson’s decision at the High Court within the next seven days or appeal to the European Court of Human Rights within the next 14 days.Exclusive: Gary McKinnon is set to be sent to America to answer computer hacking charges after Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary,... more

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5 days ago

Quince Mil, a new hotspot.

A sure way to get people riled up in Quince Mil, a sweltering outpost in Peru's southern jungle, is to ask about the origin of the town's uncommon name. There are at least four versions explaining the name, which means "Fifteen Thousand," each more colorful than the one before it. Mayor Mario Samanez claims to have the official version. He says its rains around 15,000 mm (590 inches) each year in the town, hence the name. "This is the spot with the world's second highest amount of rainfall annually. That is where the name comes from," Samanez says.

Actually the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration does not list Quince Mil among the wettest places in the world. The title goes to Mawsynram, India, with 467 inches, followed by jungle spots in Colombia and Hawaii.

Local residents in Quince Mil have their own theories about the name. Some say a group of explorers passing through lost 15,000 pesos where the town now stands. The place was called 15,000 because that's what the explorers would ask for every time they came back to search for the cash. The town's name has become a synonym for bad luck. But malevolence may be at the origin as well. Fernando Farro, a local farmer, says Quince Mil takes its name from the amount of money the Peruvian government gave Russian fortune-seekers at the turn of the 20th century to eliminate Amazonian tribes and open the area for sugar plantations. And that darker explanation may be more relevant now as more and more attention is being paid to the backwater town.

Quince Mil sits at a strategic point on one of the final legs of a new highway that will link Peru's Pacific coast to Sao Paulo on Brazil's southern Atlantic coast. A few years ago it would take a week to get from Cuzco, in the Andes, to Quince Mil, with the road reaching elevations of 14,000 feet and descending fast into thick, tropical forest. The same route, now being paved by a Brazilian construction company, will take around six hours when the road is finished. "The road means radical change for the population. It is a great opportunity for people throughout the valley to get their products to markets," says Samanez, who expects the blacktop to finally reach the town in mid-2010.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20091126/wl_time/08599194238700A sure way to get people riled up in Quince Mil, a sweltering outpost in Peru's southern jungle, is to ask about the origin... more