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Public hearing planned on medical marijuana
New Mexicans will be able to have their say on proposed rules for the state's medical marijuana program.
The state Department of Health announced Thursday that it will hold a public hearing Sept. 8 in Santa Fe to take comments on regulations that would set up rules for patient identification cards and a regulated system for licensing, distributing and manufacturing medical marijuana.
The state law that took effect in July 2007 allows marijuana for pain or other symptoms of specified debilitating illnesses. The department has approved 169 people for medical marijuana, including 40 with spinal cord damage, 39 with HIV-AIDS, 36 with cancer, 28 with multiple sclerosis, 14 with epilepsy and 12 with glaucoma.
New Mexico has been careful in drafting its regulations because no other state has developed rules for a distribution and production system, Health Secretary Dr. Alfredo Vigil said.
The state proposes two types of licensed producers: a qualified patient who can produce a defined supply for personal use only and a nonprofit private entity operating a facility limited to 95 mature plants and seedlings at any time.
The health secretary will consider the needs of qualified patients and public safety in determining the number and location of licenses.
The regulations include measures to prevent unauthorized marijuana use by requiring criminal background checks for applicants, security measures for facilities and a warning that unauthorized use will be referred to state law enforcement.
The hearing also will take public comments on the proposed rules for the identification card program, the third hearing on that part of the program.
That plan would let patients possess six ounces of medical marijuana as a supply for three months. Patients with a license to produce could have four mature plants and 12 seedlings.
The department has made several changes in the draft proposal based on previous comments, including adding definitions for usable marijuana, adding an appeal and revising a monitoring system to be more respectful to patients. New Mexicans will be able to have their say on proposed rules for the state's medical marijuana program. ... more -
Should religious schools get public money?
" A federal appeals court ruling that a Christian university in Colorado can receive state scholarship money is the latest in a string of legal victories for religious schools seeking public dollars.
The most recent case involved Colorado Christian University, a college of 2,000 students in suburban Denver where most students must attend chapel weekly and sign a promise to emulate the life of Jesus and Biblical teachings.
Colorado Christian faculty must sign a statement that that the Bible is the "infallible Word of God."
Students "attending institutions such as CCU who take their faith-based commitment seriously should have an equal opportunity to participate in Colorado's financial aid program," said Paul Cortis, president of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.
But critics called it the latest example of a worrisome trend.
"The bottom line is that taxpayers will now end up having to pay for religious indoctrination," said Barry Lynn, executive director of the group Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The law wasn't discrimination, but "a sensible judgment by Colorado that some colleges are so religious that they cannot expect taxpayers to support them."
The ruling cuts to a conundrum in the First Amendment, which prohibits the state from establishing any religion, but also prohibits religious discrimination. Religious colleges have argued their students shouldn't be deprived of a state benefit everyone else can get."
" A federal appeals court ruling that a Christian university in Colorado can receive state scholarship money is the latest in a string... more -
The Dark Knight?
It's been three years, and the sequal to Batman Begins is finally here, and it's breaking box office records. Is it worth all the hype? How is Heath Ledger's performance? Current viewers give their review of the new movie, The Dark Knight. It's been three years, and the sequal to Batman Begins is finally here, and it's breaking box office records. Is it worth all the hyp... more
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Brazilians harness rainwater for change
Brazil's northeast, with the biggest population of any arid region in the world, is home to many of the more than 10 million Brazilians who live without regular access to clean and safe drinking water. For years the people of the region struggled to survive with no help from national public policy makers. Now policy makers are pursuing two very different approaches to the problem of the northeast's water community driven, grassroots public policy that supports building low-cost cisterns to provide water to the families who need it most, and a top-down mega-project to redirect the São Francisco River through a massive series of dams and canals.
Polo Sindical, an association of rural unions and a Grassroots International partner based in the northeastern states of Pernambuco and Bahia, is a key part of the movement that was instrumental in building the grassroots model and struggling to make sure that the mega-project does not have catastrophic results for the region's citizens.
Polo emerged in 1979 to protest the construction of the Itaparica Dam, a hydro-electric dam in the mid-course region of the São Francisco River. When the dam displaced thousands of peasants and small-scale farmers, bringing land and water rights became top priorities for Polo. One of their early victories was the resettlement of the affected families.
The idea for the cistern project was born in the 1980s, when Manuel Apolônio de Carvalho, a worker from the northeast, migrated to São Paulo to find work. He realized that the construction techniques he learned to build swimming pools for the wealthy could also be used to capture rainwater for the poor. He returned to the northeast and began collaborating with local groups like Polo to perfect the system using the principles of agro-ecology. Each cistern can capture enough water in a few rainy months to provide water for an average household of 5-6 people for the rest of the year.
In addition to building cisterns with their own resources, the groups organized and lobbied and now the federal government is helping to finance cistern production. What began as a grassroots self-help movement has become a national policy–embodied in the Million Cistern Project–that will provide drinking water to 5 million people.
Polo Sindical and its affiliated organizations are members of a larger network called Articulação no Semi-Árido (ASA), or in English the Semi-Arid Network. ASA includes more than 800 organizations. As one of the 45 management units of ASA, as of 2005 Polo Sindical has overseen the construction 1,379 cisterns benefiting 7,049 people. In all, more than 100,000 cisterns were built between 2001 and 2005 (including 77,000 that were financed by the Brazilian government).
While cisterns provide life-giving water to thousands of homes, some would prefer to develop water resources on a grander scale. The Lula government is the latest in a series to propose a monumental reconfiguration of the landscape of the northeast by re-distributing the water of the São Francisco River. Political leaders believe that the plan will transform the dry northeast into a productive agricultural region, and re-cast the political landscape in favor of whichever party is able to succeed in pushing the plan through.
**article continues, click link to read** Brazil's northeast, with the biggest population of any arid region in the world, is home to many of the more than 10 million Brazilian... more -
Suicide blast kills 8 U.S.-allied forces
BAGHDAD - A female suicide bomber killed at least eight people Thursday night at a checkpoint manned by U.S.-allied Sunni guards northeast of Baghdad, Iraqi police said.
The woman blew herself up near a checkpoint in central Baqouba, a police officer said.
At least eight guards were killed and 24 other people were wounded, according to the officer. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information
BAGHDAD - A female suicide bomber killed at least eight people Thursday night at a checkpoint manned by U.S.-allied Sunni guards north... more -
Report warns of AIDS ‘crisis’ across South
AIDS specialists are calling for a fundamental rethinking of HIV policy after a new report showed that infection with the virus was rising dramatically in the South even as it dropped everywhere else in the country.
The warning, issued this week by the Southern AIDS Coalition, a nonprofit partnership of government and private-sector programs based in Birmingham, Ala., concluded that AIDS was creating a health disaster in the South.
AIDS deaths fell or held steady in other parts of the country from 2001 to 2006, the last year for which complete figures were available, but they rose by more than 10 percent in the South, according to the report, titled “Southern States Manifesto 2008.”
The report, an update to a landmark 2002 report that identified the disproportionate impact of HIV and AIDS in the South, was based on data compiled by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, state health departments and academic researchers. It defined the region as Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Among the findings:
* Although the covered area is home to only 36 percent of the nation’s population, half of all U.S. AIDS deaths in 2005 were in the South, and more than half of all Americans with HIV lived in the region in 2006.
* Nine of the 15 states with the highest HIV diagnosis rates are in the South.
* More than 40 percent of all new infections are in the South.
* Of the 20 metropolitan areas with the highest rates of AIDS cases in 2006, 16 were in the South.
“The South is faced with a crisis of having to provide medical and support care for increasing numbers of infected individuals without adequate funding,” especially among the young and among minority Southern communities, the report concluded.
“African-American women are 83 percent of all [new] cases that we can document,” said Bambi Gaddist, executive director of the South Carolina HIV/AIDS Council and a member of the AIDS Coalition board of directors. “And the new epidemic is young people. They’re between 22 and 24.”
***article continues, click link to read*** AIDS specialists are calling for a fundamental rethinking of HIV policy after a new report showed that infection with the virus was ri... more -
Complete baby Tyrannosaurid unearthed in Mongolia
Japanese and Mongolian scientists have successfully recovered the complete skeleton of a 70-million-year-old young dinosaur, a nature museum announced Thursday.
The scientists uncovered a Tarbosaurus — related to the giant carnivorous Tyrannosaurus — from a chunk of sandstone they dug up in August, 2006 in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, said Takuji Yokoyama, a spokesman for the Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences, a co-organizer of the joint research project.
"We were so lucky to have found remains that turned out to be a complete set of all the important parts," he said.
After two years of careful preparatory work, scientists found that the fossilized skeleton only lacked neck bones and the tip of the tail.
Young dinosaur skeletons are hard to find in good condition because they often are destroyed by weather decay or because they were torn apart by predators.
The latest find would be a major step toward discovering the growth and development of dinosaurs, Yokoyama said.
The fossil, believed to have died at age 5, measured about 6.6 feet long, he said. Adult dinosaurs of the species are believed to have grown up to 40 feet.
The dinosaur, whose gender was unknown, came from a geological layer created about 70 million years ago in the late Cretaceous period.
The Japanese scientists and colleagues from the Center of Paleontology under the Mongolian Academy of Sciences have been jointly conducting dinosaur excavations in the Gobi Desert since 1993.
The Japanese museum is run by Hayashibara Co., a biotechnology firm based in Okayama, western Japan. Japanese and Mongolian scientists have successfully recovered the complete skeleton of a 70-million-year-old young dinosaur, a nature ... more -
Cow power could generate electricity for millions, US study shows
Cow manure could be used to generate power for millions, according to a new US study.
Scientists have calculated for the first time how much of a country's electricity needs could be provided from the manure of cattle and other livestock.
They estimate that 3 per cent of America's total electricity demand could be created from animal waste, enough to power millions of homes and businesses.
Using manure for power could also lead to a significant reduction in the amount of greenhouse gases created, they say.
The study, by scientists at the University of Texas, is published in the Institute of Physics' Environmental Research Letters journal.
Broken down and then burnt, the scientists estimate that the manure from hundreds of millions of livestock in America could produce approximately 100 billion kilowatt hours of electricity a year.
If left to decompose naturally manure releases noxious gases into the environment, some of which warm the atmosphere at a higher rate than carbon dioxide.
Converting it to power could reduce those emissions by 99 million metric tonnes, the equivalent of approximately four per cent of America's emissions from electricity production.
Although the process would emit some carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, it would do so at a lower rate than if coal was used.
Dr Michael Webber and Amanda D Cuellar, who carried out the study, claim that widespread use of manure for energy could reuse "an existing waste source and has the potential to improve the environment". Cow manure could be used to generate power for millions, according to a new US study. ... more -
Jobless claims rise to 406,000
The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest in almost four months, a sign the slowing economy is weakening the labor market.
Initial jobless claims increased by 34,000 to 406,000 in the week ended July 19, from a revised 372,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The filings exceeded economists' forecast and were the most since 406,000 in the week ended March 29.
U.S. employers are reducing workers as surging fuel costs, a three-year housing slump and a crisis in credit markets restrains demand. Rising joblessness reinforces concern that consumers will pull back on spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy.
``The underlying picture is one of a labor market that is weak,'' said David Sloan, senior economist at 4Cast Inc. in New York, whose forecast of 410,000 was the closest to the actual number in a Bloomberg News survey of 44 economists. ``The economy is growing slowly so you tend to see job losses rising. The weakness could increase further in coming months.''
Treasuries were higher, pushing yields down. The benchmark 10-year note yielded 4.09 percent as of 8:50 a.m. in New York, down 3 basis points from yesterday.
Near 2005 High The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest in almost four months, a sign... more -
US Army turns to toy company to develop new weapon
We're not quite sure how the pitch session went with this one, but it looks like the US Army was so impressed by toymaker Lund and Company's Hydrogen Fuel Rocket that it decided to recruit the company to build a decidedly more lethal version of it. The new system, dubbed the Variable Velocity Weapon System, will apparently be able to be switched between lethal and non-lethal modes, and be loaded with rubber bullets, actual bullets, or other projectiles, which are fired by mixing a liquid or gaseous fuel with air in a combustion chamber. What's more, the company says that the technology could be applied to any size weapon from a "handgun to a Howitzer," and it says a demonstration version could be ready in as little as six months, with full production possible within 18 months, pending approval. We're not quite sure how the pitch session went with this one, but it looks like the US Army was so impressed by toymaker Lund and Com... more
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Africa: Link Between Crop Failure and Climate Change Often Missed
Climate change has a profound effect on food security in Africa, as increasing temperatures and shifting rain patterns reduce access to food across the continent.
This transpired at a conference on global warming and climate change that started in Cape Town, South Africa, on July 21 and ends today.
The discussion was organised by South Africa’s Fynbos Foundation, which aims to realise investment in the media, publishing, arts and culture sectors, and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University in the United States.
The relationship between climate change and food security is complex. Many factors influence food security, which means that often ‘‘the link is not even made between failed crops and changing weather patterns,’’ Dr Gina Ziervogel, senior researcher at the Climate Systems Analysis Group at the University of Cape Town, told the conference.
Over the past decade Ziervogel has conducted extensive research on people and the environment in southern Africa.
Climate change affects African food systems in the broadest sense of the word: ‘‘It affects the availability of, access to and utilisation of food,’’ she explained.
‘‘Changing weather patterns or extreme weather events, such as floods or droughts, can have negative consequences for agricultural production. As a result people have less access to food, which forces them to buy food products. This affects their financial situation.
‘‘It also influences their health as people often buy cheaper food which is frequently less nutritious. Especially for those who need a nutritious diet -- the chronically ill, for instance -- this poses a problem,’’ Ziervogel indicated.
Increasing temperatures and the change in precipitation and frequency of extreme weather spells also threaten African food systems, Ziervogel continued.
Changes in precipitation ‘‘are not merely about increasing or decreasing rainfall. Rainy seasons that begin later or earlier than normal or sudden rain spells hitting a region when it is supposed to be dry, have a greater impact on crops failing than a wetter rainy season that starts on time’’.
Another scenario where the effects of climate change on the vulnerability of food systems become visible is where arable land is lost. This happens as a result of declining ground water levels and rising sea levels. It can lead to aridity of the soil or increasing levels of saline.
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So instead of governments dealing with climate change, they would rather give multi nationals free reign over the food supplies of their country to peddle GM foods as if that is the answer. GM foods is then not the answer to the food crisis in Africa. Dealing with and adapting to climate change is. Conservation of water is. More efficient agricultural methods is. Dealing with lack of access to food by dealing with corrupt governments is. Educating and empowering people is. Climate change has a profound effect on food security in Africa, as increasing temperatures and shifting rain patterns reduce access t... more -
Hardcore 11 yr old bites attacking Pitbull!
"An 11-year old boy is in Brazil's media spotlight after sinking his teeth into the neck of a dog that attacked him. Local newspapers reported on Thursday that Gabriel Almeida was playing in his uncle's backyard in the city of Belo Horizonte when a pit bull named Tita lunged at him and bit him in the left arm.
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Almeida grabbed the dog by the neck and bit back — biting so hard that he lost a canine tooth.
Almeida tells the O Globo newspaper: "It is better to lose a tooth than one's life."
Stonemasons working nearby chased the dog away before it could attack again.
The Folha de S. Paulo newspaper said the boy received four stitches at a local hospital while the dog was taken to a pound and may be killed."
HAHAHAHA he lost a canine tooth! What a crazy boy! "An 11-year old boy is in Brazil's media spotlight after sinking his teeth into the neck of a dog that attacked him. Local newspapers ... more -
Fish pedicures make a splash!
"Ready for the latest in spa pampering? Prepare to dunk your tootsies in a tank of water and let tiny carp nibble away.
Fish pedicures are creating something of a splash in the D.C. area, where a northern Virginia spa has been offering them for the past four months. John Ho, who runs the Yvonne Hair and Nails salon with his wife, Yvonne Le, said 5,000 people have taken the plunge so far.
"This is a good treatment for everyone who likes to have nice feet," Ho said.
He said he wanted to come up with something unique while finding a replacement for pedicures that use razors to scrape off dead skin. The razors have fallen out of favor with state regulators because of concerns about whether they're sanitary.
Ho was skeptical at first about the fish, which are called garra rufa but typically known as doctor fish. They were first used in Turkey and have become popular in some Asian countries."
Would you do it? "Ready for the latest in spa pampering? Prepare to dunk your tootsies in a tank of water and let tiny carp nibble away. ... more -
Woman kills self before foreclosure
(TAUNTON, Mass.) — A 53-year-old wife and mother fatally shot herself shortly after faxing a letter to her mortgage company saying that by the time they foreclosed on her house that day, she would be dead.
Police said that Carlene Balderrama used her husband's high-powered rifle to kill herself Tuesday afternoon, shortly after faxing the letter at 2:30 p.m.
The mortgage company called police, who found Balderrama's body at 3:30 p.m. The auction was scheduled to start at 5 p.m. and interested buyers arrived at the property in Taunton, about 35 miles south of Boston, while Balderrama's body was still inside, according to Taunton police chief Raymond O'Berg.
Police did not immediately release the name of the mortgage company. O'Berg said Balderrama's fax read, in part, "By the time you foreclose on my house I'll be dead."
O'Berg also said a suicide note found next to Balderrama told her husband, John, and 24-year-old son to "take the (life) insurance money and pay for the house."
Joe Whitney, who works with Balderrama's husband, a plumber, said that Balderrama handled the bills and her husband didn't know about the foreclosure.
"John didn't even know about it, that's the surprise," Whitney said told The Boston Globe. "It's just one of those awful, awful tragic events." (TAUNTON, Mass.) — A 53-year-old wife and mother fatally shot herself shortly after faxing a letter to her mortgage company saying tha... more -
May This Happen In Our Lifetimes
A wonderful vision. Wait and see....
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U.S. shifting aid to upgrade Pakistan fighter jets
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States plans to shift about $230 million in aid to Pakistan from counterterrorism programs to upgrading the nation's aging F-16 fighter jets.
U.S. officials say the Pakistani army is a key ally in efforts to fight terrorism.
"We've shifted money to help the democratically elected government of Pakistan to fight a common foe, a common enemy that we have," said Gonzalo Gallegos, a State Department spokesman.
Pakistan is the largest recipient of payments from the Coalition Support Funds, which gives money to 27 partner countries help combat terrorism.
Last year, Congress mandated that $300 million in aid to Pakistan go toward fighting al Qaeda and the Taliban, partly by beefing up law enforcement and developing tribal areas of the country that are hostile to the United States.
Skeptical lawmakers worry that the F-16 upgrades will divert funding from crucial counterterrorism programs and could be more about helping Pakistan competing with its rival, India, than fighting terror.
Nita Lowey, chairwoman of a House subcommittee on foreign operations, said the request from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to reprogram the funding "raises serious concerns."
Lowey is asking for more information before signing off on the change.
"Congress provided these funds specifically for counterterrorism and law enforcement activities," Lowey said in a written statement.
"It is incumbent on the State Department and Pakistan to demonstrate clearly how these F-16s would be used to fight al Qaeda and the Taliban in order to get congressional support."
It is not the first time U.S. aid to Pakistan has come under scrutiny. In June, the Government Accountability Office and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs released a report that said the United States has not accurately tracked about $6 billion it gave to help the Pakistani government fight terrorism since 2001.
The country, which the Department of Defense considers a key ally in the war on terrorism because of its proximity to large swaths of ungoverned tribal land, has received $5.56 billion of $6.88 billion given out since the September 11 terrorist attacks.
U.S. and Pakistani officials claim that the F-16s are used to fly missions over regions near Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, where the Taliban are operating and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding.
The upgrades, which will bring the old fleet in line with new F-16s Pakistan recently purchased from the United States, will allow Pakistan's F-16 fleet to operate day and night missions and "effectively employ ground operations," Gallegos said.
The funds will be diverted from upgrades on other airplanes used for fighting terrorism, Gallegos said. WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States plans to shift about $230 million in aid to Pakistan from counterterrorism programs to upgrading... more -
Is Sex With a Robot Hooker Cheating?
So asks the headline at website Asylum. So far the poll shows 77% of respondents consider a little robot-love to be guilt free, something I'd agree with – after all, an all-singing, all-dancing (and all-sucking) robot doll is just a better featured vibrator, right?
The Lady, whom I always consult in matters sexual and sartorial, agrees. "Do you think using a vibrator is having sex?" she asked me, "I do. It's having sex, but it's not getting laid."
But what about the partner left at home? Because these dolls are so human, waving goodbye to your man as he heads off to the cyber-brothel might not be so easy. The erotic part of sex, after all, occurs in the mind, and the only reason to use a full sized fake woman is to pretend you are with a real woman.
In the mind of the John, is there a difference between the two? Is it the high-tech equivalent of getting up on the job, closing your eyes and pretending you are actually having sex with a celebrity (or as I have done in the past, drawing the face of Queen Elizabeth on a paper bag)? And if it is done illicitly, without the knowledge of your other half, is that deception is worse than the sex itself?
We suppose that there are advantages. No viruses (unless the girl runs Windows), and no payoff money if you happen to be a high profile, blackmail-able celebrity (a Gadget Lab blogger, for instance). For me, it comes down to price. If it's cheaper than dinner and a movie, I'm in."
Interesting! I think it depends on how human like the robots are and to what extent they emotionally relate to the human. So asks the headline at website Asylum. So far the poll shows 77% of respondents consider a little robot-love to be guilt free, someth... more -
Blowing Up a $60,000 S.U.V. To Save the Planet
Ryan Mickle seems like a sane guy. He’s well spoken, intelligent and pretty successful. He’s also environmentally conscious, to the point that he realized he didn’t need his two-year-old Range Rover Sport when his job relocated him to San Francisco.
But that wasn’t enough for Ryan. Tired with what he calls an “incremental approach to addressing climate change,” he wants to make sure nobody else makes the same mistake he did: buying an inefficient car totally unsuited to his needs. A self-professed “believer in the wisdom of the crowd,” he launched onefewer.org to let online voters decide the fate of his car. Mickle promises his gas-guzzler will be taken off the road, never to emit another hydrocarbon.
Unless, of course, the voters decide to set it on fire. Ryan Mickle seems like a sane guy. He’s well spoken, intelligent and pretty successful. He’s also environmentally conscious, to the po... more -
No funny names in New Zealand!
"A family court judge in New Zealand has had enough with parents giving their children bizarre names here, and did something about it.
Just ask Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. He had her renamed.
Judge Rob Murfitt made the 9-year-old girl a ward of the court so that her name could be changed, he said in a ruling made public Thursday. The girl was involved in a custody battle, he said.
The new name was not made public to protect the girl's privacy.
"The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgment which this child's parents have shown in choosing this name," he wrote. "It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap, unnecessarily."
The girl had been so embarrassed at the name that she had never told her closest friends what it was. She told people to call her "K" instead, the girl's lawyer, Colleen MacLeod, told the court.
In his ruling, Murfitt cited a list of the unfortunate names.
Registration officials blocked some names, including Fish and Chips, Yeah Detroit, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit, he said. But others were allowed, including Number 16 Bus Shelter "and tragically, Violence," he said.
New Zealand law does not allow names that would cause offense to a reasonable person, among other conditions, said Brian Clarke, the registrar general of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
Clarke said officials usually talked to parents who proposed unusual names to convince them about the potential for embarrassment."
Wow! What do you think? "A family court judge in New Zealand has had enough with parents giving their children bizarre names here, and did something about it.... more -
StreetStyle: Minneapolis
The bloggers from The Minneapoline bring the hottest Midwest Summer styles.
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Cavers chart unique 'snowy' river of crystals
Hundreds of feet beneath Earth's surface, a few seasoned cave explorers venture where no human has set foot. Their headlamps illuminate mud-covered walls, gypsum crystals and mineral deposits. The real attraction, though, is under their shoes.
A massive formation that resembles a white river spans the cave's floor. A closer examination reveals that the odd formation is an intricate crust of tiny calcite crystals. The explorers have reached Snowy River — thought to be the longest continuous cave formation in the world.
"I think Snowy River is one of the primo places underground in the world and there's still so much left that we haven't discovered. ... We don't even know how big it is," said Jim Goodbar, a cave specialist with the federal Bureau of Land Management.
The survey expedition by members of the Fort Stanton Cave Study Project in early July added several thousand feet to the measurement of the spectacular formation, which is at least four miles long. The explorers who have been following the passage under the rolling hills of southeastern New Mexico say there's still more of Snowy River to be discovered.
The few who have walked on the formation say they've seen nothing else like it. Early studies point to its uniqueness: Already, some three dozen species of microbes previously unknown to science have been uncovered.
New Mexico's two U.S. senators are pushing for Congress to designate Fort Stanton Cave and Snowy River as a national conservation area. The designation would protect the area from such activities as mining that threaten the water flows that created the cave. It also might generate funding for scientific research.
"It's certainly a national treasure and very well worth protecting in its own right, even without Snowy River. With Snowy River, it puts it in the class of world-class caves," said John McLean, a retired hydrologist and member of the cave study group.
"It's a beautiful anomaly," added Penny Boston, a New Mexico Tech professor and associate director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute
Boston says extreme environments such as Snowy River provide scientists an opportunity to explore life on the fringes.
"The idea is that we're practicing to go to Mars, we're practicing to go to Europa (a moon of Jupiter) and all of these other places," she said. "It's very difficult to even prove some of the things we've studied here on this planet are alive. Imagine how much harder that is when you translate that to a robotic mission millions of miles from Earth."
Boston has collected microorganisms that she believes are responsible for the manganese crust that covers much of the walls in the Snowy River passage. Once thought to be ancient and inactive, the microbes are busy in her lab, breaking down materials and producing mineral compounds.
Boston and other scientists plan to take core samples of Snowy River to look for microbes that have been entombed in the calcite layer and for fossil evidence of past microscopic life. Some scientists are looking to the cave to learn more about the region's geology and how water makes its way through the arid environment.
Last summer, explorers were surprised to arrive at Snowy River and find it flowing with water. It had been dry when first discovered in 2001 and during trips in 2003 and 2005. Hundreds of feet beneath Earth's surface, a few seasoned cave explorers venture where no human has set foot. Their headlamps illuminat... more -
Arctic thought to hold 90 billion barrels of oil
"The Arctic is thought to hold some 90bn barrels of untapped oil, equal to Russia's total known reserves, the US Geological Survey (USGS) has claimed. The USGS says the area has three times as much untapped natural gas as oil. Drilling plans in the Arctic have been controversial, with environment groups worried about the effect on wildlife."
More at the link.
I think I'd probably be happier if this wasn't true to be honest; high oil prices are so close to giving us the push to renewables. "The Arctic is thought to hold some 90bn barrels of untapped oil, equal to Russia's total known reserves, the US Geological Survey (US... more
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