Monthly Archives: January 2007

Environmental News Service

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Nuclear Plants Need Not Protect Against Airplane Strikes

WASHINGTON, DC, January 30, 2007 (ENS) – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NRC, Monday turned down a petition to strengthen security at nuclear power plants from Los Angeles-based Committee to Bridge the Gap, which monitors governmental radiation policy.

The commission’s new rule defining the kind of threats nuclear power plant operators must address does not require protection against a deliberate hit by a large aircraft, as the group had recommended.

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2007/2007-01-30-09.asp#anchor2

OCEANS REPORT CARD GIVES U.S. GOVERNMENT AN “F” FOR FUNDING
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WASHINGTON, DC, January 30, 2007 (ENS) – The failure of Congress and the President to commit sufficient funding to oceans protection in 2006 earned the federal government a grade of F on the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative’s U.S. Ocean Policy Report Card, issued today.

http://www.ens-newswire.com

U.S. CONGRESS WARMING TO CLIMATE DEBATE
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By J.R. Pegg
WASHINGTON, DC, January 30, 2007 (ENS) – Climate change took center stage at two Congressional hearings today, with a Senate committee providing a forum for senators to outline their positions on how the nation should tackle global warming and a House panel examining new allegations the Bush administration has censored climate scientists.

http://www.ens-newswire.com

ITV News – Iraq aid wasted on swimming pool

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As President Bush prepares to ask Congress for extra cash to help rebuild Iraq, a report claims up to 15 per cent of aid is wasted and names the construction of an unused Olympic-sized swimming pool as an example. …

…Mr Bowen’s report blamed the poor security situation in Iraq for a lack of oversight on spending.

What?  The computers don’t work right because they’re nervous?  Pencils don’t work either?

This is just one more example of how privatization of essential wartime services doesn’t work.  We have enough problems with black markets in the armed forces — not entirely a bad thing, in terms of getting goods to the people, it has been said — but put large amounts of money where people with no accountability can get at them, and what do you expect?

Source: ITV News – Iraq aid wasted on swimming pool

Irwin action doll is a "ripper"

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by OLIVER STALLWOOD – Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Irwin doll

Crikey! It’s the Irwin doll.

For many people Steve Irwin will always be the ultimate antipodean action hero.

And like all superheroes the Crocodile Hunter is being immortalised in a new toy range.

The Australian naturalist had been working on the products before he died last September from a stingray attack.   http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=35316&in_page_id=34

Canada’s Environment Commissioner Fired, Too Environmental

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gelinas.jpgCanada’s federal environment commissioner Johanne Gelinas, the country’s top ranking environment offical, has been fired, Maclean’s reports. Sources said auditor general Sheila Fraser felt Gelinas was taking too much of an advocacy role rather than monitoring federal environment programs.  http://www.environmentalleader.com/2007/01/30/canadas-environment-commissioner-fired-too-environmental/

- QUOTATION OF THE DAY -

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“Something that is forgotten in all of this is people like to smoke. It’s enjoyable and there’s not an alternative product.”
- DAVID ADELMAN, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, on tobacco companies’ success on Wall Street.

People enjoy unprotected sex, 20-ounce sirloins and driving without seatbelts, too.  What’s your point?   http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/business/31tobacco.html?th&emc=th

Bush Warns Iran Not To Be Helpful On Iraq

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Promises ‘Swift Retribution’ for Constructive Role

Amid reports that Iran is prepared to offer Iraq help with reconstruction and other forms of economic aid, President George W. Bush warned Iran today that any helpfulness on its part would be met with “swift retribution” from the U.S.

Speaking from the White House, Mr. Bush warned Iran not to entertain any thoughts of being helpful, vowing, “No good deed will go unpunished.”
The president also issued a stern ultimatum directly to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, warning him against “future provocative offers of help.”

“Iran can continue down this dangerous path of helpfulness, or it can resume its role as an international pariah,” Mr. Bush said. “The choice is clear.”

The president appeared bent on isolating Iran to punish it for its threatened acts of helpfulness, even naming it to what he called “The Axis of Constructiveness.”

In Tehran, President Ahmadinejad seemed almost emboldened by Mr. Bush’s remarks, even taunting the U.S. president with threats of his own: “Iran will continue to be as helpful as it wants to be, and no one can make us stop.”

On Capitol Hill, congressional leaders worried that Mr. Bush’s options for reining in Iran’s recklessly constructive behavior may be limited.
“President Bush might like to threaten Iran with military action if they persist in being helpful,” said Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del). “But with the U.S. military stretched thin in Iraq, Iran probably feels that it can be helpful with impunity.”

Elsewhere, a man who stole Crystal Gayle’s tour bus and led authorities on a five-state manhunt stunned the nation, which was not aware that Crystal Gayle was still touring.

Sign up today for your own Borowitz Reports.

Andy in Miami – This Friday, February 2!

Andy kicks off the opening night of The South Bay Festival of the Arts with “The Moth,” an evening of storytelling. South Bay Festival of the Arts is located at the Palmetto Bay Village Center (18001 Old Cutler Road, Miami, Florida). Doors open at 7pm; stories start on stage at 8pm. $40 tickets on sale now. For more information, visit www.sobayfestival.com

Stonehenge builders’ houses found

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Archaeologists say they have found a huge ancient settlement used by the people who built Stonehenge.

Excavations at Durrington Walls, near the legendary Salisbury Plain monument, uncovered remains of ancient houses.

People seem to have occupied the sites seasonally, using them for ritual feasting and funeral ceremonies. …

… The Durrington settlement has its own henge, this one made of wood. This ancient circle was discovered in 1967 – long before any houses were excavated.

Both henges line up with events in the astronomical calendar – but not the same ones. … Link to BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Stonehenge builders’ houses found

Iraq Solution Shocker

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Showing his determination to increase the U.S. military presence in Iraq, President George W. Bush said today that he would send 20,000 Democratic presidential candidates surging into Baghdad. In recent days, Congress has balked at Mr. Bush’s request for more troops, but by dispatching the Democratic presidential hopefuls the president appears to have circumvented his critics. http://tinyurl.com/ipso

The diva within

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Tracey Henry holds her daughter, Amy, on her lap in the kitchen. Amy, 3, shovels sugar into her mom’s coffee. One heaping spoon. Two. Three. Four. Coffee teeters dangerously at the rim. “I didn’t want that much sugar,” Tracey murmurs. The family puppy, Jingle, gnaws her ankle with fury. Later, Amy streaks by, wearing only Pampers and a smile. “She does that.”

Suburban Diva would not approve.

Suburban Diva is snarky. She calls it like she sees it. She wears high heels and lipstick, drinks like a fish and ties cherry stems with her tongue. …  Floridian: The diva within

French National Assembly switches to Open Source

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Deputies elected to the French National Assembly in the next legislative session will find open-source software on their desktop PCs.

The use of free software will result in substantial cost savings, despite the cost of migration and training, the Assembly said.

Free and open-source software now offers all the functions the deputies need, according to a study conducted at the request of the president of the assembly, Jean-Louis Debré.

The software on the deputies’ computers will include the Linux operating system, the OpenOffice productivity suite, the Firefox web browser and an open-source email application, and is reported to have saved 1.2 million Euros for the French government.  http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=7687

World’s Oldest Woman Dies

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EAST HARTFORD, Conn., Jan. 29 — To say Emma Faust Tillman lived a full life would be an epic understatement.

 

Emma Faust Tillman in her 20s, and upon turning 114 in Connecticut last fall.

She was one of 23 children born to former slaves in North Carolina, and one of only 15 who lived to adulthood. She was the first black student to graduate from Glastonbury High School, just a few miles south of here, and voted in the first election in which women were allowed to do so. Discrimination prevented her finding a job as a secretary, so she began catering, eventually baking cakes for Katharine Hepburn’s father and Jackie Robinson.

Mrs. Tillman, who died Sunday, was known as the “mother” of the Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church in Hartford, where she sang in the choir for more than 70 years.

And last Wednesday she was declared the oldest person in the world, at 114 years, 63 days and counting. 

EAST HARTFORD, Conn., Jan. 29 — To say Emma Faust Tillman lived a full life would be an epic understatement.   http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/30/nyregion/30old.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin