Welcome to the Overnight News Digest (OND) for Tuesday, March 13, 2012.
OND is a regular
community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing near 12:00AM Eastern Time.
Creation and early water-bearing of the OND concept came from our very own Magnifico - proper respect is due.
---
This diary is named for its "Hump Point" video: All My Little Words by Magnetic Fields
Please feel free to browse and add your own links, content or thoughts in the Comments section.
Any timestamps shown are relative to each publication.
---------------------------------------
|
|
Top News |
|
Obama: Killing Afghans as serious as killing Americans
By (msnbc.com and news services)
|
President Barack Obama on Tuesday said he viewed the killing of 16 Afghan civilians, allegedly by a U.S. soldier, as seriously as if those killed had been Americans.
. . .
Nine children and three women were among those killed in the massacre. According to reports, a 38-year-old staff sergeant had left his base in Panjwai district early on Sunday and broke into the victim's homes. Some of the bodies were burned.
. . .
U.S. officials rushed to draw a line between the shooting over the weekend and ongoing efforts of a U.S. force of around 90,000, and have been bracing themselves for reprisals as Afghans weary of the decade-old Western military presence vent their anger.
The Afghan Taliban threatened on Tuesday to behead U.S. troops in revenge for the massacre.
|
Medical debt burdens 20 percent in U.S.
By (UPI)
|
One-in-5 U.S. adults say they are burdened by medical debt and half of them are unable to pay the debt at all, federal health officials said.
Lead author Robin Cohen of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics said health insurance -- public or private -- frequently determines whether families can pay for their medical expenses.
. . .
"When 1-in-5 Americans were in medical debt it's clear that we're not doing enough to make health insurance affordable. Soon, federal law will require every American to have insurance, but nothing controls what health insurers can charge," Carmen Balber of the Consumer Watchdog Campaign in California said in a statement. "States need the power to say no to excessive health insurance premium hikes."
|
Tapped out: Water in California’s farm country is dangerously polluted
By Twilight Greenaway
|
. . .
The report’s scientists measured the nitrate pollution in the water in two parts of California’s Central Valley (the Tulare Lake Basin, which includes Fresno and Bakersfield, and the Salinas Valley). Not surprisingly, it’s an area that’s home to four of the nation’s five biggest farming counties. UC Davis is under contract with the California State Water Resources Control Board to conduct an independent investigation and report on the findings and potential solutions.
. . .
In the meantime, the report found that at least 2.6 million (or one in 10) people in this region rely on groundwater to drink, and it would cost a full $20 million to $35 million annually to provide them with safe water. Nitrates in water are linked to a number of health issues, including a fatal syndrome in infants called methemoglobinemia, or “blue baby syndrome.”
. . .
Over 90 percent of the nitrogen that’s leaching into the water comes from some form of agriculture (a combination of manure from Big Dairy and fertilizer from the area’s vegetable farms and fruit orchards, which make up around 40 percent of California’s irrigated cropland).
Synthetic fertilizer is a key ingredient to large-scale conventional agriculture, but it hasn’t always been this way. Farmers once relied on cover crops and manure to release a slow, steady quantity of nitrogen into the soil. Then, a century ago, all that changed when the synthetic form of the stuff — which was more readily available to plants, making them grow faster and produce more food — became widely available.
|
Oklahoma Democrat Proposes Vasectomy Amendment
By ABL 2.0
|
Oklahoma state senator Constance Johnson is awesome. First, she attempted to attach an “every sperm is sacred” amendment to Oklahoma’s Personhood Bill. (That bill is currently tied up in court.)
Last week, Senator Johnson tried to derail the fetal heartbeat bill (SB 1274 “Heartbeat Informed Consent Act”) by attaching a vasectomy amendment to it. Although the amendment was rejected, I’m posting about it because the bill language is amazing:
. . .
3. In determining whether a vasectomy is necessary, no regard shall be made to the desire of a man to father children, to his economic situation, to his age, to the number of children he is currently responsible for, or to any danger to his wife or partner in the event a child is conceived. . .
|
|
|
|
International |
|
International criminal court to deliver its first judgment
By David Smith
|
Nearly a decade after its inception, the international criminal court is due to deliver its first judgment on Wednesday.
Thomas Lubanga, a Congolese alleged warlord, stands accused of enlisting and conscripting child soldiers.
. . .
But progress has been too slow in the eyes of critics. Lubanga, seen as a relatively "small fish" compared to the likes of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan, was first transferred to the ICC headquarters at The Hague six years ago.
. . .
The court has no police force and relies on the support of states to deliver suspects for trial. Last December Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo became the first former head of state to appear at the ICC.
|
U.S. Administration in Consultations on Jackson-Vanik Repeal
By (RIA Novosti)
|
. . .
The amendment, named after Congressmen Henry M. Jackson and Charles Vanik, was introduced in 1974 to restrict trade with the Soviet Union and other non-market economies until they allowed free emigration.
The amendment limits trade with Russia and is an obstacle to the application of World Trade Organization (WTO) rules between the two countries. The restrictions imposed by Jackson-Vanik are often waived, but remain in place and are a thorn in the side of Russia-U.S. trade relations.
. . .
Obama announced in mid-November after his talks with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev that the U.S. Administration was launching consultations with the Congress on repealing the notorious amendment.
|
U.S., WTO Pressure China On Rare Earth Minerals
By Jim Zarroli
|
MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
A new trade dispute is brewing over China's export of rare Earth minerals. They're vital to the manufacture of everything from missiles to Smartphones. And today, the United States, Japan and the European Union filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization. They accused China of slapping unfair export restrictions on the materials. The Chinese government warned that the complaint could strain ties with Washington.
. . .
ZARROLI: The complaint filed today kicks off a process that could ultimately result in sanctions against the Beijing government. China insists it has to limit production of rare Earth minerals because of environmental concerns. And it says the decision to file a complaint with the WTO could cause a backlash against the United States and its trading allies. But the U.S. says Beijing's policies give Chinese companies an unfair advantage over their foreign rivals.
. . .
KENNEDY: I think the significance of the case is that the United States has decided that even though probably the monetary value of this case may not be particularly large, it's extremely important that where there is clear evidence of potential Chinese violations with their WTO commitments to hold the Chinese accountable.
|
Jerusalem eatery cuts back on female help to meet kashrut restraints
By Yair Ettinger
|
A Haredi-owned Jerusalem restaurant will be restricting the working hours of waitresses in order to receive the strict mehadrin kashrut certificate.
. . .
According to the owner, Haim Safrin, zealots, "who are jealous of the place's success," pressured the kashrut supervisors of the strict Agudat Israel high religious court, known as the Badatz, to stop waitresses from working on Thursday nights.
The Badatz is a private body which grants kashrut certificates and supervision over and above that provided by the Chief Rabbinate. The demand for waitress-free Thursday nights is unusual, but it is not unusual for bodies granting kashrut certificates, including the state-run Chief Rabbinate, to withdraw or threaten to withdraw a certificate for reasons that have nothing directly to do with food, such as the religious or spiritual affiliation of the owners or event halls that hold weddings for gay couples.
|
Fitch takes Greece out of default rating after swap deal
By Alexander Besant
|
Fitch became the first ratings agency Tuesday to upgrade Greek debt out of default territory in a small sign of hope for the indebted Mediterranean nation.
. . .
The recent debt swap deal saw the holders of Greek debt, including many major European banks, agree to trade their old bonds with newer ones worth only a fraction of the cost. The deal saw shareholders lose billions but also cut the country's debt by about 100 billion euros, or close to one third of the total.
. . .
According to Reuters, this was the first time an agency upgraded Greece's credit rating since the crisis began in 2009 and the first Fitch upgrade of Greece since 2003.
|
Nicolas Sarkozy polls ahead of Francois Hollande or first time in French presidential race
By (globalpost.com)
|
President Nicolas Sarkozy has overtaken Socialist presidential challenger Francois Hollande for the first time in an opinion poll, with news outlets crediting his efforts to appeal to right-wing French voters.
. . .
According to The New York Times, Sarkozy struck a nationalist tone in his speech, vowing tougher immigration controls at the borders. He also promised to invest public money to boost French industry with promised European companies would be given preference for government contracts.
. . .
NBC quoted Ifop analyst Frederic Daby as saying, "The game is changing. It's getting tighter," adding that Sarkozy's challenge was to keep adding far-right support without alienating centrists.
|
BBC News: We’ve Been Hacked by the Iranians
By Andrew Tarantola
|
BBC News' outlet BBC Persia was reportedly hacked by Iranian authorities this evening. The news group claims that the cyber-attack is part of an expanding effort by the regime to stifle coverage within the country.
BBC Persia's director-general, Mark Thompson, reported that BBC's London office was inundated with robo-calls and also that a group had attempted to jam the company's satellite feeds into Iran. The jamming would only affect owners of illegal satellite dishes (which, not coincidentally, are the only ones that can receive the BBC signal).
. . .
This attack follows other strong-arm tactics by the Iranian government including harassing, arresting, and threatening the relatives of BBC Persia correspondents who still lived there, eliminating VPN networks, and various forms of saber-rattling.
|
Sudan and South Sudan leaders agree basic freedoms
By (BBC)
|
Sudan and South Sudan have agreed a framework agreement to give their citizens basic freedoms in both nations, African Union mediators say.
They have agreed to allow citizens of the other state to live, work and own property on either side of the border, and travel between the two nations.
. . .
Bitter disagreements over disputed land and oil also remain unresolved.
However, officials said Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir would make his first visit to South Sudan since the country gained independence last July.
|
Anti-abortion campaigners like 40 Days for Life have resorted to intimidation
By Sarah Ditum
|
Something has changed in the UK's abortion debate. It's not that public attitudes have turned against choice – polling data consistently shows that roughly two-thirds of the population support a woman's right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, with only a tiny proportion opposing abortion absolutely. But that tiny proportion has been extraordinarily successful in leading public and parliamentary discussion, and some have been alarmingly willing to adopt increasingly aggressive tactics aimed at abortion providers and the women they treat.
Outside the British Pregnancy Advisory Service's Bedford Square clinic in London, the anti-choice group 40 Days for Life has been holding what it describes as a "prayer vigil". For patients seeking the services of the clinic, and for those who work there, the effect of this gathering is undoubtedly one of intimidation. The women who attend there are already dealing with the anxiety of an unplanned pregnancy, as well as an imminent medical procedure and possible fears about how their family or friends might react to their choice. It's a moment when anyone is likely to feel vulnerable, and conscious of their privacy.
"We are very supportive of people's right to protest, but what we saw in Bedford Square was beyond the pale," says Clare Murphy of BPAS. "They hang around by the door and encircle women." And 40 Days for Life's use of cameras is particularly disturbing. According to the organisation's leader Robert Colquhoun, photographic equipment is only used to protect the protesters, who he says have been threatened previously. But BPAS reports that the cameras have been turned on patients, in a tactic that amounts to harassment. Yesterday, 40 Days for Life tweeted to celebrate its first "turnaround", but it's hard to imagine that any woman who has been repulsed by such intrusive actions is making a positive choice to be a mother.
|
|
|
|
USA Politics, Economy, Major Events |
|
Ariz. mulls OKing guns in public buildings
By (UPI)
|
The Arizona Senate is considering a bill that would allow guns in all public places unless the property has an armed security guard and metal detectors.
. . .
The law would make it legal for armed individuals to enter public buildings such as police stations, courts, city halls, libraries, public pools and the state Capitol unless a certified state or federal law-enforcement officer is present. It would not apply to K-12 schools, community colleges and universities.
. . .
A fiscal study by legislative staff said it would cost too much to install the proper security measures if the bill becomes law.
|
Connecticut Considers Letting Health Aides Give Medicines To Homebound
By Jeff Cohen
|
. . .
Gov. Dannel Malloy has promised to move more than 5,000 poor and disabled patients out of nursing homes in five years.
But the Democratic governor says there's an expensive obstacle in the way. Connecticut law says nurses have to give medications to people in the Medicaid system living at home, and that costs a lot of money.
. . .
The state legislature is now considering a plan to allow trained home care aides — who now cost half what nurses do — to administer medications while working under a nurse's supervision. Foley says that and other changes could eventually save the state millions.
Nurses like Counter would still go out to assess the health and safety of their clients, but they would clock less time traveling between patients. "It just means that they're not going two times a day, every day, three times a day, every day, to [give medications]," Foley says.
|
Why High Gas Prices Are Here to Stay
By Michael T. Klare
|
Oil prices are now higher than they have ever been—except for a few frenzied moments before the global economic meltdown of 2008. Many immediate factors are contributing to this surge, including Iran's threats to block oil shipping in the Persian Gulf, fears of a new Middle Eastern war, and turmoil in energy-rich Nigeria. Some of these pressures could ease in the months ahead, providing temporary relief at the gas pump. But the principal cause of higher prices—a fundamental shift in the structure of the oil industry—cannot be reversed, and so oil prices are destined to remain high for a long time to come.
. . .
The simple truth of the matter is this: most of the world's easy reserves have already been depleted—except for those in war-torn countries like Iraq. Virtually all of the oil that's left is contained in harder-to-reach, tougher reserves. These include deep-offshore oil, Arctic oil, and shale oil, along with Canadian "oil sands"—which are not composed of oil at all, but of mud, sand, and tar-like bitumen. So-called unconventional reserves of these types can be exploited, but often at a staggering price, not just in dollars but also in damage to the environment.
. . .
Further evidence for this shift was provided by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in a 2010 review of world oil prospects. In preparation for its report, the agency examined historic yields at the world's largest producing fields—the "easy oil" on which the world still relies for the overwhelming bulk of its energy. The results were astonishing: those fields were expected to lose three-quarters of their productive capacity over the next 25 years, eliminating 52 million barrels per day from the world's oil supplies, or about 75 percent of current world crude oil output. The implications were staggering: either find new oil to replace those 52 million barrels or the Age of Petroleum will soon draw to a close and the world economy would collapse.
Of course, as the IEA made clear back in 2010, there will be new oil, but only of the tough variety that will exact a price from us all—and from the planet, too. To grasp the implications of our growing reliance on tough oil, it's worth taking a whirlwind tour of some of the more hair-raising and easily damaged spots on Earth. So fasten your seatbelts: first we're heading out to sea—way, way out—to survey the "promising" new world of twenty-first-century oil.
|
High-quality healthcare found cheaper
By (UPI)
|
. . .
CDPHP abandoned the "fee-for-service" payment model in which primary care doctors were paid more if they saw more patients -- for one that gives them a set monthly payment for each patient regardless of whether they see that patient or not.
After testing the model for years at three physician practices that serve a total of 13,000 patients in the Albany area, it was determined the doctors earned more, the insurance company paid less, and patients were healthier and more satisfied with their care, the Albany Times Union reported.
. . .
Dr. Raymond Carrelle Jr. said the fee-for-service wasn't working for him or his patients because the system's incentive was to treat more and more patients but spend less and less time with each one. Carrelle said he felt as if he was on a hamster wheel -- seeing one patient after another.
|
Four US banks fail Federal Reserve stress test
By (BBC)
|
The Federal Reserve said Citi, SunTrust, Ally Financial and MetLife failed to show they have enough capital to survive another serious downturn.
. . .
The Fed tested the banks' ability to withstand a similar crisis that triggered a rise in unemployment to 13%, a 50% fall in share prices and a 21% drop in house prices.
Their strength is assessed by the amount of "buffer" best-quality assets, known as Tier 1 capital, they would hold if such conditions occurred.
|
|
Welcome to the "Hump Point" of this OND.
News can be sobering and engrossing - at this point in the diary, an offering of brief escapism:
Random notes related to this video:
If music writers love to place artists in genres, it is a more-than-usually fruitless task with Magnetic Fields, the brainchild of “composer, multi-instrumentalist and bubblegum purist” Stephin Merritt. Many people discovered Magnetic Fields (named after the surrealist André Breton’s novel Les Champs Magnetiques) with their 3-CD box set 69 Songs, which was released in 1999. The titles themselves suggested some of his musical playgrounds, such as “Punk Love”, “Love is Like Jazz” or “World Love”. Others referred sometimes obliquely to Billie Holliday, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Fleetwood Mac or Irving Berlin. Merritt said that the album “was not remotely an album about love. It’s an album about love songs, which are very far away from anything to do with love”. There is, though, no doubting the emotional resonance instant classics like “All My Little Words” or “I Don’t Want to Get over You” have. Merritt could have been speaking of his own album when he praised Laurie Anderson’s “heartbreaking melodies with words that make fun of heartbreaking melodies.” The album was conceived “as a way of introducing myself to the world” in a gay bar, where Merritt says he writes most of his compositions.
Merritt’s clever romanticisms have led people to compare him to classic exponents of the song-writing craft of decades ago like Cole Porter. He has said he admires Tom Waits, Kate Bush and Stephen Sondheim, if that gives us a clue. His pet Chihuahua is named Irving Berlin. If Merritt is not quite as well known yet as such mentors, that may be because besides Magnetic Fields he also hides behind other band names like the Gothic Archies, the 6th or the Future Bible Heroes. His relations with the media are rarely straightforward either. As Alexis Petridis put it in the Guardian, “his interview technique involves the perennially winning tactic of being as difficult and diffident as possible.” His look, says Petridis unkindly, is "like an academic from a minor university who has found out his department's budget has been slashed." Furthermore, he says he doesn’t want fame: “I don’t really care about fame, but I do care about money. I want the facilities that Abba had. It’s a constraint not to have an enormous apartment with reverb chambers and an empty swimming pool where I can record the drums if I want to.”
Back to what's happening:
|
|
Environment and Greening |
|
Global Warming Skepticism Climbs During Tough Economic Times
By (ScienceDaily)
|
. . .
The researchers found significant drops in public climate change beliefs in the late 2000s: for example, the Gallup 2008 poll reported that between 60 and 65 percent of people agreed with statements of opinion that global warming is imminent, it is not exaggerated, and the theory is agreed upon by scientists. By 2010, those numbers had dropped to about 50 percent.
The authors also found a strong relationship between jobs and people's prioritization of climate change. When the unemployment rate was 4.5 percent, an average 60 percent of people surveyed said that climate change had already begun happening. But when the jobless rate reached 10 percent, that number dropped to about 50 percent.
. . .
The researchers speculate that cognitive dissonance, which arises when people experience conflicting thoughts and behaviors, could explain this pattern. Most people view economic growth and environmental protection to be in conflict, so admitting that climate change is real but should be ignored in favor of economic growth leads to an internal philosophical clash.
|
Chinese maker of offshore wind turbines, sets up U.S. base in Raleigh
By John Murawski
|
A Chinese wind turbine manufacturer today announced the opening of a research-and-development facility in Raleigh in anticipation for demand for its offshore turbines in this country.
Ming Yang Wind Power plans to conduct research on lowering the cost of offshore wind power, which remains one of the most expensive forms of renewable energy. But the company isn’t limiting its U.S. ambitions to research, hoping eventually to establish a factory to assemble and ship its gear to giant wind farms as they are built.
. . .
No offshore wind farms have been built in this country, though a several are under development along the East Coast, including one proposed for offshore North Carolina.
|
Australia passes controversial nuclear waste bill
By Oliver Milman
|
The Australian government has passed legislation that will create the country's first nuclear waste dump, despite fierce opposition from environmental and Aboriginal groups.
. . .
"The site is in an earthquake zone, it floods regularly, there are very long transport corridors, there are no jobs being applied and it's opposed from people on the ground, on the front line from Tennant (Creek) all the way up to the NT government and people around the country," said senator Scott Ludlam of the Greens, which successfully added an amendment to the bill that bans the importing of foreign nuclear waste to the site.
Aboriginal groups launched legal action after claiming that traditional owners of the land around Muckaty do not approve of the dump, despite the government maintaining that the local Ngapa indigenous community supports the plan.
. . .
The Northern Territory government has complained that it is being strong-armed into taking the dump due to it being a "constitutional weak link" and not having the same rights as full Australian states.
|
Anheuser-Busch turns beer leftovers into usable products
By Sarah Parsons
|
Now you can feel good after knocking back a few brewskis — and not just because you’re tipsy. Beermaker Anheuser-Busch has found a way to turn its waste grain into an array of products, from clothes to cosmetics to biogas.
The beer behemoth has partnered with a company called Blue Marble Bio, which plans to set up large-scale biorefineries at Anheuser-Busch breweries that will use naturally occurring bacteria to break down spent grains using proprietary “polyculture fermentation technology.” That process will create both biogas, which can be used to generate electricity, and chemical compounds called carboxylic acids that are used to make everything from nylon to soap to food additives to floor polish.
. . .
Soon, though, you could be using that very same grain to clean your house, assuming you’re still sober enough. A cold brew without the hefty carbon footprint? Now that’s worth raising a glass to.
|
Caribbean island Curacao faces oil refinery dilemma
By Sarah Grainger
|
Its pristine white sand beaches and turquoise sea coupled with excellent diving and a historic capital listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site make it a stop on many Caribbean cruises.
But there is a blot on the landscape of this small nation: a huge oil refinery that sits at the heart of the island in a natural deep water bay called Schottegat.
. . .
"You have to think about the future and be broadminded," the Prime Minister told the BBC.
"But in order to the close the refinery I would need another economic pillar that would replace the 8% to 9% GDP that the refinery represents."
|
|
|
|
Science and Health |
|
Simple, Low-Cost Yoga Program Can Enhance Coping and Quality of Life for the Caregivers
By (ScienceDaily)
|
While care for the caregivers is difficult to find, a new study out of UCLA suggests that using yoga to engage in very brief, simple daily meditation can lead to improved cognitive functioning and lower levels of depression for caregivers.
. . .
The researchers also found that meditation increased telomerase activity and thus slowed cellular aging. Telomerase is an enzyme that maintains the DNA at the ends of our chromosomes, known as telomeres. Telomeres are associated with a host of health risks and diseases, which may be regulated in part by psychological stress. In the absence of telomerase activity, every time our cells divide, our telomeres get shorter and shorter, until eventually, they become so short the cells die. If high telomerase can be maintained or promoted, though, it will likely promote improvement in telomere maintenance and immune cell longevity.
. . .
The pilot results were "striking," she said, given the improvements that were shown in mental health, cognition, and telomerase activity over a short eight weeks at a mere 12 minutes a day. "We found that the effects on cognitive and mental functioning and telomerase activity were specific to the Kirtan Kriya. Because Kirtan Kriya had several elements of using chanting, mudras (finger poses) and visualization, there was a 'brain fitness' effect in addition to stress-reduction that contributed to the overall effect of the meditation." Lavretsky plans a follow-up study to provide further confirmation of this potential mechanism in a neuroimaging study of Kirtan Kriya.
|
Scientists Produce Eye Structures from Human Blood-Derived Stem Cells
By (ScienceDaily)
|
For the first time, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have made early retina structures containing proliferating neuroretinal progenitor cells using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells derived from human blood.
And in another advance, the retina structures showed the capacity to form layers of cells – as the retina does in normal human development – and these cells possessed the machinery that could allow them to communicate information. (Light-sensitive photoreceptor cells in the retina along the back wall of the eye produce impulses that are ultimately transmitted through the optic nerve and then to the brain, allowing you to see.) Put together, these findings suggest that it is possible to assemble human retinal cells into more complex retinal tissues, all starting from a routine patient blood sample.
Many applications of laboratory-built human retinal tissues can be envisioned, including using them to test drugs and study degenerative diseases of the retina such as retinitis pigmentosa, a prominent cause of blindness in children and young adults. One day, it may also be possible replace multiple layers of the retina in order to help patients with more widespread retinal damage.
|
Extinct woolly mammoth to be cloned
By (UPI)
|
A South Korean research laboratory says it plans to work with a Russian university to clone a woolly mammoth, a species extinct for 4,500 years.
. . .
The leader of the Sooam lab, Hwang Woo-suk, is a deeply controversial figure in South Korean science, gaining fame in 2004 when he claimed to have created human stem cells from a cloned embryo.
Accused of violating medical ethics by using eggs from his own researchers and falsifying data, he was given a two-year suspended sentence for misuse of research funds and ethical lapses, Fox News reported.
|
Is Knock-off Jewelry Bad For You?
By Kate Sheppard
|
It seems that every year or so, there's a news story about lead and other nasty substances found in unexpected places—children's toys, drinking glasses, women's handbags, lipstick. A new report out Tuesday finds lead in cheap jewelry as well—meaning you might want to back off that faux bling.
The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Ecology Center found that 57 percent of the 99 pieces of jewelry it test contained high levels of toxic components like lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury and bromine. Twenty-seven percent of pieces contained more than 300 parts per million (ppm) of lead—which far exceeds the 100 ppm limit for children's products the Consumer Product Safety Commission set last year. Forty-seven percent contained detectible levels of the "extremely toxic metal" cadmium, which is also a "probable carcinogen" according to the EPA. Thirteen percent had high levels of arsenic, and 5 percent had high levels of mercury.
. . .
The Consumer Product Safety Commission noted that current law directs the agency to set federal regulations governing lead in children's jewelry—not for products intended people over the age of 12. Scott Wolfson, director of communications at the CPSC, also noted that as of November 2011, there is a new voluntary industry standard for other chemicals in children's jewelry that CPSC helped create. He said that the CPSC, "has started looking into the products identified" in the report.
|
Study: Sex ed does not hasten sex in teens
By (UPI)
|
Sex education does not encourage U.S. teens to have sex sooner or to take more sexual risks -- rather, it delays sex, as does abstinence, researchers said.
. . .
Respondents who had received instruction on both abstinence and birth control were older at first sex than their those who had no instruction. They were more likely to have used condoms or other contraceptives at first sex, the study said.
Those who had received only abstinence instruction were more likely to have delayed first intercourse than were those who had had no sex education. Condom use at first sex was significantly less likely among females who had had only abstinence instruction than among those who had received information about both abstinence and birth control.
|
|
|
|
Technology |
|
The New iPad Could Clog 4G Networks
By Tom Simonite
|
The new tablet connects to 4G networks that are today only lightly used. If it sells in large numbers, the device will place significant new demands on those networks, experts say, requiring bandwidth to be spread more thinly. The new iPad's "retina" display, capable of playing full 1080p HD video, will likely encourage heavy data usage that will exacerbate that effect. Many users may also get their first taste of what it is like to bump up against the data limits that are now a standard part of wireless contracts.
Demand for the new iPad has been very strong; Apple says all the units it set aside for online preorders are now allocated. Long lines are expected outside stores as customers wait for it to become available on Friday. Buyers can choose to sign a contract with either AT&T or Verizon to provide wireless data to their device over new 4G networks that use LTE technology only now being introduced by carriers worldwide.
. . .
4G networks are relatively empty today, he says, and the devices using them are not as numerous or data-intensive as the iPad is likely to be. Laptop modems used by business travelers are the most established category of 4G devices today, says Thelander, while 4G smart phones are becoming more popular with consumers but do not use much bandwidth because phone screens are small. "The iPad's right in the middle," he says. "It will have a really strong adoption but also consume large amounts of data."
|
Homeless Hotspots: Exploitation Or Innovation?
By (Talk of the Nation)
|
There is usually no shortage of creativity at the South by Southwest interactive festival in Austin. But this year, one innovation has been controversial: homeless hotspots - a project where homeless people are given wireless cards, and people can approach them to exchange donations for access to the Internet. Critics of the project say it's exploiting the homeless. But Megan Garber of The Atlantic thinks otherwise. . .
GARBER: That's right. So the 15 homeless people were given basically mobile devices where they would have the devices and they basically converted themselves into mobile hotspots, the same kind that you would have at Starbucks or something like that. And then people who are attending the conference can get sort of immediate Wi-Fi access through those devices.
. . .
LUDDEN: And you've written that it kind of juxtaposes poverty and privilege. I mean, the idea of someone sitting there, checking their high-powered friend's email next to - I guess it can make for some uncomfortable situations or maybe some engaging situations.
GARBER: Exactly. And I think the point that it can do both is actually a good thing because, frankly, this is something that we should be talking about. And there are homeless people in Austin just like there are homeless people in most cities. And I think, you know, the tendency is just to ignore it and to say, well, that's not my problem. It's, you know, I'm not part of this conference. And I appreciate that BBH is trying to sort of juxtapose, you know, the real world reality with the digital potential that's being explored at the conference.
|
It’s Possible to Steer Freakin’ Lightning with Freakin’ Lasers
By Jamie Condliffe
|
Supervillains rejoice: scientists have developed a way of steering lightning using lasers. I repeat: steering lighting with lasers. And they told me it could never strike in the same place twice!
. . .
The research, published in AIP Advances, claims that it could be used to shift the spot that lightning strikes by up to 50 meters. While the researchers have their thoughts on maybe, you know, saving lives using the technology, the supervillain in all of us knows full well that this should appear in the next Bond movie.
|
AIM Is (Unofficially) Dead (Updated)
By Sam Biddle
|
For anyone inside the generation for which AOL was synonymous with the internet, and AIM was prerequisite to any social life at all, some pretty sad news: AOL just sacked its IM team. The old king of chat is paraplegic.
. . .
AIM was long ago defeated by a pincer attack from Gchat and Facebook—the former is the IM staple for the employed, the latter the golden protocol for students, tweens, and below. Oh, and Twitter happened. AIM was beaten at its own game, overwhelmed by popular new things and too many years of bloated software. There's nothing particularly surprising here—just sad for those of us who spent so much time with a program. For software that was near mandatory for keeping up with your friends, AIM was kind of a friend itself.
. . .
Update: An AOL rep tell us they have no official statement on the future of AIM.
|
U.S. Military Demonstrates "Active Denial System" Non-Lethal Weapon
By Shane McGlaun
|
The U.S. military has invested heavily in weapons over the years that can incapacitate enemies without killing them. One of these weapons is called the Active Denial System (ADS) and it is a non-lethal weapon that makes its target feel as if his or her skin is burning. However, the burning sensation is completely reversible.
. . .
The beam created by the weapon is a 95-gigahertz, millimeter wave beam that only penetrates 1/64 of an inch into the skin. System has been researched for 15 years and Tafolla thinks the system is safe. The range of the ADS system is much further than that of other non-lethal weapons that use kinetic energy. The range of the ADS is said to be 10 times that of traditional non-lethal weapons
The weapon was briefly deployed in Afghanistan but never used in combat. The military says many people confuse the technology with a microwave. The 95-gigahertz frequency is only absorbed superficially by the skin and the military says they've done over 11,000 exposures on people with only two injuries. Despite the fact that the ADS uses a wave 100 times the power of a regular microwave, it's unable to transfer enough heat to pop a bag of popcorn. The trigger also only activates the weapon for 3 seconds.
|
Anonymous Placed $700K in Fraudulent CC Charges, Left Charities With Fees
By Jason Mick
|
A reader of Venture Beat bemoans $300 USD in fraudulent charges placed on his credit card after the number was stolen from Austin, Texas security firm Stratfor Forecasting, Inc. The hooligans charged $300 to his account, buying hooded sweatshirts.
. . .
But he's hardly alone. In total, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) -- itself a recent victim of Anonymous espionage -- estimates that $700,000 USD in charges were placed on the 90,000+ credit cards that were stolen by members of the massive worldwide hacker collective Anonymous.
. . .
It is likely that the firm was targeted due to its close relationship with the government. The firm specialized at predicting actions of nation-state level players like the U.S., as well as militant groups, such as al Qaeda. The firm -- composed heavily of ex-intelligence and ex-military officials -- sold its analysis reports to news networks, international government agencies, and Fortune 500 firms.
. . .
In the wake of the attacks Anonymous vowed that in the spirit of "hacktivism" they would use the cards to donate to charities, such as CARE, the Red Cross, and Save the Children. Most of the donations were indeed charged to these charities. States HBGary's CEO Aaron Barr -- whose information was also abused during the series of intrusions, "It was all charities, the Red Cross, CARE, Save the Children. So when the credit card company called my wife she wasn't sure whether I was just donating. It made me feel terrible. It made my wife feel terrible. We had to close the account."
|
|
|
|
Cultural |
|
F. Sherwood Rowland, Warned Of Aerosol's Danger
By Richard Harris
|
The man who warned us that aerosol spray-cans could destroy the earth's protective ozone layer has died.
. . .
Rowland was a towering figure in several senses of the world. He was big, 6-foot-4, and had a commanding presence in any room. He spoke his mind with directness. And his thoughts were firmly grounded in science. He put those qualities on very public display when he started looking into chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs.
. . .
Rowland and a post-doctoral researcher, Mario Molina, discovered these chemicals would waft into the stratosphere. Every CFC molecule can destroy 100,000 molecules of ozone. Ozone in the upper atmosphere protects the planet from harsh ultraviolet sunlight. Life on Earth couldn't exist without the ozone layer.
. . .
"Sherry Rowland wasn't just a great scientist. He was a wonderful human being," says Michael Oppenheimer at Princeton University. After making his discovery about the impending threat to the ozone layer, "he worked very hard to make sure that the political system did something about it."
|
Encyclopedia Britannica halts print publication after 244 years
By Tom McCarthy
|
Its legacy winds back through centuries and across continents, past the birth of America to the waning days of the Enlightenment. It is a record of humanity's achievements in war and peace, art and science, exploration and discovery. It has been taken to represent the sum of all human knowledge.
And now it's going out of print.
. . .
Asked whether the decision to end the publication's monumental run had not caused a backlash inside the company, Cauz said the opposite was true.
"The transition has not been that difficult," he said. "Everyone understands we needed to change. As opposed to newspapers, we felt the impact of digital many years ago – we had a lot of time for reflection. Everyone is very invigorated.
. . .
"Today our digital database is much larger than what we can fit in the print set. And it is up to date because we can revise it within minutes anytime we need to, and we do it many times each day."
|
The great masturbation debate of Ghana
By Iva Roze Skoch
|
During the “Pastor Chris Live Show," a man from Ghana called in to ask how he can overcome his masturbation habit, Ghana web reports.
. . .
As you do in Ghana. In Ghana, a soccer fanatic nation, things are always compared to soccer, which – mercifully – is not on the list of activities God disapproves . . .
He said that any act of sexual gratification done outside the context of marriage is wrong. On top of things, addiction to masturbation has several effects which include psychological and physiological problems and the possibility of long terms effects after one is married.
. . .
To use a soccer analogy with an Onan twist: Thou shalt not commit the offside offense. Do not touch the ball, or score, if you are in an offside position (also known as outside marriage.) Also, do not score after you have just gained an advantage, particularly on your brother’s wife.
|
Tide is the new currency on the criminal underground, can be exchanged for meth
By Cory Doctorow
|
The Daily's M.L. Nestel cites law enforcement reports from across America describing a crime-wave of Tide detergent thefts, including claims that bottles of easily resellable, name-brand washing soap can be bartered for meth and heroin in Gresham, OR.
Tide has become a form of currency on the streets. The retail price is steadily high — roughly $10 to $20 a bottle — and it’s a staple in households across socioeconomic classes.
. . .
“There’s no serial numbers and it’s impossible to track,” said Detective Larry Patterson of the Somerset, Ky., Police Department, where authorities have seen a huge spike in Tide theft. “It’s the item to steal.”
|
Uncool China fails to woo Taiwan's youth
By Jens Kastner
|
The Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) fourth-most powerful figure recently called for extra efforts to get Taiwan's youth into the China boat. In a speech at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Jia Qinglin, chairman of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) - the country's top political advisory body, emphasized that it's crucial that the island's young people "identify more closely with the Chinese nation and culture."
. . .
Taiwan can hardly be called a secret. In droves of surveys, the island's youth has stubbornly said they feel more Taiwanese than Chinese, and that Japan but not China is their favorite country. They say they would only consider moving to China in order to make more money, not because they think it's trendy or cool.
. . .
It seems that Beijing's initiatives to make "China" an appealing brand name to the island's youth is failing to bear fruits. One reason could be that fancy soft power drives were launched elsewhere - eg, by renting a huge Time's Square billboard for the state-run news agency Xinhua or extending a hand to Hollywood producers - but the actions the Chinese took targeting young Taiwanese were more low key.
|
|
Meteor Blades is known to offer an enlightening Evening Open Diary - you might consider checking that out tonight if you haven't already. |