Archive for May, 2009
Are Ancient Viruses Waiting In the Melting Arctic Ice?
Wired reports that the next flu pandemic may be hibernating in an Arctic glacier or frozen Siberian lake, waiting for rising temperatures to set it free. Then birds can deliver it back to civilization. Apparently new research shows that viruses can go into hibernation, hiding in ice when earlier generations of humans, birds, or other hosts developed immunity…with the ability to reemerge hundreds or thousands of years later.
Apparently, “scientists have in fact detected influenza viruses frozen in the ice and mud of lakes in Alaska, Siberia and elsewhere, the summer grounds for ducks that migrate to China, Southern Asia, Europe and North America. Many other viruses may have evolved to lay dormant in ice when their host populations develop resistance…waterborne viruses such as polio, hepatitis A..even smallpox — a virus against which Americans are no longer routinely vaccinated — might survive in the bodies of victims buried in Arctic permafrost.”
What…
A Brief History of Weed
A plug for the Showtime series Weeds but an interesting video anyway:
Snails-On-Face Record Broken
Fin Keheler, an 11-year-old from Utah, has set a world record by placing 43 live snails on his face. It took him only a minute to place the snails, and only those which remained on his face for at least ten seconds were counted. In the face of a recession, this just goes to show that America still has the “can do” spirit.
Birds Know Who We Are
Robin Lloyd, LiveScience: Birds used to just fly around and amuse us, but in recent years, biologists are learning that our feathered friends are quite smart.
Their songs are incredibly complex communications that scientists are just beginning to decode. Crows are great toolmakers and learners.
Birds can follow our gaze. And at least one cockatoo and a grey parrot can dance, though their rhythm is suspect.
Now it looks like mockingbirds are capable of recognizing humans who make repeat visits to the birds’ nests, according to research by Doug Levey at the University of Florida.
Birmingham Police Fired Over Beating Film
Five US police officers in Birmingham, Alabama have been fired for beating an unconscious suspect who had crashed his car in a police pursuit. The attack on Anthony Warren took place in January 2008, but police video footage has only just been made public.
It was uncovered in March by prosecutors preparing a case against Warren for assaulting an officer, for which he was later convicted. Officials said other officers had seen the video but never reported it.
Michael Moore’s New Film Will Be About Financial Crisis, In Theaters In October
Michael Moore’s new documentary, which tackles the root causes of the global economic crisis, now has a release date: Oct. 2.
Overture Films and Paramount Vantage, which made the announcement, are the film’s co-financers and distributors. The film is not yet titled.
Overture and Paramount announced the project during last year’s Cannes Film Festival. At the time it was described as a sequel to “Farenheit 9/11,” but during production Moore decided to focus on the growing financial meltdown.
On Feb. 11, the director posted an open letter on his website seeking “a few brave people who work on Wall Street or in the financial industry to come forward and share with me what they know. … be a hero and help me expose the biggest swindle in American history.”
Said Moore: “The wealthy, at some point, decided they didn’t have enough wealth,” Moore said. “They wanted more — a lot more. So they systematically…
What Happened When This Teen Auctioned Her Virginity
Deborah Arthurs, Daily Mail: A teenager who sold her virginity online for £8,800 has revealed the details of her tryst with the winning bidder. Alina Percea, 18, auctioned her virginity on a website so that she could afford to pay for her computing degree. The winner of the auction was a 45-year-old Italian businessman but she had no qualms about going through with the deal.
The businessman from Bologna paid for her to fly to Venice where the couple toured the sights before spending a night in a luxury hotel. Alina, who underwent two medical examinations to prove her virginity, said: ‘I liked the man and got on with him well. He
didn’t look 45, and he seemed much younger. ‘We spoke in English as I can’t speak
Italian and he can’t speak Romanian. He paid me a lot of compliments throughout the day, and he was very funny and charming. We got…
Cynthia McKinney May Be In Serious Danger
The following is an email sent by Cynthia McKinney today
I do not like to burden people with the crosses that I bear because of the political choices I have made. However, I do feel that this is important enough to share with all of you, and particularly those of you who live in Canada.
For those of you who have seen the documentary, American Blackout, I would like for you to recall one of the scenes in which I discuss my closed blinds and covered windows. I do live with the fact of surveillance. I have for a long time because of my father’s activities in the civil rights movement. He was named in the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission’s list of individuals to watch, he was in Selma at the first march, he was in Forsyth County, Georgia at the first march; with the help of the Southern Poverty Law Center, he…
In the Spirit of Spiderman, the Border Patrol Casts Its Web
With drug-related violence on the rise in Mexico, there has been a lot of talk lately about putting more boots on the ground at the border.
Anh Duong has different advice: Try Squid.
Ms. Duong directs a small unit in the Department of Homeland Security charged with adding a little whiz-bang wonder to the drudgery of desert patrols and vehicle checkpoints.
Her engineers scour the nation to find crazy-yet-promising concepts — like the Safe Quick Undercarriage Immobilization Device, or Squid — then team up with private entrepreneurs to turn them into working prototypes. They’re not ashamed to admit that they draw inspiration from comic-book superheroes and science-fiction novels as they dream up the gizmos and gadgets they hope will keep bad guys at bay.
The Squid, a lightweight disc about the size of a manhole cover, lies on the road and ejects rubbery tentacles on command to ensnare fleeing vehicles and drag them to…
4 Arrested in Alleged NYC Synagogue Bomb Plot
NEW YORK (CNN) — Three of the four men arrested for allegedly planning bomb attacks on Jewish targets in New York are expected to appear in federal court Thursday, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
The group allegedly plotted to bomb two New York synagogues and wanted to use surface-to-air missiles to fire at U.S. military planes, said a criminal complaint filed this week in White Plains, New York.
“Four individuals were arrested for planting bombs in front of two [Jewish facilities] in the area,” said Raymond Kelly, New York City police commissioner.
The charges are based on information from an FBI informant, with whom the men met as they plotted to carry out their attacks, authorities said.
“While the weapons provided to the defendants by the cooperating witness were fake, the defendants thought they were absolutely real,” acting U.S. Attorney Lev L. Dassin said in a statement.
Added Kelly: “The bombs had been made by…
UK May Experience A Rat Plague
The Guardian writes that in the United Kingdom, fears are growing about the possibility of a rat plague.
Amid concerns that the rat population is soaring, experts are warning that the poisons currently in use no longer work; the rodents have simply become immune.
Specifically, the British Pest Control Association points to two towns in Berkshire where local rat populations are completely resistant to all
legal pesticides.
Rats are thriving after several years of mild winters and wet summers, but in the worst-hit cities, such as York, reported infestations have more than doubled in the past 12 months.
Exterminators are lobbying to have the law changed so that extremely potent poisons can be placed outdoors, but the government believes that this may kill birds and pets.
2010 Olympic Torch Looks Like A Joint
Vancouver, British Columbia is widely regarded as Canada’s most pot-friendly city; there are marijuana cafes, the majority of the population favors complete legalization, and estimated yearly sales of the drug reach several billion dollars. So, perhaps it should not be a shock that the new Olympic torch, to be used when Vancouver hosts in 2010, suspiciously resembles a giant joint when lit.
The Vancouver Star reports that the newly-unveiled torch is already commonly known as the Olympic Toke. Suzanne Reeves, the Vancouver organizing committee’s director of communications for the Olympic torch relay, denies the comparison, saying that when she looks at the torch, which is meant to evoke ice, skiing, and skating, she is reminded of “the edge of snow and an unfurling flag.” She adds that “It’s quite magical. Most people’s reactions are emotional.”
Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Orgasm
“Bonk” author Mary Roach delves into obscure scientific research, some of it centuries old, to make 10 surprising claims about sexual climax, ranging from the bizarre to the hilarious.
More Americans Play Video Games Than Go Out to the Movies
Nearly two out of three Americans (63 percent) have played a video game in the past six months. While that level of penetration does not begin to compete with music listening, which is nearly universal (94 percent), it exceeds the percentage of U.S. consumers who report going out to the movies (53 percent), during that same time period. Gaming is also benefiting from new outlets for playing. Overall 10 percent of U.S. consumers played video games on a social network. Five percent have paid to download a video game from the Web, which is an increase of nearly 2 percent since last year.
State Versus Religion: Arrest Warrants Issued For Mother On The Run With Son Avoiding Chemotherapy
The case of a missing Minnesota mother and her cancer-stricken son has rekindled the debate over parents who reject conventional medical treatments for their sick children because of religious beliefs.
Authorities nationwide searched Wednesday for Colleen Hauser and her 13-year-old son, Daniel, who has Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The family refuses chemotherapy for Daniel. The two disappeared from rural Sleepy Eye, Minn., after a doctor’s appointment and court-ordered X-ray Monday showed his cancer had grown. They did not show up for a court hearing Tuesday.
“We’ve got to find this child, so we can get him into medical treatment,” said James Olson, Brown County attorney.
Brown County District Judge John Rodenberg ruled the mother in contempt of court and issued a warrant for her arrest. He ordered that Daniel be turned over to Brown County Family Services and gave the agency the authority to consent to “appropriate and necessary” treatment…
The Hausers are Catholic, but also…
Tonight On TV: Cheney Vs. Obama Knockdown!
President Barack Obama plans to say in his speech Thursday that the U.S. lost its way in fighting terrorism over the last eight years by failing to trust its institutions and values, according to an administration official.
Obama will also renew his pledge to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying he will honor the commitment he made in the first week of his presidency.
In a remarkable split-screen presentation of opposing world views, former Vice President Dick Cheney will speak on the exact same topic moments after Obama finishes. Cheney is appearing at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, where the audience will watch the president on large TV screens.
Cheney will say: “When President Obama makes wise decisions, he deserves our support. And when he mischaracterizes the national security decisions we made in the Bush years, he deserves an answer.”
Cheney will argue that his intent is not to look…
Masculine Spiritualities and the Problem of Patriarchy
Since the 1990s there’s been much interest in a “masculine spirituality” that offers little more than a thinly veiled patriarchal spirituality. The mythopoetic, evangelical, and Catholic men’s movements all promote it, in various forms. Can we envision a masculine spirituality that resists old, patriarchal tendencies?
When Love Is Harder To Show Than Hate
Cory Doctorow writes in the Guardian: When a group of fans of the Dune books received a copyright threat from the estate of Frank Herbert, they took the path of least resistance: they renamed and altered their re-creation of the novel’s setting — a loving tribute created inside the virtual world of Second Life — so that it was no longer so recognisable as an homage to Herbert’s classic science fiction novels.
Joss Whedon’s TV series Firefly inspired a tribute from a science fiction novelist
The normal thing to do here is to rail at the stupidity of the Herbert estate in attacking these fans. After all, they weren’t taking money out of the pockets of the estate, the chance of trademark dilution in this case is infinitesimal, the creators were celebrating and spreading their love for the series, they are assuredly all major fans and customers for the products the estate is…
Glenn Beck Gets Schooled on ‘The View’ and Then (Of Course) By KO
C’mon, Mr. Beck, stop pulling this nonsense. There are many libertarians out there who know you don’t have to be in the culture war business. You f-ed yourself, Beck (Keith Olbermann doesn’t let anything go without comment…)
