Archive for August, 2009
Abkhazia Warns Georgia Over Vessel Seizures
August 21st, 2009Here we go again. Via: Reuters / New York Times: Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia accused Tbilisi on Thursday of trying to suffocate the Black Sea territory and threatened a “proportionate response” to a Georgian blockade in which two ships have been seized this week. Georgia has stepped up efforts to isolate Abkhazia and another breakaway region, […]
Infectious Disease Experts Call on Australian Government to Abandon Mass Swine-Flu Vaccination Plan
August 21st, 2009I saw some pretty good looking cattle drenching guns at RD1 the other day. Maybe those would work better? Maybe not. Via: The Age: LEADING infectious disease experts have called on the Federal Government to abandon its mass swine-flu vaccination plan because of fears the vaccine is a contamination risk that could spread blood-borne diseases. […]
Live Attenuated Swine Influenza Vaccine May Create New Pandemic Strains
August 21st, 2009Via: Institute of Science and Society: The live attenuated swine flu vaccine intended for millions of children has dangerous side effects and is genetically unstable, risking generation of new pandemic strains should mass vaccinations go ahead. … A potential problem was observed in studies of LAIV as it encounters restrictive temperature in the lung. The […]
Arctic Sea Was in Russian Port for Two Weeks Just Before Voyage
August 20th, 2009Via: Reuters: The hijackers of a cargo ship that disappeared off the coast of France threatened to blow it up if their ransom demands were not met, Russian news agencies said. Russia has arrested eight people on suspicion of hijacking the Arctic Sea off the Swedish coast and sailing it to the Atlantic Ocean, ending […]
School Kids Buying Their Breakfast Sticks Using Fingerprint Readers
August 20th, 2009In case you don’t get the “breakfast stick” reference: “Texas: In-School Suspension Program” Uses GPS Tracking Systems Attached to Students. Via: Chronicle Telegram: For lunch Monday, Elyria High School served up pepperoni pizza to the students who came back for the first day of classes. But instead of students handing over cash, some placed their […]
Video Ads in Magazines
August 20th, 2009Via: Financial Times: When some readers of Entertainment Weekly open their magazines next month, they will discover characters from US television programmes speaking to them from a wafer-thin video screen built into the page. The marketing experiment – which is being conducted by CBS, the US broadcaster, and Pepsi, the soft drinks maker – recalls […]
New Jersey City Considers Adult Curfew
August 19th, 2009Via: AP: Curfews might not be just for kids anymore in one city in northern New Jersey. Officials in Paterson are considering one for people of all ages in a bid to curb violence after a spate of deadly shootings. Several experts say they believe it would be the nation’s first curfew of its type […]
‘Chicken Underground’ Emerges in Indiana
August 19th, 2009Via: Lafayette Journal & Courier: The “chicken underground” is on the march. Gay-Ellen Stulp and Stephany Miskunas are lobbying the Lafayette City Council to allow them to keep pet chickens at their homes in the historic Highland Park neighborhood. Advertisement Stulp said she wanted city council members to amend the ordinance that forbids having chickens […]
FrankenpHood Seeds Will Cost Up to 42% More
August 19th, 2009Via: Bloomberg: Monsanto Co., the world’s largest seed maker, plans to charge as much as 42 percent more for new genetically modified seeds next year than older offerings because they increase farmers’ output. Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans will cost farmers an average of $74 an acre in 2010, and original Roundup Ready soybeans will […]
Your Tax Dollars at Work for Michael Bay
August 19th, 2009Via: David Bordwell: Back in July, when I was watching films at Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna, I managed to catch several of the films in the Frank Capra retrospective. Two of them, Dirigible (above and left) and Submarine, were surprisingly spectacular, given that at the time Columbia was still a relatively minor studio. It […]
