Yearly Archives: 2013

Texas City Council Rejects Red Light Camera Initiative

"The city council in Sugar Land, Texas does not want voters to have a say in whether red light cameras are used in the Houston suburb. Although more than 3000 residents signed a petition requesting the issue be placed on the November ballot, and the city secretary verified a sufficient number met the legal requirement, the council voted Tuesday to reject the petition. The council's decision protects the four intersection cameras operated by American Traffic Solutions, one of which only began issuing $75 tickets a month ago. Before that device was added, the cameras issued 10,549 tickets worth $791,175 in a twelve-month period." Continue reading →

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A ‘disposition matrix’ system is now generating Obama’s secret kill list

"Since the Obama administration largely shut down the CIA’s rendition programme, choosing instead to dispose of its enemies in drone attacks, those individuals who are being nominated for killing have been discussed at a weekly counter-terrorism meeting at the White House situation room that has become known as Terror Tuesday. Barack Obama, in the chair and wishing to be seen as a restraining influence, agrees the final schedule of names. Once details of these meetings began to emerge it was not long before the media began talking of 'kill lists'. Before long the term disposition matrix was born." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA ‘disposition matrix’ system is now generating Obama’s secret kill list

Are telegrams dead?

"In India, the telegram held on a bit longer because it was used for internal government communications. The peak year was 1985, when 60m telegrams were sent, according to BSNL. But since then the number has dropped, and the number of telegram offices in India has fallen from 45,000 to just 75. Yet telegrams survive in a few other countries, including Belgium, Japan and Sweden, where former telecoms monopolies maintain them as a nostalgic novelty service. And in many other countries private firms offer telegram-delivery services. So despite several recent reports to the contrary, the telegram is not quite dead, and will probably never die." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAre telegrams dead?

Simple vinegar test can prevent cervical cancer deaths

"A simple vinegar test could prevent 73,000 deaths from cervical cancer worldwide each year, the authors of a large-scale study of women in India said Sunday. A primary health care worker swabs the woman’s cervix with vinegar, which causes pre-cancerous tumors to turn white. The results are known a minute later when a bright light is used to visually inspect the cervix. The instantaneous results are a major advantage for women in rural areas who might otherwise have to travel for hours to see a doctor. The randomized study of 150,000 women over 15 years found that the vinegar test was able to reduce cervical cancer deaths by 31 percent." Continue reading →

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Urine ‘scent’ test can detect bladder cancer

"The new device, called ODOREADER, contains a sensor that responds to chemicals in gas emitted from urine, said the study in the US scientific journal PLoS ONE. It analyzes the gas and reports on the chemicals contained in urine, which scientists can then read on a computer screen in order to diagnose cancer of the bladder. 'We looked at 98 samples of urine to develop the device, and tested it on 24 patient samples known to have cancer and 74 samples that have urological symptoms, but no cancer,' said Probert. 'The device correctly assigned 100 percent of cancer patients.' The next step is to expand trials to a wider sample of patients." Continue reading →

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Gene therapy promises to wipe out rare childhood diseases

"A new type of gene therapy has shown promise in wiping out two rare childhood diseases, apparently without the risks of causing cancer, international researchers said Thursday. The method used an HIV virus vector and the patients’ own blood stem cells to deliver a corrected version of a faulty gene, said the report in the US journal Science. As a result, six children are doing well, 18 to 32 months after their operations, said lead scientist Luigi Naldini of the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy in Milan." Continue reading →

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8 Things You Didn’t Know About Nikola Tesla

"Tesla had what's known as a photographic memory. He was known to memorize books and images and stockpile visions for inventions in his head. He also had a powerful imagination and the ability to visualize in three dimensions, which he used to control the terrifying vivid nightmares he suffered from as a child. It's in part what makes him such a mystical and eccentric character in popular culture, Carlson said. He was also known for having excessive hygiene habits, born out of a near-fatal bout of cholera as a teenager." Continue reading →

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British MPs urged to reject contentious tax pact with the US

"FATCA critics argue that it is expensive and burdensome for foreign financial institutions to implement, that it is a form of US imperialism, that it could damage delicate international relations and trade agreements, that it is in direct conflict with many foreign laws, and, crucially, that it would compromise America’s economy as it would dramatically reduce foreign investment in the US, threatening American jobs. In addition, FATCA, its opponents insist, would do little if anything to catch tax evaders, which is purportedly its primary objective." Continue reading →

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US, EU kick off Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks despite Snowden revelations

"The main goal is to agree on removing bureaucratic, regulatory and protectionist barriers to more open trade and investment to create what would be the world’s largest free-trade area, involving 820 million people. Key focuses of the talks ahead include agricultural trade, cross-border investment, intellectual property rights and regulatory harmonization. To avoid stalling the talks, separate US-EU discussions on the NSA activities were held quietly this week at the Department of Justice. Washington will push Europe to open up to US biotechnology products like genetically modified foods, which many European consumers consider dangerous." Continue reading →

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Germany stops Icelandic whale meat shipment to Japan in environmentalist victory

"Six containers of whale meat are on their way back to Iceland after German authorities removed the controversial cargo from a ship bound for Japan, Icelandic media reported on Friday. The batch was first stopped by German customs in Hamburg, where the containers were unloaded and then sent back via Rotterdam in the Netherlands. 'Transportation of products between Iceland and Japan is in accordance with international law,' Foreign Minister Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson told RUV. Iceland 'will now consider how to react to the transport of whale products being stopped and will stand firmly on Icelandic interests in this matter,' he added." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGermany stops Icelandic whale meat shipment to Japan in environmentalist victory