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Why can't you buy heroin at Boots?

Picture this: beside the electric toothbrushes at your local chemist, you can pick up complete kits of syringes, needles, cotton balls, lighters, rubber tying-off cords and cute stainless-steel spoons - all vacuum-sealed in plastic. Just as you can request some high-strength cortisone cream to treat that pesky eczema on your shin, you can ask your GP for heroin. Thus you can hand the pharmacist an NHS prescription for a two-week supply of commercial opiates (let's say Merck's version is called Scagodrine), inviting nary a raised eyebrow. As with all NHS prescriptions, your co-payment will only amount to about £6.50. You can walk out of the chemist with your Boots Home Works Kit and Scagodrine (bagged into single dosages whose potency is printed on the box), and wave to the bobby on the corner. He'll wave back. Are you, in your mind's eye, scampering down to your nearest surgery for that prescription, and racing off to Boots? Perhaps you're thinking, "Blimey, all this time I haven't been an intravenous drug addict because heroin is against the law! If I wouldn't get arrested, I'd spend every day in an apathetic swoon, alienate my friends and lose my job!" Most of us aren't heroin addicts because we don't want to be heroin addicts. Or coke heads or meth freaks. The people who do want to be junkies are junkies. Were hard drugs decriminalised, it's dubious that consumption would appreciably rise. Which is why Lib Dem MEP Chris Davies's calling for the legalisation and regulation of hard drugs last week really shouldn't qualify as "brave". Nor should Lord Birt's now partially leaked 2003 report on UK drug policy qualify as "controversial". The report's assertions make common sense: for drug cartels, government seizures are merely a modest line-item in their budgets; the "maximum" - meaning, farcically optimistic - estimate of drug seizures runs to 25% of total supply. Confiscation only serves to drive up the street price of hard drugs and so benefits their purveyors. Therefore, even more effective narcotics enforcement would simply push users into stealing yet more DVD players to fund costlier habits. Alas, common sense is in short supply on this matter. The west's prohibition approach to drugs is as entrenched as it is idiotic. Davies and Birt are pissing in the wind. So, by the way, am I. But I've nothing else to do this afternoon, so let's fritter away my time. It would be nice if everyone were happy and good. If everyone were a productive member of society, reliably rising to greet the morning, bursting into song and eager for the day ahead. If we all took such joy in the miracle of sheer being that it would never enter our heads to try to fuzzy up a single blade of grass. But government can't manifest this healthy look-life-square-in-the-eye by fiat. Frankly, most of us need to take the edge off once in a while - or put it on. Get a buzz from a cup of coffee or a few drags of a fag. Put our feet up with a glass of cabernet or sink into the sofa with a cognac before bed. Plenty of folks in my boomer generation still suck on the odd spliff in the privacy of their living rooms, and the sky doesn't fall when they do. If most of us tinker with our consciousness on occasion, a subsection of our fellows finds raw reality not just hard to take, but unbearable. Whether to induce exhilaration or oblivion, the compounds are out there to do the job, and these people, by hook or by crook, are going to get their mitts on those drugs. There may be a set percentage of the population determined to throw their lives away. Calling drug abuse a "victimless crime" may be a misnomer, for you can victimise yourself. Be that as it may, we've plenty of evidence by now that it costs a society far more to try to stop people from "self-medicating" than to let them. It's hard enough to protect people from each other; it's impossible to protect people from themselves. Davies was dead sound in calling for an end to drug prohibition in the name of mere "harm reduction". There's no good answer here. But the costs of this puritanical thou-shalt-not are gobsmacking. We've delivered whole countries such as Afghanistan largely into the hands of crooks. Internationally, we've created a massive shadow economy out of the reach of the law. On the US-Mexico border, murderous battles between rival drug gangs are getting so out of hand that this month Arizona and New Mexico declared states of emergencies. In the UK alone, crimes committed by heroin and cocaine addicts to feed their habits come to £16bn a year. We can take Vioxx off the market, but the appetite for pain relievers of the dodgy variety is not going to go away, no matter how many scary adverts run on television. So deal with it. Regulate drugs, tax them, monitor them, just like alcohol. You'd take preying on that appetite away from elements that have grown so powerful that they constitute rival governments. You'd have far few drug-related deaths, because the product would be pure, its potency established. You'd clear prisons of people guilty of nothing more than wanting to feel different, and you'd free up the police force to go after people who actually want to hurt somebody else. You'd take the cultural shine off drugs altogether, depriving them of their furtive cachet. Isolated European experiments with more liberal drug policies have poorly tested the premise that prescription beats proscription. When a single country such as the Netherlands loosens its narcotics laws while its neighbours continue to pursue punitive ones, naturally the country becomes a magnet for wasters, and there goes the neighbourhood. A Europe-wide rethink would spread the wasters around. Yet as for working out the details of a legal distribution scheme that would effectively result in "harm reduction", why bother? Davies was wasting his breath, Birt his paper - as I am wasting yours. I cannot imagine a rational, pragmatic approach to drugs in the western world evolving in my lifetime. Davies's proposal was sane, it was welcome; it was also self-destructive. Fellow Lib Dems rushed to clarify that he was not promoting party policy. And these are Lib Dems! Can you envisage an American presidential candidate going out on a limb to advocate that the US decriminalises heroin? That's right, with pigs flying merrily overhead, and hell freezing below.

Panelist Who Dissents On Climate Change Quits

Correction Appended A scientist who has long disagreed with the dominant view that global warming stems mainly from human activity has resigned from a panel that is completing a report for the Bush administration on temperature trends in the atmosphere. The scientist, Roger A. Pielke Sr., a climatologist at Colorado State University, said most of the other scientists working on the report were too deeply wedded to particular views and were discounting minority opinions on the quality of climate records and possible causes of warming. "When you appoint people to a committee who are experts in an area but evaluating their own work," he said in an interview, "it's very difficult for them to think outside the box of their research." Administration officials said the resignation would not affect the quality or credibility of the report, a draft of which is being finished in the next few weeks.

Victory for Japan's war critics

By Chris Hogg BBC News, Tokyo Many in Japan dispute the scale of killing in Nanjing in 1937 It is a rare legal victory for the critics of Japan's wartime past. The relatives of two officers, accused of taking part in a race to decapitate Chinese soldiers, had sued for damages, claiming the report was fabricated. Japan and China dispute the scale of murder, rape and looting during Japan's wartime occupation of parts of China. As Japan's Imperial Army approached the Chinese city of Nanjing in 1937, war correspondents sent back home morale-boosting reports which were published in national newspapers. One described the exploits of two officers who were said to have staged a competition to be the first to behead 100 Chinese soldiers. The two men were later executed by the Chinese government. 'Not proven' Two years ago, though, their relatives lodged a claim for $330,000 (36m yen) in damages from two newspapers - one, whose forerunner published the story in 1937, and another which carried an article repeating the allegations in 1971. The families claimed the stories were false because they had not been proved. Now Tokyo's district court has rejected their suit. The officers had admitted they raced to kill 100 people, the judge said. Although the original article included some false elements and exaggeration, since a final historical assessment of the contest has not been made, it is difficult to say it was fiction, he added. The journalist who wrote the follow-up article in the 1970s claimed the case had been brought by those trying to deny the Nanjing massacre. It is an event still disputed by scholars in Japan and China, and continues to cause difficulties between the two countries more than half a century after it happened.

Hacker Hits Air Force Officer Database

An online intruder has disappeared into the wild blue yonder with personal data on approximately half of the U.S. Air Force's 70,000 officers. The information stolen includes birth dates and Social Security numbers on about 33,000 officers, military officials confirmed Friday. The hacker apparently used a legitimate user's login information to access and/or download individuals' personal information. The Air Force became aware of the hack in June, after unusually high activity was discovered in a single user's Assignment Management System (AMS). According to the Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC) at Randolph Air Force base in San Antonio, "not one incident of identity theft has been linked to this unauthorized access." The AMS is an online program used for assignment preferences and career management. It contains birth dates and Social Security numbers but does not hold personal addresses, telephone numbers or specific information on dependents. "We notified airmen as quickly as we could while still following criminal investigation procedures," Maj. Gen. Tony Przybyslawski of the AFPC said in a statement released Friday. "We've taken steps to increase our system security. We're working with all Air Force agencies to identify vulnerabilities." In a letter to service personnel, Przybyslawsk said while the AMS records do not contain pay information, the stolen data could be potentially used to gain access to other systems that control military pay, direct deposits and other allotments. He urged officers to login to an Air Force site and check if their information was viewed. If it was, they receive a pop-up banner after login that will provide more information. Przybyslawski also urged the officers to follow Federal Trade Commission guidelines for dealing with identity theft. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, everyone is entitled to one free credit check annually as part of new identity theft prevention measures. "For the Air Force's part, we are conducting a wall-to-wall review of our personnel-related data systems to maximize the security of the systems," Przybyslawski wrote. "This may cause some inconvenience to users as we increase our access requirements, but in the long run it will be our best way to protect our members against theft of personal information. In addition to birth dates and Social Security numbers, the information accessed in the hack includes marital status, number of dependents, civil educational degrees and major areas of study, school and year of graduation and duty information for overseas assignment. "I also want to assure you that immediately upon discovery of the unauthorized access, we removed the AMS from service so that a complete security review could be done," Przybyslawsk wrote. "A criminal investigation also began immediately; we delayed sending you this notice for a short time to give our law enforcement officials the best opportunity in the early critical time period to catch the perpetrator."

Microwave Grape Plasma

Microwave Grape Plasma Find your microwave hotspots Take a damp paper towel and place it on top of 5-10 other paper towels in the bottom of your microwave. On top of it, place a sheet of themally sensitive fax paper, the kind that old crappy fax machines use. Credit card recipts also work, but they'd be harder to tile the bottom of your microwave with. The extra towels at the bottom provide some insulation. Turn the microwave on for a while. The first areas on the paper to turn dark are the hot spots Grape preparation Cut a grape in half equatorially (assume that the stem goes through the pole). Then place the new cut surface against a paper towel or other paper product to dry it. Don't squeeze it to death, but try to try it as much as possible. Lay the grape half with the wet side up, and slice it in half top to bottom, leaving a small (~3-7 mm) bridge of skin between the halves. Dry the new surfaces. Plasmification Place the grape with the cut ends up like two adjacent bowls on a plate or saucer of some sort and place the grape in your microwave's hotspot. Turn on the microwave for 15 seconds. Troubleshooting Normally to keep the grape in the hotspot you should remove the turntable, but if you aren't getting a show, try putting the turntable back in and letting the grape explore the microwave by being turned around all over it. Really make sure that the ends are dry, as if they're wet they tend to short-circuit across the ends and you don't get electrical discharging What's going on? Well, I only have an idea for some parts. The first part is speculation -- the sparks are resulting from an electrical discharge between the sides of the grape, as is evident by watching and as supported by the 120Hz buzz that coincides with the grape flaming. It could be that the particular size of the grape relative to the wavelengths of the microwaves in the oven causes the discharge, but I don't know if I believe this yet. What is the mechanism for charge separation? The discharges vaporize the sugars in the grape and then cause them to combust. The combustion products, if they get hot enough due to the continued electrical arcing, form a plasma (gas where the nuclei and electrons have been ripped apart from one another). This plasma is electricially conductive, and so absorbs microwaves keeping itself warm, and causing the cloud to glow. Since the cloud is hot, it rises to the top of the oven. However, the cloud seems to stay remarkably coherent. Why doesn't the could dissipate over timescales of several seconds?

Arctic Ocean Could Be Ice-Free in Summer Within 100 Years

Newswise — The current warming trends in the Arctic may shove the Arctic system into a seasonally ice-free state not seen for more than one million years, according to a new report. The melting is accelerating, and a team of researchers were unable to identify any natural processes that might slow the de-icing of the Arctic. Such substantial additional melting of Arctic glaciers and ice sheets will raise sea level worldwide, flooding the coastal areas where many of the world's people live. Melting sea ice has already resulted in dramatic impacts for the indigenous people and animals in the Arctic, which includes parts of Alaska, Canada, Russia, Siberia, Scandinavia and Greenland. "What really makes the Arctic different from the rest of the non-polar world is the permanent ice in the ground, in the ocean and on land," said lead author University of Arizona geoscientist Jonathan T. Overpeck. "We see all of that ice melting already, and we envision that it will melt back much more dramatically in the future as we move towards this more permanent ice-free state." The report by Overpeck and his colleagues is published in the Aug. 23 Eos, the weekly newspaper of the American Geophysical Union. A complete list of authors and their affiliations is at the end of this release. The report is the result of weeklong meeting of a team of interdisciplinary scientists who examined how the Arctic environment and climate interact and how that system would respond as global temperatures rise. The workshop was organized by the NSF Arctic System Science Committee, which is chaired by Overpeck, director of the Institute for the Study of Planet Earth at The University of Arizona in Tucson. The National Science Foundation funded the meeting. The past climates in the Arctic include glacial periods, where sea ice coverage expanded and ice sheets extended into Northern America and Europe, and warmer interglacial periods during which the ice retreats, as it has during the past 10,000 years. By studying natural data loggers such as ice cores and marine sediments, scientists have a good idea what the "natural envelope" for Arctic climate variations has been for the past million years, Overpeck said. The team of scientists synthesized what is currently known about the Arctic and defined key components that make up the current system. The scientists identified how the components interact, including feedback loops that involve multiple parts of the system. "In the past, researchers have tended to look at individual components of the Arctic," said Overpeck. "What we did for the first time is really look at how all of those components work together." The team concluded that there were two major amplifying feedbacks in the Arctic system involving the interplay between sea and land ice, ocean circulation in the North Atlantic, and the amounts of precipitation and evaporation in the system. Such feedback loops accelerate changes in the system, Overpeck said. For example, the white surface of sea ice reflects radiation from the sun. However, as sea ice melts, more solar radiation is absorbed by the dark ocean, which heats up and results in yet more sea ice melting. While the scientists identified one feedback loop that could slow the changes, they did not see any natural mechanism that could stop the dramatic loss of ice. "I think probably the biggest surprise of the meeting was that no one could envision any interaction between the components that would act naturally to stop the trajectory to the new system," Overpeck said. He added that the group investigated several possible braking mechanisms that had been previously suggested. In addition to sea and land ice melting, Overpeck warned that permafrost—the permanently frozen layer of soil that underlies much of the Arctic—will melt and eventually disappear in some areas. Such thawing could release additional greenhouse gases stored in the permafrost for thousands of years, which would amplify human-induced climate change. Overpeck said humans could step on the brakes by reducing carbon dioxide emissions. "The trouble is we don't really know where the threshold is beyond which these changes are inevitable and dangerous," Overpeck said. "Therefore it is really important that we try hard, and as soon as we can, to dramatically reduce such emissions." Overpeck's coauthors on the Aug. 23 Eos paper are Matthew Sturm of the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Fort Wainwright, Alaska; Jennifer A. Francis of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J.; Donald K. Perovich of the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, N.H.; Mark C. Serreze of the University of Colorado, Boulder; Ronald Benner of the University of South Carolina in Columbia; Eddy C. Carmack of the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney, BC, Canada; F. Stuart Chapin III of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks; S. Craig Gerlach of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks; Lawrence C. Hamilton of the University of New Hampshire in Durham; Larry D. Hinzman of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks; Marika Holland of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo.; Henry P. Huntington of Huntington Consulting in Eagle River, Alaska; Jeffrey R. Key of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service in Madison, Wis.; Andrea H. Lloyd of Middlebury College in Middlebury, Va.; Glen M. MacDonald of the University of California, Los Angeles; Joe McFadden of the University of Minnesota in St. Paul; David Noone of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif.; Terry D. Prowse of the University of Victoria, in BC, Canada; Peter Schlosser of Columbia University in Palisades, N.Y.; and Charles Vörösmarty of the University of New Hampshire in Durham. Related Websites: Jonathan T. Overpeckhttp://www.geo.arizona.edu/dgesl/ The University of Arizona's Institute for the Study of Planet Earthhttp://www.ispe.arizona.edu/ The NSF Arctic System Science (ARCSS) Programhttp://www.arcus.org/ARCSS/

Tim Berners-Lee Sends a Letter to the US Copyright Office

Today, Tim Berners-Lee, director of the W3C and inventor of the Web, has responded to a call for comments from the US Copyright Office, regarding a proposal to restrict users to only one vendor browser in order to submit forms to that office. He raises a number of practical issues, suggesting that use of standards is the obvious solution. He makes it clear that he is not attacking IE: The failing of the proposed implementation of the preregistration system is its lack of support for standards, not its choice of software. He mentions security issues , which can and have arisen in connection with all browsers. As it happens, there was one yesterday involving IE, and some responded to the fact that there is currently no patch for it by suggesting that you use a different browser at least temporarily. More information on it here, including the suggestion to turn off ActiveX and use it on "trusted" web sites only. ActiveX again. Yet web designers will sometimes tell you they can't live without it. Some of us would much rather, please. I personally would trade a little less whizbang for a lot more security. But when a warning like yesterday's comes up, and a government site requires IE-only, then what do you do? You'll notice he sent it by hand, as well as putting it on the Web. That is because tomorrow is the deadline, and they require paper letters, not email. I'm thinking the Copyright Office might like to compare the paper letter with the one on the Web. If they do, they will notice that the one they got on paper will type out where the links are to the references; on the Web, all you have to do is click. Just a suggestion. ******************************* 22 August 2005 By Hand and on the Web at http://www.w3.org/2005/08/22-w3c-prereg-standards-comments.html" Office of the General Counsel U.S. Copyright Office James Madison Memorial Building, Room LM-401 101 Independence Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20559-6000 In Re: 37 CFR Part 202 [Docket No. RM 2005-9] The United States Copyright Office has requested 1 comment on whether a requirement that certain online forms be submitted only through the use of a single vendor's World Wide Web browser, to the exclusion of any other hardware or software product or service designed to conform with Web standards. Such a policy, even if implemented for a short time, would impose a number of practical barriers on those seeking to exercise their pre-registration rights. The proposed system would be contrary to at least the spirit of Federal information policy adopted by the E-Government Act of 2002, as well as important OMB management directives regarding Federal Enterprise Architecture and the directive to use voluntary consensus standards. At the outset, we would like to stress that nothing in this letter should be construed as a criticism of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which is one of the leading browsers in the field. We would write the same letter if the choice was to offer support solely for Mozilla Firefox, Safari, or any other product. The failing of the proposed implementation of the preregistration system is its lack of support for standards, not its choice of software. As a background to the Copyright Office's decision to attempt to offer services over the Web without the use of standards, it is important to keep in mind the Web was born and achieved widespread use only because of a commitment to open, vendor-neutral standards. The early Web faced the threat of fragmentation through the actions of competing browser vendors. These actions actually jeopardized the broader adoption of the technology. In response to this threat, we created the World Wide Web Consortium as a global organization, currently over 390 members, for the purpose of enabling the ongoing development of Web standards. Since those early days in 1994, we have witnessed the creation of tremendous opportunities, technical, social, and commercial, the world over, in large part due to the commitments of corporate and not-for-profit entities to the development of technical standards that may be implemented in diverse settings and for diverse purposes. Since then, those content providers, software vendors and service providers who have adopted a standards-based strategy have seen benefits not possible with a proprietary approach. Proposed Single-Vendor Preregistration Service Will Exclude Large Classes of Potential Users From a practical perspective, the single-vendor restriction will deny preregistration benefits entirely to broad classes of creators of covered copyrighted works. The flaw in the proposed implementation of the preregistration system lies in the failure to rely on voluntary consensus standards that are widely adopted and readily suited to the task identified by the Copyright Office. To illustrate the disadvantages of departing from standards-based solutions, we will consider the impact of the specific design proposed in the Supplementary Notice. While a large proportion of the marketplace uses the Microsoft Internet Explorer to browse the Web, certain classes of users will find it either impossible or extremely inconvenient to do so. Of the three popular desktop computing platforms in use at the present -- Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS, and Linux/Unix -- the latest versions of Internet Explorer are only available for the Microsoft Windows family of operating systems. 2 In some cases, users or their institutions may curtail the use of a browser temporarily or permanently based on flaws in the particular software product. So even though a user may have a software platform which would support Internet Explorer, that service may be disabled for some reason. Note that this is not a problem unique to Internet Explorer. Various browsers have suffered security breaches and the response, often, is to stop using that browser either permanently or until the security bug is fixed. During that time, the user would be entirely unable to use the preregistration system. A standards-based strategy would ensure that users can continue to access Copyright Office services notwithstanding the transient security problems that are inevitable for any single piece of software and have plagued all of the popular browsers at one time or another. While one generally considers the Web to be a service used from a desktop or laptop computer, today's Web applications are become increasingly mobile and reliant upon browsers written for cell phones, PDAs and other non-PC devices. Many of these devices come with standards-compliant Web browsers, but users often have no choice whatsoever in the type of browsing software installed. Some mobile devices are available with mobile versions of Internet Explorer, but many are not. The NPRM specifically cites the need to preregister movie dailies. It is easy to imagine that one would want to make such registration immediately upon completing a film shoot. In that case, the most practical and timely option might be to access the Copyright Office PRE form from a mobile Web-enabled cellphone or PDA. Restricting access to Internet Explorer only would then unfairly exclude those creators from the benefits of preregistration. One of the distinct benefits of online access to government services is the increased opportunities it offers to people with disabilities. The policy of requiring use of a particular software product for accessing Copyright Office services, however, could put Web users with disabilities at a significant disadvantage. Users with disabilities often must augment their browsing software with special assistive software and/or hardware ("assistive technology"). The combination of assistive technology and Web browser that a given individual with disabilities has installed and configured may or may not be based on Internet Explorer, given the varied accessibility features of mainstream browsers. In addition, some individuals with disabilities rely on alternative browsers (for instance, "talking browsers") that are designed to meet their specific needs. Users with disabilities rely on a standards-based Web to ensure that services they access on the Web will be usable through the variety of mainstream software and specialized assistive technologies that they use. A single-vendor strategy such as that proposed here will force many disabled users to re-tool their software and hardware environment, or face exclusion from the preregistration services. The practical effect of this exclusion will not only be on content creators themselves, but also on any employees of content creation firms whose job it is to make preregistration submissions. Single Vendor Service is Contrary to Federal Information Policy In addition to the numerous practical impediments that the proposed vendor-specific, non-standard implementation will pose, we believe that the strategy of designing a government Web service around a specific piece of software as opposed to seeking conformance with existing and widely used voluntary industry standards is contrary to Federal information policy. Congressional enactments like the E-Government Act of 2002 clearly encourage "the use of the Internet and emerging technologies within and across Government agencies to provide citizen-centric Government information and services". 3 In implementing the policies of the E-Gov Act, the Office of Management and Budget has stated that agency policy should seek to minimize "burden on business by re-using data previously collected or using XML or other open standards to receive transmissions". 4 The recommended strategy is to "employ 'smart' buying practices to reduce acquisition and support costs, including software asset management; and increase the use of standards-compliant software". 4 According to longstanding policy (see OMB Circular A-119 5), standards compliance entails using "voluntary consensus standards in lieu of government-unique standards except where inconsistent with law or otherwise impractical." We can see no reason why a standards-compliant solution is impractical. If it is, there is nothing in the NPRM that explains why. Hence, we believe that the Copyright Office should reconsider its proposal to implement a single vendor solution and instead pursue a standards-based policy. This will ensure that all eligible beneficiaries will have access to Copyright Office services, and that the Office is compliant with Federal law and policy, and it is likely to save the Office money in the long run. Respectfully submitted, /s/ Tim Berners-Lee, Director, World Wide Web Consortium /s/ Daniel J. Weitzner, Technology and Society Domain Leader, World Wide Web Consortium Notes 1The Supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking "seeks information whether any potential preregistration filers would have difficulties using Internet Explorer (version 5.1 or higher) to file preregistration claims." More generally, "in the interest of achieving support for browsers in the Office's preregistration processing environment, this notice inquires whether (and why) an eligible party who anticipates preregistering a claim on the electronic-only form will not be able to use Internet Explorer to do so, or will choose not to preregister if it is necessary to use Internet Explorer." http://www.copyright.gov/fedreg/2005/70fr44878.html (accessed August 20, 2005). 2 Some may consider the use of Internet Explorer on the Macintosh platform impractical as Microsoft announced in 2003 that it stopped development of Internet Explorer for the Macintosh. See Ian Fried, "Microsoft: No new versions of IE for Mac," CNET News.com, June 13, 2003. http://news.com.com/2100-1045_3-1017126.html (accessed August 20, 2005). 3 E-Government Act of 2002, Public Law 107-347, § 2 (b)(5). http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ347.107.pdf (accessed August 20, 2005). 4 Implementing the President's Management Agenda for E-Government, E-Government Strategy, (April 2003). http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/egov/2003egov_strat.pdf (accessed August 20, 2005). 5 OMB Circular A-119, (February 10, 1998). http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a119/a119.html (accessed August 20, 2005).

GoogleOS? YahooOS? MozillaOS? WebOS?

Before we get going, here are some alternate titles for this post, just to give you an idea of what I’m trying to get at before I actually, you know, get at it: You’re probably wondering why Yahoo bought Konfabulator An update on Google Browser, GooOS and Google Desktop A platform that everyone can stand on and why Apple, Microsoft, and, yes, even Google will have to change their ways to be a part of it The next killer app: desktop Web servers Does the Mozilla Foundation have the vision to make Firefox the most important piece of software of this decade? Web 3.0 Finally, the end of Microsoft’s operating system dominance Now that your hyperbole meter has pegged a few times, hopefully the rest of this will seem tame in comparison. (And apologies for the length…I got rolling and, oops, 2500 words. But many of them are small so…) Way back in October 2004, this idea of how the Web as a platform might play out popped into my head, and I’ve been trying to motivate myself into writing it down ever since. Two recent events, Yahoo’s purchase of Konfabulator and Google’s release of a new beta version of Google Desktop have finally spurred me into action. But back to October. At the Web 2.0 conference, Stewart pulled me aside and said something like, “I think I know what Google is doing with Google Browser.” From a subsequent post on his site: I’ve had this post about Adam Bosworth, Alchemy and the Google browser sitting around for months now and it is driving me crazy, because I want all the credit for guessing this before it happens. So, for the record, if Google is making a browser, and if it is going to be successful, it will be because there is a sophisticated local caching framework included, and Google will provide the reference apps (replying to emails on Gmail or posting messages to Google groups while on the plane). At the time, Adam Bosworth had been recently hired by Google for purposes unknown. In a blog post several months before he was hired, Bosworth mused about a “new browser”: In this entry, I’m going to discuss how I imagine a mobilized or web services browser handles changes and service requests when it isn’t connected. This is really where the peddle hits the metal. If you just read data and never ever alter it or invoke related services (such as approving an expense report or booking a restaurant) then perhaps you might not need a new browser. Perhaps just caching pages offline would be sufficient if one added some metadata about what to cache. Jean Paoli has pointed out to me that this would be even more likely if rather than authoring your site using HTML, you authored it as XML “pages” laid out by the included XSLT stylesheets used to render it because then you could even use the browser to sort/filter the information offline. A very long time ago when I was still at Microsoft (1997) we built such a demo using XSLT and tricky use of Javascript to let the user do local client side sorting and filtering. But if you start actually trying to update trip reports, approve requests, reserve rooms, buy stocks, and so on, then you have Forms of some sort, running offline, at least some of the time, and code has to handle the inputs to the “Forms” and you have to think through how they are handled. A couple weeks later, Google introduced the first iteration of their Desktop Search. To me, the least interesting thing about GDS was the search mechanism. Google finally had an application that installed on the desktop and, even better, it was a little Web server that could insert data from your local machine into pages you were browsing on google.com. That was a new experience: using a plain old Web browser to run applications locally and on the Web at the same time. So this is my best guess as to how an “operating system” based on the Web (which I will refer to as “WebOS”) will work. There are three main parts to the system: The Web browser (along with other browser-ish applications like Konfabulator) becomes the primary application interface through which the user views content, performs services, and manages data on their local machine and on the Web, often without even knowing the difference. Something like Firefox, Safari, or IE…ideally browser agnostic. Web applications of the sort we’re all familiar with: Gmail, Flickr, and Bloglines, as well as other applications that are making the Web an ever richer environment for getting stuff done. (And ideally all Ajaxed up to provide an experience closer to that of traditional desktop apps.) A local Web server to handle the data delivery and content display from the local machine to the browser. This local server will likely be highly optimized for its task, but would be capable of running locally installed Web applications (e.g. a local copy of Gmail and all its associated data). That’s it. Aside from the browser and the Web server, applications will be written for the WebOS and won’t be specific to Windows, OS X, or Linux. This is also completely feasible, I think, for organizations like Google, Yahoo, Apple, Microsoft, or the Mozilla Foundation to make happen (more on this below). Compared to “standalone” Web apps and desktop apps, applications developed for this hypothetical platform have some powerful advantages. Because they run in a Web browser, these applications are cross platform (assuming that whoever develops such a system develops the local Web server part of it for Windows, OS X, Linux, your mobile phone, etc.), just like Web apps such as Gmail, Basecamp, and Salesforce.com. You don’t need to be on a specific machine with a specific OS…you just need a browser + local Web server to access your favorite data and apps. For application developers, the main advantage is that instead of writing two or more programs for multiple platforms (one for the Web, one for Windows, etc.), they can write one app that will run on any machine with the WebOS using the same code base. Bloglines and NetNewsWire both do about the same thing and have radically different codebases (Bloglines uses HTML/JavaScript + some sort of backend programming/scripting language while NNW is a Cocoa app only for OS X), but a version of Bloglines developed for the above platform could utilize a single codebase. You also get the advantages of locally run applications. You can use them when you’re not connected to the Internet. There could be an icon in the Dock that fires up Gmail in your favorite browser. For applications using larger files like images, video, and audio, those files could be stored and manipulated locally instead of waiting for transfer over the Internet. There are also disadvantages to WebOS applications, not the least of which[1] is that HTTP+JavaScript+XHTML+CSS+Flash is not as robust in providing functionality and user interaction as true desktop applications written in Cocoa or Visual Basic. But as Paul Graham points out, Web applications may be good enough[2]: One thing that might deter you from writing Web-based applications is the lameness of Web pages as a UI. That is a problem, I admit. There were a few things we would have really liked to add to HTML and HTTP. What matters, though, is that Web pages are just good enough. Web pages weren’t designed to be a UI for applications, but they’re just good enough. And for a significant number of users, software that you can use from any browser will be enough of a win in itself to outweigh any awkwardness in the UI. Maybe you can’t write the best-looking spreadsheet using HTML, but you can write a spreadsheet that several people can use simultaneously from different locations without special client software, or that can incorporate live data feeds, or that can page you when certain conditions are triggered. More importantly, you can write new kinds of applications that don’t even have names yet. And how about these new kinds of applications? Here’s how I would envision a few apps working on the WebOS: Gmail. While online, you read your mail at gmail.com, but it also caches your mail locally so when you disconnect, you can still read it. Then when you connect again, it sends any replies you wrote offline, just like Mail.app or Outlook does. Many people already use Gmail (or Yahoo Mail) as their only email client…imagine if it worked offline as well. A Web version of iTunes. Just like the desktop version of iTunes, except in the browser. Manages/plays audio files stored locally, with an option to back them up on the server (using .Mac or similar) as well. iTunes already utilizes information from the Internet so well (Web radio, podcasting iTMS, CDDB, etc.) that it’s easy to imagine it as a Web app. (And why stop at audio…video would work equally as well.) Flickr. Manage image files locally and on Flickr’s server in the browser. You could even do some rudimentary photo manipulation (brightness, contrast, red-eye correction, etc.) in the browser using JavaScript or even Flash. Prepare a bunch of photos for uploading to Flickr while on the plane ride home and they automatically sync when you next connect to the Internet. Newsreader. Read sites while offline (I bet this is #1 on any Bloglines user’s wish list). Access your reading list from any computer with a browser (I bet this is #1 on any standalone newsreader user’s wish list). File backup. A little WebOS app that helps you back up your files to Apple’s .Mac service, your ISP, or someone like Google. You’ll specify what you want backed up and when through the browser and the backup program will take care of the rest. I’m looking at the rest of the most commonly used apps on my Powerbook and there’s not too many of them that absolutely need to be standalone desktop applications. Text editor, IM[3], Word, Excel, FTP, iCal, address book…I could imagine versions of these running in a browser. So who’s going to build these WebOS applications? Hopefully anyone with XHTML/JavaScript/CSS skills, but that depends on how open the platform is. And that depends on whose platform it is. Right now, there are five organizations who are or could be moving in this direction: Google. If Google is not thinking in terms of the above, I will eat danah’s furriest hat. They’ve already shifted the focus of Google Desktop with the addition of Sidebar and changing the name of the application (it used to be called Google Desktop Search…and the tagline changed from “Search your own computer” to the more general “Info when you want it, right on your desktop”). To do it properly, I think they need their own browser (with bundled Web server, of course) and they need to start writing their applications to work on OS X and Linux (Google is still a Windows company)[4]. Many of the moves they’ve made in the last two years have been to outflank Microsoft, and if they don’t use Google Desktop’s “insert local code into remote sites” trick to make whatever OS comes with people’s computers increasingly irrelevant, they’re stupid, stupid, stupid. Baby step: make Gmail readable offline. Yahoo. I’m pretty sure Yahoo is thinking in these terms as well. That’s why they bought Konfabulator: desktop presence. And Yahoo has tons of content and apps that that would like to offer on a WebOS-like platform: mail, IM, news, Yahoo360, etc. Challenge for Yahoo: widgets aren’t enough…many of these applications are going to need to run in Web browsers. Advantages: Yahoo seems to be more aggressive in opening up APIs than Google…chances are if Yahoo develops a WebOS platform, we’ll all get to play. Microsoft. They’re going to build a WebOS right into their operating system…it’s likely that with Vista, you sometimes won’t be able to tell when you’re using desktop applications or when you’re at msn.com. They’ll never develop anything for OS X or for Linux (or for browsers other than IE), so its impact will be limited. (Well, limited to most of the personal computers in the world, but still.) Apple. Apple has all the makings of a WebOS system right now. They’ve got the browser, a Web server that’s installed on every machine with OS X, Dashboard, iTMS, .Mac, Spotlight, etc. All they’re missing is the applications (aside from the Dashboard widgets). But like Microsoft, it’s unlikely that they’ll write anything for Windows or Linux, although if OS X is going to run on cheapo Intel boxes, their market share may be heading in a positive direction soon. The Mozilla Foundation. This is the most unlikely option, but also the most interesting one. If Mozilla could leverage the rapidly increasing user base of Firefox and start bundling a small Web server with it, then you’ve got the beginnings of a WebOS that’s open source and for which anyone, including Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and anyone with JavaScript chops, could write applications. To market it, they could refer to the whole shebang as a new kind of Web browser, something that sets it apart from IE, a true “next generation” browser capable of running applications no matter where you are or what computer (or portable device) you’re using. So yeah, that’s the idea of the WebOS (as I see it developing) in a gigantic nutshell. The reality of it will probably be a lot messier and take a lot longer than most would like. If someone ends up doing it, it will probably not be as open as it could be and there will likely be competing Web platforms just as there are now competing search engines, portals, widget applications (Konfabulator, Dashboard, Google Desktop Sidebar), etc., but hopefully not. There’s lots more to discuss, but I’m going to stop here before this post gets even more ridiculously long. My thanks if you even made this far. [1] Actually, the biggest potential problems with all this are the massive security concerns (a Web browser that has access to data on your local hard drive?!!!??) and managing user expectations (desktop/web app hybrids will likely be very confusing for a lot of users). Significant worries to be sure, but I believe the advantages will motivate the folks developing the platform and the applications to work through these concerns. [2] For more discussion of Web applications, check out Adam Rifkin’s post on Weblications. [3] Rumor has it that Google is releasing an IM client soon (more here). I’ll be pretty surprised if it’s not significantly Web-based. As Hotmail proved for email, there’s no reason that IM has to happen in a desktop app (although the alerting is problematic). [4] Maybe Google thinks they can’t compete with Apple’s current offerings (Spotlight, Dashboard, Safari, iPhoto) on their own platform, but that’s not a good way of thinking about it. Support as many people as you can on as many different architectures as you can, that’s the advantage of a Web-based OS. Microsoft certainly hasn’t thought of Apple as a serious competitor in the OS space for a long time…until Web applications started coming of age recently, Microsoft’s sole competitor has been Microsoft.

Relax, Bill Gates; It's Google's Turn as the Villain

Google's success has already spurred Microsoft to develop its own Internet search engine (a project code-named Underdog), but Google has legions of engineers banging away on a range of projects of its own that, if successful, could dislodge Microsoft from the pre-eminent spot it has enjoyed since the early 1980's. Of course, Silicon Valley has had past pretenders to the throne. Netscape, which went public 10 years ago this month, and its Web browser, Navigator, were supposed to fell Microsoft -- but it is Netscape that is no longer in business. And while Google is riding high, those closely following the company caution that it is hardly invincible; an inflated stock price, a desire to compete in too many sectors simultaneously or simple hubris might cause it to stumble, they say. Even Microsoft, after all, has had legal troubles. Still, similarities between Google and Microsoft are evident to local entrepreneurs including Steven I. Lurie, who worked at Microsoft between 1993 and 1999 but now lives in San Francisco, and Joe Kraus, a founder of the 1990's search firm Excite. "There's that same 'think big' attitude about markets and opportunities," said Mr. Lurie, who has visited the Google campus in Mountain View many times to see friends who work there. "Maybe you can call it arrogance, but there's that same sense that they can do anything and get into any area and dominate." To place Google in context, Mr. Kraus offered a brief history lesson. In the 1990's, he said, I.B.M. was widely perceived in Silicon Valley as a "gentle giant" that was easy to partner with while Microsoft was perceived as an "extraordinarily fearsome, competitive company wanting to be in as many businesses as possible and with the engineering talent capable of implementing effectively anything." Now, in the view of Mr. Kraus, "Microsoft is becoming I.B.M. and Google is becoming Microsoft." Mr. Kraus is the chief executive and a founder of JotSpot, a Silicon Valley start-up hoping to sell blogging and other self-publishing tools to corporations. Just as Microsoft has been seen over the years as an aggressive, deep-pocketed competitor for talent, Internet start-ups in Silicon Valley complain that virtually every time they try to recruit a well-regarded computer programmer, that person is already contemplating an offer from Google.

US dismisses Iran nuclear report

Iranians have responded angrily to US pressure The report said traces of bomb-grade uranium in Iran's nuclear facilities came from contaminated Pakistani equipment, not Iranian activities. But the US said there were other ways Iran could be building nuclear weapons. Iran has always maintained the traces of enriched uranium found two years ago came from contaminated equipment. The BBC's Pam O'Toole in Tehran says Iran will see the report's findings as a vindication of its position. Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful and that US pressure over its nuclear programme is part of a wider effort to change the regime in Tehran. However, a US state department spokesman said the report did nothing to reduce their concern at Iran's nuclear programme. He listed a series of what he called "unresolved concerns", which included Iran's alleged dealings with clandestine nuclear procurement networks and the Bush administration's strong belief that Iran was developing and pursuing a nuclear weapon. Talks scrapped The independent report, published on Tuesday by the International Atomic Energy Agency, concluded that traces of uranium found in Iran two years ago came from contaminated equipment imported from Pakistan. The discovery of the uranium had angered the Bush administration, which accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons in secret. But the report backed Iran's long-standing claim that the uranium traces came from equipment bought several years ago from Pakistan. France, Britain and Germany have called off talks with Iran that had been scheduled for 31 August after Tehran resumed uranium conversion. The French foreign ministry said Iran's decision was in breach of a 2004 agreement to suspend nuclear activity. If the stand-off continues, the US and the EU might bring the case before the UN Security Council to seek sanctions. Offer rebuffed Earlier this month, the EU offered a wide-ranging deal to Iran, including economic, political and technological incentives, in return for the complete suspension of research related to nuclear fuel production. Iran's chief negotiator says the EU offer was not good enough French foreign ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said the decision to call off the meeting did not mean "that there will not be any contacts with the Iranians". But senior Iranian negotiator Hossein Moussavian criticised the move, saying the EU that had failed to recognise Iran's right to peaceful atomic research. "In Geneva we told the three European ministers clearly that if Europe's proposal did not contain Iran's right to uranium enrichment, it would be rejected and Isfahan (plant) would be restarted," Iran's Mehr news agency quoted him as saying. The US voiced its support for the European countries' decision to cancel the talks.

Why Medical Studies Are Often Wrong

Aug. 7, 2005 — -- How many times have you heard people exclaim something like, "First they tell us this is good or bad for us, and then they tell us just the opposite"? In case you need more confirmation for the "iffy-ness" of many health studies, Dr. John Ioannidis, a researcher at the University of Ioannina in Greece writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, recently analyzed 45 well publicized studies from major journals appearing between 1990 and 2003. His conclusion: the results of approximately one third of these studies were flatly contradicted or significantly weakened by later work. There's the well-known story of hormone replacement therapy, which was supposed to protect against heart disease and other maladies, but apparently does not. A good part of the apparent effect may have been the result of attributing the well-being of upper middle class health-conscious women to the hormones. Another bit of health folklore that "everybody knows" that has turned out to be unfounded is vitamin E's protective effect against cardiac problems. Not so says a recent large study. And how about red wine, tea, fruits and vegetables? Surely the anti-oxidant effect of these wondrous nutrients can't be doubted. Even here, however, the effect appears to be more modest than pinot noir lovers, among others, had thought. And certainly many lung patients who inhale nitrous oxide and swear by its efficacy will be surprised to learn that a larger study does not show any beneficial effect. Faulty Statistics and … A common procedure to remove fat from neck arteries, prescription drugs used by millions of people, the herb echinacea … The examples extend beyond those in the JAMA article and go on and on, but the general point is that a single health study by itself cannot be taken as indubitable. The totality of the available evidence, appropriately weighted, is what counts, and this balanced appraisal is difficult to fit into a news article, much less into a catchy headline. One obvious problem is that studies vary in size and quality. Some are well-designed, others are not, yet most media reports give all of them the same status -- the medical variant of "astonomers say one thing, astrologers another, so let's hear from both." Margins of error, low correlations, or very large ones that mask confounding variables seldom make it into the lede of news stories, whereas "X will cure you" or "Y will kill you" always seem to. Another issue is that many health studies rely on self-reporting, which is notoriously unreliable. The average number of sex partners reported by heterosexual males, for example, is almost always considerably larger than the average number reported by heterosexual females. Certainly if these numbers, which should be equal, are so out of whack, it's hard to put too much credence into sex surveys as a whole. Similar bias results if people are asked whether their incessant drinking of green tea has lessened their angina. … Misleading Psychology And the evaluation of all studies must contend with wishful thinking: people naturally want to believe in the value of new treatments, sometimes so much that their critical faculties are dulled or extinguished altogether. For an extreme example consider the studies on the purported effectiveness of prayer. In the other direction, people often over-react to bad news and fall subject to the "tyranny of the anecdote." For example, TV viewers see parents keening about the unfortunate effect of some vaccine on their child and give little weight to the hundreds of thousands of children who've benefited from the same vaccine. A distinction from statistics is marginally relevant. We're said to commit a Type I error when we reject a truth and a Type II error when we accept a falsehood. In listening to news reports people often have an inclination to suspend their initial disbelief in order to be cheered and thereby risk making a Type II error. In evaluating medical claims, however, researchers generally have an opposite inclination to suspend their initial belief in order not to be beguiled and thereby risk making a Type I error. There is, of course, no way to always avoid both types of error, and we have different error thresholds in different endeavors. Moreover, the questions health studies address are often subtly different so seemingly contradictory or confirmatory results are difficult to compare and evaluate. Also sobering is the realization, acknowledged by the JAMA author Ioannidis, that there's no conclusive proof that the results of later studies will not also be rescinded or modified. So what should you conclude about, say, a small new study that flavonoids in dark chocolate help lower blood pressure? It's your call, but realize how credible you find this chocolate study may say more about your psychology than the biochemistry of chocolate. As I've written before (although with a different number), it's been conclusively established that 43.58871563% of all statistics are made up on the spot. -- Professor of mathematics at Temple University, John Allen Paulos is the author of best-selling books, including "Innumeracy" and "A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market." His "Who's Counting?" column on ABCNews.com appears the first weekend of every month.

Sex Tips For Geeks: The Art of the Pickup

Sex Tips For Geeks: The Art of the Pickup The first, most important thing for you to know is this; women can smell fear -- and they run away from it. When you're trying to pick up a girl, whether it's for a one-night stand or because you think she might be the love of your life, the most powerful thing you can do is to be unafraid of either failure or success. The flip side of this is that self-confidence is your best friend. As we discussed in How To Be Sexy, women can smell self-confidence too -- and they go for it like cats for catnip. It doesn't much matter exactly why you're self-confident; it could be because you're an alpha male in some hierarchy, or it could be because you've encountered the woman in a setting where you are functioning at your best and you know it, or it could even be because you just took the right recreational drugs. "But Eric," I hear you ask, "I'm a beta male, and I'm standing around at some stupid party, and I am neither tipsy nor stoned. How do I become self-confident enough not to smell of fear?" I can answer in two words: fake it. I realize that this goes against all the standard advice you get from the usual well-meaning people, who will begin and end with "be yourself". If yourself is chronically inept with attractive women, this advice sucks. You need to learn method acting. At that party, watch guys who are chatting up women effectively. Imitate them. Don't worry too hard about replicating their mental states or understanding why they do what they do; if you do their moves understanding will happen naturally over time. Play the role of confident person until you become it. You are going to crash and burn a few times as you work this. Cope with it, and learn from your mistakes. It's like programming or any other skill; you get better with practice. And you need to practice, in situations where the stakes are low. If you tried to learn programming by thinking about it a lot, but not actually trying it until success was a life-or-death issue, chances are you'd never get any good at it. There are a couple of things you can do to keep the stakes low and make the learning process less harrowing. One is to not automatically zero in on the hot chicks who make your pulse pound. Try your method acting out on women who look moderately attractive but don't send you into instant and total sexual panic; you're much less likely to freeze up that way. Another is to chat up women for your friends. If you notice your buddy staring tongue-tied and longingly at that foxy redhead in the bolero, walk over to her, smile conspiratorially and tell her he'd like to meet her. You'll find it amazing how much easier talking to an attractive woman gets when your own ego isn't on the line. OK, so what are the successful moves to imitate? There are a couple of basics every guy should know. You want to take on the body language of relaxation and confidence -- so speak softly, and move gracefully and deliberately. Use the lower end of your normal vocal range; high notes come from a tense throat. Make eye contact. Ideally, look at her as though the two of you are sharing a private joke. Hold the contact long enough to give her time to respond. Watch for pupillary dilation; if they get wider when she looks back at you, you're winning. Conversely, if her pupils shrink you are probably better off looking elsewhere. Unlike most body language, these are involuntary responses and cannot be faked. To be sexy, let your sexual interest show in a quiet, controlled way. Women really go for men who appreciate them without being overly needy or uptight or conflicted or hesitant about it. Some men have this down well enough that they can make eye contact with a woman they've never met before, smile, say "You're very pretty." and make her smile back. Try this sometime. The self-confidence required to pull it off is attractive to women -- if you sound sure of yourself when you do it, the response you get may surprise you. Cathy: Try this on a stranger in an elevator, if you must, to minimize the fear level. In picking up women, failure breeds failure. If, when you meet a woman you like, your first thought is of the times you screwed up similar encounters before, it will show in your body language and she'll turn off. Conversely, success breeds success. If you remember previous successes and behave as though other women have found you attractive, she'll notice. Maybe not consciously, but she will notice. Now let's say you've gotten past eye contact the mutual introduction to the point where she's interested enough to have a conversation with you. The most important thing is to pay attention. Calm down. Listen. You want her to feel that, at least for the time she chooses to spend talking with you, she is the center of the world and has your undivided attention. This means not being distracted by other things going on around you; but more importantly it means not being distracted by the things going on in your own head. If you're busy worrying about how you're doing or whether or not you're going to score, your attention will fall away from her, and she'll notice. Amy: "Yes, listening is good. But don't be too shy to talk. My man hardly said a word to me the first few months we knew each other. I thought he figured I was a dork! The truth is that he was too damned shy and geeky to give me anything more than yes or no answers to anything I said. (Sound like Columbia Internet yet?) He finally asked me out. I didn't leave his apartment for three days following that date. Get the picture? If you talk to us, the worst thing we can do is indicate we aren't interested and you don't get laid. On the other hand, you may strike up a conversation and find out she's had a crush on you for months! If you don't talk to us, you can guarantee you won't get laid. Play the statistics!" The verbal level of the conversation is significant. Finding common interests is a good thing. But body language, kinesics, and instinct are just as (if not more) important. We're animals. We mate mostly with hindbrains and glands and bodies, not with our frontal lobes. Animal awareness helps. Men who fully understand this seldom lack for female company, even if they're jerks. Cathy: "Try to have a smile in your voice -- you want it to radiate relaxation and pleasure. If that's too vague, think about the way a good trainer talks to a horse." Most simply: you need to establish communication so you can find out what she wants. Men who assume that every woman wants to be wooed like a prospect for marriage are almost as blind as men who who treat women solely as sex objects. Sometimes she'll be looking for romance, sometimes for a simple horny fuck, and often she'll be after something in between. The more accurately you zero in on her desire, the more likely you are to get yours. Cathy: "If you can't find any common interests after a couple of minutes of conversation, maybe you're talking with the wrong woman." Even if you're both in simple-horny-fuck mode, communication and mutual respect matter a lot. For one thing, they make the sex better. For another thing, being the kind of person who respects your partners gets you more partners and keeps them around longer. Being a decent human being and treating her like a human being is not a distraction or a sacrifice, it's an investment that pays off. Among other benefits, you might find that what starts out as a fuck ends up being lovemaking. The next step is touch. It's very easy to touch a woman intimately (even a woman you've just met) if you bear two things in mind. One is that you must not fear the consequences of touching her; if you do, that fear will make your touch unpleasant. The other is that she must at all times feel that she has control of the level of intimacy, so she doesn't fear getting involved in something she isn't ready for. When you reach towards her, whether it's to touch her hand put an arm around her or whatever, ask permission kinesically. Stop the motion, just short of completion, long enough that she knows she has the option to move away or otherwise refuse the offered intimacy. Often, the fact of asking such permission will be enough to ensure that you get it. When you touch her, relax and enjoy it -- moderately. Don't cling; don't prolong the contact beyond what's natural for the situation. At first, the best touches are not sexual but suggest sexual possibility. For example, if after some conversation she's standing beside you and returns a smile, you might offer her a light hug around the waist or run a hand lightly down her upper back. How she responds will tell you a lot. Amy: "A very good way to tell whether a women is interested (or, at least, not grossed out) is whether she touches you. This doesn't mean that she jumps you in the middle of the cubicle farm. All she really needs to do is in some way make physical contact -- like picking a piece of lint of your shirt. Conversely, if you brush up against her (perhaps completely innocently), and she pulls away, chances are she's not interested. If she doesn't react at all, proceed but with caution. If she strips naked and jumps you in the middle of the cube farm, you've got other problems entirely!" Cathy: "In fact, if she's interested she is more likely to touch you in subtle ways (like brushing up against you) instead of doing something more overt, or actually telling you she's interested. Part of this is conditioning - `nice' girls don't make the first move! And part is, on some level, a desire for plausible deniability in case the guy doesn't respond. So she can say `Well, I did make nice at him but I guess he wasn't interested,' even if the problem is that he was simply unaware how interested she was! Women have egos, too." Once you've reached the point where you're both comfortable touching each other in a semi-sexual way, we're out of the pickup script and into the mating dance proper. Eric S. Raymond <esr@thyrsus.com>

Jonathan Freedland: Blair's Jack Bauer syndrome

Think of it as the dilemma of 24. In the TV thriller, hero Jack Bauer has 24 hours to avert a catastrophe - say, to prevent terrorists detonating a nuclear bomb over Los Angeles. Over the course of 24 hour-long episodes we urge Bauer, from the edge of our seats, to do whatever it takes to stop the killers. As we watch, our nerves taut, there is no ethical corner we don't want Bauer to cut, if that's what he has to do to prevent murder and mayhem. In one series, our man cuts off the head of a villain with a hacksaw - and we're glad he's done it. That's fiction, but it seems a version of Jack Bauer syndrome operates in real life too. Almost three-quarters of us are happy to give up civil liberties in order to make us safer from terrorist attack, according to Monday's Guardian/ICM poll. Having seen the all-too-real threat of the July bombings, 73% are ready to pay the price, ready to let our protectors do whatever has to be done. That will bring cheer to Tony Blair, whose parting words before he left for his Barbados holiday were a declaration that "the rules of the game are changing", accompanied by an aggressive 12-step programme for combating terror. Since then the government has been consulting on some of those steps and later this week, perhaps tomorrow, Charles Clarke will announce what action he plans. If our poll is right, and Jack Bauer syndrome really does apply, he will face little public resistance. But perhaps he should. For the trouble with a 24 approach to policy-making is that it relies too heavily on the gut - and too little on the head. Start with Blair's first step, the deportation of the small number of foreign nationals deemed to be fostering hatred or advocating political violence. Some of these "preachers of hate" - the men who praise the killers of 9/11 and 7/7 as "magnificent" - would be kicked out of the country, never to return. Good riddance, says the 24 viewer in each of us. Then we think practically for a moment. Given that terrorism is a global business, are we that much safer if a hatemonger is moved abroad rather than here? Wouldn't it be better if he were out of circulation altogether and behind bars? Deportation simply relocates the problem; it does not solve it. The principled objection centres on the nature of the countries in which these extremists would be dumped: Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, places where the newly arrived expellee from Britain could expect to be greeted by the torturers of the local secret police. Who cares, says Bauer. Maybe a little pressure on the bad guys will get them to talk. But most of us, on reflection, do not really believe that. We draw the line somewhere - and that somewhere is state-sanctioned torture. Our own Human Rights Act bars us from sending anyone to face such a fate. The government has got round that by asking receiving countries to sign "memoranda of understanding", promising to respect the human rights of any deportees. Clarke says we can rely on those promises just as we trust the US when it says it won't execute people it extradites from Britain. To see any difference between, say, Egypt and the US is, insists Clarke, "latter-day imperialism". But Liberty, the human rights advocacy group, points out a key difference. The US admits it implements the death penalty; its policy is entirely in the open. None of the countries on Blair's list admits it practises torture; so what value is a commitment from a foreign government to refrain from doing something it denies in the first place? Blair also wants action on homegrown "preachers of hate", those who cannot be deported. They will be put under control orders - facing curfews, wearing electronic tags, their use of telephones and the internet restricted and their right to meet others curbed. Given what some of these hardliners believe, my heart will hardly bleed if they now find it a bit harder to log on to killallwesterners.com. But whether I sympathise with such people is not the issue. The trouble with control orders is that they are too harsh on the innocent and too soft on the guilty. For the former, they count as a form of punishment without trial. For the latter, a control order can only slow down a determined terrorist from doing his worst. The solution is obvious. If the authorities suspect someone is involved with terrorism, that person should be prosecuted and jailed. Too tricky, says the government; we can't get the evidence. But if that's the problem, then we need to change the rules on what counts as admissible evidence - allowing wiretap transcripts, for example, as most other countries already do. If the suspect has not yet done anything wrong, but it's feared he might, then stalk his every move. Put him under 24-hour surveillance until we know what he's planning - and then charge him. But that costs big money, says the government. No problem, take the money out of the black hole that is identity cards. The key point here, and it applies to almost all of Blair's 12-step programme, is that while these new plans might give us a brief, Bauer-style rush of blood, they are either misguided or unnecessary. If they're not wrong in principle, they're wrong practically, or where they're right, their objectives could be met just as well by laws we already have. So Blair wants to crack down on those guilty of "justifying or glorifying terrorism". That will be tricky - unless he plans on prosecuting his wife for saying Palestinian suicide bombers had "no choice but" to kill Israeli civilians. Or perhaps he fancies the prospect of a show trial starring George Galloway. What Blair surely wants to get at is incitement to terrorist acts - and that's already against the law. Blair's programme includes a ban on hardcore Islamist organisations such as Hizb-ut Tahrir and al-Muhajiroun. I oppose everything that these groups stand for - but I feel the same way about the BNP, and no one is calling for it to be banned. Democracy forces you to accept that even the most repulsive opinions have a right to be aired somewhere. Besides, what quicker way to turn these fringe extremists into heroes than by declaring them off limits? Closing down mosques deemed hotbeds of extremism is similarly wrong-headed. That will alienate the very Muslim community whose cooperation the police and intelligence agencies need so badly. The sight of a dawn raid on a house of worship, police armed with padlocks, will confirm every lurid extremist claim about a state war on Islam. Again, anyone guilty of incitement can be charged under existing law. Almost all of the Blair proposals are like that - superficially appealing, but on closer inspection either flawed or unnecessary. This is a minefield, one we all need to step through carefully. This is not TV, this is real life - and it's much more dangerous. freedland@theguardian.com

Reuters calls for US to release Iraqi cameraman

News agency Reuters has called for the release of an Iraqi cameraman who has been held by the US military for two weeks. Reuters said it was "concerned and dismayed" by the detention of 36-year-old freelance Omar Abrahem al-Mashhadani and asked for an explanation for his treatment. The group's global managing editor, David Schlesinger, demanded access to Mashhadani, who was arrested on August 8. "We are very concerned and dismayed by this unexplained and prolonged detention of a journalist working for us and urge the US military either to release him or provide a full account of the accusations against him," Mr Schlesinger said. "Ali al-Mashhadani is a professional journalist whose work for us brings him into contact with parties in conflict. "In the interests of the independent media the United States has pledged to foster in Iraq, it is imperative the authorities act speedily to clarify with news organisations any suspicions arising from the activities of journalists working for us." US military spokesmen have not said why they have detained Mashhadani, who has been working for Reuters as a cameraman and photographer for a year in Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's Anbar region. Lieutenant Colonel Guy Rudisill, a spokesman for US detainee operations in Iraq, said the journalist was being held in Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison and was not allowed to have visitors for the next 60 days. Mashhadani's family have said he was detained after US marines found images on his cameras and his desktop computer. Reuters said it had provided the US military with published work by Mashhadani showing scenes of conflict and gunmen operating in plain view of civilians. This is not the first time Reuters has clashed with the US military over the treatment of its journalists. Last year, three Iraqis working for Reuters were arrested at the scene of a helicopter crash near Falluja. They claimed they were later sexually and physically abused by US soldiers for three days before being released, though a report cleared the troops involved. Mashhadani's predecessor in Ramadi, Dhia Najim, was killed during fighting between US marines and insurgents in November last year. Reuters said the exact circumstances of his death had not been clarified despite its requests. The agency has had two cameramen killed by US troops in Iraq since the war began there in March 2003: a Ukrainian, Taras Protsyuk, and a Palestinian, Mazen Dana. · To contact the MediaGuardian newsdesk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 7239 9857 · If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

Court releases new Saddam photos

New photos of Saddam Hussein have been released Enlarge Image The three photos show him being questioned by Chief Investigative Judge Raid Juhi at an unknown location. They are the first pictures of him to appear since May, when the Sun newspaper published leaked photos showing him doing his laundry in jail. The US pledged it would investigate the leak of those photos, some of which showed Saddam Hussein half-naked. Saddam Hussein is being held by US troops at an undisclosed location in Iraq as he awaits trial on numerous charges, including murdering rivals, gassing Iraqi Kurds and using violence to suppress uprisings. The latest pictures, which show Saddam Hussein with a full beard, were taken on Tuesday, the tribunal said. It is not clear when the Sun's photos were taken. There was speculation in May that they could be more than a year old, as they show Saddam Hussein with his former trademark moustache. Defence sacked As the new photos were released, it was confirmed that Saddam Hussein has sacked his entire international legal team. Saddam confirmed that he has dismissed all lawyers and cancelled their authorisations Tribunal statement Earlier this month Saddam Hussein's family announced it had dismissed all foreign lawyers and chosen Iraqi lawyer Khalil Dulaimi to attend court hearings. "Saddam confirmed that he has dismissed all lawyers and cancelled their authorisations... and that the only authorised lawyer is Khalil Dulaimi," the tribunal said on Tuesday. Saddam Hussein's family lawyer, Abdel Haq Alani, explained that they were upset over media reports in which several Arab and Western lawyers claimed to speak on his behalf. He added that the family would appoint a new legal team. Saddam Hussein's trial is expected to take place within two months, although though no date has been set. The only formal charge that has been filed against him is related to a mass killing of Shia Muslims in the village of Dujail north-east of Baghdad after a failed murder attempt against him 1982. The former dictator faces a possible death penalty if convicted.

NY announces subway security plan

Security has already been stepped up on the New York subway The city has awarded a $212m (£118m) contract to defence firm Lockheed to run the security programme for the bus and the underground train network. The upgrade will also include enabling mobile phone signals on the subway. The authorities said concerns that this could help the detonation of bombs were outweighed by potential advantages. These include the ability of passengers to make emergency phone calls from 277 of the 468 underground stations. Pivoting cameras More than 1,000 cameras and 3,000 sensors will be installed at platforms, stations and terminals, on bridges and in tunnels, but not in train carriages or buses themselves. The cameras are said to be able to capture images from 100m (300ft) and to zoom, pivot and rotate. Sensors will be able to detect non-moving objects left on a platform. It is not clear how long the installation will take, but according to reports the first cameras are already being installed. The announcement of the programme comes more than six weeks after four suicide bombers killed 52 people in attacks on London's transport network. Deterrent New York authorities have been criticised for being slow to protect their own network - the country's biggest - despite having cash at their disposal. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) approved a $591m (£330m) security plan in 2002, but until now has only spent a fraction of that. "We hope (this) will detect the terrorists before an incident happens, not just be able to report for forensic purposes after an incident happens and identify who the terrorist is," MTA Executive Director Katherine Lapp said. "If a person were to put an unattended package... this system hopefully would identify it and we would be able to respond, to deploy our bomb sniffing dogs or emergency personnel in order to take that possible explosive device out of the system."

Why we can miss 'obvious' sights

Spotting obvious visual changes can sometimes be difficult Most of us know what it is like to look at something but fail to see the obvious, such as a traffic light turning green. UK researchers at University College London, along with US colleagues from Princeton University, have located the brain's parietal cortex as key. Switching this area off causes change blindness, Cerebral Cortex reports. There has been increasing evidence from brain scan studies to suggest that awareness of what we see is not only down to the part of the brain that processes visual information - the visual cortex - but also other brain regions. Professor Nilli Lavie and colleagues at UCL focused on an area called the parietal cortex, which is involved with concentration. Even dramatic changes can go unnoticed Professor Nilli Lavie, study author Using a process called transcranial magnetic stimulation, which delivers currents to the brain, they were able to temporarily switch off the parietal cortex in nine healthy volunteers. Visual trickery When they did this, the volunteers failed to notice big changes in visual scenes, such as when one of four faces on a video screen was replaced by another face. The exact critical spot in the parietal cortex lies just a few centimetres above and behind the right ear - the area many people scratch when concentration. Magicians often exploit change blindness for their tricks The researchers believe their findings explain change blindness, a phenomenon often exploited by magicians. Professor Lavie said: "The finding that this region of the brain has both these functions, concentration and visual awareness, explains why we can be so easily deceived by, say, a magicians' trick. "When we're concentrating so hard on something that our processing capacity is at its limits, the parietal cortex is not available to pay attention to new things and even dramatic changes can go unnoticed. "If you're concentrating on what the magician's left hand is doing, you won't notice what the right hand is doing." Medical Research Council scientist Dr John Duncan said: "Doubtless, many other parts of the brain are involved." He said findings such as these might help shed light on medical conditions that can affect a person's perception and attention. For example, brain damage due to stroke can sometimes mean the individual will completely ignore one side of their body.

The Long Tail: "Just enough piracy"

It's not news that the main reason the movie and television industries are wary of BitTorrent is that they're freaked out by the music industry's experience with piracy. Although they see the economic advantages of P2P distribution, they're concerned that once they put their stuff out there, even wrapped in triple layers of kryptonite DRM, it might be cracked and then circulate in unprotected form. For movies, that's lost revenues. For TV shows, that means ads could be stripped out, expiration routines could be removed and (gasp!) content could be modified or remixed. All that counts as Very Scary Stuff to industry executives, and as a result they're looking for "strong" DRM before they consider letting their premier content circulate online. This is a mistake, for two reasons: The first is about the user experience: Any protection technology that is really difficult to crack is probably too cumbersome to be accepted by consumers. We've seen all sorts of failures of this sort before, from dongles to laborious and confusing registration schemes. Each seems better at annoying consumers than at building markets. The lesson from these examples is that zero-percent piracy is not only unattainable, it's economically suboptimal. If your content is uncrackable, it means you've probably locked the market down so tight that even honest consumers are being inconvenienced. Instead, efficient software and entertainment markets should exhibit just enough piracy to suggest that the industry has got the balance of control about right: not too loose and not too tight. That number is not zero percent (which requires protection methods so invasive they kill demand), and it's not 100% (which kills the business). It's somewhere in-between. The second reason the quest for zero-piracy is a mistake is an economic one: piracy can actually let you raise your prices. I'll give you a surprising example. I was chatting with a former Microsoft manager the other day and he revealed that after much analysis Microsoft had realized that some piracy is not only inevitable, but could actually be economically optimal. The reason is counterintuitive, but intriguing. The usual price-setting method is to look at the entire potential market, from the many at the economic lower end to the few at the top, and set a price somewhere in between the top and bottom that will maximize total revenues. But if you cede the bottom to piracy, you can set a price between the top and the middle. The result: higher revenues per copy, and potentially higher revenues overall. (This is, by the way, the opposite of the conventional economic approach to developing-world piracy, which is to lower the cost of a product closer to the pirate version, closing the pricing gap to try to win customers over to the official version. In practice, however, the pirate price is so low that it's rarely possible to close that gap enough to make much of a difference.) Add to this the familiar (if controversial) argument that piracy helps seed technology markets, and can be a net benefit. Especially in fast-developing countries such as China and India, the ubiquity of pirated Windows and Office have made them de-facto national standards. Few users could have paid for the retail versions at the start, but now that the spread of cheap technology, including free software, has led to an economic boom, Microsoft is finding a nice market for commercial software at the very top, in big companies and government offices. When all these effects are considered, it appears that there actually is an optimal level of piracy. That right level would vary from industry to industry. Today the estimated piracy rates are 33% for CDs and 15% for DVDs. The industries say that's too high, but most anti-copying technologies they've brought in to lower that figure have proven unpopular. Would even tighter lock-downs help? Probably not. Maybe 15%-30% is simply the market saying that this is the optimal rate of piracy for those industries, and any effort to lower that significantly would either choke demand or push even more people to the dark side. So the moral for video content holders and others considering DRM: be careful what you ask for, because you just might get it. "Uncrackable" DRM could make the P2P problem worse, by driving more users underground and depressing prices. Don't imagine that if you release content in a relatively weak DRM wrapper (like today's DVDs) and copies get out that the whole market will collapse. Instead, you may find that piracy stays constant at relatively low levels, leaving the rest of the market happier and more profitable. The lesson is to find a good-enough approach to content protection that is easy, convenient and non-annoying to most people, and then accept that there will be some leakage. Most consumers see the value in paying for something of guaranteed quality and legality, as long as you don't treat them like potential criminals. And the minority of others, who are willing to take the risks and go to the trouble of finding the pirated versions? Well, they probably weren't your best market anyway.

Bill Totten's Weblog: The End of Suburbia

The Electric Wallpaper Company, c/o VisionTV, 80 Bond Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5B 1X2, 87 minute DVD, web site: www.endofsuburbia.com, US$27.75 / C$34.50A simple fact of life is that any system based on the use of nonrenewable resources is unsustainable. Despite all the warnings that we are headed for an ecological and environmental perfect storm, many Americans are oblivious to the flashing red light on the earth's fuel gauge. Many feel the "American way of life" is an entitlement that operates outside the laws of nature. At the Earth Summit in 1992, George H W Bush forcefully declared, "The American way of life is not negotiable". That way of life requires a highly disproportionate use of the world's nonrenewable resources. While only containing four percent of the world population, the United States consumes 25% of the world's oil. The centerpiece of that way of life is suburbia. And massive amounts of nonrenewable fuels are required to maintain the project of suburbia.The suburban lifestyle is considered by many Americans to be an accepted and normal way of life. But is this sprawling and energy-intensive lifestyle sustainable? Few people are aware of how their lives are dependent on cheap and abundant energy. It suggests many Americans may be in for a rude awakening. In a fascinating new documentary, The End of Suburbia - Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream, the central question is this: Does the suburban way of life have a future? The answer is a resounding no.Despite the serious subject matter the documentary is actually quite engaging and entertaining. Not only is it informative for those already familiar with the issues; it's also quite accessible and enlightening for the uninitiated. It serves as great introduction and a real eye-opener for people who are largely unfamiliar with the topic of energy depletion and the impact it will have on their lives and communities.The End of Suburbia marshals an impressive array of evidence that the growing energy demands of the "American dream" in suburbia will eclipse our planet's ability to provide it. The suburban way of life will soon become economically and ecologically impossible to maintain. We will see the inevitable collapse of the suburban lifestyle and the end of the American Dream. And it will happen within our lifetimes.How bad will it get? Put it this way. We may be looking at the mother of all downsizings.For those who are familiar with the issues of peak oil and resource depletion, the usual suspects are here. They include Richard Heinberg, Michael Klare, Matthew Simmons, Michael C Ruppert, Julian Darley, Dr Colin Campbell, and Kenneth Deffeyes, among others. All of these individuals provide valuable information and insights concerning the coming energy crisis and the impact it will have on the lives of people on the North American continent.But the standout star of the film is author and critic of contemporary culture, James Howard Kunstler. The sometimes humorous and always entertaining presence of Kunstler is prominent throughout the documentary - and for good reason. He grabs your attention. He explains in refreshingly blunt, easy-to-comprehend language that suburbia is screwed.Kunstler calls the project of suburbia "the greatest misallocation of resources in the history of the world" and says "America has squandered its wealth in a living arrangement that has no future". You immediately get the idea he's not exactly a fan of suburbia.How and why did this happen? The End of Suburbia outlines the seemingly rational and logical impulse behind the project of suburbia, tracing the beginnings to the late 19th century when it was originally envisioned as an alternative to city life and an escape from the hideous aspects of industrialism. Modern suburbia traces its beginnings to just after World War II when the suburban project took off with a massive housing boom and the increasing dominance of the automotive industry. This car-centered suburban project ended up being the template for the massive development of the second half of the 20th century. That project was wrapped up, packaged, and sold to the American public as "The American Dream".The End of Suburbia points out that the rise of the suburbs was made possible by abundant and cheap oil. It allowed for a lifestyle where millions of people can live many miles away from where they work and where they shop for food and necessities. But the voracious and expanding energy needs of our industrial society with its ever-expanding consumer culture and increasingly affluent suburban lifestyles are brushing up against the disturbing reality of finite energy resources.The biggest impact will be felt by those who currently live in the sprawling suburbs of North America. The End of Suburbia also makes clear that the effects of energy depletion go way beyond paying more at the pump. It will come down to the question of how you will feed yourself and your family.Although the documentary mostly avoids the gloom and doom of some peak oil theorists, it does occasionally touch on some of the darker aspects of fossil fuel depletion, notably how it will impact food production. The film briefly looks at the energy-intensive process needed to bring food to supermarkets. Our modern industrial agriculture relies heavily on petroleum for pesticides and natural gas for fertilizer, not to mention the energy used in planting, growing, harvesting, irrigating, packaging, processing and transporting the food.The End of Suburbia shows how the suburban way of life has become normalized and reveals the enormous effort currently put forth to maintain it. On a foreign policy level, it means continued aggressive attempts to secure access to the remaining reserves of oil on the planet in order to prop up and maintain this lifestyle. But the film makes it crystal clear that suburban living has very poor prospects for the future. Any attempt to maintain it will be futile. Kunstler asserts that the suburbs will become "the slums of the future".What about alternative sources of energy? The End of Suburbia points out that no combination of alternative fuels can run and maintain our current system as it is now. What about hydrogen, you ask? The film does a great job of shooting down the hysterical applause for hydrogen. The idea of a hydrogen economy is mostly fantasy. Hydrogen is not a form of energy. It is a form of energy storage. It takes more energy to make hydrogen than you actually get from hydrogen. Same with ethanol. It is a net energy loser. It takes more gasoline to create and fertilize the corn and convert it to alcohol than you get from burning it. The documentary explores the potential alternatives and comes to the conclusion there is no combination of any alternatives that will allow us to continue consuming the way we do.What is in our future? The consensus from the experts in The End of Suburbia is the suburbs will not survive the end of cheap and easily accessible oil and natural gas. The massive downscaling of America - voluntary or involuntary - will be the trend of the future.Kunstler argues we can expect to see "globalization" to reverse itself in the 21st century and he says one of the most important tasks will be to prepare for a very different way of life. The imminent decline of industrial civilization means we'll have to organize human communities in a much different fashion from the completely unsustainable, highly-centralized, earth-destroying, globalized system we have now. There will need to be a move to much smaller, human-scale, localized and decentralized systems that can sustain themselves within their own landbase.While The End of Suburbia doesn't provide any easy answers, it does provide a much needed look at the reality of the situation many in North America will be facing in the coming years. For that reason, The End of Suburbia is one of the most important must-see documentaries of the year.Bill Totten http://www.ashisuto.co.jp/english/

Pixar tells story behind 'Toy Story'

Pixar tells story behind 'Toy Story' When Hollywood was churning out movies full of explosions and mindless violence a few years ago, Pixar Animation Studios swam against the stream with "Finding Nemo," a G-rated feature that received four Academy Award nominations and grossed more than $355 million. Today, of course, Pixar's filmmaking wisdom is self-evident. Mention the animation studio and everyone nods wisely. But Monday, as Pixar celebrated the 10th anniversary of "Toy Story," its debut film, the creative minds behind the studio for the first time told the real story of how they almost lost the picture. Not only did the big-money folks at Disney who bankrolled the film not understand the vision of "Toy Story," they hated it so much they shut down production. Of course, Pixar made the movie, the movie made millions and Disney watched itself dethroned as the king of animation by a company that Steve Jobs started in a Richmond garage. It is an instructive story on several levels. Pixar, as you have probably heard, has had a stormy relationship with Disney -- and Disney, at this point, looks like the loser. In the 10 years since we met Woody the cowboy, Buzz Lightyear and the rest of the "Toy Story" gang, Pixar has won 16 Academy Awards and grossed over $3 billion. Disney, once the gold standard of animation, is reeling from flops like "Treasure Planet." Is Pixar the new model for corporate filmmaking? Wouldn't that be nice? Yesterday's press tour was a rare opportunity to cruise the Emeryville campus, where studio guru John Lasseter can be seen strolling by in one of his trademark Hawaiian shirts, and slacker-chic employees zip the halls on scooters when they aren't playing video games and foosball. Call it the house that Woody built. "I don't think there is any other studio out there like Pixar," said Lee Unkrich, the co-director of "Finding Nemo," "Monsters, Inc." and "Toy Story 2. " He's got that right. Where else would employees talk about creating "art as a team sport?" It isn't just an innovative workplace; Pixar sounds a little like an alternative lifestyle. With their beach garb, geek culture and fanatic attention to detail, the folks at Pixar are churning out the must-see movies of their generation. What no one seems to notice is that, with the huge production costs of computer animation, they are rolling the dice with every new release. Pixar has only done six feature films in 10 years. But there hasn't been a clunker in the bunch. "A lot of studios talk about a 12-to-1 ratio -- they come in with 12 ideas and one of them makes it," said Andrew Stanton, who won Oscars for writing and directing "Nemo." "We pick one idea, good or bad, and we stick with it until it works." That's not how it happens down south, as Pixar discovered with "Toy Story. " Disney, which was bankrolling the project, peppered the young animators with notes and suggestions. The story was too juvenile, the higher-ups said, and the characters had to be edgier. Afraid to trust themselves, Lasseter and his crew tried to follow all the directions. It was, nearly everyone agrees, a train wreck. Disney hated the movie and the idea -- and shut it down. "Yeah that was fun," jokes Pete Docter, who was nominated for Oscars for "Toy Story" and "Monsters, Inc." "And it happened right around Christmas, too." Lasseter recalls that he "begged" for two weeks to fix things. The animators went back, took out all of Disney's suggestions and made the movie they wanted to make in the first place. And, naturally, when they screened the new version, Disney execs loved it. There's your corporate minds at work: First they screw it up and hate it, and then don't even realize that they're watching what they hated in the first place. But if Lasseter's last-second fixes hadn't worked, there would be no Pixar campus, first in Richmond, and now in Emeryville today, or a potential expansion with building permits available through 2012. Nor would the Bay Area be known as the epicenter of computer animation. It was one of those behind-the-scenes moments that dramatically changes the culture of a community. And, it has to be said, Pixar has turned out to be a terrific corporate role model. Not only has it been wildly successful, it has turned out films that nearly everyone finds entertaining and worthwhile. The studio's movies, except for some uncharacteristically dark moments in "The Incredibles," are almost always wholesome family fare. The movies, and the studio where they are made, are as down-to-earth and unaffected as the creators. How do they make it work? Well, a big part of it, they insist, is avoiding what they call "No, but ... ." The idea is that when someone suggests an idea, others should respond with "Yes, and ...," not "No, but ... ." Docter and Stanton say that attitude comes from the improv comedy culture, and they credit Joe Ranft (Pixar's 45-year-old head of storytelling until he died last week in a car accident in Mendocino County) with bringing it to Pixar. It all comes with the concept that, as they say on campus, "every idea is a good idea." "What you need to create," says Stanton, the eighth employee hired when Pixar started 20 years ago, "is the most trusting environment possible where people can screw up." And follow their own vision. So far, so good. Happy birthday, Woody.

New Drug Reverses Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Brain

Research in monkeys suggests that a new drug can temporarily improve performance and reverse the effects of sleep deprivation on the brain, which would be a breakthrough in helping shift workers, health professionals, military personnel and others who must function at top performance in spite of sleep deficits. “In addition to improving performance under normal conditions, the drug restored performance that was impaired after sleep loss,” said Samuel Deadwyler, Ph.D., senior researcher, from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. “Brain imaging revealed that one basis for the drug’s effects was to reverse changes in brain patterns induced by sleep deprivation.” The study’s results are reported on-line today in the journal Public Library of Science- Biology. The drug, currently known as CX717, is designed to act on a type of receptor located throughout the brain that is involved in cell-to-cell communication. It has been tested in sleep-deprived humans with positive results, according to the developer, Cortex Pharmaceuticals. The Wake Forest research was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, as part of a larger effort to mitigate or eliminate the effect of sleep deprivation on military personnel, and by the National Institutes of Health. In addition to Deadwyler, the research team included Linda J. Porrino, Ph.D., James Daunais, Ph.D., Robert Hampson, Ph.D., from the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at Wake Forest, and Gary Rogers from Cortex Pharmaceuticals. The researchers first tested normal, alert monkeys on a matching task similar to a video game. Each monkey was shown one clip art picture at one position on the screen, and after a delay of one to 30 seconds, picked the original out of a random display of two to six different images to get a juice reward. The monkeys were then given varying doses of the drug and re-tested. At the highest dose tested, the drug improved performance to near perfect for the easier trials and by about 15 percent overall. Next, the monkeys were tested after they were sleep-deprived for 30 to 36 hours, which Deadwyler estimates is equivalent to humans going 72 hours without sleep. When compared to when they were alert, the monkeys’ overall performance was reduced under all test conditions, even on the easiest trials. But, when the monkeys were again sleep-deprived and re-tested after being given CX717, their performance was restored to normal levels. The researchers used positron emission tomography (PET) to gain images of brain activity while the animals were performing the matching task. These scans showed that the drug was able to reverse most of the changes in activity patterns that occurred with sleep deprivation – which may explain its success at increasing performance. The PET images showed that when the monkeys were performing the task while sleep-deprived, activity in the frontal cortex, an area of the brain associated with higher mental processing, decreased and activity in the temporal lobe, associated with memory for recent events, increased. The researchers suspect that this might be the brain’s way of compensating for the effects of sleep deprivation. After the drug was administered, the brain patterns in these regions returned to normal. “The effect was to reverse the patterns of activation to the same as when the animal performed the task under normal conditions,” Deadwyler said. “The drug didn’t cause overall brain arousal, but increased the ability of certain affected areas to become active in a normal, non-sleep-deprived manner.” The drug, known as an ampakine, is designed to target AMPA receptors that are located throughout the brain. These receptors are part of the cellular communication process that involves the neurotransmitter glutamate. The drug prolongs the action of glutamate, allowing more effective communication. Because the drug acts differently from caffeine and other stimulants, it does not seem to result in side effects such as hyperactivity, distorted thinking or extended wakefulness. “It’s possible that ampakines could also be used to enhance other cognitive deficits, such as occur in Alzheimer’s disease, after a stroke or other forms of dementia,” Deadwyler said. About Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center: Wake Forest Baptist is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the university’s School of Medicine. The system comprises 1,187 acute care, psychiatric, rehabilitation and long-term care beds and is consistently ranked as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report. Source: Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center

Chávez taunts US with oil offer

In a typically robust response to remarks by the US televangelist Pat Robertson, Mr Chávez compared his detractors to the "rather mad dogs with rabies" from Cervantes' Don Quixote, and unveiled his plans to use Venezuela's energy reserves as a political tool. "We want to sell gasoline and heating fuel directly to poor communities in the United States," he said. Mr Robertson's remarks have threatened to inflame tension between the US and one of its main oil suppliers. Yesterday the religious broadcaster apologised for his remarks. "Is it right to call for assassination? No, and I apologise for that statement. I spoke in frustration that we should accommodate the man who thinks the US is out to kill him," he said. In a TV broadcast on Monday, he said: "If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it." Yesterday Mr Robertson initially said his comments had been misinterpreted, but went on to add that kidnapping Mr Chávez might be a better idea. "I said our special forces could take him out. Take him out could be a number of things, including kidnapping." The Bush administration tried to distance itself from Mr Robertson's views without upsetting the large Christian fundamentalist wing which the veteran evangelist represents. A State Department spokesman said assassination was not part of government policy. "He's a private citizen," Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, said of Mr Robertson. "Private citizens say all kinds of things all the time." But Mr Robertson's remarks are seen as an embarrassment at a time when the US is calling for a united front against terror. Democrats have challenged the Bush administration to be more outspoken in its response to Mr Robertson's remarks on the Christian Broadcasting Network. Venezuela's ambassador to the US, Bernardo Alvarez, said: "Mr Robertson has been one of this president's staunchest allies. His statement demands the strongest condemnation by the White House." The Venezuelan government is asking for assurances from the US government that Mr Chávez will be adequately protected when he visits New York for a special session of the UN next month. Venezuela's vice-president, José Vicente Rangel, said the possibility of legal action against Mr Robertson for incitement to murder should also be considered. Venezuela, the world's fifth largest crude exporter, supplies 1.3m barrels of oil a day to the US. It remains unclear how poor Americans might benefit from the cheap petrol offer, but Mr Chávez has set up arrangements with other countries for swapping services in exchange for oil. Cuban doctors are working in the poorer areas of Venezuela in exchange for cheap oil going to Cuba. Jamaica yesterday became the first Caribbean country to reach an agreement with Venezuela for oil at below-market terms. The Petrocaribe initiative is a plan to offer oil at flexible rates to 13 Caribbean countries. Jamaica will pay $40 a barrel, against a market rate of more than $60. Mr Chávez said oil importers such as the US could expect no respite from the oil market, predicting the price of a barrel would reach $100 by 2012.

Brain activity in youth may presage Alzheimer’s pathology

Researchers who used five different medical imaging techniques to study the brain activity of 764 people, including those with Alzheimer’s disease, those on the brink of dementia, and healthy individuals, have found that the areas of the brain that young, healthy people use when daydreaming are the same areas that fail in people who have Alzheimer’s disease. On the basis of their data, the researchers are proposing a new hypothesis that suggests that Alzheimer’s disease may be due to abnormalities in the regions of the brain that operate the “default state.” This is the term used to describe the cognitive state people defer to when musing, daydreaming, or thinking to themselves. Brain regions active during default mental states in young adults (shown in blue on the background brain) reveal remarkable correlation with those regions showing Alzheimer’s disease pathology as observed by novel human molecular imaging techniques that can visualize amyloid plaques (shown in red on the foreground brain). Writing in the August 24, 2005, issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, the researchers state that “the default activity patterns of the brain may, over many years, augment a metabolic- or activity-dependent cascade that participates in Alzheimer’s disease pathology.” “The regions of the brain we tend to use in our default state when we are young are very similar to the regions where plaques form in older people with Alzheimer’s disease,” said the lead author of the study, Randy L. Buckner, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator at Washington University in St. Louis. “This is quite a remarkable convergence that we did not expect,” Buckner adds. The new findings are important because they could help scientists and clinicians identify and understand the beginnings of what is probably a cascade of events that ultimately leads to Alzheimer’s. The most common form of dementia among older people, Alzheimer’s is characterized outwardly by the erosion of language, thought and memory. Within the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease, abnormal clumps of plaque and tangled bundles of fibers form and characterize the physical manifestation of the disease, which may affect as many as 4.5 million Americans. The causes of the disease are unknown. The availability of powerful imaging techniques and the ability to merge different sets of imaging data through new bioinformatics and statistical methods enabled Buckner and his team to construct a picture of Alzheimer’s from molecular changes to the structural and functional manifestations of the disease. In the process, the team unexpectedly observed that the regions of the brain that light up when we slip into comfortable patterns of thought are the same as those that, later in life, exhibit the disabling clumps of plaque characteristic of Alzheimer’s, a disease that most frequently manifests itself after age 60. That remarkable correlation, said Buckner, suggests that dementia may be a consequence of the everyday function of the brain. “It may be the normal cognitive function of the brain that leads to Alzheimer’s later in life,” said Buckner. “This was not a relationship that we had even considered. The hypothesis is that the cascade of events that leads to Alzheimer’s begins at young adulthood.” Scientists have long known that when the mind is not concentrated on a task — reading, engaging in conversation or solving a math problem, for example — it switches to a default mode, a state of mind where we may muse, daydream or retrieve pleasant memories. When a young person is asked to concentrate on a specific task, they are easily able to shut off the default mode — and the corresponding regions of the brain that run this mode. With the help of powerful imaging technologies such as positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), scientists, including Buckner’s HHMI team, have begun to map the activity of the brain in its different states, including the default state. Among the observations they are making is that when a person who has clinical Alzheimer’s disease is asked to concentrate on a specific task, the default mode actually becomes more active — rather than showing less activity, as it would in a young, healthy adult. The default state, according to Buckner, is characterized by metabolic activity in specific regions of the brain, notably the posterior and cortical regions. “These regions were active in the default states in young adults and also showed amyloid (plaque) deposition in older adults with Alzheimer’s disease,” the researchers write in the new Journal of Neuroscience paper. “The key insight is that brain activity and metabolism are not uniform across the brain,” Buckner said. “When we looked at people on the cusp of dementia, we saw a loss of brain tissue in the regions we predicted it would occur,” based on our observations of metabolism. Insight from the new study may help explain why the memory systems of the human brain are vulnerable. “We appear to use memory systems often in our default states. This may help us to plan and solve problems. Maybe it helps us be creative. But it may also have metabolic consequences,” Buckner explained. The newfound correlation may also have future clinical implications as Alzheimer’s is typically diagnosed when it is too late to intervene. To develop and administer effective treatments, clinicians will need to figure out ways to detect the disease in its earliest stages, said William Klunk, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh and a co-author of the Journal of Neuroscience paper. “You have to get to this pathology before it has its biggest effect, before it has done its damage,” said Klunk, who has developed techniques for imaging the amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s patients. The findings reported in the new study, he said, suggest that there is now the potential to begin to trace the patterns of the disease and develop methods to detect it before the clinical symptoms set in. Buckner emphasized that the notion of a causative relationship between everyday metabolic functions of the brain and Alzheimer’s remains a hypothesis. However, new studies may help “show if amyloid (plaque) deposition is really dependent on metabolism. Can we find a biologically plausible reason for how metabolism causes Alzheimer’s disease?” Moreover, looking to see if the phenomenon varies or is the same among many individuals will be required to firm up the link between brain metabolism in early life and Alzheimer’s pathology later in life. Understanding variation may also help us to explain why some people are at high risk for Alzheimer’s disease. “We are very interested in exploring these new observations to understand who is at risk and who is protected from Alzheimer’s,” said Buckner. In addition to Buckner and Klunk, authors of the Journal of Neuroscience article include Abraham Z. Snyder, Benjamin J. Shannon, Gina LaRossa, Rimmon Sachs, Anthony F. Fotenos, Yvette I. Sheline, John C. Morris and Mark A. Mintun, all of Washington University; and Chester Mathis of the University of Pittsburgh.

Stagger on, weary Titan

The United States is now that weary Titan. In the British case, the angst was a result of the unexpectedly protracted, bloody and costly Boer war, in which a small group of foreign insurgents defied the mightiest military the world had seen; concern about the rising economic power of Germany and the United States; and a combination of imperial overstretch with socio-economic problems at home. In the American case, it's a result of the unexpectedly protracted, bloody and costly Iraq war, in which a small group of foreign insurgents defies the mightiest military the world has seen; concern about the rising economic power of China and India; and a combination of imperial overstretch with socio-economic problems at home. Iraq is America's Boer war. Remember that after the British had declared the end of major combat operations in the summer of 1900, the Boers launched a campaign of guerrilla warfare that kept British troops on the run for another two years. The British won only by a ruthlessness of which, I'm glad to say, the democratic, squeamish and still basically anti-colonialist United States appears incapable. In the end, the British had 450,000 British and colonial troops there (compared with some 150,000 US troops in Iraq), and herded roughly a quarter of the Boer population into concentration camps, where many died. In a recent CNN/Gallup poll, 54% of those asked said it was a mistake to send American troops into Iraq, and 57% said the Iraq war has made the US less safe from terrorism. The protest camp outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford, which grew around the mother of a soldier who died in Iraq, exemplifies the pain. CNN last Sunday aired a documentary with top-level sources explaining in detail how the intelligence on Saddam's weapons of mass destruction was distorted, abused, sexed up and, as the programme was entitled, Dead Wrong. This will hardly be news for British or European readers, but the facts have not been so widely aired in the US. In another poll, the number of those who rated the president as "honest" fell below 50% for the first time. This week, he has again attempted to bolster support for his administration and his war. It doesn't seem to be working. A recent article in the New York Times plausibly estimated the prospective long-term cost of the Iraq War at more than $1 trillion. If Iraqi politicians do finally agree a draft constitution for their country today, only the world's greatest optimist can believe that it will turn Iraq into a peaceful, stable, democratic federal republic. Increasingly, the Islamic Republic of Iran quietly calls the shots in the Shia south of Iraq. As the Washington joke goes: the war is over, and the Iranians won. Meanwhile, oil prices of more than $60 a barrel put the price of petrol at American pumps up to nearly $3 a gallon for basic unleaded fuel. For someone from Europe this is still unbelievably cheap, but you should hear the shrieks of agony here. "Gas prices have changed my life," moaned a distressed Californian commuter. If higher energy prices persist, they threaten not just a still vibrant economy but a whole way of life, symbolised by the Hummer (in both its civilian and military versions). Besides instability in the Middle East, the main force pushing up oil prices is the relentless growth of demand for energy from the emerging economic giants of Asia. The Chinese go around the world quietly signing big oil supply deals with any oil-producing country they can find, however nasty its politics, including Sudan and Iran. When a Chinese concern tried to buy a big California energy company, that was too much - American politicians screamed and effectively blocked the deal. China and India are to the United States today what Germany and America were to Britain a hundred years ago. China is now the world's second largest energy consumer, after the United States. It also has the world's second largest foreign currency reserves, after Japan and followed by Taiwan, South Korea and India. In the foreign reserve stakes, the US comes only ninth, after Singapore and just before Malaysia. According to some economists, the US has an effective net savings rate - taking account of all public spending and debt - of zero. Nil. Zilch. This country does not save; it spends. The television channels are still full of a maddening barrage of endless commercials, enticing you to spend, spend, spend - and then to "consolidate" your accumulated debt in one easy package. None of this is to suggest that the United States will decline and fall tomorrow. Far from it. After all, the British empire lasted for another 40 years after 1905. In fact, it grew to its largest extent after 1918, before it signed its own death warrant by expending its blood and treasure to defeat Adolf Hitler (not the worst way to go). Similarly, one may anticipate that America's informal empire - its network of military bases and semi-protectorates - will continue to grow. The United States, like Edwardian Britain, still has formidable resources of economic, technological and military power, cultural attractiveness and, not least, the will to stay on top. As one British music hall ditty at that time proclaimed: And we mean to be top dog still. Bow-wow. Yes, we mean to be top dog still. You don't have to go very far to hear that refrain in Washington today. The Bush administration's national security strategy makes no bones about the goal of maintaining military supremacy. But whether the "American century" that began in 1945 will last until 2045, 2035 or only 2025, its end can already be glimpsed on the horizon. If you are, by any chance, of that persuasion that would instinctively find this a cause for rejoicing, pause for a moment to consider two things: first, that major shifts of power between rising and falling great powers have usually been accompanied by major wars; and second, that the next top dog could be a lot worse. So this is no time for schadenfreude. It's a time for critical solidarity. A few far-sighted people in Washington are beginning to formulate a long-term American strategy of trying to create an international order that would protect the interests of liberal democracies even when American hyperpower has faded; and to encourage rising powers such as India and China to sign up to such an order. That is exactly what today's weary Titan should be doing, and we should help him do it. www.freeworldweb.net

Europe aims lone rover for Mars

By Paul Rincon BBC News science reporter The ability to drill under the surface is a "must have" It aims to send a single robot rover to the Martian surface along with another, stationary, science package. The European Space Agency (Esa) had also been considering a mission concept from the British team behind Beagle 2, but this is no longer on the table. However, the Beagle team could yet see their science instruments, or ones derived from them, carried on the 580-million-euro mobile laboratory. A three-day meeting next week at the space agency's European Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, will discuss what experiments the craft should take to Mars, and the UK team has submitted its own ideas and proposals. Two-pronged mission Their BeagleNet concept for the mission - which envisaged dropping two small rovers on the planet - has fallen out of the running and Esa has opted instead for the single rover concept loosely referred to as ExoMars. The Mars lander is part of Esa's Aurora programme, a long-term plan for robotic and - potentially - human exploration of the Solar System, with Mars, the Moon and the asteroids as likely targets. Esa is no longer entertaining the BeagleNet concept "The fixed station and/or the rover may contain elements of a Beagle 2-type payload. Whether it does or not is very much dependent on the discussions next week." A primary objective of the mission is to search for signs of past or present life; it will leave Earth in June 2011 and arrive at Mars in June 2013. Vital tools Esa is currently aiming at a mass of 120kg for the rover and 8-14kg for the science payload, said Dr Sims. "Must haves" for the rover payload include a drill or "mole" for burrowing beneath the Martian soil and an experiment for detecting past or present life, in addition to the other instruments. EUROPE'S MISSION TO MARS To leave Kourou, French Guiana, spaceport in 2011 Will launch on Russian-built Soyuz-Fregat vehicle Planetary positions account for long journey time Landing date will avoid worst of duststorm season US may be asked to provide orbital relay of data Could employ parachutes, airbags and retro-rockets The European agency is looking at using US spacecraft in orbit around Mars to relay data from the lander to Earth. In return, US instruments could be placed on the mission's science payload. It had also planned to seek American hardware for the lander's entry, descent and landing systems. But this has fallen foul of US budget limitations and a legal regime there known as Itar (International Traffic in Arms Regulations). The Itar export regulations are designed to protect sensitive military technology falling into the wrong hands. But they also apply to satellite technology, including entry, descent and landing systems. Collaboration talks Despite Esa's decision to go with the ExoMars concept, there may yet be hope for BeagleNet. Professor Colin Pillinger, lead scientist on the Beagle 2 mission, is still convinced of the merits of a small twin rover mission. He and colleagues have started informal discussions with other space agencies about the possibility of a joint collaboration based on just such a concept. Dr Sims said there could be openings in Nasa's robotic exploration programme for such a project, in particular a low-cost "scout" mission opportunity scheduled for launch in 2011. However, this would be in open competition with US teams. The outcome of discussions next week on the science package for Europe's Martian rover mission will go to the Aurora programme board and other Esa bodies for approval. The agency's member states will then have to sign off the mission. Ministers will have their say when the Esa Council meets on 5 and 6 December.

Public unaware of RSS

The majority of regular blog readers are completely unaware of Really Simple Syndication (RSS) and the amount of passion the technology excites, it seems. A Nielsen/Netratings' survey of 1,000 regular blog readers found 66 per cent do not understand RSS and have never even heard of the technology. Twenty three per cent claimed they understood RSS but did not use it. That's a reality check for Silicon Valley technologists and venture capitalists debating and investing in RSS. Last week, it emerged Microsoft will re-name RSS in the next version of its Internet Explorer (IE) browser and Windows Vista operating system to make it more, er, consumer friendly. Microsoft is using "web feeds" as a substitute name for RSS in the current IE beta. Venture capitalists (VCs) and enthusiasts from the communications industry, meanwhile, announced ambitious plans for a $100m fund to invest in RSS in June. The fund will focus on news aggregation, blogs, search engines and applications capable of aggregating data for use in the financial and medical sectors. Despite strong evidence of a huge knowledge gap and need for greater education surrounding RSS, there are some encouraging signs for VCs and start-ups. Eleven per cent of blog readers use RSS to sort through a growing tangle of blog and information feeds, according to Nielsen/Netratings. Nearly five percent use feed aggregation software and more than six per cent use a feed from an aggregating web site to monitor blog feeds. "While RSS is an established technology, the growing popularity of blogs has catapulted RSS into the spotlight as a content personalization tool," Nielsen/Netratings senior research manager Jon Gibs said in a statement. Blog traffic is up, too. The top fifty blogging and blog-related sites have grown 31 per cent to 29.3m unique visitors since the start of the year, accounting for one fifth of the internet's traffic. Microsoft's MSN Spaces was top with 947 per cent growth, while Fark.com and Blogger were second and third with 63 per cent and 45 per cent increases respectively. Nielson believes these sites will ultimately lack the kinds of traffic that large advertising networks manage to draw, but that advertisers can still leverage bloggers to influence their peers in niche markets. "By associating their message with the blog's image, advertisers can legitimize new trends," Gibs said.®

Summer Fading, Hollywood Sees Fizzle

The box office numbers have led to intense, broad-ranging conversations across Hollywood about the implications. Many studios have commissioned market research to investigate the causes of moviegoing behavior -- or the lack thereof. At New Line, executives have been talking about the "sameness of everything" on movie schedules, one executive said. At 20th Century Fox this week, a half-dozen top executives held an impromptu brainstorming session at the commissary with a reporter, debating the effects of gas prices and marketing missteps. Tom Rothman, co-chairman of 20th Century Fox, was one of the few to see no negative trend in the current numbers. "Everybody keeps saying it's the worst of times; it seems fine to me," said Mr. Rothman, whose studio has had some big-budget successes this summer, with "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" and "The Fantastic Four." He noted, for example, that the advent of DVD's has expanded the overall revenues of the movie industry. "For us the business is healthy, but it requires management," Mr. Rothman said. Just about everywhere else, though, the concern is palpable -- and understandable, not only because of the performance of this summer's movies, but also because a decline is discernible over time: overall movie attendance, a figure not affected by inflation, has slid to below where it stood in mid-August 2001. DVD sales, while still robust, are no longer rising exponentially, and some analysts say that a poor box office performance this summer will lead to poor DVD sales this winter. With billions of dollars at stake, nerves are growing understandably frayed. Last week, John Fithian, the president of the National Association of Theatre Owners, accused Robert A. Iger , the incoming chief executive of Walt Disney, of leveling a "death threat" at theater owners for having suggested that the lesson to be drawn from the slump is that moviegoers want films to be accessible in theaters and on DVD simultaneously. "The structure of the industry is sound," said Mr. Fithian, who believes in maintaining a distance between the theatrical release and the DVD. "We just need a few more good movies." Mr. Iger had observed that studios ignored consumers at their peril. "We can't allow tradition to stand in the way of where the consumer can go, or wants to go," he told analysts this month, warning that "the music industry learned this the hard way."

Report: India's could lose 40% BPO market share by 2007

Report: Labor shortage and wage inflation in outsourcing market has other countries in hot pursuit. NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Surprise! India's reign as the world's "Outsourcing King" may be slipping, even with its rock-bottom call center costs. A new report from market research firm Gartner, Inc. warns that a labor crunch and rising wages could erode as much as 45 percent of India's market share by 2007. Indian industry watchers acknowledge that the country's outsourcing industry -- its golden goose of the moment -- is indeed facing a "serious" problem. In an interview with CNN/Money from New Delhi, Kiran Karnick, president of the National Association of Software and Service companies (NASSCOM), said he's concerned that these challenges could stymie India's strong double-digit growth in outsourcing services. NASSCOM is the trade body representing India's information technology (IT) software and services industry. More importantly, the Gartner report cautions that a host of emerging countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Eastern European nations including Hungary and Poland, are also starting to challenge India's leadership in offshore business process outsourcing (BPO.) Many U.S. and international companies maintain that outsourcing business processes such as customer service call centers, administrative and accounting processes to low-cost and low-wage countries like India helps to keep down their own cost of doing business. Analysts say India's "go to" status as a premier outsourcing destination is a function of the country's vast pool of about 2.5 million mostly English-speaking graduates that are ready to enter the workforce annually. But India can't afford to rest on its laurels, said Sujay Chohan, one of the authors of the Gartner report and vice president and research director of offshore business process outsourcing with Gartner in New Delhi. Unless India devises a long-term roadmap to improve infrastructure and consistently grow its skilled labor force, he said India will see some of its offshore BPO clients shift business elsewhere. "Although India's infrastructure is improving, it is not keeping pace with the rapid growth of the industry," the report said. The Gartner report pointed out that while no single nation yet poses a direct threat to India as a high-quality/low-cost location, over the past two years, more than 50 other countries have emerged that together could pose a viable challenge to India in the months ahead. Gartner estimates that India's current 85 percent ownership of the BPO market share could dwindle to about 45 percent by 2007. In dollar terms, that would be a significant blow to India, Chohan said. In 2004 India raked in more than $2 billion of an estimated $3 billion global offshore BPO market with more than 250,000 workers. He estimates that the worldwide offshore BPO market will grow to about $24 billion by 2007 of which India will earn about $13.8 billion. Rising labor costs Given that India's been doubling its outsourcing operations every year for the past four years, Chohan said he's not too surprised by the current imbalance in the labor demand-supply equation as well as the onset of wage inflation and high levels of attrition. "Four years ago, a typical call center employee would have earned between 5,000 to 6,000 rupees ($114- $136) a month. Now it may be up to between 7,000 to 9,000 rupees ($159 - $204) a month," he said. "The rise in labor costs isn't significant yet. What's more important is that these increases so far have not been passed on to clients in the U.S." But if these costs continue to escalate, he predicts that Indian outsourcing firms will take a hit to their bottom line and eventually start to pass along the increases to their international clients. Chohan said India could learn from Ireland's mistakes more than a decade earlier. "This is exactly what happened in Ireland in the 1990s," said Chohan. "As a result, companies that were outsourcing to Ireland began to look elsewhere and discovered India for the lower-level work," adding that Ireland today still attracts what's considered to be "high-value" outsourcing such as R&D and software development. Chohan isn't worried about India losing it lead in IT outsourcing. "India dominates now and will continue to do so in the future because of the sheer scale of skills in the country at low costs. The only exception is China which has become very visible in this space within the last six months." Moving beyond call centers Ashank Desai, chairman of Mumbai-based Mastek, said one way for Indian companies to maintain their competitive advantage and ensure their international clientele is to upgrade their services by offering more sophisticated back office functions in addition to the basic call center services. Mastek is a provider of offshore IT and BPO outsourcing services. The company logged annual sales of $130 million in 2004. "At Mastek we're already looking into merging BPO and IT services so that our clients get double the advantage,' Desai said. He gave an example, "We can reconfigure IT used for processing insurance claims to make it more efficient and then process these claims more efficiently for our customers." In order to emerge as truly global players and undercut the competition, Chohan said Indian outsourcing companies should also think about expanding their brand globally by setting up delivery centers outside of India. Indian vendors depend too much on the U.S. market. India has to make inroads into non-English speaking markets as well, "similar to what Ireland has done to successfully service the European market," he said.

Whales show an ability to learn and teach

Canadian scientists have observed a case of learning and culture in a killer whale. A four-year-old orca in a marine park in Ontario has found a way not just to provide fresh fowl for supper, he has shown other young whales how to do the same thing. The precocious predator made a practice of regurgitating his fish supper and then lurking just below the water's surface. The moment a gullible gull touched down for a free meal, the creature lunged. According to New Scientist today, within a few months the whale's younger half-brother began trying the same trick. Then a six-month-old calf and an older male at Marineland in Niagara Falls started doing the same thing. "They are in a way setting a trap," animal behaviourist Michael Noonan of Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, told the magazine. "They catch three or four gulls this way some days." The capacity to innovate and then transmit the innovative technique - in a word, culture - was once supposed to be one of the things that separated humans from other mammals. The others were language and tool use. But biologists observed that animals could communicate, and that great apes had a capacity to understand and even use human language. Then other biologists began observing sophisticated tool use, not just in primates but in sea otters and birds such as crows. A British team has also recorded a range of cultural traditions within chimpanzee groups. Today's report suggests killer whales, too, can learn and pass on their learning. "I'm not surprised," said Phil Hammond of St Andrews University, in Scotland. "It is the sort of thing killer whales ... are known for doing: coming up with inventive ways of catching their prey."

Is urban cycling bad for your heart?

Shedloads of lycra-clad peddlers nearly careered off the road this week after being told their daily exertion on two wheels could be doing more harm than good. Tiny specks of air pollution belched from diesel-fuelled taxis and buses can damage blood vessels, and, according to the Sunday Times, could outweigh the obvious health benefits of cycling. "The health warning will dismay the large number of commuters who have switched to bicycles to improve their fitness, to avoid high fuel prices or, in London, because they fear another terrorist attack on public transport," the report said. The newspaper issued its warning after research in the laboratory of David Newby, a British Heart Foundation senior lecturer in cardiology at Edinburgh University. In his tests, 15 healthy men cycled on exercise bikes in a chamber while being exposed to levels of diesel pollution similar to those found on a congested city street. After an hour of cycling, the scientists found their blood vessels became less flexible and produced less of a protein that breaks down blood clots in the heart - damage associated with the early stages of heart disease. All very worrying, particularly that, as the faster a cyclist pedals the more air they breathe in, those who believe they are improving their fitness the most are storing up the biggest trouble for themselves. "Cycling is a good thing to do," Dr Newby insists. "We don't want to give the message that it isn't." His team has made no direct comparison of the risks versus the benefits, and what the original story failed to mention, he says, is that the situation for car drivers is even worse. Drivers face a bigger risk as car ventilation systems vacuum up pollution at ground level, which cannot then disperse, leading to concentrations inside some three times higher than on the street. For cyclists there is both good news and bad news. The latter is that no type of expensive mask and filter can block the tiny carbon particles that do the damage. "They're just so small they behave almost like a gas," Dr Newby says. The positive spin is that the levels of pollution drop off considerably just a few metres from the congested source - so cyclists who stick to less busy roads should have nothing to worry about.

Maturing net growing more slowly

The internet is a becoming a mature technology During 2004 the amount of net traffic travelling on backbone cables between nations grew by 104%, reported the consultancy Telegeography. By contrast in 2005 the growth slumped to a less stellar 49%. Telegeography said the change could be the result of a global slowdown in the numbers of people signing up for high-speed net services. Big numbers Just how fast net traffic has grown over the last few years can be seen via statistics from the London Internet Exchange (Linx), where more than 150 net service firms swap data between each other. In a little over a year the amount of traffic flowing across Linx has risen from approximately 30 gigabits per second to more than 67 Gbit/s. In 2000 it was barely hitting 5 Gbit/s, the equivalent of a DVD film every 10 seconds. Alan Mauldin, senior research analyst, said that in any other field annual growth of 49% would be incredible. It was only the fact that the net had grown so fast, so quickly for so long that now made such a figure less impressive. "But it's still fairly robust growth," he told the BBC News website. Growth rates in some territories was staying high, said Mr Mauldin, at 76% in Asia and 70% in Latin American but even these were down on 2004. Currently the amount of traffic flowing between nations is approximately one terabit per second. If growth rates hold up this is likely to hit three terabits per second by 2008. Much of the growth over the last few years has come about because of the rise in the popularity of file-sharing that encourages people to swap and share large media files, said Mr Mauldin. In general, he said, the net was maturing in the sense that the numbers of those going online was slowing and those already online were using it as much as they were likely to. Another sign, he said, was a stabilisation in the prices for net backbone access which fell sharply before 2005. Mr Mauldin was keen to point out that the measurements it was taking were not a snapshot of all net traffic. This was because Telegeography does not count the amount of data flowing over cables within national boundaries which, he said, was likely to be at least as large cross-border traffic. However, he said, international net traffic was a good indicator of the general direction and strength of net growth. Telegeography can produce figures for 2005 because its annual count runs from April to April.

Clinical Effects of Homoeopathy Are Placebo Effects

Newswise — The evidence for a specific effect of homoeopathic remedies is weak, according to an article in this week's issue of The Lancet. The authors conclude that the clinical effects of homoeopathy are compatible with placebo effects. Matthias Egger (University of Berne, Switzerland) and colleagues compared 110 placebocontrolled, randomised trials of homoeopathy with 110 conventional-medicine trials matched for disorder and type of outcome. The clinical topics studied in the trials ranged from respiratory infections to surgery to anaesthesiology. The researchers looked at the treatment effects in smaller, low quality trials and larger trials of higher quality. They found, in both groups, that smaller trials of lower quality showed more beneficial treatment effects than larger and higher-quality trials. However, when the analysis was restricted to large trials of high quality there was no convincing evidence that homoeopathy was superior to placebo, whereas for conventional medicine an important effect remained. Professor Egger concludes: "Our study powerfully illustrates the interplay and cumulative effect of different sources of bias. We acknowledge that to prove a negative is impossible, but we have shown that the effects seen in placebo-controlled trials of homeopathy are compatible with the placebo-hypothesis." In an accompanying Comment Jan Vandenbroucke (Leiden University Medical Centre, Netherlands) states: "Science is an intrinsically human affair. When new theories are created and new evidence sought, judgement will retain a subjective element. This does not mean that it is impossible to sift out which interpretation is more valuable . . . The ultimate proof is that science make progress in changing reality: in allopathic [conventional] medicine by preventing, alleviating, and curing disease ever more effectively." In an accompanying Editorial TheLancetcomments: "It is the attitudes of patients and providers that engender alternative-therapy seeking behaviours which create a greater threat to conventional care—and patients' welfare—than do spurious arguments of putative benefits from absurd dilutions . . . Now doctors need to be bold and honest with their patients about homoeopathy's lack of benefit, and with themselves about the failings of modern medicine to address patients' needs for personalised care." Please remember to cite The Lancet.

Scientists probe anti-ageing gene

By Roland Pease BBC Science Correspondent Klotho seems to delay the effects of old age in mice They say the gene has a key role to play in many of the processes related to ageing. Because humans have a very similar version of the gene, the hope is that it will show a way to improve our declining years. The gene studied in the new research is called Klotho, named after a minor Greek goddess who spins life's thread. The gene certainly seems to do that. Mice - and people - with defective forms of the gene appear to age prematurely. Now researchers have shown that by boosting the activity of the gene, they can extend the natural lives of male mice by about six months, to two-and-a-half years. The effect is not quite so strong in female mice. Downsides "It could be one of the significant steps for developing anti-ageing therapy," Dr Makoto Kuro-o, assistant professor of pathology at the University of Texas' Southwestern Medical Center and senior author of the study, told Science magazine. Klotho seems to delay many of the effects of old age, like the weakening of bones, clogging of the arteries and loss of muscle fitness. This is important for those researching the causes of ageing, whose intention is not so much to prolong life as to improve the quality of our final years. But there may be downsides with Klotho. The long-lived mice in the new experiments tend to be less fertile. And the gene may also predispose people to diabetes. The trick for researchers will be to find ways of getting the life-enhancing results of Klotho while avoiding the drawbacks.

BBC TV channels to be put on net

New Doctor Who episodes may be available for mobile phones He announced plans for the MyBBCPlayer - which will allow viewers to legally download seven days of programmes - at the Edinburgh Television Festival. He said he hoped the service would launch next year. Mr Thompson said that unless the BBC adapted "we won't deserve or get licence-fee funding beyond 2016... that is very definitely not our plan". A simulcast of BBC One or BBC Two, letting UK viewers see programmes on the web at the same time as they go out on TV, is also planned as part of MyBBCPlayer. 'Sophisticated' viewers "We believe that on-demand changes the terms of the debate, indeed that it will change what we mean by the word 'broadcasting'," said Mr Thompson. "Every creative leader in the BBC is wrestling with the question of what the new technologies and audience behaviours mean for them and their service," he added. "An expanding portion" of the BBC's audio and video material from the archive will also be able to be accessed via MyBBCPlayer. "It should make it easier for users to find the content they want whenever and wherever they want it," Mr Thompson said. Mr Thompson said he hoped the MyBBCPlayer would launch next year The popularity of the BBC's Bitesize revision series and Beethoven symphonies made available via the internet proves that viewers are already "very sophisticated in the use of this media," he said. In a departure from past corporation policy, the player would also enable viewers to buy items via the BBC site. "The idea that in the age of the iPod that the public would not welcome the opportunity to buy a piece of music they heard on the site seems to me to be ridiculous," he said. Mr Thompson said he would be unable to estimate the cost of the MyBBC Player scheme until the government had confirmed a date for digital switchover - when all of the UK's analogue TV signals will be switched off. He also responded to Lord Birt's James MacTaggart Memorial lecture, in which Lord Birt suggested that Channel 4 should receive extra funding to secure its status as a public service broadcaster. Mr Thompson said this aim should not be achieved by giving the channel a share of the BBC's licence fee. "If you want to strengthen public service broadcasting, beginning to unpick the solidity of the BBC funding to shore up other channels is the wrong way to do it," Mr Thompson said. Proposals to make clips available on mobile phones are also being speeded up, director of TV Jana Bennett said last week. The BBC received a "wake-up call" about the demand for new technology in March when the first episode of the new Doctor Who was leaked on to the internet, she said. Internet debuts A BBC spokesman said the corporation was aiming to simulcast a channel permanently but would restrict it to UK viewers only. "These plans are subject to the approval of the board of governors and the resolution of rights clearance issues on content like music and imported shows," he said. As well as the simulcast plan, more shows are set to follow the lead of BBC Three comedy The Mighty Boosh and appear on the internet before TV. Sketch show Titty Bang Bang, sitcom Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps and Johnny Vegas' show Ideal will be made available on the internet first. Clips from the shows will also be made available on mobile phones. The makers of the new Doctor Who series are among the producers who have been developing ways to use mobile phone and portable players. And extra content has been filmed for broadband to accompany BBC One's autumn contemporary Shakespeare series.

Gas prices too high? Try Europe.

When Guy Colombier pulls his economy car up to a Paris pump, he allows himself just 15 Euros ($18) worth of gas - barely enough for three gallons. Since prices started rising rapidly earlier this year, says Mr. Colombier, a printing press worker, "I drive a lot more slowly ... and I'm looking for a place to live closer to where I work." Colombier's pain is shared by drivers all over Europe, where fuel prices are the highest in the world: a gallon of gas in Amsterdam now costs $7.13, compared with just $2.61 in America. The contrast in prices and environmental policies - and the dramatically different behaviors they inspire - signals a widening transatlantic energy gap. And it raises the question: Does Europe offer America a glimpse of its future? Indeed, while Europeans have learned to cope with expensive fuel (mostly due to taxes), there's scant evidence yet that US drivers are adopting their conservation tactics. "Societies adjust over decades to higher fuel prices," says Jos Dings, head of Transport and Energy, a coalition of European environmental NGOs. "They find many mechanisms." Chief among them, say experts, is the habit of driving smaller and more fuel-efficient cars. While the average light duty vehicle on US highways gets 21.6 miles per gallon (m.p.g.), according to a study by the Paris based International Energy Agency (IEA), in Paris, its European counterpart manages 32.1 m.p.g. "European consumers are very sensitive to fuel economy and sophisticated about engine options," says Lew Fulton, a transport analyst with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). "European car magazines are full of comparisons of fuel costs over the life of a vehicle." Europe's cars: 40 percent are diesel That approach has given a special boost to diesel cars, which make up more than 40 percent of European car sales, compared with just 4 percent in the US. Just ahead of Colombier in the line at the gas station Thursday was Nicole Marie, a high school teacher, who was using her husband's diesel Audi, rather than her own gasoline-powered car, to take her daughter to Normandy for a final week of vacation by the sea. "I only use my car in town," she says. "We bought a diesel car deliberately because it is cheaper to run." That is partly because the French government encourages the use of more- efficient diesel fuel by taxing it less heavily. Only in four European countries is diesel more expensive than gasoline, the way it is in America. But efficiency alone does not explain the huge disparity between fuel-use figures on either side of the Atlantic: European per capita consumption of gas and diesel stood at 286 liters a year in 2001, compared to 1,624 in the US, according to IEA figures. The nature of cities plays a role, too. "America has built its entire society around the car, which enabled suburbs," points out Mr. Dings. "European cities have denser centers where cars are often not practical." In Paris, for example, about half the trips people make are by foot, by bicycle, or on public transport, says UNEP's Mr. Fulton. In America, that figure is more like 20 percent. Impact of fuel tax "The single most effective measure" that has brought down motorists' fuel use in Europe, however, is taxation, says Dings. On average, 60 percent of the price European drivers pay at the pump goes to their governments in taxes. In Britain, the government takes 75 percent, and raises taxes by 5 percent above inflation every year (though it has forgone this year's rise in view of rocketing oil prices, and the French government has promised tax rebates this year to taxi drivers, truckers, fishermen, and others who depend heavily on gasoline.) On August 8, for example, the price of gas in the US, without taxes, would be $2.17, instead of $2.56; in Britain, it would be $1.97, instead of $6.06. "There is really good evidence that higher prices reduce traffic," says Stephen Glaister, a professor of transportation at London's Imperial College. "If fuel prices go up 10 percent ... fuel consumed goes down by about 7 percent, as people start to use fuel more efficiently, not accelerating so aggressively and switching to more fuel-efficient cars. It does change people's behavior." The US authorities, however, "are unwilling to use resource price as part of their strategy" to conserve oil, says Lee Schipper, head of transportation research at the Washington-based World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank. "The biggest hole in our policy today is fuel taxation," he adds. "Tax increases are something Americans should do but don't know how to do, and I wonder if they will ever be able to. "Consumers want muscle cars, manufacturers say they make what the consumer wants, and the government panders to both constituencies," Mr. Schipper continues. "It's a vicious cycle." Europeans may drive smaller cars, but there are few signs that the current record gas prices are making them drive less. Germans who live close to the Czech Republic can drive across the border to take advantage of the lowest prices in Europe, but most people "cannot react to [the prices] because they still need to drive a lot," says Jürgen Albrecht, an official with Germany's largest auto club, the ADAC. "I can't say I'm not going to drive the 50 kilometers [31 miles] to work because of the high gas prices. It doesn't work that way." "Most people have no alternative, particularly those who live in rural areas," says Paul Hodgson of the RAC, the British motoring association. "A lot of motorists tell us that if there was a decent and affordable public transport system they would use that ... but we are still a long way from having an alternative." Prices vary widely across Europe. The Greeks, for example, are getting off comparatively lightly, with just $4.32 a gallon. But they're not exactly celebrating. On the Greek isles, where almost everything comes in by boat, residents are hit even harder by rising fuel prices. "Whatever you do, it all comes back to gasoline," huffs Dimitra Vogiatzi, who sells produce on the far-flung island of Patmos, as she slams closed her massive ledger. Ms. Vogiatzi has been obliged to raise her prices, and more and more of her customers are buying on credit, she complains. "Imagine if we need a doctor, or someone has to have a baby," she adds. "All the boat fares, coming and going - isn't that gasoline?" Though shipping costs in the Aegean may remain high, European Union regulations are forcing vehicle manufacturers to make their products even more efficient than they already are. Though their primary motivation is to reduce CO2 emissions, in line with targets set by the Kyoto Protocol, bio-fuel and hybrid cars are still so rare that increased fuel efficiency is the fastest route to lower emissions, says Dolf Gielen, an expert at the IEA. CO2 emissions from new European cars fell by 12 percent from 1995 to 2003, according to Mr. Gielen, and manufacturers have voluntarily pledged to reduce them by a further 14 per cent by 2008, he adds. European governments are proposing tax breaks to encourage motorists to take advantage of these possibilities. Belgian drivers who buy a low-emissions vehicle get a 15 percent price rebate; Spain cuts $865 from the cost of registering a car if it replaces a car using leaded gas more than 10 years old; Hungary waives registration tax for hybrid cars. End of the road for SUVs? Though US vehicles' fuel efficiency has improved greatly over the past 30 years, overall consumption has risen in the past decade because consumers and manufacturers have used the leeway offered by the new technology to buy and build bigger and more powerful vehicles, experts say. Environmentalists wonder whether the current price spike in gas prices might lead to a lasting change in US behavior. "The exciting thing now is that we are almost at the real high point of prices in 1981," says Mr. Schipper. "We'll see if American manufacturers, authorities, and drivers realize that these prices may now be locked in." "Sales of big SUVs have been dropping in the last few months," points out Fulton. "We are now at the point where people believe this is real and they are reacting. The longer it goes on, the more they will react." • Mark Rice-Oxley in London, Andreas Tzortzis in Berlin, and John Thorne in Patmos contributed to this article.

MPAA sifts through tracker logs for lawsuit ammo

When popular BitTorrent tracker sites were targeted last December, some wondered if the tracker logs and other data would fall into the hands of the Motion Picture Association of America. The answer was revealed yesterday when the MPAA filed 286 lawsuits against US residents, and the information that led to the defendants' identification was obtained from torrent site logs. So did the torrent site operators give up the goods? It looks like that may be the case, depending on how you interpret a comment made by an MPAA executive. "Internet movie thieves be warned: You have no friends in the online community when you are engaging in copyright theft," MPAA Senior Vice President John Malcom said in a statement. When LokiTorrent was shut down in February, a Texas court ordered that its logs be turned over to the MPAA. However, the MPAA states that the latest lawsuits did not stem from that particular enforcement action. Don't be surprised if there is another round of lawsuits in the next few months tied to the LokiTorrent takedown. It has been a rough summer for the movie industry. Ticket sales have been down as the moviegoing public has been turned off by the poor quality of Hollywood's recent offerings along with high ticket prices, movies that don't start at the advertised times, and outrageous concession prices. In short, the movie industry is finding itself in the same boat that the music industry did a few years ago. Although the MPAA will continue to attack file-sharing and likely continue down the same litigious road the RIAA has traveled, they're not fooling anyone—least of all, themselves—if they think continued crackdowns on illicit downloads are going to help fix what's wrong with the movie industry. The problems go far deeper than that, and it's only through rethinking their whole business model, acknowledging and even embracing changing consumer preferences, and doing some things differently that they have any hope of reversing their fortunes.

Truly, It Was a Whopper, but Are There Bigger Fish?

HAT KHRAI, Thailand - The monster fish announced itself with four huge whacks of its tail, thrashing against the net that had trapped it in the pale brown water of the Mekong River. It was a rare giant catfish the size of a grizzly bear, and it took five boatmen an hour to pull it in and 10 men to lift it when they reached the shore in this remote village in northern Thailand. Only after their catch had been chopped into pieces and sold did they learn how special it was. At nine feet in length and weighing 646 pounds, it may be the biggest freshwater fish ever recorded. But in one of the world's more surprising mysteries, nobody really knows which is the biggest species of fish lurking under the waters of the Mekong or the Amazon or the Yangtze or the Congo or the Colorado or Lake Baikal.

Iraq, still divided after three deadlines

AFP Demonstrating against the constitution AFTER three deadlines and painful negotiations, Iraq finally has a draft constitution, endorsed by leaders of Iraq's Kurds and Shias. Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani (a Kurd), said in a ceremony on Sunday August 28th that only the Koran is perfect, but the constitution was “the first of its kind, written by representatives of important Iraqi factions”. But Sunni Arab leaders, who object to crucial provisions in the constitution, said the document was a failure and could provoke civil war. Officially, the draft had been due on Thursday. But the negotiators took several more days to try—ultimately unsuccessfully—to reach consensus. Thursday night's deadline came after a three-day extension the drafters had given themselves on Monday. And Monday's deadline was itself an extension from the previous Monday. All of this delaying was in an attempt to get the Sunnis, who dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein, on board. Many of the contentious issues had been settled by Thursday. For example, Islam is to be “a basic source” of Iraqi law, reflecting a compromise between religious Shias who wanted it to be the main source, and secular Iraqis (including most of the Kurds) who preferred to have weaker references to Islam. Clerics will be allowed to serve on the supreme court, but they will not constitute a majority. But while the religion issue has been settled, provisions in the constitution for a federal system of government remain unacceptable to the Sunnis. The draft hands considerable powers to the provinces. It also allows provinces to join together into regions. The Kurds have controlled an enclave in northern Iraq since the first Gulf War in 1991. The Sunnis accept that they will continue to do so, but they are much less relaxed about the potential ambitions of the Shias, who are the biggest ethnic group in Iraq by some way. Sunnis fear an Iraq dominated by a Shia super-region. But since the Shias are a majority in Iraq, they would dominate any centralised government. So why are many Shias for federalism and many Sunnis for centralisation? One reason is oil revenues. The Kurdish-dominated north and the Shia-heavy south sit on nearly all of Iraq's known oil and gas. Some Sunnis feared that federalism would cut them out of a fair share of this. Here, the Shias and Kurds compromised. The constitution calls for revenues from the country's existing oilfields to be shared according to the population of each province. Revenue from new discoveries would belong to the province under which the oil lies. This was seen as the best possible split between the haves and the have-nots. But Sunnis—and some of the Shias that follow Muqtada al-Sadr, a radical cleric—see other problems with federalism. Sunnis despise the Badr Forces, a militia allied to the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), one of the two main Shia parties in the current government. SCIRI is close to Iran; many of its leaders spent much of the Saddam era in the Islamic Republic next door. And the Badr Forces fought alongside Iran during the long Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. Some observers worry that a Shia super-region in southern Iraq would be a foothold for Iranian influence. So the constitutional deal struck between the Shias and Kurds has left the Sunni Arabs feeling coerced. “The streets will rise up,” predicted Salih Mutlak, one of their negotiators, over the proposed federal system. Indeed, on Friday thousands of Sunnis marched in Baquba against the constitution (as did thousands of Mr Sadr's Shia followers in eight cities including Baghdad). A referendum on the constitution is expected to take place in October, in advance of general elections in December. If two-thirds of voters in at least three provinces reject the document, it will fail, and the general election will produce another transitional government, tasked with picking up the pieces and pushing through a new version. Sunni leaders are encouraging their followers to come to the polls—and more surprisingly, several militia groups, both Shia and Sunni, have been urging their supporters to do the same. This apparent willingness to fight the constitution at the ballot box, rather than with bombs, is a step in the right direction. Sunnis are thought to have a majority in four provinces, but it is not clear whether they can achieve the necessary two-thirds majority in three. The Sunni provinces are also home to much of the current violence. If this prevents voters from turning out, the constitution will appear even more to the Sunnis like a product made almost entirely without their input. This would remove one of the rationales—pushed by the Bush administration—for setting the August deadline for drafting the document: that it would sap the Sunni insurgency that continues to take a toll on American troops and, in far greater numbers still, Iraqis. With American nerves fraying, George Bush has his eye on the home front as well as Iraq itself. Just 34% of those answering a recent Newsweek poll approve of the president's handling of the war. And a CBS poll found that 59% thought Iraq was not worth the loss of so many American lives. Even Mr Bush's supporters are starting to wonder. “By any standard, we're not winning [in Iraq],” said Chuck Hagel, a Republican senator believed to be nursing presidential ambitions. The current constitutional exercise will be one of the key determinants of overall success or failure. If it works, Iraq may set a hopeful precedent for the entire Middle East, marking a big step forward in Mr Bush's campaign to spread democracy to the region. If it fails, it could mark the complete collapse of America's Iraqi experiment.

Squirrel helps with mobile calls

By Luke Alexander BBC News The squirrel uses body language and movement to communicate There are few things more intrusive than a mobile phone ringtone. Yet, despite the existence of answer phones and voice mail, a ringing phone remains impossible to ignore. Whether we are having a private conversation, snowed under with work, or just not in the mood to speak to anyone, the phone keeps ringing. MIT research student Stefan Marti may have the answer: ditch your mobile phone, and get a squirrel. Specifically, an animatronic desktop squirrel which deals with your calls for you. The squirrel answers phone calls, works out if you are busy or asleep, evaluates how important the incoming call is and takes messages. When it wants to alert its owner to a call, it waves and moves about rather than making a sound. And, it is ridiculously cute. Emotional intelligence Currently, the squirrel prototype needs to communicate with a computer and so is tied to a physical location, but there is no reason that the technology could not eventually fit into something the size of a mobile phone. HOW THE SQUIRREL WORKS See how the cellular squirrel deals with calls In pictures In previous incarnations, the device has been a bunny and a parrot. The idea, says Mr Marti, is to dress the technology up as something which we would be happy talking down to. "If you have a less intelligent metaphor that you base your interface on, humans are less likely to be disappointed with the limits of the interaction," he told the BBC News website. The key principle behind the Autonomous Interactive Intermediary (AII), or "cellular squirrel", is that machines should display what psychologists call social or emotional intelligence. In other words, a computer should be able to communicate information in a way which is responsive to the social situations around it. Mobile phones were the perfect candidate for this approach, says Mr Marti. "Since we are using it on the go, our social settings are changing continuously, but our mobile communication devices do not adapt." Everyday stress Technology generally is getting more demanding and taking greater advantage of our day to day reliance on the its functions. Increasing use of computers at work has lead to greater stress On a PC, If a program wants to attract our attention, it will flash at us relentlessly until we look at it. Digital TVs pester us with instructions to press red buttons. The result of this is higher stress, shorter fuses, anger and even resentment towards the machines we use every day. Technology was supposed to make our life easier, faster and smarter. And while the power of technology has increased, the way it fits into our lives has barely changed. Mr Marti thinks the future will see us levelling the playing field, and interacting with the technology around is in the same way we interact with each other. To achieve this, future technology needs to "have a deeper understanding of how humans like to interact, what humans want, and eventually what humanity stands for," he said. "This includes our immediate context, our thinking and our goals, but also our morals and ethics." Sensible interaction Mobile phone use is a major cause of stress on holiday Sooner or later, Mr Marti suggests, either technology will disappear completely into our lives, or get so complex that the only sensible interaction with it is through agents such as the cellular squirrel. But there are still technologies, he argues, which just do not need to be improved, such as the lift or elevator. "Although we have had speech recognition for some time now, elevators still have push buttons. It just doesn't make any sense to introduce a more complex interface when what we have is already completely appropriate." "You can make it behave in a socially intelligent way, such as speeding up for emergencies, slowing down when the conversation in the elevator seems to be interesting, stopping at the usual floors for passengers - all things that are technically possible today." "For some tasks, though, pressing a button to initiate a certain procedure is better than getting involved in a philosophical discussion with a wise-ass elevator about who is most important in the lift and needs to get where first." Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable version

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Birt attacks 'easy cruelty' of tabloid Britain

Lord Birt, the prime minister's "blue skies thinker" and former BBC director general, last night challenged the "tabloidisation" of British intellectual life and said the media had become too reliant on "easy cruelty" and "the desire to humiliate". Delivering the keynote MacTaggart lecture at the Media Guardian Edinburgh international television festival, he seized on the trend for celebrities to front documentaries and factual programmes. "Let us not tabloidise our intellectual life. Let's skew the balance back towards scholarship ... Leave the celebrities for the jungle." Picking up the threads of arguments he has doggedly sustained throughout a career that took him from LWT to the BBC, he called for "more truth and beauty" in broadcasting. Lord Birt claimed that the media was still too superficial in its political reporting and "obsessed not with policy but with personality". And, in a criticism that echoes those elements of the Labour government who blame the media for the surge in political apathy among the electorate, he said he was "weary of cynicism". "Public service broadcasting would serve the nation better if it shifted the balance of its political journalism towards depth of analysis; towards insight and substance; towards honest, patient inquiry." He also singled out television drama for criticism. He said that while drama was "perfectly professional", much of it was uninspiring and unfulfilling. Viewers now had to look to the cinema for "the raw author's voice" in films such as Alex Payne's Sideways and Paul Haggis's Crash. "Today's drama practitioners ought to rent a great skip and throw away the stereotypes and the formulae," he urged, in his first major speech on broadcasting since he left the BBC five years ago. Twelve years after the late Dennis Potter stood on the same podium and lambasted Lord Birt as a "croak-voiced dalek" who was destroying the soul of the BBC, the peer used the speech to draw a comparison between his contribution to the corporation's legacy and that of its founder, Lord Reith. Given the pace of technological change and the impending shift to digital TV by 2012, he identified an "intensifying threat to the UK's extraordinarily successful tradition of public service broadcasting". He predicted the death of ITV as a public service broadcaster "in any meaningful sense", in a world where it was losing share to multichannel rivals. Meanwhile, Channel 4 would need financial help to face "a tide that cannot be held back" - likely to be taken as a coded argument for the BBC to share its licence fee with C4. Laying out his policy vision to preserve public service broadcasting in a multichannel age, he warned that Channel 4 faced extinction unless policy makers came up with a radical new model to fund it. He called for a "brand new model" to sustain public service competition with the BBC in the digital world. Lord Birt said that the corporation "has at times become transfixed by its commercial competition and paid insufficient attention to the need to serve its many different audiences". Lord Birt led the BBC for eight years from December 1992, during which time he faced criticism for his management style, but was also seen as securing the corporation's legacy with a generous licence fee settlement and the launch of digital channels and websites. Last night, he boasted of "taking a bloated and wasteful institution and halving its costs in 10 years", "positioning the BBC for the digital age while other broadcasters dozed" and persuading Margaret Thatcher not to break up the corporation. Lord Birt revealed that after 18 years, he had repaired his feud with the BBC chairman, Michael Grade.

Divine and rule

I ask Alastair what was the best thing about being educated in this way. "I could study the word of God every day rather than defending it every day," he states. What did he feel he missed by not being in school? "Temptation," he says, and stops. Alastair is now a tall, formally dressed young man with a direct gaze and a firm handshake, who works for Christian Education Europe. The organisation aims to encourage more families to do as Alastair's parents did and withdraw children from state schools to bring them up as passionate Christians. "Reaching the world for Christ, one child at a time" is its motto. Although few people outside evangelical churches have even heard of it, more than 500 families in Britain are currently educating their children at home with the curriculum that Alastair's family used. Accelerated Christian Education was developed in the 1970s by American fundamentalists, but its popularity is now growing in the UK, and not only among home-schooling families - more than 50 schools in Britain are using it. The main teaching tools are booklets relating to each subject - the children read a section and then fill in a questionnaire. When I visit the office for Christian Education Europe, in Swindon, I meet one of the directors, Arthur Roderick, who tells me with great gusto that they are getting more and more inquiries every year. "More people understand why we do this now. Black is getting blacker and white is getting whiter," he says, with the rolling rhetoric that betrays his long experience as a preacher. Roderick points to two big maps on his office wall, one dotted with red stars to show the location of ACE schools and one studded with blue pins to show ACE home-schooling families. They are like the maps of a military manoeuvre and the stars and pins are everywhere. "They go from the wilds of Scotland to the middle of London," as Roderick puts it. But he isn't yet satisfied, feeling that too many people are choosing this kind of education just because they dislike the state system. "The flood will come," he says, "when God touches more people to do it for positive reasons." Much concern has been expressed about independent faith schools in Britain lately, but the anxiety is always concentrated on independent Muslim schools and what children are learning there. Independent Christian schools, on the other hand, are pretty much ignored. The chief inspector of schools, David Bell, for example, recently criticised independent Muslim schools for failing to teach tolerance of other cultures. But after he had made that speech, his office released information that showed evangelical Christian schools are actually even less successful at that task. Legislation lays down that independent schools can go their own way in many things - they do not have to abide by the national curriculum - but they must "assist pupils to acquire an appreciation of and respect for their own and other cultures, in a way that promotes tolerance and harmony", and of the 40 evangelical Christian schools that were not yet fully registered by Ofsted, 18 had failed on that count. The evangelical schools that I visit have, in fact, been deemed to succeed in that requirement, even though they do not see it as their brief to talk about other faiths at all. Where other faiths, or even branches of the same faith, are discussed in the ACE booklets, the tone is telling. One social studies booklet on Martin Luther and the Reformation, for instance, is critical of the Catholic church in the 16th century and also, by implication, today, using such words as "idolatry" and "superstitious nonsense" to characterise supposedly Catholic teachings, and inviting children to underline the "correct" Protestant beliefs. At the Maranatha Christian School near Swindon, 60 children are taught with ACE, which emphasises at every turn that evangelical Christianity is the only route to the truth. In this way it differs fundamentally from the education provided at state faith schools, which put religious education alongside the national curriculum - and can accept children from other faiths and employ teachers from other faiths. At Maranatha, all the families and teachers are literally singing from the same hymn sheet. The school building is an old farmhouse near Swindon, in a picture-postcard village on the hills. If you wandered into any of the classrooms here during an ordinary weekday, the first thing to strike you would simply be the absolute quietness that reigns under the big posters stating: "God loves the sparrow," or "God made everything in heaven and earth." The children in these classrooms, who are aged all the way up to 18, are sitting at individual desks facing the wall, with high dividers between them so that each has to work alone. This is a characteristic of ACE - discussion with fellow students or a teacher is not encouraged and the pupil studies, in silence, the booklets which begin with Bible verses and thread homilies on good Christian morals through every subject. Leah, a 13-year-old girl with a ready smile and her hair in pretty clips, moved from a state school to this establishment three years ago. "I had mixed feelings but now I like it a lot," she says. "Sometimes I miss my old friends but I don't think I'd like it at their school - the peer pressure and everything." I pick up from her desk a booklet bearing the word "science" on its cover and open it at random. "I'm certain that you will be very interested in learning about God's creation of Earth for human existence. In his loving kindness our Heavenly Father has provided for all your needs from His earthly creation," reads the first paragraph I see. Some British state schools have been criticised for putting the creation and evolution as equivalent viewpoints in religious education lessons, but for children at ACE schools the literal interpretation of Genesis permeates everything they are taught. And for the parents who choose schools like this, such literal use of the Bible is the draw. Tom Price has five children at the school, and loves that they are being taught that the six-day creation story is a fact. "Evolution removes God from the world. But I see God's hand in everything. I see purpose and design," he enthuses. Price is a lay preacher in a Pentecostal church, Assemblies of God. "I don't want to have to undo and unpick what they are taught at school." In addition to frequent incursions of the Bible, ACE also delivers a pretty solid, old-fashioned grounding in other areas. It begins with reading based on the newly fashionable synthetic phonics, and moves on to other core school subjects - maths, history, geography, physics, languages and so on. What stands out is the traditional delivery of the information with none of the role-play and speculation of current mainstream curricula. This is all about getting your head around the "facts" then retelling those "facts" in multiple choice and fill-in-the-blanks tests. Although that means children learn the basics in a way that many state-educated pupils may not, it also means they do not learn to question anything they are taught. Harry Brighouse, professor of philosophy and education policy studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, has watched the expansion of ACE in America with distaste. "It is a crude curriculum. It doesn't encourage questioning or individual thought - it is very much based on rote learning." What is undeniably attractive about this curriculum - even for the sceptical observer - is the way that it moves at the same pace as the child. With ACE, children are assessed on entry and progress at their own speed, working through booklets and doing the tests at the end of each one before they can move on to the next. They work mainly alone, but if they get stuck they put a little flag up in their cubicle and a supervisor will help out. This flexible pace with its built-in checks can clearly work for children who have fallen through gaps in the state system. One of the parents I meet at Maranatha, Sharon McGowan, has four children at the school. It was the experience of her nine-year-old son that made her turn to Maranatha. During his first year at state school he had a new teacher who had no idea how to teach; during the second year his teacher was off sick and he had a succession of supply tutors. He began to fail. "He really struggled," Sharon says. "He was a proud little boy and when he had to start special classes it had a real effect on his self-esteem. I was worried that he would compensate with difficult behaviour, and I could see that starting to happen." Within one year of starting at Maranatha he had caught up. "He's blossomed." Although Sharon's husband's work is now likely to take them away from Swindon, Sharon is so keen on ACE that she intends to educate all her children at home with it. Another parent, Des Starritt, tells me that one reason he wanted to withdraw his children from state school is that they were given books about witchcraft there. At first I don't understand, but then I click - he means books by JK Rowling or Philip Pullman. "We would not put Harry Potter in the school library," says Paul Medlock, the Maranatha headmaster. "It is a book without proper values," says Ben Pike. "It treats witchcraft lightly." Pike is one of the trustees of the school, a 32-year-old who works for an IT training company and has three sons at the school. He emphasises that the parents support the school's message. "We come from a range of backgrounds here," he says, "but we have all put our trust in Christ to be our Lord and saviour." The range of backgrounds is not actually that great at Maranatha; almost all the families are white, tending to the less affluent end of the middle class. In London, ACE schools tend to be established by independent churches with Afro-Caribbean congregations. One such school, the East London Christian Choir School, in Hackney, was set up just a year ago and has a very different setting from the bucolic beauty of Maranatha. An apparently derelict old council building has been carefully done up to provide a small church, offices, cybercafe, and three classrooms, inside which 30 children are working in the distinctive ACE style. "Good morning, Pastor George. Good morning, Miss," they chorus, turning as I come through the door with their headmaster. This school, church and community centre are the creation of two pastors, Maxine and George Hargreaves, who have a vision for this deprived community. George Hargreaves is a charismatic, articulate man in his late 40s, who recently stood for election for the fundamentalist Christian political party, Operation Christian Vote. He recognises that one of the main reasons children are finding their way to this school is that the state system is failing them. "The fact that even Diane Abbott, our MP, had to take her son out of the state schools shows you what it is like for black children in Hackney," he says. ACE schools are much cheaper than other independent schools: the reliance on pen-and-paper learning cuts out the need for big investment in resources - they tend not to have science labs, for instance - and the staff (who are often not qualified teachers) are propelled by belief in God to work for very little. By keeping their fees low - this school charges less than £4,000 a year - they provide an alternative to the state system for people who might otherwise have no alternative. Undoubtedly it works for some. One 14-year-old boy here had behavioural problems that had led to his exclusion from a previous school. "But when we actually got the report from that school," says Maxine, "which followed him quite late, we couldn't believe it. He had only been with us for a few months, but it was as though they were describing a different human being. I believe he could go to university." Later I meet the boy she is talking about, working through a booklet giving him comprehension and handwriting practice. "I like working like this," he says of the solitary space around him. "It helps me to concentrate. It was hard to work at my old school." A couple of the parents are in the classrooms on the morning I visit, and they talk about the way the children are kept free of the peer pressure and low expectations that can have such a negative effect on black children in state schools. Connie Solwah, a former lawyer who works in beauty consultancy, tells me that she moved her nine-year-old daughter out of a state faith school because she felt her potential was not being recognised. "I think it was partly about racism. It isn't easy for me to meet the fees here but it's worth it for what will come out eventually. I want her to develop herself and get the chance to spread out her potential and character." I can see that here the staff strive to give children a sense of pride. But their learning is shaped by the narrowest interpretation of the Bible with all the preconceptions of this religious bias, including a very particular approach to sex education. Maxine responds first when I ask the Hargreaves about the subject. "We talk to the older girls about virginity," she says. George takes up the theme. "We tell them that the blood shed when virginity is broken on the marriage bed is part of the blood covenant made between you and your husband under God, and if the blood is shed elsewhere it will weaken the covenant." A few moments later, George reaches into his pocket for a tiny pink plastic doll foetus, and drops it into my hand: "180,000 babies like that are killed every year in Britain. That is what happens when you take sex out of God's order." For parents who mistrust mainstream education, the ACE system provides the means to avoid it completely. The curriculum is easy for parents to use at home because all the information is contained in the booklets, which also provide self-tests and which progress neatly from level to level. And by withdrawing children from school altogether, of course, parents can exercise even more control over what their children think and read and say. I watch Arthur Roderick play to that desire for control when he speaks at a seminar for ACE home-schooling families. "The deepest temptation is up here," he says fiercely, pointing to his forehead. "Philosophical pollution is all around them." Beverley England, who is in the small audience of parents, has already made the choice to save her family from such pollution. She has educated her six children, aged from 20 to two, at home with ACE. Beverley, who found Jesus as a teenager, never wanted her children to leave her home in order to enter the secular system. "I didn't worry that they might be isolated," she tells me. "I knew that if God wanted us to do this he would provide, and he has brought friends to us." Sean, Beverley's second oldest child, is wearing a baseball cap and jeans, playing jazz piano in another schoolroom while keeping half an eye on some of the younger children. His parents made sure that music and sport went alongside the core ACE curriculum - and he is very positive about his education. "It helped me to motivate myself - I'm a really competitive person and learning to set goals for yourself was really good for me," he says easily. Sean has a ready smile and an easy articulacy; there is a confidence about him that I also pick up from other older children in this system. Although there is clearly a danger that children educated with ACE, especially at home, could end up unsocialised, it seems to me after meeting a few of them that they are no less socialised than the average product of a mainstream education system that tips a whole lot of 13-year-olds into a classroom together and expects them to get on. Sean, for instance, found friends in his neighbourhood through church and sport and music - the way that adults make friends, through shared interests. Although ACE-educated children do not take GCSE or A-levels, their own qualification, the International Certificate of Christian Education, is now recognised by more and more universities and colleges, so they have the chance to enter mainstream further education. Aside from Sean, who is planning to become a professional musician, I meet other successful ACE alumni, including the son of the headmaster of Maranatha School, Matthew Medlock, a graduate from Durham University who wants to work as a sports journalist. And I hear of ACE children who go on to enter various mainstream occupations, from nursing to IT - or, of course, to "do the Lord's work" themselves, like Alastair Kirk. But I am mindful that, as a journalist, I am unlikely to be introduced to the children who lost out in this system, who rebelled against it, or who felt trapped within it. Because the question still burns about how this kind of education can possibly prepare children to make their own intellectual choices. In the US, where ACE is a much bigger force, that is really what exercises its critics. One American educationalist who is hostile to fundamentalist Christian education, David Berliner of Arizona University, has complained that in ACE schools "nearly all speculative activities about the world and the human condition have been purged from the curriculum and so, therefore, have all of the teaching methodologies that promote speculation." A style of education that discourages doubt and debate clearly poses a question for the rest of society. As David Berliner says to me, "Their educational system is closer to ultrafundamentalism than is healthy for a democracy." Yet ACE schools are independent, they ask for no state support, and families who choose to educate their children at home do so in the face of indifference or hostility from local authorities. Aren't they just exercising their own right to free choice as to how their children should be educated? So long as their children reach a reasonable standard of learning, has anyone the right to interfere? Ben Rogers, the associate director of the thinktank Institute for Public Policy Research, produced a recent report, What Is Religious Education For? which argued that discussion of atheism and agnosticism should be included within religious education for all children. "There is this view that parents own their children," he says. "Nobody owns kids. Children aren't yours to control, you hold them in trust, and you should cultivate certain qualities in them, including the ability to understand the value of different points of view." The future is likely to see more of this debate, since most of the people I interviewed believed that independent fundamentalist education is set to spread in the UK, partly because of the inspiration evangelical Christians seem to take from what's happening across the Atlantic. Ben Pike talked wistfully to me at Maranatha School about the way that evangelical churches in the US have managed to bring so many children into their independent schools and home-schooling networks. "America provides us with a vision for the future," he says. In the US evangelicals have effectively created a parallel system of education which has schooled hundreds of thousands of pupils in its messianic world view and the evangelical social and political agenda has moved into the mainstream. Evangelical Christianity is far from being such a force in Britain, but it is clearly the desire of many of those I met that it should become so. They are being inspired by the growing confidence of other faith groups. Supporters of ACE talked admiringly of Muslims who make it clear they do not wish to join the mainstream. Fundamentalist Christians point enviously to the fact that more children are currently educated in Muslim independent schools than independent evangelical Christian schools - about 14,000 compared with about 5,000 - and independent Muslim schools are growing more quickly. Rather than confronting this sectarianism with a call to inclusiveness, they would like to react with further sectarianism of their own. The goal is a more, rather than less, divided society. "Christians have been leaving it to the government to decide on their values, while Muslims have said, 'This is mine, this is my culture, this is who I am'," says Maxine Hargreaves. "Now we Christians are saying that we want to defend our culture, too. We want to take back our children."

Deforestation of Amazon 'halved'

By Tom Gibb BBC News, Sao Paulo Brazil is thought to have the greatest biodiversity on Earth The government says it believes this is the result of new protection policies. But environmental groups warn it is too soon to be sure there has been a long-term reversal in the destruction of the world's largest rainforest. Environment Minister Marina da Silva said some 9,000 sq km (3,475 sq miles) of forest was felled in the last year. This compares with more than 18,000 sq km (6,950 sq miles) in 2003 to 2004. Ms Silva said she believed this fall was the result of not only greater government control but also because of more emphasis on sustainable development projects. Illegal logging crackdown However, environmental groups, while welcoming the fall, are still treating the announcement with caution. The figures, they say, are still estimates from satellite images which, because of cloud cover, have a 20% margin of error. They say a fall in soy prices may also have had an impact, with farmers no longer clearing land. Finally, they point out that most of the fall in deforestation occurred over a two-month period in June and July this year, when the army and police mounted unusually large operations against illegal logging. Greenpeace said it was too soon to talk about a long-term slowing of the destruction of the forest, warning that illegal loggers may just be biding their time. The only firm conclusion, the group said, was that when the government decides to mount major operations against illegal loggers, this does have a positive short-term effect.

Trees don't suck up carbon dioxide as hoped : Nature News

Published online 25 August 2005 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news050822-7 News Forests do not get a growth spurt from greenhouse gas. Trees in Switzerland didn't grow more when doused with carbon dioxide - but no one knows if the same would hold true elsewhere. © Punchstock Trees don't seem to grow any faster when given an exrtra dose of carbon dioxide, Swiss scientists have found. Their study could shatter the widespread belief that rising concentrations of carbon dioxide may be kept partly in check by blossoming plant growth. Some researchers have suggested that as carbon dioxide levels rise, plants will thrive on the gas, which they use to photosynthesize; trees may be prompted to grow faster and grasses to spread, for example, which would help to suck up some of the excess carbon dioxide. But a study of a large patch of deciduous forest near Basel in Switzerland, which has been artificially sprayed with excess carbon dioxide for years, has shown no such increase in growth. "Some scientists and politicians cling to the idea that a carbon-dioxide-rich future might favour the greening of planet Earth. It's time to disillusion them," says Christian Körner, a plant ecologist at the University of Basel who led the study. "What remains is the greenhouse gas effect," he adds. Simulating the future The team artificially created sustained carbon-dioxide-rich conditions in the patch measuring 500 square metres by spraying pure carbon dioxide into the canopy of about a dozen mature deciduous trees. Each day during the six-month annual growth season, the scientists sprayed two tons of extra carbon dioxide, from industrial waste, into the canopy. This simulated an atmosphere loaded with about 530 ppm of carbon dioxide, roughly 1.5 times what exists today. But after four years the researchers found no signs of enhanced biomass growth in stems or leaves, they report in Science1. The trees had merely pumped the extra carbon through their bodies, quickly re-releasing it through root and soil microbe respiration; there was no lasting effect on growth and photosynthesis. To rule out confounding factors, the team determined the extent of natural variations in tree growth, with the help of the tree-ring record, during a two-year pre-treatment study. They were also careful to select a multi-species forest in the middle of its life that is widely undisturbed by human interference. Given the limited duration and extent of the experiment, it is too early to say whether the results can be generalized, says Körner. The team was unable to include conifers in their study, for example. It also remains to be seen whether a fraction of all this extra carbon might be stored in the soil rather than in the trees. If so, there may still be cause to think that forests will suck up more carbon dioxide in a warming world. Branching out Körner says his carbon-dioxide fertilization technique should be applied in three or four large experiments in different vegetation zones, from boreal forests to tropical rain forests, with an international board of scientists overseeing the studies. "This is the only way to settle the fundamental question of how changes in the air affect the bulk of the Earth's biomass," he says. ADVERTISEMENT The results of some previous small-scale experiments have suggested that carbon-dioxide enrichment does stimulate plant growth. Yadvinder Mahli, for example, a plant ecologist at the University of Oxford, found a small biomass increase in the Amazon rain forest over the past 25 years (ref 2). How much of this can be attributed to increased carbon dioxide is unknown, however. "The Swiss study is fantastic in terms of methodology and species mix," says Mahli. But it is too early to come to general conclusions, he says. "A similar experiment in tropical forests should definitely become a top priority." University of Basel

After the Ladder

August 2005 Thirty years ago, one was supposed to work one's way up the corporate ladder. That's less the rule now. Our generation wants to get paid up front. Instead of developing a product for some big company in the expectation of getting job security in return, we develop the product ourselves, in a startup, and sell it to the big company. At the very least we want options. Among other things, this shift has created the appearance of a rapid increase in economic inequality. But really the two cases are not as different as they look in economic statistics. Economic statistics are misleading because they ignore the value of safe jobs. An easy job from which one can't be fired is worth money; exchanging the two is one of the commonest forms of corruption. A sinecure is, in effect, an annuity. Except sinecures don't appear in economic statistics. If they did, it would be clear that in practice socialist countries have nontrivial disparities of wealth, because they usually have a class of powerful bureaucrats who are paid mostly by seniority and can never be fired. While not a sinecure, a position on the corporate ladder was genuinely valuable, because big companies tried not to fire people, and promoted from within based largely on seniority. A position on the corporate ladder had a value analogous to the "goodwill" that is a very real element in the valuation of companies. It meant one could expect future high paying jobs. One of main causes of the decay of the corporate ladder is the trend for takeovers that began in the 1980s. Why waste your time climbing a ladder that might disappear before you reach the top? And, by no coincidence, the corporate ladder was one of the reasons the early corporate raiders were so successful. It's not only economic statistics that ignore the value of safe jobs. Corporate balance sheets do too. One reason it was profitable to carve up 1980s companies and sell them for parts was that they hadn't formally acknowledged their implicit debt to employees who had done good work and expected to be rewarded with high-paying executive jobs when their time came. In the movie Wall Street, Gordon Gekko ridicules a company overloaded with vice presidents. But the company may not be as corrupt as it seems; those VPs' cushy jobs were probably payment for work done earlier. I like the new model better. For one thing, it seems a bad plan to treat jobs as rewards. Plenty of good engineers got made into bad managers that way. And the old system meant people had to deal with a lot more corporate politics, in order to protect the work they'd invested in a position on the ladder. The big disadvantage of the new system is that it involves more risk. If you develop ideas in a startup instead of within a big company, any number of random factors could sink you before you can finish. But maybe the older generation would laugh at me for saying that the way we do things is riskier. After all, projects within big companies were always getting cancelled as a result of arbitrary decisions from higher up. My father's entire industry (breeder reactors) disappeared that way. For better or worse, the idea of the corporate ladder is probably gone for good. The new model seems more liquid, and more efficient. But it is less of a change, financially, than one might think. Our fathers weren't that stupid. Romanian Translation Japanese Translation

Le site informatique spécialiste map et localisation

Google Maps est une application de cartographie. Il est devenu impossible de se perdre. Google Maps donne à tous les PC, tablettes et smartphones un plan détaillé des rues avoisinantes, et conseille des itinéraires. Sur les pages d’accueil des sites de commerce ou de services, Google Maps peut guider les clients. Google Maps : fonctionnalités et intérêts pour votre site Avec Google Maps, vous pouvez vous situer sur une carte, plane ou en relief, avoir la carte des transports en commun et des pistes cyclables, connaître l’état du trafic. Vous pouvez rechercher tout type de commerce ou de service, et connaître les avis des consommateurs. Google Maps sert couramment à la navigation GPS par smartphone, et permet de calculer la durée d’un itinéraire, à pied, en vélo, en transport en commun ou en voiture. Pour les propriétaires d’un site avec points de vente réels, Google Maps permet d’intégrer une carte personnalisée et consultable sur le site, en utilisant simplement un code html fourni par l’application. Le client trouve facilement adresse réelle, horaires d’ouverture, itinéraires, photos et avis. Google Maps, c’est le chauffeur de maître gratuit de tout un chacun. Gratuit ? Depuis l’été 2018, selon les fonctions offertes par la carte et le nombre de téléchargements par mois, afficher une carte Google Maps sur son site web est devenu payant. L’affichage d’une carte statique (simple localisation) devient payant (2 dollars tous les 1 000 téléchargements) pour plus de 100 000 téléchargements par mois. L’affichage d’une carte dynamique (interactive), et Street View, qui permet de visualiser l’emplacement et l’apparence d’un point de vente, coûtent chacun 7 dollars tous les 1 000 téléchargements pour plus de 28 500 affichages. Les cartes sur application mobile (par exemple, le très populaire Airbnb) demeurent gratuites. L’application Google Maps est un service de visualisation cartographique très complet et performant. La bonne idée, c’est de l’utiliser, et de le proposer sur son site : tant qu’une carte statique n’est pas consultée plus de 100 000 fois par mois, elle demeure totalement gratuite. Ajouter et rendre visible une entreprise sur Google Maps (grâce à Google MyBusiness) Aujourd’hui, les recherches sur le web font partie de notre quotidien, et en ce qui concerne leur visibilité, les entreprises n’échappent pas à la règle. Véritable vitrine de l’entreprise, la fiche de présentation de votre activité (liée à votre site internet) doit être référencée de manière optimale sur les moteurs de recherche, et notamment sur Google. Des informations pratiques pertinentes, de belles photos et des avis clients positifs sont autant de gages de qualité et de fiabilité qui susciteront l’intérêt de potentiels autres futurs clients, et qui vous permettront d’être visible sur internet. Grâce à Google Maps, et à l’outil Google MyBusiness, découvrez comment optimiser de manière efficace la visibilité de votre entreprise sur le web Comment améliorer la visibilité de mon entreprise grâce à Google Maps ? PME, artisans, commerçants… Il est aujourd’hui indispensable pour tout entrepreneur d’être présent sur le web. Outre la nécessité de disposer d’un site web attractif et bien référencé par les moteurs de recherches, la visibilité d’une entreprise passe aussi par sa fiche de présentation sur internet, et notamment sur Google Maps. Avec la démocratisation des smartphones, les utilisateurs font de plus en plus de recherches de proximité géolocalisées, c’est-à-dire des recherches effectuées par rapport à l’endroit géographique où ils se situent, d’où l’intérêt d’être présent sur la « Map ». Restaurants, hôtels, bar, mais aussi coiffeurs, épiciers, médecins, plombiers ou électriciens : vos clients potentiels se trouvent généralement à proximité de vos entreprises. Google Maps est un service google gratuit de géolocalisation. En créant une balise gps grâce à votre adresse postale, il permet aux utilisateurs de localiser votre entreprise et leur indique l’itinéraire à emprunter pour s’y rendre. Mais comment ajouter votre entreprise sur Google Maps ? Commencez par vous créer un compte Gmail (vous pouvez également utiliser un compte existant si vous en avez un). Ensuite, Google vous demandera d’indiquer l’emplacement de votre établissement sur la « Map » (la carte). Si le logiciel ne vous trouve pas, choisissez l’option « créer un établissement » puis définissez la catégorie de services que propose votre entreprise (ici, il vous sera possible de préciser si vous accueillez des clients dans votre établissement ou si, au contraire, vous proposez des prestations à domicile). Enfin, il vous sera demandé d’attester auprès de Google que vous êtes bien le gérant de l’entreprise. Google va effectuer une vérification et une fois que votre compte aura été validé vous pourrez alimenter votre fiche avec les différentes informations pratiques. Parmi ces informations, les éléments qui doivent apparaître sont les suivants : votre nom ou celui de votre entreprise, son adresse postale, vos coordonnées téléphoniques ainsi que votre adresse email, les horaires d’ouverture, et l’adresse de votre site web. Il est également conseillé de faire apparaître le logo de votre entreprise, ainsi qu’une brève présentation écrite des services proposés. Cette fiche a pour objectif de permettre à vos potentiels clients de se renseigner sur votre entreprise. N’hésitez pas à publier, en plus de ces informations pratiques pertinentes, quelques photos de votre établissement. En toute simplicité, Google vous guide pas à pas dans toutes les étapes de création de votre fiche afin d’en optimiser le contenu pour un référencement local efficace et une bonne visibilité de votre entreprise sur le web. Notez que, pour une nouvelle entreprise, Google effectue une deuxième vérification par courrier (envoi d’un code de validation à votre adresse). Une fois cette validation effectuée, votre fiche apparaîtra dans les résultats de Google dans un délai d’une semaine. Les avantages de Google MyBusiness Outil gratuit et simple d’utilisation lancé en 2014, Google MyBusiness permet aux propriétaires d’entreprises de contrôler leur e réputation sur le moteur de recherche Google. L’e-réputation d’une entreprise représente la manière dont elle est visible sur internet. À l’aide de mots-clés ciblés et de contenu rédactionnel pertinent, le référencement naturel d’un site web et de la fiche de présentation de l’entreprise sont les clés d’une communication efficace. Ils permettent d’apparaître dans les premiers résultats de recherche d’une page Google, et donc d’augmenter la notoriété de l’entreprise, lui permettant de se démarquer de ses concurrents, et par conséquent d’augmenter son chiffre d’affaire. Google MyBusiness est l’interface qui permet de valoriser votre entreprise sur internet simplement et gratuitement. Dans une optique de visibilité sur Google Maps, cet outil permet de créer une fiche (dans le cas d’une fiche existante, il permet de la modifier, de la mettre à jour). Une fois la fiche créée et répertoriée par Google, vos clients ont la possibilité de laisser des avis sur votre entreprise, ce qui est un facteur de notoriété. Depuis peu, l’outil Google MyBusiness permet aux propriétaires des entreprises de répondre aux avis des clients. Cette fonctionnalité est, entre autres, très pratique pour éviter que de fausses informations ne soient diffusées sur votre compte. Grâce au DNS de votre site (« Domain Name System » : le nom de votre site) Google va faire un lien entre les informations pratiques renseignées sur ce dernier, et les informations de votre fiche. Il doit donc exister une cohérence entre les deux, sinon Google risque de modifier la fiche avec d’autres informations, impliquant par la suite un mauvais référencement de votre entreprise, et donc une mauvaise visibilité. À l’instar d’un site web, la fiche Google Maps d’un établissement doit être alimentée régulièrement (avec de nouvelles photos, de nouveaux avis, etc) pour être bien référencée. En fonction de leurs recherches, le référencement aide Google à proposer aux internautes des résultats pertinents. Google MyBusiness permet, en outre, de créer des liens qui renvoient vers votre site web (vers la page d’accueil ou d’autres pages ciblées), de nouveaux articles (« Google Post ») ou encore un lien avec les événements de votre page Facebook. Tout cela créer de l’interaction et permet d’augmenter le trafic de visiteurs sur votre site, favorisant ainsi un bon référencement, et donc, une bonne visibilité de ce dernier. Enfin, cet outil permet d’accéder à des statistiques intéressantes telles que le nombre de demandes d’itinéraire jusqu’à votre établissement ou le taux de clics effectués depuis votre fiche. Comme le site web, la fiche Google Mybusiness est la vitrine de votre entreprise sur internet et représente la première action de communication à effectuer pour en améliorer la visibilité. Mettant à disposition de ses utilisateurs de plus en plus de fonctionnalités (comme récemment la mise en valeur du logo de l’entreprise ou la possibilité de récompenser par des « offres spéciales » certains clients qui vous suivent activement sur le web), le service Google MyBusiness a donc de très beaux jours devant lui…

Government 'wastes' African aid

Malawi is one of the world's poorest countries BBC Radio Five Live found £712,000 was spent in four years on hotels and meals for a project run by a US consultancy. The National Audit Office said it may mount an investigation into the use of consultants by the Department for International Development (DFID). DFID said Malawian MPs and NGOs were the beneficiaries and efforts were being made to reduce costs. "The purpose was to debate the establishment of committees that would scrutinise the work of the Malawian government," a spokesman said. "It was also to allow the three groups to work better together to communicate what the Malawian government was doing." DFID said the expenses needed to be set against the £60m it was spending on Malawi aid projects this year. The International Development Secretary Hilary Benn told the BBC there were occasions when it was "sensible" to use consultants, but the DFID was making efforts to reduce its costs. "We did ask them to use more Malawian staff, and they're in the process of doing that," he said. Reducing poverty US agencies which had been brought in as consultants included the National Democratic Institute (NDI), used on a training project to improve the parliamentary committee system in Malawi. Where there are lessons to be learnt I'm very determined that we do that Hilary Benn, International Development Secretary From Our Own Correspondent Another US group, World Learning, were hired to distribute £4m of British money to strengthen Malawian society but the Tikambirane Programme was cancelled this year after six months at a cost of £300,000. Mr Benn said the department had become concerned about that project's administrative costs. DFID's funding priorities had also changed after the drought in Malawi which has since seen the government provide another £10m in aid, he said. "There clearly have been some problems with the projects, and where there are lessons to be learned I'm very determined that we do that," he added. 'Phantom aid' Five Live Report looked at several projects funded by the department in Malawi, which is considered to be the 10th-poorest country in the world. There are large areas of the aid system that are in urgent need of reform Patrick Watt Action Aid The £1m donated to the NDI project from US funds was used solely to pay its staff in Washington DC. Over the four years of the project, the DFID donated £3m to it. Of that, £586,423 was spent on hotels in Malawi for the MPs and the NGOs. Another £126,062 was spent on meals. An ex-staff member said computers, notebooks and other stationery had been bought in Washington DC and flown over rather than bought locally. An NDI spokeswoman defended the spending, and said the British department had never questioned it at the time. World Learning said the whole venture was "unfortunate for all of us but most of all for the Malawian organisations which should have been helped as a result". Patrick Watt of charity Actionaid said: "(This is) another example of aid money not really getting down to people who most urgently need to benefit from it. "It's an example of phantom aid, when what Malawi needs is real aid." Mr Watt said the large amounts of money spent of administration and overseas staff meant "there are large areas of the aid system that are in urgent need of reform".

Do You MySpace?

Seabron Ward, 19, a student at the University of Colorado at Denver, said that many students consider it a status symbol to build a big friend list. "This one guy on my list has a thousand," she said, a bit enviously. "I only have 79." The time-sucking potential of MySpace became an issue at the small record label where Ms. Ward works, Suburban Home Records, at least in the eyes of her boss, Virgil Dickerson. He said he started worrying when he noticed younger employees spending hours surfing through MySpace. "It was a drag on productivity, for sure," Mr. Dickerson, 30, said. "They were always goofing around, seeing if such-and-such added them as a friend or whatever." In the winter three of his single employees got into relationships around the same time, meaning they could all graduate from the "single" designation on their MySpace pages. It was a big deal, and Mr. Dickerson gave an office party, complete with an ice cream cake with the message in frosting "Congrats Kyle, Joey, and Naomi on your MySpace Upgrade!"" As a man who makes his living from youth culture, he had to make peace with MySpace. His company has responded to a slow period in the record business by selling T-shirts on eBay that read, "MySpace ruined my life." "They're doing pretty awesome actually," Mr. Dickerson said. "I'd say, as far as a cultural phenomenon, MySpace is as important, if not more important, than MTV." Like MTV, it is starting to create stars that glow brightly within its own universe. The band Hollywood Undead, which did not exist three months ago, has achieved celebrity thanks to MySpace. "We were just a bunch of loser kids who sat around our friend's house all day, and we started making music and recording it on computer," one of its vocalists, Jeff Phillips, said. About two months ago the group posted a page on MySpace decorated with pictures of all seven members disguised in hockey masks and other forms of concealment. They also included a few original songs, a fusion of heavy metal and hip-hop. "In a matter of weeks it got huge, and it kept on getting bigger and bigger," said Mr. Phillips, whose left earlobe was splayed open enough to accommodate a hollow ring the size of a wedding band.

Breakthrough Nanotechnology Will Bring 100 Terabyte 3.5-inch Digital Data Storage Disks

Have you ever dream of 100 terabyte of data per 3.5-inch disk? New patented innovation nanotechnology from Michael E. Thomas, president of Colossal Storage Corporation, makes it real. Michael invented and patented the world's first and only concept for non-contact UV photon induced electric field poling of ferroelectric non-linear photonic bandgap crystals, which offers the possibility of controlling and manipulating light within a UV/Deep Blue frequency of 1 nm to 400 nm. It took him 14 years to find a practical conceptualization that would work to advance the storage industry; 3D Volume Holographic Optical Storage Nanotechnology, for which Michael holds the patents. He was invited to present this fascinating discovery to the National Science Foundation in February 2004. This invention and patents on a technique for changing matter at the molecular level is one of the World's only new enabling technologies, having many hundreds of electro-optic applications. Atomic Holographic Nanotechnology will allow for the first time a functional method for programmable molecular lenses that will allow incoming light to be rejected, modified internally, or allowed to pass unaltered through a transparent lens known as disk, tape, card, drum, film, etc. By being able to program optical lenses, many applications based on light and color can be developed, such as holographic storage, bio-terror detection devices, optical electronics, security products, and hundreds of other products never seen before on the world's markets. The small size of ferroelectric transparent structures makes it possible to fabricate nano-optical devices, such as volume holographic storage, having both positive and negative index of refraction that will allow molecular particles of an atomic size to be modified, controlled, and changed to perform a specific function, desired task, used for low cost accurate chemical / biological matter detection, and reprogrammed to accept new non-volatile data and molecular functions. The expected cost of the Atomic Holographic DVR disc drive will be from $570 to $750 with the replacement discs for $45. One 10 terabyte to 100 terabyte 3.5 in FEdisk would be EQUAL to a 10,000 to 100,000 Gigabyte disk drive. That's greater 1,000 times any State of the Art hard disk technology with 100 Gigabytes on one disk. 2 EXABYTES of NEW data is generated every year world wide, and growing. Michael is a 30-year pioneer in the development of peripheral storage technologies and a holder of various patents. “In 1974 I was making 5 Megabyte disk packs - the biggest at that time in the world. At the same time, IBM, Burroughs, Honeywell, and other Computer professionals said no one would ever need that much storage,” says Michael. “In 1989 Bill Gates (the Chairman of Microsoft) said that the personal computer would never need more than 256 Kbytes of cache memory and 40 megabytes of hard drive storage. Today's PC has on average 1-2 megabytes of cache and 20 to 60 gigabyte hard drives. The need for new storage technology is evident to only to those having backgrounds in data storage.” Colossal Storage Theory of Operation of Patented Technology “I gave up two times because I was not able to work thru a concept of non-volatile, non-destructive readout,” says Michael. “I finally had a break thru when reviewing Einstein/Plank and Niels Bohr Atomic Theories.” He found that by using an Ultra Violet Photon and an Electric Field it was possible, theoretically, to use the electrons (write current) to make the binary state molecule transition back and forth between the two states. The "Atomic Switch" was born. The concept of an atomic or molecular switch by "Photon/Laser Induced Electric Field Poling" existed. By using UV photons of lesser quantum energy it was possible to use diffraction and interference from the binary states of the molecule. The changing state of the molecule and the diffracted photons allowing for a group of light and dark lines to be characterized as data. 3D Volume means reading and writing billions of bits at one time in Volume (x,y,z). There are still a lot of research and development unknowns for this new and fascinating atomic holographic optical storage, but Michael believes that he has created a revolutionary concept to keep pace with requirements of mass data storage, for the next millennium. Link: Colossal Storage Corporation Explore further Deadly microbe water warning lifted for all but 1 Texas city

Bomb hits Israeli bus station

Israeli officials say vigilance prevented a higher casualty toll Two guards were seriously injured in the morning rush hour blast. It was the first such attack since Israel pulled its settlers out of the Gaza Strip. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, condemning the attack, described it as a "terrorist operation". But he also described a recent Israeli raid in the West Bank in which five Palestinians died as a "provocation". The Islamic Jihad group had sworn to take revenge for the deaths. Israel warns Palestinians A bus driver told Israel Radio that the suicide bomber was carrying a heavy bag, prompting him to alert a security guard. Before he could get on the bus he was stopped, and he blew himself up nearby, according to police. A paramedic covered the dead bomber's head with a bag The two security guards who were critically wounded suffered shrapnel wounds and burns all over their bodies, a paramedic told Israel's Channel 10 TV. The bomber's remains were scattered at the scene. The last serious bomb attack in Israel was in the coastal city of Netanya on 12 July, when five people were killed. Beersheba was hit almost a year ago, when twin bus blasts in the city killed 16 people. Those attacks were claimed by Palestinian Hamas militants. Speaking after Sunday's blast, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said "Israel has taken the necessary steps to further the prospects of peace with the Palestinians." The bombing, said spokesman David Baker, "is another indication that the Palestinian Authority must take proper steps against terror, and without these steps, there will be no progress between both sides". Mr Abbas said in a statement that it was vital everyone remain committed to the truce, "despite all the Israeli provocations, most recently the killing of five Palestinians in Tulkarem, among them three children". Israel says the five men killed in the West Bank raid were militants wanted in connection with suicide bombings. 'Fire with fire' Hamas has said attacks on Israel must continue, despite the withdrawal of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip. Mr Sharon told Israelis at the time that while the withdrawal was a risky manoeuvre, it was the best way to ensure security in the longer term. But he also gave stark warnings on how Israel would respond if it appeared that the Palestinians were failing to crack down on extremist groups. "To an outstretched hand we shall respond with an olive branch," he said, "but we shall fight fire with the harshest fire ever."

Leak shows Blair told of Iraq war terror link

Despite repeated denials by Number 10 that the war made Britain a target for terrorists, a letter from Michael Jay, the Foreign Office permanent under-secretary, to the cabinet secretary, Sir Andrew Turnbull - obtained by this newspaper - makes the connection clear. The letter, dated 18 May 2004, says British foreign policy was a 'recurring theme' in the Muslim community, 'especially in the context of the Middle East peace process and Iraq'. 'Colleagues have flagged up some of the potential underlying causes of extremism that can affect the Muslim community, such as discrimination, disadvantage and exclusion,' the letter says. 'But another recurring theme is the issue of British foreign policy, especially in the context of the Middle East peace process and Iraq. 'Experience of both ministers and officials ... suggests that ... British foreign policy and the perception of its negative effect on Muslims globally plays a significant role in creating a feeling of anger and impotence among especially the younger generation of British Muslims.' The letter continues: 'This seems to be a key driver behind recruitment by extremist organisations (e.g. recruitment drives by groups such as Hizb-ut-Tahrir and al Muhajiroon). The FCO has a relevant and crucial role to play in the wider context of engagement with British Muslims on policy issues, and more broadly, in convincing young Muslims that they have a legitimate and credible voice, including on foreign policy issues, through an active participation in the democratic process.' Al Muhajiroon, formed by Omar Bakri Mohammed, the radical preacher who fled Britain after the 7 July bombings, was a recruiting organisation for young Islamic extremists in Britain. Attached to the letter is a strategy document, also obtained by The Observer, which reveals further concerns. It says Britain is now viewed as a 'crusader state', on a par with America as a potential target. 'Muslim resentment towards the West is worse than ever,' the document, 'Building Bridges with Mainstream Islam', says. 'This was previously focused on the US, but the war in Iraq has meant the UK is now seen in similar terms - both are now seen by many Muslims as "Crusader states". 'Though we are moving on from a conflict to a reconstruction phase in Iraq, there are no signs of any moderation of this resentment. Our work on engaging with Islam has therefore been knocked back. Mr O'Brien [then a Foreign Office minister] has expressed his concern.' However, all mention of the Iraq connection to extremism was removed from 'core scripts' - briefing papers given to ministers to defend the government's position on Iraq and terror. The document begins: 'We do not see the Muslim community as a threat. Muslims have always made, and continue to make, a valuable contribution to society.' The lines to be used by ministers include measures designed to address Muslim concerns, such as the introduction of religious hatred legislation and tackling educational underachievement among Muslims. But there is nothing to address the concerns raised by Jay eight months earlier. The documents reveal deep divisions at the heart of government over home-grown religious extremism and its connections to British intervention in Iraq. The Prime Minister has consistently said that the bombers were motivated not by a sense of injustice but by a 'perverted and poisonous misinterpretation of Islam'. Although Iraq was clearly used as a pretext by extremists, he said he believed it was ideology that drove them to kill. To press home the point, Downing Street issued a list of atrocities carried out before intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq. The claim was later undermined by the MI5, which said that Iraq was the 'dominant issue' for Islamic extremists in Britain. Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, also rowed back from his comments immediately after the bombings that there was no connection with Iraq and the terror threat after it became clear that the public remained unconvinced. But Jay's letter shows that the Foreign Office was convinced that foreign policy played a key role in radicalising young Muslims. The letter outlines a list of 11 'work streams' to discourage extremism. They included delegations to the Islamic world, ministerial briefings for key members of the Muslim community and receptions to mark key Muslim festivals. It is not known how Turnbull responded to the letter, although it is clear that, by January, there was a significant difference between what was being said within the Foreign Office and what ministers were officially being permitted to say in speeches. Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten last night called on the government to come clean about the link between extremism among British Muslims and anger about Iraq: 'For the government to deny a link between the war in Iraq and dismay among the Muslim community is ridiculous. But to try to cover it up, when senior civil servants have recognised the seriousness of the resentment, is even worse.' · Read the document here

What Boneheaded Design Guides Dubya's Moves?

How does one explain all the misguided, unwise, sometimes outright boneheaded things the Bush administration has done since taking over nearly five years ago, and continues to do on a pretty much daily basis? How is it possible for a group of supposedly intelligent, experienced individuals to take this many wrong turns? Wouldn't you think that once in a while, even by accident, that George W. Bush and his advisers would make a decision that made sense? Can this much mismanagement happen totally at random? Would the occupants of the Bush White House have us believe that all these things, these missteps, these miscalculations, these attempts to deceive, that they all, you know, just kind of happened? I'm not so sure. And I'm not the only one starting to ask questions. More and more, it seems unlikely that mere human beings could make this many mistakes without some sort of misguiding force, a kind of supernatural entity that has trouble remembering where it put its car keys. That's where unintelligent design comes in. Once one embraces the concept of unintelligent design - a kind of doofus-like cosmic force - it becomes much easier to get your head around the operations of the Bush administration. I mean, making executive decisions randomly would still probably result in doing the right thing 50 per cent of the time. So how does one explain such consistent goofiness, like invading a nation based on evidence that the administration knew didn't exist in the first place? Or exposing a CIA employee's identity just to settle some personal scores? Ignoring international trade agreements you've signed on to? Adopting a head-in-the-sand approach to the connection between human activity on the planet Earth and global warming? Letting the boss be photographed on the ranch, golfing and cutting brush and chilling out and generally having a good ol' time while young Americans die overseas? Not having the media savvy to have that same boss take a stroll down the driveway and chat with a woman whose son was one of those young Americans? Doing an end run around the Senate to send a loose cannon to the U.N., while supposedly promoting democracy abroad? Not firing a defence secretary who totally misjudged how many troops would be needed to secure Iraq? Giving rich folks back home huge tax cuts while soldiers go without adequate body armour? Looking upon scientific and medical innovations like they're some sort of voodoo and letting other nations take the lead in these areas for the first time? You can't tell me that some magnificently dumb force, more confused and baffled than all the members of the Bush administration put together, didn't have a hand in this. But I know what some of you skeptical types are thinking. You're thinking, hey pal, where's your proof? Where's the actual evidence, the cold, hard facts, to support my contention that unintelligent design has played a role in the decisions of the Bush administration? Well, that's easy. I have none. Not one shred of solid evidence. But let me ask you this. What evidence do you have that I'm wrong? My theory explaining Bush White House screwups is, by its very nature, impossible to disprove. And if you can't disprove it, then you don't have much choice but to consider it as an alternative. That's why I'm pushing to have universities start teaching my unintelligent design theory in their political science courses. Sure, these know-it-all professors may be teaching that Bush and his ilk do what they do because they're captives of their own ideology, that they're pandering to baser instincts and popular prejudices to shore up support among certain constituencies, that they're willing to put their own political interests ahead of those of regular Americans. Yeah, well, maybe. But my theory doesn't take as long to explain on the final. _____ Reach Linwood Barclay by email at lbarclay@thestar.ca. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar%2F Layout%2FArticle_Type1&c=Article&cid=1124661009669

Creating Passionate Users: You ARE a marketer. Deal with it.

« Build something cool in 24 hours | Main | Sample Java Exam Questions » You ARE a marketer. Deal with it. It's so trendy to diss marketing. Especially if you're in engineering, product design, or virtually anything but marketing. A comment for me by pinhut on my "You're emotional..." blog entry reads: "this started out being so interesting. then you reveal yourself as a marketer. please terminate yourself." The late (and brilliant) comedian Bill Hicks was an early adopter of the "all marketing is evil" meme: "By the way, if anyone here is in advertising or marketing, kill yourself. No, this is not a joke: kill yourself . . . I know what the marketing people are thinking now too: 'Oh. He's going for that anti-marketing dollar. That's a good market.' Oh man, I am not doing that, you f***ing evil scumbags." (asterisks are mine) I was about to protest, "Dammit Jim, I'm a programmer, not a marketer!" But that would be a lie. In this new open-source/cluetrain world, I am a marketer. And so are you. If you're interested in creating passionate users, or keeping your job, or breathing life into a startup, or getting others to contribute to your open source project, or getting your significant other to agree to the vacation you want to go on... congratulations. You're in marketing. Now go kill yourself. The word "marketing" (and by extension, "marketers") has a bad rep for sure, as does "advertising" and "PR". But they all share a common goal--connecting buyers and sellers. Isn't that what we're doing? Except with a Find and Replace: "Buyers" becomes--> "readers" or "users" or "community participants" "Sellers" becomes--> "authors" or "developers" or "organizations" As Guy Kawasaki puts it, we're selling the dream. But the difference between what we now consider "old-school marketing" (otherwise known as The Four P's -- product, price, promotion, and placement -- heavy on advertising and "branding") and the "neo-marketing" we're doing here is frickin' huge. Here are a few ideas on some of the differences: *See this Brandautopsy blog post on a brand hijack, or check out the book. **Real is relative to the desires and perceptions of the user. And who's to say that taking better photos won't in fact lead to more sex? ***rhymes with "hit" But even if we feel OK about doing some of these marketingish things, there's still the problem of the word "marketing". We need a word that distinguishes the kinds of things we (developers/programmers, ministers, realtors, authors) do from old-school traditional marketing. I just don't know if the marketing-averse among us can rehabilitate that word... it's been too heavily associated (framed) with old-fashioned, negative, sleazy and inauthentic practices (even if much of that was a misconception... doesn't matter). My "neo-marketing" label is just lame. Open Solaris' Laura Ramsey and I were talking about it this weekend, and she came up with an alternative that might be a good contender: Modern Attraction. We're not marketers, we're attractors. I don't know if that's the right phrase, but it still sounds better to me than "marketing". (Personally, I was voting for "cheerleader", but for some reason I just couldn't get the other programmers to go along with that...cute t-shirt ideas, though... ; ) Others have come up with replacement phrases as well, but none seem to have truly taken hold, and the word "conversation" isn't enough. What do you think? If we believe in something, and we want others to share what we know can be a fun/meaningful experience, whether it's getting involved in our open source project, or joining our cause, or--yes--buying our book or software--we need to get past our "go kill yourself now" thing. If framing it with a new word/phrase helps, perhaps that's a better approach than trying to give the word "marketing" a massive makeover. Remember -- when people are passionate about something, and in a state of flow--and you have contributed to that by helping users/members learn and grow and kick ass--these are some of the happiest moments in their lives. Trying to promote more of that is something we should feel wonderful about, not guilty. Posted by Kathy on August 27, 2005 | Permalink TrackBack TrackBack URL for this entry: https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451b44369e200d83459545c69e2 Listed below are links to weblogs that reference You ARE a marketer. Deal with it.: » Neo-Marketing, Modern Attraction, Selling the Dream...whatever you want to call it from Solopreneurial Tendencies I must admit...I have a visceral reaction to the idea of marketing. Ok, make that "traditional marketing." As someone who works hard to build my business from my personal values and experiences, and especially as someone who hates to be manipulated and... [Read More] Tracked on Aug 27, 2005 1:25:54 PM » Good News for Modern Marketeers! from raving lunacy (On the headline, it is not a typo.) Lots of marketing news this weekend. Great News! Kathy Sierra has finally come out of the marketing closet!!! Her Posting You ARE a marketer. Deal with it. has her admitting what I have known for some time. ''In thi... [Read More] Tracked on Aug 27, 2005 10:10:50 PM » Passionate Users from evilzenscientist :: thoughts I lifted this post from Luis Villas blog - he always seems to get to good stuff early. Maybe being a student again helps Anyway - this post - and others over there (I especially like the one on presentations - I’ll blog that later!) are reall... [Read More] Tracked on Aug 28, 2005 8:11:58 AM » i think i'm in love... from gapingvoid Kathy Sierra's amazing post, "You ARE a marketer. Deal with it."In this new open-source/cluetrain world, I am a marketer. And so are you. If you're interested in creating passionate users, or keeping your job, or breathing life into a... [Read More] Tracked on Aug 28, 2005 9:44:28 AM » Kathy Sierra's Blog from Process 64 [Read More] Tracked on Aug 28, 2005 1:14:35 PM » I’m a marketer? I didn’t know that. from 60k Marketing Excellent post on how we’re all marketers now. Also an excellent conversation in the comments, but I doubt I’d listen seriously to someone calling themselves “pinhead”. Kathy makes a comment about this “not applying̶... [Read More] Tracked on Aug 28, 2005 4:12:08 PM » You're a marketer- no really, you are from Randy Holloway Unfiltered Creating Passionate Users: "In this new open-source/cluetrain world, I am a marketer. And so are you. If you're interested in creating passionate users, or keeping your job, or breathing life into a startup, or getting others to contribute to your... [Read More] Tracked on Aug 28, 2005 4:13:10 PM » We're all marketers from The Daily Peg: Pegasus News, Inc. Founder's Blog Kathy Sierra's stuff is always pure gold. See her comparison of old and new marketing. Well worth the clickthrough to read the whole thing... [Read More] Tracked on Aug 28, 2005 4:25:25 PM » Links List from The Pre-Commerce Blog We don't work for Google. Part I and Part II. (Greg Yardley) I have a lot to say about this, and hope to blog it soon. You ARE a marketer. (headrush) I have a lot to say about this, and hope to blog it soon.... [Read More] Tracked on Aug 28, 2005 10:02:31 PM » Links List from The Pre-Commerce Blog We don't work for Google. Part I and Part II. (Greg Yardley) You ARE a marketer. (headrush) We're all Clueless. (Seth Godin) All of these are excellent A++ posts, and I hope to add my thoughts about all three of these insightful items in the coming day... [Read More] Tracked on Aug 28, 2005 10:05:27 PM » Kathy Sierra on Word-of-Mouth, etc. from The Basement Once again, Kathy Sierra proves she's the most brilliant female Java author whose in to cognitive science and rides skateboards and horses on the planet. She has recently posted on Neo-Marketing. Here's the chart from her post: I would like to add so... [Read More] Tracked on Aug 28, 2005 10:12:53 PM » Now go kill yourself from The Journal Blog Here's a message for squeamish marketers (especially those inclined to whine about it): If you're interested in creating passionate users, or keeping your job, or breathing life into a startup, or getting others to contribute to your open source projec... [Read More] Tracked on Aug 29, 2005 8:09:32 AM » Now go kill yourself from The Journal Blog Here's a message for squeamish marketers (especially those inclined to whine about it): If you're interested in creating passionate users, or keeping your job, or breathing life into a startup, or getting others to contribute to your open source projec... [Read More] Tracked on Aug 29, 2005 8:11:46 AM » You ARE a Marketer. Deal With It. from The Blog of Dave5 [Read More] Tracked on Aug 29, 2005 1:47:33 PM » You ARE a Marketer. Deal With It. from The Blog of Dave5 [Read More] Tracked on Aug 29, 2005 1:48:41 PM » Modern Attraction and Instant Messaging from Ted Leung on the air Yesterday afternoon, we trucked over to the other side of the water to hang out with Maryam and Robert Scoble. (Good thing that I'm a Spouse Of a Friend Of Maryam). As Robert mentioned, there were a bunch of geek males standing around and talking [Read More] Tracked on Aug 30, 2005 1:58:02 AM » Modern Attraction and Instant Messaging from Ted Leung on the air Yesterday afternoon, we trucked over to the other side of the water to hang out with Maryam and Robert Scoble. (Good thing that I'm a Spouse Of a Friend Of Maryam). As Robert mentioned, there were a bunch of geek males standing around and talking [Read More] Tracked on Aug 30, 2005 1:59:13 AM » Creating Passionate Users: You ARE a marketer. Deal with it. from Lifeblog Neo-marketing, indeed. Kathy Sierra's post and ensuing discussion point out a lot of issues I have bene grappling with in the past 5 years since I was annointed Marketing Manager. You see, prior to that, I was a writer and [Read More] Tracked on Aug 30, 2005 3:38:28 AM » i think i'm in love... from gapingvoid Kathy Sierra's amazing post, "You ARE a marketer. Deal with it."In this new open-source/cluetrain world, I am a marketer. And so are you. If you're interested in creating passionate users, or keeping your job, or breathing life into a... [Read More] Tracked on Aug 30, 2005 9:13:44 AM » The Difference Between Old School Marketing and Neo-Marketing from MNteractive I had a great lunch conversation today discussing how marketing is transforming. We got right down to the core point - (word of mouth is the most cost-effective marketing method) and its corollary (the best way to get word of mouth is to have somethin... [Read More] Tracked on Aug 30, 2005 4:08:44 PM » The bad news: You’re in marketing. The ugly news: You’re alsoin sales. from Mary's Blog “Marketing” often has negative vibes for people – “Oh, that ‘fluff stuff’ they do over in the other building. Sniff.” Well, here’s the bad news – if we want to make money, make an impact, make a ... [Read More] Tracked on Aug 30, 2005 4:58:47 PM » Old-school/New-school from Things I've Seen Kathy Sierra writes some great stuff on the collaborative blog, Creating Passionate Users. You ARE a marketer. Deal with it. begins by reminding us how practically the whole world scorns marketers. (Think used car salesman for an over-generalized image... [Read More] Tracked on Aug 31, 2005 10:53:41 AM » Creating Passionate Users: You ARE a marketer. Deal with it. from Tomas C article in English / artículo en Ingles o en Español usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish from tomasc.com –» My name is Tomás ... [Read More] Tracked on Sep 1, 2005 11:52:24 AM » NeoMarketing from DiarioIP Vía Passionate llego a esta tabla de la vieja escuela vs. la nueva. Es muy ilustrativa. Merece la pena leer el post que la acompaña.... [Read More] Tracked on Sep 2, 2005 4:14:16 AM » Stack + Macro = "Stacro": A note to professional OSS and Redmond too from James Governor's MonkChips I had been meaning to write up OpenLogic for a while. These guys are smart and have a cool approach to managing open source distributions and interdependencies.Anyway, Stephen got there first, which is good because it means I can focus... [Read More] Tracked on Sep 2, 2005 10:14:18 AM » Apologies to Creating Passionate Users from The Marketing Microscope In my last post I mentioned the kerfuffle Google has going on w.r.t. paid links. I also posted to ad ... [Read More] Tracked on Sep 2, 2005 3:14:54 PM » 趣闻要闻（8月28日—9月3日） from PODCAST PODIUM 播客宝典 Podshow的Podsafe音乐授权条款引发播客争议 [Read More] Tracked on Sep 4, 2005 11:10:45 AM » O novo marketing from Fabio Seixas, versão txt Lembro-me dos primórdios da Internet no Brasil, lá por 1993, quando ainda acessava pelo laboratório de informática da PUC-Rio. Nossa! Quanta coisa mudou. Hoje em dia continuo a me surpreender com as mudanças que a Internet nos trouxe. Mudanças técnológ... [Read More] Tracked on Sep 6, 2005 2:27:17 PM » A reminder to all : We are a Marketing Firm from Fresh Yields Blog We are, really. We dont just design pretty websites. We design pretty marketing websites. We dont just implement ecommerce solutions. We implement ecommerce marketing solutions Everything you put on the web is marketing material. Y... [Read More] Tracked on Sep 8, 2005 1:49:58 PM » Old-marketing vs. neo-marketing from eTc :: El Blog de Marketing en Español Tabla comparativa entre los principios del antiguo y del nuevo marketing. [Read More] Tracked on Sep 9, 2005 3:08:14 AM » our social world from gapingvoid This is a list of links I will be referring to during my upcoming talk at Our Social World, on Friday. 1. Why does advertising suck? 2. Why is advertising expensive? 3. The Hughtrain. 4. The Cluetrain. 5. Robert... [Read More] Tracked on Sep 9, 2005 8:50:56 AM » Old-marketing vs. neo-marketing from eTc :: El Blog de Marketing en Español Tabla comparativa entre los principios del antiguo y del nuevo marketing. [Read More] Tracked on Sep 16, 2005 10:19:24 AM » Market Onto Others... from XYZephyr Being called a marketer is almost as bad as being a smoker nowadays, as a Kathy Sierra poster tries to intimate. Please terminate yourself, he says, obviously thinking that her blog is sending out subliminal messages to vote Republican. Her [Read More] Tracked on Sep 20, 2005 12:07:57 AM » Lubatud viited Eturunduse seminarilt from Teller plõksib Lubasin täna toimunud Eturunduse seminari lõpus, et panen ettekandest läbi käinud viited ka siia välja. Skype'i ajaveeb Skype'i kolmandajatele arendajatele suunatud ajaveeb Microsoft Channel 9 Google Blog Foto.diip.ee English Cut Robert Scoble Cluetrai... [Read More] Tracked on Sep 20, 2005 2:55:33 PM » Lubatud viited Eturunduse seminarilt from Teller plõksib Lubasin täna toimunud Eturunduse seminari lõpus, et panen ettekandest läbi käinud viited ka siia välja. Skype'i ajaveeb Skype'i kolmandajatele arendajatele suunatud ajaveeb Microsoft Channel 9 Google Blog Foto.diip.ee English Cut Robert Scoble Cluetrai... [Read More] Tracked on Sep 21, 2005 4:26:18 AM » Lubatud viited Eturunduse seminarilt from Teller plõksib Lubasin täna toimunud Eturunduse seminari lõpus, et panen ettekandest läbi käinud viited ka siia välja. Skype'i ajaveeb Skype'i kolmandajatele arendajatele suunatud ajaveeb Microsoft Channel 9 Google Blog Foto.diip.ee English Cut Robert Scoble Cluetrai... [Read More] Tracked on Sep 21, 2005 4:27:56 AM » Marketing Person Not a GeeK from Resonance Partnership Blog Toby Bloomberg at Diva Marketing conveyed a disussion she had regarding Blog Tags with Stowe Boyd from Corante. Toby's point was that as a marketing person not a geek, tagging was a challenge. Boyd's point was that she should get over it and that not k... [Read More] Tracked on Oct 3, 2005 7:09:55 PM » Hello, yes I am still here from frankarr - an aussie microsoft blogger You know, when one of your own mentions that he has seen a new blog post for a week, you gotta wonder... [Read More] Tracked on Nov 2, 2005 3:17:59 AM » We are all Marketeers from Nick's Delphi Blog [Read More] Tracked on Nov 6, 2005 6:51:32 PM » washing machines from washing machines review [Read More] Tracked on Dec 20, 2005 6:48:56 AM » Rethinking ROI for the the blog generation: Return on "I", Dennis, Hugh, Kathy and You from James Governor's MonkChips I have been a touch remiss in reading Dennis lately. Slow down mate, I can't keep up - and I am the second subscriber to say so. This post about Scoble and ROI got me thinking, especially given that I... [Read More] Tracked on Apr 5, 2006 11:03:11 AM » Rethinking ROI for the the blog generation: Return on "I", Dennis, Hugh, Kathy and You from James Governor's MonkChips I have been a touch remiss in reading Dennis lately. Slow down mate, I can't keep up - and I am the second subscriber to say so. This post about Scoble and ROI got me thinking, especially given that I... [Read More] Tracked on Apr 5, 2006 11:18:43 AM Comments I think this is one of your best posts ever. I especially like the old-school / new-school comparison table, which echos many similar thoughts I've been having lately. The brand hijacking is especially interesting. Because word of mouth is becoming so powerful, I feel more like the collaborator in the process of marketing rather than the controller of it. You might also enjoy this article I wrote a while back called "Marketing From Your Conscience," which is about how marketing becomes a privileged duty when you honestly believe you're doing genuine good by spreading the word: http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles/marketing-from-your-conscience.htm I think in one sense the Internet is helping to raise our collective intelligence, such that we're less likely to fall to old school marketing tactics. There has to be some genuine substance to a product or service now -- on some level it much achieve a measure of greatness to get noticed. It must provide real value. Posted by: Steve Pavlina | Aug 27, 2005 10:41:11 AM Bravo for the piece on marketing. I've been working as a mentor on a Google Summer Of Code, and my very first question to Gary was "How are you going to market this? Let's start with the module name. What are you going to call it?" The #1 problem with the perception of marketing is that people think "marketing" = "advertising" = "TV ads for soap." It's something that we all must get past. This also came up when Bill Odom & I were working on our slides for last year's OSCON talk on getting hired. We talked explicitly about treating yourself as a product that must be marketed. Even if you don't advertise the product, you still must manage yourself as a product. You must still know what upgrades and improvements to make to the product. Maybe there's a word other than marketing that will make the young (and not-so-young) and skeptical see marketing in a more palatable way. Posted by: Andy Lester | Aug 27, 2005 3:24:52 PM If marketing is so unpalletable, why are so many people still trying to get into the field? Why is it still ranked as one of the "hot" jobs of the 21st century? Why do all the people I know in Finance and Sales departments often see their jobs there as gateways into marketing? Quit whining. People make lawyer jokes. Will they stop if we start calling them "barristers" or "attorneys" more often? Not bloody likely. I think the table you've put together above is nice. Shallow, but nice. It's directional and helpful to folks who are still mired entirely in the 1950's style of, as you put it, "old-school" marketing, but going totally "new-school" -- that is, to swing completely into the right-hand column -- would be as unwise as to stay completely in the left. Why? Because as marketers (and I'm fine with the name, by the way) we have a responsibility to several groups of people... not just users. Creating passionate users is a wonderful goal, and I love lots of your writing on this site, and more companies/marketers should be doing many of the things you advocate. But let's also remember that (in many cases), we are beholden to those crazy shareholders. Too much of the stuff in the right-hand column can water-down shareholder value in certain circumstances. Same holds true for employee loyalty at times. If you fixate on customers and ignore the folks inside the barn who built the company and know your products and procedures inside and out... you may lose them to a competitor who strokes their egos a bit more. Same arguments for the legal department, finance and HR. Marketing is a tough gig. The bigger the pot, the tougher the noodles, too. What we've seen in the past decade or so, are some companies that have been able, through the revolutions in technology and communications, to be highly profitable with much smaller companies, in terms of embedded resources, at least in their early phases. This makes it seem as if they need be less "tied down" to many of the "old-school" ways of doing business, since they can make their money without regard for lots of the "old-school" requirements. That's not the case with lots and lots of "old-school" style companies whose business models haven't (and can't) change, because gravity still requires the same amount of force to pull crap out of the earth and truck it across country. Don't get me wrong -- I'm a total technophile. But just because Google and Amazon can make a bjillion bucks doing business in a new way doesn't mean that steel companies, lawn care companies and fishermen can. And for many of those companies, the old ways of marketing are still just as important. Let us, for example, witness the very recent and hugely successful Geico insurance TV campaigns. Since starting their two-pronged campaigns -- the lizard and the "I just saved 15% on my insurance bits -- the company has increased its market share by 40%. All using traditional, "old-school" advertising. TV, print and radio. Other recent "old-school" successes inlcude the Absolut print campaign and Quiznos. The other thing that we need to keep in mind is that this isn't the first "old vs. new" marketing trend-shift in the history of the biz. It hasn't ever NOT happened, not since the advent of the "modern" economy after the Civil War. About every 10-20 years, some new facet of the business world requires that the marketing folk sit up and change gears a bit. Whether it's the Model-T Ford, mail-order catalogs, national magazines, radio, TV, phones... whatever. They all require us to keep on our toes and do new stuff. Our mistakes are aired on national television, in car lots and billboards. So the view of our mishaps is much more pronounced than that of other professions. You know what? Tough buns. We also get to do cool stuff, play with big budgets, go on neat trips, make fun and colorful displays and create compelling messages that help shape the world around us. If I have to put up with a few commedians calling me names, I can live with that. Pass around the bandoliers of CMYK cartridges, boys. The old-school, tough-bastard marketing team is on the hill. We'll do all the neat, new stuff in the right-hand column -- when it's the right thing to do -- but when we need to lay down a $20 million national ad blitz; bring it on. Good marketing is good, bad is bad. Let's not get caught up in our own playground of definitions. Whatever moves our company's or client's products is what we should do. Old or new, who cares. It's still marketing, and I'm still proud to be doing it. Posted by: Andy Havens | Aug 27, 2005 5:53:33 PM you change the signifier, but you cannot change the signified. you are still sucking satan's [edited] (as bill hicks so beautifully put it) really, it's like coprophiliacs or NAMBLA members gathering to find a new spin to place on their pursuits. Posted by: pinhut | Aug 27, 2005 7:28:24 PM pinhut's right, you know; you haven't addressed Bill Hicks's point. Just because we're all in marketing now, doesn't change anything; maybe it just means we should all kill ourselves. The dispersal of the marketing function over the whole of society doesn't make it any less unpleasant; on the contrary, it makes it nastier, because not only do we have to put up with marketing from others, we now have to put up with the marketing we do ourselves. The political theory literature on immaterial and affective labour is interesting here (see http://www.ecn.org/valkohaalarit/english/lazz.htm for example). Creative and leisure time activities are increasingly becoming productive for, and tightly controlled by, capitalism. That our enthusiasm for the work we do is increasingly being repurposed into a form of marketing is not a good thing. Posted by: Tim | Aug 27, 2005 8:43:18 PM I'm thinking smackdown Andy Havens vs. pinhut & Tim. Andy Havens: you made some great points (extra points for being passionate about it), but I'm not sure we're talking apples-to-apples (my fault for not being clear). I'm not addressing marketing as a whole -- just the marketingesque activities that non-marketers do, and even *that* within our very limited context. This blog isn't directed at--or useful to--the kinds of companies and products with the size and budgets you're talking about (although obviously some stuff can still be applied). But the idea that, because of the web, a tiny software company or even a horse trainer can find a following and create passionate users -- by being good and helping users kick ass -- but with virtually a zero marketing/ad budget, is pretty powerful. The Good Things (products, services, websites, causes, music) are bubbling up from the bottom and succeeding much more quickly, and that part IS new. I think of all the wonderful things people built that were lost because they had no mechanism to scale their word-of-mouth within a livable time frame, and they couldn't survive. pinhut: sorry for the comment edit, but as much as I love Bill Hicks, my older relatives read this blog and are still shocked that I "use the word 'ass' with such abandon." And yes, this *is* just a ride. ; ) Posted by: Kathy Sierra | Aug 27, 2005 10:39:29 PM Andy has a point re. shareholders etc. But you know what? I don't care. If people want to spend their lives beholden to the shareholder slushpile, well, they have free will. Nobody makes you become a meatpuppet. There's no law saying you have to be an MBA cogboy. The cost of creating global media has fallen from billions of dollars to PENNIES in the last few decades. And the slushpile has no earthly clue what to do about it. As the world becomes more commodified by the China-WalMart make n' sell complex, the demand for "Bespoke" grows. Therein lies the opportunity. I wrote about it here: http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/001878.html Meanwhile, yes, it's fun watching the dinosaurs die. Posted by: hugh macleod | Aug 28, 2005 6:02:05 AM Kathy & crew, this is a message from the "market".. Please do not change course heading--stop--..Ignore barking dogs--stop--..Keep the caravan moving--stop--.. Posted by: Carlos Saldivia | Aug 28, 2005 9:08:36 AM Buy Carlos a Telephone--stop-- But listen to his message--stop-- Shareholders will lose all their non-tangible-assests if the customers go away. We all know this. Marketers (old school) don't have to deliver customers as much as find a scapegoat for their failures. Shareholders--schmareholders--marketers self-interest is to score points by how much power they can weild, "my budget is bigger than yours" type BS. But then that is because marketers are not rewarded by tangible measurable results. Set up a system where "your" rewards don't align with the companies? Guess which rewards Marketers (and Sarbanes, Oxley...) will go for... Posted by: Doug | Aug 28, 2005 10:19:28 AM The 4 P's are still a good way (if perhaps simplified) of addressing the main marketing problems, and show how marketing is different from development/engineering. Someone in the company needs to address pricing and product definition issues, leaving them to the customers is daft. Worse, leaving them to engineering is commercial suicide. Still, after seeing Kathy S's pic recently I see she is a babe, and I want her to have my babies, so I'm not picking any quarrels here! W. Posted by: Wally | Aug 28, 2005 3:24:54 PM By the way, why 'marketers'and not 'marketeers'? It makes a better fit with 'engineers'! W. Posted by: Wally | Aug 28, 2005 3:27:54 PM Trying to sell people on something other than marketing is marketing. Developing an anti-marketing schtick is marketing. Blogs are marketing. In short, there's no escape. So, the challenge is perfectly clear. We need to make marketing better. Posted by: David Burn | Aug 28, 2005 5:21:14 PM Wally: you're the best. But about that picture... flattered as I am, keep in mind that I know Photoshop. And I do like "marketeers"; it also has the whole Disney thing going for it. David: oh how true that is. I am finding it ironic that some of the people who hate me for sounding/smelling like a marketer are making a masterful use of trackbacks and comment links to their own sites. Seems they don't mind using this blog to *market* their own ; ) Tim: I can think of reasons for people to kill themselves, but promoting your project/blog/book/whatever that you believe in is pretty low on that list. Life's going to be short enough for all of us as it is. pinhut: I strongly disagree with you about the "signified" being unchanged. Making distinctions and seeing shades of grey and subtley (and holding conflicting points of view while still being able to function) is profoundly important. I'm definitely for having strong values and sticking to them... but failing to appreciate the difference between honest, authentic evangelizing for something we believe in, and the mindless detached promotion of things that might, say, kill people... is a problem. I believe that most of the folks on this blog are making those distinctions. That said, it could very well BE a slippery slope. I could imagine myself justifying the little things step by step until one day I'm finding myself doing something I would have, at some earlier point, found pretty distasteful (the "slowly boiling frog" effect). But that's part of why many of us are having a conversation about it. So we can figure out our own subtle boundaries, and as Dave said, try to make it better. But Dave was right--all of us here ARE marketing, pinhut. You're certainly trying to promote/market a point of view (and your own site) and using provocative ad-savvy techniques to do so. And I have fallen right into your evil marketing scheme, because here we are talking about you and linking to you again. And having said THAT -- I have to laugh at this whole conversation again, because I'm not willing to take ANY of this -- anything I or anyone else says here -- *that* seriously. Perhaps I've been playing my Bill Hicks videos just a little too often, or studying too much quantum physics -- but I just can't help recognize that none of this is "real". However, I don't need it to be "real" in order to have a conscience,or care about people, or to believe that many of us just might change the world in our own small way : ) Posted by: Kathy Sierra | Aug 28, 2005 5:43:44 PM "If you're interested in creating passionate users, or keeping your job, or breathing life into a startup, or getting others to contribute to your open source project, or getting your significant other to agree to the vacation you want to go on... congratulations. You're in marketing." Not all of these are clearly marketing in my view. To be specific, it's only marketing if you are selling something. Marketing takes place in a market. Other types of promotion have other names: advocacy, evangelism, propaganda, and so on. If those passionate users are using a commercial product then creating them might be a marketing act (helping to secure the market for that product). However, if those are users of public infrastructure (roads, parks, government services) then there is no market (there is a commons, a political arena, perhaps many conversations but nothing is being bought or sold). Keeping your job is marketing, yes, in as much as workers are commodities of the job market. "Breathing new life into a startup" isn't specific enough to comment on. There are any number of reasons for wanting others to contribute to your open source project. Many of them have to do with creating a market for related offerings but there are also wholy non-commercial motivations that are cultural, ethical, political or other. Lastly, at risk of offending your elder relatives, unless you or your significant other is a, ahem, "professional" companion then there is no market between you. Economic abstractions are enormously pervasive today. The idea of a competitive market is easily our most popular metaphor for any sort of social interaction. However, it is sloppy or worse to call every argument for one thing over another "marketing" when there are more accurate terms available, and English is a truly enormous language. I'd like to suggest "advocacy" for the more inclusive, "everybody does it" type of promotion you've described. If you really want to emphasis the passion and zeal, say "evangelism". I like "cheerleading" too but, as with each of these terms, it has it's own associations such as being facile, shallow, and unfailingly partisan ("go team!"). But, like whatever, y'know. Laugh it off. Nothing is real. Posted by: stfn | Aug 28, 2005 11:33:32 PM Maybe it's the whole metaphor of 'selling' that is inflationated and has all kinds of negative connotations. If you are selling, then you are marketing. Can we think of a better word? Posted by: JDrakes | Aug 29, 2005 2:18:38 AM Oddly enough, I've been listening to my one Bill Hicks (another Arkansaw boy) CD quite a bit lately (a live one, the Flying Saucer Tour, Vol. I), and wondering where my moral clarity went, in comparison to Hicks'. I like this comment surrounding a quote from Marianne Faithful: She speaks of the '60s as someone might speak of Paris in the '20s, which is why it carries tremendous weight when, speaking of Epstein's failure to secure a lucrative licensing deal for American-produced Beatles' merchandise, she says, "I don't think it's bad to not be good at that." Her statement takes your breath away: It repudiates everything that has come to be thought important in the arts -- the deal making, the percentages, the grosses -- and puts the focus back on the work itself. Source: http://archive.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2004/04/29/epstein/print.html I know that, given a market-fundamentalist society, I don't have any choice but to sell myself. That doesn't mean I have to feel good about it, accept it, or believe that it's simply in the nature of things. Posted by: adamsj | Aug 29, 2005 7:29:34 AM Kathy, If your still looking for a replacement for "marketer" or "marketeer", how about "evangelist"? My first run in with this alternative title was when Guy Kawasaki became one for the Macintosh - I know, that drag in the whole Apple as a cult thing, oh well. If you're passionate about your product, whatever it is, and you want others to believe too, then I think Evangelist fits the bill pretty well. Posted by: Burk | Aug 29, 2005 8:53:47 AM "An intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself." - Albert Camus And there are certainly many intellectuals in the blogosphere. Funny thing is, I'm with Kathy AND Andy. Andy sees what is, and Kathy sees what is becoming! And negotiating change requires a balance of both, sans the bull. Years ago I wrote about marketing generalizations here: http://www.acleareye.com/generalizationsarticle.pdf And people's aversion to the word brand here: http://www.acleareye.com/brandarticle.pdf Let's please cut the hyperbole and get on with making a difference in people's lives. Oh . . . and here's what one small business owner finally figured out (first review). Halleluiah! Let's not confuse her.: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/097252908X/ref=dp_nav_0/102-0548970-1874502?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=283155&s=books Posted by: Tom Asacker | Aug 29, 2005 9:13:49 AM Kathy, After some thought, I think that the best terms I can come up with are "dictatorial" and "democratic" marketing. In the old days, marketers were like dictators, manipulating and commanding their audience. Today, we have to be democrats, cultivating a following by listening to the concerns of our constituents. http://chrisyeh.blogspot.com/2005/08/democratic-and-dictatorial-marketing.html Posted by: Chris Yeh | Aug 29, 2005 3:05:40 PM Fantabulous article about marketing. There are millions of sites about this topic around, but yours is one of the best. Posted by: Philip Shore | Aug 29, 2005 7:24:24 PM Chris, could you explain why you called it "democratic" instead of "demagogic" or "populist" (two entirely different slants) marketing? I'm not sure "democratic" is the right word for sweetening a top-down process. Posted by: adamsj | Aug 30, 2005 6:17:35 AM Nothing says good marketing like West Coast Choppers. http://spaces.msn.com/members/shaded/Blog/cns!1pcUVdsqGjzbPov5sh3Flrdw!524.entry Posted by: Shaded | Aug 30, 2005 8:44:33 AM Another "FIND & REPLACE" is: Buyer ==> Employee Seller==> Manager / Leader Everything here should apply to how organizations operate internally. Posted by: Lee White | Aug 30, 2005 12:47:10 PM Hi, My name is Mary and I'm a Marketer! Uh-oh. And, here's an even more shameful things - we're ALL SALESPEOPLE! (okay, now you'll have to torture yourself before killing yourself...) Great post, keep up the good (and oh-so-snarky smart) work.) Posted by: Mary Schmidt | Aug 30, 2005 4:40:54 PM Oooh, now Kathy's going for that "paradigm shift" dollar. That's a *huge* market. Posted by: Michael Ernest | Aug 30, 2005 9:13:01 PM The comments to this entry are closed.

Infinite Ink: The Continuum Hypothesis by Nancy McGough

1. Overview People have tried to understand space, time, motion, and the notion of "continuum" for thousands of years. This pursuit lead to the Pythagoreans discovery of irrational numbers, Zeno's paradoxes, infinitesimal calculus, transfinite set theory, relativity theory, quantum physics, and many more intriguing ideas. What do we mean when we say "continuum"? Here's a description Albert Einstein gave on p. 83 of his Relativity: The Special and the General Theory : The surface of a marble table is spread out in front of me. I can get from any one point on this table to any other point by passing continuously from one point to a "neighboring" one, and repeating this process a (large) number of times, or, in other words, by going from point to point without executing "jumps." I am sure the reader will appreciate with sufficient clearness what I mean here by "neighbouring" and by "jumps" (if he is not too pedantic). We express this property of the surface by describing the latter as a continuum. Hermann Weyl said "let us stick to time as the most fundamental continuum" and gave the following description on p. 92 of his The Continuum : So we can gather the following concerning objectively presented time: an individual point in it is non-independent, i.e., is pure nothingness when taken by itself, and exists only as a "point of transition" (which, of course, can in no way be understood mathematically). it is due to the essence of time (and not to contingent imperfections of our medium) that a fixed time-point cannot be exhibited in any way, that always only an approximation, never an exact determination is possible. Corresponding remarks apply to every intuitively given continuum; in particular, to the continuum of spatial extension. 1.1 What is the Continuum Hypothesis? In 1874 Georg Cantor discovered that there is more than one level of infinity. The lowest level is called "countable infinity" and higher levels are called "uncountable infinities." The natural numbers are an example of a countably infinite set and the real numbers are an example of an uncountably infinite set. In 1877 Cantor hypothesized that the number of real numbers is the next level of infinity above countable infinity. Since the real numbers are used to represent a linear continuum, this hypothesis is called "the Continuum Hypothesis" or CH. Let c be the cardinality of (i.e., number of points in) a continuum, aleph 0 be the cardinality of any countably infinite set, and aleph 1 be the next level of infinity above aleph 0 . Here are six ways to state CH: Sets-of-Reals Versions of CH Any set of real numbers is either finite, countably infinite, or has the same cardinality as the entire set of real numbers. Any infinite set of real numbers is either countably infinite or has the same cardinality as the entire set of real numbers. Any uncountable set of real numbers has the same cardinality as the entire set of reals numbers. Cardinal-Number Versions of CH There is no cardinal number between aleph 0 and c . and . c = aleph 1 = 2aleph 0 = aleph 1 (explained in section 3.1.1) The Continuum Hypothesis has been, and continues to be, one of the most hotly pursued problems in mathematics. It was the first problem in Hilbert's list of 23 important unsolved problems, ten of which he presented to the Second International Congress of Mathematicians at Paris in 1900. Pursuit of the Continuum Hypothesis has motivated a lot of useful and interesting mathematics in real analysis, topology, set theory, and logic. 1.2 Current Status of CH Despite nearly 120 years of investigation, CH is still debated and continues to motivate a lot of mathematics, especially in set theory and logic. Like the Axiom of Choice (AC), Gödel showed that CH is consistent with standard set theory and Cohen showed that ~CH is consistent with standard set theory (and thus CH is independent of standard set theory). But, unlike AC, CH has not been adopted as an axiom of set theory. Instead, mathematicians either live with this incompleteness in set theory or try to find more intuitive axioms that will help to decide CH. In the "Introduction" of the Israel Mathematical Conference Proceedings, Vol. 6, 1993 Haim Judah said: We still think that the study of the size of the continuum should be our guiding light for further research in set theory. 2. Style, Assumptions, and Terminology 2.1 Style I link only the first occurrence of a word or phrase. I use a minimal amount of graphics in order to: speed up downloads. make it appear reasonable to people who have images turned off or who are using Lynx. I'm trying to figure out the best way to display the aleph character and some other mathematical symbols. Possibilities include: ISO-10646/Unicode alefsym ℵ = ℵ <FONT FACE="symbol"> À w ℵ </FONT> </FONT> À 0 2 À 0 Some good information about using extended character sets with web browsers is at Alan Flavell's Notes on Internationalization. 2.2 Assumptions 2.2.1 Mathematical Assumptions For most of this article, I assume: The real numbers can be used to represent a linear continuum. ZF is consistent. ZFC. I assume Choice, which is a standard assumption, so that for any two cardinal numbers, k and l, one of the following holds: k < l k = l k > l This "Trichotomy of Cardinals" tells us that any two cardinals are comparable and all cardinals can be lined up in one (very!) long well-ordered sequence, called the "aleph sequence." Trichotomy of Cardinals is actually equivalent to the Axiom of Choice. (See my Axiom of Choice article for other equivalents of AC.) In the metamathematics section I discuss CH in the absence of some of these assumptions. 2.2.2 Audience Assumptions 2.3 Terminology 2.3.1 The Word "continuum" Many people use the phrase "the continuum" to mean the real number line but be aware that there are many types of continua, including: One dimensional linear continua - line, line segment, curve (path of a point) Euclidean space - one, two, three, or n dimensional dimensional Einstein's four-dimensional spacetime String theory's ??-dimensional spacetime Any manifold (definition of `manifold' is at UC Davis and Eric's Treasure Trove) 2.3.2 Ordered Sets Ordered sets are usually surrounded by angle brackets rather than square brackets. Unfortunately, it's hard to produce good angle brackets in HTML. The best I could come up with is something like this: < set, order relation > but these angle brackets look too much like less than and greater than signs (which is what they are!), so, I'm using square brackets for ordered sets, i.e.: [set, order relation] 2.3.3 More Terms and Notation Term Meaning AC The Axiom of Choice CH The Continuum Hypothesis GCH The Generalized Continuum Hypothesis ZF Zermelo Fraenkel set theory without Choice ZFC Zermelo Fraenkel set theory with Choice A#B A is not equal to B, e.g.: V#L ~A not A, e.g.: ~CH T |- S Statement S is a theorem of theory T or "T entails S." E.g.: ZF+GCH |- AC N set of natural numbers = {0, 1, 2, ...} (order doesn't matter) R set of real numbers P(X) power set of X = set of all subsets of X card(X) cardinality of X w first infinite ordinal = set of natural numbers in their natural order = [{0, 1, 2, ...}, < ] = [N, < ]; pronounced "omega" w 1 first uncountable ordinal = set of all countable ordinals in their natural order = [{0, 1, 2, ..., w, w + 1,..., w + w,..., w x w,...}, < ] aleph 0 first infinite cardinal = card(N) = card(w) = card(any countably infinite set) aleph 1 first uncountable cardinal = card(w 1 ) c cardinality of a continuum = card(R) = card(P(N)) countable finite or countably infinite isomorphic order isomorphic measure Lebesgue Measure 3. Mathematics of the Continuum and CH The existence of irrational numbers, the uncountability of the reals, and the self-repeating, fractal-nature of the continuum show us that our intuition can't always be trusted. To avoid problems with intuition, we formalize our intuitive notions and try to rigorously prove or disprove statements about these notions. Notions related to the continuum and CH include measure, Baire category, density, separability, connectedness, continuity, completeness, compactness, and of course cardinality. We start with cardinality, the main concept related to CH. 3.1 Sizes of Sets: Cardinal Numbers Before Cantor, collections were either finite or infinite and there was no notion of different levels of infinity. Only Wallis's infinity symbol, oo, was needed to represent the notion of infinity. While investigating questions about singularities of Fourier series, Cantor made the revolutionary discovery that not all infinite sets are the same size. Cantor showed that the natural numbers (N), the integers (Z), and the rational numbers (Q) are all the same size by constructing one-to-one correspondences between them (for details see Seton Hall University's Interactive Real Analysis). Cantor described these as "countably infinite" or having "cardinality aleph 0 ." Cantor also showed that the real numbers can not be put into one-to-one correspondence with a countably infinite set and thus are not countably infinite. After this surprising discovery, Cantor proposed the Continuum Hypothesis and developed transfinite set theory, the "paradise of the infinite" from which Hilbert hoped we would never be driven! 3.1.1 aleph 0 < c = 2aleph 0 We now step through a sketch of the proof of the following, which will help us to define the continuum hypothesis (CH) and the generalized continuum hypothesis (GCH). aleph 0 < card(R) = c = card((0,1)) = card(P(N)) = 2aleph 0 3.1.1.1 aleph 0 < card(R) = c Cantor showed, using his famous diagonal argument, that the real numbers (R) cannot be put into one-to-one correspondence with the natural numbers. Since the reals are a superset of N, their cardinality must be larger than aleph 0 . He called the cardinality of the real numbers c for "continuum." 3.1.1.2 card(R) = card((0,1)) When proving things about c it's sometimes easier to work with a set other than R that has cardinality c. An example of such a set is the set of reals between 0 and 1, which is called "the open interval zero one" and denoted: (0,1) There are many ways to show that all the reals can be put into one-to-one correspondence with (0,1). One way to do this mapping is to use the great and powerful arctan function. You can use arctan with different multipliers and shifters to construct a one-to-one correspondence between R and any open interval of reals. Exercise f(x)=arctan(x) maps R continuously one-to-one and onto (-pi/2, pi/2). What function of arctan maps R continuously one-to-one and onto (0,1)? Since this function of arctan maps R continuously one-to-one and onto (0,1) and its inverse -- a function of tan -- maps (0,1) continuously one-to-one and onto R, we see that R and (0,1), in addition to having the same cardinality, are homeomorphic. 3.1.1.3 card((0,1)) = card(P(N)) = 2aleph 0 The set of reals between 0 and 1 can be represented by the set of all countably infinite sequences of 0's and 1's . Think of these as representing binary "decimals" between .000000... and .111111... . In this representation .1=1/2, .01=1/4, .11=3/4, etc. The power set of the natural numbers, P(N), can also be represented by the set of all countably infinite sequences of 0's and 1's. Each sequence represents a subset of N by interpreting a 0 in position n to mean that the number n is not in the subset and a 1 in position n to mean the number n is in the subset. This way of specifying a set is called the "characteristic function" of the set. One way to represent all countably infinite sequences of 0's and 1's is to use Cartesian product notation: {0, 1} x {0, 1} x {0, 1} x ... = {0, 1}aleph 0 Since in set theory {0, 1} = 2, we can also write this as: 2aleph 0 So we now have: aleph 0 < c = card(R) = card((0,1)) = card(P(N)) = 2aleph 0 3.1.2 CH and GCH Since CH is the proposal that c is the next level of infinity above aleph 0 , namely aleph 1 , and we have just shown that c = 2aleph 0 , another way to state CH is: 2aleph 0 = aleph 1 This is sometimes called the "arithmetic version of CH." In 1908 Felix Hausdorff proposed the following generalization of CH: For any cardinal aleph a , 2aleph a = aleph a+1 This is the Generalized Continuum Hypothesis or GCH. Another way to state GCH is: {card(N), card(P(N)), card(P(P(N))), card(P(P(P(N)))), . . .} = {aleph 0 , aleph 1 , aleph 2 , aleph 3 , . . .} Obviously CH follows from GCH and we have: ZF+GCH |- CH Note that ZF+GCH |- AC so it would be redundant (and misleading) to put ``ZF C +GCH'' on the left side of the turnstile. 3.1.3 Sample Cardinalities After Cantor showed that there are different levels of infinity, Cantor and others quickly discovered the cardinality of many sets, including the following. Cardinality Samples aleph 0 N = natural numbers = natural numbers w = [ N , <] = natural numbers in their natural order = [ , <] = natural numbers in their natural order Z = integers = integers Q = rational numbers = rational numbers algebraic numbers set of all finite sets of natural numbers set of all cofinite sets of natural numbers (sets whose complements are finite) < ww = < wN = set of all finite sequences of natural numbers aleph 1 w 1 = set of all countable ordinals c = 2aleph 0 R = real numbers = real numbers C = complex numbers = complex numbers irrational numbers transcendental numbers R 2 = 2-dimensional Euclidean space = 2-dimensional Euclidean space R 3 = 3-dimensional Euclidean space = 3-dimensional Euclidean space R n = n-dimensional Euclidean space = n-dimensional Euclidean space any non-empty open set of reals any perfect set of reals any Cantor set any uncountable closed set of reals any uncountable Borel set of reals any uncountable analytic set of reals any set of reals with positive measure any set of reals of second category (not meager) P( N ) = set of all subsets of the natural numbers ) = set of all subsets of the natural numbers w w = w N = set of all countably infinite sequences of natural numbers = = set of all countably infinite sequences of natural numbers w 2 = set of all countably infinite sequences of 0's and 1's 2 = set of all countably infinite sequences of 0's and 1's set of all coinfinite sets of natural numbers (sets whose complements are infinite) set of all infinite coinfinite sets of natural numbers set of all open sets of reals set of all closed sets of reals set of all Borel sets of reals set of all analytic sets of reals C( R ) = set of all continuous functions from R to R ) = set of all continuous functions from to set of all analytic functions from R to R 2c = 22aleph 0 P( R ) = set of all subsets of the real numbers ) = set of all subsets of the real numbers R R = set of all functions from R to R = set of all functions from to P(P(N)) = set of all subsets of the power set of N In this hierarchy of cardinalities, CH is the claim that the aleph 1 and c levels should be merged into one level. And GCH would mean that 2c = aleph 2 , 22c = aleph 3 , etc. 3.2 Ordering Sets: Ordinal Numbers To fully understand CH in the context of ZFC you need to understand the second infinite cardinal, aleph 1 , which is the cardinality of w 1 , the set of all countable ordinals. Ordinal numbers tell you both the size of a set and the way its members are ordered. Ordering sets is important because it is the way we extend the notion of counting to infinite sets. For a finite set, ordering is a breeze. No matter how you order a set with n members, its order type is isomorphic to: 0 1 2 3 . . . n-1 This is sometimes written as [{0, 1, 2, ..., n-1}, < ] or [n, < ] to emphasize that it is an ordered set. For infinite sets, the situation is quite different. It turns out that for a countably infinite set, there are uncountably many non-isomorphic ways to well order it. Here are some examples of ways to well order a countably infinite set. The letters listed in the right column are used as place holders -- no member of the set is actually repeated in its ordering. Countable Ordinal Order Type (what it looks like) w a b c... w + 1 a b c... a w + 2 a b c... a b w x 2 = w+w a b c... a b c... w2 = w x w = w+w...+w... a b c... a b c... . . . abc... . . . The collection of all countable ordinals is w 1 and the cardinality of this collection is the next level of infinity after aleph 0 , namely aleph 1 . (A proof that the cardinality of the set of all countable ordinals is the next cardinal after aleph 0 is in Leary.) Now, try to wrap your mind around the question of whether a continuum has the same number of points as this! For more information about cardinal and ordinal numbers, see Infinite Ink's Cardinal Numbers. 3.3 Analysis of the Continuum One path to finding out if CH is true is to look for sets of real numbers that have cardinality greater than aleph 0 and less than c. If such sets exist, then CH is false. While looking for these sets mathematicians have decomposed the reals into different types of sets and come up with characterizations of the reals, continua, and continuity. 3.3.1 Decomposing the Reals There are many ways to decompose the reals. We can split the reals into two sets, such as the rational and irrational numbers or the algebraic and transcendental numbers, or we can look at types of subsets of the reals, such as Borel sets and non-Borel sets. The hope is that these decompositions will help us to characterize the entire set of reals. For example, the rationals provide a good approximation to the reals because any real number can be approximated "as closely as you please" by a rational number. This should serve as a warning though. Despite the rationals' great ability to represent the reals they are of a different cardinality than the reals. So, just because a collection of sets is a good approximation of the reals doesn't mean that it will give us much useful information about cardinality questions. Bearing this in mind, let's try to understand CH by looking at sets that, in some sense, represent the reals. CH is true for closed, Borel, and analytic sets, i.e.: any infinite closed set either has cardinality aleph 0 or c . or . any infinite Borel set either has cardinality aleph 0 or c . or . any infinite analytic set either has cardinality aleph 0 or c. This means that if there is a set that falsifies CH, i.e., a set with cardinality between aleph 0 and c, it will not be one of these types of sets. Since there are only c of these types of sets and there are 2c subsets of R, there are plenty of sets left which might falsify CH! 3.3.2 Characterizing the Reals R is a complete ordered field. Any total ordering [X, < ] satisfying the following three conditions is isomorphic to [R, < ]. X has no first or last element X is connected in the order topology X is separable in the order topology (more to come) 3.3.3 Characterizing Continuity Hermann Weyl said that "Precisely what eludes us is the nature of the continuity, the flowing form point to point; in other words, the secret of how the continually enduring present can continually slip away into the receding past." The Hahn-Mazurkiewicz Theorem A topological space X is a continuous curve iff X is a compact Hausdorff space which is second countable, connected, and locally connected. 3.4 What ZFC Does and Does Not Tell Us About c ZFC does not tell us much about c, it only tells us that c: is a cardinal number. is larger than aleph 0 . . is aleph a for some ordinal a . for some ordinal . must have uncountable cofinality. For example, it can not be aleph w or aleph w + w , each of which have cofinality w . or , each of which have cofinality . can be any cardinal with uncountable cofinality. For example, it can be any infinite successor cardinal including aleph 1 , aleph 2 , ... aleph n , ... aleph w + 1 , aleph w + 2 , ... aleph w + n , ..., where n is a natural number. , , ... , ... , , ... , ..., where n is a natural number. is not inaccessible (this follows immediately from the definition of strongly inaccessible). inaccessible (this follows immediately from the definition of strongly inaccessible). might be a very large cardinal. ZFC gives no upper bound on the size of c. 4. Metamathematics and CH The results of Gödel and Cohen about the consistency and independence of CH are metamathematical theorems. Questions that are not within the framework of standard mathematics, but are rather about the framework of mathematics, are part of metamathematics. Today the standard framework for mathematics is first-order logic and ZFC. Most interesting results in logic are about the interplay between formal theory and model theory. An example of this type of result is Gödel's First Incompleteness Theorem, which tells us that if we have: a formal theory, T, which contains arithmetic a model of that theory, M then there is a statement U that is true in the model but cannot be proved in the formal theory. This type of statement is consistent with T but "undecidable" in T. Gödel's Completeness theorem tells us that if T is consistent then U is undecidable in T if and only if models exist for both T+U and T+~U. Since ZFC contains arithmetic, it has been known since 1938, when Gödel proved his incompleteness theorems, that it is incomplete. CH was suspected to be one of its undecidable statements but it wasn't until 1963 that Cohen proved the independence of CH. He did this by constructing a model of ZFC in which CH is false (i.e., a model of ZFC+~CH). The technique he used to construct the model is called "forcing." In 1966 Cohen received a Fields Medal for his work. A good discussion of these topics is in What is Mathematical Logic by J.N. Crossley and others. The last chapter gives a nice description of forcing and the construction of a model of ZFC+~CH. 4.1 Models (standard model, non-standard analysis and the hyperreal line, Hensel's p-adics, forcing models) One way to resolve CH would be to come up with a model of the reals, which we all accept as being the "correct" interpretation of the reals, in which CH is true or false. A candidate is Robinson's hyperreal line. 4.2 Adding Axioms to ZFC Most mathematicians work within ZFC but some, usually set theorists, venture into the strange world of ZFC with additional axioms. Many of these axioms were proposed because they shed light on the continuum and CH. 4.2.1 Why Not Just add GCH or ~GCH? The most obvious axiom to add is one that explicitly asserts GCH or its negation, ~GCH. Since neither GCH nor its negation is "intuitively obvious," this is not done. Whenever someone proves something using either GCH or ~GCH it is explicitly stated. Contrast this with AC, which is used freely in mathematics and its use is often not mentioned. 4.2.2 Large Cardinal Axioms Large cardinals are cardinals that cannot be constructed using only the axioms of ZFC. Examples of large cardinals are inaccessible cardinals, hyperinaccessible cardinals, Mahlo cardinals, measurable cardinals, and supercompact cardinals. There are lots more. Surprisingly, some of these shed light on questions about the real numbers and the continuum. MC = there exists a measurable cardinal SC = there exists a supercompact cardinal ZFC+MC |- V#L ZFC+SC |- Projective Determinacy 4.2.3 Martin's Axiom: A Weak Version of CH ccc or countable chain condition or countable antichain condition A topological space is ccc if every family of disjoint open sets is countable. Example: R with the usual topology (open sets = open intervals) is ccc. MA or Martin's Axiom If X is a ccc compact Hausdorff space, then X is not the union of less than 2aleph 0 nowhere dense sets. Suslin line A connected, linearly ordered, ccc space which is not separable ZFC+CH |- MA ZF+GCH |- (inaccessible = weakly inaccessible) ZFC+MA+ ~CH |- There is no Suslin line. 4.3 ZF and Adding Axioms (other than Choice) to ZF Without the Axiom of Choice, there is no guarantee that infinite cardinal numbers are comparable. Cardinal numbers can form a partially ordered set and aleph 1 and c might be on two incomparable branches of the partial order. (Note: c is comparable to aleph 0 in ZF but in ZF there can be infinite sets that do not contain a countably infinite subset. These are called "Dedekind finite" sets.) 4.2.1 ZF+GCH 4.3.1 V=L: Shrinking the Set Theoretic Universe ZF+V=L |- AC ZF+V=L |- GCH ZF+V=L |- ZF+ |- CH 4.3.2 ZF+AD: A Set Theoretic Universe that's Incompatible with ZFC The Axiom of Determinacy... In ZF+AD the Axiom of Choice is false and the reals cannot be well ordered and, thus, are not equal to any aleph. But, within this system every set of reals is either countable or has the cardinality of all the reals so the first three of the six versions of CH listed in section 1.1 hold. 4.4 Alternate Mathematical Frameworks Another path to resolving CH is to view all of mathematics through a framework other than the standard first-order logic and Zermelo Fraenkel set theory. Possibilities include using Second-Order Logic, Linear Logic, Intuitionist Logic, or the meta framework, Category Theory, which can be used to encompass all frameworks. Intuitionist Logic If we restate the question in this form: "Is it impossible to construct infinite sets of real numbers between 0 and 1, whose power is less than that of the continuum, but greater than aleph-null?", then the answer must be in the affirmative; for the intuitionist can only construct denumerable sets of mathematical objects, and if on the basis of intuition of the linear continuum, he admits elementary series of free selections as elements of construction, then each non-denumerable set constructed by means of it contains a subset of the power of the continuum. - Brouwer, 1912, p. 134 of Collected Works 5. Philosophy of CH Is there a truth about CH and, if there is, can we know this truth? What does CH have to do with reality, both mathematical reality and physical reality? These type of philosophical questions have been debated since at least the time of Ancient Greece when the Pythagoreans discovered irrational numbers and the mystery of the continuum started to unfold. The two main philosophical viewpoints are realist and antirealist. The quote below by René Thom characterizes pretty well these two views. Kronecker represents the antirealist view and Thom represents the realist view. Much emphasis has been placed during the past fifty years on the reconstruction of the geometric continuum from the natural integers, using the theory of Dedekind cuts or the completion of the field of rational numbers. Under the influence of axiomatic and bookish traditions, man perceived in discontinuity the first mathematical Being: "God created the integers and the rest is the work of man." This maxim spoken by the algebraist Kronecker reveals more about his past as a banker who grew rich through monetary speculation than about his philosophical insight. There is hardly any doubt that, from a psychological and, for the writer, ontological point of view, the geometric continuum is the primordial entity. If one has any consciousness at all, it is consciousness of time and space; geometric continuity is in some way inseparably bound to conscious thought. 5.1 Mathematical Realism: CH is True or False As ??? said, most mathematicians are realists during the week and formalists on the weekend. The following are some mathematicians (with their realist hats on!) who've stated their opinion about the truth of CH: True: Cantor Cantor False: Cohen, Gödel, Martin, Solovay Here's a quote from Cohen. (He uses C, instead of c, for continuum.) A point of view which the author feels may eventually come to be accepted is that CH is obviously false. The main reason one accepts the Axiom of Infinity is probably that we feel it absurd to think that the process of adding only one set at a time can exhaust the entire universe. Similarly with the higher axioms of infinity. Now aleph 1 is the set of countable ordinals and this is merely a special and the simplest way of generating a highter cardinal. The set C is, in contrast, generated by a totally new and more powerful principle, namely the Power Set Axiom. It is unreasonable to expect that any description of a larger cardinal which attempts to build up that cardinal from ideas deriving from the Replacement Axiom can ever reach C. Thus C is greater than aleph n , aleph w , aleph a , where a= aleph w , etc. This point of view regards C as an incredibly rich set given to us by one bold new axiom, which can never be approached by any piecemeal process of construction. Perhaps later generations will see the problem more clearly and express themselves more eloquently. - Paul Cohen on p. 151 of Set Theory and the Continuum Hypothesis 5.1.1 CH and the Physical World For the advancing army of physics, battling for many a decade with heat and sound, fields and particles, gravitation and spacetime geometry, the cavalry of mathematics, galloping out ahead, provided what it thought to be the rationale for the real number system. Encounter with the quantum has taught us, however, that we acquire our knowledge in bits; that the continuum is forever beyond our reach. Yet for daily work the concept of the continuum has been and will continue to be as indispensable for physics as it is for mathematics. In either field of endeavor, in any given enterprise, we can adopt the continuum and give up absolute logical rigor, or adopt rigor and give up the continuum, but we can't pursue both approaches at the same time in the same application. - John Archibald Wheeler on p. xii of Weyl's The Continuum 5.2 Not Mathematical Realism The two mainstream antirealist views are formalists and constructivists. (For now see my descriptions of formalism and constructivism in the Axiom of Choice section of the sci.math FAQ) 6. Conclusion Maybe the conclusion from all this is that trying to reduce the continuum to a set of individual points is the wrong way to think about it. This reductionist strategy has also had problems in physics. Today there are many physicists moving away from reductionism and towards holism. Maybe a similar path should be taken in mathematics, away from thinking of point sets as the fundamental objects and towards thinking of structures and relations as the fundamental objects of mathematics. There is a fundamental error in separating the parts from the whole, the mistake of atomizing what should not be atomized. Unity and complementarity constitute reality. - Werner Heisenberg Appendix 1: Timeline c.540 BCE Pythagoras c.515 BCE Parmenides of Elea c.490-c.435 BCE Zeno of Elea c.408-355 BCE Eudoxos 384-322 BCE Aristotle c.287-212 BCE Archimedes 1564-1642 Galilei, Galileo 1571-1630 Kepler, Johannes 1642-1727 Newton, Isaac 1646-1716 Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm 1777-1855 Gauss, Karl Friedrich 1781-1848 Bolzano, Bernard 1789-1857 Cauchy, Augustine Louis 1815-1897 Weierstrass, Karl 1831-1916 Dedekind, Julius 1845-1918 Cantor, Georg 1862-1943 Hilbert, David December, 1873 Cantor proved R uncountable 1877 Cantor proposed CH 1878 Cantor's proposal of CH published 1908 Hausdorff proposed GCH 1934- Cohen, Paul born April, 1963 Cohen circulated notes about independence of CH May 3, 1963 Cohen lectured on independence of CH Appendix 2: Confusion About CH in Popular Literature The most common confusions about CH in popular literature (and in Internet discussions!) are a writer: Assuming CH or GCH is true without stating this assumption. Since CH is not a standard assumption in mathematics and, in fact, most set theorists think it is false, it is important for a writer to state her assumptions about CH. Misstating CH. A common misstatement of CH is c = 2aleph 0 . As we saw in section 3.1.1, this statement is a fairly simple theorem to prove within ZFC. An example of confusion is in George Gamow's One Two Three...Infinity . On page 34 he says: The sequence of numbers (including the infinite ones!) now runs: 1 2 3 4 5 ... aleph 1 aleph 2 aleph 3 ... and we say "there are aleph 1 points on a line" or "there are aleph 2 different curves" ... Another example of confusion is on page 46 of Michael Guillen's Bridges to Infinity : an aleph 0 set ... has precisely 2aleph 0 conceivable subsets ... It is the first stepping stone beyond infinity, the first transfinite number, which Cantor named aleph 1 ... A set with aleph 1 elements in turn, has precisely 2aleph 1 conceivable subsets. This is the second stepping stone, the second transfinite number aleph 2 , and so forth. Guillen continues his confusion on page 50: To this day we still don't know exactly how many irrationals there are, although it has been established that the total number cannot be more than aleph 1 . Cantor himself guessed that the total number of irrationals is exactly aleph 1 , mainly since aleph 1 is the next largest infinity after aleph 0 defined by set theory. His guess came to be known as the Continuum Hypothesis. But there is still the uneliminated possibility that the number of irrationals actually lies between aleph 0 and aleph 1 . Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find all the mistakes in these quotes. After you've done that, take a look at the mistakes I found and let me know if you find any more (or disagree with the ones I found). If you know of other misstatements of CH, please let me know. Acknowledgments Thanks to Jeremy Henty who found a mistake in my sample cardinalities list. More thanks coming... Search the Net for "continuum hypothesis" The following canned searches will give you a quick start at searching the Net for the phrase "continuum hypothesis" - have fun! MetaCrawler SavvySearch MetaSearch The next section gives links for searching Usenet news archives. Public Discussion Good news groups for discussing these topics are: sci.logic sci.math sci.math.research (moderated) sci.philosophy.tech You can also search the Deja News archives using the following canned searches: continuum & hypothesis ((~g sci.math*) continuum) | ((~g sci.math*) continua) ((~g sci.logic) continuum) | ((~g sci.logic) continua) ((~g sci.physics*) continuum) | ((~g sci.physics*) continua) ((~g *philosophy*) continuum) | ((~g *philosophy*) continua) (~s continuum) | (~s continua) (¡¡ Draft Draft Draft Draft Draft Draft !!)

Vatican plan to block gay priests

The controversial document, produced by the Congregation for Catholic Education and Seminaries, the body overseeing the church's training of the priesthood, is being scrutinised by Benedict XVI. It been suggested Rome would publish the instruction earlier this month, but it dropped the plan out of concern that such a move might tarnish his visit to his home city of Cologne last week. The document expresses the church's belief that gay men should no longer be allowed to enter seminaries to study for the priesthood. Currently, as all priests take a vow of celibacy, their sexual orientation has not been considered a pressing concern. Vatican-watchers believe the Pope harbours doubts about whether the church should publish the document, which has already been the subject of three drafts. 'Inevitably, such a directive will be met with opposition,' said John Haldane, professor of moral philosophy at the University of St Andrews. The instruction tries to dampen down the controversy by eschewing a moral line, arguing instead that the presence of homosexuals in seminaries is 'unfair' to both gay and heterosexual priests by subjecting the former to temptation. 'It will be written in a very pastoral mode,' Haldane said. 'It will not be an attack on the gay lifestyle. It will not say "homosexuality is immoral". But it will suggest that admitting gay men into the priesthood places a burden both on those who are homosexual and those they are working alongside who are not.' The instruction was drawn up as part of the Vatican's response to the sexual abuse scandal that surfaced in the American church three years ago, which has seen hundreds of priests launch lawsuits against superiors whom they accuse of abusing them. As the former head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican body charged with looking into the abuse claims, Benedict, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was made acutely aware of the scale of the problem. He is thought to have made clearing up the scandal one of the key goals of his papacy. Next month the Vatican will send investigators to the US to gauge the scale of the scandal. More than 100 bishops and seminary staff will visit 220 campuses. They will review documents provided by the schools and seminaries and may interview teachers, students and alumni, then report directly to the Vatican, which could choose to issue the instruction barring homosexuals from entering the priesthood as part of its response. Studies show that a significant proportion of men who enter seminaries to train for the priesthood are gay. Any move signalling that homosexuals will not be allowed to join the seminaries, even one couched in the arcane language of the Vatican, could reduce the number of recruits to the priesthood. In a further sign of the instruction's deeply controversial nature, it is expected the document would be signed by a cardinal rather than the Pope himself if the Vatican decides to publish it. The Vatican has been carefully trying to soften Benedict's image since he was elected earlier this year. In recent weeks he has reached out to the Jewish and Muslim communities as well as young Catholics during the church's World Youth Day. The initiatives have been seen as a significant PR success. A decision to publish an instruction that would underscore his religious conservatism would be detrimental to Benedict's standing as he enjoys his 'honeymoon period' on the world stage.

With technology, it's easy to break the law

With technology, it's easy to break the law Legally, it's been a gray week for me. I took apart and repaired a 15-year-old, Freon-filled air conditioner without an EPA permit. I destroyed a wasp's nest with a makeshift flamethrower, using an aerosol can of cleaner "in a manner inconsistent with its labeling." And then I went hardcore. Well, sort of. I got myself a new laptop at work; I bring it home on weekends for safekeeping. It has built-in Wi-Fi networking, and I had a Wi-Fi hotspot in my house. As soon as I turned it on, the laptop found and connected to a Wi-Fi network. This was cool; I appreciate how easy it works. But it was also odd, because my Wi-Fi network is encrypted. You need a password to access it, and I hadn't entered one. I pulled up the list of networks, and there was mine, locked down, along with a few others, also locked. There was also one unencrypted one and I was connecting through it. The computer is set to search for the strongest network it can access and use it. As I wasn't planning on bringing my machine home more than occasionally, it was easier to piggyback on this mysterious signal than to set up my own network. There have been plenty of stories about how you should secure your wireless network, and doing so isn't difficult: a handful of clicks, really. Some neighbors had done so, but one had not, and now I was using his Internet connection. Technically, this is theft. Sort of. (One reason it's not is that I figured out which neighbor it was, and I told him. He didn't mind.) But it's a good example of how traditional definitions don't always fit in the brave new world. Was I stealing? I was depriving my neighbor of bandwidth. I was slowing his access. But what if he wasn't online? (In fact, he wasn't home at the time.) More importantly, he was leaving his network unsecured, so any PC with a Wi-Fi card in the area would pick it up. He doesn't pay for time on the network, so I'm not costing him anything. He wasn't using the network then, so I wasn't depriving him of anything. Free WiFi connections are all over, so I wasn't depriving an ISP of revenue. Still, that hasn't stopped other people from getting arrested for "stealing" a signal. Terrible twos My two-year-old does not quite understand the concept of "don't scratch your DVDs." He's already ruined a few CDs, but DVDs are more expensive and we've been good about keeping them out of his (literally) grubby hands. The smart thing to do is make a backup and keep the original safely put away. This way Sam only risks a 50-cent disk, not a $20 one. There are a bunch of programs out there for making backups of your DVDs with names like 1Click DVD Copy, DVD Wizard Pro, and DVD Cloner. I use one called DVD Decrypter, which I like for two reasons: 1) It's free, and 2) it can remove UOPs from the DVD before making a copy. If you have a DVD player, you've bumped into UOPs, or "user operation prohibitions." They stop you when you try to do something to the DVD you're not supposed to do. For example, some of Sam's disks come from a company that fills the first 10 minutes with commercials for its other products. The UOPs prohibit you from skipping them. Can you imagine if you tried to read your child a book but couldn't start until you flipped through 20 pages of ads? That's why, when I made a backup of these disks, I also removed the UOPs. Now Sam can be as rough as he likes and we can skip the commercials, too. The original is safe, and Sam is spared from yet more advertising. Is what I did against the law? Not yet, but the entertainment industry wants it to be. Gray area My father sent me birthday greetings with a card that has a photo of a New York scene of Fort Washington Park with the George Washington Bridge in the background. I'm always happy to see scenes of New York, but this one made me stop. From the angle the shot was taken, you could just see, under the bridge, the Little Red Lighthouse. "Holy moly!" I said. Entirely by accident, he had sent me a card that brought back memories of one of my favorite childhood books. I scanned the card and sent it to a friend with a note, "Holy moly!" Now that card was copyrighted art, yet here I was, scanning it and sending it to someone. Breaking the law or fair use? Obviously, fair use. I think. I wasn't profiting from it and wasn't depriving anyone of anything. It was in the context of a review. Had it been a digital image I paid for, however, and not an analog one, that would have been exactly the kind of thing content creators want to prevent. For now, though, I still have my copyrights — at least to some extent. (And let's not forget that the idea of copyright was to protect the rights of content consumers as much as those of creators. It's something the entertainment industry has paid Congress to ignore.) I still can change my car's oil without a license, permit, or certification. I can still build a potato cannon and fix my air conditioner. I can still copy my CDs to my MP3 player and use my TiVo to watch Friday's Battlestar Galactica again. But as technology marches on, our laws don't always march with it. They're written by men with agendas that are different than ours — men who don't understand (or have the incentive to understand) what they're trying to legislate. So chances are there will come a day when there won't be room for men to meddle with technology. The sad thing is that we'll think what they do is against the law in the first place. Andrew Kantor is a technology writer, pundit, and know-it-all who covers technology for the Roanoke Times. He's also a former editor for PC Magazine and Internet World. Read more of his work at kantor.com. His column appears Fridays on USATODAY.com.

Banned airlines lists published

The lists tell passengers which airlines are banned in France and Belgium The lists were posted on the websites of the French civil aviation authority (DGAC) and Belgium's Transport Ministry on Monday. Switzerland has also promised to provide its own list on Thursday. The moves follow a plane crash in Venezuela on 16 August, in which 152 French passengers died on their way home to the island of Martinique. Meanwhile on Saturday, at a meeting of the European Civil Aviation Conference in Bucharest, experts called for a Europe-wide definition of common criteria for blacklists. The European Commission reached a deal in February to allow the creation of EU-wide blacklists of unsafe airlines by the end of the year. But correspondents say it is unclear whether agreement on the blacklists is possible, with Italy calling for just a list of safe companies. Charter transparency The two countries' lists were mutually exclusive, though several names of airlines coincided with those on a list published in the UK. AIRLINE BLACKLISTS French list Air Koryo, North Korea Air Saint-Thomas, US Virgin Islands International Air Service, Liberia Air Mozambique (LAM), including its subsidiary Transairways Phuket Airlines, Thailand Belgian list Africa Lines, Central African Republic Air Van Airlines, Armenia Central Air Express, Democratic Republic of Congo ICTTPW, Libya International Air Tours Ltd., Nigeria Johnsons Air Ltd., Ghana Silverback Cargo Freighters, Rwanda South Airlines, Ukraine In addition to the list of banned airlines, the DGAC site also published a list of authorised companies including charter airlines. French Transport Minister Dominique Perben said last week that by the end of the year passengers taking charter or tour group flights would have the right to be told which company was operating the flight. Checks on aircraft making stopovers at French airports will also be stepped up. Switzerland has already revealed the names of some banned airlines, but said it would publish a full list on 1 September. Passenger revolt On Wednesday night, 235 passengers of a Tunisian charter plane flying from Paris to the Tunisian island of Djerba refused to re-board a plane which was forced to return to Orly airport for checks shortly after take-off. That incident came a week after the Venezuela crash, which involved a Colombian-owned plane. August 2005 has been marked by a string of major plane disasters. In less then two weeks, three planes have crashed in Greece, Venezuela and Peru - all three of them operated by minor airlines. More than 300 people have lost their lives in the three accidents. The issue of blacklisting came to prominence when 148 people - most of them French - died in January 2004 in a crash involving an airline which had been banned from Swiss airspace, a fact which the passengers had no way of knowing.

American Chemical Society: Why Redheads Have Propensity for Skin Cancer

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29-The reason people with red hair have higher rates of skin cancer than people with black hair likely lies in the different photochemical properties of their melanin pigments, researchers reported here. Because of slight variations in its chemical structure, red pigment loses electrons relatively easily when hit by ultraviolet light (UV). Black pigment, on the other hand, requires a jolt of high-energy UV, which is usually screened out by the atmosphere, to knock off its electrons, reported John D. Simon, Ph.D., of Duke University in Durham, N.C. Electron loss is the first step to generating oxygen free radicals, which in turn cause damage to DNA that can lead to skin cancer, Dr. Simon said Sunday at a presentation at the American Chemical Society Annual Meeting. Action Points Advise redheaded patients that there is a scientific explanation for why they have a greater propensity for skin cancer. No such photochemical analysis of red and black pigments has been done before, in part because of the extreme difficulty of removing melanin granules from human hair and tissue without altering their natural chemical properties, Dr. Simon said. However, Dr. Simon and colleagues were able to isolate red and black pigment from hair samples using a new technique developed by Italian scientists. "We spent a year characterizing these pigments so that we could establish that we had optimized the isolation to yield as close to natural pigments as possible," Dr. Simon said. The researchers then bombarded the pigments with varying frequencies of UV light and determined the resulting electron loss with a technique called photoelectron emission microscopy. "The red pigment is more pro-oxidant under normal atmospheric UV exposure and more prone to cause oxidative stress in cells," Dr. Simon said. "The work suggests that the photochemical properties of the pigments themselves may contribute to the different incidence of cancer between tissues containing the different pigments," he concluded.

Petite green cars tempt tourists

By Clark Boyd Technology correspondent The narrow, cobbled streets of Cordoba in southern Spain are no place for a car, but a Spanish entrepreneur wants to change that. The cars have a top speed of about 20mph He points to a sleek, curvy little number. "It's a wonderful car, a marvellous car," says Mr Romeo with used-car salesman relish. "It's noiseless. It's very safe. It's reliable. This model is the two-seater. I love the cars." But Mr Romeo is not selling cars, he is renting them. And he is not talking about Porsches or Lamborghinis. Instead, he is renting Gems, or Global Electric Motorcars. Half a dozen of the vehicles are scattered throughout the garage, plugged into the mains. They are charging up for a day of work on Cordoba's busy streets. One charge is usually good for about 50 miles (80km). Gems are made in the US by a division of Daimler-Chrysler. They have a flowing, curvilinear design reminiscent of an Apple eMac computer, or a Volkswagen Beetle. Blob attack Objects with that kind of shape have picked up their own moniker - blobjects. Alfredo Romeo has been taken with the idea of blobjects ever since he heard technology guru Bruce Sterling discuss them in a speech. Cordoba is a city of the senses. There are streets where it truly smells like flowers. We have a great climate here, too Laura Rodriguez, Blobject The Spanish entrepreneur loved the name. He felt it matched his vision for what personal transportation might be like in the future. When he teamed up with two old school friends to launch the electric car rental business, he decided to name the company Blobject. The company rents the electric cars to tourists in Cordoba, as a safe, convenient, and environmentally friendly way to see the town. It costs about US$50 (£28) for a two-hour rental. The Gems turn heads as they cruise along the city streets. The cars have a top speed of about 20mph (32Km/h), so scooters whip right by you. But Mr Romeo contends that slow is better for sight-seeing anyway. And besides, he says, there are the extras. Open source autos Each Blobject car comes with a touch-screen computer system mounted in the dash. Through a USB port, you can plug in a flash drive containing information on Cordoba in Spanish, English or French. The Gems can be hired for US$50 for a two-hour rental When you pass a certain landmark, the computer then knows to display the appropriate text, audio and video information about that landmark on the screen. The computer system is based on open source software developed by a company in Seville, Spain. As with any open source software, anyone can improve and change Blobject's code, as long as those improvements and changes are shared with others. Mr Romeo insisted on using open source. Not only was it cheaper, he says, but it also allowed him to better customise his product. "With proprietary software, innovation comes from the people in marketing," he says. "But with open source, innovation comes from the guy who is really in the market. It comes from someone who knows the city." Communist funding Blobject's cars have other customised features as well. It's a communism that moves logically toward something that is very different than what it used to be Paco Tejada, local government official "Cordoba is a city of the senses. There are streets where it truly smells like flowers. We have a great climate here, too. In a closed car, you couldn't experience any of that." Not everyone is taken with the electric cars. The city's taxi drivers call them "caracoles", which is Spanish for snails. As they pass, the taxis lean on their horns. They would probably yell obscenities at you, if they were not going by so quickly. But the local government is behind the Blobject effort. It has given the company some money, and has set aside special parking places for the electric cars around Cordoba's main tourist sites. "They are focusing on an important sector to the city - tourism," says Paco Tejada, the local government official in charge of tourism. "It seemed to us like an important entrepreneurial initiative." That may seem like typical government talk. But Cordoba's city government is controlled by the Communist party. When I point out that funding entrepreneurial projects does not sound very communist, Mr Tejada is amused. "Well, it's the communism of the future," he says laughing. "It's a communism that moves logically toward something that is very different than what it used to be." Alfredo Romeo is moving ahead as well. He has opened a second Blobject office in Seville. And he has just taken delivery of some new additions to his fleet. They are four-seater electric cars. "The sedan model," he calls them. "You know, for the whole family." Clark Boyd is technology correspondent for The World, a BBC World Service and WGBH-Boston co-production

Oxford to turn away child prodigies

Yinan Wang, the 14-year-old Chinese boy who clinched a place at Oxford University last week, will be the last child prodigy to study there under reforms being considered by admissions tutors. Despite an almost perennial flurry of headlines on children barely in their teens being offered places, the university is considering an unprecedented blanket rule on minimum ages for undergraduates. 'The admissions executive is in discussions around whether we should introduction a minimum age of 17 for undergraduates,' confirmed Ruth Collier, a spokesperson for admissions to Oxford. 'We have been pushed to consider it, not because of concerns about whether it is psychologically healthy for children to study here, but because of child protection laws which have come into play this year for the first time.' Oxford is the only university in Britain that currently accepts undergraduates who are under the age of 17. Individual colleges decide which candidates they will accept as undergraduates, but Collier confirms that age is rarely, if ever, a factor. 'It's up to each college who they accept, but if you're the best student for the place and are 14 years old, then the general attitude is "so be it",' said Collier. 'We have always said our policy is entirely non-discriminatory and we are proud of that openness, which we consider crucial to Oxford's ethos, but we have discovered this year that there are heavy costs in having that policy.' The Children Act, the biggest shake-up in child protection law in 30 years, which was introduced last March, gives all those who work with children a legal duty to protect the young. 'Because no other university accepts children, the government have produced no guidance on how higher education establishments should implement it,' said Collier. 'We are studying it very hard and worrying a great deal about how we should do it, which is taking up a great deal of time and coming at a cost.' Collier lists concerns including not leaving children on their own with adults and making sure that any teachers with whom they come into contact have had a criminal records check. Children can no longer live in student accommodation, because the university could not carry out a criminal record check on every other undergraduate sharing the same premises. 'Suddenly we can't offer one-to-one tutorials, while the people who do administration in our colleges have to spend a great deal of time making absolutely sure they are not inadvertently placing a child in a potentially dangerous situation with anyone who hasn't had a criminal records check,' she added. Collier is unable to discuss individual cases, such as that of Yinan Wang, but she added: 'This is the first year we have had someone quite so young since the new laws have come in, and some people have been shocked by how much is involved. 'The problem is that we can't alter the environment here; we can't lay on special measures for younger students. We're used to operating as an institution for adults.' A former pupil at Copland Community College in Brent, north-west London - one of the country's biggest comprehensive schools - Wang will read material sciences at Corpus Christi after gaining A-grade passes in maths, further maths and physics last week. The 14-year-old is one of the youngest students at Oxford since Ruth Lawrence, who became its youngest-ever maths graduate in 1982, aged 12. However, Wang overcame the additional challenge of being unable to speak English when he arrived in the UK two years ago. Mark Wormald, the admissions tutor at Corpus Christi, said he would welcome a university-wide ruling on a suitable age for undergraduates. 'On a case-by-case basis, it is difficult for us to take a view on the best age for undergraduates,' he said. 'If a parent comes to us to say coming here is the best thing for their child, it is quite difficult for us to argue against that because there is no blanket policy. If possible, we like to have a consensus with all colleges regarding age,' he added.

You can use the f-word in class (but only five times)

Last updated at 10:03 29 August 2005 A secondary school is to allow pupils to swear at teachers - as long as they don't do so more than five times in a lesson. A running tally of how many times the f-word has been used will be kept on the board. If a class goes over the limit, they will be 'spoken' to at the end of the lesson. The astonishing policy, which the school says will improve the behaviour of pupils, was condemned by parents' groups and MPs yesterday. They warned it would backfire. Parents were advised of the plan, which comes into effect when term starts next week, in a letter from the Weavers School in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. Assistant headmaster Richard White said the policy was aimed at 15 and 16-year-olds in two classes which are considered troublesome. 'Tolerate but not condone' "Within each lesson the teacher will initially tolerate (although not condone) the use of the f-word (or derivatives) five times and these will be tallied on the board so all students can see the running score," he wrote in the letter "Over this number the class will be spoken to by the teacher at the end of the lesson." Parents called the rule 'wholly irresponsible and ludicrous'. "This appears to be a misguided attempt to speak to kids on their own level," said the father of one pupil. Should have do's and don'ts Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: "In these sort of situations teachers should be setting clear principles of 'do and don't'. "They should not be compromising in an apparent attempt to please the pupils. This will send out completely the wrong message. "Youngsters will play up to this and ensure they use their five goes, demeaning the authority of the teacher." Tory MP Ann Widdecombe said the policy was based on 'Alice in Wonderland reasoning'. "What next?" she asked. "Do we allow people to speed five times or burgle five times? You don't improve something by allowing it, you improve something by discouraging it." 'Praise postcards' The 1,130-pupil school, which was criticised as 'not effective' by Ofsted inspectors last November, also plans to send 'praise postcards' to the parents of children who do not swear and who turn up on time for lessons. Headmaster Alan Large said he had received no complaints about the policy. "The reality is that the fword is part of these young adults' everyday language," he said. "As a temporary policy we are giving them a bit of leeway, but want them to think about the way they talk and how they might do better."

Domestic robot to debut in Japan

The robot will go on sale in mid-September The one-metre tall humanoid Wakamaru robot is being marketed as a mechanical house-sitter and secretary. Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries expects the first robots to go on sale in September. "This is the opening of an era in which human beings and robots can co-exist," the company said. The company says the robot can watch over homes while the owners are away, alerting them to possible burglaries. It can also apparently help monitor the condition of a sick person. And according to Mitsubishi, the robot can act as a secretary, recording notes and appointments and reminding owners of them with well-timed announcement. The Wakamaru weighs 30kg (66lb) and is expected to cost 1.58m yen (US$14,300). Mitsubishi Heavy Industries says it is the first robot with communication ability to be sold for use in the house. It is powered by rechargeable batteries and moves around on wheels, Japan's Kyodo news agency reports.

Flickr Fans to Yahoo: Flick Off!

A splinter faction of Flickr photo-sharing community members is threatening a symbolic "mass suicide" to protest closer integration with the website's new owner, Yahoo. The portal giant bought Flickr's developer, Ludicorp, for an undisclosed sum in March and took ownership of the site when it moved from Vancouver, Canada, to Yahoo's Sunnyvale, California, campus this summer. Now, angered by a new requirement to tie their member profiles with Yahoo accounts, some Flickrites say they plan to kill off their identities before they can be moved into the new family next year. "If Flickr really forces me to join Yahoo in 2006 in order to still use my account, I will quit 24 hours before the deadline," wrote Thomas Müller, a Hamburg, Germany-based artist who shows more than 1,400 photos at the site. On Wednesday, Müller created a protest group, Flick Off, that has attracted almost 400 members. At stake is a new user-profile stipulation that reads: "We will be migrating all independent Flickr accounts to Yahoo's network in 2006. At that time, if you have not done so already, you will be asked to create a Yahoo ID (or link your account to your Yahoo ID if you already have one) in order to continue using your account." Members' photos will be deleted if they later drop their account with the portal and search engine, disappointing some. "This comes after many of us have invested so much time and effort; it makes it a chore to do anything except bend over, grab our ankles and smile," said Dana Smith, a San Francisco-based Flick Off supporter whose photographs rank among Flickr's most interesting material. "If Flickr was honestly concerned about anything besides bank account size, then there would be zero point or purpose to force us into an account we did not originally agree to," Smith said. Launched in 2002, Flickr has grown along with digital camera sales and has helped popularize tagging. Named "Breakout of the Year" at the 2005 Webby Awards, the community now numbers 37 million photos and 1.2 million members, many of whom are considered to be among the web's most creative image makers. The concern comes as the site, celebrated for its close-knit and cozy air, joins the large Yahoo network. The portal ruffled feathers back in 1999 when it bought up web homestead community GeoCities and claimed the copyright on all members' pages. Stewart Butterfield, who co-founded Flickr with wife Caterina Fake, moved to soothe fears. He said users and the new owners were "all on the same side," just that the team "could have done a much better job in communicating what all this meant." "(Members') Flickr identity can be as distinct as they want it to be in terms of how other users see them – it just means that they sign on using different credentials," Butterfield told Wired News. "The integration will make it a lot easier to most new users, since so many people already have Yahoo IDs, and there will be lots of benefits for everyone. It doesn't make sense to run both systems in parallel forever." Butterfield, who posts with users in Flickr forums, explained that site members would not have to represent themselves using their Yahoo screen names, which would just be for signing on. Small in context, the opposition to the change illustrates the attachment many feel toward their online identities, according to professor Sherry Turkle, director of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Initiative on Technology and Self and author of Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet. "So many of us don't have a gathering place that feels comfortable and communal," she said. "For those who found that on Flickr.com, its transformation into a 'service' on Yahoo is a loss; they are losing something important to them. "It is a harbinger of the greater sensitivity we need to show in the future as we take more seriously the psychological importance of our digital lives."

Radium Water Baths

Radium Water Baths August 2000 Nowata Oklahoma is a little town about an hour North of Tulsa. There are various legends and strange stories about the town's past, but one of the oddest things is this sign on the side of one of the buildings downtown. It seems that at some point (before the effects of radio activity were well known), the locals discovered that they could make water glow by putting radium in it. They opened a spa of sorts where people could pay money to come sit in a pool of toxic waste! It was considered therapeutic. According to www.radonmines.com the state of Montana says it is healthy for you to sit in a mine containing radon gas. The owners of the mine will charge you $150 for the priviledge of sitting in the mine for 32 hours

Ban on violent net porn planned

Murder victim Jane Longhurst's family has campaigned for new laws Distribution of extreme pornography is illegal in the UK but this does not affect foreign websites, so new laws could ban possession of it in Britain. The Home Office and Scottish Executive are consulting on whether new laws are needed and what should be covered. The idea was welcomed by the family of Jane Longhurst, of Hove, murdered by a man addicted to violent net porn. The aim is for a new offence of possessing violent and abusive pornography, which could be punishable by up to three years in prison, Home Officer Minister Paul Goggins told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. Mr Goggins said such images were "extremely offensive to the vast majority" and had no place in society. If it is found that the law can be strengthened to cut violent pornography from our society, then we will take action Cathy Jamieson Scottish Executive Consultation document (172KB) Most computers will open PDF documents automatically, but you may need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader. Download the reader here A Home Office spokeswoman added the proposed law included deliberately viewing such images which meant "effectively downloading" the information on to the computer. The new laws would not affect people who came into contact with pornographic material by accident. "These forms of violent and abusive pornography go far beyond what we allow to be shown in films or even sold in licensed sex shops in the UK, so they should not be available online either." UK-based websites and other distributors face prosecution under the Obscene Publications Act 1959. 'Reduce demand' Mr Goggins told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We do feel it necessary to provide some form of protection for the public, particularly for young children increasingly accessing the internet. "It is very important that we protect them from accessing these kinds of extreme pornographic images. HAVE YOUR SAY Why should my liberty be restricted because some parents can't or won't control what their kids do online? Matt Munro, Bristol, UK Send us your comments He said there was also a responsibility to "reduce demand" for this kind of material, both to protect those who were abused in its making and the public. He added that accidentally accessing such material would be a defence. Cathy Jamieson, Scottish Executive Justice Minister, said: "Violent pornography is abhorrent. "If it is found that the law can be strengthened to cut violent pornography from our society, then we will take action." The proposals were welcomed by Metropolitan Police Commander Dave Johnston. Mr Johnston, a representative of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said: "The internet is being targeted more and more by those who create sites that specialise in sexual violence and other types of extreme perversion." 'Assist investigations' The fact many sites were outside the UK made investigations very difficult and the creation of new offences would "assist greatly", he said. "The fact that it is available over the internet should in no way legitimise it," he said. The serious problem with it is the assumption that ordinary people cannot be trusted to make up their own minds Dr Chris Evans Internet Freedom Can crackdown work? However, Dr Chris Evans, founder of a group called Internet Freedom, told the Today programme that no material should be banned and people should be able to make up their own minds. "There is a recognition, even in the proposals, that 60 years of research into media effects shows no conclusive evidence that violent images cause violent acts, so I think that the very idea that we need to ban it doesn't hold water," he said. "But I think the serious problem with it is the assumption that ordinary people cannot be trusted to make up their own minds about what they read, watch or see." But Mr Goggins argued that they could "certainly point to cases" where viewing such images had an effect - such as in the brutal murder of Jane Longhurst. Jane's murder Miss Longhurst was murdered in Hove, Sussex, two years ago by a friend's boyfriend, Graham Coutts, who had spent hours viewing images of women being strangled and raped. Ms Longhurst's mother Liz, of Reading, Berkshire, was shocked that such images were freely available over the internet and has campaigned for new laws. Martin Salter, Labour MP for Reading West, praised Mrs Longhurst's "courage and motivation" and said he was pleased the legal "loophole" of the internet could be closed. He said Mrs Longhurst had sought to ensure others "did not experience her dreadful loss when her lovely daughter Jane was murdered by a sick, self-confessed addict of extreme internet porn". The Liberal Democrats home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten urged the government to provide a "very clear and succinct definition" of what constitutes violent and abusive pornography. "Sensible measures which protect children from extreme sites should be warmly welcomed. However, the government must avoid creating a nanny state or introducing laws that can't be enforced," he said. Consultation on the proposals is open to everybody, including interested parties and the public, and people can give their views until 2 December.

Zaiba Malik: I'm a believer

Growing up in the 1970s in Bradford, Zaiba Malik's life was dominated by Islam and the lessons of the Qur'an. But leaving home to go to university exposed her to a secular world and she abandoned the teachings of her father. Then the London bombings happened ... It's been more than 20 years since I prayed in a mosque. The last time was when, as a reluctant 12-year-old, I was taken by my father to a makeshift prayer hall in Bradford. I wanted to be at home watching Blue Peter, not surrounded by old women who, when they weren't reciting their prayers in Arabic (a language I didn't understand) were chatting away in Urdu (another language I didn't understand). Watching them carry out their ablutions was not a pretty sight, hawking spit and mucus as required by Islamic practice from their mouths and noses before being able to pray. I also remember the ungodly smell: shoes had to be deposited on shelves outside the hall, but still the collective odour of 30 or so pairs of sandals and slippers lingered in the air. I'd heard stories of footwear going missing so, to avoid going home barefoot, I would hide my shoes behind a shelf. Now aged 35, worrying about my Nike trainers was the last thing on my mind; it was July 8, the day after the London bombings, and I found myself standing with a group of around 30 female worshippers at the East London mosque. I hadn't intended to take part in the Friday prayers - I had come as a journalist to talk to the women about Islam - but when a young girl asked me if I was going to join the kneeled congregation, I immediately replied yes. It was partly out of respect, and partly embarrassment. My memory of the da'wah, or prayer, was hazy. My slightly unsuitable top kept riding up my back, exposing my flesh every time I bowed to the floor. But recalling the Arabic that my father had taught me came easier than I expected. Suddenly, tears started to roll down my cheeks. I sneaked a glance at the other women. They were all dry-eyed. At first, I thought it was guilt, remorse at not having stepped inside a mosque for so long. Then I realised - I was crying for my faith. Islam was a way of life for these women and now that way of life was being analysed, debated, criticised and even distorted. From the back of the hall came the sound of childish laughter. Little girls, no more than three or four years old, were entertaining themselves as their mothers prayed. They reminded me of the time I learned about Islam. Then, there were no websites showing suicide bombers and no inflammatory clerics threatened with deportation. Then, there was just my father and his kids sat at the kitchen table reading the Holy Book. As a child, I was fascinated by my father's copy of the Qur'an. It was a ritual of my father's to gently take it out of its cupboard, unwrap the sling of cream silk used to protect it, and place it on its wooden lectern, the ornate, jet-black Arabic scripture contrasting with the mint green pages. Even before I knew anything about its content, I learned that there were strict rules governing the handling of the Qur'an. You must wash your hands before touching it; you must never place it on the floor; you must never point your feet towards it; you must always cover your hair while reading it. Contained in its 114 surahs [chapters] were detailed instructions on how Muslims should conduct themselves from birth to death. And so, from the age of about five, most afternoons and weekends for my sister and brother and I were taken up learning the Arabic verse. I had no idea what it meant - Punjabi was the language we spoke at home - but I suppose my father wanted to make sure we knew how to recite the divine revelation in its most pure form, untainted by human translation. Other children had fairy tales read to them; my father told me of the miracles the Prophet Muhammad had performed, such as splitting the moon in two and feeding an entire army of soldiers with just scraps of food. My father was an engrossing raconteur, and his joy and passion for the Qur'an was infectious. He would frequently tell us of the test that Abraham faced when Allah asked him to sacrifice his son, Ishmael. Because Abraham obeyed, when he brought down the blade on Ishmael, his son was saved, and in his place was a ram. To commemorate this, Muslims hold an annual Feast of Sacrifice - the Eid al-Adha - in which Abraham's obedience is re-enacted with the killing of a ram or goat. On our street, for days before the festival, you would hear bleating coming out of neighbours' back gardens. Then, on the morning of Eid, the bleating would suddenly stop. But, in addition to the gentle stories, there was also judgment. In common with Christianity, Muslims also believe in the Apocalypse. Once the horn has sounded on the Day of Judgment, I was told, a person's sins will be weighed to determine whether he or she "shall recline on jewelled couches ... with fruits of their own choice and flesh of fowls that they relish", or "dwell amidst scorching winds and seething water; in the shade of pitch black smoke, neither cool nor refreshing". The threat of this cherubic 24-hour surveillance was powerful, and meant that even beyond the gaze of my parents I did my best to be a good Muslim. In the sweltering heat during the month of Ramadan, I never succumbed to the temptation of ice cream. My father supplemented our Qur'anic education at home with excursions to the pictures. Up until the early 1980s, Bradford had an Asian cinema. At night it played Bollywood films, complete with the obligatory wet saris and suggestive glances, but on Saturday afternoons the projector beamed religious films re-enacting the birth of Islam to a smaller and more restrained audience. Without ever seeing the Prophet Muhammad - portraying him would be a sin - the message was clear that Islam had brought order, justice and peace to an idolatrous and debauched land. I can still remember watching one where a woman who had committed infidelity had ropes tied to her wrists. Attached to those were two lines of men who pulled and pulled until the woman's arms came out of their sockets. If this had been a low-grade horror film with bad special effects, I probably wouldn't have been so frightened; the consequences of going against Allah's will were far more terrifying. In many ways it was relatively easy for my father to practise Islam in the way he felt right. Most of his friends were Muslim, for whom the local mosque also doubled as a social centre. Most of his co-workers in the textile mills were Muslim, so nobody looked twice when he unfurled his prayer mat among the humming looms. I, on the other hand, was the only Muslim in my school year, and like most teenagers, what I really wanted was to be the same as everyone else. I found it mortifying to have to wear trousers underneath my regulation skirt, to sit in the library while the pupils sang Onward Christian Soldiers in assembly, to study French while they all studied the Bible in religious education. There were few references to Islam in my life outside the family home, so I found it comforting when I discovered them, even in the most obscure places, such as the use of the word "Bismillah" in Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. I still didn't know what it meant but I recognised it from the Qur'an. And the line in the Jam's Eton Rifles - "Get out your mats and pray to the west". In time, I started to read the Qur'an in English, and discovered that what was haram (forbidden) and what was halal (permitted) was sometimes crystal clear. No to gambling and committing suicide; yes to a man having more than one wife and divorce. But, as with other religious texts, there were grey areas. My father had a record collection - mostly vinyl LPs of golden oldies from Indian cinema - that would be the envy of any DJ. But though his children used his turntable, when it wasn't blaring out Hindi lyrics, to listen to David Bowie and the Police, in our household music was halal yet dancing was not. In the seven years I was at school I never went to a single school disco. I, too, would sit motionless on the sofa at home and watch the turntable go round and round. As a child I had used my father, a devout and well-respected man, as my yardstick. Once I left home to go to university, that benchmark was gone. Now I had to use my own judgment. As someone who'd never even spent the night at a friend's house, this was a big step. No wonder my mother cried inconsolably as she dropped me and my luggage off. Contained in my cheap suitcase were my law textbooks, the latest editions on jurisprudence, but no Qur'an. Since adolescence my reading of it had almost stopped and my spare time had been taken up playing netball and performing in amateur dramatics. Over the following months the words of the Holy Book, still resonant when I left home, became muffled. I know some Muslims say that there is no compromise with Islam but even growing up in Bradford, with a very visible Islamic prescence, strict adherence to the Qur'an was a struggle. Here, on the university campus, it became almost impossible. I had been thrust into secularism, a concept I had little experience of even from my schooldays. We grew up knowing that Jesus and Moses were recognised prophets and that the Bible and Torah were recognised texts, but this was the first real opportunity I had to mix with people of those faiths, and those with no faith. I had little choice - yet again I was the only Muslim on my course. For me going to university wasn't so much a learning curve as a cliff drop. I came across students who were devout church-goers, who injected drugs, some who were borderline alcoholics, cross-dressers and manic depressives. Some I liked; others I detested. The Qur'an forbids homosexuality but I befriended a gay man. And despite my associations, I still classed myself as a Muslim. I wasn't quite sure what the Qur'an and other Muslims would say about this. Maybe that life on a secular campus had decelerated the flow of Islam in my veins. No wonder I turned off the radio every time I heard REM's Losing My Religion. But I know that I haven't lost my religion. I may not always display outwardly signs of it by, for example, going to the mosque and fasting but I still have a deep connection with the faith of my parents. Just over three years ago, my father passed away. But after the initial grief, I found some comfort knowing that he had died peacefully, just minutes after saying his early morning prayers. In Islam, when a person dies the soul is said to lie peacefully in the grave if a section from the Qur'an called the Yahsin, known as the Holy Book's throbbing heart, is recited as many times as possible. For 40 days my family read this chapter over and over again. As I muttered the Arabic words, still not really understanding what I was reading, I was grateful that I could do something for my father and grateful that he had taught me the scripture. He is buried in the Muslim section of the cemetery in Bradford. In contrast to the higgledy-piggledy layout of the nearby Christian graveyard, the tombs of the Muslim dead all point towards Mecca. Flowers, tinsel and flags, incongruously cheerful, relieve the melancholy headstones. My father's is black marble. On it are the words, in Arabic: "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful." The first words my father taught me from the Qur'an.

Lionel Shriver: Why the loaded go to Vegas to lose

I have a peculiar relationship to money. I expect to have to earn it, and I try to keep hold of it when I do. The sum of which makes me a perfect pill in Las Vegas. Attention all Brits, who now constitute the largest group of foreign tourists in this baking town of gaudy casinos and strip-malls: Don't take me with you. I'm a drag. So what am I doing here now? And how is it that in 2003 this cautious, skinflint killjoy got married in this berg? Is Shriver the tight, backslid Prod really capable of tying the knot in a rash moment of drunken, high-rolling abandon? Would that I were so interesting. My in-laws live in Vegas, which is why I keep coming back to a city I will strongly advise all and sundry to visit once for the sheer spectacle, but only once. My father-in-law might find that advice offensive. He first determined that he wanted to live here in 1954, and nine years ago fulfilled his dream to put down stakes - in every sense - full-time. He routinely arises at 4am and heads to the El Cortez, a seedy downtown casino far from the more internationally familiar glitz of the strip, where he plays $5-a-hand blackjack until lunch, the while sipping tequila and Diet Mountain Dew. (I'm a drear, but you can't accuse my in-laws of not being colourful.) Back home, he enters the day's winnings or losses in a ledger with crimped, perfect printing in either black or red ink. These records go back years. This year he is up $147, which given the odds is impressive. The first time I visited the strip, I managed to control myself. Although I am constitutionally incapable of slipping a single quarter into a slot machine (but it might not come back! We might need it for a parking meter!), I did manage to keep the disapproving moralism to a minimum. We gawped at the scaled-down Eiffel Tower in the Paris, checked out the awkward replica of the Parthenon in Caesars that sold Gucci chocolate. In the Venetian (whose murals of late afternoon sunlight are amazingly well rendered, although outside the real sky did a remarkably lifelike job as well) I even allowed myself a scandalous mid-afternoon glass of wine. By some miracle, during a single dabble that day I was able to take the place at face value - the only value it's got - and keep a lid on my po-faced, party-pooping despair. But I knew it wouldn't last. Sure enough, on a second visit to the strip last week, my killjoy genes reasserted themselves. For one thing, Las Vegas is impervious to jokes, because it already is one. Vegas is mockery-proof. The strip is so over the top, so jubilantly, unashamedly fake (even the rocks are artificial), so ebulliently and confessedly crass, so contented with or even proud of its own trashiness that you can't make fun of the place. How can you deride a wooden Trojan horse two storeys high that doubles as an FAO Schwarz toy store? It is pre-ridiculous. This frustrates the likes of myself no end, because pejoratives like "tacky", "tasteless", and "garish" ping off a giant gold-painted sphinx like pennies off a curb. Because one cannot parody parody and I do not gamble, I had nothing to do. So it was inevitable that on a second swing through I'd no longer be able to find Las Vegas a zany, kooky, harmless American one-off, but would disparage it as a ghastly monument to American vapidity. Folks in the richest country in the world do not know what to do with their money in their leisure time save try to scrounge more of it, and do not truly embrace their own supposed work ethic. Indeed, given that many of my countrymen's concept of entertainment is heading for a line of casinos whose decor is so loud it makes your eyes hurt, whose patterned carpet and even air freshener has been carefully researched as encouraging you to lose your shirt, I am not convinced that most of the gamblers I spied on last week would have any idea on what to spend their winnings even if they improbably hit the jackpot. All money is not created equal. It means something different depending on what you did to get it. Surely earning money - earning it - is an underrated joy. I find being paid for my labours ceaselessly gratifying, and the harder I've worked for any given cheque, the more sumptuous the texture of the paper. By contrast, how satisfying is dosh that you came by not because you were smart or talented or diligent, but lucky? If this seems hopelessly humourless about a town that intends to be a laugh, the amount of cash involved is serious. The bar at Wynne's, the newest and most lavish casino on the block, boasts of a $75 martini, and you sense its designers grew frustrated at running out of nooks into which to cram polished Italian marble. My father-in-law tells me that when his car got dusty last week he came upon a woman playing a slot machine who was going through $400 a minute. That was $24,000 an hour, at a car wash. I do admire the nerve and devil-may-care required to put thousands on the stumble of a roulette ball. I concede that if you're canny enough to follow a few simple rules in blackjack - always double aces and eights, always double-down on an 11, don't take a hit if you're holding 12 or more and the dealer is showing a five or six - you can walk away with a few bills left in your wallet. But a quick look round a casino and you start to wonder, who pays all these croupiers and cleaners, who ultimately finances the orchids in every room? Losers. More losers than winners by a yard, and that rational calculation, aside from sheer wimpiness, explains why I don't gamble. Las Vegas and its ilk - coming soon to a town near you, if Tony Blair's plans hold sway - dishearten me most because this is so many folks' notion of a good time. In fact, what most interests me about the United States is its posing of the ultimate existential dilemma: what is a good life? What, if you've the money, do you buy? Americans, if Las Vegas is any indicator, have no idea.

Diamonds lose 'world's hardest' title

Diamonds have been usurped as the world's hardest material, thanks to researchers in Germany, who have made a new material by compressing carbon-60 molecules. They have dubbed their new form of carbon "aggregated diamond nanorods". The University of Bayreuth team, led by Natalia Dubrovinskaia, have patented their breakthrough, which they expect will have many applications in industry. A material's hardness is measured in terms of its 'isothermal bulk modulus' - that is to say, how a solid's volume changes as pressure is applied, at a constant temperature. Diamond has a modulus of 442 gigapascals, but the new material has a modulus of 491 gigapascals. The new material is created by subjecting carbon-60 to 200 times atmospheric pressure, while heating to 2500 Kelvin, the researchers say. This creates the aggregated diamond nanorods - so called because the material is made of interlocking diamond rods, each around one micron long, and having a diameter of between five and 20nm. The scientists, who are now looking for partners to commercialise their discovery, say more work is needed to determine exactly why this new material is so tough. The research was published in Applied Physics Letters. ®

File-sharers move from BitTorrent

Peer-to-peer accounts for a large chunk of internet usage Instead they have moved to another network called eDonkey, showed a study by internet analysis firm CacheLogic. It found that eDonkey has become the dominant peer-to-peer file-sharing network in countries such as South Korea, Italy, Germany and Spain. The study seems to suggest that the legal action to stamp out file-sharing is meeting with limited success. BitTorrent alternatives The movie industry started targeting the operators of BitTorrent networks themselves last December. It has filed numerous lawsuits against BitTorrent server sites which linked to copyrighted material in order to undermine the ability to swap content. History is repeating itself. File-sharers moved from Kazaa to BitTorrent and now to eDonkey Andrew Parker, CacheLogic While the use of BitTorrent has fallen, file sharers have moved to an alternative network called eDonkey. This is a decentralised file-sharing network, where files are not stored on a central server but are exchanged directly between users based on the peer-to-peer principle. In countries such as the UK, Japan and China, eDonkey was as widely used as BitTorrent, found CacheLogic. In others like South Korea, it has become the most popular way of swapping content. Cat and mouse game "History is repeating itself," said Andrew Parker, CacheLogic's chief technology officer. "File-sharers moved from Kazaa to BitTorrent and now to eDonkey." Some high-profile BitTorrent tracker sites have been closed down In the US and Canada, there has been a surprising resurgence of the Gnutella file-sharing network. It was one of the first P2P services to be targeted by the record industry but has since faded into the background. "People are migrating to Gnutella as the attention of the record and movie industry is elsewhere," said Mr Parker. "The conduit is irrelevant. People are after content. This cat and mouse game will continue." According to CacheLogic, 60% of the traffic on the internet by the end of 2004 was made up of peer-to-peer activity, though it does not have a breakdown of how much of this is copyrighted material.

Publishers make last stand against open access

Publishers and learned societies are fighting a last ditch action to stop the research findings of thousands of British academics being made freely available online. The UK research councils, which control billions of pounds worth of funding, have announced their intention to make free access on the internet a condition of grants in a bid to give British research more impact worldwide as it is taken up and cited by other researchers. The move has been backed by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the world wide web, and other academics. But publishers who fear that open access will hit sales and damage the UK's 25% share in the £7bn worldwide learned journals market are lobbying hard against the proposal. Both sides believe the battle has reached a critical stage. Ian Diamond, the chief executive of Research Councils UK, the umbrella body representing the eight research councils, has proposed that from October academics archive final versions of their papers in repositories belonging to their own universities or subject bodies. These would not be edited, and possibly corrected, by a journal, but would be available free of charge to other researchers via the internet. This month, the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP), whose members publish more than 8,000 journals, wrote privately to Prof Diamond seeking consultation and urging delay. The policy would not only damage big publishers, but also hurt scores of learned societies, which publish journals, said Sally Morris, the association's chief executive. Journals organise the all-important peer review process, which is the quality control for research - although the academics involved do it for free - and this has to be paid for somehow, she pointed out. Once all of a journal's content was available free online, university librarians would stop buying it, she said. The advent of Google Scholar meant it was now easy to find the contents of a journal scattered among different repositories. Ms Morris conceded that those physics journals where 100% of content was open access had not lost subscriptions yet, but there was a worrying trend of academics no longer reading the journals. "We are worried that the research councils in the UK are trying to push in the direction of a parallel economy without thinking of the possible damage to the journals on which they parasitise. "We need to talk together to maximise the dissemination of funded research, but without killing the goose. We need to examine very carefully the real risk to publishers and what we can do to minimise it," added Ms Morris. But a letter to the research councils signed by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Stevan Harnad, professor of cognitive science at the University of Southampton, and other advocates of open access, dismisses the publishers' fears. "Not only are these claims unsubstantiated, but all the evidence to date shows the reverse to be true: not only do journals thrive and co-exist alongside author self-archiving, but they can actually benefit from it - both in terms of more citations and more subscriptions," they said.

Where a Cuddle With Your Baby Requires a Bribe

Here in Bangalore, a city of 6.5 million known for its booming high-technology industry, pleasant climate and good private schools, local health managers commonly pay bribes to senior bureaucrats or elected officials to get good jobs, say investigators, civic leaders and senior civil servants. The health professionals then exact payments from subordinates and patients, emulating their bosses. "Most of the district health officers have to pay bribes to get promotions and postings, and they in turn collect bribes from their staff and patients," said Hanumappa Sudarshan, the vigilance director for health and education in Karnataka State's anticorruption agency. "It's a vicious cycle." Mr. Sudarshan's boss, Nanjegowda Venkatachala, a retired Indian Supreme Court justice who heads the agency, put it even more bluntly: "The greed of politicians is ruining the country. There's nothing to mince in this regard." No matter where the corruption starts, it moves down through the ranks and finally to the poor, for whom it is an inescapable burden. Though Bangalore has made progress in fighting corruption, it persists in the hospitals. In the narrow lanes of the slums and working-class neighborhoods around the 30-bed Austin Town maternity hospital, families with babies and toddlers described their personal experiences of bribery. Shobha Rani, the doctor in charge, emphatically disputed such accounts in an interview earlier this year. "I've not come across even one patient who's come here and said I've been charged for anything," she said. "So many times, I've spoken to patients without the knowledge of my staff. I say: 'Tell me the truth. What did you face?' They always give me a good report." But people who have used the hospital tell a different story. Nagaratna Hanumanthu, 23, and her husband, Hanumanthu, 28, a sugar-cane-juice vendor with a single name, lost their first baby to a raging fever just two days after he was born. Their anxieties were high last November when their daughter was born at Austin Town.

Neglected Poor in Africa Make Their Own Safety Nets

And those African workers lucky enough to be part of a social security plan are not guaranteed comfort. The AIDS epidemic has left many national plans on shaky financial footing because there are more payouts for medical care and death benefits but not as many contributions. Simply prying the benefits from bureaucrats can be a job in itself. Charles Owala, 56, a retired Kenyan civil servant, has spent nearly two years trying to get his pension money. "First when I came here at the beginning of 2004, the officers told me to wait because my membership card number was nowhere to be seen," he said, camped outside the National Social Security Fund offices in Nairobi. "It took a lot of time for it to be traced. Now I'm being told there are some other contributions that my employer has failed to remit. What can I do? Wait again." Those without an employer to contribute to a formal plan -- those who, to make ends meet, sell food from the curb, iron clothing, dig ditches, harvest crops or perform any number of the other small-scale tasks that keep Africa going -- have long been left out completely. They are particularly vulnerable to illness because of poverty and exposure, but often put off doctor visits as long as possible. They try traditional medicine because of its lower cost. And they often end up flat on their backs as the price of staying alive soars out of reach. The fact that many manage to get by is largely because those who have little share with those who have even less. The community insurance initiatives build on this poor-helping-poor philosophy. They differ from private insurance companies in that they are run by the beneficiaries and not intended to make a single franc. Their target population is people like Ms. Sow, a 40-year-old grandmother who struggles day to day.

Palestinian Authority's US assets are frozen

Home > News > World > Middle East Palestinian Authority's US assets are frozen WASHINGTON -- A Rhode Island lawyer trying to collect a $116 million terrorism judgment against the Palestinian Authority has obtained a court-ordered freeze on all its US-based assets, severely limiting most Palestinian economic and diplomatic activities in the United States at a critical moment for the fledgling government. The frozen assets include US holdings in a $1.3 billion Palestinian investment fund meant to finance economic development as well as bank accounts used to pay Palestinian representatives in Washington, according to lawyers and court documents filed in Rhode Island, Washington, D.C., and New York. Also frozen are about $30 million in assets from the Palestinian Monetary Authority, the Palestinian equivalent of the US Federal Reserve. Providence attorney David Strachman, who is representing the orphaned children of a couple killed in Israel by Palestinian militants, has also initiated a court action to seize and sell the Palestinian-owned building in New York that serves as the Palestine Liberation Organization observer mission to the United Nations. The aggressive collection effort comes as the Palestinian Authority is struggling to create economic opportunity and set up a viable government. Now, Palestinian officials say, the unpaid claim in the Rhode Island court, resulting from a 2004 ruling, threatens to complicate their efforts to become a credible emerging state. But Strachman said if the Palestinian government wants to show the world that it is turning over a new leaf, it must obey the court's judgment. ''If you are a responsible party or entity or political organization, at the end of the day, you pay your judgment," Strachman said in a telephone interview from Israel, where he was on vacation. ''They have very brazenly refused to pay." The case puts the Bush administration in the delicate position of giving financial aid and political support to an entity that has refused to obey a US federal court order to pay terrorism victims. The case has created such a problem for Palestinians that Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian finance minister, recently asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for advice, according to a Palestinian official who asked not to be identified. The State Department could not confirm Fayyad's request last night. The Justice Department told a court in New York that it will submit next month the US government's position about the PLO mission in New York, but it is unclear how much help the Bush administration can or will offer. ''For the administration, it's difficult," said one Palestinian official speaking from Gaza, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the case. ''Right now, they are trying to figure out a creative way to deal with it without embarrassing anyone." Palestinian officials have refused to pay the claim, arguing that doing so would be a politically dangerous admission of responsibility for terrorist acts by militants that the Palestinian Authority contends it does not control. Three officials interviewed by telephone from Gaza and the West Bank say they fear setting a precedent that would spur an avalanche of lawsuits that could bankrupt the new government. At least four other lawsuits involving deaths of US citizens in Palestinian attacks are pending in US courts. But Strachman said that the Palestinians have billions in overseas banks, and that they are exaggerating the hardships that would be caused by paying the judgment. The case is the first to result in a financial judgment under a 1991 antiterrorism law that allows US citizens to sue foreign organizations in civil court for terrorism. It stems from the 1996 murders of Brooklyn-born Yaron Ungar, a US citizen, and his pregnant Israeli wife, Efrat, whose car was sprayed with bullets by Hamas militants. Those convicted of the crime were found to be carrying uniforms issued by the Palestinian Authority, according to Strachman, who was appointed by an Israeli court to represent the couple's relatives. In 2000, he filed a civil suit in Rhode Island, his home state. He sued Hamas, as well as then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian Authority, which Arafat headed, and the PLO on the grounds that they had encouraged Hamas. Arafat hired Ramsey Clark, the former attorney general, who argued that the Palestinian Authority is a sovereign state, and deserved immunity from prosecution granted to most countries. Last year, the court ruled that Palestine is not a state, and that Hamas, the PLO, and the Palestinian Authority owed the Ungars $116 million. In March, a federal appeals court upheld the verdict. In April, Strachman obtained a court order to freeze all the Palestinian government's assets in the United States, the first step to collecting by force. Since then, Strachman has been sending the court order to every US financial institution where the Palestinians might hold funds. Court proceedings are pending across the country to determine if the frozen assets truly belong to the Palestinian Authority or the PLO and should be handed over. Since Arafat's death last year, a more politically savvy generation of Palestinian leaders has stepped up the legal battle for release of the assets, using more traditional arguments. Lawyers are arguing in a New York court that the Bank of New York should release $30 million in assets on the grounds that the Palestinian Monetary Authority is an independent entity. In another action, lawyers are using a UN agreement with the United States to fight the move to sell the PLO mission. But the largely unpublicized court fight for the assets has taken a major toll, Palestinians say. George T. Abed, the governor of the Palestinian Monetary Authority, wrote in an affidavit to the court in June that the freezing of Palestinian Monetary Authority assets had forced a halt of all Palestinian dollar transactions through the United States and could ''cause a banking crisis in the Palestinian territories with possible fallout elsewhere in the region." The Monetary Authority provides financial backing for banks in Palestinian territory. The unpaid claim has also brought a diplomatic price. It has frustrated Palestinian efforts to send a new ambassador to Washington because the envoy would have no functioning bank account, according to two of the Palestinian officials based in the West Bank. Staff at the PLO mission in Washington have not been paid for three months, according to Said Hamad, a senior member of the PLO mission in Washington. ''Unless the mission is able to use these funds, . . . it will be necessary to close the mission with attendant injuries to Palestine and its people and negative consequences to peace in the Middle East," Clark's legal team wrote in a motion earlier this month. Court documents show that the Bank of New York has halted money transfers to Palestinian missions in Ukraine, Guinea, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Ivory Coast, China, Bulgaria, Norway, Pakistan, and Colombia, as well as New York, because of the court order. The case could also hamper US government aid. Last month, the US government's Overseas Private Investment Corporation voted to contribute $110 million to a project that would give loan guarantees to small businesses in Gaza. But the Palestinian Investment Fund -- whose US assets have been frozen by the court order -- is required to make a substantial contribution of its money as a condition for launching the project. A State Department official who asked not to be identified said the lawsuit had not yet prevented US aid from flowing to the Palestinians, but that he did not know whether it would be an obstacle. Representative Anthony Weiner, a New York Democrat who is also running for mayor in New York City, has called for the US government to halt aid to the Palestinian Authority until the claim is paid. ''If they wish to continue receiving checks from the US government, the Palestinian Authority needs to pay the Ungar family what they are owed," Weiner said in a statement last week. ''We must make sure this ruling is enforced to make sure that there is accountability." Palestinians say that Strachman is going after the very funds that have recently been made public in celebrated reforms meant to curb corruption and terrorism funding. But Strachman and his legal team say they should stop making excuses and pay. ''We're looking for money," said Robert Tolchin, a New York-based lawyer working with Strachman. ''If you create a cost for doing wrong, people will be motivated to stop doing wrong." © Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company. Advertisement SEARCH THE ARCHIVES Advanced search / Historic Archives Advertisement

South Polar ozone hole makes big comeback

Agency South Polar ozone hole makes big comeback 30/08/2005 1373 views 2 likes This season's Antarctic ozone hole has swollen to an area of ten million square kilometres from mid-August - approximately the same size as Europe and still expanding. It is expected to reach maximum extent during September, and ESA satellites are vital for monitoring its development. This year's hole is large for this time of year, based on results from the last decade: only the ozone holes of 1996 and 2000 had a larger area at this point in their development. Envisat's Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography (SCIAMACHY) routinely monitors ozone levels on a global basis, continuing a dataset of measurements stretching back to mid-1995, previously made by the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) aboard the earlier ESA spacecraft ERS-2. Annual ozone holes compared by area and duration ESA data form the basis of an operational near-real time ozone monitoring and forecasting service forming part of the PROMOTE (PROtocol MOniToring for the GMES Service Element) consortium, made up of more than 30 partners from 11 countries, including the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute (KNMI). As part of the PROMOTE service, the satellite results are combined with meteorological data and wind field models so that robust ozone and ultraviolet forecasts can be made. In a first for ESA, these results are being used by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) to compile their regularly-updated Antarctic Ozone Bulletin. The precise time and range of Antarctic ozone hole occurrences are determined by regional meteorological variations. During the southern hemisphere winter, the atmospheric mass above the Antarctic continent is kept cut off from exchanges with mid-latitude air by prevailing winds known as the polar vortex. This leads to very low temperatures, and in the cold and continuous darkness of this season, polar stratospheric clouds are formed that contain chlorine. The stratospheric ozone layer that protects life on Earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation is vulnerable to the presence of certain chemicals in the atmosphere such as chlorine, originating from man-made pollutants like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). ESA's Envisat environmental satellite Now banned under the Montreal Protocol, CFCs were once widely used in aerosol cans and refrigerators. CFCs themselves are inert, but ultraviolet radiation high in the atmosphere breaks them down into their constituent parts, which can be highly reactive with ozone. As the polar spring arrives, the combination of returning sunlight and the presence of polar stratospheric clouds leads to splitting of chlorine into highly ozone-reactive radicals that break ozone down into individual oxygen molecules. A single molecule of chlorine has the potential to break down thousands of molecules of ozone. The PROMOTE atmospheric ozone forecast seen here has atmospheric ozone measured in Dobson Units (DUs), which stands for the total thickness of ozone in a given vertical column if it were concentrated into a single slab at standard temperature and atmospheric pressure – 400 DUs is equivalent to a thickness of four millimetres, for example. Developing out of the successful precursor Tropospheric Emission Monitoring Information Service (TEMIS), PROMOTE is a portfolio of information services covering the atmosphere part of the Earth System, operating as part of ESA's initial Services Element of Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES). This is a joint initiative between ESA and the European Commission to combine all available ground- and space-based information sources and develop a global environmental monitoring capability for Europe.

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Teaching of Creationism Is Endorsed in New Survey

President Bush joined the debate on Aug. 2, telling reporters that both evolution and the theory of intelligent design should be taught in schools "so people can understand what the debate is about." Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, the Republican leader, took the same position a few weeks later. Intelligent design, a descendant of creationism, is the belief that life is so intricate that only a supreme being could have designed it. The poll showed 41 percent of respondents wanted parents to have the primary say over how evolution is taught, compared with 28 percent who said teachers and scientists should decide and 21 percent who said school boards should. Asked whether they believed creationism should be taught instead of evolution, 38 percent were in favor, and 49 percent were opposed. More of those who believe in creationism said they were "very certain" of their views (63 percent), compared with those who believe in evolution (32 percent). The poll also asked about religion and politics, government financing of religious charities, and gay men and lesbians in the military. Most of these questions were asked of a smaller pool of 1,000 respondents, and the margin of error was 2.5 percentage points, Pew researchers said. The public's impression of the Democratic Party has changed in the last year, the survey found. Only 29 percent of respondents said they viewed Democrats as being "friendly toward religion," down from 40 percent in August of 2004. Meanwhile, 55 percent said the Republican Party was friendly toward religion. Luis E. Lugo, the director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, said: "I think this is a continuation of the Republican Party's very successful use of the values issue in the 2004 election, and the Democrats not being able up until now to answer that successfully. Some of the more visible leaders, such as Howard Dean and others, have reinforced that image of a secular party. Of course, if you look at the Democratic Party, there's a large religious constituency there."

Misery of India's child sari weavers

By Sunil Raman BBC News, Tamil Nadu Divya has been a weaver for three years now A small, grilled window is the only source of fresh air. A fluorescent tube above lights what is otherwise a dark and dingy hut. It is midday but Divya has no time to rest. She has to ensure that the threads are ready for the weaver to make an intricate design on a green silk sari. "I have been working for the last three years. Earlier I earned 150 rupees (around $3) a month. In the last one year my new employer is paying 200 rupees (over $4) a month," said Divya. "I do not want to do this. I want to go to school but my parents have borrowed 5000 rupees ($111) from the loom owner. I have to work." Bonded labourers Divya's parents are masons. Driven by poverty they borrowed money from a loom owner and in return started sending their daughter to work on his loom. Yuvraj, 10, released from bondage by a charity, is now going to school She has been working for three years. But the loan and its interest never get repaid. Poor and illiterate weavers remain at the mercy of employers. Social Action Movement (SAM) - a charity based in Kanchipuram - is working to eradicate child labour. "It is claimed that children are employed because of their nimble fingers. That is not true. They are being exploited and paid very low wages. They are bonded labourers," T Raj, project co-ordinator of SAM, told the BBC. Divya is not alone. It is estimated that there are around 10,000 children in the districts of Kanchipuram and Thiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu work in the silk industry. There are over 100,000 looms set up in individual homes on which these famous silk saris are woven. Many of these saris cost several thousand rupees. Yuvraj shows how he used a spindle before he left the loom - 'I hated it' These looms are located in individual households and most of them employ at least one child. These children work every day of the week for up to 10 hours a day. They get no weekly holiday. They all wait for the spring festival, Pongal, in January when they get a holiday. Poster campaign Savarnam, an owner of two looms rejected all accusations of exploitation. Instead he said that they were helping these poor people by giving them employment. What could I do? We are very poor and needed that money. Their earnings helped us with our expenditure Kadiamal, a local weaver There are plenty of laws in India to protect small children. Until a few years ago, loom owners would often have a few looms under one roof. But then charities working to end child labour and government agencies began random checks and tried to spread awareness of the issue through a poster campaign. It was then that owners started leasing out looms to individual families and providing them with the raw material to weave saris. INDIAN LAWS ON CHILD LABOUR Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 Child (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933 Bonded Labour System Abolition Act of 1976 Tamil Nadu Handloom Workers Act of 1981 Kadiamal, 36, has a loom installed in her small hut. Grinding poverty forced her to send two of her children, Lakshmi and Yuvraj, to work on somebody else's loom. A few weeks ago, activists from SAM managed to get them freed after helping their family repay part of the loan. "I am happy that they are going to school now. What could I do? We are very poor and needed that money. Their earnings helped us with our expenditure", said Kadiamal as she got ready to resume her work. Her son, Yuvraj looked happy playing with other children under the hot sun. "I hated it," he said. SAM's Raj said that children who are freed from such work are sent to schools. Some drop out of schools and get back into the business but many stay to study some more.

Tony Benn: Bush is the real threat

Now that the US president has announced that he has not ruled out an attack on Iran, if it does not abandon its nuclear programme, the Middle East faces a crisis that could dwarf even the dangers arising from the war in Iraq. Even a conventional weapon fired at a nuclear research centre - whether or not a bomb was being made there - would almost certainly release radioactivity into the atmosphere, with consequences seen worldwide as a mini-Hiroshima. We would be told that it had been done to uphold the principles of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) - an argument that does not stand up to a moment's examination. The moral and legal basis of the NPT convention, which the International Atomic Energy Agency is there to uphold, was based on the agreement of non-nuclear nations not to acquire nuclear weapons if nuclear powers undertook not to extend nuclear arsenals and negotiate to secure their abolition. Since then, the Americans have launched a programme that would allow them to use nuclear weapons in space, nuclear bunker-busting bombs are being developed, and depleted uranium has been used in Iraq - all of which are clear breaches of the NPT. Israel, which has a massive nuclear weapons programme, is accepted as a close ally of the US, which still arms and funds it. Even those who are opposed, as I am, to nuclear weapons in every country including Iran, North Korea, Britain and the US, accept that nuclear power for electricity generation need not necessarily lead to the acquisition of the bomb. Indeed, many years ago, when the shah - who had been put on the throne by the US - was in power in Iran, enormous pressure was put on me, as secretary of state for energy, to agree to sell nuclear power stations to him. That pressure came from the Atomic Energy Authority, in conjunction with Westinghouse, who were anxious to promote their own design of reactor. It is easy to understand why president Bush might see the bombing of Iran as a way to regain some of the political credibility he has lost as a result of the growing hostility in America to the Iraq war due to the heavy casualties suffered by US forces there . It is inconceivable that the White House can be contemplating an invasion of Iran, and what must be intended is a US airstrike, or airstrikes, on Iranian nuclear installations, comparable to Israel's bombing of Iraq in 1981. Israel has publicly hinted that it might do the same again to prevent Iran developing nuclear nuclear weapons. Such an attack, whether by the US or Israel, would be in breach of the UN Charter, as was the invasion of Iraq. But neither Bush, Sharon nor Blair would take any notice of that. Some influential Americans appear to be convinced that the US will attack Iran. Whether they are right or not, the build-up to a new war is taking exactly the same form as it did in 2002. First we are being told that Iran poses a military threat, because it may be developing nuclear weapons. We are assured that the President is hoping that diplomacy might succeed through the European negotiations which have been in progress for some months. This is just what we were told when Hans Blix was in Baghdad talking to Saddam on behalf of the UN, but we now know, from a Downing Street memorandum leaked some months ago, that the decision to invade had been taken long before that. That may be the position now, and I fear that if a US attack does take place, the prime minister will give it his full support. And one of his reasons for doing so will be the same as in Iraq: namely the fear that, if he alienates Bush, Britain's so-called independent deterrent might be taken away. For, as I also learned when I was energy secretary, Britain is entirely dependent on the US for the supply of our Trident warheads and associated technology. They cannot even be targeted unless the US switches on its global satellite system. Therefore Britain could be assisting America to commit an act of aggression under the UN Charter, which could risk a major nuclear disaster, and doing so supposedly to prevent nuclear proliferation, with the real motive of making it possible for us to continue to break the NPT in alliance with America. The irony is that we might be told that Britain must support Bush, yet again, because of the threat of weapons of mass destruction, thus allowing him to kill even more innocent civilians. · Tony Benn will be talking about War; Religion and politics; and Democracy, at the Shaw Theatre in London on September 7, 8 and 9 Tony@tbenn.fsnet.co.uk

Britain uses hate law to ban animal rights campaigner

Charles Clarke, the home secretary, has used the government's crackdown on preachers of hate to ban an American professor who speaks for the Animal Liberation Front. Steven Best, professor of philosophy at the University of Texas at El Paso, had intended to travel to the UK to take part in an event to celebrate the closure of a farm breeding guinea pigs for research. The closure of the Newchurch Farm business following years of harassment and intimidation, including the theft of a grandmother's ashes from the local cemetery, was widely condemned by scientists and politicians last week. In the wake of the London bombings of July 7, the Home Office announced it would not allow people to enter the UK who "foment, justify or glorify terrorist violence in furtherance of particular beliefs; seek to provoke others to terrorist acts; [or] foment other serious criminal activity or seek to provoke others to serious criminal acts." In July Dr Best spoke at an international animal rights conference in England. At that conference, he was quoted by the Daily Telegraph as saying: "We are not terrorists, but we are a threat. We are a threat both economically and philosophically. Our power is not in the right to vote but the power to stop production. We will break the law and destroy property until we win." According to the newspaper, he added that activists did not want to "reform" vivisectionists but to "wipe them off the face of the earth". The Home Office cited these words in a letter to Dr Best last week banning him from entering the UK. Dr Best, who claims his words have been taken out of context, said he was not surprised by the ban. "It was only a matter of time, especially after July 7. The climate in Britain is totally unbelievable. It's very fascist. It's becoming a police state," he told the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Netanyahu makes bid for power

Binyamin Netanyahu launched a bid to unseat the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, yesterday in a challenge that threatens to split the ruling party and cause a radical realignment of Israeli politics. Mr Netanyahu said he will seek the leadership of the ruling Likud party ahead of a general election next year, a contest he appears likely to win with the backing of the party's dominant rightwing, which is embittered by Mr Sharon's demolition of Jewish settlements in the Gaza strip. But Mr Sharon, who commands more support than Mr Netanyahu with the wider public, is not expected to bow out of politics without a fight and some of his supporters are urging him to launch a new political party in alliance with the Israeli left. Opinion polls suggest such an alliance would win a national election. Mr Netanyahu, who served as prime minister from 1996 for three years, launched his challenge by accusing the prime minister of betraying Likud's core belief in Israel claiming occupied land as its own. "Sharon abandoned the principles of the Likud and has decided to go another way - the way of the left. He is threatening to destroy the party that he built with his own hands," said Mr Netanyahu. "The Likud needs a leader who can unite the nation and smooth the fissure developing in the country and in the party, someone who represents the party's principles, and I believe that I can do that." The contest between the two men, who loathe each other, is shaping up to be bitter. On Monday Mr Sharon said his rival, who quit the government a week before the Gaza pullout after previously voting for withdrawal, was too weak to govern. "Anyone who gets up and flees before disengagement, after he's supported it four times, is fleeing from responsibility," the prime minister said. "He panics and loses his wits. I've seen him that way not just one time, but many times. That's Netanyahu." Likud is expected to hold the leadership election in November. If Mr Netanyahu wins, as opinion polls suggest, he is expected to bring down the governing coalition and force a general election in February, nine months ahead of its due date. But while Mr Netanyahu is favoured to unseat Mr Sharon as party leader he is far from assured of being Israel's next prime minister. Opinion polls show that Mr Netanyahu only has a clear shot at running the country if Mr Sharon can be persuaded to quit politics. But if the prime minister were to create a new centre-right party for the next election, taking a core of prominent Likud politicians with him, he would emerge in a strong position to put together a coalition government with Labour and the third largest party in the present parliament, Shinui. Mr Netanyahu would then struggle to form a working administration as he would have to rely on smaller far-right and religious parties for support. Labour is already implicitly throwing its weight behind Mr Sharon in the belief that he is the party's best hope of remaining as a partner in government, as it stands little chance of winning the election. A Labour cabinet minister, Ofir Pines Paz, said Mr Sharon had effectively broken with Likud. "[He] said he adopted the policy of the Labour party, which practically he did. He adopted the policy of the peace camp in Israel," he said. "Our supporters feel that we have to give more credit to the government and try, really try, to see if there's a possibility to continue" in government. But some of Mr Sharon's allies in Likud said the party would be foolish to topple its leader when he has so much public support. "I've never before seen collective suicide committed with such joy," said a cabinet minister, Meir Shetreet.

Analysis: Solidarity's legacy

By Jan Repa BBC Europe analyst Solidarity brought books and libraries to the Polish shipyards It was the first independent mass political movement to emerge in the Soviet bloc. But the debate continues over Solidarity's significance for the ultimate collapse of East European communism. On 31 August 1980, Polish government representatives signed an agreement with striking shipyard workers, authorising the establishment of a new trade union free of communist control. Sixteen months later, the experiment in political co-existence came to an end, with tanks on the streets and mass arrests. Re-legalised in 1989, Solidarity soon took over Poland's government from the communists - but then rapidly disintegrated amid acrimony and mutual recriminations. Papal visit Stalin once said that establishing Communism in Poland was like trying to saddle a cow. The largest of Moscow's post-World War II satellites, Poland had a long history of conflict with Russia, and a tradition of personal freedom, Roman law, and limited government, very different from Russia's. Throughout Poland's vital Baltic region, the strike movement is gaining momentum. This afternoon, the new strike committee in the Lenin shipyard has been expanding by the hour BBC reporter Tim Sebastian, 1980 By the 1970s, many young Poles were travelling to the West to see relatives and to moonlight, their awareness of living in an impoverished backwater becoming more acute. Then, in 1978, a Polish archbishop, Karol Wojtyla, was elected Pope - taking the name John Paul II. His return visit to Poland the following year turned into a triumphal progress, with millions turning out to greet him. Gdansk shipyard worker and future Solidarity leader, Lech Walesa, summed up the effect: "The Holy Father, through his meetings, demonstrated how numerous we were. He told us not to be afraid". On 31 August 1980, the communist authorities conceded the strikers' main demand: their own trade union, independent of communist control. Soon Solidarity was claiming 10 million members. In Lech Walesa, it also found its "People's Tribune". With his rough and ready manners, mangled grammar, ostentatious Catholic piety and apparent lack of humbug, he was "Our Lech". Solidarity blatantly contradicted the Soviet principle that every aspect of public life had to be animated and controlled by the Communist Party. It soon evolved into a mass movement for civil and national rights - but of a peculiar kind. Its intellectual advisers coined the term "self-limiting revolution". Society, they said, would organise itself from below - but would not make a direct grab for power. Moral revolution The communist regime - hollowed out from inside - would remain as a facade, protecting Poland from Soviet attack. Pope John Paul II played a major role, inspiring many Poles "We were setting up libraries of independent publishing inside the enterprises," he said. "I have the impression that many workers were only then starting to read books." But if Solidarity promoted personal and social freedom, the West was not necessarily seen as a model. Solidarity saw itself as driving a moral revolution: an end to the mutual suspicion, self-abasement, double-talk, influence-peddling and corruption of life under communism. Meanwhile, the Czech and East German authorities successfully exploited traditional anti-Polish prejudices. And as developments in 1981 would amply demonstrate, two of the Polish regime's institutions remained relatively untouched: the army and the secret police. Years later, Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski sought to justify martial law as the lesser of two evils: "This was our own sovereign decision - but one which took into account the realities of those times. At that time the socialist system was the reality of that state - its backbone. And toppling that reality would have meant both civil war and foreign intervention." The Soviet invasion threat has never been proved. Former members of the Soviet leadership have said that armed intervention was discussed - but rejected. Martial law Mr Jaruzelski certainly did Moscow a favour, by sparing it the international opprobrium which would have followed an invasion. Wojciech Jaruzelski could not stem the tide of opposition Behind the trappings of a military junta, the Polish leadership tried to reassemble the familiar structures of a communist regime. But the old fear had gone. Confrontations between demonstrators and the Zomo riot police went on for months. Eventually, the regime, society and the Solidarity underground settled down to a sullen co-existence. A new reforming Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, paid a visit - but appeared badly out of touch. If Poles wanted their own reformer, he reportedly told a roomful of silent communist activists, they had one in Jaruzelski. When in 1988 UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher arrived in Gdansk, she was greeted with chants of "Send the Reds to Siberia!" Maybe we are the witnesses of a revolution without blood, without barricades, without violence Solidarity activist 'Evil' crackdown To its own surprise, Solidarity won all but one of the seats it had been allowed to contest. On 25 August, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, a veteran Catholic newspaper editor and Solidarity adviser, was sworn in as prime minister. But Solidarity's victory proved an anti-climax - being quickly overshadowed by events elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe. In November 1989 the Berlin Wall came down. That same month, Prague experienced its own "festival of freedom", when half a million people flocked to Wenceslas Square to hear the future Czech President, Vaclav Havel, denounce the communist regime. In December, Romania's dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was deposed and shot. Suddenly, Poland's "negotiated transition" looked rather timid. Lech Walesa: 1980s hero still hoping for a comeback But it was the younger Communist Party reformers who proved to be quicker on their feet. In 1990, the Polish Communist Party abandoned Marxism-Leninism, renamed itself the Democratic Left Alliance and redefined itself as a "social-democrat party of the West European type". In 1993, it won the parliamentary elections and in 1995, its leader Aleksander Kwasniewski defeated Lech Walesa in presidential elections. Mr Kwasniewski had been a junior minister in the last communist government of the 1980s. In retrospect, he is highly critical of Mr Jaruzelski's decision to impose martial law in 1981, not least because of its longer-term psychological effects: "We will never know whether - to use the colloquial expression - the 'Ruskis' would have come in and when. Martial law was an evil. Evil, because it was directed against our reviving freedom. Evil, because it quenched revived hopes for a life lived in dignity, for civil liberties and democracy." Wealth creation Perhaps the summer of 1980 represented a unique moment: when economic crisis, working class discontent, intellectual ferment, a tired and clueless regime, and an upsurge of national pride in the new Pope, combined to produce a dynamic chemical reaction. However, sectional interests, class prejudices and personal ambitions quickly reasserted themselves. There have been huge changes in Poland since the fall of communism. Newsreel footage of the Gdansk strikers - moustaches, bad haircuts, polyester trousers and all - show a vanished era, as remote to many younger Poles as top hats and walking sticks. Lech Walesa still dreams of a political comeback. General Jaruzelski concentrates on his memoirs and on avoiding jail. Most significantly perhaps, Poles have discovered an unexpected talent for hard work and wealth creation. But the country's booming "enterprise culture" appears to have little obvious connection with Solidarity's old communitarian ethos - except as an expression of an underlying desire for freedom.

Iraq stampede deaths near 1,000

So far, there have been at least 965 confirmed deaths, making the incident the single biggest loss of Iraqi life since the US-led invasion in 2003. The incident happened on a river bridge as about a million Shias marched to a shrine for a religious festival. Witnesses said panic spread over rumours of suicide bombers. Radical Sunni groups have often targeted Shias in the past, but Iraqi officials said the tragedy had nothing to do with sectarian tension. Many victims, mostly women, children or elderly, were crushed or drowned. Littered with shoes The BBC's Jon Brain in Baghdad says that on Wednesday evening the corridors of the city's hospitals were lined with bodies, as were the pavements outside. MUSLIM FESTIVAL TRAGEDIES July 1987 - Saudi security forces clash with Iranian pilgrims in the holy city of Mecca, 402 killed July 90 - 1,426 pilgrims killed in a stampede in Mecca May 94 - 270 pilgrims killed in Mecca stampede April 97 - More than 340 pilgrims killed and 1,500 injured in fires at tent city in Mina, Saudi Arabia Feb 2004 - 251 pilgrims killed in stampede at Mina Witnesses describe horror World reaction Grief-stricken relatives have been walking along the lines, lifting the covers looking for loved ones killed in the tragedy. The bridge, which spans the River Tigris, is littered with the shoes of victims. According to tradition, they were supposed to walk across barefoot. Earlier, mortar rounds had been fired into the crowd, killing at least seven people. About 36 others were injured when four mortar rounds landed close to the Kadhimiya mosque. A Sunni group, Jaysh al-Taifa al-Mansoura (Army of the Victorious Sect), said it carried out the mortar attacks, according to a statement posted on a website frequently used by groups linked to al-Qaeda. There were also reports that some worshippers had been poisoned. Our correspondent says there are now fears that the tragedy will increase the sectarian divisions in this already troubled country. Iraqis are preparing to vote on a proposed constitution, with Shia and Sunnis sharply divided on its contents. Wednesday is the last day the majority of Iraqis can register to vote in October's referendum. Panic Iraqi Defence Minister Saadun al-Dulaim said that the only people to die at the hands of insurgents were the seven killed in the mortar attack. Click here for a map of where the disaster took place Enlarge Map "What happened has nothing at all to do with any sectarian tension," he said live on Iraqi TV. "People swarmed the bridge. There had to be a search operation at the end of the bridge, so crowds gathered and a certain scream caused chaos ... and this sorrowful incident took place." Officials had earlier suggested that someone in the crowd deliberately triggered the stampede by saying they had seen a suicide bomber. BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy says that, because of radical Sunni attacks on big Shia gatherings in the past, it was not unreasonable for the worshippers to be nervous. HAVE YOUR SAY The hospitals are overcrowded and people are suffering Qassim, Baghdad Send us your comments Television pictures showed large crowds of Shia pilgrims heading towards the Kadhimiya mosque to mark the martyrdom of the 8th Century religious figure Imam Musa al-Kadhim. During the crush, iron railings on the bridge leading to the shrine gave way and hundreds of people fell into the water. The bridge links the staunchly Sunni area of Adhamiya on the east bank of the Tigris and the Shia area of Kadhimiya on the west bank. The government has declared three days of mourning.

Asiatic cheetahs caught on camera

The Asiatic cheetah lives on the edge (Image: I.R.Iran DOE/CACP/WCS/UNDP-GEF) Enlarge Image This remarkable image of Asiatic cheetahs was captured by automatic equipment in an isolated region of Iran's Dar-e Anjir Wildlife Refuge. The picture shows mum and her four youngsters resting in the shade of a tree. It is quite a catch as the big cat is now extremely rare. Once ranging from the Red Sea to India, the Asiatic cheetah today numbers fewer than 60 animals on the entire Asian continent, mostly on Iran's arid central plateau. "As a species the cheetah is still in dire straits in Iran, so it is extremely encouraging to see an apparently healthy family in their native habitat," said Dr Peter Zahler, from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which has been working with Iranian biologists to survey the cats since 2001. "Images like these give hope to conservationists that there is still time to save these magnificent animals." Automatic cameras have become a useful conservation tool (Image: I.R.Iran DOE/CACP/WCS/UNDP-GEF) Enlarge Image The group found a variety of suitable habitats, but also discovered that prey species, such as jebeer gazelle and urial sheep, were scarce. The latest photographs hint at the gradual recovery of prey populations. "Cheetahs in Iran live on a knife-edge in very marginal habitat," said Dr Luke Hunter, coordinator of WCS's Global Carnivore Program. "The fact that this female has managed to raise four cubs to six months of age is extremely encouraging. "Hopefully, this indicates there are areas where the cheetah's prey species are coming back, a goal the Iranian Department of Environment and UNDP has been working very hard to achieve."

Peru's glaciers in retreat

By Hannah Hennessy BBC News, Huaraz The glacial retreat at Pastoruri shows no sign of stopping Mounds of dark rock rise up between the snow and ice, discoloured after years of being covered by the glacier. This is Pastoruri. In the past 10 years, its ice caps have retreated by about 200m. Soon it, like many other glaciers in Peru, will have disappeared almost completely. At about 5,000m, or just over 16,000ft, it is one of the glaciers worst affected by climate change in Peru. And Peru, in turn, is one of the countries worst affected by climate change in the world. Sitting between the tropics, where the sun is particularly fierce, and home to more tropical glaciers than anywhere else, this South American country is especially vulnerable to rising temperatures. Experts predict all the Peruvian glaciers below 5,500m will disappear by 2015. This is the majority of Peru's glaciers. Marco Zapata works at the Institute for National Resources in the Andean town of Huaraz, in northern Peru. He has studied glaciers for more than 30 years and says in that time Peru has lost more than 20% of its glaciers. One of the main reasons why Peru is so vulnerable to climate change has to do with water. Water needs The majority of its population lives in a narrow strip of land between the Andes mountains and the sea. Local farmers depend on the glacial water to irrigate their crops Pressure on water resources is only likely to grow as more and more people move to coastal cities like the capital Lima and industry expands. But the source of that water is also under pressure. Standing at the Puerto Chuelo mountain pass above the glacier lakes at Llanganuco, Mr Zapata said: "At the moment, we are experiencing a very strong process of glacial retreat. There is an apparent abundance of water in these mountains. "In the rainy season there are no problems, but in the dry season the glaciers are the only ecosystem that is supporting the river. "And this problem of the process of glacial retreat is so fast, that in a very short time, it's possible the glaciers will disappear and there will be a problem of a lack of water for future generations." Snow caps Emilio Himenez has farmed land in the shadow of the Llanganuco lakes for almost four decades. He irrigates his land with water from the glaciers that supply the lakes and grows a variety of fruit and vegetables which he sells at market. Emilio Himenez and his family have farmed the land for almost 40 years As he works in the fields with his wife and daughters, one of his grandchildren, four-year-old Frank Michael looks on. "Perhaps in 20 more years, there won't be water if the snow caps go," Mr Himenez adds. "It will be very sad because when there is water there is life and when there is no water, there is no life, not for the animals, or the humans, or for the agriculture. And, I don't know what situation our grandchildren will be in."

Katrina Aftermath

These 2 people have no internet access to send these accounts and asked to do it for them-but these are their words with nothing omitted or added-and i am just replaying their accounts- please do not brush this off and let it be forgotten by the happy fluffy stories. Local police corruption and calusness should be known by the St. Bernard Parish residents and taxpayers whos money will be used to rebuild their parish. 2) Please Help please call Frank, 504-701-3233. He needs advice and if anyone want to go with him to gather the evidence and document/video tape evidence. Please help.The day of hurrican Katrina, 6 dogs were put into Sebastien Roy School on Bayou Rd. in St. Bernard Parish. This was the only safe place to put the dogs. These were full bred pit bulls, well trained, my brother has bred them for fifteen years. Poncho, the head male was eight years old and superbly trained. Cheyenne was pregnant and near the birth. The others were three females, three years, five months, and seven months and a male who was five months. Yesterday my brother was able to enter the parish and go see for his dogs. This is what he found: The head male and and the three females were shot dead, shell casings litter the area. They appear to have been dead for at least two weeks. The young male, a five month puppy, was locked in a room and found dead. This dog was left to starve, which he did. The mother had given birth to three puppies, all were found locked in a stairwell with no water or food. The puppies were well, but the mother was near death, never has he seen a dog as skinny as she was. My brother is furious at the murder of his animals and intends to return tomorrow to photograph the evidence and take any legal action that he can. He was told by a first hand witness that the St. Bernard Sheriff dept. did the shooting. This was not necessary. We can understand that the head male might have to be put down because he would defend his family, but the others were puppies, they would not hurt anyone. Please call Frank, 504-701-3233. He needs advice and if anyone want to go with him to gather the evidence. Please help. 1) I found all of the dogs that were in that huge mansion Beauregard Middle School in St Bernard parish. dead. Most chained with curtain cords. Some appeared to have been shot. Mother dog laying dead on her dead pup. Pure horror..There were people staying in there for a long time too. It looks like about a 20 foot wall of water came through there. I found desperate scribblings on the wall about peoples pets. Angel was one of them. I didn't find any beagles (Hunter) but I found a brown collar with tags that had been chewed off and the dog was gone. There were fresh dog tracks in the mud in the newer part of the school in the back but when we went in there there was a lot of water, it hurt our lungs to breathe, so we walked the murky halls calling and no dogs came. I think a couple of mini schnauzers and a dachsund were rescued for I saw a note scribbled on the wall by Nat. guard saying they took those dogs to baton rough. I photographed everything including the pleas written on the walls....The people held up there lived in squallor, it was a scene from hell."

Iraq war 'costlier than Vietnam'

The US has fewer troops in Iraq than Vietnam, but pays them more The report put costs in Iraq at $500m (£278m) a month more than in Vietnam, adjusted for inflation. This makes Iraq the most expensive US war in the past 60 years, they say. But an analyst from the conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI) said the cost was small in the context of the whole US economy. The report by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF), called The Iraq Quagmire, calculates the cost of current military operations in Iraq at $5.6bn (£3.1bn) every month. By comparison, the eight-year campaign in Vietnam cost on average $5.1bn (£2.8bn) a month. 'Poor preparation' The IPS and FPIF say this is partly down to differences in the way modern war is waged. Although there are fewer troops in Iraq than Vietnam, they are paid more and weapons are more expensive, the report says. Weapons have become more expensive since the Vietnam War "Broken down per person in the US, the cost so far is $277 per person, making the Iraq War the most expensive military effort in the past 60 years," it concludes. Co-author Erik Leaver told the BBC costs in Iraq had spiralled since 2003 because the US had not been well-prepared. "We have deployed now roughly one million troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the numbers just keep going up and up," he said. "We are going to continue to see costs not only from the fighting now but also from the health care of these soldiers and veterans when they come home." 'Drop in the bucket' However Thomas Donnelly, a defence expert with the AEI, believes the eventual result of the Iraq war is more important than its cost in dollars. "The more valued criticism is whether the Bush administration is winning the war and prosecuting it in a successful way," he said. "So what price victory? I would say that $5bn a month is certainly something I would be willing to pay." Mr Donnelly said the relative cost of operations in Iraq, at 2% of America's annual GDP, was less than either the Vietnam conflict at 12% or World War II at 40%. "Although the costs of war have grown... the American economy is exponentially larger than it was in the Vietnam War years," Mr Donnelly said. "When it [the Iraq war] is compared to the overall size of the American economy, it's really a drop in the bucket, certainly by historical standards."

Republicans accused of witch-hunt against climate change scientists

Some of America's leading scientists have accused Republican politicians of intimidating climate-change experts by placing them under unprecedented scrutiny. A far-reaching inquiry into the careers of three of the US's most senior climate specialists has been launched by Joe Barton, the chairman of the House of Representatives committee on energy and commerce. He has demanded details of all their sources of funding, methods and everything they have ever published. Mr Barton, a Texan closely associated with the fossil-fuel lobby, has spent his 11 years as chairman opposing every piece of legislation designed to combat climate change. He is using the wide powers of his committee to force the scientists to produce great quantities of material after alleging flaws and lack of transparency in their research. He is working with Ed Whitfield, the chairman of the sub-committee on oversight and investigations. The scientific work they are investigating was important in establishing that man-made carbon emissions were at least partly responsible for global warming, and formed part of the 2001 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which convinced most world leaders - George Bush was a notable exception - that urgent action was needed to curb greenhouse gases. The demands in letters sent to the scientists have been compared by some US media commentators to the anti-communist "witch-hunts" pursued by Joe McCarthy in the 1950s. The three US climate scientists - Michael Mann, the director of the Earth System Science Centre at Pennsylvania State University; Raymond Bradley, the director of the Climate System Research Centre at the University of Massachusetts; and Malcolm Hughes, the former director of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona - have been told to send large volumes of material. A letter demanding information on the three and their work has also gone to Arden Bement, the director of the US National Science Foundation. Mr Barton's inquiry was launched after an article in the Wall Street Journal quoted an economist and a statistician, neither of them from a climate science background, saying there were methodological flaws and data errors in the three scientists' calculations. It accused the trio of refusing to make their original material available to be cross-checked. Mr Barton then asked for everything the scientists had ever published and all baseline data. He said the information was necessary because Congress was going to make policy decisions drawing on their work, and his committee needed to check its validity. There followed a demand for details of everything they had done since their careers began, funding received and procedures for data disclosure. The inquiry has sent shockwaves through the US scientific establishment, already under pressure from the Bush administration, which links funding to policy objectives. Eighteen of the country's most influential scientists from Princeton and Harvard have written to Mr Barton and Mr Whitfield expressing "deep concern". Their letter says much of the information requested is unrelated to climate science. It says: "Requests to provide all working materials related to hundreds of publications stretching back decades can be seen as intimidation - intentional or not - and thereby risks compromising the independence of scientific opinion that is vital to the pre-eminence of American science as well as to the flow of objective science to the government." Alan Leshner protested on behalf of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, expressing "deep concern" about the inquiry, which appeared to be "a search for a basis to discredit the particular scientists rather than a search for understanding". Political reaction has been stronger. Henry Waxman, a senior Californian Democrat, wrote complaining that this was a "dubious" inquiry which many viewed as a "transparent effort to bully and harass climate-change experts who have reached conclusions with which you disagree". But the strongest language came from another Republican, Sherwood Boehlert, the chairman of the house science committee. He wrote to "express my strenuous objections to what I see as the misguided and illegitimate investigation". He said it was pernicious to substitute political review for scientific peer review and the precedent was "truly chilling". He said the inquiry "seeks to erase the line between science and politics" and should be reconsidered. A spokeswoman for Mr Barton said yesterday that all the required written evidence had been collected. "The committee will review everything we have and decided how best to proceed. No decision has yet been made whether to have public hearings to investigate the validity of the scientists' findings, but that could be the next step for this autumn," she said.

'Life code' of chimps laid bare

The DNA came from a chimp called Clint (Image: Yerkes National Primate Research Center) The scientists say the information is a milestone in the quest to discover what sets us apart from other animals. A comparison shows chimps and humans to be almost 99% identical in the most important areas of their "life codes". The team tells Nature magazine that future research will tease out the significance of the few differences. The study was undertaken by an international group called the Chimpanzee Sequencing and Analysis Consortium, which was made up of 67 scientists at 23 research institutions in the US, Germany, Italy, Israel and Spain. Fundamental questions The work provides a catalogue of the genetic differences that have arisen since humans and chimpanzees diverged from a common ancestor some six million years ago. "As our closest living evolutionary relatives, chimpanzees are especially suited to teaching us about ourselves," said the study's senior author, Robert Waterston, chair of the Department of Genome Sciences of the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. The researchers hope that by elaborating those few points of separation, they will also increase pressure to save chimpanzees and other great apes in the wild. The study shows that our genomes are startlingly similar. We differ by only 1.2% in terms of the genes that code for the proteins which build and maintain our bodies. This rises to about 4%, when non-coding or "junk" DNA is taken into account. The long-term goal of the project is to pinpoint the genetic changes that led to human characteristics such as complex language, walking upright on two feet, a large brain and tool use. Medical gain Comparing our genome with other species provides a treasure trove of information for understanding human biology and evolution. "As the sequences of other mammals and primates emerge in the next couple of years, we will be able to determine what DNA sequence changes are specific to the human lineage," said the study's lead author, Tarjei Mikkelsen, at the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. CHIMP DNA - PAN TROGLODYTES The double-stranded DNA molecule is held together by four chemical components called bases Adenine (A) bonds with thymine (T); cytosine(C) bonds with guanine (G) Groupings of these letters form the "code of life"; there are estimated to be about 3.1 billion base pairs in the chimp genome wound into 25 distinct bundles, or chromosomes Written in the DNA are some 25,000 genes which chimp cells use as templates to make proteins; these sophisticated molecules build and maintain the animal's body There should be significant gains for medicine. Already, it can be seen that three key genes involved in inflammation - a root cause of many human diseases - appear to be absent from chimps. This could explain some of the known differences between chimps and humans affecting immune and inflammatory responses. Humans, on the other hand, seem to have lost a functioning caspase-12 gene, which may protect other animals against Alzheimer's disease. The DNA for the study came from the blood of a male chimp called Clint, who was housed at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta. The chimp died from heart failure last year but some of his cells have been preserved for future research. The species studied is the common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). Its only sister species is the pygmy chimpanzee, or bonobo (Pan paniscus). The chimp's is one of more than two dozen mammalian genomes that have or are currently being sequenced and analysed, including the mouse, the rat, the dog and the cow.

The fallout from Katrina

As New Orleans slips into lawlessness after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf of Mexico coast, officials say they can still only guess at the death toll of the disaster—though it is likely to be in the thousands. Many survivors are still waiting for help THE natural catastrophe is past, but the human catastrophe in the wake of Hurricane Katrina seems to be worsening still. Around four-fifths of New Orleans was still under water on Thursday September 1st, three days after the storm slammed into Louisiana, with winds roaring up to 140mph. Much of the city is below sea level and its ageing levees—a system of flood walls, earthworks and pumping stations designed to hold the waters back—could not resist Katrina's might. As the hurricane travelled on across Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama, it left a trail of death and devastation there too. Officials say it is impossible to know how many people have been killed, but the official count has already moved into the hundreds; at least 30 died in a single catastrophic collapse of a seaside apartment building in Biloxi, Mississippi. In New Orleans, reports of bodies floating in the floodwaters herald a dreadful accounting to come; the mayor has said that the final death toll may be in the thousands. With many roads blocked by the floods and fallen trees, rescue workers and volunteers are working round the clock to reach the uncounted number in need of food, medical attention and uncontaminated drinking water. But while catastrophes often bring out the best in people, in this case it has brought out some of the worst, too. Looters and armed gangs stalk New Orleans, fires started by arsonists rage as desperate refugees clamour for rescue, and CNN has reported shots fired at medical convoys evacuating the sick and helpless. On Thursday, more troops were sent in to quell the lawlessness. In the early hours of Friday, the waterfront area was rocked by a series of massive blasts that sent clouds of acrid smoke drifting across the city. It was not clear what had caused the explosions, which, according to early reports, may have come from a chemical plant. Some are warning that it could be a matter of weeks, or even months, before electricity is restored to all of the millions who lost it in the wake of the storm. The army's chief engineer says it could take up to 30 days to remove the water, and New Orleans officials have said it could be several months before those who fled before Katrina hit are able to return. Though most of the city's residents left before the storm, huge efforts are now being made to rescue and evacuate those who remained behind to care for pets or ageing relatives and neighbours, or simply because they had nowhere else to go. The Superdome, a downtown sports arena, was a temporary home for at least 20,000, but heat, humidity, failed plumbing and a lack of supplies have turned it into a festering nightmare. Buses are now being brought in to transport the refugees to a stadium in Houston, but violence and the overwhelming number of the needy have slowed this and other evacuation efforts. Reports have emerged of people dying in the crowds waiting for buses to take them to safety. More worrisome still is the toll of disease on those who are trying to wade to safety. The floodwaters are now a toxic stew of raw sewage, household and industrial chemicals, and the rotting corpses of the people and pets who drowned as the waters rose. Doctors worry that this may mean an increase in the sorts of gastrointestinal diseases commonly seen only in the poorest countries. The water is also an excellent breeding ground for mosquitoes, particularly in the warm, wet climate of the Gulf Coast, which could mean a spike in mosquito-borne illnesses such as West Nile virus. Once the floodwaters have been pumped out of the city—which may take weeks—insurers expect a deluge of claims. Estimates of the losses range from $9 billion to $25 billion. The high end of this range would make Katrina the most expensive natural disaster in America's history for underwriters, topping the $21 billion paid out after Hurricane Andrew in 1992. To the insurers' losses must be added the cost to the government of rescue operations, plus many uninsured losses that will ultimately be met by private individuals or the taxpayers. For instance, homeowners' insurance typically does not include flood coverage, which is underwritten by the federal government, and business-interruption insurance may not cover losses from looting. There will undoubtedly be wrangling between insurance adjusters, homeowners and the feds over what water damage was due to the storm, and what is attributable to the rising flood.

Michael Yon : Online Magazine

Mikulski Urges Sec. Rice to Honor Slain Maryland Serviceman, Extradite Convicted Killer “We must make clear to Lebanon that it will not benefit from U.S. assistance and support as long as it harbors this brutal terrorist and murderer.” WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) and Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) today urged Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to take immediate action and formally request that the Government of Lebanon arrest and extradite convicted killer Mohammed Ali Hamadi to the United States. Hamadi was serving a life sentence in Germany for the 1985 hijacking of a TWA jetliner and killing of U.S. Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem, 23, of Waldorf, Md. He was paroled after 19 years in December 2005, and is known to be hiding in Lebanon. TWA flight 847 from Athens, Greece, to Rome was hijacked to Beirut, Lebanon, where hijackers beat, shot and killed Petty Officer Stethem and dumped his body on the tarmac. He was the only casualty during the hijacking ordeal, in which 39 Americans were held hostage for 17 days. The text of the letter from Senator Mikulski is provided below: January 10, 2006 The Honorable Condoleeza Rice Secretary of State 2201 C Street, NW Washington, DC 20520 Dear Secretary Rice: We are writing to urge you to formally request that the Government of Lebanon immediately arrest and extradite to the United States Mohammed Ali Hamadi, the cold-blooded murderer and terrorist who has sought refuge in Lebanon since being released from German custody last month. As you know, Hamadi brutally murdered a United States Navy diver, Robert Dean Stethem. Petty Officer Stethem was 23 years old and from Waldorf, MD. He was killed solely because he was an American serviceman. Hamadi and his fellow terrorists bound, gagged, beat unconscious, and then shot Petty Officer Stethem in the head when they hijacked a jetliner traveling to Rome in 1985. The terrorists dumped Petty Officer Stethem’s dead body out of the plane onto the Beirut tarmac, proving the utter indifference for life that is the hallmark of such despicable people. In 1989, Hamadi was convicted of murder and sentenced by German authorities to a prison term that ended last month. The German government ignored repeated requests by the United States to turn Hamadi over for prosecution and released him instead to his native Lebanon. We ask that you exert the strongest possible diplomatic and political pressure on the Government of Lebanon to secure Hamadi’s handover to U.S. custody. The families of our servicemen always hear that “a grateful nation never forgets.” We need to make sure these are more than just words. The current administration has rightly taken a strong stand against those nations who provide safe haven for terrorists. We must now make clear to Lebanon that it will not benefit from U.S. assistance and support as long as it harbors this brutal terrorist and murderer. Petty Office Stethem was killed because he was a United States serviceman. As United States Senators, we are grateful for his service and want to see justice done. Thank you for your prompt, personal attention to this issue. Sincerely, Barbara A. Mikulski United States Senator Jim DeMint United States Senator

Open Forum: Michael Yon in Iraq

Getting these dispatches right is challenging. Iraq multiplies the challenge. The chaos of combat has already claimed two pairs of eye-glasses, a video camera, and two digital still cameras; the environment is merciless, with 117 degree days beating down over land and people. I was in the Army some years ago and maintained close contact with many friends who made a career of military service. Naturally, I had an interest in what was happening in Iraq--I had friends in harm's way. But what spurred me to drop what I was doing, get on a plane and fly halfway around the world, to a war zone, was a growing sense that what I was seeing reported on television, as well as in newspapers and magazines, was inconsistent with the reality my friends were describing. I wanted to see the truth, first hand, for myself.And what I saw changed how I thought about this war. The "truth" of this experience is too complex to capture in a body count or a thirty-second sound byte. It's chaotic, dynamic and evolving. It's unwieldy, wasteful and we have made mistakes. It's a struggle of epic proportions that ultimately relies on the strength of a people about whom most Americans seem to know very little.The longer I stayed, the better I understood things. And I began to realize that Americans need to see these things in order to understand what is happening here and come to a more informed judgment of whether this struggle is "worth" the cost, in money and lives. No one can make that determination without a balanced set of facts.But I don't do this work to espouse a point of view, or rally people to the right or left. Some people might find that statement disingenuous. I've been criticized for using terms like terrorist and enemy in my dispatches. Most critics are a safe distance from the battleground. Up close, its more than a matter of taking sides. There's no value in using imprecise language in a futile attempt to appear objective. There is a difference between Coalition soldiers and Iraqi police officers and the terrorists and criminals they confront. Whether you call them insurgents or resistance fighters or terrorists, the people who wake up in the morning plotting how to drive explosives-laden cars into crowds of children have to be confronted.Combat is just one form of confrontation. I chose another way. By getting close enough to the truth, for long enough to recognize when reality reveals it, I confront the distortions in how this struggle is portrayed. I do it because we need to see this clearly: what happens in and to Iraq is a defining moment for our nation, and the world. This enemy is smart and they are deadly, but they are also losing. Iraq can become a strong and free nation. But it will take the constant application of pressure over time to stem the flow of blood. If we back off too soon, they will rebound. If we cut our losses and run, they will follow us home. Peace can prevail here, if we can use our strength to maintain our progress.More and more people read my dispatches every day, and thousands are taking the time to contact me. Some are kind enough to hit the support button which funds my operations. I am especially humbled by comments from the families and loved ones of the soldiers with whom I live and about whom I write. While the dollars helped me replace my damaged equipment, comments from readers are really what has kept me going for the past seven months.Thank you to everyone who has supported my work. Whether you've sent a few dollars, or pointed your own readers and members my way, or sent an "atta-boy," it's all deeply appreciated. My Southern roots compel me to respond to every email and acknowledge every donation. But lately I have experienced a new and growing danger in Iraq: I see that my work could be the victim of my success. In trying to respond to every note and donation, I am finding myself sacrificing time in the field and sleep and both of these are essential to my continuing to post these dispatches. Your comments seem to indicate your assent that the dispatches should outrank the acknowledgments.So, I trust you will forgive this impersonal but no less heartfelt and genuine expression of thanks. And I hope you’ll keep reading and referring friends and colleagues to these pages. From where I sit, I can see there are many more telling moments to come.To return to the on-line magazine, please click the link below.

Conversations with History

Conversations with History host Harry Kreisler welcomes Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad for a discussion of the interplay between theory and practice in shaping national security policy. Ambassador Khalilzad reflects on the strategic challenges confronting U.S. policymakers after the end of the Cold War; he describes the difficulties facing the U.S. as it makes the Afghanistan/Pakistan crisis its top strategic priority eight years after the post 9-11 Afghanistan War; and he highlights the need for the U.S. to complement its military power with diplomacy and development aid. Ambassador Khalilzad concludes with a discussion of lessons learned from his career as a strategist and an ambassador. http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people9/Khalilzad/khalilzad-con0.html

Interdictor

79-page report, entitled "Warlord Inc," faults the US military for making trucking companies who deliver goods to US military bases in Afghanistan responsible for their own security. It details how eight trucking companies that share a $2.1 billion contract are forced to pay warlords and Afghan officials to pass unhindered with their convoys. In some cases, the companies pay as much as $150,000 a month for protection, or as much as $1,500 per truck, according to internal memos and other documents reproduced in the report. The report accuses the military of turning a blind eye to the problem. I'm sure this is both necessary and good as part of the larger picture:

Wind, Water and Oil

Posted by Big Gav The Baltimore Sun has a good op-ed piece on the effects of Hurricane Katrina, an oil supply chain that is "stretched to capacity" and the link between global warming and increased hurricane strength. AS LOUISIANA, Mississippi and Alabama today cope with the terrible material and human devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the entire nation -- while thankful that the hurricane was not as lethal as feared -- braces for a fierce oil-price storm in its aftermath. As Katrina blew in, the prices of crude oil, gasoline, natural gas and heating oil hit all-time highs. The Category 5 storm forced the evacuation of oil and natural gas rigs in the Gulf of Mexico that account for as much as 30 percent of U.S. production, the closing of the Louisiana port that handles 11 percent of U.S. crude imports, and the shuttering of gulf coast oil refineries that are the major source for East Coast markets. The worldwide supply chains for oil and natural gas -- already stretched to capacity and vulnerable to the slightest political tremors -- are no less fragile in the face of savage formations of wind and water. It turns out that if below-sea-level New Orleans has been a national disaster just waiting to happen, so also is the dense concentration of energy production, importing and refining along the gulf coast -- one with concrete national security implications. For the last week, water temperatures in much of the gulf have been higher than average, as warm as 90 degrees. Such warmer waters fuel the formation and ferocity of hurricanes. Warmer oceans are an inseparable by-product of global warming, and it's foolish to ignore the link to the burning of fossil fuels. In coming days and weeks, if Hurricane Katrina drives further home this nation's Faustian overdependence on oil, it also should highlight the environmental damage that results from that dependence. From oil to oil, this storm -- the fiercest to strike the gulf coast in decades - should put the spotlight on a vicious cycle in which America has rapped itself. Royal Dutch Shell said an aerial inspection of its Mars platform, which produces 147,000 barrels of oil and 157 million cubic feet of gas per day, showed some damage to its upper deck. BHP Billiton Ltd chief executive Chip Goodyear has said the price of crude oil could fall up to $US20 per barrel in the next 12 months. When asked to estimate the price of oil per barrel in 12 months time, Mr Goodyear said: "I think you are looking at a range of probably $US40-$US50 (per barrel)". Mr Goodyear was speaking at the Forbes Global CEO Conference in Sydney. Mr Costello told Southern Cross Radio that higher output from oil producers is the best way to bring petrol prices down. "I think we've got to raise our voice about OPEC and the production of oil," he said. "If the world could get the production of oil increased, that would be the most concrete thing that could lead to a lowering of the petrol price," he said. The Iranian government's plans to create an oil exchange fit into a strategy of weakening US economic hegemony. Is the biggest threat Iran poses to the United States really its nuclear ambitions - or is it petropolitics? The scariest thing for me here is not the flimsiness and the stupidity of the rebuttal, but the CONFIDENCE and the LACK OF INTEREST IN THE REALITIES OF THE WORLD that they are pronounced with. Even scarier, however, is that these commentators are smart people with high IQ, regarded throughout the world as authorities in economics. When these two talk, many listen. Of course people respond to incentives! Of course markets will attempt (as they have been attempting for a long time, without success) to find substitutes within the same basic economic structure. However, is there a physical law stating that an adequate substitute, fitting into any existing infrastructure and cost structure, and satisfying the needs of any living arrangement, has to exist? I wish the freakonomists were there with me during my various travels -- from Mexico to Greece to Alaska -- where I saw communities of various scales abandoned and in ruins because the populace couldn't find at sufficient cost and quantities the resources they have come to depend upon, from water to arable soil to fish in the sea to mineable minerals. What if the vast literature dedicated to discussing the inadequacy of all currently known putative replacements for cheap oil has a point? I guess there is a broad issue here that, in terms of advice governments get, we rely on economists, and I don't want to nag economists as a class, there nice people, some of my best friends are economists, but there's this belief that the price mechanism will sort out all problems, that supply and demand will come into equilibrium eventually and that the rising price of any good will make alternatives more attractive and make exploration and development of that particular product more attractive and therefore more will be found. The underpinnings of that analysis are that there is always more to be found, that there is no natural limit, and I guess there's a clash between the man-made laws of economics and the universal fundamentals of the laws of physics, and I think the laws of physics are always going to win. So, as we find oil, for example, becoming more and more expensive to find, it doesn't mean that, with the price of oil going up it'll always be worthwhile doing it. If it costs you more than a barrel of oil to get a barrel of oil out of the ground, then it doesn't matter whether the barrel of oil's worth a hundred dollars or a million dollars, it's not worth doing. While many Western countries were looking at Somalia's resources before the country's descent into civil war, those countries may find getting their concessions back not as easy as getting them in the old days. Some concessions formerly held are now hard to trace because they existed in parts of the country that are no longer parts of the current country. New concessions may be hard to get as the government attempts to legislate the management of its natural resources before it gives its okay to explore and pull any of those resources out of the ground. New readings from the European satellite Envisat suggest that this year's southern hemisphere ozone hole may be one of the largest on record. The hole covers an area of 10 million sq km (four million sq miles) - approximately the same size as Europe. It is expected to continue expanding for two to three weeks. There have been signs over the last two years that damage to the ozone layer has reduced, but a full recovery is not expected until around 2050. Sometimes a picture says a thousand words - some before and after shots of the Mars platform.New Orleans seems to be a complete mess now, with the death toll and damage assessment still uncertain, and martial law has now been declared.Moving on to a more general news roundup, BHP CEO Chip Goodyear has predicted the oil price will fall over $20 per barrel next year. While I imagine Chip has access to better data than Steve Forbes, I still don't see how anyone could predict this unless there is a large amount of demand destruction somewhere. There are no reports about damage to the company's Mad Dog or Atlantis fields as yet.There seems to be a few demonstrations going on around the city today against the conference, though I haven't seen anything around my neck of the woods other than a few helicopters circling and the occasional police car heading north.Treasurer Peter Costello was on TV tonight showing that he is just as out of touch with the global oil market is he is with a lot of issues within the country, saying that the solution to high oil prices was international pressure on OPEC to pump more oil. Perhaps they should have asked Malcolm Turnbull for a more informed view.The Christian Science Monitor has an interesting article on the proposed Iranian oil bourse - "Iran's oil gambit - and potential affront to the US", the creation of which is probably the worst sin the mullahs could commit in the eyes of the US government. As Malcolm Fraser would say - achieving global hegemony wasn't meant to be easy.James Howard Kunstler has a guest column today from Dmitry Podborits who takes a dim view of the Freakonomics take on peak oil.One of my pet gripes with the seemingly commonly held view amongst Libertarians and economists that peak oil isn't a problem as "the market will take care of it" is my belief that the market doesn't guarantee anything other than "efficent" allocation of resources and balancing supply and demand via prices - nothing more. If you can't find a better replacement for a particular good or service you have to make do with an inferior one - the market won't conjure a better, cheaper and less environmentally harmful one out of thin air, no matter how hard you believe it will happen.Andrew McNamara said much the same thing in his recent interview Rigzone reports that "Resources Under Somalia May Once Again Become Accessible", with "Chevron and ConocoPhillips crossing their fingers that their former concessions in northern Somalia will be honored now that the country is coming out of nearly a decade and a half of chaos." Given that the transitional government hasn't dared base itself inside the country yet I'd say this could be a slow process.Treehugger has a number of interesting posts today, inlcuding one on rising oil prices boosting the value of recycled plastic , one on US tax credits for installing solar energy systems and finally an example of energy waste par excellence - skiing in Dubai Finally, in an example of how long it takes to arrest environmental changes, the BBC reports on major ozone loss over Antarctic.

Pricing experts says $4 a gallon gas on the horizon

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Consumers can expect retail gas prices to rise to $4 a gallon soon, but whether they stay there depends on the long-term damage to oil facilities from Hurricane Katrina, oil and gas analysts said Wednesday. "There's no question gas will hit $4 a gallon," Ben Brockwell, director of pricing at the Oil Price Information Service, said. "The question is how high will it go and how long will it last?" OPIS tracks wholesale and retail oil prices and provides pricing information for AAA's daily reports on fuel prices. Brockwell said with gasoline prices now exceeding $3 a gallon before even reaching the wholesale level, it "doesn't take a genius" to expect retail prices to hit $4 a gallon soon. "Consumers haven't seen the worst of it yet," Brockwell said. He expects consumers in the Southeast and Northeast to be pinched first, following the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast region. Katrina pressures gas supplies Katrina forced operators to close more than a tenth of the country's refining capacity and a quarter of its oil production, which sent gasoline prices surging. Two major pipelines that supply gasoline to key terminals and distribution centers within the eastern U.S. were shut down due to power outages caused by the storm. (Video of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman discussing U.S. plans to tap strategic oil reserve to help refiners -- 4:16. Click here to watch.) Colonial Pipeline said it hopes to be back in partial operation soon, while the date of Plantation Pipeline's restart is not clear. Each day the pipelines are closed, supplies get backlogged and distribution centers must rely on reserves. "With this kind of hiccup in refinery capacity, in stretched markets like California, you could see over $4 a gallon in gas," Evan Smith, an analyst at U.S. Global Investors, told CNN/Money. While it's still too early to fully assess the damage caused by Katrina, efforts to build up inventories of crude oil, natural gas and other products like gasoline will be set back by the storm, according to Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at Global Insight. In a research note, Behravesh laid out a worst-case scenario that puts average prices for regular unleaded gasoline at about $3.50 a gallon for the next four to six months. "The impact on consumer spending in such a scenario would be very dramatic, cutting the growth rate by as much as 3 percent and pushing real GDP growth in the fourth quarter closer to zero," he wrote. In a best-case scenario, he forecast retail pump prices to peak at $3 a gallon for a couple of months, but then fall back to around $2.50 by year-end. The nationwide average price for a gallon of regular unleaded hit a fresh high of $2.619 Wednesday, according to AAA, the largest U.S. motorist organization, formerly known as the American Automobile Association. Average gasoline prices have gained 40 percent in the last year. Prices for crude oil are also up sharply and are currently hovering near record highs just under $70 a barrel. ------------------------- Is a gas crisis looming? For more, click here. The U.S. is oil-shockproof -- but for how long? Click here.

Sony wants an 'iTunes for movies'

The movie industry is keen to take control from technology firms Michael Arrieta, senior vice president of Sony Pictures, said at a US Digital Hollywood conference that it wanted to create an "iTunes" for films. Films will be put onto flash memory for mobiles over the next year, said Mr Arrieta, and it will develop its digital download services for films. Movie studios are keen to stop illegal file-sharing on peer-to-peer nets and cash in on digital the download market. Movie piracy cost the industry £3.7bn ($7bn) in 2003, according to analysts. The movie industry body, the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) has started a campaign of legal action against operators of BitTorrent, eDonkey and DirectConnect peer-to-peer networks. Cashing in "We want to set business models, pricing models, distribution models like (Apple chief Steve) Jobs did for music, but for the film industry," Mr Arrieta told Cnet news. Sony and other movie studios, say Cnet news, are keen to wrestle power, and financial gain, from any single technology giant - like Apple - which has had success with iTunes for music downloads. The PSP was launched in the US on 24 March It is a partnership between Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Studios and Warner Bros. There remain big issues to giving people more access to films and other digital content anywhere, anytime. Issues over protecting and controlling the distribution of content once it has been legally downloaded and moved to a portable device, for instance, still concern the movie industry. But with the growing popularity of powerful portable entertainment devices, such as Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP), which can play movies and other multimedia content, it is becoming a pressing concern for the industry. The PSP went on sale in the US on 24 March and the first million came with Spider-Man 2. But films for the device are available in Sony's own format, called UMD, which are physical discs. Lions Gate Entertainment and Disney have announced forthcoming film titles that will be made available on the format. The Digital Hollywood conference in the US runs from 29 March to 1 April.

Price Gouging Saves Lives in a Hurricane

Tags [On October 27, as East Coast residents prepared for Hurricane Sandy, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie threatened "price gougers" with stiff penalties. As David Brown pointed out in Mises Daily on August 17, 2004, shortly after Hurricane Charley hit Florida, foul weather is when we need market prices the most. Capitalism needs more foul-weather friends, not fair-weather friends like Christie.] In the evening before Hurricane Charley hit central Florida, news anchors Bob Opsahl and Martie Salt of Orlando's Channel 9 complained that we "sure don't need" vendors to take advantage of the coming storm by raising their prices for urgently needed emergency supplies. In the days since the hurricane hit, many other reporters and public officials have voiced similar sentiments. There are laws against raising prices during a natural disaster. It's called "price gouging." The state's attorney general has assured Floridians that he's going to crack down on such. There's even a hotline you can call if you notice a store charging a higher price for an urgently needed good than you paid before demand for the good suddenly went through the roof. The penalties are stiff: up to $25,000 per day for multiple violations. But offering goods for sale is per se "taking advantage" of customers. Customers also "take advantage" of sellers. Both sides gain from the trade. In an unhampered market, the self-interest of vendors who supply urgently needed goods meshes beautifully with the self-interest of customers who urgently need these goods. In a market, we have price mechanisms to ensure that when there is any dramatic change in the supply of a good or the demand for a good, economic actors can respond accordingly, taking into account the new information and incentives. If that's rapacity, bring on the rapacity. Prices are how scarce goods get allocated in markets in accordance with actual conditions. When demand increases, prices go up, all other things being equal. It's not immoral. If orange groves are frozen over (or devastated by Hurricane Charley), leading to fewer oranges going to market, the price of oranges on the market is going to go up as a result of the lower supply. And if demand for a good suddenly lapses or supply of that good suddenly expands, prices will go down. Should lower prices be illegal too? In the same newscast, Salt and Opsahl reported that a local gas station had run out of gas and that the owner was hoping to receive more gas by midnight. Other central Florida stations have also run out of gas, especially in the days since the hurricane smacked our area. Power outages persist for many homes and businesses, and roads are blocked by trees, power lines, and chunks of roofs, so it is hard to obtain new supplies. Yet it's illegal for sellers of foodstuffs, water, ice, and gas to respond to the shortages and difficulty of restocking by raising their prices. If we expect customers to be able to get what they need in an emergency, when demand zooms vendors must be allowed and encouraged to increase their prices. Supplies are then more likely to be sustained, and the people who most urgently need a particular good will more likely be able to get it. That is especially important during an emergency. Price gouging saves lives. What would happen if prices were allowed to go up in defiance of the government? Well, let's consider ice. Before Charley hit, few in central Florida had stocked up on ice. It had looked like the storm was going to skirt our part of the state; on the day of landfall, however, it veered eastward, thwarting all the meteorological predictions. After Charley cut his swath through central Florida, hundreds of thousands of central Florida residents were unexpectedly deprived of electrical power and therefore of refrigeration. Hence the huge increase in demand for ice. Let us postulate that a small Orlando drug store has ten bags of ice in stock that, prior to the storm, it had been selling for $4.39 a bag. Of this stock it could normally expect to sell one or two bags a day. In the wake of Hurricane Charley, however, ten local residents show up at the store over the course of a day to buy ice. Most want to buy more than one bag. So what happens? If the price is kept at $4.39 a bag because the drugstore owner fears the wrath of State Attorney General Charlie Crist and the finger wagging of local news anchors, the first five people who want to buy ice might obtain the entire stock. The first person buys one bag, the second person buys four bags, the third buys two bags, the fourth buys two bags, and the fifth buys one bag. The last five people get no ice. Yet one or more of the last five applicants may need the ice more desperately than any of the first five. But suppose the store owner is operating in an unhampered market. Realizing that many more people than usual will now demand ice, and also realizing that with supply lines temporarily severed it will be difficult or impossible to bring in new supplies of ice for at least several days, he resorts to the expedient of raising the price to, say, $15.39 a bag. Now customers will act more economically with respect to the available supply. Now, the person who has $60 in his wallet, and who had been willing to pay $17 to buy four bags of ice, may be willing to pay for only one or two bags of ice (because he needs the balance of his ready cash for other immediate needs). Some of the persons seeking ice may decide that they have a large enough reserve of canned food in their homes that they don't need to worry about preserving the one pound of ground beef in their freezer. They may forgo the purchase of ice altogether, even if they can "afford" it in the sense that they have $20 bills in their wallets. Meanwhile, the stragglers who in the first scenario lacked any opportunity to purchase ice will now be able to. Note that even if the drug store owner guesses wrong about what the price of his ice should be, under this scenario vendors throughout central Florida would all be competing to find the right price to meet demand and maximize their profits. Thus, if the tenth person who shows up at the drugstore desperately needs ice and barely misses his chance to buy ice at the drugstore in our example, he still has a much better chance to obtain ice down the street at some other place that has a small reserve of ice. Indeed, under this second scenario—the market scenario—vendors are scrambling to make ice available and to advertise that availability by whatever means available to them given the lack of power. Vendors who would have stayed home until power was generally restored might now go to heroic lengths to keep their stores open and make their surviving stocks available to consumers. The "problem" of "price gouging" will not be cured by imposing rationing along with price controls, either. Rationing of price-controlled ice would still maintain an artificially low price for ice, so the day after the storm hits there would still be no economic incentive for ice vendors to scramble to keep ice available given limited supplies that cannot be immediately replenished. And while it is true that rationing might prevent the person casually purchasing four bags of ice from obtaining all four of those bags (at least from one store with a particularly diligent clerk), the rationing would also prevent the person who desperately needs four bags of ice from getting it. Nobody knows the local circumstances and needs of buyers and sellers better than individual buyers and sellers themselves. When allowed to respond to real demand and real supply, prices and profits communicate the information and incentives that people require to meet their needs economically given all the relevant circumstances. There is no substitute for the market. And we should not be surprised that command-and-control intervention in the market cannot duplicate what economic actors accomplish on their own if allowed to act in accordance with their own self-interest and knowledge of their own case. But we know all this already. We know that people lined up for gas in very long lines during the 1970s because the whole country was being treated as if it had been hit by a hurricane that was never going to go away. We also know that as soon as the price controls on gas were lifted, the long lines disappeared, as if a switch had been thrown restoring power to the whole economy. One item in very short supply among the finger-wagging newscasters and public officials here in central Florida is an understanding of elementary economics. Maybe FEMA can fly in a few crates of Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson and drop them on Bob and Martie and all the other newscasters and public officials. This could be followed up with a boatload of George Reisman's Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics, which offers a wonderfully cogent and extensive explanation of prices and the effects of interference with prices. Some vintage Mises and Hayek would also be nice. But at least the Hazlitt. "Price gouging" is nothing more than charging what the market will bear. If that's immoral, then all market adjustment to changing circumstances is "immoral," and markets per se are immoral. But that is not the case. And I don't think a store owner who makes money by satisfying the urgent needs of his customers is immoral either. It is called making a living. And, in the wake of Hurricane Charley, surviving.

Paying attention - Cor blimey

IT'S true. Pornography can make you blind. Look at a smutty picture and, according to research by Steven Most, of Yale University, and his colleagues, you will suffer from a temporary condition known as emotion-induced blindness. Dr Most made this discovery while studying the rubbernecking effect (when people slow down to stare at a car accident). Rubbernecking represents a serious lapse of attention to the road, but he wondered if the initial reaction to such gory scenes could cause smaller lapses. The answer is, it does. What he found was that when people look at gory images—and also erotic ones—they fail to process what they see immediately afterwards. This period of blindness lasts between two-tenths and eight-tenths of a second. That is long enough for a driver transfixed by an erotic advert on a billboard to cause an accident. The researchers conducted two experiments. In the first, the results of which will be published in next month's Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, the experimental subjects were shown a sequence of images. Some of these images were gory (violent injuries and mutilated bodies) while others were photographs of landscapes and buildings—things thought to be emotionally neutral. The subjects were asked to watch out for a picture that had been rotated, without being told what was in it. Between the horror picture and this target were two to eight neutral pictures. The closer the grim picture was to the target, the less likely the subjects were to spot the target. When the gory pictures were substituted by erotic ones, the outcome was the same. Dr Most thinks that the explanation for this temporary blindness is that there is an information-processing bottleneck in the brain when it is presented with important stimuli. When the human brain was evolving, such stimuli would not have been two-dimensional images. They would, rather, have been part of the real world. Gory scenes would have had survival value (ie, “am I going to be next?”), while erotic ones would have had reproductive value. Paying attention to the landscape would have been a distraction. In the age of photography, though, it is the image that is the distraction, and if the distracted individual is travelling at speed in a car, such distraction could be fatal. So the team carried out a second series of experiments, still unpublished, that were intended to discover whether their subjects could override this emotion-induced temporary blindness by using what they rather grandiloquently called an “attentional strategy” (ie, focusing harder on the target image). This was arranged by asking the subjects to find not any rotated photo, but a rotated photo of a building, in the array of images. The fact that they had to pay attention to both content and orientation meant they focused harder. As the researchers had expected, in this version of the experiment subjects were, on average, better at spotting the target image. But that average concealed some interesting differences that depended on a subject's personality. The researchers knew from previous studies that the more neurotic someone is, the worse he is at controlling his attention, so they decided to see how a measure of neuroses known as the harm-avoidance scale correlated with their results. The harm-avoidance scale is a measure of a person's reaction to negative or frightening stimuli. They found that the lower a subject's score on this scale was, the more successful he was at detecting the target. This information might be useful when considering the reliability of witnesses to crimes.

Christians draw swords on climate

By Richard Black BBC News website environment correspondent The traditional face of protest: Activists on John Prescott's roof Stop Climate Chaos brings traditional environmental groups such as Greenpeace together with Christian development agencies like Christian Aid. It is asking the government to cut Britain's greenhouse gas emissions, and to ensure that overseas aid money is invested in clean technologies. The group plans to expand its reach to include faiths other than Christianity. Christians should be involved with the whole of God's creation Andy Atkins, Tearfund "It brings together voices from across the development and environmental sectors to ask for definitive action on climate change." Its key demands are: the UK government must deliver substantial annual reductions in UK greenhouse gas emissions, meet its target of cutting CO2 emissions by 20% by 2010 and commit to an EU-wide greenhouse gas reduction target of 30% by 2020 the UK government must make climate change a top international priority so that global warming is capped at a temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This will require global emissions to have peaked and be irreversibly declining by 2015 the government must ensure that its policies on combating global poverty include investing in low-carbon technologies and clean energy and providing significantly more assistance to the developing world to adapt to climate change Moral imperative Climate change will have massive impacts on the poor; that's a moral issue Ashok Sinha, Stop Climate Chaos "As a development organisation, we can't ignore climate change," said Tearfund's advocacy director, Andy Atkins. "But in addition, as a Christian organisation, Tearfund has in its operating principles that Christians should be involved with the whole of God's creation, not just people. "We have a good biblical mandate to be involved in climate change." The idea that Christians have a duty to campaign on climate change is already well established in the US, where organisations such as the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) lobby on Capitol Hill and in their networks of churches across the country. "We are creation care advocates," said NAE's vice-president for governmental affairs, Richard Cizik, "and it comes straight from scripture, straight from God, who in his words said in Genesis, for example, that we are stewards of what he has created; we are to watch over and care for it. "And the mere fact that evangelical Christians, who compose 40% of the Republican party's base, are beginning to say that this is an important issue, believe me has got the attention of people in the White House." Prayers for the planet In the UK, the Church of Scotland has taken a lead in the field though its Society, Religion and Technology Project, which has produced a special liturgy on climate change, and took part in a silent protest outside July's G8 summit in Gleneagles, where leaders concluded a climate agreement which has been widely derided by environmental groups. Climate change may bring floods to poor countries like Bangladesh Generally, though, religious groups in Britain have confined themselves to pointing up the problem and urging individuals to change lifestyle, through initiatives such as Operation Noah and Eco-congregation, rather than stepping into the hurly-burly roughhouse of political lobbying. Ashok Sinha believes the decision of religious organisations to sign up to Stop Climate Chaos is an indication that things are changing. "What it demonstrates is that this is a cross-cutting issue of our time; it's not just an environmental issue," he said. "It will have massive impacts, including on the world's poor. That's a moral question, so it's not surprising that religious organisations will want to be involved." Broad church The initial line-up of Stop Climate Chaos includes no organisations linked to faiths other than Christianity, but that may change. Tony Blair: Applause for views, opprobrium for rising UK emissions "It's early days, and we hope that they will get involved." Potentially, the involvement of faith groups will give Stop Climate Chaos a new route into 10 Downing Street, where resides one of the most overtly Christian British prime ministers of modern times. "We're certainly keen to discuss with Mr Blair how it affects his thinking on climate change," said Andy Atkins. "We're not sure whether it will give us any extra access; but he is already convinced, we think, of the need to do something, although actions and policies haven't gone as far as we would want him to go."

Private spaceflight - Sinatra, eat your heart out

SIGHS of relief all round greeted the touchdown of STS 114, as the latest space-shuttle flight is known to the cognoscenti. In truth, this was the most mollycoddled mission in NASA's history, so if anything serious had gone wrong with it the agency would probably not have emerged intact from the wreckage. Now, although there are still doubts about whether there will ever be an STS 115, the show can go on. And the next act, expected within a few days—or weeks at most—will be the unveiling of detailed plans for a return to the moon. But NASA has been upstaged. This week, Space Adventures, a firm based in Arlington, Virginia, announced that it is offering a private trip to the moon for two fare-paying passengers. The catch is the fare—the small matter of $100m a seat. Although it may seem implausible that a tiny company could offer such a trip, Space Adventures has already organised travel to the International Space Station for two fare-paying passengers, and a third is due to fly in October, so its proposals for lunar tourism need to be taken seriously. And the firm is not actually offering a holiday on the moon. That would be impossible with existing spacecraft. Instead, tourists will follow a figure-of-eight path that will take them swooping low over the surface of the far side of the moon, and then back to Earth. Space Adventures would not, of course, transport the lunar tourists in its own fleet. The hardware and the pilots would, like those for its trips to the space station, be provided respectively by RSC Energia, Russia's leading spacecraft-maker, and by the Russian Space Agency. However, unlike the space-station jaunts, a trip around the moon would not be a mere commercial recapitulation of a type of mission that had already been flown. Soyuz, Russia's manned spacecraft, is a tried and tested design, but it has never been to the moon. For that to happen, a Soyuz capsule will have to be launched into orbit on one booster rocket, and then dock with a second booster that has been launched from Earth as a separate payload by yet a third booster. The second booster will provide the oomph necessary to get to the moon and back. Alternatively, for the full extraterrestrial experience, the Soyuz might dock with the space station, allowing passengers a few days in Earth orbit before they go on to the moon. Eric Anderson, the president of Space Adventures, says that one of the things that makes Soyuz suitable for this mission is that during the cold war space race, the Russians were developing a stripped-down version of Soyuz for a trip to the moon. Nevertheless, some extra research and development would be necessary, as well as modifications to the navigation system, and the enlargement of the craft's window. The latter will have the double benefit of giving passengers a better view and allowing high-resolution pictures of the surface of the moon to be taken. Surprisingly, such holiday snaps would be the first close-up, high-res photos of the lunar surface, which would add a gloss of scientific respectability to the whole enterprise. According to Mr Anderson, the $200m mission fee will cover the cost of a test launch with an unmanned Soyuz, as well as the costs of the modifications. And if somebody stumped up money now, the mission would be ready to fly in five years. The big question is: who would pay $100m? Space Adventures' market research suggests that at least 1,000 people could afford to do so. Whether any of these billionaires are also brave enough to venture into deep space, and to the far side of the moon, remains to be seen.