A daily miasma of frivolity by two wanna-be cultural critics. Or: just, like, some good links, dude.

Tag Archives: news

Jul 13 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Residents in bid to stop Olympic missiles on roof

Residents in bid to stop Olympic missiles on roof

Jill Lawless writing for the Associated Press:

Residents of a London apartment tower went to court Monday in a bid to stop their rooftop from being used as a missile base during the Olympic Games, saying the deployment in a densely-populated area could make the building a terrorist target.

The British military plans to deploy surface-to-air missiles at six sites around London as part of a vast security operation for the July 27-Aug. 12 games. But residents of the 17-story Fred Wigg Tower in Leytonstone, east London, say they were not consulted about the move.

I can barely imagine having a missile battery installed on the roof of my place. That would be pretty cool but also really dang horrifying.

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Jul 09 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Military chaplains: End of ‘don’t ask’ ban on gays hasn’t fueled turmoil that outsiders feared

Military chaplains: End of ‘don’t ask’ ban on gays hasn’t fueled turmoil that outsiders feared

David Crary writing for the Associated Press:

Prior to repeal, various conservative groups and individuals — including many conservative retired chaplains — warned that repeal would trigger an exodus of chaplains whose faiths consider homosexual activity to be sinful. In fact, there’s been no significant exodus — perhaps two or three departures of active-duty chaplains linked to the repeal. Moreover, chaplains or their civilian coordinators from a range of conservative faiths told The Associated Press they knew of virtually no serious problems thus far involving infringement of chaplains’ religious freedom or rights of conscience.

According to this piece published on September 22, 2011, there were 2,900 chaplains on active duty in the U.S. military at the time.

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Jul 08 2012
Mark Twain, probably

China lifts ban on lesbians giving blood

China lifts ban on lesbians giving blood

Molly Gray, CNN:

The Chinese Ministry of Health has lifted a 14-year-old ban on lesbians donating blood in effect as of July 1.

The ban still applies to men who are sexually active with other men, but celibate homosexuals are permitted to give blood, according to the Ministry of Health’s website.

The original ban, enacted in 1998, barred homosexuals of both genders from donating blood out of a fear of spreading HIV and AIDS.

Well, it’s a start, I guess. Apparently the only guaranteed way to stay free of HIV is still to stick to heterosexual sex, though.

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Jul 07 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Probe: data in 172 papers by Toho University medical researcher fabricated

Probe: data in 172 papers by Toho University medical researcher fabricated

Report from Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun:

The Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists (JSA) on June 29 announced the results of an investigation finding that at least 172 research papers by Yoshitaka Fujii, a former associate professor of anesthesiology at Toho University, contained fabricated data.

…

The investigation covered 212 papers listing Fujii as an author in 41 journals between 1991 an 2011. The society judged 172 papers published since 1993 were fabricated as they could not confirm experiments had actually been conducted, due to factors such as missing raw data and an absence of details on the administration of medications.

One hundred and seventy-two papers with confirmed fabricated data. That’s insane.

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Jul 06 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Ex-Argentine dictators jailed for baby thefts

Ex-Argentine dictators jailed for baby thefts

MSNBC & news services:

Three key figures from Argentina’s “Dirty War” got hefty jail terms for the systematic theft of babies from political prisoners during the 1976-1983 dictatorship, an Argentine court ruled on Thursday.

The missing children — stolen from their parents and illegally adopted, often by military families — are one of the most painful legacies of the crackdown on leftist dissent in which rights groups say up to 30,000 people were killed.

Wikipedia’s account of the Dirty War is absolutely harrowing.

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Jun 27 2012
Mark Twain, probably

“Did I ever lie to you?”

“Did I ever lie to you?”

You may have heard that Jerry Sandusky of Penn State was convicted on forty-five child sexual abuse counts last week. I was reading an article on it from the Associated Press in the paper and this passage jumped out at me:

The accuser known in court papers as Victim 6 broke down in tears upon hearing the verdicts. Afterward, a prosecutor embraced him and said, “Did I ever lie to you?”

I kind of choked up a bit.

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Jun 25 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Lonesome George, last-of-his-kind Galapagos tortoise, dies

Lonesome George, last-of-his-kind Galapagos tortoise, dies

Reuters:

Lonesome George, the last remaining tortoise of his kind and a conservation icon, died on Sunday of unknown causes, the Galapagos National Park said. He was thought to be about 100 years old.

…

George was believed to be around 100 years old and the last member of a species of giant tortoise from La Pinta, one of the smallest islands in the Galapagos, the Galapagos National Park said.

A very sad day. :(

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Jun 21 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Missing foxes fuel spread of Lyme disease

Missing foxes fuel spread of Lyme disease

Jennifer Welsh, LiveScience:

As coyotes take over their ranges in North America, red fox populations are plummeting, and researchers have found one surprising result: The drop is fueling the spread of Lyme disease.

Lyme disease cases have increased enormously in recent years: From 1997 to 2007, the number of cases increased by 380 percent in Minnesota, 280 percent in Wisconsin and 1,300 percent in Virginia. Researchers used to think the increases were due to increasing deer populations, since deer are an important host to the disease-causing bacteria. However, the new data show these increases were independent of deer population levels.

Nature is weird.

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Jun 21 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Hawaii governor: Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison agrees to buy 98 percent of island of Lanai

Hawaii governor: Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison agrees to buy 98 percent of island of Lanai

Breaking news: the Lana’i buyer is apparently Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle. From the AP:

Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison has reached a deal to buy 98 percent of the island of Lanai from its current owner, Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie said Wednesday.

The land’s owner, Castle & Cooke Inc., has filed a transfer application with the state’s public utilities commission, Abercrombie said.

The sale price for the property — the vast majority of the island’s 141 square miles — was not immediately clear. The Maui News previously reported the asking price was between $500 million and $600 million.

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Jun 20 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Officials discuss Hawaiian island’s potential sale

Officials discuss Hawaiian island’s potential sale

Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, AP:

The sale of Hawaii’s smallest publicly accessible inhabited island is imminent, and local leaders are anticipating what new ownership could mean for the island’s some 3,200 residents.

A potential buyer of Lanai, part of Maui County, was revealed to Gov. Neil Abercrombie and the county’s mayor at a meeting last week with representatives from landowner Castle & Cooke Inc. Self-made billionaire David Murdock’s Castle & Cooke owns 98 percent of island’s 141 square miles.

…

The asking price is reportedly between $500 million and $600 million, the Maui News reported.

The island of Lana’i is indeed almost entirely owned privately. This is part of the legacy of plantations and the Big Five on Hawai’i.

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