AP Source: Michael Jackson’s doctor set to be arraigned on Friday afternoon in Los Angeles – Chicago Tribune
February 4, 2010
AP Source: Michael Jackson’s doctor set to be arraigned on Friday afternoon in Los Angeles – Chicago Tribune
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A source tells The Associated Press that Michael Jackson’s doctor is set to be arraigned on Friday. Dr. Conrad Murray is set to be arraigned Friday afternoon at a courthouse near Los Angeles International Airport , according to a person familiar with the planning but who
Iran says its rocket carried animals into space – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
PARIS — In what seemed designed as a display of technological advance, Iran said Wednesday that it had fired a rocket into space carrying living organisms — a rat, two turtles and worms, according to the state-run Press TV. The test of what was described as the Kavoshgar-3 rocket, capable of
Meyer uncertainty doesn’t hurt Florida – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
So much for Urban Meyer’s leave of absence having an affect on recruiting. The University of Florida coach and his staff put together a football recruiting class second to none this year. At least, that’s what just about every scouting service and recruiting analyst says. Everyone from rivals.com
Childrens Health and Nutrition Findings
January 22, 2010
Childrens Health and Nutrition Findings
From the Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday
Experts agree that what children eat from birth to five years old matters even more than their diet later on in childhood. But many little ones are not getting the nutrition they need to support their rapid growth and development. Nutritional problems are common among this age group, including iron deficiency anaemia and deficiencies of vitamin A, D, B6, folate, calcium and zinc; constipation is widespread, as are dental caries.
Almost a quarter of UK pre-school children are overweight or obese, with about ten per cent underweight, according to paediatric dietician Judy More, writing in the Journal of Family Health Care.
Poor diet also has a marked effect on education. The ‘Children of the 90s’ longitudinal study by the Institute of Education at the University of Bristol, which is following more than 14,000 families with babies born between April 1991 and December 1992, showed that children who ate a diet of ‘junk’ food (high in fat and sugar, eg, crisps, sweets and fizzy drinks, highly processed food, and takeaways) at the age of three made poorer progress than average at school between the ages of six and ten.
This year, a survey of 1,000 parents by the Infant and Toddler Forum found nearly a third of under-threes eat at least one takeaway a week, and 19 per cent are given takeaways or adult ready meals every day. A staggering 20 per cent of babies aged nine to 12 months were given a takeaway once a week.
Civil rights icon King remembered in hometown – 89.3 KPCC
January 18, 2010
Civil rights icon King remembered in hometown – 89.3 KPCC
Worshippers in the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s hometown are remembering the civil rights icon during a special ceremony at the church where he once preached. Princeton University scholar Cornel West was to deliver the keynote address on Monday, which is King’s namesake holiday, at Ebenezer Baptist
Ministry: 3 Saudi militants killed in blast abroad – WHEC TV-10
(AP) RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – The Saudi Interior Ministry says an investigation has shown that three Saudi militants were killed in a Sept. 14 blast outside the country. The official Saudi Press agency quoted a ministry statement as saying Monday that DNA tests showed the three were militants who had
Favre, Vikings vanquish hapless Cowboys – KVUE
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — This is why Brett Favre said he was coming back. And back he is — maybe better than ever. Four — count ‘em, four — touchdown passes from Minnesota’s 40-year-old quarterback put the Vikings within a game of the Super Bowl with a 34-3 rout of the Dallas Cowboys to advance to
Identity politics v class politicsOne of New Zealand’s
December 22, 2009
Identity politics v class politics
One of New Zealand’s best political blogs, Liberation, is running a series examining the controversy of Goff’s ‘Nationhood’ speech, attempting to show how the speech and resulting controversy can best be understood within the conceptual framework of ‘identity politics versus class politics’. It argues that to understand what’s going on in the Labour Party, what Goff has recently pushed for, and indeed what’s happened to the Green Party, is not a case of social liberalism versus social conservatism; nor is it left versus right; but instead it’s liberalism versus leftism – or simply: identity politics versus class politics.
Keep an eye out for it.
R v Internet – or was it journos v lawyers, and where is the horse?
I was at the R v Internet seminar today. It appears journalists and internet people were outnumbered by legal people and public servants.
It was an interesting forum, with everyone recognising that the Internet makes name suppression of celebrities redundant, and can threaten an accused’s right to a fair trial. Some such as Victoria University Professor Tony Smith, considered that many problems were to do with the unregulated blogosphere. Steven Price, himself a blogger, as well as a university lecturer with legal and journalism credentials, was more realistic about what to do when suppression is breached. In short, the genie is out of the bottle, the horse has bolted, and there’s nothing you can do. However, judges should direct juries to enable fair trials by advising that information “out there” may not be reliable.
Deputy Law Commissioner Warren Young, in talking about the recent Law Commission report, Suppressing Names and Evidence [PDF] explained how the Commission wants to tighten laws around suppression, particularly those of celebrities. Young did not consider the ” horse had bolted”, and made an analogy between suppression and shoplifting. Namely the fact that while lots of people know the name of a certain celebrity does not mean that suppression should be done away with just as many people who shoplift does not mean that shoplifting should be decriminalised. Yet there’s a distinction: Many people consider that suppression – particularly of celebrities – should not be against the law, whereas most believe shoplifting should be illegal.
Judge David Harvey spoke in the afternoon and livened things up. He thinks the Internet can be regulated, and pointed to China as an example of regulation. But when asked about sites like Facebook and Twitter, he was out of his depth. He doesn’t appear to have heard of platforms such as ping.fm where you can simultaneously post an item to Facebook, Twitter, Friendfeed, blogs and other social networking sites. Rather than ” the horse has bolted” he appears to think that the horse has briefly wandered out of the stable, and on a leash, but is unsure how long that leash is.
Canterbury University Associate Professor Ursula Cheer was very good on the legal side of suppression and contempt, but admittedly less clear on the tools of the Internet. She emphasised the truth that many legal people are not as clued up on social network programmes as they would like to or need to be, just as some bloggers and social networkers are ignorant of the law surrounding what they can and cannot publish. The former group don’t think the horse has bolted – the latter think the horse bolted some time back. Bernard Hickey brought up what I thought was a good suggestion in that the two groups get together informally and discuss some of the issues raised, believing that the legal people and the technically savvy people, including online journalists, were “talking past each other”. The question they should work towards agreement on is this: Where is the horse?
David Farrar also spoke. He was the only speaker who was not a journalist or a lawyer. He started off by discussing the prominent entertainer whose name was suppressed, and how he has seen the name on TradeMe, Yahoo Answers, and MSN NZ. I also found it on the front page of a certain Twitter search. As Farrar was talking about this suppression, and how angry he gets when people get away with breaching suppression on blogs, what did he do… he breached suppression to those with eagle eyes after telling everyone how he viewed the man’s Facebook site. Oops. He also raised good points regarding what is actually a breach – a link to another site, a hint, a pointer to another site that the name is accessed. Many in the legal fraternity believed that nearly everyone under the age of 30 know who this person is, not so many over that age. I spoke to two law students during the lunch break, both were internet savvy, both were interested in Internet issues to do with suppression and contempt – both under 30 and both had no idea who this entertainer was.
The entire forum was videoed and will be available. You should be able to find it by googling it sometime.
Childrens Health and Nutrition Findings
December 11, 2009
Childrens Health and Nutrition Findings
From the Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday
Experts agree that what children eat from birth to five years old matters even more than their diet later on in childhood. But many little ones are not getting the nutrition they need to support their rapid growth and development. Nutritional problems are common among this age group, including iron deficiency anaemia and deficiencies of vitamin A, D, B6, folate, calcium and zinc; constipation is widespread, as are dental caries.
Almost a quarter of UK pre-school children are overweight or obese, with about ten per cent underweight, according to paediatric dietician Judy More, writing in the Journal of Family Health Care.
Poor diet also has a marked effect on education. The ‘Children of the 90s’ longitudinal study by the Institute of Education at the University of Bristol, which is following more than 14,000 families with babies born between April 1991 and December 1992, showed that children who ate a diet of ‘junk’ food (high in fat and sugar, eg, crisps, sweets and fizzy drinks, highly processed food, and takeaways) at the age of three made poorer progress than average at school between the ages of six and ten.
This year, a survey of 1,000 parents by the Infant and Toddler Forum found nearly a third of under-threes eat at least one takeaway a week, and 19 per cent are given takeaways or adult ready meals every day. A staggering 20 per cent of babies aged nine to 12 months were given a takeaway once a week.
Lack of sleep could be more dangerous for women than men
December 4, 2009
Lack of sleep could be more dangerous for women than men
Lack of sleep could be more dangerous for women than men
Research by the University of Warwick and University College London has found that levels of inflammatory markers vary significantly with sleep duration in women, but not men.
The study, published in the American journal SLEEP, found levels of Interleukin-6 (IL-6), a marker related to coronary heart disease, were significantly lower in women who reported sleeping eight hours as compared with 7hours.
A second marker, High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), is predictive of future cardiovascular morbidity. Levels of hs-CRP were significantly higher in women who reported sleeping five hours or less.
Lead author of the study, Associate Professor of Biochemical Medicine at Warwick Medical School Michelle Miller said short-term sleep deprivation studies have shown that inflammatory markers are elevated in sleep-deprived individuals, suggesting that inflammatory mechanisms may play a role in the cardiovascular risk associated with sleep deprivation.
She said: “Our study may provide some insight into a potential mechanism for the observation in previous studies which indicates an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease in individuals who have less than five hours sleep per night.”
The study involved more than 4,600 white participants from the University College London-based Whitehall II cohort study; 73% were men. Participants between the ages of 35 and 55 years were recruited between 1985 and 1988 from 20 London-based civil service departments. Data for this study is from the phase 3 follow-up (1991-1993). Sleep duration was determined by subjective questionnaires, and general health was assessed during a screening examination.
Timetable Reflects Isolationist Surge – Wall Street Journal
December 3, 2009
Timetable Reflects Isolationist Surge – Wall Street Journal
 Times LIVE |
Timetable Reflects Isolationist Surge
Wall Street Journal President Barack Obama faces a lot of problems in executing his new Afghanistan strategy, but here is a basic one: He is trying to ramp up an operation abroad at a time when an economically weary country is growing more isolationist. … Americans turning sharply toward isolationism, poll finds US isolationism on the rise, poll finds The Bogey Of Isolationism |
Suicide Bombing Kills Somali Ministers, Students – Wall Street Journal
 BBC News |
Suicide Bombing Kills Somali Ministers, Students
Wall Street Journal A suicide blast at a university graduation in Mogadishu killed several Somali government ministers and an estimated 19 students, a sign of al Qaeda's efforts to establish the troubled east African country as a base from which to attack Western targets. … Bombing kills 19 in Somali capital Somalia graduation day suicide attack condemned Spain condemns suicide attack in Somalia |
Lighting of the National Christmas Tree – Washington Post
 Washington Post |
Lighting of the National Christmas Tree
Washington Post President Obama and the first family help to illuminate tree on Ellipse, south of the White House grounds. President Barack Obama, daughters Malia and Sasha, and wife Michelle press the button to light the national Christmas tree. … Oprah visits White House for Christmas special Allegedly green Obama lights National Christmas Tree, leaves them on O Christmas Tree |
Chicago river poisoned to block feared Asian carp – Reuters
 U.S. News & World Report |
Chicago river poisoned to block feared Asian carp
Reuters CHICAGO (Reuters) – Authorities scooped up poisoned fish floating to the surface of a Chicago-area waterway on Thursday in an operation designed to keep invasive Asian carp out of the Great Lakes and prevent an ecological disaster. … States Cast for Way to Stop Carp Single Asian carp found in Chicago-area fish kill Single Asian Carp Found In Chicago-area Fish Kill |
Murray has to play waiting game after taming Verdasco – Washington Post
November 26, 2009
Murray has to play waiting game after taming Verdasco – Washington Post
LONDON (Reuters) – Andy Murray faces an anxious few hours to see if he has sealed a place in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals after overcoming Fernando Verdasco 6-4 6-7 7-6 in his final round-robin match on Thursday. Murray would have secured a spot in the last four if he had tamed
Charles Woodson donates $2 million to U-M hospital – AOL
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -Charles Woodson wants to be known as more than a football player. Donating $2 million to the new University of Michigan Mott Children’s Hospital and Women’s Hospital gives him a chance to do that. The school announced Woodson’s gift on Thanksgiving before he played for the Green
Seniors suffer in troubled California subdivision – Star-Banner
HEMET, Calif. – John and Donna Pringle were newly widowed when they fell in love and decided to slip into retirement together at a sprawling community being built for the 55-and-up crowd a few miles from their homes in this sun-bleached Southern California town. The Peppertree subdivision promised
Coma recovery case attracts doubters – PhysOrg
(AP) — Rom Houben’s mother remembers her son’s amazement when he finally started communicating again after spending 23 years locked in a paralyzed body that was misdiagnosed as vegetative. “Early on, he was surprised that the words came out of his finger,” Fina Nicolaes said. “Now, he is busy
Robotic hamsters are holidays’ unlikely new craze – AOL
November 26, 2009
Robotic hamsters are holidays’ unlikely new craze – AOL
NEW YORK -When Lori Fowlkes first saw robotic Zhu Zhu Pets toy hamsters in September, she remembers her kids started jumping up and down and saying “Please! Please! Can we buy them?” Seeing a fully stocked shelf, she decided to hold off until Christmas. That was “before I knew that the hamsters
Seniors suffer in troubled California subdivision – Star-Banner
HEMET, Calif. – John and Donna Pringle were newly widowed when they fell in love and decided to slip into retirement together at a sprawling community being built for the 55-and-up crowd a few miles from their homes in this sun-bleached Southern California town. The Peppertree subdivision promised
Haiti bans Aristide’s party from 2010 election – Kansas City Star
Haiti’s electoral council has banned the influential party of exiled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from running in next year’s legislative elections. Fanmi Lavalas is among the 17 parties barred from February’s elections because it submitted improper documents, provisional council
Charles Woodson donates $2 million to U-M hospital – AOL
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -Charles Woodson wants to be known as more than a football player. Donating $2 million to the new University of Michigan Mott Children’s Hospital and Women’s Hospital gives him a chance to do that. The school announced Woodson’s gift on Thanksgiving before he played for the Green
Enthusiasm for Palin, and Echoes of 2008 Divide – New York Times
November 22, 2009
Enthusiasm for Palin, and Echoes of 2008 Divide – New York Times
 MiamiHerald.com |
Enthusiasm for Palin, and Echoes of 2008 Divide
New York Times FORT WAYNE, Ind. — When tickets to see Sarah Palin in Michigan ran out, people drove to her appearance here, three hours away. Barbara Stoutjesdyk posed next to Sarah Palin's bus on Wednesday in Grand Rapids, Mich., where 1000 tickets … Those who follow Sarah Palin are sowing the seeds of their own destruction Will Palin's book tour jump-start a political movement? My Palin prediction: She won't run |
Copenhagen climate summit: 60 heads of state to attend – BBC News
 Chippewa Herald |
Copenhagen climate summit: 60 heads of state to attend
BBC News Hopes for the Copenhagen climate summit in December have been boosted after it emerged that more than 60 presidents and prime ministers plan to attend. There had been concern that no strong agreement would emerge from the talks in Copenhagen. … Britain Begins Poster Campaign Warning of Climate Change Danger As the world gets ready to act on climate change, US hangs back Climate change sceptics and lobbyists put world at risk, says top adviser |
Swimmers, poets among 2010 Rhodes Scholars from US – The Associated Press
 Opelika Auburn News |
Swimmers, poets among 2010 Rhodes Scholars from US
The Associated Press When Henry Spelman found out he'd won a Rhodes Scholarship, his first call was to his girlfriend. To share the good news, of course, but also to see whether she was a winner as well. The couple, both seniors at the University of North Carolina, … Marietta woman named Rhodes Scholar Bellaire man named Rhodes Scholar NY Rhodes Scholar worked on malaria prevention |
Brazil’s President Elbows US on the Diplomatic Stage – New York Times
 China Daily |
Brazil's President Elbows US on the Diplomatic Stage
New York Times BRASÍLIA — Brazil's ambitions to be a more important player on the global diplomatic stage are crashing headlong into the efforts of the United States and other Western powers to rein in Iran's nuclear arms program. … Iran Tests Air Defense System for Protecting Nuclear Plants Iran begins air-defense drills to protect nuclear sites Iran Drills Simulate Defense of Nuclear Sites |
