A man dressed like a subway worker found walking the tracks with road flares and a container marked “sodium cyanide” early Thursday morning turned out to be a suicidal college student, and not a terrorist as authorities originally feared, police said.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers riding in the tunnel to pick up garbage spotted Aaron Fetto, 20, dressed in a hardhat, reflective vest and yellow, knee-length boots around 5:30 a.m. walking in the tunnel south of Bowling Green heading toward Brooklyn, said Paul Browne, the New York Police Department’s spokesman.
Thinking he was another worker, MTA employees pulled the man onto the cart. When they realized he wasn’t a fellow worker, the MTA employees took him to the Bowling Green station and an officer stationed at the Omega anti-terrorism post, arrested him, Browne said.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
OKLAHOMA PASSES ABORTION ULTRASOUND LAW
Oklahoma has passed some of the US's toughest restrictions on abortion, requiring women to undergo an ultrasound an hour before having a termination.
Even victims of rape or incest will be required to view the image and listen to a detailed description of what can be seen. They would be given vaginal rather than abdominal ultrasounds as these ''would display the embryo or fetus more clearly''.
The laws were challenged by pro-choice groups.
Even victims of rape or incest will be required to view the image and listen to a detailed description of what can be seen. They would be given vaginal rather than abdominal ultrasounds as these ''would display the embryo or fetus more clearly''.
The laws were challenged by pro-choice groups.
NO FRENCH EATERY WAS LISTED IN THE WORLD'S TOP TEN
For a country that regards itself as the gold standard of gastronomy, it was hard to swallow. That no French establishment made it into the list of the world's top 10 best restaurants this year initially left food critics in Paris lost for words.
Two days after the San Pellegrino list of the planet's best eateries was unveiled in London, the Gallic heavyweights fought back on Wednesday, questioning the methodology and dismissing the entire classification as idiotic.
In an editorial for Le Figaro, the esteemed food critic Francois Simon said the very idea of choosing the world's best restaurants had been rendered absurd by the variety of contemporary cooking.
''Can one declare an excellent creperie to be better than a delicious couscous restaurant (or a sushi place, a [Vietnamese] pho cafe, a trattoria …)? How silly,'' he wrote, adding in a swipe at the list's British origins: ''And yet our friends, who rarely cross their own borders, have just published this idiotic classification.''
The annual ranking, which is published in conjunction with the trade magazine Restaurant, seeks to keep track of world trends by asking more than 800 jury members to vote for their favourite eatery of the year. The top 10 featured four Spanish restaurants, three American, one Italian, one British and one Danish - Noma, the winner, in Copenhagen.
A spokesman for Restaurant said the rankings were less a ''definitive'' line-up than a ''snapshot in time … reflecting changing patterns'' in global cuisine.
Two days after the San Pellegrino list of the planet's best eateries was unveiled in London, the Gallic heavyweights fought back on Wednesday, questioning the methodology and dismissing the entire classification as idiotic.
In an editorial for Le Figaro, the esteemed food critic Francois Simon said the very idea of choosing the world's best restaurants had been rendered absurd by the variety of contemporary cooking.
''Can one declare an excellent creperie to be better than a delicious couscous restaurant (or a sushi place, a [Vietnamese] pho cafe, a trattoria …)? How silly,'' he wrote, adding in a swipe at the list's British origins: ''And yet our friends, who rarely cross their own borders, have just published this idiotic classification.''
The annual ranking, which is published in conjunction with the trade magazine Restaurant, seeks to keep track of world trends by asking more than 800 jury members to vote for their favourite eatery of the year. The top 10 featured four Spanish restaurants, three American, one Italian, one British and one Danish - Noma, the winner, in Copenhagen.
A spokesman for Restaurant said the rankings were less a ''definitive'' line-up than a ''snapshot in time … reflecting changing patterns'' in global cuisine.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
MEXICO ISSUES ARIZONA TRAVEL ALERT
MEXICO CITY: The Mexican government has taken the unusual step of issuing a travel alert urging Mexicans working, studying or spending time in Arizona to use extreme caution.
The warning comes in response to the state's tough new immigration measures, which require people to carry proof of their legal right to be in the US and police to check for it.
The US President has asked the Justice Department to review whether the laws are constitutional. Barak Obama called them ''misguided'' and said he wanted more advice on their implications before deciding how to proceed.
The Homeland Security chief, Janet Napolitano, said Justice Department officials had ''deep concerns'' about the laws, which critics fear will encourage racial profiling and discrimination.
The Mexican President, Felipe Calderon, said the measure ''criminalises'' the largely social and economic phenomenon of migration. He warned it would damage long-standing economic, cultural and commercial ties between Mexico and Arizona.
The law ''opens the door to intolerance, to hatred, to discrimination and to abuse'', Mr Calderon said at a meeting of the Institute for Mexicans Abroad, which works on behalf of the millions of Mexicans who live outside the country. The institute called for boycotts of US Airways, whose headquarters are in Tempe, Arizona, and games played by the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team and the Phoenix Suns basketball team.
The head of Mr Calderon's conservative political party called for a moratorium on all trips to Arizona.
The Mexican Foreign Ministry, in issuing its travel alert, urged Mexicans in Arizona to steer clear of the pro- and anti-immigrant demonstrations that have been taking place in Arizona and to carry all migratory documents at all times.
The warning comes in response to the state's tough new immigration measures, which require people to carry proof of their legal right to be in the US and police to check for it.
The US President has asked the Justice Department to review whether the laws are constitutional. Barak Obama called them ''misguided'' and said he wanted more advice on their implications before deciding how to proceed.
The Homeland Security chief, Janet Napolitano, said Justice Department officials had ''deep concerns'' about the laws, which critics fear will encourage racial profiling and discrimination.
The Mexican President, Felipe Calderon, said the measure ''criminalises'' the largely social and economic phenomenon of migration. He warned it would damage long-standing economic, cultural and commercial ties between Mexico and Arizona.
The law ''opens the door to intolerance, to hatred, to discrimination and to abuse'', Mr Calderon said at a meeting of the Institute for Mexicans Abroad, which works on behalf of the millions of Mexicans who live outside the country. The institute called for boycotts of US Airways, whose headquarters are in Tempe, Arizona, and games played by the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team and the Phoenix Suns basketball team.
The head of Mr Calderon's conservative political party called for a moratorium on all trips to Arizona.
The Mexican Foreign Ministry, in issuing its travel alert, urged Mexicans in Arizona to steer clear of the pro- and anti-immigrant demonstrations that have been taking place in Arizona and to carry all migratory documents at all times.
Monday, April 26, 2010
FRACK FLUID IS DANGER TO COMMUNITY
Pennsylvania environment officials are racing to clean up as much as 8,000 gallons of dangerous drilling fluids after a series of spills at a natural gas production site near the town of Dimock last week.
The spills, which occurred at a well site run by Cabot Oil and Gas, involve a compound manufactured by Halliburton that is described as a "potential carcinogen" and is used in the drilling process of hydraulic fracturing, according to state officials. The contaminants have seeped into a nearby creek, where a fish kill was reported by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP also reported fish "swimming erratically."
The incident is the latest in a series of environmental problems [2] connected to Cabot’s drilling in the Dimock area. Last winter, drinking water in several area homes [3] was found to contain metals and methane gas that state officials determined leaked underground from Cabot wells. And in the spring, the company was fined for several other spills, including an 800-gallon diesel spill from a truck that overturned.
The spills, which occurred at a well site run by Cabot Oil and Gas, involve a compound manufactured by Halliburton that is described as a "potential carcinogen" and is used in the drilling process of hydraulic fracturing, according to state officials. The contaminants have seeped into a nearby creek, where a fish kill was reported by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP also reported fish "swimming erratically."
The incident is the latest in a series of environmental problems [2] connected to Cabot’s drilling in the Dimock area. Last winter, drinking water in several area homes [3] was found to contain metals and methane gas that state officials determined leaked underground from Cabot wells. And in the spring, the company was fined for several other spills, including an 800-gallon diesel spill from a truck that overturned.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
BP TRIES TO STOP LEAK AS U.S. OIL SLICK SPREADS
British oil giant BP has used robotic underwater vehicles to try to cap a leaking well and prevent a growing oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico from developing into an environmental disaster.
Satellite images showed the slick had spread by 50 per cent in a day to cover an area of 1550 square kilometres although officials said on Sunday some 97 per cent of the pollution was just a thin veneer on the sea's surface.
BP has dispatched skimming vessels to mop up the oil leaking from the debris of the Deepwater Horizon rig, which sank on Thursday, still blazing almost two days after a massive explosion that left 11 workers missing presumed dead.
Satellite images showed the slick had spread by 50 per cent in a day to cover an area of 1550 square kilometres although officials said on Sunday some 97 per cent of the pollution was just a thin veneer on the sea's surface.
BP has dispatched skimming vessels to mop up the oil leaking from the debris of the Deepwater Horizon rig, which sank on Thursday, still blazing almost two days after a massive explosion that left 11 workers missing presumed dead.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
HUNDREDS TO DIE IN NIGERIA TO CLEAR PRISONS
.ABUJA:
Nigeria's state governors have backed the execution of more than 300 prisoners on death row as a way of clearing space in the overcrowded jails of Africa's most populous country.
''It was agreed that those people who have been condemned should be executed accordingly,'' said Theodore Orji, the Governor of the south-eastern state of Abia, after a meeting of the 36 state governors in Abuja on Tuesday.
A total of 330 prisoners are on death row in a country where capital punishment remains on the statutes despite rarely being implemented.
The last official execution was in 2002 but Amnesty International, which campaigns against the death penalty, said it had found evidence of continuing secret executions in prisons.
Nigeria's state governors have backed the execution of more than 300 prisoners on death row as a way of clearing space in the overcrowded jails of Africa's most populous country.
''It was agreed that those people who have been condemned should be executed accordingly,'' said Theodore Orji, the Governor of the south-eastern state of Abia, after a meeting of the 36 state governors in Abuja on Tuesday.
A total of 330 prisoners are on death row in a country where capital punishment remains on the statutes despite rarely being implemented.
The last official execution was in 2002 but Amnesty International, which campaigns against the death penalty, said it had found evidence of continuing secret executions in prisons.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
McAFEE 'S ANTIVIRUS PROGRAM CAUSES PANIC
Computers in companies, hospitals and schools around the world got stuck repeatedly rebooting themselves on Wednesday after an antivirus program identified a normal Windows file as a virus.
Antivirus vendor McAfee Inc confirmed that a software update posted on Wednesday morning caused its antivirus program for corporate customers to misidentify a harmless file. It has posted a replacement update for download.
"We are not aware of significant impact on consumers and believe we have effectively limited such occurrence," the company said in a statement.
Online bloggers begged to differ, saying thousands of computers running Windows XP with Service Pack 3 were affected.
At Rhode Island Hospital in the US, the computer lock-up prompted personnel to divert emergency room visitors without traumas to other hospitals. The hospital also postponed some elective surgeries.
Patient care continued uninterrupted using back-up procedures, according to Nancy Jean, spokeswoman for the health system.
In Kentucky in the US, state police were told to shut down the computers in their patrol cars as technicians tried to fix the problem.
Peter Juvinall, systems administrator at Illinois State University in Normal, USA, said that when the first computer started rebooting it quickly became evident that it was a major problem, affecting dozens of computers at the College of Business alone.
"I originally thought it was a virus," he said. When the tech support people concluded McAfee's update was to blame, they stopped further downloads of the faulty software update and started shuttling from computer to computer to get them working again.
Antivirus vendor McAfee Inc confirmed that a software update posted on Wednesday morning caused its antivirus program for corporate customers to misidentify a harmless file. It has posted a replacement update for download.
"We are not aware of significant impact on consumers and believe we have effectively limited such occurrence," the company said in a statement.
Online bloggers begged to differ, saying thousands of computers running Windows XP with Service Pack 3 were affected.
At Rhode Island Hospital in the US, the computer lock-up prompted personnel to divert emergency room visitors without traumas to other hospitals. The hospital also postponed some elective surgeries.
Patient care continued uninterrupted using back-up procedures, according to Nancy Jean, spokeswoman for the health system.
In Kentucky in the US, state police were told to shut down the computers in their patrol cars as technicians tried to fix the problem.
Peter Juvinall, systems administrator at Illinois State University in Normal, USA, said that when the first computer started rebooting it quickly became evident that it was a major problem, affecting dozens of computers at the College of Business alone.
"I originally thought it was a virus," he said. When the tech support people concluded McAfee's update was to blame, they stopped further downloads of the faulty software update and started shuttling from computer to computer to get them working again.
Monday, April 19, 2010
ECONOMICS REWOUND
George Soros has brought together a crack team of the world's top economists and financial thinkers.
Its aim: To remake the world's economy as they see fit.
The New Institute of Economic Thinking is to be centered in London, but also fund programs around the world, the first of which will be in Oxford.
In order to reinvent economic thinking, he's brought together a crack team of top economic minds.
Its aim: To remake the world's economy as they see fit.
The New Institute of Economic Thinking is to be centered in London, but also fund programs around the world, the first of which will be in Oxford.
In order to reinvent economic thinking, he's brought together a crack team of top economic minds.
VENEZUELA, IRAN, AND RUSSIA (VIRUS)
Virus’ as the New ‘Axis of Evil’
Today’s idea: Venezuela, Iran and Russia together pose a serious threat to American objectives worldwide, a foreign affairs scholar writes, dubbing the combined peril the “Virus.”
World | You’ve heard of the “axis of evil” — Iran, Iraq and North Korea — George W. Bush’s rhetorical packaging of three nations with little in common but their pariah status.
Now consider a triple threat with a more plausible unifying rationale, writes Sean Goforth of the Foreign Policy Association: the “Virus,” for Venezuela, Iran and Russia.
Summarizing years of provocative and shadowy actions, Mr. Goforth says the anti-American “axis of unity” forged by President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran in 2007 is made “more menacing and more impervious to Western opposition” by Russia’s backing in the form of arms deals, political support and (in Iran’s case) nuclear assistance. He sees method in the alliance for all concerned:
Associated Press Chávez and Ahmadinejad in Venezuela in 2007. They put the “V” and the “I” in “Virus,” a scholar says.The Virus is a political pact that bolsters military capacity and extends diplomatic cooperation to magnify regional influence. Russia yearns to renew its superpower status, becoming once more a key variable in any international calculus. Iran and Venezuela seek regional pre-eminence with global relevance, allowing each to be a global power broker on a selective basis.
Until recently, each nation was handily checked by Western-backing, be it Israel, Colombia, or NATO. But in league, the threat posed by the Virus is greater than the sum total of its parts. Power centers emanating from Venezuela, Iran and Russia have expanded and fused, threatening the regional stability that Western allies have provided. The Andes, Middle East, and Eastern Europe have become powder kegs as a result, with cash, arms, and — between Latin America and the Middle East at least — insurgents flowing between regions.
But antagonism only “justifies more arms purchases and feeds anti-American rhetoric,” he adds, counseling instead “savvy diplomacy that breaks the bonds between its constituent members, which is a realistic objective because Venezuela, Russia and Iran don’t share deep-seeded cultural or economic ties.” [Foreign Policy Association]
Today’s idea: Venezuela, Iran and Russia together pose a serious threat to American objectives worldwide, a foreign affairs scholar writes, dubbing the combined peril the “Virus.”
World | You’ve heard of the “axis of evil” — Iran, Iraq and North Korea — George W. Bush’s rhetorical packaging of three nations with little in common but their pariah status.
Now consider a triple threat with a more plausible unifying rationale, writes Sean Goforth of the Foreign Policy Association: the “Virus,” for Venezuela, Iran and Russia.
Summarizing years of provocative and shadowy actions, Mr. Goforth says the anti-American “axis of unity” forged by President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran in 2007 is made “more menacing and more impervious to Western opposition” by Russia’s backing in the form of arms deals, political support and (in Iran’s case) nuclear assistance. He sees method in the alliance for all concerned:
Associated Press Chávez and Ahmadinejad in Venezuela in 2007. They put the “V” and the “I” in “Virus,” a scholar says.The Virus is a political pact that bolsters military capacity and extends diplomatic cooperation to magnify regional influence. Russia yearns to renew its superpower status, becoming once more a key variable in any international calculus. Iran and Venezuela seek regional pre-eminence with global relevance, allowing each to be a global power broker on a selective basis.
Until recently, each nation was handily checked by Western-backing, be it Israel, Colombia, or NATO. But in league, the threat posed by the Virus is greater than the sum total of its parts. Power centers emanating from Venezuela, Iran and Russia have expanded and fused, threatening the regional stability that Western allies have provided. The Andes, Middle East, and Eastern Europe have become powder kegs as a result, with cash, arms, and — between Latin America and the Middle East at least — insurgents flowing between regions.
But antagonism only “justifies more arms purchases and feeds anti-American rhetoric,” he adds, counseling instead “savvy diplomacy that breaks the bonds between its constituent members, which is a realistic objective because Venezuela, Russia and Iran don’t share deep-seeded cultural or economic ties.” [Foreign Policy Association]
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE MIDDLE CLASS
Being middle class today does not carry the financial security that it once carried in the 1950s and 1960s. Interestingly enough, many Americans at that time did not own stocks yet somehow they managed well because they had access to affordable housing without toxic mortgages and many had the ability to work with one company and have some kind of security from their company. It was a mutual relationship as even Henry Ford shook the auto manufacturing world by upping wages for his workers. Yet today, we are being fed distorted information from Wall Street that we need to have this system where workers are disposable entities only to increase the profits of the corporate class. If people are hurting so much why are we paying billions in bonuses to a small group of people that really haven’t helped the country? In fact, many of these are directly responsible for our current economic problems. At the root, this has been the cancer that has eaten away at what it means to be middle class. Social government welfare for Wall Street and Darwinian capitalism for the rest of us.
The middle class has it extremely tough today not because of random events but purposeful and directed robbery from Wall Street. This was a methodical and planned dismantling of the system.
The middle class has it extremely tough today not because of random events but purposeful and directed robbery from Wall Street. This was a methodical and planned dismantling of the system.
COURT DENIES SERVICE DOG FOOD STAMPS
Food stamps won't be helping a disabled man fill his service dog's food bowl.
A Pennsylvania appeals court ruled on Tuesday against James Douris of the Philadelphia suburb of Newtown. It upheld a decision by the state welfare agency denying him additional support.
The 55-year-old Douris is a disabled, unemployed veteran who lives alone and relies on the dog to pull his wheelchair and fetch items.
Douris says the dog requires supplemental nutrition because of its work on his behalf and should be considered a dependent member of his household where food stamps are concerned.
The court says the law is clear that animals don't qualify.
A Pennsylvania appeals court ruled on Tuesday against James Douris of the Philadelphia suburb of Newtown. It upheld a decision by the state welfare agency denying him additional support.
The 55-year-old Douris is a disabled, unemployed veteran who lives alone and relies on the dog to pull his wheelchair and fetch items.
Douris says the dog requires supplemental nutrition because of its work on his behalf and should be considered a dependent member of his household where food stamps are concerned.
The court says the law is clear that animals don't qualify.
Monday, April 5, 2010
SWOOZIE'S IS GOING OUT OF BUSINESS
A retailer that sells invitations with custom printing, housewares and party goods is going out of business after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early March.
Swoozie’s, founded in 1999, has 43 stores, including a location at Plaza El Segundo, its only California location. It also sells products online.
The going-out-of-business sales began Tuesday at all 43 locations across the country. Discounts of up to 30 percent are offered on items such as stationery, greeting cards, invitations, gift wrap, Easter decor, gift ware, tabletop items, handbags and jewelry, according to Hilco Merchant Resources, which is handling the liquidation sale.
Internet users are now printing their own invitations, stationery and greeting cards now. This has put many printing companies out of business.
Swoozie’s, founded in 1999, has 43 stores, including a location at Plaza El Segundo, its only California location. It also sells products online.
The going-out-of-business sales began Tuesday at all 43 locations across the country. Discounts of up to 30 percent are offered on items such as stationery, greeting cards, invitations, gift wrap, Easter decor, gift ware, tabletop items, handbags and jewelry, according to Hilco Merchant Resources, which is handling the liquidation sale.
Internet users are now printing their own invitations, stationery and greeting cards now. This has put many printing companies out of business.
CONFUCIUS FAMILY TREE HITS TWO MILLION
.About two million people are now recognized as descendants of Confucius, more than tripling the size of the celebrated Chinese philosopher's family tree, state media reported Friday.
The new list, which includes ethnic minorities, women and overseas relatives for the first time, was unveiled on Thursday in the thinker's hometown Qufu to coincide with the 2,560th anniversary of his birth, the Global Times said.
The family tree -- believed to be the biggest in the world -- was last updated in 1937, and had only 560,000 members, according to the Confucius Genealogy Compilation Committee, the report said.
The new list, which includes ethnic minorities, women and overseas relatives for the first time, was unveiled on Thursday in the thinker's hometown Qufu to coincide with the 2,560th anniversary of his birth, the Global Times said.
The family tree -- believed to be the biggest in the world -- was last updated in 1937, and had only 560,000 members, according to the Confucius Genealogy Compilation Committee, the report said.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
CHINA IS URGING BOYCOTT OF AUSTRALIA'S, AND BRAZIL 'S IRON ORE
A Chinese industrial group has urged domestic steel companies to stop buying iron ore from the world's top three miners in protest of an alleged price monopoly, state media said Monday.
The China Iron and Steel Association has asked domestic steel firms and traders not to import iron ore from Australia's Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton and Brazil's Vale for two months, the China Net, a government news website said.
China has 75 million tons of iron ore reserves and production of the resource by Chinese mines was up by 18 percent year-on-year during the first two months of 2010, the report said.
The China Iron and Steel Association has asked domestic steel firms and traders not to import iron ore from Australia's Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton and Brazil's Vale for two months, the China Net, a government news website said.
China has 75 million tons of iron ore reserves and production of the resource by Chinese mines was up by 18 percent year-on-year during the first two months of 2010, the report said.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
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