July 25, 2007
Wary diners ask: Is fish from China? | csmonitor.com
A few weeks ago, restaurateur Martin Sheridan discovered his famed "hot and spicy" shrimp came from China.
The owner of the Ear Inn, the second-oldest tavern in New York, quickly asked his fish purveyor to "get them from anywhere but China." Last month, the US Food and Drug Administration announced that some Chinese seafood tested positive for banned substances.
Because of those findings, which led the FDA to restrict certain seafood from China, some Americans are beginning to look more closely at ocean selections in restaurants – from Hayes Street Grill in San Francisco to Cucina D'Angelo in Boca Raton, Fla., to the Ear Inn in New York. Diners are asking: Where did the tilapia special come from? Who caught the all-you-can-eat shrimp? Is the salmon farm-raised or wild?
It's too early to know if Americans will permanently change their eating patterns because of concerns about Chinese seafood. But fisheries experts worry that more Americans will opt for barbecued beef or chicken instead of barbecued salmon.
This could reverse the trend of rising seafood consumption, up 11 percent since 2001. The average American now consumes 16.5 pounds of seafood per year, up from 14.8 pounds six years ago. Shrimp is the top choice, representing almost a quarter of the seafood that Americans eat.
And these days, most of America's seafood arrives from foreign shores. According to the National Fisheries Institute, a seafood trade organization, 75 to 80 percent of fish is imported. In addition, some 40 percent of all seafood comes from domestic and overseas fish farms.
It's those fish farms, particularly in China, that are raising the most eyebrows. Late last month, the FDA announced that Chinese-farmed eel, dace, basa, catfish, and shrimp must be tested and shown to be residue-free before they are allowed in the United States. The FDA found that samples of those fish had unacceptable levels of antibiotics, as well as drugs that are banned in the US.
And so now, awareness at local restaurants is growing – and fisheries experts worry that consumers are having more doubts about finned species.
interesting
Posted by TY at 11:24 AM
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Volunteers Sought to Be Stung by Jellyfish - Newsday.com
Norwegian researchers are calling for bold, non-hairy humans to bare their arms and be stung by jellyfish -- in the name of science.
Testing a new sun screen, aimed at protecting against jellyfish stings, the University of Oslo said it wants volunteers to be burned by jellyfish tentacles on both arms -- one with ordinary sun block, the other with anti-jellyfish sun lotion.
"You're supposed to get burned. If you're not, then the tests have been a waste of time," Torgrim Andersen, spokesman for the university's biology department, said Wednesday.
Only five people have registered for the test, to be held on Thursday, but Andersen said he was optimistic about getting a team of more than 10 people. "There's been a lot of interest in us doing this," he said.
Volunteers must be aged over 18, have hair-free inner arms, which means they get stung easier. Asthmatics, pregnant women or people with allergies or skin diseases will not be accepted, Andersen said.
whoa
Posted by TY at 10:58 AM
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July 24, 2007
Copter Contract Gives Lockheed Choppy Ride - WSJ.com
But adding all the bells and whistles has added cost and complication to the prestigious $6.1 billion contract that Lockheed Martin Corp. landed in 2005. Lockheed's bid beat out Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., the United Technologies Corp. unit that had made every Marine One since the early 1960s. Yet early delays in the helicopter program eventually gave Lockheed, the nation's biggest defense company, a black eye that cost it a much larger chopper contract.
As soon as Lockheed won the contract, it was besieged with government requests to add features that would turn the new helicopters into the hovering equivalent of Air Force One, the presidential jumbo jet. That means taking a plush executive aircraft and outfitting it with much more electronics and communications gear that offer features from telephone handsets at each seat to bolstered defenses against a nuclear blast.
The upshot is that Lockheed is hard-pressed to meet its schedule in a program that illustrates some of the problems that persistently bog down big defense contracts. The project's first phase, which Lockheed's bid said would cost $1.8 billion, actually is costing almost $2.4 billion, the Navy says.
The Marine One saga reflects the difficulties the Pentagon often encounters when it tries to marry new technology to existing aircraft and weapons designs. David Walker, the U.S. comptroller general and head of the Congress' General Accountability Office, says the Defense Department often contracts for major projects requiring advanced technology that hasn't yet been developed or tested. It then regularly makes so many changes in demands as the projects unfold that costs multiply and delays extend to years. (Lead-integrator contracts that give defense companies sweeping responsibilities to oversee military programs are coming under fire. See article on Page A11.)
complicated
Posted by TY at 1:17 AM
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July 19, 2007
Kids in Guinea Study Under Airport Lamps - Newsday.com
The sun has set in one of the world's poorest nations and as the floodlights come on at G'bessi International Airport, the parking lot begins filling with children.
The long stretch of pavement has the feel of a hushed library, each student sitting quietly, some moving their lips as their eyes traverse their French-language notes.
It's exam season in Guinea, ranked 160th out of 177 countries on the United Nations' development index, and schoolchildren flock to the airport every night because it's among the only places where they'll always find the lights on.
Groups of elementary and high school students begin heading to the airport at dusk, hoping to reserve a coveted spot under the oval light cast by one of a dozen lampposts in the parking lot. Some come from over an hour's walk away.
The lot is teeming with girls and boys by the time Air France Flight 767 rounds the Gulf of Guinea at an hour-and-a-half before midnight. They hardly look up from their notes as the Boeing jet begins its spiraling descent over the dark city, or as the newly arrived passengers come out, shoving luggage carts over the cracked pavement.
whoa
Posted by TY at 10:58 AM
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July 18, 2007
Study: Americans Don't Understand Others - Yahoo! News
Rugged American individualism could hinder our ability to understand other peoples' point of view, a new study suggests.
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And in contrast, the researchers found that Chinese are more skilled at understanding other people's perspectives, possibly because they live in a more "collectivist" society.
"This cultural difference affects the way we communicate," said study co-author and cognitive psychologist Boaz Keysar of the University of Chicago.
Simple study
The study, though oversimplified compared to real life, was instructive. Keysar and his colleagues arranged two blocks on a table so participants could see both. However, a piece of cardboard obstructed the view of one block so a "director," sitting across from the participant, could only see one block.
When the director asked 20 American participants (none of Asian descent) to move a block, most were confused as to which block to move and did not take into account the director's perspective. Even though they could have deduced that, from the director's seat, only one block was on the table.
Most of the 20 Chinese participants, however, were not confused by the hidden block and knew exactly which block the director was referring to. While following directions was relatively simple for the Chinese, it took Americans twice as long to move a block.
i don't understand
Posted by TY at 3:34 PM
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AlterNet: Neocons on a Cruise: What Conservatives Say When They Think We Aren't Listening
I am standing waist-deep in the Pacific Ocean, both chilling and burning, indulging in the polite chit-chat beloved by vacationing Americans. A sweet elderly lady from Los Angeles is sitting on the rocks nearby, telling me dreamily about her son. "Is he your only child?" I ask. "Yes," she says. "Do you have a child back in England?" she asks. No, I say. Her face darkens. "You'd better start," she says. "The Muslims are breeding. Soon, they'll have the whole of Europe."
I am getting used to these moments - when gentle holiday geniality bleeds into… what? I lie on the beach with Hillary-Ann, a chatty, scatty 35-year-old Californian designer. As she explains the perils of Republican dating, my mind drifts, watching the gentle tide. When I hear her say, " Of course, we need to execute some of these people," I wake up. Who do we need to execute? She runs her fingers through the sand lazily. "A few of these prominent liberals who are trying to demoralise the country," she says. "Just take a couple of these anti-war people off to the gas chamber for treason to show, if you try to bring down America at a time of war, that's what you'll get." She squints at the sun and smiles. " Then things'll change."
I am travelling on a bright white cruise ship with two restaurants, five bars, a casino - and 500 readers of the National Review. Here, the Iraq war has been "an amazing success". Global warming is not happening. The solitary black person claims, "If the Ku Klux Klan supports equal rights, then God bless them." And I have nowhere to run.
From time to time, National Review - the bible of American conservatism - organises a cruise for its readers. I paid $1,200 to join them. The rules I imposed on myself were simple: If any of the conservative cruisers asked who I was, I answered honestly, telling them I was a journalist. Mostly, I just tried to blend in - and find out what American conservatives say when they think
Interesting
Posted by TY at 9:59 AM
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July 17, 2007
Dozens of problems at quake-hit plant - Yahoo! News
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is the world's largest nuclear plant in power output capacity. Japan's nuclear plants supply about 30 percent of the country's electricity, but its dependence on nuclear power is coupled with deep misgivings over safety.
The power plant suffered broken pipes, water leaks and spills of radioactive waste when it was hit by the earthquake Monday, the plant's operator said.
Signs of problems, however, came first not from the officials, but in a plume of smoke that rose up when the quake triggered a small fire at an electrical transformer.
It was announced only 12 hours later that the magnitude 6.8 temblor also caused a leak of about 315 gallons of water containing radioactive material. Officials said the water leak was well within safety standards. The water was flushed into the sea.
The company also said a small amount of radioactive materials cobalt-60 and chromium-51 had been emitted into the atmosphere from an exhaust stack.
Later Tuesday, it said 50 cases of "malfunctioning and trouble" had been found. Four of the plant's seven reactors were running at the time of the quake, and they were all shut down automatically by a safety mechanism.
Officials said there was no harm to the environment, but acknowledged it took a day to discover about 100 drums of low-level nuclear waste that were overturned, some with the lids open.
interesting
Posted by TY at 12:01 PM
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AP Poll: GOP pick is 'none of the above' - Yahoo! News
And the leading Republican presidential candidate is ... none of the above.
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The latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that nearly a quarter of Republicans are unwilling to back top-tier hopefuls Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, John McCain or Mitt Romney, and no one candidate has emerged as the clear front-runner among Christian evangelicals. Such dissatisfaction underscores the volatility of the 2008 GOP nomination fight.
In sharp contrast, the Democratic race remains static, with Hillary Rodham Clinton holding a sizable lead over Barack Obama. The New York senator, who is white, also outpaces her Illinois counterpart, who is black, among black and Hispanic Democrats, according to a combined sample of two months of polls.
whoa
Posted by TY at 12:01 PM
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July 16, 2007
Some Americans taking leave of vacations | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
"Our sense is that people are busier than ever with their lives, their family activities, their kids," said Jeanenne Diefendorf of Orbitz. "So they find it difficult to take an extended vacation and easier to balance if they're only gone a couple of days."
But, she added, "they're missing the benefits of unplugging from the workplace for at least a week."
Wallace Huffman, a professor at Iowa State University in Ames who is a specialist in labor economics, said Americans work longer hours than their European counterparts. While many Europeans take four to six weeks of vacation — often including the entire month of August when factories close — many Americans take no vacation at all, Huffman said.
He said it can be difficult for working couples to coordinate time off, and that some people worry that they'll fall hopelessly behind at work if they take even a few days off. There's also technology that can keep some people connected to their jobs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year — creating the sense they can never get away.
not surprising
Posted by TY at 10:39 AM
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Second "X-Files" pic moving toward production - Yahoo! News
- The "X-Files" film sequel is heating up.
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Co-star David Duchovny indicated Saturday during the Television Critics Association press tour that the film, which has been the subject of speculation for the past few years, is one step closer to becoming a reality.
"I'm supposed to see a script next week," Duchovny said at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, adding that creator Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz wrote the screenplay and that Carter is set to direct.
interesting
Posted by TY at 10:38 AM
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Most foreign insurgents in Iraq are Saudis: report - Yahoo! News
Most foreign fighters and suicide bombers in Iraq come from Saudi Arabia, despite attempts by US officials to portray Syria and Iran as the main culprits of violence, a US newspaper reported Sunday.
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Citing an unnamed senior US military officer and Iraqi lawmakers, the Los Angeles Times newspaper said about 45 percent of all foreign militants targeting US troops and Iraqi security forces were from Saudi Arabia, 15 percent from Syria and Lebanon, and 10 percent from North Africa
Official US military figures made available to The Times also show that nearly half of the 135 foreigners in US detention facilities in Iraq are Saudis, the report said.
Fighters from Saudi Arabia are thought to have carried out more suicide bombings than those of any other nationality, the paper said.
interesting
Posted by TY at 10:38 AM
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Japan Learns Dreaded Task of Jury Duty - New York Times
After it was all over, only a single juror said he wanted to serve on a real trial. The others said even the mock trial had left them stressed and overwhelmed. Under the proposed system, randomly chosen citizens will sit on the bench next to judges, decide cases together and hand out sentences. Supporters predict that the direct involvement of ordinary citizens in the judicial process will have far-reaching consequences for Japan’s democracy.
Robert E. Precht, an American defense lawyer and a co-director of the juries and democracy program at the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center of the University of Montana, has been giving talks on the American jury system in meetings with judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers and ordinary citizens. Changing the attitudes of a public used to being passively governed was proving the greatest challenge, he said.
“D-Day is going to happen in May 2009, and I think people are seriously going to start panicking next year, as citizens actually face the very real possibility of being summoned, and then have to go into this very strange environment, speak in front of authority figures and actually be questioned about their own opinions,” Mr. Precht said. “And I’m concerned that’s going to freak people out.”
whoa
Ms. Kimura strongly supports the new system. “But, really, I wondered, can Japanese really express what they believe in,” she said. “Can they really express their opinions?”
“To this day, we value harmony,” she said, and, referring to a haiku by Basho, Japan’s greatest poet, she added, “In Japan, to not speak is considered a virtue.”
interesting
Critics say the judges will lead the deliberations, deciding what issues to debate; the jurors will depend on the judges to hand out sentences because of their lack of knowledge of the penal code. What is more, the new system will not address more basic problems in the Japanese criminal justice system: the authorities’ overreliance on confessions, sometimes forced; the absence of discovery, which allows the prosecution to withhold information; and a general presumption of guilt that leads to a 99.8 percent conviction rate in criminal cases.
No discovery??
Posted by TY at 10:16 AM
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Report: Fake drinking water hits Beijing - Yahoo! News
The Beijing Times investigation relied heavily on an anonymous sales manager of an unnamed well-known bottled water brand, and reporters gave firsthand accounts of the forging process at various points in the supply chain.
The report said the practice is widespread because water from major suppliers can cost twice as much as water from other sources.
Suppliers keep track of how carefully their customers inspect the deliveries, and give jugs with fake or no seals to the inattentive, the report said.
More than 10 million Chinese are regular users of drinking water machines, the China Daily newspaper reported.
A spokesman for Wahaha water, one of the victims of the counterfeiters cited by the Beijing Times, refused to give his name or comment, saying he had not read the report, and added he was leaving the office for the day.
But Li Peng, an employee of the Wahaha bottled water department in Beijing, said in a phone call, "We have found very few fake Wahaha products."
He added the news of counterfeit products will have little effect on his market, partly because each bottle has an individual number to prevent forgery.
because you can't copy numbers?
Posted by TY at 10:12 AM
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Robot air attack squadron bound for Iraq - Yahoo! News
The airplane is the size of a jet fighter, powered by a turboprop engine, able to fly at 300 mph and reach 50,000 feet. It's outfitted with infrared, laser and radar targeting, and with a ton and a half of guided bombs and missiles.
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The Reaper is loaded, but there's no one on board. Its pilot, as it bombs targets in Iraq, will sit at a video console 7,000 miles away in Nevada.
The arrival of these outsized U.S. "hunter-killer" drones, in aviation history's first robot attack squadron, will be a watershed moment even in an Iraq that has seen too many innovative ways to hunt and kill.
That moment, one the Air Force will likely low-key, is expected "soon," says the regional U.S. air commander. How soon? "We're still working that," Lt. Gen. Gary North said in an interview.
The next step is to link them together and call it SkyNet
Posted by TY at 12:01 AM
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July 14, 2007
Internet Obsession Blamed for Neglect - Newsday.com
RENO, Nev. -- A couple authorities say were so obsessed with the Internet and video games that they left their babies starving and suffering other health problems have pleaded guilty to child neglect.
The children of Michael and Iana Straw, a boy age 22 months and a girl age 11 months, were severely malnourished and near death last month when doctors saw them after social workers took them to a hospital, authorities said. Both children are doing well and gaining weight in foster care, prosecutor Kelli Ann Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Michael Straw, 25, and Iana Straw, 23, pleaded guilty Friday to two counts each of child neglect. Each faces a maximum 12-year prison sentence.
Viloria said the Reno couple were too distracted by online video games, mainly the fantasy role-playing "Dungeons & Dragons" series, to give their children proper care.
"They had food; they just chose not to give it to their kids because they were too busy playing video games," Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Police said hospital staff had to shave the head of the girl because her hair was matted with cat urine. The 10-pound girl also had a mouth infection, dry skin and severe dehydration.
that's some hardcore gaming.
Posted by TY at 8:04 PM
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July 13, 2007
Sectarian Extremists Versus Jefferson - Yahoo! News
The three individuals who did object udentified themselves as members of Operation Save America/Operation Rescue, a militant anti-abortion rights group, which issued a statement denouncing the Senate's show of respect for religious diverity.
"The Senate was opened with a Hindu prayer placing the false god of Hinduism on a level playing field with the one true god, Jesus Christ," it declared. "This would never have been allowed by our Founding Fathers."
On this point, the protesters are wrong.
Thomas Jefferson, the author of the concept that the United States should maintain a "wall of separation" in order to avoid the development of a state religion of the sort that had existed in the monarchies of Europe, was a student Hinduism. His library included Hindu texts, and when he wrote the Virginia Act for Religious Freedom, which laid the groundwork for the Constitution protection of religious practice and pluralism, he specifically avoided making reference to the Christian faith -- though its adherents dominated the public life of Virginia and other colonies -- because he wanted it to be known that all religions, including Hinduism, were respected and welcomed in the United States.
In his notes on the Virginia statute, Jefferson specifically argued that Hinduism and other faiths would be afforded the full protection and privileges of the act.
Noting the overwhelming rejection by Virginia legislators of an amendment to his statute that proposed to insert a reference to Jesus Christ, Jefferson found "proof that they (the legislators who enacted the measure) meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and the Mohammedan, the Hindoo and the (non-practicing and disbelieving) infidel of every denomination."
Jefferson's respect for religious pluralism in general, and Hinduism in particular, led him to compare notes with other founders of the American experiment. The third president and his predecessor, John Adams corresponded at some length about their respect for the teachings of the Hindu religion.
It was Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, who invited Rajan Zed do the chamber Thursday. But he did so in the name of Jefferson, Adams and the other founders who believed that America should make no religion supreme but rather should recognize and respect many faiths -- including Hinduism.
interesting
Posted by TY at 3:15 PM
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July 12, 2007
Hindu prayer in Senate disrupted - Yahoo! News
A Hindu clergyman made history Thursday by offering the Senate's morning prayer, but only after police officers removed three shouting protesters from the visitors' gallery.
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Rajan Zed, director of interfaith relations at a Hindu temple in Reno, Nev., gave the brief prayer that opens each day's Senate session. As he stood at the chamber's podium in a bright orange and burgundy robe, two women and a man began shouting "this is an abomination" and other complaints from the gallery.
Police officers quickly arrested them and charged them disrupting Congress, a misdemeanor. The male protester told an AP reporter, "we are Christians and patriots" before police handcuffed them and led them away.
For several days, the Mississippi-based American Family Association has urged its members to object to the prayer because Zed would be "seeking the invocation of a non-monotheistic god."
interesting
Posted by TY at 2:17 PM
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Beijing Steamed Buns Include Cardboard - Newsday.com
Chopped cardboard, softened with an industrial chemical and flavored with fatty pork and powdered seasoning, is a main ingredient in batches of steamed buns sold in one Beijing neighborhood, state television said.
The report, aired late Wednesday on China Central Television, highlights the country's problems with food safety despite government efforts to improve the situation.
[snip]
"What's in the recipe?" the reporter asks. "Six to four," the man says.
"You mean 60 percent cardboard? What is the other 40 percent?" asks the reporter. "Fatty meat," the man replies.
The bun maker and his assistants then give a demonstration on how the product is made.
Squares of cardboard picked from the ground are first soaked to a pulp in a plastic basin of caustic soda -- a chemical base commonly used in manufacturing paper and soap -- then chopped into tiny morsels with a cleaver. Fatty pork and powdered seasoning are stirred in.
Soon, steaming servings of the buns appear on the screen. The reporter takes a bite.
"This baozi filling is kind of tough. Not much taste," he says. "Can other people taste the difference?"
"Most people can't. It fools the average person," the maker says. "I don't eat them myself."
mmm yum yum.
Posted by TY at 10:49 AM
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Report: Air Controllers Cover Up Errors - Newsday.com
DALLAS -- Air traffic controllers at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport have covered up their mistakes such as letting planes fly too close together, sometimes blaming pilots for the errors, a federal report said.
The report relies on two whistle-blowers and raises anew charges that were made in 2005 and -- according to federal investigators -- never fixed.
what could possibly go wrong?
Posted by TY at 10:48 AM
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Facing the Crayon Test - WSJ.com
Product: Ace Sensations (pictured)
Company: Ace Hardware Corp.
Price/Availability: starts at $24.99 per gallon, www.acehardware.com
Comments: The paint showed no stains after we splashed it with water, and the shoe marks wiped right off. But the crayon scrawls wouldn't budge. The company said crayon stains require extra scrubbing.
Product: Duration Home Interior Latex
Company: Sherwin-Williams Co.
Price/Availability: starts at $40.29, www.sherwin-williams.com
Comments: Dirt and water wiped right off this paint as well. But the crayon marks were stubborn.
Product: Benjamin Moore Aura
Company: Benjamin Moore & Co.
Price/Availability: $54.99 per gallon, www.myaurapaint.com
Comments: This paint also resisted water, but the crayons didn't wipe away, and slight dirt marks lingered. The company advises waiting longer -- a full two weeks -- before washing, so the protective film can set completely.
Product: Martha Stewart Colors
Company: Valspar Corp., exclusively at Lowe's stores
Price: around $25 per gallon
Comments: The paint also stood up to water, and dirty shoe stains cleaned off easily. We were able to get a little bit of the crayon marks off this one -- but repainting would still be in order.
i never knew how expensive paint was. sheesh.
Posted by TY at 1:26 AM
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July 10, 2007
'Epoxy creep' factor in Big Dig death - Yahoo! News
fatal Big Dig tunnel collapse in Boston could have been avoided if authorities had considered that the epoxy securing tons of ceiling panels could slowly pull away, federal investigators concluded Tuesday.
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The National Transportation Safety Board approved a report saying the likely cause of the accident that killed a woman was "use of an epoxy anchor adhesive with poor creep resistance" that could not sustain long-term loads.
The board, meeting on the first anniversary of the accident, also issued a series of recommendations, including creation of mandatory tunnel inspection programs similar to those required for bridges and the development of protocols to test adhesive anchors used to hold tunnel ceiling panels.
Milena Del Valle, 39, was crushed to death on July 10, 2006, when 12 tons of concrete ceiling panels fell from the roof of the Interstate 90 connector tunnel as she and her husband drove toward Logan Airport.
INteresting
Posted by TY at 11:41 AM
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July 9, 2007
The Samurai Sell: Lexus Dealers Bow To Move Swank Cars - WSJ.com
TOKYO -- Kengo Kubo, a sales consultant who sells Lexus cars in Tokyo, has a special way of opening a car door. He points with all five fingers to the handle, right hand followed by left. Then, he gracefully opens the door with both hands, in the same way Japanese samurais in the 14th century would have opened a sliding screen door.
"The most important thing is to make the motion look beautiful," says Mr. Kubo, standing in a gleaming Lexus show room with live orchids growing out of trickling waterfalls.
[Kengo Kubo]
The screen-door technique is part of an unusual tactic under way in Japan's luxury-car wars. No. 1 car maker Toyota, behind in the luxury market, wants to fight back by plunging deep into the world of ancient Japanese hospitality traditions.
At Lexus showrooms, sales consultants lean five to 10 degrees forward and assume a warrior's "waiting position" when a customer is looking at a car. When serving customers coffee or tea, employees must kneel on the floor with both feet together and both knees on the ground. The coffee cup must never make a noise when it is placed on the table.
serious stuff!
Hiroshi Mase, 58, says he was initially impressed by the service he received during a recent visit to a dealership in Yokohama. The technology-company executive loved being served tea and cake as if he were a celebrity.
But he says it became overbearing when he went to pick up his new Lexus GS hybrid, and a sales associate gave him a bouquet and held a formal ceremony to hand over the key. A photo of Mr. Mase with his new car and the showroom's staff was framed and presented to him.
"It was just too much," says Mr. Mase.
Classic
Posted by TY at 9:35 PM
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July 5, 2007
Do Sunscreens Have You Covered? - New York Times
Dr. Spencer said that an S.P.F. 15 product screens about 94 percent of UVB rays while an S.P.F. 30 product screens 97 percent. Manufacturers determine the S.P.F. by dividing how many minutes it takes lab volunteers to burn wearing a thick layer of the product by the minutes they take to burn without the product.
But people rarely get the level of S.P.F. listed because labels do not explain how much to use, said Dr. Vincent A. DeLeo, chairman of dermatology at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center in Manhattan.
“Sunscreen is tested at 2 milligrams per square centimeter of skin, which means you should be using two ounces each time to cover your whole body,” Dr. DeLeo said. “But for most people an eight-ounce bottle lasts the whole summer.”
People who apply S.P.F. 30 too sparingly, for example, may end up with only S.P.F. 3 to S.P.F. 10, according to the Web site of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, www.bccdc.org/downloads/pdf/rps/reports/RIN15.pdf, which has comprehensive guidelines.
Doh
Posted by TY at 10:50 AM
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Ugly Airline Math: Planes Late, Fliers Even Later - New York Times
As anyone who has flown recently can probably tell you, delays are getting worse this year. The on-time performance of airlines has reached an all-time low, but even the official numbers do not begin to capture the severity of the problem.
That is because these statistics track how late airplanes are, not how late passengers are. The longest delays — those resulting from missed connections and canceled flights — involve sitting around for hours or even days in airports and hotels and do not officially get counted. Researchers and consumer advocates have taken notice and urged more accurate reporting.
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology did a study several years ago and found that when missed connections and flight cancellations are factored in, the average wait was two-thirds longer than the official statistic. They also determined that as planes become more crowded — and jets have never been as jammed as they are today — the delays grow much longer because it becomes harder to find a seat on a later flight.
That finding prompted the M.I.T. researchers to dust off their study, which they are updating now. But with domestic flights running 85 to 90 percent full, meaning that virtually all planes on desirable routes are full, Cynthia Barnhart, an M.I.T. professor who studies transportation systems, has a pretty good idea of what the new research will show when it is completed this fall: “There will be severe increases in delays,” she said.
About 32 percent of domestic passengers connect from one flight to another to reach their destination, according to Transportation Department data analyzed by Back Aviation Solutions, a consulting firm.
figures.
Posted by TY at 10:48 AM
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July 4, 2007
How Safe Are Imported Goods? - WSJ.com
While food labels must say where the product was made and list the ingredients, there's no requirement to print where the ingredients come from. So while a product might be made in the U.S., an additive might come from China. There, Chinese and U.S. officials say it isn't uncommon for suppliers to swap a food-grade product with an industrial-grade one. For example, sodium bicarbonate, baking soda, can also be used for industrial purposes -- as a pesticide and as a detergent, for example. There, it is held to a lower standard because nobody is supposed to be eating it. When used industrially, it may contain impurities, including unsafe colorings and heavy metals, which can be harmful when ingested.
Chen Yumin, general manager of Linan Chengxin Chemical Co., a company that makes sodium bicarbonate in Zhejiang province, says it is "normal to see manufacturers use ingredients for industrial use to make food," since "all companies are pursuing the largest profit."
Xanthan gum, too, is susceptible to substitution. The material can be used to lubricate drills or as a food additive in salad dressing to improve texture.
yum yum
Posted by TY at 11:32 PM
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