December 2009

4 rare northern white rhinos relocated to Kenya

Posted Sun, 12/20/2009 - 08:19 by admin

OL PEJETA CONSERVANCY, Kenya – Four of the world's last known eight northern white rhinos landed in Kenya on Sunday and were transported to a game park where officials hope the endangered mammals will reproduce and save their subspecies.
The four were flown from a zoo in the Czech Republic to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy — about 180 miles (300 kilometers) north of the capital, Kenya — where a black rhino population has made strong gains and the rhinos will be protected from poachers.
Two females and two males were transported in large wooden crates by the international shipping company DHL on two flatbed trucks. On the side of the crates was written: "Last Chance to Survive."
The northern white rhino is the world's rarest large mammal, making the international effort to save the subspecies all the more important. None are believed to remain in the wild.
"Objective No. 1 is to get as many offspring as you can from the females — at least one calf out of each within two years," said Rob Brett, the director of Fauna and Flora International, which helped arrange and finance the move.
When teams of Kenyan wildlife workers opened the crates, two of the rhinos lingered several minutes before moving to a larger pen as Czech animals handlers coaxed them out with soothing words and treats. The other two exited immediately.
The rhinos' handlers and park officials said they hoped the two females will bear as many young as possible for several years, but all those involved acknowledged it was not a sure bet that the rhinos would reproduce.
The rhinos have not reproduced in the Czech Republic since 1985, the reason for the move to Kenya. Two northern whites remain behind; two others are in San Diego. The females could be mated with southern white rhinos — a different subspecies — to keep the gene pool alive.
The aim of the project — years down the line — is to reintroduce the northern white rhino back to southern Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon, said Patrick Omondi, head of species conservation and management for the Kenya Wildlife Service.
Alastair Lucas, the vice chairman of Goldman Sachs in Australia, helped finance the rhinos' move to Kenya, a project he became involved with earlier this year after visiting Uganda and being told parks there no longer have rhinos. He declined to say how much he donated or the cost of moving the animals.
"Shipping rhinos across the world is not cheap. They don't fit in economy seats," Lucas said. "I had to fly them business class."
The rhinos will remain penned in the Kenyan park as they acclimate to the climate and vegetation. They will be given more room to roam in coming weeks and eventually released to the entire park.

Washroom Accessories

Posted Sun, 12/20/2009 - 06:00 by admin

A bathroom is a room that may have different functions depending on the cultural context. In the most literal sense, the word bathroom means "a room with a bath". Because the traditional bathtubs have partly made way for modern showers, including steam showers, the more general definition is "a room where one bathes". There can be just a shower, just a bathtub or both; and often both plumbing fixtures are combined in the bathtub. The room may also contain a sink, often called a "wash basin" or "hand basin" (in parts of the USA) and often a "lavatory".

Electrical appliances, such as lights, heaters, and heated towel rails, generally need to be installed as fixtures, with permanent connections rather than plugs and sockets. This minimizes the risk of electric shock. Ground-fault circuit interruptor electrical sockets can reduce the risk of electric shock, and are required for bathroom socket installation by electrical and building codes in the United States and Canada. In some countries, such as the United Kingdom, only special sockets suitable for electric shavers are permitted in bathrooms, and are labelled as such.
[edit] History of bathrooms

Washroom Accessories

Prison population to have first drop since 1972

Posted Sun, 12/20/2009 - 05:51 by admin

DALLAS – The United States may soon see its prison population drop for the first time in almost four decades, a milestone in a nation that locks up more people than any other.
The inmate population has risen steadily since the early 1970s as states adopted get-tough policies that sent more people to prison and kept them there longer. But tight budgets now have states rethinking these policies and the costs that come with them.
"It's a reversal of a trend that's been going on for more than a generation," said David Greenberg, a sociology professor at New York University. "In some ways, it's overdue."
The U.S. prison population dropped steadily during most of the 1960s, and there were a few small dips in 1970 and 1972. But it has risen every year since, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
About 739,000 prisoners were admitted to state and federal facilities last year, about 3,500 more than were released, according to new figures from the bureau. The 0.8 percent growth in the prison population is the smallest annual increase this decade and significantly less than the 6.5 percent average annual growth of the 1990s.
Overall, there were 1.6 million prisoners in state and federal prisons at the end of 2008.
In the past, prison populations have been lower when drafts were enacted, including during World War II and the wars in Korea and Vietnam.
"People who go to war are young men, and young men are the most likely to get arrested or prosecuted," said James Austin, president of the JFA Institute, a research organization that advises states on prison issues.
The ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan haven't involved in a draft.
Instead, the economic crisis forced states to reconsider who they put behind bars and how long they kept them there, said Kim English, research director for the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice.
In Texas, parole rates were once among the lowest in the nation, with as few as 15 percent of inmates being granted release as recently as five years ago. Now, the parole rate is more than 30 percent after Texas began identifying low-risk candidates for parole.
In Mississippi, a truth-in-sentencing law required drug offenders to serve 85 percent of their sentences. That's been reduced to less than 25 percent.
California's budget problems are expected to result in the release of 37,000 inmates in the next two years. The state also is under a federal court order to shed 40,000 inmates because its prisons are so overcrowded that they are no longer constitutional, Austin said.
States also are looking at ways to keep people from ever entering prison. A nationwide system of drug courts takes first-time felony offenders caught with less than a gram of illegal drugs and sets up a monitoring team to help with case management and therapy.
Studies have touted significant savings with drug courts, saying they cost 10 percent to 30 percent less than it costs to send someone to prison.
"I don't think they work. I know so," said Judge John Creuzot, a state district judge in Dallas.
The reforms in many state prisons and courts come even as crime rates continue to drop nationwide.
"It's economically driven, but the science is there to support it," Austin said. "They are saving money, but not doing it in a way that jeopardizes public safety."

One exception to the trend is Florida, which has enacted a law requiring all convicts to serve a high percentage of their sentences. The law is straining the state's prison resources.

"They know that they are stuck in a time bomb they can't get out of," Austin said.

Posted Sun, 12/20/2009 - 02:32 by admin

TEHRAN, Iran – Grandson of Iran's senior dissident cleric says Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri is dead.

Amnesty urges Morocco to allow return of Sahara hunger striker

Posted Wed, 12/09/2009 - 15:08 by admin

LANZAROTE, Spain (AFP) –
Amnesty International on Wednesday called for Western Sahara activist Aminatou Haidar, who is on a three-week-old hunger strike at a Spanish airport, to be allowed to go home.

Haidar has consumed only sugared water since November 16, three days after Moroccan authorities denied her entry to her native Western Sahara, a disputed territory annexed by Rabat in 1975, allegedly confiscated her passport, and sent her back to Spain's Canary Islands.

The 42-year-old mother of two, who campaigns for the Western Sahara's independence from Morocco, was returning to her hometown of Laayoune after a trip to receive a human rights award in the United States.

In a statement, Amnesty called on the "authorities in Morocco to allow her immediate and unconditional return to Laayoune and give her back her passport" and unblock her bank account.

Amnesty said it had delivered a petition to Moroccan Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi with over 48,000 signatures on it that calls for a solution to Haidar's plight as well as the release of eight other jailed Western Sahara activists.

Morocco says it will not allow Haidar to return, stating that she had rejected her Moroccan nationality and passport.

"She has to respect Moroccan laws. With her attitude she has offended 30 million Moroccans," Nizar Baraka, a Moroccan minister in charge of general and economic affairs, told the online edition of Spanish daily El Mundo.

"She is only seeking to block the negotiations over the Sahara," he added.

Morocco annexed the Western Sahara following the withdrawal of colonial power Spain in the dying days of the regime of right-wing dictator Francisco Franco, sparking a war with the Algeria-backed Polisario Front movement.

The two sides agreed a ceasefire in 1991, but UN-sponsored talks on its future have since made no headway.

Morocco has pledged to grant the phosphate-rich territory widespread autonomy, but rules out independence.

"If she considers herself to be a part of the Polisario, then the Polisario should find her an Algerian passport," said Baraka.

US lawmakers seek 'task force' to fight deficit

Posted Wed, 12/09/2009 - 11:00 by admin

WASHINGTON (AFP) –
US Senators called Wednesday for the creation of a "task force" to find ways to curb the soaring long-term US budget deficit and report back to Congress after the November 2010 mid-term elections.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, a Democrat, and Senator Judd Gregg, the panel's top Republican, unveiled a bill that would establish such a special body with 10 Democrats and eight Republicans.

The proposal, similar to a plan floated in 2007 without success, would aim to examine ways to reduce the deficit, which the White House forecasts will reach a whopping 1.502 trillion dollars in fiscal 2010.

"We face a perfect storm of exploding debt, brought on by rising health costs, a retiring 'baby boom' generation, and an outdated and inefficient revenue system. Now is the time to act," said Conrad.

"It is no longer enough for Congress to simply talk about reform; it is time for action and leadership," said Gregg.

The task force, grouping members of the US Congress and President Barack Obama's administration, would report back to Congress after the 2010 elections, and a majority of 14 members would be needed to publish any report or recommendation.

Cardiology Equipment

Posted Tue, 12/01/2009 - 06:31 by admin

Cardiology Equipment

The heart of a vertebrate is composed of cardiac muscle, an involuntary striated muscle tissue which is found only within this organ. The average human heart, beating at 72 beats per minute, will beat approximately 2.5 billion times during a lifetime (about 66 years). It weighs on average 250 g to 300 g in females and 300 g to 350 g in males.

The mammalian heart is derived from embryonic mesoderm germ-layer cells that differentiate after gastrulation into mesothelium, endothelium, and myocardium. Mesothelial pericardium forms the inner lining of the heart. The outer lining of the heart, lymphatic and blood vessels develop from endothelium. Myocardium develops into heart muscle.

Knox's defense begins closing arguments in Italy

Posted Tue, 12/01/2009 - 05:56 by admin

PERUGIA, Italy – Amanda Knox's lawyer argued Tuesday there wasn't sufficient evidence to convict the U.S. exchange student in the 2007 slaying of her British roommate, saying Knox had been swept up by a "tsunami" of events that led to her arrest.
In his closing arguments in the year-old trial, defense lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova charged that key DNA evidence in the case cannot be attributed "beyond any doubt."
"There are still many doubts in this trial, and there's a young girl waiting to be judged," he told the eight-member jury, which is expected to issue a verdict this week.
The Seattle-born Knox and her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito are being tried in Perugia, central Italy, for the 2007 slaying of Meredith Kercher. They deny wrongdoing.
Kercher's body, her throat slit, was found in a pool of blood on Nov. 2, 2007, in the apartment she shared with Knox in Perugia. Prosecutors argued that Knox resented her British roommate and killed her, together with Sollecito and Rudy Hermann Guede of Ivory Coast, under "the fumes of drugs and possibly alcohol."
Prosecutors say a knife with a 6 1/2-inch (16.5-centimeter) blade, with Kercher's DNA on the blade and Knox's on the handle, was found at Sollecito's house.
Defense lawyers have argued that the knife is too big to match Kercher's wounds and claim the amount of what prosecutors say is Kercher's DNA is too low to be attributed with certainty.
Dalla Vedova also countered prosecutors' claim of a possible motive for the slaying. Prosecutors have charged Knox wanted to get back at Kercher for saying she wasn't clean and was promiscuous.
"We need facts, not only vague statements," said Dalla Vedova, who contended that any such resentment couldn't explain the crescendo of violence that led to the killing.
The lawyer also portrayed Knox as a "clean-faced young girl, swept away by a tsunami," who decided not to go back to the United States as she could have in the days after the slaying.
Knox, 22, and Sollecito, 25, have been jailed for more than two years since being arrested shortly after the slaying. They are being tried on charges of murder and sexual violence and prosecutors have urged they be given life imprisonment — Italy's stiffest punishment. Both were in court Tuesday.
Guede was sentenced to 30 years in prison last year after a fast-track trial he had requested. He also denies wrongdoing and is appealing his conviction.
Knox and Sollecito maintain they spent the night of the murder at Sollecito's house in Perugia, watching a movie on his computer. Their defense lawyers are working on the theory that Guede was the sole attacker.

Gold hits record near $1,200/oz as dollar slips

Posted Tue, 12/01/2009 - 04:40 by admin

LONDON (Reuters) –
Gold hit record highs at $1,198.70 an ounce in Europe on Tuesday as the dollar weakened against a basket of currencies in the wake of policy comments from the Bank of Japan, adding to strong investment demand for the metal.

Buyers have been cheered by the strength of gold's recovery after a correction to below $1,140 an ounce late last week, which was met by strong fund buying, traders said.

Spot gold was bid at $1,194.80 an ounce at 0921 GMT, against $1,179.10 late on Monday.

U.S. gold futures for February delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange were up $14.10 at $1.196.40 an ounce, having earlier hit a record $1,200.50.

(Reporting by Jan Harvey; Editing by xxx)

Drug courts successful for few who get in

Posted Tue, 12/01/2009 - 01:13 by admin

WASHINGTON – In a five-year span, Candice Singer went from being a respected juvenile defense lawyer to a homeless meth addict who once broke into a house just to take a shower.
By the time she was arrested, Singer was charged with 24 separate burglaries and with cooking meth in her mother's house. She could have spent at least five years in prison, but her lawyer was able to steer her to a New Jersey drug court that kept her in treatment instead of behind bars.
"I credit drug court with saving my life," Singer, 49, says. "If I had gone to prison, I would have continued to use drugs when I got out. I would probably be dead."
It's been 20 years since the first drug court was established in Miami as an innovative way of getting nonviolent offenders out of the criminal justice system and into court-supervised drug rehabilitation programs. Since then more than 2,300 drug courts have blossomed around the country, credited with reducing crime and saving the cost of locking people up.
Despite that success, the specialized courts remain available to less than 10 percent of the 1.2 million drug-addicted offenders. The Obama administration wants to boost funding so that hundreds more courts can begin work.
"There are a lot of people who need these programs and there aren't enough spaces," said Doug Marlowe, chief of science, policy and law at the National Association of Drug Court Professionals.
The main problem, advocates say, is a lack of money. While every state has at least one drug court, only a handful of states — like New York and New Jersey — have one in every county.
Drug courts received about $64 million in federal money this year. Congress could push funding over $100 million next year.
But it would take a much bigger infusion of federal dollars to build a true national network of drug courts. The drug court association says $1.5 billion over six years — along with matching money from states — could treat all who need it now.
"It's always difficult to get people to understand that if you spend this much money, there will be this much money in savings," said Gil Kerlikowske, the White House drug czar.
In Singer's case, the trouble began in her teens when she was using alcohol, cocaine and heroin. She completed an outpatient program in her early 20s and spent the next 15 years drug free. But Singer still had underlying depression and anxiety issues that only got worse under the daily pressures of being an attorney. Soon, she turned to meth and her life unraveled.
She is now among 75 percent of drug court graduates who remain arrest-free for at least two years after leaving the program.
At the same time, the proliferation of drug courts is raising new concerns about fairness. A September report from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers claims that prosecutors tend to cherry pick the easy cases for drug courts, shunning defendants with deeper addiction problems. The report also questions a requirement that defendants plead guilty before being allowed into drug courts.
"Unfortunately, many of these courts are conviction mills, which treat substance abusers as criminals and give them access to medical treatment only if they plead guilty and acquire a criminal record," said Cynthia Orr, president of the lawyers group.
Under the system, the guilty plea is held in abeyance during months or years of court-supervised treatment, weekly meetings and counseling sessions. But if they fail, defendants are kicked out of the program and must serve jail for the crime. Orr says some defendants can face a harsher sentence at the end of an unsuccessful treatment program than if they had just accepted a plea deal and avoided drug court.
That could have been the case for Singer, who says she faced up to 87 years in prison if she had not succeeded in drug court. Had she not entered drug court, she would have served five years through a plea agreement.
Marlowe concedes that some prosecutors avoid the tough cases.
But he said there's no way prosecutors would ever take serious offenders into a diversion program without having them first plead guilty. It can be months before they know whether the program will be successful, he said, and it's too hard to prosecute a case months later when evidence is stale and witnesses are lost.

Singer now does legislative and lobbying work at the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence. She has been clean for seven years and has a 2-year-old daughter.