XIAM007

Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World

Tuesday 19 July 2011

U.S. public awareness campaigns about sugary soft drinks are under legal attack by beverage makers -

U.S. public awareness campaigns about sugary soft drinks are under legal attack by beverage makers - 


U.S. public awareness campaigns about sugary soft drinks are under legal attack by beverage makers, which have sued New York City's health department and hit local governments with requests for documents on the science behind the initiatives.

Efforts to deter consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks and fatty foods have gained favor in the United States as skyrocketing obesity rates drive up healthcare costs.

The soda industry, which says it is defending its products from "baseless" attacks, and its attorneys have filed at least six document requests with public agencies from California to New York. Anti-obesity advocates say the requests -- which can take hundreds of staff hours for cash-strapped governments to satisfy -- come from the tobacco industry's playbook.

"It is, in our opinion, an effort to overwhelm or smother government employees, who already have too much to do," said Ian McLaughlin, an attorney at the National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity in Oakland, California.

Earlier this month, the American Beverage Association sued New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which has been at the forefront of education efforts in the fight against obesity. The ABA says the city improperly withheld documents it sought through the Freedom of Information Act.

ABA spokesman Chris Gindlesperger said his group made the same request as the New York Times, but that the newspaper received more information than the ABA.

"Public health departments are going out and aggressively misrepresenting our products in advertising and using taxpayer money to do that," Gindlesperger said.

A New York health department representative did not respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit, which is pending in state court.

Whirlpool jet boat operating in the area saved St. Louis Woman from Niagara Falls Whirlpool Rapids -

Whirlpool jet boat operating in the area saved St. Louis Woman from Niagara Falls Whirlpool Rapids  - 


A 30-year-old woman from St. Louis was rescued from the Whirlpool Rapids below Niagara Falls Monday after she fell in while hiking along the shore with her fiance. State Parks Police say the woman,  tried to reach down and touch the swirling waters.
WIBV television reports the woman was swept away in the current of the Niagara River near Devil’s Hole.   The crew of a Whirlpool jet boat operating in the area saved the unidentified woman’s life. Upper Mountain Fire Chief Lee Casper said, “The jet boat was doing a normal tour, up to the rapids up there, saw her go in. They pulled her out of the water, brought her down to the Lewiston sand docks.” Casper said had the jet boat not been right there to scoop her up, it’s likely she would not have survived. It was an almost impossible rescue, but the passengers and crew of the jet boat pulled it off.

Moody's Warns That Any Fluff Deficit Reduction Plan Will Likely Result In Downgrade -

Moody's Warns That Any Fluff Deficit Reduction Plan Will Likely Result In Downgrade - 


Since we don't have minutely Europe headlines, instead we get US ones. And here is the first official reaction to the McConnell plan from a rating agency. Since this Plan B is far more concrete than the Gang of Whatever Plan, Moody's will have absolutely the same to say about the previously noted 5 page talking points memo.
From Reuters:
A U.S. government backup debt plan to raise the country's debt ceiling and avoid imminent default could still lead to a downgrade of U.S. ratings in the next year or so, Moody's said on Tuesday.
Senator Mitch McConnell's "Plan B," increasingly seen as a "Plan A" in Washington, would avoid any immediate downgrade of the coveted U.S. triple-A rating, Moody's analyst Steven Hess told Reuters in an interview.

"But the numbers that are being discussed in terms of any possible deficit reduction coming out of this plan don't seem to be very large," Hess said. "Therefore this plan might result in a negative outlook on the rating."


Read more -  http://www.zerohedge.com/article/moodys-warns-any-fluff-deficit-reduction-plan-will-likely-result-downgrade

'Gang of Six' Proposed Debt Reduction Deal

'Gang of Six' Proposed Debt Reduction Deal

71% of Americans Would Rather See Spending Cuts than Stimulus - save Social Security - and U.S. should drill its own oil-

71% of Americans Would Rather See Spending Cuts than Stimulus - save Social Security - and U.S. should drill its own oil- 


Over 5,000 Americans participate in the American Pulse Survey conducted twice a month, and the most recent survey was conducted 7/5/11-7/7/11. The latest results show that most Americans would rather see the government cut spending than try to boost the economy with more spending. Also, the majority agrees a debt ceiling is necessary, Social Security is worth saving and the U.S. should drill its own oil.


Read more - 

Harvard ethics fellow accused of hacking millions of papers from another university... -

Harvard ethics fellow accused of hacking millions of papers from another university... - 


A Harvard University fellow studying ethics has been accused of using the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's computer network to steal nearly 5 million academic articles.
A federal indictment released Tuesday accused 24-year-old Aaron Swartz of stealing the documents from JSTOR, a subscription service that offers digitized copies of articles from more than 1,000 academic journals.
Prosecutors say Swartz hacked into MIT's system between September and January after breaking into a computer wiring closet on campus. The indictment says Swartz was a fellow at Harvard's Center for Ethics at the time. Prosecutors say he intended to distribute the articles on file-sharing websites.

Read more - http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ACADEMIC_PAPERS_HACKED?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-07-19-14-09-49

Nabi Biopharmaceuticals smoking vaccine fails in study - did not work any better than a placebo in study -

Nabi Biopharmaceuticals smoking vaccine fails in study - did not work any better than a placebo in study - 




Nabi Biopharmaceuticals said Monday that its experimental anti-smoking vaccine NicVAX did not meet its main goal in a late-stage test, sending the company's shares plunging.
The company said about 11 percent of patients who were received a dummy shot were able to quit smoking, and patients who were treated with NicVAX quit at a similar rate. Nabi said it is evaluating the data and waiting for results from a second late-stage study.
"We are clearly surprised and deeply disappointed with the results of this first NicVAX Phase III trial," said President and CEO Raafat Fahim.
The company's stock dropped $3.93, or 70 percent, to $1.69 in midday trading.
The yearlong study involved 1,000 patients. They were considered to have quit if they had not smoked a cigarette in the last 16 weeks of the study. Quitting was self-reported by patients and also measured biologically.
NicVAX is intended to train the immune system to make antibodies that will attach themselves to nicotine. The goal is to keep the nicotine molecules from reaching the brain so people can quit smoking and not start again.
In 2010, Nabi entered a partnership with British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline PLC. Nabi could get more than $500 million from that agreement if NicVAX is approved. Monday's results dimmed those prospects.

17 people performing a vigorous Tae Bo workout caused tremors that forced the evacuation of a South Korean skyscraper -

17 people performing a vigorous Tae Bo workout caused tremors that forced the evacuation of a South Korean skyscraper - 




Seventeen people performing a vigorous Tae Bo workout caused tremors that forced the evacuation of a South Korean skyscraper earlier this month, the building's owners say.
Prime Group, owner of the 39-story TechnoMart commercial-residential high-rise in Seoul, said 17 middle-aged people were working out to the pop song "The Power" by Snap on July 5 when their movements set the upper floors of the tower shaking for 10 minutes, according to a report from the Korea JoongAng Daily.
Scientists recreated the event in the 12th floor gym, according to a report in the Korea Times.
“We observed the vibrometer while performing the same kind of aerobic exercise that was performed at the time of the shaking which occurred on July 5. We noticed that the shaking was felt in the upper floors while the exercise was being performed while no other place showed signs of tremor,” Chung Lan, a professor of architectural engineering at Dankook University, told the Korea Times.
“It just happens to be that the vibration cycle caused by Tae Bo collided with the vertical vibration cycle unique to the building,” Chung told the Korea Times. The action amplified the building's vibration and caused the shaking, he said.
Chung was one of six professors from the Architectural Institute of Korea who inspected the building and recreated the Tae Bo exercise.
Tae Bo is a mixture of boxing and tae kwon do.
Read more - http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/19/scientist-tae-bo-workout-sent-skyscraper-shaking/?hpt=hp_t2

'Moonbows,' Lunar Rainbows, Visible At Yosemite National Park -

'Moonbows,' Lunar Rainbows, Visible At Yosemite National Park - 






Before you ask, yes, there are double moonbows.
Typically, people don't think of rainbows as something they can see at night. But those who are aware of the rare spectacle know that one of the greatest places in the world to experience it is inYosemite National Park.
According to The Guardian, lunar rainbows or 'moonbows' are created by the light of the moon, making them best viewed during a full moon. They form on the part of the sky opposite from the moon, and are often faint compared to other rainbows.
You can catch an amazing glimpse of these lunar rainbows below, in the video compiled by Yosemite officials.
It's stunning.
According to the original Youtube post, these moonbows are best seen in the spring or summer. The backdrop of the pristine Milky Way behind these majestic waterfalls adds a little bonus to the already incredible sight.

You Want To Fix The U.S. Economy? Here's A Start - A simple 8-point plan -

You Want To Fix The U.S. Economy? Here's A Start - A simple 8-point plan - 

A simple 8-point plan would restore both the banking and the real estate sectors, and end the political dominance of the parasitic "too big to fail" banks.

Craven politicos and clueless Federal Reserve economists are always bleating about how they want to fix the U.S. economy and restore "aggregate demand." OK, here's how to start:

1. Force all banks to mark all their assets to market at the end of each trading day, including all derivatives of all types, including over-the-counter instruments.

2. Allow citizens to discharge all mortgage and student loan debt in bankruptcy court, just like any other debt.

3. Banks must mark all their real estate to market weekly as defined by "last sales of nearby properties" adjusted for square footage and other quantifiable measures (i.e. like Zillow.com).

4. Require mortgage servicers and all owners of mortgage-backed securities to mark every asset within each pool to market weekly.

5. Any mortgage, loan or note which was fraudulently originated, packaged and sold, including the misrepresentation of risk, the manipulation of risk ratings, fraudulent documentation by any party, etc., will be discharged as uncollectable and the full value wiped off the books and title records without recourse by any of the parties.

If a bank fraudulently originated a mortgage and the buyer misrepresented material facts on the mortgage documents, then both parties lose all claim to the note and the underlying asset, the house, which reverts to the FDIC for liquidation, with the proceeds going towards creditors' claims against the bank.

6. Any bank which misrepresents marked-to-market asset values will be fined $10 million per incident.

7. Any bank which is insolvent at the end of a trading day will be closed and taken over by the FDIC the following day, and liquidated in an orderly manner via open-market auctions of all assets, including REO (real estate owned).

8. All derivative positions held by the insolvent bank will be unwound immediately, and counterparties who fail to make good on their claims will also be closed, given to the FDIC and liquidated.

You know what this is, of course: a return to trustworthy, transparent accounting. And you know what the consequences would be, too: all five "too big to fail" banks would instantly be declared insolvent, and most of the other top-25 big banks would also be closed and liquidated.

At least $3 trillion in impaired residential mortgage debt would be written off, maybe more, and $1 trillion in impaired commercial real estate would also be written down. Derivative losses are unknown, but let's estimate it's at least $1 trillion and maybe much more.

If $5.8 trillion of fantasy "value" is wiped off the nation's books, that's only a 10% reduction in net household and non-profit assets, which total $58 trillion. Even an $11 trillion hit would only knock off 20%. If that's reality, if that's what the assets are really worth in the real world, then let's get it over with. Once we've restored truthful accounting and stopped living a grand series of debilitating lies, then the path will finally be clear for renewed growth.

The net result would be the destruction of the political power of the "too big to fail" banks, the clearing of the nation's bloated, diseased real estate market, and the restoration of trust in institutions which have been completely discredited.

Bank credit would flow again, and we could insist on a healthy competitive system of 250 small banks instead of a corrupting system of 5 insolvent parasitic monsters and 20 other bloated but equally insolvent financial parasites.

Those who lied would finally get fried. At long last, those who misprepresented income, risk, etc. would actually pay some price for their malfeasance. Criminal proceedings would be a nice icing on the cake, but simply ending the pretence of solvency would go a long way to restoring banking and real estate and ending regulatory capture by TBTF banks.

What's the downside to such a simple action plan? Oh boo-hoo, the craven politicos would lose their key campaign contributors. On the plus side, the politicos could finally wipe that brown stuff off their noses.



Read more - http://www.zerohedge.com/article/guest-post-you-want-fix-us-economy-heres-start

Air Traffic Controller Drunk on the Job? - allegedly working while drunk at an air traffic center in Longmont, Colorado -

Air Traffic Controller Drunk on the Job? - allegedly working while drunk at an air traffic center in Longmont, Colorado - 


The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating an air traffic controller for allegedly working while drunk at an air traffic center in Longmont, Colorado, an FAA official confirms to CBS News.
The unidentified controller, reportedly a veteran and former union rep, was allegedly six hours into his shift July 5 when a random drug and alcohol test administered onsite showed his blood alcohol level in excess of the legal limit for ATC employees on the job, which is .04, reports CBS News correspondent Bob Orr.

The legal limit for driving is .08, but the rules for the people in charge of guiding thousands of flights across U.S. air space in real-time are stricter.
"The controller in question is not working air traffic. We are investigating the incident," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The FAA official would not disclose specifics, such as the controller's specific blood-alcohol level in the test.
If the allegations against him are true, it's just the latest in a string of disturbing incidents.
Earlier this year, at least nine controllers were investigated for various transgressions. Among them:

--> Feb. 19 - a controller was found intentionally sleeping in the radar room in Knoxville, Tenn., forcing colleagues to assume his duties. That offender has since been fired.
--> March 23 - a controller at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., is suspended for failure to respond to two incoming planes. The 20-year veteran working on four consecutive overnight shifts told investigators he inadvertently fell asleep.
--> April 11 - the controller at Seattle's Boeing field was terminated after twice falling asleep on duty. The next day a controller found sleeping in the tower at Reno-Tahoe International Airport while a medical flight tried to reach him. Eventually a regional controller stepped in to guide the traffic.

Modern Poverty Includes A.C., clothes washer and dryer, two cable or satellite TV's, a DVD player, VCR, and an Xbox -

Modern Poverty Includes A.C., clothes washer and dryer, two cable or satellite TV's, a DVD player, VCR,  and an Xbox - 


When Americans think of poverty, we tend to picture people who can’t adequately shelter, clothe, and feed themselves or their families.
When the Census Bureau defines “poverty,” though, it winds up painting more than 40 million Americans — one in seven — as “poor.”

Census officials continue to grossly exaggerate the numbers of the poor, creating a false picture in the public mind of widespread material deprivation, writes Heritage Foundation senior research fellow Robert Rector in a new paper.

“Most news stories on poverty feature homeless families, people living in crumbling shacks, or lines of the downtrodden eating in soup kitchens,” Rector says. “The actual living conditions of America’s poor are far different from these images.”

Congress is tying itself in knots figuring out how to cut spending and bring down a $14 trillion national debt. Lawmakers might well take a much closer look at the nearly a trillion dollars spent each year on welfare even though many recipients aren’t what the typical American would recognize as poor and in need of government assistance.

What is poverty? Americans might well be surprised to learn from other government data that the overwhelming majority of those defined as “poor” by the Census Bureau were well-housed and adequately fed even in the recession year 2009. About 4 percent of them did temporarily become homeless.

Data from the Department of Energy and other agencies show that the average poor family, as defined by Census officials:
● Lives in a home that is in good repair, not crowded, and equipped with air conditioning, clothes washer and dryer, and cable or satellite TV service.

● Prepares meals in a kitchen with a refrigerator, coffee maker and microwave as well as oven and stove.

● Enjoys two color TVs, a DVD player, VCR and — if children are there — an Xbox, PlayStation, or other video game system.

● Had enough money in the past year to meet essential needs, including adequate food and medical care.

'Leisure Dive' - Just hangin’ by the pool: Summer posers caught mid-air in new photography craze -

'Leisure Dive' - Just hangin’ by the pool: Summer posers caught mid-air in new photography craze - 
Catch me if you can: One participant in the latest craze leisure diving takes a beer down with him

They call it the 'leisure dive' - and it's coming to a pool near you this summer. 
Following the craze of planking which swept the internet, a website has flourished after compiling hilarious pictures of divers striking a comedy pose in mid-air before they hit the water. 
With the motto, 'live and let dive', the site recommends just how to get the most out of your split-second posing.

The ideal position is achieved with a diving board, giving swimmers enough height to get their hips parallel to the waterline. If successful then it's a shot worthy of the family album or at the very least, Facebook. 
The people behind LeisureDive.com encourage originality but there seems to be a couple of recurring favourite looks. 
The most common is the hand on the hip, with a quizzical look and grasping a beer, book or bizarrely a croquet mallet.

Leisure diving looks set to take the place of planking  - a phenomenon which involves lying face down in a public place, the weirder the better, and posting photos on social networking sites.  
The favourite pose is to lie expressionless with a straight body, hands by the side and toes pointing towards the ground.
The website founders ask for the best leisure dives to be sent to them - http://www.leisuredive.com/index.php - to be ranked against other competitors in the new craze.
And although it could make you incredibly popular on the internet, it's unlikely to do so with other holidaymakers relaxing at the hotel pool.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2016104/Leisure-dive-Summer-posers-caught-mid-air-new-photography-craze.html#ixzz1SYpjTGZA

Man Cut Off Son's Thumb Trying to Remove Cast With Power Saw... -

 Man Cut Off Son's Thumb Trying to Remove Cast With Power Saw... - 


A man was charged with aggravated child abuse after cutting off the top of his son’s right thumb while attempting to saw off the teen's cast, authorities said.
Lawrence Roberts, 33, arrived at his son’s house in a white pick-up truck around 11 a.m. on Sunday, the arrest report said. The 15-year-old boy lives with his mother and other siblings at the home in Coral Springs, authorities said.
Upon arriving, Roberts pulled out a 10-inch circular saw from his work truck, the report said. For unknown reasons, he then attempted to cut the teen’s purple cast off his right hand, authorities said.
The saw sliced through the tip of the boy’s right thumb, the report said. The middle of his index finger was almost cut off, and he suffered a deep cut between his index  finger and thumb, the report said.
Robert’s son was rushed to Coral Springs Medical Center and then later transferred to Broward General Hospital for an emergency surgery to attempt to replace the tip of his thumb.
Roberts was taken to the Broward County Jail and is being held on $7,500 bond.

More polar bear cubs die as Arctic ice melts - forced to swim long distances and are not naturally aquatic creatures -

More polar bear cubs die as Arctic ice melts - forced to swim long distances and are not naturally aquatic creatures - 




Polar bear cubs forced to swim long distances with their mothers as their icy Arctic habitat melts appear to have a higher mortality rate than cubs that didn't have to swim as far, a new study reports.
Polar bears hunt, feed and give birth on ice or on land, and are not naturally aquatic creatures. Previous reports have noted individual animals swimming hundreds of miles (kilmetres) to reach ice platforms or land, but this is one of the first to show these swims pose a greater risk to polar bear young.
"Climate change is pulling the sea ice out from under polar bears' feet, forcing some to swim longer distances to find food and habitat," said Geoff York of World Wildlife Fund, a co-author of the study.
York said this was the first time these long swims had been quantitatively measured, filling a gap in the historical background on this iconic Arctic species.
To gather data, researchers used satellites and tracked 68 polar bear females equipped with GPS collars over six years, from 2004 through 2009, to find occasions when these bears swam more than 30 miles (48.28 km) at a time.
There were 50 long-distance swims over those six years, involving 20 polar bears, ranging in distance up to 426 miles (685.6 km) and in duration up to 12.7 days, according to a paper for presentation on Tuesday at the International Bear Association Conference in Ottawa, Canada.
"A LOT LIKE US"
At the time the collars were put on, 11 of the polar bears that swam long distances had young cubs; five of those polar bear mothers lost their cubs during the swim, representing a 45 percent mortality rate, the study found.
Cubs that didn't have to swim long distances with their mothers had an 18 percent mortality rate, the study said.
"They're a lot like us," York said in a telephone interview. "They can't close off their nasal passages in rough waters. So for old bears or young bears alike, if they're out in open water and a storm hits, they're going to have a tough time surviving."