Stem cells are not only found in embryos but in adult organs too. Thomas B Okarma sat in his office in the San Francisco Bay area three days after the inauguration of President Barack Obama and announced a new dawn. In a global teleconference, the chief executive [...]
Archive for January, 2009
Drugs treat symptoms. Stem cells can cure you. One day soon, they may even stop us ageing.
Posted in Health on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
What makes world leaders think George Bush loves nut pastries, reads poetry and plays the harp?
Posted in Other, Politics on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
You would think, for example, that before deciding to give Bush a £150 box of Charbonnel et Walker chocolates, Gordon Brown would have borne in mind that the American secret service requires the destruction of all food gifts to the president. However, Brown was not alone in this idiocy. The prime minister of Qatar gave [...]
End Times
Posted in Economy and business, Media, tagged New York Times on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
Virtually all the predictions about the death of old media have assumed a comfortingly long time frame for the end of print—the moment when, amid a panoply of flashing lights, press conferences, and elegiac reminiscences, the newspaper presses stop rolling and news goes entirely digital. Most of these scenarios assume a gradual crossing-over, almost like [...]
Found in Translation
Posted in Living on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao By the time I pull up to the farmhouse in the Spanish region of Navarre, the other students have already arrived. Waiting for lunch, we nervously pretend that we understand what’s going on. A blond woman whose name I can’t pronounce points to a bottle as she pours each student a glass [...]
The Snow-Storm
Posted in Poetry, tagged Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Snow-Storm on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
Caspar David Friedrich, Winterlandschaft mit Kirchenruin (Winter landscape with church ruins) Announced by all the trumpets of the sky, Arrives the snow, and, driving o’er the fields, Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air Hides hill and woods, the river, and the heaven, And veils the farmhouse at the garden’s end. The sled and traveller [...]
US-EU trade war looms as Barack Obama bill urges ‘Buy American’
Posted in Economy and business on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
The EU trade commissioner vowed to fight back after the bill passed in the House of Representatives late on Wednesday included a ban on most purchases of foreign steel and iron used in infrastructure projects. The Senate’s version of the legislation, which will be debated early next week, goes even further, requiring that any projects [...]
So far three Illinois governors have served time.
Posted in Politics on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
Gov. Rod Blagojevich took office January 13, 2003 and was removed from office today. Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan took office January 11, 1999. Ryan is serving a six-year prison sentence after being convicted in April 2006 on racketeering and fraud charges. Former Illinois Gov. Dan Walker took office January 8, 1973. Walker pleaded [...]
Friends, Until I Delete You
Posted in Living, Strange but true on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
“UNFRIENDER” Rachel Heavers, with her daughter, Ellen, removed a lifelong pal in “a hormonal moment.” Now she says, “I really, really regret it.” During the “Whopper Sacrifice,” 234,000 people were trumped by a free burger. A PERSON could go mad trying to pinpoint the moment he lost a friend. So seldom does that friend make [...]
Judge: Anti-Gay Marriage Donors Must Be Public
Posted in Law, Politics, tagged Same-sex marriage on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
A federal judge denied a request Thursday to keep secret the names of donors to California’s anti-gay marriage initiative, saying the public had a right to know who gave money to state ballot measures. Supporters of the Proposition 8 initiative, which overturned a state Supreme Court ruling that allowed gay marriage, had sought a preliminary [...]
Blagojevich Ousted by Illinois State Senate
Posted in Law, Politics, tagged Blagojevich on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich delivered his closing argument at his impeachment trial before the Illinois state Senate on Thursday in Springfield. The Illinois Senate removed Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich from office Thursday, convicting him on an article of impeachment that alleged a pattern of abuse of power. The vote, 59 to 0, ended nearly two [...]
Mold and Roaches Found in Peanut Butter Plant Linked to Salmonella
Posted in Health on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
In case the salmonella outbreak tied to tainted peanut butter hasn’t grossed you out yet, we have some new disgusting developments: Federal inspectors found mold, roaches and a leaking roof at the Georgia peanut factory, Dow Jones Newswires reports. The company also didn’t clean its equipment there after finding contamination, and didn’t properly separate raw [...]
Churchill: the caring man behind the myth
Posted in History, Living, tagged Churchill on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
Churchill always made sure that Chartwell’s black swans were safe. WHEN gardening expert and author Stefan Buczacki began his research into Winston Churchill’s homes and gardens, he discovered a side to the great leader that is largely unknown – that of a man steeped in Victorian values who looked after his personal staff and behaved [...]
Revealed: the letter Obama team hope will heal Iran rift
Posted in Politics, tagged Iran on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
One draft urges Iranians to consider the benefits of losing their pariah status in the West. Officials of Barack Obama’s administration have drafted a letter to Iran from the president aimed at unfreezing US-Iranian relations and opening the way for face-to-face talks, the Guardian has learned. The US state department has been working on drafts [...]
The blame game starts at Davos
Posted in Economy and business on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
Fewer bankers than usual are attending Davos The annual gathering of politicians and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos is normally a time for celebration of the triumph of global capitalism – and a plea from those outside the magic circle to be allowed to join in. But this time things are [...]
Here comes the bride – straight from the boudoir
Posted in Living, Photo galleries, tagged Fashion, Gaultier on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
A model presents a wedding gown by Jean Paul Gaultier for his spring/summer 2009 collection. Suits overlaid with fishnet fabric, tight pencil skirts with lace inserts, and silky pyjama trousers with daringly sheer panels on the thigh showed why the French designer is known for tailoring with a twist. Of course, this being Gaultier – [...]
Scratch my Back…
Posted in Other on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
Photo: The Independent
Going the Distance
Posted in History on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
THE WAY OF HERODOTUS Travels With the Man Who Invented History Reputations, unlike empires, sometimes fall and rise again. Who could have predicted that our new millennium would dawn with a reappraisal of the Greek historian Herodotus, whose extraordinary brain has been dust for 24 centuries? The man Cicero called “the father of history,” the [...]
I Didn’t Say That. But if I Did . . .
Posted in Politics on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
Nominees trying to weave through Senate confirmation minefields know the basic how-to’s for dodging difficult or embarrassing questions about prior statements, including: (1) deny the statement; (2) blame the media; (3) malign the people who leaked; (4) accept a bit of — but not too much — blame; (5) say that the offending quotes were [...]
The House voted yesterday to strengthen whistleblower protections for federal employees, including those working for the Transportation Security Administration and others employed in national security areas. The bill also would create specific protections for those who expose abuses of authority by those trying to manipulate or censor scientific research in federal agencies for political purposes. [...]
Bush War on Roquefort Raises a Stink in France
Posted in Economy and business, Living, Politics on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
Ewes on 2,100 farms produce the milk used in Roquefort. They graze in a carefully defined oval area across the Larzac Plain and in nearby hills and valleys. Departing Officials Set Duty at 300% ROQUEFORT-SUR-SOULZON This seems an unlikely spot to fight a trade war. A village of 600 souls in a remote part of [...]
Is this the worst-ever escape attempt from prison?
Posted in Strange but true on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
Is it Escape from Alcatraz or Monty Python’s Flying Circus? Both, probably. Two hardened suspects on New Zealand’s North Island try to make a break from a courthouse, still tied together by handcuffs. But before they can run across the street in Hastings, they are hit by pepper-spray – and that’s where their bolt for [...]
He Found Her
Posted in Poetry, tagged George Meredith, He Found Her on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
He found her by the ocean’s moaning verge, Nor any wicked change in her discerned; And she believed his old love had returned, Which was her exultation, and her scourge. She took his hand, and walked with him, and seemed The wife he sought, though shadow-like and dry. She had one terror, lest her heart [...]
A self-help group for women whose partners are troubled bankers
Posted in Living on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
Members of Dating a Banker Anonymous The economic crisis came home to 27-year-old Megan Petrus early last year when her boyfriend of eight months, a derivatives trader for a major bank, proved to be more concerned about helping a laid-off colleague than comforting Petrus after her father had a heart attack. For Christine Cameron, the [...]
Inner tranquility and unread books
Posted in Living on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
It is God that has made us and not we ourselves, we are his people and the sheep of his pasture, and George W. Bush is no longer the top sheep. Altogether a cause for rejoicing as we forge ahead in the struggle to achieve inner tranquility, which for me the other morning included misplaced [...]
How do you rescue an imperiled German shepherd? Speak German, of course
Posted in Language on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
It was a wunder. That’s “miracle” in German, which is the same language Riverside animal control officer Tiffany Fuller used to shout commands to save a German shepherd that had been running in and out of traffic Tuesday night near the UC Riverside campus. Campus police officers called the Riverside Department of Animal Services about [...]
Cardinal Mahony under federal fraud probe over abusive priests, sources say
Posted in Law, Politics, Religion on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles, talks with a police officer outside St. Joseph Church after a service in this April 2008. _____ The U.S. attorney in Los Angeles is pursuing the theory that the prelate deprived parishioners of ‘the right of honest services’ by failing to [...]
NATO High Commander Issues Illegitimate Order to Kill
Posted in Conflicts and wars, Law, tagged Afghanistan on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
Afghan soldiers have long been conducting programs to eradicate opium production, like here in Nangarhar Province. So far, though, they have failed to get the drug trade under control. A dispute has emerged among NATO High Command in Afghanistan regarding the conditions under which alliance troops can use deadly violence against those identified as insurgents. [...]
Super Bowl: Activists’ ad is about sex — and stirring outrage
Posted in Arts and Entertainment, Media, Photo galleries on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
“Vegetarians Have Better Sex” was the message of this ad. NBC rejected the animal rights spot for airing during the Super Bowl. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has done it again. While the debate rages on about how much good PETA does, the Washington-based animal rights organization has proved once more that it [...]
Putin’s Grasp of Energy Drives Russian Agenda
Posted in Energy and Environment, Politics, tagged Russia on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
The titans of Russia’s energy industry gathered around an enormous map showing the route of a proposed new pipeline in Siberia. It would cost billions and had been years in the planning. After listening to their presentation, President Vladimir V. Putin frowned, got up from his chair, whipped out a felt pen and redrew the [...]
Leaders Say Obama Has Tapped Pastor for Outreach Office
Posted in Politics, Religion on January 29, 2009 | Comments Off
Joshua DuBois with then-Senator Barack Obama at an event in Pennsylvania in April 2008. President Obama plans to name Joshua DuBois, a 26-year-old Pentecostal pastor and political strategist who handled religious outreach for the Obama campaign, to direct a revamped office of faith-based initiatives, according to religious leaders who have been informed about the choice. [...]
