News Stories

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Heaven sent: Catseye Beach on Hamilton Island. (PHOTO: www.totaltravel.com.au)

Massive interest for dream job

i know people who would do it for free or even pay them for it. and the aussies are paying someone 100k per 6 months to do this?

[Anh_Minh]

They're paying maybe even more than that to finance the bandwidth and the team of people necessary to pick that person.

[Thingle]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Heaven sent: Catseye Beach on Hamilton Island. (PHOTO: www.totaltravel.com.au)

Massive interest for dream job

We have better beaches here.

[iLney]

Life is indeed a beach!

[Shadow Kira01]

Human rights lawyer, journalist killed in Russia

Looks like the new Obama administration will be having some tough times dealing with Russia, in considerations to how they handle things in Moscow. After the human rights' lawyer getting gunned down, a young journalist had tried to intervene and also resulted in sharing the same fate on the same day, how tragic!

[Mystique]

Originally Posted by Shadow Minato

Human rights lawyer, journalist killed in Russia

Looks like the new Obama administration will be having some tough times dealing with Russia, in considerations to how they handle things in Moscow. After the human rights' lawyer getting gunned down, a young journalist had tried to intervene and also resulted in sharing the same fate on the same day, how tragic!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but were any of the victims american?
Why would th US gov need to deal with Russia in regards to how this event is played out from now on?
As i see it, as much as the US is a strong global power, there's a lot of work that'll need to be done within America before Obama steps out and about in international affairs.

EDIT:
Since it's 'Obama Day' today, just got wind of news back home, seem the UK are joining in the festivites too with ya all.

American singer Kelly Rowland will be one of the performers at the Yes We Did inauguration party at the Intercontinental Hotel in Park Lane, central London.
The event will also celebrate the achievements of black Britons and other performers will include British singer and TV presenter Mica Paris.

More news here

The BBC's already splashing out on Obama Day related stuff anyways, alike the election there should be a live feed to check stuff out
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/...cy/default.stm

[Shadow Kira01]

White House Says Cheney to Be in Wheelchair Tuesday

Speaking of Obama Day.. It seems that the former vice-president Dick Cheney had unluckily injured his back while organizing boxes and will be attending the Obama inauguration in a wheelchair.

[RDF2050]

Originally Posted by Liddo-kun

I've read this on the morning paper today.

That's really good piloting skills, one of the witnesses to the crash even said it looked like a very controlled descent.

He can pilot a GUNDAM

[Vexx]

Alert for consumers of products made with peanut butter (at least in the Americas).

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...96&ft=1&f=1001

Products that use peanut butter are at high risk of containing salmonella. Stores are pulling products off the shelves and individuals should check and clear their homes of any such products. A full list can be found at http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopi....html#products.

Items include peanutbutter-flavored ice cream, cookies, crackers, Clif bars ... a LOT of processed food contains peanut butter so don't just assume.

Products sold as far back as July 1 are included. So far, the problem has been directly linked to the death of six people and sickened almost 500 others. Of course, a lot of people mistake the symptoms for the flu or some bug.

Interestingly, peanut butter sold by itself is exempt because it doesn't use the "industrial" peanut butter favored by processed food manufacturers.
"Manufactured" food.... mmmmmm, bleh.

[FateAnomaly]

...China food have chemical while America food have bacteria. Are they trying to compete with each other or something.

[Vexx]

Well... in our case, we chronically under-budgeted our food testing and inspection agencies for eight years while driving off their expert employees.

So naturally the chickens are coming home to roost by now....

[Shadow Kira01]

Originally Posted by FateAnomaly

...China food have chemical while America food have bacteria. Are they trying to compete with each other or something.

I still don't understand one thing. How did the chemicals end up in the food? I mean.. Isn't it strange for toxic chemicals to appear in an ordinary kitchen or food manufacturer factory? American food has bacteria isn't new. It appears that factories have old food manufacturing machines that are rarely disinterfected or cleaned. A competition?

[Vexx]

The melamine crisis in China appears to have largely come from one or more sets of con-artists who told producers that the tests they had to run to approve their products would look much better with their special concoction (secret ingredients). It worked so that marginal products passed the requirements.

It was a classic "snake oil" operation (Western meaning, not Chinese).

Unfortunately, it also poisoned everyone upstream in the product flow. The leaders of the operation are on trial now (or at least the main scapegoats) and will undoubtedly be executed. Basically, China's food inspection system ... well lets just say it needs some improvements and de-corrupting for their own people's sake, much less foreign countries. There is also such pressure from multi-national corporations to cut costs that, in order to keep contracts, officials are tempted to look the other way. "Race to the bottom" syndrome...

In the US case with the salmonella bacteria .... under-testing and under-inspection indrectly lobbied by the various food industries to cut their costs can be argued led to the recent repeated outbreaks of contaminated food in the US. For example, the US meat industry vigorously opposes 100% testing for mad-cow indications even though that would solve all their credibility problems in the world markets. The industry even got a US judge to rule that a small independent meat operation COULD NOT 100% test their meat nor market it as 100% tested. How's that for "free market"? Instead, they lobby to *force* their products onto foreign shelves "to let the market decide".

[Sinestra]

"President Barack Obama's speeches are proving a best-seller in Japan — as an aid to learning English."

I found this interesting especially the number of books sold in a month. In Japan thats a quite a lot considering novels rarely sell a million copies.



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28757230/

[sa547]

Originally Posted by Sinestra

"President Barack Obama's speeches are proving a best-seller in Japan — as an aid to learning English."

I found this interesting especially the number of books sold in a month. In Japan thats a quite a lot considering novels rarely sell a million copies.



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28757230/

Maybe then the ruling LDP could soon find some credible competition coming from "young Turks", being tired of the old fogeys caught with the hands in the cookie jar. :lol:

[Shadow Kira01]

Originally Posted by soulassassin547

Maybe then the ruling LDP could soon find some credible competition coming from "young Turks", being tired of the old fogeys caught with the hands in the cookie jar. :lol:

Young turks? There is already a competition within the ruling coalition. Nakagawa Hidenao seems to be stirring some division within the party, not mentioning that Watanabe Yoshimi had already left and will possibly bring some people who share similar views with him to their new study group. It would be better if a new party were to be formed with members from both the ruling LDP and the Democratic Party of Japan with new political realignments. Currently, both the leaders of the ruling coaltion and the opposition party don't seem too appealing.

Taro Aso lacks the leadership and his policies don't seem all that appealing, whereas the DPJ cannot govern Japan without forming a coalition with smaller political parties whose political ideals seem to be in a different direction than theirs. The only way for their coalition to succeed is to come up with something in-between as compromise but that ruins the entire point. Thus, neither political parties seem to be up to becoming the government as of now.

[Green²]

Canada investigates P2P blocking, finds it just about everywhere

...
Newly released results of an investigation by the Canadian Radio, Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) reveal that all major ISPs in Canada are interfering with network traffic.

Canadian ISPs Bells, Rogers, Eastlink, and Cogeco all specifically admitted to slowing P2P traffic.

Shaw, another big ISP, conceded to the agency that its customers are getting slowed down, but in confidence and without specifically pointing to P2P.

The CRTC's investigation was driven directly by charges from the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP) -- a band of small ISPs that rent portions of Bell's networks -- that Bell's previously admitted use of deep packet inspection (DPI) technology amounts to unfair competition.
...

[SeedFreedom]

Originally Posted by Green²

Canada investigates P2P blocking, finds it just about everywhere

I use Rogers. I called them when i "needed to upgrade my box" and my downloads were pathetically slow. I found that they were purposely slowing down P2P. They aren't hiding it.

[Vexx]

As a followup to the Chinese melamine contamination "milk crisis"):
Two sentenced to death; others to life imprisonment:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7843972.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7805560.stm
Families of victims in China sue, government/judicial stalling:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7839481.stm
Little comfort for families of victims:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7845545.stm
Tainted dairies offer text apology:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7807637.stm

The real tragedy here is that the Chinese Government or at least many elements - still thinks that papering over and silencing bereaved parents is a winning strategy. When a parent has lost their reason for living and you just try to shut them up --- you create a much more dangerous situation than if you had just "cleaned house" of some corrupt officials. This analysis:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7635466.stm
shows that, as usual, much of the problem lies with corrupt regional/city governments. But then the central government loses the opportunity to "be the hero" and is more intent on papering it over and containing/silencing grievances.

[Pendevous]

Boy, 8, becomes youngest IT Profressional

OH SNAP