Archives April 2022

Wednesday, January 18, 2006File:Greenpeace Vessels Esperanza and Arctic Sun.jpg

Anti-whaling protesters have joined forces across Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and the U.S.A calling for an end to the killing of whales for meat by Japan. Greenpeace organised the international day of action as it continued its efforts to disrupt the hunting of minke whales by the Japanese whaling fleet currently in the Southern Ocean.

The day of action was being marked to protest the actions of the fleet which protesters believe violate the 1986 International Whaling Commission (IWC) global ban on commercial whaling. Japan’s JARPA Japanese Whale Research Program was allowed to operate under a Special Permit in the Antarctic according to Article VIII of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling. In its JARPA-2 plan, Japan plans to double its annual scientific research catch of Minke whales to 935, and to add 10 Fin whales to its quota. The International Fund for Animal Welfare states that over the next two years, Japan plans to kill 50 endangered Humpback whales and an additional 40 fin whales.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

An anti-war demonstration in the streets of New York City failed to apply for a sound permit, normally granted for public demonstrations of all kinds. As a result of what police claim was an unauthorized use of an amplification device, the New York Police Department took action. Anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan was speaking to a crowd of 150 before the microphone was removed by the authorities, according to a report published in The Village Voice. The organizer of the event, Paul Zulkowitz (nicknamed “Zool”), was arrested moments before the demonstration was dispersed.

Sheehan’s speech was almost over Monday when the police interrupted. As Sheehan was escorted off the scene, the crowd shouted at the cops to “let her speak”.

Sheehan said that “I was speaking and someone grabbed my backpack and pulled me back pretty roughly,” and that “I was shoved around.”

She added that “I think their use of force was pretty excessive for someone that didn’t have a permit.” Mrs Sheehan noted that this happened when police broke up the rally.

The Sheehan tour’s previous stop was in downtown Richmond, Virginia where she addressed a small gathering in front of the Virginia Army National Guard office. The small afternoon demonstration drew only a dozen supporters; and as many pro-war demonstrators joined the gathering.

Sheehan achieved national prominence following her peace vigil at the beginning of August 2005, when she camped in a ditch by a road near United States President George W. Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, vowing to stay until the President agreed to meet and speak with her about the Iraq War.

Monday, March 20, 2006

Fears of contaminated bone and skin grafts are being felt by unsuspecting patients following the revelation that funeral homes may have been looting corpses.

Janet Evans of Marion, Ohio was told by her surgeon, “The bone grafts you got might have been contaminated”. She reacted with shock, “I was flabbergasted because I didn’t even know what he was talking about. I didn’t know I got a bone graft until I got this call. I just thought they put in screws and rods.”

The body of Alistair Cooke, the former host of Masterpiece Theatre, was supposedly looted along with more than 1,000 others, according to two law enforcement officials close to the case. The tissue taken was typically skin, bone and tendon, which was then sold for use in procedures such as dental implants and hip replacements. According to authorities, millions of dollars were made by selling the body parts to companies for use in operations done at hospitals and clinics in the United States and Canada.

A New Jersey company, Biomedical Tissue Services, has reportedly been taking body parts from funeral homes across Brooklyn, New York. According to ABC News, they set up rooms like a “surgical suite.” After they took the bones, they replaced them with PVC pipe. This was purportedly done by stealth, without approval of the deceased person or the next of kin. 1,077 bodies were involved, say prosecutors.

Investagators say a former dentist, Michael Mastromarino, is behind the operation. Biomedical was considered one of the “hottest procurement companies in the country,” raking in close to $5 million. Eventually, people became worried: “Can the donors be trusted?” A tissue processing company called LifeCell answered no, and issued a recall on all their tissue.

Cooke’s daughter, Susan Cooke Kittredge, said, “To know his bones were sold was one thing, but to see him standing truncated before me is another entirely.” Now thousands of people around the country are receiving letters warning that they should be tested for infectious diseases like HIV or hepatitis. On February 23, the Brooklyn District Attorney indicted Mastromarino and three others. They are charged with 122 felony counts, including forgery and bodysnatching.

Friday, April 11, 2008

In the Opening Day of 2008 AutoTronics Taipei (April 9), the Industrial Technology Research Institute of Taiwan (ITRI) invited Jamie C. Hsu (Consultant of Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Republic of the China and Former Management Executive Director of General Motors Global Technology) for a speech in the “Pavilion of Taiwan Automotive Research Consortium (TARC)” to forecast the future of automobile industry in Taiwan, which echoed the “Taiwan Automotive International Forum & Exhibition”, held at TWTC Nangang in conjunction with 2008 Taipei AMPA.

Before the main show, Department of Industrial Technology of Ministry of Economic Affairs supervised the establishment of TARC by ITRI, Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, Metal Industries Research & Development Center, and the other academical and industrial units to improve the level of research and development including applications on security, artificial intelligence, and energy-saving.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

In Edinburgh, capital of Scotland, part of an underground water piping system has exploded, forcing local residents to be evacuated. The pipe broke around 03:30 BST (0230 UTC) today, within Allan Park Road, causing flooding in the Slateford area of the city.

A spokesperson for Scottish sewerage and water corporation Scottish Water explained: “Early this morning reports were received of flooding in Allan Park Road and Scottish Water operatives attended the scene. A large diameter water main had burst. The water was shut off and re-routed via other pipes to keep supplies flowing to households in the area. Repairs are under way and the customers affected by the flooding are being offered assistance.”

Stating that repairs to resolve this problem had commenced and would take a few hours to conclude, Lothian and Borders Police have advised that the floods may disrupt the supplies of water and other utilities, as well as transportation on roads and railways in the west of Edinburgh. Hospitals and rest homes in the region have been notified of the incident and bottled water is now anticipated to be supplied at these buildings.

According to local residents, Slateford Road (A70), a major throughway, was closed for several hours this morning. Telephony and broadband in the area is disrupted, with local residents and businesses having to rely on cellphones. Further work, such as digging up the road and using temporary traffic lights, will be required to restore these services in the area.

As of 13:15 BST (1215 UTC), Scottish Water has excavated around the burst main, but has not yet begun work on replacing the damaged section of pipe.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) selected Pyeongchang, South Korea as host of the 2018 Winter Games today. The committee meeting in Durban, South Africa, made its selection in the first round of voting. The South Korean city won over Munich, Germany and Annecy, France after failing in two previous tries.

It was an emphatic success for South Korea after its unsuccessful applications for the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics. This time its hour-long presentation to the committee focused on the sports with the theme “New Horizons” rather than geopolitical location and included South Korean president Lee Myung-bak and Kim Yu-na, the winner of the 2010 Olympic figure skating gold medal winner. On the first round of secret ballots, cast by the IOC’s 95 voting members from 76 countries, Pyeongchang received 63 votes to Munich’s 25 and 7 for Annecy.

IOC President Jacques Rogge opened the sealed envelope and made the announcement in front of the entire IOC membership and the representatives from the three candidate cities. A loud cheer erupted from the Pyeongchang detachment, as they jumped up, hugged each other, and waved South Korean flags.

The host for the Winter Olympics was awarded on the first ballot in 1995 to Salt Lake City, Utah for the 2002 winter games, the last time the host was selected on the first ballot. Only twice before have the Winter Games been awarded to a country in Asia, both times to Japan.

The 2016 Summer Games have previously been awarded to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which will be the first South American city to host the games. Sochi, Russia was selected in 2007 for the 2014 Winter Games, giving Russia its first hosting of the Winter Games.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Treasury Department secretary Timothy Geithner and the Obama administration are pressuring Congress to allow the government to seize troubled financial institutions such as insurance companies and investment firms. Currently, banks are the only such entities that the government has authority to take over.

Speaking before the House Financial Services Committee, Geithner said “The United States government does not have the legal means today to manage the orderly restructuring of a large, complex non-bank financial institution that poses a threat to the stability of our financial system.”

Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) agreed, saying, “When non-bank major financial institutions need to be put out of their misery, we need to give somebody the authority to do what the FDIC can do with banks.”

Geithner would work with the White House and Federal Reserve to execute any such takeovers.

The expanded powers would have allowed the seizure of companies such as pariah AIG, which has already received US$180 billion in government aid. The recent controversy over the payment of bonuses has bumped up the plan to high priority. It was initially to have been part of a more comprehensive overhaul by the government of the financial regulatory system.

Not all are happy with the proposal. Republican House minority leader John Boehner derided the plan, saying it would be “an unprecedented grab of power.”

Maxine Waters (D-CA) criticised the government for its lack of transparency in dealing with the current crisis, and questioned Geithner on whether firms such as Goldman Sachs had received preferential treatment by the government. Such probing may indicate reluctance on the part of Congress to grant the expanded powers.

Other than simply taking over a firm, the government would also be able to purchase its assets, guarantee losses, and take out a partial ownership interest.

“It is a terrible, tragic thing that this country came into this crisis with such limited tools for trying to protect the economy itself from the kind of distress that would come as the system came back down to Earth,” Geithner summarized.