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| A 12-year-old US girl allegedly had her Facebook hacked by two young classmates with illicit pictures and messages posted on the girl's profile. The two accused girls, aged 11 and 12, will face charges of cyberstalking and first-degree computer trespassing after Issaquah police investigated the girls when the family of the alleged victim made a complaint. The charges allege the two girls, aged 11 and 12, used the victim's password information to access her Facebook page and post sexually explicit content, and send messages to boys offering to perform sex acts with them. Police were initially contacted by the victim, Leslie Cote's, mother on March 18 to report inappropriate material being posted on her daughter's Facebook page. A friend of Leslie's mother had told her photos on the page has been changed to show Leslie with "devil horns" and with the words "I'm a slut" written across one of the images, prosecutors said. The pictures and messages became more vulgar as the night progressed, it was alleged. Leslie had visited the house of one of the girls earlier in March where she logged onto her Facebook from a computer in the house. Prosecutors believe the password and login were stored on one of the girls' computers, which they then used to access Leslie's page. The defendants used the page "with the intent of embarrassing and tormenting the victim," prosecutors said. Leslie's stepfather, Jon Knight, said he was relieved the case had been investigated, and charged had resulted. Leslie had been granted a restraining order barring the accused girls from sharing a school bus or contacting Leslie, Knight said. They still share some classes, he said. Sara Niegowski, a spokesperson for the Issapuah School District, said the school was not conducting its own inquiries into the alleged bullying because they did not believe it was a school issue. "This incident happened off-campus, off school time and not related to our school environments. There is no disciplinary action at all. It's not a school district incident," Niegowski said. The school had not been disrupted by the incident, Niegowski said. "You know what's a disruption is the media coverage," she said. "We always look out for the welfare of our students." On Tuesday, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said, "This case reveals the dark side of social media sites used by young people. "Many kids think that on a social media site that their actions will be anonymous and that they are free to use it as weapon to bully, harass, and intimidate another person. This case demonstrates that assuming the identity of another person on the Internet with the intent to torment them and expose them to the harassment of others is a crime," he wrote in a news release. |
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Teens charged over Facebook bullying..
7 Celebrity Look-A-Likes...
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| Angelina Jolie and Megan Fox could be sisters. With similar hair and tats, body double? |
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| Lauren Conrad could have easily played Christine Taylor's character Marcia Brady |
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| Celebrity friends Courteney Cox and Demi Moore look more and more like each other as the years go on |
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| Both Cindy Crawford and Eva Mendes would happily accept being mistaken for each other. One is a supermodel the other, a super-hot actress |
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| Emma Stone and Lindsay Lohan may look the same, but the pair would have very little in common these days |
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| Mother of one, soon to be two Jessica Alba bares a good resemblance to Vanessa Minillo |
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| Kim Kardashian could fill-in as the lead singer of the Pussy Cat Dolls, now that Nicole Scherzinger has gone solo, and Kim, is now singing as well |
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| Oscar nominee, Mila Kunis could play the older-sister Modern Family star, Sarah Hyland |
Kate Hudson Engaged To Matt Bellamy !!
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| It's official, the mum-to-be will be a bride.. |
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| Matt Lauer from the Today Show in the USA, got more than he bargained for when interviewing Kate Hudson about her latest flick, Something Borrowed. He noticed an extremely large, sparkling diamond on her finger. |
"Menstrual Cycle Increases Risk of Injury" [New Research]
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| Yet another thing to blame on our menstrual cycle: sports injuries. But good news for women on the pill; the same study found it can help prevent injury. |
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| Fig. Pills |
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| Researchers from the University of Melbourne have found a woman is more likely to hurt her knees, feet and ankles at the beginning and middle of her period. It's due to fluctuating oestrogen levels--lower levels at the beginning of a woman's cycle reduce muscle tone and co-ordination while higher levels on day 14 increase elasticity of the Achilles tendon and along with it, the risk of injury. Two studies, involving 78 women, were conducted by the University of Melbourne over three years and the findings were recently published in medical journals. The study found the contraceptive pill protects from injury because it limits oestrogen levels. Podiatrist Simon Bartold from the University of Melbourne said this research could prove useful for female athletes and coaches. "If we understand these things we can finally put strategies in place to try to protect female athletes," he said. He said it also raised interesting questions about the role of the contraceptive pill in women's sport. "There's now quite a global body of research saying that the pill actually is protective of injuries," he said. "It protects you from injuries, it improves performance, improves muscle function." |
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Prevent injury with following stretches: Walking Stretches'Daily stretches to aid your walking routine' Press Up'Targets spine'Lie facedown with your hands under your shoulders. Push up with your arms, raising your head and chest off the floor while keeping your hips down. Only go as far as you can while remaining comfortable.Chair Stretch'Targets lower back'Sitting on the edge of a chair, bend at the waist, dropping your head and chest to your legs while reaching your hands towards your ankles. Keep your belly tight. Don't do this exercise if you have leg pain.Quad Stretch'Targets front of thighs and hips'Rest your left hand on a table or chair for support. Bend your right knee, bringing your right foot towards your bottom. Hold your foot there with your right hand. Aim your bent knee towards the floor. Repeat with your left leg.Calf Stretch'Targets lower legsStand about half a metre from a wall and place both hands on it. Step back with your left foot about 1 metre so that your right knee is bent and your left leg is straight. Keep your toes pointed straight ahead. Repeat with the right leg. |
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Royal wedding Schedule: The Royal Wedding day on April 29 2011, from opening of Westminster Abbey doors to RAF fly-past..
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| Prince William and Kate Middleton |
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| Between 0815 and 0945: The vast majority of the 1,900 guests will arrive at the Great North Door of Westminster Abbey ahead of the 11am service. From 0950: Governors-general and prime ministers of realm countries, the Diplomatic Corps, and other distinguished guests arrive at the Abbey. |
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| 1330: Fly-past by the Royal Air Force and Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. The Queen will give a lunchtime reception at Buckingham Palace, which will be a private gathering for guests drawn from the congregation who will represent the couple’s official and private lives. During the reception, the couple will appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony with other members of the Royal family. The Reception is expected to finish mid-afternoon and guests will be served with canapés. At some point in the afternoon, the bride and groom will leave Buckingham Palace for some downtime at St James's Palace. In the evening, the Prince of Wales will give a private dinner, followed by dancing, at Buckingham Palace for the couple and their close friends and family. The service: The Dean of Westminster will conduct the service, the Archbishop of Canterbury will marry Prince William and Miss Middleton, and the Bishop of London - a personal friend of the Prince of Wales who has known Prince William for many years - will give the address The dress: The design is a secret but Miss Middleton's wedding gown is expected to be modest, with little flesh on show. Bridesmaid and pageboys: The couple have chosen four bridesmaids and two page boys who are a mixture of relations and the children of friends. Prince Harry is best man and Miss Middleton's sister Philippa is her maid of honour |
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| The venue: For 1,000 years the 11th century Westminster Abbey has been a backdrop to royal weddings, coronations and funerals. Flowers: Tradition dictates that a royal bride's bouquet contains a sprig of myrtle from the bush grown from the original myrtle in Queen Victoria's wedding bouquet. Royal brides send their bouquet back to the abbey to be placed on the Grave of the Unknown Warrior. Music: Westminster Abbey's choir and the Chapel Royal Choir will perform, with the London Chamber Orchestra, the Fanfare Team from the Central Band of the Royal Air Force and the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry also taking part. Claire Jones, the Prince of Wales's official harpist, will perform at the Buckingham Palace reception. Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, the Queen's composer, was commissioned to write a piece which he revealed will have a "Scottish feel". The ring: Prince William will not wear a wedding ring, but his new wife's will be made from gold given to the prince by the Queen. According to tradition, the Welsh gold for royal rings comes from the Clogau St David's mine at Bontddu in North Wales. |
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| The receptions: Buckingham Palace, with its opulent State Rooms, is the focal point for the Queen's reception for 600 guests in the afternoon, followed by the Prince of Wales's dinner for 300 close family and friends in the evening. The cake: A traditional multi-tiered iced fruit cake featuring the "language of flowers" made by Leicestershire baker Fiona Cairns will be the centrepiece. A chocolate biscuit cake is also being made especially for Prince William by McVitie's. Wedding planning: The man behind the big day is Prince William's private secretary Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton. Working closely with the Prince's personal private secretary Helen Asprey, Mr Lowther-Pinkerton is in overall charge of the wedding - although the royal couple themselves are "calling the shots". The gift list: No saucepans or towels for these newlyweds. The couple has requested donations to 26 charities instead. Close family are, however, likely to give personal gifts. |
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Gold tops $1,500 for first time
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| Gold prices topped a record $1,500 for the first time ever on Tuesday, shattering an important psychological barrier as investors seek out investments thought to be safe during times of upheaval. Many investors see gold as the best place to park their money when there's economic or policital uncertainty, and there has been plenty of that to go around. The price spike also comes against the backdrop of market uncertainty that has sent investors looking for an alternative to the weak U.S. dollar. And gold has been the marquee beneficiary. On Monday, it was a dour outlook on U.S. debt that sent gold prices higher. Standard & Poor's lowered its outlook for America's long-term debt to "negative" from "stable," based on uncertainty surrounding the nation's fiscal problems. That's exactly the type of news that creates a flight to safe haven assets like gold. Gold futures for June delivery hit an intraday record of $1,500.50 an ounce near midday, before retreating to settle at $1,495.10 an ounce -- also a new record. The price of gold has tracked steadily higher in recent months, as a cavalcade of unsettling world events created uncertainty in global markets. Since the start of the year, investors have been forced to consider the implications of a Japanese tsunami, earthquake and nuclear disaster. That's in addition to a spike in crude prices and a slew of revolts in the Middle East and North Africa. Inflation -- which gold is often used to hedge against -- has been rising sharply in emerging economies and is becoming more of an issue in Europe. Gold and silver keep shining... Carlos Sanchez, director of commodities management at New York-based CPM Group, said prices could go as high as $1,550 in the next couple weeks as investors focus on political gridlock in Washington. The next major event for the gold market is the May deadline for the government to raise the debt ceiling, Sanchez said. On Tuesday, silver prices were also on the rise. The understudy commodity settled at $43.75 an ounce -- its highest level in three decades. Of course, the records this week are not adjusted for inflation. Gold rose to $825.50 per ounce on Jan. 21, 1980, which is $2,211.65 in today's dollar according to M.F calculator. |
Monday, April 18, 2011
Syria protests: 'Thousands occupy Homs after funerals'
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'Mourners chanted anti-government slogans as they marched through Homs' Thousands of anti-government protesters have occupied the centre of Syria's third largest city, Homs, according to opposition activists. Video footage uploaded onto the internet appears to show people sitting on the ground in the main square. Earlier, funerals were held for some of those killed in Sunday's violence in the city, with crowds calling for the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad. Syria's interior ministry has said the unrest amounts to armed insurrection. Eight people died in Homs on Sunday after soldiers fired on crowds protesting at the death of a tribal leader in state custody. "The course of the previous events... have revealed that they are an armed insurrection by armed groups belonging to Salafist organisations, especially in the cities of Homs and Banias” - Interior ministry statement The opposition says the occupation of the city centre will continue until their political demands are met. These include the immediate lifting of Syria's longstanding emergency laws and the release of political prisoners. Activists say that checkpoints have been set up around the square to ensure that people coming in are unarmed civilians. One opposition supporter, who said his brother was shot dead in Sunday's protests, said volunteers were providing the demonstrators with food and water. Another, Najati Tayyara, told AFP news agency: "More than 20,000 people are taking part in the sit-in at Al-Saa Square and we have renamed it Tahrir Square like the one in Cairo. "It is an open-ended sit-in which will continue until all our demands are satisfied." 'Ambush' Syria's official news agency has also been reporting on events in Homs. It says three army officers including a brigadier-general, together with his two sons and a nephew, were ambushed and killed on Sunday by "armed criminal gangs" which then mutilated the bodies with sharp tools. The northern town of Banias also saw anti-government protests on Sunday. In a statement, the interior ministry said: "The course of the previous events... have revealed that they are an armed insurrection by armed groups belonging to Salafist organisations, especially in Homs and Banias." President Assad has pledged reforms to try to calm weeks of protest, but protesters say the concessions are not enough. Human rights groups say at least 200 protesters have been killed in the past four weeks as security forces try to quell the most serious challenge to Mr Assad's rule since he succeeded his father 11 years ago. |
Ivory Coast: Besieged Gbagbo 'in basement' of residence
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Ivory Coast's defiant President Laurent Gbagbo is sheltering with his family in the basement bunker of his residence in the main city, Abidjan. Troops loyal to Mr Gbagbo's rival, UN-recognised President Alassane Ouattara, say they have surrounded the compound. Mr Gbagbo's foreign minister, Alcide Djedje, says there is now a ceasefire, but this is not confirmed by pro-Ouattara forces or the UN. The UN says Mr Gbagbo's military and civilian advisers are leaving him. Negotiations over departure? "We are witnessing new developments on the political front in Abidjan," said the UN mission in Ivory Coast (Unoci) in a statement. "Mr Gbagbo's closest advisers, both military and civilian, are leaving him while, with a handful of persons, he is known to have retreated to the basement bunker of the presidential residence." Mr Gbagbo has refused to leave office even though the Ivorian election commission declared him the loser of November's run-off vote, and the UN certified the result. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has said Mr Gbagbo is in negotiations over his departure. Asked if he knew of such negotiations, Mr Juppe said: "We are aware." He added: "If there are possibilities to see him leave power, then we are ready." Mr Gbagbo's army chief, Gen Philippe Mangou, told the AFP news agency his troops had stopped fighting. "Following the bombardment by the French forces on some of our positions and certain strategic points in the city of Abidjan, we have ourselves stopped fighting and have asked the general commanding Onuci for a ceasefire," Gen Mangou said. Gen Mangou deserted last week, but was said to have returned to the fold on Monday after an apparent change of heart. Mr Djedje, speaking from the French embassy in Abidjan, told the BBC the "war is over". As he spoke, shooting could be heard in the background. UN and French helicopters attacked targets around the compound on Monday. Pro-Ouattara forces said earlier they had already overrun the residence. They say there are a number of non-uniformed militiamen firing at them from buildings as they try to advance through the city. Many civilians remain trapped in their homes. Food, water and electricity are scarce in the city of about four million people after days of fighting. Forces loyal to Mr Ouattara, a former International Monetary Fund economist, began a dramatic military offensive last week, sweeping in from the north and west. Patrick Achi, a spokesman for Mr Ouattara, told the BBC earlier that if Mr Gbagbo were captured, he would be arrested and "brought to justice". Russian criticism UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the raids launched on Monday evening against Mr Gbagbo's arsenal were to stop attacks on civilians. UN Mi-24 helicopters are reported to have bombarded five targets: Mr Gbagbo's residence, a republican guard base, state television headquarters, the Akban paramilitary base and the Akouedo arms depot. UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said that a UN Security Council resolution authorised such action. The use and calibre of heavy weapons by Gbagbo forces had, he said, escalated sharply in recent days. Unoci had also been under almost continuous attack, he said. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: "We are now looking into the legal side of the issue because peacekeepers had a mandate which requires them to be neutral and impartial." French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a statement he had authorised the 1,600-strong French Licorne force in the country to help the UN military response. Ivory Coast gained independence from France in 1960, but has hosted French peacekeepers since its civil war almost a decade ago. The French military says it has about 1,900 foreigners under its protection in Abidjan, and nearly 450 others have already left the country. The UN has sent an envoy to investigate a massacre of hundreds of civilians in the western town of Duekoue last week. Each side has blamed the other for the killings, which the International Committee of the Red Cross says claimed at least 800 lives. |
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Jamie Oliver: The 'Food Revolution' continues
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| The celebrity chef and healthy-eating advocate targets Los Angeles in the second season of his show; Last year, chef Jamie Oliver braved “the eye of the storm,” taking his ABC series “Food Revolution” to Huntington, W. Va. — dubbed the unhealthiest city in America — to foster healthier eating habits and combat obesity and its consequences like diabetes and heart disease. Happily reporting that “Everything I set up is still running, the kitchen is booked three months in advance” in Huntington, Oliver has turned his attentions westward for the show’s second season, which premiers April 12. “I felt that California and L.A. was perfectly suited to inspire. I felt passionately that L.A. was the right place to go. You’ve got some healthy, fit people and some of the most wonderful food in the world. But you’ve also got some incredible poverty and people have to spend two or three hours on a round trip getting fresh food,” he explains. But he wasn’t prepared for the opposition he faced from the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). “I never think anything involving change of heart or mind is going to be easy. Clearly, as far as organizations or businesses or civic bodies like education authorities are concerned, it’s always going to be really painful,” he acknowledges. Nevertheless, he “never expected to be banned from every single school in the district. But the public — parents, teachers, principals or the students themselves — made it pretty clear they would have liked me to get involved. When it’s a public civic organization that affects so many people and is controlled by so few, it just doesn’t seem right to me,” says Oliver, also a producer of the Emmy-winning series. Dismayed by the “lack of transparency [about] where the food came from” but not one to take no for an answer, Oliver persists in attending bi-weekly LAUSD public board meetings in the hope that a new superintendant might “play ball, but at the moment it’s pretty much a stalemate.” In the meantime, as seen in episode one, he focuses his appeal on parents and teachers, opens a kitchen in Westwood, and tries to make over the menu at a fast-food drive-thru. Oliver’s goal with “Food Revolution,” which grew out of a series of documentaries he did in Britain, “is to provoke change, trying to get Americans to expect more and getting them a bit more streetwise about food. I’m praying that people will get pissed off with some of the stuff they see. What we’re trying to do is facilitate activism,” and he hopes that his companion website will help on that score. “You’re going to see in the show that 17-year-olds, a year away from voting, have an incredibly low general knowledge of really basic stuff — where food comes from, what it does to their bodies,” reflects Oliver. While he’d like to see the best-quality food on school menus, and points out that “it’s quite easy to upgrade to free-range eggs and organic milk without upsetting the budget, the sad reality that the war is really processed, low-quality food vs. fresh chicken, and that chicken isn’t likely to be organic or free-range,” he says, content for now to cover that aspect in educational materials he provides to teachers. “It’s about choosing your battles,” he says. “We’re working from the bottom up here.” |
Top Breakfast Trends
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Are People being smart with the most important meal of the day? Somewhat.Its Top Ten Breakfast Trends for 2011. There are some trends like chocolate for breakfast and fast food restaurants offering more and more breakfast items that aren’t so impressive. But, there are a few things on the list that show peoples making some smart choices. Oatmeal. The whole grain hot cereal came in at number one. Chain restaurants like and McDonalds Starbucks have it on the menu. I had a fabulous oatmeal last week at Le Pain Quotidien in New York City the other day – organic steal cut oats, milk, granola, and stone fruit, and I chose that over their to-die-for pastries. Guess I’m trendy for once. Coffee. Another trend that’s good is coffee made at home. Making your own coffee will certainly save you a ton of money, and it’s also usually more environmentally friendly to brew your own. There’s much less waste – no disposable cups, stir sticks, creamer containers or sugar packets, and you can chose Fair Trade, organic coffee. Second breakfast. This isn’t so smart if you’re eating two Denny’s Grand Slams in the morning, but the trend is to have something small first thing in the morning, perhaps coffee and a banana. Around mid-morning people are eating again choosing power bars, yogurt, granola, and possibly a second coffee. If done smartly, second breakfast can make the most of those mid-morning munchies. Eggs. The Food Channel sees eggs making a comeback from last year’s recall. My favorite way to eat an egg in the morning is about as simple as it gets. I crack it in a bowl, add a pinch of salt, snip some fresh chives in it, then pour it into a hot pan and scramble it up. Served with fresh fruit on the side, it’s a quick, satisfying, healthy breakfast. |
Yuri Gagarin's blast-off conversation topics revealed
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Before making his pioneering voyage into space 50 years ago, Gagarin made sure he had enough sausage to last him for the trip home to Moscow. One of the last things Yuri Gagarin did before making his pioneering voyage into space 50 years ago was make sure he had enough sausage to last him on the trip back home to Moscow. This tidbit was among more than 700 pages of once-secret material linked to the life and times of the world's first spaceman that were released by Russia ahead of the April 12 anniversary. The historic space shot turned Gagarin into an instant celebrity whose boyish charms became a powerful propaganda weapon for the Soviet Union as it scrambled to win its ideological battle against the United States during the Cold War. His boy-next-door grin and outsized helmet became a staple of Soviet stamps while his heroism turned into a subject of elementary school literature that became comparable to the teachings of Lenin. Russian authorities — with their own space program in trouble — have grabbed on to that glory by making the Gagarin celebrations into a national event stretching from the halls of the Kremlin to the International Space Station. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is planning a visit to the mission control centre outside Moscow while his mentor and predecessor Vladimir Putin will hold his own meeting with Russian and Ukrainian cosmonauts in Ukraine. But making the biggest news among Russians this weekend were files revealing the conversation Gagarin had while strapped into his capsule with chief rocket designer Sergei Korolyov, a man who became a legend in his own right. Gagarin is best remembered by a generation of Russian for pronouncing "Poyekhali!" as his Vostok spacecraft lifted off the ground. The phrase can be translated as either "Let's go!" or "We're off!" and is now a regular part of the Russian lexicon. But the Russian Internet was abuzz with what Gagarin said moments before his famous catchphrase. One of Korolyov's biggest worries appeared to be that the would-be hero had enough to eat once he touched down on Earth. "There in the flap you have dinner, supper and breakfast," the father of the Soviet rocket program told Gagarin by radio as the clock ticked down. "Got it," Gagarin replied in comments originally posted on the lifenews.ru website. "You've got sausage, candy and jam to go with the tea," Korolyov went on. "Sixty-three pieces — you'll get fat! When you get back today, eat everything right away." Gagarin joked back: "The main thing is that there is sausage — to go with the moonshine." Korolyov appeared to take the joke in stride. "Damn. This thing is recording everything, the b*stard," the scientist said in reference to the relay recorders. The website also published a photograph of the original faded sheet on which the conversation is transcribed. Lifenews.ru added that Gagarin appeared to be singing and whistling to himself while mission control continued conducting various last-minute checks. Not all of them went smoothly. Gagarin at one point is told to rip off some adhesive tape and adjust a piece of equipment because "we forgot to tape that thing." He is later told that access hatch would have to be readjusted because "one of the contacts failed to light up" on the mission control panel. Gagarin appeared to take everything in stride and began happily reporting all he saw once his spacecraft was finally aloft. Various historians noted that one of the Soviet officials' biggest fears was that their cosmonaut would lose consciousness once he became weightless. |
Nitrogen key in feeding world but pollution is costly
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Half the world's population depends on nitrogen-based fertilizer for food, but nitrogen compounds also pollute air, soil and water.LONDON - Nitrogen compounds play a vital role in feeding a rising world population but they also pollute air, soil and water, costing each person in Europe up to 740 euros ($1,066) a year, according to a study published on Monday. The study, carried out by 200 experts from 21 countries and 89 organizations, estimated the annual cost of damage caused by nitrogen pollution across Europe was 70 billion to 320 billion euros. "Nearly, half the world's population depends on synthetic, nitrogen-based fertilizer for food but measures are needed to reduce the impacts of nitrogen pollution," said lead editor Mark Sutton of the UK's Center for Ecology and Hydrology. "Solutions include more efficient use of fertilizers and manures, and people choosing to eat less meat." Agriculture accounts for about 80 percent of nitrogen emissions. The livestock sector, including crops grown for animal feed, accounts for most of that. It only, however, accounts for 40 percent of the cost as the nitrogen compounds produced through burning fossil fuels pose a greater threat to the environment. Small portions The study was due to be launched on Monday at a conference in Edinburgh, Scotland which Sutton said would be run with "half meat portions." "The amount of livestock we chose to have is critical in determining the scale of the impacts," Sutton said. Nitrogen accounts for about 78 percent of the earth atmosphere and only poses a threat to human health, soil, water and ecosystems when it is transformed into compounds such as nitrous oxide. "Nitrogen is absolutely critical for human wellbeing but the challenge is how do we capture the benefits of nitrogen and minimize the adverse effects," said Robert Watson, chief scientist at Britain's ministry for environment, farming and rural affairs. "It is not about getting rid of fertilizers, it is how do we use fertilizers in a much more careful way through precision agriculture so we capture those benefits for agricultural productivity without having these negative effects," he told reporters are a briefing ahead of the report's release. Watson said NOx (nitrogen oxides) emissions had dropped 60 percent since 1990 in Britain and nitrogen fertilizer use had dropped by 19 percent between 1998 and 2010. |
Paris sewers to heat schools and palace
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The sewers are at the center of a renewable energy experiment to harness heat for buildings, including the presidential palace.PARIS - The Paris sewers — whose murky labyrinths have been reviled and romanticized through history — are at the center of a renewable energy experiment to harness heat for buildings, including the presidential palace. Paris wants green sources to fuel 30 percent of its energy needs by 2020 and a new heating project at a primary school is the city's first using power from sewers, where temperatures average between 53 to 68 Fahrenheit. The technology takes advantage of the warm waste water flowing into the sewers from showers, dishwashers and washing machines. A steel plate containing heat-conveying fluid is submerged in the waste and feeds a heat exchanger pump — in this case located in the school's cellar — which circulates heat through an existing network of radiators. Engineers say the process is safe, non-polluting and — more importantly, does not smell. "It's very modern, intelligent from the point of view of sustainable energy and it's really a hallmark of the dynamism of Paris," said Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, outside Wattignies school on the city's southeastern side. Paris is not the first place to turn to sewage as a source of energy — the technology has been used elsewhere in France, as well as in Norway, Japan and Canada, where it helped heat the 2010 Olympic Village — but it is one of the most high profile. Indeed another future beneficiary of sewer-generated heat in Paris will be none other than President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose Elysee Palace plans to use its own sewer heat system from mid-2011, a spokeswoman there told Reuters. Home in the 19th century to rats, pickpockets, intrepid tour groups and the odd corpse, the Paris sewers were described by Victor Hugo as "the conscience" of the teeming city and were immortalized in his epic novel Les Miserables, as well as in Gaston Leroux's "The Phantom of the Opera" a few years later. Today, the sewers pump 10 billion cubic feet of waste water per year through a vast maze some 1,491 miles in length, and tourists still descend into the city's bowels to view the system first hand. The heating technology is not universally applicable, however, as the harnessed heat can only be used within 656 feet of its source — making it impractical for city districts lying far away from the sewage network. That means that only 10 percent of Paris could be heated through sewer energy, said Denis Penouel, the city's head of water and sanitation. Another challenge for developers is the big initial cost of setting up the infrastructure. "It's a project that consumes a lot of capital," said Thierry Franck de Preaumont, president of CPCU, the local heating utility involved in the project. The Wattignies school project, which cost 400,000 euros ($568,360), will take care of 70 percent of its heating needs. Next up are a handful of similar projects at a municipal swimming pool and a local town hall. |
MNN.COM›Lifestyle› Natural Beauty & Fashion Many women would trade 1 year of life to be thin
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Women would also give up salaries, promotions and even some degree of health to reach their ideal body weight.Almost one-third of young women would trade at least a year of their lives to have a perfect body, according to a new survey of British undergraduates.The survey found that 16 percent of young women queried said they'd trade a year of life for their ideal body weight and shape. Ten percent were willing to trade two to five years, and 2 percent were willing to trade up to 10 years of life away. One percent said they would give up 21 years or more.The new research is based on a relatively small sample, so the results may not be representative of women in general. But there is past science suggesting such body-loathing is common. The stigma against fat people is going global, according to a recent study. A study published in October in the journal Sex Roles found that even preschool girls are fixated on thinness. About 320 women with an average age of 25 were surveyed on university campuses around the U.K. by researchers from the University of the West of England (UWE) and U.K. eating disorder charity The Succeed Foundation. "The findings highlight that body image is an issue for all women, and not just adolescent girls, as is often thought," survey researcher Phillippa Diedrichs of UWE said in a statement. [Read: All Women Worry About Getting Fat] The majority of the women surveyed were dissatisfied with how they looked, the researchers found. Although 78 percent of the women sampled were normal weight — or even underweight — 79 percent of the survey group said they wanted to lose weight. Only 3 percent said they'd like to gain weight. Negative thoughts about body image were almost universal: 93 percent of the women said they had negative thoughts about their appearance within the last week. Almost one-third had those thoughts several times a day. Almost half of all women surveyed said these pressures weren't entirely internal: 46 percent had experienced ridicule or bullying because of their appearance. In addition, 39 percent of the women surveyed said they would have cosmetic surgery if money was not an option. Three-quarters of those women wanted multiple procedures. Many women were also willing to make other sacrifices for the ideal body, the researchers found. About 13 percent said they'd give up 5,000 pounds ($8,138) a year in salary in return for their perfect body. Eight percent would give up a promotion at work, and 6 percent would give up earning a degree with honors. Nine percent were willing to give up time with friends and partners, while 7 percent said they'd trade in time with their family. Another 7 percent said they would sacrifice health to reach their ideal weight. When asked which celebrity possesses the "ideal" body, the women surveyed most commonly named Kelly Brook, a British model and television presenter. In response to the survey, The Succeed Foundation is launching a program to promote healthy body image on campus. |
Catholic League on Lady Gaga: “She’s talentless and irrelevant”
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In a world that quite surprisingly can’t get enough Gaga, one church group called Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights doesn’t even get offended by her latest attention grabbing antic: playing the role of controversial Biblical character Mary Magdalene in her upcoming video “Judas”. “She just wants to shock”, Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League has concluded in his interview for Hollywood Life. I for one can not imagine a biggest offense for Lady Gaga. Commonly, religious groups such as this league would get offended for issues such as gay people, weed, South Park and of course even the more mundane ads on city buses and sure enough, evil-ass USB devices . We’ve said it before and then we re-affirmed it: Lady Gaga is talentless and annoying. Now the good old church confirms it. What more do you want? |
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