A German research ship laden with 20 tonnes of iron sulphate has whipped up a storm of protest as it sails towards the Antarctic, where it intends to dump its cargo into the ocean.Scientists on thePolarstern, which set sail from Cape Town in South Africa on 7 January, plan an ocean fertilization experiment that some argue will violate international law.But the scientists say that it will yield the very data necessary to assess the impact of the controversial geo-engineering technique, which aims to trap carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by encouraging the growth of algae. The team, comprising about 50 scientists from Germany, India, Italy, Spain, Chile, France and Britain, is heading for a small patch of the Scotia Sea between Argentina and the Antarctic Peninsula. The researchers hope that the iron will induce an algal bloom in this usually nutrient-poor region, and plan to observe the growth and decay of the organisms in unprecedented detail during the following eight weeks.
A German research ship laden with 20 tonnes of iron sulphate has whipped up a storm of protest as it sails towards the Antarctic, where it intends to dump its cargo into the ocean.
Scientists on thePolarstern, which set sail from Cape Town in South Africa on 7 January, plan an ocean fertilization experiment that some argue will violate international law.
But the scientists say that it will yield the very data necessary to assess the impact of the controversial geo-engineering technique, which aims to trap carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by encouraging the growth of algae.
The team, comprising about 50 scientists from Germany, India, Italy, Spain, Chile, France and Britain, is heading for a small patch of the Scotia Sea between Argentina and the Antarctic Peninsula. The researchers hope that the iron will induce an algal bloom in this usually nutrient-poor region, and plan to observe the growth and decay of the organisms in unprecedented detail during the following eight weeks.
Officials at the Advertising Standards Authority are now considering whether to tackle the question that has taxed the minds of the world's greatest thinkers for centuries.It has recorded 48 complaints since Tuesday when buses first hit the streets emblazoned with the message: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." At least 40 more people were understood to have made objections by last night.Most of those who have contacted the ASA consider the adverts offensive and say they break guidelines on taste and decency.However Stephen Green, the Christian campaigner who led the protests against the BBC's broadcast of Jerry Springer - The Opera, is claiming they should be taken down because the statement in the adverts cannot be substantiated.He said: "If you're going to put out what appears to be a factual statement then you have to be able to back it up. They've got to substantiate this proposition that in all probability, God doesn't exist."The ASA is now considering whether to investigate his complaint, which could lead to it reaching a deep ontological conclusion about a supreme being.
Officials at the Advertising Standards Authority are now considering whether to tackle the question that has taxed the minds of the world's greatest thinkers for centuries.
It has recorded 48 complaints since Tuesday when buses first hit the streets emblazoned with the message: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." At least 40 more people were understood to have made objections by last night.
Most of those who have contacted the ASA consider the adverts offensive and say they break guidelines on taste and decency.
However Stephen Green, the Christian campaigner who led the protests against the BBC's broadcast of Jerry Springer - The Opera, is claiming they should be taken down because the statement in the adverts cannot be substantiated.
He said: "If you're going to put out what appears to be a factual statement then you have to be able to back it up. They've got to substantiate this proposition that in all probability, God doesn't exist."
The ASA is now considering whether to investigate his complaint, which could lead to it reaching a deep ontological conclusion about a supreme being.
"One thing i can't stand is a mess."
"Dead?. No excuse for laying off work."
"Evil.. turned out.. hum hum... rather well."
"I am the Supreme Being, i'm not entirely dim." "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
I think you can make a good case that it's more likely there's no God than it is that Carlsberg is the best lager in the world.
A frankly undrinkable beer. Fai de bèn a Bertrand, te lou rendra en cagant
SInce when does "probably" mean "in all probability"?
What could happen here is that these ads could be taken down with the consequence that no ads implying the existence of God could go up either. Most economists teach a theoretical framework that has been shown to be fundamentally useless. -- James K. Galbraith
Also, once the precendent is establishes that an ad is pulled because metaphysical claims cannot be substantiated, it becomes easier to challenge future ads. Most economists teach a theoretical framework that has been shown to be fundamentally useless. -- James K. Galbraith
...
The 'it offends my sensibilities' claim is more effective. However, this is an organisation uttering its viewpoint, not a company trying to sell some product off the back of controversy slash offended sensibilities. Probably their freedom of no religion / freedom of speech will weigh heavier.
A lobster believed to be some 140 years old is to be freed from the confines of a tank at a New York restaurant. George the giant lobster, weighing 9kg (20lb), will be returned to the ocean, from where he was caught two weeks ago. The crustacean was bought for $100 (£66) by the City Crab and Seafood and quickly adopted as its mascot, posing for pictures with restaurant patrons. But animal rights group Peta sought the lobster's release, and will now put it back into the waters off Maine. It will enter the ocean in the waters around Kennebunkport, where lobster trapping is banned.
A lobster believed to be some 140 years old is to be freed from the confines of a tank at a New York restaurant.
George the giant lobster, weighing 9kg (20lb), will be returned to the ocean, from where he was caught two weeks ago.
The crustacean was bought for $100 (£66) by the City Crab and Seafood and quickly adopted as its mascot, posing for pictures with restaurant patrons.
But animal rights group Peta sought the lobster's release, and will now put it back into the waters off Maine.
It will enter the ocean in the waters around Kennebunkport, where lobster trapping is banned.
The only surefire way to stop criminals stealing data from secondhand computers is to destroy the hard drive, a study by Which? Computing magazine has warned.Even though people think they have wiped data from machines before they sell them on auction sites or put them onto rubbish tips, the files remain on the hard drives - and can contain vital information such as bank details and other personal data sufficient for identity theft. They can be recovered using specialist software that is widely available.The magazine recovered 22,000 "deleted" files from eight computers which it bought from the auction site eBay - demonstrating that normal deletion is insufficient to remove the data.Criminals source used computers in order to find such useful data, the magazine warned. "PCs contain more valuable personal information than ever as people increasingly shop online, use social networking sites and take digital photos," said Sarah Kidner, editor of Which? Computing. "Such information could bring identity thieves a hefty payday."
The only surefire way to stop criminals stealing data from secondhand computers is to destroy the hard drive, a study by Which? Computing magazine has warned.
Even though people think they have wiped data from machines before they sell them on auction sites or put them onto rubbish tips, the files remain on the hard drives - and can contain vital information such as bank details and other personal data sufficient for identity theft. They can be recovered using specialist software that is widely available.
The magazine recovered 22,000 "deleted" files from eight computers which it bought from the auction site eBay - demonstrating that normal deletion is insufficient to remove the data.
Criminals source used computers in order to find such useful data, the magazine warned. "PCs contain more valuable personal information than ever as people increasingly shop online, use social networking sites and take digital photos," said Sarah Kidner, editor of Which? Computing. "Such information could bring identity thieves a hefty payday."
It is the last frontier in the spin wars between Labour and the Tories, and so far David Cameron has had it largely to himself.Now Labour is fighting back in the battle of the blogs, with a new website to be launched this week aimed at sparking an online debate among what it calls "Labour-minded" people over thinking inside the movement. It forms part of Labour plans to "take the fight to the web", with ministers fielding questions in online forums, such as the price comparison website moneysupermarket.com and "virals" - internet spoofs designed to be emailed between friends - increasingly sitting alongside conventional party political broadcasts.LabourList.org was controversial even before it was born, with established Labour bloggers complaining at being left out, and Tory bloggers warning that it would be so heavily censored as to be little more than party propoganda.Its contributors range former Brown spindoctors Charlie Whelan and Spencer Livermore, to Ben Wegg Prosser, a former aide to Peter Mandelson, and the former cabinet minister Alan Milburn.Its new editor, Derek Draper, another former Mandelson aide, insists it will be fully independent of the party, pointing to voices like Ken Livingstone and his former chief of staff, Simon Fletcher, who are both signed up as contributors.
It is the last frontier in the spin wars between Labour and the Tories, and so far David Cameron has had it largely to himself.
Now Labour is fighting back in the battle of the blogs, with a new website to be launched this week aimed at sparking an online debate among what it calls "Labour-minded" people over thinking inside the movement. It forms part of Labour plans to "take the fight to the web", with ministers fielding questions in online forums, such as the price comparison website moneysupermarket.com and "virals" - internet spoofs designed to be emailed between friends - increasingly sitting alongside conventional party political broadcasts.
LabourList.org was controversial even before it was born, with established Labour bloggers complaining at being left out, and Tory bloggers warning that it would be so heavily censored as to be little more than party propoganda.
Its contributors range former Brown spindoctors Charlie Whelan and Spencer Livermore, to Ben Wegg Prosser, a former aide to Peter Mandelson, and the former cabinet minister Alan Milburn.
Its new editor, Derek Draper, another former Mandelson aide, insists it will be fully independent of the party, pointing to voices like Ken Livingstone and his former chief of staff, Simon Fletcher, who are both signed up as contributors.
Within days of one another, two of the nation's top newspapers -- The Boston Globe and The New York Times -- published stories on youth violence. Titled, respectively, "Girl Power" (seriously Boston Globe?) and "A Rise in Efforts to Stop Abuse in Youth Dating," both reported that the rise in dating violence against young women and violence among young men rages on. The really bad news? Law enforcement, educators, and even parents are holding girls responsible for stopping it while entirely overlooking systemic and cultural influences that breed violent behavior. The Boston TenPoint Coalition, a Christian group focusing on "troubled youth," along with Boston School Police, is packing teenage girls into public-school auditoriums and sending them a bold and dangerous message: you must prevent your boyfriends from becoming violent. In addition to being heterosexist, this non-solution conjures up antiquated gender tropes. It paints young men as hormone-crazed meatheads who can't be expected to manage their own emotions or be responsible for their own Cro-Magnon behavior, and young women as moralistic enforcers with no sex drive and nothing better to do than regulate the boys' seemingly untamable instincts. (Interestingly, it's the same sexist framing that the abstinence-only movement has employed for decades without success.)
Within days of one another, two of the nation's top newspapers -- The Boston Globe and The New York Times -- published stories on youth violence. Titled, respectively, "Girl Power" (seriously Boston Globe?) and "A Rise in Efforts to Stop Abuse in Youth Dating," both reported that the rise in dating violence against young women and violence among young men rages on.
The really bad news? Law enforcement, educators, and even parents are holding girls responsible for stopping it while entirely overlooking systemic and cultural influences that breed violent behavior. The Boston TenPoint Coalition, a Christian group focusing on "troubled youth," along with Boston School Police, is packing teenage girls into public-school auditoriums and sending them a bold and dangerous message: you must prevent your boyfriends from becoming violent.
In addition to being heterosexist, this non-solution conjures up antiquated gender tropes. It paints young men as hormone-crazed meatheads who can't be expected to manage their own emotions or be responsible for their own Cro-Magnon behavior, and young women as moralistic enforcers with no sex drive and nothing better to do than regulate the boys' seemingly untamable instincts. (Interestingly, it's the same sexist framing that the abstinence-only movement has employed for decades without success.)
