Why are we asking this now? This week three women mounted a legal challenge at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, arguing that the Irish Republic's strict abortion laws violated their rights. Specifically they claim that they had to go abroad for abortions and in doing so their health was put at risk. They say this amounted to inhumane treatment. Two of the women are Irish while the third is a Lithuanian living in Ireland. One was an unemployed long-term alcoholic who lived beneath the poverty line and was trying to regain custody of her four children when she became pregnant. Another was at risk of an extra-uterine pregnancy while the third was recovering from cancer and feared a relapse. The women are said to have borrowed money from friends and a money-lender to travel abroad for their abortions.
This week three women mounted a legal challenge at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, arguing that the Irish Republic's strict abortion laws violated their rights. Specifically they claim that they had to go abroad for abortions and in doing so their health was put at risk. They say this amounted to inhumane treatment. Two of the women are Irish while the third is a Lithuanian living in Ireland. One was an unemployed long-term alcoholic who lived beneath the poverty line and was trying to regain custody of her four children when she became pregnant. Another was at risk of an extra-uterine pregnancy while the third was recovering from cancer and feared a relapse. The women are said to have borrowed money from friends and a money-lender to travel abroad for their abortions.
Ultra-orthodox rabbis in Israel are trying to crack down on growing use of the internet among their followers, saying that it is filled with "abomination" and is leading believers astray. But despite their efforts, the number of ultra-orthodox Israelis online is growing rapidly, while ultra-orthodox websites are proliferating.
Ultra-orthodox rabbis in Israel are trying to crack down on growing use of the internet among their followers, saying that it is filled with "abomination" and is leading believers astray.
But despite their efforts, the number of ultra-orthodox Israelis online is growing rapidly, while ultra-orthodox websites are proliferating.
The ultra-Orthodox community's senior rabbis have declared war on haredi websites, saying they contribute to corruption within the community. Is a harsh document obtained by Ynet Thursday, the rabbis denounce the websites - the majority of which are daily news publications unsanctioned by the ultra-Orthodox establishment - on grounds that they "pursue all manners of news and gossip that defame our public" and "spread slander, lies and impurities to thousands.
Is a harsh document obtained by Ynet Thursday, the rabbis denounce the websites - the majority of which are daily news publications unsanctioned by the ultra-Orthodox establishment - on grounds that they "pursue all manners of news and gossip that defame our public" and "spread slander, lies and impurities to thousands.
In 2010 the German government is planning to pick up the fight against infected home computers. In the first half of next year it plans to set up an advisory centre which will help users purge their computers of viruses and bots. The idea, jointly developed by the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) and the Association of the German Internet Industry (eco), is based on the premise that internet service providers (ISPs) have long had the technical capability to identify infected computers by analysing network traffic. The project was officially announced by BSI and eco at today's fourth national IT summit in Stuttgart. According to the plan, ISPs will contact customers whose PCs are infected with a bot, possibly by post or by telephone. The plan also contemplates having infected computers automatically connect to a special web page each time they connect to the internet. Before the plans are implemented, however, a decision needs to be made on what sanctions customers who decline to cooperate with their ISP can be subjected to. According to an eco project manager, quoted by the dpa, "Anyone surfing without proper anti-virus software is endangering other web users, in the same way that a car driver driving with faulty brakes is endangering other road users."
In 2010 the German government is planning to pick up the fight against infected home computers. In the first half of next year it plans to set up an advisory centre which will help users purge their computers of viruses and bots. The idea, jointly developed by the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) and the Association of the German Internet Industry (eco), is based on the premise that internet service providers (ISPs) have long had the technical capability to identify infected computers by analysing network traffic. The project was officially announced by BSI and eco at today's fourth national IT summit in Stuttgart.
According to the plan, ISPs will contact customers whose PCs are infected with a bot, possibly by post or by telephone. The plan also contemplates having infected computers automatically connect to a special web page each time they connect to the internet. Before the plans are implemented, however, a decision needs to be made on what sanctions customers who decline to cooperate with their ISP can be subjected to. According to an eco project manager, quoted by the dpa, "Anyone surfing without proper anti-virus software is endangering other web users, in the same way that a car driver driving with faulty brakes is endangering other road users."
AFP - France will hand back to Egypt five stolen relics on Monday when President Hosni Mubarak visits Paris, ending a row over the wall fragments sold to the Louvre....The five small relics were chipped off the wall painting of an ancient Egyptian tomb dating back to the 18th dynasty, centuries before Christ, and are currently in storage at the Louvre museum. Cairo's antiquities department, which controls access to all of Egypt's archeological sites, had in October broken off relations with the Louvre in protest and said ties would be restored once the relics were restored.
AFP - France will hand back to Egypt five stolen relics on Monday when President Hosni Mubarak visits Paris, ending a row over the wall fragments sold to the Louvre.
...The five small relics were chipped off the wall painting of an ancient Egyptian tomb dating back to the 18th dynasty, centuries before Christ, and are currently in storage at the Louvre museum.
Cairo's antiquities department, which controls access to all of Egypt's archeological sites, had in October broken off relations with the Louvre in protest and said ties would be restored once the relics were restored.
AFP - Scientists in France have isolated a new giant virus that lurks inside amoeba and whose gene pool includes genetic material from other species. The virus "is a completely new viral form," said Didier Raoult, head of infectious and emerging tropical disease research at Aix-Marseille 2 University in France.
AFP - Scientists in France have isolated a new giant virus that lurks inside amoeba and whose gene pool includes genetic material from other species.
The virus "is a completely new viral form," said Didier Raoult, head of infectious and emerging tropical disease research at Aix-Marseille 2 University in France.
The dinosaur, called Tawa hallae, lived about 230 million years ago and was found in a quarry in northern New Mexico. It possess anatomical features that link it with other dinosaurs living much further south in what is now South America. Researchers said that Tawa supports the idea that the dinosaur lineage evolved in the southern part of the supercontinent Pangea. Successive waves of migration from that region resulted in a diverse variety of dinosaurs spreading to other parts of the giant continent, which later split into several separate continents.Sterling Nesbitt of the American Museum of Natural History said that the discovery of Tawa, along with other two-legged, meat-eating therapod dinosaurs in the same quarry, suggests that dinosaurs did not evolve in the part of Pangea that became North America but that they had migrated there from the south. "We would expect that all of the therapod dinosaurs found in the quarry were related to each other. But they are not. Tawa and two other carnivorous dinosaurs from North America each have their closest relatives in South America," Dr Nesbitt said.
The dinosaur, called Tawa hallae, lived about 230 million years ago and was found in a quarry in northern New Mexico. It possess anatomical features that link it with other dinosaurs living much further south in what is now South America. Researchers said that Tawa supports the idea that the dinosaur lineage evolved in the southern part of the supercontinent Pangea. Successive waves of migration from that region resulted in a diverse variety of dinosaurs spreading to other parts of the giant continent, which later split into several separate continents.
Sterling Nesbitt of the American Museum of Natural History said that the discovery of Tawa, along with other two-legged, meat-eating therapod dinosaurs in the same quarry, suggests that dinosaurs did not evolve in the part of Pangea that became North America but that they had migrated there from the south. "We would expect that all of the therapod dinosaurs found in the quarry were related to each other. But they are not. Tawa and two other carnivorous dinosaurs from North America each have their closest relatives in South America," Dr Nesbitt said.
Boom boom! (I'm here, come to me!) Krak krak! (Watch out, a leopard!) Hok hok hok! (Hey, crowned eagle!) Very good -- you have already mastered half the basic vocabulary of the Campbell's monkey, a fellow primate that lives in the forests of the Tai National Park in Ivory Coast. The adult males have six types of call, each with a specific meaning, but they can string two or more calls together into a message with a different meaning. Having spent months recording the monkeys' calls in response to both natural and artificial stimuli, a group led by Klaus Zuberbühler of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland argues that the Campbell's monkeys have a primitive form of syntax. .... "Krak" is a call that warns of leopards in the vicinity. The monkeys gave it in response to real leopards and to model leopards or leopard growls broadcast by the researchers. The monkeys can vary the call by adding the suffix "-oo": "krak-oo" seems to be a general word for predator, but one given in a special context -- when monkeys hear but do not see a predator, or when they hear the alarm calls of another species known as the Diana monkey. The "boom-boom" call invites other monkeys to come toward the male making the sound. Two booms can be combined with a series of "krak-oos," with a meaning entirely different to that of either of its components. "Boom boom krak-oo krak-oo krak-oo" is the monkey's version of "Timber!" -- it warns of falling trees. There is yet another variation on this theme, Dr. Zuberbühler's team reports. Into the "Timber!" call, the Campbell's monkeys insert a series of up to seven "hok-oo" calls. The combined call indicates the presence of other monkey groups and is heard most often when the monkeys are on the edge of their home range.
Very good -- you have already mastered half the basic vocabulary of the Campbell's monkey, a fellow primate that lives in the forests of the Tai National Park in Ivory Coast. The adult males have six types of call, each with a specific meaning, but they can string two or more calls together into a message with a different meaning.
Having spent months recording the monkeys' calls in response to both natural and artificial stimuli, a group led by Klaus Zuberbühler of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland argues that the Campbell's monkeys have a primitive form of syntax.
....
"Krak" is a call that warns of leopards in the vicinity. The monkeys gave it in response to real leopards and to model leopards or leopard growls broadcast by the researchers. The monkeys can vary the call by adding the suffix "-oo": "krak-oo" seems to be a general word for predator, but one given in a special context -- when monkeys hear but do not see a predator, or when they hear the alarm calls of another species known as the Diana monkey.
The "boom-boom" call invites other monkeys to come toward the male making the sound. Two booms can be combined with a series of "krak-oos," with a meaning entirely different to that of either of its components. "Boom boom krak-oo krak-oo krak-oo" is the monkey's version of "Timber!" -- it warns of falling trees.
There is yet another variation on this theme, Dr. Zuberbühler's team reports. Into the "Timber!" call, the Campbell's monkeys insert a series of up to seven "hok-oo" calls. The combined call indicates the presence of other monkey groups and is heard most often when the monkeys are on the edge of their home range.
While dying, Editor & Publisher taught journalism how to live
I followed the E&P regularly since it had excellent, informed, sceptical and well written articles about the print world.
It's a sad day, but in a strange way the death of Editor & Publisher gives me hope for the future of journalism. Because they showed us a blueprint, that size or technology is overrated, that a half-dozen people can make a difference just by asking the right questions and by not backing down. And if Greg Mitchell and the others could accomplish this at a small, shrinking trade publication, then I know that it can happen again and will happen again, somewhere else and in some other format -- that no-holds-barred journalism is possible even on these weird little newfangled tablets or whatever.
There's an interview with the editor Greg Mitchell (formerly of Crawdaddy, a 70's music paper) that lays out his and E&P's journalistic philosophy. You can't be me, I'm taken
