December 25, 2011

Main break cuts off water to an estimated 200,000-250,000 people

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/oakland-park/fl-water-main-break-20111225,0,7813717.story


Main break cuts off water to an estimated 200,000-250,000 people in six Broward cities
Service to most restored, but precautionary boil water notice remains in effect


-snip video-

Water service reportedly remained disrupted to some homes in Broward County Sunday morning following a major Christmas Eve water main break that affected up to a quarter of a million people in Fort Lauderdale, Oakland Park, Wilton Manors, Pompano Beach, Lauderdale-By-The-Sea and parts of Tamarac.

By about 11:30 p.m. Saturday, city crews were able to restore service to most customers by diverting water to other lines. City officials issued a precautionary boil water notice for much of Broward County and said it would be in effect until further notice as water is tested.
-snip-
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that must have been fun for everybody
money, money, money

December 23, 2011

restaurant tables in a vegetable garden

a short story by Connie Willis

titled - Even The Queen

an excerpt or two:

"It was one of those restaurants with a morning-glory vine twining around the maitred's desk and garden plots between the tables.

--

This is a great restaurant," she said. "you don't have to wear shoes." "and if you get hungry while you're waiting, you can just pick something." She twisted around in her chair, picked two of the green beans.
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interesting concept

December 23, 2011

a short, short story by Pat Murphy

His Vegetable Wife

a much discussed short story - its on the net

a story of interest to women

and I wonder what men think of it

December 23, 2011

earth's lungs take a hit

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/20/us/texas-drought-trees/index.html


Drought may have killed a half-billion trees, Texas Forest Service says


-snip-

"Large numbers of trees in both urban communities and rural forests have died or are struggling to survive," said Burl Carraway, head of the forest service's Sustainable Forestry Department.

-snip-

But in the spring, foresters plan to use satellite imagery and aerial photography for a more in-depth analysis that will check for leafing.

-snip-

When you couple a tree's complex and extensive life cycle with the known variables that come with a drought, the process could take a long time. Edgar said that during this time, he expects more trees to succumb to the ongoing drought.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, severe to extreme drought affected about 20% of the contiguous United States as of the end of November.
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the crumbling of the earth continues

December 21, 2011

"unusual mortality event" re: seals

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php


Location: MultiCountries USA, Canada and Russia Arctic coastline


The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared a recent rash of seal deaths to be an "unusual mortality event" on Tuesday. More than 60 seals have died and 75 found diseased in Alaska with skin sores and patchy hair loss. The Fish and Wildlife Service has also identified diseased and dead walruses. A similar official declaration for Pacific Walrus in Alaska is pending. The walruses have suffered from similar symptoms, which have also included labored breathing and appearing lethargic. Scientists have yet to identify a cause for this disease, but tests have indicated that it is not a virus. Hunters, meanwhile, continue to see many healthy animals. Despite a significant contact with seals and walruses, no humans have reported similar symptoms. However, it is not known whether the disease can be transmitted to humans or other animals. In most cases, necropsies and lab tests have revealed skin lesions, fluid in the lungs, white spots on the liver, and abnormal growths in
the brain. Some of the seals and walruses have undersized lymph nodes, possibly a sign of weakened immuned systems. In Canada and Russia, ringed seals have been reported suffering similar symptoms. It is unknown whether they are related.
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sigh

December 21, 2011

bad news from Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant,

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php


Radioactive material has been found in the groundwater around the Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant. Tennessee Valley Authority officials have reported finding elevated levels of tritium in a groundwater sample taken from one of two new onsite monitoring wells at the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant. TVA says these elevated levels pose no threat to the health and safety of the public. "The newly installed groundwater monitoring wells were placed in an area known to have contained tritium that was previously reported," Sequoyah Plant Manager Paul Simmons said. "The health and safety of the public are our primary concern, which is why providing additional monitoring capability to the plant's groundwater wells is an important measure for protecting the community and the environment." There are a total of 16 groundwater monitoring wells on the Sequoyah site. The highest level found in the sampling on Friday, December 16, was approximately 23,000 picocuries per liter. A
"curie" is the standard measure for the intensity of radioactivity contained in a sample; a picocurie is one trillionth of a curie.

None of the Sequoyah groundwater monitoring wells is used for drinking water or irrigation purposes and no potable water wells are downstream of where the tritium was found. Additionally, TVA confirmed no detectable levels of tritium in any sampling of the Tennessee River where the plant discharges water. "Sequoyah voluntarily communicated to federal, state and local officials these elevated sample results due to TVA's own conservative decision-making process and in accordance with a groundwater protection initiative established by the nuclear industry in 2006, " Simmons said. "TVA is reviewing the new monitoring well sample results, determining the cause of these elevated levels and how they relate to the previously reported releases of tritium." An Associated Press investigation published earlier this year found tritium leaks at 75 percent of the commercial nuclear power plants in the United States. The number and severity of the leaks has been
escalating, even as federal regulators extend the licenses of more and more reactors across the nation. Tritium, which is a radioactive form of hydrogen, has leaked from at least 48 of 65 sites, according to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission records reviewed as part of the AP's yearlong examination of safety issues at aging nuclear power plants. Leaks from at least 37 of those facilities contained concentrations exceeding the federal drinking water standard - sometimes at hundreds of times the limit.
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grim

December 20, 2011

Israel places floats at 3 miles from Gaza seashore to build a new border and tighten the siege on th

http://pressenza.com/npermalink/israel-places-floats-at-3-miles-from-gaza-seashore-to-build-a-new-border-and-tighten-the-siege-on-the-gaza-strip?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+pressenza%2FQrjW+%28News+from+Pressenza+IPA+in+english%29


Israel places floats at 3 miles from Gaza seashore to build a new border and tighten the siege on the Gaza Strip


More than 3700 fishermen in Gaza Strip work in fishing industry as their only profession, and this new Israeli procedure will threaten this industry which is considered as the main source of income for thousands of families.

This new Israeli infringement has been added to many other against the Palestinian fishermen like preventing them from fishing, shooting at them, detaining them, confiscation their tools and so on.

-snip-

It's worth mentioning that Israeli Occupation forces have imposed a long term closure on Gaza Strip since 1991, under which they have deprived the Palestinian fishermen their right to fish Gaza's water.

They also decreased the permissible fishing area to 3 nautical miles off the Gaza coast, in spite of the deal between the UN and Israel in 2002 which allowed for fishing up to 12 miles off the coast and the Oslo Accords of 1993 that gave the Palestinian the right of fishing for up to 20 miles.
-snip-
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its awful how hate can twist a country - Israel needs theraphy

December 20, 2011

In Tunisia, a Clash Between the Religious and the Secular

http://chronicle.com/article/In-Tunisia-a-Clash-Between/130120/


The Faculty of Letters, Arts, and Humanities at the University of Manouba, in northeastern Tunisia, has been closed for almost two weeks, paralyzed by a standoff between Islamist protesters who say the university is violating their religious rights, and administrators and professors who say academic freedom is under attack.

-snip-

At Manouba, Habib Kazdaghli, dean of the Faculty of Letters, Arts, and Humanities, hasn't been able to enter his office since December 6, when, he says, a crowd of Islamist students and their supporters from outside the university blocked his way. "They were playing the Koran on loudspeakers," says Mr. Kazdaghli. "They formed a human chain outside my office, they closed the door, they pushed me." They also knocked down a colleague who came to his defense, he says.

-snip-

So far, neither the newly empowered Islamist groups nor the administrators anxious to defend their universities' secular legacy seem ready to give in.

"We want the university's role to be clear in this post-revolutionary period," says Mr. Kazdaghli. "With all due respect for politics and for religion, we want the two to stay outside the university."
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wishing the them well

may politics and religion stay out of the university

December 20, 2011

Bhagavad Gita to hot for Russia

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/ML21Df01.html


-snip-

The Russian ban on the scripture has piqued the 15,000-strong Indian community in Moscow while also upsetting the followers of the International ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) religious movement. The ban, say both groups, was inspired by "religious bias" and "intolerance" from a majority religious group in Russia.

What led to the ban of the text - whose distribution is now rendered illegal on Russian soil - were complaints that the Gita's text, distributed locally by ISKCON, "advocates war" and spreads "social discord".

-snip-

A court in Siberia's Tomsk city - which was to pronounce its verdict on December 19 - has now deferred it to December 28. Sources suggest the date may be deferred still as the case is fraught with diplomatic tensions. Indian diplomats at the embassy have, meanwhile, been following up the case since the time it was brought to their notice earlier this year. But to no avail.
-snip-
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could this be a racist thing

December 20, 2011

Obama cracks down on abuses by big-city police departments

http://www.salon.com/2011/05/30/justice_department_civil_rights_police/?mid=559


In shift from Bush, Obama's DOJ is aggressively investigating police departments accused of civil rights violations


-snip-

In just the past few months, the Civil Rights Division has announced “pattern and practice” investigations in Newark, New Jersey and Seattle. It’s also conducting a preliminary investigation of the Denver Police Department, and all this is on top of a high-profile push to reform the notorious New Orleans Police Department — as well as criminal prosecutions of several New Orleans officers.

-snip-

The allegations of civil rights violations being investigated by the DOJ are often quite brutal but do not make the news outside the cities where they occur.

-snip-

The DOJ’s investigations of troubled large departments “sends a message to the whole field,” says Sam Walker, an emeritus professor at the University of Nebraska who studies police accountability.

“The primary victims of police misconduct are African-Americans and Latinos. The Bush administration simply wasn’t interested in this,” Walker says. “The Obama-Holder DOJ puts a very high priority on this.”
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good news - thank you DOJ