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News From Elsewhere (10 unread)

Scientists cheer gorilla find, but warn of threats - Yahoo! Newsnews.yahoo.com

Posted: August 5th, 2008, 5:41pm EDT by (author unknown)

Can there be more lurking in the mist? Despite a startling find announced Tuesday that doubled the estimated number of western lowland gorillas in central Africa, scientists warned that hundreds of primate species remain in danger of extinction.
Yosemite shrouded in smokeYosemite National Park News

Posted: July 29th, 2008, 8:59am EDT by (author unknown)

Thousands of firefighters continued to battle a growing blaze in the Yosemite area Monday, hampered by steep terrain and high temperatures.
No More Cases of Norovirus Reported in YosemiteYosemite Blog

Posted: July 25th, 2008, 1:09am EDT by Loyd

No new cases of a norovirus that has been circulating among hikers and backpackers in the Tuolumne Meadows area have been reported since 30 people reported symptoms a week ago.

The Modesto Bee: “About 30 people came down with symptoms consistent with the norovirus infection at the Tuolumne Meadows Lodge and High Sierra camps in the area, said Shane Sims, a specialist in the safety office at Yosemite National Park.

The lodge, at an elevation of 8,775 feet, serves as a base camp for day hikers and backpackers. Park rangers began receiving illness reports the weekend of July 12-13; the cases tapered off last week.

About five hikers with severe symptoms were airlifted from the High Sierra camps, Sims said. Of the six people known to have sought medical attention, all were released from care, officials said.

‘Many of the people who were ill were traveling in tight groups, so it was easy for the illness to spread in those groups,’ Sims said, adding, ‘People shouldn’t fear coming into the park. It appears to be under control.’

Experts with the National Park Service Office of Public Health concluded it was norovirus infection, a common intestinal illness, based on one person testing positive and symptoms that included low-grade fever, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

The illness comes on quickly and goes away in 24 to 48 hours. The highly contagious virus can be spread through contaminated food, water or fecal matter. But park officials said they found no evidence that meals served at the lodge or the camps triggered the outbreak.

It’s also spread by person-to- person contact and easily could have been brought by any of the thousands of people who visit the park each day, officials said. Sims noted there have been other norovirus outbreaks this summer in Mariposa County.”
US vs. UK: Punk Rock Throwdown | JamsBio Biologbiolog.jamsbio.com

Posted: July 24th, 2008, 6:27pm EDT by (author unknown)

A colossal punk rock throwdown. Whose punk scene reigned supreme, US or UK? You decide!
Third Time a Charm for Florine and HirayamaYosemite Blog

Posted: July 2nd, 2008, 10:33pm EDT by Loyd

There’s a new speed record tonight for climbing the nose route up El Capitan this time the record his held by Hans Florine and Yuji Hirayama who made it to the top in 2 hours and 43 minutes breaking a record set last year by two German brothers.

SF Gate: “A Lafayette rock climber and his Japanese partner toe hooked, finger jammed and shimmied 3,000 feet straight up the nose of El Capitan Wednesday, taking from Germany the record for fastest time on the iconic route.

Hans Florine, 44, who grew up in Moraga, and Yuji Hirayama, 39, of Hidaka, Japan, pulled themselves over the top of the immense slab of granite and touched the tree that serves as the finish line on top of El Capitan in two hours and 43 minutes, faster than the record set last year by two German brothers.”
Seero - Steve_McQueen - Bullitt Chase Scenewww.seero.com

Posted: July 1st, 2008, 6:55pm EDT by (author unknown)

Video on location: The famous chase scene from Bullitt. Watch Steve McQueen rip through San Francisco in his Mustang. Expect more famous chase scenes to come.
Your Magical Futureectoblog.com

Posted: June 26th, 2008, 2:25pm EDT by ecto

Governments are in the business of redistributing wealth. That’s what they do. Political parties make it their business to direct this redistribution in the way that suits them; that’s what they do. My party, the Republican Party, makes it its business to redistribute wealth in a way that suits the captains of business and industry, our only real constituents. That’s what we do.

This is a challenging task, of course, because this constituency is very small. To facilitate the process, we as republicans must create a much larger, nominal constituency that supports this aim. The cheapest way to do this is to support issues that are cost-free yet also lead large sections of the electorate to vote for us without realizing they are voting against their own best economic interests. These fear grenades–abortion, flags, the pledge of allegiance, handguns–disguise the real aim of the party, which is to funnel wealth toward the rich. It’s just that simple!

How does one become rich enough to benefit from republican policy? I mean, how do you gain enough wealth to benefit from real republican policy, instead of the cheap, red-meat issues with which we chum the waters to attract your support?

First of all, it’s important to understand that the Republican Party doesn’t want you to be rich. We are already rich; all of our friends are, too. The only thing we want from you is your vote, which will enable us and all our friends to keep buying expensive things while people who aren’t our friends work hard for little benefit. But if, by chance, you somehow become rich–despite the rules and regulations that we have put in place to prevent this from happening–you will be allowed to become our friend. That’s what makes this country great! And if, by some chance, you become rich, then lose it all through illness or serendipity, you will no longer be our friend. It’s a tough world! But please continue to vote for your old friends, because maybe, just maybe, you will become rich again.

I ask you to keep in mind that the future is a magical place where anything can happen. In the magical future, you are not poor. And while it may be true that your former friends are laughing at you in contempt while you continue to vote for them, belief in the magical future still allows you to laugh in contempt at the other poor people around you who vote for republicans because they have been directed to fear non-bible thumping and non-allegiance pledging. And don’t despise your former friends for continuing a policy here or there that allows poor people to continue to be poor instead of dead; throwing a few bones to the hoi polloi is, regrettably, necessary to avoid having to step over their lifeless bodies in the streets, civil war, and the Wall. We republicans have great respect for the Wall, and would prefer that the rest of you never get smart and line us up against it.

So here’s to magical thinking, fear grenades, and the inability to understand how desperately fucked you really are.

Thank you for your support!
Mars whacked by object bigger than Pluto | The Registerwww.theregister.co.uk

Posted: June 26th, 2008, 12:00pm EDT by (author unknown)

Mars whacked by object bigger than Pluto | The Registerwww.theregister.co.uk
EO Natural Hazards: Fires in Californiaearthobservatory.nasa.gov

Posted: June 25th, 2008, 2:54pm EDT by (author unknown)

EO Natural Hazards: Fires in Californiaearthobservatory.nasa.gov
George Carlin mourned as a counterculture heroap.google.com

Posted: June 23rd, 2008, 12:06pm EDT by (author unknown)

George Carlin mourned as a counterculture heroap.google.com