- July 1st : Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day
- July 2nd : World UFO Day
- July 3rd : Compliment Your Mirror Day
- July 4th : National Country Music Day
- July 5th : Work-a-holics Day
- July 6th : National Fried Chicken Day
- July 7th : Chocolate Day
- July 8th : Video Games Day
- July 9th : National Sugar Cookie Day
- July 10th : Teddy Bear Picnic Day
- July 11th : Cheer up the Lonely Day
- July 12th : Different Colored Eyes Day
- July 13th : Fool's Paradise Day
- July 14th : National Nude Day
- July 15th : Tapioca Pudding Day
- July 16th : Cow Appreciation Day
- July 17th : Yellow Pig Day
- July 18th : National Caviar Day
- July 19th : National Raspberry Cake Day
- July 20th : Ugly Truck Day
- July 21st : National Junk Food Day
- July 22nd : Ratcatcher's Day
- July 23rd : National Hot Dog Day
- July 24th : Cousins Day
- July 25th : Threading the Needle Day
- July 26th : All or Nothing Day
- July 27th : Take Your Pants for a Walk Day
- July 28th : National Milk Chocolate Day
- July 29th : National Lasagna Day
- July 30th : Father-in Law Day
- July 31st : Mutt's Day
Saturday, June 29, 2013
The Month of July
The month of July is a National Observances :
Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet (June 21, 2013)
Global Growth
The world's population is likely to increase from 7.2 billion people to 8.1 billion by 2025, and to 9.6 billion by 2050, according to the United Nations. The new projections are a little higher than the U.N.'s last population estimate from 2011. While the statistician who authored the report says more needs to be done to address imbalances in populationgrowth between poorer and wealthier countries, the new upward estimatesshould not be cause for panic. John Wilmoth says the world was able to more than double its food production as the population doubled between 1960 and 2000. But others say that supplies of energy and other natural resources may not be able to keep up with the demands of a growing global population.
Asian Haze
Agricultural burning in Sumatra has sent the worst clouds of smoke in 16 years blowing into nearby Singapore and Mataysia. Skyscrapers were shrouded in haze as Singapore pedestrians were forced to endure the acrid smell of burning vegetation from hundreds of miles away. Health officials urged residents to remain indoors as air quality levels reached unprecedented levels on June 20. Singapore's National Environment Agency said it had alerted Indonesian authorities to do something about the fires that were polluting the region's air. But the Indonesian foresty ministry said firefighters were already tackling the blazes and water-dropping aircraft would be deployed onlyif local governors asked for it. So far, they have failed to do so. Massive burning occurs each year at this time as farmers clear land or plantation owners fell forests for illicit expansion. Regulations prohibiting burning are seldom enforced.
Unintended Fatalities
New research has found that the widespread use of common pesticides can kill up to 42 percent of invertebrates in a region, which make up about 95 percent of all animal species. A team of German and Australian researchers studied the impact of the chemicals on the biodiversity in flowing waters in Germany, France and the Australian state of Victoria. The study examined the effects of insecticides and fungicides that have been deemed "safe" for widespread use. Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists warn that some of the insects being killed, like mayflies, caddisflies and dragonflies, are important food sources for other animals. This means their losses affect animals up the food chain to birds and fish. Companies that manufacture the pesticides are required to prove that they break down quickly and have only limited effects on the ecosystem. But researchers point out that those tests are mostly conducted in laboratory conditions that don't always accurately reflect what happens in the wild.
Earthquakes
More than 500 homes were damaged by the strongest quake to strike Russia's Kemerovo region in 100 years. Geologists said he quake was triggered by coal-mining activity.
* Earth movements were also felt in Crete, the northern Philippines, central Peru, western Guatemala, central Mexico and near Oklahoma City.
Tropical Cyclone
Tropical Storm Leepi became the second such storm in a week's time to drench Japan.
* Tropical Storm Barry came ashore along Mexico's Gulf Coast.
Alaskan Trio
A third Alaskan volcano has shown signs of unrest, causing scientists to raise the alert level southwest of Anchorage. The Alaska Earthquake Observatory said it had detected an increase in surface temperatures and tremors around Veniaminof volcano, on the Alaska Peninsula. The volcano has erupted about a dozentimes over the past 200 years, with the most significant activity occurring between 1993 and 1995. In 2008, it spit out several minor bursts of ash. The latest activity comes just over a month after nearby Pavlof volcano awakened, joining Mount Cleveland volcano in spewing ash.
Exit Experts
Crowds of people rushing from an emergency situation can often look like ants scattering during a crisis. And those insects are helping researchers from Australia's Monash University design buildings that can be evacuated quickly. Therre is little available data on the best places to put exits and obstructions, like support columns, when designing office buildings, transport hubs or sports arenas. And researchers say t would be impractical and even unethical to fake an emergency to test how people would react in a forced evacuation. So Monash researchers Majid Sarvi and colleagues used a citronella insect repellant to make Argentine ants flee from structures that had different exits and obstructions. They found ants were able to evacuate most effectively from exits located in corners of buildings rather in the middle of hallways. That's where they tended to jam up and become confused.
The world's population is likely to increase from 7.2 billion people to 8.1 billion by 2025, and to 9.6 billion by 2050, according to the United Nations. The new projections are a little higher than the U.N.'s last population estimate from 2011. While the statistician who authored the report says more needs to be done to address imbalances in populationgrowth between poorer and wealthier countries, the new upward estimatesshould not be cause for panic. John Wilmoth says the world was able to more than double its food production as the population doubled between 1960 and 2000. But others say that supplies of energy and other natural resources may not be able to keep up with the demands of a growing global population.
Asian Haze
Agricultural burning in Sumatra has sent the worst clouds of smoke in 16 years blowing into nearby Singapore and Mataysia. Skyscrapers were shrouded in haze as Singapore pedestrians were forced to endure the acrid smell of burning vegetation from hundreds of miles away. Health officials urged residents to remain indoors as air quality levels reached unprecedented levels on June 20. Singapore's National Environment Agency said it had alerted Indonesian authorities to do something about the fires that were polluting the region's air. But the Indonesian foresty ministry said firefighters were already tackling the blazes and water-dropping aircraft would be deployed onlyif local governors asked for it. So far, they have failed to do so. Massive burning occurs each year at this time as farmers clear land or plantation owners fell forests for illicit expansion. Regulations prohibiting burning are seldom enforced.
Unintended Fatalities
New research has found that the widespread use of common pesticides can kill up to 42 percent of invertebrates in a region, which make up about 95 percent of all animal species. A team of German and Australian researchers studied the impact of the chemicals on the biodiversity in flowing waters in Germany, France and the Australian state of Victoria. The study examined the effects of insecticides and fungicides that have been deemed "safe" for widespread use. Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists warn that some of the insects being killed, like mayflies, caddisflies and dragonflies, are important food sources for other animals. This means their losses affect animals up the food chain to birds and fish. Companies that manufacture the pesticides are required to prove that they break down quickly and have only limited effects on the ecosystem. But researchers point out that those tests are mostly conducted in laboratory conditions that don't always accurately reflect what happens in the wild.
Earthquakes
More than 500 homes were damaged by the strongest quake to strike Russia's Kemerovo region in 100 years. Geologists said he quake was triggered by coal-mining activity.
* Earth movements were also felt in Crete, the northern Philippines, central Peru, western Guatemala, central Mexico and near Oklahoma City.
Tropical Cyclone
Tropical Storm Leepi became the second such storm in a week's time to drench Japan.
* Tropical Storm Barry came ashore along Mexico's Gulf Coast.
Alaskan Trio
A third Alaskan volcano has shown signs of unrest, causing scientists to raise the alert level southwest of Anchorage. The Alaska Earthquake Observatory said it had detected an increase in surface temperatures and tremors around Veniaminof volcano, on the Alaska Peninsula. The volcano has erupted about a dozentimes over the past 200 years, with the most significant activity occurring between 1993 and 1995. In 2008, it spit out several minor bursts of ash. The latest activity comes just over a month after nearby Pavlof volcano awakened, joining Mount Cleveland volcano in spewing ash.
Exit Experts
Crowds of people rushing from an emergency situation can often look like ants scattering during a crisis. And those insects are helping researchers from Australia's Monash University design buildings that can be evacuated quickly. Therre is little available data on the best places to put exits and obstructions, like support columns, when designing office buildings, transport hubs or sports arenas. And researchers say t would be impractical and even unethical to fake an emergency to test how people would react in a forced evacuation. So Monash researchers Majid Sarvi and colleagues used a citronella insect repellant to make Argentine ants flee from structures that had different exits and obstructions. They found ants were able to evacuate most effectively from exits located in corners of buildings rather in the middle of hallways. That's where they tended to jam up and become confused.
Protect yourself from online scammers
By Bucks County Consumer Protection
Q. I have heard on many occasions of people being scammed through email and the Internet. I can never imagine being scammed. I'm fairly Internet savvy and my computer and email account have settings to weed out potentially harmful messages. How do people fall for these scams? Why don't they protect themselves better?
A. So you're completely safe then, right? Think again. Scammers are getting smarter, too. Here are 10 things you should be alert for when going through your email inbox. Keeping your guard up now will prevent you from worrying later.
Adults Task Force at 1-800-490-8505.
Q. I have heard on many occasions of people being scammed through email and the Internet. I can never imagine being scammed. I'm fairly Internet savvy and my computer and email account have settings to weed out potentially harmful messages. How do people fall for these scams? Why don't they protect themselves better?
A. So you're completely safe then, right? Think again. Scammers are getting smarter, too. Here are 10 things you should be alert for when going through your email inbox. Keeping your guard up now will prevent you from worrying later.
- Emails that contain a link as the only content in the body, bit.ly or shortened links that don't display the actual Web address and hyperlinked text that give you no indication of what you would be clicking. When in doubt, don't click.
- An inordinate number of other recipients. If you get an email with hundreds of other addresses in the recipient field, yet the message seems directed to only one person, your scam sense should be on high alert.
- Questionable subject line. If you receive an email from an address you do not recognize and it contains "no subject," be careful. If you have no idea what you may be opening, it's best to leave it alone.
- Intense enthusiasm. All capital letters is not only annoying, it can also indicate spam when it comes to emails. (e.g. I JUST LOST 45 POUNDS WITH THE XX2 PROGRAM!) Overly enthusiastic emails are a sure sign that the information is not what it seems.
- Grammar and spelling. You don't have to be an English major to notice odd mistakes in scam emails. Look out for major typos and scammers that purposely misspell things to avoid your spam filter.
- Strange requests. If someone is emailing you for medical assistance, it's just not legit.
- Urgency. Typically, people don't use email to notify others in the case of an emergency, when they need "money wired now." If you get an email claiming the situation is a matter of life or death, rest assured that the sender would not be targeting you, a stranger, in the first place.
- Sensitive information. More often than you may expect, people send personal, secure information to scammers. Scammers operate by asking for personal information (credit card numbers, passwords, etc.) and can disquise emails to look official. Companies, schools, banks and other institutions will not ask you to submit sensitive information in an email.
- Name-sender disagreement. Scam email addresses often have different names to dupe the recipient. Check the address before assuming that something is legitimate. For instance, an email from Match.com would not have the address of contact@yourbest-friend.com.
- Guarantees. Please remember that nothing on the Internet is guaranteed. Follow your instincts and pay attention to the sender address, the subject line and promises that are too good to be true.
Adults Task Force at 1-800-490-8505.
F. Y. I.
Try It
No piece of paper can be folded more than seven times.
Famous Firsts
On March 4, 1974, Mia Farrow appeared on the cover of the first People magazine.
Distance Runner
A coyote can cover 400 miles in a single journey.
State Stats
Hawaii is the only U.S. state that grows papayas commerically.
Quotable
by Joyce Carol Oates, novelist
"I have read on a kindle we had only worked for about eight months then it stopped working. You don't have to get books repaired."
Still on the Books
In Sterling, Colo., cats may not run loose without having been fitted with a taillight.
No piece of paper can be folded more than seven times.
Famous Firsts
On March 4, 1974, Mia Farrow appeared on the cover of the first People magazine.
Distance Runner
A coyote can cover 400 miles in a single journey.
State Stats
Hawaii is the only U.S. state that grows papayas commerically.
Quotable
by Joyce Carol Oates, novelist
"I have read on a kindle we had only worked for about eight months then it stopped working. You don't have to get books repaired."
Still on the Books
In Sterling, Colo., cats may not run loose without having been fitted with a taillight.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Advice from someone clueless at giving advice
by Erin Farrell
Central Bucks East High School
In the wake of some typically angsty teenage conflict I recently had the singular pleasure to observe and partake in, I reached the epiphany that I, Erin Elizabeth Farrell, am officially the Queen of Not Knowing What to Say.
Yes, dear reader, it was a hard-earned title toward which I have been striving for a strenuous lifetime of 16-and-a-half years, but as I watched my friends wrinkle their eyebrows at my poorly timed advice or laugh at myuncomfortably not comforting words, I realize I have finally fully reached the esteemed label.
Do not envy me, however, for it is a title earned with many trials and tribulations.
All hilarity aside, I seriously stink at giving advice.
Why? I think it is because I am brutally honest, to a fault at times. Or maybe I'm just bad at taking social cues. Either way, this is why, when faced with situations brimming with adolescent depravity, I always give an answer that is not easy to hear.
How on Earth are you supposed to give advice as a teenager? We don't even understand ourselves, let alone others and their utterly perplexing drama.
Some of my friends have been graced with the poise and cunning of a diplomat, able to dole out useful advice at the drop of a hat.
Me on the other hand? I literally have no freaking clue what to say.
So I decided to give a few pointers on how to feign giving good advice when you are, like me, completely inept at comforting friends you don't quite understand but love as wholly as humanly possible.
Nod frequently
Seriously, nodding is the most underrated form of body language in the human repertoire. Even if you have unfortunately zoned out during the tirade of ceaselessly incomprehensible teen turmoil, just nod. It will get you so far.
Use a lot of eye contact
If their words befuddle you and fail to betray their true emotions, just look at their eyes. As of late, I have developed a meticulously evolved hypothesis that the way person looks at you will consistently say far more than their words ever will. Also, the way they look at you upon immediately seeing you shows how they really feel about you. If at first they grimace and then pretend to smile, I thinkyou know the truth, as hard as it is to hear (or, I guess see).
Utilize vague maxims
Always have countless adages on hand about growing up and moving on. Even if they are not even slightly applicable to the situation, there is some inexplicable form of comfort in sayings that have little to no meaning but remind us of hand-stitched throw pillows in our grandparents' living rooms.
Try to listen
OK, here's where we get to the real stuff. Yeah, maybe as the story progresses, you have already forgotten who broke up with whom, who cheated on whom, who wasn't invited, etc. But at least try to keep track of the story. Ask questions. The more you get to know someone and the harder you try to understand them, I guarantee the better you'll get at aomewhat, kind-of, a-little-bit knowing what to say.
Practice
I MEAN THIS ONE! The more you observe others giving advice and learn what things do not work (ahem, case in point, never actually say how your friends look in dresses or you will quickly regret it), the better you will be at learning what to say in your friend's time of need.
Overall, dear reader, learn as I have that saying the right thing at the right time may not be your skill. So that's my advice for you.
And a hug goes a long way! But definitely not a pat on the shoulder.........seriosly, the one time I tried to do this to a friend made the situation so much worse.
I can't even express the mortification that ensued following the horrifically parental gesture. (DON'T test it..........you'll just have to trust me on this one.)
Central Bucks East High School
In the wake of some typically angsty teenage conflict I recently had the singular pleasure to observe and partake in, I reached the epiphany that I, Erin Elizabeth Farrell, am officially the Queen of Not Knowing What to Say.
Yes, dear reader, it was a hard-earned title toward which I have been striving for a strenuous lifetime of 16-and-a-half years, but as I watched my friends wrinkle their eyebrows at my poorly timed advice or laugh at myuncomfortably not comforting words, I realize I have finally fully reached the esteemed label.
Do not envy me, however, for it is a title earned with many trials and tribulations.
All hilarity aside, I seriously stink at giving advice.
Why? I think it is because I am brutally honest, to a fault at times. Or maybe I'm just bad at taking social cues. Either way, this is why, when faced with situations brimming with adolescent depravity, I always give an answer that is not easy to hear.
How on Earth are you supposed to give advice as a teenager? We don't even understand ourselves, let alone others and their utterly perplexing drama.
Some of my friends have been graced with the poise and cunning of a diplomat, able to dole out useful advice at the drop of a hat.
Me on the other hand? I literally have no freaking clue what to say.
So I decided to give a few pointers on how to feign giving good advice when you are, like me, completely inept at comforting friends you don't quite understand but love as wholly as humanly possible.
Nod frequently
Seriously, nodding is the most underrated form of body language in the human repertoire. Even if you have unfortunately zoned out during the tirade of ceaselessly incomprehensible teen turmoil, just nod. It will get you so far.
Use a lot of eye contact
If their words befuddle you and fail to betray their true emotions, just look at their eyes. As of late, I have developed a meticulously evolved hypothesis that the way person looks at you will consistently say far more than their words ever will. Also, the way they look at you upon immediately seeing you shows how they really feel about you. If at first they grimace and then pretend to smile, I thinkyou know the truth, as hard as it is to hear (or, I guess see).
Utilize vague maxims
Always have countless adages on hand about growing up and moving on. Even if they are not even slightly applicable to the situation, there is some inexplicable form of comfort in sayings that have little to no meaning but remind us of hand-stitched throw pillows in our grandparents' living rooms.
Try to listen
OK, here's where we get to the real stuff. Yeah, maybe as the story progresses, you have already forgotten who broke up with whom, who cheated on whom, who wasn't invited, etc. But at least try to keep track of the story. Ask questions. The more you get to know someone and the harder you try to understand them, I guarantee the better you'll get at aomewhat, kind-of, a-little-bit knowing what to say.
Practice
I MEAN THIS ONE! The more you observe others giving advice and learn what things do not work (ahem, case in point, never actually say how your friends look in dresses or you will quickly regret it), the better you will be at learning what to say in your friend's time of need.
Overall, dear reader, learn as I have that saying the right thing at the right time may not be your skill. So that's my advice for you.
And a hug goes a long way! But definitely not a pat on the shoulder.........seriosly, the one time I tried to do this to a friend made the situation so much worse.
I can't even express the mortification that ensued following the horrifically parental gesture. (DON'T test it..........you'll just have to trust me on this one.)
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Betty Ross and the first flag ------- America's greatest myth?
Throughout my youth in the 1930s and early '40s, children would often sing a little patriotic song we had learned in school.
Commonly referred to as "Three Cheers for the Red, White, and Blue" and sung to the tune of "Oh, Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean," it supposedly told the story of how the first American flag was created for Gen. George Washington by a 24-year-old Philadelphia seamstress named Betsy Ross.
While it's been many years since I've heard it sung, it apparently made a major impression on me as I still remember its words.
Betsy Ross lived on Arch Street near Second,
Her sewing was very, very fine.
General Washington came down to see her,
To order a brand new flag.
Six white stripes and seven pretty red ones.
Thirteen white stars upon a field of blue;
Twas the first flag our country ever floated,
Three cheers for the red, white and blue.
Today, that house in downtown Philadelphia described in the song as being on Arch Street near Second is known as the Betsy Ross House.
After Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, it's the third-most -popular stop for tourists in the historic section of the city, with hundreds of thousands of visitors flocking to it every year. Its official website states : "The Betsy Ross House, the birthplace of the American flag."
And that house isn't the only memorial to Ross.
On Jan. 1, 1952, the U.S. Post Office issued a stamp to honor the 200th anniversary of Ross' birth. It shows her presenting the new American flag to Washington, Robert Morris and George Ross.
In 1976, the Betsy Ross Bridge was opened connecting the city of Philadelphia with Pennsauken, N.J. It's one of only two major bridges in the U.S. named for a woman.
But is the story of Betsy Ross and her creation of the first American flag historical fact?
Many historians don't think so. Some of them seem to put it in the same category as the legend of George Washington chopping down the cherry tree.
Betsy Ross was born in Philadelphia on Jan. 1, 1752, the eight of 17 children of Samuel Griscom and Rebecc James Griscom.
Raised in a home dominated by the plain dress and strict discipline of the Society of Friends (Quakers), she was apprenticed to a local upholsterer where, at age 21, she met, fell in love with and eloped with fellow apprentice John Ross.
Two years after their marriage, and shortlyafter the outbreak of war, he joined a local militia and was reportedly killed by a munitions explosion.
While it's well documented that Betsy would outlive two more husbands, the tale of her creating the first flag didn't even surface until nearly a full century after the supposed event and almost 40 years after her death in 1836.
It came to the forefront as Philadelphians were making plans for the 1876 Centennial Exposition commemorating the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
A couple of years earlier, Ross' grandson, William J. Canby, had presented a paper to the Pennsylvania Historical Society. In it, he claimed his grandmother had been visited by Gen. George Washington in the spring of 1776 and, at Washington's request, she had sewn together the first American flag.
Commonly referred to as "Three Cheers for the Red, White, and Blue" and sung to the tune of "Oh, Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean," it supposedly told the story of how the first American flag was created for Gen. George Washington by a 24-year-old Philadelphia seamstress named Betsy Ross.
While it's been many years since I've heard it sung, it apparently made a major impression on me as I still remember its words.
Betsy Ross lived on Arch Street near Second,
Her sewing was very, very fine.
General Washington came down to see her,
To order a brand new flag.
Six white stripes and seven pretty red ones.
Thirteen white stars upon a field of blue;
Twas the first flag our country ever floated,
Three cheers for the red, white and blue.
Today, that house in downtown Philadelphia described in the song as being on Arch Street near Second is known as the Betsy Ross House.
After Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, it's the third-most -popular stop for tourists in the historic section of the city, with hundreds of thousands of visitors flocking to it every year. Its official website states : "The Betsy Ross House, the birthplace of the American flag."
And that house isn't the only memorial to Ross.
On Jan. 1, 1952, the U.S. Post Office issued a stamp to honor the 200th anniversary of Ross' birth. It shows her presenting the new American flag to Washington, Robert Morris and George Ross.
In 1976, the Betsy Ross Bridge was opened connecting the city of Philadelphia with Pennsauken, N.J. It's one of only two major bridges in the U.S. named for a woman.
But is the story of Betsy Ross and her creation of the first American flag historical fact?
Many historians don't think so. Some of them seem to put it in the same category as the legend of George Washington chopping down the cherry tree.
Betsy Ross was born in Philadelphia on Jan. 1, 1752, the eight of 17 children of Samuel Griscom and Rebecc James Griscom.
Raised in a home dominated by the plain dress and strict discipline of the Society of Friends (Quakers), she was apprenticed to a local upholsterer where, at age 21, she met, fell in love with and eloped with fellow apprentice John Ross.
Two years after their marriage, and shortlyafter the outbreak of war, he joined a local militia and was reportedly killed by a munitions explosion.
While it's well documented that Betsy would outlive two more husbands, the tale of her creating the first flag didn't even surface until nearly a full century after the supposed event and almost 40 years after her death in 1836.
It came to the forefront as Philadelphians were making plans for the 1876 Centennial Exposition commemorating the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
A couple of years earlier, Ross' grandson, William J. Canby, had presented a paper to the Pennsylvania Historical Society. In it, he claimed his grandmother had been visited by Gen. George Washington in the spring of 1776 and, at Washington's request, she had sewn together the first American flag.
Police should have radar
"I can have a machine gun but I can't have a radar gun?"
---------Chief James Boddington, Southern Regional Police
Excellent question, chief.
It goes right to the heart of the matter when it comes to use of radarfor speed enforcement by municipal police officers in Pennsylvania.
We trust our borough, township and city police officers with enforcing laws and investigating all manner of crimes ----- from harassment to homicide.
We trust them with the power to detain and arrest citizens.
We put them behind the wheels of potentially deadly vehicles and allow them to engage in high-speed chases.
We populate drug task forces and heavily armed SWAT teams with municipal officers.
We give them all sorts of high-tech equipment that can be used to investigate and peer into the private lives of suspected criminals.
We trust to safely handle and carry dangerous weapons -------- from pistols all the way up to (apparently, according to the chief) machine guns.
But we don't trust them to use radar guns to stop speeders?
That 's ridiculous.
Worse ------ it's insulting.
State lawmakers' steadfast refusal to OK municipal police radar implies a lack of trust ------ suggesting they think the men and women in blue protecting our towns, cities and countryside are incompetent Barney Fifes.
Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation that forbids radar for municipal officers. State police are peermitted to use this effective, accurate tool, but local police officers must use cumbersome clocking and timing mechanisms to enforce speed limits.
The result is that speed enforcement is not as robust on roads not patrolled by state police.
Many drivers know this, and they flout local speed limits ------ figuring the likelihood of being stopped is low.
And that's dangerous.
Some lawmakers recognize the inequities here and have tried to llow radar for local cops.
Legislation has repeatedly been proposed, only to languish. State Rep. Mario Scavello, R-Monroe County, has been trying to change the law for some time.
He said new legislation, HB 38, helps address concerns that small departments would abuse radar, setting up speed traps that are more focused on revenue than road safety.
Is this the year? Are our legislations ready to help push this measure through?
---------Chief James Boddington, Southern Regional Police
Excellent question, chief.
It goes right to the heart of the matter when it comes to use of radarfor speed enforcement by municipal police officers in Pennsylvania.
We trust our borough, township and city police officers with enforcing laws and investigating all manner of crimes ----- from harassment to homicide.
We trust them with the power to detain and arrest citizens.
We put them behind the wheels of potentially deadly vehicles and allow them to engage in high-speed chases.
We populate drug task forces and heavily armed SWAT teams with municipal officers.
We give them all sorts of high-tech equipment that can be used to investigate and peer into the private lives of suspected criminals.
We trust to safely handle and carry dangerous weapons -------- from pistols all the way up to (apparently, according to the chief) machine guns.
But we don't trust them to use radar guns to stop speeders?
That 's ridiculous.
Worse ------ it's insulting.
State lawmakers' steadfast refusal to OK municipal police radar implies a lack of trust ------ suggesting they think the men and women in blue protecting our towns, cities and countryside are incompetent Barney Fifes.
Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation that forbids radar for municipal officers. State police are peermitted to use this effective, accurate tool, but local police officers must use cumbersome clocking and timing mechanisms to enforce speed limits.
The result is that speed enforcement is not as robust on roads not patrolled by state police.
Many drivers know this, and they flout local speed limits ------ figuring the likelihood of being stopped is low.
And that's dangerous.
Some lawmakers recognize the inequities here and have tried to llow radar for local cops.
Legislation has repeatedly been proposed, only to languish. State Rep. Mario Scavello, R-Monroe County, has been trying to change the law for some time.
He said new legislation, HB 38, helps address concerns that small departments would abuse radar, setting up speed traps that are more focused on revenue than road safety.
Is this the year? Are our legislations ready to help push this measure through?
Friday, June 21, 2013
Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet (June 14, 2013)
A Dustier West
The American West's reputation for being a wild and dusty place has been enhanced over the past few decades by an increase in the amount of dust being blown around the region. Scientists say it's being caused by a variety of factors, such as more frequent windstorms and droughts, as well as the way the land is being used. Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder say the dust clouds can reduce air quality and visibility, and in the worst cases, force highways to be shut down. Redistributed dust is also changing the chemical makeup of the soil across a wide area. Older people who have grown up in the West have long complained that dust storms are becoming more frequent than decades ago. But there had been no direct scientific evidence to prove it until recently. While dust has never been systematically measured, calcium in rainwater at 116 of 175 monitoring stations. The increase was especially focused in locations across Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.
Kamchatka Eruption
Far East Russia's Shiveluch volcano spewed ash nearly 30,000 feet into the sky above the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia's northernmost active volcano wasn't a direct threat to residents in the remote region, but it did prompt an alert for trans-Pacific flights between North America and Asia.
Tropical Storm
Some parts of Japan were drenched by the spiraling bands of Tropical Storm Yagi as the distrubance passed 200 miles south of Tokyo. It was a threat mainly to shipping.
Greenhouse Quandary
Earth's atmosphere received a record amount of manmade carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions during 2012, even as the level of the greenhouse gas produced in the United States and Europe fell. China's booming industries were mainly responsible for a 1.4 percent rise in worldwide emissions, according to the International Energy Agency. Because world leaders have failed to bring about any reduction in overall CO2 emissions, the agency warns that the planet is now likely to warm by 6.5 to 9.5 degrees Fahrenheit. The rise is being amplified by the recent boom in natural gas extraction that has resulted in large amounts of the even stronger greenhouse gas methane spewing into the atmosphere. A new report by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions says the biggest sources of the leaks are at well sites and compressor stations and along gas pipelines. Methane is up to 105 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas on a 20-year timescale. But the increased use of cheaper natural gas has allowed the retirement of a number of old, highly polluting coal-fired power plants, the report adds.
Pollution Drought
Decades of drought across parts of Africa have been caused in part by air pollution generated continents away, scientists say. Researchers from the University of Washington found that sulfur-laden particles in the air from coal-burning factories in the Northern Hemisphere from the 1960s through the 1980s strongly contributed to the arid conditions. The particles slowed warming north of the equator, forcing tropical rain bands to shift southward, away from the Sahel region during the 1970s and 1980s. This eventually brought a protracted period of drought that forced millions into hunger and even famine. It was initially thought the droughts were due to poor farming practices in the affected region. Writing in the journal Geo-physical Research Letters, the researchers say that steps taken in the U.S. and Europe in the 1960s and 1970s to reduce air pollution emissions improved air quality and caused the African tropical rain band to shift back to the north, ending the droughts.
Earthquakes
A remote Aboriginal community in the heart of the Australian outback was jolted by a rare and unusually strong quake that cracked pavement but otherwise caused no significant damage.
* Earth movements were also felt in northeastern New Zealand and central Oklahoma.
Harmful Imposters
Birdwatchers who play back birdsongs on their smartphones to attract wild birds can stop the winged creatures from performing important tasks like feeding their young, experts warn. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) says it is receiving more reports of people playing birdsong recordings so they can photograph birds or observe them up close. "It is selfish and shows no respect to the bird. People should never use playback to attract a species during its breeding season," said southern Wales RSPB spokesman Tony Whitehead. Bird expert Chris Thain told the BBC that people would be "devasted" if they realized how much harm the use of the apps can cause to wildlife.
The American West's reputation for being a wild and dusty place has been enhanced over the past few decades by an increase in the amount of dust being blown around the region. Scientists say it's being caused by a variety of factors, such as more frequent windstorms and droughts, as well as the way the land is being used. Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder say the dust clouds can reduce air quality and visibility, and in the worst cases, force highways to be shut down. Redistributed dust is also changing the chemical makeup of the soil across a wide area. Older people who have grown up in the West have long complained that dust storms are becoming more frequent than decades ago. But there had been no direct scientific evidence to prove it until recently. While dust has never been systematically measured, calcium in rainwater at 116 of 175 monitoring stations. The increase was especially focused in locations across Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.
Kamchatka Eruption
Far East Russia's Shiveluch volcano spewed ash nearly 30,000 feet into the sky above the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia's northernmost active volcano wasn't a direct threat to residents in the remote region, but it did prompt an alert for trans-Pacific flights between North America and Asia.
Tropical Storm
Some parts of Japan were drenched by the spiraling bands of Tropical Storm Yagi as the distrubance passed 200 miles south of Tokyo. It was a threat mainly to shipping.
Greenhouse Quandary
Earth's atmosphere received a record amount of manmade carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions during 2012, even as the level of the greenhouse gas produced in the United States and Europe fell. China's booming industries were mainly responsible for a 1.4 percent rise in worldwide emissions, according to the International Energy Agency. Because world leaders have failed to bring about any reduction in overall CO2 emissions, the agency warns that the planet is now likely to warm by 6.5 to 9.5 degrees Fahrenheit. The rise is being amplified by the recent boom in natural gas extraction that has resulted in large amounts of the even stronger greenhouse gas methane spewing into the atmosphere. A new report by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions says the biggest sources of the leaks are at well sites and compressor stations and along gas pipelines. Methane is up to 105 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas on a 20-year timescale. But the increased use of cheaper natural gas has allowed the retirement of a number of old, highly polluting coal-fired power plants, the report adds.
Pollution Drought
Decades of drought across parts of Africa have been caused in part by air pollution generated continents away, scientists say. Researchers from the University of Washington found that sulfur-laden particles in the air from coal-burning factories in the Northern Hemisphere from the 1960s through the 1980s strongly contributed to the arid conditions. The particles slowed warming north of the equator, forcing tropical rain bands to shift southward, away from the Sahel region during the 1970s and 1980s. This eventually brought a protracted period of drought that forced millions into hunger and even famine. It was initially thought the droughts were due to poor farming practices in the affected region. Writing in the journal Geo-physical Research Letters, the researchers say that steps taken in the U.S. and Europe in the 1960s and 1970s to reduce air pollution emissions improved air quality and caused the African tropical rain band to shift back to the north, ending the droughts.
Earthquakes
A remote Aboriginal community in the heart of the Australian outback was jolted by a rare and unusually strong quake that cracked pavement but otherwise caused no significant damage.
* Earth movements were also felt in northeastern New Zealand and central Oklahoma.
Harmful Imposters
Birdwatchers who play back birdsongs on their smartphones to attract wild birds can stop the winged creatures from performing important tasks like feeding their young, experts warn. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) says it is receiving more reports of people playing birdsong recordings so they can photograph birds or observe them up close. "It is selfish and shows no respect to the bird. People should never use playback to attract a species during its breeding season," said southern Wales RSPB spokesman Tony Whitehead. Bird expert Chris Thain told the BBC that people would be "devasted" if they realized how much harm the use of the apps can cause to wildlife.
Earthweek: A diary of the Planets (June 7, 2013)
Radioactive but 'Safe'
Scientists studying fish contaminated by radiation that came from Japan's 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster say the radioactivity is far too low to cause any health concerns for seafood lovers. An earlier study by the same scientists that showed elevated levels of radioactive cesium isotope in fish caused "a lot of anxiety," conceded Nick Fisher of Stony Brook University. Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, he and colleagues say that even if Japanese citizens were to eat their average annual diet of tuna, contaminated by the Fukushima reactor meltdowns, they would be exposed to only the same amount of radiation one would get from cosmic rays during a single trans-continental flight. Recent research reveals that plankton contaminated from the disaster is being eaten by marine life across a wide stretch of the Pacific, causing cesium to accumulate in the larger species.
Deep Noise Pollution
The underwater buzzing, whirling and thumping noises generated by maritime traffic have been modeled for the first time on a global scale. Mathematician Michael Porter and geologist Laurel Henderson, who mapped the noise, say they hope a better understanding of the ocean's "soundscape" will be used to help find ways to reduce its impact on marine life. Ocean noise pollution caused by commerical and military ships is considered a threat to whales, dolphins, fish and squid, which use sound to navigate, feed and avoid predators. Because sound waves can travel much farther underwater than through the air, the loud chop of a single propeller can confuse and even physically harm animals hundreds of miles away.
Record Twister
A deadly tornado that struck just west of Oklahoma City on May 31 was the widest ever recorded in the United States, and was the most powerful on the five-point enhanced Fujita (EF) scale. The 2.6-mile-wide twister struck at rush hour, killing three storm chasers, who died when the massive whirlwind destroyed their vehicle. Officials say 19 people died in the storm and accompanying flash floods. Maximum wind speeds reached 295 mph, according to the U.S. National Weather Service, it was the second deadly EF5 twister to strike the Oklahoma City area in less than two weeks, and fortunately passed over a mainly rural area when it was at its peak. But some motorists in its path were sucked out of their vehicles or were tossed off the roadway.
Late Birds
Some migrating songbirds are going a little hungry because they have not adjusted their long-distance springtime journeys back north in response to climate change, a Canadian scientist warns, Kevin Fraser of York University says he found that purple martins, which migrate from the Amazon Basin to North America, arrived too late to enjoy the abundant food that accompanied the earliest and hottest spring on record in 2012. He points out that there are no hints of what spring will be like a hemisphere away in Brazil. The birds don't get their first clues until they reach the U.S. Gulf Coast. Fraser says that, at least in 2012, they "missed out on peak food they need to be productive breeders." He warns that the lack of adjustment to climate change may be contributing to the decline in migratory songbird populations. This is especially a problem for species that migrate very long distances, Fraser says.
Earthquakes
Four people died when a 6.3 magnitude quake struck the heart of Taiwan. The victims were killed by rockslides or falling rocks unleashed by the shaking.
* Ten people were injured in the southern Philippines by a 5.6 magnitude quake that damaged buildings on Mindanao Island.
* Earth movements were also felt in the Indian city of Kolkata, the Sinai Peninsula, the Greek capital of Athens and the southern Hawaiian Islands.
Tropical Cyclone
Tropical Storm Andrea spawned small twisters, waterspouts and flash flooding as it spun off of Florida's Gulf Coast. It later made landfall in a remote area north of Tampa with maximum winds about 60 mph. Andrea was the first named storm of the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season.
Sore Losers
Just like all too many humans, chimpanzees and bonobos are prone to throwing tantrums, pouting and generally acting like poor sports when they don't get what they want, a new study has shown. Monitoring the two species of large apes in the Republic of the Congo, researchers from Yale and Duke universities were able to observe how the animals responded after winning or losing two decision-making games. According to the study, when the primates got stuck with the less-favored food reward during either game, they would often make their displeasure known by huffing, moaning, scratching and banging their fists.
Scientists studying fish contaminated by radiation that came from Japan's 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster say the radioactivity is far too low to cause any health concerns for seafood lovers. An earlier study by the same scientists that showed elevated levels of radioactive cesium isotope in fish caused "a lot of anxiety," conceded Nick Fisher of Stony Brook University. Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, he and colleagues say that even if Japanese citizens were to eat their average annual diet of tuna, contaminated by the Fukushima reactor meltdowns, they would be exposed to only the same amount of radiation one would get from cosmic rays during a single trans-continental flight. Recent research reveals that plankton contaminated from the disaster is being eaten by marine life across a wide stretch of the Pacific, causing cesium to accumulate in the larger species.
Deep Noise Pollution
The underwater buzzing, whirling and thumping noises generated by maritime traffic have been modeled for the first time on a global scale. Mathematician Michael Porter and geologist Laurel Henderson, who mapped the noise, say they hope a better understanding of the ocean's "soundscape" will be used to help find ways to reduce its impact on marine life. Ocean noise pollution caused by commerical and military ships is considered a threat to whales, dolphins, fish and squid, which use sound to navigate, feed and avoid predators. Because sound waves can travel much farther underwater than through the air, the loud chop of a single propeller can confuse and even physically harm animals hundreds of miles away.
Record Twister
A deadly tornado that struck just west of Oklahoma City on May 31 was the widest ever recorded in the United States, and was the most powerful on the five-point enhanced Fujita (EF) scale. The 2.6-mile-wide twister struck at rush hour, killing three storm chasers, who died when the massive whirlwind destroyed their vehicle. Officials say 19 people died in the storm and accompanying flash floods. Maximum wind speeds reached 295 mph, according to the U.S. National Weather Service, it was the second deadly EF5 twister to strike the Oklahoma City area in less than two weeks, and fortunately passed over a mainly rural area when it was at its peak. But some motorists in its path were sucked out of their vehicles or were tossed off the roadway.
Late Birds
Some migrating songbirds are going a little hungry because they have not adjusted their long-distance springtime journeys back north in response to climate change, a Canadian scientist warns, Kevin Fraser of York University says he found that purple martins, which migrate from the Amazon Basin to North America, arrived too late to enjoy the abundant food that accompanied the earliest and hottest spring on record in 2012. He points out that there are no hints of what spring will be like a hemisphere away in Brazil. The birds don't get their first clues until they reach the U.S. Gulf Coast. Fraser says that, at least in 2012, they "missed out on peak food they need to be productive breeders." He warns that the lack of adjustment to climate change may be contributing to the decline in migratory songbird populations. This is especially a problem for species that migrate very long distances, Fraser says.
Earthquakes
Four people died when a 6.3 magnitude quake struck the heart of Taiwan. The victims were killed by rockslides or falling rocks unleashed by the shaking.
* Ten people were injured in the southern Philippines by a 5.6 magnitude quake that damaged buildings on Mindanao Island.
* Earth movements were also felt in the Indian city of Kolkata, the Sinai Peninsula, the Greek capital of Athens and the southern Hawaiian Islands.
Tropical Cyclone
Tropical Storm Andrea spawned small twisters, waterspouts and flash flooding as it spun off of Florida's Gulf Coast. It later made landfall in a remote area north of Tampa with maximum winds about 60 mph. Andrea was the first named storm of the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season.
Sore Losers
Just like all too many humans, chimpanzees and bonobos are prone to throwing tantrums, pouting and generally acting like poor sports when they don't get what they want, a new study has shown. Monitoring the two species of large apes in the Republic of the Congo, researchers from Yale and Duke universities were able to observe how the animals responded after winning or losing two decision-making games. According to the study, when the primates got stuck with the less-favored food reward during either game, they would often make their displeasure known by huffing, moaning, scratching and banging their fists.
Kennections
All five correct answers have something in common.
Can you figure out what it is?
1. The title letter of TV's V stood for what race of alien invaders of Earth?
2. What famed speech by Martin Luther King Jr. ends, "Thank God almighty, we are free at last"?
3. What Billy Crystal character on Saturday Night Live would tell his guests, "You look mah-velous"?
4. The 1906 International Radiotelegraphic Convention officially adopted what code in place of CQD?
5. In June 1965, France refused to take part in a 150th anniversary ceremony to be held at what Belgian battlefield?
Bonus : What''s the "Kennection" between all five answers?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. The Vistors
2. "I have a Dream"
3. Fernando
4. SOS
5. Waterloo
Bonus : All are ABBA songs
Can you figure out what it is?
1. The title letter of TV's V stood for what race of alien invaders of Earth?
2. What famed speech by Martin Luther King Jr. ends, "Thank God almighty, we are free at last"?
3. What Billy Crystal character on Saturday Night Live would tell his guests, "You look mah-velous"?
4. The 1906 International Radiotelegraphic Convention officially adopted what code in place of CQD?
5. In June 1965, France refused to take part in a 150th anniversary ceremony to be held at what Belgian battlefield?
Bonus : What''s the "Kennection" between all five answers?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. The Vistors
2. "I have a Dream"
3. Fernando
4. SOS
5. Waterloo
Bonus : All are ABBA songs
F. Y. I.
Quotable
by Tom Stoppard, British playwright
"Every exit is an entrance somewhere else."
Back Then
In 1878, the first telephone book ever issued contained only 50 names.
State Stats
The first peanuts grown in the U.S. were grown in Virginia.
Necessary Stretch
Roosters can't crow if they can't fully extend their necks.
Table Tidbits
Avocados were once called "alligator pears" because of the appearance of their skin.
Still on the Books
In Palm Springs, Calif., it is illegal to walk a camel down Palm Canyon Drive between the hours of 4 and 6 p.m.
by Tom Stoppard, British playwright
"Every exit is an entrance somewhere else."
Back Then
In 1878, the first telephone book ever issued contained only 50 names.
State Stats
The first peanuts grown in the U.S. were grown in Virginia.
Necessary Stretch
Roosters can't crow if they can't fully extend their necks.
Table Tidbits
Avocados were once called "alligator pears" because of the appearance of their skin.
Still on the Books
In Palm Springs, Calif., it is illegal to walk a camel down Palm Canyon Drive between the hours of 4 and 6 p.m.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Unbelievable that some people still care about color
by Julia Joseph
Archbishop Wood High School
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the long-anticipated 14th segment of Jules Rules.
It was a dark and stormy night, almost midnight, when I came to the sudden realization I am furious people still care about the color of others' skin and judge others' families.
With the recent Cheerios commercial controversy, I thought this might be the perfect time to explain to you exactly why this is one of the stupidest things people have done in years, right in front of the creation of the new Nickelodeon show "Sanjay and Craig."
Consider this your official warning because you are about to enter the complaining zone.
Some commercials are hilarious, no matter how many times you watch them, like the previews for "Despicable Me 2." ( Only 20 days to go!!)
Some commercials are ridiculously depressing, like all those SPCA spots with Sarah McLachlan.
And some commercials are adorable and inspiring, like the recent interracial Cheerios ad.
In this commercial, a young black girl walks up to a white woman and says, "Mom, Dad told me that Cheerios is good for your heart. Is that true?"
And after the mother explains the General Mills cereal's ingredients and confirms they are heart-healthy, the little girl smiles, grabs the box of cereal and runs out of the kitchen.
Then, it cuts to the father, an African-American man, who wakes up from a nap on the couch with a pile of Cheerios over his left chest. If you want to watch it for yourself, it's called "Just Checking" and can be found on Cheerios' YouTube.
Why isn't that the cutest commercial of the year, you might ask? Because of the colors of the actors skins.
Oh, goodness me, I completely forgot! We live in the 1950s where this is completely unheard of and it's an insane concept to think about! I don't even have a friend who has an interracial family! Why, how could General Mills ever allow this on TV?
I really wonder if people think things through before they open their big mouths and spout horrible, vulgar remarks to a company with the bravery to move forward like that. So horrible and vulgar were these things that Cheerios disabled the comments on its YouTube channel.
Upon hearing about the controversy, actor Malik Whitefield, who plays the father in the commerical, said: "As an actor who happens to be African-American, I am very proud to be part of the forward-thinking Cheerios commercial produced by General Mills. I believe it represents what America stands for ----- regardless of race, creed or sexual preference. To all of the wonderful people who have supported this heartwarming and very adorable commerical, I applaud you all."
When I first saw this commerical, I'll admit the interracial family caught my attention; I'm not going to pretend I'm colorblind. However, I thought to myself afterwards: "Wow, that's really cool of Cheerios."
I believe wholeheartedly that, while I was initially taken aback by the makeup of this family, this should be recognized as the best commercial of the year. For its adorable ending scene.
And most of all, for the last word we see in that commercial, "love," which is a reminder to all of us that's the only thing needed to make up a real family.
Archbishop Wood High School
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the long-anticipated 14th segment of Jules Rules.
It was a dark and stormy night, almost midnight, when I came to the sudden realization I am furious people still care about the color of others' skin and judge others' families.
With the recent Cheerios commercial controversy, I thought this might be the perfect time to explain to you exactly why this is one of the stupidest things people have done in years, right in front of the creation of the new Nickelodeon show "Sanjay and Craig."
Consider this your official warning because you are about to enter the complaining zone.
Some commercials are hilarious, no matter how many times you watch them, like the previews for "Despicable Me 2." ( Only 20 days to go!!)
Some commercials are ridiculously depressing, like all those SPCA spots with Sarah McLachlan.
And some commercials are adorable and inspiring, like the recent interracial Cheerios ad.
In this commercial, a young black girl walks up to a white woman and says, "Mom, Dad told me that Cheerios is good for your heart. Is that true?"
And after the mother explains the General Mills cereal's ingredients and confirms they are heart-healthy, the little girl smiles, grabs the box of cereal and runs out of the kitchen.
Then, it cuts to the father, an African-American man, who wakes up from a nap on the couch with a pile of Cheerios over his left chest. If you want to watch it for yourself, it's called "Just Checking" and can be found on Cheerios' YouTube.
Why isn't that the cutest commercial of the year, you might ask? Because of the colors of the actors skins.
Oh, goodness me, I completely forgot! We live in the 1950s where this is completely unheard of and it's an insane concept to think about! I don't even have a friend who has an interracial family! Why, how could General Mills ever allow this on TV?
I really wonder if people think things through before they open their big mouths and spout horrible, vulgar remarks to a company with the bravery to move forward like that. So horrible and vulgar were these things that Cheerios disabled the comments on its YouTube channel.
Upon hearing about the controversy, actor Malik Whitefield, who plays the father in the commerical, said: "As an actor who happens to be African-American, I am very proud to be part of the forward-thinking Cheerios commercial produced by General Mills. I believe it represents what America stands for ----- regardless of race, creed or sexual preference. To all of the wonderful people who have supported this heartwarming and very adorable commerical, I applaud you all."
When I first saw this commerical, I'll admit the interracial family caught my attention; I'm not going to pretend I'm colorblind. However, I thought to myself afterwards: "Wow, that's really cool of Cheerios."
I believe wholeheartedly that, while I was initially taken aback by the makeup of this family, this should be recognized as the best commercial of the year. For its adorable ending scene.
And most of all, for the last word we see in that commercial, "love," which is a reminder to all of us that's the only thing needed to make up a real family.
Wrighting history over again
The Wright Brothers weren't what?
Good ol' Orville and Wilbur weren't the first men to fly? This is what the Connecticut Legislature is trying to sell me ------ that a German-born aviator and Bridgeport, Conn., resident named Gustav Whitehead beat them by more than two years when he took to the sky in his airplane over Bridgeport in 1901. What in the name of the Mile High Club is going on here?
If this is true, you mean I spent all that money to visit the Wright Brothers museum near Kitty Hawk, N.C., where the historic flight took place, to honor two guys who won the silver, not the gold, when I could have been drinking in a Corona on the beach instead of false history?
You mean as I pulled muscles I didn't realize I had while trudging those sun-baked Carolina hills to reach the historic takeoff spot that I did so to honor the runners-up?
And what of that bakery near my hometown that honored the hero aviators by naming types of bread Orville and Wilbur rye?
The Wright Brothers weren't the first to fly? Next thing you're going to tell me is that Buzz actually sneaked down the ladder of the Eagle before Neil as the latter was taking a final sip of Tang.
Based on a 1901 Connecticut newspaper account and an enlarged, blurry photo discovered by Australian aviation historian John Brown in a museum attic in Germany in March, Connecticut state lawmakers passed a bill last week honoring Whitehead as the first man to achieve flight.
The enlarged photo is hardly a DNA strand connecting Whitehead and the friendly skies; it looks more like a faded goldfish cracker in a bowl of diluted mustard than irrefutable evidence crowning him king of the clouds.
If the photo isn't definitive proof that Whitehead bested the Wrights, Brown believes the accounts of 17 witnesses interviewed in the 1930s who claim they saw Whitehead flying are proof.
So, exactly why is Connecticut attempting to move the Wright Brothers from first class to coach in the annals of history?
Money.
Imagine that.
Good ol' Orville and Wilbur weren't the first men to fly? This is what the Connecticut Legislature is trying to sell me ------ that a German-born aviator and Bridgeport, Conn., resident named Gustav Whitehead beat them by more than two years when he took to the sky in his airplane over Bridgeport in 1901. What in the name of the Mile High Club is going on here?
If this is true, you mean I spent all that money to visit the Wright Brothers museum near Kitty Hawk, N.C., where the historic flight took place, to honor two guys who won the silver, not the gold, when I could have been drinking in a Corona on the beach instead of false history?
You mean as I pulled muscles I didn't realize I had while trudging those sun-baked Carolina hills to reach the historic takeoff spot that I did so to honor the runners-up?
And what of that bakery near my hometown that honored the hero aviators by naming types of bread Orville and Wilbur rye?
The Wright Brothers weren't the first to fly? Next thing you're going to tell me is that Buzz actually sneaked down the ladder of the Eagle before Neil as the latter was taking a final sip of Tang.
Based on a 1901 Connecticut newspaper account and an enlarged, blurry photo discovered by Australian aviation historian John Brown in a museum attic in Germany in March, Connecticut state lawmakers passed a bill last week honoring Whitehead as the first man to achieve flight.
The enlarged photo is hardly a DNA strand connecting Whitehead and the friendly skies; it looks more like a faded goldfish cracker in a bowl of diluted mustard than irrefutable evidence crowning him king of the clouds.
If the photo isn't definitive proof that Whitehead bested the Wrights, Brown believes the accounts of 17 witnesses interviewed in the 1930s who claim they saw Whitehead flying are proof.
So, exactly why is Connecticut attempting to move the Wright Brothers from first class to coach in the annals of history?
Money.
Imagine that.
Let's focus on danger of driving while distracted
The recent death of a Hatfield teenager allegedly run down by a texting motorist along Route 309 can only sharpen the debate over Pennsylvania's lax rules on cellphone use behind the wheel.
As family and friends continue to mourn the crash victim, 15-year-old Dennis Kee ------ and as Montgomery County prosecutors pursue vehicular homicide and drunken-driving charges lodged last month against the driver, 31-year-old Sarah Derstein of Lansdale ----- the tragedy provides sad testimony to the need to do more to combat distracted driving nationally.
For Harrisburg officials, the lesson of Kee's death --- as well as of the thousands of accidents attributed to highway cellphone use every year ----- should be clear: The stand-alone texting ban enacted by the Republican-controlled legislature and Gov. Corbett has failed to get phones out of the hands of drivers.
That's partly due to lawmaker's refusal to get behind a ban on using any handheld device while driving, as New Jersey and a number of other states have done. Had the commonwealth banned the use of handheld phonesin favor of hands-free devices, it would be illegal for drivers to clutch their phones for any reason, not just to engage in the risky practice of reading and sending text messages.
Now it's clear that lawmakers should revisit the state's distracted-driving rules and enact such a ban on all handheld phone use. That would do much more to save lives than merely relying on the hope that more drivers will comply with the text-messaging ban.
Lawmakers grappling with a new state budget this month likely will include much-needed additional funding for upkeep of roads, bridges, and mass transit. Making the roads saver with a ban on handheld phone use would be a natural companion measure.
But given some state lawmakers' stubborn reluctance to embrace commonsense rules on distracted driving even now, it's that much more important for federal highway safety officials to push ahead with guidelines encouraging auto manufacturers to install electronic devices that cannot be operated unless a vehicle is stopped. In additionto disabling Internet-linked devices, the voluntary guidelines being crafted by federal officials would specify that no onboard gadget could require a driver to look away from the road for more than two seconds at a time.
A recent survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that more than a third of drivers had read text messages while behind the wheel, and that nearly that many had sent texts. It's become clear that only a combination of tougher enforcement and technological advances can protect motorists and pedestrians alike from the risks of distracted driving.
As family and friends continue to mourn the crash victim, 15-year-old Dennis Kee ------ and as Montgomery County prosecutors pursue vehicular homicide and drunken-driving charges lodged last month against the driver, 31-year-old Sarah Derstein of Lansdale ----- the tragedy provides sad testimony to the need to do more to combat distracted driving nationally.
For Harrisburg officials, the lesson of Kee's death --- as well as of the thousands of accidents attributed to highway cellphone use every year ----- should be clear: The stand-alone texting ban enacted by the Republican-controlled legislature and Gov. Corbett has failed to get phones out of the hands of drivers.
That's partly due to lawmaker's refusal to get behind a ban on using any handheld device while driving, as New Jersey and a number of other states have done. Had the commonwealth banned the use of handheld phonesin favor of hands-free devices, it would be illegal for drivers to clutch their phones for any reason, not just to engage in the risky practice of reading and sending text messages.
Now it's clear that lawmakers should revisit the state's distracted-driving rules and enact such a ban on all handheld phone use. That would do much more to save lives than merely relying on the hope that more drivers will comply with the text-messaging ban.
Lawmakers grappling with a new state budget this month likely will include much-needed additional funding for upkeep of roads, bridges, and mass transit. Making the roads saver with a ban on handheld phone use would be a natural companion measure.
But given some state lawmakers' stubborn reluctance to embrace commonsense rules on distracted driving even now, it's that much more important for federal highway safety officials to push ahead with guidelines encouraging auto manufacturers to install electronic devices that cannot be operated unless a vehicle is stopped. In additionto disabling Internet-linked devices, the voluntary guidelines being crafted by federal officials would specify that no onboard gadget could require a driver to look away from the road for more than two seconds at a time.
A recent survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that more than a third of drivers had read text messages while behind the wheel, and that nearly that many had sent texts. It's become clear that only a combination of tougher enforcement and technological advances can protect motorists and pedestrians alike from the risks of distracted driving.
Saturday, June 15, 2013
It's a Hoot!
Henny Youngman Favorites :
- If you had your life to live over again, do it overseas.
- My brother was a lifeguard in a car wash.
- I've got money I'll never need......... If I die by four o' clock.
- I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to stop going to those places.
- The horse I bet on was so slow, the jockey kept a diary.
- The man used to go to school with his dog and then they were seperated. The dog graduated!
- Did you hear about the optician? Two glasses and he made a spectacle of himself.
F. Y. I.
Behind the Name
Ferret comes from the Latin word for "little thief."
Celebrate This
Today is Corn on the Cob Day.
Slow to Mature
The Saguaro cactus, found in the Southwest, doesn't grow branches until it is 75 years old.
Still on the Books
In Memphis, it is illegal for frogs to croak after 11 p.m.
Quotable
by Dolly Parton
"If you want the rainbow, you've got to put up with the rain."
Soapy Surprise
The wood cleaner Murphy Oil Soap is frequently used to bathe elephants.
Ferret comes from the Latin word for "little thief."
Celebrate This
Today is Corn on the Cob Day.
Slow to Mature
The Saguaro cactus, found in the Southwest, doesn't grow branches until it is 75 years old.
Still on the Books
In Memphis, it is illegal for frogs to croak after 11 p.m.
Quotable
by Dolly Parton
"If you want the rainbow, you've got to put up with the rain."
Soapy Surprise
The wood cleaner Murphy Oil Soap is frequently used to bathe elephants.
Kennections
All five correct answers have something in common.
Can you figure out what it is?
1. What is both the official color and the nickname of the sports teams at Stanford University?
2. What is TV beauty queen Honey Boo Boo's last name?
3. What walled city has been the capital of the nation of Oman since 1786?
4. Since 1973, the Bollinger brand of what has been James Bond's favorite onscreen drink?
5. After the shots fired at Lexington, what nearby town in Massachusetts witnessed the second battle of the American Revolution?
Bonus : What's the "Kennection" between all five Answers?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. Cardinal
2. Thompson
3. Muscat
4. Champagne
5. Concord
Bonus : All are Grape Varieties
Can you figure out what it is?
1. What is both the official color and the nickname of the sports teams at Stanford University?
2. What is TV beauty queen Honey Boo Boo's last name?
3. What walled city has been the capital of the nation of Oman since 1786?
4. Since 1973, the Bollinger brand of what has been James Bond's favorite onscreen drink?
5. After the shots fired at Lexington, what nearby town in Massachusetts witnessed the second battle of the American Revolution?
Bonus : What's the "Kennection" between all five Answers?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. Cardinal
2. Thompson
3. Muscat
4. Champagne
5. Concord
Bonus : All are Grape Varieties
Fore Play
Take this quiz to see how prepared you are for this week's U.S. Open:
1. Who won the first U.S. Open held at Merion?
a) Bobby Jones
b) Ben Hogan
c) Olin Dutra
2. Which of these players has never won a U.S. Open?
a) Phil Mickelson
b) Arnold Palmer
c) Steve Jones
3. Who is NBC announcer Dan Hicks' wife?
a) Leslie Visser
b) Hannah Storm
c) Linda Cohn
4. Who was the last player to win the U.S. Open wire-to-wire without being tied?
a) Rory Mcllroy
b) Tiger Woods
c) Jack Nicklaus
5. Who in the field has made the most consecutive U.S. Open appearances?
a) Jim Furyk
b) Phil Mickelson
c) Erine Els
6. Who is the oldest player to win the U.S. Open?
a) Hale Irwin
b) Ben Hogan
c) Gene Sarazan
7. Who said he loved Merion even though he didn't know her last name?
a) Howard Cunningham
b) Lee Trevino
c) Gary McCord
8. Who was the first African-American to lead a U.S. Open?
a) Jim Thorpe
b) Calvin Peete
c) Lee Elder
9. How much did David Graham receive when he won the 1981 U.S. Open at Merion?
a) $35,000
b) $45,000
c) $55,000
10. Merion course designer Hugh Wilson had a ticket to return from Europe on the Titanic but changed his plans at the last minute.
a) True
b) False
11. Which Philadelphia municipal course did Hugh Wilson also design?
a) Juniata
b) Cobbs Creek
c) John F. Byrne
12. Which was the last major won by Tiger Woods?
a) 2008 U.S. Open
b) 2009 Masters
c) 2010 PGA
13. Who holds the record for most second-place U.S. Open finishes?
a) Jack Nicklaus
b) Gary Player
c) Phil Mickelson
14. Tiger Woods is named after..............
a) His favorite stuffed animal
b) A friend of his father
c) A Delilah's Den performer
15. Who has the longest drive (450 yards, aided by cart path) on the PGA Tour so far this season?
a) Dustin Johnson
b) Phil Mickelson
c) Jason Dufner
16. Who is the oldest player (61 years old ) to make the cut at a U.S. Open?
a) Sam Snead
b) Byron Nelson
c) Jack Nicklaus
17. Lee Trevino's caddle in 1971 (Tom Tadeo) was a student at what school?
a) St. Joe's
b) Villanova
c) Faber College
18. What happened to the 1-iron Ben Hogan famously used to force a playoff in 1950?
a) It shattered
b) It was thrown into a lake
c) It was stolen
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. c ; 2. a ; 3. b ; 4. a ; 5. c ; 6. a ; 7. b ; 8. a ; 9. c ; 10. a ; 11. b ; 12. a ; 13. c ; 14. b ; 15. b ; 16. a ; 17. a ; 18. c
1. Who won the first U.S. Open held at Merion?
a) Bobby Jones
b) Ben Hogan
c) Olin Dutra
2. Which of these players has never won a U.S. Open?
a) Phil Mickelson
b) Arnold Palmer
c) Steve Jones
3. Who is NBC announcer Dan Hicks' wife?
a) Leslie Visser
b) Hannah Storm
c) Linda Cohn
4. Who was the last player to win the U.S. Open wire-to-wire without being tied?
a) Rory Mcllroy
b) Tiger Woods
c) Jack Nicklaus
5. Who in the field has made the most consecutive U.S. Open appearances?
a) Jim Furyk
b) Phil Mickelson
c) Erine Els
6. Who is the oldest player to win the U.S. Open?
a) Hale Irwin
b) Ben Hogan
c) Gene Sarazan
7. Who said he loved Merion even though he didn't know her last name?
a) Howard Cunningham
b) Lee Trevino
c) Gary McCord
8. Who was the first African-American to lead a U.S. Open?
a) Jim Thorpe
b) Calvin Peete
c) Lee Elder
9. How much did David Graham receive when he won the 1981 U.S. Open at Merion?
a) $35,000
b) $45,000
c) $55,000
10. Merion course designer Hugh Wilson had a ticket to return from Europe on the Titanic but changed his plans at the last minute.
a) True
b) False
11. Which Philadelphia municipal course did Hugh Wilson also design?
a) Juniata
b) Cobbs Creek
c) John F. Byrne
12. Which was the last major won by Tiger Woods?
a) 2008 U.S. Open
b) 2009 Masters
c) 2010 PGA
13. Who holds the record for most second-place U.S. Open finishes?
a) Jack Nicklaus
b) Gary Player
c) Phil Mickelson
14. Tiger Woods is named after..............
a) His favorite stuffed animal
b) A friend of his father
c) A Delilah's Den performer
15. Who has the longest drive (450 yards, aided by cart path) on the PGA Tour so far this season?
a) Dustin Johnson
b) Phil Mickelson
c) Jason Dufner
16. Who is the oldest player (61 years old ) to make the cut at a U.S. Open?
a) Sam Snead
b) Byron Nelson
c) Jack Nicklaus
17. Lee Trevino's caddle in 1971 (Tom Tadeo) was a student at what school?
a) St. Joe's
b) Villanova
c) Faber College
18. What happened to the 1-iron Ben Hogan famously used to force a playoff in 1950?
a) It shattered
b) It was thrown into a lake
c) It was stolen
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. c ; 2. a ; 3. b ; 4. a ; 5. c ; 6. a ; 7. b ; 8. a ; 9. c ; 10. a ; 11. b ; 12. a ; 13. c ; 14. b ; 15. b ; 16. a ; 17. a ; 18. c
As guest habits change, New York hotel clears away room service
Soon, the black-uniformed waiters wheeling trolleys of food will disappear from the halls of the Hilton Midtown. Will visitors to New York City's largest hotel mind having to leave their rooms for sustenance?
For some, a hotel without room service made no sense.
"You're on holiday, you're away, you like being waited on," said Claire Avery, a prison clerk from New South Wales, Australia, who was staying at the Hilton with her boyfriend. "Sometimes you don't even have to move."
If she returns later in the summer, she will have to move at least as far as the lobby, where the hotel is building a self-service food market to replace room service.
The New York Hilton Midtown, a 2,000-room hotel in Manhattan's commercial district filled with business travelers, tourists and conference-goers, confirmed this week that it would end room service. A Hilton spokesman, Mark Ricci, said up to 55 employees could lose their jobs.
Hilton officials said the move - which is highly unusual for a full-service hotel - was prompted by cutbacks in spending by business travelers, many of whom face tight expense-account rules, and the changing tastes of leisure travelers, who already pay rates at the Hilton that start at about $240 per night before taxes, going up to more than twice that.
The change appealed to Aakriti Gupta, a recent college graduate from New Delhi visiting New York with her mother, who pointed out that the idea of room service doesn't always match the reality.
"The existing room service isn't great," she said. "If you ordered it once, I don't think you would order it again. We ordered a pizza that was $55." She added, unhappily, that it was delivered in a box.
Ricci said pizza was listed on the Hilton's room-service menu for $24, with $3 for each topping, but could not give the final cost once service charges, an in-room dining charge and taxes were added.
WALKING OUT THE DOOR
Beth Scott, vice president of restaurant concepts at Hilton Worldwide Inc, conceded that room-service prices were high, as they tend to be at most hotels, in part because providing the service 24 hours a day is labor-intensive. The cost is magnified in New York City, where a strong union has secured higher wages for hotel employees compared to other hospitality industry workers and building cleaners.
As a result, Scott said in an interview, guests have been heading out to diners and food carts in the neighborhood.
"We were watching guests walk out the door to get those things at a much more reasonable price," she said. "I'm sure we got more complaints about the price of bringing the hamburger up to the room than we will for not bringing it up to the room at all."
The new lobby food outlet, called Herb n' Kitchen, will be cheaper and will allow guests to get their food more quickly, she said.
The decline in room service is not confined to the Hilton. Revenue from room service declined from 1.3 percent of total hotel revenue in 2011 to 1.2 percent last year, according to an annual survey of U.S. hotels by PKF Hospitality.
As hotel occupancy rates have returned to pre-recession levels, hotels have been able to charge more for rooms, forcing business travelers to save elsewhere, which can include skipping room service, said Robert Mandelbaum, a PKF analyst.
The reasons are not only economic, he added. Guests are more inclined to roam beyond their rooms, with executives increasingly taking their laptops to coffee shops to work rather than spreading out papers on their hotel room desk.
"Being caged in your room waiting an hour for a tray to arrive, it's just not what people do," Mandelbaum said.
PAPER BAGS AND A KNOCK
Ian Schrager, who helped pioneer the idea of boutique hotels, said people's idea of luxury had changed, with a greater emphasis on value than on appearances.
"They don't care about getting coffee served in the finest bone china and sterling silver with waiters with white gloves on," he said, describing the classic idea of room service as "dysfunctional and antiquated."
At the PUBLIC hotel in Chicago, which Schrager opened in 2011, food by the French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten is delivered unceremoniously in brown paper bags, left outside guests' doors with a knock.
The waiters, trolleys and silver cloches are not likely to disappear entirely, however, even from the Hilton-owned Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York. Luxury hotels say their guests expect such service and are willing to pay a premium for fine food, flowers, candles and tablecloths in their room.
It would be virtually impossible for a hotel to hang on to a high rating in the influential AAA hotel guide if it ditched room service, said AAA spokeswoman Heather Hunter.
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts (which runs the Plaza in New York), Marriott International Inc and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group all said they had no plans to discontinue room service at their full-service hotels.
But Scott, the Hilton vice president, said the company may expand the idea elsewhere if it works in New York, and believes competitors were studying the move.
"It's not a secret guest habits have changed these days, it's not like we've figured out something that nobody else knows," she said. "We've just decided to take action."
For some, a hotel without room service made no sense.
"You're on holiday, you're away, you like being waited on," said Claire Avery, a prison clerk from New South Wales, Australia, who was staying at the Hilton with her boyfriend. "Sometimes you don't even have to move."
If she returns later in the summer, she will have to move at least as far as the lobby, where the hotel is building a self-service food market to replace room service.
The New York Hilton Midtown, a 2,000-room hotel in Manhattan's commercial district filled with business travelers, tourists and conference-goers, confirmed this week that it would end room service. A Hilton spokesman, Mark Ricci, said up to 55 employees could lose their jobs.
Hilton officials said the move - which is highly unusual for a full-service hotel - was prompted by cutbacks in spending by business travelers, many of whom face tight expense-account rules, and the changing tastes of leisure travelers, who already pay rates at the Hilton that start at about $240 per night before taxes, going up to more than twice that.
The change appealed to Aakriti Gupta, a recent college graduate from New Delhi visiting New York with her mother, who pointed out that the idea of room service doesn't always match the reality.
"The existing room service isn't great," she said. "If you ordered it once, I don't think you would order it again. We ordered a pizza that was $55." She added, unhappily, that it was delivered in a box.
Ricci said pizza was listed on the Hilton's room-service menu for $24, with $3 for each topping, but could not give the final cost once service charges, an in-room dining charge and taxes were added.
WALKING OUT THE DOOR
Beth Scott, vice president of restaurant concepts at Hilton Worldwide Inc, conceded that room-service prices were high, as they tend to be at most hotels, in part because providing the service 24 hours a day is labor-intensive. The cost is magnified in New York City, where a strong union has secured higher wages for hotel employees compared to other hospitality industry workers and building cleaners.
As a result, Scott said in an interview, guests have been heading out to diners and food carts in the neighborhood.
"We were watching guests walk out the door to get those things at a much more reasonable price," she said. "I'm sure we got more complaints about the price of bringing the hamburger up to the room than we will for not bringing it up to the room at all."
The new lobby food outlet, called Herb n' Kitchen, will be cheaper and will allow guests to get their food more quickly, she said.
The decline in room service is not confined to the Hilton. Revenue from room service declined from 1.3 percent of total hotel revenue in 2011 to 1.2 percent last year, according to an annual survey of U.S. hotels by PKF Hospitality.
As hotel occupancy rates have returned to pre-recession levels, hotels have been able to charge more for rooms, forcing business travelers to save elsewhere, which can include skipping room service, said Robert Mandelbaum, a PKF analyst.
The reasons are not only economic, he added. Guests are more inclined to roam beyond their rooms, with executives increasingly taking their laptops to coffee shops to work rather than spreading out papers on their hotel room desk.
"Being caged in your room waiting an hour for a tray to arrive, it's just not what people do," Mandelbaum said.
PAPER BAGS AND A KNOCK
Ian Schrager, who helped pioneer the idea of boutique hotels, said people's idea of luxury had changed, with a greater emphasis on value than on appearances.
"They don't care about getting coffee served in the finest bone china and sterling silver with waiters with white gloves on," he said, describing the classic idea of room service as "dysfunctional and antiquated."
At the PUBLIC hotel in Chicago, which Schrager opened in 2011, food by the French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten is delivered unceremoniously in brown paper bags, left outside guests' doors with a knock.
The waiters, trolleys and silver cloches are not likely to disappear entirely, however, even from the Hilton-owned Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York. Luxury hotels say their guests expect such service and are willing to pay a premium for fine food, flowers, candles and tablecloths in their room.
It would be virtually impossible for a hotel to hang on to a high rating in the influential AAA hotel guide if it ditched room service, said AAA spokeswoman Heather Hunter.
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts (which runs the Plaza in New York), Marriott International Inc and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group all said they had no plans to discontinue room service at their full-service hotels.
But Scott, the Hilton vice president, said the company may expand the idea elsewhere if it works in New York, and believes competitors were studying the move.
"It's not a secret guest habits have changed these days, it's not like we've figured out something that nobody else knows," she said. "We've just decided to take action."
Villagers in last stand to save Belgian ghost town
The Belgian village of Doel is facing its final battle for survival against plans to expand the adjacent port of Antwerp that will erase it from the map to make way for a new dock.
Doel is wedged between a nuclear power plant and an existing set of docks and once had a population of over a thousand. Bu it is now a collection of boarded up houses and vacated shops and home to only about 30 people.
The Flemish regional government aims to include the village in one of Europe's largest ports from June 17 over the objections of the remaining villagers who will ask the country's highest administrative court to block this change.
"You have to be very stubborn and you have to be willing to put up a fight, even if you can't be sure of victory," said Frie Lauwers, who is part of the initiative to keep the village alive, and lives in a former school building.
The transformation plan would dig a ship-sized dock across the village and turn surrounding farmland into a nature reserve, an environmental requirement for the port's expansion.
The future of the 400-year-old village of Doel, which is overshadowed by the two cooling towers of a nuclear power plant to the north, appeared bleak as early as 1998 when the regional government first outlined plans to expand the port.
Years of uncertainty have turned Doel into a ghost town, covered in graffiti.
Many left in the late 1990s when authorities offered premiums to those who sold their homes. The government plans to dispossess the remaining 10 home owners.
Those, like Lauwers, who do not own homes, are still able rent after a court blocked termination of their contracts a few years ago.
Remaining villagers say that, in spite of its proximity to the port and the power station, Doel has its architectural attractions, such as a house which is said to have belonged to the family of baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens.
But years of looting, squatting and neglect have pushed the village beyond the point of no return, according to others.
"I think the village is dead now and you can't reanimate a dead calf," said Frans Sans, who lived in the village for most of his life but left about four years ago.
The villagers did win one battle in 2012 when the country's highest administrative court overturned a similar decision to turn the village into a part of the port. The government simply revised its plans.
Should the villagers lose the appeal, it remains unclear exactly when Doel would disappear. The authorities have no fixed time line for the new dock's construction and could also use the land for other ends, such as a container storage area.
Doel is wedged between a nuclear power plant and an existing set of docks and once had a population of over a thousand. Bu it is now a collection of boarded up houses and vacated shops and home to only about 30 people.
The Flemish regional government aims to include the village in one of Europe's largest ports from June 17 over the objections of the remaining villagers who will ask the country's highest administrative court to block this change.
"You have to be very stubborn and you have to be willing to put up a fight, even if you can't be sure of victory," said Frie Lauwers, who is part of the initiative to keep the village alive, and lives in a former school building.
The transformation plan would dig a ship-sized dock across the village and turn surrounding farmland into a nature reserve, an environmental requirement for the port's expansion.
The future of the 400-year-old village of Doel, which is overshadowed by the two cooling towers of a nuclear power plant to the north, appeared bleak as early as 1998 when the regional government first outlined plans to expand the port.
Years of uncertainty have turned Doel into a ghost town, covered in graffiti.
Many left in the late 1990s when authorities offered premiums to those who sold their homes. The government plans to dispossess the remaining 10 home owners.
Those, like Lauwers, who do not own homes, are still able rent after a court blocked termination of their contracts a few years ago.
Remaining villagers say that, in spite of its proximity to the port and the power station, Doel has its architectural attractions, such as a house which is said to have belonged to the family of baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens.
But years of looting, squatting and neglect have pushed the village beyond the point of no return, according to others.
"I think the village is dead now and you can't reanimate a dead calf," said Frans Sans, who lived in the village for most of his life but left about four years ago.
The villagers did win one battle in 2012 when the country's highest administrative court overturned a similar decision to turn the village into a part of the port. The government simply revised its plans.
Should the villagers lose the appeal, it remains unclear exactly when Doel would disappear. The authorities have no fixed time line for the new dock's construction and could also use the land for other ends, such as a container storage area.
Video game puts coach on road to World Cup glory
A coach whose enthusiasm for the trade was forged by the 'Football Manager' video game will be thrown into the deep end on Wednesday when Nambia host African champions Nigeria in a World Cup qualifier.
Ricardo Mannetti, 38, won more than 60 caps for his country, played at the African Nations Cup finals and was a professional in the league in neighboring South Africa but had no desire to coach.
It was only after hours of playing the video game with his brother-in-law that his interested was fired.
Seven years later he takes charge of Namibia for the first time hoping for an upset victory that will keep alive their remote hopes of qualifying for next year's finals in Brazil.
"I wasn't into video games before that, I never had any interest in playing them, but Football Manager captured my imagination," Mannetti told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.
"I was always winning and everyone said it proved I would make a good coach."
Shortly after retiring from playing, Mannetti accepted an offer to coach his boyhood club in Windhoek after they were almost relegated.
"I thought 'let me give a shot' and that's how I got into the job," he said.
He won the Namibian Cup in his first season, finished second in the league and soon after moved on to the country's biggest club, Black Africa.
In 2010 the Namibia Football Association brought Mannetti in to work with their junior teams.
He was then serving as an assistant to national coach Roger Palmgren when the Swede suddenly resigned on Monday after a month in the job, citing fears for his safety after an alleged altercation with a drunken fan.
"I've seen managers come and go but I didn't see that one coming," said Mannetti. "I'm a little bit nervous if I'm honest.
"It's a big challenge for me and I just want the nation to shift the focus now from Roger on to the game."
Mannetti said he had to move quickly to plot his strategy against Group F leaders Nigeria who have four points more than third-placed Namibia after four of their six matches.
One downside, he added, was that it meant there was no more time for video games.
Ricardo Mannetti, 38, won more than 60 caps for his country, played at the African Nations Cup finals and was a professional in the league in neighboring South Africa but had no desire to coach.
It was only after hours of playing the video game with his brother-in-law that his interested was fired.
Seven years later he takes charge of Namibia for the first time hoping for an upset victory that will keep alive their remote hopes of qualifying for next year's finals in Brazil.
"I wasn't into video games before that, I never had any interest in playing them, but Football Manager captured my imagination," Mannetti told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.
"I was always winning and everyone said it proved I would make a good coach."
Shortly after retiring from playing, Mannetti accepted an offer to coach his boyhood club in Windhoek after they were almost relegated.
"I thought 'let me give a shot' and that's how I got into the job," he said.
He won the Namibian Cup in his first season, finished second in the league and soon after moved on to the country's biggest club, Black Africa.
In 2010 the Namibia Football Association brought Mannetti in to work with their junior teams.
He was then serving as an assistant to national coach Roger Palmgren when the Swede suddenly resigned on Monday after a month in the job, citing fears for his safety after an alleged altercation with a drunken fan.
"I've seen managers come and go but I didn't see that one coming," said Mannetti. "I'm a little bit nervous if I'm honest.
"It's a big challenge for me and I just want the nation to shift the focus now from Roger on to the game."
Mannetti said he had to move quickly to plot his strategy against Group F leaders Nigeria who have four points more than third-placed Namibia after four of their six matches.
One downside, he added, was that it meant there was no more time for video games.
Artist uses toilet humor to protest Cyprus bailout
A Cypriot artist found a novel way to protest over Cyprus's financial meltdown on Monday, lining up 20 sculptures resembling a cross between toilets and tombstones outside the island's Central Bank.
Arranged in two rows on a pavement outside the building, the white "toilets" made of concrete and plaster caused traffic to slow down along a busy Nicosia avenue, with many drivers honking their horns in approval.
From the rear, the "toilets" looked like headstones.
"I felt the need to protest the situation my country is in ... and I think the choice of toilets has a pretty clear symbolism to everyone," artist Andreas Efstathiou told Reuters.
Cyprus was forced to close a major bank and seize savings at a second in March to salvage the island's banking sector and secure 10 billion euros in aid from international lenders. Thousands of people lost their life savings.
Efstathiou, who has been working on the design for two months, said that although Cyprus's recent financial woes were partly down to mistakes made by commercial banks, he chose the independent central bank for its symbolic value.
Central bank spokeswoman Aliki Stylianou said artists were free to express themselves, but declined to comment on the specific choice made by Efstathiou.
Arranged in two rows on a pavement outside the building, the white "toilets" made of concrete and plaster caused traffic to slow down along a busy Nicosia avenue, with many drivers honking their horns in approval.
From the rear, the "toilets" looked like headstones.
"I felt the need to protest the situation my country is in ... and I think the choice of toilets has a pretty clear symbolism to everyone," artist Andreas Efstathiou told Reuters.
Cyprus was forced to close a major bank and seize savings at a second in March to salvage the island's banking sector and secure 10 billion euros in aid from international lenders. Thousands of people lost their life savings.
Efstathiou, who has been working on the design for two months, said that although Cyprus's recent financial woes were partly down to mistakes made by commercial banks, he chose the independent central bank for its symbolic value.
Central bank spokeswoman Aliki Stylianou said artists were free to express themselves, but declined to comment on the specific choice made by Efstathiou.
Elderly women safely scramble from burning limo in California
A group of mostly elderly women, half of them in their 90s and some using canes, escaped unharmed from a stretch limousine that burst into flames at a gated senior community in Northern California, police said on Monday.
The incident on Sunday afternoon came a month after a bride and four friends died trapped in another burning limo as it crossed a bridge over San Francisco Bay some 30 miles away.
The California Highway Patrol was looking into links between the two fires, said Lieutenant Jay Hill of the Walnut Creek Police Department.
In the most recent incident, the 10 women were sitting in a black limousine in their gated community in Walnut Creek at noon on Sunday when it caught fire, Hill said. The group had been headed to a birthday party for one of the nonagenarian women, some of whom used canes and walkers.
One of the passengers, Mary Chapman, told local KGO-TV that they became alarmed when they saw smoke coming out of the car.
"When I looked out, there was red flames and black smoke and now you can see the result," she said, gesturing to a large burned spot on the asphalt where the limo had been idling when it caught fire.
"I just think there should be laws to regulate limousines just like there are for trucks," Chapman said.
A spokesman for the limousine company declined to comment on the incident.
Contra Costa Fire District spokesman Robert Marshall said the cause of the fire had not been determined, but that it appeared to have started in an area near the partition that separated the driver's seat from the passenger compartment.
He said that part of the limo typically holds a power inverter that supplies electricity to televisions, mini refrigerators and other appliances used by passengers.
"Generally speaking, there's a lot of electrical that goes through there. Where this occurred is consistent with a lot of electrical (wiring) in the vehicle," Marshall told Reuters.
In the May incident, new bride Neriza Fojas, 31, and eight girlfriends were heading across the San Mateo-Hayward bridge toward a party celebrating her recent wedding when their white stretch limo became engulfed in flames.
Law enforcement officials say Fojas and four of her friends died as they tried to crawl through a small opening in a partition between the passenger compartment and driver's seat.
Four other women, who managed to get out of the car after it stopped on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, survived the fire.
The incident on Sunday afternoon came a month after a bride and four friends died trapped in another burning limo as it crossed a bridge over San Francisco Bay some 30 miles away.
The California Highway Patrol was looking into links between the two fires, said Lieutenant Jay Hill of the Walnut Creek Police Department.
In the most recent incident, the 10 women were sitting in a black limousine in their gated community in Walnut Creek at noon on Sunday when it caught fire, Hill said. The group had been headed to a birthday party for one of the nonagenarian women, some of whom used canes and walkers.
One of the passengers, Mary Chapman, told local KGO-TV that they became alarmed when they saw smoke coming out of the car.
"When I looked out, there was red flames and black smoke and now you can see the result," she said, gesturing to a large burned spot on the asphalt where the limo had been idling when it caught fire.
"I just think there should be laws to regulate limousines just like there are for trucks," Chapman said.
A spokesman for the limousine company declined to comment on the incident.
Contra Costa Fire District spokesman Robert Marshall said the cause of the fire had not been determined, but that it appeared to have started in an area near the partition that separated the driver's seat from the passenger compartment.
He said that part of the limo typically holds a power inverter that supplies electricity to televisions, mini refrigerators and other appliances used by passengers.
"Generally speaking, there's a lot of electrical that goes through there. Where this occurred is consistent with a lot of electrical (wiring) in the vehicle," Marshall told Reuters.
In the May incident, new bride Neriza Fojas, 31, and eight girlfriends were heading across the San Mateo-Hayward bridge toward a party celebrating her recent wedding when their white stretch limo became engulfed in flames.
Law enforcement officials say Fojas and four of her friends died as they tried to crawl through a small opening in a partition between the passenger compartment and driver's seat.
Four other women, who managed to get out of the car after it stopped on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, survived the fire.
Artist uses toilet humor to protest Cyprus bailout
A Cypriot artist found a novel way to protest over Cyprus's financial meltdown on Monday, lining up 20 sculptures resembling a cross between toilets and tombstones outside the island's Central Bank.
Arranged in two rows on a pavement outside the building, the white "toilets" made of concrete and plaster caused traffic to slow down along a busy Nicosia avenue, with many drivers honking their horns in approval.
From the rear, the "toilets" looked like headstones.
"I felt the need to protest the situation my country is in ... and I think the choice of toilets has a pretty clear symbolism to everyone," artist Andreas Efstathiou told Reuters.
Cyprus was forced to close a major bank and seize savings at a second in March to salvage the island's banking sector and secure 10 billion euros in aid from international lenders. Thousands of people lost their life savings.
Efstathiou, who has been working on the design for two months, said that although Cyprus's recent financial woes were partly down to mistakes made by commercial banks, he chose the independent central bank for its symbolic value.
Central bank spokeswoman Aliki Stylianou said artists were free to express themselves, but declined to comment on the specific choice made by Efstathiou.
Arranged in two rows on a pavement outside the building, the white "toilets" made of concrete and plaster caused traffic to slow down along a busy Nicosia avenue, with many drivers honking their horns in approval.
From the rear, the "toilets" looked like headstones.
"I felt the need to protest the situation my country is in ... and I think the choice of toilets has a pretty clear symbolism to everyone," artist Andreas Efstathiou told Reuters.
Cyprus was forced to close a major bank and seize savings at a second in March to salvage the island's banking sector and secure 10 billion euros in aid from international lenders. Thousands of people lost their life savings.
Efstathiou, who has been working on the design for two months, said that although Cyprus's recent financial woes were partly down to mistakes made by commercial banks, he chose the independent central bank for its symbolic value.
Central bank spokeswoman Aliki Stylianou said artists were free to express themselves, but declined to comment on the specific choice made by Efstathiou.
Phone apps help track pets' activity, nutrition
Dog and cat lovers have a new way to make sure their pets get plenty of exercise and nourishment: phone apps that track how much an animal plays, runs, sleeps and eats.
Whistle, an iPhone app and monitor worn on a dog's collar that was launched last week, measures an animal's activity throughout the day. The app can track changes over time and can compare exercise levels with other dogs of the same breed.
Created with input from veterinarians, Whistle Labs' app aims to help owners detect early medical problems by showing changes in a dog's activity level and behavior compared to other animals of the same age, breed and weight.
"What (veterinarians) get today are hyperemotional responses, often driven by one or two anecdotes," said Ben Jacobs, chief executive of the San Francisco-based company.
"What we found out was that a) vets didn't really have the information they needed and b) there's no breed weight and age standards," he added in an interview.
The app gathers data from a small circular device attached to a dog's collar. An accelerometer in the device detects motion, helping to determine if the dog is playing, walking or resting. The rechargeable device is enabled for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
The app also notifies owners of changes in a dog's behavior, such as if it suddenly starts waking up at night.
"This is the first window you have into the dog's entire day," Jacobs said.
The monitor costs $99.95 and the app is free for iPhones. Whistle Labs said it is also gathering data about dog activity by breed and weight for research use.
Another app called Pintofeed, which is linked to a Wi-Fi-connected feeder and costs $149, allows owners to feed their dogs and cats remotely and set feeding schedules.
"People lead busy lives and don't really want to have to deal with another task. The feeder is autonomous and manages the feeding for you so you don't have to rush home from work," said Carlos Herrera, co-founder and president of Pasadena, Calif.-based Pintofeed.
"The app is meant to be a management and notification device. You'll get alerts saying your dog skipped a meal, or your batteries are running low, or the food is running low," he added.
For owners who want to keep tabs on the location of their dogs and cats, an app call Tagg for iPhone and Android provides the information.
The GPS-enabled tracker attaches to the collar of a pet and tracks the animal's location on a map. Users receive alerts when the pet ventures outside a particular range and they can also view activity levels.
Tagg costs $99.95 and has a subscription fee of $7.95 per month.
Whistle, an iPhone app and monitor worn on a dog's collar that was launched last week, measures an animal's activity throughout the day. The app can track changes over time and can compare exercise levels with other dogs of the same breed.
Created with input from veterinarians, Whistle Labs' app aims to help owners detect early medical problems by showing changes in a dog's activity level and behavior compared to other animals of the same age, breed and weight.
"What (veterinarians) get today are hyperemotional responses, often driven by one or two anecdotes," said Ben Jacobs, chief executive of the San Francisco-based company.
"What we found out was that a) vets didn't really have the information they needed and b) there's no breed weight and age standards," he added in an interview.
The app gathers data from a small circular device attached to a dog's collar. An accelerometer in the device detects motion, helping to determine if the dog is playing, walking or resting. The rechargeable device is enabled for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
The app also notifies owners of changes in a dog's behavior, such as if it suddenly starts waking up at night.
"This is the first window you have into the dog's entire day," Jacobs said.
The monitor costs $99.95 and the app is free for iPhones. Whistle Labs said it is also gathering data about dog activity by breed and weight for research use.
Another app called Pintofeed, which is linked to a Wi-Fi-connected feeder and costs $149, allows owners to feed their dogs and cats remotely and set feeding schedules.
"People lead busy lives and don't really want to have to deal with another task. The feeder is autonomous and manages the feeding for you so you don't have to rush home from work," said Carlos Herrera, co-founder and president of Pasadena, Calif.-based Pintofeed.
"The app is meant to be a management and notification device. You'll get alerts saying your dog skipped a meal, or your batteries are running low, or the food is running low," he added.
For owners who want to keep tabs on the location of their dogs and cats, an app call Tagg for iPhone and Android provides the information.
The GPS-enabled tracker attaches to the collar of a pet and tracks the animal's location on a map. Users receive alerts when the pet ventures outside a particular range and they can also view activity levels.
Tagg costs $99.95 and has a subscription fee of $7.95 per month.
Ferret-lovers rejoice! EU drops limits on pet movements
Having a hard time getting your dogsled team through the border? European Union lawmakers aim to help.
EU member countries broadened a law governing the movement of pets on Monday, removing a limit of five pets per person crossing a border - if owners can prove their animals will take part in a competition, exhibition, or sporting event.
The legislation adds to the European Union's "pet passport" scheme, where Fido, Whiskers, or even a favored ferret can move freely through the 27-member bloc if it has microchip identification and has been vaccinated against rabies.
Pet-lover and member of the European Parliament Chris Davies, who helped draft the new law, said it showed the EU could ease burdens on citizens, instead of adding to them. Just 10 years ago it was not easy take a dog on a family car holiday.
"The great thing about this piece of legislation is it just confirms that the legislation produced a decade ago has worked very successfully," he said. "There has been no increase in rabies or apparent risk of increase (of human infection)."
The five-pet limit was imposed to prevent unrestricted cross-border trade by puppy farmers. But Davies said the relaxed rules offered owners the chance to take pets abroad to compete or for "sexual liaisons", while keeping oversight to prevent abuse.
"We have freedom of movement and freedom of capital and all that sort of stuff. We also have freedom of pet movement," he said before adding, "as well as human movement".
The travel documents must be issued by an authorized veterinarian and should also specify a pet's health status.
Davies said he had not himself had the chance to try the pet-passport rules.
"I've got a couple of cats, and they've shown no inclination to travel as of yet."
EU member countries broadened a law governing the movement of pets on Monday, removing a limit of five pets per person crossing a border - if owners can prove their animals will take part in a competition, exhibition, or sporting event.
The legislation adds to the European Union's "pet passport" scheme, where Fido, Whiskers, or even a favored ferret can move freely through the 27-member bloc if it has microchip identification and has been vaccinated against rabies.
Pet-lover and member of the European Parliament Chris Davies, who helped draft the new law, said it showed the EU could ease burdens on citizens, instead of adding to them. Just 10 years ago it was not easy take a dog on a family car holiday.
"The great thing about this piece of legislation is it just confirms that the legislation produced a decade ago has worked very successfully," he said. "There has been no increase in rabies or apparent risk of increase (of human infection)."
The five-pet limit was imposed to prevent unrestricted cross-border trade by puppy farmers. But Davies said the relaxed rules offered owners the chance to take pets abroad to compete or for "sexual liaisons", while keeping oversight to prevent abuse.
"We have freedom of movement and freedom of capital and all that sort of stuff. We also have freedom of pet movement," he said before adding, "as well as human movement".
The travel documents must be issued by an authorized veterinarian and should also specify a pet's health status.
Davies said he had not himself had the chance to try the pet-passport rules.
"I've got a couple of cats, and they've shown no inclination to travel as of yet."
Nigeria finance minister rebuffs critics with cake
Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala held up a sponge cake representing GDP to an audience of amused officials on Monday, as she sought to rebuff critics who say Nigeria's strong economic growth has failed to lift millions out of poverty.
Likening Nigeria to a household, she urged the country to focus on the government's plan to become one of the world's top 20 economies by 2020, which she said would be crucial to solving its other problems like high unemployment and poverty. It would mean doubling the current growth rate to 13 percent, she said.
"Having this cake does not mean that every problem in your household is solved," she said, holding up a sponge with figurines of a family on it, at a televised conference.
"But you have one wife and three children and ... if you have only this cake you're going to be suffering. You want this cake to grow," she added, swapping the sponge for a much bigger one, prompting a wave of laughter.
Foreign bond and equity investors are taking a growing interest in Africa's second biggest economy, and President Goodluck Jonathan's decision to bring Okonjo-Iweala back to Nigeria from her world bank job in 2011 was well received.
But she has had a mixed reception at home, with some politicians complaining she is too aloof and technocratic.
Just in case anyone in her audience, including ministers and top civil servants, missed the analogy, she added: "Our cake is GDP and it is growing at 6.5 percent. What we want to do is grow the cake as fast as possible while solving the other problems."
Despite a decade of 7 percent economic growth, poverty in Nigeria has worsened, official figures show, leading critics to say its oil dependent economy is merely enriching the few.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who hired Okonjo-Iweala during her first stint as finance minister between 2003-2006, was quoted in the local press last month as saying Nigeria's growth had not lifted the living standards of most Nigerians.
Investors worry that widespread violence and insecurity will only worsen if Nigeria cannot get rid of youth unemployment and poverty, risks that take the shine off its impressive growth.
The minister is trying to win support for moves to increase Nigeria's external debt, tapping into markets that offer much cheaper funding than at home, where monetary policy is tight. ($1 = 159.7000 naira)
Likening Nigeria to a household, she urged the country to focus on the government's plan to become one of the world's top 20 economies by 2020, which she said would be crucial to solving its other problems like high unemployment and poverty. It would mean doubling the current growth rate to 13 percent, she said.
"Having this cake does not mean that every problem in your household is solved," she said, holding up a sponge with figurines of a family on it, at a televised conference.
"But you have one wife and three children and ... if you have only this cake you're going to be suffering. You want this cake to grow," she added, swapping the sponge for a much bigger one, prompting a wave of laughter.
Foreign bond and equity investors are taking a growing interest in Africa's second biggest economy, and President Goodluck Jonathan's decision to bring Okonjo-Iweala back to Nigeria from her world bank job in 2011 was well received.
But she has had a mixed reception at home, with some politicians complaining she is too aloof and technocratic.
Just in case anyone in her audience, including ministers and top civil servants, missed the analogy, she added: "Our cake is GDP and it is growing at 6.5 percent. What we want to do is grow the cake as fast as possible while solving the other problems."
Despite a decade of 7 percent economic growth, poverty in Nigeria has worsened, official figures show, leading critics to say its oil dependent economy is merely enriching the few.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who hired Okonjo-Iweala during her first stint as finance minister between 2003-2006, was quoted in the local press last month as saying Nigeria's growth had not lifted the living standards of most Nigerians.
Investors worry that widespread violence and insecurity will only worsen if Nigeria cannot get rid of youth unemployment and poverty, risks that take the shine off its impressive growth.
The minister is trying to win support for moves to increase Nigeria's external debt, tapping into markets that offer much cheaper funding than at home, where monetary policy is tight. ($1 = 159.7000 naira)
Belgian tour operator offers 'sick notes' for truant students
A Belgian tour operator is offering "sick notes" to families wanting to take their children on holiday before the end of the school term, in a tongue-in-cheek campaign that has drawn strong criticism from education authorities.
"We are handing out free sick notes for the last week of June as we believe families should be able to go on holiday for the lowest possible price," tour operator Neckermann said in a campaign launched on Sunday.
Trips to popular destinations are very often cheaper ahead of the official start of Belgian summer school holidays on July 1.
A spokesman for the travel group said it was clear the campaign was not meant seriously and Neckermann would not provide genuine sick notes.
But the advertising sparked an angry response from school authorities, with the Flemish education ministry looking at its legal options to end the campaign.
"This is in conflict with the agreements we have made with the travel sector. They can't just entice families to keep their children away from school," a ministry spokeswoman said.
Neckermann spokesman Koen Van den Bosch said the group had run similar campaigns in the past.
"We trust that parents know what is wrong and what is right for their children," he said.
"We are handing out free sick notes for the last week of June as we believe families should be able to go on holiday for the lowest possible price," tour operator Neckermann said in a campaign launched on Sunday.
Trips to popular destinations are very often cheaper ahead of the official start of Belgian summer school holidays on July 1.
A spokesman for the travel group said it was clear the campaign was not meant seriously and Neckermann would not provide genuine sick notes.
But the advertising sparked an angry response from school authorities, with the Flemish education ministry looking at its legal options to end the campaign.
"This is in conflict with the agreements we have made with the travel sector. They can't just entice families to keep their children away from school," a ministry spokeswoman said.
Neckermann spokesman Koen Van den Bosch said the group had run similar campaigns in the past.
"We trust that parents know what is wrong and what is right for their children," he said.
Philippine snout-less dog gets hero's homecoming
A shepherd-mix who lost her snout saving two girls returned on Sunday to her owner's home in the southern Philippines after eight months of veterinary treatment in the United States, earning a new title as "dog ambassador of goodwill".
On Saturday, two-year-old Kabang, her tail wagging, faced television cameras and fans at Manila International airport and toured a nearby upscale shopping mall and park frequented by dog lovers. She was an instant star.
Authorities are planning a short motorcade on Monday in honor of Kebang, which means "different colors" in local dialect, in the southern town of Zamboanga.
"What we want is to make her an ambassador of dog good will, and to promote responsible pet ownership," said Anton Lim, a veterinarian who accompanied Kabang to the University of California in Davis for surgery.
U.S. doctors closed her facial wound but could no longer save and reconstruct her nose. Kabang also survived a cancerous tumor and heartworm.
"What we see here - she saved two lives, so the whole world actually came together to save her."
Last year, Kabang jumped in front of a speeding motorcycle to save two young girls in Zamboanga. People from around the world donated lunch money to raise $27,000 for her medical treatment abroad.
On Saturday, two-year-old Kabang, her tail wagging, faced television cameras and fans at Manila International airport and toured a nearby upscale shopping mall and park frequented by dog lovers. She was an instant star.
Authorities are planning a short motorcade on Monday in honor of Kebang, which means "different colors" in local dialect, in the southern town of Zamboanga.
"What we want is to make her an ambassador of dog good will, and to promote responsible pet ownership," said Anton Lim, a veterinarian who accompanied Kabang to the University of California in Davis for surgery.
U.S. doctors closed her facial wound but could no longer save and reconstruct her nose. Kabang also survived a cancerous tumor and heartworm.
"What we see here - she saved two lives, so the whole world actually came together to save her."
Last year, Kabang jumped in front of a speeding motorcycle to save two young girls in Zamboanga. People from around the world donated lunch money to raise $27,000 for her medical treatment abroad.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Share 'wreck-less' checklist with teenage drivers
Summer is in the air, literally, with temperatures approaching 90 some days and high school graduations just around the corner.
"For young drivers, the break from school means more time for fun, friends, driving, and unfortunately, driving distractions such as texting, eating and applying makeup," wrote Michael Gratch, the president of the Pennsylvania Orthopaedic Society, as part of a letter campaign to Pennsylvania newspapers.
The letter is part of a campaign sponsored by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the Alliance of Automobile Manufactures designed to raise awareness among teens about the dangers of distracted driving.
Why orthopaedic surgeons?
Gratch notes in his letter that they "put bones and limbs back together after road crashes and trauma," and see too often the devastating damage to young people caused when teen drivers drive while distracted.
Statistics show crashes involving teens are most likely to occur between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 11 percent of drivers ages 15 to 19 who were involved in a fatal crash were reportedly distracted at the time of the crash. In 2010 there were 13,846 crashes in Pennsylvania where distracted driving played a role.
The two organizations are calling their campaign, "Decide to Drive," and includes a "Wreck-Less Checklist" to get teens thinking and taking preventative measures to avoid distractions.
The checklist urges before starting a car :
Refrain from eating, drinking, applying makeup and doing hair while driving.
The campaign is intended to save lives, but key is getting the message to young people.
Share the "wreck-less checklist" with teen drivers.
This summer, "decide to drive" and leave distractions at home.
"For young drivers, the break from school means more time for fun, friends, driving, and unfortunately, driving distractions such as texting, eating and applying makeup," wrote Michael Gratch, the president of the Pennsylvania Orthopaedic Society, as part of a letter campaign to Pennsylvania newspapers.
The letter is part of a campaign sponsored by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the Alliance of Automobile Manufactures designed to raise awareness among teens about the dangers of distracted driving.
Why orthopaedic surgeons?
Gratch notes in his letter that they "put bones and limbs back together after road crashes and trauma," and see too often the devastating damage to young people caused when teen drivers drive while distracted.
Statistics show crashes involving teens are most likely to occur between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 11 percent of drivers ages 15 to 19 who were involved in a fatal crash were reportedly distracted at the time of the crash. In 2010 there were 13,846 crashes in Pennsylvania where distracted driving played a role.
The two organizations are calling their campaign, "Decide to Drive," and includes a "Wreck-Less Checklist" to get teens thinking and taking preventative measures to avoid distractions.
The checklist urges before starting a car :
- set phones aside
- put on sunglasses and other accessories
- fasten seatbelts
- move reading material out of reach
- pre-load CDs or mp3 playlists and adjust radio volume level
- enter an address in the navigation system, or review directions
Refrain from eating, drinking, applying makeup and doing hair while driving.
The campaign is intended to save lives, but key is getting the message to young people.
Share the "wreck-less checklist" with teen drivers.
This summer, "decide to drive" and leave distractions at home.
Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet (May 31, 2013)
Water Woes
Humanity's improvident use of water threatens to drive most of the 9 billion people on Earth into an acute shortage of the precious commodity within at least one or two generations, scientists warn. More than 500 of the most esteemed water researchers, meeting in Bonn, Germany, said the shortages would be entirely self-inflicted and avoidable. They urge governments to start conserving the resource instead of looking at it as an endlessly renewable resource. Experts warn that climate change is producing more frequent droughts, floods, heat waves and storms. Massive fertilizer use by industrial agriculture is polluting many bodies of water, leading to "dead zones" in seas and near the mouths of rivers. And massive pumping of underground aquifers is rapidly depleting supplies that will take at least generations to replenish once they are pumped dry.
MERS Virus Alert
The U.N. health agency warns that a new deadly virus, which causes SARS-like symptoms, has the potential to spread further around the world and has a global death toll now of 27. A total of 49 patients have been infected by what's being called the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, or MERS-CoV for short. It emerged last September in Saudi Arabia, and most of the cases have occurred on the Arabian Peninsula. But people have died as far away as Tunisia, France and the U.K. after traveling to the Middle East or being in contact with people who had been there. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the virus acts like the one that causes the common cold. But symptoms, which include fever and a cough, are far more severe and can lead to pneumonia and kidney failure.
'Astroplant' Candidates
Plants found beneath a retreating glacier have sprouted new growth after being dormant for 400 years, Canadian scientists say. A team of biologists from the University of Alberta made the discovery on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic. Lead researcher Catherine La Farge said the plants became entombed beneath the Teardrop Glacier during the Little Ice Age between 1550 and 1850. The glacier has been shrinking by three to four yards per year due to climate change, exposing mosses and other non-vascular plants that still had traces green in them. La Farge and her team ground up the samples and sprinkled them onto a petri dish to see what would happen. They successful regeneration of the hearty plants, known as bryophytes, could mean that they would be good test subjects to send to Mars before humans arrive.
Volcano Evacuations
Residents in a remote stretch of the Andes were evacuated as nearby Copahue volcano showed signs of a potentially exposive eruption. More than 2,200 people were asked to leave from around the volcano, which straddles the Chile-Argentina border. But some insisted on staying behind to feed and protect their live stock until the government could evacuate the animals as well, or guarantee they would be fed. Ash from a massive eruption of nearby Puyehue in 2011 disrupted air travel around the Southern Hemisphere.
Tropical Cyclone
Hurricane Barbara killed two in southern Mexico as it became the second-earliest such storm to make landfall, and most easterly, on record.
Earthquakes
A massive 8.3 magnitude quake centered off Far East Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on May 24 caused tremors that frightened residents as far away as Moscow, more than 4,000 miles to the west. There were no reports of damage or injuries due to the world's most powerful temblor so far this year.
* Earth movements were also felt in Uzbekistan, West Java, Tonga, northeastern New Zealand, Wales and Ireland, the Panama-Costa Rica border area, coastal Southern California and in northeastern California.
Green-Eyed Discovery
Entomologists say they have discovered what is possibly the last undiscovered butterfly species in the U.S. in a green-eyed specimen that had for a century been confused with a more common cousin. Writing in the journal Zoo Keys, North American Butterfly Association president Jeffery Glassberg and Smithsonian butterfly curator Bob Robbins say the new species can be differentiated from the more common Gray Ministreak by eye color. The newly named Vicroy's Ministreak has distinctive olive-green eyes, while the Gray has dark brown or black eyes. Even though specimens of Vicroy's Ministreak were sent to the Smithsonian a century ago, the species was unrecognized as unique because it was confused with its more common cousin. Both have different but overlapping habitats and are only about the size of a human thumbnail. While Vicroy's Ministreak may be the last new species in the United States, many hundreds may be waiting to be identified in tropical regions of Latin America.
Humanity's improvident use of water threatens to drive most of the 9 billion people on Earth into an acute shortage of the precious commodity within at least one or two generations, scientists warn. More than 500 of the most esteemed water researchers, meeting in Bonn, Germany, said the shortages would be entirely self-inflicted and avoidable. They urge governments to start conserving the resource instead of looking at it as an endlessly renewable resource. Experts warn that climate change is producing more frequent droughts, floods, heat waves and storms. Massive fertilizer use by industrial agriculture is polluting many bodies of water, leading to "dead zones" in seas and near the mouths of rivers. And massive pumping of underground aquifers is rapidly depleting supplies that will take at least generations to replenish once they are pumped dry.
MERS Virus Alert
The U.N. health agency warns that a new deadly virus, which causes SARS-like symptoms, has the potential to spread further around the world and has a global death toll now of 27. A total of 49 patients have been infected by what's being called the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, or MERS-CoV for short. It emerged last September in Saudi Arabia, and most of the cases have occurred on the Arabian Peninsula. But people have died as far away as Tunisia, France and the U.K. after traveling to the Middle East or being in contact with people who had been there. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the virus acts like the one that causes the common cold. But symptoms, which include fever and a cough, are far more severe and can lead to pneumonia and kidney failure.
'Astroplant' Candidates
Plants found beneath a retreating glacier have sprouted new growth after being dormant for 400 years, Canadian scientists say. A team of biologists from the University of Alberta made the discovery on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic. Lead researcher Catherine La Farge said the plants became entombed beneath the Teardrop Glacier during the Little Ice Age between 1550 and 1850. The glacier has been shrinking by three to four yards per year due to climate change, exposing mosses and other non-vascular plants that still had traces green in them. La Farge and her team ground up the samples and sprinkled them onto a petri dish to see what would happen. They successful regeneration of the hearty plants, known as bryophytes, could mean that they would be good test subjects to send to Mars before humans arrive.
Volcano Evacuations
Residents in a remote stretch of the Andes were evacuated as nearby Copahue volcano showed signs of a potentially exposive eruption. More than 2,200 people were asked to leave from around the volcano, which straddles the Chile-Argentina border. But some insisted on staying behind to feed and protect their live stock until the government could evacuate the animals as well, or guarantee they would be fed. Ash from a massive eruption of nearby Puyehue in 2011 disrupted air travel around the Southern Hemisphere.
Tropical Cyclone
Hurricane Barbara killed two in southern Mexico as it became the second-earliest such storm to make landfall, and most easterly, on record.
Earthquakes
A massive 8.3 magnitude quake centered off Far East Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on May 24 caused tremors that frightened residents as far away as Moscow, more than 4,000 miles to the west. There were no reports of damage or injuries due to the world's most powerful temblor so far this year.
* Earth movements were also felt in Uzbekistan, West Java, Tonga, northeastern New Zealand, Wales and Ireland, the Panama-Costa Rica border area, coastal Southern California and in northeastern California.
Green-Eyed Discovery
Entomologists say they have discovered what is possibly the last undiscovered butterfly species in the U.S. in a green-eyed specimen that had for a century been confused with a more common cousin. Writing in the journal Zoo Keys, North American Butterfly Association president Jeffery Glassberg and Smithsonian butterfly curator Bob Robbins say the new species can be differentiated from the more common Gray Ministreak by eye color. The newly named Vicroy's Ministreak has distinctive olive-green eyes, while the Gray has dark brown or black eyes. Even though specimens of Vicroy's Ministreak were sent to the Smithsonian a century ago, the species was unrecognized as unique because it was confused with its more common cousin. Both have different but overlapping habitats and are only about the size of a human thumbnail. While Vicroy's Ministreak may be the last new species in the United States, many hundreds may be waiting to be identified in tropical regions of Latin America.
White suit of KFC founder Colonel Sanders to be sold at auction
A double-breasted white suit and bow tie worn by KFC founder Colonel Harlan Sanders and a signed portrait of the fast food pioneer will be featured at an Americana sale this month, Heritage Auctions said on Friday.
The trademark suit, portrait and photographs are expected to sell for $10,000 or more at the June 22 auction in Dallas.
"It's impossible to think of Colonel Sanders, or KFC, without thinking of this white suit," Kathleen Guzman, the managing director of Heritage Auctions, said in a statement.
"To this day, 33 years after his death, the Colonel is just as popular and recognizable as ever."
Mike Morris, manager of a hotel near Cincinnati, Ohio, is selling the suit, portrait and photographs of the colonel, who was a friend of his family's. Sanders gave him the suit after Morris, as a teenager, borrowed it to wear to a Halloween party.
A gun belt worn by American outlaw Jesses James, one of two he owned when he died in 1882, is expected to be another top item, along with a violin once owned by gunslinger Jim Younger, a member of the James-Younger gang.
Both items have pre-sale estimates of $10,000.
The trademark suit, portrait and photographs are expected to sell for $10,000 or more at the June 22 auction in Dallas.
"It's impossible to think of Colonel Sanders, or KFC, without thinking of this white suit," Kathleen Guzman, the managing director of Heritage Auctions, said in a statement.
"To this day, 33 years after his death, the Colonel is just as popular and recognizable as ever."
Mike Morris, manager of a hotel near Cincinnati, Ohio, is selling the suit, portrait and photographs of the colonel, who was a friend of his family's. Sanders gave him the suit after Morris, as a teenager, borrowed it to wear to a Halloween party.
A gun belt worn by American outlaw Jesses James, one of two he owned when he died in 1882, is expected to be another top item, along with a violin once owned by gunslinger Jim Younger, a member of the James-Younger gang.
Both items have pre-sale estimates of $10,000.
Saudi prince sues Forbes after it says he's only worth $20 billion: report
Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has sued Forbes magazine for libel in a British court, alleging its valuation of his wealth at $20 billion was short of the mark by $9.6 billion, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported on Friday.
The prince, a grandson of Saudi Arabia's founder and nephew of King Abdullah, had attacked the U.S. magazine's ranking of world billionaires as flawed and biased against Middle Eastern businesses after he was ranked number 26 in this year's list.
An official at the High Court in London confirmed that Prince Alwaleed had filed a defamation suit against Forbes, its editor Randall Lane, and two of its journalists on April 30. Details of the claim were not immediately available.
Through his Kingdom Holding Company, Prince Alwaleed owns large stakes in Citigroup, News Corp and Apple Inc, among other companies. He is also owner or part-owner of luxury hotels including the Plaza in New York, the Savoy in London and the George V in Paris.
This year's Forbes World Billionaires list was published on March 4, and the following day Kingdom Holding said the valuation process used "incorrect data" and "seemed designed to disadvantage Middle Eastern investors and institutions".
The public spat attracted a lot of comment, but Forbes stuck by its estimate of Prince Alwaleed's wealth and published an in-depth article in its March 25 issue entitled "Prince Alwaleed and the curious case of Kingdom Holding stock".
The article gave details about how Forbes had arrived at the figure of $20 billion and criticized what it described as a lack of transparency by Kingdom Holding in detailing its assets.
The article also described Prince Alwaleed's marble-filled, 420-room Riyadh palace, his private Boeing 747 equipped with a throne, and his 120-acre resort on the edge of the Saudi capital with five homes, five artificial lakes and a mini-Grand Canyon.
The High Court official in London said the two journalists named in the defamation claim were Kerry Dolan, the author of the article, and Francine McKenna, who was credited with additional reporting.
No date has been set for a court hearing in the case, which is in its very early stages, the official said.
The law firm Kobre & Kim, which the Guardian said was acting for Prince Alwaleed in the suit, declined to comment. New York-based Forbes could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Guardian article quoted the magazine as saying: "We're very surprised at claims that Prince Alwaleed has decided to sue Forbes, particularly if he has done so in the United Kingdom, a jurisdiction that has nothing whatsoever to do with our recent story which raised questions about his claims about his wealth."
Media lawyer Jonathan Coad, of the London firm Lewis Silkin, said London was seen as a more attractive place than New York to bring defamation suits because U.S. libel law made higher requirements of claimants.
"In the U.S., a high-profile claimant has to prove firstly that the article was untrue and secondly that the publisher knew that the article was untrue, which is what we call malice. Those are two hurdles that a UK libel action does not present," said Coad, who is not involved in the Prince Alwaleed case.
Under British libel law, a claimant has only to prove that a publication was defamatory. Then the burden of proof passes to the defendant, who has several possible defenses, including that the publication was true.
The prince, a grandson of Saudi Arabia's founder and nephew of King Abdullah, had attacked the U.S. magazine's ranking of world billionaires as flawed and biased against Middle Eastern businesses after he was ranked number 26 in this year's list.
An official at the High Court in London confirmed that Prince Alwaleed had filed a defamation suit against Forbes, its editor Randall Lane, and two of its journalists on April 30. Details of the claim were not immediately available.
Through his Kingdom Holding Company, Prince Alwaleed owns large stakes in Citigroup, News Corp and Apple Inc, among other companies. He is also owner or part-owner of luxury hotels including the Plaza in New York, the Savoy in London and the George V in Paris.
This year's Forbes World Billionaires list was published on March 4, and the following day Kingdom Holding said the valuation process used "incorrect data" and "seemed designed to disadvantage Middle Eastern investors and institutions".
The public spat attracted a lot of comment, but Forbes stuck by its estimate of Prince Alwaleed's wealth and published an in-depth article in its March 25 issue entitled "Prince Alwaleed and the curious case of Kingdom Holding stock".
The article gave details about how Forbes had arrived at the figure of $20 billion and criticized what it described as a lack of transparency by Kingdom Holding in detailing its assets.
The article also described Prince Alwaleed's marble-filled, 420-room Riyadh palace, his private Boeing 747 equipped with a throne, and his 120-acre resort on the edge of the Saudi capital with five homes, five artificial lakes and a mini-Grand Canyon.
The High Court official in London said the two journalists named in the defamation claim were Kerry Dolan, the author of the article, and Francine McKenna, who was credited with additional reporting.
No date has been set for a court hearing in the case, which is in its very early stages, the official said.
The law firm Kobre & Kim, which the Guardian said was acting for Prince Alwaleed in the suit, declined to comment. New York-based Forbes could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Guardian article quoted the magazine as saying: "We're very surprised at claims that Prince Alwaleed has decided to sue Forbes, particularly if he has done so in the United Kingdom, a jurisdiction that has nothing whatsoever to do with our recent story which raised questions about his claims about his wealth."
Media lawyer Jonathan Coad, of the London firm Lewis Silkin, said London was seen as a more attractive place than New York to bring defamation suits because U.S. libel law made higher requirements of claimants.
"In the U.S., a high-profile claimant has to prove firstly that the article was untrue and secondly that the publisher knew that the article was untrue, which is what we call malice. Those are two hurdles that a UK libel action does not present," said Coad, who is not involved in the Prince Alwaleed case.
Under British libel law, a claimant has only to prove that a publication was defamatory. Then the burden of proof passes to the defendant, who has several possible defenses, including that the publication was true.
Enter The Diplomat - U.N.'s Ban gets black belt
Representatives at the United Nations may think twice about crossing Ban Ki-moon in future after the secretary-general was awarded an honorary 10th degree black belt in the Korean martial art of taekwondo.
While is unclear whether the 68-year-old Ban can break bricks with his bare hands, World Taekwondo Federation president Choue Chung-won said the awarding of the black belt reflected the common goals and values shared by the UN and federation.
"I am delighted to have presented UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with our prestigious black belt," Choue said in a statement.
"The black belt is a globally-recognized symbol of expertise across the martial arts and awarding it to the secretary-general represents how strongly matched the WTF's values are with the United Nations."
South Korean Ban, who succeeded Kofi Annan in the UN's top job in 2007 and will serve through his second term until the end of 2016, praised the efforts of the federation, founded in 1973, to achieve peace through sport.
"The World Taekwondo Federation have many accomplishments to celebrate as they mark their 40th anniversary," he added in the statement. "They have become a great example of the values and objectives that are shared by the United Nations and the Olympic Movement."
While ninth degree is technically the highest level attainable through the ranking system, some honorary 10th degree black belts have been awarded to individuals for their contributions to taekwondo and society in general.
The WTF presented their first two honorary 10th degree black belts to International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge and his predecessor, Juan Antonio Samaranch. Ban is the third recipient of the third.
While is unclear whether the 68-year-old Ban can break bricks with his bare hands, World Taekwondo Federation president Choue Chung-won said the awarding of the black belt reflected the common goals and values shared by the UN and federation.
"I am delighted to have presented UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with our prestigious black belt," Choue said in a statement.
"The black belt is a globally-recognized symbol of expertise across the martial arts and awarding it to the secretary-general represents how strongly matched the WTF's values are with the United Nations."
South Korean Ban, who succeeded Kofi Annan in the UN's top job in 2007 and will serve through his second term until the end of 2016, praised the efforts of the federation, founded in 1973, to achieve peace through sport.
"The World Taekwondo Federation have many accomplishments to celebrate as they mark their 40th anniversary," he added in the statement. "They have become a great example of the values and objectives that are shared by the United Nations and the Olympic Movement."
While ninth degree is technically the highest level attainable through the ranking system, some honorary 10th degree black belts have been awarded to individuals for their contributions to taekwondo and society in general.
The WTF presented their first two honorary 10th degree black belts to International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge and his predecessor, Juan Antonio Samaranch. Ban is the third recipient of the third.
Royal prank DJ lauded one of the "best in the land" by employer
One of the Australian radio presenters who staged a royal prank call that was linked to the suicide of a London nurse has been awarded the title of "Top Jock" by his employer, radio network Southern Cross Austereo.
Michael Christian was the joint winner in one of the categories of an internal competition that recognizes the company's "best in the land". He was awarded a trip to Los Angeles as part of his prize.
Christian and his colleague Mel Greig made a prank call to the London hospital treating Prince William's wife, Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, in December 2012.
Nurse Jacintha Saldanha put the call through to a colleague who, despite the DJs' unconvincing accents, disclosed details of the duchess's medical condition.
Saldanha was found hanged in her apartment days after the call.
"To be seen to be rewarding people so soon after such an event, I think, is just in bad taste," National Communications Minister Stephen Conroy told a Melbourne radio station.
Christian was in his first week at the Sydney station 2DayFM when the prank was staged.
"Regardless of all that's happened in the past few months, I'm still at the top of my game," Christian said in a statement. "It felt good to see my name at the top of the final leader board."
Following a public backlash, Southern Cross promised to donate advertising revenue to a fund for Saldanha's family with a minimum contribution of A$500,000 ($485,500).
($1 = 1.0298 Australian dollars)
Michael Christian was the joint winner in one of the categories of an internal competition that recognizes the company's "best in the land". He was awarded a trip to Los Angeles as part of his prize.
Christian and his colleague Mel Greig made a prank call to the London hospital treating Prince William's wife, Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, in December 2012.
Nurse Jacintha Saldanha put the call through to a colleague who, despite the DJs' unconvincing accents, disclosed details of the duchess's medical condition.
Saldanha was found hanged in her apartment days after the call.
"To be seen to be rewarding people so soon after such an event, I think, is just in bad taste," National Communications Minister Stephen Conroy told a Melbourne radio station.
Christian was in his first week at the Sydney station 2DayFM when the prank was staged.
"Regardless of all that's happened in the past few months, I'm still at the top of my game," Christian said in a statement. "It felt good to see my name at the top of the final leader board."
Following a public backlash, Southern Cross promised to donate advertising revenue to a fund for Saldanha's family with a minimum contribution of A$500,000 ($485,500).
($1 = 1.0298 Australian dollars)
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