Battlestar Galactica stars advise UN

The creators and stars of the science fiction TV series, Battlestar Galactica, have taken part in a public discussion with UN officials in New York.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7956325.stm

Israeli Soldiers Admit Gaza Abuse

An Israeli military college has printed damning soldiers' accounts of the killing of civilians and vandalism during recent operations in Gaza.

One account tells of a sniper killing a mother and children at close range whom troops had told to leave their home.

Another speaker at the seminar described what he saw as the "cold blooded murder" of a Palestinian woman.

The army has defended its conduct during the Gaza offensive but said it would investigate the testimonies.

The Israeli army has said it will investigate the soldiers' accounts.

The testimonies were published by the military academy at Oranim College. Graduates of the academy, who had served in Gaza, were speaking to new recruits at a seminar.

The climate in general [was that] lives of Palestinians are much, much less important than the lives of our soldiers Soldier testimony Analysis: Operation Miscast Lead? Gaza war crimes probes

"[The testimonies] conveyed an atmosphere in which one feels entitled to use unrestricted force against Palestinians," academy director Dany Zamir told public radio.

Heavy civilian casualties during the three-week operation which ended in the blockaded coastal strip on 18 January provoked an international outcry.

Correspondents say the testimonies, if proved credible, undermine Israel's claims that troops took care to protect non-combatants and accusations that Hamas militants were responsible for putting civilians into harm's way.

'Less important'

The Palestinian woman and two of her children were allegedly shot after they misunderstood instructions about which way to walk having been ordered out of their home by troops.

"The climate in general... I don't know how to describe it.... the lives of Palestinians, let's say, are much, much less important than the lives of our soldiers," an infantry squad leader is quoted saying.

Palestinian civilians paid a heavy price during the three-week Israeli operation

In another cited case, a commander ordered troops to kill an elderly woman walking on a road, even though she was easily identifiable and clearly not a threat.

Testimonies, which were given by combat pilots and infantry soldiers, also included allegations of unnecessary destruction of Palestinian property.

"We would throw everything out of the windows to make room and order. Everything... Refrigerators, plates, furniture. The order was to throw all of the house's contents outside," a soldier said.

One non-commissioned officer related at the seminar that an old woman crossing a main road was shot by soldiers.

"I don't know whether she was suspicious, not suspicious, I don't know her story… I do know that my officer sent people to the roof in order to take her out… It was cold-blooded murder," he said.

The transcript of the session for the college's Yitzhak Rabin pre-military course, which was held last month, appeared in a newsletter published by the academy.

Israeli human rights groups have criticised the military for failing to properly investigate violations of the laws of war in Gaza despite plenty of evidence of possible war crimes.

'Moral army'

The soldiers' testimonies also reportedly told of an unusually high intervention by military and non-military rabbis, who circulated pamphlets describing the war in religious terminology.

"All the articles had one clear message," one soldier said. "We are the people of Israel, we arrived in the country almost by miracle, now we need to fight to uproot the gentiles who interfere with re-conquering the Holy Land."

"Many soldiers' feelings were that this was a war of religion," he added.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak told Israel Radio that the findings would be examined seriously.

"I still say we have the most moral army in the world. Of course there may be exceptions but I have absolutely no doubt this will be inspected on a case-by-case basis," he said.

Medical authorities say more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed during Israel's 22-day operation, including some 440 children, 110 women, and dozens of elderly people.

The stated aim was to curb rocket and mortar fire by militants from Gaza. Thirteen Israelis, including three civilians were killed.

from:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7952603.stm

Not surprising.

Obama will try to block executive bonuses at AIG

By TOM RAUM
Associated Press Write

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama declared Monday that insurance giant American International Group is in financial straits because of "recklessness and greed" and said he intends to stop it from paying out millions in executive bonuses.

"It's hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165 million in extra pay," Obama said at the outset of an appearance to announce help for small businesses hurt by the deep recession.

"How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat," the president said.

Obama spoke out in the wake of reports that surfaced over the weekend saying that financially strapped American International Group Inc. was paying substantial bonuses to executives.

Noting that AIG has "received substantial sums" of federal aid from the federal government, Obama said he has asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner "to use that leverage and pursue every legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers whole."

Said Obama: "All across the country, there are people who work hard and meet their responsibilities every day, without the benefit of government bailouts or multimillion-dollar bonuses. And all they ask is that everyone, from Main Street to Wall Street to Washington, play by the same rules."

"This isn't just a matter of dollars and cents," he added. "It's about our fundamental values."

The $165 million was payable to executives by Sunday and was part of a larger total payout reportedly valued at $450 million. The company has benefited from more than $170 billion in a federal rescue.

AIG reported this month that it had lost $61.7 billion for the fourth quarter of last year, the largest corporate loss in history. The bulk of the payments at issue cover AIG Financial Products, the unit of the company that sold credit default swaps, the risky contracts that caused massive losses for the insurer.

Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, earlier Monday charged that the move to pay bonuses amounted to "rewarding incompetence."

"These people may have a right to their bonuses. They don't have a right to their jobs forever," said Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat.

Frank noted that the Federal Reserve Board, using a Depression-era statute, was the institution that gave AIG its initial government bailout, before Congress passed legislation providing for additional assistance and said that not enough safeguards were built into the deal.

It also was revealed over the weekend that American International Group Inc. used more than $90 billion in federal aid to pay out foreign and domestic banks, some of whom had received their own multibillion-dollar U.S. government bailouts.

Some of the biggest recipients of the AIG money were Goldman Sachs at $12.9 billion, and three European banks - France's Societe Generale at $11.9 billion, Germany's Deutsche Bank at $11.8 billion, and Britain's Barclays PLC at $8.5 billion. Merrill Lynch, which also is undergoing federal scrutiny of its bonus plans, received $6.8 billion as of Dec. 31.

The money went to banks to cover their losses on complex mortgage investments, as well as for collateral needed for other transactions.

"We ought to explore everything that we can through the government to make sure that this money is not wasted," said Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala. "These people brought this on themselves. Now you're rewarding failure. A lot of these people should be fired, not awarded bonuses. This is horrible. It's outrageous."

Frank said he was disgusted, asserting that "these bonuses are going to people who screwed this thing up enormously."

"Maybe it's time to fire some people," he said. "We can't keep them from getting bonuses but we can keep them from having their jobs. ... In high school, they wouldn't have gotten retention (bonuses), they would have gotten detention."

AIG has agreed to Obama administration requests to restrain future payments. Geithner had pressed the president's case with AIG's chairman, Edward Liddy, last week.

"He stepped in and berated them, got them to reduce the bonuses following every legal means he has to do this," said Austan Goolsbee, staff director of President Barack Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

Obama did note in his remarks Monday that Liddy "came on board after the contracts that led to these bonuses were agreed to last year."

In an interview that aired Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke did not address the bonuses but expressed his frustration with the AIG intervention.

"It makes me angry. I slammed the phone more than a few times on discussing AIG," Bernanke said. "It's - it's just absolutely - I understand why the American people are angry."

In a letter to Geithner dated Saturday, Liddy said outside lawyers had informed the company that AIG had contractual obligations to make the bonus payments and could face lawsuits if it did not do so.

Frank appeared on NBC's "Today" show and Shelby was interviewed on ABC's "Good Morning America."

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

What a bunch of horrid douchebags! I understand why everyone is pissed too; I am pissed! But by all means, keep doing shit like this you jerks. All of this greedy, self-motivated, vile and deceitful crap helps to undermine the "faith in the market" argument that conservatives have been using for years. The market might work in an ideal situation (BTW so does communism), but greedy bastards always find a way to use it to screw everyone else over (also true in communism). This is why regulation is so critical. Much more of this sort of action and Americans will clamor for nationalization of banking and insurance. The government may be slow and inefficient, but it is hardly as greedy as Wall Street. I'll take ineptitude and inefficiency over slimy souless bastards who can't see beyond their own wallets any day.

Vegeterian and Fish Diets Lower Cancer Risk

A vegetarian diet may help to protect against cancer, a UK study suggests.

Analysis of data from 52,700 men and women shows that those who did not eat meat had significantly fewer cancers overall than those who did.

But surprisingly, the researchers also found a higher rate of colorectal cancer - a disease linked with eating red meat - among the vegetarians.

Writing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition the team said the findings were worth looking into.

Although it is widely recommended that people eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day to reduce their risk of cancer and other diseases, there is very little evidence looking specifically at a vegetarian diet.

It suggests there might be some reduction in cancers in vegetarians and fish-eaters and we need to look carefully at that Professor Tim Key, study leader

In the latest study, researchers looked at men and women aged 20 to 89 recruited in the UK in the 1990s.

They divided participants into meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans.

During follow-up there were fewer cancers than would be expected in the general population - probably because they were a healthier than average group of people.

But there was a significantly lower incidence of all cancers among the fish-eaters and vegetarians compared with the meat eaters.

'Confusion'

For colorectal cancer, however that trend was reversed with vegetarians having a significantly higher incidence of the condition than the other groups.

The researchers were surprised at the finding, which contradicts previous evidence linking eating lots of red meat with the disease.

Study leader Professor Tim Key, a Cancer Research UK epidemiologist at the University of Oxford, said no previous study had looked at diet in this way and there had been a lot of confusion about the issue.

"It's interesting - it suggests there might be some reduction in cancers in vegetarians and fish-eaters and we need to look carefully at that."

He added: "It doesn't support the idea that vegetarians would have lower rates of colorectal cancer and I think it means we need to think more carefully about how meat fits into it."

More work is needed to unpick the links between diet and cancer but such studies are incredibly hard to do, he said.

Dr Joanne Lunn, a senior nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation, said the findings highlight the fact that cancer is a complex disease and many different lifestyle factors play a part in determining a person's risk.

"An interesting observation was that the vegetarians had a higher rate of colorectal cancer than the meat-eaters.

"When you look at the detail of their diets, the meat-eaters, to which the vegetarians in this group were compared, are eating only moderate amounts of meat each day - well within the recommendations.

"Both groups are also just about meeting the recommendation to eat at least 5 portions of fruits and vegetables a day."

from bbc.uk.co

Salvadoran ex-rebels win presidency for first time

By ALEXANDRA OLSON
Associated Press Writer

A leftist television journalist has won El Salvador's presidential election, bringing a party of former guerrillas to power for the first time since a bloody civil war and ending two decades of conservative rule.

Mauricio Funes, a moderate plucked from outside the ranks of the rebel-group-turned-political-party Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, became the latest leftist to rise to power in Latin America at a time of uncertainty over how President Barack Obama will approach the region.

With 90 percent of the vote counted late Sunday, Funes had 51 percent compared to 49 percent for Rodrigo Avila of the ruling conservative Arena party, said Walter Araujo, president of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

Avila, accompanied by current President Tony Saca, conceded defeat and wished Funes luck.

Funes reported on the 12-year war that ended 17 years ago with 75,000 people dead, and he later hosted a popular interview show. He promised to unite the country after one of the most polarizing campaigns since the conflict.

"This is the happiest night of my life, and I want it to be the night of El Salvador's greatest hope," Funes said. "I want to thank all the people who voted for me and chose that path of hope and change."

Jubilant, red-clad Funes supporters poured into the streets of San Salvador, whooping, clapping, blowing whistles and waving large party flags. Colorful fireworks shot up into the night sky.

Funes, 49, rode a wave of discontent with two decades of Arena party rule that have brought economic growth but done little to redress social inequalities. Fuel and food prices have soared, while powerful gangs extort businesses and fight for drug-dealing turf, resulting in one of Latin America's highest homicides rates.

Funes promised to crack down on big businesses which he says exploit government complacency to evade taxes.

"The time has come for the excluded, the opportunity has arrived for genuine democrats, for men and women who believe in social justice and solidarity," he told a rally of roaring supporters early Monday.

Avila, 44, a former police chief, had warned that an FMLN victory would send El Salvador down a communist path and threaten the country's warm relations with the United States. He vowed Sunday to lead "a vigilant opposition that would ensure that the country does not lose its liberties."

Close U.S. ties saw El Salvador keep troops in Iraq longer than any other Latin American country and become a hub of regional cooperation with Washington against drug trafficking. The country's economy depends on billions of dollars sent home by 2.5 million Salvadorans who live in the U.S.

The Obama government has assured Salvadorans it would work with any leader elected — a marked departure from the Bush administration, which in 2004 suggested that an FMLN victory would hurt ties.

But U.S relations with some leftist leaders remain tense, including Venezuela's fiery Hugo Chavez and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who lashed out last week at the United States for holding back aid over an election dispute.

Funes hopes to start off relations fresh with the Obama administration and promises to respect a free trade agreement with the United States and keep the dollar as El Salvador's currency.

"Integration with Central America and strengthening relations with the United States will be the priority of our foreign policy," Funes said.

During the campaign, television broadcasts were flooded with campaign ads warning that a Funes victory would turn El Salvador into a Venezuelan satellite and emphasizing long-standing ties between the FMLN and Chavez. That stoked fears among many Salvadorans with bitter memories of the 1980-1992 leftist insurgency.

"We don't want communists in this country," said Jose Daniel Avila, a 65-year-old retired pilot of no relation to the candidate. "Look what has happened in Nicaragua and Venezuela. Those are not examples to follow."

Chavez said earlier Sunday that his government was not taking sides in the election, adding that Venezuela wants to broaden its relations with whoever won.

___

Associated Press writer Christopher Toothaker in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.

Congratulations FMLN!

In El Salvador election, old battle lines have been erased

Former soldiers align with former FMLN rebels, and for the first time in the nation's history, a candidate from the left could become president.
By Tracy Wilkinson

March 14, 2009

Reporting from San Salvador — For nearly three decades, Nestor Bonilla was a loyal soldier in the Salvadoran army. Trained by U.S. military advisors, he rose to the rank of colonel. He fought in the civil war as a commander of El Salvador's elite and feared special forces.

Today he is stomping the campaign trail in behalf of the guerrilla movement he once battled. "It is time for a change," he says in what can only be called an understatement.

El Salvador elects a new president Sunday, and for the first time in the nation's history, the left has a real chance of victory. The vote is a test of whether El Salvador has changed significantly in the 17 years since the war ended and can open up beyond the single-party system that has governed it since, or whether the stubborn, locked-in-the-past elements on both the right and left will once again prevail and seal the status quo.

The campaign has revived frightening wartime rhetoric but also offered startling, unheard-of political alliances -- such as Bonilla and his new best friend, Gerson Martinez, a former commander of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, or FMLN. Bonilla and Martinez have become a fixture on the FMLN campaign circuit, rallying mostly rural crowds in behalf of Mauricio Funes, the politically moderate presidential candidate heading the FMLN ticket.

When the two compactly built men in their 50s take the stage before a sea of red FMLN flags, they like to tell a somewhat symbolic story.

"We used to be in these hills around here, shooting at each other, me on one side, him on the other," the former military man will say.

"I'd duck, he'd duck. The important thing is we survived to be here today."

"I tell my brothers in the FMLN that we both came from the pueblo," Martinez adds.

The story isn't literal; Bonilla and Martinez fought in different regions of the Salvadoran battlefield, though their comrades were certainly killing one another. But the political message is clear: If two staunch enemies can reconcile for what they believe to be the good of the country, then so can voters.

Does it work?

It's a real crowd pleaser among the FMLN sympathizers, who are apparently surprised at the sight of the two men allied, and they eventually erupt into applause and laughter.

But not everyone.

Marina Morales de la Cruz, a shopkeeper, believes what she has heard about the FMLN -- that it's made up of violence-prone atheists who wouldn't know how to govern.

"They are not God-fearing and would harm the country," she said at her tiny tin-roofed food store, with firewood stacked high on the floor and an enormous flag for the ruling Arena party fluttering overhead in the hot breeze.

Leaders of the right-wing Arena, some of whose founders were associated with the death squads that once stalked El Salvador, have been elected to the presidential palace every five years since 1989. This year the party is running a former police commander, Rodrigo Avila. He's behind in the polls, but polls here are unreliable.

Funes, the FMLN candidate, is a former journalist who was never a combatant in the war. Still, Arena warns that he would not be able to rein in the hard-line militants who still populate upper echelons of the FMLN leadership.

"Our historic fear of the Front cannot change because of the existence of the Communist Party," Armando Calderon Sol, a former president and Arena member, told The Times on Friday, referring to a faction of the FMLN.

But Bonilla, who retired from the army last year, believes the FMLN has changed and, more than that, that Arena must be dumped. He is one of about 110 former military officers who have joined the Funes campaign, along with other surprising bedfellows, such as the son of the late Jose Napoleon Duarte. The older Duarte was the U.S.-backed centrist president in the early years of the war.

"We want to leave the war behind," the younger Duarte said at another FMLN rally. He shared the stage with Funes and the party's vice presidential candidate, former guerrilla commander Salvador Sanchez Ceren, known by his nom de guerre, Leonel.

For Bonilla, the war is in the past but the country has only undergone superficial change. There is greater freedom of expression, but homicides have soared along with the cost of living. Government institutions are seen as corrupt shells acting on partisan interests and unable to mete out justice.

"We can sit here and talk about this and not get killed," said Bonilla, 52, who has the close-cropped hair of the soldier he was and the salt-and-pepper beard and wire-rimmed glasses of the activist he has become. "But there is no social mobility, no opportunity. Graduate, and you have no job. Don't graduate, and you have to go to work [illegally] in the U.S."

The realigning of political affinities is part of a maturing process but also a matter of clear-eyed, practical realism, analysts here say.

"They have understood Arena is not the solution, and in Funes they see a hope," said Ernesto Rivas Gallont, former ambassador to the U.S. and now a political analyst. "This might have been unthinkable a few years ago. Is it political maturation? Maybe. More than that, it is pragmatism. I'm not sure in the end it will be more than symbolic."

The symbolism is nevertheless powerful. After his interview Friday with The Times, Bonilla was heading north to campaign in a village in Morazan province, a guerrilla stronghold during the war and site of some of the fiercest combat. He would be campaigning in a town called Segundo Montes, named in honor of one of the six Jesuit priests slain by the Salvadoran army in 1989.

In his campaign appear- ances, Bonilla realizes he is speaking to peasants whose families might have been killed by men under his command. Yet they still push their calloused palms toward his, wanting to shake his hand.

"I'm in a historic moment," Bonilla said, "and I don't want to think I missed it and didn't participate."

From LAtimes.com

VIVA EL Frente!

Seattle Police Chief Picked As Nation's Drug 'Czar'

by The Associated Press

Enlarge

Elaine Thompson

Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske at a July 2006 news conference. Kerlikowske is expected to be named Wednesday to head the Office of National Drug Control Policy. AP

NPR.org, March 11, 2009 · President Obama has chosen Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske to be the nation's drug czar and lead a stepped-up campaign against substance abuse, Vice President Joe Biden announced Wednesday.

Biden said the 36-year law enforcement veteran will bring to the task a lifetime of experience working on drug policy.

"There's no one more qualified to take on this job than the chief," Biden told a White House audience including other big-city police chiefs and advocates representing drug prevention and treatment organizations.

Biden said he was disappointed that during the Bush administration, the drug czar's office "hasn't gotten the attention that it should have." He added, "Substance abuse is one of our nation's most pervasive problems."

Kerlikowske, 59, said he looked forward to his new role and noted his professional and personal experience with the effects of drug abuse on young people and families. His stepson, Jeffrey, has an arrest record on drug charges.

Kerlikowske's nomination as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy requires Senate approval. If confirmed, he would take over for John Walters, who held the job under President George W. Bush.

Kerlikowske has been Seattle's top cop for nearly nine years and has been credited with reducing crime rates to record lows.

The agency will no longer have Cabinet-level status, a White House official said, but Kerlikowske "will have a seat at the table when important decisions are being made ... and full access and a direct line to the president and vice president."

Kerlikowske served a stint during the Clinton administration as deputy director in the Justice Department's COPS program, which promotes community policing. He has also held top police positions in Florida and Buffalo, N.Y.

Kerlikowske is viewed as a workmanlike, circumspect choice who has street perspective and the policy smarts to navigate the bureaucracy. As president of the Major Cities Police Chiefs Association, he is known as a progressive and a proponent of community-oriented policing.

Colleagues expect him to ramp up efforts to stem demand for illegal narcotics by emphasizing prevention and treatment.

"I would expect Gil to say there's absolutely a role that enforcement plays, but what other things do we need to do at the community and the state and federal level on prevention and intervention in order to be successful?" asked San Jose, Calif., Police Chief Rob Davis, a friend of Kerlikowske's and vice president of the Major Cities Police Chiefs, in a recent interview with The Associated Press. "If all we do is arrest people for drugs, we're missing the opportunity to get involved in the beginning and take people out of drugs. Gil gets that concept."

In the Clinton administration, Kerlikowske worked on ways to monitor grants the agency gave to local police efforts, and he frequently emphasized analysis and data, looking for "ways to prevent crime rather than reacting to it," said Tim Quinn, the COPS program's acting director.

John Carnevale, an official in the drug office from its inception in 1989 until 2000, met Kerlikowske while working on ways to measure the agency's effectiveness. "He's big on accountability," said Carnevale. Kerlikowske's Washington and local policing background is a plus, particularly if other appointees bring a strong treatment and prevention background, he said.

Seattle activists who work on drug-reform issues called Kerlikowske smart and reasonable, and they noted that his police department has largely abided by a voter-approved initiative that made marijuana possession the city's lowest law enforcement priority.

Even at the city's annual Hempfest protest and festival, police arrested only a few people despite the open-air pot smoking, said Vivian McPeak, director of the event.

Douglas Hiatt, an attorney who defends medical marijuana patients, said the chief has tried "to do the right thing on medical marijuana. He's trying to get it across to his officers not to hassle patients."

Kerlikowske told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in December that if he joined the Obama administration, "At my age, at this point in my career, I'd want something where you feel like you could make a real impact."

From NPR.org

Interesting pick. Another indication that Obama's administration is interesting in changing the status quo. I would not expect to see legalized marijuana anytime soon, but at least the War on Drugs may be changing, or perhaps dropped all together. At least the approach may move to substance abuse treatment and away from criminal punishment.

It's Like a cloak of Elvenkind, but from Science!

March 6, 2009 -- Call it what you will -- the world's first 3D nanoantenna or an invisibility cloak -- but a new metamaterial created by Rice University scientists could hide objects from human sight.

By creating perfectly aligned dimples in a material, the scientists channeled specific wavelengths of light from many directions into one uniform direction.

"This falls into the broad class of metamaterials that have useful and unusual properties, like cloaking," said Naomi Halas, Rice University scientist and co-author of a paper describing the material in Nano Letters. "In a broader picture, you could do some very interesting things with this metamaterial."

The first "invisibility cloak," which hid objects from relatively long-wavelength radio waves, was created in 2006 by scientists from Duke University. Since then scientists have tried to create ever-smaller structures to manipulate ever-smaller wavelengths of light, with the goal of creating a true invisibility cloak that would hide objects in the visible spectrum of light.

According to Halas, this is the world's first truly 3D metamaterial -- a metamaterial being something that gets its trademark properties from its structure rather than its makeup.

Creating the first nanoantenna was relatively simple.

Scientists started with a layer of glass. Latex or plastic nanoparticles were sprayed over the glass at random. Gold particles were evaporated onto the nanoparticles at five different angles, creating 'nanocups.' A protective layer of acrylic was then poured over the top and cured for 36 hours to form a hard slab.

The nanocups are arranged in a repeating pattern, all angled in one direction. Any light that enters a nanocup is gathered and then emitted in the direction of that angle. Since no light is reflected back into an observer's eye, the nanoantenna-coated object is hidden.

"Think about the retro reflectors on stop signs," said Halas. "Those are basically microspheres that direct the light from your headlights back at you. This is the opposite. This would take the light and send it in another direction, hiding the stop sign from your sight."

Reflecting all the gathered light in one direction means that the nanoantenna acts kind of like a mirrored magnifying glass, concentrating the light at a particular point. Unlike a magnifying glass, however, it doesn't matter what angle the light enters; it all goes to the same point.

Practical uses for the nanoantenna go beyond hiding things.

Solar collectors reflect light on a single point, but to work at maximum efficiency they must be mechanically tilted to stay in line with the sun as it moves across the sky.

The new nanoantenna would concentrate light on a single point without having to mechanically tilt it, eliminating one of the biggest costs involved in solar panels.

"In a lot of solar cells, most of the light passes right though the material," said Halas. With the new 3D nanoantenna, "you could change the direction of the light so it propagates through the active regions of the solar cells to maximize [energy]."

Whatever the material is used for, scientists agree that this is the world's first truly 3D nanoantanna.

"Until now it has been difficult to build 3D shapes," said Gennady Shvets, a scientist at the University of Texas at Austin who studies metamaterials. "People used lithography to create essentially flat or planar structures, but those have their limitations."

from: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/03/06/invisibility-cloak-02.html

Holy awesome!

A (belated) reply from Congressman Price

Here is a response I received from Rep. Price (D-NC) after sending him a letter back in January regarding the Israeli invasion of Gaza. While I would have liked him to take a little more critical stance towards Israel, I think he addressed the situation in a far less biased and real way than I have seen from most US politicians.

Dear Mr.****

Thank you for contacting me about the current conflict in Gaza. I share your concern about this situation and have vocally advocated several immediate steps to achieve a ceasefire and get Israeli-Palestinian long-term peace talks back on track.

The current conflict grows from a standoff between Israel and Hamas that was untenable for citizens on both sides of the dividing line. As you know, Hamas opposed the renewal of a ceasefire that had prevailed for the last several months and then resumed rocket fire against innocent civilians in southern Israel. These acts of terrorism created a situation for Israelis in the area that simply could not be tolerated. At the same time, after agreeing to loosen a months-long, crippling embargo on Gaza in connection with the ceasefire agreement, Israel had failed to live up to its promise, creating a humanitarian situation in Gaza that had become increasingly desperate.

The conflict has only exacerbated suffering for both sides. Certainly, it bears pointing out that Palestinians have borne the brunt of the violence, with a death toll approaching 1,000 and a humanitarian situation that is reportedly keeping nearly one million Gazans cut off from access to fuel and clean water. On the other side of the boundary, Israeli civilians continue to be terrorized by rocket attacks.

An immediate ceasefire is certainly part of the answer, and I have vocally urged the U.S. to advocate for a ceasefire. However, a ceasefire alone will not solve either the current crisis or the long-term Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I have argued for urgent steps to ensure that an end to the fighting addresses the root causes of conflict and paves the way for a sustainable resolution.

Specifically, I have noted that a ceasefire cannot last unless it remediates the underlying causes of the fighting, including by lifting the embargo on Gaza and by halting rocket attacks into Israel. Second, I have urged diplomatic efforts to put Israeli-Palestinian peace talks back on track, including greater involvement of Israel's Arab neighbors and inclusion of Hamas and its constituents in the peace process. Without these steps, a ceasefire will only be a band-aid.

I expressed many of these views in an op-ed I wrote for the Charlotte Observer and Miami Herald on January 6. In addition, Rep. Lois Capps and I led a group of colleagues in sending a letter to President Bush demanding several immediate steps to ease the humanitarian situation in Gaza. I have attached both documents for your review.

It is my deep hope that the incoming Administration will make a just and lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace built upon a two-state solution a top priority. Only through strong American engagement can such a goal be realized. You can be sure I will continue to advocate for U.S. leadership for peace in the Middle East.

Sincerely,

DAVID PRICE

Member of Congress

Rape row sparks excommunications

By Gary Duffy
BBC News, Sao Paulo

A Brazilian archbishop says all those who helped a child rape victim secure an abortion are to be excommunicated from the Catholic Church.

The girl, aged nine, who lives in the north-eastern state of Pernambuco, became pregnant with twins.

It is alleged that she had been sexually assaulted over a number of years by her stepfather.

The excommunication applies to the child's mother and the doctors involved in the procedure.

The pregnancy was terminated on Wednesday.

Abortion is only permitted in Brazil in cases of rape and where the mother's life is at risk and doctors say the girl's case met both these conditions.

Police believe that the girl at the centre of the case had been sexually abused by her step-father since she was six years old.

The fact that she was pregnant with twins was only discovered after she was taken to hospital in Pernambuco complaining of stomach pains.

Her stepfather was arrested last week, allegedly as he tried to escape to another region of the country.

He is also suspected of abusing the girl's physically handicapped older sister who is now 14.

Hey, nice job Church. Religion...why? I do not understand it. The more I think about this the more angry it makes me. I mean, the Church doesn't excommunicate people that are convicted of murder. So why this girl and everyone who helped her secure an abortion? Did the Church excommunicate the asshole that raped his stepdaughter for years? Why the fuck not? Ugh.....stupid.

A Little Pro-Labor, Anti-CEO Propaganda

Steele vs. Limbaugh: A Rumble in the Right

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele is taking issue with the notion that Rush Limbaugh is the de facto leader of the GOP, calling the conservative radio talk show host an entertainer whose comments can be ugly.

"Rush will say what Rush has to say; we'll do what we have to do," RNC Chairman Michael Steele has said.

Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said in an interview with CNN that he, rather than Limbaugh, is "the de facto leader of the Republican Party."

And Steele described Limbaugh as a performer.

"Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh's whole thing is entertainment," Steele said. "Yes, it is incendiary. Yes, it is ugly."

Limbaugh fired back on his radio show Monday that the GOP leader appears to be supporting President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"Why do you claim to lead the Republican Party when you seem obsessed with seeing to it President Obama succeeds?" Limbaugh said to Steele.

"I frankly am stunned that the chairman of the Republican National Committee endorses such an agenda. I have to conclude that he does because he attacks me for wanting it to fail," said Limbaugh.

Last month, Steele, a former lieutenant governor of Maryland, was elected chairman of the RNC. He is the first African-American to lead the Republican Party. At the time of his election, Steele said that "Rush will say what Rush has to say; we'll do what we have to do."

Steele made his latest comments regarding Limbaugh on CNN's "D.L. Hughley Breaks the News," which aired this weekend. The Steele interview was taped before Limbaugh's appearance before the Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual meeting of conservatives from across the nation. Watch Steele, Hughley talk politics »

Limbaugh brought a cheering crowd to its feet several times as he called on fellow conservatives to take back the country.

He used his self-described "first national address," which ran more than an hour longer than his allotted 20 minutes, to accuse President Obama of inspiring fear in Americans in order to push a liberal agenda of "big government."

Limbaugh also backed up comments he made earlier this year in which he said he hoped Obama failed.

"What is so strange about being honest and saying I want Barack Obama to fail if his mission is to restructure and re-form this country so that capitalism and individual liberty are not its foundation?" he said.

But a top Republican in Congress disagreed.

"I don't think anyone wants anything to fail right now," House Republican Whip Eric Cantor said on ABC's "This Week." "We have such challenges. What we need to do is we need to put forth solutions to the problems that real families are facing today."

RNC spokesman Alex Conant on Monday did not directly address Steele's comments about Limbaugh but pointed out the back-and-forth between the White House and the conservative radio host.

"Rahm Emanuel and the Democrats know they lose an argument with the Republican Party on substance, so they are building straw men to attack and distract," he said. "The feud between radio host Rush and Rahm makes great political theater, but it is a sideshow to the important work going on in Washington.

"RNC Chairman Michael Steele and elected Republicans are focused on fighting for reform and winning elections. The Democrats' problem is that the American people are growing skeptical of the massive government spending being pushed by congressional leaders like [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi," Conant said.

A spokesman for Limbaugh said the radio host did not have an immediate response, but added he would probably address Steele's comments Monday on his nationally syndicated radio program.

from CNN.com

Ahahaha....Wait, I think this...ahahaha....Whew! Gotta love Rush. What a heinous POS. Anyway, this can't be good for the Republicans, which means that I am all for it. But seriously, I have some respect for both Steele and Cantor. They may be opposed to big government and the efforts of Big O's administration to reform the market, but at least they see the bigger picture, that we are all in the same boat. And if Obama fails, the whole country fails. Rush may just be an entertainer, but wishing the President to fail is a pretty douchey thing to do. That is sort of tantamount to wishing for depression. I mean, I was 100% opposed to Bush when he decided to invade Iraq, but I never thought "Man I sure hope this is a dismal failure that leaves the country bankrupt and thousands dead."

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called on Islamic banks to take a leadership role in the global economy, amid the financial crisis.

He was speaking at the opening of the World Islamic Economic Forum in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

The forum has brought together political and business leaders from 38 countries to discuss the global economic slowdown.

They will also discuss ways to achieve energy and food security.

Mr Yudhoyono said it was time for Islamic banks to do some missionary work in the West.

Islamic financial institutions, he said, had not been hit as hard as their western counterparts because they did not invest in toxic assets.

Banks run in accordance with Muslims laws on interest payments and the sharing of credit risks are seen by many as fairer than traditional banks, less focused on profit and kinder to the communities they work in.

Demand for Islamic financial products has been growing in the Muslim world for years but Mr Yudhoyono said that many in the West were now ready to learn from them.

Islamic law prohibits the payment and collection of interest, which is seen as a form of gambling.

Transactions must be backed by real assets, and because risk is shared between the bank and the depositor, there is added incentive for the institutions to ensure deals are sound.

from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7918129.stm

Interesting. Maybe Wall Street should take a hint. And you would think that it wouldn't take religious precept for banks to act with some modicum of fairness, let alone to back up transactions with real assets. Sheesh. I wonder how the west will respond to Islamic missionary work. At the rate things are going, JP Morgan employees may be taking prayer breaks at regular intervals.