Plain Insane

'Failure to act would be folly,' says report to UN

This article appeared in the Observer on Sunday February 24 2008 on p25 of the News section. It was last updated at 00:05 on February 24 2008.

The amount of debris orbiting the Earth has reached a critical level. Old satellite parts, solar panels and the odd astronaut's lost glove now pose serious risks to space missions. A report from the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety is calling for stringent international laws to be brought in urgently to avert a tragedy.

The threat posed by orbiting debris can only be allayed by extending civil aviation standards into space, says the report, which is to be presented to the United Nations in April. 'Failure to act now to regulate space to protect property and human life would be pure folly,' says the association's director, Tommaso Sgobba. Professor Richard Crowther, who is representing the UK at a UN space safety meeting in Vienna, agrees: 'Eventually binding international civil aviation style laws will have to come.'

Last week, the United States courted an international row after shooting down a disabled spy satellite, saying its fuel could cause serious damage if it crashed to Earth. Russia, however, claimed that the operation was a US cover-up to test its anti-satellite weapons.

According to the space agency Nasa, there are now 9,000 pieces of orbiting junk, weighing a total of more than 5,500 tonnes: old rocket launchers, tools and instruments dropped by astronauts, and pieces of exploded spacecraft. Examples include a glove lost by astronaut Ed White during a 1965 space walk, a camera that Michael Collins let slip in space in 1966 and a pair of pliers that an International Space Station astronaut recently let slip through their fingers.

Space junk varies in size from tiny bolts and screws to huge lumps of fuselage and are to be found in two main regions: low Earth orbit, a few hundred miles above Earth, and geostationary orbit, 22,300 miles up, where communication satellites are programmed to hover above the planet.

In low Earth orbit, pieces of debris pose particular problems. They could strike manned spacecraft and lead to fatal depressurisation, space experts warn. In 1991, a space shuttle had to carry out an emergency seven-second burn of its engines to avoid being struck by part of a Russian Cosmos satellite.

Low-orbiting debris also poses a risk to Earth itself. In 2006, pieces of a Russian spy satellite burnt up in the atmosphere, passing perilously close to a Latin American Airbus carrying 270 passengers over the Pacific.

To date, only one person has been injured by space debris, however: an Oklahoma woman who was hit in the shoulder by a piece of a Delta rocket's fuel tank, but who was uninjured by this extraterrestrial attack.

The problem, according to the Association for the Advancement of Space Safety report, is that up to 20 countries are now able to launch objects into space - but very few of these have rigid safety protocols. Nor is the problem of space debris confined to near Earth, it adds. Satellites in geostationary orbit are supposed to be moved farther into space after they become defunct - but often that obligation is not met.

More than 200 dead satellites now litter this vital part of space. Within 10 years that number could increase fivefold, warns the report. The resulting chaos could lead to serious damage or loss of a spacecraft.

'Unfortunately we may have to wait for something to happen, perhaps a big near miss, before people realise we can't go on as we are,' Crowther said.

Mr Mourtada said his fake Facebook profile was just a bit of fun

Last Updated: Saturday, 23 February 2008, 20:16 EDT

Fouad Mourtada was arrested on 5 February on suspicion of stealing the identity of Prince Moulay Rachid, younger brother of King Mohammed VI.

The Casablanca court also ordered Mr Mourtada, 26, to pay a $1,300 fine.

The prosecution had urged the court to impose a sentence which set an example for others.

Mr Mourtada was convicted of "villainous practices linked to the alleged theft of the [prince's] identity".

In his defence, he said he admired the prince, and that the Facebook entry was just intended to be a bit of fun.

'Beaten unconscious'

A website supporting him published a letter addressed to the prince apologising for the incident.

The letter, reportedly penned by Mr Mourtada's family, requested clemency.

"Fouad Mourtada, like thousands of people who create fake profiles of well-known personalities or celebrities on Facebook, has in no way acted in a willingness to cause nuisance to Your Highness, for whom he has always shown the greatest of respect," the letter on the Help Fouad website reads.

Earlier this week some Moroccan bloggers went "on strike", suspending their regular blog entries for 24 hours in protest at Mr Mourtada's detention.

According to the website, he told family members who visited him in jail that he had been blindfolded and beaten unconscious at the time of his arrest.

Source: BBC

Seoul, South Korea (AHN)-A 52-year-old man, identified only as Park, was caught for attempting to cook his landlady's pet Chihuahua. The incident happened in a boarding house in Jongno in the capital Seoul.

The man reportedly took the pet Chihuahua inside his room in the boarding house while his 69-year-old landlady was in the bathroom. He killed the dog and attempted to cook it, unfortunately his clothes caught fire and emitted smoke.

Park's neighbors saw the smoke coming out of the room and called the firefighters, who witnessed his attempt to cook the dog, the police said.

According to the police, when questioned, Park appeared drunk and only said: ``I did so because I was hungry.'' He was booked on charges of theft.

Technique may make it less expensive for industry to identify counterfeit merchandise Source: Article February 19, 2008

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) – Researchers at UC Riverside have found a way to get into your body and your bloodstream. No, they’re not spiritual gurus or B-movie mad scientists. Nathaniel G. Portney, Yonghui Wu, Stefano Lonardi, and Mihri Ozkan from UCR’s departments of Bioengineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Biochemistry, and Electrical Engineering, and the Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering, are just talented when it comes to manipulating DNA.

In their paper, “Length-based Encoding of Binary Data in DNA,” which was published by the American Chemical Society last month, the researchers discovered a system to encode digital information within DNA. This method relies on the length of the fragments obtained by the partial restriction digest rather than the actual content of the nucleotide sequence. As a result, the technology eliminates the need to use expensive sequencing machinery.

Why is this discovery important? The human genome consists of the equivalent of approximately 750 megabytes of data – a significant amount of storage space. However, only about three percent of DNA goes into composing the more than 22,000 genes that make us what we are. The remaining 97 percent leaves plenty of room to encode information in a genome, allowing the information to be preserved and replicated in perpetuity.

Given the size of the DNA fragments (one base pair of DNA is 0.33 nanometers), one could store a large amount of information in a very small space. By storing messages within DNA, organizations can “tag” objects to verify authenticity, as well as to inconspicuously send data to a specific destination. “Already there are several companies using DNA to tag objects that they certify to be original and which then can be very difficult to counterfeit,” says Stefano Lonardi, Associate Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at UCR’s Bourns College of Engineering.

For example, the British company, Redweb Security, has developed something called i-powder that tags DNA and another company called PSA DNA Authentication services tags sports memorabilia.

“What we developed at UCR is a method to encode a message in DNA in a way that does not require an expensive sequencing machine,” notes Lonardi. “The decoding still requires a wet lab procedure, but the experimental procedure is significantly easier.”

SHREVEPORT, LA
Shreveport Police Chief Comments On Claim Of Police Brutality

Posted: Feb 19, 2008 09:54 AM

Updated: Feb 20, 2008 08:20 PM
Shreveport Police Chief Henry Whitehorn News Conference On Police Brutality Claim - Part 1

A Shreveport Police officer at the heart of a police brutality claim was fired for "violating department policy," said the city's police chief on Wednesday.
Shreveport Police Chief Henry Whitehorn would not elaborate on the specifics of the violation by Officer Wiley Wills, saying the investigation into the brutality claim remains open.
Whitehorn spoke to reporters Wednesday morning about the case. A police video tape of Angie Garbarino that ends with her lying on the police room floor in a pool of her own blood made national news coverage over the last two days.
Whitehorn also said the FBI and the Justice Department have opened investigations into the matter.

From Feb. 19
KSLA News 12 has learned more about how the investigation began into the alleged beating of a female while she was in custody of Shreveport Police.
Angie Garbarino and her attorney, Ron Miciotto, say the investigation started with Shreveport Police Chief Henry Whitehorn.
KSLA News 12 talked to Garbarino Tuesday at her home. She didn't want to be interviewed on camera and referred us to Miciotto.
He gave us a copy of the tape which first shows Garbarino asking Officer Wiley Willis for a phone call, then demanding a phone call.
As Garbarino tries to walk out the door, she's put into handcuffs. The tape later shows a scuffle, then Willis appears to shut the camera off.
When the video resumes, Garbarino is lying in a pool of her own blood.
At one point she could be heard saying, "I wasn't even hurt that bad until he threw me onto the floor. Look at me."
When paramedics arrive, they asked one of the officers what happened, to which he replied, "she fell down."
Both Garbarino and Miciotto claim Whitehorn is the one who filed the internal affairs complaint, and that's when a two month investigation insued.
We put calls into the Shreveport Police Department Tuesday to request an interview with Chief Whitehorn. The chief will instead hold a new conference Wednesday morning at 11:00 a.m. That news conference can be seen live on ksla.com.
Mociotto also told us he will talk tomorrow.

In fact, he says his office and Garbarino are both being solicited by national news organizations as the story has reached beyond the Ark-La-Tex.
Late Tuesday afternoon KSLA News12 received a statement from Chief Whitehorn. He says, "After reviewing the evidence, we decided it was something that needed to be handled internally and there was not enough to pursue criminal charges."
Stay with KSLA News12 and ksla.com for further developments in this story.

From Feb. 18
A Shreveport Police officer has been fired, after a woman in police custody claims she was beaten by him.
Angie Garbarino says back on November 17th, while in police custody, she was beaten, and she has the pictures she says proves it.
Garbarino did not want to go on camera, but did tell us her side of the story.
On November 17th Garbarino says she was in police custody when she says the officer at the time, tried to give her a breathalyzer test.
Garbarino refused the test. At that point, she says she was beaten by the officer.
Garbarino's attorney has police video of Garbarino at the police station after she was taken into custody.
Garbarino says she was taken to Christus Schumpert Hospital with bruises all over her body, including two black eyes and a broken nose.
KSLA News 12 has learned the officer involved incident, Officer Wiley Willis, was fired over the weekend.
KSLA News 12 attempted to reach, Ron Miciotto, Garbarino's attorney and also Eron Brainard, the lawyer for Officer Willis for comments.
We also tried to talk to Police Chief Henry Whitehorn but so far, those calls have gone unanswered.

What would you do if your net worth were $22 billion? If you were Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani, you might build yourself the world's most expensive home. As designed by Chicago architecture firm Perkins + Will, the in-progress glass-tower is estimated at $1 billion and is known to feature, at the least, a health club, multiple "safe" rooms, 3 helipads, 168 parking spaces and require 600 servants to maintain, and physically, the structure stands at 27 stories, or 570 feet tall.

According to the Mumbai Mirror, the tower will also contain:

Floor for car maintenance
Sources said the Ambanis would prefer to have all their cars serviced and maintained at an in-house service centre. This centre will be set up on the seventh floor.

Entertainment floor


The eighth floor will have an entertainment centre comprising a mini-theatre with a seating capacity of 50.

Balconies with gardens

The rooftop of the mini-theatre will serve as a garden, and immediately above that, three more balconies with terrace gardens will be independent floors.

The 'health' floors

While the ninth floor will a 'refuge' floor -- meant to be used for rescue in emergencies -- two floors above that will be set aside for 'health.' One of these will have facilities for athletics and a swimming pool, while the other will have a health club complete with the latest gym equipment.

Family

The four floors at the top, that will provide a view of the Arabian Sea and a superb view of the city's skyline, will be for Mukesh, his wife Neeta, their three children and Mukesh's mother Kokilaben.

Air space floor

According to the plan, two floors above the family's residence will be set aside as maintenance areas, and on top of that will be an "air space floor," which will act as a control room for helicopters landing on the helipad above.

Watch a video of the tower's progress here:

Feb 20, 2008 at 1:21 PM CST

WICHITA, Kansas, Feb. 20, 2008 -- Wichita police say they’re working a case they don't often see: a man accused of having sex with a dog. And it’s not the first time the man’s been in this type of trouble.

Twenty-year-old Joshua Coman is now in jail accused of having sex with a Rottweiler.

“We don't see any cases like this,” said Lt. Sam Hanley with the Wichita Police Department. “I’d never seen any cases like this and I hope we don't see any more.”

Justen Tracy says Coman lived with his family for a short time.

Tracy says Coman called Wednesday night to say he was coming over to kidnap the dog. Shortly after that, the family caught him in the garage.

"He's doing foul things with the dog and my mom flips on the garage light and he stops,” said Tracy.

Tracy said his family found out what Coman was doing with their dog Yogi a month ago. They told him if he came on their property again they would call the police.

“Supposedly according to him it's happened numerous times on several occasions,” said Tracy.

Coman was already on probation for similar charges in Reno County. Last September he pleaded no contest in a case involving a Rottweiler in Pretty Prairie.

Authorities say Coman has posted pictures of himself with animals on a Web site.

“On the Internet there's nothing sacred.” said Hanley. “There are some strange people in this world that have certain likes and this individual happens to be one of those.”

In fact, Tracy says there’s video on the site of his family pet in their living room that was taped while they weren’t home.

“I always kind of knew he was sick,” said Tracy.

Police say Coman will most likely face sodomy charges; a statute that includes sex with animals. The crime is a misdemeanor.

February 2, 2008

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) — Three 13-year-old girls accused of throwing french fries during lunchtime at their school were cited for "hurling missiles," an adult infraction covered by city ordinances.

The principal of Laramie Junior High and a police officer had warned students during an assembly the day before the french fries' launch that if they threw food, they had to suffer the consequences, Police Chief Bob Deutsch said. The warning came after school officials had heard rumors of an impending food fight.

"They saw it as really the planning of a riot, when you think about it," Deutsch said.

The girls decided to test the warning, he said.

"It wasn't a spontaneous thing — a couple of kids giggling, throwing a french fry at each other," Deutsch said. "They intended on getting everybody involved in this and starting something that no doubt would have the potential of getting out of control."

Now, some observers are saying police and school officials went overboard, and even the American Civil Liberties Union weighed in.

"It certainly seems that this was an overreaction to a situation that could have been handled differently," said Linda Burt, Wyoming director of the ACLU.

The girls were also suspended for three days.

City prosecutor Ashley Castor didn't return phone messages left Thursday and Friday. Principal Steve Hoff declined to comment, and schools Superintendent Brian Recht did not return messages.

Friday, February 8, 2008

A teacher in Sweden has been fined for flashing her breasts at a male pupil. She was convicted of sexual harassment after exposing her breasts to the boy in retaliation for the boy covering the blackboard with swear words and sexual drawings.

The 47-year-old teacher claimed that there was nothing sexual about her breast-flashing, and that it was merely a response to the boy's rude scribblings.

According to The Local, she claimed: 'I just snapped. I was trying to get him to stop writing and drawing filth on the blackboard.'

Although convicted of the boob incident, the teacher was cleared of charges that she also groped two other boys on their buttocks and genitals, after the court found the boys' testimony unreliable.

The teacher was fined the equivalent sixty days wages, after the court took into consideration the fact that she had lost her job. She was also ordered to pay the boy £395 (5,000 kronor) in damages, for the trauma of seeing some breasts.

By KASEY JONES, Associated Press Writer Sun Feb 3, 6:25 PM ET COCKEYSVILLE, Md. - A 15-year-old boy shot and killed his parents and two younger brothers as they slept in their suburban Baltimore home and then waited more than 24 hours before calling police, authorities said Sunday.

Nicholas Waggoner Browning killed his family on Friday, and spent the rest of the night and Saturday with friends, before returning and reporting he had found his father's body, police said.

Browning was arrested Sunday after he admitted to the slayings, Baltimore County Police spokesman Bill Toohey said.

Browning was charged as an adult with four counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of his father, lawyer John Browning, 45; his mother Tamara, 44; and his brothers Gregory, 13, and Benjamin, 11.

The teen had not been getting along with his father, police said. On Friday night, he went into the house after other family members had gone to sleep and shot each of them. His father's handgun had been in the house, police said.

After the slayings, he threw the handgun into bushes near the house, police said. The gun was recovered, Toohey said.

When the friends took him back to his house at 5 p.m. Saturday, Browning went into the house and came back out to say that his father was dead.

Browning called 911, telling the dispatcher that a "45-year-old male was lying on the couch with blood coming out of his nose. He was not breathing," according to charging documents. Officers were sent on a "call of a cardiac arrest."

Police said Browning's father was found in a ground-floor room and his mother and brothers were dead in upstairs bedrooms. There was no sign of a confrontation, Toohey said.

The tall, gangly sophomore at Dulaney High School in neighboring Timonium was denied bail; a bail review hearing was scheduled Monday. He was being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center in a special section for juveniles.

Toohey said he didn't know if Browning had a lawyer.

Even if convicted as an adult of first-degree murder, Browning is too young under state law to face the death penalty.



Two of Browning's classmates drove past the family's house Sunday afternoon and wept when they learned from reporters that he was charged in the slayings.

"It's hard to believe someone could do this," Brooke Kebaugh, 16, said.

Liz Lazlawbach, 17, said Browning complained about fighting with his father, but "not about anything violent."

The grounds of the two-story home were neat and neighbor Mike Thomas said the Brownings would even pick up trash along the street. "These people would do anything in the world for you — just incredible people," Thomas said.

Neighbors called each other throughout the night to discuss the killings, Thomas said. He said one of his sons had been in Boy Scouts with one of the Brownings' sons and was devastated when he learned of the deaths.

John Browning was a partner in the law firm of Royston, Mueller, McLean & Reid in Towson, focusing on real estate law and commercial and corporate law.

The partners said Browning was an accomplished lawyer.

"He was also a person invested in his family and community," the partners said. "He led his local scout troop. He was a leader at his church. In short, John Browning was a great man. We will all miss him very, very much."

The Brownings' Boy Scout unit, Troop 328, meets at Timonium United Methodist Church.

The Rev. Frances Dailey said Sunday that the troop's leaders did not want to talk. He said John Browning was "beloved and well revered. I'm told this is not the kind of family that this could happen to."

Counselors were to be available Monday to meet with students at Dulaney High, said Charles Herndon, a county school spokesman. He declined to say where Browning's younger brothers went to school.