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Monday, June 4, 2007

A passenger helicopter crashed in Sierra Leone on Sunday, killing at least 20 people, witnesses say.

The helicopter, operated by Paramount Airlines of Sierra Leone, was transporting clients for a charter flight from Freetown to Lungi International Airport.

There is no official word on the identity of all the victims, however it has been reported that the 19 passengers had been returning from a football match that had taken place earlier in the day between Togo and Sierra Leone at an African Nations Cup qualifying game.

One of the dead has been identified as Togo’s Minister of Sport, Richard Attipoe. Other passengers were associated with the Togo Sports Ministry and the Togo Football Federation. In addition, journalist Olive Menzah has been identified as one of the victims.

Paramount operates a helicopter ferry service for a short flight between Freetown and Lungi airport. The airport can only be accessed by helicopter or ferry boat.

An airline maintenance officer told AFP news agency that the helicopter caught fire and burst into flames as it was landing. The pilot is reported dead, while the co-pilot is listed in critical condition. Both had jumped from the helicopter moments before it crashed.

The helicopter had apparently been grounded by the Sierra Leone government some months ago for safety violations, but was then put back into service, according to the BBC.

Sunday, March 20, 2005

The American state of Georgia faces a new problem as wildlife officials discovered the South American channeled apple snail along the Alabaha River in Pierce County last month. Similar snails have been seen in four American states, including at least nine Florida counties, and Indonesia.

Apple snails (those of the ampullariidae family) are tropical and sub-tropical freshwater snails. They are named for their round shell, which is apple shaped. The channeled apple snail (Pomacea canaliculata) has a yellow-to-brown shell that may grow to the size of a baseball. Unlike many other freshwater gastropods, Apple Snails have both a lung and a gill. This allows them to live even in oxygen-poor waters. Outside of their natural habitat of South America, the snails have no natural enemies. As they reproduce quickly and feed on aquatic plants, which provide food and shelter for native species, they can be devastating to their new environment.

“This discovery is one of particular interest because of the invasive nature of the species,” assistant chief of DNR’s Non-game Wildlife and Natural Heritage Section Jon Ambrose told the AP. “Because of the array of problems that can arise from releasing non-native species into Georgia’s waters, we want to stress that this is not a responsible practice for pet owners.”

DNR biologists searched the site of the discovery again last weekend. Although no more channeled apple snails were found, they may return for a more elaborate search. The Georgia winter, more severe than Florida´s, may put a stop to the threat.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Louisiana Republican Governor Bobby Jindal signed a controversial bill hailed by intelligent design supporters, such as the Discovery Institute, and Louisiana Family Forum, a creationist group. Critics of the bill, including several major science organizations, say it allows for the teaching of “creationism” in public schools.

The law, Louisiana Science Education Act, allows teachers to use “supplemental materials” when discussing evolution, but it does not state what the materials would be.

Citing the 1987 Supreme Court ruling in Edwards v. Aguillard, “Louisiana has a long and unfortunate history of trying to substitute dogma for science in classrooms,” said Reverend Barry W. Lynn, an executive director for Americans United for Separation of Church and State. In addition, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, National Center for Science Education, and the Louisiana Coalition for Science opposed the bill arguing it would cause detriment to students’ education by letting in unapproved curriculum.

According to Reuters, Jindal’s office declined to comment on Friday.

Similar Academic Freedom bills have been promoted by the Discovery Institute in other states, but so far they have failed.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

With online gaming in persistent worlds becoming more prevalent, a US congressional committee has begun to look into the tax implications of these booming online economies. Games such as World of Warcraft and Second Life have large player driven economic systems in which – either following the rules or against them – real world currencies are exchanged for in-game currencies. With the GDP of some of these economies rivaling that of some small countries, the US government is wondering if it is missing out on a potential source of tax revenue: or as some gamers might put it, the IRS is asking “You buy gold?”.

In cases where exchange of a real world currency for in-game currency is permitted by the rules of the game, some of these online games such as Second Life require that players report any income generated by these means to his or her government. In most on-line games however, a black market exists where players buy and sell in-game currencies in direct violation of the game’s rules; situations involving black markets are notoriously hard to tax.

Compounding the issue of currency exchange is the existence of in-game assets. In the real world if someone wins a luxury vehicle, he or she is expected to pay a capital gains tax on his or her winnings. If a 40 person “raid” in World of Warcraft gets a rare “drop,” worth up to thousands of dollars if sold illegally, should they be required to pay a capital gains tax?

Even if the issue of capital gains is ignored, there is still the matter of sales tax. In many of these games, non-player characters and players alike sell items to one another. If sales tax is to be applied, at what rate should it be charged and to what State does it go? Questions such as these have just recently been answered in much less hazy situations such as online versions of brick and mortar establishments.

Dan Miller, senior economist for the Joint Economic Committee had this to say on the issue, “I found that talking about this issue with some of the other economists on the committee, they are not really familiar with what a virtual economy is. The idea of Second Life or World of Warcraft or some of these other synthetic universes, they have trouble wrapping their head around it. So there’s an educational hurdle to overcome here.”

The preliminary findings of the committee state that virtual economies deserve clarification of existing tax laws, not new taxes.

Monday, May 9, 2005

Workers at Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana have completed a successful test-run of a chemical reactor designed to dispose of Cold War stockpiles of VX nerve agent.

After encountering initial difficulties when the temperature in the reactor grew too high, workers were able to adjust the speed of the device. 180 gallons of VX and water were turned into a caustic but far less lethal compound, that can be further reprocessed into an inert substance.

A residue of 14 parts VX per billion remained; the Army’s eventual goal is less than 20 parts. One drop of VX can kill a grown man.

The conversion of the VX stockpiled at the facility is projected to take two years. Then the drain cleaner-like waste product with its small residue of VX will need to be sent to another facility for reprocessing into a safer, biodegradable compound.

A controversial plan has Dupont doing the reprocessing at their facility in New Jersey, and dumping the compound into the nearby Delaware River.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

47 people were injured on Friday after a Boeing 747-400, operated by Northwest Airlines, encountered severe turbulence on the Manila-Tokyo leg of a flight bound for Los Angeles. The aircraft was carrying 408 passengers and 14 crew members.

The aeroplane was circling off the coast of Chiba, east of Japan’s capital of Tokyo, waiting to land, when turbulence forced it to make a rapid descent.

Many of the passengers who were not wearing their seat belts were thrown out of their seats. Most sustained injuries to their heads and necks by colliding with overhead lockers. None of the injuries were life-threatening, although six of the injured are expected to be hospitalised for up to three weeks.

The aircraft landed safely at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, whereupon ambulances took the injured to nearby hospitals.

“I was so scared, I thought I would die,” said an unnamed passenger, describing the incident. “My whole body was lifted into the air.”

“The person in front of me flew up to the ceiling. The person behind me collapsed and looked unconscious,” another said.

“Air turbulence is believed to be the cause. The turbulence occurred 25 to 30 minutes before landing, when the seat belt light was on,” said a spokesman for Northwest Airlines, Masashi Takahashi. “During the flight, we received a message from the pilot saying two or three people were injured. But [the pilot] probably assessed that an emergency landing was not necessary,” he said to Agence France-Presse.

Northwest Airlines has stated that the seat belt sign was turned on during the incident.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The 2012 Queensland election has been officially set as Premier Anna Bligh advised Governor Penelope Wensley to issue the writs — the formal announcement of the election.

“Absolutely looking forward to it, the 24th of March,” Ms Bligh told reporters, referring to the date of the election.

To lose the ability to govern in its own right, the currently governing Australian Labor Party (ALP) would need to lose sevens seats in Queensland’s unicameral legislature.

The ALP, of which Ms Bligh is leader, holds 51 seats.The opposition Liberal National Party (LNP), being lead in this campaign by the yet-to-be-elected Cambell Newman, currently holds 31 seats. Two seats are now held by the Katter’s Australian Party (KAP).Five independents make up the 89 Members of Parliament.

The KAP does not plan to direct preference to the major parties, but to consider for individual seats amongst independents and minor parties. “We will look at the merits or otherwise of their policy positions and what they believe in,” said Aidan McLindon.

While the Greens haven’t announced any preference directions, they point out that it is up to the voter how to direct preferences. “If I’m unsuccessful [in being elected in Mt Coot-tha], their vote flows at full value to their second preference,” Greens candidate Adam Stone said. 

The selection of March 24th as the election date drew criticism because it ultimately forced the rescheduling of local government elections — originally scheduled for March 31.

“Why are 73 local government elections around Queensland being pushed back? That adds more months of uncertainty when she has had a year to separate out the two elections,” said Leader of the Liberal National Party, Campbell Newman. Newman will have to win the seat of Ashgrove if he is to become premier.

Local government elections are now scheduled for late April.