Stage Collapses at Indiana State Fair, Killing At Least 4 Sugarland Show Stage Collapsing Leaves Four Dead Four dead after Indiana State Fair stage collapse _whitewaves_ says: sugarland stage collapse is horrifying. still pic’s don’t capture the magintude like the video. whoa! http://j.mp/oWGfEq
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Produced by large-scale art & design practice ENESS and commissioned by Federation Square, a mixed-use public space in Melbourne, Australia, the public interactive art sculpture, MÖBIUS was filmed and photographed in stop-motion. For these two weeks in May 2011, these undulating green geometric pieces were carefully positioned by filmmakers and public volunteers. The resulting video Broadcasting platform : Vimeo Source : Laughing Squid Discovery Date : 11/08/2011 16:54 Number of articles : 5
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Over 100 of world’s top scientists write to PM warning of impact to range of industries of proposed cuts in research funding More than 100 of the world’s most senior chemists, including seven Nobel laureates, have written to David Cameron to warn of the impact of proposed cuts in funding for scientific research essential to industries ranging from biotechnology to agriculture. In a letter sent to the prime minister on Monday, and seen by the Guardian, professors of chemistry from universities including Imperial College London, Oxford, Leeds, Glasgow, Bristol and Queen’s University Belfast, argue that the decision to reduce funding for synthetic organic chemistry would “injure” the UK economy and “irreparably damage” its global competitiveness, while forcing chemists to look overseas for jobs. It was accompanied by a statement backing synthetic organic chemistry – which produces key compounds for everything from plastics, drugs and food to petrochemicals and paints – signed by more than 100 senior scientists from companies such as Novartis, Bayer and BASF, as well as Nobel laureates including Sir Harry Kroto, Sir Peter Mansfield and Sir John Sulston and heads of departments at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Synthetic organic chemistry and the new molecules that synthetic chemists produce will in the 21st century come to influence vast tracts of human endeavour from molecular archaeology to molecular zoology,” it reads. “To even think of disadvantaging and disabling such important scientific innovation beggars belief.” Anthony Barrett, a professor of chemistry at Imperial, organised the letter after meetings last week with the government agency that distributes funds for chemistry in the UK, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), left him concerned that critical decisions affecting the future of the sector had been made without proper consultation with scientists. “As an academic and entrepreneur, I am seriously concerned by the damage which this EPSRC prioritisation will cause to many university departments of chemistry, vibrant industries and fragile new spin-out companies in the UK,” he told the Guardian. According to the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), chemistry-linked sectors contribute £258bn to the UK GDP, supporting directly and indirectly around 6 million jobs. The EPSRC announced a project this year called “Shaping Capability” aimed at prioritizing its annual budget of more than £760m of public funds to deal with expected budget cuts of up to 15% in real terms over the next few years. It plans to fund chosen research areas at the expense of others, based around the national importance of that field. One of the first announcements of areas earmarked for reductions was synthetic organic chemistry, which is currently funded with £44m through more than 200 grants. In their letter to the prime minister, the UK academics said they were “profoundly disturbed” by the EPSRC’s move. “Perhaps, most worryingly, this decision will significantly disadvantage biomedical research and innovation, resulting in fewer spinout companies and SMEs being created, such as the contract research organisations, which are a particularly successful sector of the economy.” The scientists called for MPs on the House of Commons science and technology committee to invite the EPSRC’s chief executive, David Delpy, to give evidence to them and defend his agency’s actions. A spokesman for the EPSRC said it had to take a strategic approach with its limited funding, if the UK was to maintain its global research standing. He said funding for synthetic organic chemistry was being rebalanced after a spike in 2008-09. “To provide renewed support to that degree will not be sustainable particularly when considering other priorities within the physical sciences portfolio therefore the EPSRC investment in this research area will be reduced relative to others in the portfolio.” David Phillips, president of the RSC said that UK chemists had been left in the dark about the EPSRC’s plans for future funding and that his organisation had not been consulted, by their definition, on the proposals. “If the EPSRC, as we are led to believe, has made this decision based on hard data provided by universities concerning money awarded and impact of research then it should engage with the chemistry community and present that to us.” An EPSRC spokesperson said the agency had “shared our developing plans with a wide range of stakeholders at various stages, discussed the approach and key sources of information and evidence being used, and invited them to highlight important information which should be taken into account, but we did not ask these bodies to make our decisions for us … This process could not have been done by holding a formal consultation process and we have been clear throughout that we did not do this.” Paul Clarke, a chemist at the University of York who sent a letter to science minister David Willetts last week in order to raise similar concerns from more than 100 UK chemists over the EPSRC’s plans, said that there was a risk that the agency’s ideas would undermine the scientific research base of the UK. “In five years time the skills for conducting fundamental science in the UK will not be here, because everyone will be chasing money to work on the widget the EPSRC thinks will solve societal problems. At the moment we’ve got a quango that appoints itself, is about to appoint the peer review people in line with its priorities. Who is it accountable to? Nobody is onboard with these policies. These policies will lead to nothing short of the destruction of fundamental scientific research in the UK.” Barrett said that it was understandable that chemists would get cuts to their public funding in present economic conditions. “I’ve no problem with downsizing, what we have an objection to is taking the downsizing and giving an additional burden to a sector of the economy that’s highly successful. We’re quite happy to take our punishment but we don’t see why we should take extra punishment because of a few people that are not qualified have made decisions that are wrong.” Chemistry Research funding Higher education Research Science funding crisis Science policy Alok Jha Ian Sample guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …A stage collapsed during a powerful storm at the Indiana State Fair last night, sending steel scaffolding into the terrified crowd and killing at least five people awaiting a performance by the country band Sugarland. Indiana State Police 1st Sgt David Bursten said today that four people died when the…
Continue reading …Testing the limits of her newfound freedom and perhaps the patience of Burma’s military junta, Aung San Suu Kyi ventured today outside Rangoon in her first political trip since being released from house arrest last November. Thousands gathered to see the Nobel laureate, who used the trip to Bago, some…
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Watch out for this one. At 4 feet and 10 inches and weighing in at 100 lbs., this judo master may make a formidable opponent. Sensei Keiko Fukuda, 98, is the first woman, and the only one currently living in the United States, to achieve a 10th degree black belt in judo, the Japanese martial
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Ben Lopez has spent 17 years bartering with kidnappers – and he’s never lost a hostage. The secret, he says, is psychological skill and gut instinct ‘You must be John. I’m Ben Lopez.” “Good to meet you, Ben.” We both know he isn’t called Ben Lopez, but we maintain the pretence. Everyone has to have a name and his might as well be Ben Lopez. For the past 17 years, Lopez has worked as a kidnap and ransom negotiator, a job in which his own safety – as well as that of the hostages – depends on his anonymity. Not that you can miss him in the flesh as he is 6ft 5in tall and about as broad. Which turns out to be pretty much why he came to be offered the job. Lopez trained as a psychologist in the US and worked in a psychiatric hospital. Whenever patients threatened to become violent, the staff looked to Lopez to sort them out because of his size. “I enjoyed the challenge,” he says. “I found I could control the patients into doing what I
Continue reading …Michele Bachmann, Government Leech, Wins Iowa Poll. Claims She Knows All About ‘Job Creation’
August 14, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media (h/t Dave at Video Cafe) On This Week with Christiane Amanpour, Jake Tapper interviews Iowa straw poll winner Michele Bachmann. (Let’s point out that the Iowa straw poll is a fundraiser for the state GOP. It actually costs $30 to take part, so it tends to attract the true believers.) It’s traditional for the media to let candidates have their initial victory lap without too much in the way of hard questions, and Tapper pretty much leaves her alone — except for a few half-hearted jabs asking her what she would cut in government spending: TAPPER: So the Republican field gets smaller by one, with former Governor Tim Pawlenty dropping out, but Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, the victor, still has a long road to the nomination. And she joins me now. Congresswoman, first of all, congratulations on your victory. BACHMANN: Thank you, Jake. Thanks for having me on. TAPPER: Now, do you have any reaction to Governor Pawlenty dropping out? BACHMANN: Well, I wish him well. I have great respect for the governor. We’ve known each other for a long, long time. And he brought a really important voice into this race. And I’m grateful that he was in. He was a — really a very good competitor. TAPPER: You guys did have words during — during the campaign, and one of the — you seemed to represent a more uncompromising Republican. He seems to represent more of a compromising Republican, someone willing to make deals. One of the reasons you did so well in the straw poll was because your message resonated so much with Tea Party Republican, with Christian conservatives. I’m wondering, how do you expand beyond the Republican base? Why would a moderate Republican vote for you? BACHMANN: Well, everywhere I’ve gone, all across Iowa, there isn’t an event that I do that I don’t have people come up who say that, “Michele, I’m a Democrat, and I’m voting for you,” “I’m an independent, and I’m voting for you.” They’ll tell me, “I voted for Barack Obama, but I’m not voting for him again. I like you; I like what you say.” And I think it’s because I’m talking about what people really care about, and that’s turning the economy around and job creation. And I’ve been there, and I’ve done that. I’m a former federal tax lawyer. And my husband and I also started our own successful company. I get it with job creation. Oh, yeah. She goes from being a foster parent where she gets to claim the maximum from her state because her husband is a mail-order psychologist — and then they expanded into a clinic that takes government money for praying away the gay. And then she gets elected and starts collecting federal benefits. Doesn’t sound like “job creation” to me — more like “working the system.” And I think what people see in me is that I’m a real person. I’m authentic. And they want someone who’s going to go to Washington and represent their values. That’s really what you saw here in Iowa in the straw poll yesterday. You saw a big message sent to Washington. People really saw the kind of the punch to the gut that America got this last week, and they really want someone that they can trust that they believe in who’s actually going to turn the economy around. TAPPER: Governor Perry jumped into the race yesterday. And like you, he’s a hero to the Tea Party and to social conservatives, but he’s also the nation’s longest-serving governor with a record of creating jobs. He’s leading you in some national polls. He has great support among your base. He has the executive experience you do not have. Why should a Republican voter pick you over Governor Perry? BACHMANN: Well, I’ve been in Washington fighting the fights for the last four or five years. And I’ve been at the tip of the spear on these fights, for instance, raising the debt ceiling. I was the leader for the last two months saying, “Let’s not raise the debt ceiling.” I had a plan for not going into default and not raising the debt ceiling. The president had no plan. I was the first member of Congress to introduce the full repeal of Obamacare and of the Dodd-Frank law. And I fought against the Obamacare bill and brought literally tens of thousands of Americans to fight it. I think that’s what I’ve demonstrated, is that I have a core set of principles that I believe in. I’ll fight for them. That’s what we need in a president of the United States, because a president is more than just a manager. What they really bring is leadership to bear. They appoint good people, and they bring leadership. And that’s what we need, is someone who we can believe in and trust in, who’s going to stick to what they say. TAPPER: Don’t you think Perry is now your chief competitor, in terms of you — you guys are going after the same voters. You have a lot of the same themes. Why would someone pick you over him? BACHMANN: Well, I think because I have a demonstrated, proven record that I will fight for what people care about. I am bringing that message, of when it comes… TAPPER: And he hasn’t been fighting for what they care about? BACHMANN: Well, you know, he’ll run his own race, and he has his own message. I have mine. And I think of it, again, on the — on the national stage, I’ve been involved in all of these issues and will continue to be. TAPPER: Governor Pawlenty wondered if you even met the minimum requirement to be president because you lacked executive experience and results. BACHMANN: Well, you know, there is no requirement in the Constitution that one be a governor in order to go into public service. Ronald Reagan was a governor, but what made Ronald Reagan great wasn’t his governing experience as a governor. It was his core set of principles. Jimmy Carter was also a governor, but I don’t think anyone would argue that America prospered and flourished under Jimmy Carter’s presidency. So being a governor and having governor-level experience isn’t the number-one requirement. It’s really, who is the person? What is their character? That’s what the Federalist Papers talked about. What’s their character? Who are they? What have they done? In Minnesota, I led a movement and put my voice behind changing education. That’s really how I cut my teeth in politics, was on education reform. And we’re not a conservative state. We’re far more of a liberal state. But I brought Democrats and independents and apolitical people together. We actually changed our entire education system in Minnesota, because I brought people together, and we had reform. That’s what I’ll do as president of the United States. TAPPER: You talk about your leadership on the debt ceiling issue, but Rick Santorum, who came in fourth in the straw poll, called your position on just refusing to raise the debt ceiling, he said it was not only irresponsible, but outrageous, since immediately the government would have to cut 40 percent of the government. What cuts would you make? BACHMANN: Well, it’s not outrageous at all. What’s outrageous is turning us into the biggest debtor in the history the world. No nation has ever been in debt to the level that we are. And it wasn’t that long ago that we were the world’s largest creditor. We have to get our house in order. This year alone, we’ve brought in $2.2 trillion in revenue from all the taxes we pay in, and then we spent not only every penny of that, but we spent $1.5 trillion more. TAPPER: Right. So what would you cut? BACHMANN: That’s a problem. TAPPER: What would you cut? BACHMANN: Well, immediately, I think what we need to do is recognize that we will tell the markets that we will pay the interest on the debt, don’t worry about default. Number two, we will pay our men and women in military. It’d be irresponsible not to. And anyone who’s currently on Social Security, you get paid. But beyond that, I would bring all members of Congress together. And this isn’t some project for 10 years and 15 years down the road. Right now, we’re going to reform entitlements. We’re going to reform them for anyone who’s currently not on them. We’re going to change them so that they’ll work, because… TAPPER: Medicare, Medicaid? BACHMANN: Medicare, Medicaid, they have to be changed. Why should we continue to run these program the way we did 45 years ago? Systems have changed. We can — we can make these far more efficient than what they are. Social Security is another program, 80 years old. Why would we continue to run it in the same way we did 80 years ago? Let’s modernize it so it’s there for people who depend on it. TAPPER: One last question I wanted to ask about. You once characterized homosexuality as, quote, “personal bondage, personal despair, and personal enslavement.” Do you believe that? BACHMANN: Well, I am running to be the president of the United States. I am not running to be any person’s judge. And I give — I ascribe dignity and honor to all people, no matter who they are. And that’s how I view people. TAPPER: So you would appoint an openly gay or lesbian person to your administration? BACHMANN: I would look, first of all, will they uphold the Constitution of the United States? And, number two, are they competent to do what they need to do? And are they the best at who they are? That’s my criteria, nothing more. TAPPER: Last question, and that is, does Pawlenty leaving the race and Rick Perry coming into the race change your strategy at all? BACHMANN: Well, I think every day going forward we’ll take a look at what’s happening with strategy, but our main strategy is to win. Obama is my strategy. I intend to be the nominee of the Republican Party and to take him on and to defeat him in 2012, because we have to turn the economy around and create jobs. That’s what I’m going to do. And I’m committed to not resting until we repeal Obamacare. TAPPER: All right. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, thanks so much for joining us, and congratulations again. BACHMANN: Jake, thank you.
Continue reading …Cuba Transgender Wedding: Ignacio Estrada, Wendy Iriepa Wed In Country’s First-Of-Its-Kind Ceremony
August 14, 2011 No Comment
HAVANA — A gay man and a woman whose sex-change operation was paid for by the state tied the knot Saturday in a first-of-its-kind wedding for Cuba, a sign of how much the country’s attitude toward sexuality has changed since gays and transsexuals suffered persecution in the early years after the revolution. Bride Wendy Iriepa, 37, arrived at a Havana wedding hall in the afternoon in a vintage Ford convertible and a full white wedding gown, flowers in her hair and holding a rainbow flag. Neighborhood residents came out of their homes to gawk at the wedding party and the journalists mobbing the car. “This is the first wedding between a transsexual woman and a gay man,” said the 31-year-old groom, Ignacio Estrada. “We celebrate it at the top of our voices and affirm that this is a step forward for the gay community in Cuba.” Inside, a public notary joined them in a brief civil ceremony and the newlyweds kissed to cheers from friends and family. Gay marriage is not legal in Cuba and Saturday’s wedding does nothing to change that since Iriepa, born Alexis, is a woman in the eyes of the law. Iriepa had sex-change surgery in 2007 as part of a pilot program that began in earnest the following year and made gender-reassignment procedures part of the island’s universal health care system. One other transgender woman married many years ago, but Iriepa is the first to do so under the new policy. In the early years after Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution, homosexuality was considered highly suspect along with other “alternative” forms of expression, such as U.S. fashion trends and rock and roll. Many gays and transsexuals were fired from government jobs, jailed, sent to work camps or left for exile. That climate of persecution was famously chronicled by exiled writer Reinaldo Arenas’ autobiographical “Before Night Falls,” later a feature film starring Javier Bardem. Today, even if deep-seated macho attitudes toward homosexuality have not entirely disappeared, the island and its government are much more tolerant. The country’s most prominent gay rights activist is Mariela Castro, Fidel Castro’s niece and President Raul Castro’s daughter. She heads the National Sex Education Center and is firmly established in Cuban officialdom. At a transgender event Friday, she spoke of her institution’s work, including anti-homophobia campaigns and pushing the state to cover the sex change operations. Castro is also lobbying for same-sex unions, though no law has yet been passed. “One of our accomplishments has made it possible for Wendy to get married,” she said. “It seems she found the love of her life and we wish her many congratulations, because all of our work has been for this, the well-being and happiness of our sisters.” Like so many things in Cuba, Saturday’s nuptials have been politicized and Castro’s congratulatory words belied divisions that have taken hold within the gay movement. Some have accused her of monopolizing the cause and struck out on their own, organizing a separate, smaller pride march this year and coming to be labeled members of a “dissident” gay community. Estrada was part of that march, and Iriepa has parted ways with her job at the Sex Education Center, reportedly after Mariela Castro questioned the relationship. Soon after, Estrada and Iriepa announced their upcoming wedding and said political dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez, whose writings about daily life have earned her both international fame and harsh condemnation from the government, would be maid of honor. “How positive! Cuba now shows itself to be a kaleidoscope of ideas… The only thing missing is for them not to be repressed,” Sanchez said via Twitter. Leaders of the Ladies in White dissident group also attended. Estrada, in recent comments to U.S.-based Radio Marti, called the marriage a “birthday present to Fidel Castro to remind him of the atrocities he committed against the Cuban gay community, above all in the 1960s.” Fidel Castro, who turned 85 on Saturday, has expressed regret in recent years over the treatment of gays during that period, saying it was a mistake. Mariela Castro said she was not invited to the wedding and accused rivals in the gay community of taking democracy-building money from Washington. “U.S. government funds exist here to create LGBT (lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual) groups that oppose the position of the National Sex Education Center,” she alleged. U.S. officials have spoken of retargeting funds to Afro-Cuban and LGBT groups, though it is not clear whether any such financial support has begun. “I think this has been politicized by the Cuban government. I have not wanted to make this into a circus or something really political,” said Iriepa, who thanked Mariela Castro for wishing them well. “It is the happiest day of my life.” The couple celebrated after the wedding at a party space next door and planned to honeymoon in an undisclosed location for a bit of privacy, Estrada said. ___ Associated Press writer Andrea Rodriguez in Havana contributed to this report.
Continue reading …‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ Rape Scene: Rooney Mara Talks ‘Intense’ Experience
August 14, 2011 No Comment
Shocking and brutal, the rape of Lisbeth Salander by her guardian/probation officer is the inciting incident to the quest for revenge that helps power “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.” Portrayed starkly and disturbingly in the original Swedish film adaptation of the book, the American, David Fincher-directed movie version also sought to bring to screen the unmerciful sequence of events described on the pages of Stieg Larsson’s hit novel. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Rooney Mara, who completely transforms to play the role of Lisbeth, described the difficulty — and importance — of making the rape scene as true to the book as possible. “It was incredibly intense. We did it all in a week — the week of Valentine’s Day, oddly enough,” she remembered. “We were working 16 hours a day, and it was really, really challenging, not just emotionally but physically. But it’s such an important scene. We wanted to do everything we could to get that right.” Director David Fincher hinted that the scene — and the subsequent revenge payoff — would be visually unforgiving in an interview earlier in the year with W Magazine. “Sony and Scott Rudin [producer] told me they wanted to be in the adult-film-franchise business,” Fincher said. “And they said, ‘We want you to kick the A in adult.’ They already had a release date–December 2011–but I wasn’t sure I wanted to do another movie about a serial killer [following "Zodiac"]. Then I read the script, and I called Scott and said, ‘I can’t imagine why you thought of me.’” Of course, about that last part, he was joking — Fincher is known, through films such as “Fight Club,” to be a director willing to brush up against boundaries of violence and brutality. Daniel Craig, who stars in the film as Mikael Blomkvist, confirmed as much in a recent cover story for Esquire. “This is adult drama. I grew up, as we f*cking all did, watching ‘The Godfather’ and that, movies that were made for adults. And this is a $100 million R-rated movie,” he said. “Nobody makes those anymore. And Fincher, he’s not holding back. They’ve given him free rein. He showed me some scenes recently, and my hand was over my mouth, going, Are you f*cking serious?” For much more from Mara on the film, click over to EW. For more images of Mara, click here. WATCH:
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