Archive for August, 2008

« Older Entries

NFL suspends Vikings’ McKinnie for 4 games

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

The NFL suspended Minnesota left tackle Bryant McKinnie for four games without pay Friday for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, a blow to the protection of Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson’s blind side.

McKinnie has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from a street brawl outside a Miami nightclub in February. He will be eligible to return to the Vikings’ active roster following the team’s Sept. 28 game against Tennessee/

McKinnie will miss games against Green Bay, Indianapolis and Carolina. That means potential matchups against premier pass rushers Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (Packers), Dwight Freeney (Colts) and Julius Peppers (Panthers).

Seven-year veteran Artis Hicks, who was Minnesota’s starter at right guard for 1 1/2 seasons before being unseated by Anthony Herrera, is expected to fill in at left tackle for McKinnie. Though McKinnie’s performance has been up and down, the Vikings’ first-round draft pick in 2002 has not missed a start since ending a holdout midway through his rookie year. That’s 87 straight games.

Jackson remains a question mark at quarterback, and — though coach Brad Childress has said repeatedly over the past few months he couldn’t be concerned about the possibility of punishment for McKinnie — this was a discouraging development for this team 10 days before the season opener.

McKinnie signed a seven-year, $48.5 million contract extension, including more than $17 million in guaranteed money, in September 2006. The Vikings did not practice Friday and had no comment.

McKinnie’s attorney, Larry Kerr, said a pretrial hearing on the criminal charges is scheduled next month in Miami-Dade County Court. A telephone message left by The Associated Press for McKinnie’s agent, Ben Dogra, was not immediately returned.

Posted in Sports | No Comments »

Extreme Recycling: Zoo Doo

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

In a perfect zoo there is Zoo Doo.

Some zoos in the U.S. offer an exotic way to fertilize their gardens through a unique method of recycling waste from zoo animals.

At the Louisville Zoo in Kentucky where the mix is called Zoo Poopy Doo, the product consists of hoof stock manure from animals including elephants, rhinos, camels and giraffes. This is blended with hay, straw and wood shavings.

The product was first introduced at the Louisville Zoo by Assistant Director Mark Zoeller. Experts at the zoo say it gets its appeal by improving the aeration of the soil and increasing root penetration and water retention, which together reduces crusting of the soil surface.

Last April the Zoo celebrated its novel recycling technique in the form of Zoo Poopy Doo by holding festival sale Saturdays honoring the exotic fertilizer. The sale Saturdays that extended into May were held in the parking lot of the zoo where interested persons could support the zoo and recycling for $30 a scoop.

At the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle where they have been offering the product since the early 1990’s their reference to endangered feces is simply Zoo Doo.

This recycling technique here is a big deal. On one of the web pages on the Woodland Park Zoo site a spread dedicated to Zoo Doo describes the creation process in detail beginning with the collecting of manure and straw bedding from animal enclosures which is then combined with other natural recyclable materials from around the zoo.

With the combination of zoo waste into long rows, it becomes extremely hot. This is an important step in the process as the elevated temperatures enable the termination of most weed seeds and pathogens.

Similar to frying vegetables, the product is turned and watered for three months until the Zoo Doo product becomes its dry crumbly self, ready to aid in the fertility and physical condition of buyers’ gardens.

As with the spring fecal festival offered at the Louisville Zoo enthusiasts at the Woodland Park Zoo have the same idea. Every spring and fall bulk amounts of Zoo Doo can be purchased, which is an improvement on the year-round availability of the 2 gallon, or 1 pint amounts offered in the zoo’s store for $12.95 and $4.95 respectively.

Not every zoo offers this exotic fertilizer fashion. At the Sacramento Zoo representatives say that the zoo is too small a facility to be able to even consider this alternative means of waste disposal.

In California’s larger San Diego Zoo, zoo doo is also not offered, but paper and frames made from elephant poop are sold in the gift shop for those who are interested in more unconventional ways of recycling.

In addition, an educational based “Poop Show” is offered daily and nightly in the amphitheater at the animal park, which aims to educate individuals about the huge amount of waste produced by animals. Their motto as stated on the calendar online sums it up. “If we can recycle poop, we can recycle anything.”

With the emergence of Zoo Doo, especially in the 1990’s one company has come and gone. The Memphis based Zoo-Doo compost company featured in the New York Times article “Fashionable Fertilizer Solves a Disposal Problem For Zoos,” in May of 1992 aimed to redefine the fertilizer world as well as market some of the humor that is carried along with a name like Zoo-Doo.

The Zoo-Doo company does not exist nowadays, however and in order to find Zoo Doo one has to search at their local zoo. For the time being zoos’ like the San Diego Zoo that offers “Elepoo” T-shirts and books on the subject are contributing to the zoo doo revolution in other ways.

Posted in Science And Mathematics | No Comments »

I`m not Ferrari number one: Massa

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

Brazilian Felipe Massa denied on Thursday that he was now Ferrari’s number one driver following world champion Kimi Raikkonen’s retirement at the last GP in Valencia.

Massa sits second in the world championship standings, six points behind McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.

Raikkonen’s retirement dropped him to third overall, 13 points down on the young Briton but with six races left, Massa insisted his Ferrari team-mate is still in the hunt.

“The distance between us and McLaren will be small right down to the wire,” he said. “Right now you could say that the title is between Hamilton and me but Raikkonen only needs two or three good races to get back in the battle.”

However, Massa admitted that team orders could come into play later on in the season.

“We have a team and two drivers who are working towards fighting for the title,” he added. “If when we come to the end one has more chance of winning than the other, then that’s normal, as with what happened to Kimi last season.”

Last season at the final GP of the season, Massa was leading from Raikkonen but the Finn needed to win to claim the title.

He duly overtook his team-mate in the pit stops and went on to be crowned champion.

All 10 Formula One teams are practising at Monza this week although the next Grand Prix is at Spa in Belgium on September 7 before the championship comes back here a week later. Massa had some problems during testing, though, as he skidded off the track.

BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld was fastest during the morning practice.

Posted in Sports | No Comments »

Sterling stays weak against dollar, euro

Friday, August 29th, 2008

At the end of a bad week for sterling, the pound took advantage of a slightly weaker dollar Friday afternoon to recover some of this week’s losses.

The pound, which has taken a beating in recent weeks, stood at $1.8243 in late afternoon trading. On Thursday, sterling had hit a fresh two-year low of $1.8240 against the greenback following disappointing UK data on house prices and retail sales.

The dollar, while still strong, was under pressure Friday over oil supply concerns as Tropical Storm Gustav headed for the Gulf of Mexico.

The pound was also down against the euro, falling to a four-month low against the eurozone currency.

Sterling 15:54 BST Thursday close
Euro 1.2393 down from 1.2441
US dollar 1.8243 down from 1.8285
Yen 198.25 down from 200.18
Swiss franc 2.0034 down from 2.0092

Posted in News And Events | No Comments »

Dong leaves Manchester United

Friday, August 29th, 2008

Chinese striker Dong Fangzhuo has left Manchester United, the Premier League champions said on Thursday.

“Dong Fangzhuo’s United contract has been cancelled by mutual consent,” United said on their website.

The 23-year-old joined from Dalian Shide in 2004, spending two years on loan to Belgium’s Royal Antwerp before making his competitive debut for United against Chelsea in 2007.

However the first Chinese player at Old Trafford struggled to break into the squad and played just twice for them last season before being sidelined by a knee injury.

Posted in Sports | No Comments »

Harmison makes himself available for England tours

Friday, August 29th, 2008

Fast bowler Steve Harmison made himself available on Thursday for England`s coming tours of India and the West Indies after being recalled to the team against South Africa this month.

“I`ve enjoyed coming back so I`m now back in the selectors` hands,” the 29-year-old told BBC radio.

“It`s up to them now what squad they pick because I`m not selected for India. If I get selected to go to India, then I`ll be on the plane. I`m available. I`m coming back to play cricket,” he added.

Harmison grabbed four wickets in England`s victory in the final test against South Africa at the Oval this month on his return to the test team after a five-month absence.

The Durham county player also came out of retirement from one-day internationals this month, claiming figures of two for 43 in 10 overs in the opening victory against South Africa at Headingley.

He also took two wickets in one over in England`s demolition of the Proteas in the second one dayer at Trent Bridge. “I came back and played at Headingley and the way things are looking, I`m available for the winter,” Harmison, who has said in the past that he did not want to be away from his young family, told Sky Sports News ahead of Friday`s third ODI at the Oval.

“I`ve got four young children, and I miss them dearly when I go away from home, but once I have said I was available, I`m available. It`s a lot more stable now than when I retired.

“They (the family) are a massive part of my life and they always come first and I`ve been criticised for that but that will never change,” he added.

“But they are fully 100 percent behind me…they said go for it and give it your best shot.”

England are due to play two tests and seven one dayers in India in November and December before travelling to the West Indies in January-March.

Posted in Sports | No Comments »

McLaren expect Hamilton to be fully fit for Belgium

Friday, August 29th, 2008

Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton should be fully fit for next week’s Belgian Grand Prix after a neck problem almost sidelined him in Spain last weekend, McLaren said on Wednesday.

“His physical problems are unlikely to disturb his fitness programme and we expect him to make a full recovery for both the Monza test and next week’s Belgian GP,” said team chief executive Martin Whitmarsh.

Whitmarsh gave further insight into just how close the 23-year-old Briton came to missing Sunday’s European Grand Prix at the new Valencia street circuit.

“At 8 a.m. on Saturday, I received a phone call from the team’s doctor, Aki Hintsa, telling me that Lewis was in some difficulties,” he told the McLaren website. “He’d woken up with a severe migraine and with his neck in spasm.

“Aki treated Lewis but, when he arrived at the circuit on Saturday morning, he could barely move his neck at all, so things looked very severe.

“As a precaution, we readied (reserve driver) Pedro (de la Rosa) to take over but, despite delaying his start to Saturday practice, Lewis was able to continue with his full race programme.”

Hamilton qualified on the front row for the race and finished second behind Ferrari’s Brazilian Felipe Massa, extending his overall lead to six points with six races remaining.

Hamilton will test at Monza, the Italian Grand Prix circuit, this week before doing a demonstration run on Sunday around the Brands Hatch circuit in southern England during a DTM (German touring car championship) event.

He then heads to Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

Posted in Sports | No Comments »

Force India`s Liuzzi 8th fastest in Monza testing

Friday, August 29th, 2008

Test driver Tonio Liuzzi posted the eighth fastest time while running a hiccup-free 99 laps as Force India kick-started its three-day test at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza here in style.

On day one, the Vijay Mallya-owned outfit conducted set-up and aero work that will be unique to this event and the forthcoming Italian Grand Prix on the 5.793km high-speed, low downforce track.

Liuzzi completed 99 laps in total, with a best lap time of 1min 24.239, the eighth quickest time of the day.

Adrian Sutil will take over from the Italian with Giancarlo Fisichella bringing the test to a close tomorrow.

“We tried to get a good set-up for the rest of the test and the race in just a couple of weeks time, and I think we can be happy with how it went today,” Liuzzi said.

“The grip levels were very low and it was quite difficult with the tyres we had, and especially as I had not been in the car for some time for a real test. We did make some good progress though, almost 100 laps with no problems and we are not too far from the others in the times either,” he added.

Chief race and test engineer Dominic Harlow too was pleased with the output.

“With the aero configuration for Monza being dramatically different to any other track we visit on the calendar, today’s programme focussed on evaluating different set-ups and wing levels specifically for the Italian Grand Prix.”

“We also conducted some work on engine mapping, brake testing and tyre evaluation…Overall, we had a good day and are pretty happy with the information we gathered, it’s been a good start to the test,” Harlow added.

Posted in Sports | No Comments »

Antipsychotic Drug Use Up in Elderly Despite Warnings

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

Safety warnings slowed the use of antipsychotic drugs in seniors with dementia. But the overall use of the drugs in the elderly increased, a finding which suggests that warnings may not be sufficient to protect patients, Canadian researchers say.

Between late 2002 and June 2005, Health Canada issued three warnings that three new atypical antipsychotic drugs increased the risk of stroke and death in elderly patients with dementia.

The researchers analyzed prescription drug data in the province of Ontario and found that antipsychotic drug use among the elderly increased 20 percent from the month prior to the first warning in September 2002 to February 2007. About 70 percent of the seniors receiving antipsychotic drugs lived in nursing homes, and about 40 percent of them were 85 or older.

“This finding highlights the limited impact of warnings and suggests that more effective approaches are needed to protect vulnerable populations from potentially hazardous medications,” wrote Dr. Geoffrey Anderson, of the University of Toronto, and colleagues.

The study was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Some health care warnings don’t have much effect, because the warnings don’t provide doctors with information about the safety and effectiveness of alternative treatments, Dr. Laurence Katz, of the University of Manitoba, wrote in an accompanying comment article.

Posted in Health | No Comments »

UN urges phasing out of energy subsidies

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

A new U.N. report urges countries to phase out energy subsidies, saying they often waste money, do not always help the poor and are bad for the environment.

Gas-rich Russia leads countries spending the most in energy subsidies, laying out $40 billion a year, according to the U.N. Environment Program report released Tuesday at a 160-nation conference aimed at drafting a new treaty to contain global warming. Oil-exporter Iran is second, spending $37 billion, while Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading oil producer, is also among the top five.

Governments spend as much as $300 billion a year total in subsidies that encourage consumption and discourage efficiency. The subsidies delay the transition from dirty energy to more climate-friendly sources of power, said the UNEP report.

Subsidies “don’t always help the poor who need it most” and often benefit the wealthy, said Kaveh Zahedi, UNEP’s climate change coordinator. “Some countries spend more on subsidizing oil than they do on health and education combined,” he said.

Low electricity prices do not help villages that are not connected to the grid, and poor families consume only modest amounts of fuel, the U.N. report said.

Some African countries are known to spend all the foreign development aid they received to pay for the increase in fuel prices, which may be politically popular but economically damaging.

“In the final analysis, many fossil fuel subsidies are introduced for political reasons but are simply propping up and perpetuating inefficiencies in the global economy,” said UNEP director Achim Steiner, who also is a U.N. undersecretary general.

In a statement released with the report, Steiner advised governments to “urgently review their energy subsidies and begin phasing out the harmful ones.”

Several countries have felt the consequences of cutting subsidies. Last year, riots erupted In Myanmar when cash-strapped authorities raised fuel prices as much as 500 percent. In the last few months, India, China, and Indonesia have all trimmed their fuel subsidies, unable to keep pace with the rapid rise in oil prices.

The U.N. report said money could be redirected into programs that support low income families more directly and should be targeted to promote green energy, such as wind or solar.

Cutting off the subsidies would be good for the environment as it would reduce carbon emissions by as much as 6 percent, said Zahedi.

“It’s clearly an area that we need to re-examine in our fight against climate change,” he said on the sidelines of the conference in the Ghanaian capital.

The conference is the third session this year working on the details of a climate change accord to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. Scientists say the emission of carbon and other greenhouse gases, mostly from fossil fuels, must peak within 10 to 15 years and then drop sharply to avoid potentially catastrophic changes in the climate.

Posted in Politics And Government | No Comments »

« Older Entries