Sunday, March 30, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Plan to Deal With Radiation Hazard Before Shoura Council
This is getting NO coverage here in the USA. From the Arab News website-
RIYADH, 24 March 2008 — The Shoura Council has discussed a national plan to deal with any potential leakage of radioactive material in the Kingdom following warnings of possible attacks on Iran’s nuclear reactors.
“The plan to check radiation hazards was discussed by Shoura members, but it will be discussed and reviewed again before being tabled for voting,” a Shoura Council member said yesterday.
“The King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACST) has prepared a proposal that encapsulates the probabilities of a nuclear and radiation leak in case of any unexpected attacks,” said the Shoura member, speaking on condition of anonymity.
This concern has also been echoed several times by Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal in his meetings with regional and international leaders. “Riyadh has been of the view that the Middle East region should be void of weapons of mass destruction,” said the member, without giving details of the Saudi plan.
A KACST nuclear scientist yesterday confirmed that an emergency plan to check radioactive leaks is there in place, but refused to provide details. He said that a national strategy has been prepared by KACST’s Atomic Energy Research Institute, set up by the Kingdom in 1988.
On the regional front, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has also been discussing the pros and cons of Iran’s nuclear program.
Power plants in the southwestern Iranian port of Bushehr, built with German assistance in 1974 and which resumed with Russian aid in 1992, have been the focus of global attention. The Gulf region as a whole is at a serious risk of a catastrophe due to military nuclear-powered and armed ships and submarines entering Gulf waters.
“Vessels come and go as they please with no one to monitor them,” said Dr. Abdulrehman Al-Awadhi, executive secretary of the Kuwait-based Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME).
“If there is a radiation leak in any of these vessels, it would spell disaster for the area,” he said, adding for the need to set up a framework to detect radiation. “The problem is that there are no measures that are in place to monitor these ships. While it is true that those on board the vessels would be affected, the damage to people like you and me, and the effects on the region’s fragile ecology would be tremendous,” said Al-Awadhi.
He added that there were only two ports in the whole US where nuclear powered ships were allowed to dock.
“This is done under very strict monitoring in the US,” he said, adding that all ships in Norway that enter the country’s waters are screened for radiation.
“Nothing like that happens anywhere in the Gulf. Radiation is an invisible, silent threat. It has no smell, no color and cannot be felt. The only way to detect it is to have special monitoring equipment. ... The Gulf region is so small and a leak in Bahrain could have a disastrous effect in Saudi Arabia or vice versa,” Al-Awadhi said.
He also said that any attack on Iran’s nuclear facility by the US or Israel could have very serious repercussions. “To say that such a facility will be free of risk is not right,” said the Arab scientist, adding that a mild earthquake in Japan recently had resulted in the closure of a nuclear power plant.
“Our concerns are regarding how to detect the presence of radioactive sources, prevent illicit use of such materials, respond to accidental radiation leaks and how to dispose of radioactive waste,” he said.
Funny that this would come out a day after Cheney's visit to Saudi Arabia....
RIYADH, 24 March 2008 — The Shoura Council has discussed a national plan to deal with any potential leakage of radioactive material in the Kingdom following warnings of possible attacks on Iran’s nuclear reactors.
“The plan to check radiation hazards was discussed by Shoura members, but it will be discussed and reviewed again before being tabled for voting,” a Shoura Council member said yesterday.
“The King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACST) has prepared a proposal that encapsulates the probabilities of a nuclear and radiation leak in case of any unexpected attacks,” said the Shoura member, speaking on condition of anonymity.
This concern has also been echoed several times by Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal in his meetings with regional and international leaders. “Riyadh has been of the view that the Middle East region should be void of weapons of mass destruction,” said the member, without giving details of the Saudi plan.
A KACST nuclear scientist yesterday confirmed that an emergency plan to check radioactive leaks is there in place, but refused to provide details. He said that a national strategy has been prepared by KACST’s Atomic Energy Research Institute, set up by the Kingdom in 1988.
On the regional front, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has also been discussing the pros and cons of Iran’s nuclear program.
Power plants in the southwestern Iranian port of Bushehr, built with German assistance in 1974 and which resumed with Russian aid in 1992, have been the focus of global attention. The Gulf region as a whole is at a serious risk of a catastrophe due to military nuclear-powered and armed ships and submarines entering Gulf waters.
“Vessels come and go as they please with no one to monitor them,” said Dr. Abdulrehman Al-Awadhi, executive secretary of the Kuwait-based Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME).
“If there is a radiation leak in any of these vessels, it would spell disaster for the area,” he said, adding for the need to set up a framework to detect radiation. “The problem is that there are no measures that are in place to monitor these ships. While it is true that those on board the vessels would be affected, the damage to people like you and me, and the effects on the region’s fragile ecology would be tremendous,” said Al-Awadhi.
He added that there were only two ports in the whole US where nuclear powered ships were allowed to dock.
“This is done under very strict monitoring in the US,” he said, adding that all ships in Norway that enter the country’s waters are screened for radiation.
“Nothing like that happens anywhere in the Gulf. Radiation is an invisible, silent threat. It has no smell, no color and cannot be felt. The only way to detect it is to have special monitoring equipment. ... The Gulf region is so small and a leak in Bahrain could have a disastrous effect in Saudi Arabia or vice versa,” Al-Awadhi said.
He also said that any attack on Iran’s nuclear facility by the US or Israel could have very serious repercussions. “To say that such a facility will be free of risk is not right,” said the Arab scientist, adding that a mild earthquake in Japan recently had resulted in the closure of a nuclear power plant.
“Our concerns are regarding how to detect the presence of radioactive sources, prevent illicit use of such materials, respond to accidental radiation leaks and how to dispose of radioactive waste,” he said.
Funny that this would come out a day after Cheney's visit to Saudi Arabia....
Saturday, March 15, 2008
US Economy is in a Shambles
From the Huffington Post-
From the fallout over the subprime disaster to the credit crisis to rising gas prices to unease on Wall Street, the US economy looks increasingly shaky and possibly on the brink of a recession.
Bear Stearns Bailout: On Friday the Federal Reserve, looking to head off a financial crisis, implemented a dramatic rescue of faltering Wall St. giant Bear Stearns. The Washington Post reports:
The Federal Reserve took the extraordinary step yesterday of providing emergency funding to one of Wall Street's venerable firms, Bear Stearns, after it ran out of cash to repay its lenders.
The Fed used a little-known power it last exercised in the 1960s to stem a run on Bear Stearns that could have sent multibillion-dollar losses cascading across the world financial system, causing more failures on Wall Street and threatening to choke off global economic growth.[...]
Critics characterized the Fed's move as a bailout that inappropriately intrudes on the free market and could lead banks to keep to keep taking risks like those that imperiled Bear Stearns. Other analysts said the action was necessary, given the precarious state of world financial markets.
"We're on a knife's edge," said Eugene White, an economics professor at Rutgers University who studies financial crises. "The danger is if people's confidence is lost in a place like Bear Stearns, no one will lend to anybody."
GOLD- The metal peaked at $1,005 a troy ounce before noon. It fell back by day's end, with the June contract settling at $998.70, its highest nominal close, but below its inflation-adjusted peak, reached in the early 1980s after a series of wars, oil shocks and a deep domestic recession.
GAS- At the pump, gas prices set records for the fourth straight day, rising 1.3 cents Friday to a national average price of $3.28 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Average prices are nearing $4 in some parts of Hawaii.
Diesel, meanwhile, rose 2.9 cents to a new record national average of $3.938 a gallon. Heating oil, a fellow distillate and close cousin of diesel, jumped to new records on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
GROCERY- Government figures released Friday showed that grocery costs had jumped 5.1 percent in 12 months, the latest in a string of increases. In fact, the nation is undergoing its worst grocery inflation since the early 1990s.
With a few exceptions, nearly every grocery category measured by the Labor Department, which compiles the official inflation numbers, has increased in the last year. Milk is up 17 percent, as are dried beans, peas and lentils. Cheese is up 15 percent, rice and pasta 13 percent, and bread 12 percent.
No food product has gone up as much as eggs, jumping 25 percent since February 2007 and 62 percent in the last two years.
From the fallout over the subprime disaster to the credit crisis to rising gas prices to unease on Wall Street, the US economy looks increasingly shaky and possibly on the brink of a recession.
Bear Stearns Bailout: On Friday the Federal Reserve, looking to head off a financial crisis, implemented a dramatic rescue of faltering Wall St. giant Bear Stearns. The Washington Post reports:
The Federal Reserve took the extraordinary step yesterday of providing emergency funding to one of Wall Street's venerable firms, Bear Stearns, after it ran out of cash to repay its lenders.
The Fed used a little-known power it last exercised in the 1960s to stem a run on Bear Stearns that could have sent multibillion-dollar losses cascading across the world financial system, causing more failures on Wall Street and threatening to choke off global economic growth.[...]
Critics characterized the Fed's move as a bailout that inappropriately intrudes on the free market and could lead banks to keep to keep taking risks like those that imperiled Bear Stearns. Other analysts said the action was necessary, given the precarious state of world financial markets.
"We're on a knife's edge," said Eugene White, an economics professor at Rutgers University who studies financial crises. "The danger is if people's confidence is lost in a place like Bear Stearns, no one will lend to anybody."
GOLD- The metal peaked at $1,005 a troy ounce before noon. It fell back by day's end, with the June contract settling at $998.70, its highest nominal close, but below its inflation-adjusted peak, reached in the early 1980s after a series of wars, oil shocks and a deep domestic recession.
GAS- At the pump, gas prices set records for the fourth straight day, rising 1.3 cents Friday to a national average price of $3.28 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Average prices are nearing $4 in some parts of Hawaii.
Diesel, meanwhile, rose 2.9 cents to a new record national average of $3.938 a gallon. Heating oil, a fellow distillate and close cousin of diesel, jumped to new records on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
GROCERY- Government figures released Friday showed that grocery costs had jumped 5.1 percent in 12 months, the latest in a string of increases. In fact, the nation is undergoing its worst grocery inflation since the early 1990s.
With a few exceptions, nearly every grocery category measured by the Labor Department, which compiles the official inflation numbers, has increased in the last year. Milk is up 17 percent, as are dried beans, peas and lentils. Cheese is up 15 percent, rice and pasta 13 percent, and bread 12 percent.
No food product has gone up as much as eggs, jumping 25 percent since February 2007 and 62 percent in the last two years.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Dave Stevens R.I.P.
Illustrator Dave Stevens, best known for his "good girl" art and The Rocketeer, died yesterday following a long, wrenching battle with Leukemia. Dave was born July 29, 1955 in Lynwood, California. He was raised in Portland, Oregon, then his family relocated to San Diego, where he attended San Diego City College and became involved in the early days of the San Diego Comic Book Convention, now known as the Comic-Con International. His skills as an artist were instantly evident to all, and he was encouraged by darn near every professional artist who attended the early cons, but especially by Jack Kirby and Russ Manning. In 1975, when Manning began editing a line of Tarzan comic books to be published in Europe, Dave got his first professional assignment, working on those comics and also assisting Russ with the Tarzan newspaper strip. Soon after, he worked on a few projects for Marvel (including the Star Wars comic book) and a number of underground comics. Later, he also worked with Russ on the Star Wars newspaper strip.
In 1977, Dave went to work for Hanna-Barbera where he drew storyboards and layouts, many of them for the Super Friends and Godzilla cartoon shows and bonded with veteran artist Doug Wildey, who produced the latter. Wildey and Stevens became close friends and in 1982, when Dave created his popular character, The Rocketeer, he modelled the character's sidekick, Peevy, on photos of Doug. Dave himself was Cliff Secord, who donned the mask of The Rocketeer, and other friends appeared in other guises.
The Rocketeer made Dave's reputation and also spawned a resurgence of interest in fifties' figure model Bettie Page, whose likeness Dave used for the strip's heroine. But the strip was not profitable for Dave, who was among the least prolific talents to ever attempt comic books. It wasn't so much that he was slow, as his friends joked, but that he was almost obsessively meticulous, doing days of study and sketching to create one panel, and doing many of them over and over. Even then, he was usually dissatisfied with what he produced and fiercely critical of the reproduction. Friends occasionally pitched in to help with the coloring but some begged off because they knew it was humanly impossible for anyone, including Dave himself, to produce coloring that he'd like. Eventually, he sold most of the rights to Disney for a Rocketeer movie that was produced in 1991. Dave served as a co-producer of the film and did a brief cameo, but the endeavor was not as lucrative for him as he'd hoped, and it pretty much ended Dave's interest in continuing the character.
Most of what Dave did after that fell into the general category of "glamour art," including portfolios and private commissions. Many of these were illustrations of Bettie Page who, though once thought deceased, turned out to be alive and living not all that far from Dave. They met and Dave became her friend and, though he was not wealthy, benefactor. Deciding that too many others had callously exploited her likeness, Dave voluntarily aided Ms. Page financially and even took to helping her in neighborly ways. One time, he told me — and without the slightest hint of resentment — "It's amazing. After years of fantasizing about this woman, I'm now driving her to cash her Social Security checks."
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Arts District
Well, it looks like the new ISP building is fully up and running. They got it up pretty quick and the building doesn't look like it's out of place in the area.
I also noticed a new used book store out Reynolda road tonight. I didn't get a chance to stop in but I will the next time I am out there.
I also noticed a new used book store out Reynolda road tonight. I didn't get a chance to stop in but I will the next time I am out there.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Sam Seder on Sundays
Running around a bit today listening to the Seder on Sundays show (via XM radio). Man, I really miss Sam being on during the week. The lame Lionel Show just grates on me. I find Sam far more informative, entertaining and a joy to listen to. Maybe they would give Sam the early morning slot the Young Turks had? Just a thought.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
$5 for a Gallon of Gas
From the Huffington Post-
Gas prices in California are at an all-time high. The statewide average price for a gallon of regular is now 58 cents more per gallon, than the same time last year.
But, there is one place on the Central Coast where you can expect to pay more than $5 a gallon. The Americo gas station in the tiny coastal town of Gorda, about 40 miles south of Big Sur, is selling gasoline for $5.19 a gallon for regular, and $5.39 for premium.
Despite high prices, the local gas stop grabs customers, without any competition. And according to locals, the pain at the pump isn't over yet... as they plan to raise the prices another 20 cents in the coming weeks.
Gas prices in California are at an all-time high. The statewide average price for a gallon of regular is now 58 cents more per gallon, than the same time last year.
But, there is one place on the Central Coast where you can expect to pay more than $5 a gallon. The Americo gas station in the tiny coastal town of Gorda, about 40 miles south of Big Sur, is selling gasoline for $5.19 a gallon for regular, and $5.39 for premium.
Despite high prices, the local gas stop grabs customers, without any competition. And according to locals, the pain at the pump isn't over yet... as they plan to raise the prices another 20 cents in the coming weeks.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Just a relaxing day off
I'm downtown at Chelsee's Coffee Shop having a cup and a slice of cake just relaxing. I've not done too much today except enjoy the sunshine. I am SO happy that spring is almost here. Went out and bought a couple of shirts last night that were colorful and bright (not what I usually wear). I hope your day is going as well as mine :-)
Looks like Scooters Deli didn't make it thru winter. Drove by there today and a big sign on the door said it was closed. Too bad as I really enjoyed them being right up the street from me.
Also, I noticed the new Coffee Shop/ Cafe on the corner of 4th and Broad opened up. I popped in to have a look around and they were crowded. I believe the name is Cafe Prada. Nice place.
Looks like Scooters Deli didn't make it thru winter. Drove by there today and a big sign on the door said it was closed. Too bad as I really enjoyed them being right up the street from me.
Also, I noticed the new Coffee Shop/ Cafe on the corner of 4th and Broad opened up. I popped in to have a look around and they were crowded. I believe the name is Cafe Prada. Nice place.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
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