Wednesday, May 21, 2008
answer to gas price and tummy
clipped from blog.wired.comJet-Powered Bicycle Makes 50 MPH Feel Waaaaay Too Fast
If skydiving doesn't quite do it for you, you could always strap a jet engine to your chest. That's what Bob Maddox did until discretion got the better of him and he decided a jet-powered bicycle might be a little safer.
Maddox, an artist and cabinetmaker in Medford, Ore., has been tinkering with pulse jet engines for seven years now. He's recently started bolting them to old-school cruiser bicycles and selling them on eBay, and a video of him riding one is bouncing around the blogosphere.
will a debit card help?
clipped from http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/homepage/20080521_Credit_card_fees_further_strain_gas_stations.htmlCredit card fees further strain gas stations
By Henry J. Holcomb
Inquirer Staff Writer
Caught in the middle are the gas station operators, who must pass the credit card fees on to their anguished and angry customers.
The profits enjoyed by the credit card companies are from hidden fees they charge retailers, according to Ross DiBono, executive director of the 650-member Pennsylvania Association of Gasoline Retailers and Allied Trades.
So, retailers say, don't blame us, blame the credit card companies.
biofuels to change
clipped from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/science/earth/21biofuels.html?em&ex=1211515200&en=397ffb6474843513&ei=5087%0A
ROME — In the past year, as the diversion of food crops like corn and palm to make biofuels has helped to drive up food prices, investors and politicians have begun promoting newer, so-called second-generation biofuels as the next wave of green energy. These, made from non-food crops like reeds and wild grasses, would offer fuel without the risk of taking food off the table, they said.
Related
Dot Earth: More Unintended Risks from Biofuels? (May 21, 2008)
theatrical magic
clipped from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/theater/theaterspecial/14tony.html?ref=theaterspecial
A scene from "In the Heights," which received a Tony Award nomination for best musical. More Photos >
The Tony nominations are in, and it would be difficult to come up with a season that presented a clearer portrait of where Broadway is headed and where it has been. The creative team behind "In the Heights," a musical with a hip-hop, rap and salsa-infused score that led the field on Tuesday with 13 Tony nominations (including shots at best musical and best direction), is about as young as you get in a Broadway production: 6 of the show's 11 individual nominees are under 33.
gas gas
clipped from abcnews.go.comBig Oil Before Congress: Just a Show Trial?
Oil Executives Testify About the High Cost of Gas But Change is Unlikely
ABC NEWS Business Unit
May 21, 2008
The top executives of the nation's largest oil companies are once again being summoned before Congress to testify about the skyrocketing cost of gasoline.
But even before they were sworn in, the price of oil started to climb even higher. Oil spiked overnight and traded above $133 a barrel today, up more than $4 from yesterday's close.
Iceland is the most peaceful in Global Peace 2008
clipped from http://www.visionofhumanity.org/gpi/news/39/colombia-venezuela-and-haiti-are-the-most-violent/In Latin America, Chile is the most peaceful country -19 in the list, and Colombia ranks 130 out of 140, with the highest levels of internal violence.
on conduct
clipped from http://www.nosle.com/loc/gth/nsl_rss.jsp?href=null&a2=1211407607&title=Public+Speaker+2+-+Conduct+of+SelfA public speaker has to follow certain norm to remain in demand. Find the important characteristics expected of a public speaker.
The ten points to ponder
1. Decorum
2. Dress
3. Punctuality
4. Low voice
5. Language skills
6. Preparation
7. Contingency management
8. Time
9. Introspection
10. No Falsehood
Great ideas need landing gear as well as wings. - C.D. Jackson
Read more at
'Avial'
| Location: All Countries |
parrot talk
clipped from news.yahoo.com
Lost parrot tells veterinarian his address
TOKYO - When Yosuke the parrot flew out of his cage and got lost, he did exactly what he had been taught — recite his name and address to a stranger willing to help.
Police rescued the African grey parrot two weeks ago from a neighbor's roof in the city of Nagareyama, near Tokyo. After spending a night at the station, he was transferred to a nearby veterinary hospital while police searched for clues, local policeman Shinjiro Uemura said.
He kept mum with the cops, but began chatting after a few days with the vet.
legless in Olympics sprint
Panel backs amputee sprinter's Olympic quest
Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee sprinter who was barred from able-bodied competition in January, will be allowed to pursue his dream of qualifying for the Olympic Games after an unexpected decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The Court, an international panel which has final say over legal matters in sport, overturned the International Association of Athletics Federations' ban, ruling in effect that Pistorius' carbon fiber prosthetic blades do not give him an unfair advantage.
recession woes
clipped from avialblah.blogspot.com'Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.'— Benjamin Franklin
pension news
| Healthcare update : breakthrough for early retirees |
| Friday, 25 January 2008 |
The French government has gone back on its previous ruling in December, whereby holders of the E106 after their card expired were excluded from access to state healthcover.
This is good news for those early retirees who are entitled to healthcover for a fixed term under the EU healthcard E106 and who would have found it expensive, difficult, or impossible, if they had a serious or pre-existing medical condition, to get private healthcover at all. For some it meant a return to their country of origin; for others, this was out of the question financially. Worse still were those scheduled for a life-saving operation after they were excluded from health cover by the previous government ruling in December.
Quantum trouble
Qantas' luxury Airbus fails to take off
By staff writers May 21, 2008 02:34pm
Blogs from around the world have slammed the A380's green exterior and have likened the interior to a "dentist surgery".
online frauds
clipped from http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=8406ca2f-5aee-4f2c-9762-fbffe95a08d92 Que. companies among 13 accused of telemarketing fraud
Sarah Schmidt , Canwest News Service
OTTAWA - Two Canadian companies were named Tuesday in the largest telemarketing fraud sweep ever co-ordinated by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, for allegedly bilking American consumers with promises of bogus medical discount packages.
That is the cause; that is the cause
clipped from cbs2chicago.comSex Tape To Dominate Day 2 Of R. Kelly Trial
Jurors Shown Raunchy 27-Minute Tape On Tuesday
On the second day of the trial, prosecutors plan to back up their contention that the man in the videotape is the 41-year-old R&B singer, whose full name is Robert S. Kelly.
Prosecutors will also try to prove their claim that a female in the video is a girl who was 13 years old when the tape was made.
cop post
Mayor to revise budget proposal to hire more cops
Despite San Jose's $23 million budget deficit, Mayor Chuck Reed said Tuesday he wants to hire more than the 15 new police officers he'd previously called for and to restore other public-safety cuts proposed by the city manager.
Reed's move to boost police staffing comes as council members across the political spectrum are calling on him to do more.
"When you're in a tough budget deficit, sometimes you have to go back to basics, and public safety is a basic necessity," said Councilwoman Nora Campos.
