Monday, November 28, 2005

SpaceX called off the much-delayed inaugural launch of their new Falcon 1 rocket on Saturday from Kwajalein’s Omelek Island launch site. The intent was to launch the U.S. Air Force Academy’s FalconSat 2 satellite, which will monitor plasma interactions with the Earth’s upper atmosphere and magnetosphere.

The launch was delayed, then finally cancelled after an oxygen boil-off vent had accidentally been left open. The oxygen was unable to cool the helium pressurant, which then proceeded to evaporate faster than it could be replenished. A main computer issue, probably serious enough to cause a scrub on its own, was also discovered.

This long-anticipated flight was originally expected to be launched in January 2005, however a series of setbacks forced a series of delays, with the flight most recently scheduled to be in early 2006. It was intended to be launched from the Kwajalein atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

The maiden voyage was originally intended to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with a Naval Research Laboratory satellite and a Space Services Incorporated space burial payload.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

A recall issued last week for Thomas the Tank Engine toys made in China and containing lead-based paint, is the latest scare for consumers, and follows recent scandals involving Chinese-made pet food, pharmaceuticals, toothpaste and other toys, The New York Times has reported in a series of articles.

Last week, RC2, a U.S. toy company based in Oak Brook, Illinois, issued a recall for its popular wooden “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends” train sets. The recall involved 1.5 million “Thomas Wooden Railway” vehicles and train sets sold at toy stores and various retailers across the U.S. from January 2005 through June 2007.

A subsequent recall has been issued in the United Kingdom, where Thomas the Tank Engine was originated in the 1940s as a character in a children’s story by the Reverend W.V. Awdry. Around 70,000 toys are involved in the U.K. recall, according to The Guardian.

“RC2 has determined that the surface paints on the recalled products contain lead. Lead is toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health effects,” the Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a press release dated June 13. “Consumers should take the recalled toys away from young children immediately and contact RC2 Corp. for a replacement toy,” the commission said.

Those “adverse health effects” could include brain and nerve damage, especially in young children, as well as blood and brain disorders. Severe lead poisoning causes vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions, anemia, loss of appetite, headaches and in particularly high doses, coma and death.

In an article on Monday, The New York Times reported that recalls have been issued for 24 different toys in the U.S. in the past year, and every one of them was made in China. According to the Toy Industry Association, toys made in China account for around 70 percent to 80 percent of all the toys sold in the U.S., The Times said.

“These are items that children are supposed to be playing with,” Prescott Carlson was quoted as saying by The Times. Carlson is a co-founder of a child-safety website called Imperfect Parent, which tracks recalls of toys and other baby products. “It should be at a point where companies in the United States that are importing these items are held liable,” Carlson said.

RC2 would not comment to The Times, and a Consumer Product Safety Commission spokesman would not say how long ago the problem with the lead paint was discovered.

For a follow-up article on Tuesday, The Times visited a factory in Dongguan, in China’s Guangdong province, where the “Thomas and Friends” toys are made. The paper interviewed workers and took photos on the factory floor.

“You’re intruding,” a factory manager identified only as Zhong was quoted as telling the reporters. “Tell me, why exactly are you here?”

During the visit, a reporter, translator and a photographer were detained by factory officials, and released a day later after local police and government officials intervened.

The factory also produces other toys for RC2, including toy John Deere trucks, NASCAR racing models and M&M’s cars, The Times said. RC2 makes the toys under licenses from various companies. The “Thomas and Friends” toys are made under license from Hit Entertainment, which owns the “Thomas” brand.

According to RC2, items in the “Thomas and Friends” recall are:

• Red James Engine & Red James’ # 5 Coal Tender
• Red Lights & Sounds James Engine & Red James’ #5
• Lights & Sounds Coal Tender
• James with Team Colors Engine & James with Team Colors *#5 Coal Tender
• Red Skarloey Engine
• Brown & Yellow Old Slow Coach
• Red Hook & Ladder Truck & Red Water Tanker Truck
• Red Musical Caboose
• Red Sodor Line Caboose
• Red Coal Car labeled “2006 Day Out With Thomas” on the Side
• Red Baggage Car
• Red Holiday Caboose
• Red “Sodor Mail” Car
• Red Fire Brigade Truck
• Red Fire Brigade Train
• Deluxe Sodor Fire Station
• Red Coal Car
• Yellow Box Car
• Red Stop Sign
• Yellow Railroad Crossing Sign
• Yellow “Sodor Cargo Company” Cargo Piece
• Smelting Yard
• Ice Cream Factory

Toys listed that are marked with codes containing “WJ” or “AZ” are not included in the recall.

Earlier, RC2 said that customers would have to cover shipping costs to return the toys to the company. It later agreed to cover postage after angry complaints by parents, The Times said in an article yesterday. Refunds will take about two months.

Sunday, August 21, 2005

A robotic system at Stanford Medical Center was used to perform a laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery successfully with a theoretically similar rate of complications to that seen in standard operations. However, as there were only 10 people in the experimental group (and another 10 in the control group), this is not a statistically significant sample.

If this surgical procedure is as successful in large-scale studies, it may lead the way for the use of robotic surgery in even more delicate procedures, such as heart surgery. Note that this is not a fully automated system, as a human doctor controls the operation via remote control. Laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery is a treatment for obesity.

There were concerns that doctors, in the future, might only be trained in the remote control procedure. Ronald G. Latimer, M.D., of Santa Barbara, CA, warned “The fact that surgeons may have to open the patient or might actually need to revert to standard laparoscopic techniques demands that this basic training be a requirement before a robot is purchased. Robots do malfunction, so a backup system is imperative. We should not be seduced to buy this instrument to train surgeons if they are not able to do the primary operations themselves.”

There are precedents for just such a problem occurring. A previous “new technology”, the electrocardiogram (ECG), has lead to a lack of basic education on the older technology, the stethoscope. As a result, many heart conditions now go undiagnosed, especially in children and others who rarely undergo an ECG procedure.

Monday, October 2, 2006

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Michael Ignatieff has maintained his lead as voting concludes in the “Super Weekend” of delegate selection meetings for the Liberal Party of Canada’s leadership convention. With 380 of 469 ridings reporting, the former Harvard professor leads with 1162 committed delegates, 30% of the total. Former Ontario premier, Bob Rae, is second with 767 delegates (19.8%), while former federal Environment minister Stephane Dion and former Ontario education minister Gerard Kennedy are battling for third place with 648 and 646 delegates respectively (16.7%). While no clear challenger to Ignatieff has emerged, analysts say that the frontrunner is vulnerable if an “Anybody but Ignatieff” movement emerges and the opposition to him coalesces around one of Rae, Dion or Kennedy on the convention floor in December.

“I feel I’m tremendously well placed,” Ignatieff told CBC News on Sunday, “I think I’ve earned their confidence and trust, but we do have two months to go.”

“It’s a different kind of campaign from here on in,” said Kennedy.

“The whole purpose of the exercise this weekend is to get in position where we can make a run for the prize,” Rae said.

“We have not the biggest machine, but the biggest heart,” Dion said of his campaign.

The results vary around the country. Rae, though a former Ontario premier, has come in third in that province with 17.3% delegate support, well behind Ignatieff and Kennedy who are neck-in-neck in Canada’s largest province with 27.3% and 26.7% support respectively.

In Quebec, Kennedy has proven to be weak, winning only 10 delegates or 1% of the province’s total while Ignatieff leads with 38.4% and Dion and Rae battle for second place with 29.1% and 24.2% support respectively.

Rae is the leader in Newfoundland, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island as well as in British Columbia where he is well ahead of Kennedy, Dion and Ignatieff in that order while Kennedy leads in Alberta where he has three more delegates than Ignatieff.

Ignatieff leads in Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Yukon and the Northwest Territories.

Across the country, the other four candidates all have less than 5% support. Former hockey great Ken Dryden has 189 delegates (4.9%), Joe Volpe has 172 delegates (4.4%), Scott Brison has won his home province of Nova Scotia but has only 148 delegates across the country (3.8%) and Martha Hall Findlay has won 41 delegates (1.1%) while 104 delegates (2.7%) are uncommitted. With the exception of the uncommitted delegates, the approximately 4,300 delegates elected this weekend are locked into supporting the candidates on whose behalf they have been chosen on the first ballot of the December 2-3 convention being held in Montreal but are free to support other candidates on subsequent ballots. They will be joined by approximately 1,000 delegates who will attend either because they are Members of Parliament, Senators or former Cabinet ministers or because they’ve been chosen by various committees. Nevertheless, this weekend’s results are expected to give a rough idea of what the first ballot results of the convention will be.

About 190,000 party members were eligible to vote in this weekend’s exercise.

Sunday, April 8, 2007

Indian external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee has been taken to a Delhi Army Hospital after being injured in a car mishap in West Bengal. His condition is said to be stable. He has received injuries on the head and other body parts.

In statement, he said he would be back at work soon: “I am well but doctors have advised me 48 hours rest. I hope to be back to work after that period,” the Press Trust of India reported.

Mukherjee is one of the senior most politicians in the ruling Congress Party and is close to party supremo Sonia Gandhi. In a cabinet reshuffle in October last year, Mukherjee had been given the high profile post of India’s foreign minister which was lying vacant after the resignation of Natwar Singh. Until then he had been the minister for defence.

In view of this accident Mukherjee’s two day visit to Saudi Arabia where he was expected to call upon the Saudi king has been cancelled.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh received Mukherjee at the airport when he was brought back from West Bengal.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

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Boxing regulators in the state of Florida have started a preliminary investigation into allegations of corruption and fight fixing after mixed martial arts fighter Seth Petruzelli defeated Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson in the main event of the EliteXC: Heat on Saturday, October 4, 2008.

Petruzelli, who was scheduled to fight Aaron Rosa on an untelevised undercard match, was approached by EliteXC officials to take on Ferguson, who fights under the nickname Kimbo Slice. Slice’s announced opponent, legendary mixed martial arts and professional wrestling veteran Ken Shamrock, was declared medically ineligible to fight after injuring himself during a Saturday morning workout session, requiring stitches to be applied to a cut over his eye. News of the injury and substitution was not made until after CBS Sports started broadcasting the show.

The show had been heavily promoted over the last two months on Shamrock’s reputation and the credibility of his name, along with the media buzz around Kimbo Slice. CBS Sports was expecting to cash in with a huge ratings success after securing a record-setting 4.85 million viewers on their inaugural broadcast of EliteXC, the highest ratings ever for a MMA broadcast. Fourteen seconds into the main event, however, Petruzelli scored an upset win over Slice. Petruzelli hit Slice with a right cross to Slice’s jaw that sent the phenom staggering backwards. Petruzelli moved in, as Slice was not defending himself, and finished off his opponent with a flurry of punches. The referee stopped the fight a few seconds later.

The controversy started the next morning after Petruzelli was interviewed on the “Monster in the Morning” radio show on WTKS-FM 104.1 in Orlando, FL and simulcast on XM Satellite channel 152. In the 18-minute interview, Petruzelli made the statement, “The promoters kind of hinted to me and they gave me the money to stand and trade with him. They didn’t want me to take him down, let’s just put it that way. It was worth my while to try to stand up and punch with him.”

It was inferred through this statement that an EliteXC official approached Petruzelli and attempted to influence the outcome of the fight. Slice, whose fight strategy is largely based on punching power, had been training to face Shamrock, another noted strike artist. Petruzelli, on the other hand, has a much stronger ground offensive. Critics during the fight noted that if Petruzelli could force Slice to the mat that it would be a humiliating upset, but if Slice could maintain control through his striking it would be an easy win.

With the statement from Petruzelli about being paid to stand up and fight on Slice’s skill level, allegations of tampering with the fight began to arise within hours. EliteXC’s Jeremy Lappin, Director of Fight Operations, responded to MMA Weekly’s inquiries, saying “Press reports that EliteXC suggested or paid money to heavyweight fighter Seth Petruzelli to keep his fight against Kimbo Slice off the ground are false. Let me be perfectly clear with no ambiguity – that did not happen.” Lappin stated that they offered him a “Knockout of the Night” bonus if he could score a win by KO. Bonuses such as “Knockout of the Night”, “Submission of the Night” and “Match of the Night” are often offered to fighters who can deliver entertaining and crowd-pleasing performances. Lappin also stated, “Elite XC organizes and promotes fights. We have not, do not, and will not suggest or dictate fighters’ strategies or tactics. How the fighters perform in the cage is at the sole discretion of the athletes involved.”

Petruzelli also started making immediate amends the next day, blaming himself for misrepresenting his intentions. In a blitz of media interviews in an effort to retracts his statement, he said, “Honestly, when I woke up in the morning my words were jumbled and obviously my head was in a daze from drinking (laughs) the entire night. Reading the transcript, I actually now feel I worded it perfectly in what I wanted to say. I wanted to keep the fight standing and they offered a knockout bonus and I wanted to get the knockout bonus.”

Florida officials from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) did not appear to be interested in performing an investigation. In an interview with MMAWeekly.com, DBPR press secretary Alexis Antonacci said, “Our interpretation is that the comments made were in reference to the promoter asking [Petruzelli] to join a fight that he wasn’t originally scheduled for. We don’t believe any wrongdoing occurred.” The DBPR regulates all business and professional licenses in the state, including promotion of sports such as boxing, professional wrestling and mixed martial arts.

After being hounded by the media and fight critics all week long, the DPBR announced on Thursday that they would start a preliminary investigation. Communications director Jennifer Meale made a statement to the press. “While the Department of Business and Professional Regulation doesn’t have any reason to believe there was a problem with the Slice-Petruzelli fight, given the interest in it, the Department has begun a preliminary investigation to thoroughly review the circumstances of the fight.”

Pro Elite, Inc, the parent company of EliteXC, has struggled over the last year. The company is over $50 million in debt, with $24.4 million of that debt accrued in the first half of 2008. Trailing behind industry leader Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), EliteXC has rallied behind Kimbo Slice to drive up ratings on their specials with CBS Sports and Showtime Networks, attendance at live events and other merchandise sales. The October 4 broadcast drew in 4.56 million viewers, making it the third most-watched viewed event in MMA history to go along with its record-setting May 31 debut of 4.85 million viewers. Both events featured Kimbo Slice in the main event.

The corruption issue could go deeper than just fixing a fight for the company’s star fighter. Further fueling the allegations are the actions of EliteXC’s president, Jared Shaw. Immediately after the fight was stopped, Shaw rushed to the side of the cage and yelled to the referee that Slice was hit illegally.

“He spent a lot of money to build up Kimbo,” Seth Petruzelli said. “If I saw one of my guys I spent millions on getting his face pounded I’d get upset also.” Shaw later apologized for his actions, calling them improper.

EliteXC’s Lappin told ESPN, “We were not trying to protect Kimbo. He had been training to fight a guy in Shamrock who has a better ground game than Seth. If we were trying to protect Kimbo we would have sent him home. We put him in a dangerous fight.” Frank Shamrock, MMA color analyst for CBS Sports, and brother of Ken Shamrock, feels that EliteXC is looking out for Slice’s best interests. “As for Pro Elite, are they looking after their baby? I hope so. Are they conspiring to ensure he wins? I don’t think so.”

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Sunday, May 18, 2014

The governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has warned that the state of the housing market in the United Kingdom is the current biggest domestic threat to the country’s economy, due to lack of house building, and regulatory issues.

In an interview to be aired on Sky News today, he said the housing market is the “biggest risk” to the economy and has “deep, deep structural problems”. Of house building he said: “There are not sufficient houses built in the UK. To go back to Canada, there are half as many people in Canada as in the UK, twice as many houses are built every year in Canada as in the UK and we can’t influence that.”

“We’re not going to build a single house at the Bank of England. We can’t influence that. What we can influence […] is whether the banks are strong enough. Do they have enough capital against risk in the housing market?”

Carney also said the Bank of England would look into the procedures used to issue loans and mortgages to see if they were being granted appropriately: “We’d be concerned if there was a rapid increase in high loan-to-value mortgages across the banks. We’ve seen that creeping up and it’s something we’re watching closely.”

Kris Hopkins responded to Carney on behalf of the government, saying the government “inherited a broken housing market, but our efforts to fix it are working”. “We’ve scrapped the failed top-down planning system, built over 170,000 affordable homes and released more surplus brownfield sites for new housing. We’ve also helped homebuyers get on the housing ladder, because if people can buy homes builders will build them. Housebuilding is now at its highest level since 2007 and climbing. Last year councils gave permission for almost 200,000 new homes under the locally-led planning system and more than 1,000 communities have swiftly taken up neighbourhood planning. It’s clear evidence the government’s long-term economic plan is working.”

Earlier this month, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development called on the UK government to “tighten” access to the ‘Help to Buy’ scheme introduced by George Osborne and the coalition government in 2013. ‘Help to Buy’ has also recently been criticised by three former Chancellors of the Exchequer — the Conservatives Norman Lamont and Nigel Lawson, and former Labour Chancellor Alistair Darling. Darling said: “Unless supply can be increased substantially, we will exacerbate that situation with schemes like Help to Buy.”