March 12, 2008, 5:49 PM CT

Who won the democratic primary in Texas?

Hillary Clinton camp and the main media says Hillary Clinton won the state of Texas. Let's see what's the truth. Hillary Clinton has won the democratic primary ballot in Texas but Barack Obama has won the democratic caucus in the state of Texas. No one would argue that both of these methods are democratically accepted methods for selecting presidential candidates. The very first primary election in the nation, which very often sets the trend for the whole nation, is done in the caucus form. Different states perform this right in different ways some states do it through regular voting process and many states does it through the process of caucuses. No one should claim one method is more democratic than the other.

In the state of Texas there are a total of 228 delegates at stake. Two thirds of these delegates (126) are allotted through primary electoral process and one third of the delegates (67) are allotted through primary caucuses. So how do we consider who is the winner in the state. It's dishonest to say that one who has won more delegates through electoral votes is the winner. If that is the case who should be considered the winner in Iowa where there was no electoral process. It's equally dishonest to suggest the person who won the primary caucus is the winner. There is only one way of determining who is the winner. The person who has won the most delegates is the winner in the primary. ........ Posted by: Brian      Read more

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 06:06:50 GMT

Online Dating Stalkers

Stalker is a serious word and it's meant to imply something serious. Unfortunately, we often toss the word about in casual conversation. People say "stalker" when they mean someone who is being annoyingly persistent. That's not what this is about. This is about what to do when someone continues harassing you through an online dating site to the point that you're starting to be afraid for your own personal safety.

First of all, be aware that online dating stalking does happen but it's not common. You shouldn't be paranoid about it. However, if it starts happening to you, you shouldn't assume that you're being overcautious. Trust your gut and be aware that no one has the right to stalk you online.

Signs that you're being stalked on an online dating site include any behaviors that someone exhibits which indicate persistence beyond what you've allowed. For example, you chat with someone a few times through a site and then it tapers off. The person starts emailing every day. You have to block them from your IM. They start trash talking you on the site. You ask them to stop and it escalates. Online dating stalking isn't too different from stalking in real life; it's just done through online communication.

If you feel that you are being stalked, address the situation directly. Tell the person that you want to be left alone and that you'll take action if you aren't. If that doesn't work, notify the website that this is happening on to see if they have a protocol for stopping it. You may even consider removing yourself from the site for awhile until the situation is over.

Question of the Day: Should online stalking be a crime? Posted by: Kathryn Vercillo      Read more     Source

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 06:01:53 GMT

Face In Hole

Wouldn''t it be great if you could be a different person everyday? Many of us have tried to manipulate pictures in order to try something different or just to have fun. But not only it takes loads of hard work but also the results aren''t usually all that great.

With Face In Hole you can easily create a totally ''new look'' for you and your friends. You just have to select a scenario, upload and adjust a photo (or use your webcam) and there you have it, a great picture that you can send to your friends, post in your blog or make available to the world.

That''s me in the picture above as Austin Powers. Posted by: Gerard      Read more     Source

March 11, 2008, 10:54 PM CT

Climate change and transportation

While every mode of transportation in the U.S. will be affected as the climate changes, potentially the greatest impact on transportation systems will be flooding of roads, railways, transit systems, and airport runways in coastal areas because of rising sea levels and surges brought on by more intense storms, says a new report from the National Research Council. Though the impacts of climate change will vary by region, it is certain they will be widespread and costly in human and economic terms, and will require significant changes in the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of transportation systems.

The U.S. transportation system was designed and built for local weather and climate conditions, predicated on historical temperature and precipitation data. The report finds that climate predictions used by transportation planners and engineers may no longer be reliable, however, in the face of new weather and climate extremes. Infrastructure pushed beyond the range for which it was designed can become stressed and fail, as seen with loss of the U.S. 90 Bridge in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

"The time has come for transportation professionals to acknowledge and confront the challenges posed by climate change, and to incorporate the most current scientific knowledge into the planning of transportation systems," said Henry Schwartz Jr., past president and chairman of Svedrup/Jacobs Civil Inc., and chair of the committee that wrote the report. "It is now possible to project climate changes for large subcontinental regions, such as the Eastern United States, a scale better suited for considering regional and local transportation infrastructure." ......... Posted by: Tyler      Read more         Source

March 11, 2008, 10:08 PM CT

Red-light cameras increase crashes

Rather than improving motorist safety, red-light cameras significantly increase crashes and are a ticket to higher auto insurance premiums, scientists at the University of South Florida College of Public Health conclude. The effective remedy to red-light running uses engineering solutions to improve intersection safety, which is especially important to Florida's elderly drivers, the scientists recommend.

The report was published this month in the Florida Public Health Review, the online journal of the college and the Florida Public Health Association.

"The rigorous studies clearly show red-light cameras don't work," said lead author Barbara Langland-Orban, professor and chair of health policy and management at the USF College of Public Health.

"Instead, they increase crashes and injuries as drivers attempt to abruptly stop at camera intersections. If used in Florida, cameras could potentially create even worse outcomes due to the state's high percent of elderly who are more likely to be injured or killed when a crash occurs".

Red-light cameras photograph violators who are then sent tickets in the mail. Hillsborough County Commissioners unanimously agreed earlier this month to install the cameras at several major intersections in the county. The devices could be adopted by more cities and counties if Florida legislators pave the way by changing a state law this spring......... Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:46:09 GMT

Politically Stylish Designer T-Shirts

Fashion has had a long and turbulant relationship with politics. From Katharine Hamnett’s pioneering t-shirts to Vivienne Westwood’s manifesto, style can be shorthand for personal politics - without all the speeches. Fitting, then, that amidst the excitement of the Presidential Primaries, two designers have stepped in to show their support in the most ancient of all mediums - the printed t-shirt.

Posted by: Katy Smail      Read more     Source

March 9, 2008, 5:56 PM CT

Clean coal agreement with China

The agreement, between CSIRO and China's Thermal Power Research Institute (TPRI), will see TPRI install, commission and operate a post combustion capture pilot plant at the Huaneng Beijing Co-Generation Power Plant as part of CSIRO's research program.

Post combustion capture (PCC) is a process that uses a liquid to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from power station flue gases and is a key technology that can potentially reduce carbon dioxide emissions from existing and future coal-fired power stations by more than 85 per cent.

The pilot plant is designed to capture 3,000 tonnes per annum of CO2 from the power station and begins the process of adapting this technology to evaluate its effectiveness in Chinese conditions.

CSIRO's involvement in this PCC project has been made possible through funding from the Australian Government. The Australian Government is supporting this work through a $A12 million grant, $A4 million of which supports this work in China.

Director of CSIRO's Energy Transformed National Research Flagship, Dr John Wright, said low emission energy generation was a key research area for the Flagship and he welcomes the support of the Australian Government.

"This project is part of a major research program to identify ways to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector," Dr Wright said......... Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source

March 9, 2008, 4:27 PM CT

Comeback to a pre-injury level for baseball players

Only 45 percent of baseball players were able to return to the game at the same or higher level after shoulder or elbow surgery, as per new research released recently during the 2008 American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Specialty Day at The Moscone Center.

In an ideal world, of course, we would get 100 percent of the players back to their pre-injury level or higher, says Steven B. Cohen, MD, assistant team doctor for the Philadelphia Phillies and director of Sports Medicine Research at the Rothman Institute in Philadelphia. But the fact of the matter is at this elite level of the sport, the physical demands of throwing have much higher requirements than the regular person on the street. The average person who has shoulder or elbow surgery can return to their regular activities. Throwing a baseball at the professional level puts a significant amount of stress on the shoulder and the elbow.

Over a four-season period, Cohen and his colleagues studied 44 players from one professional baseball club (major league, AAA, AA and A) who underwent 50 shoulder and elbow operations by a variety of surgeons. There were 27 shoulder surgeries performed on 26 players and 23 elbow surgeries performed on 21 players. A key finding of the study was that players returning after elbow surgery were more likely to comeback to the same or higher playing level than those who had shoulder surgery. Thirty-five of the players were pitchers with 43 percent returning to the same or higher playing level......... Posted by: Jim      Read more         Source

March 9, 2008, 4:23 PM CT

Bullying more harmful than sexual harassment

Workplace bullying, such as belittling comments, persistent criticism of work and withholding resources, appears to inflict more harm on employees than sexual harassment, say scientists who presented their findings at a conference today.

As sexual harassment becomes less acceptable in society, organizations may be more attuned to helping victims, who may therefore find it easier to cope, said lead author M. Sandy Hershcovis, PhD, of the University of Manitoba. In contrast, non-violent forms of workplace aggression such as incivility and bullying are not illegal, leaving victims to fend for themselves.

This finding was presented at the Seventh International Conference on Work, Stress and Health, co-sponsored by the American Psychological Association, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and the Society for Occupational Health Psychology.

Hershcovis and co-author Julian Barling, PhD, of Queens University in Ontario, Canada, evaluated 110 studies conducted over 21 years that compared the consequences of employees experience of sexual harassment and workplace aggression. Specifically, the authors looked at the effect on job, co-worker and supervisor satisfaction, workers stress, anger and anxiety levels as well as workers mental and physical health. Job turnover and emotional ties to the job were also compared......... Posted by: Mac      Read more         Source

March 4, 2008, 5:49 PM CT

Marijuana does not increase risk of head, neck cancer

Smoking marijuana (cannabis) does not increase the users risk of head and neck cancer, according to a new study published in the March 2008 issue of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery.

The small sample study, authored by researchers from New Zealand and Great Britain, found that among 75 cases of head and neck cancer, the relative risk of smoking cannabis and contracting head and neck cancer in marijuana users was the same (1.0) as in those who had never smoked cannabis. These results differ from the relative risk of contracting cancer from smoking cigarettes (2.1) and the heavy consumption of alcohol (5.7), compared with those who abstained from those activities.

However, due to the limits of the study, the authors cannot exclude other possible effects, and recommend a larger study.

Cancers of the head and neck, with more than 500,000 new cases diagnosed each year worldwide, represent the fourth most common type of cancer. It is estimated that more than 13,000 people will die from head and next cancer each year in the United States alone......... Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source