New Hampshire Health News Digest

World Tribune.com -- U.S. Army weighs blimp fleet for Iraq WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army is researching the prospect of deploying airships to Iraq, both for surveillance as well as for troop transport. Officials said the army has been briefed on the use of airships equipped with sensors that could provide continuous surveillance over insurgency strongholds in Iraq. The airships would ensure real-time information on insurgency threats to army commands and ease the burden on the Army's unmanned aerial vehicle fleet.. "The capability of an airship would be much greater than that of a tactical UAV," an official said. "We could be provided with a comprehensive situational awareness picture before patrols and other missions." The Defense Department has held a competition to provide a blimp for troop transport. The finalists were identified as Lockheed Martin and a tiny California firm, Worldwide Aeros. Both companies have won a total of $3 million in awards to provide th...

DRUDGE REPORT FLASH 2006 : "FBI Raid Angers Some on Hill Mon May 22 2006 10:00:41 ET Saturday night’s FBI raid on the office of Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) surprised and angered House officials, who were not told that the Rayburn House Office Building search was to take place until one hour beforehand, offering the latest sign that federal prosecutors are using increasingly aggressive tactics in their pursuit of allegedly corrupt lawmakers. This is believed to be the first-ever FBI raid on a Congressional office, ROLL CALL reports. Documents filed in support of the search show that the Justice Department is assembling a wide-ranging case against the veteran Democratic lawmaker. At this time, Jefferson is being investigated for bribery, wire fraud, bribery of a foreign official and conspiracy to bribe foreign officials, according to an affidavit filed by an FBI agent in support of the search warrant. But the Justice Department and FBI agents are also looking at “least seven othe...

Did early humans go ape for chimps?. 18/05/2006. ABC News Online : "Did early humans go ape for chimps? Humans' ancestors interbred with chimpanzees after the two species drew apart millions of years ago, a paper suggests. The provocative idea is sketched by US genome experts, who have discovered that hominids and chimps diverged far more recently - and over a much longer time scale - than anyone had thought. During this time, the authors theorise, the two primates were rather more than kissing cousins: they had sex, swapping genes before making a final separation. 'The ... analysis revealed big surprises, with major implications for human evolution,' co-author Professor Eric Lander, the director of the Broad Institute of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), said. Until now, the belief was that humans and chimpanzees shared a common ancestor but went their separate ways around 6.5 - 7.4 million years ago. The basis for this is a carbon-dated fos...

BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Telecoms thriving in lawless Somalia : "By Joseph Winter BBC News, Mogadishu Rising from the ruins of the Mogadishu skyline are signs of one of Somalia's few success stories in the anarchy of recent years. Mobile phone masts in Mogadishu Mobile phone masts are among the few new structures in Mogadishu A host of mobile phone masts testifies to the telecommunications revolution which has taken place despite the absence of any functioning national government since 1991. Three phone companies are engaged in fierce competition for both mobile and landline customers, while new internet cafes are being set up across the city and the entire country. It takes just three days for a landline to be installed - compared with waiting-lists of many years in neighbouring Kenya, where there is a stable, democratic government. And once installed, local calls are free for a monthly fee of just $10. International calls cost 50 US cents a minute, while surfing the web ...

Trial a glimpse into Chicago political patronage : "CHICAGO (Reuters) - Four Chicago officials went on trial on Monday, accused of rigging the city's hiring process to reward loyalists of Mayor Richard Daley, in a case prosecutors said shows a ban on political patronage is being ignored. City employees Robert Sorich, Timothy McCarthy, Patrick Slattery and John Sullivan have been charged with fraud. Sullivan was also charged with lying to the FBI. If convicted, they could each spend several years in prison. Save & Share * Tag This Article Saving options 1. Save to description: Headline (required) Byline 2. Save to notes (255 character max): Blurb 3. Tag This Article In opening statements in U.S. District Court, prosecutor Patrick Collins said only people who had served in Daley's political organization by ringing doorbells and handing out leaflets for certain political candidates had a chance to get well-paid positions like sewer and building inspectors or fore...

ESR | May 8, 2006 | How quickly we forget Given their apparent operation in relatively isolated terror cells, it's unlikely the PATRIOT Act would have stopped 9/11. It has, however, quite handily given law enforcement agencies the tools to go after accused drug dealers in Florida, embezzlers in Las Vegas, and an Oregon lawyer whose fingerprints were mistakenly matched by the FBI to those who bombed commuter trains in Madrid, Spain (the lawyer was eventually released, but only after Spanish officials insisted the prints belonged to others). In its newest iteration, it's also prevented you and me from buying cold medicine over the counter (maybe somebody somewhere thinks terrorists won't fly if they have the sniffle s...) Last year, Congress passed the REAL ID Act. The measure was passed ostensibly to prevent terrorists and illegal aliens from getting a foothold here by creating a national ID system that would — at least in theory — make it hard for those not legally entitled...

Real Nightmare What’s Wrong With Real ID * It’s a national identity system. The standardized national driver’s licenses created by Real ID would become a key part of a system of identity papers, databases, status and identity checks and access control points – an “internal passport” that will increasingly be used to track and control individuals’ movements and activities. * Will not be effective against terrorism. The fact is, identity-based security is not an effective way to stop terrorism. ID documents do not reveal anything about evil intent – and even if they did, determined terrorists will always be able to obtain fraudulent documents (either counterfeit or real documents bought from corrupt officials). * Will be a nightmare for state governments. Real ID requires state governments to remake their driver’s licenses, restructure many of their computer databases and other systems, create an extensive new document-storage system, and – perhaps most difficult of all – ver...

Nashuatelegraph.com: Real ID Act is more government snooping Real ID Act is more government snooping Llalania Marble, Brookline Published: Thursday, May. 11, 2006 Your papers, please! Just a line from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? It might not be if the Real ID Act takes effect in New Hampshire. Piggybacked on a military spending bill last year, the Real ID Act will initiate a national ID card, which you will need to travel on an airplane, open a bank account, collect Social Security payments, or take advantage of nearly any government service. It will be an electronically readable version of your driver’s license carrying your personal information, such as name, address, Social Security number, driving record, birth date, sex, digital photo, biometric information, and other requirements Homeland Security can add as they see fit, such as fingerprints and a retinal scan. This information will reside in a national database, the largest single repository for personal information ev...

AP Wire | 05/14/2006 | AP Enterprise: State of Illinois a squatter with hundreds of expired leases : "AP Enterprise: State of Illinois a squatter with hundreds of expired leases JOHN O'CONNOR Associated Press SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The state of Illinois kept Larry Isaacs hanging for four years. Isaacs rented an office in Tuscola to the Department of Children and Family Services, but the lease expired in March 2002. Although he made about $3,000 worth of state-requested improvements, officials kept putting off a decision on whether to stay or pull out and leave Isaacs to scramble for a new tenant. He finally got a new deal for up to 10 years, but many other landlords aren't so lucky. More than half the 652 leases the state had as of December have expired. That's nearly five times the number of 'holdovers' that Gov. Rod Blagojevich faced when he took office in 2003, according to an Associated Press analysis of state documents. That complicates life for the landlords...

globeandmail.com : U.S. rewards Libya's Gadhafi by restoring full diplomatic ties : "WASHINGTON -- The United States announced it was restoring full diplomatic relations with Libya yesterday, a reward President George W. Bush says is also on offer to other rogue states if they forsake nuclear weapons. 'Abandoning the pursuit of illegal weapons can lead to better relations with the United States,' Mr. Bush said in a statement released to mark the announcement about Libya -- and clearly aimed at those states he has repeatedly fingered: North Korea, Iran and Syria. 'Continuing to seek those weapons will not bring security or international prestige, but only political isolation, economic hardship, and other unwelcome consequences,' Mr. Bush warned, outlining the carrots-and-sticks approach to superpower diplomacy. Those 'unwelcome consequences' include full-blown war, like that launched in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein in Iraq after he defied a decade of UN...

Skype offers free PC-to-landline calls | TG Daily Skype offers free PC-to-landline calls Wolfgang Gruener May 15, 2006 16:27 San Jose (CA) - Skype has begun offering free phone calls from a PC to any landline phone in North America. The company hopes that a free "SkypeOut" will increase the market penetration of Skype in the U.S. and Canada and will be available until the end of this year. skype screenshotDropping the fees from SkypeOut is the Skype' most aggressive promotion activity so far and may trigger responses from other softphone and VoIP providers. The company continues to maintain its global dominance in the market and recently reported that it has crossed the 100 million registered subscriber mark on 1 May of this year. "Millions of consumers around the world are flocking to Skype every month, and we believe free SkypeOut calling will rapidly accelerate Skype adoption in the US and Canada," said Henry Gomez, general manager of Skype North America. ...

All Headline News - British Inventor Unveils 8000 MPG Car - May 13, 2006 : Julie Farby - All Headline News Staff Writer London, England (AHN)—A British inventor unveils the world's most fuel-efficient vehicle, a three-wheel “TeamGreen” car capable of doing 8,000 miles to the gallon. The 45-year-old inventor, Andy Green, from the University of Bath, built his budget eco-motor for just �2,000, and will be the sole British contender for the title of the world's most fuel-economic car in a global competition being held later this month. It has taken Mr. Green more than two years to design and build the car, which will be the fourth eco-vehicle he has built. He holds the British record for fuel-efficiency, with 6,603 miles to the gallon in a previous car. According to the report, the new vehicle is powered by a single cylinder four-stroke engine with a capacity of just 35cc and runs with a special management system incorporating fuel injection."

First baby in Britain designed cancer-free - Britain - Times Online : "First baby in Britain designed cancer-free By Mark Henderson, Science Editor A WOMAN is pregnant with Britain’s first designer baby selected to prevent an inherited cancer, The Times can reveal. Her decision to use controversial genetic-screening technology will ensure that she does not pass on to her child the hereditary form of eye cancer from which she suffers. Although they did not have fertility problems, the woman and her partner created embryos by IVF. This allowed doctors to remove a cell and test it for the cancer gene, so only unaffected embryos were transferred to her womb. The couple are the first to take advantage of a relaxation in the rules governing embryo screening. When the technique was developed in 1989 it was allowed only for genes that always cause disease, such as those for cystic fibrosis. However, it was approved last year for the eye cancer, which affects only 90 per cent of those who ...

Military Plans Tests in Search for an Alternative to Oil-Based Fuel - New York Times : "WASHINGTON, May 13 — When an F-16 lights up its afterburners, it consumes nearly 28 gallons of fuel per minute. No wonder, then, that of all the fuel the United States government uses each year, the Air Force accounts for more than half. The Air Force may not be in any danger of suffering inconveniences from scarce or expensive fuel, but it has begun looking for a way to power its jets on something besides conventional fuel. In a series of tests — first on engines mounted on blocks and then with B-52's in flight — the Air Force will try to prove that the American military can fly its aircraft by blending traditional crude oil-based jet fuel with a synthetic liquid made first from natural gas, and, eventually, from coal, which is plentiful and cheaper. While the military has been a leader in adopting some technologies — light but strong metals, radar-evading stealth designs and fire-retardan...

DEBKAfile - Bush Did the Job, Elbaradei Walked off with the Nobel Peace Prize : "By means of delicate diplomacy during 2003 and 2004, the Bush administration persuaded Libya to relinquish its nuclear weapons industry. US military planes flew the centrifuges Pakistan supplied Libya for uranium enrichment and its yellow cake out of the country to the United States. Pakistan, prodded by Washington, “uncovered” a nuclear black market ring headed by Dr Qader Khan, the father of the Pakistan nuclear bomb, and Egypt confessed to possessing a supply of enriched uranium for military purposes. While this was going on, Dr. ElBaradei and the IAEA teams stood on the sidelines in a supportive role. These episodes demonstrate that the prime mover in dismantling the most dangerous focii of nuclear weapons production was the Bush administration rather than the UN nuclear watchdog and its director. It was only after these episodes were successfully concluded that ElBaradei realized that Washington ...

Inside Bay Area - Voting glitch said to be 'dangerous' Voting Glitch Said to Be 'Disastrous' Inside Bay Area (CA) (05/10/06) Hoffman, Ian A recently discovered vulnerability in Diebold's touch-screen voting machines has election officials scrambling to understand and contain the risk. A hacker with minimal specialized knowledge of Diebold's system and an off-the-shelf component could load software onto the machine to disable it or alter vote counts in a matter of minutes. "This one is worse than any of the others I've seen. It's more fundamental," said Douglas Jones, a University of Iowa computer scientist. "In the other ones, we've been arguing about the security of the locks on the front door," he said. "Now we find there's no back door. This is the kind of thing where if the states don't get out in front of the hackers, there's a real threat." Finnish computer expert Harri Hursti discovered the flaw while...

Telegraph | News | Iran's spies watching us, says Israel : "Iran's spies watching us, says Israel By Con Coughlin Defence and Security Editor, on Israel's northern border (Filed: 04/04/2006) Iran has set up a sophisticated intelligence gathering operation in southern Lebanon to identify targets in northern Israel in the event of a military confrontation over its controversial nuclear programme. Senior Israeli military commanders say Iran has spent tens of millions of pounds helping its close ally, Hizbollah, the Shia Muslim militant group that controls southern Lebanon, to set up a network of control towers and monitoring stations along the entire length of Israel's border with south Lebanon. Some of the new control towers, which are made of reinforced concrete and fitted with bullet-proof reflective glass, are less than 100 yards from Israeli army positions and are clearly visible for long stretches along Israel's border. 'This is now Iran's front line...

News Service: Iowa State University ::The Most Realistic Virtual Reality Room in the World The Most Realistic Virtual Reality Room in the World Iowa State University News Service (05/08/06) Krapfl, Mike Iowa State University is spending more than $4 million upgrading C6, a hexagonal virtual reality room that will project 100 million pixels, twice the number of pixels illuminating any other virtual reality room in the world. Iowa State opened C6 in 2000 as the first six-sided room in the country that provides an immersive auditory and visual experience, though the equipment has not been updated since. The new equipment will feature a Hewlett-Packard computer with 96 graphics processing units, 24 Sony digital projectors, and an ultrasonic motion tracking application. Supported by a Defense Department appropriation through the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the upgrade began this spring, and is expected to be unveiled in the fall, with a grand opening celebration planned for s...

Iran Declares War - May 11, 2006 - The New York Sun - NY News President Ahmadinejad’s letter to President Bush, widely interpreted as a peaceful overture, is in fact a declaration of war. The key sentence in the letter is the closing salutation. In an eight-page text of the letter being circulated by the Council on Foreign Relations, it is left untranslated and rendered as “Vasalam Ala Man Ataba’al hoda.” What this means is “Peace only unto those who follow the true path.” It is a phrase with historical significance in Islam, for, according to Islamic tradition, in year six of the Hejira - the late 620s - the prophet Mohammad sent letters to the Byzantine emperor and the Sassanid emperor telling them to convert to the true faith of Islam or be conquered. The letters included the same phrase that President Ahmadinejad used to conclude his letter to Mr. Bush. For Mohammad, the letters were a prelude to a Muslim offensive, a war launched for the purpose of imposing Islamic rule ov...

USATODAY.com - NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls : "The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY. The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews. 'It's the largest database ever assembled in the world,' said one person, who, like the others who agreed to talk about the NSA's activities, declined to be identified by name or affiliation. The agency's goal is 'to create a database of every call ever made...

Nazis ‘shipped arms to Palestinians’ - News from Israel, Ynetnews Nazis ‘shipped arms to Palestinians’ British National Archives unveil presence of Nazi S.S. agents in Mandatory Palestine, working closely with Palestinian leaders Yaakov Lappin Historical documents in Britain’s National Archives in London show that Nazi Germany attempted to ship arms to Palestinian forces in the 1930s. A British Foreign Office report from 1939 reports of “news of a consignment of arms from Germany, sent via Turkey and addressed to Ibn Saud (king of Saudi Arabia), but really intended for the Palestine insurgents.” Britain’s chief military officer in Mandatory Palestine also noted reports “regarding import of German arms at intervals for some years now.” British documents from the same period, and German records photographed by an American spy and sent to the British government, said that a number of Nazi agents were sent to Mandatory Palestine, in order to forge alliances with Palestinian leaders, an...

Allah Takes Over Catholic Church | The Brussels Journal Tuesday, May 09, 2006 Outrage of the Day From Drudge Report: U.S. tipping Mexico to Minuteman patrols. While Minuteman civilian patrols are keeping an eye out for illegal border crossers, the U.S. Border Patrol is keeping an eye out for Minutemen — and telling the Mexican government where they are. According to three documents on the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations Web site, the U.S. Border Patrol is to notify the Mexican government as to the location of Minutemen and other civilian border patrol groups when they participate in apprehending illegal immigrants — and if and when violence is used against border crossers. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman confirmed the notification process, describing it as a standard procedure meant to reassure the Mexican government that migrants’ rights are being observed. “It’s not a secret where the Minuteman volunteers are going to be,” Mario Martinez said Mo...

DailyBulletin.com - U.S. tipping Mexico to Minuteman patrols While Minuteman civilian patrols are keeping an eye out for illegal border crossers, the U.S. Border Patrol is keeping an eye out for Minutemen — and telling the Mexican government where they are. According to three documents on the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations Web site, the U.S. Border Patrol is to notify the Mexican government as to the location of Minutemen and other civilian border patrol groups when they participate in apprehending illegal immigrants — and if and when violence is used against border crossers. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman confirmed the notification process, describing it as a standard procedure meant to reassure the Mexican government that migrants’ rights are being observed. “It’s not a secret where the Minuteman volunteers are going to be,” Mario Martinez said Monday. “This ... simply makes two basic statements — that we will not allow any lawlessness of a...

BREITBART.COM - Flying robot attack "unstoppable": experts : "It may sound like science fiction, but the prospect that suicide bombers and hijackers could be made redundant by flying robots is a real one, according to experts. The technology for remote-controlled light aircraft is now highly advanced, widely available -- and, experts say, virtually unstoppable. Models with a wingspan of five metres (16 feet), capable of carrying up to 50 kilograms (110 pounds), remain undetectable by radar. And thanks to satellite positioning systems, they can now be programmed to hit targets some distance away with just a few metres (yards) short of pinpoint accuracy. Security services the world over have been considering the problem for several years, but no one has yet come up with a solution. 'We are observing an increasing threat from such things as remote-controlled aircraft used as small flying bombs against soft targets,' the head of the Canadian secret services, Michel ...

Independent Online Edition > Environment : "Invisible 'smog', created by the electricity that powers our civilisation, is giving children cancer, causing miscarriages and suicides and making some people allergic to modern life, new scientific evidence reveals. The evidence - which is being taken seriously by national and international bodies and authorities - suggests that almost everyone is being exposed to a new form of pollution with countless sources in daily use in every home. Two official Department of Health reports on the smog are to be presented to ministers next month, and the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has recently held the first meeting of an expert group charged with developing advice to the public on the threat. The UN's World Health Organisation (WHO) calls the electronic smog 'one of the most common and fastest growing environmental influences' and stresses that it 'takes seriously' concerns about the health effects. It adds that ...

Watchdog Group NLPC Says Radical, Anti-Meat Groups Behind Florida Businessman's Calls for McDonald's Boycott : "WASHINGTON, May 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Legal and Policy Center today charged that recent allegations made by Jody Gorran, that McDonald's employs sex offenders at its restaurants, appear to be the result of a long history of collaboration between Gorran and radical anti-meat groups like PETA and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. 'PETA has a well deserved reputation for using questionable tactics in how it conducts itself. Their orchestration of these attacks on an American restaurant is further proof of that when it comes to pursuing their radical, anti-meat agenda,' said Ken Boehm of NLPC. Among the findings released today by NLPC (see below for full details and documentation): * Gorran sued the Atkins diet company only two years ago for allegedly ruining his health. * Gorran's suit was aided by the Physicians Committee ...

CNN.com - Study: It really does hurt to wait - May 4, 2006 : "WASHINGTON (AP) -- Anyone who's ever taken a preschooler to the doctor knows they often cry more before the shot than afterward. Now researchers using brain scans to unravel the biology of dread have an explanation: For some people, anticipating pain is truly as bad as experiencing it. How bad? Among people who volunteered to receive electric shocks, almost a third opted for a stronger zap if they could just get it over with, instead of having to wait. More importantly, the research found that how much attention the brain pays to expected pain determines whether someone is an 'extreme dreader' -- suggesting that simple diversions could alleviate the misery. The research, published in the journal Science, is part of a burgeoning new field called neuroeconomics that uses brain imaging to try to understand how people make choices. Until now, most of that work has focused on reward, the things people will do fo...

CNN.com - EU: Popular sugar substitute safe - May 5, 2006 : "ROME, Italy (AP) -- European food safety experts have good news for dieters with a sweet tooth, announcing Friday that the popular sugar substitute aspartame does not raise the risk of cancer. An Italian study last year wrongly concluded that the sweetener led to higher rates of lymphoma and leukemia in rats, said an independent panel of scientists advising the European Food Safety Authority. The new review found that the number of tumors did not increase in relation to the dosage of aspartame fed to the animals. Many of the rats in the study had suffered from chronic respiratory disease and that was the most likely cause of the tumors, the panel said. The findings support a huge U.S. federal study released last month, which found no link to cancer in a study of aspartame use among more than half a million Americans. The European panel said its assessment should put the lid on years of debate over the sweetener found in...

In a Dentist Shortage, British (Ouch) Do It Themselves - New York Times Mr. Kelly's predicament is not just a result of cigarettes and possibly indifferent oral hygiene; he is careful to brush once a day, he said. Instead, it is due in large part to the deficiencies in Britain's state-financed dental service, which, stretched beyond its limit, no longer serves everyone and no longer even pretends to try. Mr. Kelly, interviewed in a health clinic here as he waited for his son to see a doctor, last visited a dentist six years ago, in Sussex. Since moving to Rochdale, a working-class suburb of Manchester, he has been unable to find a National Health Service dentist willing to take him on. Every time he has tried to sign up, lining up with hundreds of others from the ranks of the desperate and the hurting — "I've seen people with bleeding gums where they've ripped their teeth out," he said grimly — he has arrived too late and missed the cutoff. "You could arg...