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...