Month: May 2006

Immigration solution — invade Mexico!

Immigration solution — invade Mexico!

While this may seem an amusing “Modest Proposal” some experts see Mexico inevitably becoming the 51st State, if Puerto Rico doesn’t beat them to it.

Here is a modest proposal for solving the illegal immigration issue once and for all: Invade and occupy Mexico and admit it into the Union as the 51st state. That way, we can put an immediate end to all of the political hand-wringing on this pressing and volatile issue. Before you dismiss this idea as reckless, consider that there’s something in this plan for every American, regardless of their political stripe.

THE LAWYERS KILLING N.Y.

THE LAWYERS KILLING N.Y. By LAWRENCE J. MCQUILLAN & HOVANNES ABRAMYAN – New York Post Online Edition: Postopinion
The lawyers. In 2002, injured claimants received only 46 cents for every dollar paid by insurance companies for tort losses.

The President's Council of Economic Advisers estimated the excessive costs of the tort system nationwide were $136 billion in 2000 – equivalent to a 2 percent tax on consumption, a 3 percent tax on wages, or a 5 percent tax on capital. The same methodology puts today's excessive costs at more than $198 billion a year – equivalent to a tax of $2,654 on a family of four.

To put that in perspective, in 1950, America's tort system cost only $93 per person (adjusted for inflation).

Leaders in other parts of the country are making common-sense reforms to repair our out-of-control tort system. Many states, for example, cap the amount a jury can award for non-economic damages, which are designed to compensate plaintiffs for hard-to-quantify costs like "pain and suffering" or "mental distress." Studies show that such caps lower insurance costs and litigation rates.

The two speeds of our brain

» The two speeds of our brain | Emerging Technology Trends | ZDNet.com
By combining experimental and computational approaches, they found that our brains contain two series of components which learn at different speeds. The first ones learn and forget fast while the second ones learn slowly but have a better ‘memory.’

In EU, front lines in food war

In EU, front lines in food war – International Herald Tribune
Greece and a few other EU countries that have banned genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, are on the front lines of a war over the future of such food in Europe, the only large swath of the world that does not already grow or purchase such crops. Last Friday, the Polish president signed into law a similar ban, following Austria some months back.

Facing international pressure and a lawsuit at the World Trade Organization, the EU said this year that all member states must open their doors to GMOs, preparing practical and legal regulations to ensure safety for health and the environment. But five countries have imposed eight different types of ban. Many others use their votes in Europe's Council of Ministers to block the crops from entering.

Furthermore, the battle pits the United States and Canada, which produce the vast majority of such seeds and crops, against their closest European allies. The United States is not shy about enlisting its diplomats to push European countries to admit GMOs, according to European politicians. European consumers and farmers generally do not want them, leaving the EU trying to steer a Solomonic course between competing and conflicting interests.

Bird gets the Bird

HeronDoesDuck.JPGWhile there is some conjecture that the 1st dinosaurs has feathers, this Great Blue Heron as he flew down and snatched this duckling right out from under it's mother's clutch. She was helpless to stop him. Note the bewildered mother at bottom of frame. I watched the heron as he flew down a ways, then he promptly swallowed the duckling.

Rising Ocean Temperatures Threaten Florida’s Coral Reef

Rising Ocean Temperatures Threaten Florida's Coral Reef – New York Times
"Last year was a particularly bad outbreak," said Tyler Smith, a coral biologist at the University of the Virgin Islands. "We lost anywhere from 70 to 100 percent of our coral to bleaching."

Florida was somewhat spared in that outbreak, only because the mighty swirl of Hurricane Wilma dragged cooler, life-saving water into the region.

Not all the news is bad. Mr. Donahue said that, with rising temperatures, scientists have seen fresh stands of elkhorn and staghorn off Broward County, Fla., far north of the Keys, in waters where such coral would have never been seen two decades ago.

Germany’s beer lovers can already taste defeat

Germany’s beer lovers can already taste defeat – World – Times Online
The Germans are furious that Budweiser will be the official tipple for the World Cup, which starts next month. The American lager has secured a near-monopoly of beer sales inside World Cup stadiums and within a 500m radius of the grounds, supplanting more than 1,270 domestic breweries.

And what most upsets the fans is that Budweiser — advertised as the “King of Beers” in the US — fails to meet the ancient German standards for purity, which stipulate that beer can be brewed only from malt, hops and water. Budweiser uses rice in its production process and therefore does not qualify as a beer in the German sense.

Budweiser paid $40 million for the concession even before Germany had been chosen to host the tournament. ” Franz Maget, a Bavarian Social Democrat, has entered the fray, calling Budweiser “the worst beer in the world”.

What’s in a $7.5M Web Name?

TechJournal South – Article
SUNRISE, FL – Odimo, an online retailer based in Sunrise, has sold its diamond and jewelry business, including the domain name http://www.diamond.com, for $7.5 million to Ice.com, an online diamonds and jewelry retailer. Ice also purchased Odimo's remaining diamond and jewelry inventory and corporate packaging for an additional $2 million.