n2doc
n2doc's JournalU.S. paying to upgrade TV sports coverage in Afghanistan
By Josh Hicks
Many U.S. taxpayers probably know that they’re subsidizing Afghanistan’s government operations and development efforts, but it may surprise them to learn that they’re paying for the war-torn nation to enter the modern era of televised sports coverage.
Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko issued a letter to Secretary of State John F. Kerry this month questioning a $3.6 million contract to supply three television-production trucks for Afghan TV networks.
According to the contract, the vehicles are for “live sporting events, such as Buzkashi, Soccer, Cricket and other sports.” Buzkashi is a fierce game in which teams of horse-mounted players compete to haul a stuffed goat skin toward separate goals — sort of like polo, but with a mock carcass instead of a ball.
The TV-production trucks arrived in Afghanistan in July, more than two years behind schedule. But Sopko said none of the vehicles have been placed into service, and one was still covered with shipping material as of last month.
more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2014/10/24/u-s-paying-to-upgrade-tv-sports-coverage-in-afghanistan-including-goat-hauling/
First 'big heat event' melts Australian temperature records
Australia's first major heatwave of the warming season has broken temperature records across the nation, more than a month before the official start to summer.
On Saturday, the country set its warmest October day in records going back to 1910, with average maximums across the nation reaching 36.39 degrees, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
The previous record for October was set on the 31st of the month in 1988, at 36.31 degrees.
Sunday's heat was almost as fierce as Saturday's, according to preliminary figures.
The heatwave set October daily maximum temperature records at more than 20 stations but the duration of the warmth was also exceptional, a bureau spokesman said.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/first-big-heat-event-melts-australian-temperature-records-20141027-11cczf.html
Dead babies near oil drilling sites raise questions for researchers
VERNAL, Utah — The smartphone-sized grave marker is nearly hidden in the grass at Rock Point Cemetery. The name printed on plastic-coated paper — Beau Murphy — has been worn away. Only the span of his life remains.
"June 18, 2013 - June 18, 2013"
For some reason, one that is not known and may never be, Beau and a dozen other infants died in this oil-booming basin last year. Was this spike a fluke? Bad luck? Or were these babies victims of air pollution fed by the nearly 12,000 oil and gas wells in one of the most energy-rich areas in the country?
Some scientists whose research focuses on the effect of certain drilling-related chemicals on fetal development believe there could be a link.
But just raising that possibility raises the ire of many who live in and around Vernal. Drilling has been an economic driver and part of the fabric of life here since the 1940s. And if all that energy development means the Uintah Basin has a particularly nasty problem with pollution, so be it, many residents say. Don't blame drilling for baby deaths that obituaries indicate were six times higher than the national average last year.
more
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_26800380/dead-babies-near-oil-drilling-sites-raise-questions
Her numbers show an upward four-year trend in infant deaths: One in every 95.5 burials in Uintah County in 2010 was a baby, according to Young. In 2011 it was one in every 53. In 2012, one in every 39.7. And in 2013 the number jumped to one in every 15.
The Bushes, Led by W., Rally to Make Jeb ‘45’
WASHINGTON — When Jeb Bush decides whether to run for president, there will be no family meeting à la Mitt Romney, no gathering at Walker’s Point in Kennebunkport to go over the pros and cons. “I don’t think it’ll be like a big internal straw poll,” said his son, Jeb Bush Jr.
But if there were, the results of the poll are pretty much in. As Mr. Bush nears a decision to become the third member of his storied family to seek the presidency, the extended Bush clan and its attendant network, albeit with one prominent exception, are largely rallying behind the prospect and pulling the old machine out of the closet.
“No question,” Jeb Jr. said in an interview, “people are getting fired up about it — donors and people who have been around the political process for a while, people he’s known in Tallahassee when he was governor. The family, we’re geared up either way.” Most important, he added, his mother, Columba, the prospective candidate’s politics-averse wife, has given her assent.
Within the family, the top cheerleaders have been George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, both of whom know something about running for president, and both of whom have an interest in perpetuating, if not redeeming, the family legacy. Barbara Bush, the former first lady and Jeb Bush’s mother, is unconvinced, according to people close to the family, but has been persuaded to stop saying it so publicly. George P. Bush, his other son, who is running for Texas land commissioner, has been supportive of what he calls a likely run.
more
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/27/us/the-bushes-led-by-w-rally-to-make-jeb-45.html?smid=re-share
Monday Toon Roundup 3- The Rest
Costumes
Economy
Cash
Sports
Schools
China
TV
Armored vehicle helps collect civil judgment in small town
When officials in the tiny Town of Stettin in Marathon County went to collect a civil judgment from 75-year-old Roger Hoeppner this month, they sent 24 armed officers.
And an armored military vehicle.
Among other issues, the recent unrest in Ferguson, Mo., focused attention on the growing militarization of local law enforcement, particularly the use by even very small police departments of surplus armored military vehicles.
Marathon County sheriff's officials aren't apologizing for their tactics. Sheriff's Capt. Greg Bean said officials expected to have to seize and remove tractors and wooden pallets to pay the judgment — hence the cadre of deputies. He also said what while Hoeppner was never considered dangerous, he was known to be argumentative.
Hoeppner said when he noticed deputies outside his house, he called his attorney, Ryan Lister of Wausau. Lister said he quickly left for Hoeppner's house but was stopped by a roadblock that was kept up until after his client had been taken away in handcuffs. "Rather than provide Mr. Hoeppner or his counsel notice...and attempt to collect without spending thousands of taxpayer dollars on the military-style maneuvers, the town unilaterally decided to enforce its civil judgment" with a show of force, Lister said.
more
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/armored-vehicle-helps-collect-civil-judgment-in-small-town-b99376798z1-280427872.html
Profile Information
Gender: Do not displayMember since: Tue Feb 10, 2004, 01:08 PM
Number of posts: 47,953
