Crews Probe Massive Guatemala Sinkhole

A cavernous sinkhole that swallowed an entire intersection in Guatemala City during a tropical storm has excited geologists and spooked neighbors. (June 1)

Helen Thomas tells Jews to go back to Germany

Rabbi Nesenoff broke this story on RabbiLIVE.com
Rabbi David F. Nesenoff interviewed Helen Thomas on the White House Lawn on American Jewish Heritage Celebration Day at the White House.

Multiple reports of a bright light moving strangely in the dawn light over eastern Australia | Courier Mail

A MYSTERIOUS ball of light seen across eastern Australia early yesterday may be linked to the launch of a private spacecraft in the US, experts say.

The Falcon 9 rocket was successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida soon before people in Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT and Victoria started reporting a UFO.

The UFO's speed, estimated at 20,000km/h, and west-to-east direction were consistent with a spent rocket grazing the earth's upper atmosphere, said Dr Peter Firth from the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium.

"This is the first time they've launched this kind of rocket, so we don't really have any experience of what we should expect to see," Dr Firth said.

Headroom – Wellbeing Guide to Alcohol

Do you feel that you need to cut down your drinking? Perhaps you feel that alcohol is playing an increasing role in your life? Learn methods of managing your alcohol intake and find out how to get help if you need it.

Swine Flu Pandemic: World Health Organization Scientists Linked to Vaccine Companies – ABC News

Scientists who advised the World Health Organization on its influenza policies and recommendations—including the decision to proclaim the so-called swine flu a "pandemic" had close ties to companies that manufacture vaccines and antiviral medicines like Tamiflu, a fact that WHO did not publicly disclose.

The links between the advisors and the companies that make money from vaccines and flu treatments were detailed in a report published online by the British medical journal BMJ, which investigated the advisors' role in WHO's policy.

The report by Deborah Cohen, features editor of BMJ, and Philip Carter, a journalist with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in London , acknowledged that flu experts do "need to work with industry to develop the best possible drugs for illnesses," but said that allowing industry experts to have a role in the formulation of public health policy was a slippery slope.

And worse, Cohen and Carter said, was the failure of WHO officials to disclose the conflicts of interest or even identify the members of its advisory committee.

Weekly Address: Speaking from Louisiana on the Oil Spill | The White House

Speaking from Grand Isle, Louisiana, the President discusses the hardships local residents and small business owners are facing as a result of the BP oil spill. He pledges to make sure those responsible do not shortchange them.

BP pays Google Yahoo & Bing For Helping to Censor Gulf Oil Spill Information

 

Easyjet to test volcanic ash radar

New technology that could minimise future disruption to air traffic from volcanic ash has been unveiled by budget airline EasyJet.
The British airline will be the first to trial a new ''weather radar for ash'' system called AVOID (Airborne Volcanic Object Identifier and Detector).
The system involves placing infrared technology onto an aircraft to supply images to both the pilots and an airline's flight control centre.
It is an attempt to prevent a repeat of April's airspace shutdown, after an Icelandic volcano erupted.
The disruption cost airlines nearly $3bn and stranded thousands of passengers.
Al Jazeera's Emma Hayward reports on the aircraft-mounted radar that could help prevent future airspace closures.

Report: WHO overstated H1N1 threat – Europe – Al Jazeera English

A joint report into the handling of the H1N1 outbreak has found that some scientists who advised governments to stockpile drugs, had previously been on the payroll of big drug companies.

The report, published in the British Medical Journal, found World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines on the use of medicine to treat the virus were prepared by experts who had received consulting fees from the top two manufacturers of the drugs - Roche and GlaxoSmithKline.

The WHO's decision to name the flu a "pandemic" is also coming under scrutiny from European investigators, and stands accused of exaggerating the dangers of the H1N1 outbreak, which emerged in April last year.

Laboratory tests have confirmed more than 18,000 deaths from H1N1 infection, according to WHO figures, but the virus has turned out to be less deadly than feared.

Also, symptoms suffered by most people infected with the virus have been mild.