BEIJING, China – August 25, 2010 – China has developed a bus that straddles the road, thereby allowing it to pass over normal road traffic on China’s busy city streets. The buses are 18 feet wide and 13.5 feet high, which means they take up two lanes on most roadways.

They are actually proceeding with this particular idea and I suspect that we will see it in pilot mode. I do not think that they will be able to avoid a guardrail configuration though. Placed at a height of up to ten feet it would consist of a post and beam structure that would not impede pedestrian traffic and the post spacing could be rather substantial as needed for alley access.

One can even provide popup beams for truck access and the like in certain circumstances. At ten feet or even more, you do not interfere with normal cross street traffic.

The challenge is to avoid creating a new barrier if one wishes to deploy this on urban main streets with lots of traffic.

Obviously though, cost will drive this and that will be the main reason this option may be adopted. Plenty of high volume corridors simply do not as yet justify a subway but definitely need better public transportation options.

One excellent application will be center-to-center movement along existing freeway connections in U.S. cities.

Popularity: 1% [?]

BERLIN, Germany – August 3, 2010 – The German government supplied a secret Pentagon task force with names of Taliban leaders that the U.S. then could target for assassination, documents show.

Buried in the 92,000 pages of documents released by the web site Wikileaks is evidence that shows the German government abetted a secret program to kill or capture Taliban leaders. The German government has already been helping the U.S. generate a “hit list” through NATO, but this list went a step farther, bypassing transparency and judicial process.

The once-secret list, titled the “Joint Prioritized Effects List,” was used by the Pentagon’s Task Force 373 to target, kill and capture Taliban leaders.

“Thanks to the WikiLeaks revelations, war-weary Germany now knows that German officials added names to the JPEL at least 13 times,” the German publication Der Spiegel wrote Monday.

“On this list, 13 names translate into 13 potential death warrants. The Germans only mark their candidates with a C for “capture,” and not with a K for “kill.” But in fact all International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops are authorized to shoot and kill candidates on the JPEL list if, for example, they attempt to avoid capture by fleeing. In other words, although German elite troops do not use the kill option themselves, Germany does provide its tacit approval of the killing of candidates in the zone under its control in northern Afghanistan.”

Popularity: 1% [?]

LAHORE, Pakistan - August 1, 2010 – The Pakistan Taliban may be responsible for attacks that have killed more than 1,000 civilians this year. The U.S. may be in the midst of providing the country with $7.5 billion in aid. But average Pakistanis like the United States less than Al Qaeda and just a little more than the Taliban.

Roughly 17% of Pakistanis have a favorable view of the U.S. in a new poll by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project, while 59% described the U.S. as an enemy of Pakistan. About 15% view the Taliban favorably, up from 10% a year ago. Al Qaeda tops both groups, with 18% of Pakistanis viewing the group favorably, up from 9% a year ago.

The survey was conducted among 2,000 Pakistanis from April 13-28, 2010.

The findings are likely to add more fuel to the domestic debate over whether Amerikan largess is advancing U.S. interests in the region. A vast trove of United States government documents released by the website Wikileaks this week added more evidence for the belief that Pakistan supports the Taliban inside Afghanistan, leaving many Amerikans wondering if some of the aid to Pakistan isn’t ending up in the hands of Taliban operatives trying to kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. Capturing the mood, influential U.S. humorist Jon Stewart said this week, “We have ostensibly put a hit out on ourselves. This is insanity.”

In Pakistan, opposition to conditions attached to the $7.5 billion aid package and ongoing concern about civilian casualties in U.S. drone strikes aimed at Al Qaeda leaders are major factors fueling anti-Amerikanism, says Christine Fair, a political scientist at Georgetown University.

A surge of conspiracy theories that absolve the Taliban for recent sectarian attacks and instead blame outside forces may help explain the decreased perception of a threat from the Taliban.

“The narrative is these attacks are being carried out by India or Blackwater,” says Professor Fair, referring to the controversial U.S. security contractor now known as Xe. Ordinary Pakistanis are dismayed by what they see as increasingly close U.S. ties with rival India. About 53% of Pakistanis described India as the greatest threat to the country, while 23% see the Taliban as the greatest threat.

In the Main Market shopping area of Lahore, Pakistan’s cultural hub, traders and shoppers are almost unanimous in voicing dissatisfaction with Pakistan’s relationship with the United States.

“What kind of friends are the Amerikans? They are our false friends and in reality are trying to tear us apart. That’s why they are maintaining good relations with India, who back the Taliban, while at the same time giving our leaders money to fight the Taliban,” says Muhammad Yousuf, a retired shopkeeper, while sipping tea after Friday prayers.

Several people expressed the view that the Taliban were not behind attacks on two Ahmadi sect mosques in May that killed more than 100 people, or the attack on the Data Ganj Baksh shrine in Lahore in July that killed 40 people.

Popularity: 2% [?]

LONDON, England – July 22, 2010 – Every teenager in the country will today be invited to take part in a two-month summer residential course under plans for a voluntary program of national service.

The “National Citizen Service” will bring together 16-year-olds from different backgrounds and places around the country to become community volunteers and join in outdoor pursuits.

David Cameron said he hopes participation in the non-military, voluntary form of national service will become a “rite of passage” for all teenagers.

It is being announced by Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office Minister, as part of the government’s drive to create a “Big Society” of volunteers.

While critics have cast doubt over whether teenagers would be prepared to give up their summer holidays to participate in the program, the scheme is close to the Prime Minister’s heart.

He was a member of the cadet force while at Eton College, and has also spoken of how much he enjoyed volunteering to help shop for local elderly people while at school. He wants the Service to become one of the “proudest legacies” of his government.

As well as giving 16-year-olds a sense of “purpose, optimism and belonging,” Cameron said that he hopes the scheme will promote a sense of greater community cohesion.

Teenagers would be put into mixed groups to ensure they got to know youngsters from different social groups, ethnicities and parts of the country from their own.

When he announced the Citizen Service during the general election, Cameron said, “I want to see a program (that) engages young people and gives them a sense of purpose, optimism and belonging. Something like national service, but not military, not compulsory but universal; and in the same spirit, mixing up people from different backgrounds. A residential program so young people have time to live, work and play together.”

A military form of national service was compulsory in the United Kingdom between 1947 and 1960, and remains in place in a number of countries around the world, including Russia, Israel and China.

While the new civilian National Citizen Scheme would initially be voluntary, Cameron previously expressed the hope that in time all 16-year-olds would take part.

The programs, which include residential and at-home elements, will be run by independent charities and social enterprises, with input from local businesses.

In opposition, the Conservative Party helped raise £2 million for pilot programs in London, Wales and the North West held in 2006, 2008 and 2009.

The 16-year-olds who took part in the pilots spent a week doing “challenging” outdoor activities before a residential week in which they lived together while working on projects such as filmmaking and sports coaching.

During a third and final week, youngsters were encouraged to come up with their own ideas for a challenge that would make a difference in their local community.

The aim of the pilots was said to be to teach “leadership, management and communication skills”.

Funding for the Citizen Service is being provided through the scrapping of a community cohesion program run by the Department for Communities.

Popularity: 5% [?]

VIENNA, Austria – July 15, 2010 – An Austrian woman has had to convince her electricity supplier that she is alive after the company wrote to her asking for information about her contract following her “passing away.”

In a personally addressed letter, the Linz-based company said it had heard of her death through her bank, the daily Oesterreich reported on Thursday.

“I am not the dead one,” 58-year-old Christine R. wrote back in a fax and email to the company, explaining that it was her neighbor who had died and she was the custodian. She eventually went to the customer center in person to prove her existence.

“It was an unfortunate mistake,” a spokeswoman for the company said. “There was a muddle in the paperwork and the letters we automatically send out. It has been resolved now.”

Popularity: 5% [?]

TEL AVIV, Isreal – July 19, 2010 – On July 18, a bombshell report appeared in the Israeli daily Yediot Aharanot.

The article, which has only been published in Hebrew and was buried on page 8 as a small news item, stated that 550 officers and soldiers who participated in Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip in late 2008 and early 2009 have been investigated by IDF military police for possible war crimes. Among them is the former commander of the Givati Brigade, Ilan Malka, who was interrogated for an air strike that resulted in the killing of 21 members of one family in Gaza City.

At least one other soldier is accused of using human shields, or “use of neighbor” tactics. In fact, nearly all battalion commanders who participated in Cast Lead have been interrogated regarding their conduct.

Popularity: 5% [?]

STOCKHOLM, Sweden – July 18, 2010 – A small change in Sweden’s schooling law is about to make a big difference for Swedish homeschooling families, potentially causing them to flee to other countries or bring cases to international courts to protect religious and parental rights in the socialist country.

The Swedish Liberal Party pushed a new 1,500-page schooling law through last month, one paragraph of which will make homeschooling as an expression of religion or philosophy effectively impossible for Swedish families, other than in “exceptional circumstances” such as health issues or distance from a public school. The law also severely restricts religious practice in Sweden’s “confessional” schools.

Sweden’s officials defend the homeschool ban, which takes effect next July, saying homeschooling is unnecessary since the state provides a “comprehensive and objective” education.

This is exactly the problem, said Christopher Barnekov, director of Scandinavia House in Fort Wayne, Indiana, an assistance program for Swedish Lutheran pastors studying in the United States.

 ”The thrust of the law was to make schools across Sweden more uniform,” Barnekov said, adding that the law also requires Sweden’s religious schools to follow the same curriculum as its secular schools and restricts their prayer and chapel services.

 Source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jul/18/home-school-ban-in-sweden-forces-families-to-mull-/

Popularity: 4% [?]

NELSON, New Zealand – July 15, 2010 – Nelson’s top police officer does not believe frontline officers should be armed, but is backing calls for restrictions on the sale of high-powered air rifles.

Tasman district commander Superintendent Gary Knowles said frontline police in the district already had access to guns and all frontline officers had completed Taser training.

“We will obviously be reviewing our own procedures, but at this stage we will not be fully arming any of my staff.”

Police Minister Judith Collins has said that police should have easier access to guns by Christmas in the wake of the shooting of two Christchurch policemen this week.

Dog-handler Senior Constable Bruce Lamb, 50, and Constable Mitchel Alatalo, 30, were shot while carrying out routine inquiries in the suburb of Phillipstown.

Six-year-old police dog Gage was shot dead, and 34-year-old Christopher Graeme Smith faces serious charges, including attempted murder.

Mr Knowles said he agreed with Mrs Collins that police who needed access to guns should get it by Christmas.

He said the Tasman police district probably had more Tasers available to police officers per head of population due to the district’s geographical isolation.

It also probably had more officers trained in the use of Tasers, and he was also looking at extending the Taser training to other officers.

Since Tasers were rolled out to frontline staff earlier this year, no-one had been Tasered but staff had sought permission to deploy them.

He thought Tasers were a good middle-ground tactical option for police to have.

“At the end of the day you’ve got to really say to the public of New Zealand do you want to see police officers walking up and down the main street of Nelson carrying a gun? And I’d say nine times out of 10 they would say `No’.

“Ask them, `Do you think police should have firearms available?’ and they would say `Yes’,” he said.

However, Mr Knowles said he “absolutely” believed that laws should be tightened around the sale of high-powered air rifles.

“I think it’s a loophole in the law that needs to be closed. The days of Johnny having an air rifle and going down to the paddock and shooting a rabbit is over. A lot of these air rifles are just as powerful as any other firearm.

“Some of those slug guns are higher pressure and velocity than a .22, yet we have to have a licence for those.”

The government is looking at laws to restrict the sale of high-powered air rifles which are blamed for two recent Auckland slayings.

Undercover policeman Sergeant Don Wilkinson died in 2008 after he was shot with a FX Monsoon air gun.

The same weapon was used in the slaying of Keith Kahi, 44, in Botany Downs Auckland 10 days ago.

Anyone over the age of 18 can purchase an air rifle.

In Nelson, Hamills manager Brady Tasker said he and his staff used their discretion when selling air rifles and other equipment in the store and he had turned down people wishing to buy them. “There’s no requirement for me not to sell them to someone, but … if I don’t like them I won’t sell it.”

Mr Tasker said his Bridge St store sold a range of air rifles, which ranged in price from $70 to $1400.

He said he sold a lot of the high-powered air rifles to people living on lifestyle properties who did not have a gun licence but needed a gun to get rid of pests like rabbits and possums.

“I would say the majority of people that buy an air rifle are lifestylers that don’t have a gun license and fathers buying them for their kids who want to teach their kids how to handle guns responsibly.”

He said restricting their sale would only harm those who were responsible and used the rifles for legitimate purposes and he did not believe it would stop the weapons getting into the hands of criminals.

Popularity: 6% [?]

BELFAST, Northern Ireland – July 13, 2010 – Northern Ireland leaders condemned Irish nationalist rioters Tuesday who wounded 82 police officers during two nights of street clashes sparked by the province’s annual parades by the British Protestant majority.

While most of the injured officers suffered only cuts and bruises, others suffered burns and broken hands. Two remained hospitalized: a policeman wounded in the chest and arms by a shotgun blast, and a policewoman who had a paving stone dropped on her head from a shop’s rooftop.

The violence in working-class Catholic parts of Belfast and other towns came both before and after tens of thousands of Protestants of the Orange Order brotherhood marched at 18 locations across Northern Ireland in an annual show of communal strength. It was the worst rioting in Belfast since the same event exactly one year ago.

Politicians and police commanders said the rioters, influenced by Irish Republican Army dissidents opposed to compromise, were chiefly motivated to attack the police themselves. IRA dissidents have focused in recent months on trying to lure police into ambushes, until now with little success.

The Northern Ireland police commander, Chief Constable Matt Baggott, released video of Monday’s rioting in two parts of Belfast captured by surveillance helicopters. The footage showed hundreds of masked teens and young men swarming and pummeling police armored vehicles and swinging clubs at ranks of shield-wielding police while the officers stood their ground or retreated slowly.

Source

Popularity: 2% [?]

QUEENSLAND, Australia – July 8, 2010 – Police in Australia are investigating the poisoning of seven million vegetable seedlings, including tomatoes, aubergines and melons.

Detectives believe a herbicide was injected into the irrigation system at a nursery in northern Queensland.

The Australian farm minister described the poisoning at a Queensland nursery – the fourth such incident in eight years – as “sabotage”.

Farmers and analysts say the price of vegetables will increase as a result.

The cost of the damage is estimated at AUS $23.5m ($20.3m US), said Denise Kreymborg of the regional growers’ association.

Police are investigating possible links to the other poisonings in the region, which produces most of Australia’s vegetables during the winter months.

“It could be a grudge, it could be competition-based… or it could be an act of vandalism,” said Dave Miles, the acting police inspector for Townsville, near Cairns.

“I don’t think it’s just a local vandal,” said Kreymborg, according to the Associated Press.

“Obviously they knew what they were doing, as it was a pretty technical act they’ve done. But we don’t want to contaminate the investigation by pointing fingers.”

Workers at the Supa Seedlings nursery, which supplies around 30 regional growers, noticed plants wilting since June 20, 2010.

The bulk of the poisoned plants – around four million – were tomato seedlings. Some of them had already been transplanted on farms.

Around 350 hectares of production land, with the capacity to grow about 200 tonnes of fresh produce, have been affected.

The vegetables were destined for sale across Australia and for export to New Zealand and the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu.

Prices in all three countries are likely to spike over the next few months until produce from other regions comes onto the market, reports say.

Popularity: 3% [?]