The country’s top three soft-drink companies announced yesterday that beginning this fall they would start removing sweetened drinks like Coke, Pepsi and iced teas from school cafeterias and vending machines in response to the growing threat of lawsuits and state legislation. Under an agreement between beverage makers and health advocates, students in elementary school would be served only bottled water, low-fat and nonfat milk, and 100 percent fruit juice in servings no bigger than eight ounces. Serving sizes would increase to 10 ounces in middle school. In high school, low-calorie juice drinks, sports drinks and diet sodas would be permitted; serving sizes would be limited to 12 ounces. The agreement, which includes parochial and private schools contracts, is voluntary, and the beverage industry said its school sales would not be affected because it expected to replace sugary drinks with other ones. ‘This is a voluntary policy, but I think schools will want to follow it,’ said Susan K. Neely, president of the American Beverage Association. Still, about 35 million public school children would be affected by the agreement, which would apply to extended school functions like band practice but would not apply to events likely to […]
Repressive regimes are taking full advantage of the net’s ability to censor and stifle reform and debate, reveals a report. Written by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) pressure group the report highlights the ways governments threaten the freedom of the press. The report has a section dedicated to the internet and the growing roster of nations censoring online life. This censorship is practised on every continent on Earth, said the report. Power play Although the internet is changing the way the media works as blogs, chat forums and social networking sites turn passive consumers into active critics, it is not just citizens who are taking advantage of its technological power warned the report. Julien Pain – who heads the internet freedom desk at the RSF and was one of the report’s authors, noted: ‘Everyone’s interested in the internet – especially dictators’. Mr Pain said the world’s dictators have not remained powerless in the face of the explosion of online content. By contrast, many have been ‘efficient and inventive’ in using the net to spy on citizens and censor debate. Most computers will open PDF documents automatically, but you may need to download […]
Five companies won more than $US1 billion ($1.296 billion) in contracts to develop better influenza vaccines, and to make them on US territory, the US Health and Human Services Department said overnight. GlaxoSmithKline was awarded $US274.75 million ($356 million), MedImmune was awarded $US169.46 million ($219.7 million), Novartis Vaccines won $US220.5 million ($285 million), Computer Sciences corporation, DynPort Vaccine, working with Baxter International , won $US40.97 million ($53 million) and Solvay Pharmaceuticals won $US298.59 million ($387 million). The companies will work to develop cell based-vaccines to fight seasonal influenza or a pandemic strain. The new vaccines will be grown in labs in batches of cells called cell cultures, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said. The new method aims to replace older, egg-based systems, which require steady supplies of carefully grown eggs and months of cultivation. The target is both the annual seasonal flu, and the H5N1 avian influenza spreading among birds. The virus does not yet easily infect people but it has killed more than 100 people. Experts fear it could mutate into a form that could spread easily and quickly among people. If it did, it would spark a pandemic and work would have to begin […]
California is among 10 states that filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Bush administration over new federal fuel-economy standards on SUVs and light trucks, alleging that they ignore the effects of emissions on global climate change and the environment. The other plaintiffs are New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont and New Mexico, The District of Columbia and New York City also joined in the lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, contends that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has failed to consider the environment and fuel conservation when adopting fuel economy standards for SUVs and light trucks. By not requiring better fuel-economy standards for the vehicles, the lawsuit alleges that the environment is ultimately being hurt. ‘With gas prices skyrocketing, we must substantially increase fuel efficiency in new vehicles, not only to protect the pocketbooks of working families, but also to reduce vehicle emissions that contribute to global warming,’ said Attorney General Bill Lockyer in a prepared statement. ‘These rules fail that test by not requiring enough from the auto industry. The Bush Administration once again has missed an opportunity to promote new technology, fuel economy […]
President Bush’s plan for dealing with a flu pandemic warns that the federal government won’t be able to bail out communities reeling from illness and economic upheaval, and calls on businesses and individuals to take steps now to keep vital services running. The updated plan, released Wednesday, stresses basic human needs such as medical care and food, but doesn’t address some major hurdles – how to meet those needs if massive absenteeism stops transportation by closing oil refineries, or crashes the Internet so workers can’t telecommute. ‘Our efforts require the participation of, and coordination by, all levels of government and segments of society,’ Bush said in a letter to Americans unveiling his updated national pandemic response strategy. ‘No less important will be the actions of individual citizens, whose participation is necessary to the success of these efforts.’ Influenza pandemics strike every few decades when a never-before-seen strain arises. It’s impossible to predict when the next will occur, or its toll. But last fall, amid concern that the Asian bird flu might lead to one if it starts spreading easily from person to person, Bush proposed a $7.1 billion, multi-year strategy to prepare for the next pandemic. […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
