SAN FRANCISCO — What if the Web held a sex party and no one showed up?

That’s what could happen now that the agency governing the Internet address system all but approved the creation of a new red-light district on the Web. The problem is that some of the biggest names in online pornography prefer not to be in that neighborhood.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers on Friday agreed to move forward on a long-standing proposal from a Florida company to create a specialized dot-xxx suffix for adult entertainment Web sites. But the plan upset much of the adult entertainment industry. It joined hands with religious groups in lobbying against it, arguing that the new domains would lead to regulation and marginalization.

The alliance ‘made for strange bedfellows, for sure,’ said Diane Duke, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, a trade association representing more than 1,000 adult entertainment businesses. The company sponsoring the dot-xxx domain, the ICM Registry, said it had a vision of a red-light district in cyberspace that was a clean, well-lighted place, free of spam, viruses and credit card thieves. Content would be clearly labeled as adult and the whole neighborhood would be easy to block. […]

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BELLEVUE, Wash.– Students who wished their school librarians a nice summer on the last day of school may be surprised this fall when they’re no longer around to recommend a good book or help with homework.

As the school budget crisis deepens, administrators across the nation have started to view school libraries as luxuries that can be axed rather than places where kids learn to love reading and do research.

No one will know exactly how many jobs are lost until fall, but the American Association of School Administrators projects 19 percent of the nation’s school districts will have fewer librarians next year, based on a survey this spring. Ten percent said they cut library staff for the 2009-2010 school year.

A trip to the school library may be a weekly highlight for children who love to read, but for kids from low-income families, it’s more of the necessity than a treat, according to literacy experts and the librarians who help kids struggling in high school without a home computer.

Unlike the overflowing bookshelves of wealthier families, 61 percent of low-income families own no age-appropriate books, according to a 2009 study commissioned by Jumpstart on ‘America’s Early Childhood Literacy Gap.’ They depend on libraries […]

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As BP opens its checkbook to pay damages related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, it is beginning to do battle over a high-stakes question: Who else bears liability?

Some of the companies involved in the drilling operation are laying the groundwork to argue: not us.

In recent regulatory filings and other statements, they deflect responsibility, setting the stage for what is likely to be a years-long legal battle over corporate liability for a disaster whose financial toll is already estimated in the billions.

Halliburton, a project contractor, says it followed instructions from the well owner, a group led by BP. Transocean, which leased the rig to BP, says it was liable only for surface spills — not those emanating from the sea bottom. Anadarko Petroleum, a venture partner, implies that it may be off the hook because BP likely engaged in ‘gross negligence or willful misconduct.’ Schlumberger, another contractor, says it is figuring out if it is contractually insulated from liability.

‘The responsibility for this event will be debated for some time, and there is a lot of confusion around where liabilities begin and end,’ said Bart Nash, a spokesman for the London-based Lloyd’s marketplace, whose insurance syndicates face hundreds of millions […]

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In an interview with The Times to mark the 10th anniversary of the sequencing of the human genome, he said bespoke genetic health care would identify those with a higher inherited risk of conditions such as heart disease, diabetes or cancer and reduce the diseases though drug treatment, early screening or diet and exercise.

Dr Collins told the newspaper: ‘Certainly within ten years I will be very surprised and very disappointed if most people in the developed world will not have their genomes sequenced as part of their medical record, and I would hope it will come even sooner.’

‘The cost of sequencing is dropping … and I can’t believe it won’t drop to less than $1,000 within five years. Will that become the moment when it becomes compelling to do it for everyone?’

‘There would be no need to take more blood samples; it’s just a click of your mouse to know whether that drug dose ought to be adjusted, or whether there’s a risk of a nasty side effect.’

It comes after The Sunday Telegraph revealed that geneticists believe malfunctioning genes behind major diseases, including cancer, heart disease and diabetes, can provide clues that will help pinpoint the causes.

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WASHINGTON — Americans spend twice as much as residents of other developed countries on healthcare, but get lower quality, less efficiency and have the least equitable system, according to a report released on Wednesday.

The United States ranked last when compared to six other countries — Britain, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand, the Commonwealth Fund report found.

‘As an American it just bothers me that with all of our know-how, all of our wealth, that we are not assuring that people who need healthcare can get it,’ Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis told reporters in a telephone briefing.

Previous reports by the nonprofit fund, which conducts research into healthcare performance and promotes changes in the U.S. system, have been heavily used by policymakers and politicians pressing for healthcare reform.

Davis said she hoped health reform legislation passed in March would lead to improvements.

The current report uses data from nationally representative patient and physician surveys in seven countries in 2007, 2008, and 2009. It is available here

In 2007, health spending was $7,290 per person in the United States, more than double that of any other country in the survey.

Australians spent $3,357, Canadians $3,895, Germans $3,588, the Netherlands $3,837 and Britons spent $2,992 per […]

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