E-10 Animals now attacking other animals and people too

Pelican swallows pigeon in park Families and tourists in a London park were left shocked when a pelican picked up and swallowed a pigeon...... The unusual wildlife spectacle in St James's Park was caught on camera by photographer Cathal McNaughton....... He said the Eastern White pelican had the unfortunate pigeon in its beak for more than 20 minutes before swallowing it whole.


Whale attacks trainer at SeaWorld SAN DIEGO - Shamu the killer whale injured a trainer during a show at SeaWorld Adventure Park by grabbing his foot and pulling him underwater twice, authorities said...... The 39-year-old man was hospitalized in good condition after Wednesday's show, said Mike Scarpuzzi, a park official. Scarpuzzi, who oversees zoological operations, said he did not know the extent of the trainer's injuries.


California sea lions attack humans SAN FRANCISCO - Tourists flock to Fisherman's Wharf for the seafood and the stunning views of San Francisco Bay, but for many visitors, the real stars are the dozens of playful, whiskered sea lions that lounge by the water's edge, gulping down fish..... Now a series of sea-lion attacks on people in recent months has led experts to warn that the animals are not as cute and cuddly as they appear.

"People should understand these animals are out there not to attack people or humans. But they're out there to survive for themselves," said Jim Oswald, a spokesman for the Marine Mammal Center across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.

In the most frightening of the recent episodes, a rogue sea lion bit 14 swimmers this month and chased 10 more out of the water at San Francisco's Aquatic Park, a sheltered lagoon near the bay. At least one victim suffered puncture wounds.

E-9 10 is the new 15 as kids grow up faster

10 is the new 15 as kids grow up faster Zach Plante is close with his parents — he plays baseball with them and, on weekends, helps with work in the small vineyard they keep at their northern California home. Lately, though, his parents have begun to notice subtle changes in their son. Among other things, he's announced that he wants to grow his hair longer — and sometimes greets his father with "Yo, Dad!"

In some ways, it's simply part of a kid's natural journey toward independence. But child development experts say that physical and behavioral changes that would have been typical of teenagers decades ago are now common among "tweens" — kids ages 8 to 12.

Some of them are going on "dates" and talking on their own cell phones. They listen to sexually charged pop music, play mature-rated video games and spend time gossiping on MySpace. And more girls are wearing makeup and clothing that some consider beyond their years.

Zach is starting to notice it in his friends, too, especially the way they treat their parents.

"A lot of kids can sometimes be annoyed by their parents," he says. "If I'm playing with them at one of their houses, then they kind of ignore their parents. If their parents do them a favor, they might just say, 'OK,' but not notice that much."

E-8 China - Pollution turns Yellow River red

Pollution turns Yellow River red A stretch of China's Yellow River turned red for the second time in a month because of pollution, media says..... Waste water from a heating station near the city of Lanzhou contaminated 1km of the river, the country's second longest, according to Xinhua..

Some 21,000 chemical factories are believed to be located along China's rivers and coastline - more than half on the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, which are relied upon by millions of people..... At the beginning of the year, the country's environment chief warned that more than 100 of those chemical plants posed safety threats.

E-7 Canada named top "fossil" at Kenya climate talks

Canada named top "fossil" at Kenya climate talks NAIROBI (Reuters) - Most countries would be happy to win an award at a major international climate change conference. But they don't want one of these.

As delegates boo-ed loudly, activist Maia Green said Canada had won joint first and second place on Thursday for, among others things, "misleading" the world, "repudiating" the Kyoto Protocol and "flagrantly ... washing its political laundry on the international stage."

Canada has been slammed at the Kenya talks, which are trying to agree a successor to Kyoto, mostly for saying it would be "very, very difficult" for it to meet its promised cuts in the emission of greenhouse gases..... Other "fossil" winners have included Australia, Saudi Arabia, the E.U. and United States.

U.S. President George W. Bush, whose country has rejected Kyoto, was being honored as "Fossil of the Century."

UPDATES: '06 Nov 18
U.N. nations reach deal to cut emissions NAIROBI, Kenya - More than 180 nations at the U.N. climate conference agreed Friday on the next steps toward negotiating deeper future cuts in global-warming gases, after conceding to China that developing nations won't be pressed immediately to reduce emissions.

The 1997 Kyoto pact obliges 35 industrial nations to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. The United States rejects that accord, with President Bush contending it would damage the U.S. economy and should have given poorer countries obligations as well...... But developing countries will likely resist considering emissions reductions until they see acceptance of mandatory caps by the United States — a prospect some see as possible after Bush leaves office in 2009. Some Third World delegations had favored delaying the Kyoto review until as late as 2011.

In a separate set of less-formal talks, to be completed next year, the Kyoto member countries explored ways to bring the United States into a global emissions-reduction regime.

E-6 Ice-melt isolates remote communities in Canada

Ice-melt isolates remote communities in Canada TORONTO (Reuters) - Aboriginal communities in Ontario's far north are becoming increasingly isolated as rising temperatures melt their winter route to the outside world and impede their access to supplies..... "The ice doesn't have its solid blue color any more," said Stan Beardy, the grand chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which represents Ontario's remote First Nations. "It's more like Styrofoam now, really brittle."

E-5 Harvesting body parts....from living people

Poor Pakistanis donate kidneys for money

JANDALA, Pakistan - Nassem Kausar has done it. So, she says, have her sister, six brothers, five sisters-in-law and two nephews. Each has sold a kidney to a trade that has led Pakistan's media to dub the country a "kidney bazaar." ..... "We do this because of our poverty," said Kausar, who is in her 30s and lives with her family in Sultanpur Mor, a village in eastern Pakistan.

A kidney nets the donor $2,500, sometimes less than half that amount, while recipients — some 2,000 a year — pay $6,000 to $12,000, compared with $70,000 in neighboring China.

The Sindh Institute's Ali said donors need constant check-ups to keep their blood pressure and sugar under control and protect the remaining kidney. In Jandala, another eastern village, kidney donors said they received no follow-up care..... "I pant. I cannot run. I cannot pick up heavy things," said Allah Yar, a 50-year-old farmer who has suffered poor health for seven years since selling a kidney. The father of six said he needed to pay off a $3,000 loan to his landlord, but got only about $1,200 for his kidney, meaning he remains deep in debt.

Sitting nearby, Mohammed Akram, a 22-year-old brick kiln worker, said he sold his kidney to pay off his father's debt....."I cannot work like I did before. I cannot walk. I cannot run," said Akram. "I did this for my father but destroyed myself."

******************************* says a me comment ***********************

It's interesting how I just get into cloning and a couple of days later, it's on a related topic.. harvesting body aprts... The last sentence says it all...

Saysame me, JR

E-4 Cloning.. it's been going on for over half a century..

Australian vote on embryonic cloning sparks controversy

Australian senate approves stem cell cloning

Animal Cloning

How Cloning Works

Cloning Fact Sheet

Genomics, Bioinformatics & MedicineHuman Cloning and Genetic Modification-

Was Mark Spitz a clone... Lots of unanswered questions surround his swimmining abilities....
Mark Spitz
MARK SPITZ
Mark Spitz Celebrated Olympic Swimmer

UPDATES:
'06 Dec 06 Australia lifts ban on cloning human embryos for stem cell research
'06 Dec 06 UK scientists want human stem cell trials

E-3 Australian Drought

Australia calls drought summit as economy threatenedSYDNEY (AFP) - Australian Prime Minister John Howard has called an emergency drought summit as climate change and rising interest rates threaten a 10-year economic boom -- and his grip on power. ADVERTISEMENT

Shaping up as the worst drought since white settlement more than 200 years ago, the "big dry" is likely to cut agricultural output by 20 percent and
GDP by around 0.7 percent, government officials say.

"Frightening" study predicts hotter, drier Australia

E-2 U.S. defends itself on global warming... denies "IT" is part of the problem

U.S. defends itself on global warming NAIROBI, Kenya - The United States is doing better lately than some countries in restraining growth of global warming gases, and it isn't likely to change its stand against mandatory controls, a U.S. negotiator said Monday as 5,000 delegates opened the annual U.N. climate conference

The chief American delegate was defending the U.S. position as an industrial country that rejects Kyoto's obligatory reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases that scientists blame for global warming..... Others here, meanwhile, sounded a more urgent note about growing perils from climate change.

NASA reported last month "dramatic" melting of Greenland's ice mass, at a rate of 41 cubic miles per year, far surpassing the gain of 14 cubic miles per year from snowfall.

E-1 Germany - Sudden Cold freeze and power outage...

Cold snap plunges swathes of Europe into blackness PARIS (AFP) - A sudden weekend surge in Germany's demand for electricity due to freezing weather plunged much of Europe into blackness as France and other power exporting countries found their grids overtapped.

The power outage nearly caused an unprecedented Europe-wide blackout and left 10 million people -- half of them in France -- in the dark and cold, energy supply companies said Sunday.