Veteran UK ex-minister Gerald Kaufman warns of substantial resistance
at Westminster if Mr Blair follows the most intellectually backward American president of my lifetime
into the looming conflict
A federal law that the recording industry is using to unmask a suspected KaZaA music-trader is unconstitutional, according to a coalition of non-profit groups
Rape crisis centres and women’s refuges have joined merchants in expressing concern regarding recent moves to limit calls made to 1800 numbers to 60 seconds
Airbags could one day save the planet. At least, that is the view of one mathematician, who is suggesting that they could be used to nudge asteroids or comets that are on a collision course with the Earth gently out of harm’s way
Young children who share their home with two dogs or cats in the first year of life are half as likely to become allergic to those animals than kids who grew up with only one dog or cat, or no pets
A humble t-shirt dye may be used to revolutionise high-speed telecoms networks. Four researchers at Virginia Institute of Technology are using the washable, light-fast dye, Procion Red, to make polymer films that manage laser light
Hopes that world leaders would agree to boost renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, were dealt a devastating blow when European Union negotiators abandoned attempts to press for it
Conservative Iranian newspaper, Afarinesh, recently reported that two government agencies, which were not identified, had proposed legalising brothels, under the name of chastity houses
, as a way of bringing prostitution under control
Hackers have attacked the Recording Industry Association of America’s web site for the second time in a month, dramatically altering several pages of content in a humorous protest against the industry group’s position on file sharing
A Melbourne company, MediaWeb, is offering 5GB a month broadband access for less than AU$50, while pundits from across the IT industry in Australia have defended the more legitimate uses of the broadband in the wake of porn comments made by the deranged Senator Richard Alston. And as Yahoo in the US gears up for the introduction of a high-speed Internet service with telco giant SBC Communications, the portal’s Australian arm is keeping its eyes open for similar revenue diversification opportunities
Scottish Hydro-Electric have started a trial of broadband internet access via power lines. Just plug the modem into any power point in your house, with no need for additional lines into the house, and reasonably priced too
Tiny little hairs and not any kind of chemical glue help a gecko race up and down vertical surfaces as smooth as glass
Britain’s Chief Rabbi, Dr Jonathan Sacks, has caused outrage in Israel and angered sections of the British Jewish community by making veiled criticism of the Sharon government’s policies towards the Palestinians
A charred guitar, once owned by Jimi Hendrix and now owned by Dweezil Zappa could become the most expensive guitar ever sold when it goes under the hammer in London next month
The Canadian government is considering a proposal that would force ISPs to rewire their networks for easy surveillance by police and spy agencies. A discussion draft released Sunday also contemplates creating a national database of every Canadian with an Internet account, a plan that could sharply curtail the right to be anonymous online
Time’s 26 August cover feature on The Green Century
promises to explain How to Save the Earth
. The answer, according to a prominent article inside: blame environmentalists for a lack of environmental progress
Australia’s chances of securing a multibillion-dollar microprocessor manufacturing plant have strengthened, with Intel chief Craig Barrett preparing to meet the Federal Government. This has since been rejected due to Australia being too economically mature
Defence lawyers and the American Civil Liberties Union are up in arms over a police file of potential criminals in Delaware. The database contains a list of people who police believe are likely to break the law. It features names, addresses and photographs of potential suspects — many of whom have clean slates. Since the system was introduced in Wilmington in June, most of the 200 people included in the file have been minorities from poor, high-crime neighbourhoods
A coalition of green groups distributed dubious honours in their version of an Oscars ceremony to companies they say are guilty of greenwash
— using an environmental veneer to disguise continued poor practice
Environmentalists denounced a proposal to bridge a North-South rift on the eve of the Earth Summit in Johannesburg on the weekend as a sell-out to rich nations seeking freer trade and corporate globalisation. While South African police guarding the Earth Summit on the weekend accused demonstrators of involving children in a banned street protest that stole attention from talks on the future of the planet
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