Today's Headlines
US News
Dozens Killed In Nightclub Fire in Rhode Island
A fire engulfed a nightclub called The Station in West Warwick, Rhode Island, late Thursday evening resulted in more than forty deaths and two hundred injuries. The fire broke out at about 11 PM at The Station at the beginning of a concert by the band Great White, whose guitarist is among the missing. Fire officials questioned the safety of the pyrotechnics used in the show as the potential cause of the fire.
Girl Has Second Transplant After Mistake
Jessica Santillan, 17, was in critical condition at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, after her second four hour long heart-lung transplant. The first transplant, which occurred on February 7, 2003, was botched due to mismatched blood types between Jessica and the donated organs. The new organs were repeatedly screened to ensure blood type compatibility.
Democrats Announce New Strategies For 2004 Presidential Campaign
After devastating losses in the November 2002 elections, the Democratic Party initiated a new project, called Project 5104, which is designed to ellicit small donations and grassroots support by using a database of demographic information on 158 million potential voters. This signifies a change in direction from the party's heavy reliance on so-called soft money donations in recent years.
International News
Islamic Jihad Claims Only One of Indicted Men
Khaled Batsh, a senior member of the Islamic Jihad, charged late yesterday that only one of the eight people indicted in the United States on charges of terrorism is an active member of his organization; the United States claims that all of the individuals are members. Batsh claims that the Bush administration is looking for scapegoats in the "war on terror" because it hasn't been able to track down Osama bin Laden.
North Korea Declines Discussion of Nuclear Decisions at NAM
At the Non-Aligned Movement nuclear disarmament committee meeting this morning, North Korea told other members of the group that it did not want to discuss its nuclear policies, but North Korea asked for support of developing nations in condemning the United States. Instead, North Korea insists on bilateral talks with the United States and seeks a non-agression treaty with Washington.
Turkey Seeks Aid-For-Troops Deal With United States
Turkey held out hope late Thursday for an "aid-for-bases" deal with the United States. Under the deal, Turkey would allow use of their military bases for a potential United States attack on Iraq in exchange for a significant financial aid package. The proposed package has an estimated value of $26 billion. Turkish economic markets have risen rapidly in the last week in anticipation of the sealing of such a deal.
Business
FCC Chairman's Failure May Derail His Agenda
FCC chairman Michael Powell's defeat yesterday on his sweeping plan to deregulate the regional telephone networks. Powell was defeated in a committee addressing the issue, which was populated by a Republican majority, of which Powell was a member. This event could cause potential problems later for the FCC chair as he seeks to ease rules on broadband communications and caps on large media corporations.
Northwest Airlines Adds Fuel Surcharge to Discounted Flights
Northwest Airlines this morning added a $20 fuel surcharge to all discounted flights. This comes after a tumultuous week in the airline industry, where Northwest did not go along with an industry-wide increase in fares, causing the initiative to fail. This move was in response to increasing oil prices.
G7 to Meet in Paris This Weekend
Finance chiefs from the Group of Seven industrialized nations, plus Russia, will meet in Paris on Friday and Saturday to discuss potential economic fallout from a war between the United States and Iraq. Also being discussed are budget policies of the member countries and how to incorporate emerging economies such as China into the group.
Science & Technology
ELC Releases Embedded Linux Standard
The Embedded Linux Consortium (ELC) has released the ELC Platform Specification version 1.0 this week. The specification is available to the public as of this morning at http://www.embedded-linux.org.
US Deciding How To Relieve Space Station Crew
NASA reports that they have nearly finished their deliberations on how to relieve the crew stranded on the International Space Station while the space shuttle fleet is still grounded. The top plan is to send a Russian Soyuz rocket to the station, replacing the crew with a fresh crew and fresh supplies. The shuttle fleet was expected to provide most of the ferrying between the space station and the planet surface.
IBM Upgrades Low End Web Servers
IBM has announced that they are upgrading their line of pSeries 630 web servers by adding the Power4+ processor to the configuration. IBM claims that with this chip addition, the p630 web server is the most powerful entry level web server on the market and again reflects IBM's focus and dominance in terms of the low end Unix server market.
Health
Coffee Consumption Can Increase Stillbirth Risk
Researchers at at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark report that consumption of coffee during pregnancy can greatly increase the chances of stillbirth. The researchers found that pregnant women who drank four to seven cups of coffee a day had an 80% increased risk in stillbirth, and those that consumed more than eight cups of coffee a day had a 300% increased risk over mothers who did not consume coffee during pregnancy.
New Device Detects Breast Cancer Early
Experts at University College London have discovered a way of identifying tumours when they are just 4mm wide. This technology is based on a newly-discovered scattering effect that cancerous cells have on X-rays. Using this concept, the scientists developed a device called Diffraction Enhanced Breast Imaging to analyze this effect and detect small tumors early.
Sports
Sonics Deal Gary Payton To Bucks
Yesterday, the Seattle Supersonics traded star point guard Gary Payton and third year guard Desmond Mason to the Milwaukee Bucks for three time All Star Ray Allen and reserve guards Kevin Ollie and Ronald Murray as well as a conditional draft pick. This trade reunites Payton with his long-time coach in Seattle, George Karl, who has coached the Milwaukee Bucks in recent years.
Tyson Fight Back On Again
Amid a week of the usual chaos that surrounds a Mike Tyson boxing match these days, the previously cancelled Saturday night match between Mike Tyson and Clifford Etienne in Memphis, Tennessee is now back on. Tyson, who in recent days has added a large tattoo to the left side of his face, claimed to be ill earlier this week and called off the fight, but after some last minute negotiations and a "miraculous" recovery, the match is now going on as planned.
Entertainment
Michael Jackson Documentary Saga Continues
Sky One is the latest channel to cash in on the Michael Jackson/Martin Bashir documentary controversy, agreeing to air Michael Jackson's revision of the original documentary on February 24, 2003. This revised documentary, including footage shot by Jackson's own entourage, shows that Martin Bashir made false statements while creating the original documentary on Michael Jackson.
Grammys Set To Feature Simon and Garfunkel
This year's Grammy ceremony, set to air live from New York City this Sunday, is expected to feature a segment honoring legendary folk duo Simon and Garfunkel, who split in 1970 and have only reunited occasionally since. The duo is from New York City, and given the recent tragedies, a poignant tribute is expected.
And Now, Some Typical Daylog Fare
As some of you know, I intentionally keep parts of myself hidden from those at e2, even going so far as to keep my gender a secret. Last night, a user of e2 started asking me a great number of personal questions about myself, such as my gender, my job, and so forth. I basically stopped answering the questions.
At around the same time, I became aware of the "controversy" around ephealy's "death" and "resurrection." If you don't know the situation, take a gander at ephealy's homenode.
I was part of a discussion on this situation with some other users, and our esteemed dem bones hit the nail on the head, I think: There's no need for personal lives to cross the line into E2. Right on, bones.
I came here because I enjoy writing and reading what others have written. I've stuck around because there are a lot of interesting writers here who have written some interesting things. I've never met another noder from here. I've not talked offline to another noder from here. I don't have any deep aversion to meeting anyone, but I don't have any compulsion to meet anyone, either.
A lot of you will probably be nodding your heads in agreement right now. Others will be wondering why this is. Perhaps a few of you are planning on hunting me down and skinning me alive. Hopefully a very few of you on that last one.
I'm here because it's fun to write. There are interesting people to talk to, like BlueDragon and corwin and atesh and borgo and dannye and Ouroboros and countless others. I get to write my own stuff and contribute it to an interlinked network of writing, discover that others like it (sometimes), and show my appreciation for other's good writing.
But that's where it ends. E2 is not a substitute for life. It is a fun diversion for evening hours or long rainy afternoons. And it stays there.
I love e2. I've donated some money to the site and I would hate to see it ever disappear. I've talked to several people I quite like here and would be just fine with meeting some day.
But when it crosses the line into something outside of E2 without anyone else's consent and mutual interest, then something is wrong.