The average temperature for the months leading up to November 17 was up to 13.5 degrees (56 degrees F), as compared to 12 degrees last year, which was already the hottest autumn on record.

The average over the last three centuries for this period of the year has been 9.9 degrees.

At least three factors are responsible for the increased temperatures, the Institute said: global warming, winds from the south that have blown over the Netherlands more than in most years, and a slower cooling down after an exceptionally hot summer, especially in July.

The six-page report, released late last week by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, indicates that the combination of the wind, the slope of the terrain and the type of ground cover created an explosive fire situation.

Temperatures at the fire's leading edge reached 1,220 degrees and a column of gas and smoke from the blaze rose to 18,000 feet in the air, the report said.

The fire swept through the mountains about 90 miles east of Los Angeles. It destroyed 34 homes and charred more than 60 square miles before being contained.

Firefighters Jason McKay, 27; Jess McLean, 27; Daniel Hoover-Najera, 20; Mark Loutzenhiser, 43; and Pablo Cerda, 23, were overrun by flames on Oct. 26 while protecting a home in Twin Pines.

Authorities have charged a 36-year-old auto mechanic, Raymond Lee Oyler, with arson and murder in the case. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

CDF spokesman Daniel Berlant said the report will be used as a teaching tool for future firefighters. He declined to comment further, citing an ongoing internal investigation and the criminal case against Oyler.

The report details the firefighters' actions in the hour leading up to their deaths, including that they were overrun by flames less than an hour after discussing strategies, conditions and safety measures with a superior.

The fire front, fueled by the wind gusts of 50 mph, traveled at almost the exact angle of the slopes below the firefighters, adding to the blaze's spread and intensity.

"It creates erratic, very quick-moving fire behavior," said Rose Davis, spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. "You have all of the things needed to accelerate the fire - wind, slope and fuel."

More than two-thirds - 68 per cent - said they would either strongly or somewhat support restrictions on their behaviour and purchases in order to reduce the threat.

Climate change has been rising up the political agenda in Europe. The recent British government report by Sir Nicholas Stern, former chief economist of the World Bank, argued that the economic costs of global warming could be far greater than the costs of acting to limit it.

The poll also found Europeans were more willing to accept curbs on their lifestyles in principle than to endorse specific additional burdens.

Less than half - 43 per cent - either strongly or somewhat supported a charge on airline passengers to pay for environmental damage, while 36 per cent opposed it, either strongly or somewhat. Support was weakest in Italy and Spain, possibly because of fears about the effect on their tourist industries.

Only a minority were prepared to make significant financial sacrifices to eliminate the threat of global warming. A quarter said they would pay one week's wages or more - roughly the 2 per cent of national income figure that Sir Nicholas Stern suggested rich countries might need to pay - but a third said they would not pay anything at all.

However, concerns about climate change and energy security have not translated into majority support for investment in new nuclear power stations.

Only 12 per cent of Europeans polled were strongly in favour of investment in new nuclear capacity, while a further 18 per cent were somewhat in favour - a total of 30 per cent. Almost as many - 29 per cent - strongly opposed new nuclear construction, with a further 17 per cent somewhat opposed.

There is also a remarkably deep gender divide, with a balance of men in favour of new nuclear building in France, Italy and the UK, but a majority of women opposed everywhere except the UK, where there is a large number neither for nor against.

Public opinion need not stand in the way of nuclear development. France is pressing ahead with a new reactor, which will go into construction next year, even though the poll shows just 29 per cent of the population supports it. But in Spain and Germany, where some in the industry hope government policy can be turned away from its official anti-nuclear stance, the high level of public opposition will provide a significant obstacle to a U-turn: 53 per cent of Germans and 62 per cent of Spaniards are against new nuclear building.

The answer, Europeans think, is renewables: 85 per cent believe their governments should spend more on renewable energy, while only a handful believe they should spend less. In France and Spain, more than 90 per cent backed more investment in renewables. The potential problem is the cost of that renewable energy.

Ahead of a summit of the leaders of the European Union and Russia at the end of this week, the poll also found widespread mistrust of Russia as an energy supplier. Only 21 per cent of Europeans believed Russia would be a reliable source of oil and gas in the future, while 35 thought it would not be.

The inscriptions on each urn contain 111 ancient Chinese characters, which detail the story, narrated in the first person by Zhou Sheng, who was taken to court by disgruntled civilians, according to Wu Zhenfeng, archaeologist of Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology.

A legal investigator named Shao Bohu was sent to Zhou's manor but Zhou managed to bribe Shao's mother with a bronze pot and Shao's father with a large jade instrument. Zhou received no punishment and in return for Shao's "kindness", Zhou presented him with a jade Gui, an elongated pointed tablet which was held by ancient rulers on ceremonial occasions.

"It is rare to find 'bribery stories' in Chinese ancient inscriptions. Usually only heroic stories, wars, evidence of a king's largess, covenants and policies are seen on relics," said Zhang Enxian, curator of Zhouyuan Museum in Baoji City, northwest China's Shaanxi.

The urns were among the 27 relics discovered by six peasants on Nov. 9 in their fields in Fufeng town in Baoji City, 110 kilometers west of Xi'an, according to Zhang Enxian, curator of Zhouyuan museum in Baoji city in Shaanxi province.

"As the story was interpreted by archaeologists, it doesn't mean it is necessarily correct," said Zhang.

"Some verbs have been abraded over time, which has made it hard for people to verify if Zhou was really guilty," he added.

Professor Ding Li, with the Law Department of Sun Yat-sen University, does not subscribe to the view that Zhou's actions constituted bribery in its modern-day form.

"According to China's current criminal law, Shao would have been convicted of judicial corruption. But Zhou Sheng and Shao Bohu were probably innocent at that time as laws for nobles during the Zhou Dynasty were much more lenient," Professor Ding said.

The study showed that every owner of a high-risk breed known for aggression had at least one run-in with the police, from traffic citations to serious criminal convictions.

"Owners of vicious dogs who have been cited for failing to register a dog (or) failing to keep a dog confined on the premises ... are more than nine times more likely to have been convicted for a crime involving children, three times more likely to have been convicted of domestic violence ... and nearly eight times more likely to be charged with drug (crimes) than owners of low-risk licensed dogs," said Jaclyn Barnes of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

Aggressive breeds identified by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and some insurance companies include pit bulls, rottweilers, akitas and chows. The definition excludes dogs used in law enforcement or dogs protecting an owner or property.

"A 'vicious dog" means a dog that, without provocation, has killed or caused serious injury to any person, has killed another dog, or belongs to a breed that is commonly known as a pit bull dog," they wrote in their report.

"One can argue that choosing to own a vicious dog is a marker of social deviance because a vicious dog is, by definition, a socially deviant animal," said Barbara Boat, director of The Childhood Trust at the University of Cincinnati, who worked on the study.

Of the people studied who owned an aggressive breed of dog and who also had been cited at least once for failure to register it, 30 percent had at least five criminal convictions or traffic citations. Barnes and colleagues used public records to check on the criminal pasts of dog owners.

This compared to 1 percent of owners of low-risk, licensed dogs such as poodles, beagles or collies, the researchers reported in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence.

The researchers said their findings could be useful for social and law enforcement workers.

"We suggest, regardless of dog breed, that failure to license a dog is a potential warning sign of other deviant behavior," they wrote.

The Dominican sisters, Ardeth Platte, 70, Carol Gilbert, 59, and Jackie Hudson, 72, had come to town in yet another attempt to fulfill the gnarliest part of the sentences imposed on them by U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn when they were convicted of damaging government property and obstructing the national defense in 2003.

They are trying to pay off $3,082 in restitution to the U.S. Air Force - in canned goods.

They are collecting food for military families on public assistance.

Now, all this is about as funny as a cluster bomb, but the sisters have kept their spirits high through trials, prison terms and travel bans, and they're not about to lose their sense of humor now.

When they arrived at Brown's office, they delivered cans of food, and, as with every aspect of their lives, their choices were rich with symbolism.

Hudson brought pork and beans to represent the pork-barrel nature of the military-industrial complex, and a can of corn "because this case has been so corny from the beginning."

Platte delivered canned clams - saying the American people have "clammed up long enough. It's time to speak truth to power" - and a tin of beef stew. "With the massive numbers of people who have been killed in this war, I don't want to stew over this any longer."

Gilbert selected sweet peas - "To give peas a chance" - and cream of mushroom soup, representing the radiation cloud from a nuclear bomb, a weapon that has been used by only one country in the world, she said - the U.S.

The sisters put the word out about the food drive via the Internet, enlisting help from around the world. The way they calculate it, they would need about 4,000 cans of food to fulfill the required restitution.

Boxes of food began arriving Wednesday morning, and the prosecutors were none too happy when the office decorum was insulted with cans of beans for indigent soldiers' families. "Take it four blocks down to the Catholic mission," said an exasperated Brown, who insisted the only way the restitution will be accepted is in cash.

"We're not rich. You know that," said Gilbert.

Moments later a written statement was delivered to the nuns on the sidewalk. "The U.S. Attorney's Office cannot accept food in lieu of restitution in this case," it said. The food drive is "a tremendously thoughtful act," but the nuns were directed to send assistance to a military facility or charitable agency.

Not ones to be discouraged - especially when they've got government officials looking like heartless cheapskates - the nuns held their ground, rallying antiwar groups to coordinate food collection and delivery to military bases.

They remain hopeful that Blackburn can be persuaded to accept the canned-food payment plan even though last month he rejected their first attempt at making restitution. That one offered hundreds of hours of community service as well as $600,000 raised in their names for literacy programs, soup kitchens and victims of disasters.

"This is a grace-filled holy action," said Gilbert. "Our conscience doesn't allow us to participate in war by providing any money for bombs or violence."

Brown told the nuns to take it up with the judge. Then he leaned back, took a long look at the gray-haired women in their long underwear, wool scarves, heavy socks and thick gloves, and smiled. "I have more fun with you guys," he said.

As he turned to walk toward his office, Gilbert called to him one last time. "We'll keep you in our prayers," she said.

It was not a joke. Diane Carman's column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.

Copyright 2006 The Denver Post

In the wake of the warning, one seafood market said it would tell vendors not to replenish stocks of the fish, while city restaurants said they would continue to serve turbot to customers unless there was an official ban.

Shanghai Food and Drug Administration officials said tests on 30 turbot samples taken from wholesale markets, supermarkets and restaurants showed low levels of AOZ, a carcinogenic antibiotic, in all of them.

Some samples contained other antibiotic residue, the officials said, adding that some fish farms use antibiotics to boost the low immune systems of turbot.

"All the antibiotics are forbidden fishery medicines," said Gu Zhenhua, director of the Shanghai Food and Drug Supervision Agency. "Though they won't cause immediate harm to people's health, there is a hidden danger if people eat small amounts of antibiotics over long periods."

The highest amount of AOZ residue found in a sample was one milligram per kilogram.

Administration officials said the levels were not high enough to cause cancer, and were only about 0.3 percent of the recommended dosage when AOZ is used to treat diarrhea.

National standards stipulate no antibiotics should be found.

About 40,000 tons of turbot is farmed in China every year.

Gu said the administration would decide in a few days how to punish farms that sell turbot with traces of antibiotics.

After hearing the news, Huxi Aquatic Products Wholesale Market told vendors to stop restocking turbot until the administration issued further instructions.

"We believe the measure will help our vendors reduce their losses," said Zhao Yuan, a manager of the market. "If some vendors insist on selling turbot, we will ask them to provide qualified test reports."

In the nearby Tongchuan Road Aquatic Products Wholesale Market, the city's largest seafood market, turbot was still for sale.

"So far we haven't received any notice from the administration to ban turbot," said Yang Jihua, manager of the marketing department of the market.

One fish vendor surnamed Zhang at Huxi market said the different reactions of market managers were confusing.

"But I don't dare to buy a lot of turbot now in case the demand decreases after the news is released," Zhang said.

Turbot was still available at city hotels and restaurants.

"The fish is still on our menu," said an unidentified member of staff at the Jinjiang Hotel. "But we will discuss with our chief chef whether to continue to serve the dish."

The Equatorial Hotel and Mei Lin Ge Restaurant both said they would serve the fish unless there was an official ban.

Turbot is a popular dish in China, partly because its Chinese name translates as "many treasures."

Most stocks come from Shandong Province.

A project implemented by the European Union is currently seeing seven cities and regions clear-cutting their forest of traffic signs. Ejby, in Denmark, is participating in the experiment, as are Ipswich in England and the Belgian town of Ostende.

The utopia has already become a reality in Makkinga, in the Dutch province of Western Frisia. A sign by the entrance to the small town (population 1,000) reads "Verkeersbordvrij" -- "free of traffic signs." Cars bumble unhurriedly over precision-trimmed granite cobblestones. Stop signs and direction signs are nowhere to be seen. There are neither parking meters nor stopping restrictions. There aren't even any lines painted on the streets.

"The many rules strip us of the most important thing: the ability to be considerate. We're losing our capacity for socially responsible behavior," says Dutch traffic guru Hans Monderman, one of the project's co-founders. "The greater the number of prescriptions, the more people's sense of personal responsibility dwindles."

Monderman could be on to something. Germany has 648 valid traffic symbols. The inner cities are crowded with a colorful thicket of metal signs. Don't park over here, watch out for passing deer over there, make sure you don't skid. The forest of signs is growing ever denser. Some 20 million traffic signs have already been set up all over the country.

Psychologists have long revealed the senselessness of such exaggerated regulation. About 70 percent of traffic signs are ignored by drivers. What's more, the glut of prohibitions is tantamount to treating the driver like a child and it also foments resentment. He may stop in front of the crosswalk, but that only makes him feel justified in preventing pedestrians from crossing the street on every other occasion. Every traffic light baits him with the promise of making it over the crossing while the light is still yellow.

"Unsafe is safe"

The result is that drivers find themselves enclosed by a corset of prescriptions, so that they develop a kind of tunnel vision: They're constantly in search of their own advantage, and their good manners go out the window.

The new traffic model's advocates believe the only way out of this vicious circle is to give drivers more liberty and encourage them to take responsibility for themselves. They demand streets like those during the Middle Ages, when horse-drawn chariots, handcarts and people scurried about in a completely unregulated fashion. The new model's proponents envision today's drivers and pedestrians blending into a colorful and peaceful traffic stream.

It may sound like chaos, but it's only the lesson drawn from one of the insights of traffic psychology: Drivers will force the accelerator down ruthlessly only in situations where everything has been fully regulated. Where the situation is unclear, they're forced to drive more carefully and cautiously.

Indeed, "Unsafe is safe" was the motto of a conference where proponents of the new roadside philosophy met in Frankfurt in mid-October.

True, many of them aren't convinced of the new approach. "German drivers are used to rules," says Michael Schreckenberg of Duisburg University. If clear directives are abandoned, domestic rush-hour traffic will turn into an Oriental-style bazaar, he warns. He believes the new vision of drivers and pedestrians interacting in a cozy, relaxed way will work, at best, only for small towns.

But one German borough is already daring to take the step into lawlessness. The town of Bohmte in Lower Saxony has 13,500 inhabitants. It's traversed by a country road and a main road. Cars approach speedily, delivery trucks stop to unload their cargo and pedestrians scurry by on elevated sidewalks.

The road will be re-furbished in early 2007, using EU funds. "The sidewalks are going to go, and the asphalt too. Everything will be covered in cobblestones," Klaus Goedejohann, the mayor, explains. "We're getting rid of the division between cars and pedestrians."

The plans derive inspiration and motivation from a large-scale experiment in the town of Drachten in the Netherlands, which has 45,000 inhabitants. There, cars have already been driving over red natural stone for years. Cyclists dutifully raise their arm when they want to make a turn, and drivers communicate by hand signs, nods and waving.

"More than half of our signs have already been scrapped," says traffic planner Koop Kerkstra. "Only two out of our original 18 traffic light crossings are left, and we've converted them to roundabouts." Now traffic is regulated by only two rules in Drachten: "Yield to the right" and "Get in someone's way and you'll be towed."

Strange as it may seem, the number of accidents has declined dramatically. Experts from Argentina and the United States have visited Drachten. Even London has expressed an interest in this new example of automobile anarchy. And the model is being tested in the British capital's Kensington neighborhood.