Society's Child

Cairo's biggest protest yet demands Mubarak's immediate departure

Jack Shenker
Guardian
Sat, 05 Feb 2011 09:10 UTC

© Reuters TV/Reuters
Tahrir delegates' demands preclude any governing role for the existing elite, including vice-president Omar Suleiman.

Egyptian president clings to power as hundreds of thousands stage 'day of departure' demonstration in Tahrir Square

The immediate removal of President Mubarak from office will not be enough to stop the huge anti-government rallies that have engulfed Egypt in recent days, according to a list of demands drawn up by a key coalition of protesters which has been seen by the Guardian.

Following 11 days of widespread demonstrations against Mubarak's rule that have brought hundreds of thousands on to the streets and provoked violent clashes with militant defenders of the government, those rallying against the current regime have come together in a remarkable surge of grassroots decision-making to forge a common consensus on their aims.

These include the resignation of not just Mubarak but also the entire ruling party establishment - including Omar Suleiman, the vice-president whom the Obama administration believes is best placed to take the helm during the post-Mubarak transition period. Protesters are calling instead for a broad-based transitional government appointed by a 14-strong committee which would be made up of senior judges, youth leaders and members of the military.

Census: A third of New Orleans population lost in past decade

Rick Jervis
USA TODAY
Sat, 05 Feb 2011 06:34 UTC

© Sean Gardner by USA TODAY
Abandoned lots and flood-wrecked homes remain one of the city's top hurdles to full recovery from the devastating floods of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Rocked by natural disasters and a steady exodus of residents, this flood-damaged city lost nearly a third of its population in the past decade, according to Census data released Thursday.

Census workers counted 343,829 residents in New Orleans last year, down from 485,000 in 2000, or a 29% drop, according to the data. The count was slightly lower than previous estimates of 355,000.

The city has struggled to repopulate since Hurricane Katrina and a breach of federal levees flooded 80% of the city in 2005, scattering much of its citizenry. Just before the storm, there were about 455,000 people living in New Orleans, according to Census figures.

'Dating' Site Imports 250,000 Facebook Profiles, Without Permission

Wired
Fri, 04 Feb 2011 22:26 UTC

How does a unknown dating site, with the absurd intention of destroying Facebook, launch with 250,000 member profiles on the first day?

Simple.

You scrape data from Facebook.

At least, that's the approach taken by two provocateurs who launched Lovely-Faces.com this week, with profiles - names, locations and photos - scraped from publicly accessible Facebook pages. The site categorizes these unwitting volunteers into personality types, using a facial recognition algorithm, so you can search for someone in your general area who is "easy going," "smug" or "sly."

Or you can just search on people's real names.

The duo behind the site say it's art, not commerce.

In what seems to be liberal-arts-grad-schoolese, Paolo Cirio, a media artist, and Alessandro Ludovico, media critic and editor in chief of Neural magazine, explain why they made the site.

Bangladesh: Girl, 14, Lashed to Death after Rape by 40-year-old Cousin

The Daily Star
Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:00 UTC

HC gives Shariatpur admin 15 days to tell why it could not save life of 14-year-old rape victim

The High Court yesterday ordered district officials in Shariatpur to explain why they failed to protect 14-year-old rape victim Hena from being whipped to death as per a fatwa on Monday.

The deputy commissioner, the superintendent of police of Shariatpur and the thana nirbahi officer of Naria upazila -- where the incident took place--will have to report to the HC in 15 days how it happened although the court (HC) had eight months ago declared fatwa illegal and a punishable offence.

In a suo moto rule, the HC directed them also to report what steps they have taken in this regard.

An HC bench comprised of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain issued the rule following press reports on the killing of Hena.

The reports said Hena was raped by her 40-year-old relative Mahbub on Sunday. Next day, a fatwa was announced at a village arbitration that she must be given 100 lashes. She fell unconscious after nearly 80 lashes.

Fatally injured Hena was rushed to Naria health complex where she succumbed to her injuries.

Supreme Court lawyer Seema Zahur yesterday placed before the HC bench a press report on the incident on behalf of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association.

US: 85,000 Chickens Killed After Snow Causes Roof Collapse

CBS News
Thu, 03 Feb 2011 06:32 UTC

Connecticut's agriculture commissioner says the collapse of a chicken coop due to heavy snow has killed 85,000 chickens.

Commissioner Steven Reviczky said Thursday the incident at Kofkoff Egg Farm in Bozrah occurred Jan. 27 and the number of chickens killed was reported to the state recently. He says the dead birds were incinerated.

It was not immediately clear how much KofKoff farm lost from the incident. Its officials did not immediately return a call for comment.

At least 6 people injured when ice, snow fall from Cowboys Stadium roof

Schuyler Dixon
The Associated Press
Fri, 04 Feb 2011 20:17 UTC

© Associated Press /Charlie Riedel
Snow falls off the roof of Cowboys Stadium, the site of NFL football Super Bowl XLV Feb. 4, 2011, in Arlington, Texas. Earlier 6 people were hurt from ice falling off the roof.

Hard ice and heavy snow slid off Cowboys Stadium's domed roof Friday, injuring at least six private contractors hired to prepare the venue for the Super Bowl, authorities said.

One man was struck in the head and another was hit in the shoulder, said Arlington Fire Department spokesman Pete Arevalo. They were in stable condition Friday afternoon. The other four injuries were considered minor.

Emergency personnel responded about 1 p.m. to reports of snow and ice sliding off the southern end of the sprawling stadium where the group was working, Arevalo said.

Food service worker Doug McCracken said he and a friend pulled up to the area just in time to see what looked like snow flurries blowing off the building. Wonder turned to shock when he realized someone had been hit.

"What we saw was hard ice. It shattered, it was everywhere," McCracken said. "We thought maybe it was snow at first but it was ice. Hard ice."

The United States National Weather Service had issued a winter storm warning Friday for Arlington, home of the US$1.3 billion stadium where the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers will play this weekend for the NFL title.

Berlusconi: Mubarak is a wise man

Al Jazeera
Fri, 04 Feb 2011 15:45 UTC

Wise Guys

Italy's PM says he hopes there can be a transition to democracy in Egypt without a "break" from the president.

Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, has described Egypt's president as a "wise man" and called for continuity in the country's government.

"I hope that in Egypt there can be a transition toward a more democratic system without a break from president [Hosni] Mubarak, who in the West, above all in the United States, is considered the wisest of men and a precise reference point," he said.

"I hope there can be continuity in government," he told reporters on Friday.

His comments came as hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy protesters continued to rally in Tahrir Square, central Cairo, and in Alexandria, Egypt's second city, calling for Mubarak to stand down.

However, the Italian leader's aides said Berlusconi did not mean Mubarak should remain in office, rather that he "would like to see someone like Mubarak at the head of the country".

Man claims Glaxo drug made him 'gay sex addict'

Agence France-Presse
Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:20 UTC

Nantes, France - A French father-of-two is to take GlaxoSmithKline to court on Tuesday, alleging the British firm's drug to treat Parkinson's disease turned him into a gay sex and gambling addict.

The 51-year-old's lawyers say their client's behaviour changed radically after he was first administered the drug in 2003 for the illness, which causes tremors, slows movement and disrupts speech.

Didier Jambart, a married father-of-two who says he has attempted suicide three times, claims he became addicted to Internet gambling, losing the family's savings and stealing to feed his habit.

He also became a compulsive gay sex addict and began exposing himself on the Internet and cross-dressing. His risky sexual encounters led to him being raped, his lawyers said.

Unsinkable Molly B - Cow That Escaped Slaughterhouse Has New Adventure

Matthew Brown
Associated Press
Thu, 03 Feb 2011 13:56 UTC

© AP Photo/Great Falls Tribune, Rion Sanders
This Jan. 9, 2006 photo shows Famous bovine Molly B. at Mickey's Packing Plant after escaping the slaughter house and leading authorities on a chase through Great Falls, Mont. Five years after a cow dubbed the 'Unsinkable Molly B' leapt a slaughterhouse gate and swam across the Missouri River in an escape that brought international acclaim, the heifer has again eluded fate, surviving the collapse of the animal sanctuary where she was meant to retire.

Billings, Montana - Five years after a cow dubbed the "Unsinkable Molly B" leapt a slaughterhouse gate and swam across the Missouri River in an escape that drew international attention, the heifer has again eluded fate, surviving the collapse of the animal sanctuary where she was meant to retire.

Molly B was among an estimated 1,200 animals removed from the Montana Large Animal Sanctuary and Rescue in recent weeks as part of a massive effort to bail out its overwhelmed owners.

Animal welfare groups said they were forced to euthanize dozens of starving and ill cattle, horses and llamas found on the 400-acre sanctuary in rural Sanders County.

Comment: Cow Escapes Meat Plant, Dodges Cars, Train (Molly B)

Boston Toxic Snow Party: Cities Struggle to Clear Snow Piles

Jay Lindsay
Salon / Associated Press
Fri, 04 Feb 2011 13:31 UTC

Imagine the East Coast's largest cities mixing a brew of salt, motor oil, trash and grocery carts and dumping it into rivers and harbors.

It's allowed in emergency situations, and some officials staring at massive snow mountains in densely populated areas of the winter-walloped Northeast say that time is now, even as others warn dumping snow in water comes with big problems.

"There's a lot of stuff in this snow that if I isolated it and threw it in the river, you'd have me arrested," said John Lipscomb of the New York-based environmental group Riverkeeper.

Snow from the East Coast's insistent winter is being plowed into banks that are narrowing up roads and highway ramps like hardening arteries, blocking drivers' sight lines, and forcing schoolchildren to break paths like cattle down buried sidewalks. In a normal winter, the snow melts on a good day or is carted off to designated dumps where it eventually filters its pollutants through the earth or is treated before ending up in sewers.

This is not a normal winter. Many East Coast cities, including Boston, Hartford, Conn., and New York are on their way to setting seasonal snowfall records, and the extra snow means extra road salt and human refuse that gets swept up by plows.