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[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Monday held [opinion, PDF] in Graham v. Florida [Cornell LII backgrounder; JURIST report] that the Eighth Amendment [text] ban on cruel and unusual punishments prohibits the imprisonment of a juvenile for life without the possibility of parole as punishment for the juvenile’s commission of a non-homicide offense. The First District Court of Appeal of Florida [official website] upheld the life sentence of Terrance Graham for a non-homicide offense committed when he was 17, concluding that Graham’s sentence was not “grossly disproportionate” to his crimes. The district court interpreted Supreme Court prison sentencing precedent to prohibit a per se ban on juvenile life sentences, and ruled instead that each case must be judged on its own facts. Justice Anthony Kennedy, delivering the opinion of the court, reversed and remanded the district court opinion, holding that life sentences without parole wrongly deprive juveniles of the opportunity to become rehabilitated and rejoin society:

Terrance Graham’s sentence guarantees he will die in prison without any meaningful opportunity to obtain release, no matter what he might do to demonstrate that the bad acts he committed as a teenager are not representative of his true character, even if he spends the next half century attempting to atone for his crimes and learn from his mistakes. The State has denied him any chance to later demonstrate that he is fit to rejoin society based solely on a non-homicide crime that he committed while he was a child in the eyes of the law. This the Eighth Amendment does not permit. … A State need not guarantee the offender eventual release, but if it imposes a sentence of life it must provide him or her with some realistic opportunity to obtain release before the end of that term.

Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, joined by Justice Antonin Scalia and in part by Justice Samuel Alito. Alito also dissented in an opinion for himself. Justice John Paul Stevens concurred, joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, even though these three Justices also joined the Kennedy majority opinion.

The court also handed down a per curiam decision on non-release sentences for juveniles in Sullivan v. Graham [opinion, PDF], dismissing the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted. It is uncertain whether defendant Joe Harris Sullivan, who was 13 when he committed his crime, will benefit from the ruling in the Graham case because Florida courts had turned aside Sullivan’s Eighth Amendment challenge for procedural reasons. The Florida courts will now determine whether Sullivan can make a new challenge based on the Supreme Court’s decision.

A special edition of the hit game show, ‘Who wants to be rich’, dubbed ‘Who Deserves to be Rich’ has started airing on television. The series, which is aimed at rewarding outstanding Ghanaians who need money to sustain their efforts towards humanity and development, started with veteran Ghanaian athlete Rose Hart who was accompanied by ace actors Fred Amugi and Grace Nortey for assistance.

Rose Hart (born January 9, 1942) is a retired track and field athlete who specialized in hurdling, sprints, and the discus throw events during her career. She represented Ghana at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, where she was a semi-finalist. She twice claimed a gold medal for her native Ghana at the All-Africa Games in 1965 and 1973. At the 1965 Brazzaville games, she won Gold, Silver and Bronze in three separate events for Ghana. She still holds the record for best discus throw in Ghana with her 47.19 meter throw. She currently operates a makeshift gym where she trains young aspiring athletes.

Together with her celebrity friends, Madam RoseHart cruised easily through the questions till they started running into some difficulties. The first difficult question rose when Kafui Dey, the host asked which of the teams in the English Premier League is nicknamed The Gunners. Completely clueless, they agreed to ask the audience for help and with the right answer from the crowd, moved to the next level.

They run into tougher questions as they climbed up the ladder of cash rewards. Surprisingly, the two actors couldn’t show enough knowledge in their profession when they were asked which of the followings actors were of South African origin: Djimon Hansou, Charlize Theron, or Nicole Kidman. Grace Nortey murmured in Ga that Djimon sounded African so they should go for that but they agreed to use their 50/50 lifeline. The computer removed two incorrect options leaving Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman. “She must be a white South African”, Fred Amugi remarked. They gambled on Charlize Theron, with Grace Nortey confirming, “ I can feel it within me”.

To add some suspense, the host called for a commercial break before revealing the right answer. When Kafui Dey intentionally mentioned Nicole Kidman as the answer before giving the right answer, Grace Nortey exclaimed, “I almost fainted”. They continued with the guessing game again when they were asked which country used hieroglyphs. Fred Amugi insisted that it was between Egypt and Greece but when it came to shove the went for Egypt to secure 6,000 GhC .

This brought them to question 13, worth 12,000 GhC, which asked for the name of the architect that designed the Millau Viaduct. Fully aware of the fact that they didn’t know the answer and not willing to drop their earnings with a wrong answer, they decided to walk away with 6,000 GhC.

They were followed by a young humanitarian who has guest celebrities Rama Brew and Dadson for support. They were belled out due to time and would be rolled over for next week’s edition.

Tablet PCs are the notebooks with everything. They can be great thin notebook PCs and also slate tablets when the screen is rotated around. They can do anything any other notebook can do and more. That’s why they often cost so darn much as the new Fujitsu T730 Tablet PC proves once again. This Tablet is as small as can be and still have a 12-inch screen. It looks like a solid entry for Fujitsu, a long-time maker of nice convertible notebooks. It’s too bad the starting price is $1,869, and that doesn’t get you the touch screen option.

The T730 has an optical drive option which is rare on such a thin convertible. Fujitsu has kept the case as small as possible for a notebook with a 12-inch display and full keyboard. The starting configuration includes an outdoor viewable screen and a DVD burner, so that high price is not for nothing. Fujitsu claims a dual digitizer with multitouch option is available but doesn’t seem to make that an selectable option on its web site.

Related research on GigaOM Pro (sub. req’d): How Microsoft Can Win Back the Tablet Market

Representatives from Africa Fashion International (AFI), organizers of the Africa Fashion Week (AFW) have briefed Ghanaian fashion designers on the annual showcase of African fashion and designing talents. In the one day forum held at the Oak Plaza Hotel in Accra, was to introduce the fashion week to Ghanaian designers and outline the requirements for partaking in the various activities during the event.

Lorato Liphuko, the Fashion Liaison Officer for African Fashion International, took the designers through the process of producing clothes that would qualify for next year’s fashion week, highlighting the need to stay trendy and relevant on the global market. She told the designers to focus on ‘ready-wear’ designs because that is more saleable.

Ghanaian designers Christie Brown and Qumi Bespoke will be representing Ghana at Africa Fashion Week this year. They will join some of the world’s leading African Fashion designers from across the continent and Diaspora to showcase the finest contemporary African design at the second annual Africa Fashion Week in Johannesburg. The exquisite collections of 33 designers will feature in 19 runway shows from 30 June – 3 July, before an influential audience of international buyers, media, World Cup guests, VIPs and celebrities.

The significance of this fashion summit is critical for African Fashion International (AFI) chairperson Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe “Africa Fashion Week (AFW) is potentially the most important platform for the African fashion industry, being perfectly positioned to promote African designers globally.”

It is rare, in fact completely unique, to have all the leading voices in African Fashion in one place, at one time, in one country. Those voices will give expression to Africa’s fashion future at a two-day seminar that runs alongside the runway shows; and that will examine ways of strengthening the burgeoning African Fashion industry, debating an African aesthetic and building a global network.

For the designers, their collections will not just be confined to the catwalk; they will be available for purchase on-site, along with ready-to-wear garments, at the first ever AFI Fashion boutique which will be open for the month of June.

On the eve of Africa Fashion Week itself, the AFI boutique will launch online as a permanent shop specializing in African fashion from across the globe, with collections available immediately after their catwalk showing.

And when the talking and viewing is done, acknowledgment will be given to the leading lights of the industry at the second AFI African Fashion Awards on 5 July 2010. Highlighting industry excellence and outstanding contributions by fashion industry members of African descent world-wide, the awards are a platform that will help take African fashion across the continent and to the world.

Reader Colin has run into something we’ve seen many times before. Best Buy sold him what we call a “Box of Crap,” in this case, an XBox that someone else had swapped out with their modded, broken one. Best Buy’s policy is to refuse a return if the serial number on the Xbox doesn’t match the one on the receipt, so unless you actually open the box and check out the item before you leave the store — get ready for a battle.

We wish Colin had read this post before he stopped at Best Buy, but oh well. Here’s the EECB he sent to Best Buy:

Dear Best Buy Executives,

I would like to start by thanking you for taking the time to read my email and for helping me resolve my situation. I do not take writing you lightly as I am sure you have many other important responsibilities. I have tried to resolve my issue through normal Best Buy customer service channels and have been unable to obtain the resolution that I seek. Being unable to resolve the situation normally, I have no other option than to ask for your help personally.

I purchased an Xbox 360 from the Best Buy store in Chicago on Wednesday, April 28th. Upon returning home and plugging in the unit, I was surprised to find a disc already in the drive. It was horribly scratched. I attempted to play other discs on the unit with no success. Deciding that the unit was faulty, I went to return the unit the next day.

When I entered the store, I went to the customer service desk and left the box with my non-functioning unit at the counter with the Customer Service agent as they told me to go get a new unit off the shelf. When I returned, the CSR was opening the box and said that the unit I was returning did not have a serial number and that they couldn’t exchange it. I asked to speak with the manager and was referred to a man I assume was the manager of the CSR area and he told me the same thing.

I returned to the store this morning and asked to speak with the store manager. I ended up speaking with a gentleman named [redacted]. and told him the whole story. He again repeated the policy that he couldn’t help me because there was no serial number on the unit I was attempting to exchange. I explained to him that I did not remove the serial number and had no idea how it was removed. He had employees review security tapes to see if it had been tampered with while I was away getting the new unit, but he informed me that they saw nothing.

Since he was unable to help me, I returned home and called the 1-888-BestBuy number and was connected with a CSR agent by the name of [redacted], whose Agent ID is [redacted]. He looked up my case as I had called Thursday night as well and then I told him my story. He contacted the GM of the store who related my conversation with [redacted] to him and informed me he could not override their decision. [The CSR] then connected me with [another CSR] who assured me that it was impossible that I found a disc in the unit upon purchase and that he could not help me because of the lack of serial number.

I did some research and found a second serial number under the dashboard of the Xbox 360 unit. The serial # does not match that of the serial recorded at the POS. Also, the tamper-sticker on the unit is torn. It seems that this unit was opened and returned before being sold as new on the shelf. I returned to the store and showed this serial number to [the employee at the store] and he said he would look through the receipts and get back to me but since the serial # did not match that of the unit at POS, he couldn’t help me unless the second serial number appeared in his store receipts. At this point several weeks have gone by and I have had no contact from [the employee]. even though I have left several messages for him.

So that is why I am here writing you. At this point, I have a non-functioning Xbox that I paid $270 for, including the extended warranty. I do not know what happened to the serial number. I did not remove it. I am not trying to do a bait and switch, I am an honest person. I can appreciate the serial number policy in terms of reducing fraud, but I have been burned by buying a product that was obviously used and now I’m out of the purchase price and unable to exchange this item through no fault of my own.

I ask that you please look into my situation and fix this problem. I am only asking that I receive value for the money I have already paid. I would gladly accept a functioning Xbox 360 or a full refund for my purchase.

Again, I thank you for taking the time to read my letter and address the issue I have written about. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me at xxx-xxx-xxxx or at this e-mail address.

Colin, we hope you didn’t pay cash for the Box of Crap. We’ve found that readers who have had this problem with Best Buy have the best result when they call their credit card company or bank and report it as fraud. You can also file a police report, report Best Buy to your attorney general, or consider filing a small claims lawsuit.

Take photos of the item and document everything. For more detailed advice, check out this post.

For the rest of you, open everything you buy at Best Buy while still inside the store.

Now, it’s not the mystical HP webOS tablet we’ve all been dying for for what feels like forever (read: two weeks), but it’s a step in the right direction.

PreCentral forumgoer cdowers managed to hack webOS onto an old Dell laptop they had laying around — and surprisingly, this “hack” didn’t really require all that much hacking.

Palm’s SDK works by installing a copy of webOS onto a virtual machine (which is exactly what it sounds like: a software computer that, for most purposes, thinks it’s a real computer). Cdowers took that same copy of webOS and instead installed it on an actual machine — and sure enough, it booted.

Now, before you get too excited, know this: this could very well be just about as far as this project goes. There are a handful of hurdles (the lack of touchscreen/gesture area/accelerometer, to name a few) that must be overcome before this comes anywhere close to a usable state — and even once it does, it’ll only play friendly with whatever laptop models the hacker community take the time to support.

Still, it’s fun to look at, isn’t it?

For a few months it seemed as if China’s willingness to keep financing U.S. debt was waning.

Markets worried that U.S. borrowing costs would spike if America’s number one creditor stopped playing ball. Remember talk about China potentially diversifying its reserves into the euro?

Obviously the euro-as-reserve-currency meme has been dying over the last few weeks, but it’s time to stick a fork in it. There’s only one primary contender left, and China’s coming back to it:

WSJ:

China became a net buyer of Treasurys for the first time since last September, with its holdings increasing $17.7 billion to $895.2 billion, following net sales of $11.5 billion in February, according to the monthly Treasury International Capital report, known as TIC.

A Treasury sell off by China at the end of last year caused concern at first that the largest creditor nation to the U.S. was shifting out of U.S. assets. But major upward revisions to the December data in late February showed that China hadn’t actually lost its position as top Treasury holder to Japan, as initially thought.

Looks like they made a decent trade so far, on their new March money. March was right before Treasuries rallied, sending yields down from 4% to 3.44% now.

Why treasuries might still be a good deal even at 3.44% >

10 Reasons Fixed Income Is The Place To Be >

Join the conversation about this story »

You don’t have to look far to find someone on TV talking about how gold is a great investment. It seems like at least once a week, CNBC has someone on-air that says gold is going to hit $1,500 or $2,000 an ounce (currently, it’s around $1,240). So how do you know if gold is a good investment? By figuring out whether or not other people believe it is.

Why They Love It

For starters, gold is a commodity, so it isn’t a traditional investment. A prudent long-term investor buys a stock or bond with the intention that it will provide dividends or coupon payments that would provide a nice return. Investing in gold is purely speculative: you only make money if its price goes up — it pays no dividends or interest.

And that price will only increase insofar as investors buy more of it, because they believe their other options will do comparably poorly. One driver for gold investing is inflation. Since currency values decline when deep inflation grips a nation, gold might seem like a good place to put your money, since its value can’t be debased.

But that doesn’t mean gold is the only option here. Platinum should also retain its value fairly well. So should most other commodities that are little affected by other economic shocks. What makes gold so attractive? The fact that it’s the first thing people think about investing in when inflation is feared. It’s popular, so its price may increase even more than other commodities.

Even stocks can be a good investment as a hedge on inflation. Companies that produce goods and services will raise their prices if inflation becomes a problem. As a result, their stock’s nominal values will also increase as their nominal — not real — revenues climb with the price level. Your return on those stocks will include an inflation adjustment. The only thing that would make stocks a bad investment during this time is stagflation: when that inflation is accompanied by a recession. Under that circumstance gold is a better investment, since its value likely won’t decline as much as stocks or currency.

Is Now the Time?

If you follow the markets, then you know gold has been doing quite well over the past several years. Here’s a chart from goldprice.org:

As you can see, gold has increased by almost 200% in just five years. That averages out to 40% per year. This sort of return isn’t sustainable, unless inflation has gotten completely out of control. It hasn’t, as it’s been only a few percent per year over this time period. But gold’s continued rise shows that many investors are still scared of currency and other investment options.

But its future success depends on this mindset growing even stronger. Will investors continue to prefer gold forever? It’s hard to see how. As the recovery takes hold, businesses will begin growing again, and investors won’t be as scared of stocks. For gold to keep rising, you would need even more investors to flock to gold and sell off their current portfolio of stocks, bonds, currencies, or other commodities. Surely, there’s some limit to how many investors can move their money to gold. Nothing can sustain 40% annual returns for too long.

(Nav Image Credit: tao_zhyn/flickr)

Investment – Business – Investing – CNBC – Inflation

If you didn’t pre-order the HTC DROID Incredible, and you’re not one of the lucky who managed to purchase the phone the day it came out, chances are you can’t get one now, nor will you be able to until some time around June 4th.  Verizon sold 100,000 DROID Incredibles just two days into the launch of the device and it has been difficult to get a hold of one ever since.

You would think this is something that would have been anticipated and better planned for considering sales of the Motorola DROID as well as the success of the Incredible’s sibling the HTC HD2.  However, it appears that the problem lies within a shortage of parts for the device which has delayed production, thereby delaying delivery of the devices to stores.  According to MSNBC, Lowell McAdam, CEO of Verizon, said that “Verizon is unable to keep up with strong demand for the Droid Incredible smartphone from HTC, due in part to component shortages such as the advanced screens made by Samsung Electronics.”

Until the shortage issue can be worked out, it looks like VZW will be focusing on online sales, presumably due to the further reach of the internet.  So, if you really want a DROID Incredible (and if you do, I can’t blame you) you should probably get to ordering one soon to secure your spot in line and make sure you don’t have to wait until the next shipment.  Considering that you’ll likely receive it on the 4th of June, however, I’ve heard you can get another CDMA HTC device on another network that very same day.  Perhaps you should consider that?

If you had to choose between the EVO 4G and the DROID Incredible, knowing you could have either one on the same day, which would you choose?  Let us know in the comments below!

Via BGR, MSNBC

 

Katy Perry will perform at the annual MTV Movie Awards next month.

The quirky brunette is set to perform her summer anthem “California Gurls” live for the first time during the ceremony on June 6, the network announced Monday. The track is the first single from Katy’s forthcoming album Teenage Dream — the follow-up to her 2007 smash One of the Boys, which is set for release on August 24.

“I’m proud to represent the West Coast at the MTV Movie Awards in the magical glow of the Hollywood sign with my new single ‘California Gurls.’ I hope it will be the theme song to a lot of summer loving, I know it will in my house!” Katy says.

The 2010 MTV Movie Awards — hosted by Parks & Recreation star Aziz Ansari — will broadcast LIVE from the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City, California on Sunday, June 6 @ 9 PM/ET, 8PM/Central.

The headlining act for the WAPI ‘I Rep Africa’ festival, R2bees lived up to the billing when they thrilled a pack of fun-loving youths at the Coconut Groove Regency Hotel on Saturday, May 8. The rap group which flew back into the country from Nigeria, where they are currently promoting their hit song, ‘Kiss Your Hand’ featuring Wande Coal, climaxed the event which was filled with exciting new and promising talents.

WAPI is a British Council event for Ghana’s established stars to come together with the stars of tomorrow, to have fun and network. It was an opportunity for young, upcoming creatives and artists to network with the experts in the field. The finale event saw musical performances from upcoming rappers and singers interspersed with some performances from the more established acts such as Keche, Stay J and Dr Cryme. There was an exhibition of some amazing artworks and a funky fashion show with young designers such as Nana Asihene and Bubu. View pictures

In a bid to arm young creatives with the opportunity to gain invaluable knowledge from those who have made it in the creative fields of broadcasting, journalism, acting and advertising, the British Council also added an expert discussion panel to the WAPI festival. The panelists included: online entertainment journalist and publicist, Ameyaw Debrah; Ms Naa, YFM DJ and host of the Ryse and Shyne breakfast show; Jason Nartey, Creative Director at MMRS Ogilvy; and Kwaku Boateng, actor and Founder and Artistic Director of The K. Boateng Academy of Performing Arts in Ghana. Kwaku Boateng also held a workshop on acting for inspiring young actors.

Although WAPI, ‘I Rep Africa’ was billed to be the last in the Words and Pictures series, unconfirmed reports suggest that the British Council might continue the series in Ghana.

This week it is more of the same: great news from the U.S. economy but a flagging stock market as Europe continues to struggle and the euro erodes.

Views on the Dollar Change on a Dime
Just a few months ago the popular press was filled with articles about how to hedge one’s exposure to the U.S. dollar. I have long believed that higher productivity, more favorable demographics, and greater labor flexibility would make for a stronger dollar in the years ahead. However, I had no idea that the cracks in the European system would be exposed this quickly and that the dollar would rebound this strongly.

European Leaders Fail to Find a Common Voice
The euro has now fallen from a high of EUR 1.6 per $1 to EUR 1.24 per $1–which is where it was way back in 2008. Despite excitement over the European bailout plan earlier in the week, enthusiasm quickly faded as individual countries fretted about implementing austerity plans and politicians began to more openly worry about the euro’s demise. There was even a rumor (later denied) that French president Sarkozy threatened to take France off the euro. It certainly didn’t help that the chief executive of Deutsche Bank (DB) publicly questioned Greece’s ability to repay its debts in a televised comment.

Eurozone politicians are in many ways sabotaging themselves with the lack of a common story line and a single voice–a benefit that was certainly instrumental in helping the Federal Reserve bring the U.S. out of its mess.

The Biggest Problem with a Weak Europe: the U.S. Banking System
An indirect risk to the U.S. economy from the European debacle is related to the various European banks that hold a lot of government (sovereign) debt. These banks do business with U.S. banks and are counterparties in many transactions. If banks start distrusting each other again, that could cause additional problems in the U.S. banking system. This time around, however, the U.S. banking system is better capitalized than before the subprime fiasco in this country.

European Exports Represent Just 2%-3% of U.S. GDP
The direct effects of a weaker Europe on the U.S. are less clear. Total U.S. exports account for only 12% of total U.S. gross domestic products, making us one of the most self-contained countries among developed nations (in contrast, Germany derives almost 40% of its GDP from exports).

Breaking that down even further, the eurozone constituted just 20% or so of U.S. exports in 2009. So even if U.S. sales to the eurozone immediately and permanently dropped to zero, the effect on the U.S. GDP would be just over 2%.

As bad as things may get, I don’t think we are going to reach zero sales to Europe anytime soon.

Europe Will Be More Competitive, Companies With Large European Exposures Will Be Hurt
Unfortunately, a softening euro will create other problems. A weaker euro will make some European products more competitive in other world markets, although sky-high productivity in the U.S. will erode some of that advantage. Individual companies with large European exposures, such as consumer goods companies, could also see their profits cut short as sales in euros translate back to fewer dollars of U.S. profits. The dollar tailwind of late 2009 is in the process of turning into a headwind.

For a bigger picture of the European crisis and the recent bailout, this article from the Wharton School of Business provides an interesting European perspective.

Don’t miss: 10 Reasons NOT To Make A Contrarian Bet On Europe

Join the conversation about this story »

Gold prices may be setting new highs almost daily, but to commodity traders, the shiny metal is just another line on a graph. And it’s a line that’s starting to look very familiar to some traders, who see a pattern similar to one that played out recently with hogs. Prices for pigs flew to new highs, and then started drifting back into the mud.

Seeking Alpha sees patterns in the cornfields:

Gold’s new nominal highs against the greenback made headlines this week, but nobody (well, nobody outside the Ag community, anyway) devoted banner space to previously skyrocketing hog prices. This spring, livestock gained ground and rose to new highs for the decade while gold dithered in a consolidation phase.

The commodities’ roles are now reversed. After a 31% run-up since the top of the year, lean hog prices have reached a plateau around their 10-day moving averages, and now seem ready to work the lower half of their volatility bands. Most troubling for longer-term investors is a tightening price range, often indicative of a pending breakout. . Then there’s that March price gap — increasingly appearing to signal exhaustion — between 74.12 cents and 77.80 cents. The gap is becoming a tempting target for bears.

What does all this mean if you’re not a commodities trader? Pretty much just that you shouldn’t put all of your eggs in one basket. Or don’t buy a pig in a poke. Or whatever. Just diversify.

Gold’s Links to Hogs and Corn [Seeking Alpha]

The good news: The Android Market web page has gotten a bit of a freshening up ahead of Google IO this week. The bad news: It’s not that much more useful. Sure, you can browse more apps (and do so in a much more intuitive way). But what we really want to see is some actual connectivity between the site and our phones — much (or exactly) like App Brain. We need to be able to purchase, mark for install and rate apps from a web portal. Not just from our phones, and (definitely) not from a stand-alone program on a computer.

Is this redesign a precursor for things to come? We’ll find out this week, we guess. Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

We jumped inside a Mercedes F800 last week—the car that will offer three flavors of fuel as soon as 2012. Mercedes says that the future is a three-lane highway, with cars running on gas, electricity, and hydrogen. More »










Mercedes-Benz – Energy – Technology – Hydrogen – Mercedes F800

by Randy Rieland

It’s been almost a month since the Deepwater Horizon exploded and began spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico.  But it’s not your typical oil spill; because of its depth and distance from shore, it has so far brought no images of fouled beaches or blackened, dead sea birds.

Whatever damage is being done by the viscous soup floating under the sea is still largely unknown.  But more and more scientists are fearing the worst, reports Justin Gillis in The New York Times. The researchers who’ve had the closest look beneath the surface ratcheted up the anxiety when they described giant underwater plumes of oil as large as 10 miles long and three miles wide.  Said scientist Samantha Joyce: 

There’s a shocking amount of oil in the deep water, relative to what you see in the surface water. There’s a tremendous amount of oil in multiple layers, three or four or five layers deep in the water column.

What the oil spill and the dispersants being used to break it up mean for marine life in the Gulf—short term and long term—is anybody’s guess. But it has all the makings of an ecological disaster.  Writes Joel Achenbach in The Washington Post:

The millions of gallons of crude, and the introduction of chemicals to disperse it, have thrown this underwater ecosystem into chaos, and scientists have no answer to the question of how this unintended and uncontrolled experiment in marine biology and chemistry will ultimately play out.

In fact, as Bettina Boxall and Alana Semuels point out in the Los Angeles Times, the chemicals being dumped into the sea to break up the oil may only be making things worse under the surface. 

The widespread spraying of chemical dispersants on the surface slick may be compounding exposure and speeding oil uptake into the food chain, scientists warned. The problem, said George Crozier, executive director of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, is that it is easier for particle-munching microorganisms to ingest the broken-up bits of oil.

Grist’s Tom Philpott has also been digging up the ugly story behind the dispersants.

And the Christian Science Monitor‘s Mark Sappenfield goes a step farther, raising the specter of huge dead zones created by lack of oxygen in the water. 

… serious environmental degradation could take place in the open ocean, creating massive “dead zones” where no creature can live because of the lack of oxygen in the water. The spread of oil at all levels of the Gulf also could become a concern for shore communities in hurricanes, which stir up the water column as they come ashore.

Thar she blows

Meanwhile, in a galaxy far away, aka Wall Street, experts can also only speculate as to how this disaster will play out in their world.  It may come down simply to which way the wind blows. Worst-case scenario, according to investment adviser David Kotok, is that the slick moves west, where the majority of oil-producing wells in the Gulf are located, which might lead to fire hazards. If drilling platforms in the area have to be abandoned, “[a]bout 31 percent of our domestic oil supply will be shut off,” he says. “You can imagine the impact on fuel prices.”  But if the slick moves east, well, that’s not so great either. Here’s the take from FireDogLake.

Related Links:

MMS goes under the spotlight

Oil now threatening Gulf’s cradles of biodiversity, its reefs

Tube is suctioning one-fifth of spewing oil, says BP executive

This is the beta version of the ³ (aka Cubed) music player. Enjoy!

Price: Free

AndroidTapp.com Android App Review:

Pros & Cons:

Pros

• Awesome spin on music player experience

Cons

• Very difficult to find by name in the Market (probably best to scan our QR Codes above or search “Cubed Music Player”)

Features:

³ (aka Cubed) Music Player puts a 3D twist on the music player for Android phones. Play in either portrait or landscape mode (if you have the setting). It supports every feature for listening to music on your phone (standard player, Playlists, Shuffle, etc.) plus a few more like the ability to grab album Cover Art, match concert events of artists in your music library with Concerts³ app extension, plus a few cool ways to display your music and visually theme it.

There are four viewing modes:

• ³ packs the 3D cubed interface in which you can swipe in either direction, swiping horizontally finds artists alphabetically.
• Wall presents albums in a two-columned scrolling wall.
• Boring shows text only albums.
• Morph Flow is somewhat similar to the 3D launcher on Nexus One phones; where it flips the album covers vertically.

Gripe Alert: the app name is cool but the use of the ³ cubed symbol for the name makes it impossible to find in the Android Market. We suggest scanning our QR codes or search “Cubed Music Player” to find it.

Concerts³ is an extension app to be downloaded separately and finds concerts of artists in your music collection that will be performing within a certain range of your location.

Usefulness:

³ (aka Cubed) Music Player is both useful as a music player plus gets cool points for its visual style it puts on your music collection. One of those apps to show off to friends.

Ease of Use:

There are a few adjustments to learn while using the app but most features are intuitive of any other music player.

Frequently Used:

Depends on your music listening frequency; I could see it as a replacement for the default Music app.

Interface:

The user interface and 3D enhancements is what make this app and its user experience unique.

The Ghanaian winners of the 2010 African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) have presented their awards to the Vice President, John Mahama at the Castle, Osu. The group included Mabel Germain, Elorm Adablah, Adjetey Annang, Naa Ashorkor Mensah Doku, Lydia Forson, Akorfa E. Asiedu and Ken Attoh. The delegation was led by Judith Oluwole Kuwornu, the Ghana rep of the African Movie Academy Awards. View Photos

Vice President Mahama, was happy to receive the group. He expressed joy at the achievement of the Ghanaian movie industry at the awards ceremony because according to him Ghana is taking back its lead role in film production in the sub-region. He said Ghana set the pace in quality film production several decades ago and lost its hold because of lack of sustainability in the surge of home video production.

On behalf of the country, the Vice President congratulated the award winners and assured them of government’s support in the coming years for the industry. According to him, the second phase of the Private Sector lead growth policy of government would be driven by the creative industry. He promised better days for the creative industry under his Government.

Out of the 19 nominations for Ghana at the 2010 AMAA, there were 6 wins as follows: AMAA achievement in sound- “I Sing of a Well”; AMAA achievement in costume- “I Sing of a Well”; Best original soundtrack; Best performance by an actor in a supporting role; Best performance by an actress in a leading role; and Best director. Ghana also got the most coveted awards of the jury award for Best Movie by ‘“I Sing of a Well”’ and a lifetime achievement award to King Ampaw.

From Green Right Now Reports

A  study published in Pediatrics today points to pesticides as a possible cause of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

The study’s team of academic researchers sampled the urine of 1,139 kids and found that those with the highest pesticide residues in their urine from organophosphate pesticides also were more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD. Of the sample, 119 of the children had been diagnosed with ADHD, which is in line with the American population, where about 1 in 10 kids has been diagnosed as having ADHD.

“These findings support the hypothesis that organophosphate exposure, at levels common among US children, may contribute to ADHD prevalence,” the scientists wrote.

Organophosphates are a type of pesticide commonly used on fruits and vegetables. Organophosphates include malathion, used industrially and in home gardens as well as in mosquito control.

The researchers, supported by Canadian and U.S. government grants, said more review was needed before the link could be fully explained. The sampling looked at a single point in time, leaving many questions unanswered about the role of continued exposure and the levels of exposure that would alter brain chemistry. Longitudal studies are needed, with multiple urine samplings over time, they said.

Among their findings:

• There was a strong “association” — a 55% to 72% increase in the odds of ADHD for a 10-fold increase in DMAP concentration [a metabolite that indicates exposure to certain organophosphates] depending on the
  criteria used for case identification”.

• “Several biological mechanisms might underlie an association between organophosphate pesticides and ADHD. A primary action of organophosphates,
  particularly with respect to acute poisoning, is inhibition of acetylcholinesterase,” according to the report. Acetylcholinesterase is needed for healthy synaptic messaging in the brain. Or put another way, the same neurotoxic effects deliberately aimed a pests in agricultural fields and on lawns, could be creating brain chemistry disruption in children inadvertently exposed to these chemicals.

Just as with other toxics, studies have found that genetics can play a role in how susceptible an individual is to a certain pesticide or toxic chemical, as well as finding that kids can be far more sensitive to chemical exposures than adults.

CropLife America, a national association that represents pesticide manufacturers, issued a statement to ABC News concerning this story. The statement noted that ADHD is “a serious disorder” and that CropLife America “fully supports continuous study to help better understand its cause.”

“However, our review of the published journal story in Pediatrics, which makes summary of the study, leads us to believe much more research is needed to ascertain if there is a direct link between exposure to organophosphate pesticides and the development of ADHD in children,” CropLife America said.

Don’t want to wait for the definitive answer?

Consumers can reduce their pesticide expose by:

• Buying organic produce, especially berries and certain soft-skin fruits that tend to absorb pesticides. Find out which conventionally grown foods are most likely to contain pesticide residues in the Environmental Working Group’s recent re-release of the “Dirty Dozen”.
• Using organic control measures to reduce pests on their lawn and gardens
• Making sure your city or county is not using malathion to control mosquitoes, but using natural larval control methods instead.
• Using a water filter for drinking and cooking water

by Randy Rieland

Last week, execs from BP, Transocean, and Halliburton took their Capitol Hill beatdown.  This week, federal regulators will be led into the ring.  With Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar at the front of the line, they’ll appear before three Senate committees tomorrow and then a House committee on Wednesday, at which members of Congress can be expected to express equal measures of shock, dismay, and disgust.

The bull’s-eye will be on Minerals Management Service (MMS), the Interior Department agency that’s responsible for overseeing offshore drilling but has developed more of a reputation for its staffers deferring to and partying with its oil industry buds.  

AP’s Justin Pritchard reveals the latest example of MMS’s diddling.  During the past five years, the agency became increasingly lax about making monthly safety inspections of the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded.  Which explains why since January 2005 inspectors had issued just one minor infraction for the rig. Which explains why last year MMS was able to single out the Deepwater well as an industry model for safety. 

A case of Bush reflux

One person who won’t be anywhere near Washington this week but deserves to take heat for the MMS mess is none other than George W. Bush, says Matthew Yglesias, writing for The Daily Beast.  The MMS became a poster child for the Bush policy of hands-off regulation, or as Yglesias puts it:

[The MMS developed] a culture of indifference to the substantive missions of government agencies. This, of course, was the very essence of the Bush administration approach to government. When a regulator could be staffed by shills for the industry it was supposed to oversee, it was. When no industry particularly wanted to own an agency, like FEMA, it was handed over to a random crony. The results were disastrous and we’re still paying the price today.

Andrew Sullivan, in his Daily Dish blog for The Atlantic, fingers a different culprit.  “The BP disaster is not Obama’s Katrina; it’s Cheney’s delayed Katrina,” he writes. He also points out how enthusiastically Sarah Palin was waving her pom-poms for “Damn the permits, full speed ahead!” in a column for The National Review just weeks before Deepwater went down.  Among her comments:

What we need is action—action that results in the job growth and revenue that a robust drilling policy could provide.  And let’s not forget that while Interior Department bureaucrats continue to hold up actual offshore drilling from taking place, Russia is moving full steam ahead on Arctic drilling, and China, Russia, and Venezuela are buying leases off the coast of Cuba.

She hit the trifecta: China and Russia and Chavez, oh my!  Plus Cuba.

Enough , already

Not surprisingly, newspapers along the Gulf Coast have joined the MMS whipping party.  From an editorial in the New Orleans Times-Picayune: 

For South Louisianians, the Minerals Management lapses are painfully reminiscent of the shoddy work by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that led to the deadly collapse of federal floodwalls during Katrina … It is already clear, though, that federal oversight was virtually nonexistent, and safety suffered because of it.

And from the Pensacola News Journal:   

To ensure that regulatory agencies didn’t regulate well, Bush stocked them with former industry officials and even lobbyists, who worked from inside to loosen regulation.

Finally, Reuters reports that the Center for Biological Diversity plans to sue the Interior Department for failing to get environmental permits for many offshore drilling activities, as required by two environmental laws, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act.

“The Department of the Interior and the Minerals Management Service are creating a lawless zone in the Gulf of Mexico when it comes to these environmental laws,” said Miyoko Sakashita, the center’s oceans director. “The oil companies really get to call the shots.”

For MMS, the party’s over.

Related Links:

The real trouble from the oil spill is brewing deep under the sea

Oil now threatening Gulf’s cradles of biodiversity, its reefs

Tube is suctioning one-fifth of spewing oil, says BP executive