London, 1,000 “Boris bikes” stranded..[ 1654 ]

1,000 Boris bikes kept off roads as residents object

Docking in: commuters at Waterloo with the Boris bikes

Ross Lydall and Emma Worthington
Standard co.uk., 17.08.10

Α series of bizarre protests from residents has left 1,000 “Boris bikes” stranded in an underground garage and unable to be used by cyclists.Councils have refused to grant permission for 76 docking stations, meaning that Transport for London can only put 5,000 of the 6,000 hire bikes on the street.

One group of residents claimed it would be a “violation of their human rights” if a docking station were to be built outside their mansion block in Bloomsbury. 

Another complaint centred on the fact that the bikes would be positioned under a tree and would be covered in bird-droppings. Many residents have expressed concern that the bikes would be used by drunken revellers indulging in “horseplay”. One Kensington resident said anybody wanting to cycle “will already own a bike”. 

An Evening Standard investigation has found that Westminster council has refused 29 docking stations. Twelve have been refused in Kensington and Chelsea, seven in Camden, six each in Islington — including one in Boris Johnson's street — the City of London and Lambeth, five in Southwark, two each in the Royal Parks and in Tower Hamlets and one in Hackney.

The shortage of docking stations — there are 335 at present, 65 short of the 400 that should have been in place for the £140 million scheme's launch on July 30 — has left 1,000 bikes, each costing around £350, stranded in TfL contactor Serco's depot in Islington.

It has also meant that “Boris bikers” have complained about shortages of cycles at Waterloo and other mainline stations, and of a dire shortage of docking stations around Covent Garden. Serco has now deployed staff to Waterloo to ensure there are extra bikes and docking points during the morning and evening rush-hours.

Camden council's planing committee turned down an application for a 30-bike docking station in Torrington Place, Bloomsbury, after 30 residents turned up to complain.

Andrew Marshall, a Tory member of the committee, called on other public organisations in central London, such as universities and hospitals, to help find space for docking stations. 

A TfL spokeswoman said: “We have worked closely with the boroughs to identify the most suitable locations for docking stations and, as the planning authorities, they make the final decision and 76 sites that we applied for were turned down.

“We will continue to work with the boroughs to add to these... and remain on track to have 400 docking stations across the centre of the capital.”

NASA Image of the Day, Aug 17th ..[ 1653 ]

The latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.

Of Dust and Creation

This infrared image taken by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, shows a star-forming cloud teeming with gas, dust and massive newborn stars. WISE, which is surveying the whole sky in infrared light, is particularly sensitive to the warm dust that permeates star-forming clouds like this one. In this way, 

 

WISE complements visible-light observations. The mission also complements Hubble and other telescopes by showing the 'big picture," providing context for more detailed observations. The cluster contains some of the most massive stars known. 

 

Winds and radiation from the stars are evaporating and dispersing the cloud material from which they formed, warming the cold dust and gas surrounding the central nebula. 

 

This greenish "halo" of warm cloud material is seen best by WISE due to its large field of view and improved sensitivity over past all-sky infrared surveys. 

 

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA

Τρίτη, 17 Αύγουστος 2010 7:00:00 πμ

NASA Image of the Day, Aug 16th....[ 1652 ]

The latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.

Into the Light

Reflecting on his experience as he emerged from the craft into the daylight on the Expedition 24 mission's second spacewalk, astronaut Doug Wheelock said "the colors of the Earth just explode at you as you exit toward the planet. 

 

Notice what looks like scorch marks on the hatch thermal cover, the effect of vacuum and atomic oxygen on the threads and thread sealant used on the thermal cover. 

 

The 'smell' of space follows suit, I’ve heard it described like burnt cake or cookies, or like the smell of an extinguished match." Wheelock and fellow astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson completed the second of three spacewalks to remove a failed ammonia coolant pump module on the station's S1 truss on Wednesday, Aug. 11. 

 

Image Credit: NASA

Δευτέρα, 16 Αύγουστος 2010 7:00:00 πμ

French Officials vs Activists..[ 1651 ]

French officials condemn activists' alleged vine destruction

By Pat Thompson, CNN

August 16, 2010 -- Updated 2024 GMT (0424 HKT)

Voluntary Reaper Jose Bove, left, joins protesters in pulling up a genetically modified corn crop.

Paris, France (CNN) -- The head of a government laboratory studying genetically modified plants said Monday that activists caused major damage during their weekend attack on a research facility in eastern France.

Before dawn Sunday, about 70 masked activists associated with the European protest movement Faucheurs Volontaires -- or Voluntary Reapers -- pulled 70 experimental grape vines by their roots and chopped them to pieces, said Jean Masson, president of the National Agricultural Research Institute, or INRA, in eastern France.

He estimated the total damage at 1 million euros ($1.28 million).

Police detained about 60 people, questioned them and then released them pending charges.

The vines were part of a transgenic experiment to develop disease-resistant plants at the INRA research station and had been attacked once before by a lone activist.

In a communique, the Faucheurs Volontaires said the grape vines were "neutralized" because "this experimental field was a first step toward imposing this type of agriculture, which is currently forbidden."

The communique was referring to the experimental development of genetically modified organisms.

The group, which has branches throughout France and Germany, has destroyed genetically modified corn in many regions.

Masson told CNN the vines were growing in soil that contains the disease they were studying and therefore cannot be used to plant new root stocks.

He said he hopes the attackers will be taken to court as soon as possible.

Masson said the vines would not have been sold and the government-supported institute is "based on pure research."

The attack was condemned by the ministers of Ecology, Research and Agriculture who said in a joint communique that they were "shocked by this act of scandalous degradation."

The French Farm Federation also condemned the destruction of the vines as a blow to French public-sector research and particularly to high-level genetic research.

The federation noted that French vineyards are concerned over the deadly plant virus called court-noue, which INRA was researching and for which there is no known remedy.

Ο ΓΑΠ προκαλεί την Αλκαϊντα..για βόμβο-επενδύσεις ?.. [ 1650 ]

---

Ο 'Ελληνας Πρωθυπουργός φιλοδοξεί να προκαλέσει το ενδιαφέρον της Αλ Κάϊντα, όπως αυτό για την Τουρκιά ;

Ενώ είναι νωπές ακόμα οι απειλές της ΑλΚάϊντα προς την Τουρκική Πολίτικη και Στρατιωτική Ηγεσια (Ποστ #1), στη Αθηνα αρχισε με πορείες διαμαρτυρίας η «υποδοχή» του πρωθυπουργού του Ισραήλ Μπέντζαμιν Νετανιάχου

ΑΘΗΝΑ.,Την αντίδραση των κομμάτων της Αριστεράς και άλλων οργανώσεων έχει προκαλέσει η επίσημη επίσκεψη στην Αθήνα, σημερα Δευτέρα, του πρωθυπουργού του Ισραήλ Μπέντζαμιν Νετανιάχου. Αντιδρώντας στην πολιτική του Ισραήλ στη Μέση Ανατολή το ΚΚΕ και οργανώσεις καλούν σε συγκεντρώσεις διαμαρτυρίας το απόγευμα της Δευτέρας.
-
Στο πλαίσιο των αντιδράσεων αυτών, το πρωί της Κυριακής ομάδα προχώρησε στην ανάρτιση της παλαιστινικής σημαίας στον Ιερό Βράχο της Ακρόπολης.Στο ίδιο πλαίσιο, η Πρωτοβουλία Συλλογικοτήτων ενάντια στην επίσκεψη Νετανιάχου καλεί σε συγκέντρωση διαμαρτυρίας το απόγευμα της Δευτέρας στην πλατεία Συντάγματος.
-
Όπως αναφέρουν, η επίσκεψη «αποτελεί πρόκληση πρώτου μεγέθους για το κοινό περί δικαίου αίσθημα» και επισημαίνουν ότι η Ελλάδα στηρίζει το Ισραήλ «σε μια στιγμή που βρίσκεται πιο έκθετο από ποτέ στη διεθνή σκηνή».
-
Επίσης, με ανακοίνωσή του το ΚΚΕ«καλεί το λαό να εκδηλώσει την έντονη διαμαρτυρία του για την επίσκεψη του πρωθυπουργού του Ισραήλ στη χώρα μας, να καταδικάσει την υποστήριξη που προσφέρει η ελληνική κυβέρνηση στον επιθετικό - ιμπεριαλιστικό ρόλο του Ισραήλ κατά των λαών της Μέσης Ανατολής».Επιπλέον, καλεί σε διαδήλωση τη Δευτέρα στις 7:30 μμ στο Πολεμικό Μουσείο και πορεία προς την ισραηλινή πρεσβεία.

-Ο ΣΥΡΙΖΑ σε ανακοίνωσή του χαρακτηρίζει τον κ. Νετανιάχου «ανεπιθύμητο στην Ελλάδα και συμπληρώνει: «Το να επιλέγει ειδικά αυτή τη στιγμή η κυβέρνηση της Ελλάδας την αναθέρμανση των οικονομικών, τουριστικών, επιστημονικών και κυρίως των στρατιωτικών σχέσεων με την κυβέρνηση του Τελ Αβίβ, εγκυμονεί τεράστιους κινδύνους για την εμπλοκή και της Ελλάδας στα καταστροφικά αδιέξοδα της ισραηλινής επιθετικότητας.»
-
Αν η κυβέρνηση Παπανδρέου αποβλέπει να εκμεταλλευτεί τις σημερινές κακές τουρκοϊσραηλινές σχέσεις, σχεδιάζει κοντόφθαλμα. Αν πάλι έχει αναλάβει τον ρόλο του ενδιάμεσου, προκειμένου να βγει το Ισραήλ από την απομόνωση, προσφέρει κακές υπηρεσίες στην ειρήνη στην περιοχή μας και στον κόσμο».Πάντως, στο επίκεντρο των επαφών του κ. Νετανιάχου με τον πρωθυπουργό Γιώργο Παπανδρέου θα βρεθούν οι διμερείς σχέσεις Ελλάδας και Ισραήλ.
-
Πρόκειται για την πρώτη επίσκεψη Ισραηλινού πρωθυπουργού στην Ελλάδα.
-
Ελλάδα και Ισραήλ πραγματοποιούσαν κοινές στρατιωτικές ασκήσεις, οι οποίες όμως ανεστάλησαν μετά την επίθεση του Ισραήλ στον διεθνή στολίσκο που μετέφερε ανθρωπιστική βοήθεια στη Γάζα. Από το φθινόπωρο οι ασκήσεις αυτές ενδέχεται να αρχίσουν εκ νέου.
ΧΑΡΑΛΑΜΠΑΚΗΣ στις 10:08 π.μ.