Most people, especially the Russians, regard Alexander Solzhenitsin as a patriot and a hero. What did he essentially do? He told on the Soviet Union. He was a whistle blower.
Many Russians regard Vladimir Rezun as a traitor. What did he essentially do? He told on the Soviet Union. He was a whistle blower.
Half the Americans regard Daniel Ellsberg as one of the most important figures in Nixonian America and the man who blew the whistle on Vietnam. The other half accept, in varying degrees, Henry Kissinger’s assessment of the man: A fanatical drug-crazed sexual pervert, the most dangerous man in America, who has to be stopped at all costs.
On Dec. 12, 1901, Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi made history by using a kite and some copper wire atop Signal Hill in St. John's to receive a wireless signal from across the Atlantic Ocean. More than a century later, a group of radio scientists in Newfoundland are conducting a series of tests aiming to debunk Mr. Marconi's claim to fame. "We're essentially setting out to prove it wrong," said Joe Craig, a physicist and director of the Marconi Radio Club. I love some of the reader comments:
While we're at it, let's debunk the biggest scientific fraud...
Perhaps the scientists would get a better understanding by listening...
Poor Marconi, he should have discovered global warming instead...
The full report is here.
Explosive scanning devices, sniffer dogs, high-tech surveillance cameras, opening the gates two hours before the start of play to allow time for comprehensive bag searches, zero tolerance on poor behaviour, anti-terrorist exercises - cricket will never be the same. Is it all necessary? Zero tolerance of poor behaviour now. What - yelling out, ‘Bloody convict!’ or ‘Pommy bastard!’? Does this constitute poor behaviour and justify being dragged away for a few rounds of electro-torture and simulated drowning? The Public Safety Response Team will spearhead the security operation for the first Test at the Gabba which starts on November 23 and my understanding is that these are boys you don’t want to mess with.
The man in the photo is Alistair Lynch, triple premiership spearhead - hardly a hypochondriac, hardly a shrinking violet. A solid customer. And yet he has CFS [Chronic Fatigue Syndrome] which not only greatly reduced what he could do but put CFS on the table for discussion. Was there ever a syndrome so mercilessly attacked and summarily dismissed and yet it exists. He was diagnosed with it. Thousands of others have it. Just how real is it?
Planning to go to Hawai'i? A report by U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., found more than half of U.S. commercial airports - including Los Angeles International, Chicago's O'Hare International and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International - have runways that lack either a 1,000-foot margin at the end of a runway as a safety zone or an "arrestor bed" to slow overrunning aircraft. Scott Ishikawa, spokesman for Hawai'i DOT, said the protections may be physically impossible to provide at some Hawai'i airports, such as Lana'i airport, where the edge of one runway is at the lip of a gulch. "There may be physical limitations for certain runways that we'll have to look at."
Marvellous day outside. There’s a white, bright greyness to the sky and it merges into a misty haze through the dimly visible trees. Children are playing downstairs in their light jackets and hoods, the temperature is about … one moment … let me see … plus three and it’s quiet and still out there. It induces calm reflection, snug in our heated rooms but it’s just inviting us to go out for a long, brisk walk or a trip to the forest and shashlik.
Most people, especially the Russians, regard Alexander Solzhenitsin as a patriot and a hero. What did he essentially do? He told on the Soviet Union. He was a whistle blower.
