Friday, May 14, 2010

WEB BOHEMIAN (Friday, May 14, 2010)
(1)- ITALIAN SCANDAL -- The investigation into the fraudulent use of red light cameras in Italy last week concluded with prosecutors preparing charges against thirty-eight public officials and photo enforcement company executives.

(2)- SNIPER RECORD -- A British sniper set a world sharpshooting record by taking out two Taliban soldiers in Afghanistan from more than a mile and a half away -- a distance so far, the terrorists wouldn't have even heard the shots.

(3)- CHINESE BUSINESS TACTICS -- a Texas pollen scientist says China, the world's largest honey producer, sends honey to other countries for labeling and then into the United States to avoid paying U.S. tariffs of up to 500 percent.

(4)- NEW LOCKUP -- Halden, Norway's second largest prison, with a capacity of 252 inmates, opened on April 8. It embodies the guiding principles of the country's penal system: that repressive prisons do not work.

(5)- EAVESDROPING IS UP – State and federal authorized criminal case wiretaps jumped 26 percent from 2008 to 2009, says the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. 96 % of court authorized criminal wiretap orders target cellphones.

(6)- DON’T LABEL HAWKING -- as Stephen Hawking presents his ideas about what travel in the future might resemble, he admits that he had kept quiet on the subject for fear of being labeled a heretic by the scientific community.

(7)- OH DEAR! -- The possibility that people might be modeling themselves after characters on soaps seems farfetched and frightening. But a spate of recent research suggests that, all over the world, that’s exactly what’s happening.

(8)- LANGUAGE REPORT -- A German scientist has developed one of the first translation programs suitable for everyday use. Sheer computing power gives the software surprisingly good results -- perhaps the best machine-created best yet.

(9)- BOOK REPORT – The pill wasn't just a medical breakthrough; it was part of a messy, incomplete, sometimes disappointing, but ultimately life-altering social revolution for millions of women. Here’s a brief history of that revolution.

POLITICAL COMMENTARY

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