palsgraf_polka

The first trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!

http://www.mugglenet.com/trailer.php

OMG OMG OMG

I am so excited.

Abnormal radiation detected near Korean border

SEOUL, South Korea – Abnormally high radiation levels were detected near the border between the two Koreas days after North Korea claimed to have mastered a complex technology key to manufacturing a hydrogen bomb, Seoul said Monday.

The Science Ministry said its investigation ruled out a nuclear test by North Korea, but failed to determine the source of the radiation. It said there was no evidence of an earthquake, which follows an atomic explosion.

On May 12, North Korea claimed its scientists succeeded in creating a nuclear fusion reaction — a technology necessary to manufacture a hydrogen bomb. In its announcement, the North did not say how it would use the technology, only calling it a "breakthrough toward the development of new energy."

South Korean experts doubted the North actually made such a breakthrough. Scientists around the world have been experimenting with fusion for decades, but it has yet to be developed into a viable energy alternative.

On May 15, however, the atmospheric concentration of xenon — an inert gas released after a nuclear explosion or radioactive leakage from a nuclear power plant — on the South Korean side of their shared border was found to be eight times higher than normal, according to South Korea's Science Ministry.

South Korea subsequently looked for signs of an artificially induced earthquake of a magnitude typically registered during a nuclear test. Experts, however, found no signs of such a quake in North Korea, a ministry statement said.

"We determined that there was no possibility of an underground nuclear test," it said. The ministry said the gas is not harmful.

While any fusion test would have registered seismic activity, according to nuclear expert Whang Joo-ho of South Korea's Kyung Hee University, the presence of xenon could also have come from a leak.

Since the wind was blowing from north to south when the xenon was detected, a Science Ministry official said the gas could not have originated from any nuclear power plants in South Korea.

But the official — speaking on condition of anonymity, citing department policy — said the xenon could have come from Russia or China. Whang agreed, saying a nuclear test or radioactive leakage would be the only reasons that could explain the atmospheric concentration of xenon reported by the ministry.

A Vienna-based United Nations agency, however, said no signs of increased radioactivity were detected last month along the Korean border.

"We have not registered anything that would raise any suspicion," said Kirsten Haupt, a spokeswoman for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, a U.N. agency that looks for signs of nuclear testing worldwide.

Earlier Monday, South Korea's mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that North Korea may have conducted a small-sized nuclear test, citing the abnormal radioactivity. The paper cited an atomic expert it did not identify.

North Korea — which is believed to have enough weaponized plutonium for at least a half-dozen nuclear weapons — conducted two underground nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, drawing international condemnation and U.N. sanctions.

The news of the detected radiation comes as tension is running high on the Korean peninsula over the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on a North Korean torpedo attack. North Korea flatly denies the allegation and has warned any punishment would trigger war, as the U.N. Security Council reviews Seoul's request for action over the sinking.

I wonder what it was?

Disaster Capitalists: Haliburton to Make Money Off Oil Spill

http://rawstory.com/rs/?p=127861

Does a company that both builds oil rigs and cleans up oil spills have any motivation to prevent oil rig disasters?

That's the question some people in business and politics are asking themselves after Halliburton's purchase of an oil clean-up company 10 days before the Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 workers and launched the worst oil spill in US history.

Some observers see a conspiracy in the actions of the company once headed by Dick Cheney. Halliburton, which built the cement casing for the Deepwater Horizon's drill, announced its purchase of Houston-based oilfield services company Boots and Coots for $240 million on April 9, just 11 days before the Deepwater Horizon explosion.

According to a report at the Christian Science Monitor Friday, Boots and Coots is now under contract with BP to help with the oil spill. The company "focuses on oil spill prevention and blowout response," CSM reports. Halliburton's purchase is not yet a done deal -- it's still awaiting regulatory approval, though few observers think the purchase won't pass muster.

"[Mergers and acquisitions] in the industrial and oil services sectors is totally normal," writes David Anderson at The Inspired Economist, "but the timing in this case, is not. Boots & Coots sure seems like the perfect company to own if it would soon become necessary to get more involved with some oil disaster.

"Does this strike readers as a coincidence? If so, it’s a pretty lucky one for Halliburton."

But could Halliburton have known that an oil disaster was on the horizon, and planned in advance to profit from it? News reports indicate they could have.

The New York Times reported in May that BP was concerned about the rig's well casing -- which Halliburton worked on -- as early as June of 2009. The Times also reported that a Halliburton employee warned BP three weeks before the explosion that BP's use of cement for the well casing was "against [Halliburton's] best practices."

But even if the company's purchase of Boots and Coots was just a "lucky coincidence," there is still plenty about it to alarm observers. According to CSM, analysts are worried that a company like Halliburton will grow "complacent" in preventing disasters, because there is money to be made from cleaning up the mess -- and then rebuilding the oil rig.

“Working on both sides of the fence” is common in the oil industry, University of Louisiana professor Robert Gramling told CSM, but “it makes for a very complex decision-making environment that can become problematic."

At the very least, Halliburton's purchase should give the company a revenue boost. While Halliburton has been reporting plummeting revenue in recent quarters, Boots and Coots has been a business success story, with its revenue jumping from $11 million in 2000 to $209 million in 2008, before dropping slightly in 2009.

as annoyed as I am by LJ only putting 10 entries per page now? It's really bugging me.

Fucking Russians.

Thursday June 3rd:

Arrive at ORD at 16:32. Check in at hotel. Haven't decided what to do with my Thursday night yet.

Friday June 4th:

10:00 Architectural Riverboat Cruise for an hour.
11:00-14:00 TBD
14:00-16:00 Walking Tour - Historic Downtown (north): Treasures of Culture & Commerce
16:00 meet wobblerlorri at the hotel, catch up with her
18:00 dinner with wobblerlorri
20:00-23:00 Two comedy shows with wobblerlorri

Saturday June 5th:

Morning with wobblerlorri at the Planetarium
Lunch with wobblerlorri
Afternoon catching up on internet at hotel while wobblerlorri naps
Evening is dinner with jblaque and company at the Chinese BBQ
Late evening get shitfaced with jblaque and company at the bar

Sunday June 6th:

Morning: send wobblerlorri back to the airport
10:00-12:00: Walking Tour: Historic Downtown (south): Rise of the Skyscraper
Lunch somewhere
Afternoon: DuSable Museum of African American History
Evening: Dinner somewhere nice Rosebud [Thanks jblaque] and then relax at the hotel!

Monday June 7th:

Morning & Early afternoon: The Art Institute!
17:25 my flight home from ORD to LGB

I am so excited!

So I was driving home and my check oil light came on. So I stopped at the local auto parts store and checked my oil level. Almost gone. This is the second time this has happened, and there have been no dripping oil spots under my car, so I must be slowly burning oil. The engine has 150,000 miles on it, so it's not too much of a shock. But it is a Prius. When I get back from Chicago I'll have Toyota check it out.

Anyway, so I am at the auto parts store, and I'm standing next to my car waiting for the first quart to sink down so I can check the oil level. This man pulls up in a minivan and starts to go in the store, but then he sees me standing there waiting, and he comes over to me. He looks sort of like Fez from That 70s Show and he says,

"Are you ok? Is something wrong with your car?"

I replied that yes, it was low on oil and I'm slowly adding some.

"Do you need any help with anything? Can I help you?"

I replied, no, I think I have it under control.

"Oh, ok....WOW! You're really on the ball! Are you sure you don't need my help?"

I smiled and said I'm cool. He finally went inside.

Yes, I need help because of course I'm a helpless woman who just stares at her engine wondering how these little metal things work.

Geesh.

He was nice enough, but seriously, a woman alone at the auto parts store just brings out the Tim Allen in men.

Anyway, I'm going to check my oil every Monday from now on. I'll keep a quart in my car.

[Poll #1563199]

ETA: I take them because DHA is supposed to be good for evening out bipolar moods.