Outside of wars and politics: Lebanon's natural beauty is second to none
"Switzerland" comparison does not exactly come to mind when you consider how war-torn and miserable this nation has been in the recent years. But cast a longer look around you while visiting this incredible spot in the Middle East - and the ancient, spectacular beauty of the place will start to haunt you, bless you, and lift you above political agendas and human strife.
PHOTOS:
http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/10/lebanon-switzerland-of-middle-east.html
Friday, October 3, 2008
CALL TODAY - VOTE AT 12:30pm
Many of the No voters are switching.
They are being lied to. More then 1/2 of this money will leave the US as soon as this bill is enacted.
Financial Commercial Paper is collapsing, but non-financial is doing fine and demand is near all time highs based on recently released FED data. Why? Because non-financial firms have transparent balance sheets.
This bill allows banks to further cloud their balance sheets.
FULL ARTICLE:
http://fedupusa.org/
They are being lied to. More then 1/2 of this money will leave the US as soon as this bill is enacted.
Financial Commercial Paper is collapsing, but non-financial is doing fine and demand is near all time highs based on recently released FED data. Why? Because non-financial firms have transparent balance sheets.
This bill allows banks to further cloud their balance sheets.
FULL ARTICLE:
http://fedupusa.org/
Estimates show Palin assets top $1 million
WASILLA, Alaska - Sarah Palin and her husband have pieced together a uniquely Alaskan income that reached comfortably into six figures even before she became governor, capitalizing on valuable fishing rights, a series of land deals and a patchwork of other ventures to build an above-average lifestyle.
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Add up the couple's 2007 income and the estimated value of their property and investments and they appear to be worth at least $1.2 million. That would make the Palins, like Democratic vice presidential rival Joe Biden and his wife Jill, well-off but not nearly as wealthy as multimillionaire couples John and Cindy McCain and, to a lesser extent, Barack and Michelle Obama.
One measure of financial health: While there is a home loan, Palin reported no personal credit card debt on her most recent financial report as Alaska governor. That compares to average household credit card debt among Americans of $9,840 last year.
A more complete picture will come when Sarah Palin outlines her personal finances in federal paperwork in coming days. It will include details of any mortgage debt and at least rough dollar totals for bank accounts and investments.
Palin this week characterized herself as "an everyday, working-class American" who knows how it feels when the stock market takes a hit.
The Palins' total income last year was split almost evenly between Sarah Palin's white-collar job and her husband's blue-collar work. Sarah Palin's salary as governor was $125,000; Todd Palin took in $46,790 as a part-time oil production operator for BP Alaska in Prudhoe Bay, plus $46,265 in commercial fishing income and $10,500 in Iron Dog snowmachine race winnings. These figures do not include nearly $17,000 in per diem payments Palin received for 312 nights spent in her own home since she was elected governor; she also has received $43,490 to cover travel costs for her husband and children.
In addition, each member of the Palin family received $1,654 in state oil royalties paid to all Alaskans.
The Palins' assets seem enviable: a half-million-dollar home on a lake with a float-plane at the dock, two vacation retreats, commercial-fishing rights worth an estimated $50,000 or more and an income last year of at least $230,000. That compares to a median income of $64,333 for Alaskans and $50,740 for Americans in 2007, according to the Census Bureau.
But in Alaska, scarce roads make private planes commonplace, it's typical to spend a month or two fishing commercially, and wilderness acreage is so plentiful the state has sold loads' worth stake-your-claim style. So, it's often the finer points that matter: How old is the airplane? Where exactly is the fishing spot? Is the house on a paved road?
Land itself doesn't necessarily translate to wealth, said Tom Hawkins of Anchorage, who paid about $2,000 for a five-acre parcel miles from the nearest road, best reached by snowmachine.
"I've got a stunning parcel overlooking a river," Hawkins said. "I took my wife to it. And she stood up and looked out at the stunning view and said, 'Dear, what are we going to do with it?'"
The Palins' main residence, a large two-story house on Lake Lucille in Wasilla, draws much of its value from its prime position along a paved road and float-plane accessible lake, said Darcie Salmon, a local real estate agent. He said lakefront land is plentiful in Alaska, but lakefront land along paved roads isn't.
The Palins' home, tucked behind a wooded field, is off Wasilla's main road, Parks Highway, a mostly four-lane road cluttered with restaurants, bars, retail stores, offices, grocery stores and big-box outlets such as Target. A store-bought "no trespassing" sign is posted near the entry to an unmarked, private gravel drive that winds about 100 yards to the lakefront home. A neighbor's property has an old metal gate at its entrance with a sign warning, "Enter at your own risk."
The Palins' four-bedroom, four-bath house, nearly 3,500 square feet, sits on just over two acres behind a tall wood-plank privacy fence that runs along one side of the property. It's one of the newest homes in the Snider subdivision lining Lake Lucille and is assessed at $552,000 — more than twice the value of a neighboring two-acre lot with a much smaller, older wood-frame home.
Todd Palin built the house with friends who were contractors, he said in a recent television interview.
The house is worth substantially more than the Palins' starter home, a three-bedroom, two-bath house house built in 1984 on the far western boundary of Wasilla. The quiet, wooded neighborhood was developed about three miles from the city center, with half-acre lots and space for young families.
In addition to the Lake Lucille home, the Palins own recreational property in two remote areas accessible by plane, all-terrain vehicle or snowmachine.
The Palins invested in five lots along Safari Lake, an undeveloped area near Denali State Park. They bought the property, once owned by the state's Department of Natural Resources and valued at $30,000 in assessment records, with friends Scott and Deborah Richter in 2004 and 2005. The Richters have since divorced.
With other friends, the Palins own a cabin on five acres southwest of Wasilla and the Iditarod National Historic Trail. The land and cabin are assessed at $55,000; property records do not show what the Palins paid for their share.
The Palins own snowmachines and an airplane. Todd Palin has a 1958 Piper float plane that he said has been in his family for about 20 years.
Though old, such planes remain in wide use. Palin's plane would be worth from about $38,000 to $78,000 depending on its condition, said Boyd Newman, owner of West One Aircraft Sales in Caldwell, Idaho.
Other family assets include Todd Palin's shoreside lease and commercial fishing permit to harvest salmon from Bristol Bay each season. Last year, the Palins took in $46,265 commercial fishing for sockeye salmon over about a month.
Todd Palin said he purchased his permit from his grandfather in the 1970s. A limited number of permits and shoreline leases have been issued, and the rights to them are often passed down through families or sold. Holders pay a fee each year to renew them.
Palin's is worth about $30,000, a shoreside lease on Coffee Point, where Palin's set-net site is located, is worth about $20,000, and Palin's skiff and gear are likely worth another $20,000, according to estimates by Paul Piercey, a broker with Dock Street Brokers in Seattle, which handles sales of fishing permits, boats and shoreside leases.
Palin's fishing spot is considered good but not great, Piercey said. And the work is backbreaking. Palin has said he expects to earn 68 cents per pound for this summer's catch.
"When you get up in the morning, your fingers are so swollen that you have to stick them in a bucket of icewater just to get movement back again" and ease the pain, said Hawkins, who fished on Bristol Bay one year.
Hawkins is former chief operating officer of the Bristol Bay Native Corp. and former chief executive of Choggiung Ltd., two native corporations in which Todd Palin, who is part Yup'ik Eskimo, is a shareholder, along with the Palin children. The Palins are among about 8,000 shareholders in BBNC and among about 1,200 shareholders in Choggiung Limited, Hawkins said.
Sarah Palin reported Todd Palin collecting $266 and each child $21 in dividends last year from BBNC, and a total of $16.50 from Choggiung Limited.
Todd Palin is still a BP employee. Company spokesman Steve Rinehart declined to describe Palin's status beyond confirming his employment. Palin's schedule is one week on, one week off, Palin said in a recent television interview.
Palin previously left BP in the 1990s to run Valley Polaris, a snowmachine, four-wheeler and watercraft dealership he pursued with a friend and business partner. They sold the business in 1997; public records do not show whether it was at a profit or a loss. At the time, Sarah Palin was earning about $61,000 a year as Wasilla mayor.
The Polaris dealership was among three business ventures the Palins explored; the others never took off. Palin's financial disclosure reports do not say how much if any money the Palins invested in the business ventures or real estate, or what if any profit they made on sales.
Sarah Palin formed a consulting business called "Rouge Cou" — French for redneck — but didn't pursue it.
The Palins teamed with another couple, Ray and Carolin Wells of Anchorage, to start a car wash in Anchorage, but it was never built. Carolin Wells described the Palins as silent partners she believes initially paid half the money to buy the land. Around the time Sarah Palin began considering a run for governor, the Palins reduced their stake to 40 percent.
Barely a year into the land ownership, the man lined up to operate the car wash backed out, and since neither couple wanted to run it, they decided to sell the land and move on, Carolin Wells said. She couldn't recall the purchase or sales prices of the land, but believes she and her husband made a modest profit and the Palins broke even.
The couples let their state paperwork lapse on the venture, Anchorage Car Wash LLC, resulting in a letter threatening to dissolve the corporation. The letterhead carried Gov. Palin's name on it.
The deal was among several involving undeveloped land the Palins have engaged in over the years.
The Palins purchased a parcel on Beaverhouse Lake in Big Lake in 2003 and sold it in 2004 for an undisclosed amount. The land has been assessed at $14,000 the past three years.
The Palins sold nearly five acres of undeveloped waterfront property on the northeast shore of Wasilla Lake in 2005 to a local developer. The sales price wasn't disclosed. The land now is subdivided into five parcels, with two waterfront lots, two others behind those, and a commercial lot. Duane Mathes, a local real estate agent showing the property for the owner who bought it from the Palins, said the leveled lots are listed for $149,500 each.
Salmon, who was mayor of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough that includes Wasilla while Palin was Wasilla mayor, recalled that as mayor, Sarah Palin shared many of his pro-development views, and said the Palins' land acquisitions weren't unusual.
"A lot of Alaskans own a lot of land," Salmon said, "and if you're bright, you buy land in the path of progress."
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Add up the couple's 2007 income and the estimated value of their property and investments and they appear to be worth at least $1.2 million. That would make the Palins, like Democratic vice presidential rival Joe Biden and his wife Jill, well-off but not nearly as wealthy as multimillionaire couples John and Cindy McCain and, to a lesser extent, Barack and Michelle Obama.
One measure of financial health: While there is a home loan, Palin reported no personal credit card debt on her most recent financial report as Alaska governor. That compares to average household credit card debt among Americans of $9,840 last year.
A more complete picture will come when Sarah Palin outlines her personal finances in federal paperwork in coming days. It will include details of any mortgage debt and at least rough dollar totals for bank accounts and investments.
Palin this week characterized herself as "an everyday, working-class American" who knows how it feels when the stock market takes a hit.
The Palins' total income last year was split almost evenly between Sarah Palin's white-collar job and her husband's blue-collar work. Sarah Palin's salary as governor was $125,000; Todd Palin took in $46,790 as a part-time oil production operator for BP Alaska in Prudhoe Bay, plus $46,265 in commercial fishing income and $10,500 in Iron Dog snowmachine race winnings. These figures do not include nearly $17,000 in per diem payments Palin received for 312 nights spent in her own home since she was elected governor; she also has received $43,490 to cover travel costs for her husband and children.
In addition, each member of the Palin family received $1,654 in state oil royalties paid to all Alaskans.
The Palins' assets seem enviable: a half-million-dollar home on a lake with a float-plane at the dock, two vacation retreats, commercial-fishing rights worth an estimated $50,000 or more and an income last year of at least $230,000. That compares to a median income of $64,333 for Alaskans and $50,740 for Americans in 2007, according to the Census Bureau.
But in Alaska, scarce roads make private planes commonplace, it's typical to spend a month or two fishing commercially, and wilderness acreage is so plentiful the state has sold loads' worth stake-your-claim style. So, it's often the finer points that matter: How old is the airplane? Where exactly is the fishing spot? Is the house on a paved road?
Land itself doesn't necessarily translate to wealth, said Tom Hawkins of Anchorage, who paid about $2,000 for a five-acre parcel miles from the nearest road, best reached by snowmachine.
"I've got a stunning parcel overlooking a river," Hawkins said. "I took my wife to it. And she stood up and looked out at the stunning view and said, 'Dear, what are we going to do with it?'"
The Palins' main residence, a large two-story house on Lake Lucille in Wasilla, draws much of its value from its prime position along a paved road and float-plane accessible lake, said Darcie Salmon, a local real estate agent. He said lakefront land is plentiful in Alaska, but lakefront land along paved roads isn't.
The Palins' home, tucked behind a wooded field, is off Wasilla's main road, Parks Highway, a mostly four-lane road cluttered with restaurants, bars, retail stores, offices, grocery stores and big-box outlets such as Target. A store-bought "no trespassing" sign is posted near the entry to an unmarked, private gravel drive that winds about 100 yards to the lakefront home. A neighbor's property has an old metal gate at its entrance with a sign warning, "Enter at your own risk."
The Palins' four-bedroom, four-bath house, nearly 3,500 square feet, sits on just over two acres behind a tall wood-plank privacy fence that runs along one side of the property. It's one of the newest homes in the Snider subdivision lining Lake Lucille and is assessed at $552,000 — more than twice the value of a neighboring two-acre lot with a much smaller, older wood-frame home.
Todd Palin built the house with friends who were contractors, he said in a recent television interview.
The house is worth substantially more than the Palins' starter home, a three-bedroom, two-bath house house built in 1984 on the far western boundary of Wasilla. The quiet, wooded neighborhood was developed about three miles from the city center, with half-acre lots and space for young families.
In addition to the Lake Lucille home, the Palins own recreational property in two remote areas accessible by plane, all-terrain vehicle or snowmachine.
The Palins invested in five lots along Safari Lake, an undeveloped area near Denali State Park. They bought the property, once owned by the state's Department of Natural Resources and valued at $30,000 in assessment records, with friends Scott and Deborah Richter in 2004 and 2005. The Richters have since divorced.
With other friends, the Palins own a cabin on five acres southwest of Wasilla and the Iditarod National Historic Trail. The land and cabin are assessed at $55,000; property records do not show what the Palins paid for their share.
The Palins own snowmachines and an airplane. Todd Palin has a 1958 Piper float plane that he said has been in his family for about 20 years.
Though old, such planes remain in wide use. Palin's plane would be worth from about $38,000 to $78,000 depending on its condition, said Boyd Newman, owner of West One Aircraft Sales in Caldwell, Idaho.
Other family assets include Todd Palin's shoreside lease and commercial fishing permit to harvest salmon from Bristol Bay each season. Last year, the Palins took in $46,265 commercial fishing for sockeye salmon over about a month.
Todd Palin said he purchased his permit from his grandfather in the 1970s. A limited number of permits and shoreline leases have been issued, and the rights to them are often passed down through families or sold. Holders pay a fee each year to renew them.
Palin's is worth about $30,000, a shoreside lease on Coffee Point, where Palin's set-net site is located, is worth about $20,000, and Palin's skiff and gear are likely worth another $20,000, according to estimates by Paul Piercey, a broker with Dock Street Brokers in Seattle, which handles sales of fishing permits, boats and shoreside leases.
Palin's fishing spot is considered good but not great, Piercey said. And the work is backbreaking. Palin has said he expects to earn 68 cents per pound for this summer's catch.
"When you get up in the morning, your fingers are so swollen that you have to stick them in a bucket of icewater just to get movement back again" and ease the pain, said Hawkins, who fished on Bristol Bay one year.
Hawkins is former chief operating officer of the Bristol Bay Native Corp. and former chief executive of Choggiung Ltd., two native corporations in which Todd Palin, who is part Yup'ik Eskimo, is a shareholder, along with the Palin children. The Palins are among about 8,000 shareholders in BBNC and among about 1,200 shareholders in Choggiung Limited, Hawkins said.
Sarah Palin reported Todd Palin collecting $266 and each child $21 in dividends last year from BBNC, and a total of $16.50 from Choggiung Limited.
Todd Palin is still a BP employee. Company spokesman Steve Rinehart declined to describe Palin's status beyond confirming his employment. Palin's schedule is one week on, one week off, Palin said in a recent television interview.
Palin previously left BP in the 1990s to run Valley Polaris, a snowmachine, four-wheeler and watercraft dealership he pursued with a friend and business partner. They sold the business in 1997; public records do not show whether it was at a profit or a loss. At the time, Sarah Palin was earning about $61,000 a year as Wasilla mayor.
The Polaris dealership was among three business ventures the Palins explored; the others never took off. Palin's financial disclosure reports do not say how much if any money the Palins invested in the business ventures or real estate, or what if any profit they made on sales.
Sarah Palin formed a consulting business called "Rouge Cou" — French for redneck — but didn't pursue it.
The Palins teamed with another couple, Ray and Carolin Wells of Anchorage, to start a car wash in Anchorage, but it was never built. Carolin Wells described the Palins as silent partners she believes initially paid half the money to buy the land. Around the time Sarah Palin began considering a run for governor, the Palins reduced their stake to 40 percent.
Barely a year into the land ownership, the man lined up to operate the car wash backed out, and since neither couple wanted to run it, they decided to sell the land and move on, Carolin Wells said. She couldn't recall the purchase or sales prices of the land, but believes she and her husband made a modest profit and the Palins broke even.
The couples let their state paperwork lapse on the venture, Anchorage Car Wash LLC, resulting in a letter threatening to dissolve the corporation. The letterhead carried Gov. Palin's name on it.
The deal was among several involving undeveloped land the Palins have engaged in over the years.
The Palins purchased a parcel on Beaverhouse Lake in Big Lake in 2003 and sold it in 2004 for an undisclosed amount. The land has been assessed at $14,000 the past three years.
The Palins sold nearly five acres of undeveloped waterfront property on the northeast shore of Wasilla Lake in 2005 to a local developer. The sales price wasn't disclosed. The land now is subdivided into five parcels, with two waterfront lots, two others behind those, and a commercial lot. Duane Mathes, a local real estate agent showing the property for the owner who bought it from the Palins, said the leveled lots are listed for $149,500 each.
Salmon, who was mayor of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough that includes Wasilla while Palin was Wasilla mayor, recalled that as mayor, Sarah Palin shared many of his pro-development views, and said the Palins' land acquisitions weren't unusual.
"A lot of Alaskans own a lot of land," Salmon said, "and if you're bright, you buy land in the path of progress."
Pterodactyls were too heavy to fly, scientist claims
But now it seems pterodactyls, the terror of the prehistoric skies, may have struggled to get off the ground.
Artist's impression of a pterosaur, the 'dinosaur' known as a pterodactyl
The new research claims that the ancient reptiles, which could grow to the size of small aeroplanes, were too heavy to fly - even with their massive wings.
The problem, according to a leading scientist, is that they could not flap fast enough to create the thrust to keep their enormous bulk airborne.
The 'dinosaur' popularly known as a pterodactyl is actually called a reptile called a pterosaur, which is Greek for flying lizard.
It existed alongside the dinosaurs between 251 and 65 million years ago, and were thought to be the biggest creatures to ever take to the air.
The fossilised remains of one example had a wing span of more than 15 metres.
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But Katsufumi Sato, a Japanese scientist, who collected data from five large birds including the world's biggest, the wandering albatross, has calculated that it was physically impossible for them to stay aloft.
The University of Tokyo professor claims that the largest animal capable of soaring across the sky unaided could have weighed no more than 40kg (88lbs) or the size of a labrador dog.
Prof Soto, who reported his findings in New Scientist magazine, travelled to the Crozet Islands - halfway between Madagascar and Antarctica - and attached accelerometers, devices the size of AA batteries which measure thrust, to the wings of 28 birds from the five species including the albatross which is a soarer like the pterosaurs were thought to be.
Unlike turkeys or bustards, whose short wings are good for quick take-off but not for soaring, these larger birds fly long distances using dynamic soaring - they ride changing wind currents without moving their wings.
But when the wind dies down, or blows at a constant speed, they have to flap or be pulled down by air resistance and gravity.
The maximum speed a bird can flap is limited by its muscle strength and decreases for heavier species with longer wings.
Prof Sato says animals heavier than 40kg would not be able to flap fast enough to stay aloft. This would explain why the wandering albatross weighs only 22 kg (46lbs).
A bird weighing too close to 40kg would be incredible unstable and "would not have a safety margin to fly in bad weather", he added.
His results, presented at the Third Annual Biologging Science Symposium at Stanford University, in California, are unlikely to win him friends in the dinosaur community, some of whom have criticised his findings.
Palaeobiologists, who reconstruct the flight of pterosaurs, believe they were dynamic soarers with wingspans up to 15 metres across - enough to keep them airborne even if they weighed almost a quarter of a ton.
Dr Mike Habib, of Johns Hopkins Medical School in Maryland, said "his 40-kilo threshold is problematic" when it comes to predicting the flight of pterosaurs.
He said although they were built like albatrosses - only four times heavier - differences in anatomy, physiology and environment must all be taken into account.
One possible theory is they would rely on thermals to stay aloft having dropped off the edge of a cliff. However, evidence that they could walked for considerable distances has also been discovered.
Another theory is that their wings were so large that, relatively speaking, wing load was low. If a pterosaur spread its wings, staying on the ground would have been more of a problem than taking off.
Pterosaurs vanished along with the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, after a possible asteroid impact.
Radioactive scorpion venom could be used to fight brain cancer
Scientists have discovered that a non-toxic extract from the venom seeks out and locks onto malignant cells after it is injected into the body.
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By irradiating it before it goes in the body it can be used to target the cancer cells with killer radiation but at the same time leave the healthy cells unharmed.
The scorpion Leiurus quinquestriatus lives in the Middle East and among the powerful cocktail of neurotoxins packed into its venom is a peptide that is non-toxic to humans but binds to tumour cells.
In laboratory experiments, the peptide has invaded tumours in breast, skin, brain and lung tissue, but left healthy cells untouched.
"It's as if the tumours collect it," Michael Egan of the company TransMolecular in Cambridge, Massachusetts, told the New Scientist.
To see if the peptide could deliver lethal doses of radioactivity to cancer cells, researchers at the company have attached radioactive iodine isotopes to it.
In a trial last year, they injected this agent directly into the tumours of 59 people suffering from inoperable brain cancer.
All the patients have now died, but those receiving a higher dose lived for three months longer, on average.
In recent weeks, researchers at the University of Chicago in Illinois have begun injecting the substance into the bloodstream of people with different types of malignant brain cancer.
This latest trial will allow the company to test whether it can seek out and kill secondary tumours throughout the body, as well as known primary ones.
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By irradiating it before it goes in the body it can be used to target the cancer cells with killer radiation but at the same time leave the healthy cells unharmed.
The scorpion Leiurus quinquestriatus lives in the Middle East and among the powerful cocktail of neurotoxins packed into its venom is a peptide that is non-toxic to humans but binds to tumour cells.
In laboratory experiments, the peptide has invaded tumours in breast, skin, brain and lung tissue, but left healthy cells untouched.
"It's as if the tumours collect it," Michael Egan of the company TransMolecular in Cambridge, Massachusetts, told the New Scientist.
To see if the peptide could deliver lethal doses of radioactivity to cancer cells, researchers at the company have attached radioactive iodine isotopes to it.
In a trial last year, they injected this agent directly into the tumours of 59 people suffering from inoperable brain cancer.
All the patients have now died, but those receiving a higher dose lived for three months longer, on average.
In recent weeks, researchers at the University of Chicago in Illinois have begun injecting the substance into the bloodstream of people with different types of malignant brain cancer.
This latest trial will allow the company to test whether it can seek out and kill secondary tumours throughout the body, as well as known primary ones.
Ex-royal butler faces sentence on child sex crimes
MANCHESTER, England - A former butler who once served Queen Elizabeth II faces sentencing next month for multiple child sex offenses.
Paul Kidd pleaded guilty on Wednesday to nine counts of indecent assault, six counts of sexual activity with a child, a single count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, 11 counts of making indecent images of a child and two counts of possessing indecent images of children.
A number of offenses dated from his time in royal service.
Prosecutors said Kidd introduced one of his victims to a friend, David Hobday, 56, who also pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a series of sexual offenses.
Both men face sentencing on Nov. 20.
"Given you have both pleaded guilty to some serious offenses, you should be under no illusion that the sentence is going to be custody," Judge Mushtaq Khokhar told them.
Kidd, 55, was a butler to the queen from 1977 to 1979, then was senior footman to the late Queen Mother Elizabeth until 1984.
One of Kidd's victims contacted police after reading a newspaper interview with the ex-butler on the 10th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana.
The victim, now in his 40s, said he had been indecently assaulted by Kidd at the butler's home in the early 1980s.
After leaving royal employment, Kidd charged up to 4,000 pounds (US$7,200) as an after-dinner speaker, and also worked on cruise ships talking of his experiences.
Paul Kidd pleaded guilty on Wednesday to nine counts of indecent assault, six counts of sexual activity with a child, a single count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, 11 counts of making indecent images of a child and two counts of possessing indecent images of children.
A number of offenses dated from his time in royal service.
Prosecutors said Kidd introduced one of his victims to a friend, David Hobday, 56, who also pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a series of sexual offenses.
Both men face sentencing on Nov. 20.
"Given you have both pleaded guilty to some serious offenses, you should be under no illusion that the sentence is going to be custody," Judge Mushtaq Khokhar told them.
Kidd, 55, was a butler to the queen from 1977 to 1979, then was senior footman to the late Queen Mother Elizabeth until 1984.
One of Kidd's victims contacted police after reading a newspaper interview with the ex-butler on the 10th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana.
The victim, now in his 40s, said he had been indecently assaulted by Kidd at the butler's home in the early 1980s.
After leaving royal employment, Kidd charged up to 4,000 pounds (US$7,200) as an after-dinner speaker, and also worked on cruise ships talking of his experiences.
Six Health Problems Targeted By Cat Food
When Cleveland, Ohio cat owner Ingrid Danziger’s mom was diagnosed with Type II diabetes, Danziger became worried not only about her mother, but also about her cat. “Like my mom, Sam was really overweight. I couldn’t go back and rewrite my mother’s history, but I could try to do something about Sam’s size before it was too late,” said 38-year-old Danziger.
Sam’s veterinarian recommended cutting portion size and also feeding a commercial food containing L-carnitine, which is thought to alter metabolism. Studies suggest it reduces body fat while increasing muscle mass. “It’s an uphill battle,” acknowledges Danziger. “But my efforts are starting to make a difference.”
Below, Dr. Sally Perea, veterinary nutritionist and professor at the University of California, Davis, weighs in on other nutritional choices that can help prevent common kitty complaints.
The issue: Immune System Function
Keeping your furry friend healthy starts by enhancing its ability to fight off illness in the first place. “Proper nutrition is important for proper immune function, so nearly all of the essential nutrients for cats are important for maintaining it,” says Dr. Perea. “That means protein, amino acids, essential fatty acids and essential vitamins and minerals. Copper, zinc and iron are three essential minerals in the diet that are known to be important for proper antibody and enzymatic defense mechanisms.”
To ensure your cat is getting all it needs, Dr. Perea recommends a commercial cat food that has “complete and balanced” somewhere on the packaging. A seal of approval from the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), the group that regulates the pet food industry, will verify the food’s claim.
The Issue: Skin and Coat Health
Just like you, your cat can have a bad hair and skin day, with flakiness, dryness and more. To combat the underlying problems, make sure your cat’s diet contains essential fatty acids. These are the omega-3 and omega-6 fats found in sources like chicken, fish oil and eggs. They work to maintain the water barrier function of the skin, similar to how moisturizer can create a protective barrier on human skin.
According to Dr. Perea, foods that are good for skin and hair are the ones that contain the mineral zinc, as well as A, E and B vitamins. “Zinc is integral to rapidly dividing cells, like skin cells, while vitamin E takes on an antioxidant role in the body’s cell membranes,” she explains. “Vitamin A and B prevent hair loss and scaling skin.”
The Issue: Joints and Mobility
To maintain its overall health, a cat needs exercise, and to maintain an active lifestyle, it needs to be pain-free. To prevent joint and mobility issues, Dr. Perea recommends a food containing glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate and that seemingly magical elixir: fish oil.
“There hasn’t been a lot of research on any of these in cats, but chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine, as well as long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as those found in fish oils, have been shown to help improve signs associated with osteoarthritis in dogs,” says Dr. Perea. “These have become popular and are possibly beneficial for cats as well.”
The Issue: Overall Body Condition
As with immune system maintenance, overall body maintenance relies upon a complete and balanced diet containing all of the animal’s essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals. But make sure not to give your pet too much of a good thing. “Lean body condition is important to overall health, so make sure to feed appropriate portions,” says Dr. Perea. “Obesity is a growing problem in cats, and it can be very difficult to implement weight loss once they become obese. Prevention is very important.”
Measure your cat’s food on a daily basis using the guidelines on the packaging. Consider feeding a diet that contains L-carnitine, the ingredient recommended for Ingrid Danziger’s cat. Be especially careful about weight gain after your pet has been spayed or neutered. Studies have shown that fixed cats are more prone to weight gain due to a decrease in physical activity.
The Issue: Digestive Disorders
If your cat has an upset stomach, a relatively empty litter box may be your first clue. Cats often suffer constipation, which can be relieved by foods containing carbohydrates, like corn, as well as fiber. “Fiber helps with the health of the large intestine,” says Dr. Perea. She emphatically adds, “They also need enough water!” Make sure to fill your feline’s bowl with clean, fresh water. Change it at least twice, or even more often as needed.
The Issue: Oral Health
A dry food diet with a relatively larger kibble size forces your pet to really bite down on each individual piece. “This achieves a mechanical brushing action against the surface of the tooth,” explains Dr. Perea. “Other foods on the market may incorporate a calcium-chelating agent on the surface of the kibble. This binds calcium and helps prevent tartar formation.” In order to provide your cat with such a food, look for a diet that claims to promote oral health. The claims should again be verified by an AAFCO seal.
Protecting your cat’s well-being is as easy as a trip down the pet food aisle. Armed with a little bit of knowledge about your feline’s basic needs, you can stave off the most common cat conditions. Your cat will reward you with the pleasure of its company for years to come.
Sam’s veterinarian recommended cutting portion size and also feeding a commercial food containing L-carnitine, which is thought to alter metabolism. Studies suggest it reduces body fat while increasing muscle mass. “It’s an uphill battle,” acknowledges Danziger. “But my efforts are starting to make a difference.”
Below, Dr. Sally Perea, veterinary nutritionist and professor at the University of California, Davis, weighs in on other nutritional choices that can help prevent common kitty complaints.
The issue: Immune System Function
Keeping your furry friend healthy starts by enhancing its ability to fight off illness in the first place. “Proper nutrition is important for proper immune function, so nearly all of the essential nutrients for cats are important for maintaining it,” says Dr. Perea. “That means protein, amino acids, essential fatty acids and essential vitamins and minerals. Copper, zinc and iron are three essential minerals in the diet that are known to be important for proper antibody and enzymatic defense mechanisms.”
To ensure your cat is getting all it needs, Dr. Perea recommends a commercial cat food that has “complete and balanced” somewhere on the packaging. A seal of approval from the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), the group that regulates the pet food industry, will verify the food’s claim.
The Issue: Skin and Coat Health
Just like you, your cat can have a bad hair and skin day, with flakiness, dryness and more. To combat the underlying problems, make sure your cat’s diet contains essential fatty acids. These are the omega-3 and omega-6 fats found in sources like chicken, fish oil and eggs. They work to maintain the water barrier function of the skin, similar to how moisturizer can create a protective barrier on human skin.
According to Dr. Perea, foods that are good for skin and hair are the ones that contain the mineral zinc, as well as A, E and B vitamins. “Zinc is integral to rapidly dividing cells, like skin cells, while vitamin E takes on an antioxidant role in the body’s cell membranes,” she explains. “Vitamin A and B prevent hair loss and scaling skin.”
The Issue: Joints and Mobility
To maintain its overall health, a cat needs exercise, and to maintain an active lifestyle, it needs to be pain-free. To prevent joint and mobility issues, Dr. Perea recommends a food containing glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate and that seemingly magical elixir: fish oil.
“There hasn’t been a lot of research on any of these in cats, but chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine, as well as long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as those found in fish oils, have been shown to help improve signs associated with osteoarthritis in dogs,” says Dr. Perea. “These have become popular and are possibly beneficial for cats as well.”
The Issue: Overall Body Condition
As with immune system maintenance, overall body maintenance relies upon a complete and balanced diet containing all of the animal’s essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals. But make sure not to give your pet too much of a good thing. “Lean body condition is important to overall health, so make sure to feed appropriate portions,” says Dr. Perea. “Obesity is a growing problem in cats, and it can be very difficult to implement weight loss once they become obese. Prevention is very important.”
Measure your cat’s food on a daily basis using the guidelines on the packaging. Consider feeding a diet that contains L-carnitine, the ingredient recommended for Ingrid Danziger’s cat. Be especially careful about weight gain after your pet has been spayed or neutered. Studies have shown that fixed cats are more prone to weight gain due to a decrease in physical activity.
The Issue: Digestive Disorders
If your cat has an upset stomach, a relatively empty litter box may be your first clue. Cats often suffer constipation, which can be relieved by foods containing carbohydrates, like corn, as well as fiber. “Fiber helps with the health of the large intestine,” says Dr. Perea. She emphatically adds, “They also need enough water!” Make sure to fill your feline’s bowl with clean, fresh water. Change it at least twice, or even more often as needed.
The Issue: Oral Health
A dry food diet with a relatively larger kibble size forces your pet to really bite down on each individual piece. “This achieves a mechanical brushing action against the surface of the tooth,” explains Dr. Perea. “Other foods on the market may incorporate a calcium-chelating agent on the surface of the kibble. This binds calcium and helps prevent tartar formation.” In order to provide your cat with such a food, look for a diet that claims to promote oral health. The claims should again be verified by an AAFCO seal.
Protecting your cat’s well-being is as easy as a trip down the pet food aisle. Armed with a little bit of knowledge about your feline’s basic needs, you can stave off the most common cat conditions. Your cat will reward you with the pleasure of its company for years to come.
Poll: Palin Less Popular with Women Voters Than with Men
Overall, Palin is viewed favorably by 47% of likely voters and unfavorably by 40%. But her numbers are worse among women than men: 45% of all women surveyed have a negative opinion of Palin, compared to 42% who view her positively. Fifty-two percent of men have a favorable opinion, while 35% are in the unfavorable camp.
Those numbers do not compare well with those of her direct competitor in the general election, Joe Biden. Among women, the Democratic candidate for vice president is viewed positively by 51% and negatively by 27%. Biden has an overall favorable to unfavorable split of 50%-31%, while McCain's is 54%-38% and Obama's rests at an enviable is 60%-33%.
Palin's unpopularity with women may prove a drag on the ticket with the very constituency she initially inspired. Obama now leads McCain by 17 points among likely female voters, 55%-38%. Just after the Republican convention, a TIME poll had the two candidates virtually tied among women, 48% for Obama and 47% for McCain.
The poll of 1,133 likely voters was conducted Sept. 26-29 and has a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.
Palin has perhaps her best opportunity of the campaign to reverse her slide tonight. A strong showing could convince women that she represents a historic opportunity to break the political glass ceiling. And expectations for her performance couldn't be much lower; after her unsteady performance in interviews with Katie Couric (including an apparent inability to name any Supreme Court cases other than Roe v. Wade that she disagreed with), Palin could go a long way to restoring her credibility with a strong showing in an unstructured format.
Biden and the Democrats, meanwhile, will continue to try and exploit Palin's troubles with voters — especially women. In his own interview with Couric, Biden responded to the same question about disagreements with the Supreme Court by targeting a key issue for women: domestic violence.
Biden, who for years chaired the Senate Judiciary committee, went on at length about his authorship of the Violence Against Women Act and how the Court had ruled against him on a particular provision. Expect to see more of that tonight at the debates
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