Month: November 2005

Today is Pinochet’s 90th Birthday!

- Fernando

Today is infamous Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet’s 90th birthday. This is not the great news. The great news is that he didn’t have the big birthday party he was planning – with artists, military bands and lots of expensive food. Yesterday, judge Montiglio ordered his (at home) arrest, so the party was called off.

Pinochet is accused of more than 300 crimes. He is responsible for the killing of some 1000 people – including democratic elected Salvador Allende – in Chile and abroad and the theft of millions of dollars from Chilean state.

Happy birthday, Mi General!

(Just a thought: where should George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney spend their last years?)

Picture from www.rel-uita.org

Japanese May Make Better Biodiesel

- Adam Clare 1 Comment

oilJapanese researchers have found a more efficient way to produce biodiesel by using common place sugars. The sugars used are cheaper to purchase and do just as good a job of turning fatty acids into a badly-needed liquid as the currently used chemicals.

Cheaper production of biodiesel could lead to a greater adoption of the fuel since it takes little (or nothing) to make diesel cars run on the fuel. About 40% of cars in Europe consume diesel, with the market in the United States of America expected to grow as a result of rising gas prices.

Write for Rights!

- Vanessa King

On December 10th, 1948 the United Nations presented the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” which describes the basic rights of all people everywhere. Now known as Human Rights Day, December 10th is the perfect day for those who care about human rights issues to take part in making a difference. Amnesty International has put together an event called ‘Write for Rights’ and it is an awesome way for people to contribute a little kindness and generosity of spirit as we near the holiday season. You can write with your family or even put together an event with friends to raise awareness, money and take action against human rights abuses worldwide.

For more info you can visit http://www.amnesty.ca/writeathon/index.php

Solar in the SoCal

- Adam Clare 1 Comment

Wired has a really good article on a new solar power initiatives in California.
a good source of energy
From the article:

“There is a possibility with this project that solar energy could go commercial in a big way for the first time,” said Alexander. “It’s playing in the big leagues.”

Instead of using panels of photovoltaic cells — solar power’s mainstay technology for decades — Stirling Energy Systems uses 40-foot-tall curved dishes that focus the sun’s energy onto Stirling engines

Black Box Voting tests Diebold Machines

- Benny Powers

Black Box Voting, the activist group who trained a chimpanzee to crack the Diebold voting machines back in 2004, have been hired by the libertarian party and the Secretary of State for California to test the very same voting machines.

The Diebold company became infamous in 2004 when they’re head, ‘Wally’ O’Dell was quoted saying he was “committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.”

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