Gongol.com Archives: June 2005
Brian Gongol



Computers and the Internet (6.12.2005)
"Michael Jackson Suicide" E-Mail is a Virus

Aviation News (6.12.2005)
New Airbus Super-Jumbo, Military Aviation Top Attractions at Paris Air Show

The United States of America (6.12.2005)
US Trade Deficit $57 Billion in April
Record imports and record exports. Just that the imports column was bigger.

Business and Finance (6.12.2005)
Company Running the Chunnel Could Be Bankrupt By October

News (6.12.2005)
British Government Wants to Target Potential Criminals Starting at Age 3
Would look at behavior in preschool classes and parental histories. Could put worst kids in foster homes. Seems too extreme.

Threats to Western Civilization (6.12.2005)
Bomb Attack on Train from Chechnya to Moscow
About three dozen passengers injured

Science and Technology (6.12.2005)
British Doctors Plan to Insert Chips in Patients with Chronic Illnesses
Could give them better monitoring and allow instant changes in things like insulin delivery to diabetics. Downside would be if everyone were implanted with chips of the sort.

Business and Finance (6.12.2005)
Japanese Government Plans to Impose Tax on Plastic Bags

News (6.12.2005)
Mike Tyson Quits Boxing After Beat-Down By Irishman

We All Need a Little Humor (6.12.2005)
Anti-Oil Protesters Bike Naked Through London

News (6.12.2005)
Russian Military Pulling Out of Georgia, but Planning to Expand Presence in Caucasus

Science and Technology (6.12.2005)
Charging Road-Use Fees with Electronic Monitoring
Planned for 2006 in Slovakia. Probably not as efficient as a basic annual factored mileage tax

News (6.12.2005)
Malaysia Building Two of Its Own Submarines
Recent article in Atlantic Monthly said US needs all the military allies it can get in southern Asia

Business and Finance (6.12.2005)
G8 to Write Off $40 Billion in Debt for 18 Poor Countries
Huge amount of work still needed on issues like corruption crackdowns and expansion of free trade if the poverty problem is really going to be solved. Tony Blair is focused on bringing Africa into the Anglosphere, just as the US should be workign just as hard on Latin America. Nigeria wasn't on the list for write-offs, and the US is worried about an outright collapse of the country.

News (6.12.2005)
Japan Irritated at US for Not Supporting Bid for UN Security Council Seat
Under-estimating Chinese hostilities also seems to have hurt the effort

Socialism Doesn't Work (6.12.2005)
US Trying to Persuade North Korea (Nicely) to Re-Enter Nuclear Talks

Threats to Western Civilization (6.12.2005)
Hamas, Islamic Jihad Threatening to Resume Fighting Against Israel
Four-month truce may not hold

Iowa (6.12.2005)
Toddler Has Businessman Father, Amish Mother, and a Confusing Custody Case

Threats to Western Civilization (6.12.2005)
Hate Groups Planning to Attack Hispanics

News (6.12.2005)
Series of Small Bomb Attacks in Tehran
Government news agency won't say who's behind them, but independent reports say the attacks were targeted at the government in anticipation of upcoming elections

Threats to Western Civilization (6.12.2005)
Class and Racial Conflicts in Bolivia a Powder Keg
Ex-president thinks war is coming

Aviation News (6.12.2005)
Notes on the Futility of Air Security

We All Need a Little Humor (6.12.2005)
Winery Claims its Vintage Gains Special Powers from Sitting in a Pyramid
...In British Columbia

The American Way (6.12.2005)
Milwaukee Paper Surveys Private Schools Under Voucher Program
Finds some bad, some excellent. Composition (in terms of student performance) roughly equivalent to public schools. No "theft" of best students by voucher schools. Overall, identifies potential for great success, but a lack of quality information on which schools are best -- a market opportunity for someone to act on in order to improve consumer choice. Overall, finds education reinvigorated by the competition.

Iowa (6.12.2005)
Hurricanes and Tropical Storms Could Push Soybean Rust North

Science and Technology (6.12.2005)
Fighting Forest Fires from Space
(Spanish) Satellite imagery improves forecasts, command and control

Broadcasting (6.12.2005)
45% of American Racial/Ethnic Minorities Prefer "Ethnic" Media to "Mainstream" Media
That represents 13% of the entire US adult population

Science and Technology (6.12.2005)
It Would Have to be Embarrassing to be Arrested by a Robot

The American Way (6.12.2005)
Latin America a "Reserve of Stability" for the Expanding World Economy
(Spanish) Growth there complements growth in Asia, says a banking official from BBVA

Business and Finance (6.12.2005)
Nigerian Government Trying to Create "Cashless Society"
Talk of being able to do it by the end of the year. What's unclear is whether they're simply talking about giving everyone access to electronic payment systems like credit cards (a perfectly acceptable idea), or the more radical step of moving to electronic payments only without any hard currency at all (a very bad idea).