found via evilgrins:

An "extraordinary" desert creature has been caught on camera for what scientists believe is the first time. The long-eared jerboa, a tiny nocturnal mammal that is dwarfed by its enormous ears, can be found in deserts in Mongolia and China. Zoological Society of London (ZSL) scientist Jonathan Baillie said the footage was helping researchers to learn more about the mysterious animal. The species is classified as endangered on the IUCN Red list full story

So, the planet vote was "hijacked". I thought having a near unanimous vote sounded a bit odd. I don't like the new definition and prefer the original proposal. Sure if the number of planets jumps to over 200 the word "planet" might lose some of it's "stature", but the definition is the most basic one and natural one. Science isn't about convenience or seemliness or popularity, it's about figuring out what is. The new complicated definition of "planet" only serves to complicate and confuse matters. It is not science, it's PR.

More than a million people have taken to the streets of Sao Paulo to celebrate the Brazilian city's tenth annual Gay Pride parade. Revellers dressed in costumes danced through one of the main avenues, as music blared out of huge loudspeakers. One report quoted police as saying that 2.4 million people were at the parade, which organisers say has become the largest of its kind in the world. Gay rights activists say discrimination is still widespread across Brazil. Eighty-one Brazilians were killed last year because of their sexual orientation, campaigners say. The theme for this year's event is "homophobia is a crime" to highlight proposed anti-discrimination laws. full article

Now that's a pride parade! Wow!

Headline from the BBC website:

Hospital discharges Cheney victim

Says more than it says.

A group of more than 80 powerful evangelical leaders have defied the Bush White House and called for federal legislation to curb global warming. The statement marks the first time that leading evangelicals have taken up the green issue. And it has caused splits within the religious right. They have embraced the environment in recent years, most notably with a "What would Jesus drive?" campaign against sports utility vehicles. But this is a new departure. The statement - signed by mega-church pastors like Rick Warren, author of the bestseller The Purpose-Driven Life, heads of Christian colleges and missionary organisations - puts saving "God's green earth" on a par with traditional evangelical concerns like abortion and gay marriage. full story

There is danger in blanketly labeling any group as "enemy". Even groups that generally have restricting our rights as part of their agendas. We are all part of humanity. We are all part of the Happening. Returning the hate does nothing but keep it going. If we love the Fundamentalist Christians as Christ has asked them love us, maybe they will learn by our example the peace of the message they hold sacred.

A tenth of two to five-year-olds have a serious psychiatric illness, yet most cases are being missed, warn experts. The problems go beyond tantrums and bad behaviour and impact negatively on all aspects of an infant's life, the Institute of Psychiatry will hear. And failure to spot and treat these conditions early is causing unnecessary distress and suffering. Mental health services need to be geared towards very young children as a matter of urgency, they said. full story

Keep your fucking poisons away from the little kids, alright? This "early treatment" crap is being pushed in the United States as well. The FDA has even approved SSRIs for such "diseases" as "Separation Anxiety Disorder", which essentially is when your kid doesn't like being left at preschool or daycare and cries about it a bit "too much". I can't imagine the amount of damage these psychoactive drugs are doing to the developing minds of the very young kids that are being given them right down to the age of toddlers. Soon they'll be giving Prozac to fetuses that don't kick enough.

Former Chilean military ruler Gen Augusto Pinochet has been placed under house arrest and charged with tax evasion and passport fraud. He is also accused of using forged government documents and misleading officials over his assets. The charges relate to $27m (£15.6m) allegedly hidden in secret overseas bank accounts under false names. Gen Pinochet, 89, faced charges in two human rights cases in recent years, but both collapsed due to his ill health. full story

Moral of the story: You can kill as many people as you like as long as you pay your taxes.

A senior White House official has denied that the US president, George Bush, said God ordered him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq. A spokesman for Mr Bush, Scott McClellan, said the claims, to be broadcast in a TV documentary later this month, were "absurd". In the BBC film, a former Palestinian foreign minister, Nabil Shaath, says that Mr Bush told a Palestinian delegation in 2003 that God spoke to him and said: "George, go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan" and also "George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq". full story

It wasn't God. Karl Rove was standing hiding behind the curtains messing with his head.

Early research suggests a potential way to eradicate dormant HIV infection, scientists claim in the Lancet. A University of North Carolina team has shown valproic acid - used to treat bipolar disorder - can prevent HIV persisting in this latent phase. The findings may boost HIV treatment and be a step towards preventing HIV from being a chronic disease, they say. ... To test this concept, researchers studied four people with HIV who were already on HAART. They were given enfuvirtide (Fuzeon), which stops the virus entering healthy cells for up to six weeks, to give them added protection against HIV. A three-month, twice daily, course of valproic acid (valproate) was then added to their treatment. The researchers found a 75% reduction in latent HIV infection in three of the four patients over the period they were taking valproate. full article

Who'd have thought that depakote (valproic acid) might end up curing HIV. I hated depakote when they gave it to me at Bournewood. It's a very harsh mood stabilizer, definitely in the zombifying class of psych meds. It is also used as an anti-epileptic, but I hope at a different dosage. I still shudder when I hear it's name. It'll be interesting to see if this pans out, though I'm not to hopeful as so many potential "cures" and "vaccines" have gone nowhere.