| Biologists Watch Elk Birth Research In RMN
Park Service veterinarian Margaret Wild took aim with a sleek, green metallic rifle, darting her target elk in the hip with a knockout drug that had the creature on the ground in just a couple minutes. A five-member team surrounded the animal, working quickly in the snow and fast-dropping temperatures. They blindfolded the cow to help calm her, drew blood, checked for pregnancy, snatched a piece of rectal tissue, collected saliva, injected a birth control drug and attached a radio collar to track the animal. Finally, a shot of drugs to reverse the anesthetic. The 15-year-old creature, groggy, lifted her head, slowly climbed to her feet, stumbled a bit, then, regaining her senses, trotted off to join her herd waiting 100 yards west in the park's Beaver Meadows.
Editorial: Casting ideas for better count of votes next time
Ten days after the Feb. 5 presidential primary, nearly 1 million votes - about 14 percent of those cast in California - were uncounted. Because Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain won their parties' primaries by large margins, there's been no crisis and no outcry. But it could be another matter entirely in November, when an especially long ballot is expected to further delay vote counting. Many counties like Santa Clara probably won't be able to announce conclusive results for 15 to 18 hours after the polls close. It will be weeks before the totals are final - shades of Florida in 2000. By law, the state has a month after an election to certify results. But Secretary of State Debra Bowen must do all within her power and the state budget to cut the wait. The cause of this month's delays was twofold: the forced conversion in two dozen counties from electronic voting to paper ballots, and a substantial increase in voting by mail.
Conditions in P risons and the Treatment of Prisoners
Overcrowding remains the most serious problem in most Georgian penitentiary facilities, particularly in pre-trial facilities, and itself may lead to serious human rights violations.61 Overcrowding has been documented for many years by local NGOs, the Council of Europe, the CPT, and the United Nations Committee Against Torture.62 In 2001 the PACE monitoring committee noted, We were shocked by the dramatic overcrowding in the pre-trial detention centres, mainly in the section of adult men. It is hard to describe without emotion the circumstances under which human beings are kept. We described the situation to Georgian officials and explained that in the European Union it is not permitted to keep even pigs under such conditions.63 During its May 2006 review of Georgia, the CAT also noted the problem of overcrowding and recommended that Georgia should further reduce the period of pre-trial detention, expedite filling the vacancies in the court system and use alternative measures in cases where the accused does not pose a threat to society.64 The space allocated for prison cells in Georgiaboth in law and in practiceis significantly less than that required by regional human rights standards.
From Legal Eagle to Dying in a Cage
A number of visitors to a LiveJournal blog site said Aleksanyan's sufferings were a just reward for helping Khodorkovsky acquire billions of dollars worth of assets in the 1990s. After one visitor said it was "subhuman" to laugh at the terminally ill, another one retorted: "People who are making their fortunes by looting natural resources are also subhuman. But if you steal, you should be prepared that sooner or later they'll bust you." Aleksanyan himself seems focused on other things. Speaking to reporters in recent days, he has often turned from criticism of the Russian court system to heartfelt discourses about faith. "I can only put my hopes in God," Aleksanyan said in his defendant's cage on Wednesday. "Except for God, nobody can help me now. Do you know what it says in the Old Testament? Put not your trust in princes." Staff Writer Svetlana Osadchuk contributed to this report.
Two murders and two life sentences won't alter one convict's ...
SAN ANTONIO—He was done signing autographs. Finished glad-handing fans. Complete with his first day of training camp as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. But, refreshingly, Wade Phillips was just getting started. As Phillips jogged into The Alamodome locker room tunnel last Wednesday afternoon, a man desperate for his attention fired a football that skidded, tumbled and bounced into the back of the coach's legs. An encore—or perhaps a fight—was inevitable. Phillips picked up the ball, tucked it under his arm and, after briefly pretending to jog toward the bowels of the stadium, returned to the field, signed some more and, just like that, created priceless goodwill. See, Bill Parcells, it ain't that damn hard. In four minutes the new coach produced more fan interaction than the former coach did in four years.
For an impoverished beauty queen, a stark choice: sex work or no work
What Natasha does on the bed in the dingy room with flaking orange paint so shames her she cannot bring herself to use the word. She calls it "so and so" and sells it here from midday to midnight, six days a week. On a very good day she makes £45. With each 30-minute session earning £2.50 that works out at 18 different men, many drunk, some violent. She tries to forget the very good days. "I don't want to be with a strange man who wants to kiss your whole body. Some suck you up and leave red marks. It's ugly." Natasha shuddered. "Ugly, ugly, ugly." Three years ago she won two beauty contests and was runner-up in another two, including Miss Best Legs, on Nicaragua's impoverished Caribbean coast. With dreams of modelling she boarded a bus for the distant capital, Managua.
Sunday night insights
Chelsea Clinton or Sam Woods? -- Tough loss for the SCOREGolf team at Q107's Office Wars last week. Kudos to those who made it out for us so early in the morning – me, I was busy having a staring competition with the back of my eyelids. Bites Why should I spend my Friday afternoon watching Samuel L. Jackson hit bunker shots? Better than spending my Friday night watching him in Snakes on a Plane, I guess -- I'm not keen on the whole celebrity golf thing, but George Lopez entertains the hell out of me -- Had the chance to play the South Course at Torrey Pines in November. The La Jolla muni hosts this week's Buick Invitational and the U.S. Open in June. It's a good course on a great piece of property, but it doesn't come anywhere close to the top 10 courses in this country. Too many mediocre holes and too few on the ocean -- The new PGA Tour cut rule is both difficult to understand and completely unfair, like a jigsaw puzzle without the corner pieces -- You've got the chance to rewrite one section in the Rules of Golf.
Boulder: Impeach Bush?
This does not promote individual freedoms. I wish the Left would quit promoting a socialist/welfare state,this only leads to a collapse like the U.S.S.R. in the 80's.I don't want to be standing in lines for bread and milk for 8 hours like they did back then. .
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