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FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq, May 20, 2008 – A Sayafiyah, Iraq, feed mill owner received a U.S. State Department micro-grant May 16 to get his business going. Thamer Hussain Kashkool, a Sayafiyah, Iraq, feed mill owner, shows Mike Stevens, right, Baghdad 7 Embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team agriculture advisor, and Basil Razzak, embedded PRT economic bilingual bicultural advisor, the layout of his feed mill. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jason Stadel, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The mill was inoperable due to insurgent activities in the area. “We always had...

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is conducting a three-year research project into the beneficiation of biodiesel by-products, which could have economic spin-offs for rural agricultural communities. CSIR Biosciences executive director Dr Gat-sha Mazithulela tells Engineering News that the project involves investigating how biodiesel by-products can be used in animal feed and other value-added products. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is funding the project, after a DST- driven committee on biodiesel identified the need to ensure that the contribution of by-products to the economic viability of biodiesel is maintained and improved. The committee then tasked the...

U.S. Army Spc. Norchell Samuel (left) reviews an order with a member of Normandy Dining Facility in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, May 25, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Lee Elder U.S. Army Spc. Norchell Samuel Soldier Helps Feed Troops in Iraq By Spc. Lee Elder 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment MUQDADIYAH, Iraq, June 6, 2006 — She’s a small lady with big dreams. U.S. Army Spc. Norchell Samuel, a cook with D Company, 426 Forward Support Company, 3rd Battalion 327th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, Task Force Band of Brothers, is one of the busiest people at Forward Operating Base Normandy...

'Desert fish will help to feed the world' By Max Benitz (Filed: 05/06/2006) Deserts will produce much of the farmed fish and the clean power of the future, a United Nations report says. Aquaculture already thrives in deserts such as the Negev in Israel and Arizona, according to the report published to mark World Environment Day. It says saline water in desert wells and sunlight can be used to mimic tropical seas, making them ideal for farming fish and shrimp. Another benefit is that fish farming uses less water than the production of a vegetable crop. Many fish and algae...

BEND, Ore. (AP) — A mother was sentenced to five years probation because her baby ingested methamphetamine from breast milk. Kristy Meialoha Davis, 30, of Redmond is one of three women who have been charged in Deschutes County with this type of offense in recent months. Two have been sentenced to probation and a third is awaiting trial. Prosecutor Victoria Roe said at Wednesday’s sentencing that the baby’s father — who faces drug charges of his own — reported Davis to authorities in November. The baby tested positive for cocaine and methamphetamine. Roe told Judge A. Michael Adler that the...

Anchorpersons in purgatory In the 20-odd years since I first met Chris Matthews, I have never seen him, on television or off, with his mouth shut. Until now. I am standing in the Conner Contemporary Art gallery in Washington, D.C., taking in the art installation, "Face Time." The work consists of 17 flat-panel video screens playing raw satellite feeds of various important people waiting patiently for their turn to appear on a TV news broadcast. Matthews is one of them. And even though there is no sound, I can tell he isn't talking. He's just staring into space. Silenced talking...

Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund of the United Stockgrowers of America, Billings, Montana, reported that it has fielded numerous calls from members and media inquiring about recent news reports that indicate byproduct proteins of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy-positive cow discovered in Canada in May 2003 were rendered into livestock feed and may have been mistakenly fed to cattle. R-CALF stated in a release that USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has known of this problem for more than one year. R-CALF cited an APHIS report dated October 3, 2003, as the source of this information. In formal comments to APHIS...

NEW YORK - E-mail is crippled, concussed by an irrepressible spam stream. Web surfing can be equally confounding, a wobbly wade through bursts of pop-ups and loudmouthed video ads. And that may explain the excitement these days over a somewhat crude but nifty software tool that automatically delivers updated information to your computer directly from your favorite Web sites. Enthusiasts see these Web feeds as sketching the outline of the next Net revolution. The technology behind them is called RSS and I rely on it daily to consult The New York Times, the BBC, CNET News, Slashdot and a few...

SINGER Michael Jackson is to open his famous Neverland Ranch in California to 500 paying guests. The invitation-only event, scheduled for 13 September, will feature dinner, magicians, games and a lorry full of stuffed animals, according to Jackson’s publicist, Stuart Backerman. Tickets for two people cost £3,000, with £630 from each sale being divided among three charities. The rest, Mr Backerman said, would pay for the costs of the party. Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, in Santa Barbara County, includes an amusement park with bumper cars, a merry-go-round and a Ferris wheel. Guests also will receive a "goodie bag" worth about £600...

SANTA FE, N.M. (Reuters) - Mary had a little lamb; It's fleece was white as snow; And every time the lamb got fed; It gobbled up its nitro. Shaboom the sheep's favorite meal consists of animal feed made from nitrogen-based chemicals and other dismantled gun propellants -- one of the more creative uses Albuquerque company TPL Inc. is finding for unwanted military munitions. Shaboom, named after the comic book phrase for an explosion, was the "guinea-sheep" for TPL's experiment with feed made from spent munitions, and found it delicious. "I referred to Shaboom as the world's second most famous sheep...