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N.Korea May Carry Out Nuclear Test by June - Kyodo Fri Apr 29,10:13 PM ET TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States has warned the International Atomic Energy Agency that North Korea has been preparing to carry out an underground nuclear test since March and could go ahead as early as June, Kyodo news agency said on Saturday. The report, which quoted diplomatic sources in Vienna, came a day after the chief U.S. negotiator to stalled talks on Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions said Washington believed North Korea might be trying to harvest material for a nuclear bomb from a shut-down reactor. According...

Douglas and Clinton April 29, 2005 How delighted Jason Gibbs must have been to utter the following sentence: "Governor Douglas believes we need people in the United States Senate who understand how important it is to protect and improve our environment." Gibbs is Gov. James Douglas' principal spokesman, and he was responding to a letter from Sen. Hillary Clinton to New York environmental officials supporting a test burn of tires at the International Paper plant in Ticonderoga, N.Y. IP wants to conduct a two-week test burn at the plant, and Clinton weighed in on the company's behalf, saying the plant...

Signs Stir Concern North Korea Might Test Nuclear Bomb Diplomat in Asia to Confer With Officials By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, April 23, 2005; Page A13 U.S. officials are increasingly concerned that North Korea may be preparing its first test of a nuclear weapon, though they warn that the information is sketchy and not definitive. A top U.S. diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill, flew to the region yesterday to consult over the weekend with officials in Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul about the signs that a test may be in the works. Officials especially want...

SEOUL, South Korea -- The U.S. has quietly warned China that North Korea could be preparing for a nuclear-weapons test and asked the Chinese to urge Pyongyang to desist, according to a U.S. official. In what the U.S. official characterized as an "emergency demarche," or diplomatic communication, delivered to Beijing yesterday, Washington said that, in light of recent North Korean words and actions, a test could be in the works. The demarche also says that the U.S. believes the North Korean nuclear program is advanced enough that a test could come with little or no warning. Another official said the...

CHESTER, Pa. (AP) - A veteran principal and school administrator has been suspended while officials investigate allegations that she helped students cheat on tests. Jayne Gibbs was placed on a paid leave Thursday after eighth graders at Edward E. Parry Edison Junior Academy said she had given them answers to questions on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test, said Wayne Emsley, Chester Upland School District assessment director. Gibbs is an administrator with the for-profit education company Edison Schools, which has run most of Chester Upland's schools for the last several years but recently announced it was severing its relationship...

I am convinced God uses trials like the Terri Schiavo case to test men. Pinellas County Circuit Court Judge George Greer was tested – and found wanting. He had seven years to consider this case and got it wrong every time. I don't know Greer personally, but I know many people like him. They go to church on Sunday and then between Monday and Friday lead lives with no seeming connection to what they hear preached in the pulpit, what they read in the Bible, what they claim to believe of the Christian faith. This may be the biggest single...

...snip.... Nuclear forecast Amid the Bush administration's tough talk toward North Korea, a new fear is emerging: Could Pyongyang test a nuclear weapon this year? Some insiders think so. "Knowing Kim Jong Il 's track record for brinksmanship, I'd bet on it," says Larry Wilkerson , who worked the North Korea issue as former Secretary of State Colin Powell 's chief of staff. "If we don't resume negotiations, I'd give it a 70-30 chance." The CIA is not predicting anything imminent. But then again, it missed India's nuke test in 1998. "The only thing that would preclude this," says Wilkerson,...

Gone to the dogs. Answer 10 questions to find out if you were a dog, what kind would you be.

N.C. study: Germs can't fight soap, water Researchers test hand-washing methods The Associated Press Posted on Sat, Mar. 12, 2005 CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Mom was right. A new study by infection-control specialists at UNC Hospitals confirms that the best way to get germs off your hands is with plain old soap and water. The researchers tested 14 hand-hygiene agents plus tap water against specific bacteria and viruses applied to the hands of 62 adult volunteers. Soap and water, or microbial soap and water, proved the most effective at removing viruses and bacteria. "Based on these findings, I'd put my...

Amateur radio operators will take part in a scavenger hunt this weekend, seeking information rather than hub caps or cowboy hats, in an exercise designed to get them acquainted with Southeastern Connecticut before a major emergency drill next month. Wayne Gronlund, who is coordinating the event, said he is trying to put together at least 50 amateur radio enthusiasts for TOPFF, a weeklong exercise that will include simulated terrorist attacks on ports in New London, New Jersey, Canada and the United Kingdom. “We know we're not going to have enough amateur radio resources in New London County to provide all...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea demanded Wednesday that the United States apologize for designating the communist state as an "outpost of tyranny" and it threatened to resume long-range missile tests. However, the North also held out the possibility of returning to nuclear disarmament talks if Washington agrees to coexist with the communist country. North Korea declared on Feb. 10 that it had nuclear weapons and was boycotting six-nation talks aimed at ending its nuclear ambitions. At the time, it cited Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's designation of North Korea as one of the "outposts of tyranny," during her...

Test shows sticky porridge used to cement ancient Chinese wall www.chinaview.cn 2005-02-27 20:56:07 XI'AN, Feb. 27 (Xinhuanet)-- The legend that ancient Chinese craftsmen used glutinous rice porridge in the mortar while building ramparts has been verified by archaeological research in northwest China's Shaanxi Province. In a recent maintenance to the ancient city wall of Xi'an, the provincial capital, workers discovered that the plaster remnants on the ancient bricks were quite hard to remove, said Qin Jianming,a researcher with the Xi'an Preservation and Restoration Center ofCultural Relics. A chemical test showed that the mortar reacted the same as glutinous rice to...

The state will begin issuing identification cards to medical marijuana users in Sonoma, Mendocino and Marin counties this summer, part of a pilot program in 10 counties designed to protect certified users from arrest and pot seizures. The voluntary ID card program, developed by the state Department of Health Services, will be expanded statewide by year's end, said Norma Arceo, a spokeswoman for the department. Law enforcement officials hailed the move, saying it will simplify a confusing patchwork of local policies and make it easier to distinguish between legal marijuana users and criminals. "I think it's good news for everybody,"...

Saving Private Ryan was no problem for Tom Sizemore. Saving himself from the slammer could prove to be more of a challenge. The legally challenged thesp, on probation for abusing his ex-girlfriend Heidi Fleiss, landed behind bars Thursday at a scheduled hearing after a probation officer reported to the judge that Sizemore had failed a Feb. 1 drug test. Judge Antonio Barreto Jr. informed Sizemore that his "drug use is out of control" and ordered him jailed. His bail was set at $25,000. "I had hoped and wanted to see a positive performance," Barreto said. Sizemore had been granted permission...

Science to test Argonaut myth Gold jewelry found last year in an unplundered Mycenaean royal tomb on the outskirts of Volos will be tested for links with one of the most enduring ancient Greek myths, the Argonauts’ expedition, an archaeologist said yesterday. The 14th century BC treasure — gold beads from necklaces and jewelry made of gold and semiprecious stones — was found with vases and other offerings in four pits inside the tholos tomb, a beehive-like subterranean structure usually associated with Late Bronze Age royal burials. According to local antiquities director Vassiliki Adrimi-Sismani, the Culture Ministry has approved tests,...

A new chain letter is being forwarded by e-mail claiming that Microsoft and AOL have joined in a beta-test of a new e-mail tracking system that will track all forwarded mail.  The supposed intent is to find a way to cut down on spam and viruses.  It also promises to pay thousands of dollars to all participants in the beta-test during the 30 day trial.   Now get this - it was forwarded to me by a former software tech who should have known better.  There's no way to track forwarded e-mails.   How lame is this.  Some people will fall for...

Potentially cancerous growths missed 95 percent of the timePHILADELPHIA - A common screening test failed to detect potentially cancerous colon growths 95 percent of the time, falsely reassuring patients and doctors, according to a new study.Researchers found that the digital, in-office test on stool samples was not as reliable as a six-sample test given to patients to do on their own at home — although even that test detected potentially cancerous growths less than 24 percent of the time."What we found is that it was pretty worthless," Dr. David Lieberman, one of the study's authors, said of the in-office test....

Rice faces big test with Senate hearings Tough questioning expected this week By James Brosnan SCRIPPS HOWARD January 16, 2005 WASHINGTON – National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, who in college feared she was destined to play show tunes in a piano bar, faces a demanding gig next week before climbing another rung up from the segregation of her childhood in Alabama. On the eve of President Bush's inauguration Thursday, his nominee for secretary of state is expected to face tough questions at Senate confirmation hearings about her own credibility and administration policies in Iraq, where more than 1,300 U.S. service...

With an opportunity to do the best thing for California education, Democrats on the California Senate Rules Committee took another route. They weaseled. Faced with confirmation of a nominee for a second term to the State Board of Education, who California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said would go down in California history as one of the best members of that board, Democrats voted him down. This was the first big test of leadership for state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata. Perata failed. With his "no" vote, he prevented the nomination of Reed Hastings from going to a...