Digest/22November2004

November 23, 2004

Digest for 22-29 November 2004

< 15-22 November 2004 • Index • 29 November-5 December 2004 >

This a collection of articles whose datelines read between 22 and 29 November. They have not necessarily gone through a peer-review process, and may not even be done. This is essentially an index right now. Click on an article's title to read it in full.

Activists protest against School of the Americas

22 November, 2004, United States

Antiwar magazines report up to 16,000 protesters demonstrated outside a United States military school this weekend, demanding it be closed in connection with accused human rights violations.

Dan Rather resigns as anchor, to stay on as correspondent

22 November, 2004, USA

Dan Rather has announced that he will retire on March 9th, 2005 as anchor of CBS Evening News. He will continue to be an investigative reporter for both of the 60 Minutes shows.

Indonesian police arrest four suspects wanted over Australian Embassy bombing

24 November, 2004, Jakarta, Indonesia.

Associated Press and Reuters are both reporting that Indonesian police have arrested four suspects for the bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta on September 9th, which killed 10 people.

Ukrainian opposition leader calls for police and army to join revolution

24 November, 2004, Ukraine

Amid protests of up to 200,000 over Ukraine's disputed presidential election, officially declared loser Viktor Yushchenko has called on the army and police to join a revolution against the government.

Internal emails expose Boeing-Air Force contract discussions

24 November, 2004, United States

Emails exchanged among United States Air Force officials regarding a USD$23 billion dollar deal with aircraft manufacturer Boeing have been entered into the public record. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) entered them into the Congressional Record during a speech last week against the now-cancelled deal to lease 100 mid-air tanker aircraft from Boeing.

Australia in a good position after first day of Adelaide test match

26 November, 2004, Adelaide, South Australia

At stumps on day one, Australia has opened a commanding lead in the second cricket test against New Zealand.

Record computer outage at UK government department

November 27 2004, United Kingdom.

A computer outage beginning on Monday afternoon at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has caused delays in the processing of new claims. 80% of the DWP's desktop computers were put out of action by a software update. This story is being widely reported but details are scarce. Most of the talk is about the severity of the problem and the pattern of failures associated with IT outsourcing in the government.

170 workers trapped in Chinese mine after explosion

28 November, 2004, Shaanxi province.

Early in the morning on Sunday November 28th, 170 workers were trapped in the Chinese Chenjiashan mine, the BBC reports. According to Chinese state officials, 123 workers managed to escape the facilities. Many of those who escaped the mines are suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. Since the accident, there has been no contact with the 170 workers trapped inside, although the initial number of 183 people still in the complex was revised downwards.

Researchers discover high temperature enables more efficient hydrogen generation

Sunday, November 28th, 2004

Researchers in Salt Lake City Utah, at Ceramtech Incorporated, hand in hand with workers at The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory stated that they had learned that through superheating the water to 800 degrees Celsius, far less electricity was required to produce the same volume of hydrogen.

USL v. BSDi settlement agreement unsealed

28 November, 2004, United States

The 1994 settlement agreement between UNIX Systems Laboratories (USL) and BSDi (USL v. BSDi) was unsealed in November 2004 under the California Public Records Act (California Code § 6250-6270). The details of the settlement may have ramifications with respect to the SCO v. IBM case with SCO believing it is the successor in interest to USL.

American teenage girl charged with murder of her own mother

29 November, 2004, United States.

Rachelle Waterman, (aka Rachelle Ann Monica Waterman and "smchyrocky"), a 16-year-old girl from Craig, Alaska, USA, has been charged with the first degree murder of her own mother.

World's Largest Ball of Twine Turns 50

29 November, 2004, Cawker City, Kansas.

People in Kansas like to just go have a look at things from time to time, particularly if it is kitchy and big. Frank Stoeber died in 1974, but not before he left behind a legacy of twine. Frank started a building a ball of sisal twine (a form of hemp) in 1953, which as grown to 40 ft in diameter hence. The ball of twine's domicile is a mini-museam located in the downtown of Cawker City, Kansas, which onlookers can simple look at or add twine to.