| London's Poor Air Quality Tackled With Launch Of Low Emission Zone
The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, launched the London-wide Low Emission Zone, designed to reduce harmful emissions from the most polluting diesel-engined lorries, coaches and buses. Cars and motorcycles are not affected.
The capital has the worst air pollution in the UK and among the worst in Europe. Over one million Londoners live in areas that exceed statutory air quality limits. Poor air quality worsens asthma and causes the premature death of an estimated 1,000 people each year in London. Seven out of ten Londoners say they are worried about pollution from traffic exhaust fumes.
The introduction of the zone means that, from today, all diesel-engined lorries weighing more than 12 tonnes will be required to meet strict emissions standards. Vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, buses and coaches will be required to meet these standards from 7 July.
LAYOFFS, FEWER HOURS: Slowdown lands on gaming Company officials say ...
The economic slowdown that has affected other job sectors throughout the past year has found its way to the gaming industry. Large Strip companies and local gaming operators throughout Clark County have begun taking steps to trim hours and payrolls wherever possible because of a slowdown in business, company officials acknowledged Thursday. "The notion that Las Vegas is immune from these downturns in the economy is completely false," MGM Mirage Senior Vice President Alan Feldman said. "We may be better able to withstand it than other marketplaces. Through the years we've proven that we are, but we're not immune from it." The gaming companies will not say exactly how many people have been affected by layoffs and cuts in hours, although they have acknowledged some of the cutbacks.
What’s The Verdict In The John McCain Versus The New York Times ...
It's hard to see how editorial judgment at the Times could suffer a defeat in the court of opinion more clear cut than this." Now in the pages of the New York Times, readers can be told about "prosecutorial discretion," and they are expected to be grown-up enough to handle this wrinkle in how the world works. But when it's time for a lesson in Editor's Discretion suddenly all sophistication disappears, and we are supposed to believe that the Times had no choice: if sources said "romance" we have to say romance. But the readers who can handle "not every crime deserves to be prosecuted," are the same readers who understand that the New York Times did not have to say a word about the romance to publish the essentials of the story. Politically, they are miles ahead of where Abramson's explainer stands: wiser than their newspaper.
Somerset Power gets OK to begin coal gasification
The Department of Environmental Protection on Thursday gave the green light to Somerset Power LLC's plan to begin coal gasification at its Riverside Avenue plant. Outraged environmentalists and community activists called the decision unacceptable and said it significantly undermined the state's global warming policy. Earlier this month, the state's Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs declined to order a Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act review of the plant. The Conservation Law Foundation, which lobbies on environmental issues in New England, asked for the review. "In a final permit issued by DEP, the commonwealth said it would allow the power plant to adopt experimental coal plasma gasification technology and continue releasing carbon dioxide at current levels," said the foundation's spokesman Colin Durrant.
Domain Frontrunning: A Ghost In The Machine
ICANN can't find evidence the practice really exists, and the one entity who says he has proof won't provide that proof. It's not like enacting policies against ghosts, exactly. You don't need proof of the existence of frontrunning to enact a policy against it. But in this case, proof might have helped Network Solutions not look so bad. Last month, NetSol came under fire for automatically registering domains that customers had searched for on their site and then jacking up the price of the domains for a four-day period. NetSol defended the practice as protection against frontrunning, which is the practice of registering a domain someone is searching for and then jacking up the price. At least NetSol's protection fee was a set price, $34.99 for four days worth of protection, just until they could return the domain within ICANN's grace period.
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