Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Canadian TD Financial Group has come to a deal with the regional U.S. bank, Hudson United Bancorp, to buy Hudson for US$1.9 billion. The new addition will be folding into itsMaine-based TD Banknorth, which is 51% owned by TD Financial. The acquisition will bring in 204 new branches and increase TD’s footprint to New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. In total this will give TD 590 branches, 751 banking machines and more than US$26-billion in deposits across eight northeastern states.

Hudson specialises in commercial real estate, consumer and credit card loans to individuals and businesses. The bank also had $8.85 billion US in assets at the end of it’s first quarter, on March 31. The company’s shares had been dropping in the course of the past year because of allegations of money-laundering violations and after an earnings warning, making it a good steal for TD. The acquisition will greatly increased TD’s influence in America.

This continues the recent trend for Canadian banks expanding into the U.S. where regulation on bank mergers is less strict than in their home country.

“This transaction delivers on our shared vision for growth and marks a significant milestone in TD Banknorth’s expansion strategy,” TD Bank CEO and president Ed Clark said in a statement.

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Yesterday, Brian McMonagle, a lawyer defending the U.S. actor Bill Cosby, accused the prosecution of attempting to exclude black jurors. Cosby, who is black, is charged with drugging and sexually assaulting a white woman.

Prosecutors claimed that one of the potential jurors, a black former police officer who had once sued the state, might have an anti-government bias that could skew her judgement in trial. The judge overseeing the case, Steven T. O’Neill, decided to accept the prosecution’s explanation but told Cosby’s lawyers he would entertain their accusations of racial bias if they came back with statistical evidence. Of eleven jurors seated as of yesterday, ten were white and one was black. Out of the 100 potential jurors examined, sixteen were non-white and about a dozen were black. Of the eleven, seven were men, four were women. One juror and six alternates had yet to be selected.

Nearly 3000 residents of Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County have been called to report for jury selection for just one trial. After selection, eighteen of those people will be bused about 300 miles (500 km) to Norristown where the trial of Bill Cosby for the alleged 2004 sexual assault of Andrea Constand is scheduled to begin on June 5.

The area around Pittsburgh was chosen as as source of jurors at the request of Cosby’s legal team, who were concerned about the interest that politicians elsewhere in Pennsylvania have shown in the case.

Judge O’Neill, was present for jury selection: “No one should make an effort to be on this jury, and no one should make an effort to not be on this jury,” he instructed the first set of 100 potential jurors.

The first round of winnowing was done by questionnaire. Potential jurors were asked if they had religious beliefs or experiences with criminals that might affect their ability to serve impartially. Jurors were asked if they or anyone they know has been sexually assaulted, and about a third said yes. Jury selection specialist Howard Varinsky, who worked on the Scott Peterson and Timothy McVeigh cases, said the judge would be likely to dismiss jurors who said yes to that question; and said defense lawyers would likely favor black jurors who might question the veracity of reports from police officers and older jurors who may see Cosby’s alleged victim as an adulteress.

Under Pennsylvania jury selection rules, either side may reject any number of jurors “for cause,” meaning either that they have some health problem or work obligation that would make jury service an undue hardship for them or that there is some proof that they could not be impartial. Someone who has admitted to hating or loving Cosby could be struck for cause. Each legal team may also strike seven jurors and three alternates regardless of their reasons, which they are not obliged to share with the court. However, they are not allowed to exclude jurors solely because of their race or gender, which is what Cosby’s lawyers allege the prosecution attempted to do Tuesday.

Over the past few years, about 40 women have accused Bill Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting them. One woman besides Constand is expected to testify to establish that Cosby’s actions were part of a predatory pattern. Cosby claims his encounter with Constand was consensual and says he hopes to restore his reputation and career. If convicted, Cosby, who is currently 79 years old, could serve 10 years in prison.

Bill Cosby is best known for his role on The Cosby Show, which earned him the nickname “America’s Dad.”

Judge O’Neill has already decided to sequester the jury for the trial, estimated at about two weeks.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

NASA’s Cassini–Huygens spacecraft has discovered evidence for a large-scale saltwater reservoir beneath the icy crust of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The data came from the spacecraft’s direct analysis of salt-rich ice grains close to the jets ejected from the moon. The study has been published in this week’s edition of the journal Nature.

Data from Cassini’s cosmic dust analyzer show the grains expelled from fissures, known as tiger stripes, are relatively small and usually low in salt far away from the moon. Closer to the moon’s surface, Cassini found that relatively large grains rich with sodium and potassium dominate the plumes. The salt-rich particles have an “ocean-like” composition and indicate that most, if not all, of the expelled ice and water vapor comes from the evaporation of liquid salt-water. When water freezes, the salt is squeezed out, leaving pure water ice behind.

Cassini’s ultraviolet imaging spectrograph also recently obtained complementary results that support the presence of a subsurface ocean. A team of Cassini researchers led by Candice Hansen of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, measured gas shooting out of distinct jets originating in the moon’s south polar region at five to eight times the speed of sound, several times faster than previously measured. These observations of distinct jets, from a 2010 flyby, are consistent with results showing a difference in composition of ice grains close to the moon’s surface and those that made it out to the E ring, the outermost ring that gets its material primarily from Enceladean jets. If the plumes emanated from ice, they should have very little salt in them.

“There currently is no plausible way to produce a steady outflow of salt-rich grains from solid ice across all the tiger stripes other than salt water under Enceladus’s icy surface,” said Frank Postberg, a Cassini team scientist at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.

The data suggests a layer of water between the moon’s rocky core and its icy mantle, possibly as deep as about 50 miles (80 kilometers) beneath the surface. As this water washes against the rocks, it dissolves salt compounds and rises through fractures in the overlying ice to form reserves nearer the surface. If the outermost layer cracks open, the decrease in pressure from these reserves to space causes a plume to shoot out. Roughly 400 pounds (200 kilograms) of water vapor is lost every second in the plumes, with smaller amounts being lost as ice grains. The team calculates the water reserves must have large evaporating surfaces, or they would freeze easily and stop the plumes.

“We imagine that between the ice and the ice core there is an ocean of depth and this is somehow connected to the surface reservoir,” added Postberg.

The Cassini mission discovered Enceladus’ water-vapor and ice jets in 2005. In 2009, scientists working with the cosmic dust analyzer examined some sodium salts found in ice grains of Saturn’s E ring but the link to subsurface salt water was not definitive. The new paper analyzes three Enceladus flybys in 2008 and 2009 with the same instrument, focusing on the composition of freshly ejected plume grains. In 2008, Cassini discovered a high “density of volatile gases, water vapor, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, as well as organic materials, some 20 times denser than expected” in geysers erupting from the moon. The icy particles hit the detector target at speeds between 15,000 and 39,000 MPH (23,000 and 63,000 KPH), vaporizing instantly. Electrical fields inside the cosmic dust analyzer separated the various constituents of the impact cloud.

“Enceladus has got warmth, water and organic chemicals, some of the essential building blocks needed for life,” said Dennis Matson in 2008, Cassini project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

“This finding is a crucial new piece of evidence showing that environmental conditions favorable to the emergence of life can be sustained on icy bodies orbiting gas giant planets,” said Nicolas Altobelli, the European Space Agency’s project scientist for Cassini.

“If there is water in such an unexpected place, it leaves possibility for the rest of the universe,” said Postberg.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

The Marussia F1 team’s test driver, Spaniard María de Villota, was taken to hospital by air ambulance today after a collision in testing at Duxford Aerodrome.

At the end of her first installation run, the car she was driving had a low-speed collision with the loading ramp of the team’s support truck. According to BBC Cambridgeshire presenter Chris Mann, the car “suddenly accelerated” into the rear of the vehicle. The Marussia team released a statement an hour and a half after the accident, stating that she had been transferred to hospital, and a further statement would be issued once her condition had been assessed.

A spokesman for the East of England ambulance service, Gary Sanderson, said de Villota had “[…] sustained life-threatening injuries and following treatment at the scene by paramedics, she has been taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital for further care.” According to witnesses, she was motionless for about fifteen minutes as medical teams attended to her, but did move her hands before being taken away from the test track. Medical charity Magpas, whose volunteer paramedics attended the accident, reported she had sustained injuries to her head and face, and was in a ‘stable condition’ when she reached the hospital.

Marussia reported her as conscious later in the afternoon: “Since Maria’s arrival at the hospital at approximately 10.45am this morning, she has been receiving the best medical attention possible at the hospital, which is the region’s major trauma centre. Maria is conscious and medical assessments are ongoing. The team will await the outcome of these assessments before providing further comment. The team’s first priority at this time is Maria and her family.”

De Villota was announced as Marussia’s test driver in March, having prior experience driving for Alan Docking Racing in Superleague Formula in Spain.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

A former official from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine has confessed to involvement in the abduction and murder of journalist Georgiy R. Gongadze in 2000. Olexiy Pukach has also implicated other officials in the crime.

Gongadze criticised the government of then-President Leonid Kuchma. On September 16, 2000, he was abducted and his decapitated remains were found two weeks later near Kiev. Kuchma’s opponents described the slaying as political, and there was widespread controversy on national and international levels.

Olexiy Pukach, who was apprehended on Tuesday, told officials his involvement with the case was “direct” and has gone on to give a full confession. Prosecutors believe he strangled Gongadze himself after three officials from the police—convicted of murder last year—brought Gongadze to Pukach.

According to Vassyl Grytsak of the Security Service of Ukraine, Pukach has also offered to take authorities to the location of the journalists head, which was never recovered.

He also said to arresting officers that “I have been waiting for you since the beginning.” Kuchma himself is alleged to be directly involved, as a series of tapes totaling over 700 hours have been leaked after they were allegedly made in secret by one of his bodyguards; the evidence has been ruled inadmissible by a parliamentary commission that failed to prove or disprove their authenticity. Kuchma denies any involvement.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

A farming town in California claims that it may disappear due to the United States federal government shutting off water pumps, though the government states the actions are necessary to save several marine species.

In July 2009, action by the Federal Bureau of Reclamation to protect threatened fish stopped irrigation pumping to parts of the California Central Valley causing canals leading into Huron, California and the surrounding areas and the farms that rely on them to lose their primary irrigation source. Unemployment has reached 40% in some areas as the farms have dried up.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stated the action is putting the fish “above the needs of millions of Californians.”

Highlighting the city’s plight, Huron Police Chief Frank Steenport stated, “A year from now, [Huron] may not be here.”

In an interview in Huron on Tuesday, comedian Paul Rodriguez, whose mother owns a farm in the area, criticized the actions of the government and called for President Barack Obama to review the decision. “This used to be an almond orchard. Now all that is left is firewood.”

Laura King Moon, assistant general manager of the State Water Contractors, a nonprofit association of 27 public agencies from across California that purchase water from the government under contract, said “these cuts are crippling on our people and businesses — especially in the Central Valley where farmers are being forced to fallow their land and workers are being laid off. Rather than piecemeal restrictions, we need to balance the needs of the environment and the needs of people with a collective plan for the Delta.”

The National Marine Fisheries Service, an agency within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, states the water pumping inside central California threatens several species, including Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, North American green sturgeon, and Southern Resident killer whales, which rely on Chinook salmon runs for food. In the Huron area, the delta smelt is specifically targeted.

In defense of the actions, Rod McInnis, the southwest regional director for NOAA’s Fisheries Service stated, “What is at stake here is not just the survival of species but the health of entire ecosystems and the economies that depend on them. We are ready to work with our federal and state partners, farmers and residents to find solutions that benefit the economy, environment and Central Valley families.”