Eideard

As a prosecutor, Vincent Bugliosi was perfect in murder cases: 21 trials, 21 convictions, including the Charles Manson case in 1971.

As an author, Bugliosi has written three No.1 bestsellers and won three Edgar Allen Poe awards, the top honor for crime writers.

But what happens when a big-name author, who more than 30 years ago co-wrote the best seller “Helter Skelter,” publishes a book that the mainstream press has shied away from?

Bugliosi’s latest, a polemic with the provocative title, “The Prosecution of George W. Bush For Murder,” has risen to best-seller status with nary a peep from the usual outlets that help sell books: cable television and book reviews in major daily newspapers.

“If it’s selling well,” said Jon Meacham, the editor of Newsweek, “it’s another sign that the traditional channels of commerce have been blown up. If a dedicated part of the Internet community wants to move something, it doesn’t need a benediction from the mainstream media, and might benefit from not having one.”

Just one more reason for Establishment Types to hate the Internet. Don’t kid yourself – they’d love to rein in this unrestricted talk.

Meanwhile, read the article. Read the book if you need convincing of the crimes committed in the name of the American nation.

Hundreds of tons of waste still languish inside a tin-roofed warehouse in a corner of the old grounds of the Union Carbide pesticide factory here, nearly a quarter-century after a poison gas leak killed thousands and turned this ancient city into a notorious symbol of industrial disaster.

The toxic remains have yet to be carted away. No one has examined to what extent, over more than two decades, they have seeped into the soil and water, except in desultory checks by a state environmental agency, which turned up pesticide residues in the neighborhood wells far exceeding permissible levels.

Nor has anyone bothered to address the concerns of those who have drunk that water and tended kitchen gardens on this soil and who now present ailments from cleft palates to mental retardation among their children as evidence of a second generation of Bhopal victims, though it is impossible to say with any certainty what is the source of the afflictions.

Why it has taken so long to deal with the disaster is an epic tale of the ineffectiveness and seeming apathy of India’s bureaucracy and of the government’s failure to make the factory owners do anything about the mess they left.

Dow has exhibited the same corporate avoidance of responsibility made famous by asbestos companies. Only exceeded by the cowardice and corruption of Union Carbide in the first place.

Excellent article – asking the hard questions of Indian politicians as well as corporate demi-gods.

Tee hee.

Toyota Motor Corp. has put millions of people on four wheels. Now, the global auto giant wants to put roofs over their heads, too.

Best known for its top-selling cars like the Prius and Corolla, Toyota is looking to apply its ecofriendly image and technical know-how to help boost sales of its small and little-known prefabricated-housing division.

Since 1975, Toyota has been building steel-frame houses designed to withstand earthquakes and typhoons and keep out burglars…But with new Japanese government calls for sturdier home construction — to cut down on waste created by home demolitions — and heightened consumer interest in eco-conscious designs, Toyota hopes it will play a leading role in the years ahead in defining not only how the Japanese drive but where they live, too.

Toyota’s aspirations as a home builder are also gaining new importance with the planned launch by 2010 of its plug-in vehicles, gas-electric hybrid cars with powerful lithium-ion batteries that drivers will need to recharge at home. The car maker is testing an electricity-monitoring system in its homes that would charge the vehicle during off-peak hours to keep utility bills low, while the car’s battery can serve as an electrical backup, powering the home during blackouts.

You should even be able to use the same smart key to lock and unlock house and car.

Thanks, Helen

Photo by Peter Brylinke

A Northwest Airlines flight from Detroit created a stir among passengers when it landed in Tampa with a sizable dent in the nose.

Tampa International Airport spokeswoman Brenda Geoghagan said the aircraft collided with a bird. There were no injuries and the pilot did not request emergency vehicles to be on hand when making the landing, she said.

“I may be late for school,” said Peter Brylinke, who was taking the Boeing 757 back to his home in Minneapolis after spending the July 4 weekend in Tampa. “The plane was sitting on the runway with a smashed-in nose. It looked like it crashed into a wall.”

When he saw the dent, Brylinke knew he had to book another flight.

Northwest, of course, is going by the book and offering no conclusions. What else could they have hit?

Click photo for larger image

Some time this month an intercontinental ballistic missile will blast off from its silo from beneath the ground in deepest Kazakhstan. It will not, however, be carrying the nuclear warhead it was designed to deliver. Instead the payload will include five small satellites designed and built amid the neatly clipped lawns and ornamental lakes of the University of Surrey, almost within the shadow of Guildford cathedral.

The satellites are each the size of a normal fridge. Once they break away from the ex-Soviet rocket the five will form a constellation but their purpose is far from astrophysical. When they swing into action they will beam back pictures of the Earth – capable of collecting, among other things, evidence of agricultural fraud, illegal oil dumping, the impact of natural disasters and likely deposits of minerals.

They are the latest in a series of satellites of increasing sophistication which have been built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, until recently part of Surrey University and the brainchild of a team led by the company’s chief executive, Professor Sir Martin Sweeting…

Size, or rather the lack of it, was to become SSTL’s trade mark. Its satellites would be smaller, cheaper and quicker to build. According to SSTL, a large satellite might weigh more than 1,000kg, cost $500m and take years to develop. One of its micro-satellites, by comparison, would weigh 100kg, cost $10m and take 18 months to put together.

A thoroughly enjoyable article about technologists and scientists with the acumen to develop niche markets with suitable budgets – and successfully market their dreams.

Toyota plans to install solar panels on its next-generation Prius hybrid cars, becoming the first major automaker to use solar power for a vehicle.

The Nikkei said Toyota would equip solar panels on the roof of the high-end version of the Prius when it redesigns the gasoline-electric hybrid car early next year, and the power generated by the system would be used for the air conditioning.

Toyota plans to use solar panels made by Kyocera.

Toyota remodeled the Prius with an improved hybrid system in 2003 and is expected to launch a third-generation version by next year.

The only folks they have to stay ahead of – as far as I can see – is Honda. Though, I’m still interested in seeing the VW diesel-hybrid as delivered.

Yes, solar panels on the roof are a natural for my neck of the high desert.