Obama visits
Edwards as Wisconsin battle looms
MILWAUKEE,
Feb 18: US Democratic presidential candidate
Barack Obama slipped away for a private meeting
with former rival John Edwards to seek his
endorsement as the Illinois senator and Hillary
Clinton battle for Wisconsin.
With eight
straight wins under his belt, Obama hoped to make
it two more tomorrow in nominating contests in
Wisconsin and Hawaii, where he was born. Recent
opinion polls put him ahead in Wisconsin, but not
by much.
Obama, who would
be the first black US president, made a detour
from the campaign trail yesterday morning, flying
from Chicago to North Carolina to meet Edwards at
his home and left behind the retinue of media who
normally travel with him.
Clinton, a New
York senator, made a similar trip earlier this
month.
Obama had hoped to
visit Edwards last Monday but the meeting was
canceled when it threatened to turn into a media
circus.
In the tight race
to become the Democratic nominee in the November
election, both Obama and Clinton want to attract
the former North Carolina senator's supporters.
Obama and Edwards
-- who dropped out of the Democratic race in
January -- discussed ''the state of the campaign
and the pressing issues facing American
families,'' Obama spokesman Bill Burton said.
Edwards focused on
the needs of working people during his campaign,
and Clinton has picked up on his message of
economic populism.
Bad weather in
Wisconsin forced both Obama and Clinton to cancel
planned campaign events in the state. Clinton, a
former first lady, flew to Wausau amid freezing
rain only to have to circle back to Milwaukee,
where she had spent the night because the plane
could not land in Wausau.
Clinton, who has
seen her big lead in the national polls
disappear, instead visited a diner and a Latin
American grocery store.
''I need your help
on Tuesday,'' she told one family as she mingled
with voters at Miss Katie's diner and sat down
for a lunch of corned beef hash and eggs. Asked
what she thought her chances were in the
election, she said, ''I'm feeling good today.''
She later sampled
chips with mole sauce and bought some red
jalapeno peppers -- one of her favorite foods --
at the El Rey supermarket. Clinton is trying to
solidify the strong support she has had among
Hispanic voters.
'I CAN
OUT-CAMPAIGN THEM'
Meanwhile, John
McCain, with little Republican opposition,
focused on the November election. The Arizona
senator, a prisoner of war during the Vietnam
conflict, has all but clinched the Republican
nomination even though his chief rival, former
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, is still in the
race.
In an interview
aired on ABC's ''This Week'' yesterday, McCain
said that in the fall campaign he would paint the
Democrats as liberal while stressing his
conservative credentials.
''I can
out-campaign them, and I can out-debate them and
I can out-perform them in what I think my vision
for America is more in keeping with the majority
of Americans,'' McCain said.
But McCain has had
problems getting the conservative wing of his own
party behind him. He said he was making progress
toward that end.
''We've got to
reunite the party, and we've got to re-energize
the party,'' he said. ''And I'm prepared to do
that. We've got plenty of time. But I won't waste
a day.''
Today, McCain will
pick up a major endorsement from former President
George H.W. Bush, the father of President George
W Bush. The president has not endorsed anyone but
has made it is clear he is ready to back McCain
once he clinches the nomination.
After tomorrow's
voting, Democrats have an eye on March 4, when
the big states of Texas and Ohio hold primaries.
Victories in those
states have become vital for Clinton, who would
be the first woman president, as she tries to
close the gap with Obama in the race for pledged
delegates awarded by the state-by-state contests
to pick a Democratic nominee. (AGENCIES)
Rationalists in
UK challenge occultists preying on Asians
LONDON,
Feb 18: Dismayed at the increasing influence
of occultists and charlatans who advertise in
media to prey on Asian community, rationalists in
Britain have offered a 10,000 pound reward to
anyone who can prove his "magical"
healing powers under scientific conditions.
"We announced
a prize of 2,000 pounds in 1997 to any such
person who can prove his magical powers before
the media and scientists. No one has come forward
so far. We hope someone will now come forward to
claim the higher prize money of 10,000
pounds," Lavkesh Prashar, president of
Birmingham-based Asian Rationalist Society of
Britain, said.
Most newspapers
catering to Asian readers, in various languages,
invariably have pages of advertisements from
people of suspect powers who promise to cure all
ills, remove spells and bring luck to those who
believe in spells and occult practices.
Several local
television channels also advertise their
services, but with the proviso that they do not
endorse the services. Many such astrologers,
witch doctors and charlatans reportedly charge
large sums for their services.
Prashar said such
witch doctors and charlatans were exploiting the
superstitious and gullible people from the Asian
and Afro-Caribbean communities and earning
thousands of pounds every year.
Parachar said:
"They are preying on the more traditional
members of our society who have been brought up
to believe in this kind of thing.
"We challenge
them to prove that they have magical powers under
scientific conditions". (PTI)
''Golden''
memory of gold fish...
SYDNEY,
Feb 18: Busting the myth that goldfish have
a three second memory, a new study has revealed
that they have mental capabilities to learn and
remember complex concepts and retaining knowledge
for at least a couple of days.
The study
conducted by a 15-year-old South Australian
school student, Rory Stokes, tested the commonly
held theory that goldfish have short memory
spans.
He also blamed
humans for the ''cruelty'' of keeping them in
small tanks.
It is a myth that
a goldfish had a memory span of less than three
seconds and no matter how small its tank was, it
would always discover new places and objects, The
Australian quoted Rory as saying.
The myth was
intended to lessen the self guilt about keeping
fish in small tanks, he added.
The three-week
long experiment involved teaching a small group
of fish to swim to a beacon by establishing a
memory connection between the beacon and food.
He placed a beacon
in the water at feeding time each day, waited 30
seconds and then sprinkled fish food around the
beacon.
It was noted that
the time taken for the fish to swim to the beacon
reduced, from more than one minute for the first
few feeds to less than five seconds by the end of
the three weeks.
After the initial
three-week period, the beacon was removed from
the feeding process.
Six days later,
the beacon was again placed in the water and it
was noted the fish swam to the beacon in 4.4
seconds despite not seeing it for almost a week,
showing they had remembered the association
between food and the beacon for at least six
days.
''My results
showed that goldfish can retain knowledge for at
least six days, rather indefinitely if they use
it regularly,'' he said.
(UNI)
Physical
activity influenced by
various factors: study
WASHINGTON,
Feb 18: When it comes to participation in
physical activity, one size does not fit all,
research says.
"Our study
uncovered some definite trends and preferences
when deciding how and if a person wants to be
physically active," said Brad Humphreys, an
economics professor at the University of Alberta.
"It is clear
that different genders, ethnicities and income
levels have very diverse influences and choices
when it comes to being physically active,"
he explained.
The study, which
appears in Contemporary Economic Policy and was
co-authored with U of A professor Jane Ruseski,
looked at a wide range of factors, including
income, education and ethnicity, that influence
whether a person decides to be physically active,
as well as their time spent being active.
It also examined
the impact of Government spending on parks and
recreation on an individual’s decision to
participate in physical activity and sports.
At a 57 per cent
participation rate, walking was found to be the
most common form of physical activity undertaken
for exercise.
Results suggested
that participation in walking increases with age,
indicating that programmes aimed at promoting
walking for exercise could appeal to older
populations, informed Prof Humphreys.
"Choosing
walking as the main form of physical activity may
reflect the relatively low cost of this activity.
Walking can be done in almost any setting under
almost any condition without needing specialised
equipment or facilities," prof humphreys was
quoted by science daily as saying.
The University of
Alberta study, analysing a sample of over 275,000
individuals, found that participation in all
types of physical activities increased when a
person had a higher level of income and that
people with a post-secondary education
participated in outdoor recreation activities
more than high school graduates.
As well, females
were less likely to participate in outdoor
recreation activities, group sports and
individual sports than males, it added.
"Compared to
men, we found that females spent an average of
444 minutes fewer per week doing outdoor
recreation, 108 minutes fewer spent on group
sports and 74 minutes fewer on individual
sports," the professor said.
"This can be
explained by child-care responsibilities and the
fact that women spend almost an hour more on
household activities compared to men per
week," he added.
"Our results
have important implications for the design of
Government interventions aimed at increasing
physical activity," he concluded.
(UNI)
Haneef probe
cost of USD7.5 mn, police says no to compensation
MELBOURNE,
Feb 18: Australian police spent a whopping
USD 7.5 million probing Mohammed Haneef, who was
wrongly accused of terror charges, the
country’s police chief said today while
claiming that the Indian doctor did not have a
case for compensation.
Mick Keelty told
the Senate Estimates Committee that the
Australian Federal Police (AFP) investigation of
Haneef in connection with the failed UK terror
bombings last year involved 470 police and
customs officers.
"As at the
end of December 2007, expenses for the
investigation are in excess of USD7.5
million," he was qouted by ‘The
Australian’ daily.
"That is made
up of approximately USD 5.5 million of employee
expenses of which USD 1.6 (million) accounts for
overtime and approximately USD1 million in supply
expenses."
Keelty, who has
ducked calls for his resignation after the Haneef
episode which caused severe embarrassment to
Canberra, said there had been an internal
investigation but no changes had been made to
processes inside the force.
"We have
reviewed the Haneef matter as a matter of course
and there’s nothing that’s arisen out
of those reviews that required us to alter our
policies or alter our approaches to those
investigations."
Attorney-General
Robert McClelland is expected soon to announce
the details of a judicial inquiry into the case.
"The AFP
welcomes any inquiry into our role in the Haneef
inquiry. We have absolutely nothing to
hide," Keelty said maintaining that Haneef
did not have any case for compensation.
"Every step
we have taken has had some form of judicial
oversight," Keelty said, adding there had
been no formal approach from Haneef’s
lawyers about compensation.
Lawyers of the
28-year-old Bangalore doctor, who was forced to
retun to his country even after dropping of
charges, have spoken of USD nine lakh
compensation claiming his career has been ruined
by police’s actions.
Haneef, a Gold
Coast registrar, was arrested by police at
Brisbane airport on July 2 last year while he was
on his way to India. He was charged 12 days later
with supporting a terrorist organisation after
his SIM card was linked to the failed Glasgow
airport bombing the previous month.
The charges were
dropped a fortnight later but immigration
minister Kevin Andrews cancelled his work visa on
character grounds, forcing him to return to
Bangalore.
The full bench of
the Federal Court in December upheld a
Judge’s earlier decision to reinstate his
work visa, clearing the way for Haneef to return
to Australia.
Keelty said there
was an on-going internal probe into another case
where the police were concerned about some
matters.
"We have a
current inquiry in relation to another matter
that’s not yet reported where we were
concerned about particular issues," he said.
(PTI)
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