B.J's Blog

Monday, December 10, 2007

PICKTON FOUND GUILTY (The Gazette, 10 Dec 2007, Page A1)

PICKTON FOUND GUILTY
LORI CULBERT CANWEST NEWS SERVICE
The Gazette
10 Dec 2007

VANCOUVER – Convicted killer Robert (Willie) Pickton, in a letter to a prison pen pal in 2006, said he was put on Earth to rid people of their “evil ways.” Pickton will learn tomorrow how long he will serve in prison for the murder of six women who... read more...

Last-minute TD pass lifts Cowboys

BOYS 28, LIONS 27 Witten snags winner with 18 seconds left

DETROIT – The Dallas Cowboys’ magical season continued.
Tony Romo tossed a 16-yard touchdown pass to Jason Witten with 18 seconds left in regulation yesterday as the Cowboys rallied for a 28-27 victory over the Detroit Lions, clinching the NFC East Division title.
“Ninth time we’ve come from behind this year, and it shows you the character and the heart of this team,” Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said. “It wasn’t the prettiest game for us, but it was the best in that we came out the Eastern Division champs.”
Detroit, which stunned Dallas 39-31 in last season’s regular-season finale, appeared on the verge of beating the Cowboys for the second straight time.
But Romo drove Dallas (12-1) 83 yards on 11 plays in the final two minutes without any timeouts for the winning score, as the Cowboys clinched their first division title since 1998.
“I enjoy being in those situations,” Romo said. “It gets your juices flowing a little bit..”
The Lions had a chance to get back the ball on the Cowboys’ winning drive when Romo fumbled, but guard Kyle Kosier recovered for Dallas at the Cowboys’ 40-yard line.
Witten, who had a huge day with career highs of 15 receptions for 138 yards, made amends for a fumble on the Lions’ 1-yard line earlier in the fourth quarter with the Cowboys trailing 27-21. Colts 44, Ravens 20
At Baltimore, Peyton Manning threw four touchdown passes, including the 300th of his career, as the defending Super Bowl champion Colts routed the reeling Ravens. Packers 38, Raiders 7 At Green Bay, Wisc., Will Blackmon scored two specialteams touchdowns as the Packers clinched its first NFC North Division title since 2004. Giants 16, Eagles 13
At Philadelphia, Eli Manning found Plaxico Burress for a 20yard TD pass in the third quarter, giving the Giants the lead for good and moving New York closer to a playoff berth. Jaguars 37, Panthers 6
At Jacksonville, David Garrard threw a pair of TD passes as the Jags smashed Carolina. Texans 28, Bucs 14
At Houston, Sage Rosenfels completed 27-of-36 passes for 209 yards and three TDs as the Texans doubled up Tampa Bay. Bills 38, Dolphins 17
At Orchard Park, N.Y., rookie Trent Edwards tossed a seasonhigh four TDs as Buffalo pushed Miami (0-13) closer to infamy. Bengals 19, Rams 10
At Cincinnati, Shayne Graham kicked four field goals and Rudi Johnson ran for a touchdown in the Bengals victory. Vikings 27, 49ers 7
At San Francisco, Chester Taylor rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown as Minnesota kept its playoff hopes alive by drubbing the dreadful 49ers. Seahawks 42, Cardinals 21
At Seattle, Matt Hasselbeck threw for four TDs as Seattle clinched the NFC West crown. Browns 24, Jets 18
At East Rutherford, N.J., Derek Anderson threw two touchdown passes and Jamal Lewis sealed the game with a late touchdown run as Cleveland (8-5) continued its march toward a playoff berth. Broncos 41, Chiefs 7
At Denver, Jay Cutler threw four touchdown passes and running-back Selvin Young ran for 156 yards as the Broncos cruised.

Business Article

Blackstone in Chinese break-up bid for Rio

COULD MEAN SELL-OFF OF ALCAN Iron- ore industry fears power a combinedRio Tinto- BHP Billiton could wield

DAVID LITTERICK LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH
LONDON – Blackstone is planning an audacious break-up bid for miner Rio Tinto Group, the Daily Telegraph can reveal.

The U.S. private equity giant is in the middle of putting together a consortium – believed to include a Chinese sovereign wealth fund – to mount the bid for Rio, currently the target of an unwelcome approach by rival mining giant BHP Billiton.
Blackstone is already believed to have appointed lawyers for the approach, and is in talks with bankers and public relations companies.
As part of its defence against the three-for-one share offer made by BHP, Rio has identified up to $30 billion of disposals it believes will drive shareholder value. These include its talc business, two uranium projects in Australia and the United States, the Northparkes copper and gold mine in Australia and the U.S. Greens Creek zinc, lead and silver mine.
Blackstone is ready to go further and break the business up completely. This would mean undoing this year’s merger with Montreal aluminium producer Alcan, as well as selling off the company’s main asset – its iron ore business.
Blackstone believes the key iron ore operations are worth at least $110 billion, based on the $1.06-billion valuation placed on Australian miner Midwest Resources by Chinese company Sinosteel. Sinosteel is in the process of lobbying the Australian government to allow its bid to go ahead. If successful it would be the first time a Chinese company has taken over a listed Australian business and would highlight China’s willingness and ability to play a role in consolidation of the mining industry.
The $110-billion figure – which compares with Rio’s market capitalization of $150 billion – is based on Rio’s existing proven reserves. However it is believed further mineralization in the Pilbara in Australia and at the Simandou project in Guinea could push this valuation and that of Rio as a whole higher.
The iron ore assets are crucial to any deal involving Rio Tinto. The rationale for the approach from BHP – which also has extensive operations in the Pilbara – is the synergies the company believes can be derived from bolting the two companies’ iron ore assets together.
China’s insatiable desire for iron ore has sent prices soaring. The industry fears a combined Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton would give the resulting super major too much power.
Blackstone already has strong links with the Chinese after China Investment Corp., the $200billion sovereign wealth fund, paid $3 billion for a 10-per-cent stake in the private equity giant before flotation this year. Blackstone declined to comment.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

acids and bases

Acids and Bases

For tho

usands of years people have known that vinegar, lemon juice and many other foods taste sour. However, it was not until a few hundred years ago that it was discovered why these things taste sour - because they are all acids. The term acid, in fact, comes from the Latin term acere, which means "sour". While there are many slightly different definitions of acids and bases, in this lesson we will introduce the fundamentals of acid/base chemistry.

In the seventeenth century, the Irish writer and amateur chemist Robert Boyle first labeled substances as either acids or bases (he called bases alkalies) according to the following characteristics:

Acids taste sour, are corrosive to metals, change litmus (a dye extracted from lichens) red, and become less acidic when mixed with bases.
Bases feel slippery, change litmus blue, and become less basic when mixed with acids.

more about acids and bases

Monday, December 3, 2007

Stephen King

Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of over 200 stories including over 50 bestselling horror and fantasy novels. King was the 2003 recipient of The National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and his numerous literary awards place him among the most-honored horror authors in recent history.

King evinces a thorough knowledge of the horror genre, as shown in his 1981 nonfiction book Danse Macabre, which chronicles several decades of notable works in literature, cinema, television and radio. He has also written stories outside the horror genre, including the novella collection Different Seasons, The Green Mile, The Eyes of the Dragon, Hearts in Atlantis and his self-described "magnum opus," The Dark Tower series. In the past, Stephen King has written under the pen names Richard Bachman and (once) John Swithen.