| From The Economist print edition
MICHAEL VEENSTRA'S 60-berth marina at Goolwa has room for only 30 boats: half the moorings are now on dry land. Over the past 18 months, the water level has dropped and its salt content has risen. Goolwa faces the mouth of the Murray River. Yet drought, climate change and more than 100 years of irrigation have left the Murray in one of its worst crises. The Murray and its main tributary, the Darling, are Australia's longest river-system and the lifeblood of its crop farms. It supplies four of the country's six states. The picture at the Murray's source, 2,500km (1,550 miles) east of Goolwa, is more refreshing, as it bubbles out of a clear spring in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales (NSW). But it grows steadily worse from there. In the past two years, the volume of water flowing into the Murray from the rivers that feed it in NSW and Queensland was the lowest since records began in 1892.
Say sheesh! Best Buy digital photo frame harbors virus
Talk about spoiled cheese. A digital picture frame made by a gadget brand belonging to Best Buy is thought to carry a virus, and the big-box retailer is warning owners to contact customer service for instructions. The frames at issue are 10.4-inch in diameter and made by Insignia. They carry the model number NS-DPF-10A, and according to the warning posted by Best Buy on its Insignia site, the virus slipped in during manufacturing. But the company did not explain how that happened. Best Buy says the frames were pulled from stores and retail websites as soon as it knew of the problem, but some still made it to the public. Customers who believe they have one should call the Insignia customer care line at 1-877-467-4289. The virus wasn't described, but Best Buy insists that it's old and can be removed with current, up-to-date antivirus software.
To Hell With the Chief!
It's true that Midwesterners have a great deal of just plain common sense and Madhoosier is very eloquent as well. Obama fills the bill for me and, as a great-grandmother offers hope and confidence that the next generations will restore the American Dream. Thanks all! .
Fielding jolts from a great unknown
After months of cryptic trailers and hype in the US, Cloverfield turns out to be almost comforting in its simplicity. It's a short, efficient, terrifying monster movie, no more and no less. Told solely from the point of view of one digital video camera wielded by one young guy named Hud (TJ Miller), the film records scenes from a seven-hour attack on Manhattan by a Giant Thing. It's the first cellphone-ready action flick. .
Senate approves tax breaks
John Unger, D-Berkeley, led the chamber into freezing existing property tax rates for anyone over 65 with an annual income of $25,000 or less.Anyone buying certain appliances that cost $2,500 or less could skip the sales tax in the first week of each September in a bill Gov. Joe Manchin offered a few weeks ago. Under a Senate amendment, the tax holiday would end in 2010.Manchin reversed his philosophy a bit, refusing in his first year of office to support the sales tax holiday in back-to-school purchases inaugurated by former Gov. Bob Wise.Senate Minority Leader Don Caruth, R-Mercer, debated Economic Development Chairman Brooks McCabe, D-Kanawha, at length over the Republican-led bid to apply the brakes this year to the business franchise tax.All the two agreed on was that the tax is West Virginia's "most onerous" on the business community.But McCabe alluded to a bundle of tax reforms, among them the inventory tax and corporate net income, along with another one-penny drop in the tax on groceries.All told, the tax reductions will rob the state's coffers of between $138 million and $140 million, he said.While things look rosy this year with a whopping surplus, both McCabe and Finance Chairman Walt Helmick, D-Pocahontas, raised the specter of a downtown in the economy — even a recession — and if that occurs, the $70 million loss the Caruth amendment costs would look massive."What if we have a 10 percent reduction in the price of coal?" he asked."That's another $30 million out of the general revenue fund."Suppose, he asked, if lotteries flourish in surrounding states? That could translate into another $50 million setback.But Sen.
Heyman Hustle Sneak Peek: Lesbian Controversy and Hype
With a week to go before its premiere on The UK Sun, former Extreme Wrestling owner Paul Heyman's new project, NewsCorp's first Hi-Def wireless/broadband digital project "The Heyman Hustle" is already in the midst of controversy. Heyman, whose knack for pushing the envelope landed him constantly in trouble with networks and sports channel stations in the 1990's, showed up at the cast party for the season premiere of CBS Network's "Survivor" at the W Hotel Times Square in midtown Manhattan. .
Ten Days With Leopard: Coolest Cat Ever
The act of upgrading a MacBook from Tiger to Leopard was not without problems. Let's just say you should not proceed without first making a full-on backup. Once it's properly installed, however, Leopard shines. Spaces gives you a ton of extra desktop real estate, Time Machine will probably get more people to play it safe and keep constant backups, and smaller features just plain make sense. As much as $2 billion in potential sales could have been lost in 2006 due to online security concerns. VeriSign has created a simple and cost-effective way to protect your employees, business partners and consumers. Its called VeriSign Identity Protection. Read more now. .
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