| Probes into lecturer's indecent assault bid complete
Two official investigations into a former senior childcare lecturer convicted of attempted indecent assault have been completed, it emerged tonight.The gardaí have sent a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions after its inquiry into Athlone Institute of Technology ex-lecturer Dr Niall McElwee.Separately, the Health Service Executive (HSE) said it is considering whether to publish its own probe into the circumstances surrounding the case.Dr McElwee resigned from the third-level college last year over his prosecution in the Netherlands of attempted indecent assault on two young women in an Amsterdam hotel room.Children's Minister Brendan Smith ordered an independent review of the the case last July while the gardaí were investigating if Dr McElwee broke sex laws in the Republic.Individuals are obliged under the Sexual Offenders Act 2001 to inform authorities here of any prosecution abroad for an offence also deemed criminal in Ireland.A garda spokesman said: "The investigation is complete and the file is with the Director of Public Prosecutions."Separately, lawyers are to decide whether the HSE probe will be published after health chiefs receive the findings in the coming days.Independent management consultant Conal Devine - a former Director of Industrial Relations at the Irish Medical Organisation - was appointed to carry out the HSE inquiry last July.Child protection experts were to be brought in from outside the State to help Mr Devine with his investigation, it was announced at the time.The report is now understood to be concluded and will be handed to the Assistant National Director of Primary Community and Continuing Care (PCCC) services in the HSE Dublin Mid-Leinster Area before the end of the week.A HSE spokesman said its lawyers will study the findings before a decision is taken on whether or not to make them public."The HSE is committed to establishing the full facts of what information was available to the health services in relation to Dr McElwee," he said.A review inquiry team headed up by Mr Devine was charged with looking at concerns about child protection relating to the incident.It was expected to investigate:::Documents from State agencies, including the gardaí, government departments and Athlone IT relating to Dr McElwee and child protection issues.
Immortality in a glacier, an asteroid, even a snail
Sometimes as recognition of relevant research, sometimes as homage to unrelated achievement, and sometimes as just a twist of fate. Take Corona's Texas snail tale: In 1984, Corona was a seasonal park ranger at Amistad National Recreation Area, checking fishing licenses and picking up after dirty campers. She volunteered to assist Texas State University professor Glenn Longley, an expert on the region's aquifer system, and research associate Robert Hershler, who wanted samples of aquatic life from cave springs. "It was, oh, maybe a million degrees in the shade," Corona recalled. "But I was thrilled. This was fun and interesting." She'd navigate a 19-foot Sea Ray motorboat up Devil's River to remote springs, setting a fine-meshed net to filter the flow, and snaring all kinds of grit, goo and curious little critters - sealing them in bottles for lab scrutiny.
Satellite Navigation Market Continues To Soar Worldwide
The company attributed the growth to falling prices for all types of hardware and dramatic volume increases in the sales of Portable Navigation Devices (PND) and satellite navigation-equipped mobile phones in Europe and North America. The company forecasts the satellite navigation market growing to $54 billion worldwide by 2011. The two largest manufacturers of PNDs, Kansas-based Garmin International and Netherlands-based TomTom NV, each shipped a record number of units during the third quarter 2007 2.7 million and 2.2 million, respectively. The two companies manufactured nearly half of the PNDs sold last year. Garmin anticipates 2007 revenue of more than $2.9 billion and reported a profit of $547.7 million through the first three quarters, up 39 percent from the same period in 2006.
Atlanta Music Scene
He care about the oil"); flashed back to his days with the pioneering hip-hop trio the Fugees (playing "Fu-Gee-La" and "Ready Or Not"); channeled a bit of late rock legend Jimi Hendrix (playing his guitar with his mouth); welcomed Atlanta rapper-producer Akon to the stage (with whom he performed Jean's recent single "Sweetest Girl - Dollar Bill") - deep breath here - and finally, created a bit of Carnival. Jean called it a "hip-hop rock and roll show". But with all of that - plus a mighty eight-piece band (including a four-piece horn section), a bit of Shakira, and many local notables (Willie O'Ree of the NHL, Atlanta City Council member Kwanza Hall, Bert Weiss of Q100's "The Bert Show", Slim of 112, Nicci Gilbert of Brownstone) in the audience - it was, spectactularly, so much more.
A new ID system will make US citizens more secure, according to the ...
The Department of Homeland Security (DOHS) originally estimated a total cost of the program at $14.6 billion USD, the cost of which would be shared amongst the states. Now, the DOHS is stating that it will only cost $3.9 billion USD total. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has been vocally opposing the initiative, which they say violates citizens' rights to privacy. Furthermore, they point to instances of what happened in Britain, and say that with more proliferated citizen data throughout the federal and state government, it will be far easier to lose citizen's valuable private information. The ACLU says the initiative is effectively the "first-ever national identity card system," and "would irreparably damage the fabric of American life." The over 50 exemption was given to help give states time to adjust their older citizens to the law. However, even the older folks will need one of the new IDs in order to board a plane by 2017.
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