| Cyclone hits Mozambique
Cyclone Jokwe lashed Mozambique Island before hitting the northern coastal province of Nampula, traveling with winds of up to 130 kilometres per hour, Radio Mozambique said. No casualties have been reported and the extent of the damage is not yet known. The government declared a red alert, the highest level, in Nampula and a lesser, yellow, alert in the central provinces amid fears the storm will cause more damage. Cyclone Jokwe is moving in a southwesterly direction toward the inland districts of Nampula and is expected to hit the central province of Zambezia on Monday, bringing with it moderate rain. The cyclone brushed the northern tip of Madagascar on Wednesday before crossing the Mozambique Channel. Flooding - the worst since 2001 when 800 people died - is slowly subsiding in many parts of northern and central Mozambique.
Demand for soft commodities drives agricultural mini-boom
We're in something like a gold boom, a wool boom," said Brett Stevenson from forecaster AgRisk. "We're in extraordinary territory." The increased use of biofuels and the rise of China and India have caused a structural shift in demand which has not been matched on the supply side. "The limitations, of course, are the seasons that we're being delivered," said Mr Stevenson. "But we've seen some rain this year so that's been really encouraging, particularly in northern NSW, Queensland. "The other difficulty is for farmers who have been through '02, '06 and '07 [is] just their own financial wherewithal to put in a bigger program of cropping." Spring wheat prices are up 187 per cent over the last year. A sustained La Nina is delivering welcome summer rain and the prospect of a bumper winter crop is sparking a land grab.
Pac-10 Notebook: Beavers face punishment
EXTRA CREDIT: While dumb and dumber best describes Oregon State's recent actions, no one is questioning the intelligence level of the Oregon basketball team, which has a current graduation rate way off the charts. Three senior starters, forwards Malik Hairston and Maarty Leunen and guard Bryce Taylor, received their diplomas last summer -- a full year ahead of schedule. Reserves Mitch Platt and Ray Schaefer joined them as fifth-year seniors graduating on time. Add to that junior forward Churchill Odia, who will complete his college requirements at the end of the current winter quarter. "No one else in the country has got that," coach Ernie Kent said, referring to the five college grads on the active roster. "We have great seniors. We have great parents. We told them when they came in this would help their NBA careers." Kent wasn't giving them an idle sales pitch about receiving a fast-track education while maintaining pro basketball possibilities.
Farewell to the Dungeon Master
Steve Gerber died last week at the age of 60, and so ended one of the most spectacularly creative and cursed careers in comic books. Readers may wonder if it's wise to celebrate the literary accomplishments of the writer responsible for 1977's KISS comic, but, from 1972 to 1979, when Gerber worked at Marvel Comics, he was a one-man counterculture. The clunky comic books written for Marvel and DC (the two biggest comic book companies) in the 1960s and '70s may have acquired a certain retro chic, yet they bear almost no relation to the comic books of today. Marvel was the House That Squares Built, and in the kingdom of the unhip, Gerber was the only writer who had a clue. In the early '70s, most comic book writers were content to churn out insular, out-of-touch tales about the superheroes they worshipped in their childhoods.
Iran on the Horizon:
Sami al-Faraj is President of the Kuwait Center for Strategic Studies and an advisor to the Kuwaiti government on preparing for potential nuclear accidents in Iran.
The focus of this panel was a discussion regarding Iran and the issues facing GCC states with respect to Iran's attempts to become a regional hegemon, focusing on how Iran's rise to power is affecting the political and economic policies of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait. The event was held February 1, 2008 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Washington, DC. The following is a complete transcript of Barbara Slavin's remarks. The other speakers' remarks will be distributed in SUSRIS later this week.
For SUSRIS readers, this panel has been divided into four sections with each speakers' remarks. To view the entire presentation, as well as the Questions & Answers section, click here.
New to Market: Chair puts pooches at eye level with eating owners
Most dog aficionados know that it's hard to get through a meal without Fido sitting next to you, begging with those sad eyes. Through San Antonio-based Good Poochie, you now can bring Fido to eye level with a doggie high chair. Good Poochie owner Debbie Margozewitz said she was newly divorced and had just sent a daughter off to college, leaving two empty spots at the table, so she figured her cocker spaniel Elvis was a part of the family and might as well join her. "He'd sit up at the table with me, but I just couldn't figure out a kosher way for him to be able to eat comfortably without him splattering food every which way," said Margozewitz, who also has a son. "Then it came to me — doggie high chair." About the business: Margozewitz runs the business from her home.
Open Thread
For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: the smartest woman in the world complains about sexism in the campaign (paragraph breaks removed): In an interview with ABC News' Cynthia McFadden to air on this evening's "Nightline," Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., says it's tougher for her to run as a woman than it is for her male opponent. Asked why she thinks so many women may be feeling sorry for her, Clinton said, "I think a lot of women project their own feelings and their lives onto me, and they see how hard this is. It's hard. It's hard being a woman out there. It is obviously challenging with some of the things that are said that are not even personal to me so much as they are about women."..."Every so often I just wish that it were a little more of an even playing field," she said, "but, you know, I play on whatever field is out there."...But apparently Clinton thinks -- based on this comment -- that the "playing field" is easier for a black man than a white woman.
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