Friday, 7 April 2000
1. DOE: RICHARDSON RELAXES BADGE REQUIREMENTS AT LABORATORIES.
During a visit to Brookhaven last Friday, the Energy Secretary
announced that the Department has dropped plans to require
foreign employees to wear badges that prominently display their
nationality
(WN 28 Jan 00).
Moreover, no matter what their
nationality, employees at Brookhaven and other laboratories with
limited classified activity will not be required to wear badges
in unclassified areas, although they will be expected to produce
their badge if requested by security personnel. Richardson's
statement came as breath of fresh air. However, a spokesperson
at DOE this morning was unable to provide WN with the names of
the laboratories the policy would apply to. We were told not to
expect additional information on the policy in the near future.
2. MIR: TWO COSMONAUTS RE-OCCUPY LEAKING SPACE STATION.
Dan
Goldin expressed dismay yesterday as two cosmonauts boarded the
dilapidated space craft, which was abandoned eight months ago.
With Russia far behind in delivery of its Zvezda Service Module
for the ISS, the re-occupation of Mir is straining relations with
the US, which is sorely embarrassed by the much delayed ISS. But
Russia insists the Mir renovation was commercially financed by
MirCorp, an international firm established by Gold & Appel, a
holding company in the Cayman Islands, and RKK Energia
(WN 14 Jan 00).
Even as Goldin fumed, MirCorp announced it would finance a
crew replacement mission to Mir in September. Sixteen years ago
Ronald Reagan committed the US to build a space station "within a
decade." Mir has been looking down at us for 15 of those years.
3. DIETARY SUPPLEMENT: THE RETURN OF "VITAMIN O."
In November of
1998, USA Today carried a full page ad for "Vitamin O." What was
it? "Vitamin O contains stabilized oxygen molecules in a solution
of sodium chloride and distilled water"
(WN 27 Nov 98).
After we
called attention to the ad, the Federal Trade Commission charged
the supplier, Rose Creek Health Products, with fraud
(WN 19 Mar 99).
and the company was shut down. This week, we became aware
of a new oxygen supplement, BiOxygen, offered by Beverly Sassoon
& Co.,
http://www.bsassoon.net.
And what is BiOxygen? "The
components of BiOxygen are water, sodium chloride, and activated
oxygen molecules." One difference: a two ounce bottle of
BiOxygen costs $34.95, compared to only $20 for "Vitamin O." The
recommended dose is again 15-20 drops, twice a day, or roughly
0.0000002% of your minimum daily requirement for oxygen.
4. START: PUTIN CALLS FOR FEWER--BUT MORE RELIABLE--WEAPONS.
In
his first major policy statement, Vladimir Putin, called for
ratification of Start II, which has languished in the Duma for
six years, and on to Start III. At the same time, he sought to
satisfy the hard liners by calling for development of new weapons
to replenish the deteriorating Russian stockpile
(WN 20 Nov 98).
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