justdanceitoff.com

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Iran has announced that on August 17 it conducted a successful test flight of the Safir carrier rocket, which was launched from Semnan Province, Iran.

The nature of the test flight is currently unclear, with various contradictory reports and statements being issued. It has been claimed that this test flight was used to launch into orbit the Omid, a low earth orbit satellite, however, later reports suggest that a demonstration payload was affixed to the rocket. In addition to uncertainty regarding the rocket’s payload, some reports suggest that the rocket reached orbit, whereas others suggest that it intentionally flew a sub-orbital trajectory, similar to two previous test flights.

It is believed that if the Omid satellite was not launched on this rocket, it may be launched as early as next week. Upon successful launch, the Omid will be the second Iranian satellite to be placed into orbit, and will be the first to be launched on an indigenously developed rocket.

The Safir rocket is believed to be a derivative of the Shahab-3 missile, itself an Iranian-produced derivative of the North Korean Rodong-1 missile. Safir is Persian for “envoy” or “ambassador”. The launch follows a number of controversial missile tests conducted by Iran during July, and an earlier sub-orbital test of the Safir rocket in February.

The details of the launch have yet to be confirmed by independent observers, however, videos have been published online. If the rocket did reached orbit, Iran will be the eleventh country to develop the ability to launch satellites. The last country to develop such a capability was Russia, which used technology inherited from the Soviet Union to launch the Kosmos 2175 spy satellite in 1992. Israel was the last country to develop a completely independent launch system, Shavit, which first flew in 1988.

Other countries to have developed a satellite launch capability are Russia (and the former Soviet Union), the United States, France, Japan, China, the United Kingdom, India and Israel. It would be the 40^th orbital launch so far this year, and the 39^th to reach orbit.

On August 19, a United States official stated, “The vehicle failed shortly after liftoff and in no way reached its intended position.” The video footage shown on Iranian state television was only about one minute and it wasn’t shown how far the rocket went upward.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Lordi, described as “cartoon metalheads” wearing latex monster masks, beat runner-up Russian “heart throb” Dima Bilan to win this year’s 51st Eurovision song contest held in Athens, Greece. Bosnia’s Hari Mata Hariwas came third.

In a spectacular show, hosted by Maria Menounos and Sakis Rouvas, Lordi amassed 292 points after a public vote – 44 ahead of Russia. Greece’s singer Anna Vissi, who was one of the favourites to win, came 9th, followed by Ireland’s Brian Kennedy. From the start of the song contest as well as during the televoting, the Greek organisers presented viewers choreographies and dances inspired by Greek culture and music, both ancient and modern. In addition, the world famous Greek singer Nana Moushouri was presented by the hosts and gave the sign for the start of televoting.

Wielding spark-spewing instruments, the “Monster-themed” rock band beat 23 other competitors, scoring 292 points from telephone voters in 38 countries with its song “Hard Rock Hallelujah” in a performance that both shocked and amused viewers.

A spokesperson for Lordi said: “We won the contest, looking like this,” he said. “It just goes to show that Europe is not such a bad place.” The Finnish band thanked viewers for voting for their song, which featured the lead singer hoisting a double-headed-axe microphone stand above his head. The win has been dubbed as a “radical departure” from the catchy pop tunes, folk songs and emotional ballads normally associated with Eurovision.

Complete with distorted guitars, a catchy chorus and “mock-demonic imagery,” Lordi is reminiscent of 1970s American band Kiss – an inspiration acknowledged by lead singer Mr Lordi. “What this has shown is that there are different styles of music than just pop and rock,” Mr Lordi told news media after the surprise victory. “That should be the goal of Eurovision,” he said.

Mr. Lordi, whose real name is Tomi Putaansuu, hails from Lapland and says his band’s masked personas are just characters. “The guys behind the masks are not interesting – underneath, there’s just a boring, normal guy who walks the dogs, goes to the supermarket, watches DVDs and eats candies. You really don’t want to see him.” he said. But the characters “live on stage and they live in a fantasy world”, he said. “This element of mystery is one of the cornerstones of Lordi.”

The band has upset many Finns with their outrageous behaviour. “This is a victory for rock music… and also a victory for open-mindedness,” Mr Lordi said. “For the millionth time, we’re not Satanists or devil worshippers. This is entertainment. The masks are like our calling card and we’ll never perform without them. It would be like Santa Claus handing a child his gifts at Christmas time and then pulling off his beard…”

The 51st annual Eurovision was broadcast live across Europe, watched by an estimated 100 million viewers. Regarded by many as the “contest good taste forgot,” Eurovision is adored by fans of kitsch and camp everywhere.

Lordi join the likes of Abba, Bucks Fizz, Dana and Celine Dion on the elite list of Eurovision winners.

Because of Lordi’s first place finish, next year the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest will take place, for the first time, in Helsinki, Finland.

Saturday, March 3, 2018

On Wednesday, French sports clothing brand Lacoste announced producing a limited edition of polo shirts featuring top-ten endangered animal species as the logo, instead of the company’s usual crocodile logo, in a measure to protect those animals, partnering with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Lacoste announced partnering with IUCN at the Paris Fashion Week. Proceeds from the sale would be donated to the IUCN, online magazine Dezeen reported. The collaboration was a part of IUCN’s “Save our Species” (SOS) programme.

The endangered animals to feature on the polo shirts were: vaquita, Burmese roofed turtle, northern sportive lemur, Javan rhino, Cao-vit gibbon, kakapo, California condor, saola, Sumatran tiger, and Anegada ground iguana.

The limited edition polos were to be produced in the count of the endangered animals, meaning 30 shirts featuring the vaquita, a mammal found near the Californian Gulf, would be produced as only 30 vaquitas are believed remaining. In total, 1775 polos featuring an endangered animal as the logo would be produced.

Lacoste was founded by tennis player René Lacoste and André Gillier in 1933 and their crocodile logo was never changed until now, in the 85-year-history of the clothing brand.

The limited edition shirts were to be available in only some European countries and the United States.

Note: Statistics from Lacoste’s website

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The sole United States manufacturer of a key component of lethal injections announced Friday that it will cease production of the drug, contributing to shortages and delaying executions.

Sodium thiopental, the first of a three drug cocktail used in 34 states to render the prisoner to be executed unconscious, was manufactured in Italy until Italian authorities stated that they would only license the manufacture if it was used for medical purposes and not, crucially, for executions.

In a statement, the company, Hospira, said that they have never condoned the use of their drug, marketed as ‘Pentothal’, in executions, and that they could not “prevent the drug from being diverted to departments of corrections for use in capital punishment procedures”.

The move means that the United States is without a viable supplier for sodium thiopental. Although many European countries manufacture the drug, which is primarily used in Europe as an anæsthetic, no manufacturer has been found that is willing to supply it for use in conjunction with the death penalty, the abolition of which has been lobbied by the EU since 2008.

The shortage means that executions in California and Oklahoma have been delayed, with Texas’ last remaining stocks of the drug due to expire in March, weeks before two scheduled executions. These delays are likely to be prolonged as the legal process of drawing up new drugs to be used for injections is lengthy. Pentobarbital, an alternative which used at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland, is used for lethal injections in Oregon, and has started to be used by Oklahoma.

Hospira’s decision caused mixed reactions throughout the medical community, with the American Society of Anesthesiologists stating Monday that sodium thiopental is an “important and medically necessary anesthetic agent” that is a “first-line anesthetic in many cases”, citing geriatric and cardiovascular conditions, among others. It said that, although they disagree with the death penalty, “we also do not condone using the issue as the basis to place undue burdens on the distribution of this critical drug to the United States. It is an unfortunate irony that many more lives will be lost or put in jeopardy as a result of not having the drug available for its legitimate medical use.”