70%?

Your junk food joint could be junkier than you've ever thought: Aside from record amounts of trans fats and sugar in your burger, fries, and soda, even the ice in your drinks may be a health hazard. This is the finding of a 12-year-old student's science project, which has by now received international media attention.

Jasmine Roberts from Benito Middle School in New Tampa, FL, randomly selected five fast food restaurants near the University of South Florida, where she collected ice samples from soda fountains and at drive-thru windows, as well as toilet water from the restrooms of the same restaurants. Roberts tested the samples in a lab at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center where she volunteers, mentored by a USF professor.

In 70% of the cases, the toilet water was cleaner than the ice.

how many bullets?

In September of 2005, Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under President Reagan, produced a set of calculations trying to establish how many American bullets it takes to kill one insurgent.

The official estimated number of insurgents in Iraq has been 20,000. According to reports of the Government Accounting Office (GAO), by September the U.S. military had used up 1.8 billion rounds of small caliber ammunition in Iraq.

That means “U.S. troops have fired 90,000 rounds at each insurgent,” states Roberts matter-of-factly. “Very few have been hit. . . If 2,000 insurgents have been killed, each death required 900,000 rounds of ammunition.”

In this Wild West-style shootout, U.S. government-owned and domestic commercial ammunition plants combined haven’t been able to keep up with production. A shortage of ammunition forced the Bush administration last year to buy ammo from foreign producers, such as Israeli Military Industries, no doubt for premium prices.

cancer detecting dogs

In the small world of people who train dogs to sniff cancer, a littleknown northern California clinic has made a big claim: that it has trained five dogs — three Labrador retrievers and two Portuguese water dogs — to detect lung cancer in the breath of cancer sufferers with 99 percent accuracy.

-- starbulletin, January 22, 2006, F3

graduation rates

I was surprised to see how low graduation rates are. Out of 100 ninth graders, only 65% graduated from high school and 12% graduated from college on time.

End of the Spear

Far from home, five American missionaries died in brutal fashion: speared and hacked to death by tribesman in the dense jungles of Ecuador. That nightmare moment 50 years ago this month evolved into a remarkable example of reconciliation, and one of the most influential incidents in 20th century Protestant mission lore.

The saga is even being retold in "End of the Spear," a moving independent feature film about redemption in the jungle with a bigger budget ($17 million) and broader release (in 1,200 commercial cinemas in the United States this weekend) than many films of this genre.

Dog Parks

Oahu has more than 40 dog-friendly parks and 121 beaches where dogs on leashes are allowed. For a guide, visit www.hawaiianhumane.org and touch the link Dog Parks & Beaches.

Off-leash fun can be found at four dog parks:

» McInerny Dog Park: Next to the Hawaiian Humane Society in Moiliili; open during shelter hours, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends and holidays.

» Bark Park: At Diamond Head Road and 18th Avenue, open during daylight hours daily. Visit www.barkpark-honolulu.org.

» Moanalua Dog Park: At Moanalua Community Park off Puuloa Road; open during daylight hours daily (except Tuesday mornings when it is closed for maintenance). Visit www.moanaluadogpark.org.

» Mililani Dog Park: at Mililani Mauka District Park at the Park & Ride, 95-1069 Ukuwai St.; open during daylight hours daily (except Wednesday mornings when it is closed for maintenance).

Ethiopian Idols

"Ethiopian Idols" has its own answer to Simon Cowell, the acerbic judge on the American and British versions. Feleke Hailu disses contestants by telling them they "sing like donkeys." The show has fast won the highest ratings on otherwise dull state-run TV.