Greenland News Blog

Church Calendar

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:54:46 +0000

The church calendar runs each Friday in The Daily News Journal. Events should be in Rutherford or Cannon counties only. To submit an announcement of a special event, e-mail the information to suitt@dnj.com, call (615) 278-5160 or mail to Lifestyles, The Daily News Journal, 224 N. Walnut St., Murfreesboro, TN 37130. Deadline is 5 p.m. Monday. Items run in chronological order. Check www.dnj.com for more listings.

June 29-July 1

Immanuel Baptist Church, 2210 Greenland Drive off Halls Hill Pike in Murfreesboro, will have vacation Bible school "Day Camp Style." Times are 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday with lunch served, and 6 to 7:30 p.m. Sunday for Family Night. Classes are for ages 3 years old to sixth grade. For more information, call (615) 893-7221 or (615) 504-8642.

Hams Have a Field Day

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:54:46 +0000

For 75 years, amateur, or ham, radio operators having been providing emergency communication during times of crisis. When a hurricane swept of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, and devastated the island, the regular communication channels were knocked out, leaving the residents reliant on ham operators to communicate the need for aid and supplies.

Amateur radio allows a person in Virginia to communicate with a person in India, or even an astronaut.

"With less power than what is in your hairdryer you can talk to Japan," said Linda Thomas, a member of the Vienna Wireless Club Hams, who gathered at Burke Lake Park June 23 and 24 for the annual Field Day. Through the course of the weekend, they contacted more than 2,000 other hams in such places as Cuba, Ontario, Puerto Rico, Greenland, Hawaii, Quebec, British Columbia and Alabama.

The next best thing to a blimp ride

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:54:46 +0000

The only bad thing about living in a city where Goodyear blimp sightings are commonplace is that little twinge of jealousy from watching people float around up there.

Blimp rides are forever out of reach for most people, reserved for Goodyear customers, clients, special guests and lucky charity raffle winners.

So will you settle for a ride in a zeppelin?

Cracker crumbs

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 08:32:35 +0000

David Lowery dishes on his new album and the music business

Rebecca Ross

rross@pnj.com

Wind should play key role in energy mix

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 08:32:35 +0000

As a proponent of renewable energy and a West Texas wind energy entrepreneur, I would like to comment on Alex Mills? June 18 column.

Mills, president of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, represents the industry that has been at the forefront of development of the modern age.

Since the discovery of oil in the mid-1800s, we have witnessed growth and prosperity unimagined by our forefathers. For that we are thankful. But it?s time to assess the results of that development and the use of those fuels on our planet and mankind.

Researchers: Antarctica ice sheet stable

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 16:34:21 +0000

An ice sheet in Antarctica that is the world's largest _ with enough water to raise global sea levels by 200 feet _ is relatively stable and poses no immediate threat, according to new research.

While studies of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets show they are both at risk from global warming, the East Antarctic ice sheet will "need quite a bit of warming" to be affected, Andrew Mackintosh, a senior lecturer at Victoria University, said Wednesday.

The air over the East Antarctic ice sheet, an ice mass more than 1,875 miles across and up to 2.5 miles thick centered on the South Pole, will remain cold enough to prevent significant melting in the near future, the New Zealand-led research shows.

Welcome home!

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 16:34:21 +0000

Three national flags were waived proudly in the wind after two men touched down at the Tacoma Narrows Airport last Friday.

Fourteen-year-old Laila Andresen, daughter of co-pilot Stein Andresen, carried the flags of Denmark, Norway and the United States toward the vintage plane, representing the groups nationalities.

A small contingency of Danish friends and others cheered to celebrate a flawless roundtrip adventure to Stauning, Denmark.

Small cruise ship runs aground off Greenland

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 16:34:21 +0000

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - A small cruise ship ran aground off Greenland's west coast and more than 50 people were evacuated safely Wednesday, the tour operator said.

54 people were safely evacuated from the small cruise ship Disko II after it ran aground off Greenland's west coast, Wednesday, June 27, 2007.

Small cruise ship runs aground off Greenland, 54 evacuated

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 16:34:21 +0000

COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- A small cruise ship ran aground off Greenland's west coast and more than 50 people were evacuated safely Wednesday, the tour operator said.

The Disko II hit rocks near the island of Qeqertarsuaq, but was not believed to be seriously damaged, said Soeren Rasmussen of the Danish tour operator Albatros Travel.

The 52 passengers -- all Danes -- and two tour guides were taken ashore as a precaution on the ship's lifeboats and small vessels sent from a village on the island, Rasmussen said. The 18-member crew remained aboard.

Researchers: Biggest ice sheet is stable

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 08:39:07 +0000

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - An ice sheet in Antarctica that is the world's largest - with enough water to raise global sea levels by 200 feet - is relatively stable and poses no immediate threat, according to new research.

Gardening to go

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 08:39:07 +0000

Satisfied gardeners know it's all about location, location, location.

Flowers in the far corner of the yard aren't nearly as nice as the ones that grow right next to the patio, where they can be smelled and admired every day. Likewise, the best place for an herb garden is just outside the back door, for easy snipping of those tasty tidbits.

For Carol Simpson, gardening in the best spot means a plot for vegetables and herbs at her law office, where a constant flow of clients, friends and family enjoy the fruits of her labor. Not gardening at home, but gardening to go.

Tears flow as families say goodbye

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 06:43:54 +0000

The hardest thing about hosting an exchange student is having to say goodbye and watch them board a bus that will take them away, possibly forever.

Tears, tight hugs, and final waves sent 19 local American Field Service exchange students on the first leg of their trips home Monday night.

Students and their host families gathered in the parking lot behind St. Mary's Church in Chardon, taking final photos, squeezing last-minute gifts into already-bulging luggage and pushing the bags into the crammed hold of a tour bus.

Ex-B-CU star dies at age 35

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 06:43:54 +0000

J.D. Hall said it over and over to the people he loved, and the thought rarely left his mind: One day, I'm going to be the head football coach at Bethune-Cookman University.

That day might have eventually come, but tragically, J.D. Hall will never get the chance to walk the sidelines at Municipal Stadium.

Hall, 35, suffered a massive heart attack and died Saturday night in Jacksonville.

Mustangs cope with loss

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 06:43:54 +0000

Football workouts went on as normal at Mandarin High School on Monday, but the heavy hearts of 80 players and occasional tears from players, parents and staff members created a somber atmosphere.

J.D. Hall, head coach of the Mustangs for the past three years, died just after midnight Sunday morning from a massive heart attack. Even though it happened in the middle of the night, more than 200 current and former players who played for Hall, along with parents, students and faculty and staff members at the school, congregated at Baptist Medical South overnight to begin paying tribute to a man who was known as much for his work and personal attention to his players away from the field as he was for being a coach.

Scientist embarks on Arctic expedition

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 06:43:54 +0000

Edmonds is a research scientist at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute.

PORT ARANSAS--Staring down at brightly colored maps that portray some of the least explored terrain on earth, research scientist Hedy Edmonds pointed to a small red star. It is one of the spots where she hopes to find new forms of Arctic life.

Edmonds, a 37-year-old geochemist at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute is co-leader with Robert Reves-Sohn, a geophysicist with the Massachusetts based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, of the 30-member Arctic Gakkel Vents Expedition which includes specialists in each field of deep-sea exploration. It includes scientists and engineers from the U.S., Norway, Germany, Japan and Sweden.

Greenland ice may melt much faster: U.N. scientist

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 15:21:20 +0000

Greenland ice may melt much faster: U.N. scientist

2007-06-25

Major sea level threat from Greenland sooner?

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 15:21:20 +0000

LONDON - New research shows that man-made climate change could cause the Greenland ice sheet to break up in hundreds, rather than thousands, of years, the chair of a United Nations panel of scientists said on Monday.

Its entire collapse would raise sea-levels globally by around 23 feet, they said.

The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its five-yearly report earlier this year, and described threats from global warming including sea-level rise of up to 31 inches this century.

Cap-and-trade system will only mean higher prices

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 15:21:20 +0000

Re: “European ‘cap’ would look great on America” (Insight, 6-10).

The cap-and-trade system Congressman Jay Inslee supports has little to do with reducing global warming and more to do with being another form of taxation.

This system was first proposed in the Kyoto Accords and implemented in the Kyoto Treaty. Thankfully we did not join or endorse this treaty. At the global level, the treaty simply redistributes the world’s wealth by “requiring or permitting” industrialized countries to purchase pollution credits from undeveloped countries.

Historic Square helps define the ?Boro

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 15:12:55 +0000

While many residents don?t know it, the Rutherford County Courthouse is one of the most historically significant spots in Middle Tennessee.

As part of the Murfreesboro Post?s effort to give readers a ?sense of place,? here are the Top 10 interesting facts about the courthouse ? plus one.

2. Did you know that Murfreesboro was once Tennessee?s state capital? Yep, the town was selected because of its central location and served from Sept. 26, 1819 to Oct. 15, 1825. The legislature met in the courthouse originally built on the spot. When it burned in 1822, the legislative sessions were moved to St. Paul?s Episcopal Church, then located on East Vine Street at the current site of the old Murfreesboro City Cemetery. A small obelisk on the west side of the courthouse commemorates those years.

Robots will probe remote Gakkel Ridge

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 15:12:55 +0000

BOSTON — The Gakkel Ridge, encased under the frozen Arctic Ocean, is steep and rocky, and scientists suspect its remote location hosts an array of undiscovered life.

Researchers hope newly developed robots will give them their first look at the mysterious ridge between Greenland and Siberia.

Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod plan to begin a 40-day expedition of the ridge on July 1. They plan to use the robots to navigate and map its terrain and sample any life found near a series of underwater hot springs.

Ben Bova: Putting things into perspective: Gas prices, illegal immigration, warming

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 06:43:34 +0000

I?m as appalled as you are over the soaring price of gasoline. And I?m wondering when the automoting public will finally decide gas prices are too high and start to do something about it, instead of merely grumbling.

But, according to messages flying through the Internet, the price of gasoline ? even at nearly $4 per gallon - isn?t as bad as some of the other liquids we buy. For example:

A gallon of Diet Snapple drink costs $10.32.

Other nations have impact on warming

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 06:43:34 +0000

It’s called global warming, but we’re being told to take it personally. Al

Gore’s green army is convinced that global warming is human-caused and that each

human - especially each American - can make a difference in stalling the dangerous

Robots may find new Arctic Ocean life

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 06:43:34 +0000

BOSTON The Gakkel Ridge, encased under the frozen Arctic Ocean, is steep and rocky, and scientists suspect its remote location hosts an array of undiscovered life.

Researchers hope newly developed robots will give them their first look at the mysterious ridge between Greenland and Siberia.

Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod plan to begin a 40-day expedition of the ridge on July 1. They plan to use the robots to navigate and map terrain and sample life found near a series of underwater hot springs.

Arctic plants prove adaptable, resilient

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 06:43:34 +0000

Many Arctic plant species have readily adjusted to big climate changes, repeatedly recolonizing the rugged islands of Norway's remote Svalbard archipelago through 20,000 years of warm and cool spells since the frigid peak of the last ice age, researchers say.

The finding implies the plants may be able to shift long distances, following the climate conditions for which they are best adapted as those conditions change because of human-caused global warming, the researchers and some independent experts said.

Experts on climate and biology, who were not associated with the study, said it provides a glimmer of optimism in the face of generally bleak scientific assessments of the vulnerability of ecosystems to the atmospheric buildup of greenhouse gases.

Robots to look for life in Arctic Ocean

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 14:26:48 +0000

BOSTON (AP) -- The Gakkel Ridge, encased under the frozen Arctic Ocean, is steep and rocky, and scientists suspect its remote location hosts an array of undiscovered life. Researchers hope newly developed robots will give them their first look at the mysterious ridge located between Greenland and Siberia. Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod plan to begin a 40-day expedition of the ridge on July 1. They plan to use the robots to navigate and map its terrain an...