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Justice Delayed in India by Jeremy Kahn June 12, 2010 More than 25 years after a pesticide plant in the central Indian city of Bhopal spewed a toxic cloud that killed as many as 25,000 people, an Indian court last week finally sentenced seven former executives involved in the disaster. They’ll receive two years in prison (pending appeal) and pay fines equivalent to $2,100—the maximum punishment allowed under current law, but one considered so lenient that many in India are demanding far tougher corporate liability laws. But what India really needs is an overhaul of its judicial system. The Bhopal case is hardly unique in its length: the country’s trial courts have a backlog of close to 30 million cases, and Delhi alone has more than 600 pending civil cases and 17 criminal ones dating back 20 years or more. The Delhi court’s chief judge estimates that it would take 466 years to work through the backlog. A major reason for the pileup is that there are simply too few people on the bench:...

This is my favorite song! - Maroon 5 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/38078075#38056117

Bill Gates-Backed Nuclear Power Startup, TerraPower, Gets $35 Million BY Ariel SchwartzTue Jun 15, 2010 Nuclear power, that oft-maligned source of clean energy, got a boost earlier this year when TerraPower announced plans to team up with Toshiba to build a hot tub-sized traveling-wave nuclear reactor. Now TerraPower is moving even closer to commercialization with news that investors--including Khosla Ventures and Charles River Ventures--are backing the startup with a cool $35 million. TerraPower claims it has already raised tens of millions of dollars, though it won't give exact figures. Unlike light-water nuclear reactors that run on enriched uranium, TerraPower's traveling-wave reactors run on depleted uranium that only needs to be replaced every 60 to 100 years. Based on known uranium reserves, TerraPower believes that its reactors could power the world for thousands of years without having to chemically reprocess fuel. TerraPower explains the science behind trave...

San Francisco Crime, Mapped in 3-D http://dougmccune.com/blog/2010/06/05/if-san-francisco-crime-was-elevation/ In the world, there are many creativity people. It is just fascinating to me. I am still leaning from them.

British high-end chocolate maker and retailer  Hotel Chocolat , which currently operates over 40 stores in the UK, the Middle East and the US, wants to expand even further. But rather than turning to banks or big investors for money, they're inviting customer to buy bonds. Bonds that will pay chocolate returns. Two values of Chocolate Bond will be issued: both with the return paid in monthly Tasting Boxes. Holders of a GBP 2,000 Chocolate Bond will receive six free tasting boxes a year worth GBP 107.70 per year, and those holding a GBP 4,000 bond will receive thirteen boxes, worth GBP 233.35 per year. Which comes down to a 5.38% return. After an initial term of three years, and on every anniversary thereafter, bond holders can redeem their bond for a full return of their investment. If they decide to continue to hold the bond, the monthly boxes will keep on coming. The company doesn't have to worry about the logistics of interest payment in kind; it already operates a tasting...

Dad says smoking toddler is ‘addicted’ 2-year-old throws tantrums when he can't light up msnbc.com news services updated  1:51 p.m. PT,   Wed., May 26, 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdWpLEapfV8 JAKARTA, Indonesia - A video of smoking toddler is sparking outrage on the web. When the clip of 2-year-old Sumatran Ardi Rizal puffing away surfaced on YouTube Wednesday, it spread to online social media like, well, fire. Popular blog Gawker linked to the smoking baby video, calling him " totally cooler than you ." But user Faldo777's response was the more typical response: "His parents should be jailed ..." In fact, his parents say Rizal throws a tantrum when they refuse to give him a cigarette. His father gave him his first smoke when he was just 18 months old. The smoking toddler was witnessed by a reporter who recently visited his home in the fishing village of Musi Banyuasin, in Indonesia's South Sumatra province. "I'm not worried about his...

Interview with Dina Kaplan Blip.tv is an online television network focused on featuring, promoting and monetizing the best original shows on the Web.  According to Dina Kaplan, who is a co-founder and COO of blip.tv, the conditions to becoming a successful career woman are threefold: 1) great communications skills, 2) diverse experience and 3) aggressiveness. Dina Kaplan oversees the operations for the company, including media partnerships, advertising and sponsorship deals, public relations and marketing.  She is one of the most influential women in the Internet and is one of a handful of female founders of a successful Internet company.  We met her in New York City to get her views on the conditions to becoming a successful career woman. Dina majored in College of Social Studies at Wesleyan University.  College of Social Studies is a very rigorous interdisciplinary major that focuses on history, economics, philosophy and government and emphasizes the impor...