Proposition 19: Legalizing Marijuana And Keeping It On A Short Leash
A photograph of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) in Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge.
A photograph of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) in Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge.
California’s Battle With Marijuana
It seems like a lifetime since the first gunshot that sounded the war on California soil took place. Now, this war on drugs has taken a drastic turn. November the 2nd marks the final showdown between California and its ancient rival, marijuana. A ballot called Proposition 19 was posted for California residents to vote on. If this proposition should pass, then the government will gain the ability to legalize, regulate, control, and tax this green monster. It seemed that the commotion leading to this day would see to the victory of the infamous cannabis. But it seems that California people were not ready for it after all.
The Green Light For Marijuana
There are many benefits to legalize marijuana for both economic reasons and social reasons. The proposition allows the taxation and regulation of cannabis. According to the OB Rag website, California will get $1.4 billion from taxes and save $200 million from law enforcement efforts on arresting cannabis users and shutting down plantations. At this time that is a very big boost to the downtrodden economy of California. This also prevents the useless imprisonment of people who poses marijuana. Many good people smoke cannabis and only indulge in it like any other vice. However, when they get imprisoned, the people around them end up suffering. Most of these people don’t deserve such a punishment just for indulging in what research shows is a less harmful drug than cigarettes.
The Red Light For Marijuana
With those benefits, it seems like a sound plan to legalize marijuana. Yet, so many people oppose it. Even some regular cannabis users oppose it. According to ‘Stoners Against The Prop. 19” Tax Cannabis Initiative’, “they believe this would make marijuana less legal in a way.” That is because the government would be the one regulating this product. This means that corporations will be pushing out the small marijuana distributors and minimizing the free business that pot dealers and pot smokers enjoy. For most marijuana users, the last thing they want is Marlboro Man for cannabis. Many also believe that the last thing we need is another legal drug flowing in our blood stream. The minorities in California are already kept down by alcoholism and other drugs. They believe legalizing marijuana will set them back severely.
The Outcome Of The Final Battle
It has been a struggle of epic proportions for both sides. At the start, many Californians were for the idea of the legalization of cannabis. When it came down to it, the dream of legal weed was just that, a dream and a broken promise. The things that regular marijuana users wanted were not delivered. This caused pro-pot users to vote “no” on prop 19. It was a start in the right direction, but balancing drugs and law is always a tricky act. It seemed this time the scales tipped towards law far more than drugs. According to the LA Times, voters are rejecting the idea of prop 19. Let’s hope in the future they will have a better proposition that benefits everyone.
References:
http://votetaxcannabis2010.blogspot.com/2010/07/why-pro-pot-activists-oppose-2010-tax.html
United States’ Envoy Stephen Bosworth On North Korea To Visit Asia To Discuss North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons Program
5MWe Experimental Reactor inYongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center in North Korea
United States’ Envoy Stephen Bosworth on North Korea plans visiting Asian countries, China, Japan, and South Korea, as satellite images reveal North Korea’s plans of building a nuclear power reactor are underway. American experts Siegfried Hecker, United States’ Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory former director and Jack Pritchard, United States’ former envoy to North Korea, said construction of a uranium facility and a light power reactor have begun. Stephen Bosworth will first arrive on Seoul on a two-day trip before moving on to Tokyo and Beijing, to discuss North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons Program
North Korea’s nuclear weapon’s program has sparked interest among other countries, particularly the United States, with which it has entered an Agreement Framework in 1994. The Agreement Framework was intended to further the aims of the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty by limiting North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. In return the United States would give the Asian country nuclear fuel oil to power its reactors and support North Korea’s electricity needs.
North Korea has started pursuing nuclear technology in 1956. North Korea’s founder, Kim Il-sung asked Russia and China for nuclear technology. For decades nothing tangible came out of it until October 9, 2006, when the North Korean government announced the success of its first nuclear test in Kilju. It conducted its second nuclear test on May 25, 2009. American, Japanese, and South Korean geological authorities detected an earthquake with a seismological magnitude of 4.5 to 5.3.
North Korea’s two operating nuclear reactors are both located in Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center. An IRT-2000 research reactor and a 5Mwe gas-graphite moderated Magnox type reactor have been used for its plutonium separation experiments and plutonium production, respectively. The country also has two partially constructed graphite moderated reactors, a 50 and a 200 Mwe nuclear reactor, supposed to produce annually 60 and 220 kilograms of plutonium, respectively. Sixty kilograms of plutonium can make ten nuclear weapons, while two hundred and twenty kilograms of the chemical is enough to produce forty nuclear weapons. Construction of the two new reactors was halted since North Korea entered an Agreement Framework with the United States.
North Korea And United States’ Agreement Framework
North Korea accepted the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty on December 12, 1985. On March 12, 1993, the country first voiced its withdrawal from the treaty, but only actualized its withdrawal on April 10, 2003. The country withdrew from the treaty after United States’ Central Intelligence Agency alleged the country has been harboring an illegal enriched uranium program, which led to United States’ stoppage of nuclear fuel oil shipments to North Korea, as agreed in the Framework. United States’ intelligence officials claimed Pakistan provided key nuclear information and technology to North Korea, in exchange for missile technology.
The Agreement Framework between the United States of America and North Korea, also known as the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, was signed on the 21st day of October 1994. Under the Agreement Framework, United States would supply North Korea with 500,000 tons of heavy fuel oil every year for electricity and heating purposes until two 1,000MW light water reactors are constructed, to replace North Korea’s indigenous nuclear power plant program and its reactors, which could produce plutonium needed in making nuclear weapons. Furthermore, the framework gave the International Atomic Energy Agency license to conduct routine inspections on the country’s active nuclear facilities.
The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO), tasked in helping implement the Framework, was persuaded by the United States to cease fuel oil shipments to North Korea, which marked North Korea’s reactivation of its nuclear fuel processing program and its withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty. The KEDO’s suspension of fuel oil shipments led to the end of the Agreement Framework. The North Korean government has forbidden United Nations’ inspectors in its nuclear sites.
References:
Jihadism, The Battle-Cry Deliberately Instilled Among Terrorist Recruits
A book found in a house used by Al Qaeda in Kabul: ‘‘Announcement of Jihad Against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Holy Places,’’ by Sheik Osama bin Laden.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a subordinate terrorist group of Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda international terrorist network, released in July 2010 the first issue of ‘Inspire’. ‘Inspire’ is the first online English-language magazine of the Al-Qaeda international terrorist network. It targets British and American readership. The July 2010 ‘Inspire’ issue contains an editorial by Anwar al-Awlaki., ‘May our Souls be Sacrificed for Him’. The second 74-page issue’s primary author is Samir Khan, according to federal authorities. Khan has written an article in the second issue titled, ‘I am Proud to be a Traitor to America. Khan has since flown to Yemen, where Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is based.
Jihadism, The Battle-Cry Deliberately Instilled Among Terrorist Recruits
Jihad by the sword is widely practiced by Salafi Muslims and members of the largest and oldest Islamist political group, ‘The Society of the Muslim Brothers’. Salafi Muslims and members of The Society of the Muslim Brotherhood regard the principles, teachings, and tenets of the Q’uran and the Sunnah as the ultimate guide for Muslim individuals, families, communities, and states. Salifism considers Islam as taught by the Prophet Muhammad and his followers, including that of the second and third generations, as the only credible basis in interpreting the Q’uran and the Sunnah. Salafism fosters Islamic fundamental beliefs, or the ‘Aqeedah.
Qutbism is the ideology, which uses Islam and its tenet of Jihad, instilled among Islamic terrorists. Dale C. Eikhmeier, counter-terrorism author, summarizes the tenets of Qutbism as the belief that Muslims have deviated from the Islam taught by the Prophet Mohammed, and must, therefore, return to its practice; to tread the path of ‘true Islam’, a strict interpretation of Islam and Hadith (narrations of the Prophet Muhammad’s words and deeds); Islamic interpretations by scholars must not bound Muslims’ individual interpretation of the Q’uran and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad; and that the Q’uran’s interpretation must not depend on situational context and history. Furthermore, Qutbism discredits most Islamic history and interpretations by Islamic jurists.
Scholar, research director, and North Atlantic Treaty Organization participant on a study of suicide terrorists, Scott Atran concludes what drives people into terrorist activities is a matter of group dynamics. A sense of camaraderie, friendship, and family in brotherhoods prime martyr-based actions and behaviors. Michael Scheuer, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst, concludes Islamic Muslim terrorists launch terrorist plans and activities on America because of America’s unconditional support to Israel; the presence of United States’ troops in Saudi Arabia’s holy grounds; its support of Islamic apostate countries; its invasion of and presence in Afghanistan and Iraq; its support of Christian East Timor, a former territory of Muslim Indonesia; its actions against counterinsurgent Muslim groups in Chechnya, India, Palestine, Philippines, and the Uyghur separatists in Western China.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Recent Terrorist Activities And Operation Hemorrhage
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a subordinate terrorist group of the Al-Qaeda international terrorist network. It is based in Yemen, Al-Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden’s ancestral home, and Saudi Arabia. Anwar al-Awlaki promoted its transformation into Al-Qaeda’s most active terrorist arm outside Afghanistan and Pakistan. The group is responsible for the April 2010 suicide bombing intended for the British Ambassador in Yemen and the October 2010 rocket firing at a British embassy vehicle. The group claimed responsibility on November 5, 2010 for the foiled 2010 cargo plane bomb plot. The bomb plot employed two bombs in separate cargo planes from Yemen headed for the United States. The bombs contained 300 to 400 grams of plastic explosives, with a detonating mechanism.Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Counter-terrorism Interior Minister, who learned it from Jaber al-Faifi, a suspected double agent for Saudi Arabia after his escape in 2008 and re-joining Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, warned United States Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Terrorism, John Brennan, of the bomb plot.
The terrorist group announced and boasted about, ‘Operation Hemorrhage’, in Al-Qaeda’s first online English-language magazine ‘Inspire’. The group plans on launching cheap, small-scale attacks on United States, to take advantage of the security phobia festering America.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Qaeda_in_the_Arabian_Peninsula
The Black Friday Madness Has Opened Its Gates
Black Friday, the day for shopaholics, has come.
Black Friday, the day for shopaholics, has come.
Shell Out Some Cash
The season for shopping is finally open. People are just willing to shell out their cash and spread some generosity. A time to reward yourself for working hard and for the months you’ve saved up your allowance and earnings. Imagine that ultra sleek HDTV you’ve been dreaming for months, that branded dress you saw on a celebrity just a few weeks ago, it can be all yours at a price you can afford now. Generally, people love shopping but due to financial crisis people are becoming more practical. Even if they want to give themselves a little luxury of buying expensive gadgets, they want to buy goods at a discounted price.
Black Friday Shopping Guide
Undeniably, Black Friday is one of the most anticipated shopping events sweeping the United States. It is just the best season of madness to splurge some cash. Struggling retailers open their flood gates to their customers for shopping bonanza right after the big feast. It is the turning point of retail industries to give massive discounts. Retail stores give amazing deals to attract more people. The stores generate more income from this mad rush of shoppers. Unfortunately, we’ve seen unsightly events over the past few years of people getting trampled over frenzied shoppers, so never plan to make this, family bonding time with your kids or dogs in the mall. So, if you are one of the patriots of Black Friday, here’s optimization technique out for your ultimate shopping guide for this season. This is to avoid horrific accidents and to enjoy the bargains you get from your list. Make a priority list of items you really need to buy and then check promotions and advertisements from the internet for this hot item. Checkout coupons and published email updates before heading out. Check the store prior to the event. Memorize pathways and aisles, so you don’t get lost over the crowd. Come early and bring a companion and make it a team effort. Make it an experience and avoid disaster.
References:
http://www.walletpop.com/top5/general/black-friday-shopping-tips/
Second Fastest Spinning Asteroid Sailed Past Earth
Magdalena Ridge Observatory
A ten-foot asteroid sailed past earth on November 16. It was small, yes, but asteroid 2010 WA, as it is called, is the second fastest-spinning asteroid seen through the Magdalena Ridge Observatory’s telescope. It rotated every 31 seconds, which is the next fastest rotation rate of an asteroid, second to asteroid 2010 JL88. The Magdalena Ridge Observatory’s telescope provides great visibility and resolution of images it takes. Because of this, detecting and tracking near-earth objects (NEOs) and satellites is easy.
The Relevance of Asteroids to Us
Studying asteroids will provide us with information on the origin of the solar system, because they consist of matter similar to the planets in the solar system. Some asteroids have compositions more primitive from earth’s, which might give us a clue and an insight regarding life’s origins from non-living organic matter. Asteroids yield metals, such as nickel-iron metals and platinum group metals. Earth’s operating mining sites yield platinum metals with a grade of 5 to 10 grams per ton. Asteroid platinum metals, on the other hand, have a grade of 100 grams per ton. Were asteroids ever to strike earth, changing its trajectory would prevent it. Asteroid ‘Apophis’, which is the size of two football fields, is set to move past earth on the 13th of April 2036 as close as 18,300 miles upon the planet’s surface.
United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Operation: Plymouth Rock
Improving and protecting life on earth is one of National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s missions. United States’ President Barrack Obama’s outline of his plans for the space agency consist of reaching near-earth asteroids, the lunar orbit, Mar’s moons, and the planet Mars, itself. Dubbed as Operation: Plymouth Rock, the space agency would like to send astronauts to near-earth asteroids via the Orion spacecraft. The Orion spacecraft is a five-meter, twenty-one thousand seven hundred pounds wide capsule, capable of holding four astronauts on flights to the International Space Station, when changing crew, and to Moon expeditions. The space agency has spent $3.1 billion dollars on developing the spacecraft. Its landing parachutes still need to be checked for safety and efficiency. At its current weight, it is three hundred pounds heavier than it is supposed to be. The final critical review of the spacecraft’s design is targeted around 2011 or so, when the space agency will begin flight hardware construction.
References:
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/5-reasons-care-about-asteroids-100611.html
http://www.space.com/news/obama-nasa-asteroid-mission-100416.html
China AIDS Awareness And Support Group Loving Source Shuts Down
A student volunteer signs up for activities on World AIDS Day.
LovingSource, a non-governmental AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) awareness and support organization in China, has been forced to shut down by the Chinese government’s Beijing Tax Bureau. The AIDS group’s efforts concentrated on helping AIDS-afflicted people and orphans, mainly in China’s Henan province. Zen Jiyang, wife of one of the AIDS organization’s founders, Hu Jia, announced on her website it is closing down because of pressure from tax authorities.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome in China
China has a 2008 population of 1.331,400,000 billion, which makes up 22% of the global population. In 2007 39,000 of its
population died from Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome was first reported in 1982 by fourteen nations. It is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which attacks the human immune system, leaving its host susceptible to opportunistic infections (infections caused by bacteria, virus, fungi, and protozoa) and tumors (a solid mass of abnormally grown tissue, which could be benign, pre-malignant, or cancerous/malignant). 740,000 of China’s population have HIV, 105,000 of which have AIDS. China’s first AIDS case was twenty-five years ago in 1985, in which a traveler from abroad died in Beijing, China’s capital. China has a low AIDS prevalent rate, 0.057%. However, high infection among the country’s sub-population, mainly in Henan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces persists, a major health threat to the national population. In 1987 chinese public health authorities claimed AIDS as a confined problem in the republic, since homosexuality was thought of as its main cause until the disease became the leading cause of mortality, ahead of tuberculosis and rabies, in 2009. The 1990’s press reports showed a large number of the country’s AID’s infected population acquired the virus from blood donation and heterosexual sex. It would take the next decade, which is the current millennium and the 2003 Guangdong outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Disease, a pandemic that infected 37 countries, to prompt China’s Health Minister to potent action because of public health’s effect on economic and social stability. He recognized the battle against AIDS as a ‘long-term war’, requesting the doubling of China’s $12.5 million AIDS fund.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Support Group LovingSource
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, known as ‘aizibing’, or the ‘loving capitalism disease’ was first reported in 1985 in China. Wan Yanhai is the director of the country’s first AIDS awareness group, called Aizhixing Institute of Health
Education. He has set up an unprecedented HIV/AIDS telephone hotline in China, where people can get information on the
disease; made efforts in organizing a public forum on AIDS and an AIDS awareness workshop, Blood Safety, AIDS, and Legal Human Rights, which he was forced to cancel. For Wan Yanhai’s AIDS awareness efforts he had been fired from a public health official post, picked up by police after attending a film screening at a Beijing gay and lesbian film festival, charged with leaking government internal report on a scandal in Henan province, and several times detained. He has fled to America, citing government persecution. In July 2000, Hu Jia and Wan Yanhai met. Hu Jia, then became involved in AIDS prevention work. He is one of the founders of the non-profit, non-governmental AIDS awareness group LovingSource. Beijing LovingSource Information Center or LovingSource was founded in April, 2004 and situated in Tongzhou District, Beijing. It has partnered with AIDS Relief Fund for China, UNICEF, Oxfam (Hong Kong), China AIDS Fund, Global Fund for Children, The Global Fund, Clinton Foundation, Sunshine Doctor Programme, Global Environment Institute, Huaqiao Foundation, Aixin Foundation, Chinese Association of STD & AIDS Prevention and Control Epidemiology Section, and Wuhan Zhongnan Hospital. Its mission statement is about integrating programs meant to provide care, education, and education to adults and children affected with AIDS in China’s rural communities, improve the quality of life of people with HIV/AIDS, and promote an environment conducive to the upbringing of children affected by AIDS. Its goal is health for each and everyone, thus protecting and promoting individual and general human dignity.
Beijing LovingSource Information Center AIDS Support Projects
Among LovingSource’s projects were the Aiyuan Newsletter, an information resource on the AIDS epidemic trend and relief
efforts in China and the programs, work, and measures established and taken by LovingSource. It also served as a support newsletter platform for volunteers in AIDS awareness and relief efforts to share their experiences; Rural Cooperative Project, which offered technical training and cultivated self-help livelihood programs among those affected by AIDS; Emergency Fund, which was supported by the AIDS Relief Fund for China, provided emergency funds and covered medical and funeral costs; Bursaries for Students From AIDS-affected Families, which helped AIDS-affected families’ children complete the obligatory nine-year education; Care for HIV-carrier Children, jointly funded by the World Children’s Fund, UNICEF, and the Clinton Foundation, encouraged rapport among health care providers, guardians, and children with HIV; Drug Compliance Education, in collaboration with Sunshine Doctor Program, held monthly joint consultations among medical health experts and local health doctors to establish efficient and effective treatment plans and work out difficult cases, thereby reducing AIDS-related death; the Rural Adolescence Education Program, which educated teenagers in areas with a high incidence of AIDS on sex and social and coping skills to prevent and better deal with AIDS; and the Pen-Pal Club. LovingSource selected university student volunteers to act as family members or surrogates to children from rural AIDS families through regular correspondence, phone calls, and home visits.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Support Group LovingSource Shuts Down
China is struggling to control activism and the emergence of grass-roots groups and organizations in its territory, against which it is strong to prevent from veering towards a political stance against the government. Hu Jia’s wife, Zeng Jiyan,
posted on her website that LovingSource is closing down due to pressure from Beijing Tax Bureau, the same authority
responsible for the dissolution in 2009 of legal aid group Gongmeng, which has taken under its wing most of the republic’s
sensitive cases. Gongmeng was fined 1.4 million yuan or $206,000. Beijing Tax Bureau is demanding a comprehensive audit of the AID’s support organization’s accounts. For “”inciting subversion of state power and the socialist system”, Hu Jia has
been in prison since his sentencing on April 3, 2008.
References:
http://www.china-aids.org/index.php?action=front&id=22&type=view_directory
Wikileaks On ‘Red’ Notice
Wikileaks founder, editor-in-chief, spokesperson and Internet activist, Julian Assange, has been issued a red notice by Interpol on November 30, 2010.
Wikileaks founder, editor-in-chief, spokesperson and Internet activist, Julian Assange, has been issued a red notice by Interpol on November 30, 2010.
WikiLeaks on ‘Red’ Notice
Whistleblower website WikiLeaks is on ‘red’ notice. Also, its founder, editor-in-chief, and spokesperson, Australian Internet activist, Julian Assange is wanted for two women’s alleged molestation and rape in Sweden. Interpol has issued him a ‘red notice’, the closest thing to an international warrant arrest. WikiLeaks, of which Assange is editor-in-chief, released on November 28, 2010 251, 287 information leaks on United States’ embassy cables, 15,652 of which are classified as ‘Secret’. The leaks point the spotlight on world leaders and United States’ diplomatic concerns. The site has been under cyber attack, being plummeted with distributed denial of service (DDOS), to prevent user accessibility of the site.
WikiLeaks Profile
International, non-profit, media organization Wikileaks was launched in 2006 and made its first Internet appearance on January 2007, when it announced its plans of releasing 1.2 million documents. The site cites its frontline interest in exposing regime oppression in Asia, Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the former Soviet bloc and to assist people in revealing corporation and government unethical conduct. It seeks to protect journalists and whistleblowers from prison for sending through electronic mail classified information. It has around 1,200 registered volunteers in June 2009. Its advisory board consists of Julian Assange, Ben Laurice, C.J. Hinke, Chico Whitaker, Phillip Adams, Tashi Namgyal Khamsitsang, Wang Dan, Wang Youcai, and Xiang Qiang. It currently has five full-time workers and eight hundred part-time workers, who all work for free. The organization has no official headquarters. Its central server is located in Sweden, where no administrative authority has the right to inquire about the sources of any newspaper. It uses military-grade encryption to secure confidential information and sources.
WikiLeaks Online Publishing Protocol
Originally, WikiLeaks online publishing protocol says contributors can post documents and files ‘anonymously and untraceably’. Public discussion and analysis of information’s context, credibility, and truthfulness are encouraged. Collective publication, contextual interpretations, and comprehensive explanations of leaks are allowed for both reader and writer users of the site. However, to prevent spamming and unscrupulous publication of confidential information, anonymous WikiLeaks’s reviewers reject documents deviating from its editorial policy ‘of political, diplomatic, historical, or ethical interest.’ Five reviewers study a contributor’s background, whose identity is known. These five reviewers are masters of fields in language or computer programming. Julian Assange has the final say regarding a document’s assessment. As of 2010, users are no longer allowed to post comments on leaks.
WikiLeaks Previous Online Published Classified Documents
WikiLeaks online published classified documents began with Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys signed document planning the assassination of government official in December 2006. It leaked information to British newspaper ‘The Guardian’ in 2007 about former Kenyan leader’s Daniel arap Moi’s family’s corruption. United States’ Army’s 2004 edition of Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp’s manual protocol was publicized in December 3, 2007. Its previous publication of the U.S. army’s 2003 Gitmo protocol revealed some Gitmo detainee’s unavailability to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which the United State’s military has several timed denied. During the 2008 campaigns for the presidential elections, Sarah Palin, who was then running for vice-presidency, was revealed to have used Yahoo’s private email account to send work-related electronic messages against public record policies. The site published in 2009 more than six hundred United Nations reports, of which sixty were classified as ‘strictly confidential and six thousand and seven hundred and eighty Congressional Research Service reports; eight-six telephone recordings of Peru’s businessmen and politicians related to the Petrogate Oil Scandal; and the ‘Minton Report, about toxic waste dumping in the Ivory Coast – United Nations report 108,000 people have been affected by the dumping of toxic wastage, some of which could cause harm at a distance, from which burns to the eyes, lungs, and skin, loss of consciousness, and death were among the results from ‘a significant release of hydrogen sulphide gas’.
WikiLeaks 2010 Online Published Classified Documents
WikiLeaks released a classified United States’ Department of Defense Counterintelligence Anaylysis report dating from March of 2008. It details America’s security concerns, plans of weeding out whistleblowers, and human rights violation in Gitmo. It released on April 2010 a secret video footage, titled ‘Collateral Murder’, of a United States’ helicopter attack in Baghdad, which led to twelve casualties. The helicopter pilots thought the men, whom they fired at and killed, carried weapons. Bradley Manning’s arrest, alleged to have leaked the ‘Collateral Murder’ video, followed the release of ‘Collateral Murder’. In July WikiLeaks published what Assange compared to ‘The Pentagon Papers’ – the Afghan War Diary. It also released the more than 92,000 documents to ‘The Guardian’, ‘The New York Times’, and ‘Der Speigel’. The Afghan War Diary is a compilation of documents on the war in Afghanistan from 2004 until 2009, including civilian deaths. 15,000 of the 92,000 war documents are still being extensively reviewed by WikiLeaks, to protect informants whose lives will be put at risk. WikiLeaks has also contacted the White House, before the war documents were released in July, to sift out whose names might cause any violation of the law of war. The White House was silent about it and did not respond. A spokesman of Taliban said the group has formed a commission to go over the war documents and find out who, among the 1,800 Afghans in their ‘Wanted List’, are in the documents WikiLeaks released.
WikiLeaks Released United States’ Classified Diplomatic Cables
WikiLeaks released on November 28, 2010 United States’ classified diplomatic cables. The cables show world leaders’ security interests and personalities. The leak consists of 251,287 documents from communications between 274 embassies worldwide, 15,652 of which are classified as ‘secret’. The leaks revealed United States’ machinations, employing pressure on Afghanistan hot spots; United States’, Saudi Arabia’s, and Israel’s growing fears of Iran’s nuclear program; United States’ concerns regarding Pakistan’s atomic weaponry; and United States’ stand on a united Korea to solve the aggression in North Korea. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia prodded the United States to launch an attack on Iran to destroy its nuclear program and discourage the Middle East country’s nuclear ambitions. Leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates considered Iran, evil. Bahrain’s and Jordan’s officials support any means that will put a permanent lid on Iran’s nuclear program. Furthermore, the documents reveal United States’ and South Korea’s discussion of North Korea’s collapse from economic troubles; United States’ measures of urging Pakistani officials to remove from its reactor highly enriched uranium; United States’ asking Slovenia to take America’s Gitmo detainees if its leader wants to meet President Barrack Obama; several million dollar offers to the Pacific Island of Kiribati to accept Gitmo detainees; a memo instructing United States’ diplomats to obtain United Nations officials’ credit card numbers, frequent flyer numbers, and passwords to the Internet. Two days before the diplomatic cables were released, Julian Assange sent a letter through his lawyer to the United States’ Department of State, to protect people who might be put at harm by the cables. Legal Adviser of the Department of State, Harold Koh retaliated, saying United States will not be involved in any negotiation on the distribution of United States’ classified documents, which were illegally obtained.
References:
The Illegal Trafficking Of Bear Gallbladders
One of Asia’s five Bear Subspecies – the Asiatic Black Bear. Its gallbladder is harvested to procure bile acid tauro ursodeoxycholic acid or UDCA. Bears are the only mammals known to produce great amounts of the bile acid especially used in traditional Chinese medicine. Chinese medical sources recommend Asiatic Black Bear’s bile.
One of Asia’s five Bear Subspecies – the Asiatic Black Bear. Its gallbladder is harvested to procure bile acid tauro ursodeoxycholic acid or UDCA. Bears are the only mammals known to produce great amounts of the bile acid especially used in traditional Chinese medicine. Chinese medical sources recommend Asiatic Black Bear’s bile.
Bear Gallbladders
Bear gallbladders are coveted for its bile acid. Tauro Ursodeoxycholic Acid or UDCA is the acid found in seven bear subspecies’ gallbladders. The Giant Panda is the only exception, for it does not produce UDCA. UDCA is used for the treatment of different types of cancer, general kinds of pain, asthma, burns, sinusitis, and liver damage. It is because of these that bears are hunted down, raised in farms, and eventually slaughtered to harvest its gallbladders, which bile are needed to supply the black-market.
Illegal Trafficking of Bear Gallbladders
Illegal trafficking of bear gallbladders exist. One hundred tons of UDCA are consumed by China, Japan, and South Korea annually. This comprises more than half of the global consumption of UDCA. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) bans from international commercial trade the Asiatic Black Bear, Brown Bear, Sloth Bear, and the Sun Bear. However, bear bile is widely produced and publicly sold in China, Macau, and the Sino-Russian Border. Some Hong Kong stores sell bear gallbladder without a license, which the country has required for the importation, exportation, sale, and possession of bear gallbladder and bile acid since January 1994. Most stores in Seoul, South Korea are familiar with bear gallbladder and bile acid trade, although their stocks are kept hidden and locked. The importation, exportation, display, and sale of bear gallbladders is prohibited in Taiwan. Only American Black Bear parts and derivatives are allowed with government approval to enter trade. Bear bile is worth $400-600 in domestic markets, shooting thirty times more than that in Asian drugstores, where it is available in powdered form. Its liquid form sells for $25 per teaspoon.
Bear Gallbladder Uses
Bear gallbladder has life-saving uses. Its bile acid is milked and used to treat terminal illnesses and minor ailments or discomforts, ranging from cancer to pain. It is also used for the treatment of gallstones, poor eyesight, and rheumatism. In China, ten thousand kilograms of bile are being milked annually from bears in its farms intended for the harvesting of bile acid. Bear Bile has been listed in the first official drug handbook or manual in China around 659 A.D., as a medicine. The Asiatic Black Bear and the Brown Bear are especially patronized and recommended in Chinese medicinal sources. East Asia, being the place where bear bile is widely demanded, is the world’s ‘red-light district’ for mass bear slaughters. Thus, East Asia’s bears are in danger of extinction from the commercial demand of their bile, hunting, and the destruction of their habitats.
References:
http://allaboutnews.net/bear-gallbladder-uses/2228/
http://timesofindia.hotklix.com/link/News/World/Black-Bear-Gall-Bladder-Uses
Telomerase Might Be The Fountain Of Youth
“In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman/ Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.” – Mirror, Sylvia Plath
“In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman/ Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.” – Mirror, Sylvia Plath
Telomerase Study
A recent study on telomerase found breakthrough results on aging. The study found the enzyme telomerase or 4-0HT could rejuvenate aged telomeres, which has since ceased to function. Telomeres are the repetitive deoxyribonucleic acid components, which serve to guard chromosomes from damage. Each cell division causes telomeres to shorten. Shortening telomeres result in the inability of cells to divide and eventually result in cell death.
Telomerase Might be the Fountain of Youth
Telomerase might be the fountain of youth. Harvard Medical School’s Cancer Geneticist Robert DePinho led a study on the age-reversal effects of the enzyme telomerase or 4-OHT. First discovered in the 1980’s, telomerase has since piqued scientists’ and researchers’ interest. The recent study done by Doctor Robert DePinho and published in ‘Nature’ reveals telomerase reverses aging in mice, by causing the reactivation of telomeres, which aging prompts to decrease in size and eventually die. Telomeres protect cells from damage and are necessary for cell division. The mice, which telomerase were removed, aged prematurely. Upon replacement of their telomerase, the premature aging subsided and reversed. Once more, they radiated youthful energy and vitality. Brain enlargement was noted, and fertility, which the mice lost from lack of telomerase, was given them back. Their intestines, liver, and spleen recovered from their aged states, too.
Telomerase Pill Might Soon Be Available
Telomerase pill might soon be available. Robert DePinho said a pill, which contains the enzyme telomerase, would be made available to humans. The pill ought to reverse aging in humans and restore the beauty, health, spark, and energy young people enjoy. It wouldn’t just slow down aging, it would in fact reverse it, just like the fountain of youth was said to do. Furthermore, it would help people afflicted with age-related illnesses like brain degeneration, diabetes mellitus, and osteoporosis. Us, humans, will be given longer better quality life spans because telomerase pills would make us young and vital most of our lives. Except, telomerase has a downside. It has been linked to cancer by fostering the growth of tumors. If measures could be discovered to prevent this, telomerase would be very useful, out in the market, and out of pharmacies, as people would be coming in droves to partake of the ‘pill of youth’. DePinho notes telomerase would in fact prevent cells from becoming cancerous because it prevents deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage. A lot of people hope so, too.
References:
ylt=Ah2PhxLs4jiPo.zGSvxtXL1zfNdF
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101128/full/news.2010.635.html
Roman Polanski’s ‘The Ghostwriter’ Is Best Picture in the European Film Awards
Roman Polanski’s ‘The Ghostwriter’ was awarded ‘Best Picture’ in the European Film Awards. The ‘Best Picture’ prize or ‘Film of the Year’ is the highest accolade given by the European Film Academy.
Roman Polanski’s ‘The Ghostwriter’ was awarded ‘Best Picture’ in the European Film Awards. The ‘Best Picture’ prize or ‘Film of the Year’ is the highest accolade given by the European Film Academy.
Roman Polanski’s ‘The Ghostwriter’ Is Best Picture in the European Film Awards
Roman Polanski’s ‘The Ghostwriter is Best Picture in the European Film Awards. The event was held in Tallinn, Estonia’s capital and largest city. The European film awarding body also recognized Ewan McGregor’s performance as the lead movie character, a British ghostwriter, for which he was awarded the ‘Best Actor’ prize. Robert Harris and Roman Polanski, who both wrote the film’s script, jointly won its ‘Best Screenplay’ award.
‘The Ghostwriter’ Movie Plot
‘The Ghostwriter’ movie was based loosely on real-life former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. In the movie, an unnamed British Ghostwriter played by Ewan McGregor accepts the task of writing the unfinished memoirs of British Prime Minister Adam Lang, whom actor Pierce Brosnan played. The day the lead character goes to work, which requires him to board a plane to an oceanfront house located in ‘Old Haven’, a fictional place, Adam Lang is accosted by former British Foreign Secretary and United States’ Envoy Richard Rycart, played by Robert Pugh, and accused of illegally handing terrorist suspects to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to be tortured, which could be a war crime. The accusation would have caused Adam Lang to face trial presided by the International Criminal Court, unless he remains in America or transfer to another country that does not recognize the International Criminal Court’s stature and laws. The scene attracts the attention of the media toward Lang’s home, where he lives with his wife Ruth and personal assistant/mistress Amelia, played by Olivia Williams and Kim Cattral, respectively. A local old man tells the writer how improbable it was for the ocean currents to have washed out the corpse of the ghostwriter, who died while writing the memoirs and disappeared in the ferry. The woman who witnessed flashlights on the beach area, where the ocean currents were supposed to have washed out the corpse, went into a coma. Following the Global Positioning System (GPS) in the dead writer’s car, he finds himself in the estate of Professor Paul Emmett, whom Tom Wilkinson played. He could feel the professor was nursing a secret. Upon leaving Emmett’s place, a car tails him, which he fortunately escapes. While surfing the Internet in a motel, he finds Emmett’s identity as a Central Intelligence Agency personnel. He learns from Rycart that the writer who died left clues in the unfinished book’s beginning, which they could not get a hold of. Receiving a call from Lang, the ghostwriter boards a plane with him. After leaving the plane, an anti-war protestor shoots Lang, who dies, and law enforcers shoots back at the assassin, killing him as well. The ghostwriter finishes the book. In the book launch party, he learns from Amelia about Ruth’s connection with Paul Emmett. He underlines each first word in each chapter of the book’s original manuscript, which was written by the dead writer. The words read, ‘Lang’s wife Ruth was recruited as a CIA agent by Professor Paul Emmett of Harvard University.’ Telling Ruth of his discovery, he turns away to leave the party. A car zooms towards him, as he crosses the street, insinuating his death (murder) from a car crash.
The 23rd European Film Awards
The 23rd European Film Awards was held last December 4, 2010. The 2300 award-giving body awarded the movie ‘The Ghostwriter’, its ‘Best Picture’ prize. Last year it gave the same recognition to Michael Haneke’s movie, ‘The White Ribbon’. Around forty films are nominated for the European Film Academy’s categories, of which the most important is ‘The Film of the Year’ award. The nominees are announced at the Seville European Film Festival in November. The nominees are voted upon by the EFA, which winners are announced in the European Film Awards held annually and exclusively for European films, actors, directors, and producers. It is usually hosted in Berlin, alternated by other cities in Europe every other year.
References:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_european_film_awards;_ylt=Aq94RcClQ6T8EynMYj3rm9tzfNdF
http://www.europeanfilmacademy.org/2010/12/04/the-23rd-european-film-awards-the-winners/
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