Current Events // Current

My interview with Al Gore?

This technically "is" an interview. I'm just missing his responses :-). Anyway, I... more

JanforGore
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8 days ago
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12 comments

Uncle Jay Explains the News... You should be subscribed!

excellent commentary this week...

plusaf
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24 days ago
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China rescues kidnapped children

FRom BBC: Police in China say they have recovered more than 2,000 children in a... more

jcub
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28 days ago
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2 comments

wsum

hanks to everyone who came to the Memorial Union Terrace to make WSUM's 3rd Annual... more

LUBA_ODONNELL
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29 days ago
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Watching TV late at night could make you depressed

Researchers found that too much artificial light at night can alter mood and lead to similar symptoms to depression such as lack of energy and enthusiasm. The team from Ohio State University believe the connection could explain why levels of depression have increased as the use of electric lights have increased. The "blue light" from televisions could be especially disruptive. The psychologists found that mice housed in a lighted room 24 hours a day exhibited more depressive symptoms than did similar mice that had a normal light-dark cycle. The results suggest that more attention needs to be focused on how artificial lighting affects emotional health in humans, according to study co-author Professor Randy Nelson, a professor of neuroscience and psychology.

"The increasing rate of depressive disorders in humans corresponds with the increasing use of light at night in modern society," he said. "Many people are now exposed to unnatural light cycles, and that may have real consequences for our health."

The study, which will appear in the journal Behavioural Brain Research, involved mice who were subjected to varying degrees of light at night. The rodents subjected to the most artificial light were found to be the most depressive using tests used by pharmaceutical companies to test anti-depressive and anti-anxiety drugs in animals before they are used in humans.

The researchers believe that the findings do apply to humans.

"This is important for people who work night shifts, and for children and others who watch TV late into the night, disrupting their usual light-dark cycle," said Laura Fonken, lead author at Ohio State University. She said that the ability to escape light did help remove the symptoms.

There are many other practical implications. Nelson noted that most intensive care units are brightly lit all night long, which may add to the problems of their patients. "Light at night has significant social, ecological, behavioural, and health consequences that are only now becoming apparent,"said Professor Nelson.

"We suspect that suppression of melatonin may be involved in the effects of light at night on depressed affect. Blue light is especially good at suppressing melatonin so watching TV at night may reduce the nocturnal rise in melatonin."Researchers found that too much artificial light at night can alter mood and lead to... more

jcub
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1 month ago
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How Peru is netting water supplies

From BBC: They look like huge abandoned volleyball nets facing west towards the... more

jcub
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1 month ago
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2 comments

German doctor tried for 13 deaths

From BBC: A German doctor has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of 13 cancer... more

jcub
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1 month ago
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1 comment

UAE convicts US citizen for 'terror links'

From BBC: A court in the United Arab Emirates has convicted a US citizen of Lebanese... more

jcub
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1 month ago
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Rebel Colombian commander freed after daring raid

From BBC: A senior commander of Colombia's second-largest rebel group, the ELN, has... more

jcub
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1 month ago
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2 comments

The Lakota Foundation Invokes Response to Suicide Rates Among Teenagers on Pine Ridge.

The Lakota Foundation Invokes Response to Suicide Rates Among Teenagers on Pine Ridge.... more

Mobius2012
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1 month ago
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7 comments

Harvest Time on the Sustainable Agriculture Group

From now until Halloween, the Sustainable Agriculture Group will post various videos,... more

JanforGore
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1 month ago
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4 comments

6 months of jail for "faith-healing" couple

From BBC: A couple who prayed rather than seeking medical attention for their dying... more

jcub
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1 month ago
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115 comments

Dear America: Letter From a Muslim-American

I write to you, America, as a Muslim-American who is frustrated at seeing both sides of my identity spreading myths about each other. In part one of this two part article, I address America from a Muslim perspective. In part two, which will follow in the coming weeks, I shall write to the Muslim community, from an American perspective.

Dear America,

Our world today is assaulted with myriad headlines describing rising extremism and terrorism, and political instability in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Middle East. Despite the plethora of bad news, most recently we have seen a day of hope marked by the end of Ramadan, where Muslims from all nations, social classes, and sects openly united in the spirit of humility, brotherhood, thankfulness, and peace.

As human beings, you and me have a tendency to let the negative marginalize the good and the true. But in this Ramadan the unity and the message of peace and humility that nearly a billion Muslims have exhibited should not go unnoticed, nor should it be underestimated.

America, even though you are part of us (Muslims) and we are a part of you, you often fear and misunderstand the one thing that unites the billion of us around the world is peace, love, and spiritual strength. You fear our religion, Islam. I write the following to not accuse anyone or apologize on behalf of any group. In part one of this article, I speak to you America, as one Muslim who is part of the majority of Muslims standing against the Ahmedinijads, Bin Ladens, and Taliban and Al Qaeda. These men have stolen my voice... our voice. The actions of a violent minority have for too long trumped the selfless and righteous actions of the moderate majority who do good in the name of Islam.

Firstly, Muslims are not a violent people and Islam is not a violent religion. I fear you overlook the fact that the faith of Muslims has been monopolized by the corrupt despots of Muslim countries and Muslim extremists. And it is the extremists whose power is bolstered by a media that has paralyzed the voice of the Muslim majority, who in fact abhor violence and terrorism.

It can be confusing even to me because on one side we only see Muslim extremists on the TV preaching hate in the name of Islam and we barely hear the majority. As I will touch on in part two of this article, Muslims have even marginalized themselves. But America, Muslims are a community of over a billion people, most of whom live in poverty within developing countries governed by oppressive, abusive, authoritarian regimes. These very regimes remain bunkered against an alienated group of extremists who are taking to the gun instead of a potentially rigged ballot. It is our mothers and daughters and sons who are being killed on a daily basis by either violent extremists or botched missile attacks by NATO. We are against violence and terrorism America, be it from Muslim extremists or NATO bombs. We are against violence because it is we who are the primary target of most terrorist attacks today. And while we may disagree with your military actions and policies, we look up to the principles that make up America... I speak of the freedom to be critical of yourself as a society and government; the opportunities awarded by the most comprehensive education system in the world; and your effortless ability to adapt in an ever transforming world.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mohsin-mohiud-din/dear-america-letter-from_b_299362.htmlI write to you, America, as a Muslim-American who is frustrated at seeing both sides... more

WorldPeaceTV
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1 month ago
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Remember Our Global Community

So often we get caught up in national debates, or even in our own lives struggling to... more

lucasives
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1 month ago
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Ousted Honduran leader 'returns'

From BBC: Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya says he has returned to his... more

jcub
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2 months ago
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Historic Godlstone Report Deals Blow in the war Israel is losing– the ‘Legitimacy War’

“So why did the Israeli government boycott the commission? The real answer is quite simple: they knew full well that the commission, any commission, would have to reach the conclusions it did reach.”
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The important points come near the end: that the rather conservative findings of the report (and its acceptance of Israel’s dubious right to self-defense–dubious because Gaza is effectively occupied), have acted as a "bombshell" in Israel because Goldstone calls for action, and because the report contributes to the fraying of Jewish support for Israel and to the "Legitimacy War" that Israel has been losing in the eyes of the world. "A historic contribution" to the Palestinian struggle for justice, Falk concludes.
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Uri Avnery (Israeli peace activist, and former Knesset member), “On the Goldstone Report” 19 Sept 2009

Richard Goldstone, former judge of South Aftica’s Constitutional Court, the first prosecutor at The Hague on behalf of the International Criminal Court for Former Yugolavia, and anti-apartheid campaigner reports that he was most reluctant to take on the job of chairing the UN fact-finding mission charged with investigating allegations of war crimes committed by Israel and Hamas during the three week Gaza War of last winter. Goldstone explains that his reluctance was due to the issue being “deeply charged and politically loaded,” and was overcome because he and his fellow commissioners were “professionals committed to an objective, fact-based investigation,” adding that “above all, I accepted because I believe deeply in the rule of law and the laws of war,” as well as the duty to protect civilians to the extent possible in combat zones. The four-person fact-finding mission was composed of widely respected and highly qualified individuals, including the distinguished international law scholar, Christine Chinkin, a professor at the London School of Economics. Undoubtedly adding complexity to Goldstone’s decision is the fact that he is Jewish, with deep emotional and family ties to Israel and Zionism, bonds solidified by his long association with several organizations active in Israel.

Despite the impeccable credentials of the commission members, and the worldwide reputation of Richard Goldstone as a person of integrity and political balance, Israel refused cooperation from the outset. It did not even allow the UN undertaking to enter Israel or the Palestinian Territories, forcing reliance on the Egyptian government to facilitate entry at Rafah to Gaza. As Uri Avnery observes, however much Israel may attack the commission report as one-sided and unfair, the only plausible explanation of its refusal to cooperate with fact-finding and taking the opportunity to tell its side of the story was that it had nothing to tell that could hope to overcome the overwhelming evidence of the Israeli failure to carry out its attacks on Gaza last winter in accordance with the international law of war. No credible international commission could reach any set of conclusions other than those reached by the Goldstone Report on the central allegations.

In substantive respects the Goldstone Report adds nothing new. Its main contribution is to confirm widely reported and analyzed Israeli military practices during the Gaza War. There had been several reliable reports already issued, condemning Israel’s tactics as violations of the laws of war and international humanitarian law, including by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and a variety of respected Israeli human rights groups. Journalists and senior United Nations civil servants had reached similar conclusions. Perhaps, most damning of all the material available before the Goldstone Report was the publication of a document entitled “Breaking the Silence,” containing commentaries by thirty members of the Israel Defense Forces---continued below“So why did the Israeli government boycott the commission? The real answer is quite... more