Category: Uncategorized

By Andrew Pollack (New York Times)

Hormone therapy taken by women to counter the effects of menopause can increase the risk of dying from lung cancer, researchers reported here on Saturday.

The findings represent the latest black mark against a therapy already being used much more sparingly than it once was. But researchers said the new data should serve as a caution to women who did continue to take hormones not to smoke.

“We shouldn’t be using both combined hormone therapy and tobacco at the same time,” said Dr. Rowan Chlebowski of the Harbor-U.C.L.A. Medical Center in California and lead author of the study, which was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Dr. Chlebowski said there was one avoidable lung cancer death over eight years for every 100 women who both smoked and took hormone therapy.

The new analysis used data from the Women’s Health Initiative study, in which women took either Prempro, a drug combining estrogen and progestin, or a placebo. The study was discontinued in 2002 after it was found that the hormone therapy increased the risk of breast cancer.

The new analysis looked specifically at lung cancer for the five and a half years that the women took either the drug or the placebo and for more than two years afterward.

New York Times for more

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

Since the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) first reported on the torture of Mr. Fazal Abbas and his family by police earlier this month, details of escalating brutality have continued to become public, particularly in the case of Abbas’ brother-in-law, Mr Shafiq Dogar. The events are horrifying enough on their own, but when one imagines the number of police officers and court members who either carried out the torture or allowed it to go ahead, across the province, Pakistani law enforcement is cast in a particularly bare, ugly light.

Fazal, his young sisters, his mother and his brother in law were all tortured in April at the Airport Police Station Rawalpindi and their ordeal was allegedly arranged and aided by family members of Fazal’s new wife Khulsoom, including MPA Mr. Iftekhar Baloch, in revenge for a marriage that they hadn’t approved. Please see: One victim, a sixteen-year-old girl has yet to be found, even though she was seen being beaten and driven away in a car with Iftekhar Baloch, who remains at large.

Mr. Shafiq Dogar was subjected to which included torment of various imaginative kinds, including his rape, after which red chili powder was put into his anus. Dogar’s wife Riffat Rani and her younger sisters, 12 and 19, were also beaten by policemen and by law maker Iftekhar Baloch and arrested on trumped up charges, and since their release, have been threatened by Iftekhar Baloch.

However it is in the details of relentless abuse which we are able to provide here, that patterns emerge: of impunity and corruption. In the chronology below a disturbing relationship comes to light between Kulsoom’s family–wealthy mill-owners and a provincial assembly member–the lower judiciary and the police, the latter two working under the direction of the former, somewhat like hired thugs. It is particularly unpleasant to note that in each case the lower judiciary has acted as little more than a safe haven for the officers, who at one point had to push Dogar into court in a wheelchair because he could no longer walk.

Asian Human Rights Commission for more
(Submitted by Abdul Hamid Bashani Khan)

Today, former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer told CBS that he disapproved of President Obama’s speech in Cairo about the U.S. relationship with Muslim communities around the world. His problem with the speech? It was too “balanced”:

Fleischer bluntly told [CBS’s Mark] Knoller, “bottom line — the speech was balanced and that was what was wrong with it. American policy should not be balanced. It should side with those who fight terror.” […]
Knoller asked Fleischer if he heard much that is at odds with Bush administration policy.

“In part, it was similar to Bush’s constant message that both sides had obligations to fulfill,” he responded. “But Bush always leaned — privately and publicly — in Israel’s direction because they were being hit with terror attacks. Obama really wants to be in the middle. Bush took sides and was sometimes blunt about it.”

The Obama administration has faced criticism for being too balanced in the past. In January, Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League called George Mitchell, Obama’s top diplomatic envoy to the Middle East, too “fair” and “even-handed.” As Matt Yglesias responded, “[N]obody comes out against fairness. It’d be one thing to complain [about being] biased against Israel in a problematic way, but…complaining that he’s too fair and even-handed” is “absurd.”

(Submitted by reader)

By Human Rights commission of Pakistan

Lahore: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) is convinced that the cost of the insurgency in the Malakand Division has been increased manifold by the shortsightedness and indecisiveness of the non-representative institutions and their policy of appeasing the militants and cohorting with them. While the ongoing military operation had become unavoidable, it was not adopted as a measure of the last resort. Further, the plight of the internally displaced people has been aggravated by lack of planning and coordination by the agencies concerned, and the methods of evacuation of towns/villages and the arrangements for the stranded people have left much to be desired.

Based on reports by HRCP activists in the Malakand Division and other parts of NWFP/Pakhtunkhwa, visits to IDP camps by its activists and senior board members, and talks with many displaced people and several Nazims and public figures, the commission has released the following statement on the situation, its conclusions and recommendations:

Background:

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has reported, time and again over the last many years, on the rising exodus of IDPs from FATA and the Malakand Division, owing to deteriorating security situation, and warned the government of the consequences. IDPs in Balochistan have also been an issue of concern and separate statements on it have been issued by HRCP.

For over two decades the government of Pakistan, in particular the military, tolerated, if it did not collude with them, the religious militants and extended impunity to them as well as to all forms of acts of religious intolerance. It was common knowledge that international as well as national religious militants had safe havens in the country. After September Eleven, militants of all shades were reinforced and given a free hand to organize themselves at the cost of the freedom of the local population in FATA. Other parts of the country also continued to suffer but initially parts of FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Area) became the central hub of all militant groups, local, national, regional and international. The Musharraf government did not simply turn a blind eye but by all accounts, (including those of IDPs), several incidents revealed a policy to protect certain leaders of militant groups. The government has never given a satisfactory explanation on the supply lines of finances, vehicles, arms/ammunition and petrol that the militants have never been short of. This is particularly questionable in the case of Swat, which is a settled area and surrounded by territory in control of the government.

Amongst other reports, a number of credible sources (including official sources) confirmed that in December 2006, a vehicle was impounded by SHO Amir Zaman of police station Kabal, which was full of explosives. The destination of this pick-up was the Dera (house) of Fazallullah, popularly known as Maulana Radio. The SHO who impounded the vehicle was ordered by phone to stop all proceedings till higher police officials instructed him to proceed in the matter. As the DIG of the area was on leave, SP Qudratullah Marwat is said to have personally ordered that the van be released with the explosives as he had instructions from “higher authorities” to release the pick-up. In addition a number of other well placed sources confirmed that groups of militants from Waziristan were officially escorted to Swat in 2007.

Human Rights Commission for Pakistan for more

(Submitted by reader)

By Li Xing (China Daily)

Recently a Chinese blogger discovered two academic theses that had been published online with the same research structure, the same wording, and almost the same title, inciting thousands of Internet users to join in condemning plagiarism.

Of course, there were differences between the two papers. One was published in July 2007, the other not until March 2008. They were written by graduate students in economics at two different universities and cited figures from two different provinces, one in the northeast and the other in the Yangtze River valley.

Before the university in Northeast China announced its decision to strip the author of the second paper of his master’s degree on Monday, China Youth Daily revealed another case of plagiarism, in which a student from Central China copied the thesis of another student. He changed only the dedication of the thesis, prompting critics to label his work “the rankest sort of plagiarism”.

This wave of plagiarism comes hard on the heels of an incident barely three months ago, in which the perpetrator was stripped of his associate professorship, his research team leader sacked, and his academic advisor removed as college dean.

In all the uproar, I also detect a note of resignation. Plagiarism is pretty common these days, with students sharing tales of how they managed to write their theses in a couple of weeks.

Graduate students are not the only culprits. I’ve leafed through several volumes of contemporary history and discovered that few of them have adequate indexes and references, even though many paragraphs or even pages of text clearly come from familiar sources, such as old media articles or published memoirs. Such works set a bad example for today’s students.

Critics place the blame on a number of factors, ranging from professors’ ignorance to universities’ lax supervision to students’ lack of self-discipline.

But I share the view of a few bloggers that the core problem is a lack of emphasis on creative and critical thinking throughout our children’s education. Kindergarten teachers are too quick to correct toddlers who paint the sun or the moon as squares in different colors. In primary schools, teachers favor pupils who do not ask too many questions.

Throughout the middle school years, students are restricted to standard textbooks and a few reference materials that are thought to ensure high scores on the national college entrance examinations.

Throughout a child’s secondary education, teachers encourage uniformity, instead of diversity. By the time they enter college, many students have lost interest in developing their own ideas or exploring their own areas of interest.

China Daily for more

By Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai

the old school mc
pours drinks at the bar,
rhymes for the patrons,

teaches the kids in the
kindergarten, waits in
the welfare line.

the promise of hip hop
plated beneath gold teeth,
platinum chains,

spotless rims on the range
rover, that keeps him living at
his grandmother’s house.

the promise of hip hop
recycled in disposable
beats, inedible tracks,

as the original b-boys
and b-girls scramble for traction
on vanishing ground.

out-marketed, out-packaged,
out-industry-ed, out-done —

aging dreams aflame
on the horizon —

we did it for the love,
for the love,
for the love.

Visit Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai’s site Yellow Gurl

When our senses perceive an environmental stress such as danger or a threat, cells in the nervous and endocrine systems work closely together to prepare the body for action. Often referred to as the fight or flight or stress response, this remarkable example of cell communication elicits instantaneous and simultaneous responses throughout the body.

Initiating the Response

Sensory nerve cells pass the perception of a threat, or stress, from the environment to the hypothalamus in the brain. Neurosecretory cells in the hypothalamus transmit a signal to the pituitary gland inciting cells there to release a chemical messenger into the bloodstream. Simultaneously, the hypothalamus transmits a nerve signal down the spinal cord. Both the chemical messenger and nerve impulse will travel to the same destination, the adrenal gland.

Keeping the Signal Going

Sitting atop the kidneys, the adrenal glands receive nerve and chemical signals initiated by cells in the hypothalamus. Nerve signals activate the release of epinephrine into the bloodstream.

When chemical messengers arrive via the bloodstream, they dock on to receptors and begin a cell signaling cascade that results in the production of cortisol. Cortisol is released into the blood stream where it begins signaling cascades in several cell types, resulting in an increase in blood pressure, increase in blood sugar levels, and suppression of the immune system.

University of Utah for more

“Peter Sellers in one of his final roles-as a man without friends without family, and without a past.”

By Christina Page (Birth Control Watch)

For those who would like to think today’s murder in church of Dr. George Tiller, an abortion provider, is an isolated incident, here’s the horrifying news: You are wrong. The pattern is clear and frightening.

In March 1993, three months into the administration of our first pro-choice president, Bill Clinton, abortion provider Dr. David Gunn was murdered in Pensacola, Florida. That was the beginning of what would become a five-fold increase in violence against abortion providers throughout the Clinton years.

Today’s assassination of Dr. George Tiller comes 5 months into the term of our second pro-choice president. For anyone who would like to believe that this is a statistical anomaly, a coincidence that doesn’t portend anything, again, you are wrong.

During the entire Bush administration, from 2000-2008 there were no murders.

During the Clinton era, between 1994-2000 there were 6 abortion providers and clinic staff murdered, and 17 attempted murders of abortion providers (one of these attempts was on Dr. Tiller who was shot in both arms.) There were 12 bombings or arsons during the Clinton years.

During the Bush administration, not only were there no murders, there were no attempted murders. There was one clinic bombing during the Bush years.

One can only conclude that like terrorist sleeper cells, these extremists have now been set in motion. Indeed the evidence is already there. The chatter, the threats, the hate-filled rhetoric are abundant.

In the last year of the Bush administration there were 396 harassing calls to abortion clinics. In just the first four months of the Obama administration that number has jumped to 1401.

And so the execution of Tiller, 67, is not only tragic but ominous. He was born into an era when being an abortion provider meant saving women’s lives. And the cold-blooded murder in church and in front of his wife of this stalwart defender of women rights and beloved physician, comes as a message for others, as well as tragic deja vu.

Battered women are at greatest danger of being killed by their abusers when they are most strong — that is, when they muster the courage to leave. The same phenomenon may be true in the abusive political abortion debate. The pro-choice movement, specifically our abortion providers, are in the greatest danger of violence when we take power. When the anti-abortion movement loses power, their most extreme elements appear to move to the fore and take control. The murder of Dr. Tiller suggests that violence against abortion providers may be far more linked to the power, or lack thereof, anti-abortion groups have politically than to laws designed to increase penalties against such acts.

History has another disturbing lesson for us. The escalation of anti-abortion rhetoric plays a direct role in instigating violence. When anti-abortion groups ratchet up the rhetoric, they know exactly what they’re doing and the results it will have. Even if they maintain deniability, as Operation Rescue recently did saying, in effect, we wanted Tiller gone, but didn’t want him murdered, they have inflamed the rhetoric. And suddenly people Like Dr. Tiller’s murderer become inspired.

Eleanor Bader, author of Targets of Hatred: Anti-Abortion Terrorism, in an article in March for RHRealityCheck.org about clinics bracing for an uptick in violence after the election of Obama wrote, “immediately after Obama’s election, Douglas Johnson, Legislative Director of the National Right to Life Committee, called him a “hardcore pro-abortion president.” The American Life League dubbed him “one of the most radical pro-abortion politicians ever,” and Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life warned that Obama will “force Americans to pay for the killing of innocents.” Americans United for Life, the Family Research Council and Operation Save America quickly joined the chorus.”

Birth Control Watch for more

Congolese and Somali migrants forced to flee their homes during last year’s brutal anti-foreigner violence say it’s too dangerous for them to leave the Blue Waters camp near Cape Town.

By Ian Evans (Christian Science Monitor)

Cleophash Sewika (far right) and his wife, Vanel (in pink sweater), live with their six children in the Blue Waters refugee camp near Cape Town, South Africa. The Congolese family was chased out of their home in a nearby township during the anti-foreigner violence that displaced more than 60,000 last May.

Cape Town, South Africa – In this tourist haven, arguably the most cosmopolitan city on the African continent, around 400 men, women, and children live in battered tents reliant on handouts – a legacy of last year’s xenophobic violence that left 62 dead and forced more than 60,000 from their homes across South Africa.

A year ago, angry mobs targeted foreigners living in townships throughout the country with a brutal, two-week barrage of attacks. Most of the victims were immigrants who had fled poverty and calamity in neighboring countries such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique for the relative security and prosperity of South Africa, only to find themselves hated for “stealing” jobs from poor South Africans.
Initially, the government put those forced to flee their homes into temporary camps, which have gradually been closed as victims either go back to the townships or return to their native countries.
Now lawyers for Somali and Congolese refugees are staving off local government efforts to close one of the country’s last remaining camps near Cape Town. It’s still too dangerous to leave the Blue Waters camp and return to the townships, they say. And in the shadow of Table Mountain and the surfing beaches of the Cape Peninsula, residents recount stories of violence, rape, and concern about the future.

Reluctant to return to shacks where many faced death last May, the refugees want to stay put, but the city council wants them out and has gone to court to seek an eviction order.

That worries Cleophash Sewika, a father of six and political activist who fled the war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo three years ago.

Until last May, he lived in the city’s Capricorn township, working as a security guard.

“On May 22, [angry South Africans] sent letters to foreigners saying we would be killed if we did not leave,” he says. “On the 23rd, the men went door-to-door looking for us shouting, it was very frightening.”

In the violence, he says, his wife, Vanel, had acid poured on her head and he was beaten.

After being sent to several camps, they arrived at Blue Waters seven months ago. Since then, he says, his 12-year-old daughter, Sera, has been raped and his 16-year-old son, Rais, has been chased out of a nearby school at knifepoint by three pupils.

Christian Science Monitor for more