Day: February 26, 2010

by B. R. Gowani

(A street kid waits to be served with porridge during a feeding program timed for the United Nations declaration of World Day for Social Justice Saturday in Manila, Philippines. As election in the country draws near, political groups capitalize on the poverty in the country as they try to adhere to the call of the Catholic church to do good to the people and feed the hungry. AP/Pat Roque Jakarta Post)

The elite hijacked social justice
Poverty killed self-dignity
Hunger forced him to this place
The eyes are positioned on the food-server

Just for porridge!

Elections are approaching
So hunger has forced
The greedy vote-eaters to be in the open
For some time, food will be given
Promises will be showered
Then the poor will be robbed
Of their only wealth: the vote

“Corruption is the worst enemy …
[It] robs the state of the resources
To prosecute the war against poverty.”
Gloria said this in January 2003
Poor Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo!
Did not know it is not easy to fight
Ms. Corruption is too charming
Can befriend you in no time
Gloria got seduced by her new friend
So she wants to continue serving people
For people’s sake, she’d go to any extreme

These politicians, country’s nemesis
Arroyo does not want to leave power
While the Steel Butterfly, Imelda
Is back on the scene
“I love beauty and I am allergic to ugliness”
Can’t face it, and she can’t remove ugliness

The poor will donate their votes
For a fresh bowl of porridge
The leaders will fool the nation
With a new dose of hypocrisy

B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com

Martial Law Under Arroyo: Clear and Present Danger from Bulatlat on Vimeo.

by BAE JI-SOOK

More women appear to be experiencing early menopause, a recent study has indicated.

A total of 6,831 women in their 30s and below were treated in 2008 for insomnia, depression, lethargy and other disorders stemming from their cessation of menstruating, the National Health Insurance Corporation (NHIC) said Sunday.

“Taking into account that only those who suffer from these side effects were counted in the survey, the actual number of women with early menopause could be much higher,” it said.

Premature menopause, which is the permanent cessation of menstruation among women under 45 years old, is caused by a hormonal imbalance that can stem from stress, excessive weight loss attempts, dietary changes and genetic factors.

“These days I see the age moving down to college students in some cases. Most of them underestimate the severity of missing their menstruation period for several months. Then they belatedly receive a health checkup only to find they’ve stopped ovulating,” Dr. Yoon Byung-ku of Samsung Medical Center was quoted as saying to the online paper Medical Today.

Premature menopause leads to health risks as osteoporosis, hardening of artilleries and other symptoms become prevalent. Moreover, according to Dutch researcher Tonnie Coppus, the “patients” are more likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease than those who have timely menopause.

“These days, younger women are turning toward alternative regimens such as oriental and herbal medicines, exercise and diet changes rather than taking ovulation-stimulating hormonal treatment,” Dr. Chung Jae-eun of Ilsan Hospital said. “But I still recommend people who haven’t menstruated for more than three months to visit their doctors because individual patients need different measures.”

Meanwhile, the report showed that a total of 662,000 females suffered from menopausal disorders in 2005. The number went up to 704,000 in 2008. The insurance fee to cover their medical costs marked 55.2 billion won.

The most noticeable population was those over 60 – their numbers jumped to 170,000, compared to 130,000 in 2001.

Korea Times for more

“It’s a ridiculous invention that will never, ever, ever work.” That’s how renowned Dutch mosquito and malaria expert Dr Bart Knols assesses a US invention that was being widely praised as a way to help prevent the spread of malaria.

The invention he is referring to is the ‘photonic fence’, a brainchild of ex-Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold. The system tracks insects in the air, identifies their species and kills them individually with a blast of energy from a laser. The company claims that, by focusing on mosquitos, the technology could become an important weapon in the battle against malaria.

Star Wars
Mr Myhrvold’s company, Intellectual Ventures, recently presented the laser system at the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Conference. He admits that the Star Wars-inspired technology is one of his company’s higher risk and less practical inventions. However, he sees no reason why it could not work in Africa.

Dr Knols, on the other hand, argues that the high cost of the equipment needed to run the system and the lack of a stable energy supply make the photonic fence a totally impractical and inefficient use of resources.

Damning criticism
Dr Knols also points out that, far from being a new invention, the photonic fence concept was unveiled almost one year ago and has only been shown to work in a laboratory setting.

Dr Knols’ most damning criticism of Intellectual Ventures is that the company is acting immorally and unethically by marketing its product using the statistic that a child dies of malaria every 43 seconds.

Radio Netherlands Worldwide for more

by DOUG SAUNDERS

Acting like an especially convivial nightclub manager, Pervez Musharraf storms the room and opens with a joke: “You should come to Pakistan – it’s the most happening place in the world, where there’s never a dull moment!”

There is nervous laughter. The man who was the military ruler of Pakistan for seven years would like to get back into politics, this time by election. “I’m no longer a military man,” he says, “so I cannot take over anything.” Even more nervous laughter. The generals, in Pakistan, are never far from power.

For decades, Pakistan has served the world as a large and obstreperous military force that inconveniently happens to have a nation attached. Nowadays, as far as the West is concerned, it mainly acts as the denominator in what the military calls “Af-Pak,” the war against the Taliban.

The week began with an exceptionally non-dull moment that confirmed this view, and showed what has changed since Mr. Musharraf’s departure in 2008. Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency said that, with the help of the CIA, it had captured the Taliban’s second-ranking Afghan leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, in northern Pakistan. This was considered a huge aid to the current Afghan military surge, in which Canada’s soldiers are playing a spearhead role, and a new phase in Pakistani-Western co-operation.

Throughout most of the Afghan war, Pakistan’s military and Mr. Musharraf had argued that, while it was worth using its soldiers to expel the Pakistan-based Taliban from places such as the Swat valley and North Waziristan, they weren’t interested in going after the Afghan Taliban leaders headquartered along the border in Pakistan.

Islamabad told the increasingly exasperated U.S. and NATO leaders that Pakistan wanted to stay friendly with the Afghan Taliban because it was worth maintaining influence over Afghan affairs. And, it said, the Pakistani army was too busy with other conflicts to risk opening another front against the Afghan forces. Those “other conflicts” are the root of everything that’s wrong with Pakistan, and everything that’s been wrong with the way we’ve treated this country.

Most Pakistani soldiers have never been deployed along the country’s northwest border with Afghanistan. They are overwhelmingly concentrated on the eastern border, preparing for a showdown with India that will never occur, at outrageous expense.

Mr. Musharraf drives this point home: After some perfunctory remarks about the Taliban, his talk is all about India’s plots, India’s intransigence, India’s dangerous meddling in Afghan affairs, India’s unwillingness to reason, India’s problem with Islamic extremism within its own borders, and even, heaven help us, India’s secret responsibility for fomenting Islamism within Pakistan. This is not just Mr. Musharraf’s view. The army chief of staff, General Ashfaq Kayani, said in a briefing this week that Pakistan’s No. 1 one threat remains India.

Globe and Mail for more

(Submitted by reader)

In this Feb. 5, 2010 photo, Allah, is etched on the prayer room door as Sena Rahim stands outside at the Islamic Foundation in Villa Park, Ill. U.S. Muslims are waging a debate about how much English they can use inside mosques without violating Islamic law or losing the authenticity of their faith. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) (Charles Rex Arbogast, AP / February 5, 2010)

by RACHEL ZOLL

Sana Rahim was born in the cowboy country of southeastern Wyoming, to Pakistani parents who had emigrated so her father could earn a doctorate.

She speaks Urdu with her family, but can’t read or write the language. She recites prayers in Arabic, but doesn’t know exactly what each word means.

Now a 20-year-old junior at Northwestern University, she, like many other American-born Muslims, is most comfortable with sermons and lectures in English, although they can’t always find U.S. mosques that offer them.

“I don’t really get the time to study Arabic,” Rahim said. “With all the different groups in America, English is a unifying thing that ties us together.”

Like Jewish immigrants who fought over English-language prayer and Roman Catholics who resisted the new Mass in English, U.S. Muslims are waging their own debate about how much English they can use inside mosques without violating Islamic law and abandoning their culture.

LA Times for more

(Submitted by reader)

A college class was told they had to write a short story in as few words as possible. The instructions were that the short story had to contain the following three things:

(1) Religion
(2) Sexuality
(3) Mystery

Below is the only A+ paper in the class.

“Good God, I’m pregnant, I wonder who the father is.”

(Submitted by reader)

PTI News

The Sri Lankan government plans to release all former LTTE child soldiers, currently being rehabilitated at various centres, by May 10.

Around 510 child soldiers below 18 years of age had surrendered to the army on May last year following the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and are undergoing a one-year rehabilitation following a court order.

They were produced before a Magistrate and the court has ordered the Government to release the child soldiers after the rehabilitation programme.

National Child Protection Authority Chairman Jagath Wellawatte said the Government recently handed over 150 child soldiers to their parents and guardians. Another 273 children are continuing studies at a centre in Ratmalana in Colombo suburbs.

Press Trust of India

(Submitted by Rohila Pritam)