TWO Russian anglers quietly sharing a vodka as they waited for fish to bite in a Siberian river fled for their lives when two hippos broke the surface and shattered the peace of a summer day, Itar-Tass news agency has reported. "Have another pull, Sergei. Yeah, I see it too."
Malvina, the female hippo, and her companion Kenigs had escaped from a zoo at Bolshaya Rechka, about 200km north of Omsk, it said. Leave this out and you have more anecdotal evidence for global warming.
The terrified anglers sped to the village, one on foot, the other by bicycle, and alerted zoo keepers, who found the animals quietly grazing in a field. "Hippopotamus" is Greek for "river horse." The name dates from ancient times when the critters were common in the Nile valley, where they were a source of amazement for Greek tourists. It is pretty good evidence that these ancient Greek tourists had access to some fairly potent alcohol themselves.
Traces of the antidepressant Prozac can be found in the nation's drinking water, it has been revealed. An Environment Agency report suggests so many people are taking the drug nowadays it is building up in rivers and groundwater. A report in Sunday's Observer says the government's environment watchdog has discussed the impact for human health. A spokesman for the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) said the Prozac found was most likely too highly diluted.
Clare Short definitely should be drinking a gallon a day.
The newspaper says environmentalists are calling for an urgent investigation into the evidence. It quotes the Liberal Democrats' environment spokesman, Norman Baker MP, as saying "I definitely am not gettnig my daily minimum amount of Prozac" the picture emerging looked like "a case of hidden mass medication upon the unsuspecting public". He says: "It is alarming that there is no monitoring of levels of Prozac and other pharmacy residues in our drinking water." Experts say the anti-depression drug gets into the rivers and water system via treated sewage water. The DWI said the Prozac was unlikely to pose a health risk as it was so "watered down". The Observer says the revelations raise new fears over how many prescriptions for the drug are given out by doctors. In the decade leading up to 2001, the number of prescriptions for antidepressants went up from nine million per year to 24 million per year, says the paper.
Which all began after Maggie Thatcher stepped down.
The exact amount of Prozac in the nation's drinking water is not known.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/08/2004 12:34:12 AM ||
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This is just a proof that our labs are very very good at detecting substances. Se the 2002 article linked:
"Among the other drugs discovered by Mr. Metcalfe and scientists at Environment Canada's National Water Research Institute in Burlington, Ont., but not included in the study, were antibiotics, Prozac and drugs common in birth-control pills.
All of the pharmaceuticals have been found in extremely low concentrations, in some cases one part per billion and one part per trillion."
Posted by: Mike ||
08/08/2004 15:15 Comments ||
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dude! use www.tinyurl.com to shrink those page-size-busting urls...
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/08/2004 15:50 Comments ||
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While seemingly innocuous, this has the potential to become a substantial problem. Phthalates found in plasticizers (used in Saran wrap, can liners and many flexible plastics) are now being connected to increasing "intersex" (mingled genital formation) populations in fish, alligators and other wildlife. Pseudo-estrogenic compounds found in food packaging and those excreted by human birth control users may be altering the sexual expression of other species. These compounds, known as hormone-mimics are being identified as "endocrine disruptors" which may affect the gender outcome and genital formation of some wildlife. There are ongoing investigations into connections between these chemicals and the global decline of human sperm counts.
Phthalates, largely used as plasticisers, have long been suspected in connection with rising infertility rates, particularly among men. These substances are quite common and are considered highly hazardous to human health because they disrupt the hormonal balance and impair reproduction and development.
In this same vein, increasing quantities of excreted anti-depressants now appearing in our waterways may have unanticipated effects upon the behavior of wildlife. These psychoactive compounds may cause subtle alterations in mating behavior and breeding patterns. The PPB and PPT concentrations sound negligible, but much higher levels may be present at sewage processing outfalls and waste disposal facilities.
In the short term studies, the antibiotics and cholesterol drug at concentrations of just 10 parts per billion appear to stunt growth and result in more male offspring. In the long term studies, these differences were diminished: offspring exposed to the antibiotics tended to have longer lifespans, while those exposed to the cholesterol lowering drug showed no apparent effects.
Exposure to the antidepressant produced no differences in the shorter trials, but did result in a greater number of offspring in the longer studies. "When Daphnia were exposed to a single pharmaceutical throughout their entire [30 day] life span, as in the long term studies, they seemed to become acclimated to the polluted environment," Flaherty said.
When Flaherty exposed the organisms to a combination of the cholesterol drug and the antidepressant during the short term studies, up to 90 percent of them died. Their offspring were more likely to be female, and to have deformities that hinder swimming.
EMPHASIS ADDED
While it is premature to sound alarms over this issue, it certainly merits close attention. A more significant problem lies in how our populations are increasingly medicated in daily life. The potentially negative downstream effects of altering brain chemistry with powerful neuro-chemical drugs may take decades to manifest fully.
Saturday, August 7, 2004 Posted: 11:13 PM EDT (0313 GMT
BEIJING, China -- Hundreds of Chinese soccer fans clashed with riot police for several hours outside Beijing's Workers' Stadium, pelting them with bottles and obscenities after their team lost 3-1 to Japan in a politically charged Asian Cup final. Awww. Poor losers babies. Did the nasty capitalist Japanese wage slaves whip your scientifically planned soccer team's commie @ss?
The governments from both nations had pleaded with fans for calm in the days before Saturday night's potentially politically explosive encounter. But those calls were largely ignored. Loathing for Japan spewed from many in the 65,000-strong crowd that witnessed a disappointing effort from the host nation. Japanese flags were burned, there were calls for boycotts of Japanese goods and boos and jeers greeted Japan's every move.
Any mistake by a Japan player earned cheers, while a tide of derision hit the defending champions every time they fell to the ground or feigned injury. They booed so loudly that Japan's national anthem was drowned out, but the biggest outpouring of jeers came with the final whistle. After Japan's third goal, the atmosphere in the stadium turned hostile and the stadium's PA system blasted static at full volume to drown out a constant wave of obscenities from the crowd during the cup presentation ceremony at the end of the match. You'd almost have to think the match was held in Nanking.
Around 6,000 riot police, troops and security staff were deployed for the match and some of them had to disperse angry fans outside the stadium. For several hours after the game Chinese fans blocked traffic outside the stadium and set fire to Japanese flags, threw bottles and hurled abuse before riot police made their move. The trouble outside prevented around 2,000 Japan fans -- who were separated from Chinese fans by rows of plainclothes police -- from leaving the stadium for several hours. Sounds like Britan, not China.
Hundreds of Chinese fans then gathered outside the hotel where the Japan team were staying, shouting nationlist slogans. There was a major police presence at the hotel and also at the Japanese ambassador's residence. The road outside the Japanese embassy was cordoned off. "I think Chinese fans are not very civilized. With the Olympics coming up, it gives people around the world a very bad impression," Reuters quoted Jian Sexiong, a Japanese fan born in China who is studying at Tsinghua University.
Any match between rivals is always set to be heated, but the two nations' history gave Saturday's encounter a bigger edge. Many Chinese still resent Japan's invasion and occupation of parts of their country from 1931 to 1945. Tens of millions died. However, other issues still rile ordinary Chinese. Both nations regularly bicker over the sovereignty of a chain of islands in the East China Sea. Last year, relations nose-dived further after a three-day sex romp involving hundreds of Japanese tourists and Chinese prostitutes at a hotel in south China. Sounds like those Japanese businessmen brought along more than just hard currency for those Chinese "comfort women."
State media on Saturday urged spectators to separate sport from politics at the final. This plea followed poor crowd behavior at earlier Japan games in which hostile Chinese crowds jeered Japanese players, threw rubbish on the pitch and rushed Japan's team bus. One 35-year-old man who described himself as a patriotic educator told Reuters it was important to remind the Japanese not to forget history. "We're seeing their old fascism starting to come back a little. For example, they are sending troops abroad," he said. And China's invasion of Tibet, proliferation of nuclear technology and constant threats to Taiwan aren't facistic? Why don't you have a nice tall refreshing glass of STFU!
Friday, August 6, 2004 Posted: 2:43 AM EDT (0643 GMT)
TAIPEI, Taiwan (Reuters) -- China is pushing for the removal of advertising posters supporting Taiwan's Olympic team from 500 baggage carts at Athens airport, a Taiwan official said on Friday. China, which views self-governing Taiwan as part of its territory, frowns upon the island's participation in any international event that Beijing deems should only involve sovereign states. Until China writes the rulebook they can go pound sand up their @ss. China's imperious demeanor and f&%king eggshell ego are not just tiresome, they're an affront to all free people, especially the Taiwanese.
Taiwan competes in the Olympics under the title of "'Chinese Taipei". The Athens Games start on August 13. Games organizers, under pressure from China, have asked Taiwan to withdraw the posters, said Lin Chia-lung, head of the Government Information Office. "Communist China's pressure on us is constant," Lin told a news conference. "One should respect the Olympic spirit and not interfere in any promotional events that conform to Olympic rules." Yeah, but China doesn't, so grow a spine and stand up to their bullying. Constantly acquiescing to China's arbitrary demands merely emboldens them and reinforces their own sense of being overawed with themselves.
Taiwan had spent over T$30 million ($900,000) on a promotional campaign for the Olympic Games, which included advertising at Athens airport and on 50 city buses, Taiwanese newspapers reported. "Our representatives and personnel from the government information office have already asked lawyers to get in touch with the Athens Olympic organizing committee to further understand the issue," Lin said. China and Taiwan split after a civil war ended in 1949. Beijing views the island as a breakaway province and says it must be recovered, by force if necessary. The Japan Football Association was embarrassed this month when a Chinese journalist asked why Taiwan was left off a map of China in its Asian Cup media guide. Quite obviously because some Japanese have no problem appeasing those who stand as their country's biggest economic and military threat.
#3
How many of y'all think there's going to be a next olympics?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
08/08/2004 20:03 Comments ||
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Wouldn't it be nice if some of the major powers decided to boycott the Beijing Olympics over their threats against Taiwan? Just a few of them withdrawing from the competition would be all it takes to strangle untold millions of dollars in tourism. I wish America would lead the way on this.
Popcorn and lawn chairs, everyone. It's time to watch the Perseid meteor shower and EUrocrats at play.
Italy has ordered leading European airlines, including British Airways and Germany's Lufthansa, to stop offering lower fares than Alitalia, the struggling majority state-owned Italian flag carrier, on competing long-haul services. The move by the Italian government comes as it seeks to prevent Alitalia collapsing into bankruptcy by agreeing an emergency state-guaranteed â¬400m ($493m) loan to the airline.
But it has sparked a fierce protest by BA to the European Commission and has triggered a row with the UK government.
Lufthansa said it was in talks with Italian authorities after it had been told to raise its fares to Alitalia's levels. BA told the Commission last week that Enac had threatened to take legal action unless the airline "withdraws its fares henceforth". In a letter received on July 29, BA had been given three days to comply or face immediate consequences. I thought only Islamic holy men could issue fatwas against airlines?
This starts to make the French policies since WW-II more understandable.
By Alexandre Kojeve (August 27,1945)
Editor's note: In the aftermath of World War II, the philosopher Alexandre Kojeve presented the French government his "Outline of a Doctrine of French Policy," a document that remains today of scholarly, historical, philosophical, and—perhaps most startlingly—contemporary interest. This unabridged translation marks its first appearance in English. It was translated from the French by Erik de Vries, who recently completed his doctoral dissertation, "A Kojevean Citizenship Model for the European Union," at Carleton University and now works as a policy analyst for the Canadian government.
Posted by: 3dc ||
08/08/2004 3:07:31 AM ||
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Finally, there can also be no question of âcausesâ often raised in discussions of the collapse of France: disorder, lack of foresight, domestic political unrest, etc.
#2
Interesting primer on Socialism - both practical and philosophical - and quite a bit more. Considering the date, a remarkable document. I'm afraid there's too much in it to digest in a day, lol! But a remarkable attempt, regardless!
Facinating read, damn!, it'll take a month or more to digest half of what this paper presents, infers, suggests, et al, ect...
dang.
Posted by: RJB in JC MO ||
08/08/2004 15:44 Comments ||
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Read the companion article at www.PolicyReview.Org which explains the context of the author, document and plan.
That's titled: Kojèveâs Latin Empire
From the âEnd of Historyâ to the âepoch of Empiresâ by Robert Howse
This is the same publication that brought Robert Kagan's thesis to the world.
Policy Review is a publication of the Hoover Institute at Stanford University.
Stanford is Condi Rice's old stomping grounds.
I beleive that these articles are the administration's turning over of an Ace that the French poker players were hiding. They must be wondering how many more will get turned over and what this initial bow shot means.
#5
Kojève was one of the most brilliant French (err Russian born) philosophers... and mandatory reading for everyone in Germany concerned with French politics and the formation of the EU.
#7
What stikes me is how much of what he suggested never happened. I can see how he might have some current French external policies. To bad France is now a muslim colony, for France.
Weeks after Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" became a controversial blockbuster in the United States, the film and its maker are generating a new wave of attention - this time from Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits. In Cuba, where leader Fidel Castro is in a heightened war of words with President Bush, bootlegged copies of Moore's Bush-bashing documentary were shown to packed cinemas for a week, and the film was aired on state-run television July 29. Cuban Americans who support Bush are vilifying Moore on Spanish-language radio, the Internet and in e-mails. Their objection, beyond the new film: inflammatory pieces Moore wrote about Cuban exiles in 1997 and 2000 in which he called them ''Batista supporters'' and ''wimps'' who were wrong not to immediately send home child-boater Elian Gonzalez.
If Nader can not gather up enough wackos in California ,,he should pack it in now..and give his votes to Bush, since Kerry is not going to win! :)
Aug 8th, 3:39 PM (ET)
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Consumer advocate Ralph Nader did not collect enough signatures to make the ballot in California as an independent presidential candidate but his spokesman said on Sunday the campaign would keep trying.
Nader had gathered about 85,000 signatures by Friday's deadline and had clearly failed to accumulate the 153,035 signatures needed to place him on the ballot, California Secretary of State spokesman Doug Stone said. Final tallies were not immediately available.
Nader campaign spokesman Kevin Zeese said the campaign would keep trying to get Nader's name before the state's voters. "We have four or five other options to get his name on the ballot, none of which I can disclose... We expect to be on the ballot in November," Zeese said.
Zeese said Nader's campaign was trying to convince Green Party members in California to replace their presidential nominee with Nader, who was their candidate in 2000. A spokesman for the Green Party was not immediately available.
Nader has accused Democrats of mounting legal battles to try and block him from getting on state ballots because they fear he would siphon votes from Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. As an independent candidate, Nader must gather signatures to win a place on most state ballots, unlike candidates for the two major parties. The numbers required vary from state to state.
But Bob Mulholland, a California Democratic Party adviser, said, "(Nader) was a ... failure. He did not collect enough signatures."
In the 2000 presidential election, Nader was on the ballot in 43 states and the District of Columbia and garnered 2.7 percent of the national vote. Zeese said Nader so far has submitted signatures in 18 states for the election this year.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
08/08/2004 10:18:44 PM ||
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A team of international observers will monitor the presidential election in November, according to the U.S. State Department. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe was invited to monitor the election by the State Department. The observers will come from the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. It will be the first time such a team has been present for a U.S. presidential election. This is a joke, right?? Unless it's to teach those punks how it's done.
"The U.S. is obliged to invite us, as all OSCE countries should," spokeswoman Urdur Gunnarsdottir said. "It's not legally binding, but it's a political commitment. They signed a document 10 years ago to ask OSCE to observe elections." Thirteen Democratic members of the House of Representatives, raising the specter of possible civil rights violations that they said took place in Florida and elsewhere in the 2000 election, wrote to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in July, asking him to send observers. After Annan rejected their request, saying the administration must make the application, the Democrats asked Secretary of State Colin Powell to do so. The issue was hotly debated in the House, and Republicans got an amendment to a foreign aid bill that barred federal funds from being used for the United Nations to monitor U.S. elections, The Associated Press reported. In a letter dated July 30 and released last week, Assistant Secretary of State Paul Kelly told the Democrats about the invitation to OSCE, without mentioning the U.N. issue. "I am pleased that Secretary Powell is as committed as I am to a fair and democratic process," said Democratic Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, who spearheaded the effort to get U.N. observers. Is he implying that US elections were never fair to begin with???
"The presence of monitors will assure Americans that America cares about their votes and it cares about its standing in the world," she said in a news release. What an a$$hole.
Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee of California agreed. "This represents a step in the right direction toward ensuring that this year's elections are fair and transparent," she said. "I am pleased that the State Department responded by acting on this need for international monitors. We sincerely hope that the presence of the monitors will make certain that every person's voice is heard, every person's vote is counted. "OSCE, the world's largest regional security organization, will send a preliminary mission to Washington in September to assess the size, scope, logistics and cost of the mission, Gunnarsdottir said. The organization, which counts among its missions conflict prevention and postconflict rehabilitation, will then determine how many observers are required and where in the United States they will be sent. "OSCE-participating [nations] agreed in 1990 to observe elections in one another's countries. The OSCE routinely monitors elections within its 55-state membership, including Europe, Eurasia, Canada and the United States," a State Department spokesman said. The spokesman said the United States does not have any details on the size and composition of the observers or what countries will provide them. Iran??? Might as well.
OSCE, based in Vienna, Austria, has sent more than 10,000 personnel to monitor more than 150 elections and referenda in more than 30 countries during the past decade, Gunnarsdottir said. The US should be the least of their worries.
In November 2002, OSCE sent 10 observers on a weeklong mission to monitor the U.S. midterm elections. OSCE also sent observers to monitor the California gubernatorial recall election last year. Hope they learned something.
More recently, OSCE monitored the elections in Northern Ireland in November and in Spain in March.
Posted by: Rafael ||
08/08/2004 8:56:23 PM ||
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Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee of California is a flaming asshole.
By the way, Gore lost you dumb shit.
#2
You have no one but Jeb Bush and the State of Florida to blame. If There had not been a "problem" with the vote, the door wouldn't have been opened to critique by foreigners.
#3
There never was a "problem" with the vote, genius.
Posted by: Rafael ||
08/08/2004 21:35 Comments ||
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the problem is there's no intelligence/sanity test for voting, Anon, otherwise, you'd feel disenfranchised
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/08/2004 21:42 Comments ||
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LOL Maybe they will get teh Demshits to STFU and play. probably not but hey it's worth a thought. FYI they should already know what our elections are like because we taught it to them in 1948.
How much influence does Hollywood have on John Kerry? Listening to him during this campaign has been like watching the movie "50 First Dates," where Drew Barrymore's character has amnesia. Kerry has contradicted himself so often that one has to deduce that his memory is seriously failing, or he's so scarred by his Vietnam guilt-trip that he's perpetually flummoxed. (That is, if one doesn't want to call him a soulless politician who has no conscience, no core and panders to the moment.) Ones doe, one does.
Kerry's Democratic National Convention speech was a series of crazy contradictions to his 20-year Senate voting record on the military. If not for amnesia, there seems no possible way that Kerry could have maintained a straight face while he waxed on about building up the military and perfecting intelligence. Botox?
Is he kidding? This is a man who's spent a 20-year career voting to tear down the military and dismantle intelligence services... In an interview with George Stephanopoulos, Kerry said that he has a secret plan to fight terrorism, but he won't tell us about it unless he's elected president. Stephanopoulos told Kerry that he sounded like Nixon, but I think he sounded more like an overwrought Hollywood movie. Imagine Kerry's voice lowering a few octaves as he says, "Only upon becoming president will I save the nation. My plan is classified. I could tell you, but then" -- pause for dramatic effect -- "I'd have to kill you." Nope - that would be the Clintons.
If the warped, material world of Hollywood is Kerry's image of "the heart and soul of America," doesn't it make you wonder what Kerry's idea of the perfect presidential Cabinet would be if he were elected? Wonder? More like terrified.
Chief of Staff: Jane Fonda. Bonded by the Vietnam War, they may have mutual friends from the Viet Cong, and Jane probably respects Kerry immensely because he's confessed to so many disgusting war atrocities. Which the lamestream media obediently ignores in their "reporting."
Press Secretary (propaganda minister): Michael Moore, whose expertise in spinning a yarn and lying will be invaluable to deflecting blame.
Secretary of Health and Human Services: Whoopi Goldberg. Although she's still struggling with the technically correct terms for the female anatomy, her verbal interest shows a willingness to learn.
Secretary of Defense: Kofi Annan. This would dovetail beautifully with Kerry's defense policy as he has articulated it by saying to The Harvard Crimson, "I'm an internationalist. I'd like to see our troops dispersed through the world only at the directive of the United Nations." I'd like to see the UN dispersed, so I guess we're even.
Secretary of the Treasury: Teresa Heinz. She loves a big checkbook, and there's none bigger than that of the good ol' U.S. of A. Oops, an anti-nepotism statute was passed after the Kennedy administration, prohibiting a president from appointing a family member. Kerry will have to get that law changed, but that might be tough as it would require he show up and vote "for" something. He's missed 89 percent of Senate votes this year, and 64 percent last year, and he missed 38 of 49 public meetings while he was on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. But he still collects his paycheck! *snip* This list should be funny, but it's too close to the truth.
But don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself. If you dare. I've already dared. And it ain't pretty.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/08/2004 11:07:04 AM ||
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Bit by bit, people are shifting their attention from "Is Kerry going to win?" to "What will happen if Kerry wins?" even if only in a humorous vein like this piece.
But I've started thinking about it in a serious way, and so far everything I come up with points, at a minimum, to a MAJOR case of "buyer's remorse" for the American people. And at worst, "it ain't pretty" is a gross understatement.
What message regarding America's stomach for a long conflict will the jihadis infer from a Kerry victory? What will Israel conclude about our reliability as an ally? What guesses might Communist China make about our willingness to come to the aid of Taiwan? What will Little Kim make of a Kerry victory? How will American military personnel feel when, after busting their asses for us in Afghanistan and Iraq, we flip them the bird by electing John Kerry as their new commander-in-chief?
And then, what will all these groups DO as a result?
Like you say, it ain't pretty.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
08/08/2004 13:28 Comments ||
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Dave, good and troubling post. If the bad guys have been listening to what Kerry's been saying (and they have) they concluded months ago that the guy is all hat and no saddle. Even if he weren't, the mere fact of a change in administrations will create a window of vulnerability.
For an interesting piece of fiction on what soldiers might do under a president they held in contempt, see A Soldier's Duty by Thomas E. Ricks (2001).
AC- LOL. Somebody would have to explain to Kucinich that space travel actually requires vehicles.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/08/2004 13:58 Comments ||
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Maybe there are some potential Skeery cabinet members in this batch... as soon as he gets those pesky residency requirements removed, that is...
(2004-08-05) -- To preempt the release of a new book questioning John Forbes Kerry's account of his service in Vietnam, the Kerry-Edwards presidential campaign announced it had received the endorsement of yet another military veterans group.
Viet Cong Veterans for Kerry (VCVFK), an ad hoc group of North Vietnamese soldiers who served in the early 1970s, said their support is "payback for all Mr. Kerry did for us in his 1971 testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He almost single-handedly put an end to U.S. atrocities against innocent Viet Cong soldiers and their families."
The Viet Cong veterans' support comes at a crucial time for the Kerry-Edwards campaign, just days before the release of Unfit for Command : Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry.
"Despite what the American swiftboat veterans claim, we know that John Kerry is a true leader who lifted our morale at a time when we were concerned that we might lose the war," said an unnamed spokesman for VCVFK. "He is not a narrow nationalist who believes that America is always right. He's willing--even eager--to admit his own nation's shortcomings. This is the kind of man we need in the White House."
Posted by: Korora ||
08/08/2004 12:03:25 AM ||
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Maybe this is more truth than satire. Someone posted an article back in June of Kerry being honored at a Ho Chi Minh City museum. I hope than Kerry's anti-warAmerican activities get the same or better scrutinity as has his dubious war record.
#2
I've read about a "Hall of Fame" for heroes of the "Victory" over America. Guess who is on the list of "Most important"...you guessed it john fuckin' kerry, jane fonda and ramsey clark.
Posted by: Halfass Pete ||
08/08/2004 5:18 Comments ||
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A tribunal in Dhaka yesterday sentenced five people to life for attempt to traffic a child to Dubai on February 9, 2002. Judge Shamsul Arefin of the Special Tribunal for Prevention of Women and Children Repression-5 gave the verdict for trafficking the six-year-old baby Sohel alias Kamran. The convicts are Mohammad Yunus Miah, Abul Kalam, Matiur Rahman alias Motaleb, Mostafa Kamal and Mahima Begum. Of the convicts, Mohammad Yunus Miah and Abul Kamal were present in the court while Motaleb, Mostafa and Mahima were tried in absentia. The sentence on the fugitives will come into effect on the date of their arrest or surrender, the judgment said. Earlier, the prosecution and the defence wrapped up their arguments and the court recorded statements of 18 prosecution witnesses. In the case filed with Mirpur Police Station, it was alleged that Mohammad Yunus Miah kidnapped the child from the trade fair venue at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar on February 9, 2002. He later sold the boy for Tk 3,000 to Abul Kamal and other accused, who confined the boy in a rented house of East Monipur in the city's Mirpur area. They were waiting to traffic him to Dubai to be employed as a camel jockey. But acting on a tip off, Masud Parvez, a Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association official, with the help of Mirpur police rescued Sohel from the house the next day.
#1
Intentional malnutrition and starvation, physical and sexual abuse, child labor, extremely dangerous work conditions ... all of these grotesque crimes are part and parcel of the camel jockey trade. It is a dirty secret of the Arab world and needs the glaring spotlight of global attention focused upon it.
The work of a camel jockey is no holiday. Away from their parents, in a foreign country with no legal status, the children have no one to protect them. They must exercise the camels seven days a week in heat that even the local people shelter from. There is no choice about whether to work on the camels or not. A beating or two and a couple of days without food convinces them all. There is nowhere to run to. Many of the children are told a story about being unwanted and being sold by their parents into slavery, just in case they were considering trying to get home. Before the camel races the children go without food, not as a punishment, but to keep their weight down so the camels will run faster. The children receive no schooling and grow up without even knowing the country of their birth.
From The Los Angeles Times, an article by Wendy Orent, the author of Plague: The Mysterious Past and Terrifying Future of the World's Most Dangerous Disease.
The new nation of Turkmenistan, one of several Central Asian republics that rose from the Soviet Union's ashes, is ruled by a 64-year-old dictator named Saparmurad A. Niyazov, a strutting, miniature Saddam Hussein who calls himself Turkmenbashi (father of the Turkmens). A man of monstrous ego .... The world keeps quiet about Niyazov's eccentricities, aware that his vast wealth comes from control of one of the world's largest supplies of natural gas. .... In March, he dismissed 15,000 licensed healthcare workers "to save money" and replaced them with conscripts. In June, the Turkmenbashi fired Turkmen doctors and other health workers with foreign degrees, saying their training was "incompatible with the Turkmen education system." Most disturbing, he has declared all infectious diseases — cholera, AIDS and other scourges — illegal and has forbidden any mention of them. ...
According to both Gundogar, a Turkmen opposition group, and the Turkmenistan Helsinki Initiative, a deadly plague epidemic has broken out in the Turkmenbashi's territory. Yersinia pestis, the germ that causes plague, is widespread among rodents throughout Central Asia, and the strains they carry are among the oldest, most virulent and most dangerous in the world. In the barren deserts of Turkmenistan, the leading plague reservoir is a burrowing rat-sized animal with legs like a miniature kangaroo, Rhombomys opimus, the great gerbil. Recent years in Central Asia have been good for gerbils, producing bumper crops of the grains they eat. More grain means more gerbils, and more gerbils means more plague. .... At least 10 people are known to have died of plague this summer, and some reports place the figure considerably higher. The Turkmen government has responded, predictably, by declaring the word "plague" illegal. It has also instituted border controls "to prevent disease from entering Turkmenistan from neighboring states."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
08/08/2004 10:20:26 AM ||
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The Turkmen government has responded, predictably, by declaring the word "plague" illegal.
Sounds like the old bastard would be right at home with our "free speech for me but not for thee" moonbats.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/08/2004 11:04 Comments ||
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#2
Bubonic plague, the disease responsible for the infamous "Black Death" of the Middle Ages, is still with us today and occurs in some areas of west and north central Texas. Isolated cases have been documented in areas of south and east Texas. It is caused by the bacterium Yersenia pestis and can be found in wild rodent and rabbit populations. Fleas transmit plague from animal to animal.
Though human cases of plague are rare, people may be exposed to the disease if they handle infect ed animals or are bitten by an infected flea. Early symptoms of bubonic plague include fever and swollen lymph nodes, progressing to high fever, confusion and fatigue. Untreated bubonic plague has a relatively high fatality rate, but prompt treatment with tetracycline or other drugs can be effective.
People living in areas where plague occurs can protect themselves by controlling fleas with insecticides and by controlling commensal rodent populations. It is also wise to use insect repellent when outdoors and avoid contact with wild rodents and rabbits.
Posted by: Mike ||
08/08/2004 15:07 Comments ||
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#3
plague's widespread - squirrels and other rodents carry it as well. San Diego mountains to Sierras, every summer there's plague warnings about handling sick or dead rodents. Hantavirus is also a concern. I guess the giant gerbils haven't heard Turdmenkashi's "illegal" decree?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/08/2004 15:38 Comments ||
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#4
The "Plague" is pretty common here in my county in Califorina as well. Ground Squirels carry it here mostly. People do get it every so often and the county health dept tries to make sure people are aware of it's danger. Cats keep the rodent population down but can carry the fleas as well.
#5
The startling eruption of a new, dangerous respiratory illness, SARS, in Guangdong, China, in the autumn of 2002 was kept a close secret by the Chinese government for months. The mainland Chinese outbreak eventually seeded nine other major outbreaks around the world; more than 8,000 people were infected and almost 800 died. Had the Chinese government asked for help from the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, those outbreaks need never have happened, and hundreds of lives â not to mention billions of dollars â could have been saved.
Yeah, and China got spanked hard for that one didn't they? So, who's willing to be that anything gets done about this monster raving looney? Nigerian imams facilitate the world's worst outbreak of polio in decades. This Turkman wingnut is spreading the black death while China continues to conceal the extent of the world's largest medically caused AIDS epidemic and downplays their SARS crisis.
Still, no one has the stones to take these tinpot dictators and thugs to task for draining the world of untold BILLIONS used to fight these preventable scourges.
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