tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80706496712805780442024-03-13T11:54:41.308-04:00Mr. W's--Discussion and Debate!The BLOGSPOT is for current up to date news that will be discussed in class.Mr.Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16970327299778221524noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070649671280578044.post-69510456034008986432009-01-26T19:47:00.006-05:002009-01-26T19:57:21.145-05:00To what extent should the right to bear arms be restricted?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RpXGwcC1B-s/SX5aWhGO6gI/AAAAAAAAAB8/0uDGIzzskDE/s1600-h/1034333w.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 230px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RpXGwcC1B-s/SX5aWhGO6gI/AAAAAAAAAB8/0uDGIzzskDE/s400/1034333w.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295769554722417154" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Times;"><h2 class="fspagesubhead" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; display: block; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> Gun Rights or Gun Control?</span></span><br /></span></span></h2><span class="bodytext" style="line-height: 1.5em; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, Verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The history of gun rights in this country is a history of laws. The right to own guns is the subject of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. For nearly a century, both gun rights and gun control advocates have battled back and forth over restrictions on the types of guns a citizen can own, and who can own them. However, the issue always returns to a broader discussion of civil liberties: whether a right guaranteed to American citizens can be abridged or even denied under any circumstances.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"></span></span></span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="bodytext" style=""></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); line-height: 19px;font-family:Arial;font-size:18px;"><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Times;"><span class="bodytext" style="line-height: 1.5em; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, Verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">At first glance, these images seem very different, but look closer. They have something in common. What we see are two American militias. On one side, we see an illustration of a colonial militia of the American Revolution. American general John</span> Stark is depicted leading troops against the British at the Battle of Bennington in 1777. In the modern photo, we see the South Michigan Regional Militia Wolverines, a private nationalist paramilitary group. <br /><br />These images show some of the more difficult aspects of gun rights in this country. When the Bill of Rights was added to the U.S. Constitution in 1791, the Second Amendment guaranteed citizens the "right to bear arms." The young country had no army. Instead, citizens served in temporary militias. They needed guns to carry out their duties. But today, the U.S. has a professional military. The Michigan Militiamen in the photo carry guns because they choose to do so. The context for gun ownership has changed considerably in 200 years. The question is, should the right to bear arms change with the times or is it a right that must remain unchanged forever? </span></span></span></span></div></div>Mr.Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16970327299778221524noreply@blogger.com59tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070649671280578044.post-49554499019447229832009-01-20T00:47:00.007-05:002009-01-20T07:48:39.865-05:00DO YOU THINK THE CIVILIAN CASUALTIES AND POW ABUSES HAVE BEEN JUSTIFIED BY THE UNITED STATES?<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Times;"><span class="bodytext" style=" line-height: 1.5em; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, Verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><img src="webkit-fake-url://7769C30F-22B7-462C-AADD-E0A0D78D30F4/abu-ghraib.jpg" alt="abu-ghraib.jpg" /></p> Current debate over the ethics of war has in part been prompted by the American invasion and its ongoing presence in Iraq and the war on terror. For centuries, philosophers and leaders have tried to make rules for resorting to armed force and waging war. To obtain and maintain widespread moral support, a government strives to demonstrate that it is waging a </span></span><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueId=1075515&pagetypeid=4#" onclick="return JS_DisplayEntry(1086141);" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">just war</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">. Today, however, many people in the United States and around the world question whether American policy has violated ethics of war. <br /><br />On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four airplanes and crashed them into different targets in the United States. Thousands of Americans lost their lives. Most Americans wanted justice and punishment for those responsible for organizing the attack. The Al Qaeda organization was soon identified as the guilty party. After the Taliban government of Afghanistan refused to give up Al Qaeda's leader, Osama Bin Laden, an American-led coalition intervened to force a change in the government of Afghanistan. The </span></span><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueId=1075515&pagetypeid=4#" onclick="return JS_DisplayEntry(1020271);" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">George W. Bush</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> administration promised to prevent future attacks by taking preemptive action against America's enemies. In March 2003, the United States organized an invasion of Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein. Arguing its case before the </span></span><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueId=1075515&pagetypeid=4#" onclick="return JS_DisplayEntry(1021516);" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">United Nations (UN)</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">, the Bush administration's justifications included the presumed existence of weapons of mass destruction and links with Al Qaeda. The invasion and its aftermath has revealed no evidence of these charges and caused many to question whether the Iraq War was a just war and whether it had violated ethics of war and international law on a systematic basis. Opponents and supporters of current American policy are divided over issues ranging from justification for the invasion of Iraq to treatment of prisoners to civilian casualties. <br /><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;">Invasion of Iraq</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span><span class="thumbleft" style="margin-top: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; float: left; "><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueId=1075515&pagetypeid=4&entryid=1279961&issublink=true&fromsearch=false" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><img alt="Title: George W. Bush announces commencement of Iraq War" title="George W. Bush announces commencement of Iraq War" src="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Images/DBImages/1279/1279961wt.jpg" height="120" width="165" class="insertedimage" style="border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1px; border-right-style: solid; border-top-color: black; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-left-color: black; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; background-color: black; " /></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueId=1075515&pagetypeid=4&entryid=1279961&issublink=true&fromsearch=false" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><img src="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/images/enlarge_this.gif" width="101" height="15" border="0" title="" alt="Display enlarged image with caption." /></span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The Bush administration justified its invasion of Iraq in March 2003 by citing UN resolutions dating back to the Persian Gulf War of 1991. These included resolutions requiring Iraq to give up all weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and to allow inspectors free access to verify that fact. On November 8, 2002, Resolution 1441 was passed by the UN Security Council ordering Iraq to comply with earlier resolutions. The Bush administration cited this resolution, and Iraq's failure to completely comply, as justification for an invasion. Other countries—including France, Germany, Russia, and Syria—disputed this interpretation, believing that 1441 did not automatically give any country the right to use force. Countries that supported the U.S. interpretation included the United Kingdom, Spain, and Italy. <br /><br />Following the invasion, investigations failed to show any ongoing Iraqi program of nuclear, biological, or chemical weapon research. They also did not turn up ties between terrorist groups and the Hussein regime, implied by the Bush administration as justification for invasion. Opponents of the war in the U.S. Congress and around the world have used the non-existence of these weapons and terrorist ties as proof of an unjust war. However, the administration has cited such accomplishments as the end of Hussein's dictatorial rule, a new Iraqi constitution, free elections, and the promise of rights to the Kurdish minority as signs of a successful regime change. <br /><br /></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;">Treatment of Prisoners</span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span><span class="thumbright" style="margin-top: 8px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 8px; float: right; "><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueId=1075515&pagetypeid=4&entryid=935721&issublink=true&fromsearch=false" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><img alt="Title: Soldier menaces an Abu Ghraib detainee using a dog" title="Soldier menaces an Abu Ghraib detainee using a dog" src="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Images/DBImages/9357/935721wt.jpg" height="120" width="165" class="insertedimage" style="border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1px; border-right-style: solid; border-top-color: black; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-left-color: black; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; background-color: black; " /></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueId=1075515&pagetypeid=4&entryid=935721&issublink=true&fromsearch=false" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><img src="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/images/enlarge_this.gif" width="101" height="15" border="0" title="" alt="Display enlarged image with caption." /></span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Documented treatment of some prisoners taken in Iraq and in the war on terror are also considered by many as violations of ethics in war. At Abu Ghraib Prison near Baghdad, photographs and videos revealed that some prisoners were tortured and humiliated by coalition forces with methods that violated the </span></span><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueId=1075515&pagetypeid=4#" onclick="return JS_DisplayEntry(1259172);" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Geneva Convention</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">. As a result, 17 American soldiers were removed from duty and dishonorably discharged from the army. Seven soldiers were convicted by courts martial and sentenced to prison terms, some as long as ten years. Additionally, the commanding general of the prison, Janis Karpinski, was demoted to colonel. Disciplinary actions were intended, in part, to demonstrate that the United States did not condone such treatment of prisoners; nevertheless, the images and stories that emerged negatively impacted America's image. <br /><br /></span></span><span class="thumbleft" style="margin-top: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; float: left; "><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueId=1075515&pagetypeid=4&entryid=936116&issublink=true&fromsearch=false" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><img alt="Title: Troops escort detainee at Guantanamo naval base" title="Troops escort detainee at Guantanamo naval base" src="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Images/DBImages/9361/936116wt.jpg" height="165" width="120" class="insertedimage" style="border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1px; border-right-style: solid; border-top-color: black; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-left-color: black; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; background-color: black; " /></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueId=1075515&pagetypeid=4&entryid=936116&issublink=true&fromsearch=false" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><img src="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/images/enlarge_this.gif" width="101" height="15" border="0" title="" alt="Display enlarged image with caption." /></span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Stories also surfaced of prisoners—many of whom were suspected members of Al Qaeda—tortured at the Guantanamo Bay facility. The U.S. government has denied that these detainees have rights under American law. Instead, the Bush administration claimed they were enemy combatants, as if they belonged to organized military units. Prisoners have been subjected to interrogation methods ranging from sleep deprivation to extended periods of cramped confinement. The most notorious method used has been waterboarding, in which the subject is restrained on his back while his face is covered by cloth and water is poured on it. Intended to give the victim the sensation of drowning, waterboarding can result in pain, lung damage, and injury to the brain from oxygen deprivation. A public debate over whether waterboarding is torture took place. The Bush administration and other defenders of such methods asserted that the interrogation of enemy combatants allowed authorities to prevent a number of terrorist attacks. In February and March 2008, Congress passed a bill to prevent the use of extreme interrogation tactics and restrict CIA interrogation methods to those authorized by the U.S. Army Field Manual FM 2-22.3. <br /><br /></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Civilian Casualties</span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br />Many believe just war standards require a nation to use force that is proportionate to the results it hopes to achieve. The United States has been criticized for the large number of Iraqi and Afghan civilians who have been killed in the fighting in the respective countries. According to the nonpartisan group Iraqi Body Count, by May 2008, the number of Iraqi civilians killed since the invasion just over five years earlier was around 90,000—a figure based on reports from the media, hospitals, morgues, nongovernmental bodies, and government offices. Civilians have been killed by terrorist attacks and sectarian violence and by American military forces. Insurgent and Al Qaeda attacks have often been aimed at easy civilian targets, such as the March 27, 2007, truck bombings in a marketplace in Tal Afar that killed 152. American weapons such as laser-guided bombs have been used to kill insurgent leaders but may also kill and injure nearby civilians. As in any war, mistakes can be made by troops on the ground, resulting in civilian deaths by gunfire. Supporters and opponents of the American invasion continue to argue whether long process of establishing stability in Iraq after the fall of Hussein made the United States ultimately responsible for civilians killed by insurgents. <br /><br /></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Outlook</span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span><span class="thumbright" style="margin-top: 8px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 8px; float: right; "><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueId=1075515&pagetypeid=4&entryid=1279966&issublink=true&fromsearch=false" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><img alt="Title: War protest, September 2007" title="War protest, September 2007" src="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Images/DBImages/1279/1279966wt.jpg" height="165" width="120" class="insertedimage" style="border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1px; border-right-style: solid; border-top-color: black; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-left-color: black; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; background-color: black; " /></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueId=1075515&pagetypeid=4&entryid=1279966&issublink=true&fromsearch=false" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><img src="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/images/enlarge_this.gif" width="101" height="15" border="0" title="" alt="Display enlarged image with caption." /></span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Whether or not the United States has failed to observe ethics in war continues to be a hotly debated issue. Consequently, it has divided the American population. Opponents of the Iraq War in Congress have demonstrated their position with public statements and attempts to block funding for the war. Increasing numbers of ordinary Americans have demonstrated against the war. In the election of 2006, dissatisfaction with the conduct of the war contributed to defeat for many Republicans in Congress who had supported the invasion. Many voters were unhappy with the progress of the war in Iraq under Republican direction, and wanted a change in leadership. The issue has also played an important role in the 2008 presidential campaign. Sen. Barack Obama has touted his vote against authorizing an invasion while criticizing Sen. John McCain for his early support. Opinion polls show that many Americans rank the war as a top concern when considering for whom to vote. <br /><br />Questions over the conduct of the Bush administration in pursuing the war in Iraq and against terror has also affected American standing around the world. Many people around the world polled by Zogby International view the American activities since 2003 as those of a self-proclaimed superpower for whom international law and custom have little meaning. They fear that American policy may have become based upon a sense of entitlement and unilateralism. As a result, recent military actions intended to increase national security may have contributed to an increase in terrorist activities around the world. Ironically, any failure to observe the ethics of war may have cost the United States one of its greatest weapons: the ability to cite the justness of its cause. </span></span></span><br /></span>Mr.Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16970327299778221524noreply@blogger.com47tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070649671280578044.post-40898012340886684332008-12-21T22:19:00.000-05:002008-12-21T22:23:52.094-05:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RpXGwcC1B-s/SU8IHcHWJSI/AAAAAAAAAB0/m40jX4Ubc9c/s1600-h/santa-1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 287px; height: 362px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RpXGwcC1B-s/SU8IHcHWJSI/AAAAAAAAAB0/m40jX4Ubc9c/s400/santa-1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282449811827991842" /></a>This has to be a TCHS student!!! (Happy Holidays...Mr. W)Mr.Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16970327299778221524noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070649671280578044.post-28477875682796495622008-12-09T23:39:00.017-05:002008-12-10T00:03:33.097-05:00DOES AMERICA STILL HAVE AN "UNREALISTIC VISION OF BEAUTY" THAT CAUSES EATING DISORDERS, OR DOES YOUR GENERATION HAVE MORE REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS?<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Times;"><span class="bodytext" style=" line-height: 1.5em; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, Verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">According to the </span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueid=913364#" onclick="return JS_DisplayEntry(957053);" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">National Eating Disorders Association</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">, "Eating disorders are extreme expressions of a range </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">of weight and food issues experienced by both men and women. They include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and compulsive overeating." The typical person who struggles with this disorder is a teenage or young woman. But there is more recent evidence that among the many other groups who struggle with anorexia nervosa are prepubescent and postmenopausal women and males of all ages. As society learns more about the practices of those with issues with food and weight, the disorder itself has become more easily and quickly identified and diagnosed. However, successful treatments have remained as difficult to implement as ever. <br /><br />Eating disorders have been around for a very long time. We catch glimpses of them in stories like those of the ancient Romans who gorged at feasts, then purged, or St. Catherine of Siena, who ate only herbs and vomited everything else. They were not scientifically acknowledged until the late 19th century, when British physician William Gull and French doctor Charles Lasegue both noticed incidences of "self-starvation" among adolescent girls. They believed it was tied to irrational female behavior; a common medical practice at the time linked nearly all health problems in women to female biology. In the 1930s, researchers began to realize that </span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueid=913364#" onclick="return JS_DisplayEntry(1097951);" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">eating disorders</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"> were legitimate diseases with both physical and psychological components. <br /><br />Public discussions, available resources, and society's awareness of eating disorders has grown dramatically since the 1980s. In 1983, popular singer Karen Carpenter died of complications from a long battle with anorexia. People suffering with eating disorders began to appear on such early talk show television programs as Phil Donahue, Oprah Winfrey and Sally Jessy Raphael. The scientific community took note and began to study the phenomenon as well. It is now widely believed that eating disorders are a by-product of individuals' sometimes unacknowledged and often repressed emotional, psychological, and sociological struggles that become intricately connected to one's body image, self-esteem, and behaviors. <br /><br />In order to treat any of these disorders, what must be addressed first are the underlying feelings that may be causing the person to have issues with weight and food. These may include low self-esteem, poor or inaccurate </span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueid=913364#" onclick="return JS_DisplayEntry(958893);" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">body image</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">, depression, anxiety, loneliness, a lack of control over one's life, perfectionism, fear, sense of failure, and troubled family and personal relationships. <br /><br />Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that is characterized by an intense and irrational fear of body fat and weight gain that leads to extreme and unhealthy levels of dieting, irregular eating behaviors, and unusual food preferences. Frequently a person who is struggling with anorexia nervosa engages in rigid, ritualized, and often secretive behaviors that reflect an unusually strong determination to become thinner and thinner even when the person's weight is at or below a healthy level. In many instances, such people hold a distorted misperception of their body weight and shape that is not reflected in their actual weight or the perceptions of them by others. Individuals can have episodes of engaging in behaviors associated with anorexia nervosa or struggle with the disorder for years. If extreme and left unaddressed, individuals can starve themselves to death or cause irreparable and irreversible harm to their bodies.<br /><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="thumbleft" style="margin-top: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; float: left; "><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueid=913364&entryid=936201&issublink=true&fromsearch=false" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><img alt="Title: Woman working out " title="Woman working out " src="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Images/DBImages/9362/936201wt.jpg" height="120" width="165" class="insertedimage" style="border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1px; border-right-style: solid; border-top-color: black; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-left-color: black; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; background-color: black; " /></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueid=913364&entryid=936201&issublink=true&fromsearch=false" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><img src="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/images/enlarge_this.gif" width="101" height="15" border="0" title="" alt="Display enlarged image with caption." /></span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Bulimia nervosa is characterized by ongoing cycles of binge eating and purging. When a person engages in binge eating, he or she consumes an unusually large quantity of food in a rapid, automatic, and uncontrollable way. The typical binge eater can consume 5,000 to 10,000 calories in one episode and is often filled with self-loathing that leads him or her to want to purge what was consumed by self-induced vomiting or by resorting to a combination of excessive and restrictive dieting, excessive exercising, using laxatives and diuretics. Exercise bulimia refers to one kind of bulimia nervosa in which a person engages in a ritualized cycle of consuming a large quantity of food and then exercising in an excessive amount, usually cardio, in order to burn off the extra calories. <br /><br />Binge-eating disorder or compulsive eating is characterized by periods of impulsive gorging or continuous eating. While there is no purging, there may be sporadic fasts and repetitive diets. As with bulimia nervosa, a person who struggles with compulsive eating may be of low, normal, or obese body weight. One sign of a person with such a disorder may be a high degree of fluctuation in weight in a short amount of time. <br /><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="thumbright" style="margin-top: 8px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 8px; float: right; "><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueid=913364&entryid=1028094&issublink=true&fromsearch=false" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><img alt="Title: Twiggy" title="Twiggy" src="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Images/DBImages/1028/1028094wt.jpg" height="165" width="120" class="insertedimage" style="border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1px; border-right-style: solid; border-top-color: black; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-left-color: black; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; background-color: black; " /></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueid=913364&entryid=1028094&issublink=true&fromsearch=false" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><img src="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/images/enlarge_this.gif" width="101" height="15" border="0" title="" alt="Display enlarged image with caption." /></span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">As far as we know, eating disorders are not common in every culture. They seem to be most common in the West. Some researchers and feminist groups have noted that certain cultural conditions seem to encourage the development of eating disorders. The Western media has long had an obsession with slimness, presenting it as the equivalent of beauty and happiness. The objectification of the human body, particularly among women, may further the prevalence of eating disorders in places like the Americas and Europe. While images that join thinness with happiness may not cause eating disorders by themselves, they may provide a channel for those persons pre-disposed to eating disorders to focus unhealthy impulses. They may also blind society to the seriousness of the problems eating disorders can cause. <br /><br />Many organizations and resources are now available to help individuals, their families, and friends who are struggling to address any of these eating disorders. From online chat groups, autobiographies, self-help books, and support groups, every individual can find help to address an eating disorder. However, according to most eating disorder groups, rates of eating disorders continue to rise, among both sexes and all ages and ethnic groups. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /></span>Mr.Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16970327299778221524noreply@blogger.com54tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070649671280578044.post-40947087350408547742008-11-30T21:35:00.004-05:002008-11-30T21:47:52.192-05:00SHOULD JUVENILES BE TRIED AS ADULTS? WHAT AGE WOULD BE APPROPRIATE?<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Times;"><div id="ctl00_defaultContent_topImage" align="center" class="grandimage" style="background-image: url(http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Images/DBImages/9480/948069x.jpg); background-repeat: no-repeat; height: 225px; "></div><p class="smallcaption" style="margin-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 75%; color: rgb(89, 89, 89); line-height: 1.15em; display: block; margin-top: 4px; ">A chain link fence. Prior to the 20th century, there was no "juvenile justice system" in the United States. The initial purpose of juvenile courts was to treat or rehabilitate juvenile offenders. Now, the emphasis has shifted to punishment, with many courts seek to hold juvenile offenders accountable for their actions. [PhotoDisc]</p><span class="bodytext" style="line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">A 15-year-old boy rapes and kills a 14-year-old girl. How should society handle this teenager? Focusing exclusively on the behavior, many states put convicted murderers to death for their actions. But this case is different. Why? Because the offender is a minor or juvenile; that is, he has not reached the age at which society considers him an adult. In the United States, we have created a separate system to deal with juvenile offenders, youths under a specified age who are accused of committing an act that violates the law. Society recognizes the harm caused by the actions of the youth described above, but also distinguishes between the behavior of adults and children. Nevertheless, the way in which the justice system would handle the 15-year-old varies significantly depending on the historical period in which he committed the act. Over the past few hundred years, our approach to </span></span></span><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueid=913402#" onclick="return JS_DisplayEntry(1097992);" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">juvenile justice</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> has changed dramatically. <br /><br />Juvenile justice as we know it today is a relatively recent institution. Prior to the 20th century, there was no "juvenile justice system." As a result, deviant youth were handled in the same manner as adult criminals, and often detained in the same facilities. English common law held that children under the age of seven years old could not be punished for their behavior because they were unable to form criminal intent. Children between the ages of seven and 14 could be held responsible for their behavior, but their age could be used to justify a reduced punishment. Historically, children as young as 14 or 15 were considered adults and were frequently subject to brutal corporal punishment and extended periods of confinement. <br /></span></span></span><span class="thumbright" style="margin-top: 8px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 8px; float: right; "><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueid=913402&entryid=945082&issublink=true&fromsearch=false" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="Title: Statue of justice and seal of the United States" title="Statue of justice and seal of the United States" src="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Images/DBImages/9450/945082wt.jpg" height="165" width="120" class="insertedimage" style="border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1px; border-right-style: solid; border-top-color: black; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-left-color: black; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; background-color: black; " /></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueid=913402&entryid=945082&issublink=true&fromsearch=false" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/images/enlarge_this.gif" width="101" height="15" border="0" title="" alt="Display enlarged image with caption." /></span></span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />In England, the Latin concept</span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> parens patriae</span></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> (state as parent) was used by kings to exercise their control over others, particularly children, in their kingdom. In the United States, state authorities have used</span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> parens patriae</span></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> as justification to intervene in the lives of families to protect children who are not being protected by their parents. Delinquency is taken as a sign that parents are failing to control their children and therefore the state must step in as surrogate parent. <br /><br />In the mid-1900s, there came the realization that the juvenile court had failed to live up to its promise. Many children were being detained for extended periods for relatively minor offenses. For example, in 1964, Gerald Gault, a 15-year-old from Arizona, was sentenced to six years at a state training school for making a prank phone call. The same offense committed by an adult carried a maximum sentence of two months in prison and a $50 fine. The United States Supreme Court reviewed the Gault case and found that his constitutional rights had been violated. The decision established that due process rights must be provided in delinquency adjudication hearings. That is, children who face the possibility of confinement have many of the same constitutional rights as adults during adjudication (right to assistance of counsel, protection against self-incrimination, right to confront accusers, etc.). The Gault decision is arguably the most important Supreme Court decision ever rendered concerning juvenile justice, because it reshaped the juvenile system into one that is effectively very similar in look and feel to the adult system. <br /><br /></span></span></span><span class="thumbleft" style="margin-top: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; float: left; "><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueid=913402&entryid=1027611&issublink=true&fromsearch=false" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="Title: Nathaniel Abraham" title="Nathaniel Abraham" src="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Images/DBImages/1027/1027611wt.jpg" height="120" width="165" class="insertedimage" style="border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1px; border-right-style: solid; border-top-color: black; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-left-color: black; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; background-color: black; " /></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span><a href="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/Issues/Display.aspx?issueid=913402&entryid=1027611&issublink=true&fromsearch=false" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/images/enlarge_this.gif" width="101" height="15" border="0" title="" alt="Display enlarged image with caption." /></span></span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The 1980s and 1990s also witnessed significant changes in the juvenile justice system. Increases in violent crime led to public demand for "get tough" approaches to criminals of all ages. Some observed that America had become soft on juvenile delinquents because the authority of the juvenile court expired at a certain age (usually 17 or 18). That is, kids who killed could only be punished in the juvenile court until the age of 18 or so. As a result, many states sought to extend the age jurisdiction of the juvenile court and make it easier to try kids in adult court. This process is called waiver. In some states, certain juvenile offenders (such as those accused of murder or rape) are automatically waived into adult court. As discussed above, the initial purpose of the juvenile court was to treat or rehabilitate juvenile offenders. Now, many juvenile courts seek to hold juvenile offenders accountable and protect public safety by detaining delinquent youth. This has led some observers to comment that we no longer need a separate court to handle juveniles, because the juvenile court has evolved into a mirror image of the adult court.</span></span></span></span></span><br /></div>Mr.Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16970327299778221524noreply@blogger.com57tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070649671280578044.post-56530683820731528072008-11-26T13:22:00.003-05:002008-11-26T13:23:58.233-05:00HAPPY GOBBLE GOBBLE!!!!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RpXGwcC1B-s/SS2UIGvV-xI/AAAAAAAAAA4/x_is0JVUuf0/s1600-h/Thanksgivingflamingo.jpg"><br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 230px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RpXGwcC1B-s/SS2UIGvV-xI/AAAAAAAAAA4/x_is0JVUuf0/s320/Thanksgivingflamingo.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273033605689768722" /></a> NICE!!!Mr.Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16970327299778221524noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070649671280578044.post-57657512855113254652008-11-11T20:56:00.006-05:002008-11-11T21:06:53.360-05:00DOES "SOCIAL DARWINISM" GIVE US THE RIGHT TO USE SO CALLED "LESSER SPECIES" IN LAB EXPERIMENTS?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RpXGwcC1B-s/SRo5drH6zII/AAAAAAAAAAw/RDYswRvoUA4/s1600-h/MacaqueMonkey.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 286px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RpXGwcC1B-s/SRo5drH6zII/AAAAAAAAAAw/RDYswRvoUA4/s320/MacaqueMonkey.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267585896118144130" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RpXGwcC1B-s/SRo4ds2147I/AAAAAAAAAAo/RLq2IkiMi4g/s1600-h/MacaqueMonkey.jpg"><br /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;"><div class="headline" style="padding-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; margin-right: 10%; font-weight: bold; font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, 'MS sans serif';font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: normal; line-height: 24px; "><span class="inlinetitle" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 102); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Social Darwinism</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 102); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">, term coined in the late 19th century to describe the idea that humans, like animals and plants, compete in a struggle for existence in which </span></span></span><a class="qv" href="http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761573860/Natural_Selection.html" style="text-decoration: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 102); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">natural selection</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 102); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> results in “survival of the fittest.”</span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="headline" style="padding-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; margin-right: 10%; font-weight: bold; font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, 'MS sans serif';font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); ">Inside the Oxford animal lab</span><br /></div><div class="bo" style="page-break-inside: avoid; "><p></p></div><table style="page-break-inside: avoid; width: 80%; "><tbody><tr><td valign="bottom" style=" ;font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, 'MS sans serif';font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">By Fergus Walsh <br />BBC News medical correspondent</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="bo" style="page-break-inside: avoid; "><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Exclusive look inside the animal research lab at Oxford with BBC Medical Correspondent Fergus Walsh.</span></p><p><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Oxford University says the first animals have been moved into a new biomedical sciences centre in the city.</span></b></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">The building will bring together animal research currently conducted at around half a dozen facilities in the city.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Construction began five years ago but building work halted for more than a year when the contractors pulled out, citing intimidation from animal rights groups.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">The four storey Oxford animal lab is still surrounded by anonymous wooden hoardings topped with barbed wire.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">It is ringed with cameras and is a highly secure building.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Inside, biosecurity is a key feature.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Before getting to see the first animals I had to put on protective overalls, plastic shoe covers and a hairnet.</span></p><p></p></div><div class="bo" style="page-break-inside: avoid; "><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">This is mostly to protect the animals from any germs I might bring in.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">The first animals moved in were mice, which is perhaps appropriate given that rodents will make up 98% of the inhabitants.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Eventually there will also be zebrafish, tadpoles, frogs and small numbers of guinea pigs, gerbils and hamsters.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">There will be no cats or dogs and no farm animals.</span></p><p><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Macaque monkeys</span></b></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">But most controversial of all, there will be macaque monkeys.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Like man, macaques are primates and have a highly developed brain.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Scientists at Oxford say this makes them crucial for research into neuro-degenerative disorders like Parkinsons's and Alzheimer's.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">An entire floor of the new building is given over to macaque research.</span></p><p></p></div><div class="bo" style="page-break-inside: avoid; "><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Around 100 monkeys will be housed there.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">There are several monkey holding rooms, each with a large u-shaped cage which is subdivided into five play and five living areas.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">The University says the macaques will spend very little time in individual cages.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">There are ladders and shelves to climb on and rubber tyres.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">The macaques have not been moved to the new building yet, but I did see the current monkey facility.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">The University points out that it meets all the requirements laid down by the Home Office for animal research, but it has less individual space than the new lab and there is no access to natural daylight.</span></p><p><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Operating theatres</span></b></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">I wasn't allowed to see animal experiments, but I did get to look at the two operating theatres on the new primate research floor.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">It looks like a hospital - only the operating tables have still to be fitted.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">What will go on here will appal those who are opposed to animal experiments.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Under general anaesthetic monkeys will be given brain lesions to mimic the effects of Parkinson's disease.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Oxford scientists say this has already helped lead to new treatments for the condition.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">And they point out that all animal experiments - especially those involving monkeys - are strictly controlled.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Animals can be used only if experiments with cells or computer models are deemed inappropriate.</span></p><p><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Stroke research</span></b></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Very few Oxford animal researchers are prepared to give interviews. But Professor Alastair Buchan did speak to me.</span></p><p></p></div><div class="ibox" style="margin-left: 50px; margin-right: 50px; margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-right-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-left-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); display: block; page-break-inside: avoid; "><table style="page-break-inside: avoid; width: 80%; "><tbody><tr><td width="5" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, 'MS sans serif'; font-size: 12px; "></td><td class="fact" style=" ;font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, 'MS sans serif';font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><br /></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Animals are needed within research in order to understand and to prevent disease</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><br /><br />Sarah Wolfensohn <br />University of Oxford <br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="bo" style="page-break-inside: avoid; "><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">He treats stroke patients and heads a research programme which studies rat brains.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">He says animal research is essential: "Without the observations in animals we would not have started in humans and there would be no treatment for stroke.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">"I can't think of any way you can do that in a culture.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">You can't make a head injury in a dish, you can't create a stroke in a test tube you cant create a heart attack on a chip it just doesn't work."</span></p><p><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Animal welfare</span></b></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">The University says animal welfare will be greatly improved in the new building.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">For the first time vets will be based on the same site as all the animals.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Sarah Wolfensohn, the head of veterinary services at Oxford University says the new research lab will be better for the animals and produce better science: "Animals are needed within research in order to understand and to prevent disease.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">"Prevention of disease is the holy grail, which will benefit both animal and human health."</span></p><p><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Opposition</span></b></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Four years ago, Cambridge University cancelled plans for a primate research centre, because of concerns over spiralling security costs linked to animal rights.</span></p><p></p></div><div class="ibox" style="margin-left: 50px; margin-right: 50px; margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-right-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-left-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); display: block; page-break-inside: avoid; "><table style="page-break-inside: avoid; width: 80%; "><tbody><tr><td width="5" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, 'MS sans serif'; font-size: 12px; "></td><td class="fact" style=" ;font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, 'MS sans serif';font-size:12px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">We are here to highlight that Oxford University are mutilating animals on a daily basis </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><br />Amanda Richards <br />SPEAK</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="bo" style="page-break-inside: avoid; "><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">It marked a huge victory for animal rights protestors, who then moved their campaign to Oxford.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">The vast majority of protests have been entirely lawful.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">But the police say a small minority of extremists have carried out acts of arson and vandalism against the university, building contractors and anyone they suspected of being linked to the new laboratory.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">In 2004 the contractors pulled out citing intimidation.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Shareholders had been sent hoax letters urging them to sell.</span></p><p><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Legislation</span></b></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">The government introduced new legislation making "economic sabotage" linked to animal research a crime.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Ministers promised to help with the security costs.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">After a 16 month delay work resumed, with building workers covering their faces to avoid identification.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">A court injunction limits protest outside the building to four hours every Thursday afternoon.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Amanda Richards is one of many who turn up each week.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">She says the SPEAK campaign believes in lawful protest and that it is crucial that someone represents the animals.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">"We are here to highlight that Oxford University are mutilating animals on a daily basis.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">"Our intentions are to continue campaigning to persuade them to change this from an animal torture to a lab which is looking at the alternatives which will drive medicine forward."</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">SPEAK says animal research is not just immoral, but worthless.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Two years ago, to counter the opposition to the lab, a group called Pro-Test was set up by sixteen year old schoolboy Laurie Pycroft, which attracted support in Oxford and beyond.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Hundreds of scientists signed a declaration saying that animal research is vital if new treatments for cancer, heart disease and other conditions are to be found.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">So for some the new laboratory will be seen as a crucial centre of medical progress.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">For others it will continue to be a place of animal suffering.</span></p><div><br /></div></div></span>Mr.Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16970327299778221524noreply@blogger.com55tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070649671280578044.post-27124648362690516592008-11-02T21:16:00.004-05:002008-11-03T20:51:00.541-05:00SHOULD AMERICA ASSIST IN THE CROSS-BORDER WAR ON DRUGS?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RpXGwcC1B-s/SQ5fkwf5kXI/AAAAAAAAAAg/dpqUe2Iwg74/s1600-h/16mexico-span-600.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 194px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RpXGwcC1B-s/SQ5fkwf5kXI/AAAAAAAAAAg/dpqUe2Iwg74/s320/16mexico-span-600.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264250099541315954" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:13px;"><div class="timestamp" style="margin-top: 15px; font-weight: bold; font-size:10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:23px;">Mexico Drug War Causes Wild West Blood Bath</span><br /></div><nyt_byline version="1.0" type=" "><div class="byline" style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; ">By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.</div></nyt_byline><nyt_text><div id="articleBody"><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">CIUDAD JUÁREZ, </span><a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/mexico/index.html?inline=nyt-geo" title="More news and information about Mexico." style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">Mexico</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);"> — One sign of the desperation to end organized crime in this border town is that the good guy on the police recruitment posters is not a clean-cut youth in a smart police cap, but a menacing soldier in a black mask and helmet carrying a heavy machine gun.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">The poster is the government’s answer to a different sort of sign left in late January at the bottom of a monument honoring fallen police officers: a hand-scrawled list of 22 officers, 5 of whom had already been gunned down in the street. The sign warned that the others would also be killed “unless they learn.” In all, eight police officers have been assassinated here this year and three are missing.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">Even by the Wild West standards of this dusty desert town, where drug dealers have long smuggled their cargo across the Rio Grande and the unsolved killings of women drew international attention, the last three months have been a blood bath, officials say.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">A turf war among drug cartels has claimed more than 210 lives in the first three months of this year. Many of those killed were young gunmen from out of town. The number of homicides this year is more than twice the total number of homicides for the same period last year. Several mass graves hiding 36 bodies in all have been discovered in the backyards of two houses owned by drug dealers.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">At the height of the violence, around Easter, bodies were turning up every morning, at a rate of almost 12 a week. Desperate, the mayor and the governor of Chihuahua State asked the federal government to intervene.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">“Neither the municipal government, nor the state government, is capable of taking on organized crime,” Mayor José Reyes Ferriz said in an interview.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">So in late March, President </span><a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/felipe_calderon/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about Felipe Calderón." style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">Felipe Calderón</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);"> sent in 2,026 soldiers and 425 federal agents. They continue to patrol in convoys of Humvees and pickup trucks. But even they are intimidated. None dare show their faces, wearing ski masks instead.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">“The mortuary is full of more than 50 unclaimed and unidentified bodies, proof that the soldiers in the underworld war come from other states, the mayor said.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">Information about who is fighting whom is hard to come by.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">The local police chief, Guillermo Prieto Quintana, professed ignorance of the conflict, despite having been an officer here for 30 years. He acknowledged that the 1,600-member force was riddled with corrupt officers, a consequence, he said, of low pay and a lack of opportunity for advancement that led them to seek other sources of money. “As long as freelancing exists, this corruption is going to exist,” he said.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">Since the late 1980s, drug smuggling in Ciudad Juárez has been controlled by a group known as the Juárez Cartel, led by Vincente Carrillo Fuentes since the death of his brother Amado in 1997.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">The recent violence ripping apart Ciudad Juárez stems from a gang war between former allies. On one side is the Carrillo Fuentes family and its point man here, José Luis Ledezma, known as J. L. On the other are several traffickers based in Sinaloa State, chief among them Joaquín Guzmán, known as El Chapo, and Ismael Zambada, known as El Mayo, said a federal prosecutor, who, like some others interviewed, spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons. Their uneasy alliance has been strained since one of the Carrillo Fuentes brothers, Rodolfo, was assassinated in September 2004, officials say. Mr. Guzmán is widely believed to have been behind the killing.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">One theory holds that the tension reached a breaking point in December when Mr. Zambada refused to pay the Juárez Cartel a tax for smuggling drugs through its area.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">Since then, Mr. Zambada and Mr. Guzmán have begun an offensive against the Juárez Cartel, and Mr. Ledezma, the local crime boss, has fought back fiercely, prosecutors and city officials said. “Mayo and Chapo’s people wanted to invade, and J. L. was not going to let them, and so the battles started,” the prosecutor said.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">But a Mexican intelligence officer, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that since the assassination of Rodolfo Carrillo Fuentes, the Juárez Cartel has forged an alliance with the Gulf Cartel, led by the jailed kingpin Osiel Cárdenas Guillén and his lieutenants in Tamaulipas State, across the border from South Texas.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">Over the last year, arrests and pressure from federal troops have weakened the Gulf Cartel. Sensing an opportunity, Mr. Zambada, Mr. Guzmán and other Sinoloa drug traffickers who had fallen out with the Carrillo Fuentes clan have tried to take over the town, the official said.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">“What you have is one cartel that is leaving an open space, and it’s a takeover attempt by another,” the intelligence official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">John Riley, the special agent in charge of the </span><a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/d/drug_enforcement_administration/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S." style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">Drug Enforcement Administration</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);"> office in El Paso, said the fighting in Ciudad Juárez stemmed from the same battle for territory among various Sinaloa traffickers, the old Carrillo Fuentes family and the Gulf Cartel that has shaken the entire country over the last two years, costing thousands of lives.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">He added the alliances among various factions shifted constantly, creating a chaotic situation for law enforcement. “A lot of these lines have been blurred since the first of the year,” he said. “It’s extremely confusing.”</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">City officials said that before the recent gangland war, Mr. Ledezma had tried to establish himself as a gangster in the American sense, controlling extortion rackets, prostitution and gambling, as well as the cocaine traffic.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">Officials say he has also recruited local street gangs like Los Aztecas as gunmen and drug distributors. The Gulf Cartel has brought in a corps of hired hit men, known as the Zetas.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">Federal prosecutors and city officials say Mr. Ledezma has also infiltrated the local police department to an alarming degree. Most of the officers killed in the recent violence had links to drug dealers, prosecutors said.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">For residents, the federal police and military patrols have brought a brief respite from the state of terror they have been living under. But in interviews several said they remained afraid to leave their homes at night or to let their children play outside as they did when they were young. Gunfire was a common sound after sunset, they said.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">“Before, there was not much pressure on those who sell drugs, but with the army, things are changing,” Janeth Ponce, 21, a homemaker, said as she sat in the sun last Saturday in the central square. “Now one doesn’t feel so much fear, because there is more policing.”</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">But other residents said the federal intervention was only a temporary fix. The local police are outgunned, underpaid, prone to corruption and lack the authority to investigate drug dealers, they noted.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">It has escaped no one’s attention that the federal authorities arrested nine city police officers in late March on charges of drug dealing, and the former police commissioner, Saulo Reyes, was arrested in El Paso in January, on charges of marijuana trafficking.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">“The police were doing nothing,” said Janet Morales Castellanos, who was tending her father’s herbal store in the market last Saturday. “One can’t walk around here at night. I can’t take her to the parks at night or even to the movies,” she said, referring to her toddler daughter. “One stays at home.”</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">The mayor and the police commissioner, who took office last October, agree that the only long-term solution is to clean up the police department and to give police officers the legal power to investigate drug trafficking, which only federal officers have now.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">To that end, they have toughened standards for recruits and are beginning to use a battery of tests to weed out drug addicts and others prone to corruption. They have bought 100 patrol cars and have permitted the officers to carry semiautomatic sidearms and machine guns, instead of service revolvers.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">However, the force has changed little. Only about 30 officers have resigned or retired in the wake of federal arrests and the new tests. The first batch of 150 new recruits came out of the academy in January, but they entered a force where most officers either feared drug dealers too much to move against them or lived on their payroll.</span></p><p style="font-size: medium; line-height: 24px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">“A municipal policeman knows everything but cannot act,” said Jaime Torres, the spokesman for the department.</span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 24px;font-size:16px;"><br /></span></div><nyt_update_bottom></nyt_update_bottom></div></nyt_text></span>Mr.Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16970327299778221524noreply@blogger.com61tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070649671280578044.post-38664469407732028362008-10-28T07:19:00.015-04:002008-10-30T23:36:24.016-04:00DO YOU FEEL MORE SHOULD BE DONE AT TIMBERCREEK TO ENSURE OUR SAFETY, OR ARE WE TOO CAUTIOUS?Monday, Apr. 16, 2007 <div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Can We Make Campuses Safer?</span> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RpXGwcC1B-s/SQb1ur24aEI/AAAAAAAAAAY/2-mZm2BYivc/s1600-h/campus_protect_alt_0417.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262163397024704578" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 209px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RpXGwcC1B-s/SQb1ur24aEI/AAAAAAAAAAY/2-mZm2BYivc/s320/campus_protect_alt_0417.jpg" border="0" /></a></span></div><div>By Julie Rawe<br />In the wake of the Columbine massacre, which took place eight years ago this week, many high schools across the country installed metal detectors. Most universities, however, didn't follow suit and they're not likely to even now, after 33 people (including the gunman) were killed at Virginia Tech on Monday in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.<br />Unlike most elementary and high schools, college campuses are almost by design too sprawling to cordon off. Their layouts have long been intended to reflect higher education's free flow of ideas, and such philosophical openness makes adding metal detectors not only undesirable but also logistically impossible. "Unless," says Mark Meyer, director of sales at metal-detector firm CEIA, "you want to make a campus into a fortress."<br />And no one — not even campus safety directors — is likely to push for such an outcome. Still, some select parts of campuses have been successfully secured in recent years. Sexual assault and other incidents in college dorms have led many schools to control access to these buildings by giving residents a kind of electronic key, often called a prox card, that can also be used to track the comings and goings of individual students. This technology is starting to spread to academic buildings, but daytime access to classrooms is still largely unrestricted.<br />In the Virginia Tech massacre, parents and students were outraged that the school took so long to notify people that a gunman was on the loose, and when the announcement was finally made — some two hours after the first reports of gun shots on campus — the warning was delivered silently over email. But technology exists that could have sent more students inside, behind locked doors, much sooner. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte is one of 10 schools that is using Digital Acoustics' high-tech intercom system, which can immediately broadcast a message to a single classroom or to the entire campus or to any combination in between.<br />Johns Hopkins University is using cutting-edge technology — every few weeks, campus safety officers from yet another school come by to check out the new system — which places "smart" video cameras around campus that rely on computer algorithms to detect suspicious activity. The university is about to install another camera, bringing the total to 102 on its main Homewood campus, that will alert a security officer if it films someone climbing up a fence, walking down an alley late at night or lingering by a windowsill. But, says a Johns Hopkins spokesman, the software is not yet able to pick out whether a person is carrying a gun.<br />Sophisticated technology doesn't come cheap, and neither do highly trained campus security officers. In the past, says Steven Healy, public safety director at Princeton University, campus security officers have had to fight for limited resources at many schools by "asking people to imagine the unimaginable."<br />But even if Monday's events help loosen purse strings, security systems are improving at such a rapid pace that schools aren't sure how much to buy. "When do you say stop?," asks Healy, who is also president of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators. "We don't want to create fortresses."<br />He and others stress the need for more highly trained officers. "But how many boots do you put on the ground?" Healy asks. "You can't assign an officer to every student."<br />Some schools like Princeton train professors how to spot signs of depression, and access to mental-health services is a big part of preventive efforts on many campuses. Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to tell someone if they see suspicious or troubling activity. Says Gene Burton, public safety director at Ball State University: "You need to get everyone on board." But as colleges and universities learned on Monday, it often takes a tragedy to expose just how many weaknesses there are in the system. </div>Mr.Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16970327299778221524noreply@blogger.com69tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070649671280578044.post-74861434714668023952008-10-07T00:05:00.007-04:002008-10-07T00:16:51.237-04:00What can be done to lower the risk of death during labor for women in Afghanistan?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RpXGwcC1B-s/SOrgoW8W4oI/AAAAAAAAAAQ/uAZ089tDBVw/s1600-h/afghan.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RpXGwcC1B-s/SOrgoW8W4oI/AAAAAAAAAAQ/uAZ089tDBVw/s320/afghan.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254258899239232130" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;"><div class="headline" style="padding-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; margin-right: 10%; font-weight: bold; font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, 'MS sans serif';font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0); font-weight: normal; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size:12px;">By Martin Patience <br />BBC News, Badakshan, northern Afghanistan</span></div><div class="headline" style="padding-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; margin-right: 10%; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, 'MS sans serif'; font-weight: bold; font-size: 20px; ">The struggle to save Afghan mothers</div><div class="bo" style="page-break-inside: avoid; "><p><b>When the heavily pregnant woman had complications during labour, the villagers of Shattak faced a problem. The nearest hospital was 60km (37miles) away and they had no car.</b></p><p>"We got a ladder," says Abdul-Majid, the head of the village's health shura (council) recalling the incident over four years ago.</p><p>The villagers then laid the woman on the ladder and 20 men took turns to carry the make-shift stretcher along a rutted, windy track that rarely sees vehicles. The pace was agonisingly slow.</p><p>"We didn't make it to the hospital," says Mr Abdul-Majid. "The mother died on the way."</p><p><b>Optimistic<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><img src="http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.photo.gif" alt="Add Image" border="0" /></span></b></p><p>In valleys and villages across Badakshan, a province located in the Hindu Kush mountain range, such stories are common.</p><p><br /></p><p></p></div><div class="ibox" style="margin-left: 50px; margin-right: 50px; margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-right-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-left-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); display: block; page-break-inside: avoid; "><table style="page-break-inside: avoid; width: 80%; "><tbody><tr><td width="5" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, 'MS sans serif'; font-size: 12px; "></td><td class="fact" style=" ;font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, 'MS sans serif';font-size:12px;"><div class="sih" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 5px; font-size:13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">FACTS ON MATERNAL MORTALITY</span></div><div class="bull"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Every 28 minutes a woman dies in Afghanistan during childbirth</span></div><div class="bull"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">54 percent of Afghan children are born stunted</span></div><div class="bull"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">The Afghan fertility rate is second highest in the world at 7.5 children per woman</span></div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Source: UN Development Programme Afghanistan</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="bo" style="page-break-inside: avoid; "><p>Maternal mortality, when a woman dies during or shortly after pregnancy, is believed to be the highest in the world here.</p><p>According to statistics published by the UN in 2002, the province had the highest rate of mortal maternity ever recorded.</p><p>For almost 16 babies born, one woman will die in labour. As a country, Afghanistan is ranked second in the world for maternal mortality rates after Sierra Leone.</p><p>But health professionals in the province are optimistic that a new project is reducing the numbers of deaths.</p><p>Run by the Aga Khan Health Services, a midwife trainee programme selects bright young women from districts across the province.</p><p>The students take an 18 month course in the provincial capital, Fayzabad, before returning to their villages as trained midwives.</p><p>About 50 women have graduated from the programme since it started in 2005.</p><p>Maternal mortality is traditionally high in Badakshan for a number of reasons. The difficulty of travelling large distances to health facilities means the vast majority of births are at home.</p><p></p></div><div class="bo" style="page-break-inside: avoid; "><p>In the past, even if a pregnant woman experiencing complications did reach the few hospitals or clinics in the province, the facilities were almost always under-equipped.</p><p>"When I first started there was just one bed for expectant mothers in the entire hospital," says Dr Bahrastan, a female doctor, who has worked in Fayzabad's main hospital for 14 years.</p><p>There was also a problem of staffing. All the doctors and midwives, apart from a handful of exceptions, were male.</p><p><b>'Health education'</b></p><p>In Afghanistan, where the separation of the sexes is strictly enforced, this often had devastating consequences.</p><p>"Women in the past have died rather than see a male doctor," says Dr Bahrastan.</p><p>The midwife-training programme tackles all these problems head-on, providing female health professionals for expectant mothers.</p><p>Dostorgall is one of about 25 students enrolled in the current programme. Her village is located in an area called the Wakhan corridor, a five-day journey from the provincial capital.</p><p>"When I graduate the first thing I'll do is provide health education for women," she says, at the programme's training centre.</p><p></p></div><div class="bo" style="page-break-inside: avoid; "><p>"I'll tell them they should consider family planning and if they have any complications during their pregnancy they should get help immediately."</p><p>One of the villages to benefit dramatically from this initiative is Shattak.</p><p>At the village, pregnant women totter across the lunar landscape on donkeys making their way to its new single-storey health clinic.</p><p>They are coming to see Ferangee Sultani, a recent graduate of the midwife programme.</p><p>Ms Sultani says that she's delivered over 60 healthy babies in her time here without any maternal deaths.</p><p>Mr Abdul-Majid is happy too. He says that mothers are healthier than they have ever been before, thanks to the clinic and its midwife.</p><p>The only problem now, he says, "is that the clinic doesn't have enough medicine to give the patients."</p></div></span>Mr.Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16970327299778221524noreply@blogger.com81tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070649671280578044.post-89285106766638414522008-09-30T21:19:00.004-04:002008-09-30T21:25:09.663-04:00IS HAVING AN ENEMY AS POWERFUL AS "U.S." A GOOD THING?<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Times;"><h1 style="font: normal normal bold 28px/normal arial, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 32px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Russia Flexes Its Muscles in Mideast</span></h1><div class="byline" style="font: normal normal bold 11px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; padding-top: 5px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">By Andrew Lee Butters / Beirut</span></div><p style="clear: both; padding-bottom: 9px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; "></p><p style="clear: both; padding-bottom: 9px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; ">With Russian soldiers occupying swaths of the Republic of Georgia, one might have thought that Russian President Dmitri Medvedev would have more pressing matters than scooting off to the Black Sea summer resort town of Sochi. But last week Medvedev did just that for a pleasant — and possibly ominous — bit of business: entertaining Syria's President Bashar al Assad, one of the few world leaders who have flown to Russia's side during the Georgian crisis. The trip paid off for Assad when Russia agreed to strengthen military ties with Syria. According to the Russian press, Assad also offered to host advanced Russian missile systems on Syrian soil.</p><p style="clear: both; padding-bottom: 9px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; ">The Syrian state media later denied that Damascus was offering to set up Russian rocket bases. But even rumors of such a deal look suspiciously like a Russian response to U.S. plans to set up a missile defense system in Poland, an agreement signed earlier this month at the height of the Georgian conflict and denounced by Russia. Moreover, the rejuvenated Russian-Syrian connection is just one example of how the so-called new Cold War between the U.S. and Russian is spreading to the Middle East, mapping itself onto the region's pre-existing conflicts, and complicating efforts to bring stability to a region that is on the verge of a new hot war.</p><p style="clear: both; padding-bottom: 9px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; ">Since the Iraq war began in 2003, the Middle East has been split by its own not-so-cold war for regional domination between Iran and its allies (Syria, Hizballah and Hamas) and the U.S. and its allies (Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt). Though Russia has been a mostly peripheral player, it has often wound up on the opposite side of Washington. In 2005, Moscow agreed to help Iran develop a civilian nuclear reactor, infuriating the Bush administration, which claims that Iran's nuclear energy program is merely a cover for developing weapons. Russian also supplied Syria with weapons that wound up in the hands of Hizballah, the Lebanese anti-Israeli militant group. Israeli military sources say that these Russian weapons — especially advanced anti-tank rockets — were vital in enabling Hizballah to face down the Israeli army during its disastrous incursion into Lebanon in the summer of 2006.</p><p style="clear: both; padding-bottom: 9px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; ">These tensions are now likely to grow as Russia flexes its muscles in a region where the U.S. is vulnerable. For one thing, Russia sees fewer and fewer reasons to tread lightly around Israel. During the 2006 Lebanon war, Russia condemned Hizballah actions as terrorism, and afterwards claimed it had made efforts to prevent weapons sales to Syria from helping Hizballah. But the war in Georgia highlighted that Israel is itself in a kind of arms race with Russia. Israel was supplying the Georgian army with weapons and Israeli security companies were training Georgian soldiers. And recent Israeli press reports claim that Hizballah has set up Russian-made radar-guided air defense systems since the 2006 war in the eastern Bekaa Valley in order to shoot down Israeli jets.</p><p style="clear: both; padding-bottom: 9px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; ">What's more, ever since the U.S. circulated a draft Security Council Resolution condemning Russia's Georgian invasion, Washington can expect scant Russian help at the United Nations to prevent Iran from developing nuclear technology. This could have dramatic consequences. Israeli officials have been implying that if the U.S. and the U.N. fail to halt the Iranian nuclear program, they will take matters into their own hands and launch air strikes against Iran.</p><p style="clear: both; padding-bottom: 9px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; ">Of course, the new Cold War in the Middle East may end up amounting to no more than a passing chill. Assad's flirtation with Russia could be intended to strengthen Syria's hand in ongoing indirect peace talks with Israel through Turkish mediation. On the other hand, Syrian hardliners opposed to peace could see Russia's backing as one more strong argument for holding out against American and international pressure to recognize Israel.</p><p style="clear: both; padding-bottom: 9px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; ">A disturbing sense of <i>déjà vu</i> adheres to all these alliances, arms races and nuclear programs. The Middle East was a major theater in the original Cold War. Before the Camp David Accords of 1978, Syria, Iraq and Egypt were all Soviet client states; indeed, Syria still has the aging Soviet-era fighter jets and tanks to prove it. And while all stayed quiet on the European front of the Cold War, it got pretty hot in the Middle East. In at least three major wars between Arabs and Israelis (in 1967, 1973 and 1982), the U.S. and the Soviet Union got to see how their weapons stacked up against those of their foe. As the chill spreads today, it's worth remembering that the Middle East is a region where conflicts too often don't stay on ice.</p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 24px;font-family:georgia;font-size:15px;"><br /></span></div><ul class="button" style="list-style-type: none; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "></ul></span>Mr.Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16970327299778221524noreply@blogger.com69tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070649671280578044.post-85816904433918954872008-09-22T22:47:00.004-04:002008-09-22T22:52:47.270-04:00SHOULD PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT "TO CHOOSE TO DIE?"<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;"><div class="headline" style="padding-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; margin-right: 10%; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, 'MS sans serif'; font-weight: bold; font-size: 20px; ">Dementia patients' 'right-to-die'</div><p><b>People with dementia should be able to end their lives if they feel they are a burden to others or to the NHS, according to a respected ethicist.</b></p><p>Baroness Mary Warnock, who has made similar calls in recent years, first made her remarks in a Church of Scotland magazine.</p><p>She told the BBC she believed there were many who "sank into dementia when they would very much prefer to die".</p><p>But Alzheimer's charities called her remarks "insensitive and ignorant".</p><div class="bo" style="page-break-inside: avoid; "><p>Around 700,000 people in the UK have dementia and the number is expected to double within 30 years.</p><p><b>'Dread'</b></p><p>Lady Warnock says there should be more research to establish when people with dementia and Alzheimer's disease can still be regarded as mentally competent, so that they can make a decision that they wish to be helped to die if they reach a certain point in their illness.</p></div><div class="bo" style="page-break-inside: avoid; "><p>"We need more research to find out at what point one can say people diagnosed with Alzheimer's or dementia are still mentally competent to make the decision that they would prefer to die, rather than be a burden on their families or the NHS."</p><p>She praised the recently introduced Mental Capacity Act which gives people the right to appoint someone to act for them if cannot make decisions themselves.</p><p>But she added: "I still think that there is a very huge number of people who sink into dementia and mental incapacity who would really very much prefer to die rather than continue in the state they are in.</p><p>"I think that's something most of us dread more then we dread any other form of dying."</p><p>Baroness Warnock said many people with dementia became unable to swallow - "that's one of the most horrible conditions to be in".</p><p>"If one wants to avoid that, one should have the entitlement to make it clear what one wants to do, before that situation is reached."</p><p>But Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, strongly criticised the peer's comments.</p><p>"Lady Warnock demonstrates a shocking ignorance when espousing her highly insensitive view that people with dementia are 'wasting people's lives' and may have a 'duty to die.</p><p>"People with dementia can live quite comfortably when cared for properly.</p><p>"The solution to our dementia crisis is not euthanasia; the answer is more research so we can find new treatments, preventions and a cure.”</p></div></span>Mr.Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16970327299778221524noreply@blogger.com87tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070649671280578044.post-32059365241400350802008-09-16T00:07:00.002-04:002008-09-16T00:09:55.843-04:00SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT MAKE THIS TYPE OF TECHNOLOGY?<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Times;"><div id="date2" style="font: normal normal bold 11px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">Sunday, Sep. 14, 2008</span></div><h1 style="font: normal normal bold 28px/normal arial, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 32px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">The Army's Totally Serious Mind-Control Project</span></h1><div class="byline" style="font: normal normal bold 11px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; padding-top: 5px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">By Mark Thompson / Washington</span></div><p style="clear: both; padding-bottom: 9px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; "></p><p style="clear: both; padding-bottom: 9px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; ">Soldiers barking orders at each other is so 20th Century. That's why the U.S. Army has just awarded a $4 million contract to begin developing "thought helmets" that would harness silent brain waves for secure communication among troops. Ultimately, the Army hopes the project will "lead to direct mental control of military systems by thought alone."</p><p style="clear: both; padding-bottom: 9px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; ">If this sounds insane, it would have been as recently as a few years ago. But improvements in computing power and a better understanding of how the brain works have scientists busy hunting for the distinctive neural fingerprints that flash through a brain when a person is talking to himself. The Army's initial goal is to capture those brain waves with incredibly sophisticated software that then translates the waves into audible radio messages for other troops in the field. "It'd be radio without a microphone, " says Dr. Elmar Schmeisser, the Army neuroscientist overseeing the program. "Because soldiers are already trained to talk in clean, clear and formulaic ways, it would be a very small step to have them think that way."</p><p style="clear: both; padding-bottom: 9px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; ">B-movie buffs may recall that Clint Eastwood used similar "brain-computer interface" technology in 1982's <i>Firefox</i>, named for the Soviet fighter plane whose weapons were controlled by the pilot's thoughts. (Clint was sent to steal the plane, natch.) Yet it's not as far-fetched as you might think: video gamers are eagerly awaiting a crude commercial version of brain wave technology — a $299 headset from San Francisco-based Emotiv Systems — in summer 2009.</p><p style="clear: both; padding-bottom: 9px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; ">The Army doesn't move quite as fast as gamers though. The military's vastly more sophisticated system may be a decade or two away from reality, let alone implementation. The five-year contract it awarded last month to a coalition of scientists from the University of California at Irvine, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Maryland, seeks to "decode the activity in brain networks" so that a soldier could radio commands to one or many comrades by thinking of the message he wanted to relay and who should get it. Initially, the recipients would most likely hear transmissions rendered by a robotic voice via earphones. But scientists eventually hope to deliver a version in which commands are rendered in the speaker's voice and indicate the speaker's distance and direction from the listener.</p><p style="clear: both; padding-bottom: 9px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; ">"Having a soldier gain the ability to communicate without any overt movement would be invaluable both in the battlefield as well as in combat casualty care," the Army said in last year's contract solicitation. "It would provide a revolutionary technology for silent communication and orientation that is inherently immune to external environmental sound and light."</p><p style="clear: both; padding-bottom: 9px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; ">The key challenge will be to develop software able to pinpoint the speech-related brain waves picked up by the 128-sensor array that ultimately will be buried inside a helmet. Those sensors detect the minute electrical charges generated by nerve pathways in the brain when thinking occurs. The sensors will generate an electroencephalogram — a confusing pile of squiggles on a computer screen — that scientists will study to find those vital to communicating. "We think we can train a computer to understand those squiggles to the point that they can read off the commands that your brain is issuing to your mouth and lips," Schmeisser says. Unfortunately, it's not a matter of finding the single right squiggle. "There's no golden neuron that's talking," he says.</p><p style="clear: both; padding-bottom: 9px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; ">Dr. Mike D'Zmura of UC-Irvine, the lead scientist on the project, says his task is akin to finding the right strands on a plate full of pasta. "You need to pick out the relevant pieces of spaghetti," he says, "and sometimes they have to be torn apart and re-attached to others." But with ever-increasing computing power the task can be done in real time, he says. Users also will have to be trained to think loudly. "How do we get a person to think something to themselves in a way that leaves a very strong signal in EEGs that we can read off against the background noise?" D'Zmura asks. Finally, because every person's EEG is different, persons using "thought helmets" will have to be trained so that computers intercepting their unspoken commands recognize each user's unique mental pattern.</p><p style="clear: both; padding-bottom: 9px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; ">Both scientists pre-emptively deny expected charges that they're literally messing with soldiers' minds. "A lot of people interpret wires coming out of the head as some sort of mind reading," D'Zmura sighs. "But there's no way you can get there from here," Schmeisser insists. "Not only do you have to be willing, but since your brain is unique, you have to train the system to read your mind — so it's impossible to do it against someone's will and without their active and sustained cooperation."</p><p style="clear: both; padding-bottom: 9px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal georgia, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px !important; ">And don't overlook potential civilian benefits. "How often have you been annoyed by people screaming into their cell phones?" Schmeisser asks. "What if instead of their Bluetooth earpiece it was a Bluetooth headpiece and their mouth is shut and there's blessed silence all around you?" Sounds like one of those rare slices of the U.S. military budget even pacifists might support.</p></span>Mr.Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16970327299778221524noreply@blogger.com88