| Wednesday, October 15, 2003 |  |
| Tracking Junior With A Microchip | 2 comments |
| 15 Oct 2003 @ 13:28 Tracking Junior With A Microchip By Julia Scheeres Wired.com 10-10-3 A Mexican company has launched a service to implant microchips in children as an anti-kidnapping device. Solusat, the Mexican distributor of the VeriChip -- a rice-size microchip that is injected beneath the skin and transmits a 125-kilohertz radio frequency signal -- is marketing the device as an emergency ID under its new VeriKid program. The service has even garnered the backing of Mexico's National Foundation of Investigations of Robbed and Missing Children, which has agreed to promote the service. According to a press release announcing the collaboration, the foundation has estimated that 133,000 Mexican children have been abducted over the past five years. Foundation officials did not respond to interview requests. A Solusat executive said the terms of the agreement are still being hashed out. "There are distinct projects on the table, but one form of finding (children) is by putting scanners in strategic locations where a search is being conducted for a VeriKid that has been reported missing," said Carlos Altamirano, Solusat's associate general director. The company envisions placing walk-through scanners -- similar to metal-detector portals used in airports -- in malls, bus stations and other areas where a missing child may appear. The chip also could be used to identify children who are found unconscious, drugged, dead or too young to identify themselves. Critics said kidnappers could circumvent the device easily. "My big concern is that kidnappers will simply use 'high-tech' tools like knives to get rid of them," said Lauren Weinstein, creator of the Privacy Forum, an online digest related to privacy and technology issues. The Electronic Privacy Information Center also has warned that inserting a type of LoJack into children and workers to track their movements could violate their civil liberties. Solusat began selling VeriChip -- which is similar to the biochips used to track cattle and lost pets -- in Mexico in July; it's been sold in the United States since October 2002. The VeriChip is injected under the skin of the upper arm or hip in an outpatient procedure. A special scanner reads the RF signal emitted by the microchip to obtain the device's ID number, which then is entered into a database to access personal data about the individual. Other potential uses of the chip, according to company officials, include scanning unconscious patients to obtain their medical records or restricting access to high-security buildings by scanning workers to verify their clearance. In Mexico, the cost of the VeriChip and the doctor's fee for implantation is about $200, in addition to a $50 annual fee to maintain the database. The handheld scanner costs an additional $1,200, Altamirano said. The company refused to disclose the price of the portal scanners. VeriChip manufacturer Applied Digital Solutions said it plans to roll out the VeriKid service in other countries, including the United States, in the future. More > |
| Starved By The IMF | 0 comments |
| 15 Oct 2003 @ 13:26 Starved By The IMF By Yves Engler rabble.ca 10-10-3 An African Nation's Agricultural Self-Sufficiency Offers Little In The Way OfProfit-Making Opportunities For Banks Or Other Multinational Corporations Commentators, from the left and right, on the recent WTO ministerial meetings in Cancun seemed fixated on the harm wealthy nations' farm subsidies are having on the world's poor. The tone of these pundits has been such that one could be convinced that European, Japanese, Canadian or U.S. farm subsidies were the root of all the poor world's problems. The Guardian, for instance, bellowed, "there is only one way to address the growing gulf between rich and poor countries: abolish agricultural subsidies." Yet when the World Bank and International Monetary Fund held their recent annual meetings in the United Arab Emirates, what happened to the media's concern? But it's the IMF/World Bank, not the WTO, that's been pushing poorer countries for the past 20 years to re-structure their economies towards exporting agricultural products. Similarly, it's the IMF - knowing full well rich countries wouldn't reciprocate - that has, on numerous occasions, compelled poor countries to eliminate their agricultural price stabilizers or subsidies. The Wall Street Journal reports that in the poorest region of the world, "the [World] bank has long prodded poor African governments to privatize their agriculture sectors and abandon any type of farming subsidies." Commodity boards that fixed producer prices and collected farmers' produce have been destroyed and the task handed over to an incapable or unwilling private sector. For example, in the 1990s, the IMF/World Bank pushed the reorganization of Burkina Faso's agricultural sector, so the government provided new seed varieties and other support services to cotton farmers to increase yields for export. Cotton production increased from 117,000 tonnes in 1993/94 to approximately 400,000 tonnes in 2001/02. The result? Burkina Faso has an abundance of cotton, the price of which is very low because of massive U.S. subsidies, but an insufficient quantity of food, so people starve. In the early 1990s, Zambia agreed to IMF structural adjustment programs incorporating wider-ranging changes to its economic system than those undertaken by any comparable African country at the time. The structural adjustment programs included a shift from subsidized agriculture and controlled food prices to "market-determined" food pricing, privatizations, freeing the exchange rate and all the rest of the neo-liberal basics. Not coincidentally, in the past year a quarter of Zambians have come under the threat of famine. That the IMF/World Bank pushes this sort of neo-liberal restructuring, no matter what the human toll, is not surprising. Michael Phillips of the Wall Street Journal explains that "the World Bank [is] the main tool the wealthy nations have to influence economic policies in the poor ones." The voting structure of these institutions, unlike the formal WTO structure, is heavily skewed towards richer nations. In fact, at the recent meetings the "majority world" countries tried, to no avail, to change these institutions' anti-democratic one-dollar, one-vote structure (capitalism's real core principle). So the U.S. still has the largest share of World Bank votes and, along with Japan, Germany, France and England, controls approximately 46 per cent of all votes - some 4.5 times their share of the world's population. The numbers are similar at the IMF but, in addition, the U.S. effectively has a veto in that institution. The IMF/World Bank's antagonism towards the state as a food guarantor and their promotion of an agricultural export model is in line with neo-liberal globalization's general antagonism towards community self-dependence. Central to neo-liberal ideology is the supremacy of the global capitalist marketplace, which the move towards cash crops by IMF/World Bank-adjusted countries reinforces. A practical reason (from capitalism's viewpoint) is that export earnings increase countries' foreign currency reserves so that they can repay external debts. An African nation's agricultural self-sufficiency offers little in the way of profit-making opportunities for banks or other multinational corporations. Perhaps then, we should question the motivation of those who claim agricultural subsidies are the problem. When World Bank president, James Wolfensohn complains that "these [agricultural] subsidies are crippling Africa's chance to export its way out of poverty" we should ask what country has ever escaped poverty by depending on agricultural exports? Dependence on commodity production has, in fact, always been a recipe for underdevelopment. No country, with the possible exception of Hong Kong - a very special case - has, in fact, ever "developed" through free trade. Throughout the history of capitalism it has always been already-developed economies that have sought to impose "free trade" on militarily weaker or less-developed parts of the world. Egyptian author, Samir Amin, has a much better explanation of how agricultural subsidies should be understood. "Let us be perfectly clear: the Americans and the Europeans, like every other country or group of countries, have the right to formulate national or collective policies. They have the right to protect their industries and their agriculture, and they have the right to institute income-redistribution measures to meet the demands of social justice. Certainly, too, the controversies surrounding existing or possible policies within these societies, and the methods of resolving them, are a fundamental feature of democratic government. However, to argue for the dismantling of the edifice supporting such rights in the name of some hypotheses of abstract liberal economic theory that have no bearing on the realities on the ground is another matter entirely. "Should we, for example, demand that the industrialized nations reduce their levels of education and training, or their capacities for research and development, so as to bring them into harmony with less-developed countries on the grounds that their advantages in those domains have given them a competitive edge in world trade? "Regretfully, the strategy for which the nations of the South have opted, which is to let the North set the rules of the liberal game, makes no sense. Nevertheless, this is the strategy that the World Bank and others have advised us to adopt, perhaps precisely because it is ineffective, and will never be effective, since liberalism in economics exists nowhere apart from in the imagination." I would alter his sentence to read: "the strategy that the IMF/World Bank have 'advised' them to adopt is precisely because it is ineffective and will never be effective. Economic liberalism has a long history of being a cover for naked greed." As Amin states, agricultural subsidies are mainly a domestic issue. Canadians may say we're giving an excessive amount of money towards industrial farmers and not enough to stabilize small-scale organic farming or alternatively we may say our health care system needs the money. But that's a matter to be discussed based upon internal priorities, not something to be pursued on the basis of achieving "free" market principles. To be fair to organizations such as Oxfam and others on the left who railed against farm subsidies, there was some good that came of it. Discussion about rich countries' subsidies pointed out the contradiction between what rich nations say in terms of economic liberalism and what they do. Likewise, highlighting the fact that North American governments give more to their countries' cattle than they do in aid to the world's poor says something about our societies' priorities. Nevertheless, the fact that segments of the left seem to believe that agricultural subsidies are a significant cause of world poverty is disconcerting. The fact that some of these groups' policy prescriptions consist of reinforcing economic liberalism is more disturbing. It tells us how effective neo-liberal propaganda has been. Even many progressive people can only see the world through its lens. Perhaps it's time for a new lens. - Yves Engler is a Montreal-based activist currently working on a book about student activism at Concordia University. |
| Discovery may spur cheap solar power | 0 comments |
| 15 Oct 2003 @ 13:23 Discovery may spur cheap solar power Thursday, October 2, 2003 AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -- A major European chip maker said this week it had discovered new ways to produce solar cells which will generate electricity twenty times cheaper than today's solar panels. STMicroelectronics, Europe's largest semiconductor maker, said that, by the end of next year, it expected to have made the first stable prototypes of the new cells, which could then be put into production. Most of today's solar cells, which convert sunlight into electricity, are produced with expensive silicon, the same material used in most semiconductors. The French-Italian company expects cheaper organic materials such as plastics to bring down the price of producing energy. Over a typical 20-year life span of a solar cell, a single produced watt should cost as little as $0.20, compared with the current $4. The new solar cells would even be able to compete with electricity generated by burning fossil fuels such as oil and gas, which costs about $0.40 per watt, said Salvo Coffa, who heads ST's research group that is developing the technology. "This would revolutionize the field of solar energy generation," he said. ST's trick is to use materials that are less efficient in producing energy from sunlight but which are extremely cheap. This would revolutionize the field of solar energy generation. -- ST researcher Salvo Coffa Coffa said the materials should be able to turn at least 10 percent of the sun's energy into power, compared with some 20 percent for today's expensive silicon-based cells. "We believe we can demonstrate 10 percent efficiency by the end of 2004," Coffa said. Following that, ST and others would need to develop production technologies to make solar cells and panels in large quantities to achieve the $0.20 per watt target, he said. "Our target is fixed at $0.20," said Coffa, who expects no major technological difficulties in going from prototypes to mass-produced commercial products. Renewable energy is an essential part of research for ST, which says its chip and material expertise can be used to develop future solar cells and fuel cells. ST said three weeks ago it had found a new way to produce tiny yet extremely efficient fuel cells that could power a mobile phone for 20 days. |
| Nature's Oldest Drug Is Now the World's Newest Pharmaceutical | 4 comments |
| 15 Oct 2003 @ 13:20 Nature's Oldest Drug Is Now the World's Newest Pharmaceutical Pubdate: Thu, 9 Oct 2003 Source: The North Bay Bohemian(CA) Copyright: 2003 Metro Publishing Inc. Author: Mari Kane GW Pharmaceuticals Relief in Pill Form NATURE'S OLDEST DRUG IS NOW THE WORLD'S NEWEST PHARMACEUTICAL Beckie Nikkel does not consider herself a "sufferer" of multiple sclerosis because she has learned to deal with the disease by taking control of the medicine she takes. Five years ago, the 50-year-old Santa Rosa grandmother was taking a dozen different meds, some to counteract the side effects of others, and her next step would have been to use a baclofen pump to stop the muscle spasms, which would have rendered her legs useless. That's when she turned to cannabis and became active with the Sonoma Alliance for Medical Marijuana. In late September, she joined a convocation of activist organizations in Washington, D.C., to lobby congress and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society about cannabis. "I used to use a vaporizer, but now I do more ingesting of cannabis nectars and candy," she says, referring to THC-laden pops distributed privately. "Those suckers work wonders, but I would love to have other natural options, especially if they were covered by insurance." Though the federal government's stance against all things cannabis continues to thwart the efforts of Nikkel and many others, research in Europe--where the climate is remarkably milder when it comes to marijuana--is pushing forward. At the head of the new wave, British-based GW Pharmaceuticals stands out. Under government license and using plant strains developed by HortaPharm of Amsterdam (owned by expatriate Americans David Watson and Robert Clark), the company grows high-grade, finely tuned marijuana at a secret location in the south of England. With that crop, GW has isolated beneficial cannabinoids--the active ingredients of cannabis--and created a sublingual (under the tongue) spray for the treatment of multiple sclerosis symptoms. Of course, Beckie Nikkel currently has no chance of getting her hands on the medicine legally. If she did, according to GW's three years of clinical trials, she could find relief from her neuropathic pain and muscle spasms, and she could get a more peaceful sleep. Her appetite would increase. If Betty Nikkel could get GW's medicine (a blend of two cannabinoids brand-named Sativex) through her insurance company, she could feel a lot better. GW Pharmaceuticals hopes to gain approval from the British government for Sativex by the end of this year. In May, the company signed a lucrative marketing agreement with the German pharmaceutical giant Bayer to help them launch the product in Europe in 2004. So now, the world's first natural cannabis pharmaceutical maker has nowhere to go but up, yet the inevitable question remains, how high? Cannabis may well be one of the world's greatest natural remedies. Human beings have long used cannabis to relieve symptoms of everything from nausea to pain. In fact, the human relationship to cannabis is so tightly ingrained in our physiology that special receptors have evolved in our brains to link to the chemical components of the plant. Cannabis sativa, what we now know as "marijuana," officially entered the Western pharmacopoeia over one and a half centuries ago, during Victorian times, when cannabis medicines were administered in the form of tinctures. Queen Victoria is perhaps the most celebrated consumer of early cannabis tonics. Having a record of no known cases of fatal overdose in the history of the world, the safety of marijuana is miles ahead of even aspirin. The biggest side effects of cannabis are euphoria and possibly paranoia. With its reputation of being one of the least toxic therapeutic substances on earth, the market potential for quality-assured, health-insured cannabis drugs has not gone unnoticed by pharmaceutical companies. Marijuana is nothing without cannabinoids. These molecules of medicament are found in the millions of tiny, resinous pistils that shoot from the cannabis leaves. The mightiest cannabinoid of all is delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), from which the famed euphoric effect is attributed. But cannabis therapy does not end with THC. All kinds of analgesic, antispasmodic, anticonvulsant, antitremor, antipsychotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-emetic, and appetite-stimulant benefits are derived from other, lesser known cannabinoids, such as cannabinadiol (CBD). GW Pharmaceuticals has combined THC and CBD to make Sativex. "Our intention, once we have a product license application in the U.K., is to use the mutual recognition procedure to obtain approvals in other European Union member states, probably during 2004," says GW's spokesperson Mark Rogerson. "We will also be seeking to market the product in Commonwealth countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. The U.S. market is a longer-term objective." Rogerson is not kidding when he says America is a market they'll have to wait for. The Bush administration and the Supreme Court remain in denial of marijuana's medical benefits, and the new DEA administrator Karen Tandy has indicated that raids against California compassion clubs will continue. By contrast, Europe and Canada have made great strides toward marijuana decriminalization, efforts which often incur the wrath of the U.S. government. Once Sativex is approved in Europe, intrepid American patients who attempt to smuggle it home will have to answer to the customs man, just as if the drug were hashish. "If [Sativex] has not been approved by the FDA, we would not let it enter the country," said U.S. Customs Service spokesperson Michael Fleming. "If it is prohibited entry, there could be civil and possible criminal penalties attached." Click More for More More > |
| Jesus In India | 0 comments |
| 15 Oct 2003 @ 13:11 Jesus In India By Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian THE FOUNDER OF THE AHMADIYYA MOVEMENT IN ISLAM 1989 ISLAM INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATION LTD Reproduced under the responsibility of RAM Service. Copyright © 1996 RAM Service Inc. All rights reserved. Jesus's escape from death on the cross and journey to India This is an English version of an Urdu treatise written by the Holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908). The theme is the escape of Jesus from death on the cross, and his journey to India in search of the lost tribes of Israel. Christian as well as Muslim scriptures, and old medical and historical books including ancient Buddhist records, provide evidence about this journey. Jesus is shown to have reached Afghanistan, and to have met the Jews who had settled there after deliverance from the bondage of Nebuchadnezzar. From Afghanistan Jesus went on to Kashmir, where other Israelite tribes had settled. There he made his home, and there in time he died; his tomb has been found in Srinagar. |
| Brain,Mind and Altered States of Consciousness | 0 comments |
| 15 Oct 2003 @ 13:07 Brain,Mind and Altered States of Consciousness By Norman D. Livergood |
| On Columbus Day | 1 comment |
| 15 Oct 2003 @ 12:53 Columbus & Black Elk Speak "Observed" Columbus Day has arrived and, again, I note this "holiday." Has anything really changed? From Gene Edinger 10-13-3 From Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States: 1492 - Present Revised and Updated Edition (New York HarperCollins, 1995) By permission -- Arawak men and women, naked, tawny, and full of wonder, emerged from their villages onto the island's beaches and swam out to get a closer look at the strange big boat. When Columbus and his sailors came ashore, carrying swords, speaking oddly, the Arawaks ran to greet them, brought them food, water, gifts. He later wrote of this in his log: They...brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned...They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features....They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane...They would make fine servants....With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want. These Arawaks of the Bahama Islands were much like Indians on the mainland, who were remarkable (European observers were to say again and again) for their hospitality, their belief in sharing. These traits did not stand out in the Europe of the Renaissance, dominated as it was by the religion of popes, the government of kings, the frenzy for money that marked Western civilization and its first messenger to the Americas, Christopher Columbus. Read More From This Chapter The following is scanned from Black Elk Speaks From Touch the Earth -- I can remember that winter of the hundred slain [1866] as a man may remember some bad dream he dreamed when he was little, but I can not tell just how much I heard when I was bigger and how much I understood when I was little. It is like some fearful thing in a fog, for it was a time when everything seemed troubled and afraid. I had never seen a Wasichu [white man] then, and did not know what one looked like; but everyone was saying that the Wasichus were coming and that they were going to take our country and rub us all out and that we should all have to die fighting. Once we were happy in our own country and we were seldom hungry, for then the two-Ieggeds and the four-Ieggeds lived together like relatives, and there was plenty for them and for us, but the Wasichus were coming and, they have made little islands for us and other little islands for the four-Ieggeds, and always these islands are becoming smaller, for around them surges the gnawing flood of the Wasichu; and it is dirty with lies and greed. I was ten years old that winter, and that was the first time I ever saw a Wasichu. At first I thought they all looked sick, and I was afraid they might just begin to fight us any time, but I got used to them. I can remember when the bison were so many that they could not be counted, but more and more Wasichus came to kill them until there were only heaps of bones scattered where they used to be. The Wasichus did not kill them to eat; they killed them for the metal that makes them crazy, and they took only the hides to sell. Sometimes they did not even take the hides, only the tongues; and I have heard that fire-boats came down the Missouri River loaded with dried bison tongues. You can see that the men who did this were crazy. Sometimes they did not even take the tongues; they just killed and killed because they liked to do that. When we hunted bison, we killed only what we needed. More > |