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POPSWhy Precious Should Have Been Taught Math Instead of Journaling Anyone who has taught adult-literacy classes knows that inexperienced writers' efforts are more often clichéd, vague, and confusing than searingly original and profound. And that's just the work of students with an aptitude to write... Maybe writing in her journal allowed Precious to conceive of a better life for herself and her children; maybe creating a persona on the page enhanced her self-worth. But, contrary to what Hollywood would have us believe, the world does not reward self-expression as readily or consistently as it rewards a good head for numbers. It's hard for any writer to support herself writing. Precious's teacher should have known that, and given her a calculator along with that journal.
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POPSA long,melancholy roar Of our ancient enemies, microbes are now the most fearsome.HIV/AIDS chalked up 2 million deaths across the planet in 2007 alone; tuberculosis was close behind, with more than 1,700,000.The year before, malaria escorted almost a million people to their graves. We should be far more scared of mosquitoes than we are of bears; but we’re not. More recently, however, it’s been the case that the mammal most likely to kill a human is: a human. Murder and war have long been more important causes of death for us than predatory wild animals. But here’s the thing. Today, in many parts of the world, the human being most likely to cause your violent death is: you. Yes. You are the person most likely to kill yourself violently and on purpose. Suicide rates have risen dramatically over the past 50 years.
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POPSChild Witches
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo nearly 50,000 children live on the streets of Kinshasa, the capital, because they were accused of witchcraft and rejected by their families. In Nigeria, the Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network reports that nearly 25,000 children have been abandoned or persecuted on the belief they were witches or wizards. Organizations such as the United Nations Children’s Fund, Africa Unite Against Child Abuse, and Save the Children have stepped in where they could to stop the witch-hunt. But the phenomenon of “witch children” is so widespread throughout Africa these organizations have set up “witch camps” as shelters for children who cannot be safely placed with a relative. Throughout history, people described as witches have been tortured, persecuted, and even murdered. And it is usually society’s most vulnerable who are targeted. With the HIV/AIDS epidemic leaving many children orphaned, and rampant poverty ensuing from crop failure and decade-
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POPSAmerican Evangelicals Role In Uganda Effort To ‘Wipe Out’ Gays This barbaric legislation stifles free speech by threatening anyone who is accused of “promoting” homosexuality with five to seven year prison sentences. Snitching on gay friends and family members is strongly encouraged because “failure to disclose the ‘offence’ within 24 hours of knowledge makes somebody liable to a fine or imprisonment of up to three years.” Sadly, this witch-hunt has the blood stained fingerprints of leading American evangelicals. The Fellowship, (aka The Family) one of America’s most powerful and secretive fundamentalist organization’s, converted Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni (pictured top) to its anti-gay brand of Christianity, which is the “intellectual” impetus behind the anti-gay crackdown. The clandestine organization’s leader, Doug Coe, calls Museveni The Fellowship’s “key man” in Africa. Jeff Sharlet, author of “The Family”, writes of the African strongman’s conversion:
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POPSHealthcare Applied to AIDS in DC.....Theft & Fraud More than $500,000 was earmarked for a housing program whose executive director had a string of convictions for theft, drugs and forgery. After the D.C. Inspector General’s Office could find no evidence that he was operating an AIDS nonprofit group, the city terminated the grant but never sought repayment. All told, the Health Department’s HIV/AIDS Administration awarded more than $25 million from 2004 to 2008 to nonprofit agencies marked by questionable spending, a lack of clients, or lapses in record-keeping and care, a 10-month Washington Post investigation found. The conservative solution to AIDS would be to stop spreading it by indulging in degenerate behavior. The liberal solution is to shovel mountains of other people’s money at corrupt ACORN types. Guess which approach will be used under ObamaCare. On a tip from Puffdaddy. Cross-posted at Moonbattery.
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POPSCouple's love beats HIV In 2007, Danielle and Robby exchanged vows at a park along the intracoastal waterway in Florida. Of the 150 guests attending the ceremony, about half knew the groom was HIV-positive. Beginning today, they will all know.
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POPSSigning Off On Sex Ed Sex ed came into being because kids weren't getting the necessary information to protect themselves. If parents treat sex as a taboo subject at home they are likely not to have their children attend a sex ed class.
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POPSAndrew Sullivan: "Much Worse Than I Expected" So Andy has finally decided that Barry is a liar. Well, duh. What exactly in part of his campaign made him think he was a stand-up kinda guy? His tie to terrorists? His racist and hateful minister? Too bad for Andy he doesn't have Sarah Palin to trash for kicks to take his mind off of Obama's lying butt. Gross, I can't believe I actually agree with Andy the Clown.
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POPSUK has 1% of world's population but 20% of its CCTV cameras
An old article but still pretty accurate. you cannot move in London without being seen by at least 3 cameras at any one point. It is the definition of a police state, the police also have sub-machine guns, (H&K MP5k's for anyone interested) while you can be arrested for carrying a penknife if its blade is more than an inch long, because of the laws now concerning blades and knives. as well as the other tricks like LRADs (not new) which are now common place around the world. All backed by by ignorant and dangerous attitudes of the police. Again as always don't take my word for it look it up. The report says: "It is not entirely absurd to imagine that supermarkets' loyalty card data might one day be used by the Government to identify people who ignored advice to eat healthily or who drank too much, so that they could be given a lower priority for NHS treatment". "We have supermarkets collecting data on our shopping habits and also offering life insurance services"
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POPSThe Shameful Silence of Many Black Ministers
These are the black ministers that conservatives love. many are deeply mired in a single-minded pursuit showy, pricey new buildings,glittering furnishings, inflated salaries, expense accounts, globe-trotting trips, and endless pitches for collections. ... fancy cars, expensive homes, clothes, and jewelry has done more to fan the popular public image of black ministers as fast buck con artists. While some black ministers make a mighty effort to address deep seated social ills and use their influence to be spiritual mentors and social advocates, they are in the minority. black ministers that slump into complacency and inaction, and hopelessly enmeshed in greed and personal aggrandizement have rejected Dr. King's call to take the front line in the battle for social justice. They forget or ignore the entreaty in Luke to "put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalt those of low degree." They have spiritually and socially disarmed many African-Americans.[/quote
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POPSInsurance Company Must Pay $10 Million For Revoking Policy Of Teen With HIV 
The Supreme Court on Monday upheld a lower court's verdict against Fortis Insurance, now known as Assurant. The trial jury had awarded the former college student, Jerome Mitchell, $15 million in punitive damages; the Supreme Court reduced that amount by $5 million. Mitchell learned that he had HIV when, while heading to college, he donated blood. Fortis then rescinded his coverage, citing what turned out to be an erroneous note from a nurse in his medical records that indicated that he might have been diagnosed prior to his obtaining his insurance policy. Before the cancellation of the policy, an underwriter working for Fortis wrote to a committee considering whether or not to rescind his policy: "Technically, we do not have the results of the HIV tests. This is the only entry in the medical records regarding HIV status. Is it sufficient?" The underwriter's concerns were ignored and the rescission went forward. In the ruling, Chief Justice Jean Hoefer Toal wrote: "We find ampl
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POPSElton John 'will not be allowed to adopt' Elton and his partner are now considering the adoption of a pair of twin gay Basset Hounds. "These elegant hounds will definitely complement our flamboyant lifestyle", said Sir Elton.
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POPSAfrican kin seek help, but Obama offers no special aid or access "But in Kenya, where politicians are often judged by how much financial help they funnel to family and tribe, the lack of cash donations from the president has caused some consternation." I wouldn't expect Obama to do anything near what Bush did for Africa by saving over a million lives dying from HIV related illnesses, but c'mon Obama, throw your family a few scraps to eat and move your brother out of that straw hut.
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POPSWhy Can’t The Silver-Tongued Post-Partisan Healer Seal The Deal? by Mark Steyn
population outside the current system, why is it necessary to destabilize the arrangements of the 90 percent within it? Well, says the president, not so fast. Lots of people with insurance run into problems when they change jobs or move to another state. Okay, In that case, why not ease the obstacles to health-care portability? Well, says the president, shuffling his cups and moving the pea under another shell, we’re spending too much on health care. By “we’re,” he means you and you and you and you and millions of other Americans making individual choices over which he casually claims collective jurisdiction. And that, ultimately, gets closer than anything else he says to giving the game away. For most of the previous presidency, the Left accused George W. Bush of using 9/11 as a pretext to attack Iraq. Since January, his successor has used the economic slump as a pretext to “reform” health care. Most voters don’t buy it: They see it as Obama’s “war of choice,” . . .
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POPSAntibodies found that prevent HIV from causing severe AIDS More: The antibodies were able to block the activity of about three-quarters of the 162 separate strains of HIV they tested it against. Immunologist Dennis Burton of Scripps and his colleagues then showed that the antibodies bind to regions of two proteins on the surface of the virus, called gp120 and gp41, that help the virus invade cells. These regions had never before been considered as targets for vaccines. Researchers still have a long way to go to produce a vaccine, however. The antibodies themselves could potentially be used as a treatment for infected patients who develop severe disease. But the long-term hope is to find molecules, either synthetic or natural, that can stimulate the body to produce the broadly neutralizing antibodies. Such molecules could potentially be the basis for a successful vaccine.
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POPSGlass Microbiology - Luke Jerram Quite an amazing display of glass art sculptures. Microbes never looked quite so beautiful. Mind you, under the microscope they probably look awesome. The whole article is well worth a read. Their is a slideshow of the various microbes and short bits of info about the various diseases ie. small pox, HIV etc. "The sculptures were designed in consultation with virologists from the University of Bristol using a combination of different scientific photographs and models. They were made in collaboration with glassblowers Kim George, Brian Jones and Norman Veitch."
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POPSPresident Obama unshackles Global AIDS Work from ideological Bush restrictions In new guidelines for 2010, the Obama Pepfar team opened the way to linking AIDS work with strengthening of health systems generally, taking into account the development of human resources, maternal and child health, family planning and access to it for women, gender equality, malaria and tuberculosis, food and nutrition, education and local economies. While Pepfar money may not be involved directly, the program's door will be open for cooperation. It is, in short, a holistic and realistic policy. It will matter because the United States is the world's largest contributor to HIV/AIDS relief, and Bush restrictions have had a deadening effect on many international programs. An estimated tens of millions of women who want contraceptives are unable to get them, or may have no choice beyond crude sterilization or unsafe abortion.
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