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POPSSlavery Today During the four years that Benjamin Skinner researched modern-day slavery, he posed as a buyer at illegal brothels on several continents, interviewed convicted human traffickers in a Romanian prison and endured giardia, malaria, dengue and a bad motorcycle accident. But Skinner is most haunted by his experience in a brothel in Bucharest, Romania, where he was offered a young woman with Down syndrome in exchange for a used car.
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POPSThere are more Slaves Today Than at Any Time in Human History
During the four years that Benjamin Skinner researched modern-day slavery, he posed as a buyer at illegal brothels on several continents, interviewed convicted human traffickers in a Romanian prison and endured giardia, malaria, and dengue. But Skinner is most haunted by his experience in a brothel in Bucharest, Romania, where he was offered a young woman with Down syndrome in exchange for a used car. We in America are not affected by this, right? On average, every half-hour, one more person will have been trafficked to the US into slavery. About 14,000-17,000 are trafficked into the U.S. each year and forced to work within U.S. borders under threat of violence for no pay beyond subsistence. Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking and Free the Slaves both work to bring attention to this modern day horror. Barack Obama is still setting his foreign policy agenda. He needs to hear from all of us that the true abolition of slavery needs to be a part of his legacy.
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POPSLifting the Lid on America's Biowarfare Research Reporting guidelines are so lax that dangerous pathogens such as hantavirus, SARS and dengue fever "are not on the select agent list" nor are there requirements "that the theft, loss or release of these agents ... be reported to Federal officials." More recently, Global Security Newswire reported in June that an inventory at USAMRIID at Fort Detrick, Md., "found nearly 10,000 more vials of potentially lethal pathogens than were known to be stored at the site." The Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine was so-alarmed by the prospect that in 2003 they commented, "the possibility for genetic engineering and aerosol transmission suggests an enormous potential for bioterrorism." Unsaid, of course, was the gravest threat posed by such dark research may be state terrorism. Any one of these pathogens should they escape or made to "disappear," could be transformed into a doomsday weapon.
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POPSWild Things: Life as We Know It Species Hot Spot Between 1997 and 2007, more than 1,000 species previously unknown to science were discovered in Southeast Asia's Greater Mekong region, according to a report by the World Wildlife Fund. That's about two new species a week. The Greater Mekong has the highest concentration of different ecosystems in mainland Asia, and the Mekong River supports more wildlife per square mile than the Amazon. Newly documented flora and fauna include, clockwise from upper right, a woolly bat (Kerivoula titania); Aeschynanthus mendumiae; Gumprecht's green pit viper (Trimeresurus gumprechti); and the dragon millipede (Desmoxytes purpurosea).
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POPSDisease research funding neglects 'developing world killers' I am sure researchers would be just as happy working on the other killers, all they need is the funding. Maybe the big dollars are to be made from the killers in countries that are not developing, such as US and Australia. (Shows what a stupid word "developing" is in this context)
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POPSThe "Costs" of Deforestation Deforestation "costs" - pandemic The "costs" of deforestation are much higher than the Mr. Brown or others think. In the very near future, it will become obvious that deforestation is driving new outbreaks of Yellow Fever, more resistant strains of malaria, dengue fever, Hanta, as well as Ebola. The "costs" soon will include regional, continental or global outbreaks of one or more of these diseases. And that means millions will die and will not have to worry about climate change anymore. Large systems respond strongly when over-population or some major eco-disruption seems to have occurred. And it is not just deforestation that drives this - huge new dam systems in India and China have certainly contributed to the outbreak of avian influenza.
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POPSBill Gates Funded Dengue Fever Breakthrough
Found in up to 60 per cent of all insects, it is harmless to humans. But it has never been found naturally in dengue fever mosquitoes. The project struggled until the Gates donation arrived. A PhD student, Conor McMeniman, used super-fine needles to inject 10,000 mosquito embryos with the bacterium. "It was very technical and tedious work," Professor O'Neill said, adding that they had shown the bacterium could halve the adult mosquito's lifespan. Once an insect was infected, the bacterium would spread via its eggs to the next generation. A pilot release of infected mosquitoes could begin in Vietnam within three years. If no problems are discovered, a full-scale biological attack against the insects could be launched within five years. "We need to make sure the bacteria won't jump into any other species," Professor O'Neill said. He said Mr Gates was aware of the team's progress. "We are very lucky to have him spending his money the way he does."
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POPSInternational law should govern release of GM mosquitoes This brings up an interesting point - what is the role of the nation state as the world "internationalizes"? What good are EPA regulations when we breath polluted air from China? What good are European regulations on CO2 when the U.S. wont regulate? How does the U.S. compete in stem cell research when it has restrictions on funding? The nation state is no longer the venue for prevention of things like cloning, bacterial engineering, genetic selection, GM foods, etc. We may restrict cloning in the States, but then cloning moves to Mexico or China.
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POPSBurma's Junta Counts Its Fake Votes, Millions In Peril GRAPHIC PHOTO A US diplomat based in Rangoon claims the figure may be as high as 100,000 dead. The junta trumpeted what it claimed was a "massive turnout" in its constitutional referendum on Saturday, as thousands of tonnes of food, medical supplies and emergency relief specialists waited on tarmacs around the world for permission to enter the country. "Diarrhoea rates are very high in many of the affected townships; for children under five, diarrhoea is a disaster, adding, malaria and dengue were endemic to this region. United Nations agencies are concerned that there are hundreds of thousands of traumatised, injured people and that if they do not get medical treatment, they will die. Doctors in one hospital were treating up to 5000 outpatients a day, said Unicef's health chief in Rangoon. "They are exhausted. They are working long hours and they really need support. "They are full of patients and they cannot be treated properly due to a lack of human resources and drugs."
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POPS24 hours in pictures April 02 3 Baghdad, Iraq: A man in a burnt-out room in the Sadr City Shia district. The building was struck during a US airstrike 13 Mumbai, India: Make-up artists help a model prior to a show during the Lakme Indian Fashion Week 16 Bucharest, Romania: George Bush, seen through the view finder of a video camera, delivers a speech on the first day of the NATO summit 17 Johannesburg, South Africa: Hot air balloons soar over the Magaliesberg mountains 18 Cuenca, Spain: The skull of an animal in Alarcon's reservoir 1 Nairobi, Kenya: Residents of Kayole protest against police harassment and alleged execution of arrested suspects from the area
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POPS24 hours in pictures - April ist 04 Dhaka, Bangladesh: A man checks his money as he waits in a queue to buy rice at a shop that offers fair prices. Rice prices in Asia have been steadily rising in the last month. 07 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: A boy with symptoms of dengue fever looks through netting at a Brazilian air force field hospital. A dengue epidemic has claimed at least 58 lives in the area since January 10 Prague, Czech Republic: Slavia Prague fans protect themselves against tear gas fired by riot police after clashes during their derby match against Sparta Prague 13 Poolesville, USA: A carpenter sands the pulpit that will be used by Pope Benedict XVI during his upcoming visit to Washington.
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