The BBC reported that there are dozens of treatment centres offering to wean youths, mostly boys, from spending hours on the web.  Many of them are military-style boot camps that rely on tough programes of physical exercise and counseling.  Two boys were beaten at separate camps earlier this year, one died and the other was severely injured.  “When intervening to prevent improper use of the internet we should… strictly prohibit restriction of personal freedom and physical punishments,” the ministry said in a draft guideline quoted by Reuters news agency.

In July, the ministry of health formally banned the use of electroshock therapy as a treatment option.  There was a public outcry after 15-year-old Deng Senshan died in August less than 24 hours after arrival at the Qihang Salvation Training Camp in Guangxi province.Days later, 14-year-old Pu Liang was put in a Sichuan hospital in a series condition after allegedly being beaten by his boot camp’s principal and other students.  Some estimates suggest up to 10% of the country’s 100 million web users under the age of 20 could be addicted, and a growing number of rehabilitation services have sprung up to deal with the problem.

Some define an internet addict as anyone who is online for at least six hours a day and has little interest in school.  The goal of intervention is… to urge the target people to use the internet in a healthy way,” the ministry of health statement said.  “It’s not to stop them from using the internet.”

October 28, 2009 “BBC” — The US military in Afghanistan is to be allowed to pay Taliban fighters who renounce violence against the government in Kabul.   The move is included in a defense bill which President Obama is set to sign.  Such payments have already been widely used by US commanders in Iraq, but it is the first time the system is being formally adopted in Afghanistan.  Early on Wednesday, Afghan troops were engaged in a shootout with suspected militants at a house in Kabul.

A day earlier eight US soldiers were killed in bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan.  The deaths make October the deadliest month for American forces in the eight-year war in Afghanistan.  President Obama is yet to decide whether to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan.  Mr Obama has said he will not risk their lives “unless it is absolutely necessary”.
The latest attacks come amid heightened tension in Afghanistan in the run-up to the second round of a presidential election marred by widespread fraud in favour of incumbent President Hamid Karzai.

The Commander’s Emergency Response Programme, or Cerp, was set up to give the US military the means to clear roads, dig wells and provide other urgent humanitarian assistance to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, the BBC’s Richard Lister in Washington says.  But in Iraq, the money can also be given to insurgents provided they switch sides. Backers of the Cerp scheme say it enabled some 90,000 formerly hostile Iraqis to form local militias and protect their towns from militants, our correspondent says.  He adds that now the same authority is being given to US commanders in Afghanistan.  A clause in the annual defense appropriations bill says they can use the money to support the “re-integration into Afghan society” of those who have renounced violence against the Afghan government.

Although $1.3bn (£691m) has been authorized for the fund as a whole, no specific sum has been allocated to the re-integration programmes, our correspondent says.  The Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, Senator Carl Levin, has said he envisages the money being used to pay former Taliban fighters to protect their communities.

credit: time2sub2

Now let’s think about this for a minute.

1. The ship was built by the ancients.
2. The ship has been in space for thousands of years.  So how can the ship replenish its power supply?
   
3. What is the sun?  ENERGY.

So here we have a plot where at least 2 people are scientifically smart .  The ship’s brilliant Machiavellian scientist Nicholas Rush and the kid genius Eli.  So anyways, once the crew finds out the ship is heading into a sun they all want to evacuate thinking they are going to die.  Hummm does that make any sense that Nicholas or Eli can’t possibly think the ship will regenerate it’s power by the sun’s energy.  Remember in the 3 episode I think where Nicholas told Eli to put his hand in the stargate so that it wouldn’t disconnect.  He was like “i assume the ancients would have programmed a fail safe for this kind of event to happen…”  So someone that can make that conclusion can’t see that the sun is energy I mean even people on the current Earth know that.  Also the show so far has made Eli into an annoying little brat that is reduce to playing with those flying balls aka “kinos”.  What a waste of talent, why make him a genius at all.  So my whole point is if this whole episode turns out to be what I have said that the ship will regenerate itself using the sun…then Stargate Universe needs to fire it’s writers and get people who actually know how to write a story.   Not to mention I’m going to be pissed and think that one minute this show smart people on it and the next minute they can’t even come to the conclusion or ask themselves how does the ship regenerate it’s power??  I better be wrong about this!

What do you think?  Comment here.

Citibank has begun closing customers’ accounts without telling them and get this raising their interest to 29.99%.   Well I have two cards with Citibank aka Shitibank and got a noticed in the mail 2 days ago that one of my cards will be jumping to 29.99%.  Well I used to use this particular card all the time…never keeping a balance for longer than a month or two at the most.  Last year, I got a letter saying my 8% interest rate was jumping to 18.99%.  I called them and asked them what is going on!  They replied back with a response with “it’s because of the financial crisis..blah blah blah…”  Well the exact time they raised my interest rate to18.99% last year they are doing it again this year.  Effective November it will jump to 29.99%, why??  Financial crisis.  Well this card will never be used again until the interest rate is lowered.

There are thousands of people who either got their cards canceled without proper notification or got their interest rate increased to 29.99%.    The AP reported  that “Citi closed the accounts on Wednesday, but sent out letters Monday informing customers of the change. So Citibank waits until the last minute to tell customers, most of whom probably didn’t receive the news before their cards were shut down.”

Are you in the same boat?  Did this happen to you too?  Comment here

Doubts had been raised about whether the finding was significant.

But new data published at a conference in Paris indicates that, while small scale, the findings are robust and statistically significant.

However, the scientists say they do not understand what is causing the effect, and it seems to offer less protection to those most at risk.

Despite these drawbacks, Colonel Nelson Michael from the US military HIV research program it is still a small step in the right direction.

He said: “It’s important that people understand that this is a scientific advance, a scientific breakthrough.

“It is not a public health breakthrough; there is not a vaccine that is around the corner.

“We now, after 26 years of trying, believe that we can go down that road with confidence that we will be able to develop a vaccine that is globally effective.”

Doubts raised

Despite their initial joy when the first results from the Thai trial were announced, many scientists were concerned that the protective effect was very small.

Among the 8,000 of so who got the vaccine, 51 became infected with the virus.

Among those who received a placebo, 74 got the infection.

However, the trials sponsors, the US military and the Thai government said the 31.2% protective effect was statistically significant and real.

As more data slowly emerged some scientists began to have doubts about how robust this effect really was.

When those who had not taken all their vaccines were excluded from the trial the numbers lost their statistical power.

Many experts were concerned that the data had not been subject to a rigorous examination by other scientists.

Read more

Many questions

Now that review has taken place. And it indicates that the original findings still stand – but there are more questions than answers.

These results are an incredible opportunity for scientists to discover new clues about HIV and learn how a HIV vaccine could work in practice Deborah Jack National Aids Trust

The scientists based their conclusions on an analysis of the entire population in the study, excluding just seven people who were found to be infected on the first day of the trial.

The researchers say this is the most robust way of looking at the study.

They also published details of two other analyses of the trial, which excluded people who had not taken all their medication.

Both of these showed effects that were not statistically significant.

Among the scientists at this meeting there was a real sense of excitement about the findings.

Dr Nicola Frahm, associate laboratory director for the HIV Vaccines trials network in Seatlle, Washington, said: “Oh my God, it’s amazing.

“There is hope, there is a vaccine that prevented acquisition, the signal is very weak but this is the first time to show any effect on acquisition at all, so for the HIV community it’s an amazing day.

“The real question is to how biologically significant is this?

“The significance that has been established in this trial is that there is a 5% chance that this is a fluke.

“So we are 95% certain that what we are seeing is real and not down to pure chance. And that’s great.”

No use in Africa

The researchers point out that this vaccine would not work in Africa where the rates of HIV infection are the highest.

They say that a commercial product is still many years away and caution that prevention and education are the best protection against the infection in the medium term.

Colonel Jerome Kim is HIV vaccines product manager for the US Army.

He said: “We had something that protected a third of the people exposed to the virus in Thailand.

“It is not a globally effective vaccine; it can not be used outside of Thailand.

“Until we answer those other scientific questions the idea of using this vaccine in other parts of the world or testing it, is science rather than public health.”

Deborah Jack, chief executive of NAT (National Aids Trust), said: “The Thai trial is a milestone in the search for a vaccine against HIV.

“These results are an incredible opportunity for scientists to discover new clues about HIV and learn how a HIV vaccine could work in practice.”

HAMMOND, La. — A Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have.

Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long.

Neither Bardwell nor the couple immediately returned phone calls from The Associated Press. But Bardwell told the Daily Star of Hammond that he was not a racist.

“I do ceremonies for black couples right here in my house,” Bardwell said. “My main concern is for the children.”

Bardwell said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites, along with witnessing some interracial marriages. He came to the conclusion that most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society, he said.

“I don’t do interracial marriages because I don’t want to put children in a situation they didn’t bring on themselves,” Bardwell said. “In my heart, I feel the children will later suffer.”

If he does an interracial marriage for one couple, he must do the same for all, he said.

“I try to treat everyone equally,” he said.

Thirty-year-old Beth Humphrey and 32-year-old Terence McKay, both of Hammond, say they will consult the U.S. Justice Department about filing a discrimination complaint.

Humphrey told the newspaper she called Bardwell on Oct. 6 to inquire about getting a marriage license signed. She says Bardwell’s wife told her that Bardwell will not sign marriage licenses for interracial couples.

“It is really astonishing and disappointing to see this come up in 2009,” said American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana attorney Katie Schwartzman. “The Supreme Court ruled as far back as 1963 that the government cannot tell people who they can and cannot marry.”

The ACLU was preparing a letter for the Louisiana Supreme Court, which oversees the state justices of the peace, asking them to investigate Bardwell and see if they can remove him from office, Schwartzman said.

“He knew he was breaking the law, but continued to do it,” Schwartzman said.

What do you guys think of this crazy mess??

China vs America

As in much of Africa, China is heavily engaged in post-war Liberia, rebuilding roads with funding from the World Bank, managing hotels and restaurants, trading in medicines and other businesses.

CHINA IN AFRICA China is Africa’s second-biggest trading partner, behind US Between 2002 and 2003 two-way trade doubles to $18.5bn By 2008 trade tops $100bn – China exports $51bn, imports $56bn Almost all imports come from oil-rich nations: Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, the Republic of Congo, and Sudan Sources: China Daily, Reuters, Council on Foreign Relations

Chinese mineral firm China Union became the largest investor in Liberia when it signed a $2.6bn deal to go into iron-ore mining earlier this year.

There is even a Chinese-language radio station broadcasting across the country for the increasing number of migrant workers and expatriates.

The growing trade ties explain why the Chinese embassy and the Ministry of Youth and Sports have decided to put on free two-hour classes in the afternoon, five days a week.

Although attendances for the first few classes were sparse because of torrential rain in Monrovia, the students who did turn up were serious about the task.

John Cooper, 57, from Monrovia, says the lessons reflect Liberia’s changing political allegiances.

“Traditionally Liberians are closer to the Americans than we are to the Chinese, but the irony is that the Chinese are more open to us than the Americans are,” he says.

“If the Chinese stay here with us for about 25 years, it will be good for us.”

A middle-aged woman attending the lessons agrees that the classes are important for the country.

“In Liberia we speak only English and instead of learning French, we play with French – it is just too bad for a nation,” she says.

For others, like 40-year-old Tubman Nyennety, the motivation for doing the class is driven by personal ambition.

“We need to learn Chinese because you never tell when you will have the opportunity to travel to China,” he says.

Another student, Musu Woodfor, recalls the difficulties she faced when she fled the civil war to Liberia’s French-speaking neighbours.

“We learn French, so why not Chinese? The language barrier was a problem when we travelled as a result of the war.”

Read more….

Accords unread

Although Chinese officials will be heartened by the positive views expressed by the students, they are also hopeful that members of Liberia’s government will take up the classes.

Liberia prepared a rapturous welcome for Chinese President Hu Jintao in 2007

Chinese ambassador Zhou Yuxiao, who helped to set up the classes, says the lack of Chinese language skills among government officials can be a problem.

“Even in the Foreign Ministry in Liberia, nobody can speak Chinese ,” he says.

“When [officials] visit China, they have to have an interpreter from the Chinese side only; there is discrepancy.”

He says he is unhappy that Liberian officials cannot understand Chinese versions of the numerous bilateral agreements they sign.

“No Liberians can read the documents they sign, they don’t understand the Chinese copy, they just sign it as it is,” he says.

“It’s not fair, [you should] check the document that you are signing.”

Liberia’s Ministry of Youth and Sports agree that the language barrier is a problem.

“Chinese are here in construction work, etcetera,” says ministry spokesman Macaulay Paykue.

“If we have to deal with these people and they have to deal with us, it is only prudent that we understand each other.”