American Buddhist Net

For me, these are the really great athletes. ABN
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Cuban hurdler and US runner among signatories about to take part in games

# Jonathan Watts in Beijing and Peter Walker
# guardian.co.uk,
# Thursday August 07 2008

More than 40 athletes taking part in the Beijing Olympics have today signed an open letter addressed to China's government urging it to respect human rights and freedom of religion, particularly in Tibet.

Coming on the eve of the opening ceremony, it marks fresh embarrassment for the host nation, which also faced criticism from George Bush and renewed protests in Tiananmen Square.

Signatories to the letter include the men's 110m hurdles world record holder, Dayron Robles of Cuba, well known to Chinese fans as the main rival to their most famous track athlete, Liu Xiang, the reigning Olympic champion. Others involved included the US 400m runner DeeDee Trotter and the Croatian women's world high jump champion, Blanka Vlasic.

The letter calls on China's president, Hu Jintao, "to protect freedom of expression, freedom of religion and freedom of opinion in your country, including Tibet".

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BERLIN (AFP) — Critics of China's human rights record made sure they were not forgotten on Thursday, a day before the grand opening of the Beijing Olympics, with protest actions the world over and in China itself.

A day after cheering crowds welcomed the Olympic torch to Beijing's Tiananmen Square -- scene of a 1989 massacre of pro-democracy protesters -- activists from Canada to Kathmandu sought to get their voices heard.

Already detained once for protesting on the square, three US Christians were forcefully dragged from the site as they prayed publicly, a statement on their behalf said.

"We were in Tiananmen Square publicly praying for the people of China when police forcefully dragged us across the street," Reverend Patrick J. Mahoney, one of the three, was quoted as saying while in custody.

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By Edward Cody
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, August 7, 2008; 11:07 AM

BEIJING, Aug. 7 -- China's intense efforts to block any protest that would mar the Olympic Games were challenged Wednesday by foreign activists equally bent on diverting attention to issues as varied as Tibetan independence, the crisis in Darfur and religious freedom.

Two American and two British protesters slipped through a smothering Olympic security net, climbed a pair of lampposts and unfurled banners demanding freedom for Tibet near the new stadium where the Beijing Games are to open Friday night. In Tiananmen Square, three American Christian activists spoke out against China's rights record and protested its population control policies. The four pro-Tibet protesters have been deported, while a second demonstration by Christian activists on Thursday was disrupted when plainclothes police removed the protesters from Tiananmen Square.

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Protesters unfurl flags and banners near Bird's Nest stadium

# Tania Branigan and Paul Kelso in Beijing
# guardian.co.uk,
# Wednesday August 06 2008

Four protesters including two Britons have been detained in the Chinese
capital after hanging Free Tibet banners close to the main Bird's Nest stadium.

The demonstration underlined the clash between competing views of the Olympics in Beijing, as thousands of euphoric spectators cheered the arrival of the torch in Tiananmen Square while foreign activists launched a series of small protests around the city.

Given the massive security operation in the capital and the carefully organised audience, no one expected demonstrations in or around the square during the relay.

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August 04 2008
By Dick Pelletier

Imagine living in an ageless, disease-free body with youthful looks, superhuman strength and a brain that can out-think computers. Now further imagine an affluent, happy, crime-free population residing in a world terraformed for comfort without dangerous storms, tsunamis, or unbearable weather.

This is the vision many forward-thinkers believe humanity can achieve during this century. Although life seems to rush by at rocket speeds today, the future will advance even faster. Author James John Bell, in his Exploring the Singularity article in The Futurist says, “We won’t just experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century – it will be more like 20,000 years.”

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By Jim Coggins

...The Beijing hosting committee has chosen to bypass the usual method and provide the required religious services through Chinese nationals, particularly the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM). The TSPM was established shortly after the Communist takeover of China in 1949. It was intended to bring all Protestant and evangelical groups in China together into one body free from any ties to foreign religious bodies. As the only legally recognized Protestant body in China, it is tightly controlled by the Communist Party. It is not allowed to teach children or discuss issues such as the Second Coming or abortion.

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SEOUL (AFP) — Thousands of philosophers from around the globe gathered here Wednesday for their first world congress in Asia to discuss ways to enhance dialogue between different cultures, organisers said.

The 22nd World Congress of Philosophy, being held under the theme of "Rethinking Philosophy Today," has drawn more than 3,000 prominent philosophers from some 150 countries.

It marked the first time that the event, held every five years, has taken place in Asia since it began in Paris in 1900. All of the previous world meetings were held in Europe or the Americas.

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By KATIE THOMAS
Published: July 30, 2008

...Although the verification test has changed to adapt to new scientific understandings about gender — athletes are now evaluated by an endocrinologist, gynecologist, a geneticist and a psychologist — critics say the test is based on the false idea that someone’s sex is a cut-and-dried issue.

“It’s very difficult to define what is a man and what is a woman at this point,” said Christine McGinn, a plastic surgeon who specializes in transgender medicine.

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The loss of billions of bees raises questions about our pesticide controls.

By Al Meyerhoff
July 30, 2008

...There is increasing reason to believe that Gaucho and other members of a family of highly toxic chemicals -- neonicotinoids -- may be responsible for the deaths of billions of honeybees worldwide. Some scientists believe that these pesticides, which are applied to seeds, travel systemically through the plant and leave residues that contaminate the pollen, resulting in bee death or paralysis. The French refer to the effect as "mad bee disease" and in 1999 were the first to ban the use of these chemicals, which are currently only marketed by Bayer (the aspirin people) under the trade names Gaucho and Poncho. Germany followed suit this year, and its agricultural research institute said it concluded that the poisoning of the bees was because of the rub-off of the pesticide clothianidin (that's Pancho) from corn seeds.

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30/07/2008

BEIJING (AFP) - The Beijing Olympics were plunged into another controversy on Wednesday as China announced a backflip on Internet freedoms for the thousands of foreign reporters covering the Games.

China's decision to reverse a pledge on allowing unfettered web access proved an embarrassment for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which had repeatedly said foreign press would not face any Internet curbs in Beijing.

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JESSICA LEEDER
David Hutton; Sources: Jessica Leeder, Parks Canada
July 29, 2008

A four-square-kilometre chunk has broken off Ward Hunt Ice Shelf - the largest remaining ice shelf in the Arctic - threatening the future of the giant frozen mass that northern explorers have used for years as the starting point for their treks.

Scientists say the break, the largest on record since 2005, is the latest indication that climate change is forcing the drastic reshaping of the Arctic coastline, where 9,000 square kilometres of ice have been whittled down to less than 1,000 over the past century, and are only showing signs of decreasing further.

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23 July 2008

We are a little late to the party, but it is worth adding a few words now that our favourite amateur contrarian is at it again. As many already know, the Forum on Physics and Society (an un-peer-reviewed newsletter published by the otherwise quite sensible American Physical Society), rather surprisingly published a new paper by Monckton that tries again to show using rigorous arithmetic that IPCC is all wrong and that climate sensitivity is negligible. His latest sally, like his previous attempt, is full of the usual obfuscating sleight of hand, but to save people the time in working it out themselves, here are a few highlights.

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By MARWAAN MACAN-MARKER / IPS WRITER Friday, July 25, 2008

BANGKOK — In their hour of despair, Burma’s beleaguered people continue to find comfort in humor. New jokes reflect new frustrations. The latest target is Ibrahim Gambari, United Nations special envoy for Burma.

One revolves around the nickname that has been coined by local comedians for the Nigerian diplomat. He is labeled as "Kyauk yu pyan" (pronounced chow-u-peean), which in Burmese refers to a man who receives precious stones from the government as a bribe. (Burma is renowned for its gems.)

Other nicknames are harsher, like "Gan pha lar" (pronounced gun-pa-la), a play on the envoy’s name, which is the word for the receptacle that Burmese use to wash themselves after going to the toilet.

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In many parts of the world, the right to change one's beliefs is under threat

Jul 24th 2008
From The Economist print edition

AS AN intellectually gifted Jewish New Yorker who had reached manhood in the mid-1950s, Marc Schleifer was relentless in his pursuit of new cultural and spiritual experiences. He dallied with Anglo-Catholicism, intrigued by the ritual but not quite able to believe the doctrine, and went through a phase of admiration for Latin American socialism. Experimenting with lifestyles as well as creeds, he tried respectability as an advertising executive, and a more bohemian life in the raffish expatriate scene of North Africa.

Returning from Morocco to his home city, he was shocked by the harsh anonymity of life in the urban West. And one day, riding the New York subway, he opened the Koran at a passage which spoke of the mystery of God: beyond human understanding, but as close as a jugular vein. Suddenly, everything fell into place. It was only a matter of time before he embraced Islam by pronouncing before witnesses that “there is no God but God, and Muhammad is his prophet.”

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Foreign Office spells out dangers to Beijing visitors. Chinese to take tough line on athletes and spectators.

* Paul Kelso
* The Guardian,
* Thursday July 24, 2008

British spectators and athletes have been warned that they face arrest and detention by the Chinese authorities if they stage demonstrations during next month's Beijing Olympics.

Many activists are based in the UK and will be travelling to China as tourists or sports fans, with a number of groups planning protests in Beijing and Hong Kong, which is hosting the equestrian events.

Athletes, meanwhile, have been encouraged by groups including Free Tibet and Team Darfur to use the global platform provided to make political statements at medal ceremonies, during competition or during media appearances. There are genuine concerns in Beijing and within International Olympic Committee circles that the issue could overshadow the Games, which begin on August 8.

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By Gillian Murdoch Wed Jul 23

... The list of "eight don't asks" was issued by the Dongcheng district Propaganda Department as a guide for locals about how to show proper hospitality, a department spokesman said.

"Don't ask about income or expenses, don't ask about age, don't ask about love life or marriage, don't ask about health, don't ask about someone's home or address, don't ask about personal experience, don't ask about religious beliefs or political views, don't ask what someone does," the Olympics logo stamped poster advises.

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Why not put some of that money toward developing safer tobacco products? Nicotine has known beneficial effects; it can control ADHD, prevent ulcerative colitis, prevent or delay the onset of Parkinson's, and possibly delay the onset of Alzheimer's. Nicotine is a naturally occurring substance that can be found in many plants (potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers, cauliflower, eggplant, chili peppers, tea) besides tobacco. Nicotine itself has not been shown to cause cancer. Tobacco causes the most harm when it is smoked, and especially when inhaled. The widespread use of Swedish snus (an oral tobacco product) has earned for Swedish men the lowest lung cancer rates in Europe (Swedish women still smoke as much as other European women). Anti-smoking campaigns are surely a good thing, as is keeping cigarettes away from children, but when these campaigns approach tobacco as an "all bad" substance they fail to fully account for why people use tobacco or how it can be made safer. ABN
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By DONALD G. MCNEIL JR
Published: July 24, 2008

Bill Gates and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced on Wednesday that they will spend $500 million to stop people around the world from smoking.

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I am not making this up :)

Nicotine Drug Shows Potential Benefits For Dementia Patients

Nicotine - Are We Ignoring Its Health Benefits?

Nicotine Has Some Neuroscience Benefits - Study

Nicotine shows potential as a treatment for Alzheimer's, depression and other illnesses.

Nicotine shows potential medical benefits

Nicotine-Like Drug Benefits Brain

When governments are violent and deceitful, as they are, this kind of trend is all but inevitable. The example set at the top influences the young most of all. ABN
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A spate of fatal knife attacks in the UK has sparked a debate about youth violence and gang culture in the country. But is the UK's experience mirrored in other nations? BBC correspondents compare situations around the world.

DANNY WOOD, SPAIN

...According to Mr Bauer, Western societies are all caught in a similar pattern of youth violence, which he says is linked to a collapse of confidence in authority.

"Across the West, we have a set of moral references that date from the 18th century, 19th century laws, 20th century police - and 21st century violence," he says.

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By Michael Kahn

LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) - Austerity measures attached to International Monetary Fund (IMF) loans may have contributed to a resurgence in tuberculosis in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, researchers said on Tuesday.

Governments may be reducing funding for health services such as hospitals and clinics to meet strict IMF economic targets, the British researchers said.

The study, published in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Medicine, found that countries participating in IMF programmes had seen tuberculosis death rates increase by at least 17 percent between 1991 and 2000 -- equivalent to more than 100,000 additional deaths. About one million new cases were recorded during the same period.

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DNA furnishes an ever clearer picture of the multimillennial trek from Africa all the way to the tip of South America

By Gary Stix

* Scientists trace the path of human migrations by using bones, artifacts and DNA. Ancient objects, however, are hard to find.

* DNA from contemporary humans can be compared to determine how long an indigenous population has lived in a region.

* The latest studies survey swathes of entire genomes and produce maps of human movements across much of the world. They also describe how people’s genes have adapted to changes in diet, climate and disease.

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By Robert Winnett, Deputy Political Editor and Urmee Khan
Last Updated: 7:52AM BST 10/07/2008

The American leader, who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter."

He then punched the air while grinning widely, as the rest of those present including Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock.

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8 Years of George W. Bush Summed Up In One Photo

PARIS (AFP) - New evidence has emerged that a large plate of floating ice shelf attached to Antarctica is breaking up, in a troubling sign of global warming, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Thursday.

Images taken by its Envisat remote-sensing satellite show that Wilkins Ice Shelf is "hanging by its last thread" to Charcot Island, one of the plate's key anchors to the Antarctic peninsula, ESA said in a press release.

"Since the connection to the island... helps stabilise the ice shelf, it is likely the breakup of the bridge will put the remainder of the ice shelf at risk," it said.

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09.07.2008

...3. Cao Dai

This Vietnamese religion combines elements of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Catholicism. It was founded in 1926 and claims up to 6 million adherents. Believers worship a vast array of saints, which includes such notable figures as Julius Caesar and Pericles. The ecclectic nature of Cao Dai complements its idealistic mission to create a more tolerant world. Adherents see all humans as sharing a divine heritage. The practicies of this faith are somewhat occult and derived from Taoist traditions. Believers hold seances in addition to group prayer and elaborate ritual ceremonies.

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Well-worth reading. ABN
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By SCOTT ANDERSON
Published: July 6, 2008

“There is but one truly serious philosophical problem,” Albert Camus wrote, “and that is suicide.” How to explain why, among the only species capable of pondering its own demise, whose desperate attempts to forestall mortality have spawned both armies and branches of medicine in a perpetual search for the Fountain of Youth, there are those who, by their own hand, would choose death over life? Our contradictory reactions to the act speak to the conflicted hold it has on our imaginations: revulsion mixed with fascination, scorn leavened with pity. It is a cardinal sin — but change the packaging a little, and suicide assumes the guise of heroism or high passion, the stuff of literature and art.

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A new mathematical model indicates that dust devils, water spouts, tornadoes, hurricanes and cyclones are all born of the same mechanism and will intensify as climate change warms the Earth's surface.

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