Clipmarks | cobismith's clips

Australian election debate censored

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:54:57 GMT

clipped by: cobismith

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: politics, government, censorship, free speech, leadership

Australia's federal election debate censored by government

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:49:39 GMT

clipped by: cobismith

Clip Source: www.alliance.org.au

The Australian Communications and Media Authority should urgently conduct an inquiry into events surrounding the censorship of the Nine Network’s coverage of the leaders’ debate on Sunday night, the federal secretary of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance said.

“It is vital that people have a fair chance to build an informed opinion of they way both leaders react under pressure. Since 1984, this has been achieved through the leaders’ debates, although each time the incumbent Prime Minister – from whichever side of politics – has sought to manipulate the result by playing with the format to suit himself.

“We fully agree with Nine’s head of news and current affairs, John Westacott, when he called this a ‘blatant act of political censorship,” Warren said.

“And now it appears that while the Department of Parliamentary Services is owning up to actually pulling the feed, no one appears to know who gave the order, or why.”

Tags: censorship, democracy, australia, leadership, government, free speech, politics

Cheat Neutral

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:05:33 GMT

clipped by: cobismith

Clip Source: www.cheatneutral.com

What is Cheat Offsetting?

When you cheat on your partner you add to the heartbreak, pain and jealousy in the atmosphere.

Cheatneutral offsets your cheating by funding someone else to be faithful and NOT cheat. This neutralises the pain and unhappy emotion and leaves you with a clear conscience.

Can I offset all my cheating?

First you should look at ways of reducing your cheating. Once you've done this you can use Cheatneutral to offset the remaining, unavoidable cheating

Tags: carbon, emissions, energy, politics, trading

US food aid is wrecking Africa, charity says

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 10:15:43 GMT

clipped by: cobismith

Clip Source: news.independent.co.uk

Care, one of the world's biggest charities, has announced that it will boycott the controversial policy of selling tons of heavily subsidised US produced food in African countries. Care wants the US government to send money to buy food locally, rather than unwanted US produced food.

The farm lobby meanwhile has a stranglehold on Congress, which has balked at making any changes that would interfere with a system that promotes overproduction of commodities.

it also undermines African farmers' ability to produce food, making the most vulnerable countries of the world even more dependent on aid to avert famine.

Care's decision has led to a rift with some of the biggest US charities,

who rely on the system to fund a large part of their budgets. They argue that it keeps hard currency in impoverished countries and stops food prices rising.

Not only does subsidised US food hurt African farmers, but food purchased in the US regularly takes four months to reach the destination

Tags: aid, food, agriculture, africa, sustainability, america

GM crops likely for Australia

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 12:14:17 GMT

clipped by: cobismith

Clip Source: www.theage.com.au

AUSTRALIAN farmers should be allowed to plant genetically modified crops as soon as possible so they can compete with the rest of the world, according to a confidential Federal Government report.

Genetically modified crops pose no danger to human health or the environment and should be given the green light, the report said.

But environment and public health groups expressed grave concerns, saying the risks were not yet understood.

Institute of Health and Environmental Research director Judy Carman, an epidemiologist and senior lecturer at the University of Adelaide, said a number of studies had shown that rats fed a diet of genetically modified canola had recorded increases in their liver weights of about 16 per cent.

"These rats were getting swollen livers and yet no more research into why that was happening has ever been done," Dr Carman said.

"We should be demanding further testing, because when you look at the safety aspects we just don't know what the potential impacts are."

Tags: genetics, gm, biotechnology, agriculture, farming, food, health

How entreprenerial women juggle work and family

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 23:35:58 GMT

clipped by: cobismith

Clip Source: www.setwomen.co.uk

Geraldine Rodgers: I know there are these great superwomen who hold down fantastic jobs and have five children, but I haven't got a clue how they do it, I couldn't do it (laughs). You know I've had one child and I've worked full time pretty well all the way through his growing up, but it was damned hard

Suzy Lynch: I think going on maternity leave definitely gave me the breathing space to work out what I wanted to do. I think when you're in employment,

you don't have a lot of headspace to step back and say hang on, where am I going?

Jeannette Milbourn: With all the help in the world, unless your husband is prepared to put his career in equal balance with you then, then it's not going to happen.

Kate Mingay: You have to be focused in what's important to you.

f it means you have to sit up until 11 o'clock at night sending your emails and finishing your work so that at three o'clock that afternoon you could be at your kid's sports day then that's what you do.

Tags: gender, equality, parenting, science, work, business

the more you know, the less you earn

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 23:25:55 GMT

clipped by: cobismith

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

European newspaper columnists often lament that Europe's best and brightest are leaving for greener pastures. But brain drain is only part of the problem with European labor. Europe is also undervaluing the brain power of half of those who stay behind.

A recent report by the European Commission (pdf) finds that women are still earning an average of 15 percent less than their male counterparts. The gender pay gap has shrunk by only 2 percent over the last decade or so, and there's no evidence that it's narrowing.

And here's the most baffling detail: It's better-educated women who are being underpaid the most. Statistics show that women with higher degrees earn 30 percent less than their male counterparts, whereas for jobs with fewer qualifications the gap is only 13 percent. Maybe they should start teaching Bargaining 101 in European universities.

Tags: gender, equality, economy, europe, education

MMR scare doctor 'breached fundamental rules'

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 19:49:47 GMT

clipped by: cobismith

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Vulnerable children were subjected to "inappropriate and invasive" tests by a doctor who prompted one of the biggest health controversies of the past 10 years, it was alleged today.

Andrew Wakefield, who linked the MMR vaccine to autism, was described at a General Medical Council (GMC) fitness panel as having breached "some of the most fundamental rules of medicine".

The tests allegedly included colonoscopies, lumbar punctures, blood and urine tests, MRI scans and barium meals.

These investigations, carried out between 1996 and 1998, formed the basis for a paper in the Lancet medical journal in February 1998 suggesting a link between the measles, mumps and rubella jab and bowel disease and autism.

The paper seriously damaged public confidence in the vaccine, leading to falling numbers of parents immunising their children

A key claim is that Dr Wakefield accepted £50,000 from the legal aid board for research to support parents' attempts to fight for compensation.

Tags: vaccine, health, science, law, drugs, medicine, autism

Funny shaped Japanese vegetables

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 19:45:32 GMT

clipped by: cobismith

Clip Source: pingmag.jp

Japanese watermelons are no longer round!

Watermelons in interesting shapes all started with a cubic watermelon that a farmer in the Kagawa prefecture grew about 20 years ago. Originally, this was created on the idea that a watermelon in the shape of a cube would fit more readily in a compact refrigerator.

Students of the Atsumi Agricultural High School invented and cultivated cubic melons called “Kaku-Melo” as Kaku means “angle” in Japanese.

”It just started from an idea of high school students, but then it got bigger and bigger. The students were granted a cultivation patent, and its name, Kaku-Melo, is now an officially registered trademark. This was done with the cooperation of a local agricultural cooperative, a polytechnic high school, and an industrial high school. You can see Kaku-Melo at shops in the beginning of July.”

The JR Chiba Midori Asahi cucumber departmental meeting produces the “Heart stick” and the “Star Festival stick.

Tags: vegetables, japan, design, food

Kofi Annan turns down GM

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 19:32:06 GMT

clipped by: cobismith

Clip Source: www.scidev.net

Kofi Annan said yesterday (16 July) that conventional seed breeding, rather than genetically modified (GM) plants, stands a better chance of bringing about a 'green revolution' in Africa.

Annan made his comments after a meeting with the Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki in Nairobi, Kenya, as the new chairman of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), an organisation focusing on alleviating poverty and hunger in Africa.

AGRA programmes will not involve GM seeds, Annan said, but will instead focus on conventional seed breeding as a way of decreasing Africa's dependence on food aid.

"As we speak, many people in Africa are receiving food donations. This is however not sustainable," he said. "We need to get the right seeds into [the farmers] hands by strengthening research partnerships with local universities and other institutions."

Tags: genetics, gm, agriculture, farming, crops, africa

'Oil plants' a dubious solution

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 17:30:57 GMT

clipped by: cobismith

Clip Source: blog.foreignpolicy.com

Buoyed by the high price of oil, Brazilian President Ignacio Lula da Silva is trumpeting biofuels as an alternative. And now he says they could be a boon for the poor.

Lula was responding to a recent report by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation, who are decidedly less enthusiastic. The rise of biofuels, the report makes clear, is no panacea for poverty.

In fact, Oil-exporting countries, net food importers, and the urban poor are all in for a rough ride thanks to biofuels.

since many types of biofuel are made from feedstock, the rising prices of crops such as corn will increase the cost of raising livestock and, ultimately, the price of food. Indeed, this is already happening, and it's bad news for the poor, who spend a significant chunk of their meager incomes on food. (It's also bad news for beer drinkers.

Tags: biofuels, energy, oil, development, poverty, agriculture

Male sex selection continues in India

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 18:02:55 GMT

clipped by: cobismith

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Researchers in India and Canada for the Lancet journal said prenatal selection and selective abortion was causing the loss of 500,000 girls a year.

The unusual gender balance in India has been known about for some time.

In most countries, women slightly outnumber men, but separate research for the year 2001 showed that for every 1,000 male babies born in India, there were just 933 girls.

In cases where the preceding child was a girl, the ratio of girls to boys in the next birth was 759 to 1,000.

However, for a child following the birth of a male child, the gender ratio was roughly equal.

Last year the well-known religious leader and social activist, Swami Agnivesh, began a campaign across five northern and western states against female foeticide.

Tags: gender, society, india, population

Terror suspects linked to health service

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:43:53 GMT

clipped by: cobismith

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Eight people arrested in connection with failed car bombings in Glasgow and London all have links with the National Health Service, the BBC has learned.

Seven doctors or medical students have been arrested in England, Scotland and Australia in connection with the attacks. All worked in NHS hospitals.

Six of the eight people arrested are now being held at London's Paddington Green police station.

Speaking at a Muslim Council of Britain press conference, Dr Muhammed Abdul Bari said those who sought to kill or maim innocent people were "enemies of all of Muslims and non-Muslims".

He reiterated the government's view that it was "unacceptable to hold any one faith group or any community as being somehow collectively responsible for the actions of the few".

Tags: terrorism, health, security, attack, bomb, doctors

People think climate change is exaggerated

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:33:31 GMT

clipped by: cobismith

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

The public believes the effects of global warming on the climate are not as bad as politicians and scientists claim, a poll has suggested.

There was a feeling the problem was exaggerated to make money, it found.

Ipsos Mori's head of environmental research, Phil Downing, said the research showed there was "still a lot to do" in encouraging "low-carbon lifestyles".

"We are alive to climate change and very few people actually reject out of hand the idea the climate is changing or that humans have had at least some part to play in this," he added.

"However, a significant number have many doubts about exactly how serious it really is and believe it has been over-hyped."

Royal Society vice-president Sir David Read said: "People should not be misled by those that exploit the complexity of the issue, seeking to distort the science and deny the seriousness of the potential consequences of climate change.

Tags: "climate change", opinion, poll, environment

Why women in science start businesses

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 19:14:04 GMT

clipped by: cobismith

Clip Source: media.knowledgefeed.com

Not everyone has their heart set on founding a company,

people do think the idea of running their own business is scary.

Kate Jackson: I kind of was forced into running my own business because one of the downsides of working, living in a rural area is that actually there aren't many options for a graduate

Anne Miller: One of the reasons what that I wanted to do something new. I got very good at what I was doing, my team was very successful at it, and I'm a creative person, I like new challenges, and when I thought, do I want to spend the next 20 years of my life doing this? My heart sunk.

Martina Hornickova: To be honest I have never wanted to have my own business (laughs) but then

this was the only option, have my own business, to basically do what I'm good at and what I love doing

Berenice Mann:

I went off to have my second child and then I was made redundant when I was about to come back to work, so I started thinking about other options.

Tags: women, science, technology, engineering, careers, enterprise, economics, gender, business