Clipmarks | Delegates Clips

Fishing for a whaling compromise??

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:29:25 GMT

clipped by: mona

Whaling body agrees path to peace

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) adopted a reform path aimed at finding compromise between pro- and anti-hunting countries.

Governments will try to agree a package of measures by next year's IWC meeting.

Some conservation groups approve of the endeavour because they believe it could lead to a reduction in the total number of whales killed each year, and greater regulation of hunting.

"We wish to see the end of special permit (scientific) whaling," said New Zealand's conservation minister Steve Chadwick.

Just about the only note of discord so far in this usually fractious meeting has come over subsistence hunting in Greenland.

The Arctic state has asked to add humpback whales to its annual hunt, which already includes minkes, fins and bowheads.

Some, notably the UK, were ferociously opposed to the humpback quota.

EU agreed to oppose the quotas. Danish delegates walked out in protest; and without EU backing, the application is almost certain to fail.

Interest of big firms to web 2.0 technologies

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:01:31 GMT

clipped by: MLeitzelman
clipper's remarks: ideas of business models

Clip Source: www.itweek.co.uk

Enterprises embrace Web 2.0

Hambling said Lloyds had implemented an initiative called “Graphical Excellence” that take numerous data sources to improve risk assessments for some of its insurance projects. Using a combination of Google Maps and data from aerial remote sensing firm Infoterra, Lloyds had been able to model the potential impact of hurricanes hitting the US.

British Airways CIO, Paul Coby told delegates that his IT department was increasingly being called upon to open up systems to third parties, as the c ompany looks to expand revenue streams. BA aims to achieve this through implementing a service-oriented architecture programme, codenamed Project Leapfrog, which will improve its ability to share data with its partners. “We are taking our services and other people's services and putting them on our own and other people's web sites," said Coby.

Tags: web 2.0, graphical, social networking

UN Human Rights Council Banned from Questioning Islamic Law.

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:51:06 GMT

clipped by: Smoke TNT

Clip Source: europenews.dk

June 30

The UN Human Rights Council is not allowed to judge religions, according to president Doru Romulus Costea of Romania. Criticism of Sharia law or fatwas is now forbidden.

This ruling follows attempts by the Egyptian and Pakistani delegates at the Council to silence criticism of human rights abuse in the Islamic world.

The representative of the Association for World Education, in a joint statement with the International Humanist and Ethical Union, had denounced the stoning to death of women accused of adultery and of girls being married at the age of nine years old in countries where Sharia law applies.

The speaker, David Littman, was interrupted by no fewer than 16 points of order and the proceedings of the Council were suspended for forty minutes when the Egyptian delegate said that “Islam will not be crucified in this Council” and attempted to force a vote on whether the speaker should be allowed to continue.

Tags: islam, muslims, islamofascism, murder, human rights, children, rape, women

Japan plans more whaling kills

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:21:29 GMT

clipped by: bs1999bs
clipper's remarks: Japan is a disgrace and the insipid posturing of World delegates was such that Japan achieved an ability to carry on whaling. We are being led by whimps!

Clip Source: www.chinapost.com.tw

Whales lose, Japan wins

Whales emerged the big losers as a weeklong International Whaling Commission meeting wrapped up in Chile on Friday, conservation groups said after anti-whaling nations failed to halt No. 1 hunter Japan.

Anti-whale hunting nations led by Australia have voiced deep concern at Japan's skirting a nonbinding 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling by killing hundreds of whales each year in the name of scientific research.

Japan says it is unhappy with the moratorium and wants to resume commercial whaling, though detractors say it is already doing so in all but nam

Japan goes home without any votes or resolutions against it. Iceland started a new round of commercial whaling just prior to this conference. So they are not taking it very seriously. Nothing has been achieved for the whales."

Japan gives itself a special permit to catch 1,000 whales each year despite the moratorium, while Norway and Iceland continue to hunt whales in defiance of the ban.

Iroquois Blueprint for the U.S.

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:00:40 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks:

Our constitution has many Iroquois features. Iroquois lawmakers didn't go to war. Civilian and military rule was separate.

The Iroquois had no royalty -- no hereditary rule. Their nations could naturalize new citizens. The League didn't just conquer other nations. It could also admit them to membership.

We didn't adopt the Iroquois unicameral system. They had only one council. Franklin fought for that. Because he lost, we have both the senate and the house.

Franklin also wanted to let soldiers elect their own officers. That's what the Iroquois did. He lost on that one, too.

Still, our constitution is a fine piece of engineering design. We looked at the European kingdoms we'd left behind. And we looked at these people who'd governed themselves so well for so long.

In the end Canassatego and the Iroquois tipped the scales in shaping our way of life. And we can be very glad they did.

Clip Source: www.uh.edu

In 1744 the Iroquois leader Canassatego spoke at the Indian-British assembly in Philadelphia. Dealing with 13 administrations in 13 colonies was impossible, he said. Why didn't we form an umbrella group? Each colony could keep its sovereignty. Yet the 13 could speak to other nations with one voice.

He offered a model. During Europe's Middle Ages, Hiawatha had founded the League of Iroquois Nations. The Mohawks, Onondagas, Senecas, Oneidas, Cayugas, and Tuscaroras formed the League.

Historian Jack Weatherford says few colonists were ready to listen. But one was. Ben Franklin had studied the Indians. Later, he became the Indian Commissioner. As early as 1754 he wanted to try Canassatego's idea. Later, he and others built that idea into our constitution.

Each Iroquois nation ran its internal affairs with a council of elected delegates. They also sent delegates to a grand council. It ran affairs among nations. It was a pure federal system.

Tags: history, government

Democratic convention to be no-fry zone

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:07:33 GMT

clipped by: jatfla
clipper's remarks: And 'no fun' either.

Clip Source: www.denverpost.com

Democratic convention to be no-fry zone

Warning to Southern delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver this August: it will be a no-fry zone.

As part of the effort to make the August 25-28 convention the greenest ever, the Democrats' guidelines for food catering include one that strikes at the heart of Southern cuisine: no fried food.

No fried chicken. No fried catfish. No fried green tomatoes. No fried okra. No fried anything.

Democratic guidelines say every meal should be nutritious and include "at least three of the following colors: red, green, yellow, purple/blue and white."

"It's the new patriotism," says Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper

It's All About Obama

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:11:17 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Americans overwhelmingly find it a hopeful, optimistic sign that the country could elect an African-American president. But they rightly want to know what kind of leader he might be. They may well reject as cynical any maneuver to discourage close examination of him by suggesting any criticism is racially motivated.

The candidate's self-centeredness has been on display before. Having effectively sewed up the Democratic nomination, he could have agreed to seat the Florida and Michigan delegations (states Hillary Clinton had carried). While reducing his lead by 50 to 55 delegates, it would not have altered the outcome. But Mr. Obama supported cutting these battleground-state delegations in half. At a time when magnanimity was called for, the candidate decided he'd strut.

In a contest over who is willing to put principle above personal ambition and self-interest, John McCain, a war hero and a former POW, wins hands down.

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

Last month he replied "anywhere, anytime" to John McCain's invitation to have joint town hall appearances. Last week he changed his mind. Fearing 10 impromptu town halls, Mr. Obama parried the invitation by offering two such events – one the night of July 4, when every ambulatory American is watching fireworks or munching hotdogs, and another in August. His spokesman then said, "Take it or leave it." So much for "anywhere, anytime."

My former White House colleague Yuval Levin pointed out that Mr. Obama, in his first national TV ad rolled out Friday, claims credit for having "extended health care for wounded troops," citing the 2008 defense authorization. That bill passed 91-3 – but Mr. Obama was one of only six senators who didn't show up to vote. This brazen claim underscores the candidate's thin résumé and, again, his chutzpah.

Mr. Obama has now also played the race card, twice suggesting in recent weeks that Republicans will draw attention to the fact that he's black

Tags: obama, clinton, mccain, wounded warriors health bill, race card, townhall debates

Teen depression blamed on 'affluenza'

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:50:44 GMT

clipped by: A53GG4

Clip Source: www.canada.com

Teen depression blamed on 'affluenza'

Pamela Fayerman , Canwest News Service

VICTORIA - Mental health experts have coined the term "affluenza" to describe a newly recognized cause of depression in children and youth, delegates to the Canadian Paediatric Society conference heard Tuesday.

"When people have everything in a material sense, they may have perfectionistic expectations and unrealistic goals," said B.C. Children's Hospital psychiatrist Jane Garland in an interview, following her presentation to delegates at a session on mental health problems in children and youth.

"Children keep hearing the message that they can 'do anything,' but if they are constantly given everything, they may not know how to achieve their goals and when they fail, they may have poor coping skills, and an intolerance for discomfort," she said.

Telling children they can achieve all their dreams and goals sets them up for low self-esteem and low self-worth when things don't go their way,

Tags: health

How Global Should the Internet Be?

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:23:57 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.businessweek.com

Domain names are a sore point with nations who use alphabets other than Roman. Now, the group that oversees domain names is trying to translate

Lest you think a U.N. meeting to discuss the future of the Internet would be a ponderous, low-key affair, consider this remarkable tale. Back in 2003, when the U.N. held just such an event in Geneva, the delegates unexpectedly decided to close the meeting to nongovernmental officials and to eject a handful of attendees. One of them was Paul Twomey—president of the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names & Numbers (ICANN), a private, nonprofit company that oversees technical aspects of the Internet's address system—who was escorted by guards to the exit.

The surprising turn of events underscored the simmering resentment felt by many nations, especially in the developing world, over the governance of the Internet.

Limitless Domain Names?

Tags: the net, global, domain names

Ron Paul's Montana supporters refuse to give up

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:06:47 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com

Sen. John McCain may be the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, but supporters of Ron Paul in Montana refused to abandon their candidate.

The group led an impassioned fight Friday at the Montana GOP convention, shaking things up in a failed effort to secure the state's 22 national convention delegates for Paul — who suspended his presidential bid earlier this month.

While the battle jazzed up a normally dull delegate selection process, Paul supporters could not muster enough votes to trump McCain's backers. In the end, McCain received all 22 delegates
despite a close vote, party officials said.

Paul's supporters said they would continue to fight for delegates at the national convention to honor the principles of the campaign, and as a way to continue pushing their ideals.

Tags: politics, mccain, ron paul

life after death?

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 03:27:32 GMT

clipped by: jakigood

Clip Source: www.cosmosmagazine.com

Near-death experiences go under the French microscope

MARSEILLE, France, 18 June 2006 - Doctors, researchers and patients gathered near Marseille in southern France on Saturday for the world's first ever conference dedicated to near-death experiences (NDEs).

More than 1,500 delegates including people who claim to have had NDEs are attending the one-day conference, which aims to take stock of the disputed phenomenon in the most scientific way possible.

"People who were brain-dead could see what was going on in a waiting room, or around them, in precise detail. We are not talking about an hallucination here because it was quite real," he said.

This is what the Republicans don't want to hear

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 01:02:11 GMT

clipped by: joseph_b26
clipper's remarks: This union is a Republican nightmare. Throughout the Democratic primary, the right-wing media did everything they could to prevent the Democrats from uniting. Too bad it didn't work.

Clip Source: ap.google.com

10 hours ago

Obama, Hillary Clinton to campaign together

CHICAGO (AP) — Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama's campaign says he'll campaign with former rival Hillary Rodham Clinton next week.

Obama's campaign said in an e-mail that the two senators will campaign together for the first time on Friday, June 27.

Obama and Clinton are also scheduled to hold a joint fundraiser this month.

Clinton suspended her campaign for the Democratic nomination earlier this month after Obama secured enough delegates to clinch the nomination.

Tags: uniting

Why they say "suspended" their campaign

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:11:37 GMT

clipped by: tfiffer

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

She suspended her campaign, rather than officially ending it. That’s a technicality that will allow her to raise money to retire her debt and to control the delegates she won. It is not an indication that she has any intention of resuming it.

In her last rally as a presidential candidate, Mrs. Clinton expressed deep gratitude to the voters. who had cast ballots for her.

State Dems Convention Supports Death With Dignity

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:42:25 GMT

clipped by: iulawboy

Clip Source: crosscut.com

The delegates also clashed with Gregoire's disapproval of Initiative 1000, or the "death with dignity" or "assisted suicide" ballot measure, approving the platform's stance in favor of it.

Tags: death with dignity, i-1000, gregoire

High Fructose Corn Syrup Isn't to Blame For Obesity

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:58:03 GMT

clipped by: nhorn

Clip Source: www.webmd.com

June 18, 2008 -- High fructose corn syrup, a sweetener used in many products, including soft drinks, is getting some guarded support from an unlikely source -- the American Medical Association (AMA).

At a meeting in Chicago, AMA delegates backed a resolution that argues that there's no scientific proof that high fructose corn syrup deserves the blame for obesity more than sugar or other caloric sweeteners. The resolution also nixes putting warning labels on products containing high fructose corn syrup.

But the AMA also points out that people also consumed more calories and became less active during that time and that the body processes high fructose corn syrup much like sugar.

The AMA says it isn't thrilled with the level of research on high fructose corn syrup, partly because there isn't a lot of research on the health effects of high fructose corn syrup and also because of industry funding for much of that work.

Tags: medicine, healthcare