Could the cure for HIV be lurking where we least expect it? A group of scientists think so. In a recent paper published in PLoS Biology, they contend that junk genes, that have been lurking inactive in the human DNA for millions of years, may hold the cure. They managed to reawaken one promising gene, and have demonstrated that it could potentially provide humans with immunity to HIV, by blocking the virus from penetrating cell walls. This is not as farfetched as it may seem. As remarked in the paper, there are "nonhuman primates also produce theta-defensins-18 residue cyclic peptides that act as HIV-1 entry inhibitor."
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is now twice the size of France. I've posted previously on this floating monument to humanity's total disregard for the planet. Located in the Pacific Ocean, the garbage patch is an accumulation of debris, that is held together by ocean currents. It is a large, floating mass, about 10 metres deep, of just garbage. Today, that garbage is almost 90% plastic. While the garbage patch must have existed for a long time, it is only in recent history that its composition changed from biodegradable material to mostly plastic. Estimates suggest that the navies and commercial shipping fleets of the world dump about 639,000 plastic containers overboard each day -- yet, surprisingly, 80% of the garbage patch doesn't come boats, but originates from land.
The wind blows plastic rubbish out of littered streets and landfills, and lorries and trains on their way to landfills. It gets into rivers, streams and storm drains and then rides the tides and currents out to sea. Litter dropped by people at the beach is also a major source.
So what if the world's largest landfill is the Pacific Ocean? How about the deaths of a million seabirds and one hundred thousand marine mammals and turtles, annually? Most of these animals die from entanglement -- caught in discarded fishing nets and lines -- then, there is asphyxiation and constipation. The plastic debris is mistaken for food and is eaten. Some get lodged in the animals throats, choking them, while others block their digestive system -- death by constipation.
So who cares if some animals die? While plastic isn't biodegradable, it does break down into smaller and smaller pieces -- to the size of grains of sand. Plastic has a habit of attracting and accumulating chemical poisons. At the bottom of the marine food chain, zooplankton ingest these ... and eventually, the poison makes it into our own bodies. Who cares? We should. We're killing ourselves slowly.
The CRTC wants to hear your voice on the topic of ISP's Internet Traffic Management. In case you don't know, ISPs today monitor your online activities. They know where you go, what you do, how long you do it -- and in case where you're interacting with someone else, they also know who you're doing it to. All great stuff to know if you were living in a dictatorship -- or you were a criminal -- but if you're a freedom loving, law abiding citizen -- well, you're being monitored, so mind where you go and what you do, as one of the goons at Rogers or Bell, is being a voyeur.
If you like the internet, and the content that's readily at your fingertips, you'll probably be shocked to know that the ISPs want the ability to degrade your service, if they think you're having just a little too much fun. Translation: that YouTube video you're watching just became very jerky, unless you stay up after midnight to watch it. Rogers and Bell are already throttling their service during peak hours in fact, but will remove the speed bumps if you paid them more. It's a bad analogy, but if voice calls were data -- it would be like charging you more if you used more words -- or if you used big words.
The ISPs -- the big ones -- are currently arguing their case with the CRTC to give them the ability to tier their service and charge more if you exceed their arbitrary limitations on your bandwidth consumption. If this strikes you as a little unfair, tell the CRTC. This is a case where your voice matters and can make a difference. Go to it!
Google Labs has done it again -- this time, with Similar Images -- capability that puts a Similar Images link below relevant thumbnails in Google's image search results. By clicking the Similar Images link, Google then provides a fairly accurate refinement of your image search. Totally cool!
The coppers may have gotten to the pirates, but Google plans on freeing your torrents. Take that MPAA and RIAA! Now if only there was something worth pirating from Hollywood.
On a related note, I read that some bad souls have launched Operation Public Pirate. It's UK-based, as the culprits have decided to target the music industry by pirating all the number one UK singles from 1952-2007. They've prepared a torrent with all of the songs, and are asking public pirates to download the music, buy a big spindle of DVDs, then burn the music on all the DVDs, and leave them in public places for people to take -- for free.
That's it, Amazon will no longer be getting any of my money. I will no longer use the online shop for anything until it changes a policy that now considers books with homosexual characters -- or positively deal with homosexuality -- as adult books, no different from pornography. It becomes another form of censorship, when an international bookseller purposely skews data or feed its clients ignorance, instead of keeping them informed.
I conducted a non-scientific analysis of Amazon's treatment of homosexuality, by comparing how Amazon UK, Canada and the US treats homosexuality. The findings:
Amazon UK Search term: homosexuality Results: Can Homosexuality be Healed? by Francis MacNutt - 1-star rating; A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality by Joseph Nicolosi and Linda Nicolosi - 1-star rating; A Natural History of Homosexuality by Dr. Francis Mark Mondimore MD - 4.5-star rating; The Greeks And Greek Love: A Radical Reappraisal of Homosexuality In Ancient Greece by James Davidson - 4-star rating; My Undoing by Aiden Shaw - 4-star rating. Analysis: It's interesting to note that the first two books are not positive or fair and balanced in their views, and have a lower rating, yet, appear first in the search.
Amazon Canada
Search term: homosexuality Results: Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You by Peter Cameron - 5-star rating; The Gay Man's Kama Sutra by Terry Sanderson - no rating; And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson, Peter Parnell, and Henry Cole - 5-star rating; Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality, Revised and Expanded Edition: Explode the Myths, Heal the Church by Jack Rogers - no rating; Out of the Shadows, Into the Light: Christianity and Homosexuality by Miguel De La Torre - no rating; Homosexuality in Islam: Islamic Reflection on Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Muslims by Scott Kugle - no rating. Analysis: The books in that topped the search in Canada all appear fair and balanced, even though ratings did not appear for three of the top 5.
Amazon US
Search term: homosexuality Results: A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality by Joseph Nicolosi and Linda Ames Nicolosi - 2-star rating; What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality by Daniel A. Helminiak - 4-star rating; Homosexuality and Civilization by Louis Crompton - 5-star rating; 101 Frequently Asked Questions About Homosexuality by Mike Haley - 4-star rating; Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality, Revised and Expanded Edition: Explode the Myths, Heal the Church by Jack Rogers - 4-star rating. Analysis: Again, as in the UK search, the book that tops the search, is ranked lower than others -- and it is unbalanced in its view of homosexuality.
Politico reports that the Obama-Bankers meeting recently held at the White House, was anything but a friendly meeting. As the bankers rolled out their excuses, Obama apparently interrupted with this line:
Be careful how you make those statements, gentlemen. The public isn't buying that. My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks.
It's nice when government represents the interests of their electorate.
Reverend Mark Stringer cried. He's obviously not a man of god, because if he was, he'd raise an army to hunt down gays and lesbians in Iowa. Stringer cried however, because the Supreme Court in Iowa just made it OK for gays and lesbians to legally marry in the state. Previously, Stringer had officiated the only same-sex marriage in the state, in 2007, when there was a short legal limbo on permitting same sex marriages. The only way to officially stop the state is to amend its constitution -- an opportunity that won't present itself until 2012.
"We are firmly convinced that the exclusion of gay and lesbian people from the institution of civil marriage does not substantially further any important governmental objective," the court said in an opinion written by Justice Mark Cady. "The legislature has excluded a historically disfavored class of persons from a supremely important civil institution without a constitutionally sufficient justification."
The ruling appeared to dismiss the option of civil unions as a marriage alternative, finding that "a new distinction based on sexual orientation would be equally suspect and difficult to square with the fundamental principles of equal protection embodied in our constitution." [More ...]
Of course, the haters are at it. Siting that the voice of the majority has been ignored. I wonder if these people understand the hatred they spew? How different is this from the battle for equal rights for blacks?
Pious Perverts
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The state-funded religious-nationalist school of Orot Girls opened in new
premises in September in the city of Bet Shemesh. As per school
regulations, all ...
