On August 14, 2008, President Bush signed into law the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (the “Act”). This legislation, sponsored by Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR), comes a year after last summer’s recalls of millions of toys. It took the recalls and the deaths and hospitalizations of children resulting from magnets, collapsing cribs, lead trinkets, and toys filled with poisonous liquids to spur the federal government into action. The Chicago Tribune deserves More… »

An eminent biologist and anthropologist Jared Diamond recently  examined a very fundamental question: “Why did some civilizations like that of Easter island, the Maya empire and Greenland Norse collapse in history while others like Iceland and Japan survive for thousands of years?”  It is very important to answer this question for it is for our society to tread carefully so as to avoid the example of the extinct civilizations in the past.

As an example of a failed civilization, More… »

By Gioietta Kuo (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-10 08:08

As the price of oil exceeds $135 a barrel, Goldman Sachs, the New York investment bank, predicts that the oil price will reach $200 a barrel in the next year.

Mamdouh Salameh, advisor to the World Bank and UN Industrial Development Organization, said that if not for the Iraq War, the oil price would be $40 a barrel today. It is the United States’ and Britain’s invasion that led to the current oil crisis.

Iraq apart, although speculation must play a part, there are two fundamental reasons why the world is in a severe oil crisis.

First, there are many signs that oil is

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Low food production capacity in developing countries, particularly in Africa is one of the major contributing factor for hunger and food price crisis. Above all, inadequate research informed policies for agricultural growth deepen the hunger and food price crisis. There is policy gap to support biofood technology in African countries that not only reduces capacity to produce adequate food but also has contributed to the current food price crisis. While 800 million people are food insecure (Andersen and Cohen), many African governments do not have biotechnology policies or have resisted the adoption of biotechnology for food production. Overcoming hunger and food price crisis in Africa requires multiple actions including dedicated policy direction for biotechnology and assistance programs for small farmers.

There is an overriding contention that

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There is now a movement away from alternative fuels, mainly due to the shortage and high price of food products, such as corn, that is also used to make ethanol. Other arguments against ethanol are that it may be costlier to make than the current cost to refine crude oil. The Morning News,(by Aoife White, The Associated Press) May 6, 2008 edition, carried an article titled “Economist Pushes For Biofuel Cuts” stating that “The U.S. and European Union should reconsider a shift to biofuel that has helped increase food prices world-wide by turning agricultural land over to energy crops, American economist Jeffrey Sachs said Monday.” There are also those who say the shortage of oil is due in part, to the lack of refineries, and many in the United States do not want to have refineries located near their cities or finance the upfront investment for construction which is very expensive.

Another article regarding the use of agricultural land was published in The Morning News by Seth Borenstein of The Associated Press, May 11, 2008, titled “Experts: Better Soil Needed.” The article discussed the new plant seeds which were formulated to produce healthier crops, are now having difficulty producing in degraded

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Adam Smith, the famed 18^th century economist, articulated the principles and differences between labor and capital.  In simpler times, most workers simply sold their labor in exchange for wages. The earning power of a worker was a function of how many hours he or she could work at a given wage. Capital, on the hand, was employed to finance research, purchase equipment and inventory or meet other working capital needs. Capital was instrumental in building value for a business.

Today, many workers, particularly in the executive suite of public companies or financial markets, have been earning far in excess of what

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This letter was written in June 2006 when the philanthropist  Warren Buffet made a huge donation ~ $35 billion to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for the purpose of philanthropic distribution around the world.  At the time, much fanfare was made by Gates in the  press on how to use this money to reduce infant mortality rate by vaccination as well as by draining malaria swamps.   Not one word was mentioned about  controlling and reducing the world population,  which to me is the most important issue.  The planet is already too small for 6.5 billion people.  Without tackling population control all the other ills like shortage of food, water, air, employment cannot be solved.  Although at a later date, Gates Foundation did mention that a part of its funds will be used for population control, I have so far not been able to get a precise figure from them as to what percentage that is.   Anyway, following is my opinion on this very important isuue.  

                        An Open Letter to Bill and Melinda Gates

            Dear Bill and Melinda Gates,

            Like millions of other people,

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This article was translated into Chinese and published on Oct 8 2007 in People’s Daily , the official organ of the Chinese government.

Our planet is too small for 6,500,000,000 people.

Recent warning by United nation Population Programme (UNPP) is that the world is adding one billion more people every 12-13 years.  The forecast is that from the present 6.5 billion today, it will reach 7.6 billion by 2020, 8.2 billion by 2030 and an alarming 9.0 billion by 2050.

There is a vast difference between the growth of population and the growth of food supply to feed the population.  The way population grows is called ‘exponential’.  That means the number of births at any time depends on the number of people present.  A couple can produce 10 children and each child can produce 10 more. So in a short space of 2 generations - 40 years, there could be 100 more people on earth.

The growth of food, however, can only increase linearly if at all.  For example, genetically altered

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Just as world oil scarcity is already causing international conflicts, so will the scarcity of water come to the point where wars will break out. The most blatant example of oil war is the on going war in Iraq – all Iraqis and almost all the people in the world except for Republicans in the US believe oil to be the reason for the occupation of Iraq. Even people like Dick Cheney, and Karl Rove in their most candid moments admit oil is the driving force. However, the official reason is to bring a model of democracy to the middle east. It is a constant source of puzzle for ordinary Americans, do these people really believe it, are they trying to fool us, or just fooling themselves? We shall never know!

The statistics on water are already scary. Already well over 1 billion people More… »

Nineteen deaths and nearly 800 life-threatening allergic reactions may be linked to contaminated heparin sold by Baxter International Inc. (“Baxter”) of Deerfield, Illinois. Heparin is used as a blood thinner in cardiac surgery and kidney dialysis.  On March 20, 2008, More… »

The Wall Street Journal, March 15, 2008 edition “Remembrances” section printed the obituaries of Professor Joseph Weizenbaum and Mr. Elmer W. Johnson.

Joseph Weizenbaum was a computer pioneer that authored a unique program called “Eliza.”  It was named after Shaw’s ingénue in “Pygmalion.”  Professor Weizenbaum was a pioneer in computer development, but later on began to question the benefits and long term construct of program improvements that may lead to dangerous

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On March 18, 2008, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that Reebok International Ltd. will pay a $ 1,000,000 civil penalty for importing and distributing charm bracelets that contained toxic levels of lead. In March 2006, a four year old boy from Minneapolis swallowed the bracelet’s heart shaped pendant and died.
The penalty is the largest for a violation of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA), which bans toxic levels of lead in toys and other children’s products. Reebok denied that it violated federal law in settling the matter according to the CPSC.
The million dollar fine will not bring the boy back to life. The CPSC took two years, since his tragic death to More… »

Today, March 18, 2008, the “Personal Journal” section of The Wall Street Journal carried an article titled “Why Hospitals Want Your Credit Report.” There are many companies that specialize in data mining; accumulating a mass of personal information ranging from your buying habits and political inclinations, to your credit rating. The list includes health care specialization companies such as SearchAmerica, Inc., Fair Isacc Corp, and Healthcare Analytics. It seems that hospitals want credit information in order to concentrate on patients that have the ability to pay. The next step of this slippery slope More… »

In 1619, a ship carrying African slaves landed at Jamestown, Virginia. Even though Congress had banned the future importation of slaves in 1807; the abolition of slavery itself could not be resolved through political negotiations. The Southern states More… »

Although there were many previous incidents, the initial alarm regarding the seriousness, depth and breadth of China’s lack of food and toy safety began in March of 2007. This was the largest recall in history regarding the import of a product from China that was mixed with pet food. This resulted in the death of thousands of America’s More… »

The February 29, 2008 edition of The Morning News contained an editorial titled “Experts Urge Congress’ Help” which urged action to insulate commercial real estate from a still-crumbling housing market. In the meantime there are regional pockets in the U.S. where developers are still constructing commercial properties while other nearby commercial properties are vacant and in foreclosure. The question must be asked More… »

Now that Fidel Castro is out of the Cuban leadership spotlight, some think this an opportune time to begin taking steps toward normalization of our relationship with that country. Most leaders who discuss this issue are careful to preface their comments with a statement that we will not

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Having scheduled my annual physical examination, I was at the point of checking in with the receptionist when she asked me to fill out a new form. Another of the many reasons why I hate going to a doctor’s office, but I just mentally checked it off as just another form necessary for today’s bureaucratically managed health care system. When I looked at the form I was a bit taken aback, not because it asked me to confirm much of my medical history they already had, but because More… »

For many years, we have watched the movement of jobs overseas to countries like Mexico, China and India.  In the meantime our U.S. unemployment lines continue to grow and our “rust belt” cities continue to decline as manufacturing jobs disappear. Equipment has been moved to

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Recently it was stated on Lou Dobbs Tonight that the graduation rate of high school students is only 64% for Hispanics, 60% for African Americans and 80% for White students. When compared to the 60% and 64% figures, the 80% looks good, but More… »

Renewable energy sources like wind and solar energy cannot solve completely the world’s energy problems. Nuclear power is the only alternative especially since there is urgency in reducing CO emission as fast as we can. When Jim Hansen, director of Climatology at NASA Goddard Space Center USA, was asked what we can possibly do about global warming, he replied

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On January 31, 2008 tens of thousands of Mexican farmers marched in the streets of Mexico City to protest

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It occurred to me today as I was sitting in the student center of my university talking with friends about problems with environmental issues and their relation to the economy that maybe the way countries spend there money has to do with More… »

The New York Times ran an article on January 20, 2008, titled “Timber Thieves Strike at the Heart of Lands Private and Public”. It reported that a 78 year old man had many

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The current financial emergency and stock market plunge created by sub-prime mortgage lending, coupled with high fuel prices and trade agreements which led to the loss of thousands of American jobs, has caused

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Given many threats to national security in the post-9/11 world, U.S. foreign assistance must address more than humanitarian and developmental goals. Conditions of instability and insecurity that arise from terrorism, More… »

Trade barriers such as tariffs are not a bad policy tool despite what mulitnational corporations will tell you. When used effectivly they insulate domestic markets from global production costs differnces. They are nessary to keeping a healthy and diversified economy. Fourteen years after More… »

All during the current presidential campaign there has been much ado about TAXES.  Who has the best record for cutting taxes?  Who has the worst record

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Illegal Immigration and Insecure Borders  - Who is to Blame?

Rather than turn their ire against illegal aliens, American citizens should direct their anger toward two governments, the Government of Mexico and the U.S. Government.   After all, most illegal aliens

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The Missing Ingredients For Sustainable Development  In High Growth Corridors

Over the last century there has been considerable interest in protecting the environment and during the last several decades in particular, there has been some progress in the creation of the general interest towards organic gardening, solar energy, wind energy, so called “green products” that are totally recyclable and the broad category of “sustainable development”. 

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The Other New Americans

Upon consideration of various efforts regarding teaching immigrants about America, and lifting the veil of hyphenated descriptive nouns; i.e. German-American, African-American, Irish-American, etc., one has to consider where to start in order to finally end the hatred and xenophobic fears the permeate our society.

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An unlevel playing field in athletics and academics

Marion Jones, an Olympic medal winner and outstanding athlete ended up in disgrace, having to give up her medals and sentenced to six months in jail for lying to federal investigators.  All this came about through her use of steroids.

Rappers Wyclef Jean, 50 Cent, Timbaland and other rap stars with super-human physiques More… »

A JUST WAR CRITIQUE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY’S INTERVENTION IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA BETWEEN 1992 AND 1995•I.                    INTRODUCTION

This paper sets forth an ethical examination, using the just-war criteria, of the international community’s intervention in Bosnia-Herzegovina (”Bosnia”) between 1992-1995. On March 3, 1992, Bosnia, a republic in Yugoslavia, legally declared independence, following in the footsteps of its sister republics, Slovenia and Croatia[1] and on November 21, 1995, the Dayton Accords were signed. In between, there were “250,000 people killed, two million refugees, and atrocities More… »

On Saturday, January 12, 2008, a female high school runner was disqualified from running in a track meet in the Washington D.C. suburbs. Juashaunna Kelly, who is one of the fastest student runners in the D.C. area,

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Patrick Moore sparked a long overdue debate on nuclear energy ­ Washington Post, 4/17/06. The sad reality is, there are NO options open to us except nuclear energy.

Renewables like wind and solar energy are prohibitively expensive in capital cost, about $4700 ­ 7500/Kilowatt. Since wind does not blow nor the sun shine all the time, there has to be a standby source of power which fills in the gap when the wind or sun is down. The only candidate is nuclear power. The capital cost of nuclear reactors is a factor of 3 lower ­ around $2200/Kilowatt. To replace fossil fuel with nuclear reactors would cost around $ 1/2 trillion. Nuclear technology is much improved in last 50 years. A nuclear reactor can in principle be built in 5 years. .

Scientists like Jim Hansen of NASA say we must start More… »

THE RUSSIAN MAIL-ORDER BRIDE INDUSTRY: 
FROM RUSSIA FOR LOVE, TO AMERICA IN DANGER

By Lisa Schwamkrug, J.D.

Natasha^* is in her late thirties, divorced, and a mother of two children. Natasha wanted nothing more than to find a man to share her life with. Although she is well educated and holds a degree from an engineering institute, and is a beautiful, warm and caring person, she had few prospects for marriage in Russia. Few Russian men are interested in marrying an older woman with teenage children. Russian men are not particularly appealing to Natasha either. Many drink too much and are inclined to abuse their wives. Natasha divorced her first husband because he was an alcoholic. Thus, Natasha decided to try her luck with a matchmaking agency. A friend told Natasha that a nice American man named Robert, twenty years her senior, was looking for a Russian wife and wanted to correspond with her. Robert sent a letter and photos, and they began corresponding. Natasha simply wanted a loving and supportive relationship. They corresponded for a year before Robert flew to Russia to visit Natasha. In his letters, Robert assured Natasha that he did not drink habitually, and only occasionally had a beer with his buddies. While in Russia, Robert drank an occasional glass of vodka to help him sleep. Robert liked Natasha’s children, and always remembered to send the children birthday cards, presents, and photos. Robert told Natasha and her children that they would be a family. Natasha and Robert married in Russia. A year passed before Natasha joined her new husband in America, and she arrived alone. Robert said he could not afford to bring the children and did not file immigration petitions for them.

Natasha arrived to a shocking More… »

The difference between Jared Diamond, biologist, anthropologist, historian and geographer, to name but a few of his qualifications and other great thinkers of our generation is that he is not afraid to ask some truly fundamental questions concerning human existence and actually proceeds to answer them. In his Pulitzer Prize winning book ‘Guns, Germs and Steel’, he asked the question posed so exquisitely in the words of a native of Papua New Guinea: ‘Why white men More… »

The word civilization is used nowadays to describe the social organization and culture of any distinct group of people. However, having grown up under the influence of English humanist social thinkers of the post war years, I tend to associate ‘civilization’ with the word ‘civilized’. In other words, a ‘civilization’ can be ‘civilized’ or ‘uncivilized’.

One day, when I was second year physics student at Cambridge, More… »

INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE OF HUMANISTS CONGRESS

Humanism, world peace and globalization

Dubrovnik, 23 to 26. October 2005
Nuclear proliferation, threats and solutions
Vladimir Knapp

Croatian Nuclear Society,
Croatian Pugwash Group

Abstract

Nuclear war would, no doubt, endanger the very existence of mankind. Nuclear arms race during the cold war era was one the most inhumane aberration of human mind. However, almost twenty years later we are still far from being safe from the danger of nuclear war.

With over 25 thousands of nuclear warheads still in arsenals of two nuclear superpowers, failure to disarm after the end of cold war is evident. As a consequence, Non Proliferation Treaty Review Conference of this year (1) was a disaster and serious omen More… »