Hugo Chavez needs a stick removed from his … nevermind

A few weeks ago I posted a blog about the embargo lifting between the United States and Cuba. There was a summit meeting, and we got a picture of something that we never thought possible. Hugo Chavez and the President of the United States shaking hands with smiles. Granted this was not President Bush, but [...]

Church and State my foot!

As I was reading the article about one of Conneticutt’s middle school’s banning touch, I found this video clip of a principal who allegedly held a Buddhist hate chant inside his school.
A principal with a hate list? The department of education is investigating a Riverdale principal amid accusations he held a religious ritual aimed at [...]

Rape and Burn

I was looking online to find articles about the negative effects of blogging and using Facebook and other such internet communities.  I wasn’t surprised to find quite a few blogs on the subject, but I was surprised to find this article. 
Lynch, a steroid addict, imprisoned the woman for hours before beating and raping her two [...]

The crisis really is everywhere

I stumbled across an article just a couple of hours into may thinking that this crisis indeed has extended everywhere. I dont know if it as bad as the world economic crisis after World War I, but its definetely big. When you have protests in France, Great Britain, Germany, Turkey, and several Asian countries all [...]

Stigma of Domestic Violence

On Earth Day, as I was coming home for the evening, I tripped on a box in my entry way. It was a very large, tall box and very much in my way. I fell forward onto the box and as my arms went out and up to protect my head and face, my elbow [...]

Twitter as a tool of revenge?

I personally do not use twitter, and here is why. I think that it is a stupid technology that we really dont need. We dont need to know what you are doing every five minutes, and if you are desperate for people to know what you are doing on a regular basis, then you need [...]

Swine flu or bad economy?

Over and over again, I keep hearing about how airlines are taking such a hit right now. I just read the article: Half Empty Plane: Is it Swine Flu or Slump? and it really got me thinking. Would something like the swine flu affect your travel plans if you had a vacation or business trip [...]

An article on msnbc.com illustrates the grim situation in Mexico.  Add a virus capable of pandemic proportions to an economic ression and drug violence, and you have a place that is not very appealing to very many people.  The beaches are vacant, the flights are such that a person could stretch out in any number [...]

Pilfer, Plunder, Pillage and Ransack a Village! These Pirates Did Not Get Their Buried Treasure

It is unbelievable that there are still pirates in this world. You would think that since the days of the “Pirates of the Caribbean,” that these barbaric acts would be banned by any government, but they are still very much alive. These particular pirates that BBC talks about were captured after a rather unsuccesful attack [...]

“Footloose”

It has become the ultimate act of frustration:  whip off your sneaker and fling it at the offending leader’s gourd.  This article talks about the new fad ‘o frustration in India that has become commonplace.
“In India, flying footwear is the new hunger strike, overtaking even the trendy Facebook protest as an expression of civil disobedience.”
The [...]

‘Religion a la carte’

I found the following article interesting; Survey: Americans switch faiths often. In an age in which science is stealing most of our miracles it appears that people are still keeping their faith. However, people are often switching religions based on various reasons such as “changed life circumstances.” Again I was under the impression that people [...]

Wouldn’t it be Crazy if Our Pres. Died of Swine Flu?

We have declared a Public Emergency over this Swine Flu which apparently can kill in less than two weeks.  In Mexico, it has already killed 81 people with over 1300 being thought to have it.  And check this out, President Obama was just in Mexico hanging out… well here, read this:
The newspaper Reforma reported that President [...]

It’s just no fun being a kid anymore

I found the following article interesting; Children tracked by sat nav to stop bad behaviour. The UK is combating rude behavior by children on school buses by developing a monitoring system which allows parents to track their children via GPS. The monitoring system works by children first swiping an identification card as they enter the [...]

Medical Student–possible murderer?

I briefly caught this story this morning on the news when I was getting ready for work. I forgot about it until I saw this headline on yahoo: Med Student Targeted Women on Craigslist. Basically, the guy is a second year medical student, engaged, comes from what sounds like a good family. He supposedly targeted [...]

The Amazing Paul Farmer

I just finishd a book for my Health Psychology class called Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. Inside I was introduced to Paul Farmer, a doctor and a medical anthropologist. He had a very interesting childhood, including living in a bus that was a converted TB clinic and then a boat; he had a very transient lifestyle. He [...]

World’s Oldest Marijuana Stash Totally Busted

Happy 420! In the Gobi Desert, archaeologists unearthed the grave of a 2,700 year old man who had 2 pounds of still-green marijuana buried with him.
The researchers believe the individual was a shaman from the Gushi people, who spoke a now-extinct language called Tocharian that was similar to Celtic.
Scientists originally thought the plant material in [...]

Phish and Folk Fest

I just learned that Phish reunited! Happy day for Phish-goers, but after I read this, I wasn’t so sure:
Nearly 200 Phish [ tickets ]-heads were arrested on drug-related charges during the band’s three-night reunion concert in Hampton, VA, according to an Associated Press report. Police said they confiscated about $1.2 million in illegal drugs and [...]

The Most Polluted Places

When I opened up my computer this morning to check my email, MSN Today popped up and there was a heading about the 9 Most Polluted Places in the United States and what actions were being taken to clean  them up.  There are 3 places for each air, water and land. Some of these places have [...]

Gotta Have a Blog on 420!

I donno, maybe I just want to talk about weezy.
So I guess the movement to legalize pot is alive and kicking and this year a bunch of them think that they are getting closer and closer to achieving their goals.  You can check out this article, it talks about what is happening but honestly, I don’t see anything revolutionary [...]

Blame the Psychologist

I found the following article interesting: Psychologists aided harsh CIA interrogations, memos show . When the CIA stepped up efforts to interrogate terrorist suspects, on their payroll were psychologists. According to the article it was the psychologists that provided the “critical role” of devising extreme interrogations techniques like using sleep deprivation, insects, and waterboarding. The [...]

Is Barack Obama Pushing His Luck?

I came across this article on BBC, that was talking about the cigar capital of the world. This tiny speck of land was the reason that the United States and the Soviet Union nearly launched a nuclear war between each other that would have killed everyone and everything 48 [...]

Weapons of Mass Restoration

In an article available on NPR’s (National Public Radio) website, they discuss a pretty ingenious sort of home-grown environmentalism going on in New York. Small groups of people are getting together and making seed balls, which are comprised of seeds native to an area, mulch, and red terracotta clay all mixed together and formed into [...]

Who deserves to die?

The question as to whether we should have a death penalty or not has been around for a long time. In this article, a woman wants her daughters killer to be executed. Is the this the case where the death penalty is necessary? The answer is simple, not really. Should we have a death [...]

Isnt it time to say your forgiven

I came across this article that was talking about an 89 year old Nazi war criminal getting still awaiting trial back in Germany. Of course it still amazes me that after all these years people are still getting arrested for something that happnened 54 years ago. Im not trying to be [...]

Having a Child from the Grave

I found the following article interesting; Ethical questions over harvesting dead son’s sperm. Nikolas Colton Evans died tragically before he could fulfill one of his wishes in life which was to have children. His mother however will not let his dream die with him and has received permission from the judicial system to harvest his [...]

Beano for Bovines

India’s ubiquitous flatulent cows are heating up the globe.  This may seem like a problem for the biologists, but nay! (or moo), it is a sociocultural issue!  It is illegal to kill the sacred cow in India, even when its milk has run dry, its owner has run out of money, or perhaps the beast [...]

Nation of Men

According an article on Yahoo.com, men are winning the gender game of teeter-totter.  China has long struggled to rein in, or at least maintain its population of 1.6 billion people by enforcing strict birth control laws.  Unfortunately, the desire for that one child to be a boy causes the rates of female infanticide to skyrocket.  [...]

marital rape

A friend posted a link to this article, and I was appalled when I read it. It talks about how a new Afghan law makes it legal for men to rape their wives.

One of the most controversial articles stipulates the wife “is bound to preen for her husband as and when he desires.”
“As long as [...]

Why mass murder?

I came across this article about the tragedy in NY.  Although this isn’t exactly like the “Strategic logic” article we read in class, it did get me thinking about why people do what they do. It’s so hard to imagine what such rage and pain feels like. Whether they’re part of some radical terrorist group or a man angry [...]

Kiss My Blarney Stone

I just read the article What Does it Mean to be Irish? in the latest Newsweek.  This is a question that could be asked about any culture or race, but it struck a cord with me because there are regions of me that are Irish, and I really have no idea what that means.  It [...]