30 October 2006
India – Clients Give Lessons on AIDS in Brothels
India has one of Asia's largest sex-industries and AIDS activists fighting the high infection rate have recruited an unusual group of people to help curb the spread of the disease. Almost 200 regular clients of prostitutes have been enlisted in the region of Sonagachhi, to teach fellow visitors about using condoms and having frequent blood tests. "We spend so much time in Sonagachhi that we thought that it was our duty to protect these girls from AIDS," said Deepak Bhattacharya, a businessman and frequent visitor of brothels. India has the world's highest HIV/AIDS caseload with 5.7 million infected people. Every evening, Bhattacharya and his other colleagues scout the brothels for fellow customers and sex workers to talk to them about the new HIV/AIDS awareness campaign. But activists say there is still a lot of work to do and estimate that about 90 percent of the men who visit Sonagachhi do not know that AIDS can be contracted through sexual intercourse. ...[more]
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USA - Police Find Marijuana on their Burgers
Police officers arrested three workers at a New Mexico Burger Restaurant after discovering a strange herb sprinkled on the meat, halfway into their meal. A field test-kit confirmed that the substance was marijuana. The officers went to a hospital for a medical evaluation. The three employees involved, including the manager, were arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and aggravated battery of an officer. ...[more]
USA – New Halloween Marijuana Book for Kids
A new edition of the book, "It's Just a Plant", a children's story about marijuana, has been released in time for Halloween. The book seems to be popular to those who find it a unique tool to 'educate' their kids about the notorious plant. A large number of the book's admirers have also requested that gift sets be handed out to share the misleading story with others – from friends to parents to grandchildren. On its revamped website, the book with a storyline taking place in Halloween, is widely advertised online. ...[more]
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North Korea – A Modern-day Nazi Regime
In the wake of North Korea's claim to have exploded a nuclear bomb, articles featuring criticism of the cruel and secretive government have again flooded Western newspapers. The London Sunday Times reports that North Korea's obsession with racial purity has led to the killing of disabled infants and forced abortion or infanticide when women bear children to Chinese men. Refugees paint a picture of a regime which is less a Communist workers' state than a Nazi-type monarchy based on notions of racial superiority. A North Korean refugee doctor says that deformed babies are killed soon after birth. "There are no people with physical defects in North Korea," he told a seminar in Seoul. Women who escape over the border into China are often sold by traffickers. If they are pregnant when they are caught and returned to North Korea, soldiers either abort the foetus or the babies are suffocated and tossed into bins. ...[more]
USA - New "Right to Die Manifesto" Not About Terminal Illness
The "World Federation of Right to Die Societies" has issued a new Manifesto. Here it is in full: "Believing in the rights and freedom of all persons, we affirm this right to die with dignity, meaning in peace and without suffering. All competent adults--regardless of their nationalities, professions, religious beliefs, ethical and political views--who are suffering unbearably from incurable illnesses should have the possibility of various choices at the end of their life. Death is unavoidable. We strongly believe that the manner and time of dying should be left to the decision of the individual, assuming such demands do not result in harm to society other than the sadness associated with death." Wesley J. Smith's commentary shows that this explicitly states that patients with any incurable disease (including arthritis, bi-polar disorder or diabetes) would be included. "The legalization of euthanasia would, by definition, harm society" he says. " It corrupts the purposes of medicine, it discriminates against the vulnerable by permitting the facilitation of some suicides, while requiring the prevention of others. It opens the door to the fall of a steep moral cliff as has occurred in the Netherlands where, after 30 years of euthanasia, the parliament will soon legalize eugenic infanticide." ...[more]
USA , Netherlands - Doctors are adversely affected by Euthanasia
A study revealing the adverse effects of euthanasia on doctors who perform the procedure has been published by Physicians for Compassionate Care. "Doctors describe being profoundly adversely affected, being shocked by the suddenness of the death, being caught up in the patient's drive for assisted suicide, having a sense of powerlessness and feeling isolated. There is evidence of pressure and intimidation of doctors by patients, relatives, or even fellow practitioners, to perform euthanasia," concluded the report. The study included interviews with over 600 doctors from Oregon and the Netherlands. ...[more]
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China - HIV Infection Rate Climbing Among Homosexual Men
According to researchers on homosexual studies, China's HIV infection among homosexual men is escalating at a shocking rate. The infection rate is reaching 1.5 percent among sexually active homosexual men, according to Zhang Beichuan, a professor with Qingdao University's Medical School. "The health authorities have to do something to curb the rising infection rate among gay men, who account for two to four percent of the sexually active adult male population," Zhang said. China's first, and most recent official figure on male homosexuality, that put the total of homosexual men in the country between five and ten million, was released in 2004. In his latest study, Zhang found 90 percent of them felt assured they had not contracted the virus. In a United Nations survey in 2005, only 15 percent of 482 sexually active homosexual men understood that they were at risk of infection. In a report, 80 percent homosexual men in China admitted that they know nothing about the spread of HIV/AIDS. ...[more]
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South Africa – New Hope for Women in Prostitution
The Sara Blakely Foundation has joined forces with Richard Branson to provide funds to support young women around the world with entrepreneur opportunities and successful futures. South Africa's Women on the Move received one of the first grants, a total of R1.5 million. Young women in South Africa are the biggest targets of HIV/AIDS with high incidence of rape and sexual abuse and low education opportunities. Having to support and care for AIDS-affected siblings or grandparents, they turn to prostitution as the only obvious way to earn a living. According to Branson, "Our aim is to support a new generation of young women to empower them to take control of their lives, free of HIV. It's in line with Madiba's legacy - the power of one to bring about change. One person at a time can change the future of this country. These women serve as a bridge between the life they come from to one of new possibilities for themselves and others." ...[more]
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USA - Partial-match Cell Transplants for Kids with Resistant Leukemia
Hope has dawned for children suffering with resistant leukemia in the form of a new treatment, which has been proven by the clinicians at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, entails a superior method of blood stem-cell transplantations. The St. Jude technique allows blood stem-cells to come from parents or unmatched adult siblings; and it avoids the aggressive, toxic treatments that must usually accompany the transplant. This allows the majority of patients with leukemia or non-cancerous blood disorders to receive a transplant. An additional advantage of this new treatment is that donor immune cells are likely to remain in the recipient instead of attacking the leukemic cells. This work is reported in the prepublication edition of the British Journal of Haematology. ...[more]
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USA – Planned Parenthood's New National Strategy
Planned Parenthood has announced their new upcoming national strategy in a recent memo. It focuses mostly on the efforts of pro-life advocates to oppose the abortion industry and it laments on the amount of time Planned Parenthood devotes to responding. Cecile Richards, the pro-abortion outfit's new president, says that the strategy was developed to answer the question, "What do we have to do differently to achieve our goals more quickly and more effectively?" Jim Sedlack of STOPP International, a pro-life group said, "Those familiar with Planned Parenthood will note that there is nothing really new in this strategy. What is new is the implicit admission that Planned Parenthood is having a harder and harder time achieving its goals and that it really feels it is on the defensive. This should be an encouragement to all who daily fight this insidious organization." ...[more]
USA - Does Planned Parenthood Oppose Child Abuse?
The question whether abortion clinics take this responsibility seriously, was instigated by a recent survey. A woman called Planned Parenthood Clinics across the country and told them that she was 13, and pregnant by her 22-year-old boyfriend. She received an overwhelming response from most of the clinics that she could come in for an abortion with complete confidentiality and that they would not report the sanctioned rape. Officials on the Los Angeles County board of supervisors have asked California's attorney general, Bill Lockyer, to clarify the state's policy regarding the reporting of suspected statutory rape. Planned Parenthood's research arm, the Alan Guttmacher Institute, reported that seven in ten girls who had sex before age 13 say that their first sexual experience was unwanted or non-voluntary. ...[more]
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Australia – Retailers Angry on 'Paedophilic' Claims
Major retailers are outraged by claims that some of their children's clothing encourages paedophile behaviour. One of the retailers, Myer and David Jones are accused of a plan to "sexualise Australian children" by using suggestive photographs that promote the selling of skimpy underwear for pre-pubescent children. Researchers at the Australia Institute said that the sexualised images will lead to paedophiles seeing children as sexual objects. She said, "For the sake of corporate profits, children are being posed like adults, photographed with come-hither expressions and encouraged to see themselves as sexual when they are not". But retailer David Jones said they have strict guidelines in place to prevent the sexualisation of children in their advertising. ...[more]
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Japan – Reconsidering the Support of Surrogate Births
As widespread sympathy for infertile families has risen, the Japanese government has indicated that it may reverse its policy and support surrogate births. Although surrogacy is not a crime in the country, the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology has banned it. Minister of Health Hakuo Yan-agisawa said, "The government must consider its future direction by carefully assessing the trend of public opinion". These words were voiced after a doctor revealed he had helped a woman in her 50's give birth to her own grandchild. Similarly, Japan's new First Lady Akie Abe admitted that she underwent fertility treatment, having felt pressured to bear children because her husband, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, was from a family of politicians. Justice Minister, Jinen Nagase remained cautious, saying, "We have not decided whether we should accept this medical procedure. If we decide on it at this stage, it will only cause confusion," he said.
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