16 April 2007
USA - Schwarzenegger Has Eyes on Marijuana
The State Board of Equalisation, has alerted California's 150 to 200 medical marijuana dispensaries that they are liable to pay taxes on their sales. The notice marks the first demand for marijuana taxes since California voters legalised medical marijuana, in 1996. The substance remains illegal under federal law despite 12 states having legalised use of the narcotic for medical treatment. Medicines are tax exempt in California, but tax authorities decided to start the marijuana levy because it is not dispensed by a pharmacist or approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a medication. Marijuana activists are concerned that tax records could give federal authorities a paper trail for possible prosecution follow-up. ...[more]
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USA - Plans To Recommend Circumcision in Anti-AIDS Crusade
New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has decided to add circumcision as a method to prevent HIV/AIDS. The department is also asking the Health and Hospital Corporations to provide circumcision free of charge to uninsured men. This initiative follows a recommendation by the World Health Organization to consider circumcision as a method to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in high risk areas, like sub-Saharan Africa. ...[more]
South Africa - HIV Hits Hard on Farmers
The World Food Programme (WFP), in an October 2006 report, noted that the high prevalence of HIV and AIDS in Southern Africa had a direct negative impact on food security. Swaziland Minister of Agriculture, said Swaziland was no exception as the country was also losing a lot of farmers due to the epidemic. Meanwhile, Malawi-based Victor Mhoni of the Civil Society Agriculture Network (CISANET), said that the problem with the HIV pandemic was that it wreaked havoc with farm labour patterns, since there is now a lot of time spent by labourers on tending to the sick, thus neglecting farming activities. Cesar Palha de Sousa of the organisation Cruzeiro do Sul in Mozambique said, “We have evidence here in Mozambique - based on surveys on the effects of HIV/AIDs and the functioning of rural markets - that the composition of households has largely changed as a result of the deaths of people still in their prime.” This could also lead to a further rapid decline of the labour force and thus less agricultural productivity. ...[more] return to top
Australia - Couple Avoids Prison Over “Mercy-Killing”
A Brisbane couple walks free after pleading guilty to the homicide of their 28-year-old blind and mentally disabled son, citing it as a “mercy-killing”. While prosecutors sought a prison sentence, the presiding judge released them, saying their actions were “born of love”. ...[more]
Belgium - Sinks to Infanticide
While the Dutch took twenty years to “progress” from tolerating euthanasia to allowing infanticide, it’s only taken the Belgians a few years to follow their neighbors. Not unexpectedly - and this isn't the first such report - eugenic infanticide is now occurring in Belgium, based on "quality of life" determinations. This is an eerie reminder of ancient customs of abandoning disabled babies on the hills. ...[more]
and another article
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USA - Homosexuality More Dangerous Than Smoking
Studies have shown that smoking shortens ones lifespan up to 7 years. But analysis of average lifespan for married homosexual couples suggests that engaging in homosexual behaviour reduces the lifespan up to 24 years! Dr Paul Cameron, a reviewer for the British Medical Journal, reports that married homosexuals lived 24 years less than their conventionally married counterparts. In Denmark, the country with the longest history of same sex marriage, married heterosexual men died at a median age of 74, while partnered homosexuals died at an average age of 51. In Norway, married heterosexual men died at an average age of 77 and homosexuals at 52. "The consistency of reduced lifespan for those engaging in homosexuality is significant," Dr Cameron said. ...[more]
USA - Homosexual Men at Higher Risk for Eating Disorders
Homosexual men may be at far higher risk for eating disorders than heterosexual men, a new study suggests. Researchers surveyed 516 New York City residents; 126 were heterosexual men and the rest were homosexual or bisexual men and women. The results showed that more than 15 percent of homosexual or bisexual men had at some time suffered anorexia, bulimia or binge-eating disorder, or at least certain symptoms of those disorders — a problem known as a “subclinical” eating disorder. That compared with less than 5 percent of heterosexual men, the researchers report in the International Journal of Eating Disorders. Other studies have had similar findings, and one theory is that homosexual men have different ideals about physical appearance, and, similar to women, they may feel pressure to stay thin. ...[more]
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USA - Stem Cells, Diabetes and the Veto
The bill to overturn President Bush's embryonic stem cell funding policy passed, but one vote short of a veto override margin. While the vote was swayed by citing hopes to cure juvenile diabetes using embryonic stem-cells, researches in Chicago say that Type 1 diabetes has been halted and even reversed by adult stem-cell transplant. Embryonic stem-cell research has not yielded solid results in the field.
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Portugal - President Signs Bill Legalizing Abortions
Portugal’s President Anibal Cavaco Silva, signed a bill into law that would legalise abortions up to 10 weeks into the pregnancy. Portugal's government has 60 days to regulate the new law before it is implemented. Silva supports ensuring that women are informed of abortion's risks, alternatives to abortion and getting the information in a mandatory pre-abortion counseling. Additionally, the father of the baby should be present at the counselling.
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Japan - Maternity Creates Stir with Call for Volunteer Surrogates
A maternity clinic has created a stir by calling for female volunteers to become surrogate mothers to help infertile couples bear children. Yahiro Netsu, head of the Suwa Maternity Clinic in Shimosuwa, made the call in a news conference in Tokyo, saying, "There are patients who need emergency application of these procedures. I want to do my bit to help out those patients." However, specialists have criticized the move, saying that women face dangers with surrogate births, and that it is a problem to publicly call for volunteers. The Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, to which Netsu belongs, does not permit surrogate births. In addition to the problem of leaving the tasks of pregnancy and birth to other people, which sometimes threaten people's lives, it says there are fears that surrogate births could lead to woman's bodies being viewed as tools. ...[more]
South Africa - Ladies, Step Up! Egg Donors Needed
A US company that has been trying to get South African women to donate their eggs for a fertility programme has drawn a blank with Wits students. Fran Haslam, who runs donor support for the company confirmed that no-one has responded to the fertility advertisements they have placed in Vuvuzela. The founder of Renew Fertility, Robin Newman, says she prefers working in South Africa because in the US, the business has become “borderline prostitution”. Donors have been known to be paid up to “$50 000 in an unregulated market”, with payment according to “skin colour, hair colour and attractiveness.” The prettier and more intelligent you are, the more you get paid, says Newman. Says they “co-operate with the South African Health Department” and if the clinics “we deal with do not comply with South African law, the clinics we work with will be shut down”.
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Canada - Community Group Pushes Acceptance of Prostitutes
A new toolkit with tips on how to create a more accepting community is being offered online. The website was created by the Community Initiative for Health and Safety, a project funded by the governments and non-profit groups such as the Vancity Community Foundation. For decades, sex-workers have been blamed for jeopardizing community safety, leaving used needles and condoms around and bringing down the reputation of a neighbourhood. The CIHS website is aimed at sex workers, residents and businesses. It offers tips on how to build a relationship between a sex worker and other community members, tips for johns on respecting neighbourhoods, how to prevent sexual exploitation of young people and strategies for sex workers who want to find a new line of work. ...[more]
United Kingdom - Prostitution Strategy for Ipswich
Ipswich has a prostitution strategy after both county and borough leaders approved moves to bring it to fruition. Ipswich Borough Council's executive committee and Suffolk County Council's cabinet held separate meetings to discuss the policy, which aims to rid Ipswich of street prostitution. The indicative cost of the scheme so far is £865,000 which includes £300,000 towards a multi-agency team who will help generate routes out of prostitution for those on the streets. Another £265,000 will be needed to meet the policing bill and a further £65,000 for automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology which helps monitor vehicles accessing the area. ...[more]
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Tanzania - Healing Leaves
The Deputy Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Aisha Kigoda, told the National Assembly that a certain mixture of herbs are known to improve CD4 counts in HIV/AIDS patients. They were particularly effective in controlling opportunistic infections, especially skin cancers, she added. Queries were raised if the government was aware that traditional healers offered herbal drugs to HIV/AIDS patients and what the government’s position was on the matter. Dr Kigoda said that it was possible for traditional healers to mix herbs from plants as ‘mlonge, which are rich in nutrients and come up with potent drugs that improve CD4 counts. ...[more]
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