JERUSALEM -- Simon Wiesenthal, a Holocaust survivor who gained worldwide fame for decades as a one-man Nazi-hunting operation, was in fact frequently on the payroll of the Mossad, Israel's spy agency, a new biography asserts. The assertion, based on numerous documents and interviews with three people said to be Mr. Wiesenthal's Mossad handlers, punctures not only a widely held belief about how he operated; it also suggests a need to re-evaluate the standard view that the Israeli government took no interest in tracking down Nazis until the 1960 capture in Argentina of Adolf Eichmann, and little thereafter. Mr. Wiesenthal died in 2005 at the age of 96 in his Vienna home.
JERUSALEM -- Simon Wiesenthal, a Holocaust survivor who gained worldwide fame for decades as a one-man Nazi-hunting operation, was in fact frequently on the payroll of the Mossad, Israel's spy agency, a new biography asserts.
The assertion, based on numerous documents and interviews with three people said to be Mr. Wiesenthal's Mossad handlers, punctures not only a widely held belief about how he operated; it also suggests a need to re-evaluate the standard view that the Israeli government took no interest in tracking down Nazis until the 1960 capture in Argentina of Adolf Eichmann, and little thereafter.
Mr. Wiesenthal died in 2005 at the age of 96 in his Vienna home.
Earlier this summer, we blogged about our Peruvian partner LUNDÚ, who have been working on a campaign to protest racist portrayals on a Peruvian television network. Their activism has included a public demonstration and a petition with over 5000 signatures, demanding that the characters "Negro Mama" and "Paisana Jacinta" be removed and the network publicly apologize for the racist, sexist, and discriminatory stereotypes they portray. Last we reported in June, LUNDÚ and other advocates were awaiting a response from the National Society of Radio and TV (SNRTV). This week, we learned that the request was dismissed, and the characters will stay on television.
Earlier this summer, we blogged about our Peruvian partner LUNDÚ, who have been working on a campaign to protest racist portrayals on a Peruvian television network. Their activism has included a public demonstration and a petition with over 5000 signatures, demanding that the characters "Negro Mama" and "Paisana Jacinta" be removed and the network publicly apologize for the racist, sexist, and discriminatory stereotypes they portray. Last we reported in June, LUNDÚ and other advocates were awaiting a response from the National Society of Radio and TV (SNRTV).
This week, we learned that the request was dismissed, and the characters will stay on television.
Storrs CT (SPX) Sep 02, 2010 Community feasting is one of the most universal and important social behaviors found among humans. Now, scientists have found the earliest clear evidence of organized feasting, from a burial site dated about 12,000 years ago. These remains represent the first archaeological verification that human feasting began before the advent of agriculture. "Scientists have speculated that feasting began before the Neolithic period, which starts about 11.5 thousand years ago," says Natalie Munro of the University of Connecticut, and author of a research article released yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "This is the first solid evidence that supports the idea that communal feasts were already occurring - perhaps with some frequency - at the beginnings of the transition to agriculture."
"Scientists have speculated that feasting began before the Neolithic period, which starts about 11.5 thousand years ago," says Natalie Munro of the University of Connecticut, and author of a research article released yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"This is the first solid evidence that supports the idea that communal feasts were already occurring - perhaps with some frequency - at the beginnings of the transition to agriculture."
In the hurry to rebuild after World War II, Germany made a significant number of architectural missteps. But while many would like to see the ugliest edifices torn down, some architects say we are stuck with the buildings and that we should learn to embrace these eyesores to find hidden charms in the otherwise charmless. It isn't difficult to describe the plenary hall of the state parliament building in Lower Saxony. It is hideous. Heinous. Revolting. A boxy concrete abomination whose ugliness stands out even amid the abundant architectural putrescence that Hanover has to offer. And soon, if state representatives have their way, the not-quite-50-year-old-building is to be demolished. Good news, right? Not necessarily, say a growing number of architects. Germany, after all, is full of cringe-inducing concrete monoliths, monuments to the orgy of construction that swept the country in the hurry to rebuild after the destruction of World War II. Getting rid of them all would amount to a vast, and expensive, re-reconstruction project. Instead, even as many city renewal projects are marked by a nostalgia for the homey, constricted city centers of old, many architects are saying that ugliness has its virtues -- and it is time to begin recognizing that fact.
In the hurry to rebuild after World War II, Germany made a significant number of architectural missteps. But while many would like to see the ugliest edifices torn down, some architects say we are stuck with the buildings and that we should learn to embrace these eyesores to find hidden charms in the otherwise charmless.
It isn't difficult to describe the plenary hall of the state parliament building in Lower Saxony. It is hideous. Heinous. Revolting. A boxy concrete abomination whose ugliness stands out even amid the abundant architectural putrescence that Hanover has to offer. And soon, if state representatives have their way, the not-quite-50-year-old-building is to be demolished.
Good news, right?
Not necessarily, say a growing number of architects. Germany, after all, is full of cringe-inducing concrete monoliths, monuments to the orgy of construction that swept the country in the hurry to rebuild after the destruction of World War II. Getting rid of them all would amount to a vast, and expensive, re-reconstruction project. Instead, even as many city renewal projects are marked by a nostalgia for the homey, constricted city centers of old, many architects are saying that ugliness has its virtues -- and it is time to begin recognizing that fact.
many architects are saying that ugliness has its virtues
er, would that be german architects?
here in italy there is an inversely proportionsl relationship between how ugly a building is and how many geraniums it has sprouting from its balconies.
seriously, they should just plant ivy all over those loveboxes, that'll take the square-everything edges off pronto, as well as clean the air and provide wildlife habitat... roof gardens too! ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
Symantec has teamed up with rapper Snoop Dogg to launch a cybercrime rap contest. Participants are invited to bust some rhymes on the subject of malware, hacking and botnets for the chance to win an all expenses paid trip to LA to attend a Snoop gig and meet his people, if not the rapper himself. Winners get a Toshiba laptop outfitted (inevitably) with Norton Internet Security 2011. Entry is only open to US residents.
Symantec has teamed up with rapper Snoop Dogg to launch a cybercrime rap contest.
Participants are invited to bust some rhymes on the subject of malware, hacking and botnets for the chance to win an all expenses paid trip to LA to attend a Snoop gig and meet his people, if not the rapper himself. Winners get a Toshiba laptop outfitted (inevitably) with Norton Internet Security 2011. Entry is only open to US residents.
According to the 126-page report that was the result of two years' research, Lisa experienced a range of abuses when she sought medical care, including being physically bound, having her privacy violated, and verbally abused by doctors and nurses who threatened to report her to the police because she had aborted her baby. Every year, the report added, 560,000 Filipino women turn to abortion. It said 90,000 of them suffer from complications, and 1,000 die from crude and extremely painful methods such as intense abdominal massages by traditional midwives, the insertion of catheters into the uterus and the medically unsupervised consumption of Cytotec, the local brand name of a drug containing misoprostol to induce uterine contractions, and the ingestion of herbs and other concoctions sold by street vendors. These situations happen because women with unwanted pregnancies are driven to go underground to seek abortions, which are illegal under Philippine law.
Egypt has created a special security department to monitor Facebook. Allegedly, the "main task of this group is to monitor Facebook content like groups, pages and chat and to publish reports countering online criticism of current Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak or his son Gamal." But it's extremely unlikely that the secret police powering it will not collect user information, as well as seek out and punish those who use the social network for free speech and political reasons. Egypt's relationship to Facebook is extensive. Very popular for several years prior, on April 6, 2008, students and others used it to stage a protest against the Egyptian government's precipitous raising of bread prices. This protest gave birth to the the April 6 Movement. But the protest was brutally put down and the leadership of April 6, whose goal is an open discussion of issues of importance to their country, have been harassed ever since.
Egypt has created a special security department to monitor Facebook. Allegedly, the "main task of this group is to monitor Facebook content like groups, pages and chat and to publish reports countering online criticism of current Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak or his son Gamal." But it's extremely unlikely that the secret police powering it will not collect user information, as well as seek out and punish those who use the social network for free speech and political reasons.
Egypt's relationship to Facebook is extensive. Very popular for several years prior, on April 6, 2008, students and others used it to stage a protest against the Egyptian government's precipitous raising of bread prices. This protest gave birth to the the April 6 Movement. But the protest was brutally put down and the leadership of April 6, whose goal is an open discussion of issues of importance to their country, have been harassed ever since.
Researchers at Boston University and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard have discovered that charitable behavior exists in one of the most microscopic forms of life -- bacteria. Their findings appear in the Sept. 2 issue of Nature. In studying the development of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, the researchers found that the populations most adept at withstanding doses of antibiotics are those in which a few highly resistant isolates sacrifice their own well being to improve the group's overall chance of survival. This bacterial altruism results when the most resistant isolates produce a small molecule called indole. Indole acts as something of a steroid, helping the strain's more vulnerable members bulk up enough to fight off the antibiotic onslaught. But while indole may save the group, its production takes a toll on the fitness level of the individual isolates that produce it.
In studying the development of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, the researchers found that the populations most adept at withstanding doses of antibiotics are those in which a few highly resistant isolates sacrifice their own well being to improve the group's overall chance of survival.
This bacterial altruism results when the most resistant isolates produce a small molecule called indole.
Indole acts as something of a steroid, helping the strain's more vulnerable members bulk up enough to fight off the antibiotic onslaught. But while indole may save the group, its production takes a toll on the fitness level of the individual isolates that produce it.
