November 9, 2009

Hip-Hop Cops rap to the teens

Ezell War and Greg Fall of the Broken Arrow Police Department are delivering an old message with a new beat when they visit schools to talk about staying off drugs and avoiding strangers.

They get their message across with a hip-hop rhythm and they said kids eat it up.

Keep reading →

November 8, 2009

Poverty in Iraq while marooned on Sea of Iraqi Oil

The orange glow of the giant natural gas flares in the oil fields around Basra represents this bustling city’s wealth of natural resources. But for the impoverished people who live near them, the flames only serve as a reminder of their inability to share in the riches that lie beneath their feet.

Poverty is rampant in Basra, Iraq, despite its oil fields. Few area residents can find jobs at the nearby refinery. Up to 80 percent of Iraq’s oil comes from the Basra area.

Keep reading →

November 8, 2009

Stitchers ‘Pans Gang’ almost Complete

New Stitchers joined the Pans Gang at the Gothenburg on November 5th!

The Prestonpans Tapestry now has ‘almost’ every panel signed up for with new recruits just joined from Dunbar and Glasgow, Falkirk and Dunblane ….

Keep reading →

November 5, 2009

How the Knights Templar were dissolved?

In 1312, after the Council of Vienne, and under extreme pressure from King Philip IV, Pope Clement V issued an edict officially dissolving the Order. Many kings and nobles who had been supporting the Knights up until that time, finally acquiesced and dissolved the orders in their fiefs in accordance with the Papal command. Most were not so brutal as the French. In England, many Knights were arrested and tried, but not found guilty.

Keep reading →

November 5, 2009

No more Gay Marriage in Maine, US

A year ago, it was Prop 8 that sullied my joy at the official end of the Bush era. One year later, this once proud son of the State of Maine is appalled. 52.7% of the voting electorate there voted yes to the question, “Do you want to reject the new law that lets same-sex couples marry and allows individuals and religious groups to refuse to perform these marriages?” In this denial of rights, some will see a brave defense of traditional values. I see the hideous specter of legally sanctioned discrimination.

Keep reading →

November 4, 2009

20th anniversary of the fall of Berlin Wall Marks End of Cold War

November 9 marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Most analysts and historians agree that former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev played a pivotal role in the events leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall and beyond. His policies of “perestroika” – restructuring – and “glasnost,” or openness, paved the way for the dissolution of communist power in Eastern Europe and ultimately led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Keep reading →

November 2, 2009

Reliving the Bee Gees fever

ROBIN and Barry Gibb are so overpoweringly familiar that just sitting opposite them feels odd. Robin, now 59 and still pencil-thin, is the sharper, the more protective of the two. Robin’s the one you can imagine having an actual stand-up fight in defence of the Bee Gees’ good name, while Barry, 63, seems rather more relaxed, beatific even, his snow-white hair artfully draped over his shoulders, a small smile never far from his lips. The pair arrange themselves on the long black sofas at the back of Studio A at Hit Factory, in Miami, Florida, looking entirely at home. Of course, they should do — in the mid-1970s, Barry, Robin and their late brother, Maurice, pretty much moved in here to create some of the biggest-selling records of all time. By that time, they had already enjoyed enormous success as a neo-psychedelic pop-rock group signed to the same management company as the Beatles. Then they had split. Then they had suffered three full years without a single hit.

Keep reading →

November 1, 2009

The economic effects of Malaria and Poverty in sub-Saharan Africa

Unlike sudden epidemics, such as swine flu or bird flu, which receive extensive coverage for their novelty and surprise, malaria has been around a long time and remains a widespread and deadly pandemic.

Keep reading →

November 1, 2009

Maoists use guns to enforce poverty in Central India

It is probably no coincidence that the state offensive against the outlawed CPI (Maoist) which controls a swathe of territory in the forested parts of central India has been accompanied by a focussed media intervention by human rights activists demanding an instant and unconditional cease-fire. That human rights groups make their appearance when state action is necessitated against terrorists and insurgents is all too familiar. This is not to suggest that all the earnest and well-spoken men and women who appear on TV chat shows to denounce “state terror” and shed tears on behalf of the poor constitute the overground faces of the underground. Yet, it is undeniable that these well-groomed ‘activists’ have a vision of India that is remarkably at odds with the national consensus.

Keep reading →

November 1, 2009

88 year old Nazi charged for murders during World War II

It just goes to show you that you can never get away with war crimes. In Germany, an 88-year-old man who served with the Waffen SS is on trial for allegedly murdering three civilians in the Netherlands during World War II. Prosecutors say that Heinrich Boere confessed to killing a pharmacist, a bike-shop owner and another person, but that he escaped to Germany after the war and has spent the last several decades avoiding the authorities. The defense says it might argue that Boere was merely following orders.

Keep reading →