Archive for World News
03.08.07
Posted in World News at 12:12 pm by bobbyjoe
France has just passed a new law that makes it a crime for anyone to film real-world violence and distribute the images on the internet. Violators will be subject to up to five years in prison and nearly $100,000 US in fines.
Happy slapping is a fad in which an unsuspecting victim is attacked while an accomplice records the assault (commonly with a camera phone or a smartphone). The name can refer to any type of violent assault, not just slapping, even rape and sexual assaults have been classified as “happy slapping” by the media. Within the UK, where the term is used much more frequently than in the U.S., it is associated with the ned/chav sub-culture. — Wikipedia
Media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said it understood the government’s need to crack down on “happy slapping,” but feared the law draws a “dangerous” distinction that would punish “regular citizens” for doing what journalists are allowed to do.
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02.28.07
Posted in World News, Politics at 8:53 pm by stark
Today, the Canadian parliament has voted to dismiss two anti-terror laws that were adopted in the country during the aftermath of September 11th. Considered the equivalent of the US Patriot Act (in spirit though, not in depth) the laws allowed terror suspects to be detained with charges for days and gave interrogators the ability to “compel” witnesses to testify. While the laws were technically in place, they were never actually used in even a single case since they were enacted. The laws were viewed by all political parties, except the Conservative Party which runs the minority government and opposed their rejection, as neither relevant or needed in dealing with terrorist plots. Hopefully more countries follow the Canadian lead and stop sacrificing the rights of their citizens purely on fear.
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02.24.07
Posted in Science, Space, World News at 12:40 am by bobbyjoe
At 8:57 p.m. ET time the Rosetta space probe will be entering a critical phase in its epic journey to land on Comet Churyumov- Gerasimenko. The probe will attempt a flyby of Mars using the planets gravity to reduce its speed and adjust its course back to earth. The probe will need to pass Earth three times and Mars once before reaching the comet in 2014.
Like the planets, comets are thought to have spun out of the sun during the formation of the solar system 4½ billion years ago. But unlike planets, comets have remained largely unchanged in composition, making them a unique time capsule of the process and elements at work during the formation of the planets.
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02.20.07
Posted in Science, Healthcare, World News at 11:36 am by bobbyjoe
Bill Gates has teamed up with Canada in the fight against HIV, the virus which causes AIDS. A new multimillion-dollar agreement has been signed by Canadian Prime Minister Stephan Harper and billionaire Bill Gates to produce the facility in which the battle will take place.
“HIV/AIDS is one of the most heartwrenching health crises the world has ever seen,” said Harper. “It is one of the greatest scientific challenges of our time.”
“AIDS is a very tough problem,” said Gates. “The long-term solution is a vaccine.”
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02.19.07
Posted in Science, World News at 3:10 am by stark
On Wednesday, scientists in Mexico City discovered a tiny tree frog, completely preserved in amber, that is estimated to have lived approximately 25 million years ago. Mirroring somewhat the story of Jurrasic Park, the frog is entirely preserved by its amber casing, and was discovered by a miner who later sold it to a private collector.
Plans have already been put in motion to extract a sample of the frog’s remains in the hopes of retrieving DNA and identifying the frog’s species. These plans, however, are contingent on the private owners cooperation, which at this point has not been confirmed. A very interesting find for sure with the power to shed some much needed light on the evolutionary process that occurred to reach modern day frogs. Let’s hope the scientists have the opportunity to research it thoroughly.
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02.15.07
Posted in Technology, World, World News at 7:34 pm by stark
It seems like every few months an article comes out highlighting the U.S. failure to keep up in the global broadband race. While the same excuses continue to be made for why the problem is happening (country size, lack of need, greedy corporations, to much legacy infrastructure), the fact of the matter is the U.S. is no longer in the top 10 broadband accessible countries and every day falls farther and farther off the pace for new technology to the average consumer. Countries like Korea, The UK, and Japan continue to expand their user base while pushing the limits on technology while the U.S. companies fall farther and farther behind. As this becomes more and more of an issue, the U.S. may find itself unable to compete in the new Web 3.0 or Web 4.0 worlds. Let’s hope the big telecom’s have their wake up call someday soon before it’s too late.
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Posted in Technology, World, World News, Politics at 7:21 pm by stark
A coalition of U.S. software, music, and movie producers has urged the Bush administration to add Canada to the countries blacklist of intellectual property villains. The list is currently populated with countries such as China, Russia, and Belize. Citing Canada’s so-called chronic failure to modernize its copyright regime, the group contends that Canada has developed into an international hub for bootleg movies, software, and video game piracy.
While on one hand, this may seem like a stern warning from the U.S. to their largest trading partner, in reality it is clearly bulling tactics from a country who already feels its dated copyright laws losing ground around the world. Dr. Michael Geist, Canadian Research Chair of Internet and E-Commerce Law, points out that Canadians should not be fooled into thinking their laws are failing in any way to meet some kind of standard. In fact, the U.S. list includes blacklist recommendations for 23 of the world’s 30 most populous countries including Japan, Sweden, Italy, Spain, India, and Switzerland, to name a few. Dr. Geist even points out that this is merely an attempt by the U.S. to enforce a global agenda because it sees it’s own agenda failing both locally and abroad. If the international community is all on the same page, which is not the same one as the U.S., which country really deserves the blacklisting?
Personally, as a Canadian citizen, I am very disappointed in the Globe and Mail article. I expect more from my country and its media resources, and I expect them not to be mere puppets to another countries whims. Their article was very poor, to say the least, failing to mention any of the other large countries also indicated for blacklisting, and instead skewing the article to instill fear in our population. I think they need to step back a bit and look at the country they live in, not the one they apparently wish they did.
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02.09.07
Posted in Entertainment, World News at 2:11 am by bobbyjoe
Former Playboy Playmate and Guess jeans model Anna Nicole Smith died Thursday after collapsing at a hotel in Florida. “She was stricken while staying at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and was rushed to a hospital. Edwina Johnson, chief investigator for the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office, said the cause of death was under investigation and an autopsy would be done on Friday.”
Seminole Police Chief Charlie Tiger said a private nurse called 911 after finding Smith unresponsive in her sixth-floor room at the hotel, which is on an Indian reservation. He said Smith’s bodyguard administered CPR, but she was declared dead at a hospital. Later Thursday, two sheriff’s deputies carried out at least eight brown paper bags sealed with red evidence tape from Smith’s hotel room.
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