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Anjan Narain

Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide: All sides to the issue - 0 views

  • Throughout North America, committing suicide or attempting to commit suicide is no longer a criminal offense. However, helping another person commit suicide is generally considered a criminal act.
  • Oregon which, since 1997, has allowed people who are terminally ill, in intractable pain, and not depressed to obtain a lethal prescription from their physician and end their chronic suffering. This is called "Physician Assisted Suicide" or PAS.
  • Washington voters passed Initiative 1000 in 2008-NOV. Supporters call it a "Death with Dignity bill;" opponents call it an "Assisted Suicide" measure. Both are accurate descriptions.   Montana's Montana Supreme Court legalized PAS in a decision handed down on 2009-DEC-31.
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  • "The right to a good death is a basic human freedom. The Supreme Court's decision to uphold aid in dying allows us to view and act on death as a dignified moral and godly choice for those suffering with terminal illnesses."
Aditi Buti

About Jihad - Islam Jihad and Terrorism - 0 views

  • Suicide under any pretext is not condoned as Jihad in Islam.
  • Respond to the call for Jihad with money, effort, wisdom and life; yet, never fight a Muslim brother, a Muslim country, or a non-Muslim society that respects its treaties and harbors no aggressive designs against Islam or Muslims.
  • Jihad against evil, injustice and oppression within one's self, family and society - Social Jihad.
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  • Jihad against all that prevents Muslims from servitude to God (Allah), people from knowing Islam, defense of a Muslim society (country), retribution against tyranny, and/or when a Muslim is removed from their homeland by force - Physical Jihad or an armed struggle.
  • Jihad must be performed according to Islamic rules and regulations and only for the sake or in the service of Allah. The physical or military Jihad must be called by a Muslim authority, such as, a president or head of a Muslim country after due consultations with the learned leadership.
Ben Walters

Were video games to blame for massacre? - Technology & science - Games - msnbc.com - 0 views

  • The shooting on the Virginia Tech campus was only hours old, police hadn't even identified the gunman, and yet already the perpetrator had been fingered and was in the midst of being skewered in the media.
  • Video games. They were to blame for the dozens dead and wounded. They were behind the bloodiest massacre in U.S. history. Or so Jack Thompson told Fox News and, in the days that followed, would continue to tell anyone who'd listen.
  • But whether Seung-Hui Cho, the student who opened fire Monday, was an avid player of video games and whether he was a fan of "Counter-Strike" in particular remains, even now, uncertain at best.
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  • Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the school shootings and the finger-pointing that followed, game players and industry advocates say they're outraged that the brutal acts of a deeply disturbed and depressed loner with a history of mental illness would be blamed so quickly on video and computer games. They say this is perhaps the most flagrant case of anti-game crusaders using a tragedy to promote their own personal causes.
  • "It's so sad. These massacre chasers — they're worse than ambulance chasers — they're waiting for these things to happen so they can jump on their soapbox," said Jason Della Rocca,
    • Ben Walters
       
      'common sense tells me'
  • When Jack Thompson gets worked up, he refers to gamers as "knuckleheads." He calls video games "mental masturbation." When he's talking about himself and his crusade against violent games, he calls himself an "educator." He likes to use the word "pioneer."
  • On those rare occasions when a student opens fire on a school campus, Thompson is frequently the first and the loudest to declare games responsible. In recent years he's blamed games such as "Counter-Strike," "Doom" and "Grand Theft Auto III" for school shootings in Littleton, Colo., Red Lake, Minn. and Paducah, Ky.
  • He's blamed them for shootings beyond school grounds as well. In an attempt to hold game developers and publishers responsible for these spasms of violence, Thompson has launched several unsuccessful lawsuits.
  • "It disgusts me," said Isaiah Triforce Johnson, a longtime gamer and founder of a New York-based gaming advocacy group that, in response to the accusations, is now planning what is the first ever gamer-driven peace rally. 
  • Microsoft did not create "Counter Strike" but did publish a version of it for the Xbox.
  • authorities released a search warrant listing the items found in Cho's dorm room. Not a single video game, console or gaming gadget was on the list, though a computer was confiscated. And in an interview with Chris Matthews of "Hardball," Cho's university suite-mate said he had never seen Cho play video games.
  • "This is not rocket science. When a kid who has never killed anyone in his life goes on a rampage and looks like the Terminator, he's a video gamer,"
  • And in a letter sent to Bill Gates Wednesday, he wrote: "Mr. Gates, your company is potentially legally liable (for) the harm done at Virginia Tech. Your game, a killing simulator, according to the news that used to be in the Post, trained him to enjoy killing and how to kill."
    • Ben Walters
       
      See how bad his research is, the only possibility of him ever playing a game was on his computer, yet he blames Microsoft, who created a game for the Xbox (which would be incompatible for a PC) for directly and massively influencing these events.
    • Ben Walters
       
      Counter Strike, the game he blamed for these killings, has two objectives. Protect an objective from a bomb that the team of terrorists are going to try to plant, or to plant this bomb. Neither of these objectives have to include murder, or solo missions.
  • Fed up with the scapegoating and lack of understanding, gamer groups have begun to get increasingly organized in their attempts to change public perception of their favorite hobby.
  • While Thompson concedes that there are many elements that must have driven Cho to commit such a brutal act, he insists that without video games Cho wouldn't have had the skills to do what he did. "He might have killed somebody but he wouldn't have killed 32 if he hadn't rehearsed it and trained himself like a warrior on virtual reality. It can't be done. It just doesn't happen."
  • Dr. Karen Sternheimer, a sociologist at the University of Southern Calfornia and author of the book " Kids These Days: Facts and Fictions About Today's Youth," disagrees. She believes that it didn't require much skill for Cho to shoot as many people as he did. After all, eye witness accounts indicate many of the victims were shot at point-blank range.
  • And for all of Thompson's claims that violent video games are the cause of school shootings, Sternheimer points out that before this week's Virginia Tech massacre, the most deadly school shooting in history took place at the University of Texas in Austin… in 1966. Not even "Pong" had been invented at that time.
  • Sternheimer says the rush to blame video games in these situations is disingenuous for yet another reason. Although it remains unclear whether Cho played games, it seems nobody will be surprised if it turns out he did. After all, what 23-year-old man living in America hasn't played video games?
  • "Especially if you're talking about young males, the odds are pretty good that any young male in any context will have played video games at some point,"
  • "I think in our search to find some kind of answer as to why this happened, the video game explanation seems easy," she says. "It seems like there's an easy answer to preventing this from happening again and that feels good on some level."
  • The blame game
  • Jason Della Rocca agrees. "Everyone wants a simple solution for a massively complex problem. We want to get on with our lives."
  • As the leader of an organization that represents video game creators from all over the world, Della Rocca knows the routine all too well.
  • Someone opens fire on a school campus. Someone blames video games. His phone starts ringing. People start asking him questions like, "So how bad are these games anyway?"
  • Of course, he also knows that this is far from the first time in history that a young form of pop culture has been blamed for any number of society's ills. Rock and roll was the bad guy in the 1950s. Jazz was the bad guy in the 1930s. Movies, paintings, comic books, works of literature…they've all been there.
  • Still, Della Rocca believes that people like Thompson are "essentially feeding off the fears of those who don't understand games."
  • For those who didn't grow up playing video games, the appeal of a game like "Counter-Strike" can be hard to comprehend. It can be difficult to understand that the game promotes communication and team work. It can be hard fathom how players who love to run around gunning down their virtual enemies do not have even the slightest desire to shoot a person in real life.
  • "It's the thing they don't understand," Della Rocca says. "It's a thing that's scary."
  • "You cannot tell me — common sense tells you that if these kids are playing video games, where they're on a mass killing spree in a video game, it's glamorized on the big screen, it's become part of the fiber of our society. You take that and mix it with a psychopath, a sociopath or someone suffering from mental illness and add in a dose of rage, the suggestibility is too high. And we're going to have to start dealing with that."
  • the members of Empire Arcadia — a grassroots group dedicated to supporting the gaming community and culture — have been so incensed by the recent attempts to blame video games for the Virginia Tech shootings that they've begun planning a rally in New York City with the assistance of the ECA.
  • "There we will protest, mourn and show how real gamers play video games peacefully and responsibly," organizer Johnson wrote on the group's Web site. "This demonstration is to show that gamers will not take the blame of this tragic matter but we will do what we can to help put an end to terrible events like this." Johnson says that, ultimately, he hopes the rally — scheduled for May 5 — will help people better understand video game enthusiasts like him. "We are normal people," he says. "We just play games."
Shumona Raha

Euthanasia - Described and Debated - 0 views

  • active and passive
  • the elimination of the old, weak, and disabled.
  • People who are "not useful" could be exterminated simply for that reason
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  • request death for the sick because of questionable reasons. Someone might only be thinking of their own gain, knowing that they are mentioned in a will.
  • Many believe that "only God can give life and only God should take it away" (Cundiff, 64). There is also the question to consider of the fallibility of physicians. Many lives could be ended too hastily as a result of incorrect prognosis or diagnosis.
  • While the pain should be treated (for example, with painkillers), the person should not be forced to live through methods like life-support,
  • In most cases, people who request assisted suicide or euthanasia are actually crying for help
  • Euthanasia could easily become a way to minimize health care costs.
  • physicians are being offered cash bonuses if they fail to provide care for their patients. Doctors could face financial risks for actually doing their jobs.
  • Medical care is something that must be provided. We cannot walk out on people who are suffering
  • No person is entitled to consent to have death inflicted on him, and such consent does not affect the criminal responsibility of any person by whom death may be inflicted on the person by whom consent is given.
  • it is called passive
  • "the government [does] not have the right to [allow] one group of people . . . to kill another group of people"
  • The government also does not intend to make anyone suffer
  • The allowance of euthanasia would open up doors of undesirable practices.
Ben Walters

Manhunt blamed for UK murder - News at GameSpot - 0 views

  • n the UK, the parents of a teenage murder victim have blamed the crime on the Rockstar game Manhunt.
  • The parents of Stefan Pakeerah, 14, said their son was lured to a park by a 17-year-old player of the game, who stabbed and beat their son to death with a knife and claw hammer.
  • "When one looks at what Warren did to Stephan and looks at the brutality and viciousness of the game, one can see links,"
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  • "Stefan's murder compares to how the game is set out, using weapons like hammers and knives. If games like this influence kids, they should be taken off the shelves."
  • The uproar has prompted the UK's biggest retailer to do exactly that.
  • Rockstar also defended itself by stating, "We reject any suggestion or association between the tragic events and the sale of Manhunt." However, the publisher/developer did offer its condolences to the victim's family.
  • As was to be expected, erroneous news reports in the wake of the murder have reignited the controversy that surrounded Manhunt when it was first released.
  • However, the madman/snuff-filmmaker who has kidnapped the convict does offer him rewards based on the grisliness of his killings, albeit in a very unglamorous fashion.
  • the BBC also talked to a child psychologist about whether or not there is a link between violent games and violent behavior in children. "There's been no longitudinal research, following adolescents over a long period, looking at how gaming violence might affect their behavior," said Professor Mark Griffiths of Nottingham Trent University, who called for more research.
  • The BBC also pointed out that Manhunt has an 18 certificate--the equivalent of an "M" rating--and shouldn't be played by minors at all.
Aditi Buti

Jihad in the Way of Allah - Islamic Scriptures Unveiled - 0 views

  • Sahih Bukhari 53:353 records Muhammad as saying, "Allah guarantees him who strives in His cause and whose motivation for going out is nothing but Jihad in His cause and belief in His word, that He will admit him into Paradise if martyred or bring him back to his dwelling place with what he gains of reward and booty."
  • The Qur'an is also very clear in this matter Q4:74 - Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoso fights in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward.
  • This verse calls for one who strives in Allah's cause and who believes Allah's words to perform Jihad. And what is this Jihad? It is the striving and motivation to go out and kill or be killed with rewards of booty or paradise.
  •  
    "Sahih Bukhari 53:353 records Muhammad as saying, "Allah guarantees him who strives in His cause and whose motivation for going out is nothing but Jihad in His cause and belief in His word, that He will admit him into Paradise if martyred or bring him back to his dwelling place with what he gains of reward and booty.""
Mihikaa Naik

Spatial intelligence and the 'Mozart effect': Does listening to Mozart make you smarter? - 0 views

  • widely believed to be an established fact
  • ntelligent – it is intricate, skillful, precise and sophisticated
  • rain activity becoming
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  • coordinated or synchronized
  • Francis Rauscher and her colleagues published a stud
  • visualise folding and cutting a piece of paper
  • Mozart effect’ (as the Press called it
  • quickly captivated the public imagination
  • many examples of single scientific studies that initially catch he public imagination and get a lot of press coverage, but are subsequently proved to be invalid or relatively insignificant.
  • effect of Mozart on cognitive performance has been found
  • specific type of spatial task
  • no way can be considered to be a test of general intelligence
  • Nature in 1993
  • . Listening to Mozart has been shown to have no effect on working memory performance
  • therefore misleading to understand the Mozart effect
  • The effect is likely to be due to arousal or mood, not changes in cognition
  • Differences
  • in mood have been shown to have an effect on performance
  • positive mood
  • esearch provide no evidence that the improvement differ
  • other engaging stimuli that are equally pleasing to participants
  • authors’ views on their own study
  • over-reaction in the popular press
  • jumping to conclusions
Ari Kewalramani

Gendercide Watch: Female Infanticide - 0 views

  • female infanticide reflects the low status accorded to women in most parts of the world
  • murdering girls is still sometimes believed to be a wiser course than raising them
  • that "Sons are called upon to provide the income; they are the ones who do most of the work in the fields.
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  • igh value given to males decreases the value given to females."
  • dowry and wedding
  • to more than a million rupees
  • average civil servant earns about 100,000 rupees
  • In many cases, of course, the women are not independent agents but merely victims of a dominant family ideology based on preference for male children."
  • 3,500 abortions of female fetuses annually
  • Rajasthan,
  • UNICEF
  • Bombay in 1984 on abortions after prenatal sex determination stated that 7,999 out of 8,000 of the aborted fetuses were females.
  • Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh [states], it is usual for girls and women to eat less than men and boys and to have their meal after the men and boys had finished eating.
  • it is usually boys who have preference in health care
  • clothing
  • morbidity.
  • Indian state governments have sometimes taken measures to diminish the slaughter of infant girls and abortions of female fetuses.
  • f one parent undergoes sterilization, the government will give the family [U.S.] \\$160 in aid per child.
  • tate with one or two daughters and no sons
  • The money will be paid in instalments as the girl goes through school. She will also get a small gold ring and on her 20th birthday, a lump sum of $650 to serve as her dowry or defray the expenses of higher education. Four thousand families enrolled in the first year," with 6,000 to 8,000 expected to join annually (as of 1994
  • suffer
Bhavya Puri

Shark fin soup alters an ecosystem - Page 2 - CNN - 0 views

  • Shark finning is not illegal. Taiwan has no law against fins taken from international waters coming into its ports. However, Taiwan does have what it calls a "plan of action" that requires the bodies of the sharks the fins came from to be accounted for and not dumped into the sea.
  • but identifying them and monitoring them and having a regulated fishery is virtually impossible."
  • Taiwan is not alone. Shark finning thrives off weak regulations around the world and only a few countries demand that sharks arrive in port with fins attached.
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  • The fin is one of the most expensive pound-for-pound item from the sea. And the beauty about the fin is that it's very compact ... it doesn't take up your hull and you can make a lot of money from it,"
  • ins can sell for $500 per pound, according to WildAid, which is campaigning for a global ban on shark finning.In recent years, Cocos Island has become another battleground in the fight to save the shark. Ads by GoogleShark Breaching and DivesGreat White Shark Breaching and Cage Diving Trips Gansbaai www.sharkdivingunlimited.com<<<123>>> We recommend You might like: Push begins to halt Pacific shark finning - CNN CNN.comSharks endangered by a bowl of soup CNN OpinionShark researchers study oil impact CNN USMan saves Australian woman during shark attack CNN World onmousedo
Shumona Raha

Euthanasia and Human Rights - 0 views

  • Euthanasia literally means “good death”. It is basically to bring about the death of a terminally ill patient or a disabled. It is resorted to so that the last days of a patient who has been suffering from such an illness which is terminal in nature or which has disabled him can peacefully end up his life and which can also prove to be less painful for him.
  • Active euthanasia means putting an end to the life of an individual for merciful reason by a medical practitioner by giving a lethal dose of medication to the patient. Passive euthanasia takes place where methods such as removing artificial life support systems such as ventilators, hydration, etc are resorted to.
  • On the other hand voluntary euthanasia means where a patient who is suffering a lot asks a medical practitioner to end his life whereas involuntary euthanasia is just the opposite of voluntary euthanasia that is where there is no consent of the patient but for it there can be many reasons such as if he is not mentally competent to give his consent and other such reasons.
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  • A person has a right to live a life with at least minimum dignity and if that standard is falling below that minimum level then a person should be given a right to end his life.
  • Supporters of euthanasia also point out to the fact that as passive euthanasia has been allowed, similarly active euthanasia must also be allowed.
  • A patient will wish to end his life only in cases of excessive agony and would prefer to die a painless death rather than living a miserable life with that agony and suffering.
  • According to them its not granting ‘right to die’ rather it should be called ‘right to kill’.
  • Opponents also point out that when suicide is not allowed then euthanasia should also not be allowed.
Aditi Buti

Jihad - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

shared by Aditi Buti on 16 Nov 10 - Cached
  • religious duty of Muslims
  • Arabic, the word jihād translates into English as struggle.
  • ppears frequently in the Qur'an and common usage as the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of Allah
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  • Muslims use the word in a religious context to refer to three types of struggles: an internal struggle to maintain faith, the struggle to improve the Muslim society, or the struggle in a holy war
  • t British orientalist Bernard Lewis argues that in the Qur'an and the ahadith jihad implies warfare in the large majority of cases.
  • Mahatma Gandhi's satyagraha struggle for Indian independence is called a "jihad" in Modern Standard Arabic
  • The term 'jihad' has accrued both violent and non-violent meanings. It can simply mean striving to live a moral and virtuous life, spreading and defending Islam as well as fighting injustice and oppression, among other thi
  • d that
  • A commitment to hard work" and "achieving one's goals in life" "Struggling to achieve a noble cause" "Promoting peace, harmony or cooperation, and assisting others" "Living the principles of Islam"[14]
  • mean "duty toward God", a "divine duty", or a "worship of God", with no militaristic connotations. Other responses referenced, in descending order of prevalence:
  • A poll by Gallup showed that a "significant majority" of Muslim Indonesians define the term to mean "sacrificing one's life for the sake of Islam/God/a just cause" or "fighting against the opponents of Islam". In Lebanon, Kuwait, Jordan
  • and Morocco, the majority used the term to
  • jihad is the only form of warfare permissible under Islamic law, and may consist in wars against unbelievers, apostates, rebels, highway robbers and dissenters renouncing the authority of Islam
  • aim of jihad as warfare is not the conversion of non-Muslims to Islam by force, but rather the expansion and defense of the Islamic state
  • encourages the use of Jihad against non-Muslims.
  • Sura 25, verse 52 states: “Therefore, do not obey the disbelievers, and strive against them with this, a great striving.”[41] It was, therefore, the duty of all Muslims to strive against those who did not believe in Allah and took offensive action against Muslims. The Qu’ran, however, never uses the term Jihad for fighting and combat in the nam
  • Allah
  • qital is used to mean “fighting.” The struggle for Jihad in the Qu’ran was originally intended for the nearby neighbors of the Muslims, but as time passed and more enemies arose, the Qur'anic statements supporting Jihad were updated for the new adversaries.[40] The first documentation of the law of Jihad was written by ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Awza’i and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani. The document grew out of debates that had surfaced ever since Muhammad's death.[39] Early instances
Aditi Buti

EBSCOhost: Will Media Ever Tell Truth About Jihad? - 0 views

  • Militant Islamist groups that were originally recruited, trained and armed by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) have since become Islamabad's deadliest enemies. Twice they have nearly succeeded in assassinating Musharraf, who was once among their strongest supporters. In the last six years extremists have killed more than 1,000 Pakistani troops.
  • Today no other country on earth
  • is arguably more dangerous than Pakistan. It has everything Osama bin Laden could ask for: political instability, a trusted network of radical Islamists, an abundance of angry young anti-Western recruits, secluded training areas, access to state-of-the-art electronic technology, regular air service to the West and security services that don't always do what they're supposed to do.
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  • The conventional story about Pakistan has been that it is an unstable nuclear power, with distant tribal areas in terrorist hands. What is new, and more frightening, is the extent to which Taliban and Qaeda elements have now turned much of the country, including some cities, into a base that gives jihadists more room to maneuver, both in Pakistan and beyond.
  • homegrown militants who have hidden Al Qaeda's leaders since the end of 2001 are no longer restricted to untamed mountain villages along the border. These Islamist fighters now operate relatively freely in cities like Karachi--a process the U.S. and Pakistani governments call "Talibanization."
  • Dozens of Taliban commanders have moved their wives and children to Pakistan, where they live in the suburbs of cities like Peshawar and Islamabad. This keeps them out of the reach of Afghan authorities, who have been known to arrest relatives in order to track down guerrilla fighters.
  • Those forces, all working together, have brought the Afghan jihad home to Pakistan. Within the tribes' ancient mud-walled fortresses they run training courses for insurgent recruits and suicide bombers. Some graduates travel to Afghanistan to fight beside the Taliban. Others will stay in the tribal area to fight the Pakistani Army, while others are sent out to hit targets in places like Karachi. Several terrorist plots in Britain have been traced back to the tribal areas.
Ben Walters

Violence and Video Games - 0 views

  • As the level of violence in video games has increased, so has concern for the effects on those who play - especially those who play a lot. Many are quick to point out that most school shootings in recent years have been carried out by avid gamers, and their games of choice were always dark and violent.
  • But it begs the question: Which comes first? Can aggressive and violent behavior be attributed to violence in video games? Or do those who play already have violent tendencies which draw them to violent games? It's a type of "chicken or the egg" debate that has strong advocates on both sides.
  • The more lifelike they've become, the more interest there has been in the correlation between violent games and violent behavior.
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  • In order to play and win, the player has to be the aggressor. Rather than watching violence, as he might do on television, he's committing the violent acts. Most researchers acknowledge that this kind of active participation affects a person's thought patterns, at least in the short term.
  • Another factor that concerns both researchers and parents is that violence in video games is often rewarded rather than punished.
  • If played frequently enough, games like this can skew a young person's perception of violence and its consequences.
  • In 2002, researchers Anderson and Bushman developed the General Aggression Model (GAM). Often considered one of the greatest contributions to the study of violence and video games, the GAM helps explain the complex relationship between violent video games and aggressive gamers.
  • The GAM takes some (though not all) of the heat off video games by acknowledging that a gamer's personality plays into how he is affected by violence. Anderson and Bushman refer to three internal facets - thoughts, feelings, and physiological responses - that determine how a person interprets aggressive behavior. Some people's responses are naturally more hostile, making them predisposed to respond more aggressively to violent video games.
  • Short-term effects were easily identified in the GAM; the most prominent being that violent games change the way gamers interpret and respond to aggressive acts. Even those who aren't predisposed to aggression respond with increased hostility after playing a violent video game. The game becomes what's called a "situational variable" which changes the perception of and reaction to aggressive behavior.
  • No long-term studies have been conducted to date, so there are only hypotheses.
  • Anderson and Bushman theorized that excessive exposure to violent video games causes the formation of aggressive beliefs and attitudes, while also desensitizing gamers to violent behaviors.
  • Parents would be wise to monitor the amount of time their kids spend gaming and watch closely for any negative effects.
Dominick Wong

Concorde Aircraft Facts, Dates and History - 0 views

  • delta wing configuration and an evolution of the afterburner equipped engines originally developed for the Avro Vulcan strategic bomber. It is the first civil airliner to be equipped with an analogue fly-by-wire flight control system.
    • Dominick Wong
       
      Pros &Cons
  • For speed optimization: double-delta (ogive) shaped wings afterburning Roll-Royce/Snecma Olympus turbojets with supercruise capability thrust-by-wire engines, ancestor of today's FADEC controlled engines droop-nose section for good landing visibility
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  • Mach 2.04 'sweet spot' for optimum fuel consumption (supersonic drag minimum, while jet engines are more efficient at high speed) mostly aluminium construction for low weight and relatively conventional build full-regime autopilot and autothrottle allowing "hands off" control of the aircraft from climb out to landing fully electrically-controlled, analog fly-by-wire flight controls systems multifunction flight control surfaces high-pressure hydraulic system of 28 MPa (4,000 lbf/in) for lighter hydraulic systems components fully electrically controlled analog brake-by-wire system pitch trim by shifting fuel around the fuselage for center-of-gravity control parts milled from single alloy billet reducing the part number count.
  • unique experience of passing through the sound barrier was less dramatic than would be expected. The moment would be announced by one of the pilots, and could be seen on the cabin display, otherwise the slight surge in acceleration could easily be missed. At twice the normal cruising altitude, turbulence was rare and the view from t he windows clearly showed the curvature of the Earth. During the supersonic cruise, although the outside air temperature was typically -60 C, air friction would heat the external skin at the front of the plane to around +120 C making the windows warm to the touch and producing a noticeable temperature gradient along the length of the cabin. Most remarkably Concorde was the only passenger airliner able to overtake the terminator. On certain early evening transatlantic flights departing from Heathrow or Paris, it was possible to take off at night and catch up with the sun from the cockpit you could see the sun rise in the west.
  • aris crash The Concorde was the safest airliner in the world according to passenger deaths per distance travelled until the 25 July 2000 crash of Air France Flight 4590 in Gonesse, France, although it should be noted that the Boeing 737 fleet acquires more passenger miles and service hours in one week than the Concorde fleet acquired in the course of its entire service career. In any case, all of the people on board the flight perished, as well as four people on the ground. As the plane was on its take-off run, a metal piece punctured the tires which then burst, puncturing the fuel tanks and leading to the loss of the aircraft. The report of the investigation was published on 14 December 2004, attributing the crash to foreign object damage from a titanium strip that fell from another aircraft, a Continental Airlines DC-10 which had taken off four minutes before; the piece had not been approved by the US Federal Aviation Administration.
  • Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde supersonic transport (SST)
  • commercial servic
  • cruise speed of mach 2.04 and a cruise altitude of 60,000 feet
  • In the late 1950s the
  • British, Fr
  • ench, American
  • Soviets
  • developing a supersonic transport
  • ere lar
  • espective governments as a way of gaining some foothold in the aircraft market that was
  • designs called the Type 233 and Super-Caravelle
  • dominated by the United States.
  • prototype construction in the early 1960s, but the cost was so great that the companies (and governments) decided to join forces
  • egotiated as an international treaty between Britain and France
  • draft treaty was signed on November 28, 1962.
  • both companies had been merged into new ones and the Concorde project was thus a part of the British Aircraft Corporation and Aerospatiale.
  • Only 20 Concordes were built, six for development and 14 for commercial service. These were: two prototypes two pre-production aircraft 16 production aircraft
  • Critically, many of the victims of the 9/11 attacks were business executives based within the World Trade Center buildings who were either regular Concorde customers themselves, or authorised others to travel on the aircraft.
krpa savlani

The Arthur Leigh Allen File | Zodiac Killer | Zodiac Murders | The Zodiac Movie - 0 views

  • The typewriter was identified as being a Royal model, with either Elite or Pica type.
  • Allen later hinted it was true, first claiming to have been "in the area" at the time, then telling people he was in nearby Pomona when he first heard of the Bates murder.
  • seized a Royal typewriter with Elite type from the home of Allen.
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  • At the time Bates was killed, Allen was 32 years old, and his permanent residence was 32 Fresno St. in Vallejo, Calif. (In 1970, Zodiac would create a cipher that contained 32 symbols.)
  • Allen was given a Zodiac watch as a Christmas gift from their mother in 1967. (Allen's estimation of when he received the watch was July or August 1969.)
  • call himself "Zodiac."
  • Allen is alleged to have made these claims to his friend
  • people would be more challenging to hunt than animals, since they "have intelligence."
  • ithin days it was solved and stated that killing man was "(sic) more fun than killing wild game in the forrest because man is the most dangeroue anamal of all to kill."
  • hunting a man "like an animal."
  • Additionally, Allen was known to use the same unusual spelling and phrasing as Zodiac later used, such as spelling "Mery Xmass" instead of Merry Xmas and saying "trigger mech" instead of trigger mechanism. Allen would intentionally misspell words to be funny.
  • "bussy work," which is jargon used by elementary-school teachers.
  • Allen wore size 10.5.
  • On Oct. 13, two days after killing Stine, Zodiac mailed a letter threatening school children.
  • Amazingly, the address Stine was headed when he encountered Zodiac was 500 9th Ave., the Allen Arms Apartments.)
  • he might have noticed that the issue date was Oct. 13.
  • n his basement, handwritten diagrams for bombs comprised of ammonium nitrate, fertilizer and gravel. Also found were mail-order catalogs for bombs, guns and booby traps.
Ben Walters

The gaming-violence connection: why society finds it comforting - 0 views

  • the attempts to legislate restrictions on violent video games and the ambiguous science that supports those efforts.
  • why these legislative efforts gain so much traction despite their lack of a solid scientific foundation.
  • in the journal Contexts, USC sociology lecturer Karen Sternheimer analyzes these efforts in terms of ongoing societal fears regarding the influence of media on children.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • despite the proliferation of violent, first-person shooters in the wake of Doom, juvenile homicide rates have fallen in the decade since its release. Random school shootings remain incredibly rare; for all forms of homicide, students face a seven in 10 million chance of being a victim.
  • Random school shootings remain so rare, in fact, that Sternheimer reports that the FBI found it impossible to generate a profile of a "typical" shooter.
  • society doesn't really understand its youth. As a result, adults fear their loss of control over the factors that influence childhood development in an increasingly connected world.
  • Far from being a new danger, the Sternheimer report suggests that gaming is simply the latest in a long series of media influences to take the blame. "Over the past century, politicians have complained that cars, radio, movies, rock music, and even comic books caused youth immorality and crime, calling for control and sometimes censorship." She terms the targets of such efforts "folk devils," items branded dangerous and immoral that serve to focus blame and fear.
  • These folk devils can be used for political advancement or financial gain via lawsuits such as those that have targeted game makers. But, based on Sternheimer's description, their primary function appears to be to distract people from identifying the real causes underlying our discomfort with youth culture. It also may distract people from getting to know their kids.
Shumona Raha

Euthanasia- Is mercy killing justified? - 0 views

  • On June 14 2005 , the newspaper headlines sprang the news that the central Government in India was mulling over the idea of legalising euthanasia
  • There are many religious and humanistic societies which protest against this mercy killing.
  • That can be done by a drug overdose, a lethal injection, or the withdrawal of medical support.
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • Voluntary euthanasia is when the person who is killed requests to be killed. On the other hand, non voluntary euthanasia is when a person made no request and gave no consent.
  • When it is a doctor who helps another person to kill themselves it is called "physician assisted suicide."
  • Why keep a burden around? All you are doing is justifying your self seeking nature by getting rid of a problem.
  • Supporters of euthanasia argue that "mercy-killing" is necessary because patients, particularly those with terminal illness, experience uncontrollable pain. They argue that the only way to alleviate the pain is to eliminate the patient. What else can we do? They ask.
  • The medical expenses are so high when lifesaving medicines from good companies cost the earth.
  • In the west, nobody bothers much about old people because they are bundled up into old people's homes whenever the children think them a burden, physical, emotional and financial. But in India, grandparents are still a power in the house and the family.
  • Remember that the old and elderly are a valuable fabric of the Indian society
  • A terminally ill patient is suffering physically. But he's also suffering from mental and social pain. The social pain is that he is a financial burden upon his family. His children have to take time off their busy lives to take him to the doctor. Sometimes patients are reluctant to report that they are feeling any pain, because it will be a trouble to their family members.
Anushka Gandhi

American General Assesses Foe in Iraq, And Friend - NYTimes.com - 0 views

  • American and Iraqi successes targeting the leadership and financing of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and other terrorist networks.
    • Anushka Gandhi
       
      "Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia" (also called "Al-Qaeda in Iraq) is a decentralized collection of terrorist groups that have taken responsibility for the number of suicide attacks and car bombings throughout Iraq since the organization's formation.
  • He noted a series of bank robberies and attacks in recent months targeting gold markets — as well as a series of bloody attacks, especially in Baghdad.
  • General Austin, a veteran of two previous tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, took over command from Gen. Ray Odierno on Sept. 1, coinciding with the declared end of the American combat mission here.
    • Anushka Gandhi
       
      General Ray Odierno is the Commander of United States Military Forces in Iraq
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • and is to participate in talks with the Iraqi government about what, if any, American force might beyond that deadline.
  • the American military mission was to help the Iraqis build “an internal defense capability and a foundation for an external defense capability.”
    • Anushka Gandhi
       
      Iraqis need some support for protecting their country from any further suicice attacks or car bombings, etc. Therefore US is their ally, but it seems that US is not only wanting to protect this country completely for the country's benefit, they need the Iraqis to support them against any more Al-Qaeda attacks or other terrorist networks' attacks.
  • He praised the capabilities of Iraq’s security forces, particularly in the aftermath of the country’s inconclusive election in March.
  • The focus of American assistance to Iraqi forces between now and the planned 2011 withdrawal was on their ability to sustain troops in the field and build “an intelligence architecture” able to collect, share and exploit information about threats.
  • Ultimately, General Austin said, defeating Al Qaeda and other terrorist networks in Iraq would not be solely a military solution, but rather the establishment of the rule of law and the maturation of the country’s government and its ability to oversee even mundane things like issuing license plates and identity cards, which would narrow the space in which terrorists operate.
Anushka Gandhi

The World; Why America Still Can't Find Osama bin Laden - New York Times - 0 views

  • In Quetta, a city in southwestern Pakistan, Afghan refugees said teachers in madrassas and members of hardline religious parties urge young men to join the new Taliban insurgency.
    • Anushka Gandhi
       
      One of the ways of having young men join the Taliban for stronger support.
  • That depth of feeling, some Pakistanis note, is what makes Osama bin Laden so difficult to catch.
    • Anushka Gandhi
       
      Osama bin Laden seems to be holding an extremely strong grudge against the US and that "depth of feeling" is what might be helping Osama to be safe in his hiding areas.
  • As dusk arrived in the city last Saturday and the call to prayer sounded from local mosques, a young Afghan madrassa student in a turban demanded that a visiting American leave the area. As the foreigner drove away, a young boy spat in his face.
    • Anushka Gandhi
       
      Strong belief of anti-Americanism. Seems to be a true supporter of Osama.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • ''When America Was Struck by Al Qaeda's Lightning'' attributes the recent East Coast power outage to Mr. bin Laden.
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