Saturday, November 15
Granny gorilla knows best on baby-care A captive female gorilla has been spotted teaching her daughter how to tend to her newborn. Gorilla mothers are often seen teaching their young to walk and climb, but primatologists believe this is the first report of a mother instructing her daughter on baby care. NewScientist
A Scary Afghan Road 1. In the two years since the war in Afghanistan, opium production has:
(A) virtually been eliminated by Hamid Karzai's government and American forces.
(B) declined 30 percent, but eradication is not expected until 2008.
(C) soared 19-fold and become the major source of the world's heroin.
2. In Paktika and Zabul, two religiously conservative parts of Afghanistan, the number of children going to school:
(A) has quintupled, with most girls at least finishing third grade.
(B) has risen 40 percent, although few girls go to school.
(C) has plummeted as poor security has closed nearly all schools there.
The correct answer to both questions, alas, is (C). (New York Times) via Common Dreams
(A) virtually been eliminated by Hamid Karzai's government and American forces.
(B) declined 30 percent, but eradication is not expected until 2008.
(C) soared 19-fold and become the major source of the world's heroin.
2. In Paktika and Zabul, two religiously conservative parts of Afghanistan, the number of children going to school:
(A) has quintupled, with most girls at least finishing third grade.
(B) has risen 40 percent, although few girls go to school.
(C) has plummeted as poor security has closed nearly all schools there.
The correct answer to both questions, alas, is (C). (New York Times) via Common Dreams
Wednesday, November 12
U.S. Troops More Hostile With Reporters With casualties mounting in Iraq (news - web sites), jumpy U.S. soldiers are becoming more aggressive in their treatment of journalists covering the conflict.
Media people have been detained, news equipment has been confiscated and some journalists have suffered verbal and physical abuse while trying to report on events. Yahoo News
Media people have been detained, news equipment has been confiscated and some journalists have suffered verbal and physical abuse while trying to report on events. Yahoo News
Global warming, wine quality linked Global warming may become a worldwide catastrophe, but at least the wine should be good. Seatle Post Intelligencer
Tuesday, November 11
Conversations With Homeless Vets Living or working in San Francisco, you can't avoid the homeless. Near our office at Fifth and Mission, I walk past many homeless people every day, yet I never talk to them. And, whenever I read about them, it's about the homeless as an issue, not about individual human beings with unique lives.
For many of them, those lives have included service in the military. According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, 33 percent of all homeless men are veterans, as is nearly one-fourth of the homeless population in general.
As the United States ships thousands of troops worldwide to fight the "war on terror," I find myself thinking about what joining the military and fighting for one's country really means. I am fascinated with warriors, probably because as a woman in America, it's an experience I'll probably never have. I wonder particularly what it's like to have served your country and now be living destitute on the streets.
I decided to find out. Over the last few weeks, I spoke with several homeless vets who I met through Dave Hanzel at St. Anthony's Dining Room in downtown San Francisco. Some of them saw combat duty, and others didn't.
I'm not here to weigh in on policy about homeless people -- what care or cash they should be given -- as much as I wish to give a glimpse into their lives. I hope you find the interviews compelling for no other reason than that they reinforce the idea that we are all connected in our humanity. Human life is fragile. We all suffer. And, yet, for some inexplicable reason, most of us carry on.
I've done my best to verify that what the people I talked to told me has some basis in fact. But, with the homeless, it's hard to identify people with certainty and even more difficult to track them down to check the facts. I leave it for you to decide for yourselves. I may even include some obvious tall tales because they're so entertaining. (By Amy Moon, Features Editor, SF Gate ) SF Gate
For many of them, those lives have included service in the military. According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, 33 percent of all homeless men are veterans, as is nearly one-fourth of the homeless population in general.
As the United States ships thousands of troops worldwide to fight the "war on terror," I find myself thinking about what joining the military and fighting for one's country really means. I am fascinated with warriors, probably because as a woman in America, it's an experience I'll probably never have. I wonder particularly what it's like to have served your country and now be living destitute on the streets.
I decided to find out. Over the last few weeks, I spoke with several homeless vets who I met through Dave Hanzel at St. Anthony's Dining Room in downtown San Francisco. Some of them saw combat duty, and others didn't.
I'm not here to weigh in on policy about homeless people -- what care or cash they should be given -- as much as I wish to give a glimpse into their lives. I hope you find the interviews compelling for no other reason than that they reinforce the idea that we are all connected in our humanity. Human life is fragile. We all suffer. And, yet, for some inexplicable reason, most of us carry on.
I've done my best to verify that what the people I talked to told me has some basis in fact. But, with the homeless, it's hard to identify people with certainty and even more difficult to track them down to check the facts. I leave it for you to decide for yourselves. I may even include some obvious tall tales because they're so entertaining. (By Amy Moon, Features Editor, SF Gate ) SF Gate
Monday, November 10
Age boom hastens the quest to live longer, better lives
Zerline Aronin is blind in one eye and uses a walker for balance even inside her one-bedroom Capitol Hill apartment.
But she still cooks breakfast every morning � oatmeal with fresh fruit � before showering and making up the bed without a wrinkle.
By midday, she's out the door in sensible shoes, pushing her walker to beat the stoplight at a busy Madison Street intersection. It's a few blocks to feed a flock of waiting pigeons, then a few more to the grocery or over to the fire station to have her blood pressure checked. On an occasional Saturday she sets out to synagogue around the corner.
That's several miles a week � not bad for a 102-year-old. By Marsha King ), Seattle Times
Zerline Aronin is blind in one eye and uses a walker for balance even inside her one-bedroom Capitol Hill apartment.
But she still cooks breakfast every morning � oatmeal with fresh fruit � before showering and making up the bed without a wrinkle.
By midday, she's out the door in sensible shoes, pushing her walker to beat the stoplight at a busy Madison Street intersection. It's a few blocks to feed a flock of waiting pigeons, then a few more to the grocery or over to the fire station to have her blood pressure checked. On an occasional Saturday she sets out to synagogue around the corner.
That's several miles a week � not bad for a 102-year-old. By Marsha King ), Seattle Times
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