A Blog where show any ideas, stories, experiences, thoughts, humor, curiosities and comments of those news or facts that call me the attention at present.
WHEN the police arrived last November at the ransacked mansion of the millionaire investor Raveesh Kumra, outside of San Jose, Calif., they found Mr. Kumra had been blindfolded, tied and gagged. The robbers took cash, rare coins and ultimately Mr. Kumra’s life; he died at the scene, suffocated by the packaging tape used to stifle his screams. A forensics team found DNA on his fingernails that belonged to an unknown person, presumably one of the assailants. The sample was put into a DNA database and turned up a “hit” — a local man by the name of Lukis Anderson.
Bingo. Mr. Anderson was arrested and charged with murder.
There was one small problem: the 26-year-old Mr. Anderson couldn’t have been the culprit. During the night in question, he was at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, suffering from severe intoxication.
Yet he spent more than five months in jail with a possible death sentence hanging over his head. Once presented with Mr. Anderson’s hospital records, prosecutors struggled to figure out how an innocent man’s DNA could have ended up on a murder victim.
Late last month, prosecutors announced what they believe to be the answer: the paramedics who transported Mr. Anderson to the hospital were the very same individuals who responded to the crime scene at the mansion a few hours later. Prosecutors now conclude that at some point, Mr. Anderson’s DNA must have been accidentally transferred to Mr. Kumra’s body — likely by way of the paramedics’ clothing or equipment.
This theory of transference is still under investigation. Nevertheless, the certainty with which prosecutors charged Mr. Anderson with murder highlights the very real injustices that can occur when we place too much faith in DNA forensic technologies.
In the end, Mr. Anderson was lucky. His alibi was rock solid; prosecutors were forced to concede that there must have been some other explanation. It’s hard to believe that, out of the growing number of convictions based largely or exclusively on DNA evidence, there haven’t been any similar mistakes.
In one famous case of crime scene contamination, German police searched for around 15 years for a serial killer they called the “Phantom of Heilbronn” — an unknown female linked by traces of DNA to six murders across Germany and Austria. In 2009, the police found their “suspect”: a worker at a factory that produced the cotton swabs police used in their investigations had been accidentally contaminating them with her own DNA.
Contamination is not the only way DNA forensics can lead to injustice. Consider the frequent claim that it is highly unlikely, if not impossible, for two DNA profiles to match by coincidence. A 2005 audit of Arizona’s DNA database showed that, out of some 65,000 profiles, nearly 150 pairs matched at a level typically considered high enough to identify and prosecute suspects. Yet these profiles were clearly from different people.
There are also problems with the way DNA evidence is interpreted and presented to juries. In 2008, John Puckett — a California man in his 70s with a sexual assault record — was accused of a 1972 killing, after a trawl of the state database partially linked his DNA to crime scene evidence. As in the Anderson case, Mr. Puckett was identified and implicated primarily by this evidence. Jurors — told that there was only a one-in-1.1 million chance that this DNA match was pure coincidence — convicted him. He is now serving a life sentence.
But that one-in-1.1 million figure is misleading, according to two different expert committees, one convened by the F.B.I., the other by the National Research Council. It reflects the chance of a coincidental match in relation to the size of the general population (assuming that the suspect is the only one examined and is not related to the real culprit). Instead of the general population, we should be looking at only the number of profiles in the DNA database. Taking the size of the database into account in Mr. Puckett’s case (and, again, assuming the real culprit’s profile is not in the database) would have led to a dramatic change in the estimate, to one in three.
One juror was asked whether this figure would have affected the jury’s deliberations. “Of course it would have changed things,” he told reporters. “It would have changed a lot of things.”
DNA forensics is an invaluable tool for law enforcement. But it is most useful when it corroborates other evidence pointing to a suspect, or when used to determine whether any two individual samples match, like in the exonerations pursued by the Innocence Project.
But when the government gets into the business of warehousing millions of DNA profiles to seek “cold hits” as the primary basis for prosecutions, much more oversight by and accountability to the public is warranted. For far too long, we have allowed the myth of DNA infallibility to chip away at our skepticism of government’s prosecutorial power, undoubtedly leading to untold injustices.
In the Anderson case, thankfully, prosecutors acknowledged the obvious: their suspect could not have been in two places at once. But he was dangerously close to being on his way to death row because of that speck of DNA. That one piece of evidence — obtained from a technology with known limitations, and susceptible to human error and prosecutorial misuse — might mistakenly lead to execution at the hands of the state should send chills down every one of our spines. The next Lukis Anderson could be you. Better hope your alibi is as well documented as his.
By OAGIE K. OBASOGIE, New York Times, July 24, 2013
Osagie K. Obasogie, a professor of law at the University of California, Hastings, and a senior fellow at the Center for Genetics and Society, is the author of the forthcoming book “Blinded by Sight: Seeing Race Through the Eyes of the Blind.”
Starting Friday, fines for texting, emailing and using handheld phones while driving will get more expensive in New York State. Fines for using mobile devices will increase to up to $150 for a first offense, plus a mandatory $80 surcharge for moving violations, and go up to $400 (plus the $80) for a third. A violation also costs a whopping 5 driver’s license points. In addition, teen and probationary drivers — arguably those most prone to violating existing laws — will face 60-day license suspensions.
That’s one expensive text message, and it puts your license in jeopardy.
But if that’s what it takes to deter device-dependent drivers from this obviously dangerous behavior, then so be it. Laws against handheld mobile phone use and texting have been on the books for years in New York, but we all know how widely those laws are flouted. In fact, despite drivers’ nearly universal disapproval of texting and emailing while driving, more than one in four of us admitted sending a text message or email while driving in the previous month, according to a survey conducted by AAA’s Foundation for Traffic Safety last year.
Texting behind the wheel is extraordinarily dangerous, research has shown. That’s because it engages the driver visually, manually and cognitively, creating a trifecta of deadly distractions. Studies show that on average, a texting driver takes his or her eyes off the road for about five seconds to read or send a text message, more than doubling a driver’s risk of a crash. At highway speeds, that’s long enough to cover the length of a football field. Yet drivers continue to do it. While increased penalties may be a painful lesson for some, a bigger stick is clearly needed to change widespread behaviors.
Over the past two decades, New York’s combination of stronger laws and enforcement led the nation in successful efforts to persuade drivers to wear seat belts and not drive while drunk. As a result, we helped establish a national model for other states, saving thousands of lives. Today, widespread texting and phone use while driving threaten the hard-earned reductions in motor vehicle crashes — a leading cause of preventable death and injury in the United States.
In fact, from 2005 to 2011, there has been about a 143 percent increase in mobile phone-related crashes in the state. In that same period, there’s been an approximately 18 percent decrease in alcohol-related crashes. We can’t let the progress we made saving lives erode.
Teenage drivers — the “digital generation” — are especially prone to distracted driving. Surveys indicate that on average, they talk on their mobile phones an hour each day and send 80 texts per day. Many have handheld devices with Internet capabilities. Ninety-four percent of them report keeping their mobile phones on while driving. Those are troubling statistics, given that car crashes remain the No. 1 cause of death and injury for that generation. Hopefully the state’s new laws will send a powerful message to our young and inexperienced drivers that texting and driving will not be tolerated in New York State.
Now that the new penalties are going into effect, state and local police departments have pledged to vigorously enforce these laws this summer, with checkpoints and undercover vehicles to catch distracted drivers. Some violators may be taken by surprise by the steep fines and points, but I say bring them on. One look around will tell you that many drivers won’t drop their devices without them. By JOHN A. CORLETT, NewsDay, July 24, 2013
John A. Corlett is legislative committee chair of AAA New York State, based in Garden City.
WHEN I retired in 2011 after serving 30 years in Congress, there was one set of issues I knew I could not leave behind. I donated $1 million of unused campaign funds to create the Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute, because our country has left a trail of broken promises to American Indians.
As chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, I once toured a school near an Indian reservation where I encountered a teacher who told me that when she asked a young Indian student what she wanted for Christmas, she said she wanted the electricity turned on in her house so she could study at night.
That type of story is all too familiar. I believe that American Indian children are the country’s most at-risk population. Too many live in third-world conditions. A few weeks ago, I traveled to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. It’s hard just to get there. A two-hour drive from Rapid City brings you to Shannon County, the second poorest county in the United States.
The proud nation of Sioux Indians who live there — like many of the 566 federally recognized tribes — have a treaty with the United States, the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, which promised that their health care, education and housing needs would be provided for by the federal government.
Tribal leaders, parents and some inspiring children I’ve met make valiant efforts every day to overcome unemployment, endemic poverty, historical trauma and a lack of housing, educational opportunity and health care.
But these leaders and communities are once again being mistreated by a failed American policy, this time going under the ugly name “sequestration.” This ignorant budget maneuvering requires across-the-board spending cuts to the most important programs along with the least important. American Indian kids living in poverty are paying a very high price for this misguided abandonment of Congressional decision-making.
When we pushed American Indians off their tribal lands, we signed treaties making promises to provide services in exchange for that land. On my visit to Pine Ridge, I saw how we continue to cheat them. Sequestration, which should never have applied to sovereign Indian reservations in the first place, only compounds the problem.
It’s easy for many to believe those who say that automatic budget cuts aren’t hurting anybody much. But that’s wrong. And I can introduce you to the kids who will tell you why.
At a round-table discussion I had with students of Pine Ridge High School, I met a young man who qualified for the state wrestling tournament this year. The school and tribe had no money to send him. So the wrestling coach spent $500 out of his own pocket to pay for travel and food. The student slept on the floor of the gymnasium because there was no money for a motel room.
When I asked a group of eight high school students who among them had had someone close to them take their own life, they all raised their hands. More than 100 suicide threats or attempts, most by young people, have been reported at Pine Ridge so far this year.
The rate of suicide among American Indian youth is nearly four times the national average, and is as high as 10 times the average in many tribal communities across the Great Plains. At the same time, mental health services are being cut as a result of sequestration, with Pine Ridge losing at least one provider this year.
The youth center on the reservation is closed because of lack of funding. Money for the summer youth program, which pays high school students to work during their break, has also been eliminated.
I met a 12-year-old homeless girl at the emergency youth shelter. Her mother is dead. She doesn’t know the identity of her father. She’s been in multiple foster homes and been repeatedly sexually abused. She found safety in the shelter, but its funding is being cut because of sequestration — an indiscriminate budget ax, I might add, that was thought of as so unconscionable when I was in the Senate that it would never have been seriously considered.
The very programs that we set up to provide those basic life necessities on reservations are the same ones feeling the indiscriminate, blunt cuts of sequestration. How can we justify such a thoughtless policy?
While I was at Pine Ridge I also met with the Tribal Council, whose members described a severe housing crisis. In one district more than 200 homes are without electricity. Throughout the reservation, I saw many dilapidated homes missing windows and doors.
Pine Ridge students told me that many of their friends and families were homeless. “Our friends sleep in tents,” one student said.
Even in normal times, the Indian Health Service operates with about half the money it needs. Tribal Council members told me that some of their health funds last only until May. If you get sick after May, too bad. Now these health care programs, already rationing care, are subject to the sequester. The Indian Health Service estimates that as a result it will have 804,000 fewer patient visits this year.
Congress should hold a series of investigative hearings on our unfulfilled treaties with American Indians. Add up the broken promises, make an accounting of the underfunding, all of it, and then work with tribes to develop a plan to make it right. In the meantime, we must exempt Indian country from sequestration — right now.
By BYRON L. DORGAN, New York Times, July 10, 2013
Byron L. Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota, served in the House from 1981 to 1992 and in the Senate from 1992 to 2011. He is a senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center.
AT an office party in 2005, one of my colleagues asked my then husband what I did on weekends. She knew me as someone with great intensity and energy. “Does she kayak, go rock climbing and then run a half marathon?” she joked. No, he answered simply, “she sleeps.” And that was true. When I wasn’t catching up on work, I spent my weekends recharging my batteries for the coming week. Work always came first, before my family, friends and marriage — which ended just a few years later.
In recent weeks I have been following with interest the escalating debate about work-life balance and the varying positions of Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, Marissa Mayer of Yahoo and the academic Anne-Marie Slaughter, among others. Since I resigned my position as chief financial officer of Lehman Brothers in 2008, amid mounting chaos and a cloud of public humiliation only months before the company went bankrupt, I have had ample time to reflect on the decisions I made in balancing (or failing to balance) my job with the rest of my life. The fact that I call it “the rest of my life” gives you an indication where work stood in the pecking order.
I don’t have children, so it might seem that my story lacks relevance to the work-life balance debate. Like everyone, though, I did have relationships — a spouse, friends and family — and none of them got the best version of me. They got what was left over.
I didn’t start out with the goal of devoting all of myself to my job. It crept in over time. Each year that went by, slight modifications became the new normal. First I spent a half-hour on Sunday organizing my e-mail, to-do list and calendar to make Monday morning easier. Then I was working a few hours on Sunday, then all day. My boundaries slipped away until work was all that was left.
Inevitably, when I left my job, it devastated me. I couldn’t just rally and move on. I did not know how to value who I was versus what I did. What I did was who I was.
I have spent several years now living a different version of my life, where I try to apply my energy to my new husband, Anthony, and the people whom I love and care about. But I can’t make up for lost time. Most important, although I now have stepchildren, I missed having a child of my own. I am 47 years old, and Anthony and I have been trying in vitro fertilization for several years. We are still hoping.
Sometimes young women tell me they admire what I’ve done. As they see it, I worked hard for 20 years and can now spend the next 20 focused on other things. But that is not balance. I do not wish that for anyone. Even at the best times in my career, I was never deluded into thinking I had achieved any sort of rational allocation between my life at work and my life outside.
I have often wondered whether I would have been asked to be C.F.O. if I had not worked the way that I did. Until recently, I thought my singular focus on my career was the most powerful ingredient in my success. But I am beginning to realize that I sold myself short. I was talented, intelligent and energetic. It didn’t have to be so extreme. Besides, there were diminishing returns to that kind of labor.
I didn’t have to be on my BlackBerry from my first moment in the morning to my last moment at night. I didn’t have to eat the majority of my meals at my desk. I didn’t have to fly overnight to a meeting in Europe on my birthday. I now believe that I could have made it to a similar place with at least some better version of a personal life. Not without sacrifice — I don’t think I could have “had it all” — but with somewhat more harmony.
I have also wondered where I would be today if Lehman Brothers hadn’t collapsed. In 2007, I did start to have my doubts about the way I was living my life. Or not really living it. But I felt locked in to my career. I had just been asked to be C.F.O. I had a responsibility. Without the crisis, I may never have been strong enough to step away. Perhaps I needed what felt at the time like some of the worst experiences in my life to come to a place where I could be grateful for the life I had. I had to learn to begin to appreciate what was left.
At the end of the day, that is the best guidance I can give. Whatever valuable advice I have about managing a career, I am only now learning how to manage a life.
Autor: Erin Callan, New York Times, March 9, 2013
Erin Callan is the former chief financial officer of Lehman Brothers.
Animal rights groups said they will oppose at North Hempstead‘s town board (Long Island-New York), meeting Tuesday night a controversial plan to remove Canada geese from parks by euthanizing them.
A torrent of criticism followed Newsday’s report Sunday on a permanent way to cope with 600 geese that officials said eat grass in town parks and foul waterways and fields with droppings. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is surveying the situation, said its preferred method of euthanasia is carbon dioxide; in response, the town said Monday, it has received 20 calls and emails.
One animal advocacy group has mounted an online petition; another called the proposal “monstrous.”
Edita Birnkrant, New York director of Friends of Animals, an international group, said the town should consider alternative measures, such as modifying the geese’s landscape. Because geese prefer areas where they can watch for predators, the town could let grass grow taller and plant shrubs and trees to block their sight lines.
The town said it has tried, with little success, to scare off the geese, with noisemakers and specially trained dogs. Town spokesman Collin Nash said Monday in an email that “the Town is continuing to explore all options in regards to the public health and safety issue caused by the overpopulation of Canada geese.”
The euthanasia solution, advocates contend, is shortsighted. “They’re going to defy the laws of nature and say there’s no geese allowed in North Hempstead airspace or they will be gassed to death,” said Birnkrant, who plans to address the board Tuesday night.
David Karopkin, director and founder of GooseWatch NYC, a group that has challenged geese removals citywide, called the town’s plan “egregiously cruel.” The group has an online petition — he said it has several hundred signatures — and commenters have posted on the group’s Facebookpage.
“By killing the geese and creating a vacant desirable habitat, they’re ensuring that more geese will fly in to be killed next summer and the summer after that,” he said.
But Martin Lowney, New York State director of the USDA’s Wildlife Services program, argued other solutions come with a price. “You build a park so people can play soccer,” he said. “If you put in a forest, you’ll get rid of the geese, but you can’t play soccer. It’s a choice.”
Advocates look to Mamaroneck, in Westchester County. The village’s mayor said a contract with the USDA was signed to cull the geese last December. But three trustees were newly elected to the board that fall, and after public hearings earlier this year the village amended the contract to exclude lethal eradication measures.
Mayor Norman Rosenblum called the change unfortunate, but added he was content with the deal: Eggs will be oiled and the village will buy a giant vacuum to clean up the droppings. But, he said, “within a day or two, it’s covered again.”
So he is hopeful North Hempstead won’t buckle under pressure. “I encourage the supervisor and board to go ahead with it,” he said.
By SCOTT EIDLER , Newsday (Long Island-New York), May 14, 2013
Here’s a selection of photos and videos you may have missed posted on UN social media accounts from around the UN system over the past few weeks and shared with our social media team. Thank you to all who contributed!
A group of young graduates recently received their certificates after a training cycle on life skills for ‘out of school youth’ at a technical school for boys in Darfur. Thanks to the UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) for posting this and more on their Facebook page.
As part of Malala Day on July 12, UNICEF Africa tweeted this photo of young people in Democratic Republic of Congo standing up to support Malala’s fight for the right to education for all. Thanks to @UNICEFAfrica for posting this and more on their Twitter account.
Check out the highlights from the 51st Graduate Study Programme, one of UN’s flagship educational programmes, which took place in Geneva this summer on the theme of “Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.” Thanks to our colleagues in Geneva for posting this and more on their YouTube account.
UN Special Envoy on Youth Ahmad Alhendawi is scooting away at UN Headquarters! In his own words, this is part of what happens when young people get an office at the UN. Thanks to @AhmadAlhendawi for posting this and more on his Twitter account.
At the Economic and Social Council Humanitarian Fair in Geneva earlier this month, the UN Refugee Agency presented these prototype solar-powered shelters to the visitors. Thanks to UNHCR United Kingdom (@UNHCRUK) for posting this and more on their Twitter account.
Students at a technical school in Lebanon were taught the secrets of making pasta when a visting chef came to visit their Italian cuisine course recently. See more photos and read about the event here. Thanks to United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for posting this and more on their website.
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Be a nice person, be a good person.
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If you contribute to other people's happiness you will find the true meaning of life. The key point is to have a genuine sense of universal responsibility.
THAT THE LOVE TRANSCEND THE RELIGIONS OR IDEOLOGIES THAT EVERYBODY HAVE IT AND ONLY A DESIRE OF LOVE, PEACE, JUSTICE, SOLIDARITY AND TOLERANCE, LEAD OUR LIVES TODAY, TOMORROW AND ALWAYS.
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Use differences in a positive way. Try to get energy from different opinions. Make dialogue, that is the proper way to solve problems.
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Compassion can heal not only inner anger, but the world's violence.
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A COMPASSIONATE STATE OF MIND BRINGS INNER PEACE, AND THEREFORE A HEALTHIER BODY.
If there is light in the soul, There will be beauty in the person.
If there is beauty in the person, There will be harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house, There will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation, There will be peace in the world.
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AS LONG AS WE ARE ON THIS SMALL PLANET TOGETHER, WE NEED HUMAN GENTLENESS, HUMAN AFFECTION.
If you cannot do great things do small things in a great way.
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Never Lose faith in the truth.
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IF YOU CAN, HELP OTHERS. IF NOT, THEN AT LEAST REFRAIN FROM HURTING OTHERS.
Dalai Lama:
IT IS IMPORTANT TO USE MONEY PROPERLY TO HELP OTHERS, OTHERWISE YOU STILL WANT MORE AND FEEL POOR.
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Genuine peace between nations will come from mutual respect, not from weapons or force.
Oficialmente hay un nuevo bebé Gerber en la escena. El viernes, la marca de alimentos para bebés anunció al ganador de su décimo concurso anual de búsqueda de fotos para bebés Gerber: Magnolia Earl, de 1 año, de Ross, California. (1)Un panel de jueces seleccionó a Magnolia de un grupo de más de 327,000 participantes para ser el "portavoz" de Gerber […]
Un diagnóstico de cáncer en los niños es algo dramatico; pues recien estan empezando a vivir y ya tienen que sufrir o hasta morir prematuramente.A continuacion presento un resumen del NIH (NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE) que nos aclara y actualize estas situaciones de salud al 2017. (*)En los Estados Unidos en este año (2017), 10.270 nuevos casos de cáncer serán […]
Los perros, gatos y loros u otras aves similares son las mascotas preferidas por las personas, las familias y tambien para los niños. Aunque hay otros tipos de mascotas "exoticas" que son parte de algunas familias.Aqui se pueden escribir muchas anecdotas o aventuras curiosas sobre los niños y su relacion con sus mascotas. Incluso detalles de los ti […]
Desde la prehistoria hasta nuestros días, los animales domésticos han desempeñado un papel muy importante (relevante) en la relación con los niños. Gracias a esa estrecha convivencia, son modelos a seguir para las distintas etapas de desarrollo de los pequeños, y les enseñan valores tanto fundamentales, como conocimientos básicos sobre la vida y la muerte, e […]
Los perros, gatos y loros u otras aves similares son las mascotas preferidas por las personas, las familias y tambien para los niños. Aunque hay otros tipos de mascotas "exoticas" que son parte de algunas familias.Aqui se pueden escribir muchas anecdotas o aventuras curiosas sobre los niños y su relacion con sus mascotas. Incluso detalles de los ti […]
Me contaba un amigo, hace unos anos, quien intentaba adoptar un nino ya que el y su esposa habian intentado muchas formas de tener un hijo propio ; pero los medicos le dijeron que no era possible; aunque le dieron dos opciones:1) Viajar a USA e intentar tener "un hijo probeta"; aunque necesitaban tener un minimo de $50,000 dolares,2) Adoptar un nin […]
Aqui podemos ver algunas fotos, obtenidas de medios publicos de todo el mundo, la imagen de algunas familias en diversos paises, culturas o condicion social o economica. Dicen que cuando vemos fotos reales comparadas, como poner a las "familias modelos o ideales" con la otra mayoria de familias que no las consideran asi; entonces muchas personas em […]
En nuestro mundo actual existen diversas enfermedades que son consideradas raras y que requieren de un tratamiento adecuado y de largo tiempo donde sus padres o quienes crían a los niños deben asumir una tarea rutinaria de mucho tiempo. Asimismo se requiere de poseer de una adecuada atención medica y de disponer de un dinero o ayuda económica que le permita […]
En esta seccion con un puñado de fotos de diversas fuentes publicas; aunque algunas no son faciles de conseguir y lo he logrado a traves de varios anos de observacion o vivencias; pero aqui quiero compartir ,en vistazos de un par de minutos, algunas fotos relacionados a Niños y sus curiosidades infantiles, donde algunos adultos los apoyan. Las mismas fotos t […]
Más de 8 millones de niños sirios necesitan ayuda humanitaria por el conflicto. Llevan más de 6 años de sufrimiento, desesperación y violencia.2016 ha sido el peor año con diferencia. No hay un solo niño que no esté padeciendo por esta guerra que parece no terminar. Entre bombas, disparos y explosiones los niños mueren en silencio para el resto del mundo.Más […]
Look to this Day! For it is Life, the very Life of Life. In its brief course lie all the Verities and Realities of your existence. The Bliss of Growth, The Glory of Action, The splendor of Beauty; For yesterday is but a Dream, and Tomorrow a vision of Hope.
Look well therefore to this Day! Such is the Salutation of the Dawn!
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La primavera ha llegado, en la forma de medio millón de tulipanes plantados en una granja de Manorville en Long Island, New York. Se estan preparando para el segundo festival anual de tulipanes de la granja. A continuacion se muestran, en fotos recientes, lo que pueden esperar los visitantes. (1) Pero antes de ver Algunas … Sigue leyendo Explore el campo de […]
Los espacios íntimos del jardín llevaban alusiones históricas y literarias especiales. Alrededor de la fuente en Arbor Terrace, las inscripciones y esculturas honran tanto a la "Divina Comedia" de Dante como a un amigo y jardinero italiano. El pequeño y dulce anfiteatro de ladrillo y césped que rodea la piscina Lovers 'Lane Pool es un guiño al […]
Buscando algunas novedades en el mundo del arte en nuestro mundo actual descubrí algo interesante y singular, en el cual aparece el artista Filip Hodas (1) quien en reciente trabajo imagina un mundo en el que algunos de los personajes de dibujos animados más icónicos han seguido el camino de los dinosaurios. Es decir, presenta … Sigue leyendo Popeye, piolin, […]
Hoy domingo 12 de abril del 2020 se celebro el domingo de pascua de la resurrección del señor (Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord) en la comunidad cristiana o católica de todo el mundo. Como lo he dicho en varias ocasiones yo creo en Dios, en el dios cristiano que nos muestra la … Sigue leyendo Domingo de pascua (Easter Sunday) en días de coronavi […]
Actualmente las artes, como la escultura, tiene diversas formas de mostrarse ante el publico que gusta el arte. Las únicas cosas que se pueden considerar comunes con épocas pasadas es la exclusividad, los precios altos y la originalidad que tiene con ver con la visión singular del escultor o su influencia de la forma que … Sigue leyendo Piezas esculturales, […]
“El perfume (proveniente del latín per, «por» y fumare, «a través del humo») hacía referencia, en tiempos muy antiguos, a la sustancia aromática que desprendía un humo fragante al ser quemada. Los romanos no utilizaron la palabra perfume y según demuestra el filólogo Joan Corominas, esta aparece por primera vez en lengua catalana en la obra Lo Somni de Berna […]
El oro es un elemento químico o un metal precioso blando de color amarillo; sin embargo su valor histórico y comercial es considerable y actualmente quien posee mas cosas de oro es símbolo de buen estatus económico , de lujo o protección monetaria en tiempos de escasez laboral o económica. Ademas es uno de los metales más utilizados en las joyerías por … Sig […]
El Ibis es un ave que tiene el cuello largo y el pico curvado hacia abajo, y normalmente se alimentan en grupo, sondeando el barro para obtener la comida, generalmente crustáceos. (1) Según el folklore, el ibis es el último animal que se refugia antes de un huracán, y el primero en reaparecer después del paso de … Sigue leyendo La danza del Ibis por Shanghai […]
Revisando la historia de las bebidas alcohólicas nos tenemos que remontar a la China de hace 9,000 años donde se encontraron restos arqueológicos donde se descubrio la presencia de un residuo químico que vendría a ser el vino de arroz; aunque se presume que la influencia del alcohol se extiende a tiempos prehistóricos . Como … Sigue leyendo Amor y Alcohol en […]
Las fotos vistas aqui son algunas que me parecieron interesantes de compartir y que nos muestran algunos lugares que los britanicos mantienen y/o muestran como lugares historicos y/o turisticos, veamos: Abajo observamos “Old Sarum” el cual data del siglo XIII A continuacion vemos “Stonehenge” que data de los anos 3100 antes de cristo. Nadie sabe … Sigue ley […]
En la Copa del Mundo de 1982, los llamados "cuartos de final" se formaron cuatro grupos con tres equipos cada uno. Brasil cayó en el Grupo 3, junto a Italia y Argentina. Argentina, del joven Maradona, recientemente fallecido, perdió 2-1 ante italianos y 3x1 ante brasileños. Debido a esta mejor diferencia de goles, Brasil comenzaría el partido con […]
Auque sea un tema tratado muchas veces lo considero importante.Yo puedo dar testimonio personal de que el deporte recreativo o informal nos ayuda mucho en llevar una vida, fisica y/o mental, saludable mientras lo practiquemos de una manera rutinaria. Incluso aunque no sigamos rutinas ideales que muchas veces los imprevistos, accidentes o vaivenes de la vida […]
Revisando mis archivos personales sobre este deporte, que a pesar de agrupar a una afición minoritaria, respecto a otros deportes mas populares; sin embargo tiene un publico fiel, canales deportivos especializados en Golf y mueve muchos millones de dolares en negocios alrededor del Golf..Aquí vemos al legendario y excéntrico grupo de rock (Kiss) el cual pare […]
El deporte, como el fútbol, no solo nos sirve para distraernos apreciando los aspectos técnicos-tácticos y físicos del mismo, sino para divertirnos de todas las cosas extra-deportivas que ocurren alrededor de ello. Aquí comparto un poco de humor que nos dejo el ultimo campeonato mundial de Brasil 2014.Hasta siempre.CTsT.
La final del Mundial 2014 discurrió para Alemania de una forma muy diferente a la planeada, con cambios obligados y una Argentina superior tácticamente. Aún así se llevó la Copa del Mundo como premio a su carácter. Alejandro Sabella empezó ganando el duelo táctico, pero ello no fue suficiente para llevarse la Copa del Mundo, porque en el momento más crítico […]
En esta sección quiero almacenar los obituarios o recuerdos de algunos deportistas, tanto profesionales como aficionados, que fallecieron de una manera singular o prematura. Aunque tambien están aquellos famosos que murieron por tiempo de vida. (Dos grandes generaciones de futbolistas del Portugal: Eusebio y Cristiano Ronaldo)Aquí aprovecho a […]
Hace pocos días le hicieron una entrevista al ex-peleador de Lucha libre Profesional conocido como "The Iron Sheik" = El Jeque de Hierro. El tuvo una vida publica singular la cual quiero recordar aquí.Su nombre real es Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri (nacido el 15 de marzo del 1943 en Teheran-Iran). Actualmente esta proximo a cumplir 71 anos de edad.El […]
Un nuevo logro en su ya exitosa carrera alcanzó la peruana Gladys Tejeda al ganar el 52 Medio Maratón de San Blas que sobre los 21.0975 km se realizó en Puerto Rico el 9 de febrero 2014La corredora incaica destronó a la ganadora de la anterior edición, la etíope Emebet Bedada Etea, al emplear un tiempo de una hora 15 minutos 35 segundos.Gladys Tejeda y la co […]
Parece que el destacado jugador de los Knicks, J.R. Smith, No solamente se le destaca por sus tatuajes, sino tambien por algunas jugadas extradeportivas como se aprecia abajo, frente a los Mavericks, Smith bajó la cinta de la cabeza del veterano jugador Vince Carter (Es el de la foto abajo) mientras daba marcha atrás en la defensa. Carter no parecía contento […]
Definitivamente la noticia mas importante del ajedrez actual es la que trata sobre el joven Gran maestro y campeón mundial noruego: Magnus Carlsen.Magnus Carlsen (nació el 30 de noviembre del 1990 en Noruega) es un Gran Maestro Internacional de ajedrez noruego, coronado como el decimosexto Campeón Mundial de Ajedrez. Se proclamó campeón mundial a los 22 año […]
The hundred billion galaxies of our visible, each with a hundred billion stars, is but a grain of sand on the Sahara that exists beyond our horizon, grown out of that single, original bubble of false vacuum.
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En un informe publicitado, hace un lustro, por la agencia EFE, analiza la información sobre 664 ataques registrados de osos en USA, Europa y Asia. En Norteamérica se tuvo constancia de 183 ataques, de 291 en Europa y de 190 en Asia, aunque en este último caso con datos parciales. La mayoría de los ataques, […]
Esto no fue una protesta. Fue un acto de terrorismo. El diario Washington Post tiene como lema: "la democracia muere en la oscuridad", pero en este caso no llama las cosas por su nombre real, es decir, fue un acto de desprecio por la vida y la integridad física y al uso de un arma mortal (Un vehiculo) para detener el trabajo de vacunacion que salva […]
Algunos dicen que son locos o que es la consecuencia de su adiccion a las drogas o el alcohol. Otros dicen que es la consecuencia de la nuevas generaciones en cuanto a la cultura de la violencia que observan de las acciones de sus gobiernos o politicos que desarrollan internamente o externamente. Tambien observamos que la mayoria de personas que realizan est […]
Incluso ya se aceptan limites razonables por delitos diversos, segun el pais, estado o pueblo. Es decir, se considera normal un determinado numero de asesinatos, suicidios, accidentes u otros delitos o crimenes y que son inevitables y debemos aceptarlos como parte de la vida humana. Solo nos preocupamos cuando los casos policiales sobrepasan ese limite acept […]
Sobre el reporte de pocos abusos infantiles los expertos estan preocupados porque no estan viendo las senales: (1) “Knowing the high stress levels, knowing that families are isolated at home, we suspects that there’s actually probably an increase in the number of cases…they’re just not getting reported.” (Debra Lyons of the Nassau County Child…) “Sabiendo [… […]
Estos hechos nos hacen ver lo peligroso de las acciones de algunos humanos o de la maldad humana que se encuentra en todas las instituciones, civiles, religiosas o militares, y países, sin excepción. Lo que varia es la cantidad, frecuencia o eficiencia de la policía local para capturar o neutralizar a estos criminales. También es bueno notar que cuando estos […]
Hay muertes evitables si es que existe un ambiente de menos violencia como existe en el mundo actual o al menos en algunos países o lugares. En este caso una joven, Isabella Tallas (21), perdió la vida por una discusión domestica, absurda y evitable.
Un deslizamiento de tierra forzó la evacuación de varios residentes en el norte del estado de Nueva York y dejó las casas colgando peligrosamente cerca del borde de un acantilado el domingo. Se tomaron fotos del área en Waterford, ubicada a unas 11 millas al noreste de Albany (New York), que vio árboles desarraigados, gran parte […]
La policía en New York (Long Island), está saliendo a las calles a pie y a caballo para imponer el distanciamiento social y ayudar a prevenir la propagación del nuevo coronavirus mientras las autoridades se preparan para los meses de verano y una reapertura gradual. Así podemos ver que el departamento de policía de Long […]
El coronavirus en USA ha producido tragedias espantosas en algunos lugares como en el asilo de ancianos que abajo resumo algunos detalles y los traduzco (*), en los cuales se observa la reciente muerte de 70 residentes. Los ancianos o mayores de 70 años son los mas perjudicados ,a nivel de todo USA, y van […]
La pregunta se podria generalizar para cualquier sistema economico de un pais. Es decir dicho pais funcionaria mejor con tener un 90% de sus empresas o negocios de tamaño pequeño. Veamos un ejemplo real en el caso del condado de Long Island en New York. Long Island es una isla del estado de Nueva York. Tiene una longitud de…Leer más ¿Es bueno tener el 90% de […]
Siempre lo he pensado asi que mas que decir que este "es un pais de leyes" debemos analizar si las leyes estan a favor de una real y oportuna justicia o solamente sirven para llenar voluminosos libros y hacer triunfar a la burocracia o permitir una corrupcion escondida. Aquel Hombre que tiene dicho poder, sea presidente, juez o gobernador; entonces […]
El hambre mundial, las muertes maternas y los mortinatos (1) se han disparado durante la pandemia. La pandemia ha contribuido al aumento del hambre y la disminución aguda de la atención de la salud materna que amenaza a decenas de millones de personas, dijo la ONU el miércoles, subrayando los desproporcionados efectos secundarios sobre los…Leer más El hambre […]
Recordemos que hay paises en Europa, como Suiza, Suecia, Dinamarca, Noruega, Finlandia, etc. que mantienen una politica mixta que se podria titular como como socialista, capitalista y democratico. Ello es algo que se acerca mas a la justicia de la mayoria de su poblacion y ello se ha comprobado con esta dura prueba mundial de la pandemia (covid-19).
Bill y Melinda Gates dijeron que se estaban divorciando. La pareja, dos de los filántropos más influyentes del mundo, han emergido juntos como figuras destacadas en la lucha mundial contra Covid-19, y es probable que su separación provoque ondas de choque en los mundos de la filantropía, la salud pública y los negocios. El divorcio generará dudas sobre el de […]
Impulsar un ambiente de paz, justicia y armonia ,entre todos los habitantes de USA, para que sea mas facil conseguir las metas propuestas. Combatir al racismo y discriminacion de todo tipo entre los habitantes. Asimismo crear una cultura de solidaridad entre todos y que sea un modelo para crear un nuevo pais, un mejor pais: Un pais confiable y justo, tanto n […]
Entre las 51 áreas metropolitanas más grandes del país, solo dos, Las Vegas y Los Ángeles, tenían tasas de desempleo más altas en agosto que Nueva York, según el Departamento de Trabajo federal. La tasa oficial de desempleo de la ciudad en septiembre fue del 14,1 por ciento, en comparación con una tasa nacional que cayó del 8,4 por ciento al 7,9 por ciento e […]
En fin, sobre este tema puedo escribir un libro completo; pero aqui solo quiero dar el gorrito historico-reflexivo para quienes buscan la verdad y justicia del mundo y que no se dejen engañar o huevear por medias verdades; sobretodo de aquellos paises paises que en siglos pasados fueron potencias militares o economicas.
No se sabe a ciencia cierta desde cuándo el gato ha acompañado al ser humano. (1) Tradicionalmente se ha asociado su domesticación a los egipcios, los asirios o alguna cultura predecesora a partir del gato salvaje africano. (1) Se cree que los egipcios empezaron a domesticarlos en torno al año 4000 a. C. para mantener a las ratas…Leer más Gato gigante grabad […]
Mi objetivo de este articulo, al igual que otros que comparto gratuitamente en mis blogs, es tratar los diversos temas, importantes o interesantes, que pasan en nuestro mundo actual de una manera objetiva, que se acerque a la verdad y que nos mantenga informado sobre hechos o realidades para que nuestros comentarios, opiniones o decisiones sean las mejores p […]
Antes de empezar las acciones de demanda de Nike esta situacion provoco una serie de rumores, historias o atencion de un publico numeroso que se encuentra en las redes sociales. De alli se hicieron bromas que otros no lo ven como bromas. Incluso otros, como los fanaticos religiosos, lo vieron como la senal de que el diablo ya esta en la tierra en cuerpos de […]
"¿Que esta pasando a nuestros jóvenes?. Ellos no respetan a nuestros ancianos y desobedecen a sus padres. Ellos ignoran la ley. Ellos se rebelan en las calles con nociones salvajes. ¿Que les esta pasando?" (Platon 427-347 A.C.)
Hay preguntas que pueden ser explicadas en gran medida por la ciencia actual; sin embargo siempre hay un espacio para lo sobrenatural, lo espiritual o lo divino que puede tener la existencia y muerte humana. Mi experiencia con cadáveres, de forma empírica, fue cuando era un estudiante y vi los cuerpos de personas solitarias que […]
En Argentina hay un pueblo fantasma muy extraño, llamado Epecuen, que pasó un cuarto de siglo bajo el agua. Hoy es un atractivo turístico en argentina y se encuentra ubicado en la posición geográfica que muestro en los mapas correspondientes: (ver fotos abajo) Epecuen fue una vez un bullicioso pequeño complejo junto al lago, donde 1.500 personas atendían 20 […]
Un cadáver misterioso llegó a la orilla en Nueva Zelanda la semana pasada, lo que alimentó las especulaciones sobre monstruos marinos y dinosaurios. El animal podrida fue descubierto por un grupo de vehículos de cuatro ruedas a toda velocidad a lo largo de la playa en la Bahía de Plenty. Según un artículo publicado en […]
Actualmente las potentes cámaras fotográficas pueden ampliar la visión de insectos y hacerlos ver como monstruos gigantes en una foto. Lo interesante aquí es ver detalles en las características físicas de algunos insectos que los hacen ver como monstruos y han inspirados a monstruos aterradores en algunas películas de terror. Tambien han generado monstruos a […]
El peruano Óscar Santa María Huerta, que fue piloto de la Fuerza Aérea durante 25 años, declaró en un acto anual sobre ovnis celebrado en EE.UU. que “está convencido que hay vida extraterrestre”, ya que lo comprobó por su propia experiencia. El piloto fue uno de los seis representantes de América Latina que habló en […]
Las arañas han tomado parte en fábulas mitológicas desde tiempos inmemoriales a lo largo de todo el mundo. Esta presencia en numerosas culturas está relacionada sin duda con la distribución cosmopolita de los arácnidos. De hecho, las arañas se pueden encontrar prácticamente en todos los ecosistemas terrestres y, gracias a esto han entrado en la […]
Es muy chocante algunas fotos o vídeos donde se ve como este sofisticado predador (Mantis) actúa de una manera asesina para atrapar y devorar a sus victimas, incluyendo a otras mantis; aunque también hay otros depredadores que les hacen lo mismo a algunas mantis como podemos ver mas abajo.. Una manera sintetizada de definir a la mantis la podemos ver a conti […]
A pesar de estar en el 2013, todavía quedan algunas costumbres de la edad media en algunos países de nuestro planeta como veremos a continuación en el siguiente reportaje difundido en Noviembre 2012. Miles de personas, sobre todo mujeres, son acusadas de brujería en Nepal. Es una maldición que puede acabar con sus vidas. A Ranwati Chowduri la llaman bruja. […]
Peacekeepers from Jordan recently hosted 
A group of young graduates recently received their certificates after a training cycle on life skills for ‘out of school youth’ at a technical school for boys in Darfur. Thanks to the 
As part of 
UN Special Envoy on Youth Ahmad Alhendawi is scooting away at UN Headquarters! In his own words, this is part of what happens when young people get an office at the UN. Thanks to 
Students at a technical school in Lebanon were taught the secrets of making pasta when a visting chef came to visit their Italian cuisine course recently. See more photos and read about the event 
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If you contribute to other people's happiness you will find the true meaning of life. The key point is to have a genuine sense of universal responsibility.
![Youlgreave [Flickr Explore 25 Jul 2021]](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51333729747_c2c1214532_s.jpg "Youlgreave [Flickr Explore 25 Jul 2021]")
