Surfing Now an Unrestricted Olympic Event

Internet access will be completely unrestricted for reporters during the this summers Olympics in Beijing. While the Communist government of China will continue to tightly regulate and block websites for its citizens, they are in the process of de-blocking all websites for reporter's access. BOCOG is the organizational body responsible for directly running the Beijing Games under the oversight of the IOC, which sets general policy. As the world prepares for the opening ceremony on the 8th of August, officials with the International Olympic Committee and the Chinese organizers BOCOG had been arguing over the Internet restrictions for media, with the latter saying blocked sites would remain so.

"The issue has been solved," vice-president Gunilla Lindberg said. "The IOC Coordination Commission and BOCOG met last night and agreed. Internet use will be just like in any Olympics."


http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=14934355

First Double Arm Transplant A Success

The team of doctors and surgeons (of which there were over forty) from the Munich University clinic, as well as a German farmer who had lost both his arms, had great reason to celebrate yesterday. Operating over the course of fifteen hours, the surgeons successfully grafted two new limbs to the man whose arms had been severed just below the shoulder in a farming accident. The doctors are still closely monitoring the patient, but say that his immune system has taken to the transplants 'optimally' and that the entire surgery went 'according to script'. Not only is it very commonplace for the body to reject grafts (which the man's has not), but for the first surgery of its kind to go off without a hitch is particularly laudatory. The team from Munich says that with a nerve rate growth of about a millimeter per day, they hope the patient will be using his new arms on his own in about a year or two.

The original link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/02/germany

Untangling a Knot in the Series of Tubes: A Flaw Internet Security gets Fixed

Is Dan Kaminski the modern-day Paul Revere? Some think so, after the 29 year old computer security specialist stumbled upon a potentially dangerous flaw in the basic way the internet is set up and called a secret meeting to alert mega programmers before going public. Afraid that hackers might take advantage of the flaw first, Kaminski rode "and spread the alarm, through every Middlesex village and farm." Which, given such modern day amenities as the internet, television, and newspapers, made his trip far faster than Revere's 1775 jaunt.

What Dan discovered was that it would be extremely easy for someone with ill intentions to divert internet users to fake websites that resembled sites they were familiar with, such as their bank's online services. Once surfers were on the fake sites, they would enter their private information where it could be accessed by the wrong hands. By annoucing the flaw, Dan has given the good guys a chance to fix the problem before their clients were taken advantage of. Already a large percentage of domains have been fixed, and others are on their way. With more personal business being conducted over the internet and identity theft a real concern, the fact that this hole can be patched ahead of time and not in the face of a large-scale problem is great news!

"In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere."

http://iht.com/articles/2008/07/30/technology/30flaw.php

Golden Retriever Adopts Tiger Cubs

Caney, KS

"Some mothers just don't get it," says Tom Harvey, Director of Safari Zoological Park in Caney, Kansas. He's describing a mother tiger who gave birth to three adorable cubs on Sunday. Not long afterwards, she began neglecting them, virtually orphaning the day-old cubs.

Though the Zoo has bottle-fed tiger cubs in the past, natural food is by far the preferred nutrition for the "bottomless pits" of hunger. Fortunately for the cubs, Isabella, a local golden retriever, came to the rescue. Harvey reports that she treats the cubs as if they are her own litter, feeding, cleaning, and protecting them. Having just weened her own puppies, Isabella was in the perfect place, biologically speaking, to adopt the baby tigers.

To read more and to see pictures of this special family of animals, visit http://www.kansas.com/news/story/479300.html

Drug Trial Gives Hope to Alzheimer's Sufferers

Scientists in the United Kingdom have tested a drug, called Rember, which shows tremendous promise for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

The illness, as many know, causes a slow deterioration of memory and cognitive function. Nicknamed "the long goodbye" by many physicians, Alzheimer's is often the hardest on those close to the patient, who are confronted with the bit-by-bit loss of the person they know and love. However, the patient must also suffer the embarrassment and pain of knowing the effects of the incurable condition, and many fear becoming a burden to their families.

That's why the promise of this new drug is so uplifting. In medical trials among 321 patients, there was an 81% difference in the rate of mental decline between those who took Rember and those who were given a placebo. According to researchers, after a 19-month period, those who took the new drug had no significant decline in mental function.

The Goose has previously reported on research pertaining to excess protein, or plaque, which builds up in the brains of Alzheimer's sufferers, and treatment focused on this plaque. Rember, technically known as methylthioninium chloride, treats instead a protein called Tau, which builds up inside the cells of the brain responsible for memory. This different angle of treatment may be responsible for Rember's apparent success.

Further trials are planned, however Rember may be available as early as 2012.

To read more about this remarkable drug, visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7525115.stm

By Banning Toy Toxin, Playtime Safer Across America

USA

A group of harmful, yet widespread chemicals found in many children’s toys have finally been banned from use after long debate in Congress. The ban is the result of hard-won campaigning on the part of parents and health experts going up against the heretofore unchallenged chemical industry. The act is good news for two reasons: first because it means safer toys and healthier families. Secondly, because the act may represent a shift away from government favoring of industry and towards consumer rights.

The chemicals, known as phthalates, are found in many children’s toys. Phthalates studies show, however, that when ingested into the body over the course of time these chemicals become toxins, damaging the reproductive system especially in males. They are also thought to contribute to cancer of the liver and kidney. The added danger is that if mothers are exposed to phthalates, the toxins can be passed to their infants through breastfeeding. The toxins have been illegal in the European Union since 2007.

The bill is part of a wider reform of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The legislation also provides for the creation of a new database consumers can use to log complaints or accidents about the goods they use. In addition, new laws will strengthen regulation enforcement and violations of these laws will be met with harsher punishments.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/28/AR2008072802586.html?hpid=topnews

First Virginian Job Training Facility Helps ex-Inmates Stay Out

For the first time in Virginia, the Fairfax County jail will be teaming up next week with the non-profit SkillSource Group to help released offenders get on the right track, and stay on it, after release. The newly expanded center gives those serving time but who have shown good behavior while serving their sentence the chance to have employment and job training. The opportunity is open to inmates who have demonstrated good behavior while incarcerated and who are currently living in the center's pre-release center. They are given job training, advice on how to find and keep jobs, and other career counseling, including applying for a driver's licence. If employment is found, they may begin working during the last portion of their sentence. Any income earned by inmates is then given back to pay rent and maintain the facilities. When the nearby George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, began following up on what happened to inmates after release, they found 40% were rearrested within the year, citing the added difficulty of finding a job with jail time on their record. After monitoring the released inmates who completed SkillSource's program, they reported far fewer re-releases. The jobs that agree to take on this type of employee also benefits: tax credits for hiring them, insurance/reimbursement for workplace damage if there is a problem. Local officials said the program is geared toward reducing recidivism rates, which in turn means keeping our communities free from crime.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/22/AR2008072203345.html