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Karnataka govt to set up aerospace training centre with Dassault, VTU – Hindu Business Line

Posted on February 16, 2017 by Danzig

While Dassault will offer software and faculty, VTU will provide space at its campuses in Muddenahalli and Bengaluru, and infrastructure.

Bengaluru, February 16:

The Karnataka government plans to set up Centre of Excellence in Aerospace and Defence in collaboration with Dassault Systemes and Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU).

The new centre will provide high-end training and skill development to about 1,600 engineers a year.

The State plays host to several aerospace organiations such as HAL, ISRO, BEL, ADA, DRDO Labs, Airbus, Safran, Mahindra Aerospace, Tata Power SED, Tata Advance Material, Quest and Bombardier.

Karnataka Minister for IT, BT and Tourism, Priyank Kharge, said: The total cost of setting up the centre is 288.68 crore, of which the Karnataka governments contribution will be 34.36 crore over three years.

Dassault will put in 250.93 crore via software package, software updation/ licence charges, faculty and training.

VTU, as academic partner, will provide space at its campuses in Muddenahalli and Bengaluru. It will also offer infrastructure such as classrooms and meeting rooms, and meet the operational cost of maintenance and administration such as manpower, electricity and internet. Its total contribution will be about 4.29 crore.

The State is the leader in aerospace and defence in India, attracting 65 per cent of the investments in the country. Karnataka is the only State to have a full-fledged and dedicated Aerospace Policy, said Kharge.

The Centre of Excellence is expected to improve the employability of engineers and working professionals in the aerospace and defence industry through industry-focussed skill development programmes.

The youth will get an opportunity to take up aerospace and defence industrial design as a career option and those who are already practising in the area will get highly coveted industry-grade training, which will better their prospects, said Kharge.

(This article was published on February 16, 2017)

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Karnataka govt to set up aerospace training centre with Dassault, VTU - Hindu Business Line

Karnataka seeks Tata Group investments in aerospace sector – The … – The Hindu

Posted on February 16, 2017 by Danzig

Large and Medium-Scale Industries Minister R.V. Desphande exclusively met Tata Sons, chairman emeritus, Ratan Tata, at the Aero India show and urged him to invest in the States aerospace sector through Tata Group companies. Officials said the Minister and Mr. Tata had discussions for about 20 minutes at the Tata VIP Chalet. Mr. Deshpande discussed various measures taken by the State to boost the aerospace segment, including the aerospace policy and the aerospace park being set up in Devanahalli.

Karnataka is the only State in the country which has formulated an aerospace policy and also has a strong presence of aerospace component manufacturing units.

Mr. Deshpande is said to have handed over a copy of the aerospace policy to Mr. Tata.

In his response, Mr. Tata asked his officials to look at the potential opportunity in the State, said an official.

About eight Tata Group companies are exhibiting their expertise and offerings in the aerospace and defence sector at the Aero India show.

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Anil Ambanis 35-minute sortie

Industrialist Anil D. Ambani took a nearly 35-minute flight on a Rafale fighter jet on Wednesday. This is a proud moment for an Indian to have flown the worlds most advanced fighter aircraft. I look forward to an opportunity to make these aircraft under Make in India initiative and serve our nation, the air force and the navy, Mr. Ambani said in a statement following the flight.

Reliance Defence Ltd., which is headed by Mr. Ambani, has a joint venture with French company, Dassault Aviation, for the execution of offset obligations under the recently inked 60,000 crore deal for the production of 36 Rafale aircraft for the Indian Air Force.

For the second consecutive edition, Union Minister of State Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy, a pilot himself, flew during the air show. He too flew in a Rafale. Tested my flying skills on Rafale ... Amazing fly by wire technology... a robust machine, he tweeted.

Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. Kanwal Kumar, Director General, Army Aviation Corps, took the light combat helicopter for a spin during the event.

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A good Samaritan

With thousands of delegates and guests heading to Aero India, hundreds of drivers were seen struggling to find food and water within Air Force Station Yelahanka. With the nearest restaurant at a considerable distance from the base, and the food court at Aero India being out of bounds for those without passes, many drivers were left thirsty and hungry on the first day.

However, on Wednesday, the owner of a city-based cottage emporium who was in touch with the drivers brought food and water for the drivers.

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Reliance Defence, Strata collaborate for manufacturing

Strata Manufacturing PJSC (Strata) of the United Arab Emirates, and Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Defence Ltd. have signed an MoU to collaborate on advanced aerospace manufacturing capabilities between India and the UAE. The potential partnership will look at opportunities in the production of carbon fibre composite aerostructures, pre-pregs as well as 3D printing of aerospace components and airframe panels. This collaboration is in line with Stratas vision to become one of the top aerospace companies globally.

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Maini, Marshall Aerospace sign MoU

Bengaluru-based Maini Precision Products and the U.K.-based Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group, have entered into a multimillion dollar life of programme contract for structural machined parts and sub-assemblies for a major aircraft programme, at Aero India. With this contract, Maini is now positioned as the single source from India to support Marshall for their manufacturing requirements for the duration of this programme.

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Alpha Tocol delivers 100th Sukhoi flaperon

Alpha Tocol has delivered the 100th Sukhoi flaperon to Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. Alpha Tocol has been associated with HAL for the development of these major assemblies from the inception of transfer of technology of Su-30MKI.

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Aequs to invest 500 crore in Goa

Aequs aerospace precision engineering and manufacturing company on Wednesday announced to extend its ecosystem in aerospace and defence sectors. Aequs will open a high-end multi-capability aerospace and defence manufacturing facility at Tuem, Goa, with an initial investment of 500 crore. The initial capital will be used for the development of physical infrastructure, plant, machinery, and equipment. The new facility will be a multi-capability precision engineering with CNC machines and new-age technology to design and produce precision components for the Indian defence sector.

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BEL receives offset contract from Elbit

Elbit Systems Electro-Optics Elop Ltd. (ELOP), Israel, has awarded Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) an offset contract for the supply of 10 compact multi-purpose advanced stabilised systems (CoMPASS) for use in the light combat helicopters being manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. BEL has entered into a technical collaboration agreement with ELOP for joint production and D-level maintenance of CoMPASS.

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Airbus to set up skill development centre

Airbus has signed an MoU for establishing a centre of excellence for aerospace skill development in Hyderabad, together with the government of Telangana, National Skill Development Corporation, and AEROCAMPUS France. The centre will come up at Begumpet airport, Hyderabad, and will train candidates ranging from high school graduates to experienced aviation personnel in aircraft manufacturing; logistics; maintenance, repair and overhaul; ground handling; and special aviation processes. The centre will offer short-term refresher modules as well as long-term certificate and diploma courses that will find acceptability within the industry.

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Karnataka seeks Tata Group investments in aerospace sector - The ... - The Hindu

The Genetic Engineering Generation – Huffington Post

Posted on February 16, 2017 by ev1

This post is hosted on the Huffington Post's Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and post freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

Over a year ago, I read an article about the genetic engineering of human embryos and I immediately knew that the world was in trouble. Todays article in The Times has only confirmed my fears.

Its not that Im afraid of scientific progress or the eventual certainty that our species will customize offspring like video game characters. I accept that people will one day be born who are immune to cancer, asthma, and blindness. When that day comes, when the benefits of genetic engineering have been studied, tested, and perfected, the results will be extraordinary: a world where - physically speaking at least - no one will ever be born unlucky.

Creating a world free from the misfortunes of birth defects and genetic diseases will truly be one of our species' greatest accomplishments. The trouble, though, is how we get there.

Those of us alive today are going to live through a complicated transition. Some day in the next decade or two, some of us will be regular people, and some of us will have been born with the benefits of genetic engineering.

How are you going to react to the other side?

How will you feel about a "designer baby" who grows up and competes for your job or takes your child's place at an elite college? Should these people have less rights than you and me? Or should they should have special protections, considering the resentment they are sure to engender?

These are the questions I set out to explore in my novel, The Ones, and it is urgent that we as society begin to address these issues now.

Consider what scientists are already capable of: the relatively recent discovery of CRISPR-Cas9 has created a gene editing tool that can cut, add, or replace parts of our DNA sequence. Think of this as similar to the "find and replace" function in your word processing program.

Altering DNA used to be painstaking and imprecise. Now, with CRISPR and a computer, Darwin could bang out a new finch family from the Beagle business center.

Even more remarkable, whatever changes are made in the original DNA of a human embryo would endure unaltered in the germline. In layman's terms, this means that future generations would continue to have this altered gene - forever. The potential effects on the genetic makeup of humanity are extraordinary and totally unpredictable.

A real-world experiment along these lines is beginning to play out already, albeit not with humans. Using CRISPR technology, biologists have been able to engineer female mosquitos that pass defective breeding genes to all of their offspring, in effect creating a generation of sterile mosquitos that cannot propagate their species. The benefits of releasing these genetically engineered females into an area beset by Zika or malaria are easy to see.

It is striking to note that laws concerning this technology are different in every country. Some nations have banned research in the field outright. Here in America, there are strict guidelines, but no legally enforceable restrictions. Besides the odd headline, why is no one talking about this? When was the last time you heard a politician utter the words genetic engineering?

For now, much of the world appears to be operating under the policy of let's-agree-not-to-do-anything-too-crazy. Call me a cynic, but pretty much all of history proves this policy is a recipe for disaster. Stopping advances in technology is impossible; waiting too long to deal with them responsibly is all too common.

As with most new technology, only the very wealthiest citizens will have access to genetic engineering at first. Will this benefit be tolerated by the rest of the natural-born masses? Should it? Could this divide lead to outright war?

Today, in America and around the world, ambitious scientists are pushing the envelope on gene editing. Their motives may be driven by altruism, profit or curiosity. One country might want better Olympic athletes. Perhaps another country identifies the genes for scientific aptitude and tries to breed a genius who can solve global warming. No matter what prompts the advancements, the results are inevitable: a new category of humans will be born.

We should embrace this new generation with both a wary eye and open arms. But let's get our act together now so we can nail that awkward hug.

Continued here:
The Genetic Engineering Generation - Huffington Post

How behavioral science can help tackle problem of idling engines – Science Daily

Posted on February 16, 2017 by ev1

Science Daily

How behavioral science can help tackle problem of idling engines
Science Daily
Research in behavioural science has demonstrated how even very minimal cues or 'nudges' can sometimes have a powerful influence on human behaviour and decision-making. In this study, the researchers applied this approach to examine whether simple ...

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How behavioral science can help tackle problem of idling engines - Science Daily

Thumbs Up for Science – Stanford Social Innovation Review (subscription)

Posted on February 16, 2017 by ev1

All too often, people use intuition, along with trial and error, to devise social programs. Sometimes they guess right and the programs are effective. But many times they guess wrong and the programs fail to meet their goals.

Some fields, such as education, are fairly advanced in their knowledge about human behavior and have devised ways to incorporate that knowledge into their work (think schools and teacher education).

But most fields are not as sophisticated. They either havent taken the time to understand how knowledge of human behavior might impact their work. Or they are sloppy and inconsistent in applying that knowledge in the programs that they run. Consider some anti-drug campaigns. If it were really as easy as getting people to Just Say No, the United States wouldnt have the opioid epidemic that it now has.

In recent years, however, the behavioral sciencespsychology, cognitive science, neurology, behavioral economics, and other disciplineshave advanced significantly. We now have a large and growing body of knowledge about how people interact with their environment and with each other in a wide variety of settings. And its time we begin applying that knowledge more consistently in the social sector.

This issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review has several feature articles that do just that. The first is our cover story, The New Science of Designing for Humans, by Piyush Tantia, the co-executive director of ideas42, arguably the leading consultancy on how to use behavioral economics to solve social problems. Tantia argues that organizations should adopt a scientific approach to designing social programs. Byputting behavioral science and impact evaluation together we can design more like engineers than like artists, writes Tantia. He goes on to propose an approachdubbed behavioral designto help create programs in a variety of settings.

The second feature article on behavioral science is Stop Raising Awareness Already, written by two University of Florida scholars. The authors argue that all too often organizations focus their eff orts on raising awareness about an issue, with little thought about how to get people to then act on that awareness. If the goal were to raise awareness among new parents of the importance of immunizing children, you wouldnt be satisfied if parents were simply aware, write the authors. Youd want to be sure that they were also having their children immunized for the right diseases at the right age.

The third article that addresses this subject is Embedding Education in Everyday Life, by three Harvard University scholars. They propose embedding education in everyday experiences, such as having barbers who cater to African-American men provide customers with information on hypertension. Embedded education, they argue, is a more reliable way to reach certain groups of people, and its more effective because the education takes place between people who have a pre-existing relationship and capitalizes on what we know about lifelong learning and behavior change.

But it takes time to learn about behavioral science and then more time to incorporate that knowledge into a program. Its hard work, and not as fun as brainstorming with Post-it Notes. But it is time well spent because the difference between a program that is well-designed and one that isnt can be significant.

ACTC Science Fair celebrated youth projects – Journal-Times

Posted on February 16, 2017 by ev1

Carter County students did well in the 5th annual ACTC/FIVCO Science and Engineering Fair on Feb. 3 at Ashland Community and Technical College.

This fair is awesome, said Ethan Tiller, an eighth grade student from East Carter Middle School. He and classmate Treven Tussey entered a behavioral science project called Are You Judging Me. Their project won a first place award.

Our project was interesting, Tiller said. We wanted to see how people are judged based on the way they dress, such as country, goth and preppy. We were surprised to find that country rated lowest.

The fair showcased 124 science projects from 45 schools and home schools representing all FIVCO counties.

We participate every year, said Lisa Baldwin, fourth grade teacher at Prichard Elementary. Science, technology and math knowledge is the wave of the future, and our students need to know how to use them.

Projects were entered in five categories: Biomedical & Behavioral Health; Animal, Plant & Environmental; Math, Engineering & Computers; Chemistry; and Physics & Astronomy.

First, second and third place awards were given in each category. Each middle school and high school award included a medallion and a cash prize of $100 for first place, $80 for second place and $60 for third place. Teachers of students who won first place received a $50 gift card from the National Science Teachers Association.

This years event was a result of the continuous support of our volunteers, teachers and students who are committed to student success, said Fair Director Mia Brown. A special thanks goes to our sponsors Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc., Kings Daughter Medical Center, Marathon Petroleum Company and Big Sandy Superstore.

All award winners in the middle and high school categories are eligible to enter the Regional Science and Engineering Fair held at Northern Kentucky University.

Award winners are listed below by category.

Elementary Awards

Biomedical & Behavioral Health Sciences: 2nd - Brett Dailey and Tyler Stinson from Olive Hill Elementary School, 3rd - Savannah Adams and Addison Tiller from Prichard Elementary School.

Animal, Plant & Environmental Sciences: 2nd Place - Brody Shearer from Star Elementary in Carter County.

Math, Engineering, & Computer Sciences: 2nd - Jacob Holbrook from Prichard Elementary.

Chemistry: 1st- Ariah Egleston and Autumn Egleston from Olive Hill Elementary.

Middle School Awards

Biomedical & Behavioral Health Sciences: 1st -Ethan Tiller and Treven Tussey from East Carter Middle School; 3rd - Lucas Rayburn from West Carter Middle School.

Physics & Astronomy: 1st - Josiah Combs and Samuel Sherrard from East Carter Middle School.

Chemistry: 2nd - Adam Burnett and Aston Tiller from Easter Carter Middle School, 3rd - Arianna Biliter and Raychel Anguiano from West Carter Middle School.

High School Awards

Animal, Plant, & Environmental Sciences: 3rd - Trey McGlone from West Carter High School

Math, Engineering, & Computer Sciences: 1st - Catheryn Holbrook from West Carter High School.

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ACTC Science Fair celebrated youth projects - Journal-Times

The Hunger Gains: Extreme Calorie-Restriction Diet Shows Anti-Aging Results – Scientific American

Posted on February 16, 2017 by ev1

The idea that organisms can live longer, healthier lives by sharply reducing their calorie intake is not exactly new. Laboratory research has repeatedly demonstrated the anti-aging value of calorie restriction, often called CR, in animals from nematodes to ratswith the implication that the same might be true for humans.

In practice though, permanently reducing calorie intake by 25 to 50 percent or more sounds to many like a way to extend life by making it not worth living. Researchers have also warned that what works for nematodes or rats may not workand could even prove dangerousin humans, by causing muscle or bone density loss, for example.

But now two new studies appear to move calorie restriction from the realm of wishful thinking to the brink of practical, and perhaps even tolerable, reality. Writing in Nature Communications, researchers at the University of WisconsinMadison and the National Institute on Aging reported last month chronic calorie restriction produces significant health benefits in rhesus monkeysa primate with humanlike aging patternsindicating that CR mechanisms are likely translatable to human health. The researchers describe one monkey they started on a 30 percent calorie restriction diet when he was 16 years old, late middle age for this type of animal. He is now 43, a longevity record for the species, according to the study, and the equivalent of a human living to 130.

In the second study, published this week in Science Translational Medicine, a research team led by gerontologist Valter Longo at the University of Southern California (U.S.C.) suggests it is possible to gain anti-aging benefits without signing up for a lifetime of hunger. Instead, a fasting-mimicking diet, practiced just five days a month for three monthsand repeated at intervals as neededis safe, feasible and effective in reducing risk factors for aging and age-related diseases.

Some researchers, however, still find the calorie-restriction argument unpersuasive. Leslie Robert, a biochemist and physician at the University of Paris who was not involved in the two new studies, says pharmaceutical approaches offer greater anti-aging potential than inefficient and apparently harmful diets. The important thing, adds Luigi Fontana, a longevity researcher at the Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis who also was not involved in the new work, is if youre doing a healthy diet, exercising, everything good, without doing anything extreme, without making life miserable by counting every single calorie.

Rozalyn Anderson, a researcher in the Wisconsin study, does not necessarily disagree. Life is difficult enough without engaging in some bonkers diet, she says. We really study this as a paradigm to understand aging. Were not recommending people do it. The combined results in the Nature Communications paper show aging is malleable in primates, she explains, and that aging itself presents a reasonable target for intervention. Whereas conventional medicine views aging as a fight against cancer, cardiovascular issues, neural degeneration and other diseases, she adds, calorie restriction delays the aging and vulnerability. Instead of going after diseases one at a time, you go after the underlying vulnerability and tackle them all at once.

Despite her reservations about recommending CR, Anderson praised the work of the research team in the Science Translational Medicine study for pushing this forward for possible application in clinics. In that study, test subjects followed a carefully designed 50 percent calorie restricted diet (totaling about 1,100 calories on the first day and 70 percent (about 700 calories) on the next four days, then ate whatever they wanted for the rest of the month.

Longo, the gerontologist at U.S.C., says the underlying theory of the on-again/off-again approach is that the regenerative effects of the regimen occur not so much from the fasting itself as from the recovery afterward. By contrast, long-term, uninterrupted calorie restriction can lead to the sort of negative effects seen in extreme conditions like anorexia.

The calorie-restricted diet in Longos study was 100 percent plant-based and featured vegetable soups, energy bars, energy drinks and a chip snack as well as mineral and vitamin supplements. It included nutrients designed to manipulate the expression of genes involved in aging-related processes, Longo explains. (Longo and U.S.C. are both owners of L-Nutra, the company that manufactures the diet. But he says he takes no salary or consulting fees from the company and has assigned his shares to a nonprofit organization established to support further research.)

Even the five-day-a-month calorie restriction regimen was apparently a struggle for some test subjects, resulting in a 25 percent dropout rate. But health benefits in the form of decreased body mass and better levels of glucose, triglycerides and cholesterol, along with other factors, showed up after the third month and persisted for at least three monthseven after subjects had returned full-time to a normal diet. Notably, given concerns about other forms of calorie restriction, lean muscle mass remained unchanged.

The benefits were greater for people who were obese or otherwise unhealthy, Longo says. But those individuals might also need to repeat the five-day regimen as often as once a month to the point of recovery, he adds, whereas individuals who are already healthy and athletic might repeat it just twice a year.

Neither of the two new studies argues the benefits of CR necessarily add up to a longer life. Longevity in humans is still an unpredictable by-product of our myriad variations in individual biology, behavior and circumstance. The objective, according to researchers, is merely to make the healthy portion of our lives last longer.

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The Hunger Gains: Extreme Calorie-Restriction Diet Shows Anti-Aging Results - Scientific American

Metro MediSpa's Testosterone Therapy Benefits Men's Hearts – Satellite PR News (press release)

Posted on February 16, 2017 by ev1

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WILMINGTON, NC, February 15, 2017 Testosterone therapy has now been shown to be beneficial for older men knocking down the long-held assertion that it was detrimental to their hearts. Men can now regain their youthful vitality and ease the symptoms that accompany low testosterone levels.

What is Testosterone Therapy?

Hypogonadism is a disease in which the body is unable to produce normal amounts of testosterone due to a problem with the testicles or with the pituitary gland that controls the testicles. The symptoms of low testosterone include: loss of bone density and muscle mass, increased body fat, osteoporosis, diminished sexual drive, erectile dysfunction, anemia, frailty, depression, and coronary disease. Testosterone therapy is a way for men to improve the signs and symptoms of this disease. By opting for testosterone therapy, men can increase the amount of testosterone in their body up to sufficient levels.

Is it harmful to heart patients?

In the past, it was assumed that testosterone therapy posed potential health risks to men, like heart attacks and strokes. However, this is not true according to the latest research. The researchers at Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute have presented a new study which deduces that testosterone therapy can help heart patients a great deal. The study shows that heart patients given testosterone therapy showed much better results than the patients not receiving the treatment.

The study further claims that the notion that testosterone therapy increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes is not correct. It discovered that heart patients who did not receive any testosterone therapy were 80% more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke than the ones who received the therapy.

How was the study conducted?

The study involved 755 male patients suffering from heart disease ranging in age from 58 to 78, and tested the patients in groups of three. Each group was given testosterone therapy in the form of a gel or by injections, and their heart conditions were monitored for possible effects.

The results of this study are a significant leap in medical history. It concludes that contrary to the popular belief that testosterone therapy harms a mans heart, the use of this therapy can be improved or prevent heart disease. This study will help define further medical strategies related to heart conditions and problems. Now older men with low testosterone levels can be treated without fear of causing heart problems and allow them to continue active lifestyles.

Overall, our study suggests that what is best for mens health is to keep testosterone levels balanced and within a normal range, said Dr. Connie Odom.

ABOUT METRO MEDISPA Owned and operated by Connie Odom, M.D., Board Certified Anesthesiologist and American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine Certified Physician. Metro MediSpa has changed the way cosmetic procedures are performed by introducing the first medically directed mobile spa in the Southeast.

Through anti-aging medicine along with advanced cosmetic treatments, our experienced team of medical professionals is committed to bring the beauty of an improved appearance and an inner age defying wellness to all.

Motivated by the belief that health and wellness affects all areas of ones life and having the knowledge in safe and effective cosmetic treatments, the staff at Metro Medispa can help people correct imperfections that had become uncomfortably noticeable.

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A new study shows that testosterone therapy reduces heart attacks in older men with heart disease.

What is Testosterone Therapy?

Is it harmful to heart patients?

How was the study conducted?

Overall, our study suggests that what is best for mens health is to keep testosterone levels balanced and within a normal range, said Dr. Connie Odom.

Press release service and press release distribution provided by http://www.24-7pressrelease.com

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Metro MediSpa's Testosterone Therapy Benefits Men's Hearts - Satellite PR News (press release)

Promoting quality education: 'Use of innovative methods key in teaching anatomy' – The Express Tribune

Posted on February 16, 2017 by Danzig

FAISALABAD:The best way to teach modern anatomy is by combing multiple pedagogical resources to complement one another. Students appear to learn more effectively when multi-modal and system-based approaches are integrated.

This was said by experts while speaking at a national workshop on teaching and research techniques in anatomy organised by Department of Anatomy, University of Agriculture on Wednesday. The inaugural session was chaired by UAF Vice-Chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan.

The experts said not a single teaching tool had been found to meet curriculum requirements of anatomy.

The limitation on time, trained faculty and resources for gross anatomy courses in integrated and system based curricula, have led many medical and veterinary schools to abandon costly and time consuming decision based instructions in favour of alternative methods of instructions, including prosection, medical imaging, living anatomy and multimedia resources, the experts opined.

UAF Vice-Chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said UAF was taking all possible measures to produce trained manpower by ensuring quality education in the country.

He said the UAF used to organise such events to raise awareness among the masses about different issues. Dean Veterinary Sciences Dr Ahrar Khan said poverty alleviation was directly linked to the agriculture and livestock sector. He said the UAF had produced 3,000 doctors and 120 PhDs in veterinary sciences so far.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16th, 2017.

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Promoting quality education: 'Use of innovative methods key in teaching anatomy' - The Express Tribune

Lobster crash erodes West Coast way of life – News24

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Danzig

Craig Dodds, GroundUp

Cape Town The view from the Sandy Point harbour wall towards the shore at St Helena Bay tells the little fishing towns story in a glance.

A scattering of derelict buildings brackets the harbour on either side. Their vacant window frames are testimony to an age that is all but gone, when the ocean sustained generations of fisherfolk.

Today, there is only a desultory coming and going of vessels in search of heavily-depleted fish stocks on the West Coast.

Across the road from the harbour, holiday homes have sprouted on the slopes above the town a phenomenon that is replicated down the coast in villages like Paternoster and Langebaan, where quaint cottages that once belonged to fishing families now host visitors from around the world in a thriving tourist industry.

But a collapse in the population of the iconic West Coast rock lobster, whose tender flesh draws foreigners in droves during the season, may finally sever the areas ties to its fishing past, driving its people into new forms of employment and leaving only a few commercial outfits behind.

The Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (Sassi) has listed the species as endangered. It called for the fishery to be closed after Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Senzeni Zokwana reneged on a recovery plan for West Coast rock lobster, or kreef, by announcing an unchanged total allowable catch for the 2016/17 season.

Kreef could vanish in 5 years

The situation is so dire that even small-scale and commercial fishers have come out in support of Sassi.

A group of big suppliers under the aegis of the Responsible Fisheries Alliance warned last week that unless the government took heed of scientific evidence and significantly reduced the total allowable catch, the sustainability of the fishery would be under threat.

The alliance, which includes the Oceana Group, Viking, Sea Harvest, I&J, and Pioneer, said steps in foreign markets like the US South Africas biggest customer for frozen lobster to ban imports of seafood from potentially illicit sources could damage trade in the sector.

The lobster fishery was one of the most valuable, with an annual turnover of R530m, supporting 4 100 direct jobs and providing livelihoods and food security for many more in the small-scale sector, the alliance said.

Sassi estimates from an analysis of catch data and extrapolations of poaching levels, that the kreef population now stands at just 2% of historical levels. It could vanish within five years, it warns.

This view is supported by anecdotal evidence.

Rampant poaching

Outside the Visko Seeprodukte building in the Sandy Point Harbour, Heinrich Sias, Zander Papier, Bryan Adams, Warren Fortuin and Connery Januarie while away their downtime by sprucing up the companys Number 7 vessel.

They struggle to find lobster these days, they say, sometimes forcing them to remain at sea for days at a time before they have caught enough to justify the trip. They agree in unison that the cause of the problem is rampant poaching.

Heinrich Sias, Zander Papier, Bryan Adams, Warren Fortuin and Connery Januarie on their boat. (Craig Dodds/GroundUp)

But they blame the fisheries departments glacial processes in issuing permits, and inadequate quotas for those who do get a licence, for the proliferation of poaching. As a result, some fishers double as poachers by night, they say.

Johannes Erasmus, a fisherman for more than 50 years, has retired now, but can still recall the days when he could bring in 400kg of lobster from one outing. He says this has changed dramatically in the past five years and now the boats seldom catch their fill in one day.

His wife, Lenie, says the children of St Helena today are unlikely to become fishers, as they drift towards the city and better job prospects. Just one of their four sons has followed in his fathers footsteps, but Erasmus doesnt mourn the passing of the old ways.

"Being a fisherman is not a good life. Today theres plenty and tomorrow theres nothing," he says.

Foreign visitors furious

A little down the coast, the restaurants of Paternoster have taken lobster off the menu in the height of the tourist season following Sassis call, and are paying the price. Behind the till at the Voorstrandt eatery, within walking distance for a kreef from the shoreline, Tanzi-Anne Stander says foreign visitors especially are furious when they discover there is no lobster to be had.

"If somebody comes to the Western Cape, they will spend one or two days in Paternoster to experience the crayfish, but now, why bother? Every bit of seafood we sell they can get in Cape Town," she says.

The effect of would-be diners walking out because of the lack of kreef has made about a 15% dent in her turnover, she estimates. She is angry that illegally-caught lobster is openly traded on the streets of Paternoster, undermining the efforts of the restaurants to protect the stocks.

But, if people cant catch and sell kreef they have no income and some will turn to petty crime to survive. The only real solution would be to halt or drastically curtail the export business, where most of the commercially-harvested lobster is destined, Stander says.

No help from government

Pavitray Pillay, manager of the Sassi programme for WWF South Africa, says the ministers decision to reject the recovery plan and implement an unchanged total allowable catch came like a bolt from the blue.

The Sassi team and Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) scientists had worked together on the data and the plan. It included reducing the total allowable catch, issuing long-term fishing rights, ensuring lobster could be traced to its source to curtail poaching, and shortening the season.

"We were ready to implement this plan and Sassi was happy. Wed done a lot of legwork, and then all of a sudden the minister announced an unchanged total allowable catch, unchanged fishing effort, no real implementation around traceability, nothing to do with long-term fishing rights.

"And he announced it at the end of October, beginning November, roughly as the recreational season was opening, with no consultation with his own scientists, no consultation with outside stakeholders, no consultation with the fishing community. Literally just boom," Pillay says.

Its unusual for small-scale fishers to back an environmental NGO, seemingly against their own interests, in a proposal to suspend fishing, she adds.

"They said, no, we know the problem, we see the problem."

Drastic lobster decline 'undeniable'

Pedro Garcia, a fisherman and chairperson of the SA United Fishers Front, says it is "undeniable" the lobster population has drastically declined over the past three years.

"We used to come in with anything from 150 to 200kg a day. Now when we go out, we are lucky if we come in with 50kg."

This has set off a destructive spiral in which boat operators struggle to recover the costs of going to sea and turn to poaching to supplement their income. They "tail" their catch breaking off the creatures tail to make it easier to conceal.

The practice means they are wiping out immature lobster that would have formed the basis of the following years catch. The result is that the catch declines every year, in turn driving fishers to more desperate efforts.

"From a compassionate point of view, you know these guys are out there, you know they need to meet their operational expenses," Garcia says.

"This is the problem with the small-scale (fishers). We criminalise our people continually because they are soft targets, but were not realising the huge socio-economic impact if they dont get sufficient resources to harvest."

Support for the suspension of the fishery, which the front made on condition that fishers were compensated in full for the catch they would forego, has not been universal. In fact, says Garcia, most of his members dont support the call and some communities have been "up in arms", accusing him of taking the decision unilaterally.

But it was fully canvassed via the fronts WhatsApp chat groups, he says. Many fishers opposed to the suspension are also poachers who would lose if no lobster could be sold, Garcia adds.

Pillay says while Sassi understands the impact of a total shutdown on peoples livelihoods, this is the only way to halt the poaching and allow kreef stocks to recover. Because the department has done nothing about ensuring traceability of the sold product, illegal stocks can enter the formal value chain undetected. If no kreef is allowed to be sold, this will end.

"The commercials agree with us, because I think theyre also noticing that we have no handle on the traceability issue, how its getting into the market," Pillay says.

"Its a tough one to police, Ill give DAFF that, because its so easily exploitable. You dont need heavy equipment; you dont even need a boat. And its an extensive coastline where you can catch the species, you can catch it at night or during the day."

At the same time, there was not enough capacity, and the DAFF had done nothing about this.

"And its not like there arent people in this country who need employment. Thats something DAFF really has to get right because its not just for rock lobster, its probably why abalone went the way it did," Pillay says.

Sassis decision 'extremely unfortunate'

Asked why the recovery plan had not been implemented, Zokwanas spokesperson, Bomikazi Molapo, said setting total allowable catches must balance scientific requirements with the broader socio-economic obligations faced by fishers.

Molapo said Sassis decision to red-list lobster and call for the suspension of the fishery was "extremely unfortunate" and would have serious consequences for small-scale fishing communities, while leaving large commercial operators unaffected. The decision had been taken without consulting the department, she said.

The decline in lobster biomass was not due to legitimate harvesting by rights holders, but because of poaching and illegal trade. The total allowable catch was set at sustainable levels.

"The department believes that instead of prejudicing and punishing legal operators while poachers continue to take lobster with little consequence, our focus must be on eradicating illegal fishing," Molapo said.

Cutting the catch by 34%, as proposed by WWF, would have "catastrophic consequences" for communities, without helping lobster recovery.

She said the 2007 suspension of the abalone fishery had shown that "suspension for the sake of suspension does not work. In 2008, while the abalone fishery was suspended, some of the highest-ever levels of poaching were recorded".

"Focusing on effective fisheries management, collaboration with fishers and their representative bodies, and enforcement of rules, had yielded substantial recovery of line-fish stocks.

"Suspension of the fishery in our opinion would result in greater ecological, social and economic harm than good," Molapo said.

24.com encourages commentary submitted via MyNews24. Contributions of 200 words or more will be considered for publication.

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Lobster crash erodes West Coast way of life - News24

Sweden’s ‘feminist’ government criticized for wearing headscarves in Iran – Washington Post

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Danzig

Over the weekend, Prime MinisterStefan Lofven led a Swedish delegation to Iran. Lofven was received warmly by the Islamic Republic's political elite Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei tweeted positively about his meeting withLofven, adding that Sweden had a good reputation in Iran and the two countries agreed upon a number of trade-related deals.

Back home, however, coverage of the Swedish government delegation's trip to Tehran has focused on something else. As Sweden's media noted Monday, a number of female officials who joined the trip, including Trade Minister Ann Linde, chose to wear Islamic headscarves while in Iran.

According to Expressen newspaper, there were 11 women on the trip out of 15 total in the Swedish delegation. The women were photographed wearing headscarves almost all of the time they were in Iran, with the exception of a number of events that took place at the Swedish Embassy.

By law, women are required to cover theirhair and wear loose-fitting clothes when they appear in public in Iran, a country governed by a conservative Islamic elite. Many choose to wear loose-fitting hijabs, like the one worn by Linde in the picture above.

These rules require international visitors to dress modestly even if they are only in the country for a short time.

Lofven's Swedish government describes itself as a feminist government, and it has spoken of the need for a feminist foreign policy. Hillel Neuer, executive director of U.N. Watch, a human rights group and frequent critic of Iran ,noted this apparent contradiction in a tweet shared Sunday night.

Masih Alinejad, a journalist and activist who started a Facebook page that invited Iranian women to share photographs of themselves without a hijab, also criticized the Swedish delegation.

By actually complying with the directives of the Islamic Republic, Western women legitimize the compulsory hijab law, Alinejad wrote on Facebook. This is a discriminatory law and it's not an internal matter when the Islamic Republic forces all non-Iranian women to wear hijab as well.

Alinejad later shared to Facebook a recent image of Sweden's deputy prime ministerIsabella Lovin signing a document with an all-female staff behind her. That imagerecently went viral, as many viewed it as a criticism of President Trump's abortion policies. Trump's words on women are worthy of condemnation; so are the discriminatory laws in Iran,Alinejad wrote.

Speaking to Expressen,Linde said she had not wanted to wear a headscarf. But it is law in Iran that women must wear the veil. One can hardly come here and break the laws, she explained.

Other Swedish politicians were more critical.Jan Bjrklund, leader of the opposition Liberals party, told Aftonbladet newspaper that the headscarf is a symbol of oppression for women in Iran and that the Swedish government should have demanded that Linde and other female members of the delegation be exempted from wearing it.

Iran's rules on female attire often draw the ire of international visitors just last year, U.S. chess starNazi Paikidze made waves after refusing to travel to Iran to play inthe world championshipsbecause she would not wear a hijab. For female politicians, it represents a bigger challenge, however, as flouting the rules or refusing to travel to Iran could damage relations with the country.

Almost all female politicians who visit Iran cover their hair when they appear in public, but in some cases that has not stopped criticism. Marietje Schaake, a Dutch member of the European Parliament, was criticized by Iranian conservatives for wearing relatively tight clothes and a headscarf that did not cover her neck during a visit to the country in 2015.

The year before that, Italy's then foreign minister, Emma Bonino,was reported to have briefly not worn a headscarf after arriving in the country, which resulted in a back and forth with the conservative Iranian press.

Questions over Islamic attire on diplomatic visits are not limited to Iran. In 2015, first lady Michelle Obama was pictured without a headscarf in Saudi Arabia, where conservative religious dress is customary but not required by law for foreigners. While other female dignitaries visiting Saudi Arabia in the past had also chosen to not cover their hair, Obama's attire sparked criticism on social media from a small but vocal group of Saudi conservatives.

Linde toldAftonbladetthat she will of course not be wearing a veil when she visits Saudi Arabia next month.

Mottley: Tax clearance certificate an ‘instrument of oppression’ – Loop Barbados

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Danzig

In the amendments to the bill tabled by Minister of Finance, Chris Sinckler, it was noted people were selling properties for millions of dollars without paying any taxes to the government while many of them owed were in arrears for the paying of income tax and Value Added Tax (VAT).

But Opposition Leader, Mia Mottley, in her contribution to the debate, said the amendments to the legislation were "ill-advised". While she acknowledged that the paying of taxes is necessary, Mottley said the ease of doing business in Barbados was already difficult and this legislation will make it worse for home owners, hotels and restaurants.

"This debate is not about DLP and BLP and winning an election. This debate is about the passage of legislation that will come to act as an instrument of oppression on both the righteous and unrighteous in this country."

Mottley said the single tax ID number under the proposed amendments will make it difficult for people to dispose of their property "in a way that makes sense"whether it be by lease or sale.

She also said the legislation will impact on the countrys level of competitiveness by making it less attractive to investors. Quoting from the Ease of Doing Business 2017 Report, Mottley noted that Barbados ranked at number 130 out of 138 countries for the registration of property.

She said statistics such as these, along with others in the report, prove that the country cannot affordto bring any legislation which will make it more difficult to operate in the local business environment.

Mottley also said the legislation couldcause financial institutions to add a "new layer of questions and processes" to the loan approval process.

"As members on this side have pointed out, it doesnt only relate to you as an individual, if you are married, if you have partners, to the other persons who are in partnership with you in the ownership of assets - this legislation will grind business in Barbados to a halt."

She suggested the government instead utilise an enforcement unit to cut down on those who take advantage of the loopholes in the tax collection system.

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Mottley: Tax clearance certificate an 'instrument of oppression' - Loop Barbados

Ethiopian Athlete Who Made Anti-government Gesture in Rio Reunites With Family – Voice of America

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Danzig

WASHINGTON

Feyisa Lelisa, the 27-year-old Ethiopian silver medal winning marathoner, reunited with his wife, Iftu Mulisa, and two children, 5-year-old daugher, Soko, and 3-year-old son, Sora, on Tuesday at the Miami International Airport after being separated from them for six months.

It's been tough living alone, he said speaking to VOAs Afaan Oromoo Service over the phone in his native Afaan Oromoo. Back home, I had a lot of support. It hasnt been easy, but that's part of the struggle. You don't give up, he said.

Lelisa has been given a U.S. special skill visa with the help of his lawyer and has settled in the U.S. state of Arizona in Flagstaff. His family entered the country on immigrant visas. The distance runner made headlines around the world when he crossed his wrists above his head, making a symbol for protests in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. The anti-government gesture at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro put the runner at grave personal risk, and possible retribution toward his family.

Olympic silver medalist Feyisa Lilesa, rear, of Ethiopia, hugs his wife Iftu Mulia, his daughter Soko, right, 5, and son Sora, left, 3, while picking up his family at Miami International Airport, Feb. 14, 2017.

Shortly after his refusal to go back to Ethiopia, his wife said that she was scared for the familys safety but wasnt surprised by what he did. He was burning inside when he saw on social media all these dead bodies; people being beaten and people being arrested. So I was not surprised because I know he had a lot of anger inside, she told Reuters when she was back home.

Ethiopia is currently under a state of emergency after a wave of protests persisted in the Oromia region starting in November 2015 and continued throughout 2016 spreading in the Amhara region. The anti-government protesters initially were about land related issues. However, protesters demands shifted to demands for basic human rights and political representation. Since then, security forces are accused of killing hundreds and detaining tens of thousands of protesters, according to Human Rights Watch.

Olympic silver medalist Feyisa Lilesa, of Ethiopia, carries his son Sora, 3, and pulls along his daughter Soko, 5, after picking up his family at Miami International Airport, Feb. 14, 2017.

One of many restrictions under the current state of emergency is the very political gesture that Lelisa is famous for. I didn't make the decision to protest because of my family, he said speaking about his decision to continue protesting. I did so to shed light on the oppression, imprisonment, killing and displacement of my people.

At the time of his protest in the Olympics, the Ethiopian information minister, Getachew Reda, congratulated the athlete, then and assured him that he is safe to return home. Lelisa, however, decided to stay abroad.

Lelisa has no regrets and he pledges to continue working for the betterment of his people back home. I actually don't think I have done enough for my people. I am still young and have some time to help, he said. I would do it all over again. And I am prepared to do all I can and do my part until the Oromo people win their freedom. It remains my biggest preoccupation.

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Ethiopian Athlete Who Made Anti-government Gesture in Rio Reunites With Family - Voice of America

U. Mass Students Plot Strike Against ‘Oppression’ of Migrants – Breitbart News

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Danzig

The UMass Amherst Sanctuary Campus Movements Facebook page states that students will not attend class on February 17 and instead will hold a meeting at the student union to demand a sanctuary campus policy.

The UMass Amherst Sanctuary Campus Movement aims to have UMass declare itself a Sanctuary Campus system, the groups Facebook page reads. We define Sanctuary as a space that actively cultivates immigration equality as well as economic, racial, gender, and sexual equality.

The sanctuary campus group also lists three major demands from the University:

The group has asked students not to support the University of Massachusetts financially until it enacts a sanctuary campus policy, as MassLive reported.

In a week, the UMass Student Government Association will vote on a resolution to demand Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy make the university a sanctuary.

Subbaswamy has signaled potential support for the policy in a statement where is says the University will remain committed to the welfare and success of all members of our community, whether they be student, faculty or staff, and (pledges) to do everything within our legal and moral authority to protect them, no matter their national origin, race, religion, socioeconomic status, sexual identity, disability or immigration status, according to MassLive.

John Binder is a contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at@JxhnBinder.

U. Mass Students Plot Strike Against 'Oppression' of Migrants - Breitbart News

March on Washington: Drawing the Line between Empowerment and Oppression – The Index

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Danzig

The Womens March on Washington on January 21, 2017 has been donned the largest protest in American historya movement that aims to ensure rights for women of all backgrounds, especially in response to the recent election of Donald J. Trump. But for all of our political scientists out there, we must ask ourselves: how does this event measures through our historically stratified political system? In other words, how does the Womens March on Washington compare to the pluralistic ideals of our not-so Founding Fathers?

To answer this question, we must first understand pluralism: the idea that all people in a state receive equal opportunities and resources to vie for power and policies. In other words, government acts as a playing field for groups to gain recognition and representation. In a pluralist system, policy is dictated by winning groups, as part of a larger winner-loser system that is constantly in rotation. Political entities wishing to change their standing may utilize various methods of political engagement, including but not limited to: voting, running for office, grassroots organizing, and protesting. Lastly, groups should be inclusive of all individuals.

So did this march truly act in a pluralistic manner in which groups were able to compete for their divergent interests? While on the surface, the Womens March may have utilized these techniques to pursue pluralistic ideals, such a vision can never reach its full potential in the United States due to our longstanding history of stratification and inequality.

This ideology can be closer identified through the example of the Womens March. Although multiple groups competed for their recognition and representation, some groups were clearly prioritized over others. Many have critiqued the march as under-representative of groups including but not limited to transgender women, non-binary folks, people with disabilities, and racial minorities. We understand the history of stratification and generations of structural inequality to play a fundamental role in the unequal representation and prioritization of groups at the march.

So were not pluralistic. But did the march meaningfully contribute to the national discourse and ongoing political disputes? Many would say yes. For days afterward, photos of the worldwide event circulated domestic and international social media and news outlets. There is no doubt that the Womens March caught the attention of the world. Within certain pocketsincluding Kdiscussions arose surrounding distribution of resources and representation at Womens Marches around the world. But in many discussions, the under-represented groups that received unequal representation at the march seemed to once again be cast aside. It is our dutyas members of the Kalamazoo communityto bring those forms of oppression to the forefront of this movement. It is imperative to view ourselves through a critical lens if we are to progress toward inclusion of all disenfranchised groups.

This movement will go down history. But pluralists shouldnt think their work is done just yet. Empowerment generated by the march for certain groups should not be confused with the reparations of structural inequality in our political system. Although this movement created strides for some, it came at the expense of other disenfranchised groups, proving that fundamental barriers to a truly pluralistic society remain. Until we reconstruct our system as a whole, the longstanding history of political stratification in the United States will endure.

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March on Washington: Drawing the Line between Empowerment and Oppression - The Index

History of the War on Drugs – About.com News & Issues

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Danzig

By Tom Head

Updated February 09, 2017.

At the turn of the 20th century, the drug market went mostly unregulated. Medical remedies, which often contained cocaine or heroin derivatives, were freely distributed without aprescription and without much consumer awareness of which drugs were potent and which were not. A caveat emptor attitude towards medical tonics could have meant the difference between life and death.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1886 that state governments could not regulate interstate commerce and the federal government, whose skimpy law enforcement focused mainly on counterfeiting and other crimes against the state, initially did very little to pick up the slack. This changed during the early years of the 20th century, as the invention of automobiles made interstate crime and investigation of interstate crime--more practicable.

The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 targeted toxic drugsand was expanded to address misleading drug labels in 1912. But the piece of legislation most relevant to the War on Drugs was the Harrison Tax Act of 1914, which restricted the sale of heroin and was quickly used to restrict the sale of cocaine as well.

By 1937, the FBI had cut its teeth on Depression-era gangsters and achieved some level of national prestige. Prohibition had ended, and meaningful federal health regulation was about to come about under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act of 1938. The Federal Bureau of Narcotics, operating under the U.S. Treasury Department, had come into existence in 1930 under the leadership of Harry Anslinger (shown left).

And into this new national enforcement framework came the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, which attempted to tax marijuana into oblivion Marijuana had not been shown to be dangerous, but the perception that it might be a "gateway drug" for heroin users and its alleged popularity among Mexican-American immigrants made it an easy target. More

General Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president in 1952 by an electoral landslide based largely on his leadership during World War II. But it was his administration, as much as any other, that also defined the parameters of the War on Drugs.

Not that it did so alone. The Boggs Act of 1951 had already established mandatory minimum federal sentences for possession of marijuana, cocaine, and opiates, and a committee led by Senator Price Daniel (D-TX, shown left) called that the federal penalties be increased further, as they were with the Narcotic Control Act of 1956.

But it was Eisenhower's establishment of the U.S. Interdepartmental Committee on Narcotics, in 1954, in which a sitting president first literally called for a war on drugs.

To hear mid-20th century U.S. lawmakers tell it, marijuana is a Mexican drug. The term "marijuana" was a Mexican slang term (etymology uncertain) for cannabis, and the proposal to enact a ban during the 1930s was wrapped up in racist anti-Mexican rhetoric.

So when the Nixon administration looked for ways to block the import of marijuana from Mexico, it took the advice of radical nativists: close the border. Operation Intercept imposed strict, punitive searches of traffic along on the U.S.-Mexican border in an effort to force Mexico to crack down on marijuana. The civil liberties implications of this policy are obvious, and it was an unmitigated foreign policy failure, but it demonstrated how far the Nixon administration was prepared to go.

With thepassage of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, the federal government took a more active role in drug enforcement and drug abuse prevention. Nixon, who called drug abuse "public enemy number one" in a 1971 speech, emphasized treatment at first and used his administration's clout to push for the treatment of drug addicts, particularly heroin addicts.

Nixon also targeted the trendy, psychedelic image of illegal drugs, asking celebrities such as Elvis Presley (shown left) to help him send the message that drug abuse is unacceptable. Seven years later, Presley himself fell to drug abuse; toxicologists found as many as fourteen legally prescribed drugs, including narcotics, in his system at the time of his death.

Before the 1970s, drug abuse was seen by policymakers primarily as a social disease that could be addressed with treatment. After the 1970s, drug abuse was seen by policymakers primarily as a law enforcement problem that could be addressed with aggressive criminal justice policies.

The addition of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to the federal law enforcement apparatus in 1973 was a significant step in the direction of a criminal justice approach to drug enforcement. If the federal reforms of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 represented the formal declaration of the War on Drugs, the Drug Enforcement Administration became its foot soldiers.

This isn't to say that law enforcement was the only component of the federal War on Drugs. As drug use among children became more of a national issue, Nancy Reagan toured elementary schools warning students about the danger of illegal drug use. When one fourth-grader at Longfellow Elementary School in Oakland, California asked Mrs. Reagan what she should do if approached by someone offering drugs, Reagan responded: "Just say no." The sloganand Nancy Reagan's activism on the issuebecame central to the administration's antidrug message.

It is not insignificant that the policy also came with political benefits. By portraying drugs as a threat to children, the administration was able to pursue more aggressive federal antidrug legislation.

Powdered cocaine was the champagne of drugs. It was associated more often with white yuppies than other drugs were in the public imagination--heroin-associatedmore often with African-Americans, marijuana with Latinos.

Then along came crack, cocaine processed into little rocks at a price non-yuppies could afford. Newspapers printed breathless accounts of black urban "crack fiends" and the drug of rock stars suddenly grew more sinister to white middle America.

Congress and the Reagan administration responded with the Antidrug Act of 1986, which established a 100:1 ratio for mandatory minimums associated with cocaine. It would take 5,000 grams of powdered "yuppie" cocaine to land you in prison for a minimum 10 years--but only 50 grams of crack.

In recent decades, the U.S. death penalty has been reserved for offenses that involve the taking of another person's life. The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Coker v. Georgia (1977) banned capital punishment as a penalty in cases of rape, and while the federal death penalty can be applied in cases of treason or espionage, nobody has been executed for either offense since the electrocution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1953.

So when Senator Joe Biden's 1994 Omnibus Crime Bill included a provision allowing for the federal execution of drug kingpins, it indicated that the War on Drugs had ultimately reached such a level that drug-related offenses were regarded by the federal government as equivalent to, or worse than, murder and treason.

The line between legal and illegal drugs is as narrow as the wording of drug policy legislation. Narcotics are illegal except when they're not, as when they're processed into prescription drugs. Prescription narcotics can also be illegal if the person in possession of them hasn't been given a prescription. This is precarious, but not necessarily confusing.

What is confusing is the issue of what happens when a state declares that a drug can be made legal with a prescription, and the federal government bullheadedly insists on targeting it as an illegal drug anyway. This happened in 1996 when California legalized marijuana for medical use. The Bush and Obama administrations have arrested California medical marijuana distributors anyway.

So what's next for the War on Drugs? For starters, rebranding. National "drug czar" Gil Kerlikowske (shown left), Obama's drug policy coordinator, has called for an end to the War on Drugs terminology, and an attempt to rebrand federal anti-drug efforts as simple harm-reduction strategies.

So far, the Obama administration's actual drug policy enforcement has not differed significantly from that of the Bush administration. But the War on Drugs has always been a rhetorical convention you can't declare war on inanimate objects, social phenomena, moods, or abstractions and it's a rhetorical convention that has determined the way our country views drug policy enforcement. Acknowledging that this is a policy initiative, not a war, is a good step.

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History of the War on Drugs - About.com News & Issues

Simonson: The war on drugs – La Crosse Tribune

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Danzig

Every week I write out the arrests for the records page in the Jackson County Chronicle, and every week there is at least one arrest due to drugs. It is quite sad really, that drugs would have such a huge hold on not only this community, but across the entire nation.

We have been fighting a war on drugs now for over 40 years and it doesnt look like we are doing any better, and in fact by some accounts, we are doing worse.

Now, please note that I am by no means an expert on drugs. I never smoked marijuana or a cigarette, so the closest I have ever gotten to an addiction is food. So take my opinion as someone who knows very little about what it means to be addicted to drugs.

After it is all said and done, I dont know what the right course is and honestly I dont think anyone has a good answer. We are fighting a very strong beast, one that rears its ugly head when we least expect it. One that pries on peoples weaknesses and uses every ounce of their strength to fight it.

There is one thing I do know about addiction thoughit is there for people when there is no one else.

When we were fostering children in Ohio, it was very disheartening when parents would choose their addiction over their own children.

As you get to know these parents, you find out that they themselves have troubled pasts.

Eventually I began to feel sorry for some of these parents. Most of them didnt have family or someone they could lean on, something that is important for any person. Many would rely on the people around them, which in most cases were addicts themselves.

Instead, these addicts needed someone that could pull them out of the darkness and let them stand on their own two feet. In todays world, that someone is hard to find and often only reserved for the lucky ones.

For so long we have been waging this war on drugs. I think it is time to wage a different war.

I dont really have any answers. To many, I am just a nave person judging something I dont really know much about.

I do know one thing though, we need to change something. Maybe it is more mental health services. Maybe it is reducing jail sentences for addicts. Or maybe it is adding sharps boxes throughout the community. Maybe it is all of these things.

There are a lot of things we need to do, but I know I am working on being more compassionate. In the end, these people are already being judged by everyone they meet. And so if everyone is judging them, who is going to save them? Who is going to be there for them when they decide they want to remove an addiction from their life.

Not only am I being more compassionate towards addicts, but I am also going to be more compassionate and loving towards my son. Loving him so he doesnt have to turn to an addiction. Loving him so he doesnt have to feel loneliness in the world. Loving him so he realizes that drugs are not his friends and it will lead to negativity in his life.

In all honesty, school is where it starts. School is where children find their friends. School is where they are going to be tested. School is where they are going to have to say yes or no to their first cigarette or joint.

It all happens when our children are young. So tonight, love on your children a little more. Make sure they know they dont have to give in to peer pressure.

Today they are our children, but tomorrow they could be the next addict on the street.

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Simonson: The war on drugs - La Crosse Tribune

Scott Pendleton: Civil forfeiture is an important tool in fighting the war on drugs – Tulsa World

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Danzig

Lets not make it harder for law enforcement to use civil asset forfeiture to fight the war on drugs.

Most people are oblivious to that war, though it rages around us continually. Worth an estimated $120 billion a year, illegal drugs smuggled from Mexico might well be the greatest foreign threat to our national security. Beyond a doubt, its the one killing the most Americans.

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To get a first-hand look, I recently visited a drug task force that operates out of a county courthouse in southeast Oklahoma. In one room was a just-arrested drug mule and more than a million dollars worth of marijuana. In another was a photo of an 18-year-old Oklahoma girl, dead of a drug overdose. It was haunting, how her still-open eyes stared straight into the police camera.

Her case was not especially outrageous. No, the outrage is that cases like hers are so commonplace. Thats every day, shrugged the officer who showed me the photo from a new case that morning.

Its easy to make civil asset forfeiture sound like an un-American, police-state scenario. Although assets may be seized without first obtaining a drug-related conviction, the reason for no conviction is no trial. The reason for no trial is the drug mule posts bail and is never seen again.

Oklahoma law enforcement may not seize someones homestead in the case of a drug bust involving local citizens. And despite what youve heard, if an officer sees a bag of cash in a car, absent other evidence he will not seize it.

If cash is seized, it has to wind its way through a tedious government process before eventual distribution among the state, county and municipal agencies having overlapping territorial jurisdiction. And boy, do they need that money.

Not for salaries, though. Those come from local funds supplemented by federal Justice Assistance Grants made to the states. Every year for the past three years JAG funding has declined, most recently by 18.5 percent.

Rather, income from asset forfeiture covers only operational costs: bulletproof vests, clothing, radios, tires, gasoline and, rarely, a new vehicle. A radio can cost $4,000. Thanks to changing technology standards, upgrading radios is a requirement. Believe it or not, a bulletproof vest decomposes and is warrantied only for three years.

Seizing a drug mules vehicle is problematic. If he drives a rental car, the agency is considered innocent and gets its vehicle back. Alternatively, drug runners often drive someone elses car. The required procedures to gain title can require years of effort. The task force I visited still had vehicles seized more than two years ago. Sometimes their value is so low, its just not worth the trouble.

My visit convinced me that, far from having a free hand, law enforcement almost has its hands tied. If you look at this as a war, this is not a war we are going to win, an officer told me.

But wait, theres more: 80 percent of nondrug crimes burglary, theft, domestic violence trace to the criminals addiction to drugs or alcohol. And, therefore, so are the resulting burdens on society like divorce, foster care, prison crowding and treatment expense.

A vote to make civil asset forfeiture more difficult, one could argue, is a vote to make Oklahomas social problems worse.

Maybe our Legislature should mandate a $5,000 fine for transporting drugs in a vehicle that you dont own, and make the fine due when posting bail. Thats a simple step based on the facts on the ground. It would take traffickers money and use it against them.

Civil asset forfeiture alone will not win the drug war. But it helps keep our officers on the front lines.

Scott Pendleton is a former international journalist and president of an IT solutions provider in Tulsa.

Scott Pendleton: Civil forfeiture is an important tool in fighting the war on drugs - Tulsa World

Donald Trump Vows ‘Ruthless’ War on Drugs and Crime – The Daily Chronic

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Danzig

(Flickr/Oregon Department of Transportation)

Phillip Smith | February 13, 2017

In a sharp break with the Obama administration, which distanced itself from harsh anti-drug rhetoric and emphasized treatment for drug users over punishment, President Donald Trump last week reverted to tough drug war oratory and backed it up with a series of executive orders he said were designed to restore safety in America.

Were going to stop the drugs from pouring in, Trump told law enforcement professionals of the Major Cities Chiefs Association last Wednesday. Were going to stop those drugs from poisoning our youth, from poisoning our people. Were going to be ruthless in that fight. We have no choice. And were going to take that fight to the drug cartels and work to liberate our communities from their terrible grip of violence.

Trump also lambasted the Obama administration for one of its signature achievements in criminal justice reform, opening the prison doors for more than 1,700 drug war prisoners who had already served sentences longer than they would have under current, revised sentencing guidelines. Obama freed record numbers of drug traffickers, many of them kingpins, Trump complained.

And in a sign of a return to the dark days of drug war over-sentencing, he called for harsher mandatory minimum prison sentences for the most serious drug offenders, as well as aggressive prosecutions of drug traffickers and cracking down on shipping loopholes he claimed allowed drugs to be sent to the US from other countries.

In a New Hampshire campaign speech during the campaign, Trump called for more treatment for drug users and more access to overdose reversal drugs, but there was no sign of that side of the drug policy equation in Wednesdays speech.

Last Thursday, Trump backed up his tough talk with action as, at the Oval Office swearing in of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, he rolled out three executive orders he said were designed to restore safety in America, but which appear to signal an increasingly authoritarian response to crime, drugs, and discontent with policing practices.

The first, which Trump said would reduce crime and restore public safety, orders Sessions to create a new Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Policy, which will come up with strategies to reduce crime, including, in particular, illegal immigration, drug trafficking and violent crime, propose legislation to implement them, and submit a report to the president within a year.

The second, regarding transnational criminal organizations and preventing drug trafficking, directs various federal law enforcement agencies to increase intelligence sharing and orders an already existing interagency working group to submit a report to Trump within four months describing progress made in combating the cartels, along with any recommended actions for dismantling them.

Im directing Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to undertake all necessary and lawful action to break the back of the criminal cartels that have spread across our nation and are destroying the blood of our youth and other people, Trump said Thursday.

The third directs the Justice Department to use federal law to prosecute people who commit crimes against police officers, even though they already face universally severe penalties under existing state laws.

Its a shame whats been happening to our great, truly great law enforcement officers, Trump said at the signing ceremony. Thats going to stop as of today.

The tough talk and the executive orders provoked immediate alarm and pushback from human and civil rights advocates, drug reformers, the Mexican government, and even the law enforcement community. The apparent turn back toward a more law-and-order approach to drugs also runs against the tide of public health and public policy opinion that the war on drugs has been a failure.

In a report released last Friday, dozens of senior law enforcement officials warned Trump against a tough crackdown on crime and urged him to instead continue the Obama administrations efforts to reform the criminal justice system.

The report was coauthored for Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime and Incarceration by former Dallas Police Chief David Brown, who won wide praise for his response after a gun man killed five of his officers last year.

Decades of experience have convinced us of a sobering reality: Todays crime policies, which too often rely only on jail and prison, are simply ineffective in preserving public safety, the report said.

The presidents crime plan would encourage police to focus on general lawbreaking rather than violent crime, the report said. The Justice Department already spends more than $5 billion a year to support local police, much of it spent on antiquated law enforcement tools, such as dragnet enforcement of lower-level offenses and Trumps plan would repeat this mistake, the officials wrote. We cannot fund all crime fighting tactics.

Drug reformers also sounded the alarm.

This rhetoric is dangerous, disturbing, and dishonest, said Bill Piper, senior director for national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. We have had a war on drugs. It has failed. Tough talk may look good before the cameras, but history has taught us that cracking down on drugs and building walls will not stop the supply or use of drugs. It mostly causes the death and destruction of innocent lives. Trump must tone down his outrageous rhetoric and threats, and instead reach out to leadership from both parties to enact a humane and sensible health-based approach to drug policies that both reduce overdose and our countrys mass incarceration crisis.

Indeed, most public health experts argue that the prohibitionist approach to drugs has been a failure. They point to research such as a 2013 study in the British Medical Journal that found that despite billions spent on drug prohibition since 1990, drug prices have only decreased and purity increased, making getting high easier and more affordable than ever before.

These findings suggest that expanding efforts at controlling the global illegal drug market through law enforcement are failing, the authors conclude.

Public health analysts also point to research showing that between 1991 and 2001, even when the drug war was in full effect, the rate of illicit drug use among teens rose sharply, while their cigarette smoking rate fell off a bit and their alcohol use dropped sharply. The substances that are legal for adult use were less likely to see increases than ones that are prohibited, the analysts point out.

Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Luis Videgaray also chimed in to note that there wouldnt be any Mexican drug cartels without American demand for drugs and to remind Washington that its not just whats being exported from Mexico that is a problem, but whats being imported, too.

For years, from the Mexican perspective, people say, OK, the problem with drugs that its creating so much violence, so many deaths of young people in Mexico is because theres demand for drugs in the US, Videgaray said. We happen to be neighbors to the largest market for drugs. From the American perspective, its just the other way around, he said, adding that both countries need to get past the blame game.

And if the US is serious about helping Mexico disrupt the cartels business model, it needs to stop the southbound traffic in cash and guns.

We need to stop illegal weapons flowing from the U.S. into Mexico, Videgaray said. We always think about illegal stuff moving through the border south to north, but people forget that most guns and were not talking small guns, were talking heavy weapons they get to the cartels and create literally small armies out of the cartels.

Human Rights Watch reacted to a comment from Attorney General Sessions at his swearing in ceremony that crime is a dangerous permanent trend that places the lives of American people at risk, by noting that crime is down dramatically by all measures over the past 20 years despite a slight increase in violent crimes between 2014 and 2015. There is no dangerous permanent trend in violent or non-violent crime, it pointed out.

And Amnesty International swiftly reacted to the executive order calling for new federal penalties for crimes against police.

Law enforcement officers face unique hardships and challenges due to the nature of their work, said Amnestys Noor Mir. Authorities are already able to vigorously prosecute crimes against law enforcement officers, and there is no history to suggest that officers are not fully protected by current laws. This order will not protect anyone, and instead it creates additional penalties that could cause people to be significantly over-prosecuted for offenses including resisting arrest.

There is a better way, said Mir, but that would require going in a radically different direction than where the Trump administration is headed.

This order does nothing to address real and serious problems in the US criminal justice system, he said. Relationships between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve could instead be improved by investing in reform of the criminal justice system and better training for officers. Police already have laws protecting them, but there is no federal standard for the prosecution of officers who unlawfully kill civilians. Implementing a standard for lethal force in line with international standards will protect both police and civilians.

The Trump administration has outlined an approach to drugs and criminal justice policy with dark Nixonian and Reaganite underpinnings, promising more, more, more heavy-handed policing, more swelling prison populations, and more not less distrust and suspicion between police and the communities they are supposed to serve and protect.

And, in typical Trump fashion, his brash, draconian approach to the complex social problems around crime and drugs is creating a rapid backlash. Whether the rising opposition to Trump can rein in his authoritarian impulses and regressive policy approaches to the issue remains to be seen, but a battle to stop the slide backward is brewing.

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionlicensefromStopTheDrugWar.organd was first published here.

Donald Trump Vows 'Ruthless' War on Drugs and Crime - The Daily Chronic

Is Ending The War On Drugs A Panacea? – Modern Times Magazine

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Danzig

W.A. Bogart, professor, University of Windsor. Courtesy Dundurn Press.

By Karen Weil and John Guzzon Modern Times Magazine

Feb. 14, 2017 The War On Drugs has been raging in the United States for nearly a century, and over that time period, the U.S. government has perpetuated the battle to its partner nations around the world.But what has The War On Drugs really accomplished?Drug use has not been reduced despite massive budgets and the militarization of police forces around the world and especially in border areas. And, while spending on interdiction and other law enforcement tactics have gone up, illicit drug use in the United States has, in fact, been increasing.According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in 2013, an estimated 24.6 million Americans aged 12 or older 9.4 percent of the population had used an illicit drug in the past month. In 2002, it was only 8.3 percent. Some espouse even greater law enforcement approaches. Others propose that the only way to reduce drug use or to limit its devastating impacts on the world, is to legalize it.In 2011, the Global Commission on Drug Policywhich included amongst its ranks former presidents of Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, the prime minister of Greece, and former high ranking federal officials George P. Shultz and Paul Volckerrecommended legalization as the best course forward.A big reason is that the commission and others have taken this position is because it spends a lot of cash without getting the results.A recent book, Off The Street: Legalizing Drugs by W.A. Bogart, a professor at the University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, gets into the heart of the matter and then some. Bogart says the very nature of making something illegal is counterproductive to use reduction.He pointed to success in driving down tobacco use through public health campaigns as one example of why making substances people want to ingest illegal is doomed to failure. Bogarts previous work on eating habits and obesity led him to take the concept even further to drug use.He gratefully agreed to sit down with us to talk about his book, The War On Drugs and possible solutions. Included below are some snippets from our podcast. (link here)MT: Your last book addressed the psychological impacts on food consumption. Why did you decide to tackle illicit drug use?BOGART: Ive long been interested in looking at the affect law has on underlying social and economic issues...it became clear to me that non-medical use of drugs are an outlier. Other uses of drugs whether it is gambling, tobacco use or another, is 'permit but discourage.'MT: You make it clear early on in the book that you are not a drug user besides a glass of Shiraz, some champagne or a gin martini. Why was it important to state that?BOGART: When you write a book about consumption, it is very interesting how people speculate how much one is personally invested in the issues. In terms of my book before, regulating obesity, I had a number of incidents over the phone where the journalists would gradually move toward whether i was obese or not. I came to see people were curious to the extent there was personal investment in the topic...I also came to think that it was important that those who are persuaded for the case of moving towards legalization need to stand up for those who are using.MT: Talk about the history of criminalization of drug prohibition.BOGART: Up until the start of the 20th century, nonmedical use of drugs was something the law was ambivalent to. People used laudanum and opium as a daily pickup...Freud had a cocaine problem. Stevenson wrote Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on a cocaine high. Drugs were widely available and widely used. Sure, people were concerned when people developed problems, but there was not the idea that prohibition was the answer....By the 1920s, the idea of prohibition of drugs and alcohol were enacted. The lessons of the cost of prohibition in regards with alcohol, though, was learned and countries moved over to the regulatory side, but that did not happen with drugs.MT: You termed the collapsing of criminalization as a hollowing out, please explain.BOGART: Lets start by answering what The War On Drugs has brought about. Its simple purpose was to end the use of drugs. We know in the 20, 30 or 40 years that it has been going on that suppression is not successful and some rates have even increased. The War, though, has increased collateral costs. We put people in jail because they use a substance and we have substantial resources being used to fight that war when those resources can be used by others. Governments have been deprived revenue sources from and industryand it is an industry. Children have also been hurt. What I mean by a hollowing out is that these changes will not suddenly occur. Many societies are trying to do something about these collateral costs and to do something, they have to move away from criminalization...Part of that hollowing out is the changing perceptions on marijuana.MT: How does prescription drug abuse factor in the legalization equation?BOGART: We have a horrible opioid crisis in Canada as well. It is a tragedy. But the way we are addressing it Canada actually points the way to legalization. I know of no responsible voice in Canada that says the solution is to round up these people and put them in jail. Many of them are committing a legal offense....We think it is better to save lives then throw them in jail.To get more, listen here http://www.moderntimesmagazine.com/ModernTimesPodcasts/170207-MT-Podcast.mp3 or signup via Google Play or ITunes by visiting OUR PODCAST PAGE.

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