Orangutan Has Human Right to Freedom: Argentine Court

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BUENOS AIRES An orangutan held in an Argentine zoo can be freed and transferred to a sanctuary after a court recognized the ape as a "non-human person" unlawfully deprived of its freedom, local media reported.

Animal rights campaigners filed a habeas corpus petition a document more typically used to challenge the legality of a person's detention or imprisonment - in November on behalf of Sandra, a 29-year-old Sumatran orangutan at the Buenos Aires zoo.

In a landmark ruling that could pave the way for more lawsuits, the Association of Officials and Lawyers for Animal Rights (AFADA) argued the ape had sufficient cognitive functions and should not be treated as an object.

The court agreed Sandra, born into captivity in Germany before being transferred to Argentina two decades ago, deserved the basic rights of a "non-human person."

"This opens the way not only for other Great Apes, but also for other sentient beings which are unfairly and arbitrarily deprived of their liberty in zoos, circuses, water parks and scientific laboratories," the daily La Nacion newspaper quoted AFADA lawyer Paul Buompadre as saying.

Orangutan is a word from the Malay and Indonesian languages that means "forest man."

Sandra's case is not the first time activists have sought to use the habeas corpus writ to secure the release of wild animals from captivity.

Earlier this month, a New York court tossed out a similar bid for the freedom of 'Tommy' the chimpanzee, privately owned in New York state, ruling the chimp was not a "person" entitled to the rights and protections afforded by habeas corpus.

In 2011, the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) filed a lawsuit against marine park operator SeaWorld, alleging five wild-captured orca whales were treated like slaves. A San Diego court dismissed the case.

The Buenos Aires zoo has 10 working days to seek an appeal.

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Orangutan Has Human Right to Freedom: Argentine Court

Court Rules Churches Can Continue To Conceal Financial Information

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.

Some Background

L Ron Hubbard is reputed to have remarked to fellow author Theodore Sturgeon . It would get even better. The thirty year war that his religion, Scientology, waged with the IRS ended in 1993 with Scientology organizations being recognized as churches.

Many years after Hubbards casual remark, not-for-profits in the United States were subjected to fairly strict financial transparency rules enforced by the IRS through a requirement of filing Form 990, which includes, among other things, disclosure of the salaries of the highest paid employees. 990s are easily accessed on guidestar.org. , though. Churches are exempt from filing Form 990.

Churches And Transparency

FFRF is an atheist organization and you could view this lawsuit as just one more attack on religion in the public square like the suit about prayers at the school board meeting in Chino Valley, Calif or the one about a ten commandments monument in front of Valley High School in Pennsylvania. I think that view is mistaken.

The standards of the Evangelical Council on Financial Accountability require that member organizations provide audited financial statements on request. ECFA is concerned about the effect that financial shenanigans have on non-believers citing Pauls letter to the Corinthians which states For we are taking pains go do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.

The strongest voice I have noted for church financial transparency is that of Reverend Frank Benson Jones. In his book Stop The Prosperity Preachershe argues that

I have heard of some churches that require the members of the staff to sign Requiring churches and religious organizations to file an

Reverend Jones finds prosperity preachers forming something of a mutual admiration society to keep their con going.

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Court Rules Churches Can Continue To Conceal Financial Information

Freedom Finance General Election 2015 Consumer Manifesto

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Manchester, Cheshire (PRWEB UK) 23 December 2014

Freedom Finance the Manchester based loan broker has launched a Consumer Manifesto Survey which will enable customers to have their say on the important financial issues that affect their everyday spending.

Offering solutions in the personal finance market, Freedom Finance intend the monthly Consumer Manifesto to allow their customers to vote on the important financial issues that impact on their lives. With the general election for just a few months away, this months survey will garner opinion on the cost of living debate. From tax, pensions and interest rates to jobs and childcare costs, customers can voice their financial concerns and the results of the Consumer Manifesto will then be made available to the public.

The cost of living continues to be a central issue over the coming months as the parties prepare the political area for the 2015 general election. The coalition government will want to pronounce the benefits of any economic recovery while the cost of living debate will at the heart of Ed Millibands general election manifesto. But what do the public think about the general costs of living and how they affect their own finances? Freedom Finance hopes their Consumer Manifesto will shed some light on how this issue impinges on daily life.

It will take no more than a minute for customers to register their vote and have their say in the cost of living debate ahead of the general election, providing Freedom Finance with a valuable insight about what really matters to their customers.

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Freedom Finance General Election 2015 Consumer Manifesto

Captive Orangutan Has Human Right to Freedom, Court Rules

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An orangutan held in an Argentine zoo can be freed and transferred to a sanctuary after a court recognized the ape as a "non-human person" unlawfully deprived of its freedom, local media reported on Sunday.

December 21, 2014

By Richard Lough

BUENOS AIRES, Dec 21 (Reuters) - An orangutan held in an Argentine zoo can be freed and transferred to a sanctuary after a court recognized the ape as a "non-human person" unlawfully deprived of its freedom, local media reported on Sunday.

Animal rights campaigners filed a habeas corpus petition - a document more typically used to challenge the legality of a person's detention or imprisonment - in November on behalf of Sandra, a 29-year-old Sumatran orangutan at the Buenos Aires zoo.

In a landmark ruling that could pave the way for more lawsuits, the Association of Officials and Lawyers for Animal Rights (AFADA) argued the ape had sufficient cognitive functions and should not be treated as an object.

The court agreed Sandra, born into captivity in Germany before being transferred to Argentina two decades ago, deserved the basic rights of a "non-human person."

"This opens the way not only for other Great Apes, but also for other sentient beings which are unfairly and arbitrarily deprived of their liberty in zoos, circuses, water parks and scientific laboratories," the daily La Nacion newspaper quoted AFADA lawyer Paul Buompadre as saying.

Orangutan is a word from the Malay and Indonesian languages that means "forest man."

Sandra's case is not the first time activists have sought to use the habeas corpus writ to secure the release of wild animals from captivity.

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Captive Orangutan Has Human Right to Freedom, Court Rules

Armed with strong system integration capabilities, Tatung launches smart green building solutions

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Armed with strong system integration capabilities, Tatung launches smart green building solutions

Press release [Monday 22 December 2014]

Global warming and climate change are posing threats to the environment that our lives rely on. This has given rise to the concepts of green buildings that encompass greening, water conservation, and energy saving. In recent years, governments have begun turning these concepts into laws and policies, and now it is hoped by combining ICT advancements, buildings can incorporate smart active sensing functions so that smart green buildings will become a prevailing trend.

Smart green buildings are ones incorporating information communication technologies. That is, high-tech systems and equipment are introduced into green buildings so that building space is furnished with smart active sensing functions to achieve security, health, convenience, comfort, energy saving, and sustainability purposes. The concepts of smart green buildings are becoming a new trend in the modern construction industry as they can carry the pursuit of green buildings towards eco-balance, energy saving, waste reduction, and health promotion etc. a step forward, which is very meaningful to today's environment.

The word "smart" in smart green buildings is not just a catchy term but it signifies the integration of software and hardware systems to make low-current system smart. If a business owner wishes to bring smart green buildings into reality, he or she will have to consider various aspects such as an infrastructure that includes air conditioning, chiller units, motors, water pumps, power generators, wires and cables, in addition to low-current equipment such as a PBX phone system, a surveillance system, a SA/BA security monitoring system, an information network, and finally a back-end management system to enable centralized monitoring and control on all segments. The magnitude and complexity obviously exceeds what most system or equipment suppliers can offer.

Complete supply capabilities enable delivery of one-stop service

Breeze Yeh, Director, Energy Saving Department, Energy Business Division, Tatung Company, pointed out the company is capable of supplying total solutions covering entire building infrastructure. Its solutions integrate power generators, power systems, air conditioning and others, plus central monitoring systems that can control multiple units including air conditioning, illumination, electricity, fire protection, access control, and CCTV systems. In addition, the company also manufactures smart home appliances. Tatung is therefore considered the most capable in the industry in terms of system integration for smart green buildings.

As such, Tatung hopes to fulfill its corporate social responsibility by providing total solutions and all-in-one service for smart green buildings to help business owners, architects, and electrical engineers construct sustainable smart green buildings according to the eight smart building indicators. Tatung's efforts are meant to make that sure building residents can enjoy smart devices, that energy saving and carbon reduction can be achieved, and that rooftop solar photovoltaic systems can be utilized to generate energy.

Yeh stated Tatung, to strengthen its capabilities of supplying smart green building systems, first pulled together multiple business units in the corporation to enhance the ability to offer integrated solutions. Based on such capabilities, Tatung started with construction projects under development and has now expanded to smart homes, smart communities, smart factory facilities, and smart commercial complexes. Tatung has vast experiences turning both existing buildings and new projects smart.

By reinventing its own properties, Tatung refines competence in smart green buildings

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Armed with strong system integration capabilities, Tatung launches smart green building solutions

First Look at HBO's 'Westworld' Series Unveiled

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December 23, 2014 08:09:53 GMT

A newly shared photo gives a look at a rough and tumble cyborg cowgirl from the dark drama based on Michael Crichton's 1973 sci-fi western-thriller film.

A glimpse at TV adaptation of Michael Crichton's "" has landed online. The first photo from the new HBO series features a rough and tumble cyborg cowgirl pointing a gun at someone or something unseen.

To , Jonathan Nolan ("") who co-wrote the pilot says the place is "where you can be whoever you want to be and there are no consequences-no rules, no limitations." He continues, "What happens in Westworld, stays in Westworld."

Co-creator Lisa Joy chimes in, "It's sci-fi but mashed-up with a Western. We get to look backward and forward." Nolan adds, "What we can tell you is that we intend to make the most ambitious, subversive, f***ed-up television series. The things that keep you up at night, any of those things that trouble you-that is exactly what the show is about."

The show has hired A-list stars including who plays the park's brilliant creative visionary, and who is cast as the iconic killer robot gunslinger made famous in the film by Yul Brynner. , , , , and Shannon Woodward are among other stars joining the sci-fi drama.

The original movie is set in a futuristic theme park populated with robot characters, one of which tortured the guests of the park. The TV remake is described as a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin. J.J. Abrams, Jerry Weintraub and Bryan Burk serve as executive producers for the small-screen project.

AceShowbiz.com

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First Look at HBO's 'Westworld' Series Unveiled

King tides hit California, bringing dangerous surf, rip currents

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King tides hit California today and when combined with high surf can create a dangerous situation at state beaches.

High tide will occur at 8 a.m., according to meteorologist Bill Forwood of the National Weather Service. The service warns of "large surf" and dangerous rip currents through midnight Monday, subsiding through Tuesday.

In southwestern California, "the king tides this weekend coincided with high surf," the NWS said, "including dangerously high surf on the Central Coast."

Central California beaches could have waves as high as 20 feet Monday, the weather service said. There were coastal flooding advisories for some areas.

"The very high tides often cause coastal flooding when combined with high surf. All the hazards of high surf are increased with the added effect of very high tides.

As of 7:30 a.m., the highest local tide was 6.6 feet at the Port of Los Angeles.

So what are king tides?

Simply put, they are the year's most extreme tides and occur near the solstices.

"An extreme high tide event that occurs when the sun and moon's gravitational forces reinforce one another," according to the California King Tides Project, which since 2010 has documented the tides and any changes in the state's coastline and ecosystems.

Effects of king tides are weather dependent, said Sara Aminzadeh, executive director of the California Coastkeeper Alliance.

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King tides hit California, bringing dangerous surf, rip currents

Why Care About Astronomy?

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The Milky Way seen above the European Southern Observatorys Paranal Observatory. Image Credit: Babak Tafreshi / ESO

I need to get something off my chest. A month or so ago I was sitting in a classroom surrounded by 10 peers. For the first time this semester we had the opportunity to spend the entire day discussing astronomy. And I was thrilled to dive into that brilliant subject, which I have adored for most of my 26 years.

But it didnt take long before the day turned sour. Most of my classmates touched on one common theme: why should we care about astronomy when it has no practical applications? Its a concern I have seen time and time again from students, museum guests, and readers alike.

So dear world, here is why you should care.

Its true that astronomy has few practical applications and yet somehow its advances benefit millions of people across the world.

Just as astronomy struggles to see increasingly faint objects, medicine struggles to see things obscured within the human body. So astronomy has developed technology used in CAT scanners and MRIs. It has also developed technology now used by FedEx to track packages, GPS satellites to determine your location, apple to develop a camera for your iPhone, to name a few.

But all of these are mere second thoughts, benefits that have occurred without the primary intention of the maker. And that is what makes astronomy beautiful. To study something not because were looking to gain anything in particular, but out of sheer curiosity is what makes us human.

Doing things for their own sake creates room for mindfulness and joy. Aristotle makes this point in his Nicomachean Ethics. He says: the work is the maker in actuality; so he loves his work, because he loves his existence too. And this is a fact of nature; for what he is in potentiality, the work shows in actuality.

Work itself is inherently valuable and it is somehow connected to our very existence. It stands alone and not as a path toward a paycheck or a practical application. Countless studies show just this. In one famous example, psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, both from the University of Rochester, asked two groups of college students to work on various puzzles. One group was paid for each puzzle it solved. The other group wasnt.

Deci and Ryan found that the group that was paid to solve puzzles quit the second the experiment was over. The other group, however, found the puzzles intrinsically fascinating, and continued to solve the puzzles well after finishing the experiment. The second group found joy in the puzzles even when and perhaps because there was no monetary value to gain. Theres mindfulness in the act of work itself.

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Why Care About Astronomy?

NASA Kepler Finds Milky Way's Oldest Known Earth-Mass Planets

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Intelligent life in our Milky Way Galaxy may have gotten a gigantic head start, say astronomers who confirmed the detection of low-mass, rocky planets around a star thats at least 11.2 billion years old, or more than twice the age of our own solar system.

In a paper just submitted to The Astrophysical Journal, an international team of University of Birmingham (U.K.)-led astronomers detail observations of KOI-3158, a pale yellowish-orange star that lies some 117 light years away in the constellation of Lyra. The team analyzed data from NASAs Kepler Space Telescope which revealed that this ancient metal-poor star harbors five terrestrial-mass planets whose origin dates back to the dawn of the Milky Way.

The implications of finding terrestrial-type planets around such an old, metal-poor star may be staggering. If life evolved on planets so early in the history of our galaxy, it would have already had at least 10 billion years to potentially vector into intelligence. By comparison, our own Sun is only 4.56 billion years old, and microbial life on Earth has only been around for an estimated three to four billion years.

This is confirmation that earth-sized planets have formed throughout most of the galaxys history, Tiago Campante, an astronomer at the University of Birmingham (U.K.), and the papers lead author, told Forbes.

The Milky Ways galactic center as seen from the ESOs La Silla Observatory in Chile. Credit: ESO/A. Fitzsimmons

Indeed, these planets sizes and potential makeup seem eerily akin to our own inner solar system. The systems three intermediate planets are the size of Mars Mars and the outermost planet is slightly smaller than Venus, while the innermost planet is the size of Mercury. Using stellar photometry, Kepler looked for periodic dips in starlight due to transits of planets across the face of their stars. Thus, they were able to determine that these five new rocky planets orbit their parent star in less than 10 days; less than one-fifth Mercurys distance from the Sun. As such, they would be much too hot to be hospitable to life as we know it.

Even so, the teams findings will likely help precipitate a paradigm shift of how planet hunters and astrobiologists view terrestrial planet formation within the Milky Way.

During four years of observations, Kepler took data which allowed the researchers determined the stars age to high-accuracy. KOI-3158 itself is some 25 percent smaller and 700 degrees cooler than our own Sun; part of a triple star system in the Milky Ways thick disk a ancient stellar population that stretches several thousand light years above and below the plane of our galaxy. By contrast, the Sun lies in a thin disk that makes up most of the galactic plane.

Because the star and the planets are thought to form around the same time and from the same nebula, we assume that the age of star is a reliable indicator of the age of the planets, Travis Metcalfe, an astronomer at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo., and one of the papers co-authors, told Forbes.

With an iron composition only a third that of Sun, Campante cautions that in terms of habitability, planets around such low-metallicity stars may have some real red flags. Campante wonders if their planets would have a magnetic field strong enough to protect it from charged particles and cosmic rays that would otherwise strip away these planets upper atmospheres?

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NASA Kepler Finds Milky Way's Oldest Known Earth-Mass Planets

Meteor shower delights stargazers | VIDEO

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Dec. 22, 2014, 7:40 p.m.

Anyone who thinks astronomy is boring need only look at the reactions of two Illawarra stargazers as they watch a meteor shower known as the Geminids

This picture of the meteor shower was taken about 2.30am on Saddleback Mountain near Kiama. Picture courtesy: DAVID FINLAY

Anyone who thinks astronomy is boring need only look at the reactions of two Illawarra stargazers as they watch a meteor shower known as the Geminids.

David Finlay and Rudi Vavra trained two cameras on the sky in the early hours of last Monday to capture the celestial spectacle.

And with this being the golden age of the selfie, naturally they trained another camera on themselves.

Watch the youtube video here

But its more than some silly season indulgence. Mr Finlay enjoys performing some astronomy class-like commentary to go with his Clear Skies TV video work, which he usually publishes on YouTube.

His commentary includes information on the phenomenon being witnessed, but also on how best to capture it on camera, and how he decides on the best vantage point.

Mr Finlay says Geminids, which radiates from a spot aligned with the constellation of Gemini, is a trusty beast. It occurs each December as the Earth crosses the orbital path of asteroid 3200 Phaethon.

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Meteor shower delights stargazers | VIDEO

The Aerospace Corporation Announces Two Board Retirements

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El Segundo, Calif. (Dec. 22, 2014) The Honorable John E. McLaughlin and Honorable Robert S. Walker have retired from The Aerospace Corporations Board of Trustees, effective Dec. 12, 2014.The Honorable John E. McLaughlin was elected to Aerospaces Board of Trustees on June 8, 2006. He is a distinguished practitioner in residence at the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. McLaughlin was previously deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency, confirmed by the United States Senate in October 2000, and he served as acting director following the resignation of George J. Tenet in 2004. He retired from the agency in 2005 after more than three decades of service.Early in his career, McLaughlin focused on European, Russian, and Eurasian issues in the Directorate of Intelligence. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he served as director of the Office of European Analysis and director of the Office of Slavic and Eurasian Analysis. McLaughlin rose to the positions of vice chairman for estimates, acting chairman of the National Intelligence Council, and deputy director for intelligence prior to becoming deputy director of the agency.The Honorable Robert S. Walker was reelected to Aerospaces Board of Trustees on March 9, 2007. He previously served on the board from 1997 to 2005. Walker is executive chairman of Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates, a government-relations firm based in Washington, D.C. He represented Pennsylvanias 16th Congressional District for 20 years before retiring in 1996 from the House of Representatives. Positions he held included chairman of the Science Committee, chief deputy Republican whip, chairman of the Republican leadership, and speaker pro tempore. In 1996, Mr. Walker became the first sitting member of the House to be awarded NASAs highest honorthe Distinguished Service Medal. In 2004, he received NASAs Distinguished Public Service Medal.In addition to leadership positions in Congress, Mr. Walker has served as chairman of the Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry, as a member of the Presidents Commission on the United States Postal Service, and as a member of the Presidential Commission on the Implementation of the United States Space Exploration Policy. He also served on the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board of the National Research Council.

The Aerospace Corporation (www.aerospace.org) is a California nonprofit corporation that operates a federally funded research and development center and has almost 3,500 employees. It provides technical guidance and advice on all aspects of space missions to military, civil, and commercial customers to assure space mission success. The Aerospace Corporation is headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., with multiple locations across the United States.

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The Aerospace Corporation Announces Two Board Retirements

AIP FYI: Update on NSF Grant Practices

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There was considerable discussion this year about the National Science Foundations grant practices. There were three developments in December of note:

On December 3, NSF issued a press release entitledNational Science Foundation Updates Transparency and Accountability Practices. The release described a meeting of the National Science Board and a briefing by NSF Director France Cordova in which she discussed new approaches to enhancing transparency and accountability. The release quotes Cordova:"Good stewardship of public resources requires ongoing examination of our processes and continuous improvement. We will continue to convey the significance of our science and engineering research in supporting the national interest. To do this we must clearly communicate our funding rationale publicly."

The release explains:

The guidelines for program officers in the Proposal and Award Manual now state that a nontechnical project description must explain the project's significance and importance and serve as a public justification for NSF funding by articulating how the project serves the national interest, as stated by NSF's mission: to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity and welfare; or to secure the national defense. The titles and abstracts of NSF's awards are made public on NSF.gov.

This Friday, the foundationsNSFs Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guidewill be amended to include the following:

"Should a proposal be recommended for award, the PI may be contacted by the NSF Program Officer for assistance in preparation of the public award abstract and its title. An NSF award abstract, with its title, is an NSF document that describes the project and justifies the expenditure of Federal funds."

On December 10, House Science, Space and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) issued astatementciting the above NSF release. Smith has criticized the foundations grant practices. Smith stated:

I am encouraged by the NSFs announcement that it will increase transparency and accountability for taxpayer-supported scientific research. For more than a year, I have been calling for the NSF to provide public explanations for how NSF research grants are in the national interest and worthy of taxpayers hard-earned dollars. The NSFs new policy is a step in the right direction. Congress and taxpayers will be eager to see how the new NSF national interest criterion is implemented.

On December 16 the President signed the FY 2015 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act. The bill was silent on this matter. There is no mention of grant practices in the overall NSF language or in the section on its Research and Related Activities except for language supportive of neuroscience research.

In mid-May, the House report accompanying the FY 2015 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill commented on awards made by the foundations Social, Behavioral, and Economic Directorate. Some of the Directorates awards had been criticized by prominent House leaders, including Science Committee Chairman Smith. Note that this language remains operable:

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AIP FYI: Update on NSF Grant Practices