Monthly Archives: March 2017

Two Compounds Revealed to Slow Age-Induced Degeneration – Futurism

Posted: March 7, 2017 at 9:44 pm

Anti-Aging Effects

Researchers from the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute and colleagues have discovered the anti-aging effects of two compounds. One is naturally occurring and found in red grapes and red wine, while the other is a drug commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes. The former, known as resveratrol, has been previously regarded for its health benefitsand has even been called an elixir of youth. The latter, a drug called metformin, has also been researchedfor its anti-cancer effects.

The team found that resveratrol can preserve muscle fibers and protect synapses from agings crippling effects. To reach this conclusion, they conducted a study of two-year-old mice treated with resveratrol for a year (two years is generally considered old for mice). The team paid particular attention to how resveratrol affected synapses called neuromuscular junctions. These are crucial for voluntary movement, relaying motor commands from spinal cord neurons to muscles.The team published their study today in The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences.

Neuromuscular junctions are known to benefit from optimum diet and exercise, which protect these special synapses from agings wear and tear. Valdez and his team discovered that resveratrol can have similar effects, but the researcher clarified that these neuroprotective benefits wont be achieved by drinking red wine. In wine, resveratrol is in such small amounts you could not drink enough of it in your life to have the benefits we found in mice given resveratrol, Valdez explained. These studies are in mice and I would caution anyone from blasting their bodies with resveratrol in any form.

On the other hand, tests involving metformin revealed no significant effect on neuromuscular junctions. However, it slowed the rate of muscle fiber aging. Metformin is an FDA-approved drug to treat diabetes, but our study hints it may also serve the purpose of slowing the motor dysfunction that occurs with aging, Valdez said.

He added that the anti-diabetes drug may protect synapses depending on dosage amounts: There could be an opportunity for researchers and medical doctors to look at the patient population using this drug and ask whether metformin also has a positive effect on motor and cognitive function in humans.

The study expands the potential uses for the two compounds. Because metformin already has FDA approval, it may be easier to manufacture it as an anti-aging drug. As for resveratrol, the researchers plan to further study what exactly allows for these neuroprotective effects. The next step is to identify the mechanism that enables resveratrol to protect synapses, Valdez said. If we know the mechanism, we can modify resveratrol or look for other molecules that are more effective at protecting the synapses.

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Meet the Revolutionary Apple That Grows Human Skin – Futurism – Futurism

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Whats In An Apple?

Apples are a staple in most peoples homes and, it seems, in science. There was Newtons apple, and the proverbial daily apple to keep your doctor away. Now, biophysicist Andrew Pellingof University of Ottawa wants to add an apple of his own into the mix and this one might bring with it the future of biomaterials and human tissue repair.

Many scientists thought the idea of this apple itself was a little fruity. Pelling said that his team did not have many cheerleaders when they startedto look for ways to grow human cells by biohackingfruits.

Nobody else is doing this. In fact, in the early days people thought Id lost my mind, Pelling said during a TED Talk earlier in 2016. What Im really curious about is if one day it will be possible to repair, rebuild, and augment our own bodies with stuff we make in the kitchen.

How Pellingsteam achieved this was rather simple, he said. To remove the apples cellular material, they bathed it in boiled water and liquid dish soap. As a result, the apples cells popped open. After the apple was washed clean of all its disgorged cellular material, what was left of it was a rigid cellulose scaffolding like an apples skeletal structure, so to speak. The spaces that once contained apple cells were then filled with mammalian cells.

Pelling demonstrated the success of the technique on several occasions, and in some playful ways. For instance, his teamcarved apples into the shape of human ears and then infused them with skin cells. The apple-ears were remarkably life-like.

Pellings method is, of course, still in its early developmental stages. At this point, it cant be tested on human beings. The team did test it on mice, though. Pelling injected cellulose scaffolding under the skin of lab mice. Amazingly, the mice didnt show any adverse immune reactions to the infusion. Within a few months, the animals body had populated the scaffolding with their own cells. The scaffoldhad become part of the tissue, Pelling said.

These studies have spurred two doctors from hospitals in Ottawato expressed their interests in Pellings work. The doctors are brainstorming possible medical applications of this technique with Pelling. One potential is for regenerative medicine, particularly as scaffolds to graft skin and bone. The scaffolds currently used these procedures are derived from collagen harvested from human cadavers, which can be cost-prohibitive.

A toonie-sized piece of traditional scaffolding material costs $1,000. Weve developed a material that could be just as good for a fraction of a penny, Pelling said. Plus, would you want a piece of cadaver in you, or a piece of apple?

But why stop at just apples? Pelling and his team are also looking at the potential of cellulosescaffolding derived from asparagus or even rose petals to be used as biomaterials to repair bone or nerve damage. And thisjust one way that biohacking can revolutionize our lives.

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New Research Could Turn Water Into the Fuel of Tomorrow – Futurism

Posted: at 9:44 pm

Water for Fuel

Over the past decades, fossil fuelshave become the backbone of the worlds industries. They have also been the number one cause of man-made climate change. Fortunately, things are beginning to change, as fossil fuels are on the decline thanks to the rise of renewable energy sources.

An alternative energy source with great potential is solar power. One variant of solar energy is solar fuel, which is produced by using sunlight to convert water or carbon dioxide into combustible chemicals. Because of the relative abundance of solar fuel components, its considered a desirable goalfor clean-energy research. However, these reactions, such as producing hydrogen by splitting water, arentpossible by using just sunlight. Materials to efficiently facilitate the process arenecessary.

Scientists have been working on creating practical solar fuels by developing low-cost and efficient materials to serveas photoanodes. Photoanodes are similar to the anodes in a battery and activatethe production of solar fuel by aiding the flow ofElectronsduring the process. Scientists from the Department of Energys Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have successfully doubled the number of potential photoanodes in just two years.

Now, researchers led by Caltechs John Gregoire and Berkeley Labs Jeffrey Neaton have developed a new, faster method to identify new materials to use as photoanodes, and theyve found 12 promising candidates. They published their research in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Neaton, director for the Molecular Foundry at Berkeley Lab, said that the study advanced this field of research by not only providing an improved method to look for photoanodes, but also by giving researchers insight into the new photoanodes.

What is particularly significant about this study, which combines experiment and theory, is that in addition to identifying several new compounds for solar fuel applications, we were also able to learn something new about the underlying electronic structure of the materials themselves, Neaton said in a Caltech press release.

To discover these new photoanodes, the team combined computational and experimental approaches. AMaterials Project database was mined for potentially useful compounds. Hundreds of theoretical calculations were performed using computational resources at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), together with software and expertise from the Molecular Foundry. Once the best candidates for photoanode activity were identified, it was time to test those materials in the laboratory.

The materialswere simultaneously tested for anode activity under different conditions using high-throughput experimentation. This was the first time these kinds of experiments had been run this way, according to Gregoire.

The key advance made by the team was to combine the best capabilities enabled by theory and supercomputers with novel high throughput experiments to generate scientific knowledge at an unprecedented rate, Gregoire said in the press release.

They found that compounds with vanadium, oxygen, and a third element had highly tunable electronic structure that made them uniquely favorable for water oxidation.

Importantly, we were able to explain the origin of their tunability, and identify several promising vanadate photoanode compounds, Neaton said in the press release.

This research has provided us with more ways to make use of water one of the worlds most abundant resource as an energy source.As advancements like this allow us to develop renewable energy cheaply and more efficiently, governments, investors, and individuals alike will have more reasons to leavefossil fuels in the past.

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China Is Making Futuristic Space Rockets That Launch From Planes – Futurism

Posted: at 9:44 pm

In Brief

China wants to take a shortcut in sending their rockets into space. Instead of the usual take off from the ground, Chinese engineers are working on designing a space rocket that canbe launched from an aircraft, according to a senior official talking to state-run newspaper China Daily.

Li Tongyu, the head of carrier rocket development at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, explained that the rockets are meant to send hundreds of low-orbit satellites into space for military and research purposes. The academys designers already have a ready-for-production model for a solid-fuel rocket thats capable of carrying a 100-kilogram (220-pound) payload into low Earth orbit. The designers, however, intend to develop a heavy-duty version of the rocket, capable of carrying a 200-kilogram (440-pound) payload.

The Y-20 strategic transport plane will be the carrier of these rockets. The jet will hold a rocket within its fuselage and release it at a certain altitude. The rocket will be ignited after it leaves the plane, Li explained. The country will only consider launching solid-fuel rockets from aircraft,as land-based rockets relying on liquid fuel require days of preparation,according to Chinese experts, and China will continue to rely on conventional rockets for heavier satellites, as well.

If successful, China may be pioneeringa new method for the country to fly space missions. Air-launched rockets can be deployed more quickly than their ground-launched counterparts, so the method couldsave valuable time when sending a crew to repair satellites or when launching observation satellites that could assist in relief efforts during disasters. They also arent beholden to launch range schedules and susceptible to weather-related delays.

Recently, China has been beefing up its space program. Just last year, the country sent its second space station into orbit, as the Tiangong-1 retired with a crash into the Earth. By April 2017, the Chinese plan to launch their first cargo spacecraft into space with a goal to maintain a permanently crewed space station by 2022. China has also expressed intentions to send a mission to Mars.

Any countrys dedication of funds and resources into space exploration is good for humanity as a whole, so having China making space a priority is great news for anyone interested in expanding our understanding of the cosmos.

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The Futurist: Experiences are the new currency | Marketing Interactive – Marketing Interactive

Posted: at 9:43 pm

The rise of technology has radically changed the way we live, consume, work and share our lives.

With social platforms and different forms of crowdsourcing initiatives, consumer preferences particularly those of Millennials are constantly evolving. Its an exciting time indeed, and the travel industry is in the middle of it all.

While digital may be everything today, not all things should be automated and digital.

Todays travellers are connected and well-informed; they want to travel in evermore immersive ways. We use technology to connect travellers and local hosts for that truly authentic travel experience.

More importantly, we always try to provide authentic off-the-beaten path experiences. According to our study, if money was no object, 42% of Millennials surveyed in China, the United Kingdom and the United States would choose travel as the thing they would most do ranking higher than buying a new home or car. Creating memories has surpassed the appeal of purchasing possessions.

Also, Millennials are the largest generation in history and by 2025, Millennials and the younger generations will account for 75% of all consumers and travellers it is crucial that brands both in the travel sector and beyond pay attention to their evolving priorities and adapt their offerings to cater accordingly.

We also recently launched Trips which was based on the research of people wanting to create a truly meaningful and connective experience. One of the ways through this mobile first application, is Experiences.

Now, travellers can enjoy handcrafted activities designed and led by local experts that they would never find anywhere else such as a wasabi making workshop in Tokyo or learning about an organic vintage vineyard in Paris. As such, going forward, brands should also ensure relevancy and play a valued role in their lives, along with what is important to them.

With the ever-connectivity with global current affairs news, they are passionate about supporting various communities and causes.

Social impact experiences build on the inherent good of Airbnb travel, from economic impact to communities and neighbourhoods, to environmental impact of sustainable travel to the social impact of bringing people from different cultures together.

Any brands initiatives will not be possible without the combination of the interest in consumer needs and technology. People always think of new behavioural trends as disruptive and a replacement from more traditional forms of strategies, I think its more innovation. Now more than ever, technology is the business. And no company, not even Airbnb, can afford to slow the pace of its development.

The writer is Juliana Nguyen, regional brand marketing director, Asia-Pacific, Airbnb.

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Sierra Leone News: STATUTORY MEETINGS OF WAMZ AND WAMA END IN FREETOWN WITH RENEWED … – Awoko

Posted: March 6, 2017 at 3:48 pm

The Statutory Meetings of the West African Monetary Agency (WAMA), the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) has ended in Freetown on a positive note. The meetings held at the Bintumanai International Conference Centre from 3rd-10th February, 2017 included the 40th Meeting of the Technical Committee, the 34th Meeting of the Committee of Governors and the 37th Meeting of the Convergence Council. Sierra Leone, being the host country of the Statutory Meetings, had her officials elected to head various Committee Meetings taking over from the sister country of Guinea. These include: the Development Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, Mr. John Sumaila was elected Chairman of the Technical Committee of the WAMZ, the Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone, Dr. Kaifala Marah, elected as Chairman of the Committee of Governors and the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr. Momodu Lamin Koroma was elected as Chairman of the Convergence Council. All three elected Sierra Leoneans will hand over their baton of responsibilities at the next Statutory Meetings of the WAMA and WAMZ in Monrovia, Liberia later this year. The overall objective of the meetings is to gauge and assess progress of member countries in the drive towards the establishment of a Common Central Bank and the introduction of a Single Currency, with a view to achieving monetary integration to ensure rapid socio-economic development through harmonized and sound fiscal and monetary policies in all member countries which include, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. At the opening of the 40th Meeting of the Technical Committee, the Director-General of the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI), Dr. Abwaku Englama noted that Sierra Leone did not comply with three of the convergence criteria namely, the inflation, the fiscal deficit and the central bank financing. However, the Chairman, Mr. John Sumaila, Development Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development reaffirmed Sierra Leones commitment to the WAMZ project, noting, Our resolve to reach the desired goal is still as strong as ever despite the serious global and regional challenges confronting us. He assured Sierra Leones commitment to implementing sound economic policies to ensure economic stability and compliance with the WAMZ convergence criteria. He however lamented on the twin shocks of the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak and the collapse in global price of the countrys lead export, the Iron Ore, which he noted, had negative impacts on the economy generally thereby undermining the countrys macroeconomic stability and poverty reduction goals. He informed the Technical Meeting that prior to the twin shocks, Sierra Leone was making significant progress in the areas of macroeconomic stability and poverty reduction, with the recording of double digits economic growth of 15. 2 percent in 2012 and 20.7 percent in 2013, with a projected growth rate of 11.3 percent in 2014. He said inflation was contained at a single digit while the exchange rate was relatively stable with interest rate on government securities declining significantly. With all of these, Mr. Sumaila was confident to report that Sierra Leone had achieved all four primary convergence criteria in 2013. All of these, unfortunately, were squashed by the unprecedented Ebola Virus Disease outbreak and as government battled with that emergency, then came the other shock of a dwindling price of the countrys leading export commodity, Iron Ore. Besides these challenges, Mr. Sumaila elucidated the numerous macroeconomic measures adopted by government to address the situation and pledged the commitment of the country to also carry out reforms recommended under the ECOWAS Protocol to promote regional integration. Mr. Sumaila expressed optimism for a bright medium term prospects for Sierra Leones economy, which he estimated to have recovered by 4.9 percent in 2016, and a projected growth of 5.4 percent in 2017 and 6.1 percent in 2018. He went on to assure that inflation will return to a single digit in 2017, with the countrys gross foreign reserve averaging at 4 months of import cover in the medium term, and that the exchange rate is expected to stabilize as exports increase combined with the implementation of prudent fiscal and monetary policies. We are therefore hopeful that Sierra Leone will satisfy the convergence criteria and become a member of the ECOWAS Monetary Union in 2020, Mr. Sumaila assured. During the 34th Meeting of the Committee of Governors of Central Banks of the WAMZ, the Vice Governeur of the Banque Centrale de la Republique de Guinea, Mr. Gnanga Komata Gounou on behalf of Dr. Lounceny Nabe, the outgoing Chairman of the Committee of Governors, pointed out that the global economic environment was fraught with uncertainties emanating from persistent economic slowdown that is exacerbated by the Brexit and the elections in the United States of America. These he maintained are challenging for the regional integration project in the sub region. He therefore called for further reflection that will bring about credible and realistic options that would ensure informed decisions in the WAMZ. He lauded the contributions of WAMI in the areas of payments system development, promotion of trade related issues and strengthening the financial sector in the region. Dr. Kaifala Marah, newly elected as Chairman of the Committee welcomed delegates to the meeting and conveyed fraternal salutation from President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, and the Government and people of Sierra Leone. He paid tribute to outgoing Chairman of the Committee, Dr. Lounceny Nabe for steering the affairs of the WAMZ over the last six months, particularly highlighting his exemplary leadership and commitment to the goals of the WAMZ. Dr. Marah reaffirmed Sierra Leones commitment to the WAMZ integration agenda. He highlighted the challenges faced by the country at the domestic front, pointing out that the country was contending with hikes in prices of basic commodities as a result of exchange rate depreciation and domestic food supply shocks. He also noted that the recent upward adjustment of domestic prices of petroleum products has also brought in its wake additional pressures on domestic prices of goods. He however expressed his determination to get the inflation under control and achieve exchange rate stability. He went on to note that until 2016, Sierra Leone had been consistently achieving the three primary convergence criteria, but that due to the challenges encountered in 2016, performance on the primary convergence scale deteriorated to only one criterion. Despite these challenges, we will pursue policies to re-establish compliance with all four primary criteria, while improving performance on the secondary convergence scale. He assured his colleague Governors of the countrys commitment to the proposed WAMZ Commission, and indicated that broad consultations would be held with relevant stakeholders to discuss the study done by WAMI and make their considerations known. Dr. Marah reechoed the several common challenges facing Member States that include, weak infrastructure and the attendant financing gap for infrastructure development and underscored the importance of addressing them collectively. According to him, one of the ways of tackling infrastructure financing gap is through the use Pension Funds of Member States of the WAMZ which he expressed belief, has worked in other economies. The Director-General of WAMI, Dr. Abwaku Englama in his statement to the Governors indicated that from the latest assessment of Member States performance on the primary convergence criteria (end June 2016), he maintained that only Liberia satisfied all four criteria, with Guinea and Nigeria satisfying three each; Ghana satisfying two while The Gambia and Sierra Leone satisfied one each. With regards the secondary convergence criteria, Dr. Englama noted that Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone satisfied all, while Nigeria, The Gambia and Guinea satisfied one criterion each. Dr. Englama recalled that the study on the establishment of the WAMZ Commission was initiatied by the Convergence Council of the WAMZ at its 34th Meeting held on July 17, 2014 in Abuja, Nigeria, following the abandonment of the Two-track Approach to monetary integration. Meanwhile following thorough deliberations on the issues under discussion, the Convergence Council decided on the following, inter alia: Adopted the report on the macroeconomic development and convergence in the WAMZ as at end June 2016 and urged Member States to: Endeavour to diversify their economies so as to minimize the impact of shocks, domestic or external, as well as stimulating their economies through targeted spending in growth-enhancing sectors for employment generation and poverty reduction; Strengthen fiscal consolidation through expenditure rationalization and revenue mobilization measures. Tax administration must be strengthened, including enforcement strategies aimed at curbing tax evasion and excessive duty waivers in a bid to enhance revenue collection and consequently improving on the fiscal deficit to GDP ratio; Restrain the rising wage bill in some Member Countries through the development and implementation of the Public Financial Management Reforms; Member States that are yet to commence implementing the CET should make efforts to resolve issues hindering the take-off as those countries which have implemented the CET have not suffered any revenue losses; Directed WAMI to undertake a study on the implications of fragility and vulnerabilities of Member States economies on the convergence process with implementable recommendations at the next statutory meetings; Directed WAMI to finalise and represent the paper on Managing Commodity Price Shocks in the WAMZ: The Role of Fiscal Monetary, and Exchange RATE Policies at the next Statutory Meetings; Endorsed the transformation of WAMI into a Commission based on Scenario 2(the lean structure) with an estimated cost of US$6.166,831.51 for the first year as against Scenario 1 with a cost estimate of US$12,121,949.30; Approve the roadmap leading to the establishment of the proposed WAMZ Commission, including the preparation of a project document, proposals for the amendment of the WAMZ Agreement and the convening of WAMZ Heads of State Summit to consider and approve the establishment of the Commission; Urged the beneficiary Member States to fund, on equal basis, the shortfall of US$86,796.20 on the WAMZ Payments System Project arising from the exchange rate losses due to appreciation of the US dollar against Unit of Account; Directed WAMI to prepare a proposal and seek funding for the WAMZ Payments and Settlement System (WAMZPASS), which will establish among other functions, an inter-linkage between the RTGS of the WAMZ Member States via SWIFT to facilitate cross border trade through efficient and safe transfer of funds and also serve as a platform for quoting and trading in WAMZ national currencies; Noted the report on the progress made in capital market integration in West Africa and urged Member States to redouble efforts to address the inhibiting constraints to deepen the process in the WAMZ; Directed WAMI to establish three sub-committees i.e. Legal and Institutional, Payments System and Operations, to facilitate the work of the Expert Committee on Quoting and Trading in WAMZ national currencies; Noted the Report on the 8th Forum of WAMZ Trade Ministers and urged Member States to implement the recommendations of the Forum to accelerate trade integration in the Zone and the wider ECOWAS region; Noted the Report on the newly constructed WAMZ Trade Integration Index and directed WAMI to update and publish it annually; Noted the progress on the implementation of the extended ACBF Capacity Building Project and tasked WAMI to explore other financing sources for capacity building for the achievement of the goals of the WAMZ; Approved the WAMI Work Programme and Budget for 2017 in the sum of US$4, 894,674.31 with additional US$65,000.00 to reinforce the activities of the CSWAMZ, bringing the total budget to US$4, 957,563.54. Member States contribution amounts to US$4,301,666.54, a surplus of US$635,897.00 and interest income of US$20,000.00; Directed WAMI to update the staff Manual and submit it for approval; Directed WAMI to submit periodic internal audit reports to the Committee of Governors; Approved the implementation of Provident Fund Scheme for the few non-seconded WAMI staff; Approved the Statutory Retirement Age at WAMI to be sixty years, and; Approved the extension of contracts of those who have attained the age of sixty prior to this recommendation to end-June 2017. Under any other business, the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia, Mrs. Oumie Savage-Samba, on behalf of the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs and the Governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia, conveyed the sincere thanks and appreciation of the people and Government of The Gambia to His Excellency, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, for his role in the resolution of the recent political impasse in The Gambia. Minister of Finance and Economic Development of Sierra Leone, Mr. Momodu L. Kargbo recognized the significant contributions of Heads of regional integration institutions, i.e. ECOWAS Commission, WAMA, WAMI WAIFEM to economic integration and capacity building in West Africa. This was acknowledged and accepted by Dr. Abwaku Englama, Director-General of WAMI on behalf of his colleagues. The next meeting of the Convergence Council would be held in Monrovia, Liberia at a date to be communicated to Member States in due course. By Sayoh Kamara, PRO MoFED Friday March 03, 2017

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Sierra Leone News: STATUTORY MEETINGS OF WAMZ AND WAMA END IN FREETOWN WITH RENEWED ... - Awoko

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Thousands in women’s rights march in Polish capital – thenews.pl

Posted: at 3:47 pm

PR dla Zagranicy

Victoria Bieniek 06.03.2017 08:03

Some 4,000 people gathered in Warsaw on Sunday in a march for women's rights ahead of International Women's Day on Wednesday.

The 18th such annual march, which drew crowds of 3,700, according to police figures, and 4,000 according to City Hall, was entitled Against authoritarian abuse.

Meanwhile, several dozen pro-life protesters gathered outside Warsaw City Hall in opposition to the march, carrying posters with images of aborted foetuses.

Organisers of the main march said that the protest was not anti-government as such, but against cumulative oppression, be it institutional, systemic, economic, physical, sexual....

However, many of the banners held up by marchers carried messages about reproductive rights, following the Polish government's recent decision to consider a bill which would make the morning-after pill and hormonal contraceptives available only on prescription.

Marchers also criticised the abortion compromise, the colloquial name given to Poland's restrictive abortion laws.

Another 40 Polish cities also hosted women's protests over the weekend.

International Women's Day marks the anniversary of a workers' strike in New York in 1910, when 15,000 female textile factory employees stopped work, demanding better work conditions and voting rights.

The factory owner locked strikers in the building and 129 of them died in a fire. (vb/pk)

Source: PAP

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Probe: Artist Blacklist Antidemocratic Oppression – KBS WORLD Radio – KBS WORLD Radio News

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The independent counsel team has concluded that the governments blacklisting of artists critical of the government was an antidemocratic oppression carried out for the sake of factional interests. The probe team announced the final results of its probe into the Choi Soon-sil scandal on Monday. The team said that former Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Ki-choon and former Culture Minister Cho Yoon-sun led the creation of the blacklist. The team said that the blacklist had hurt not only artists but also people in general by violating the freedom of creation and undermining cultural diversity by excluding certain artists from getting state subsidies just because they had different views. The team said that the blacklist was drafted out of the belief that criticism of the government is a challenge to the free democracy system, and constitutes a serious crime against the basic values of the Constitution. The team also said the blacklisting of artists also crippled the career civil service system, forcing Culture Ministry officials to become lackeys in the crime. Meanwhile, key figures in drafting the blacklist, including the former presidential chief of staff, have blasted the probe results and have refused to accept them.

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John Oliver Experiences Entertaining Enlightenment With The Dalai Lama – Decider

Posted: at 3:47 pm


Economic Times
John Oliver Experiences Entertaining Enlightenment With The Dalai Lama
Decider
While we carry a vague admiration for the Dalai Lama, the Chinese government openly despise him. Oliver reflected on Hollywood's brief obsession with Tibet's oppression (and even got a Moonlight Oscar flub joke in there!), and explained that the Dalai ...
Watch John Oliver Interview Dalai Lama Over Reincarnation ControversyRollingStone.com

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The Oppression of Eve: Was Patriarchy Actually The First Sin? – Patheos (blog)

Posted: at 3:47 pm

Lets play a little thought game together, shall we? It will require us all to unlock the box in which we hold our thinking, let it burst wide open like a shaken soda bottle, or one of those Cooking Fail memes about pressure cookers. I had this thought the other day, when I was doing something completely unrelated. Probably I was working out. Anyway, heres the thought:

I know. Crazy, right?

Of course, I dont come to the text as a Bible scholar. I dont have an understanding of the ancient languages, and Im not a theologian. I do, however, come to the text as a believer, and an oppressed one at that.

Now, let me say, too, that I am a highly privileged oppressee. I get that. Im white, middle class, Christian, cis, straight, able-bodied. I am essentially one step away from the top of the privilege heap, and I acknowledge that. But the fact is, its been almost 100 years since women won the right to vote, and yet all that time later, werestill paid less than men; werestillunder-represented in board rooms and in government; westill have slut shaming;rapes of womenstill go un- or under-punished; and we still have men who say things like women should not teach menand rank womens ministries and Bible study lower in importance, according to some ridiculous metric found nowhere in the scripture, ever.

And this is just here in America. Land of the free.

So when I say I come to the text as an oppressed person, this is what I am talking about: the fact that due strictly to my physical sex and my gender identity, I am not permitted to live out the fullest expression of who I am as a human being because of patriarchy. I can not earn my fullest potential income nor hold my highest possible office; I can realistically expect to not be allowed to be called a pastor or preach to men (should I ever want to); I can not rest assured that, if I were ever assaulted, I would not be blamed for that assault while my assailant goes free.

In this country and in others, there are people far more oppressed than I am. Ive heard arguments that say thats a good reason for me to shut up and stop whining. I take the opposite stance. Its more important than ever for me to work for my complete freedom, because in doing so, I dig the pathway to liberation a little deeper for others on the same road. I walk alongside them on this journey.I do this with a deep humility, a burning desire for justice, and a massive love for God.

There are two things that strike me as soon as I read the creation story, and bear witness to the interaction between the first man and woman: the othering of Eve, and the ownership of Eve.

I cant decide if the othering of Eve comes from the text itself, or the way weve been conditioned to read the text through millennia of misogyny and patriarchy. Certainly at first, in Genesis 2, the relationship between Adam and God seems central and primary, and Eve seems to be an afterthought. Is that because the story was written down by a man? How would the story be different if it was being told by a woman? Or is it simply the way we read the text that makes us assume thats what its doing?

But Genesis 1 doesnt make it seem like Eve was an afterthought at all. Genesis 1 makes it seem like God had Eve in mind all along. Right there, on day six, God made all living things that walk the land, and she was there. Verse 27 is clear: God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

And verse 26 seems to give them both equal dominion over the earth: Then God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. (bold italic emphasis mine).

Despite this, somewhere in our readings, Eve took a backseat in this dominion; she was othered as the afterthought, not viewed as the equal, created human that she was an original idea, all her own, and just as central to Gods creation as the man. Somehow, Eve got shoved out of the picture and out of her God-given status and power. We started viewing Eve as secondary and peripheral to Adam, even though Genesis 1 makes it clear she was there from the beginning.

The whole Genesis 2 thing about Eve being Adams helper might have something to do with that. But heres where that knowledge of ancient languages might come in handy (should I ever have time to study those in depth). Our more modern-day reading applies a sort of Mad Men interpretation to this partnership suddenly the Biblical Eve is pictured in our minds holding a pencil sharpener and a steno pad, perhaps, or an apron and a mixing spoon. The image is decidedly ofassistant to a superior,a worker to her boss, a housewife to the king of the castle. But thats not actually the meaning of the original Hebrew.

The original Hebrew word for helper is ezer, and in other places in which this word is used in the Bible, it never refers to any sort of subordination. If anything, it refers to a form of protection; it speaks of the way God helps us. The qualification of that helper is one that is suitable for him, which implies equality, and the reason was Adams loneliness. In other words, the animals were not enough to keep Adam from feeling alone. God, knowing this from the beginning, always intended to create an equal partner for him.

Which brings me to the ownership of Eve, and first sin. Lets start with the ownership part.

God is having a blast with Adam, letting him name all the animals. Naming was a big deal in the ancient Hebrew society, and its interesting to note that in many cases in the OT, women were responsible for naming their children. When God realizes its time for Eves arrival, and he brings her to Adam, the scripture does not say that God told Adam to name her, too. It just says he presented her to Adam. The man, in his excitement, names her woman, and by doing so, he takes ownership of her.

We are not privy to Gods reaction to this, and I think weve all assumed that the lack of a response from God equates to his approval of Adams ownership of Eve. Im playing with the idea that this assumption is wrong. God never actually approves of Adams naming of Eve. Instead, the very next scene involves the serpent.

The serpent addresses the woman, who chooses to eat from the tree that God had declared off limits. But heres something interesting: in all my previous readings of this, indeed for all of history, the burden of sin has been placed squarely on Eves shoulders, leading society to label her the original sinner and a temptress at that. Personally, in all my readings and ponderings of this scene, Ive picture Eve taking a solitary stroll through the garden, the serpent tempting her to eat, and then Eve rushing back to the house where Adam is watching the game and saying, Babe, you gotta try this fruit, its amazing! But thats not what happened.

According to scripture, Adam was right there with her, all along.

Genesis 3:6 says, She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. (emphasis mine)

So rather than the narrative Ive always had in my head, a more accurate story is that Adam and Eve were taking a stroll after dinner, and the serpent came up and suggested fruit for dessert. Eve thought it sounded pretty good, andso did Adam.Nowhere in the Bible do we hear Adam tell the serpent to beat it, or say to his wife, Sweetie, thats a really bad idea, and he certainly didnt say, Hey now, thats all on you. Im good. No thanks. Nope. He was there the whole time, going along with the whole thing, having dessert.

FINALLY God comes back from the sabbatical he was on, probably in Florida or something, and there is sin to be dealt with. But heres my question:

What if theoriginalsin was not the eating of the fruit, but Adams ownership and subordination through naming of she who was supposed to be his equal partner?

What ifit was the oppression of Eve that the serpent exploited, promising her the justification, the wholeness and fullness of her humanity that Adam had stolen by rushing to name her?

What if original sin is this crazy desire we have to oppress other people, and then call their pain and resistance to that oppression pride?

To look at the whole story, we have to of course come to Jesus. The creation story is finished in Him; everything is redeemed through Christ. And while Jesus did accomplish his mission within the framework of patriarchy, he subverted it every chance he got.And the rest of the Christian canon makes it clear that the oppression of peoples is NOT a hobby in which Christians should partake.

The more I read the scripture, the more I learn about Jesus, the more I discover the songs of liberation that weave through the verses like a wild melody. Jesus came to set captives free a freedom that is full and whole and completely accessible to everyone. The freedom of Jesus is meant to allow us fully express our created selves, and to squeeze our potential dry and use it all for good.

What if weve been reading it wrong all this time? What would that mean, and how would we live life differently? If Jesus said specifically that he came to set captives free, that tells me that ending oppression is at the at the top of Gods to do list. What if weve been participating in oppression all this time?

What if?

*I know it wasnt technically an apple. Lets not hyper-focus on the wrong fruit.

Originally posted here:

The Oppression of Eve: Was Patriarchy Actually The First Sin? - Patheos (blog)

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