Fiona McCann
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Sony, Rootkits and Digital Rights Management Gone Too Far
Mark's Sysinternals Blog Via cryptome **I don't pretend to understand all of this, but there is enough I do to cause alarm bells to go off. "Last week when I was testing the latest version of RootkitRevealer (RKR) I ran a scan on one of my systems and was shocked to see evidence of a rootkit. Rootkits are cloaking technologies that hide files, Registry keys, and other system objects from diagnostic and security software, and they are usually employed by malware attempting to keep their implementation hidden (see my “Unearthing Rootkits” article from thre June issue of Windows IT Pro Magazine for more information on rootkits). The RKR results window reported a hidden directory, several hidden device drivers, and a hidden application..." >>Read on |
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1.11.05 12:37 |
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ImageShack - Hosting
ImageShack "ImageShack's mission is to provide an easy-to-use image hosting service for everyone." I am posting this today for Steve, but it is indispensible for anyone with a blog. Imageshack will host your photos for free. You do not even need to register. You can do it on the fly, get the links you need, and insert them into your post. Like magic, there is your photo. If it is a large photo, Imageshack will give you a thumbnail. Try it yourself. I couldn't do without it. It only takes a few seconds to post a photo to your blog--and all for free. Just click on the frog!  |
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1.11.05 13:06 |
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Best Mate's return ends in tragedy
Guardian Three-time Cheltenham Gold Cup winner suffers suspected heart attack Staff and agencies Tuesday November 1, 2005  Best Mate "Best Mate, one of the finest jumpers in horse racing history, has died after suffering a heart attack following a race at Exeter this afternoon." **This story pisses me off for several reasons. Firstly, I do not like to see people make a huge animal like a horse twist and turn and run and jump over hurdles, which it is not made to do. I think that part of this stinks. The second thing is that Best Mate had suffered a burst blood vessel previously during a workout and had needed time out. HELLO--does that tell you anything?? And last, I give you the words of his trainer, Henrietta Knight: "...I suppose we have all got to go one day and at least he didn't do anything terrible like fall or break a leg." **No, bitch; he only just DIED.
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1.11.05 23:04 |
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For BOF
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2.11.05 13:20 |
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Death of Best Mate worries animal rights campaigners
Daily Ireland  Click to view great photo of Best Mate from mischiefblue.co.uk Animal rights campaigners are questioning the pressures on top racehorses after the death of Irish-born horse Best Mate. The return to the track of one of the sport's best-loved racehorses ended in tragedy yesterday when he suffered a suspected heart attack and died during his comeback race. Anticipation surrounding triple Cheltenham Gold Cup-winner Best Mate's reappearance soon turned to concern when he was pulled up in the William Hill Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter. Jockey Paul Carberry stopped the champion horse and tried to take him back to the stables but he collapsed with a suspected heart attack and died. A spokesman for Animal Aid said a recent report on equine deaths revealed that more than 370 horses are raced to death each year in Britain. Animal Aid horse racing consultant, Dene Stansall, said: “Horse racing is an intrinsically punishing and exploitative activity. “The industry is producing more and more thoroughbreds every year and the burden placed upon them is increasingly demanding. “Tears will no doubt be shed for Best Mate. But such shows of sentiment are meaningless unless action is taken to protect future victims. There needs to be real root and branch reform." |
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2.11.05 16:45 |
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Roof caves in on Irish-SA charity project as gale-force winds topple new homes
Irish Independent **See >>this article about the project A GROUP of Irish builders on a charity project in South Africa faced a cruel setback yesterday when gales damaged more than half the houses they built. Over 70pc of the work carried out by the builders - as part of the Niall Mellon Project - was damaged or destroyed by the massive winds. As the volunteer builders arrived on site they were faced with scenes of complete destruction. "It was terrible arriving today and seeing all the damage. Some of the houses are half knocked, some are completely ruined," said one worker. Since beginning work on the houses on Saturday morning almost 60 houses had been built. But now with more than half of their work damaged the teams must begin again and hope that they will be able to catch up. "It takes a team of ten, two days to build and roof a house. This is definitely a huge setback," the worker stated. The volunteers were told of the destruction early yesterday morning by Niall Mellon as they were being bussed out to the work site. The gales in the area are renowned for blowing up with little warning. Despite having secured the buildings the strength of the gales makes it almost impossible to ensure the half-finished houses can withstand them. The team of 200 men arrived in Cape Town on Friday and began work on Saturday morning. A further 500 men were due to take over in a week's time to insert electricity, plumbing and plaster the homes. Now the entire project has been hit by the damage which will affect the number of houses ready for the second team to finish. The charity organisation, dedicated to building houses for poverty stricken people living in South Africa had volunteer builders, electricians, plumbers and plasterers working to house some of the 12,000 people currently working in hut dwellings. Caroline Crawford
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3.11.05 06:52 |
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Chirac marks France's darkest secret
Scotsman.com SUSAN BELL IN PARIS  Click to view - Natzweiler-Struthof - Photo from Shoa.de ONE of France's most terrible secrets of the Second World War, the existence of a concentration camp on its soil, was commemorated yesterday by Jacques Chirac. During the Second World War, 25,000 people were murdered in horrific conditions at Natzweiler-Struthof, the only Nazi concentration camp built in France. Even today, few French are aware that it ever existed. More than 60 years after the camp in Alsace in eastern France was liberated by American troops, the president opened a memorial at the site. "Always remember," Mr Chirac said. "Fight relentlessly against those who in France or in the world promote hatred, racism, anti-Semitism, intolerance." He added the "rigour of the law" should always be applied to those "who try to deny the horror of what happened". About 52,000 people were sent to Natzweiler-Struthof from 25 countries, including France, Norway, Poland, Russia, the Netherlands and Germany. Many suspected resistance fighters were sent there - the Nacht und Nebel (Night and Fog) prisoners - so-called because their families were not notified of their arrest, they simply disappeared into the night and fog. An unknown number were gassed or died during medical experiments involving treatment for typhus and yellow fever. Thousands more died from harsh conditions, cruel treatment and lack of food. Among those killed at the camp were two courageous British women, Vera Leigh, 41, a dress designer and Diana Rowden, 29, a Paris-based journalist. Both were members of Churchill's Secret Army as Special Operations Executive agents who had been flown into France to aid the French resistance. Captured and tortured by the Nazis they were transported to Natzweiler-Struthof on 6 July, 1944 and executed later the same day by lethal injection. The camp was located in the Vosges mountains in the French region annexed by the Nazis as an integral part of Germany. Before the war, the area had been a popular winter sports destination. In 1942, the sadistic SS Oberfuhrer Josef Kramer arrived from previous postings at Dachau and Auschwitz to head Natzweiler-Struthof and apply with unprecedented zeal the Nazi programme Vernichtung durch Arbeit (Extermination through Work). Kramer left the prisoners in no doubt as to their fate."He told us: 'Here you are in a concentration camp, you march and you die.' He showed us the chimney (of the crematorium) and said 'You came in by the door? It's by that chimney that you will leave here - as smoke'," one survivor said.
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4.11.05 02:42 |
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ARAN - Animal Rights Action Network
I've mentioned ARAN before >>here, so those of you who are animal rights activists will be glad to know that ARAN has put out an October newsletter detailing all of their many activities and efforts. They are in the process of getting their website up and running, but you can read their newsletter here on one of my Geocities pages. Just turn your pop-up blocker on to stop Yahoo's annoying ads Click >>here to read their October newsletter.
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4.11.05 18:50 |
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WHY PARIS IS BURNING
NY POST By AMIR TAHERI Fri Nov 4, 6:00 AM ET  Click to view - BBC photo AS THE night falls, the "troubles" start — and the pattern is always the same. Bands of youths in balaclavas start by setting fire to parked cars, break shop windows with baseball bats, wreck public telephones and ransack cinemas, libraries and schools. When the police arrive on the scene, the rioters attack them with stones, knives and baseball bats. The police respond by firing tear-gas grenades and, on occasions, blank shots in the air. Sometimes the youths fire back — with real bullets. These scenes are not from the West Bank but from 20 French cities, mostly close to Paris, that have been plunged into a European version of the intifada that at the time of writing appears beyond control. The troubles first began in Clichy-sous-Bois, an underprivileged suburb east of Paris, a week ago. France's bombastic interior minister, Nicholas Sarkozy, responded by sending over 400 heavily armed policemen to "impose the laws of the republic," and promised to crush "the louts and hooligans" within the day. Within a few days, however, it had dawned on anyone who wanted to know that this was no "outburst by criminal elements" that could be handled with a mixture of braggadocio and batons. By Monday, everyone in Paris was speaking of "an unprecedented crisis." Both Sarkozy and his boss, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, had to cancel foreign trips to deal with the riots. How did it all start? The accepted account is that sometime last week, a group of young boys in Clichy engaged in one of their favorite sports: stealing parts of parked cars. Normally, nothing dramatic would have happened, as the police have not been present in that suburb for years. The problem came when one of the inhabitants, a female busybody, telephoned the police and reported the thieving spree taking place just opposite her building. The police were thus obliged to do something — which meant entering a city that, as noted, had been a no-go area for them. Once the police arrived on the scene, the youths — who had been reigning over Clichy pretty unmolested for years — got really angry. A brief chase took place in the street, and two of the youths, who were not actually chased by the police, sought refuge in a cordoned-off area housing a power pylon. Both were electrocuted. Once news of their deaths was out, Clichy was all up in arms. With cries of "God is great," bands of youths armed with whatever they could get hold of went on a rampage and forced the police to flee. The French authorities could not allow a band of youths to expel the police from French territory. So they hit back — sending in Special Forces, known as the CRS, with armored cars and tough rules of engagement. Within hours, the original cause of the incidents was forgotten and the issue jelled around a demand by the representatives of the rioters that the French police leave the "occupied territories." By midweek, the riots had spread to three of the provinces neighboring Paris, with a population of 5.5 million. But who lives in the affected areas? In Clichy itself, more than 80 percent of the inhabitants are Muslim immigrants or their children, mostly from Arab and black Africa. In other affected towns, the Muslim immigrant community accounts for 30 percent to 60 percent of the population. But these are not the only figures that matter. Average unemployment in the affected areas is estimated at around 30 percent and, when it comes to young would-be workers, reaches 60 percent. In these suburban towns, built in the 1950s in imitation of the Soviet social housing of the Stalinist era, people live in crammed conditions, sometimes several generations in a tiny apartment, and see "real French life" only on television. The French used to flatter themselves for the success of their policy of assimilation, which was supposed to turn immigrants from any background into "proper Frenchmen" within a generation at most. That policy worked as long as immigrants came to France in drips and drops and thus could merge into a much larger mainstream. Assimilation, however, cannot work when in most schools in the affected areas, fewer than 20 percent of the pupils are native French speakers. France has also lost another powerful mechanism for assimilation: the obligatory military service abolished in the 1990s. As the number of immigrants and their descendants increases in a particular locality, more and more of its native French inhabitants leave for "calmer places," thus making assimilation still more difficult. In some areas, it is possible for an immigrant or his descendants to spend a whole life without ever encountering the need to speak French, let alone familiarize himself with any aspect of the famous French culture. The result is often alienation. And that, in turn, gives radical Islamists an opportunity to propagate their message of religious and cultural apartheid. Some are even calling for the areas where Muslims form a majority of the population to be reorganized on the basis of the "millet" system of the Ottoman Empire: Each religious community (millet) would enjoy the right to organize its social, cultural and educational life in accordance with its religious beliefs. In parts of France, a de facto millet system is already in place. In these areas, all women are obliged to wear the standardized Islamist "hijab" while most men grow their beards to the length prescribed by the sheiks. The radicals have managed to chase away French shopkeepers selling alcohol and pork products, forced "places of sin," such as dancing halls, cinemas and theaters, to close down, and seized control of much of the local administration. A reporter who spent last weekend in Clichy and its neighboring towns of Bondy, Aulnay-sous-Bois and Bobigny heard a single overarching message: The French authorities should keep out. "All we demand is to be left alone," said Mouloud Dahmani, one of the local "emirs" engaged in negotiations to persuade the French to withdraw the police and allow a committee of sheiks, mostly from the Muslim Brotherhood, to negotiate an end to the hostilities. President Jacques Chirac and Premier de Villepin are especially sore because they had believed that their opposition to the toppling of Saddam Hussein in 2003 would give France a heroic image in the Muslim community. That illusion has now been shattered — and the Chirac administration, already passing through a deepening political crisis, appears to be clueless about how to cope with what the Parisian daily France Soir has called a "ticking time bomb." It is now clear that a good portion of France's Muslims not only refuse to assimilate into "the superior French culture," but firmly believe that Islam offers the highest forms of life to which all mankind should aspire. So what is the solution? One solution, offered by Gilles Kepel, an adviser to Chirac on Islamic affairs, is the creation of "a new Andalusia" in which Christians and Muslims would live side by side and cooperate to create a new cultural synthesis. The problem with Kepel's vision, however, is that it does not address the important issue of political power. Who will rule this new Andalusia: Muslims or the largely secularist Frenchmen? Suddenly, French politics has become worth watching again, even though for the wrong reasons. Amir Taheri, editor of the French quarterly "Politique internationale," is a member of Benador Associates. |
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4.11.05 22:23 |
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Statistics
Any one ever taken a look at their 20six statistics and wondered if they were putting you on? From time to time I look at my access statistics here and I think whoever is doing it is making it up. I just don't believe them.
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4.11.05 22:34 |
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FRANCE STILL BURNING
RTÉ 06 November 2005 22:59  Click to view - Photo: Christophe Ena/Associated Press - from NY Times For the 11th consecutive night there have been violent scenes on the streets of French cities. In the town of Grigny, south of Paris, there are reports that up to 30 police officers have been injured, two seriously, after coming under attack from gunmen. In clashes with a group of up to 200 youths in the area, police came under fire from rioters with pistols and hunting rifles. A police spokesman said the two officers were being treated in hospital with shotgun wounds to the leg and throat. Meanwhile, in the northern town of Rouen, rioters used a burning car as a battering ram against a police station. Cars and buses have also been set alight in the cities of Nantes, Rennes, Saint-Etienne and Orleans. In the southern city of Toulouse, police had to fire tear gas grenades to push back a mob throwing stones and bottles. The renewed violence has gone on unabated despite the deployment of thousands of police officers. Unrest has now flared in up to 200 city suburbs and towns, including areas around Nice, Lille, Bordeaux and Montpellier. The fresh violence came after French President, Jacques Chirac, made his first public comments after holding crisis talks with security officials and ministers. He said restoring order is the top priority after violence spread from the run down suburbs of Paris to several other cities. Clean-up follows Saturday's riots in France The authorities in Paris and other French cities earlier assessed the damage caused by Saturday's rioting. Across France, over 1,300 cars were set alight overnight. Schools and shops were also torched during a night that saw the violent unrest reach a new peak of intensity. The arson attacks spread from the suburbs of Paris to the heart of the city in the Place de la Republique. Night buses were suspended in Paris because of fears they would be set alight. Seven police helicopters with searchlights flew over the city during the night backing up officers on the ground in their attempts to track down the perpetrators. There were also riots in the northern city of Lille, Strasbourg and Nice.  BBC photo The rioting erupted as the Government promised to crack down on crime in the capital's suburbs, home to large numbers of impoverished African and Arab immigrants. The violence began after two teenagers died in an accident. Bouna Traore, aged 15, and Zyed Benna, 17, were accidentally electrocuted at an electricity sub-station in Clichy-sous-Bois, near Paris. Local people say they were fleeing police - a claim the authorities deny. An investigation is underway. |
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7.11.05 00:28 |
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We've grown this tree for 32 years, don't cut it down for Edinburgh
Scotsman **Sorry I don't have a photo. I read stories like this and then stories like the one about the riots and other stories from all over, and I just think that the whole fecking world is crazy and always will be. MICHAEL BLACKLEY NORWEGIAN council officials have ruled that a tree local people have nurtured for 32 years is to be cut down today and sent to Edinburgh to be used as the capital's centrepiece Christmas decoration. Residents of the council house scheme in Hordaland near Bergen were outraged when they heard that their tree was to be taken from them and sent as a gift. They have been putting pressure on the council in Hordaland to reverse the decision. But with the tree due to be cut down early today, the mayor of the town says that it is too late to find another. Edith Kalve, an 82-year-old resident of the council flats, was one of the people who planted the tree and has watched it grow to 66ft high. She said: "We got a letter on Thursday telling us that it was to be cut down and we are all very disappointed. "Everybody was against this decision, apart from one resident, and it will be a real shame for it to no longer be there. "The oldest people in the area were there when it was planted and they've always known it to be there. I am extremely angry, but it now looks like there is nothing we can do to save it." Despite the concerns of the residents, the mayor of Hordaland said that there was no possibility of reversing the decision, and the tree will be cut down today and prepared for its 430-mile journey to the Scottish capital. Tom-Christer Nilsen said: "There wasn't time to find another. I hope this won't be too hard for the people who want to see the tree stay, but if it is to get to Scotland on time it must be cut on Monday. "Nothing lasts forever and any tree has to go the same way as all of nature. This particular tree will get a very fine ending because it will be decorated and lit up and provide enjoyment for the many thousands of people who live in Edinburgh." Susan Hebden, a British woman who lives near the flats in Hordaland, said: "It's not a particularly wealthy area and the tree has given them something to be proud of. "The residents of the flats have worked hard at maintaining the tree and find it a pleasure to look after. They're very upset that it will no longer be there. "I suggested that they tie themselves to the tree and make sure nobody can take it away from them, but unfortunately the residents are very elderly and there has been a lot of bad weather and rain in recent weeks, so it would be very difficult for them to do that." Scotland and Norway have enjoyed a close relationship for many years and this will be the 22nd tree that has been donated to Edinburgh by the people of Hordaland. This year's tree, which is 6ft taller than last year's, is to be lowered into place at the Mound by the middle of the month. It will form the focal point of Edinburgh's Capital Christmas celebrations when its lights are switched on, heralding the start of a month of celebrations on Thursday, 24 November. The first night of the festivities will also include a Norwegian Advent concert in St Giles' Cathedral, in recognition of the gift from the people of Norway. Previous trees have not caused quite the same level of controversy as this year's, and last year an Edinburgh girl won a trip to Bergen, where she had the privilege of making the first cut to start felling the 2004 Edinburgh Christmas tree. A spokesman for the City of Edinburgh Council said that the body would not be willing to comment about the dispute over the Christmas tree until they have spoken to the relevant council authorities in Norway today. |
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7.11.05 03:25 |
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Palestinians donate son's kidney for Israeli boy
Belfast Telegraph By Eric Silver 07 November 2005 The family of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy who was killed by Israeli soldiers have donated one of his kidneys to an Israeli boy. "It doesn't matter whether the recipient was a Jew or an Arab," they said. Ahmed Khatib was shot on Thursday in the West Bank city of Jenin. He was rushed to the emergency room at Rambam hospital in Haifa, but died without recovering consciousness. The army said he had a toy gun, which soldiers mistook for a rifle. The family said he was with a group of boys waving toy guns to celebrate a festival. Jamil Khatib, his uncle, said the boy's father, Ismail, agreed to the donation after he saw the young Israeli kidney patient. "He had a brother, Shawkat, who died several years ago from kidney failure. He understood what it was like. Shawkat needed a kidney, but he never got one." The extended Khatib family was divided over the donation. Palestinian prisoners phoned and said they should not give the kidney to the enemy. |
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7.11.05 13:11 |
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NHS prepares for adult living liver transplants
Guardian · Scotland to pioneer 'daunting' procedure · Surgeons in England and Wales expected to follow James Meikle, health correspondent Tuesday November 8, 2005 The Guardian The first "living liver" transplants between adults on the NHS will begin in April next year, with Scotland pioneering a treatment that has so far been available in Britain only to foreign nationals paying privately for operations. The technique, which involves the organ being cut in half, is already used in the United States, Japan and elsewhere in Europe, but there has been some nervousness over state-funded surgery in Britain because of safety questions. >>READ ON |
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8.11.05 01:27 |
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Drug offers hope to asthma sufferers
Irish Examiner **Sorry for so many medical articles, but you never know when something's going to play up and you might need to know this stuff! 07 November 2005 By Lyndsay Moss PEOPLE with severe asthma have been given new hope with the launch of a drug to target the cause of their attacks. Xolair (omalizumab), which has just been approved for use in Britain, is given as an injection to severe asthma sufferers every two to four weeks. Trials have shown that it can reduce hospital admission for asthma patients by nearly half (47%). It can also reduce asthma attacks in severely affected patients by 55%. The drug blocks the antibody immunoglobulin E (IgE), which is involved in the allergic process in asthma. It is designed as an additional treatment for patients who suffer from severe, persistent allergic asthma that cannot be controlled with standard therapy. Asthma affects thousands of people in Ireland, but their symptoms cannot be controlled by existing therapies. This results in more asthma attacks and hospital admissions. Xolair was approved for use in the US in 2003 and has been licensed in several other countries including Australia and Canada. The drug, developed by Novartis, is recommended for patients with persistent allergic asthma who have severe problems such as reduced lung function. Professor Stephen Holgate, clinical professor of immunopharmacology at Southampton University, said: “This really is a breakthrough for the treatment of difficult to control asthma, where patients can be at significant risk of asthma-related death and regular hospital admission.” |
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8.11.05 01:43 |
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Beautiful Julianna Wetmore
**A friend told me she had seen this little girl's story on a television programme, and when I looked it up on the net, I have to admit I had never seen such a severe facial defect in a newborn. I read Julianna's story through tears, and at the end, I wanted to share with you the courage and fortitude of this family so that maybe the next time any of us is inclined to mope and feel sorry for ourselves, we might remember little Julianna and her extraordinary life. There were two articles I found. The first will explain her condition for you. Just click on the title: Julianna Wetmore - Child Born without a Face The second article from the Army Times will tell you about the family's day to day challenges and successes and what the reality of living with such a child entails. It is a very inspiring article. Sometimes beauty has an uncommon face January 03, 2005 The story of one amazing little girl and her Navy family--and how you can help By William H. McMichael Times staff writer RANGE PARK, Fla. — Juliana wants a hug. The bouncy and playful 21-month-old girl seemingly wants to hug everyone she meets. But she isn’t starved for affection. Far from it. Nearly everyone these days, it seems, wants to hold and comfort the youngest daughter of Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class (AW) Thom Wetmore and his wife, Tami. Juliana will need a lot of hugs as she grows up and realizes that not everyone will show her the same kind of love and care that many in her community and around the world have shown since her story was reported on a Jacksonville, Fla., TV station, posted on its Web site and rocketed across the Internet. Juliana, who is otherwise completely normal and healthy, was born with a relatively rare facial disfigurement known as Treacher Collins syndrome. She was, in essence, born without a face. Juliana has one of the worst cases experts say they have ever seen — she’s already undergone 14 surgeries. At birth, her face was essentially caved in — extruding, drooping eyes; a pinhole of a nose; ill-defined ears; and an oral cavity that defied description. She was missing her upper cheekbones, eye sockets, nose, ear canals and most of her outer ears, upper lip and the roof of her mouth. Her deformity, however, is but a mask that hides a child of incredible warmth, intelligence and energy. She’s a fighter, having conquered a string of other maladies, any one of which could easily have ended her life. But she survives. This is Juliana’s story — a testament not only to a tough little kid, but to one Navy family’s hope, strength, love and determination. >>Read on |
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8.11.05 02:13 |
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New campaign to end use of animals in circuses in Ireland
Indymedia.ie by John Carmody Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN) Wednesday, Nov 9 2005, 11:15am arancampaigns@eircom.net Po Box 722, Kildare, Ireland phone: 087-6275579 ADI investigations reveal extent of suffering for the first time A new hard-hitting campaign to stop the use of animals in circuses is being launched in Ireland today by Animal Defenders International (ADI) and Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN). The campaign report on Ireland’s circuses is based on undercover investigations by ADI Field Officers into seven circuses touring Ireland in 2000 and 2003. ADI Field Officers obtained employment with two Irish circuses, and observed many more. This is the fifth ADI ‘Stop Circus Suffering’ campaign following launches in UK, Chile, Norway and Portugal, and reveals that around 150 animals are touring Ireland with travelling circuses. These animals endure severe confinement in deprived and unnatural environments, inadequate diets and physical abuse. Tim Phillips, campaigns director for ADI, announced: “ADI and ARAN hope that this will be the biggest ever push to end the use of animals in circuses in Ireland and we will be distributing DVDs, leaflets and a report that features the extent of circus suffering in Ireland for the first time.” Examples of the violence used to control the animals were captured in the Irish launch video: • a camel slapped in the face and then hit in the face with a broom and finally jabbed with a broom handle • an elephant kicked in the leg and then punched in the face • a hippo whipped to hurry it along when it was already walking in the desired direction • a keeper whipping an elephant in order to get her to move • a baby camel being roughly handled to force him to move • a pregnant camel performing just days before giving birth. John Carmody, campaigns coordinator for the Irish group ARAN said: “This investigation has revealed animal suffering in Irish circuses on a large scale, which the circus industry has been desperate to hide. If children only knew how these poor animals are treated, they would be totally shocked. Local councils need to know this and we will be lobbying them to ban the use of animal act circuses.” The long haul When the Irish circuses moved town, the report reveals, animals were kept in their trailers for unnecessarily long periods – up to almost 10 times longer than a journey had actually taken. When Italy’s Il Florilegio Circus (Darix Togni) toured Ireland, elephants were kept in their transporter during one journey for 59 hours. At Courtney’s Mexican Circus, animals were observed left in their transporters for up to 43 hours without free access to water, and with no exercise. This was also true for the six tigers with Tom Duffy’s Circus, whose cramped enclosure was just 3.7 metres by 7.3 metres. Micki, the elephant with Fossetts Circus (who the circus boasts is the largest African elephant in Europe), was filmed and photographed in a tent chained by both front and hind leg and barely able to move. Public safety Poor standards of public safety (and indeed animal safety) were evident especially when a hippo at the Il Florilegio Circus (Darix Togni) started to wander towards a main road because an electric fence had not been erected. Luckily an ADI Field Officer alerted staff before the animal reached the road. In the past 20 months, Ireland’s media have highlighted several instances of animals getting loose or attacking people. The new report is also critical of circuses that allow people to come into close contact with potentially dangerous wild animals like elephants. Circus Vegas, The American 3-Ring Circus and Daredevil Circus all used their elephants during the show interval for photographs with the audience and Daredevil allowed very small children to sit on the Asian elephants. Confined to quarters The ADI / ARAN report and video highlight how the needs of animals cannot be met when travelling from one temporary encampment to another, and setting up on what limited space is available. The campaigners found a wide range of animals including horses, ponies, elephants, a rhino, a hippo, camels, and tigers living in confined and deprived environments, in small cages or tethered on short ropes. Some animals did not even have free access to water. For example, during observations of Circus Vegas in Galway, a donkey and a pony spent the day tied at the edge of the circus grounds without any shelter or water. Disturbed, repetitive behaviour Living in such bleak, unnatural conditions, it is little wonder that many of these animals go out of their minds. Frustrated, repetitive, stereotypic behaviour takes over. These pointless movements, with the animal no longer aware of its surroundings, are not witnessed in the wild, and are regarded by animal behaviourists as clear signs of distress. We call it ‘circus madness’. During this study, a number of animals were seen exhibiting disturbed behaviour. At Daredevil circus, elephants exhibited head bobbing and weaving stereotypic behaviour, a classic sign of circus animal stress – it was here that a presenter was caught on film kicking and punching one of the elephants. In Fossetts Circus, the solitary elephant performed stereotypic head weaving and bobbing for a significant part of the day. At Circus Vegas, the three African elephants were observed weaving whilst chained in tents. In Il Florilegio Circus (Darix Togni), all three elephants spent a significant amount of time exhibiting stereotypic behaviour, swaying from side to side and head bobbing. Disturbed behaviour was even filmed in camels and horses. DVDs, leaflets, posters and reports available Over the next few weeks and months, ARAN and ADI will be distributing campaign materials throughout Ireland. The groups are calling for local and national government action as well as Europe-wide action. All of Ireland’s MPs and MEPs will be sent the ‘Stop Circus Suffering’ DVD. If you would like a copy of the DVD and/or report for use in your town, please email ARAN today on arancampaigns@eircom.net _____________________________ For further information, film footage/ photographs, please contact: In the UK, the ADI Press Office: Allison Tuffrey Jones/ Abigail Girling Tel: 020 8563 0250 / 020 8846 9777 Mob: 07785 552548 Email: pr@ad-international.org Or in Ireland, ARAN: John Carmody, National Events Organiser, Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN), PO Box 722, Kildare, Ireland Tel: +353 87 62 75579 Email: arancampaigns@eircom.net NOTES TO EDITORS Animal Defenders International (ADI) with offices in London and San Francisco, is a major international campaigning group, lobbying to protect animals on issues such as animals in entertainment and their use in experiments, worldwide traffic in endangered species, vegetarianism, factory farming, pollution and conservation. ADI involves itself in international animal rescues as well as educational work on animals, conservation and environment. In just over a decade, ADI has become a major force for animal protection and has succeeded through its undercover investigations in securing legal protection for animals. ADI’s evidence of the torment to animals has led to campaigns and legislative action all over the world to protect them. http://www.ad-international.org Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN) is a grassroots voice that is speaking out against all forms of cruelty to animals. We work with many national and international animal protection groups and actively support international campaigns for animal rights along with working to encourage activisim among the public and volunteers alike. ARAN will be promoting the new ‘Stop Circus Suffering’ video throughout Ireland.
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9.11.05 19:30 |
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What's the hold up?
Saw an article today called 'Task force to seize child porn profits', which I read, and it just incensed me further. Some of the questions that came to my mind are why are they waiting til next year to set up this task force? Why wasn't it set up YEARS ago? Then I thought, why are images of abuse allowed to be shown anywhere on the internet? Oh, I know people get their shirts in a knot over censorship, but if internet service providers were prohibited from allowing images of abuse--no matter what kind of abuse--to be shown over their access, then no one would be allowed to view or download, and the slimey bastards that provided and sold it would not gain from it financially. Surely there is some kind of filter which could be universally used to prohibit images of any kind of human or animal abuse to be accessed. Now I hear everyone saying, but what about theatre films or plays or video games? Think about anime or cartoons even. Then there are all those people that go in for S&M. But did you ever wonder what kind of world it might be if humans didn't grow up looking at graphic violence 24/7. How would that shape their personality to NOT be exposed to that all the time, starting from when they are old enough to crawl in front of a television set? But anyway, if they know that 60% of all child porn sites are pay-per-view and they haven't shut them down already, than something is seriously wrong with society's intentions. |
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13.11.05 03:35 |
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Diet aid supplement clears blocked arteries, study finds
Irish Independent LARA BRADLEY A SIMPLE food supplement may hold the key to preventing heart attacks, Dublin-based researchers have discovered. UCD scientists have found a dietary supplement can effectively clear blocked arteries in a fortnight. Dr Orina Belton and PhD student Sinead Toomey have shown that if mice with atherosclerosis are given conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in amounts equivalent to one per cent of their diet, the plaques in their arteries disappear after just two weeks. Atherosclerosis or blocked arteries, is the main cause of heart attack and stroke, and accounts for 50 per cent of deaths in Western societies. CLA is an essential fatty acid commonly taken in supplement form as a weight-loss aid. It occurs naturally in dairy products and beef, but not in significant enough quantities to reduce plaque in the arteries. In fact, the saturated fats in these foods can do the reverse and contribute to blocked arteries. Dr Belton's study found that CLA works by encouraging cells that accumulate in the plaques to self-destruct. The results suggest that atherosclerosis may soon be treated with a simple "functional food" supplement. Dr Belton said: "CLA is going to be like fish oils in a few years. Everyone will be taking it. Other studies have found it has anti-cancer activity and a positive effect on diabetes." There are two main chemical forms of CLA, isomers c9-t11 and t10-c12. The type used in Dr Belton's research was an 80 per cent pure concentration of 9-11. The CLA in health food shops is a blend of different forms of CLA but Dr Belton feels patients concerned about blocked arteries should go ahead and take the supplements that are now available. She said: "We haven't yet gone into the side effects but since it is found naturally, I wouldn't expect we will find any." But the Health Research Board, who funded the study, has advised caution. A spokesman said: "Each isomer seems to have different metabolic effects and the picture is complicated by contradictory findings. The supplements sold in health stores are usually an unspecified mix and people with diabetes should use them with caution or under monitoring." |
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13.11.05 18:15 |
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Lowered expectations
Hahahahahaha...I see the statistics collector must have read my post about my inflated stats and has willingly and a bit suddenly decided to PLUMMET them downward, as in downward spiral...as in NOSEDIVE!! Owwwwww! My ears are popping!!  (I have to say I got this cartoon >>here, and I doctored it with Paint, which I have never done before - woo hoo!!!)
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14.11.05 21:26 |
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