Anni WIKI-Leaked!

As was only to be expected, the WikiLeaks whistle-blower's accounts of US diplomatic exchanges within has something to say of little Maldives too, and it has also the potential to embarrass, if not harass, the incumbent Government of President Mohammed Nasheed.

Considering that the President and his ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) are already caught in a corner on a host of domestic issues, starting with the Opposition-controlled Parliament's refusal to clear his 13-member Cabinet for re-election after their "stagged drama" resignation, as required under the Constitution, which has become a subject of contradicting interpretations.

The WikiLeaks on Maldives comprises two specific developments, at least one of them becoming controversial nearer home when the idea was first mooted. Both relate to the US, naturally -- not only because WikiLeaks is all about leaked American diplomatic exchanges among its various missions and the Washington HQ but also because they show up a strand in the Nasheed Government's thinking in moving closer to the West and secularism, particularly the US.

The already agitating issue relates to the Maldivian acceptance of at least one prisoner from the American facility on Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The Maldivian Opposition had dubbed it 'sell-out' and the fundamentalist Adhalath Party, ironically continuing as an ally of the ruling MDP with no parliamentary support to offer, too had come down heavily on the Government's move. While domestic issues and politics upstaged the controversy, when it first came to light, the Maldivian willingness to accept someone whom the US had detained as a 'terrorist' brought in conflicting criticism.


Accordingly, the peripheral fundamentalist groups within Maldives felt that the Government was joining hands with a few other nations to provide an 'escape/exit route' for the US, when the latter should have been brought to book for video-taped ill-treatment of 'terror suspects' in the Bay facility, and also in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Here, one could feel their identification with 'religious fundamentalism', which the Nasheed Government in particular has been keen on eliminating from the Maldivian shores, one way or the other. But the true fact even a blind cow can see is that, whats happening in Bay facility, Iraq and Afghanistan are wrong in the eyes of humankind, not just Islamic Fundamentalists.

The other side, more moderate and secular groups, including responsible politicians and the mainline Opposition parties, felt that the presence of an ex-detainee from Guantanamo Bay could well become a focal-point for the emergence of a non-existent fundamentalist group, leading up to possible presence of a terror outfit, not very long after. Whether such extremist groups would be home-grown or 'imported' for whom the locals could provide safe-houses and contact-points were also being debated in private. The presence of peripheral fundamentalist groups and religious political parties have already become an increasing cause for concern, it was being pointed out.

The WikiLeaks on the subject now indicates that the Maldivian Government may have urged the US for help in procuring the much-needed IMF loan early on, in possible exchange for agreeing to house a Guantanamo Bay detainee. It is a well agreed and argued point that there are no free lunches in international politics and diplomacy, and that there may have been no harm in Maldives linking the two for benefiting the nation and its people in relative terms of few thousand dollars?. Yet, it may not be viewed the same way in the nation's backyard, where existing 'secular education' of the Gayoom era has given enough exposure to the 'IT generation' for them to draw their own conclusions beyond those narrow-minded self-centered politicians.

Ironically then, second WikiLeaks-related development pertains to the reported request of the Nasheed Administration for US help to modernise the educational system in Maldives. The idea, according to the leaks, was for the US to help Maldives discourage the migration of Maldivian students to countries such as Pakistan and Egypt, where they often schooled in madrassa education of a "fundamentalist" character.

On the issue, most locals believe this was among mounting attacks by Nasheed's secular administration to undermine Islam and promote their agenda by limiting ways to Islamic education. Other examples of such kinda are, their efforts to close down the only Arabic medium school in capital Male' Arabiyya and Mauhad.

Pea Sprout can mimic lung cancer nowadays!

Last June, Ron Sveden, was at Cape Cod Hospital waiting for doctors to tell him what he seemed to be the inevitable: he had lung cancer.

But Sveden got the surprise of his life when doctors removed a one-and-a-half inch long pea plant growing in one of his lungs.

A month earlier the 75-year old lifelong smoker began feeling fatigue, loss of appetite and was coughing more. He had been hospitalized for 10 days before a lung biopsy discovered what was causing his symptoms.

Sveden and his doctors believe that while eating peas, one went into his windpipe, lodged to his lungs and began sprouting. Sveden does not remember when the incident happened.

“It was probably there for quite a while because of its growth status,” Sveden told ABC News.

When his doctor gave him the diagnosis Sveden was amused.

“It took two minutes for it to sink in and I thought it was quite funny,” said Sveden. “I giggled. It was shortly after that I realized it wasn’t cancer and for me, my wife and family, it was quite a relief.”

Within days, Sveden’s appetite was back and his other symptoms began to subside. The hospital staff showed their sense of humor by including peas in one of his first meals.

“I laughed,” joked Sveden. “An then I ate them!”

Sveden continues to keep his positive outlook after his unbelievable ordeal.

“Right now, I feel great,” he said. “I feel like raising Hell again!”

Taken from ABC news August 11, 2010.

What are you thinking?

1) dont plants need sunlight to grow?? how does a pea sprout inside someones body without sunlight? Ans: They don't need sunlight to SPROUT, just some warmth and moisture. Each seed contains enough "food" to get the plant started.

2) Was he eating raw peas? Ans: He would have been eating raw peas. A cooked pea would not germiante.

New 'superbug' found in UK hospitals

A new superbug that is resistant to even the most powerful antibiotics has entered UK hospitals, experts warn.

They say bacteria that make an enzyme called NDM-1 have travelled back with NHS patients who went abroad to countries like India and Pakistan for treatments such as cosmetic surgery.

According to a Lancet paper, at least 17 of the 37 patients they studied had a history of travelling to India or Pakistan within the past year, and 14 of them had been admitted to a hospital in these countries - many for cosmetic surgery.

Although there have only been about 50 cases identified in the UK so far, scientists fear it will go global. Tight surveillance and new drugs are needed says Lancet Infectious Diseases.

NDM-1 can exist inside different bacteria, like E.coli, and it makes them resistant to one of the most powerful groups of antibiotics - carbapenems.

The fear would be that it gets into a strain of bacteria that is very good at being transmitted between patients” Dr David Livermore Researcher from the HPA (UK's Health Protection Agency)

And experts fear NDM-1 could now jump to other strains of bacteria that are already resistant to many other antibiotics.Ultimately, this could produce dangerous infections that would spread rapidly from person to person and be almost impossible to treat.

Infections have already been passed from patient to patient in UK hospitals.

At least one of the NDM-1 infections the researchers analysed was resistant to all known antibiotics.

Similar infections have been seen in the US, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands and international researchers say that NDM-1 could become a major global health problem.

The way to stop NDM-1, is to rapidly identify and isolate any hospital patients who are infected. Normal infection control measures, such as disinfecting hospital equipment and doctors and nurses washing their hands with antibacterial soap, can stop the spread.

GOOD NEWS! currently, most of the bacteria carrying NDM-1 have been treatable using a combination of different antibiotics.

BAD NEWS! The potential of NDM-1 to become endemic worldwide is "clear and frightening", say the researchers in their Lancet paper.

The Department of Health has already put out an alert on the issue since the threat is a serious global public health problem as there are few suitable new antibiotics in development and none that are effective against NDM-1.

By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News

Serial heartbreaker nabbed!!

KUANTAN: First, she stole their hearts. Then she stole their money.

The long arm of the law, however, finally caught up with the female Casanova who promised to marry six men she befriended through Facebook but then left them poorer and without a bride.

The 25-year-old serial heart-breaker has been detained by police following a report lodged by the family of her latest victim.

According to the victim’s sister, the woman collected RM300,000 from her family members, purportedly for an investment, after going through a Chinese wedding ceremony in May at their hometown in Sabah.

The woman had refused to legally register the marriage, claiming she would only do so on Aug 8 as it was an auspicious day.

“My brother met the woman via Facebook in March and she moved in with him.
“A month later, she told my brother she was pregnant but refused to go for check up,” she said yesterday.

“During the ceremony, none of the woman’s relatives was present. “She gave the excuse that an uncle had passed away from cancer and her family members could not attend,” she said, adding that the “bride” also declined to have the wedding dinner in her hometown in Kuala Lumpur, Sin Chew Daily reported.

“We became suspicious when her tummy remained the same even after several months. There were also no returns from our investment,” she added.

The family subsequently discovered – through a friend and media reports – that the woman had cheated several other men using the same tactics.

“When I confronted her, she told me she had used all the money and pleaded with us to give her time to work so that she can save up enough money to pay us back.
“I had no choice but to bring her to the police station in Pudu two days later.”
A police report was subsequently lodged at a police station in Kuala Lumpur.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/8/8/nation/6820750&sec=nation

Malaria-proof mosquito engineered

The researchers, from the University of Arizona, introduced a gene that affected the insect's gut, meaning the malaria parasite could not develop.

They report the advance, which also reduced the insects' lifespan, in the journal PLoS Pathogens.

The ultimate goal is to introduce malaria-resistant mosquitoes into the environment.

"Before we do this, we have to somehow give the mosquitoes a competitive advantage over the disease-carrying insects," explained Professor Michael Riehle from the University of Arizona a principle investigator on the project.

In the study the researchers altered a gene that codes for a "signalling molecule".

This molecule, a protein, enables the mosquito's cells to communicate with each other, and is crucial for parasite development inside the mosquito.

The genetic tweak artificially increased its production, disrupting the whole process, and also shortened the insect's lifespan.

The team was able to add a fluorescent tag to the gene, to ensure that it had been successfully "expressed" by the mosquito larvae.

Professor Riehle said: "This is the first time that we've been able to completely block the parasite from developing in the mosquito."

Gareth Lycett, a malaria researcher from Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK, said it was an important advance.

"They have tested it on the most harmful of the malaria parasites, Plasmodium falciparum," he told BBC News. "It is another step on the journey towards potentially assisting malaria control through GM mosquito release."

But Dr Lycett pointed out that the this work had not been carried out specifically on the Anopheles gambiae mosquito. "That is the major vector of malaria in Africa where the disease is most prevalent," he explained.

This study was a collaborative project with the University of California Davis and the University of Georgia funded by the National Institutes of Health.

What happens next?

This is a key step in a long genetic battle against a global killer. The ultimate aim is to tackle the root cause of malaria's spread by releasing the parasite-proof mosquitoes into the environment.

For that to be successful, the genetically modified insects would have to "take over" from the naturally occurring, disease-spreading mosquitoes.

This means giving the GM insects a competitive advantage - something that has not yet been achieved. Researchers are investigating a number of genetic "tricks" in pursuit of this.

One of these is to ensure that the gene that blocks the parasite's development is guaranteed to be passed down to the modified mosquitoes' offspring - thereby making sure that the gene eventually spreads throughout the population.

The other is to give the malaria-resistant mosquitoes an additional genetic boost, such as a gene that makes them resistance to toxins that could be used against unmodified mosquitoes.

But there are serious ethical concerns about releasing a genetically modified insect into the environment. Once the science is pinned down, the risks and benefits to the environment, and to human health, will have to be properly assessed.

By Victoria Gill (Science reporter, BBC News)

Finally, It's Settled: The Chicken Came First

"It had long been suspected that the egg came first, but now we have the scientific proof that shows that in fact the chicken came first," Sheffield University's Dr Colin Freeman, according to a report in the Metro.


Researchers from Scotland and England used a supercomputer called HECToR to look in such detail at a chicken eggshell that they were able to determine the vital role of a protein used to kick-start the egg's formation.

That protein is only found, wait for it... inside a chicken.

Freeman, who worked on HECToR with counterparts at Edinburgh's Warwick University, said the protein had been identified earlier by scientists and was known to be linked to egg formation, "but by examining it closely we have been able to see how it controls the process," he added, describing it as a catalyst.

Paul the Oracle Octopus goes eight for eight, is amazing

Eight picks, eight correct, eight tentacles. Paul the Oracle Octopus is clearly the biggest winner of the World Cup after recording a perfect prognostication record whether he knows it or not (he probably doesn't).

The big question was whether Paul's predictive superpowers would translate to the final - the first match he was asked to predict that did not involve his native Germany. But such piddly concerns did not bother Paul. Mostly because he's an octopus. Just as he predicted, the European champions Spain became world champions for the first time with an Andres Iniesta goal in extra time. And as the Spanish celebrated, Paul floated in his tank, sure of his genius and probably craving a fresh clam.

Since Paul is an international celebrity of the highest order now, everyone wants a piece of him - both literally and figuratively. Italy is trying to claim that he was caught in Italian waters, Spanish businessmen are trying to buy him for €30,000 ($38,000), and Dutch priests tried to dismiss him.

But in Spain, Paul is an icon. The Spanish prime minister has already spoken of his desire to protect "Pulpo Paul" and the mock up of a new version of Spain's flag could be dangerously close to becoming real.

So what becomes of Paul now? Well, he'll probably continue to live out the remainder of his days at the Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany, no longer forced to pick his food out of flag-covered boxes while surrounded by an obscene number of media types. He will swim at his leisure and continue to be oblivious to the existence of sports. He will retire a winner and a global sensation - what every other octopus (and even a few pundits) wishes they could be.

All hail Paul.