A video featuring young cancer patients, their nurses, doctors and parents lip-synching to Kelly Clarkson’s hit “Stronger” has gone viral! The awesomely uplifting video was filmed via Seattle Children’s Hospital art program, the idea of which came from 22 year old Chris Rumble, a leukemia patient who wanted to share something with his hockey team in his hometown of Wenatchee, Washington. “I’m everyone’s big brother and I have a lot of friends here at Seattle Children’s,” Rumble said on the Seattle hospital’s blog. According to Dr. Douglas Hawkins, the patients and staff at Seattle...
May12
Stronger: Kids Cancer Video Goes Viral
Kelly Clarkson Song Inspires Cancer Patients At Seattle Children's Hospital
May09
Viewing Child Porn Now Legal In New York
NY Court: Purposeful Viewing Of Online Child Pornography Not A Crime
According to an overwhelmingly controversial ruling from the New York Court Of Appeals, the viewing of online child pornography is not a crime. “The purposeful viewing of child pornography on the internet is now legal in New York,” Senior Judge Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick stated in a majority decision for the court. The ruling came in relation to the case regarding James Kent, a Marist College professor sentenced in 2009 after authorities discovered over 100 images of child porn had been viewed on his computer, the remnants of which were stored in his cache files. According to MSNBC, the ruling makes an effort to distinguish...
May08
Ground Baby Pills?
Dead Chinese Baby Capsules
South Korea has seized thousands of black market pills filled with powdered flesh from dead Chinese babies. According to the Korea Customs Service, the pills were manufactured somewhere in northeastern China from “babies whose bodies were chopped into small pieces and dried on stoves...
May05
Health Services Axed
AZ Outs Planned Parenthood
On Friday, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law a bill to eliminate Planned Parenthood’s access to taxpayer money for “non-abortion” services. While Arizona already bars the use of public funds for abortions, the new legislation means broader prohibition. “We are...
May04
Beastie Boys Adam Yauch Dead At Age 47
Rap Legend And Tibetan Freedom Activist Lost To Cancer
Family, friends, fans and activists are mourning the loss of Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch. Yauch passed away today after a several year battle with cancer. He is remembered both as a hip hop pioneer and as a preeminent activist for the Tibetan liberation movement. Youch, aka “MCA”, was propelled to hip hop stardom in 1984 with the release of the Beastie Boys hit record, License To Ill. The Beastie Boys went on to sell over 22 million albums in the U.S. and over 40 million worldwide in a career that spanned three decades. In 1994, Youch established the Milarepa Fund to help raise awareness and generate funds for the...
May04
Toxic Brew
Banned Pesticides In Chinese Tea
If you drink tea, you may want to pay attention. Greenpeace East Asia has recently had samples of Chinese tea tested for pesticides and it found that, of the 18 samples sent, 12 came back as having at least one pesticide globally banned for use on tea. The pesticides found include, among...
Apr26
Bald, Beautiful, Barbie
Barbie Dolls For Kids WIth Cancer
What started as a mere Facebook group has turned into a petition-winning, corporation-convincing movement. Back in December, a page entitled Beautiful and Bald Barbie! Let’s see if we can get it made appeared on the omnipresent social networking site. Just more than three months later,...
Apr16
WTF IS FLIXPAC!?
IS NETFLIX'S NEW SUPER-PAC PRO-SOPA/PIPA?
Web-based television and movie streaming service Netflix has found itself in a nice little flip-flopping situation. On April 5, the digital upstart filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Committee to create a new super-PAC dubbed FLIXPAC. Last week, RT reported that Netflix could use the funds relegated to that political action committee to support politicians who would in turn, help fund controversial bills like Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act (SOPA and PIPA, respectively). Soon thereafter, Netflix emailed RT with a response to the article that argued that FLIXPAC was not set up to financially support such bills. Joris...
Apr16
Tango Down – Again
Anonymous Downs CIA, DOJ, Mi6
Anonymous is reportedly on a DDoS rampage today, downing the CIA, Department of Justice, and two Mi6 websites. Members of the group claimed responsibility throughout Facebook and Twitter. Brazilian hacktivist Havittaja reportedly launched the initial offensive on the DoJ and CIA for...
Apr06
Olympic “Clean Up”
Hookers & Homeless Booted
Social Issues – Bad news for brothels…and the poor! As the Olympic games near, London has begun ridding the city of its pesky prostitution and homeless problems. Anti-poverty charity Toynbee Hall notes that the number of sex workers arrested in Tower Hamlets, one of five Olympic...
Apr02
Numbers on the Rise
World Autism Awareness Day
Social Issues – Today is World Autism Awareness Day, and it is not just about being “aware” that autism exists, it’s also about being aware of what has been done, what still needs to be done, and what you can do to help. Autism is a lifelong disability that impacts...
Apr01
Action = Progress
Progressing Islam to Help It
Social Issues – Despite the sustained efforts of those who benefit the most from steps forward, normally we only hear the occasional bit of news about the efforts and accomplishments of progressive Muslims seeking to reform and modernize the faith’s image and its treatment of women...
Apr01
Which Came First?
The Fertilized Egg Debate
Social Issues – When it comes to age old question about which came first, the chicken or the egg, the answer is always arguable. According to Personhood USA this question now needs to also be asked amongst humans and fertilized eggs. In Oklahoma, a ballot initiative has been filed with...
Mar30
Irony at its Finest
Keep Your Hands Off!
Social Issues – While Rallying against Obamacare, anti-choice Rep. Steve King, declared that he wants the government to “keep its law off his body.” Ironically, this is the same representative that advocates for legislation such as “the idea that life begins at...
Mar28
Appropriately Skeptical
Syria Accepts Peace Plan
Social Issues – According to U.N. envoy Kofi Annan, Syria has agreed to a UN sponsored peace plan. At this point though, for some, the idea of resolving the conflict through diplomacy undercuts the value of the lives lost. Along with the announcement, Syrian state television has broadcast a video of President Bashar al-Assad walking through the Baba Amr district Homs, a particularly bloody center of conflict during the rebellion and Assad’s crackdown. The peace plan “calls for a national dialogue but does not hinge on him leaving office.” It is not exactly a win for the rebels. Abu Jaffar, an opposition supporter summarized...
Mar27
Out in the Cold
Syria May Soon Stand Alone
Social Issues – The Syrian regime is facing growing isolation this week as Russia, one of its last remaining allies, edges nearer to international cooperation. With the situation growing increasingly dire and current UN figures suggesting that over 8,000 people have been killed in the...
Mar27
The Long Road Home
US-Taliban Negotiations Deemed Failure
Social Issues – The United States’ Afghanistan exit strategy has taken another hit this week with a report from the International Crisis Group (ICG) concluding that U.S. attempts to negotiate with the Taliban have been a failure. The report comes after several turbulent months in U.S.-Afghan relations, with its findings likely dramatically affected by the recent killing of 17 Afghan civilians and the burning of Korans at an American military base. The ICG report represents a significant dent in hopes that a negotiated settlement would mark the end of the war. Candace Rondeaux, the report’s lead author, stated that...
Mar27
Prevention Harms
Tackling Antibiotic Overuse
Social Issues – The Food and Drug Administration has been ordered by a federal court to “act on scientific knowledge that the overuse of antibiotics in food animals has contributed to the rise of antibiotic resistant infections in humans.” It’s a ruling that could have...
Mar26
Drug Dilemma
Vaccine Review After Massacre
Social Issues – The U.S. Military will now be conducting an emergency review of a controversial vaccine in the wake of the Afghanistan massacre that cost the lives of 17 Afghan civilians. Orders have come from a Pentagon health official to review the malaria vaccine Mefloquine (or...
Mar23
White Plague Spreading
TB on the Rise in Developed World
Social Issues – Those living in the First World often forget about a nasty disease called Tuberculosis (TB). However according to Reuters, a new form of TB, also known as the “white plague,” is on the rise in the industrialized and wealthy areas of the West, Africa, and...
Mar23
From the Box to the Bin
USPS Seeks Junk Mail Revenue
Social Issues – What is to be done about the malaise that has washed over the Postal Service in the era of instant, electronic communication? The USPS is hoping that its new online tool that encourages small businesses to use/increase direct mailing campaigns (aka junk mail) will help...
Mar22
Show Us Yours
Employers Asking for Facebook Log-Ins
Social Issues – If the Orwellian-TV Set weren’t enough to inspire privacy fears, the rising trend of prospective employers asking for social media log-in information should get you worked up—and maybe hunkered down. While many businesses have learned to research their potential hires’ Facebook pages, many, faced with the locked doors of private profiles, are asking for the “keys” to let themselves in. It’s a situation that Justin Bassett, a statistician in New York, ran into. As he should have, he promptly withdrew his application. The legal status of the practice is questionable, and in places such as...
Mar22
Open for Business
Burma Invites Election Monitors
Social Issues – In another fantastic move from the once totalitarian nation, Burma will be allowing international election monitors into its country to observe its April 1, elections. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has been asked to send 23 delegates to view the election of...
Mar21
Prevention Costs
CDC Lead Prevention Budget Drops
Social Issues – Despite the increased awareness of the dangers of lead poisoning, many are more than a little displeased to hear that the funds for the CDC’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Program have been cut by staggering 93%, or from 29.2 million to 2 million dollars. This massive decrease in funding comes at an inconvenient time (if this could ever be convenient) as the CDC considers revising the threshold at which it determines lead poisoning in children. Under the newly proposed threshold, which is still being debated, the number of children with “elevated blood lead would nearly double to around 450,000.” If the...
Mar18
Peaceful Research?
Iran Not Making Nuclear Weapons?
Social Issues – Iran continues to insist that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, and after searching for years for evidence showing otherwise, reports are coming in from Mossad, Israel’s Intelligence Service, and a source in U.S. Intelligence, that there is no proof that Tehran is working on a nuclear weapons program. In fact, it is believed that Iran’s program was shut down in 2003. “Mossad does not disagree with the U.S. on the [Iraninan] weapons program,” an unnamed former senior U.S. Intelligence official told the New York Times. “There is not a lot of dispute between the US and...
Mar17
A Win For Life
Fitzgerald Appointed as Fed. Judge
Social Issues – After many months of waiting with baited breathe, the U.S. Senate approved California lawyer Michael Fitzgerald’s federal judiciary appointment. Fitzgerald, an openly gay man, was nominated by President Barack Obama last July. With the approval of the Senate,...
Mar17
Can You Hear me Now?
AT&T, Verizon Threaten Democracy
Social Issues – In the big business of cellphones, there are essentially two big players: AT&T and Verizon. Together they have 60% of the market. Expand that to include the next two largest service providers and 90% of the market is accounted for. It’s a level of market control that threatens, some believe, the very democracy we consider so vital to being an American. A panel discussion at the South by Southwest Interactive conference concluded that this market dominance is resulting in a gradual decrease in options for customers. One example cited was both AT&T and Verizon’s placement of data limits on smart...
Mar14
Assembly Gone Awry
Iowa School Hires Hate-Group
Social Issues – A major faux pas by Dunkerton Community Schools in Dunkerton, Iowa last week has stirred major controversy among parents, teachers, staff, and students alike. Instead of hiring a band to promote good choices and anti-bullying, the superintendent hired a band that was...
Mar14
Sickly System
Agribusiness Hurts World Health
Social Issues – Olivier De Schutter, the UN’s reporter on food, has recently stated that the current food conditions are negatively impacting our health and wellbeing worldwide. Most of the problems stem from the agricultural business sector, which holds significant weight over...
Mar14
Vision Problems
Poor Nations Struggle to See
Social Issues – While it is no surprise that developing nations struggle for proper medical care (cleft palate infomercials, anyone?), the images that cross our minds are typically those of infectious diseases and birth defects. The far more subtle — and, in some ways, insidious...
Mar13
Crisis in Mauritania
WFP Launches Emergency Aid
Social Issues – Africa – Severe drought conditions and an influx of Malian refugees escaping the Touareg conflict has left Mauritania in dire condition, and the World Food Programme (WFP) Mauritania has launched two emergency operations, in an effort to get aid to the area. The...
Mar13
Legalising Coca
Bolivian Prez Seeks Lift On Ban
Social Issues – Bolivia’s President Evo Morales has called for the UN to revise its position on the chewing of coca leaves. Speaking in Vienna at a UN anti-drugs meeting, Morales asked that the UN lift the ban on coca leaves, put in place by a 1961 Convention. The legal status of...
Mar13
Homeless Hotspots
Thinking Outside the Box At SXSW?
Social Issues – The annual South by Southwest tech-fest held in Austin, TX has a reputation for quirky, unexpected, innovative solutions. At least that’s the justification for a “charitable experiment” that has turned some of Austin’s homeless folks into walking...
Mar13
UN Goal Met?
MDG water access goal on target
Social Issues – The United Nations Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to provide safe drinking water to half of the world’s people without proper access is on target to meet the globally agreed 2015 date. During a 20-year span between 1990 and 2010 the UN has reported that they...
Mar12
Catching a Ride
Cairo's Women Cabbies
Women’s Rights – It may seem like a regular Egyptian taxi with the radio playing and the meter on, but the eyes in the rear view mirror belong to a woman. Nadia Abdel-Gaber has broken through the barrier in the traditionally male dominated field, and it’s paying off as she is...
Mar10
Deleting Knowledge
Library.nu Has Been Removed
Social Issues – The disappearance of a worldwide library called Library.nu, which contained digital tomes ranging from out of print math books to technical manuals, has made quite the stir. The content was scholarly in every sense of the word, however, there was just one problem; every...
Mar10
Springing Forward
Tips for Surviving DST
Social Issues – Tomorrow morning, millions of Americans will be cussing their alarm clocks, dragging themselves out of bed, and dreading the long day ahead, all because of a little thing called Daylight Savings Time. It’s the day we all dread, except those living in the few states...
Mar10
Dirty Laundry
Sexist Labeling?
Social Issues – British discount clothing store “Madhouse” has been put through the wringer after recently releasing a pair of chinos with some 1950s instructions on how to launder them. After the proper washing instructions the label reads, in all CAPS no less, “OR...
Mar08
One Hand at a Time
Preventing Infectious Diseases
Social Issues – PeopleTowels and Clean the World have joined forces to eliminate…or at least put a major dent in…the prevalence of infectious diseases around the world by encouraging hand washing. The program, Clean Hands, Clean World, pairs recycled soaps provided by Clean...
Mar06
Not a Coup D’etat!
Explosion Rocks Congo
Social Issues – Violent explosions rocked Brazzaville, the capitol of the Republic of the Congo, a country ordinarily known for its peace and tranquility. The explosions erupted at an ammunition depot when a fire ignited tank shells, said Betu Bangana, director of protocol for President...
Mar05
Drugs for Democracy?
Cartels & Politics - Great Match!
Social Issues – The Organization of American States (OAS) has warned that drug cartels are throwing the growth and stability of Latin American democracy into question. Adam Blackwell, the OAS Secretary for Multidimensional Security, stated at a conference in Mexico City that gangs are...
Mar05
Russian Rigamarole
Putin's Suspicious Win
Social Issues – Vladimir Putin is set to “return” to the Kremlin after scoring a win in Russia’s presidential election on Sunday amidst reports of extensive vote rigging. “I promised that we would win and we have won!” President turned Prime Minister turned...
Mar04
Fake Vaccinations?
CIA In Polio Outbreak Controversy
Social Issues – A coalition of 200 US aid groups are protesting the CIA’a use of a doctor to help hunt down Osama bin Laden and links the agency’s cunning tactics to the polio crisis in Pakistan, an approach some consider ethically questionable. The Islamic Republic recorded...
Mar04
Economic Impact
Japan Struggles To Rebuild
Social Issues – A year after the Great East Japan Earthquake, more than 20 percent of the businesses closed by the disaster have yet to resume operations, to a recent survey in the Yomiuri Shimbun. Approximately 27,149 commercial and industrial businesses in the Miyagi, Iwate, and...
Mar04
Goin Hungry
More Americans Can't Afford Food
Social Issues – While most of us are whining about not being able to afford gas, there are millions of Americans struggling to put food on the table. The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), a nonprofit research group, found that about 18.6% of people, or 1 out of 5 people said they...
Mar03
Who’s A Witch
UK Witchcraft Murder Trial
Social Issues – Yesterday brought an end to the trial of Eric Bikubi and Magalie Bamu, charged with the murder of 15-year-old Kristy Bamu after accusing him of witchcraft. The murder and trial brings attention to the often ignored conflict between African traditional beliefs and the...
Mar03
London Undone
Police Encouraging Rape?
Social Issues – Brian Paddick, a current London mayoral candidate, has suggested that the attitude of the police force towards rape victims may be encouraging “predatory men” to carry out attacks. Paddick has warned that some police detectives view rape cases with a...
Feb29
Librotraficante
AZ Banned Books Challenged
Social Issues – Librotraficante, which translates to “booktrafficker,” seeks to right a wrong recently enacted on Tuscon public education. It hopes to bring together books banned by the Tuscon Unified School District to present a more complete portrait of Latino literature...
Feb28
The Snowy Knoll
Details In Putin Assassin Plot
Social Issues – Top Russian parliamentarians concurred that the recent plot to assassinate Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was intended to further destabilize Russia in what is already proving to be a volatile elections period. Ukrainian and Russian special services uncovered the nefarious...
Feb28
War Games
N. Korea Threatens Retaliation
Social Issues – The United States and South Korea have begun a series of annual military drills that North Korea has deemed “provocation” and subsequently threatened swift retaliation for the war games, which will utilize hundreds of thousands of troops. Entitled Key Resolve,...
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