Many of us on the web are aware of Google’s censorship deal with the Chinese Communist Party. The computerized censorship is defeated, however by poor spelling. A misspelled query for “Tienamen Square” will bring up some pictures of tanks, and a search for “Falan Gong” will bring up many stories about the human rights abuses suffered by practitioners of Falun Gong in China.
Will the holes in Google’s filters remain unplugged?
Young actors are telling their stories of life on the street through a theater program called Cobblestone, a performance troupe out of Mixed Company Theater in Toronto. The program, 12 years running, regularly auditions street youth for the opportunity to work with an award winning playwright, Rex Devrell. Together they develop narritives based on real life stories and explore important issues that face street youth.
Deverell is providing the young actors with a place to be heard and the chance to explain the circumstances that brought them to the streets in the first place. In letting the kids know that they are not ignored and are worthwhile the program builds self esteem and has helped street youth get back on their feet. Many kids have gone on to find new jobs and a safe place to live after their experiences with the company.
Cobblestone is acting as a venue for social change while also setting the stage for community awareness. Combine that with the entertaining and interactive nature of their latest production entitled “Voices” and you’ve got one amazing accomplishment in the Toronto theater community.
Voices will have 2 public performances in Toronto on February 9th and 10th @ 8pm at the Alchemy Theater (133 Tecumseth St, 416 515 8080)
A team of scientists from the UK and Germany have established the 3D structure of the HIV virus. This discovery may help other scientists to develop new therapeutic techniques.
The scientists had a tough time cracking the shape of the virus, as it is highly variable, but they used a technique of combining multiple images to glean HIV’s shape.
The HIV virus causes aids by infecting the body’s T Cells, critical immune system cells which fight off invaders.
A new technology is being tested that may one day allow patients who have suffered heart attack or heart disease to ‘patch’ their broken hearts with new, lab-grown tissue.
The team led by professor Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City are using a bioreactor to grow new tissues to spec. There are problems yet to be worked out, but animal trials are underway, with the hope of starting human trials perhaps in a decade.
Necessity is proclaimed to be the mother of invention, and in quake-hit Pakistan, necessity also seems to advance human rights. Women in Pakistan have traditionally been granted few freedoms, but the recent surge of NGOs and the need for money have both provided women with chances to work – something unimaginable a few years ago.
It’s comforting to see that even if disaster good things can happen.
From the article:
Rights workers say there has been a big change in attitudes towards women and work.
“It is a sudden and vast change,” said Raja Nawaz, project coordinator with the International Human Rights Observer organisation.
“Before this disaster, it was very difficult to get females to work in the private sector or in the NGO sector. It’s astonishing that women have started working outside their homes.”