Inspirational and good news.
An extra chromosome is all it takes to get Down’s Syndrome, and researchers have found out that as a result of Down’s the brain has too much myo-inositol. Myo-inositol inhibits intellectual ability (it’s also active in people with Alzheimer’s).
Professor Declan Murphy, the lead researcher, says that they are now looking into ways to inhibit the production of myo-inositol. At the very least the researchers’ discovery paves the way for earlier diagnosis and treatment for Down’s.
Election time is upon us here in Canada, and all political parties have been quick off the mark with takes on the usual promises to the electorate. Among the more intersting debates that emerged during the first few weeks of the campaign centred on the notion of lowering the legal voting age to 16.
In a country where 16 year olds have many rights and responsibilities already, it is unfortunate that Canada has not yet extended the right to vote to this group of citizens. With voter turnout rates expected to be at record lows for January’s election, Canada needs seriously examine how to get more people participating in one of the essential hallmarks of a democracy. By encouraging 16 year olds to vote, especially while they are in high school and can be educated on the democratic process, it is hoped that youth may be encouraged to participate in democracy at an earlier age, and for a lifetime.
A Member of Parliament during the last session put forth a private members’ bill that would have lowered the voting age to 16. The bill was defeated in June, but he has used the current campaign to promote this important idea once again. Vote16.ca is a website dedicated to “engaging Canada’s youth in politics,” specifically through lowering the legal voting age to 16.
Don’t waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson~
The World Council for Renewable Energy, organised by EUROSOLAR and supported by NRW Energy Agency, UNESCO, EUFORES, International Solar Energy Society and others, have concluded that “Energy is the fundamental prerequisite of every life, and all humans have a right to renewable energy.” This comes at the heels of recent investments totalling more than 500 billion into fossil fuels and nuclear energy, more than 5o times the investment into renewables.
All human beings are born with equal rights and the availability of energy is a fundamental human right, but the established systems of energy supply based on fossil and nuclear energy “are not in a position to provide this human right to everybody,†it continues. “Due to the near depletion of conventional energy sources and their dramatic environmental and climate damages, this right cannot be provided to an ever increasing number of people. The human right for renewable energy can only be accomplished by renewable energy.â€
The Assembly welcomes the official plan of the new German government to take the initiative for creation of an International Renewable Energy Agency. It wants a Renewable Energy Proliferation Protocol to be added to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and an international university for renewables to be established under the auspices of UNESCO.
Congratulations to Maude Barlow, National Chair of the Council of Canadians, and Tony Clarke, Director of the Polaris Insititute, for winning the Right Livelihood Award (RLA). The RLA was created in 1980, and is awarded by the Swedish Parliament. It is known around the world as the “Alternative Nobel Prize.”
The RLA is presented to those who embody “the principle that each person should follow an honest occupation which fully respects other people and the natural world. It means being responsible for the consequences of our actions and taking only a fair share of the earth’s resources.” The award acknowledges the personal sacrifices of its recipients, and also recognizes that the work of those recipients is often accomplished despite powerful opposing forces.
Barlow and Clarke, two of four recipients of the award this year, were chosen because of their work promoting the “fundamental right to water.” They published a book called Blue Gold in 2002, which explores the privatization of water around the world. The book has been published in 12 languages and is sold in 40 countries.
Barlow and Clarke will be presented with the RLA on December 9, and will receive a share of the $300 000 (Cdn) prize with the other winners.
You can read the Council of Canadians press release here.