Writer Challenges Freedom

Orhan Pamuk is a famous writer from Turkey who is challenging freedom of expression in his country. In daring to comment about the genocide of thousands in Turkey he is now facing prosecution for the ‘public denigration of Turkish identity’. If convicted, Pamuk faces three years in prison, even longer if he publicly discusses his case before it goes to trial in December.

‘I said loud and clear that one million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were killed in Turkey, and I stand by that. For me, these are scholarly issues,’ said Pamuk. ‘I am a novelist. I address human suffering and pain and it is obvious, even in Turkey, that there was an immense hidden pain which we now have to face.’

In finding the courage to speak out about his views on freedom of expression Orhan is creating a stir all throughout Turkey. The International community is taking notice of his case as well and this week he is being awarded with the German Peace Prize.

When people in the public eye challenge oppression and human rights violations it is a huge and bold step toward creating change.

‘It goes without saying that I stand by my words,’ he’s said in recent interviews. ‘And even more, I stand by my right to say them.’

New Drug Halves Breast Cancer Replapse

U.S. researchers have published a study in The New England Journal of Medicine that claims the drug trastuzmuzab can stop almost half of all breast cancers from reappearing. The drug is currently used to treat advanced cancers.

The treatment only works with women whom have high levels of the protein HER2, the protein makes the cancer more active. 1 in 5 women with breast cancer have the protein so this new treatment can benefit a lot of women with breast cancer.

UN Primary Reason for Decline in Armed Conflicts

peace
Since the end of the Cold War armed conflicts around the globe have decreased, thanks mainly to the United Nations being able to launch peacekeeping operations. Altogether the planet has seen a decrease in conflicted-related deaths including a decrease in human rights abuses.

The report, financed by five governments, also states that major conflicts with 1,000 or more deaths have seen an 80% decrease since 1992. The average amount of deaths created by a single war has decreased dramatically as well.

Royal Society Issues IP Charter

Slashdot has a great short post about a good proposition for dealing with intellectual property from the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce in Britain.

Essentially they feel that intellectually property is helping the few, opposed to helping the public good, and that this needs to be changed – in fast. Power to them!

Thanks, Ben Powers!

Standard Offer Contracts for Renewable Energy

The Ontario Government funded the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA) to review the impacts and benefits of adopting a Standard Offer Contract (SOC) system similar to many countries in the European Union. Germany, Denmark and Spain have phenomenal sucess with this system, as evident by these countries high percentage of electricity from renewable energy sources and growth in renewable energy investment.

Currently Ontario uses a very complex and very competative tender system that discourages any but the larger corporations, scaring away many potential investors. Furthermore, the government has to fairly weigh and analyze all submission, at significant cost.

The OSEA report demonstrates that SOC’s eliminate these difficulties by granting approval to any project from any investor (go farmers!) while gauranting a higher than market price for the energy from these renewable energy projects. The application process is significantly streamlined and there are not limits on the number of renewable energy projects, giving renewable energy technologies one advantage over their fossil fuel counterparts.