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Newsbites
Google censored in China
Google Inc., worth about $54 billion, has agreed to censor its results in Mainland China in exchange for better access to the world's fastest growing market.
A Chinese-language version of Google's search engine was previously available through the company's dot-com address but now Google.cn has become widely available inside China and easy to use. Because of government barriers set up to suppress information, Google's China users previously have been blocked from using the search engine.
Tibet's struggles, Taiwan independence, the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and non-government approved news services are among forbidden subjects. Google's decision rankled Reporters Without Borders, a media watchdog group that has sharply criticized Internet companies including Yahoo and Microsoft's MSN.com for submitting to China's censorship regime.
Neither Google email nor bloggs are being offered through Google.cn because of fears the government could force the company to turn over personal information on customers. Yahoo came under fire last year after it provided the government with the email account information of a Chinese journalist who was later convicted for violating state secrecy laws.
The Land Conservancy joins fight to save Kogawa House
Communit y effor ts to save Joy Kogawa's childhood home from the wrecking ball moved into a new phase as The Land Conservancy of British Columbia (TLC) agreed to lead the $1.25-million fundraising campaign to acquire the house and secure its protection. The Kogawa house was the childhood home of Canadian author Joy Kogawa. She and her family were removed from the home in 1942 as part of the government's internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War. Kogawa's novel Obasan, in which the house is featured, is a powerful story of that internment. The Save Kogawa House Committee and other community groups were able to convince the City of Vancouver to delay demolition of the house until the end of March to give the community time to raise the funds to buy it. TLC is calling on anyone who has been moved by Joy Kogawa's writing, or touched by Canada's past treatment of the Japanese- Canadian community, to contribute to the cause. Once protected, the Kogawa House will be used for a writers-inresidence program. Donations may be made online at www.conservancy.bc.ca or call 604-733-2313.
DuPont pays for Teflon cover-up
DuPont recently reached a $19.5 million settlement with US officials after being convicted of charges that for 20 years it concealed the harmful health effects of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a chemical used to manufacture Teflon, Goretex, Stainguard, Scotchguard and scores of other products.
The EPA could have fined the company as much as $445 million for its cover-up of health effects and water pollution. PFOAs cause birth defects, cancer, organ damage and respiratory failure especially among workers who have massive exposure.
DuPont previously settled a classaction lawsuit brought by Ohio and West Virginia residents over the issue for $128 million. Billions in class action claims are pending. In addition, there is an ongoing criminal investigation of Dupont's actions regarding PFOA pollution of the environment. Meanwhile, Goretex, Teflon and numerous other PFOA products are still available on the market and workers are still being exposed to PFOAs. Dupont's total revenues for 2004 were $27 billion. Since none of the manufacturers have proven their plastic coated cookware safe, avoid it. A further problem has developed in that old coated cookware can't be recycled and melted down without releasing the toxic PFOAs.
Animal models in medical research unreliable
A report from the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) shows that the number of animals used in research, teaching and testing increased 16 percent -- by nearly two and a half million animals -- from 2002 to 2003. Researchers create animal models by attempting to mimic naturally occurring human health problems in formerly healthy animals. However, researchers are not studying the actual human maladies and different species react differently to the drugs and methodologies tested. There are major biological and anatomical differences between and within all species.
The animal experiments comprise only a part of the research system. They are conducted before, during and after human clinical and in-vitro (non-animal) studies. For example, while saccharin caused cancer in animals, only a warning appears on the package. As side effects of drugs cannot be determined in animal models, they are marketed with a long list of warnings. When drugs fail the animal tests, the drug manufacturers state that you can't rely on animal tests. www.lifeforcefoundation.org
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