middle east – Page 3 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Chain of Violence: Study Shows Impact on Palestinian and Israeli Children

By Guest PostAugust 23, 2012Culture, General, Politicsactual violence, aggressive behaviour, chain of violence, children, eric dubow, israeli, israeli arab, israeli jewish, khalil shikaki, l rowell huesmann, middle east, neighborhood, palestinian, palestinian children, paul boxer, shira gvirsman, simha landau

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Children exposed to ethnic and political violence in the Middle East are more aggressive than other children, a new study shows. And the younger children are, the more strongly they are affected, in a “chain of violence” that goes from political and ethnic strife, to violence in communities, schools, and families, and ends with their own aggressive behavior.

“Our results have important implications for understanding how political struggles spill over into the everyday lives of families and children,” says psychologist Paul Boxer, lead author of the study.

The study, forthcoming in the peer-reviewed journal Child Development, was conducted by a consortium of researchers from the U.S., Palestine, and Israel, and funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health. (more…)

Climate and Drought Lessons from Ancient Egypt

By Guest PostAugust 16, 2012Culture, Environment, Scienceachilles heel, ancient egypt, babylonian, benjamin horton, charcoal, christopher bernhardt, climate, climate change, drought, egypt, egyptian history, evolution of societies, geological record, giza, great pyramid, human history, jean daniel stanley, marcia mcnutt, microscopic charcoal, middle east, modern iraq, nile basin vegetation, nile delta, nile delta sediment, old kingdom, pollen, pyramid building time, spinx, syrian kingdom, ugarit kingdom, university of pennsylvania, uruk kingdom

Using Fossil Pollen to Augment Historical Records

Ancient pollen and charcoal preserved in deeply buried sediments in Egypt’s Nile Delta document the region’s ancient droughts and fires, including a huge drought 4,200 years ago associated with the demise of Egypt’s Old Kingdom, the era known as the pyramid-building time.

“Humans have a long history of having to deal with climate change,” said Christopher Bernhardt, a researcher with the U.S. Geological Survey. “Along with other research, this study geologically reveals that the evolution of societies is sometimes tied to climate variability at all scales – whether decadal or millennial.” (more…)

Muslim Brotherhood Candidate Trails in Race for Egypt’s Presidency: UMD Poll

By Guest PostMay 22, 2012Politics2011 revolution, abd al menem abul fotouh, ahmed shafiq, amr mousa, arab league chief, arabs, Economy, egypt, egyptians, gamal abdel nasser, hamdeen sabahi, iran, islamic sharia law, islamist moderate, Israel, king abdullah, middle east, mohamed morsi, muslim brotherhood, nasserist, palestinians, parliamentary election, political scientist, presidency, President Obama, prime minister, recep teyyib erdogan, salafi, saudi arabia, shibley telhami, syria, turkey, umd poll, university of maryland

Majority of Egyptians Faults Brotherhood Fielding its Own Candidate

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – As Egypt prepares this week to elect its first president since the 2011 revolution, a new University of Maryland poll finds the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate tied for fourth place. Researchers describe the race as fluid.

The poll confirms the strategic damage inflicted by the Brotherhood’s decision to field its own candidate, after saying it would not. Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed (71 percent) called the decision a “mistake.”

The poll also shows Egyptians approaching the race differently from Parliamentary elections, focusing more on personal trust and the economy over party affiliation. (more…)

The Success of Homo sapiens May Be Due to Spatial Abilities

By Guest PostMay 12, 2012Scienceaesthetic stone, africa, altai mountains, anthropology, ariane burke, climate stress, cold climate, daniel baril, environmental condition, environmental stress, eurasia, Europe, glacial, homo ergaster, homo sapiens, iberian peninsula, middle east, middle paleolithic period, mystery, neanderthals, necklaces, northern plains, nuts, paleoanthropologist, plants, population stress, postglacial period, sexually differentiated, shellfish, social behaviour, spatial abilities, stress, success, symbolic objects, upper paleolithic period, weapon decorations

While the disappearance of Neanderthals remains a mystery, paleoanthropologists have an increasing understanding of what allowed their younger cousins, Homo sapiens, to conquer the planet. According to Ariane Burke, Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the Université de Montréal, the rapid dispersal of anatomically modern humans was not so much due to superior intelligence or improved hunting or gathering techniques, but rather to the creation of symbolic objects that allowed them to extend their social relations across vast territories.

Symbolism and social exchanges

Homo sapiens arrived in Europe some 45,000 years ago, from Africa. In less than 15,000 years, they managed to occupy the whole of Europe and Eurasia—an extremely rapid expansion. Neanderthals, on the other hand, were born of Europe, appearing on the continent more than 250,000 years ago, after their ancestors, Homo ergaster, had established there 600,000 years earlier. Though physiologically well adapted to the cold climate of the glacial and postglacial periods, why were Neanderthals not as successful as their newly landed rivals in colonizing the continent? (more…)

Spy Hackers

By Guest PostMay 5, 2012Politicsafghan president, afghan war, afghanistan, al qaeda, america, american espionage, american intelligence policy, Barack Obama, battlefield strategy, China, chinese hacker, digital age, george w. bush, hamid karzai, intelligence historian, iran, lies, matthew aid, middle east, north korea, osama bin laden, pentagon, russian linguist, sneaky guys, somalia, spies, spy hackers, university of delaware, us intelligence, yemen

Intelligence historian cites changing focus of American espionage

In the spy trade, predicting the future is a risky business at best, but experts believe that America’s intelligence efforts will focus on Iran, North Korea and China.

Matthew M. Aid, intelligence historian and expert on the National Security Agency, discussed the forces driving this emerging strategy during a talk on Wednesday, May 2, in Mitchell Hall.

Aid’s talk, “The Future of Intelligence and Espionage,” concluded the spring 2012 Global Agenda speaker series “Spies, Lies and Sneaky Guys: Espionage and Intelligence in the Digital Age.” (more…)

Human Intelligence

By Guest PostMarch 25, 2012Politicsamerica, american citizens, asia, cia, cia officer, clandestine service, counterterrorism center, detroit, digital age, duane perry, electronic intelligence, eric c anderson, Europe, global agenda, human espionage, intelligence information, islamabad, lauren pitruzzello, middle east, mitchell hall, modern espionage, north africa, open source, ralph begleiter, red cell, robert grenier, sneaky guys, social network, spy, Technology, underwear bomber, website, White House

Former CIA officer talks about espionage in the digital age

America’s favorite spy movies often employ futuristic gadgets and high-tech devices to wow viewers, but according to a former officer in the CIA, technology may have some burdening effects on espionage.

Robert Grenier served 27 years in the CIA, formerly working as a station chief in Islamabad, a CIA representative to the White House, and most recently the head of the Counterterrorism Center. He spoke Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall as part of the Global Agenda speaker series “Spies, Lies and Sneaky Guys: Espionage and Intelligence in the Digital Age.” (more…)

Growing Market for Human Organs Exploits Poor

By Guest PostMarch 13, 2012General, Health, Mediaanthropologist, Bangladesh, bangladeshi newspaper, black market, body parts, corneas, dhaka, Europe, exploitation, health problems, human kidney, human organ trafficking, India, kidneys, livers, mehedi hasan, michigan state university, middle east, monir moniruzzaman, organ broker, organ trade, organ trafficking, poor people, rickshaw puller, transplant, united states, us congress, us senate committee, victims

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan State University anthropologist who spent more than a year infiltrating the black market for human kidneys has published the first in-depth study describing the often horrific experiences of poor people who were victims of organ trafficking.

Monir Moniruzzaman interviewed 33 kidney sellers in his native Bangladesh and found they typically didn’t get the money they were promised and were plagued with serious health problems that prevented them from working, shame and depression. (more…)

Israeli Public Supports Middle East Nuclear Free Zone: UMD Poll

By Guest PostDecember 3, 2011Politicsisraeli jews, israeli public, middle east, nuclear facilities, nuclear free zone

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Nearly two-thirds of Israeli Jews, 64 percent, favor establishing a nuclear free zone in the Middle East – even when it was spelled out that this would mean both Israel and Iran would have to forego nuclear weapons – finds a new University of Maryland poll. The research is a joint project of the Anwar Sadat Chair at the University of Maryland and the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA). (more…)

Tag Archives: middle east