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U.S. Remains the Largest Cocaine Market in the World

By PravdaMarch 6, 20111 commentCulture, GeneralEurope, heroin, largest market for cocaine, legalisation of marijuana, lisa karpova, marijuana, methamphetamine, mexican traffickers, overuse of drugs, united states

The United States remains the world’s largest market for cocaine, with 4.8 million users, although its importance has been reduced in recent years, according to the INCB (International Board for Narcotics Control).

“In 2009, 4.8 million people consumed some form of cocaine in the U.S., compared with 5.3 million in 2008,” the INCB said in its report in 2010. With this number of consumers, the U.S. represents 41% of the international drug market, ahead of Europe, with 29%, according to the board, stating that “Although the market for cocaine has been reduced in North America, it continues to grow in Europe.” (more…)

Harmful Illusions Bedevil Ideas About Free Markets and Imprisonment, UChicago Professor Writes

By Guest PostMarch 5, 2011Economy, Politicsbernard harcourt, civic values, economic exchange, economic transgressions, free market system, free markets, freedom, french thinkers, friedrich hayek, government interference, hyper regulated grain market, incarceration, jeremy bentham, julius kreeger professor, logic of neoliberal penality, notion, Paris, penitentiary, philadelphia, physiocrats, political sphere, prison, ronald reagan, the rule of nature, united states

The United States prizes freedom above most other civic values, yet Bernard Harcourt believes the notion is widely misunderstood and inconsistently applied.

Freedom from government interference is a key tenet of the free market system that the United States champions, but Harcourt notes that Americans expect vigorous government action in imprisoning criminals. The result is a deep inconsistency, he argues, for even as the United States preaches freedom in the marketplace, it maintains the world’s highest incarceration rate. (more…)

Patient Privacy Should be Respected Abroad and Online

By Guest PostFebruary 15, 2011Culture, Healthamerican medical student, developing countries, dominican republic, ecuador, erik black, ethical gray area, Facebook, federal guidelines, haiti, health care providers, lindsay thompson, medical students, patient, patient privacy, reed van deusen, social media, spring break, terry kind, unauthorized photo, united states, web

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Taking an unauthorized photo of a patient and posting it on Facebook is a giant no-no for health-care providers, who follow strict federal guidelines protecting patient privacy.

But what if the patient is a little girl in Ecuador receiving a vaccine from an American medical student, who’s in the country on a medical outreach trip? Although taking photos of patients in developing countries and posting them on the Web may not be illegal, it’s not ethical, say researchers from the University of Florida.

It’s long been a common practice for health care providers to snap photos while volunteering their time in developing countries, generally to bring back evidence of the conditions patients face there. But reporting in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, UF College of Medicine researchers say providers should treat patients’ privacy with the same reverence no matter where the care takes place. (more…)

Why Are Vines Overtaking the American Tropics?

By Guest PostFebruary 15, 2011Environment, ScienceAmazon, american tropics, barro colorado island, beauty kingdom, bolivian smazon, brazil, carbon, carbon storage, el nino events, english ivy, forest canopy, forests, french guiana, human communities, impact on animals, japanese honeysuckle, kudzu, liana vines, milwaukee, oliver phillips, oriental bittersweet, panama, planet, Smithsonian, south carolina, stefan schnitzer, subtropical forests, tropical forests, united states, vines

A Million-Dollar Question

Sleeping Beauty’s kingdom was overgrown by vines when she fell into a deep sleep. Researchers at the Smithsonian in Panama and the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee received more than a million dollars from the U.S. National Science Foundation to discover why real vines are overtaking the American tropics. Data from eight sites show that vines are overgrowing trees in all cases.

“We are witnessing a fundamental structural change in the physical make-up of forests that will have a profound impact on the animals, human communities and businesses that depend on them for their livelihoods,” said Stefan Schnitzer, research associate at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and associate professor at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. (more…)

10 Reasons Why It Has Become So Soul-Crushingly Difficult To Find A Job In America Today

By Guest PostFebruary 13, 2011Economyadvances in technology, Barack Obama, China, economic benefit, economic downturn, Economy, find a job, food and drug administration, gallup, globalism, middle class, mortgage, rene sommer, robot, soul crushing, taxation, today, trade deficit, u s, unemployed, unemployed worker, united states, war zones

Have you been unemployed lately? If so, then you probably know how frustrating it is to try to find a job in the United States today. It now takes the average unemployed worker about 33 weeks to find a job. There are millions of Americans that have not been able to find a full-time job even after searching hard for an entire year. Some areas of the United States have been devastated so badly by the economic downturn that they are starting to resemble war zones.

Unless you have been there, it is hard to even try to describe the extreme frustration that one feels when you are unable to pay the mortgage and feed your family. It can be absolutely soul-crushing. But it is not the fault of those who are unemployed. The truth is that our economy is dying and it is not producing nearly enough jobs anymore. Unfortunately, as you will see from the facts listed below, most of the things that are causing our economy to die have no realistic chance of being changed any time soon.

The following are 10 reasons why it has become so insanely difficult to find a job in America today…. (more…)

Stroke Takes ‘Enormous Toll’ on Hollywood Stars

By Guest PostFebruary 11, 2011General, Healthcardiovascular disease, elizabeth taylor, fatal strokes, grace Kelly, hannah smith, heart attack, high blood pressure, hollywood actors, hollywood stars, kirk douglas, los angeles, mary pickford, oscar nominees, rana fiaz, researchers, richard burton, stroke, united states

A study by researchers at the UCLA Stroke Center found that stroke and cardiovascular disease have exacted an enormous toll on Hollywood stars.

The findings were presented at the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference (ISC) in Los Angeles on Feb. 10.

“Since this is the first time the ISC is being held in Los Angeles, we thought it was an appropriate occasion to investigate the frequency and impact of stroke among leading Hollywood actors,” said Hannah Smith, a staff research associate at the UCLA Stroke Center. “By documenting the toll that stroke and myocardial infarction have exacted on stars like Kirk Douglas and Grace Kelly, we hope to illustrate the damage that cardiovascular disease can cause.” (more…)

Argonne National Laboratory Selects IBM Supercomputer to Advance Research

By Guest PostFebruary 8, 2011Technology10 petaflop, argonne national laboratory, blue gene, complex modeling, department of energy, doe, early science program, electric car batteries, evolution of our universe, exascale class computers, global climate change, greatest scientific challenges, ibm, ibm supercomputer, mira, next generation blue gene supercomputer, quadrillion, rick stevens, simulation capabilities, u s, united states

*Based on next generation IBM Blue Gene, the 10 petaflop “Mira” supercomputer will fuel national innovation*

WASHINGTON – 08 Feb 2011: IBM today announced that the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory will use IBM’s next-generation Blue Gene supercomputer to enable significant advances in areas such as designing ultra-efficient electric car batteries, understanding global climate change and exploring the evolution of our universe.

The 10-petaflop IBM Blue Gene/Q supercomputer, named “Mira”, will be operational in 2012 and made available to scientists from industry, academia and government research facilities around the world. (more…)

Physical Health Varies Among American Blacks Depending on Ethnicity

By Guest PostFebruary 8, 2011Cultureafrican americans, american black population, black person, caribbean, derek griffith, ethnic differences, ethnicity, mental and physical health, middle adulthood, physical health, racial category, united states, western medicine, women

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— A Caribbean-born black person living in the United States will most likely be healthier than a U.S.- born Caribbean black person, according to a new national study on ethnic differences in health among the American black population.

University of Michigan researchers examined the relationships among ethnicity, nativity, depressive symptoms and physical health in the two largest groups of American blacks: African American and Caribbean blacks, said Derek Griffith, assistant professor in the U-M School of Public Health and lead author of the study. (more…)

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