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Twitter’s New Lifeline Feature in Japan Helps People Find Relevant Accounts Quickly During Emergencies

Sun, 2012-09-23 21:38 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Janine Rees - by Matthew Panzarino - September 22, 2012

Twitter just launched a very cool feature in Japan called Lifeline. It allows Japanese users of Twitter to use their postal code to find and follow local accounts that are important in emergencies.

These could be accounts that are maintained by city, district or prefecture governments, which will be updating in the event of natural disasters or emergencies. These accounts could also include local media and utility companies that are informing customers about electricity outages or other necessary services.

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Sudan Refugees Flee Intensified Bombing Runs

Sun, 2012-09-23 21:13 — Kathy Gilbeaux

foxnews.com - Associated Press - September 19, 2012

Newly arrived refugees at a camp along the volatile South Sudan-Sudan border say renewed fighting between rebels and Sudan's military is likely to send thousands more people to an expanding camp here filled with refugees of war and hunger.

As the fighting intensified, tens of thousands began streaming into South Sudan. Since February, the population of Yida has skyrocketed from 17,000 to around 65,000 refugees.

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Video - MSF - An Improved Situation in Yida Camp, South Sudan

Sun, 2012-09-23 21:03 — Kathy Gilbeaux

youtube.com - September 18, 2012

After Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) scaled up its operations in Yida refugee camp in South Sudan, the mortality rate fell sharply in just one month.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2GZYb6fP1N8

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31° 43' 41.4012" N, 148° 32' 6.5616" W
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Whooping Cough Vaccine Loses Effectiveness Faster Than Thought, Study Finds

Tue, 2012-09-18 20:44 — Kathy Gilbeaux

huffingtonpost.com - by Mike Stobbe - September 12, 2012

NEW YORK — As the U.S. wrestles with its biggest whooping cough outbreak in decades, researchers appear to have zeroed in on the main cause: The safer vaccine that was introduced in the 1990s loses effectiveness much faster than previously thought.

A study published in Wednesday's New England Journal of Medicine found that the protective effect weakens dramatically soon after a youngster gets the last of the five recommended shots around age 6.

The protection rate falls from about 95 percent to 71 percent within five years, said researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Research Center in Oakland, Calif.

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Study - NEJM - Waning Protection after Fifth Dose of Acellular Pertussis Vaccine in Children
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1200850?query=featured_home

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Alzheimer's could be the most catastrophic impact of junk food

Sun, 2012-09-16 20:19 — Maeryn Obley

Because regulation is light, the industry can kill off the only effective system for telling us how much fat, sugar and salt food contains. Photograph: Brownstock Inc/Alamy

Image: Because regulation is light, the industry can kill off the only effective system for telling us how much fat, sugar and salt food contains. Photograph: Brownstock Inc/Alamy

guardian.co.uk - September 10th, 2012 - George Monbiot

When you raise the subject of over-eating and obesity, you often see people at their worst. The comment threads discussing these issues reveal a legion of bullies who appear to delight in other people's problems.

When alcoholism and drug addiction are discussed, the tone tends to be sympathetic. When obesity is discussed, the conversation is dominated by mockery and blame, though the evidence suggests that it may be driven by similar forms of addiction.

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Moscow Agglomeration Competition Unveils Sustainable Master Plans for the City of the Future

Sun, 2012-09-16 00:26 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Samuel Bendett

              

inhabitat.com - by Lidija Grozdanic - September 12, 2012

Moscow authorities recently announced the results of the Moscow Agglomeration Competition for the Moscow metropolitan area. The 3-stage international competition called for master plan designs for the city that include the existing city development and the design of new city districts (Federal City, Innovation City, Logistics City and Science City). Entrants responded with ambitious urban planning proposals that include massive green belts, high-speed transportation systems and zero-waste, zero-emission buidlings - read on for a closer look!

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Protests spread against US over anti-Islamic film - as it happened

Sat, 2012-09-15 12:33 — Maeryn Obley

A Google map locating protests around the world tied to a low-budget video produced in canyon country north of Los Angeles. Photograph: Google

Image: A Google map locating protests around the world tied to a low-budget video produced in canyon country north of Los Angeles. Photograph: Google

guardian.co.uk - September 14th, 2012 - Matthew Weaver, Brian Whitaker and Tom McCarthy   

Protest activity smoldered in Cairo, Tunisia, Lebanon and elsewhere after a day of upheaval in the Middle East and North Africa. Relatively small but intense protests outside US embassies across the region resulted in multiple fatalities in Tunis and at least one each in Lebanon and Cairo.

Gunmen staged a raid on a peacekeepers' outpost in Sinai, with three foreign soldiers, believed to be Colombian, reportedly injured. The raid was described as major, with dozens of fighters and vehicles, and was not of a kind with the protests outside US diplomatic outposts.

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Scientists Predict That Food Riots Will Grip The Planet Within A Year

Thu, 2012-09-13 16:40 — Maeryn Obley

Graph of food riots over time and against food prices.

Image: Graph of food riots over time and against food prices.

Submitted by Samuel Bendett

inhabitat.com - September 12th, 2012 - Timon Singh

A few years ago, Sir John Beddington, the UK government’s chief scientific advisor stated that with the world’s population growing, food supplies diminishing, and water supplies becoming more scarce, all of these factors would combine to form a ‘perfect storm’ in 2030 resulting in food shortages and rioting. However, the New England Complex Systems Institute believes he is way too optimistic with his timing. In fact, the complexity theorists think that if we don’t reverse the current trend in food prices, we’ve got until August 2013 before social unrest sweeps the planet.

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Emergency Capacity Building Project - Tools and Resources

Tue, 2012-09-11 21:36 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Tim Siftar

ecbproject.org

The Project

Disasters and humanitarian emergencies are increasing in magnitude and complexity*. This presents a major challenge to NGOs that respond to these emergencies.

In order to address this challenge, emergency directors from 7 agencies - CARE International, Catholic Relief Services, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, Oxfam GB, Save the Children and World Vision International- came together in 2003 to discuss the most persistent obstacles in humanitarian aid delivery. The Inter-Agency Working Group (IWG) on Emergency Capacity that emerged from this meeting launched a systematic analysis, resulting in the publication of a Report on Emergency Capacity in 2004.

Phase II - launched in 2008

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Video - Humor - Weathergirl Goes Rogue

Tue, 2012-09-11 18:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Florence Gibert

This weather report would be hilarious if it was not frightening.  Arctic ice cover just reached its lowest point in recorded history. Pippa goes off script and drops some science.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TmfcJP_0eMc

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