J. M. Verville

I doubt anyone is surprised with this:

남한이 인도주의적 차원에서 북한에 지원한 쌀이 북한군 최전방 부대로 흘러들어간 사실을 우리 군 당국이 확인한 사진들을 본지가 입수했다.

The humanitarian delivery of rice to North Korea has turned out to be transferred to the North Korean military units on the very front line and now has been proven as a fact by pictures taken by the South Korean military.

이 사진들은 2006~2007년 비무장지대(DMZ) 인근 우리 군 부대에서 고성능 카메라로 1㎞ 이상 떨어져 있는 북한군 동향을 감시하면서 찍은 것이다.

This picture was taken in the surrounding area of the DMZ in 2006-2007 with a special camera from 1 kilometer away documenting the actions of the North Korean soldiers.

위 사진은 북한 군인들이 트럭에 쌀을 싣고 있는 장면으로, 쌀 포대에 적십자사 마크가 선명하다. 우리가 인도주의적 차원에서 북한에 지원한 쌀은 차관으로 지원한 것과 달리 적십자사 마크가 찍혀 있다. 아래 사진은 적십자사 마크가 찍힌 쌀 포대를 북한군이 초소로 옮기고 있는 장면이다. (more…)

Check it out:

Though most of us spend a lifetime pursuing happiness, new research is showing that that goal may be largely out of our control. Two new studies this month add to a growing body of evidence that factors like genes and age may impact our general well-being more than our best day-to-day attempts at joy.

In one study, researchers at the University of Edinburgh suggest that genes account for about 50% of the variation in people’s levels of happiness — the underlying determinant being genetically determined personality traits, like “being sociable, active, stable, hardworking and conscientious,” says co-author Timothy Bates. What’s more, says Bates, these happiness traits generally come as a package, so that if you have one you’re likely to have them all.

CNN

It is fascinating. It also seems to make sense as some people have this surprising way of being never satisfied yet others seem to attain happiness out of the simplest of things.

Profound.

Global warming to blame? Hmmm..

 ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) — Glaciers are shrinking at record rates and many could disappear within decades, the U.N. Environment Program said Sunday.

Scientists measuring the health of almost 30 glaciers around the world found that ice loss reached record levels in 2006, the U.N. agency said.

UNEP warned that further ice loss could have dramatic consequences particularly in India, whose rivers are fed by Himalayan glaciers.

The west coast of North America, which gets much of its water from glaciers in mountain ranges such as the Rockies and Sierra Nevada, also would be affected, it said.

CNN

The report came out in 2006 which is much before what has been happening this year which was one of the colder years on record, yet it is still important to note what was happening. (more…)

Just in case Michael Moore confused you about what Cuba is like:

HAVANA - About two dozen women marched in Havana on Friday to demand the release of their husbands and other political prisoners ahead of the fifth anniversary of a crackdown on dissent.

Of the 75 government critics arrested March 18-19, 2003, and given long prison terms, 55 remain imprisoned. Sixteen were released early on medical parole and another four were freed into forced exile in Spain last month.

Next week’s anniversary “is very painful for us,” said Laura Pollan of the Ladies in White, a support group for wives of political prisoners. Pollan’s husband, Hector Maseda, was arrested and sentenced to 20 years. (more…)

Interesting story:

A gay Iranian teenager faces deportation from Britain and execution in his home country after a Dutch court refused to hear his asylum claim.

Mehdi Kazemi, 19, will be forced to return to Britain, where his asylum application was rejected last year. He is then expected to be “removed” to Iran where his boyfriend was hanged two years ago for sodomy.

The ruling will put the Home Office under renewed pressure to reassess his case — or face the possibility of sending a young man to his death. The department’s own guidance concedes that Iran executes homosexuals but rejects the claim that there is a systematic repression of gay men and lesbians.

Times Online

Really intriguing news — of course, I am sure the entirety of the left is going to condemn Britain for not immediately recognizing the urgency and letting him stay in Britain. While they claim that Iran is a nation which is not a threat to anybody they still have to recognize the barbarity of the government.

Save this guy from barbarism.

Check out what Islam has in store:

DAKAR, Senegal - The Muslim world has created a battle plan to defend its religion from political cartoonists and bigots.

Concerned about what they see as a rise in the defamation of Islam, leaders of the world’s Muslim nations are considering taking legal action against those that slight their religion or its sacred symbols. It was a key issue during a two-day summit that ended Friday in this western Africa capital.

The Muslim leaders are attempting to demand redress from nations like Denmark, which allowed the publication of cartoons portraying the Prophet Muhammad in 2006 and again last month, to the fury of the Muslim world. (more…)

They blame education… I blame a culture of decadence:

CHICAGO - At least one in four teenage American girls has a sexually transmitted disease, suggests a first-of-its-kind federal study that startled some adolescent-health experts.

Some doctors said the numbers might be a reflection of both abstinence-only sex education and teens’ own sense of invulnerabilty. Because some sexually transmitted infections can cause infertility and cancer, U.S. health officials called for better screening, vaccination and prevention.

Only about half of the girls in the study acknowledged having sex. Some teens define sex as only intercourse, yet other types of intimate behavior including oral sex can spread some diseases.

Among those who admitted having sex, the rate was even more disturbing — 40 percent had an STD.

Yahoo

I think it is odd they blame abstinence education. I think education has little to do with it. I assume 99% of kids know things like “condoms can prevent STDs and pregnancy” and abstinence education does not prevent any of this. This report found that even high knowledge did not translate of integrating the knowledge into behavior. (more…)

Really sad news that further sullies the American military abroad:

The men face separate trials at the air station beginning in late April and ending in May, base spokesman Master Gunnery Sgt. John Cordero said.

Gunnery Sgt. Carl M. Anderson, Gunnery Sgt. Jarvis D. Raynor, Sgt. Lanaeus J. Braswell and Lance Cpl. Larry A. Dean are charged with crimes that include rape, conspiracy and kidnapping. They have been confined on base since the allegations surfaced in October.

The Marines were referred to general courts-martial after a preliminary hearing in February that featured testimony by the accuser, a Japanese woman who was a 19-year-old minor during the Oct. 14 incident.

Japanese prosecutors declined to indict the Marines in November after their own investigation. (more…)