Now, will we see another season of “Whale Wars”2?
1The Associated Press, “Tokyo Film Festival Opens With 'Green' Carpet”, The New York Times, Oct. 17, 2009
2discovery.com
Now, will we see another season of “Whale Wars”2?
1The Associated Press, “Tokyo Film Festival Opens With 'Green' Carpet”, The New York Times, Oct. 17, 2009
2discovery.com
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The Japanese government also launched a "cough etiquette" campaign, which encourages people to cover their mouths, use a tissue and turn away when coughing.2
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The Maldives government will hold a special cabinet meeting on October 17th to call on world governments to reduce carbon emissions.1 The ministers will need scuba gear to participate in conjunction with plans to conduct the meeting underwater. As the lowest-lying nation on earth, the Maldives have much at stake in the threat of global warming, which potentially can bring much of the nation below sea level.
In fact, as precursor to looming future disasters, this tiny nation in the North Indian Ocean, Southwest of Sri Lanka was hit hard by the 2004 tsunami causing 82 lives and significantly damaging its major industries.2 Fortunately, the Maldives have been spared of the catastrophic natural disasters that have recently struck Asia and the Pacific.
Hopefully, their important message does not land on philosophically waterlogged ears. Regardless whether we caused global warming directly or not, it should not stop the world’s governments from addressing this very real issue.
1Associated Press, "Maldives: Bring the Waterproof Pens", The New York Times, Oct. 8, 2009in Advocacy, Science, World | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
“Among the major race and Hispanic origin groups, the lowest mortality was reported for the API, Hispanic, and AIAN populations. Compared with the non-Hispanic white population, preliminary age-adjusted death rates were 46.5 percent lower for the API population, 30.8 percent lower for the Hispanic population, and 18.4 percent lower for the AIAN population. In contrast, the age-adjusted death rate for the non-Hispanic black population was 25.5 percent higher than that for the non-Hispanic white population."These findings should not feed into the “model minority” myth, specifically the one that suggests we are without problems or needs thus leading us to be underserved in areas of real concern. According to the CDC profile of Asian Americans:
“Asian Americans represent both extremes of socioeconomic and health indices: while more than a million Asian Americans live at or below the federal poverty level, Asian-American women have the highest life expectancy of any other group. Asian Americans suffer disproportionately from certain types of cancer, tuberculosis, and Hepatitis B. Factors contributing to poor health outcomes for Asian Americans include language and cultural barriers, stigma associated with certain conditions, and lack of health insurance.”See related post: “Cancer remains the number one killer among Asian Americans“
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For Asian Americans, the pattern of cancer is unique; and, particularly disturbing among several findings is that for this group, the annual number of deaths due to cancer is higher than that for heart disease. This sets Asian Americans apart from other major ethnic groups where heart disease in the number one killer. Below are the other findings:
Although Asian Americans have “lower incidence and mortality rates from all cancers combined than all other racial/ethnic groups”, it is imperative that cultural and linguistic barriers be overcome to better understand and address the implications of such findings.
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“API [Asian and Pacific Islanders] teens and young adults identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender face a different set of challenges than their western or Caucasian peers, which can lead to rejection from their families who emigrated to the U.S. and stigmatization by the larger Asian community.”Oftentimes, they come to this hard decision on which identity should take precedence, their ethnicity or sexual orientation.
“Over time, many manage the conflicts that arise from choosing one over the other and and enter into a homosexual identity with many negative stereotypes and assumptions related to their ethnic identity. Still others sublimate their sexual identity and appear asexual until they are able to synthesize an identity that incorporates both ethnicity and sexuality.”The stresses are more severe for gay Asian American women according to the report. Faced with “an Asian culture that requires them to stick to family values, marry men and have children or place shame on their families, neighbors and community”, they are less likely to conform to traditional roles and less likely to get support from family members, but more likely to compete for privileges exclusive to men to elude sexist oppression. As a result gay Asian American women resort to substance abuse more widely than Asian American women who are straight or Asian American men in general, gay or straight.
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