The five permanent members of the U.N Security Council and Germany had decided to lay out the plans for a new and yet another harsher round of sanctions on Iran to punish it for pursuing a non-transparent nuclear program to use for civilian purposes, however the U.S and many of its allies suspect the program is for developing nuclear weapons.

France and Britain supported the U.S-led United Nations sanction from nearly the beginning of the sanctions on Iran along with Russia and China. However as two more rounds of sanctions failed to halt Iran’s uranium enrichment programs, Russia and China slowly withdrew from U.N talks on a possible fourth set of sanctions. As the U.S called for more sanctions, Russia and China (even Brazil) insisted that sanctions will not work on Iran, a still heated debate between politicians and analysts as of now, and instead looked to negotiations and ‘compromise’ with Iran.

That all seemed to have changed today when China laid down its opposition to the sanctions after Russia reluctantly sided with the U.N sanctions and of course the American-French ’powerful’ call for sanctions in the appearence of President Obama and President Sarkozy. U.S Secretary of State Hilary Clinton confirmed the steadiness of the talks at the U.N when she stated the world powers “continues to be unified.”

It was slightly surprising because China and Iran are close trade partners especially in the fields of oil where Iran is the #3 exporter of crude oil to China. However China will of course insist on changes to some of the fresh sanctions if it works against China’s trade and energy ties with Iran. As long as the sanctions “are not on the people” but rather on the Iranian government, China will comply with the sanctions. The Chinese government believes that Iran has the right to nuclear energy but not nuclear weapons.

On Thursday, March 31st, 2010, Iran sent its chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili after the Chinese State Councilor Bingguo invited him. Jalili’s visit to China comes while the talks of sanctions are going on, so it is without a doubt that this is an attempt to convince or stall China from ensuring the U.N sanctions will take effect. The White House asserted its confidence that it would be able to work with China for these sanctions to work out.

The Internet comes with many positives and many negatives, the latter especially for entertainment industries. If you thought only Japan or South Korea were the countries that had the highest rate of movie piracies, then think again.

More than 50% of internet users in South Korea commit movie “piracies” by downloading them off of hundreds of websites that hosts files for movies, dramas, shows, games and even software. Spain is no different, the Paris-based consultancy ‘TERA’ reported that Spain had the highest piracy rate in Europe which will have significant, negative impacts on its economy and of course on the other members in the European Union.

With the absence of a firm and absolute law on internet piracy, Spain’s internet users have effectively whacked the the entertainment industry to the point where more than 900 million euros (1.2 billion U.S dollars) were lost in 2008 and causes nearly 14,000 actors, musicians, studio staff and so forth to lose their jobs every year because of the rapidly increasing rate of piracy in Spain.

Due to these losses, foreign entertainment studios have threathened to withdraw from the Spanish entertainment market. DVD sales and rentals continuously go downhill as internet users in Spain start to stop going to these stores which of course ruins the businesses of both video and DVD stores. More than 2 billion illegal downloads of movies, games, music, and copyrighted products surfaced in Spain.

If the industry does withdraw from Spain then Spain, currently the EU president, will be the first ever European country to have overseas film and art industries withdraw from its entertainment market. The Spanish government has a difficult path to follow if they do intend to protect the businesses from internet “piracy” for plainly obvious reasons. The problem with this whole situation is that Spain like South Korea and a few other countries haven’t put their foot down on the grounds of internet piracy, of what is illegal and should be shunned. Unfortunately the lack of enforcing or even making such laws has led to these kinds of situations where it makes it more difficult for countries to dig themselves out of.

The EU and the TERA Consultants for the International Chamber of Commerce predicts that at the current rate internet piracy is becoming more present, perhaps almost one million jobs and 250 billion euros could be lost by the year 2015. Without consuming, consumers cannot consume in the market.

(Cover Picture: Bill Frymire)

Jaime Escalante, a famous East Los Angeles high school teacher has died at the age of 79 after struggling with cancer.

Born in La Paz, Bolivia this teacher taught physics and mathematics then moved up north from Puerto Rico to California reaching the notorious East L.A Garfield High School known for its poor academic performance that almost had its accreditation lost. Like those dramatic, and based-on-real-story movies like Freedom Writers and Coach Carter math classes especially algebra and calculus classes began to improve over the years Jaime Escalante taught though not without criticism from the school administration and initial frustration at the ill-prepared students.

He challenged his students to work harder in their studies and to push themselves in math courses saying that math was important for their future and they can change their current situation just by studying vigorously. Over the years, his calculus class grew and soon enough eighteen of his students had passed the Advanced Placement calculus exam earning him his initial fame. By the 1980′s more than seventy of his students had passed the Advanced Placement calculus exams which bolstered his teaching reputation earning him a visit from Arnold Schwarzenegger and former U.S President Ronald Reagan.

He was made even more famous by the 1988 film “Stand and Deliver” where he is portrayed by his friend, the actor Edward James Olmos. The film portrays his teaching career at Garfield High School which mostly centered around the success story of his classes. Edward Olmos received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for his acting in Stand and Deliver.

Edward James Olmos.

He later returned to Bolivia and faced financial troubles regarding his cancer treatment but of course his students heard about it and affectionally paid him back along with his friends among them Edward James Olmos. He died today, on March 31st, 2010 at his son’s house near Sacramento. He is survived by his wife and sons. To his students he was a teacher, unorthodox in both his teaching and attitude which inspired them to become professors, teachers, and engineers instead of what they thought they were going to be stuck with in the future.

Elsa Bolado, a former pupil, said “Teaching is an art form…He [Jaime Escalante] was a master artist.”

The people of Pakistan are enslaved by their public servants who have turned themselves into the masters of the masses. These servants of the people of Pakistan can be elected or, otherwise.

The following fall in the category of the elected servants:
1. The president of Pakistan.
2. The prime minister of Pakistan and the members of his cabinet.
3. The members of the national assembly.
4. The members of the senate.
5. The governors of the provinces.
6. The chief ministers of the provinces and the members of their cabinets.
7. The members of the provincial assemblies.
The following fall in the category of the non-elected servants:

a. The bureaucracy

b. The military

c. The police

d. The judiciary
The collusion between these two categories of the paid servants of the people of Pakistan dates back to the time of the creation of the country when the ruling elite of the new nation made themselves above the law of the land.

Since then, these unruly servants have been committing theft, rape, murder and high treason and getting away with it.

The people of Pakistan feed, clothe and shelter themselves and pay through their nose to feed, clothe and shelter these criminal servants.

As a poor Pakistani buys a bar of soap, he pays his share of indirect taxes in the form of excise duty collected by the state at the soap-factory gate and later included in the retail price. This is the money with which the large salaries and massive benefits of the generals, bureaucrats, judges and the elected officials are paid.

These tax-paying poor Pakistanis have the right to know that they are the paymasters and that the swaggering, limousine-riding rulers are the servants; the thieving, deceiving, ungrateful servants.

Jean Jacques Rousseau

Knowledge is the greatest weapon. The people of Pakistan need this weapon to break free from the vice-like stranglehold of these usurpers. The people of Pakistan have the right to know that no ruler in the history of mankind ever fed, clothed or sheltered his subjects.

Throughout the history of mankind, it had been the people who provided food, clothes and palaces for the rulers.

About 250 years ago, the great French writer Jean Jacques Rousseau in his Social Contract, asked the simple question that how could the king feed, clothe and shelter his people when he himself depends on them for his own subsistence?

The political leaders who promised people food, clothes and homes were all lying through their teeth. These leaders had all gone to the top universities and all of them were taught Rousseau: They knew the truth. These educated leaders cast a shadow on their great alma mater as they knowingly fooled the poor people of Pakistan.

The people of Pakistan create the national wealth; the state of Pakistan simply spends it.

By robbing the national resources, the Pakistani rulers violate Rousseau’s Social Contract. They devise ways to perpetuate their tyranny. One such machination is the emasculation of democracy.
The people of Pakistan have the right to know that the political leaders of Pakistan have turned their parties into their personal fiefdoms by not holding in-house party elections.

Democracy makes it mandatory that the political parties hold in-house primary elections regularly and on schedule.

Democracy without primary elections is worthless and meaningless; a fraud and a hoax, not democracy at all.
Once the primaries are held, many of the leaders would lose their position in the party and would disappear from national politics overnight. These unscrupulous public servants tremble with the fear that the masses may eventually find out the truth and that would be the day of reckoning. The rulers work hard not to let this truth fully dawn at the people.
The people of Pakistan have the right to know that their country is not poor at all and that until 1957 it’s national budget used to be a balanced one, without any deficit. The fact of the matter is that the nation’s public servants had been stealing left and right all along rendering the masses and their homeland paupers.
Every poor Pakistani has the right to know and firmly believe that every elected official, every general, every bureaucrat and every judge is his paid servant and for that a thieving one.
The servants lose nerve when they find out that the boss knows. For the poor Pakistanis, that would be the moment to seize upon. Knowledge would enable the people of Pakistan to get rid of the servants gone berserk.

- Contributed By: Syed F. Hussaini

With The Masters, golf’s most prestigious tournament, beginning on April 3rd, the title is really up for grabs. Yes, Tiger Woods is making his return to golf after his sex scandal, and yes Tom Watson is playing his 37th Masters, but honestly folks, who is the real favorite? I’ve put my top five favorites in line, with number one being defending champion Angel Cabrera. Cabrera’s power game suits Augusta so well, and he has proven to be clutch in the long courses, winning the U.S Open at Oakmont in 2005 and winning the Masters last year. If Cabrera is hitting drives in the 320’s, he should be a tough man to beat. Second on my list of favorites is Jim Furyk. Furyk proved he can win of late, and maybe he’s got another major left in his tank.

Angel Cabrera, The Defending Champion, And My Favorite To Win The Masters

Third on my list is none other than Tiger Woods. Woods can run away from any field, and he has proved it on several occasions.

If Woods can keep his eyes on the prize, he can come out a winner, so matter what’s on his mind. Fourth on my list is Steve Stricker. Stricker had a breakthrough year last year, winning several tournaments and even reaching the number one spot on the FedEx Cup standings. Stricker is an all around pure ball striker and a threat to win any major he enters. Last on my list is another perennial favorite, Phil Mickelson. Mickelson made a late charge in the final round of the Masters last year, but a water ball on the 13th hole at Amen Corner derailed his chances. The game of Mickelson boils down to two things. Composure and putting. If Mick can do both, he’s going to be atop the leaderboard.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the person of the former French finance minister and current IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn has lately lain heaps and heaps of praises upon Poland’s government for maintaining a strong economy in face of the ‘economic crisis’ that’s struck the world.

Last year, the IMF launched a FCL (flexible credit line) for Poland which gave the Polish government access to nearly 20 billion dollars for the support of currency reserves in Poland’s central bank. In Strauss-Kahn’s visit to Poland and meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Strauss-Kahn expressed satisfaction at Poland’s economic ability to absorb the shocks rippling throughout the European economy. Amazingly, not one penny of the funds that were made available to Poland last year was used. Yet some of it may be used to help Poland endure a bit more through the global financial crisis according to a few analysts.

Poland was able to avoid a type of economic recession that’s struck many other countries elsewhere in the world. According to both the IMF and the Polish government, the economic policies, institutions, and of course foreign exchange rates which are surprisingly flexible in Poland all contributed to the current Polish economy being barely damaged compared to the other European economies especially Russia and Greece.

Meanwhile, Strauss-Kahn commented that Poland may have been right in delaying their Euro-adoption plans although he is still urging the Polish government to make the adoption of the euro as their official currency a long-term goal. On a further note, Strauss-Kahn admitted that prospects for the global economy is looking more hopeful than the past couple of months.

The IMF’s current prediction is that global economy may pick up its pace in growth rate up by 4.3% in 2011, a more optimistic projection than what it had in January and February. When asked if Strauss-Kahn could release any figures country by country, he declined and instead stated the obvious that “some regions are clearly doing better than others.”

Near Geneva, Switzerland the longtime ‘ladder dream’ of more than 10,000 scientists from more than sixty countries became reality as the Large Hadron Collider (1:06 P.M, Geneva Local Time) smashed protons creating a 7-TeV (trillion-electron-volt) collision and a new man-made energy record for particle collisions beating Fermilab’s proton collisions at Chicago. The LHC otherwise known as “the big-bang machine” in popular culture had sent twin 3.5 TeV proton beams in opposite directions in a circle almost near the speed of light around the HLC’s underground tunnel which spans twenty seven kilometers or seventeen miles which then smashed into each other producing this 7-TeV collision or “mini big-bangs”.

Scientists and engineers celebrated the collision as huge amounts of data came onto the hundreds of monitors with colorful images which depict what happened less than one-billonth of a second right after the Big Bang giving scientists everywhere the oppurtunity to finally know some information on how the universe began beginning with the Big Bang. Furthermore, the information collected from this collision will be used in order to find out more about the highly elusive dark material theoretically made up of particles called Higgs boson (“God” particle) which gives mass to everything made up of matter and also makes up 25% of the universe.

Run by CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), the Large Hadron Collider went through trial and error after many “technical errors” with a few other mishaps including that of the death of José Pereira Lages who was killed by an accidentally dropped crane load in the Collider’s tunnel and a few problems regarding electrical problems. Yet all that and more may have been worth it, though unfortunate regarding the technician’s death, to find out more of our universe and perhaps explore new dimensions.

As a sense of relief and celebratory happiness came admist the scientists, scientists in other parts of the world have excitedly prepared to examine the data collected for years to come. To those who’ve never even heard of the Large Hadron Collider, you may have seen glimpses of it in Angels & Demons or even Alpinekat’s (Katherine McAlpine) Large Hadron Rap. Or perhaps you’ve heard about the “big bang machine” that would create a black hole that would envelop our entire planet which scientists have thoroughly examined and stated that such a thing would never happen.

For now, the Large Hadron Collider will be continuously running for eighteen to twenty eight months then will shut down for a year after to have the machine prepared for even bigger collisions – namely that of 14-TeV collisions which is the maximum limit of the LHC. For those who are amazed at the LHC experiment’s energy output, be more amazed at the estimation that states the entire universe performs an equivalent of ten million LHC experiments per second.

Today was a historical day, so significant that ”This opens the door to a totally new era of discovery.” stated Sergio Bertolucci, CERN’s director of research. In the words of Neil Armstrong, that’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.

After enduring many tense atmospheres of panic about H1N1 or ‘Swine Flu’ along with a few nut-conspiracy theories about swine flu being fake and the many overreactions to it such as mass-slaughtering pigs in similarity to the bird-flu situation where thousands of chickens and pigeons were killed, H1N1 seems to have gone away or at least partly faded away in our minds around the world .. except in the Southeastern states of the U.S.

Ever since H1N1 creeped up into the U.S and swine flu vaccine were quickly made available to the public, U.S Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin along with the rest of the medical community encouraged every American to get vaccinated as a just-in-case if another outbreak occured again.

Georgia has the highest continuing activity of the H1N1 influenza as a state, its hospitals accepting a decent amount of H1N1 flu cases for the past month far more than the forty nine other states. Most of the patients are Americans who have certain health problems or simply have chronic health conditions. Alabama and South Carolina, even Hawaii have similar activities of swine flu though at a much lesser rate than Georgia. Georgia became significant enough in the number of swine flu cases to have the Centers for Disease Control send a team on March 6th to investigate the recent outbreaks. They found nothing unusual concerning the outbreak and had concluded the virus, with its numerous possible mutations, had not changed.

 For American health and federal officials, the activity of the pandemic is worrying as they fear a third wave of the H1N1 influenza may strike the country, the last two waves of the pandemic infected more than 60 million Americans alone, killing at least 9,000 and hospitalizing more than 250,000 people.

Previously, officials saw the low activity of the H1N1 influenza as a hopeful sign that the pandemic won’t have a third wave but the recent cases of H1N1 especially in Georgia may be damaging that hope. The Southeastern regions of the U.S was also the origin of the second wave of the pandemic which further gives health officials another reason to even more closely (and cautiously) observe the developments there.

On March 21st, 2010, the World Health Organization solemnly reported that more than 200 countries including overseas territories had confirmed numerous cases of the pandemic influenza H1N1 along with more than 16,000 deaths caused by H1N1.

Remember, wash your hands often, get vaccinated if you can, and don’t panic.

The 36 year old Stephenie Meyer, the ‘parachute’ author who suddenly came up with one of the most popular sagas around (heaven knows how that happened) is planning to rease a 192-page novella that centers around and has the story told from the view of one of the more recently developed characters in the Twilight named ‘Bree’, a newly-turned vampire in the third book ”Eclipse”. Bree, if any of you read the book, is like a character who appears then just dies a few moments after her introduction in the second book. It’s not that surprising that 192 pages can be written about such a character, after all look at how much of a story can be written in flash fiction.

This new novella may be a make-up for her fans. Her announcement that Midnight Sun which is told from the viewpoint of Edward Cullen, the protaganist Bella’s “perfect” boyfriend, about the events in Twilight dissapointed the many Twilight ‘communities’.

The novella will be titled “The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner” and will be released to readers on June 5th, 2010 in the U.S. Stephenie Meyer remarked that she created this novella originally as a short story to be part of “The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide“ but then like a few other authors’ intended creations it became unintentionally too long..so long that it couldn’t be included in the official guide.

I’m not a personal fan of her works, because seriously the character relationships are..a bit off especially after the first book. Before I get into a whole anti-Twilight rant I must say I’m impressed by the reactions given by her fans regarding her vampire novels. I mean, seriously not even the Princess Diaries got a “fad” reaction to this extent. Once copies of “The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner” goes into book shops, a portion of the sales (not specified) will be going to the American Red Cross International Response Fund. Furthermore, Twilight fans not buying hard copies can online and just read it for free. Awesome donation to the public..or is she just promoting her upcoming “Eclipse” movie that’s coming out on June 30th?

While her writing or characters certainly needs work like every other writer in the world, her marketing strategy is quite.. sharp and vampiric. Commenting on “The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner” at her official website, Stephenie Meyer said “Her story [Bree's story] is a nice complement to Eclipse.”

I don’t know about any of you, but I’m slighty interested in reading this book because it might have a totally different feel since it’s from another viewpoint besides Bella’s, though I may be thinking of just buying it just for the Red Cross donation.

(Cover Picture: Little Brown and Co.)

- Contributed By: Cheolo Gerham

Today was a surprising and deadly morning for Russians using the Moscow Metro. A double suicide bombing on the Moscow Metro occured unfortunately killing thirty eight people and wounding sixty five others.

The first bombing occured at the Lubyanka station which killed twenty six passengers. The first bomb was the equivalent of four kilograms of TNT. The second bombing occured at the Park Kultury station approximately 45 minutes after the first bombing, the second explosion (equivalent to 1.7-2.0 kilograms of TNT)  killed 12 people.

(Source: BBC News)

The two bombers and another accomplice chose their target well as the Moscow Metro, one of the world’s busiest underground railways next to the Paris Metro that carries 5.5 million passengers a day. Despite the two explosions, the bombers failed to significantly damage the Lubyanka and Park Kultury stations leading to the reopening of the two stations by evening time. The attacks were not random nor disorganized as CCTV cameras revealed that it all seemed “perfectly orchestrated”. Both stations are of some significant modern symbolism as the Lubyanka Square was the headquarters of the Soviet KGB (equivalent to the American CIA) and is now headquarters to the FSB, KGB’s successor. Park Kultury is where Russians relax, specifically the children as they play in the ice rinks, ride the roller coasters, and plainly relax.

The suicide bombers in question were two women while the third accomplice was identified as a Phillipine national. The explosive belts or ‘belt bombs’ were home-made and was stuffed with various nuts, bolts, and pieces of iron to maximize damage to standing human targets when the deadly shrapnel would explode outwards.

Rescue teams sought out survivors in the wreckages and piles of rubble while medical teams tended to those in need of treatment.

FBS Chief Alexander Bortnikov eyed the Chechnya and Ingushetia rebels who have been known to use women in suicide bombings. The Chechnya rebels have a history of past suicide bombings in Moscow and have been known to be blamed by Russia for other multiple bombings as well. These rebels are Islamists who seeks Chechnya autonomy from Russia. Back in February, Chechnya rebel leader Doku Umarov warned that “the zone of military operations will be extended to the territory of Russia and to their cities” leaving Russian authorities a narrowed list of the possible suspects for this tragic event.

Doku Umarov, the Chechnya rebel leader who promised attacks on Russian land.

This is neither the first nor possibly the last (hopefully not so) the first suicide bombing in Moscow’s transportation systems. Suicide bombings of subway lines in June 1996 to a female suicide bomber detonating her bomb vest killing ten people in August 2004 are merely two examples of previous bombings in Moscow.

Rudely interrupted on his working trip to Siberia, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin who’s had his share of suicide bombings ever since his coming into office a decade ago returned to Moscow full of wrath and solemn vows to find the ones responsible and told the press that “the terrorists will be destroyed.”

Russian President Medvedev who laid flowers at the first bomb site also made similar remarks, his tone clearly full of determination saying “We will find and destroy them all.” In France, the French Prime Minister Francois Fillon condemned the suicide bombings. Elsewhere, governments gave condolences and support for Moscow and the victims’ families. The Moscow Metro suicide bombings today have prompted New York City to increase security in its own stations in fear of a follow-up attack.

The Moscow City Government proclaimed that Tuesday will be a day of mourning for the victims. It will be tightening security in various parts of the city and will of course carefully watch the mourning day and the funeral processions.

Russian Prime Minister Putin gave each of the victims’ families around 318,049 rubles as condolences and to cover the funeral costs.