Final Fantasy AND GUNZ Rawks

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Reflections on Iran defiant on nuclear work ahead of UN report

I feel that the United States of America is taking a very huge risk here as they are not financially capable of launching an all-out war against Iran here. The USA is still trying to recover from the war in Iraq and since the last war’s statistics, it has been shown that each missile costs US$1 Million. Although Iran would like to have their own Nuclear Program, the majority of the world is disapproving of it, especially USA as it feels threatened by another country having weapons of mass destruction.

The United States of America cannot carry on fighting wars. Her allies will not be able to continually support her. Although Iran is ambitious and would like to carry out their own Nuclear Programs, they should think about how this will impact the world. If everybody were to carry out their own programs without any power controlling them, then there would be chaos. Thus, we must remember the role of the United Nations and why it was set up after World War 2.

Sometimes, USA must also accept the fact that countries round the world are developing at a fast pace. Many countries want to be able to be powerful and in order for that to happen, they need to have their own good weapons so as to reassure themselves that they are safe.

The more USA tries to control its neighbours, the more there will be tension as they want to be free to do as they please. It is the same with a teenager who wants to obtain his freedom from his parents but his parents are worried about him getting too much freedom and the various vices out there that will ruin him because of his freedom.

I strongly feel that the UN should take a stronger step in ensuring that countries will be able to strike a balance between having their own freedom and when they should not. A single mistake in what they do, especially in nuclear technology can mean a large help to a country or death to millions. A raving maniac who would like to dominate the world might just make use of the technology to his advantage. Thus, sometimes, USA is also right in denying countries their right of way sometimes as they feel that it is for the better good of the rest of the world.

Whatever the case, it is important for all of us to draw important lessons from the Iraq war. War is not a solution and I would like to end off with quotes from various prominent people.

The only way to win a war is to prevent it.
- Secretary of State George C. Marshall

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought with,
but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.
- Albert Einstein

Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to
mankind.
- John F. Kennedy

DALBB;
7:56 AM

Friday, February 23, 2007

Reflections on 'LTA to test efficiency of linear bus stops'
In my opinion, there is absolutely no point in having linear bus stops. The main aim of the bus bays back then when the LTA implemented it was to reduce congestion. By having Bus Bays, the bus would be able to enter the bay and thus alight and drop of passengers safely, furthermore, the vehicles behind the bus would not have to wait and cause congestion which would in turn result in having the bus behind being slow in arriving on time at the bus stop. Thus, the overall aim of the bus bays was to shorten the waiting time for the passengers waiting for the bus and also to make the traveling time between bus stops shorter.

However, with LTA planning to have linear bus stops again, it would be unsafe to alight and pick up passengers to from the bus stops as passengers then to wait by the road side instead of in the bus stop. This would be very dangerous and even with bus bays currently, the passengers do not wait behind the yellow line which is deemed safe. Furthermore, with the linear bus stops, the vehicles behind the bus that is at the bus stop would have to wait for the bus, which would thus in turn result in congestion. This would also in turn result in the next bus at the previous bus stop to be caught in the congestion that is caused by the bus in front holding up the traffic. This vicious cycle will not only cause traveling times to instead increase but also tempers to flare as people do not like to be caught in traffic jams.

I have never seen Singapore during the days when it had liner bus stops as I had not been born then, however, I have had this experience when I went to China on an Immersion Program last year. In China, the bus stops are linear. Whenever the bus stops, tempers will flare behind the bus as there are many passengers and like me, as a foreigner, I am not used to their lifestyle, I am not used to their usual hustle and bustle. If you dilly dally, they will just shout at you to hurry up.

However the case, I believe that having designated bus lanes more effective as can be seen from the accomplishment in the city area. With all the rush hours round the clock, these buses are still very punctual regardless of the heavy traffic as it does not bother them. It is a much better solution than the linear bus stops. However, this will be very difficult to implement on usual roads and thus having bus stops will be a more feasible option due to the lower traffic and the little space that Singapore has.

DALBB;
9:34 PM

SINGAPORE: The Land Transport Authority is looking into the idea of linear bus stops to improve travelling speeds for buses.
These are bus stops constructed along and adjacent to the road, without the inlet known as the bus bay.
Studies conducted by the LTA indicate that buses trying to exit from bus bays are often blocked by traffic.
So it wants to evaluate the efficiency of linear bus stops, or straight bus lanes.
It will use a planned road widening at Jalan Eunos as the platform for a trial.
Six pairs of linear bus stops will be built there to replace the existing ones.
This was announced at the launch of SBS Transit's "Move to the Rear" campaign.
LTA's Chief Executive, Brigadier General Yam Ah Mee, said bus operators had given feedback that along high-traffic stretches, straight lanes might enable buses to move more quickly.
The road widening at Jalan Eunos is slated to begin in the third quarter of this year and will be completed in 2009. - CNA/ir
Tuesday February 13

DALBB;
8:29 PM

TEHRAN : President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday insisted on Iran 's right to nuclear technology, ahead of a key UN report likely to find that Tehran has failed to meet demands to halt sensitive atomic work.
Iran risks tougher UN sanctions over its controversial nuclear drive that the West fears is a cover for ambitions to build an atomic bomb.
But it has insisted it will not freeze uranium enrichment work as a precondition for talks with the international community to try to end the long-running standoff.
"If some assume they can violate the country's rights and stand against it, they must know that they are wrong," Ahmadinejad said in a speech in northern Iran carried by the ISNA news agency.
" Iran ians defend their rights and the nuclear right is a demand of all Iran ians. Nobody in the world can deprive them of their rights even one iota."
UN chief Ban Ki-moon was to hold talks on Thursday with International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohamed ElBaradei, who is to issue a report by Friday on Iran 's compliance with UN demands to halt enrichment.
The report is expected to formally confirm that Iran is pressing ahead with enrichment, a process which can be used to make atomic weapons as well as nuclear fuel.
Iran , which says it has the right to peaceful nuclear technology as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, ignored a UN deadline on Wednesday to halt the process.
The deadline was set by the UN Security Council on December 23 when it imposed sanctions and gave the IAEA 60 days to declare whether Iran has implemented a "full and sustained suspension" of uranium enrichment.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in Berlin on Wednesday that she would be consulting with other major powers on the next steps to take.
Washington, which is also on the offensive against Iran over alleged meddling in Iraq and support for what the United States terms terrorist groups in the region, has already said it would seek tougher penalties.
But Rice also reaffirmed a US offer to end a 27-year rupture in American- Iran ian relations if Tehran complies with the UN conditions.
"We offered to reverse 27 years of policy to engage in the context of the six (parties), and I said I would meet with my Iran ian counterpart any place, any where, any time if they suspend," she said.
The limited sanctions adopted in December specifically target trade and officials involved in Iran 's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
It is not clear what further penalties Iran could face for failing to obey the deadline, and UN diplomats have appealed for patience saying they need to read ElBaradei's report before considering the next course of action.
But some acknowledge that a new resolution tightening sanctions would be inevitable, amid speculation Washington is preparing for possible military action after sending a second nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to the region.
Iran ian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tehran was prepared for possible US military action, but believed dialogue was the best way to resolve the dispute.
"The United States put forward two options: the first is to use violence and the second cooperation," he told reporters on a visit to Turkey. "We are ready for both eventualities but, of course, we have always preferred cooperation."
Mottaki said the dispute should be resolved through a "diplomatic solution," and that threats would not force Tehran into making concessions. - AFP/de

22 Feb 2007

DALBB;
8:26 PM

Article: China confirms satellite downed
The missile was reportedly launched from near Xichang Space Centre
China has confirmed it carried out a test that destroyed a satellite, in a move that caused international alarm.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said a test had been carried out but insisted China was committed to the "peaceful development of outer space".
The US backed reports last week that China had used a ground-based medium-range ballistic missile to destroy a weather satellite.
A senior Taiwanese politician said he viewed it as an aggressive act.
It is the first known satellite intercept test for more than 20 years.
Several countries, including Japan, Australia and the US, have expressed concern at the test, amid worries it could trigger a space arms race.
Until Tuesday, China had refused to confirm or deny the 11 January test.
International concern
Liu Jianchao told reporters that China had notified "other parties and... the American side" of its test.
CHINA IN SPACE
China's first manned space mission launched in 2003 - following former Soviet Union and the US
Chinese astronauts aim to perform a spacewalk as early as next year
Until now, the US and Russia have been the only nations to shoot down space objects
China insists its space programme is of no threat, but other nations are wary
China says it spends $500m on space projects. NASA is due to spend $17bn in 2007

"But China stresses that it has consistently advocated the peaceful development of outer space and it opposes the arming of space and military competition in space," he told a news conference.
"China has never, and will never, participate in any form of space arms race."
However, Dr Joseph Wu, head of the body responsible for Taiwan's relations with China, viewed it differently.
"This is an aggressive act by the Chinese side," he told the BBC on a visit to Japan.
"I don't think it's just limited to Taiwan only but of course... Taiwan stands out to be the first country that might have to suffer if a future conflict were to erupt between China and some other countries."
China sees Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force if the island ever moved to declare formal independence.
The US, which is committed to provide Taiwan with defensive weapons, supports the status quo.
US spy satellites watch over the Taiwan Straits, and coordinating any defence against a possible Chinese invasion would be made much harder if those spy satellites were destroyed.
Debris fears
The magazine American Aviation Week and Space Technology reported that a Chinese Feng Yun 1C polar orbit weather satellite had been destroyed by an anti-satellite system launched from or near China's Xichang Space Centre on 11 January.
The test is thought to have occurred at more than 537 miles (865km) above the Earth.
The report was confirmed by US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe last Thursday.
He said at the time the US "believes China's development and testing of such weapons is inconsistent with the spirit of co-operation that both countries aspire to in the civil space area".
Japan and Australia also spoke of their fears of a possible new arms race in space.
There are already growing international concerns about China's rising military power.
While Beijing keeps its defence spending a secret, analysts say that it has grown rapidly in recent years.
China is now only the third country to shoot something down in space.
Both the US and the Soviet Union halted their tests in the 1980s over concerns that the debris they produced could harm civilian and military satellite operations.
While the US may be unhappy about China's actions, the Washington administration has recently opposed international calls to end such tests.
It revised US space policy last October to state that Washington had the right to freedom of action in space, and the US is known to be researching such "satellite-killing" weapons itself.

Tuesday, 23 January 2007

DALBB;
8:20 PM

Monday, February 05, 2007

Teen Suicide
by Richard O'Connor, Ph.D.

In the past 25 years, while the general incidence of suicide has decreased, the rate for those between 15 and 24 has tripled. It is generally considered to be the second or third most common cause of death among adolescents, even though it is seriously underreported.

No one has advanced a good theory explaining why teens are taking their own lives in greater numbers, but it's important for everyone to be aware of the problem.

A recent article by Jane Brody in The New York Times summarized research describing the major risk factors of suicide among young people:

Depression

Depression is often not recognized. In younger children and in adolescent boys, it may seem that the child is simply angry or sullen.

If this lasts more than a week or so with no relief, and if there are other signs of depression -- changes in appetite, activity level, sleep pattern; loss of interest in activities that normally give pleasure; social withdrawal; thoughts of death or punishment -- it should be taken seriously.

Signs of developing depression in teens include:
Unhappiness
Gradual withdrawal into helplessness and apathy
Isolated behavior
Drop in school performance
Loss of interest in activities that formerly were sources of enjoyment
Feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, helplessness
Fatigue or lack of energy or motivation
Change in sleep habits
Change in eating habits
Self-neglect
Preoccupation with sad thoughts or death
Loss of concentration
Increase in physical complaints
Sudden outbursts of temper
Reckless or dangerous behavior
Increased drug or alcohol abuse
Irritability; restlessness
Parents are bound to have trouble understanding a depressed teen's confusing signals; after all, who does not want to think of their child as happy and confident. But parents must pay attention to serious depression; the risks are too great if they don't.

Substance abuse

Sometimes teens try alcohol or other drugs to relieve depression. Unfortunately the drugs themselves have a depressant effect, and lower inhibitions against self-injurious behavior. Some young people who have never expressed a suicidal thought have taken their own lives when they got drunk to ease the pain of a disappointment or loss. But they only felt worse while drunk, and committed a rash, impulsive act which they wouldn't have done sober.

Behavioral problems

Getting in trouble in school or with the law, fighting with parents, and other behavioral problems are the third risk factor for suicide. We tend to think of potential suicides as sensitive, shy people who are overwhelmed by life. We don't see the cocky, obnoxious adolescent as potentially self-destructive, even though his behavior -- continually getting in trouble, keeping the world at arm's length -- has exactly that effect.

I recently re-read The Catcher in the Rye and was amazed to see Holden Caulfield, whom I had so identified myself with, from my now-adult perspective. Though I still felt sympathetic, I was struck by how depressed and self-destructive his behavior seemed.

Availability of a gun

This makes the consequences of an impulsive act much more lethal. Surprisingly, even when a child has made one attempt, parents often fail to remove guns from the home. How many fatal, impulsive decisions have been aided by the presence of a handgun in the home?

If you have a gun in your home, you are FIVE times more likely to have a suicide in your house than homes without a gun.

It is also important to limit the person's access to large amounts of medication, or other lethal means of committing suicide.

Previous attempts

Half of all children who have made one suicide attempt will make another, sometimes as many as two a year until they succeed. The majority of suicide attempts are expressions of extreme distress and not just harmless bids for attention.

Other Factors

Other factors include a family history of depression or substance abuse, and a recent traumatic event.

Some children who take their own lives are indeed the opposite of the rebellious teen. They are anxious, insecure kids who have a desperate desire to be liked, to fit in, to do well. Their expectations are so high that they demand too much of themselves, so are condemned to constant disappointment.

A traumatic event, which can seem minor viewed from an adult perspective, is enough to push them over the edge into a severe depression. Being jilted, failing a test, getting into an accident -- they have the sense that their life is a delicate balance, and one failure or disappointment seems to threaten the whole house of cards.

Get Help

No talk of suicide should be taken lightly. It indicates the need for immediate professional help. Any suicidal gesture, no matter how "harmless" it seems, demands immediate professional attention.

Risk getting involved. If you suspect suicidal thoughts or behavior, ask the teen directly if she or he is considering suicide. Don't avoid the subject or wait for the teen to come to you.

Be alert to the teen's feelings. The severity of the problem should be judged from the teen's perception, not by adult standards. If a teen perceives something as a problem, it is a problem for him or her.

Never agree to keep the discussion of suicide with a teen a secret. Agree to give help and support in getting professional help.

Imminent danger signs include:
Talking about death and wanting to die
Suicidal thoughts, plans, or fantasies
Previous suicide attempts
Friends who have attempted suicide
Giving away personal possessions
Telling a friend about suicidal plans
Writing a note
Parents and friends should not hesitate to get help and should never leave a suicidal person alone.

Prevent Suicide

Adults can help prevent suicide by fostering open, honest communication with teens. If a teen trusts you enough to come to you with a problem, take time to listen immediately. Delay may only fuel feelings of doom in the teen.

The following strategies may be helpful when dealing with teens and suicide:
Talk about suicide in an open manner. Teens need to be given a chance to discuss suicide by voicing their thoughts and opinions. Candid discussion is important particularly when a teen suicide has occurred in a community.
Let young people know about hotline telephone numbers and crisis intervention services that are accessible locally.
Model healthy behavior and positive problem-solving approaches. Adults can be models for young people by dealing with their own stress in a constructive manner.
Use television shows, films, newspaper articles and other media as a trigger for a discussion of effective ways to deal with stress and depression.
Provide opportunities for group support. Teens sharing problems with other teens who help find solutions can be beneficial.
Adults need to take the possibility of teen suicide seriously even if their community has not experienced one. Teen depression and thoughts of suicide are more common than many adults assume and there are as many as 50 to 100 suicide attempts for every young person who actually takes his or her own life.

http://www.focusas.com/Suicide.html

DALBB;
7:52 PM