anahataenergy.com

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Wednesday, November 8, 2006

Polish Prime Minister Jaros?aw Kaczy?ski has ordered the pharmaceutical company Jelfa to halt production following revelations that Jelfa had placed mislabelled medication on the market, whose use could be potentially fatal.

Jelfa distributed vials labelled as Corhydron, a hydrocortisone used to treat allergies and inflammation, but in fact containing Suxamethonium chloride, a drug normally used to cause muscle paralysis during emergency surgery.

The Health Ministry has appealed to people suffering from asthma or allergies to check their medication and return any Corhydron ampoules they possess to the pharmacy.

Polskie Radio reports that the mislabelling was discovered a month ago, but Jelfa and the Polish Health ministry did not inform of the problem.

Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski ordered Jelfa to halt production until it can assure the Polish Government that it can properly manage its production.

The Polish Outlook reports that that drug companies in Poland were operating unregulated since December, 2005 as the regulations has expired. The government was putting in place new regulations.

The owner of Jelfa is AB Sanitas, the largest drug producer in neighbouring Lithuania. The shut-down has been questioned by the Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas, who expressed concern over the situation and said that he wants to try to settle the issue diplomatically.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

A Norwegian University of Science and Technology study released Thursday found electric vehicles have a potential for higher eco-toxicity and greenhouse impact than conventional cars. The study includes an examination of the electric car’s life cycle as a whole rather than a study of the electric car’s environmental impact during the use phase.

The researchers conducted a comparison of the environmental impact of electric cars in view of different ratios of green-to-fuel electricity energy sources. In the case of mostly coal- or oil-based electricity supply, electric cars are disadvantageous compared to classic diesel cars with the greenhouse effect impact being up to two times larger.

The researchers found that in Europe, electric cars pose a “10% to 24% decrease in global warming potential (GWP) relative to conventional diesel or gasoline vehicles”.

The researchers suggest to improve eco-friendliness of electric vehicles by “reducing vehicle production supply chain impacts and promoting clean electricity sources in decision making regarding electricity infrastructure” and using the electric cars for a longer time, so that the use phase plays a more important role in the electric vehicle life cycle.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Computers and technology make our modern lifestyle more convenient, but they also create new risks like computer viruses and hacking. Many people want to enjoy the convenience of new technology, but they may not be aware of its problems.

WiMAX is being promoted in Taiwan by the Taipei Computer Association, the Industrial Technology Research Institute and the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Republic of China. It is considered by some to be the communication standard for the next generation of mobile devices.

Information security companies are concerned increasingly by Internet crime, and some of them question the security of WiMAX. After all, everyone wants to welcome this new technology but is afraid of its potential to cause security issues.

Some companies have analyzed potential security issues which threaten the success of WiMAX. But what have they found?

Taking the opportunity of two press conferences in Taiwan, Wikinews Journalist Rico Shen briefly interviewed both Hsiao-wen Hung, President of Microsoft Research Asia and Li Chang, Deputy Secretary General of Taipei Computer Association. With their experience in the IT industry, they agreed to comment on this question.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Wikimania is an annual conference for users, developers and other people involved in the wiki projects operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. It is held yearly since 2005. The first conference was held in Frankfurt, Germany, on August 4-8, 2005. The second one was held in Boston, USA (on August 4-6, 2006), the third one was held in Taipei, Taiwan (on August 3-5, 2007), the fourth Wikimania was held in Alexandria, Egypt (on July 17-19, 2008) and Wikimania 2009 will be held in Buenos Aires.

Melbourne, Daytona Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Gda?sk, Montpellier and Oxford are among current unofficial Wikimania 2010 bids. Below is Wikinews‘ conversation with the Gda?sk bid promoter and initiator, Wojciech P?dzich.

Wikipedians from Tricity are involved in the process of making an offer, which will give Poland a chance of organizing a world-wide conference of Wikimedia Foundation, Wikimania 2010. Among the competing cities are Washington, D.C., Rio de Janeiro, and Oxford. This year the conference was held in Alexandria, Egypt, where the famous Library of Alexandria is located. Does Gda?sk stand a chance among such known cities?

• Wojciech P?dzich: Because of Wikimania continental rotation, Australian and European bids have the biggest chances in 2010. Australian, because they have not hosted Wikimania yet, and Europe, because the first Wikimania was held in Frankfurt back in 2005. Do we have a chance among other European cities’ proposals? Poland is still an interesting, unknown, and a cheap-to-visit country with a comprehensive list of countries from which their members can visit Poland without requirement of having a visa. We propose the conference to be held inside two adjacent buildings – Polish Baltic Philharmonic and the Polish Maritime Museum buildings, located just few steps from Long Market at the city’s centre. Yes, I do think that our offer will be attractive and will give us a real chance of organizing the Wikimania 2010 in grad upon Mot?awa.

((WN)) The tagline of your proposal is Gda?sk – the city of freedom. Could you tell us, why do you promote yourself with this line?

• Gda?sk is associated by many with freedom, with its political impact. On the other hand, we have the Wikimedia Foundation and its values of sharing knowledge created freely by volunteers. A conjunction of a cosmopolitan city with strong revolutionary and liberal inclinations and a world-wide free culture is in this case, kind of, natural.

((WN)) How many are involved into creating a proposal? Poland is relatively small country. Are you sure you will be able to guarantee the efficiency of conference, if your proposal wins?

• Poland is not exactly small – of course we cannot be compared to the USA, India, or China, but we are not a small country either. Let’s remember that according to the old way of presenting the Wikipedia language editions’ ranking, we were the fourth edition. Even after committing a change to this ranking system, we are still in the first ten. Therefore, we can say we have a great community potential here. Moreover, other Polish Wikimedia projects also place themselves within first tens of respective projects.

Speaking about people involved – so far we have only few, and sometimes I lament about that. Every next person is a possibility of sending few mails, talking with other people, additional pair of eyes looking at the offer, some ideas, contacts, knowledge. That’s why Patrol110 has spammed Pomeranian Wikipedians, so they could get involved, and so am I giving a weight to this: we need more people. Especially if our offer will win, but then I believe in another famous Polish “national spurt”.

((WN)) Were there, in Gda?sk, already some world-wide conferences? Did the city manage to organize them?

• On December 5 and 6, 2008, the 25th anniversary of awarding president Lech Wa??sa with Nobel Peace Prize was held. Furthermore, it was held inter alia inside the Polish Baltic Philharmonic, which we propose as a place of the Wikimania 2010 conference. It was an event with over one thousand attendants from all over the world, and the city, in my humble opinion, did manage to organize this very well. The mayor of the city, Pawe? Adamowicz, has confirmed it, by saying After successful celebrations of 25th anniversary of awarding Lech Wa??sa with the Nobel Peace Prize we see that we can organize big events. […] O?owianka does its job as a big congressional place perfectly. […] Gda?sk will, once again, get a world-wide coverage in Dziennik Ba?tycki interview. I do have a hope that we will get a world-wide coverage thanks to the Wikimania.

The City organizes a lot of cultural and trade events. There are Gda?sk International Fair, St. Dominik Fair, Shakespeare Festival, Good Humor Festival. We should also not forget other parts of the Tricity: Sopot and Gdynia which are also rich in cultural events.

((WN)) Lately Poland tried to get a bid for the European Institute of Innovation and Technology and Euro 2012. Both actions have brought a large government support. How is it this time?

• We’ve contacted the city’s authorities. After a meeting with representatives of the Mayor’s Promotion and Chancellery Department we have got assurance about supporting our actions, what was confirmed by Mayor’s letter sent to us. The representatives assure us about their support all the time. They even have made an initial reservation of both buildings for July 9-11, 2010. They also offer an organizational support, which will be extremely important in case or city is chosen.

((WN)) Poland is a part of the European Union. What about Wikimedians, who are inhabitants of countries requiring a visa?

• As I stated before, the list of countries, which citizens are not required to have a visa when entering Poland for 90 days is pretty long^[1], and it does not restrict to Schengen Agreement participants. Long list of Polish missions abroad^[2] and freely available Visa application form ^[3] should allow easy access to Poland for other countries citizens.

((WN)) Information about Gda?sk application to host Wikimania started to appear in local media. What is local community reaction to this idea?

• One can see it in the comments to the articles. Those that do not like Gda?sk in general are slightly against but most is for the idea. There are also people and organisations declaring help – I’ve got already some mails from potential supporters.

((WN)) As you said before some people are objecting, probably not knowing possible benefits. How will Gda?sk and it’s inhabitants benefit?

• In addition of prestige, as we are talking about international event run by the organisation managing a flagship of Free Culture movement, world’s focus, city presence in world’s media, the conference will cause a money influx, new guests who can decide whether to come back to the city or suggest visiting it to their friends. We try not to make any troubles to city inhabitants, hoping that a conference held in one place will not paralyse the whole city.

((WN)) Many possible visitors are not able to cover the cost of travel to Wikimania. What about organizers sponsorship?

• It will depend on talks with companies willing to be sponsors. But I do not imagine leaving such requests unanswered.

((WN)) Wikimania is not only lectures, but also a possibility for long night talks with participants from other countries. How does Gda?sk’s night-life looks like?

• There are plenty of places where you can meet and talk with each other. You can see it in a draft offer where one can see hundreds of places where you can talk while eating and drinking. Proximity of Old Town invites for a walk through streets with a wonderful and unmatched atmosphere, you can only feel by yourself.

((WN)) English is the language of Wikimania. Will the attendants be able to communicate with employees of restaurants, clubs, shops, etc.?

• Personally, I encountered the shop assistant, who couldn’t sell the product to foreign people only once; also just once I saw a rough translation of “polska kuchnia” as “Polish kitchen” instead of “Polish cuisine”. The Poles are able to communicate in English, I saw their communicativeness by teaching adults English for seven years. Most of menus and other informations in Old City’s venues are translated into English and German, and the waiters know English at a level, which allows the customers to get a trouble-free service.

File:Wpedzich z synkiem.jpg

Wojciech P?dzich (b. 1979) – comes from Szczytno, graduate of English linguistics in 2001, inhabitant of Gda?sk since 2001. Except of husband and father’s roles, an employee of the Purchase Department in a power hydraulics company. Involved in Wikimedia projects since December 2006, in the beginning as a translator of articles and guidelines for Polish Wikipedia, then the administrator of the project, a member of the first Arbitration Committee Board in Polish Wikipedia. Wikimedia projects’ steward since December 2007, member of the Wikimedia Polska Association. One of the initiators of Gda?sk Wikimania 2010 bid proposal.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The Israeli Interior Ministry has announced today that 900 new housing units are slated to be built by Israeli officials at the Gilo settlement located in East Jerusalem.

A press release by the Interior Ministry read, “The planning and construction committee has authorised the construction of 900 housing units in the Gilo neighbourhood in Jerusalem.” Annexed after the 1967 war, East Jerusalem is what Palestinians still hope to make the capital of their future state. However, the current Israeli government has made claim to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. “Jerusalem is Israel’s capital and will remain as such,” said government spokesman Mark Regev.

Earlier this month the Palestinian Authority insisted that all negotiations with Israel would be put permanently on hold until settlement expansion and home demolitions were halted. The UN reports that 1,500 home demolition orders in East Jerusalem are currently pending in Israeli courts. At least 600 Palestinians have been displaced from their homes in East Jerusalem since the beginning of this year. Nearly 500,000 Israelis live in more than 100 different settlements located in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

U.S envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, asked President Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel settlement expansion plans, however his request went unheeded. Settlement expansion has soured relations between the U.S and Israel, however Israel is still the largest recipient of U.S aid annually. Responding to requests by the U.S government that settlement expansion be halted Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said that he, “strongly objects to the American demand to halt construction in Jerusalem and will allow construction for Jews, Muslims, and Christians in any part of Jerusalem without prejudice. The demand to halt construction by religion is not legal in the United States or in any other free place in the world.”

Under international law building settlements in occupied territory is illegal. The UN has deemed Israeli settlements to be a violation of the Geneva Convention.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Judd Gregg (R-NH), who was nominated by President Barack Obama as the next United States Secretary of Commerce, withdrew from consideration Thursday, citing “irresolvable conflicts” with Obama over the administration’s proposed stimulus package and the Census.

Judd Gregg is a current Senator representing New Hampshire, where he formerly served as Governor. Senator Gregg is also the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee and a member of the Republican Party. Had he been confirmed, he would have been the second Republican in Obama’s cabinet.

In a statement, Gregg thanked the President for the nomination.

“However, it has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package and the Census there are irresolvable conflicts for me. Prior to accepting this post, we had discussed these and other potential differences, but unfortunately we did not adequately focus on these concerns,” Senator Gregg said in his statement.

In an official White House press release, Robert Gibbs stated: “Once it became clear after his nomination that Senator Gregg was not going to be supporting some of President Obama’s key economic priorities, it became necessary for Senator Gregg and the Obama administration to part ways. We regret that he has had a change of heart.”

Gregg is the fourth cabinet nominee of Obama to withdraw. The first three were former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle, consultant Nancy Killefer, and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson who was Obama’s first choice for Commerce Secretary.

Sunday, December 26, 2004

Indian Ocean – The death toll continues to grow and millions face a homeless life in the new year as coastal communities in south Asia struggle against continued aftershocks and flooding caused by the largest earthquake to strike the planet in more than a generation.

The magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake struck off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia on December 26, 2004, at 00:58:50 UTC (or 07:58:50 local time in Jakarta and Bangkok).

The earthquake was the strongest in the world since the 9.2-magnitude Good Friday Earthquake which struck Alaska, USA in 1964, and the fourth largest since 1900. More than 140,000 deaths[1] were caused by resulting tsunami, which in Thailand were up to 10 meters (33 feet) tall, and struck within three hours of the initial event.

Multiple tsunamis struck and ravaged coastal regions all over the Indian Ocean, devastating regions including the Indonesian province of Aceh, the coast of Sri Lanka, coastal areas of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the resort island of Phuket, Thailand, and even as far away as Somalia, 4,100 km (2,500 mi) west of the epicenter.

While the earthquake and the tsunamis are no longer ongoing (other than aftershocks), the humanitarian and economic crisis generated by the disaster is still ongoing. This report will attempt to cover the crisis as it continues to develop.