United States Congressman, Barney Frank Weds in Same-sex Marriage

United States Democratic representative Barney Frank has become the first sitting congressman to enter into a same-sex marriage, wedding his long-time partner James Ready. Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick officiated the ceremony.

Texas Democratic congressman Al Green, who attended the wedding, said Mr Patrick added some levity by saying Mr Frank, 72, and Mr Ready, 42, had vowed to love each other through Democratic and Republican administrations alike, and even through appearances on Fox News.

“Barney was beaming,” Mr Green said. He said Mr Frank, a champion of gay rights and the sweeping reform of Wall Street, shed a tear during the ceremony and the couple embraced after exchanging their vows. ”It was no different than any other wedding I’ve attended when you have two people who are in love with each other,” Mr Green said.

Mr Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat and a former chairman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, has been an openly gay congressman since the late 1980s. He is well known for his legislative acumen, including as an architect of the reforms in the Dodd-Frank bill, which US president Barack Obama signed into law in 2010 in the wake of the financial crisis following the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market :: Read the full article »»»»

Magnetic Pulse Brain Stimulation Helps Stroke Patients Regain Speech

Australian scientists are confident magnenetic pulse brain stimulation research will help long-term stroke and Parkinson’s disease patients speak again. The approach, being pioneered by Professor Bruce Murdoch, Director of the Centre for Neurogenic Communication Disorders Research from the University of Queensland, uses magnetic pulses to stimulate damaged areas of the brain.

The technique, known as Transcranial Magnetc Stimulation – TMS – was previously used to treat depression and pain management. It’s the first time the therapy has been looked at for language or communication loss due to neurological damage.

The treatment  is literally an on off switch for the brain, switching on brain function in Parkinson and off in stroke victims suffering from aphasia. TMS is a non-invasive method to cause depolarization or hyperpolarization in the neurons of the brain. TMS uses electromagnetic induction to induce weak electric currents using a rapidly changing magnetic field, causing activity in specific or general parts of the brain with minimal discomfort.

Aphasia in stroke victims is a condition where suffers have impaired language abilities, the range of the disorder includes memory difficulties for words, all the way through to a complete inability to speak

This isn’t a first for TMS use in Parkinsons or stroke, in 2009 Dr Jean-Pascal Le faucheur of Physiology department at Hospital Henri Mondor in France successfully used the therapy with pain management and Parkinsons :: Read the full article »»»»

Mother and Children Beheaded in Afghani Honour Killing

A 30-year-old woman and her two children have been beheaded in Afghanistan’s east, police said, in what they described appeared as the latest in a rapidly growing trend of so-called honour killings. Officers investigating the case described it as an honour killing, a phrase used to describe the murder of mostly women and girls accused of sullying a family’s reputation.

Afghan women have won back some basic rights in education, voting and work since the severe rule of the Taliban was toppled just over a decade ago, although fear now mounts that freedoms will be traded away as Kabul and Washington seek talks with the Islamist group to secure a peaceful end to the war.

Police said they suspected the former husband of committing the horrific crime. According to a local police officer, the husband barged into the victims home – in the capital of Ghazni province – and murdered her, as well as their eight-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter :: Read the full article »»»»

Three NSW Police Officers Remain ON Duty Despite Lying Under Oath

It’s clear that Socially Engineered adores a good hypocrisy, even more so when it comes from those laboured with keeping things straight. Three New South Wales police officers remain on duty despite being referred to the corruption watchdog for lying under oath.

Ballina Local Court heard the case of Aboriginal man Corey Barker, who was arrested in the tranquil north coast holiday town last year for allegedly throwing a bottle. The court heard the officers had claimed he became violent, punching Senior Constable David Hill in the face.

At the time of trial, security footage of the melee was unavailable, apparently due to faulty equipment. However, when security footage was repaired, it showed it was police who had assaulted the 23-year-old. Senior Constable Ryan Eckersley kicked Mr Barker in the head and another officer kneed him in the side  :: Read the full article »»»»

Three NSW Police Officers Remain ON Duty Despite Lying Under Oath

It’s clear that Socially Engineered adores a good hypocrisy, even more so when it comes from those laboured with keeping things straight. Three New South Wales police officers remain on duty despite being referred to the corruption watchdog for lying under oath.

Ballina Local Court heard the case of Aboriginal man Corey Barker, who was arrested in the tranquil north coast holiday town last year for allegedly throwing a bottle. The court heard the officers had claimed he became violent, punching Senior Constable David Hill in the face.

At the time of trial, security footage of the melee was unavailable, apparently due to faulty equipment. However, when security footage was repaired, it showed it was police who had assaulted the 23-year-old. Senior Constable Ryan Eckersley kicked Mr Barker in the head and another officer kneed him in the side  :: Read the full article »»»»

South Korea Firms-up Plan to Re-start Scientific Whaling

26 years after a global moratorium on commercial whaling was put in place, South Korea’s decision to resume hunting whales for scientific research has dismayed environmental campaigners and stunned other members of the International Whaling Commission.

South Korea’s plans to start a so-called scientific whaling program have been widely condemned by politicians and environmental groups. South Korean delegates confirmed the plan to kill whales in coastal waters at a meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Panama this morning, saying they wanted to start hunting minke whales under a loophole that allows the killing of whales for scientific research.

They said fishermen had been calling for the whales to be killed because “an increasing number of minke whales are eating away large amount of fish stocks which should be consumed by human being.” At the sometimes heated talks, South Korea said it would announce later how many whales it would kill and when, but insisted that it did not need foreign approval.

Whale meat remains highly popular along the east coast of South Korea, which maintained a large whaling fleet based in the southeastern port of Ulsan until the moratorium on commercial whaling was put in place in 1986. Last year, South Korean fishermen accounted for 21 out of the 23 cases of illegal whaling reported to the IWC :: Read the full article »»»»