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Madonna Is Getting Schooled In Malawi.

Madonna Is Getting Schooled In Malawi

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Madonna flew to Malawi to visit the girls school her charity is building, reported the BBC.”It’s an honor for me to be able to help as many of these girls as I can achieve their dreams,” she stated through her website.

The Raising Malawi Academy for Girls will prepare impoverished children for careers in education, law or medicine. It is located on the outskirts of Lilongwe, the southeast African country’s capital. Raising Malawi, Madonna’s charity, provides education, food, housing and other support in the country.

“Research proves that young girls throughout the developing world are often left without opportunities to receive a comprehensive education and the benefits that education can provide,” said Madonna. “Our goal is to teach them to challenge themselves, serve their local communities and develop their country,” she added.

Madonna Snapshots

AP

40 photos

US pop star Madonna plants a tree at a ground breaking ceremony for her Raising Malawi Academy for Girls in Malawi, Monday, Oct. 26, 2009. Madonna who is funding the building of the school was the guest of honour at the function. The 51-year-old celebrity arrived in the impoverished southern African country on Sunday. She was accompanied by her four children _ daughters Lourdes and Mercy, and sons Rocco and David. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

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Madonna Snapshots

US pop star Madonna plants a tree at a ground breaking ceremony for her Raising Malawi Academy for Girls in Malawi, Monday, Oct. 26, 2009. Madonna who is funding the building of the school was the guest of honour at the function. The 51-year-old celebrity arrived in the impoverished southern African country on Sunday. She was accompanied by her four children _ daughters Lourdes and Mercy, and sons Rocco and David. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

AP

AP

Madonna Snapshots

US pop star Madonna, left, and her daughter Lourdes attend the ground breaking ceremony for her Raising Malawi Academy for Girls in Malawi, Monday, Oct. 26, 2009. Madonna who is funding the building of the school was the guest of honour at the function. The 51-year-old celebrity arrived in the impoverished southern African country on Sunday. She was accompanied by her four children _ daughters Lourdes and Mercy, and sons Rocco and David. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)AP

US pop queen Madonna holds a Moringa tree soon after planting it during a ceremony to officially launch the construction work of Madonna’s Raising Malawi Girls Academy in Lilongwe on October 26, 2009. Madonna broke ground today on a girls academy she is building in Malawi, billed as a “gift” to the country from where she has adopted two children. AFP PHOTO / AMOS GUMULIRA (Photo credit should read AMOS GUMULIRA/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

US pop star Madonna plants a tree at a ground breaking ceremony for her Raising Malawi Academy for Girls in Malawi, Monday, Oct. 26, 2009. Madonna who is funding the building of the school was the guest of honour at the function. The 51-year-old celebrity arrived in the impoverished southern African country on Sunday. She was accompanied by her four children _ daughters Lourdes and Mercy, and sons Rocco and David. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

US pop star Madonna, centre, with daughter Lourdes, second from right, as they attend the ground breaking ceremony for the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls in Malawi, Monday,October, 26, 2009. Madonna who is funding the building of the school was the guest of honour at the function. The 51-year-old celebrity arrived in the impoverished southern African country on Sunday. She was accompanied by her four children – daughters Lourdes and Mercy, and sons Rocco and David. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

US pop star Madonna, second from left, gestures before cutting the ribbon at the ground breaking ceremony for the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls in Malawi, Monday, Oct, 26, 2009. Madonna who is funding the building of the school was the guest of honour at the function(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

US pop star Madonna, left, and her daughter Lourdes attend the ground breaking ceremony for her Raising Malawi Academy for Girls in Malawi, Monday, Oct. 26, 2009. Madonna who is funding the building of the school was the guest of honour at the function. The 51-year-old celebrity arrived in the impoverished southern African country on Sunday. She was accompanied by her four children _ daughters Lourdes and Mercy, and sons Rocco and David. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

US pop star Madonna plants a tree at a ground breaking ceremony for the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls in Malawi, Monday, Oct., 26, 2009. Madonna, who is funding the building of the school was the guest of honour at the function. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

AP

US pop star Madonna, left, and her daughter Lourdes attend the ground breaking ceremony for her Raising Malawi Academy for Girls in Malawi, Monday, Oct. 26, 2009. Madonna who is funding the building of the school was the guest of honour at the function. The 51-year-old celebrity arrived in the impoverished southern African country on Sunday. She was accompanied by her four children _ daughters Lourdes and Mercy, and sons Rocco and David. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

AP

US pop star Madonna, second from left, gestures before cutting the ribbon at the ground breaking ceremony for the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls in Malawi, Monday, Oct, 26, 2009. Madonna who is funding the building of the school was the guest of honour at the function(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

AP

US pop star Madonna plants a tree at a ground breaking ceremony for her Raising Malawi Academy for Girls in Malawi, Monday, Oct. 26, 2009. Madonna who is funding the building of the school was the guest of honour at the function. The 51-year-old celebrity arrived in the impoverished southern African country on Sunday. She was accompanied by her four children _ daughters Lourdes and Mercy, and sons Rocco and David. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

AP

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Madonna will participate in a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday afternoon. She was accompanied by her four children, two of whom, Mercy, 3, and David, 4, were born in Malawi.

“Madonna believes that given opportunities, these girls will become scientists, lawyers and doctors,” said Anjimile Mtila Oponyo, the future head of the academy and a local academic. “She believes in them. Having someone believe in you is important to a girl,” she continued.

The singer, 51, is planning to meet President Bingu wa Mutharika and visit orphanages supported by her charity.

Apparently Rick Scott and the group Conservatives for Patients rights have a big responsibility in causing what you see in the video below.

Here is a little dish on Rick Scott: He created the organization Conservatives for Patients rights and has been advising people (mainly conservatives it seems) on the locations and times of town meetings where they can voice their frustration about Obama’s health reform plan.

Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman criticized the group in the New York Times as pretending to be a grassroots movement of citizens. When in actuality the citizens were bussed in to congress person’s local meetings and the group was being led by [Rick Scott]. via Op-Ed Columnist -The Town Hall Mob – NYTimes.com.

Wait there’s more. Rick Scott became rich of America’s failing health system and if that is not enough, the hospital company he created Colombia/HCA was awarded the largest fine in U.S. history of 1.7 billion dollars for defrauding the government.

And you wonder why U.S. health costs are rising? When people like Rick Scott are getting rich of those in need of health services by up scaling prices (treating people for something minor and charging the government and tax payers a higher price for the service?)

And it is with Scott’s position on health care that Palin has taken sides? Calling Obama’s plan downright evil?

She needs a reality check or maybe a revamped US health system could give her a dose or two that would perhaps allow her to see things differently.

Apparently Rick Scott and the group Conservatives for Patient’s rights have a big responsibilty in causing what you see in the video below.

Here is a little dish on Rick Scott: He created the organzation Conservatives for Patient’s rights and has been advicing people (mainly conservatives it seems) on the locations and times of town meetings where they can voice their frustration about Obama’s health reform plan.

Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman criticized the group in the New York Times as pretending to be a grassroots movement of citizens. When in actuality the citizens were bussed in to congress person’s local meetings and the group was being led by [Rick Scott]. via Op-Ed Columnist - The Town Hall Mob – NYTimes.com.

Wait there’s more. Rick Scott became rich of America’s failing health system and if that is not enough, the hospital company he created Colombia/HCA was awarded the largest fine in U.S. history of 1.7 billion dollars for defrauding the government.

And you wonder why U.S. health costs are rising? When people like Rick Scott are getting rich of those in need of health services by upscaling prices (treating people for something minor and charging the government and tax payers a higher price for the service?)

And this is whose position Palin is siding with? Calling Obama’s plan downright evil?

She needs a reality check. Perhaps a better US health system could give her a dose or two that would perhaps allow her to see things differently.

For once, I’m impressed by an article in the BBC News “Magazine“. And no, I’m not talking about porn for blind people (though that is pretty awesome, although possibly quite embarrassing and painful if actually acted out)…

Imagine you’ve invented a machine to detect terrorists. It’s good, about 90% accurate. You sit back with pride and think of the terrorists trembling… You’re in the Houses of Parliament demonstrating the device to MPs when you receive urgent information from MI5 that a potential attacker is in the building. Security teams seal every exit and all 3,000 people inside are rounded up to be tested.

The first 30 pass. Then, dramatically, a man in a mac fails. Police pounce, guns point.  How sure are you that this person is a terrorist? (Michael Blastland)

You may find the result surprising - it’s about 0.3%.

A good knowledge of statistics like this is important, but sadly lacking in the general population. From the stunningly unreliable polygraph tests on Jezza’s human bear bating showto pulled-out-the-ass stats in the media, “the public” are being lead astray and fed false information constantly. To avoid being confused, or worse, deliberately mislead and sucked into someone else’s agenda, you’ve got to see through the “probabilities” and “percentages” being banded around and figure out what they really mean.

So if you don’t know why you’re only 0.3% sure you’ve got your terrorist? Go read the article.

People with superior language skills early in life may be less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease decades later, research suggests.

A team from Johns Hopkins University studied the brains of 38 Catholic nuns after death.

They found those with good language skills early in life were less likely to have memory problems – even if their brains showed signs of dementia damage.

via BBC NEWS | Health | Language ‘predicts dementia risk’.

Michael Jackson’s memorial service is being seen as helping to solidify a new era for the internet.

Analysts and industry watchers said the power of the web was displayed in its ability to let people interact, share and also produce content on the day.

Global web traffic was as high as 33% above normal during the event at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles.

“The web lets us connect and see the story from multiple views unlike TV,” said Mashable’s Ben Parr.

“This is more than a turning point. It’s about giving users more than one view as well as opportunities to not only be a consumer but a producer.

“I have seen people with their iPhone 3GS’s recording video from inside the Staples Center and sharing it with the world,” said Mr Parr who is an associate editor with Mashable, the world’s largest blog focusing on social media.

Mr Parr said he believed this service would turn out to be one of the biggest events on the web.

Not everyone has been impressed by the floods of attention and headlines devoted to the Michael Jackson story.

A Pew Research Center Poll published last week found that 64% of those surveyed said Jackson’s death has received too much coverage.
Video screens featuring Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson’s memorial could top a worldwide audience of over 1 billion

“I would say this have been over-covered,” agreed Professor Thompson from Syracuse University.

via BBC NEWS | Technology | Jackson memorial gives web boost.

Technorati Tags: michael jackson, michael jackson memorial, internet, influence, facebook, Akamai, Staples Centre, Los Angeles, Michael Jackson’s death, bbcnews.com, bbcnews, tmz, Robert Thompson, Syracuse University, Gomez Inc, Keynote System, United States

Scientists in Newcastle claim to have created human sperm in the laboratory in what they say is a world first.

The researchers believe the work could eventually help men with fertility problems to conceive.

But other experts say they are not convinced that fully developed sperm have been created.

Writing in the journal Stem Cells and Development, the Newcastle team say it will be at least five years before the technique is perfected.

They began with stem cell lines derived from human embryos donated following IVF treatment.

The stem cells had been removed when the embryo was a few days old and were stored in tanks of liquid nitrogen.

The stem cells were brought to body temperature and put in a chemical mixture to encourage them to grow. They were “tagged” with a genetic marker which enabled the scientists to identify and separate so-called “germline” stem cells from which eggs and sperm are developed.

The male, XY stem cells underwent the crucial process of “meiosis” – halving the number of chromosomes. The process over creating and developing the sperm took four to six weeks.

This research also raises ethical issues. Josephine Quintavalle from Comment on Reproductive Ethics (Corethics) said: “This is an example of immoral madness. Perfectly viable human embryos have been destroyed in order to create sperm over which there will be huge questions of their healthiness and viability.

“It’s taking one life in order to perhaps create another. I’m very much in favour of curing infertility but I don’t think you can do whatever you like.”

bbcnews.com, sperm, science, technology, bbcnews, health, newcastle, genes, fertility, ethics

“United you stand, Divided you fall”

Perhaps in attending this summit African leaders are beginning to reflect on the applicability of this phrase.

There are leaders and representatives from some 50 African countries, as well as guests from the international community.

The Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is here. One notable exception is Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who cancelled at the last minute.

The theme of the conference is agriculture and how it might lead the continent to greater economic stability.

Africa is certainly in need of some revolutionary ideas…

…Far from the gleaming towers of Wall Street, the UN says it is the countries of sub-Saharan Africa that are now paying the highest price of the world’s economic slowdown.

Growth rates have been slashed as export revenues, remittances, commodity prices and aid budgets have all tumbled…

…Col Gaddafi thinks the long-term solution is unity – a federal government to speak out for all countries on the economy, on defence and foreign policy.

The bold ambitions he has set out for a United States of Africa would be modelled on the European Union, with one economic bloc, one currency, perhaps even one voice on the UN Security Council.

The rationale is sound. African countries have this peculiar trait of trading more with the outside world than they do between themselves. The trade barriers between them are often the biggest obstacle to building competitive economies of scale.

But there are many here who believe the Libyan leader’s ambitions are a pipe dream.

☺

Perhaps they are not ready yet. According to the classics,

A LION used to prowl about a field in which Four Oxen used to dwell. Many a time he tried to attack them; but whenever he came near they turned their tails to one another, so that whichever way he approached them he was met by the horns of one of them. At last, however, they fell a-quarrelling among themselves, and each went off to pasture alone in a separate corner of the field. Then the Lion attacked them one by one and soon made an end of all four.

“UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL.”

BBC NEWS | Africa | Summit takes AU back to its roots.

North Korea has test-fired two more missiles, hours after the UN Security Council unanimously condemned its nuclear test, South Korean reports say. (BBC NEWS)

This interview is part of our ‘Ooffoo TweetMeet’ series of mini-interviews with our Twitter.com followers.

As Twitter only allows users to post in under 140 characters so do we in this interview format. So let’s meet a tweeter:

What is your name & twitter ID?
Mark Philip-Sorensen & @MoreEco

Where do you live?
I live in Cheltenham, Gloucesteshire

Name one great thing about living there?
Great place to bring up your kids and access to the Cotswolds. Great for walking.

Your job is?
Managing Director of Sorven Media Ltd – moreeco.com’s real name!

Why do you do it?
Secure my future and that of my kids and also helping the environment.

What are you most proud of?
Leaving a blue chip company after 15 year where I had been  and now doing someting completly new.

Name your favourite website and why?
I know its a bit boring but BBC News there is just some much information!!

If you could pick one book to be stranded on a desert island with what would it be and why?
This book will save your life by AM Holmes – It’s just a damn great story of California life.

The biggest problem humanity faces is…?
Trying to understand and believe that global warming IS going to happen!

But we should do the following to solve it…?
Provide greater support and engagement to people and companies who are dealling with the issues

Is there one thing you love about humanity?
It’s randomness

How do you inspire people?
Act and treat them how you would want to be treated yourself. Also ‘Take it Easy’

Name three twitter people we should follow and interview?
@sarah31, @ecoacres, @ecosaveology

Two days late, but here is a dose from Friday!

BroadcastNow - Torchwood trailer released

Successful Blogging Tips - Article Marketing Is Important

Successful Bloggin Tips - The Whole Concept Behind Internet Marketing Articles

FutureScape - Nine ways to fund your Web show – part 1

NewMediaAge - Bebo to launch revamped site this month

Mashable - Personal Branding 101: How to Discover and Create Your Brand

BBCNews - British stars lead Grammy charge

The BBC’s Erica Chernofsky looks at how Israel’s highly traditional ultra-Orthodox Jewish community is tackling the challenges and opportunities of new communications technologies.
When Israeli father Avi tried to register his six-year-old twin daughters for his local ultra-Orthodox school this year, he was happy to sign a form saying his children did not watch television or use the internet at home.
But he was surprised to discover he had to give a “kosher cellphone number”. He did not have one.
Avi lives in Har Nof, one of the main ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, neighbourhoods of Jerusalem.
The community separates itself from mainstream society through its traditional religious practices and distinctive attire of black hats, coats and sidelocks for the men and long skirts and sleeves for the women.
Like most other men in his community, Avi studies the Jewish scriptures daily, keeps the Sabbath and eats only kosher food.
But he has not yet opted for the new religious adaptation to modern technology that has swept the Haredi world in Israel.
‘Immodest’ behaviour
The kosher cellphone looks like an ordinary cellphone, can make and receive calls, and may have a calculator and alarm clock.
But it cannot send or receive text messages, browse the internet or take photos – all activities that could potentially involve behaviour considered “immodest” among Haredis.
For example, SMS capability could lead to the unwitting receipt of mass text messages publicising secular events. It could also be used as a method of illicit communication between male and female teenagers.
And all photos of women are forbidden, as is accessing websites with content deemed inappropriate.
The phone’s other defining feature is a rabbinical stamp of approval, similar to those seen on kosher food items.
All the major Israeli cellphone companies have accommodated the powerful Haredi constituency by providing kosher phones, and cheaper-than-normal packages which connect only with other Haredi numbers.
As the companies have created distinct code prefixes to accompany the kosher phone plans, the phone numbers have quickly become a badge of religious observance.
Not only do some Haredi newspapers refuse to publish ads with non-kosher phone numbers, but parents are worried their children will be blacklisted by the shadchan, or matchmaker, if their numbers are not kosher.
Banana filtered
“What do you associate with the Haredi community? You wear black trousers, a white shirt and some sort of hat, but today the things that define you have changed,” says Avi.
He says he feels there is a sense that anyone who does not have a kosher phone “should be excluded from society”.
“If you say you are associating yourself with us, please act according to our codes, otherwise do not call yourself Haredi and do not send your kids to our schools.”
But while they have managed to adapt the cellphone to their lifestyles, Haredis have had a harder time with the internet.
Last year, an Orthodox rabbi and an Israeli technology executive established an internet service provider (ISP) called Rimon, which claims to be the only filtering service provider in Israel that offers customised surfing packages.
The company says it cuts out pornography, violence, and gambling, and then provides the user with five levels of further filtering, from the “protected” level that blocks images of women in intimate apparel to the “hermetic” level, which allows users to view only unchanging, vetted websites such as encyclopaedias.
“If your kid puts ‘banana’ into Google, some of the first sites he’ll get are porn,” explains chairman Moshe Weiss. “Put banana into Google on Rimon, and you get all the same sites without the porn.”
One Haredi sect, the Belz, which normally forbids online access, has partially endorsed the use of Rimon, but only for those who need the internet for business purposes.
The general rule for the local Haredi community still remains no radio, no TV, no internet and no movies – though Rimon is hoping that once it starts targeting the Haredi market that will change.
For now, its 15,000 subscribers are mostly secular and modern Orthodox.
Self control
Miriam, a teacher living in Jerusalem, is one of many Haredi Jews who do not have home web access.
She expresses concern over the amount of time people devote to surfing the net, wasting time they could spend learning Torah or doing good deeds.
Her main worry, however, is over the lack of control over content.
“There are many things on the internet that are not appropriate for me as a Haredi woman, things I would prefer that my family and I didn’t see or hear, like violence, pornography and inappropriate sexual relations,” she says.
For Haredis, “inappropriate” means any physical contact between a man and a woman who are not married.
But Avi, who says he needs the internet for his work in the tourist industry, has unfiltered online access.
“I’m not afraid of the negative aspects because I grew up with internet and I feel I can control myself not to use the bad features,” he says.
“But do I trust my children?” he wonders aloud.
“When they are old enough to use it I will definitely have to re-evaluate. I think then I might put filters on or use Rimon, or maybe then I’ll even disconnect internet from the house altogether. It’s just not worth the risk.”

A museum tracing the history of journalism and press freedom has opened its doors for the first time.

The Newseum, in Washington, cost $450m (£228m) and boasts thousands of newspaper front pages and photographs, plus artefacts and hours of film.

Newseum executive director Joe Urschel said the site was “dedicated to free speech, free press and free spirit”.

An original and much smaller version of the Newseum was based in Arlington, Virginia, and closed in 2002.

The new incarnation is housed on Pennsylvania Avenue, between the White House and the US Capitol.

The seven-floor building offers visitors interactive games in 14 galleries, 15 theatres and two television studios

Berlin Wall

Newseum trustee and ex-Associated Press chief executive Louis Boccardi said the museum was like a newspaper in that visitors could pick and choose what was interesting to them.

“It’s authentic and meant to convey both the good and those situations where we, the press, haven’t performed the way we should have,” he said.

One of the exhibits features global coverage of the attacks on 11 September, 2001 and the mangled remains of the broadcast tower that stood atop the World Trade Center.

The journalism museum also includes large sections of the Berlin Wall, archived video and newspapers down the ages.

Other exhibits allow visitors to decide on the most important stories for the front page of a newspaper or record a television interview in front of a White House backdrop.

And exhibits will evolve with news of the day.

The BBC News has a set of pictures covering a procession that occurred today in Rome in order to celebrate it’s legendary foundation on 21 April, 753 BC by the twin sons of the war god Mars, Romulus and Remus.

Click here to view the pics – and Happy Birthday Roma!