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Saturday, June 25, 2005

In an interview on NBC’s Today show with Matt Lauer, Tom Cruise aggressively defended his opposition to psychiatry and anti-depressive drugs. This occurred after being asked questions about his criticism of Brooke Shields, who has been taking drugs, including Paxil, for postpartum depression. Cruise is usually known for keeping his cool in interviews, but recently he has been slightly more unbound.

Cruise’s statements, including “Psychiatry is a pseudoscience“, and “There is no such thing as a chemical imbalance in a body”, reflect the beliefs of the Church of Scientology, of which he is a member. The interview became particularly tense when Lauer mentioned that he knew people who had been helped by taking Ritalin, an attention-deficit disorder drug.

“Matt, Matt, you don’t even — you’re glib,” Cruise responded. “You don’t even know what Ritalin is. If you start talking about chemical imbalance, you have to evaluate and read the research papers on how they came up with these theories, Matt, OK. That’s what I’ve done.”

Cruise went on to say: “You don’t know the history of psychiatry, I do.”

Cruise has not formally studied medicine beyond a high school education, having dropped out in his senior year (1980) to pursue an acting career. In light of this, some members of the psychiatric community have refuted Cruise’s controversial statements. Dr. John Scully, medical director of the American Psychiatric Association, has said “The illnesses we treat – anxiety, depression – are very real illnesses…The treatments work. We have demonstrated that through robust scientific study.”

Lauer insisted that Ritalin helped people: “You’re telling me what’s worked for people I know or hasn’t worked for people I know. I’m telling you, I’ve lived with these people and they’re better,” Lauer said.

Cruise hinted that Lauer was promoting Ritalin and Lauer scoffed: “I am not. I’m telling you in their cases, in their individual case, it worked.”

The exchange ended when the two basically agreed to disagree. Cruise, who is 42, did admit that one of his goals is to speak more about Scientology in an effort to get people to understand it better.

Scientology has historically been at odds with the established medical and mental health community. The rift dates back to the 1950s and Scientology’s founding father L. Ron Hubbard. In his book, “Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health”, published in 1950, Hubbard claims that Dianetics (later called Scientology) could cure the majority of human ailments. These claims were sharply disputed by a variety of mainstream science and medical professionals including psychiatrists.

On Monday, June 27, 2005, the American Psychiatric Association released a statement that stated the following:”It is irresponsible for Mr. Cruise to use his movie publicity tour to promote his own ideological views and deter people with mental illness from getting the care they need…Rigorous, published, peer-reviewed research clearly demonstrates that treatment (of mental illness) works…It is unfortunate that in the face of this remarkable scientific and clinical progress that a small number of individuals and groups persist in questioning its legitimacy.”

The APA represents nearly 36,000 physicians specialising in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Reza Nakhjavani, head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, has publicly stated that he blames yesterday’s jet crash on pilot error. Nobody was killed when the Tupolev Tu-154 crash-landed and caught fire on the runway.

Media reports at the time said the aircraft was performing an emergency landing in Mashad owing to a passenger requiring medical attention. Nakhjavani said that he is yet to see confirmation of this passenger’s existance, and accused the pilot of placing one life before over 150 others; there were a combined 170 passengers and crew aboard.

The Taban Air plane then crashed in the fog and caught fire. The aircraft sustained a tailstrike followed by landing gear failure and the right wing breaking. Forty-six people were injured and the Tu-154 burned on the runway. Nakhjavani claimed the pilot’s actions were illegal and he had no clearance to land, also blaming Air Taban and stating they were negligent.

Hamid Behbahani, Minister of Roads and Transportation, also blamed “human error” for both the air crash and a train accident the same day that killed nine people. However, he stated that the foggy weather conditions also played a role in the plane crash. Taban’s license is currently suspended.

Iran uses a number of Russian and Soviet-built aircraft, particularly Tupolevs. In recent years these have had a high accident rate. Last year a Tu-154 crash killed 168 people shortly after takeoff from Tehran heading to Yerevan, Armenia. It was the worst accident in Iranian aviation history. RIA Novosti has stated that this fleet is aging and in urgent need of maintenance and repair work, while Iran blames international sanctions which they claim prevent the import of spare parts except low-quality products from Russia.

Regardless of the causes of the problems Iran has experienced with its Tupolevs, the nation today banned the import of any more Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft. Meanwhile, Russia has sent a team from the Interstate Aviation Committee to assist investigations. Under the Convention on International Civil Aviation the state which manufactured an aircraft typically assists any probe into an accident involving it.

The Interstate Aviation Committee was set up after the collapse of the Soviet Union to replace the single body in place across the USSR. If Iran concludes negligent pilot error was indeed to blame then the country cannot sanction the flight crew since they are employed by Russia’s Federal Aviation Service. The Russian party to the investigation issues flight is responsible for licensing pilots.

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

On Monday, United States technology giant Microsoft announced their plans to acquire GitHub, a San Francisco, California-based web-based hosting service for software version control using Git, for 7.5 billion US Dollars (USD).

In the official announcement at the Microsoft News web site, the company said they are to reach agreement with GitHub by the end of the year. They said the agreement would allow them to deliver Microsoft development services to GitHub users, and “accelerate enterprise use of GitHub”. GitHub had been financially struggling recently and is expected to get a new CEO.

In 2016, according to financial news and media company Bloomberg L.P., through three quarters GitHub lost USD 66 million, while in nine months of that year GitHub had revenue of USD 98 million. In August 2017 GitHub said they were seeking a new CEO. According to the announcements by GitHub and Microsoft, the Microsoft Corporate Vice President Nat Friedman would become the new CEO of GitHub. He had created app creation platform company Xamarin and was “an open-source veteran”, Microsoft said.

GitHub confirmed the acquisition plans on its blog. In this announcement they alluded to concerns about past friction between Microsoft and open-source software, however they said “things are different. […] Microsoft is the most active organization on GitHub in the world”, mentioning VS Code as an example. In the announcement, GitHub also referred to its several years of collaboration with Microsoft on Git LFS and Electron. GitHub also mentioned the Azure development platform run by Microsoft.

Sunday, August 21, 2005

A robotic system at Stanford Medical Center was used to perform a laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery successfully with a theoretically similar rate of complications to that seen in standard operations. However, as there were only 10 people in the experimental group (and another 10 in the control group), this is not a statistically significant sample.

If this surgical procedure is as successful in large-scale studies, it may lead the way for the use of robotic surgery in even more delicate procedures, such as heart surgery. Note that this is not a fully automated system, as a human doctor controls the operation via remote control. Laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery is a treatment for obesity.

There were concerns that doctors, in the future, might only be trained in the remote control procedure. Ronald G. Latimer, M.D., of Santa Barbara, CA, warned “The fact that surgeons may have to open the patient or might actually need to revert to standard laparoscopic techniques demands that this basic training be a requirement before a robot is purchased. Robots do malfunction, so a backup system is imperative. We should not be seduced to buy this instrument to train surgeons if they are not able to do the primary operations themselves.”

There are precedents for just such a problem occurring. A previous “new technology”, the electrocardiogram (ECG), has lead to a lack of basic education on the older technology, the stethoscope. As a result, many heart conditions now go undiagnosed, especially in children and others who rarely undergo an ECG procedure.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

The leading supplier of school uniforms in the United Kingdom, Lancashire-based manufacturer Trutex, has announced it is “seriously considering” including GPS tracking devices in future ranges of its uniform products after conducting an online survey of both parents and children.

“As a direct result of the survey, we are now seriously considering incorporating a [tracking] device into future ranges” said Trutex marketing director Clare Rix.

The survey questioned 809 parents and 444 children aged nine to 16. It showed that 44% of parents were worried about the safety of pre-teen children, and 59% wanted tracking devices installed in school apparel. 39% of children aged nine to 12 were prepared to wear clothing with tracking devices in them, while teenagers were notably less enthusiastic and more wary of what Trutex has admitted they see as a “big brother” concept.

However, Trutex has claimed the tracking devices would bring about worthwhile benefits, including being a valuable resource for parents who wanted to keep a close eye on where their children were at all times.

“As well as being a safety net for parents, there could be real benefits for schools who could keep a closer track on the whereabouts of their pupils, potentially reducing truancy levels” says Rix.

Each year, Trutex supplies 1 million blouses, 1.1 million shirts, 250,000 pairs of trousers, 20,000 blazers, 60,000 skirts and 110,000 pieces of knitwear to the UK.

It is not the first company to manufacture school uniforms with a central focus on child safety; last week Essex firm BladeRunner revealed it was selling stab-proof school blazers to parents concerned about violence against their children. The blazers were outfitted with Kevlar, a synthetic fibre used in body armour. It has already received orders internationally, including Australia.

If the Trutex tracking devices go ahead, it is unclear where in the uniform they will be located.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

At least two people have died and at least eight to ten were injured after two semi trucks collided in a truck tunnel on Interstate 5 (Newhall Pass) between Los Angeles and Santa Clarita California, United States, causing the tunnel to be completely shut down on both north and southbound lanes.

At approximately 11:00 p.m. (pacific time), two semi trucks collided and at least 13 other trucks smashed into the wreckage causing a massive fire. Firefighters are using foam to control the flames, which could take several hours to put out.

Officials say that the debris could take a day or more to remove and that a full inspection will have to be done on the tunnel before it can be used again because officials say that the structure of the tunnel has been compromised.

“It has impacted the structural stability of the tunnel,” said John Tripp the Fire Chief for Los Angeles County who also said that there may be more people trapped in the wreckage.

“We’re going to have to do a very methodical search. There could be unfortunately more people that were not able to escape,” added Tripp.

The tunnel is 200 feet long.

See the discussion page for instructions on adding schools to this list and for an alphabetically arranged listing of schools.

Due to the damage by Hurricane Katrina and subsequent flooding, a number of colleges and universities in the New Orleans metropolitan area will not be able to hold classes for the fall 2005 semester. It is estimated that 75,000 to 100,000 students have been displaced. [1]. In response, institutions across the United States and Canada are offering late registration for displaced students so that their academic progress is not unduly delayed. Some are offering free or reduced admission to displaced students. At some universities, especially state universities, this offer is limited to residents of the area.

Thursday, September 21, 2017

On Monday night, New Jersey, US-based toy retail giant Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy in the US as well as in Canada. The retailer filed it from Richmond, Virginia for Chapter 11 bankruptcy code in the US, and a judge allowed a loan of over US$2 billion.

According to the filing, the retail chain owns US$6.6 billion in assets, but has a debt of US$7.9 billion. They were under a roughly US$5 billion debt since the company underwent a three-way acquisition in 2005. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Bain Capital, and Vornado Realty Trust acquired Toys R Us for around US$7 to US$7.5 billion. After the US judge approved a loan, Toys R Us received about US$3 billion from the lenders to continue the business and survive a competitive market, and restructure their business model. E-commerce giant Amazon.com, Walmart and Target are some of the competitors for the conventional ‘brick and mortar’ toy shop, with lower priced-merchandise and fast, cheap delivery. In a conference call in June, CEO Dave Brandon said “very, very aggressive pricing online” was causing problems. He also said the company was experiencing “significant weakness in demand for their products globally”. Toys R Us are to clear a debt of US$400 million by May 2018.

Toys R Us said they would continue to operate for the holiday season. Bankruptcy lawyer Jeff Gleit said Toys R Us “need to do both a financial restructuring as well as an operational restructuring” and “needs to modernize with the times”. Last holiday season, Toys R Us made sales around US$4.5 billion. Overall, the company reported a US$29 million loss in 2016. CEO Brandon said, “Our objective is to work with our debt holders and other creditors to restructure the US$5 billion of long-term debt on our balance sheet, which will provide us with greater financial flexibility to invest in our business”.

Toys R Us employs more than 60 thousand people in 38 countries around the world in more than 1600 stores. The company’s stocks fell by six percent after filing for Chapter 11 protection. US bankruptcy code Chapter 11 allows the company to restructure under a plan approved by the court. The company would also be shielded from creditors’ claims during the process. For the stores located in Canada, Toys R Us filed bankruptcy in Ontario and are to undergo reorganisation. However, 259 stores located outside the US or Canada will not undergo reorganisation, the company said.

Over 300 US-based retailers have filed for bankruptcy this year, and hundreds of stores closed.