Saturday, February 3, 2007

A proposal by the Turkish government to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey is threatening online gay rights in Turkey. If the proposal is accepted, Turkish websites through which the Turkish LGBT community socializes will be closed and prohibited. According to the press release by Lambda Istanbul, a Turkish LGBT organization, the words “Lesbian“, “Gay“, “Bisexual“, “Transgender” (LGBT) and “Transsexual” are already banned from Turkish internet cafes.

Saturday, June 2, 2007

An Indian tribe, thought to have had little previous contact with civilization, was found in a remote area of the Amazon, approximately 2000 km to the north of Rio de Janeiro. It comprises 87 members. Called Metyktire, they are reported to be by and large naked, except that the men use penis sheaths, and the women shave the tops of their heads.

The reason for their not being discovered before now is thought to be at least partly due to the lack of larger rivers in the area, which makes communication difficult. The discovery was made when two members of the Metyktire tribe suddenly showed up in the Kayapo tribe’s village, in the Menkregnoti reservation of the Amazon. The Metyktire tribe is a subgroup of the Kayapo tribe, with which it has had little significant contact, but the members speak an archaic form of the Kayapo language.

In order to protect the members of the tribe from diseases they might lack resistance to, the Brazilian government has forbidden contact with them except for a team of doctors which has been sent in to examine them.

Saturday, June 18, 2005

MasterCard International announced Friday that multiple instances of fraud have been tracked back to CardSystems Solutions, Inc., a company that processes credit card transactions and other payments. Customer names, banks, and account numbers of up to 40 million cardholders have been exposed, of which about 13.9 million are MasterCard-branded cards, the company said. Visa and American Express cards were also affected.

“The breach appears to be the largest yet involving financial data,” said David Sobel, of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

CardSystems issued a statement late on Friday that said it learned of the potential breach 26 days ago, but that the FBI told the company not to advise the cardholders nor the public at large. CardSystems also said their statement had been vetted by the FBI.

A spokesperson for the FBI said that the agency had asked CardSystems not to disclose information that could compromise the investigation, but that it had not asked CardSystems to fail to disclose the breach at all.

Michael A. Brady, C.F.O. of CardSystems, told the Associated Press that “we’re absolutely blindsided by a press release by the association,” when speaking of MasterCard’s release. A MasterCard spokesperson said that the company was obligated to inform its customers of the breach.

MasterCard spokesperson Sharon Gamsin said that CardSystems was hit by a virus-like computer script that stole customer data for the purpose of fraud. She said MasterCard does not know how the script got into the CardSystem network.

Sobel said this theft “indicates that this is a shadowy industry where the consumer never really knows who is going to be handling and using their personal information. Presumably, the affected consumers thought they were dealing with MasterCard.” Having a third-party process credit card transactions is common practice in the industry.

Saturday, December 2, 2006

As families fled their homes in the early morning hours on Thursday October 26, there was no warning. The Esperanza Fire southeast of Los Angeles and West of Palm Springs, California, had ballooned under the influence of Santa Ana winds to more than 19,000 acres as of the morning of October 27. No time to get the animals, no time for crates or even a leash. Sadly, owners left behind not only their horses, lamas, donkeys, chickens, rabbits, but also their dogs and cats.

Many of the families who did manage to evacuate their pets found themselves in the parking lot at the Fellowship in the Pass Church Red Cross Shelter where a MuttShack Animal Rescue team caught up with them.

Pam Anderson, Director of the emergency Red Cross shelter said that many people with animals had come and left.

The air was thick with smoke, and ash was raining down on the parking lot where dog owners, not able to take their dogs into the shelter were camping out in pup tents andin their cars.

Those who could afford it checked themselves into pet friendly hotels in nearby towns.

Some were prepared. Jane Garner, a small dog breeder was able to get all her animals out, and had set up her puppy runs alongside her RV in the parking lot. Others were not doing too well, having left home without as much as a leash.

The same scenario played out at the Red Cross shelter at Hemet High School. Animals were being boarded in vans, trailers and cars and small travel crates.

When MuttShack Animal Rescue arrived, a small fracas had sent several dogs off in different directions, running out of the school parking lot down busy streets necessitating an instant rescue response.

The Incident Command for the Esperanza Animals, Ramona Humane Society in San Jacinto welcomed MuttShack‘s offer to help at the shelters.

Ramona Humane Society had recently published a notice in their Newsletter about the newly passed “PETS Act”and warned owners not wait until a major disaster such as an earthquake or fireto prepare. “Be proactive to ensure that your pet will be taken care of.”

MuttShack and PetSmart Charities set up ad hoc facilities for the animals at both shelters.

The Red Cross shelter, run by Madison Burtchaell of the Orange County Red Cross was very accommodating about allowing a small emergency pet shelter adjacent to the School.

Barbara A. Fought of PetSmart Charities, an organization that works with animal welfare organizations and provide assistance in disasters, provided crates and emergency supplies.

MuttShack and Red Cross volunteers, Martin St. John, Tom Hamilton, and Steve Meissner helped assemble the crates to secure a safe environment for evacuated pets.

It was a great relief for evacuees who had camped out in the parking lot to finally leave their vehicles and relax at the shelter, setting up their cots to grab some sorely needed rest.

Firefighters and residents reported loss of wildlife and animals. The Esperanza fire burned 34 homes, consumed 40,000 acres and cost five Firefighters their lives before it was contained four days later on October 30. Firefighting operations cost nearly $10 million.

MuttShack Animal Rescue is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization active in disasters and dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and care of lost or discarded dogs, cats and other animals.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Sam’s Club, operated by Wal-Mart Stores, has announced that it will be cutting about 11,000 jobs, most of which are product-demo part-time jobs. The announcement was made by Sam’s Club’s President and Chief Executive Brian Cornell.

The president commented that the move was intended to increase sales and customer loyalty, and not to lower costs. “Operationally, we see this as a net neutral,” he said. Cornell said he believes a large part of of the fired workers would be hired by Shopper Events LLC of Rogers, Arkansas, a marketing firm.

In addition to the cuts, Sam’s Club said it would be outsourcing its in-store product demonstration and sampling to a third-party firm, the marketing company Shopper Events.

A compilation of brief news reports for Saturday, August 8, 2009.