In2-MeC

Prague, Czech Republic
26 November 2004

The isolation, the alienation, of the individual. That's one of the oft-cited hallmarks of modern "civilization"--exemplified by tall apartment buildings populated by lonely people who have little or no relationship with their fellow apartment dwellers. In the last decade the computer addict has come to symbolize this alienation. Click on this web address--

http://www.nobodyhere.com/justme/

--and be patient, a little time is needed for the animation to load. Move your mouse pointer over the words on the right of the figure to see the action. That's it: nobody here, just me and my mind, trying to forge a personal relationship with a cathode ray tube and a keyboard.

Here at In2-MeC I've several times published reports about exploding cell phones. In the past when such reports hit the news, the phone manufacturers would issue a declaration that it is simply impossible for these wonderful devices to blow up. Thus for a while, the notion of the hand phone as a potential hand grenade existed only as an urban legend. Not any longer. They're finally admitting that it does happen. They put the blame on cheap batteries.

Exploding Cell Phones a Growing Problem

Tue Nov 23, 6:38 PM ET

By ELIZABETH WOLFE, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Curtis Sathre said it was like a bomb going off. His 13-year-old son Michael stood stunned, ears ringing, hand gushing blood after his cell phone exploded. Safety officials have received 83 reports of cell phones exploding or catching fire in the past two years, usually because of bad batteries or chargers.

Burns to the face, neck, leg and hip are among the dozens of injury reports the Consumer Product Safety Commission (news - web sites) has received. The agency is providing tips for cell phone users to avoid such accidents and has stepped up oversight of the wireless industry. There have been three voluntary battery recalls, and the CPSC is working with companies to create better battery standards.

"CPSC is receiving more and more reports of incidents involving cell phones, and we're very concerned of the potential for more serious injuries or more fires," said agency spokesman Scott Wolfson.

U. S. phone makers and carriers say most fires and explosions are caused by counterfeit batteries and note that in a country with some 170 million cell phone users, the number of accidents is extremely low.

"Is it a problem? It has turned up, you bet. But statistically it is extraordinarily rare," said John Walls, spokesman for the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association. "But the fact that it has happened certainly has the industry's attention. "

Some consumer advocates say the cause goes beyond bad batteries making their way to the market. They point to the increasing pressure on battery and phone makers to fit more capabilities into small instruments.

"If you're cramming more and more power in a small space, what you're making is a small bomb," said Carl Hilliard, president of the California-based Wireless Consumers Alliance, which has been tracking incidents of cell phone fires and explosions.

Though legitimate batteries can go wrong, there is a greater chance that poorly made, counterfeit ones will lack safety devices to detect overheating or overcharging. The lithium-ion batteries found in most cell phones can overheat if, for example, heat vents are covered.

The CPSC is trying to determine if improved venting is enough by itself to ensure safety. "We have seen temperatures as high as 600 degrees, and you can have a torch-like effect if these batteries don't function properly," Wolfson said.

The commission has announced three battery recalls since January, one from Verizon Wireless and two from Kyocera Wireless Corp. Kyocera's first recall was blamed on a supplier whose standards had slipped. The other recalls were attributed to suppliers bringing counterfeits into distribution chains.

Kyocera, which recalled 1 million batteries last month, said it has changed vendors and doubled efforts to test its own batteries.

Hoping to address problems that may lie beyond their supply lines, members of the wireless industry began collaborating last week with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a standard-setting organization, to create voluntary design and performance standards for all batteries.

"There needs to be high-quality batteries for these cell phones. You have a lot of power in a very small product, so it's really key," said Wolfson of the CPSC, which is participating in the meetings between wireless industry members and IEEE.

Carriers and manufacturers also are urging cellular users to exercise reasonable care of batteries, chargers and phones and to purchase them directly from phone companies rather than secondhand dealers or off the Internet.

But even following those recommendations sometimes isn't enough, as bad products inevitably find their way onto store shelves.

Angela Karasek, a 21-year-old paralegal in Philadelphia, bought her Motorola phone and battery together from a Nextel store. She awoke one night a few weeks ago to what she described as a pinging sound and then saw fire. Her cell phone battery had blown out, igniting a doll about three feet away. She ran to her parents' room for help, and her father quickly put out the fire.

"I'm just a light sleeper, and for some reason I sat up and saw all the flames on the doll," Karasek said.

Marcelino Gonzalez of Brentwood, N. Y. , said he suffered second-degree burns after his Kyocera phone exploded in his hand as he turned it on to make a call.

"If it was to my face it would have blown up in my face," said Gonzalez, 62, who has contacted a lawyer.

Michael Sathre, who is expected to fully recover from his wounds, was picking his fully charged Verizon LG cell phone off the floor when it exploded by his side. The family chose not to sue and has instead allowed the companies involved and a consumer group to come to their house to study the damage, in the hopes it won't happen to someone else.

"It took my son two months to decide to even be near a cell phone," said his mother, Cris. "But he needs one. "

We can't live without 'em, right?

Srila Prabhupada used to mention in lectures how the American government was spending millions on finding a way to stop drug addiction among the youth--even as the Hare Krsna movement was demonstrating that it can be done by bhakti-yoga, and quite cheaply at that. The present administration of the USA is similarly trying to halt illicit sex among the youth.

Bush Seeks Money for Abstinence Education

By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - President Bush's re-election insures that more federal money will flow to abstinence education that precludes discussion of birth control, even as the administration awaits evidence that the approach gets kids to refrain from sex.

Congress last weekend included more than $131 million for abstinence programs in a $388 billion spending bill, an increase of $30 million but about $100 million less than Bush requested. Meanwhile, a national evaluation of abstinence programs has been delayed, with a final report not expected until 2006. Ten state evaluations, compiled by a group that opposes abstinence-only education, showed little change in teens' behavior since the start of abstinence programs in 1997. The president has been a strong proponent of school-based sexual education that focuses on abstinence, but does not include instruction on safe sex. "We don't need a study, if I remember my biology correctly, to show us that those people who are sexually abstinent have a zero chance of becoming pregnant or getting someone pregnant or contracting a sexually transmitted disease," said Wade Horn, the assistant secretary of Health and Human Services (news - web sites) in charge of federal abstinence funding. Those who say schools also should be teaching youths how to use contraceptives say Horn's argument ignores reality. Surveys indicate that roughly 50 percent of teens say they have sex before they leave high school. While the nation's teenage pregnancy rate is declining, young people 15 to 24 account for about half the new cases of sexually transmitted diseases in the United States each year. Teaching only about abstinence means students will be less able to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, say supporters of comprehensive sexual education. "The only 100 percent way to avoid a car collision is not to drive, but the federal government sure does a lot of advocacy for safety belts," said James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, a group that promotes education about birth control and condom use. The push for abstinence is one of several Bush policies popular with religious conservatives. Also topping the agenda: the faith-based initiative, which aims to open more government programs to religious groups. That push will continue into a second term, said Jim Towey, who directs the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. "This is a culture change in the way the government provides social services," he said in an interview. "It's a change to recognize if we really want to help our poor, we want to give them some choice of programs and providers. " The argument about sexual education has raged for years, between those who say teaching about sex promotes promiscuity and those who say teens will make better choices if they are fully informed. The "abstinence-only" initiative was part of the 1996 welfare law. Because programs are so young, there has been little conclusive research about their effectiveness. Independent researchers said in 2002 there is no reliable evidence whether these programs are effective in reducing teen sex, pregnancy or the transmission of disease. The same team has been updating its findings for the Department of Health and Humans Services. A second report was supposed to be released earlier this year, but has been pushed back, said HHS spokesman Bill Pierce. The final installation is expected in 2006. Advocates for Youth recently compiled state evaluations that found little change in teens' behavior since the start of the abstinence programs. The states evaluated are: Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington. Leslee Unruh, president of National Abstinence Clearinghouse in Sioux Falls, S. D. , said those state programs are not true abstinence programs because they talk about delaying sexual activity, but not specifically waiting until marriage. Wagoner said backers of abstinence-only education are now distancing themselves from programs that don't work. He noted that the state programs all qualified for and received money from the federal pot of abstinence education money. Horn and Unruh acknowledged a paucity of data. "So many of our programs are in their infancy. The jury is still out," Unruh said. Horn said, "The research is not as adequate as it needs to be. " Still, he is not willing to wait for more evaluations, calling abstinence education "something that parents and children want. "
___

Associated Press writer Laura Meckler in Washington contributed to this report.

The Amazon: I've often read that the sprawling primeval forest of that region is the lung of the planet earth--the billions of trees convert carbon dioxide into oxygen to keep our atmosphere breathable. If the following report is correct, it means that modern "civilization" is busy suffocating itself.

Half of Brazil's Amazon Jungle Occupied-Study

By Andrew Hay

BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - About half of Brazil's original Amazon rainforest has been occupied by man, deforested or used for industry like logging and its destruction is worse than government data shows, a leading environmental group said on Tuesday.

The study using satellite photos shows that land occupation and deforestation covers some 47 percent of the world's largest jungle, an area bigger than the continental United States, the Brazilian non-government organization Imazon said.

The respected group has received funding from a series of sources including the Ford Foundation, the German and U. S. governments.

While Brazil's government says only 16 percent of Brazil's Amazon has been deforested, the Imazon study indicates a much larger area is threatened or being destroyed by man, researcher Carlos Souza said.

"This shows the real pressure on the forest," said Souza, who used satellite images up to 2002 to produce the study.

Deforestation of the Amazon hit its second-highest level ever last year as ranchers, farmers and loggers cleared an area larger than the U. S. state of New Jersey.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva faces criticism from environmentalists that he is more interested in building roads and dams to drive Brazil's farm export-led economy than slow Amazon destruction.

Lula's government says it is using satellite monitoring, reserves and better law enforcement to slow destruction of an area that is home to ten percent of the world's fresh water and 30 percent of plant and animal species.

The center-left government is particularly concerned about an "arc of deforestation" that marks an agricultural and settlement frontier sweeping from east to west across the lower, southern half of the Amazon.

Imazon said its survey shows reserves must be created deep within the forest, as well as on the frontier of Brazil's portion of the Amazon -- about two thirds of the rainforest.

"Vast areas of forest that were previously considered empty (especially in the north and west areas) show signs of growing human pressure, especially from forest fires," the Imazon study said.

Brazilian Environment Ministry officials were not immediately available to comment on the survey.

Some 70 percent of Brazil's tropical savannah -- once the size of the Amazon -- has been deforested to create the world's biggest grain growing area, environmental groups say.

The Amazon will go the same way if agriculture, business and government use it as a resource to fuel economic growth, Silva said last week as she opened an environmental police academy. �

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