Pentagon to implant microchips in soldiers' brains

Submitted by Adam Thomas on Mon, 2007-07-30 19:49.
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The Department of Defense is planning to implant microchips in soldiers' brains for monitoring their health information, and has already awarded a $1.6 million contract to the Center for Bioelectronics, Biosensors and Biochips (C3B) at Clemson University for the development of an implantable "biochip".

Soldiers fear that the biochip, about the size of a grain of rice, which measures and relays information on soldiers vital signs 24 hours a day, can be used to put them under surveillance even when they are off duty.

But Anthony Guiseppi-Elie, C3B director and Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Bioengineering claims the that the invivo biosensors will save lives as first responders to the trauma scene could inject the biochip into the wounded victim and gather data almost immediately.

He believes that the device has other long-term potential applications, such as monitoring astronauts’ vital signs during long-duration space flights and reading blood-sugar levels for diabetics.

“We now lose a large percentage of patients to bleeding, and getting vital information such as how much oxygen is in the tissue back to ER physicians and medical personnel can often mean the difference between life and death,” said Guiseppi-Elie. “Our goal is to improve the quality and expediency of care for fallen soldiers and civilian trauma victims.” The biochip also may be injected as a precaution to future traumas."

Clemson scientists have formulated a gel that mimics human tissue and reduces the chances of the body rejecting the biochip, which has been a problem in the past.

The researcher predicts the biochip is five years away from human trials, and the DoD could start implanting microchips in soldiers bodies soon after.

Cancer cure patented

Submitted by Vidura Panditaratne on Thu, 2007-01-04 04:16.
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[img_assist|nid=115|title=Breast Cancer cell|desc=|link=popup|align=left|width=100|height=96]

A group of researchers claim that they are patenting a possible cure for cancer involving nothing more than sugar and short-chain fatty acid combination. [ Chemistry & Biology]

The Johns Hopkins researchers cautioned that their double-punch molecule, described in the December issue of the journal Chemistry & Biology, has not yet been tested on animals or humans.

Nevertheless, they believe it represents a promising new strategy for fighting the deadly disease, and have already filed an application for a U.S. patent covering this class of compounds.

"For a long time, cancer researchers did not pay much attention to the use of sugars in fighting cancer," Department of Biomedical Engineering postdoctoral fellow said. "But we found that when the right sugar is matched with the right chemical partner, it can deliver a powerful double-whammy against cancer cells."

Sampathkumar and his colleagues built upon 20-year-old findings that a short-chain fatty acid called butyrate can slow the spread of cancer cells. In the 1980s, researchers discovered that butyrate, which is formed naturally at high levels in the digestive system by symbiotic bacteria that feed on fibre, can restore healthy cell functioning.

Efforts to use butyrate as a general drug for tumours elsewhere in the body have been hindered by the high doses of the compound needed to effectively eradicate cancer leading scientists to try and make butyrate more potent by modifying it or joining it to other compounds.

The results have been disappointing because the molecular partner added to butyrate to improve delivery to the cancer cells often produced unsafe side effects.

In some of the less successful experiments, designed to avoid toxic side effects, researchers used innocuous sugar molecules such as glucose to carry butyrate into the cells.

"We didn't think they chose the right partner molecule," said Kevin J. Yarema, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering who supervised the project. "Our insight was to select the sugar partner to serve not just as a passive carrier but as additional ammunition in the fight against cancer."

The researchers focused on a sugar called N-acetyl-D-mannosamine, or ManNAc, for short, and created a hybrid molecule by linking ManNAc with butyrate.

The hybrid easily penetrates a cell's surface, then is split apart by enzymes inside the cell.

Once inside the cell, ManNAc is processed into another sugar known as sialic acid that plays key roles in cancer biology, while butyrate orchestrates the expression of genes responsible for halting the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells.

Although the study of the exact molecular mechanism is in its early stages, the researchers believe the separate chemical components work together to bolster the cancer-fighting power of butyrate.

The double attack triggers cellular suicide, also called apoptosis, in the cancer cells.

To find out whether this butyrate-ManNAc hybrid alone would produce the positive results, the researchers tested three other sugar-butyrate combinations and a butyrate salt compound with no sugar attached.

The four other formulas and the butyrate-ManNAc hybrid were each added to lab dishes containing cancer cells.

After three to five days, cancer growth had slowed in all of the dishes.

After 15 days, cancer growth had resumed in dishes treated with four of the compounds, but in samples treated with the butyrate-ManNAc hybrid, all of the cancer cells had died.

The researchers also wanted to find out whether administering the two parts of the hybrid independently would achieve the same result, but in these experiments, the cancer cells did not self-destruct.

The researchers suspect this is because the hybrid molecules more easily penetrate the surface of the cell than the individual chemicals.

Once the components are inside, the researchers believe the partners help enzymes to resume the normal assembly of sugar molecules and correct aberrant gene expression patterns, two processes that go awry when cancer occurs.

Nightmares linked to suicide

Submitted by Vidura Panditaratne on Mon, 2007-01-01 20:22.
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Nightmares are linked to a five-fold increase in suicide risk, according to a study by a group of Swedish health researchers [ SLEEP (subscription only)].

In the first known report of its kind, a study published in the January 1st issue of the journal SLEEP finds that sleep disturbances are common among suicide attempters, and that nightmares are associated with tendency to commit suicide.

The study, conducted by Nisse Sjöström, RN, and colleagues of Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Göteborg, Sweden, focused on 165 patients between the ages of 18-68, who were admitted to medical units or psychiatric wards at Sahlgrenska after a suicide attempt.

It was discovered that 89 percent of subjects reported some kind of sleep disturbance.

The most common complaint was difficulties initiating sleep (73 percent), followed by difficulties maintaining sleep (69 percent), nightmares (66 percent) and early morning awakening (58 percent).

"Our finding of an association between nightmares and suicidality does not imply causality," Sjöström said. "However, our findings should inspire clinicians to include questions concerning sleep disturbance and especially nightmares in the clinical assessment of suicidal patients

Angry blogger blocks Digg traffic

Submitted by Sub Editor on Sat, 2006-12-30 16:43.
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A blogger who got upset by negative comments about his article on [ naeblix.cs] that made it to the front page on the community-based popularity website Digg is blocking access to visitors coming from there.

Anyone who follows the link from Digg article entitled “Parallels Makes IE Testing Suck Less, Melts Power Cord” to Ryan Tomayko’s blog tomayko.com [tomayko.com] is greeted chased away with the message:

“403 Go Away!

The server understood the request, but is refusing to fulfill it because you're coming from digg.com and the proprieter of this system is frankly terrified by you people. Authorization will not help and the request SHOULD NOT be repeated.”

“The funny thing about Digg is that it changes the way people read,” Tomayko writes. “The average Digger seems to assume that people write stuff solely for the purpose of making it to the Digg front page. My article was clearly a cheap ploy to capitalize on the recent buzz around Parallels combined with reports on battery explosions to drive traffic to my ad-ridden site. Or I'm being paid by Microsoft to spread negative press about the Mac. NO, I'm a Firefox fanboy that hates Microsoft, Apple, and Parallels. It's crazy.”

“how the **** does running a application cause your cord to melt....idiot,” is the first comment on the Digg website for the article [ Digg.com].

“First, I'm not writing a "story" for Digg Corporation and, to be honest, I have very little interest in improving my writing to better serve the Digg ‘community’.” Tomayko explains. “Second, if I was formally reporting a power cord issue, I would do it with AppleCare.”

“The point of the post was simply to share (with other developers) an anecdote about a common occurrence in software development: sometimes you take a step forward and two steps back,” he adds. “In this case, IE testing became a bit easier but seemed to cause a hardware failure. The pattern seems to repeat itself over and over in software development, this iteration was just more bizarre than most

100-year, Zero-maintenance Rocking-Chair: Made from Reclaimed Plastic Milk Containers!

New Injury Healing Scaffolds, Surgical Sutures from Spider Web!

Good or Bad Behavior: All Depends on Genes

Social environment is not the only factor that determines good or bad behavior of a person, but genetic factors also play a significant role in this. Researchers came up with this belief after studying the behavior of adult twins.

Findings of this study stand head to head to the previous assumption, according to which social environment is the only determining factor that shapes good or bad behavior. Commenting on this issue study author Laura Koenig remarked:

This study shows that religiousness occurs with these behaviors also because there are genes that predispose them to it.

Here it is worth mentioning that this several studies, conducted in the past have also shown that genes play a crucial role in shaping our behavior. However, this study has once again renewed this fact. It seems that further study on this subject may provide researchers with more concrete information to explore this sphere of science further.

Intel has been accused of abusing its power to erode the rival chipmaker AMD. Till the end of the second quarter, AMD had 11.4% of market share against Intel, which dominates the rest of the share.

It is not for the first time that EU Commission has charged Intel with such charges. For the past six years, AMD has been pleading time to time for European Union to take action against rival Intel for alleged abuse of its market dominance.

Finally yesterday, the EU Commission, accepting the complain, filed a case against Intel, in which the AMD complained that their rival has offended market laws and practiced illegal business practices.

Statement containing o

bjections reveals the abuse of power in three ways, according to Commission: offering rebates to the PC manufacturers, by making payments to some manufacturers to delay or cancel products using AMD processors and selling processors below cost to erode down the rival.

Intel has 10 weeks to present their evidences against the allegations framed and can request an oral hearing. If charges are found justified, a fine up to 10 percent of the annual turnover can be charged.

However, in a response, that seems cool, Intel general council said, “We are confident that the microprocessor market segment is functioning normally and that Intel’s conduct has been lawful, pro-competitive, and beneficial to consumers, Bruce Sewell said in a statement.”

Intel officials further assured the EU Commission that discounts are meant to help the customers so they could access their product easily and has nothing to do with their rival AMD. Swell stressed that these charges are just based on complain filed by their direct rival and so far there is no complaint from the consumers or PC users.

EU Commission spokesperson, Ton Van Lieron, confirmed the delivery of statement of allegations and emphasized the need of action against such violation of antitrust regulations, which are necessary to create a fair completion in the market.

In a similar case, EU had asked Microsoft to deposit a huge fine of $683 million in 2004, for abusing its dominant position in PC operating system, which was challenged by the company in the court.

However, it is sure that customers may feel some comfort at lowered prices but such steps can wash a competitor completely, leaving no choice for customers other than using just one kind of product.

EU commission seeks it necessary to look into the matter as it has been a matter of conflict for the last six years starting with similar complain filed by AMD in 2001.

Tumor Painting Ready to Uncover Cancer Cells

Researchers at Seattle children’s Hospital Research Institute and Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Centre have taken one more step in their fight against cancer by developing a paint that can illuminate cancer cells to help surgeons locate even a single tumor cell.

The paint is a scorpion-derived peptide called chlorotoxin that is linked to the molecular beacon Cy5.5.

Researchers detected a chemical found in large Israeli scorpion venom which is capable of getting attached to cancer cells.

Cy5.5 is a fluorescent molecular beacon that emits photon in the near infrared spectrum. This gives surgeons a much better opportunity to locate and remove all the cancer cells without injuring the surrounding healthy tissues.

This has resolved a major problem regarding the brain tumor where approximately 80% of the malignant cancer recur at the edges of the surgical sites and has a great chance to reappear in the same intensity as before.

Brain is the most complex organ in human body. It has an intercellular filtration system, which allows very few materials to enter into the cells, thus making it difficult for drugs and indicators to enter into the neuron with a rare chance of cure.Cy5.5 can filter through this system easily and illuminates the starting and ending of a tumor.

This technology has resolved the problems and imperfections of methods currently used by surgeons. Cy5.5 is 500 times sensitive than currently used MRI (magnetic reasoning imaging) as it can detect as few as 200 cancer cells which is possible in MRI only if there are more than 1 million cells and still more, it starts adhering to cancer cells within one minute and remains effective for 14 days.

Tumor painting has been successfully tested on mice and has cleared pilot safety test. But this technology still needs to be examined about its toxic effects before seeking approval from food and drugs administration to begin clinical trials.

Scientists Successfully Visualize Human Memory for the First Time

Neuroscience, from the past many years, had tried to understand the complexities of human brain and its working. They are often entangled in challenges posed by mood disorders, learning problems, insomnia, obesity and many more sufferings caused by brain dysfunctions.

In this very quest, Scientists at UC Irvine, led by Gary Lynch, professor of psychiatry and human behavior, have taken a major step - for the first time in the history of neurosciences in successfully visualizing the memory in its physical substrate.

Working with advanced microscopic techniques called restorative deconvolution microscopy, the team studied the changes associated with synapses in the hippocampus and appearance of LTP-related markers.

Long –term potentiation (LTP) is a physiological phenomenon closely related to memory storage. The UC Irvine team found that LTP marker appears during learning and there is change in synaptic structure.

UC Irvine team found that synaptic junctions in rats changed their shape on exposure to complex environment and learning to find a path. When these changes blocked by injecting drugs, rats found it difficult to learn.

This study and outcomes will pave a way for one of the great objective of life sciences: mapping the distribution of memory across the brain. Until today, researchers were facing obstacles in locating memory trances or “engrams” because there was no technique to tag the synapses and the changes related to their shape.

Now, the contents inside your brain and experiences of your daily life can be encoded in terms of synaptic connections as their physical substrate.

Massive Dust Storm Haunts NASA’s Twin Mars Rovers

Opportunity and Spirit, have been gathering data since 2004 and
did a splendid job in exploring the Red Planet. However, a series of Martian dust storms, which have lasted for almost a month, are making their survival difficult.

Heart Diseases from Diabetes Drug Tripled: Report

While on one hand the medical fraternity is up with arms to fight diabetes, on the other, the blockbuster drug, for the disease, Avandia is whirling out complaints for its reported side-effects of increasing heart risks!

The heart risks from the drug has been reported to have tripled.This find is a serious issue as more than 6 million people worldwide take Avandia to control their blood sugar – i.e. Type 2 diabetes, which is linked to obesity! Already at higher risk for heart attacks, these people are put to greater risk, i.e by 43 percent more –this thought is particular is disturbing.

But, why the increase?

It is that the doctors and the researchers are left unaware of this serious side-effect, or that not many cases of the heart diseased diabetics are reported?

The question arises on why the potential problem from the drug went undetected before it has been on the market shelves eight years ago?

It eventually shows carelessness and flaws on the ‘safety tracking system’s’ part.

Whatever be it, when the link is discovered, an immediate action is needed to be taken, both heart disease as well as diabetes being growing serious problems across the world.

This has been officially confirmed that the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus is back in Manipur. After detecting the virus in the sample sent by a poultry farm in a Manipur village near Imphal, 9,472 poultry birds were culled by the order of state health department.

Moreover, some 7,159 eggs were destroyed and 450 kilograms of poultry feed was damaged. It was done within a radius of five kilometers of the infected area. On Friday, the operation continued with spiraling surveillance measures in a radius of 10 km of that area.

According to the report, the state governments have sounded Red alert in neighboring states such as Nagaland, Assam, Mizoram and Orissa. The concerning authorities have strengthened surveillance exercise in the border areas. They have also imposed ban on the import of poultry and pigs and their other products from Manipur as well as from Myanmar and Bangladesh also.

Further, another report from Pakistan had earlier also confirmed about the outbreak of Bird flu.

The government has ordered to health department to be alert in the western border states such as Rajasthan and Punjab.

The officials are monitoring the trade of fowls and eggs across the region to keep a close watch on the situation.

The Department of Animal Husbandry said that the speed of control and containment procedures against the spread of bird flu has been hastened. On Thursday, 21 Rapid Response Teams were deployed for the purpose and on Friday another 32 teams were deployed into service.

Further, the government has identified 22 areas for culling and proper sanitization works. There is a plan to stamp out 1.5 lakh poultry birds in 128 farms circling Chinmeirong village near Imphal. There are no reports of any human infections so far.

Passing of Stem Cell Bill Raises Several Questions!

After all, bill aiming at overturning ban on therapeutic cloning has come out victorious after passing though several impediments. Breaking of these shackles would now enable researchers to carry on their therapeutic cloning research.

However, different kind of views has come out reacting about this cancellation of ban on therapeutic cloning. During the parliament procedure, where a big percent of MPs were in favor of this move; at the same time there was no scarcity of such MPs too who were strongly opposing this move.

However, overturning of this ban might lead to both positive and negative repercussions, because where sane use of this therapeutic cloning would carve out a way for new possibilities, it is also possible that its wrong use may also prove a noxious weapon in the hands of some nefarious researchers.

    Padraig Harrington, the 2007 Open champion, was still celebrating his win in the small hours of yesterday morning. He and his wife, Caroline, finally went to sleep at four but, only two hours later, the player was wide awake again.

	Local hero: Open winner Padraig Harrington back on Irish soil

Six o'clock or not, he wanted to issue his wife with a reminder. "I'm the Open champion," he whispered. Caroline confirmed that he was not dreaming and suggested that they both go back to sleep.

"We're both thinking 'Wow', we can't believe this has happened," said Harrington, 35. "It's so hard to take it in."

Now, he would like nothing more than to see the television footage of the championship, the reason being that he did not have much idea of what was going on at the time.

For instance, it was not until 11 o'clock on Sunday night that he learned Andres Romero had held the lead after his run of four successive birdies from the 11th.

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"I looked at the final leaderboard and thought to myself that Andres had done well to get to six under, but I had no idea how he had got there," Harrington said. "It just goes to show the extent to which I was in the zone."

Harrington's septuagenarian coach, Bob Torrance, thought his player had thrown the championship away when he paid his two visits to the Barry Burn at the 72nd. Harrington, at that point, was struggling to keep thoughts of Jean van de Velde at bay.

"One big part of me making six was that it was not the same seven that Jean took. I was counting as I went. I was sliding down this slippery slope and, in the end, the fact that I got down in a chip and putt gave me a bit of comfort."

In the play-off, Harrington picked up two shots on Sergio Garcia at the first and still had a two-shot lead on his return to the 18th. This time, he took aim on the bogey, which would mean that Garcia would need a birdie to draw level.

Now, he missed the water off the tee and he missed it with his second. On in three, he pinned down the five he needed for Europe's first Open win since 1999. There were a few lost seconds as he savoured the victory and then he saw the downcast Garcia. At that point, he was hit by the thought, 'Somebody has lost.' How he felt for him. "Sergio," he said, "is probably the best ball striker in the game. I know this sounds cliched but, at 27 he's still young and he will win majors. It will happen."

He added that there were only a few players who have the ability to run away with a championship and that Garcia, unlike himself, was one of them. He is, incidentally, a great admirer of the young Spaniard and had not begun to read anything into "the meeting on the bridge".

To recap, Garcia had been walking over the bridge on his way to the 17th green and the two crossed as Harrington was heading towards where his drive had finished in the water at the 18th.

Garcia smiled and said "Hello!", while Harrington, by way of a response, gave a nod. "No," he said, "I didn't read anything into Sergio's smile. The only reason I didn't do more than nod was because I couldn't get any words out." Harrington led people to believe that he would probably have thought it a bit odd if Garcia had not smiled. "It's what you do when you meet someone, isn't it?" he said.

Harrington does not know how it will be when he next meets Garcia. "He will have seen me with the Claret Jug and been disappointed, and when he sees me again I will serve as a reminder," he suggested.

It

『 RELIVE THE MOMENT』

——A Speech by James J. Bradley

The 55th Anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima

Marine Corps War Memorial, Arlington, Virginia

20 February 2000

Transcription courtesy of USMC 

(Introduction by Iwo Jima veteran Major General Fred Haynes, U.S. Marine Corps, Retired)

General Haynes: John Bradley is the second man from the right, the Pharmacist Mate, the only Navy man in this magnificent statue which represents everything that all of us here, our children, our grandchildren stand for. We have with us today his fourth child, third son, James Bradley, who will talk to us a little about what this represents. I present James Bradley.

   (Bradley rises from his seat and strides across the wet grass to the podium. Silently he turns away to gaze at his father's enormous bronze likeness. He turns back to the audience and begins.)

 James Bradley: So there's my dad in the tallest bronze monument in the world, but that's about all we knew growing up. He wouldn't talk about Iwo Jima; he would always change the subject. After he died, I phoned my mother and asked her to tell me everything that dad ever told her about Iwo Jima. She said, "That won't take long, because he only talked about it once -- on our first date. For seven or eight disinterested minutes and then never again in a 47 year marriage did he say the words, Iwo Jima."  

After his funeral, we were in for some surprises. My brothers and my mother were searching for his will in his office. They opened a closet door. In that closet were two large brown boxes. We were surprised that in those boxes he had secretly saved memories of 50 years of being a flagraiser.  

Then the next day we were in for another surprise. My father's Captain on Iwo Jima phoned my mother and asked her if she knew that my father had been awarded the Navy Cross for valor two days before the flag raising. She said no.  

My father had kept his heroism a secret from his wife, from his family, and his community for half a century.  

I burned with curiosity and went on a quest. I phoned mayor's offices and sheriff's departments all across the country, looking for the relatives of these six guys. I interviewed hundreds of you Iwo Jima veterans and I learned a lot.  

I learned how young you were. My dad is not the guy putting the pole in the ground; he's the next guy up. But behind him, obscured by him, on the other side, is Rene Gagnon.  

Rene Gagnon, at that moment, had a photo of his girlfriend in his helmet. He needed the protection because he was scared. He was 17 years old.  

Ira Hayes, the last man on the statue whose hands cannot reach the pole. Proud of being with you Marines, he wrote home from the boat taking him to Iwo Jima: "These boys I'm with are all good men. I would not take 1000 dollars to be separated from them."  

I learned how eager you boys were to serve. Harlon Block, at the base of that pole, enlisted in the United States Marine Corps with all of the senior members of his high school football team.

 I learned how determined you were on Iwo Jima. My dad wrote a letter home three days after the flag raising. He wrote, " I didn't know I could go without food, without water, or sleep for three days, but now I know it can be done."  

I learned about leaders. Ira Hayes is the last guy up there. The next guy you're looking at is Franklin Sousley. Behind Franklin, obscured by Franklin, is my hero -- Mike Strank.  

Where is Mike's right hand? Mike's right hand is not on the pole. Mike is behind his boys. He's the Sergeant. He's the Marine leader and his right hand is gripping the right arm of Franklin Sousley, a young boy. Mike is helping Franklin lift a heavy pole; a Marine leader caring for his boys.  

Three weeks before Iwo Jima, his Captain said that he wanted to promote Mike Strank. Mike turned it down on the spot saying, "I promised my boys I'd be there with them."  

And I learned about the heartbreak that you went through. Franklin Sousley, the second figure in. Franklin was fatherless at the age of nine. He was dead on Iwo Jima at the age of nineteen.

 His aunt told me that when the telegram arrived at the General Store in Hilltop, Kentucky a young, barefoot boy ran that telegram up to his mother's farm. The story is that the neighbors could hear his mother scream all night and into the morning.  

The neighbors lived a quarter of a mile away.   

I learned about the challenges that you faced. You did the impossible. You fought an underground, unseen enemy.  

I learned that the Air Force bombed Iwo Jima more than any spot in the Pacific and only rearranged the sand. 

I learned that the Navy lobbed shells the size of Volkswagens -- with the power to re-sculpture Mount Suribachi -- and didn't kill anybody.  

It took you guys to win a battle that historians describe as "American flesh against Japanese concrete."  

I have been to Iwo Jima. It's five miles long. If you're in a car going 60 miles an hour, it takes you 5 minutes to conquer it. It took you -- slogging, fighting, dying -- 36 days.  

I learned that my father's company, named "Easy" Company, had 84 percent casualties. Sixteen percent of my dad's buddies made it off unharmed.  

Bob Schmidt told me that when they buried the dead on Saipan, they buried by individual grave. When they buried on Iwo Jima they buried by row -- rows of a hundred boys. He told me that they needed surveyors to mark the lines. 

Corpsman Hoopes instructed me, "You tell your readers that my uniform was caked with blood and it cracked. And it was not my blood."  

I learned about the buddyhood and bravery that won the battle of Iwo Jima.  

Jack Lucas, here in the front row, jumped on the beach without a rifle. And the reason he didn't have a rifle is because he wasn't supposed to be there. He stowed away to go fight the battle of Iwo Jima. And a couple days later jumped on two grenades to save his buddies.  

Nurse Norma Crotty is in the audience and I interviewed her. She was an "Angel in the Air," flying down to evacuate the grievously wounded. She evacuated Navy personnel, Army personnel -- all over the Pacific. She was a nurse for 50 years caring to civilians and military.

 I asked, "Nurse Norma, was there anything different about those Iwo Jima Marines?" And she said, "Yes, I'll never forget them. It was their spirit. I evacuated boys from other battles that were beaten, but those Marines had Esprit de Corps. Those boys were burned. They were bruised. But I never saw a Marine who was beaten."

 I think it's time we Americans put this battle into perspective.

 This is not just a big battle of the Pacific, or an important battle of World War II.

 This is unique.

 This is above and beyond.

 This is "America's Battle."

 What else can you call a battle that in one day had more casualties than two and a half months at Guadalcanal?

 Normandy was terrible, but at the end of one day, at the end of 24 hours, you and I could have had a tea party on the beaches of Normandy. It was completely safe.  

Boys died on the beaches of Iwo Jima -- on the beaches -- for two weeks.  

America's Battle.  

What else can you call the only battle that when Franklin Delano Roosevelt saw the casualties he gasped, and he cried?  

TIME Magazine, March 5th, 1945, wrote, "no battle of World War II -- not even Normandy -- was watched with as much interest as the battle of Iwo Jima."  

America's Battle . . .  

(Bradley gazes at the Iwo Jima veterans in the audience and beckons to them . . .)  

Hey guys listen up! George Washington. Thomas Edison. Hank Aaron. You Marines and Corpsmen who won America's Battle. I would like to salute you guys, but I know how difficult that is because you are as humble as you are brave. 

Jessie Boatright said to me, "You know Bradley, you think we did something special out there in the Pacific, but we were just ordinary guys. Ordinary guys just doing our duty."  

Yes, well, I'm more in synch with the words of Tex Stanton.  

I often call Tex Stanton when I need advice with my writing. And he always picks up on the first ring. He doesn't leave his chair very often. Because Mr. Stanton has no legs.  

He left those on Iwo Jima 55 years ago.  

Mr. Stanton said to me, "You know Bradley, heroism on that island was a funny thing. You had to be observed, and you had to be written up, and if you got a medal your citation said that you did something "above and beyond." Well Bradley," he said, "I saw a lot of heroes on Iwo Jima and the way I figure it, if you got through one day on that island you were doing something "above and beyond" just to survive."

 I would like to salute you guys.  

You guys who won America's Battle.

 You ordinary guys.  

You heroes of Iwo Jima. 

(After a silent pause Bradley turns to gaze at the six bronze figures for a moment and then walks across the wet grass to his seat.) 

--------The End

Though Canada has failed to meet the Kyoto goals within the stipulated time, it seems to be trying hard to make the ends meet, as far as global warming-related initiatives are concerned.

It is now the turn of the Canadian railways to do its bit to relieve the environment from the greenhouse gas emissions.

In cue to this, a framework for rail companies is provided by a MOU signed by Ottawa and the Railway Association of Canada. The framework bids to use engines that can lower emissions and are EPA-mandated. The targets are to be met by 2010.

The agreement also demands that the railways should retire 130 medium-horsepower locomotives that were built between 1973 and 1999, which are generally pollution-creating.

The framework requires that the existing in-service locomotives are upgraded as they are overhauled. This would eventually help the railways meet the targets that lead to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. And, for this the agreement requires the railways to prepare an action plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

To help reach the MOU goals, Ottawa will be working with the rail industry before putting the official regulations are put to place in 2011.