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Some time ago I wrote an article titled: Cyberbullying Hits Home. Following that article I was approached by some organizations who had so much more information to provide. Trend Micro’s Lynette Owens, who runs the Internet Safety for Kids and Families program, provided some amazing insights as part of this interview. As a strong advocate on this issue, Lynette is very involved in her community, and her efforts in Massachusetts have made an impact in establishing it as a state at the forefront of developing laws to address these unsettling issues.

According to Trend Micro:
“While many schools are taking a step in the right direction, many parents are still unclear about what they can do to help their kids. Eighty-three per cent of parents claim to be very concerned about their child’s online security, yet only 30 per cent report visiting their child’s social media profiles.”
Proof points:

According to the Cyberbullying Research Center, almost 21 per cent of American youth between the ages of 10 and 18 have been the target of some form of virtual harassment or “cyber-bullying.”
According to the 2011 Consumer Report — 20 million kids used Facebook over the last year. Of that, 7.5 million were younger than 13. The social-networking site’s own rules prohibit users that young. Clearly an indication that kids are at a high risk of online threats.

Here’s the interview with Trend Micro’s Lynette Owens:

Has the Internet amplified the incidences of bullying?

Yes and no. Bullying is still bullying Office Visio Key, which has been going on for ages, however, the Internet has enabled methods of bullying that did not previously exist. It is no longer limited to school grounds, the audience (and witnesses) can be a larger group, and for reasons good and bad, it can be more public and better documented.

Does the Internet create a protective veil that subjects people (who may not normally be labeled as bullies) to be vindictive and hurtful online?

For adults and teens alike, there are some who may be more emboldened to ’say’ something online under the presumption of anonymity. Or, even when your identity is known, if you are not interacting live, you aren’t faced with the hurt and pain that you inflict, you don’t have to ‘own it’ the same way. To bully someone in person, you have to be immune to that… most people aren’t.

Additionally, something benign said online can be misinterpreted. Humour or sarcasm cannot always come across clearly in ones and zeros. And this misunderstanding can then escalate into conflict that might never have happened if the conversation was done offline only.

Can you provide statistics on Cyberbullying? What are the incidences of bullying? For example the differences in race, sexuality etc. Where do these occur? Social platforms?

From the most recent research by the Cyberbullying Research Center (CRC), it is about 20 per cent among 11-18 year olds, though it depends on age. Online bullying tends to be reported more frequently among female than male teens per research by both the CRC and Mass. Aggression Reduction Center (MARC ), and peaks around 10th grade (then starts to decrease after that). Common types (as per MARC) are:

Name-calling — 29 per cent
Rumours — 23 per cent
Revealing info that should not have been shared — 22 per cent
Rumors over text messaging — 20 per cent

What is being done to raise awareness of this?

There are multiple effort going on nation-wide and internationally to address the issues of cyberbullying, including:

legal action (state laws requiring schools to take more responsibility for preventing, investigating, and addressing bullying online and off)
education initiatives within schools, at all grade levels
efforts by both non-profit advocacy groups and for profit technology companies in terms of producing educational materials (blogs, tip sheets Windows 7 Key, etc.), direct advocacy, volunteerism, technology innovations, and funding initiatives that promote education, awareness, and further research of the issues
parent education initiatives (such as the Internet Safety night program that PTO Today and Trend Micro have engaged in, now in its second year)

Are laws starting to catch up and help identify and mitigate occurrences? Do you foresee changes within Facebook, YouTube etc. that include disclosure of information and closing accounts where incidences of Cyberbullying occur? What about screening for user age requirements?

There have been bullying laws in multiple states for some time Office 2011 MAC Key, but only recently have several states expanded these to include bullying done over electronic means. I think it is still too early to tell what the impact of these changes in the law have had, but the fact that many of them are defining the role of schools in preventing, investigating, and addressing cyberbullying is a very good development. Previously, schools’ roles were limited to what happened on school grounds only.

As far as the role of social networks to address bullying, all such sites have terms of service and community guidelines. If you break these rules, you will be kicked off the site. And if you see someone breaking these rules, there are usually links or email addresses to report such behaviour. This applies to ALL users, not just teens, and not just limited to bullying. Spamming, etc. are considered prohibited behaviours on social networks.

Screening for age won’t address the problem. Most bullying is occurring among teens who are old enough to have a social networking profile anyway (13-18).

What are schools doing to educate kids and build awareness for this?

On a nation-wide basis, more and more schools are starting to look at cyberbullying in a larger context. More and more districts are adopting internet-connected technologies for educational purposes. The more evolved districts realize that teaching kids how to use technology safely and responsibly is an important part of that education process. Cyberbullying is one of the many areas addressed in what is known as Digital Citizenship curriculum. When you teach kids how to be good digital citizens, you teach them about what they see and download as much as about what they post and share with others. Some of the curriculum that covers digital citizenship in schools are from Common Sense Media, the iKeepSafe Coalition, and NetSmartz.

Can you give case examples where action has been taken to bring more attention to this?

In Natick, MA, as in many districts, a peer leadership program is now in place at the middle and high school levels. This program encourages students to take an active role in helping to minimize the incidences of bullying in school. Additionally, a parent group called the Natick Anti-bullying coalition was formed by a group of concerned parents, experts, church leaders, afterschool programs and sports coaches to address/prevent bullying that might happen outside of the school environment.

I appreciate the contributions from Natalie Severino, Lynette Owens of Trend Micro, as well as Jyostna Grover of AirfoilPR.

If you see changes happening in your province or state, please let me know. I want to call out progress against Cyberbullying.

Google has been handing out money to video makers so they’ll make more stuff for YouTube. Now it’s putting money into a video maker itself.

The search giant is set to invest in Machinima, one of the most popular networks on YouTube replica watches, via a funding round that should close within a month. Machinima focuses almost exclusively on YouTube videos for and about videogame players, and generates more than a billion views a month.

People familiar with the round tell me it should end up raising more than $30 million, and will value the company at around $190 million, post-funding. No comment from Google or Machinima.

Google will be one of several investors backing Machinima in this round. And even if it put in the entire amount itself, it wouldn’t be material for a company that did $8.1 billion last quarter.

But the move has significant symbolism replica watches, because it’s the first time Google has openly backed a content company by taking an equity stake. YouTube is spending more than $100 million on its much-publicized channel program, but it is writing those checks as loans to content makers, and it recoups the money via ad sales.

The deal may ruffle some feathers among other video makers, some of whom already complain that YouTube favors Machinima and a handful of prominent content partners. And people familiar with the funding round tell me that at one point Google considered routing the investment through its Google Ventures arm to try to allay those concerns.

The counter to that argument: Why shouldn’t Google back content producers who make stuff for its properties? After all replica watches, YouTube is trying to become more like TV. And most of the big TV networks own their own studios outright.

GAZA, May 14, 2012 (Reuters) — Egypt has brokered a deal aimed at ending a hunger strike by 1,600 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, a Palestinian source close to the negotiations said on Monday.

One in three of the 4,800 Palestinians serving time in Israeli jails began refusing food on April 17 in protest against detention without trial and to demand better conditions like an increase in family visits and ending solitary confinement.

The scope of the hunger strike has posed a new challenge to Israel, which has come under international criticism over detention without trial and could face a violent Palestinian backlash if any of the protesters die.

“Egypt has concluded a deal to resolve the prisoner crisis that included Israel’s acceptance of prisoners’ demands in exchange for ending the hunger strike,” said the Palestinian source who is close to the talks in Cairo.

Asked about news of the deal, an Israeli Prisons Service spokeswoman said: “The strike is still on … we are not commenting on the process.”

Egyptian mediators have been meeting Palestinian officials negotiating on behalf of the hunger strikers, and the source said an official announcement would be made after prisoners sign off on the deal.

While Israel had signaled it was prepared to offer concessions on prison conditions, it has showed no willingness to end so-called administrative detention, where prisoners can be held indefinitely without charge or trial.

Azzam al-Ahmed, a senior official of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s mainstream Fatah movement Tattoo Of Tattoo Machine, said prisoner leaders had been brought to a jail in the Israeli town of Ashkelon for discussions with Israeli officials on implementing the deal.

“We hope the agreement concludes today, barring any obstacles,” Ahmed told Voice of Palestine radio.

Ahmed said that under the draft accord, Israel would release so-called “administrative detainees”, prisoners held without trial, once their detention period was over. Israel usually holds such prisoners for six-month terms that a military court can extend.

A Palestinian official in Cairo said Israel also had agreed to renew family visits for prisoners from the Gaza Strip that had been suspended after Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was captured by Palestinian militants and taken to the Hamas-ruled territory in 2006. He was released last October in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.

CHALLENGE

Palestinians jailed by Israel are held in particularly high esteem by their fellow Palestinians who see them as heroes in what they term a struggle against occupation.

Defending its detention policy, Israel says some cases cannot immediately be brought to open court for fear of exposing Palestinian intelligence sources that have cooperated with Israeli security organs against militants.

The hunger strikers include militants from Islamist Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which reject peace with Israel, as well as Fatah members.

Two inmates who helped to launch the strike, Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahla of Islamic Jihad Tattoo Stencil Machine, were in the 77th day of their fast on Monday.

Last week, Israel’s Supreme Court turned down their appeal to free them from detention without trial but said security authorities should consider releasing them for medical reasons.

The court said “administrative detention causes unease to every judge” but was a “necessary evil” because Israel is “constantly fighting terror”.

A month ago, Israel released hunger striker Khader Adnan, an Islamic Jihad member Tattoo accessories, amid concern he would die. He agreed to end his 66-day-long fast in exchange for a promise not to renew his detention.

On Monday, thousands of people held a rally in Gaza in support of the hunger strikers. “We will give our souls and blood to redeem the prisoners,” the crowd chanted.

(Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem, Writing by Jeffrey Heller, editing by Diana Abdallah)

This piece is part of a series of blogs by leading NGOs to call attention to a range of issues that should be raised at the G8 summit at Camp David in rural Maryland from May 18-19.

Some of our greatest global successes occurred when nations around the world worked together to protect their citizens from devastating diseases. We’re incredibly lucky to say that today parents no longer need to worry about the possibility that their children will fall prey to smallpox. Polio — found now only in pockets of Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan — is the target of an intense eradication effort that we hope will assign it to the history books by the end of this decade.

During my work at the World Health Organization (WHO), I witnessed first-hand how hardworking researchers, scientists and public health physicians in laboratories and in the field collaborated with governments to develop vaccines and deliver them to the people who needed them most.

While many vaccines have been fully dispersed in wealthy countries — and as a result are often out of sight, out of mind — access to preventive medicine and vaccines is difficult or nonexistent in many developing countries. Leaders of G8 countries should remember that they still have an important role in protecting children from these diseases. Here are four diseases that could benefit from advocates in G8 countries.

1. Meningococcal Disease — Globally, there are an estimated half a million cases of meningococcal disease, which lead to 50,000 deaths each year. The onset of symptoms can occur suddenly and can rapidly progress, potentially becoming fatal within hours. Survivors of meningococcal disease may experience debilitating neurological side effects including speech disorders, mental retardation and paralysis. Most citizens in wealthy countries are protected from meningococcal disease Tattoo Guns For Sale, but in other regions of the world, such as Latin America, disease surveillance and containment efforts are very limited. Most often, it takes a massive outbreak to draw attention to meningococcal disease in the region. A recent study indicated that the economic and social consequences of meningococcal disease far outweigh the costs of prevention.

2. Rotavirus — By age five, every child across the world will have been affected by rotavirus at least once. Rotavirus is the most common cause of diarrheal hospitalizations and deaths among children worldwide. Development of a rotavirus vaccine has been a global health priority for many years, and with two vaccines currently on the market, the promise of prevention is now becoming reality in several parts of the world. For example, less than a month ago, Ghana became the first African country to simultaneously introduce pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines in its national immunization program in a bid to fight pneumonia and diarrheal diseases, each of which accounts for approximately 10 percent of under-five deaths in the country.

3. Typhoid — Safe, affordable and effective vaccines against typhoid fever are available now. However, for the 21 million people each year who are stricken with the disease, the availability of a vaccine isn’t enough. We need ministries of health and donor governments to come together to make typhoid vaccines easily accessible to those who need them most — mostly children under 5 who don’t have access to clean water. Although typhoid can be treated with antibiotics, resistance to common drugs is widespread and increasing. Vaccines can help eliminate these resistant strains from forming and help put a stop to 200,000 deaths that result from typhoid each year.

4. Dengue — Unlike the other diseases I’ve listed so far, dengue is the only disease without a vaccine. Dengue vaccine development has languished since the 1940s, due to limited knowledge of the global disease burden and low expectations for the potential market value. However, population growth, urbanization and rapid mass transit have resulted in an explosive increase in dengue cases — from 1.2 million in 1998 to as many as 50 million annual infections today — and contributed to an ever-growing number of countries and people at risk of infection. Dengue is now endemic in more than 120 countries across the globe, and is the most prevalent mosquito-borne viral disease. While we can’t say this uptick in outbreaks is good news, it has accelerated the development of a vaccine. Today, several vaccines are in various stages of advanced development, with clinical trials currently underway on five candidate vaccines. Trials in the most advanced stages are showing encouraging preliminary data Tattoo Kits On Sale, and the leading candidate could be licensed as early as 2015.

Access to vaccines is a basic human right that delivers unrivalled socio-economic benefits. As economists for the Copenhagen Consensus have pointed out Tattoo Grips, routine immunization provides an economic return averaging 20 times the cost of a vaccine and improved vaccine delivery holds the potential to save more lives than if we were ever to achieve world peace.

The 2012 G8 summit offers an important moment for global leaders to signal to the rest of the world that immunization and vaccine development programs are a top priority. They should not let this opportunity pass them by.

Read more G8 news and blogs on HuffPost’s G8 big news page.

This post has been updated since its original publication.

The trove of Bin Laden documents released this week indicate the Osama Bin Laden missed the Bush administration’s policy of describing the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan as the "war on terror."

Photo by AFP/Getty Images.

Among the cache of documents that the SEALs captured during their raid of Osama Bin Laden’s compound last year, one in particular should make many Republican foreign-policy advisers reassess their whole approach to the “war on terror.”

It’s the letter—No. 9 of the 17 missives that the administration released this week through West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center—in which Bin Laden discusses what he calls the “very important matter” of changing the name of al-Qaida.

Contrary to the tone of some news accounts, the letter is not some mildly amusing display of the former most-wanted terrorist engaging in Mad Men-style “branding.” Rather, it’s a fairly sophisticated analysis of how cultural co-optation helps build a political movement—and it’s a vindication of President Barack Obama’s approach to undermining that movement.

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In this letter, Bin Laden regrets that his organization’s original name, “Qa’ida al-Jihad”, has come to be known as simply “al-Qa’ida.” The abridgement, he writes, “reduces the feeling of Muslims that we belong to them, and allows the enemies to claim deceptively that they are not at war with Islam and Muslims.” Rather, the United States could claim that it was at war only with the al-Qaida organization, which it depicted as “an outside entity from the teachings of Islam.” Bin Laden complains that Obama has “repeatedly” made this argument. Therefore, he concluded, if al-Qaida adopted a new name, which included a reference to Islam, “it would be difficult for him to say” that he wasn’t at war with Islam.

He even makes “some suggestions” of possible new names, among them Muslim Unity Group, Islamic Nation Unification Party, and Restoration of the Caliphate Group.

Along the same lines, Bin Laden is upset that his enemies “have largely stopped using the phrase ‘the war on terror’ in the context of not wanting to provoke Muslims, because they felt that saying the war on terror could appear to most people to be a war on Islam, especially after they unjustly spilled the blood of innocent Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

And so, there it is: confirmation of the critique that many Democrats (and foreign-policy specialists of various political stripes) have lodged against the Republicans’ approach toward the war on terror this past decade—that their pet phrases (“Islamo-fascism,” “Islamo-terrorism,” even “war on terror”) play into the hands of al-Qaida, reinforcing the rallying cry bellowed by Bin Laden and his successors that America is waging war on Islam.

To his credit, President George W. Bush took some steps to rebut this critique, saying in several speeches that al-Qaida was a perversion Replica Karen Millen Dresses, not a reflection, of Islam. But he also indulged in the same “Islamo” vocabulary that—we now see—warmed Bin Laden’s heart. And the Republican activists who have most fervently touted his legacy in the war on terror—Dick Cheney, Newt Gingrich, John Bolton, Rudolph Giuliani Replica Herve Leger gown, to name a few—have often denounced those who decline to say “Islam” or “Islamist” in characterizing this post-9/11 face of terrorism.

Their line is that those who avoid the word are indulging in political correctness. But Bin Laden’s letter suggests that they’re engaging in political ju-jitsu. Bin Laden wanted the West to link Islam and al-Qaida because doing so would bolster both of his main messages: not only that the West is waging war on Islam (and therefore the West must be fought), but that Islam and al-Qaida are one (and therefore Muslims must join al-Qaida).

Obama entered the White House intent on isolating the two from each other as much as possible. Many gasped in horror that his first trip as president was to Egypt, where he gave a speech to students—most of them Muslim—at Cairo University. The cable pundits accused him of appeasement, of apologizing for America. They also raised a red flag when he dropped the phrase “war on terror.” Cheney in particular said it indicated that Obama lacked the right “mind-set” to confront threats in a dangerous world (even after Obama tripled the number of drone strikes on al-Qaida targets in Pakistan).

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Wards Auto is reporting that China is attempting to put a stop to rampant corruption by its government officials, especially when it comes to automotive purchases and embezzling. The People’s Republic currently spends somewhere between $46.5 billion and $62.1 billion at current conversion rates maintaining its fleet of 3 million official vehicles. Those figures mark between 6 and 12 percent of the government’s total costs. According to Wards, 464,000 of the 4 million vehicles registered in China in the first five months of the year were purchased for official use by government workers. That’s a little over 11 percent of every vehicle on the road.

In response, China has enacted new legislation to limit the number of official vehicles on the road. Moving forward, there will only be one governmental vehicle for every 20 workers. Engine size will also be limited to 1.8 liters and the total cost can be no more than $27,950. Currently Tattoo Supplies, workers can snap up any vehicle with an engine up to 2.0-liters of displacement with a cost of $38 Tattoo Supplies,280 or less. This year, government buyers have favored models like the Audi A6L, Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Volkswagen Passat.

2012 Mercedes-Benz GL spy shots – Click above for high-res image gallery
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The Mercedes-Benz GL sport-ute may have received a slight refresh for the 2010 model year, but the team in Stuttgart is already prepping the next-generation GL White Herve leger sale, and our spies have caught an early test mule roaming the streets. The overall shape of the seven-passenger SUV hasn’t changed much, but we can see that the front fascia has been smoothed out quite a bit, even in these early development stages.

The new GL will ride on a stretched version of the next-generation ML crossover platform Discount Marc Jacobs Dresses, and it will share the majority of its technological data with the smaller ML Replica DKNY Dresses, as well. In true Mercedes-Benz fashion Buy BCBG Dresses, we expect a full range of gasoline and diesel engines to be available Karen Millen Dresses sale, though no official word has been given on exactly what will be under the hood when the GL launches. For now, check out the attached gallery to see the GL mule out on the road.

Related GallerySpy Shots: 2012 Mercedes-Benz GL
[Source: CarPix]

If you drive a Cadillac Escalade Buy Hale Bob Dresses, Forbes’ Dan Lienert has your number. Lienert says you are an unapologetic risk taker who makes about $175k a year and like to entertain. On the other hand Herve Leger sale, if you prefer to drive a Lexus LS, you are intelligent Cheap White Herve leger, polite, well-traveled and family oriented.

The story covers eight other high-end luxury and sports cars Discount Herve Leger v neck, so all you Yugo drivers (like to hang on to possessions for purely sentimental reasons, might also own a Fuego Cheap DKNY Dresses, prefer champale to champagne and probably make much less than $160 Cheap Karen Millen Dresses,000 a year) can rest easy knowing Forbes doesn’t yet know your marketing profile.

All these generalizations are based on brand-sponsored market research and quotes from automaker representatives, so the validity of the broad suppositions they make are less than scientific. And please keep in mind we’re just the messenger.

[Source: Forbes.com]

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Much unloved by the automotive press and lately by consumers who haven’t been buying them, the folding-hardtop Lexus SC430 is possibly ending its production run this July. To celebrate and honor the occasion Discount Karen Millen Dresses, Lexus is releasing a special edition. Called “The Eternal Jewel Replica Missoni Dresses,” this special edition SC430 should be at Japanese domestic market Lexus dealers by March.

Only 200 are being made and all we know is what we see in the above photograph Discount Christian Audigier Clothes, i.e. nice looking leather. We doubt any will make it to our shores. If SC430 production does end Herve Leger sale, that leaves the door open for Lexus to continue in the direction laid down by the IS-F and LF-A and bring out a sporty SC replacement, hopefully along the lines of the original SC300 and SC400 Replica DKNY Clothes, visually at least. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more. Tip of the sun-blocking baseball cap to Leopaul!

[Source: Lexus]

2010 Mercedes-Benz E350 Sedan – Click above for high-res image gallery

After a decade at the top of the U.S. luxury vehicle sales charts Wholesale Replica Dior Watches, Lexus may soon be unseated by the previous leader Ebel Replica Watches, Mercedes-Benz, as well as BMW. While Lexus sales have been recovering this year from the dismal first half of 2009 Replica Hermes Watches, Mercedes-Benz has been climbing even faster.

One possible reason for this disparity is the string of recalls Lexus has been hit with this year Fake Alain Silberstein Watches for sale, including accelerator pedals Fake Omega Watches for sale, floor mats, leaking gas tanks and defective valve-springs. Another reason is the sales strength of Mercedes’ updated bread-and-butter vehicles Where buy best Replica Zenith Watches, including the new E-Class.

In June, Lexus sales were up just 2.7 percent compared to 25 percent and 15 percent for Mercedes and BMW respectively. Unless Lexus cleans up its act quickly and manages to convince customers that its quality problems are behind it, Toyota’s premium brand could fall behind both German brands.

Related GalleryReview: 2010 Mercedes-Benz E350 Sedan
Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright ©2010 Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: Bloomberg]