Human-like fossil find is breakthrough of the year

“Human-like fossil find is breakthrough of the year”



On October this year(2009), the 4.4 million year old creature, that may be a human ancestor, was first described in a series of papers in the journal Science. That 4.4 million year old creature was discovered in Ethiopia which is on the south part of Africa, and it is the first fossils of the species. the official name is Ardipithecus ramidus, however, it has now been nicknamed “Ardi”. Ardi is the first fossils of the species, and fossils were unearthed in 1994. When Ardi was discovered, scientists recognized the importance immediately. But the very poor condition of the ancient bones meant that it took researchers 15 years to excavate and analyze them. The most important thing to emerge from that excavation was the partial skeleton of a female creature. It has now been recognized by the journal's editors as the most important scientific accomplishment of this year. Therefore, the discovery of a fossilized skeleton that has become a "central character in the story of human evolution" has been named the science breakthrough of 2009.

Another article says that Ardi is a female who is 120cm tall. Also, Professor Suwa who used to work at Tokyo University in Japan discovered a tooth in 1992, and the existence of Ardipithecus ramidus became clear, and a skelton was found from head to foot afterwards. It was 1994 that a fossil was discovered, but 47 researchers ran more than ten years and analyzed it in detail. The journal Science appreciates the persistent efforts of study.

Their careful examination of its skull, teeth, pelvis, hands and feet revealed that Ardi shared a mixture of "primitive" traits shared with its predecessors, and "derived" features, which it shared with later hominids, or human-like creatures. It shared some of these derived features with humans.

Professor Tim White from the University of California, Berkeley in the US, was one of the lead scientists working on the project.
"This is not an ordinary fossil. It's not a chimp. It's not a human. It shows us what we used to be," he told Science Magazine at the time the research was published.
One of his team's key conclusions was that Ardi walked upright. This was based on the painstaking reassembly of its very badly crushed pelvis, which the scientists said had a shape that would have allowed Ardi to balance on one leg at a time.

There is more specific information on the internet webpage (http://genkinagochan.blog.ocn.ne.jp/doranyanko/). Ardi’s capacity of the brains is more than 300cc such as the regular chimpanzee. Ardi spent long time on a tree, and from that, a way of our far-off ancestral living was evolved. From the leg bone, it can see that Ardi had an ability to catch a branch with fingers, and to move trees. Ardi has a long arm, and it is considered that the long arm was used for to move on from tree to tree. The scientists’ team collected the fossil of the animals and plants which amounted to about 150,000, and the team discovered that Ardi lived in the forest.

I already know that the previous study demonstrates that the bipedalism evolved first, and then, upsizing of the brain advanced later. This time, however, the human who had begun to move a foothold of the life from the on a tree to the ground appeared at last.

“Tiger Woods admits 'I have let my family down' ”

“Tiger Woods admits 'I have let my family down' ”



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8391350.stm



World number one golfer Tiger Woods made a statement about his car accident and his private thing to his official homepage on December 2nd. In his official homepage, he stated about some of his privates, and in that statement, he firstly apologized to his family about his affair. Right after a U.S. weekly reported that Tiger Woods had an affair with the waitress in Los Angeles for about 2 years and six month, he carried the statement on his official homepage. He denied rumors that physical violence played any role in the incident, saying they were "utterly false and malicious". On the other hand, he didn’t state precisely about the news about his affair, but he made a statement as if he admitted about the affair.

The waitress, who is considered to be a partner of the affair, testified to the U.S. weekly that she met Woods at the nightclub in Las Vegas when Tiger’s wife, Erin, was going to have a first baby in two months. Moreover, the waitress made the voice mail public which was left in her cell phone. It was left in her cell phone on three days before when he had a car accident near his house. In that voicemail, Tiger Woods begging the waitress to take her name off her voicemail greeting in order to hide their affair. The caller's identity has not been verified.

To be frank, I do not understand the truth. Possibly the woman may say a lie for a purpose to get money. However, his clean images of mine that “He treasures the family” and “He is the symbol of good father” have certainly collapsed. Also in his statement he said as below; "Although I am a well-known person and have made my career as a professional athlete…”. I think that he should have done a right action as common one human being if he understood what he wrote in his statement.

In his statement, he referred to the privacy. I deeply agree to his opinion. Although he is a well-known person, he and his family should be protected from the invasion of privacy.

Finally I will tell you a splendid word of my father. He said, “The women may be the most difficult than any kind of sports”. I really laughed at what my father said, but this may be true for Tiger Woods.

“At Obama’s First State Dinner, the First Crashers”

“At Obama’s First State Dinner, the First Crashers”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/us/politics/27party.html?ref=politics



There was a middle-aged couple who pretended to be an invited guest to the official dinner that U.S. President Obama sponsored. The couple was Michaele Salahi and her husband, Tareq. They are Virginians who have been auditioning for a possible role in a different housewives TV franchise: “The Real Housewives of Washington.”

A White House official confirmed that the Salahis had not been invited nor seated for dinner. Edwin M. Donovan, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said Wednesday night that “initial findings identified a Secret Service checkpoint which did not follow proper procedures,” allowing the couple to gain access to the festivities, even though their names were not on the invitation list.

The surprising thing is that the Salahis posted photographs of themselves at the dinner on their Facebook page, and said: “Honored to be at the White House for the state dinner in honor of India with President Obama and our First Lady!”

I was just relieved that affair such as president’s assassination had not occurred. However, I just want to say that they are bad for carrying his trick too far. Also, recently in Colorado, “the balloon boy hoax incident” had occurred and it also related to the reality program on TV, and that case has just developed into a criminal case. People, such as Michaele Salahi and her husband, Tareq, should know the importance of the thing and should feel deep regret.

In addition, the security will be strengthened, and a further tax will be poured by such a case. In other words, by the action of the people who are some fools, society bears a burden. I feel that this structure is much the same in any case and in country.

“China Approves Disney Theme Park in Shanghai”

“China Approves Disney Theme Park in Shanghai”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/business/global/04disney.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=China%20Disney&st=cse

The Walt Disney Company has won approval from the central government of China to build a Disneyland-style theme park in Shanghai. It would be a little bigger than Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and on par with the parks in Paris and Tokyo. Shanghai Disneyland will be a Magic Kingdom-style theme park which has a mix of shopping areas, hotels. Also it will sprawl across 1,000 acres of the city’s Pudong district and the theme park occupying about 100 of those acres. Analysts estimate the initial park, Shanghai Disneyland, - not including hotels and resort infrastructure – will cost $3.5 billion. The new Disneyland in Shanghai is expected to open in five or six years, around 2014.

The reason that Disney tried to make a Disneyland in Shanghai is to expand the consumption in Shanghai. Because China has been changed from the world's factory to the market, Disney appreciate the potential of consumption which center of consumption, China, have.

Mr. Iger, the president of Disney, called the approval “a very significant milestone” in a statement, taking care to praise China as “one of the most dynamic, exciting and important countries in the world.”

However, interesting is that the timing of China approves Disneyland in Shanghai. It is speculated that the timing involved President Obama’s inaugural visit to China later this month. In my opinion, this approval may be politically motivated.

One more interesting point is that Disney has opened a chain of language schools in Shanghai, taking care to promise that the goal is to teach children to speak English. This fact looks very interesting. Because China has advanced rapidly in the field of economy and has been changed to the world’s market, the capability of using Chinese is the key to success in recent times when we see the world of business. In spite of this fact, Disney is still trying to expand the power of English.
However, I think this approval and building the new theme park is good for Asian economy and I hope that good influence would come to Japanese economy.

Thanks for the Memories, Andy Warhol

“Thanks for the Memories, Andy Warhol”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/arts/design/30vogel.html?pagewanted=1&sq=Cathy%20Naso&st=cse&scp=1

There was a lady who called Cathy Naso from Brooklyn. When she was a college student in 1965, she worked at Andy Warhol’s legendary Factory as a receptionist. She worked there for two years after school, on weekends, and during vacations. Because she worked hard in this Fatory, Warhol gave her the biggest present. The most important souvenir Ms. Naso has from those years is a 1965 self-portrait that Warhol gave her as a reward for her hard work. But now, more than 40 years later, she has decided to part with the painting. Sotheby’s is selling it on Nov. 11 at its evening sale of contemporary art, where experts there estimate it will fetch $1 million to $1.5 million.

She had been kept for a time in her kitchen in Connecticut. But then she grew afraid that it might be stolen, so she carefully secreted it away in a closet. “I didn’t put it in the closet because I’m a crazy person, but because I’ve treasured it,” Ms. Naso said. “It was Andy and it was his portrait.” However, if so, why did she make up her mind to part with it? Answer to this question is in Ms.Naso’s words on the article. She said; “I would love to keep it forever, but it really belongs to the art world,” and also she said, “I’ve treasured it. And I want whoever ends up owning it to treasure it too.”

I like her idea that she wants to keep it forever and also wants to convey Warhol’s grand achievement in history. However, on the other hand, the self-portrait was a personal present to her. If I were Andy Warhol, it would be sad and shocking that the present which I give will be sold. In addition, if the seller get vast property, I think that it is still more a shock.

“Calling Story of Boy and Balloon a Hoax, Sheriff Seeks Felony Charges”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/us/19balloon.html?scp=1&sq=balloon&st=cse

-Summary of the article-
On October 15, 2009, the spaceshiplike balloon which was made by amateur scientist, Mr. Richard Heene, floated out of their backyard carrying a 6-year-old boy, and it had been floated for two hours in the air. Also, because there was a fact that the balloon carried a boy, his father reported to police, then, the helicopter was sent away to go to the rescue of that boy. However, surprisingly, when the balloon caught on the desert in Colorado, the 6-year boy, Falcon Heene, wasn’t on the balloon. In fact, the 6-year boy, Falcon Heene, was just found alive and he was at his house. Moreover, he was found hiding in a box in the family’s garage. This news was told to the television company and transfixed millions of television viewers.
A few days passed, a story that transfixed millions of television viewers — about a child aboard a spaceshiplike balloon as it floated uncontrollably across the Colorado landscape — was concocted by the boy’s parents to gain publicity, law enforcement officials said. Also, local police in Colorado concluded that the balloon incident was all a hoax which is made by Heene Family. Jim Alderden, the sheriff said as below: “It was a publicity stunt. We have evidence to indicate it was a publicity stunt done with the hope of marketing themselves to a realty television show sometime in the future.” In addition, Sheriff Alderden said that among the charges being considered were three felonies: conspiracy to commit a crime, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and attempt to influence a public servant. The last carries a possible prison term of six years. The charges could also include a misdemeanor, filing a false report.

-My respond to the article-
I saw an interview to the Heene Family on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwKunktFx3M

It shows the video with the family had been surrounded by reporters in front of their home. Firstly, I couldn’t understand why mother doesn’t apologize to the people who were transfixed by this incident. When I think about this matter in terms of Japanese sense, I strongly expected mother to bow down and say “We deeply apologize for making a flutter. Thanks to the help, my lovely son came back to us. Thank you very much.” But she didn’t do anything like that and just laughing at the action of her son. I didn’t feel good because mother talked and laughed without a guilty look. However, I could understand the reason why the parents did not think about themselves. The reason is in the Falcon’s words. On “Larry King Live,” Falcon said to his father, “You guys said that, um, we did this for the show.” I don’t care this incident was an accident or hoax. In either case, I don’t think the children of Heenes will be a matured person under the protection of their parents.

“On Return From Cuba, an Arrest in ’68 Hijacking”

“On Return From Cuba, an Arrest in ’68 Hijacking”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/nyregion/12hijack.html?hp

Summary of the article

On November 24, 1968, there was an incident of airline hijacking. The incident occurred in the airplane that toward to Puerto Rico from Kennedy international airport in New York. On October 11, 2009, the U.S. federal authority arrested the suspect after an interval of about 40 years. The name of suspect is Louis Armando Peña Soltren, and he is 66 years old now. He was a fugitive who has been living in Cuba for four decades to avoid prosecution for his role in an airline hijacking. According to the decades-old indictment, nearly 40 years ago, Mr. Soltren and accomplices threatened the crew and passengers with the gun and the knife and ordered the pilot to change course for Havana, capital city of Cuba. Two of accomplices were sentenced to 15 and 12 years in prison respectively for threatening the lives of flight crew members. That two accomplices were arrested when they returned to the United States. But Mr. Soltren never left Cuba, where he was protected from prosecution. However, On October 11, 2009, Mr. Soltren was arrested. Mr. Soltren is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center and is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday. According to the article, their aim of hijacking is “Long live free Puerto Rico”. This sentence had scrawled by one of the hijackers inside the plane. In 1968, there were many people who had thinking like the hijackers had, so, more than 30 planes were hijacked or attempted to have been hijacked to Cuba. There were many people who wanted the freedom and wanted to escape to Cuba at that time.

My respond to the article

Interesting is that the reason of why the suspect of this hijacking, Mr. Soltren, had arranged his return to Kennedy International Airport with the F.B.I and State Department. The reason is that he wanted to see his family, including his wife, who lived in either Puerto Rico or Florida. I think he had many confused or mixed feeling while he was in Cuba for four decades to avoid prosecution because he left his family in the U.S. This means he chose freedom rather than his family. I think he had a strong feeling to get his freedom because he left his family and chose to do hijacking. However, from the action that he returned to the U.S., it is easy to imagine that Mr. Soltren was starved for affection. In addition, it is easy to imagine his feeling of loneliness in Cuba. I definitely do not agree with the thing which he did. However, I think it is good just for me that he returned to the U.S. with having the feeling of loneliness and the feeling of starvation to affection which are one of the core shaping the human feelings in spite of he did the crime against humanity. This is only my personal feeling, but, Mr. Soltren should strongly expiate the crime that he committed.