Recorriendo el camino intermedio, es así como me siento hoy. Ya dí el examen de grado, etapa más que dificil en mi carrera. Hoy comencé con mi practica y en un futuro no lejano espero retomar mi memoria.

Pero todo esto me indica que aún falta por recorrer. Si bien el camino más duro en terminos academicos ya lo viví y superé. Ahora es cuando me toca la etapa por decirlo de algún modo, un poco cruel. Esta nueva etapa del mundo intermedio es la que debo recorrer, es una etapa dura, donde madurar es la principal misión, donde la independencia se convierte en el mejor objetivo y herramienta de superación. Es aquí donde me encuntro. Hacia mi madurez es hacia donde voy...

Reflections by comrade Fidel:



I did not want to talk a lot, but he obliged me to expand on things; I asked some questions and, basically, listened to him.

His words recounted the feats of the Chinese people in the last 10 months. Heavy and unseasonal snowfall, an earthquake that devastated surface areas equivalent to three times the size of Cuba, and the gravest economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s have hit that immense nation of 1.3 billion inhabitants.

I saw before my eyes the immense effort of the Chinese people, of its workers, peasants, manual and professional workers; the traditional spirit of sacrifice and the millenary culture of that country thousands of years before the colonial stage imposed by the West, when the current powers of the G-7 group now hegemonizing the world economy emerged with their power and wealth.

What a colossal task in these times of globalization has befallen that leader who made the gesture of visiting our blockaded, assaulted and threatened homeland! Are we not perhaps one terrorist country among another 60 or more than could suffer a preventive and surprise attack? That was stated now more than six years ago by the demented chief of the empire, who met just five days ago with the G-20!

China is the only country in that group that is able to regulate via the state a high growth figure, at the proposed rate of no less than 8% in the year 2009. The idea launched by the last Party Congress was to quadruple the per capita Gross Domestic Product between 2000 and 2020, measured in constant values from 2007, the year in which the Congress took place. He talked to me about that in detail. In that way it would reach the equivalent of no less than $4,000 per capita by the end of that period, in conditions of peace. I think that it should not be overlooked that China is an emerging country, whose per capita income, with a much lower population at the triumph of the Revolution, not did reach $400 per year per inhabitant and was totally isolated by imperialism. Compare that with the $20,000 per capita or much higher figures currently enjoyed by the developed capitalist countries, like Japan, Western Europe, the United States and Canada. A number of these countries are in excess of $40,000 per capita per year, although its distribution in society is extremely unequal.

By using $586 billion of its hard currency reserves, which stand at close to $2 trillion, accumulated on the basis of sweat and sacrifice, it can stand up to the current crisis and continue advancing. Is there any other country with that solidity?

Hu Jintao, president of China, secretary general of the Party and president of the Central Military Commissions of the Party and government, is a leader who is aware of his authority and knows how to exercise it in plenitude.

The delegation he headed signed 12 draft agreements for modest economic development in an area of the planet where the totality of the island’s small territory could be struck by hurricanes of increasing intensity, evidence of the fact that the climate really is changing. The area in China affected by the earthquake does not extend to more than 4% of the surface of that great multinational state.

There are circumstances in which the size of the territory of one independent country, its geographical location and the number of its inhabitants play an important role.

Would the United States, which steals already trained intelligences from everywhere, be in a condition to apply an Adjustment Act for Chinese citizens similar to the one that it applies to Cuba? It is totally obvious that it could not. Could it apply it to the whole of Latin America? Evidently, it couldn’t, either.

Meanwhile, our marvelous, contaminated and sole spacecraft continues spinning on its imaginary axis, as one of the most viewed Venezuelan television programs repeats.

It is not every day that a little state has the privilege of receiving a visitor of the stature and prestige of Hu Jintao. Now he is traveling on to Lima. There he has another grand meeting. Once again Bush will be present, this time with seven less days in office.

It has been affirmed that the presence in Washington of just 20 leaders from the countries present, their own security measures and the host’s legal suits against any attempt to physically liquidate them changed the customs and habitual life of the city. What will the great city of Lima be like? Without any doubt, the city will be taken over by the Armed Forces; moving around will be a complicated task, as it will also contain well trained agents from U.S. supra-nationals, whose interests and plans will be known many years after the presidential terms of the eventual leaders of the empire.

I expressed to him very synthetically some of our country’s appreciations on the habits of the neighbor to the North, which is trying to impose on us its ideas, its way of thinking, and its interest via its fleets, replete with nuclear weapons and attack bombardments; our appreciation of Venezuela’s solidarity with Cuba since the most critical years of the Special Period; and the heavy blows of natural disasters. That President Chávez, a great admirer of China, has been the firmest defender of socialism as the only system capable of bringing justice to the peoples of Latin America.

They have pleasant memories of the Bolivarian leader in Beijing.

President Hu Jintao reiterated his desire to continue developing relations with Cuba, a country for which he has great respect.

The meeting lasted for one hour and 38 minutes. He was warm, friendly, modest and made patent his sentiments of affection. I saw him as young, healthy and strong. We wish our eminent and fraternal friend the greatest success in his task. Thank you for your stimulating visit and the honor of having an interest in a personal meeting with me!

granma.cu

Fidel Castro Ruz
November 19, 2008
1:12 p.m.

La croissance explosive des mobiles dans cette zone donne des idées à Orange. L'entreprise propose à des utilisateurs qui n'ont jamais été dans une banque d'utiliser leur téléphone pour cela.

L'annonce à été effectuée cette semaine : le téléphone mobile Orange Money sera testé au second trimestre 2009 au Sénégal. Le trimestre suivant devrait lui voir le déploiement principal, alors que la formule a déjà été testée en avril dernier en Côte d'Ivoire.

Orange money est un service de paiement utilisable via le réseau de téléphonie mobile. Une alternative intéressante dans des pays où le taux de bancarisation des habitants est des plus faibles (7% en Côte d'Ivoire), et où l'usage du téléphone portable à véritablement explosé depuis 2000. Pour 700 000 abonnés en Côte d'Ivoire en 2005, on en trouve en 2007 7,3 millions, alors que le Sénégal est passé pour la même période respectivement de 1,5 million à 3,5 millions d'abonnés.

Un marché dont Orange veut une grosse part du gâteau, en poussant l'innovation sur ses services. A l'échelle de la sous région d'Afrique de l'Ouest, la société affirme que le nombre de ses clients est en croissance de 50% par an, et que ses ventes progressent chaque année de 15%. Sur le marché ivoirien, où Orange lutte face à trois et bientôt 6 opérateurs, il s'agit aussi d'une opération d'importance pour se démarquer d'une concurrence féroce.

Le téléphone mobile qui, après avoir remplacé un réseau filaire souvent lacunaire, permet donc aujourd'hui de proposer des services de banque totalement dématérialisés, et qui pourraient rencontrer un succès croissant avec Orange Money. Service de paiement, de transfert, de dépôt, de retrait, mais aussi de règlement des factures courantes d'électricité ou de téléphone, voire à terme d'achats dans certains commerces ; autant de possibilités qui permettraient de rapprocher une population avide de nouvelles technologies d'un système bancaire aujourd'hui encore très distant.

Concrètement, le téléphone mobile de l'utilisateur permet d'accéder à une interface qui autorise la création d'ordres de paiement et de virement, envoyés ensuite par SMS. Un code personnel est utilisé pour la transaction, qui est sécurisée via le protocole (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data), qualifié par Orange de peu onéreux et très efficace, et qui permet la traçabilité de la transaction. Seule une carte SIM Orange et un téléphone GSM sont nécessaires. L'utilisateur doit cependant pour utiliser le service ouvrir un compte Orange Money qui donne accès à son compte en banque virtuel. Pour compléter le système, Orange a choisi comme partenaire les différentes filiales nationales de BNP Paribas.

Enfin, la techno nécessaire au fonctionnement du système a été développée dans le centre de recherche et développement d'Orange à Châtillon près de Paris.

A terme, la société souhaite proposer ce service à l'international, ce qui simplifierait considérablement les nombreux transferts d'argents de faibles volumes, une des particularités financière de ces pays.


Car les programmes de développements utilisant des outils micro crédit sont nombreux, et pourraient même devenir des supports de ce nouveau service puisque les lieux physiques de retrait des espèces tels que conçus par Orange dépassent de loin les banques. Les pharmacies, les commerces, les institutions de micro crédit devraient également être impliquées. Cela implique d'ailleurs qu'il n'est pas nécessaire d'avoir un compte bancaire pour avoir accès au service. De plus, la suscription au service est gratuite et il n'y a pas de dépôt minimum.

Suite aux tests en Côte d'Ivoire, Orange prévoit de lancer Orange money au Mali, en Jordanie et en Egypte, d'autres pays qui rencontrent les mêmes caractéristiques d'équipement en téléphonie mobile et en taux de bancarisation que le Sénégal et la Côte d'Ivoire.

Source: Le journal du net

Methods and Materials for Conversation and Writing Tutors

Eric H. Roth writes...

How do you effectively teach English to a struggling private student? What will you actually do for 60-120 minutes together? How will you make the lessons meaningful enough that your client feels satisfied and wants to retain you for future lessons?

First, you must be very clear about what the client wants and expects. Some tutors even present a written contract outlining their rates, the location and times of meetings, and payment policies. I've never been that formal, but I have also never been burned the way some tutors have been. In fact, I've had only very positive experiences with clients. Why? Perhaps luck; perhaps because I screen potential clients. I only work with professionals, graduate students, and/or friends and spouses of friends with a solid foundation in English. Be explicit about what you want and don't want to teach a client. Be prepared to provide options for potential clients that you reject.

For students who want to improve their conversation, I strongly suggest that you select the topic and materials in advance. You can use newspapers and/or magazines to find appropriate articles to begin the conversation. (I usually assign the articles a week ahead and give them my conversation worksheets.) My favorite book - because I wrote it and it provides 45 self-contained thematic chapters - is Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics. The combination of poignant questions, vocabulary lists, proverbs, and witty quotations makes your job much easier.

If you have a weaker student looking to improve their speaking skills, then I would advise using a picture dictionary. There are several fine ones. You might use the Oxford Picture Dictionary to open conversations, and I would be tempted to ask the client to bring in photographs and ads each week. You will need patience and be prepared to repeat words. Many students will want to work on their pronunciation. You can also ask/assign them listening activities on the web. I like Voice of America's Special English programs for intermediate and advanced students. You will have to direct lower levels to websites to practice their listening and speaking skills with drills. They will love the work; you might go mad repeating vowel sounds.

You can also make a good income helping ESL students write college admission essays, practice TOEFL and GRE essays, and proofreading papers. There are many fine books you can use. I recommend Keith Folse's Great Essays and picking any of the standard test preparation guides published by Barrons or Kaplans. For worse or for better, the focus is on structure and not content. Spelling, somehow, often doesn't even officially matter. You might also use the excellent Cambridge Vocabulary in Use series and Grammar in Use series. You can also recommend Grammar Troublespots for international students.

Finally, I have had great success sharing insights on adapting to American culture. My favorite book for this challenging task remains Checklists for Life: 104 Lists to Help You. Each chapter focuses on a practical life skill from buying a computer and finding a good mechanic to organizing your workplace and writing letters of condolence. Inevitably the readings lend themselves to engaging conversations and a satisfying exchange of information and insights. I have also assigned readings from Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, but the advice offered often seems very idealistic and naive to immigrant professionals. Still, clients love the idioms and find that the perspective illuminates unknown aspects of American culture - or at least a segment of American culture.

Finally, the key to tutoring ESL students - or anyone else - remains respecting the student, meeting their needs, and providing a solid structure for your lessons. I have found that using a set text, developing a known routine, and combining conversation, vocabulary and writing skills makes for a successful and satisfying experience.

As William Shakespeare noted four centuries ago, "All's well that ends well". Therefore, you should also have the grace to know when to end your lessons. Some clients will want to keep working with you. Set a clear goal for your lessons, and conclude when the students have reached that goal. You can then become genuine friends and leave money out of the equation.

Or not. You choose. What are your goals for tutoring students?

TEFL.NET ESL Reviews & Articles© Eric H. Roth 2007
Eric Roth currently teaches writing and verbal skills to international graduate students at the University of Southern California. Eric has helped university students discover the pleasures and perils of the English language from dozens of countries over the last 15 years. He recently co-authored an EFL book titled "Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics" from materials he developed as a tutor and teacher. Eric can be reached through http://www.compellingconversations.com.

Hello!!!I just uploaded a photo on Ileanujah's DailyFlog page that I want you to see.

Check out: http://www.mydailyflog.com/go/invite_register/Ileanujah/18401788


Cheers!




========================================
Got a digital camera?

MyDailyFlog is a personal photo-blogging space where you can easily post
your latest and greatest photos, and share them with your friends and family.

Create your own DailyFlog at www.MyDailyFlog.com





.......................................................................
Unsubscribe: to opt out of further invitations from your friends to see
their DailyFlogs, please click below:
http://www.mydailyflog.com/go/system/euns=ileanujah-olatunji@tigblog.org&md5=1121063dc9d0df9803675eb79e2f49e9

Please do not reply directly to this email. Questions? Contact us -
http://www.mydailyflog.com/go/contact_us

MyDailyFlog, Refriendz Ltd. PO BOX 1184, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU1 9AT.

By Sara Speicher



For Eric Sawyer, the late 1980s was a "war time situation". "People with
AIDS were fighting for their lives and for their friends", says Sawyer, an
AIDS activist and co-founder of ACT UP New York. By 1988, seven years after
the first case of AIDS was reported, AIDS was causing more deaths in the US
then there were in the Vietnam War, and between 5 and 10 million people were
estimated to be infected with HIV around the world. Yet governments, media
and society in general were not giving AIDS adequate attention. So, "people
with AIDS had to literally take to the streets and block traffic and take
over government buildings", Sawyer recalls.



Sawyer had been on the front lines of the AIDS epidemic since developing his
first HIV-related symptoms in 1981, before AIDS was officially identified.
For him and for thousands of other activists around the world, the formation
of World AIDS Day in 1988 was one of the few moments in the year where the
growing tragedy of AIDS would finally get attention around the globe.



Now at its 20th anniversary, World AIDS Day continues to be the focus of
global solidarity for a pandemic that has led to over 25 million deaths with
an estimated 33 million people currently living with HIV worldwide.



World AIDS Day was reportedly the brainchild of the late Jonathan Mann, at
the time the director of the Global Programme on AIDS (GPA) at the World
Health Organization. After positive reactions to the idea of World AIDS Day
by over 100 health ministers at the January 1988 London gathering focused on
AIDS and at the 1988 International AIDS Conference in Stockholm, the World
Health Organization declared 1 December 1988 as the first World AIDS Day,
which was recognised and supported by the UN General Assembly in October
1988.



"We wanted to provide a platform so that people who were working on the
issue at any level could get involved", says Tom Netter, who worked with
Mann as the head of the GPA's public information office. Fostering a sense
of solidarity was paramount, says Netter, "so that people could do things at
the grassroots level and feel part of the global response at that time."



Netter recalls that in 1988, despite the short planning time, an event was
held in every member state. "That was eye opening", he said, "It showed that
people wanted to have something that they could grab on to, to feel part of
the overall response." In the World Health Organization itself, panels from
the AIDS quilt were displayed. "People found that very moving . . . it
showed the individuals affected."



Within three years, the activities around the day "became something that was
going to happen spontaneously.People on the ground took off with it", says
Netter.



Unique momentum



The energy behind World AIDS Day, and the activism that has characterised
the response to AIDS among civil society, is unique.



Prior to AIDS, Netter states, "there wasn't really so much of an advocacy
movement regarding diseases or people who were ill. AIDS really was the
first that mobilised people."



It was the people most affected who brought the urgency, passion and
accountability to the movement. Sawyer recalls, "Early on the most
significant leadership was actually done by people with AIDS themselves".



Whilst early activists targeted authorities' slow response to AIDS, that
didn't mean that scientists and activists were on opposite sides, says
Professor Lars Kallings, the first president of the International AIDS
Society, also founded in 1988. "If you think from the beginning, before
there was any treatment, the doctors felt very helpless. They suffered by
not being able to help their patients. Therefore, even scientists have been
on the front lines, on the barricades, very often against the authorities,
the government."



World AIDS Day has been a symbolic focus for this activism. It "gave people
a sense that they were part of a larger movement than what they were
involved in individually and locally", Netter states.



But this doesn't mean that one day is enough. "For me", says Frika Chia
Iskandar, a young woman from Indonesia working with the Asia Pacific Network
of People Living with HIV/AIDS (APN+), "it doesn't seem like 'World' enough,
it is not public enough". For activists now, she reflects, the day itself
doesn't make a difference when "our days are filled with AIDS". Yet, she
emphasises, "For the public, though, it is at least one day where we think
about AIDS, and it is still needed."



Greg Gray, an APN+ advisor who also carries a supporting role for the NGO
delegation to the UNAIDS governing board agrees, "World AIDS Day has real
value for raising awareness with the broader public. But when you are
working with the grassroots community affected by HIV it doesn't connect as
much. When you do it day in and day out, it becomes the norm. World AIDS Day
is trying to get a bit of that message home to a much broader community."



Placing a spotlight on leadership



For Kallings, that broader community from the beginning included leaders. At
times, the absence of leadership has been most apparent. "We had to push
Ronald Reagan to get his tongue around AIDS", Kallings recalls. "That didn't
happen until 1987 when tens of thousands of his countrymen had already
died."



But Kallings also recalls early World AIDS Day events where presidents and
royalty participated, such as in Tanzania and Thailand. "That puts the
limelight on AIDS", he says, "and showed solidarity in the country."



The danger, as Matilda Moyo, a steering group member of the Pan Africa
Treatment Action Movement, points out, is that World AIDS Day becomes a
"cheap opportunity for governments to make promises that they fail to
deliver on". Sometimes media only focus on covering government's statements
on the day, she says, and fail to lift up what challenges there are
according to civil society working with HIV and AIDS on a daily basis.



Kallings, who is currently the United Nations' Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in
Eastern Europe and Central Asia, acknowledges that it "is a constant fight
to get the leaders to leave the denial and indifference. One of my roles is
to persuade leaders to use their power to influence the public concept
because discrimination is very deep in the population and it will not change
unless there is leadership."



The leadership required to address AIDS must come from all aspects of the
community. "Leadership in HIV is nothing without political leadership", says
Eunice Kapandura, a 25-year old positive youth activist from Zimbabwe, yet
adding, "when we talk of leadership we mean meaningful representation of the
community." Archbishop Njongo Ndungane, founder and president of African
Monitor, emphasises the role of religious leaders, who "should shout at the
rooftops that AIDS is not a punishment from God but a medical condition
which is preventable, manageable and treatable although not curable."



Within the AIDS advocacy movement, leadership has changed over these past 20
years, especially after the breakthrough in combination therapy, Sawyer
says. Of the early activists who had been leading the fight, "a lot of them
died, a lot of them went on to work full-time for AIDS organizations and
after working 8-10 hours a day to provide care and support they no longer
had time or energy for activism. And others who received treatment, they
returned to their careers. That shifted leadership in both AIDS
organisations on the frontline and government officials and researchers."

Even though the pandemic still affects every country in the world and rages
in Sub-Saharan Africa, AIDS fatigue seems to have hit particularly Western
media and society. "The passion that people brought to the epidemic has
pretty much been lost",

Sawyer reflects.



Chia Iskandar wants to see young leaders in the response, but it's not just
about their age. "It's not about youth, but about new ideas. We need to be
able to keep the idealism alive - the mutual energy, mutual knowledge
transfers, knowing that we are fighting the challenges, fighting the virus,
not fighting each other." She adds that one of the critical aspects of
leadership is "'passing on the knowledge' from the leaders who have
'developed' themselves in the response to the new 'young' leaders and
working together."



With young people now the population most affected, Moyo affirms, "We need
leadership that is creative, young and vibrant and brings fresh ideas on how
to tackle the global challenge."



What remains key is that those most affected lead the way. "For myself being
a person living with AIDS", Sawyer states, "it would be important to
strengthen leadership of people living with HIV and AIDS and the affected
community."



>From one day to a campaign



In 1996 when the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) became
operational, it took over the planning and promotion of World AIDS Day.
However, according to Anne Winter, head of advocacy and communication at the
time, organisers soon felt that rather than only emphasise one day they
wanted to encourage an extended effort over a long period.



Thus in 1997, the World AIDS Campaign was born, charged with focusing on
longer-term messages and strategy. World AIDS Day became the highlight of a
year-long emphasis.



With the campaign, Winter says, "we always tried to use issues that were
innovative and would really move the agenda forward".



The themes chosen for the first two years - on children and young people -
were in fact roundly criticised at the time. "People said this was just a
way to get attention about the epidemic, that the epidemic is not about
children", Winter recalls. But the theme highlighted that the extent and
severity of the epidemic in the developing world was not widely known. "It
was important to change the face of the epidemic and that people recognise
it was a family disease and that children were very much affected by it in
different ways."



In late 2004, the World AIDS Campaign became independent to broaden civil
society ownership and participation. Based in South Africa and The
Netherlands, the World AIDS Day theme is now chosen by its Global Steering
Committee after a broad consultation with people involved in the response
from all over the world. The themes often are repeated for two years to help
get key messages home to the public and to leaders, and all of the themes
are under the 2005-2010 campaign slogan, "Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise."
targeting political leaders' commitment to reach universal access to
prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010.



Leadership needed now



Kallings acknowledges that the response to AIDS today is much better than it
was 20 years ago, but far more action needs to be taken. "Last year it was
three million on treatment. That is a remarkable success. But it is still
only one-third of people needing urgent treatment. The current financial
crisis is a threat to that successful trend. It very much calls for
continued lobbying and pressure to continue to get enough financial support
not only to maintain the current level but to increase it to three times
more and include more preventative measures."



Sawyer notes that World AIDS Day "remains one of the few days where the
world pays a lot of attention to AIDS". Yet, with people living longer
because of anti-retroviral medicines and the many other global issues
needing attention, it seems the news value has faded. Despite the Western
media fatigue, Sawyer notes, "we still have over 8000 deaths a day, 2-3
million dying and millions of new infections each year". As part of a think
tank called aids2031, Sawyer is thinking of another anniversary - the 50th
anniversary of the identification of AIDS - and hoping that leadership at
this 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day will mean those numbers are
tragedies of the past.



The World AIDS Campaign supports, strengthens and connects campaigns that
hold leaders accountable for their promises on HIV and AIDS. "Stop AIDS.
Keep the Promise" is the slogan for the World AIDS Campaign from 2005-2010.
www.worldaidscampaign.org



For more information or for interviews with experts, national campaigners
and people directly affected by HIV and AIDS, contact the World AIDS
Campaign at
media@worldaidscampaign.org, +31 20 616 9045 (Netherlands) or +44 1524 727
651 (UK).





The article is availble on:
http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/Media/WAC-News/World-AIDS-Day-marks-20th
-anniversary-of-solidarity

By Todd Heywood, RH Reality Check:


Doctors in Berlin, Germany, are reporting that a 42-year-old American living in that city may have eliminated the virus from his body after a bone marrow transplant.

According to the Wall Street Journal report, the man was suffering from leukemia and AIDS, and while he continues to receive treatment for the leukemia, the virus has not reappeared in his blood in 600 days.

Traditionally, when a person on antiretroviral medication to treat HIV stops taking the pills, the virus bursts back with a flurry of activity. But this unidentified patient stopped taking the medication and has not had any evidence of the virus in his blood since.

The report explains that doctors believe this is due to the man's leukemia doctor's use of bone marrow from a donor who had genetic immunity to HIV infection.

The development suggests a potential new therapeutic avenue and comes as the search for a cure has adopted new urgency. Many fear that current AIDS drugs aren't sustainable. Known as antiretrovirals, the medications prevent the virus from replicating but must be taken every day for life and are expensive for poor countries where the disease runs rampant. Last year, AIDS killed two million people; 2.7 million more contracted the virus, so treatment costs will keep ballooning.

So what does this case indicate to experts? The Journal reports:

While cautioning that the Berlin case could be a fluke, David Baltimore, who won a Nobel prize for his research on tumor viruses, deemed it "a very good sign" and a virtual "proof of principle" for gene-therapy approaches. Dr. Baltimore and his colleague, University of California at Los Angeles researcher Irvin Chen, have developed a gene therapy strategy against HIV that works in a similar way to the Berlin case. Drs. Baltimore and Chen have formed a private company to develop the therapy.

"Sounds like good news so far -- I'd be hesitant to call it a cure," Mark Peterson of the Michigan Positive Action Coalition, or MI-POZ, a group of politically active HIV-positive people in Michigan, said in an e-mail. Peterson went on to say that the news underscored the importance of research into a specific class of drugs that stop the virus from invading human cells in the first place.

This is possibly very important news in the fight against HIV.

When antiretrovirals were first introduced, and viral loads (the number of viral particles in the blood) were found to have been suppressed to undetectable, doctors thought that eventually cells harboring HIV would die off and the person would be HIV-free. That did not happen. Researchers discovered that the virus incorporated itself into the genetic makeup of the infected person and waited for the opportunity to reignite the infection.

But in 1996, researchers also made another startling discovery, the Journal reports:

... researchers discovered that some gay men astonishingly remained uninfected despite engaging in very risky sex with as many as hundreds of partners. These men had inherited a mutation from both their parents that made them virtually immune to HIV.

The mutation prevents a molecule called CCR5 from appearing on the surface of cells. CCR5 acts as a kind of door for the virus. Since most HIV strains must bind to CCR5 to enter cells, the mutation bars the virus from entering. A new AIDS drug, Selzentry, made by Pfizer Inc., doesn't attack HIV itself but works by blocking CCR5.

Craig Covey, executive director of the Midwest AIDS Prevention Project based in Ferndale, said he had not heard anything about the case or the reports, and was unable to comment.


alternet

November 18, 2008

Que d'excitation, que de joie. Mon projet "ACACIA EAU POUR TOUS" qui vise à lutter contre la désertification dans le Sahel tunisien et à créer une économie rurale alternative et durable, a été présélectionné par le concours Changemakers de Ashoka International. Cela signifie que je fais parti des 25 finalistes, sur 600 soumissions.

Pour en savoir plus sur mon projet : http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/node/13734

Ce projet sera réalisé à Bir Salah, situé entre El Jem et El Hencha, en coopération avec les jeunes de la Ligue Culturelle et Technique de Bir Salah et des étudiants tunisiens résidant en France.

1e étape : mise en place de la pépinière.

The 3rd International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering (iCBBE 2009: http://www.icbbe.org/2009 ) will be held from June 11th to 13th, 2009 in Beijing, China. iCBBE2009 will bring together top researchers from Asian Pacific areas, North America, Europe and around the world to exchange research results and address open issues in all aspects of bioinformatics and biomedical engineering. As we did in iCBBE 2008 and 2007, all accepted papers in iCBBE 2009 will be included by IEEE Xplore and indexed by EI Compendex.

Please click here to submit your papers.

http://www.icbbe.org/2009/

1. Vérifier que toutes les partitions de disque sont au format NTFS
Les partitions NTFS offrent des contrôles d'accès et des fonctions de protection qui ne sont pas disponibles avec les systèmes de fichiers FAT, FAT32 ou FAT32x. Assurez-vous que toutes les partitions de votre ordinateur sont formatées à l'aide du système NTFS. Si nécessaire, utilisez l'utilitaire convert pour convertir vos partitions FAT en partitions NTFS sans les détruire en exécutant la commande Convert C: /FS:NTFS.
Après vous pourrez entre autre, compresser des fichiers, les encrypter, etc.
Si vous utilisez l'utilitaire convert, il définira les listes de contrôle d'accès du lecteur converti sur Tout le monde :
Contrôle total. Reportez-vous à l'article anglais Q266118 de la Base de connaissances Microsoft pour obtenir des informations sur la restauration des autorisations NTFS par défaut sur les ordinateurs Windows 2000 & XP.
2. Vérifier que le compte Administrateur possède un mot de passe renforcé
Windows 2000 & XP autorisent des mots de passe comprenant jusqu'à 127 caractères. En général, les mots de passe longs sont plus forts que les mots de passe courts et les mots de passe comprenant plusieurs types de caractères (lettres, chiffres, signes de ponctuation et caractères ASCII non imprimables générés à l'aide de la touche ALT et des codes de trois chiffres du pavé numérique) sont plus forts que les mots de passe ne comportant que des caractères alphabétiques ou alphanumériques. Pour une protection optimale, assurez-vous que le mot de passe Administrateur comporte au moins neuf caractères et un signe de ponctuation ou un caractère ASCII non imprimable dans les sept premiers caractères. De plus, le mot de passe du compte Administrateur ne doit pas être synchronisé entre plusieurs ordinateurs. Utilisez différents mots de passe sur chaque ordinateur afin d'élever le niveau de sécurité du groupe de travail ou du domaine.
3. Désactiver les services non nécessaires
Après avoir installé Windows 2000 & XP, désactivez tous les services de réseau qui ne sont pas nécessaires sur votre ordinateur. Vous devez en particulier déterminer si votre ordinateur a besoin des services Web IIS.
4. Désactiver ou supprimer les comptes non nécessaires
étudiez la liste des comptes actifs (pour les utilisateurs et les applications) du système dans le composant logiciel enfichable Gestion de l'ordinateur, désactivez tous les comptes inactifs et supprimez les comptes qui ne sont plus nécessaires.
5. Protéger les fichiers et les répertoires
Reportez-vous au document Paramètres de contrôle d'accès par défaut de Windows 2000 & XP du site Web Microsoft TechNet consacré à la sécurité pour plus d'informations sur les listes par défaut de contrôle d'accès au Registre de Windows 2000 & XP, et pour obtenir les instructions permettant d'effectuer les modifications nécessaires.
6. Vérifier que le compte Invité est désactivé
Par défaut, le compte Invité est désactivé sur les systèmes Windows 2000 & XP. Si le compte Invité est activé, désactivez-le.
7. Protéger le Registre contre tout accès anonyme
Les autorisations par défaut limitent l'accès distant au Registre aux seuls comptes Administrateur et Opérateurs de sauvegarde. Pour modifier les limites de l'accès réseau au Registre :
Ajoutez la clé suivante au Registre :
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSecurePipeServerswinreg

Sélectionnez winreg, utiliser le clic droit pour avoir Autorisations, cliquez sur le menu Sécurité. Définissez l'autorisation Administrateurs sur Contrôle total, assurez-vous qu'aucun autre utilisateur ou groupe n'est répertorié, puis cliquez sur OK. Les autorisations de sécurité (listes de contrôle d'accès) définies sur cette clé déterminent les utilisateurs ou les groupes autorisés à se connecter au système pour un accès distant au Registre. De plus, la sous-clé AllowedPaths contient la liste des clés auxquelles les membres du groupe Tout le monde peuvent accéder, malgré les listes de contrôle d'accès définies sur la clé winreg. Ceci permet à certaines fonctions du système, telle que la vérification de l'état de l'imprimante, d'opérer correctement quelles que soient les limites d'accès instaurées par la clé de Registre winreg. La sécurité par défaut de la clé de Registre AllowedPaths n'accorde l'autorisation de gérer ces chemins qu'aux Administrateurs. La clé AllowedPaths et son utilisation sont documentés dans l'article anglais Q155363 de la Base de connaissances Microsoft.
8. Appliquer les listes de contrôle d'accès appropriées
Reportez-vous au document Paramètres de contrôle d'accès par défaut de Windows 2000 & XP du site Web Microsoft TechNet consacré à la sécurité pour plus d'informations sur les listes par défaut de contrôle d'accès au Registre de Windows 2000 & XP et pour obtenir les instructions permettant d'effectuer les modifications nécessaires.
9. Limiter l'accès aux informations de l'autorité de sécurité locale (LSA)
Vous devez pouvoir identifier tous les utilisateurs présents sur votre système et donc limiter le nombre d'utilisateurs anonymes afin de minimiser le volume d'informations publiques accessibles pour le composant LSA (autorité de sécurité locale) du sous-système de sécurité Windows NT. L'autorité de sécurité locale gère les différents aspects de l'administration de la sécurité, y compris l'accès et les autorisations,
sur l'ordinateur local. Pour implémenter cette restriction, créez et définissez l'entrée de Registre suivante :
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlLsa
'RestrictAnonymous' de type REG_DWORD avec une Valeur égale à 1
10. Définir des stratégies de mots de passe plus strictes
Utilisez le composant logiciel enfichable Stratégie de sécurité locale pour renforcer les stratégies du système en ce qui concerne l'acceptation des
mots de passe. Microsoft conseille d'effectuer les modifications suivantes :
Définissez une longueur minimale de mot de passe à 8 caractères.
Définissez un âge minimal de mot de passe approprié pour votre réseau (en général entre 1 et 7 jours).
Définissez un âge maximal de mot de passe approprié pour votre réseau (en général pas plus de 42 jours).
Définissez la maintenance d'un historique de mot de passe (à l'aide de l'option « Mémoriser le mot de passe ») sur 6 ou plus.
11. Définir la stratégie de verrouillage des comptes
Windows 2000 & XP comprennent une fonction de verrouillage de compte qui désactive un compte après un nombre d'échecs de connexion déterminé par l'administrateur. Pour une sécurité optimale, activez le verrouillage de compte après 3 à 5 tentatives, réinitialisez le compte au bout de 30
minutes au moins et définissez la durée du verrouillage sur « Permanente (jusqu'à ce qu'un administrateur déverrouille) ».
Le Kit de ressources Windows NT Server inclut un outil qui vous permet d'ajuster certaines propriétés de compte qui ne sont pas accessibles par le biais des outils de gestion habituels. Dans cet outil nommé passprop.exe : le commutateur /adminlockout permet de verrouiller le compte
administrateur.
12. Configurer le compte Administrateur
Le compte Administrateur étant intégré dans toutes les versions de Windows 2000 & XP, il représente une cible de choix pour les pirates informatiques. Pour rendre l'attaque du compte Administrateur plus difficile, suivez les procédures suivantes pour le compte Administrateur local sur chaque ordinateur :
Renommez le compte en utilisant un nom qui soit pas facilement identifiable (évitez « admin », « racine », etc.).
établissez un compte leurre intitulé « Administrateur » et ne possédant aucun privilège. étudiez régulièrement le journal d'événements afin de
vérifier les tentatives d'utilisation de ce compte.
Activez le verrouillage de compte sur les véritables comptes Administrateur à l'aide de l'utilitaire passprop.
Désactivez le compte Administrateur de l'ordinateur local.
13. Supprimer les partages de fichiers non nécessaires
Tous les partages de fichiers non nécessaires sur le système doivent être supprimés afin d'éviter toute divulgation possible d'informations, et d'empêcher tout utilisateur malveillant d'exploiter les partages pour pénétrer dans le système local.
14. Définir des listes de contrôle d'accès appropriées sur tous les partages de fichiers nécessaires
Par défaut, tous les utilisateurs possèdent les autorisations Contrôle total sur les nouveaux partages de fichiers. Tous les partages de fichiers requis sur le système doivent comporter des listes de contrôle d'accès de manière à ce que les utilisateurs disposent d'un niveau d'accès adapté au partage (par exemple, Tout le monde = Lecture).
Utilisez le système de fichiers NTFS pour définir les listes de contrôle d'accès sur les fichiers individuels, en complément des autorisations au niveau du partage.
15. Installer un logiciel antivirus et ses mises à jour
Il est impératif d'installer un logiciel antivirus et de mettre constamment à jour les signatures de virus sur tous les systèmes intranet et Internet.
16. Installer le dernier Service Pack
Chaque Service Pack pour Windows comprend tous les correctifs de sécurité des Service Packs précédents. Microsoft vous recommande de vous tenir informé des diffusions des Service Packs et d'installer le Service Pack adapté à vos serveurs dès que les circonstances vous le permettent.
17. Installer les correctifs de sécurité appropriés postérieurs au Service Pack
Microsoft publie des bulletins d'information sur la sécurité par le biais de son Service de notification de sécurité . Lorsque ces bulletins recommandent l'installation d'un correctif de sécurité, téléchargez et installez immédiatement ce correctif sur vos ordinateurs.
18. Paramètres supplémentaires de sécurité
Il existe d'autres fonctions de sécurité non traitées dans ce document qui doivent être optimisées lorsque vous sécurisez des systèmes Windows 2000 et XP. Des informations concernant ces fonctions de sécurité, par exemple Encrypting File System (EFS), Kerberos, IPSEC, PKI et la sécurité Internet Explorer, sont disponibles sur le site Web Microsoft TechNet consacré à la sécurité : Windows 2000 Security

Touche Windows
La touche ayant le logo Windows se trouvant en bas à gauche du clavier entre la touche Ctrl et la touche Alt est un petit trésor, ne l'ignorez pas !
C'est un raccourci qui associé à une lettre offre de nombreuses possibilités :
Windows Affichage du Menu Démarrer
Windows + D Réduit ou restaure toutes les fenêtres, affichage du Bureau [Desktop]
Windows + E Ouvre l'Explorateur Windows
Windows + F Ouvre le Menu Rechercher [Find]
Windows + F1 Affiche le Centre d'Aide et de Support
Windows + Ctrl + F Ouvre le Menu Rechercher des Ordinateurs
Windows + M Réduction de toutes les fenêtres [Minimize]
Windows + Maj + M Agrandissement de toutes les fenêtres [Maximize]
Windows + Pause Ouvre les Propriétés Système
Windows + R Ouvre la boîte de dialogue Exécuter [Run]
Windows + Attn Affiche les Propriétés Système
Windows + L Verrouillage de la station de travail [Lock]
Windows + U Ouverture du gestionnaire d'utilitaires (Clavier visuel et Loupe)

Pour accéder aux Gestionnaire des Tâches
Lancer le gestionnaire des tâches peu parfois être difficile suivant la situation.
Celui-ci peut au moins être lancé de trois manières différentes, à vous de choisir celle qui vous convient le mieux.

1ère méthode
Appuyez sur CTRL + ALT + DELETE et cliquez sur le bouton 'Gestionnaire des tâches' sur la boîte de dialogue de Windows 2000.

2ème méthode
Utilisez le clic droit sur la barre des tâches de Windows et choisissez 'Gestionnaire des tâches...'

3ème méthode
Appuyez sur CTRL + SHIFT + ESC, le gestionnaire des tâches sera lancé instantanément.

Touche de l'Explorateur Windows

Ctrl + A Sélectionne tous les dossiers ou fichiers en cours [All]
Ctrl + C Copie le fichier ou le dossier en cours [Copy]
Ctrl + F Permet de Rechercher dans le dossier en cours [Find]
Ctrl + V Permet de Coller un dossier ou un fichier
Ctrl + X Permet de Couper un dossier ou un fichier
Ctrl + Z Permet d'Annuler la dernière action effectuée

F2 Renomme le fichier ou le dossier sélectionné
F4 Affiche la liste des différents lecteurs
F5 Actualise le contenu de la fenêtre
F11 Affichage en mode plein écran / en mode normal

Autres combinaisons de touches

Alt + Tabulation Permet de passer d'une application à une autre
Ctrl et la touche + Dans l'Explorateur permet de redimensionner les colonnes lorsque vous visualisez le contenu d'un dossier en 'Affichage Détails'.

You are cordially invited to participate at AIDS Society of India Conference - ASICON 2009 scheduled between 27th February to 1st March2009 , at Birla Conference Centre, Jaipur, India. We assure you standard quality scientific sessions of interactive type.

You may please submit your abstract to Dr. I.S.Gilada, Secretary General of AIDS Society of India on his email gilada@usa.net and contact him for further information regarding registration, accommodation and junior scholarship.

Pleaase visit the following web link for additional details

http://www.aidssoci etyofindia. com/

Looking forward to see you in Jaipur.

Sincerely,

Dr. J.K.Maniar,
President, AIDS Society of India
e-mail:

Fellowship available for research into the History of Sexualities
<http://uk.groups. yahoo.com/ group/lifeafterd ev/message/ 231;_ylc= X3oDMTJxZ2oyZGho BF9TAzk3NDkwNTA0 BGdycElkAzIxMTcx Mjk5BGdycHNwSWQD MTY5MDA3OTYwNQRt c2dJZAMyMzEEc2Vj A2Rtc2cEc2xrA3Zt c2cEc3RpbWUDMTIy Njc1MTM4Mw- ->
Posted
by: "Yamashita Sumiko Mrs (SSF)" s.yamashita@ uea.ac.uk

sumikoy
<http://profiles. yahoo.com/ sumikoy> Fri Nov 14, 2008 2:45 pm CALL FOR
APPLICATIONS

Fellowship available for research into the History of Sexualities and
Modernities

The South-South Exchange Programme for Research on the History of
Development (SEPHIS) is currently running a research project on
'Sexualities and Modernities' sponsored by the FORD Foundation. The
objective of this programme is to allow researchers to gain a deeper
historical and comparative understanding of the complex interplay
between cultural contexts and the politics of sex- and gender-based
claims of identity. Dissemination to advocacy groups and into the public
sphere is an essential part of this endeavor.

As part of this project SEPHIS has already offered several fellowships
to candidates at the post-doctoral, PhD and MA level to research any
area to do with the history of sexualities in the South. In addition to
this four more scholarships will be offered from January 2009 onwards.
Funding of up to $10, 000 is available to the successful applicant who
will have 12 months (until December 2009) to complete a substantial
written research report as well as an academic article of around 10.000
words. The latter will be published as part of a collection of articles.
Contributions should be received by 1 December 2009. The successful
applicant will be required to attend a week-long research workshop in
March 2009, to be held at a venue in the South.

The applicant will be expected to present and discuss his or her
progress with fellow researchers from other countries in the Global
South, all to encourage the formation of a South-South network on the
history of sexualities, and in keeping with the networking aims of
SEPHIS. Throughout the project, the candidate will be expected to submit
short, four-monthly reports on his or her progress.

Eligibility: Applicants should be based in the South and have a Masters
degree preferably in History or the Social Sciences. Those who have
already conducted research as part of the MSc/MA requirement or
completed fieldwork for a PhD on relevant issues are especially
encouraged to apply. Proposals based on any of the following
crosscutting themes will be given special attention:

- Masculinity, Sexuality and Modernity

- Sexually Transmitted Diseases, the Social Construction of
Illness and Identity Politics

- Youth, Sexual Health Education, and Constructions of
Religiosity

- Sexuality, Nationalism/ State Politics, and Gender Identity
Constructions

- Constructions of 'Heteronormativity' , Modernity and the
Post-colonial Context

Applicants should fill up the attached application form (page 3)
along with:

a) a letter of recommendation from a thesis supervisor

b) a sample of written work, attesting to the applicant's ability
to write and finish an assignment (this may be an essay or an article
or the MA thesis)

The deadline for applications is 10 December 2008.

Applications should be emailed to:

Imtiaz Saikh

Coordinator Sexualities Programme

simtiaz00@gmail. com

SEPHIS

International Institute of Social History

Cruquiusweg 31

1019 AT Amsterdam

The Netherlands

www.sephis.org

Graduate Scholarships In Reproductive & Sexual Health Law for lawyers from developing countries: You are invited to apply for Graduate Scholarships in Reproductive and Sexual Health Law in the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Toronto, Canada. The scholarship, which enables lawyer activists from developing countries to undertake the Master of Laws Programme at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law, includes full tuition, travel and a stipend for living expenses. The application deadline is February 16, 2009. [Source: Afro-Nets] More about the scholarships:
http://www.law. utoronto. ca/visitors_ content.asp? itemPath= 5/12/12/0/ 0&contentId= 413