BLOGSPOT.COM NOT FUNCTIONING AT ALL

Blogspot.com has serious issues,slow access if not at all and hard to find anything.It isn`t your computer or the ISP`s connection,but their service sucks and people can`t access their own blogs or find other blogs.I don`t care if the management doesn`t agree,but this is a widespread problem and they better correct it or people will start to look somewhere else.Not to mention that they forced me to switch,while i didn`t want to make that.Why?Because i felt comfortable and didn`t want the new face of blogger.com.In short i and the rest of the people have no real choices here and worse their service sucks.

GOOGLE`S SUBSIDIARIES HAVE PROBLEMS

Google has bought many companies,but it is not monitoring the problems that have risen with its expansion.Almost everyone can notice that YouTube.com, slows down to almost an halt after some minutes and that is with cable speeds.Imagine people that are still on a dial-up,how hard or impossible is for them.Then, you have blogspot.com which is completely useless if you want to check anything.A lot of people have complained about this,but so far the company and its subsidiaries haven`t done anything to rectify the situation or to improve it a little bit.Lack of bandwidth or not,people want to navigate at ease and access every bit of information that is helpful to them.These are not personal computer problems or anything,Google is simply not what it advertises to be.It is just thin air and bogus claims.

BLOODY DIAMONDS FROM AFRICA

What You Can do to Avoid Buying a Conflict Diamond
What are conflict diamonds, sometimes called blood diamonds?Conflict diamonds, sometimes called blood diamonds, are diamonds that are sold to fund the unlawful and illegal operations of rebel, military and terrorist groups. Countries that have been most affected by conflict diamonds are Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo -- all places where citizens have been terrorized, mutilated and killed by groups in control of the local diamond trade.
Wars in most of those areas have ended or at least decreased in intensity, but conflict diamonds from Côte d'Ivoire, in West Africa, and Liberia are still reaching the trade labeled as conflict-free diamonds.
In 2000, South African countries with a legitimate diamond trade began a campaign to track the origins of all rough diamonds, attempting to put a stop to blood diamond sales from known conflict areas. Their efforts eventually resulted in The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), an international effort to rid the world of conflict diamonds.

OUT OF JAIL IF YOU DONATE AN ORGAN

Thursday, March 8, 2007 · Last updated 1:59 p.m. PT
S.C. may cut jail time for organ donors
By SEANNA ADCOXASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Inmates in South Carolina could soon find that a kidney is worth 180 days.
Lawmakers are considering legislation that would let prisoners donate organs or bone marrow in exchange for time off their sentences.
A state Senate panel on Thursday endorsed creating an organ-and-tissue donation program for inmates. But legislators postponed debate on a measure to reduce the sentences of participating prisoners, citing concern that federal law may not allow it.
"I think it's imperative that we go all out and see what we can do," said the bills' chief sponsor, Democratic Sen. Ralph Anderson. "I would like to see us get enough donors that people are no longer dying."
The proposal approved by the Senate Corrections and Penology Subcommittee would set up a volunteer donor program in prisons to teach inmates about the need for donors. But lawmakers want legal advice before acting on a bill that would shave up to 180 days off a prison sentence for inmates who donate.
South Carolina advocates for organ donations said the incentive policy would be the first of its kind in the nation.
Federal law makes it illegal to give organ donors "valuable consideration." Lawmakers want to know whether the term could apply to time off of prison sentences.
"We want to make this work, we really do," said Republican Sen. John Hawkins. "But I want to make sure no one goes to jail for good intentions."
Mary Jo Cagle, chief medical officer of Bon Secours St. Francis Health System in Greenville, urged senators to find an allowable incentive.
"We have a huge need for organs and bone marrow," Cagle said.
But Melissa Blevins, executive director of Donate Life South Carolina, said any incentive would break the law and the principle behind donations.
"It really muddies the water about motive. We want to keep it a clearly altruistic act," she said.
Under the proposals, money for medical procedures and any prison guard overtime would be paid by the organ recipient and charitable groups. The state would also decide which inmates could donate.
Corrections Department Director Jon Ozmint said he believes inmates would donate even without the incentive.
"There are long-term inmates who would give if they knew a child was dying," he said. "They're lifers. They know they're going to die in prison."
More than 95,300 Americans are awaiting an organ transplant, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. About 6,700 die each year.

Iran to "assess" US policy at Baghdad meeting

Rising tension from Greek soldiers' anti-Albanian song

Tirana, March 7, 2007 – Protests against Greek soldiers' anti-Albanian song is rising in Albania while politicians have called for a contained and calm response.
In Durres and Elbasan, protesters burned Greek flags while the entire population is bewildered by the level of hatred and violence in the text of Greek Soldiers' song.
A private video showing Greek soldiers singing "We are gone a make shoe-strings with Albanian guts" was published last week on the Internet, then was commented by the Greek and Albanian media.
Foreign Relations committee in the Albanian Parliament called Thursday on the population to stop burning Greek flags, commenting the video as an isolated case. Head of the Committee, Prec Zogaj, said that Albanians need to wait till the end of the investigation by the Greek government over the authenticity of the video.In Athens, the Greek government expressed doubts about the authenticity of the video.
Meanwhile, a Greek general told newspapers that the army had stopped using hate songs against neighbors six years ago. The video, which was at the source of the scandal, was recently removed from YouTube’s webpage by the person’s personal page where it was published.