Here's an interesting little tidbit for you ...
Remember all those HIGH gas prices?
Well ... Iraq is a member of the oil cartel Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
By militarily occupying Iraq, the U. S. government has become a de facto member of OPEC.
Since March 2003 the U. S. government has supported all the skyrocketing oil price policies of OPEC.
The U.S./Iraqi delegate has always voted for the price-raising oil production cutbacks.
In Iraq, the U. S. government has cut back oil production from the pre-invasion level of 2.9 million barrels per day to 1.8 million barrels per day currently.
Now, ain't that a kick in the teeth!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Health News
According to a study conducted by Loyola University, physical activity may not be key to obesity epidemic.
A recent international study fails to support the common belief that the number of calories burned in physical activity is a key factor in rising rates of obesity.Researchers from Loyola University Health System and other centers compared African American women in metropolitan Chicago with women in rural Nigeria. On average, the Chicago women weighed 184 pounds and the Nigerian women weighed 127 pounds.
Researchers had expected to find that the slimmer Nigerian women would be more physically active. To their surprise, they found no significant difference between the two groups in the amount of calories burned during physical activity.
Read the rest here.
Diabetic News: Low-carb diets prove better at controlling type 2 diabetes
In a six-month comparison of low-carb diets, one that encourages eating carbohydrates with the lowest-possible rating on the glycemic index leads to greater improvement in blood sugar control, according to Duke University Medical Center researchers.
Read the rest here.
Economy News
Credit card companies are doing their part to help make the economic crisis worse ... they're reducing Americans' credit limits as a matter of policy and canceling credit cards that aren't generating charges.
You know, both strategies will reduce ordinary people's credit scores through no fault of their own, making it that much harder to obtain loans.
You know, both strategies will reduce ordinary people's credit scores through no fault of their own, making it that much harder to obtain loans.
Details in the Wall Street Journal.
Burris will take his seat
You knew this was coming. There was no legal or moral reason to keep him from taking his seat in the Senate. Unlike there are for several other people claiming to be senators.
Roland Burris, the man appointed to Barack Obama's senate seat by embattled Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, will be allowed to take the seat.
Roland Burris, the man appointed to Barack Obama's senate seat by embattled Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, will be allowed to take the seat.
Bikers wearing pumpkin helmets
Some Nigerian motorcyclists are attempting to get around a new helmet law by wearing dried pumpkins shells on their heads. The shells, called calabashes, are commonly used as vessels for liquid. So far, 50 motorcycles have been impounded in the city of Kano after their riders were caught wearing pumpkin helmets.
From the BBC News:
From the BBC News:
Kano Federal Road Safety Commission commander Yusuf Garba told the BBC they were taking a hard line with people found using the improvised helmets.
"We are impounding their bikes and want to take them to court so they can explain why they think wearing a calabash is good enough for their safety," he said.
Eat This City
Found this documentry over at Homegrown Evolution. It shows urban foragers doing what they do best.
Urban foragers are people who eat what grows naturally from a very unnatural place— a city.
Just goes to show you never really know what is around you and under your feet.
Urban foragers are people who eat what grows naturally from a very unnatural place— a city.
Just goes to show you never really know what is around you and under your feet.
Sea ice area returns to 1979 level
Based on satellite observations, the University of Illinois' Arctic Climate Research Center reports that the amount of sea ice on the planet is the highest in 29 years, when satellite record-keeping began.
Earlier this year, predictions were rife that the North Pole could melt entirely in 2008. Instead, the Arctic ice saw a substantial recovery. Bill Chapman, a researcher with the UIUC's Arctic Center, tells DailyTech this was due in part to colder temperatures in the region. Chapman says wind patterns have also been weaker this year. Strong winds can slow ice formation as well as forcing ice into warmer waters where it will melt.
DOD Wants parent bots to fool tots
This is so wrong ...
John Cartan at cartania.com says:
The U.S. Department of Defense has a $2.3 billion program, Small Business Innovation Research, that comes up with projects to fund. Idea OSD09-H03? Develop an AI that fools young children into thinking they are talking to Daddy or Mommy when Daddy or Mommy are off on their 3rd deployment to Iraq and can't come to the webcam."The child should be able to have a simulated conversation with a parent about generic, everyday topics. For instance, a child may get a response from saying "I love you", or "I miss you", or "Good night mommy/daddy." ... The application should incorporate an AI that allows for flexibility in language comprehension to give the illusion of a natural (but simple) interaction."
The solicitation includes a hefty shopping cart of "boys with toys" action: Voice-recognition and voice-interaction are required along with "Advanced” Multi-media simulation using video footage or high-resolution 3-D rendering.
Not covered: counseling fees after Timmy finds out he's been saying "I love you, Dad" to a robot.
Thar She Blows
We had a Blow today around here.
The water on the lake even had white caps rushing over the interstate at one point this afternoon from being stirred up by the wind.
This on top of last nights torrential rains made a day of it for everyone.
They say we're to have a sunny day tomorrow ... but they say a lot of things.
The water on the lake even had white caps rushing over the interstate at one point this afternoon from being stirred up by the wind.
This on top of last nights torrential rains made a day of it for everyone.
They say we're to have a sunny day tomorrow ... but they say a lot of things.
Alabama sheriff arrested over jail food
A federal judge ordered an Alabama sheriff locked up in his own jail Wednesday after holding him in contempt for failing to adequately feed inmates while profiting from the skimpy meals.
U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon had court security arrest Morgan County Sheriff Greg Bartlett at the end of a hearing that produced dramatic testimony from skinny prisoners about paper-thin bologna and cold grits.
Bartlett had no comment as he was led from the courtroom.
His attorney, Donald Rhead, said he believes the sheriff will be kept away from other inmates and hopes he will be quickly released.
The sheriff, who showed no emotion when his arrest was ordered, had testified that he legally pocketed about $212,000 over three years with surplus meal money but denied that inmates were improperly fed.
Clemon, however, said the sheriff would be jailed until he comes up with a plan to provide the 300 jail inmates with nutrionally adequate meals, as required by a 2001 court order.
Rhea said a plan may be drawn up Wednesday night and sent to the judge.
Clemon said the Alabama law allowing sheriffs to take home surplus meal money is "probably unconstitutional," but his ruling was limited to the finding that the court order was violated.
It didn't address whether the law should be overturned.
"He makes money by failing to spend the allocated funds for food for inmates," Clemon said.
An attorney representing the inmates, Melanie Velez of the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, called Clemon's order to take the sheriff into custody "extraodinary."
She said she was shocked to learn how much meal money Bartlett was taking home.
Sheriffs in 55 of Alabama's 67 counties operate under the system allowing them to make money operating their jail kitchens.
The law pays sheriffs $1.75 a day for each prisoner they house and lets the elected officers pocket any profit they can generate.
The law doesn't require the money to be spent at the jail or within the department; sheriffs can keep it as personal income.
They historically have provided little information about profits, so the hearing offered a rare look into a practice that dates back to the Depression.
At the hearing, 10 prisoners told Clemon meals are so small that they're forced to buy snacks from a for-profit store the jailers operate.
Most of the inmates appeared thin, with baggy jail coveralls hanging off their frames.
Some testified they spent hundreds of dollars a month at the store, which Bartlett said generates profits used for training and equipment.
Inmates told of getting half an egg, a spoonful of oatmeal and one piece of toast most days at their 3 a.m. daily breakfast.
Lunch is usually a handful of chips and two sandwiches with barely enough peanut butter to taste.
"It looks like it was sprayed on with an aerosol can," testified Demetrius Hines, adding he's lost at least 35 pounds in five months since his arrest on drug charges.
Most prisoners said they supplement the meals by spending $20 a week or more on chips, oatmeal pies and other junk food at the jailhouse store.
But Sheriff Bartlett testified that he monitors the jail kitchen and occasionally eats there.
He said he's certain he's meeting nutrition requirements under the settlement of a federal lawsuit regarding conditions at the jail.
Two nutritionists testifying on behalf of the sheriff said the jailhouse menu was proper, and they said some prisoners gain weight in jail.
Bartlett said he made about $95,000 last year feeding inmates after also receiving money from the county and the U.S. government for housing federal prisoners.
Despite rising food costs, Bartlett said he made a $62,000 profit in 2007 and $55,000 in 2006.
Bartlett said he uses donations and special deals to make money.
As an example, Bartlett said he and a neighboring sheriff recently split the $1,000 cost for an 18-wheeler full of corn dogs.
Prisoners testified they ate corn dogs twice a day for weeks.
Prisoners said they are almost always hungry after meals in the Morgan County jail, but the head of the Alabama Sheriff's Association said such a complaint is common around the state.
"You're never going to be able to satisfy them," said Bobby Timmons, the executive director of the association.
If he is skimping on the meals he needs to be on the receiving end of them for a long time.
If you want to keep repeat offenders out of jail you can serve their 'three hots' nutritionally and tasteless and they won't be back for 'seconds' like they are now.
If you are running a slipshod operation to line your pockets then there are a set of wonderful steel bracelets with you name on them, waiting for you.
U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon had court security arrest Morgan County Sheriff Greg Bartlett at the end of a hearing that produced dramatic testimony from skinny prisoners about paper-thin bologna and cold grits.
Bartlett had no comment as he was led from the courtroom.
His attorney, Donald Rhead, said he believes the sheriff will be kept away from other inmates and hopes he will be quickly released.
The sheriff, who showed no emotion when his arrest was ordered, had testified that he legally pocketed about $212,000 over three years with surplus meal money but denied that inmates were improperly fed.
Clemon, however, said the sheriff would be jailed until he comes up with a plan to provide the 300 jail inmates with nutrionally adequate meals, as required by a 2001 court order.
Rhea said a plan may be drawn up Wednesday night and sent to the judge.
Clemon said the Alabama law allowing sheriffs to take home surplus meal money is "probably unconstitutional," but his ruling was limited to the finding that the court order was violated.
It didn't address whether the law should be overturned.
"He makes money by failing to spend the allocated funds for food for inmates," Clemon said.
An attorney representing the inmates, Melanie Velez of the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, called Clemon's order to take the sheriff into custody "extraodinary."
She said she was shocked to learn how much meal money Bartlett was taking home.
Sheriffs in 55 of Alabama's 67 counties operate under the system allowing them to make money operating their jail kitchens.
The law pays sheriffs $1.75 a day for each prisoner they house and lets the elected officers pocket any profit they can generate.
The law doesn't require the money to be spent at the jail or within the department; sheriffs can keep it as personal income.
They historically have provided little information about profits, so the hearing offered a rare look into a practice that dates back to the Depression.
At the hearing, 10 prisoners told Clemon meals are so small that they're forced to buy snacks from a for-profit store the jailers operate.
Most of the inmates appeared thin, with baggy jail coveralls hanging off their frames.
Some testified they spent hundreds of dollars a month at the store, which Bartlett said generates profits used for training and equipment.
Inmates told of getting half an egg, a spoonful of oatmeal and one piece of toast most days at their 3 a.m. daily breakfast.
Lunch is usually a handful of chips and two sandwiches with barely enough peanut butter to taste.
"It looks like it was sprayed on with an aerosol can," testified Demetrius Hines, adding he's lost at least 35 pounds in five months since his arrest on drug charges.
Most prisoners said they supplement the meals by spending $20 a week or more on chips, oatmeal pies and other junk food at the jailhouse store.
But Sheriff Bartlett testified that he monitors the jail kitchen and occasionally eats there.
He said he's certain he's meeting nutrition requirements under the settlement of a federal lawsuit regarding conditions at the jail.
Two nutritionists testifying on behalf of the sheriff said the jailhouse menu was proper, and they said some prisoners gain weight in jail.
Bartlett said he made about $95,000 last year feeding inmates after also receiving money from the county and the U.S. government for housing federal prisoners.
Despite rising food costs, Bartlett said he made a $62,000 profit in 2007 and $55,000 in 2006.
Bartlett said he uses donations and special deals to make money.
As an example, Bartlett said he and a neighboring sheriff recently split the $1,000 cost for an 18-wheeler full of corn dogs.
Prisoners testified they ate corn dogs twice a day for weeks.
Prisoners said they are almost always hungry after meals in the Morgan County jail, but the head of the Alabama Sheriff's Association said such a complaint is common around the state.
"You're never going to be able to satisfy them," said Bobby Timmons, the executive director of the association.
*****
If he is skimping on the meals he needs to be on the receiving end of them for a long time.
If you want to keep repeat offenders out of jail you can serve their 'three hots' nutritionally and tasteless and they won't be back for 'seconds' like they are now.
If you are running a slipshod operation to line your pockets then there are a set of wonderful steel bracelets with you name on them, waiting for you.
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India, Switzerland, Bahrain, the Netherlands, Panama, Ghana, Australia, England, Albania, Canada, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Estonia, Romania, Japan, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Turkey, Argentina, Finland, Pakistan and the United States
have stopped by Carolina Naturally today.
Heavy rain causing flooding across South
Heavy rain across the South on Wednesday caused flooding, school and road closures and a landslide that destroyed a home in North Carolina.
Thousands of people lost power across the Carolinas as a cold front swept the region with wind and rain, and a landslide destroyed a home in the mountains of western North Carolina.
One home in Haywood County was destroyed, but its occupants escaped with only minor injuries, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported.
Emergency crews evacuated eight other homes in the Maggie Valley area.
"I'm just glad no one was killed," said neighbor Carolyn Phillips.
Utility companies have said nearly 20,000 customers had lost power in North Carolina and South Carolina by mid-morning and crews scrambled to restore service.
Most outages were in North Carolina and were concentrated in central counties.
People in about 25 homes in eastern Tennessee were encouraged to evacuate in the face of rising waters.
The rain also closed roads and caused two small rock slides.
Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky and West Virginia were also experiencing flooding.
In addition to rain, a wind advisory issued for most of Georgia called for gusts ranging from 20 mph to 30 mph.
In West Virginia, the state's major electric utilities, Allegheny Energy and Appalachian Power, reported there were thousands without power.
As skies cleared in Alabama, parts of the state still struggled with scattered flooding from a lengthy deluge that led to rescue operations earlier in the week when cars were engulfed in water.
Emergency crews evacuated about 70 people Monday night from a bingo hall in a low-lying area between Jasper and Sumiton.
Crews returned Tuesday with a boat to reach employees who stayed behind.
The local weather gurus are claiming the sun will appear again tomorrow - we're crossing our soggy fingers they're right this time!
Thousands of people lost power across the Carolinas as a cold front swept the region with wind and rain, and a landslide destroyed a home in the mountains of western North Carolina.
One home in Haywood County was destroyed, but its occupants escaped with only minor injuries, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported.
Emergency crews evacuated eight other homes in the Maggie Valley area.
"I'm just glad no one was killed," said neighbor Carolyn Phillips.
Utility companies have said nearly 20,000 customers had lost power in North Carolina and South Carolina by mid-morning and crews scrambled to restore service.
Most outages were in North Carolina and were concentrated in central counties.
People in about 25 homes in eastern Tennessee were encouraged to evacuate in the face of rising waters.
The rain also closed roads and caused two small rock slides.
Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky and West Virginia were also experiencing flooding.
In addition to rain, a wind advisory issued for most of Georgia called for gusts ranging from 20 mph to 30 mph.
In West Virginia, the state's major electric utilities, Allegheny Energy and Appalachian Power, reported there were thousands without power.
As skies cleared in Alabama, parts of the state still struggled with scattered flooding from a lengthy deluge that led to rescue operations earlier in the week when cars were engulfed in water.
Emergency crews evacuated about 70 people Monday night from a bingo hall in a low-lying area between Jasper and Sumiton.
Crews returned Tuesday with a boat to reach employees who stayed behind.
*****
The local weather gurus are claiming the sun will appear again tomorrow - we're crossing our soggy fingers they're right this time!
Three New Yorkers charged in election bias attacks
Three morons you mean ...
Three New York teenagers have been charged with federal civil rights charges in connection with election night racial violence in which attackers shouted "Obama."
The three youths were charged with conspiracy to interfere with voting rights in an indictment unsealed in Brooklyn federal court today, and scheduled to be arraigned later today.
The indictment says the defendants - Ralph Nicoletti, Michael Contreras and Brian Carranza - "did knowingly and intentionally conspire to injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate African American citizens of Staten Island..." of their constitutional rights.
Authorities say the most serious of the Staten Island attacks was on a 17-year-old Liberian native.
He was bludgeoned with a pipe and an expandable police baton, while the attackers yelled "Obama!"
I need a new drug ...
Sorry that Huey Lewis and the News song just popped into my head while reading this blurb:
An evaluation by the Food and Drug Administration released Wednesday says the medication works and its safety is acceptable.
Called ATryn, the drug is intended to help people with a rare hereditary disorder that makes them vulnerable to life-threatening blood clots.
Its approval would be a major step toward new kinds of medications made not from chemicals, but from living organisms genetically manipulated by scientists.
Similar drugs could be available in the next few years for a range of human ailments, including hemophilia.
Damn, now that song is going to drive me nuts all day!
Drug from genetically engineered goats a first
In a scientific first, an anti-clotting drug made from the milk of genetically engineered goats is moving closer to government approval for humans.An evaluation by the Food and Drug Administration released Wednesday says the medication works and its safety is acceptable.
Called ATryn, the drug is intended to help people with a rare hereditary disorder that makes them vulnerable to life-threatening blood clots.
Its approval would be a major step toward new kinds of medications made not from chemicals, but from living organisms genetically manipulated by scientists.
Similar drugs could be available in the next few years for a range of human ailments, including hemophilia.
*****
Damn, now that song is going to drive me nuts all day!
"Citizen videos" spread online showing BART police officer shooting unarmed man to death
(Warning, explicit content: the video below shows a man being shot to death).
In the early hours of New Year's Day, 27-year-old BART police officer Johannes Mehserle shot and killed 22-year old Oscar Grant. A number of people who were riding the BART train that night witnessed the shooting, and shot video or photos on handheld cameras or phones.
The victim's family filed a lawsuit for $25 million.
Five days after the shooting, the accused officer still has not given a statement. He is said to be have received death threats and authorities are apparently moving him from place to place to protect him from harm.
Some people are speculating the shooting may have been an accident -- the officer may have grabbed his gun by mistake because he thought he was instead grabbing a Taser device. That argument is quite hard to understand. The weapons are so different.
From SF Chronicle article, to that point:
[Use-of-force training and research firm founder Bruce Siddle] said changes in how the brain processes information in a stressful situation might have led the officer to mistake the butt of his service weapon for the Taser. But other experts found the idea that the shooting resulted from such a mix-up hard to believe.The fact that so many videos and images are surfacing in this case is significant, because each set of images provides a different view of the killing, with different visual information."That's as reflexive as you getting in on the driver's side of the car (instead of) the passenger side if you want to drive it," [Florida criminologist George] Kirkham said. "There's no remote similarity to a conventional firearm. ... The Taser is just like apples and oranges."
From that same SF Chronicle article:
Roy Bedard, who has trained police officers around the world, advanced a different theory after his first viewing of the video: that the shooting was a pure accident, a trigger pulled because of a loss of balance or a loud noise.Other places this story is showing up: BART Police (in Oakland) murdered a man on NYE.But in an indication of how the videos might move the investigation, Bedard reached a different conclusion after viewing the shooting from a different angle.
"Looking at it, I hate to say this, it looks like an execution to me," he said. "It really looks bad for the officer. ... We have to get inside his head and figure out what he was thinking when he fired the shot."
Here is one video (nsa.org).
Here is another released by a Bay Area CBS affiliate -- first, we see the entire, raw footage a 19 year old eyewitness shot on her camcorder, then we hear her explain what she saw and experienced -- she says a female BART police officer tried to forcibly confiscate her camcorder.
Here is still another video (YouTube).
Obama wax figure free for Yanks in London
On January 2oth that is ...
Stuck in Britain on Inauguration Day?
Stuck in Britain on Inauguration Day?
Madame Tussauds, the London waxwork museum, is offering U.S. tourists the chance to see their new president up close for free.
The museum says Americans need to bring proof of citizenship.
The offer is intended to celebrate the inauguration of the museum's new attraction - a Barack Obama waxwork - on January 20th.
Sculptors are still adding the finishing touches, but the museum said Wednesday that Obama would be shown in an informal and relaxed pose, smiling with arms folded amid a reproduction of the White House Oval Office.
Museum spokeswoman Liz Edwards declined to say how many people she thought would show up for the free viewing.
The museum typically charges 25 pounds ($38) at the door.
Japan wants anti-whaling ship barred from ports
Radical conservationists who have been chasing Japanese whalers in the Antarctic Ocean said Wednesday they were heading to Australia to refuel their ship, a day after Japan argued they were pirates who should be barred from refueling.
Renegade activist Paul Watson, captain of the Sea Shepherd's ship, said he doubted Australia would block his boat - the Steve Irwin - when it lands in Hobart, Tasmania, sometime next week.
Japan said Tuesday it plans to ask Australia to bar the ship from its ports, though Australian officials said they have received no formal request.
Protesters aboard the ship, named after the late Australian conservationist and TV personality Steve Irwin, have chased Japan's whaling fleet for 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) and last month lobbed bottles of rancid butter at the whalers.
They are currently about 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) southeast of Hobart.
"I can't see Australia banning a ship called the 'Steve Irwin,'" Watson said.
"Japan is being extremely arrogant in making such a demand."
Renegade activist Paul Watson, captain of the Sea Shepherd's ship, said he doubted Australia would block his boat - the Steve Irwin - when it lands in Hobart, Tasmania, sometime next week.
Japan said Tuesday it plans to ask Australia to bar the ship from its ports, though Australian officials said they have received no formal request.
Protesters aboard the ship, named after the late Australian conservationist and TV personality Steve Irwin, have chased Japan's whaling fleet for 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) and last month lobbed bottles of rancid butter at the whalers.
They are currently about 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) southeast of Hobart.
"I can't see Australia banning a ship called the 'Steve Irwin,'" Watson said.
"Japan is being extremely arrogant in making such a demand."
Illegal exports endanger box turtles in Malaysia
The box turtle is disappearing across Malaysia because of increased illegal hunting for its meat and use in traditional Chinese medicine, wildlife activists said earlier today.
TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network, said in a new report that the Malayan Box Turtle "is in peril due to overexploitation" despite a Malaysian government ban on its export since 2005.
Since the ban, export of turtles for the pet trade in Japan, Europe and the United States ceased, but TRAFFIC found widespread evidence of continuing illegal export, mainly to Hong Kong, China and to a lesser extent Singapore.
Exotic meats from wildlife are much sought after by the Chinese, who also use body parts of animals for traditional medicines including aphrodisiacs.
There is no commercial breeding of the animal in Malaysia or elsewhere because it is expensive and time-consuming.
"To meet demand, animals are being taken from the wild at an unsustainable rate, which has to be addressed or they will disappear from the Malaysian countryside," said Sabine Schoppe, the author of the report.
The report said a survey of stock at two traders in Selangor state found 385 box turtles in a 38 day period.
Multiplying by the number of known illegal suppliers of turtles gives a conservative estimate of almost 22,000 animals illegally exported per year from Malaysia, Schoppe said.
"Simple maths leads you to the obvious conclusion: stop the over-exploitation of Malayan Box Turtles, before we lose them," she said.
She said the vast majority of the illegally exported Malayan Box Turtles - distinguished by three yellow stripes on the head and a dark olive carpace - are adults.
This is especially dangerous because the species has a slow reproductive cycle and produces a limited number of eggs in its life span of 30 to 35 years.
A typical adult is about 20 cms (8 inches) long.
The Asian Box Turtle, which includes a range of box turtles including the Malayan variety, was listed as vulnerable to extinction by IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, in 2000.
TRAFFIC, a joint program of IUCN and WWF, urged Malaysia to strictly implement the export ban for one generation to allow numbers to recover.
It also called for better regional cooperation in controlling illegal wildlife trade, particularly at border crossings.
Misliah Mohamed Basir, deputy director of Malaysia's wildlife department, said it was difficult to stamp out the illegal trade.
Smugglers, if even convicted, often get away with a fine.
"We try our best to curb this, but it's not an easy job," she said.
TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network, said in a new report that the Malayan Box Turtle "is in peril due to overexploitation" despite a Malaysian government ban on its export since 2005.
Since the ban, export of turtles for the pet trade in Japan, Europe and the United States ceased, but TRAFFIC found widespread evidence of continuing illegal export, mainly to Hong Kong, China and to a lesser extent Singapore.
Exotic meats from wildlife are much sought after by the Chinese, who also use body parts of animals for traditional medicines including aphrodisiacs.
There is no commercial breeding of the animal in Malaysia or elsewhere because it is expensive and time-consuming.
"To meet demand, animals are being taken from the wild at an unsustainable rate, which has to be addressed or they will disappear from the Malaysian countryside," said Sabine Schoppe, the author of the report.
The report said a survey of stock at two traders in Selangor state found 385 box turtles in a 38 day period.
Multiplying by the number of known illegal suppliers of turtles gives a conservative estimate of almost 22,000 animals illegally exported per year from Malaysia, Schoppe said.
"Simple maths leads you to the obvious conclusion: stop the over-exploitation of Malayan Box Turtles, before we lose them," she said.
She said the vast majority of the illegally exported Malayan Box Turtles - distinguished by three yellow stripes on the head and a dark olive carpace - are adults.
This is especially dangerous because the species has a slow reproductive cycle and produces a limited number of eggs in its life span of 30 to 35 years.
A typical adult is about 20 cms (8 inches) long.
The Asian Box Turtle, which includes a range of box turtles including the Malayan variety, was listed as vulnerable to extinction by IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, in 2000.
TRAFFIC, a joint program of IUCN and WWF, urged Malaysia to strictly implement the export ban for one generation to allow numbers to recover.
It also called for better regional cooperation in controlling illegal wildlife trade, particularly at border crossings.
Misliah Mohamed Basir, deputy director of Malaysia's wildlife department, said it was difficult to stamp out the illegal trade.
Smugglers, if even convicted, often get away with a fine.
"We try our best to curb this, but it's not an easy job," she said.
Cambodia marks Khmer Rouge fall
Thousands of Cambodians celebrated earlier Wednesday the fall of the murderous Khmer Rouge regime 30 years ago as a UN-backed tribunal prepared to finally try some of its key leaders for crimes against humanity.
More than 40,000 people packed Phnom Penh's Olympic Stadium for speeches and a parade to mark the day Vietnamese forces entered the capital to oust the ultra-communists from power.
Despite the deaths of 1.7 million or more Cambodians during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 rule, none of the surviving leaders have yet faced justice.
One of the accused - Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, who headed the Khmer Rouge's largest torture center - is expected to take the stand in March, said co-prosecutor Robert Petit, adding that the trial is expected to take three to four months.
But the other four, all of them aging and ailing, probably won't be tried until 2010 or later.
Tribunal spokeswoman Helen Jarvis said Tuesday that they would hold a procedural meeting next week.
Although this year's celebration - dubbed "Victory over Genocide" - was the largest ever, keynote speaker and Senate President Chea Sim made no mention of the tribunal.
The Cambodian government, whose top leaders served in the Khmer Rouge ranks before defecting, has been accused of foot-dragging on the trial.
"After 30 years, no one has been tried, convicted or sentenced for the crimes of one of the bloodiest regimes of the 20th century," the New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a release Monday.
"This is no accident. For more than a decade, China and the United States blocked efforts at accountability, and for the past decade (Prime Minister) Hun Sen has done his best to thwart justice," it said.
China was a key supporter of the Khmer Rouge and then the United States backed a post-1979 insurgency, which included Khmer Rouge guerrillas who fought the Vietnamese-installed government in Phnom Penh.
The Khmer Rouge finally fell apart in 1998 after the death of its leader Pol Pot.
Chea Sim said that the legacy of the Khmer Rouge era has yet to be erased in Cambodia, where peace, nonviolence and a sense of self-confidence were still needed.
He also noted that 30 percent of the people were still living below the poverty line.
"I am happy to join in the ceremony today because on January 7th my second life began," said a 59-year-old farmer, Im Oun.
She said her father and sister both died of starvation during the Khmer Rouge period, when the country was turned into a vast slave labor camp.
"I want to see Khmer Rouge leaders prosecuted as soon as possible because they are getting old now," she said.
More than 40,000 people packed Phnom Penh's Olympic Stadium for speeches and a parade to mark the day Vietnamese forces entered the capital to oust the ultra-communists from power.
Despite the deaths of 1.7 million or more Cambodians during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 rule, none of the surviving leaders have yet faced justice.
One of the accused - Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, who headed the Khmer Rouge's largest torture center - is expected to take the stand in March, said co-prosecutor Robert Petit, adding that the trial is expected to take three to four months.
But the other four, all of them aging and ailing, probably won't be tried until 2010 or later.
Tribunal spokeswoman Helen Jarvis said Tuesday that they would hold a procedural meeting next week.
Although this year's celebration - dubbed "Victory over Genocide" - was the largest ever, keynote speaker and Senate President Chea Sim made no mention of the tribunal.
The Cambodian government, whose top leaders served in the Khmer Rouge ranks before defecting, has been accused of foot-dragging on the trial.
"After 30 years, no one has been tried, convicted or sentenced for the crimes of one of the bloodiest regimes of the 20th century," the New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a release Monday.
"This is no accident. For more than a decade, China and the United States blocked efforts at accountability, and for the past decade (Prime Minister) Hun Sen has done his best to thwart justice," it said.
China was a key supporter of the Khmer Rouge and then the United States backed a post-1979 insurgency, which included Khmer Rouge guerrillas who fought the Vietnamese-installed government in Phnom Penh.
The Khmer Rouge finally fell apart in 1998 after the death of its leader Pol Pot.
Chea Sim said that the legacy of the Khmer Rouge era has yet to be erased in Cambodia, where peace, nonviolence and a sense of self-confidence were still needed.
He also noted that 30 percent of the people were still living below the poverty line.
"I am happy to join in the ceremony today because on January 7th my second life began," said a 59-year-old farmer, Im Oun.
She said her father and sister both died of starvation during the Khmer Rouge period, when the country was turned into a vast slave labor camp.
"I want to see Khmer Rouge leaders prosecuted as soon as possible because they are getting old now," she said.
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Today's horoscope says:
No whining! No, you can't buy everything you want the first minute you want it. Another illusion shattered! You didn't like this one much, anyway.
Oh, Well!
No whining! No, you can't buy everything you want the first minute you want it. Another illusion shattered! You didn't like this one much, anyway.
Oh, Well!
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