US House of Representatives Leader Visits Lebanon, Defends Trip to Syria

By Edward Yeranian Beirut 02 April 2007

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U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are visiting Lebanon amid intensive diplomatic activity and attempts to resume Arab-Israeli peace talks. Edward Yeranian reports for VOA from Beirut.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, right, is welcomed by Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora in Beirut, 02 Apr 2007

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her bi-partisan delegation paid a symbolic visit to the tomb of slain Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al Hariri, before meeting top Lebanese officials.

Pelosi defended her visit to Syria, planned for Tuesday, which has come under criticism from the White House. Pelosi said it was quote "important" to hold a dialogue with Damascus and to "discuss its role in supporting Hezbollah and Hamas."

"We [will] go there [Syria] and will be talking about the overarching issue, the fight against terrorism and the role that Syria can play to help or to hinder that goal," she said.

She made no apologies for the trip, insisting that it was beneficial to the U.S. national interests.

"The purpose of the trip is part of our responsibility for the national security of the United States. We are here to see how we can make the world safer and to fight terrorism," said Pelosi.

The U.S. congressional delegation met with both sides in Lebanon's four-month old governmental crisis, including Pro-Syrian Speaker Nabih Berri, as well as the leader of Lebanon's anti-Syrian parliamentary majority Sa'ad Hariri, and Prime Minister Fouad Saniora.

During a visit to Israel during the weekend, Pelosi met with the families of two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah guerillas this past summer. She is expected to raise the issue of the capture soldiers with Lebanese officials.

Bit Pelosi and her delegation have no plans to meet with leaders of the pro-Syrian Hezbollah, which is on the State Department's list of terrorist organizations.

Beirut's An Nahra newspaper says Pelosi is visiting Beirut in a bid to "counterbalance tomorrow's controversial visit to Syria."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is the current President of the European Union, also made a whirlwind stop in Beirut, in her words, "to express Europe's support for the government of Prime Minister Saniora."

She was given a warm welcome by the prime minister at Beirut Airport, discussing the current political stand-off with Lebanese leaders, before heading off to inspect a German naval task force that is patrolling Lebanese waters for the UN.

Chancellor Merkel told a press conference with Prime Minister Saniora that Germany is also helping Lebanon to control its borders with Syria, to prevent arms smuggling.

Diabetes Becomes Growing Threat for Affluent Asians

By Claudia Blume Hong Kong 02 April 2007

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From Bombay to Beijing, a newly affluent Asian middle class is increasingly adapting Western lifestyles. Many city dwellers opt for high calorie fast food instead of healthier traditional meals and are becoming less and less physically active. This comes with a price: diabetes, mainly caused by excess weight and lack of exercise, has reached epidemic levels in Asia. The disease is growing at a faster pace in Asia than anywhere else in the world and is increasingly affecting younger people. Claudia Blume reports from VOA's Asia News Center in Hong Kong.

Delegates from WHO are welcomed by Powhiri, a traditional Maori welcome, in Auckland, 18 Sep 2006

Diabetes is fast becoming an Asian disease. The continent is home to four of the world's 10 largest diabetic populations - India, China, Japan and Pakistan. In India alone, more than 35 million people are estimated to have diabetes, more than in any other country in the world.

In percentage terms, the worst affected nation is the tiny Pacific island state of Nauru, where more than 40 percent of the population has the disease.

In a healthy body, the pancreas releases insulin, which transforms blood sugar into energy. People with diabetes either do not make enough insulin or their bodies do not use the insulin they make, resulting in the build-up of sugar in the bloodstream.

Most patients have type 2 diabetes, which is mainly caused by obesity and lack of exercise. Type one diabetes, often called juvenile diabetes, usually strikes children and young adults, and occurs when the body's immune system destroys insulin-producing cells. Both types can lead to complications such as heart disease, kidney damage and blindness.

Medical textbooks often describe type 2 diabetes as a disease of the middle-aged and the elderly. But Jonathan Shaw, deputy director of the International Diabetes Institute in Australia, says this is changing rapidly. Increasingly, people under 40 are affected, especially in Asia.

"We are now even in European populations, but especially in Asian populations, seeing quite commonly type 2 diabetes in adults in their 20s and 30s and there are now reports of type 2 diabetes in adolescence and even children," said Shaw. "So it's occurring at younger and younger ages. At any given sort of level of risk, it always seems that people of Asian origin will more likely develop diabetes than people of European origin."

Shaw says there is evidence that some ethnic groups in Asia, particularly some in South Asia, and Pacific Islanders, have a genetic predisposition toward diabetes.

But the main culprit is lifestyle. Affluent Asians are rapidly adopting westernized ways of life, such as high-fat fast food diets and sedentary lifestyles. Ronald Ma, a diabetes specialist at the Prince of Wales hospital in Hong Kong, blames unhealthy habits for the fact that about 10 percent of the city's population has diabetes.

"Sometimes if they have to rush they eat a lot of fast food and unhealthy food - high fat, high salt kind of food," he said. "They rarely have time to exercise, they spend a lot of time in front of the computer, sitting around. The general lifestyle is really as unhealthy as it can get in terms of getting these chronic illnesses like diabetes."

Because of its connection to lifestyle, the disease shows up in Asian cities far more than in the countryside. In India, for example, urban residents are four times more likely to develop diabetes than those living in villages.

Jonathan Shaw says the epidemic is exploding faster in Asia than in any other region.

"For example the Western Pacific region currently has 67 million people with diabetes and we project it will increase by 2025 to 99 million, that's a 48 percent increase," said Shaw. "The Indian sub-continent, including Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as well, we estimate currently has 47 million with diabetes. That will grow to 80 million by the year 2025, almost certainly the growth there is underestimated."

As in the West, most people in Asia with type 2 diabetes are overweight. But experts say many Asian diabetics are less overweight than most Western patients. Their body fat tends to be more often stored around the abdomen, however, which increases the risk of getting the disease.

Diabetes is sometimes called a silent killer because many people do not know they have the disease. Often, there are no symptoms for years. The International Diabetes Institute says awareness of the disease is low in Asia, particularly in less developed countries. Information on how to manage diabetes once it is diagnosed often is hard to come by.

Some of those affected have taken matters into their own hands.

Lily Zhou's husband was diagnosed with diabetes two years ago. When the Beijing resident searched for Chinese-language information on the disease on the Internet, she was disappointed by what she found. Zhou decided to create her own Web site, called Tangzhu, which means "master of glucose".

"The Web site is for information exchange and self-management of the diabetes," she said. "We hope it can be a platform for people with diabetes to share their opinions and work together to have a better life."

Diabetes experts say it is crucial to raise the awareness of governments in the region about the enormous scale of the problem. They point out that many diabetics need drugs every day to stay alive, and that diabetes causes many victims to become disabled or to need extensive hospital treatment, all of which can cut into government budgets.

They say Asian health officials often do not recognize that non-communicable diseases such as diabetes are already as big a threat for developing countries as they are for more developed ones.

VOASE0402_Science In the News

02 April 2007

Feeling Happy in Your Skin? Good, But Still You Should Keep an Eye on It
A look at some of the things that can go wrong with the largest organ of the body. Also, how doctors treat different skin disorders.

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VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Bob Doughty. Today, we will tell about some disorders of the skin, and ways to treat them.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Skin. It is the largest organ of the body. Skin is the body's first barrier to infection. It keeps out many harmful bacteria and other things. It also keeps all the things we need in our bodies.

The skin helps control body temperature. Glands on the skin release fluid to cool the body when it gets too hot. When a person gets too cold, blood passages in the skin become narrow. This helps to trap heat inside the body.

VOICE TWO:

Like other organs of the body, the skin can have problems. Almost any teenager can tell you the most common disorder: acne. Acne is connected to hormones and how they affect the oil glands of the skin.

The skin gets its oil, called sebum, from the sebaceous glands. Each gland connects to a passage of extremely small hairs. The sebum travels through these passages. The oil reaches the surface of the skin through little holes, called pores. Sometimes, the sebum, hair and cells of the pores block these openings. This is how acne starts.

Bacteria can grow in a blocked pore. The bacteria produce chemicals and enzymes. White blood cells -- infection fighters -- travel to the area. All this leads to a growth on the skin, a pimple. This becomes red, hot and often painful.

VOICE ONE:

Some people think eating chocolate or oily foods causes acne. Others blame dirty skin or nervous tension. Yet researchers tell us none of these cause acne.

So what does? Doctors are not sure. But they have some ideas. For one thing, they know that hormones called androgens are involved. Androgens cause the sebaceous glands to grow and make more oil.

Young people will not be happy about this next fact. Androgens increase when boys and girls enter their teenage years.

VOICE TWO:

There are several treatments for acne. Mild cases are generally treated with medicines for use directly on the skin. These often contain salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide.

People with more serious acne may be given antibiotic drugs to take by mouth. Or they might use a combination of other treatments.

One drug used to treat the most severe forms of acne is called isotretinoin. It is sold under different names, including Accutane.

Isotretinoin has been shown to cure acne in ninety percent of people who use it. The drug is normally taken for about five months. However, it can cause serious problems in some cases. If used during pregnancy, for example, isotretinoin can harm the developing fetus. That is why health experts strongly advise pregnant women and those who may become pregnant against using the drug.

VOICE ONE:

Skin experts say there are simple ways to help prevent acne. One is to touch your face as little as possible, so as not to add oils or put pressure on the skin.

Another good idea is to avoid the urge to burst pimples. This can leave permanent marks on the skin.

Doctors also say to avoid strong cleaning products, and to be gentle as you wash and dry your skin.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

A 13-year-old boy shows the scar from the removal of a cancerous growth on his arm

Some skin problems are far more serious than acne. There are several kinds of skin cancer, for example.

Skin cancer is often the result of time spent in the sun. Light and heat from the sun can change chemicals in the skin. The sun produces ultraviolet radiation that causes the skin to burn and, over time, develop cancer.

The most serious skin cancer is melanoma. It begins in the cells that produce skin color. Melanomas can develop anywhere. They are usually found on the back and the shoulders.

Malignant melanoma

Most melanomas are black or brown. They can look like other kinds of growths. But they are the deadliest form of skin cancer. So it is important to watch for signs that can help identify melanoma. Treating it early can make the difference between life and death.

People should see a doctor immediately if they find a growth of a strange shape, with uneven sides or edges. A growth of different colors or one larger than six millimeters also should be examined.

VOICE ONE:

The usual treatment for melanoma is an operation to remove the growth. After the surgery, patients often take drugs to kill any cancer cells that remain. Doctors may also order radiation treatment. Radiation kills cancer cells and reduces the size of cancerous growths.

There also are experimental treatments for melanoma. Researchers are working on ways to genetically change white blood cells. The goal is to help the body increase its own efforts to destroy the cancer.

Researchers are also testing a possible melanoma vaccine. It would not prevent the disease like traditional vaccines. Instead, it would help the body fight the cancer in a way similar to the genetic treatment.

However, the best thing is to reduce the chances that you might ever get melanoma. Doctors tell people to limit the amount of time they spend in sunlight. They also suggest wearing hats and other protective clothing. And, they urge people to use products that help protect the skin from the sun.

VOICE TWO:

Yet there are times when doctors use ultraviolet light to treat some skin problems -- like psoriasis, for example. Psoriasis creates raised areas of skin that are dry and cause an itchy feeling. They are found most often on the elbows, knees and head. But psoriasis can spread to cover larger areas.

It usually begins before twenty or after fifty years of age. Recent studies have shown that the disorder causes the body’s defense system to produce too many skin cells.

There is no cure, but some treatments can improve the condition. One involves the use of ultraviolet light in the doctor's office to reduce swelling and slow skin cell production. This is sometimes used in combination with a drug called psoralen.

Psoriasis seems to pass down from parent to child. Researchers have identified genes linked to psoriasis.

VOICE ONE:

Another skin disorder is atopic dermatitis, commonly called eczema. It creates areas of skin that itch and become rough. Eczema is most common in babies. At least half of those cases clear up within a few years. But in adults this painful condition generally never goes away completely.

Persons with eczema often also suffer from allergic conditions like asthma and seasonal hay fever. Like psoriasis, there is no cure for eczema. But there are treatments with steroid drugs and also some newly developed kinds without steroids.

Environmental conditions can also influence development of eczema. That is why doctors often advise patients not to use cleaners that contain soap, which can make skin dry. Even water can cause dry skin, which can make eczema worse. So can temperature changes and stress.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Some skin disorders do not cause any physical pain. But they can cause emotional pain by how they affect the appearance of the skin. Vitiligo for example, is the destruction of the pigment cells. This disease causes areas of the skin to lose all color. Even the hairs turn white.

For some people, the white areas of vitiligo appear only in one or two places. Others find pigment loss on just one side of their bodies. Most people, however, develop many such areas all over their skin.

Around the world, up to sixty-five million people have vitiligo. It affects all races and both sexes.

Doctors do not know the cause. However, as with some other skin disorders, they suspect that the body’s immune system is involved.

VOICE ONE:

To treat vitiligo, some patients receive psoralen and ultraviolet light. A number of steroid drugs can also help, especially when started early in the disease.

Doctors may also wish to operate to treat severe cases of vitiligo. However, American health experts say all operations should be considered only after the patient has received other medical treatment.

One such operation involves the removal of a very small piece of healthy skin from the patient. The skin is placed in a substance that helps it grow more pigment cells. These new cells are then placed in the areas where the patient needs pigment.

Vitiligo can cause extreme changes in a person’s appearance. That is why there are mental health experts and support groups to help people who have this disease.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Caty Weaver. Brianna Blake was our producer. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE ONE:

And, I'm Bob Doughty. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

VOASE0402_Agriculture Report

02 April 2007

Much to Be Said for Mulch
Why mulching is one of the best things people can do for their plants.

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This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Spreading mulch

Mulch is important to farmers. Mulch is a protective cover of material that is spread on top of soil. It is usually made out of organic material, like crop waste. Farmers may keep the remains of maize or other crops on top of the soil. This creates mulch on the soil surface. The plant remains help protect the soil against wind and water damage. This is called conservation tillage.

Mulching is one of the best things people can do for their plants. Mulch not only protects the soil against wind and water damage. It also helps keep the soil from getting dry, and reduces the need for watering plants. It also limits temperature changes in the soil. And it stops unwanted plants, or weeds, from growing.

Organic mulch improves the condition of soil. As the mulch breaks down, it provides material which keeps the soil from getting hard. This improves the growth of roots and increases the movement of water through the soil. It also improves the ability of the soil to hold water. Organic mulch contains nutrients for plants. It also provides a good environment for earthworms and other helpful organisms in the soil.

The United States Department of Agriculture says it is easy to find organic mulch materials. Cut-up leaves and small pieces of tree bark can be used. Grass cuttings are also a good mulch for plants. Mulch from newspapers works well in controlling weeds.

The best time to add mulch depends on your goal. Mulch provides a thick barrier between the soil and the air. This helps to reduce temperature changes in the soil. As a result, mulched soil will be cooler than other soil in the summer. Mulched areas usually warm up more slowly in the spring and cool down slowly in autumn. In winter, the mulched soil may not freeze as deeply as other soil.

Mulch used to help moderate the effects of winter weather can be added late in autumn. The best time is after the ground has frozen, but before the coldest weather arrives. Spreading mulch before the ground has frozen may attract small animals searching for a warm place to spend the winter. Delaying the spreading should prevent this problem. The animals will probably find another place to live.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by George Grow. Your can download transcripts and audio files of our reports at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

关于“风沙”的部分扯淡

好了，03月的下载贴整好了，地址还是老地方
http://lib.verycd.com/2007/02/07/0000138789.html

前些日子我这破地方又给风沙了，感觉有被人重视，我究竟该是抱有一种什么心情呢，已经说不清了。。。
月底的时候blogger也好像又给风沙了，不过现在好像好了，这事情不是一次两次了，哎，早习惯了。

汉语真的非常艺术，你看“风沙”一词多很有趣，大风这么一刮，沙尘暴这么一吹，大家都窝在家里，没法打照面了

天有不测风云。所以，乘天好时，大家要为天不好时多做点工作，关于网络问题多问问Google老师就可以了

PS：
VOA News的记者遍布世界各地，各地的新闻基本都是当地记者播报的，所以基本上都有浓郁的地方特色，当然都说的是英文。
今天的VOA News有一条来自印度，有一条来自澳大利亚，发音是相当标准的（地方性而言）。。。
贴这些不是想让大家学他们的口音（不是说他们英语po，其实就英语水平要比我好得多），只是让你对世界多份了解。
口音方面，大家还是要学英语普通话，这里是VOA专区，自然美音是标准。
昨天，有一非洲记者的播报，那口音实在是。。。我就不忍贴了
PoEnglish问下各位，如果口音实在太地域化，你说我是贴还是不贴？

PS again：
听过往期材料的朋友，应该对潘基文的口音记忆犹新吧，有点怀念安南了。。。

今年VOA月合辑第三弹发布！

3月合辑制作完毕，包括2007年3月的全部内容，Words and Their Stories的内容也收录其中。
源的地址（需安装 eMule，复制到地址栏）是：
ed2k://|file|VOASE0703.iso|305463296|FD96738DB48C8ABB4DA8D25E2C2ED7DC|h=U6EVU2ZNNCYYSKASCSRWNNYPZXDDP7TQ|/

大家开始下吧，分流工作开始，还等着VeryCD上加精哪！

Sons of Former Sports Stars Shine in Final Four

By Parke Brewer Atlanta, Georgia 02 April 2007

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Two sons of past sports stars have made headlines for themselves in U.S. men's college basketball this season. Now they are set to face one another in the Division One national championship game Monday night in Atlanta, Georgia. VOA Sports Editor Parke Brewer is there and has the story.

Defending champion Florida and Ohio State University will meet for this season's title after victories here in the Final Four Saturday night.

Key players in each starting line-up have fathers who made names for themselves internationally in different sports.

Joakim Noah

Florida's Joakim Noah is the son of former French tennis star Yannick Noah. Ohio State's Mike Conley, Jr. is the son of Mike Conley, who was the triple jump gold medalist at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Mike Conley Jr. is a freshman guard while Joakim Noah is a 2.10-meter junior and plays forward and center. Noah was part of Florida's national championship team last season and many thought he would opt for a lucrative professional contract instead of returning to college. But he and two other star teammates decided to return to school to try to repeat.

Noah says that has put a lot of pressure on them.

"People would always talk to us about expectations and that was probably the word I heard the most after we won the national championship, and we decided to come back," said Joakim Noah. "I mean it's one thing to talk about expectations, but I think we really experienced it. And I feel like this year, that's why it's almost more satisfying because I feel like we had to go through so much more just being under the microscope."

Noah, an American citizen who grew up in New York, said he learned how to deal with it from his French father Yannick, who experienced the same things after winning the 1983 French Open tennis championship. He said his father also taught him his work ethic.

"I feel like my father worked really, really hard at what he did," he said. "I was able to live and see that growing up as a kid, so it kind of came normal to me to just work hard and be one of the hardest workers."

Joakim said he was a terrible tennis player so he opted for basketball.

Mike Conley Jr.

Ohio State's Mike Conley Jr. also opted for basketball, which is hugely popular in the adjoining state of Indiana where he grew up.

He says his Olympic champion father had no objections.

"My dad never put much pressure on me to run track and he always was very open and let me do what I wanted to do," said Mike Conley Jr. "And I felt like I've never ever really had a lot of pressure to play any other sport. And, you know, I thank him for that because it could have been different. And I'm just blessed and fortunate to be in the situation that I'm in now."

Mike Conley Jr. will try to help Ohio State win the prestigious national college basketball championship for the first time since 1962, while Joakim Noah aims to help Florida become only the second school in the last 33 years to repeat as champion.

Indian Court Blocks Government Quota Plan

By Anjana Pasricha New Delhi 01 April 2007

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Supporter of Bahujan Samaj Party, which outlawed discrimination based on caste, holds a statue of Bhim Rao Ambedkar, founder of BSP, Allahabad, India, 23 Mar 2007

An Indian court has put on hold a controversial government plan to raise the number of college seats set aside for lower caste Hindus. As Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi, the government had introduced the measure to fulfill its pledge to assist disadvantaged groups.

A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court has asked the government to provide more accurate data on the educational and economic status of India's lower castes, for which the government wants to set aside nearly half the seats in federally funded educational institutions. The court says the government has used 70-year-old data to justify its plan.

The plan was to take effect this year. It would have doubled the percentage of seats, from about 25 percent to 50 percent, that Indian public colleges have reserved for lower caste Hindus under an existing affirmative action program.

Hinduism divides people into many castes, and those in the lower ranked castes face discrimination. The government says it wants to increase the quotas to give social and economic opportunity to those in what are known as the "backward classes."

But the plan triggered widespread controversy, and angry street protests by students who say entrance to universities should be based on merit alone.

Doctors from All India Institute of Medical Sciences celebrate Supreme Court's decision in New Delhi, 29 March 2007

The protesting students and other critics charge that the government is raising quotas only to widen public support for the ruling Congress Party. They say many of those who would have benefited from the new quotas have already moved up the social and economic ladder.

Independent political analyst Mahesh Rangarajan notes that the court has not yet ruled against the quotas, or "reservations," as they are known.

"There is no doubt that the tone of the judgment was critical of reservations as a practice and an idea, but they stopped short of ruling it as unconstitutional," he said. "The court has leaned against the way in which reservation policy is being implemented: in particular, they have objected to the way in which the groups who are classified as eligible for this benefit are being chosen."

Government ministers who spearheaded the plan say they will press ahead with the affirmative action program, and are confident that the court will finally allow its implementation.

Opponents of the plan say it will lower standards in the top professional colleges, which have produced some of the country's most skilled doctors, engineers and managers.

Supporters say quotas are essential to give the lower castes a better chance at quality education, and ensure that more of the population is included in the country's surging economic development.

Sydney Turns Off Lights for 'Earth Hour'

By Phil Mercer Sydney 01 April 2007

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Difference of switching many of the city's lights is shown in this combo taken one week apart in Sydney, on 24 Mar 2007, above, and 31 Mar 2007, below

Parts of Australia's biggest city, Sydney, plunged into near darkness for an hour to raise awareness of global warming. The local government, environmental groups and businesses united in support of "Earth Hour" - when the city turned off the lights to save power and cut emissions that contribute to global warming. From Sydney, Phil Mercer tells us more.

Sydney was not completely blacked out Saturday evening, but organizers of "Earth Hour" say they are delighted with the response.

Lights on the city's iconic Harbor Bridge were switched off for the hour along with most of those on the famous Sydney Opera House. Tens of thousands of suburban homes joined in. So did hundreds of businesses. Many tower blocks have spent the evening in almost total darkness.

The event has had high-profile support to raise awareness about how to combat global warming. Australian actress Cate Blanchett says Earth Hour shows small changes can make a big difference in climate change.

"It's massive [climate change]. It's very difficult to grasp in all its magnitude and complexities," she said. "So I think that the potency of tonight is that it's about a very simple beginning, you know, turning off a switch."

Every day millions of lights and computers are left on in deserted offices, apartments and houses.

Environmental activists say that simply switching them off could cut Sydney's greenhouse gas emissions by five percent over the next year.

Per capita, Australia is one of the world's largest producers of carbon dioxide and other gases that many scientists believe are helping to warm the Earth's atmosphere, causing climate upset.

This Australian, observing Earth Hour in Sydney, says he hopes the event will spur the national government into greater action.

"We're one of the worst, if not the worst, for carbon emissions and it's good to see this effort tonight," he said. "So hopefully the government will see it and make some changes."

Prime Minister John Howard has refused to sign the international Kyoto Protocol to halt global warming, saying it does not address key issues between developed and developing nations and hurts Australia's coal-driven economy. But he argues Australia is meeting its international emissions obligations in other ways.

A long-standing drought and serious water shortages in Australia have focused much attention on climate change in this election year. Some experts warn higher temperatures could leave this nation of 20 million people at the mercy of more severe droughts and devastating tropical cyclones.

VOASE0401_This Is America

01 April 2007

Sports Programs Where a Disability Is No Barrier to Having Fun
Last in a four-part series on life for people with disabilities in the US.

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. This week on our program, we have the last of our four-part series on living with a disability in America. Last month we talked about assistive technology. Before that, it was education and employment. Today, in Part Four, our subject is sports and recreation for people with disabilities.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

In August of two thousand eight, athletes from the United States and around the world will compete in the Beijing Olympics. But did you know that in September of next year, disabled athletes will compete in the Paralympic Games in Beijing?

The Olympics and the Paralympics are separate movements. But they have always been held in the same year. And since nineteen eighty-eight, they have also been held in the same city. The International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee signed an agreement in two thousand one to secure this connection.

The next winter games will take place in Vancouver, Canada, in two thousand ten.

Paralympics skiing training

VOICE TWO:

The Paralympic Games grew out of a sports competition held in nineteen forty-eight in England. A doctor named Ludwig Guttmann organized it for men who suffered spinal cord injuries in World War Two. Four years later, it became an international event as competitors from the Netherlands took part.

Then, in nineteen sixty, the first Paralympics were held in Rome. Four hundred athletes from twenty-three countries competed. By two thousand four, the Paralympic Games in Athens had almost four thousand athletes from one hundred thirty-six countries.

Athletes may have physical or mental limitations; they may be blind or in wheelchairs. Yet sometimes they perform better than athletes without disabilities.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen sixty-eight, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the sister of former President John F. Kennedy, started the Special Olympics. These games are just for children and adults with mental limitations. The Special Olympics Web site says programs currently serve more than two million people in one hundred sixty countries.

This past November, in Mumbai, India, teams competed in the First Special Olympics International Cricket Cup. In addition to India, there were men's teams from Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the West Indies. There were also women's cricket teams from India and Pakistan.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

There are many organizations in the United States that help people with disabilities play sports.

A game of wheelchair-basketball in Florida

Wheelchair tennis is a popular sport. So is basketball. In fact, there are more than one hundred professional teams playing wheelchair basketball.

Special wheelchairs for athletes are lightweight and designed for quick moves. For people who want to go really fast in their chairs, there is a Power Wheelchair Racing Association.

VOICE ONE:

In the state of Utah there is a place called the National Ability Center. It teaches all kinds of sports to people with all kinds of physical and mental disabilities. It even gives friends and family members a chance to try a sport as if they were disabled.

A reporter from the Washington Post wanted to know what it would be like for a blind person to use a climbing wall. So, protected by a safety line, the newspaper reporter closed his eyes and started to feel for places to put his hands and feet. Trainers on the ground urged him on: "Take your time. You can do it." Finally he reached the top.

VOICE TWO:

At the National Ability Center people can learn to ride horses and mountain bikes. They can try winter mountain sports, and learn scuba diving and other water activities.

The center also prepares athletes for the Paralympics.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

These days, the first place many people go when they want to travel is the Internet. On the Web they can get information about hotels, transportation and services like tour companies. The Internet can also help travelers find special services for the disabled. For example, there are groups that help young people with disabilities travel to different countries.

Susan Sygall leads an organization called Mobility International USA. She has traveled to more than twenty-five countries to talk about the rights of people with disabilities. She herself uses a wheelchair. People with disabilities are all members of a global family, she says. She says working together across borders is the most powerful way of making changes.

VOICE TWO:

Another American organization is called Wilderness Inquiry. This group leads camping trips to places in Kenya, Norway, Australia and the American state of Alaska. The man who started Wilderness Inquiry, Greg Lais [pronounced lays] likes people with and without disabilities to travel together.

One family came on a trip with two sons. One boy was in a wheelchair because of cerebral palsy. Greg Lais says the other children on the camping trip accepted the boy and included him in games. "People are accepted for who they are," he says.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Another outdoor sport that may be available to people with disabilities is hunting. Several national wildlife refuges in the United States organize special hunts. One of them is a refuge in South Carolina where Bobby Harrell goes deer hunting every year with other people with disabilities.

Bobby Harrell became disabled in nineteen ninety-three. He enjoys, in his words, "seeing people get back into doing things that they used to do but didn't think they could."

In some places there are trails that can be used by hunters in wheelchairs. Some disabled hunters use specially designed guns that are fired by blowing air through a tube.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Today there are more and more choices of entertainment for people with disabilities.

Theaters may offer wireless earphones to make the sound louder for people with limited hearing. Some provide a visual interpreter to describe a performance or a play for a person who is blind or has limited sight.

And some movie theaters offer a new device called MoPix, for Motion Picture Access. For a person unable to hear the movie, it shows the words the actors are saying. For a person unable to see the movie, it provides a spoken description of what is happening.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

For disabled people interested in yoga, there are special stretching exercises. Matthew Sanford knows about these. He has been in a wheelchair ever since a car accident when he lost the ability to move his legs. He was thirteen years old at the time. That was almost thirty years ago.

Matthew Sanford says he has had two lives: one before he was thirteen and the other after. He had to learn to live with a new reality. For many years, he was told to build up the strength in his arms and forget about his legs.

But he says yoga enabled him to reconnect with the thirteen-year-old boy who loved his body. He says the exercises and special breathing of yoga let him connect his body and mind again.

Now Matthew Sanford teaches yoga at his studio in the state of Minnesota. He also travels to talk to people about living with a disability. He says feeling connected to our body is a powerful part of living -- whether we have a disability or not.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The earlier reports in our series on living with a disability in America can be found at voaspecialenglish.com. Our four-part series was written by Karen Leggett and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. Be sure to join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

VOASE0401_Development Report

01 April 2007

'Phones for Health' Campaign Targets AIDS in Africa
An information-sharing system for health workers in Rwanda will be expanded to Nigeria and other countries.

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Bangladeshi woman answers her mobile phone

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Recently we talked about Voxiva, a provider of information technology systems for health workers in poor countries. This Washington-based company has been working for three years with the government of Rwanda. Voxiva created a system that uses mobile phones and other devices for health workers to report and share information on HIV/AIDS.

That same technology will now be used in a wider effort to fight the deadly virus in other African countries. A campaign launched by a partnership of public and private organizations aims to use cell phones to improve HIV/AIDS care.

The ten-million-dollar campaign is called "Phones for Health." Health workers will use mobile phones loaded with special software to enter information into a central computer system. The workers will also be able to use the Motorola handsets to receive treatment guidelines, order medicines and get training materials.

Phones for Health was announced in February at the GSM World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. GSM is the global system for mobile communications, a cellular technology used for voice and data services.

In addition to Voxiva, other partners include the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, started by President Bush, and the GSM Association. This is a trade group that represents more than seven hundred mobile phone operators in two hundred eighteen countries.

MTN, the leading operator in Africa, is another partner in the effort, as are Motorola and the Accenture company.

The chairman of Voxiva, Paul Meyer, says the program will start in Rwanda and Nigeria. It will then spread to eight other countries over the next several years. The campaign is currently working to identify which African countries will be included, he says.

The campaign will work closely with health ministries, international health groups and others. In the future, the Phones for Health program could be expanded further in Africa and to parts of Asia.

Paul Meyer says the technology offers a way for countries to bring together separate information systems for diseases like malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS. As a result, he says, limited health resources could be used more effectively.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. Transcripts and audio archives of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Faith Lapidus.

Rock Star Sheryl Crow Adds Voice to Fight Against Breast Cancer

By Rosanne Skirble Washington 01 April 2007

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The wife of presidential candidate John Edwards renewed her fight against breast cancer this week. Elizabeth Edwards is one of three million women in the United States living with the disease. Of the 275,000 new cases diagnosed each year, 40,000 die. As VOA's Rosanne Skirble reports, breast cancer survivor and rock star Sheryl Crow was on Capitol Hill [Wednesday] to add her support for new breast cancer legislation.

Singer and breast cancer survivor and activist Sheryl Crow

When Grammy award winner Sheryl Crow has something to say about politics or her personal life, it usually comes out in her lyrics.

What Crow had to say this time was directed to members of the U.S. Congress. Diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago, she was on Capitol Hill to urge lawmakers to pass the 2007 Breast Cancer Environmental Research Act now before the Congress. "I'm really encouraged about this bill. I feel like the eyes of America are on us at this moment. We are moving forward. We are getting closer. We are not leaving any stone unturned. We have to look at the environment. We can not ignore it anymore," she says.

The bill calls for $40 million a year over five years to study the role the environment plays in breast cancer risk. Crow says this would be money well-spent. "We are not asking for money that is going to be taken away from the [national medical research] labs. We are not asking for less research monies to go to scientists. What we are asking for is more money. Now is not the time to be cutting money in cancer research," she says.

That message was not lost on the half dozen members of congress who shared the podium with Crow, including Senate majority leader and the bill's co-sponsor, Harry Reid. "I strongly believe that the environment is an area that we need to look [at] to find out why so many women are being diagnosed with breast cancer," he said.

Reid said he is outraged that an American woman has a one-in-eight chance of developing breast cancer in her lifetime. He assured Crow and advocates with the National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund that he would push the bill forward. "We are going to bring the bill to the floor and if it takes cloture vote after cloture vote, we are going to have the Senate dispose of this issue," he said.

That promise was echoed by House member and bill co-sponsor Lois Capps, a leader in the Congressional Women's Caucus. "This bill must pass," she said. "I know that we are going to take this issue and make a difference in the cancer community all through the country and that is going to affect every one of our lives. So, thank you all for your support in this. I am very pleased to be a part of this team."

The law would establish breast cancer and environmental research centers to investigate causes of the disease. The bill has been introduced numerous times over eight years, but has always failed to pass. The bi-partisan members at the news conference assured Crow and advocates that this time would be different.

Crow said she is taking them at their word. "I'm very encouraged that it is going to happen this year," she said. "Also yesterday in [my] meeting with the women's [congressional] caucus I think the goal really was to get the bill marked up and passed by mother's day!"

Figure Skating Gets Comedy Treatment in New Will Ferrell Movie

By Alan Silverman Hollywood 01 April 2007

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The pageantry, the athleticism and the grace of competitive figure skating all get a royal roasting in the new comedy film co-starring Will Ferrell and Jon Heder. Alan Silverman has a look at "Blades of Glory."

Jon Heder, (left) and Will Ferrell skate away with the laughs in "Blades of Glory"

With colorful, tight-fitting costumes and crowd-pleasing styles, Chazz Michaels and Jimmy McElroy are at the top in the men's figure skating world. Of course, that doesn't mean they like each other:

The rivalry only gets more intense when the final result at the biggest international skating competition is a tie.

Right. But as the crowd cheers, the bickering on the winner's platform escalates.

Embarrassed by the brawl, national figure skating officials take harsh action.

However, it turns out there's a loophole. They can no longer compete as individuals; but nothing in the bylaws says they can't skate as a couple.

John Heder, who plays delicate Jimmy McElroy, says they had to be fully-committed to make the comedy-on-ice work. "You didn't have time to be silly because you're really focused on n-o-t falling when you're on the ice," he says. For those parts you're (thinking) 'I've got to look good.'

Co-star Will Ferrell, as macho Chazz Michaels, adds that they did a lot of their own skating. Well, some of their own skating:

[FERRELL]: "The first time that Chazz and Jimmy skate together - the 'Fire and Ice' thing - the whole beginning part is all us actually doing it. The coming together, the twirling around and then skating off. All the spots that they could use us they definitely did."

[HEDER]: "Going on and off the ice, all the really simple stuff, that was us ...also coming to a stop and hitting our marks."

Amy Poehler and Will Arnett play the reigning pairs skating champions: a brother-and-sister act that clearly looks like another sort of relationship.

The film pokes much fun at the high fashion and cutthroat competition that exists in real figure skating; but do real skaters see the humor in their sport? Yes they do, insists Olympic Gold medalist Scott Hamilton, who plays a very sincere TV commentator in the film. "I built a career on laughing at myself first, so if this is a send-up of the skating industry, it's great if they can look at it and say 'okay, we have a sense of humor and this is going to be a fun ride.' It may not be a ride that we've chosen to take, but it's funny," he says.

In fact, veteran skaters and current champions have cameos in the film, including Dorothy Hammill, Peggy Fleming, Nancy Kerrigan, Brian Boitano and Sasha Cohen. Will Ferrell says they are not there to be mocked. "I think they all know that there's a campy element to figure skating. They know that it's all about the pageantry and the outfits and I think, too, at the end of the day, anyone associated with a sport that a film is about is just happy that you're paying attention to them, regardless of what it's saying," he says.

"Blades of Glory" also features Jenna Fischer as Jon Heder's love interest (Will Ferrell's character just can't be limited to one woman); and Craig T. Nelson is the guys' dedicated coach. The comedy is co-directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck.

Bush Says Iran Must Release British Hostages

By Scott Stearns Washington 01 April 2007

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U.S. President George Bush says Iran must unconditionally release 15 British naval personnel seized this past week. VOA White House Correspondent reports, Mr. Bush discussed the matter Saturday with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who vowed to continue his country's commercial ties with Iran.

President Bush, right, and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attend a joint news conference at Camp David, MD

President Bush says the British sailors were doing nothing wrong and should be released immediately. "The British hostages issue is a serious issue because the Iranians took these people out of Iraqi water. And it is inexcusable behavior. And I strongly support the Blair government's attempts to resolve this peacefully," he said.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Saturday again said the Britons illegally entered Iranian waters and criticized Prime Minister Tony Blair's government for refusing to apologize or express regret for the situation.

Britain says its naval personnel were in Iraqi waters when they were overwhelmed by a larger force from Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Tehran says they illegally entered Iranian waters when they were picked up in the disputed Shatt al-Arab waterway between Iran and Iraq.

The standoff further raises international tensions with Iran over its enrichment of uranium. That is one of the reasons the United States is asking Brazil's national petroleum firm, Petrobras, to stop working in Iran.

Following talks with President Bush at Camp David, President Lula,speaking through a translator, said Brazil has no political differences with Iran and will not suspend commercial ties that are not in violation of a U.N. embargo. "Petrobras will continue to invest in oil prospection in Iran. Iran has been an important trade partner for Brazil. They buy from us more than one billion dollars and they don't almost sell anything to us. So I am an advocate that fair trade is the trade that you buy and sell," he said.

President Bush says he hopes nations would be very careful in dealing with Iran because, he says, the country is trying to develop a nuclear weapon that would be a major threat to world peace. Mr. Bush had little choice but to accept President Lula's decision to maintain commercial ties with Iran. "Every nation makes the decisions that they think is best for their interests. Brazil is a sovereign nation. He just articulated a sovereign decision," he said.

The United Nations Security Council has expressed "grave concern" about the detention of the British sailors, and has called for an early resolution to the standoff.

VOASE0331_People In America

31 March 2007

Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886: The 'Belle of Amherst' Became one of America's Greatest Poets
Little is known about her life. But her poetry remains popular today.

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ANNOUNCER:

People in America – a program in Special English about famous Americans of the past. Now, Kay Gallant and Harry Monroe tell the story of nineteenth century poet Emily Dickinson.

(MUSIC)

Emily Dickinson

VOICE ONE:

Because I could not stop for Death —

He kindly stopped for me –

The carriage held but just ourselves

And immortality.

VOICE TWO:

The words are by American poet Emily Dickinson, who died in eighteen eighty-six. During her life, she published only about ten poems. Four years after her death, a few more poems were published. But her complete work did not appear until nineteen fifty-five.

VOICE ONE:

I'm Nobody! Who are you?

Are you -- Nobody – Too?

VOICE TWO:

Emily Dickinson has become part of our language without really being part of our history. Some see her as the last poet of an early American tradition. Others see her as the first modern American poet. Each reader seems to find a different Emily Dickinson. She remains as mysterious as she was when she was alive.

VOICE ONE:

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant --

VOICE TWO:

The truth about Emily Dickinson has been difficult to discover. Few people of her time knew who she was or what she was doing. The main facts about her life are these.

She was born December tenth, eighteen thirty, in the small Massachusetts town of Amherst. She lived and died in the same house where she was born. Emily received a good education. She studied philosophy, the Latin language, and the science of plants and rocks.

Emily's parents were important people in Amherst. Many famous visitors came to their house, and Emily met them. Her father was a well-known lawyer who was elected to Congress for one term.

Mister Dickinson believed that women should be educated. But he also believed that women should not use their education to work outside the home. He felt their one and only task was to care for their husband and children. Emily once said: “He buys me many books, but begs me not to read them, because he fears they upset the mind. "

Emily wrote more than one thousand seven hundred poems. There are three books of her letters. And there are many books about her life.

Some of her best work was written in the four years between eighteen fifty-eight and eighteen sixty-two.

VOICE ONE:

I live with Him -- I see his face --

I go no more away

For Visitor -- or Sundown--

Death's single privacy

Dreams -- are well -- but Waking's better,

If One wake at Morn --

If One wake at Midnight – better --

Dreaming -- of the Dawn --

This is my letter to the World

That never wrote to me--

The simple News that Nature told--

With tender Majesty

VOICE TWO:

In those years, Emily seems to have found her "voice" as a poet. She settled into forms she used for the rest of her life. The forms are similar to those of religious music used during her lifetime. But her choice of words was unusual. She wrote that her dictionary was her best friend.

Other influences were the English poet, William Shakespeare; the Christian holy book, the Bible; and the forces of nature.

VOICE ONE:

I dreaded that first robin so,

But he is mastered now,

And I'm accustomed to him grown--

He hurts a little though

I dared not meet the daffodils,

For fear their yellow gown

Would pierce me with a fashion

So foreign to my own.

I could not bear the bees should come,

I wished they'd stay away

In those dim countries where they go:

What word had they for me?

VOICE TWO:

Throughout her life, Emily asked men for advice. And then she did not follow what they told her. As a child, there was her father. Later there was her father's law partner, and a churchman she met in the city

of Philadelphia. Another man who helped her was the writer Thomas Wentworth Higginson.

Higginson had written a magazine story giving advice to young, unpublished writers. Emily wrote to him when she was in her early thirties. She included a few poems.

Higginson wrote back and later visited Emily in Amherst. In the next few years, Emily sent him many more poems. But he did not have them published, and admitted that he did not understand Emily's poetry.

VOICE ONE:

'Tis not that dying hurts us so --

'Tis living hurts us more;

But dying is a different way,

A kind behind the door --

VOICE TWO:

Some historians wish that Emily's poems had reached the best American writers of her day: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau or Walt Whitman. These men could have overlooked her strange way of living to see only her ability.

Historians also say it is possible that Emily chose to write to someone like Higginson so she would not be understood.

VOICE ONE:

To hear an oriole sing

May be a common thing

Or only a divine

It is not the bird

Who sings the same unheard,

As unto crowd.

VOICE TWO:

So little is known about Emily's life that many writers have created a life for her. They talk about the things that interest them as if they interested Emily, too. But one writer says part of the joy in studying Emily is what we cannot know. Emily herself said: "I never try to lift the words which I cannot hold. "

VOICE ONE:

I cannot live with you,

It would be life,

And life is over there

Behind the shelf

So we must keep apart,

You there, I here,

With just the door ajar

That oceans are,

And prayer,

And that pale sustenance,

Despair!

VOICE TWO:

Emily Dickinson sewed the pages of her poems together with thread and put them away. She also seems to have sewed her life together and put it away, too. Step by step, she withdrew from the world. As she grew older, she saw fewer visitors, and rarely left her house.

The time of Emily's withdrawal was also the time of the American Civil War. The events that changed America's history, however, did not touch her. She died in eighteen eighty-six, at the age of fifty-five, completely unknown to the world.

No one wrote about Emily Dickinson's poems while she was alive. Yet, more than one hundred years since her death, she has come to be seen as one of America's greatest poets.

VOICE ONE:

The brain is wider than the sky,

For, put them side by side,

The one the other will contain

With ease -- and you beside.

VOICE TWO:

After Emily died, her sister Lavinia found Emily's poems locked away. Lavinia wrote to Thomas Wentworth Higginson and demanded that the poems be published. Higginson agreed. And a few of Emily's poems about nature were published. Slowly, more and more of her poems were published. Readers soon learned that she was much more than a nature poet.

In her life, Emily was an opponent of organized religion. Yet she often wrote about religion. She rarely left home. Yet she often wrote about faraway places. She lived quietly. Yet she wrote that life passes quickly and should be lived to the fullest.

Will we ever know more about the life of Emily Dickinson? As she told a friend once: "In a life that stopped guessing, you and I should not feel at home. "

We have the poems. And for most readers, they are enough.

VOICE ONE:

Surgeons must be very careful

When they take the knife!

Underneath their fine incisions

Stirs the Culprit – Life

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER:

You have been listening to the Special English program People in America. This program was written by Richard Thorman. Your narrators were Kay Gallant and Harry Monroe. Listen again next week at this same time on VOA for another story of People in America.

This is Shirley Griffith.

(MUSIC)

Bush Apologizes for Poor Conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center

By Scott Stearns White House 30 March 2007

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President Bush has apologized for the poor living conditions for some wounded servicemen and women at a military hospital outside the capital. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns has the story.

President Bush, right, shakes hands with the 1st Lt. Scott Quilty during a visit to Walter Reed Army Center in Washington, 30 Mar 2007

It was the president's first visit to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center since a newspaper last month reported recuperating soldiers living in a run-down building infested with mice, mold, and cockroaches.

Building 18 has since been closed and patients there moved elsewhere. But the ensuing scandal has claimed the general in charge of the hospital and the Secretary of the Army.

Speaking to medical staff at Walter Reed Friday, President Bush said he is deeply troubled by the incidents and has named a bipartisan commission to investigate what he calls administrative and bureaucratic failures.

"The system failed you and it failed our troops and we are going to fix it," he said. "I met some of the soldiers who had been housed in Building 18. I was disturbed by their accounts of what went wrong. It is not right to have someone volunteer to wear our uniform and not get the best possible care. I apologize for what they went through, and we are going to fix the problem."

It was the president's 12th trip to Walter Reed, visits that are almost always private with the White House occasionally releasing an official photograph.

Friday, Mr. Bush met with more than a dozen physical therapy patients under the glare of television lights, shaking hands and posing for photos with the two-month-old daughter of a man run over by a bulldozer under sniper fire.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino says suggestions that this was a publicity trip for the president are "an unfortunate characterization." She says it took time to clear enough room on the president's schedule to visit Walter Reed six weeks after the problems were first reported.

Opposition Democrats in Congress want the Veteran's Administration to report back to them within 60 days about whether the agency has resolved complaints over living conditions and bureaucratic delays in providing follow-up care.

Washington Democratic Senator Patty Murray blames President Bush for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who she says have been lost in the system.

"We are now starting the fifth year of this war. And to date, this president has not planned and supported funding to make sure that those men and women, whether it is traumatic brain injury, whether they've lost a limb, whether it's post-traumatic-stress syndrome, or whether it's just coming home and being able to find another job, have been paid attention to," she said.

The president has told his bipartisan commission on veterans' health care to report back to him by the end of July. A Defense Department review is expected to release its findings in the next two weeks.