dallas – march 24, 2009 – the amount of calcium your body absorbs might depend, in part, on the amount of dietary fiber you consume. researchers at ut southwestern medical center report that patients with noninsulin - dependent diabetes ( type 2 ) excreted less calcium through their urine when they consumed 50 grams of fiber a day than when they ate 24 grams a day. excreting less calcium indicates that they absorbed less of the mineral. " we already know that fiber helps improve your cholesterol and glucose control and improves your bowel regularity. our new findings suggest that dietary fiber reduces the body ' s capacity to absorb calcium, " said dr. abhimanyu garg, professor of internal medicine and an investigator in the center for human nutrition at ut southwestern. he is senior author of a study appearing online in diabetes care. " because more calcium equals better bone health, we recommend that people on high - fiber diets talk to their physician about increasing their dietary calcium as well, in order to get the most benefit from both. " dr. garg said it ' s important to speak with a physician or a registered dietitian before increasing your calcium intake because excessive levels may cause kidney stones. the american diabetes association ( ada ) recommends a daily intake of 24 grams of dietary fiber, but the average american consumes about 14 to 15 grams of fiber a day. sometimes called " roughage, " dietary fiber is the indigestible portion of plant foods that pushes food through the digestive system, absorbing water and easing defecation. calcium is a nutrient found in food that is absorbed by the body and then excreted in urine, feces or sweat. it is the most abundant mineral in the human body. prior research at ut southwestern has shown that a high intake of dietary fiber, mostly from fruits and vegetables, lowers blood glucose levels and leads to decreased insulin levels in the blood, as well as lowering blood lipid concentrations in patients with type 2 diabetes, the most prevalent type of diabetes. for the current study, 13 patients with type 2 diabetes ate either a high - fiber diet ( 50 grams per day ) or the moderate - fiber diet ( 24 grams per day ) recommended by the ada for six weeks, then switched to the other diet for six weeks. all participants stayed at ut southwestern ' s clinical and translational research center ( ctrc ) for the final week of each six - week period. ctrc staff prepared both diets so that they contained the same number and proportion of calories


weeks. all participants stayed at ut southwestern ' s clinical and translational research center ( ctrc ) for the final week of each six - week period. ctrc staff prepared both diets so that they contained the same number and proportion of calories from carbohydrates, fats and proteins, as well as an equal amount of minerals such as calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, sodium and potassium. the high - fiber diet included numerous fiber - rich foods including cantaloupe, grapefruit, papaya, okra, winter and zucchini squash, granola and oatmeal. no supplements were used. " the reduction of urinary calcium excretion on high - fiber diets tells us that the amount of dietary fiber has a direct impact on calcium absorption, " dr. garg said. " in other words, the participants excreted less calcium on the high - fiber diet because the additional fiber caused their bodies to absorb less calcium. " though most of the additional fiber in the high - fiber diet was soluble fiber, dr. garg said he cannot say for sure whether soluble or insoluble fiber affects calcium absorption. " generally, more fiber of either type is beneficial, " he said. " we should encourage people to try food sources rich in fiber and calcium such as spinach, broccoli, figs, papaya, artichoke, okra, beans, mustard and turnip greens, and cactus pads. "


oct. 11, 2008 scientists have identified some of the elusive downstream molecules that play a critical role in the development and progression of familial breast cancer. the research, published by cell press in the october 10th issue of the journal molecular cell, also identifies a compound found in grapes and red wine as an excellent candidate for treatment of some forms of breast cancer. about 8 % of breast cancer cases are caused by mutations in tumor suppressor genes, such as breast cancer associated gene - 1 ( brca1 ). brca1 is the most frequently mutated tumor suppressor gene found in inherited breast cancers and brca1 mutation carriers have a 50 - 80 % risk of developing breast cancer by age 70. " although work with animal models of brca1 mutation has provided some insight into the many biological processes linked with brca1, very little is known about the downstream mediators of brca1 function in tumor suppression, " says lead study author dr. chu - xia deng from the genetics of development and diseases branch at the national institutes of health. dr. deng and colleagues were interested in investigating the relationship among brca1, sirt1 and survivin. sirt1 is a protein and histone deacetylase involved in numerous critical cell processes including metabolism, dna repair and programmed cell death, known as apoptosis. although sirt1 has been implicated in tumorigenesis, no concrete role in cancer initiation or progression has been identified. survivin is an apoptosis inhibitor that is dramatically elevated in many types of tumors. research has suggested that survivin may serve to maintain the tumor and promote growth. the researchers found that brca1 functioned as a tumor suppressor by maintaining sirt1 expression, which in turn inhibited survivin expression. when brca1 was not functioning properly, sirt levels decreased and survivin levels increased, allowing brca1 - deficient cells to overcome apoptosis and undergo malignant transformation. they went on to show that the compound resveratrol strongly inhibited brca1 - mutant tumor growth in cultured cells and animal models. resveratrol is an important constituent of traditional japanese and chinese medicine that has recently been shown to inhibit some types of cancer by inducing apoptosis with very little associated toxicity. in the current paper, resveratrol enhanced sirt1 activity, this leading to reduced survivin expression and subsequent apoptosis of brca1 deficient cancer cells. these findings identify sirt1 and


may 1, 2012 on 5 and 6 june this year, millions of people around the world will be able to see venus pass across the face of the sun in what will be a once - in - a - lifetime experience. it will take venus about six hours to complete its transit, appearing as a small black dot on the sun ' s surface, in an event that will not happen again until 2117. in this month ' s physics world, jay m pasachoff, an astronomer at williams college, massachusetts, explores the science behind venus ' s transit and gives an account of its fascinating history. transits of venus occur only on the very rare occasions when venus and earth are in a line with the sun. at other times venus passes below or above the sun because the two orbits are at a slight angle to each other. transits occur in pairs separated by eight years, with the gap between pairs of transits alternating between 105. 5 and 121. 5 years - - the last transit was in 2004. building on the original theories of nicolaus copernicus from 1543, scientists were able to predict and record the transits of both mercury and venus in the centuries that followed. johannes kepler successfully predicted that both planets would transit the sun in 1631, part of which was verified with mercury ' s transit of that year. but the first transit of venus to actually be viewed was in 1639 - - an event that had been predicted by the english astronomer jeremiah horrocks. he observed the transit in the village of much hoole in lancashire - - the only other person to see it being his correspondent, william crabtree, in manchester. later, in 1716, edmond halley proposed using a transit of venus to predict the precise distance between earth and the sun, known as the astronomical unit. as a result, hundreds of expeditions were sent all over the world to observe the 1761 and 1769 transits. a young james cook took the endeavour to the island of tahiti, where he successfully observed the transit at a site that is still called point venus. pasachoff expects the transit to confirm his team ' s theory about the phenomenon called " the black - drop effect " - - a strange, dark band linking venus ' s silhouette with the sky outside the sun that appears for about a minute starting just as venus first enters the solar disk. pasachoff and his colleagues will concentrate on observing venus ' s atmosphere as it appears when venus is only half onto the solar disk. he also believes that observations of the transit will help astronomers


a minute starting just as venus first enters the solar disk. pasachoff and his colleagues will concentrate on observing venus ' s atmosphere as it appears when venus is only half onto the solar disk. he also believes that observations of the transit will help astronomers who are looking for extrasolar planets orbiting stars other than the sun. " doing so verifies that the techniques for studying events on and around other stars hold true in our own backyard.. in other words, by looking up close at transits in our solar system, we may be able to see subtle effects that can help exoplanet hunters explain what they are seeing when they view distant suns, " pasachoff writes. not content with viewing this year ' s transit from earth, scientists in france will be using the hubble space telescope to observe the effect of venus ' s transit very slightly darkening the moon. pasachoff and colleagues even hope to use hubble to watch venus passing in front of the sun as seen from jupiter - - an event that will take place on 20 september this year - - and will be using nasa ' s cassini spacecraft, which is orbiting saturn, to see a transit of venus from saturn on 21 december. " we are fortunate in that we are truly living in a golden period of planetary transits and it is one of which i hope astronomers can take full advantage, " he writes. editors note : looking directly at the sun can cause severe and permanent eye damage. do not look directly at venus ' transit of the sun. for more information see wikipedia article. other social bookmarking and sharing tools : note : materials may be edited for content and length. for further information, please contact the source cited above. - jay m pasachoff. venus : it ' s now or never. physics world, volume 25, issue 5, may 2012 [ link ] note : if no author is given, the source is cited instead.


with a differentially private algorithm, there ’ s no need to analyze a question carefully to determine whether it seeks to invade an individual ’ s privacy ; that protection is automatically built into the algorithm ’ s functioning. because prying questions usually boil down to small numbers related to specific people and non - prying questions examine aggregate - level behavior of large groups, the same amount of added noise that renders answers about individuals meaningless will have only a minor effect on answers to many legitimate research questions. with differential privacy, the kinds of issues that plagued other data releases — such as attackers cross - referencing data with outside information — disappear. the approach ’ s mathematical privacy guarantees do not depend on the attacker having limited outside information or resources. “ differential privacy assumes that the adversary is all - powerful, ” mcsherry said. “ even if attackers were to come back 100 years later, with 100 years ’ worth of thought and information and computer technology, they still would not be able to figure out whether you are in the database. differential privacy is future - proofed. ” a fundamental primitive so far, we have focused on a situation in which someone asks a single counting query about a single database. but the real world is considerably more complex. researchers typically want to ask many questions about a database. and over your lifetime, snippets of your personal information will probably find their way into many different databases, each of which may be releasing data without consulting the others. differential privacy provides a precise and simple way to quantify the cumulative privacy hit you sustain if researchers ask multiple questions about the databases to which you belong. if you have sensitive data in two datasets, for example, and the curators of the two datasets release those data using algorithms whose privacy parameters are ɛ1 and ɛ2, respectively, then the total amount of your privacy that has leaked out is at most ɛ1 + ɛ2. the same additive relationship holds if a curator allows multiple questions about a single database. if researchers ask m questions about a database and each question gets answered with privacy parameter ɛ, the total amount of privacy lost is at most mɛ. so, in theory, the curator of a dataset could allow researchers to ask as many counting queries as he wishes, as long as he adds enough laplace noise to each answer to ensure that the total amount of privacy that leaks out is less than his preselected privacy “ budget. ” and although we have limited our attention to counting queries, it turns out that this restriction is not very


##lace noise to each answer to ensure that the total amount of privacy that leaks out is less than his preselected privacy “ budget. ” and although we have limited our attention to counting queries, it turns out that this restriction is not very significant. many of the other question types that researchers like to ask can be recast in terms ofcounting queries. if you wanted to generate a list of the top 100 baby names for 2012, for example, you could ask a series of questions of the form, “ how many babies were given names that start with a? ” ( or aa, ab or ac ), and work your way through the possibilities. “ one of the early results in machine learning is that almost everything that is possible in principle to learn can be learned through counting queries, ” roth said. “ counting queries are not isolated toy problems, but a fundamental primitive ” — that is, a building block from which many more complex algorithms can be built. but there ’ s a catch. the more questions we want to allow, the less privacy each question is allowed to use up from the privacy budget and the more noise has to be added to each answer. consider the baby names question. if we decide on a total privacy budget ɛ of 0. 01 and there are 10, 000 names to ask about, each question ’ s individual privacy budget is only ɛ / 10, 000, or 0. 000001. the expected amount of noise added to each answer will be 10, 000 / ɛ, or 1, 000, 000 — an amount that will swamp the true answers.


the history of seamed tights tights, stockings, hold - ups or pantyhose. whatever you call them, they are just another widely available fashion accessory to most of us, yet they have a long and dramatic history. men in tights the breeches of 12th century european men were close fitting and worn much like modern day tights but held up with laces at the waist. in the early 17th century, “ hose ” were commonly worn by men as you will often see in the period dramas based on this era. they were made from wool, silk or cotton and remained in fashion until the end of the 18th century, when long trousers made an appearance. the arrival of nylon stockings it wasn ’ t until many years later that it became more acceptable for women to show their legs, and with the invention of nylon in the 1930 ′ s stockings became more accessible to ladies who couldn ’ t afford the silk version. dupont patented the process of making nylon – invented by dr wallace carothers – and the first nylon stockings hit new york department stores in 1940. at the time of nylon invention, only stockings existed. they were known as fully fashioned stockings ; they did not stretch and were made to the shape of the leg, with two sides knitted flat, then joined manually with a fine back seam. nylon stockings became a huge success with more than 60 million pairs sold in the first year, but with the onset of the second world war, the production of nylon went solely into the war effort and stockings became scarce. to maintain a sense of style and sophistication during these tough times, ladies took to painting a seam onto the back of their legs so that it looked like they were wearing nylon stockings. in august 1945 nylon stocking production resumed and up until the 1960 ′ s nylon stockings usually had back seams. although seamfree stockings with a reinforced heel and toe were available during this time, they didn ’ t really take off until the mid 60 ′ s. seamed tights today fast forward to the present day and hosiery technology has come a long way, with the invention of lycra, body toning tights, hold ups and even amazing fat - burning caffeine tights to help slim those thighs. | tights > > | | stockings > > | | hold ups > > | | plus size > > | | underwear > > |


design and technology the graduate program in design and technology fosters innovative conceptual strategies through which designs and technologies intervene meaningfully in the world, bringing together the ideas we live by and the things we live with. research involves not only areas of use and distribution, language, and visual culture, but also broader questions of access and ethics. design and technology students at sfai situate design in the realm of art, accepting distinctions between art and design that are relevant to our contemporary experience, while rejecting outdated ideas about the differences between artists and designers. students are reminded that design is both conceptual and functional, producing objects or images that at once inform and constitute the very form of ideas in the 21st century. the program is oriented toward broad research strategies, and students transcend individual disciplines to create innovative work in graphic design, typography, illustration, motion graphics, film and video, interactive art, electronic sound, web design, and social media. collaborative and forward - looking, sfai ’ s program emphasizes networks, systems, and connections — concepts at once high - tech and central to human relationships. students are encouraged to build projects in different media that research the relation between humans and machines, infrastructures, devices, and their representations. recently, sfai has partnered with institutions in paris to develop cross - cultural, multimedia projects such as the art collider and hyphen. closer to home, the bay area is a hub of artistic and technological innovation, giving students the opportunity to work with professionals from pixar, apple, industrial light and magic, kqed public radio and television, the exploratorium, and other renowned organizations. students have access to extensive digital technology resources configured to meet the needs of projects using sound, photography, film, video, design, 3d modeling and animation, web, programming, and print.


what is meningococcal disease? meningococcal disease is caused by the bacteria meningococcus. some people are natural carriers of the germ ( harboring it in their throats and noses ), but don ' t get sick. in some instances, however, the germ " wakes up " and can cause serious complications including bacterial meningitis ( an inflammation of the tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord ) and meningococcemia ( an infection of the blood and other organs ). it ' s quite contagious ; an infected person can spread the disease just by breathing. there are also known cases of viral meningitis. the vaccine haemophilus influenzae type b ( hib ) is routinely given to children as part of their scheduled immunizations to prevent mingococcal disease. who gets it? infants should receive doses of the hib vaccine as part of their routine immunizations. high - risk individuals and those living in cramped quarters ( college students, people with compromised immune systems ) also should be vaccinated. what are the side effects? people only rarely report feeling sick after getting the hib vaccine. the most common reactions include swelling at the injection site. some children may develop a mild fever. the centers for disease control and prevention, the american academy of pediatrics, and the american academy of family physicians recommend this vaccine for children, starting in infancy. what you need to know children need three to four doses of the vaccine for it to be effective ( most doctors recommend a child receive the vaccine at 2, 4, 6 and 12 and 15 months of age ). the opinions expressed in this article are of the author and the author alone. they do not reflect the opinions of sheknows, llc or any of its affiliates and they have not been reviewed by an expert in a related field or any member of the sheknows editorial staff for accuracy, balance or objectivity. content and other information presented on the site are not a substitute for professional advice, counseling, diagnosis, or treatment. never delay or disregard seeking professional medical or mental health advice from your physician or other qualified health provider because of something you have read on sheknows. sheknows does not endorse any specific product, service or treatment.


- pubs & hotels - join us - the brewery - tours & functions fresh hops, with their infinite variety, are the key notes in beer ' s complex flavour, and the understanding and use of their chemical properties brings real art to the science of brewing. the humble hop, humulus lupulus, is a one - stop chemistry set for the brewer, containing well over 1, 000 complex compounds in the form of resins and essential oils. the alpha acids and essential oils in hops contribute bitterness and aroma to beer and different styles of hops markedly influence the character of each brew. choosing which hops to use is only part of the story. hops can be added at different stages, depending on the effect you wish to achieve on the character of the beer. this will vary depending on whether the hops are added at the beginning of the boiling stage ( kettle hops ), late in the boiling stage ( late hops ) or added to the cask ( dry hops ). hops thrive in temperate climates and in loamy, deep, well - drained soil. they also require long days of summer light to flourish and that makes three british counties ideal for their cultivation : kent, hereford and worcestershire. harvesting takes place in august and september. the cut hops have their stalks and leaves removed and dried to 10 % moisture in oast houses before being packed into foil - wrapped " hop pockets " to keep them fresh for the brewer. shepherd neame has stepped in as a guardian of the nation ' s hop - growing heritage, preserving the lifeblood of rare varieties more than a century old. we have put aside an acre of land at queen court farm, near faversham, to house part of the national hop collection and to create a new attraction for the public.


as more people in the united states live in cities, the predominant building structure — the single - family home — will see a decline during the next decade. pike research forecasts that by 2021 the overall area of single - family homes in the u. s. will have shrunk by 4 billion square feet. that ’ s about the size of 8. 8 million of my tiny apartments or 1. 6 million new single - family homes. “ for the first time since world war ii, the united states is experiencing increased levels of urbanization, ” says eric bloom, a senior research analyst at pike, in a statement. “ as more people move into cities, they tend to occupy apartments, condominiums, and other attached multi - unit housing types. by 2021, over one - fourth of the residential stock of the united states will be in multi - unit residential buildings. ” in 2011, the residential building stock was 264. 3 billion square feet, with about 80 percent of that coming from single - family homes. the decline of single - family homes will come as the overall residential building stock grows to 280. 1 billion square feet by 2021. but even as multi - unit residential buildings gain on the single - family majority, it ’ s clear that the single - family home will continue to be dominant residential building type. it ’ s interesting to note that, even while the building stock for single - family homes decreases, brand new single - family homes in the u. s. are getting bigger. according to the u. s. census, the average size of a new home built in 2011 was 2, 480 square feet. that ’ s up from 2, 392 square feet in 2010. there ’ s a great divide in the u. s. more people are flocking to cities and living in smaller living spaces, but mcmansions aren ’ t dead yet.


optical image of the central hh1 - 2 region ( colors ) with a superposition ( contours ) of the ir emission detected with the lw2 filter of isocam. the positions of the vla1 & 2 & 4 sources are indicated by white filled circles. the position towards which we have discovered the three infrared windows is indicated by a black filled square and coincides, within the astrometric errors, with that of vla1 + vla2 objects ; the red circle indicates the pfov the infrared observations ( 6 arcsec ). more images here the european space agency ' s infrared space telescope, iso, has measured the size of a proto - planetary system, surrounding a newly - born star, a spanish team of astronomers report in tomorrow ' s issue of the journal science. iso sees a very young ' baby - star ' surrounded by a disk of the same diameter as jupiter ' s orbit, in which planets are likely to form in the future. stars are born within thick ' cocoons ' of dust very difficult to penetrate, and for this reason current models describing the process are very incomplete. astronomers know, in broad terms, that the future star begins to form within the dust cloud by accreting material which forms a disk, the same disk out of which planets, comets and all the components of a planetary system will probably form in the future - - the disk is actually called a ' protoplanetary disk '. once the star - to - be has gathered enough material, the high pressures and temperatures in its centre trigger the first nuclear reactions and the star ' lights up ' - - it starts the ' ignition '. during this process the very young star or ' protostar ' emits jets of material that can be detected with different techniques. astronomers use these detectable signs to classify the evolutionary stages of the new - born stars. the system observed by iso was previously thought to be at the earliest evolutionary stage, in fact, so young that the protostar had not yet had time to ignite. however, iso results contradict this belief. " we are seeing the earliest stages of formation of a planetary system. there is already a central object hot enough to work as a star and to heat up its surrounding protoplanetary disk. the star is already ' lit up ' ", says spanish astronomer jos = e9 cernicharo, from the instituto de estructura de la materia ( csic ), in madrid, main author of the article being published in science. the


' lit up ' ", says spanish astronomer jos = e9 cernicharo, from the instituto de estructura de la materia ( csic ), in madrid, main author of the article being published in science. the system observed by iso ' s infrared camera, isocam, is 1200 light years away in a star - forming region in the orion nebula. it ' s called vla1 / 2. cernicharo and his group estimate that the central star and its surrounding matter might be at an average temperature of at least 500 degrees kelvin. it is surrounded by a protoplanetary disk whose diameter is four times the distance from the earth to the sun, the same as jupiter ' s orbit. " this is the first time we can determine the size of the regions where where a low mass star and its planets are being formed ", cernicharo says. iso was also able to analyse the chemical composition of the large cocoon of material enshrouding both the star and its protoplanetary disk, a structure called by the researchers the ' placental ' envelope. it is much colder, and made up of grains of dust covered by ices of water, carbon dioxide, methane and probably methanol. this chemical information, another ' first ' of the work, will contribute substantially to understanding the star - birth processes, say the researchers. iso results also indicate - - as highlighted by the team in science - - that these systems will be observable with the new generation of large ( 8 metre class ) ground - based infrared telescopes. current knowledge so far suggested that these very dusty objects could only be detected at far - infrared wavelengths not accessible from the ground, but iso has shown that they can also be seen at certain very precise infrared wavelengths which do indeed cross the earth ' s atmosphere - - the so - called ' infrared windows ' at which ground - based infrared telescope work. astronomers spy baby gas giants 100 light years away washington - march 29, 2000 - planet - hunting astronomers have crossed an important threshold in planet detection, with the discovery of two planets that may be smaller in mass than saturn.


the people in south asia had no warning of the next disaster rushing toward them the morning of december 26, 2004. one of the strongest earthquakes in the past 100 years had just destroyed villages on the island of sumatra in the indian ocean, leaving many people injured. but the worst was yet to come — and very soon. for the earthquake had occurred beneath the ocean, thrusting the ocean floor upward nearly 60 feet. the sudden release of energy into the ocean created a tsunami ( pronounced su - nam - ee ) event — a series of huge waves. the waves rushed outward from the center of the earthquake, traveling around 400 miles per hour. anything in the path of these giant surges of water, such as islands or coastlines, would soon be under water. the people had already felt the earthquake, so why didn ' t they know the water was coming? as the ocean floor rises near a landmass, it pushes the wave higher. but much depends on how sharply the ocean bottom changes and from which direction the wave approaches. energy from earthquakes travels through the earth very quickly, so scientists thousands of miles away knew there had been a severe earthquake in the indian ocean. why didn ' t they know it would create a tsunami? why didn ' t they warn people close to the coastlines to get to higher ground as quickly as possible? in sumatra, near the center of the earthquake, people would not have had time to get out of the way even if they had been warned. but the tsunami took over two hours to reach the island of sri lanka 1000 miles away, and still it killed 30, 000 people! it is important, though, to understand just how the tsunami will behave when it gets near the coastline. as the ocean floor rises near a landmass, it pushes the wave higher. but much depends on how sharply the ocean bottom changes and from which direction the wave approaches. scientists would like to know more about how actual waves react. misr has nine cameras all pointed at different angles. so the exact same spot is photographed from nine different angles as the satellite passes overhead. the image at the top of this page was taken with the camera that points forward at 46°. the image caught the sunlight reflecting off the pattern of ripples as the waves bent around the southern tip of the island. these ripples are not seen in satellite images looking straight down at the surface. scientists do not yet understand what causes this pattern of ripples. they will use computers to help them find out how the depth of the ocean floor affects the


the portrait of a lady lord warburton approaches, and isabel can tell at once that he has come to declare his feelings for her. she is deeply confused by this, as she has always considered men solely for their moral qualities and never for their positions of power and influence ; she has never met a man as aristocratic as warburton and worries that if she decides to reject him, she will be turning away a great social opportunity. warburton asks her to stroll with him, and he quickly declares that he has fallen in love with her ; he asks her to marry him. isabel is deeply moved by his obvious sincerity, but she asks for some time before she gives him an answer. she feels that they do not know each other well and tells warburton that she has not decided whether or not she ever wants to marry. warburton leaves, and isabel swiftly realizes that she does not want to marry him. she hopes she will be able to convince him that the marriage would be a bad idea, because she does not want to hurt him. she worries again that she is giving up a great opportunity by refusing the proposal and tells herself that she will have to do great things with her life to justify her decision. as she goes back into the house, isabel feels strangely frightened of her own mind. isabel talks to mr. touchett about her decision ; surprisingly, he has known of warburton ' s intentions for three days, since he received a long letter from the lord asking his permission to marry isabel. isabel thinks about her other suitor, caspar goodwood ; goodwood is the son of a boston cotton mill owner, who invented a device to improve the operation of the mill. he is a powerful person and a forceful manager of the mill, but he is possessive about isabel and makes her feel confined. isabel decides not to respond to goodwood ' s letter ; instead, she writes to warburton, rejecting his proposal. henrietta tells ralph that she is worried about the ways in which isabel has changed since she came to europe ; henrietta hopes that isabel will marry caspar goodwood to prove her commitment to her old american attitudes. complying with henrietta ' s wishes, ralph invites goodwood to gardencourt, but goodwood declines the invitation. henrietta decides to take isabel on an excursion to london ; when ralph hears about this plan, he offers to go with them, implying that it would not be suitable for two women to take a trip to london unaccompanied by a man. lord warbu


take isabel on an excursion to london ; when ralph hears about this plan, he offers to go with them, implying that it would not be suitable for two women to take a trip to london unaccompanied by a man. lord warburton comes to visit a few days later, accompanied by the elder miss molyneux. isabel is again struck with the quiet contentment and simplicity with which miss molyneux goes about her life. after dinner, isabel walks with lord warburton in the picture gallery. he is desperate to learn why she has rejected his proposal, and she replies that she cannot tell him until she can back up her thinking with evidence. he presses her, and eventually she tells him that she feels that to marry him would be to turn away from life and that she is committed to facing life directly. henrietta, ralph, and miss molyneux enter the gallery ; henrietta is badgering miss molyneux for information about the life of an aristocrat, just as she badgered lord warburton all through dinner. henrietta wrangles an invitation to lockleigh from warburton. that night, mrs. touchett comes to isabel ' s room and asks her why she did not tell her about warburton ' s proposal. isabel replies that mr. touchett is better acquainted with warburton. mrs. touchett says that she knows isabel better, but isabel says lightly that she is not sure. mrs. touchett later tells isabel that she would have liked isabel to marry warburton, but when isabel declares that she does not love him, mrs. touchett agrees that she did the right thing. isabel, henrietta, and ralph leave for a long trip to london, where ralph finds isabel more appealing than ever ; she is bright and inquisitive and fascinated by everything she sees. one day, the three young people dine at the touchetts ' london home with mr. bantling, a friend of ralph ' s. mr. bantling is taken with henrietta and promises to obtain an invitation for her to visit the home of his sister, the lady pensil. henrietta leaves to meet two of her friends from america, and mr. bantling decides to escort her. alone in the garden, ralph and isabel talk about lord warburton, whom ralph praises highly. he understands that isabel has rejected lord warburton out of a desire to remain free and independent. he says that he will be fascinated to watch isabel ' s life unfold, because it is


about lord warburton, whom ralph praises highly. he understands that isabel has rejected lord warburton out of a desire to remain free and independent. he says that he will be fascinated to watch isabel ' s life unfold, because it is so surprising that a young woman would have thought her life more interesting without lord warburton in it. isabel says that she merely wants to observe life. she takes her leave ; ralph wants to escort her back to the hotel room she shares with henrietta, but isabel says that he is clearly too exhausted. as ralph helps her into her carriage, he thinks that his life is often troubled by people forgetting that he is an invalid but that it is much worse when people remember it. twelve chapters into the novel, isabel has already faced two marriage proposals, one from the quintessentially american caspar goodwood, and one from the quintessentially english lord warburton. as henrietta points out to ralph, isabel ' s romantic crisis with warburton signifies the extent to which her american ideas and values have been affected by her time in europe. for all her life, isabel has thought of men not as social opportunities, but as moral creatures, whom she admired or disliked based strictly on their personal qualities. with lord warburton, however, after having been attracted by the lives of the misses molyneux, isabel suddenly has a powerful awareness that to marry into the english nobility would represent an extraordinary social opportunity. of course isabel eventually rejects this thought and then rejects lord warburton, but she is surprised that she has it in the first place — clearly, as henrietta says, europe has begun to change her. henrietta ' s solution to this problem is that isabel should marry caspar goodwood, the symbol of the american character. for all her commitment to independence, isabel cannot seem to escape the tendency of those around her to conceive of her destiny in terms of marriage and romance : who isabel is, even to the fiercely democratic henrietta, is to some extent a question to be answered based on whom she chooses to marry. this trend is further exemplified by mr. touchett, who is glad that isabel did not marry warburton, and mrs. touchett, who wishes that she had decided to marry him. only ralph, the moral center of portrait to a lady, can see beyond this pitfall and conceive of a truly independent life for isabel, where she will be able to think, act, and be exactly as she pleases. ralph convey


electric vehicles have been touted as the dream technology to solve our suburban transport challenges and rescue us from oil dependence and environmental threats. yet technology use occurs in a social context. almost no discussion of electric vehicles has addressed the uneven suburban social patterns among which electric vehicles might be adopted. the evidence that my colleagues neil sipe, terry li and i have assembled suggests the socio - economic structure of australian suburbia, in combination with the distribution of public transport infrastructure, constitutes a major barrier to the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, especially among the most car - dependent households. relying on electric vehicles as a solution to energy and environmental problems may perpetuate suburban social disadvantage in a period of economic and resource insecurity. australia ’ s five largest cities are the most car - dependent national set outside the united states. our previous studies ( dodson and sipe 2007 ; 2008 have shown that outer suburban residents, especially those with lower socio - economic capacity, are among those most exposed to the pressures of higher transport fuel prices. future transport fuel costs are likely to be even higher ( currently oil is approximately us $ 100 per barrel ). unconventional oil sources such as shale or tar sands may be abundant, but they have much higher production costs than conventional light crude. their current production boom is underpinned by expectations that global oil prices will remain high or increase further over the long term. higher oil prices and the need to constrain carbon emissions will likely lead to much higher transport fuel costs than have prevailed in the past decade. electric vehicles are often presented as the most likely way to resolve this transport conundrum. australia ’ s 2012 energy white paper alludes to a transition to electric vehicles as the economy of conventional fuels wanes. much of the energy white paper and the rhetoric around electric vehicles assumes an unproblematic transition – consumers will change their behaviour in response to price pressures. there is little discussion of potential barriers and impediments to this comforting, convenient narrative. it makes sense that households who are most car dependent and least able to afford higher fuel prices would be the most eager to switch to an electric car. but, it turns out, the social structure of australian suburbia means these groups are poorly placed to lead such a transition. in our study of brisbane we created datasets linking vehicle fuel efficiency with household socio - economic status. in our analysis, high vehicle fuel efficiency, including hybrids, serves as a proxy for future electric vehicles. we linked motor vehicle registration data with the green vehicle dataset on fuel efficiency, plus travel


linking vehicle fuel efficiency with household socio - economic status. in our analysis, high vehicle fuel efficiency, including hybrids, serves as a proxy for future electric vehicles. we linked motor vehicle registration data with the green vehicle dataset on fuel efficiency, plus travel and socio - economic data from the abs census. our analysis builds a rich picture of how the spatial distribution of vehicle efficiency intersects with suburban socio - spatial patterns, using brisbane and sydney as case studies. we found that the average commuting distance increases with distance from the cbd while average fuel efficiency of vehicles declines. so outer suburban residents travel further, in less efficient vehicles, than more centrally situated households. outer suburban residents are also likely to be on relatively lower incomes than those closer in. the result is those living in the outer suburbs have relatively weaker socio - economic status but are paying more for transport. for example, one - third of the most disadvantaged suburbs in greater brisbane also have the most energy - intensive motor vehicle use. a socially equitable transition to highly fuel efficient or electric vehicles ought to favour those with the highest current exposure to high fuel prices. yet our research finds it ’ s not likely to happen. outer suburban groups also own the oldest vehicles in the fleet – they can ’ t afford newer ones – and this also contributes to poor fuel efficiency and big transport bills. the newest most fuel efficient vehicles are more commonly purchased by wealthier inner - urban households. they can afford the car, but have less need of the efficiency because they don ’ t travel as far. if such patterns are applied to electric vehicles, their high cost and novelty status means they ’ re likely to also be taken up by this more advantaged group. any subsidies offered to spur their uptake will be largely captured by the wealthy. the implication of our analysis is that the intersection of new fuel and vehicle technology costs with the social and travel patterns in australian cities mean that suburban households face continued socio - economic stress even as these new vehicles become more widely adopted in australian cities. so if new technologies such as electric cars aren ’ t the solution, how can we secure suburban households against higher fuel prices? we need a sustained strategy to redress the grossly inequitable supply of public transport to our suburbs. we also need to decentralise our cities, getting jobs and services out into the suburbs and reducing the distances people need to travel by car. electric vehicles may be fantastic technology but they risk heading up a cul - de - sac of real suburban vulnerability. the full paper on which this article is based


fragment of 1919 shipwreck unearthed by hurricane sandy published : sunday, november 11, 2012 at 5 : 25 p. m. last modified : sunday, november 11, 2012 at 5 : 25 p. m. a piece of history unique to surf city emerged on the beach when hurricane sandy skirted topsail island ' s shore, drawing curious onlookers who are reminded to look, but not touch. a section of the william h. sumner, a three - masted schooner whose young captain died under suspicious circumstances after running the ship aground in 1919, has been protruding from the sand a short distance from the dolphin street beach access. the wreckage is a chunk of the ship that floated ashore when the coast guard blasted the vessel shortly after it ran aground, to remove the navigation hazard, said nathan henry, assistant state archaeologist and conservator with the underwater archaeology branch of the north carolina office of state archaeology. " this piece broke completely off of the wreck, " henry said. " it ' s really been there for quite some time. at this point it ' s in a perfect place. it will last under that sand just being exposed every once in a while. for that reason we really prefer that these things stay in place. " at least part of the 489 - ton, 165 - foot ship is believed to be resting at the bottom of the atlantic ocean near the southern end of the island. erosion caused by strong coastal storms routinely exposes what has been identified as a side portion of the ship. a large frame of the ship that once rested on the shore is in the state archaeology lab in fort fisher. henry said he moved the frame to the lab after a group of fishermen was caught trying to illegally remove it from the beach about a year ago. the state claims all abandoned shipwrecks still in the water. surf city mayor zander guysaid when the wreckage was initially exposed more than 10 years ago it was a public safety concern. large iron bolts used to hold the ship ' s frame together eventually erode into spikes – a potential hazard to beachgoers. the state can permit beach towns to relocate and re - bury ship wreckage, henry said. for the most part, beach towns leave the artifacts in place, giving a residents and visitors a rare glimpse of the past outside of museum walls. henry said the sumner is a valuable resource unique to surf city since most shipwrecks on the north carolina coast are in the outer banks. he encourages anyone intrigued by the wreckage to " look and enjoy. "


kuwait is a constitutional, hereditary emirate ruled by the al - sabah family, who governs in consultation with prominent families and community leaders. the constitution provides for an elected national assembly ; however, it permits the amir to suspend any or all of its provisions by decree. approximately 14 percent of citizens have the right to vote ( only males age 21 and over who have been citizens for at least 20 years and are not in the military or police forces ). the july general election was generally considered to be free and fair ; however, there were some credible reports of government and opposition vote - buying. the constitution provides that the national assembly has a limited role in approving the amir ' s choice of crown prince. following the july elections, the amir appointed a new prime minister whose authority the crown prince previously held. the crown prince appoints government members ; however, the elected national assembly has at times influenced or overturned government decisions. the constitution provides for some judicial independence ; however, the amir appoints all judges, and the government must approve the renewal of most judicial appointments. the national police, the criminal investigation department ( cid ) and kuwait state security ( kss ) are responsible for internal security under the supervision of civilian authorities of the ministry of interior ( moi ). civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces ; however, there were some instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently of government authority. some members of the security forces committed human rights abuses. the country has a small, relatively open, market - based economy dominated by the oil industry and the government sector. out of a total population of approximately 2. 4 million, roughly 1. 5 million were foreigners. production from the country ' s proven crude oil reserves of about 98 billion barrels accounted for nearly half of gross domestic product ( gdp ). the government sector accounted for 91 percent of citizen employment while foreigners constituted 94 percent of the private sector workforce. according to government statistics, real gdp grew 4 percent in 2002 to $ 35. 5 billion and an estimated 2. 3 percent during the year. high citizen population growth coupled with a large influx of foreign workers has caused gdp per capita to decline in recent years. domestic servants and unskilled workers often lived and worked in poor conditions. although the government ' s respect for human rights improved over the last decade, serious problems remain. citizens do not have the right to change their government. some police and members of the security forces reportedly abused detainees during interrogation. overcrowding in the prisons continued to be a serious problem. there were some


over the last decade, serious problems remain. citizens do not have the right to change their government. some police and members of the security forces reportedly abused detainees during interrogation. overcrowding in the prisons continued to be a serious problem. there were some reports of mistreatment of noncitizen prisoners. the judiciary was subject to government influence. the government infringed on citizens ' privacy rights in some areas. security forces occasionally monitored the activities of persons and their communications. the government placed some limits on freedom of speech and the press. the government restricted freedom of assembly and association. journalists practiced self - censorship. the government placed some limits on freedom of religion and freedom of movement. violence and discrimination against women, especially noncitizens, persisted. judicial authorities discriminated against non - citizens, especially foreign laborers. the legal status of tens of thousands of " bidoon " arabs with residence ties but no documentation of their nationality remained unresolved. the government restricted worker rights to organize and bargain collectively, and form unions. domestic servants remained marginalized and lacked a system to protect their rights, monitor working conditions, and resolve labor disputes. unskilled foreign workers continued to suffer from the lack of a minimum wage in the private sector, government failure to enforce some labor law provisions effectively, and, at times, physical or sexual abuse at the hands of their employers. some worked under conditions that constituted indentured servitude. young boys, usually from south asia, were used as jockeys in camel races. many human rights violations committed by the iraqi army during the 1990 - 91 occupation remained unresolved, particularly the fate of the majority of 605 citizens and other residents who were still unaccounted for during this reporting period. dna analysis identified the remains of some of these missing from mass graves discovered in iraq after the fall of the saddam hussein regime. respect for human rights section 1 respect for the integrity of the person a. arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life there were no reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life committed by the government or it agents. there were no developments in the investigations into the extrajudicial killings that occurred during the period after the country ' s liberation in february 1991 ( see section 1. b. ). there were no reports of politically motivated disappearances. the fate of 572 kuwaitis ( including 29 bidoon ) and 33 other residents taken prisoner during iraq ' s occupation of the country in 1990 - 91 remained a highly emotional issue. the remains of several of these missing


of politically motivated disappearances. the fate of 572 kuwaitis ( including 29 bidoon ) and 33 other residents taken prisoner during iraq ' s occupation of the country in 1990 - 91 remained a highly emotional issue. the remains of several of these missing were identified by dna tests from mass graves found in iraq after the fall of the saddam hussein regime. the tripartite commission on gulf war prisoners of war ( pows ) and missing persons ( tpc ) resumed functioning with iraqi participation shortly after the end of major hostilities in iraq. c. torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment the constitution prohibits such practices ; however, there continued to be credible reports that some police and members of the security forces abused detainees during interrogation. reported mistreatment included blindfolding, verbal threats, and physical abuse. police and security forces were more likely to inflict such abuse on noncitizens, particularly non - gulf arabs and asians, than on citizens. the government does not interpret shari ' a as providing for exceptionally harsh punishment. the government stated that it investigated all allegations of abuse and punished at least some of the offenders ; however, in most cases, the government did not make public either the findings of its investigations or punishments it imposed. in august, the ministry of interior relieved 5 kss officials of their duties as a result of accusations filed with the public prosecutor by 12 islamist citizens accusing several kss officers of allegedly torturing and verbally insulting them during interrogation ( see section 1. d ). in november, three police reportedly raped a philippine female domestic servant while she was in police custody at a district police station. the philippine embassy filed a criminal case against the officers in december on behalf of the domestic. during the year, two ministry of interior officers were reassigned after being accused of physically abusing citizens who had been to afghanistan. in february 2002, the criminal court sentenced a police officer to death for a 2001 killing of a news editor. the police officer believed that the editor had insulted the officer ' s tribe in articles written and published by the editor. defendants have the right to present evidence in court that they were mistreated during interrogation ; however, the courts frequently dismissed abuse complaints because defendants were unable to provide physical evidence of abuse. members of the security forces routinely did not reveal their identities during interrogation, complicating confirmation of abuse. there were several cases in 2002 of police officials and security personnel abusing detainees while in police custody ; however, there were no new developments in these cases during the year


routinely did not reveal their identities during interrogation, complicating confirmation of abuse. there were several cases in 2002 of police officials and security personnel abusing detainees while in police custody ; however, there were no new developments in these cases during the year. prison conditions, including conditions for those held for security offenses, generally met international standards, and the government permitted visits by independent human rights observers. the international committee of the red cross ( icrc ), which maintains an office in the country, visited some detainees during the year. members of the national assembly ' s human rights defense committee ( hrdc ) also visited prisons and inmates during the year. credible reports from former inmates and the hrdc cited severe overcrowding ( 13 - 15 inmates per cell ), lack of beds, poor sanitation, lack of clean toilet and washing facilities, poor ventilation, and inadequate containment of infectious diseases as common problems. the hrdc closely monitored prison conditions throughout the year, and the government allowed the icrc access to all prisons and detention facilities ( see section 4 ). during the year, the government completed construction of a new prison facility for rehabilitating drug offenders and neared completion of two new prison buildings to house inmates and alleviate overcrowding. one physician, a dentist, and a team of nurses staffed the prison clinic. medical specialists attended the prisons weekly or once every two weeks. urgent cases were transferred to local hospitals. however, the prison clinic remained severely understaffed and lacked modern medical equipment and technology. approximately 3, 150 men and 550 women were serving sentences or awaiting trial in prison ; detainees were counted separately. there were some reports of mistreatment of noncitizen prisoners at the central prison. there were no specific reports of mistreatment of prisoners at the talha prison or shuwaikh deportation facility. the government incarcerated an estimated 500 deportees at the deportation facility in shuwaikh, some for 6 months or longer pending deportation. deportees reportedly often waited months for their former employers to cancel their residency and work permits or to provide their travel documents ( see section 1. d. ). the government held men and women in separate detention facilities. there were credible reports that prison conditions for noncitizens, including women, were less favorable than conditions for citizens. the government held pretrial detainees separately from convicted prisoners. juveniles were incarcerated separately from adults in a juveniles prison. the government estimated that citizens constituted between 40 to 60 percent of the total inmate population. the ministry of health requires routine tuberculosis ( tb )


the government held pretrial detainees separately from convicted prisoners. juveniles were incarcerated separately from adults in a juveniles prison. the government estimated that citizens constituted between 40 to 60 percent of the total inmate population. the ministry of health requires routine tuberculosis ( tb ) tests for all prisoners. inmates undergo a routine medical exam and a series of medical tests before they are incarcerated with other prisoners ; however, a report by the hrdc during the year cited tb infection among inmates and staff as a major problem. in july 2002, it was reported that hundreds of prisoners at the central prison were infected with tb. a family of 15 tested positive for tuberculosis after visiting the central prison. seven inmates reportedly were infected with hiv / aids during the year ( see section 5 ). prison authorities reportedly transferred two of them to the infectious diseases hospital during the year for advanced - stage treatment. drug - related offenders comprised approximately 55 percent of the inmate population. the government provided educational and rehabilitation programs for inmates, psychological counseling, and specialized courses for inmates suffering from drug and alcohol addiction. a new prison facility specifically for the treatment of convicted drug addicts with a capacity to accommodate 500 inmates opened during the year. an islamic educational facility under the supervision of the ministry of awqaf and islamic affairs with a capacity to accommodate 600 inmates and three other specialized learning facilities provided religious, computer, carpentry, and other practical skills training to inmates. d. arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile the constitution prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention, and the government generally observed these prohibitions. in general, police officers must obtain an arrest warrant from state prosecutors or a judge before making an arrest ( see section 1. f. ), although in misdemeanor cases the arresting officer may issue them. there were some credible reports of police arresting and detaining foreigners without a warrant, based on mere accusation by a third party. security forces occasionally detained persons at checkpoints in kuwait city ( see section 2. d. ). there were no reported deaths in detention from beatings or severe mistreatment. according to the penal code, those suspected of serious crimes may be held for up to 4 days without charge, during which time security officers may prevent lawyers and family members from visiting them. in such cases, lawyers are permitted to attend legal proceedings, but are not allowed to have direct contact with their clients. if charges are filed, prosecutors may remand a suspect to detention for an additional 21 days. prosecutors also may obtain court orders for further detention pending trial. the police constitute a single national force


are not allowed to have direct contact with their clients. if charges are filed, prosecutors may remand a suspect to detention for an additional 21 days. prosecutors also may obtain court orders for further detention pending trial. the police constitute a single national force under the purview of civilian authorities of the ministry of interior. there are 54 police stations, roughly 1 in each district, although larger districts may have more than 1 station. district police are responsible for maintaining internal security and investigating violations of the law in their respective districts. citizens and noncitizens may file complaints or report violations of the law to police officials in any district but typically in the district in which the violation or incident occurred. in practice, however, many noncitizens complained of police indifference, discrimination, harassment, and favoritism of citizens. during the year, there were credible reports of police corruption and abuse of detainees during interrogation. ( see section 1. c. ). the government relieved several security officials of their duties during the year as a result of credible allegations of abuse of detainees during interrogation. there were no reported government efforts during the year to reform the police or security forces. of the approximately 3, 700 persons serving sentences or being detained pending trial, approximately half were being held on security grounds, including some held for collaborating with iraq during the occupation. on october 18, the criminal court began trial of 12 citizens charged with involvement in the october 2002 attack that led to the death of a foreign marine on failaka island. the government released 2 of the 12 suspects on bail. in june, the criminal court sentenced a citizen to death for the shooting of two foreign civilians, one fatally, in january near camp doha. the citizen appealed the verdict and, on october 28, the court of appeals commuted the death sentence to life in prison. the public prosecutor filed an appeal in november to the court of cassation requesting it to cancel the court of appeals ruling and uphold the death sentence. the case was still pending at year ' s end. the criminal court sentenced three other accomplices to varying terms in prison. the government may expel noncitizens, including bidoon, if it considers them security risks. the government also may expel foreigners if they are unable to obtain or renew work or residency permits. there were approximately 500 foreigners including 28 bidoon, held in detention facilities. some detainees were held for up to 6 months pending deportation. the government issued many deportation orders administratively, without the benefit of a trial. however, the government did not return de


there were approximately 500 foreigners including 28 bidoon, held in detention facilities. some detainees were held for up to 6 months pending deportation. the government issued many deportation orders administratively, without the benefit of a trial. however, the government did not return deportees to their countries of origin forcibly, allowing those who objected to remain in detention ( see section 2. d. ). this practice led to prolonged detention of deportees, particularly iraqis. the practice also was a factor in the complex problem faced by stateless bidoon deportees, who essentially remained in detention because their stateless condition made the execution of the deportation order impossible ( see sections 2. d. and 5 ). the constitution prohibits the deportation or forced exile of citizens, and there were no reports of such practices during the year. the penal code stipulates that noncitizens convicted of felonies must be deported after finishing their jail terms, and in certain circumstances, citizens may have their citizenship revoked. this includes citizens sentenced for felonies during the first 10 years of attaining citizenship, citizens discharged from a public job for " acts against integrity " during the first 10 years of attaining citizenship, and citizens who take up residence in a foreign country and join an authority that is designed to undermine the country. e. denial of fair public trial the constitution provides for the right to a fair trial and states that " judges shall not be subject to any authority ; " however, the amir appoints all judges, and the renewal of judicial appointments is subject to government approval. judges who are citizens have lifetime appointments ; however, the majority of judges were noncitizens. noncitizen judges hold 1 - to 3 - year renewable contracts, which undermines their independence. the ministry of justice may remove judges for cause, but rarely does so. foreign residents involved in legal disputes with citizens frequently claimed that the courts showed a bias in favor of citizens. the secular court system tries both civil and criminal cases. the court of cassation ( " supreme court " ) is the highest level of judicial appeal. sunni and shi ' a muslims have recourse to their own independent courts for family law cases. secular courts barred no groups from testifying and considered male and female testimonies equally ; however, in the family courts, the testimony of one man was equal to the testimony of two women. by law, criminal trials are public unless a court or the government decides that " maintenance of public order " or " preservation of public morals " necessitates a closed


courts, the testimony of one man was equal to the testimony of two women. by law, criminal trials are public unless a court or the government decides that " maintenance of public order " or " preservation of public morals " necessitates a closed trial. there is no trial by jury. defendants have the right to confront their accusers and appeal verdicts. the amir has the constitutional power to pardon or commute all sentences. defendants in felony cases are required by law to be represented in court by legal counsel, which the courts provide in criminal cases. in misdemeanor cases, defendants have the right to waive the presence of legal counsel, and the court is not required to provide counsel to indigent defendants. however, the kuwaiti bar association is obligated upon court request to appoint an attorney pro bono for indigent defendants in civil, commercial, and criminal cases. while virtually all indigent criminal defendants asked for and received pro bono counsel, in practice very few indigent civil and commercial plaintiffs requested this service. both defendants and prosecutors may appeal court verdicts to the high court of appeals, which may rule on whether the law was applied properly as well as on the guilt or innocence of the defendant. decisions of the high court of appeals may be presented to the court of cassation, which conducts a limited, formal review of cases to determine only whether the law was applied properly. the government continued to incarcerate 36 citizens, bidoon, palestinians, and syrians convicted of collaboration with iraq during the 1990 - 91 occupation. there were no new developments during the year. under the law, such collaboration is considered a felony. most of those convicted in the martial law court in 1991 and the special state security court, which the government abolished in 1995, did not receive fair trials. amnesty international ( ai ) faulted the trials in general, and particularly noted the absence of any right of appeal of the verdicts. there were no reports of political prisoners during the year. f. arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence the constitution provides for individual privacy and the sanctity of the home, and the government generally respected these rights in practice. the law generally requires police to obtain a warrant to search both public and private property ; however, it permits searches without warrant if alcohol or narcotics are suspected on the premises or if police are in pursuit of a suspect fleeing the scene of a crime. a warrant may be obtained from the state prosecutor or, in the case of searches of private property,


it permits searches without warrant if alcohol or narcotics are suspected on the premises or if police are in pursuit of a suspect fleeing the scene of a crime. a warrant may be obtained from the state prosecutor or, in the case of searches of private property, from a judge ( see section 1. d. ). the security forces occasionally monitored the activities of persons and their communications. the law forbids marriage between muslim women and non - muslim men and requires male citizens to obtain government approval to marry foreign nationals. muslim men marrying muslim women require no such approval. although the government may advise men against marriage to a foreign national, there were no known cases of the government refusing permission for such marriages. the government advises women against marrying foreign nationals ( see section 2. c. ). section 2 respect for civil liberties, including : a. freedom of speech and press the constitution provides for freedom of speech and the press ; however, several laws empower the government to impose restrictions on freedom of speech and of the press, and journalists practice self - censorship. with some exceptions, citizens are free to criticize the government at public meetings and in the media. the press law prohibits the publication of any direct criticism of the amir, official government communications with other states, and material that serves to " attack religions " or " incite people to commit crimes, create hatred, or spread dissension among the public. " in may, the government presented a new draft press law that would severely restrict press freedom by giving the government power to close printing presses, veto advertisements, suspend publication of newspapers, and subject articles to pre - publication censorship ( a practice the government banned in 1992 ). local newspapers sharply criticized the proposed law. at year ' s end, the national assembly had not voted on it. in june, the government filed charges against the publisher and editor in chief of a prominent newspaper for " challenging the authority of the amir " after the editor in chief stated publicly that unnamed members of the ruling family were interfering in the parliamentary election campaign ( see section 3 ). the case has not yet gone to court. the government, through the ministry of information, threatened to impose penalties against individual publishers and editors believed to have criticized government policies or discussed subjects deemed offensive to islam, tradition, or the state. in december, police arrested, detained, and interrogated a citizen for producing and distributing an audiotape allegedly defaming the prophet mohammed ' s companions. the public prosecutor ordered the suspect to remain in police custody pending further investigation. a local newspaper reported that the suspect


arrested, detained, and interrogated a citizen for producing and distributing an audiotape allegedly defaming the prophet mohammed ' s companions. the public prosecutor ordered the suspect to remain in police custody pending further investigation. a local newspaper reported that the suspect allegedly fell ill during interrogation and was admitted to a local hospital. at year ' s end, the court of misdemeanor sentenced the citizen to 1 year in jail and imposed a $ 3, 500 ( 1, 000kd ) fine for " insulting the companions of the prophet mohammed. " the country has five arabic and two english language daily newspapers. all newspapers are independent, privately owned, and free to report on social, economic, and political issues. many frequently criticized government policies and officials, including the prime minister and cabinet members. in june, an editorial in the largest - circulation arabic daily openly debated the issue of separating the post of prime minister from that of the crown prince ( see section 3 ). in 2002, the national assembly questioned the then finance - minister publicly on allegations of corruption in his ministry after a popular local newspaper published articles criticizing the minister and his conduct. press accounts during the year that criticized the government led to national assembly members calling for formal question sessions of several cabinet members. the government ended pre - publication censorship in 1992, but journalists still censored themselves. direct press criticism of the cabinet ' s foreign, domestic, and security policies continued. in november 2002, the government closed down the offices of and expelled independent qatar - based arab satellite network al jazeera on allegations of misrepresentation of information about kuwait. publishers must obtain an operating license from the ministry of information to begin newspaper publications. publishers may lose their license if their publications do not appear for 6 months, which prevents publishers from publishing sporadically. individuals also must obtain permission from the ministry of information before publishing any printed material, including brochures and wall posters. there were no reported cases of the ministry of information denying permission to publish printed material during the year. in december, security officials arrested a police officer for reportedly verbally and physically assaulting a journalist. there were no other specific reports of security forces subjecting journalists to violence or harassment during the year ; however, in 2002, police confiscated film belonging to a press photographer covering a public disturbance. police officials did not provide any explanations regarding the action taken towards the press photographer. in 2002, a police officer was sentenced to death for the 2001 killing of a news editor. fawwaz muhammad al - awadi bessisso and


disturbance. police officials did not provide any explanations regarding the action taken towards the press photographer. in 2002, a police officer was sentenced to death for the 2001 killing of a news editor. fawwaz muhammad al - awadi bessisso and ibtisam berto sulaiman al - dakhil, two journalists, were sentenced to life in prison in 1991 because of their work with a newspaper that published under iraqi occupation. the government deported one of the journalists to france during the year. the other reportedly departed the country in october. the government facilitated visas, established a press center, organized trips to closed military areas, and granted interviews to foreign journalists. the law requires jail terms for journalists who defame religion ( see section 2. c. ). the law provides that any muslim citizen may file criminal charges against an author if the citizen believes that the author has defamed islam, the ruling family, or public morals. often, citizens filed such charges for political reasons. the government owns and controls local radio and television companies. satellite dishes are widely available and operate without restriction. however, the ministry of information censored all books, films, videotapes, periodicals, and other imported publications deemed morally offensive. the ministry of information censored media for political content and did not grant licenses to political magazines. the general organization of printing and publishing controlled the publication and distribution of all informational materials. the internet is available but access is limited. according to the latest u. n. statistics, there were approximately 120 personal computers per 1, 000 people but only about 23 websites per 10, 000 people and an estimated 50, 000 internet users. the government imposed controls on internet content in 2002 and threatened to shut down many private internet cafes for noncompliance with new restrictive regulations. the ministry of communications issued new directives in 2002 to internet service providers to block some political sites and some deemed immoral. internet providers installed filtering technology. following the 2002 raid of 19 internet cafes, the ministry of communications requires cafe owners to obtain the names and civil identification numbers of customers and to submit the information to the ministry upon request. the law provides for a $ 162, 500 ( 50, 000 dinars ) bond. the constitution provides for freedom of opinion and of research, and states that every person shall have the right to express and propagate his opinion verbally, in writing, or otherwise. academic freedom is limited by self - censorship, and academics were legally prohibited from criticism of the amir or islam. b. freedom of


that every person shall have the right to express and propagate his opinion verbally, in writing, or otherwise. academic freedom is limited by self - censorship, and academics were legally prohibited from criticism of the amir or islam. b. freedom of peaceful assembly and association the constitution provides for freedom of assembly ; however, the government restricted this right in practice. public gatherings require government approval. the constitution protects informal weekly social and political gatherings of men ( diwaniyas ). most adult male citizens, including the amir, members of the government, and members of the national assembly hosted or attended diwaniyas to discuss current events. the diwaniya system provided an important forum for public debate on political, social, and economic issues. women were not precluded from holding diwaniyas of their own ; however, such diwaniyas were uncommon. traditionally, women do not attend male diwaniyas although a few diwaniyas are open to both sexes. most election campaign gatherings were well attended and women attended some. the ministry of information granted permission for a concert of popular music despite vocal opposition from some islamist politicians. there were a few public demonstrations during the year. demonstrators were orderly and the police did not interfere in most cases. in december, approximately 1, 000 foreign workers protested peacefully at the ministry of health over reported delays by the ministry in processing their health insurance transactions. security officials dispersed the crowd. there were no reports of police harassment or abuse of demonstrators ( see section 6. e. ). the constitution provides for freedom of association ; however, the government restricted this right in practice. the government banned political parties ; however, several unofficial blocs existed and were active in the national assembly. candidates were allowed to run for elections only as individuals, not with a party ( see section 3 ) ; however, in many cases, a candidate ' s party affiliation was well known and may have influenced electoral performance. the government uses its power to license as a means of political control. there are 52 licensed, official nongovernmental organizations ( ngos ) in the country, including professional groups, a bar association, and scientific bodies ; however, since 1985, the ministry of social affairs and labor approved only 6 new ngo licenses. the ministry licensed only one ngo during the year, the kuwait society for the care of children in hospital. there were 92 ngos pending licensing by the ministry ; many have been waiting years for approval. licensed ngos receive government subsidies for their operating expenses, including travel and per diem expenses for participating in international conferences. the ministry


the care of children in hospital. there were 92 ngos pending licensing by the ministry ; many have been waiting years for approval. licensed ngos receive government subsidies for their operating expenses, including travel and per diem expenses for participating in international conferences. the ministry has rejected license requests on the grounds that established ngos already provide services similar to those proposed by the petitioners. members of licensed ngos must obtain permission from the ministry in order to attend international conferences ( see sections 2. d. and 4 ). there are hundreds of unlicensed civic groups, clubs, and unofficial ngos in the country. these unofficial associations do not receive government subsidies and have no legal status. the kuwait human rights society, an unofficial ngo with approximately 500 members, has been waiting for a license since 1992. despite its unofficial status, it produces an annual report on human rights and a quarterly magazine. however, it cannot operate its own official premises or speak officially with the government on human rights issues without a license ( see section 4 ). at year ' s end, the ministry of social affairs and labor initiated a review of its ngo licensing regulations and procedures with a view towards streamlining the licensing of pending ngo applicants. in august 2002, the acting minister of social affairs and labor approved the creation of a charitable organizations department within the ministry. the department regulates domestic charities by reviewing their applications for registration, monitors their operations, and utilizes an accounting system to comply with regulations governing charitable operations ( see section 2. c. ). in 2001, the government intensified its supervision of all charity groups as part of its effort to prevent any diversion of funds to terrorists. the government reportedly did not shut down any unlicensed ngos or unregistered branches of islamic charities during the year, but removed a large number of unlicensed street - side charity boxes. c. freedom of religion the constitution provides for freedom of religion ; however, the government placed some limits on this right in practice. the constitution also provides that the state protect the freedom to practice religion in accordance with established customs, provided that it does not conflict with public policy or morals. the constitution states that islam is the state religion and that shari ' a ( islamic law ) is " a main source of legislation. " the government observes islamic holidays. the ministry of awqaf and islamic affairs has official responsibility for overseeing religious groups. officially recognized churches must deal with a variety of government entities, including the ministry of social affairs and labor ( for visas and residence permits for pastors and other staff ) and the municipality ( for building permits


islamic affairs has official responsibility for overseeing religious groups. officially recognized churches must deal with a variety of government entities, including the ministry of social affairs and labor ( for visas and residence permits for pastors and other staff ) and the municipality ( for building permits ). while there reportedly was no official government " list " of recognized churches, seven christian churches have at least some type of official recognition that enables them to operate openly. these seven churches ( roman catholic, anglican, national evangelical, greek orthodox, armenian orthodox, coptic orthodox, greek catholic ) have open " files " at the ministry of social affairs and labor, allowing them to bring in staff. in october, the government reportedly closed the national evangelical church ' s file due to its alleged failure to comply with the national manpower support law by employing the requisite number of kuwaiti nationals. at year ' s end, the government reinstated its open file status. by tradition, three churches benefit from full government recognition and are allowed to operate compounds officially designated as churches. these are the catholic church ( which includes two separate churches, the latin catholic and the maronite ), the anglican church, and the national evangelical church. however, there are quotas on the number of clergy and staff that each church can bring into the country. existing church facilities are inadequate to serve the needs of their respective communities. the catholic church faces severe overcrowding at its two official church facilities. its cathedral in kuwait city regularly attracts as many as 100, 000 worshippers to its more than 30 weekly services in several languages. the national evangelical church, which serves a weekly average of 20, 000 worshippers in 55 congregations, is also overcrowded. the church is seeking approximately 15 - 20 acres of new land to alleviate overcrowding and petitioned the government for additional land during the year. no action had been taken on the issue at year ' s end. the other four recognized churches reportedly were allowed to operate openly, hire employees, invite religious speakers, and conduct other such activities without interference from the government ; however, according to government records, their compounds were registered only as private homes. there were reports in previous years of at least two groups that applied for permission to build their own churches ; however, the government has yet to respond to their requests. the government continued to discriminate against the shi ' a minority. there are approximately 270, 000 - 315, 000 shi ' a citizens ( one third of kuwaiti citizens ) and approximately 100, 000 shi ' a noncitizen residents. shi ' a remained


discriminate against the shi ' a minority. there are approximately 270, 000 - 315, 000 shi ' a citizens ( one third of kuwaiti citizens ) and approximately 100, 000 shi ' a noncitizen residents. shi ' a remained disadvantaged in the provision of mosques, access to shi ' a religious education, and representation in upper levels of government. there are approximately 30 shi ' a mosques and approximately 1, 200 sunni mosques. there is no independent shi ' a seminary. shi ' a must travel to iran or iraq for clerical training. five shi ' a were elected to the 50 - seat national assembly in july, compared to 6 shi ' a in the previous national assembly. the government allows shi ' a to follow their own jurisprudence in matters of personal status and family law at the first - instance and appellate levels. in october, the government approved a long - standing shi ' a request to establish a shi ' a court of cassation to handle shi ' a personal status and family law cases. shi ' a were free to worship without government interference, and the overall situation for shi ' a improved somewhat during the period covered by this report. since 2000, the government has granted licenses for and has approved the construction of a total of 4 new shi ' a mosques. all four mosques are still reportedly under construction. in november, the government publicly announced its approval of another long - standing shi ' a request for the establishment of an independent shi ' a ja ' fari waqf ( endowment ) department within the ministry of awqaf and islamic affairs to govern the use of funds for shi ' a charitable and religious purposes. in 2001, the government established an independent shi ' a charity authority. shi ' a leaders have complained that shi ' a who aspire to serve as imams are forced to seek appropriate training and education abroad due to the lack of shi ' a jurisprudence courses at kuwait university ' s college of islamic law, which only offers sunni jurisprudence. the ministry of education reviewed a shi ' a proposal to establish a private college to train shi ' a clerics within the country ; however, at year ' s end, no action had been taken on the proposal. members of religions not sanctioned in the qur ' an, such as sikhs, hindus, baha ' is and buddhists, are not permitted to build official places of worship as these religions lack legal status. however, they are allowed to worship privately in their homes without government interference. in january 2002, due to mounting pressure from citizens in the district of salwa, the


, are not permitted to build official places of worship as these religions lack legal status. however, they are allowed to worship privately in their homes without government interference. in january 2002, due to mounting pressure from citizens in the district of salwa, the government closed and later reopened an unofficial sikh temple, located in a room in a private home. sikhs who worshipped there were reportedly still able to worship elsewhere. while some discrimination based on religion reportedly occurred on a personal level, most observers agreed that it was not widespread. there was a perception among some domestic employees and other members of the unskilled labor force, particularly asian nationals, that they would receive better treatment from employers as well as society as a whole if they converted to islam. the seven officially recognized christian churches were able to hold worship services freely without government interference. other christian denominations ( including mormons, seventh day adventists, marthoma, and indian orthodox ), while not recognized legally, were allowed to operate in private homes or in the facilities of recognized churches without government interference, provided that they did not violate laws regarding assembly or proselytizing. the government prohibited proselytizing to muslims ; however, the government permitted christian churches to serve non - muslim congregations. the law prohibited organized religious education other than islam ; however, the government did not enforce this law rigidly, and such education took place. although informal religious instruction occurred inside private homes and on church compounds without government interference, there were credible reports that government inspectors periodically visited public and private schools outside church compounds to ensure that no religious teaching other than islam took place. there were also credible reports that government inspectors periodically observed church worship services to monitor the content of information for possible anti - government or proselytizing rhetoric. the islamic presentation committee ( ipc ), under the authority of the ministry of awqaf and islamic affairs, actively encouraged proselytizing to non - muslims. the ipc maintained an office at the central prison to provide religious education and information on islam to inmates. ipc also established an ngo, aware, late in the year to promote awareness of islam, arab and islamic culture, and provide training courses to foreigners. the government did not permit the establishment of non - islamic publishing companies or training institutions for clergy. nevertheless, several churches published religious materials for use solely by their congregations. further, some churches, in the privacy of their compounds, provided informal instruction to persons interested in joining the clergy. the book house company ltd., a private company, imported a significant number of bibles and


materials for use solely by their congregations. further, some churches, in the privacy of their compounds, provided informal instruction to persons interested in joining the clergy. the book house company ltd., a private company, imported a significant number of bibles and other christian religious material including videotapes and compact discs for use solely by the congregations of the country ' s recognized churches. the firm. was the only bookstore that had an import license to bring in such materials, which also required approval by government censors. there were some reports of customs officials confiscating non - islamic religious materials from private citizens upon their arrival at the airport. in may, police arrested five foreign workers for allegedly proselytizing with bibles in andalus district. state security officials later released the individuals on condition that they sign commitments pledging to refrain from proselytizing. the law prohibits the naturalization of non - muslims ; however, citizens who were christians before 1980 ( and children born to families of such citizens since that date ) were allowed to transmit their citizenship to their children. by law, a non - muslim man must convert to islam when he marries a muslim woman if the marriage is to be legal in the country. the law forbids marriage between muslim women and non - muslim men ( see section 1. f. ). by law, a non - muslim woman does not have to convert to islam to marry a muslim man, but it is to her advantage to do so. in practice, many non - muslim women faced tremendous economic and societal pressure to convert. failure to convert may mean that, should the couple later divorce, the muslim father would be granted custody of children, even those who most likely would have been left in the mother ' s custody if she were muslim. failure to convert may also mean that a non - muslim woman would not be eligible to inherit her husband ' s property. a few muslim converts to christianity reported harassment and discrimination by police and employers, including termination of employment, repeated summonses to police stations for questioning, verbal abuse, police monitoring of their activities, and imposition of fines without due process ( see section 1. e. ). the law requires jail terms for journalists who defame religion ( see section 2. a. ). the ministry of education announced its intention to combat religious intolerance by clarifying the concept of " jihad " in school curricula ; this initiative encountered strong condemnation from some islamist members of the national assembly. at year ' s end, no reported changes had been made


announced its intention to combat religious intolerance by clarifying the concept of " jihad " in school curricula ; this initiative encountered strong condemnation from some islamist members of the national assembly. at year ' s end, no reported changes had been made to school curricula regarding this concept. for a more detailed discussion, see the 2003 international religious freedom report. d. freedom of movement travel, emigration, and repatriation the constitution does not provide for the rights of freedom of movement within the country, freedom of foreign travel, or freedom to emigrate. the government placed some limits on freedom of movement in practice. citizens have the right to travel freely within the country and to change their workplace as desired. unmarried women must be 21 years of age or older to obtain a passport and travel abroad without permission of a male relative. married women must obtain their husbands ' permission to apply for a passport. a married woman with a passport does not need her husband ' s permission to travel, but he may prevent her departure from the country by placing a 24 - hour travel ban on her through immigration authorities. after this 24 - hour period, a court order is required if the husband still wishes to prevent his wife from leaving the country. in practice, however, many travel bans were issued without court order, effectively preventing citizens ( and foreigners ) from departing. all minor children under 21 years of age require their father ' s permission to travel outside the country. this also applies to dual national children born to citizen fathers and noncitizen mothers. the government does not recognize dual nationality. a citizen father can place a travel ban on his ( under 21 ) children through the ministry of interior or through a local court if he does not wish for them to travel without his permission. there were many reports of citizen fathers / husbands confiscating their children ' s / wives ' travel documents to prevent them from departing. citizens were largely free to emigrate and to return. security forces in kuwait city occasionally set up checkpoints to detain individuals for immigration purposes and to apprehend undocumented aliens ( see section 1. d. ). in july 2002, the ministry of interior allowed expatriates a 45 - day grace period to legalize their residency status or to depart the country without facing legal action. during the year, there were some reports of police harassment of foreign workers at security checkpoints. the law permits the government to place a travel ban on any citizen or foreigner who has a legal case pending before the courts. the law also