MetaFilter posts tagged with germany and usa

"The FDA recalled more than 60,000 tissue-derived products between 1994 and mid-2007."

zarq — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 07:26:25 -0800

"The business of recycling dead humans into medical implants is a little-known yet lucrative trade. But its practices have roused concerns about how tissues are obtained and how well grieving families and transplant patients are informed about the realities and the risks." After an eight month international investigation, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has published an extensive four-part exposé into the black market for cadavers and human tissue: Skin and Bone: The Shadowy Trade in Human Body Parts (Via) The ICIJ (Previously on Mefi) was established by the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) to serve as its international reporting arm. The CPI is a nonprofit investigative journalism organization. Key Findings: * Consent: There have been repeated allegations in Ukraine that human tissue was removed from the dead without proper consent. Some of that tissue may have reached other countries, via Germany, and may now be implanted in hospital patients. * Safety: Surgeons are not always required to tell patients they are receiving products made of human tissue, making it less likely a patient would associate subsequent infection with that product. * Tracking: The U.S. is the world's biggest trader of products from human tissue, but authorities there don’t seem to know how much tissue is imported, where it comes from, or where it subsequently goes.
Sections: * About this Project * Infographic: How Safe is Human Tissue? * Part 1: Human Corpses are Prize in Global Drive for Profits * Part 2: Body Brokers Leave Trail of Questions, Corruption * Part 3: Traceability Elusive in Global Trade of Human Parts * Part 4: Abusing the 'Gift' of Tissue Donation * Key Questions About Human Tissue * Japan has almost no regulations on human tissue. Includes a link to an Asahi Shimbun investigation with further details. * Video: Skin and Bone * How We Did It: Analyzing the Data behind Skin and Bone The investigation utilized software from Palantir to analyze networks and data on an impressively large scale: "We uploaded more than 1 million companies, individuals and events (such as imports, seizures and recalls) into Palantir to build out a network previously buried in data sets and documents. The result was a rich and dense dataset that made it easy to grab a comprehensive picture of any entity in just a few key strokes. It therefore becomes a powerful reporting tool, rather than merely a way to visualize networks." * Methodology: Behind the Numbers * Video: How ICIJ investigated human tissue trading networks * Multimedia: Products made from human tissue

"During the proceedings, the prosecutor took the time to mention that no other printer in the world could do what Kuhl had done."

reenum — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 06:54:05 -0800

Hans-Jurgen Kuhl was able to create "shockingly perfect" copies of the American $100 bill by using his artistic talents to conquer the various security features present in the bill.

Basking in the warm glow of the television.

DoctorFedora — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:42:31 -0800

Sure, we all know that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is broadcast every year in the US as a Christmas tradition, and that Sweden basically closes every year from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. on December 24th to watch Donald Duck, but what about other countries? Germany joins the party by showing an obscure British comedy sketch called "Dinner for One" (YouTube link) every year for New Year's Eve, famous enough that the phrase "The same procedure as last year?" will get you the response "The same procedure as every year, James," and that the parody "Dinner für Brot" ("Dinner for Bread" — YouTube links in German) was created with puppets, based on the original sketch. Japan takes an approach less akin to Sweden and Germany's tradition of airing the same program year after year, instead opting for something more along the lines of the US's Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, called Kouhaku Uta Gassen ("Red and White Song Battle" — Wikipedia link), featuring two teams of competing musicans, divided by sex. The show is by invitation only, and is such a cultural touchstone that when Jero, the African-American enka singer (Wikipedia link), was invited to perform at 2008's edition, there was hardly a dry eye in the audience when he talked about promising his late grandmother that he'd one day be famous enough to perform on Kouhaku. And of course, in the United States, who could forget the annual broadcasts of such traditions as It's a Wonderful Life, the Christmas Episode,, Frosty the Snowman (and its rather more poorly regarded '90s sequel, Frosty Returns), and, naturally, 1984's A Christmas Story, based on the novel by Jean Shepherd. A distinctly American cultural touchstone, it's been adapted from In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash (Amazon link) into not only a movie, but also into numerous stage musicals and a 30–second reenactment by animated bunnies. The annual 24–hour marathon of a dozen nonstop showings of the movie for Christmas on TNT (and now TBS) has become famous, but this year it's got competition from one of the Swaziest movies ever made. (Previously, and previouslier)

The state of high-speed rail, August 2009

acb — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:12:59 -0800

The Guardian ran a series of articles looking at the state of high-speed rail travel today. France intends to double its length of track over the next decade, and China is planning a massive rail-building programme, including a high-speed line which will halve the travel time between Beijing and Shanghai to 4 hours. In Germany, domestic air travel is rapidly going extinct, and Spain's network has made day trips between Madrid and Barcelona a possibility. The USA, which has long neglected its rail network, is planning up to 10 high-speed lines. Meanwhile, Britain's only high-speed line goes to France, but there is talk of a 250mph line from London to Birmingham and beyond, possibly by the early 2020s. Meanwhile, the CEO of France's rail operator, SNCF, weighs in on what the UK should do.

Merkel to fire German conference organiser over Iranian envoy's criticism of the U.S

hoder — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 17:09:35 -0800

Angela Merkel to fire organiser of Munich security conference over Iranian envoy's criticism of the U.S. policies in the Middle East, Der Spiegel reports. (Translated English version) Read the full speech of Ali Larijani, Iran's top nuclear negotioator at the conference.

River Art

tellurian — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 16:15:08 -0800

Ahmad Nadalian's work can be found all over the world. He is an artist that carves symbols on rocks and then leaves them at the site where they were created (sometimes burying them).

Germany and the United States

Ljubljana — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 08:48:55 -0800

A subjective comparison of Germany and the United States. A sober and interesting look at some of the differences between the two countries, written by a man who grew up in Germany and now lives and teaches in the United States. (via @rgumente)

On the Great Atlantic Divide

Postroad — Wed, 05 Jan 2005 10:11:52 -0800

On the Great Atlantic Divide Published on Sunday, October 26, 2003 by TomDispatch.com. By Susan Sontag. I came across this piece at dailyKos "Two weeks ago during the Frankfurt Book Fair, the Association of German Publishers and Booksellers awarded the Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels (the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade) to Susan Sontag. She was cited for standing up for "the dignity of free thinking" and for her role as an "intellectual ambassador" between the United States and Europe. The association's director Dieter Schormann commented, "In a world of false images and distorted truths, she defends the honor of free thought." In its over half-century of existence, the Friedenspreis Prize has been awarded to Chinua Achebe, Max Frisch, Jurgen Habermas, Yehudi Menuhin, and Vaclav Havel among many others. An excerpt from Susan Sontag's acceptance speech was published today in the Los Angeles Times Book Review section, but I thought the whole speech, which focuses on the increasingly embattled relationship between Europe and the United States, or rather between much of Europe, especially the various peoples of Europe, and the Bush administration, was well worth reproducing as a whole. Near its end is a rare moment in which Sontag considers an aspect of her early life in public. Her most recent book, by the way, is Regarding the Pain of Others. What follows then, with her kind permission, is her full acceptance speech. (The title and subheads are, however, mine.) Tom "

Tactical Alert?

boost ventilator — Sat, 23 Oct 2004 20:25:50 -0800

Trekkies for Kerry

Where is this country headed?

Rastafari — Sat, 12 Jun 2004 06:04:34 -0800

Is U.S. like Germany of the '30s?

I poo on Godwin's Law, but this isn't GW's fault....

troutfishing — Sat, 18 Oct 2003 18:00:30 -0800

Trading with the Enemy (Prescott Bush was a bad man) - The mainstream press decides to bring up the Bush/Nazi connection - Newly declassified documents shed new light on the shady beginnings of the Bush family's dynastic wealth: through GW Bush's grandfather Prescott Bush's work as a director of a US bank which was both controlled by the German industrialist Thyssen (who played a key role in bankrolling Hitler's rise to power) and which continued to launder Thyssen Group profits after the US declaration of war against Germany. But if you've been reading Metafilter closely, you would have known the facts almost a year ago. ( * executes clannish, self/Metafilter congratulatory victory jig * ). Will the mainstream press pick up the trail of the story, to the US government secret importation of Nazi scientists immediately after WW2? (don't hold yr. breath)

We wuz robbed.

McBain — Fri, 21 Jun 2002 06:25:56 -0800

We wuz robbed. I know, it wasn't really a handball. USA loses to Germany and their amazing goalkeeper. Good run, guys.

Court rules U.S. broke rights laws

adnan — Fri, 29 Jun 2001 00:51:58 -0800

Court rules U.S. broke rights laws The world court has ruled the U.S. ignored the international legal rights of two German-born brothers who were executed for murder. More excecution controversy.