World AIDS Day - December 1

There are some basic facts that we all should know about AIDS.

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This is the virus that causes AIDS. HIV is different from most other viruses because it attacks the immune system. The immune system gives our bodies the ability to fight infections. HIV finds and destroys a type of white blood cell (T cells or CD4 cells) that the immune system must have to fight disease.

For many years scientists theorized as to the origins of HIV and how it appeared in the human population, most believing that HIV originated in other primates. Then in 1999, an international team of researchers reported that they had discovered the origins of HIV-1, the predominant strain of HIV in the developed world. A subspecies of chimpanzees native to west equatorial Africa had been identified as the original source of the virus. The researchers believe that HIV-1 was introduced into the human population when hunters became exposed to infected blood.

AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. AIDS is the final stage of HIV infection. It can take years for a person infected with HIV, even without treatment, to reach this stage. Having AIDS means that the virus has weakened the immune system to the point at which the body has a difficult time fighting infections. When someone has one or more of these infections and a low number of T cells, he or she has.

HIV is passed from one person to another by:
- having sex (vaginal, anal, or oral) with a person who has HIV without using condoms or other latex barriers
- sharing needles with a drug user who has HIV
- during pregnancy, birth, or breast-feeding if a mother has HIV
- getting a blood transfusion from a person with HIV

HIV cannot be transmitted by casual contact. Here are the facts:
- You cannot get HIV from shaking hands or hugging a person with HIV/AIDS
- You cannot get HIV from using a public telephone, drinking fountain, restroom, swimming pool, Jacuzzi, or hot tub
- You cannot get HIV from sharing a drink
- You cannot get HIV from being coughed or sneezed on by a person with HIV/AIDS
- You cannot get HIV from giving blood
- You cannot get HIV from a mosquito bite

There is no cure for HIV and no vaccine to stop you from becoming infected. However, since the 1990s, treatments have been developed that enable most people with HIV to stay well and live relatively normal lives.

Don't think that this can't never happen to you because you don't belong to one of the risk groups, and don't discriminate people who have AIDS, they're just like you.

Watch this interesting video about AIDS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRBflFVqFNI

DARWIN

This year, the world celebrates two major anniversaries:

• The 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Robert Darwin (12 Feb 1809 – 19 April 1882).

• The 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species (24 Nov 1859).

Darwin’s work, along with those of many others both before and after him, laid the foundation for our increasingly detailed understanding of the history and diversity of life. Although much has changed in evolutionary biology over the past 150 years, Darwin’s insights continue to play an important role.

You could start by reading The Origin of Species, but if you want to read something more adapted to our times, then you should read any of the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins' books. He is well-known as a presenter of the case for rationalism and scientific thinking as well as a prominent critic of religion, creationism and a wide variety of pseudoscience.

Since the publication of The Selfish Gene (Oxford University Press. 1976), Richard Dawkins has published many books and has become one of Britain's best-known academics.

If you are one of those who like watching films instead of reading, then you can follow his three-part television documentary The Genius of Charles Darwin. 2008. The series mixes segments on the life and discoveries of Charles Darwin, the theory of natural selection and evolution, and Dawkins' attempts at convincing a group of school children that evolution explains the world around us better than any religion.

But for those who like reading, you shouldn't miss Dawkins' last book The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution (Free Press (United States), Transworld (United Kingdom and Commonwealth). 2009)

Still haven't read anything about Darwin? You better hurry!

Thanksgiving Day

On the fourth Thursday of November, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, a national holiday honoring the early settlers and their harvest feast. Canadians celebrate it on the second Monday in October.

There are some versions as which is the real first Thanksgiving date. The east coast of the United States had already been inhabited by many Native American tribes for over 12,000 years, and it had been visited by other European settlers who may have held feasts to give thanks to God. But there are two dates widely recognized as being the first holidays: one of them refers back to a feast that lasted three days to celebrate the bountiful harvest of 1621. And the other one refers to the first religiousThanksgiving Day which was recorded in 1623. Then, The Settlers, a group of English Protestants who had arrived to the east coast of the United States two years before in the Mayflower, gave thanks to God for rain after a two-month drought with a big feast.

The modern Thanksgiving holiday started in 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln declared a feast in November to give thanks for "general blessings." Thanksgiving was proclaimed by every president after Lincoln and, in 1941, it was finally sanctioned by Congress as a legal holiday, the fourth Thursday in November.

One of the best things about modern Thanksgiving is spending time with family. Many people live far from family members and travel long distances by car, train, or plane to be with their loved ones. Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day of the year!

Traditional foods are a large part of Thanksgiving celebrations. Many families include the entire family in the food preparation. Traditional foods include turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, cornbread, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Many people serve pie for dessert at the end of the meal. Popular pie flavors are pumpkin, pecan, sweet potato, and apple.



Some families include breaking the turkey's wishbone as part of their celebration. The wishbone is found attached to the breast meat in the turkey's chest. After the meat has been removed and the wishbone has had a chance to become dry and brittle, two people each take one end of the bone, make a wish, and pull. Whoever ends up with the larger part of the bone gets his or her wish!



Each year at Thanksgiving, the President of the United States receives a gift of a live turkey (along with an alternate in case something happens to the official turkey). At a White House ceremony, the president traditionally "pardons" the National Thanksgiving Turkey and the alternate turkeys, allowing them to live out the rest of their lives on a farm.



Many generous folks use Thanksgiving as an opportunity to help the less fortunate. Some people volunteer to serve food at homeless shelters on Thanksgiving Day and others donate to shelters or participate in canned food drives.



Television also plays a part in Thanksgiving celebrations. Many families watch the New York City Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The parade includes marching bands, floats, songs and performances from Broadway musicals, and giant helium-filled balloons!

Two classic films settled in Thanksgiving are Hannah and Her Sisters and Home For The Holidays.