The Poisoner’s Handbook

Did you know that radium gets absorbed into the human body by disguising itself as calcium? Did you know that carbon monoxide poisoning leaves its victims’ blood an unnaturally vivid scarlet? Did you know that strychnine poisoning makes the victim’s insides look like they got mauled by a bear?

                  Did you know someone wrote a book about all this?

                  It’s called The Poisoner’s Handbook, and the author is Deborah Blum.

                  If you’ve read this far, I assume you are fascinated by forensics. Excellent. This book is about the growth and development of forensic medicine during the 1920’s in New York City. The 20s are always depicted as a glamorous era – the jazz, the bootleg alcohol, the flappers and the gangsters – but this book delves into the criminal underside of it, graphically describing the poisons people drank when they were desperate for alcohol and how people would poison their own friends and relatives to get money ; poison in those days was relatively difficult to detect in a body.

                  However, when medical examiner Charles Norris took the office, he did his best to change this. He ran experiments with every new kind of poison until he could detect a minute amount from a couple of grams of flesh. He worked at all hours of the day and night to catch criminals.

                  Of course, the fact that poisons became easier to detect didn’t mean that people stopped poisoning others. It just meant that they came up with more creative methods. I can’t go into detail here because, well, this is the Internet and everyone is reading this, but suffice to say this book will make you incredibly paranoid about accepting gifts from others for a while.

                  I enjoyed this book because, although it is, in essence, a history of science book, it doesn’t read like one. Instead, in Deborah Blum’s hands, the historical figures take on personalities and stories of their own, and even the criminals are fully fleshed out and frighteningly real figures. This is one of those books you will stay up all night to finish, and a book that will stay on your mind for weeks after you’re done.

 Feyga Saksonov

Vive le Québec Libre?

Québecois independence has once again taken on a sense of urgency with the election of Pauline Marois as Premier of Québec, the first member of the secessionist Parti Québecois to hold the office.  But we, as New Englanders, are surprisingly ignorant of the struggle of our provincial neighbor to the north.  The issue certainly carries little weight in my French Canadian family.  I’ve always wondered why.

The answer developed somewhat subconsciously as I came to realize the lack of publicity the secessionist movement was receiving, especially in social media and other free-sharing pockets of the Internet.  I felt removed from the issue; the outcries of the Parti Québecois seemed to be buried beneath other diverse, open, and rebellious social discussions and demonstrations that spread all over the Internet in the form of “memes.”  In fact, in this Internet connected generation that values individualism, it is even trendy to be on the side of the oppressed minority.  Where was the Parti Québecois in all this?

And then it dawned on me:  the Québec secessionist movement represents a society of people who feel that their identity is threatened by the integration and development of ideas that the Internet represents.  Put simply, the Québecois cling to old-fashioned and conservative ideas of nationalism.  Everything suddenly made perfect sense.

The Parti Québecois was founded in 1957, at the beginning of an age of unprecedented globalization, and, for the diverse United States, an expansion of influence in the West.  These two features of the mid-century world rattled the foundation of the distinct culture of Québec, a society that had been, for hundreds of years, preserved in its isolation, content in its uniqueness, and even proud of its standing as a special part of Canada.

Now, only when they feel their preciousness is being suffocated by the global community growing around them do the Québecois suggest secession.  Instead of embracing a new identity in a diverse and connected world, they intensify their long existing difference of cultural and language and retreat behind them as justification for separation.  In reality, the Québecois are scared.   

I used to love to piece together clues about my French Canadian ancestor’s motives for immigration from the attitudes they imprinted on their children, my grandmother and her siblings.  It didn’t take much mumbling of now mixed sarcastic French Canadian and shrill Bostonian accents for me to realize that my ancestors loved the Unites States, its diversity, and cultural stew.  It’s the reason they emigrated here.

The reason Americans, and New Englanders in particular, are so removed from the movement for an independent Québec is because it represents an alternative to the inclusive and global community we have created. 

--Thomas MacDonald

Pick On Someone Your Own Orientation

Walking down the hallway to my public school’s auditorium as a young seventh-grader, I could hardly contain my glee.  We had an assembly, a very rare and very exciting event, mainly because we got to miss multiple periods of class.  My frivolity abruptly stopped as an unassuming, middle aged man walked on the stage of the auditorium with tears in his eyes and introduced himself.  His name was John Halligan, and his son, Ryan, had recently taken his life in response to bullying after a false rumor was spread in his school that he was gay.

At the same time, 1,500 miles away in Minnesota’s Anoka-Hennepin school district, parents just like Halligan were grieving over the loss of their children whose lives were cut short by the same toxic bullying Ryan had endured.  In the course of two years (2009-2011), nine students in this Minnesotan school district committed suicide.  All of the deceased students either identified as members of the LGBTQ community or were perceived to be queer, and therefore bullied by their peers at school.  At one school in the district, a boy was called “fag” by three kids and assaulted in the hallway of school, as a teacher looked on and did nothing to stop the violence.  A middle schooler reported to the principal that multiple boys urinated on him in the public restroom.  The principal responded that it was probably just water.

How could these adults, these people expected to lead and exemplify good behavior, let these horrendous attacks happen without consequence?  The school district, before and through 2011, had in place a strict “neutrality policy” regarding sexual orientation and gender identity.  This policy declared that all teachers had to remain absolutely neutral on the topic of sexual orientation.  And, in my opinion, what this policy stated was fair enough – when teachers discuss religion or politics, for example, they are expected to remain neutral on these topics.  But the neutrality policy in action was a different story.  It obliterated any sort of safe space for students identifying as LGBTQ.  It provided no help or guidance to students grappling with their sexual orientations or gender identities.  And it gave the teachers permission to ignore any sort of bullying directed at the queer population.

In February of 2012, the district repealed the policy after the Southern Poverty Law Center and National Center for Lesbian Rights filed a lawsuit at the school district on the policy.  The school instated a new policy.  Although still requesting neutrality from teachers on the subjects of gender identity and sexual orientation, this new policy allows open discussion of these topics, presented factually by the teachers.  This change gives students a safe space to voice their opinions and personal beliefs, if found appropriate to the subject.  The school district also instituted an anti-bullying task force.  Win, right? 

Wrong.  One of the adults on the board, Bryan Lindquist, is vehemently anti-gay, promoting “gay therapy” and leading an anti-gay hate group called “Parents Action League.”  So, the school district allowed a man aggressively anti-gay on the anti-bullying committee created solely for the protection of all students who identified as queer.  To me, it seems as if the district lacked any sort of commitment to actually protecting the rights of LGBTQ students.  Their change in policy seems more like a response to the legal action against the school than a genuine concern for this population.  Nine lives were lost, nine lives.  Is that number still not large enough for the school to feel the need to implement real protection for their students?

Recently hearing this news, I was brought back to my seventh-grade assembly.  The town where I lived was tiny and I didn’t know anyone who openly identified as anything other than a cisgender heterosexual, but even in this extremely homogenous town, my school found it necessary to dedicate a rare assembly to focusing on the struggles of teens who are bullied for their perceived sexual orientations or gender identities. Studies have found that between 30-40% of teens identifying as LGBTQ have tried to commit suicide at least once in their life.  And I truly believe that most important way we can reduce these numbers is by adding curriculum on the LGBTQ community to every single school system so that those who don’t understand and bully in response can be enlightened, and the LGBTQ youth can have guidance and acceptance in at least one of their formative environments.

-- Zoe Meyers

Eid-Al-Adha: The Festival of Sacrifice

Eid-El-Adha, which is one of the most important Islamic holidays, commemorates Abraham’s complete faith and obedience towards Allah in his willingness to sacrifice his own son, Ismail. Rather than running away (which is what I would’ve done!), Ismail kneeled and waited for his father to kill him. At this moment, Allah sent the angel Gabriel with a sheep for Abraham to slaughter instead.

Eid is a beautiful time of complete bliss in all Muslim countries. Starting on the night of Eid, Muslims begin to thank Allah until the next morning, when Muslims gather to perform the Eid prayer together. After this prayer, the entire community is united in one place and smiles fill the air as everyone talks and begins to celebrate together. In Mecca, Eid is the last day of the pilgrimage (hajj).

After the prayer, families who have enough money must slaughter a sheep in a halal manner. One third of the sheep is donated to the poor, one third is for the family and the extended family, and the final third is for friends. Throughout the next four days of Eid, it is custom for families to visit each other and exchange gifts for the children.

Eid-el-Adha allows me to realize the importance of community, generosity, obedience, and the spread of happiness.

This year, Eid-el-Adha begins on the night of Friday, October 26^th! Happy Eid, everyone!!!

-- Diana Abbas

Trouble in the East China Sea

The upcoming presidential election has seen the revival of our country’s politicians’ favorite past time: China-bashing. A reliable way to secure votes, we have seen both parties decry the fast growing economy, accusing them of “cheating” in trade with the United States, denouncing their greedy communist leaders of exploiting the people and violating human right’s laws. In some ways, politicians are trying to paint it like the giant red specter that hung over the heads of Americans in the Cold War. This fear of China is not just unique to the atmosphere surrounding our elections though. These past few months have seen two of our biggest allies (and trading partners), China and Japan, go head to head over a few rocks in the sea.

 

Since the Japanese Constitution was rewritten and became pacifist after World War 2, Japanese-Chinese relations had cooled off quite a bit. Japan apologized to the world for the atrocities committed by its people during World War 2 (though the depth of apology is still a matter of contention between Japan and South Korea), and China’s economy boomed, and became Japan’s largest trading partner. With China’s exponential expansion has come its incredible demand for natural resources and naval control. In recent years, China has snapped up a huge portion of natural resource exports, fueling such economies as Brazil, Russia, and Australia. This is where the sparse outcrop of rock that the Chinese call the Diaoyus  (literally meaning “fishing islands) and the Japanese call the Senkakus (with the main island also meaning “fishing island”).

 

After Japan became under US occupation 1945, the islands came into the hands of the United States. In 1972 though, the Okinawa Reversion Treaty was passed and the islands officially were given back to the Japanese. This is also the time that China and Taiwan began claiming ownership of the islands. Whether this was because of pure nationalism concerning these islands which had been recorded on Chinese maps since the Ming Dynasty, or opportunism since a 1969 UN survey confirmed potential oil and natural gas reserves surrounding the islands, the result is the same. Tensions have flared and the relations between the two countries have soured.

 

Violence erupted in China against Japanese people and companies when the Diaoyu crisis reared its ugly head, causing a huge response. Currently Japanese officials at Toyota, Nissan, and Honda are pacing their offices after they were forced to shut down several factories due to increasing violence on Japanese workers and Japanese companies. They are losing massive amounts of revenue, not only because of the decreased output, but because China accounts for 15% of Toyota’s profits, and 25% of Nissan’s. The tension isn’t only affecting large companies, but entire cities. Huge amounts of tourists flock to Japan each year, pouring millions of dollars to the tourism industry and huge amounts of profit to the Japanese airlines. Protests throughout China and Japan have prompted government officials to take action, including the rash ones of the right-wing mayor of Tokyo.

 

Recently, Mr. Shintaro Ishihara, the mayor of Tokyo, attempted to purchase the Senkakus from their private, Japanese owner in order to secure the islands for the Japanese people.  This prompted the government to try and buy the islands themselves, to keep them out of the hands of such an extreme politician, and risk angering China further. The meaning of this action was lost on the Chinese people though, who were immediately expressed their outrage that Japan thought they could buy the islands that were rightfully theirs. The scale of the Japanese anger over this will be decided next election when Mr. Shinzo Abe will run against incumbent Yoshihiko Noda. Mr. Abe was briefly Prime Minister from 2006 to 2007 until a member of his cabinet committed suicide and he resigned. He is now back as the candidate for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and he has come back angry. He has been noted for not only playing down Japanese war crimes committed in World War 2 (including the controversial topic of sex-slavery of Korean women), but now has also picked up the issue of the Senkakus, giving the people exactly the nationalist, far-right China-bashing they want to hear. Mr. Abe has said that he wants to reform the Constitution, allowing Japan to actively defend their territory and exercise its naval power. Mr. Abe looks strong in the polls, and may very well win the upcoming election. With such a volatile Prime Minister for Japan, we can only hope tensions do not escalate beyond control.

 

Currently the US has stated that it has no opinion of the Diaoyu/Senkaku’s ownership, but increased military power in South-East Asia has sent the message to China that America will not let this go much further, or let China harm Japan. Such disputes may become more and more common as China keeps encroaching further into the territory of its neighboring countries. This very issue prompted the first Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit ever to fail to issue a joint communiqué. China is tearing apart Southeast Asia and soon it will come to a head. Whatever happens then, hopefully America, the world, and the world economy will be ready for the reprocussions. 

-- Isabelle Lorion

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Mosquito#p005fq51

What do you guys think?

The Applying Student Who Doesn't Stand a Chance

My sister just entered ninth grade at a public pilot school in Boston.  She is a student who is every day challenged by her autism and, in that way, more sensitively molded by her educational environment than most of her classmates.  I am very proud of her, and thankful towards all the wonderful teachers we shared for making it this far.

As a former public school student from Massachusetts and, especially, as my sister’s older brother, I am concerned with what the outcome of this 2012 Presidential Election will mean for our nation’s educational system. 

 
I didn’t have to do much research to see that President Obama knows what he’s talking about.  The president’s White House web page proudly displays a complete and detailed summary of his plans and successes in such areas as reforming and expanding the Head Start program (a program I have personally seen the good of while working at Head Start Allston-Brighton) and securing a diverse force of teachers.  By signing the Education Jobs Bill in 2010, he provided states with ten billion dollars in emergency funds, enabling schools to keep their teachers in the face of severe budget cuts.  And as part of the American Jobs Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestments Act of 2010, the nation’s schools have been equipped with modern tools, facilities, and curriculums.

 
The Obama administration has also laid out specific plans to encourage parents in their children’s education, and forge teacher-parent relationships, doubling the funds for this initiative.But educational reform under the Obama administration has not been an entirely federal, “top-down” approach as Romney charges.  By offering rewards for states whose students perform highly in certain areas, the administration has encouraged incentives to improve between states.  The president has thus been able to use his exclusively executive powers to boost education and transform educational reform into a new, exciting endeavor.

 
The official White House website also boasts two other files as part of their education initiative: “Support for Higher Education” and “Education for the Future.”  The very presence of these titles was enough to inspire me to tears.

Mitt Romney’s site for education reform made me cry too….

 
Hidden away in small-print, not even displayed on the campaign’s main page, is the link labeled “Education.”  Upon clicking on the link, I was led to a one page list of the most obvious and undeniable statements concerning education: “Reward Great Teachers,” “Improve Curriculums,” etc.  But I was horrified to realize that these deceptively link-looking titles were not links to further information at all.  Romney’s page lacks the “innovative” features that are repeatedly promised throughout his website, giving more detail on President Obama’s plan to address education reform than his own

 
So let’s look at his record.  As governor of Massachusetts, he seemed more interested in enforcing his own conservative agenda than promoting the well-being of students, restricting sexual health and foreign language instruction.  In fact, Gov. Romney seemed less interested in introducing “innovative” educational reform than signing bills proposed by the popular legislature into law.  Instead of forging a strong base of teachers, Mr. Romney attempted to crush unions of teachers and professors in high schools and community colleges.  Per capita funding for school systems also fell.

 
Currently, both candidates are providing Americans with an idea of how they regard the education system on the campaign trail.  President Obama has spent vastly more time since the beginning of his 2012 campaign in public high schools and universities than Mr. Romney has.  And, during the October fifth presidential debate, Mr. Romney was pressed to utter the word “education” even once.

 
I am terrified that a man like former governor Romney is this close to the Presidency.  But as Election Day draws near, only one thing is clear: When it comes to successful education reform, Mitt Romney is writing a paper on a book he’s never read. 

-- Thomas MacDonald