OFFBEAT MAIL

American voters should try to weigh in the situation before hitting the polls to decide which president they wanted to choose. Both candidates were using all rhetorics they could think of to trade barbs and other negative accusations against each other at the height of campaigns. This is already a common tactics by most politicians. But stick to the truth and try to analyze things. If there were mistakes committed during the eight years of the previous administration, how can anyone expect the next elected president will be able to patch up all those mistakes in four years? No president is superman enough to clean up the garbage of the previousadministrations. As the national election closes in, the pulse of the  American voters will once again be tested. Unless they try to spare some of their time to reflect upon themselves what transpired in the past, they won't be able to come to terms with the real essence of who to choose for between the two presidential candid...

Research published today in the journal Conservation Biology presents the most comprehensive assessment of the status of Pacific shark populations to date. The paper, authored by Dr. Shelley Clarke and a team from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community in New Caledonia, shows significant declines in catch rates for blue, mako, and oceanic whitetip sharks, as well as declining average sizes of oceanic whitetip and silky sharks, indicating heavy fishing.  These results, along with evidence of shark targeting reported by Dr. Clarke and other scientists in the western North Pacific, heighten concerns for the sustainability of Pacific shark populations. "Our research reveals alarming declines of 17% per year in populations of the oceanic whitetip shark, a species highly valued for its fins," explained Dr. Clarke. " Also of serious concern are declines of 5% per year for North Pacific blue sharks, considering that this species is known as one of the most productive a...

Even those unexpected places are not spared. And If the dead can talk, they will surely complain over the abuses being made by some politicians. That seems impossible. But local politicians in the Philippines have made it a practice to promote themselves even during All Saint's and All Souls days. Despite the ban on political advertisements, many politicians and their supporters have ignored the call by the local governments not to display their political paraphernalias while the feast of the dead is being celebrated. Local officials said the tarpaulins that were adorned by various political endorsements, with their images emblazoned in most of them,  could be misinterpreted as eyesores. And the cemeteries are not the proper place to display them. But this practice is true in almost all big cemeteries in Metro Manila, where former presidents and well-known personalities were laid to rest. In most cases, the solemnity is transformed into a circus as thousands of people gathe...

The Journal of Commerce has set up a special website section to alert JOC members on how Hurricane Sandy impacts supply chain infrastructure. Complete coverage is available online at http://www.joc.com/speciapics/hurricane-sandy . Hurricane Sandy caused severe disruption supply chains following shutdowns of major ports and damage to key rail, road and air infrastructure. JOC editors are working around the clock to provide breaking news and updates of this week's devastating storm and its aftermath, see the JOC's Hurricane Sandy special topic page. ( http://www.joc.com/special-topics/hurricane-sandy ) Shippers should expect delays for air and ocean shipments to, from and within the U.S. in the wake of super-storm Sandy, which devastated parts of eastern U.S., including New York and New Jersey. Paul Tsui, chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Freight Forwarding and Logistics, said supply chain delays could drag out for a number of days. "Most carriers canceled th...

Demonstrating the ever-growing need for global public standards for the quality of medicines, the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) announced the expansion of its Medicines Compendium (MC).  The USP MC is a free, online resource of quality standards for medicines approved in any country.  It was launched in July of 2011 with one Expert Committee based in South Asia (India).  The USP MC represents an innovative approach to make available good public testing standards for a marketed medicine and its ingredients. The USP MC provides monographs, general chapters, and allied reference materials for chemical and biologic medicines and their ingredients, including drug substances and excipients. The early success of the MC has lead to the creation of two new Expert Committees (in addition to a second EC convened in January of this year in East Asia) and to the expansion and enhancement of the MC website. "I have been gratified by advances of the Medicines Compendium du...

Over 90 percent of the world's rice is produced and consumed in the Asia-Pacific region where more than three billion people live. A population projection made for 2025 by FAO shows an average increase of 51 percent based on the year 1995; therefore, the amount of rice produced at 524 million tons annually to serve current consumers has to be increased to 700 million tons by 2025. The task of increasing the rice supply is facing difficulties due to climate change and the lack of new generation farmers. While the number of consumers in each mega city is growing, the number of producers is diminishing dramatically. Dr. Sujin Realizing the problems, Thailand's Rice Department, in cooperation with Naresuan University (NU), is trying to replace human labor by utilizing agricultural machinery to produce enough supply for national consumption and for export.  NU has conducted several research studies to increase yield and reduce the cost of rice production whereas the Ri...

For the first time, New York City was put to a standstill as superstorm Sandy continues to breeze through in some eastern parts of the United States. Many couldn't believe but most streets of New York City were found to be empty of people and vehicles, transforming it into a ghost metropolis, as most residents stayed in their homes for safety. At this developed, Wall Street already lost huge amount of stock market transactions as the New York Stock Exchange stopped its regular trading days. Alone, New York City incurred an estimated $20 billion in financial losses. Mostly affected was New York's Queens Borough district. Power has been shut off, too. In New Jersey, where the superstorm made its first landfall, the levee was already destroyed, thus forcing many affected residents to evacuate to safer grounds. Most parts of the metropolis have been inundated. Weather forecasts said superstorm Sandy has a packing wind of 105 mph and is heading towards Pennsylvannia. There a...