Campaign Against Bride Trafficking (INDIA) - Human Trafficking Statistics world wide - The price of victims sold to human traffickers is based upon publicly available reports and is quoted in U.S. Dollars. Click on the dollar figure to see the source of t

Campaign Against Bride Trafficking (INDIA)

http://traffickinginindia.blogspot.in/2012/08/human-trafficking-statistics-world-wide.html

 

 

Human Trafficking Statistics world wide

The price of victims sold to human traffickers is based upon publicly available reports and is quoted in U.S. Dollars. Click on the dollar figure to see the source of the price.

·         Babies from Nigeria: $6,400

·         Babies in China: $7,800

·         Babies in Malaysia: $6,588

·         Children in China: $6,100 for boys, $500 for girls

·         Children in Ghana: $50 to parent, then $300 to trafficker

·         Children in India: $45, versus $350 for buffalo

·         Children in Iraq: Between $300 to $5,500

·         Children in Thailand: $25 typical price to "rent" a child beggar

·         Children in the United Kingdom: $25,000

·         Girls from Romania: $3,000 to $6,000

·         Girls in Bangladesh: $250

·         Person in Canada: $4,879 paid by pimp to trafficker

·         Teenage girls in Iraq: $5,000 for Virgins, $2.500 for Non-Virigns

·         Teenage girls in Ontario, Canada: $5,989 for a girl from Quebec

·         Woman in Pakitan: $342

·         Women from Mozambique: $670 from South Africa, $2 locally

·         Women from Myanmar: $7,300 as brides to China

·         Women from Nepal: $975 in Mumbai

·         Women from North Korea (by age): $1,066 (20s), $761 (30s), $457 (40s)

·         Women from Vietnam: $6,174 charged to men in Malaysia to purchase wife (Bride Trafficking)

·          Haryana cost of girl  (Bride Trafficking)  : 4000 Rs (approx 77 Euro)

Cost to rescure bride trafficking victim in China

An underground railroad organization that rescues human trafficking victims in China says that the costs from $1,300 to over $3,000 to conduct a rescue operation. The organization helps North Korean women who have been sold by traffickers to men in China. The women are sold to the men to be their brides for around $1,000.

Due to China’s one child policy, in certain areas of China the ration between men to female is 14 to 1.

Source:  Melanie Kirkpatrick, “North Korea: Human Traffickers and the Chinese Market for Brides,” Daily Beast, August 20, 2012.

Human trafficking profits in Macedonia

Unofficial estimates of the human trafficking trade in Macedonia places the profits to the traffickers at $61 to $73 Million (50 to 60 Million Euros) a year.

Many women who end up as victims of the human trafficking trade in Macedonia are trafficked from the Baltic region. During a span of 7 months in 2012, police in Macedonia apprehended 54 women from Baltic countries who were part of a human trafficking ring.

Source:  Biljana Lajmanovska, “Poverty is forcing Balkan women into sex trade,” Southeast European Times, August 15, 2012.

Age of human trafficking victims in Ohio

A three year investigation in human trafficking activity in the US state of Ohio found that out of 328 victims, 115 girls were trafficked before the age of 18. 12 percent of the minors were sold by human traffickers before they were 12 years old.

63 percent of the victims were run-aways.

According to the report, customers who paid for sex with these girls were “drug dealers, businessmen, police officers, lawyers, truckers, athletes and politicians”.  The men who have sex with the minors at homes, offices, bars and motels.

The men would pay between $10 to $150, depending on the services provided.

Source:  Associated Press, “Report: Women recruit girls for Ohio sex trade,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 8, 2012. 

Earnings of Human Trafficker in Canada

A human trafficker who was exploiting a Montreal girl by forcing her to work as a prostitute in Ontario made a reported $19,847 (20,000 Canadian) over a three month period, or $6,615 a month.

It was previously reported that a human trafficker in Ontario is able to purchase a girl for $5,989 (6,000 Canadian Dollars). 

Source:  Catherine Solyom, “Human trafficking is a hidden issue that’s hard to prove,” Montreal Gazette, July 19, 2012.

Human trafficking victims in Bulgaria in 2011

Authorities in Bulgaria reported rescuing 550 victims of human trafficking in the country in 2011. In the first half of the year, 313 victims were found.

In total, the human trafficking market in Bulgaria generates $1.5 Billion in revenue and has between 8,000 to 12,00 victims.

Source:  “550 Human Trafficking Victims Registered in Bulgaria in 2011,” novinite.com, July 13, 2012.

Price of babies sold in China

Police in China broke up baby trafficking rings in 15 different provinces and arrested over 800 people. Police reported that babies were being sold for up to $7,800 (50,000 Yuan).

Between 2009 and 2012, state media in China reported that 18,000 children and 34,000 women have been freed from human traffickers.

Source:  “China Busts Traffickers After Baby Auction,” Bloomberg BusinessWeek, July 5, 2012.

Age of young girls in Thailand’s prostitution industry

Human trafficking experts in Thailand report that the age of the youngest girls in the prostitution industry in Thailand are between the ages of 11 to 15. Many of the girls enters the prostitution trade to make money for their families.

Victims of human trafficking who are forced to work in the sex trade are trafficked from Northern and Northeast Thailand, as well as from China and Laos.

Source:  “Thailand remains major centre for human trafficking,” Asia One, June 28, 2012.

Human trafficking convictions in Cambodia in 2011

According to the United States Human Trafficking Report, authorities in Cambodia convicted 20 people for human trafficking activities in 2011. In 2010, authorities convicted 36 people in the country.

Source:  Sok Khemara, “Cambodia Remains Source of Trafficking, US Says,” Voice of America, June 20, 2012.

Human trafficking victims in 2012

The International Labor Organization and the United States Department of State reported in June 2012 that there were about 20.9 million people around the world who are victims of human trafficking.

In its annual Trafficking in Persons report, the State Department reported that 14.2 million people are victims of labor exploitation, 4.5 million people are sexually exploited, and 2.2 million people are forced to work as slaves.

Asia has the most human trafficking victims with 11.7 million, followed by Africa with 3.7 million, the Americas with 1.8 million, Central and  with 1.6 million, North America, Europe and Australia with 1.5 million, and the Middle East with 600,000.

Source:  Ian Johnston, “42,000 modern-day slaves rescued but millions in bondage, trafficking report says,” 

Prostitution Prices

·  
Asian Massage Parlor in New Jersey: $200 to $400 for oral sex and intercourse

·  Australia: $150 per hour for Asian woman, $300 for Caucasian woman

·  Bangladesh: $0.60

·  Beijing, China: $100 to $400

·  Bulgaria: $25

·  Dubai: $81 to $136 in studio flat

·  Hong Kong: $40 in a one-room brothel to $232 in hostess bar

·  Iraq: $100 per session

·  Ireland: $45 to $129 charged by male prostitutes

·  Kenya: $25 for sex with 12 year old girl

·  Kurdistan: $150

·  Kuwait: Between $17 to $71

·  Mali: $2

·  Maylaysia: $100 for sex with child

·  Nigerian women in Italy: $13 per transaction

·  Nigerian women in Ivory Coast: $2 per act

·  Singapore: $25,000 for 3-day tour

·  Suriname: One gram of gold sold for $45

·  Ukraine: $124 to $248 for foreign language speaking prostitute

·  Underage girls in Washington, DC: $40 to $100 for 15 to 30 minuets of sex

·  United States: $50 to $100 for street prostitute
msnbc, June 20,2012. 

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The Late Biz Ivol

 

The Late Biz Ivol

Born	1 October 1948
Location	Kirkwall
Affiliation	Legalise Cannabis
Gender	Female
Personal information	Biz Ivol, a dedicated cannabis campaigner, passed away on 6th September 2004, aged 56, after suffering a bout of pneumonia. She had suffered from devastating Multiple Sclerosis and discovered relief from cannabis, especially mixed with chocolate. She publicly proclaimed that benefit from cannabis and fought for the rights of those in need of cannabis to be free from prosecution. She was burie d at St Peter's Church on South Ronaldsay after a low-key ceremony.The service was not religious and had been devised by 56-year-old Ms Ivol before her death on Sunday.  Her coffin was carried to the grave and speeches were made by two friends before it was lowered into the ground.It is understood that Ms Ivol's sister and ex-husband were among the mourners. Ms Ivol, who had multiple sclerosis, had been suffering from a chest infection but had refused medication for it as her health deteriorated. Her use of cannabis to ease the symptoms of MS attracted national attention. She was admonished at Kirkwall Sheriff Court in 1997 after she admitted growing 27 cannabis plants to relieve her pain.Further court proceedings had to be abandoned last year when Ms Ivol attempted suicide. She had denied possessing, producing and supplying cannabis but admitted under cross-examination that she had made cannabis-laced chocolates for MS patients. Ms Ivol compared the pain of MS to barbed wire being dragged through her spine. A sympathetic doctor suggested she try cannabis after all other methods had failed. She has been described as a "herbal suffragette" and the Legalise Cannabis Alliance said candle-lit ceremonies were taking place around the country to pay tribute to Ms Ivol. see more at http://www.ccguide.org/bizivol.php
Personal interests	Biz suffered from MS and had caught a chest infection, she had wanted to "escape" for some time, so refused any medication and died peacefully at home at 11pm on 6th September 2004. Biz was the lady who first made Cannabis Chocolate for fellow MS patients, her efforts created THC4MS and later herself and others campaigned for the law to change, the reclassification back in January this year was d own to Biz and others relentless campaign to allow cannabis as a medicine. The thing Biz said she would miss the most would be her beautiful garden, and her cat Willy, she wasn’t scared of dying, and had already arranged a natural funeral.  I know Biz would have wanted Cannabis to be legal for all, it was one of the last public speeches she made, for the LCA Conference in Norwich 2003. Anyone who would like to listen to Biz' speech can find it on the LCA website at  With Love and Sympathy to those who knew Biz, Clara xx Biz Ivol is a peaceful middle-aged lady who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis. She lived a quiet life in the Orkneys until becoming somewhat famous through her honesty after admitting that she used cannabis to help relieve some of the symptoms of her illness. Many people have done the same, being forced to break the law to obtain a supply of a helpful medicinal plant that they are unable to obtain illegally. The big difference between Biz and most fellow sufferers is that she went further and learned how to grow it and use the plant to make chocolate that eased her symptoms without having to smoke the cannabis. Biz Ivol, like Colin Davies, another UK man who was punished for supplying cannabis to seriously ill people who approached him for help, began to post out chocolate to fellow MS sufferers around the country. Like Colin, Biz was approached by the press and told her story honestly. The result: raids by the so-called Drugs Squad, search and arrest, then to be made to suffer unbearable stress whilst waiting almost 2 years for her trial which began in June 2003. As most people know, stress such as that caused by waiting to go to court worsens the symptoms of this almost unbearable illness many times. Over that two years Biz Ivol's condition worsened considerably, as did her eyesight and the use of her hands. One is forced to ask why it should take so long when the case was not unduly complicated and the court not over-run with other cases. One is forced to ask why she was ever taken to court in the first place. The majority of UK citizens, like others, in surveys express disquiet over the prosecution of victimless but seriously ill medical cannabis users. The House of Lords and the BMA have asked for leniency. There had already been several successful defences based upon medical necessity. Who will stand up and point the accusing finger at Biz? Only those paid by the state to do so. In June 2003, Biz said that she could bear to suffer no longer and would take her own life after the case, whatever the result. Whatever her choice, however we feel about suicide, we must not let her suffering be in vain. On July 2, the case was dropped after the Sheriff's Court heard a report from Biz Ivol's doctor, Simon Kemp, that the progression of Multiple Sclerosis made Biz unfit to be able to continue her trial. Prosecution and defence accepted this and the case was discontinued. The Sheriff said, "This is a sad and unsatisfactory end to this case. It has attracted a great deal of media attention. It may well be that Ms Ivol feels unable to continue with her defence of necessity. Any question of decriminalisation or legalisation of cannabis is a matter for the politicians.. this case will not proceed again." Unfortunately, this was not exactly what Biz had wanted - she had wanted a verdict of not guilty. That morning, several members of the LCA Executive who had travelled to Orkney to attend the trial and support Biz, heard that she had been rushed to hospital with a suspected overdose of paracetamol. She was unable to attend the hearing. Later that day, Biz regained consciousness and was able to talk. A couple of days later, after being flown to Aberdeen and back for tests, Biz was able to return home,  where she told us that she was very tired and wished to rest and let others take over her campaign.

Contact info

Email	webmaster@ccguide.org
Website	http://www.ccguide.org/bizivol.php http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...

Medical Cannabis - Court Support, Billy Mckee, Public event · By Liberté De Choix 3 September at 08:00 until 4 September at 08:00 in UTC+12 Palmerston North District Court

https://www.facebook.com/events/390864380978876/permalink/393748990690415/?notif_t=like

 

Medical Cannabis - Court Support, Billy Mckee

Public event · By Liberté De Choix

• • 3 September at 08:00 until 4 September at 08:00 in UTC+12

• Palmerston North District Court

• INVITE ALL YOUR FRIENDS - With about 80% of New Zealanders supporting medicinal cannabis, there is a good chance to send a strong message to government to change the laws! PEACEFUL PROTEST AND ALL NIGHT VIGIL. We are traveling from around the country to support the court case of GreenCross director Billy McKee, who is a medical cannabis user and amputee. Supporters from Invercargill to Auckland will be converging in Palmerston North on September 3, outside the court to stage a peaceful protest and all night vigil to support Mckee. Billy lost a leg below the knee when a drunk driver deliberately rammed his motorbike over 30 years ago. The incident resulted in him being confined to a wheelchair and in constant pain from nerve damage to the stump as well as suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. The pain medications he was prescribed by doctors caused intolerable side effects where even driving was considered unsafe. He found that the only thing that controlled his pain, depression, irritability and other symptoms, while still allowing him to function, was cannabis. This led him to study the medical benefits of cannabis, become a counsellor and form GreenCross, an organisation devoted to helping sick people obtain relief through the medicinal use of cannabis. McKee now faces jail time for running GreenCross and helping sick patients obtain their medicine. He was entrapped by an undercover police officer posing as someone suffering from severe migraines. McKee said that migraines can indicate in the early stages of brain tumors and many people have found that cannabis relieves the symptoms of migraines and allows them to function normally. McKee accepted the young man as being a genuine sufferer. The undercover cop appealed to his compassion in asking Billy to supply him with cannabis. Billy says, "I was really worried about him." As a result of trying to help someone, Billy is now facing charges that could see him sent to prison for up to eight years. Prison terms have also been imposed on other medical cannabis users due to a law that lacks compassion. McKee, who is going to a jury trial, is calling for jury nullification of the charges of the grounds they breach his human rights. Even if he has broken the law, the Jury has the moral authority to return a not-guilty verdict, sending a message to politicians that medical cannabis users should not be targeted for arrest.

 

FACE RECOGNITION:THE NEW TOTALITARIANISM OF SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY MON, 08/20/2012 - 15:03 BY NAOMI WOLF This article originally appeared on The Guardian

http://www.occupy.com/article/face-recognition-new-totalitarianism-surveillance-technology

 

FACERECOGNITION:THENEWTOTALITARIANISMOFSURVEILLANCETECHNOLOGY

MON, 08/20/2012 - 15:03

BY NAOMI WOLF

This article originally appeared on The Guardian

A software engineer in my Facebook community wrote recently about his outrage that when he visited Disneyland, and went on a ride, the theme park offered him the photo of himself and his girlfriend to buy – with his credit card information already linked to it. He noted that he had never entered his name or information into anything at the theme park, or indicated that he wanted a photo, or alerted the humans at the ride to who he and his girlfriend were – so, he said, based on his professional experience, the system had to be using facial recognition technology. He had never signed an agreement allowing them to do so, and he declared that this use was illegal. He also claimed that Disney had recently shared data from facial-recognition technology with the United States military.

Yes, I know: it sounds like a paranoid rant.

Except that it turned out to be true. News21, supported by the Carnegie and Knight foundations, reports that Disney sites are indeed controlled by face-recognition technology, that the military is interested in the technology, and that the face-recognition contractor, Identix, has contracts with the US government – for technology that identifies individuals in a crowd.

Fast forward: after the Occupy crackdowns, I noted that odd-looking CCTVs had started to appear, attached to lampposts, in public venues in Manhattan where the small but unbowed remnants of Occupy congregated: there was one in Union Square, right in front of their encampment. I reported here on my experience of witnessing a white van marked "Indiana Energy" that was lifting workers up to the lampposts all around Union Square, and installing a type of camera. When I asked the workers what was happening – and why an Indiana company was dealing with New York City civic infrastructure, which would certainly raise questions – I was told: "I'm a contractor. Talk to ConEd."

I then noticed, some months later, that these bizarre camera/lights had been installed not only all around Union Square but also around Washington Square Park. I posted a photo I took of them, and asked: "What is this?" Commentators who had lived in China said that they were the same camera/streetlight combinations that are mounted around public places in China. These are enabled for facial recognition technology, which allows police to watch video that is tagged to individuals, in real time. When too many people congregate, they can be dispersed and intimidated simply by the risk of being identified – before dissent can coalesce. (Another of my Facebook commentators said that such lamppost cameras had been installed in Michigan, and that they barked "Obey", at pedestrians. This, too, sounded highly implausible – until this week in Richmond, British Columbia, near the Vancouver airport, when I was startled as the lamppost in the intersection started talking to me – in this case, instructing me on how to cross (as though I were blind or partially sighted).

Finally, last week, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly to unveil a major new police surveillance infrastructure, developed by Microsoft. The Domain Awareness System links existing police databases with live video feeds, including cameras using vehicle license plate recognition software. No mention was made of whether the system plans to use – or already uses – facial recognition software. But, at present, there is no law to prevent US government and law enforcement agencies from building facial recognition databases.

And we know from industry newsletters that the U.S. military, law enforcement, and the department of homeland security are betting heavily on facial recognition technology. As PC World notes, Facebook itself is a market leader in the technology – but military and security agencies are close behind.

According to Homeland Security Newswire, billions of dollars are being invested in the development and manufacture of various biometric technologies capable of detecting and identifying anyone, anywhere in the world – via iris-scanning systems, already in use; foot-scanning technology (really); voice pattern ID software, and so on.

What is very obvious is that this technology will not be applied merely to people under arrest, or to people under surveillance in accordance with the fourth amendment (suspects in possible terrorist plots or other potential crimes, after law enforcement agents have already obtained a warrant from a magistrate). No, the "targets" here are me and you: everyone, all of the time. In the name of "national security," the capacity is being built to identify, track and document any citizen constantly and continuously.

The revealing boosterism of a trade magazine like Homeland Security Newswire envisions endless profits for the surveillance industry, in a society where your TV is spying on you, a billboard you drive by recognizes you, "Minority Report"-style, and the FBI knows where to find your tattoo – before you have committed any crime: "FBI on Track to Book Faces, Scars, Tattoos," it notes; "Billboards, TVs Detect your Faces; Advertisers Salivate," it gloats; "Biometric Companies See Government as the Driver of Future Market Growth," it announces. Indeed, the article admits without a blush that all the growth is expected to be in government consumption, with "no real expectation" of private-sector growth at all. So much for smaller government!

To acclimate their populations to this brave new world of invasive surveillance technologies, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and and his Canadian counterpart, Stephen Harper, both recently introduced"snoop" bills. Meanwhile, in the US – "the land of the free" – the onward march of the surveillers continues apace, without check or consultation.

RT Male-order education: Iran bars women from 77 university courses

http://rt.com/news/iran-women-university-ban-171/

RT

Male-order education: Iran bars women from 77 university courses

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Published: 21 August, 2012, 16:43

Iran women.(AFP Photo / Atta Kenare)

TAGS: Scandal, Human rights, Iran, Education

Thirty-six universities in Iran have announced that 77 courses in their curriculum will be “single-sex,” prompting an outcry at home and worldwide over women’s rights in the Islamic state.

The subjects now only available for men include accounting, engineering, pure chemistry, English literature and translation, hotel management, and many others, Iranian news website Rooz Online reports. For instance, the University of Tehran will now open exclusively to men the courses related to mathematics, natural resources, and forestry.

The announcement comes a fortnight after the move was reported by the semi-official Mehr News Agency, but back then the decision has not been officially confirmed by educational institutions.

The limitations have been listed in the universities’ leaflets. The changes are to be implemented in the coming year, the Telegraph reports.

Exiled Iranian Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi has urged the UN to immediately investigate the matter, calling the move an attempt to derail Iranian women’s fight for their rights.

"[It] is part of the recent policy of the Islamic Republic, which tries to return women to the private domain inside the home as it cannot tolerate their passionate presence in the public arena," Ebadi wrote in her letter to Ahmad Shaheed, the UN's special rapporteur for human rights in Iran.

The controversial move has also led to Iranian parliamentarians calling the Science and Higher Education Minister Kamran Daneshjoo to explain the decision.

The top education official brushed aside the criticism, saying that 90 per cent of degrees remain open to both sexes, and that single-sex courses were needed to create "balance".

“Some fields are not very suitable for women’s nature,” another senior education official, Abolfazl Hasani, said.

The move comes amid reports that the country’s women have excelled over men greatly in recent years, causing senior Iranian clergy members to express their concern about the increasing academic success among women in the Islamic State.

According to UNESCO, Iran has highest ratio of female to male students in the world, with the country’s women outnumbering men three to two and making up about 60 per cent of all undergraduates.

Q&A: The Unappreciated Benefits of Dyslexia By Danielle Venton

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/09/dyslexic-advantage/

 

 

Q&A: The Unappreciated Benefits of Dyslexia

• By Danielle Venton
• Email Author
 
• September 20, 2011 |  
• 2:10 pm |  
• Categories: Brains and Behavior

Normally dyslexia is considered a handicap: a mental deficiency that makes reading, long-division and remembering whether letters and numbers face left or right difficult. Challenging this view, learning disabilities experts Brock and Fernette Eide argue that dyslexia is an alternative way brains can be wired — one with many advantages.

Learning disabilities specialists Fernette and Brock Eide are the authors of The Dyslexic Advantage: Unlocking the Hidden Potential of the Dyslexic Brain. They blog about the little appreciated benefits of dyslexia and run a private practice in the greater Seattle area. Read anexcerpt from the book.

While dyslexic children may struggle in the early grades, they often grow into gifted story tellers, inventors and entrepreneurs. The Eides’ new book The Dyslexic Advantage, helps dyslexics and their families recognize and nurture the benefits of a dyslexic brain. The authors recently discussed some of these benefits with Wired.

Wired: What is your working definition of dyslexia?

Brock Eide: The generally accepted definition focuses on the difficulties with reading and spelling that are unexpected, given a child’s individual level of intelligence and their educational exposure. We think that definition is inadequate for practical use, because the actual symptoms vary a lot.

We’ll see dyslexic kids with a verbal IQ of 140 or 145 who will read with good comprehension, and as a consequence won’t be recognized as dyslexic. But they still read at fairly slow pace relative to other students in the gifted programs, and their performance will suffer from their slow reading speed. And for some dyslexic students, their problems with reading may be less than in other areas, like writing and rote or procedural mathematics, but they arise from the same wiring differences that underlie dyslexic reading and spelling challenges, and traditional definitions of dyslexia that focus entirely on word sound or language processing really don’t capture the breadth of these differences.

 

Wired: What are the major misconceptions surrounding the condition?

Fernette Eide: One of the biggest misconceptions is that dyslexic brains differ only in the ways they process printed symbols, when in reality they show an alternative pattern of processing that affects the way they process information across the board. Dyslexic brains are organized in a way that maximizes strength in making big picture connections at the expense of weaknesses in processing fine details.

It’s a huge mistake to regard a dyslexic child as if his or her brain is trying to follow the same pathway of development as all the other kids but is simply doing a bad job of it. In reality, the brains of kids with dyslexic processing styles are actually developing in a very different way. They establish a different pattern of connections and circuitry, creating a different kind of problem-solving apparatus. The difference is global, not just in certain areas of the brain.

So for many dyslexic students, normal development really consists of having a brain that’s wired so that reading is naturally more difficult to learn when they’re 7 or 8 years old than it is for other students. And this difference in development creates a real mismatch between what they need to learn and the way that traditional education is doled out in the early grades. There’s a real clash between what they can really do well at particular ages and what they’re being asked to do in the classroom, and this makes it very hard for them to thrive in the traditional classroom setting.

The other big misconception is that dyslexia is fundamentally a learning disorder which is accompanied only by problems, rather than a different pattern of processing that can bring tremendous strengths in addition to the well-known challenges.

Wired: What are the major strengths of having a dyslexic brain?

Brock: We outline four major strength profiles in the book, and fundamentally each of these profiles reflects a different but related way in which dyslexic brains are especially good at putting together big pictures, or seeing larger context, or imagining how processes will play out over time.

Some dyslexic individuals are especially good at spatial reasoning. Putting together three-dimensional spatial perspectives is easy for them. They may work in design, 3-D art, architecture, be engineers, builders, inventors, organic chemists or be exceptionally good at bagging your groceries.

Interconnected reasoning is another kind of strength. These connections can be relationships of likeness — analogies for example — or causal relationships, or the ability to shift perspective and view an object or event from multiple perspectives, or the ability to see the “gist” or big-picture context surrounding an event or idea. Many dyslexics work in highly interdisciplinary fields or fields that require combining perspectives and techniques gained from different disciplines or backgrounds. Or they’re multiple specialists, or their work history is unusually varied. Often these individuals draw the comment that they can see connections that other people haven’t seen before.

Most dyslexics tend to remember facts as experiences, examples or stories, rather than abstractions. We call this pattern narrative reasoning, which we consider the third strength. These kids have a very strong ability to learn from experience. It’s very common for their families to describe these kids as the family elephant. They’ll be the go-to person when someone wants to remember who gave what to sister for her birthday two years ago. They might be the family historian, but they can’t remember the times tables or which direction the three goes.

These individuals excel in fields where telling and understanding stories are important, like sales, counseling, trial law or even teaching. In addition, a large number of professional writers are dyslexic. For example, Philip Schultz, a Pulitzer Prize winning poet, recently wrote a wonderful piece for The New York Times about his new memoir, My Dyslexia. He shows the kind of profoundly clear and vivid memory of personal experiences even from very early in his life that we commonly see in dyslexic individuals.

The fourth ability we outline is the ability to reason well in dynamic settings when the facts are incomplete or changing. People strong in this area often work in the business field, in financial markets or in scientific fields that reconstruct past events, like geologists or paleontologists. These people are comfortable working with processes that are constantly changing, and in making predictions.

Wired: Do most dyslexic individuals demonstrate a particular strength, or do they show combinations?

Brock: Most dyslexics show combinations of these strengths. Probably 80 to 90 percent of the dyslexic individuals we’ve worked with show a narrative-type brain, and many of these individuals show strengths in dynamic reasoning. Interconnected reasoning is similarly common. Surprisingly, spatial reasoning, which is often viewed as the quintessential dyslexic skill, is a bit more hit or miss. In the book there is a great interview with Douglas Merrill, who was the Chief Information Officer at Google for several years and a tremendously impressive person. He said, “If I close my eyes right now I couldn’t tell you which direction my door is.” But he was very strong in all of the other mind strengths we describe.

Wired: What is an example of a perceived mental weakness that hides a mental strength?

Fernette: Most of what is done in the classroom in the early grades focuses on acquiring the kind of rote skills that are dependent on perceiving visual or auditory things very clearly, and learning skills automatically to the point where you don’t have to think about them. These are just the kinds of rote and fine detail skills that dyslexic kids tend to have difficulty learning. But because that’s where the focus is in the early grades, their strengths in big-picture processing or remembering personal experiences tend to get overlooked.

But over time, what we see is that this same lack of ability to over-learn things so well that they no longer need to be thought of keeps dyslexic individuals more in touch with or mindful of the tasks they’re engaged in, and as a result makes them more likely to innovate and tweak and modify.

Wired: You make the case in your book that the brains of dyslexic people are wired differently. What do you mean by that?

Brock: From our perspective the most interesting data comes from Dr. Manuel Casanova, from the University of Louisville, Kentucky. He has analyzed the brains of thousands of individuals. He’s found that, in the general population, there is a bell-shaped distribution regarding the spacing of the functional processing units in the brain called minicolumns. These bundles of neurons function together as a unit. Some people have tightly packed minicolumns, for others they are spaced widely apart.

This is significant because when the minicolumns are tightly packed, there is very little space between them to send projecting axons to make connections to form larger scale circuits. Instead the connections link many nearby minicolumns which have very similar functions. As a result, you get circuits that process very rapidly and perform very specialized fine-detail functions, like discriminating slight differences between similar cues. But people with this kind of brain tend not to make connections between distant areas of the brain that tend to support higher functions like context, analogy, and significance.

Among individuals with the most tightly packed minicolumns, Dr. Casanova found many who were diagnosed with autism. In contrast, people with broadly spaced minicolumns, at the other end of the scale, tend to create more connections between functionally more diverse parts of the brain, which can help to support very life-like memories of past events, and more complex mental simulations and comparisons. It’s at this end of the spectrum that Casanova tended to find people with dyslexia.

Wired: If I was the parent of a dyslexic child, what advice would you give to me?

Brock: One of the most important things is to remember to focus on identifying and building strengths. Too often all the focus is on “fixing what’s wrong” rather than celebrating and nurturing what’s right, and that’s a big mistake. But when it does come to improving performance in areas of struggle, help should be tailored to the specific child.

Some children are not too bothered by the fact that they’re struggling more than their equally intelligent peers; they just love to be in school with their friends. Those kids will often be fine in a normal classroom, with additional outside help in the areas where they are struggling. But there are a lot of kids who are devastated by the experience of seeing other kids master things easily, being called out, laughed at or pressured by the teacher.

For those kids, when you see their self-image, their ability to sleep, their ability to function really deteriorating, that is a real tragedy. They need to be moved into a place where the education fits their developmental profile better. We mention various alternatives in the book. But it’s important to recognize that these kids can be destroyed by being kept in a difficult place for too long, without understanding why it is they are struggling.

Wired: Would you want to be dyslexic if you could choose to be?

Brock: Absolutely! It’s a phenomenal kind of wiring.

Images: 1) Julie Falk/Flickr. 2) Krister and Karina Eide.

See Also:

• Sound Could Rewire Dyslexic Children’s Brains
• Audio Excerpt: The Secret Lives of the Brain
• Autism Plays Hide-and-Seek in Family Genes

 

Beehive Fences Keep African Elephants Away From Crops By Danielle Venton

Beehive Fences Keep African Elephants Away From Crops

• By Danielle Venton
• Email Author
 
• July 12, 2011 |  
• 3:54 pm |  
• Categories: Animals

The comeback of Kenya’s elephant population is a huge conservation success story, as well as a huge problem for the country’s farmers. But scientists have found a new ally in the struggle to keep elephants from trampling crops: honeybees.

Like many animals, elephants are afraid of bees. So scientists recruited farmers in northern Kenya to test different types of barriers and found that fences made of beehives were far more effective than traditional thorn-bush fences at thwarting nighttime elephant raids.

“The farmers in the area are desperate for a solution,” said zoologist  Lucy King of the University of Oxford, lead author of a study on beehive fences in the July 5 African Journal of Ecology. “They haven’t had much help from anyone else. They were very open-minded about this crazy idea.”

Elephants were nearly wiped out in Kenya by poachers during the 1970s and 80s. Then in 1989, the U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species banned all international ivory trade, and since then, Kenya’s elephant population has nearly doubled. But the country’s human population has grown even faster, going from 12 million people in 1970 to nearly 40 million today. Natural land is becoming more scarce, but allowing elephants to migrate between preserves safely will be key to their survival.

“[The elephants] are coming back into a world where there are so many more people,” King said. “They are finding buildings, roads, schools and farms across their normal migration routes.”

 

Beehive fences bordering a corn field. Image: Lucy King.

And when elephants encounter farmland, crops get eaten and trampled, and the situation can turn deadly. Elephants often leave farms with spear and gunshot wounds. Each year a few dozen people and few dozen elephants die during nighttime raids. And so far, barriers built to protect farms have not been successful.

“All of the earlier attempts, which rely on capsicum chili pepper, on burning or on thorn trees, they really haven’t worked all that well,” said conservation biologist Dave Balfour, who has worked extensively with elephants in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve.

Elephants have been known to leave acacia trees, their normal food source, untouched if there is a beehive in the branches. So in a previous series of experiments, King played recorded hive sounds for herds of elephants. The animals ran away from the buzzing, rumbling alarm calls to each other. It was from this work that she got her crazy beehive fence idea.

To test if bees could help farmers, King and her colleagues from Save the Elephants chose an area known for human-elephant clashes. The land is farmed by the Turkana community, a tribe that moved into the region about 30 years ago. Before that the area was wild, unclaimed bush where elephants could migrate unimpeded.

The scientists and farmers built beehive fences to protect the cropland and found that the buzzing, stinging insects were very effective guards. Out of 45 attempted farm invasions, over two years of monitoring, elephants made it through sections protected by thorn-bush barriers 31 times, but only one elephant — a very determined bull — broke through a section of beehive fencing.

“Everyone was surprised at how well it worked,” said King. “We most of all I think.”

The beehive fences brought the farmers an added perk — extra income from honey sales. An average farmer in the area lives essentially hand-to-mouth on the equivalent of $20-30 a month. An extra $15-20 from honey every few months lets farmers make investment purchases, such as new clothes, or a large bag of maize or sugar. With a strong financial motivation, the farmers keep the fences well-maintained.

“That’s probably what is keeping the project going,” King said. The team recently released a beehive fence construction manual for interested farmers.

“This is one of the more encouraging bits of work we’ve seen lately in how to control elephants in an open landscape,” Balfour said.

Image: Lucy King.

See Also:

• Oldest Female Elephants Have Best Memory
• Video: Elephants Lend a Helping Trunk, Pass Cooperation Test
• Honeybees Might Have Emotions
• African bush elephants

Citation: “Beehive fences as effective deterrents for crop-raiding elephants: field trials in northern Kenya.” By Lucy King. African Journal of Ecology, July 5, 2011.