He has also presented in front of up to 9000 Hawaii student.

The topic of the panel discussion was “the Importance of Native Intelligence in Modern Times,” and the co-panelists were Dr. Pualani Kanahele, writer and expert on Hawaiian cultural practices and Mr. Nainoa Thompson, President of the Polynesian Voyaging Society.

It’s the Dalai Lama’s fourth visit to the islands and his first since 2008, when he went to Maui.

The Dalai Lama is next scheduled to head to San Diego as part of a North American tour.

The Coffee shop network gave OCN $5 million at the start of the collaboration, which, when paired with the additional $1 million raised, it claims will create up to $42 million in loans to small businesses.

Starbucks has often been criticized in the past but this new scheme is hoped to raise their profile in an ethical way that will benefit many American communities hard hit by recession.

Burn patients in the United States are being helped to escape the pain of burn injuries by immersing them in the virtual reality of a computer game during treatment.

Agony from severe burns can be one of the most intense and prolonged types of pain you can experience. And for many, the rehabilitation treatment is as painful as the initial burn.

Caleb Springer, aged 23, from Valdez in Alaska suffered second and third degree burns when he was set on fire in a motor bike accident.

Petrol spilled out of his scooter and a stray spark from a cigarette ignited it.

“I was engulfed in flames for probably two minutes. It was the worst pain I’ve ever felt, it was just excruciating. I looked down and just saw skin hanging from my legs,” he said.

His burns were so bad he was airlifted from Alaska to a specialist centre in Seattle where his rehabilitation has been helped by pioneering treatment using a virtual reality computer game.

SnowWorld, set in an icy 3D canyon, was developed by Professor Hunter Hoffman and Professor David Patterson at the University of Washington Harborview Burn Centre in Seattle.

It evolved out of the scientific advances in the last decade in understanding pain.

The aim of the game is “to make a very attention grabbing experience for the patient and basically to give them a place to escape from their pain” says Professor Hoffman.

Scientists have found many different elements can affect how we experience pain, including our emotions, environment, context and distractions.

“Because pain has such a strong psychological component to it, psychological treatments can be used to counteract the pain,” said Prof Hoffman.

“Because humans are so visually dominant wherever you’re looking typically that’s where your attention is focused.

Curcurmin is contained in turmeric, a plant used by the Chinese to make traditional medicines for thousands of years. SLU’s recent study highlights its potential in countering an increasingly common kind of fatty liver disease called non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

Linked to obesity and weight gain, NASH affects 3 to 4 percent of U.S. adults and can lead to a type of liver damage called liver fibrosis and possibly cirrhosis, liver cancer and death.”My laboratory studies the molecular mechanism of liver fibrosis and is searching for natural ways to prevent and treat this liver damage,” said Anping Chen, Ph.D., corresponding author and director of research in the pathology department of Saint Louis University.

With a final vote pending in the U.S. Senate and Hawaii-born President Barack Obama on their side, the nation’s 400,000 Native Hawaiians could earn federal recognition as soon as this month—and the land, money and power that comes with it. They measure passed the U.S. House last month.

Many Native Hawaiians believe this process could help right the wrongs perpetuated since their kingdom was overthrown in 1893. The also point to the hundreds of thousands who died from diseases spread by foreign explorers before the kingdom fell.

Other Info:

If you are heading to the pacific islands then ensure you check out Vanuatu and Port Vila Hotels for a fantastic vacation beydon Hawaii!

The Obama administration is asking the US apparel and textile industry to help Haiti get back on its feet. On Tuesday, the US trade representative, Ron Kirk, in Las Vegas at a trade show, asked US apparel and textile companies to source 1 percent of their production from the earthquake-ravaged nation.

Haitian officials say the plan, called Plus One, could make a difference in helping the country, since the nation has a history of making garments and a workforce that already has some training. American consumers would be able to tell if their underwear or T-shirts are made in Haiti, because they would have a label with an H with a positive sign in the blue and red colors of the nation.

The veteran policeman Johnson managed to hold onto the disabled man while the other man pulled himself into Johnson’s vessel.

Scott Rozansky, 48, then rested before helping Johnson pull the partially paralyzed man, identified as Thomas Nierzwick, 49, into Johnson’s boat.

The men became trapped alone in the lake after Nierzwick fell into the water and Rozansky attempted to rescue him.

The agreement sees a reduction in the number of nuclear warheads in Russian and US strategic arsenals to between 1,500 and 1,675 in a period of seven years and the number of ballistic missile carriers to between 500-1,100.

The new treaty is to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START 1) treaty, which was due to expire in December, and sets levels lower than those proposed in the 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT).

Whilst they remained divided over the issue of Georgia, along with US plans to install a missile defence shield in eastern Europe, Obama said the two countries were both “committed to leaving behind the suspicion and the rivalry of the past”.

The White House has said that the treaty, “commits both parties to a legally binding treaty that will reduce nuclear weapons,” and while this still leaves both countries with sufficient nuclear power able to destroy each other several times over, the opening up of a dialogue represents a huge step forward in international relations.