A promise to keep

The U.S. Senate rejected a United Nations treaty aimed at banning discrimination against individuals with disabilities Tuesday, falling just five votes short of the two-thirds needed in a 61-38 vote for ratification.

The treaty in question, the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities, is a human rights treaty. It found its genesis in President  George W. Bush’s administration in 2006. Since then, the treaty has been ratified by 126 nations, including China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, Syria and Saudi Arabia. President Barack Obama signed the treaty in 2009.

The treaty calls on all countries to work to attain equality in access to health care, education and government services for the disabled community. It was based largely on the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Opponents of the treaty cite an array of concerns from those who warned that the agreement purports a strict view on how to treat children with disabilities, which is only cited in the treaty as “in the child’s best interest.” Opponents irrationally fear that the treaty will put politicians, not parents, in charge of making decisions concerning children.

While treaties such as this do not change U.S. law, they are still important to ratify. Ratifying the treaty is the equivalent to politicians promising that they will support legislation that supports the rights of the disabled community, which is currently gaining rights all over the world and defining itself more each day.

The community of people with disabilities in the U.S. needs Congress to ratify the treaty. Doing so would send a message that rights for individuals with disabilities will be proposed and supported. The progressive nature of the treaty comes in its inclusivity — people with disabilities, from disabled war veterans to persons with congenital disorders, would all be covered by the treaty.

The fact that this treaty is an issue for Congress but not for 126 other nations shows that we are putting politics and personal values above the needs of this community. While the treaty is just a first step in gaining greater equality for the disabled community, it is a necessary action that we cannot simply ignore and not ratify.

NY Giants try to set tone with punishing offense, but can't overpower Robert Griffin III, Washington Redskins

The Redskins, powered by a rookie quarterback with a flair for the dramatic, brought the flash and dazzle to FedEx Field on Monday night.

The Giants brought a hammer, a pounding rushing attack designed to milk the clock and keep the explosive Robert Griffin III off the field and keep their defense fresh enough to chase him down when he was out there.

It was a suspenseful game of cat and mouse. As the Giants would methodically move down the field, using running back Ahmad Bradshaw as a battering ram, the Redskins were hitting big plays in rapid fire order to rip up and down the field. because it wasn't a high scoring affair through three quarters. Soon, you got the feeling that the team that had the ball in its hands last would win it.

That was the way it unfolded the first time the two teams played, with Washington churning out 480 yards and the Giants winning the game with a late 77-yard TD pass from Eli Manning to Victor Cruz.

In the end that is the way it worked — for the Redskins. Washington had the ball last and Griffin milked the final 3:51 off the clock, taking the ball away from Manning this time. The result was a bitterly disappointing 17-16 loss for the Giants, who at 7-5 are only one game ahead of the Redskins and the Cowboys in the NFC East.

The Giants were left to bemoan a wasted opportunity to gain a stranglehold on the division. They were undone by too many penalties at crucial moments, a missed field goal, the inability to score on their last two drives in the fourth quarter and defensive lapses that gave Griffin more than enough chances to beat them.

“We had an opportunity,” said Tom Coughlin. “Now there is one team with seven (wins) and two teams with six and four games to go.”'

When asked why they had so many uncharacteristically crushing penalties, linebacker Michael Boley had three words.

“Lack of discipline,”' he said. “That’s what it came down to and Coach talks about it all the time.”

A week after executing like a finely tuned machine in scoring 38 points against Green Bay, the Giants sputtered against the Redskins.

“I don't think you’re going to beat anybody scoring just 16 points,” Coughlin said. "I would say 17 points most of the time.''

Except that is the total that the Redskins used to bludgeon them with.

The game turned out to be a punishing affair, befitting one team fighting for supremacy and one team fighting for a foothold. It showed on the face of receiver Hakeem Nicks, whose right nostril was packed with a blood-soaked paper towel as he made his way to his locker.

The Giants knew they were going to be in a battle and they put their most pugnacious fighter, Bradshaw, at the forefront of their attack.

The last time that the Giants played Washington, Bradshaw got into a heated argument with Coughlin. The coach said he liked Bradshaw’s intensity and fight and didn’t go out of his way to publicly chastise the veteran running back.

Last week, Bradshaw stood in front of his locker at the Giants practice facility answering questions about having to carry more of the load with Andre Brown going down with a broken leg against the Packers. He has been battling injuries all season and has been limited in practice for weeks now.

“If they need you to carry it 30 times, could you?”' someone asked.

A sly smile appeared. "Sure,'' he said.

By the third quarter, Bradshaw had 20 carries for 89 yards and most were right into the teeth of the Redskins defense. They were bruising runs — the longest one being 14 yards. He finished with 103 yards on 24 carries.

“Our O-line worked hard today. We ran hard,” Bradshaw said. “It's tough to come out with a loss.”

At halftime Bradshaw said Coughlin told the team to keep fighting and to eliminate the penalties and stop the mistakes.

Typically when the Giants get their rushing game cranked up the way it was against the Redskins, they come out with a win. But it was not a typical night for Bradshaw and the Giants.

“It feels weird,”' Bradshaw said regarding the way they ran the ball and the result. “We worked hard all week, but we just couldn’t come out with the win.”

The race has gotten tighter and the fight for the crown just got harder.

“It’s as tough as you see it,” Bradshaw said. “There are a lot of great teams and everybody is fighting for it. We just have to handle our own business. We’re going to keep fighting for it. It depends on these last few games.”

It doesn't get any easier as the Giants face New Orleans on Sunday, then Atlanta and Baltimore — two division leaders — down the stretch. If they make the playoffs, they will do so as a battle-tested team.

Voyager 1 arrives on ‘magnetic highway for charged particles’

Venerable spacecraft Voyager 1 has arrived in the most distant part of space that can be considered part of the solar system.

NASA has labelled this region of space “a magnetic highway for charged particles” because it contains particles radiating out from the sun along with interstellar particles zipping into our neighbourhood. The particles in this region of space all travel in the same direction, a marked change from space closer to the sun where charged particles “bounced around in all directions, as if trapped on local roads inside the heliosphere.”

The findings in NASA’s announcement seem to have been compiled from several presentations at yesterday’s meeting of the American Geophysical Union (search on ‘Voyager’ from the link above to find the presentations).

This new region of space seems not to be entirely consistent, as NASA has stated “Voyager data from two onboard instruments that measure charged particles showed the spacecraft first entered this magnetic highway region on July 28, 2012.”

But the region then “ebbed away and flowed toward Voyager 1 several times,” with each re-entry to the region finding a stronger magnetic field although “the direction of the magnetic field lines did not change.”

Voyager 1 re-entered the region on August 25th, “and the environment has been stable since.”

All of which sounds like roadworks on the magnetic highway, an event that might not take Voyager's overseers entirely by surprise, as they have said the presence of the magnetic highway was in no way expected. It is thought that when magnetic fields near the spacecraft change into another pattern it will signify its departure from our solar system.

That may happen today, in several months, or some time yesterday, as it takes 17 hours for a signal from Voyager 1 to reach Earth.

iTunes Store opens in Russia, 55 other countries in hefty expansion

Just days after releasing a new version of iTunes, Apple has announced an expansion of its iTunes Store into Russia and dozens of other countries, nearly doubling the number of countries in which it has a presence.

In addition to Russia, the popular music platform has landed in Turkey, India, South Africa, and 52 other countries, Apple announced today. The addition of the 56 countries brings the total number of countries with iTunes Store access to 119.

With the launch, Apple touted the selection of local and international music tailored to its new audiences.

"The iTunes Store features local artists including Elka in Russia, Sezen Aksu in Turkey, AR Rahman in India, and Zahara in South Africa, international artists including The Beatles, Taylor Swift and Coldplay, and world-renowned classical musicians including Lang Lang, Yo Yo Ma and Yuja Wang," the company said in a statement.

Russia, in particular, will prove one of Apple's greatest challenges in the music sector. While the home of Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, and Pussy Riot has several legitimate download services, is also home to rampant piracy. The Intellectual Property Alliance, an organization dedicated to eliminating piracy, has placed Russia on its "priority watch list" as a major pirate.

Despite the challenges posed by piracy, Russia could be a revenue goldmine for Apple -- if it can persuade Russians to purchase rather than pirate.

After a monthlong delay, Apple last week released iTunes 11. The latest version of its popular music software features a visual redesign that takes a cue or two from Apple's iOS software, with a focus on large album covers that can expand to show you songs -- both in your library, and other tracks from Apple's iTunes Music Store.

What to expect when Kate Middleton and Prince William are expecting a royal baby

There are two kinds of people in the world.

People who respond to the news that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting with a groan and a shrug, and people who are right now parading through the streets of Twitter shouting, in a close paraphrase of Key and Peele, “THEY’RE HAVING A BABY! THEY’RE GOING TO RAISE IT AND FEED IT AND CHANGE IT AND DRESS IT UP LIKE A ROYAL PEAPOD! THEY ARE GOING TO DRESS IT IN LITTLE ROMPERS WITH LION INSIGNIAS AND PLAY IT RECORDINGS OF CHURCHILL SPEECHES! WE ARE HAVING A TINY CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCH!”

I was going to be in the latter group, but frankly they scare me a little. There is right now a mob of maternal ladies running past my window aggressively compiling lists of names and knitting baby booties. I do not know how this happened. “We’re going over there right now!” they are shouting. “We’re going over there and making certain Kate drinks hot soup!” “I’m coming too, to bat alcoholic drinks out of her hands!” There’s a Twitter account already for the Royal Fetus. It is all very alarming.

The past few months have been what one blogger described as “every woman’s nightmare.” This puts it mildly. I often wake up in a cold sweat from dreams where the entire commonwealth and many Americans have been clawing through all pictures of me from the past several months to see if I look pregnant yet. “YOU ARE GETTING NO YOUNGER!” they shout. “At the rate you’re going, Will’s child will never remember him with hair!” But at least I get to wake up.

The Royals have always been the one tabloid story that you felt no guilt for paying attention to. You were supposed to pay attention. That was why they existed: a set of fishtank people whose milestones you could watch and shout at and celebrate and taunt your own offspring with when they came home for holidays. (“Why haven’t you found a nice man? Kate Middleton found a nice man.”) They turn the whole country into nervous grandparents. “When are you going to have children?” becomes “We need MORE ROYALS!” It combines the time-honored practice of pressuring young people to have babies with a vague feeling of patriotism. It is the perfect cocktail.

Under similar conditions of pressure, pandas have forgotten how to reproduce entirely, requiring laborious demonstrations from zookeepers. And even then it does not work.

So congratulations to the royals! They have done what the panda couldn’t. And good luck through the rest of the ride. If they can handle the worldwide baby frenzy, being pelted with booties and parenting guidebooks whenever they stroll outdoors, the terrible twos will be no trouble at all.