Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Cell phones are causing infertility...

While expert opinion is still split on the harmful effects of prolonged cell phone use on the human body, a growing number of studies is indicating the exact opposite, identifying a connection between cell phone radiation and male infertility or breast cancer and other diseases.

Leading health organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO) insist that the radio-frequency microwave spectrum used in cell phone communication or proximity to cell phone towers poses no health risks whatsoever, because the amount of radiation is minimal and therefore unlikely to cause any damage. Recent studies however seem to differ.

Research conducted in Israel by Technion University in Haifa Professor Martha Dirnfeld and other fertility experts indicated that using mobile phones for as little as one hour per day can lower sperm levels significantly.

Keeping a mobile phone close to the testicles or within two feet of the body, as well as speaking on the phone while it is charging can lower the sperm count so that conceiving may become a problem. The findings were published in the journal Reproductive Biomedicine Online.

Similar results were reported by the Center for Reproductive Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic a few years ago. Their study demonstrated that keeping a mobile phone in talk mode in a pocket or otherwise in close proximity to the testicles can decrease sperm quality. Full story...

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Pokemon Go sparks spate of sex attacks, robberies & trespassing...



Police have been called to hundreds of incidents related to Pokemon Go since the popular app was launched in Britain last month, including cases of sexual assault, trespassing, robbery and road accidents.

A Freedom of Information (FoI) request by the BBC has revealed the true impact of the phenomenally successful Pokemon Go app.

Forces across the UK have logged 300 criminal offenses, the highest number of which were recorded by Lancashire Police, which recorded 39 incidents.

In some cases players have been victims of crime, but in other instances they have been accused of breaking laws. Full story...

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America the debt pig: We are "buy now, pay later" society - and "pay later" is rapidly approaching...

If you really wanted to live like a millionaire, you could start doing it right now. All you have to do is to apply for as many credit cards as possible and then begin running up credit card balances like there is no tomorrow. At this point, I know what most of you are probably thinking. You are probably thinking that such a lifestyle would not last for long and that a day of reckoning would eventually come, and you would be exactly right. In fact, anyone that has ever had a tremendous amount of credit card debt knows how painful that day of reckoning can be. To mindlessly run up credit card debt is exceedingly reckless, but unfortunately that is precisely what we have been doing as a nation as a whole. We are a “buy now, pay later” society, and our national day of reckoning is approaching very, very quickly.

Often we like to focus on our exploding national debt, but household debt is out of control too. In fact, the total amount of household debt in the United States is now up to a whopping 12.3 trillion dolllars…

In the second quarter, total household debt increased by $35 billion to $12.3 trillion, according to the New York Fed’s latest quarterly report on household debt. That increase was driven by two categories: auto loans and credit cards.

We throw around words like “trillion” so often these days that they often start to lose their meaning. But the truth is that 12.3 trillion dollars is an astounding amount of money. It breaks down to about $38,557 for every man, woman and child in the entire country. So if you have a family of four, your share comes to a grand total of $154,231, and that doesn’t even include corporate debt, local government debt, state government debt or the gigantic debt of the federal government. That number is only for household debt, and there aren’t too many Americans that could cough up their share right at this moment. Full story...

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Chemotherapy warning as hundreds die from cancer fighting drugs ...

Patients should be warned about the dangers of chemotherapy after research showed that cancer drugs are killing up to 50 per cent of patients in some hospitals.


For the first time researchers looked at the numbers of cancer patients who died within 30 days of starting chemotherapy, which indicates that the medication is the cause of death, rather than the cancer.

The study by Public Health England and Cancer Research UK found that across England around 8.4 per cent of patients with lung cancer, and 2.4 per cent of breast cancer patients died within a month.

But in some hospitals the figure was far higher. In Milton Keynes the death rate for lung cancer treatment was 50.9 per cent, although it was based on a very small number of patients.

At Lancashire Teaching Hospitals the 30 day mortality rate was 28 per cent for palliative chemotherapy for lung cancer, which is given when a cure is not expected and treatment given to alleviate symptoms.  Full story...

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The woman who took on Apple: How Danish EU Commissioner who was the inspiration behind 'Borgen' has won a legion of fans after her steadfast attack on taxdodging tech giants...

When the EU Competition Commissioner ordered Apple Inc to pay Ireland unpaid taxes of up to 13 billion euros on Tuesday she did not mince her words.

Margrethe Vestager questioned how anyone might think an arrangement that allowed Apple to pay a tax rate of 0.005 percent, as Apple's main Irish unit did in 2014, was fair.

And in doing so earned herself a legion of fans around the world.

The 48-year-old tough talking Danish politician is seen as the woman that acclaimed Scandi political drama Borgen was modelled on.

(...)

When Vestager was appointed as the European Union’s next competition commissioner in September 2014, Christian Riis-Madsen, a Danish antitrust lawyer for O’Melveny & Myers LLP in Brussels, said he expected her to have a different approach than her predecessor.

'I would expect her to be less influenced by political considerations,' he told Bloomberg. 'She’s known to be thorough, hard-working, getting things done.' Full story...

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Symbiosis: Hermit crab changes her shell and moves anemones as well...

Women are vilified first for getting older. And then for getting plastic surgery...

There’s a meme going around social media featuring quotes and footage of supermodel Carmen Dell’Orefice, who turned 85 this summer. The meme (not created by Dell’Orefice herself) proclaims that the white-haired senior proves beauty is ageless. The comments, not so much. Beneath the film are hundreds of sneers from people criticising Dell’Orefice for having had plastic surgery (which she has always very happily admitted to), with the implication that, in intervening with the natural ageing process, she’s somehow a fraud and letting the side down.

Meanwhile, Friends actress Courteney Cox has redeemed herself in the eyes of the public and media. She admitted last week on Bear Grylls’ US TV show that she regrets some of her surgical and non-surgical procedures. “Sometimes you find yourself trying [to slow the ageing process], and then you look at a picture of yourself and you go, ‘Oh God.’ Like, you look horrible … I have done things that I regret and luckily they’re things that dissolve and go away,” she admitted. Where tabloid and broadsheet commenters once ridiculed Cox for her obvious nips and tucks, now they applaud her for effectively apologising for her own face.

I see this a lot – the open disdain for women who’ve seemingly engaged in cosmetic intervention (and, yes, men in increasing numbers go under the knife – I just don’t recall George Clooney being slated for his rumoured eye-lift surgery, oddly enough). “Ageing is a sign of character, of a life well lived and sooooo beautiful,” say people who are almost invariably under 30, with apparently no idea of how patronising they sound (come back to me in 15 years when you’ve plucked your first chin hair, is my suggestion). Certainly, wrinkles can be very beautiful and people look creepy without any at all. But to not particularly fancy embracing all them, or to seek to remove the hoods over one’s eyes, or to add back in a little mouth fullness lost to time, is apparently to declare oneself monstrously vain, in denial and tragically under the cosh of the patriarchy. Full story...

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Family of murdered government critic Kem Ley flee Cambodia...

The family of murdered Cambodian government critic Kem Ley have fled abroad fearing for their safety, friends of the family said on Wednesday.

Kem Ley, 46, was gunned down in broad daylight at a shop in the capital Phnom Penh on July 10. Tens of thousands turned out for his funeral last month including his heavily pregnant wife Bou Rachana.

His death comes amid rising political tensions between veteran Prime Minister Hun Sen and an opposition hoping to challenge his grip on power at local elections in 2017 and national elections in 2018.

Bou Rachana, who is seven months pregnant, and her four sons left Cambodia on Sunday in a car, said Buntenh, a Buddhist monk and member of Kem Ley's funeral committee.

"She visited Angkor Wat in Siem Reap for the last time before leaving," Buntenh told Reuters, declining to say which country the family fled to. Full story...

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Saudi women are campaigning online against their own "enslavement"

Farah, 31, has an American passport. She was born in Ohio, but her family returned to Saudi Arabia when she was six.

“I have lived the most miserable days of my life here in Saudi Arabia,” she said, telling me that first her father forbade her from becoming a doctor – he didn’t think it was a suitable career for a woman – and then he wouldn’t let her study law because she needed to travel to a school in another city.

In 2006, Farah met a foreign man and fell in love. She wanted to marry him, but her family disapproved. Her parents beat her, snapped her mobile phone in two, and imprisoned her in the house for six months. The Saudi state does not allow women or girls to travel abroad without permission from their male guardian — in this case, Farah’s father.

“I'm tired of my life and I think a lot of suicide,” she said. “I have suffered all kinds of torture from my family.” Full story...

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The racist reality of house-hunting in Singapore: “Sorry, your wife is Indian”

Last year, when Darius Cheung, co-founder of a property search portal, wanted to rent a house in Singapore, he met with many reluctant real estate agents. Many of them seemed interested at first, but would turn him down later. He found out why when one realtor gave him a rather shocking response: “Sorry your wife is Indian, (the) landlord won’t rent to you.”

Indians who have spent some time in the city-state know that they aren’t the first choice as tenants for many landlords, though Chinese people from the mainland have it even worse: they are said to be the least preferred by Singapore’s property owners.

That was evident from a quick search with the keywords “No Indians, no PRC (People’s Republic of China)” on two property websites. Gumtree.sg turned up 29 announcements with these words and PropertyGuru showed 63.

On the face of it, this would seem to be evidence of racial disharmony in a country where the government imposes a harsh penalty on instances of racial prejudice. But many see the discrimination in the rental market as an expression of the clash between the old and the new—the discomfort of the country’s long-time citizens with the influx of foreigners in the multi-ethnic, wealthy country. Full story...

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EU hits Apple with $14.6 billion tax bill...

Ireland must recover up to 13 billion euros ($14.6 billion) in unpaid taxes from Apple, European officials said on Tuesday.

The tax ruling is the biggest the European Union has ever made regarding a single company, and it could spark a huge transatlantic row over how Europe treats U.S. companies.

Apple shares initially fell almost 3%, but then recovered most of their losses. The company will appeal the decision. It said the ruling upended the international tax system and would damage jobs and investment in Europe.

 The European Commission, which administers EU law, said the Irish government had granted illegal state aid to Apple (AAPL, Tech30) by helping the tech giant to artificially lower its tax bill for more than 20 years. Full story...

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Cameron 'gave pay rise of 24% to some special advisers' before resignation...

David Cameron gave some of his special advisers bumper pay rises just months before they were given generous severance packages, it has been reported.

The former prime minister upped the salary of some of his advisers by as much as £18,000 – or up to 24%, according to an analysis by Civil Service World.

The double-digit hikes were ordered despite pay rises being capped at 1% across the public sector. Trade unions and taxpayer groups said the increases were “shameful” at a time when government departments have faced cuts.

Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union – which represents senior officials – told Civil Service World: “It would seem hypocrisy knows no bounds from a prime minister who preached pay restraint and austerity to public servants and the public, while at the same time awarding double-digit pay rises to his special advisers ... The very same special advisers who received enhanced redundancy terms from the outgoing prime minister also received pay rises of up to 24% in one year.” Full story...

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French PM suggests naked breasts represent France better than a headscarf...

The French prime minister has drawn criticism for suggesting that naked breasts are more representative of France than a headscarf, in the latest flare-up of the bitter political row over the burkini.

Manuel Valls, who clashed with France’s education minister over his support for mayors who have banned full-body swimsuits from beaches, gave a rousing speech on Monday night in which he hailed the bare breasts of Marianne, a national symbol of the French Republic.

“Marianne has a naked breast because she is feeding the people! She is not veiled, because she is free! That is the republic!” he thundered at a government rally.

The inference that bare breasts were a symbol of France while the Muslim headscarf was problematic sparked scorn from politicians and derision from historians and feminists. Full story...

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Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Kimbal Musk’s “urban farming accelerator” grows 2 acres of food in a single shipping container...

The demand for real, local food is growing as more people become aware that agribusiness corporations such as Monsanto, along with lobbying groups like the Grocery Manufacturers Association, have a frightening grip on the nation’s food system.

“Big Food” would rather everyone continue eating highly processed, mass-produced substances packed with genetically modified fillers and artificial ingredients.

The surge in organic and non-GMO sales is a heartening reminder that the power of the purse can make a difference. Farmers markets, where people congregate to buy real, nutritious food and meet the farmer who produces that food, have grown all over the country.

But the availability of real, local food is limited in urban areas, where communities often experience “food deserts” where the only things available are the unhealthiest processed substances of the Big Food industry. Full story...

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Iran rolls out domestic internet...

Iran has announced it has completed the first phase of its plan to operate a "national internet".

An inauguration ceremony was held on Sunday by the country's communications and information technology minister, Mahmoud Vaezi.

The state news agency Irna said the initiative would offer "high quality, high speed" connections at "low costs".

But critics suggest the true aim is to tighten the authorities' control over citizens' use of the net.

Although Iran already blocks access to overseas-based social media services - including Twitter and Facebook - many users still access them via proxy sites and virtual private networks (VPNs). Full story...

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'Get nude or get lost': Nudists fight youths on French beach...

It was just a normal day on Friday at La Teste-de-Buch, in Arcachon, until a group of around ten youths wearing clothes headed across the nude zone and walked among the naked beach goers.

But instead of taking off their swimwear and getting a full body tan like the others, the group "acted provocatively" around some of the naked women at the beach, reported France Bleu radio.

The Sud Ouest newspaper added the men had "staring" at the women, a clear breach of France's nude beach etiquette.

 Their behaviour prompted other beach goers to confront the men, telling them to either "get nude or get lost". Full story...

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TPP: France to demand an end to EU-US trade deal talks...

France will ask the European Commission next month to end negotiations on a massive trade deal between the European Union and the United States, the country's junior minister for trade said Tuesday.

"There is no more political support in France for these negotiations" and "France calls for an end to these negotiations," Matthias Fekl told RMC radio.

The minister has long complained the deal was heavily weighted in favour of the US and has previously warned Washington that Paris was ready to reject any agreement.

"The Americans give nothing or just crumbs... that is not how negotiations are done between allies," Fekl said on Tuesday.

 "We need a clear and definitive halt to these negotiations in order to restart on a good foundation". Full story...

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What Brexit blues? Bars and restaurants boom as consumers give a vote of confidence in UK's future...

Britons are confounding Brexit doom-mongers by eating out in an apparent vote of confidence in the country's prospects.

A report from the CBI has indicated that the services industry - which accounts for 80 per cent of the economy - grew over the past three months.

Restaurants, bars and hotels were among the biggest beneficiaries of the boom.

Separate research from Lloyds Bank suggested consumers are more confident about their own financial position than at any time since 2011.

The monthly Lloyds barometer found nearly seven in ten people believed that their personal affairs were 'excellent', 'very good' or 'somewhat good'.

Robin Bulloch, managing director of Lloyds Bank, said: 'It's too early to tell if there will be any impacts of leaving the EU, but for now at least consumers seem intent on putting any fears of a wider economic slowdown to one side and carrying on spending.'

The surveys are among the latest signs that the impact of the historic Brexit vote may be less severe than had been predicted. Full story...

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India school meal deaths principal jailed for 17 years in Bihar state...

A school principal in India's eastern Bihar state has been sentenced to 17 years in prison in connection with the death of 23 children.

A court in Saran district found Mina Devi guilty of "criminal negligence and culpable homicide" for serving tainted meals to students in 2013.

A chemical used in pesticides was found to be the cause of contamination.

The free Mid-Day Meal Scheme aims to tackle hunger and boost attendance in schools, but suffers from poor hygiene.

A police inquiry found that the principal had repeatedly ignored warnings that the oil used to cook the meal was contaminated. Full story...

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The racism of the Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombings...

This month 71 years ago, the US cropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, on August 6 and 9 respectively.

‘Racism’ is probably not the first word that springs to mind as we reflect on these terrible events, and their immediate and ongoign aftermath.

But according to a fascinating book by Vincent J. Intondi, published last year and entitled African Americans Against the Bomb, it was the recognition of those bombings as an act of racism that drew African Americans into the nuclear disarmament movement and future wars that kept them there.

(...)

The debate about whether the US was justified in dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki persists today. The most widely accepted – but ferociously challenged – argument in favor is that it was necessary to force the surrender of Japan and thus end World War II.

But the underpinnings of racism are glaringly obvious. Intondi quotes poet Langston Hughes asking the question voiced by many others; why did the United States not drop the atomic bomb on Germany or Italy?

The answer can be found in the appalling and vitriolic anti-Japanese sentiment Intondi cites, whipped up to dehumanize an entire population. This includes the illustrious Time magazine which declared that “The ordinary unreasoning Jap is ignorant. Perhaps he is human. Nothing … indicates it.” Full story...

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Inspiring new book by Muslim mum encourages girls to be independent...

Two mums have created a new picture book aimed at empowering girls.

‘I Promise’ is an inspiring book encouraging girl’s to be independent and find their own adventures.

Written by Zanib Mian and illustrated by Maria Migo, ‘I Promise’ follows a young girl’s trip around the globe as she encounters too many broken promises, including a promise from a man to give her the world.

This endearing tale sees the protagonist journey across the world meeting people, beautifully depicting the diversity of culture as she empowers herself.

Speaking about her impetus to write the book, Zanib, a Molecular Cell Biologist and founding director of Sweet Apple Publishers said,

 “The stereotypical perception of Muslim women is often one of oppression. But I am not oppressed. Full story...

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Singapore succession a troubling issue...

Suddenly, the Singapore government is beginning to look vulnerable as it realizes that all the micromanaging it has done to make the island nation a predictable haven, and thus a chart-topper in living standards rankings, can be thwarted by trends beyond its control.

Nowhere is this clearer than in its plans to make sure that only people in the mould of the Lee family and the People’s Action Party rise to rule the country. It is a country that since its modern founding has only known three leaders, two of them Lee Kuan Yew, the founder of the modern nation and his son and another, Goh Chok Tong, considered to have been a place filler until a decent interval had passed for Lee Hsien Loong to take over.

Throughout the decades since Singapore became a separate country in 1965, the government has operated on the premise that it cannot show uncertainty in its policies and succession planning as investors will think twice about putting their money here. But then fate can intervene in the most unexpected of ways. Singaporeans saw this happening before their eyes when Prime Minister Lee Hsieng Loong nearly collapsed while giving his yearly state
of the nation address live on TV on Aug 21.

He was exhausted and suffered from dehydration, suddenly appearing fragile, his physicians said. The rally was suspended for more than an hour as doctors checked on Lee’s condition. He was ordered to rest and took seven days off, returning to office looking physically sound. Full story...

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A Singapore victim asks: how mystery illness turned out to be Zika?

He broke out in rashes two days after coming down with a slight fever, but after three blood tests and a urine test at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) last Thursday, he was cleared to go home.

Then two days later, the 44-year-old man, who lives at Block 54 on Sims Drive, was told he may have caught the Zika virus and would have to go back to the hospital’s emergency department for further tests. He tested positive for the virus and was transferred to the Communicable Diseases Centre (CDC).

At that moment, his 55-year-old wife, Madam Ratnawati Mohd Yusoff, had two questions on her mind: What is Zika and how did her husband get it?

Mr Mohammed Firdaus Lim was one of the 40 patients who was confirmed to have the Zika virus by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Sunday.

He is a stroke patient unable to move on his own and had not gone out two weeks before his fever. Full story...

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Teens who say no to social media...

When 14-year-old Brian O’Neill of Washington, D.C., wanted to find out what his friends had been up to over summer vacation, he did something radical: He asked them. Unlike most kids his age, Brian isn’t on social media. He doesn’t scroll through his friends’ Instagram shots or post his own, nor does he use Facebook or Snapchat. “I don’t need social media to stay in touch,” he says.

Such abstention from social media places him in a small minority in his peer group. According to a 2015 report by the Pew Research Center, 92% of American teenagers (ages 13-17) go online daily, including 24% who say they are on their devices “almost constantly.” Seventy-one percent use Facebook, half are on Instagram, and 41% are Snapchat users. And nearly three-quarters of teens use more than one social-networking site. A typical teen, according to Pew, has 145 Facebook friends and 150 Instagram followers.

But what if a teen doesn’t want to live in that networked world? In a culture where prosocial behavior happens increasingly online, it can seem antisocial to refuse to participate. Are kids who reject social media missing out? Full story...

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President Duterte offers 2-million bounty for ninja policemen...

Taking the drug problem as a national security threat, President Duterte has offered a P2-million bounty for the arrest of “ninja” policemen or those coddling drug syndicates in the country.

In a speech commemorating National Heroes Day in the country, the President declared that dirty law enforcers will be first on his target list as he vowed to be “harsh” and relentless in the war on illegal drugs.

“I might be inclined to place a reward on their head — the members of the ninja or members of the police who are then protecting the drug syndicates in this country,” the President said during the memorial for fallen heroes at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City.

“I’m placing per head P2 million and you might want to, ipagbili na ninyo ang mga kaibigan ninyo,” he added.

The President pledged to “finish” the drug problem within his term, admitting it has become a threat to national security. He bewailed that the “drug crisis” has infected “every nook and corner of this country involving generals, mayors, governors, barangay captains and so many ninjas” or policemen “who are into it.” Source...

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Bing translates “Daesh” as “Saudi Arabia”, angers entire Kingdom...

Bing Translation of "Daesh" the Arabic acronym for a global terrorist group backed by Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to "Saudi Arabia" has put the Microsoft Corporation in hot water with the Kingdom .

Apparently, when the Arabic word "داعش” (Daesh) was typed into Bing Translate, the words "Saudi Arabia” would appear as the English translation, according to Khaberni.

The so-called technical error caused an uproar in Saudi Arabia, where many Saudi social media users called for a boycott of Bing and Microsoft.

The Microsoft Corporation has formally issued an apology to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, calling the error "unintentional”. Source...

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Monday, August 29, 2016

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It’s ‘digital heroin’: How screens turn kids into psychotic junkies...

Susan* bought her 6-year-old son John an iPad when he was in first grade. “I thought ‘why not let him get a jump on things?’ ” she told me during a therapy session. John’s school had begun using the devices with younger and younger grades—and his technology teacher had raved about their educational benefits—so Susan wanted to do what was best for her sandy-haired boy who loved reading and playing baseball.

She started letting John play different educational games on his iPad. Eventually, he discovered Minecraft, which the technology teacher assured her was “just like electronic Lego.” Remembering how much fun she had as a child building and playing with the interlocking plastic blocks, Susan let her son Minecraft his afternoons away.

At first, Susan was quite pleased. John seemed engaged in creative play as he explored the cube-world of the game. She did notice that the game wasn’t quite like the Legos that she remembered—after all, she didn’t have to kill animals and find rare minerals to survive and get to the next level with her beloved old game. But John did seem to really like playing and the school even had a Minecraft club, so how bad could it be?

Still, Susan couldn’t deny she was seeing changes in John. He started getting more and more focused on his game and losing interest in baseball and reading while refusing to do his chores. Some mornings he would wake up and tell her that he could see the cube shapes in his dreams. Full story...

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More hard hitting words from the Dalai Lama about the mass brainwashing of society...

The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet is always garnering a lot of attention, and for good reason. Most recently, he told the world that simply praying is not the answer for the incident that occurred in Paris, as well as other similiar atrocities that seem to happen all over the globe. He stated that humans have created this problem, and now we are asking God to solve it, which makes no sense. If we created this mess, we should be the ones to solve it, not God. His comments went viral, resonating with many people around the world who realize that action on a mass scale is required at this time to change the direction in which our planet seems to be headed.

Intertwined with the Paris attacks are the realities of war, and there is a great piece written on the Dalai Lama’s website regarding the mass brainwashing of human beings. This is something we touch upon regularly on our website, especially when it comes to incidents of terrorism and war, along with the creation of these groups who are carrying out these attacks all over the world. He writes:

Of course, war and the large military establishments are the greatest sources of violence in the world. Whether their purpose is defensive or offensive, these vast powerful organizations exist solely to kill human beings. We should think carefully about the reality of war. Most of us have been conditioned to regard military combat as exciting and glamorous – an opportunity for men to prove their competence and courage. Since armies are legal, we feel that war is acceptable; in general, nobody feels that war is criminal or that accepting it is criminal attitude. In fact, we have been brainwashed. War is neither glamorous nor attractive. It is monstrous. Its very nature is one of tragedy and suffering. Full story...

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For London, propaganda is an art...

Just as in all wars, the war against Syria has triggered an avalanche of propaganda. And the use of children is always a winning strategy.

So, at the beginning of the war, Qatar wanted to demonstrate that the Republic, far from serving the general interest, actually despised the People. The petro-dictatorship then broadcast, on its TV channel Al-Jazeera, the legend of the children of Deraa, supposedly tortured by the police. To illustrate the cruelty of its adversary, Qatar specified that their fingernails had been torn out. Of course, despite research, no journalist could find any trace of these children. The BBC broadcast an interview with two of them, but their nails were still intact.

Since the myth could not be proved, Qatar then launched a new story – that of a child, Hamza Ali Al-Khateeb (13 years old), who had allegedly been tortured and castrated by the «regime’s» police. This time, they provided a convincing image. Everyone could see that the body had no sex. However, the autopsy showed that the body had been poorly preserved, and that it had fermented and swollen. The stomach hid the child’s sex, which was still present. Full story...

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Why Switzerland is getting worse for expats...

Switzerland is no longer one of the top-ranked countries in the world for expats, according to a global survey of expat life.

The alpine country is one of the world’s ten biggest losers in the Expat Insider 2016 study by online network InterNations, plunging to 31st place after being ranked 14th last year and as high as 4th in 2014.

The survey ranks expat life in 67 countries across 43 aspects within five categories: quality of life, ease of settling in, family life, working abroad and personal finance.

 This year Switzerland’s ranking has fallen across the board, but the country is particularly criticized in the ‘ease of settling in’ category, where its ranking has fallen from 58th to 64th. Full story...

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Pensioner becomes postgraduate student at the age of 80...

A PENSIONER has become one of Britain’s oldest postgraduate students after being enrolled on a creative writing master’s degree - at the age of 80.

Grandmother Hilary Chalkley was encouraged by her children to complete the course as they didn’t want her to become ‘vegetative’.

She retired from her job as a cleaner six years ago, but found sitting at home ‘boring’.

Instead she joined a local college where she began to write romantic fiction, and now hopes to take her new-found talent to the next level.

Mrs Chalkley said: “I’m so excited to do this course.

“I want people in their eighties to now that their lives aren’t over, eighty is the new sixty, people should be going out and getting what they want.

“I was sat at the kitchen table with my two daughters and they said: ‘Mum, you’re vegetating’. More + photos...

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UNLV study: Students perform better with attractive teachers...

A UNLV study has found that students perform better in school if their teacher is good looking.

UNLV researchers designed a simple experiment. College students listened to an audio lecture while viewing a photograph of the instructor. There were two photos -- one of a physically attractive instructor and one who was less attractive.

After listening to the audio, the students then took a test. Those who thought their teacher was attractive did better than those who did not. The study says that attractive instructors were associated with more learning.

In addition, the attractive instructor was said to get better reviews than the less attractive one.

 The study was conducted by Murray Millar, an associate professor of psychology at UNLV, and Richard Westfall and Mandy Walsh, both doctorate students in the experimental psychology program. Source...

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Woman offers media more flattering photo to replace mugshots after Sydney jailbreak...

A young woman has received kudos on social media for offering a more flattering mugshot to media reporting on her escape from a Sydney police station.

Amy Sharp, 18, escaped from the Surry Hills Corrective Services Cell Complex just after 3pm on Friday.

The police statement alerting the public to her escape was accompanied by two images they had taken of the young woman, wearing a glum expression and a red blanket over her shoulders.

(,,,)

Both the photos and the statement were shared to Sydney’s 7 News Facebook page.

Almost immediately, Sharp commented on the post from her personal profile with a more flattering image of herself and a simple request.

“Yours Truly, Amy Sharp xx” More + photos...

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Slave for 20 years for tax man...

New research from the TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) reveals that the total amount of tax paid by the average household increased by 2.7 per cent in 2014-2015 on the previous year.

Politicians of all stripes lament the high cost of living in the UK yet fail to address one of the major causes of the squeeze, which is high taxes. What's more they are adding to that burden by introducing new taxes like the Sugar Tax, hitting the poorest households the hardest. New research from the TPA provides an estimate of the total amount of tax paid by different types of households over their lifetimes. Full story...

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