Sunday, October 14, 2007
And You Tell Me You Don’t Like Rats?
[It is well known that] people are more likely to lend a hand to a perfect stranger if they have benefited from such kindness in the past. Now scientists have discovered that rodents [also] show this behavior. A research team at the University of Bern in Switzerland trained rats to deliver food for...
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Thursday, October 11, 2007
Obesity is contagious...
According to a new study from Harvard Medical School and the University of California, San Diego, sociologists followed about 12,000 people for more than 30 years and found that a person's chance for becoming obese was greatly increased if a close friend, spouse or sibling gained weight. The...
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Wednesday, October 10, 2007
And Here’s the Latest News from the Front…
It’s dangerous enough being a soldier, so why is the Canadian Forces turning over its canteens to salty, sugary, fat – laden fast food franchises like Tim Horton and Pizza Pizza? Last year, 21 per cent of our troops were considered obese, and the number is growing. (Maclean's, Oct 1, 2007) Because...
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Monday, October 8, 2007
Failure to Launch...
Statistics Canada has confirmed the obvious: kids these days take a lot longer to grow up. Compared to 30 years ago, people are taking a lot longer to "make key life transitions to adulthood." They leave school later, live at home longer, get a job later, and postpone marriage and children for as...
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Saturday, October 6, 2007
Plaintiffs to put settlement up their noses...
The snuff users of Wisconsin will enjoy discounted prices for the next 20 years, thanks to a class-action suit won against UST Inc., makers of Copenhagen and Skoal brands of snuff. Judgment in the suit, triggered by Jason Feuerabend, found that UST had tried to monopolize the snuff market in the...
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Thursday, October 4, 2007
Are there Bloggers with trichotillomania?
According to Toronto ’s Dr. Peggy Richter, who may well be the only psychiatrist in Canada who treats it, trichotillomania, also known as compulsive hair-pulling disorder, is a self-soothing behaviour rather like thumb-sucking. Unfortunately, says Richter, “the effectiveness of medication is not...
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Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Petulant Fishmonger Fries His Own Business...
Vilson Alushi, an Albanian fish seller, had high hopes for his country's soccer team in a big game against the Netherlands. So high that he issued an ultimatum: unless Albania managed to score a point against the Dutch, he'd torch his own van. Albania fizzled, so the van Alushi needed to run his...
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Sunday, September 30, 2007
Remember G.I Joe? Here’s the latest…
This is what it says in a news item in Variety about the forthcoming live-action G.I. Joe movie: “While some remember the character from its gung-ho fighting man 60’s incarnation, he’s evolved. G.I. Joe is now a Brussels based outfit that stands for Global Integrated Joint Operation Entity [I’m not...
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Thursday, September 27, 2007
Is There Other Life in the Universe?
Nobody knows! But I am interested in Bloggers' opinions. And I am going to separate the question into three parts: a) Any form of life b) A conscious form of life c) A form of life that is conscious of itself You can just answer each part by yes, no or maybe. You can write more if you wish, of...
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Tuesday, September 25, 2007
In Russia, you must spend the holiday in bed, but not alone…
‘This week, the province of Ulyanovsk held Family Contact Day, nicknamed “Conception Day”, in a bid to boost flagging birth rates. Employers were urged to grant workers time off. “We have sunk to the level where the governor is ordering what day to conceive a child,” complains a human rights...
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