Men must make sure they gain consent before having sex to avoid being sent to jail, the British government is saying in a new hard-hitting advertising campaign.
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Category: Here & There
The World Gets 102 More Billionaires
As some of us have barely been breaking even since last year, 102 more people around the world have become billionaires. And I’m not one of them, yet!
Microsoft founder Bill Gates is still perched atop the Forbes list with a net worth of 50 billion dollars. That’s up three and a-half billion or so from last year. He’s been the world’s richest person for the past 12 years.
Forbes says there are now 793 billionaires, thanks in part to emerging stock markets overseas, including Russia, India and Brazil. The Czech Republic has its first billionaire ever. China now has eight, up from just two last year.
And what are we? Peanut-aires…
Oh well, I guess we should always thank God for whatever he gives us, even if it’s just peanuts.
Get Smarter In Seven Days
For those of you who are not in IT and haven’t had their brain cells fried up beyond repair with hours of code writing and debugging, it seems there’s a way to get smarter, and in only 7 days too.
Doing ‘brain exercises’ such as watching Countdown, playing Sudoku or taking a shower with your eyes closed can make us all up to 40 per cent cleverer within seven days, according to research by a BBC programme this week.
(…)
The programme found that a combination of techniques based on healthy eating, physical activity, sound sleep and stimulating your mind through solving puzzles and remembering lists makes people sharper, more confident and better at making decisions.
[Source: Guardian Unlimited]
Personally, the whole learn this in 21 days, do that in 24 hours, get that in 7 days, lose weight in 3 hours, blah blah concept is pretty much nonsense to me.
I believe everything is possible as long as we’re ready to put in the amount of work necessary to make it happen.
Ave Maria, The US’ New Roman Catholic Town
Domino’s Pizza founder, Thomas S. Monaghan, aims to create a no-sin city, by the name of Ave Maria, in the US.
The pizza magnate is bankrolling the project with at least $250 million and calls it “God’s will.”
The town of Ave Maria is being constructed around Ave Maria University, the first Catholic university to be built in the United States in about 40 years. Both are set to open next year about 25 miles east of Naples in southwestern Florida.
The town and the university, developed in partnership with the Barron Collier Co., an agricultural and real estate business, will be set on 5,000 acres with a European-inspired town center, a massive church and what planners call the largest crucifix in the nation, at nearly 65 feet tall. Monaghan envisions 11,000 homes and 20,000 residents.
Monaghan said that in his community, stores will not sell pornographic magazines, pharmacies will not carry condoms or birth control pills, and cable television will have no X-rated channels.
[Source: CNN]
Civil libertarians are already threatening to sue, saying that the plan is unconstitutional.
Personally, I’m amazed at how many people are convinced they’re carrying God’s will and listening to his voice!
George Bush suddenly became a war prophet, this guy is creating his own kingdom of heaven, Pat Robertson is from a weird other planet, and this is just talking about the US.
The same can be seen all over the world, and of course we have our share of weirdos.
What’s really weird is that in the end it’s the same God, but everyone seems to be tuning in to a different broadcast!
Road to Freedom
“I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended.”
[Via: Swobodin]
Spaceport in Ras Al-Khaimah UAE
The company that pioneered the concept of space tourism has announced plans for a commercial spaceport in the United Arab Emirates.
Space Adventures will build its first spaceport in the emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah, less than an hour’s drive from Dubai, and, in a project estimated to cost at least $265 million, is designing to add further ports in locations such as Singapore and North America.
The US company has also struck a deal with investment firm Prodea to develop rocket ships to take paying customers on sub-orbital flights.
It’s amazing how day after day the UAE keeps turning more and more into a wonderland. So many cool things in one place.
Linux Caffe in Toronto
Coffee, sandwiches and open source in Toronto’s Linux Caffe…
Groups of open source enthusiasts meet there regularly; GTA-lug, Ruby, Python, Asterisk and the Toronto 2600. Linux newbies hang around and gurus visit. There’s a row of penguin buttons and t-shirts and pocket protectors are on the way.
Cool, in a geeky kind of way.
I wish we had a caf
Sleep On Your Major Decisions
A new study has found that complex decisions are best left to your unconscious mind to work out, and that over-thinking a problem could lead to expensive mistakes.
The research suggests the conscious mind should be trusted only with simple decisions.
Thinking hard about a complex decision that rests on multiple factors appears to bamboozle the conscious mind so that people only consider a subset of information, which they weight inappropriately, resulting in an unsatisfactory choice. In contrast, the unconscious mind appears able to ponder over all the information and produce a decision that most people remain satisfied with.
I pretty much believe this as it has worked with me before in taking decisions, solving problems or even thinking up solutions and algorithms for my work.
I sometimes feel that all we do with our conscious mind, when we’re faced with a complex issue or decision, is somehow panic, mess things up and interfere with a natural and more balanced process that our unconscious mind would follow.
[Source: NewScientist]
Batman Takes on Al-Qaida
Bored with pitting his wits against the Joker and the Riddler, Batman is setting his sights on a more challenging target – Osama bin Laden.
Frank Miller, the famed Batman writer, sees the caped crusader facing off against al-Qaida operatives who attack Gotham City in “Holy Terror, Batman!”
Miller, who has inked his way through 120 pages of the 200-page opus, told a recent comic book convention that the novel was an unashamed “piece of propaganda” in which Batman “kicks al-Qaida’s ass”.
Miller said the use of comic book heroes for propaganda had an honourable tradition.
“Superman punched out Hitler. So did Captain America. That’s one of the things they’re there for,” he said.
[Source: Al Jazeera]
Peace Of Partnership And Equality
As for you, my friend from Peace Now… You boil with anger at the Palestinians because they spoiled your celebrations and refuse to let you continue living the illusion that the occupation is concluding and that peace rules the land. Peace is a tango that takes two equal partners dancing in unity; it is not a dance of one who drags around his partner at will. And what do you say? “If that’s the way it is, they are not partners.” This time you’re right. In your dance of peace you have no partners, only enemies. For your peace is his occupation; for your success is his loss; for your reconciliation is a closing of the door on reconciliation with the Palestinians.
… [P]eace is still far away, because peace demands honesty, because peace demands equality. You want to force them to lie, you want of them a peace of surrender, you are celebrating a peace of master and slave. Under such conditions there will perhaps be peace-and-quiet, but Peace, no. Not until you open your eyes and your heart. Not until we are ready for a peace of partnership and equality.
— Michael Warschawski, An Open Letter to a Friend In Peace Now; October 2000.
[Via: Lawrence of Cyberia]