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Shumona Raha

Should Euthanasia be legalized in India? - 0 views

  • A painful disease is one in which the patient suffers unbearable and excruciating pain. A chronic disease is a long lasting one and an incurable disease is one whose cure has not been found till date.
  • The individual should have at least the right to choose a graceful death for himself. Why should he be allowed to keep suffering day and night?
  • a patient should be allowed to decide when he has suffered enough.
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  • After all as an individual, you decide where to marry, you decide where to work, and at the last hurdle of your life, you should be allowed to choose how do you want to end your life.
  • What if the patient is in coma and is unable to make a decision, should the relatives be allowed to make it?
  • Legalising voluntary Euthanasia would lead to involuntary euthanasia. In this society, full of greed and corruption anything is possible.
  • The Bible says, “Thou shalt not kill” And even Islam does not allow anyone to take away life.
  • We have cases, where doctors are often beaten up if the patient was not treated properly, what would happen to a doctor if he merely suggested Euthanasia to the relatives? Will the relatives be able to understand the suffering of the patient?
  • Some people feel we don’t choose when to be born and we should not be given the right to choose when to die.
  • On the contrary, others feel that a life of pain is not a life but an imposition and we should be at least allowed to end it in a dignified peaceful manner.
Ben Walters

'FarmVille' power user: 'I'm not obsessed' - Technology & science - Games - msnbc.com - 0 views

  • Cathy Hinz is really into “FarmVille.” But she swears she’s not obsessed.  “I can, you know, walk away and say, ‘I’m not going to worry about it.’ I don’t worry about it, but I will plan my farm around my life,” she says.
  • she has time to be online, fiddling with the farm simulation game as much as she wants. And she’s far from the only one.
  • Since its launch in June 2009, “FarmVille” has grown like an invasive weed, with 80 million players
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  • It’s absurdly easy to get started:
  • It’s no “World of Warcraft,” but for non-gamers like Hinz, that’s exactly the point.
  • They were either too violent or too complicated or too ‘childish,’” she says.
  • She’s online a lot — spending two to three hours a day on “FarmVille,“ but usually not all at one time. Most of her family plays the game, including her eldest daughter (hooked), her three grandkids (hooked) and her husband, a hard-core gamer who reluctantly allowed his wife to rope him into virtual horticulture. Now, she says, he’s really concerned about his crops.
  • Hinz loves “FarmVille” because it’s something she can control.
  • Hinz loves tweaking her virtual plot of land, and her schedule affords her plenty of time to do that.
  • Some of the “FarmVille” updates are free, and some you have to pay for, but Hinz says the cost is negligible. “I would spend more than $10 to see a movie, and I’d get to sit there for two hours and that would be it. Whereas 10 bucks on this, I can get enjoyment out of it every day.”
  • She likes leveling up, and the competitive nature of the game. But Hinz also really likes the interaction on “FarmVille.”
  • “When I started my Facebook account, I had two friends — my daughters. At one point, while playing “FarmVille,” I had over 200 friends on Facebook,” she says.
  • Zynga dangled a Hot Rod Tractor for “FarmVille” players
  • play “Mafia Wars,” another Zynga game, to level 10.
  • At first, Hinz was indignant. “I’m 50 years old, and I’m not going to do something where you ‘ice’ people, or you rob banks or stuff like that, where that’s the objective.” But then she got to thinking. The Hot Rod Tractor can plow nine plots simultaneously. It’s got flames on it. “I figured, what the hell, I’ll just get to level 10 and do it. And now I’m a level 40 in ‘Mafia Wars’ as well,” she laughs. “It’s a lot funner than I thought it would be. It’s something I can do while I’m waiting for things to harvest.”
  • Still, Hinz says she’s got the games under control, and that they’re not controlling her. “If I started putting things off in order to do ‘FarmVille,’ if it becomes a priority over work, or spending time with my family, that would be an addiction.” Is she there yet? “No. I do it because I can.”
Ben Walters

Were video games to blame for massacre? - Technology & science - Games - msnbc.com - 0 views

  • The shooting on the Virginia Tech campus was only hours old, police hadn't even identified the gunman, and yet already the perpetrator had been fingered and was in the midst of being skewered in the media.
  • Video games. They were to blame for the dozens dead and wounded. They were behind the bloodiest massacre in U.S. history. Or so Jack Thompson told Fox News and, in the days that followed, would continue to tell anyone who'd listen.
  • But whether Seung-Hui Cho, the student who opened fire Monday, was an avid player of video games and whether he was a fan of "Counter-Strike" in particular remains, even now, uncertain at best.
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  • Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the school shootings and the finger-pointing that followed, game players and industry advocates say they're outraged that the brutal acts of a deeply disturbed and depressed loner with a history of mental illness would be blamed so quickly on video and computer games. They say this is perhaps the most flagrant case of anti-game crusaders using a tragedy to promote their own personal causes.
  • "It's so sad. These massacre chasers — they're worse than ambulance chasers — they're waiting for these things to happen so they can jump on their soapbox," said Jason Della Rocca,
    • Ben Walters
       
      'common sense tells me'
  • When Jack Thompson gets worked up, he refers to gamers as "knuckleheads." He calls video games "mental masturbation." When he's talking about himself and his crusade against violent games, he calls himself an "educator." He likes to use the word "pioneer."
  • On those rare occasions when a student opens fire on a school campus, Thompson is frequently the first and the loudest to declare games responsible. In recent years he's blamed games such as "Counter-Strike," "Doom" and "Grand Theft Auto III" for school shootings in Littleton, Colo., Red Lake, Minn. and Paducah, Ky.
  • He's blamed them for shootings beyond school grounds as well. In an attempt to hold game developers and publishers responsible for these spasms of violence, Thompson has launched several unsuccessful lawsuits.
  • "It disgusts me," said Isaiah Triforce Johnson, a longtime gamer and founder of a New York-based gaming advocacy group that, in response to the accusations, is now planning what is the first ever gamer-driven peace rally. 
  • Microsoft did not create "Counter Strike" but did publish a version of it for the Xbox.
  • authorities released a search warrant listing the items found in Cho's dorm room. Not a single video game, console or gaming gadget was on the list, though a computer was confiscated. And in an interview with Chris Matthews of "Hardball," Cho's university suite-mate said he had never seen Cho play video games.
  • "This is not rocket science. When a kid who has never killed anyone in his life goes on a rampage and looks like the Terminator, he's a video gamer,"
  • And in a letter sent to Bill Gates Wednesday, he wrote: "Mr. Gates, your company is potentially legally liable (for) the harm done at Virginia Tech. Your game, a killing simulator, according to the news that used to be in the Post, trained him to enjoy killing and how to kill."
    • Ben Walters
       
      See how bad his research is, the only possibility of him ever playing a game was on his computer, yet he blames Microsoft, who created a game for the Xbox (which would be incompatible for a PC) for directly and massively influencing these events.
    • Ben Walters
       
      Counter Strike, the game he blamed for these killings, has two objectives. Protect an objective from a bomb that the team of terrorists are going to try to plant, or to plant this bomb. Neither of these objectives have to include murder, or solo missions.
  • Fed up with the scapegoating and lack of understanding, gamer groups have begun to get increasingly organized in their attempts to change public perception of their favorite hobby.
  • While Thompson concedes that there are many elements that must have driven Cho to commit such a brutal act, he insists that without video games Cho wouldn't have had the skills to do what he did. "He might have killed somebody but he wouldn't have killed 32 if he hadn't rehearsed it and trained himself like a warrior on virtual reality. It can't be done. It just doesn't happen."
  • Dr. Karen Sternheimer, a sociologist at the University of Southern Calfornia and author of the book " Kids These Days: Facts and Fictions About Today's Youth," disagrees. She believes that it didn't require much skill for Cho to shoot as many people as he did. After all, eye witness accounts indicate many of the victims were shot at point-blank range.
  • And for all of Thompson's claims that violent video games are the cause of school shootings, Sternheimer points out that before this week's Virginia Tech massacre, the most deadly school shooting in history took place at the University of Texas in Austin… in 1966. Not even "Pong" had been invented at that time.
  • Sternheimer says the rush to blame video games in these situations is disingenuous for yet another reason. Although it remains unclear whether Cho played games, it seems nobody will be surprised if it turns out he did. After all, what 23-year-old man living in America hasn't played video games?
  • "Especially if you're talking about young males, the odds are pretty good that any young male in any context will have played video games at some point,"
  • "I think in our search to find some kind of answer as to why this happened, the video game explanation seems easy," she says. "It seems like there's an easy answer to preventing this from happening again and that feels good on some level."
  • The blame game
  • Jason Della Rocca agrees. "Everyone wants a simple solution for a massively complex problem. We want to get on with our lives."
  • As the leader of an organization that represents video game creators from all over the world, Della Rocca knows the routine all too well.
  • Someone opens fire on a school campus. Someone blames video games. His phone starts ringing. People start asking him questions like, "So how bad are these games anyway?"
  • Of course, he also knows that this is far from the first time in history that a young form of pop culture has been blamed for any number of society's ills. Rock and roll was the bad guy in the 1950s. Jazz was the bad guy in the 1930s. Movies, paintings, comic books, works of literature…they've all been there.
  • Still, Della Rocca believes that people like Thompson are "essentially feeding off the fears of those who don't understand games."
  • For those who didn't grow up playing video games, the appeal of a game like "Counter-Strike" can be hard to comprehend. It can be difficult to understand that the game promotes communication and team work. It can be hard fathom how players who love to run around gunning down their virtual enemies do not have even the slightest desire to shoot a person in real life.
  • "It's the thing they don't understand," Della Rocca says. "It's a thing that's scary."
  • "You cannot tell me — common sense tells you that if these kids are playing video games, where they're on a mass killing spree in a video game, it's glamorized on the big screen, it's become part of the fiber of our society. You take that and mix it with a psychopath, a sociopath or someone suffering from mental illness and add in a dose of rage, the suggestibility is too high. And we're going to have to start dealing with that."
  • the members of Empire Arcadia — a grassroots group dedicated to supporting the gaming community and culture — have been so incensed by the recent attempts to blame video games for the Virginia Tech shootings that they've begun planning a rally in New York City with the assistance of the ECA.
  • "There we will protest, mourn and show how real gamers play video games peacefully and responsibly," organizer Johnson wrote on the group's Web site. "This demonstration is to show that gamers will not take the blame of this tragic matter but we will do what we can to help put an end to terrible events like this." Johnson says that, ultimately, he hopes the rally — scheduled for May 5 — will help people better understand video game enthusiasts like him. "We are normal people," he says. "We just play games."
Anushka Gandhi

Location of Osama bin Laden - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

  • September 23. Bin Laden was believed by Pakistani officials to be on the Afghan-Pakistani border. He is said to have been keeping a low profile, with as little as ten men guarding him.
    • Anushka Gandhi
       
      Might be a true fact more than a rumor. This statement cannot be trusted completely, it is reliable to an extent.
    • Anushka Gandhi
       
      2005
  • June. Taliban leader Mullah Bakht Mohammed claimed "The latest proof that he is alive is that he sent me a letter of condolences after the martyrdom of my brother. He advised me to follow my brother's path."
    • Anushka Gandhi
       
      This might be very reliable, but to an extent, because: Firstly, this is a primary source, but we are not aware whether what this Taliban leader states is true or not. Secondly, the Taliban leader's brother had sacrificed while fighting for their cause. His brother might have been in the Al Qaeda movement and Osama encourages this Taliban leader, Mullah Bakht Mohammed to follow his brother's footsteps by becoming a member of the Al Qaeda.
    • Anushka Gandhi
       
      2007
  • July 12, Pakistan's Interior Minister states bin Laden is not in Pakistan. The TimesOnline reports that he is still hiding in Afghanistan; Kunar Province being not far from Tora Bora
    • Anushka Gandhi
       
      2008: This goes back to the rumors stating that Osama has died somewhere near Tora Bora. This source, Pakistan's Interior Minister states that Osama is not in Pakistan, his hiding place is in Afghanistan somewhere around an area known as Tora Bora.
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    • Anushka Gandhi
       
      2009 and 2010 state recent reports of Osama's whereabouts, but might not be very reliable since every source, be it news, reports, primary sources, etc state different locations of Osama's hiding, while some other state he must have died of natural causes, murder or kidney problems.
Anjan Narain

Essay on Euthanasia in America - 0 views

  • Euthanasia is a choice everyone should have, but like all rights, it should not be taken advantage of. By legalizing euthanasia the practice of assisted suicide would be an available choice as well as regulated to see that it does not get abused and used for the wrong reasons.
  • My four primary arguments for legalizing euthanasia are as follows: The mercy argument, which states that the immense pain and indignity of prolonged suffering, cannot be ignored. We are being inhumane to force people to continue suffering this way. The patients right to self-determination.
  • The reality argument. "Let's face it people are already doing it".
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  • Some terminally ill patients who have been denied assistance in dying, have attempted to terminate they're suffering by ending their lives themselves or with the help of loved ones, who are not trained in medicine. Some patients have botched their suicides and brought further suffering to themselves and those around them. Patients should not have to resort to suicide to end their suffering. It is their life, their pain. They should be able to get the treatment they want.
  • " if we so choose, the end of life need not be preceded by intolerable pain, or by senility and loss of bodily functions.” Death with dignity is the right of every person who faces an incurable, painful or degrading future.
  • Caring for terminally ill patients requires a vast amount of money. In 1997, shortly after the senate voted to overturn the Northern Territory's euthanasia law, doctors from both sides of the euthanasia lobby united in calling for more funds for palliative care. There is a requirement for several hundred million dollars extra to really adequately provide for the needs of the dying, particularly in country areas.
  • Why does the government choose to outlaw euthanasia when it is done anyway? Legalizing it would mean that patients would be able to consult doctors, and not resort to taking it into their own hands, making it safer and better. There would be no need for suicide attempts; consequently there would be less tragedies
  • Passive euthanasia is defined as allowing a patient to die by withholding treatment, while active euthanasia is defined as taking measures that directly cause a patient's death
  • Those who argue against active euthanasia understand that there is a demand for active euthanasia as a response "to the fear of entrapment in a technologically sophisticated, seemingly uncaring world of medicine
  • offers several arguments in favor of the moral permissibility of active euthanasia, one of which is an argument from mercy. He begins by describing a classic case where a person named Jack is terminally ill and in unbearable pain and states that Jack's condition alone is a compelling reason for the permissibility of active mercy killing.
  • active euthanasia is morally permissible since it produces the greatest happiness
  • . The categorical imperative supports active euthanasia since no one would willfully universalize a rule, which condemns people to unbearable pain before death. It is also reasoned that it is considered bad to be the cause of someone's death and that death is regarded as a great evil. However, if it has been decided that active or passive euthanasia is desirable in a given case, it has also been decided that in this instance death is no greater an evil than the patient's continued existence
  • A good point is raised here, because death is supposedly inevitable in either case, so according to Rachel, if a doctor allows a patient to die or gives him a lethal injection, then the motives and ends are essentially the same.
  • In conclusion, denying patients the right to die with dignity and lucidity is unfair and cruel. If physician assisted suicide means giving a patient the right to choose between a life without dignity and hope, or ending their pain and suffering with an honorable closure on life, than it should be permitted.
  • When a patient has no desire to go on living and wants to die before their condition gets worse, they should be allowed to decide how their life ends and why. Assisted suicide is known to have been going on without fanfare and without legal support for many years. It is time to give physician-assisted suicide the legal justification that it deserves.
Shumona Raha

Euthanasia - Described and Debated - 0 views

  • active and passive
  • the elimination of the old, weak, and disabled.
  • People who are "not useful" could be exterminated simply for that reason
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  • request death for the sick because of questionable reasons. Someone might only be thinking of their own gain, knowing that they are mentioned in a will.
  • Many believe that "only God can give life and only God should take it away" (Cundiff, 64). There is also the question to consider of the fallibility of physicians. Many lives could be ended too hastily as a result of incorrect prognosis or diagnosis.
  • While the pain should be treated (for example, with painkillers), the person should not be forced to live through methods like life-support,
  • In most cases, people who request assisted suicide or euthanasia are actually crying for help
  • Euthanasia could easily become a way to minimize health care costs.
  • physicians are being offered cash bonuses if they fail to provide care for their patients. Doctors could face financial risks for actually doing their jobs.
  • Medical care is something that must be provided. We cannot walk out on people who are suffering
  • No person is entitled to consent to have death inflicted on him, and such consent does not affect the criminal responsibility of any person by whom death may be inflicted on the person by whom consent is given.
  • it is called passive
  • "the government [does] not have the right to [allow] one group of people . . . to kill another group of people"
  • The government also does not intend to make anyone suffer
  • The allowance of euthanasia would open up doors of undesirable practices.
Mihikaa Naik

"The Mozart Effect": A Small Part of the Big Picture - 0 views

  • the Mozart Effect actually does not increase general intelligence and lasts only a few minutes, it does not provide a substitute for music study and practice.
  • Studies have shown that music education and music-making have positive effects on many mental and behavioral factors that are themselves not part of music.
  • mass media have played a major role in starting and maintaining public excitement about the Mozart Effect.
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  • This story began in 1993 when Frances Rauscher, Gordon Shaw and Katherine Ky published a brief paper in the prestigious journal Nature
  • . The report by Rauscher, Shaw and Ky suggested that listening to music actually caused the brain to perform better in spatial reasoning, at least for a few minutes.
  • Mozart Effect was born as the idea that listening to Mozart increases intelligence
  • In short, they argue that the Mozart Effect is caused by a more pleasant mood.
  • Mozart Effect described here applies to children
  • long term involvement in music lessons
  • the question is whether or not brief exposure to certain music can produce long term improvements in intelligence, either limited to spatial/temporal abilities or to more general intelligence, then the answer is no.
  • Understanding and appreciating musical forms, genres, meanings and performances in historical, social and cultural context
  • Educated Listening in music classes for one or more school years
  • Reading musical notation, integrating sight, sound, touch and movements to perform and express self musically, solo, in cooperative group or both
  • Instrumental or vocal lessons and regular practice for several years
  • Mozart Effect requires only 10 minutes of exposure (not necessarily even attentive listening) to music.
Aditi Buti

Islamic terrorism - 0 views

  • Jihad
  • Jihad has been classified either as al-jihād al-akbar (the greater jihad), the struggle against one's soul (nafs), or al-jihād al-asghar (the lesser jihad), the external, physical effort, often implying fighting (this is similar to the shiite view of jihad as well).
  • Jihad by the sword (jihad bis saif) refers to qital fi sabilillah (armed fighting in the way of God for defensive purposes, or holy war to prevent a greater loss of lives), the most common usage by Salafi Muslims and offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood.
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  • Islamic terrorism is inspired by the sources of Islam: the Qur'an verses, ahadith sira and sharia that justify or encourage attacks on non-Muslims or those who may not be regarded as pious.
  • Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies, of Allah and your enemies, and others besides, whom ye may not know, but whom Allah doth know. Whatever ye shall spend in the cause of Allah, shall be repaid unto you, and ye shall not be treated unjustly
  • Now when ye meet in battle those who disbelieve, then it is smiting of the necks until, when ye have routed them, then making fast of bonds; and afterward either grace or ransom till the war lay down its burdens. That (is the ordinance). And if Allah willed He could have punished them (without you) but (thus it is ordained) that He may try some of you by means of others. And those who are slain in the way of Allah, He rendereth not their actions vain. [Qur'an 47:4] And fight them until there’s no fitnah (polytheism) and religion is wholly for Allah.[Qur'an 8:39] Lo! Those who disbelieve Our revelations, We shall expose them to the Fire. As often as their skins are consumed We shall exchange them for fresh skins that they may taste the torment. Lo!
  • Remember thy Lord inspired the angels (with the message): "I am with you: give firmness to the Believers: I will instil terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them." [Qur'an 8:12]
  • Allah is ever Mighty, Wise. [Qur'an 4:56] They long that ye should disbelieve even as they disbelieve, that ye may be upon a level (with them). So choose not friends from them till they forsake their homes in the way of Allah; if they turn back (to enmity) then take them and kill them wherever ye find them, and choose no friend nor helper from among them, [Qur'an 4:89] Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah, and those who reject Faith Fight in the cause of Evil: So fight ye against the friends of Satan: feeble indeed is the cunning of Satan. [Qur'an 4:76]
  •  
    "Jihad"
Dillon Patel

Mars Melt Hints at Solar, Not Human, Cause for Warming, Scientist Says - 0 views

  • our planet's recent climate changes have a natural
  • and not a human-induced
  • controversial theory.
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  • Earth is currently experiencing rapid warming, which the vast majority of climate scientists says is due to humans pumping huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. (Get an overview: "Global Warming Fast Facts".)
  • "ice caps" near Mars's south pole had been diminishing for three summers in a row.
  • Astronomical Observatory in Russia, says the Mars data is evidence that the current global warming on Earth is being caused by changes in the sun.
  • Abdussamatov believes that changes in the sun's heat output can account for almost all the climate changes we see on both planets
  • ice ages throughout their histories.
  • "Man-made greenhouse warming has made a small contribution to the warming seen on Earth in recent years, but it cannot compete with the increase in solar irradiance," Abdussamatov said.
  • Abdussamatov believes he can see a pattern that fits with the ups and downs in climate we see on Earth and Mars.
  • has not been well received by other climate scientists.
  •  
    From a reliable source, National Geographic, they say that Global Warming's main cause MAY NOT be humans, though in fact solar. Against my argument.
Yasmin Tandon

Foreign Aid for Development Assistance - Global Issues - 0 views

  • both the quantity and quality of aid have been poor and donor nations have not been held to account.
  • 1970,
  • world’s rich countries agreed to give 0.7% of their gross national income as official international development aid, annually
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  • Furthermore, aid has often come with a price of its own for the developing nations:Aid is often wasted on conditions that the recipient must use overpriced goods and services from donor countriesMost aid does not actually go to the poorest who would need it the mostAid amounts are dwarfed by rich country protectionism that denies market access for poor country products, while rich nations use aid as a lever to open poor country markets to their productsLarge projects or massive grand strategies often fail to help the vulnerable; money can often be embezzled away.
  • This web page has the following sub-sections:
  • “Trade, not aid”
  • excuse for rich countries to cut back aid that has been agreed and promised at the United Nations.
  • This target was codified in a United Nations General Assembly Resolution, and a key paragraph says:
  • The donor governments promised to spend 0.7% of GNP on ODA (Official Development Assistance) at the UN General Assembly in 1970—some 40 years ago
  • developed countries will rapidly and progressively take what measures they can … to reduce the extent of tying of assistance and to mitigate any harmful effects
  • make loans tied
  • Developed countries will provide, to the greatest extent possible, an increased flow of aid on a long-term and continuing basis.
  • almost all rich nations have constantly failed to reach their agreed obligations of the 0.7% target. Instead of 0.7%, the amount of aid has been around 0.2 to 0.4%, some $100 billion short.
  • the quality of the aid has been poor.
  • USA’s aid, in terms of percentage of their GNP has almost always been lower than any other industrialized nation in the world, though paradoxically since 2000, their dollar amount has been the highest.Between 1992 and 2000, Japan had been the largest donor of aid, in terms of raw dollars. From 2001 the United States claimed that position, a year that also saw Japan’s amount of aid drop by nearly 4 billion dollars.
  • Aid beginning to increase but still way below obligations
  • In 2009, the OCED and many others feared official aid would decline due to the global financial crisis. They urged donor nations to make aid “countercyclical”; not to reduce it when it is needed most, but those who didn’t cause the crisis.
  • And indeed, for 2009, aid did increase as official stats from the OECD shows. It rose 0.7% from just under $123 bn in 2008 to just over $123 bn in 2009 (at constant 2008 prices).
Simran Fabiani

Eating Disorders and the Media | Media Influence on Eating Disorders | Anorexia | Bulim... - 0 views

  • Okay, so we all want to hear how Calvin Klein is the culprit and that the emaciated waif look has caused women to tale-spin into the world of Eating Disorders. While the images of child-like women has obviously contributed to an increased obsession to be thin, and we can't deny the media influence on eating disorders, there's a lot more to it than that.
  • Images on T.V. spend countless hours telling us to lose weight, be thin and beautiful, buy more stuff because people will like us and we'll be better people for it. Programming on the tube rarely depicts men and women with "average" body-types or crappy clothes, ingraining in the back of all our minds that this is the type of life we want. O
  • characters are typically portrayed as lazy
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  • while thin women and pumped-up men are the successful, popular, sexy and powerful ones. How can we tell our children that it's what's inside that counts, when the media continuously contradicts this message?
  • Super models in all the popular magazines have continued to get thinner and thinner.
  • Modeling agencies have been reported to actively pursue Anorexic models.
  • he average woman model weighs up to 25% less
  • han the typical woman and maintains a weight at about 15 to 20 percent below what is considered healthy for her age and height.
  • By far, these body types and images are not the norm and unobtainable
  • Diet advertisements are another problem.
  • hese images are fake.
  • the ideal body" combined with the diet industry's drive to make more money, creates a never-ending cycle of ad upon ad that try to convince us
  • Pop-culture's imposed definition of
  • Barbie-type dolls have often been blamed on playing a role in the development of body-image problems and Eating Disorders.
  • Not only do these dolls have fictionally proportioned, small body sizes, but they lean towards escalating the belief that materialistic possessions, beauty and thinness equate happiness.
  • Barbie has more accessories available to purchase than can be believed, including Ken, her attractive boyfriend.
  • personally do NOT believe every girl that has a Barbie-type doll is at risk of disordered eating,
  • We need to remind ourselves and each other constantly (especially children) that
  • With an increased population of children who spend a lot of time in front of television, there are more of them coming up with a superficial sense of who they are.
  • we are continually exposed to the notion that losing weight will make us happier and it will be through "THIS diet plan".
  • if you lose weight, your life will be good."
  • These images may not help, and for those already open to the possibility of negative coping mechanisms and/or mental illness, the media may play a small contributing role -- but ultimately, if a young man or woman's life situation, environment, and/or genetics leave them open to an Eating Disorder (or alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, OCD, etc.), they will still end up in the same place regardless of television or magazines.
  • it helps to perpetuate an ideal of materialism, beauty, and being thin as important elements to happiness in one's life.
Ari Kewalramani

India's 'girl deficit' deepest among educated / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonit... - 0 views

  • By law, the government can regulate - but not deny - the use of prenatal diagnostic techniques for the purposes of detecting birth defects, but not gender itself.
  • it is rare to see a doctor prosecuted if he does so.
  • "Women who choose this technique may be victims of discrimination themselves
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  • and they may not be the decisionmakers.
  • The cost of not paying a larger dowry can be even higher.
  • couples eat flatbread and onions to ensure a boy child.
golan elzur

Animal Testing on Cosmetics - About Animal Testing (UK) - 1 views

  • Animal testing on cosmetics is arguably one of the most - if not the most - controversial areas of animal testing. Although it was banned in the United Kingdom (UK) in 1998, it does still occur in other areas of the world. The European Union (EU), however, is poised for an almost full ban by 2009 on the sales of cosmetics tested by animals. Currently, the Netherlands and Belgium have banned the sales of such cosmetics, similar to the UK.
  • Cosmetics testing on animals relates to many aspects of the manufacturing process. Animal testing may occur on the full, finished product or it may occur on individual ingredients within a formulation. Another country may even be contracted to conduct the testing within the cosmetic company's homeland or it may be contracted out to a country where animal testing is not currently banned.
  • Cosmetics testing is usually focused on ensuring that a product does not harm a person's eyes and skin
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  • While many companies are now citing 'no testing on animals' in terms of their ethical stance on cosmetics, it is clear that this is an excellent marketing strategy given the widespread public disapproval of the practice. Ironically, those companies who do not test cosmetics on animals are still benefiting from previous data that was conducted on animals.
Mihikaa Naik

The "Mozart Effect"- Real or just a hoax? - 0 views

  • 1998, Zell Miller, the governor of the state of Georgia, started a new program that distributed free CDs with classical music to the parents of every newborn baby in Georgia.
  • idea came from a new line of research showing a link between listening to classical music and enhanced brain development in infants.
  • mother was convinced that musical ability will not only help us to be more well rounded people, but also that it will help us to be smarter individuals.
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  • music
  • College students were required to listen to ten minutes of Mozart's sonata for two pianos in D major, a relaxation tape, or silence.
  • original experiment was published in 1993
  • Mozart to test for improvements in memory and this idea thus became known as the "Mozart Effect".
  • scientists at the University of California at Irvine.
  • read and write music, keep tempo, memorize pieces
  • results lasted only 10-15 minutes
  • should be a measurable correlation between musically trained minds and their intelligence
  • brain = behavior,
  • brain areas such as the primary motor cortex and the cerebellum,
  • involved in movement and coordination
  • larger in adult musicians than in non-musicians
  • auditory cortex
  • responsible for bringing music and speech into conscious experience, was also larger
  • Few other studies suggest that "music alone does have a modest brain effect
  • rats were able to complete a maze more rapidly
  • The results showed that the students' scores improved after listening to the Mozart selection.
  • brain changes associated with musicians enhance mental functions
  • music lesson
  • after 8 months
  • recognize shapes (
  • improvements in the spatial-temporal test
  • ability to put puzzles together
  • one day after
  • still showed this improvement
  • able to score higher
  • better understand concepts
  • listening to Mozart before this test had no effect on the students
  • chance of musical training becoming a possible treatment of brain damage.
  • depression, autism, and aphasia
  • Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT
  • recovered speech capabilities, which were thought to be lost.
  • Auditory Integration Training, is showing great potential for benefiting the growth and development of various special children.
  • do not believe that there is conclusive evidence to believe in the Mozart effect.
  • there is some evidence that the brain is affected indeed somehow by music and that music lessons can not hurt the growing stages of a child.
Mihikaa Naik

The Mozart Effect: A Closer Look - 0 views

  • most mysterious and complex object known to man: the brain
  • Neuroscientists were interested in how the brain develops and functions.
  • Mozart's music increases I.Q.
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  • music does have a impact on cognitive ability.
  • If brain activity can sound like music, might it be possible to begin to understand the neural activity by working in reverse and observing how the brain responds to music?
  • Mozart selection showed an increase in spatial IQ test scores. A further test showed that listening to other types of music (non-specified "dance" musis) did not have the same effect.
  • listener's preference--to either music or the narration of a story, and not particularly listening to Mozart, made for improved test performance.
  • "There's nothing wrong with having young people listen to classical music, but it's not going to make them smarter."
  • the experiments that compared listening to Mozart to silence, and which had not included listening to other compositions.
  • Music is aural stimulation. The "successful" Mozart effect studies at best indicated that one area of cognitive processing increased only for a very short time, after listening to music for a short period of time.
Shumona Raha

Euthanasia and Human Rights - 0 views

  • Euthanasia literally means “good death”. It is basically to bring about the death of a terminally ill patient or a disabled. It is resorted to so that the last days of a patient who has been suffering from such an illness which is terminal in nature or which has disabled him can peacefully end up his life and which can also prove to be less painful for him.
  • Active euthanasia means putting an end to the life of an individual for merciful reason by a medical practitioner by giving a lethal dose of medication to the patient. Passive euthanasia takes place where methods such as removing artificial life support systems such as ventilators, hydration, etc are resorted to.
  • On the other hand voluntary euthanasia means where a patient who is suffering a lot asks a medical practitioner to end his life whereas involuntary euthanasia is just the opposite of voluntary euthanasia that is where there is no consent of the patient but for it there can be many reasons such as if he is not mentally competent to give his consent and other such reasons.
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  • A person has a right to live a life with at least minimum dignity and if that standard is falling below that minimum level then a person should be given a right to end his life.
  • Supporters of euthanasia also point out to the fact that as passive euthanasia has been allowed, similarly active euthanasia must also be allowed.
  • A patient will wish to end his life only in cases of excessive agony and would prefer to die a painless death rather than living a miserable life with that agony and suffering.
  • According to them its not granting ‘right to die’ rather it should be called ‘right to kill’.
  • Opponents also point out that when suicide is not allowed then euthanasia should also not be allowed.
Ingrid Sande

Minimum Drinking Age - 0 views

  • The U.S.
  • has one of the world's highest minimum drinking ages.
  • is illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to possess alcoholic beverages of any kind.
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  • Search Story and Title Text Search Title Text Only Sort Option For Results List By Relevance Rank By Story Date Optional Date Range &nbsp;&nbsp;(reset) From:&nbsp; Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962 1961 1960 1959 1958 1957 1956 1955 1954 1953 1952 1951 1950 1949 1948 1947 1946 1945 1944 1943 1942 1941 1940 1900 1850 1800 1700 1600 To:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2010 2009 <
  • n many
  • laces, it was legal for people as young as 18 to purchase and drink alcohol.
  • The in
  • roduction of a
  • constitutional amendment lowering the U.S.'s voting age to 18 in 1971 ushered in a further wave of lowered
  • drinking ages in many states.
  • However, that tide was swiftly reversed beginning in the late 1970s.
  • federal law was passed in
  • 984 that effectively established a national minimum drinking age of 21
  • Is the current minimum drinking age of 21 a good idea, promoting safety and responsibility among American teenagers? Or has it backfired, causing an increasingly dangerous drinking culture among U.S. youth?
  • Critics, however, argue that the 21-and-over drinking laws have actually made for a more dangerous environment for American teenagers by prompting them to do their drinking in private, unsupervised environments
  • Supporters of the current minimum drinking age say that the higher age limit has reduced drunk driving deaths substantially, and generally makes for a safer environment. Teenagers and alcohol make for a potentially hazardous mix, supporters maintain, and any steps taken to separate those two elements should be welcomed. Additionally, the human body does not fully develop until around the age of 21, proponents say; the intake of alcohol can cause grave mental and physical damage to a still-developing body.
Ben Walters

Does game violence make teens aggressive? - Technology & science - Games - On the Level... - 0 views

  • Can video games make kids more violent? A new study employing state-of-the-art brain-scanning technology says that the answer may be yes.
  • brain scans of kids who played a violent video game showed an increase in emotional arousal – and a corresponding decrease of activity in brain areas involved in self-control, inhibition and attention.
  • he does think that the study should encourage parents to look more closely at the types of games their kids are playing.
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  • “Based on our results, I think parents should be aware of the relationship between violent video-game playing and brain function.”
  • he scans showed a negative effect on the brains of the teens who played “Medal of Honor” for 30 minutes. That same effect was not present in the kids who played “Need for Speed.”
  • And it’s also not known what effect longer play times might have. The scope of this study was 30 minutes of play, and one brain scan per kid
  • But what about violent TV shows? Or violent films? Has anyone ever done a brain scan of kids that have just watched a violent movie?
  • Kids in his study experienced increased emotional arousal when watching short clips from the boxing movie “Rocky IV.”
  • Larry Ley, the director and coordinator of research for the Center for Successful Parenting, which funded Mathews’ study, says the purpose of the research was to help parents make informed decisions. “There’s enough data that clearly indicates that [game violence] is a problem,” he says. “And it’s not just a problem for kids with behavior disorders.”
  • But not everyone is convinced that this latest research adds much to the debate – particularly the game development community. One such naysayer is Doug Lowenstein, president of the Entertainment Software Association.
  • “We've seen other studies in this field that have made dramatic claims but turn out to be less persuasive when objectively analyzed.”
  • And they’ve got plenty of answers at the ready for the critics who want to lay school shootings or teen aggression at the feet of the game industry. Several studies cited by the ESA point to games’ potential benefits for developing decision-making skills or bettering reaction times. Ley, however, argues such studies aren’t credible because they were produced by “hired guns” funded by the multi-billion-dollar game industry.
  • Increasingly parents are more accepting of video game violence, chalking it up to being a part of growing up. “I was dead-set against violent video games,” says Kelley Windfield, a Sammamish, Wa.-based mother of two. “But my husband told me I had to start loosening up.” Laura Best, a mother of three from Clovis, Calif., says she looks for age-appropriate games for her 14 year-old son, Kyle. And although he doesn’t play a lot of games, he does tend to gravitate towards shooters like “Medal of Honor.” &nbsp;But she isn’t concerned that Kyle will become aggressive as a result. “That’s like saying a soccer game or a football game will make a kid more aggressive,” she says. “It’s about self-control, and you’ve got to learn it.”
  • “Let’s quit using various Xboxes as babysitters instead of doing healthful activities,” says Ley, citing the growing epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States. And who, really, can argue with that?
Dillon Patel

Solar Cycles Cause Global Warming & Cooling, not Humans - 0 views

  • Planetary warming has also been observed on Mars, Jupiter, Pluto, and on Neptune's largest moon Triton during the decades following the peak of the "Solar Grand Maximum" - wonder why - there are no humans there!
  • And Pluto is moving further from the sun in its orbit,
  • it should be cooling, but instead it is warming.
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  • due to solar changes rather than mere human antics.
  • t Earth's oceans are now beginning to cool.
  • The Earth heats up after a Solar Grand Maximum, lagging a bit after the peak. With a Solar Grand Minimum now on its way, a "global cooling" is on the horizon--a natural oscillation occurring in much longer solar cycles.
  • continue to ignore all of this, perpetuating fear and advocating spending billions of dollars on non-solutions.
  • humans contribute to greenhouse gases,
  • the overall effect is a tiny fraction compared to natural causes.
  •  
    Humans ARE NOT the cause of Global Warming. Against my argument.
anouska khambatta

Ten myths of Indian economic policy - Rediff.com Business - 0 views

  • Higher minimum support prices for foodgrains are good for farmers. Not so.
  • The move to a Goods and Services Tax will reduce the burden of taxation. I hope not! Or the already massive fiscal deficit will soar higher.
  • There is no role for monetary policy when inflation is driven by supply shortfalls. Not quite.
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  • Our labour laws protect labour. Quite the opposite
  • The exchange rate only matters to exporters. This is a common misperception, even among trained economists.
  • Reducing fiscal deficits hurts growth. In the present "stimulated" environment, there is much anxiety that a reduction in the current record high fiscal deficits (over 10 per cent of GDP) will hurt growth.
  • Subsidies on food, fuel and electricity mainly help the poor. Not so. The food subsidy mainly helps better-off farmers and consumers in only four or five states where the public distribution system has effective coverage.
  • Foreign capital inflows are always good for our economy. Twenty years ago, most Indians believed the opposite, that all private foreign capital inflows were bad and somehow designed to impoverish us.
  • Private provision of infrastructure can effectively substitute for government. Private public partnerships (PPPs) are the ruling mantra of the day. Since the government has failed badly in providing adequate power, roads, ports, water, sanitation and so forth, we must turn to PPPs for our deliverance.
  • The trader (or middle man) is at the root of many of our economic problems. This is one of our really hoary and hairy myths. Whenever the rate of inflation rises, governments blame rapacious traders and deploy regulations to control their stocking and other activities.
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