What's in the News

Lift your game fellas - you can't just rely on that great body!!



WHETHER a woman wants a quick fling or a long-term relationship, she's still likely to pick brains over a brawn. That's according to a study of university students.

Mark Prokosch at Elon University in North Carolina and his team filmed 15 college men performing a series of tasks, such as reading the news and catching a frisbee. The men also took an intelligence test. The videos were watched by 200 women, who rated the men's intelligence, looks and relationship appeal. The team found the smarter the man, the higher his appeal (Evolution and Human Behavior, DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2008.07.004).

Not only that, women proved to be good judges of intelligence: the scores predicted for each man generally matched his test results.

And the concerns keep on coming!  Milk, eggs, fish ...


October 31, 2008

CHINA'S state-run press warned today a toxic chemical found in eggs and milk was likely being mixed into livestock feed, in the clearest official indication yet that other foods may be contaminated.
“The feed industry seems to have acquiesced to agree on using the chemical to reduce production costs while maintaining the protein count for quality inspections,” the state-run China Daily said in an editorial.

Authorities in the eastern metropolis of Shanghai have already ordered that more than 100 fish farming enterprises in the city be tested to see if their feed is tainted with melamine, the Shanghai Daily reported.

It was one of the first reports warning seafood may also be laced with the chemical that made headlines in August after authorities admitted it had been mixed into milk.

The contaminated milk resulted in the deaths of four babies from kidney failure and the sickening of 53,000 others.

Hong Kong authorities reported last weekend that melamine had also been detected in Chinese eggs, leading to concerns the chemical was much more prevalent in China's food chain than initially believed.

Melamine is an industrial chemical normally used to make plastics and can lead to severe kidney problems if ingested in large amounts by humans.

But, after an initial cover-up by Chinese authorities, it was eventually discovered that the chemical was being routinely mixed into watered-down milk to give it the appearance of being protein-rich.

Following the egg revelations, authorities are now investigating whether mixing melamine into livestock feed for the same reason is also a widespread practice.

“We cannot say for sure if the same chemical has made its way into other types of food,” the China Daily editorial said.

“We hope it has not. But if fodder can be confirmed as the source of contamination for both the eggs and milk, action must be taken to check how widespread the use of this chemical is in the fodder industry.”

Meanwhile, the Chinese company blamed for selling the original batch of tainted eggs to Hong Kong is suing its feed provider, according to the official People's Daily newspaper.

The brief report said an investigation by the company, Hanwei, found that livestock feed provided by Xinmin Mingxing company contained melamine.

Both companies are based in the northeastern province of Liaoning.

Dash it and double dash it! Eggs??? Are they trying to ruin breakfast for me deliberately?

Oh boy, we now are really into the meaty part of the US election.


Schwarzenegger mocks 'skinny' Barack Obama


From correspondents in Columbus, Ohio | November 01, 2008

MUSCLEMAN-turned-actor-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger has called on Barack Obama to beef up his his policies - and his body - at a rally for Republican John McCain.

Mr Schwarzenegger, the Hollywood action hero who is now the Republican governor of California, delighted a crowd of several thousand at a McCain campaign event in Columbus, Ohio,
today by ridiculing both Obama's policies and his slender physique.


http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24585297-12377,00.html

Looks like the Olympics had some good side effects.

******

Olympics curbs Beijingers' spitting, queue-jumping: report

Fri Oct 31, 1:05 am ET

BEIJING (AFP) – Hosting the Olympics has made Beijing's notoriously rough-edged citizens more civil, with social scourges such as spitting and queue-jumping on the decline, state media reported on Friday.

A bizarre "civic index" that claims to record minute changes in Beijingers' manners has risen to 82.68 on a scale of 100, up 10 points from last year, the China Daily reported.

Based on a post-Olympics survey of more than 13,200 people and observations at more than 300 public venues, it found just 0.75 percent of respondents "spat wherever and whenever they wanted," down from 2.5 percent last year, it said.

"The most significant improvement was in the category of spitting," the newspaper said of the latest index, devised by Beijing's Renmin University.

Authorities in Beijing have in recent years conducted a range of campaigns to "civilise" Beijing residents, amid concerns they would embarrass the country when it hosted the Olympics in August.

Last year, in a speech marking the 12-month countdown to the Games, China's chief Olympic organiser, Liu Qi, warned the manners of Beijing residents could embarrass the host nation.

"We must carry out a campaign for a civilised environment and thoroughly resolve rampant spitting, dumping of garbage and other uncivilised behaviour... as over four billion people will be watching Beijing," he said.

These campaigns have included making one day a month a "no queue-jumping" day, while fines for spitting have been dished out and beggars kicked off the streets.

Another day each month was designated "Seat-Giving Day" to encourage people to give up their seats on trains and buses to those in greater need.

Following the campaign, queue-jumping was down to 0.67 percent, from an earlier 1.5 percent, the index found. Littering and seat giving also apparently improved.

Despite the latest index results, such behaviour is still commonly seen in the city.

Not so much new news but confirmation of what so many here have posted many times.

Fulbright scholar who taught in Nanjing 1989-90 returns to Nanjing and posts differences he noted in "The Chronicle of Higher Education." It's title "Returning to Teach in China." http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2008/11/2008110501c.htm 

Not a bad article - and with 2 pieces of good advice -

The Chinese speak many different languages and dialects. English is not one of them. It is still advisable for anyone spending time in China to make an effort to learn some basic Mandarin Chinese. It makes life much easier and the locals do appreciate the effort.

Too many Americans believe that they can remake China. They engage in condescending behavior based on preconceived stereotypes or prejudices. Remember that you are a guest in a country with one of the oldest civilizations in the world and that you may need to make an effort not to become "the ugly American."

Although not just Americans, although in general they seem to be more vocal about how things should change.

Please. (Where's the eye-roll smiley?)
There are indeed some unpleasant specimens among the expat Americans, but I can't say that our fellow travelers are significantly less obnoxious than we are.

Spend a year as DJ in a multi-national bar some time.

We're just an easier target.

Although not just Americans, although in general they seem to be more vocal about how things should change.

Not absolving any other nationality of this 'sin'!    

Yes.  Well, then ... Keep trying, Lotus.  Bound to eventually get it right, eh?

Another one for ETR: Not just the spiders you need to watch out for.http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24615712-12377,00.html

Nah! ETR should be ok.He's bigger than a wallaby and the snakes usually don't eat humans. Err, ETR,perhaps you'd better leave your hat on just in case! 

Although not just Americans, although in general they seem to be more vocal about how things should change.

 

A better use for Tequila...........
http://www.physorg.com/news145255770.html