Sex Offenders See New Limits for Halloween - New York Times

I feel more secure now (not)...actually I think I will escort my kids on their trick and treat travels tonight...
Sex Offenders See New Limits for Halloween - New York Times: "In Westchester County, high-risk sex offenders on probation will be required to attend a four-hour educational program on Halloween night. In New Jersey, state officials are instructing paroled sex criminals not to answer their doors if trick-or-treaters come knocking. And in counties throughout Texas, parolees with child contact restrictions are being told to stay away from Halloween activities, even family gatherings.

All across the country this year, local and state authorities are placing registered offenders under one-night curfews or other restrictions out of fear that in only a few days, costumed children asking for candy will be arriving on their doorsteps."...

Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the new initiatives were a "headline-grabbing response to a serious public health and safety issue" and failed to differentiate between sex offenders whose crimes were against adults and those who focused on children.

US News Article | Reuters.com

Is there a comment on perceived surfer intelligence lurking in this briefing?
US News Article | Reuters.com: "LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An exclusive California beach enclave has raised eyebrows by passing out tsunami safety brochures that warn residents, in capital letters, that they should never try to surf one.

The pamphlets, part of an emergency preparedness campaign, inform residents of Malibu that tsunamis often follow large earthquakes and advise: 'NEVER GO TO THE BEACH TO WATCH FOR, OR

SURF, A TSUNAMI WAVE!'"

British woman gives birth to twins from two wombs - Yahoo! News

British woman gives birth to twins from two wombs - Yahoo! News: "LONDON (AFP) - A British woman beat odds of more than five million to one when she gave birth to twins from her two wombs.
ADVERTISEMENT

Claire Miles, 35, born with a rare medical condition, has a pair of half-size wombs, making it extremely difficult to carry a baby successfully.

Miles is one of about 70 women in the world known to have been pregnant in two wombs since 1905 -- and one of only five such women in Britain in the past 50 years to give birth to babies which survived."

What's a Modern Girl to Do? - New York Times

Maureen Dowd on the Evolution of the Feminist movement...

What's a Modern Girl to Do? - New York Times: "He had hit on a primal fear of single successful women: that the aroma of male power is an aphrodisiac for women, but the perfume of female power is a turnoff for men. It took women a few decades to realize that everything they were doing to advance themselves in the boardroom could be sabotaging their chances in the bedroom, that evolution was lagging behind equality."

A few years ago at a White House correspondents' dinner, I met a very beautiful and successful actress. Within minutes, she blurted out: "I can't believe I'm 46 and not married. Men only want to marry their personal assistants or P.R. women."

I'd been noticing a trend along these lines, as famous and powerful men took up with young women whose job it was was to care for them and nurture them in some way: their secretaries, assistants, nannies, caterers, flight attendants, researchers and fact-checkers.

John Schwartz of The New York Times made the trend official in 2004 when he reported: "Men would rather marry their secretaries than their bosses, and evolution may be to blame." A study by psychology researchers at the University of Michigan, using college undergraduates, suggested that men going for long-term relationships would rather marry women in subordinate jobs than women who are supervisors. Men think that women with important jobs are more likely to cheat on them. There it is, right in the DNA: women get penalized by insecure men for being too independent.

"The hypothesis," Dr. Stephanie Brown, the lead author of the study, theorized, "is that there are evolutionary pressures on males to take steps to minimize the risk of raising offspring that are not their own." Women, by contrast, did not show a marked difference between their attraction to men who might work above them and their attraction to men who might work below them.

So was the feminist movement some sort of cruel hoax? Do women get less desirable as they get more successful?

After I first wrote on this subject, a Times reader named Ray Lewis e-mailed me. While we had assumed that making ourselves more professionally accomplished would make us more fascinating, it turned out, as Lewis put it, that smart women were "draining at times."

Or as Bill Maher more crudely but usefully summed it up to Craig Ferguson on the "Late Late Show" on CBS: "Women get in relationships because they want somebody to talk to. Men want women to shut up."...

When Gloria Steinem wrote that "all women are Bunnies," she did not mean it as a compliment; it was a feminist call to arms. Decades later, it's just an aesthetic fact, as more and more women embrace Botox and implants and stretch and protrude to extreme proportions to satisfy male desires. Now that technology is biology, all women can look like inflatable dolls. It's clear that American narcissism has trumped American feminism.

what tian has learned: Anoop Dogg - Drop It Like a FOB

Check out this link of a funny video in the style of Snoop Dog...

what tian has learned: Anoop Dogg - Drop It Like a FOB: "If you have a lot of chest hair,
Show it like a FOB*,
Immigration coming to get you,
Marry like a FOB,
...
I've got the champals on my feet,
when im walking down the street,
and I make the best saag**,
when I want something to eat
...
I am a nice FOB,
I work in the IT***,
When you call tech support,
You will get me.
...
I am a bachelor,
And I work hard,
Come and marry me
So I can get the Green-card.
...
White people, they can’t understand me,
Their jobs are now in New Delhi.
...

* FOB, Freshly Off the Boat, aka. newly arrived immigrants.
** Saag (or Sag), an Indian spinach dish.
*** IT, information technology."

Charles Krebs 

Microphotography

Check out this link: http://tinyurl.com/bpswh for fascinating pics from the winners of the annual Nikon small world photography contest..

Let's talk! The computer can translate

Another step towards a global village...

Let's talk! The computer can translate: "This particular gadget, when fully developed, might allow anyone to speak in any number of languages or, as Dr. Waibel put it, 'to switch your mouth to a foreign language.'"

News from PC Magazine: A Computer for Every Kid

News from PC Magazine: A Computer for Every Kid: "It was a pipe dream only a few months ago, but soon it will be reality. An ambitious effort from MIT Media Labs to put a $100 notebook in the hands of every child in the world is picking up big corporate partners, top engineering talent, and interest from several countries. One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), a nonprofit venture, is expected to start distributing machines late next year and to produce 100 to 200 million machines in 2007"

Chimps 

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Chimps fall down on friendship

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Chimps fall down on friendship: "Chimps fall down on friendship

Captive chimpanzees fail to help others in their social group, even when it causes no inconvenience, a behavioural study in Nature journal has found.

Helpfulness is prevalent in humans, even when it may harm the helper's own interests to aid another.

Humanlike attributes shown by chimps include tool use and maybe rudimentary language skills, but this study suggests altruism is not among them.

But other researchers said that captive chimps may be less socially inclined.

A team led by Joan Silk of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), set captive chimpanzees tests in which they obtained a food reward.

The chimps were presented with two reward options. One option allowed a chimp only to serve itself with food. The other secured the same reward, but also delivered food to another chimpanzee in an enclosure next door.

Dr Silk's team found the 29 chimps tested in the study were no more likely to pick the second option than the first, even though it allowed them to do a 'good deed' at no cost to themselves.

The result was surprising because the chimps had been living together in the same group for 15 years. They were not related, but might have been expected to be very close.

Food sharing has been demonstrated in groups of wild chimpanzees. So the Nature study raises questions about how this behaviour arises.

Other researchers suggest that the result could be down to the unnatural situation or to differences in behaviour brought on by captivity."

CBS News | FEMA Extends Ex-Chief's Contract | October 26, 2005 20:30:06

Ex FEMA Head , Mike Brown, gets a second thirty day extension...
CBS News | FEMA Extends Ex-Chief's Contract | October 26, 2005 20:30:06: "(AP) The former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday defended the agency's decision to keep him on the job another 30 days as a 'completely legitimate thing to do.'

Michael Brown, who resigned under fire Sept. 12 after being heavily criticized for the federal government's slow reaction to the hurricane, told The Associated Press that he would help the agency complete its review of the response to Hurricane Katrina. He said he would also be reviewing for the agency a large number of Freedom of Information requests dealing with the response. "...

Mississippi Congressman Gene Taylor, whose coastal district was among the hardest hit by Katrina, said Brown's contract extension is an insult to taxpayers, particularly those Gulf Coast residents "whose lives were in danger in the aftermath of that storm because of Mike Brown's incompetence."

"I've got tens of thousands of people living in two-man igloo tents tonight, and less than a quarter of the people who have asked for FEMA travel trailers have gotten them," Taylor said. "And at the same time they can find $140,000 a year to pay this incompetent son of a gun; that's ridiculous."

Developing Lands Hit Hardest by 'Brain Drain' - New York Times

The brain drain problem extends beyond doctors....

Developing Lands Hit Hardest by 'Brain Drain' - New York Times: "Poor countries across Africa, Central America and the Caribbean are losing sometimes staggering portions of their college-educated workers to wealthy democracies, according to a World Bank study released yesterday.

The study found that from a quarter to almost half of the collegeeducated citizens of poor countries like Ghana, Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda and El Salvador lived abroad in an O.E.C.D. country - a fraction that rises to more than 80 percent for Haiti and Jamaica.

In contrast, less than 5 percent of the skilled citizens of the powerhouses of the developing world, like India, China, Indonesia and Brazil, live abroad in an O.E.C.D. country.

NEJM -- The Metrics of the Physician Brain Drain

This brain drain factor was one of the biggest concerns of physicians I spoke with when I was in West Africa last spring...Many of their classmates had left Africa to seek greener pastures abroad, contributing to the decline of healthcare in their "home countries."

NEJM -- The Metrics of the Physician Brain Drain: "ABSTRACT
Background There has been substantial immigration of physicians to developed countries, much of it coming from lower-income countries. Although the recipient nations and the immigrating physicians benefit from this migration, less developed countries lose important health capabilities as a result of the loss of physicians.
Methods Data on the countries of origin, based on countries of medical education, of international medical graduates practicing in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia were obtained from sources in the respective countries and analyzed separately and in aggregate. With the use of World Health Organization data, I computed an emigration factor for the countries of origin of the immigrant physicians to provide a relative measure of the number of physicians lost by emigration.
Results International medical graduates constitute between 23 and 28 percent of physicians in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, and lower-income countries supply between 40 and 75 percent of these international medical graduates. India, the Philippines, and Pakistan are the leading sources of international medical graduates. The United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia draw a substantial number of physicians from South Africa, and the United States draws very heavily from the Philippines. Nine of the 20 countries with the highest emigration factors are in sub-Saharan Africa or the Caribbean.
Conclusions Reliance on international medical graduates in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia is reducing the supply of physicians in many lower-income countries. "...

India and the Indian subcontinent provide the largest absolute number of physicians to the recipient nations, but the relative draw on nations, as measured by the emigration factor, is actually greater for sub-Saharan Africa and is very pronounced for Caribbean countries

fish story 

castle rock 

Worth1000.com | Photoshop Contests | Are you Worthy™ | contest

There are some very imaginative people out there! Check out these photos !!!!

Worth1000.com | Photoshop Contests | Are you Worthy™ | contest: "We've all dreamed of the perfect home- the unique and fabulous place we'd live if we ever won the lottery. In this contest, your task is to think of the most creative use possible for that endless home building budget- after all, money is no object when you've got Photoshop.

The rules of this game are thus: You must envision an architectural structure that is bizarre, but at the same time oddly appealing and inventive. The rest is up to your imagination. As always, quality is a must. We will remove poor entries no matter how much we like you. You'll have 48 hours for this contest, so make your submission count."

Iraqi women take up arms -- The Washington Times

Iraqi women take up arms -- The Washington Times: "BAGHDAD -- While most Iraqi women live in fear of terrorists and criminals, one small band of women has taken up arms and is prepared to fight back.
Employed by a private security company, the women ride in the front passenger seat posing as ordinary housewives when the company's drivers transport customers around the city in nondescript vehicles.
But their firearms are always close at hand, and they are trained to respond with force if they come under attack. "...

"Before I got into this, I was like a normal female; when I heard bullets, I would hide," said Muna, a stocky young woman in a black T-shirt and black pants.
"Now, I feel like a man. When I hear a bullet, I want to know where it came from," she said, sitting comfortably with an AK-47 assault rifle across her legs, red toenails poking out from a pair of stacked sandals. "Now I feel equal to my husband."
If the work provides personal fulfillment for Muna, her colleague Assal -- a divorced mother -- sees it as a cause.
"I have seen a lot of innocent people die," she said, staring out with intense black eyes. "We are trying to defend ourselves and defend each other. I am doing this for my country."
Like many Iraqis, she has no idea what the future will bring.
"I see today, I don't see tomorrow," she said, voicing a common refrain. ...

After several months of training, the women say they feel more self-confident and stronger. Although none ever dreamed she would be handling guns or jumping out of cars, now all want more training, especially firing range practice with the Baghdad guns of choice -- AK-47s and 9 mm pistols. ...

WSJ.com - Many Americans Open to Care At Retail-Based Health Clinics

The future of healthcare?

WSJ.com - Many Americans Open to Care At Retail-Based Health Clinics: "Many Americans Open to Care
At Retail-Based Health Clinics
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
October 26, 2005

Many Americans believe retailers can provide an alternative to a doctor's office visit via onsite clinics, a new Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive health-care poll finds.
As consumers' out-of-pocket costs for health-care services continue to rise, retail chains like Wal-Mart and CVS are stepping in to provide basic medical services via retail-based clinics, The Wall Street Journal reported recently. (See related article). The clinics, which don't require an appointment, provide routine medical services such as strep-throat tests, sports physicals and flu shots for about $25 to $60 per visit.
Thus far, only a small minority of adults (7%) have used the clinics, according to the online Harris poll of 2,245 adults, but those who have used them are largely satisfied: 92% say they have been satisfied with the convenience provided by such clinics, which are often open during evening and weekend hours, and 89% say they are satisfied with the quality of care, which is usually provided by nurse practitioners, who can legally treat patients and write prescriptions in most states.
The poll also finds fairly strong interest in these clinics among people who haven't used them: 41% say they would be likely to use an onsite health clinic for basic medical services, compared with 59% who say they aren't likely to use them.
Among the concerns noted, 71% say they would be worried about the qualifications of the staff and 75% would be worried that serious medical problems might not be accurately diagnosed. "

Reason: Rethinking the Social Responsibility of Business: A Reason debate featuring Milton Friedman, Whole Foods’ John Mackey, and Cypress Semi

A fascinating dialogue about the social responsibility of business. As someone whose business philosophy alignes with that of John Mackey, the founder of the immensely successful "Whole Foods" stores, I found the opposing arguments thought provoking ) though not compelling)...

Reason: Rethinking the Social Responsibility of Business: A Reason debate featuring Milton Friedman, Whole Foods’ John Mackey, and Cypress Semiconductor’s T.J. Rodgers: "John Mackey, the founder and CEO of Whole Foods, is one businessman who disagrees with Friedman. A self-described ardent libertarian whose conversation is peppered with references to Ludwig von Mises and Abraham Maslow, Austrian economics and astrology, Mackey believes Friedman’s view is too narrow a description of his and many other businesses’ activities. As important, he argues that Friedman’s take woefully undersells the humanitarian dimension of capitalism.

In the debate that follows, Mackey lays out his personal vision of the social responsibility of business. Friedman responds, as does T.J. Rodgers, the founder and CEO of Cypress Semiconductor and the chief spokesman of what might be called the tough love school of laissez faire. Dubbed “one of America’s toughest bosses” by Fortune, Rodgers argues that corporations add far more to society by maximizing “long-term shareholder value” than they do by donating time and money to charity.

Reason offers this exchange as the starting point of a discussion that should be intensely important to all devotees of free minds and free markets"