News

Suspected thief robs judge at own trial

BERLIN (Reuters) - A 61-year-old German on trial for theft got himself into more trouble when he stole from the judge during his court hearing, police said Thursday.

Police in the central town of Coburg said that while facing her at the bench, the man pocketed a bunch of keys from the judge, who did not notice until he had left the room.

When confronted by court officials in the toilet, the man, who had a string of convictions for theft, told them he had been shocked to discover the keys in his pocket.

"He told them he realized how suspicious his story would sound and that he had therefore hidden the keys under a toilet brush," said police spokesman Bernhard Schmitt. "He'd been stealing all his life so it was probably just an intuitive act."

While the court officials decided what to do next, the man wrote a written confession to the deed. The theft meant the initial trial had to be temporarily suspended on legal grounds in case the judge showed bias in the case.

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A clinic that offers treatment for people addicted to playing computer games has opened in the Netherlands. The service, run by addiction consultancy Smith and Jones, offers a program lasting up to eight weeks.

The clinic estimates that up to 20% of gamers, many of which are children, could develop a dependency.

Compulsive gamers have similar symptoms to gambling addicts, they say, and risk damage to relationships, health, education and their careers.

"I lived in my room. I have 4 televisions around me, with one X-Box 360, PlayStation 2, X-Box 1 and a Game Cube and a lap-top, where I can play online games," said Tim, a 21 year old who has received treatment at the clinic.

Tim played games for up to 17 hours a day.

Obsessive behaviour

The new eight-bed residential clinic in Amsterdam was set up in response to a growing demand for people with gaming addictions. It is the first of its kind in Europe.

Initially gaming was a secondary issue for many of the patients who came to the clinic to seek help for other addictions.

Eventually the sheer number of addicts forced the clinic to set up a dedicated programme.

"They kept on coming in so we started taking it more and more seriously," said Keith Bakker, an addiction consultant at the centre.

Addicted gamers display many symptoms, including obsessive thinking and health problems. Others may use stimulants to keep awake during gaming marathons.

Some who play online multiplayer games may feel extreme guilt about leaving fellow gamers if they switch their console off.

Last year a man in South Korea died after spending 50 hours playing an online game.

Addicts may also experience "time warps" where all other activities are replaced with gaming. This can take extreme forms.

Tim could not even wrestle himself away from the screen for long enough to go to the toilet.

"I take an empty bottle and I pee into it," he said.

The treatment involves a period of detox when patients are not allowed access to any computer games.

This is followed by group therapy and sessions with psychologists, psychiatrists and therapists.

The clinic also tries to find replacement activities to fill the void left by giving up gaming.

"We help them find other ways to deal with life and they begin to develop true self esteem," says Mr Bakker.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5191678.stm

It was a strange sight for a wedding reception. The newly married couple lying down in makeshift beds, donating blood.

For the 40-year-old bridegroom, such donations have become routine.

He is popularly known as Blood Kumar.

An employee of the Indian Space Research Organisation, which has its headquarters in Bangalore, Blood Kumar is the doyen of the local blood donor circuit.

'A mission'

He said that it seemed obvious to turn his wedding ceremony into a collective blood donor session.

Guests arriving with presents found themselves cajoled by Blood Kumar and his wife Mangalam to join the blood party, held at a corner of the wedding hall in a busy part of the city.

Most of the 52 invitees ranging from film stars to high-powered businessmen - were supportive of the initiative.

"I don't think he is crazy. It is a mission for him. I thought this was a good opportunity to donate blood and encourage him to do what he is doing," said C Dinesh Kumar, an executive with a leading bank.

"I thought this was the best way to spread the message," said Blood Kumar, who braved opposition from his parents to link the reception with a blood donation session.

"Shedding blood on an occasion like a wedding is considered inauspicious," he explained.

"A lot of people think I am mad but I don't care what they say. I was determined that my wedding - our special day - would also be a blood donor's party."

Children dying

Blood Kumar said that his wife, who was a first-time donor, was initially nervous.

"She is getting to know me and is very supportive," said Blood Kumar with reassuring confidence.

The blood donation at his wedding is the 81st to be completed by him since his mission began when he saw many children dying in a circus fire in the 1980s.

"I went to the hospital and saw the need for blood to save lives. From then on I have not stopped," he said.

Blood Kumar now makes sure that he is rarely more than a telephone call away during emergencies, and has even taken steps to update a blood donor directory that is a godsend to needy friends and strangers.

Local medics are also impressed.

"Blood camps are often considered insignificant events," said Manipal Hospital's Transfusion Services chief C Shivaram.

"But it is only when you link them with functions like weddings or birthdays that people stop and take notice.

"That is why we encourage blood donation camps, so that the message goes out in a big way."

Bangalore - with a population of over six million - needs 500 to 600 bottles of blood a day for emergencies.

Half the requirement is met by voluntary donors.

"But we need more to meet the shortage, because many lives can be saved in this way," said Mr Shivaram.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/5192030.stm

Not really 'news,' but interesting, nonetheless . . . :D

Genghis Khan, Renaissance guy...

BEIJING (Reuters) - Genghis Khan -- notorious as the ruthless, bloodthirsty creator of an empire that spanned Asia and Europe -- also laid the foundations for the Renaissance, China's Xinhua news agency said Thursday.

"Genghis Khan introduced papermaking and printing technologies to Europe and pioneered cultural exchanges between Asia and Europe," it quoted Zhu Yaoting, a specialist on Mongolian history at Beijing Union University, as saying.

"He brought cultural progress that helped liberate the Europeans from the bondage of theology -- in this sense, his expeditions served as a catalyst for the Renaissance," he said.

Genghis Khan's expeditions to Europe also reopened the Silk Road and laid the path for Marco Polo's historic trip to China.

"The expedition revived the ancient trade link and made economic and cultural exchanges possible again between the isolated civilizations," said Chen Yuning, a professor at Ningxia University.

Last month, state media said Genghis Khan could also be considered the founder of globalization for forming the largest contiguous land empire in history. The 800th anniversary of his uniting Mongol tribes, the beginnings of his empire, is being commemorated this year.

History is divided on when the Renaissance started and some historians believe there were a number of Renaissance periods in Europe starting from the 12th century. The Italian Renaissance in the 15th century is perhaps the most famous, during which the arts and sciences, particularly mathematics and astronomy, flourished.

China has also in the past made numerous other unusual historical claims, including the contention the Chinese invented football and golf.

And some Chinese academics say China "discovered" America decades before Christopher Columbus.

source

Doggie hotel opens -- 23 dollars a night, television optional

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Washingtonians can now drop their pooches off at a pet hotel that cares for their friendly canines in a five-star environment -- pet-themed television shows optional.

In the mahogany paneled lobby of the PetSmart PetHotel, which just opened in the Washington suburb of Bethesda, the pets' human "parents" line up to plunk down 23 dollars plus tax for each night their pooch stays.

The doggie hotel is nothing like kennels of yore: in this inn there is lactose-free ice cream, indoor recreation, and for 10 more dollars a night, pooch can stay in a roomier "suite" with a television set showing an "animal related movie all day," said Vince Malanaphy, who manages the Bethesda PetsHotel.

"It helps them to relax and to adjust as they are used to hearing TV at home," Malanaphy says.

In one "suite" a little white poodle named Bijou is lost in the embrace of Morpheus with "Little Nemo" and his cartoon friends swimming by in an eternal loop on the TV set.

A stay at "Doggie Day Camp" without the overnight goes for 20 dollars the day.

Half of the boarders come every day. "It's better than leaving them at home alone," said Cyra, one of the pet "mothers," as she drops off her Labrador and her poodle for Day Camp before running off to the office. Here "they can socialize," she said.

For potty breaks there is a 20 square meter (215 square foot) "relief room" complete with a plastic tree. "For security reasons, no outdoor walking," says Malanaphy.

Meredith, in charge of animal recreation, says that if dogs "are aggressive or play too rough, we give them a time out in a cage" for 15 minutes. "After twice, they get the message," she says.

The Bethesda site has room for 180 dogs and 26 cats. Cats stay in plexiglass cages known as "kitty cottages" for a mere 14 dollars plus tax a night, which includes 15 minutes of TLC -- Tender Loving Care, otherwise known as petting.

The Phoenix, Arizona-based PetSmart Inc. launched the pet hotel concept three years ago and it is "the fastest growing sector" of the pet business, said spokesman Bruce Richardson. "Now we have 32 hotels; we anticipate 240 by 2010," he said.

Gina Martin, a consumer retail analyst at Wachovia Bank, sees only growth in the pet care industry.

"General spending for pets is growing at an extraordinary pace," said Martin. "There is a trend for the treatment of the pet as another human being."

Americans spend nearly 40 billion dollars a year on their household pets -- 30 percent more than five years ago. The figure is close to what Americans spend on toys for children -- 48 billion dollars -- and more than twice the 17 billion spent on cosmetics, Martin said.

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Increasing numbers of Americans are becoming too fat to fit into X-ray machines, US researchers report. The nation's rising obesity problems mean many citizens are not only too large for scanners but they have too much fat for the rays to penetrate.

Over the past 15 years, the number of failed scans linked to patient obesity has doubled, Radiology journal reports.

The problem is not confined to scanners. UK hospitals have had to make their beds stronger for obese patients.

And airlines are designing aircraft to carry heavier loads because passengers are becoming plumper.

Dr Raul Uppot and colleagues, who work in radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, had noticed that they were seeing more and more patients whose weight prevented them from having medical scans.

He and his team decided to look back at radiology reports between 1989 and 2003 to see the extent of the problem.

Missed diagnoses

Year on year they saw a small but significant increase in the number of scans that had to be abandoned because the patient was too fat.

Ultrasound images were affected the most because the sound waves need to penetrate the skin and fatty tissue before reaching the organs being examined.

The study authors warned that important diagnoses could be missed if people could not be scanned.

The US government says 64% of the population are overweight.

Dr Colin Wayne of the UK's National Obesity Forum said the UK was showing a similar trend.

"The obesity rates in the US have been going up relentlessly. Sadly, in the UK we are following in their wake.

"The UK is now the fastest growing country in Europe for rising obesity.

"It's worrying if people can't get the necessary investigations. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. It is the epidemic of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases that will follow in the wake of obesity that is even more worrying."

Professor Adrian Dixon of the Royal College of Radiologists said: "It is a real problem and it is getting worse. People are getting fatter."

"One may not be able to offer the obese patient the best possible imaging test because of their weight," he added.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5219884.stm

Uncensored 'On the Road' to be published

LOWELL, Mass. - Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" will be published in its unedited original scroll version by Viking Press, which published the Beat Generation classic in September 1957.

John Sampas, executor of the writer's literary estate and brother of Stella Sampas, Kerouac's third wife, said he has signed a contract with Viking, an imprint of Penguin Group USA. He hopes the work will be out by the end of next year, the 50th anniversary of the publication.

"Incidents in the original were edited out of the published version because of the censorship of the time," said Sampas, who noted that some of the edited sections refer to drugs and sex. "On the scroll, entire paragraphs are crossed out and not included in the published version."

Sampras said the new version will be in book form, but taken from the original scroll. Any sections Kerouac had crossed out before turning it into the publisher will be excluded in the new edition.

In 1951, Kerouac, hopped up on coffee and Benzedrine, sat at a typewriter and began retelling the tale of an aimless trek he made across America. In a spontaneous, stream-of-consciousness burst, he typed on long sheets of tracing paper, taping each finished page to the previous one to form one continuous, rolling text.

Published six years later, "On the Road" won critical praise and became an icon of the post-World War II subculture of intellectuals, writers, musicians and rebels who identified with the freedom of Kerouac's cross-country odyssey and embraced his disdain for 1950s conformity.

The original, 120-foot, coffee-stained scroll that is yellowing with age was purchased in 2001 by James Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts, for $2.43 million. The scroll is touring U.S. museums and libraries.

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The age-old argument over the best way to cook the perfect boiled egg could be a thing of the past thanks to a new hi-tech ink logo going on shells. After cooking begins, an invisible, temperature-sensitive thermochromic print appears in black to indicate when an egg is soft, medium or hard-boiled.

The eggs, developed by UK assurance scheme Lion Quality, will be sold in three different types of cartons.

The new logos will start to appear on eggs in the next few months.

'Big issue'

"We had a lot of inquiries from people which sparked an interest in the industry," said a spokeswoman for Lion Quality.

"We said OK, this is a big issue - people can't even boil an egg."

The best technique has taxed some of the greatest culinary experts in the past.

In a 2005 survey conducted by the magazine Waitrose Food Illustrated, five leading chefs all came up with different solutions.

And in 1998, a TV series presented by Delia Smith included one show concentrating on the finer points of boiling an egg.

Smith said her How To Cook programme on the BBC intended to re-introduce people to the pleasures of cooking and herald a return to basic skills.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5226338.stm

Curing culinary incompetence everywhere!

Something known for years, but never put so simply . . .

Slower breathing may lower blood pressure

WASHINGTON - Take a slow deep breath, then exhale just as slowly. Can you take fewer than 10 breaths a minute? Research suggests breathing that slowly for a few minutes a day is enough to help some people nudge down bad blood pressure.

Why would that brief interlude of calm really work? A scientist at the
National Institutes of Health thinks how we breathe may hold a key to how the body regulates blood pressure — and that it has less to do with relaxation than with breaking down all that salt most of us eat.

Now Dr. David Anderson is trying to prove it, with the help of a special gadget that trains volunteers with hypertension to slow-breathe.

If he's right, the work could shed new light on the intersection between hypertension, stress and diet.

"If you sit there under-breathing all day and you have a high salt intake, your kidneys may be less effective at getting rid of that salt than if you're out hiking in the woods," said Anderson, who heads research into behavior and hypertension at the NIH's National Institute on Aging.

An estimated 65 million Americans have high blood pressure, putting them at increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, kidney damage, blindness and dementia. Many don't know it. Hypertension is often called the silent killer, because patients may notice no symptoms until it already has done serious damage.

Anyone can get high blood pressure, measured as a level of 140 over 90 or more. But being overweight and inactive, and eating too much salt — Americans eat nearly double the upper limit for good health — all increase the risk. Indeed, losing weight, physical activity and cutting sodium are the most effective lifestyle changes people can make to lower blood pressure. Still, most hypertension patients need medications, too.

While they know risk factors, scientists don't fully understand the root causes of hypertension: What skews the body's usually finely tuned mechanisms for regulating the force of blood pounding against artery walls, until it can't compensate for some extra pounds on a couch potato? Understanding those mechanisms could point to better ways to prevent and treat hypertension.

Enter breathing.

Meditation, yoga and similar relaxation techniques that incorporate slow, deep breathing have long been thought to aid blood pressure, although research to prove an effect has been spotty.

Then in 2002, the
Food and Drug Administration cleared the nonprescription sale of a medical device called RESPeRATE, to help lower blood pressure by pacing breathing. The Internet-sold device counts breaths by sensing chest or abdominal movement, and sounds gradually slowing chimes that signal when to inhale and exhale. Users follow the tone until their breathing slows from the usual 16 to 19 breaths a minute to 10 or fewer.

In clinical trials funded by maker InterCure Inc., people who used the slow-breathing device for 15 minutes a day for two months saw their blood pressure drop 10 to 15 points. It's not supposed to be a substitute for diet, exercise or medication, but an addition to standard treatment.

Why slow-breathing works "is still a bit of a black box," says Dr. William J. Elliott of Chicago's Rush University Medical Center, who headed some of that research and was surprised at the effect.

Slow, deep breathing does relax and dilate blood vessels temporarily, but that's not enough to explain a lasting drop in blood pressure, says NIH's Anderson.

So, in a laboratory at Baltimore's Harbor Hospital, Anderson is using the machine to test his own theory: When under chronic stress, people tend to take shallow breaths and unconsciously hold them, what Anderson calls inhibitory breathing. Holding a breath diverts more blood to the brain to increase alertness — good if the boss is yelling — but it knocks off kilter the blood's chemical balance. More acidic blood in turn makes the kidneys less efficient at pumping out sodium.

In animals, Anderson's experiments have shown that inhibitory breathing delays salt excretion enough to raise blood pressure. Now he's testing if better breathing helps people reverse that effect.

"They may be changing their blood gases and the way their kidneys are regulating salt," he says.

If Anderson's right, it would offer another explanation for why hypertension is what he calls "a disease of civilization and a sedentary lifestyle."

Meanwhile, health authorities recommend that everyone take simple steps to lower blood pressure: by dropping a few pounds, taking a walk or getting physical activity, and eating less sodium — no more than 2,300 milligrams a day — and more fruits and vegetables.

source

A lavish wedding in a French town which saw the happy couple showered in confetti made from shredded euro notes has caused outrage. Residents of the southern town of Sete were up in arms after the bride and groom were covered in confetti made from 5, 10, 20 and 50 euro notes.

They also lodged a formal complaint, as destruction of banknotes is a crime.

But according to reports, the money was worthless - the euros were defective and bound for the incinerator.

'Revolting'

The controversy began after townsfolk had seen the confetti at the 8 July wedding and formed a collective to force local officials to react.

"It's revolting that people have to see their minimum wage turned into confetti lying on the street," one member of the collective said.

The scandal-causing confetti was part of a lavish ceremony attended by more than 200 guests, which included a fireworks display costing more than 40,000 euros ($51,000), according to French newspaper Liberation.

The doomed notes had been procured by a friend of the bride's family.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5237966.stm

Railway officials in India have come up with a novel way of stopping monkeys intimidating passengers - by training another ape to scare them off.

The langur monkey, which has been trained since the age of three months, has been patrolling stations on a leash.

It comes after a series of complaints about aggressive monkeys boarding trains in New Delhi and upsetting passengers.

In June, a monkey boarded a train at the underground Chawri Bazaar station and reportedly scared passengers by scowling at them for three stops.

It then got off at Civil Lines station.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation says it hopes its new special agent will avert a repeat of such episodes.

Metro spokesman Anuj Dayal said: "It started working about a month ago and since then we've not had a single incident."

The langur's keeper - or langurwallah - is being paid 6,900 rupees - about £79 - a month.

Langur monkeys are similarly employed around the grounds of parliament and some government buildings in New Delhi.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/...536000,00.html

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

Railway officials in India have come up with a novel way of stopping monkeys intimidating passengers - by training another ape to scare them off.

The langur monkey, which has been trained since the age of three months, has been patrolling stations on a leash.

It comes after a series of complaints about aggressive monkeys boarding trains in New Delhi and upsetting passengers.

In June, a monkey boarded a train at the underground Chawri Bazaar station and reportedly scared passengers by scowling at them for three stops.

It then got off at Civil Lines station.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation says it hopes its new special agent will avert a repeat of such episodes.

Metro spokesman Anuj Dayal said: "It started working about a month ago and since then we've not had a single incident."

The langur's keeper - or langurwallah - is being paid 6,900 rupees - about £79 - a month.

Langur monkeys are similarly employed around the grounds of parliament and some government buildings in New Delhi.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/...536000,00.html

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It sounds like the beginning of our road to Planet of the Apes!! :lol:

Teachers should stop calling bright pupils "clever" for fear they might not be considered "cool" by classmates, a union has been told. Instead they should refer to academic high-achievers as "successful", the Professional Association of Teachers' conference in Oxford heard.

Simon Smith, a teacher from Essex, said it was important to avoid a culture which "mocks being clever".

A government spokesman said it was "not the brightest idea we have heard".

'Semantic debates'

He added: "The education system is about ensuring that every child is supported and also challenged to achieve the very best that they can. Semantic debates will not achieve this."

Last year, the union voted to replace the word "failure" with "deferred success".

Mr Smith said: "Change the language we use; change something.

"If we were to use the word 'successful' rather than 'clever' we could all achieve it at our own level and in our own way.

"With a few exceptions, including sport, academic prowess is in many eyes not 'cool'."

Shadow schools minister Nick Gibb said: "In this information age, where an increasing number of jobs are in the creative industries, it is vital that all children aspire to academic excellence, whatever their background or ability."

Last month, an "excellent" student revealed she had had a mark taken away in a mock GCSE exam for giving an answer which a teacher deemed "too sophisticated".

Katie Merchant, 16, of Brighton College, missed a "key word" in a Latin test, although she showed more than enough knowledge for a full mark.

Headmaster Richard Cairns said the OCR exam board's assessment scheme, which the school used, was "too mechanistic".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/5241524.stm

:brickwall :brickwall :brickwall :brickwall :brickwall

WHY???

Behold the collapse of independent thinking...where feelings become more important than emotional stability.