"Both the cockroach and the bird would get along very well without us, although the cockroach would miss us most." - Joseph Wood Krutch

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Christian teacher sacked for offering to pray for sick pupil

Shanghai Bridge Made of Rubbish Collapses - "After only a short period in operation the bridge began to collapse, with investigators finding such sturdy construction materials as bags of rubbish, Styrofoam, scrap wood and waste plastic used in the structure in place of reinforced concrete."
Looks like hairbands aren't the only things made of junk in CHina.

For Some of Japan’s Jobless, Homes Just 5 Feet Wide - "The rent is surprisingly high for such a small space: 59,000 yen a month, or about $640, for an upper bunk. But with no upfront deposit or extra utility charges, and basic amenities like fresh linens and free use of a communal bath and sauna, the cost is far less than renting an apartment in Tokyo... The government says about 15,800 people live on the streets in Japan, but aid groups put the figure much higher, with at least 10,000 in Tokyo alone. Those numbers do not count the city’s “hidden” homeless, like those who live in capsule hotels. There is also a floating population that sleeps overnight in the country’s many 24-hour Internet cafes and saunas"

Park ranger sacked over 'racist joke' wins £40k compensation after tribunal tells council 'skin colour is a fact of life' - "A park ranger sacked for asking a black colleague if he 'put polish' on his legs has won £40,000 compensation... employment judge Lindsay Hall-Smith has ruled that he was unfairly dismissed, saying: 'An individual's race or colour is a fact of life. It does not follow that alluding to such matters to or in the presence of the individual concerned necessarily involves racism or less favourable treatment of the individual.'... The judge said the switch to shorts 'usually provoked humorous comments', and one woman, Diane Nash, even wolf-whistled at Mr Parker when he arrived"

What Israel can teach us about security - ""When the security agency in Israel (the ISA) started to tighten security and we had to wait in line for – not for hours – but 30 or 40 minutes, all hell broke loose here"... Despite facing dozens of potential threats each day, the security set-up at Israel's largest hub, Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport, has not been breached since 2002... "They're not looking for liquids, they're not looking at your shoes. They're not looking for everything they look for in North America. They just look at you... and that's how you figure out the bad guys from the good guys.""
If North Americans adopted behavior-based screening, people would be screaming about racial profiling.

SSRN-How Movies Created the Financial Crisis by Larry Ribstein - "Narrative makes sense out of reality and can forcefully persuade listeners to a particular point of view. Artists in general have a narrative of business which springs from their belief that at least some aspects of business are antithetical to art. Filmmakers add to this a resentment of the constraints capital places on their art. Film is particularly persuasive because of its vivid images and because of the consistency of filmmakers’ anti-capitalist perspective on business. Filmmakers’ negative portrayal of capitalists has helped to prepare the public to believe that capitalists - and not government, economic cycles, greedy people or business generally - caused the financial crisis. This will help the public accept a regulatory agenda built on this premise, specifically including the regulation of hedge funds."

Smacked children more successful later in life, study finds - "Youngsters smacked up to the age of six did better at school and were more optimistic about their lives than those never hit by their parents. They were also more likely to undertake voluntary work and keener to attend university... "The idea that smacking and violence are on a continuum is a bizarre and fetishised view of what punishment or smacking is for most parents"... Previous studies have suggested that smacking children can lead them to develop behavioural problems such as being more aggressive"

iPhone users are delusional, consultants say - "Apple has launched a beautiful phone with a fantastic user interface that has had a number of technological shortcomings that many iPhone users have accepted and defended, despite those shortcomings resulting in limitations in iPhone users' daily lives... When we examine the iPhone users' arguments defending the iPhone, it reminds us of the famous Stockholm Syndrome... you will discover the 10 great myths about the iPhone. Here are just two: it doesn't attract new business for operators, and it is not a technologically advanced mobile phone"
From their How will psychologists describe the iPhone syndrome in the future?: Below is a selection of some of the arguments that various hard-core iPhone fanatics have been using since the iPhone initially launched:
3. You cannot forward a SMS: This is a function that hardly anybody uses and was therefore not included in the first iPhones.
8. Apple decides which applications you can install on the phone: This is good, because Apple thereby ensures that you do not get inferior programs on your phone.
9. The app store is a closed universe: Apple knows what is best for end users, which is good for the many iPhone users.
15. You can only purchase the iPhone from operators chosen by Apple: Apple has spent a great deal of time and energy selecting the best operators for customers.
17. The iPhone does not support memory cards: Iphones already offer the necessary memory people require and end users can choose between two models, one with a little memory and one with a great deal of memory.
18. You can not install your own browser: The browser Apple has designed is so superior that you do not need any other browser on your phone.

What an anti-climax: G-spot is a myth - "The scientists at King’s College London... claim there is no evidence for the existence of the G-spot... outside the imagination of women influenced by magazines and sex therapists. They reached their conclusions after a survey of more than 1,800 British women... If one identical twin reported having a G-spot, this would make it far more likely that her sister would give the same answer. But no such pattern emerged, suggesting the G-spot is a matter of the woman’s subjective opinion... Andrea Burri, who led the research, said she was anxious to remove feelings of “inadequacy or underachievement” that might affect women who feared they lacked a G-spot... The quest for the G-spot will not be abandoned. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, which is publishing Burri’s and Spector’s work this week, is planning a debate, with publication of research from the pro and anti G-spot camps. Meanwhile, David Matlock, a Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon, is credited with creating an artificial version of the G-spot. In some cases this has resulted in an over-sensitive zone which induces orgasms when, for example, women drive over bumps in the road."

WiFi for passive-aggressives - "Choose a wireless network: 'We can hear you having sex."

6 reasons why I’m dumping my iPhone for a Nokia N900 - "What does it take to ‘kill the iPhone’?
1. Web browser
2. Installing Apps
3. Contacts
4. Media
5. Messaging
6. Photos
Let’s face it. Apple needs to stop being stubborn and start looking at what we really want. They have, hands down, revolutionized the mobile industry. But they need to start evolving again. People need multitasking. Proper multitasking. Seamless integration of social networking is a must. And for god’s sake.. If we want to change the way our phone works.. even to the point of breaking it, can we not do that without playing a cat and mouse jail-breaking game?"

Meet the lipstick entrepreneurs - "Lots of people don’t like the term ‘lipstick entrepreneurs’. They think it’s sexist. But it reminds me of the women I’ve always admired most in business — the ones who look like they’re so in control, they still have time to dress well and do their hair. They make it look effortless.”"