Celebrity and social media power

My comments: This is how the voice of the brave traditionalist is drowned out. Like i have always said... You can tell us what you prefer... But there is no need to condemn and judge others whose actions you abhor.....     Dolce & Gabbana IVF Row Sees Parents Tweet Pictures Of Their 'Synthetic' Children

Ryan Barrell 

The Huffington Post UK Posted: 16/03/15 11:23 Updated: 16/03/15 16:59

IVF families have been uploading photos to Twitter in solidarity with Elton John's boycott of Dolce & Gabbana.

The fashion veterans were blasted by Eltonon social media this weekend after comments from Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana stating: "We oppose gay adoptions. The only family is the traditional one.

"No chemical offsprings and rented uterus: life has a natural flow, there are things that should not be changed."

"You are born to a mother and a father – or at least that’s how it should be,” Domenico said. "I call children of chemistry, synthetic children. Uteri [for] rent, semen chosen from a catalog."

The 'Your Song' singer announced a boycott of the Italian fashion brand on Sunday.

In addition to Elton's social media outburst, many other people with "non-traditional" families started joining the boycott and showing off their children.

SAUDIS BULLDOZE THEIR WAY TO MODERNISATION

1.  the Saudis have destroyed and spoiled some of the holiest sites in the Islamic world
2. Looming large over the Grand Mosque and the Kaaba (the black cube-shaped building that is the holiest site in Islam) is the largest and second tallest building in the world, called the Royal Mecca Clock Tower complex.
3. the situation in Mecca is worsening: Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah plans to redevelop the centre of the holy city into “high-rises and shopping malls”
4. The most shocking details – are to do with the destruction of sites that were once considered extremely holy by many Muslims. 
5. They were razed because the Wahhabis, who conquered Mecca in 1924, believe that “revering structures with ties to the Prophet can lead to idolatrous practices”. 
6. To that end, the house of Mohammed’s wife, Khadijah, was destroyed – and in its place now is a “complex of hundreds of bathrooms”. 
7. The prophet’s own birthplace was first turned into a cattle market, then a public library.

THIS IS A CRYING SHAME...RELIGION/HERITAGE/HISTORY.....WHY DESTROY THIS? SOMETIMES IT IS THIS LINK TO THE PAST THAT HOLDS PRECIOUS MEANING TO SOME...WHY TAKE IT AWAY FROM THEM?

corporate corruption

one of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical firms -GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) pharmaceuticals.....there is evidence that GSK staff were routinely bribing health care professionals in China. 

ageing and the silver dollar

JAPANESE companies are hawking 

everything from funeral services to a

humanoid robot, hoping for a slice of the 

silver-dollar pie. 

one issue...many essay questions

1 conflict is avoidable
2 environment and pollution
3 one country's actions/development can spell potential loss for another
4 why singapore has to pedal harder and be super efficient...because we can lose out to malaysia since they are so much cheaper....

Malaysia assured Singapore that it would observe international law, amid concerns over two massive reclamation projects on the Malaysian side of the Johor Strait.

"The Government of Malaysia remains committed to fulfilling its obligations under the general principles of international law and in particular, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea," Malaysia's Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said in a statement on Tuesday in response to Singapore's concerns.

The minister added that Malaysia has engaged Singapore on the issue through a Joint Committee on the Environment, which was co-chaired by the heads of Malaysia's Department of Environment and Singapore's National Environment Agency.

He also said that Malaysia's federal government has been in close consultation with the Johor state government and the property developers involved, reported the New Straits Times.

One of the two reclamation projects, a 1,410ha man-made island near Jurong Island, is intended to be furnished with oil storage facilities to capture the spillover energy business from Singapore, marine construction firm Benalec told The Straits Times.

The other project, the 2,000ha Forest City near the Second Link, is being developed by China's Country Garden Holdings and a Johor state company, Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor.

This island is intended to be turned into a tourist hot spot, complete with hotel, luxurious apartments and recreational facilities.

Singapore had last Saturday voiced concern over possible transboundary impact from the massive projects, given its proximity to Johor.

Back in 2002, Malaysia had similarly objected to Singapore's land reclamation works in Tuas and Pulau Tekong, arguing that the projects could potentially impinge on Malaysia's territorial waters, causing pollution and destroying the marine environment in the Strait of Johor.

The dispute was resolved after the two countries appeared before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and signed an agreement in 2005.

- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/top-the-news/story/kl-assures-spore-it-will-observe-rule-law-20140626#sthash.75KxJQbW.dpuf

If America knows whats good for her....advice from the little red dot

PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong has urged the business community in the United States to put its weight behind the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which he described as "vital" to America's international standing and engagement in the Asia-Pacific.

just saying

five finger shoes and barefoot running - faulty health claims

Vibram, 'Barefoot Running Shoe' Company, Settles Multi-Million Dollar Lawsuit

If you were one of the 70 million Americans who purchased a pair of those weird-looking "barefoot running" shoes, you may be entitled to some cash.

Vibram, the company behind FiveFingers shoes, just settled a $3.75 million class action lawsuit over false claims that its running shoe yields health benefits, Runner's World reports. The thin-soled, flexible shoes, which cost about $100 a pair, are said to mimic the experience of running in bare feet, and thus "improve foot health" -- an unsupported claim the company falsely advertised.

The lawsuit was first filed by Valerie Bezdek in March 2012. According to court filings, Bezdek claimed that Vibram deployed deceptive marketing and falsely advertised the following benefits from wearing its shoe, without basing its claims on any scientific research:

(1) Strengthen muscles in the feet and lower legs 
(2) Improve range of motion in the ankles, feet, and toes
(3) Stimulate neural function important to balance and agility
(4) Eliminate heel lift to align the spine and improve posture
(5) Allow the foot and body to move naturally

But experts say barefoot running -- an experience the shoes are said to mimic -- may actually have a negative impact on foot health.

"Barefoot running has been touted as improving strength and balance, while promoting a more natural running style," a position statement from the American Podiatric Medicine Association reads. "However, risks of barefoot running include a lack of protection, which may lead to injuries such as puncture wounds, and increased stress on the lower extremities."

And now Vibram will have to foot a hefty bill.

The Huffington Post  | by  Emily Thomas

csr

You Won't Be Seeing Coca Cola Ads For A While. The Reason Why Is Amazing

November 20, 2013

Coca Cola announced that it will not be spending any money on advertising starting on Novermber 18. Instead, the global company will be spending that money on relief efforts in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan.
"Any committed advertising space will be redirected to the relief and rebuilding efforts for the people in Visayas," Coca-Cola's statement on Tuesday read.

Coca Cola has already donated $2.5 million in cash, nearly $600,000 in bottled water, and $1 million through the American National Red Cross.

Coca-Cola employees in the Philippines pack relief goods for victims of Typhoon Haiyan
"We have a long-standing commitment to extend aid to our affected associates and their families, as well as for our communities locally," said Juan Ramon Felix, Asia Division Director, Coca-Cola FEMSA, "and with our unique capacity to lend a helping hand to these communities, we will ensure that we will continue to provide support through this difficult time."

Milky Way founder: being a mother has made me a better businessperson

If there’s one thing you need to know about e-commerce in Singapore, it’s definitely booming in the past few years. Blogshops are hot, local labels are bringing it international, and some e-stores are taking it further via collaborations with international designers.
Milky Way founder Kay Wong (pictured right) is in the midst of this e-commerce battle. She runs an online store for maternity clothing while juggling three children. She says it’s important to have a mentor that comes from a traditional business background – in Kay’s case, her father.

DRUG - IS IT A FOOD OR A CHEMICAL?

take the example of heparin. It's a pharmaceutical product. You expect that the supply chain that gets it to the hospital, probably squeaky clean. The problem is that the active ingredient in there -- as I mentioned earlier -- comes from pigs. The main American manufacturer of that active ingredient decided a few years ago to relocate to China because it's the world's biggest supplier of pigs. And their factory in China -- which probably is pretty clean -- is getting all of the ingredients from backyard abattoirs, where families slaughter pigs and extract the ingredient. So a couple of years ago, we had a scandal which killed about 80 people around the world, because of contaminants that crept into the heparin supply chain. Worse, some of the suppliers realized that they could substitute a product which mimicked heparin in tests. This substitute cost nine dollars a pound, whereas real heparin, the real ingredient, cost 900 dollars a pound. A no-brainer. The problem was that it killed more people.

And so you're asking yourself, "How come the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowed this to happen? How did the Chinese State Agency for Food and Drugs allow this to happen?" And the answer is quite simple: the Chinese define these facilities as chemical facilities, not pharmaceutical facilities, so they don't audit them. And the USFDA has a jurisdictional problem. This is offshore. They actually do conduct a few investigations overseas -- about a dozen a year -- maybe 20 in a good year. There are 500 of these facilities producing active ingredients in China alone. In fact, about 80 percent of the active ingredients in medicines now come from offshore, particularly China and India, and we don't have a governance system. We don't have a regulatory system able to ensure that that production is safe. We don't have a system to ensure that human rights, basic dignity, are ensured.

government and economy

Pt "While many economists and pundits from the West remain skeptical about the efficiency and innovative capacity of state-owned organizations, China is exploding that myth. Some of China’s most powerful companies are state-owned companies."


Eg China is moving ahead of the United States rapidly in the production and manufacturing of green technology. There is no doubt that China’s leadership in this area is occurring.

Pt The government is pushing for green technology;

Eg You can see the investment everywhere throughout China: as you travel the country, houses everywhere have solar panels on their roofs; several second tier cities are building their economies around “clean energy” technologies (e.g., Xi’an); social awareness of the issue is extremely high among the general population.

some interesting insights about foreign labour

1. the global village increasingly requires a “new global ethic” to save it—global solutions to big emerging problems such as financial crisis, flu outbreaks, and climate change
2. As a result of the global crisis, the future will see much more selective migration, with advanced economies less willing to accept unskilled immigrants.
3. But aging populations makes foreign labour a necessity
4. Investing in immigrants’ language abilities, health, and job skills is an investment in the host country’s future too.

suggestion for poverty reduction

When Uganda cut school fees by $16 per year (60 percent), enrollment nearly doubled, with most of the increase in enrollment being girls. Smith pointed out that research shows that educating girls increases average productivity more than does educating boys. The cost for this proposed solution is $5.4 billion per year.

when governments fail

others must keep trying

What is Fairtrade?

Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. By requiring companies to pay sustainable prices (which must never fall lower than the market price), Fairtrade addresses the injustices of conventional trade, which traditionally discriminates against the poorest, weakest producers. It enables them to improve their position and have more control over their lives. 

What is the Fairtrade Foundation?

The Fairtrade Foundation is a development organisation committed to tackling poverty and injustice through trade, and the UK member of Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO). The Foundation works with businesses, civil society organisations and individuals to improve the position of producer organisations in the South and to help them achieve sustainable improvements for their members and their communities.

How big is the UK Fairtrade market?

The UK market is doubling in value every 2 years, and in 2007 reached an estimated retail value of £493 million. The UK is one of the world’s leading Fairtrade markets, with more products and more awareness of Fairtrade than anywhere else. Around 20% of roast and ground coffee, and 20% of bananas sold in the UK are now Fairtrade. 

counterargument

people worry about food miles and the impact on the environment

rebuttal

Agriculture can play a critical role in the economic and social development of developing countries – up to one and a half million livelihoods in Africa alone are estimated to be dependent upon UK consumption of agricultural and horticultural produce. Increased agricultural growth is thought to be the most likely source of economic growth in Africa given that 70% of the rural poor work on the land. 

so ..the poor or the environment...you decide...(pl remember that you should be more concerned by your carbon footprint rather than food miles)

why developing countries remain poor

1 there was a global economic crisis
2 how did G20 countries respond
3 increased the number of protectionist measures

developing country...says...but you promised ..u are supposed to be committed to cutting down these protectionist measures

1 The WTO has failed to live up to its promises over the past decade
2 there is a wider systemic problem in the global community.
2 True and lasting solutions to global economic problems : global competitiveness between countries must consist of genuine cooperation.

farmers livelihood continue to be threatened

Agricultural subsidies: beyond cotton, World Trade Organisation members have failed even to agree how to reduce the huge subsidies paid to rich world farmers, whose overproduction continues to threaten the livelihoods of developing world farmers.

sigh nobody likeS us everybody hates us

(CNN) -- One of Australia's largest supermarket chains has come under fire for an online job ad that specified that "no Indians or Asians" should apply.

The ad, which sought cleaners at a Coles supermarket near the Tasmanian capital of Hobart, sparked condemnation after it was posted Sunday, according to Australian media reports.

Coles said the offending ad was placed by a cleaning subcontractor without the company's knowledge, in a written statement from spokesperson Jim Cooper.

"Coles is a proud, equal-opportunity employer and at no time have we ever issued the directives contained in this ad."

The company said it was "extremely concerned to learn of the ad and its contents" and has terminated the subcontractor's services as a result. It said it will also retrain its cleaning contractor on equal opportunity employment policies.

The ad has since been removed from the popular Gumtree classifieds website.

"I'm certainly going to look at commencing an investigation into what's happening—the role of Gumtree, what Coles' role was, and find out more details about the subcontractor," said Tasmania's Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Robin Banks.

She said the ad was clearly "discriminatory on the basis of race" and a breach of the Tasmania Anti-Discrimination Act.

 EVALUATE THIS:  is enough being done to end discrimination? maybe not, given that it is still rife; but it is obvious that businesses do not like the stigma of being seen as racist....its a public relations disaster and we have the media to thank for this...notice how coles rushed to its defence..

is this a human rights violation...well not quite...discrimination...

MAGDALENE: BUT IT'S OK...WE MAY BECOME YOUR BOSSES ONE DAY...AND WE WILL BE BETTER PEOPLE AND FORGET WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO OUR PEOPLE..AFTER ALL, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT MORE THAN TWO BILLION INDIANS AND ASIANS!!!!.

CECELIA: NOOOOOOO...IF WE DO NOT GIVE THEM A TASTE OF THEIR OWN MEDICINE, THEY WILL NEVER KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE...

THOMAS: HEY TAKE IT EASY FOLKS...NO NEED TO TAKE IT PERSONALLY... THE UNINFORMED FEW DO NOT REPRESENT THe MAJORITY...EVEN IF THEY DO...THEY ARE LOST SOULS...AND THEY MAY END UP MARRYING OUR KIDS ANYWAY....SO CHILL

THIS PICTURE MADE ME CRY TOO

as you can see....many things make me cry when i am marking papers

Chief Raoni crying when he learned that the President of Brazil approved the Belo Monte dam project on the Xingu indigenous lands. Belo Monte will be bigger than the Panama Canal, flooding nearly a million acres of rainforest & indigenous lands. 40,000 indigenous and local people will be forced off their native lands (as well as millions of unknown species & plants) In the name of "progress"


THIS REMINDS ME OF A SONG I USED TO LOVE - I CANT FIND THE LYRICS NOW...IT WAS A RECORD( THEY DIDNT HAVE CDs AND dvdS THEN) THAT MY BROTHER BOUGHT FROM AMERICA...

HOW I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR THAT SOULFUL VOICE SINGING THAT SONG....

IT WAS SUNG BY RED INDIANS WHO WERE FORCED OFF THEIR LAND BY THE WHITEMEN WHO CAME TO AMERICA....AND MADE the red indians LIVE IN RESERVATIONS...

and nooo - the red indians are not indian...


I STILL REMEMBER SOME OF THE LYRICS


A proud happy people
we were here long before the white man came
the river gave us fish, the woodlands gave us wood and other wild game

ohhh iiiii ...iiii I wanna get back home again

i cant remember the rest of the lyrics - but the songs in that record painted a
beautiful picture of happy people who were one with nature...

HOW TRAGIC, THAT WE ARE GOING TO MAKE MORE AND MORE HAPPY PEOPLE DISAPPEAR
ALL IN THE NAME OF PROGRESS
A CRYING SHAME INDEED

this is sad - it shows our priority

Five years ago, they joined the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) in Singapore as some of the first brand-name hires.

Now, star cancer geneticists Neal Copeland, 64, and Nancy Jenkins, 61, who left their 20-year career at the US National Cancer Institute for Singapore, are calling it quits, reported The Straits Times (ST).

They will be moving to Houston, Texas, where from October they will be co-directors of a basic cancer research programme at The Methodist Hospital Research Institute and the Methodist Cancer Centre.

While a generously funded state programme there has been attractive for heavyweights in cancer research, it is also understood that the husband-and-wife team are frustrated with the research scene here.

Nature, an international weekly journal of science, highlighted the duo's decision to leave Singapore in an article published in December 2010.

The article, titled Singapore's salad days are over, reported that the nation's total research budget was "abruptly shifted to competitive industrial alignment funds' last September. This means access to funding depends on researchers' abilities to show that their work has industrial applications.

The policy was particularly aimed at the biomedical sciences, the article claimed. Amid frustrations over issues such as how the government will review research applications, Dr Copeland and Dr Jenkins decided to leave the country, it said.

The couple, currently principal investigators at the institute's cancer genetics laboratory, did not respond to ST's request for an interview.

The constraints biomedical scientists here face include having to spend time on red tape instead of research and increased pressure to focus on economic outcomes to get funding, reported the paper.

When the pair, among the most-cited biomedical scientists worldwide, first arrived in Singapore in 2006, they wanted to take research from the bench to the bedside and commercialise basic research.

According to the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's (A*Star), which oversees the IMCB, the cancer experts made a big splash in research and training here.

A*Star's Biomedical Research Council's executive director Lee Eng Hin said they sharpened the IMCB's focus in areas such as cancer, cell biology and developmental biology.

This deepened the Institute's understanding of human diseases and encouraged the translation of basic scientific discoveries into clinically useful products and commercially viable applications.

They also helped nurture a new generation of talent, he added.

Thanking the duo for their work, he told the paper, "While we are sad to see Neal and Nancy go, we are also heartened that they remain in the international biomedical research arena."

"We expect that they will continue to make great contributions to science and to society, and wish them the very best in their endeavours," said professor Lee.

He noted that Singapore is fortunate to have attracted and anchored many international scientists.

"Even when some of these scientists move on, we believe they will continue to have Singapore on their minds, and they are critical in building bridges between Singapore and the international scientific communities," he said.

"What is important is that they have lent their scientific capabilities, international standing, extensive network as well as experience in mentoring the next generation of scientific leaders."

Some observers, however, told the paper that the couple's move could be a start of a migration of top talents, where more of A*Star's top scientists follow suit.

Former A*Star head Philip Yeo had also previously warned of an exodus of talent if scientists are tasked to produce economic outcomes prematurely.


MAGDALENE: SO THE MESSAGE SEEMS TO BE : IF THERE'S NO MONEY TO BE MADE - OUT YOU GO
CECELIA: YEAH! SO WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE GOOD OLD DAYS WHEN WE DID IT FOR SCIENCE/FOR MANKIND?
SANE THOMAS: YES I CAN UNDERSTAND YOUR FRUSTRATION; BUT PLEASE DO STOP TO THINK...WE ARE TOO SMALL AND INSIGNIFICANT TO BE MAKING WAVES FOR THE GOOD OF SOCIETY...WE ARE IN A RAT RACE AND NEED TO DO THINGS THAT ARE ECONOMICALLY VIABLE...

MAGDALENE....HAVE YOU SOLD YOUR SOUL TO THE (PAP)? ITS NOT ALWAYS ABOUT MONEY...ESPECIALLY WHEN WE CAN AFFORD IT!!!!