The scandal of cureable diseases

Unless the sale of a drug massively increases a pharmaceutical company's profits, they are quite happy to mothball a proven cure for diseases which kill hundreds of thousands of people a year, because they ae poor. A not-for profit company, with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has started to deliver one of these drugs, paromomyocin, that cures over 94% of people infected with black fever in India. Malaria and diaorrhea are the next diseases on the target list for the Institute for One World Health. But it isn't just diseases that need tackling. India has a large number of comfortably off people, and by Western charities training fundraisers in India, it could awaken what is called 'the sleeping elephant that is Indian philanthropic giving', and make major inroads into fighting poverty and deprivation in India, and other third world countries.

Waking the elephant

New concepts for fighting poverty, disease and climate change are opening up

Domestic violence

Apparently, domestic violence is not the perogative of human beings - SpongeBob the squirrel monkey has been suffering domestic violence as well. It all started when he was stolen from his cage; when he was found and reunited with his females they all turned on him and made his life hell. He has been rehomed, but his confidence has had a battering, and he is only able to cope with one female at the moment, until he regains his inner Alpha male attiude. His replacement for his original harem hasn't been doing too well either, he is currently sporting a dinky pink plaster cast on a broken leg!

The ballad of SpongeBob the squirrel monkey

What makes people do things like this?

Reading reports of a woman who was killed and her unborn foetus ripped out and passed off as another women's baby was bad enough, but now the authorities in the USA, after 2 days of frantically searching for the dead woman's other 3 children, have found them in their apartment, in the washing machine and tumble dryer. Why did they not search the apartment when they went in there to find photos of the children initially? If I was looking for bodies of children, I would look EVERYWHERE - inc the white goods. Awful, awful story to read though, it made me feel bad about having a row with my son earlier, 'cos even though he IS driving me mad at the moment, at least I still have him, and those poor little children have had their lives extinguished before they had really started.

Cause of death sought for Ill. siblings

Farewell to cat allergies

The first 'hypo-allergenic' kittens have been born in the USA. Only a mere $3,950 each, but there is already a waiting list for more. They look SO cute...

US hypoallergenic cats go on sale

Scissor Sisters

Great news that Scissor Sisters are top of both the single and album charts. I have to confess to having had their new album sent to me on release day, and I am looking forward to seeing them in concert at the NIA in November. I just hope that a certain person CAN make it to the concert with me - if not, it won't be the same.

Scissors score UK charts double

Don't eat spinach!

I know the e-coli outbreak linked to spinach is in the USA, but, I have only in the past 12 or 18 months started to even eat spinach [mainly in salads], and now there are big glaring headlines saying how dangerous it is. Its enough to put anybody off eating it for life...

5 More E. Coli Cases Blamed on Spinach

Skinny models on the catwalk

Erin O'Connor was talking about how she was being blamed for the rash of skinny models on the current catwalks. How unfair! As one of her Careers Advisers in school, I remember Erin being very self conscious of her height, she walked around school with stooped shoulders, and just wanted to disappear into the crowd. Yeah, she WAS thin, and towered above the year group - including the lads - but it wasn't because she starved herself, its just the way she is, and always has been. If she had not been spotted at the BBC Clothes show, she would have been returning to school to do her A levels, and it was a big loss to the education system when they lost a potentially great teacher - but its great to see her doing well in the cut throat industry that is modelling. As Erin said, perhaps the designers also need to recognise that normal women DO weigh over 8stone, and start designing for real women, not the current crop of ill-looking waifs stumbling down the catwalks...

Standing tall

Under the microscope

Returned to work on Monday after the summer, to start delivering another programme for unemployed graduates - yeah, I know, what a start to the academic year! My colleagues had 'forgotten' to tell me that filming was starting that morning for a dvd, which we will distribute at our showcase event in November, promoting the work we have done over the past 2 years. OMG!! I wasn't wearing my 'best' outfit, had no makeup on, and was just thrown in at the deep end. Its very hard to ignore the cameras and the crew in the corners, and I am dreading the final product. Luckily, all the hours of filming will only result in a 15minute dvd, and hopefully, most of the footage of me will end up on the cutting room floor. I think I can be classified as a very reluctant dvd star - and I won't be going out of my way to appear on film again...

Painted elephant is the star of the show

Even though officials in California have declared that it was 'a frivolous abuse" of the elephant, the pink painted elephant looked great. Loved the pattern painted onto her. I hope it did raise the issue of poverty.

Banksy's painted elephant is illegal, say officials

Incremental ownership

Now, if you can't afford to pay ridiculous prices for a designer handbag, but 'need' one for an occasion, you can rent one! But 'renting' doesn't sound upmarket enough, so the new online handbag renting firms are calling it 'incremental ownership'. Whatever - it still means that you can flash a posh bag around without having paid stupid money out, and you can get that special bag for that special occasion, and still have the money to go out and enjoy it! Lets hope this is one American trend which appears over her in the UK soon!

Designer handbags: why buy when you can rent?

Sealed with a kiss

It's OK boys, you can now sign off your emails to your male friends with a x ot two, or three... Us females have always signed off with x's if the email was to a friend, so it is heartening to see that the other half of the population are coming out of their self imposed xxx exile, and realising that a few x's at the bottom of an email is acceptable, and not a fast track to eternal damnation. I look forward to seeing more men using them amongst their friends... xxx

Men, you may kiss your mates

Cheating

Coventry University has caught lots of their students cheating, by cutting and pasting stuff from the internet and claiming it as their own work. It is about time that more universities put a much higher percentage of student work through the software, and were more explicit in their instructions to students about plagiarism. Many students arrive at university unaware of the fact that, unlike at school, where they are spoonfed the information needed to pass their exams, and cutting and pasting is an OK practice, reading for a degree means that they have to go and find out the information for themselves, and then present it in a way which demonstrates their understanding of the subject. Perhaps, as part of freshers week, ALL new students should have the issue of plagiarism pointed out to them, and they should be required to undergo a short study skills course, to ensure they know HOW to study independently. Universities should also put a random 25% of scripts through the software, and if they catch cheats, they should be thrown off the course. The software is there, it works, and universities need to protect their reputation by being upfront and honest about cheating, not brushing it under the carpet and pretending it only happens at other institutions.

University catches 237 student cheats who trawl the internet

Teenage tantrums

So, there IS a reason behind all those teenage tantrums. As a mother, you go through the trauma and embarrassment of your child going through the 'terrible two' stage, to prepare for the much longer stage of teenage strop. According to new scientific research, the brain of an adolescent undergoes massive change, and doesn't reach full maturity until 20 or 30 years of age. So, we should cut them some slack and give them the benefit of the doubt, as their brain at 15 is very different to their brain at say, 25. I just hope my offspring is going to complete his brain rewire soon then, and I certainly hope [for the sanity of my best friend in Bath] that her 15 year daughter doesn't push her luck much further, and that she manages to REACH full cerebral maturity sooner rather than later.

Seeing the teenager in the brain

Bizarre phone calls

Sometimes you pick up the phone, and then 20 seconds into the conversation you wish you hadn't. Have just finished 'talking' to somebody, and it was like listening to a record that is stuck in a groove. Very hard. Not sure what I am expected to do, I can't wave a magic wand and make it all hunky dory, but on the other hand I can't just put the phone down either. So, I am afraid I take the cowards way out, by not saying very much, letting her ramble on an on, repeating the same few things time after time, in some convoluted pattern that only she understands and comprehends, until she eventually says goodbye and puts the phone down. I then breathe a sigh of relief and wonder which one of my sisters or brothers will be the next one to get the phone call...

The bank of mum and dad

Yet again, I've bailed him out, but this time it really isn't his fault. His bank account has been cleared by people using his card number on the internet, and the bank had clocked them as fraud, but when as a consequence I put money into his account for him to withdraw in LA, it vanished within 10minutes. Apparently, there are over 500 fraudulent attempts at using his card so far. So now, despite the fact that he is in LA with no money, the bank cancelled his card. I have had to devise other methods of getting money to him - so the bank of mum and dad has been well and truly exploited today...

The ideal travel companion...

...Is one who doesn't talk to you while on the journey, makes no fuss when you want to move about the compartment, and doesn't need to go the restaurant car at odd times. In other words a dead body. Somebody travelling with their dad on Amtrak didnt tell anybody he was dead, so she didn't have the expense of shipping his body home - well I suppose they had paid for the sleeper car already...

Dead body travels 1,000 miles on Amtrak

TB is back with a vengeance

TB is one of those forgotten diseases - because it was eradicated from the Western world, it's profile dropped, but it hadn't gone away - and because the people who were taking drugs to cure their TB, tended to not complete the course, resistant strains developed, and now are becoming more common. In parts of former Soviet Union, Africa, China and India the cases of the multi-resistant TB are growing, resulting in less effective treatment and people dying. Many Western health care staff were unused to dealing with TB, but with the growth of air travel the numbers of people infected with TB in the West has grown. Urgent research is needed to develop new drugs to control the spread before it becomes endemic once more, and to possible develop a vaccine.

'Virtually untreatable' TB found

Eating whales is obscene

Iceland is reported to have stated to export whale meat. WHEN will people realise that whales are endangered, we don't need to hunt them for 'scientific study', and we should just let these gentle giants alone, to breed in peace in the oceans of the world.

Iceland to begin whalemeat trade

Cheap as chips?

Neighbour disputes are nothing new, but this one takes the biscuit - or the batter! A cafe in Whitby has to ask its clients waiting for a table to queue on the other side of the road, as its neighbours claim they are obstructing their window and reducing their trade. Its gone so far, that the police issue fixed penalty notices to people waiting outside the cafe, forcing them to wait over the road, and dodge the traffic when a table is available.

It's about time the owners of the other business grew up a bit - surely the fact that people are queuing up outside their business means that people will actually enter the premises... but some people are very petty and make mountains out of molehills, or in this battering the paying public.

Fish and chip lovers face fines

Back online

After a 55 day 'break', he is back online. It's great to have IM and email contact again. Bruxelles doesn't seem so far away now.

Paris

Paris was, as usual great. I stay in an apartment in the 6th, and it is very handy for the metro being served by 4 metro lines and lots of buses. The main aim of the stay was to have peace and quiet to recharge the batteries after a hectic summer, which left me totally exhausted by the end of the extended term, and to do some initial work on my dissertation. I ended up doing a lot of thinking, and had a wonderful time. With no pressure to 'do' touristy things, life was shared between walking, running round the Luxembourg Gardens most mornings, situps [omg, they were awful, I hate them], coffee, more coffee, people watching in the cafes, cinema, shopping, and spending time with Patrick on his way from the South of France to Bruxelles. It rained a bit, which was a shame, but it was significantly warmer than the UK, but Patrick complained how cold it was. I felt dreadful when I did return to the UK, 'cos the temperature plummeted, and it's taken me a week to get used to the reduced temperature - so Patrick must have been freezing as it was 35-40C down south, and then went to 25Cmax! But hey, he had a good time, and went off to Bruxelles with all his laundry done and having had enough showers to last him a few weeks.