Sunday 5 February 2012

Week 5 - 29 January to 4 February

I got sick of hearing all the doom and gloom given to us as 'news' by the media so decided to look every day for some good news. Sometimes it's quite difficult to find. I post the good news for the day on Twitter and every week I plan on posting a summary here.

Found some good news? If I didn't spot it please feel free to add it.

Well here goes - the 5th week of 2012
29th January 2012 - Iran being reasonable? Iran admits nuclear inspectors to it's supposed weapons site.
US view of Iran's nuclear program
Iran and the US seem to have been spoiling for a fight for some time. Since October 2010 there has been concern that Iran was developing a nuclear capability and that action needed to be taken to prevent this. Iran has always insisted that this wasn't the case and that they were developing a nuclear reactor to generate power. This seems unlikely to many since Iran is floating on a sea of oil. 


We've seen attacks on Afghanistan and on Iraq. Afghanistan because the ruling Taliban supported terrorists and Iraq because non-existent weapons of mass destruction were being developed. In the case of Afghanistan there might have been some justification for action against a country ruled by religious frenzy who apparently saw it their duty to punish the 'evil' in the world. In Iraq's case a despot didn't see the writing on the wall and didn't give UN inspectors sufficient access.


Iran seems to be a combination of religious frenzy and refusal to bow to the will of the UN. The last thing they needed to do was to give anyone an excuse to invade. Today they agreed to allow UN inspectors to examine their nuclear facilities for evidence of weapons research. Hopefully that will calm things down a little in a volatile area. My only concern is that Gaddafi in Libya toed the line at one point but that didn't save him.


Full story at http://www.thejournal.ie/un-nuclear-inspectors-start-investigation-in-iran-340568-Jan2012/

30th January 2012 - Not quite as dangerous as the media says.
Remember walking to school on your own? There was a time when it was considered safe for young children to do this. Today many people feel their children are at risk if they are allowed unsupervised outside their garden. 


Is the risk as great as the media would have us believe? This is a story in which one mother took action to put the risk to children in a small town in its true perspective.


Full story: http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/theres-hope-for-mayberry-yet/

31st January 2012 - Donors rally round 101 year old victim of eviction.
Would you evict a 101 year old woman and leave her sitting in the street with all her possessions in a dumpster? It seems some finance companies will. They did realise their mistake but then people found out that the house in question was in an appalling state. Neighbours rallied round to help. 


Full story: http://www.freep.com/article/20120126/NEWS01/201260526/Donations-roll-in-for-101-year-old-Detroit-woman-who-was-evicted

1st February 2012 - Researchers seem to have made significant advance in mental control of a computer.
I don't know about you but I hate keyboards so the news that researchers in California have made significant advances in allowing the brain to control a computer directly has to be good. 


At the moment the process is a little severe. It requires electrodes to be implanted in the brain. The method was discovered with the co-operation of patients undergoing brain surgery. It offers hope to those completely disabled  of being able to control and interact with the world. The obvious next step will be mental control of computers for everyone. 


So long as it's me controlling the computer and not the other way round that's fine by me. Electrodes in the brain? Maybe not.


Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16811042

2nd February 2012 -  Quote - "The Cost of Cigarettes is Killing Me".
I came across this story in The Huffington Post. In it a smoker bemoans the fact that she has to pay £7.04 (US $11.13) for her daily fix of cigarettes. Now to me that's excellent news because maybe she'll quit her addiction.


Now don't get me wrong - I'm not in favour of forcing anyone to do anything and the last thing we should do is create another law to make smoking illegal. I agree - smokers have a right to kill themselves if they want to. What I don't support is their right to affect others.


Apart from a brief experiment at the age of 14 I have never smoked. I tried but very quickly realised 1. I didn't like it. 2. I couldn't afford it. 3. Anything which made people cough obviously wasn't good for them. 4. People had problems quitting even though they wanted to quit so obviously it was addictive. 5. People who smoked didn't smell nice. I made the choice never to smoke and haven't regretted it.


Despite never smoking myself I've been faced with:

  • The death of two relatives whose smoking put us through unnecessary traumatic experiences.
  • Coming home stinking of tobacco because I walked through a room where people were smoking.
  • Seeing impressionable children pick up the habit because they see others smoking and think it's a way of making themselves seem more adult (in their eyes) and rebelling against being forbidden to smoke.
  • finding out that my home insurance premiums are higher to pay for fires in houses caused by the presence of smoking materials.
  • Finding out I pay more for health insurance to pay for the medical treatment of smokers.
  • Having to daily clear up the mess by smokers who think nothing of throwing out their empty cartons onto the grass outside my house.
So paying for cigarettes is killing her? That's excellent news! Quit!

3rd February 2012 - 9-year-old girl back home after 6 organs are replaced in groundbreaking surgery.
A 9-year-old girl is finally home after a four year battle with cancer destroyed her stomach, liver, spleen, small intestine, pancreas, and part of her esophagus. They were all replaced by a transplant operation in October. 

Alannah Shevenell is well enough to go sledging and building a snowman.


4th February 2012 - A South African's view of Singapore where 'everything just works'.
Singapore http://www.bestcities.net/Singapore.aspx 
We hear so much of the failure of government, industry and people that it's nice to hear of a place where 'everything just works'. Donovan Kretsman, from South Africa, visited Singapore and thinks we could learn from the people there.
Full story: http://www.news24.com/MyNews24/A-Different-Perspective-20120202
Take a touch of humour, add some genetic science and nanotechnology. Steep with conspiracy and stir in murder and despair. Season with romance between three people in a secret location. Garnish with morality.
The result is 'A Vested Interest', a novel series by John and Shelia Chapman
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