Saturday, December 20, 2014

How to Defuse the Population Bomb

How to Defuse the Population Bomb: "It’s an ancient problem, with a very obvious solution: give women full reproductive rights, including easy access to contraception and other family-planning options. Family planning and reproductive health are some of the most crucial tools for reducing human suffering in a changing and increasingly crowded world."



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Tests confirm Cambodia HIV mass infection - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English

Tests confirm Cambodia HIV mass infection - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English: "Battambang, Cambodia - A third round of tests has confirmed that at least 90 villagers in a small rural community in northwest Cambodia have contracted HIV in an unexplained and panic-inducing mass infection.

Dr Didier Fontenille, director of the Pasteur Institute in Cambodia, said that samples sent from Roka commune in Battambang province, where the unusually high number of infections were first detected this month, have tested positive for the virus.

"It has been confirmed three times by different techniques. Around 90 [people] have tested positive," Fontenille said.

More samples taken from residents in the area will be tested on Saturday, he said.

On Saturday afternoon, members of a parliamentary commission on public health attempted to address the concerns of the villagers in the northwest of the country."



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Brain-damaging Side Effects Force Army to Pull Mefloquine

Brain-damaging Side Effects Force Army to Pull Mefloquine: "The top doctor for Green Berets and other elite Army commandos has told troops to immediately stop taking mefloquine, an anti-malaria drug found to cause permanent brain damage in rare cases.

The ban among special operations forces is the latest development in a long-running controversy over mefloquine. The drug was developed by the Army in the 1970s and has been taken by millions of travelers and people in the military over the years. As alternatives were developed, it fell out of favor as the front-line defense against malaria, a mosquito-borne disease that international health officials say kills roughly 600,000 people a year.

The new prohibition among special operations forces follows a July 29 safety announcement by the Food and Drug Administration that it had strengthened warnings about neurologic side effects associated with the drug. The FDA added a boxed warning to the drug label, the most serious kind of warning, saying neurologic side effects like dizziness, loss of balance and ringing in the ears may become permanent."



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How ‘Deprogramming’ Kids From How to ‘Do School’ Could Improve Learning | MindShift

How ‘Deprogramming’ Kids From How to ‘Do School’ Could Improve Learning | MindShift: "One day, Adam Holman decided he was fed up with trying to cram knowledge into the brains of the high school students he taught. They weren’t grasping the physics he was teaching at the level he knew they were capable of, so he decided to change up his teaching style. It wasn’t that his students didn’t care about achieving — he taught at high performing, affluent schools where students knew they needed high grades to get into good colleges. They argued for every point to make sure their grades were as high as possible, but were they learning?



 “I felt I had to remove all the barriers I could on my end before I could ask my kids to meet me halfway,” Holman said. The first thing he did was move to standards-based grading. He told his students to show him they’d learned the material, it didn’t matter how long it took them.



 ‘We know how kids learn; we know what classes should look like, and yet our classes look almost the opposite.’



“The kids realized this made sense,” Holman said. He taught physics and math at Anderson High School in Austin, before moving on to become a vice-principal. His students were mostly well-off, high achievers, and they knew how to play the game to get the grades they needed. But Holman found when he changed the grading policy, students worried about grades less and focused more on working together to understand the material.



 “It turned my students into classmates and collaborators because I didn’t have a system in place to deny the collaboration,” Holman said. His students stopped copying homework. There was no curve that guaranteed some kids would be at the bottom. Instead, the class moved at its regular pace, but if a student persisted at a topic until they could show they understood it, Holman would give them credit. “It turned the kids on my side,” Holman said. “I was there to help them learn.”"



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Non-Muslims can use the word ‘Allah’ in Penang | TODAYonline

Non-Muslims can use the word ‘Allah’ in Penang | TODAYonline: "GEORGE TOWN — Non-Muslims can use the word “Allah” in Penang as the enactment banning the use of the word cannot be enforced on them, said Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

The Penang lawmaker said it is clearly stated that the Administration of Religion of Islam (Penang) Enactment 2004 applies to Muslims only.

“Even if it mentions that non-Muslims can’t use these words, it is not enforceable because this enactment only applies to Muslims and is only enforceable on Muslims,” he said.

He said the state government had not passed any law to allow the enactment to apply on non-Muslims.

A list of 40 words, including Allah, Solat, Ulama, Soleh, Mufti, Iman, Surau and Nabi, were decreed as exclusive to Muslims by the Penang mufti and enforced in 2010 as provided under subsection 48(3) and (4) of the Administration of Religion of Islam (Penang) Enactment 2004."



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Mahathir: Penang CM politicizing ‘Allah” | Free Malaysia Today

Mahathir: Penang CM politicizing ‘Allah” | Free Malaysia Today: "“This has never been an issue before in this country,” said Mahathir on the sidelines of a function at the National Academy. “In Sabah and Sarawak, they (non-Muslims) have always used Allah.”
“Lim is using the Allah issue for political purposes.”
He did not mention the Sikhs whose Holy Book mentions “Allah” 37 times.
Lim, in a public spat with MCA which first raised the issue, has repeatedly taken the position that fatwas are not binding on non-Muslims.
He also pointed out that the issue of non-Muslims using or not using Allah does not arise. “The non-Muslims in Penang pray in Tamil, English and Malay,” he said in a reference to the fact that only those who pray in Malay, including Christians, use the term Allah.
He has conceded that religious enactmen"



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Revealed: the true story of 'Maya', the CIA analyst who hunted down Osama bin Laden - Telegraph

Revealed: the true story of 'Maya', the CIA analyst who hunted down Osama bin Laden - Telegraph: "In the film Zero Dark Thirty, she was the persistent, conscientious CIA officer who finally tracked Osama bin Laden to his lair.
In real life, her identity and current position were carefully hidden: until now. Following the release of the controversial US Senate report on the CIA’s use of torture and rendition, she has had her less-than-sparkling record picked over, been dubbed by the media “The Queen of Torture” and now finally been outed.
While the film’s portrayal of her as a life-long al-Qaeda expert is accurate, her career is revealed to feature a series of blunders and accusations of misleading Congress.
“She dropped the ball when the CIA was given information that might very well have prevented the 9/11 attacks,” wrote Jane Mayer, author of a definitive history of the agency’s “enhanced interrogation” practices, in the New Yorker.
“She gleefully participated in torture sessions afterward; she misinterpreted intelligence in such a way that it sent the CIA on an absurd chase for al-Qaeda sleeper cells in Montana. And then she falsely told congressional overseers that the torture worked.”"



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BBC News - North Korea seeks joint probe with US on Sony hack

BBC News - North Korea seeks joint probe with US on Sony hack: "The North's foreign ministry accused the US government of "spreading groundless allegations" and said a probe would refute the allegations.

The attack and subsequent threats against cinemas led Sony to cancel the release of The Interview, a satire.

The plot includes plans to assassinate North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un.

The Interview had been due to open on Christmas Day. But Sony said it was considering releasing it "on a different platform".

The FBI said on Friday that the Pyongyang government was responsible for the cyber-attack last month, in which script details and private emails were leaked."



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Falling Oil Prices Could Be One Of The Reasons for Cuba’s Pivot To The U.S | Apex Tribune

Falling Oil Prices Could Be One Of The Reasons for Cuba’s Pivot To The U.S | Apex Tribune: "Experts contend that one of the most productive oil and gas basins on the planet sits just off the North-West coast of Cuba. With its relations with the US on the mends, it now hopes that the Cuban Oil and Gas industry can finally get into action. The prospect has been welcomed by Cubans who are desperate to kick start their economy and achieve some parity in living standards of their superpower neighbor.

However the Cuban Oil boom is unlikely to happen any time soon and the biggest reasons are low oil prices and better prospects elsewhere.

Cuban oil industry has been long open to foreign investment; US sanctions denied it the best deep water drilling technology for extracting oil offshore. It is the biggest reason why Cuba produces a measly 55000 barrels of oil per day and one third of this is produced by just one company- a Canadian oil company named Sherritt International."



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100 engineers are trying to bring Elon Musk's hyperloop dream to life

100 engineers are trying to bring Elon Musk's hyperloop dream to life: "Now, thanks to 100 of some of the world’s smartest engineers and designers, Musk’s Jetson-esque Hyperloop vision isn’t forever on the backburner. The dream team is now officially clocking hours for Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Inc. [HTT], a unique JumpStartFund collaborative that formed back in September. Its express mission is to rise to the challenge laid out in Musk’s 57-page Hyperloop whitepaper."



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GamerGate Harassment Of Zoe Quinn Stoops To New Low | TechCrunch

GamerGate Harassment Of Zoe Quinn Stoops To New Low | TechCrunch: "This e-book is just another example of the highly unpleasant trolling that has characterized GamerGame, much of it playing out on Twitter, where hate speech has been allowed to flow free. And where rape and death threats have driven multiple women in the games industry out of their homes, or forced them to cancel speaking engagements.

The underlying agenda of GamerGate has always been an attempt to intimidate and drive women out of the games industry. While the threats of violence have been exceptionally crude, the tactics have been relatively sophisticated, with co-ordinated online attacks aimed at amplifying the impact and noise, and exerting commercial pressure on digital advertisers.

Tactics that I and others have argued requires mainstream social platforms to up their own game when it comes to combating co-ordinated hate mobs by giving users more granular controls for filtering their feeds. Bottom line: this is an online bullying issue, not a free speech issue. And indeed, earlier this month, Twitter launched a suite of new anti-harassment tools to make it easier for users to block or report bullies on the network."



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Thursday, December 18, 2014

I Was Gang Raped at a U-VA Frat 30 Years Ago, and No One Did Anything - The Daily Beast

I Was Gang Raped at a U-VA Frat 30 Years Ago, and No One Did Anything - The Daily Beast: "I was gang-raped at the University of Virginia. I was gang raped at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house. 

We are all left with questions and opinions in the exhausting wake of the now-infamous Rolling Stone article about campus sexual assault, and how victims are treated at the University of Virginia. 

This is my story."



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It’s Official: Sony Scraps ‘The Interview’ | Deadline

It’s Official: Sony Scraps ‘The Interview’ | Deadline: "Sony Pictures has made official what has been painfully obvious to everybody since yesterday morning, when hackers threatened to blow up movie theaters if The Interview was released next week. The studio has officially scrapped its release plans. Sony had little choice here, after the major theater chains announced earlier today they would not display the film given the threatening circumstances. Here’s the statement:"



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Friday, December 12, 2014

Spending Bill Includes Abortion Funding for Peace Corps Rape Survivors - NationalJournal.com

Spending Bill Includes Abortion Funding for Peace Corps Rape Survivors - NationalJournal.com: "December 11, 2014 The battle over abortion funding for Peace Corps members may be coming to an end.

The $1.1 trillion "CROmnibus" spending bill includes a provision to remove a 35-year ban on federal funding for abortions for Peace Corps volunteers in the event of rape, incest, and life endangerment.

Since 1979, insurance through the program has been prohibited from covering abortions, even in the above circumstances. The volunteers are currently the only recipients of government-sponsored insurance that are banned from receiving this kind of emergency coverage, which is available to federal employees and Medicaid recipients. Congress eliminated a similar prohibition for military members last year.

Federal funding for abortions is not permitted outside the above three situations.

"This is a technical correction so that women representing the United States abroad benefit from the same protections that female service members and other federal employees do," House Appropriations Committee Democrats spokesman Matthew Dennis wrote in an email."



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New group of Myanmar assassins identified in Penang | Malaysia | Malay Mail Online

New group of Myanmar assassins identified in Penang | Malaysia | Malay Mail Online: "GEORGE TOWN, Dec 12 — The grisly murder of Myanmar nationals has taken a twist with the emergence of a new group of serial killers in Penang.

The disclosure was made following police investigations and after the discovery of another foreigner’s body with his throat slit in front of a Buddhist temple in Relau on Monday.

The existence of a second gang has heightened fears of more serial killings in the state which has been gripped by the death of 18 Myanmar nationals in the past 11 months.

Penang police chief Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi said the new gang, whose members have yet to be identified, was believed to be operating from the island."



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Malaysia’s New Migrants - NYTimes.com

Malaysia’s New Migrants - NYTimes.com: "But I’m struck, most of all, by one key difference between the migrants of then and now, which highlights how patterns of migration within Asia have changed over the last 100 years. Whereas almost all the Chinese and Indian immigrants to Malaysia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries settled in their adopted country, eventually establishing large communities that still thrive today, not one of the 16 Nepali workers who share Shyam’s cramped dormitory intends to put down roots in Malaysia, or even return to the country for another three-year contract once their present one runs out.

The reduction of the migrant experience to pure economics over the last two decades has irrevocably changed the nature of human movement in Asia. It also highlights the growing gulf in wealth between middle-class countries such as Malaysia and Singapore on one hand, and Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Cambodia on the other."



"Shyam’s dilemma is common to most migrant workers I’ve spoken to in Malaysia: They are paid just enough for them to want to remain employed, but are trapped in an endless cycle of 12-hour shifts that makes it impossible for them to interact in any meaningful way with local life. They have no chance, or incentive, to become an integrated part of Malaysian society. Malaysia has been a rich melting pot since the 1500s, because of its favorable location on trading routes between India and China, as well as its colonial history of successive occupation by the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British. But its new migrants are treated merely as a resource, rather than as potential citizens who could contribute to and enrich Malaysian culture."



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Storm floods highways, cuts power on West Coast

Storm floods highways, cuts power on West Coast: "Winds were howling across a wide swath of Northern California, including winds sustained at 78 mph near Lake Tahoe, which is hurricane force. The highest gust recorded so far was 147 mph recorded near Lake Tahoe, according to the National Weather Service. Many spots in the mountains were gusting to over 100 mph.

The highest rainfall total by early Thursday was 7 inches in one spot north of San Francisco.

As the storm spreads south, downpours are likely to cause debris slides, especially in areas affected by this year's intense and widespread wildfires.

As much as 8 inches of rain could fall on coastal mountains over a 24-hour period, the weather service said."



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Thursday, December 11, 2014

It’s Hard to Succeed When Your Boss Is a Dick

It’s Hard to Succeed When Your Boss Is a Dick: "My co-worker Sarah was Daniel's first target. Despite being nearly 15 years his senior, he treated her like a child who suffered from learning disabilities. Their struggle to communicate was difficult to witness, and the disrespect grew more intense as time went on. He talked down to Sarah regularly in the way that an exasperated owner talks to their pet, and the mental and physical toll it took on her was obvious. It eventually got so bad that she quit before finding a new job. It was affecting her health. Imagine the experience of going to work being so dreadful that it literally makes you sick. Considering Daniel once told me that he had a frightening meltdown from a job he despised, you'd think he'd have some compassion. But no.



 There were more telling incidents. Daniel disliked Bobby almost instantly. He saw him as a bad influence on me, and a link to our previous manager's regime, something he was exceptionally insecure about. Daniel was the new coach who didn't want to hear anything about the old coach, as if the mere mention of her name was an insult to his very existence. After Bobby accidentally called him a "prick" in a message intended for me, Daniel began to seek out faults in Bobby, over-analyzing his every move, harassing him about being away from his desk, even if it was just to go to the bathroom. The smallest issues were amplified in an attempt to build a case against him. This obsession was disturbing, and it reached a new low when Bobby's father's health began to deteriorate."



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I'm a victim of sexual assault and the law failed. How many of us must speak out for you to believe? | Megan Carpentier | Comment is free | theguardian.com

I'm a victim of sexual assault and the law failed. How many of us must speak out for you to believe? | Megan Carpentier | Comment is free | theguardian.com: "What the prosecutors didn’t tell me was that the police who took my attacker into custody that night didn’t ask him a question about what he’d done, even though he didn’t invoke his right to an attorney. What they didn’t say is that I’d already answered more questions that night than my attacker had ever been asked or would ever be asked by law enforcement about that night. What they didn’t mention is that they’d already decided not to prosecute Jesus Rivera for what he did to me – for sexually assaulting me – and they were meeting with me – a victim of sexual assault – not to discuss how to proceed. They were there to break the news that they didn’t plan to proceed at all.

“We’re not here to get justice for you,” the blonde prosecutor said, as I tightened every muscle in my face to keep from crying. “We’re here to get justice for the people of Virginia.”"



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Northern California braces for possible hurricane-force winds - CBS News

Northern California braces for possible hurricane-force winds - CBS News: "CBS San Francisco reports that sustained winds at or near hurricane strength in the highest elevations with gusts exceeding 100 miles per hour across the Sierra summit are forecast for Thursday, with Bay Area winds easily gusting past 50 miles per hour in urban areas and 70-80 miles per hour in the local mountains and hills in what could be the "storm of the decade.""



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World's Richest People Warned Against Impact Investing - Billionaires Australia

World's Richest People Warned Against Impact Investing - Billionaires Australia: "The World Economic Forum (WEF) has told millionaires and billionaires around the globe to be cautious of the hype about investments that combine making profits with having a positive effect on society.

It has become increasingly popular for wealthy families and money managers to channel their funds into projects such as this. However, the WEF fears that if the impact investment bubble bursts, lots of the world’s wealth could be lost.

The warning was issued in a report released on Thursday (4 December) to mark the start of a forum for wealthy heirs, which is being held in Davos, Switzerland. The WEF paper said that the move towards dual-purpose investments is risky because it often involves giving money to people or organisations that rarely have the expertise or tools to put it into practice."



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18 Badass Women You Probably Didn't Hear About In 2014

18 Badass Women You Probably Didn't Hear About In 2014:



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Richmond police chief a prominent participant in protest against police violence - Inside Bay Area

Richmond police chief a prominent participant in protest against police violence - Inside Bay Area: "About 100 protesters lined Macdonald Avenue at 41st Street by noon Tuesday, holding signs and listening to a stereo that boomed speeches by Martin Luther King Jr.

Police Chief Chris Magnus, who has drawn acclaim for his community-policing approach and helping drive down both crime and use of force by his officers in recent years, was front and center, facing the street while holding a white sign that said "#blacklivesmatter." The photo quickly went viral on social media, the image of the uniformed chief with the popular hashtag a stark contrast to the anti-police sentiment many associate with it.

"I spoke with my command staff, and we agreed it would be nice to convey our commitment to peaceful protest and that black and brown lives do matter," Magnus said after the protest. "And to help bridge the gap that we understand sometimes exists between police and community around certain issues.""



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Marine miracle: Sailor lost at sea for 12 days rescued off coast of Hawaii - The Washington Post

Marine miracle: Sailor lost at sea for 12 days rescued off coast of Hawaii - The Washington Post: "But 12 days after Ingraham dropped off the map, another distress call came through.

“We got a mayday here. Mayday. This is the Malia,” Ingraham was heard saying Tuesday morning. “Anybody picking this up?”

The Coast Guard heard the call, which was made 64 miles south of Honolulu. The USS Paul Hamilton, a guided-missile destroyer, was just 14 miles away from Ingraham at the time, according to the Coast Guard. About an hour after his call for help, the Navy ship reported that Ingraham was “weak, hungry and dehydrated.” But he was alive, and without injuries."



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Malala's moment: Nobel winner speaks out | CharlotteObserver.com

Malala's moment: Nobel winner speaks out | CharlotteObserver.com: "OSLO, Norway The Pakistani teenager stood on the stage of Oslo City Hall as the youngest Nobel Peace laureate, smiling as she listened to the thunderous ovation.

Now, everybody knows: She is Malala.

Shot in the head by the Taliban two years ago for speaking out on education, 17-year-old Malala Yousafzai on Wednesday beamed as she received the Nobel Peace Prize and taught a lesson in courage.

"I had two options. One was to remain silent and wait to be killed. And the second was to speak up and then be killed. I chose the second one. I decided to speak up," Malala said."



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California braces for fiercest storm in 5 years

California braces for fiercest storm in 5 years: "The National Weather Service said the barrage is "expected to be one of the strongest storms in terms of wind and rain" since storms in October 2009 and January 2008.

In Northern California, where the rain was expected to hit first, officials in San Francisco, Oakland and Marin County said schools would be closed Thursday because of expected heavy rain and winds.

A system fueled by the "Pineapple Express" is delivering a steady stream of moisture directly from Hawaii to the West Coast starting Wednesday. Meteorologists describe the Pineapple Express as a long, narrow plume that pipes moisture from the tropics into the western United States."



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In a first, more Americans support gun rights than gun control, poll finds - CSMonitor.com

In a first, more Americans support gun rights than gun control, poll finds - CSMonitor.com: "Right after the mass shooting, in which a gunman killed 27 people and then himself, the balance of opinion favored gun control. But since January 2013, support for gun rights over gun control has risen from 45 percent to 52 percent, while the percentage who prioritize gun control has gone down, from 51 percent to 46 percent."



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Uber Is Sued by 2 California Counties, Citing Misleading Safety Practices - NYTimes.com

Uber Is Sued by 2 California Counties, Citing Misleading Safety Practices - NYTimes.com: "“Uber does not go above and beyond local requirements in every city in which it operates,” George Gascón, the district attorney of San Francisco, said at a news conference on Tuesday.

In the screening process, Uber and Lyft, another ride-hailing service, do not require drivers to submit their fingerprints for a background check, which the California officials say is the most comprehensive form of driver screening methodology.

“You are not using an industry-leading background process if you are not fingerprinting your drivers,” Mr. Gascón said.

Eva Behrend, a spokeswoman for Uber, said in a statement that the company had met with the district attorneys and would continue discussions with them regarding their concerns."



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Malaysia summons US ambassador over Sedition Act remarks - Channel NewsAsia

Malaysia summons US ambassador over Sedition Act remarks - Channel NewsAsia: "PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday (Dec 10) summoned the US ambassador for his “unwarranted” comments on the country’s Sedition Act.

Ambassador of the United States of America to Malaysia Joseph Y Yun had said in an interview with Malaysiakini that the Sedition Act, if wielded too far, would infringe on human rights.

"Clearly if it goes too far, of course it will. And again, you must have a balance for the need for protecting speech, protecting expression, protecting dissent, protecting all positions, against the needs of safeguarding the society," he was quoted as saying.

In a media statement, the ministry said Malaysia was disappointed with Mr Yun’s comments, and summoned him to “explain the US’ position on the matter”.

“Malaysia calls on the US government to respect the internal affairs of the country and allow Malaysia the space, indispensable to all countries with maturing democracies, to ensure continued peace, security and stability,” said the Foreign Affairs Minister in a statement."



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Monday, December 8, 2014

Penang police solve 23 Myanmar killings | Free Malaysia Today

Penang police solve 23 Myanmar killings | Free Malaysia Today: "GEORGE TOWN: Police have concluded that the savage killings of 23 Myanmar nationals, males aged between 20 and 40, in Penang recently were linked to ethnic tensions between Buddhists and Muslims in Myanmar.
A police source who disclosed these details said a special task force from Bukit Aman managed to piece together the story after picking up a key suspect, a Muslim from the Arakan district in Myanmar, last week. The suspect reportedly led police to six other suspects who were also detained to assist in the probe into the killings of the 23 Myanmar nationals.
The main suspect has since confessed, according to the source, that he had a hand in the killings.
“The main suspect said six of his family members were killed during communal clashes in his home state a year ago. We are now piecing the connection between all 23 cases to see if they were linked,” the source said."



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Slaughterhouse found in Penang where Myanmar nationals butchered victims - The Malaysian Insider

Slaughterhouse found in Penang where Myanmar nationals butchered victims - The Malaysian Insider: "Penang police arrested two more suspects early this morning in Bukit Mertajam in connection with the numerous murders reported in the state recently and found a "slaughterhouse", believed to have been used to butcher the victims.

State police chief Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi said the latest arrest of two men aged between 30 and 40 brought the total number of people detained to 17 people, all from Myanmar."



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Police get new leads on gruesome Myanmar murders in Penang | Malaysia | Malay Mail Online

Police get new leads on gruesome Myanmar murders in Penang | Malaysia | Malay Mail Online: "He said the information obtained from questioning 17 Myanmar men had led police to find the location of a body to solve the jigsaw of heads, arms, legs and torso of two victims found dumped in several places all over Bukit Mertajam.  

“A suspect admitted to murdering the victims before dismembering them and one of the torsos was found in a canal in Jalan Kampung Permatang, Sungai Bakap, near here, two weeks ago. 

“So far, police have only found two heads, hands, legs and a torso of the victims. Maybe one of the victim’s body had drifted into the river or sea,” he told reporters after launching a Police Community Programme, here, today. "



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Malaysian police detain 15 Burmese over series of gruesome murders | World news | The Guardian

Malaysian police detain 15 Burmese over series of gruesome murders | World news | The Guardian: "Authorities had made little comment until now but the state’s police chief was quoted on Friday as saying they now believed the killings were linked to violent clashes between Muslims and Buddhists in Burma. “It was revenge they brought here from their country,” Abdul Rahim Hanafi said, according to the Malay Mail.

Clashes between majority Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya – who the United Nations describe as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world – erupted in 2012 in western Burma.

The violence has led to the deaths of about 200 people and displaced up to 140,000, mostly Rohingya."



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Sunday, December 7, 2014

Indonesia sinks Vietnamese boats to stop illegal fishing - Channel NewsAsia

Indonesia sinks Vietnamese boats to stop illegal fishing - Channel NewsAsia: "JAKARTA: Indonesia blew up and sank three empty Vietnamese boats Friday (Dec 5), the navy said, as the world's biggest archipelago nation pushes to stop foreigners from illegally fishing in its waters.

It was the strongest measure yet taken in the campaign launched by new President Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, who is seeking to stop a practice he says costs Southeast Asia's biggest economy billions of dollars in lost revenues.

The navy, working with other government agencies, sank the three boats in the remote Anambas islands, which lie between Malaysia and the Indonesian part of Borneo island, navy spokesman Manahan Simorangkir told AFP."



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Dr. Laura Markham > Parenting Your Strong-Willed Child

Dr. Laura Markham > Parenting Your Strong-Willed Child: "Strong-willed kids aren't just being difficult. They feel their integrity is compromised if they're forced to submit to another person's will. If they're allowed to choose, they love to cooperate.  If this bothers you because you think obedience is an important quality, I'd ask you to reconsider. Of course you want to raise a responsible, considerate, cooperative child who does the right thing, even when it's hard. But that doesn't imply obedience. That implies doing the right thing because the child WANTS to. As H.L. Mencken famously observed, morality is doing what's right, no matter what you're told. Obedience is doing what you're told, no matter what's right."



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Strong-Willed Children Are a Blessing, Not a Curse | Lynnette Sheppard

Strong-Willed Children Are a Blessing, Not a Curse | Lynnette Sheppard: "As I walked away and pondered her words, my heart filled with hope. Although I was struggling, I had to believe that she knew something that I didn't know. I think she knew MANY things that I didn't know. And, maybe... just maybe... she was the answer to my prayers -- a sweet assurance that this stage would not last forever, and that my seemingly impossible children had come to me with strong wills because they would NEED them to accomplish great things later in life. I found comfort in that.



 I have looked back on this experience many times since then. I have thought about her words as I have struggled through countless difficult stages with my kids. I have thought about them as I have watched difficult stages fade into sweet stages of understanding and growth. I have thought about them as I have witnessed unreasonable children grow into thoughtful and self-motivated teenagers, whose strong wills are now ingrained into their characters in a way that strengthens them and others. There is now no doubt in my mind that this sweet woman knew what she was talking about that day so many years ago. She knew, as I am now learning, that strong will in a child is nothing to fear. It is a BLESSING."



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My drugged life: I’ve been on antidepressants since 10 - Salon.com

My drugged life: I’ve been on antidepressants since 10 - Salon.com: "A close friend whom I’ve always considered a natural candidate for antidepressants (cancer, fraught relationship with family, multiple career disappointments) has serious ontological issues with antidepressants: “If I were in a good mood or more functional because of pills, what would that mean? Where would the pills stop and I begin? Would it really be me living this better life?”



 For me these philosophical questions have an extra dimension because I was so young when this all began. If my friend started taking antidepressants now, she would be doing so as an adult, making a somewhat informed decision. She would at least know who that person was deciding to take the medication. I, on the other hand, began taking medication intended to alter my personality before I became a person."



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A Burger Joint Pays $15 An Hour. And, Yes, It's Making Money : The Salt : NPR

A Burger Joint Pays $15 An Hour. And, Yes, It's Making Money : The Salt : NPR: "When Moo Cluck Moo opened its first location almost two years ago, the starting pay for all workers was $12 an hour. The idea, according to co-founder Brian Parker, was to train everyone to multitask.

No one is just flipping burgers. All of the workers are expected to be jacks-of-all-trades: They bake buns from scratch daily, they house-make aioli and prepare made-to-order grass-fed burgers and free-range chicken sandwiches.

And, now, says Parker, the investment is paying off. Revenue is up at the chain's two locations. And workers are sticking around. And their pay now? It's up to $15 an hour. By comparison, a typical fast-food worker in the U.S. makes about $8 or $9 an hour.

"Because of our low turnover, and the fact that people are really into their jobs, $15 an hour wasn't a big stretch," Parker says."



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Why Did Vitamins Disappear From Non-GMO Breakfast Cereal? : The Salt : NPR

Why Did Vitamins Disappear From Non-GMO Breakfast Cereal? : The Salt : NPR: "Remember when Cheerios and Grape-Nuts went GMO-free? That was about a year ago, when their corporate creators announced that these products would no longer contain ingredients made from genetically modified organisms like common types of corn, soybeans or sugar beets.



When they actually arrived on supermarket shelves, though, there was a mysterious change in their list of ingredients. Four vitamins that previously had been added to Grape-Nuts — vitamins A, D, B-12 and B-2 (also known as riboflavin) — were gone. Riboflavin vanished from Cheerios.



 Wayne Parrott, a professor of crop science at the University of Georgia and defender of GMOs, was among the first to point out the change. He criticized General Mills and Post Foods for marketing their non-GMO cereals as especially wholesome. "The new version [of Cheerios] is certainly less nutritious," he told a reporter for Foodnavigator-usa.com, which covers the food industry."



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25 Ways to Say "I Love You" Without Saying a Word | Winifred M. Reilly

25 Ways to Say "I Love You" Without Saying a Word | Winifred M. Reilly: "Recently, on a cross-country flight, my husband and I were seated on opposite sides of the aisle. Several times, he leaned toward me to ask, "Would you like a bite of my sandwich?" "Can I get you some water?" Once he offered to share the last bite of his cookie. A while later, he reached over and put his hand my arm, just to say, "Hi."

At the end of the flight the woman next to me said, "Your husband really loves you. I can tell."

And she's right. He does.

As couples, we express love through our everyday actions -- our gestures of kindness, our generosity, our attention, our touch.

We say, "Drive safely." "Take an umbrella." We kiss each other goodnight.

And our spouse hears,"I love you," in a way that touches more deeply than words.

We all have our favorite ways to show love. Here are some of mine:"



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