Not Just Ordinary News
Archive for June, 2009
Behavior Expert Says Don’t Smoke at Home: Research Finds the Reason
Jun 29th
Home smoking bans do promote anti-smoking attitudes and reduce progression to smoking experimentation among youths (Albers, 2008). New research finds.
This research suggest that family member’s behavior have significant effect to children behavior. This finding also support previous theory by Bandura which reveal that children learn a lot by watching and imitating what their model (parent) do.
Researchers took a samples of 3834 Massachusetts youth aged 12 to 17 years at baseline; 72.8 percent of the samples were reinterviewed after 2 years, and 57.8 percent were reinterviewed after 4 years. They discovered that teens living in households that did not ban smoking were more likely to report smoking as socially acceptable, compared to teens whose parents banned smoking.
It would be naive to assume that parent smoking at home as sole factor to children smoking behavior but still this is one thing that parent could do to prevent their children smoking behavior.
Source: Household Smoking Bans and Adolescent Antismoking Attitudes and Smoking Initiation
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Money Can’t Buy Happiness: Is it Right?
Jun 25th
Wise man said that money can’t buy happiness. But recent research prove that in certain circumstances, it does buffer people from sadness.
New study found that money can help people who are secure with their financial situation use power over their future during incidents. Moreover, that feeling of control helps people feel happy and secure. This study was published in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology on April (Vol. 90, No. 4)
The researchers, Wendy Johnson PhD and her colleagues asked 719 same-sex twin pairs ranging from 25 to 74 years old to provide information about their income in several categories, including personal and spouse earning, marital status, number of children living at home, proportion of money they expend for children and other relatives.
The researchers also examine carefully participants’ attitude about their finances. They surveyed whether participants felt they had less or more money then they needed, and also participants’ perception of control such as questioning how they would rate the amount of control they have over their health these days.
This research found that people’s actual wealth is independent of how they feel about their financial situation. This implies that those who perceive that they have an adequate amount of money are more likely to have satisfied their material needs and to save some money, making them more likely to feel as though they use control over their life. As a result, when such negative events occur his or her life, they are less likely to feel a substantial setback on life satisfaction due to happenstance’s cost than people who use to spend their money on new clothes, new shoes, new stereo or any other material item.
Today’s Parents Face a Dilemma in Child Mental Treatment
Jun 17th
Rather than tolerating normal hardly controlled behavior of children, several parents are turning to counseling and medication. However another significant amount of parents have the attitude just as the opposite. They fear that diagnoses such as depression or ADHD will give bad influences to children psychological condition, and this parents may avoid psychological treatment as a result.
Scientist in Psychiatric Services (Vol. 58, No. 5) found in their research that:
- 45 percent parents believe that mental health treatment makes their children an outsider at school.
- 43 percent say children will suffer as adults if others learn about their past mental health treatment
- 57 percent doubt the confidentiality protections work to keep community members from finding out about children’s mental health treatment.
- 81 percent report that childhood depression is mainly parents’ fault.
This research result suggest that people are less stigmatizing of children with mental health problem than they are of adults, but, still, parents fear a diagnosis may follow children throughout their life and limiting their opportunities.
Laura Ling, Euna Lee, US Journalists, Sentenced To 12 Years In North Korea
Jun 8th
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea’s top court convicted two American journalists and sentenced them to 12 years in a prison Monday, intensifying the reclusive nation’s confrontation with the United States.
The sentencing came amid soaring tensions fueled by the North’s latest nuclear and missile tests. Many believe Pyongyang is using the journalists as bargaining chips as the U.N. debates a new resolution to punish the unpredictable country for its latest military threats.
In a cryptic two-sentence report, the North’s state news agency said Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36 were sentenced after the five-day trial ended Monday. They were guilty of a “grave crime” against the nation and of illegally crossing into North Korea, the Korean Central News Agency said.
The court “sentenced each of them to 12 years of reform through labor,” said the report, without giving other details. The phrase refers to a prison term, according to Choi Eun-suk, a North Korean law expert at Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies.
He said North Korean law calls for transferring convicts to prison within 10 days after verdict.
Ling and Lee, working for former Vice President Al Gore’s California-based Current TV, cannot appeal because they were tried in North Korea’s highest court, where decisions are final.
Some analysts believe negotiations will now begin that will likely lead to the journalists’ release.
“North Korea refused to release them ahead of a court ruling because such a move could be seen as capitulating to the United States,” said Hajime Izumi, professor of international relations and an expert on North Korea at the University of Shizuoka in Japan.
But now “North Korea may release them on humanitarian grounds and demand the U.S. provide humanitarian aid in return,” he said. “North Korea will certainly use the reporters as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the United States.”
Their release could come through a post-negotiation political pardon, said Yang Moo-jin, a colleague of Choi at the University of North Korean Studies.
Kim Yong-hyun, a professor at Seoul’s Dongguk University, said the 12-year sentence _ the maximum possible allowed by the North’s laws _ could have been a reaction to “hard-line” moves by the U.S., including threats of sanctions and putting North Korea back on a list of state sponsors of terrorism.
“But the sentence doesn’t mean much because the issue will be resolved diplomatically in the end,” he said.
Tensions have been running high since the North held its second underground nuclear blast May 25 and followed it up with several missile tests. U.S. officials have said the North appears to be preparing to test another long-range missile at a new launch pad.
The circumstances surrounding the trial of the two journalists and their arrest March 17 on the China-North Korean border have been shrouded in secrecy, as is typical of the reclusive nation. The trial was not open to the public or foreign observers, including the Swedish Embassy, which looks after American interests in the absence of diplomatic relations.
The two were reporting about the trafficking of women at the time of their arrest, and it’s unclear if they strayed into the North or were grabbed by aggressive border guards who crossed into China.
U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Washington was trying to confirm press reports of the sentencing.
Kelly said the U.S. was “deeply concerned” about the sentences and that officials would “engage in all possible channels” to free the women.
Gore spokeswoman Kalee Kreider said the former vice president has no comment. The South Korean government also did not comment. Alanna Zahn, a spokeswoman for the journalists’ families, said the family members have no immediate comment.
Another American who was tried in North Korea in 1996 was treated more leniently. Evan C. Hunziker, apparently acting on a drunken dare, swam across the Yalu River _ which marks the North’s border with China _ and was arrested after farmers found the man, then 26, naked. He was accused of spying and detained for three months before being freed after negotiations with a special U.S. envoy.
The North Koreans wanted Hunziker to pay a $100,000 criminal fine but eventually agreed on a $5,000 payment to settle a bill for a hotel where he was detained.
___
Associated Press writers Jae-Soon Chang and William Foreman in Seoul, and Shino Yuasa in Tokyo contributed to this report.
The Sniper 2009
Jun 4th
Ming is considered to be the best sniper in the police. On the shadow of his legend, however, highlights the history of the past. One of the outstanding police shooters and his colleague from
the team, Ching, went to prison for hostage postrzelenie and it has to go on liberty. Ching blame the police for their imprisonment, believing that one of the Ming hid evidence that could
exculpate him.
ACTORS:
Richie Ren – Hartmann
Xiaoming Huang – Ching
Edison Chen – OJ
Wilfred Lau – Iceman
Hummer sold to Chinese
Jun 2nd
After General Motors announced this morning that it has reached a tentative agreement with a potential buyer for its all-American Hummer brand, news comes from China that the buyer is Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company, a heavy industry manufacturer looking to get into the car-building business.
The report comes from the New York Times, which spoke to an anonymous source who said the Chengdu, China, company is Hummer’ssuitor. The paper estimates that Sichuan Tengzhong will pay less than $500 million for Hummer.
Sichuan Tengzhong is privately held, but Chinese officials are allowed to veto any overseas acquisition by a Chinese company. The company is best known in China for manufacturing heavy-duty trucks like tankers and tow trucks, but it also builds everything from construction materials to highway maintenance machinery.
Hummer’s public relations chief, Nick Richards, said that he was pleased with the sale.
“If you think about the qualities we’d want in a new owner for the brand, this buyer really met all the criteria,” Richards told the paper. “They’ve got a proven track record in international business, and they’ve got a long-term vision for the brand. They’ve got the capital to invest in more efficient vehicles, which is what’s necessary to grow the brand.”
There’s no official comment out of Detroit about Sichuan Tengzhong. The deal would be the first-ever American car brand sold to China; companies in the Asian nation currently own British brands MG and Rover, however.
Who Bought Hummer?
Jun 2nd
Who bought Hummer? The Hummer buyer remains a mystery Tuesday, the buying price, purchaser’s identity, and deal terms not being disclosed to press.
Why the cat and mouse game?
GM filed for bankruptcy yesterday and today said it was (as of now at least) not going to reveal the buyer of Hummer or any deal terms.
What has been revealed?
Chief Executive Fritz Henderson says the buyer is “serious” and the transaction terms will eventually be revealed “in the relatively near term.” The deal will reportedly be finalized by Q3?09.
Who could it be? Already planned are discontinuation of Pontiac, selling of Saab, and selling of Saturn.
Hummer for ‘08 saw sales drop 51% domestically.
Apple Releases iTunes 8.2 and QuickTime 7.6.2
Jun 2nd
Apple has released iTunes versions 8.2 and Quicktime version 7.6.2. to address the vulnerabilities.
One iTunes vulnerability is a stack overflow in parsing “itms:” URLs which can lead to DOS or arbitrary code execution. 10 vulnerabilities in QuickTime are all of a type that viewing certain malicious content could crash the program or lead to arbitrary code execution.
Source: pcmag.com
Air France Announce that Victims from 32 Nations
Jun 2nd
Paris – Air France announces that victims aboard Flight 447 missing over the Atlantic came from 32 countries.
Here is the list:
2 Americans, 1 Argentines, 1 Austrian, 1 Belgian, 58 Brazilians, 5 British, 1 Canadian, 9 Chinese, 1 Croat, 1 Danish, 1 Dutch, 1 Estonian, 61 French, 1 Gambian, 26 Germans, 4 Hungarians, 3 Irish, 1 Icelander, 9 Italians, 5 Lebanese, 2 Moroccans, 3 Norwegians, 1 Philippino, 2 Polish, 1 Romanian, 1 Russian, 2 Spanish, 3 Slovakians, 1 Swede, 1 South African, 6 Swiss, and 1 Turk.
Source: Antara
Susan Boyle Hospitalized
Jun 2nd
Susan Boyle has been admitted to a clinic after she reportedly suffered an emotional breakdown in Sunday.
Boyle had been favorite to win the talent show on the weekend, however she could only take second place.
Her earlier appearance clips were downloaded nearly 200 million times and she was hailed the world as a superstar. Boyle received 20 percent of 4 million votes that decided the show’s winner.
British PM Gordon Brown told a British television that he had spoken to program’s judges, Simon Cowell and Piers Morgan, to check on Boyle’s progress.
Source: Antara
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