UK women are 'fattest in Europe' - and Malta men are 'fattest in Europe' -

UK women are 'fattest in Europe' - and Malta men are 'fattest in Europe' - 




The UK has more obese women than any other country in Europe, according to European Union figures.


Data agency Eurostat, which looked at 19 countries, found nearly a quarter of UK women - 23.9% - were recorded as being obese in the year 2008 to 2009.


Just over 22% of UK men were classed as obese, coming second only to Malta.


A person is defined as obese if their body mass index (BMI), the result of a calculation involving weight and height, is above a certain level.


The BMI correlates fairly well with body fat.


Statisticians found the share of overweight and obese people increases with age in all of the 19 member states that data was available for.


The data come from the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) and was published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.


After the UK, the countries with the highest levels of female obesity were Malta, with 21.1%, and Latvia, where 20.9% fulfilled that criteria.


Meanwhile, after Malta and the UK, the countries with the highest instances of male obesity were Hungary - where 21.4% fall into that category - and the Czech Republic, where 18.4% are classed as such.


The UK's high levels of obesity are in stark contrast to those in countries such as Romania, where just 8% of women were classed as obese along with 7.6% of men.


Read more -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15901351

The Return Of Debtors Prisons: Collection Agencies Now Want Deadbeats Arrested

The Return Of Debtors Prisons: Collection Agencies Now Want Deadbeats Arrested - 

As if life wasn't already tense enough for Americans who can't pay their debts, collection agencies are now taking advantage of archaic state laws to have some debtors arrested and sent to jail.

More than one-third of US states allow debtors to be arrested and jailed, says Jessica Silver-Greenberg in the Wall Street Journal.

Judges typically grant arrest warrants when the debtors have failed to show up for court dates or failed to make court-ordered payments.

Of course, the reason debtors have failed to make court-ordered payments is often the same reason they didn't pay their debts in the first place: They don't have any money.

In September, a 53 year-old woman named Vivian Joy was stopped for a broken tail-light in Champaign, Illinois. And then, because the cops discovered that she still hadn't paid $2,200 to a collection agency, she was cuffed and carted off to jail.

Joy's excuse?

She doesn't have any money.

Jailing debtors for not paying their debts is apparently especially popular in Illinois.

(This practice, needless to say, is preposterous. If people can't pay their debts and have no prospect of being able to pay their debts, they should declare bankruptcy. And the debts should be written off. Companies don't go to jail when they default. Neither should people.)

Read more - 

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/return-debtors-prisons-collection-agencies-now-want-deadbeats-172417607.html?l=1

'RoboCop' guards to patrol South Korean prisons - with sensors to detect abnormal behaviour -

'RoboCop' guards to patrol South Korean prisons - with sensors to detect abnormal behaviour - 

Robot guards with sensors to detect abnormal behaviour will soon begin patrolling South Korean prisons to ease the burden on their human counterparts, researchers said on Thursday.

A group of scientists has developed the robot warders under a one billion won (£546,000) project organised by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.

The robots – 1.5 metres (five feet) high and running on four wheels – will mostly be used at night.

They can connect prisoners with officers through a remote conversation function, according to a statement from the Asian Forum for Corrections (AFC), a South Korea-based group of researchers in criminality and prison policies.

It pioneered the project with the justice ministry's co-operation.

The robots' sensors will enable them to detect abnormalities such as suicidal behaviour and violence and report it to officers in charge, the statement said.


Read more - 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8911980/RoboCop-guards-to-patrol-South-Korean-prisons.html

UK cyber security law to ban 'criminals, bullies' from Web... -

UK cyber security law to ban 'criminals, bullies' from Web... - 




It calls for police and courts to make more use of existing “cyber sanctions” to restrict access to the social networks and instant messaging services in cases of hacking, fraud and online bullying. Sex offenders and those convicted of harrassment or anti-social behaviour also face more internet restrictions under the new strategy.
Similar orders have been imposed on those charged with involvement in a series of cyber attacks by the Anonymous and LulzSec groups earlier this year, while they await trial.
Cyber sanctions were also used following the riots this summer. Two teenagers in Dundee were banned from the web for inciting riots via Facebook.
Officials are now looking into whether "cyber tag" technology could be used to monitor offenders and report to authorities if break their bail or sentence conditions by using the internet.
"The Ministry of Justice and the Home Office will consider and scope the development of a new way of enforcing these orders, using ‘cyber-tags’ which are triggered by the offender breaching the conditions that have been put on their internet use, and which will automatically inform the police or probation service," cyber security strategy said.


Read more - 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8915245/Criminals-and-cyber-bullies-to-be-banned-from-the-web.html

Twilight “Breaking Dawn: Part One” Birthing Scene Sparks Seizure Reports Nationwide... -

Twilight “Breaking Dawn: Part One”  Birthing Scene Sparks Seizure Reports Nationwide... - 


A local man says the latest movie in the popular ‘Twilight’ franchise triggered a seizure, and similar incidents have been reported in theaters around the country.


Brandon Gephart and Kelly Bauman said they were watching “Breaking Dawn: Part One” at a theater Friday night when Brandon sudden began convulsing during a graphic birthing scene.


Brandon said he doesn’t remember anything until he woke up on the theater floor, but Kelly said he was, “convulsing, snorting, trying to breathe.”


“He scared me big time,” she added. Paramedics transported the man to the emergency room and the theater had to cancel the rest of the movie for that showing.


Several reports on internet movie sites show reports of other people suffering similar symptoms during the same scene, which contains flashes of red, black and white. Dr. Michael G. Chez, the medical director of pediatric neurology and epilepsy for Sutter Sacramento, said the reports indicate the scene may be triggering an episode of photosensitive epilepsy.




While rare, the condition can be triggered by flashing red lights in people who are genetically predisposed.


“It’s like a light switch going off, because it hits your brain all at once,” Dr. Chez said.


Similar reports resulted after a 1990s episode of the television show Pokémon, which triggered seizures in children. Manufacturers have revamped modern television and video games so screens don’t project the dangerous light frequency, Dr. Chez said.


“The trouble with theaters, it’s dark, the lights flashing in there is more like a strobe light,” he added.


A single seizure should not cause long-term damage to most patients, Dr. Chez said. Wearing sunglasses with cheap blue lenses can filter the red light for moviegoers who want to be on the safe side.


Read more - 
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2011/11/23/intense-twilight-scene-triggers-seizure-reports/

Tim Hortons announced today that it will be withdrawing from the Canadian Forces base in Kandahar, Afghanistan -

Tim Hortons announced today that it will be withdrawing from the Canadian Forces base in Kandahar, Afghanistan - 

The double-double is pulling out of Afghanistan.

Tim Hortons announced today that along with the bulk of Canadian troops, it will be withdrawing from the Canadian Forces base in Kandahar, Afghanistan next week.

“It has been an absolute privilege and honour for Tim Hortons to be associated with the military and bring a little taste of home to the brave Canadian soldiers serving overseas,” Tim Hortons chairman and CEO Paul House said in a release. “We are flattered that so many troops from different nations also made Tim Hortons a part of their everyday routine.”

The Tim Hortons outlet, which opened on Canada Day in 2006, served 4 million cups of coffee, three million donuts and half a million iced cappuccinos.

Proceeds from the outlet went to support troops and their families.

Tuesday will be the outlet’s last day.

Read more - 

http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1091938--tim-hortons-pulls-out-of-kandahar?bn=1

Malls track shoppers' cell phones on Black Friday - will follow shoppers' paths from store to store -

Malls track shoppers' cell phones on Black Friday - will follow shoppers' paths from store to store - 


Attention holiday shoppers: your cell phone may be tracked this year.
Starting on Black Friday and running through New Year's Day, two U.S. malls -- Promenade Temecula in southern California and Short Pump Town Center in Richmond, Va. -- will track guests' movements by monitoring the signals from their cell phones.


While the data that's collected is anonymous, it can follow shoppers' paths from store to store.
The goal is for stores to answer questions like: How many Nordstrom shoppers also stop at Starbucks? How long do most customers linger in Victoria's Secret? Are there unpopular spots in the mall that aren't being visited?
While U.S. malls have long tracked how crowds move throughout their stores, this is the first time they've used cell phones.
But obtaining that information comes with privacy concerns.
The management company of both malls, Forest City Commercial Management, says personal data is not being tracked.
"We won't be looking at singular shoppers," said Stephanie Shriver-Engdahl, vice president of digital strategy for Forest City. "The system monitors patterns of movement. We can see, like migrating birds, where people are going to."
Still, the company is preemptively notifying customers by hanging small signs around the shopping centers. Consumers can opt out by turning off their phones.


Read more - 
http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/22/technology/malls_track_cell_phones_black_friday/index.htm

AIG Sues U.S. Taxpayers for $25 Billion…Really - claims the government takeover of the insurer was unconstitutional -

AIG Sues U.S. Taxpayers for $25 Billion…Really - claims the government takeover of the insurer was unconstitutional - 


A company run by former American International Group Chief Executive Maurice “Hank” Greenberg Monday filed a $25 billion lawsuit against the United States, claiming that the government takeover of the insurer was unconstitutional. In its complaint, Greenberg’s Starr International said that in bailing out AIG [AIG 21.01 --- UNCH ] and taking a nearly 80 percent stake, the government failed to compensate existing shareholders. It said this violated the Fifth Amendment, which bars the taking of private property for public use without just compensation.


“The government’s actions were ostensibly designed to protect the United States economy and rescue the country’s financial system,” Starr said. “Although this might be a laudable goal, as a matter of basic law, the ends could not and did not justify the unlawful means employed.”


The United States, it went on, “is not empowered to trample shareholder and property rights even in the midst of a financial emergency.”


Monday’s lawsuit was filed with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., which handles lawsuits seeking money from the government. Once the world’s largest insurer by market value, AIG accepted $182.3 billion of federal bailouts beginning on Sept. 16, 2008, amid a liquidity crisis spurred by its exposure to risky debt through credit default swaps.


Do you think maybe he was a major stockholder? Unbelievable. The guillotine is way too good for this crook.


Read more - 
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2011/11/22/aig-sues-u-s-taxpayers-for-25-billion-really/

Six Degrees of Separation? Facebook Says Try 4.74 - it only takes 4.74 people to link two strangers -

Six Degrees of Separation? Facebook Says Try 4.74 - it only takes 4.74 people to link two strangers - 


Forget "six degrees of separation": The real number is 4.74.
Facebook's data analysis team has released the results of what it calls the largest social-networking study ever and discovered that only 4.74 people separate strangers from each other. That's largely thanks to Facebook itself, of course, as well as other modern social networks. 
"When considering even the most distant Facebook user in the Siberian tundra or the Peruvian rainforest, a friend of your friend probably knows a friend of their friend," wrote the Facebook data team in a blog post explaining its research.
The idea that only a handful of people separate all folks on Earth was popularized by John Guare's early 90s play "Six Degrees of Separation," which was turned into the 1993 film of the same name. But you may know it instead from the popular game "six degrees of Kevin Bacon," in which players attempt to link random actors to Bacon through films the two starred in. 
That number used to be six. But thanks to the increasing popularity of social networking, humanity has become more connected over time. Where in 2008 the distance from any one Facebook user was, on average, 5.28 hops, it’s now 4.74, the company's researchers said.
Plus, Facebook users are highly likely to friend people like themselves — that is, in their country and of their age. So if you take two people within a country, there’s likely to be only three degrees of separation between them.
Also interesting: Only half of Facebook users have more than 100 friends.
"At first glance, the median friend count on Facebook — 100 — may seem surprisingly low; a quick survey of my own friends reveals that they almost all have more than 100 friends," the team wrote. 
That's a sociological phenomenon that's well documented, in fact. 
"These effects all arise because for people, classes, and flights to be popular, you must be much more likely to choose them. So you shouldn’t feel bad if it seems like all your friends are more popular than you: it appears this way to most of us."
The information comes from research Facebook released late Monday evening on 721 million active Facebook users and their 69 billion connections, done in collaboration with Università degli Studi di Milano.




Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/11/22/facebook-claims-474-degrees-kevin-bacon/

17 Quotes About The Coming Global Financial Collapse That Will Make Your Hair Stand Up -

17 Quotes About The Coming Global Financial Collapse That Will Make Your Hair Stand Up - 

Is the world on the verge of another massive global financial collapse?  Yes.  The western world is drowning in an ocean of debt unlike anything the world has ever seen before, and our financial markets are gigantic casinos that are dependent on huge mountains of risk and leverage remaining very stable.  In the end, this house of cards that has been built on a foundation of sand is going to come crashing down in a horrifying manner.  Usually in this column I go on and on about why things will soon get much worse.  But today I am going to take a bit of a break.  Today, I am going to let some of the top financial professionals in the world tell you why things will soon get much worse.  Many of the quotes that you are about to read just might make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.  Most people out there have no idea what is about to happen.  Most people out there are working hard and are busy preparing for the holidays and they are hopeful that the economy will turn around soon.  But that is not going to happen.  We are heading for another major global financial collapse, and when it happens the U.S. economy is going to get even worse.

The epicenter for the coming global financial collapse is almost certainly going to be in Europe.  As you will see below, financial professionals all over the world are sounding the alarm about Europe.  It is a disaster that everyone can see coming but that nobody seems to be able to prevent.

Of course the failure of the "supercommittee" in the United States certainly is not helping matters.  There is already talk that we may soon see another downgrade for U.S. debt.  It is hard to even describe how incompetent the U.S. Congress is.

There is a tremendous lack of leadership both in the United States and in Europe right now.  The financial world is more interconnected than ever before, and when the financial dominoes start to fall it is going to take a miracle to keep a complete and total disaster from unfolding.

So when the time comes, who is going to step forward and provide that leadership?

That is a really, really good question.

Right now, panic and fear are spreading like wildfire in the financial world and nobody knows for sure what is going to happen next.

But one thing is for certain.  Pessimism is growing stronger by the day.

The following are 17 quotes about the coming global financial collapse that will make your hair stand up....

#1 Credit Suisse's Fixed Income Research unit: "We seem to have entered the last days of the euro as we currently know it. That doesn’t make a break-up very likely, but it does mean some extraordinary things will almost certainly need to happen – probably by mid-January – to prevent the progressive closure of all the euro zone sovereign bond markets, potentially accompanied by escalating runs on even the strongest banks."

#2 Willem Buiter, chief economist at Citigroup: "Time is running out fast.  I think we have maybe a few months -- it could be weeks, it could be days -- before there is a material risk of a fundamentally unnecessary default by a country like Spain or Italy which would be a financial catastrophe dragging the European banking system and North America with it."

#3 Jim Reid of Deutsche Bank: "If you don't think Merkel's tone will change then our investment advice is to dig a hole in the ground and hide."

#4 David Rosenberg, a senior economist at Gluskin Sheff in Toronto: "Lenders are finding it difficult to finance their day-to-day operations with short-term funding. This is a lot like 2008 but with more twists."

#5 Christian Stracke, the head of credit research for Pimco: "This is just a repeat of what we saw in 2008, when everyone wanted to see toxic assets off the banks’ balance sheets"

#6 Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "At this point I’d guess soaring rates on Italian debt leading to a gigantic bank run, both because of solvency fears about Italian banks given a default and because of fear that Italy will end up leaving the euro. This then leads to emergency bank closing, and once that happens, a decision to drop the euro and install the new lira. Next stop, France."

#7 Paul Hickey of Bespoke Investment Group: "More and more, we are hearing anecdotal comments from individual and professionals that this is the most difficult environment they have ever experienced as the market is like a fish flopping around after being taken out of the water."

#8 Bob Janjuah of Nomura International: "Germany appears to be adamant that full political and fiscal integration over the next decade (nothing substantive will happen over the short term, in my view) is the only option, and ECB monetisation is no longer possible. I really think it is that clear and simple. And if I am wrong, and the ECB does a U-turn and agrees to unlimited monetisation, I will simply wait for the inevitable knee-jerk rally to fade before reloading my short risk positions. Even if Germany and the ECB somehow agree to unlimited monetisation I believe it will do nothing to fix the insolvency and lack of growth in the eurozone. It will just result in a major destruction of the ECB‟s balance sheet which will force an ECB recap. At that point, I think Germany and its northern partners would walk away. Markets always want short, sharp, simple solutions."

#9 Dan Akerson, CEO of General Motors: "The ’08 recession, which was a credit bubble that manifested itself through primarily the real estate market, that was a serious stress....This is much more serious."

#10 Francesco Garzarelli of Goldman Sachs: "Pressures on Euro area sovereign bond markets have progressively intensified and spread like a wildfire."

#11 Jim Rogers: "In 2002 it was bad, in 2008 it was worse and 2012 or 2013 is going to be worse still – be careful"

#12 Dr. Pippa Malmgren, the President and founder of Principalis Asset Management who once worked in the White House as an adviser to President Bush: "Market forces are increasingly determining what the options are and foreclosing on options policymakers thought they had. One option which is now under discussion involves permitting a country to temporarily leave the Euro, return to its native currency, devalue, commit to returning to the Euro at a better debt to GDP ratio, a better exchange rate and a better growth trajectory and yet not sacrifice its EU membership. I would like to say for the record that this is precisely the thought process that I expected to evolve,but when I proposed this possibility back in 2009, and again in September 2010, I had a 100% response from clients and others that this was “impossible” and many felt it was “ridiculous”. They may be right but this is the current state of the discussion. The Handelsblatt in Germany has reported this conversation, but wrongly assumes that the country that will exit is Germany. I think that Germany will have to exit if the Southern European states do not. Germany’s preference is to stay in the Euro and have the others drop out. The problem has been the Germans could not convince the others to walk away. But, now, market pressures are forcing someone to leave. Germany is pushing for that someone to be Italy. They hope that this would be a one off exception, not to be repeated by any other country. Obviously, though, if Italy leaves the Euro and reverts to Lira then the markets will immediately and forcefully attack Spain, Portugal and even whatever is left  of the already savaged Greeks. These countries will not be able to compete against a devalued Greece or Italy when it come to tourism or even infrastructure. But, the principal target will be France. The three largest French banks have roughly 450 billion Euros of exposure to Italian debt. So, further sovereign defaults are certainly inevitable, but that is true under any scenario. Growth and austerity will not do the trick, as ZeroHedge rightly points out. Ultimately, I will not be at all surprised to see Europe’s banking system shut for days while the losses and payments issues are worked out. People forget that the term “bank holiday” was invented in the 1930’s when the banks were shut for exactly the same reason."

#13 Daniel Clifton, a policy strategist with Strategas Research Partners on the potential for more downgrades of U.S. debt: "We would expect further downgrades, a first downgrade from Moody’s and Fitch and possibly a second downgrade from S&P."

#14 Warren Buffett on the problems in the eurozone: "The system as presently designed has revealed a major flaw. And that flaw won’t be corrected just by words. Europe will either have to come closer together or there will have to be some other rearrangement because this system is not working"

#15 David Kostin, equity strategist for Goldman Sachs: "The wide range of possible outcomes on both the super committee process and the unstable political economy in Europe drives our view that investors should assume the worst while hoping for the best."

#16 Mark Mobius, the head of the emerging markets desk at Templeton Asset Management: "There is definitely going to be another financial crisis around the corner"

#17 Gerald Celente, founder of The Trends Research Institute: "The whole system is going down. Pull your money out your Fidelity account, your Scwhab accout, and your ETFs."

Are you starting to get the picture?

When so many top financial professionals are freaking out like this, perhaps the rest of us should start paying attention.

They are telling us that "time is running out".

They are telling us that "there is definitely going to be another financial crisis".

They are telling us that this "is going to be worse" than 2008.

They are telling us that "the whole system is going down".

Yes, a devastating financial collapse really is coming.  Just like in 2008, it will seem like the "end of the world" while it is happening, but it won't be.  It will severely damage our financial system and our economy, but it will not finish us off.

Think of it this way.  When you build a sand castle at the beach, it doesn't get totally wiped out by the first wave or the second wave that hits it.  Each wave does significant damage, but the destruction of your sand castle is a process.

It is the same thing with the U.S. economy.  We once had the most incredible economic machine that the world has ever seen.  It is constantly being guttedand the financial crisis of 2008 hit us really hard, but we are still doing okay.

After this next financial crisis we will be in even worse shape.  But we will still be breathing.

More "waves" will come after this next financial crisis.  If we continue on the road that we are on, our economy will progressively get worse and worse.

Not everyone will agree with this analysis, and that is okay.  In the end, time will reveal the truth to all of us.

Right now, we all need to get ready for the next wave that is about to hit us.  A lot of people are going to lose their jobs over the next few years.  Hopefully you are prepared for that.

Read more - 

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/17-quotes-about-the-coming-global-financial-collapse-that-will-make-your-hair-stand-up