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What's up? News of the world....
RE: What's up? News of the world....
At University of Vermont, substance-free dorms come with yoga, violins and Peloton bikes

Quote:You know it's not your average college dorm when violins can be found on every floor, but alcohol and pot are nowhere to be seen.

Psychiatry professor Jim Hudziak pulled a few strings to fill one of the freshman dorms with 80 violins and required students to sign a contract promising no drinking or drugs if they want to live there. It's a bold experiment on any college campus, but he did it at the University of Vermont, long known as a big-time party school.

"We didn't go do it in a place where everyone would say, 'oh, well, that would work.' We did it in the place where people giggled," Hudziak said.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, about a quarter of today's college students admit they suffer consequences from drinking too much. Nearly 700,000 said they've been assaulted by another student who had too much alcohol.

For students not interested in an "Animal House" experience, welcome to the "wellness environment." At this program for incoming freshmen, it's goodbye toga – hello yoga. Late-night pizza and round-the-clock partying have been replaced by Peloton bikes and personal trainers. The idea: surround college students with activities that expand the brain, not zap it with the usual menu of college indulgences.

"I remember even learning that you're supposed to eat probiotic yogurt to help your brain function," student Azilee Curl told CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod. "Dr. Hudziak will reinforce that again and again."

It seems to be working. Binge drinking is down and GPAs and graduation rates are up. The program has grown tenfold in just four years and now includes almost a third of this year's entering class.
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RE: What's up? News of the world....
I never would have made it at that school.  I'd likely have sold off the violins for beer money.

Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson
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RE: What's up? News of the world....
Ok fine, no alcohol and drugs I can understand. Personal trainers, maybe. Eh, who minds getting fit?
But... violins. VIOLINS? What the actual fuck.
The word bed actually looks like a bed. 
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RE: What's up? News of the world....
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Myanmar activists stage rally on anniversary of Reuters reporters' arrest

Quote:More than 100 Myanmar activists marked the anniversary on Wednesday of the arrest of two Reuters journalists sentenced to seven years in jail in a landmark free speech case by releasing balloons at a rally in the country’s largest city Yangon.

Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, were found guilty in September of violating the country’s Official Secrets Act, in a case that has raised questions about Myanmar’s progress towards democracy and sparked an outcry from human rights advocates.

Students, journalists and writers sporting t-shirts that read “Journalism is not a crime” and “Free Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo” lit candles and held a minute’s silence for the two reporters.

Some held copies of the latest cover of Time magazine featuring the journalists and their families after they were named among a group of reporters as the publication’s “Person of the Year”.

“A year ago, Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested in a set-up by police, intended to interfere with their reporting on a massacre in Myanmar,” said Reuters editor-in-chief Stephen J. Adler in a statement on Wednesday.

“The fact that they remain in prison for a crime they did not commit calls into question Myanmar’s commitment to democracy, freedom of expression and rule of law.”
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RE: What's up? News of the world....
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A Member of Britain’s Parliament Seized the Ceremonial Mace, and Confusion Reigned

Quote:As the lawmaker approached the large ornamental club in the middle of Britain’s House of Commons on Monday night, his fellows chattered in the benches. When he hoisted it up, a clamor erupted: “Disgrace,” “Expel him,” “No!”

But when he turned and tried to walk out with the ceremonial mace, John Bercow, the speaker of the House, said, “Order. Put it back. No, no.”

At the exit, a white-haired woman emerged to grab the scepter from the offending member of Parliament, Lloyd Russell-Moyle. He gave it up without a fight, and she ended the brief rebellion in Parliament, an abortive heist that reflected the current chaos in Britain’s government, where confusion — about policy, authority and a mace — has in recent days reigned.

What is a ceremonial mace?

A five-foot, silver-gilt symbol, mostly.

The mace, decorated with roses, thistles and pearls, represents the royal authority of the crown, from which the Houses of Parliament derive their own authority. The object dates to at least 1559, and this mace was likely made for Charles II, the 17th-century king restored to the throne after the Puritan Commonwealth, an era in which Britain was ruled without a king.

Each day that the House of Commons meets, the sergeant-at-arms — another historical role which dates to the 1400s — brings the mace into the House at the beginning and end of a sitting. The House of Lords has its own maces, one from Charles’s era and another from that of William III. Without the mace in the room, neither house can meet or pass laws.
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RE: What's up? News of the world....
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Chinese Markets Were Early to the Trade War Meltdown. Now They’re Not So Worried.

Quote:Trade headlines have kept investors on tenterhooks in recent weeks and left stock markets on Wall Street and across much of the world down.

Not in China though. The benchmark Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indexes hit their lows for the year on Oct. 18 after China’s government reported that the country’s economy grew at its slowest pace in nearly a decade during the third quarter. Since then, the two indexes are up 6 percent and 10 percent. By comparison, the S&P 500 has fallen more than 4 percent over that period.
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RE: What's up? News of the world....
(December 16, 2018 at 11:52 am)Jörmungandr Wrote: [Image: 2l8b6mt.jpg]

Chinese Markets Were Early to the Trade War Meltdown. Now They’re Not So Worried.

Quote:Trade headlines have kept investors on tenterhooks in recent weeks and left stock markets on Wall Street and across much of the world down.

Not in China though. The benchmark Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indexes hit their lows for the year on Oct. 18 after China’s government reported that the country’s economy grew at its slowest pace in nearly a decade during the third quarter. Since then, the two indexes are up 6 percent and 10 percent. By comparison, the S&P 500 has fallen more than 4 percent over that period.

Chinese equity market has been in an extended bear market for reasons not directly related to the trade war and immediate performance of the Chinese economy. This could simply be a case of what went down has to come back up. One might argue without the threat of trade war the Chinese equity market would have bounced back much more strongly.

Conversely the US equity market has been in an extended bull market for reasons not directly related to the trade war. This could simply be a case of what went up has to come back down. One might argue without the threat of trade war the US equity market would not have entered the correction so soon.

It is important to remember Chinese equity market represents a far smaller portion of the Chinese economy than the US stock market represents of the US economy. So the performance of the Chinese equity market is much less correlated to the performance of the Chinese economy. It is more reflective of how Chinese government policy affects the movement of wealth from sectors of Chinese economy reflected in the Chinese equity market to sectors of Chinese economy outside the equity market. Since the Chinese government is also far more heavy handed in its policies regarding regulating the flow of wealth within the Chinese economy, it is understandable why Chinese equity market is a poor bellwether for Chinese economy overall.
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RE: What's up? News of the world....
Invest and DEvest, All In One Go


Quote:KatiKati Naturist Park in the Bay of Plenty is for sale.

The clothing-optional, 5.7-hectare holiday spot, which is listed for $380,000, has eight units, five onsite caravans, 51 powered sites, 40 tent sites and a three-bedroom house.

Given the current run-up in real estate prices, this seems like a REALLY good bargain.  And before you ask, no I haven't.
Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson
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RE: What's up? News of the world....
Schumer said Trump is “not going to get the wall in any form.” Looks like we're headed for a shutdown.

Here's What Would Happen If The Government Shuts Down This Week
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RE: What's up? News of the world....
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Miss Spain makes history as first transgender woman to compete in Miss Universe pageant

Quote:Angela Ponce, better known as the reigning Miss Spain, didn’t win the Miss Universe pageant Sunday.

But she didn’t seem to mind.

Simply by representing her country this year, Ponce became the first transgender woman to compete in Miss Universe. After the preliminary rounds, the 27-year-old model said it was “an honor and pride” to be part of the history of the pageant.

“This is for you, for those who have no visibility, no voice, because we all deserve a world of respect, inclusion and freedom,” Ponce wrote on Instagram on Friday. “And today I am here, proudly representing my nation, all women and human rights.”

Though Miss Universe — and other beauty pageants — have undergone scrutiny (and changes) in recent years to avoid objectifying women, Ponce said she embraced the competition as a chance to fulfill not only her personal ambitions but also to be an ambassador for Spanish culture.

For her national costume, she donned a traditional Spanish “bata de cola.”

“This is an iconic piece in Spain, also known all over the world,” Ponce explained on Instagram. “It is a precious reference of my country.”

Ponce said she had been dancing the flamenco since she was 6 years old. For the longest time, her dream was merely to perform the dance while wearing a flamenco dress. That didn’t happen until she was 17 years old.

“For a long time those were things I always wanted to do,” Ponce told Miss Universe organizers. “I put so much focus into it, that in the end, it became a reality.”

She smiled and motioned to herself, as if to emphasize: She wasn’t just wearing a flamenco dress now. She was wearing one at Miss Universe.
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