| How a small step for Yao can become a giant leap for China
"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." The words of Lao Tzu, the Chinese philosopher, adorn the locker-room of the Los Angeles Lakers at the beginning of every basketball season, but if they relate to any NBA superstar, surely it is Lao’s countryman, Yao Ming. The first step of Yao’s painful, extraordinary and highly profitable journey took him on to the jet that flew him to Houston from Shanghai in 2002 and set him on the path to becoming, conceivably, the world’s biggest sports star. The 7ft 6in Houston Rockets player needs look up to no one in the modern game and, while the non-Chinese, non-basketball fan may have little idea who Yao is, the staging of the Olympic Games in his homeland next summer ensures that that is about to change.
National Study Shows 19 Percent of Seniors May Be at Risk of ...
NEW YORK, Jan. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Even though a moderate winter has been forecasted for the U.S., 19 percent of seniors nationwide may be at risk of hypothermia due to the temperature in their residence dropping below 61 degrees Fahrenheit, according to a national study conducted by Living Independently Group, Inc., creators of QuietCare(R). This study utilizes comparative data from QuietCare, a life-changing system that provides today's growing number of baby boomers caring for an aging relative with peace of mind and less stress by enabling them to log on and see how their loved one is doing, whether a mile or an ocean apart. QuietCare is the only system to monitor home temperatures, and uses small wireless sensors -- not cameras or microphones -- to detect patterns of daily activity 24 hours a day.
Prepare Your Finances For Living To 100
According to the Office of National Statistics, men living in the local authority of Kensington and Chelsea can expect to live to a robust 82.2 years, whereas men living in Glasgow City will boom-and-bust at age 69.9. Women in Glasgow defy their smoke-filled lungs for several more years and survive till 76.7. But the women of Kensington and Chelsea laugh at death. Young ladies there can now expect to survive to 86.2. From a financial perspective, these women are terrifying. Should we all start living as long as this, it'll mean we'll need much larger retirement pots. If we fail to save more, it may put an impossible bill on younger generations. In terms of retirement, these life expectancy figures of 69.9 to 86.2 are too low. The average life expectancy is pulled down by all sorts of nasties that kill people off early.
Vulnerable nursing home residents need protection
Would you ever think to ask if your loved one's nursing home was protected by an automatic-sprinkler system or whether there was a smoke detector in each resident's room? Given how very vulnerable nursing homes residents are, most of us would just assume that these very basic fire safety precautions are already in place. .
Sherwood Ross: New Fort Detrick "Biodefense" Lab.
Although no foreign power has threatened a bioterror attack against America, since 9/11 the Bush administration has allocated a stunning $43-billion to "defend" against one. Critics are now saying, however, Bush's newest "biodefense" initiative is both offensive and illegal. The latest development, according to the Associated Press, is that the U.S. Army is replacing its Military Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md., "with a new laboratory that would be a component of a biodefense campus operated by several agencies." The Army told AP the laboratory is intended to continue research that is only meant for defense against biological threats. But University of Illinois international law professor Francis Boyle charged the Fort Detrick work will include "acquiring, growing, modifying, storing, packaging and dispersing classical, emerging and genetically engineered pathogens." Those activities, as well as planned study of the properties of pathogens when weaponized, "are unmistakable hallmarks of an offensive weapons program." Boyle made his comments to Fort Detrick as part of its environmental impact assessment of the new facility.
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