World AIDS Day,observed December 1 each year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. It is common to hold memorials to honor persons who have died from HIV/AIDS on this day. Government and health officials also observe the event, often with speeches or forums on the AIDS topics. Since 1995, the President of the United States has made an official proclamation on World AIDS Day. Governments of other nations have followed suit and issued similar announcements.
AIDS has killed more than 25 million people between 1981 and 2007, and an estimated 33.2 million people worldwide live with HIV as of 2007, making it one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history. Despite recent, improved access to antiretroviral treatment and care in many regions of the world, the AIDS epidemic claimed an estimated 2 million lives in 2007, of which about 270,000 were children.
Everyone wants to look beautiful - that is undeniable. But in this pursuit of beauty, aren't we following impossible standards? The beauty industry has been destroying the self-esteem of both men and women by holding them up to an impossible standard of beauty. So, what do you think? Are there really amazingly flawless people out there? Or do fashion magazines trick our eyes? Watch the video below and share with us your opinion on the subject!
Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. On this day, many U.S. retailers open very early, often at 4 a.m., or earlier, and offer promotional sales to kick off the shopping season. Because Thanksgiving always falls on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, the day after occurs between the 23rd and the 29th of November.
The news media frequently refers to it as the busiest retail shopping day of the year, but this is not always accurate. In many cities it is not uncommon to see shoppers lined up for hours before stores with big sales open. Once inside the stores,shoppers often rush and grab, as many stores have only a few of the big-draw items. Injuries and even fatalities are reported. On Friday, November 28, 2008, Jdimytai Damour, a worker at a Walmart in Valley Stream, New York was trampled to death by shoppers who broke through the store's glass doors minutes before the store's scheduled opening at 5:00 a.m.; a pregnant mother was hospitalized from injuries in the same human "stampede". On that same day, two people in Palm Desert, California, were shot and killed in a Toys "R" Us store during an argument. Source: wikipedia.org (abridged)
Watch the videos below to get a general idea of how shoppers behave on Black Friday in the USA!
Besides eating turkey and pumpkin pie and watching the Superbowl on TV, Thanksgiving Day is a day on which people give thanks for all the good thingsthat has happened to them this year.
Did you know that Queen Elizabeth II has joined Facebook? Unfortunately, you won't be able to "friend" the Queen, but you can click to "like" the page.
«The cartoon shows the Queen at her computer, surrounded by her beloved corgis. She has just received a message from a corgi asking to go walkies (i.e., to be taken for a walk). The corgi who sent the message comments: "It's the only way I can get Her Majesty's attention these days!"» (Source: The English Blog)
You can now take a course about Lady Gaga at the University of South Carolina! The course is called "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame". What do you think about this? Would you like to attend this course? Watch the video below and leave your comment.
A McDonald’s Happy Meal has been getting a lot of attention this week. The meal just turned six months old after sitting uncovered on a shelf since April -- and so far shows no sign of decomposing. Artist Sally Davies tells ABC she bought the burger to settle an argument with a friend.
DAVIES: “I went out and I bought the burger, I brought it home, I put it from the bag onto a white china plate, which it’s still on, and I took a picture of it.”
ANCHOR: “And another picture, and another. Six months’ worth, she says. So how does that burger and fries look on day 180? Well, about the same.”
The meal lost its odor after a few days, and Davies’ dogs lost interest, but the media has been enthralled. Here are some of the headlines:
(The Christian Broadcasting Network asks:) “The Everlasting Happy Meal?”
(From MSNBC:) “Oh, 180-day-old Happy Meal, why won’t you rot?”
(From OC Weekly:) “The Scary Tale of the Undead McDonald’s Happy Meal”
And, of course The Daily Mail asks,
“You want flies with that?”
McDonald’s released a statement addressing Davies’ project, saying decomposition only occurs under certain conditions, and we shouldn’t be surprised about the meal’s longevity.
“If food is/or becomes dry enough, it won’t grow mold or bacteria. In fact, any food purchased from a restaurant or grocery store or prepared at home that lacks moisture would also dehydrate and see similar results if left in the same environment.”
But some aren’t buying McDonald’s explanation. Gizmodo’s Jesus Diaz writes:
“It's hard to believe that a burger sitting [in] a living room in New York for six months can get mummified, like McDonald's is implying. Even with the A/C unit on, the humidity in NYC is extremely high, especially during the summer months.”
Still, a food scientist tells CNN’s Jeanne Moos McDonald’s story is plausible.
MOOS: “Food scientist Dr. John Lucey says it’s just dehydrated food.”
LUCEY: “If you took a steak home and cooked it and then forgot about it, you’d get something similar like this.”
MOOS: “How about the bun? Regular bread gets moldy."
LUCEY: “Yeah, but the burger buns are different because they’re made to be lower moisture content because they have to be tougher.”
The whole situation, Davies’ project, McDonald’s response, and the media buzz is bizarre to say the least. The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein captures the irony in two sentences.
“McDonald's is currently trying to convince people that its burgers can, in fact, grow mold. This is considered a selling point, at least in the modern world.”
So does this burger gross you out, or did Davies just inadvertently make beef jerky? Give us your take in the comments section.
No Pressure is a film produced by the global warming mitigation campaign 10:10, written by Richard Curtis and Franny Armstrong, and directed by Dougal Wilson. Intended for cinema and television advertisements but pulled within hours of its release due to bad public reception.
No Pressure is composed of scenes in which schoolchildren and office workers are summarily and gruesomely executed for failing to pledge to reduce their personal carbon emissions to the campaign's participating educators and employers. The film's recurring veiled threat is later directed toward the viewer, and superimposed over the final victim's dripping blood: "Cut your carbon by 10%. No pressure."
The film was withdrawn from public circulation by 10:10 on the same day it was released, as a reaction to immediate intense negative publicity it received hundreds of negative comments on the original YouTube upload before being pulled by the creators,and charities that had backed the film stated they were "absolutely appalled" upon seeing it.
What do you think of this commercial? Bad taste? Too radical? Tell us what you think!
