Girl Gets “Flu” Shot & Now Can Only Walk Backwards!

Very very heartbreaking

Girl dies Tweeting in the tub

 

People, people, people. Web 2.0 can do a lot of things, but it doesn’t change the laws of physics, particularly in regards to the transmission of electricity.

To wit: A teenage girl was discovered dead this weekend, electrocuted after dropping her laptop in the bathtub.

Why did she need a computer in the tub? So she could update Twitter. About what she was tweeting remains unclear, but it was hopefully something more meaningful than the soap she was using.

Maria Barbu, 17, of Brasov, Romania, is said to have been plugging her laptop into wall current at the time, after "the battery died during a long session on social networking site Twitter as she took a soak."

Additional details are lacking, and are unlikely to be forthcoming anytime soon. And it’s unclear whether the laptop slipped from her hands or if she was so wet that the water dripping off of her closed the circuit and caused the shock.

Either way, any technology user should know by now that computers and bathrooms simply don’t mix. (If you aren’t worried about electrocution, think of the germs, won’t you?) While GFCI circuits were designed to prevent tragedies such as the all-too-common hair-dryer-in-the-tub accident, they aren’t perfect, and they aren’t universal, especially overseas.

And seriously, can’t Twitter wait until you get out of the bathtub?

Electrocuted on Train Top

It’s sad and shocking! A video of a man (maybe retarded) walking on top of a train and then reach up and touching the electrical lines on top. He gets charred to death within a second!

 

RIP – Michael Crichton (1942-2008)

One of my favorite and most respected authors of recent times. It’s really sad and a real loss for the entire world. No more words…

 

Michael Crichton
1942 – 2008

Best-selling author Michael Crichton died unexpectedly in Los Angeles Tuesday, November 4, 2008 after a courageous and private battle against cancer.

While the world knew him as a great story teller that challenged our preconceived notions about the world around us — and entertained us all while doing so — his wife Sherri, daughter Taylor, family and friends knew Michael Crichton as a devoted husband, loving father and generous friend who inspired each of us to strive to see the wonders of our world through new eyes. He did this with a wry sense of humor that those who were privileged to know him personally will never forget.

Through his books, Michael Crichton served as an inspiration to students of all ages, challenged scientists in many fields, and illuminated the mysteries of the world in a way we could all understand.

He will be profoundly missed by those whose lives he touched, but he leaves behind the greatest gifts of a thirst for knowledge, the desire to understand, and the wisdom to use our minds to better our world.
Michael’s family respectfully asks for privacy during this difficult time.
A private funeral service is expected, but no further details will be released to the public.

 

[ source : Michael Crichton’s Official Website | Wikipedia ]

Indian Poor paid Rs. 98 Crore Bribe in 2007

Sad state of affairs in India… No other comments. Sad.

CHENNAI: That poverty makes one weak before authority is known, but a survey of graft patterns shows that the poor are especially vulnerable to the avarice of corrupt officials.

Families living below the poverty line in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry paid an estimated Rs 97.6 crore as bribes for getting public services in the last year alone, a survey on corruption levels has revealed. The astounding figure translates into an average bribe of Rs 477 a household in the state and the union territory, according to the study conducted by Transparency International-India and the Centre for Media Studies, New Delhi. Of the BPL households that availed of services, 59% had paid bribes in the past one year, the study found.

The state report, of which details have been released now, is part of a larger national study, ‘TII-CMS India Corruption Study 2007′, the results of which were released in June. The survey focussed on BPL households and did not merely cover perception of corruption, but the actual bribe-paying experience of families while availing of 11 selected public services.

Why men rape?

Interesting post… Read this other post as well, if you have time… It is pretty depressing though…

Why Men Rape : Interesting and Informative Article
“In the United States, a woman is sexually assaulted or raped every six minutes . 85% of victims know their attacker and 84% of rapes will go unreported.”

You may find thousands of article on rape victims on the Internet, but have you ever thought why men rape? How does an affectionate lover evolve into a hyped scavenger who leaps out at every single prey? Is it to satisfy their sexual desire or is it to prove that thy can overpower anything weak? Read to know the psychology of a rapist. Unfold the mystery of ‘why men rape’ to prevent the the most sensual act against women?

Expert psychologists define rape as a form of assault where one individual forces another to have sexual intercourse against that person’s will. Most experts believe the primary cause of rape is an aggressive desire to dominate the victim rather than an attempt to achieve sexual fulfillment. They consider rape an act of violence rather than principally a sexual encounter. Here are some of the reasons according to the experts,

Two present day sociobiologist’s claim in their book that unsuccessful men use rape to gain sexual access to desirable mates. By making women pregnant, they proclaim to pass their genes on to the next generation. The above sentence may seem absurd as there are many inadequacies in this argument. For instance, if the primary concern of a rapist is to just procreate, then why do rapists attack the helpless elderly, menopausal women and innocent children? And has anybody thought about the number of murders made by the rapists as the dead bodies will never give birth. So one can conclude that these argument is baseless on many cases.

Ten worst countries for women

This is a very interesting post on the sad state of affairs in this world. While on one hand peoplpe are working to make this world a better place, there are these poor souls who cannot defend themselves and no country is ready to step up to their aid. Why? Probably, because these women across the world do not own OIL????

In spite of real progress around the globe, the bedrock problems that have dogged women for centuries remain.

Olivia Ward [ Foreign Affairs Reporter ]

The image of the 21st century woman is confident, prosperous, glowing with health and beauty.

But for many of the 3.3 billion female occupants of our planet, the perks of the cyber age never arrived. As International Women’s Day is celebrated today, they continue to feel the age-old lash of violence, repression, isolation, enforced ignorance and discrimination.

“These things are universal,” says Taina Bien-Aime, executive director of New York-based Equality Now. “There is not one single country where women can feel absolutely safe.”

In spite of real progress in women’s rights around the globe – better laws, political participation, education and income – the bedrock problems that have dogged women for centuries remain. Even in wealthy countries, there are pockets of private pain where women are unprotected and under attack.

Some countries, often the poorest and most conflict-ridden, have a level of violence that makes life unbearable for women. Richer ones may burden them with repressive laws, or sweep the problems of the least advantaged under the carpet. In any country, refugee women are among the most vulnerable.

So widespread are the disadvantages that it’s hard to pinpoint the worst places in the world for women. Some surveys rate their problems by quality of life, others by health indicators. Human rights groups point to countries where violations are so severe that even murder is routine.

Literacy is one of the best indicators of women’s status in their countries. But Amnesty International Canada’s women’s rights campaigner Cheryl Hotchkiss says building schools alone doesn’t solve the problem of equal education.

“There’s a huge range of barriers women face to getting an education,” she says. “It may be free and available, but parents won’t send their daughters out to school if they can be kidnapped and raped.”

Health is another key indicator, including the care of pregnant women, who are sometimes forced into disastrous early marriage and childbearing, as well as infection with HIV/AIDS. But again, statistics fail to show the whole, complex story.

“On a rural lake in Zambia, I met a woman who had not told her husband she was HIV-positive,” says David Morley, CEO of Save the Children Canada. “She was already living on the edge because she had no children. If she told him, she would be kicked off the island and sent alone to the mainland. She felt she had no choice, because she had no power at all.”

Putting power in women’s hands is the biggest challenge for improving their lives in every country, advocates agree. Whether in the poorest countries of Africa, or the most repressive of the Middle East or Asia, lack of control over their own destinies blights women’s lives from early childhood.

Here are 10 of the worst countries in the world to be a woman today:

• Afghanistan: The average Afghan girl will live to only 45 – one year less than an Afghan male. After three decades of war and religion-based repression, an overwhelming number of women are illiterate. More than half of all brides are under 16, and one woman dies in childbirth every half hour. Domestic violence is so common that 87 per cent of women admit to experiencing it. But more than one million widows are on the streets, often forced into prostitution. Afghanistan is the only country in which the female suicide rate is higher than that of males.

• Democratic Republic of Congo: In the eastern DRC, a war that claimed more than 3 million lives has ignited again, with women on the front line. Rapes are so brutal and systematic that UN investigators have called them unprecedented. Many victims die; others are infected with HIV and left to look after children alone. Foraging for food and water exposes women to yet more violence. Without money, transport or connections, they have no way of escape.

• Iraq: The U.S.-led invasion to “liberate” Iraq from Saddam Hussein has imprisoned women in an inferno of sectarian violence that targets women and girls. The literacy rate, once the highest in the Arab world, is now among the lowest as families fear risking kidnapping and rape by sending girls to school. Women who once went out to work stay home. Meanwhile, more than 1 million women have been displaced from their homes, and millions more are unable to earn enough to eat.