by Bradley J. Steiner The field of self-defense attracts an awful lot of, shall I say, “unusual” and “strange” types. While this is true of just about every field of endeavor, it can have serious consequences – undesirable consequences – for people who want to learn self-defense and combat skills for use in emergencies they hope never arise. One of...
U.S. INFANTS MAY BE UNABLE TO BENEFIT FROM BREAST MILK
Pediatricians have long known that human breast milk is key to babies’ development of everything from a strong immune system to proper brain and motor function. But the majority of human infants seem to lack a vital gut bacterium that turns breast milk into usable nutrients, according to a new study by researchers led by Stanford University. About 97 percent...
MORE STUDIES LINK CELL PHONES TO CANCER
Incidences of breast and thyroid cancers have risen dramatically in recent years and two studies are adding to earlier evidence of the cause: cell phones. According to a study from Taipei Medical University in Taiwan, cell phones operate at radio frequencies that “significantly increases the risk of breast cancer, especially in women 50 and older who use cell phones and...
RESEARCHERS ELECTRONICALLY STORE COMPUTER FILES IN DNA
DNA has long been an attractive target as a medium for storing computer data: DNA can store 1,000 times as much information in the same space as a computer’s hard drive – about 10 full-length movies in a space the size of a grain of salt – and, unlike hard drives, DNA is a technology unlikely to be made obsolete...
CHINA: SAY WHAT YOU WISH AND GO TO JAIL
Beijing sentenced over 50 individuals – many everyday Chinese people – to prison for the offense of posting unfavorable comments about President Xi Jinping or the Chinese Communist Party on foreign social media platforms, the Wall Street Journal reported. The paper, citing court records and a database produced by free-speech activists, reported that the sentencings were seen as an attempt by Beijing...
MORE CENSORSHIP
French President Emmanuel Macron said last week that unscrupulous politicians like former President Trump have used social media platforms to spread hate, which culminated in last month’s storming of the U.S. Capitol. He said these companies should have acted earlier to censor that kind of rhetoric: “All those who allowed President Trump to succeed waited until they were entirely sure...
CHINA’S PRESIDENT THANKS HONG KONG’S LEADER
China’s President Xi Jinping held a virtual call with Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam and vowed to assist the city during its fight with COVID-19 but insisted it is important that the city is controlled by “patriots.” “Hong Kong’s significant change from chaos to peace again showed an important rule: we must insist on patriots governing Hong Kong, so as...
U.S. BOMBERS FLY TO MIDDLE EAST TO KEEP IRAN IN CHECK
The U.S. flew a B-52H Stratofortress from a base in Louisiana over the Middle East and back to deter “any aggression in the region” and to “reassure” allies, the Wall Street Journal reported. The move comes as tension between Washington, D.C. and Tehran continues. There has been U.S. media hype of “chatter” from “government officials” that Iran wanted to avenge the death...
POLAND: PRO-ABORTION PROTESTS
Thousands of Poles protested last week over Warsaw’s decision to implement a constitutional court ruling considered an almost outright abortion ban, which puts new limits in place for access to abortions when there are fetal abnormalities. The government waited months to implement the 22 October Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling that essentially bans all abortions after two weeks of gestation. As we...