Money Matters: Wikileaks Forced To Cease and Desist

In what can only be described as a bitch-and moan, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has announced the whistleblowing website is suspending publication of classified documents due to a funding crisis.

Assange fronted the media at London’s Frontline media club to announce that the website would be forced to fold after Christmas unless it raised about $3.3 million in funds.

If this isn’t a monomaniacal smokescreen, put up by the a waning narcissistic hack, please explain Assanges last grab at headlines – 4 weeks ago - In a previous report, we pointed out that WikiLeaks had effectively been closed for new business, after the computer mastermind behind the site –The Architect – walked away from the organisation, taking with him code essential to the operation of the Wikileaks web site.

[read the full article] A Man is Not an Island: Julian Assange! To top-off his blatant hunt for celebrity, and in what can only be described as a narcissistic outburst, Assange stated “Across the general population of the world I have more than 84 per cent name recognition” We kid you not! :: Read the full article »»»»

Depressed? Female? Have a Coffee!

We’ve been waiting for this discovery for years, patiently sipping away at our cuppa with the hopeful thought that it might one day be of benefit, we’re halfway there. Women who drink four cups of coffee a day are 20 per cent less likely to become depressed than women who rarely drink coffee. Caffeine is the most widely used central nervous system stimulant in the glaxy, 80 percent of consumption is in the form of coffee. Previous research, including one prospective study among men, has suggested an association between coffee consumption and depression risk. Because depression is a chronic and recurrent condition that affects twice as many women as men, including approximately one of every five U.S. women during their lifetime, “identification of risk factors for depression among women and the development of new preventive strategies are, therefore, a public health priority”  Researchers sought to examine whether, in women, consumption of caffeine or certain caffeinated beverages is associated with the risk of depression. They studied 50,739 U.S. women from 1996 through 2006. V★P  READ MORE

Setup or Stupid? Citibank Arrests it's Own Customers

Citibank has always been a bit of a fumbling behemoth, barely – with bailout assistance from U.S. tax payers - scraping through the global financial crisis in tact, it now face an entirely new wave of trouble. Days after Citibank CEO Vikram Pandit talked about his sympathies with Occupy Wall Street and his willingness to engage with protesters. A Citibank branch in New York has locked the doors of their branch and arrested a group of Citibank account holders who wished to to close their accounts. It’s clear that Citibank are terrified that a few accounts closing will escalate to a run on the bank. “It would only take a small percentage of account holders to prove that Citibank is an economic hologram and like much of the financial sector, is desperately hiding how weak it is. The 99% are waking up and realise they’ve been duped, fleeced,conned and bullied for far too long” said Jeremy Bloom.  ”NOT even in the dark dark days of the 1930s great depression – when there was actual panic – did we see anything this stupid” Here’s how it went down at the Citibank branch at 555 La Guardia Place in New York. The demonstrators – all Citibank customers –  were asked to leave, and when they tried to comply Citibank’s security locked them in and wouldn’t let them leave! 24 were arrested. Clearly nothing is ever this simple!? Includes Weekend Roundup of OWS Protests: M★S READ MORE

Setup or Stupid? Citibank Arrests it's Own Customers

Citibank has always been a bit of a fumbling behemoth, barely – with bailout assistance from U.S. tax payers - scraping through the global financial crisis in tact, it now face an entirely new wave of trouble. Days after Citibank CEO Vikram Pandit talked about his sympathies with Occupy Wall Street and his willingness to engage with protesters. A Citibank branch in New York has locked the doors of their branch and arrested a group of Citibank account holders who wished to to close their accounts. It’s clear that Citibank are terrified that a few accounts closing will escalate to a run on the bank. “It would only take a small percentage of account holders to prove that Citibank is an economic hologram and like much of the financial sector, is desperately hiding how weak it is. The 99% are waking up and realise they’ve been duped, fleeced,conned and bullied for far too long” said Jeremy Bloom.  ”NOT even in the dark dark days of the 1930s great depression – when there was actual panic – did we see anything this stupid” Here’s how it went down at the Citibank branch at 555 La Guardia Place in New York. The demonstrators – all Citibank customers –  were asked to leave, and when they tried to comply Citibank’s security locked them in and wouldn’t let them leave! 24 were arrested. Clearly nothing is ever this simple!? Includes Weekend Roundup of OWS Protests: M★S READ MORE

UVA Radiation Causes DNA Damage

There is new evidence that the sun’s UV rays are even more damaging than previously thought. The sun emits two kinds of UV rays to the earth’s surface: UVA and UVB. It had been thought that those rays do not damage the deeper layers of the skin as much as they damage the top layers. New research from Kings College London has found that is the case for UVB rays, but not for UVA rays. The study has found UVA rays are more carcinogenic than previously realised – a finding scientists say underscores how important it is to limit exposure to the sun and to tanning studios. The kind of damage they saw in UVA exposed skin has been shown in other studies to lead to skin cancer. UVA causes these changes at a larger incidence than has been expected or predicted, researchers say. The findings make it even more important, experts say, for people to regularly use broad spectrum sun protection, from hats, sun-protective clothing, and sunscreen. That isn’t always an easy task since the sun protection factor (SPF) listed on sunscreen labels only measures how well the product blocks UVB, not UVA. M★D READ MORE

Beware Greeks Baring Receipts

The only thing certain in life is death and taxes! Unless you live in Greece, where “Tax Evasion is the National Pastime.” To fix the problem, the Greek government is going to start tracking its citizens’ spending in real-time. Many of Greece’s financial woes can be attributed to its huge untaxed shadow economy, which is estimated to be more than 25% of  GDP. Some studies suggest that Greece is missing out on more than $30 billion in taxes, so the cash-strapped country is trying something new. Forcing consumers to track their spending with a government-issued tax card. The “shadow economy” business that’s legal but off the books is larger in Greece than in almost any other European country. And the culture of evasion has negative consequences beyond the current crisis, it means that the revenue burden falls too heavily on honest taxpayers. Expect a little Tax Revolt in Greece? M★D READ MORE