China has never been high on my list because I don't like noise or being crowded. I know that is very American of me. She posted a video of the traffic out her window on her blogspot.

TYPES OF HANDEDNESS
Redirected handedness = learned handedness
Natural handedness = genetic or inherited
Pathological handedness = caused by brain injury or other pathology

( notesCollapse )

In its “downside scenario,” the fund said that a continued rise in European government borrowing rates and a worsening of problems with the region’s banks would push the world into recession.

“The current environment...provides fertile ground for self-perpetuating pessimism,” the fund wrote.

Their calculations predict the global downward trend in spite of the booming economies of China and India. Want to move there? I don't.

SOURCE
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/imf-report-global-economy-to-hit-mild-recession/2012/01/24/gIQAWR6SNQ_story.html?wpisrc=al_comboNE_b

NEW FEDERAL ACTION
US feds began emergency action Weds 11/24/10 (takes 30 days)
to outlaw 5 chems used to make synthetic marijuana
will be schedule 1 along with cocaine, heroin, etc
emergency ban-->illegal for 1 year while DEA and DHS study them
may not kill industry, will create new black market
15+ states and some Euro nations have already banned them
manufacturers already reformulating to circumvent bans, are in touch with distributors

came to DEA attention in 11/08 when US Customs analyzed "spice"
in 2010 customs seized a 110lb load
law enforcement will use chemical tests
will focus on distributors, not users
( notesCollapse )

According to the World Economic Forum, that is. The US held second until last month, now Sweden and Singapore have passed the US. Switzerland just passed the US to take the #1 spot last year. China's moving up and has reached #27. Germany's also climbing the scale, now in the #5 spot. Japan's #6. Finland is #7 and Denmark is #9 putting Scandinavia as a whole in the top 10. Netherlands is #8 and Canada is #10. At the moment. Things are definitely shifting.

The rating is based on 12 variables: institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labour market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication, and innovation.

SOURCE
http://www.weforum.org/en/media/Latest%20News%20Releases/NR_GCR10

I don't know if you pay attention to the news about China, but the Three Gorges Dam just survived the biggest flood yet. It could have failed, but it didn't.

(but not associated with anxiety)

"People who are susceptible to depression are already more prone to social isolation and withdrawal and therefore more likely to develop problematic Internet usage because the Internet provides an outlet for them," Dr. Christakis observed. "So the findings from the study are highly plausible, and because it was longitudinal and adjusted for baseline levels of depression and Internet use, the findings are both novel and robust."
( notes from medscape articleCollapse )