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500 Thai Kids Will Get low-cost laptop Computer
By The Associated Press
Aug 16, 2006 (AP)— The ambitious project to provide low-cost laptop computers to
poor children around the world is about to take a small step forward. More than
500 children in Thailand are expected to receive the machines in October and
November for quality testing and debugging.
The One Laptop Per Child program, which began at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology''s Media Lab and now is a separate nonprofit organization, hopes to
deploy 5 million to 7 million machines in Thailand, Nigeria, Brazil and
Argentina in 2007.
Thailand''s government is expected to buy 1 million in the first year.
But Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced in a nationwide radio broadcast
that "if this project is completed" it would reach all Thai elementary students.
He said each student would get a free computer "instead of books, because books
will be found and can be read on computers."
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Posted by on Wednesday, August 16 @ 15:31:28 EDT (0 reads)
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World Bank: ''Follow Thailand'' on Aids
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Anonymous writes "World Bank: ''Follow Thailand'' on Aids
Thailand is offering life-saving HIV drugs to more than 90 per cent of those in
need, bucking global trends and setting an example for other developing states,
the World Bank said today.
Thai programs show that even countries with few resources may be able to hand
out crucial antiretroviral therapy (ART) on a vast scale at low cost, a World
Bank report released at the 16th International AIDS Conference said.
“Thailand''s ART program is a useful beacon for other developing countries which
are looking at how to provide this treatment to people with advanced HIV,” said
bank economist Ana Revenga.
Around 6.8 million of the estimated 38.6 million people living with HIV
worldwide need ART, the World Health Organisation said today.
Only 1.66 million, or 24 per cent of those in need, are getting the treatment,
the United Nations agency said.
But Thailand has bucked the trend. By May this year it was providing treatment
for 78,000 AIDS patients, which is more than 90 per cent of those who need it,
according to the report, co-authored with the Thai Ministry of Public Health.
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Posted by 157 on Wednesday, August 16 @ 14:31:28 EDT (0 reads)
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Welcome Back
Site is back up again but we are still working on it
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Posted by love on Thursday, June 08 @ 14:31:28 EDT (2123 reads)
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What do boomers want in 2006?
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Anonymous writes "What do boomers want in 2006?
By Joanna L. Krotz
In an historic turnabout, older folks are looking hot. Coast to coast, marketers, politicians and media are waking to the power and sheer numbers of consumers age 50 and older.
Fidelity Investments, for example, tapped Paul McCartney, the urBeatle, to pitch its financial services. The emblem of Gen X cool, The Gap, launched Forth & Towne shops for older women. And the Rolling Stones are still touring.
Fact is, a third of Americans are graying fast. These are the nearly 80 million so-called baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964. Every 7 seconds for the next 18 years, someone in the country will hit 60. More than a million Americans are expected to be 100 or older by 2050.
Even better, boomers are expected to exercise $3 trillion in spending muscle by 2007, as more of them enter prime-time earning years, 45 to 54.
Ready, set, grow! Get your business running in high gear
It's not enough to have a great product. You need to get out and sell it. See how technology can help your sales & marketing in our guide to Growing Your Business.
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Best of all, this feisty, self-actualizing, sex-and-revolution bunch that leveraged "living" into a concept called "lifestyle" is hardly ready to turn "senior." "Every life stage offers new marketing opportunities, needs and motivations," says Carol Orsborn, partner at Imago Creative, a marketing agency that specializes in targeting boomer women.
How do you go with the flow of this lucrative age wave?
Here's a rundown on how to attract these older consumers as well as ideas about products and services that, in boomerspeak, will resonate with them.
Boomers come in different sizes and shapes
Clearly, millions of consumers born over an 18-year span are not homogenous. "While there are aspirational affinities, boomers are not a cultural or economic monolith," says Becky Chidester, CEO of RTCRM, a Washington, D.C., marketing agency.
Your first step is to pinpoint where your business best intersects it. Most market researchers divide the boomer group into three sub-segments:
1.
The leading edge, born 1946-1954
2.
The mid-range, born 1955-1959
3.
Trailing or tail end, born 1960-1964. This group often shares characteristics with Gen X, that is, the kids of leading-edge boomers.
Broadly, distinctions among the groups add up to time and money. The oldest segment, with kids out of the house and the mortgage handled, is ready for rock 'n' roll redux. The younger segments are probably still wrestling with family and financial commitments.
Keep those realities in mind as you package your pitch and plan marketing.
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Never assume boomers are too old to get the message
If you think of boomers as young at heart, flexible and educated, you'll be headed in the right directions. In contrast to previous aging generations, boomers are more likely to try unfamiliar brands than are consumers aged 16 to 34, according to "Business Week."
"You must continue to earn the loyalty of this customer at every single encounter," says Beth Zimmerman, owner of Cerebellas, a brand consultancy in Long Beach, N.Y. "Never assume they're too set in their ways or too ill-informed about other choices for where to take their business."
Once you've defined your overall message, these three marketing themes offer smart channels to develop for boomers.
• The special experience.
Life continues to be an exploration for boomers. That sets up a host of potential services to offer, including special-purpose travel, such as international treks or safaris, whitewater rafting, dude ranches or wilderness outings; cultural celebrations, such as arts forums or festivals; food or culinary adventures, such as back-to-the-old-country jaunts or cooking schools.
One-of-a-kind experiences can also be evoked by products, as in the feeling you get from owning a luxury or a rare treat. This might embrace upscale jewelry or watches, crafts or paintings, high-end machines, motorcycles or tools, handcrafted leather goods or furnishings and more. Just remember: Emphasize the feeling created by owning that fancy watch, not a device that tells time.
• Looking good, feeling good.
If you think there's been an upsurge in health clubs or diet fads lately, just wait. The real explosion is around the corner. Business researcher FIND/SVP forecasts that anti-aging products will turn into a $56 billion market by 2007, a staggering jump of 50% since 2002.
To move into this arena, consider day spa or convenient grooming and beauty services; exercise gear that tones and shapes (don't be too tough on aging bods); pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals; health-conscious restaurants or low-fat, takeout foods; hair care and the like. Don't overlook professional and paraprofessional services, such as medical and plastic surgery, dental cosmetics, as well as vision and hearing boosters, physical therapy, massage or chiropractic services.
Also keep your antenna tuned for spiritual or yoga and meditation services. Such "higher purpose" experiences are also attracting boomers who want to feel and look their best.
• Financial fitness.
"I deal with clients in their mid-50s to early 80s all over the country," says Alan Haft, a financial Certified Senior Advisor based in Boca Raton, Fla. "There's a common denominator. The years of ac*****ulation are over." Everyone, says Haft, no matter the net worth, is concerned about outliving his or her money.
Financial services for boomers include insurance, such as supplemental health and long-term care policies, tax advice and accounting, financial and estate planning, legal services for wills, contracts and so on.
Besides word-of-mouth referrals, Haft finds seminars that offer real information to be his most effective marketing tactic. Typically, he'll mail about 10,000 invitations from purchased and in-house lists to get a 1% response, with 100 or so actually showing up. "About 30% will call for an appointment and half of those will be window-shopping," he says. In the end, one seminar might generate 10 good leads and five real deals. "But one deal over $100,000 pays for the seminar," says Haft.
Marketing via seminars works when your product has a high profit margin that can cover the hefty upfront costs. "Just don't forget the food," advises Haft. "Every boomer gets four or five seminar invitations a week. The better the food, the more likely you'll get a response." Haft holds seminars in hotels and at well-known restaurants.
Also look to technology and business-to-business services in this area. For instance, Impact Technologies, a Microsoft Certified Partner based in Charlotte, N.C., provides financial software and marketing tools for banks, brokerages and financial advisors. Impact's proprietary "Retirement Road Map" software, which quickly calculates how much money an individual will have to live on in later years, helps advisors develop relationships with potential clients, says J. Maxey Sanderson, Impact's vice president of product development. "Most people, regardless of economic means, want some basic awareness before they'll open up to talk about retirement or estate planning. The Retirement Road Map lets advisors give people fast definitive answers." That, points out Maxey, helps build business.
Top of page
Relationships and the new family
Affluent and educated, the boomer group is lavishing attention on their grandkids. So don't forget that the oldster marketing juggernaut includes consumer electronics, trendy toys and kid experiences. SVP estimates 69 million grandparents in the US, propelling a $30 billion market.
In addition, boomer women are defying the past "old lady" stereotypes and re-inventing themselves. Imago's Carol Orsborn, who, with Jimmy Laura Smull, recently released a University of California study of professional women in their late 40s and older called "The Wisdom Years: Women of the Baby Boomer Generation and Their Search for Meaning." They found that "Women are doing things together and looking for communal experiences with one another," says Orsborn. With kids grown and out of the house, women are increasingly leaving husbands at home and sharing experiences or taking trips with women friends or groups. That may be a trek up Machu Picchu or Thursday night chorus night.
Besides the other ideas for businesses and marketing plans for boomers, make sure to tip your hat to the older women market. It's growing more powerful by the month.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joanna Krotz
Joanna L. Krotz writes about small-business marketing and management issues. She is the co-author of the "Microsoft Small Business Kit" and runs Muse2Muse Productions, a New York City-based custom publisher.
http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/marketing/market_research/what_do_boomers_want_in_2006.mspx#top"
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Posted by Love on Sunday, March 26 @ 00:46:56 EST (2082 reads)
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Psychiatrist calls for end to 30-year taboo over use of LSD as a medical treatme
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Psychiatrist calls for end to 30-year taboo over use of LSD as a medical treatment
· Drug inventor celebrates 100th birthday today
· Battle ahead for approval and funding of UK studies
Sarah Boseley, health editor
Wednesday January 11, 2006
The Guardian
British psychiatrists are beginning to debate the highly sensitive issue of using LSD for therapeutic purposes to unlock secrets buried in the unconscious which may underlie the anxious or obsessional behaviour of some of their patients.
The UK pioneered this use of LSD in the 1950s. But psychiatrists found their research proposals rejected and their work dismissed once "acid" hit the streets in the mid-60s and uncontrolled use of the hallucinogenic drug became a social phenomenon.
Today, on the 100th birthday of Albert Hofmann, the scientist who discovered the mind-expanding properties of lysergic acid diethylamide in Switzerland, one consultant psychiatrist is openly risking controversy to urge that the debate on the therapeutic potential of LSD be reopened. Ben Sessa has been invited to give a presentation on psychedelic drugs to the Royal College of Psychiatrists in March - the first time the subject will have been discussed by the institution in 30 years.
"I really want to present a dispassionate medical, scientific evidence-based argument," says Dr Sessa. "I do not condone recreational drug use. None of this is tinged by any personal experience.
"Scientists, psychiatrists and psychologists were forced to give up their studies for socio-political reasons. That's what really drives me."
LSD was brought to the UK in 1952 by psychiatrist Ronnie Sandison who had visited the labs of the drug company Sandoz, where Dr Hofmann worked. He came home with 100 ampoules in his bag and began to use them at Powick hospital, near Malvern in Worcestershire, on selected patients with conditions such as obsessional hand-washing or anxiety who did not respond to psychoanalysis.
Dr Sessa has looked back on the papers published by Dr Sandison and others from the heyday of psychedelic psychiatry, and thinks they may have modern relevance. They claim positive results in patients who were given LSD in psychotherapy to get to the deep-seated roots of anxiety disorders and neuroses. It took them, as the title of Aldous Huxley's book has it, from the poem of William Blake, through "the doors of perception". Yet when he was a student, says 33-year-old Dr Sessa, all his textbooks stated categorically that LSD had no medical use.
"It is as if a whole generation of psychiatrists have had this systematically erased from their education," he says. "But for the generation who trained in the 50s and 60s, this really was going to be the next big thing. Thousands of books and papers were written, but then it all went silent. My generation has never heard of it. It's almost as if there has been an active demonisation."
He says he understands why. LSD became a huge social issue. But he argues that nobody would ask anaesthetists to forgo morphine use because heroin is a social evil, and cannabis is now being formulated as a therapeutic drug.
Since the 1960s, when research was stopped on LSD, "depression and anxiety disorders have risen to almost epidemic proportions and are now the greatest single burden on today's health services. Therefore, today's political climate may be just right for the medical profession to reconsider the use of psychedelic drugs", writes Dr Sessa in an as-yet unpublished paper with Amanda Feilding of the Beckley Foundation which promotes research into the nature of consciousness.
A major conference is being held in Basel, Switzerland, this weekend in honour of Dr Hofmann's birthday. Scientists in the burgeoning psychedelic psychiatry movement will be there, alongside artists, musicians and those who look to hallucinatory drugs for spiritual experience.
In the past five years, the international climate has been changing, albeit very slowly. In the US, Israel, Switzerland and Spain, a few research projects have been permitted into the effects of LSD, MDMA (ecstasy) and psilocybin - the active ingredient in magic mushrooms - on the brain. They look at the use of the drugs in conditions such as post-traumatic stress, obsessive compulsive disorder and the alleviation of distress in the dying.
But Dr Sessa knows it will be an uphill struggle to get research proposals approved and funded in the UK. He believes the drugs are safe in medical use - given in a pure form in tiny doses and in controlled and supervised surroundings. But LSD is associated with flashbacks, and brain scans of clubbers using ecstasy have shown damage. Some psychiatrists are likely to be appalled at the idea. Former patients of Dr Sandison claimed his use of LSD had caused them long-term problems and attempted to bring a court action for compensation.
Dr Sandison says his early experimentation with LSD in the 50s produced results in difficult cases. "I recall one young woman. She had a near-drowning experience. She developed a severe anxiety state. It coloured everything.
"We didn't get anywhere with ordinary psychotherapy, so we went on to LSD. She recalled an extraordinary memory of how, when she was eight, she had gone into a store with her mother and become separated from her. She went to a counter to ask an assistant and felt a man behind her trying to feel her up. She felt very confused by this and said she thought it was an odd way of stealing her purse." he said.
"It was pretty alarming. She had suppressed all this. We began to get somewhere and we discovered why she had sexual difficulties with her husband and felt angry towards men."
In 1954 he wrote his first paper, for the Journal of Mental Sciences, on LSD use in 36 patients. It concluded: "We consider that the drug will find a significant place in the treatment of the psychoneuroses and allied mental illnesses." But by the mid-60s, Dr Sandison had had enough. The drug had become a street problem. He gave evidence in a couple of Old Bailey cases where arson and a murder were committed under the influence of LSD.
"I don't see either ethically or professionally or technically why it shouldn't be used in the future," he says. "But anything done now has to be very different from what we did. All the expertise developed in those years by a large number of people has been lost so we have to start again."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/Story/0,2763,1683780,00.html
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Posted by boomer on Friday, January 13 @ 03:11:05 EST (2237 reads)
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Japanese Baby Boomers Divorce
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Japan baby boomers face late-life divorce risk
By Isabel Reynolds
Tue Jan 3, 8:06 AM ET
TOKYO (Reuters) - Newly retired engineer Kotaro Toyohara arrives home for a family celebration after his final day at work,
clutching a ring for his wife, Yoko, his head full of plans for the years of leisure ahead.
To his shock, Yoko blurts out that she wants a divorce.
That was the scenario for one of this season's most popular Japanese television drama series, "Jukunen Rikon" or "Mature Divorce," reflecting a phenomenon that
many commentators fear may balloon as Japan's baby-boom generation heads into old age.
"We get more and more consultations like this," said Atsuko Okano, who runs Carat Club, a divorce counseling service. "Women are becoming more independent. When their husbands retire, they realize they have 20 or 30 years of life ahead of them and they don't want to carry on as before."
With a new law set to come into force in 2007 allowing ex-wives to claim half their husband's pension, domestic media are warning of a possible divorce boom.
The number of Japanese couples parting ways has risen rapidly over the past 20 years to a 2002 peak of 290,000, while divorce among those married more than 20 years has increased even faster.
Now figures are drifting downwards, but many commentators speculate that women -- who initiate the majority of divorces -- are holding out until 2007.
Some Japanese women see their husbands as an obstacle to enjoying their sunset years.
With few hobbies or friends to turn to, many Japanese retirees, often nicknamed "wet leaves" for their tendency to cling to their wives, spend their time at home.
What's more, they expect their spouses to wait on them as they did when they were bread-winners.
"This was my problem. My husband reached retirement and didn't know what to do with himself, so he was always in the house," said Sayoko Nishida, author of a popular book called "Why are retired husbands such a nuisance?."
"One of the worst things was always having to make his lunch," she said.
Many men set to retire in the next few years have lived largely separate lives from their families for decades, preferring to devote themselves to their jobs -- an arrangement some wives start to like, Okano said.
"I spent virtually all my time on my work," said one 54-year-old school principal, whose wife divorced him and began a new career five years ago after their children grew up. "All I did at home was sleep. I quite understand how my wife felt."
NOT ALL ROSY
The drama "Mature Divorce" ultimately paints marital break-up in a positive light, with the couple remaining friends while Kotaro plans to work as a volunteer in South America and Yoko starts a new career with an upmarket retail chain.
Counselors say a rise in similar cases in the real world could be a disaster. Women may face poverty, since the job market is less than welcoming to those who have devoted their lives to their families, while half a meager pension might not provide much of a living. Men often end up lonely and in poor health.
"Japanese men's life expectancy falls by about 10 years if they divorce late in life," said Nishida, who now runs regular discussion days to help couples overcome the hurdle of retirement. "That's because they can't do anything for themselves."
She did not divorce but insisted her own husband at least learned to cook for himself.
"Couples need to rebuild their relationship," Nishida said. "Retired men still tend to act like the lord and master."
Not all men see a need for change.
"Mature Divorce" star Tetsuya Watari said in an interview on the program's Web site that he never cooks and has not bothered to give his wife a birthday present in decades.
"I don't think Kotaro's way of life is wrong," he said of the workaholic character he played in the drama.
Some viewers agreed with him.
"I can't agree with the wife's point of view," said one poster on the Web site.
"She says Kotaro works all the time and doesn't help around the house, but that's normal for someone devoted to his job -- I think it's admirable. At least he's not a talentless loser."
< a href=http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060103/lf_nm/japan_divorce_dc;_ylt=AigKI4J6hlQTot3XGdfzLFLfB2YD;_ylu=X3oDMTA4b3FrcXQ0BHNlYwMxNjkz>
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060103/lf_nm/japan_divorce_dc;_ylt=AigKI4J6hlQTot3XGdfzLFLfB2YD;_ylu=X3oDMTA4b3FrcXQ0BHNlYwMxNjkz
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Posted by boomer on Wednesday, January 04 @ 12:23:09 EST (2308 reads)
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Sturgeon threatened by illegal caviar trade:
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Anonymous writes "Sturgeon threatened by illegal caviar trade: WWF Wed Dec 14, 7:06 PM ET
GENEVA (Reuters) - In a warning aimed at festive season party-goers, international conservation groups said on Thursday that a thriving illegal trade in caviar across Europe was pushing sturgeon species toward extinction.
Pressure group WWF and wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC also accused European Union governments of dragging their feet on a labeling system showing the origin of traded caviar, due to start early next year.
About half of the 27 sturgeon species that produce unfertilized roe eggs, renowned as a gourmet delicacy, are threatened, and two are believed to be verging on extinction, according to a statement from WWF and TRAFFIC.
"With end-of-year celebrations approaching in many parts of the world, we urge consumers to be vigilant and only purchase caviar from well-established retail businesses and to respect the legal limit of 250 grams," said Gerald Dick of the WWF Global Species Program.
The Swiss-based WWF hoped that by this time next year, "all consumers in Europe can be confident that the caviar they buy is legally obtained and traded, and they are not contributing to an illegal trade that is driving species to extinction," he added.
European authorities seized nearly 12,000 kg (26,000 lbs.) of illegal caviar between 2000 and 2005, but the true size of the covert market is believed to be much larger, according to the groups.
Germany topped the list (2,224 kg), followed closely by Switzerland, the Netherlands, Poland and Britain.
"The illegal caviar trade ranges from private individuals selling jars of caviar at open air market stalls to well- organized smuggling operations, with paid couriers picking up suitcases pre-packed with black market roe," the statement said.
The Caspian Sea -- bordered by the Russian Federation, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan -- supplies the vast majority of the world caviar trade under such exotic labels as beluga, sevruga and osetra.
However, all sturgeon species native to the Caspian Sea and the rivers feeding it have suffered serious declines as their habitats and breeding grounds are polluted and destroyed and fisheries are mismanaged, the groups said.
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Posted by boomer on Thursday, December 29 @ 02:16:31 EST (2323 reads)
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Anonymous writes "
Reuters - Mon Dec 26, 7:40 PM ET Tourists arrange oil lamps during a candle light vigil ceremony marking the one year anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami on Thailand's island of Phi Phi December 26, 2005. (Bazuki Muhammad/Reuters)
A Swedish girl looks at notes posted on the Wall of Remembrance during the tsunami memorial service at Mai Khao Cemetery this morning.
Photo : http://phuketgazette.com
A year after the Indian Ocean tsunami, a huge recovery operation has brought hope to hundreds of thousands of survivors. But the sorrow, pain and trauma remain strong -- along with fears that monster waves could come again.
"We think about the lost lives, lost property and lost jobs," said Kanagalingan Janenthra, 19, in Sri Lanka's eastern town of Batticaloa. "We are in fear. Some of us think it might come again."
About 230,000 people were killed or disappeared in 13 Indian Ocean countries, nearly three quarters of them in Indonesia's Aceh province on the northern tip of Sumatra, according to tallies made by individual countries.
Survivors, friends and relatives joined national leaders and foreign dignitaries for memorials in the worst affected countries of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.
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Posted by boomer on Thursday, December 29 @ 02:10:24 EST (2285 reads)
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Topics: N. Korea lets Budhists rebuild a relic.
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N. Korea lets Buddhists rebuild a relic
By Barbara Demick
Tribune Newspapers: Los Angeles Times
Sun Oct 9, 9:40 AM ET
Watched over by impassive granite peaks and North Korean secret police, a Buddhist temple is coming back to life in this inhospitable terrain.
For the past 11 months, South Korean monks and craftsman have been living in North Korea to rebuild a famous temple destroyed during the Korean War. Among the myriad of joint ventures under way between the politically divided Koreans, this one is extraordinary because it is happening despite the communist government's hostility to religion.
Houses of worship have not fared well in North Korea, but there are exceptions to the rule. The Shingye Temple is one.
Although the $10 million reconstruction will not be completed until 2007, there are regular services. In the main shrine, where a statue of Buddha sits under intricately carved but as yet unpainted beams, one can hear the hollow tapping of the wooden gong each morning and the hypnotic chanting of a monk calling the faithful to prayer, or at least those permitted to attend.
The temple is intended for South Koreans and other foreigners visiting Mt. Kumgang, one of the few parts of the reclusive country open to tourists. The only North Koreans permitted here are a handful of construction workers and some farmers who tend to a collective plot thick with curling vines of pumpkins and squash.
On occasions, high-ranking delegations of North Korean officials pay visits to see what is going on.
Ancient place of worship
The valley of pine trees at the foot of Mt. Kumgang has been the site of Buddhist temples dating back to 519.
A stone monument erected by the North Korean government says the most recent temple was destroyed by U.S. warplanes in 1951: "The architectural beauty of our ancestors was destroyed by the brutal air bombing of the American imperialists."
Although there was little left after the war other than some stone pillars and a stupa, a shrine for Buddhist relics, the remains of Shingye Temple became a pilgrimage site for North Koreans. Not only was it seen as a monument to U.S. aggression, but the place also was blessed with visits in 1947 and 1948 by North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung.
The monk supervising the construction acknowledges that the North Koreans regard the Shingye Temple as a cultural relic rather than a house of worship.
North Korea's motive
"The North Koreans are not interested in the religious aspects of Buddhism, but they are interested in their cultural heritage," said Jejeong, who like other monks uses only one name. The Buddhists' purpose here is not to proselytize but to give North Koreans an opportunity to enjoy the culture that they share with the South.
"I think culture is an easier path toward unification than politics or economics. . . . That is why I was interested in this project," said Jejeong, speaking over the buzz of a chain saw.
The money for the project is coming from South Korean Buddhists and tourists, who donate an average of $20 to write their names on clay shingles that will make up the roof.
"I came. I saw. I climbed," scrawled one visitor from California.
The North Korean government is involved only so far as their scholars are consulting on the architectural design of the temple. One restriction that was imposed: The stone pillars that survived the war will not be used in the reconstruction because their design was of the Japanese colonial period between 1910 and 1945.
North Korea says there are 10,000 Buddhists in the country and 60 Buddhist temples. Buddhists apparently have fared better than Christians, who have been sent to labor camps or executed for the practice of their religion, according to the testimony of defectors.
Other religious projects
Besides the Shingye Temple, a handful of other houses of worship are under construction in North Korea. During his trip to Siberia in the summer of 2002, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il announced his approval of the construction of a Russian Orthodox church, which will serve the small Russian business and diplomatic community in Pyongyang. The Unification Church of Rev. Sun Myong Moon, which has invested heavily in North Korea, is believed to be building an interfaith religious center in Pyongyang.
But experts believe that such projects are more the exception than the rule.
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Topics: Multigenerational households on the rise By Sharon Jayson, USA TODAY
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Multigenerational households on the rise By Sharon Jayson, USA TODAY
Wed Aug 17, 7:25 AM ET
Households with at least three generations living together grew more than 38% during the 1990s but still account for a small slice of American life, according to a U.S. Census report released Tuesday.
In the 2000 Census, multigenerational households, such as extended families with kids, parents and grandparents, totaled 4.2 million homes. Another 43.6 million households included people from two generations. The largest number of households - 57.5 million - consisted of members of only one generation.
The report analyzes changes in U.S. households between 1990 and 2000. It also looks at partner and non-partner households and finds that households in which the head of the household is without a partner grew faster than those with a partner. Data from the 2000 Census released earlier says living alone is the most common household arrangement in the USA. In 1990, the most common was a married couple with children.
In 2000, the most common type of multigenerational household consisted of the householder, a child and a grandparent.
Donna Butts, executive director of the non-profit group Generations United, says she is pleased to hear of the growth in these families. "Overall, we consider it very positive because there has been such a separation between the generations."
But researchers says studies about multigenerational households are relatively few; numbers only began increasing in recent years.
Ariel Kalil, an associate professor of public policy at the University of Chicago, says researchers most often think of a three-generation household as a grandparent with a teenage daughter who is a dependent single mother. But she says it's important to recognize that there are other such households where the middle generation is caring for both children and parents. The prevalence of multigenerational households varies by race and ethnicity, she adds.
David Niven, an Ohio State University psychologist and the author of The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy Families, says little is known about how long such multigenerational households last, nor how long this increase in multigenerational living will continue.
"This is, in effect, a return to something that would have been more normal centuries ago," he says. "A large part of this is economic, and as economic cycles change, the prevalence of multigenerational family living will change."
Niven says research shows such a reconfigured family takes at least six months to adjust to the new living arrangement. The length of time together, the extent to which it's viewed as a mutual decision and the flexibility of expectations are important, he says.
"What's clear is that feeling connected to your family members helps. What's not clear is that living with your family members helps you feel connected to them," he says.
"An awful lot of differences come out when you're that physically close to each other."
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There isn't a Biggest Story for Today, yet.
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| Sunday, August 14 | | · | Cruise.The ultimate vacation |
| · | August 14, 1945. |
| Saturday, July 09 | | · | Old Carpets Being Tapped As Energy Source. |
| Monday, June 20 | | · | Generation gap besets Vietnamese |
| Thursday, May 26 | | · | Wind Energy |
| Sunday, March 20 | | · | Samsung Digicam Comes Calling |
| Thursday, February 24 | | · | Taiwan Open for Unification With China |
| Tuesday, February 22 | | · | 'New urbanism' embraces Latinos |
| Thursday, January 06 | | · | Tsunami Candles Vigil |
| Sunday, January 02 | | · | Shunned, India's untouchables gather tsunami dead |
| Tuesday, December 28 | | · | 9.0 Earthquake and Tsunamis |
| Wednesday, December 08 | | · | Scientists Make Phone That Turns Into a Sunflower |
| Sunday, December 05 | | · | Who We Are |
| · | Thai Military Drops Origami for Peace |
| Thursday, November 11 | | · | Making world a better place |
| Wednesday, October 13 | | · | Veterans Day & Young Marines |
| Monday, September 06 | | · | Idled hands a godsend for rural community |
| Saturday, August 14 | | · | Thomas Edison |
| Monday, June 28 | | · | The Vocational Passion Newsletter for those in mid-life |
| · | Welcome To All! |
| · | What is the world population? |
| Saturday, June 26 | | · | Child leaves legacy on playground after cancer death |
| Friday, June 25 | | · | Global Citizens Caring and Sharing. |
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Boomers Yahoo Single Group
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