Necessity is the mother of invention and all that stuff, right? Maybe we can also say that desperate times call for desperate measures? Or how about, He will provide if we just ask? What am I talking about? An anti-H1N1 (Swine flu) holy water dispenser for church.
Roman Catholics who enter a church usually dip their fingers into a small bowl filled with Holy Water. They make the sign of the cross and then proceed to enter the main part of the church. Many repeat this motion when they leave the church.
Because of the H1N1 fears, many churches have removed their …read more

Have you come across the Lying Down Game?
It’s the latest bizarre internet phenomenon that’s sweeping the world, causing people to, well, basically, lie down in the strangest places, including the engine of a jumbo jet (engine off, on the ground)
There’s only one rule – you must have your palms flat against their sides and tips of your toes touching the ground.
No place is out of bounds. And the more public the better. Pictures posted on the Facebook site have people lying down in front of tanks, on roads, on roofs…
In one British hospital, the medical staff on night shift in …read more

Check this out.
Queensland Health’s new doctor fatigue policy, soon to take affect in public hospitals around Queensland, Australia, suggests the antidote for sleep-deprived doctors is …. six cups of coffee.
This will, apparently, prevent them from harming their patients while in state of exhaustion.
Honestly. I’m not making this up. The policy document claims that the standard solution of ‘more staff’ really isn’t feasible. Therefore, the doctors need to find a way to work effectively on little sleep.
And that way is caffeine. The document suggests recommends a dose of 400 mg of caffeine (about 5 to 6 cups of coffee) as the …read more

Move Over Cluedo…Fluedo has arrived
Trust the British to come up with a unique, even bizarre, way to combat Swine H1N1 flu.
Most governments are focusing on helplines, information on anti-viral drugs, and specialized clinics.
But British health chiefs have looked outside the square and created The Flu Pandemic Game.
It’s a role-playing game that simulates ‘the effects of a flu pandemic on staffing in an imaginary group of small businesses’ through the role of the dice and chance cards.
The players (3 to 60) assume staff identities at imaginary workplaces. The game has 15 rounds that represent 15 weeks of work. The players learn …read more

Swiss clinic Dignitis and the issue of assisted suicide have been in the British media spotlight lately, mainly due to a debate that is taking placing before the  House of Lords.
This debate revolves around an old law and a new case. The old law, the 1961 Suicide Act bans assisted suicide in Britain and criminalises anyone who aids, abets, counsels or procures someone else’s suicide.
The new case -  a 46-year-old woman with progressive multiple sclerosis who wants to travel abroad to die and wants to ensure her husband Omar Puente won’t be  prosecuted if he helps her travel.
The law as it …read more

To mark Parkinson’s Awareness Week (April 20-26th) in the United Kingdom (England, Wales, and Scotland)  the Parkinson’s Disease Society has launched a nationwide appeal to get people to pledge to donate their brains for Parkinson’s research.
Seems that they are running a little low on this organ and without it, are unable to pursue necessary research to help advance Parkinson’s Disease treatments and maybe even find a cure.
But getting people to donate their brains isn’t as easy as getting them to donate other organs. A survey recently commissioned by the Parkinson’s Disease Society has shown that while over 60% are comfortable …read more

Today, I was inspired and moved beyond words.
Flicking on the television this morning, I was captivated by this news piece…
Watch Susan’s full performance on Britain’s Got Talent here.

Image details: Satin-Lined Gray Coffin served by picapp.com
The Japanese – an efficient, healthful group of people. People rooted in culture. People who cherish their elders. People who keel over from being overworked.
Say what?
Yes, it’s true. While America is sometimes looked at as slovenly and over-privileged, our Japanese pals are working so hard, they’re launching themselves into the grave. This has become such an epidemic, in fact, that it even has a name: karoshi.
For example, there was a poor fellow, a 45-year-old chief engineer for Toyota, who worked an additional 114 hours of overtime per month (overtime!). That’s equivalent to about …read more

Most of us use the toilet, well, to put it delicately, to relieve the body of no longer needed products.
But for two Belgian beer fans, that’s simply not enough. Seems that they think you should be able to relieve yourself and shot aliens or slalom down ski slopes at the same time.
To that end, they designed and have recently released the ‘Place to Pee’ video game. It’s set up in a booth and caters for two users at a time. Gamers (ie pee-ers) score by aiming and hitting sensors positioned on either side of the urinal.
And ladies, if you think …read more

You’ve heard it time and again. Somebody tells you that you look just like so and so, and you eek out the standard reply: “Well, they say everyone has a twin.”
Well, if you’re a seemingly normal 9-year-old girl in central Greece, you not only have a twin, but you carry her (or him) around in your stomach.
Yes, this is true. The girl, who was suffering from stomach pains and a swollen belly, went to the hospital where doctors surgically removed a growth that was found to be the girl’s embryonic twin. A formed fetus, it was two inches long and …read more