BIZARRE: Phobia-less Woman Surprisingly Still Alive

The medical journal Current Biology has released a new report about a 44 year old woman known only as SM.

The woman suffered from a genetic disease known as lipoid proteniosis, which has affected areas of her brain which controls the body's sensor to danger.

After years of psychological testing and numerous field tests, SM appears to fear absolutely nothing.

Though SM felt other emotions such as excitement and curiosity, she consistently displayed no signs of fear in almost any scenarios, and when asked to rate her fear on a scale of 1 - 10, never expressed a level higher than 2.

In one experiment, SM was taken to a pet shop where she had to interact with various types of snakes and spiders. Previously SM had stated she hated snakes and spiders, but during the experiment, she took delight in holding and touching the snakes. in some cases she pet the tongue of the snakes she was holding. She also had to be coaxed away from reaching towards some venomous tarantulas.

In another experiment, SM was led through a haunted house where she actually was drawn towards actors dressed as monsters. She actually scared one of the actors by poking as his face, as she was curious what the masks felt like.

SM said she felt the haunted house was "highly exciting and entertaining" she again rated her fear at zero.

SM was also subjected to numerous horror films and again rated her fear at zero.

Even during uncontrolled events during her real life, SM seemed to have no fear. In 1995, a man leapt off a park bench and held SM at knife point, threatening to kill her. She reportedly told her assailant "If you are going to kill me, you're going to have to go through my God's angles first." SM then walked away from the man, and returned to the same park the next night.

SM has said she recalled experiencing fear as a child when faced with a snarling Doberman that had cornered her, but said she could not recall any adult experience in which she had fear.

Scientists are trying to retrain SM's brain to react differently to fear. Dr. Justin Feinstein who is leading the study on SM said he felt "it is quite remarkable that she is still alive," indicating that she needlessly puts herself into dangerous situations due to her inability to process fear.

Doctors also hope that by studying SM that they may gain insight into curing the effects of post traumatic stress disorder in other patients.

Feature Destination: Tasmania, Australia

Tasmania, the island just off the south coast of Australia is truly one of Earth's last great refuges. 37% of Tasmania is comprised of natural reserves, national parks and world heritage sites.

The Australian state is the most mountainous region in the entire country, and lends to some of the most breath taking scenery in the world. Australia's largest temperate rain forest is located on the Northwest portion of the island, where the Northeast portion has some of the most beautiful beaches, such as the Bay of Fires.

The Bay of Fires

To truly experience the best Tasmania has to offer, it is best to go during the summer months from December to February. For being a small landmass, the climate can vary widely due to the different types of geographic terrain. For example, the average daytime high in the summer can vary up to four or five degrees depending on where you are.

Also during the summer months are numerous festivals that are ongoing around the island. One of the most popular of such festivals is the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race. The race starts on Boxing Day (December 26th), and typically ends 3 - 4 days later as the yachts reach Constitution Harbor in Hobart City. Coincidentally, the race ends during the Taste of Tasmania festival, which features food and wine from around the island.

Constitution Harbor

And if food and wine is your game, Tasmania is the place for you. Traditionally most common forms of cuisine were derivatives of English fare, but over the last few decades, Tasmania food has had a revolution with more focus on locally grown foods and vegetables which have allowed the food industry to create its own identity.

As for libations, there are a number of locally produced beers, both from microbreweries and larger scale productions that allow their beers to be available on mainland Australia. For a popular local brew, try Boags beer.

The wine industry has also blossomed over the decades, partially due to Tasmania's unique ecosystem and climate. One very notable vineyard is Moorilla Estate. Moorilla is a remarkable complex which focuses not only on wines, though the vineyard has been producing award winning wines since 1958, but also makes beer, contains an antiquities museum, has a boutique hotel which showcases world class art, and hosts exclusive events throughout the year. Moorilla Estate is a remarkable winery that is much more than just wine, and could really be a Feature Destination in its own right. Visit their website at Moorilla Estate.

If your style is more urban contemporary rather than country style relaxation, try visiting some of the major cities on the island. The main cities are Launceston, Devonport, and of course Hobart, the region's capital city.

Hobart City

Hobart, a city of just over 200,000 is considered one of Australia's most sustainable cities, and has also been ranked as one of the most innovative cities on the globe. It is a major hub for Antarctic Services, serving as a close port to the south pole for research facilities. Hobart is also no stranger to tourists. The city sees more than 40 cruise ships a year dock in its harbors.

If your looking for a lively place where you can mingle with the locals, try Salamanaca Place, which turns into a giant outdoor market every Saturday. Great bargains can be found, and you will no doubt meet dozens of locals. It's estimated that more than 25,000 people shop at Salamanaca every weekend.

If you're done with shopping and want to let off a little steam, you can try out dozens of taverns, pubs, restaurants and clubs on Elizabeth St. or Sandy Bay. If nightclubbing is what appeals to you most, search out the Syrup Club, a hopping nightclub that features some well known DJs and acts. Check them out at Syrup Club. Or try your luck at the Wrest Point Hotel and Casino.

The summer season in Tasmania is just beginning and now is the time to visit. The easiest way to travel there is by air and the most common major airlines that fly there are Qantas and Virgin Blue. But if your too late to make it there this year, why not plan ahead and book for 2011? You'll have the privilege of attending the Ten Days On The Island Festival, which is Tasmania's bi-annual international arts festival. Go and soak up some culture.

Happy Travels

London Bridge is Falling Down

Well, not yet anyway.

Thousands of students took to the streets of London today to protest austerity measures enacted by the British Parliament, which will see tuition caps raised from approximately 4,700 pounds a year to nearly 14,000. In other words, tuition will be tripled.

The increase alone would be enough to incite riots, but one particular sore spot is the Coalition Government is currently made up of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. In fact, the deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, a Liberal Democrat, actually signed a pre-election pledge to oppose any tuition hikes.

The Liberal Democrats are typically a popular political party with students, as they have more progressive societal views and tend to lean more heavily for social programs and more universal education.

Today, students made public their thoughts on the government's decision. Sit ins and demonstrations were held across the nation, and central London was flooded with students waving banners, beating on drums and chanting.

The protests turned into riots in some part of the city. Small groups of protesters began throwing flares and paint bombs, tearing down police barricades and scuffling with officers. At one point Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles car was being punched and kicked as they tried to get to a social engagement.

But lets look at the logistics of the British Government's plan. I'm not sure I quite understand it myself.

To be fair, Britain is actually the second UK country to massively increase tuition this year. A few weeks back, Ireland also tripled the cost of post secondary education, as part of their mandated requirements to receive their bailout package from the EU. Harsh to be sure, but when the country is on the verge of veritable insolvency, harsh measures are required.

As for the UK, one of two things has occurred. Either the nation is also on the verge of bankruptcy, and has just done a much better job of keeping it quiet, or the Coalition government has just suffered a moment of colossal stupidity.

If the former is true, then the UK obviously has no intentions on asking the EU for a bailout, or we would have heard about it long before now. I don't think this is a very likely scenario. Which leaves us with, drum roll please, the latter.

Granted I am not an economist. But from what I remember from my business studies, if the economy is in retreat, the best way to correct the problem is to increase the median salary of the nation. Increasing the median salary means people are making more money and also spending more. It also encourages investment and increases the size of income tax contributions directly to federal coffers.

Sounds simple, right?

So what is the best way to increase median salary? Typically this is done by creating more highly trained specialists (who automatically command large salaries) and by increasing the number of entrepreneurs (who in turn pay more taxes and hire lower skilled labor).

And what is the best and easiest way of creating more highly trained specialists and entrepreneurs? Well, by making post secondary education more accessible of course!

So, since the government has chosen the opposite of the above example, what is likely the long term outcome?

Every 10% increase in tuition means less and less people can afford to access education. Since the tuition will go up nearly 300%, this means vastly less people will get the education they need. This provides the government a very small window of time to find other ways to save money and reverse the tuition rates. If the government fails to reverse the tuition costs, within 5 - 10 years, Britain will have a much higher unskilled workforce (who naturally make less money) and a much smaller skilled workforce. Thus creating a downward spiral in their economy for decades to come.

And of course, there is the potential long term damage done by continuing rioting.

The eyes of the world are on the British government now. I urge them to use this as only a temporary measure and come to their senses soon.

WikiLeaks Ally Takes Down Visa, Mastercard

An organization calling itself "Anonymous" has publicly sided with WikiLeaks, and claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on both Visa and Mastercard today.

Both sites in Canada and the US were inaccessible for most of the day.

The attack is supposed to be a form of retribution for both Visa and Mastercard cutting off service with WikiLeaks, which effectively cut off donations to the controversial website.

Mastercard Canada spokesmen have said that the attack has not affected any credit card transactions.

Anonymous has called the attacks "Operation Payback". Early wednesday, Anonymous led media outlets to a video posted on YouTube which explained the objectives of the attacks.

Anonymous released a statement in which they said: "While we don't have much of an affiliation with WikiLeaks, we fight for the same reasons. We want transparency and we counter censorship... This is why we intend to utilize our resources to raise awareness, attack those against, and support those who are helping lead our world to freedom and democracy."

The US government has put intense pressure on both the business community and political world to condemn and cut ties with WikiLeaks. Earlier this week, Amazon.com cut ties with WikiLeaks, which was using Amazon.com's servers, due to political pressure from Washington to do so.

Washington has also put pressure on France to shut down mirror websites that are hosting WikiLeaks information in the stead of WikiLeaks own webpages being shut down. Currently the French government has been stalled by their court system while trying to comply.

WikiLeaks first garnered attention in the spring when it posted a US military video which showed US troops in Iraq shooting down two unarmed Reuters journalists. The video was apparently taken by US army helicopters.

Since that video, WikiLeaks has published nearly half a million classified US documents from Iraq and Afghanistan. WikiLeaks feels the public has a basic right to know what their Military and Governments are doing.

I understand that governments have a right to secrecy when it comes to armed forces potentially being in danger, and can understand why the US has reservations to seeing these documents in the public. However, I do feel the public has the right to know if their governments or military forces are doing unsavory things, intentional or not. This includes incidents of Friendly Fire, such as the Reuters journalists or other hidden agendas that may infringe on anyone's basic human rights or freedoms.

Censorship is a dangerous concept, and governments would do well to remember that one way or another in some point in time, the truth ALWAYS comes out.

Forbes Magazine: Gary Holden is The 5th Biggest Screwup!

According to Forbes Magazine, Gary Holden, CEO of public-owned energy utility Enmax, is one of the biggest CEO screw ups of the year.

As I recently reported, Holden made national headlines when he sent a ranting email to all Enmax employees chastising a former employee for leaking information to the media about lavish parties that had been held at his home on the company's dime. Holden went so far as to threaten legal recourse against the former employee in what seemed to be a warning to everyone else to keep quiet.

Helen Coster, the author of the article which was published on Forbes.com, said she found it surprising how Holden dealt with the accusations of wild company-fueled parties. She said most CEOs would have used a public relations firm, rather than attempting to control the situations themselves.

That should be sound advice for Mr. Holden during his future business dealings. Not only did he make the situation worse, but according to Forbes, Holden sounded "paranoid" when he warned employees not to speak to the press.

Also under the public microscope at Enmax is the executive pay scale. Salaries for executives have skyrocketed in the last few years.

Company documents show the chairman of the board, a part-time position, is currently banking $180,000 a year. Astounding, considering that only 8 years ago in 2002, the same position paid $18,000. For you statistic folks out there, that is a 1000% pay increase in 8 years. Talk about a cost of living increase.

Gary Holden himself seems to be enjoying regular pay increases. In 2002, his position paid a paltry $700,000 including salary and bonuses. In 2009, Holden took home nearly $2.7 million. That's a pretty good paycheque considering it's funded by City of Calgary taxpayers.

Newly elected Mayor Naheed Nenshi says he is awaiting a full report that will detail how Enmax chooses it's compensation packages. The Mayor also stated that past increases to board of directors salaries had been approved by previous city councils.

Nenshi stated he was most interested in having a long conversation with Holden regarding how current salaries are justified.

For the time being, we will have to wait until next week to find out more.

Napa Auto Parts Hockey Team Says No To Racism

UPDATE: DECEMBER 17, 2010

Coach Gary Walsh has been suspended for the rest of the season by the Ontario Minor Hockey Association.

The OMHA admitted in its statement that racial slurs had been made, as they referenced the offender's remorse. That being said, the OMHA stated that since none of the game officials heard the comments themselves, and appropriate penalty could not be dealt out during the game.

The OMHA also maintains that Walsh's actions were in direct violations of league rules, and therefore, the season suspension is justified. There has not yet been a statement released by Walsh.

_________________

A minor hockey team from Peterborough, Ontario has seen it's coach suspended indefinitely for pulling his hockey team out of a game at the beginning of the third period to show solidarity for a black teammate that faced racial slurs from their opponents.

During the game, a player from each team received a penalty. While in the box, the Napa Auto Parts player, who happens to be black, was being trash talked by his competitor and was called a negative, racist term.

There appeared to be no real repercussions for the player that was doing the name calling, and so, upon the start of the third period, when the young man who was making racial slurs took to the ice, the Napa Auto Parts team left the ice en masse and refused to finish the game, in a show of support for their black team mate.

This is not the first time this particular player faced racism. A similar incident occurred 2 years ago. Ever since then, the team has had a no tolerance policy on racism, and this was their chosen course of action.

Gary Walsh, coach of the team vigorously defended his players move and supported it whole heartedly. He knew what incident had occurred as soon as he seen the look on young Allan McCullum's face. He asked the player what had happened.

Both players had been removed from play for the remainder of the period, which seems to me, to be punishing the victim as well.

Gary Walsh also disagreed with the punishments and so his team walked. Hockey Canada, the governing body of the league was apparently not impressed, and suspended Walsh.

To give credit when it's due, the opposing team's coach suspended himself for three games, as well as the offending player.

However, Hockey Canada has yet to make an official statement, and Walsh faces a review inquiry by the governing body and a potential 1 year ban on coaching hockey. But Walsh doesn't care.

"It was the right thing to do, and I would do it again in a heartbeat," he said.

Shaw Cable: The Grinch Who Made Christmas More Expensive

Shaw's Yule Log: Is it worth your money?

Shaw Cable announced that their popular Yule Log broadcast, which has been a free service every December since 1986, will now cost you 99 cents for every two hours of enjoyment.

The video, which was made in 1985, showed a crackling fire on a looping broadcast. Occasionally an arm would reach towards the fireplace and add another log to the fire.

Each year, many families who don't have their own fireplace would enjoy the video as part of their holiday celebrations. It used to air on basic cable for all Shaw Cable subscribers.

Shaw has decided to move the video to their Video On Demand Service (which also means basic cable subscribers who don't have a digital cable box will not be able to purchase the service) and charge 99 cents for a 1 hour and 55 minute broadcast. Shaw claims revenue raised by the video will be donated to charity.

Their are a few problems with this in my opinion. Firstly, Shaw Cable has so far not responded to calls from the media for interviews regarding their decision, and as of yet, there has been no clarification on how much of the revenue will be donated to charity.

Also, lower income families who do not have expansive cable packages will no longer have the opportunity to get the service at all.

The biggest issue in my opinion is Shaw's decision to charge 99 cents for each play of the video. The free service on TV showed the video as a continuous loop for the entire month of December. Even when you purchase a regular movie or show on Video on Demand, you are allowed to play the film as much as you want for a 24 hour period. So why charge for every play of the Yule Log, rather than a single charge for a 24 hour period?

If you really want to get down to the nitty gritty, lets remember that Shaw Cable is a billion dollar company, who gets to write off charity donations. I think Shaw can afford to reach into their own pockets for a holiday donation, rather than siphon it off from their consumers.

Bah Humbug to Shaw Cable.