Interview with graduate

June 20, 2017.
An interview with one of our graduates, Esther Coronel, was published on Page Seven. In her interview, Esther says that the adverse conditions that plague both the economy and the values themselves must be accompanied by new tools that help people understand that there are options, that there are other possible alternatives, for both work and happiness. You can read more about her interview in the following link: paginasiete.bo/inversion/ 2017/5/7/ esther-coronelcierto- dividirriqueza- generarla- 136808.html Esther Coronel completed a PhD with a major in Business, Education and Personal Development Project Management at AIU.

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Book published

July 6, 2017. One of our graduates, Francisco J. Milian, wrote the book “¿Sociedad enferma o estilo de vida?” (Sick society, or life style?). This book presents parts of the definitions and components of a society, concepts of identity of citizens, and shows different types of behaviors, traits, and their definitions. Francisco J. Milian completed a Doctorate program of International Relations with a major in Human Rights at AIU.

You can find more information about his book through the following link: www.franciscomilian.com/

Sad loss

June 28, 2017.
We regret to inform the AIU educational family in the whole world about the death of the husband of the rector Etelvina Medianero of Unac hi in Panama. We want to express our solidarity and affection to the Rector Etelvina Medianero upon hearing of the unfortunate demise of her dear husband, Mr. Moises Enrique Bonagas de Garcia, on May 13, 2017.

On behalf of the AIU Academic Council in the United States, of the whole Educational Family of AIU in the whole world, we send you an affectionate hug and our most sincere condolences wishing that henceforth does not know more sorrows but of blessings and joys in company of you dear family.

Graduated with Honors

June, 2017.
This graduate student completed the majority of the requirements to obtain honors which included a 4.0 GPA, published works, recommendation from his advisor, patent a product, etc. Congratulations!

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Another book by graduate

July 12, 2017. One of our graduates, Richmond Acheampong, has published three articles in the International Journal of Management and Scientific Research. Richmond completed a Doctorate program in Journalism at AIU.

Find the published works here: Repeal of the Criminal Libel Law in Ghana; Challenges and Prospects for Journalism:
Impact of ‘Brown Envelope Journalism’ on News Coverage in Ghana:
Driving Motivation for High School Students to Pursue a Career in Journalism:

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Find more news from aiu family

Latest News: www.aiu.edu/news.aspx
News Archive: aiu.edu/DownloadCenter.html

Thongsamone Sidavanh
Master of Project Management
May 1, 2017

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“...I would like to thank people at AIU who have fully supported my learning. I am very happy to be at this point. AIU has good systems to manage and control their students, many good resources, procedures and tools, including excellent advisors and tutors who are always ready to assist... I like the philosophy of empowering students with creating their own curriculum and the emphasis on submitting monthly assignments and payments ... The main advantage is the AIU comes to my place instead of me having to go to a university. AIU has a huge library system to find our study related materials to successfully complete our educational program. The most important thing is the UnPlag verification tool for assignments. ... AIU is my university, and I look forward to my next degree with AIU.
Read full text:

Addis Alem Belay
Post Doct. of Human Resources Management
May 8, 2017

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“I have always wanted to do my doctorate and I was exclusively looking for distance learning universities but I came across with universities who are not genuine, who charge more than I can afford, who do not hold a graduation ceremony at the end of many years hard work, who put restriction on your academic achievement such as you have to spend 6 or 7-year minimum to achieve PhD or DBA. For all these reasons, I found it difficult to find a university which fits in to my circumstances and needs but I did not give up hope. ... My over-all experience with AIU is magnificent, each and every one that I came across during my time at AIU was very helpful, polite, and full of information. Without their support I wouldn’t be where I am today. ... I would recommend AIU to any one who wants to full fill their academic dream.
Read full text:

Joseph Guya
Bachelor of Management
May 15, 2017

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“I have taken this opportunity to extremely thank AIU for their role to let me reach this far academically. ... 1. I may say AIU is the best school that is knowledgeable in advancing adult learning through careful assessment and understanding of adult student experiences and achievements that remained silent and unnoticed sometimes by employers. AIU is able to single out the gaps facing adult students and guide them to fill the gaps with appropriate courses. ... 4. Interaction with tutors and the Students Section was interesting; though there were problems with mobile phone networks in the war ravaged South Sudan, the tutors were able to reach me and deliver relevant advice in regard to the learning through email and phone calls. That’s wonderful indeed. ...
Read full text:

George Nkambule
Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering
May 22, 2017

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“...Leaving university is a bizarre and sad experience and something I’m surely struggling with, but at the same time I’m also undeniably happy because I can’t ignore the overwhelming fact that I was lucky enough to have such an amazing experience. I am sad to say goodbye to the wonderful life I’ve created at university over my four years but I find calmness knowing that I am taking a piece of my university with me wherever I go, in lessons I’ve learned, relationships I’ll keep and memories I’ll cherish forever. So to my university experience, I say ‘I will love you AIU and I will miss you forever’ and that doesn’t feel the least bit out of context because like I said before, leaving university is whole lot similar to ending a three weeks revivals and also because I really really really whole-heartedly mean it.
Read full text:

Sampson Kordjo Tagbor
Bachelor of Human Resources Management
May 31, 2017

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“I had tremendous and an interesting experience with AIU. My desire was to reach poor and vulnerable communities in the West African Sub region equipping them with the necessary skills I have acquired to help them develop mentally, physically, socially, financially, and skillfully, so that the poor can also have integrity within society. This is the greatest contributing factor that made me chose Human Resource Management as the course to pursue. ... Like I stated in my paper on Fundamental Principle I (Philosophy of education) “I know there are problems with the way we view education, we all know that there are problems with the education system. I am not trying to address all those issues here. I am merely trying to suggest a different approach to education in the school system. ...
Read full text:

Find more testimonials from AIU s tudents here: www.aiu.edu/Testimonials.aspx

Impact of ‘Brown envelope journalism’ on News coverage in Ghana

Richmond Acheampong, AIU student (and Stephen Babangida Jesse) | Doctorate of Journalism | Part 2/2

Discussions

The observation that a staggering 60.5 percent of respondents indicted poor pay for journalists for the prevalence of Brown envelope journalism is sadly, a bad omen for Ghana’s governance and fledgling democracy. The media is regarded as the fourth arm of government. Consequently, if journalists, who are purportedly charged with the responsibility of checking the other arms of government (the executive, legislature and judiciary), are poorly paid, one wonders if they will feel motivated enough to discharge their role in an orderly manner to ensure the sustenance of good governance and democracy. Some may contest better pay is not the only means of motivating workers to perform excellently. But better pay is a very critical component as far as motivation of workers is concerned irrespective of what one thinks. One might also contend the observation may serve a wakeup call for media establishments to pay their journalists well and perhaps importantly, for the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) that while setting the parameters within which journalists can operate, it is also important that the executives of the association endeavour to make a concerted effort to unionise the association so that it can negotiate for good salaries for its members. This is because paying journalists well may not only help end brown envelope journalism, but also boost the morale of journalists and make them well placed to compete with their counterparts in other professions.

Furthermore, the discovery that 74 percent of the respondents admitted to patronising brown envelopes before can be seen as a blessing in disguised because it pays to accept reality than living in denial of it. Now that it has been established that brown envelope journalism is rife in Ghana and killing ‘wholesome journalism’, media owners, desirous of safeguarding the image and reputation of their businesses may be compelled to pay their journalists well to forestall the unexpected. Journalists, who accept brown envelopes usually, find themselves susceptible to unnecessary libel suits because as Kaufman (2010) argued they work in the interests of governments, political personalities, corporations or private persons who desire to restrain what is published about them and are ready to pay for it. Of course libel suits are not pleasant experiences. In most instances, they crush not only the reputations of the journalists, who fell short of the law but also their media organisations.

The revelation that 15.5 percent respondents admitting that they get more information on a story when they received Brown envelopes is also a cause for concern. This is because regardless of how significant an event/issue might be to society this category of journalists chooses not to cover it comprehensively unless they are bribed. Their behaviour confirms why trivial issues about rival political parties are usually given extensive coverage at the expense of more important issues such as rural maternal deaths because of the absence health centres or school children studying at under trees while governments’ extravagance remains unabated.

For example, when the Supreme Court on July 27, 2016 sentenced the Montie 3 to four months imprisonment for bringing the name of the court into disrepute and scandalising its work, it was bizarre to see that rather tan chronicling the plight of numerous remand prisoners who have been behind bars for years without trial, some journalists probably being bribed, reported extensively on the clarion call for the President to invoke his powers embedded in Article 72 of the 1992 Constitution to pardon the three convicts. In addition, the revelation that 26 percent of respondents said they have not patronised brown envelopes before paints a glimmer of hope. It at least tells that in spite of the por pay of journalists, inadequate resources for them to work with and most media houses not barring their journalists from accepting brown envelopes, some journalists remain truthful to the Ghana Journalists Association’s (GJA) Code of Ethics, which forbids journalists from accepting bribe or any form of inducement to influence the performance of their professional duties.

Besides having 81.8 percent respondents said that though they accepted Brown envelopes, they did not ask for it, does not in any way render baseless Kaufman’s (2010) claim that whether the journalists receive cash for coverage as a result of low salaries, greed or other motivations, they work to suit governments, political personalities, corporations or private persons who desire to restrain what is published about them and are ready to pay for it. Moreover, it fails to defeat the argument by Kaufman (2010) that journalists who take money or gifts from their news sources are usually constrained publishing something against them. On the other hand, 76.5 percent of respondents alluding that they report the truth after taking brown envelopes, challenges Kaufman’s (2010) claim that whether the journalists receive cash for coverage because of low salaries, greed or other motivations, they work to suit governments, political personalities, corporations or private persons who desire to restrain what is published about them and are ready to pay for it. It also disputes that journalists who take money or gifts from their news sources are usually constrained something against them.

Again, 75 percent of respondents saying that they change the coverage of an event to the advantage or disadvantage of a third party when they received brown envelopes violates ethics of journalism, and resonates completely with the revelation from Spence (2008) that incidence of bribery for news undermine the integrity and impartiality of media reporting, culminating in widespread practice of fictional news, biased news or news for sale. Such precedence might have occasioned some Ghanaians’ inability to see journalists as partners in development and so have tended to be hostile to them, resulting sometimes in chilling attacks on journalists with some of them losing even their lives. The killing of journalists has made some Ghanaians label journalism “an extremely dangerous profession”. This is a blow to the practice of journalism because it discourages potential young talents to pursue the profession, while charlatans enter and perpetuate acts of indecency. What is more, the revelation that 55.5 percent of the respondents said their media houses do not have policies on the acceptance of brown envelopes may explain the reason for brown envelope journalism notoriety in Ghana. If most media houses had policies that set the parameters within which their journalists can operate with regard to acceptance of brown envelopes, one can bet the phenomenon would have been defeated.

Yes, because we would have had a scenario of news sources with brown envelopes stuffed with cash, ready to part with, but journalists reluctant to patronise them because their work policies bar them from doing so. Lastly, having 53.5 percent of respondents said brown envelopes affect the practice of journalism and more significantly, 100 percent of respondents wanting the practice to be stopped is a clear manifestation that a battle against brown envelope journalism can be won decisively if it is fought fiercely enough. Interestingly, one would have expected the journalists, who are the direct beneficiaries of the phenomenon to sabotage such move. However, once they have demonstrated their displeasure about the practice and want it ceased, the battle is half won. Though some of the event organizers may try to stay one step ahead, brown envelope journalism will eventually be wiped out from Ghana.

Conclusion & Recommendations

The study examined the impact of brown envelope journalism on news coverage in Ghana. It was observed that majority of the respondents attributed the prevalence of brown envelope journalism to poor pay for journalists while minority of the respondents said poor monitoring of journalists by their media houses coupled with inadequate resources for journalists to work with has occasioned the phenomenon. It was also discovered that majority of the respondents said they have patronized brown envelopes before but did not ask for it; only a few of them said they have received brown envelopes before but asked for it.

In addition, interestingly and perhaps strangely enough, it was revealed all the 200 journalists denounced brown envelope journalism and vouched for its cessation. Moreover, it was established that a significant number of journalists admitted that brown envelope journalism affect the practice of journalism and majority of respondents said their media establishments do not have policies on the acceptance of brown envelopes.

Besides it was found that brown envelope journalism has devastating consequences on the practice of journalism in Ghana as majority of the journalists confessed that they change the coverage of an event to the advantage or disadvantage of a third party when they received brown envelopes. What is more, though an insignificant number, it is worrying: 9.5 percent of respondents admitted that they report falsehood after they received brown envelopes. Based on the study’s findings, all Ghanaians must feel inspired and challenged to help stamp out the despicable phenomenon of brown envelope journalism from Ghana. To stamp out brown envelope journalism from Ghana, media owners must endeavour to pay their journalists well. In addition, further studies to determine media owners’ driving motivation for not paying their journalists well is recommended. Furthermore, news sources that are notorious for stuffing brown envelopes with cash for journalists should be tracked by the National Media Commission (NMC) and sanctioned.

Moreover, journalists who patronize brown envelopes should emulate the example of their counterparts, who have chosen to remain truth to the ethics of journalism in spite of their poor pay. Again, people should stop labeling journalism “an extremely dangerous profession” so as to make the journalism profession attractive to young potential talents. Last but not least, the National Labour Commission (NLC) and other relevant authorities should help address the poor pay for journalists.
The End

References.

Bamiro, EO 1997, Lexical Innovation in Ghanaian English: Some Examples from Recent Fiction. American Speech, 72(1), 105–12. | Bartlett, DMC 1999, Corruption and Lying in a Parliamentary Democracy: British Politics at the End of the Twentieth Century, Crime, Law & Social Change, 30(3), 205–35. | Forbes, D 2005, A Watchdog’s Guide to Investigative Reporting, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Media Programme 60 Hume Road, Dunkeld, 2195 Johannesburg. | Fakude, T 2016, Obstacles to News Coverage in Africa. Al Jazeera Media Network | GJA 2016, Code of Ethics, Ghana Journalists Association | Kaufman, S 2010, Cash for Coverage: The Unreported Dark Side of Journalism. IIP Digital | Kumar, K 2006, International Assistance to Promote Independent Media in transition and Post-Conflict Societies, Democratisation, 13, 652– 667. | Kovach, B and Rosentiel, T 2001, Elements of Journalism: What News People Should Know and the Public Expect, Westminster, MD Crown Publishing Group, Incorporated | Kasoma, F 2000, The Press and Multiparty Politics in Africa, PhD Dissertation, University of Tampere. | Omanga 2015, Brown envelope journalism and African ethics. The Daily Nation, Kenya | Rodan, G 2000, Asian Crisis, Transparency and the International Media in Singapore, The Pacific Review, 13, 217–242. | Spence, H 2008, Corruption in the Media, International Journal of Applied Philosophy | Skjerdal, T S 2010, Research on Brown Envelope Journalism in the African Media, African Communication Research, Vol. 3 Uko, N 2004, Romancing the Gun, pg 55 | … 2010, Report to the Centre for International Media Assistance (CIMA)

Publications by Students: aiu.edu/StudentPublication.html

By Dr. Rosa Hilda Lora M. Advisor at AIU | rosa@aiu.edu

This 21st century brought us all that we have worked for: the continuation of the global economy and the communication society. It seems that in 2017 we would have to say that communication has become strange to us and that what we have is information, no matter if it is true or false, the thing is that we must speak. We are also following with the debt of educational reforms needed by every society in this global village. Why do we perceive that we don’t know where the governments of the countries that inhabit this Motherland take us? Following Greeks and Romans, for this western world, we form ways of living together based on the concept of State, structured under the term of participation and the pursuit of well-being for all; we speak of democracy. In order to be able to be this organization of the society the State is divided in the aspects that need attention and they are: the laws, the application of those laws and who initiates the procedures, called Prime Minister or President. These three areas or powers constitute the forms of government of the majority of the countries and they are integrated in their operation independently each one. When the system thus described works in agreements we say that democracy exists. Democracy exists when citizens have freedom to choose their rulers and when they can manifest their disagreements. In a democratic system the rulers seek to serve those who have chosen them and those who don’t in the same way. In societies and nations of world trade, the state must have areas and more areas of specialists to be able to relate to all existing agreements between nations: health, education and trade.

In this world trade we were accustomed to that the developed countries are so by the investment in science, in health, in education and in housing, also for its development in technology and for the exercise of democracy. We knew that something that always prevailed was the functioning of institutions that guaranteed democracy: freedom to choose, freedom to disagree and independent functioning of the areas that make up the State. To the surprise of world society we are watching heavily developed countries are falling into populism, which is the government that benefits from the least favored by the world trade society without caring whether it is for the welfare or not of their nations. They use these human groups promising them what can’t be possible to be sure to govern. This is the benefit that certain privileged groups of global trade looking for to maintain their interests without investing in the reforms that globalization or world trade needs.

It was known that world trade and the development of highly industrialized countries had a pending aspect: welfare hadn’t reached all and reforms were needed in education, health systems and wealth-sharing. We are seeing that some went ahead of these reforms and moved the neediest, and given that they are more, they used them to create governments that are doing the regression of those economies. The question is: how can an economy that promotes closure to global trade if we are in the society of world trade be sustained? How can an economy that refuses to trade agreements when the big treaties exist and all countries belong to one or another be developed? How can an economy promise job growth by developing coal when we are in green and clean technologies? How will the countries that seek the populism exit continue their development? Global society is moving towards the use of clean technologies, towards green energy sources. How to secure employment with sources that have to disappear? For developed countries investment in clean technologies results in profits because they will sell inputs to implement this form of production.

Stephen Hawking
(physicist, Oxford, UK, 1942) related the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. He wrote History of time: from the big bang to black holes (1988). He also wrote, The Universe is a nutshell (2002). Hawking says that the UK will stay alone and in the case of US and climate change: Earth can become Venus. What are the consequences for many human beings when seeing that the countries considered the model to follow have gone to the opposite pole? The consequence for any human being is sadness. Where to go if everything is becoming what we know the consequences because so is the country where I live? Why study if we walk to the opposite pole?

We are beings of emotions and also reasoning and in this case after the feelings we have to reason about the consequences of the union of a developed country and populism.

If these countries are closed to free trade their economies will be to produce for their nations. If globalization didn’t bring benefits to a part of the population because of the reforms it needs and if these people don’t approach the development of their skills to work, their nations with less trade, less development of science and technologies will be less able to offer them the well-being that populism governments say.

Democratic governments that make the shift to populism are not going to make the reforms that education needs so that the world industry can offer job opportunities for the active members of their societies. What we have to do is seek for us the education, the training we need because the world society continues. In the society we live, we can work online so we can live in one country and work in another. We have to see how we achieve our personal development regardless of about the government that we have. We have to motivate ourselves to learn what the world industry demands to have a job that allows us a decent life. We need to continue to study independently of the government objectives. We have the fortune of digital communication so studying and moving forward depends on our motivation, the way we organize our time. It is time to start developing our skills with the knowledge we need. We are fortunate that today the centers of study or universities can be online. We can’t begin to cry and wait for the governments we have to give us the education we need. We can have an extraordinary university education regardless of the country where we live because we can work in any country if we have the necessary skills. We have to think about our skills and look for the training we need. It is time to leave the sadness and put aside the path that some governments are marking and seek our welfare regardless of our social environment! We can be successful if we wish and we work for it! We were born to be happy. We have to go ahead!

BIBLIOGRAPHY. Deaton, A. (2015). El Gran Escape. Salud, riqueza y los orígenes de la desigualdad. México: FCE. | Loza Ramos, I. (2009). Ética y Valores 2. México: Et. | Morin, E. (2007). Introducción a una política del hombre. Buenos Aires: Gedisa. | Naciones Unidas, página oficial. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/es/ index.html | Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura (UNESCO), página oficial. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/es | Rawls J. (2012). La Justicia como equidad. Una reformulación. España: Paidós.

I am independent

Sivarajasingam Mahendran | Doctorate of Education

The next pandemic

Disease experts reveal their biggest worries.

There’s a disturbing reality that’s clear to experts in infectious disease —but the rest of us ignore it on a regular basis. The next pandemic is coming.

New diseases are always on the rise. Viruses and bacteria can mutate and become more infectious or deadly (or both), and there’s a constant risk that new illnesses could find ways to jump from their hosts to humans. As Bill Gates wrote in a recent op-ed for Business Insider, a terrorist attack could involve the creation of a particularly contagious and deadly flu strain.

“Whether it occurs by a quirk of nature or at the hand of a terrorist, epidemiologists say a fast-moving airborne pathogen could kill more than 30 million people in less than a year,” Gates wrote. “And they say there is a reasonable probability the world will experience such an outbreak in the next 10-15 years.”

Five disease experts recently convened at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) to discuss the threat of pandemics. “A pandemic is something that stretches like a colossus around the world; an epidemic that affects many parts of the world,” Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, explained at the event.

Read full text: www.businessinsider.com/ disease-dangers-pandemic-influenza-ebola-2017-5

Self-driving shuttle

A service that is being tested in London.

London is known for its doubledecker buses, but GATEway, a very different kind of bus, is about to hit the streets of the British capital. A company called Oxbotica has been running tests of a self-driving shuttle service, involving 100 people who volunteered to ride in a small driverless bus. Oxbotica hopes to acclimate people to having autonomous vehicles in their midst, and to gauge how passengers respond to using the robo-bus, boss Graeme Smith told the BBC.

The single bus that will be used in the test has a top speed of 10 miles per hour, and operates without any human control under normal conditions. As with most public tests of autonomous vehicles, a human operator will be onboard in case something goes wrong. The vehicle has no steering wheel or pedals, but there is some form of kill switch for said person to hit. The vehicle only seats four people, and will operate along a two-mile route near London’s O2 Arena. Crucially, that route is shared with pedestrians and cyclists, giving Oxbotica a chance to test the bus’ collisionavoidance capabilities. Five cameras and three laser units scan the area around the vehicle, including up to 328 feet ahead. The London test program follows an Oxbotica autonomous-driving demonstration in the UK city of Milton Keynes last year. That test involved small autonomous “pod” cars, which drove on a 0.6-mile loop.

Visit: www.oxbotica.ai Read full text: www.thedrive.com/tech/8978/ self-driving-shuttle-service-begins-testing-in-london

AIU makes a huge contribution to the world by giving new scient ifics the space for original investigations and research. Visit MyAIU Evolution

Maiko Takeda dematerialising fashion

Maiko Takeda’s creations evoke both awe and intrigue. She transforms tangible and mundane materials into surreal and ethereal experiences, for the wearer and the surrounding environment. The milliner and accessory designer was born in Tokyo in 1986, and moved to London at the age of 18 to pursue her love for art and design. In 2009 she completed her studies in BA Jewellery Design (Hons) at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. Her fascination for creating objects for the head led her to study further in MA Fashion Womenswear (specialism: Millinery) at the city’s Royal College of Art, from which she graduated in 2013. What does it feel like to wear a cloud? This was the question that Takeda set out to answer with her Atmospheric Reentry collection. The range of sculptural, spiny pieces was influenced by the androgyny and repetition in Philip Glass and Robert Wilson’s opera Einstein on the Beach, which she saw in London in 2012. The project first manifested during her post-graduate studies, and continues to be developed through refining the techniques used to produce such unique designs.

Read full article and find more images: www.google. com/culturalinstitute/beta/exhibit/LAJS9QemFaibJQ

Chandigarh

Sixty years ago, Chandigarh was conceived as a city to celebrate the independence of India. It’s a monument to the country’s entrance into the modern world. The name means “home of Chandi,” the warrior personified as Parvati, a deity of fertility love and devotion. Designed by the legendary architect Le Corbusier, today it’s the capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana and it was thought of as the “perfect city” (if that’s even possible).

Every detail of the new metropolis was carefully planned to work perfectly. The architect and his team designed every detail, from the sculptures of the Supreme Court square to the door handles of the offices, and the most important administrative buildings, including the Capitol, the Supreme Court, the Secretariat, Parliament, a Governor’s Palace and a university.

Read full text: www.faena.com/aleph/articles/ chandigarh-a-city-in-india-designed-by-le-corbusier/

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Empathykiller?

Painkiller found in 600 different drugs kills empathy.

Acetaminophen —commonly known as Tylenol in the US and paracetamol elsewhere— reduces people’s empathy for the pain of others, new research finds. Acetaminophen is an ingredient in over 600 different medications, including being the main constituent of Tylenol.

The ubiquitous painkiller does not just kill pain, it also kills our fellow-feeling. Dr Dominik Mischkowski, the study’s first author, said: “These findings suggest other people’s pain doesn’t seem as big of a deal to you when you’ve taken acetaminophen. Acetaminophen can reduce empathy as well as serve as a painkiller.”

Previous research has also found that the drug can reduce the positive emotions of those taking it. Dr Baldwin Way, a study co-author, said: “We don’t know why acetaminophen is having these effects, but it is concerning.

Empathy is important. If you are having an argument with your spouse and you just took acetaminophen, this research suggests you might be less understanding of what you did to hurt your spouse’s feelings.”

Read full text: www.spring.org. uk/2016/05/empathy-killed-popularpainkiller.

Mushrooms

By Sylvia Plath

Overnight, very Whitely, discreetly, Very quietly.

Our toes, our noses Take hold on the loam, Acquire the air.

Nobody sees us, Stops us, betrays us; The small grains make room. Soft fists insist on Heaving the needles, The leafy bedding, Even the paving.

Our hammers, our rams, Earless and eyeless, Perfectly voiceless, Widen the crannies, Shoulder through holes. We Diet on water, On crumbs of shadow, Bland-mannered, asking Little or nothing.

So many of us!
So many of us!

We are shelves, we are Tables, we are meek, We are edible, Nudgers and shovers In spite of ourselves.

Our kind multiplies: We shall by morning Inherit the earth. Our foot’s in the door. Source: eminentlyquotable.com

The worst thing

Smash fear and you can learn anything.

Productivity guru Tim Ferriss’ fun, encouraging anecdotes show how one simple question –“What’s the worst that could happen?”– is all you need to learn to do anything. One excerpt: “... So fear is your friend. Fear is an indicator. Sometimes it shows you what you shouldn’t do.

More often than not it shows you exactly what you should do. And the best results that I’ve had in life, the most enjoyable times, have all been from asking a simple question: what’s the worst that can happen? Especially with fears you gained when you were a child. Take the analytical frameworks, the capabilities you have, apply them to old fears. Apply them to very big dreams. And when I think of what I fear now, it’s very simple.

When I imagine my life, what my life would have been like without the educational opportunities that I had, it makes me wonder. I’ve spent the last two years trying to deconstruct the American public school system, to either fix it or replace it. And have done experiments with about 50,000 students thus far —built, I’d say, about a half dozen schools, my readers, at this point. And if any of you are interested in that, I would love to speak with you. I know nothing. I’m a beginner. But I ask a lot of questions, and I would love your advice.”

Watch TED Talk here: www.ted.com/talks/ tim_ferriss_smash_fear_learn_anything

Live a better life learning how to keep your body, mind & soul balanced. Visit regularly MyAIU Body / MyAIU Mind / MyAIU Spirit & MyAIU Energy.

Eco Tip: Eat less meat. 70% of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed to raise cows. Change your life, get sustainable, visit MyAIU Knowledge.

Get a better knowledge about our rights and the way we can use them on a daily basis to prevent any abuse or limitations of them. Visit MyAIU Human Rights.