Beware & Protect Yourself 03 (Sep 10 - Dec 14)

[kennynah]

yet another kidnapping attempt at bkt panjang

http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp ... _hand.html

[winston]

Dental x-rays linked to common brain tumor

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study suggests people who had certain kinds of dental X-rays in the past may be at an increased risk for meningioma, the most commonly diagnosed brain tumor in the U.S.


http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/ ... healthNews

[winston]

When lightning strikes

If you are caught outdoors during a thunderstorm, follow the 30-30 rule.

Seek a safer location immediately if the thunder occurs 30 seconds or less after the lightning.

Once the storm has passed, wait at least 30 minutes after the last lightning flash before leaving the shelter.


Source: www.wisdomtips.com

[winston]

Made In China ..

Gelatin `pig ears' raise stink

A police probe is on after the discovery in Jiangxi of a batch of "fake" pigs' ears reportedly made from gelatin - in the latest food-related scandal to hit the nation.

The bogus ears were discovered at a market in Ganzhou city in March after a buyer complained of a strange smell when cooking them, the China Daily reported.

Food safety officials tested the "ears" and found they had been made from gelatin and the chemical sodium oleate, commonly used to produce soap.

The government has repeatedly vowed to improve food safety amid growing public alarm but scandals still occur due to weak enforcement and unscrupulous practices.

Photos circulating online showed local officials examining a box of the fake ears, which had a light brown color with a plastic-like texture.

An expert gave the China Daily a sure-fire method of telling real ears - a popular delicacy - from fake, saying the genuine article should have hair and small blood vessels.

The fake-ear investigation comes as authorities launched a probe into vegetable sellers in Shandong for spraying cabbage with the harmful chemical formaldehyde to keep them looking fresh.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

[winston]

Greens expose sickening harvest at supermarkets by Kenneth Foo

Eleven samples of vegetables imported from the mainland and sold at three supermarket chains were found to contain harmful chemicals.
One showed traces of a highly toxic pesticide banned in Hong Kong.

Greenpeace collected 12 samples in February from Wellcome, ParknShop and Jusco and discovered that all but one contained varying degrees of pesticide contamination.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_deta ... 20518&fc=8

[winston]

Crime syndicate targets Singapore flights: police

SINGAPORE — Singapore police warned on Tuesday that members of a Chinese crime syndicate were believed to be stealing money from the bags of passengers while they slept on flights to and from the country.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... c68019.801

[winston]

Killer fish bacteria strikes again

An 84-year-old woman who cut herself while descaling a fish has died from water-borne vibrio vulnificus bacteria, the Centre for Health Protection said last night.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_deta ... 20530&fc=4

[winston]

Banned antibiotics in Asian fish imports: Australia

Australian officials are seeing a rising number of Asian fish imports containing banned antibiotics, a report said Wednesday.

Five consignments of fish from Vietnam have been stopped by authorities this year because they contained enrofloxacin, an antibiotic barred in Australia, official figures show.

The Melbourne Age said experts were concerned that increasing amounts of seafood contained the chemicals, which are used in the growing or feeding of aquaculture fish to reduce the occurrence of disease.

While fish imports, including basa fillets and frozen fish cutlets, were stopped from Vietnam because of antibiotics, it was not the only country providing affected food.

China, France and Italy were among many source nations shipping food which failed to meet Australian standards, the newspaper said.

Most likely to fail the Australian tests was Chinese food, followed by products from India, Italy, Japan, South Korea and France, it said.

"If you are taking them into your intestine, they could have some effect on your own (bacteria) in your bowel and it can leave your own bacteria that used to be sensitive to antibiotics resistant," Peter Collignon from the Australian National University told the paper.

Source:AFP Global Edition

http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.php?a ... &buid=3281

[winston]

Woman says hypnotized into $160,000 loss

(UPI) -- Boston's Chinatown has been on edge since a 57-year-old woman claimed three women used hypnosis to get her to fork over $160,000 in life savings, police say.

Police say the victim was food shopping in Chinatown April 15 when the trio of women tapped her on the shoulder and began asking her questions. The victim says one of the suspects spoke and her henchwomen handed her a plastic bag. She was told to go home and meet them several hours later on Boston Common.

The victim filled the bag with a necklace, a jade bracelet, two gold rings, her passport and $160,000 in cash. She then went to the meeting spot and handed over the fortune.

The incident has Chinatown on alert, with two similar shakedowns reported since then. Mark Liu, director of Boston's Chinese Progressive Association, has warned members to remain vigilant when approached by strangers.

"It seems like it's something that's potentially very dangerous," Liu told the Boston Herald. "I think the elderly are particularly vulnerable because they obviously would have a hard time just walking away."

Liu said rumors of hypnotizing thieves have roots in Chinese lore. He said his mother warned him of them when he was a child in Hong Kong.

Clinical hypnotist Harvey Zarren has his doubts.

"Having somebody instantaneously hypnotize you on the street and you turn over huge amounts of valuables, to me, sounds a little unlikely," he said. "I look at this story and I say somebody is going to have to prove this to me."


http://www.939mia.com/cc-common/news/se ... e=10105351

[iam802]

Pretty interesting read.

The 'Nigerian scams' are probably a bit smarter than we think so...

--
Solved: Why email scammers say they're from Nigeria

You've seen the email.
A terminally ill Nigerian prince or director of a massive corporation contacts you urgently asking you to move a large sum of money, promising you can keep a share. All you need to do is provide your credit card number and banking PIN.

It looks like a scam, sounds like a scam -- it is a scam. But who on earth actually believes these things? If you've ever wondered why these scams are so blatant, here’s why

If you, like thousands of others, were just too smart for your attacker and saw through the tricky plot - it simply means that you were never the target anyway.
'Far-fetched tales of West African riches strike [people] as comical.'
- Principal researcher Cormac Herley

A recent study found that email scammers really aren't interested in appearing believable because it would just be too expensive if everyone fell for it.

The research conducted by Microsoft’s Machine Learning Department, titled "Why do Nigerian scammers say they are from Nigeria?" found that the OTT scam email, complete with typos is a simple, cost effective way of weeding out intelligent people, leaving only the most gullible to hit.

“Since his attack has a low density of victims, the Nigerian scammer has an over-riding need to reduce the false positives. By sending an email that repels all but the most gullible, the scammer gets the most promising marks to self-select, and tilts the true to false positive ration in his favor.”

It seems to work. Just last year a Nigerian man was jailed for 12 years after scamming US$1.3 million. In 2008 an Oregon woman lost $400k to a similar scam.

So next time you open a scam email and think to yourself: "Why bother?" live happy in the knowledge you're not the target market.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/06/ ... z1yZu5eh8p