Star Wars to Mean Girls: Top 10 Movies for a Night In

Time alone at in your property is hard to come across. It’s not often that we get the chance to crash on the lounge with a pot of tea and a good film or two, so don’t waste time watching bad ones!

For a perfect night in, add a few of these movies to your watch-list and have an amazing night – all in the comfort of your own home!

Gene study settles debate over origin of European Jews

Gene study settles debate over origin of European Jews (via AFP)

Jews of European origin are a mix of ancestries, with many hailing from tribes in the Caucasus who converted to Judaism and created an empire that lasted half a millennium, according to a gene study. The investigation, its author says, should settle a debate that has been roiling for more than two…

The Flushing Meadows Park Zoo Animal Mutilations and UFO Mystery

By: Bill Knell

Flushing Meadows Park has a long and unusual history. It is located ten miles east of Manhattan on Long Island in the Borough of Queens, New York City, between the towns of Flushing and Corona. The park started out as swampy land situated along Flushing Creek. The area skirted ancient Native American trails that were later developed into Rodman Street (today it’s called College Point Boulevard), Roosevelt Avenue and other paved roadways.

Because of its location and inability to be used for much else, the swampy land became a dumping area for ashes. By the 1920’s, it was known as the Corona Ash Dumps. F. Scott Fitzgerald called the place “a valley of ashes” in The Great Gatsby, his famous 1925 novel about Long Island Society. However, the once worthless area was about to be transformed into a marvelous showplace thanks to a grand event known as the World’s Fair.

Because it was one of the few large blocks of land still available for development in the New York City area, Parks Commissioner Robert Moses and city planners devised a plan to clear and fill the land for use as the site of the 1939-1940 New York World’s Fair. Most of the ashes and refuse were incorporated into the bases of new highways that were being built around and through that area. These later became the Grand Central Parkway, Van Wyck Expressway, Interboro Parkway and Long Island Expressway.

After the 1939-1940 World’s Fair ended in 1940, many of the structures from the fair were leveled and the area became known as Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. A few of the buildings that remained included the New York State Pavilion that was used as the first home to the United Nations from 1946 until 1951 when that organization moved into their permanent location in Manhattan. That building still exists today and has become the Queens Museum of Art.

Pussy Riot member denied early release by court

Pussy Riot member denied early release by court (via AFP)

A Russian court on Wednesday turned down a request by a jailed member of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot to defer serving her jail sentence until her five-year-old son is older. "The court has ruled not to satisfy the petition," the judge said at Berezniki city court in the Perm region of the Urals…

US vows aid for Mali battle but 'no boots on ground'

US vows aid for Mali battle but 'no boots on ground' (via AFP)

The United States stands ready to support France's military assault on Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist rebels in Mali -- but without putting any US troops on the ground, US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday. Washington is determined to prevent north African armed jihadist group Al-Qaeda in the Islamic…

Why Do Young People Join Gangs?

Contrary to popular belief, gangs are not merely an “inner city problem.” Gangs exist across all racial, cultural, and geographical divides. The problem of “gangs” should not be viewed as limited to one specific area or demographic. Instead, gangs should be viewed as a national problem, which affects us all.

It’s all too easy to write gang members off as sociopathic criminals who are past the point of no return— seemingly beyond salvation. This outlook is certainly understandable. Gangs wreak havoc on neighborhoods, terrify citizens, and perpetuate crimes which are beyond comprehension to the average person. The crimes that gang members commit are so horrible, many of us forget one very important fact about the people who join gangs—they’re kids.

Why would a teenager who is full of possibility, with their whole life in front of them, choose to lead a life a crime and destruction? The future of a gang member has little to offer: prison, death, paralysis, and drug addictions are what gang members have to look forward to, and from speaking with them, they know it. Gang members are not naive about the life they have chosen for themselves, and usually they know exactly where they’re going to end up. So why then do they do it?

Airport Delays And Computer Glitches: What The Government Will Not Tell You

By: Bill Knell

The Beatles released a song called Fool on the Hill in the late 1960s. Music journalists at that time said that the British rock group wrote the song after being disillusioned by the shaman of a religious sect. The Fab Four traveled all the way to India to meet a man they were told was very spiritual, hoping he had the answers to what they were religiously seeking. Instead, they found a cult leader that isolated himself from the world while enjoying the fruits of his female followers. It was alleged that he tried to proposition one or more of the female members of their entourage which included wives and girl friends.

The Fool on the Hill seems to envision a person with access to everything that sees nothing. What he does see, he doesn’t bother to try and understand. Have we become the fools on the hill when it comes to what is happening around us? I think many of us have and that’s what the government counts on to keep information from us that they deem as too sensitive for public consumption. That may be the real explanation for a series of bizarre events that have occurred over the decade. These events may involve Alien life forms.

French government unmoved by massive march against gay marriage

French gov't unmoved by massive march against gay marriage (via AFP)

France's ruling Socialists refused to back down on Monday, a day after hundreds of thousands marched against plans to legalise gay marriage and adoption, and as opposition politicians stepped up calls for a referendum on the issue. Despite the massive turn-out in Paris -- 800,000 according to organisers…

Obesity and Businesses: How They Relate [Infographic]

One may question how businesses can possibly relate to the growing epidemic of obesity in the United States. The United States has the second highest obesity rate in the world, following directly behind Mexico, with 2 out of 3 adult individuals considered obese. With the obesity on the rise, health and medical related issues are on the rise as well. Obese individuals tend to have more health problems, which mean they are visiting the doctor and hospital far more frequently than the average person.

Medical-related businesses are booming as obesity continues to increase around the country. However, there are other businesses that seem to be doing well because of this issue. Billions of dollars are being spent in plus-sized clothing stores each year, and that amount is expected to rise if the obesity trends continue. Millions of people in the United States are also currently dieting because they are not happy with their weight, which means businesses producing diet products are also doing exceptionally well.

Dirty Jobs and Money - or Lack of It [Infographic]

You probably think of people who are employed as estheticians in salons or spas as having clean jobs, but the reality is quite different. They routinely poke and prod at blackheads and whiteheads on other people's faces, and their compensation only averages about $38,000 per year. They are constantly falling ill due to contracting viruses from their clientele. On the other hand, working as an esthetician is preferable to being employed in a slaughterhouse. 

Slaughterhouse workers only average about $14,000 per year, which is well below the national poverty line. Spending the day disemboweling animals would be bad enough without being so poor that they you have to to hit up the local food pantry on your days off.

The dirty job that pays the most is that of the geriatric nurse. Although this is much more preferable than working in a slaughterhouse, geriatric nurses only bring home about $60,783 per year. 

Japanese Government Funding Cuts Could End ‘Research’ Whaling

English: Japanese whaling factory Tonan Maru no. 2 (1937) damaged by a Dutch submarine while taking part in the landing at Kuching, Borneo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Japanese Government Funding Cuts Could End ‘Research’ Whaling (via Environment News Service)

Japanese Government Funding Cuts Could End ‘Research’ Whaling TOKYO, Japan, November 12, 2009 (ENS) – A review of Japanese government spending now underway could put an end to Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, according to Greenpeace, an environmental group that has campaigned…

Valentine's Day: Trying to Rationalise the Irrational

After the joyful Christmas period many of us find ourselves facing the eternal darkness of January with nothing to look forward to. On top of this darkness you may also have tried to convince yourself of your own powers of self will by sticking to your New Year’s resolution and giving up smoking, drinking or chocolate.

Firstly, you may wish to follow this sound advice – there is no point in giving anything up in January because it is the most depressing month of the year so there’s no need to depress yourself further by denying yourself some simple pleasures. If anything, you should actually drink, smoke and eat more during January to counter the dark gloom that descends upon our fair nation.

Secondly, once you’ve got January out of the way you are then faced with the similarly depressing prospect of February. February only has one real advantage – it’s 28 days long, although sometimes we have to endure another day of it because every once in a while February decides that it’s going to last for 29 days; such a tease of a month.