Drinking Makes You Sad?

Nara’s New Mascot

Nara, a city of famous historic Buddhist temples and tame deer, recently unveiled a new mascot character to commemorate the 1300th Anniversary of Nara Heijo-kyo Capital:

Its creators believe that the character matches well with the city of Nara, but many have been criticizing the mascot for being un-cute.
Japan Probe

I have to agree with the "un-cute" thing....pretty freaky if you ask me!


STOP THE PRESSES!!!!!
Japanese Scientists: Drinking Makes Heart Grow More Sorrowful

Researchers at the University of Tokyo concluded that ethanol — an intoxicating agent in alcohol — does not cause memory to decrease, as widely believed, but instead locks it in place.

The researchers, led by pharmacology professor Norio Matsuki, gave mild shocks to lab rats to condition them to fear. As a result, the rats would freeze in terror and curl up the moment they were put in their cages.

Researchers then immediately injected the rats with ethanol or saline.

The researchers found that rats with alcohol in their veins froze up for longer, with the fear on average lasting two weeks, compared with rats that did not receive injections.

“If we apply this study to humans, the memories they are trying to get rid of will remain strongly, even if they drink alcohol to try to forget an event they dislike and be in a merry mood for the moment,” the study said.

“The following day, they won’t remember the merriness that they felt,” it said.
Original...


Human Trafficking Thrives Across N.Korea-China Border
A 26-year-old North Korean woman, Mun Yun-hee crossed the Duman or Tumen River into China in the dawn of Oct. 22 last year, which at that point was some 40 m wide, guided by a human trafficker. She was being sold to a single middle-aged Chinese farmer into a kind of indentured servitude-cum-companionship. Both of them wore only panties, having stored their trousers and shoes in bags, because if you are found wearing wet clothes across the river deep at night, it is a dead giveaway that you are a North Korean refugee. Read More...


On a sombre Canadian note, the great Cnandian blues guitar player, Jeff Healey, died of cancer today at the age of 41. I remember buying his first album when I was in middle school. He was simply amazing! It's a sad day for the Canadian music industry. You can read the CTV news story here...