1spartista's Blog

Brits that work in IT have topped a poll of the most unhealthiest employees, says Fat Free Fitness. According to the personal training website, just 19 percent of IT workers met the government's activity guidelines, which recommend half an hour of moderate exercise, five times a week. IT workers are closely followed by receptionists and sales people. When it comes to diet, IT workers are also unhealthy, with only 14 percent eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, while 50 percent said they drink energy drinks every day. On average IT workers consume 10 cups of coffee a day, which is more than your recommended daily allowance of caffine. "There is clearly a correlation between sitting at a desk or wheel all day and how active you're likely to be," said Rich Leigh, founder of Fat Free Fitness. The study did not address the many health and exercise applications that are showing up in PCs and, more recently, in mobile platforms.

Michael Fitzgerald sorts through a number of studies on the economic effects of religion: Among the most provocative findings have come from Robert Barro, a renowned economist at Harvard, and his wife, Rachel McCleary, a researcher at Harvard's Taubman Center. [...] The two collected data from 59 countries where a majority of the population followed one of the four major religions, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism. They ran this data - which covered slices of years from 1981 to 2000, measuring things like levels of belief in God, afterlife beliefs, and worship attendance - through statistical models. Their results show a strong correlation between economic growth and certain shifts in beliefs, though only in developing countries. Most strikingly, if belief in hell jumps up sharply while actual church attendance stays flat, it correlates with economic growth. Belief in heaven also has a similar effect, though less pronounced. Mere belief in God has no effect one way or the other. Meanwhile, if church attendance actually rises, it slows growth in developing economies.

Masks hide our true emotions. We all do it. Some people forget to take them off.

Here are the first impressions of the Victoria's Secret Show 2009! Enjoy!

The singer's famous glove is the highlight of an auction of pop music memorabilia in New York City. His jacket from his 'Bad' tour fetches $225,000.

New York - Michael Jackson's famous white glove sold for $350,000 at a memorabilia auction Saturday, soaring far past pre-sale estimates, and a black jacket he wore during a 1989 world tour fetched $225,000. The Jackson memorabilia was the highlight of an auction of hundreds of rock 'n' roll items, including many not associated with the King of Pop, who died in June. Darren Julien, chief executive of Julien's Auctions, which ran the sale, called the glove "the Holy Grail of Michael Jackson," and many expected it to sell for far more than its pre-sale estimate of about $50,000. With the added commission, the final price excluding taxes ran to about $420,000. The buyer was Hong Kong businessman Fossman Ma. Bidding for the strap- and zipper-laden black jacket Jackson wore during the 1989 "Bad" tour soared to $225,000, more than 20 times its initial estimate. With commission, the tab came to about $275,000. Fans and dealers turned out at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York's Times Square for the sale that included a car driven by Jackson, as well as David Bowie's guitar and memorabilia from the Beatles, Bo Diddley and others. "I never got to see Michael, and now that he's gone, this is the closest I could get," said Jazmynn Moore, 19, a student from Manhattan. The glove was worn by Jackson when he first staged his signature "moonwalk" dance at the 1983 "Motown 25" television special. The opening bid of $10,000 leaped immediately to $120,000 before reaching $350,000. Most of the 80 Jackson lots consisted of items from the singer's friends and family, the auctioneer said. Jackson was somewhat of a collector himself, having paid more than $1.5 million for the "Gone With the Wind" best picture Oscar statue at a Sotheby's auction, one of the highest prices ever paid for memorabilia at auction. The auction house had valued the Jackson collection at $80,000 to $100,000. But Julien said such pre-auction estimates were intentionally conservative to help generate interest. Many of Jackson's items sold for 10 times, or even more than 20 times, the estimates.

BROMONT, Quebec A Canadian woman on long-term sick leave says she lost her benefits because of photos on Facebook and she's fighting to get them reinstated. Nathalie Blanchard has been on leave from her job at IBM in Bromont, Quebec, for the last year. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Saturday she was diagnosed with major depression and was receiving monthly sick-leave benefits from insurance giant Manulife. But the payments dried up this fall and when Blanchard called Manulife, she says she was told she was available to work because of Facebook. She said her insurance agent described several pictures Blanchard posted on Facebook, including ones showing her having a good time at a Chippendales bar show, at her birthday party and on a sun holiday. Blanchard said Manulife told her it's evidence she is no longer depressed. She says her lawyer is exploring what the next step should be. Blanchard told the CBC that on her doctor's advice, she tried to have fun, including nights out at her local bar with friends and short getaways to sun destinations, as a way to forget her problems. Manulife wouldn't comment on Blanchard's case, but did say they would not deny or terminate a claim solely based on information published on websites such as Facebook.

Jesus may have taught his disciples to turn the other cheek, but these days some churches are hiring armed security teams--just in case that whole forgiveness thing doesn't work out. A flurry of violent crimes in churches has shaken the image of houses of worship as safe havens. In October a priest in New Jersey died after being stabbed 32 times in his parish rectory. In May an abortion provider was shot in the head inside a Kansas church. A Maryland woman was killed in February by her spurned husband in her church's parking lot. And that was all just this year. After a gunman killed two people and wounded seven others at a Tennessee church in the summer of 2008, conservative Christian outlet OneNewsNow polled 4,000 churches and found that three-quarters had no security plan. Houses of worship have long prided themselves on keeping their doors open to all. And many have assumed that respect for their sacredness--and perhaps fear of divine retribution--would keep them safe from crime. But as schools and businesses use more-sophisticated security systems, churches are becoming the soft targets in some communities. Although slayings are still rare in houses of worship, security experts say churches are increasingly vulnerable to less violent crimes such as burglary, robbery and theft. So far this year, the Christian Security Network has tracked more than 1,000 crimes against churches, including 40 violent incidents, 86 arsons and more than 700 property crimes, resulting in more than $25 million in losses. (Even modest congregations tend to have sound systems, televisions and computers that are relatively unsecured.) Jeffrey Hawkins, the group's executive director, has spent nearly three decades in law enforcement and security services. He says many religious leaders fear that obvious security measures, like guards and surveillance cameras, will make a church seem unwelcoming. "It's a paradigm shift that has to happen," says Hawkins, who works with churches to assess risk and develop security plans. After a church security guard in Colorado Springs engaged in a shoot-out with a gunman who had already fatally wounded two people in 2007, the switchboard was flooded at Guide One, an insurance company that has worked with churches on security issues since the 1960s. Says senior risk manager Eric Spacek: "We heard from a lot of churches wanting to know if they should arm their security teams." That still strikes many congregations as extreme. A common first step is to improve security outside. One of Hawkins' clients is Houston's Berean Baptist Church, which had its moment of truth about security needs when the senior pastor's car was stolen as he sat just a few yards away in his office. "Cars were stolen from the parking lot all the time," says executive pastor Hutson Smelley. "And the burglaries got to a point where it was more than once a month." That was six years ago. The church, which draws about 450 parishioners on an average Sunday, built a fence around its 11-acre (4.5 hectare) property and installed an electronic access gate to the parking lot. For concerts and other big events, the church hires off-duty police officers. There have been no car thefts and only one burglary in the church's new security era. Berean also uses a check-in system for its nursery and Sunday schools that once averted an attempted kidnapping by an estranged parent. Violent crimes at churches often share similarities with attacks that happen at workplaces: battered spouses may find somewhere else to sleep at night, but their abusers can count on finding them at work or church. "One of the biggest vulnerabilities of churches is that they're very predictable," explains Hawkins. "You can go on most websites and find out when services begin and end or find a floor plan of the whole church." Knowing exactly where Kansas abortion doctor George Tiller would be on a Sunday morning undoubtedly simplified his killer's plans. And that's not a new problem. Charles Guiteau, the man who assassinated James Garfield, first planned to shoot the President coming out of church. He backed off only when he saw that Garfield was with his mother. Some things, after all, are sacred.

KITCHENER, Ontario -- Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir have won the original dance to take the lead at Skate Canada. Virtue and Moir scored 60.57 points for their flamenco routine on Saturday even though Virtue slipped and nearly fell twice, with Moir grabbing her arm before she landed on the ice. The Canadians had a total of 101.26 points heading into Sunday's free dance. Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat of France are in second with 91.60 points after scoring 56.05 points on Saturday. Canadians Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje were third with 83.36 points, scoring 51.18 with their flamenco original dance. The pairs free program, men's free and ladies free were scheduled for later Saturday.