|
North Korea Announces Cure For MERS (As If)
As South Koreans continue to struggle with the worst outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, ever recorded outside the Middle East, their comrades to the north say, "We've got a cure for that!"
The World Health Organization says there's no known cure or vaccine for MERS, but state-run media in Pyongyang reports a wonder drug called Kumdang-2 will do the trick. The report makes no mention of whether Pyongyang is going to offer this miracle compound to its neighbor to the south. Or as the news agency puts it: "the Korean puppet authorities" in Seoul.
Note to readers: The next few paragraphs require us to use the word "allegedly" more than a few times.
A North Korean pharmaceutical company allegedly developed the injectable drug, which is allegedly a mixture of ginseng, "light rare earth elements" and "micro-quantities of gold and platinum." Allegedly.
The drug has its own website (although really, who doesn't?). The site claims that Kumdang-2 allegedly cures just about everything, including AIDS, SARS, Ebola, skin rashes, diabetes, impotence, liver disorders, venereal disease, drug addiction, various cancers and tuberculosis. The TB assertion is particularly interesting given North Korea's astronomically high rate of tuberculosis.
The substance also allegedly has the power to heal bone fractures. The website tells of a man who fell off a cliff: "Administration of Kumdang-2 Injection ... recovered all the injuries more than 8 times faster than other medicines."
In the tone of a younger sibling rejoicing in an older sibling's misfortune, North Korean health officials said: "One can easily beat such diseases [SARS, Ebola or MERS] if one takes the DPRK-produced Kumdang-2 injection."
Even the shot itself allegedly doesn't hurt.
"It causes no pain," the site states. "Unlike chemical medicines, it has no adverse side effects. It has no contraindications and can be used together with other medicines."
As if all the other too-good-to-be-true claims about Kumdang-2 hadn't already undermined its credibility, the manufacturers state you don't have to take it on a regular schedule. In fact, they claim, Kumdang-2 works better if you follow no routine at all: "The rate of recovery was higher among its random users than its punctual users."
The wonders never cease!
In conclusion, we would note that this is not the first example of an outrageous health claim made for political gain. Just last year, the Egyptian military announced that its "Complete Cure Device" could wipe out the AIDS virus.
P.S. It couldn't.
Retrieve from " http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/06/19/415832033/
north-korea-announces-cure-for-mers-as-if"
1. what do you think about the cure, Kumdang-2? good? hilarious?
2. They allegedly say about the cure which is allegedly a mixture of ginseng, "light rare earth elements" and
"micro-quantities of gold and platinum."
Is it stupid bullshit concept and unreasonable?
3. Kumdang-2 allegedly cures just about everything, including AIDS, SARS, Ebola, skin rashes, diabetes, impotence,
liver disorders, venereal disease, drug addiction, various cancers and tuberculosis.
It sounds like 만병통치약. What do you think?
4. what sort of drug do you want to develop if you can?
5 Tips For Giving A Powerful Speech That Will Inspire Your
Audience
As a public speaker, there's nothing worse than delivering a lifeless, yawn-inducing speech.
You always want to leave your audience feeling enlightened, hopeful, and inspired — but that's no easy feat.
Here are the five steps to writing a powerful speech that will move your listeners:
The first rule of great speechmaking: consider the audience.
"A great speechmaker possesses great tact," says Nick Morgan, speech coach and author of "Power Cues: The Subtle Science of Leading Groups, Persuading Others, and Maximizing Your Personal Impact." "You have to be prepared to speak to a particular audience on a particular occasion. Ultimately, then, a great speech is only partially about you. It's also about the audience and the occasion."
Ask yourself: Who is this audience? What does it want? What does it fear? Why has it invited me to speak? What aspect of my message is most relevant to it?
"And then ponder the occasion," he says. "What's happening right now that will be on the minds of everyone in the room? What should I not talk about? What does that audience need to hear?"
You need a great hook. "The idea is to frame the talk in the first one to three minutes, in a way that draws the audience in but doesn't simply give them an agenda," Morgan says. "That's boring. No one pays attention during the presentation of the agenda slide, so don't do it."
Instead, tell a compelling story — one that shows (rather than tells) the topic you're going to be discussing.
Yes, the very beginning of the presentation is crucial, and your ending can make or break it, too, but everything in between is just as important — and it's imperative that you hold your audience's attention throughout.
Take time to carefully think about how you'll accomplish that.
"There's only one way that works reliably, and that involves asking yourself one simple question: What's the problem the audience has for which the information I'm ready to talk about is the answer?" Morgan says.
Write a speech that addresses the problem and solution. "It's an ancient formula for persuading somebody of something," he says. "Unless you don't want to be persuasive, it's the best structure for a speech. The Greeks invented it more than 2,000 years ago, and it worked well for them. It will work well for you today."
The best way to finish is to give your audience something to do, Morgan says.
Why? "Because you've just forced normally active people to be passive for the better part of an hour, and it's time to let them absorb your message actively. In this way, they'll better remember — and even act on — what you've been talking about."
He says the best action step he ever saw was at a charitable event, where the speaker asked everyone to reach into their pockets and grab their loose change. "He said, 'Now hold it out at arm's length.' Once everyone was doing so, he added, 'Now, throw it on the floor.' There were 5,000 people or more in the audience, and the sound was amazing. What's more, the speaker had runners collect the money, and that audience raised literally thousands of dollars for AIDS in one or two moments."
Find something relevant and connected closely to your message. Ask yourself, "What's the next thing I would want my audience to do after the speech is over?" Then, get them to do that, or motivate them to take a step toward that. "The point is that what people do they believe. So if you get them to act, that will reinforce their belief in your message," Morgan says.
"The step should be simple, it should only take a few minutes, and it must be relevant to your message," he concludes.
Want your business advice featured in Instant MBA? Submit your tips to tipoftheday@businessinsider.com. Be sure to include your name, your job title, and a photo of yourself in your email.
Retrieve from " http://www.businessinsider.com/tips-for-writing-a-powerful-speech-2014-8"
1. Do you usually give a presentation?
2. How many tips in the article do you usually care and follow?
3. Which tip is most useful and impressed?
4. what's was your most successful presentation? and worst one?
why?
Gallery: These buildings are made of … bamboo?
Plunge into the deep Balinese jungle and you might suddenly find a bamboo building soaring above you. Made from the frankly unlikely building material, the ethereal structures are the brainchildren of designer Elora Hardy and her team at Ibuku (TED Talk: Magical houses, made of bamboo). The one-of-a-kind houses are curving, magical and utterly stunning. Take a look.
Sharma Springs, a private home in Sibang Gede in Bali, has four bedrooms and stretches over six floors. It’s one of the tallest bamboo buildings in Bali; its design is intended to make you think of the petals of a lotus flower. Photo courtesy of Rio Helmi.
This fifteen-meter tunnel (shown under construction) leads into the ground-level entrance of the Sharma Springs home. Things can get very complex when building with bamboo. Photo courtesy of Ibuku.
23 meters long, the Millennium Bridge in Sibang Kaja is one of the largest bamboo bridges in Asia. It’s shown here under construction — sitting on top of the roof is no longer an option. Photo courtesy of Green School.
This three-bedroom home, in Sibang Gede in Bali, was built in the shape of a leaf. It faces east, earning it the nickname “Sunrise House.” Photo courtesy of Rio Helmi.
With a spectacular view out over the surrounding trees, Palm Villa in the Green Village boasts some unique design traits. “Why are doors so often rectangular?” asks Elora Hardy. “Why not have it pivot on the center where it can stay balanced?” Why not, indeed. Photo courtesy of Rio Helmi.
“This is the meeting room at our workshop in Bali,” says Elora Hardy. She’s now working to export the design elsewhere. “It has been designed to fit into a container and be assembled without skilled craftsmen.” (Cold-climate offices need not apply; the building is not insulated.) Photo courtesy of Agung Dwi.
Hardy’s team works from physical models rather than blueprints, because it’s difficult to adjust the software typically used by architects to account for the curves of the bamboo. Says Hardy, architecture students who come to work with her have to go through a process of “unlearning.” Photo courtesy of Ibuku.
Retrieve from " http://ideas.ted.com/gallery-these-buildings-are-made-of-bamboo/"
1. Do you like the buildings above made of bamboo?
2. What kinds of building do you like?
3. what kind of building do you want to live in the near future?
size, design, location, decoration, in/exterior? etc.
4. which was the most beautiful building or house you've ever seen?