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Debt-ridden British students pay for education by selling their bodies

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Mark Lancaster, predator.

The man uncovered as running a "sex for tuition fees" website has been named after being secretly filmed.


Earlier this week, The Independent revealed how young women were lured to meetings with the man through the SponsorAScholar.co.uk website.

An undercover reporter recorded a meeting with the man who told her that sponsorship was dependent on a "high level of sexual intimacy" with men in two-hour sessions in hotel rooms up to four times a term.

The man filmed by The Independent was said last night to go under the name Mark Lancaster, but when contacted by a television programme refused to speak about the Sponsor a Scholar scheme. He had previously claimed to have arranged for 1,400 young women to win sponsorship.

When he met the undercover Independent reporter, he told her that to qualify for the scheme she would have to undertake a "practical assessment" with him to prove she would offer "the level of intimacy" that would be demanded by sponsors.

There were concerns last night that the scheme may have been a front to allow him to take advantage of young women. A student, whose identity was kept secret, told Channel 4 News that when she went to a rented flat with the man for an interview, she had been encouraged to dress up in a schoolgirl outfit before being pressured to have sex.

Question

Spreading the zombie meme: 'Zombie expert' speaks at Texas Tech

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Matt Mogk, founder of the Zombie Research Society, says a zombie pandemic is coming, and it's not a matter of if... but when.

Mogk presented his zombie theory during a lecture at Texas Tech University Monday night. The Zombie Research Society is made up of 60-thousand members worldwide.

"Our board is made up of leading experts from different fields, so from co-director of education of Harvard Medical School to leading neuroscientists across the country who have developed a 3-D model of zombie brains driven by a biological infection, that's really important because they're infectious, so it's essentially like a virus with legs and teeth."

Zombies have become popular with the success of TV shows like "The Walking Dead."

Mogk said you prepare for a zombie plague the same way you would for a tornado or earthquake.

So, how does one become a zombie expert?

Mogk says he's always been obsessed with zombies and got a Masters Degree from New York University for studying zombies in cinema.

Comment: Why is the 'zombie' meme being spread in this way? Cui bono? Maybe they are preparing people for mutations that are happening as a result of natural processes?

Is Solar and Cosmic Radiation Playing Havoc With Life on Planet Earth?


Star of David

European footballers condemn Israel hosting U21 European championship

Gaza stadium
© Patrick Baz/AFP/Getty Images
The footballers' statement mentioned the bombing by Israel of a Gaza stadium, pictured, which killed four teenagers
Players from Premier League and other European top flights say tournament will be seen as reward for assault on Gaza


A group of Premier League footballers and players in other major European leagues have condemned plans to hold the Under-21 European championship in Israel next year, saying it will be seen as a "reward" for this month's assault on Gaza in which young people playing football were killed when a sports stadium was bombed.

The signatories, who include Eden Hazard of Chelsea, Abou Diaby of Arsenal and five Newcastle players - Papiss Cissé, Cheick Tioté, Sylvain Marveaux, Yohan Cabaye and Demba Ba - also criticised Israel's continued detention without charge or trial of two Palestinian footballers.

Several former Premier League players have also signed the letter, including Didier Drogba and Frédéric Kanouté, both of whom now play in China. Players with QPR, Stoke, Blackburn and Ipswich are among the signatories along with footballers in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Turkey.

The statement roundly condemns the Israeli assault on Gaza, describing it as "yet another stain on the world's conscience" and expresses "solidarity with the people of Gaza who are living under siege and denied basic human dignity and freedom".

It then focuses on the destruction of a football stadium which the Israeli military said had previously been used by Hamas as a rocket launching site but which at the time of the bombing was not.

MIB

Textbook psychopath: Israeli accused of posing as spy to kill wives

Israel is among the most security-conscious nations on Earth. F-16 warplanes scream overhead. Antimissile systems become national heroes. The spy agency Mossad enjoys near legendary status.

So if, in the words of English writer Samuel Johnson, patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel, what better way to cover up one's misdeeds than by posing as a secret agent?

Israel has been captivated by a certain Shimon Cooper, 51, a taxi driver who is accused of using such a ruse to kill his first and third wives, and vanish for days with his lover, using "secret missions" and "overseas assassinations" as a cover.

His second wife, meanwhile, suggested in court documents that she believed she narrowly avoided the same fate.

The case "appears to more closely resemble a movie script than a murder indictment," the Jerusalem Post newspaper said.

According to an indictment filed last week, Cooper was a con man who killed his third wife, Jenny Mor Haim, in August 2009 after injecting her with drugs that police believe were provided by his lover, an anesthesiologist.

People

Thousands protest in Slovenia fueling tensions ahead of runoff presidential election

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© Matej Leskovsek/The Associated Press
Riot police detain protesters outside the parliament building in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Friday, Nov. 30, 2012.
Ljbljana, Slovenia - Clashes broke out Friday night in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana as angry demonstrators tried to push through a police cordon to storm parliament and police used water cannon and tear gas to repel them.

At least 15 people were injured and 30 were arrested in what turned into a street battle between the police and groups of hooded young extremists throwing rocks, bottles and firecrackers at them.

This was the second time this week that anti-government protests in Slovenia turned violent - an extremely rare development in the otherwise calm Alpine nation.

But tensions have been soaring before a presidential runoff vote this weekend. Slovenia has been struggling economically and is in danger of needing an international bailout.

Thousands joined the protests in Ljubljana on Friday against Prime Minister Janez Jansa and his Cabinet, accusing them of corruption and fraud and demanding their resignations.

The gathering started off peacefully. Carrying banners that read "You are finished" and "Thieves," about 8,000 people braved the drizzle and cold to express their discontent with government cost-cutting measures and other reforms designed to avoid an international bailout.

Clashes erupted at the end of the demonstration after smaller groups attacked the police guarding parliament and other state buildings. Similar clashes marred the protest earlier this week in the second-largest city of Maribor.

Black Cat 2

Aspergers teen removed from psychopathic parents over 'military style' punishments

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A Minnesota couple was charged with misdemeanor crimes this week after authorities removed a 15-year-old boy who'd been forced to live under constant video surveillance in a dark room, only being allowed to leave to participate in "military style" exercises allegedly forced upon him by his stepfather.

Neighbors reportedly noticed the odd behavior too: one even snapped a photo of Gregory Danner working in his back yard wearing nothing but a pink thong, and said they could often hear him shouting at his stepson.

The teen, who authorities did not name, reportedly has Asperger's syndrome, a type of autism that causes awkwardness and clumsiness. Minnesota Fox affiliate KMSP-TV added that his parents covered the windows, removed his light bulb and forced the teen to sleep on the floor.

Book

Hate speech laws to be amended in India after women arrested for Facebook comments

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India is set to amend its hate speech laws following a public outcry over two women arrested for posting comments on Facebook after the death of hardline politician Bal Thackeray.

The new guidelines by the communications and information technology ministry will make it harder for police to arrest people who post allegedly offensive material online.

The women, both 21, were detained a week ago over comments on the social networking site questioning whether the city of Mumbai should have been effectively shut down by the authorities for Thackeray's funeral.

Blackbox

Therapeutic booth or naughty room? Elementary school punishes children in solitary confinement cell

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Government schools have been children's prisons for a very long time, but in recent years with metal detectors and on guard police officers it has gotten even more blatant.

At one Elementary school in Longview, WA the administrators have even installed a solitary confinement cell that they use to punish students, even throwing special needs children into the cell also.

According to local news channel KATU:
A concerned mother who posted photos of an 'isolation booth' in a Longview elementary school on Facebook said she wanted other parents to know how the school uses the space. Ana Bate said her son saw the booth in use at Mint Valley Elementary School, and had questions. The school principal said the padded room is used for students who have behavioral disabilities.

Che Guevara

New Mexican president sworn in amid violent protests


Police officers clash with rioters outside of the Congress building before the inauguration ceremony of incoming Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on December 1, 2012, in Mexico City (AFP Photo / Pedro Pardo)

Protesters clashed with police outside the Mexican Congress in Mexico City on Saturday, as the country's new president, Enrique Pena Nieto, took the oath of office.

Hundreds of demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails, firecrackers and rocks at security forces, who responded by using tear gas to disperse the crowd.

At least two protesters were injured, one seriously and a police officer with a bleeding face was taken for medical treatment, according to law enforcement agencies.

Mexican authorities erected security barriers around the Congress several days ago in anticipation of protests by groups opposed to Nieto and the return of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) to power.

Forty-six year old Nieto, who will have the top job during the next six years, won the presidential election on July 1st by a narrow margin, with his victory has exposed deep divisions within the Mexican society.

The president-elect has took over at midnight in a symbolic ceremony after campaigning as the new face of the PRI, repentant and restructured after the party was voted out of the presidency in 2000. The PRI had ruled for 71 years with a mix of populist handouts, graft and rigged elections.

Mexico protests
© AFP Photo / Pedro Pardo
Rioters clash with police officers outside of the Congress building before the inauguration ceremony of incoming Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on December 1, 2012, in Mexico City.

Comment: The media are blaming the violence largely on the student movement #Yosoy132 which pacifically opposed Peña Nieto during his campaign. However, the group has denied it took part in violence or acts of vandalism and withdrew from the demonstrations of December 1st for this very reason.

Judge for yourselves. Do you think that these faceless guys are upset at their nation going down the drain with the corrupt PRI back in power, or do they want to provide an excuse to reinforce its return? Are these the ubiquitous agent provocateurs we often see in many protests around the world?




Arrow Up

Dr. Paul Babiak on the crisis of psychopaths in the workplace

Dr. Paul Babiak
© The Washington Tomes Communities
Dr. Paul Babiak
Florida - Whenever people feel that they have been manipulated or short-changed, there is a good chance that they will call their perceived wrongdoer a "psychopath."

The term could very well be one of the most overused in our society. It is thrown around so casually that more than a few have probably ceased to take it seriously.

Needless to say, this is most unfortunate. When a real psychopath crawls out of the woodwork then the situation becomes all the more difficult to manage.

Even worse is that psychopaths are attracted to positions of power. This means that the workplace is especially vulnerable to the schemes of individuals who prey on the weakest among them.

Paul Babiak is an industrial-organizational psychologist who has done a great deal of research on this disturbing pattern of behavior. The co-author of Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work, he has devoted much of his career to raising awareness about how mental and emotional predators have found their way into the business world.

In this first part of a detailed discussion, he explains how "psychopath" might be defined, whether or not one can be easily spotted in the workplace, and much more.