Come One, Come All!

"Never use threat, force or pressure to make someone have sex."

"Women can ... choose who they marry."

"If you have sex with someone without their consent, this is called rape"

"Rape is a serious crime in the U.K. You could go to prison, lose your support and accommodation, and it will affect your asylum claim."

New U.K. orientation manual for migrants 

 

"All permanent residents and protected persons are eligible for IRCC-funded settlement services [to] help them integrate and build a successful life in Canada as quickly as possible and include information on rights and freedoms of individuals according to Canadian law, understanding of Canadian values, as well as their responsibilities and obligations."

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada spokesperson

600 Gaza refugees enter Canada in 2005  CBC News

 

The United Kingdom, overwhelmed by the presence of migrants, faces a long string of social/cultural problems related to different customs and values being transplanted alongside the migrants into Britain. An epidemic of violence has erupted for several years unlike what the United Kingdom has previously experienced, a stream of non-stop incidents that fall far outside the normal social contract of the Emerald Isle's traditional population. Rapes by migrants perpetrated against vulnerable men, women, teens, even children, taking place in wooded areas, parks, beach change-rooms and rental units.

 

Grooming Gangs in the U.K. Machiavelli Foundation

 

It took long enough for the British Government to pay attention to the scandals that for years had stalked communities where Muslim men, mostly of Pakistani origins, whose sex culture was responsible for grooming gangs focused on raping and using young Caucasian girls as sex slaves, renting out their services for fun and profit. It wasn't that the situation was unknown to British authorities, but that it was quite simply too inconvenient for them to 'notice' much less act on the practise, given the large Muslim population and accusations of 'Islamophobic' racism to be avoided at all costs.

 

Canada too, as it happens, finds itself in inconvenient waters with the surge of the past decade of immigrants, refugees and migrants infiltrating Canadian society. And in Canada not-too-subtle incidents of migrants in the country bringing with them customs contradictory to Western human rights values where incestuous relations, stranger-rape, organized crime, underage marriages, polygamy, genital mutilation offend Canadian customs and laws.

 

In 2015, during the federal election Prime Minister Stephen Harper's election campaign was rife with outrage from civil rights groups and the growing Muslim community in Canada over his government's release of 'instructions for immigrants' booklet Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship that advised foreigners entering Canada as landed immigrants and permanent residents on their way to achieving citizenship, that Canada's welcome did not include 'barbaric cultural practices' such as spousal abuse, 'honour killings', female genital mutilation, and forced polygamy.

 

Burqa ban in Great Britain?  Independent

 

How times have changed; the instructions of yesteryear rejected by the electorate have, by necessity since then been rejuvenated where marriage fraud warning is circulated by government auspices. In Canada too there are those requiring an explanation why it is frowned upon to rape children. A 'Pre-Departure Guide for Newcomers to Canada', published in 2025 focuses on newcomer rights rather than their responsibilities to the new country they will inhabit. 

 

Gently there are hints as to what is now of vital importance to this current progressive government; an acceptance of the presence of transgenderism, where readers are instructed that the LGBTQ-2 community in Canada is not only accepted, supported and valued, but so too is the right of the nation's children to question their from-birth designation as male or female. Issues such as 'lining up', 'making eye contact' and 'using underarm deodorant' are given their due place in the booklet.

 

Criminal activities are also addressed such as a jail term will come with carrying a firearm without a permit, and unwanted sexual touching or remarks may elicit a fine, or even prison. Bribery, polygamy, female genital mutilation and 'Making, sharing or owning photos of naked children', 'forcing others into marriage', and 'having sex with children', are similarly frowned upon and the letter of the law may be applied. Although truth to tell, the justice system goes easy on skin tones and ethnicity and cultures, with reduced sentences applied.

 

Family violence is frowned upon and "Killing a family member as a way to save a family's honour", is definitely unacceptable. Also addressed is the virtue of working for a living, rather than becoming wholly dependent on Canada Child Benefit payments which, when enough children in a family receive those generous benefits can sustain a family, without a breadwinner breaking a sweat. ($679.75 per month ($8,157 per year) for each child under 6, and $573.58 per month ($6,883 per year) for each child aged 6 to 17 for the 2026–2027 year.

 

What Muslim female dress means as a  wedge issue in Canada  TVO Today

 

 

The Kindness of Gifting Strangers

"[These] miscalibrated expectations [may impede the likelihood that future] prosocial [behaviours will be performed]."

"Performers are not fully taking into account that their warm acts provide value from the act itself."

"The fact that you're being nice to others adds a lot of value beyond whatever the thing is."

"People aren't way off base. They get that being kind to people makes them feel good. What we don't get is how good it really makes others feel."

"It turns out generosity can actually be contagious. Receivers of a prosocial act can pay it forward. Kindness can actually spread."

Amit Kumar, assistant professor of marketing, Austin McCombs School of Business, University of Texas

earth.com

 

Research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General concludes that random acts of kindness tend to be relatively rare as a result of people underestimating how satisfying deeds in this category make those who benefit from them are made to feel. This lack of awareness of the beneficial result of an act of kindness to the recipient stems, apparently, from the impression people performing a good deed focus on the action or object they provide when receivers fixate on feelings of warmth the act itself generates.

 

In studying the issue, investigators recruited 84 study subjects from Maggie Daley Park in Chicago whee participants were requested to give a cup of hot chocolate from the park's kiosk to a stranger or alternatively reserve it for themselves. Of the total participants, seventy-five decided they would share the hot chocolate, delivered to the strangers by a researcher informing the recipients of the good deed's source.

 

In exchange, recipients were asked to describe their mood when the beverage was given them, while the givers were asked to rate how they thought recipients would feel -- on a scale from -5 (more negative than normal) to 5 (more positive than normal). Consistent underestimates of how good recipients of such an act of kindness would feel on the part of the givers was general, while rating their own expected mood on receiving the gift at an average of 2.7 compared to the actual average of 3.5 reported by recipients personally.

Another experiment taking place in the same venue saw researchers recruit two groups of 100 people. 50 of those in the control group were given a cupcake for participating, then asked to rate their mood. The remaining 50 participants were asked to rate thoughts of the people who received a cupcake. 50 participants in the second group of 10 were asked to give their cupcake to a random stranger, then to rate their own mood as well as how they felt recipients might feel on receiving a cupcake.

Participants judged, according to the ratings they came up with, that people who received cupcakes would be happy whether the cupcakes came from a researcher or a random act of kindness. In actual fact, whose who benefited from a random act of kindness were more pleased than those who were chosen by a researcher. 

A final experiment was geared to assess the consequences of kindness, where participants in a laboratory were given a gift from either the lab store or another participant before engaging in a game requiring them to divide $100 between themselves and an unknown study participants. Those who received a gift from another participant turned out more generous to others during the game, distributing an average of $48.02 in comparison to $41.02 from those who received a store gift.

People are touched by small kindnesses and led to greater generosity, new research shows.  Based on the research of Amit Kumar, Texas McCombs

Time-Out for Exercise!

"Human exercise performance is better in the evening compared to the morning, as [athletes] consume less oxygen, that is, they use less energy, for the same intensity of exercise in the evening versus the morning."
"It means, for example, if a person needs to go for a run, he will reach exhaustion earlier in the morning compared to the evening."
"In other words, he will be able to run for a longer duration in the evening compared to the morning under the same running conditions."
"If you wish to break the world record, or  your personal time, I assume [evenings would be better]."
Gad Asher, researcher, Department of Biomolecular Science, Weizmann Institute of Science

"We identified that time of exercise is critical in order for exercise to be beneficial [in metabolizing sugar and fat]."
"Circadian rhythms dominate everything we do [the internal mechanism influencing human cycles of sleep, awakening, eating, etc.]"
"At least fifty percent of our metabolism is circadian, and fifty percent of the metabolites in our body oscillate based on the circadian cycle. It makes sense that exercise would be one of the things that's affected."
"There is a time for exercise, resting or food intake. The metabolic cycles are not adapted to respond to external stimuli the same way at day or night."
Paolo Sassone-Corsi, director, Centre for Epigenetics and Metabolism, University of California, Irvine 

"Exercising late at night may interfere with sleep as it tends to energize you and enhance alertness, although some people like to exercise at the end of the day to help relieve the stresses of the day and prepare for evening activities, which is fine."
"Morning exercise has the advantage that no matter what else happens during the day, you have incorporated your physical activity. It also increases alertness and helps cognitive functioning."
Edward R. Laskowski, co-director, Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine

Two studies, geared to studying basically which time of day exercise is undertaken is more beneficial shed some light on the whys and wherefores that can be extremely instructive to those who puzzle over the issue, both for efficient use of time and for maximizing both fitness and health opportunities.
One paper's focus resulted on the understanding that morning exercise may serve to activate certain genes in muscle cells increasing their capacity to metabolize sugar and fat.

This result has great meaning to those suffering from Type 2 diabetes or who are overweight -- or both -- since middle age-plus-overweight often triggers diabetes onset, alongside sedentary behaviour. In the opposite direction, an evening workout using less oxygen makes workouts more efficient, leaning toward an improvement of athletic performance -- an obvious benefit for serious competitors.

Dr. Asher's research group placed mice on treadmills at various times of day to study their exercise capacity at different intensities and regimens. Overall exercise performance was found to be improved -- about 50 percent on average -- during 'mouse evening' as opposed to morning. Another study group led by Dr. Sassone-Cosi placed mice on treadmills as well, taking a different approach, looking at the alterations in muscle tissues post-morning workouts with a particular attention to glucose breakdown and fat burning.

When they analyzed tissue, it was to discover that exercise appeared to provide the most beneficial effects on metabolism during the mouse equivalent of what represents late morning for human exercise. The conclusion that Dr. Sassone-Corsi reached is that the process relies on a protein, HIF1-alpha, directly regulating the body's circadian clock. Elite, serious athletes such as marathoners, basketball and soccer players looking for a competitive edge might select evenings to train or compete.

If concern for weight and controlling blood sugar levels is the motivating factor for exercise -- unconcerned with shaving a minute or two from marathon time -- these individuals might decide for morning exercise, when post-workout cell responses influencing metabolism are much more engaged. With this, Jonas Thue Treebak agrees, as associate professor at the Nova Nordisk Foundation Centre for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen, co-author of a third study.

"At this point, we can only conclude that the effects of the two appear to differ, and we certainly have to do more work [research]", he states. Irrespective, however, of determining which of the choices, morning or evening time set aside specifically for exercise will work for anyone, the takeaway from all those involved in research and exercise performance is that the timing is irrelevant in actual fact, to the need to get out there at whichever time and just proceed with exercising to attain a quality lifestyle.

"[The research] tends to suggest that morning exercising before eating is helpful in terms of ensuring maximizing some of the positives effects of exercise on metabolism."
"To me, the other positive of exercising first thing is that you get it done before the day catches up with you."
"The 'do something' message is far more important than the 'do something at a specific time of the day' message."
Michael Joyner, Mayo Clinic

Recreational Pleasure and Health Benefits

"Walking and running provide an ideal test of the health benefits of moderate-intensity walking and vigorous-intensity running because they involve the same muscle groups and the same activities performed at different intensities."
"The more the runners ran and the walkers walked, the better off they were in health benefits. If the amount of energy expended was the same between the two groups, then the health benefits were comparable."
"Walking may be a more sustainable activity for some people when compared to running, however, those who choose running end up exercising twice as much as those that choose walking. This is probably because they can do twice as much in an hour."
"People are always looking for an excuse not to exercise, but now they have a straightforward choice to run or to walk and invest in their future health."
"It takes longer to walk a mile than to run a mile. But if you match them up on the energy expended, they are comparable. If you do the same amount of exercise – if you expend the same number of calories – you get the same benefit."
Paul T. Williams, staff scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Life Science Division in Berkeley, California

• Running significantly reduced risk for first-time hypertension 4.2 percent and walking reduced risk 7.2 percent.
• Running reduced first-time high cholesterol 4.3 percent and walking 7 percent.
• Running reduced first-time diabetes 12.1 percent compared to 12.3 percent for walking.
• Running reduced coronary heart disease 4.5 percent compared to 9.3 percent for walking.

"Walking at any speed costs some energy, but when you're changing the speed, you're pressing the gas pedal, so to speak."
Ohio State research team

Benefits to walking as a leisure time activity that gets you out and about: breathing fresh air, appreciating an outdoor landscape, bringing you closer to nature, allowing you to relax, your mind to wander and your daily concerns to recede into the background as your mood lifts. Walking is known to help in the reduction of anxiety and depression symptoms; as a mood elevator; being in tune with nature, in a green setting has few parallels. According to some researchers, happiness is boosted when walking becomes a regular feature in one's life.

Women in a study reported having greater energy, were more inclined to be socially active, less likely to surrender to out-of-control emotions, and less hounded by depression once they began routinely walking on a regular basis, amounting to 200 minutes weekly. Researchers from Santa Clara University gathered 176 college students, assigning them a walking schedule, because their study goal was to discover if "a simple walk might lead to more free-flowing thoughts and more creativity".

The walkers, it turned out, were more creative once they returned to their desks, compared to those who didn't participate in the experiment. Creativity flourished while the participants were out walking, regardless of whether they walked in fresh air or used a treadmill instead. The end result was more ideas coming to mind while walking in comparison to those who simply remained at their desks.

Yet another, earlier study undertaken in 2013 took 33,060 runners and 15,045 walkers as participants to determine whether the intensity and energy expended in walking serves to produce similar heart health benefits as running. The Berkeley, California researchers reached the conclusion that "If the amount of energy expended was the same between the two groups, then the health benefits were comparable". Walking reduced risk of hypertension by 7.2 percent as opposed to a 4.2 percent drop in runners.

Runners' risk of high cholesterol was reduced by 4.3 percent, while walkers' risk dropped by 7 percent. As for diabetes risk, it fell by 12.3 percent for walkers and 12.1 percent in runners, while heart disease was reduced by 9.3 percent for walkers and for runners 4.5 percent. So walking most definitely earns its place in the firmament of good health-achieving initiatives, and it can be done anywhere, at any time.

Another bonus comes by way of speeding up the walk for random periods to achieve an even greater health impact. Moving at an average or brisk pace, walkers benefited from a 20 and 24 percent reduced risk in mortality from all causes, in comparison with those who maintained a more leisurely stroll. For adults aged 21 to 40, moderate intensity in walking equates with 100 steps a minute, while 130 steps per minute is considered fast walking.

According to an Ohio State research team, changing speeds during a walking workout can burn up to a 20 percent greater number of calories, in comparison to remaining stuck at a single speed. Monitor walking speed simply by speeding up until you feel a bit breathless, then slow down to allow breathing to return to normal. As simple as all that.