Although it may seem that university and education in general could drive one to the edge of dementia and push them into its festering waves, recent studies have shown that further education might have the exact opposite effect.

Recently reported in the New York Times, Czech novelist Milan Kundera was accused of turning a Western spy in to the communist authorities in Czechoslovakia in the 1950s. Kundera is a well-known dissident writer, famous for being strongly opposed to the communist regime. He was accused of reporting to communist authorities the whereabouts of Miroslav Dvoracek, a man considered a traitor by the communist regime.

St. Valentine's Day is coming and it's coming fast. Yeah, yeah, this must mean that it is time to truly show one's hate for "corporation-created, greeting card holidays." But Valentine's Day, although decently rooted in the greeting-card business, is so much more than a money-making scheme. It gives a definite date to something one should do everyday: show appreciation to those close to them.

Although at first glance the kids parading out of the darkened movie theatre sporting lingerie and painted faces seem like the types you wouldn't want to associate with, there's still a temptation to further your knowledge about them. Said temptation is quite normal-- human beings are curious about anything they don't understand. This same temptation could even lead you to join those kids with their crazy hair and makeup. But this is okay.

It appears the crunch is on for carrot production in the United Kingdom. Recently reported on the BBC, the European Union's decision to ban over 20 pesticide ingredients has had a mixed response. To the farmers and pesticide companies, this is a kick straight to the nuts; they claim that it would cut carrot production by 100 per cent. But to the general population who come in contact with products treated with these pesticide ingredients every day, it seems like a damn good idea.

Our generation is slowly becoming more and more sensitive about each other's feelings. In our day and age, political correctness is a must to avoid offending anyone. We have established laws to protect each other from the lethal smoke of cigarettes, enforced helmets and vast arrays of safety gear on most vehicles and have laws in effect to prevent unnecessary profanity.

Recently reported in the New York Times, at least 1,800 people in Chile were not notified that they tested HIV positive. The public health system failed to advise at least 512 people that they had tested positive for the virus, while the private-sector did not notify another 1,364. In about half of the cases, according to Chile's Health Minister Ãlvaro Erazo, no evidence was shown of efforts to contact the patients.

We've all heard the demands to end world hunger. But what about the price tag? Surprisingly, it would take $30 billion U.S. to put in place the agricultural programs needed to completely solve the global food crisis, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization. Although $30 billion dollars seems like quite a lot of money, let's put it into perspective. The U.S. Wall Street bailout plan just announced amounts to almost $1 trillion U.S.

Although the threat of an economic crisis is looming in North America, Japan seems to be doing just fine.

According to cbc.ca, sales of adult diapers have doubled over the past decade. This means that the aging population in Japan has the accessible funds to afford to double their use of something they poop on and then throw away.

As the American election campaign draws to a close, the fanatics are spreading their wings more than ever. According to politico.com, at a recent rally in New Mexico for John McCain, the candidate asked a rhetorical question about his opposition, "Who is the real Barack Obama?" A man in the audience responded with, "Terrorist!" A woman in Pennsylvania answered the same question with, "He's a damn liar! Get him. He's bad for our country." It's apparent how much of a threat Obama has become to the Republican reign in the U.S.