Ebola lurks in the seminal fluid of an infected person.

Men in recovery from Ebola should wear condoms for at least 3 months 

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-12/sp-mir121514.php

'Buddhism – “The Best Religion in the World” award’.

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email from drbdes

Have you seen a recent article on the Island titled ‘Buddhism – “The Best Religion in the World” award’ ? If you haven’t, you should. This wonderful article proceeds thus:

The Geneva-based International Coalition for the Advancement of Religious and Spirituality (ICARUS) has bestowed “The Best Religion in the World” award this year on the Buddhist Community. This special award was voted on by an international round table of more than 200 religious leaders from every part of the spiritual spectrum. It was fascinating to note that many religious leaders voted for Buddhism rather than their own religion although Buddhists actually make up a tiny minority of ICARUS membership. Here are the comments by four voting members:

Jonna Hult, Director of Research for ICARUS said “It wasn’t a surprise to me that Buddhism won Best Religion in the World, because we could find literally not one single instance of a war fought in the name of Buddhism, in contrast to every other religion that seems to keep a gun in the closet just in case God makes a mistake. We were hard pressed to even find a Buddhist that had ever been in an army. These people practice what they preach to an extent we simply could not document with any other spiritual tradition.”

A Catholic Priest, Father Ted O’Shaughnessy said from Belfast, “As much as I love the Catholic Church, it has always bothered me to no end that we preach love in our scripture yet then claim to know God’s will when it comes to killing other humans. For that reason, I did have to cast my vote for the Buddhists.”

A Muslim Cleric Tal Bin Wassad agreed from Pakistan via his translator. “While I am a devout Muslim, I can see how much anger and bloodshed is channeled into religious expression rather than dealt with on a personal level. The Buddhists have that figured out.” Bin Wassad, the ICARUS voting member for Pakistan ‘s Muslim community continued, “In fact, some of my best friends are Buddhist.” And Rabbi Shmuel Wasserstein said from Jerusalem, “Of course, I love Judaism, and I think it’s the greatest religion in the world. But to be honest, I’ve been practicing Vipassana meditation every day before minyan (daily Jewish prayer) since 1993. So I get it.”

However, there was one snag – ICARUS couldn’t find anyone to give the award to. All the Buddhists they called kept saying they didn’t want the award. When asked why the Burmese Buddhist community refused the award, Buddhist monk Bhante Ghurata Hanta said from Burma, “We are grateful for the acknowledgement, but we give this award to all humanity, for Buddha nature lies within each of us.” Groehlichen went on to say “We’re going to keep calling around until we find a Buddhist who will accept it. We’ll let you know when we do.”

Model railway wonderland

email from

Piyusha Atapattu	10:37 PM (8 hours ago)
to
For all (especially men) who love model trains, planes and cars!   One thing led to another. Three of the ladies had worked at a bakery. Several visitors would ask if they had a snack bar. The Idea was planted; some of the carpenters came and built a nice restaurant area for the bakery and a kitchen too. If the fresh coffee smell didn't get you - then the bakery definitely would. This was about 5 years ago. One of the breweries came and furnished all of the tables and chairs, serving counter, etc. Their latest finished area is the airport. Planes look like they are flying and landing. GERMAN WONDERLAND link              https://www.youtube.com/embed/ACkmg3Y64_s?rel=0

Children and telling the truth

http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/-rilxNsChl0/141208144150.htm

Higher earning clinicians make more money by ordering more procedures per patient rather than by seeing more patients

http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/SZMFK6dJSCU/141209081054.htm

Forensic tracking via microbiome.

For decades, DNA testing has been the standard test used to identify sexual assaulters. Authorities try to gather samples of DNA from hairs or bodily fluids found on objects at the crime scene like clothing or bedding. Sometimes victims have their attacker’s DNA o...

http://www.popsci.com/bacterial-signature-may-be-used-identify-sexual-assaulters-0?dom=tw&src=SOC

PS

I remember a Forensic Medicine lecture, on rape, at the Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Ceylon in the early 1960s when I was a student. It was related how a pubic hair of the accused was isolated from the victims body and identified on its physical characteristics as belonging to the accused. Subsequently the accused was handed the death sentence in a court of law. Our lecturer using the double meaning in english quipped 'HE WAS HUNG BY HIS PUBIC HAIR'. We have come a long way from that time now using DNA and microbiomes.

Jaguar Motor Co. and 'Ghost car' navigation.

Jaguar just unveiled a proposed new navigation system that's unlike anything we've ever seen. Most modern navigation systems instruct drivers using a series of arrows or at best a pictographic representation of a highway exit. However, Jaguar's new experimental system abandons the arrows and inst...

http://www.businessinsider.com/jaguars-virtual-windshield-ghost-car-navigation-system-is-stunning-2014-12