The Janplex Post

 Fat free food Whereas business owners call them marketing strategies, none business owners regard them as marketing tricks. Regardless of what you like to call them, businesses cannot survive without marketing tricks. Marketing tricks are the flywheel that keeps businesses engine running. We tend not to be concerned about them because of our perception that we are familiar with them and can avoid them. However, a careful look at the marketing tricks used by businesses will reveal that many of us have fallen victims of them in the past and can still fall victim of the malpractice in future. Let us consider two of these popular tricks used in supermarkets. The first marketing trick used by retailers is relating to the slogan “75% reduced fat”. Items labelled 75% reduced fat are often displayed on supermarket shelves. Some of us who are conscious of our health tend to go for them to avoid consuming excess fat. Excess fat in the body is considered to be a risk factor for...

 Death bed The death sentence or capital punishment was abolished in Europe by the European Court on Human Rights in 1950. Since then, European courts cannot impose the death sentence on any criminal regardless of whether the criminal has committed a heinous crime. The rationale for this law is that criminals can be reformed regardless of their criminal career. However, the public is divided over this issue. Supporters of the death sentence claim that it can serve as deterrence for crime. European leaders recognised this fact for the last time shortly before capital punishment was abolished in Europe. They almost unanimously accepted that capital punishment was the only befitting sentence for senior Nazi and Japanese leaders responsible for Second World War atrocities. I think only a few people today can disagree with the European leaders over this judgment considering that the nature of crime committed by the war criminals was extraordinary. Although it cannot be ...

Parenting Fast food consumption in the UK is a time-bomb waiting to explode anytime. Fast food consumption has been attributed to the rising levels of obesity among UK children and adults . Obesity can result in a host of ill health including diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The subsequent cost of these conditions to the tax payer is enormous. The government intends to reduce this cost by making policies not aimed specifically at reducing adult obesity but at minimising child obesity. A major piece of legislation being considered in this regard is the ban on fast food advertisements on televisions before 9pm. The reason for this proposed ban on fast food advertisements is very simple. Most children tend to be up by 9pm watching television programmes including fast food advertisements. They cannot make informed decisions about the effect of such advertisements on their health. Neither can their parents make it for them. Hence, there is the need for a ban on televis...

 Saturated food For many decades saturated fat has been perceived as the main risk factor for cardiovascular disease. It is assumed that saturated fat raises blood cholesterol level which is responsible for atherosclerosis and stroke. Consequently, consumers are often advised to avoid food high in saturated fat such as cheese and butter and encouraged to consume food low in saturated fat such as oily fish and nuts. However, consumers who may have been heeding to this advice will be shocked to learn that there is no association between saturated fat and cardiovascular disease. That is, consuming fast food such as chicken burger or chicken nuggets regularly cannot increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. This verdict comes from researchers from the University of Cambridge and Medical Research Council, University of Oxford, Imperial College London, University of Bristol, Erasmus University Medical Centre and Harvard School of Public Health. These researchers analysed M...

 Criminal There is the assumption that some people are born criminals just like the way some people are believed to be born geniuses. No matter what you do they will grow up to lead a life of crime. It follows from this that if they are born with criminal behaviour, criminals will lack control of their behaviour. In other words, criminal behaviour will be determined by genes rather than by external factors such as lack of opportunities and poverty. Researchers have attempted to investigate this assumption that some people are born with criminal intents. Their studies have focused largely on genetic studies involving identical twins. The rationale for using identical twin studies in genetic research is that identical twins tend to develop from one egg and share the same genetic make-up. It follows from this that if a particular behaviour is found to be more common in identical twins than in non-identical twins or siblings, the only possible explanation for this behavio...

 Missiles mounted on Russian tank Russian invasion of Crimean, Ukraine, has been one of the topical issues around the world for a number of weeks now. Both the west and United Nations have been very critical of this military adventure and asking Russia to pull out its troops from Crimea. The west is going further by threatening a number of punitive sanctions against Russia if it does not pull out its troops from Ukrainian soil. In light of these, does Russia have any justification for its destabilising acts in Ukraine? Russia can draw a parallel between its military action on Ukraine now and the military strikes against the Former Yugoslavia by NATO in 1999. NATO conducted a number of military strikes against the former Yugoslavia in 1999 to stop the killings of Kosovar Albanians. Although the United Nations did not authorise it as demonstrated by the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1199, NATO justified this military action on the ground that over 1,5...

 The normal distribution curve IQ ( Intelligence Quotient ) tests play a very important role in our society. They are used, for example, to identify both children who may need extra help in their education and those who are very bright and should be given special education to enhance their abilities. IQ tests are also used for job recruitment and training purposes. Whether they are used at school or in the workplace, the rationale for using IQ tests is that they are good measure of intelligence. Before establishing whether IQ tests are really good measure of intelligence, it is important to understand briefly what is meant by the concept of intelligence. Intelligence simply refers to the ability to understand the world and cope with its challenges. In other words, thinking is not possible without intelligence. It is assumed that the ability to understand difficult tasks, reason and solve problems are all due to intelligence. However, the question that arises is whether ...

 Dyslexia The controversy over dyslexia once again came to the fore recently following the book (to be released later this month) by Professor Julian Elliott at Durham University Elena and L. Grigorenko at Yale University. In their book entitled the Dyslexia Debate , the authors argued that the term dyslexia is mis-conceptualisation of learning difficulty. In other words, people diagnosed as dyslexics have similar learning difficulties to those experienced by non-dyslexics. Instead of identifying some people as dyslexics and offering them special interventions, the authors argued, the same help and support should be given to every person identified with learning difficulty. Many advocates of dyslexia have considered this conclusion that dyslexia does not exist to be an insult to millions of dyslexics. They feared this report can damage the progress already made in combating dyslexia such as early diagnosis of the condition and subsequent interventions for it. What exact...

 Smart mobile phone Thanks to smart mobile phones, Wi-Fi hotspots are now common scene at many public places. Wi-Fi hotspots are available at places such as café shops, restaurants and banks. They tend to be invaluable to many us when we are visiting or are within any of these public places. We can access internet services and do a lot of activities by connecting to them as if we are connecting to our home network. However, the security of many Wi-Fi hotspots is weak. Although before we can access a Wi-Fi hotspot for the first time, we are required to register. We automatically gain access to this network next time we are in close proximity to it. As have been shown, static passwords are more vulnerable to cyber criminals than dynamic passwords, which are changed regularly. If we cannot do without it, it will be good practice to change our password each time we access a Wi-Fi hotspot. Some of us who access Wi-Fi hotspots through https connections may think that we a...

 Gambler The case of Mr Mark Johnston who is suing the Las Vegas Casino for allowing him to lose $500,000 in gambling while he was drunk will worry many casino owners. Mr Johnston incurred the debt while playing casino in Las Vegas. He is refusing to settle this debt on the ground that he was drunk and could have not gambled with the money had he been sober. This case will be centred on the Nevada law regarding gambling activities and drunkenness. The Nevada law prohibits casino owners and workers from allowing people to engage in gambling activities whilst drunk. The assumption is that drunk people cannot control their faculties and behaviour. This lack of control means that drunks can gamble away with all their wealth if they are not stopped. Before they are prevented from engaging in gambling activities, however, casino owners must first satisfy themselves that people are drunk. The Nevada law does not provide any mechanism for distinguishing between a sober and ...

 Victim of violence Psychological violent crime simply implies that a person can be prosecuted for causing psychological violence to another person. The intention of this law is quite understandable. Being a victim of crime can ruin the life of the victim. Some victims, for example, never lead a normal life again after victimisation. Therefore, anything that can help reduce victimisation and punish perpetrators should be welcome. The issue that arises, however, is how to prosecute a person for committing psychological violent crime. For violent crimes such assault, murder, and burglary, the evidence is always very clear. Evidence for assault, for example, can take the form of physical injury sustained by the victim. The charges against the defendant is framed around this evidence. In the absence of physical evidence for psychological violent crime, therefore, the victim’s words will act as the evidence against the defendant. But prosecuting the defendant solely on t...

 Dog fouling Spain has some of the strictest laws regarding pets possession in Europe. One of its laws governing animal possession in Spain, for example, bans having exotic creatures as pets and requires dog, cat and ferret owners to declare their animals to the authority within three months of bringing them into the country. Until recently, however, Spain has no law nor sanction for failure to clean up after dog fouling in public places. It was up to dog owners whether to clean up such mess. This has now changed following the introduction of the dog fouling law. The new law states that the fine for any person failing to clean up after his or her dog fouling in a public place such as a park or kids play ground should be 1500 euros. The rationale for this legislation is to deter dog owners from leaving their dogs messing up public places such as parks. Regular visitors to parks can testify how the sight of such dog foul can be an eyesore. However, asking dog owners wh...

 We all get provoked by other people at one point or another. The manner in which we respond to this can depend on a number of factors including our relationship with the offenders. We will be less inclined for example to react negatively to an act of provocation from a close relative, friend, or colleagues than from a complete stranger. However, when it comes to public figures there is the tendency to feel that under no circumstances should public figures react negatively to acts of provocation. The most recent case illustrating this view that public figures should keep their cool under all kinds of provocation is relating to that of Mr Alan Pardew. Mr Pardew is the Manager of Newcastle United. Last Sunday he headbutt the Hull City midfielder David Meyler. He defended this action by claiming that the player had pushed him repeatedly prior to the attack. Despite this defence, Newcastle United club fined Mr Pardew £100,000 for the offence. The Football A...

 A couple Prenuptial refers to an arrangement or agreement regarding financial matters or wealth made by a couple prior to a marriage. This arrangement often contains what each of the two persons in the marriage is bringing into it and what will happen to such things in case of a marriage breakup. Prenuptial agreement is legally recognised in a number of western countries including the United States of America. However, prenuptial is not legally binding in the United Kingdom. Although a couple intending to form a marriage relationship in the UK can make a prenuptial agreement, it is up to the court to honour it. The court can decide that such an arrangement is not legally binding in case of a marriage dissolution. Due to this lack of clarity, couples in the UK are often less willing to make a prenuptial agreement. The argument often put forward by opponents of prenuptial agreement in the UK is that marriage should not be considered a business enterprise involving two...

 Nuclear weapons Nuclear weapons are possessed by only a few countries in the world. The official nuclear powers include United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia and China. The unofficial nuclear powers are Israel, Pakistan, India, and North Korea. Attempts by other nations to join this exclusive nuclear club have been thwarted or denied by the five official nuclear nations. The reasons given for denying other nations the ability to acquire nuclear weapons is that allowing all nations on earth to possess nuclear weapons could make the world uninhabitable. However, the current case involving the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces tends to suggest that allowing all nations to possess nuclear weapons could make the world a better place rather than make it a dangerous one. Presently there are thousands of Russian troops on Ukrainian soil. Russia claims that these troops are there to protect Russian interests. However, Ukraine is a sovereign state and not part of...

A Prostitute Prostitution is one of the oldest and widespread trades in the world. Its origin can be traced to the origins of mankind. It is found in every country of the world including Moslem, Hindu, and Christian nations. Prostitution also has the reputation for being one of the most outlawed activities in the world. Like other laws, the legislation regarding prostitution tends to be applied to both female prostitutes and their male clients. However, this will change in the UK as soon as the new law on prostitution is promulgated. Under the new law, the prosecution of individuals participating in prostitution will be selective. Male clients will face prosecution but female prostitutes will not. This is due to the assumption that all female prostitutes tend to engage in prostitution against their will. They are either coerced into prostitution by male criminals who tend to profit from the business or forced into prostitution due to the domestic abuse they have suffere...