In a study comparing (French) Canadian, Italian and French parents, the Italians were found to be the most strict (Medical New Today, via Yahoo News):

Of all three countries, Italian mothers and fathers are perceived as using the most constraining practices,” says first author Michel Claes, a University of Montreal psychology professor. “Italian parents are seen as more demanding in rules and authorizations. They take more punitive actions when rules are broken and are less tolerant of peer socialization. They uphold family regulations and require their adolescents to ask for authorizations until a much later age.”

However, the Italian and the French parents grouped quite closely with Canadian parents being unusually lenient.

I have to say I am the soft touch in our family.  Don’t break one of my wife’s rules!

What looks like Japan’s principled stance against the Iranian nuclear program turns out tobe rather lame.

Japan’s new sanctions include a freeze on the assets of scores of groups and individuals linked to the country’s nuclear programme.

They ban the provision of insurance or reinsurance services to Iran and bar Japanese financial institutions from buying bonds issued by Iran’s central bank.

The new ban on financial activity with 15 designated Iranian banks that could contribute to nuclear activities could affect some Japanese banks, analysts said.

Toyota Motor Corp has suspended motor vehicle exports to the country indefinitely since June.

.

Yet, the sanctions don’t touch oil imports to Japan, or existing investments in Iran.

In early August, Robert Einhorn, the US state department special adviser for non-proliferation and arms control said in Tokyo: “Japan imports a lot of oil from Iran, but the steps we are asking Japan to take would not interfere in any way with Japan’s energy security, its imports of oil from Iran.”

It remains to be seen how much pain an oil-dependent economy can inflict upon its enabler. Furthermore, Beijing is set to benefit from the investment vacuum.

The Kyodo news agency quoted Katsuya Okada, foreign minister, as saying Tokyo would urge other nations to refrain from taking advantage of the tighter sanctions on Iran – an apparent reference to China.

Beijing has opposed what it sees as overly sweeping steps against Iran, although China did support the UN sanctions resolution passed in June.

Last year, a Chinese state oil major signed a $2bn (€1.6bn, £1.3bn) agreement to help develop Iran’s Azadegan oilfield. This followed an earlier drastic reduction of the stake held in the field by Inpex, a Japanese oil and gas company.

Japan’s new measures were not expected to affect Inpex’s remaining 10 per cent Azadegan stake, Reuters news agency quoted Masayuki Naoshima, the economy, trade and industry minister, as saying.

Robert Einhorn, US special adviser for non-proliferation and arms control, warned China last month against “backfilling” or taking advantage of opportunities created by the “responsible self-restraint” of countries leading the way in sanctions against Iran.

“We want China to be a responsible stakeholder in the international system, and that means co-operating with UN Security Council resolutions,” Mr Einhorn said during a trip to South Korea.

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The moment you quit smoking, you set in motion an amazing healing process that starts with the feeling of fear and excitement over making such a positive change in your life. The healing process continues:

Thirty Minutes Later …

Your blood pressure goes down. The nicotine in cigarettes stimulates the release of adrenaline , which raises your blood pressure. Chronic smoking then keeps your blood pressure high, which in essence creates ppersistent hypertension. Hypertension is a risk factor for strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, arterial aneurysm, and chronic renal failure.

Your pulse rate also decreases. Just like with blood pressure, the nicotine in cigarettes stimulates the release of adrenaline, raising your heart rate. An increased heart rate, especially over a period of time, can create a number of problems, increasingly inefficient pumping of blood by the heart and an imbalance in oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the hemoglobin in the blood.

Eight Hours Later …

Two great things happen in your blood: the levels of poisonous carbon monoxide decrease because you’re no longer inhaling so much CO. This then allows your levels of oxygen in the blood to increase.

A Day Later …

Your chances of having a heart attack begin to go down—in just one day after having quit!

Two Days Later …

Your nerve endings begin to re-grow and your senses of smell and taste begin to improve

Three Days Later …

You will be largely nicotine-free. Most of the nicotine metabolites in your body will have been passed through your urine. Although nicotine withdrawal will be peaking, your bronchial tubes will be relaxing, increasing your ability to breathe.

Two Weeks To Six Months Later…

Your circulation gets better, simple activities like walking get easier and you fatigue less quickly, the function of your lungs improves, you aren’t coughing nearly as much and your sinuses are less congested.

One Year Later…

You will have lowered your risk of coronary heart disease by half compared to smokers.

After Five Years …

You will have lowered your risk of stroke down to the same risk as people who have never smoked.

After Ten Years…

Your risk of lung cancer drops to as little as one-half that of people who continue to smoke. Furthermore, you will have significantly reduced your risk of developing cancers of the oral cavity, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas.

After Fifteen Years…

Your risk of developing coronary heart disease will be no higher than that of people who have never smoked.

And most importantly, you will have lowered your risk of death—period—nearly to the level of people who have never smoked.

Here are some of my tips to help you quit:

• Don’t give up.  Even one or two less cigaretttes is better than nothing.
• If you quit for a while (even a day or two) but fall back, don’t be discouraged. Keep trying.
• Try to pick up some healthier habits.  Eating healthier foods, Sleeping more, Excercise~ Living a healthier lifestyle can make quitting easier.
• Watch You Tube anti-smoking videos. The Australian ones are the WORST!
• Candy. Lots and Lots of Candy.

Now go out and get some Korean BBQ and Soju (but skip the stog)!  Cheers! 

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ralph:

jessicainkorea:

wwwh3596 - Embassy of the United States Seoul, Korea

An Emergency Evacuation Plan - Do You Have One?

For non-Pyongyang watchers back at home, you may not have noticed the increasing tension between the South and the North as the North refuses to admit culpability in the recent sinking of the Cheonan warship, even though a multinational panel has found that the North was almost certainly responsible.

President Lee Myung Bak, more of a hardliner to the North than some of his predecessors (Kim Dae Jung comes to mind), has cut off all supply and aid to North Korea, which is increasing tensions. (More selfishly for me, it’s also caused the won to plummet in the world market, effectively reducing my salary by about 15% in just a week.)

Now, a salary decrease and increasing tension is no fun - but is the North actually a danger?

I’ve already written about my personal belief, as a dilettante of the Kim personality cult, that Kim Jong Il’s histrionics are, once again, sound and fury signifying nothing.  It is in my (limited) experience so far in South Korea that foreigners are much more terrified by the prospect of a Nork attack than South Koreans are - South Koreans are used to his grandstanding, so it would take a lot more to rile them.

Yet an ex with less of a laissez-faire attitude than mine has urged me to be prepared, and I figure it’s better to be safe than sorry.

According to the U.S. Embassy’s website, there are six emergency evacuation spots (pictured above) that any U.S. citizen working in Korea can travel to in the event of an evacuation. Here are 4 ground rules (also lifted from the  Embassy’s website):Standfast, Assemble, Relocate, and Evacuate. (You can read more here.)

According to the literature on their website, the most important thing is to keep your documentation on your person or ready-to-go at all times - passport and alien registration card - and to also assemble some emergency supplies at home.

I’m personally going to also make copies of my documentation and keep them in a separate place, just in case. I know that copies of essential documents are not the Real Thing, but it’s still a safe precaution, I think. Additionally, I’m figuring out the bus routes to the Kunsan military base just in case there are no friendly Koreans around to translate as the sky is falling.

if you haven’t, it’s probably also a good idea to update your emergency contact information with the Embassy, which you can do on their website.

How do you feel about the increasing tension between North and South? Once again, I doubt much will happen - although I’m certainly a Pyongyang-information acolyte - but it’s best to be prepared, no?

Good read. For all Americans living in S Korea

Hopefully someone close to me will take care of this for me.