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Datin Rosmah Mansor: GST Will Protect Housewives Like Me

KUALA LUMPUR: The next time your tailor or hairdresser plans to charge exorbitant rates while making a house call, tell them the prime minister’s wife has already stated their days of overcharging are over.

Speaking to members of Bakti, the Welfare Association of the Wives of Ministers and Deputy Ministers, Rosmah Mansor showed she could relate to others like her when she spoke of the trials and tribulations faced by women who were the wives of “civil servants” with no income of their own, a Malaysiakini report said.

“We housewives always become victims. Before we could tailor a baju kurung for RM500, and even then it is considered expensive, but now to make a nice one…well, we have no choice because we need to wear proper clothes to functions…

“They (tailors) are profiteering, but they try to evade this by claiming it is service tax,” she painstakingly explained, saying that with the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), tailors could no longer take advantage of women like her and hide behind the “sales tax” issue as a convenient argument to raise prices.

She said the same applied to hairdressers and added, “For people like us, even a RM200 hike will hurt.”

Relating how preposterous the charges were for washing and dyeing her hair at home, she said, “Now when I want to dye my hair at home, the hairdresser charges me RM1,200. Wow, that is expensive but they say the price is different in the store. It’s pricey because it is home service…

“They can charge three, four or five times the price citing ‘home service’”, she pointed out saying it had become too expensive and almost a luxury to get her hair done.

Feeling strongly about being taken advantage of, Rosmah reiterated, “I am speaking on behalf of housewives. Bakti believes that home services must be subject to (pricing) guidelines.”

Preferring to suffer in silence and place her hopes on GST to make prices fairer again for women like her, Rosmah said, “I can’t ask Najib, he wouldn’t answer.”

So for now, Rosmah has to simply bite her lip and pay up, safe in the knowledge that her financial woes when it comes to tailoring and hairdressing will be a thing of the past come April 1 when GST is finally implemented.

Source: www.freemalaysiatoday.com

February 25, 2015
Want To Live Longer? Sauna Baths May Just Be The Answer…

A study of Finnish men suggests frequent sauna baths may help you live longer.

That is welcome news if it proves to be true – not just in Finland where saunas are commonplace, but for Americans shivering in a snowy Nordic-like winter.

Previous research has suggested that saunas might improve blood vessel function and exercise capacity, or even lower blood pressure in patients with hypertension.

The new study links long, hot sauna baths with more benefits, including fewer deaths from heart attacks, strokes, various heart-related conditions and other causes.

The study tracked more than 2,000 Finnish men for nearly 20 years on average. Most used saunas at least once weekly. Those who used them four to seven times weekly received the greatest survival benefits.

The study was published on Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Source: www.theguardian.com

February 25, 2015
Racially Diverse Emoji Emoticons Coming Your Way

Apple paved the way for racially diverse emoji to come to the Mac two week ago, and now with the release of iOS 8.3 beta 2, Apple has added access to 300 new emoji for iPad and iPhone users.

With iOS 8.3 beta 2 Apple now allows users to choose between five different skin tones for 60 different emoji. Switching between the different skin tones is just as easy as adding an accent mark to letters: simply press and hold an emoji to reveal the the entire palette of color options.

The new racially diverse emoji are also available in the new OS X 10.10.3 beta. Mac users can pull up the characters by hitting CNTRL + CMD + Space. Once your select a color variation for an emoji your changes are saved in the keyboard, so you don’t have to change them every time.

Almost all of the human emojis can be modified – including minor ones like surfer, swimmer, and runner – but Apple still hasn’t added the skin tone modifiers to the family emojis. The emojis aren’t available to the public yet, and when you send an emoji with a modified skin tone to other iOS users they just see a ‘

Source: www.cultofmac.com

February 25, 2015
US Appoints Gay Diplomat Randy Berry As Special Envoy For Rights Of LGBT People In Foreign Countries

The U.S. Department of State has announced that career diplomat Randy Berry will serve as the first special envoy for the rights of LGBT people in foreign countries, calling him a “voice of clarity and conviction on human rights.”

Berry, who is openly gay, has served as the consul general at the U.S. Embassy in the Netherlands since 2012 and before that was posted to Nepal, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Egypt and Uganda since joining the State Department in 1993.

“Defending and promoting the human rights of LGBT persons is at the core of our commitment to advancing human rights globally — the heart and conscience of our diplomacy,” Secretary of State John Kerry said in a news release.

In the new role, Berry will strive to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from violence and abuse and will try to work with foreign governments to overturn laws in more than 75 countries that criminalize same-sex relationships.

“Too often, in too many countries, LGBT persons are threatened, jailed and prosecuted because of who they are or who they love. Too many governments have proposed or enacted laws that aim to curb freedom of expression, association, religion and peaceful protest,” Kerry said.

Gay rights groups praised the announcement, citing the need to stop discrimination and abuse of LGBT people globally. “At a moment when many LGBT people around the world are facing persecution and daily violence, this unprecedented appointment shows a historic commitment to the principle that LGBT rights are human rights,”Chad Griffin, president of the Washington-based LGBT rights group Human Rights Campaign, said in a news release. “This new appointment sends a message that the United States will remain on the forefront of protecting the human rights of LGBT people around the world.”

According to Human Rights Campaign, same-sex conduct is punishable by death in 10 countries, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, and is criminalized in 76 countries.

In 2014 there were at least 200 documented murders of transgender people in 28 countries, according to the TVT Project, an international transgender rights and research group that has been tracking homicides in the transgender community.

Berry’s appointment is part of an Obama administration push to promote LGBT rights internationally and make them a foreign policy priority. The State Department in 2011 launched the Global Equality Fund, which supports LGBT human rights through partnerships with foreign governments and the private sector.

With Reuters

Source: http://america.aljazeera.com

February 25, 2015
Girl Poses Nude At Carpark Entrance And Posts Photo On Tumblr

Stomper Xox was shocked to see a girl’s naked photo online, where she had posed naked in public — in front of a carpark entrance.

According to the Stomper, she and her friend had spotted this posting on Tumblr.

In the photo, the girl is standing in front of a carpark’s entrance, completely nude and holding up the “peace” sign.

Source: http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg

February 25, 2015