How many people in the US are incarcerated?

These are the most recent statistic on prison populations in some important couuntries: USA. 2,239,751 China 1,640,000 UK. 84,052 Spain 68,898 Japan. 68,285 France 67,977 Germany 65,889 Congratulations to the United States – you have won! On the basis of the above it might be argued that the US, with 300 million people ought, under …

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When do you think you are old enough to be old?

A recent poll suggests that only 6% of British over-65s describe themselves as “old”, and only one in three has given serious thought to the care they might need in future. A wise person on retirement finds new and exciting activities that have nothing to do with money or earning a living, activities that keep …

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Music, ancient and modern

A 2011 study showed that regions of the brain associated with emotion and pleasure-seeking were significantly more active when study participants listened to familiar music than when unfamiliar music was being played. (Huffpost 31 July, 2013). For familiar also read tuneful, melodious and consonant (I strongly believe). Already the dissonant, jingle-jangle music of the 20th …

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