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Apparently scientists in Montréal no longer need to put rats in a maze to conduct experiments, because they have shopping malls. Bonnie Swaine and Eva Kehayia, researchers at the Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire en réadaptation du Montréal (CRIR), turned the Alexis Nihon Plaza shopping center into a "living laboratory." According to the Montreal Gazette, "Kehayia and Swaine note that 17 per cent of Quebecers deal with some kind of physical handicap (48 per cent of those over age 65), so public spaces need to be better designed to accommodate them." What do these accommodations entail? Well, the researchers will be testing: More »
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A piece in yesterday's Times described the frenzy surrounding the appearance Robert Pattison, the star of Twilight, at a mall in Pennsylvania last Thursday. Squealed one tearful girl, "He was this close...Close enough to bite my neck." I guess this was fresh on my mind the other day when I met up with a young teen whom I've known since she was born - a smart, independent 15-year-old. I asked her if she was a fan of the Twilight phenomenon, and her face grew stormy. "I've never read them," she said. "I can't stand these stupid girls who just follow the trends." And I knew exactly how she felt: because for every group of girls screaming at a mall appearance, there's an equally fierce group of deliberate trend-buckers, defining themselves by their scorn for what's popular. More »
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Sydney Santas have been barred from chanting the customary "Ho, ho, ho" this Christmas, as the Santa recruitment firm Westaff has deemed the phrase frightening to children and possibly "derogatory towards women". The Aussie trainees have been told to replace "Ho, ho, ho," with "Ha, ha, ha." Mall Santas are up in arms about the censoring. Two potential Santas even quit the training course because they felt so oppressed. Sydney mom Maybel Lopez told the Daily Telegraph, "It's what Santa has been saying his whole life - my whole life. It is just a normal thing really for him to say 'ho, ho, ho'." Wonder what David Sedaris thinks of this? [NEWS.com.au] More »
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