Month: July 2017

Is There Still Hope For Most Endangered Species?

Posted on by Nessa!

Nature is both beautiful and mysterious. Man can’t help but wonder how nature managed to fill the planet and grow on its own and flourish without man’s help. They have provided shelter to a diverse list of wildlife that most of us haven’t seen face-to-face in our lifetime. And I guess, it is actually better that way. Many animals on the planet deserve to live on their own in their natural habitats rather than be transported to most zoos and circus for man’s entertainment and suffer a long, miserable, and lonely life in a steel cage.

With man’s intervention, we have managed to wipe out many animal species all by ourselves. From the threats of poaching, hunting, increasing urbanization, environmental degradation and climate change, how can these poor animals fend for themselves when the natural habitats they call home are no longer livable and that the planet has been increasingly becoming more difficult to live in?

The saiga antelope makes a strange pin-up for the conservation world. With its odd bulbous nose and spindly legs, it is an unlovely looking creature – particularly when compared with wildlife favourites such as the polar bear or panda.

But the survival of Saiga

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Are You Really Sick Or Is It All In Your Mind?

Posted on by Nessa!

Men are mere mortals who can be as tough as a horse but also get sick at times. Our bodies can only do so much depending on how much we take good care of it. Meanwhile, we can get diseases that are out of the norm and affect the mind. Many times we doubt its existence, wondering whether it is just us or there is really something wrong with us after all.

What you need to know is that you may actually be sick but you don’t know it yet or are probably too embarrassed to get yourself checked and be seen by a doctor. When it comes to your health, nothing is irrelevant or too embarrassing to ask. And the truth is, knowing what is really wrong with you is better than staying clueless yet depressed until something terribly bad happens to you. After all, prevention still prevails to be better than cure.

We’ve probably all experienced physical reactions to psychological triggers. That hot flush that creeps across your cheeks when embarrassed; the gut-wrenching nausea that hits when you receive bad news; palpitations when nervous…

These are known as ‘psychosomatic’ physical symptoms where there’s no obvious medical cause, and

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HIV/ AIDS: The Silent Epidemic

Posted on by Nessa!

For anyone who is sexually active or in their child-bearing years, the threat of getting HIV or AIDS is a scary thought. Back in the days, only a small fraction of the population gets infected but nowadays both heterosexual and homosexual relationships are at risk. Our modern lifestyle of casual hook-ups and one-night stands are contributing factors to this rising phenomenon. Even the use of illicit drugs like heroin is a culprit why people get it even though they practice safe sex.

HIV is the acronym for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. When an individual’s immune system severely weakens and is characterized by a CD4 count that is below 200, a person is then diagnosed with AIDS or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. It is known as the last stage of an HIV infection or an advanced HIV infection. This viral infection is unlike common viral infections like the common cold which is self-limiting. HIV is a lifelong infection leaving an individual HIV positive for life. The virus attacks the body’s immune system and destroys WBCs or white blood cells, so the body is unable to protect itself from invading pathogens or illness.

The population of people who are living with HIV and 

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Politicizing The Arts

Posted on by Nessa!

The arts have always been a medium where people can freely express their talent and individuality without conforming to any structured guideline. While there are different art variations, all artists are free to put their own flair to it in as much as they want. We often think of the arts when we see artworks and intricate art pieces often displayed in museums and galleries but music and the performing arts are other forms of arts as well.

Despite the freedom of the artist to express his/her artistic craft, its diversity is influenced by his/her culture, religion, environment, upbringing, etc. Even with music and the performing arts, you can easily identify the performer’s ethnicity among others during a performance. While arts should be a neutral territory, we often hear about political issues affecting the arts nowadays. Does this really make sense or is the arts also an expression of the current political climate at any given time?

The protests started almost immediately after the presidential election. An artist named Annette Lemieux emailed the Whitney Museum and asked that her installation Left Right Left Right — a series of life-size photographs of raised fists turned into protest signs — be turned

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