Clipmarks | Kelika's clips

Churchill a Myth?

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 03:38:53 GMT

clipped by: Kelika

Quarter of Brits think Churchill was myth: poll

LONDON (AFP) - Britons are losing their grip on reality, according to a poll out Monday which showed that nearly a quarter think Winston Churchill was a myth while the majority reckon Sherlock Holmes was real.

The survey found that 47 percent thought the 12th century English king Richard the Lionheart was a myth.

And 23 percent thought World War II prime minister Churchill was made up. The same percentage thought Crimean War nurse Florence Nightingale did not actually exist.

Three percent thought Charles Dickens, one of Britain's most famous writers, is a work of fiction himself.

Indian political leader Mahatma Gandhi and Battle of Waterloo victor the Duke of Wellington also appeared in the top 10 of people thought to be myths.

Meanwhile, 58 percent thought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Holmes actually existed; 33 percent thought the same of W. E. Johns' fictional pilot and adventurer Biggles.

Beautiful and Most Toxic

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:12:51 GMT

clipped by: Kelika

Clip Source: www.darkroastedblend.com

Not all beautiful frogs depicted here are poisonous, but those who are - can be very deadly indeed. The most poisonous animal is not a snake or a spider. It's a beautiful little frog! "Most frogs produce skin toxins, but the dart poison frogs from Central and South America are the most potent of all. The golden poison frog, called terribilis (the terrible), is so toxic that even touching it can be dangerous. A single terribilis contains enough poison to kill 20,000 mice or 10 people. It is probably the most poisonous animal on Earth." (source)

"Their poison contains toxins that dull the nerves and produce heart and repiratory (sic.) failure. The skin of an adult P. terribilis has enough batrachotoxin to kill 20,000 mice, or 100 adult humans. Two-tenths of a microgram of batrachotoxin is lethal in the human blood stream and each adult P. terribilis contains nearly 200 micrograms."

Tags: animals, frogs

Beauty in Decay

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 18:33:46 GMT

clipped by: Kelika

Clip Source: www.darkroastedblend.com

Desolate places with a soul

Mystery Cage at an abandoned Asylum. "I don't know what was the cage was originally for, but a tree has grown up through the middle of it, and ivy surrounds it." -

Tags: photos

Learned Optimism

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 16:26:18 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: quick non scientific poll, are you an optimist?

Clip Source: www.shearonforschools.com

Optimism – reacting to setbacks from a presumption of personal power

Bad events are temporary setbacks

Isolated to particular circumstances

Can be overcome by my effort and abilities

Pessimism - reacting to setbacks from a presumption of personal helplessness:

Bad events will last a long time

Will undermine everything I do

Are my fault

Optimism psychology is in the field of cognitive science. It is not magic. But, the event-explanations of optimism can be practiced and learned, even by those who have not consistently used them previously.

Optimism:

Inoculates against depression

Improves health

Combines with talent and desire to enable achievement

Women suffer from depression more than men by a ratio of two to one, even though, as children, boys are more pessimistic than girls and more depressed. Dr. Seligman suggest that the greater tendency of women to think about how they feel ("ruminating") may account for this sex difference in depression.

Tags: optimism, learning

Beijing takes dog off the menu for Olympics

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:35:11 GMT

clipped by: Kelika

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing has asked hotels and restaurants in the city to take dog meat off the menu for the duration of next month's Olympics and September's Paralympics.

Dog is eaten not only by the large Korean community in China's capital but is also popular in Yunnan and Guizhou restaurants.

A directive from the Beijing Food Safety Office issued last month ordered Olympic contractor hotels not to provide any dishes made with dog meat and said any canine material used in traditional medicated diets must be clearly labeled.

Concerned that canine dishes might offend animal rights groups and Western visitors, Beijing said restaurants expected to be popular among foreign visitors must stop serving dog meat "to respect the dining customs of different countries."

The directive "advocated" that all restaurants serving dog suspend it during the Olympics but made no mention of the many popular establishments with donkey on the menu.

Beautiful Photography

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 21:23:33 GMT

clipped by: wasted256
clipper's remarks: What I think are the Best-Of Marcin Stawiarz's photographs

Clip Source: angelreich.deviantart.com

*angelreich

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Tags: photography, photos, photo, art, deviant art, deviant

Saddest Male Models in the World

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 21:20:41 GMT

clipped by: Kelika

Clip Source: www.bestweekever.tv

Let’s face it: There are plenty of sad models out there. Between the not eating, and the constant drug taking, and the long hours, and the walking, there’s a LOT to be depressed about. But I do believe I have discovered perhaps the saddest male models in the world, featured at this week’s clothing extravaganza known as “Fashion Week.” Case in point:

Yes, fellas, 2009 is all about the male tutu

men frolic with their waistbands pulled up real high:

And also belted down real low:

Also hot for Spring 09? Nazi schoolchildren!

I can’t even see this guy’s face, and I just know he is miserable:

In fact, it seems all these gentlemen are downright die-pressed…

Tags: humor, fashion

Biometric database to be formed in Israel

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:36:58 GMT

clipped by: Kelika

Clip Source: www.ynetnews.com

Government approves bill calling for creation of database of all Israeli citizens. Data to include fingerprints, computerized facial features embedded on IDs, passports

The government approved Sunday a motion calling for the establishment of a biometric database by the Ministry of Interior and the Public Security Ministry.

The motion, dubbed the "identification card, travel papers and biometrics database bill," will now be referred back to the various Knesset committees, which would ready it for its Knesset votes.

The new bill called for embedding biometric data, such as fingerprints and computerized tags of facial features, in Israeli IDs and passports; as well as for the establishment of a database which would include biometric data on all Israeli citizens.

The motion was carried despite the fierce objections of ministers who claim creating a biometrics database would be detrimental to civil rights, such as the right to privacy.

Tags: israel, privacy

Vintage Russian Advertising Posters

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 23:05:47 GMT

clipped by: Kelika

Clip Source: www.darkroastedblend.com

Never mind the quality of goods themselves, or that you could not find them in stores anyway - some advertising posters from Tzarist and Soviet Russia featured outstanding graphic design, quite prized by collectors today. Here is a collection of unique and rarely-seen posters, serving as a commentary on troubled era and a deeply surreal consumer culture in pre-revolutionary and communist Russia.

Once communists came to power, the designs (and products themselves) became increasingly atrocious and pretty tasteless. But for the brief period in the 1900s, Russian consumer culture approached the sophistication and creativity of that in Europe.

Russian traditional folk art is amply reflected in commercial posters:

(including some influences from Bilibin's illustrative style)

McCain backdrop - Walter Reed School Middle School not Medical Center

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:54:16 GMT

clipped by: Kelika

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

It was an unexpected burst of glory, and the 1,600 students at Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood were basking in it Friday.

None of the youngsters knew for certain why a 50-foot-wide image of the front of their school was projected Thursday night behind Sen. John McCain as he accepted the Republican Party presidential nomination. But there were plenty of theories.

Sixth-grader Joshua Popue offered the explanation most commonly being floated Friday both at the Irvine Avenue campus and in political circles: Somebody in the McCain campaign mistook Walter Reed Middle School for the military's troubled Walter Reed Army Medical Center when preparing the Republicans' high-tech video background wall.

"McCain messed up. He was talking about Walter Reed hospital, and he used our picture by mistake," said 11-year-old Joshua.

Skyla Swafford, 12, took a more charitable view.

"They picked us because our school is one of the nicer schools in the city. They keep it clean and sanitary,"

Mahatma Gandhi’s 5 Teachings To Bring About World Peace

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:54:04 GMT

clipped by: Kelika
clipper's remarks: Words to live by

Clip Source: zenhabits.net

Teaching # 1: Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment. — Mahatma Gandhi

Teaching # 2: What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?

Teaching # 3: There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no cause that I am prepared to kill for. — Mahatma Gandhi

Teaching # 4: An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind — Mahatma Gandhi

Teaching #5: We must become the change we want to see in the world. — Mahatma Gandhi

Tags: peace, war gandhi

Pigeon Coops - Ancient Iran

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:47:44 GMT

clipped by: Kelika

Clip Source: www.darkroastedblend.com

Luxury Accommodations for Harmonious Pigeon Living

The beautiful architecture of Ancient Persia was built around eight traditional forms which were combined in endless variations. Like the eight notes of the octave, these were arranged into a myriad of forms and structures woven into a seamless whole.

Little wonder then that the designs for even the most ignoble of buildings - a pigeon house - strike viewer as wonderful and intricate. The greatest number of these are found in and around the city of Isfahan (some are round, and some are square):

There were thousands of these buildings during the Safavid dynasty, about the 16th century CE. They were built to collect the droppings as fertilizer for melon and cucumber fields... However, in modern times chemically produced fertilizers have drastically reduced the viability of the bird guano industry and as a result not many of these structures have survived to the present day. The droppings were also used in the process of tanning leather.

Tags: nature, iran

3D Architectural Illusions

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:36:51 GMT

clipped by: Kelika

Clip Source: weburbanist.com

3D street artists are great, but their ever-popular sidewalk chalk art isn’t the only 3D art of its kind. Inside a home, on the outside of a building or even in a swimming pool, the illusion of three-dimensionality can transform a space, giving the appearance of depth, texture and place in a mythical or fantastical fashion.

Eric Grohe creates surprising illusions of far-reaching spaces out of otherwise flat surfaces. In some of these images of his works, it is difficult to see what is within the picture he created and what is in the real foreground. Though not strictly photorealistic, his plays on perspective feel compellingly real from a distance.

This mystery artist clearly has an eye for classical and medieval scenes. His paintings both enliven these otherwise conventional interior spaces, creating amazing conversation pieces and great play spaces for children. If anyone knows who this is, please add information and links in the comments!

Tags: art, 3d, architecture

11 "Don't Tell the Wife" Secrets kept by All Men

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 03:32:15 GMT

clipped by: Kelika

Clip Source: men.webmd.com

Secret #1: Yes, we fall in lust 10 times a day -- but it doesn't mean we want to leave you

Clip Source: men.webmd.com

Secret #2: We actually do play golf to get away from you

Secret #3: We're unnerved by the notion of commitment, even after we've made one to you

Secret #4: Earning money makes us feel important

Secret #5: Though we often protest, we actually enjoy fixing things around the house

Clip Source: men.webmd.com

Secret #6: We like it when you mother us, but we're terrified that you'll become your mother

Secret #7: Every year we love you more

Secret #8: We don't really understand what you're talking about

Secret #9: We are terrified when you drive

Clip Source: men.webmd.com

Secret #10: We'll always wish we were 25 again

Secret #11: Give us an inch and we'll give you a lifetime

Use it or lose it: Yes, it's true

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:09:07 GMT

clipped by: Kelika

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

Urology clinics have a saying: "Erections make erections."

In other words, sex is not unlike sports. If you want to be a good tennis player, play lots of tennis; if you want to be a good lover, make lots of love.

Results support the use-it-or-lose-it hunch. Having sex once a week halved men's chances of developing erectile dysfunction, compared with a less-than-once-a-week schedule. (The study also hinted that the more often men had sex, the better they fared.) In their analyses, the researchers made sure that other health factors -- such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity and depression -- did not explain the differences among men.

Of course, the best way of getting at cause and effect would involve an experiment -- randomly assigning some men to a few decades of porn-star athletics, for instance, and others to a relaxing, cloistered celibacy. No one appears to be in a hurry to do this trial.

Tags: health