Clipmarks | LorisKnight's Pops

Smoking ban Music to Irish ears

Sat, 29 Sep 2007 01:54:28 GMT

clipped by: kkcapricorn
clipper's remarks: Long Live the Irish

DUBLIN (AFP) - Ireland's smoking ban has not just improved the air quality in its famous pubs, but has also boosted the quality of music sessions for drinkers, doctors reported Friday.

Specifically it has helped musicians clean up their traditional instruments, clogged up with years of dirt in smoke-filled pubs, so they can produce clearer sounds in fug-free bars.

Instruments include the accordion, concertina, melodeon, and Uilleann, or Irish bagpipes, all of which are bellows-driven instruments.

Doctors at Dublin's St Vincent's Hospital carried out a survey of people involved in the cleaning, repair, maintenance and renovation care of accordions.

"One repairer commented that the deposition of dirt could be substantial enough to affect the pitch of the reed.

The doctors concluded the smoking ban has been "music to the ears of the people of Ireland."

In March 2004, Ireland outlawed smoking in every workplace including pubs and restaurants and even on fishing boats and in company cars.

Tags: smoking, music, sound distortion, instruments, pubs

Woman locked up for 70 years

Sat, 29 Sep 2007 01:13:00 GMT

clipped by: LisbethJ
clipper's remarks: I would never be able to forgive the system for this outrage

Clip Source: www.thesun.co.uk

Sister locked up and forgotten

A WOMAN was locked up and “lost” for 70 years after being wrongly accused of stealing 13p.

Jean Gambell, 85, was “certified” indefinitely in 1937 over claims she had taken the cash while cleaning at a doctor’s surgery.

The money was found — but Jean still spent 70 years in a maze of care institutions.

She was “found” when brothers Alan, 66, and David, 63 — who thought she was dead — read a letter sent by a care home to their mother, who died 25 years ago.

David said: “I was about to throw it in the bin when I saw a name in the corner — Jean Gambell. I rang and they said our sister was there.”

The two brothers travelled from their homes in Liverpool to see Jean at the home in Macclesfield, Cheshire. Staff warned them she was deaf and may not remember them.

“They basically locked her up and threw away the key and she was stuck in the system.

“She just got moved from one institution to another.

“What a waste of a poor, innocent girl’s life.”

Tags: woman, locked, up, 70 years

America, the Beautiful.

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 14:19:21 GMT

clipped by: righthand

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Frozen Morning, Carson River, Hope Valley

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Rocks and Reflections, Klamath River

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Gates of the Valley, Yosemite National Park

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Truckee River

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Changing Aspens, McGee Creek

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Willow Creek, Southern Utah

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Temple of the Sun, Capital Reef National Park, Utah

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Sunrise and Lupines, Kehoe Beach

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Wildflowers, Fog and Cypresses, Pierce Point, Point Reyes, CA

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Gladiolas

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Spring

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Irises and Oak, MMWD, California

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Bolinas in Fog

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Sunset, Big Sur

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Sunset, Big Sur, CA

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Wildflowers Fog and Cypresses

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Beautiful Sunrise, Muir Beach

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Fog on Shaver Grade, MMWD

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Aspen Ballet, McGee Creek, Eastern Sierras

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Enchanted Trees, Lagunitas Lake, MMWD

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Mighty Oak, Cascade Canyon, Marin Open Space District

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Juniper and Dead Branch, Sonora Pass

Clip Source: www.timelesslight.com

Alpine Lake, MMWD

Tags: photos, usa

5000+Resources to do just about anything online free

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 09:18:09 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: I've clipped a few examples. Links to other resources can be found at the page

Clip Source: mashable.com

Since May 2007, we’ve been bringing you resources and tools to be more productive on the web. Due to popular demand, we’ve brought all these lists together into one gigantic meta-list: 5000+ Resources to Do Just About Anything Online.

Enjoy! And don’t forget to subscribe to Mashable for the latest web news and resources.

6 Key Ways to Measure Your Blog’s Success - Six essential tools for measuring how your blog is performing.

20+ Firefox Plugins For Managing Email - Use Firefox to help you manage and control your email.

100+ Tools For Flickr Addicts - The possibilities with Flickr seem endless, and this toolbox shows you just some of what is out there for you Flickr addicts.

90+ Online Photography Tools and Resources - Tools for editing, finding, and storing photos.

50+ Websites For the Kickass Control Freak - More tools to get your life organized and get more done online and out in real life.

120+ Web Development Resources - A huge list of tools to assist you with developing your website.

Tags: internet, tools, resources, programs, free

How many more like her are there?

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 22:26:30 GMT

clipped by: cptenaud
clipper's remarks: Just one of many sad stories of our troops being used and then cast out when they become damaged goods.

Clip Source: www.veteransforamerica.org

how the military doesn't care

I am tired of being bullied and the fact that no one even all the way to the post commanding general doest care that my husband has been diagnosed with PTSD,TBI, stress and depression and the fact that they are stressing me out we will be out on the street with no where to go no home no money no nothing so tell me why should i be proud to be an american i have tried everything even a congressional.

Tags: country, disgrace, dishonor, wrong, moral, path

If You’re Going to Die, Do It Differently

Sat, 29 Sep 2007 04:02:40 GMT

clipped by: bioplasmik
clipper's remarks: "If you're gonna go, go with a smile!" Jack Nicholson as the Joker in "Batman"

Clip Source: www.bspcn.com

We all shrug off our mortal coil eventually. Whilst we all look forward to a long and happy life, there are some unfortunate souls who leave this world with a touch of humor. If you’re gonna go, go out in style!

Lifeguards On Duty

In New Orleans more than 100 lifeguards threw a party to celebrate their first year without any tragedies. While they were partying, one of the guests, who was not a life saver, fell into the swimming pool fully clothed and drowned, even though four lifeguards were supposed to be on duty at the time!

Out For A Morning Run

A naked man running across New York’s Brooklyn bridge singing “Oh what a beautiful morning!” was run over by a car and killed.

Are You Sure That Being A Veggie Is Healthy?

Victor Villenti, 50, was a strict vegetarian, and forced his family to follow the same regime. While jogging in 1991 he was killed by an eight pound frozen leg of lamb which fell from a third-story window.

Tags: death, irony

Gay By Choice?

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 20:13:35 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: Well, this is a very interesting article and suffice it to say that I don't believe truly gay people are gay by choice. I have spoken to many gay people and I don't believe they have ever "chosen" to be gay. I DO however, believe that sexual attraction is more fluid for some people than we think. I also believe that society "socializes" us to be heterosexual.

Clip Source: www.motherjones.com

While scientists have found intriguing biological differences between gay and straight people, the evidence so far stops well short of proving that we are born with a sexual orientation that we will have for life. Even more important, some research shows that sexual orientation is more fluid than we have come to think, that people, especially women, can and do move across customary sexual orientation boundaries, that there are ex-straights as well as ex-gays

Tags: is, sexual, attraction, more, fluid, than, we, think?

Why has Congress failed Americans?

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 12:48:46 GMT

clipped by: Rasmus
clipper's remarks: I add emphasis on the words the two-party duopoly's grip on the US-American political system. I'd like to learn something about actual endeavors to change this political system. Also I'd like to know, whereby the rinky-dink voter turnout of US-American elections is caused. Is it for instance, because too many citizens muddle politics and political elections with entertainment? If this is the case: 1) What's your developmental-psychological age, American people? 2) Why are you so discontented with the results of your latest elections?

Clip Source: onlinejournal.com

The Founders of our nation and the Framers of our Constitution surely did not foresee the day when, of the federal government’s three branches, the public would have the least confidence in Congress.

In fact, the public has a little less confidence in Congress than it has in HMOs. At 14 percent, the fraction of Americans with a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in Congress is the lowest in Gallup's history of this measure -- and the lowest of any of the 16 institutions tested in this year's Confidence in Institutions survey. The Supreme Court received 34 percent confidence and the awful presidency of George W. Bush received 25 percent -- nothing to be proud of.

Democrats may have a different style, but like Republicans are also corrupt, arrogant, and incompetent. Things have gotten so bad institutionally and culturally that we cannot vote our way out of a dysfunctional and destructive Congress as long as the two-party duopoly maintains its grip on our political system.

Tags: usa, congress, constitution, democrats, republicans, elections

Six Perfect Words

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 17:17:10 GMT

clipped by: bignosemousie
clipper's remarks: Submit your own six words. You could be published in the Six-Word Memoir Book. Leave your own six words here too.

He vanished after clipping her obituary.

Clip Source: smithmag.net

Legend has it that Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in six words. The result was "For sale: baby shoes, never used."

It could be the title of your autobiography, or maybe your epitaph. Shorter than haiku and meatier that a one-liner, it truly makes you take stock of who you are. Try it.

"Take a left turn, then fly."
– Hillary Carlip

Eight thousand orgasms. Only one baby.
– Neal Pollack

I still make coffee for two.
– Zak Nelson

"On the seventh word, he rested."
– Stephen J. Dubner

"My spiritual path is 100 proof."
– John House

"He wore dresses. This caused messes."
– Josh Kilmer-Purcell

Tags: words, literature, reading, books

Blue Hole in Belize-Dive into a bottomless pit

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 06:41:27 GMT

clipped by: pokkets

Clip Source: www.neatorama.com

Blue Hole, Lighthouse Reef, Belize

Belize Blue Hole from afar

About 60 miles from Belize City, there is a perfectly circular 1,000 (305 m) feet across and 400 feet (123 m) ~~wide~~ deep "Blue Hole." The hole, part of the Lighthouse Reef system, was once an opening to a cave system during the Ice Age - it is now a magnet for extreme divers:

For all the practical purposes the over 400-foot depth makes the Blue Hole a bottomless pit. The walls are sheer from the surface until a depth of approximately 110 feet where you will begin to encounter stalactite formtions which actually angle back, allowing you to dive underneath monstrous overhangs. Hovering amongst the stalactites, you can’t help but feel humbled by the knowledge that the massive formation before you once stood high and dry above the surface of the sea eons ago.

Dive Belize has the story: Link

Tags: blue, hole, belize, diving, reef, bottomless, pit, depth, circular

Glowing mushrooms

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 23:43:17 GMT

clipped by: babygirl2882

Clip Source: www.slightlywarped.com

With the arrival of Japan’s rainy season, a glow-in-the-dark mushroom begins to sprout in Wakayama prefecture. The Mycena lux-coeli mushrooms sprout from fallen chinquapin trees and as they grow, a chemical reaction involving a light-emitting pigment occurs, causing them to glow a ghostly green.

The caps can grow to as large as 2 cm (about 1 inch) in diameter, but because the mushrooms are prone to dehydration, they only have a few days to live once the rain stops.

GLOWING MUSHROOMS

Just goes to show you that the curiosities of the world never cease!

Tags: mushrooms

Floppy eared kitten photos (adorable!)

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 19:07:21 GMT

clipped by: kearitheory
clipper's remarks: The breed is called Scottish Fold

Clip Source: kittenwar.com

Clip Source: a4.vox.com

Clip Source: www.de-nobleblue.com

Clip Source: farm1.static.flickr.com

Tags: animals, kittens

Why We Get High

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:07:18 GMT

clipped by: alironan

Clip Source: www.bruceeisner.com

Almost all of you have gotten "high." You might call it "getting stoned" or "tripping" or "having a session" or "going on vision quest" or "partying" but the urge to switch channels and move to another and less usual state of consciousness is as old as our species itself. Actually the quest for intoxication is even older!

Ronald Siegel, in his book, Intoxication

demonstrates through zoological and sociological evidence, that the urge to get high is among the most basic of motivations.

Many drug users talk about getting high. Highs are states of consciousness marked by feeling of euphoria, lightness, self-transcendence, concentration and energy. People who never take drugs also seek out highs. In fact, having high experiences just as laughter and dreaming seem to be necessary to our physical and mental health. Perhaps that is why a desire to alter normal consciousness exists in everyone and why people pursue the experiences even though they are sometimes uncomfortable side effects.

Tags: high, drugs

reasons to love the unlovable

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 22:05:00 GMT

clipped by: tidbit2
clipper's remarks: wow thats a relief

Clip Source: www.orindaben.com

The more people act mean, the more they are afraid, and thus the more they need your love. Do not forget to send your love to those who appear to be the most unlovable, for they are the ones who are crying out the most loudly for love. Find reasons to love the unlovable, to care for people who act in destructive ways. There is not one person alive who does not grow from the broadcast of love.

Personal Power Through Awareness

Tags: spirituality, life, wisdom

'Swiss cheese' universe challenges dark energy

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 14:38:52 GMT

clipped by: Mohir

Clip Source: space.newscientist.com

'Swiss cheese' universe challenges dark energy

Dark energy may not be needed to explain why the expansion of space appears to be speeding up. If our universe is like Swiss cheese on large scales – with dense regions of matter and holes with little or no matter – it could at least partly mimic the effects of dark energy, suggests a controversial new model of the universe.

In 1998, astronomers found that distant supernovae were dimmer, and thus farther away, than expected. This suggested the expansion of the universe was accelerating as a result of a mysterious entity dubbed dark energy, which appears to make up 73% of the universe.

But trying to pin down the nature of dark energy has proven extremely difficult. Theories of particle physics suggest that space does have an inherent energy, but this energy is about 10¹²⁰ times greater than what is actually observed.

Tags: astropysics, universe, dark energy